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RP: LSDF Akahar [Chapter 3.0] - To Tear Free

LSDF Akahar, Deck 3 Corridors
As the sounds of footsteps faded rapidly following the departure of Listener, Widow, Pitch, and the Chaplain on their way to secure the Armory, he found that a moment of paradoxical relief, and nervous tension, had settled over him as he gathered the medical supplies that the Chief Medical Officer had pointed out. With the knowledge that their group was halved, the consequence of their reduced ability to keep watch, and defend themselves in the event of trouble, was prominent in Glacier's mind, especially given the unknown status of the ship and the nagging feeling that he hadn't been given enough information to properly handle the situation.

Thankfully, the trip from the Medical Bay to the Bridge proved uneventful. Waiting patiently for the door to open, Medical Generators and other minor supplies in arm he looked behind their group, his eyes sweeping the empty corridor trying to pick out any slight movement or discrepancy. The tension dispelling somewhat at the sound of the door opening, Glacier happily backed into the room following after his companions and finally relaxed his vigil as the door to the Bridge once again sealed.

Feeling a sensation of security wash over himself, Glacier stiffened momentarily as he realized that he had allowed himself to relax, and quickly struggled to crush the feeling putting himself back on alert, reminding himself that until the threat was either contained or eliminated on the Akahar, and the situation returned to one of peace, nothing was truly safe. Chiding himself for the momentary naivete Glacier took a breath before turning to the rest of the room.

His attention turned now to those around him, Glacier quickly took note of the Chief Medical Officer's actions and in turn looked about the room for similar areas where power access was available allowing him to, a moment later carefully set down his burden, laying out the generators, and the small collection of other supplies nearby, to be attended by the Medical Officer whose judgement would be better applied to the supplies. With his burden relieved Glacier reached behind his back, before fussing with the clip that had affixed his Ek'yra to his waist, retrieving it and starting to look it over. Ensuring that his weapon was in good order, he noted that his actions had been motivated more out of a need to have peace of mind, than any real worry that the short journey clipped to his belt had done anything real to the weapon.

His worries temporarily placated, Glacier turned his attention to the crew around him observing their actions and identities as he wondered what their strengths and weaknesses were, as well as how they might be useful in the hours or possibly days to come.

His eyes having caught momentarily on the video feeds, Glacier tore himself out of the distraction at the sound of a voice. Catching part of the whisper only barely audible, he listened to the gossip wondering what 'she' referred to, as well as why something would be on the ship that had the described traits of being able to move as a blur, or like an animal. Instead of the answers he craved however, Glacier was distressed to note that the whispers had turned to the subject of the new arrivals, himself included.

Wanting to ignore the wave and silent greeting as he had no intention of socializing with the crew at the present moment, Glacier managed to return a slight nod of acknowledgement, not wanting to seem completely rude.

A moment later, his attention was directed elsewhere as another of the native crew arrived, a Fyunnen woman, quickly determined to be injured. Wondering pensively as to whether her actions, checking, and rechecking her wound were attributed to some tangible threat, or whether it were simply a facet of their personality; Glacier made note of the reaction all the same as his mind began to question what was truly going on aboard the Akahar.

Almost immediately after he was distracted from his pensive state by the arrival of an orange haired Helashio burdened by baggage that Glacier assumed had been retrieved from the shuttle. Taking a moment to address this new development in his mind, he wondered after the reason for the retrieval given the circumstances, as unless he was mistaken their abandoned possessions were largely irrelevant.

As he entertained his new line of thought, Glacier was surprised to feel his wings and back touch into a corner of the bridge. Resisting the urge to lean and rest against the wall, knowing that the momentary relaxation would do him no favors he instead looked about the room, noting with amusement that he had subconsciously drifted to a position where he could observe the room while keeping his back theoretically safe. Taking half a step away from the corner he shifted his wings stretching them slightly in order to hide the initally nervous action and adjusted the grip on his Ek'yra sincerely hoping that he was getting worked up over a minor event.
 
Akahar - Armory

There was much to take in as Ha'reiel moved with the group. Tension was thick, uncertainty and doubt were beginning to blossom, it was not an ideal situation to walk into, but, it was part of why he was even there on the Akahar to begin with. Whispers of corruption, heresy, the unclean, while before his arrival the Fyunnen inquisitor was impartial, but with his presence aboard the ship, and the way in which things unfolded around him, it was immediately clear there was much that needed to be addressed, especially since there was no definitive information on just what they were dealing with.

Upon stepping into the armory, the inquisitor which towered over the construct representation of a Lmanel, looked down upon the Lazarus representative with a judging gaze, as if weighing everything she was worth, and as the question was raised about just why they were being bossed by the short representation of a Lmanel, the inquisitor simply moved on. Not a word was spoken by him, as he walked past and took to looking upon the tools of war which had become so popular over the last decade of Yamataian time. A sneer crossed Ha'reiel's features, as he simply reached into the bundled cloth where the hood of his robe sat upon his shoulders, before pulling the conformal hood of the 'Wind' suit he wore beneath his robes over his features. With the hood in place, he picked up an optical sensor which he fixed over one of the circular lenses of the power-suit. Keeping true to personal form, Ha'reiel's attention went to acquiring a plasma saber along with a traditional Fyunnen designed blade. It would be apparent to anyone seeing him prepare that he was an orthodox Fyunnen, but what he did as a step away from the standard, was pick up an M'cel grenade launcher, along with a bandolier of shells. He was faithful, but not stupid, not in the least.

