Alex Humva

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Colonel, I am prepared to assist in any manner you deem sufficent." "Captain Harken could use some backup, no doubt. I'd suggest assisting him." The Colonel was intently observing a tactical display. "I remember this design... it's newer, must have came out with an updated model, but it has the same layout... Daniels, lock the railgun onto these coordinates and fire on my mark." IC [Pirates] Can soon found that it was not the glove that was made of supermetal, but the man's hand; he was an amputee, and had a cybernetic replacement.

IC [Pirates] The gloved pirate fell, gasping at the plasma cooled and seared the wound shut. Two pirates down, just one remaining on the floor, trying in vain to move her shot arm, gun laying out of reach of the good hand. She scowled and, with her good hand, slammed the panel behind her, not quite reaching the proper alarm but causing a surge in one of the reactor cores, something sure to attract bridge crew attention and alert them that something was wrong.

IC [The Computer] "Doctor Sarany, medbay sensors indicate erratic neural behavior and blood swelling in the upper abdominal area. I suspect the blood pressure has ruptured one of her intestinal grafts. Prompt application of nanites and further surgery may be required. In addition, passive EEG suggests continued brain abnormalities. Smelling salts are in cabinet B to help prevent unconsciousness." IC [Dorian] Uh-oh. Dorian's voice, like Ashley's mind, was somewhat garbled. I... I think I see a light. Possibly the one on the ceiling. I'm also starting to feel a sharp stab of pain in my imaginary head. I... think your higher functions are starting to be affected. We gotta pull through, gotta ignore the pain, pain's only in the mind, right? IC [The Colonel] "They'll probably shut off their speakers, Ambassador, but I appreciate the thought. Begin broadcasting whitenoise, we don't want them calling for help if they have any allies nearby." She turned to the pilot. "Do what you can, if nothing else we'll through their inertia off." IC [Pirates!] The swordsman fell, the elbow hitting the solar plexis and knocking the wind right out of the pirate, but the gloved pirate remained stubborn as ever, plasma round wizzing past his ear as he drew his own sword, revolver in one and sword in the other. In a flurry, he lashed out with the saber, attempting to disarm Skinter, while also leveling his own gun to the man's center of mass and firing. IC [MORE PIRATES!] The pilot of the dropship cursed, his ship being tossed to the side by the sudden maneuver. He responded in kind, though, ramming the fighter right back, confident that the sturdier hull of the dropship could win against Federation shields. A grappling cord flew out and attached itself to the Falcon's hull, tethering the two together and locking their engines in a competition with one another. IC [EVEN MORE PIRATES] The two dropships had grappled securely, the modular airlocks clinking together. Now it was a matter of time; the door's manual access began to be hacked, while the pirates set up a portable plasma torch, if they needed to cut through the bolts the hard way. They would be in within minutes.

IC [Pirates] The gun-yielding pirate provided a surprise; when the sword hit his gloved hand, it made a nice little cling sound as supermetal bounced off of supermetal. There was better luck with the gun, though, a plasma round embedding itself into the woman's shoulder and allowing Can to turn his attention to the other sword-bearer, who happened to be midway through a strike to cut Can's sword arm in half. IC [More pirates!] Walker's day would only get worse, as two of the dropships were now trying to keep on either side of her, their side turrets forcing her to keep moving erratically. One of the dropships did seem to have been damaged enough to start drifting, though, its engines flickering as it spiraled out into space. By now, the other two had penetrated the Kestrel's outer shields, moving in to grapple onto the airlocks.

IC [Dropships] The dropships immediately began taking evasive action, breaking off from the formation, while what appeared to be shields flickered on the damaged dropship. It'd definitely make things interesting, especially as the dropships' guns came to life, one dropship breaking off to try and chase the Falcon away. IC [Engineering] The good news was that Skinter didn't materialize into a wall. The bad news was that there were three pirates standing there, looking down at their consoles, and now slightly confused at the sudden arrival of an armored man. The confusion wouldn't last long, two reaching for their swords while the other pulled out a revolver. Can's visor flickered to life, lifesign outlines appearing and, possibly more important in this situation, the outline of energy conduits in the floor. IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Security personnel, report to the Deck 2 airlocks. Wulf and Errogaven, portside airlock, Harken and Taylor, starboard airlock. Walker's holding them off but it looks like they're shielded, we might not be able to stop them."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Weapons free Walker. Keep 'em off our hull." IC [The Computer] "The charges are set. I have taken the liberty of loading an passive-sense program into your combat visor; it will communicate with the ship and show you the position of enemy lifesigns. Be aware there will be a .8 second delay due to poor latency."

