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[Cknarf]

"That's so crazy, I can smell it."

[Looks to camera]

[Kel Riever]

Iyana had Luscious walk ahead of her to the bridge, and he felt her eyes watching him from behind.  The corridor to the bridge was reconstructed into a hardened, tall hallway with faux gothic like decor, and had become the only way for someone to access the ‘throne room’.  On the way, they passed the two mercenaries who regularly served Iyana.  “Prepare the reception!  I want everything to be perfect,” Iyana ordered, and the two mercs went past them in the opposite direction.

When Luscious came to the bridge, he noticed it had become somewhat crowded, between mercenaries and the ill-begotten crew that Iyana had brought aboard.  A few of the crew were manning controls.

“How did they get here?” Iyana asked the minute she placed foot on the bridge.

One of the mercs answered, “We did not detect them entering the system, but from our information, we know that the Janiri likely stealthed in.  Smaller craft also must have used detection avoidance.  The forward bay has been opened.”

“And the Khukuri”

“Running silent, no contact as per your request, and no signal from her indicating she has been found.”

Hesitating as if something was amiss, Iyana spun to face Luscious.  Her eyes bore into him.  “Get in your chair.”

Luscious hadn’t noticed until Iyana drew his attention to it, but the captain’s chair was unoccupied.  He ascended the low dais it was raised on and sat down as he was told to.

Iyana examined the viewscreens displaying data.  “Activate the timer for the charge on the spine, and get me the engine room.”

One of the deformed crew typed a command into her control console, while another merc handed Iyana an old-fashioned wired headset, plugged into a panel.  While Iyana put the headset on, the word ‘charge’ finally pierced Luscious’ half-drunk state.

Putting his ringed hands on the captain’s chair arm wrests, and leaning forward in his bulky greatcoat, Luscious exclaimed, “What?”

Iyana held up a finger as if to shush him, and talked into her headset.  “Golt, are you down there?  I just got a last bit of information on the people who are coming aboard and am sending it to you for distribution to the mercs.  Don’t worry about sending it to anyone else, they won’t care.  The boarders are all skilled; you’ll recognize one of your old krogan friends.  Pay attention to the little information we have on their star player, Naleena T’Sarius.  She’s the asari Spectre….I can hear you breathing heavily in excitement you beast.”  Iyana stopped to cackle.  “All right, put everything into action, and have Amatheniet activate the course Jrudek set.”  Iyana removed her headset, then spoke quietly to the merc next to her.  She was downloading information from her omni-tool onto the bridge computers.  Luscious caught a glimpse of what looked like some sort of dossier on one of the readouts in front of them.

Then Luscious felt the Medusa shudder as the main thrusters fired.  Familiar enough with the navigational displays, Luscious saw the course of the pirate vessel was changing, and it was careening towards Vem Osca.  “Everybody has fifteen minutes at most,” Iyana informed, “You know how this works.”

Luscious couldn’t help but blurt out, “Iyana, the Medusa is heading too directly towards the gas giant.  She’ll be caught in her gravity well, and she is incapable of atmospheric flight.  The Medusa will disintegrate."

Her face igniting in rage, Iyana whirled, stepped towards the captain’s chair, and slapped Lusious across the face with her gauntleted hand.  He was thrown to the side of the chair, stunned, injured, and in fear.

“You are the captain of this ship!  You are going to save her or she is going to go down in flames!  And if you can’t kill your former captain and her deplorable companions then you and this ship have no worth to me or in this pirate fleet of Kings and Queens!”

Luscious thought the crew present would laugh at him, or sneer, or mock him.  Perhaps he even thought they’d look on in pity.  But each of them either ignored him, or there were even a few who looked at him with an odd sort of respect.  Not understanding, Luscious found himself inquiring of Iyana, “If I am the captain, then who are you?”

“Why your first officer, Luscious.  Or the XO in some fleets,” Iyana answered, a smile replacing the visage of rage, “I, however, prefer the term ‘first mate.’  Maybe ‘best mate’.  And everything is under control, Captain.”

Iyana then turned to another merc.  “Are the cannons ready?”

The merc was seated at gunnery command.  “Yes my superior.”

“Then fire.”

The merc looked confused, “My superior…at what target?”

“Anything and everything!”  Iyana threw her arms out towards the viewscreens on the bridge.  “Let loose!  The Janiri is somewhere out there!  She may be invisible but she can be hurt if she is close enough!  If she is not, she will not want to be.  Fire this b**ch vessel’s weapons and give our new arrivals an ovation!”  

