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[Kel Riever]

A biotic whip cracked near Jess’ ear, and for a moment, she spotted Iyana behind her throne, but in a flash, she vanished again before Jess could quite bring her within her gun sights. There was another rig that came through the wall of crates in front of the group, driving through the throne and demolishing the table along with the computer.

Naleena dumped the clips from her Carnifex pistols, blasting into the center of the welding rig and shredding the motherboard to pieces. Again, she had to break away from the hulk as it crashed into the bulkhead behind her, now lost in the mist.

Then, somehow, Iyana was spotted. Bearings had been lost on the room by most combatants, with the loss of effective vision, the chaos of the sound and the assault of the rigs. But Iyana was in view, having stepped around one of the fallen crates a rig had smashed through. She was in the mist, her silhouette lit by the flare of biotics and her shields. It was as if a black, half dragon, half woman, outlined in blue energy, stood defiantly with thin whips of blue light held in each hand.

[Redbelle]

Jess's lips pulled back into a feral grin as she turned and sited the woman but something held her back..... then she realised.

 

She was standing there in plain view and exposed. Nothing she had done thus far was obvious and she'd gone out of her way to disorient and overwhelm them.....

 

Her hand reached back and came out with one of her grenades that she that had prepared specially, it's fin's extending outward for aerodynamic lift and tucking one arm under the other she hurled it forward and towards her.

 

It hit her left hip and adhered.

[Kel Riever]

It was as clear a shot as anyone was going to get, and Iyana wasn’t the kind to give someone a second chance.  Because Naleena had to reload, Jess reacted first, with her low velocity, aerodynamically advantaged grenade passing through fields to attach itself to Iyana’s shaded form.  Dahlia followed next, with a warp, which did strike Iyana’s biotic shield and caused it to flare even more brightly with damage.  By that time, Naleena had gotten a thermal clip in a Carnifex pistol.  For accuracy, she fired three shots in rapid succession, hitting center mass with perfect accuracy.  In the mist it was impossible to tell the effect, but the pistol was loaded with armor piercing rounds which, combined with the warp effect, were almost sure to break through even the most substantial defense.  And finally, Essul who would not let the hated woman go unanswered, leapt forward to drive his own biotic lashes into the ground, sending out a radius of destruction that caught Iyana at its outmost edge.  Combined with Dahlia’s warp, the resulting explosion was devastating.

Whatever happened, when the biotic explosion had dissipated, Iyana was no longer there.  All that could be observed of where Iyana had been was a good part of the ruin from the detonation.  Eyes that searched for their target and made sure all angles were covered found nothing.  A number of seconds passed before the siege of noise cut out sharply, returning the cargo module to silence.  Then there was the sound of a thunderclap, but muffled as if far away, and four dull thuds, like a heavy knocking from the direction of the bulkhead opposite the entrance hatch.  After that, the module became still from activity, save the faintly audible shallow breaths of someone injured.

[Kel Riever]

The shot at Iyana was good for Morgan too, from his position. He had slipped into the black to try and come at Iyana from another angle. The darkness and noise barrage had separated him from his companions, anyway. And even if Iyana could somehow see in the dark, she’d still have to locate him. Then, when the moment came, and Iyana had appeared directly in front of Morgan, he nearly pulled the trigger on his Kovalyov. It was Morgan’s intuition that had him hesitate, a feeling that with Iyana nothing was as it seemed, and everything she did was designed to elicit a reaction.

“Control is paramount,” Iyana had once said to Morgan. She had been trying to impart what she thought were words of wisdom. And she had always been against base reactions, as if someone instinctively reacting wasn’t in control. “The future is for people who think before they act…,” she had said to Jess earlier. But who could tell what Iyana had really meant with that mind of hers?

Morgan didn’t feel the three armor piercing rounds enter him. He simply wondered why he was falling, and then he saw the flash of a biotic explosion from Iyana’s silhouette. Searing pain cascaded across his body, and he was flung away from Iyana, colliding with one of the crates behind him. Though Morgan hadn’t been able to tell from the Iyana’s shadowy form, he had the fleeting realization that Iyana must have had her back to him. Rounds from his companions passed through Iyana, and they had been on the other side of her so he was inadvertently caught in the biotic explosion. All of Morgan’s limbs failed when he dropped off the crate he hit. Collapsing forward on his face, he lost his sensation of pain once more. As Morgan came to rest, stomach down, his eyes sought Jess most of all from the ground, but he couldn’t see her or any of his companions for that matter.

Iyana had vanished and the screeching sound assault ceased. Morgan was able to move one shaking hand with the last of his strength to pull off his recon hood. He tried to call out, but his voice had fled, and Morgan knew he was dying.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena heard the sounds, then nothing. Nothing. They had used the darkness to their advantage as well, but needed it no more. She turned her suit light on and ran forward, and found Jess, and then behind her where she had shot Iyana, Morgan was lying on the floor bleeding from three bullet wounds.

