Jag did an sight nod while receiving Yuga's message.
A second later, Jag sent another.
[quote]Understood.[/quote]
Jag kept it's brisk pace while walking through towards Yuga's room through the corridors.
After stopping next to her quarters door, Jag took an deep breath through it's neck before gently tapping the door.
It look straight on ahead to the center of the door, awaiting it's talk with Yuga.
Bucky cocks her head. She's obviously very curious now, but enlightens Johannes. "Yeah. Proxy-C is just four and a quarter lightyears away from Sol. It doesn't really have any planets per se, just belts and planetoids; no colonies really. Just mining operations and space docks. First station was put up in June of 2103, The IISB1- International Interstellar Star Base 1. It was the first foothold humanity had in a star system beyond Sol. The old thing still exists in a museum, it's cool. But wow. Must've been a [I]big[/I] shock waking up after all that time. How'd you cope?"
[i]Johannes shrugs.[/i][b] "Honestly? I just sucked it up. The culture shock took some time to get past, but the whole shock of waking up a hundred and fifty years later I just had to plow through. I've never been the kind of person to give up, I wasn't going to start just because I was literally lost in space. Istasha and her family and friends helped a lot. Being immersed in a completely alien culture helped with the culture shock bit, and what a stroke of luck that the universal trade language is English right? That was a godsend if I ever saw one."[/b][i] He trails off and absentmindedly reaches up to grasp something through his chest. Perhaps a necklace.[/i][b] "I mostly thought of my family though. What they would think and say. And when that didn't help, I turned to God as my mother and father taught my sister and I."[/b]
[quote]January 19th, 2385:
I've awoken to notifications of tampering on board the Muramasa. Seems one of my integrated security networks might have been discovered by the crew. They're probably rattled by the finding, but I don't plan on telling 'em that it's my doing; honestly it surprises me that it took 'em this long to find the cameras... I hadn't learned anything I didn't already know, thankfully. At least nothing particularly worrisome. This crew is loyal. Well, loyal enough for my purposes.
Yanim is meddling again, proving yet again that she can't distinguish between a small-time op and a big company like she's been wantin' to run. I don't know what the hell she was thinking, tellin' the crew that they can throw their cap'n out the way they did. The runts must be gettin' cold feet because they had their first real ass-whoopin' at the hands of the UGC, but that's no reason to go turning on your betters... Yanim shouldn't have encouraged it. She legitimized a mutiny. If that's how she feels about it, I might have some unpleasant surprises in store for her. But first I need to get her out of the driver's seat, for once and for all.
-Gen. Rask Vor'Pangn, COO, TBC/ILA Special Operations Office[/quote]
[video=youtube;3yvtvzT00cc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yvtvzT00cc[/video]
It was still early in the morning. Yanim had returned to her quarters for a few more hours of sleep before the last of the votes flowed in. Taylor Caine had won the election with a plurality, and a margin of 36%. As for Yuga, she had received less than 20% of the vote. She had been stung, humiliated, even. Yanim grinned as she walked with Neasha to the mess hall of the Aurikha. Rask met them halfway, appearing grim.
"Well, princess, you got your way," he grumbled.
Neasha crossed her arms. "I don't know how Yuga ever got to be captain in the first place. She doesn't have a heart."
"What do you know, lizard? You've never been in command of anything, you spineless-"
"Shut the fuck up, Rask." Yanim said, still smiling. "You're starting to sound like you got your feelings invested. I'm sure in the long run, we can arrange for her to get her own ship."
Rask's pale face went flush. "She isn't gonna stick around. And I'm not pissed because I care for her, I'm pissed because you're running this company like... like an afterschool club! She has skills that you're not seeing because you're focusing too much on personality and gossip."
Yanim sneered. "What could Yuga do that Taylor can't?"
"For one," Rask snapped, now having to follow his superior to the mess, "she's the only one who's looking at the big picture, the same one I'm lookin' at. We should've never landed on Voyak, that's for damned sure!"
"Mmhmm," Yanim replied, no longer paying much mind. Rask was practically foaming at the mouth.
"And another thing! Not only did she have the common sense not to endanger the crew to chase down a probable dead body, but she was the only one who committed to not [I]giving it away[/I] when it turned out there was still life-"
Yanim stopped in the hall, just short of the mess. "Wait, what?" she replied.
