When you stand at the gate of Hel
And when you have to tear free
I will follow you
Past the bridge of Gjöll with my song
Wardruna - Helvegen (Translated)
LSDF Akahar, Main Hangar
Vathr'dral was piloting the shuttle in, close and heavy as he looked around the interior of the Akahar and noticed that everything was sealed off. He made a mental note to be the last to get off of this shuttle once the others were clear.
Vithr and Aiesu were standing out of the way from the incoming shuttle, dressed for protection while Keib and Four Six were overseeing everything from the safety of the skybox. All the tools were out, they were ready to perform a quarantine checkup on every person in that shuttle.
The shuttle's landing struts came against the deck and the point thrusters slowly started to wind down. Inside, Gough could be heard sighing a sigh of relief. "Thank Gd we're here," he sighed. He looked over the slumped form of Merril and over to Yar'mak, who nodded in agreement. It still wasn't safe to remove the helmets though.
The back hatch of the shuttle begun to open, accompanied by the hiss of hydraulics and the sheer weight of everything that'd happened. Gough and Kam'kebek were the first two to leave, followed by Merril and Mars, then Yar'mak, Veronica and finally Al'ris. Korro came stumbling out last, clinging to Yar'mak's shoulders and causing him to frown as she got her feet.
"Alright everyone I'd like you to line up," Vithr ordered. "We want to do this nice and orderly,"
Merril's breath was haggard in the comms. She stood up on unstable legs. "Just nerves. . ." she told herself, coming off of her runner's high. A confusing swath of emotions ran through her. She wanted to scream. To run. To hide. To laugh. And now that she wasn't supercharged, this was crashing into her head like a hail of bullets.
Gough and Kam'kebek were the first to be examined. "Remove your helmets, please, you first Gough, you were injured."
"About time..." Gough said as he grabbed the underside of his helmet and pulled it off of his head, long Lmanel ears following them for a moment. His face was red, sweaty and his eyes watering. "I thought I was going to suffocate in that thing."
"Okay, hold still for a moment," Vithr held up a medical scanner and begun inspecting Gough. His heart rate was a little slower than average, his breathing clipped, his disposition chemically nervous. Vithr stopped to inspect the wound on his leg. "You said you were cut here, didn't you?"
"Y-yeee-yessir." Gough nodded, chattering his teeth.
"It is completely clean."
"Oh thank God," he nodded, putting his face in his hands. "I think the nanites-"
"You will have to destroy the suit you are wearing though, we cannot risk it," Vithr nodded sagely. Gough seemed to be so relieved by this. "Head over to that area there and remove your suit. Grab something to eat and remain in monitoring." Gough kept nodding and did as he was instructing. His whole body was gleaming with sweat beneath the suit - its automated climate control seemed to have either failed or wasn't able to cope.
"Next, Kam'kebek."
Kam'kebek moved up and the process was repeated, slow and steady as Kam'kebek removed his helmet and he was similarly flush with emotion. He turned out to be negative for infection too, but his suit had to be destroyed. Aiesu seemed to be pleased so far by the results.
But when it came to be Merril's turn, she couldn't see into her visor, and something was setting her nerves on edge.
"...Merril?" Vithr asked again. "Come on."
His voice bounced around her head. A cry in a cavern.
"Merril Ghere!"
She shook her head. Some attempt to shake out weariness. Stepped forward.
Her skin was on fire. Like tiny biting insects crawling across her body. But she didn't scratch. Or couldn't. That voice at the back of her head screamed for attention, but words didn't materialize.
The static grew louder.
Vithr touched his earpiece. "Keib, do you hear that?"
"Static?" Keib replied from the observation box. "Yes. Where is it coming from?"
"I think Merril's comms. are fried," he whispered back to Keib before addressing the Medic again. "Helmet off, please."
Merril tried to move her arms. Tried again. Weren't obeying. Tried again. They moved.
