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[Kel Riever]

Morgan watched Jess talking.  He knew it was bad.

~ ~ ~ ~

Luscious felt a stinging pain within himself worse than Iyana’s slap.  He felt his eyes well up and then tears.  His fingers, laden with gold rings trembled and he clenched them.  His suddenly salivating lips trembled, and sobs threatened to burst from him.  Sobs that would soon take an outward manifestation. 

“She laughed at me.  She’s laughing at me and talking down to me.”  Luscious looked at Iyana.  “You did the same.”

Iyana slowly let her eyelids relax.  “Yes, Luscious, but who did what you asked for?  Who made you captain of your own ship?  Who, when it was all said and done, took you seriously?”

Luscious, hurt and humiliated, pumped his fists and yelled into the headset.  “You listen to me!  You listen to me Jess Stone!  You don’t tell me what to do!  I’m in control here, you see?  This ship goes where I want and if that’s into a sodding gas giant then that’s where it goes!  That crew of yours!  That so called crew!  They were all traitors!  I’ve got a new crew now!  Yeah, and I’m going to tell this ship where she goes.  You don’t like that, Jess, do you?  You don’t like not being in charge, do you?”

Face sweating and pain turning into blind fury, Luscious spat as he went on.  “You turned my brother against me, you witch!  Oh, you pretend to care about this ship, but you won’t do what I say to save it, will ya?  WILL YA?!  Know what I did to that traitor you found here?  Go ask him!  And go ask him so you know I’ll do worse to you for what you did!  You’re gone, Jess Stone.  GONE!  Tarballs got a new Captain now!  Got a new ship.  Got a new crew!  And when he sees what I’m going to do, ME, the Captain, it’s gonna be like you never were around.  Never, the way it shoulda been!

“The hell with you Stone!  The hell with you!  BEG for mercy in front of me or I’m gonna do to you what I’ve been meaning to do for a long time!”

There was a pause.  Luscious’ nose had started running and he wiped it with the sleeve of his great coat.  He clenched his jaw and sniffled.

Iyana raised an eyebrow.  “Well, you didn’t have to mention that Tarballs bit, but good show Captain.  I’m impressed!”

[Redbelle]

Jess took a deep breath. "Luscious..... Rasgul would never let the ship come under threat. Look at where you are now. Your on the bridge? In the seat? That's where your brother sat. He'd sit and watch and plot the ship's course and take us to places we never knew about. He charted our course through to the future. For all of us......".

 

"Why are you still talking to me Luscious. Why aren't you looking after the ship? How long has Iyana had her claws into you? Did she tell you she's give you everything? That she'd simply hand over the ship and all aboard"?

 

"What happens tomorrow Luscious? What happens when this is over? Will she still let you sit in the chair? If you gave her a direct order, would she obey it? Would she obey two? When tomorrow comes what will she be then? I know you and the cannibal's, the vandalisation we're seeing. Your brother had this ship in fine working order and when he told us to go, we went. If your the captain, prove it. Order Iyana to take the ship out of the gas giant's gravity. Tell her to get you a cup of coffee.  Command her! I dare you! I double dog dare you! Look..... into her eye's..... And ask yourself..... whose really in charge! And ask yourself this...... Before I came aboard, would Rasgul accept what's happened here"?

 

Jess closed her eye's and breathed. "C'mon Luscious. you know the drill..... Test Iyana and see if she step's out of line. I'm betting she ordered all the damage done to the ship. Make... me believe you can command this ship and crew. Command her"!

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Jess, just try to see that Luscious survives this. I'll flay his mind for you when I'm done if you want," Naleena said. (+1 ulcer for Morgan)

 

Naleena motioned to Essul and the others to take positions near entry to the fourth module. Essul and Naleena on one; Jess, Morgan and Dahlia on the other. Essul got a glimpse of the arsenal inside Naleena's coat: two Carnifexes, a Kassa Locust, an antique SIG 9mm, throwing knives, magazines, thermal clips, grenades, and two wakizashis sheathed on either side of her waist. Everything in holsters, sheaths, or individual pouches to prevent rattling and clanking.

 

"No wasted space, eh?" Essul commented, "Swords?"

 

"Just in case we run out of thermals and ammo. It has happened to me once before." Naleena said.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Understandable. I am not one to judge. After all..." Essul said as he raised his cazador in a ready position, holding it aimed towards the ground, "I use whips..."

As he waited, he looked to the asari, the silence broken by a akward and forced sounding muffled cough, "Soooooo....mind flaying?" he asked, unsure if she was serious or not. He had to admit, after hearing the exchange, he would be up for that to happen, and then some. A coward who would disgrace the dead and spit upon their deaths so readily, should not be suffered to live.