Rask blinked. "What do you mean, 'what?' Doesn't it bother you that the rescue mission you ordered ended with Frosty's body being handed over to some religious zealot? What was the fucking point of tracking him down if we were just going to-"
"All I had heard," Yanim replied, suddenly distressed, "is that they resolved the conflict peacefully. Who made that decision!?"
Rask crossed his arms and smiled sarcastically. "János lead the effort and hasn't been disciplined whatsoever. I believe Taylor supported him in an effort to subvert Captain Shuur, who stood in opposition alone with the exception of our gunner. Now tell me, what kind of captain swoops into command on the back of a crewmate she sold down the river!?"
Yanim slapped herself on the forehead, knocking her cap off her head.
"Now do you see!?" Rask screeched at her.
"Akhana-shnka!" [I]Fucking shit![/I] "[What are we going to do?]"
"I told you last night," Rask hissed. "You get out of my way. The Selovehans need help with their revolution, and you're the right person at the right moment to help them. But you made me Chief of Operations, so let me handle the Voyak mission. I can salvage it if you just-"
"Fine! You want latitude, you've got it," Yanim answered. "But when this thing is over and they come back for their debriefing, I'm gonna be the one to flay them over this horseshit. No bonuses, maybe even dismissals-"
Rask shouted for her attention. "They made bad calls because there wasn't effective leadership in control, and I don't mean just Yuga. I'm going to talk to Checkered and work closely with Captain Caine and whoever she choses as first mate. As terrible as yesterday went, it's no doubt a learning lesson. And one more thing-"
"What?"
"I want full control over the SOO bank accounts. No more buying ships and crews to try to force the issue. We fight smart, or we don't fight at all."
Yanim huffed. She and Rask were both equally livid, and it took Neasha's intervention to calm them both down. In the end, Yanim agreed to allow Rask full control over the accounts in his division of the company before storming off to prepare for a visit from the Selovehan SULP revolutionaries, while Rask spoke with the contractors from Argos to outline a new plan.
---
It was now about 9AM. The crews on both the Muramasa and the Cataract received a simultaneous briefing over holoprojector, which was slightly unusual. Apparently, Rask wished to build a more direct method of communication between the Aurikha and its tiny fleet. Checkered was also connected into a sort of conference call arrangement in order to help answer questions.
"First off," Rask said after he had addressed the previous day's failures, "we have a change in leadership aboard the Muramasa. Per the rules outlined by our company's owner, Yuga Shuur will no longer be in command," he said with an unpleasant inflection. His dissatisfaction with the decision was equally palpable to Yanim's during the first election, when Yuga had been elected in the first place. "Taylor Caine is now the captain of the Muramasa, and, for the time being, we will forgo the ceremonial bits because we can't be here in person. Hope your confidence and morale is as raised by this turn of events as Yanim seems to think it'll be.
"Second- I've been speaking with Checkered and we have a new idea. Seein' as going in guns blazing through the front doors of Dyatiq only succeeded in getting a few of our crewmembers blown the fuck out, we're going to try a more underhanded approach. This-" he said, as another holographic projection appeared of the mountain range where Dyatiq was located, "is the long range detection network that our UGC opponents are using to 'see.' We could bomb those stations and leave Dyatiq inoperable, but who knows what sort of backup plans they've got up their sleeves, and, either way, it wouldn't satisfy the terms of our agreement with the Sanghvi."
"But you do have reason to bomb the stations anyway," Checkered added. "There are three stations which are redundant to each other. If two are disabled, then the missile range operators will only see through a single set of eyes."
"We had a saying in the GKVR," Rask explained, "'No one jumps down a pit if they can't see the bottom, but the blind are doubly disadvantaged.' Think about it- if we narrow their vision down to that one station, we can make them see what we want them to see."
"That's why we've instructed our operative, Toothache, to produce some large firebombs for the Muramasa. You will be attacking the targeting stations by air while the Cataract acts as a beacon, one which is pretending to be a hostile sanghvi projectile barrage. We have operatives in Vohmdash who are currently working on the needed device," Checkered continued.
