6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Cainhurst Crow]

Vayne nodded as he tapped his clawed hands,  falling into silence as he heard about the krogan on iyana's side. Golt, big krogan, violent, sadistic, war monger type, hard to control and nasty as a thresher maw, liked to hit the hard stuff early and hit stuff harder after he'd gotten drunk. The chances were high then, golt was the same one he'd once had under his employ, in another life, a very different life from now.

 

Vayne remembered back to the old times, to the days he'd dawned the monikor of Captain Sangar of the Crimson Rangers, terrors of the attican traverse along with the few other pirates of the golden age. Golt...even then, centuries ago, that krogan had been a beast of their kind, and had about as much restraint as one as well. He'd liked to popped the heads off of prisoners back then, squeeze their necks till the bones snapped and skin teared, usually while they were still alive. Vayne had tried disciplining him once and nearly lost an eye because of it, though he did manage to beat him to a heap, it was only a couple years later that he lost an eye to him during the coup, Golt the trigger man and Rackam the talker.

 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, swallowing hard as he tapped his two new toys on his waist silently. Looks like hed be putting them, and himself, through a bit of a stress test if it came down to it.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan heard Naleena from the cockpit, and saw Vayne seem to disappear into a memory.

“I think there’s a chance that a fair degree of technology is present,” Morgan said in response to Naleena, then turned to Avan.  “Or there may be a distinct lack of it.  While I don’t know how well their individual personalities will hamper them, I think you are onto one important point, Avan, and that I think this will be a psychological battle.”

Tallis was a bit of a distraction at that point, sticking out her arms out as if she was dragging them, tilting her head to the side, and letting her tongue fall out of her mouth while rolling her eyes upwards.  She slumped heavily, and pretended to try to erect herself straight, only to fail and try again.

Jenus burst out, “A hunchback!”

Tallis nodded her head emphatically and grinned.

[Kel Riever]

When one of the mercs who regularly served Iyana returned, he carried a box with him and placed it near her on the table.  She stopped what she was doing, stood from the throne, and began rummaging through the contents.  Luscious noticed various forms of apparel within.

A question couldn’t help but flee from Luscious’ lips.  “My…superior.  Aren’t you concerned about when Stone will show up?”

A sharp cackle erupted from Iyana, before she quickly suppressed it and waved the merc away.  “Your choice of words is poor but I understand what you mean.  If you last, Luscious, you’ll get used to me.  I am, in fact, anxious for her to come.  It is a dance, if you will.  And I prefer pleasant surprises from my partners.  The wonderful way in which we have prepared ourselves leaves Stone’s arrival a bit of a mystery.”

Iyana’s expression was mirthful; a first in Luscious’s memory.  “Perhaps she is already aboard!  Making her way here through ship and crew, like a vengeful spirit.  Or perhaps she has had the wisdom to stay away, cutting her losses.  The latter would disappoint me, but I am relying on that devil.  I think you know her type, Luscious, despise it as you may.  She is not you, after all.”

There was a break in Iyana’s dialogue as she pulled out a golden brown greatcoat from the box.  She tossed the coat to Luscious as she scanned him.  “Stand up and put that on.”

Luscious did as he was told.

“There, that goes well with your dirty, green shirt.  If you’re going to be a captain, look the part.  Your outfit must display authority, even if you don’t have the slightest understanding of what that means.  As for Stone, there is simply too much to go on with in regards to that mutt eyed harlot.  But I must include her in my greater plans now.  At least if the insufferable romantics of the Kings and Queens will have it.  And if not…well then I must rely on other plans.”

The wine had gotten to Luscious some in regards to his balance.  He placed his fingers on the table to steady himself and reached for the bottle to pour another glass.

Iyana wagged her finger at him.  “Ah, ah, you foul dog.  Your state is perfect.  I want you ready for your test.”

 

~ ~ ~ ~

Both MIPs had been executing subtle breaking maneuvers for some time, using their thrusters in such a way as to minimize detection.  The craft were so small that they could be hardly noticed, and as far as that part of the plan went, everything seemed to be going well.

Though on different trajectories, the occupants of each MIP finally watched the Medusa come into view with the naked eye.  More time passed, as the pirate ship was a spec at first, then grew steadily to dominate their view.  Vem Osca’s roiling, gaseous surface filled the entire view beyond the vessel.  Both Jess and Anika, experienced hands at maneuvering the miniscule MIPs, eased their craft towards their respective anchoring points.  Thrusters gingerly matched the path of the Medusa, bringing them alongside the vessel, so that their occupants could begin the task of making their way on board.

[Redbelle]

Jess set the MIP down on the hull and the three contact plate's on the underside charged causing micro surface dimples to sprout that elongated into microscopic claws that touched and seized hold of the hull.It was a fancy design feature, Jess had thought at the time, but since they were about to engage their mag boots, probably a wasted one. Still, maybe she ought to consider getting boot's with the same feature as the power demand was lower than generating magnetic forces, likewise, polarising the hull wouldn't cause the mag's to lose their effect.......