"You there, small-fry, you're quivering." He finally spoke, as he slipped a glistening pair of devices over his gloved fists, his words were clearly aimed at Aiesu. "Show some faith." he remarked, as he stepped back into the direction of the armory hatch, however, he did not step out, he waited for the rest of the group instead. "Anyone care to share insights on this situation that some of us have just walked into? After all, it does seem we each have our own share of questions."
 
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Jiji aided Vithr and Glacier in getting the Nanite Generators towards the Bridge, a slight nervous look on the already child like girl caused her to just look all kinds of adorable. Her wolf like ears twitched and moved at sounds unnoticeable by the normal ears, or non-canine aspected ears. The sounds only made her bite her lower lip all the harder as she pulled the heavy machinery on the pallets. Her breathing ever so slightly intensifies, but she keeps calm despite that pressure that she felt from the sounds she heard.

She arrived in due time along side Vithr and Glacier, to the bridge. Where everything just sunk in even more, despite the people here, despite the number, she easily notices the worry in each persons face and everyone's actions. She looked at Glacier a moment, noting that he let his guard down, and relaxed, even if he didn't show it, or it wasn't there that long, she figured it out. Anyone would relax with this many people around, even the most trained person, however thanks to the sounds she's been hearing due to her enhanced ears, she didn't relax.

She watched Vithr talk to the bridge bunny, and for a moment she felt the worry begin slipping away, but she quickly grasped it back. Worry equated to the ability to be more alert and more ready should something happen. She moved the Nanite machine over towards where Vithr takes the first one and places it down removing it from the pallet with a little struggle. Then went to take a seat off to the side away from the people with Doll-3 sitting in her lap to give her a little bit of company. She lightly waved back to Toto once waved at, but that calmness was soon wrecked the moment another Lorath woman came in, injured, sitting down next to the Nanite Generators. She noticed the consistent look at the back, and tilted her head a bit to watch her closely.
 
The gym

"Gough, go dress up with Yar'mak," Mars turned to her soldiers. "Then link up on bridge and tell Keib what we seen here. Tell him I continue the hunt and I am on the link if he needs me."

"You-," THe tall Fyunnen turned to Veronica, "-I assume want to go with me and find Merril and the traitorous captain of the Mok'ro. I do not want to let them move through this ship no longer then I must. That captain must die, but I want to interrogate her fist. She might know how to reverse the infection, her mind mind be gone, but her body was without trace of the cursed metal. I want to know how that happened, there might still be chance for Merril and if not, at least we might know how to keep clean the rest of us. And then I am going to kill her."

Mars could hear some words, electronic sounding from a bit afar. She turned that way and went to investigate it.
 
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LSDF Akahar, Deck 2, Gymnasium
Doom II - The Healer Stalks

"Y..." Gough held his tongue at his superior before capitulating, "yes ma'am, I'll pass it on."

Yar'mak meanwhile looked down at himself and shrugged. He was fully dressed, and equipped for battle. He hadn't taken his gear off since he got on and looked at Mars funny. Kam'kebek spoke up, "I think you mean me, ma'am," he nodded as he shrugged his shoulders and let the gown he was wearing billow, "Yar'mak's already dressed and ready to go where you are."

The two practically naked men absconded together, watching each other's flanks as they moved out of the gym and down the stairs. Yar'mak meanwhile followed Mars.

The images on screen flashed to Mars, but where did they come from exactly? Was the ARIA malfunctioning and showing family photos and videos of someone's past? Why were they in first person? They certainly weren't the memories of anyone she knew, not hers either. The sound was muffled, words couldn't be heard, but one of the clearest words that could be heard started with an M, but it faded out quickly.

Maybe it was just static and nonsense taken from someone's home videos, that's all. Veronica, Yar'mak and Mars were together in Deck 2, and not a mouse was stirring, save for the low hum of static that filled everyone's earpieces.

"Come out come out wherever you are, pussy cat..." Yar'mak hummed, bitterly remembering their brawl. He wanted to finish her off as much as Mars did.

The sound of something being knocked over in the bathing area could be heard, sounded like plastic. Maybe a bottle of shampoo. Yar'mak's head swivelled. "What was that?"

LSDF Akahar, Deck 3, Bridge; Armoury
Aiesu rankled at the sight of the enormous Fyunnen man and the God chip on their shoulder, but if he was taking armaments and taking orders, their usefulness was preserved for now at least. Behind the Fyunnen, the more familiar shapes of Kam'kebek and Gough materialised. "Oh, hey, new people, hi, name's Gough," he introduced himself as he pushed past with a Silva rifle in his hands and looked for a replacement WIND armour to don. "In a bit of a hurry, what with a wild cat running around."

Kam'kebek was also helping himself to some armour as it was being carted through to the Bridge. "A... ah, where's the Away Team Leader?" Aiesu asked Gough, "Where are the rest of you?"

"She's hunting for Merril," Gough nodded. Aiesu's face sunk as she looked up at Gough, who was zipping up his WIND suit. "So are Veronica and Yar'mak."

"You're kidding, right?" she snapped, "She and the others haven't been decontaminated."

"Aiesu, not sure if you're aware," Gough sighed sarcastically, practically brimming with it given his close encounter with Merril, "but I think quarantine was broken a long, LONG time ago. We'll have to inoculate as we go," he patted his Silva rifle and let that implication hang in the air. Intent to grind down Merril when he found her.

