The Dividing Line - Station

[Unknown Squid]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"I was thinking the same. We need to get the stations sensor systems working fully again, and then get some of the auto guns operational. More important than atmosphere or gravity in my opinion." Kars states, crossing his arms now, knowing that he'd just volunteered himself for more tedious grunt work repairs. "We also need more Pan-kor. I'm not keen on fighting those fish inside a station that I'm not allowed to blow up."

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"Hey, I'm the only one you folks need." Krell says, flexing his right arm in a mock imitation of what he'd seen Alliance soldiers do before, in response to Kars' statement. "But they're both right, we need more defenses. Maybe a few portable railguns." the Pan Kor says, turning to look at Nadia, waiting on her response.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Draven had been silent up until this point, but when he spoke it was with a cold, still slightly murderous tone, and calculated.

"I doubt it's the case or we'd already be dead, but I'd suggest doing a scanner sweep with a portable scanner of all the key systems on this station, to be sure the bastards didn't jury rig it to explode when a specific system was activated. Life support wasn't rigged, that much we know, but we haven't had time yet to check every other key system. At least the air is clean and they didn't contaminate that."

His gaze briefly met Caitlin's, and what she could read off it might unsettle her. The Ingrali was clearly seething, and she might get the distinct impression if any of their enemy were present, he'd rip it apart with his own hands without care for who, or what got in his way to do it. The strange thing was, she might suspect it wasn't to do with what had happened here, but rather something more personal.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Nadia weighed her head from side to side. "We did run a full system check and couldn't find anything. Doesn't mean they didn't wire something up. Better do a few more checks. Fletch, what do you think?

Fletch?"

"Are you guys FUCKING NUTS?!" Hiram flinched away from the large man as his voice escalated into a roar. "You sit here talking about SYSTEM CHECKS while this THING," he stomps forward and pointed at the screen, "is OUT there, knowing we're HERE?! LOOK AT IT!" Fletch gestured towards the Ashotur. "Does this look like something that would bother installing trip wires? It used a man as a flail to beat his own mate half to death." Nadia furrowed her brow behind her cloak. She could have done without being reminded of that image. She took a half-step towards Fletch. "We all saw, Fletch." "No. No, you didn't see SHIT!" Having reached the front of the group, Fletch turned towards all of them. The image of the posing Ashotur loomed behind him. His facial expression bordered on lunacy. "I doubt ANY of you have faced as Ashotur as I did. Face to face. Staring into their black, soulless eyes as they look back at you... while they take a bite out of your best friend. Despite what the Directorate told everybody, we were getting slaughtered by the thousands. And the fishes? They want to be there when you die. They want to tear your arm off and nibble on it while you bleed to death at their feet. "

"FLETCH. Enough of-"

"NO. NOT ENOUGH. NEVER ENOUGH." He thrusted his arm back and up at the image. "Has any of you ever seen an Ashotur in a bug suit? Has anybody ever seen that spacecraft it escaped?! No? PRECISELY!" He ran his hand through his hair, trying and failing to get a grip on his emotions. "The Ashotur did more than just survive. They advanced. They changed. Even when they were allies, they looked down on the Nnyarthall. Back then, none of them would've EVER put on one of their suits." Fletch shook his head. "They don't care anymore. They want each and every one of our heads on a pike for what we did to them, and they will come to claim it in person." Lowering his gaze - apparently having said his piece - Fletch stomped towards the exit. "Looking for traps is a waste of time. You want me to fix this station? Fine. But if any of you have anything to live for, you jump ship." The door hissed as the large man exited ComCen, his heavy footsteps steadily getting quieter.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Krell stands quiet during the entire ordeal, his arms crossed as he studies Fletch, a smirk slowly spreading across his face as the man stomps out of the room. Soon after, he begins chuckling, and then, it escalates into full-on laughter. "I like that Terran! He's got spunk!" the Pan Kor proclaims, before turning to face the others with a smile that might make a mass murderer flee in terror. "I'm not going anywhere. If that big bastard is going to be coming back, I'm going to be right here, waiting to cave in its skull." he says, slamming his right fist into his left hand with an audible thump.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Draven let the man have his say, at least until he mentioned about no one having actually seen the true horrors of what the Ashotur could, and would do, or having faced them the way he had. A sudden surge of anger rushed through him, though by the time it had boiled over with the sudden memory of something he hadn't ever wanted to remember, Fletch was already out the door. His eyes flaring to a deep red and glowing bright enough to briefly bathe the room in a red tint, he spoke only briefly before heading out into the hall. When he did, his voice had completely changed, sounding more raspy, and with a tone that might give anyone hesitation as to his intentions.