 

Her mind was wandering. She had to focus.

 

“Popping the canopy luv. Don't drift away on me now”.

 

Reaching forward she pulled a lever by her knee up hard and the canopy's hydrualic ram's pulled, causing the canopy to withdraw and reveal the world they now found themselves in. Seeing the starscape outside through the small window, now they were engulfed by the expanse of space above them, and the hull of the Medusa under them with the gas giant serving as a backdrop off to one side.

 

Jess put a foot down on the hull and activated first one mag. Then brought her other foot around and activated the other. Her robes reacted to the sudden shift's causing them to look weightless, as of course they now were, subject solely to the force her body placed on them. The effect was unsettling to those who had never seen it before.

 

Jess took a moment to look around and get her bearing's before activating her short burst comm. “Airlocks that way”. She pointed further up the hull. Moving up they came to a recessed section of the hull that showed a section of metal with a tooth like seam running across the middle. Jess crouched down and pressed a section of the hull that was marked with a yellow flourescent ring painted around it. The metal depressed into the hull and as Jess pulled her hand away the metal slid backward to reveal a large red handle.

 

“Once I pull this the airlock will open. Soon as we're in I'll use the control's inside to close us up and cycle the air in. It should be quiet till we get air inside. Once we're out of vacuum though, if there's anyone in the hanger there's a chance they could hear us. So when that airlock opens into the ship, move fast, move quiet, and if anyone's in there.... likely it's not one of ours so shoot it. We're here to take this ship back by force so anyone who surrender's, shoot them. We don't have the number's to take prisoner's and anyone who surrender's we turn our back on could pick up a gun when we turn our backs on them....”. Jess reached under her swirling robes and pulled out a grenade.

 

“Flashbang. Use it if you need it. Let's get going. Shuttle's coming in seven minute's”.

 

Jess pulled the handle and airlock door's opened an inch before stopping, then slowly they pulled apart revealing a large inner compartment. Jess looked inside and deemed it safe before grabbing a rung inside and swinging herself inside with Essul close behind her. Artificial gravity took hold and they found themselves stepping onto the decking of the airlock. Jess moved over to a corner of the compartment and pressed a few controls and the outer airlock closed itself before a light began flashing, indicating that air was being poured into the compartment.

 

The light went constant green and Jess looked to Essul who pulled his weapon and nodded. Jess nodded back as she pulled Sinbad from his hard-point and hit the airlock inner door. Locks could be heard withdrawing and the inner door's dragged themselves open. Metal slid over polished metal and Jess felt a moment of pride in knowing that the care her crew had taken of the ship was now helping them make what she hoped was an undetected entrance as she swept forward with Essul fast behind.

[Kel Riever]

(Note:  The following was a collaboration with RedBelle)

 

Previously...( http://forum.bioware...res/?p=17354949 )
 

Cluster unknown, System unknown, aboard the Nostalgia

 

Murmurs of disapproval echoed around the hanger as Tarball's eye's simmered. To his side the woman slide off the arm rest.

 

"A messenger? You poked us and we showed you our teeth. That is your message? I don't doubt Stone went where angel's fear to tread but.....".

 

"Stone was a controversial choice for captain but it has always been tradition for ships to choose their own". The man interrupted. "And Stone has proven a very steady, capable hand.....".

 

"If by that you mean stubborn and sticks her nose in where it does not belong. And let's not forget to ask...... where was she while her ship was snatched out by this rabble of broker stooges"?

 

"Stone's absence could have been a blessing in disguise. It prevented her death..... And that means that we can hear the truth of what happened rather than rely on.....".

 

"The truth? The truth is this Iyana woman has declared war on us. The truth is she has murdered our people because.... by this man's own admission..... Stone killed her 'pet'. It is not us who should make allowances for the actions of the shadow broker agent! It is them who should come crawling to us begging our forgiveness lest our lord contact the broker and buy this woman's life. It seems the most reasonable solution. We pay for this agent to cover the cost of what she brings in, we execute her".

 

"And what of the ship"?

 

"Who want's that old scrap pile anyway"?

 

"It's the ship with the most history! It founded us".

 

"And like all history, if it prevents us from achieving greater things, it is time to cut it away and move on".

 

At that a loud tap from behind them caused both to turn and look to see Tarball's staring at the woman. He gave a nod, then looked to the man who deflated and stepped back.

 

The woman looked down at Jrudek. "Let me be clear. This is not about what your mistress thinks is best. It is not about what she thinks the lives of our people is worth. They are our people, not her's. Her ego oversteps her station if she thinks otherwise. The fact is she has put the blood of our own between us and her. A debt we will be more than willing to settle..... unless you come to us with more to offer than a plea that your mistress did what she thought was best. The debt this Iyana owes us is deep and still she insults us by holding a ship bearing the standard of the Kings and Queens. If you wish peaceful relations then start by offering us that which is ours before we simply take it back and settle the blood debt in kind". She smiled. "And think carefully on what it is you can offer.... for I have a message I would send this woman myself, through you if you do not answer favorably".