Vithr saw the arms raise. Shakily. Like somebody who just committed a murder they never intended. They met the lip of her helmet. Stopped. The medical scanners Vithr was pointing at her was giving him readings that defied explanation. Keib leaned in and looked at the readings. They were similar to something he'd seen before.
"No. I. Will.Not."
Before she knew it, her concerns verbalized themselves to two commands. One unheard. At the worst possible moment.
"She's positive for infection - quick-!" Vithr yelled over the communications as he backed away, but it wasn't fast enough.
The static roared across their comms. Under it all, barely a whisper of three words remained. Keib tore the headset off of his head, ears ringing and groaning in agony.
"I am strong."
The wildcat lurched forward, gloved hands grappling with the fabric of his EVA suit's chest and lifted him. For the first time, Vithr could see straight through her visor. Merril's face was reddish - feverous? - peppered with a glassy texture across, spreading like wires between junctions on a circuit. Her eyes. . . something ate at the edges of white, though he couldn't tell what colour it was. And they were slitted, like a beast of the night.
Gough was sitting down and watching this all - and his rifle was still resting by his side. Without thinking, he stood up and his rifle's sights came to eye level like it was a reflex. Hawk-aspected eyes blinked and saw her clear. Yar'mak raised his gun at Merril too - but Vithr could get hit. "HEY!"
Vithr meanwhile reached for a syringe in his belt and stabbed it directly into Merril's neck, growling back at her as he jabbed the needle right through the armour and into the base of her spine. The WIND suit acted more like flesh than armour as the needle sunk through and attempted to tranquilise her.
The syringe found itself violently. . . integrated. Silvery strands wrapped around the device and pulled it into the fabric and plating of the WIND. Merril's grip tightened, and body shifted. Soft Touch slammed him straight into the metal plating of the hangar floor, not even letting go once.
"Look!" Korro shrieked with glee. "It is the Wrath of God made manifest! Look upon it!"
"SHUT UP YOU!" Gough yelled as he now had a clear shot on Merril. He fired at her with the Silva, aiming for her torso as she was pinning the medic down. The shot impacted with her and released a microwave pulse and expanded inside of her.
"What the fuck's going on down there?!" Keib yelled over the communications as static kept building and shrieking with every motion Merril took. "KILL HER!"
Merril shifted to match Gough's firing - but not fast enough. It caught her in the arm. The flesh and armor warped under the resonance - but the way it did so was like a rope being woven and unwoven, spinning out of construction. What was left was a hand attatched to some sad remains of silvery sheen.
"VITHR RUN!" Yar'mak yelled as he motioned for the others to get back while he closed in. Vithr scrambled away from under him and for safety.
"ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?!" Korro yelled.
The wildcat rushed Yar'mak, and her remaining hand wrapped around his weapon and tightened, warping metal beneath her grip. Her visor met his with a light clink. Those teeth. Glass teeth. Sharp. Shining.
She pulled downward, yanking the weapon from his grip, and then swung it upward. Connecting with the dog-soldier Lmanel's head.
The sheer strength of it knocked him aside and onto his back. He drew his sidearm immediately and begun firing. Al'ris rifle met her eyes, but suddenly a stabbing pain went up her back and the breath was forced out of her, gun firing into the ceiling as the finger went down on the trigger.
"Do not interfere with the Wrath!" Korro yelled at her as she felt the knife cut through her fibres. More aggrieved than anything, she grabbed the scrawny form of Korro with one hand and threw her at Merril instead.
"SHUT UP YOU!" Gough yelled at her again, but he was relieved to see her being useful for once.
Vithr meanwhile was making an odd observation about Merril's... syndrome. "Keib, remember how she was able to regenerate from anything."
Merril caught Korro with the rifle-holding arm. But. . . didn't harm her. The visored helm whipped back and forth, looking for. . . something.
"What of it?" Keib replied over the static laden communications.
"I think i-its broken," Vithr said back, resisting the temptation to pull his earpiece from his ear or turn off his communications.
She spotted the nearest door. The others could see that mental line being drawn. "Stop-!" Somehow, she was coherent enough to realise that escape was her only option. And Korro was the way to escape.