[Cainhurst Crow]

"I can corrall them..." Vayne said as he held the firestorm in one hand, bringing up his free hand as he brought up his omnitool, flamer forming from it just so he could get more then one stream going. He wasn't about to let a damn krolli do him in, the indignity and shame alone were enough to motivate him, even as much as self-preservation.

 

"In case I can't though. I got something that could help." He said as he motioned down with a quick tilt of his head, showing the incendiary and concussive grenades on his belt. "I wanted to save them, case I ran into a familiar face. But I'd rather use them on the krolli and whatevers in that room, then have either rush us when they're done."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"That was...quite impressive, if I say so myself." Essul said as he saw the aftermath of the biotic detonation, taking care not to step in any of the remains as he moved up with the others. The asari were impressive, their ability to coordinate and exploit the properties of mass effect fields in combat was quite something to behold. He found himself with more respect for both of them then he had the whole of the mission previously.

 

Essul looked to captian stone as she worked with her drone and his attention instead went to morgan. He looked to the human curiously behind his helmet as he gave a bemused chuckle, "I have been called many things, Morgan Severn. But SMG is a new one..." He said to the human, giving him a tilt of his head in respect, "That was a good plan you formulated."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

“I’ve got a couple of incendiaries and frags, Vayne,” Irina replied as she kept an eye out for them. One of them jumped to another vantage point. “We’d better make our mind up fast though. I don’t think they’re going to keep their distance very long. I’d rather have them attacking our enemies rather than us wasting thermal clips on them.”

 

Vayne grunted and nodded in agreement.

 

“Okay Avan, you’re with Vayne. I’ll stay with Eteon and Frank. Frank, open the roll-up door so these beasts have a place to go,” Irina said as she grouped with them. “Be ready. We’ve not had any resistance yet, and I’m expecting some heavy resistance in the next module.”

[Terca]

With the animals being suppressed by Vayne Eteon was free to move towards the other wall's door, and she did so post-haste.

 

Making sure Irina and Frank were close by she split some of her attention between where she was going, where the team was, and checking for any of the furry bastards which might dive in their way. Fortunately internal systems did quite a bit to make sure things moving towards her were audible. Even then Irina was keeping an eagle's eye out for anything amiss, her shotgun close at hand should she need to put a blast into an ill-fated beast.

 

The distressed animals were too focused on Vayne and the arcs of flame leaping from him to make any chase at first, though the more intelligent ones that were staying back 'just in case' were starting to move alongside the bizarre outcroppings on the wall above the trio.

 

Reaching the door Irina saw the access panel and dashed towards it with Frank to keep him safe while the Cabal whirled to check behind them and on the status of Vayne and Avan.

 

Unfortunately, by the fluke of animal luck, when Eteon had turned she found herself face-to-face with one of the beasts. It had been hiding in the shadow between where two almost rocky formations created a 'V' opening away from their line of sight.

 

It charged, quietly as if to prevent anyone from noticing it was there and grabbed Eteon by the shoulders in an attempt to pin her against the wall. Irina saw this and was about to raise her shotgun but lost sight of them in a small purple flash. A moment, then Eteon reappeared crouched low to the ground swearing quietly.

 

Slam! Slam!

 

The noise of the animals fists smashing into the door from the other side echoed for a moment though eventually the sound was swallowed by the roar of the flames. She stood, whirled, slammed her fist into the wall with a blade extended and managed to pierce through. She took a step back before turning to face the opening in the room.

 

"Should I still..?" Asked Frank when he heard the sound of the fists on the door, he had missed the interlude between the animal and Eteon but could easily tell whatever was on the other side meant serious business. He hesitated even when Eteon nodded, though an anguished scream from the other side caused him more pause.

 

"It's dead." Eteon promised through a few gasped breaths. She wasn't used to dragging something a like a short hairy krogan any distance through a warp without meditating first. She picked herself up only to throw herself back down to the floor when Irina shot over her head at another Krolli which had used the distraction to try and attack from the side. It still tried to get up despite being struck solidly in the chest but stayed put once a round from Eteon's carnifex struck whatever was beating in the hole Irina had shot through it. "So that's what hunts a Krogan. Terrifying."

 

While they were doing that Vayne was slowly but surely pushing the Krolli from one side of the wall to the other, pushing them until they were all starting to move, if slowly, towards the three near the door. He had a sort of determined grin on him as the singed beasts numbering twelve started to become irritated and throw refuse at him. Bones, a rock, all harmlessly bounced off his armor and head plate while he pushed them farther.

 

Finished, Frank opened the door a foot then let it shut to make sure the door was operating as per normal. "It's working..." His eye caught the hand of the Krolli that was on the other side. It had landed underneath the door somehow and was keeping it slightly ajar. What was most bizarre was the fact that despite the fact it was probably dead, the hands were shaking like electricity was pouring through them.

