There was only room for Pratima's server and one of its bodies inside the little Wayfarer, or for six of them without the server and leaving one of them behind. If you were being generous, it would've been possible to have two and the server - albeit in high discomfort, or at the cost of leaving one of the away behind to be picked up on the second run.
If it was one thing the Wayfarers weren't, they weren't topologically viable in an emergency. Despite all their good qualities, they were crowded things, even if you weren't trying.
"Trooper Bastion - a pirate ship was drawn here thanks to our deep scanning signals and this SOS." The bridge team replied as they watched their XO slink through the corridors. "Keib is awake, so is Four Six. Greg can take over weapons and ease the load on the ARIA so she can process your requests." Some beeps could be heard in the background. "Tell them to communicate on this line in Binary and it'll play back automatically for you."
Meanwhile, Greg was now playing a game on Keib's computer. Little ships could be seen flying across the screen, and Greg had to shoot them down. It was always a fun little game to play, and Keib let Greg have time off to relax afterwards too.
Greg knew why the lights went dim whenever this game started though - and he couldn't play it whenever he wanted. Greg knew it wasn't just a game - just an entertaining wrapper for firing the ship's big guns. Needless to say, it was still
fun.
Bam.
BAM. BAM!!
-
Red hallways; Four passed wraithlike though them in a fresh uniform, her hair, skin, and eyes borrowing the troubled colour. There had been spare pants in the medical bay, but the rest of her unform was correct; she wore the fresh pair low on her hips, and Keib could watch her tail work here and there in its fluid, preoccupied way. It seemed trivial until he compared it with the freezy, twitchy Four.
Keib could practically smell something happening in the girl's head as he moved ahead, selectively unhearing the alert sirens and focussing his mind on what he could feel was on his ship. At least two minutes had passed since the announcement of people on board - from the Hangar they could've gone where they wanted by now. He focussed his mind a little more literally, looking for foreign brain waves. He only had the pleasure of seeing some recently, so he had a thumb print to work with.
There was one just around the corner. Keib paused and hugged the wall, pistol up as he mentally mapped out a strategy for dealing with this interloper without harming himself, or his ward.
He felt the tug on his belt, and looked down just in time to see the helashio weighing the diamond knife in her hand. She looked up at him with the emergency lights reflected in her eyes, like mirrors.
Dipping low - and low for Four was a little lower than most - she passed the edge of the knife around the corner and used it to peek. 'Peeking' himself, Keib could feel the pistol grip of the Paragon rifle, all by himself, and moving quietly with the barrel up, obviously looking for trouble under the dim red lights. Well, that was what you'd see if you were looking directly at him, unimpeded by things like solid objects. Keib was looking at this person as a ghostly outline stemming from the brain and down to the floor.
"Damn, this ship has nothin' to do in it. Where're the fuckin' Helashi--"
Keib saw the flash of diamond before he could possibly do anything about it - and he felt instantly cold, like someone had splashed water onto his face as his connection broke. For one impossible moment, he could
feel the knife penetrating and his lungs evacuate, but then he was back, and treated to a side view of what had happened.
The Helashio had edged no more than her shoulder around the corner, and thrown the knife
backhanded. The ex-Paragon mercenary was clutching the blade in his neck fruitlessly for purchase and gurgling for absolution as crumpled under his own weight.
"There they are." Keib responded after catching his breath and rubbing his head. He chuckled to himself privately, as if at some old joke.
"Where are we going, Mister Keib?"
Keib looked around the corner and saw that everything was clear, then moved out into the open. "Looking for survivors. I had no visual on Aiesu or Shimakage when I was on the Bridge."
The helashio snagged him before he could go more than a couple of feet. She peeked back around the corner at the dying man, and then tugged again on Keib's very un-uniform T-Shirt. Keib grimaced. He'd forgotten about the closer things and was focussing on the longer term goals. He walked towards the dying mercenary. That dying bastard had something he wanted.
Snikt. "Thanks." He replied to Four, and possibly the dying Mercenary as he put the knife down to relieve the dying mercenary of his rifle and slinging it around himself. He stood back up and made haste towards Aiesu's quarters, fearing the worst. Two and a half minutes was more than enough time for anything to go horribly wrong.
