6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Redbelle]

Anika sat next to Molly. Her front passenger seat pulled as far forward as she could get it. Her knee's were pulled up against her chest as the footwell wasn't large enough to accomodate them and so she'd adopted a sitting, fetal position in her seat whose back was virtually vertical. Again, to give those in the back as much room as she could provide. She looked over to Molly. "Thanks". She said. A long pause between them turning into an awkward silence. "Not a very nice area to park huh"? More silence as Anika faced forward. Watching the view whip past. "This is a nice car". She threw in.

[Cknarf]

Frank was in the backseat, squeezed between Vayne and Irina. He caught a glimpse of the woman in the driver's seat.

 

Mols?

 

"Moll-ayyyyy Mollllllls!" Grabbing hold of the front seats, he thrust himself forward and poked his head between them. "What were you doing in the a**hole of Omega?"

[Redbelle]

The Medusa

 

Jess felt the alcohol fueled euphoria lessen as she took several deep breaths on the bridge of her ship. Leant up against the helm she lokoed ahead to the back of the bridge. Dahlia, Morgan, Duncan and several others were looking back at her. Marshall, at the helm, was still trying to make sense of the old style sensor readouts when Jess pointed at several of the numbers.

 

"Relative position to us. Course. Acceleration and a rough idea of that other ships dimensions. You should know our course and position off the top of your head so you should see that ships on an intercept". Jess slapped him on his shoulder as she stood. "Maintain course and speed".

 

"That will make the time to contact.... just over twenty minutes".

 

"Goody". Jess drawled as she stepped over to the nav table where Dahlia was and gestured to Morgan to come in close. "Duncan? Any response"?

 

"None Cap'n".

 

"Okay"! Jess turned back to Dahlia and Morgan. "Here's my read. That ship was stealing water from the comet which is a protected celestial object. That's why we put the doctors out. We didn't want witnesses to our theft. Only now...... Now the situations reversed. We're witnesses to attempted theft of a scientifically protected object during a one time window when it won't be seen as it transit's behind the sun relative to all the systems sensor apparatus. Probably why they tried to put a replacement satellite in place".

 

Jess was quiet as she thought back to the readouts from the Medusa's sensors. "I know the dimensions of that ship. And if it's trying to intercept us it should be moving faster than it is". She paused as she did the math in her head. "I suspect that vessel's already laden with water that it collected. And the Captain of that ships decided to attack us to try and stop us from telling anyone that his ship took it". She shook her head. "The why can wait. We've got....". She checked the ships clock. "...Fifteen minutes till contact". She looked between them both. "Here's the nut's and bolts of what combat would be like.....".

 

"We're running empty but larger than that other ship. That said, we still have a maneuvering and speed advantage. We could run..... but that would mean we lose our water source....".

 

"That other ship, unless it's been re-equipped, should only have navigational GARDIAN'S to take care of micrometer's and the like. Not enough to hurt us. But I saw the power of those microwave's it was throwing out. A ship like that shouldn't have microwave emitters at all but it did leading me to believe that ship has been modified. Probably a microwave emitter on the front. That means emitters and shielding on the front of the ship..... I want to confirm that". She called out. "Get the Medusa's telescopic sensors to lock on that ship and see what you see! Ten to one odds I'm right.....".

 

She leaned back to Dahlia and Morgan "All we have is a few GARDIAN's online and not enough people to fire them. We have a few canister's of Grapeshot too". Jess said, referring to the canister's of ball bearings that the Medusa's magnetic launcher's could hurl into space at a fraction of the speed of light. "At close range they could tear that ship apart if we hit any unshielded areas but I don't want to do that..... I want to take that ship intact. If it's got water aboard then I want it. Save's us the trouble of getting it ourselves and technically, we'd be recovering what was stolen.....".

 

Jess looked at Morgan. "Which leads me ask.... Morgan, what's the chances of getting the doctor's back on their feet? Mine just needs her blood filtered and a few pots of coffee to sober up. If we try to take that ship having them watching us would do us a bit of good PR".

 

"Back to the other ship. I expect it'll try and hit us with that microwave it's carrying. It's all they have but at that strength it'll penetrate the ships hull, probably melt it if it can concentrate the beam long enough. But anything in the path of that beam will be cooked from the inside out as it boils any organic matter it comes into contact with dry. But Microwave weapons have a weakness. They need to fix onto a localized spot and hold it there. On approach to each other that will be a problem but the closer we get the more we can foul their targeting by changing course. All that water they have won't help their maneuvering much either..... If we can localize the beams sustained hits on one the outer cargo containers we can keep them form doing damage to the ship. But I expect they'll be looking to target the bridge. Assume I can call the orders to get us in without them cooking us. Here's what I need....".