 

"Neat?"

[Kel Riever]

Out on the Medusa’s hull, Anika saw the welding rigs make haste towards the storage points they put themselves in when not being used.  At the same time, large plates on the hull began to open, plates meant to hide the short ranged but powerful guns on the pirate vessel.  Cannon, meant to take an enemy by surprise, came out of the covered recesses they dwelt in and deployed for firing.

Inside the Medusa, warning klaxons and lights were set off, the kind Jess was well familiar with, indicating an impending ship combat.  Seconds later, through the antiquated audio system of the ship, a voice confirmed the type of alert for those who had never heard it before.  It sounded like a young woman, with a soft, disarming tone.  “Battle stations.  All crew to battle stations.  We are at condition red.  All crew report to battle stations immediately.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“What is going on?”  Commander Selani asked aloud.

The navigator on the Janiri answered, “Captain, the Medusa is deploying weaponry and firing.”

“At what?”

“At…everything.”  The navigator scanned her displays.  “Captain, the ship looks like it is unleashing every piece of ordinance it has, firing in all directions.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Burn you bastards. Burn in a bath of hell fire..." Vayne said aloud as he kept the heat up, alternating between the firestorm and his own flamethrower omnitool to conserve fuel, and make sure the krolli couldn't pick up any openings in the fire. Keeping a constant stream would let them sneak around it, but this method kept them cautious and on their toes, making it easy to shove them through.

The ships alarms and alerts, along with the familiar muted boom to vayne, made him look up in alarm. "What the hells going on?" He asked as he looked up cautiously to the ceiling. Could their ship have been spotted somehow? Or was this just more mind trickery.

==================================================================================

"What in the name of Apae'domak is happening?" Essul questioned as he heard the alarms, looking to jess for answers as he felt the ship jolt a little with each blast from the weapon system. It was like the entire ship had decided to dump its munitions out, and essul had a feeling he wasn't going to like why.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I am reinforcing our forward shielding, although the dispersal pattern of the barrage makes it an extremely small probability that any of the projectiles are on a collision course with us, Commander," VERA said.

 

Selani sighed. "In other words...."

 

"In other words, I am taking precautions in the event they get extremely lucky, Commander." VERA explained.

 

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Selani asked.

 

"I will make note to keep my dialogue simple with organics in the future."

[Terca]

Hermes' Spite, Noveria    Previously

 

 

The nature of Noveria made outposts necessities. Despite the amount of money many of the corporations based there had on hand it proved more difficult than initially thought to move materials from the scattered spaceports. In the upper climbs of the mountains the winds ploughed through the tops of the valleys like crashing and thrashing trains, and at the bottoms of the gorges and basins massive piles of snow and ice shifted under the massive weight of the new condensate packing on top. As such, even the most gilded of research firms preferred to use outposts, like Hermes' Spite, as a form of keystone in their supplies. Built in the bridges between mountain ranges and solidly defended against the cruel elements the research materials, rations and fuel cells were all carried through to various destinations. To many humans it was a callback to the time of yore when the ancient colonies had to trek miles for food and water... Clean food and water, that is.

 

The advent of heavy land carriers made such treks more accessible, and the fact many of the outposts were dressed as high-class hotels ruined the 'rustic charm', but the fancy remained, valid or not.

 

Androkan had arrived a few hours ago by a ERCS transport. The Turian head of operations was notified beforehand of the Spectre's arrival and had sent the APC ahead of time. The Spectre had paid his thanks by extranet and accepted (if reluctantly) an offer to test some of the standard weaponry being developed by Elanus at some point in the future. A necessary evil, though Deidrus understood the reason why he would be asked. A relatively young Spectre, Turian at that, Armiger furthermore, made him a prime subject for determining the strengths and weaknesses of Elanus weapons for the Hierarchy. Effective and cheap weaponry which always worked... But lacking in specialization. 

 

He stood now in the cue for Elodin-Kawakura's corporate check. It was done up like many of the other exit points in Hermes, formal, plush in a way, and utterly not to the taste of Deidrus. He made a few pointless observations to pass the time since he had no willingness to converse with the shifty-looking humans who regarded him with distrust.

 

Proportionally speaking, the number of human artefacts is high. 

 

No asari make use of these low-density body armour compliments.

 

None of these people remotely constitute what would be called professionalism.