 

"Medi-gel! Fast! And I need a lot of it!" Naleena shouted. "Hang on, Morgan." Naleena ripped open his armor and saw the entry wounds. The good part about the AP rounds is that the wounds were clean and there weren't going to be fragments. "Damn! I didn't think they'd go all the way through her like that. I thought she was wearing armor of some sort and not mere clothing." Naleena muttered and finally got the torso part of Morgan's armor open. The wounds were in a tight pattern. She took out a Medi-gel syringe and jammed it into the wound that was bleeding the most. The Medi-gel would seal the blood vessels and stop the bleeding until they healed. Dr. Tolus could remove the rounds with surgery.

 

Essul was tending to Jess who wasn't in very good shape either.

 

Dahlia handed Naleena another syringe and she went to work on the second entry wound. "You've had experience with this before, Naleena?"

 

"Unfortunately many times. Sometimes on myself, and sometimes on others. This... is one of the worst.... I hope he makes it."

 

"He'll make it," Dahlia stroked Morgan's head, "We'll make sure he does."

 

Dahlia used a very light biotic touch on Morgan's head with her hands, her mind interacting with his to slow his heart rate, reducing the amount of blood loss while Naleena applied the Medi-gel. It had a calming effect on Morgan, and he felt like he was relaxing.

 

Naleena emptied the third tube in the third wound. "That's all we can do for him here. He needs real medical attention. We should get him out of here, disable the jamming and find a way of contacting the Janiri as quickly as possible."

[Cknarf]

"Do you feel that?" Avan returned from the door.

"Feel what?"

"The guns.  They stopped firing."

Frank took a moment to listen.

"They must have taken the bridge."

Hopefully comms are back up

Frank brought up his omni-tool. "This is Frank with engineering. Bridge team, do you read?"

[Terca]

Eteon took a swig from the canteen and thought it soothed her parched throat it wouldn't do anything unless she stopped sweating it all out. For now it was relief and she left some for whomever was left after recapping it. She had contracted something Turian so she wasn't worried about anyone else catching it. She might need to go through a more rigorous medical examination before being permitted onto the Audron, but that was unavoidable.

 

She was finding her mind moving sluggishly again and she grit her head against the almost nauseating sensation. She heard Frank begin to speak quietly... Somewhere? ****. She was losing her sense of location and after a moment of vertigo crashed against the wall. She made no attempt to pick herself up and was relieved when she stopped moving. Sensory implications... Damn it! She was without much more room for thought when a sensation like a warm moist blanket was put over her mind.

 

What is this sh*t?!

 

She was out like a light again.

[Redbelle]

Pulling herself up from kneeling Jess advanced towards where she'd last seen Iyana.

 

And then she saw Morgan.

 

Her body locked as she felt a furious rage forming deep in her gut and she was thinking about what to do when Naleena and Dahlia appeared next to him. Jess kept her eye's up and looked. Searching for the grenade. Pausing to listen. Keeping her gun up said from somewhere in the back of her throat. "Naleena.... Get Morgan help. That woman doesn't take anything from anyone else today. Morgan? Don't you dare die on me".

 

Jess took a few steps forward and reached for a bulkhead. Pulling away the crazed addition's to the bulkhead she reached inside, pulled something, a couple of wires and crossed them together.......

 

The fans in the place began sucking the mist out of the room to reveal it.

[Kel Riever]

Pulling back the mist also helped pull out the black ash, but the darkness persisted.  Jess could tell from the part of the removed internal bulkhead plate that current was still running, so either the lights had been removed or destroyed.  Still, as she scanned the module’s compartment, Jess knew Iyana was gone. 

Jess’ eyes, however, did pick out two irregularities.  One was that not only was the cargo module divided to separate fore and aft sections, but the shadowy bulkhead towards the port, or exterior of the Medusa seemed closer than it should have been.  Not to mention, the temperature was colder than normal, as if space knocked at the wall.  The other irregularity was that her search spotted a trail of blood droplets that started near her, went towards the outward bulkhead and abruptly ceased.

Neither Naleena or Dahlia were doctors, so it was difficult to tell in the artificial light how Morgan was doing by sight.  Naleena thought he was steadily getting paler, though.  Dahlia, using her ability to touch Morgan’s mind, felt him fading from consciousness slowly, even though he was stabilized, and some desperate need to speak.  He thought he might not make it and something was important for him to say.  Dahlia knew that if a doctor who could take care of humans didn’t get to him soon, Morgan would be right; he wouldn’t last.

But whatever Morgan wanted to say wasn’t to her.  He looked at her as if pleading and whispered, “Jess…”  There were a few other words he tried to say, but his voice was too weak and despite touching his mind, all Dahlia could determine was he thoughts were akin to trying to say, Of course.

[Redbelle]

Jess looked over, hearing her name. Moving over to those gathere she knealt. "Morgan. The Medusa's med bay's not far. We can get you there. Just hang on and don't you dare give up on me. Captain's order's".

[Kel Riever]

When Morgan saw Jess move into his view, he used whatever last remnants of strength he had left, to pull his head away just a bit from Dahlia’s hands, breaking their link.  His lips moved, but Jess had to lean in close to hear what he was trying to say.  There was, perhaps, the meekest glint of wryness in Morgan’s eyes as he spoke a secret softly into Jess’ ear.

It was only a few words.  When Morgan was done, his eyelids closed by degrees as he slowly lost his awareness of the world around him.

[Redbelle]

Jess's breath caught and a single tear formed in the well of her dark brown eye. She pulled away sharply and stared down at Morgan with terror mixed with genuine concern and affection warring on her face.