But still, he could never tell with such an ageless species as the asari, if they were being facetious, or literal.

[Terca]

The final pod the Engineering group walked into was probably the most psychologically challenging arrangement of things discerned by man or beast.

 

It was painted a single shade of matte brick-red and the floor, walls and ceiling had nothing on them. Only a single light hung from the ceiling swinging side to side lazily though with the type of paint being used it cast no shadows. The entire group stepped towards the light but kept their guard up as they made their way. Eteon had her audio-sense on for maximum sensitivity, Irina's eyes were tracing every contour for a movement, Avan and Vayne kept their hands on their guns while Frank was just happy that this room didn't seem to contain anything, though the sticky Volus innards were still funky. He couldn't smell them but he was sure he could. Somehow.

 

The group of five then passed the light.

 

And nothing happened.

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

Eteon turned back to look the way they came but there was no mutant alien to block their path nor irate Volus claiming that he was a biotic god of some sort. Just the way back to the charred remains of the merc squad. Even her audio-sense was doing nothing to help her detect some enemy sneaking about. She growled quietly to herself but said nothing aloud, though her sentiment was shared with most the others unhappy with a room which was empty.

 

Vayne couldn't help it as a chuckle brewed up within him, coming out as a bit of a nervous giggle as he looked about the room, shoulders slumping and a small smile playing on his face.

"You know...for a second there, I thought we'd be in for another fire fight..." he said as he held up his omnitool, giving a small laugh at the pun. It was clear he was nervous, and his nerves were getting to him a bit, but the truth be told-

"This was nice..." he said with a nod of his head, finishing his internal thoughts aloud, "Nice way to catch our breath."

 

Eteon nodded, hesitated, but also relaxed a bit once they had arrived at the airlock that lead into the main region of the Medusa which held the command deck and Engineering. "Let's just hope they forgot to post soldiers next to doors of the engineering bay."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena's eyes were like that of a predator. "When I interrogate him it will not be by questioning, and it will not be a gentle meld. He will resist. This will require other measures that are usually not done. I will require assistance; someone to restrain him," she said, "We are going to kill Iyana, yes, but she has a network I'd like to know about, and he might know something whether he remembers or not."

 

Naleena switched to thermal and scanned the module. The mercs were set in position behind cover. "This is going to be a son of a b*tch to get through. There's a group on the right above on a platform and they have cover. They can't see us now. They'll shoot down on us when we enter. Another group straight ahead behind a barricade. And another group of five on the left behind another barricade. These are pros and they probably have thermal vision. Cloaking won't work. And in this module there is not much in the way of cover.

 

"Essul, I need you to cover me," Naleena got on her communicator, "Dahlia, I think our only hope is to clear the group behind the left barricade. That's our only cover. I'm going to have to use some heavy artillery. Ready a biotic charge to take position right after it and clear out anything remaining there with your shotgun."

 

"Got it." Dahlia said.

 

"Morgan, Jess, Essul and I will cover you while you sprint over there. Dahlia do you still have that other flashbang?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Give it to Morgan."

 

Dahlia handed the grenade to Morgan. Morgan knew what to do - flashbang the room before sprinting. Timing was going to be critical. And this was going to take a few seconds because Naleena was not going to cut loose with her full power. From what Morgan had said, she knew she would need that for Iyana.

 

"Okay, now Essul!"

 

Essul fired his SMG wildly at the center barricade and Naleena targeted and threw a warp on one of the defenders on the other side of the far left barricade, then ducked behind cover while her Savant X amp recharged.

 

"Ready, Dahlia?"

 

Dahlia nodded.

 

"Essul!"

 

Essul fired again, and Naleena yelled, "Now!" and let loose with her Flare targeting the one she laid a warp on. The biotic detonation took out that one and two more. That left two remaining behind the barricade. Dahlia charged one of them, staggering both, and let loose with a nova, killing one, then turned and fired her claymore at the other one, hitting him in the abdomen. His eyes showed a look of surprise as he crumpled to the floor. Dahlia ducked behind the barricade as the mercs on the platform began to fire down on her.

 

Morgan flashbanged the room and he and Jess sprinted across to Dahlia's position.

 

"Can you work that magic on the one's in the center?" Essul asked.

 

"I need to conserve energy for Iyana. But I can do this." Naleena hit one with a Dark Channel. Dark Channel spreads like a disease and consumes health and destabilizes molecular integrity weakening armor.

 

"Great plan, Naleena. We're pinned down," Morgan said.

 

"Could you distract one, Morgan?" Dahlia asked.

 

"What?"

 

"Pretty please?" Dahlia asked.