 

Noveria was hardly a place that embraced the multicultural nature of many other corporate hubs in the galaxy but most companies that had more than a single species in mind made sure to have something to their historical aesthetic. This waiting room of sorts was covered in odes to the Celtic and Japanese traditions, from what his omni-tool told him. They hardly complimented, and to him though the Celtic arts seemed at least somewhat more militaristic they were formless, more haphazard. The Japanese was much more regulated in style but was too delicate. Like someone had chosen two different styles at random for the room without researching either. It felt like it was particularly developed to make any alien wish to exit as quickly as possible.

 

Which based on their mantra is particularly possible.

 

EK composites claimed to be leading in disruption materials for personal use, effectively cloth armour. It was supposedly the more utile form of protection for people living in the terminus against stray rounds and the such. The type of armour was not uncommon, though with the relatively low cost of manufacturing more rugged composite armours they were hardly preferred by anyone bar Asari, who even had that as their standard among commandos. The fact that there was no Asari representation, even a lack of Thessian fruit (often considered a standard gesture of hospitality), was bizarre. Asari also had morphology so similar to human females that it was hardly a stretch for at least some members of that species purchasing supposedly 'high end' fibres here. The answer to that, was somewhat glaring if subtle. Online, the answer was fairly obvious. While many human women had come to embrace the Asari stylings in clothing the reverse wasn't quite the same and the content of EK's catalogue was obviously, even to a warbird, quintessentially human.

 

Somewhat without subtlety but few would question human centralism here.

 

Finally, no business-person visiting a secure development facility wore security-grade kinetic barriers.

 

And now the knowledge of agents of the hierarchy working during the unification wars is given to me. He thought to himself dryly as his name was called with obvious displeasure. Standing he walked to the counter, flanked on the left and right by his sentinel and havoc. He barely noticed it, and neither did the other Turians, but the natural predatory nature of their species was showing, and more than one human was sweating under their collars.

[favoritehookeronthecitadel]

"That's not good.", Avan commented during the alarms.

 

Vayne was eagerly looking around. He looked just as ready to fight as ever, but he, like everyone else, were a bit worried about all of the projectiles that had been dispersed from the Medusa.

 

"Well, that was weird." Frank said.

 

Irina made quick contact with the Janiri "Commander, VERA, are you seeing this on your end? It appears this ship just used every line of defense. In other words, it just shot out everything. Be on alert!"

 

"I'm well aware of the projectiles that have been released." VERA replied. "It appears that they were shot out in random and aren't being targetted anywhere. I've reinforced our forward shielding in case we do possibly get hit by one of those. However it is unlikely at this time. Thank you for your concern."

 

Irina smirked at her well-meaning but purposeless concern of the Janiri's safety. "Well, alright. Step one is finished. Now let's continue on. This is where it gets hard."

 

"Y- you mean it wasn't hard before?" Frank asked.

 

Vayne gave a small chuckle. "Let's do something that's actually a challenge."

 

"So what exactly are the Krolli going to do? Will they really be attacking the others?" Avan asked.

 

"That's the plan." Irina replied.

 

They moved forward as they heard several shots of rapid fire and screaming. Slowly walking through the Medusa, they reached 2 pathways. On the right, several of Iyana's crew were running. "Look! It's them!", one of them yelled. They 4 of them immediately open fired.

 

The group took cover. Vayne ran at 2 of them, the 3 fought as the 2 men tried to take down Vayne, one of them being a man and the other a batarian, the batarian attempting to stab him with their omni tools and the man climbing on him. The other 2 in the hallway kept shooting at the rest of the group. Irina carefully shot at them several times, but their shields took it. "Stay behind cover!" She screamed at the group. Frank seemed determined to fight, but had no problem complying with her demands. 

 

Vayne grabbed the screaming human by his neck as he dropped his rifle and stopped his attempts to fight, and the Krogan lifted him up in the air and swiftly threw him at the batarian, throwing them both backwards. As they quickly stood up, Vayne ran to them again and, before they could make another move, grabbed both of their heads and smashed them like pumpkins. 

"Not even a scatch." Vayne smirked.

 

The other 2 were continuing to fire their shots. "I've got this." Avan calmly said as he turned on his advanced shielding, and rolled past the cover, in front of the 2 henchmen, one appearing to be a batarian and the other a turian. Avan was a bit surprised at the scene but spun in the air, quickly dodging the shots that would've impacted his shield and jumped backwards at the floor, laying down and taking out his Phalanx, shooting at their heads until their shields went out. Avan then shot at the heads and chests as they both slammed backwards, pockets of blood exploding like water baloons from every shot and bouncing the bodies up and down, almost making it seem like they were still alive. The corpses didn't stop moving until Avan stopped firing, by then what remained were 2 unrecognizable bloody pulps. The group looked at Avan, who looked back, panting a bit.