 

"Get him to medical now"! She barked. "Do not lose this man! I need him"!

 

Jess stood sharply. "Iyana think's she's won something but she's forgotten one thing..... This is the Medusa and no matter how long she held it and what she did with it.... I'm still her master. It's time she was made to know that".

 

She tore off her helmet before crossing the room. There was a hatch labeled emergency and Jess tore it open and reached inside for one of the fire fighting helmet's. She jammed it on and it's collar sealed around her giving her back her atmospheric seal the broken visor of her old had lost. It stopped them from being able to see her face at least. That was good.

 

With that done she made for another wall in the room. "Didn't you hear"? Jess barked again. "Move! Get him help! Medical's down a few levels! It's marked"! She reached out for a bulkhead and felt around a rim and found the release. "Don't let him die or I swear I'll drive this ship into the fricken moon"!

 

The bulkhead fell away exposing a mess of wires and fixing plates. Jess reached past and parted the tangle, slipped inside, looking as if she was being swallowed.

 

Then she was gone.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul had been stunned silent by Morgan's discovery, feeling a familiar empty and hollow feel I building from his stomach to hi heart. How had this happened? How could they have been so stupid as to not have seen the ruse? Essul struggled to make sense of it as he stood silent, watching everything unfolding as if he were detached from it all.


And then captain stone barked her order and it snapped him into reality.

Essul rushed towards morgans side and worked to scoop the human in his arms,lifting him up from his back and behind his legs as he looked to the others. He wasn't sure where the Medway was anymore given the way the ship had been mangled, and his senses were still off, wars ringing still from the sonic attack. Still, they had precious time to act.

"Find me the medbay, Now!" He ordered as he made his way quickly out of the door, making sir to keep Morgan from being too jostled or for his limbs to hit the entrance way.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena had managed to stop the bleeding. Dahlia was about to induce a coma to keep any bleeding that Naleena missed from killing Morgan, and she told him in his mind.

 

"Morgan, I'm going to put you to sleep so you don't bleed out. We're taking you to med-bay. Don't give up." Dahlia said in her meld with Morgan. She had barely finished, and Essul scooped up Morgan.

 

"Warn me next time! A couple seconds sooner and you could have killed him." Dahlia said.

 

Naleena heard some com chatter. "Frank, is that you? What's your situation?" She said while following Essul to med bay.

 

***

 

Irina got on her com. "Naleena, we're in bad shape. I've got a concussion, but Vayne's impaled on a blade and Eteon is in serious need of medical treatment. Vayne's alright as long as he doesn't move. Frank and Avan are keeping the ship operating. What's your status? Is the ship clear?"

 

"Yes. Morgan is critically wounded. We're headed to the Medusa's medical bay. Get the commandos to help Eteon. I'll contact the ship." Naleena said. "If she can be helped here, we'll do that otherwise she'll have to be taken back to the Janiri. In any event you need the commandos."

 

"Copy that."

 

Irina contacted Mira. "Mira, this is Irina. I need help in Engineering. Eteon is critical. She's poisoned or something. I tried to take a look at her but she seems to be too modest to let me. Thinks I'm crazy or something."

 

"Copy that. Tallis and I will be down A-SAP," Mira said.

 

***

 

"Janiri, this is Star Recover, do you copy?" Naleena sent out over com.

 

"We copy, go ahead, Naleena." Commander Selani replied.

 

"The Medusa is secure, you may begin approach. We have several personnel down and in need of medical attention."

 

"Copy. Beginning approach." Selani replied.

 

"Commander, there is an unidentified small craft accellerating away from the Medusa. Its vector places it on course with this moon. *VERA pulled up a holographic representation of the planet, moons, position of the Janiri, Medusa, and craft* It would be reasonable to assume that there is a larger ship, possibly of frigate or corsair size behind it out of my sensor range. Do you wish to pursue?"

 

Naleena heard VERA.

 

***

 

"Jess, I need to know, can the Medusa treat Turians?" Naleena asked.

[Kel Riever]

Iyana came out of her biotic teleport in the pilot’s seat of her interceptor.  The interceptor was clamped within the last hidden room of the aft-most port cargo module, modified just for Iyanas’s escape.  Each of the interceptor’s three landing gear skids held the small craft with powerful magnets against the opposite side of the bulkhead she teleported through.  That bulkhead was the false exterior wall of the throne room.

Sitting what was effectively sideways, the actual exterior bulkhead of the Medusa was above Iyana’s head.  The space for the interceptor was just enough to store it, and the hidden ‘hangar’ had precise charges and seams cut in so that the outer bulkhead could be blown away.  Iyana’s craft could then fly away, leaving the pirate vessel behind.

But Iyana wasn’t in any condition to fly away instantly.  She was wounded and worse, there was a grenade attached to her.  The weapon had an indicator light that was flashing faster and faster, in synchronicity with a pitched beeping alarm that rose higher and higher.

Iyana’s nostrils flared as her breath became rapid.  She tried to yank the grenade off with her hands, but it held fast with its gel to her left hip.  The light and alarm were at a furious rate.  Iyana pulled one of the black knives from inside her left forearm armor while sweat broke across her brow.  She was about to cut the grenade with her own flesh, but even if she did, it was likely too late.  The light stayed full and the pitched alarm was constant.

