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

Akahar - Bridge

When addressed, Ha'reiel looked upon the Lmanel which spoke to him. Canine...Ulf? It seems so. I wonder how having the commander out in the front is affecting him. Ha'reiel thought silently, as he listened to the words which meshed well with the situation, though, it did place the Fyunnen chaplain in a distinctive position of responsibility. "If it is a martial matter, I will take it into my hands. However, Lieutenant, I will leave matters of crew and ship in your care, this ship belongs to the Defense Force, not the Fyunenn, and it will be administrated as such, and I have no interest in displacing you, or your commander, from your roles. If anything, my intent right now is to get Keib back into that seat. Once this situation is resolved, that is when my focus will shift, until then, we will keep these roles." explained the hulk of a man, as he looked to the gathered group of volunteers.

"These weapons we have available to us..." Ha'reiel looked at the ordinance, cross-checking in the Matriarchy database, coming up blank, before looking into a Lazarus product catalog, and there he found a suitable explanation for the equipment; "They are microwave based weapons. Do not fire them at any sensitive electronics. Those of you with cybernetic implants, embedded communication links, or other equipment, keep a link to the scrawny Lmanel from Lazarus that brought them to us, I am sure she will be glad to give you more information, and would be glad to hear user feedback in real-time." There was a touch of disgust to Ha'reiel's words when covering the matter of the weapons, however, he was not about to be indignant over the matter.

"When we exit the bridge, we will assume a wedge fire-team formation." Ha'reiel explained, as he weighed the matter in his thoughts, judging what direction a foe which is engaging at melee range would ideally use within the corridors of a Raptor-Class. "I will assume the forward position, Tay'rryn will assume the right position, Ny'za will assume the left position, the Ensign will be assuming the rear position. While a column would be ideal for expedience, we would be best served defensively through the use of a wedge. Left and right coverage of the wedge will cover our flanks when passing through corridor intersections, and near hatches. Our rear position will be watched for in the event of the target closing from behind. I will keep my eyes forward, and will be responsible for keeping our target from closing in too quickly for any of you to be able to line up a shot. Upon passing through hatchways, and breaching rooms, we will alternate between Tay'rryn and Ny'za taking lead in sweep-and-clear of each room or corridor. First will be Tay'rryn."

With tactics explained, Ha'reiel took to the hatch which sealed the bridge off from the adjoining corridor closest to where Keib was last spotted. "We stay together, no one separate for any reason, Lieutenant, we will keep in touch... Team, rifles at the ready, opening hatch now." With those words, Ha'reiel took to opening the hatch of the bridge, before standing clear "Tay'rryn, you're up." with that, Ha'reiel stood at the ready to follow shortly after the assault specialist, before the rest of the group would move out of the bridge, and into formation.

Bridge.

Kerrik nodded, and turned back to the bridge crew, apparently accepting the Fyunnen's words at their face value. It did bother him that the acting Captain was personally out there, but as the Ensign had explained earlier, he was currently the only one with the authority to seal the essential areas of the ship. With that in mind, Kerrik picked up one of the small earpieces that had been provided for the bridge crew, and linked into the group discussion.

So many problems with this situation, and so little time to bother with them. The weird sounds and images over the video feeds were beginning to get under his skin. Focus. Almost as an afterthought, he picked up a rifle and sat it on the chair. He did not sit in the chair. Kerrik was not Captain - he would, thankfully, only inherit a part of this shipwreck - but he wasn't about to leave himself unarmed. With two teams roaming the halls looking for the security risks, only one of which could they reasonably guess the location of through the implied location of the ship's Acting, the bridge would be nearly undefended. But, thankfully, that was why there were manual locking mechanisms.

"Sub-Lieutenant," he stated, linking himself into the communications at his terminal. Glancing over the tactical overlay, Kerrik found him moving forward as well, in the same direction as the other three blue dots - the security team, Kerrik presumed. After a moment of little to no response, he followed up with, "Keib. This is the bridge. I am closing the blast doors two corridors down and locking them from the bridge. You'll gain on her. Or him. Team One -" this time he addressed Mars & Co., turning the strategic map. They were only a little way away. "Rendevous with the Acting Captain. Team two will conduct a sweep of deck 3. All stations acknowledge."

While he waited, he looked back to the Inquisitor, the unlucky Ensign whom he had replaced, and the two who had volunteered.

"Door's going to be locked behind you, too. Don't singe your feathers."

Akahar - Bridge

Once again Aran'ya was surprised by Ny'za's behavior -- just like on the way over here, she once again volunteered herself willingly for what could be an even more dangerous situation. It was hard to figure that girl out, so quick to throw oneself into the fire yet seemingly quaking in her boots every minute on the way there. There must be some tiny piece of her persona wishing to find glory in battle, locked away as it was behind that klutzy, unsure shell. Or at least Aran'ya hoped that was the case, as the LSDF Akahar surely needed that strength in this hour.

While finishing her medical tasks and awaiting the Doctor's reply to her inquiries, Widow gave a quick nod in the direction of the search team as it formed up. She directed most of her attention to Ha'reiel and spoke to him in a more formal, respectful fashion this time. "Chaplain, do you wish me to accompany you for this rescue operation? Or shall I remain here to receive the wounded?" The Inquisitor could see that her initially smart-alecky mood had visibly shifted since arriving, as events continued to transpire around her and cause her to manifest genuine concern for her fellow crewmates (and especially the two recruits heading out into the halls with him). The fact Kerrik stated his intent to lock the doors behind them only made it more important to ask this question first before the squad departed.