Kam'kebek looked at the others and remembered his orders. "I'll lock the armoury down behind you, Aiesu. See you there," he said as he stayed behind to start locking everything down. He didn't want either Korro or Merril to get in.

Soon, all of the materials and weaponry were stowed safely in the Bridge.

However, Keib wasn't present still. Ha'reiel could see that the staff who were responsible for communications were looking for the threat that plagued this ship, and that there was a plan of some sort in action. Room was set aside for the weaponry and armour while the nanite generators were now functional and producing medical nanites.

Al'ris looked at the next lot of incoming folks and spotted a Medic's patch. "Hey, Medic," injured Fyunnen asked, raising her hand and pointing a thumb on her back, at the knife wound she'd received, "does this look infected yet?"

Projected into a hologram that was residing where the Acting Captain would sit, a holographic image of Keib, and the head engineer were travelling up the stairs to Deck 3 together with weapons drawn. They were on their way back and watching out for each other. "ARIA's secure. Engineering and FTL are secure," he said into a microphone on his lapel, "we're on my way back. Aiesu, what's your status?"

Aiesu peered around the deck. Nanite generators and those lovely people to move the armoury equipment around. "SNAFU," she sighed.

"Any sign of Merril? We missing anybody?"

"Mars isn't coming immediately," Aiesu replied, looking into the hologram. Keib's facial features could be seen screwing up. "Neither are Yar'mak or Veronica."

"They need to get back here. I need to make sure everyone's accounted for."

Aiesu's cerise eyes glimmered with an idea, "Not necessarily, think of it this way. If they find Merril and they can keep her running before she's recovered, they can keep her on the move. If they find Korro, they can gun her down. That's advantageous to us if she doesn't have time to make a..." she snapped her fingers as she looked for a word. Nest? Hive? Hovel?

"I get you. I'll be up soon. Keib out." He stopped paying attention to his radio and kept moving, looking for any signs of the beast.

Aiesu meanwhile turned around to look at the four fresh recruits and the towering Fyunnen hierophant. She simply decided to wait for Keib to do the talking and chuckled nervously at the others, trying to slink into the background and behind one of the Bridge Consoles, on a chair covered in wires that she'd use if she plugged herself in to contribute ARIA cycles to processing.
 
"Shush," Mars said yo Yar and raised her revolver, keeping it close to her chest though. She started moving towards the sound, he sword was in her right hand hanging by her side. Mars was read to pull it up and offer its tip to anything that might jump her. The fyunnen warrior was good fencers, she spent lots of time with it. In her mind, every Fyunnen should know how to handle Searing blade. This longsword with ability to turn on an energetic cutting edge was amazing weapon. Mars was ready to use it to torture information from Korro and to cut Merril's head off should she get a chance.
 
Observation only went so far, when everyone else had no clue just what the situation was. "Keib." chimed in the Fyunnen inquisitor, opening his own communication line using the Wind power-suit's on-board systems. "This is Ha'reiel, chaplain-inquisitor. It sounds as if you have an infection in progress aboard your ship. Is this assessment correct?" Asked the Fyunnen, as he prepared to lay down a hearty sum of dogma-backed authority onto the situation. "A proactive approach is strongly recommended. Room by room sequential search, with cleared rooms and corridors being isolated using plasma venting systems... those are operational on your vessel, are they not?" Even as he spoke, the Fyunnen divine-giant was in the process of vacating the armory, and moving with those who were out to pin Merril down. "As for those who have been exposed, to flagrantly disregard quarantine procedures may serve to only worsen the situation, however, I would recommend using those individuals as bait for who-or-whatever your people are hunting for... bait, or at least human shields, assuming they already stand a risk of being carriers of whatever you are concerned over. Once the fugitive individual is cornered, the whole lot of them can be isolated, and purged, if need be."
 
LSDF Akahar, Deck 3, Armoury -> Bridge

Aran'ya huffed and puffed as the massive racks of heavy equipment made their way through the hallways in no small part through her arachnid-aided efforts. She could not help but roll her eyes just a bit as some of the more battle ready warriors among them took to taking suits and weapons right off of them as they rolled on towards the bridge. When Gough introduced himself she cracked a half-smile as he seemed clad in only a medical gown at the moment. "Hey, just call me the coat check girl for now," remarked Widow sarcastically she pushed a WIND armor suit to don his way. Of course as she did so she could not help but overhear as more pieces of the puzzle were being spilled in the conversations around her. Wild cats? Contamination? Hmm...

Her physical exertions occupied most of her thoughts, though, as the shipment finally made it all the way to the bridge proper. Widow took a moment to catch her breath and lean on one of the transport racks, centering her mind and body in order to metamorphose her hands back to their normal appearance. As she did so, she took stock of all of the faces around her, making sure the rest of the new recruits she arrived with were there safely. Glacier was around looking ready for action and silent as ever, and the cheerful little doll master Jiji was also present, finishing helping set the Nanite Generators up with Doctor Vithr. Aran'ya exhaled slightly as she naturally made her way over in that direction first, having a couple questions she wanted to ask.