 

"I plan to take the ship over the top of that other ship in a way that brings our GARDIAN's over the engine block of that ship. When that happens, if our defenses net has open shots at their maneuvering systems, fire at them. If we hamper their ability to turn their ship so they can't track us with their beam emitter's then we'll have forced them into a no win situation wince they'll have no leverage.... Except if they blow themselves up..... I'm sure it won't come to that though". She smiled. "If they prove hard headed though, we still have the MIP's. We can board them in stealth".

 

"That's my plan luvs". She said looking between the two of them. "Now I want a to hear what you thinking. Can we do this? Anything you know about the ship that would stop us being able to do this"?

 

From the helm, Marshall called out. "Tens minutes to contact"!

 

"Ten minutes"! Jess called back by way of saying she'd heard him. Then turned to Dahlia and Morgan, expectantly.

[Kel Riever]

Grrrrr…, Molly mentally grumbled.  The bombshell hadn’t seemed to recognizer her, but of course, despite his inebriated state, Frank did.  When he put his head over the seats, it was like pushing a bowling ball between her and the bombshell’s shoulders.

The weight distribution caution light on the dashboard was flashing, as the skycar made its sluggish, low flight through omega. 

Unable to avoid answering, Molly’s eyes slid sideways.  She caught the bombshell’s eyes, unable to contain the sheer irony in her expression, and then stared at Frank.

“Well, Frank.  I was, you know, checking out the local scene.  I saw a lot.  Sort of watched a big chase.  Got in a good jog, and a few fights in the name of making sure someone was okay who didn’t need any help at all.  Watched someone blindside a rooftop full of suitors.  Saw a roof cave in.  Heard a gladiatorial bellow.  Saw that core ripped out of a skycar and hurled like it was a shot-put.  And then, of course, there’s you, Frank.”

The sarcasm was thick.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Anika was right. It was a squash. There was also a bit of a hesitation over who got to ride shotgun. Frank started to claim the coveted spot.

 

"Sorry, Frank," the redhead with the stringy hair said, grabbing him by the collar of his armor. "I think Blondie earned this. You get the back seat between Vayne and I."

 

The group piled in. Irina squeezed in next to Frank, and turned to the driver. "Thanks heaps for the lift. Our next move was to find the nearest chop shop, bust a cap in a few arses, and boost their ride. And what are you doing up this way?"

[Kel Riever]

Morgan listened carefully.  “I don’t think we can’t do it, but we’ve got some challenges…if we handle them we could be okay.  First, you’ve got this gunner, Babe.  She seems to know what she’s doing, if she isn’t a little trigger-happy.  She could be making sure the GARDIAN system is functioning correctly.  Or you can probably get her onto one of your cannons.  I wouldn’t count on too many other people for the Medusa’s weaponry unless Dogger knows someone I don’t.

“The ship maneuvering I’ll leave to Dahlia, but when it comes to boarding, we’re going to have to bet there isn’t anyone on the other ship that knows much about combat.  I’ve got us some guns to arm people, basic Avengers and Predators that most people, and definitely anyone with Alliance training is going to know how to use.  If we take, say, our best ten, we won’t have to worry about stealthing aboard.  One they’re disabled, if they’re smart, they’ll surrender.  If not…well, let’s hope they’re smart.  Get me enough bodies and I’ll put them in the right places to force a surrender.

Clenching his jaw a moment, Morgan added, “If there are any ‘heroes’ on that other ship, there could be a problem.  In which case, I’ll deal with it.  As far as your salarian doc goes, no shot.  He’s out and we’re nowhere close to getting him awake.  So it’ll come down to the other woman, and whatever condition you left her in.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“mmmmuuhhhh.”

Amy Hayashi opened her eyes.  The world was slowly rotating around her like a carnival ride.  She had never, ever been this drunk.  For a moment, she thought she standing, looking out a window, at the stars.  Then the doctor realized she was laying on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Oh, yes, heh.  The Captain.  She had a see through ceiling.

Letting her head roll to one side, Amy thought she’d find Stone lying next to her, pleasantly staring out into space as they held hands and played with each other’s fingers.  But the Captain wasn’t there.  Hayashi lifted her hand, which had a tickling sensation and brought it up within her field of vision.  There was a lizard on it, staring at her.  It flicked out its tongue.

The banging in her head wasn’t helping.  Thankfully, Amy was so drunk it really didn’t seem to hurt that much.  Just disorient her.

Hayashi let her head roll again so she could stare at the stars.  She felt so lucky that a beautiful comet happened to be passing within visual range at that very moment.  Gorgeous, Amy thought and smiled.  It was so much like the heavenly body of her studies.

In fact, it was the heavenly body of her studies.

Amy sat upright.  Unable to maintain her equilibrium, she flopped down again.  The lizard scampered out of her hand, across her face, and away.  Then Amy steadied herself with her hands and sat upright, holding herself to the floor as the everything spun harder around her.