"Excuse me a moment."


He was gone before anyone else could say something, and it didn't take him long to catch up with Fletch in the halls. One moment the man would be stomping down the hall, the next he would find himself lifted off his feet, turned and slammed hard against the wall, the face of the pissed off Ingrali in his, eyes glowing bright enough to almost be blinding. His tone was the same as it had been in the ComCen, and while Fletch had only heard a few words from the Ingrali, he would be able to tell the difference now.

"You think no one has dealt with them the same way? Try having entire worlds ravaged and slaughtered by them, try having entire star systems wiped out by their ships exploding. Or better still, try having the woman you love killed by a biological weapon the bastards created with their Nnyrathall butt buddies, along with her entire species. Then watching as they ate the body, before you got there. There is a reason I joined this little venture of your people, and it wasn't for my fucking health human. At least your girlfriend has a chance to survive, and isn't already dead. So get your head out of your ass and man the fuck up, you've got work to do and someone else to think of. Moving her is out of the question and you know that, do you really want there to be a chance something blows up in the medbay and finishes what that abomination of nature finished?"

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Fletch's eyes widen as he finds himself pinned to the wall by one hand. Struggling, his hands reach up, trying to claw into the Ashotur's - no. No. Ingrali. This is not Station Lima. Now, not then. The Ashotur back then could only be dissuaded by a HIT suit-sized knife in its arm. It's unnaturally-coloured blood spilling forth...

Now, not then.

It wasn't working. Fletch could barely hear what the Ingrali had to say. His heart beat like a drum in his ears, and his vision as he was bordering on an all-out flashback attack. They rarely happened. But when they did, things usually got ugly, both for him and everybody around him. Already his hand had slid off the Ingrali's arm and went for his pocket...

A growling sound echoed through the hallway. Without either of them noticing, Lemmy had appeared behind Draven, and his demeanor had changed. The formerly docile animal's jaw was spread wide, ready to attack at a moment's notice. His back was hunched, and the fur at its neck was bristled in an attempt to scare Ingrali off. Fletch's head turned towards the sound, and his eyes widened. Not even Lemmy's cybernetic jaw would grant him a chance against the armoured Ingrali. "Down. Down," he manages to choke past Draven's hand, only incensing the runner further. Frantically his eyes turned back towards Draven, a desperate look in his eyes. Not his runner. Not him, too.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

The Ingrali seemed to sense what the other man was thinking, and as pissed off as it was, it didn't seem to want to harm the runner either. Carefully turning his head to face the dog, his expression loosened some, and he casually, carefully set Fletch down, keeping his eyes on Lemmy the entire time. Once Fletch was safely back on the ground, he took a long moment before stepping back, keeping his eyes unmoving. When he spoke, his voice was normal, but still bordering on pure anger, mixed in with what sounded like a hint of pain.

"Get your dog and get the fuck away from me. I do not wish any harm to him, but make no mistake if he attacks me, I can't stop him from hurting himself, nor can I defy natural instinct."


The Ingrali took a few more steps back, far enough to hopefully calm Lemmy down some, but his body still twitched. His eyes weren't glowing as much anymore, and as soon as Lemmy was back under control, the Ingrali would turn and walk away from the two of them, stalking off towards the hangar bay from the looks of it.