 

Jrudek’s shoulders sagged and he knew the meaning of the words he heard. “None here would be more disappointed than I should this not lead to an amicable resolution. I do only as you bid, to say what we have done, then what we want and why. If this is to be the last moment I speak, then know that my master has sent you a person of worth in your eyes and her loss would be felt, as I am the pilot of her vessel. Above and beyond this, my master appreciates honesty above all, and if there is to be a sacrifice, let it be done in the name of being forthright.”

Lifting his chin slightly, but continuing a demure stance, Jrudek said, “Before you come to your wise judgment, your Lordship, also know that my master understands her mistake in your eyes. It is the matter of how we came to your vessel that has yet to be told, and perhaps it would be best if you were aware that we were invited.

“There is a man who claims to be rightful captain of your ship, by the name of Luscious. As he tells the tale, our role was to assist in the restoration of the proper command of the Medusa. As outsiders, we came with little or no comprehension of your laws and traditions, nor were those made known to us in the course of our proceedings. In fact, if it had not been for the investigation of my master herself, there would have been no opportunity for us to make amends. Perhaps this man Luscious has a troubled past, but bear in mind that his story bore credence with us in the light of our experience with Stone. So far, he has given us no reason that our actions have been unsatisfactory. In fact, it has never been said any differently to us that Luscious is in charge of the Medusa, and we have believed he is as he says.”

Distracted by grumblings that still moved through the audience, Jrudek peered around himself before continuing to address The Lord. “Hindsight would have led to a better solution. If we had obtained the proper knowledge, we could have approached you first and sought your authority and decision. As people of information, we consider that our greatest failure and trespass.

“It is not our intention to keep this vessel of yours, and never has been. The Medusa has a captain who stands on her bridge named Luscious. And with all his faults, he has always stood with the vessel. Shall his dedication and loyalty to you pass for naught? A desperate person takes desperate measures. A lack of information leads to ignorance and error. Iyana more than offers, she begs you take your vessel back with Luscious as its proper captain. And if more must be done, by all means, name your desires, for The Shadow Broker has access to the greatest treasure of all!”
 

The woman looked down her nose with a slight smile. "Oh stop groveling. It takes all the fun out of berating you".

 

"But none the less, we have a guarantee that the ship will be returned"? The man interrupted. "This Luscious...... why is he still alive? Are there more whom you have? Why has this Luscious not sought to contact us"?

 

"Oh do pay attention....". The woman tossed back to him as she went to sit back on the left armrest of the throne, bringing her feet up to perch on the surface. "Luscious was the brother of Rasgul..... The man many thought inherit the captaincy until Stone took it for herself. And look at the ruin she led them into. She didn't even have the decency to be present when this event took place".

 

"Be that as it may, Luscious's status is suspect. A man who survived the culling of a ship. And we don't yet have an answer to the question..... How many more are there"?

 

The woman made to speak, but Tarball's rested a hand on her's and she subsided. "Yes.... of course. Do tell us who yet lives on a ship of dead men".

 

With the side of his lips crumpled, Jrudek answered, “There are few, I can only admit. Besides Luscious, there is the doctor and one other. The return of your ship I have been told I may, in fact, promise. But as to the 'why' of which you have asked, there is a proposal that my master wishes to make.”

Jrudek slowly crossed his hands and interlaced his fingers. “Aside from compensating you appropriately for the…upheaval…you have suffered, Iyana wishes to suggest that despite our troubled start, should we be able to settle our differences, there may be a greater benefit for both our parties.

“The Shadow Broker has both unrivaled access to information from across the galaxy, and yet yearns for more. Our ambitions do not parallel those of The Lord of the Kings and Queens, but we can provide so much wealth to you in the ways of information and knowledge. As such, our fountain of data is everlasting, and can make those with means aspire to heights they never imagined. We are not raiders, but we know the secret paths and holdings of transports ripe for the picking. We are not a government and yet we hold access to files which can sway a civilization to the brink of destruction or conquer its greatest foe. And everyone deals with us, from the simplest soldier to the Council itself. What we would want in return is as obvious as it would seem; we wish to expand our network of information gathering through allies with vast resources for obtaining more data. Those allies we protect, and look after, and whose secrets we insure are never told. None who travel the stars is better in that regard, than The Shadow Broker, and this you must know. Should we allow this tragic misunderstanding of the Medusa and your authority to come between us?”

Unraveling his fingers, Jrudek held his palms upwards. “Of course, there is the matter of Jessica Stone, who abandoned her ship to pursue other interests. And if she had not, would our agent ever have escaped us? Is Luscious so wrong for believing himself to have been thwarted by Stone from his rightful place? And what exactly did Stone do to convince Rasgul to allow her to be captain in the first place?”

