The Line in the Stars (IC) [PG/14]

[techmaster-glitch]

Command Center

   Nazareth did indeed notice that, even though Mother left his office after he did, she was already in the Command Center by the time he got there, though he wasn't surprised as he already knew that the anthro "Mother" was just a projection, when she was really the ship. He actually wondered why she didn't shift her projection around like this more often.
   Knight and Saioko left the Command Center as Nazareth entered, as well, but he didn't care as much about that. He got Mother's mental report on three possible systems available for a quick getaway. Nazareth instructed Mother to have a jump charged and ready to go to any of them if things went wrong. He made straight for the pilot's chair, and got himself settled in. He took hold of the controls, hooked up to Mother's mental link, and brought up the course he had created earlier during the debreifing. He made some more precise adjustments, taking into account the ranges of the scattered sensor posts. Once he had gotten it down satisfactorily, he fired up Mother's engines, and set out on the first stage of the flightplan; swinging around the system until the third planet was in between them and the fourth.

[Lushin]

Special Forces area
Romulus walked out of the door fully dressed for battle, carrying his rifle. He headed to the area where the drop pods where and to check up on Mother's "backup".


(See he's still around)

[Azlan]

Command Center


Ixiah seemed confused for a second, but a realization dawned on the young fox, "oh, what was meant by that is not the harmony controlling the universe, no I think you got different conversations mixed up.  Less evolved intellects can have trouble with these type of concepts."  He paused and utilized Mother's holosystem to display their galaxy, "you confused a couple of different things.  One, the Acadians use a galactic wide, psychic communications grid.  Think of one large computer network, but instead of client PCs and servers... you have Ship AIs and Acadian individuals as nodes.  Each Ship is a domain and every psychic on-board is a node.  Someone like you is also represented, but you are more akin to something like a terminal, only able to receive and have data on you read, but cannot transmit.  Each ship is connected to a galactic wide area network and where there are no Acadian population centers, we have signal relay stations to expand our coverage areas."

The blue fox took a breath before continuing, "the Masters use this network to monitor us, and to transmit their song of control right into our very minds.  It is a subtle, invasive song that has a gradual effect on the user.  If Aaron or you, Nova, were to receive this song... you would be instant slaves of the Master's will, because you have no way to defend against it.  The song re-aligns mental pathways in such a way to make you think the way they wish you to.  Now as for the Sphere of Harmonies and how Ixlin harmonic technologies work... uh, you are far too... um... mentally primitive to grasp the concepts."

Loki smiled wryly, "yeah, we don't even really understand it.  The technology is a bit beyond our sciences, touches on areas that are still theoretical for us.  The Ixlin have gained control of that which runs their universe, the machinery of reality, if you will... and those that know will not talk to us.  The Darkshasa, Zhar, Shofanxi, K'RysTansi, IoYu'IouOiyou'iuIy, and others know more about this, but they ignored our overtures.  The antediluvian races of this galaxy are also the only ones that can fight the Ixlin on equal terms." 


Alexis uses the ship's comms to send a message to everyone, "All personnel, we have begun maneuvering to reach our first objective point.  twenty-five minutes until the third planet obscures the fourth."


Galley


"I am holding up just fine, it is not too hard to be this... as I had thought."  Saioko and Knight enter the galley, which is largely empty except for Aaron who is having tea.  "How well would you say I perform as a female?"

Saioko notices Aaron and turns a bit red, nearly tripping over a chair, "that sounds very bad out of context..."



Drop Pod area


The drop pods are all prepped and ready to go.  It is hard to tell with the robot combat units, as all are currently in rest position within their racks, and Romulus cannot read the Acadian language displayed on the screens.

[Lisky]

Galley

Knight reacted quickly, he bolted over, and affectionately wrapped an arm around Saioko's waist as he saw her begin to loose her balance.  He gave her a soft hug, then released her, saying with a slight smirk "you should try and be more careful, who's going to keep you safe while i'm off running security at the site, or leading the op against the outpost?"

looking over at Aaron, Knight said "sorry for the intrusion, i was just hoping to grab a little something before we start the op.  Any chance you've read over my ops plan for that pirate outpost?"

Knight shook his head slightly as his thoughts shifted. He changed his smirk into a genuine smile and turned back to Saioko, "as to answer your earlier question in an as ambiguous way as possible, your doing just fine."  so saying he keyed in a cup of tea and went to go join Aaron.