“I’m late!”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia was flipping switches and wiping through screens on her navigation display. "Jess, your plan sounds like a good one." Dammit I wish I had a quality networked VI. It could do this in about 1/10 the time. "I'm working as fast as I can to plot course adjustments for the helm and account for ion storms. But here's the thing. While it used the microwave to melt the ice, the comet is getting close enough to the star now where the particle storms will affect the accuracy of the microwave beam at all but extremely close range. In other words, they're going to have difficult targeting with it depending upon whether or not they have a VI on board handling the tasks I'm handling at the moment.

 

"I would make a pass and target their FTL drive with our GARDIAN. We just need enough firepower to damage it. That will buy us time."

[Redbelle]

Jess looked down at Dahlia's inputting on the table. She hadn't considered the proximity to the Sun, nor the effect it would have on microwave.

 

"Your saying, that beam they have get's less effective the closer to the sun they get"? Jess considered the notion. "We can adjust our course. Plot one that runs us closer to the sun. Sure, we'd have to manage the storms. But we'd only have to factor in the storm on the ship. They'd have to factor in the ship and weapon. And the hazard wouldn't affect our GARDIAN's adversely since they are only short range.....". Jess mulled it over and then looked up at Dahlia. "Check to see if we can do it then set up a course with Marshall. If proximity to the Sun helps us avoid their beam weapon I want to maximize the benefit it gives us. Just make sure we don't fall into it's gravity well. It may look distant, but it's already pulling on everything in it's vicinity". She smiled. "Not that it's a problem but building a slingshot course to give us a speed boost past them wouldn't hurt". Jess then drummed her finger's on the table. "But that's a problem.... We need them on a course and with enough speed to not fall into that well.... If they do that would be good leverage to get them to surrender. Hand over your water or burn in the sun. It would take days maybe until they were pulled in but we want to salvage that ship, But getting to close would make transferring the water aboard risky..... Better make sure the dock hands have the grapple lines rigged in case we need to pull that ship along". Jess looked straight at Dahlia. "Eight minutes. Use your best judgement. We need to be clear enough from the sun to salvage the ship in case we destroy all their engine capacity. But near enough to avoid getting hit by their beam at long range. I'll leave that to you. Pull who you need to work this out and if you need to err, make sure this ship's able to pull itself free from the sun's gravity".

 

She then looked over at Morgan. "Get.... Babe's her name? Get Babe into a gunner chair on the starboard side. If they do aim for the bridge they'll be trying to come in over us to get the angle they need. If they can maintain fire though, they can switch that emitter on and play it over the hull when they enter the appropriate range. With this course though they'll be coming in from the port side so anyone on that side needs to be evacuated to starboard to protect them. When we're in range however I plan to rotate the ship along it's long axis so we can swing the starboard GARDIAN canon's into position. In the meantime, call the mess and tell Sherie to bring a coffee pot up to the bridge. I'm going to get Amy. She'll need the wakeup call after the number of drinks she packed away".

 

Jess made towards the lift and entering it she grinned at the crew. "Honestly, I'd stop drinking too if I wasn't sure the ever accumulating hangover I've developed over the years wouldn't kill me".

[Kel Riever]

Morgan used the ship’s com from the weapons station.  “Babe, I’m going to need you to get on a starboard cannon.  There’s a close range, ‘grape shot’…”

“You’ve gotta make up your mind, Mate. You want me manually administering the GARDIAN system or firing a gun?”

“I’m going to need…”

“Never mind, Mate.  I’ll show you if you can get down here.  Maybe I can try something.”

Morgan weighed the time left.  He could pass by the GARDIAN control station on his way to the armory.

“Fine, Morgan out.”  Morgan then called Dogger.  “Dogger, I need you to evacuate the port side.  Everybody gets to starboard.  I’ll help on my way out, but I also want you to send the ten most grunty hands you’ve got, veterans, gunslingers, whatever, to meet me in the armory.  Three minutes.  You’ve worked with them on the ship so you’ll know who they are.  Tell them we’re going to get packed so they should show up with gear and armor if they have it.”

“That’s a short time frame but I’ll get them there…”

“…And please send Sherie to the bridge with fresh coffee.”

“…all right.  I’m not even askin’ “

Morgan left the bridge in a jog.  The GARDIAN control center was near central computing, which was just down the passageway from the bridge.  There were a few bulkhead plates he had to step around, but as soon as he got to the door to the room, he entered.

Babe was at the control station, and Morgan stopped dead in his tracks.

There was the sound of cracking gum, and babe said, “You ain’t gotta stare so hard.  I get it all the time.”

Morgan still couldn’t talk.