Of course things began to change once she heard Al'ris call her over. Some of the nervousness from before seemed to melt away as her training and reflexes took control, and she hurried to the makeshift medical bay/corner. "Medic Aran'ya here, ma'am," the Lmanel spoke as she dropped her kit and had it at the ready, while moving in closer to take a look at the injury. Though with what she had heard before, Widow was keen to make sure she had the proper protective equipment on first before handling any area that could have a risk of whatever this 'infection' going about was. "Stabbed in the back, eh? This place just seems to get crazier by the minute," mumbled the Medic to the Fyunnen, as she prepared to clean and dress the wound and gave it a once over with her scanner monocle to determine if it warranted any additional treatments outside of a few well placed, flesh-repairing nanite injections.
 
LSDF Akahar, Deck 3, Armoury -> Bridge

Ny'za stayed quiet and listened in as two others spoke with the girl about the current situation. It was sounding like rather than an outbreak they had hostiles on board their ship, which would explain why they were bringing out combat gear. She soon felt the need to put herself in full combat gear, but the WIND system was a skin tight suit and while she could put it on now, most everyone's attention would be on her and she was not exactly confident about her body. So instead she focused on carrying everything to the bridge with everyone, keeping her eyes peeled.

Once at the bridge she noticed Bright and Glacier had both made it safe relieved her, maybe they had a bit of time before anything really bad would happen. She decided to put off getting into armor for now to let the situation play out some, it did not look like they were going to chase down this threat just yet. Instead she found a corner to sit down and collect her nerves for a bit, singing under her breath to herself to try to calm down. She had not even been officially assigned to the crew by the captain yet, but she was already going to have her first real live combat situation so it was only a given that she was nervous. She tried to tell herself that maybe it was best like this, she wouldn't have much chance to settle down and get comfortable before having to go into battle so she wouldn't need as much time to adjust...that is just what she told herself however, her body and mind were far removed from the concept and anything but ready to fight.
 
LSDF Akahar, Bridge

Taking comfort in his position in a corner of the Bridge, Glacier shifted a little adjusting his weight on his feet as he swept his gaze about, observing the room taking both visual and auditory note of the continuous activity of the Bridge Crew with something that bordered just beyond idle interest. His idle state was not to last however, as the sound of the door opening signaled a new arrival and the beginning of a new event to take note of.

In through the door came the other half of the divided group, along with a couple of additions. Pallets in tow laden with weapons he didn't recognize, along with an assortment of more standard LSDF equipment including WINDs. As they spread out and directed to put the new equipment in place, a slightly breathless Widow was called away from the group by the wounded Fyunnen woman sitting by the nanite generator, her skills as a medic called to task.

A brief moment later, Glacier's attention was drawn away from the workings of Widow, instead finding himself looking at a holographic projection of the exploits of the ship's Acting Captain. Speaking into what Glacier assumed was the location of his communicator, the Acting Captain stated that the Akahar's Engineering including the ARIA core and FTL drives had been secured and that he was presently making his way to return to the Bridge.

The report quickly turned into a conversation as the Acting Captain conversed with one of the new arrivals, a child-like L'manel. Their presence on the Bridge was not quite as surprising to Glacier as he would have expected, in part due to the recent familiarization with Bright. The conversation quickly identified the new misplaced figure as Aiesu, and then proceeded to touch upon the information that the situation was bad but manageable, and that someone by the name of Merril was being searched for on the ship. Of final note was that three of the crew were out searching the ship and from the Acting Captain's reaction it did not sit well with him.

Finding himself unable to understand much of the meaning of the last segment of the exchange, Glacier took a little bit of comfort in the identification of a figure known as Korro, who was supposedly to be gunned down if encountered leaving Glacier to wonder if it was the same that the Chief Medical Officer had spoken of. Also of some comfort to Glacier was the knowledge that the Acting Captain would be reaching the bridge soon, and that hopefully an enlightening briefing would follow, shedding some light on the increasingly strange situation.

As the conversation concluded, the small form of Aiesu retreated from where she stood moving off to the side just as the Chaplain began to speak. As the Chaplain spoke detailing a systematic sweep and quarantine of the ship, reducing the number of areas accessible as they moved, Glacier found himself wondering if the situation truly warranted a quarantine methodology to the level called for by the Chaplain, before conceding that an overly cautious and thorough approach would be better than underestimating the threat and allowing needless deaths to occur.

Almost to counter the thought of preventing needless deaths came the suggestion to use the currently roaming crew as bait. Unable to disagree with the possible effectiveness of the course of action, he also found himself noting that he could very well be the one acting as disposable bait should those in Command deem it necessary. The train of thought led him to wonder if he should consider preparing not for functioning cooperatively as a team to solve a problem, but instead to prepare to survive any circumstance or event that may arise.

Taking the brief lull in activity as an opportunity Glacier shifted his attention sweeping his gaze around the Bridge picking out the location of those he recognized and taking note of them once again in assessment. Bright was interacting with her at least partially autonomous doll, Pitch seemed to have settled into a corner similarly to himself, though her apparent motive was one of relaxation instead of relatively secure observation. Widow was still busy treating the wounded Fyunnen, and the imposing figure of the Chaplain was for the moment patiently waiting a response from the Acting Captain.

Glacier noted that it was beginning to seem like his situation wasn't one of controlled order, rather seeming more and more like the calm before a storm. A storm that he felt would be much worse, very quickly.
 
Akahar Bridge

Kerrik moved to the center of the Bridge – not a very large place, on the smaller classed ship. He examined the view screens, the command and control consoles; the bridge bunnies who manned them, and their nervous attitudes.