"If this all works out, Dyatiq will launch its missiles at an imaginary target," Rask concluded. "But before any of this takes place, we need an away team to transport the firebombs and the beacon back to our ships. You'll use the dropship in the Cataract for this mission. Captain Sharpe-"
"Yes sir?" the captain responded.
"I need you to provide some members of your own crew to assist the away team. Not only has the Muramasa sustained casualties, but our doctor has just left its ranks."
"Understood," Sharpe replied. He sent a quick message out to Mercy and Istasha, alerting them that they would be joining the Muramasa's away team.
"Good," Rask acknowledged. "Now let's try this shit again."
[B][Mission Update]
Current Objectives:
✔ Gain entry to Dyatiq
✘ Retrieve Frosty's body
✘ Destroy or disable at least half of the missiles
* Retrieve fire bombs and false attack beacon
* Destroy two Dyatiq targeting stations
Future Objectives:
* Assault Yovek Airbase
* Recover Archive I
* Escape Voyak
[/B]
Maddox nodded as the briefing concluded and walked up to Taylor. "Congratulations on the new post."
He nodded towards the holomap. "Permission to take point on the ground mission, Captain."
-----
Vakarus was slighlty stunned by recent turn of events. The entire vote had been done behind his back and the Vakr warrior couldn't help but feel a little bit hurt over the fact that the rest of the crew had excluded him from their plans.
Following the briefing he approached Yuga. "I am sorry Yuga'ayrin, the plan to relieve you of your rank was plotted behind both of our backs. For what it is worth, my blade is still yours to command."
[i]After talking with Bucky for a while and checking on Amy and Valkyrie, Johannes had returned to his bunk for the night. He was up well before the briefing and shortly before 9am had arrived at the Bridge of the Muramasa suited up, sans weapons of course, groomed and clean shaven. Anyone standing near him would be able to tell he smelled very lightly of cherries. Must be his soap. After the briefing, he approached Taylor and saluted her.[/i][b] "Congratulations Captain Caine. It's a shame the appointment couldn't have been under better circumstances, but from what I've seen you deserve it anyway."[/b]
[i]Istasha, on the other hand, was a mess. Figuratively speaking, at least. She arrived on time for the briefing on the Cataract's bridge, wearing last night's engineering jumpsuit, her short down fur ruffled enough that it was actually visible, and her boots not fully laced. She fixed herself up during the briefing, apologizing to the captain when appropriate about her state, explaining that the reactor maintenance had given her some trouble and she'd been up late troubleshooting some minor, yet critical, computer errors in the control rod timing software. When she was told she'd be transferring to the Muramasa's away team, she grinned, excited to be working with Johannes again. When she left the bridge, she shot a voice message to Johannes, who upon receiving it, winced almost in pain because Istasha was basically screaming in happiness. He turned the volume down. After listening to the message, he turned to Maddox with a grin.[/i][b] "Hey, Maddox, any chance you could whip up a last minute weapon for our new combat engineer Istasha? If memory serves, she's damn good with explosives. Maybe some sort of grenade launcher or miniaturized rocket launcher, like those old Gyro-Jet things?"[/b]
János had finished processing what he wanted. During his search, he found several figures that could be Chemosh, though most are sourced by conspiracy theory sites. However, he found one person that he couldn't imagine being the leader. However, as he went through his dialogues with Moloch, he found more and more evidence linking the two together. And using other related discoveries, he drew a conclusion. They had to be Chemosh, no other way.
János slapped himself on the knee, before having a little pity laugh. Before disconnecting, he put all the left over data from the processing that was on the PC itself into his hard drives. He considered what to do next.
If the Children of God were to once more start actions against Sol, then they had to be contacted somehow. He needed a way to contact the Sol Army, but it had to be an encrypted, anonymous and reasonably untraceable method. He wasn't even sure if there was an application for that. While he thought of ways how to contact them, he noticed that there were public access cameras he could access over his computer. Odd, he thought, but he decided to scroll through them to see if anything interesting was happening.
[QUOTE]"Congratulations on the new post."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]"Congratulations Captain Caine. It's a shame the appointment couldn't have been under better circumstances, but from what I've seen you deserve it anyway."[/QUOTE]
"Thank you." said Taylor, focused on where Rask had been during the briefing. She then glanced over towards Yuga and Vakarus on the bridge. She pondered if either would have choice words for her, considering the mutiny that just occurred. She then heard Mad's next statement.