“Mate.  First Mate.  I was born with it all, okay?  Let’s talk guns.  You get me off this station and the GARDIAN is going to defend the ship like its supposed to, reacting faster than any person can, intercepting whatever comes our way.  You want me to use it for anything else, I’m gonna have to manually direct it.”

“Right…,” Morgan said, still stunned as he stared at babe.

“I saw that close range cannon, and it’s fine as can be.  But you want to hit with it, you’ll need me over there.  Which brings us to the dilemma.  I got a good chance, though, if you put me on the closest gun to this station, maybe I can rig me something quick in the command menu to order the GARDIAN lasers from the other cannon station.  Swear you need to find gunner number two after this fight, but at least I can swing it in a pinch…eyes up here, Mate.”

Morgan had a hard time fixing his gaze.

“Mate, so that’s what I’m gonna do.  But if your Captain wants her priorities straight, and my attention in one place, she’ll let me know which is more important when…the GARDIAN lasers or the close range cannon, so I can put my attention on the proper one.  If you want a gun to fire right, you gotta pay attention to it, and not be distracted, know what I mean?”

Shaking his head to snap himself out of his reaction, Morgan agreed.  “You go ahead, Babe, and do what it is you think is best.  Patch in directly to the Captain if you need to.”

Babe cracked her gun and turned around to face the GARDIAN station while she change some settings.  Morgan found himself freed, finally, and moved to the armory.

Sonofa…

On the way down, Morgan told any crew he ran into to evacuate to the starboard side.  When he got to his destination, he found ten people waiting for him.  The largest was a man at least 1.9 meters tall, who looked like he worked out as a hobby.  His chest seemed as wide front to back as it was shoulder to shoulder, and the long, straight black hair that fell to the middle of his black made him look like a barbarian.

“What’s your name?” Morgan asked as he punched in the code to open the armory.

“Largo.”

How appropriate.  Morgan shook his head, “Okay, Largo, and everybody, in the room.  Take one assault rifle and one pistol each, and let’s go over what we’re going to do…”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia continued compensating for ion storms and input a course for the ship. She did some multi-tasking with her other screen and picked up an energy build up on the other ship.

 

"Jess, they know we're on them. They're making a run for it, and I think preparing to jump. I'm picked up an energy spike in their aft fuselage at these coordinates. Relaying targeting coordinates to GARDIAN batteries," Dahlia said. Here's where I wish we had a VI. I have to keep the gunners up to date on any changes, and keep our shields.

 

"And Jess, there's something you need to know. The hull of this ship is metal right? If it is, we don't have to worry about the microwave weapon. It can't penetrate metal."

[Redbelle]

Jess chuckled through the comm as she rode the lift up to her quarters. "We're not like the Jeniri or Audron luv. We're not protected against high yield energy attacks. Fortunately, it's rare for anyone ever employ them since the emitters need to be hard fixed to a hull. And it's hard to hit an enemy when they can fly rings around you. But that ship could disrupt and shut down systems, and any bleed through would flood compartments..... Maybe something to think about though......". Jess chewed the tip of her thumb before bringing Marshall onto the call.

 

"Helm, pursue that ship. Make sure our gunner has clean shots at the engine block".

 

'The other captain must have lost his nerve. Or else, he knows the limitations of his emitter and is pulling us further out from the suns influence. Can he turn on us? He must know he's in hot water if we live to tell people about his actions. So why run? What's he planning"?

 

"Keep a close eye on that ship. If it tries to turn it may be setting us up for a full frontal barrage".

 

'Yeah. A barrage that could knock our systems out.... If we lose engines.... and comms.... The ship could be pulled into the sun..... We could use the escape pods and shuttles to evacuate but then that other ship could take us out at it's leaisure..... Pods and shuttles don't have the same thickness of metal to protect the occupants'.

 

Jess sighed. As minor as the threat seemed, it was none the less, very real. All that other ship could do was knock the Medusa's systems down, but that would be enough to be completely at their mercy. Heck, if they couldn't maneuvre then that ship could pull in close and use it's own GARDIAN'S to punch holes in her ship. It was like two fighter's circling each other. Neither had the strength to pummel each other into submission, or rather, Jess didn't want to kill that other ship, limiting her options immensely.....

 

That other ship however had even fewer options, but it had one ace in that it had a weapon that could paralyse the Medusa's systems. As shielded as they were, her system protections weren't enough to stop something so highly powered.  If the other Captain played it smart on it deployed  the beam, it could hurt the Medusa. If he was good, or she made the wrong call.

 

It was always strange. Military combat tended to be intense. The militaries modern day ships specs making their ships so fast and maneuverable, that they could afford to dip into the old style dog fighter tactics of Earth's old history. In comparison, civilian ships were slower. Needing wider arcs to change their course. Medusa sat between the two extremes. Old enough that she was built in a time when ship builder's knew enough about ships to build everything as well as they could, compared to the modern day when the specs between military and civilian had been allowed to widen in a time when ship design allowed ship builder's to build ships according to cost and resources.