Lingering so as to allow his suggestions to take hold, Jrudek insinuated, “It is unfortunate what has happened, surely for us as well as you. Yet the tragedy may have another side to it, in that we have come to meet and to deal, with a future of mutual benefit. Iyana would have you know that she likes Luscious, and finds him to be a capable liaison between your kind and ours. Though we have no doubt of your capabilities in dealing with…less than perfect…examples of captaincy, you can see that we are skilled in the matters of handling failures of compliance as well. Particularly in regards to when such failures stand in the way of greatness and achievement.”

[Kel Riever]

When the airlock door slid to offer Jess a view of the Medusa for the first time since she had left, the change that had taken place within was evident, and all-encompassing.  It didn’t even take someone like Essul, who had never been on the ship, a second thought that the interior was nothing of what it was supposed to be.

Cold, blue light came from two lonely, far off points, one to the left and one to the right, in a corridor that the airlock emptied to.  For Essul, he noticed the odd choice of finish for the corridor walls; there were haphazard plates, forced together by an angry welder’s intent, like someone had built the corridor with whatever they could possibly find available.  For Jess, she noticed that there was no corridor that she was supposed to be entering into. 

It was as if some mad child had torn something apart and decided to rearrange the inside of her ship.  The plates of the corridor walls had been sloppily painted matte black.  A closer look revealed the composition of the walls was of heavy crate siding.  Someone had demolished the cargo crates and fabricated the structure.  Occasionally there were other items built into the wall, such as a piece of valued cargo that had suffered the same fate as the crate itself.

Jess knew that the direction she would have to move in was towards the bow, which meant heading to the left.  She knew that they were on the port side of the forward hanger and loading bay area, whatever alterations had been made.  Ahead, the illumination cast a bend at a right angle, heading deeper into the Medusa.  Moving quietly, Jess went ahead while Essul kept watch behind.  Coming to the corner, Jess peered around, seeing another long corridor with another dim light in the distance, and meeting an intersection further on.  The paint of the corridor began to change, however.  Fluorescent red, yellow and blue colors were splattered on walls, floor and ceiling, like someone took buckets filled with paint and threw them against the surfaces.  The effect was as if sick people had vomited the colors as they ran along the hallway.

With no one in sight, Jess and Essul were about to move on, until they heard a scraping sound accompanies by unsteady footfalls.  They waited and watched as the bent over shadow of a figure barely touched by the light passed through the intersection ahead.  He was human, maybe, but his skin was grey in the cold light.  He wore ripped rags over some sort of heavier suit, and his feet were covered in hard boots.  The man’s head was hairless, and covered in large, fleshy bumps. 

There was a moment that the man paused, and peered in the direction of Jess and Essul.  Both pulled back so as to avoid being seen, but not before they caught a glimpse of his glinting blue eyes.  Silence reigned momentarily; had Jess or Essul been spotted?  The answer was evident that they weren’t, as the man hacked out a mucus laden spit glob and dragged himself onward.

[Redbelle]

Jess heard a recurring clattering noise from somewhere and it took a moment to realize, it was her teeth. Her jaw trembled in fury. She'd been prepared to come back to her ship with it's gunmetal corridor's and worn but serviceable interior. When she'd left the ship was a well maintained, professionally organized and well oiled machine. Now though.......

 

It was like someone had let a delinquent child loose and encouraged them to redecorate as they wanted.

 

No, not a child. There would be some function left amid the madness. AS it stood Jess could see nothing that spoke of a creative mind expressing itself. This was more like an ant colony throwing whatever resource it could find into the making of it's hill. Perhaps in another set of circumstances she could applaud the opportunistic determination to use what they had to achieve some effect but this.....

 

The Medusa had been a workhorse ship still in it's prime! This was anything but! The ship didn't need any of this! There was no reason for anyone commanding the ship to give an order that achieved effectively nothing!

 

Fear gripped her as she looked at the corridor's before and behind them in the state they were now in. If those aboard had done this... what else might they have done?

 

"Essul...... I've got a bad feeling about this". She hissed to him. "We've got to get to the main hanger. I think we got the drop on them..... but stay sharp". She thought of the man who'd spat on her ship. "And get your shock prod ready. It seems like I need to start enforcing some discipline back aboard".

 

Bringing Sinbad up again she headed towards the hanger which was close by. The service corridor's that ran along the side's of the ship fed into the main hanger bay where craft and cargo could be received and stored.

 

Jess didn't want to think what she'd find there.

[Redbelle]

Anika had parked her MIP atop the Medusa's ventral hull near the back of the hanger before climbing out, popping the equipment bay, pulling out the explosive charges and began mag stepping over what looked to be the 'side' of the ship and walked down towards the spine.

 

The cargo crate's held on their pylon's to the spine loomed above her as she scanned the way ahead. Normally she'd insist on taking a second with her to keep an eye out while she focused on where she placed her feet. As thing's stood though, she was the best choice for this assignment. The MIP was one man and whoever had the ship had the option of ditching it into the giant. Reducing the ship's mass stood the command section a better than average chance of pulling out.....