[QUOTE]"Permission to take point on the ground mission, Captain."[/QUOTE]
"Granted, for the time being. I will be joining you later on for the airbase, though. I'm a mercenary, and its my job to fight and lead you in the field." While they were away, it'd give her time to think on who she wants to be first officer. She had boiled it down to four choices. Jag, Mad, Alex, and (surprisingly) Yuga. She may not like how she ran things as captain, but Yuga was rather intelligent and cunning. That is, if Yuga stuck around after this mutiny.
[quote]'ve awoken to notifications of tampering on board the Muramasa. Seems one of my integrated security networks might have been discovered by the crew. They're probably rattled by the finding, but I don't plan on telling 'em that it's my doing; honestly it surprises me that it took 'em this long to find the cameras... I hadn't learned anything I didn't already know, thankfully. At least nothing particularly worrisome. This crew is loyal. Well, loyal enough for my purposes.[/quote]
(( Camera's in Amelia's shower, changing area, and above my bed were for 'security reasons' ))
Amelia turns towards Taylor after hearing the good news, "Congrats Ta- I mean... Captain Caine!" she compliments, smiling, "What's my first duty under your command?"
-----
Porter also chimes in, "Wasn't really a surprise that you became captain, but nice work. So... what's our move?" he asks.
(( I seriously need to read more carefully I keep mixing up things ))
Yuga wore her full uniform, and had even put on her three medallions, one light blue with a golden compass with wings for excellent merits in the Mura navigation program, a red one with the emperors sigil in silver as Imperial Recognition second order and one black with a silver star surrounded by four smaller stars for five years of service in the ITC. All alligned on her right breast.
She hadn't been the least surprised to be demoted, but she had been disgusted by the crews conduct of the entire matter. Discussing her behind her back and being in such a jovial mood when she was demoted.
Pathetic.
Taylor would not likely suffer her fate as her since she had garnered pity points from the crew.
If she lead from the ground she could suffer the fate to be killed and thus a new captain would be needed, or she could simply command unsuccessfully whilst being too emotionally invested to make the right decisions.
She slowly turned her head towards Vakarus, who had spoken to her.
Her face had it's usual tired expression on it, but Yuga didn't seem saddened by this outcome.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Va'un. Your loyalty to me shall not go unnoticed. When I return to Ayr I shall set to work to arrange a royal pardon, so you may return to your world unhindered. Your skills will be put to better use there."
[quote][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzVOnKVYfu0&index=3&list=PL7F38E372B470537B[/media][/quote]
Uttering the last part she looked out over the crew on the bridge, "They are disorganized and trust blindly at the first sign of politeness."
She looked up towards Vakarus again, "Terika is a mad dog chasing a vehicle, she wouldn't know what to do if she caught it. She boasts on returning power to the disadvantaged without offering any solution to replace what she tears down in her wake. If given free reign for too long she will destabilize the galaxy only for pity revenge to those who have wronged her."
Yuga turned and began leaving the bridge, signaling for Jag to follow as they had matters to discuss.
She stopped in the door and glanced at Vakarus over her shoulder, "Individuals like her will pay their dues, eventually..."
Yuga left the bridge and headed to her room.
[QUOTE]"Congrats Ta- I mean... Captain Caine! What's my first duty under your command?"[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]"Wasn't really a surprise that you became captain, but nice work. So... what's our move?"[/QUOTE]
"Amelia, please assist Hestia for the time being with Amy and Valkyrie. Porter, if you're able, I'd like for you to join Maddox on the ground. They'd be down a man if I remain here, so I'd like for you to take my place." said Taylor, before she noticed Yuga walking off the bridge. During the pause, she took the time to type out a message to her.
[QUOTE]We need to talk. - T. Caine[/QUOTE]
Jag stood motionlessness during Yuga's speech before following behind closely to her room.
Through before leaving the bridge, Jag walk up to Taylor and gave a simple bow.
"Congratulations, Captain Taylor." Jag said in a humble tone before departing from the bridge.