 

While the Medusa could push herself harder though, Jess wasn't about to do so now. She still needed to test the old girl. Make sure she was still up to spec. Pushing to hard and finding the ship couldn't take it might result in the ship crippling herself and in combat, she wasn't about to risk it. Besides, with the maneurve's of that ship and hers, they'd managed to close the gap some while pulling that ship deeper into the suns influence. It would have to leave the area of interference to get proper readings on the outside so they could align their jump properly, or risk crashing into something. Which , at FTL speeds, while improbable, would be fatal.

 

The lift came to a halt and Jess saw Amy lying on her bed. Then she rose suddenly as if a bee had stung her and she cried. "I'm late"!

 

"Sure are luv. C'mon"! Jess said hauling her out of the sheet's and holding her up as she turned back to the lift. "We've hit a bit of a snag. We're handling it though. Thought you'd want to see how things are going".

[Kel Riever]

The Captain was holding Amy up. She looked down at Stone’s arms, and then collapsed into them.

“It’s wonderful that you’re here!”

Amy smiled, laid the side of her face on the Captain’s chest, wrapped her own arms around Stone and hugged tight. The Captain was taller than Amy, so she looked up when she replied, “You saved me! And got me drunk, Heheh! heh. You’re a pirate, aren’t you?”

Hayashi winked and slightly drooled.

Panic rose in the doctor’s expression again. She pulled herself off the Captain to fall backwards, then stumble out of the bed and come to a swaying stand. Half the hair in her bun had sprung out and hung around her face. “There’s a spot in my coat….” Hayashi glanced around for her coat but it had vanished. Her boots were gone too, but she didn’t care about that because she had her socks on. And her uniform pants. And her light blue T-shirt. All of which were made of shiny, tight fitting, liquid resistant material.

My clothes are very efficient, Amy said to herself, even though she thought she said it out loud.

Hayashi felt the need to smooth the front of her T-shirt. There, that’s better. She glanced over at Stone, who now had a halo like glow around her head. “You’re like a pirate angel! Pirate Angel Captain! We have a job to do. There’s science to be done!”

Amy turned and sprinted out of the Captain’s cabin. She aimed perfectly through the door, though she smashed into the opposite wall. A little bit. But it was good, because as she careened off the wall, it helped her move down a passageway in the direction she wanted to go. Wherever that was. She had to make sure she observed the comet close up. It was probably best to do that outside, where she could get a really good view!

[Redbelle]

"Oh no"! Jess shouted after her. Bouncing off the same wall that the surprisingly spritely woman had likewise bounced off. Pushinf off it and away to give her a burst of speed as she lunged and caught Amy around her leg's. Amy nearly went over and Jess managed to keep them both upright as she spun Amy around, threw her over her shoulder, and marched back to the lift. "I've got an intercept to oversee luv. I'm not chasing you through the ship. C'mon, got a pot of coffee for you below decks. Be a good girl and I'll see about getting some cake while you do science".

[Kel Riever]

"I need to get outside!" With a space suit of course. Did the Captain think she'd lost her mind? "You're not a pirate angel captain. You're a pirate devil captain!"

Lying over the Captain's shoulder, Amy's face staring downward across her back, she saw two round bumps in motion. They were mesmerizingly synchronized and bounced with every step.

Proper behavior, doctor...

The lady bumps...

You're drunk! Heh.

The smack on Jess' rear was so loud it echoed up and down the ship's main spinal passageway.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Omega - The Drug Group

 

The familiar lights to the approach to Aria's level of Omega were a welcome sight. The bright LEDs of Afterlife's exterior signage flashed in the darkness of space between two dancing Asari. 

 

"I never thought this would be such a welcome sight," Irina commented from the back seat.

 

Vayne grunted with approval.

 

Frank was asleep... or was he passed out... it was difficult to tell. Who knew what the Royal Special was? Molly guided the car to a parking place in the lot, and the scanner dinged her for damages to the rented vehicle. The charge flashed on the screen of her omni-tool.

 

Irina and the rest of the team climbed out of the car. "Again, thanks heaps for the lift, mate. I still don't know what you were doing down there. Probably following this drunk for some stupid reason, but we should be out of here," she said, and she turned to the others, "We should get this stuff back to the lab, and get him to med bay. One drink of that Royal Special? He should see the doc."

[Kel Riever]

"Uh huh," Molly responded.

It was amazing how long the skycar ride back took.  No one had said a word for a while before the other mostly tall lady spoke.  They had trundled along at low altitude, except for when they needed to fire the thrusters to rise up in one of spires to transfer to another level. 