 

Morgan raised his pistol up over the top of the barricade like he was going to come up and fire. One of the mercs popped out of cover to fire. Dahlia saw him and hit him with her pull. A dark energy field enveloped him and pulled him off the barricade and into the air over the middle of the module, pulling the molecules inside of him apart, whereupon he fell to the floor when the field dissipated.

 

"Thank you." Dahlia said.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul holstered his gun on his hip as he brought up his omnitool on his right arm, while his left hand glowed and shimmered with biotic energy. His attention was to the group on the above platform, aiming his submission net launcher towards the cover, he waited as one of the mercs popped their heads up from the cover. Essuls omnitool charted the path of the projectile, developing the arc based on the mercs position as he aimed high and fired.

The electrical glob of material flew out and upwards, soaring as it was guided along its path and suddenly changed trajectory, arcing downwards and onto those behind the cover. The electrical conducting and dispersing glob bonded with the mercs armor, coating it like net and sending out electrical currents into the surrounding area. The center merc sprang up from his cover, covered in the adhesive material as essul threw out his left hand. A mass effect field shimmered into life, shooting forward like a harpoon as it snaked rapidly towards the merc.

The field struck the merc in his center of mass, expanding out as the field condensed the air around him, turning the funnel of surrounded air into a dense, solid rope, while also slowly reducing the mass of the merc it surrounded. Essul's hand tightened as his lash found purchase, grunting out a battle cry as he pulled back hard, and the merc was dragged forward as if by some supernatural angered spirit in a cheesy horror vid. The submission net detonated, sending a massive pulse of electricity surging forth and striking the mercs surrounding him, sending up screams of surprise and pain as the merc went flying through the air like a out of control kodiak.

The mercs ark sent him flying right into the side of a nearby wall, flying headfirst as his neck seemed to compact into his armor, helmet going a full 90 degrees to his chestplate before the merc fell to the floor, gravity now affecting him once more as he lay crumpled and unmoving, head twisted the wrong way and helmets faceplate developing a noticeable crack along the forehead.

Essul let out a deep sigh as he rolled his neck, reaching down and redrawing his submachine gun as his hand continued to glow with biotic energy, gathering a warp field to use on the neck person unfortunate enough to pop their head out of cover.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Biotic, eh, Essul? I'll teach you to work with Asari. Do you see where I threw that Dark Channel? Do you use Warp?" Naleena asked.

 

"I can." Essul replied.

 

"Stack it."

 

Essul let loose with his warp on the hapless merc losing health behind the center barricade. It detonated and killed the merc, the one nearest him, and injured the one on his right. Essul smiled.

 

Naleena threw another Dark Channel across the way and the mercs pulled out. It looked like they changed tactics, and were going to flank Jess and Morgan.

 

"Morgan, you have tangos incoming from behind." Naleena said, "Essul, now is our chance. There's three up top. Naleena pulled out a frag and pulled the pin. Rush it!"

 

Essul knew what to do. He ran in with his SMG and fired at the platform causing the mercs to duck and take cover. Naleena followed him into the module, turned and threw the grenade up and off the wall behind the merc and it dropped among them on the platform. They tried to jump out of the way. The grenade exploded killing two, and the survivor tried to scramble off the platform, but Essul fired a burst that ripped through his helm splattering his brains on the wall.

 

"Nice shot!"

 

One of the mercs that Naleena thought was going to ambush Morgan, fired from cover and hit Naleena in the shoulder. Her armor absorbed the round, but she was knocked off balance and in a graceful move she dropped, rolled and drew her SIG and fired hitting the merc in his forehead. The other two mercs met their ends with Dahlia's claymore and Morgan's pistol.

 

"You alright?" Essul asked.

 

"I'm fine," Naleena replied, "It's just my armor has some metal in it. My coat has a hole in it however, and Iyana will pay for that."

[Kel Riever]

Luscious put his hands to his wet eyes.  “I’m so confused.”

Iyana’s head tilted ever so slightly.  “What is she telling you to do now?”

His face wet with sweat and tears, Luscious heaved out a breath and moved his hands to the sides of his head.  “You said I am the captain.  I am the captain.  Captain Luscious.”

“But of course you are.”

Luscious looked at Iyana, fear in his face.  “Then you’ll do as I command?”

Her eyelids lowering in suspicion.  “Do not risk what we have, Luscious.”

“No.” Luscious said, then lowered his arms to cross them in front of himself.  He looked childish, defensive and scared.  “I want you to get me a cup of coffee.”

“Did she try to get you to do that to me?  Is Jess trying…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luscious said, doing his best to keep his voice from trembling. “I want you to get me a cup of coffee.”