Bridge

Jiji was unsure as to what was going on still, infection, and the like, was more a biologists game than an engineers game. She however paused a moment, and watched the going ons for a moment. It didn't take long before things began to pick up however, Jiji kind of zoned out for a little bit before hearing someone mention going out and hunting the thing in question. She looked up, she was unsure as to if she truly desired to go out and go into combat, but part of her demanded she did. She stood up and moved over next to Widow. "I can go to if you need me to..." She spouted towards the chaplain, the small doll on her shoulder looked towards her and said. "You're an engineer not a fighter..." She looked at the Doll. "Just cause I'm an engineer doesn't mean I can't hold my own." The child like Lmanel's ears twitched ever so slightly before looking back at the chaplain and smiling. "I'll do as you command."

LSDF Akahar, Bridge

No sooner than she volunteered did Pitch regret it. A voice echoed through the ship and reached her ear. At first it was the voice of a child, then an adult. Though what they said was pretty clear the large winged Lmanel did not comprehend it, her mind was clouded by fear as the sound of a heart beat drummed in the background. She not only wanted to take back her what she said, but she just wanted to leave this ship entirely, maybe even quit the LSDF if this was what it was going to be like, but that would be a horrible disgrace to her family, so she straightened up and tried to look as composed as possible, her wings around her shoulders, trembling with fright.

She nervously listened to the Chaplin's explanation of the weapon, or at least his attempt at such. It sounded like this weapon was experimental which would explain why she was not familiar with the design. Either way it seemed like it would be the most effective thing, otherwise they wouldn't have pushed to use it so much, so she picked up one and looked it over examining the sights and the mechanisms. She couldn't be too confident in how well it would operate until she fired it, but but it seemed like it would work like a standard energy rifle.

Though she was armed with a weapon for combat, she still wished that she could've put on one of the WIND power suits, but it did not look like Ha'reiel would wait that long, but that made sense people were in danger after all and this wasn't a movie where you could spend as much time as you wanted suiting up. She moved over towards the group forming into the expedition team, taking the left flank as instructed.

Before they managed to leave though both Aran'ya and Jiji spoke up about following along as well. Pitch had expected Tay'rryn who was already int eh group to be eager to go, but she was not expecting the others. The two women seemed to have skills that could be used without going out into a fight, they could get away with staying on the bridge and not being wasted personnel so the fact that they wanted to go along as well in such a horrible situation was a shock to her, but she was glad to have more people tag along, there was safety in numbers after all.

Akahar - Bridge

Upon being approached with another volunteer, Ha'reiel looked upon the medic with a measuring gaze, before giving a soft shake of his head in return. "If our foe inflicts harm upon us out there, a medic in the field would be of little use. We would be better suited by having our medical personnel holding the rear, and, attempting to better understand what is taking place with these personnel. Knowledge may be the greater tool here than these 'precious' new weapons. Even more important are our engineers, which will be needed in the event that we are unable to contain this incident." stated the Fyunnen, before he gestured to his team to head out of the hatch and into the corridor beyond, leaving behind both Aran'ya and Jiji.

LSDF Akahar, Deck 2,
Yar'mak knelt down and grabbed Mordi, slinging the injured Fyunnen over his shoulder and heading down the stairs with Mars. Veronica didn't seem to have any words for the sheer brutality of the stabbing, her wings were a mess of plucked feathers while her chest resembled a carvings of a butcher's block.

Yar'mak and Veronica broke off and started heading towards the Bridge while Mars saw Keib and Bes'linn with guns drawn, chasing the fading sounds of screaming.

LSDF Akahar, Deck 3, Bridge
Yar'mak and Veronica came into the bridge with the injured Mordi in tow. The Dog-aspected soldier yelling, "Medic, need your help here! Got another one, looks bad!" as he looked for a guernsey to put them on. He dropped Mordi next to Al'ris, who was now in a much better condition thanks to the nanite treatments.

"Whoa, shit," Al'ris looked over to Mordi. Mordi was sporting serious chest stabbings and seriously ruffled wings, feathers plucked out in fistfuls. Mordi herself was faint and pale from the pains and blood loss.

♫ Metroid: Zero Mission - Ridley's Lair ♫

LSDF Akahar, Maintenance Space between Decks 2 and 3
The snuffle nosed Helashio found themselves poking their head out of a maintenance closet that lead through the ship's crawlspaces for maintenance. One way out lead to Deck 2, the other to Deck 3 below. Following the silvery trail of blood, to its strongest source.

There the former Medic was, slumped against a wall, whimpering in pain and surrounded by spent medical equipment as their left arm was a stump covered in bandages. Her breathing was ragged and she was vulnerable. A stray My'zhz rifle laid down by her side with the excess bandage haphazardly snaking over it.

Then something odd happened that neither the Helashio or Merril expected. The bandages seemed to come to life and intertwine around the rifle, hungrily snaking over the weapon and bringing it closer to her. Merril bucked and tried to shuffle away from it - away from herself. More of the bandages started grabbing medical waste and pulling it closer to her as well.

Four Six looked on, blinking as she lowered her weapon and kept her breathing slow.