[ShadesFox]

Galley

Aaron couldn't help but think that Knight was trying too hard.

"In spite of my best efforts, I cannot think of a situation where your quote would not sound bad even in context."

Sip.

"Anyways, I've skimmed your plan, but I will have nothing to do with the decision on it.  I have no intention of micromanaging Romulus, and he is the one you have to sell your plan to."

[Lisky]

Galley

Knight gave Aaron a rather confused look while sipping his tea, "uh, sir? this is the military, not some type of democracy, according to the command structure your the one who has to green light operations, neither Romulus, nor myself has that type of authority... Furthermore if Romulus has accurately described his style of command, he's too much of a cowboy for a proper special forces officer. i understand operations have to be changed once contact is established, but going into a combat situation without an exit plan is paramount to suicide, and going in with as little planning as he has described is going to do nothing but get someone killed, possibly even getting the entire team fragged, sir." 

he paused, then asked "before i go, any chance you could send a message asking the special forces team to assemble in the command center for a briefing, i still haven't gotten the hang of everything yet, and i'd rather not distract someone besides the ones who i need with timing as critical as it is. "

[ShadesFox]

Galley

"Like you said, this is not some democracy, I'm not going to give the go ahead for a ground plan that doesn't meet Romulus' approval.  I'm sure he was just exaggerating in his command style description.  Like you said, no one behaves like that and lives for long in his job, and since he isn't dead yet... that means something.  Now, you will talk with Sgt. Darkcloud about this plan and if he likes what he sees he will assemble a briefing in the special forces area.  I also suggest taking a non-confrontational approach when talking with him."

[Lisky]

Galley

Knight nodded, gave a curt "yessir".  He finished his tea in a long gulp, and left in search of the sargent.  While leaving the galley, he passed by Saioko and said, "i'll catch you in a little bit" and gave her a small wave.

The feline quickly found Romulus in the drop pod bay.  Giving him a nod, the feline asked "sargent, any chance you've got a few minutes to discuss tactics before drop?  I've got an ops plan written up, but i'd like your input... We should get something distributed to the team before drop to minimize confusion, and so we can hit the ground and get moving in minimum time."  Accessing a nearby console, he brought up the plan, with some 2d maps taken from the main display to help emphasize locations and objectives.

[Lushin]

Drop Pod area
Romulus looks over the plans and nods abit.
"Any back up plans?"

[Lisky]

Drop Pod Area

Knight smiled, apparently Rom was a better officer than he'd initially indicated.  Going through the maps, the feline went over to the maps and said, "well, from the looks of things on the main display, there are only a handful of entry points into the compound itself that give enough cover to maintain absolute stealth. They're here, here and here" pointing out the highlighted locations on the overhead view. "really, the only flexibility we're going to have at first is going to be timing, but i'd prefer we run the op during the 6 or so hours we'll have that we can have air support.  Once we have the comm tower, air support can be called in, as they have lost their long range communications, and as such, can't relay information to that main base." 

Knight paused, looking at the longer range area map he'd posted with the writeup.  Then pointed to a pair of rocky outcroppings that had a clear line of sight into the compound "we can deploy snipers here or here, and have them equipped with some anti-armor weapons to keep us covered, and should we be detected. take out the comm tower before the pirates can call for backup."  a big grin grew on Knight's face as he moved into the actual egress plan "now, once the area has been swept, and the pirates are either dead or prisoner, i beleive sealing them in their own mess hall is the safest solution.  Fusing the doors with a laser weapon would be good enough, and once there, we can either sabotage the pirate gear, or... if your feeling rather adventurous, we could 'borrow' some pirate helicopters to speed up transport to the Matron sight."

again  pausing to collect his thoughts, "the way is see it, i'd prefer spec ops handle the initial assault on that compound, but once done, we can call for air support, and backup.  Let the combat bots handle security with the prisoners.  Once we're done at both sights, have the bots return by pod."  looking away from the maps, and back at Romulus, "so, anyways, what do you think? and do you see anything i've overlooked, or that you'd like changed"

[Lushin]

Drop Pod Area
Romulus shook his head.
"Not really just remeber we only have two snipers, the robots are our backup. Also don't under estimate the pirates. The can be deceptave, their coms may not be where we think they are. I learned that when we stopped Loki from playing pirate king. Intel said it was one place but when we got there it was so where else"
Romulus walked to the map.
"It would be better to have our snipers in both outcroppings for better coverage. Just remember they might have snipers there as well. Drop us off alitte ways from there and we'll try to sneak up on any snipers they have deployed"