The chatter on the com., though, seemed to interest him.

Alphabet soup.

He listened to it for a while, and then decided to do something about it.

“Ensign,” he stated, his voice kept to a professional level. “If the bridge is yours, have we begun to section off the parts of the ship the security teams have verified clear?”


?????????

Four-Six bent low to the metal and sniffed.

Off to the side she could hear the commotion of the others, looking for Merril. They were in a passageway down below her. She had taken to the ventilation after determining that her insane quarry would not be using normal passageways. Although she could not place why she knew this, it seemed to be correct, and so the helashio soldier trusted her gut instinct. Lacking knowledge, that was all she had. Nobody had cleaned the ventilation shafts for quite some time, and she kept having to wipe her nose, but the blood off that woman had a distinct, tinny smell to it.

Not so very hard at all.

She crawled forward on hands and knees, stopping near the ventilation outlets to make checks.

Mars, with her head nearly touching the overhead, down the corridor. Yar'mak.

What are they looking at?

Four-six cocked her head up and stared down the ventilation shaft ahead of her. It branched off to the left. Lifting onto her toes, and her hands, she began to scuttle forward quietly.
 
LSDF Deck 3 / Bridge

Jiji found herself idly walking around looking at all the new people arriving, she kept that happy demeanor about her despite the idea that there could be anything happening and she didn't know what precisely was happening, she paused when the new people entered the bridge and tilted her head about to accommodate Gough's hello, before he followed up with the fact he was in a hurry and that a wild cat was running around. This caused her to take a pause and consider what he meant by that. The child like Lmanel watched the going on's of the bridge, noting Aiesu, someone generally like her. She wanted to talk to her, but then she heard the mention of 'hunting' for a person. She narrowed her eyes a bit and bit her lip, she looked at Gough when he mentioned that quarantine had been broken and the slight panic began to build up inside of her. She crossed her arms across her chest and eyed downwards, despite that she heard the door open once more, and in walked Widow and Pitch. She felt a sense of relief seeing Pitch and widow survived, and relaxed a bit taking a deep breath. She looked at Doll-3 and smiled ever so slightly. "Things will be okay, right?" The Doll nodded towards her before speaking. "Things seem hectic Ma'am, but I believe it will turn out okay in the end." She eyed around and noted the looks on everyone's faces, Glacier was ready to fight, Pitch looked nervous, but she relaxed, Aiesu looked stressed, and Widow was ready to help people, but what could a lonely engineer do in a time like this...
 
LSDF Akahar, Bridge, Deck 3
"Some of the security personnel and I have already started sealing decks," the ensign was quick to answer as she clicked through footage feeds on Floor 2, coming up empty. "Keib and Bes'linn are doing hard locks where they can - nobody in or out unless they specify so."

Keib meanwhile paused in his step on the way to up the stairs to Deck 3 to listen to the authoritative voice in his ear. Bes'linn almost walked into him. "What's up?" she asked. "We can't stay here long."

The acting Captain put a finger to his ear and resumed moving slowly, gun up. "The situation's a little more complicated than that, Chaplain." He didn't use the full title, "We have a First Contact scenario on our hands in the same package - as for quarantine we were fucked just before you arrived, pardon my Occhestian." Keib definitely had the accent for it. "I'll be happy to go into detail with what I know once I'm there. Won't be long. Vithr, finish your scans."

-

"Yes sir," the Doctor replied as he saw to it that the Fyunnen was being attended to again. He looked back at the new arrivals, then held up his scanning equipment. "Excuse me, could you all line up, you first," he said to Glacier. "Al'ris, you'll be up the moment you're walking."

"Yes Doc-ow," she winced. Vithr, meanwhile pointed their medical scanners at Glacier and held still as he looked at the information on the screen.

"Completely clean. Equipment safe too." he said. "Next," he pointed to JiJi. "Didn't get your name, sorry," he said as he pointed the medical scanner down at them and let the scanner do its thing. "Completely clean too, equipment safe, moving on," he said as he scanned Ha'reiel, the process taking a little longer owing to his bulk, "Thou art clean, Chaplain-Inquisitor," he addressed formally, "All equipment on person seems to be in order..."

Vithr then dropped the orthodoxy for a moment, "Gough, you line up and re-scan, please. Aiesu, you too."
Gough groaned. "Oh c'mon," he groaned as he held the Silva rifle in his hands. Aiesu meanwhile was relieved to be queueing up. "we've been through this already."
"Better safe than sorry, Gough."

"Good gun, isn't it?" Aiesu asked. Gough nodded at her. He'd seen the results. "Remind me to show you all how to use the thing without taking an eye out."

Something was telling the Lieutenant that the people assembled here in the Bridge, now becoming quite comfortable and cosy with the combined body heats of people assembled, were the entire crew of the Akahar. They weren't lying when they said that this place was a skeleton crewed ship. It didn't bode well when you could count the personnel on your fingers and toes twice over on a large ship meant for expeditions.

Keib was getting closer to the bridge and he had his finger to his ear. "Four Six, status confirm please. I'm at the Bridge. Say hi to Merril for me if you find them, keep them on the move."

LSDF Akahar, Bathroom, Deck 2
One of the engineering staff was lying on the ground, face down. Mars would recognise them as Mordi "Wire Head" Fyunnen. She was one of Bes'linn's engineering crew, and responsible for making sure things were working. In one of their hands was a flask of drink next to some shampoo bottles while the other was clutching their chest. They seemed to groan as she heard bootprints and looked up. "Ghhh... help me... p-please..."