The medical rubbish started to accumulate at the base of her stump, and slowly begun to shape itself into a new limb, intertwined with the bandages and her silvery blood, all the way down to the elbow while the rifle's stock and trigger assembly seemed to integrate into a forearm.

Merril looked at her new arm incredulously and mumbled questions as she shook her head in disbelief at herself, and she discharged. A round fired out of it and struck the bulkhead and the crack of gunfire was echoing all throughout the maintenance passages. Startled, Four Six dashed back the way she came as the sound of the gunshot rung in Merril's ears.

That's when she realised that for a brief moment she wasn't alone like Korro had promised, and stood back up and looked up at the Deck 2 crawlspace.

Someone had been there, but now "I am stronger..." the beast affirmed herself, eyes darting around as she stood up and admired herself in the reflection of a glass screen and her new piece that Korro had left her.

From the vents, Four Six could see the shadow of a sublime shape with an irregular, asymmetrical gait and silhouette, suddenly standing so much taller than the Helashio remembered. A black shadow curling against the wall whipped back and forth excitedly as its left arm seemed to be one again.

"I am stronger...!" she cackled, sending another wave of static through the ship's communications and viewscreens, all across the second and third decks.

LSDF Akahar, Near Armoury, Deck 3
A wave of static passed through everyone's radios from the blue as Keib rounded the corner to apprehend Korro. He saw her moving downstairs into Deck 4. He fired at her, but succeeded only in hitting the bulkhead as she rounded a corner. "Shit!" he swore.

"Hey, who are these people?" Bes'linn asked as she saw the unfamiliar people heading towards her, including the massive inquisitor. She lowered her sidearm.

"Who?" Keib asked as he focussed more on the dying form of Kam'kebek and moved over to stand over him and keep watch. All of the blood on the floor left Keib's prognosis to be quite grim. He didn't turn back around to greet the others, instead watching where Korro had left.

Maybe she'd be back. "Take my position," Keib asked of Bes'linn, the two quickly switching positions and Keib lowering his sidearm to come face to face with the pectorals of the Inquisitor.

Unlike most people in Keib's employ who'd tremble and give way at the sight of an armoured Inquisitor on a warpath, Keib just looked up at him and made eye contact with him, the David staring up at Goliath. "I need one of your team to carry Kam'kebek back for medical attention," he asked, ignoring their station, protocol and rank, "If nothing else we can at least give him a proper funeral."

Keib then turned around, "Nice guns, by the way," he said - though Chaplain was unsure of whether Keib was referring to the rifle or his buff physique. "Korro went that-a way," he directed, pointing down the stairs.

However, he still had no idea where Four Six was, even though she was a pawn in Keib's camp. Speaking of pieces on the board, Ha'reiel's move was paying off as Keib heard the sounds of blast shutters behind him, his eyes only glancing aside to acknowledge the Inquisitor's move.

Then the sound of frenzied banging from the blast doors that made up the stairwell from Deck 3 to 4. "You'd look quite good with a cigar right now," Keib complimented.

LSDF Akahar, Bridge

A moment after Glacier had volunteered, the Lieutenant volunteered Ensign Listener to accompany the team on their mission. He didn't quite understand the motivation of the decision though it drew his attention to the Lieutenant who seemed to be quite tense, something that Glacier empathized with especially after the Lieutenant had taken on the responsibility of appointing himself to the command of the Bridge for the interim.

Unsettling in its abruptness the atmosphere of the Bridge once again took a turn for the worse as on the tail of the words spoken by the Lieutenant, a burst of crackling that resolved into the familiar hiss of white noise made Glacier wince beneath the hood of his WIND as it assaulted his hearing. Slowly his mind picked out a sound, its rhythm unsettling in the familiarity. Glacier Barely suppressed a nervous tremble that crawled across his skin, as the sound resolved into the intimately known cadence of a heartbeat.

Surprisingly voices were heard, ushered in by the rhythmic beating still swaddled in white noise that never quite faded. There was laughter, and a question raised as to what exactly they were supposed to be ready for. Finding himself at a loss Glacier wondered as to the meaning of the audio clip as the unnerving, powerful beat of a heart continue to interrupt his thoughts; even after the static had died, denying the uneasy silence that would have followed the unexplained audio.

Almost as if to mock his desire for the sound to end, a new clip of audio presented itself. Startling in its sudden existence, made worse its disturbing content, he was left wishing that the beating had gone on uninterrupted leaving him uneasily expecting more even as time stretched on following the last of the unwelcome audio.

Thankfully an answer to his question came from the Chaplain, giving Glacier something mundane to focus on, a relief that he would not have expected before experiencing the whims of the Akahar's intercom systems. Turning his attention to the weapon in his hands, Glacier regarded it thoughtfully as he reviewed what little he knew of microwaves. Unable to puzzle out the device to a satisfactory level he contented himself with the knowledge that he was unlikely to see any effect apart from whatever it did to its target. Making note to keep the warning to avoid firing on electronics Glacier decided it would be unwise to fire the new weapon unless he was confident that he would hit his target as he had little intent of learning what collateral damage it might cause.

Turning his thoughts toward the deployment orders for their squad, Glacier considered the suggested formation and found that he had nothing to contest; though he had his doubts as to whether he would have voiced any even if they had existed. His initial intimidation having turned into a sense of respect for experience, Glacier decided to put his trust in the command of the Chaplain, and to a lesser degree the others who would be accompanying him. Hopefully the need to improvise would not arise.