Iyana tensed and stared hard at Luscious.  Her chin rose slightly, as if in defiance.  With one arm, she knocked a punch into the merc next to her.  He stumbled a step backwards, taken by surprise.  “Break out your field amenities.”

The merc hesitated a second, then as if remembering suddenly that his life was on the line, he removed the small field pack on his back, put it on a nearby console and started rifling through it. 

Luscious looked on fearfully as the merc pulled out a small alloy cup, a thin disposable packet, a tiny pillbox and a water bottle.  He tore open the packet with brown powder, poured it into the cup, and added water to fill it.  Then he placed a tablet from the pillbox in, and the water bubbled slightly. 

“Give it to me nicely,” Luscious said, sure that he would be struck down for his insolence.  He didn’t notice he had taken a step back and his whole head retreated on his neck.

Iyana picked up the cup from the console, and held its as the contents were then steaming from the added tablet.  She held still, as if having a moment of introspection.  Briefly, she looked as if she was going to be sick.  Her nostrils flared once again as she glanced at the cup, and then she became extremely poised, in fact forcefully so.  With a steady hand, she slowly and fully extended her arm with the cup.  Two steps to position herself, and Iyana stood before Luscious with her offering.

There was the sound of combat from the other end of Luscious’ headset, but he paid it no heed as the vision who had come aboard the Medusa stood in front of him, giving him what he had asked for.  Still waiting for some trick, where he would be punished for his insolence, Luscious took the cup with a still trembling hand.  As he seized it, however, his hand stopped shaking.  Iyana’s baby blue eyes were staring into his, disarming, safe.

A haughty snort escaped Luscious.  He took the alloy cup while watching Iyana, put it to his lips, and drank.  The coffee was hot, watery and bitter.  Luscious gulped hard.

“Anything else, my Captain?” Iyana asked innocently.

The edge of Luscious’ mouth twitched in a smirk.  He drank the rest of the coffee and tossed the cup aside.  Shaking his head, Luscious addressed Jess through the mic in a gravelly, alcohol laden way.  “I’m through listening to you, Stone.  You do as I say or you and your friends are gonna suffer like you never believed you could.  Clock’s tickin’, Stone.”  Luscious took off the headset and handed it to Iyana.

Iyana turned away from Luscious, to face the fore of the bridge.  Her head lowered, her jaw tightened, she closed her eyes and her nostrils flared again.  When she recovered, she put on the headset, adjusted the mic, and spoke tersely,  “That’s good, Jess, you savage.  I want you to give me more, you hear me?  Bring them all, your Spectre, your wonderfully tall bedmate, your companions, and my damn property.  Give me everything you’ve got!”

A light giggle escaped Iyana then, as her speaking changed abruptly.  “Baby, you get to me sometimes, you know that?  I wish I could have met this man, Rasgul, you keep trying to be.  He sounds like someone who needed better, though.  Did you get him killed, baby?  Because I know how you felt about him, and it makes me wonder why you try so hard.  Did you get your Rasgul killed?  Go ahead, talk to me about it.  I’ll give you the last word.”

[Redbelle]

Jess's hand gripped the hand unit so tightly the casing could be heard cracking as she maintained a steady voice.

 

"Rasgul? You don't know? He tried to go it alone one day to keep the crew safe. He walked into a lion's den and hoped at the very least, he could protect his crew and ship from harm.....".

 

Jess started striding in the direction that the team had gone. One hand on the butt of her pistol as she looked for any the group might have missed. "Did you give Luscious his cup of coffee? Has he ordered you to do more yet? You know, when I met Morgan you had him trembling just at the thought of you. A few week's with me though, and he's grown out of the shell you boxed him into. That probably why you killed my crew and installed a puppet captain. You can't hurt anyone who comes at you in a group. Not as you'd like. Any one of us you could probably turn but en masse? You've got no power. Whereas the more people I have with me the stronger I become". Jess's eyelid's drooped in a self satisfied grin. "Hey.... you didn't forget to add sugar did you? Luscious likes his coffee with sugar. Did you do the bare minimum or did you take a moment to think how to best serve him when he rolled you"?

 

"It won't stop you know. Show Luscious a little bit of what he want's and he'll try and get more and more of the same. You can't beat his desire out of him Iyana. It's who he is and you showed him he can have what he want's..... I hope you remembered the tray. And let him milk his own coffee to taste. Maybe later he'll ask you to fetch his slipper's. Won't that be nice? Iyana, the terrible and feared, ordered around like a common house hold pet and made to sit up..... roll over..... Beg".

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Good to hear. When you do, make sure to do it by the stitch." Essul commented as he stepped back from naleena, giving her a bow of his head after hearing she was alright. A second later and a look crossed essuls face, as he quickly gave a deeper bow to naleena. "It was out of my place to give commands to you. My apologies." he said in a rather rushed, and somewhat fearful tone.