“You got me, Jess Stone,” Iyana said, eyes wet with regret.  But she breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then the light went out and the alarm ceased.

It was several seconds before Iyana recovered, and heaved a sob of panic.  Tears streamed down her face, and her lips trembled.  Then, rolling her eyes, she couldn’t help but release a fragile smile.  “Oh, Jess, you are too much!”  Iyana’s voice shook, and she burst forth in something between laughter and hysterical crying.

Iyana reached out a finger to the interceptor’s control panel and deactivated the powerful communication jammer that had blanketed the entire Medusa with its signal.  She then sent a specialized signal from the control panel, linked to the Medusa’s bridge firing control system, which silenced the guns on the pirate vessel.  Finally, Iyana pulled a custom switch that had been installed in the interceptor, which was for blowing out the hidden hanger and allowing her to escape.  Four charges fired loudly, and the depressurization yanked a part of the Medusa’s hull into space.  Iyana waited the next few seconds for the debris to be clear, then disengaged the clamps holding her fighter to what was now the outer bulkhead.

With a glance down, Iyana examined the three shots that had pierced clean through her abdomen and the damage from the biotic explosion to her armor and herself.  “My, this is bad,” she said, somewhat light in the head from blood loss.  Iyana administered medigel, but despite the threatening look of the holes, her life would not be in threat.  The important part would be to hide it from the others besides Xhuan on board the Khukuri.

“Do you know how much I had to do to make this work?”  Iyana spoke as if someone else was present.  “To compile all the information of likely weapons to be used by each of your friends from those dossiers?  In which most of the detail I received at the last minute?  How fast I had to think to do that?  How about the training I have had over all of these years to pull off stunts like this, or that there was still a good lack of detail on people like that Spectre asari b**ch Naleena.  I did that.  Nobody else could take that kind of damage through their body to let someone behind them be hit!  I had to be perfect!”

With a gulp, Iyana reached for the interceptor’s controls.  “I’m magnificent!  None of you could have pulled it off.  I have the control, see?  I didn’t give in too soon, and I didn’t stay for more.  I so could have stayed for more!  They don’t know how good it feels, and what I have to do to keep it in line.  If they did, why would they take my things away?  And I am the cruel one?” 

Iyana scoffed, “I’ll give you your Rasgul back, Jess Stone, when I know.  When I know.”  She then powered the interceptor’s engines and headed full burn towards Vem Osca.

~ ~ ~ ~

On board the Janiri, Commander Selani saw the guns of the Medusa cease firing.  “Close with that ship!”

The navigator, in a sharp voice, shouted, “Captain!  There’s a small vessel leaving the Medusa and accelerating for Vem Osca.  It seems like it is a fighter of some kind.  Moving for entry into the outer part of the atmosphere.” 

“Someone escaping,” Selani growled.  “Let’s go!”

[Redbelle]

Jess knelt in the depth's of the Medusa. A large box in front of her that wires fed into and out of as they crisscrossed and ran along the floor looking for all intent's and purposes like the floor was swarming in snakes, lying still as stone.

 

The only light came from her Omni-tool whose glow illuminated the impassive visage of Stone's armor. A cord tacked from the box fed into it and Stone's finger's moved with the grace of a professional concert pianist or surgeon tending to her patient.

 

The ship was hurt.

 

The ship was wounded.

 

But the ship was old and had seen far, far worse than this. She would recover. And if anyone thought she still lacked her secret's and teeth they were in for a surprise.

 

Through the relay Jess had access to everything in the section and she listened as she opened the comm pickups attached to the walls of the area. The noise hurt but she wasn't paying attention. Her eye gave the sounds form as waveforms of each comm terminal appeared. Some were flat lined. She ignored them. Some showed faint activity which again was not what she wanted. One showed frequent oscillations and she tuned out the others to focus on that one and she heard Essul, Naleena and Dahlia as they worked to save Morgan. As much as she wanted to keep listening she closed the channel down and kept hunting.

 

Finally she saw it. Something overwhelming on the frequency that no human ear could hear. Something that saw a rising pitch that was in human range that abruptly disappeared. She checked the terminal number and mentally tracked it to the portion of the ship to which it was assigned.

 

The ship's movement's were continuing but Jess had no way to influence them from so remote location. Likewise she couldn't configure the guns firing solutions, not that they would do much good since she'd been forced to kills the ship's sensor's on the bridge. She was to far away from manual gun control booths and communications........

 

Communications......

 

Jess opened up a port to the one used by the welding rigs in dock and found that there were plenty. Some showed signs that they weren't fully functional. Other's showed they were badly lacking in the fuel needed for what she had in mind....

 

There!

 

One came up as working perfectly for what she wanted and she accessed it's memory core as it lay in it's station, being programmed for it's dangerous and likely it's last ever assignment. Jess knew where Iyana was. She knew why she would have wanted to go there and what had to be waiting. All she had to do was give her a passenger before she got there........

 

As she worked quickly she processed a sound file and added it to the rig before deleting all other information except that which was necessary for it's journey.

 

Got it! The rig affirmed it's instruction's and disappeared off the grid. It's connection to the Medusa's systems severed as it rose from it's docking station and proceeded out and towards it's destination. From the comm terminal Jess heard more sounds mechanical in nature.