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Skinter, computer's telling me you've got a bundle of explosives. Right idea, though I think a more strategic approach is called for. I want you to beam yourself over, get the charges in place, and cripple their engines. If you have any left over, try and find their life support. Best I can tell, none of their weapons can penetrate our shields, they're low priority. Try not to get yourself killed in the process." IC [The Computer] "Patrolling the aft section of Deck 2." The computer chimed. Elsewhere, in Skinter's comms, it also replied. "I have finished my calculations. Based on schematics and thrust vectors, as well as power flow, the engine room will be in the midsection of the vessel. Precise coordinates are loaded into the mainframe, have a safe journey." And then, on the bridge, as well as over the fighter comms: "Colonel Ojeda, I am detecting four dropships disembarking from the vessel. It appears they intend to board us."

IC [The Computer] "Sensor room, she is currently laying on the floor. I am detecting moderate blood loss and a heightened blood pressure."

IC [The Computer] "Doctor Sarany, did you not receive my original dispatch?" The computer beeped. "Spaceman Ashley is currently in possibly critical condition, she needs medical attention."

IC [Dorian] Let me tinker... nope, can't turn off the pain. Too bad. We'll be doped up with more drugs then we care to know about soon enough, though. Dorian started laughing hysterically, the suddenness a jolt to Ashley. Just bent light into itself. With your brain. How stupid is that. Bent light with your brain. It's great.

IC [The Computer] "Full schematics unavailable, outer weak point appears to be near the aft thrusters." IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Keep yourself strapped in, it's going be a fun ride." IC [Dorian] Well... Dorian mused. That was pretty painful. But we're alive. That's nice.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Purple stripes, ambassador. They're pirates, and apparently well armed ones. We'll see how many holes we can punch in them before they can do the same to us."