 

He rose out of it when he heard jess approaching, and talking, and hearing her words of unity and the mocking she was giving to Iyana. "Is goading the Fasta Vaas is wise, Captian Stone?" Essul asked as he looked to her, concern evident on his face.

[Redbelle]

Jess muted the hand unit. "Wise? No. Fun? Hell yes...... I know what your thinking Essul, but she's waiting for the surrender. She arranged all of this. We're doing exactly what she want's and she's loving the control. Basking in the way we have to react to the situation. I think she want's us to get to the command section. She want's to see us and she want's me to see what she's done to the ship so she can hurt me more..... Well..... If her perfectly planned scenario breaks down around her, she's liable to make a mistake. Slip up somewhere. Forget something she should be doing. The longer we talk the less time she has to work against us".

 

With that Jess sighed. "Funnily enough, the only wild card here is Luscious. Iyana's done something to him, I'm sure. He was all passive aggressive, to afraid to come out of his shell. Well, Iyana's brought the worst aspect's of him out. Did you know? Before Rasgul died he was going to be an artist? He had hands that could turn a canvas into a masterpiece. Then when Rasgul died he threw it all away and became fixated on having the ship. The last piece of Rasgul that meant anything. Only he didn't have the temperament. He'd have ruined the ship name and made the crew destitute. We all knew it back then. Why do you think I stepped up? It was to spare him the pain of trying to live up to a legacy when he could have gone out there and created a future of his own..... Excuse me".

 

Jess turned the hand unit back on. ".....Hey, maybe you try your hand at serving tea to the bridge crew next! Don't forget the bone china! ......you didn't break that too right"?

[Kel Riever]

Iyana's breath became shallow and controlled. A slight perspiration built between her upper lip and nose. With practiced, over-managed movements, she took a fine cloth from a belt compartment in her amor and dabbed the moisture. Then she raised a finger to the air and rotated it. The crew around her moved into action.

"I do what I must, Jess," Iyana said coolly. "You interfered, without finding out what you needed to, and that is what began everything. Morgan is my fault. But you should never have gotten involved.

"After all of what has happened, I suppose I should thank you. Without you I might never have found out about the Kings and Queens. Or the knowledge would have been relegated to some insignificant broker.

"Don't you sometimes wish it had gone differently, Jess? But you can't change, even if you wanted to, can you? And what makes us unlike each other is that you can't appreciate what I've accomplished, the promise for your beloved ship. Yes, with Luscious sitting in the captain's chair. The future is for people who think before they act, Jess. Now say your last and show me if you can live up to that surname that can't have been given to you at birth."

Behind Iyana, Luscious sat back down in the captain's chair, mumbling, "I'm the Captain. I'm the Captain." Iyan half glanced over her shoulder, then turned forward once more, breathing softly and steadily.

[Redbelle]

Jess blinked a few times and took in her surroundings. "Um, luv? I don't know what you mean when you said I interrupted something. The hell of it is, I don't have a clue what you and he were up to beyond the fact Morgan didn't want to be with you. That's all I needed to hear when you interrupted us. And then you pushed me, sicced your mutt on me and attacked Morgan and you ended up with a round in your foot. This? I call this an over reaction. Your not well Iyana. There's something wrong with you. I saw it in Morgan and now he's out from your clutches hes getting better. I see it in this ship, what you've done to it..... It's not right. And now you've got your claws into Luscious and somehow convinced a man who you say sit's in the chair that running a ship, his brother's legacy, into a gravity well is the best thing he can do for himself".

 

"Your interested in the K&Q? You should be. I've not been around as long as most but it's always fascinated me how much it can get away with and still operate. Heck, the Citadel council practically endorse us! So as the only card carrying member of the K&Q, I'll make you this offer......".

 

"Turn the ship around. Let Luscious go. Surrender yourself and your forces and I'll do everything I can to help you overcome this..... sickness of the mind you possess. The one you spread to everyone whose lives you touch. I can forgive you..... but you have to want to be forgiven. I'm offering this to you as the only legitamate member of the Kings and Queen's aboard the finest ship that you seized and descecrated. Accept and I'll show you the mercy of the King's and Queen's. Turn me down..... and you better believe that the next time we meet I won't be caught off guard and you.... will.... know..... my wrath".

 

Jess heard static and she waited a few moment's before adding. "C'mon Iyana. You as much as admitted you wish things had gone down differently. You know.... somewhere deep down that this is wrong. That doing business this way is not moral, principled or justified..... This is lashing out. Don't be the destroyer. You can change". She paused for a heartbeat. "Did you know Luscious paint's? I had one of his piece's in my cabin. His hands and his mind are one's of an artist before he threw it all awayto pursue a dream that was out of his reach. Look a thim now Iyana..... After being with you for so long..... does he look like a man who could pick the brush back up and create beauty again"?

