Z
Zack
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The trip back to 188604 was a short one, the Elysian Seraph with Raphael seemed happy to just shove him out the door and into the dark, sandy night where Ragnarok soldiers were waiting for him. The last thing he'd hear as the shuttle headed back into space was the Serph shouting out,
"SEE YOU SOON!"
The pair would end up rushed back to the Queen's Slave, where food, water, clean clothes, and a shower were waiting for them.
Raphael growled as he was literally thrown from the shuttle. However, he looked over to Ivory and swallowed down the bubble of anger that was trying to force it's way up. He took a deep breath and in a small act of defiance flipped off the departing shuttle.
The Ragnarok soldiers quickly escorted the two up onto the ship, where Cyrus waited for them. "Welcome back brother." He then looked to Ivy. "You too Doc." Before they could both speak Cyrus pointed into the ship. "Go get yourselves cleaned up. We can debrief afterwords.
Raph nodded in thanks to Cyrus and walked up the ramp and went to take a shower. As he removed his clothes he could see the burn marks where he was repeatedly tazed. He winced as he pulled the rest of his clothing off and got in the shower, letting the cold water run down his burns.
"You brought my medic back!" Uso said, entering the room with the shower, and leaning against the rapidly fogging mirror, "Which is good... I would have been very cross with you if you didn't. And since the Elysians just dropped you off while we had no fucking idea where you were, I take it they want something from us?"
Raph had been so engrossed with the shower that he didn't notice Uso until she spoke. He jumped slightly, his nerves still on edge. "Hey Uso..." He said when he realized it was her. "Yeah... I had to sell my soul to the Devil herself..." He said as he finished his shower and wrapped a towel around himself. "My mother wants us to fight the Rixxor in the B7R area, and I am to be here liason here dirtside." He said, rolling his eyes at the last bit. "I didn't want to, but it kept Ivy safe and got us both home." He added.
"Ugghh..." Uso said, leaning back even further and closing her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable second shoe to drop, "... Did they say why?"
"Because the Castiel group is fighting the NMX and have spread theirselves thin fighting both. So they are forcing our hand." He replied. "They are leaving B7R with our without our support. If they leave and we don't go in, the Rixxor will walk all over that system, and be within striking distance of us." he replied.
"Any idea how many ships they have?" Uso asked, "Or anything else you think is important? This was bad enough when we just had Van Banning and the Elysians trying to dick us over. Now we're adding the NMX, Rixx, and well... B7R's locals don't fucking like us."
He tried remembering back at the holoscreen that his mother showed him. "She has a sizable force, but it has been steadily dwindling taking on both the Rixxor and NMX." He said. "There isn't much else I can think of... They tazed the ever loving shit out of me..." He added, rubbing the back of his neck where the Seraph liked to taze him.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to get an ST copy of your last few days. See what you saw." Uso asked.
Raph didn't like the idea, but nodded softly. "Alright... Let's get it over with."
"Yeah, I'll have Ivory put that together once she's done..." Uso said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "They want us to swallow the poison pill of dealing with B7R. That planet will end badly for anyone. But to avoid that we need to be able to stand up to their fleet... and I don't know enough about their fleet to know how we'd fair."
Raph shook his head. "Currently, I know we couldn't take their fleet head on. They would be ready for that." He replied. "Honestly it will be a battle to see who can defeat their enemy with the least amount of casualties. Then we can take on the other." He replied as he got dressed.
"Heh... You are in a room with two other people. Each of you have a gun with one bullet. You get to shoot first, then player 2, then player 3. How do you ensure you won't be killed?" Uso asked.
He thought for quite some time, before he spoke. "Well either you never take your turn, or convince the others to take their turn first..." He said. "However, I don't believe those are the correct answer."
"You intentionally miss. Player 2 then has to shoot player 3 because he still has a bullet... I think the best move would be to not play their game... maybe dip our toes into B7R a bit but don't get too involved in the fight... playing peacekeeper, genociding some bugs, there is no great option there that doesn't offend the spacers, Vier, the locals...
....ugh....
... There is always shacking up with Nepleslia, having a few more friends on our side would be nice right about now." Uso replied.
"Possibly... We will have to see." Raph replied. "For now let's get that damn ST back up... Have I told you how much I hate those things?" He said moving to leave.
"You have not." Uso replied, "I get it, you hate having someone much around with what makes you-you. However it looks like your mother is willing to break that old taboo in a big way..."
"Yeah... She is a manipulative bitch to be sure." He replied looking back to Uso. He sighed. "If it will help us get an edge over here than let's do it then..."