IC [sensors] "Landes! What are you doing in the sensor room? You need to get to your fighter!" The Colonel's voice sounded over the comms, though as Ashley discovered, the outside world's sounds were starting to fade. Instead, her focus was on the fleet. Dozens of Mantis ships, hundreds of small fighters buzzing around, engaging the Terran forces. Railgun slugs hurled through space, great laser beams illuminating the void. The Brasilia unleashed a full broadside, an unlucky Mantis cruiser crumpling under its power. All of that was a distraction, though: Ashley felt a calling of sorts, towards one of the battleships. A... presence, there, utterly alien, but not like Souper or any of the slugs. Yes. You can feel it too. Emily's voice rang. Focus on that point. Focus on that ship. Nothing else matters, now. Focus on that presence. [bridge] "You aren't going anywhere Walker. Stay in the hanger until we jump." "Colonel," the computer chimed, "a Mantis battleship has spotted us. Their forward batteries are charging, anticipated fire time in one minute and forty two seconds." "Devas!" [battleship] The brood commander's brow furrowed, as much as an insect's brow could, anyways. There it was, a presence once again poking at its mind. Not as if this intruder could penetrate its mental defenses, but still... it was a concern. This one felt closer, nearer... but unlike any slug it had felt before. That presence was more alien than anything it could have imagined, yet it was starting to slip through the cracks in its psyche... why? What sort of creature could even begin to hope to slip through a brood commander's defenses? It looked to the stars, to the fleet, and it knew, partially through instinct and partially through deduction, that this presence was coming from its prey. No matter. They would be dead soon enough. [sensors] Harder, Ashley. Push harder. Emily's voice drowned out everything, now, and even Dorian was gone, pushed away by the telepath's presence. The harder Ashley pushed, though, the stronger the wall became. It will break. It must break. We must know. Images began to appear in Ashley's mind. Maps, coordinates, schematics, meaningless to her, though it was clear Emily was eavesdropping in on the trickle of data. Good. That is good. Now... break its mind. With an audible grunt Ashley pushed with her mind, trying with all the effort she could muster to break through, it felt like she was stretching an invisible muscle she hadn't used before, or not to this extent at the very least...she didn't even have time to wonder if doing this would cause her harm, it didn't matter right then, she knew she had to do this...it could mean life or death for everyone... [battleship] And there the presence was, pushing at its mind again. The brood commander spit, watching a nearby console intently. Thirty breaths. Its mind would not crumple in that time. The presence was foolish to think that it could change anything. [sensors] Ashley. Dorian's voice rose out of Emily's encouragement. Ashley, this isn't going work. This isn't some newborn nymph, this has to be a brood commander. You won't break its mind fast enough. That glow... they're charging their main cannon. Everyone on this ship will die if you don't stop that. Focus on the ship. No Ashley, you can do this. Kill its mind, take its secrets. They won't fire without its order, you're almost there. She isn't interested in us. Isn't interested in the ship. She wants information, we can die and it won't bother her or anyone else. You aren't going die, Ashley. Keep pushing. Ashley had little time to decide what to do, in fact she really didn't have any time, so she went with her gut. Sorry Dorian... She pushed all the harder, even as her head throbbed from doing so. [battleship] Insignificant waste. It had become harder to fight off, that was for sure, but whoever this presence was, they had no experience in defeating proper mental barriers. A bit of greenish blood began to trickle down from its eyes, but it was a pain the creature could handle. Finally, the timer ticked over, the weapons fully charged. In a chitter, it gave the order. "[Fire!]" [bridge] "Oh God," the major's eyes widened. "The battleship's firing!" The Colonel slammed her chair, the comm opening. "All crew! Brace for impact!" [sensors] It... didn't work. Emily seemed confused. They must be stronger than we thought. Ashley could only watch as a great light began to shine, but then... time seemed to slow. Details appeared to her that she hadn't noticed before, the battle outside practically coming to a standstill. Looking over, she saw Dorian on one side of her, and Emily on the other. All three looked out the window, at the beam of light slowly advancing towards the vessel. "You are going to have a very bad migraine after this." Emily watched the scene with an odd sense of unawareness. "Increasing your ability to think faster than light... that's one for the physicists." "I think we're in an isolated moment. Things are playing out in real time, on the outside, but in this split second, you're able to just chit-chat with us. Also, I told you so." Dorian's attention turned to the advancing beam. "So, feedback loop? Bend the light back on itself, bust the ship." "It's going hurt," Emily commented. "Like it isn't already going to." "Don't think I have a choice here..." Ashley said with just a tinge of regret, her head was already hurting...could she really pull this off? It didn't really matter, if she didn't do this they would probably be dead for sure...all of them. And so, together, the three focused. [bridge] "...well." The Colonel glanced around the room. "I'm not dead. Am I dead, Chastain?" "No sir." "And I presume the rest of you aren't dead either. What happened, and more importantly, DEVAS!" The Colonel's demands were finally met and the FTL core hummed to life, the world going dark as the ship jumped out of the system, to whatever new fate awaited it. [battleship] Well. That had not been expected. One moment, victory. The next, its ship was crippled, its own weapon turned against the vessel. What power could do that? More importantly, what was it to do now? The fleet was panicking, the local commanders losing control of their crews after witnessing such a horror. Its quest would have to stop, for now, duke it out with these human fools until it could make its way elsewhere. A most annoying setback. [unchartered space] "Well well." The woman rose from her chair, looking out at the jump flare and the ship that accompanied it. "What ever do we have here?" "Their transponder is League, ma'am, but it's no design we've ever seen." "A secret ship? Not the League's style. Nor do they paint their ships like that." The woman smiled. "Life signs?" "Multiple humans, some Mantis, Rock, Engi, Zoltan and Slug." "Even more interesting. Every species in the known galaxy... Federation vessel, no doubt." "What are your orders ma'am?" "Take the crew alive, bring me their commanding officer. Don't bother with the Mantis, though, they won't surrender." [bridge] All on the bridge watched in silence, the Colonel uttering some sort of curse, as the cockpit filled with the image of a ship at least five times the size of the Kestrel, colonial by the looks of it. "One jump." The Colonel remarked. "I'd just like one jump in peace. Who knows though, maybe they're friendly?" A laser skimmed the shields. "No, no they're not." The Colonel gritted her teeth. "Walker, launch! Devas, cool the engine and get ready for another jump. Major, weapons free, I don't care what you hit, just make them stop shooting us." "Colonel Ojeda," the computer came through. "Spaceman Landes has collapsed in the sensor room sir, her vitals are very worrying. I have already requested medical assistance." "We'll sort Landes out in a moment. Get Souper to the medbay, I've got a hunch it's something to do with our miraculous survival."