-
With trembling hands, Aiesu sat with the disassembled Lorath battle-rifle, following the guide as she tried to piece it together - almost there. Slowly, she sat up straight, glancing toward the door - the two synthetic sensors she had in place of eyes picking up on the presence on the other end of the door. She slid the cowling over the barrel, locking it down - slowly easing a magazine into the receiver and chambered a round. She could feel her teeth chattering and held them stiff against each other - the vibration working its way down her back as she leant against the alcove - hiding herself but the barrel sticking out very obviously. It trembled audibly with her.
She reached out with a foot - pulling a Zen Armaments Little Killer and a Lg-23p EMP Machine Pistol toward herself - none of which she knew how to use - but it gave her some comfort - the only thought going through her head being that Hakahn might have come back to finish what he'd started.
She heard a knock on the door - a click of the trigger sounding audibly from the other door but no associated bang. She stared at the rifle for a moment, unable to work out why before glancing back at the door now - panting. She could feel herself starting to hyperventilate and ever so slowly, forced herself to work the pulse of her body back down. She said nothing.
"Aiesu, I know you're in there. Its Keib." He spoke through the door, without opening it.
"Is that bastard with you?" she screeched, steadying her hand upon the barrel again now - trying to work out her actions ahead of time
"Haven't seen him at all." Keib responded flatly. Bastard was one of the newer epithets to give his superior. "Is your room booby trapped?"
She lowered her head now, working through possibilities - lowering her head forward as she felt some semblance of lucidity return to her. Even if she was AI, she reacted like any person would.
"D..D... Don't.. Don't open the door. Its... Yeah."
Carefully she eyed the wire bridging across the door. It wouldn't open without executive override at this point - cables spilling from the slot on the wall - one of the AA size Lazarus ECM flash grenades in proximity mode - harmless on its own - taped against an exposed pipe - re purposed against a plasma conduit. Whoever stepped through the door would be cooked unless she took it off.
"So its just you?"
"Resourceful." He commented below his breath. "With Four Six. Rounding up the injured." He replied.
"Survivors?" she felt a cool chill run down her back now. "Did that bastard CO of yours finally flip his lid?" she tried, slowly stepping down the ladder of her bunk - carrying everything she could with her - untrapping the grenade now.
"It should be fine now. Come in." He slid the door open and looked into Aiesu's room, Four trailing after him like a white shadow. He lowered his pistol since he was in safer company and had someone to watch his back. One thing that drew his attention was the half assembled rifle, and his eyebrow raised.
"What?"
"Stick to jam-tin grenades." He grinned as he walked inside and over the slack tripwire. "The safety's still on, and it would've blown up in your face."
"Haa... If... We're survivors, I um... Have a few more things that might be useful... Though I have no idea what to do with any of it."
Giving Aiesu a quick glance, Four moved to the 'useful things' and started a visual inventory. The Helashio's tail moved languidly, idly, and the animal set its hands on its hips in a manner too unsettlingly clinical.
"Survivors isn't the right word - the invasion is still going." Keib replied curtly, looking behind himself.
"Seriously? Any idea who... Or what it is? " she paused, taking a breath. "The Moro'ko?"
"No, just pirates. Must've been scavenging, got attracted to the Deep Scanning that we're doing."
"Out here?" the construct clicked her tongue, annoyed. Keib grimaced and rolled his eyes in agreement. "Like I said. I don't have much but I think it should be useful" she said, glancing back at the cluttered room, loaded with unusual supplies. "Um... If there's anything that can help, you're welcome to any of it."
"Sir there's another enemy shuttle in the landing bay." A voice on his earpiece rung, causing Keib to touch his temples momentarily, not expecting the radio chatter.
"Just a second Mel'an." He replied offhandedly as he started to rummage through the constructs possessions. So many things to go through and so little time. Three and a half minutes had passed since the first shuttle touched down. Beacon, Knuckleduster, adhesive stonethread tape, flash grenade, AI Scope... He was mulling it all over as he sifted through it. The first thing he did was start affixing the scope to the rifle that was on his back - sliding into place on the top attachment rails, securing it with the tape and passing it to Aiesu.