By the look of it, they'd made some noise to attract medical attention. They seemed to be safe.

"Goddamn, what'd she do to you?" Yar'mak said as he looked around nervously.

"She ... bitch went downstairs. Gh-get me out of... here before - the Beast..."

LSDF Akahar, Armoury, Deck 3
Kam'kebek was locked out of the armoury and it was sealed fast and tight, but he was by himself. As he turned around from the doors to the armoury to head back to the bridge, he felt the breath get forced out of him from behind at knifepoint. He tried to reach behind him and grab his attacker, but the knife came out and back in, slicing through his wing and into his back.

He was then pushed off of the blade and landed face down into the floor with a slowly flatlining medical signal. His scream was but a gasp for release that could be heard on the communications. He tried clawing for his sidearm by his waist, but he found it thrown in front of him, out of his reach, and every writhe he made on his belly made blood pour from his wounds.

Cameras zoomed in on his location. "Korro has been sighted on Deck 3, near the armoury, starboard side!" Dilu yelled into the intercom, as Korro's figure started making a run for it. "Personnel down!"

The camera feed showed Kam'kebek crawling to his sidearm, trying to reach it in vain and get grab some power in this situation.

Korro's helmeted face suddenly peered into the camera's lens from beneath. Looking into her helmet, her eyes were glassy and her skin cracked, cheekbones stretching her emaciated and sickly skin out. Her nose had started rotting away, enlarging the nasal passages while her lips had begun to thin into a corpselike view.

An armoured hand reached up to the camera and tore it out.

"Camera feed out!"

For a moment, Dilu was glad that she didn't have to look at that face again. The situation, however was not going to plan, and that scared her just as badly.

On another camera feed, Keib and Bes'linn could be seen stopping, turning around and disengaging the safety of their guns. "HEY! STOP YOU FUCKING COLOY'NA!!" Keib was not above using highly colourful language in pursuit of the crazed Korro, and that was a grave insult amongst religious Lorath.

Briefly speaking, it translated into 'Stone Finder', someone who spent their whole life in search of 'a stone to sit on' in order to prove their fortitude, that they could 'hold their stones/balls' while simultaneously never finding the balls to please. Someone Ha'reiel's age or similarly well read would know the insult best.
 
Akahar - Bridge

Upon arriving on the bridge with the others, it was clear to the freshly arrived chaplain just why the Akahar was a 'special case' ship, as his gaze went from face to face, each one being matched to a personnel record that was pulled from somewhere within a digital memory, supplied by equipment embedded inside of Ha'reiel's own skull. Upon being approached by the doctor, the Fyunnen chaplain gave a short nod, giving permission for the scan, and acknowledging the doctor in the process. Though, once the scan was complete, Ha'reiel strode to where he could get a better view of the station dedicated to internal monitoring within the Akahar, seeking to get a better 'lay of the land' so to speak, as he wondered just what the ship's commander was doing to confine the problem, though, Keib's alluding to an explanation earned a short response from Ha'reiel; "Keib, you know our policy when it comes to this, even if it is a first meeting, if a threat is posed beyond the confines of this vessel, the threat is to be removed. I will await further information upon your arrival." with that, Ha'reiel was resigned to waiting for the commander.

Waiting, it was something that happened in short bursts, or something that lingered over time, for the Chaplain, he did not have to wait long before he looked upon the monitor before him, and saw just what they were looking for. Largely unaffected by the murder he was watching, the Fyunnen Chaplain butted his way to lean in and reach the internal monitoring station, as his fingers quickly ticked off the switches which controlled the internal isolation systems of the Akahar. "Keib, I'm sealing off this deck. Vital systems aside from the bridge are at a minimum on this deck, the armory is sealed, so long as we act quickly this can be handled without having to make the next step in protocol." Ha'reiel stated over the communication line, in time to get an earful of obscenity, which caused him to sneer in disgust.

"Well, it seems one of our threats is outside of this very room, on this very deck... is anyone feeling brave enough to venture out and aid your commander in putting them down?" Ha'reiel asked, as he stepped away from the internal monitoring console, making his way to the hatch which would let him out closest to Keib's position. "Since I doubt you would rather flood the deck with superheated plasma, with him out there."
 
LSDF Akahar, Bridge, Deck 3

Aran'ya held Al'ris in place with a surprising bit of strength in her slender hand as she tried to stand up once and winced audibly. "Hold your wings a second," she murmured, finishing patching up the wounds with freshly healed flesh from the nanites. She then helped the Hellion to her feet and supported her while the rest of the healing completed over time underneath the bandages. "Now go get your check-up from the Doc." She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but at least that was one more warm body up and walking that could shoulder a Silva rifle against whatever that was that just took out a camera feed... and from what she could see, Kam'kebek as well.

Widow was kind of at a loss for words for a moment. Things had just gotten a ton more serious -- and terrifying -- with the first fatality onboard and sight of who the enemy was. Ha'reiel's firm words and commanding tone seemed to shake sense into things, though. The rather colorfully cursing Captain was obviously in trouble, and they needed to extract him from the situation before he was to be the next one struck down by the crazed Lmanel and whoever that armored hand belonged to. (Although the idea of tending to Keib's battle wounds was a slightly pleasing thought...)