OOC Part of the standard on-duty uniform, yes. IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Every second we wait here is another second the Mantis have to find us. That brood commander was on our ship, accessed our sensors. While I doubt he got past the encryption, the simple fact that he felt us worthy enough prey to investigate means we've attracted far too much of his attention." A warning blared, right before the asteroid cracked into several large peaces, the shields visibly flickering as the debris crashed against them, that energy transferring itself across the ship and sending it rocking. "Well, that wasn't very helpful. Engines to full, evasive pattern beta. Devas! I don't care what sort of pseudo-science the Mantis are using on us, find a way around it."

IC [The Computer] "You have been assigned to patrolling deck three for intruders." It chimed at him. IC [The Colonel] "Walker, get your fighters ready for a cold drop. We aren't engaging the Mantis here, but who knows what we'll see when we jump. Weapons will be offline for several minutes until Daniels can get them warmed up again, you and Landes will run cover until we can fight on our own."

IC [The Computer] "Doctor Sarany, this sort of alert is used in battle situations. Multiple Mantis warships have jumped into our point and are engaging the fleet." The ship rocked as several plasma shots hit, the shields dissipating the blunt of the attack. "I would suggest magnetizing your boots, the gravity may completely shut down soon. Please stand by for any medical emergencies."

Our botanist Rockman hippie.

OOC Corporal! The time drives please. IC [Colonel Ojeda] The four day venture in the Brasilia's hanger had turned into five days; an Engi vessel in the convoy had been informed of the mission, apparently aware that a human vessel was on its way to the Zoltan homeworlds, and offered to install an updated ion weapon system into the Kestrel. A few wields later and the Kestrel sported two state-of-the-art ion cannons, ready for combat. The repairs on the hull had gone well, and while the structure would never be as good as it originally was, the supermetal plating would keep the ship intact. The Brasilia's engineers even threw in a paint job for the repairs, leaving the Kestrel looking fresh out of dry dock. Overall, it was definite improvement. Colonel Ojeda stood on the bridge, watching as the holding clamps began to disengage. The pilot had been transferred off the ship, her condition never recovering, though the Engi suspected they could cure her, in time. Now the navigator was in charge of managing the ship, easing it out of the Brasilia upon the final clamp's release. The screen beeped, and then General Paul's face filled part of it. "Best of luck, Colonel." The man gave a small salute, Ojeda returning it. "With any luck, by the time you're back we'll be laying siege to the Mantis homeworlds." "Let's hope sir. Let's hope." Ojeda sat down, flipping the ship comm on as the screen returned to being a window. "Attention crew, this is the Colonel speaking. We are disembarking the Brasilia, if you forgot anything, tell Lt. Skinter immediately and he might be able to beam it back to you. Devas, punch the crystals and get us out of here." An affirmative came over the comms and the Colonel shut the channel, looking around her. Chastain to her right, Daniels to her left, the Vendarian adviser standing blankly behind her. Almost like everyone was at their proper stations; it was incredible. That ease was not to last. The sensors aboard the Brasilia picked it up first; a massive spike in the ambient FTL particles. Red alert was sounded immediately across the fleet, the Kestrel's computer displaying the alert while it calculated the incoming trajectories. The bridge crew could see it soon enough, the screen magnifying the image automatically; the Mantis fleet, likely the same one from the trade outpost. Except, instead of the few fighter craft from before, this was a true and proper fleet, Mantis destroyers and battleships easily seen. One shot from one of those main laser cannons and there wouldn't be enough of the Kestrel left to salvage. "Devas!" The Colonel had already started to buckle in. "Get those crystals warmed! Daniels, divert all power from the energy weapons and put it into the engines, they'll going be scrambling our crystals soon enough. Zahm, get us out of the fleet formation, put us into the shadow of one those larger asteroids. Skinter, get to the teleporter and run an interference program; if you detect incoming signatures, try and override them." The comm went to a full frequency. "All hands, battlestations! Strap yourselves in, gravity plates going to half gee." [Dorian] Well, that doesn't sound good. Ashley had actually been filing her weekly report when the alert came on. I... you feel that, don't you? Thousands upon thousands of chittering voices... we never saw that in our patients, when exposed to Mantis. Could it be, brood commanders... Hello again. A familiar voice piped in. Not the time Emily. It is, actually. I've been keeping watch and that psionic surge is what I was waiting for. Ashley, I need you to do something very important. You need to go to the sensor room and look out the window. You'll understand what to do, then. Why should we trust you? Your trust isn't relevant in this honey. And really, this isn't a trust exercise; just go and look, you'll be fine in your own ship. Can't hurt to see... I suppose.