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Kars sighs quietly inside his helmet towards the end of the "speech" and watches as Draven excuses himself from the room and follows after them. "Oh good, at least we have a therapist on the team. I know I wasn't gonna do it." He comments just after Draven has exited. Then continuing. "Though he's got a point, you know. I hate those bugs too, and I certainly wouldn't wear one of their bug suits either. Not unless I was really, reallly, desperate. I mean like, you'd have to be all but wiped out and have nothing else left to use before you would resort to something like that, right..?" He remarks with gradually increasing sarcasm.

Sighing audibly this time now, he tries to be a bit more serious before he gets told off, "But I can check all the key systems for any tampering or sabotage. If there's several things I know best, sabotage is definitely one of them." He says raising his hand to his helmets "chin" for a brief moment in thought or recollection, before adding, "And y'know, I saw a Human do the whole "flail" thing using a Kopak against a Garik once. Mindless raging hulks the lot of them. Just can't trust the brutes." breaking into sarcasm once again, whilst turning his head and leaning away slightly to cast a faux wary accusatory glance at the wheelchair bound human behind him in the room.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Caitlin had already been glaring Kars down from behind for the bug suit comment, though her expression softened as his sarcasm grew more obvious from there. "Just remember, I don't need legs to use you as a flail." She cautioned, before turning to look at the hologram of the Ashotur again. "If we find evidence of the Ashotur actually living in one of the quarters, let me know. If I can find some genetic samples, I may be able to come up with something we can use on them. Past that, I'd suggest starting a ship patrol, until we have proper station sensors, at least." She said, directing the short speech towards Nadia.

"If there's nothing else, The medbay still has a few preperations to make. It isn't built to handle long-term care for more than one or two at a time. Three is possible, it's just a good thing two of them know each other so well." She finished. If the CO game her the OK to leave, she'd turn around and head back into the hall again, just in time to see the men striding away in different directions, Fletch with his canine in tow.

 

[tomaito89]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Talen remained quiet during the whole episode. While Fletch had gone on his tirade, Reno had finished running her diagnostic, and Talen had opened a private communications channel with her back at the Rogue. He quickly filled her in on what had expired and sent her the video he had recorded.

"It's going to take a while to fully analyze the video you sent me. I'll tell you right now, I doubt I'll be able to find anything substantial. As for setting up an early warning system, I can re-route power from all non-vital systems - and maybe a few vital ones - to boost the range and strength of the Rogue's scanners. Should be able to pick up anything bigger than a whale long before it notices us."

"And what about things smaller than a whale?"

Reno was silent for a moment. "Let's hope it's friendly? Look, boss, this is by no means a permanent solution. I can hopefully keep it long enough for you guys to get the station's long-range scanners up."

Fletch had finished ranting by this point, and had left the room.

"I'll leave a dropshuttle in the hangar for you; I'll need to orbit a ways away to minimize interference."

"Got it. I'll do what I can and meet up with you when we're done. Talen out."

Anyone in the hangar would see the Rogue's loading ramp close itself and the engines start to warm up. It would still be a while before she would take off, since Reno had to recalibrate power usage.

Talen turned to Nadia. "Like I was saying before, we need to work on getting the long-range scanners online. I'm having Reno jury-rig a quick fix, but there's only so much she can do. I'll work with the short one since he seems to know his way around electronics." Talen was bad with names. In his line of work, he rarely interacted with people long enough to care.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Nadia rolled her eyes behind her modules. She would have to check the feeds later. Perhaps threaten some physical harm. All in a day's work. "You do that," she said towards Talen. "Whenever our head engineer comes down from his psychotic breakdown," she said in a pointedly calmly manner, "he will work on the power systems. Now that the station is secured and we have working living quarters, I've called in a few favors to get some reinforcements on board. Both military and not. The Telarin have announced their interest - of course, since the Ashotur are involved. I could barely convince them to keep it on the down low. The Terrans are sending a few combat specialists, and I've managed to secure a Marsoran Priest of Pfith, which is some kind of doctor or another. She'll be here shortly to take over duties on the med bay. I will probably need your expertise elsewhere," she bluntly stated towards Cait. "And I think you'll be glad to pass Vlado on to somebody else.