"Yesss..." Korro meweled as she looked directly into the eyes of the beast and at the nearest door.
The wildcat used the survivor as a buffer, a barrier between her and the rest of the team, skirting around the room towards that door. Jagged movements. Back and forth. Too mobile to simple aim and shoot without risking the valuable life of the lone survivor.
Kam'kebek was firing his gun at Merril, and while he was leading his shots - she seemed to keep avoiding them. She was moving too quickly and hitting the deck and bulkheads. Maybe the lack of an arm threw her motions too far off. "Fucking fuck!" he cursed, "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
Merril's back met the door, one of many completely sealed off. Korro put her hand against the identification and it disengaged. Keib attempted to manually override it and the door ended up only opening partway - only enough to put one's fingers through. Beside Keib, Fourty-Six seemed electric, though she stayed with him dutifully rather than bolting.
Merril shoved Korro forwards - away from herself - as her remaining hand dug into the gap and pulled.
The static relented for just a moment. The words became clear.
"I am strong. I am strong. I. . . am. . . STRONG!" She shrieked, breaking through the door's motors and slamming the passage wide open. Not a moment was wasted, and through the broken door the wildcat ran. And ran. And not a glance back.
"She's escaping!" Keib yelled over her deathly wail. How Korro was able to stay so close to her and facilitate this was like a knife in his guts, twisting and turning with every metal crunch that Merril was making, his breathing was short. "I can't track her! She has some sort of Jammer!"
"Come! This ship deserves the Wrath of God! Everything on it, burning in Hellfire!" Korro yelled, manic and utterly gleeful of the chaos and destruction. She disappeared, laughing into the passage that Merril had made and followed her through.
-
At Keib's side, the smallest soldier looked up, ears turning. Waiting. Keib's breathing was short, clipped. He tried reaching for his cup of tea, but his hands were shaking too much, and he knocked the cup over and spilt hot tea all over his gloved hand. He recoiled for a moment and flexed his fingers.
"F... Four?" he said.
"Mister Keib?" The expected response. In the expected tone. Even standing still, she gave off the impression of feverish activity.
"I think we're going to have a very bad day ahead of us." He put his headset back on - the static had faded now that Merril was gone, or going. It was heard all across the ship, "Attention all personnel on the Akahar. Merril Ghere is no longer with us. They have lost all vestiges of humanity. You are to open fire on them if seen. Destroy them."
He paused for a moment and breathed into his headset. "You are also to destroy Korro Longwalk Lmanel, I believe she is assisting Merril. Both are armed and extremely dangerous."
Eyes. Gray. Patient. Nervous? Waiting. Keib had seen her like this before - the little Helashio had done something surprising, and put Al'ris face-first on the ground. Just what did he have on his hands, with her? It was time to find out.
"We have seven hours until Lazarus-operated backup arrives with a regiment made to deal with what we're facing with," he had to come clean with their involvement, voice choked somewhat, "Until then, we are the first and only line of defence against Merril. The Bridge and Deck Three will be fortified against her."
The communications went clear as Keib tried to piece things together, a more concrete plan of defence based on what'd just happened, he looked down at Four Six, finally meeting her gaze. Keib imagined he could see past her eyes into her brain. Lessons learned, over, and over, and over, and over, and over; a mantra of physical actions burned straight into her brain, repeated ad infinitum. Grace. Movement.
Keib could see it. How she knew those things seemed immaterial; she didn't seem scared. And what's further, she seemed to be looking to him for guidance.
"You've got your orders, do you understand them?" he asked, away from the microphone.
"No, Mister Keib." A statement. An honest one.
Keib's mind raced as he considered all of the possibilities, standing there in quiet contemplation, grabbing his mug, and sipping what tea was left out of it and putting the empty cup back down on the tea stain that'd formed. Twenty seconds later he snapped his fingers - he had a plan.
His nodded back to Four Six and begun telling his knee-jerk plan to Miri, "Miri I need you to get the new transfers and I need them to gather things and meet us on the bridge. Vithr, Aiesu, tell us what we need."