Molly hadn’t been asked how she knew, or had presumed correctly, where they were all heading.  She had let the crude VI autopilot wherever it could, and guided the craft manually when weight distribution errors needed to be overridden because the VI wanted to park the car at the nearest port.  The mostly tall woman had presumed correctly when the Spectre's team exited, but Hagen said nothing when she did.

The good news was the detective didn't have to go far for her meeting with the Spectre, as their destination was right by the dock she needed to get to.  And not that she had expected it, but it was nice to know the Spectre hadn't blown her off with some nonsense information.  Was it worth tailing the others to make sure of that?

Molly reached over to the fare meter after the others had exited, and ripped it out.  She then left the car herself, and stood with her hands in her coat pockets and a satisfied look on her face.  

[Redbelle]

Jess's eye's went wide as she heard, and felt, Molly's hand impact and her nostrils flared before she shook her head and continued onwards. Reaching the lift she hit the button and the doors opened, allowing Jess inside where she deposited Amy up against a wall and pinned her there. "Behave Doctor". She growled before reaching to their side and hit the bridge level control. The doors slid shut and the lift began descending the levels of the ship. "We have a slight situation....".

[Kel Riever]

Morgan had the irrational urge to call Jess up and let her know about some of the crew she was meeting.  There was Largo the barbarian in front of him, and then there was Babe…

My god, Babe!

No time for it all now.  The crew who Dogger sent had a motley assortment of gear.  Half of them had Phoenix armor from their Alliance career, four more had yellow Survivor environmental suits, and Largo didn’t have anything.  Largo’s incredibly muscled and meaty physique pushed out of a black tank top, black combat fatigues and high black combat boots.  The only other adornments he had were a black utility belt, a series of black, tribal like tattoos over much of his exposed skin, and his long black hair.

“Don’t you have a protective suit?” Morgan asked Largo.

“They would not fit.”

Shaking his head, Morgan got into the armory’s weapons, and started handing out Avenger assault rifles and Predator heavy pistols.  The weapons looked small in Largo’s hands and he looked at them curiously.

“Okay, Largo, then you’ll stick with me, since I have no protective gear either.  We’ll get some rebreathers in case there’s a problem with the air but we’ll have to hope we don’t come across any environmental situations.”  Morgan’s back harness was here, allowing him to holster two of his own weapons, the Kovalyov assault rifle and his Scimitar shotgun.  His Phaeston had its own holster, which he strapped around his waist.

“We’ll be three groups. Everybody in communication.  I’m in charge, you do what I say.  Each group picks a leader for me to talk to.  We’ll review what we’re up to on the way to the hangar.”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

OMEGA - Afterlife

 

Aria was handling business in her private section of Afterlife, and Naleena was watching the pole dancers, smoking a cigarette, and enjoying a Nevosian Ambrosia from Aria’s private reserve. The dancer nearest her put on a private show for her, and she was about to give her a tip and Aria’s hand went on top of her omni-tool.

 

“She gets paid extra to do those, Naleena, but thanks for the thought,” Aria said, “You’ve been away too long. Just don’t let being on the side of the law taint you too much. I liked your pragmatism.”

 

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Aria,” Naleena said, taking another drink. “To be honest, I hate this job. I hate all the responsibilities, but it is better than spending years behind bars. Yet in essence it is nothing more than a gilded cage.”

 

“Good that you haven’t lost perspective.”

 

Anto interrupted. “A call for you, Aria. Ashland.”

 

“I see,” Aria said, stood and faced Naleena. “Would you excuse me? I need to take this in my office.”

 

Naleena’s omni-tool lit with a communication page. It was Mira. “Team 1 has returned to the ship. Frank is not in good shape. And there’s a Detective Molly Hagen waiting for you.”

 

Naleena sighed and stood. “I should be going as well. One of my teams just returned to the ship. I’ll give you a report as soon as I find out what happened.”

 

Aria left for her office to confer with Ashland, and Naleena returned to the ship.

 

Molly was pacing near the post where Mira and Tallis were standing guard. Naleena saw her as she approached.

 

“Spectre!” she shouted.

 

“Detective Hagen. If you would pardon me, I’m a bit busy right now, but I do intend to meet with you. Please follow me,” Naleena said, and tapped her communicator as they boarded the Janiri. “Iole, please meet me in the conference room. I need you to sit with a guest until I return. Protocol Matriarch Rana 15.”

 

“Aye aye, Ma’am.” Iole replied. Babysit the guest. Do not discuss anything about the ship or mission.

 

(On the Janiri)

 

Molly knew nothing about military protocols, but she figured out what that was about. Iole was probably a grunt who was going to babysit her and was only going to be able to talk about the weather. Still, it wouldn’t prevent her from trying to pump her for information.

 

By the time they reached the elevator across from the conference room, Iole was standing there waiting. Naleena nodded at Molly, entered the elevator, and went directly to Med-Bay.