 

It was all she could do. She was to late to show Iyana what a captain and engineer in the bowel's of her ship could bring to bear, but Iyana's fate had been sealed the moment the team has stepped aboard. The moment she had held the face of Silver. Jess had seen the mask still dangling off her belt. A trophy perhaps, and a prize one at that. It was nothing more than what VERA had made it, but in the right hands it was an awesome tool to affect the minds of others. And in the wrong hands......

 

A deadly weapon Jess would bring to bear and hurt Iyana right where she was the most vulnerable.

[Kel Riever]

Xhuan Setura’s outer demeanor was as steely as ever, but within she struggled to wait.  The Khukuri ran silent, with minimal life support systems, hidden within the upper atmosphere on the opposite side of Vem Osca from the Medusa.  Passive sensors meant the frigate couldn’t detect an enemy unless it was using active sensors.  For the longest time, the Medusa was the only other vessel within engagement range.  Xhuan had known the battle had started when the Medusa began firing her weapons and driving itself into the gas giant, as had been the plan.

When the Medusa had altered course, it was uncertain as to the state Iyana or anyone else was in, though since her superior had explained certain things, Xhuan was not surprised.  It also was an indicator for her to prepare herself, one way or the other, and the crew of the Khukuri was on the edge of their seats when the pirate vessel lifted itself out of its death spiral.

Then, Xhuan had the response she was looking for.  Iyana’s interceptor went to active fire control, letting its location and trajectory be known.  Almost simultaneously, fire control went live on an enemy vessel, the Janiri that the Shadow Broker agents had been warned about by the first report from their inside operatives.  Xhuan knew the Khukuri was no match for her, but Xhuan’s ship had the speed to beat her. 

“All systems live!”  Xhuan shouted her orders like an ancient warrior.  “Get us in position and land that interceptor!” 

The Khukuri’s engines went to full thrust, and the frigate rose through Vem Osca’s atmosphere into space.  She maneuvered with grace to match the path of the interceptor, with the goal of getting the craft landed before the Janiri could get in range.

~ ~ ~ ~

A loud chime sounded on the Janiri’s bridge.  It was the warning of another vessel being detected.

Quintius Jorrel, the pilot, was first to respond vocally. “We have a frigate powering up, on the far side of Vem Osca.  It is a Far Reach class, and she’s matching the trajectory of the interceptor.  She means to pick it up.”

“All weapons stand by,” Commander Selani ordered.  “Quintius, get us in range for a shot at that vessel.”

“She’s fast, captain.  Possibly faster than us.”

Selani blazed.  “Get me one shot! I don’t care if we are spotted.  Put all firing control on active.”

“Quintius nodded, “Going to full.”  Beside him, the gunnery officer added, “Weapons online and ready.  Target acquired.  We’ll fire as soon as we are in range.”

A fine, almost comfortable, low hum sounded through the Janiri as her Destinia ion drives accelerated.  Then the screens in front of Quintius, the navigator and Selani went red.  As quickly as the drives had powered up, they were slowly cooling down.

“What is going on?” Selani demanded.  “Bypass that if you can.”

With a vigorous shake of his head, Quintius replied, “We cannot, Captain.  That is a critical error from engineering.”

Selani leaned forward in her chair and switched her com to engineering.  “Han?!”

“I’m sorry, Captain,” the quarian informed, “But we’ve got a serious problem.  The acceleration began throwing the drive core out of balance.  It is related to that spike I thought was a readout malfunction.  We’ve got to stop or we’ll damage the casing of the core.”

Commander Selani knew exactly what that meant and she bristled before her professionalism came back.  “Well, that’s going to cost us a criminal and her vessel.  Break off the chase.  We’ve got people to attend to aboard the Medusa.  Get us up to her  with the maneuvering thrusters and prepare to receive wounded.”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Janiri, now with the Ion Thrusters off line, was on their LOX thrusters. Jorrel guided the ship along side the Medusa and matched its orbit.

 

"The drive core magnetic axle appears to require tighter tolerances than originally thought. I would recommend making as few jumps as possible with the ship until we can get this problem rectified," VERA said. "I have located an Alliance Shipyard on the moon Caleston that is capable of making these adjustments. Until then I recommend that we use the Ion Thrusters at less than 50% capacity.

 

I was, however, able to identify the small craft using active sensors. It has the designation Khukuri. I shall check its ports of call and look for any patterns."

 

"I'll inform Naleena when she comes aboard," the commander sighed. "Thank you, VERA."

 

"You are welcome, Commander."

 

***

 

"VERA, open a secure channel to Naleena," Selani said and took a deep breath. "Naleena, this is Commander Selani. Due to an engine malfunction were unable to pursue the vessel. The small craft was heading for a Far Reach class frigated that VERA identified as the Khukuri. We're pulling along side, and are prepared to take any injured and wounded aboard."

 

Naleena closed her eyes, repressing her anger knowing it would do no good. Her commander nor her engineer were not to blame. The ship had not had a full shakedown before going out on a mission. Jess was right. They needed to put the ship through its paces. Instead she remained calm. "Thank you, Commander. And Commander, send some people over to help fly this machine. We need to get it out of here."