 

"Well, they're dead, so I suppose that worked." Frank observed as he looked at the carnage.

 

"You want to make sure they're dead, sometimes." Avan said as he regained his posture and breath. "Shots through the head don't always mean they're done for."

 

"Well, if nothing else, I think it's a safe bet that these 4 are dead." Frank said as he started pointing at the bodies. "Especially that one. And that one."

 

Irina cleared her throat. "Alright, well let's keep movin-"

 

"There they are! Kill them!" More of Iyana's crew had entered the scene.

[Kel Riever]

"Captain, the Medusa is accelerating and altering course," the Janiri's navigator exclaimed, "It is heading for the gas giant!"

Selani balled her fists.  "What is she doing?  Committing suicide?"

VERA answered using the bridge audio, "The Medusa's course is not optimal.  On its current course, it will take fifteen minutes for the ship to be caught in Vem Osca's gravity well."

"Send the information to Naleena," Selani ordered, "And ask her what she wants to do."

[Redbelle]

With the welding rig's having returned to their docks, Anika took the opportunity and stepped forward, her magnetized boots clunking against the spine's metallic exterior. She moved fast, just not as fast as she'd have liked and came to the edge of the device.

 

Bomb.

 

Someone had beaten them to the punch it seemed and laid there own device here on the spine. But for what purpose? The obvious answer and the only one that made sense to Anika was to do what they were doing. Laying a just in case plan down should event's spiral out of control. In which case, should she disarm?

 

Her job was after all to make sure that explosive's were laid to sever the spine and that was already done by the occupying force on the Medusa......

 

But.

 

But right now her own people were moving through the spine towards the command module. If this thing went off right now it would be preventing them from getting into the ship. An overcompensating manoeuvre when other's existed that wouldn't destroy the ship but.......

 

Then she felt it and saw the plane of the gas giant below increase in size.

 

Goddess, they were doing it! They were actually doing it! They were diving the ship into the giant just like Jess said they might!

 

Her hands reached up and pulled a panel away from the housing as she ducked her head down to examine the wiring.

 

The likelihood that this device would be needed had just gone up. If that was the case then rather than disarm it, she aimed to do as her profession demanded.

 

She was going to steal it.

[Kel Riever]

Jenus and Tallis were bringing the rescue from Jess’ crew back.  They were lifting him on what was called an Athame Cradle, the modern asari version of a stretcher which was a specialized, rolled up netting carried in their first aid kits, until it was used.  The Athame Cradle netting then expanded, and strengthened so that the wounded could be carried.

The rescue had kept quiet, either from shock or the conscious knowledge that noise could bring trouble.  Jenus and Tallis had almost made it back, when they encountered what was supposed to be an intersection they crossed on their way to Naleena’s team.  Instead, they were facing a T-section.

“Wrong way?  Wrong way?”  Tallis asked.

“Put him down for a second,” Jenus responded.  The two asari gently laid down their rescue, and Jenus looked left and right.  She then touched the wall in front of her.  “I’m sure this was the right way.  We didn’t get lost.”

Tallis drew her Disciple shotgun and scanned behind them.  Deep within the ship, the rumbling of what could only be the main thrusters made the floor vibrate slightly.  A steady thumping accompanied the rumbling, which had both asari guessing the Medusa’s guns were active.

Jenus peered closer at the wall.  “What the…this passageway was sealed!  Look, here’s the seam.”  She placed both hands on the wall and pushed as hard as she could, but it wouldn’t budge. “They blocked us off.  How?  We didn’t come across anyone…that we saw.  I could set a charge, but it would make noise.”

Though the light was low, Jenus had her helmet with image intensifier activated.  There was the smallest flicker to her left and she spun with her Disciple ready.  Down the corridor she saw a hunched over man in rags, with fleshy bumps on his hairless head, aiming an assault rifle at her.

“Goddess…”

There was a strong hand grabbing Jenus’ shoulder and she was yanked safely back into the stem of the T-junction as the hunched man sprayed bullets.  Jenus was on her back out of the line of fire, with Tallis crouching low and next to her.  Jess’ crewman was also out of the way, lying flat and against a wall. 

Tallis pointed the barrel of her Discile around the corner and shot twice.  More automatic fire answered her and she ducked back out of the cross section. 

“Mira,” Jenus called on her com as she got to her feet, “Do you read?”

“Affirmative,” Mira’s voice came back.

“We hit a delay on our way to you.  Taking fire from what looks like one attacker.  We’ll have to get closer to him to take him out, but we can handle him.  The problem is the corridor.”