Keib heard a voice in his ear from Vithr after he remembered how Gough was completely clean, treated by nanites. Gears turned in his head, "The medical na-nanite generators. Bring 'em!"
Aiesu, having seen the power of the Silva rifles against Merril said, "Silva Rifles, Armoury! Anything else they can carry. I don't want her-" she paused, and omitted her next words. "it to get any of our weapons."
"Right," Keib responded, "Silva Rifles, Nanite Generators. What do we do with the Away Team?"
"Keib, we don't have time to check and disinfect anyone immediately," Vithr said, "we have to take the risk and fix them on the Bridge."
Gough and Yar'mak traded glances. Al'ris nursed the wound in her back, moving with a clip in her step. "You sure, Keib?" Al'ris asked. "I-I don't want to endanger you if I'm infected."
Keib looked over to Four Six for some comfort, she could see him weighing the decision, "Alright, do it. Quarantine's already been busted open. We don't know how much she's going to spread anyway-" he looked to the snow white Helashio that wouldn't leave his side, "Four Six,"
"Yes Mister Keib?"
"Follow Merril, its bleeding."
Instead, she kept looking up at him. "What will you do, Mister Keib?"
"I'm going to lock everything else down tighter than a nun's arse," he said, drawing his sidearm and doing a brass check. "I'll meet you at the bridge. Be careful out there."
"How long?"
"Until Miri or I give the order to come back once the ARIA and Engine locked down," he looked over to the intercom, "Understood, Miri? Get the other Bridge Bunnies to lock down everything else remotely. I'm doing the DNA hard-locks."
The helashio unshouldered her rifle, but paused before dashing off. "Good hunting, Mister Keib."
"You too," he said as he approached the door out of the skybox with Four and they diverged at the intersection.
LSDF Akahar, Flight Deck
The announcements rung in Miri's ears. What the fuck happened? Someone lost their humanity? Was that even possible? What was Keib talking about? What were all those noises, the shooting, the screaming, the 'I am Strong'?
Miri stood with a finger on her headset and her eyes darted nervously between the Intercom and the new arrivals. "...yes, I understand," she put her finger away from her ear and looked. "Well, never a dull moment," the bridge bunny tried to downplay what had transpired, "You've been told to swing by the armoury, arm yourselves, then get to the Primary Medical bay, grab the Nanite Generators and take them to the Bridge."
She didn't exactly say what was going on though because everyone else was trying to make sense of what'd happened. "We have a slight problem on ship. Keib will brief you when he gets back."
Again with the downplaying, with little other explanation.
The Lmanel Lieutenant, still with his bag over his shoulder, gave the bridge bunny a rather serious look. "Where is the Captain?"
"He's currently doing a hard lockdown of the ARIA core and Engine," Miri said. "If whatever's loose, er-" she made a verbal backspace, she didn't even know what the problem was. "If our problem gets to either of them I think we're in dire straits."
"Ensign, if the Captain is personally setting hard locks on the security compartments, who is in command?"
"To be honest, we've lacked a proper Captain for at least a week," Miri sighed, but she didn't feel shame over the fact, "Keib's doing all he can - he's the only person on ship with the authorisation to make hard locks right now."
The officer seemed to grow a little larger, and a little darker, in the Hangar's dim lighting. His expression most of all reflected a measure of coiled patience, soon to be impatience.
The Lieutenant looked back at the five-odd soldiers still milling about in the shuttlebay and seemed to be weighing their worth. The reflection in his eyes said everything about what he thought of them; a child, a fool, a loner, a lover, and a Chaplain in Hell. He tore them apart visually. Did he hate them already? Or had that been the look he'd given them when they'd boarded, and he'd said those things about protecting one's crewmates?
Was there a difference?
"Drop your gear," he ordered, unshouldering his own pack and tossing it over towards one of the corners. "Ensign, take charge. Let's go."
"Y-Yes Sir," she said as she lead the way. Its what Keib would've wanted. More help, any help.