Glacier voiced only a brief confirmation before falling into his role. With habitual grace Glacier moved quietly to the open hatch, checking it with quick, practiced motions before slipping through and scanning the area beyond making a point of sweeping his gaze over the ceiling. Once satisfied with the area, Glacier declared it clear and held position keeping his attention focused on the hall while he waited for the others to flow through the hatch, ready to fall into his position on the right of the formation.

Evaluating his situation, Glacier found himself hoping that he could rely on Pitch in her visibly troubled state. Following the line of thought beginning with Pitch, he indulged his introspective state and considered a well the offers made by Widow and Bright to join the squad while he cleared the hatch and the area beyond. While he admitted to himself that he would appreciate rapid medical aid in the event that something unpleasant occurred, he found himself agreeing that he would much rather have the comfort of knowing that the strange threat they were dealing with was understood. On the subject of Bright, he found that he couldn't form a true opinion. He hadn't worked intimately with Engineers within the LSDF before having mainly functioned in a separate role during joint operations, as such he didn't feel he knew the value of an Engineer in the field.

For the most part Glacier's thoughts found themselves wedged into the brief waiting periods as the squad made their way with cautious speed toward the intended rendezvous with the Acting Captain. Between his attempts at puzzling out his situation and all of the myriad of information he had been presented with and working as efficiently in his role as he could, Glacier attempted to establish a line of communication with the Lazarus Representative among the crew, following the Chaplain's advice to seek the L'manel's consult on the unfamiliar weapon as well as offering to provide data of its use when it occurred.

Soon coming into view of the Acting Captain shortly following the report of a shot, Glacier payed little mind to the questions and comments being presented as the two groups encountered each other. Instead he chose to remain focused, moving a little ways beyond the new group to ensure he had a clear line of sight and a good vantage point to survey the hall beyond alert should anything occur.

LSDF Akahar, Bridge

Jiji frowned at being ignored by the chaplain, she figured however that she would be ignored. She decided instead that she should probably do what she's good at, so she begins to look around the bridge trying to study how the bridge is built so that she could locate a security monitor of sorts. She focused on this task effectively ignoring everything else that was going on around her for the moment, Doll-3 looking around however noticed the other going ons but said nothing.

LSDF Akahar, Near Armoury, Deck 3

Hearing the Chaplin turn down Aran'ya's request and ignoring Jiji's got Ny'za a bit worried, safety in numbers and all that...but how could that work if they weren't getting big numbers? She heard some kind of explanation about it from Ha'reiel, but even if it made sense it did nothing to suppress her fear of the current situation. However the only option she had was to continue on after the 'away team'.

Despite her obvious tension Pitch performed her assigned duties with no problem, properly clearing her assigned passages as they went. There were a few times that the ship would creak and her wings would twitch and she'd snap to the direction to see what it was, but she would go right back to her work once she confirmed what it was. It was unclear if the girl was highly motivated, someone who took responsibility very seriously or a mix of the two, but what ever it was, her skittish nature would not stop her from performing her duties. Maybe she was just a masochist?

Soon they made it to the acting captain and what she believed to be a member of the engineering staff, possibly the chief so she gave a quick salute as the enemy was not present at that exact moment. There was not much time for discussion however as soon the sounds of something banging on the blast doors could be heard. Ny'za was not sure what exactly it was, but judging by the sound it was big, and not something to trifle with.

LSDF Akahar, Bridge, Deck 3

Widow showed a bit of indignation in her expression at being brushed off by the Inquisitor, though deep down she knew it was probably the right decision. She would just have to trust the Goddess's representative that he was making the right call, and that Pitch and Glacier were ready to head out there as they were. "Well then, when you're all scratched up by that 'cat'," spoke the Medic with a pessimistic warning tone, "or whatever it is out there...you know where I am. Good hunting."

Noticing Jiji was also similarly spurned, she offered an idea to the now adift seeming engineer that was locked onto the bridge along with her. "Hey little bit, you said you were good with machines, right? How about you try to figure out what is going on with the communications systems... whoever or whatever is sending out those sounds and images is seriously starting to creep me out here." She then looked at the assembled crew nearby, "And I wouldn't be the only one here to feel that way. We need to keep morale up after witnessing that murder..."

No sooner had the words escaped Aran'ya's lips than she saw Yarmak and Veronica dragging in the mortally wounded Fyunnen, calling for help. "Damn it..." she muttered once, rolling up her uniform sleeve to expose a set of pale, yet experienced arms that would soon be covered in blood that was not her own. "Hurry, bring her here!" the Medic called out, as she frantically tried to clear the deck and lay blankets from her field kit to create a triage space in the corner near the Nanite generators. Her eyes darted to the seemingly sheepish Doctor Vithr once as she quipped, "Doc, since you seem to know more about whatever this infection is, so keep checking and sanitizing as fast as possible... I'm going to handle the trauma in the meanwhile." It sounded like a command to superior, but it was more a desire for her to focus on making sure noone else lost their lives today.