“Come again?  What’s the problem?”

“The corridor, it’s been blocked off.  Anyone coming back to the ship’s forward bay should know the enemy is moving things around.  They may not be able to get back the way they came.”

“Got it, Jenus.  I will relay the message to the teams.  Are you sure you two have this on your own?”

Jenus observed as more shots were exchanged between Tallis and the attacker.  “I don’t know what the void we’re fighting but I’ll let you know if it gets worse.”  For once, Jenus didn’t have a brash reply.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Boss, the Medusa's orbit has destabilized. It has been put on a decaying path and will enter Vern Osca's gravity well in approximately 14 minutes. I recommend haste." VERA said in her communication to Naleena.

 

"Thank you." Naleena said. "All teams. We have to push forward. VERA informed me that this ship is going down in about 14 minutes. Mira, what's your situation?"

 

"Jenus and Tallis are blocked off. There's a wall between them and us." Mira replied.

 

"Can you get a fix on their position?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Fire a low power shot from the laser turret and cut a hole in the walls to their position. It will say 'low power' on the panel." Naleena said. "Make Jenus and Tallis are prone. It should cut a hole through the walls easily."

 

"Copy that."

 

"Jess, is there a path outside the ship where they wouldn't be hit that the shuttle could travel near the hull?" Naleena asked.

 

"What are you thinking?" Jess asked

 

"Plan C. The shuttle is equipped with a UV Laser turret that might be able to cut through the hull of the ship on the bridge," Naleena said, "They need to begin this maneuver soon. It's your ship - you tell them where and when. Time is getting short."

[Redbelle]

"Grud Dammit"! Jess cursed. "No cutting holes in my bloody ship! It's not a cheese! It's a.... wait a minute. Are you recording everything we're doing so far? Visual and audio? Are we getting what we're doing down on record here"?

[Cainhurst Crow]

"...I'm recording..." Essul said as he raised a hand up, looking to jess curiously, "Standard protocol for SIU is to have visual audio logs. The systems built into my armor..." He said as he tapped one of his shoulders, showing the place the tiny, near misable camera was kept, armor plated and made to blend in near seamlessly. The hegemony was a parinoid state, and it distrusted its own agents as much as it did outsiders.

 

"Why?" He asked curiously looking to her, unsure of what it was she was getting at.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Of course. Isn't that standard OP?" Naleena asked.

 

Jenus came on the line to Mira, "Negative on the laser fire! I've got this."

 

"Copy. Mira said.

[Redbelle]

"Glad to hear it"! Jess grinned as she toggled her own recorder on. "Make sure you capture everything. If we get through this we'll need it. Good news folks, we're not far from our targets. If we move fast we can grab control of the ship and get her stabilized. Also good news..... I released a drone that scouting out ahead. Anything that's a target should appear on your omnitools. Keep a look out for anything hidden from it's scanners and we should be able to make better time......".

 

"Bad news...... We're on a clock. And this whole things stink's of a setup. This whole thing feel's staged and we're performing to a script written by someone whose got control of my ship. Get the bridge and engine room back! Frank! Your on Engine room duty! I'm heading to the bridge. And don't mind me but I've got a call to make".

 

Jess set her comm to receive only even as she scanned the hand unit's frequency and put it on her comm. Then made sure that the hand unit's channel couldn't overhear what came through her squad frequency.

 

"Shut it down Iyana, I'm here. Your not proving anything by putting the ship in danger. Your in control! Pull the ship out and we can talk about surrendering it back to me".

[Kel Riever]

Up in the Medusa’ bridge, the merc who had given the wired headset to Iyana pointed to his hear and said, “It’s her.  She’s on the line.”

Iyana snatched the headset, and studied it for a second as if she was holding a miniature version of Jess herself in her hands.  She then placed the headset on, put the mic in front of her thin lips, and in a sultry voice, said, “Hey baby.  I’m really excited you came over.  I’m sorry about treating you so rough but I can’t stand to wait any longer.  Hurry up, okay?  I need you to show me what you’ve got.”

[Redbelle]

Jess's brow furrowed. "Iyana, you've put the ship into a collision course with the gas giant. We all know it. Pull the ship out of the dive now. You don't have to put the ship at risk to get to me".

[Redbelle]

Outside the ship Anika had finished stripping her own detonator and was busy examining the bomb's detonator. It looked simple. A signal would simply trigger the device meaning it could go off at any time. Her plan was to sever component's and reattach the parts of her detonator with theirs. Only she didn't know what kind of tamper proofing it had been given. If it had been given any at all.

 

First things first.