 

"Will do. And Naleena, VERA suggested that we go to the Alliance Shipyards on Caleston for repairs."

 

"Lay in a course. We'll go there after we've dealt with our current situation."

 

***

 

"Jess, Irina, Mira. The Janiri could not pursue and is pulling alongside. Any wounded and injured who can be transported to the Janiri do so. Extra crew from the ship can help with Vayne." Naleena said. "Jess, I asked the commander to send some crew over to help fly your ship somewhere where it'll be safe. I'm sure you'll instruct them on what to do. There's a shipyard on Caleston. We're heading there after this. Perhaps they can fix up your ship as well?" Naleena was disgusted that they didn't get Iyana. She was worried sick about Morgan.

 

Dahlia had not left Morgan's side, and was using her biotics to wall off his mind from the pain of his wounds, and keep his heartrate low. (+2 ulcers for Morgan when he finds out what she was doing).

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Mira and Tallis arrived in Engineering. Eteon was lying down on the floor.

 

"We got here as quickly as we could."  Mira said.

 

"Thanks." Irina said, "That rat mutant we ran into bit her." I'm not a medical expert, but I think it's a reaction of a levo-poison on a dextro system. It's killing her. The faster you get her there, the better. Use the schematics that Jess gave us. There have to be parts of this ship they didn't modify."

 

Mira nodded. Irina didn't call her textbrain. There was no kidding around.

 

"Okay. Okay." Tallis said. "You okay? You?"

 

"Just a bump on the head," Irina said. "I'll get checked later. Don't worry about me. Hurry."

 

"Let's go, Tallis."

 

Mira and Tallis picked up Eteon and carried her off.

 

***

 

When Morgan and Eteon arrived in the Medusa’s Med-Bay, the doctor was there, wondering who these people were.

 

"Who are you?" the older man in the room asked.

 

"Iyana is gone. I'm a Council Spectre. Jess is back."

 

"Thank God!"

"You the ship's doctor?" Naleena asked

 

"Yes," the doctor said and noticed the wounded man. "Set him down over there, on that table. I'll need someone to assist."

 

"I will." Dahlia said.

 

"Thanks."

 

"I'll stand guard, just in case." Essul said.

 

Naleena thought about going back to the ship’s bridge to check on their prisoner, Luscious. She had not forgotten about him.

 

Naleena contacted Jess. “Morgan is in the infirmary with the doctor. Dahlia and Essul are with him. Perhaps we should interrogate our prisoner, Luscious?”

 

Naleena headed back to the bridge.

Modifié par sH0tgUn jUliA, 08 octobre 2014 - 08:14 .

[Ultimate Power Being]

Co-written with Terca

 

Lysix T'Daari and C.V., En Route to Caleston-   

 

     The Gridan Vow wasn't a particularly rough-and-tumble name for a ship, but it worked for the Blue Sun's purposes. Well furnished, safe, some might even call respectable. It had a full regiment of their officers for security since it was particularly difficult to try and keep mercenaries in line with anything but other mercenaries.

 

     Waiting in one of the public lounges was C.V. She had been asked to oversee this particular endeavor. It wasn't every day that Ashland requested a mercenary group to bring work, and the Suns were willing to invest by being decent contractors. So she sat in a worn leather chair in one of the few regions of the ship with a view out windows into space, though the current FTL travel did make the scenery less than appealing. Books made it a little more enjoyable, and though she kept an eye out for nuisance she was more invested in the word right now.

 

     "See Deek?  I told you there would be a window somewhere."  Lysix said to the yellow armored Salarian behind her as they entered the lounge.  

 

     "I didn't say that there wouldn't be a window, I said that the view would be obscured."

 

     "Hey, aren't you the one in charge here?"  Lysix said, distracted by the Asari sitting in a leather chair.  

 

     C.V looked up from her book at the pair and a her brows came together slightly. The armour of the Salarian rang Eclipse, something which was a little off-putting. She knew for a fact the BP hadn't been allowed on since they had a long history of trying to pull mutinies on other ships. Eclipse... They were just a bit too subtle at times.

 

     Says the merc. She thought to herself while nodding to Lysix. Moral status be damned, I can't complain about guns on this ship.

 

     "C.V." She introduced herself, standing and bowing slightly to the two. She straightened and felt a small pang of disappointment at being shorter than the other Asari. She extended her mechanical arm out to Lysix for a hand shake. "Blue Suns Officer, I'm in charge of the ship until we reach Caleston." 

 

    "Lysix T'Daari, and this is Deek Moluck." She said, gripping the mechanical hand. "Used to be Eclipse, but we're freelance now. I don't suppose you know anything about the region of Caleston? What kind of threats we'll be facing?"

 

    C.V nodded to herself before speaking. "The system is monitored by Eidfell-Ashland and the vast majority of all individuals in the area are employed by the corporation. There have been claims that their H3 mining operations have been sabotaged in the past by pirating crews but I honestly doubt that you will run into anything particularly harmful."

 

    She raised her omni-tool and showed an image of the red plant. "Hot, volcanic, lifeless. The planet is far too hot in most regions and has a heavy chemical atmosphere. Has an impressive amount of eezo though and development has only begun recently." The Asari dropped her hand again. "You might be part of a defensive perimeter. We weren't told what you would be doing, only that EA wants merc hands, and we were willing to give the ride."