 

she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

 

Several minutes later she reached the spine and began to put a foot onto the metal surface when she looked up.

 

She thought she saw light's blinking off in the distance.....

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Iole, take over and land this when the hangar opens." Naleena flipped on the inertial dampers, stood, and grabbed her gear from her locker. "It's nearly time. We'll take this vessel with stealth if possible. If you can't be stealthy, hang back," she said looking at Vayne and Frank. "VERA gave us a com frequency that's not typically monitored, and its encrypted - don't be afraid to use them if you need to. Everyone should have that set on their omni-tools. If stealth isn't possible, you know what to do. You're professionals, and I trust you.

 

"Dahlia, Eteon, and I can stack our biotics and use them to take out enemies. This will save magazines. Everyone get ready, and good luck."

[Terca]

Eteon nodded as she transferred her nightstade and ballistic blades into her left gauntlet from her thigh. She pulled her helmet over her head and muted the external speakers while giving a few basic voice commands and listening to the responses.

 

She put the encrypted channel into her omni-tool and used the projected interface inside her helmet to keep the device dark on her arm. Her jaw was moving underneath her visor as she mumbled nonsense to herself. Not the mumbling of the insane or overwhelmed, the type which is used to stave off the nerves which plagued Turians before a 'hunt' or war. The difference between the democratic idyll of Palaven's golden era and the militaristic fervor of duty and Kantian maxims was broad, but covered easily.

 

Evolution would do that to you when you were a natural predator.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul looked to the walls as he rested his hands on his combat knife, getting a sickeningly cramped and claustrophobic feeling from all of this. The black painted walls, the paint choice made picking out the finer details of the uneven, ridged pannels hard to spot, even for him. The color wall though, the break from the black, had been even more disorienting, and seemed to serve no real purpose in this piecemeal dementia given form other then to exist.

 

As essul looked to jess, he couldn't help but speak his mind, "Captain Stone...your ship...I think its been turned into a kill maze." Essul said as he looked about, getting an eerie sense of deja vu he could finally place and put into words. "In my youth, I was a gladiator, a warrior of sport and entertainment. One event the gladiatorial arena would put forth were kill mazes, a bunch of us were put in a large maze, and forced to fight and hunt one another..." he said softly, even beneath his helmet he wasn't sure if his voice would get picked up.

 

"These corridors remind me of that, and judging by the way they were made and colored, they were not here before..." He said to her as he drew his shock prod, holding it in his left hand while his right stayed on his combat knifes grip, "It could be that where we are going...they could have made it into anything now."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

“This is Emily Wong, Citadel News Net.

 

“Twenty-two years ago today, Batarian Hegemony officials vehemently denied that their government's involvement with the disappearance of a gigantic corpse believed to be a 1 billion year old genetically engineered starship from the planet Jartar in 2163. The Batarians completely denied the existence of the giant ship. However, the denials became even more forceful when a Salarian delegation presented evidence gathered by their Special Tasks Group that showed pictures of the ship that was approximately two kilometers in length.

 

“‘Things that large simply do not disappear.’ Beldras Renan, the head of the Salarian delegation said.

 

“The Hegemony continues to deny the existence of what we now call the Leviathan of Dis to this day.

 

“In other news, tensions between human and Batarians along their disputed borders continued with the Systems Alliance shoring up defenses of their colonies after the failed terrorist attempt to crash an asteroid into Terra Nova two years ago by Batarian terrorists. Acting on anonymous tips, elements of the Systems Alliance Navy intercepted illegal arms shipments allegedly coming from Batarian space into the Voyager Cluster bound for cells in the systems within. Batarian officials deny any involvement.”

[Kel Riever]

Far down the spine of the Medusa, Anika spotted one of the ship’s automated welding rigs as it came into view from behind a cargo module.  The contraption was large but squat, with two mechanical arms, one substantially bigger than the other, and traversing the hull on a track system.  The machine tasked itself with what first appeared to be routine maintenance, but Anika saw something off with it.

The welding rig stopped at irregular intervals, as if to inspect an area with care.  After a brief hesitation, it would produce an alloy patch in the shorter arm, and then proceed to mutilate the patch in some way, whether cutting it with a torch, or smashing it against the hull of the Medusa, before tossing the patch into space.  Every so often, it wouldn’t even bother damaging the patch, instead placing it in front of its sensor eye, then releasing it to drift away with the gravity pull of the gas giant. 

After a minute longer, the welding rig traveled out of sight again, continuing on its aimless path.  Anika saw only the one rig, but knew there were others on board the ship.
 

[Terca]

Widow Nebula

 

The Audron was finally out of port. With the Silaris armor installed and the information from Horizon gathered there wasn't a lot of time which could be spent waiting around. Knowing that fully well the Commander stood on the command deck with the senior officers of the ship. His eyes shifted across the lot and they were carefully looking at nothing in particular straight ahead.