Mad grinned. "Ten-four on that." He looked at Johannes. "I think I can make something like that, I'll send you a notification in an hour or so. Bring your friend."
"Now if the two of you'll excuse me, I have weapons to prepare and explosives to arm."
With that said Maddox went for the armory. Making sure that nobody was inside, he then locked the door.
He booted up all the machinery, a routine for when he was about to begin on a project, but instead of sitting down at the planning table he walked to the center of the room.
He opened up one of his utility pouches and fished out two devices, one was a cubical device with four "legs" which he placed on the floor. With a click it came online and projected a invisible jamming field which muted everything in a small radius.
In this case the field surrounded Maddox alone. Next up was a small circular device, an item he always carried on his person.
With a few clicks it came online as he held it in his hand. Soon a miniaturized holoprojector started to render a blue holographic emblem.
An emblem in the shape of a circle appeared. At the center of the circle was a horsehead with two swords crossed underneath it.
The text "SSOID - Project Troja" was visible alongside the circle rim.
[i]"Special Operative M. Graves reporting in. Callsign: Mad. Authorization code: Kilo-Two-Zero-Zero-Six-Alpha. Date of report: January 19th, 2385."[/i]
The emblem transformed into a small screen, on it was the face of SSOID Director Talwin Williams himself.
[i]"Go ahead Graves, we read you."[/i]
Mad nodded and entered a more relaxed posture whle still holding the projector in his hand. "Major tide onboard tango bravo charlie actual. Zen relieved of command. Codename Atlas new commander. Mission is still green, prior orange status ignored. Mad, out."
Williams nodded and the holoprojector shut down. Maddox retrieved both devices before unlocking the door, after that he sat down at the equipment table. He had a job to do.
Yuga entered her room and removed her hat, placing it on her desk.
The spare uniform was no longer on the mannequin and all the drawers had been emptied into the suitcase Yuga had with her when she joined.
She swept her hair back and let out some vapor from her compass, placing it next to the hat on the desk.
She turned towards jag and looked up to him, standing informally with hands behind her back and heels together, "Now, as I was unavailable during the night, it would be an opportune time for me to discuss your previously mentioned errand."
János flickered through the cameras, trying to think of something that could let him contact the Sol Army. He saw that they were congratulating Taylor on the bridge, and saw others just walking around. But then he happened upon the armory.
He couldn't believe it. Maddox was an undercover operative! He though, at least. The man on the screen he wasn't exactly sure who he was, but he saw pictures of him on the aforementioned conspiracy sites. All he could gleam from there was that the man was linked to the Sol government in some way. This could be his ticket to informing Sol!
But he thought about it heavily. What if this could go horribly wrong? People have mistrusted his gambits before, either because of lack of info, lack of evidence, lack of sense, or any combination of the three. But every time his gambits were stopped, the person he was doing the gambit to always escaped. He had to at least try. He got up and headed for the armory.
Jag took several step into Yuga room, standing in the center of the room.
"It's quite unfortunate that the crew has chosen this, Shuur." Jag said while staring down at her.
"Despite everything, you had everything an Captain needed. I should have corrected the lack of discipline earlier but that will all be solved in due time."
"Now," Jag said while turning to face the left side of the room, "This individual, this outsider...Can you please share what you felt when within it's presence?"
Working at a grenade launcher protype which, at the moment, consisted only of a blueprint and a crazy idea Maddox only gave János a quick glance when he entered the armory.
"Hey János." Said Maddox. "What do you think of the vote?" He asked while going through the blueprint.
"Heya. I thought the vote went pretty well. Yuga is probably beyond mad over this, but I'm here for one specific reason," János said, as he got close to Maddox.
"You do know there was a public camera here, right?" he whispered to him.
Yuga listened to Jag speak and then checked her compass to see Taylor's message.
She replied quickly.
[quote]Inform me we can discuss unhindered on the bridge or elsewhere. I will notify you when I am finished with Mr Perditus.[/quote]
She turned her focus back to Jag, not trusting him to give her a migraine she used the compass transmitter, "I can not feel auras, Mr Perditus, but I noticed he used a powerful barrier to keep me from accessing his memory. He is clearly hiding something. He shows up out of nowhere and know's Frosty who had been frozen for a considerable amount of time. That is why I wanted him arrested and interrogated but instead we handed him Frosty without question."