[Kel Riever]

Iyana's people were moving out or were distracted enough with their tasks that they didn't notice Iyana move the cloth to the side of her eye. She exhaled heavily and reached towards the plugged in headset jack. Her hand hovered over it in a regretful pause. Iyana knew precious seconds were slipping away. Then, with another sigh, she pulled the jack and disconnected.

"Stone is not going to give in," Iyana said to Luscious without facing him. "What would you like me to do with her and the party she is with, Captain?"

Luscious, only partially present as his mind was occupied with a world unto himself, rambled as if awoken by the song of Iyana's voice. "Bring 'em down bring 'em down bring 'em down bring 'em down..."

Recovering and placing the cloth back in its compartment, Iyana said more to herself than Luscious, "See, I knew you'd come around."

[Redbelle]

Jess shook the hand unit. "Hello?.... Hello? Are you still there"? She banged the side of the unit a few times. "Your not ignoring me are you? Hello!?!? You hung up? She hung..... She hung up on me! Me! That little witch! It! Is! ON"!

 

Pulling Bernard and Sinbad from her hardpoints she hurried ahead to catch up with the group, then breezd pass them to their disbelief. Her drone had already marked two target's ahead and as Jess rounded a corner she led with Bernard and fired, sending one toppling backward, as the round hit him in the stomach where his armour failed to stop the executioner's awesome power.

 

The other turned his gun on Jess just as Sinbad came up and he managed to get off a single shot at her silohette before Sinbad drove another round in just below his right eye socket. Jess thudded up against the wall she been aiming towards, ready to push back towards cover as she held Sinbad steady, looking for any tihird target her drone might have missed.....

 

No return fire came and Jess relaxed to pull out her slagged thermal clip from Bernard and replace it with a fresh one. "C'mon you lot stop dawdling! Anyone would think you want to live to see a ship hit a gas giant...... I'm pretty sure it's not but... you know.... I've been wrong before"!

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"You heard the woman! Charge!" Naleena ordered. She drew her dual carnifexes, AP rounds equipped. Then glanced at Essul, nodded, and the two of them ran after Jess.

 

A merc popped out of cover to take a shot and Naleena fired three rounds alternating from the right and left pistols, that struck him in the chest, face, and shoulder. She saw another on her left beginning to emerge and knee capped him with her left pistol. Essul finished him.

 

"I didn't want you to feel left out," she smiled.

 

Another merc was in mid air jumping down to tackle Jess, and Essul witnessed the sequence in slow motion... one shot after another ripped through the merc as he fell in a bleeding mess onto the floor three feet behind her.

 

"You're welcome!" Naleena shouted still trying to keep up with the determined Captain.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Come on!" Irina shouted. "We gotta move!" She drew her Mattock off her back for the more rapid fire as they entered the fourth module, flipping her weapon to burst fire, a mod she'd done to it (like Zaeed in ME2), laying down covering fire as they entered. "Go! Go!"

 

Vayne charged in and took cover with Irina. Avan, Eteon, and Frank were behind a barricade on the other side.

 

Irina got on her com. "Suppressing fire. Vayne and I are going to try to flank them."

 

"Copy."

 

"Frank, keep your head down. Throw a frag or two. Pull the pin, count to three then throw." Irina said. "Vayne, ready that Firestorm. Let's go cook some mercs." She drew her shotgun.

 

Eteon and Avan laid down covering fire the best they could, and Frank threw a grenade as instructed. The grenade fell short in front of the barricade but it gave the mercs something to think about. The ducked behind the barricade and took cover as the grenade exploded. Seconds later, Vayne and Irina came around the wall on their right.

 

The mercs saw it. "Good God!" shouted one of them.

 

"Guess again!" Irina said. (+1 Arnold one-liner)

 

It was a scene out of hell with flamer fuel and fire covering the screaming mercs as they scrambled to their feet to flee, and Irina firing shotgun rounds into the ones who managed to get to their feet.

 

The module cleared. Engineering was next.

[Kel Riever]

The mutated man with the gray skin and fleshy bumps on his head roared as he pinned Jenus by sitting on her and with just one of his arms.  He was too heavy for her to push off, and she tried to strike him anywhere vulnerable, an eye, his throat.  He swung with his free fist down at her head, and she yanked it out of harm’s way.  He pummeled the deck underneath her and he raised his fist again.