The medic then looked in Vithr's direction, recalling her question from before she saw the wounded trooper, "Scan me up too, Doc. And enlighten me quickly about what kind of infection we are dealing with here? Because it looks like I need to make sure the Acting Captain gets here in one piece." Her shifting iris happened to gaze in the direction of her compatriots, seeing who else was to follow Ha'reiel's lead. She figured Glacier would be the first to jump up at the call to action, considering how he handled the weapons from before, but how would Pitch and Jiji react to this situation?
 
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LSDF Akahar, Bathroom, Deck 2

"Are you all right," speakers of Bastions helmet said to the engineer laying on the floor. In reality Mars' eyes were checking the hurt woman for any trace of mech-infection that stole Merril from them. At this right moment, Mars could only trust Yar'mak and Veronica, since she did not leave them out of her sight the whole time.

Her chain of thought was cut when report from bridge came, that Korro was sighted one deck up from where Mars and her team was.

"Yar'mak grab Mordi, be careful. She might be infected." Mars ordered her only subordinate. "We will move her to the bridge, Doc is there. Plus we can pick up Gough and others there and continue. Besides that bitch is above us, maybe we will get to kill her on the way. Veronica, please cover Yar-mak."

With that Mars headed out of the bathroom. She went straight for the nearest access point that would allow the squad to get up to deck 3. Mars wanted to find Korro and destroy her.
 
LSDF Akahar, Bridge, Deck 3

Ny'za had stood up when Vithr mentioned that everyone needed to be scanned to make sure they were clean. It had not occurred to her that there was a chance she could be infected already, but knowing so made her worry. She still had no idea what was going around, but based on how everyone was responding it was nothing to be taken lightly.

Her attention was locked on the holographic display as she waited in line. The only thing that took her attention away was the commotion from the monitoring station as the armory was attacked. She could not see what was going on, but that might have been worse. Her imagination was running wild with the bits of information she did have, and coming up with something that was possibly worse than even reality. Her wings folded over her once again in obvious discomfort.

She wasn't given the privilege of relaxing though, soon the hologram of the captain was firing on something further down the hall. At this rate it would be no time at all before the bridge was attacked as well. The bridge was supposed to be the safe location, but it looked like the enemy was heading right for it. Of course Ha'reiel mentioned that someone should get out there and help and while is sounded like a suggestion, Pitch had heard this kind of speech before. This was the kind of speech drill instructors used you didn't have to obey but it would reflect quite heavily on their opinion of you and since she was one of the ones who could move and didn't have a place on the bridge, she had almost no choice but to go.

Hesitantly the thin Lmanel spoke up. "I-I'll go."
 
It was unfortunate in Glaciers opinion that he was called to motion, having been content to remain in the corner of the Bridge observing the crew as they went about their work. Recovering quickly from the unexpected request to line up, Glacier found that he had begun moving before he fully processed the request and noted that the long hours of military drilled into his head seemed to have accomplished more than he realized as he acknowledged the command with a brief vocal report.

Having settled into the place directed, Glacier waited with a mixture of patience and curiosity as the Chief Medical Officer went about scanning him with unknown criteria. During the process Glacier found the time to mull over the brief exchange between the Lieutenant that had arrived with him on the shuttle and Ensign Listener, noting that moving around the ship would be increasingly difficult as the lock-down's sphere of influence expanded. As he considered the unique difficulties that the situation might pose Glacier idly nodded in response to being pronounced clean along with his equipment and took the opportunity to move apart from those who had not yet been scanned to get out of the way, and in part out of a desire to avoid being too near any who possibly would not be declared clean. Whatever it meant.

From his new idle location Glacier found his attention drawn by a comment made by one of the native crew who held one of the unfamiliar weapons that had been brought in from the Akahar's Armory. Finding his curiosity sparked, Glacier wandered toward the weapon laden pallets. Examining the variety of gear, most of it familiar, Glacier eventually settled on observing the mysterious weapons trying to discern their function through observation having not quite decided on whether they would be needed in his present circumstances.

After several moments of observation, the mystery remained unsolved and Glacier instead turned his efforts toward the more productive task of procuring and suiting up in a WIND. Checking over and removing his weapons, habitually double checking the safeties before setting them down Glacier moved on to the familiar process of transposing himself into the protective embrace of a WIND. The rote motions complete, he idly stretched settling into the suit, testing his limbs and wings before pulling up and sealing the hood quickly running a quick self diagnostic test to ensure everything was functional.

Turning his attention to the available Gust Kits, Glacier briefly weighed the benefits before setting about the process of augmenting the WIND deciding that the increased flexibility would be worthwhile. As he began attaching the supplementary kit with the intention of sorting out his armor before re-equipping and following up on the offer of one of the native crewmen to explain the function of the new weapon system. Midway through the process however, the atmosphere of the Bridge suddenly changed from one of slowly increasing relaxation to a state of alertness almost immediately followed up by a shout notifying the Bridge that one of the hostiles, Korro, had been spotted.

The possibility that the news was a good sign was almost immediately crushed as a second announcement reported that one of the native crew was down and that the surveillance feed had ceased in the area for unspecified reasons. Increasing the speed at which he assembled his gear while paying as much attention as he could spare to the Bridge around him, Glacier noted with some satisfaction that he felt content with his choice of action for the moment.