There was no more room for words after that as experience and training seemingly took command in this critical situation. Aran'ya knelt by the prone Mordi and rushed into action, first to seal the sucking chest wounds she received and stop the blood loss and prevent fatal cynanosis from setting in. A few well-placed sprays of hemostatic clotting agent applied and direct pressure of a dressing on three sides managed to slow and hopefully stymie the bleeding completely. Satisfied, she monitored Mordi's vital signs carefully for stabilization, and next moved to the task of carefully cleaning and suturing up the punctures permanently prior to programming a vial of tissue restoring nanites.

As she worked, the Lmanel couldn't help but be drawn to the fact of the haggard condition of the patient's wings, with its appearance of being akin to a plucked bird. This seemed like purposeful and gleeful torture had occurred... an unsettling thought, as Widow also prepared some painkillers to help relieve the stabbing sensations where the engineer's self-medicating drink of choice likely fell short.

Deck 3

Mars did not accompany Yar'mak and Veronica to the bridge, she instead moved through Deck 3 looking for her prey. For any prey. The hum of voices in the radio was annoying, but she was taught to not let herself get unfocused. The Fyunnen knew what to do in a fight. She had to focus and Mars would not let the crazed thing that used to be a team mate get her. Bastion was as solid as a rock, she controlled her emotions and thoughts. There was only a single focus: To find Korro and Merril and put them out of their misery for good, by any means necessary. But she had to find them.

"Keib," Mars called on the comms. "This is Mars, I am on deck 3. Let's coordinate. Where was Korro last spotted and which way she went. I will try to get in front of her and kill her."

Mars did not stop moving, but she would move according to Keib's reply as soon as she would get one. Even if the reply would come from anyone else.

LSDF Akahar - Corridor Deck 3 - Adjacent to Armory

There was simply a nod from the inquisitor, a respectful one, marked with a smile that cracked through the hard features of the older Fyunnen in response to Keib's observations on his style and physique. Though, that smile soon gave way to the no-nonsense nature of the inquisitor as he eyed the sealed blast doors, and frowned heavily. "So, it got away." He stated in observation, as he looked upon the doors which sealed the deck they were on from the next, where their target had fled to.

"Tell me, 'Captain', have you locked down the engineering, lab, and production facilities?" as Ha'reiel asked his question, he broke away from standing before Keib, as he approached the fallen soldier which Keib had spoken of, the one which they had witnessed being attacked, from the safety of the bridge, where they were unable to do much of anything to spare the soldier from the harm brought to him by the murderous thing which had left him for dead. "Tell me of your situation, as I tend to this man." Stated the inquisitor, perhaps as an order, perhaps as a request, but from his tone, it was most certainly the inquiry that a soldier in the field would seek in assessment of the field in which he was to ply his craft.

As Ha'reiel waited for Keib's words, he knelt beside Kam'kebek, turning him to lay upon his back, as he leaned in close, whispering words inaudible to those around, words meant solely for the soldier which he was whispering them to.

<"Bless you son of the divine. Bless you soldier of our Goddess. Bless you hand of our God. Your gift of flesh which you offer brings honor to you and your kin, those who live, and those who have joined our ancestors before us. As you serve the divinely chosen children which guide our people, you redeem yourself as a man, you cleanse your soul of the sins which you have committed during life, and you align yourself with grace divine. I absolve you of the judgement which has been placed upon you in life, and offer you to the will of our makers. May they bring peace to you in death, which you have not had in life.">

Click to expand...

As Ha'reiel spoke his prayer for the fallen, he placed his massive hand upon the younger soldier's chest, over his heart, as he felt its weakened beats beneath his touch, and knew that moving him would only speed him toward death. Rites for the situation were well in mind for the inquisitor, which also held firm to the role of a chaplain in the field.

For Fyunnen, to be placed in the role of a chaplain, was to be placed in the role of serving as the interpreter of both combat doctrine, and the executor of divine will. Ha'reiel's understanding of that will was clear, as his hand left the soldier's chest, before resting upon the hilt of the plasma saber which he had in his possession, a weapon which he soon drew from his side, as he ignited the implement of warfare, and symbol of the mingling of ceremony with the modern battle field. Fyunnen dogma was clear on the handling of bodies and those which were beyond help in a combat environment; efficient dignified disposal.

Though, before he brought the saber to flesh, breaking the magnetic containment of the weapon, allowing it to vaporize the fallen Fyunnen, he looked to Keib for his final approval, since after all, the man was the soldier's commander, and it fell to a commander to dismiss someone from their posting.

LSDF Akahar, Deck 3 Corridors Near Armoury

First thing was first, Keib had to respond to the leader of the Away team, "Good news is you won't have to go far." The New Tur'lista held his earpiece and looked at the mouthpiece in front of him, bottom left corner of his vision as he spoke. "She's stuck in the stairwell between Deck 3 and 4, trapped by the Blast Doors near the Starboard side of the armoury. Thank the Inquisitor for it."

He took his ear away from "Yes, I have locked down Engineering, FTL, Armoury, ARIA Core," Keib replied to the inquisitor.
"And anything relating to structol creation," Bes'linn added, "The Civilian contractor from Lazarus spelled that out during our quarantine,"

A vision of cerise eyes and white hair came to mind for Keib and the Inquisitor.