[Lisky]

Drop Pod Area

Knight nodded in agreement, adding the notes Rom had made to the appropriate pages.  "well, with the strategy set, i've got but one question, you want me as a rifleman with the assault team, or would you prefer i stay as part of the security detachment for the matron sight?" 

he thought to himself 'i'm fine either way, but i always hate the notions of putting others in danger, and seeming to be unwilling to take the same risks myself... '

[Lushin]

Drop Pod Area
Romulus looked at Knight.
"Well you may have to lead the men. I'm one of the two snipers the ground foreces have"

[Lisky]

Pod Bay Area

A very broad grin grew across Knight's face at the news, "well then, looks like i get to prove  once and for all that i'm not in fact a Romeo Echo Mike Foxtrot (OOC: military alphabet for REMF, or Rear Echelon Mother F***er)... unless you need anything else, i'll be getting suited up"  checking the time, "looks like our drop window with air cover opens almost immediately after we get over our objective. that give me about 20 minutes to prep... if i don't catch you sooner, see you on the drop line in 25, sargent..."  with an informal wave the feline left and headed for the special forces area.

[Lushin]

Drop Pod Area
Romulus watched Knight leave.
"See you there"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Command Center
Nova's mind took in all that Ixiah said, but she couldn't put it together .... Pictures of alien races, and the cosmos, and energy fields....But One thing stuck, [ IoYu'IouOiyou'iuIy] ...."Two huge brains with twenty tentacle limbs playing on a game of go",  image flashed before her eyes.  She look at the board and place a white place on it.  It was small move, that captured only one black.  "Thanks" she heard.  And Nova blinked and everything clicked, the Master's song was a virus, computer virus in the OS program of Acadians' network, and/or she carried a computer anti-virus, which could break up the Master's OS program.  Nova felt the harmony from Gaea raise in her mind, and her mind expanded, she knew more and understood more. As the song sing in her heart and mind, and she felt Mara, Loki and even Ixiah at that moment. She stopped herself from expanding beyond the ship's bridge, and turned inward to herself.  It was hard not to take it all in, but she remember Mother, sweet Loki and then IoYu'IouOiyou'iuIy.  The funniest name she ever heard. The catgirl laughter broke the spell. the song ended as quick as it started.

"Whata Ioyou Iou Oeeyou'leeooeeyea callit?" a giggling catgirl.  "They exist?  I guess Are they still playing goOgadola? Their game of go which has unlimited squares that they say they must play to keep the universe unraveling. ha ha" Her laughs died quicky at Loki and Ixiah's shocked looks.

Nova felt grateful to Ixiah for his explanations, and her mind was stronger and more orderly, but she was still not telepathy.  "AH Thanks Ixiah You have helped me alot.. Shouldn't Mother be coming here, if we are nearing planetary orbit.?"

PBH

[Azlan]

Galley


Before Knight had left, Saioko had ordered some tea and occupied the seat next to him.  She half-listened to the conversation, and quickly found herself alone with the major. 

Nervously she gave a small laugh, "so... read any good book lately?"



Drop Pod Area


Eventually, as Romulus checked things over, Ben wandered in, "what's the plan? 

Before Romulus could answer, Alexis entered and addressed the both of them, "Rom, no matter how long you stare at those displays, they aren't going to change to english.  The robots are in top shape and ready to deploy.  Their AI is very sophisticated by your standards.  So don't worry so much."



Command Center


Ixiah shrugged to Nova's comments regarding the IoYu'IouOiyou'iuIy, "they are the closest things we have to a first race and they are disturbingly closely related to the void creatures.  We theorize that they are remnant life from previous cycles of expansions and entropic collapses."

As Nova asks about Mother, the vixen herself answers, "yes dear, I am already here, but I thought you already understood that I am always here."

 

[Lisky]

Special Forces Area

With timing of the essence, knight displayed the operation's plan on a terminal, then went to the equipment locker he was assigned and began donning the armor waiting for him.  While strapping everything down and tightening clamps and latches he began a quick systems check on the various features of the armor.  The entire process took a little over 5 minutes, and it didn't help that several other special forces soldiers were also getting suited up.  As he donned the helmet and checked the air filter he noticed his pistol had been placed just below the other gear.

checking the charge, it still held at 100%, and as such the feline headed off to his personal quarters to retrieve the empty holster he'd left there.  Pistol in hand, though safety on, the feline had completely forgotten to disable his camouflage in the excitement of finding his personal weapon. 