And when you have to tear free
I will follow you
Past the bridge of Gjöll with my song
Wardruna - Helvegen (Translated)
LSDF Akahar, Main Hangar
Vathr'dral was piloting the shuttle in, close and heavy as he looked around the interior of the Akahar and noticed that everything was sealed off. He made a mental note to be the last to get off of this shuttle once the others were clear.
Vithr and Aiesu were standing out of the way from the incoming shuttle, dressed for protection while Keib and Four Six were overseeing everything from the safety of the skybox. All the tools were out, they were ready to perform a quarantine checkup on every person in that shuttle.
The shuttle's landing struts came against the deck and the point thrusters slowly started to wind down. Inside, Gough could be heard sighing a sigh of relief. "Thank Gd we're here," he sighed. He looked over the slumped form of Merril and over to Yar'mak, who nodded in agreement. It still wasn't safe to remove the helmets though.
The back hatch of the shuttle begun to open, accompanied by the hiss of hydraulics and the sheer weight of everything that'd happened. Gough and Kam'kebek were the first two to leave, followed by Merril and Mars, then Yar'mak, Veronica and finally Al'ris. Korro came stumbling out last, clinging to Yar'mak's shoulders and causing him to frown as she got her feet.
"Alright everyone I'd like you to line up," Vithr ordered. "We want to do this nice and orderly,"
Merril's breath was haggard in the comms. She stood up on unstable legs. "Just nerves. . ." she told herself, coming off of her runner's high. A confusing swath of emotions ran through her. She wanted to scream. To run. To hide. To laugh. And now that she wasn't supercharged, this was crashing into her head like a hail of bullets.
Gough and Kam'kebek were the first to be examined. "Remove your helmets, please, you first Gough, you were injured."
"About time..." Gough said as he grabbed the underside of his helmet and pulled it off of his head, long Lmanel ears following them for a moment. His face was red, sweaty and his eyes watering. "I thought I was going to suffocate in that thing."
"Okay, hold still for a moment," Vithr held up a medical scanner and begun inspecting Gough. His heart rate was a little slower than average, his breathing clipped, his disposition chemically nervous. Vithr stopped to inspect the wound on his leg. "You said you were cut here, didn't you?"
"Y-yeee-yessir." Gough nodded, chattering his teeth.
"It is completely clean."
"Oh thank God," he nodded, putting his face in his hands. "I think the nanites-"
"You will have to destroy the suit you are wearing though, we cannot risk it," Vithr nodded sagely. Gough seemed to be so relieved by this. "Head over to that area there and remove your suit. Grab something to eat and remain in monitoring." Gough kept nodding and did as he was instructing. His whole body was gleaming with sweat beneath the suit - its automated climate control seemed to have either failed or wasn't able to cope.
"Next, Kam'kebek."
Kam'kebek moved up and the process was repeated, slow and steady as Kam'kebek removed his helmet and he was similarly flush with emotion. He turned out to be negative for infection too, but his suit had to be destroyed. Aiesu seemed to be pleased so far by the results.
But when it came to be Merril's turn, she couldn't see into her visor, and something was setting her nerves on edge.
"...Merril?" Vithr asked again. "Come on."
His voice bounced around her head. A cry in a cavern.
"Merril Ghere!"
She shook her head. Some attempt to shake out weariness. Stepped forward.
Her skin was on fire. Like tiny biting insects crawling across her body. But she didn't scratch. Or couldn't. That voice at the back of her head screamed for attention, but words didn't materialize.
The static grew louder.
Vithr touched his earpiece. "Keib, do you hear that?"
"Static?" Keib replied from the observation box. "Yes. Where is it coming from?"
"I think Merril's comms. are fried," he whispered back to Keib before addressing the Medic again. "Helmet off, please."
Merril tried to move her arms. Tried again. Weren't obeying. Tried again. They moved.
Vithr saw the arms raise. Shakily. Like somebody who just committed a murder they never intended. They met the lip of her helmet. Stopped. The medical scanners Vithr was pointing at her was giving him readings that defied explanation. Keib leaned in and looked at the readings. They were similar to something he'd seen before.