 

"With the recent application of Silaris armor we may continue yet again in our pursuit of the Collectors." He began. "As of current we are immune to the heavy lasers equipped on the light cruiser on Omega. It still maintains the bow strength of the previous kinetic dampeners though the brittle nature of the layering means that more of the aft eezo core will be used in case of kinetic weaponry being used, namely Antigravity missiles. Engineering will begin the simulations once this briefing is over and results are expected within the coming days."

 

"Any FTL restrictions?"

 

"None, not as far as the notes I have been given say.  It is likely that the internal dampening systems will be less effective in LTO maneuvers." Androkan stated before looking back to the group. "Environmental hazards will be an important factor when passage through the Omega-4 relay is achieved. It is likely that the output is near the active zone of the galactic nucleus. When we come into port at Noveria I want a sample of the armor being tested by Torian composites for radiation permeability. It's rated for close solar interaction but not wide-spectrum gamma decay."

 

"Noveria sir?"

 

Deidrus nodded. "The Alliance has passed on that Commander Shepard, a Human Spectre, has been seen associating with Cerberus a human organization connected to Terra Firma, a human centralism organization on Earth. On the galactic scale they are a terrorist cell working against human integration into Council society and undermining opposition to human expansion in regions such as the Skyllian Verge and elsewhere in the Galaxy. We are interested in them for one reason, that is they appear to be sponsoring Shepard in investigating human colonies. If they have any information we do not it is ultimately necessary for us to take it."

 

"Cerberus intel has been intercepted from time to time by the Hierarchy," the XO said, his eyes slightly narrowed. "We haven't intervened in the past as it didn't concern us but there were records kept. Is there anything in the records?"

 

"Our forward stations in the Traverse have been passively monitoring for years and have managed to put together a timeline of movement en medias. Some elements seem to indicate more movement towards the longitude of the galaxy near the Shadow Sea.  If it a mustering then they are farther in their analysis than we are as of current." The Spectre opened his omni-tool and a projection of the Galaxy appeared. "So we are going to be performing investigatory work on Noveria first, investigating a shell company called Elodin-Kawakura which is operating there. It is though to house their re-purposing technologies for the illegal recreation of blacklisted devices. They are not in the registry of Terrorist organizations as prescribed by the Council however as an agent of their will I have the executive right to search the facility."

 

The conversation continued on for a while as to how a Spectre, Turian at that would be able to access the technologies hidden within a Cerberus shell of all things. There was skepticism, critique and concern but there was one shared sentiment, they were pleased to be back in trenches of their invisible war.

[Kel Riever]

The mercenary woman in Scorpion armor worked a series of controls in the engine room of the Medusa.  Golt observed her, mostly disinterested, but there was little else to do.  ‘Rat man’ was assisting the woman, and so Golt was biding his time, thinking about which limb to break to teach the creature a lesson. 

Through her com, the woman was coordinating orders not only with rat man, but with several other mercs spread through engineering and one on the bridge.  “I’m giving a ten-count and then we execute.  Everybody get set.  10…9…”

Golt shifted his position, ready to push off from his sitting position with his legs.

“3…2…1…go!”  The woman hit a control on the panel in front of her, rat man pulled a lever, and the other crew followed through with their functions.  Machinery moved, and the thrum of the eezo engines increased slightly.

“Hah!  That did it,” the woman said triumphantly. “Finally, keeping orbit isn’t driving me insane.”  She glanced sideways at rat man.  “No offense to present parties.”

The distraction was Golt’s opportunity.  He leapt for rat man and grabbed at him.

But rat man was faster.  He jumped up into the piping high overhead, and Golt’s claws scraped along his leg, unable to find a hold.  Rat man pulled himself up with a high pitched scream of fear, but as he clambered high and safely out of reach, he stared back down towards Golt as if to mock him.

“Strength isn’t everything,” rat man quipped.

Golt leered at rat man.  “Only a matter of time.”

[Redbelle]

Jess kept moving, focused on where she was and where she wanted to be to do what she wanted to do helped her ignore the madness of what had happened aboard her ship to the point that she almost didn't see the exposed power cabling running out of between a seam in the packing crates. She almost didn't see an piece of decking that betrayed a tell tale white insulated seal around the bare metal. Surrounded by an environment that looked the same but was off in such a way only her hair's prickling on the back of her neck warned her to halt her step as she looked down and saw a live plate piece of decking she been about to step on. Clad in her armour it was unlikely it would have affected her but nonetheless she felt rage clouding her mind at whoever had allowed people aboard who would allow this to happen to a ship.

 

Taking a careful step around and gesturing to Essul to avoid the plate, Jess made a more careful approach to the main hanger and finally both emerged into the hanger proper onto one of the catwalks that clung to the wall. Jess stopped and looked around but saw no one in sight.

 

She also didn't see everything she'd left behind in this place. Towering stack's of crates secured in place on magnetic bed's were all gone. the bay was an empty and barren place. It struck Jess as wrong on so many level's as a part of her mentally tried to tally who in who would not be receiving their shipment's before abandoning the effort. It would take to long, and wasn't important right now.