"before, well, all hell broke loose." Bes'linn said, looking at the blast door warily as she heard something thumping against it and screaming at their imprisonment. "I'll transfer you video of what happened-"

"No time," Keib cut in. "Basically speaking," he held up a datapad and had it project some images of Merril during her rampage, taken from security footage, as well as choice pictures from the Mok'Ro's interior. This included those lovely pictures of the ARIA Core turned into what looked like a brain, the stomach-like walls of the Cargo Bay, Korro's miraculously untouched room with the uncanny amount of religious literature in it and finally some pictures of the former crew - neither organic or synthetic now.

"From what the Contractor has explained, some sort of symbiotic being latched onto the Mok'ro, assimilated it and the crew, causing it to go off the radar. Our team investigated it, and our medic Merril Ghere was infected by it. All personnel on the bridge are clear, but some of the away team have not been scanned."

Keib looked into Kam'kabek's eyes as the chaplain whispered into his ear. The wounds really were grievous and there wasn't much Keib could do in his capacity right now. He knelt down and grabbed his hand, squeezing it, feeling how cold it was to the touch, once full of life. "Goodbye, Kam'kebek. I'll see to it you're buried on home soil with honours," he said before releasing his grasp and looking back at the Inquisitor to finish it.

"Make it painless."

Mars stamped in with her rifle raised and pointed at the blast door. Keib could see that under her helmet, her eyes were full of violence - she was looking for something to kill. Bes'linn and Keib had their fingers hovering over the triggers too. "Open the blast door on Starboard, Armoury outside Deck 3 down to 4. We've got one of them."

"Yes sir," came the reply from the Bridge.

Bes'linn let her attention waver and looked at Mars' armour. It seemed smoother than before and Bes'linn inspected those armours after every mission without fail - and something about hers was off now. The hard edges on her suit seemed to be sanded down and the plates were conforming to the shape of her body. "Mars, are you okay?" The Head Engineer asked as she looked through her helmet and into her eyes. "You look anxious."

Glacier would notice a bead of sweat run down the temple of the Fyunnen's helmet. The blast doors decoupled and started to rise. Keib crouched down and laid on his back, pistol still in his hands, pointing between his legs to get a look under the rising blast doors. Bes'linn opted to crouch down

The lower body of Korro was visible and her limbs had become terribly elongated and matted in rubbish, splattered with the blood of the meek. Her hands dangled by her ... knees. With the sights lined up, Keib started firing at her legs, minding how the Nepleslian made pistol pulled to the right with each shot. She didn't flinch, and her hands grasped the underside of the Blast Door and guided them up, unable to bend over thanks to their gangly elongation.

LSDF Akahar, Bridge
JiJi and Widow continued to be left to their own devices. Widow's attendance to the injured was making some good progress as they got to the grisly task of putting them back together. Vithr looked at the two new arrivals and started scanning them. "Veronica, you're clean," he said after a scan up and down of the pirate woman. "Yar'mak... You're showing signs of infection."

Yar'mak looked around nervously inside their own helmet and they looked at their best friend, Gough for an answer. Gough gasped at his best friend. "Wh...what does that mean, doc?" Yar'mak whined as Gough could be seen covering his mouth in horror - his best friend could become... them.

"I need you to get all of your armour and equipment off and destroyed," the doctor explained clinically as they could. They were breaking new ground today. "And I need to flush your system with nanites to get the ... the ..."

"Symbiote," Aiesu mentioned.

"That's the one. Symbiote out of there if it's gotten that far into you."

"Wuh... will it hurt?"

"That depends. Do you feel different at all?" The Doctor asked as he passed JiJi a length of suture. "You seem very calm right now, and scans didn't indicate any form of breathing difficulty, irregularity in heartbeat or changes in metabolism. Quick, come over here..."

He lead the Lmanel to a curtained area and started removing his armour piece by piece. "...I think I found it here..." the sound of something going whoof could be heard, and an acrid stench filled the air. "Disposed... rescanning..." Soon the Lmanel was naked and another scan was commenced. "I'm going to have to flush you out, Yar'mak." The sound of a nanite applicator getting ready, a pleasant whine. "It seems like it's manifesting your arm and ... my God."

Heads from the Bridge Bunnies turned to the cordoned area of the Bridge, watching the silhouettes interact with each other, the Lmanel holding their arm up and inspecting it, jaw drooping. "Aiesu, come have a look at this before I remove it."

"I ... I'm feeling odd, Doc," the Lmanel said, their voice quiet with some murmur of acceptance underneath it all. "What am I, now?"

JiJi, meanwhile was able to locate a security spare monitor with inputs and outputs available to them. Miri looked over to them and asked, "Excuse me, what are you doing?" as politely as they could.

Aiesu mulled over the concept for a moment.

♫ Cliff Martinez - "They're Calling my flight"

"In a word, quarantined." she stated flatly, concerned with keeping her immediate distance. "In nicer terms, you'd begrudge me if I told you, so its best you don't know. If you're not too far gone, you should suffice with losing the arm and a few organs then we just replace them with a vat grown set. It'll slow things down, but it won't stop them. Our best option is probably to put you under stasis, the same sort we use for transporting constructs. It lends itself well to... Hazardous materials."

Vithr nodded at Aiesu. "I have one of those back in the Primary Medbay-"

"The only one aboard the ship is the one I arrived in. What you and what we call stasis are different things: You cool things down and stop bioaction. We ... Cool time down, is the best way I can describe it."

"Don't tell me it's in your room on Deck 2, right?"