 

    "Fair enough. The whole thing sounds too good to be true in ways, a cushy job babysitting miners and raking in credits. A decade or two of this, maybe I can retire to Illium or the Citadel." She said.

 

     "I don't suppose I need to ask, but the pirates were batarian, weren't they?" Deek spoke up.

 

     "The Nubian Expanse incident..." C.V trailed off as she tried to remember... "EAE seems to think the Migrant Fleet had something to do with it. They lost a small mining fleet and if I remember correctly they recently protested the council to try and kick the Quarians out of Council space. Don't remember anything coming of it though."

 

     "As for retiring... It's said that they have decent benefits for humans. I don't know why they are hiring so many mercs when the system is as peaceful as it is." The Asari chuckled to herself. "But if you want to get into money fast I recommend finding something a bit more exciting. 20 years of volcanoes is probably going to be one of the least invigorating experiences of anyone's lifetime."

 

     "It is strange that they're hiring ship loads of mercs from Omega, but I'm not complaining. I certainly don't plan to spend twenty years on a red rock, though. Maybe I can climb the ladder. Maybe not. It was good to meet you, C.V., but I suspect we'll be arriving soon, so I should go and gather my things."

 

     "Of course." C.V inclined her head to Lysix. "Good luck with Caleston. Don't let the job sneak up on you, you don't want years to turn to centuries."

[Cknarf]

Frank flipped the switch that had previously severed the connection between the engines and the controls on the bridge. This time, with a few quick welds, he was able to access the lever without hanging on for dear life.   "Control has been restored to the bridge.  Someone else can take it from here."

That's one less thing I have to deal with.
 

[Kel Riever]

Iyana’s interceptor jolted to the left as something impacted with it from behind.  Warning alarms on one of the craft’s two thrusters were blaring, and Iyana scanned to see what the problem was.  The right thruster was being partially blocked, threatening to throw her off course and worse.  She cut power to the right thruster and couldn’t find the source of the problem until she used the hull cameras to get a fix on what was happening.

One of the Medusa’s welding rigs had caught hold of the interceptor, seizing the right thruster with its clamping arm.  Iyana could only determine that the contraption had been activated just as she fired the engines to escape the pirate ship.

“Why you are very persistent, Jess.  I can’t say it is a trait I don’t admire.”  A snarl curled on Iyana’s lips.

Iyana worked the repair interface.  It would cost her dearly, but the rig could put an end to the interceptor if it wasn’t removed soon.  Working the menus of the small craft’s computer, she came to a screen that would allow her to eject the right thruster, and the rig attached to it.  The problem was that she would loose acceleration power and she needed to catch the Khukuri.

There was no other way.  Iyana clicked through two confirmation screens, ejecting the right thruster from her interceptor and the welding rig with it.  She felt the immediate lost of thrust from her craft.  Activating her com, Iyana opened a direct line to Xhuan.  “My hawk, there’s been a malfunction.  I need you to slow so I may catch you, due to a certain someone who is an incessant pother.  Do me a favor and send some packages to the Medusa so our enemies have an occurrence to consider in the meantime.”

“Yes, my superior.”  There was a tense pause in Xhuan’s reply, then, “Are there any special orders for your arrival.”

“Astute as always, dear hawk.  Yes, you are to be the only one to receive me upon landing.  No one else shall see me.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Unconditionally, my superior.  It will be as you wish.”

Iyana cut the com.

“Jess Stone, I dare say you have captivated me.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Aboard the Janiri, Quintius saw the change of the interceptor’s trajectory on his panel.  “Captain, the interceptor seems to have slowed its acceleration.  If we only hadn’t lost our full drive capacity, we could possibly catch her.”

Before Selani could think of possible options, the navigator raised a warning at the same time as a new set of alert messages crossed the bridge displays.  “Captain, the Khukuri is firing!  Two long range missiles, aft launchers.”

“She can’t possibly hit us at this distance,” Selani stated.

“No, Captain, but the missiles are targeted at the Medusa.  Her point defense systems are not responding.  Perhaps they don’t detect the threat.  They must have a malfunction.”

“I’ve had about enough of malfunctions.  This isn’t an escort ship.  Our GARDIAN systems are meant to protect us, not some other vessel.”

The gunnery officer offered, “It’s a long shot with the complex calculations, but if they can’t defend themselves we have little choice, Captain.”

“I am capable of making those calculations,” VERA interrupted.  “If I may, Captain, I already interface with your weapon control systems.  I have the command and decision capability to make the fine adjustments to take down the incoming missiles, despite their course correction capabilities.”

Commander Selani, impressed, lifted her chin.  “Well, VERA, you then have my permission to get on that right away.”  To Quintius, she ordered, “Move to protect the Medusa.  We’ll not have any damage done to her out of spite.”

[favoritehookeronthecitadel]

Avan stood by as Frank restored the bridge's controls. He opened up his omni tool to contact Naleena.

 

"Naleena, we're finished here I believe. How is everyone doing?"

"Morgan and Eteon are still in critical condition. Vayne is badly wounded but other than some ugly scars and maybe some physical therapy, he's expected to make a full recovery. Is Frank there?"

"He's right here."