She walked in a circle looking at the floor, "That was a mistake, Mr Perditus."
Maddox stiffened. Hundreds of thoughts went through his mind. Public access cameras? You fucking idiot. He continued looking at the blueprints while his right hand slowly moved towards his holster.
"Uh-huh and that helps me with my work how?"
János saw that Maddox was moving his hand towards his holster. He continued to whisper.
"I don't know how that helps your work on board, but it could possibly help me."
[quote]"Amelia, please assist Hestia for the time being with Amy and Valkyrie."[/quote]
"You got it boss," she salutes, then runs out the bridge and into the medbay on the other ship.
[quote]"Porter, if you're able, I'd like for you to join Maddox on the ground. They'd be down a man if I remain here, so I'd like for you to take my place."[/quote]
"I'll get my stuff," he waves, then walks to the armory, opening his locker. He unlocks the hatch with two keys inside his trench coat, a helmet scanner for an SDF logo, and a 24 digit passcode. The locker opens up, lifting multiple panels up. The locker contains a double barrel shotgun, a regular pump action shotgun with a grenade launcher attached, a plasma rifle with bouncing plasma bolts, a machine gun with a scope, a rocket launcher with heat seeking capabilities, a Gauss cannon that is able to shoot through many materials, a minigun, also known as the Detla-12 in some places. All the weaponry here, all well. Although, there is the other locker close by holding only one gun. The label, "BFG 9000," is written on it, with yellow and black warning tapes on the edges. But, for this mission, that's not needed. He picked up the machine gun, the pump action shotgun, and the minigun. The machine is held in front of his body, the pump action shotgun attached to his waist, and the minigun is thrown over his shoulder, attached on his back. He also picks up six frag grenades, and puts them on his chest straps. After all this, he takes some ammo patches to place on his legs and shoulders.
He swings around the machine gun, unhooks the pump action, and pumps it once, full of ammo. He couldn't help but chuckle.
He spots Maddox and Janos, "Hey."
Mad nods towards Porter. "Yo."
Maddox was confused. Was János really on to him or had the android gone haywire?
"Help you in what way?" The safety was turned off without a sound and a kinetic slug was chambered.
"Whoever it was you were talking to, they are connected to the Sol government, right? If so, I need to send an encrypted, anonymous message to them," János whispered, before hearing Porter's greeting.
"Oh, hey!" János said to him, "What are you doing?"
[quote]Mad nods towards Porter. "Yo."[/quote]
[quote]"Oh, hey!" János said to him, "What are you doing?"[/quote]
"Getting ready for the mission, what about you two?"
Maddox narrowed his eyes. He looked at Porter. "Hey Porter, you mind asking the Cataract crew if they have a spare cryogenics core? I need it for a project I'm doing."
He glanced at János. "Listen here you gearhead: I'm not sure what you think you've heard or what you've seen but I suggest you forget it as quick as your organic CPU can work."
[QUOTE]"That was a mistake, Mr Perditus."[/QUOTE]
"You would be correct, Miss Shuur. One that the crew has openly committed." Jag says while turning back to her, it's arms behind back.
"I do not much of the Ayr's empire capabilities when combating...Interlopers. Through I'll served within what be considered to be carbon language to an 'Inquisition' of shorts. An force to protect the Galaxy from the deviants both within and without. And may those days be gone, it is still within my duty to watch out for such elements."
Jag then turn back towards her. "And believe this crew may have just let that past right through."
"Oh, we're just talking," János replied to Porter.
Whispering back to Maddox; "I'll forget it as fast as possible, but only once you let me send this message, no questions asked. It is important for the Sol government, and specifically, the Sol Army to know what I want to tell them."
"The Sol Army? Why not High Councilor Wayford himself while we're at it." Said Maddox while chuckling quietly, as if János had made a joke.
"I have a suggestion of my own, how about I put a kinetic slug in your head, blame it on self-defense and frame you as a State Security spy? I wouldn't be the first time an android would've been programmed for espionage and it would certainly not be the last."
(([i]Johannes suddenly gets the feeling that Maddox really needs Jesus in his life.[/i]))
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