The trip back to 188604 was a short one, the Elysian Seraph with Raphael seemed happy to just shove him out the door and into the dark, sandy night where Ragnarok soldiers were waiting for him. The last thing he'd hear as the shuttle headed back into space was the Serph shouting out,
"SEE YOU SOON!"
The pair would end up rushed back to the Queen's Slave, where food, water, clean clothes, and a shower were waiting for them.
Raphael growled as he was literally thrown from the shuttle. However, he looked over to Ivory and swallowed down the bubble of anger that was trying to force it's way up. He took a deep breath and in a small act of defiance flipped off the departing shuttle.
The Ragnarok soldiers quickly escorted the two up onto the ship, where Cyrus waited for them. "Welcome back brother." He then looked to Ivy. "You too Doc." Before they could both speak Cyrus pointed into the ship. "Go get yourselves cleaned up. We can debrief afterwords.
Raph nodded in thanks to Cyrus and walked up the ramp and went to take a shower. As he removed his clothes he could see the burn marks where he was repeatedly tazed. He winced as he pulled the rest of his clothing off and got in the shower, letting the cold water run down his burns.
"You brought my medic back!" Uso said, entering the room with the shower, and leaning against the rapidly fogging mirror, "Which is good... I would have been very cross with you if you didn't. And since the Elysians just dropped you off while we had no fucking idea where you were, I take it they want something from us?"
Raph had been so engrossed with the shower that he didn't notice Uso until she spoke. He jumped slightly, his nerves still on edge. "Hey Uso..." He said when he realized it was her. "Yeah... I had to sell my soul to the Devil herself..." He said as he finished his shower and wrapped a towel around himself. "My mother wants us to fight the Rixxor in the B7R area, and I am to be here liason here dirtside." He said, rolling his eyes at the last bit. "I didn't want to, but it kept Ivy safe and got us both home." He added.
"Ugghh..." Uso said, leaning back even further and closing her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable second shoe to drop, "... Did they say why?"
"Because the Castiel group is fighting the NMX and have spread theirselves thin fighting both. So they are forcing our hand." He replied. "They are leaving B7R with our without our support. If they leave and we don't go in, the Rixxor will walk all over that system, and be within striking distance of us." he replied.
"Any idea how many ships they have?" Uso asked, "Or anything else you think is important? This was bad enough when we just had Van Banning and the Elysians trying to dick us over. Now we're adding the NMX, Rixx, and well... B7R's locals don't fucking like us."
He tried remembering back at the holoscreen that his mother showed him. "She has a sizable force, but it has been steadily dwindling taking on both the Rixxor and NMX." He said. "There isn't much else I can think of... They tazed the ever loving shit out of me..." He added, rubbing the back of his neck where the Seraph liked to taze him.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to get an ST copy of your last few days. See what you saw." Uso asked.
Raph didn't like the idea, but nodded softly. "Alright... Let's get it over with."
"Yeah, I'll have Ivory put that together once she's done..." Uso said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "They want us to swallow the poison pill of dealing with B7R. That planet will end badly for anyone. But to avoid that we need to be able to stand up to their fleet... and I don't know enough about their fleet to know how we'd fair."
Raph shook his head. "Currently, I know we couldn't take their fleet head on. They would be ready for that." He replied. "Honestly it will be a battle to see who can defeat their enemy with the least amount of casualties. Then we can take on the other." He replied as he got dressed.
"Heh... You are in a room with two other people. Each of you have a gun with one bullet. You get to shoot first, then player 2, then player 3. How do you ensure you won't be killed?" Uso asked.
He thought for quite some time, before he spoke. "Well either you never take your turn, or convince the others to take their turn first..." He said. "However, I don't believe those are the correct answer."
"You intentionally miss. Player 2 then has to shoot player 3 because he still has a bullet... I think the best move would be to not play their game... maybe dip our toes into B7R a bit but don't get too involved in the fight... playing peacekeeper, genociding some bugs, there is no great option there that doesn't offend the spacers, Vier, the locals...
....ugh....
... There is always shacking up with Nepleslia, having a few more friends on our side would be nice right about now." Uso replied.
"Possibly... We will have to see." Raph replied. "For now let's get that damn ST back up... Have I told you how much I hate those things?" He said moving to leave.
"You have not." Uso replied, "I get it, you hate having someone much around with what makes you-you. However it looks like your mother is willing to break that old taboo in a big way..."
"Yeah... She is a manipulative bitch to be sure." He replied looking back to Uso. He sighed. "If it will help us get an edge over here than let's do it then..."