"Cargobay actually. Once I'm here, it becomes a mission utility, since I'm not expected to return."

Vithr rolled his eyes, "Wonderful. Retrieving that thing while Merril and Korro are running around taking heads," he looked through the curtain and over to Widow operating on Mordi, trying to get some life back into the stabbed, plucked Fyunnen.

"...Someone really doesn't like her. Even as a construct, I'd hate to have my wings yanked bare. Korro's doing?" Aiesu asked. The doctor nodded stiffly in reply, lips taut.

"If we can get my processing unit out of this construct and hook up a cheap quantum modem between me and it, I can probably use this body to search the ship for it without loss of myself as an asset being any sort of real concern."

"So the sooner I get into the freezer the better, right 'Su?" Yar'mak asked, still looking at the circuitry-like patterns on their left arm, somewhat mesmerised.

"Basically. The gear needed to clear you out is about the size of a colosseum. Its a client-system for a device about the size of a national district. A sort of molecular teleporter that distills you down from it and seperates you by beaming you over and over again through seperate decontamination chambers. In th eprocess, it produces lots of - sometimes horrific - mistakes, but provided we get our end outcome, we don't care about the ethics. Its en route, but it'll still be a few hours before it gets here."

The Dog Soldier blinked at her. "Faaark," Yar'mak swore, almost crowlike to betray his dog-aspectation. Vithr's eyebrows raised pleasantly.

"You really don't do things by half measures in Lazarus, do you? What next, an energy generator the size of a planet?"

"Where do you think structol comes from?"

The two blinked at each other. Yar'mak whistled in appreciation. "So, I just stay put, make sure I don't..." he looked at his arm again and wiggled his fingers. "Er... hum. Feels warm," he wiped his brow. His vitals were remaining steady and breathing was okay according to Vithr's instrumentation.

"You alright?" Gough asked from the other side of the curtain.

"I-I'll be fine, brother. She knows what she's doing."

"Whatever equipment you use that comes into contact with this, space it. Gloves, instruments, scanning equipment, all of it" Aiesu came, her voice still somewhat detatched: More as if the dog had shit on the living room floor rather than someone's life being on the line: Tedium, not urgency: Someone else was in the driving seat for a few minutes.

"I already had his armour, equipment and weaponry tossed out to space," Vithr

"Same goes for whatever bedding he comes into contact with. Or deck he walks on. You have to rip it out and throw it out. Wear gloves or cover when you do and throw that out too. Any on any part of your body, amputate, there and then: We can replace whats cut off pretty easily."

"I haven't removed my quarantine suit from the Hangar," Vithr said.

"If he's been in the hangar, I'd want as much of it spaced as possible. It works slowly without an atmosphere. If this spreads, we might have to scuttle the entire ship."

"That's looking very likely at this point..." Vithr let that sit in the air. The bridge bunnies could be heard getting out of their chairs to look over the curtains. "When did you say your Lazarus team will arrive with the goods?"

Aiesu's gaze went skyward, as if asking some great query to the heavens. Her gaze fixed on the bridge bunnies, baring her teeth and frowning - resisting the instinctive urge of her L'manel aspectation to growl like a dog at the post-man.

"...Retrofitting a ship bigger than a city, leaving a gas-giant and then moving across half of known space to come here isn't something that happens instantly... Five hours, fifty three minutes, eleven seconds as of... Now.."

"Do we have 'five hours, fifty three minutes'?" Yar'mak asked.

"Ideally, yes. Realistically, no. The ship will last at least a few days, maybe a week. Our friend here has about three hours or so in him unless we can get him into stasis, at which point he could hold out for a few days, maybe weeks if we jettison him from the ship. At this point, I'd have all escape measures prepped and ready for use at a moment's notice. If things go south, we'll have to self-destruct the ship: To prevent spread... Total annihilation of the hull and crew is the only way to be sure."

LSDF Akahar, Bridge

Jiji found the space monitor and was about to get involved in typing it before she eyed back towards the person who talked to her. She stared at them for a minuet before looking back at the security monitor and spoke up. "Doing what I'm good at, I'm no fighter and I'm no doctor, but electronics and engineering is a specialty of mine... Plus I'm a little curious as to whats going on." With that, unless she is told to stop, she begins to work on the security monitor to get a gauge of what might be happening around the ship. Her little floofy ears twitching a bit as she did, mumbling lightly to herself about how she's had better monitors then this before, and could probably upgrade the security monitor should she ever have time.

LSDF Akahar - Deck 3 Corridor - Near Armory & Deck 3/4 Access

"You will not have to worry about burying him." Ha'reiel spoke, as the sound of the blast door sliding up rang through his ears. It was a quick motion which came from the inquisitor in response, as he passed the plasma saber over the fallen Fyunnen soldier, rendering him, and all that was upon the soldier, into vapor in that sudden swipe. In the same motion of his dispatching the honored dead, Ha'reiel came to his feet while stowing the plasma saber, looking upon the blast door as it began to be lifted within its tracks.

"Stand clear!" Ha'reiel barked out his command, his tone firm, powerful, and cautioning as his hand quickly went to his hip, seizing upon the tool which he loathed, yet knew was essential due to his role as a soldier. Despite his position as a practitioner of doctrine, and his honoring of tradition, there was still the matter of practicality which took precedent over all else, and even served to shape doctrine from there on. For a Fyunnen, the gun was a symbol of progress toward something dreadful, something that was a departure from all that was honorable and dignified in war, but, it was a necessary tool, something to dispense the judgement of the Matriarchy, and once the detested weapons were graced with a divine purpose, their stigma quickly faded.