 

Frank was sitting on a bed. “I’m okaaay doc.”

 

“Frank, your eyes look like two holes burned in a blanket. What was in that drink?” Irina asked, “Oh, and here. I grabbed theses before he took them.”

 

“I grabbed these.” Anika said handing the doctor another couple of vials.

 

Dr. Tolus raised a brow over his eye. “There is a way of finding out,” he said, handed Frank a cup and pointed to the restroom in the Med-Bay. “I need a urine sample, and I’ll need to draw some blood. Now let’s take a look at these.”

 

Dr. Tolus took a small sample from the vial and put it in his chromatograph.  “Hmmm… shows standard pattern for Hallex… wait…. what’s this? A protein compound? An iso-PrP perhaps? No. Need another test make sure.”

 

Dr. Tolus ran another sample through some other sophisticated instruments. Frank emerged with his sample, and the doctor drew blood. Analysis of them showed an unusual chemical compound he had not seen before. “VERA, help me figure out a way of extracting this compound from these samples.”

 

“I will run simulations based upon organic chemistry models, Doctor.” VERA replied.

 

“Thank you,” he said, “Frank, you need to remain here. The rest of you, did you drink or take anything while you were where you were?”

 

“No, we were angels.” Irina replied.

 

“Good, you may leave. I will need time for analysis.”

 

Naleena passed the others outside of Med-Bay and saw Frank inside. “How is he?”

 

“He’ll survive, but the doc’s keeping him in there for observation. “ Irina said. “It was weird. We got the samples you asked for. When we got there, the people were all friendly-like, but then after that crazy prophet came on the wide-screen, and the low creepy rumble below the bass of the music. Everyone just turned on us.”

[Redbelle]

Anika's lips pressed into a grimace. "A Salarian tried to.... to.... Ugh, I can't... It was horrible. I mean.... A body that thin. He looked like a worm on a hook every time he wriggled".

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena saw Anika's expression, smiled, and spoke in a near whisper. "Trust me, Anika. It has taken me a while to get used to their presence on the ship." She turned to Irina. "Low rumble? Like a sub-sonic?"

 

"Yeah, that's it."

 

"Anything else odd happen?" Naleena asked.

[Redbelle]

Anika shook her head. "You don't understand. Then he sent... others to.... serenade me"!

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Janiri

 

Naleena closed her eyes and shuddered. "I'm... sorry you had to endure that. I'll meet you in my... our quarters later.... Meanwhile, try to do... something to help you forget... for a while."

 

"Sorry to break this up, but you asked for other weird things. While I have to admit that was really creepy, here's weird: Omni-tools started acting funny, too." Irina chimed in. "Mine didn't because it's military, but Frank's did."

 

"So sub-sonics and something like electro-magnetics?"

 

"Yeah."

 

Naleena nodded. "Thanks. Stay close. I may need you." she said and disappeared into Med-Bay.

 

Dr. Tolus was busy testing the samples with his lab equipment. The preliminary analysis was in. "Good to see you, Spectre. I have some interesting results so far. Frank had a drink at the club, and it contained a compound that could have hallucinogenic effects on the brain. Haven't seen this compound before. Designer drug obviously. Fast acting. Performing extraction from urine and blood samples."

 

"Anything else?"

 

"Your team brought samples of Hallex, but Hallex not pure. Contain an iso-PrP of unknown type," Dr. Tolus said and looked down with a sigh, "Not good."

 

Naleena looked at him inquisitively. "What is a PrP?"

 

"PrP natural protein in body. Everyone have them. Certain iso-PrP configurations have folds... prions. Some get into nerve tissue and into brains. Asari can get Tevura-Lemetis Disease that cause sloughing of grey matter in the brain," Dr. Tolus said, "This protein one of those type, but different kind."

 

"The team also reported that there was a presence of subsonic frequencies and possible electromagnetics in the club," Naleena reported, "And that after that things started really getting strange."

 

Dr. Tolus scratched his head. "Hmmm. Have to consider all variables. Much work to do."

 

"What about Frank?"

 

"Need to keep him here for observation. Will talk later."

 

Naleena left Med-Bay. This sounds grave. She thought, pulled a cigarette from her case, and lit it. She entered the elevator and went to meet with Molly in the conference room.

[Kel Riever]

“It would be winter on Thessia right now,” Iole said to Hagen.

“I’m a detective.  You don’t have to pretend you’re not trying to talk about anything important.”

“Sure,” Iole nodded, “We could sit in silence, if you prefer.”

“No,” Hagen gave in, “Go ahead.  You were talking about Thessia?...”

Molly was half listening, half reflecting on boarding the Janiri.  Not one passenger in the skycar had asked how she knew where they were going, nor attempted to give her any directions.  It could have been because they already knew she was meeting with Naleena.  Then she thought about Frank.