"No. I. Will.Not."
Before she knew it, her concerns verbalized themselves to two commands. One unheard. At the worst possible moment.
"She's positive for infection - quick-!" Vithr yelled over the communications as he backed away, but it wasn't fast enough.
The static roared across their comms. Under it all, barely a whisper of three words remained. Keib tore the headset off of his head, ears ringing and groaning in agony.
"I am strong."
The wildcat lurched forward, gloved hands grappling with the fabric of his EVA suit's chest and lifted him. For the first time, Vithr could see straight through her visor. Merril's face was reddish - feverous? - peppered with a glassy texture across, spreading like wires between junctions on a circuit. Her eyes. . . something ate at the edges of white, though he couldn't tell what colour it was. And they were slitted, like a beast of the night.
Gough was sitting down and watching this all - and his rifle was still resting by his side. Without thinking, he stood up and his rifle's sights came to eye level like it was a reflex. Hawk-aspected eyes blinked and saw her clear. Yar'mak raised his gun at Merril too - but Vithr could get hit. "HEY!"
Vithr meanwhile reached for a syringe in his belt and stabbed it directly into Merril's neck, growling back at her as he jabbed the needle right through the armour and into the base of her spine. The WIND suit acted more like flesh than armour as the needle sunk through and attempted to tranquilise her.
The syringe found itself violently. . . integrated. Silvery strands wrapped around the device and pulled it into the fabric and plating of the WIND. Merril's grip tightened, and body shifted. Soft Touch slammed him straight into the metal plating of the hangar floor, not even letting go once.
"Look!" Korro shrieked with glee. "It is the Wrath of God made manifest! Look upon it!"
"SHUT UP YOU!" Gough yelled as he now had a clear shot on Merril. He fired at her with the Silva, aiming for her torso as she was pinning the medic down. The shot impacted with her and released a microwave pulse and expanded inside of her.
"What the fuck's going on down there?!" Keib yelled over the communications as static kept building and shrieking with every motion Merril took. "KILL HER!"
Merril shifted to match Gough's firing - but not fast enough. It caught her in the arm. The flesh and armor warped under the resonance - but the way it did so was like a rope being woven and unwoven, spinning out of construction. What was left was a hand attatched to some sad remains of silvery sheen.
"VITHR RUN!" Yar'mak yelled as he motioned for the others to get back while he closed in. Vithr scrambled away from under him and for safety.
"ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?!" Korro yelled.
The wildcat rushed Yar'mak, and her remaining hand wrapped around his weapon and tightened, warping metal beneath her grip. Her visor met his with a light clink. Those teeth. Glass teeth. Sharp. Shining.
She pulled downward, yanking the weapon from his grip, and then swung it upward. Connecting with the dog-soldier Lmanel's head.
The sheer strength of it knocked him aside and onto his back. He drew his sidearm immediately and begun firing. Al'ris rifle met her eyes, but suddenly a stabbing pain went up her back and the breath was forced out of her, gun firing into the ceiling as the finger went down on the trigger.
"Do not interfere with the Wrath!" Korro yelled at her as she felt the knife cut through her fibres. More aggrieved than anything, she grabbed the scrawny form of Korro with one hand and threw her at Merril instead.
"SHUT UP YOU!" Gough yelled at her again, but he was relieved to see her being useful for once.
Vithr meanwhile was making an odd observation about Merril's... syndrome. "Keib, remember how she was able to regenerate from anything."
Merril caught Korro with the rifle-holding arm. But. . . didn't harm her. The visored helm whipped back and forth, looking for. . . something.
"What of it?" Keib replied over the static laden communications.
"I think i-its broken," Vithr said back, resisting the temptation to pull his earpiece from his ear or turn off his communications.
She spotted the nearest door. The others could see that mental line being drawn. "Stop-!" Somehow, she was coherent enough to realise that escape was her only option. And Korro was the way to escape.