[ShadesFox]

Gally

Aaron sipped the last of his tea, "Unfortunately not.  I've not had time for recreational reading in far too long.  First the time sink that was the lab on Vulpeculae then this assignment which has seen my time taken up by psychic training."

Aaron got some more tea almost as soon as he finished off his first cup.  Saioko felt a bit uneasy when Aaron brought up being psychic.  It was as if he...

"So tell me, when did you learn you were psychic?" Aaron quickly asked.

At this point Saioko become familiar with a curious bit of biology, the one where drink comes out your mouth when surprised.

"Why... Aaron... what ever makes you think..."

"Because, you are screening your thoughts on a ship full of psychics, such things are hard to hide.  I imagine that the ISIS swore you to secrecy or some such, but I'm truly curious about you."

[Lushin]

Drop Pod Area
Romulus looked to Ben and then Alexis.
"Not worried about you men ma'am. Just worried that I just sentenced my dead to death by putting that Knight in charge of the ground assault. I'll be sniping so I won't be able to fully keep an eye on them"
Romulus then told Ben Knight's plan for the assault.
"I don't fully like the idea of leaveing him in charge but the sniper idea is sound. Keep an eye on him the best you can. If he starts to crack or it seems he's leading the men to death, take over if you can. He may be the leading officer but I'm not sure of his ability to lead"

[Azlan]

Galley


Saioko sputtered about, this drinking thing seemed far more difficult than it should be.  Luckily for her, the tea did not end up on her clothes.

"I... er... that is to say... um..."  Saioko searched for an answer to his question that fit the parameters, "I guess you could say I was always this way, from when I was first aware to current time."

Her memories produced statistical data on the frequency of psychics among the general population of the ISF, "it would seem that among the ISF, psychics account for 0.25% of the annuals births among mammalians, 0.05% among avains, and 0.001% among reptilians.  A full 0.30% is the rate among humans... interestingly, data is considered classified for the foxes of the Vulpeculae System."  She paused for a moment, "the technology ISIS has been working with has a high tendency for psychic potential and reacts more favorably when operated by psychics."

She looked directly at Aaron, narrowing her eyes, "you are Acadian, molecularly nearly 100%"



Drop Pod Area


Ben nodded, "I'll do my best. but if he's a real genius at fucking up, it's going to be a real challenge to run damage control."

Alexis raised an eyebrow, "he needs to be given a chance, but if you go fishing for screw ups, then you might force him into a mistake.  If you don't do your due diligence to help him, he will fail."

The vixen crossed her arms, "there are so many variables in an operation, but if you are setting yourselves up to blame him for everything that goes wrong... you had better quit right now.  I don't expect you to baby sit him, but you better not strand him alone like some castaway on a desert isle."   

[Lushin]

Drop Pod Area
Romulus shook his head.
"It's not that. Those are my men, I've worked with some of them for a long time. I'm worried about them ok, if anything happens to them I've let them down'

[ShadesFox]

Galley
She looked directly at Aaron, narrowing her eyes, "you are Acadian, molecularly nearly 100%"

Aaron gave Saioko a quizzical glance, "Interesting.  May I ask how you can tell that?"

Saioko looked a bit nervous. "Er..."

Aaron shrugged, "As you have gathered, yes, I have a large chunk of Acadian in me.  Being near 100% molecularly is news to me, but not nearly as surprising as the fact that, to learn of my heritage in the first place, took Mother's equipment.  I couldn't tell you how many times my blood went through the lab equipment on Vulpeculae and they never found a trace.  And you can tell with a glance it seems.  At the molecular level at that.  Tell me, how did you do that?"

[Azlan]

Drop Pod Area


Alexis nodded, for this she had only one thing to say, "they all raised their hand, volunteered for their service and fully understand the dangers that they are placed in.  Trust in them."



Galley


Saioko swallowed, nervously trying to explain an admission that should be beyond the capabilities of a normal flesh and blood feline, "I..."

At that moment a thought cell activated, feeding her data on her own scanning capabilities and in it she found a type of answer, "I possesses the psychic talents of aural perception... and molecularkinesis, an extremely rare ability.  I can see your molecular structure, but I can only understand its relation by comparing your psychic aura and structure to that of the other Acadians.  There are various subtle differences and a very large one, all of which I do not understand.  That and I am a verified genius and can crunch mathematical formulas like a supercomputer."