 

She and Essul headed down and keeping an eye open for any more surprises Jess made her way to the back of the hanger where the control booth lay. The airlock doors opened. A reminder of a time when the Medusa hadn't had the benefit of Mass Effect fields to keep atmosphere in when the hanger bay doors opened. The door's where half the size of the actual front section, intended to be able to accomodate many smaller ship's or one large one. The rational had long been lost on why anyone would want to transport larger vessel's able to travel under their own steam but the hanger size made using this part of the ship an excellent storage and shuttle receiving area.

 

Jess manipulated the controls while also overriding the warning light's and klaxon's on the inside. She needn't worry about anyone knowing the hanger was opening in other area's. Like most other parts, each area of the ship was independent of outside control. Oda had commented that they could cut costs and speed up operation's by installing network's aboard. Jess remembered rolling her eye's at the suggestion. 'A hand's on ship needs a hands on crew to look after her Oda. She need's eye's to watch over her, hands to operate her..... Networks might make things simpler but it mean's less work for the crew and the sooner you learn it pay's to keep the crew busy and occupied on long haul's the better'.

 

The Mass Effect field generator's surged to life and ran to full power before the door's cracked open and exposed the hanger to the emptiness of space when she detected a rumble through the soles of her feet that long experience told her was the ship's Eezo core sending faint vibration's down the spine of the ship into the hanger module.

 

Something was happening. Jess planted both hands on the console. All she could do was wait for the shuttle to come in.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena saw the shuttle bay opening on the Medusa. Jess was in. She put her hand on Iole’s shoulder and squeezed. Iole began put the shuttle on the approach vector and began burst firing the retros to make a soft landing in the hangar.

 

“Okay, people. Look alive. You know your assignments. Get with your teams,” Naleena said and then turned her attention to her team. “Morgan and Eteon, Dahlia and I will scout ahead. We won’t be that far away from you. Watch our backs.”

 

Eteon nodded.

 

Avan eyed Irina’s secondary weapon like she was insane. Irina pulled her double barrel shotgun out of the weapons locker her and loaded it with two tungsten tri-ball shells, and looked up at Avan. “I like to keep this around for close encounters.” She holstered it on her thigh. Then she checked her Mattock and attached the suppressor.

 

“I thought Naleena said stealth?” Avan asked. “That thing on your leg doesn’t look like stealth to me.”

 

“Well, we might not have the luxury, and it’ll blow a man’s head clean off, and you don’t have to be accurate.” Irina said, “Don’t worry, I carry slugs, too. I fought in the rat tunnels on Torfan. Don’t even think I don’t know what I’m doing.”

 

The shuttle touched down inside the hangar without incident. Dahlia hit the door and opened it. The commandos exited first and secured the perimeter followed by Naleena's team, then by the Engineering team.

[Kel Riever]

The group in the Shuttle deployed out into the hangar bay of the Medusa.  Morgan watched several people move out ahead of him, then Eteon and he stepped out, sweeping towards the sides and checking the rear.  Morgan slipped past Iole who was near the door to the shuttle, arcing her Hellbringer machine gun on its harness.  Iole gave Morgan an 'all clear' hand signal.  With his Kovalyov at the ready, Morgan went on, spotting Jess and Essul across the hanger to his left inside a control booth. 

This is a bunch of bulls**t, Morgan thought to himself as he saw not one sign of struggle that had occurred in the bay.  It was so unexpected, Morgan searched back and forth around looking for at least one body, not that it didn’t take him time.  The interior of the hanger was a haven for the bizarre.  There were two Kodiak shuttles at rest on the deck.  One looked functional but the other looked like someone had pulled it apart just to see what was inside.  There were crates bolted down in the strangest of places, blocking the bay from efficient use, creating walls where there should be nothing at all.  Lighting overhead was feeble and cool, with the whole room covered either in black paint, or a regurgitated fluorescent splash mess.

For a moment, Morgan caught a glimpse of what he thought was Jess suddenly close to him, about three meters away.  Then he realized it was Dahlia, wearing the Captain Silver outfit.  Through his recon hood’s subvocals, Morgan said to her, “Who doesn’t post a guard at the front door?  Not even one person taken out to clear this place?”

The whole thing stunk.  There wasn’t anyone that he had worked with on Iyana’s crew that would be inexperienced to the point of not to keep an eye on the main hanger.  So there needed to be a reason.  Morgan crouched low by one of the bolted down crates for a moment, trying to figure out what it might be.

[Terca]

"This is in no way right." Eteon said to herself inside her helmet as she finished scanning about with her helmet. Nobody was there to greet them. When she had been there long ago it was easy to see how someone could be corralled into a terrible position against their will. Crates and crap would have made this entire part of the ship an impressive, deadly, ultimately effective trap. But it wasn't. It was just empty.