 

She examined the airwaves and found no signal going to the bomb. That was good. A constant signal would have perhaps meant it was on a dead man's switch where the absence of signal would trigger a detonation. She pulled out a signal jammer and set it up. Whispered a quick prayer to the goddess, and switched it on.....

 

Nothing happened. At least from the bomb. The jammer on the other hand began throwing out white noise and jammed all the airwaves. Breathing a sigh of relief Anika looked over to the exposed circuits. Time wasn't on her side so she couldn't take long. Like as not this would have to be a quick, spit and duck tape job.

 

Checking under, and then unseating the circuit board, she examined the connections, checking for interrupt circuits and backups. It looked so simple and straightforward though.

 

Surely nothing was ever this simple.... could it be?

[Kel Riever]

The minutest tinge of annoyance rode the pitch in Iyana’s tone. “You’ve got the wrong person, Jess.  I’ll be putting you through.  One moment please.”

Iyana pulled the wired headset’s jack out of the control panel and her nostrils flared.  Her face was taught, and she ran her fingers through her hair rapidly.  “Luscious, Jess Stone wants to talk to the Captain of this ship.”

With a turn to Luscious and her eyes glinting, Iyana went on, “Your moment of truth is here.”  Iyana’s voice dropped into deep alto notes, “I want to see a man who is in charge.  Who deserves his title.  Your plan, the one you said before, it requires that Stone get herself up here.  Your Best Mate, recommends you tell Stone to bring her boyfriend along, and your Best Mate also recommends you address the problem of the Spectre, who might make the mistake of thinking she’s on Omega.”  Iyana stepped sideways, sat against the corner of the panel, and offered Luscious the headset. 

The crew on the bridge stared at Luscious.  He stood up, wavering slightly but steady, stepped off the low dais and towards Iyana.  With a nod, Luscious took the headset, put it on, and inserted the jack.

“Jess Stone, you are to answer for what you’ve done.  Your attempt to seize this vessel with your boarding party is nothing short of mutiny.  As Captain of the Medusa, you get your *ss up here to place yourself before my mercy immediately.  Tell your Spectre this ain’t Omega, and to stand down with her people.  And bring your boyfriend along.  Don’t think we won’t see through your tricks, Jess, you sure have plenty.  But if you give two damns about Rasgul, or the Medusa, you’ll do what I say, Jess Stone.

“And when you show your face, Stone, you’ll address me in the proper and give me the respect you never have.  You’ll call me Captain Luscious and you’ll bow on your knee.”

[Redbelle]

Jess stared at the hand unit in her hand. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Something was working it's way up her throat. Something that tugged at the corner's of her mouth until finally..... she laughed.

 

She couldn't stop laughing. she actually felt herself go over till she was doubled where she stood and had to place her hand on her knee to stop herself from tipping forward and she felt her eye's leaking tears of mirth that reminded her that it was a bad idea to cry in her helmet that was hidden behind a mask.

 

She slowly brought herself under control and shook her head. "Luscious? Funny how your alive, most of the crew is dead and we've managed to save one who was being eaten alive by a cannibal. You call yourself a captain? Where are the people I left here? Dead. As captain, that's down to you. Is the ship fit to carry out it's duty to the K&Q? NO! IT ISN'T! That's down to you! Did the ship continue it's assigned duties as a vessel of the K&Q? As the so called captain of this ship, NO! You did not! Have you taken any step's to secure this ship to from the boarder's who are running it into the atmoshere? I hope so. Because if not that mean's your the one who ordered the course change which mean's you just put the bloody ship in danger and FOR WHAT"?

 

Jess breathed heavily and found that her laughter had given way to cold, calculated rage. "If you were the captain you'd know you don't need me on that bridge Luscious. If you any kind of man at all, you'd know that the ship is in danger and do everything in your power to save it. Just like Rasgul would. Just like I am following the example he left you and me on what being responsible for others means. Remember your brother Luscious. He wouldn't want you to do this to the Medusa. If your being coerced, or if they've threatened you, don't worry. Just sit tight and I'll come get you. If you have any real power order the course change back out of the atmosphere. Save the ship"!

[Cknarf]

((99 % Terca))

And while Iyana was talking dirty to Jess, the engineering crew was going into another firefight.

 

It was obvious due to the lack of misplaced bodyparts and semblance of formation that they had managed to push through the outer area of the ship where the mutants roamed. Now, they had the trained mercs to handle which was almost welcome to Eteon. She would take symmetrical combat to the bizarre creations of faulty genetics nine times out of ten unless it was a space-cow completely composed of prime rib taste. She could get behind that.