"Yesss..." Korro meweled as she looked directly into the eyes of the beast and at the nearest door.
The wildcat used the survivor as a buffer, a barrier between her and the rest of the team, skirting around the room towards that door. Jagged movements. Back and forth. Too mobile to simple aim and shoot without risking the valuable life of the lone survivor.
Kam'kebek was firing his gun at Merril, and while he was leading his shots - she seemed to keep avoiding them. She was moving too quickly and hitting the deck and bulkheads. Maybe the lack of an arm threw her motions too far off. "Fucking fuck!" he cursed, "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
Merril's back met the door, one of many completely sealed off. Korro put her hand against the identification and it disengaged. Keib attempted to manually override it and the door ended up only opening partway - only enough to put one's fingers through. Beside Keib, Fourty-Six seemed electric, though she stayed with him dutifully rather than bolting.
Merril shoved Korro forwards - away from herself - as her remaining hand dug into the gap and pulled.
The static relented for just a moment. The words became clear.
"I am strong. I am strong. I. . . am. . . STRONG!" She shrieked, breaking through the door's motors and slamming the passage wide open. Not a moment was wasted, and through the broken door the wildcat ran. And ran. And not a glance back.
"She's escaping!" Keib yelled over her deathly wail. How Korro was able to stay so close to her and facilitate this was like a knife in his guts, twisting and turning with every metal crunch that Merril was making, his breathing was short. "I can't track her! She has some sort of Jammer!"
"Come! This ship deserves the Wrath of God! Everything on it, burning in Hellfire!" Korro yelled, manic and utterly gleeful of the chaos and destruction. She disappeared, laughing into the passage that Merril had made and followed her through.
-
At Keib's side, the smallest soldier looked up, ears turning. Waiting. Keib's breathing was short, clipped. He tried reaching for his cup of tea, but his hands were shaking too much, and he knocked the cup over and spilt hot tea all over his gloved hand. He recoiled for a moment and flexed his fingers.
"F... Four?" he said.
"Mister Keib?" The expected response. In the expected tone. Even standing still, she gave off the impression of feverish activity.
"I think we're going to have a very bad day ahead of us." He put his headset back on - the static had faded now that Merril was gone, or going. It was heard all across the ship, "Attention all personnel on the Akahar. Merril Ghere is no longer with us. They have lost all vestiges of humanity. You are to open fire on them if seen. Destroy them."
He paused for a moment and breathed into his headset. "You are also to destroy Korro Longwalk Lmanel, I believe she is assisting Merril. Both are armed and extremely dangerous."
Eyes. Gray. Patient. Nervous? Waiting. Keib had seen her like this before - the little Helashio had done something surprising, and put Al'ris face-first on the ground. Just what did he have on his hands, with her? It was time to find out.
"We have seven hours until Lazarus-operated backup arrives with a regiment made to deal with what we're facing with," he had to come clean with their involvement, voice choked somewhat, "Until then, we are the first and only line of defence against Merril. The Bridge and Deck Three will be fortified against her."
The communications went clear as Keib tried to piece things together, a more concrete plan of defence based on what'd just happened, he looked down at Four Six, finally meeting her gaze. Keib imagined he could see past her eyes into her brain. Lessons learned, over, and over, and over, and over, and over; a mantra of physical actions burned straight into her brain, repeated ad infinitum. Grace. Movement.
Keib could see it. How she knew those things seemed immaterial; she didn't seem scared. And what's further, she seemed to be looking to him for guidance.
"You've got your orders, do you understand them?" he asked, away from the microphone.
"No, Mister Keib." A statement. An honest one.
Keib's mind raced as he considered all of the possibilities, standing there in quiet contemplation, grabbing his mug, and sipping what tea was left out of it and putting the empty cup back down on the tea stain that'd formed. Twenty seconds later he snapped his fingers - he had a plan.
His nodded back to Four Six and begun telling his knee-jerk plan to Miri, "Miri I need you to get the new transfers and I need them to gather things and meet us on the bridge. Vithr, Aiesu, tell us what we need."