One last thing." She raised her hand and did a few swipes on her datapad. Once more, a map of the station filled the screen. One section of it was coloured completely black. It had a long, slender cylindrical shape and reached from near the core all the way to the hull. "There is an entire chunk of the station that is completely separated from its rest. We can't scan it. We can't enter it. There is no way in or out. Not even a single cable leads in there. Fletch took a blowtorch to it and hasn't managed to scratch it. There is only one door, all the way down here," she motioned towards a spot on the map near the very bottom of the station. "Reinforced steel, extremely thick. The Nnyarthall tried blowing it open. The door withstood, the hull didn't. So for now it remains sealed." She straightened her back and looked at the gathered crew. "I'm assuming that whatever they were looking for is in there. But it's keeping us out as reliably as them, so for now we'll just have to accept that. Perhaps I can tickle some information out of Finster, but don't count on it. He is predictably resistant to tickling, joyless bastard that he is."

---

Fletch gasped and choked as Draven put him down He slid down the wall and stayed there while Draven stomped away, greedily filling his lungs with recycled oxygen. "Fucking bastard. You don't know what it's like," he murmured into his beard after a while. "Nobody but the broken do." With the enemy gone, Lemmy relented. The runner slouched and trotted over to Fletch, plopping his head into the big man's lap. "Good boy. You did good. You did good," Fletch grumbled as he reached up and scritched him between his ears. "The big ugly fucking bastard was right. Let's check the med bay, huh?" But in the back of his head, the gears had started turning. He wouldn't be caught off guard again. Perhaps if he...

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

A short time later, Draven had reached his ship, gathering a handful of small datapad items. He leafed through them, fists clenching as the memories of that planet only a few years ago threatened to hit him once more. He'd revisit it, if only to make their commander realize what they were in for, and what these bastards were truly capable of. He remained still, waiting for some time before finally reaching over to his comm, linking a channel directly to Nadia's own. She'd probably be pissed with him for what he was going to tell her, and he didn't really care. Things were going to be ugly from here on out, and he could only hope he had what it took to see them through.

"Commander, this is Draven. When you have a few free moments, I'd like to request a short meeting between the two of us. The fewer people know of what I wish to talk to you about, the better for all of us in the long run."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"I don't mind Vlado. Quiet, efficient, hardly needs direction. More than I can say of most people I've shared lab space with." Caitlin offered. She didn't mention his comments about her, he was hardly the first to say such.

On the way back, her mind wandered again. Unpredictable. Reckless. Undisciplined. All that and more is what the Telarin thought of her. What kept her out of Station Nu, despite having some of the best scores they had considered. And then she had proved them right, caused her own injury in a moment of recklessness...

After that, her mainstream scientific career was pretty well over, though at least her public record had been glossed over to hide what had actually happened. Liquidating everything she could, her home, a few heirlooms, had bought her the Concordance. and from there, she eventually found herself here...

Here, in the entrance to the medbay, where she'd been sitting with a glazed expression for almost three minutes, Vlado staring at her. Sighing, she started forwards again. "Nadia said there's a Marsoran medic on the way to take over medical duties. Empty a few bins or something, From what I recall that race is quite short. All the surfaces here are human height, they'll need something to stand on, most likely." She said, sounding a little irritable.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Krell snorts rather loudly when Nadia mentions more military personnel showing up on the station. "Bah. We don't need the military out here. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Armory." he says with a grunt, turning and stomping his way out of the room, through the station towards the only part he really cared about at the moment, the Armory. As he walked, his mind spun in circles about how best to kill one of those big Ashotur. He had never encountered anything bigger than him except on his homeworld, and that made him angry. Angry enough that the entire walk to the armory, his chin growths were bloated and red.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"The Marsora themselves are short, yes, but with their robotic legs or whatever she decides to use, they are often even taller than either of us." Vlado shook his head in disgust. "An entire race so lazy that their legs degenerated. Inconceivable. And they still cling to their outdated religion. What kind of priest will it be? Pfith? Choulak? Hopefully not Choulak, they are awfully quick to declare people dead." With a sigh behind his mask, Vlado began emptying the waste bins around the med bay from what little trash they had managed to produce.