With any luck, this old thing would be able to fire where you pointed it. "So this is what its supposed to look like - when you've set one up?" she almost laughed. "I was pretty off, wasn't I?" She soon took the table from the back of the scope, aligning it with the back of her neck - squinting as she began to see through the barrel along with her normal vision - along with whatever it was pointing at. She let the strap hang from her hip, noting the reticle in the rifles vision searching for targets to auto-lead. At this point, even an idiot could use it - and that was entirely the point.
"Eeeyup." Keib replied as he pocketed a stun grenade and a pair of beacons.
"Seven more. Two with armour. We killed the last shuttle as it left our bay to go get more." The voice in his ear updated Keib.
"Armour?" Despite the insult to injury of already being violated once this evening, she sat, drumming her fingers on the rifle, eyeing Four-Six as the animal sorted through her belongings. She still didn't like her but she knew they'd have to cooperate. "I see you've finally taken that thing off your neck?"
Four ignored her completely.
"Irregardless, I think you look better without it. Whether or not you're Helashio, you are a soldier, with a duty." Aiesu squeezed in a firm tone. It was probably the closest thing to a compliment she could muster.
"Agreed." Keib said as he turned around, having taken what he needed at last. He didn't have the time to sit down and tinker a real solution. Something a little cruder would have to do. "Next is our Foreigner, Shimakage. He's in the downstairs medbay with the other Doctor."
"If you'd given me root access," Aiesu grumbled indignantly. "I'd know everything going on in this boat." She sounded like a spoiled child at this point - or tried to - still a tremble in her hips.
Four glanced up, and then to Keib - "Can I have your knife, Mister Keib?" He looked down, unsheathed the blade in question and passed it to her. It disappeared into her unbuttoned jacket. As he was looking down and his eyes scanned the floor, he noticed something on Aiesu's boots. He looked up at Aiesu and looked back down, noting the pale consistency of the stain, and the lack wounds that'd cause such a stain anywhere near that area.
She stared back in a cocktail of disgust and indigence again - feeling bile rise in her throat, remembering Hakahn's words...
- If Keib... Or anyone gets word of this
"Its
blood, you idiot. From the surgery. You've seen it a million times."
Keib blinked. Thinking about it, was she even wearing shoes during the surgery? He noticed that she kept on wrinkling her toes, kept on feeling the metal beneath her feet, and seemed to savour it. It wasn't something he could get his head around, but it was what some people enjoyed. "Questi-..." He was cut off by his own train of thought. There were more pressing matters at hand that involved pirates attacking his ship.
Four turned around, flexing her fist to work the knuckle duster into place; aside from the knife, it was the only visible weapon on her. She looked at the boots for a long moment, the very picture of stillness; movement, leashed and contained, frozen in essence. Then her nose twitched, or maybe that was just her way of showing disdain, or some other stupid animal emotion. "Can I get the machine pistol by your foot?"
"Ah, sure, sure" she reached down, pointing it at Four. "Here."
Four snatched it out of her hand immediately, turning it with the trigger guard still caught around Aiesu's finger. Instead of twisting, though, the helashio slipped it off and slid the magazine out, counting bullets through the peepholes.
Aiesu watched rather curiously. "I didn't assemble that one. Its factory. There's a few more magazines for it in the crates, somewhere."
Ignoring her again, Four glanced to Keib. "We have been here too long, Mister Keib."
The ghost-girl punctuated the sentence by sibilantly snapping the magazine back into place.
He answered that astute observation by being the first person out of the room, pistol up and checking both corridors. Seeing that everything was clear, he made a hand signal for the girls to follow him. Pointedly, Four waited for Aiesu, the only hint that the soldier was not a statue the strange, distracting way in which her tail roamed.
The construct soon followed Kieb, stuffing an assortment of discs and some painkillers into her coat before stepping outside.
"So... Where are we going?" she whispered.
Four shut the door behind the three of them. "Be quiet."
The construct simply nodded.
-
Meanwhile, in Shimakage's room in the other Medbay, the door had been locked and barred, and the medic on duty had produced a sub machine gun from under one of the counters. It'd been taped there 'in case of an emergency'.
"Listen kid," He asked in semi-broken Yamatai-Go before clearing his throat and opting for Lorath. "If I pump you full of something that'll make you able to fight for the next hour, but leave you in pain for the next couple of days," His glance flickered from the bed to the door constantly. "Would you be willing to risk it? There's a spare gun here somewhere you can use."