She did not lie, she just choose not to reveal the fact that she was an alien organic computer that can analyze the data taken in by the psychic sensors and produce accurate analytical data.  For once she praised her bad habit of using general figures instead of precise numbers to the decimal point. 

[Lisky]

Knight/ Saioko Quarters

Retrieving the holster from his locker was no issue, but the feline had noticed his camo was still active as he went to adjust the straps around the additional bulk of the armor.  Deactivating the camo, he attached the sidearm to his hip then proceeded to the galley to see if he couldn't find Aaron and get the final approval for drop and grab a quick high-protein snack that would keep his overall energy levels high during the operation.

[ShadesFox]

Galley

The tea addicted Aaron seemed satisfied, for the time being.  She was still hiding something, she wouldn't still be screening her mind if she wasn't, but the point wasn't to make Saioko squirm.  Though it was kind of fun watching her do so.

"I see.  You are quite the special one it seems. I would suggest that, at some time, you let your guard down a bit.  I found that inviting the other Acadians into my mind has taught me many things.  Perhaps, we can teach you a little something?"

Aaron was genuinely interested.  The last certified genius he spoke to was Washu, and that was one mind he certainly wanted to poke in, but this one... she seemed a bit different.  Even from the usual sort of genius.  He looked at her with a warm smile and a gently swishing tail. 

[Prof B Hunnydew]

(GRR stupid email updates)

Command Ctr

"Mother, Ah sorry I forget you are everywhere on this ship, even when you are not here. Can I take this console, here for the scans and science station?" Nova point to a smaller console to right of the main pilot console.  The feline puts the whole universe scan of visible light on the main view from her console.

Nova turns to Ixiah, "Aren't the IoYu'IouOiyou'iuIy always fighting entropy and the void creatures, They play their games of go.  The void plays to win, but they play not to lose.  So far, IoYu'IouOiyou'iuIy have always found a hidden corner in the space-time to shoot a piece of the universe into the void and to restart the game again.  Well, That is my understand of them."

PBH

[Lisky]

Galley

Flexing a gloved hand, the feline strolled into the galley in full combat armor.  The suit felt slightly confining, not to the point of being cumbersome, but enough that he felt the urge to work around in it until truly comfortable.  He mentally shrugged off the observation that neither Saioko or Aaron had seemed to move in the minutes he was away... although he'd only had a breif conversation with Rom, he'd expected there to be a little more activity on a ship preparing to enter a combat zone.  He ordered a high-protein bar from the machine, the thing looked like a small, frosted brick...  it didn't have much of a taste nor smell, but at the same time, it was also something that wouldn't come back up later, under extreme stress.

After grabbing a cup of water as well, Knight sat down and relaxed.  Sitting in a slightly slouched position, he began a light meditation, clearing his mind of everything. he slowed his breathing for a few seconds and let the calm feeling wash over him as if it were a cool breeze on a hot summer day.

Once ready he turned to Aaron and said, "after a couple of minor touch ups to the preliminary, it would seem both Sargent Romulus and myself have created an agreeable operation's plan between the two of us...  about 15 minutes after we reach orbit around the planet, we'll be in a position to launch pods and begin the operation.  At the same time, a 6 hour window for launching the fighters, and having them remain hidden starts right around then as well.  We can have limited cover for a good part of the operation once that comm tower goes down.  The only thing we need now is your green light on the operation, and your order to drop the pods."

[ShadesFox]

Galley

"Fighters?  Odd, I was under the impression that we couldn't put fighters in the air with out them being picked up instantly.  That would leave Mother as the air support."

[Lisky]

Galley

Knight gave Aaron a quizzical look, "uh, unless i missed something, it would appear that the sensors that could detect the fighters are based at the outpost we're looking at taking down.  The ship based weapons are a total no-no, even if the pirates had the dullest sensors available, an energy discharge like the ones this ship would produce would be detected... So, unless you really want to blow something to hell as we're leaving, Mother's weapons shouldn't be used, unless it's defensively.  Now, i'll go double check with Mother before drop, but from my interpretation of the data, it looks like we can use fighters, as long as they're obscured by the planet from that fleet."

The feline tried hard to keep his attention strictly on Aaron, but kept finding himself distracted either by the armor, or his own wandering thoughts.  Looking back at his CO, Knight said, "well, i'm doing a briefing for the team in the drop pod area shortly, until then i'm going to go for a walk if you don't mind..."  turning towards Saioko he asked "Care to join me?"