Jenus had tried everything she knew…a lift grenade, a biotic charge, a short range blast into his head with her Disciple.  Tallis had done the same, but a shot that went through her barrier winged her and she had gone down.  Maybe she wasn’t as strong a biotic as Naleena, but Jenus was strong enough, stronger than most commandos.  Yet this mutant had survived her attacks, gotten into close combat, and taken her combining his strength and his own strange brand of biotics. 

Helpless, Jenus wondered if this was how she’d meet her end.

A shadow moved over the mutated man, and he began to look distorted, as if a hazy film prevented Jenus from seeing him in detail.  His face twisted in pain, and Jenus knew he was being warped.  The shadow moved to his side, and into the hall’s dim light.  It was Tallis.  She bled from her shoulder, but put her Disciple next to the mutated man’s head and shot.

The barrel within centimeters of the man’s head, no shield, biotic or otherwise, was going to save him.  He died instantly, but his thick-skinned head stopped any projectile from exiting.  The man’s head collapsed like a deflated balloon and bled out.

“All done.  All done,” Tallis said, as she helped Jenus roll the dead man off and to the side.

Her commando leathers torn during the fight from the man’s substantial strength, Jenus got unsteadily to her knee and caught her breath.

Tallis kneeled down next to her.  “Okay?  Okay?”

Jenus smiled and gently pat Tallis on her good shoulder.  “They don’t want us to have an easy time leaving, huh?  We better let Mira know we’re all right, blow that blocking wall, and get Jess’ crewman back to safety.  Can you make it with your wound?”

With her hand, Tallis gingerly felt the area around her shot shoulder.  Medigel had staunched the bleeding and done what it could to hold the wound.  She winced at the look of the injury, but gave Jenus a wink and a nod.

[Kel Riever]

Twice, Morgan had gone into his ‘zone’ during the combat through the cargo modules, and he fought off the fatigue of entering such a state.  He watched Jess and Dahlia moving ahead with their red robes and their guns.  He observed Naleena as well, though she seemed to move inherently more silently.  The entire fight Morgan had not communicated, but with a moment to breath, he gave a bow of his head to Essul, with his head tilted to the left.

With the group moving on from the last cargo module on the starboard side, they entered the crew area in the aft of the Medusa.  It hadn’t undergone as much of a construction alteration as the rest of the ship they had seen.  Whether that was because Iyana’s people hadn’t gotten to it yet, or out of some purpose for keeping this part of the ship mostly the same, Morgan couldn’t tell.  But it was still dark, and painted mostly black.  The area of the ship looked like it could accommodate a large compliment; Morgan guessed up to one hundred.  Within would be the standard amenities of supporting life in deep space.  The engineering area would be below and aft, whereas the bridge would be high. 

Back to his Scimitar shotgun, Morgan moved in.  He noticed an error message appear in his heads up display indicating his com was being jammed. 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

A high pitched piercing sound shot through Irina's headset while Eteon was talking and then she heard nothing... nothing but the sound of her feet and her gear, and the sound of Vayne moving next to her.

 

"Our coms just went dead. Did you hear that, Vayne?" she said in a voice muffled by her rebreather.

 

"What?"

 

"Ah, f*ck it!" Irina pulled her rebreather off her face. "Our coms just went dead. Something is jamming them, and according to VERA we're on an odd frequency, so this has got to be broadband jamming. This sort of sh*t happened to us on Elysium when the Batarians set off localized EMPs to disrupt coms." She continued to move forward. "I can't imagine they did that otherwise it would fry everything on the ship. So it must be some kind of jamming device. There's the ladder over here down to engineering."

 

Irina stopped at the ladder. "We're volunteers on this, and I think we're at a point of no return here. Anyone who wants to go back to the shuttle, may your ears turn into arseholes and sh*t on your shoulders. You're on your own. I didn't come all this way to run. Anyone leaving? I didn't think so. Frank, you stay with Avan up here. Vayne, Eteon, and I'll establish a 'beachhead' in Engineering, then you two come down.

 

"Sh*t! No coms! Uh, just give us two minutes then slide down the ladder and take cover.... somewhere."

 

"How will we know if you survived?" Frank asked.

 

"Just don't think like that." Irina replied. "Avan, drop a flashbang down the ladder. After it goes off the three of us slide down."

[Cknarf]

"Time isn't exactly on our side." Frank tapped at his wrist. "This is an unfamiliar ship, and the schematic is a goddamn mess. I need to get in there ASAP. If we wait much longer, we're all fucked." He brought up his omni-tool. "In exactly one minute, I'm coming down that ladder, whether it's clear or not.  Good luck."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"One minute to clear the floor." Vayne said as he looked to irina, "If they're jamming us then they'll probably know we;ll know. Dropping a flashbang might not give us the opening you think." Vayne said as he drew his bakara shotgun, holding it and the eagle dual wielding style.