 

And that's actually what she was thinking of as she paused a half second to meditate into biotic focus before dodging a hard right. The center of the room was set up in near-comical trench positions. One side had their low wall to hide behind, the other had theirs. In the middle sat the pulp that used to be the men Avan was shooting at.

 

There were seven more mercs, dropping to six when a Krolli that had escaped detection dropped on a humans head with such velocity that it tore the helmet (and half the poor man's face) right off in one motion. The loss was swiftly replaced with a flash of blue as a small, spherical object smashed into the animal's ribcage with such velocity it flew clear into the pit. Surprise marked all faces behind helmets or not as a Volus' signature voice called out;

 

"Krolli down *hssk*. You know the drill *hssk* kill these bastards and *hssk* collect the cash!" The rest of the people taking up positions along their wall gave an 'oorah'.

 

"Spirits they actually exist." Eteon said, not even bothering with using the encrypted channel, instead using her external speakers. "Volus vanguards. They're real. I thought that was an urban legend." She shook her head as she slid to the low wall along with the others, though Vayne was forced a bit farther to the right so his larger form would fit in the blind spot the rising wall created when it met the shell of the container.

 

Avan could be heard snickering some distance away from Eteon while one could hear Frank rhetorically questioning whether the round species should have access to biotics in the first place.

 

"Look alive!" Irina called as a recon mine was shot above their heads. It was too flat to be a charged one and immediately she called it out. "Sensor mine, They see us easily now but it can't be detonated for effect."

 

"We need a distraction." Vayne called as the mercs started sequentially laying down fire now that they could see those fully obscured by hard cover. Vayne was being pinned by a revanent doing nothing but filling the air beside him with bullets. He pulled out a grenade to toss but as he brought his hand back to throw it a shot clipped his hand causing him to nearly drop it. Hastily he deactivated it and growled, anger in his tone. "Careful with the Volus. Kick it too hard and it'll croak but they're cagey with tech."

 

"Vayne!" Eteon called from the opposite side of the trench. She held up her arm behind her quickly in a catching motion and nodded. The Krogan looked a bit skeptical but nodded, lobbing the grenade unprimed overhand towards the Cabal who leaped up, caught it, then leaned down again. Eteon then looked to Irina who grabbed a grenade off her own armor. "Staggered, left then right."

 

Irina nodded before priming and tossing her grenade to the left of the opponents wall, a pause, then Eteon threw her own. When they stood Avan and Frank provided covering fire for the pair so they would only take a couple glancing rounds to the shields and also bringing some much needed relief to the pressure on Vayne.

 

The explosives detonated, tearing through the left then right sides easily. Though there was high damage a few of the mercs picked themselves back up off the ground with minimal damage. Actually, all of them did except for one of them.

 

The reason was obvious after a moment. The shrapnel of the fragmentation grenades was suspended in the bubble shield of the Volus who was standing on top of the ledge, arms spread to the side like some great wizard.

 

"You'll need to do *hssk* better than-" As soon as his bubble collapsed Frank took the shot and pierced through the shoulder of the Volus, the rapid depressurization causing him to uncontrollably roll to the right away from the mercs. There was a sound of wheezing out of sight though the shock in the mercs was nearly audible across the room. "Meeeeercyyyyyyyy *hsssssssksssks*"

 

They moved back behind their wall but a loud thud caught their attention. During the commotion they hadn't noticed Vayne vault over the low wall and approach their own. He made a polite throat-clearing noise.

 

"Suppressing fire." He called out with a grin as he activated his flamer and began suppressing the mercs. With fire.

 

A few seconds later the rest of the engineering team were on their way into the next cargo hold. 

Frank hung back for a moment to find the Volus who had actually been air-pressure launched into a corner. "****..." Frank mumbled. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the pathetic creature, as he tried desperately to roll to his feet. Frank took a knee next to him. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-- well I did, but I didn't... dammit..." He lowered his head.

 

"Human... *hsssssssk*." He tried to get Frank to come closer, to which he acquiesced. "I'll kill you!"

 

In a last ditch effort to get Frank, the Volus used the rest of the suit emergency pressure to launch out the front of his chest-plate, one of the areas with highest pressure. The sound was oddly like pulling the top of a tin of fish off and smelled a bit similar as the piece of metal soared up into the air. Frank caught sight of a pink, wrinkly, almost pig-like body before the plate came down again, landing heavy-side down on the Volus, squishing him.
 

 "A**hole!"Frank jumped back and scrambled towards the rest of the group, wiping volus residue from his visor.

He shuddered, as he tried to clear his mind of the naked volus being f*cked up by his own explosive suicide discharge. It's not something that one could easily forget.

That was NOT okay.