 

Two reasonable outcomes. One, the entire ship is the trap. By allowing us to roam freely we instantly become entrenched in a place we don't want to be. That means that should she try to ditch the place we get tossed into the atmosphere. Seems a bit too simple for this woman if she's as insanely clever as she has made herself out to be. Now would be the worst time for her to show a practical streak. She took a deep breath and then refocused. Or she's making art of this making her into the psychotic distant relative of our own Jess Stone. That particular connection wouldn't have proved popular, so she kept it to herself. The art thing bugged her though. It's better to be cautious and sound incapable than be brazen and fake it.

 

She made her way over to Morgan slowly, scanning the room as she moved to him. Kneeling near the crate beside him she spoke directly to him through her helmet.

 

"Your Lyana... She wouldn't happen to be the type to like art would she?" Eteon asked, nodding to the paint and the wrecked shuttle.

[Cknarf]

"So far, so good." Frank mumbled as he stepped from the shuttle. "Holy hell, who was in charge of the interi--" He spotted the UT-47s.

 Kodiak.

"Dibs." He took a step towards the shuttles, before stopping himself, and falling back in behind Irina.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan looked to Eteon, the glowing light blue lights of his recon hood still shining.  He hadn’t gone to full dark mode, as there was no sense yet with the bay doors opening.  In fact, the flashlight under his Kovalyov was on; Morgan was more worried about seeing what was out there with his eye than relying on his electronics.  And he wasn’t concerned about being seen, yet.

“She’s always had a flair for the extravagant, but I don’t think the paintjob qualifies for that.”  Morgan stretched the fingers of his trigger hand before placing them gently back into position. “Of course I can’t really tell with her.  And no guard at all?  I don’t know what bothers me more.”

Jenus was behind Eteon and Morgan, though forward of the shuttle.  She remarked, "F**k this crazy b**ch.  I wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in her the second I saw her."

[Terca]

Eteon nodded. "I ask only because in threat assessment training people who like art rank rather high on the risk scale. There seems to be a sort of correlation between people with fine tastes, insanity, and the probability of being ingenious in all the most unpleasant of ways."

 

She herself had the lights around the inside of her collar on, if only dimly. Her hand was near her right thigh in case she needed to draw her weapon but was otherwise relaxed. She briefly considered mag locking it to her hip but decided against it. Having the weapon closer at hand put her at ease. She glanced back at the rest of the group before rolling her shoulders again to keep loose. It worked, but there was a stiffness in her lower back which wasn't easing.

 

A tense pause.

 

"Very suspicious." Tallis chimed from near the shuttle. "Very Suspicious."

 

Eteon chuckled to herself hearing the odd Asari. She finally relaxed a bit. "Well, ladies and gentlemen. And unisexuals. It's time to make the first move."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena shuddered at Eteon's remark about art. "Eteon, I like art, and I'm not crazy."

 

"But I'll bet you are ingenious in unpleasant ways," Eteon remarked.

 

"True," Naleena replied. "Well it's that time. Let's go, Dahlia. I think night vision would be better in here."

 

(and I'm tired and going to bed now - sorry)

[Redbelle]

Seeing the people deploy out of the shuttle Jess's hands hovered over the hanger controls, then withdrew them and turned to leave. Better to leave the door's open for the pilot, she thought. Normally she'd have insisted on having them closed when they weren't in use but the circumstance's now were far from normal.

 

The hanger control room was close to the catwalk leading upto the spine and on exiting she turned to climb up and onto the metal structure. Up and up until she came to the door's and she peeked through the small window in them to see if anything lay up ahead.....

 

"Guy's.....". She commed. "There are people roaming the service corridor's near the hanger's exterior hull..... but I think we have a bigger problem to deal with".

 

Jess turned her attention back towards the spine's walkway and sighed. Why..... Just..... For the love of everything holy!!! Who does that!?!?

[Kel Riever]

Through the portal on the door to the spine, it was evident that the main thoroughfare through the ship was blocked off.  How it was blocked off was what had Jess reacting the way she did.

Perhaps only three meters within the spine walkway was the masked and red robed form of Captain Silver, staring at the portal but immobile.  Covered in the robes, it was hard to verify, but it looked like a manikin had been set up, with one arm hidden beneath the robes, but the other pointing onward. In another two meters, a wall of indeterminate thickness, who’s facing construction was a large, outer hull repair plate, reached to seal the passageway on all sides, and appeared airtight.  A stone slab leaned against the wall, nearly reaching the height and width of the hall, and words had been carved upon its surface.  They read:

For those coming aboard, please refer to the rules manual on how to act.  Notably:
How to address Iyana.
Luscious is the Captain.  Do not eat him.
Not to walk on all fours.
None escape.

Oh, and if you are Jess Stone, welcome home!

The carving was rough, as if made by a novice, with hand tools.  Around the stone slap were hand prints, mostly darkened reddish brown, but some of varying colors.  It was as if the prints were made with bloodied palms and fingers, and clearly not all were human. 

Off to one side, on a makeshift stand, was a hand communicator.  Hanging from it was a sign etched on a piece of ceramic that said, “Call for assistance.”