After a while, Fletch walked in, looking deep in though. As always, he had Lemmy in tow. "Keep your Hrrshak out of the medbay," Vlado barked. "This is not a petting zoo." Fletch's head shot up, looking at Vlado in confusion for a moment before silently nodding. Turning the dial on his bracer a few times, he murmured a "stay" towards Lemmy. "I, ah, was going to check on the power systems in here," he said, turning towards Caitlin.
Just like her, Fletch had avoided contact between the two of them, but there was no helping it now. He noticed she had blamed herself for Maria's current state and that she thought he did too. To avoid having to explain his emotional state to her, the big man had stayed away from her for as long as possible.
---

"Do-on't brea-ak anything do-own there," Hiram called out towards Krell. Strictly speaking, the armory was his domain now that life support was online, but the previous crew had left very little to work with. Certainly not enough for him to start working on. Instead, the Xyr headed towards the living quarters. He was a proud ram. He deserved to pick his room first.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

"The... First. Pfifth sounds correct." Caitlin said with a nod. "Most religions are outdated. and the newer ones hold nothing for the past, I find. Religion in and of itself makes so little sense to me." She finished, turning when the door opened, admitting Fletch.

"Yes, please. Friendly as it is, this room has to remain as sterile an environment as possible." She added on top of Vlado's hasty request. The man seemed concerned about something. Likely he just wanted away from her as quickly as possible, so she gestured towards the far wall. "Main conduit access is over there, the autoclave there is on wheels, if you need more room.If you need anything else, ask Vlado." She said, pulling herself into a different aisle to let him get by, and continuing her work.

She had a few things to prep in case someone found trace material the Ashotur had left behind, which could be used for Krell and his pending suit if not. In that same vein, she had started an unkeyed organism in a small dish, in order to run compatability tests on. On top of that, there were a few samples taken from the yellow spore that needed a multitude of tests, to determine adaptability and usefulness for additions into the current strains she made use of.

 

[Rule 34]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Nadia stared in disdain as Krell and Xyr left. As a Garik, she could not care less about their adherence to rules and procedures. But as their CO, she would be damned if they'd walk out on her ever again.

Snapping her eyes back to the remaining people, she cleared her throat. "Well, if nobody else has any questions, you are dismissed." She paused and smiled under her hood. Yes, that seemed like a good idea. "Remember to pick a room in the living quarters before all the good ones are taken. As... Hiram," she said with a quick look on a small screen on her datapad, "is about to find out, it's strictly first come, first serve." With a grin she saw the Xyr bleating in indignation as he approached the very last room - the most quiet one with the least people passing in front of it - only to find it's already been taken by Nadia herself. It's good to be the queen.

 

[tomaito89]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

Talen turned towards Kars. "Ready to get started? The sooner begun, the sooner done."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: The Dividing Line - Station

(Sorry about the delay. Insert reasons and excuses here. Two of them fair/fairish, and one poor one.)

"Sure. Sensors it is then. I don't like sitting around in the dark unless I can see what's in it." Kars would reply to Talen, and turning to depart with the cyborg whilst passing Nadia another half assed casual salute like he had done when leaving the Station Briliance.

Once out of the room he'd mention, "I'm not really fussed about claiming one of those living rooms. I'll let my dog pick one out. So I'm fine to get started."

Standing a few steps behind them both was Ko, having filtered out of the room with them and trying to figure out whether she'd be needed to help with the sensors, or should get back to what she was doing before. The dog remark resulting in her balling her fists and glaring invisibly at her mentors back again. He was surely doing it in front of the cyborg on purpose, she just knew it. Though it seemed like she'd be off to check out these living quaters then. She wouldn't half mind the chance to have a regular wet and dry shower, rather than the normal gel change wash.