Nope.  Definitely not that.

In truth, no matter how much the asari in front of her was talking away, Molly couldn’t help but think about the bunch of people working for the Spectre she had run into.  And when she saw the ship for the first time, in the dock as she headed to it, she had been blown away.  At least for the first five minutes after she’d seen it, and got a glimpse of the interior.

Seriously, someone blows what kind of a chunk of change on a thing like this?  There’s artwork in here!  I’m sure taxpayers just love the idea of their money going to that back in the Systems Alliance…I work in the Citadel for crying out loud, and I have to make a requisition when I want to replace the rechargeable battery on a datapad.  A recharchable datapad battery.  It costs one credit…

“…not from there, but I’ve been there plenty and lived there,” Iole went on.  “You’re bored, aren’t you?  If you want, I can get you some water in a Styrofoam cup.  The Spectre’s big on those.”

“Really,” Molly smirked, “I’ll pass.  You know, you’re the first person I met associated with the Spectre that I haven’t had some weirdly related event happen to me with yet.  Unless I’m about to get punched out for sitting here when I start asking things I need to know.”

Iole’s golden flecks moved as she shifted her brow.  “That isn’t on the schedule.”

“No, I’m sure it isn’t,” Hagen replied.  “It’s, well, after meeting Frank and watching him ‘work’ for lack of a better term, I’m kind of wondering.”

Iole’s golden eyes flickered to stare directly into Molly’s.  “About what?”

“I…how do you get things done, maybe?  He’s sort of disarming.  Accident prone, willfully or otherwise.  I mean, it’s endearing in a way…”

“Endearing?”  Iole sat up a bit straighter.

“Sure, you know.  He’s goofy.  He’s very nice.  I had a run in with him outside of Afterlife.  Helped me up off the ground…that never happens on Omega.”

Iole leaned forward.  “Really?  Go on.”

Molly watched the asari taking an avid interest in everything she was saying.  Is she?... “Oh, yeah.  Pure accident, but he’s so friendly.”  Molly told Iole about the encounter.  “Then he introduced himself.  Frank…what was his last name again?”

[Cainhurst Crow]

-Warehouse Team-

 

Griss got behind the wheel as the others began to get in, essul following suite as he noticed they were short one new member. He turned around to see nyreen standing a distance away from them, able to tell from her body language that she wasn't going with them.

 

"You staying?" He asked plainly, though he couldn't help but show his surprise. Hearing of her expeirence, he would have thought she'd jump at the chance to get out of here.

 

"I have to..." Nyreen said firmly, "My men are still coming here to investigate, and I have to be here to meet up with them. You people have your team..." She said as she begun to turn around, "and I have mine." she said beginning to walk away.

 

"...Be Careful out there." Essul called out to her with a slight tremor in his voice, obviously concerned. Nyreen looking back to the batarian as he nodded his head. He understood what she needed to do, and in fact, he respected it. Dangerous as it was, you didn't abandoned your team. Nyreen looked down as she spoke next, "Thanks...you to." She said plainly as she stood there, "Look..whatever you find out, Be careful. This preacher is bad, but Aria can be just as dangerous...don't let your guard down, especially around her."

 

With that she turned around and left, walking off as she weaved her way through the crowd of people, essul watching her go as he processed her words. He turned around, walking slowly towards the skycar as he was the last to get in, and the car slowly took off. They flew out of the section, trying to turn on music only to find that the anteena had been clipped and all they could pick up was static.

 

The team flew low to catch glimpses of the slums, and all around spotted the same things throughout the low powered zones, lines of people around stands, being given food by the new movement about every few blocks or so. A wide distribution network to ensure people had an abundance of food to eat, all provided by this batarian preachers congregation. As they neared the outer areas however, where the power wasn't as locked down, it was surprising to see a sudden drop off. Around the boarder areas of the lockdown, food stands were set up by the church, but no further. It was almost like they were expanding block by block, taking them over as the boarder line of their reach was clear.

 

They swooped down and parked at one of these areas, essul and eteon heading to the food line as they got some food from the mission, one was dextro and the other levo, as they pretended to be polite and got into the skycar. The food came in a tiny package, a clamshell style container that made it quite easy to take with them, and it had meat, vegetables, and bread, for both variants of the food.

 

The skycar slowly made its way towards afterlife, parking in the lot as the others got out of the car, Griss raising an eyebrow at the others as essul got on his comms, "Naleena. This is essul, we've returned from our mission with some items that need analysis..." He said as he looked to eteon and arian, who were carrying the food plates with them as he gave a nod to them, "Some pills, liquid, and food items the church was handing out for free. I suspect they're laced with drugs...also some weird music they used that I hope our suits recorded."