Ha'reiel's hand was filled with the firm strength of the polymer grips which graced the M'cel which he had placed at his side. Warm sounds of metal against leather accompanied its revelation, as Ha'reiel pulled the weapon from its holster, and took to a knee as he leveled it just where it needed to be. "FORTY-MIL-PLASMA, OUT!" With that last warning, Ha'reiel pulled the trigger on the weapon, discharging it, releasing the relatively low-pressure chemical propellant yield, which sent the 40mm plasma shell screaming from the barrel of the pistol-like grenade launcher. Ha'reiel's aim was not for the legs, nor the hands, but the space behind the gangly beast which was once Lorath.

Before the barrel even had time to begin to cool, Ha'reiel's hands quickly worked the M'cel, ejecting the previous shell-casing, and sliding another round from his bandolier before slipping it into the breach. "SUPPRESSING FIRE! RELOADING! GET AN OVERRIDE ON THAT DOOR AND WAIT FOR MY ORDER TO RESEAL IT!" As he barked that command, he finished guiding the next round into place, a round which none of them would want to be around without that blast-door sealed.

LSDF Akahar, Deck 3 Corridors Near Armoury

Ny'za let the Chaplin and the officers converse on matters pertaining to the ship, while she was in no position to say anything in regards to it, she did listen to make sure she knew what was going on. Hearing the explanation of what was going was relieving, there was less mystery and less terror in knowing what your enemy was, and this one according to what Kieb had said was a parasite of some kind. As she glanced at the pictures displayed she thought to herself about the situation, if it was a parasite then infection is probably less likely than with a virus for one thing, the suits were probably just to be on the safe side. However there was the issue that parasites were more complicated lifeforms and could have a measure of intelligence and not just programmed activity, which would explain why they wanted to lock things down so quickly.

Before she could think much more on it another soldier showed up, and Ha'reiel gave the injured man his funeral. Even though there was no gore it was still rather unnerving to see. Pitch did not want to die in such a manner, she would prefer to be buried back home, not vaporized at space. Her parents probably would not get much closure if they did not see her with their own eyes. However she soon shook the thought out, she couldn't be thinking about her death at a time like this.

While she was lost in thought the blast door was opened and the wiry legs of their target were before them. Before she could decide how to handle the situation Ha'reiel had fired off a plasma grenade across to the other side of the blast door and was asking for cover fire. Pitch moved almost on reflex in response to the man's bellowing voice, she had been trained well at least. Her body smoothly fell to the ground in a kneeling, bringing her pistol out in front of her and taking aim. She had never been a good shooter but form this position even she could aim at such a narrow gap from the distance. She kept the pistol in semi-auto to make her shots count and began firing first at the hands trying to lift the blast door, hoping to get them to let go.

The Silva Canon she had was laid at her side, it was not appropriate in such a situation, at least for her, someone who was not confident she could get her shots through the gap, especially with something so large and unfamiliar.

On all the decks, through all the radios, the dull throbbing of the previous message gave way to silence. It wasn't the cold silence that empty halls and corridors provided. Breathing, electric silence of a speaker turned too loud on the empty part between two songs was what filled the halls. From the din arose one voice, clearer than any had been before it.

13 said:

"You chose the burden of the Va'haar. A predator, territorial and unyielding. A beast known for its fierceness, but also its disdain.

The burden you bear is not one to be taken lightly, and it leads to gluttony and complacency if you let it.

Today, you have accepted this burden and proven your worth in body and soul. You may rise, no longer a child in the eyes of our Goddess, but an apostle of Her flesh.

Initiate Merril Ghere, I do hereby ordain you as a sister in flesh and blood, as L'manel. May you do our Lady proud."

Click to expand...

LSDF Akahar, Deck 3 Corridors Near Armoury

"I am fine, I have job to do." Mars simply replied to Bes'linn. Mars did not though about possible infection up until this point, she was not worried though. Her training was strong, her mind was strong. She would not let it over take her. And she still had ability to overload her armour and self-destruct if needed. But it would not come to that. Mars noticed how sleek gloves over he suit became, she felt much more in unison with the suit, but it did not matter. Her chance of killing the monsters without the suit was much smaller. She won't take the risk. As long as she won't loose her mind, which seemed impossible to her, she would not mind becoming monster herself. A monster can still do its job to protect those who it cares for.

As the door went up and combat started, Mars looked at elongated form of Korro. That thing killed Kam. She did not know him all too well, but he was one of hers. And the monster killed him. Mars has to punish the thing for that. It had to die. As the priest, Mars did not know fired the plasma grenade at the thing, Mars yelled out. It was a shout full of rage as she lifted her rifle and opened fire. The gun has a very high rate of fire and as she fired, she did her back to hold it on the center of the beast. She only gave it about 5 seconds, before discarding the rifle.

"DIEEEEEEEE!" Shouted out in rage as she drew her funnen blade and activating her thrusters and rushing the monsters ready to smash it back into the room with a thruster-powered shoulder bash and then had a go at the monster with her sword. The thing had to die. It had to die. It had to die. It had to die....