Finishing with his preparations he smoothly returned his weapons to his person; Ek'yra complete with attached M'Cel, Searing Blade, FMR-1 and his survival knife all finding their home about his person along with his previously held extra ammunition, though with the addition of a few stunning and lethal soft-gel slugs. Satisfied with the state of his weapons and ensuring they were properly secured in place, Glacier gently procured one of the unfamiliar weapons and began to make his way to the crewman who had offered to explain its function when the call to move to the Acting Captain's aid was raised.

With no small amount of surprise Glacier noted that Pitch had managed to volunteer herself to the task before him, despite her hesitant tone leaving him with a curious impression of the nervous L'manel. After a brief moment of consideration Glacier decided that there was little to gain in delaying more than he already had and spoke in a collected, cool tone familiar to himself, "I will go as well Chaplain. However, I would appreciate an explanation of the function of this weapon first." He gestured with the unknown hardware to make clear his meaning, while considering the device wondering if it would prove to be instrumental in ensuring the success of their mission, or at the very least his survival.
 
Bridge.

The Lieutenant gave the Inquisitor a sideways glance, and moved aside so that he could get to the consoles required.

Tch.

Kerrik still stood starkly still, near the command chair of the vessel, and had been awaiting an answer to his previous question. Other things had taken precident, and although he might have had a right to be incised, or where a more self-important officer might have snapped at someone nearby - purely out of pique - he maintained a sort of steadfast stoicism. Instead, he looked up at the holographic display. He would be last to line up, if he lined up at all. The bloodshed, and Keib going after it, like he didn't have a crew to protect. Kerrik frowned, the first real indication that the situation was bothering him aside from the audible, and hovered.

A first contact situation. Murderer onboard. Inquisitor breathing down the necks of the crew he was about to become an officer for.

Tch. He could feel the rumbling in the back of his throat, the beginning of an animal growl, and it wasn't nervousness. He felt around inside himself for a while and discovered it was indignancy. He hadn't been onboard five minutes, and already the place had gone to all hells. Tapping a console nearby, he brought up the display showing the known locations of the crew, using internal sensors. A few of the bridge bunnies gave him a strange look - he was no longer asking them to do anything, but working for himself.

Overlay.

Engineering situation on the side. Locked down? No. Red box.

The Hangar. Red box.

Three blue dots, moving forward and up from the second deck heads.

Yellow barriers showing the blast doors and compression safety locks. Orange on the Hanger.

No more orange. Their deck was locked down. When the Chaplain called for volunteers, and two of the other new crew volunteered, however, Kerrik looked up.

He stated, "Inquisitor, the Ensign will be volunteering as well. As of right now, as the ship's next executive officer, I am assuming control from the bridge. Keep in contact, and I will co-ordinate further overwatch from here with the bridge crew."

It was hard for the Lmanel to keep the un-Lorath growl out of his voice, but he just managed to keep his hackles down.

"With respect," he added, in deferance to the man's religious, quasi-command position. "If you have to make the decision, that is the front line. You're more qualified than any of us."


---===---


Four-Six watched Mars and the others change their pursuit, and heard the annoucement over their coms. Unlike them, she was not carrying a radio, and so she only had a vague idea of what occurred outside her immediate sensory perception; that seemed fine.

She was on the road of silver.

As their footfalls faded out, occasionally echoing through the ventilation and maintenance shaft she found herself suspended inside, she stooped down low again and sniffed.

The blood smelled peculiar, like burning electronics, or perhaps it might have been regular blood being boiled. The scent might have been faint to others, but it was not faint to Four-Six.

She resumed her chase, slowly following the scent through the vents for several minutes until the scent became somewhat stronger.

So distracted and focused was Four-Six, that she bumped her pretty little head into one of the industrial fanguards, ears first, and made a soft yowl.

Quiet.

Echoing.

The gentle swoosh of the fan in front of her.

She couldn't go further this way; she'd have to take the corridors. An exit nearby.

One... two...

The clatter of the ventilation grating on the passageways was almost dulled by the klaxons which were going off in this area of the ship. Red trouble lights fanned a murderous color down the solitary corridor. Rising fully, Four took her bearings, unable to keep her tail from flicking incessantly.

Same deck. Different area. Other side of the ship? How was that possible?

The scent had disappeared.

The only sound was the klaxon, steadily rising and falling, a sound that by now Four-Six had almost tuned out.

One of the lights in the far corridor flickered. Four-Six did not know much about ship maintenance - in truth, she knew nothing about this ship, or its deck layout, or anything of the nature when it came to spaceships. Even if she had known, perhaps it might not have seemed too out of place.

But she could feel the hair on her ears rising as she examined the shadows, watching the corridor.
 
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It echoed through the decks, from the intercoms: Crackling like cheap analogue radios or cracked clay. Somewhere beneath it, a sound bubbled in the white noise.

It became clearer. Stronger.

Bu-bump. Bu-bump.

Voices. Muffled but expanding into clarity

"I'm not sure I want to. Its kinda scary."

Almost laughter. Younger. Maybe a child.

Then older. Creamy. Smooth.

"Its alright. You're ready as you'll ever be. Remember what I said. What's the most important thing? The one thing I want you to remember?"

A long silence. Punctuated by a constant throb. Louder.

Bu-bump. Bu-bump.

"I-I can't. . . going too far! It's too much!" The younger said. This time, more resonant, like a plucked string of a violin. Faint. Internal. "Can't let this. . . don't want to die. . . I am. . ."
 
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