Hopefully your computer gets fixed soon, Auron. Also I'd like to point out that on the propaganda side of things... you don't need propaganda to make the Mantis look evil. Having bloodlust from birth is a scientifically proven fact; their society puts no importance on other species' sapience and they devoured entire human colonies. Saying "well maybe not all the Mantis" on Terra will get you lynched and saying it in the colonies will get you burned at the stake. Humanity suffered causalities upwards of half a billion in the initial attack, everyone knows someone who died. Tl;dr propaganda just isn't necessary here. Is worth noting that the xenophobia against Rockmen tends to be far less, though; they were one of the first species humanity met, and despite some early misunderstandings, Rockmen are currently the second largest alien group in human space, behind the Engi. Many of the migrant fleets now sweep through human colonies, and in general there's a feeling of ambivalence. The main Rockman government is at war with humanity, of course, though thanks to General Talos' diplomatic efforts, that's changing.

OOC So with this little subplot resolved, I'm going begin work on the time-skip post. We'll be advancing the game plot proper later today, so prepare and that jazz.

IC [Dorian] And with that, the world broke apart. Ashley reawoke to find Dorian leaning over her, a concerned look on his face. The room had the scent of incense, and Major Walker was sitting to the side, apparently having arrived at some point. "I was getting worried." Dorian checked around for any spontaneous nose or ear bleeds. "You were gone for an hour, hour and a half. What all happened in there?"

IC [The world] And so opened Pandora's Box. The world erupted into fragments for both parties, reforming itself to some point during Nicole's experiences in Gaia. Dropships were taking off, evacuations away from the Hive Ships underway. Mantis were swarming, though, and Ashley found herself in the middle of that battleground. She was an external influence, though, her will and powers far too significant to be in much danger from Nicole's mind trashing about. The real danger was getting snared, unable to terminate the memory and tie it up. That, or Nicole's manifestation, who was somewhere out there, could do real harm to her, that concentration enough to cut through into Ashley's presence. Problem being, of course, that in order to tidy this all up, Ashley probably did need to get close to Nicole. Who knew what Nicole's consciousness would perceive a mental invader... well, Ashley knew.

IC [A voice] While Dorian's presence could not be felt, there was still a bit of Ashley that sprung up when she started incinerating the memories. Something along the lines of "are you sure this is a good idea?"

IC [Dorian] Ok so focus on Nicole. Focus, stare intently, try not to accidentally start fires. Uhm, yeah, just keep on focusing, that's good. Any moment now. It was a bit awkward, just sitting there, though soon enough Ashley felt a sense of vertigo as her vision blurred. When it corrected itself she seemed to be in an abyss, various bits of light around her. Hey, Ashley! Can you hear me? Ok, you can, great. So, yeah, you're in the doctor's head. I don't have a map of it so you're going have to do some poking around, try to isolate the right things. Here, lemme try and... The world shifted into a vast collection of filing cabinets. Hey, that worked! Ok, so just keep focused on the task at hand and don't let your mind drift, that could be bad. Hopefully Nicole isn't distracted. That would also be bad. Dorian kept talking, but his voice grew more distant and echo-y, moving further and further away, even as the world Ashley saw started to shift again, halfway between filing cabinet office and beach, the two realities competing for dominance. It'd seem Ashley was on her own at this point.

IC [Colonel Ojeda] "Slightly less trouble than I expected." The two entered the break room, finding Nicole waiting there. "I'll leave you two to it; incense should be here in just a moment. I'll be outside if something goes wrong." I wonder. Dorian wasn't out and about at the moment. I did read some about that form of therapy... don't think we dabbled in it much. It should be straight forward, though. You get in there, some sort of visualization will show up, you lock the memories away and out you go. Don't know how much I'll be able to influence, though; getting three consciousnesses in the same head may be... problematic. I'll be back here, running mission control, while you're poking around. Someone's gotta watch the body while you're out.