 

"We get down there, I say we head to the first spot of cover and throw everything we got at em. Blitz them and hopefully give us some breathing room. And if its a killing floor down there without cover...well, make sure at least to take down 3 of them before you drop." he said, his expression grim and letting them know he was serious.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"A small opening is better than no opening, Vayne. We're sitting ducks dropping down a ladder. I'm with you on the second part, but we need a small opening otherwise they could tear us to shreds before we reach cover." Irina said. "Oh, f*ck it!"

 

Avan had the flashbang in his hand, and Irina snatched it out of it. She tossed it down the opening. "Fire in the hole!" The grenade flashed, she dropped down with her Mattock on burst fire. She saw a barricade and cover off to her left and made a dash for it. Vayne dropped down and Irina started firing at the two remaining mercs and mutants that were about 15 meters away from them. Eteon followed.

 

"It's too close in here for incendiaries, Vayne!" Irina said, "Got any concussion grenades?"

[Kel Riever]

The woman mercenary in the Scorpion armor was named Amatheniet, and she closely watched the readouts in the engine room showing the trajectory of the Medusa.  Her team of four other mercenaries who helped with the ship’s controls stood within shouting distance.  Golt was within arm’s reach.  And the handful of odd crew Iyana had brought aboard, including rat man, were spread throughout the area. 

The sound of shots reached everyone in engineering.  They sounded distant but the fact they could be heard meant the boarders were close.  Amatheniet told Golt, “There’s nothing more to do unless Iyana gives us the order to pull out.”

Golt looked down scornfully at her, but when he responded, he responded to everyone present.  “That’s the sound of the last of our defense line going out.  It’s our turn now to guard this place, and stop these vermin from getting in here.  If they do, I’ll cut your limbs off myself!”

The mercenaries shook their heads in understanding.  All but Amatheniet, who was the only one willing to take risk enough to ask a question, “We’re in com blackout.  If we can’t get someone through to the bridge, or they can’t get through to us, how will we know if Iyana does want us to change course.”

Leaning over Amatheniet, Golt snorted and ordered, “Don’t you worry your little self about that.  If we’re supposed to get the order, we will.  Now get ready, because so far from what we’ve heard, the Spectre’s group is taking no prisoners.  And neither am I.”  Golt then shouted to all, “Get to your positions and chew them up!”

~ ~ ~ ~

Only three of Iyana’s most trusted mercenaries and one woman with her face tattooed in midnight blue were on the bridge with Iyana and Luscious.  The rest were in their positions outside the bridge, ready to execute what their leader had in store. 

“They have more time than I anticipated,” Iyana addressed their team.  “Which confirms that they are effective.  But they are under pressure and they still do not know what is in store for them.  You can see that we have hidden the end of our path well, and driven theirs.  We have had ample time to train our plan, this is our home turf now, and the environment will get worse for the visitors.

“Among them there is at least one ‘star player’, the Spectre.  You know how to deal with someone like that.  We work together, and will overcome because of it.  They are the rabble.  And I have no doubt that you all realize to fail in the precise execution of our plan will lead to your death, at their hands or mine.  I expect you to succeed.  I expect nothing less than perfection.”

Luscious half listened as he took a swig from a bottle of wine Iyana had someone bring to him.  Iyana glanced sideways at him.

“Weapon,” Iyana said to one of the mercs while holding out her hand.  He immediately offered her his assault rifle.  Iyana shook her head.  “Backup weapon,” she emphasized, and stretched the fingers of her hand wider.  The merc reached down and pulled out his Predator heavy pistol.  It was customized with a sight and heavier barrel.

Iyana took the pistol, extended her arm and held the gun, handle first, towards Luscious.  He didn’t move, stunned at first, and then he slowly reached out to take the pistol.

“The Captain must have the ability to defend himself,” Iyana told him.  “I know that you probably thought to yourself at one point that you would use any weapon you could get on me if you had the chance.  Well?  There you have it.”

The gun felt heavy in Luscious’ grip, but he’d seen better. Iyana’s assessment was accurate, but Luscious no longer wanted to use the gun on her.  He wanted to use it on someone else.  Luscious examined the pistol and remarked, “Shouldn’t I get something more…deadly?”

Iyana made a disappointed curl of her mouth.  “When I first escaped a prison, I had not developed my biotics and had less for a weapon than that pistol you posess.”

Luscious looked at the Predator, concerned, but said, “If it’s good enough for you, then it’s good enough for me.  I should only need to use it on one of these mutineers.”

“That’s the spirit,” Iyana quipped.