 

Frank stood beside him and waved at Naleena. "The Medusa's in working condition. It will need a lot of repairs. Personally, I consider this mission a success. We took the Medussa. No one's dead yet. It could've been a lot worst." 

 

Avan nodded in agreement.

 

Naleena replied. "I agree. Iyana escaping is a problem. But I'm sure we can handle her. She took three shots and is badly wounded. I think we crippled her pretty definitely, but she is not gone, and she is not going to be forgiving. But if we did this, we can handle whatever she throws at us next. Plus, we have her own right hand man...albeit intoxicated...captured for questioning. Other than that, yeah, I would say things went well."

 

"Yeah. Just a lot of injuries." Frank said. 

 

"Ah, the trade-off of using medi-gel in a battle. No one dying." Avan added.

 

"And I'm sure Eteon and Morgan will be ok. If anyone can take a fatal blow and still get up and yawn the next morning, it's them." Frank assured her.

 

"I hope you're right." Naleena replied worryingly. 

 

"Also.." Frank added, "If Eteon wakes up, tell her...tell her I'm sorry I'm a terrible doctor."

 

"You did good, Frank." Naleena smiled. "Really, good work from the both of you. Anyway, that's all. I'd prefer it if we have as many hands on the Medusa as possible, though you're free to go where you want. Naleena out."

 

Avan turned off the tool. Frank stretched his arms.

 

"Ok...I want to nap. And never do this ever, ever again."

 

"Please, don't flatter yourself. This wasn't that bad."

 

"Bad? That's because you weren't the one carrying turians twice your size and falling 20 feet on the floor. And why didn't you tell me about your handle-pulling-whatamjigs earlier when I needed them the most?!"

 

"...I thought that you knew what you were doing." Avan shrugged. "Besides, these are difficult to craft. It takes 20 hours to design and assemble two of these, unless you're me, in which it takes 3. Still, it's time-consuming and I didn't want you to break them."
 

"Ok, well, I want two. Since you nearly got me killed, maybe you could spend 3 hours making those for me."

"How much will you pay?"

 

"Uh, we'll work that out later. I'm going to take a walk, maybe check on Morgan and Eteon."

 

"Ok. And Frank? You did well on this mission."

 

Frank just looked humored. "Uh...well coming from you, that means a ton. Later."

 

Avan smirked and went the other direction down a hallway, contacting Typhin.

 

"Rezal, how's it going?"

 

"It's going well. We're safe to talk freely."

 

"Oh, good. Well, I just wanted you to know that the Broker is very happy with the intel on the crew and the ship! So, how long exactly do you intend to reside with this group? You could send us more later on, for the same payment."

 

"Thanks for the offer, but I think this will be it from me. Anyway, take care of yourself, Typhin. It's a dangerous galaxy."
 

"Ha, don't worry about me, buddy. The Typhin is indestructible. Unless he's in bed with ladies. Bye."

 

Avan turned it off and smiled. It had been a successful day all-around. 

[Cknarf]

"Don't touch these, those over there, that one way at the top, or this blue one." Frank instructed the small group that had been sent to relieve him. "And what ever you do, for the love of god, the goddess, spirits, and the ancestors, DO NOT PULL THIS ONE."

 

"Sounds easy enough."

 

"Let's see what you say in a half hour." Frank scoffed. "If you need anything, call someone else." He left the engine area and headed for exit.

 

On his way out, he stopped at the charred remains of the merc he had killed earlier. He pulled off his helmet, and took a seat next to him.

 

"Hey, man."

 

"Fine, thanks for asking. How about yourself?"

 

"Yeah, sorry about that.  You were kind of shooting at us, though."

 

"I get it.  You were just doing your job. Nothing personal on ths end, either."

 

"I'm sure it was. I can only imagine what they offered you. Bet you could have retired."

 

"Again, sorry."

 

"I appreciate that.  Well, I'd better get going, I've got some people to see."

 

Frank stood up.

 

What the f*ck is wrong with me?

[Kel Riever]

Two Zenith long-range missiles fired from the aft of the Khukuri were closing in on the Medusa.  Able to use only her maneuvering thrust for the time being, the Janiri moved so that it was not only alongside the Medusa, but also between it and the missiles.  Virtual Intelligence on the missiles corrected course so that they each might have a chance to maneuver around the Janiri and strike their intended target.

The issue with shooting down the missiles for VERA wasn’t the time she had initially to predict their path, it was the missiles were so fast that if for some reason calculations needed adjustment, the GARDIAN system might not respond rapidly enough to the updated information.  Such would mean a missile strike that would severely damage the Medusa.

With only seconds before impact, the Zeniths reached the perimeter of the GARDIAN system’s maximum range.  VERA fired, knocking one missile out of its trajectory and destroying it.  The other missile, however, was missed by the defense lasers, and would impact within another second.

In that second, VERA was able to recalculate, recognize that data had not been accounted for, and aim again just as the Zenith missile was about to pass over the Janiri.  The second GARDIAN system effort was a success, and the threat to the Medusa had ended.

Unfortunately, by that time Iyana’s interceptor had landed in a bay of the Khukuri and the frigate raced away for a Relay jump.  The Khukuri was simply too fast to catch, even if the Janiri fully operational thrusters.