Keib heard a voice in his ear from Vithr after he remembered how Gough was completely clean, treated by nanites. Gears turned in his head, "The medical na-nanite generators. Bring 'em!"
Aiesu, having seen the power of the Silva rifles against Merril said, "Silva Rifles, Armoury! Anything else they can carry. I don't want her-" she paused, and omitted her next words. "it to get any of our weapons."
"Right," Keib responded, "Silva Rifles, Nanite Generators. What do we do with the Away Team?"
"Keib, we don't have time to check and disinfect anyone immediately," Vithr said, "we have to take the risk and fix them on the Bridge."
Gough and Yar'mak traded glances. Al'ris nursed the wound in her back, moving with a clip in her step. "You sure, Keib?" Al'ris asked. "I-I don't want to endanger you if I'm infected."
Keib looked over to Four Six for some comfort, she could see him weighing the decision, "Alright, do it. Quarantine's already been busted open. We don't know how much she's going to spread anyway-" he looked to the snow white Helashio that wouldn't leave his side, "Four Six,"
"Yes Mister Keib?"
"Follow Merril, its bleeding."
Instead, she kept looking up at him. "What will you do, Mister Keib?"
"I'm going to lock everything else down tighter than a nun's arse," he said, drawing his sidearm and doing a brass check. "I'll meet you at the bridge. Be careful out there."
"How long?"
"Until Miri or I give the order to come back once the ARIA and Engine locked down," he looked over to the intercom, "Understood, Miri? Get the other Bridge Bunnies to lock down everything else remotely. I'm doing the DNA hard-locks."
The helashio unshouldered her rifle, but paused before dashing off. "Good hunting, Mister Keib."
"You too," he said as he approached the door out of the skybox with Four and they diverged at the intersection.
LSDF Akahar, Flight Deck
The announcements rung in Miri's ears. What the fuck happened? Someone lost their humanity? Was that even possible? What was Keib talking about? What were all those noises, the shooting, the screaming, the 'I am Strong'?
Miri stood with a finger on her headset and her eyes darted nervously between the Intercom and the new arrivals. "...yes, I understand," she put her finger away from her ear and looked. "Well, never a dull moment," the bridge bunny tried to downplay what had transpired, "You've been told to swing by the armoury, arm yourselves, then get to the Primary Medical bay, grab the Nanite Generators and take them to the Bridge."
She didn't exactly say what was going on though because everyone else was trying to make sense of what'd happened. "We have a slight problem on ship. Keib will brief you when he gets back."
Again with the downplaying, with little other explanation.
The Lmanel Lieutenant, still with his bag over his shoulder, gave the bridge bunny a rather serious look. "Where is the Captain?"
"He's currently doing a hard lockdown of the ARIA core and Engine," Miri said. "If whatever's loose, er-" she made a verbal backspace, she didn't even know what the problem was. "If our problem gets to either of them I think we're in dire straits."
"Ensign, if the Captain is personally setting hard locks on the security compartments, who is in command?"
"To be honest, we've lacked a proper Captain for at least a week," Miri sighed, but she didn't feel shame over the fact, "Keib's doing all he can - he's the only person on ship with the authorisation to make hard locks right now."
The officer seemed to grow a little larger, and a little darker, in the Hangar's dim lighting. His expression most of all reflected a measure of coiled patience, soon to be impatience.
The Lieutenant looked back at the five-odd soldiers still milling about in the shuttlebay and seemed to be weighing their worth. The reflection in his eyes said everything about what he thought of them; a child, a fool, a loner, a lover, and a Chaplain in Hell. He tore them apart visually. Did he hate them already? Or had that been the look he'd given them when they'd boarded, and he'd said those things about protecting one's crewmates?
Was there a difference?
"Drop your gear," he ordered, unshouldering his own pack and tossing it over towards one of the corners. "Ensign, take charge. Let's go."
"Y-Yes Sir," she said as she lead the way. Its what Keib would've wanted. More help, any help.