Say slightly loudly: "What the flipping fuck is going on?!"
In your confusion, you say rather loudly "What the flipping fuck is going on?".
You get no answer, but you get the feeling someone is watching you. And possibly laughing.
~~~***~~~
Echange notes with Talli. Inform them of the Psychic events and ask them about anything that they might have noticed when we were unconscious.
Try imagining a barrier around your mind that you cannot psychically push through. Experiment until you can block yourself.
Ask Talli if it is possible to program your regenerative systems to produce a bone knife. If it is, do not do so, we want to maintain our mystery...
Scan the room for access points, wall materials, strong beams that could be used as levers, vents, chimneys, seams, floor hatches...
Ask Talli for a second opinion about that box.
You contact Talli, or at least, you try to.
You do what you usually do to contact it. You only get a faint response. You frown. '
That's never happened before'. It wasnt like when you could not contact Talli due to it been busy, this was flat out no contact. You try again.
Again, no response. Worried now, you retry. You open your mind completely and mentally search for your AI friends. You find that, whilst the nanotech is still there, Talli seems to have been 'put to sleep'. They are still there, you can feel them, but they are inactive.
'
Those bastards have been in my head!' You scream mentally. You let out an audible growl.
You attempt to wake Talli up. You really need they're help in this situation. You give Talli a strong nudge. You think you feel some minor stirring, but Talli does not awaken. You nudge again, harder. Talli does actually respond briefly, but goes back into its slumber. You nudge Talli and third time, this time awakening it.
"Pandora.....What is going on? We seem to have been inactive for an indeterminable amount of time. Why is that? What has happened?"'
We seem to have been captured by the Vanguard. I do not know where we are at the moment. We seem to be stuck in some featureless room with only a table, a recliner and my equipment in a box with no discernible opening.'
Talli is silent for a moment.
"This is interesting. I sense you have other things to tell us?"You sigh.
'Yes, i have many, many things to tell you.....' You fill them in on your mental abilities. The fact you can possess and control others using your mind, amongst other things. You confess you do not know how powerful you could be. You think your powers may stretch beyond mere possession, although you haven't had time to test that theory yet.
'Talli, did you notice anything whilst i was unconscious?'"No. It seems that whatever the Vanguard used also knocked us out as well. It must have been some biological nano-agent designed specifically to knock out any and all species and any implants, additions or other technological modifications they contain. Which means you...we...were on the receiving end of some very advanced technology indeed."'Damn. I was hoping to find out where they are holding us. For all I know were could be on one of their capital ships in orbit. Ever since that creepy WarBreed mentally talked to be five earth years ago, i've had this inkling the Vanguard are interested in me....'Talli stays silent.
'Talli?'"Sorry, Pandora, we were just analysing your body and mind, checking to see if anything has changed since our last period of operation. There have been no changes. Yet."Yet. You cant help but think that sounds rather....ominous.
~~~
With the aid and advice of Talli, you try imagining a mental barrier, one which can be maintained by Talli when you dont concentrate on it. You try for what seems like hours, but every time you seem to have something going, an external force seems to annihilate it, methodically and efficiently.
It is almost as if the Vanguard are trying to keep your mind open for probing.
You try a few more times, with little success before giving up. You will have to work on that later, especially now you know your psychic abilities are essentially a paranormal tracking beacon.
~~~
Feeling naked without a weapon, you ask Talli if it would be possible to have the nanites in your bloodstream produce a bone knife that you could use to attack the enemy or try to escape with.
You feel Talli do something you have never felt it do before. Argue with itself. Somewhat hesitantly, Talli answers you.
"Would you like the short answer or the long answer?"'Short please'"No"'... ... ... The long answer?'"It would be dangerous. It could cause several problems for your body. You could end up weakening one or more of your bones. There is also the question of how you would get it out of you. It would also be impractical. It is doubtful it would be any use at all against the Vanguard."'Oh. Damn, i'll need another plan.....'~~~
Using Talli and your optics implants, you scan the room. You see that the walls are made of some sort of super strong nanomaterial that you cannot see through, however you can see through what looks to be a door to your left and the one way window in front of you. You see that you are not in space in a Vanguard ship. You are still on the planet, however you seem to have been transported to what seems to be a rather large complex.
Moving your sight away from the door. You spot at least seven different camera arrays around your room. No one is on the other side of the one way window, that you can see anyway. There only seems to be one access point, which is the door. There is nothing lying around which you could try and use to lever open the door.
Also, apart from four vents roughly the same size as your hand, there does not seem to be anything in the way of vents, chimneys, seams, floor hatches or any other entry/escape points. The Vanguard are certainly meticulous in their cell designing.
After giving your room several more looks, you finally give it up as a bad job. There is nothing you can use. It seems you will just have to wait.
~~~
Lastly, your gaze settles on the box. You get up and walk towards it. You walk around it, analysing it to see if you can find any seams or hatches. Nothing. However your equipment got in there, it is going to have to get out the same way.
You ask Talli for its opinion.
"We remember these from our time as Vanguard ship AIs. They can only be opened by people of whatever rank is input into its coding. The top cover is a transparent computer interface panel that only activates after a 22 digit code is input in the keypad that will appear if you tap twice on the top of the box."You tap on the roof of the box. A keypad appears, glowing slightly, showing what you recognise as a standard keypad interface not too dissimilar to a very high tech ATM machine. It even has the words 'Please Input Pin' glowing over the top of the keypad.
You do not even attempt to guess a 22 digit pin. You return to your seat dejected. You doubt Talli could break that in any reasonable amount of time, so you sit back on the recliner, relax, and wait.
~~~***~~~
Look around the room for anywhere comfortable to wait on like a nice prison bed or a chair to sit in. See if we can talk to Talli about anything she could have picked up or if we can send out a message to our sisters like {{trapped and awaiting interrogation. continue the fight Ari is in charge. Re-locate bases and be nice to Kathreene and other Slinkarr where possible. Do not try any plans to break me free. I love you all stay safe.}}
If they try to block any of that try again and as hard as possible.
Let's see what they have to say. Oh and can we be all Joker on this one? like "so how's Xander doing these days? Does he hate me for what i did half a decade ago with that base camp?"
Whilst you lay back, you contact Talli to ask if it can send a message to Ari, Ankara and Elianna.
It takes a few minutes, but Talli confirms that it can in fact contact the brood. Talli tells you they are getting worried about your disappearance.
"Would you like to send a message?"'
Yes. Send the following:
Ari, Ankara, Elianna, I have been taken captive by the Vanguard. Am currently awaiting interrogation. Continue the fight. Ari is in charge for now. I will try to return as soon as possible. Make sure to relocate bases. I cannot guarantee i will be able to hold against their interrogation. Be nice to Kaleetra and the other Slinkar. Try to improve relations.
Please, do not try to save me. They would be lives wasted. Continue the fight, make them hurt.
I love you all. Stay safe.
Goodbye and good luck.
Pandora, out.'
You tel Talli to send it. You tell her to try as hard as they can, that message needs to get through.
After a few tense minutes, Talli confirms the message got through unhindered. Talli tells you that Ari and the others started to relax as soon as they got the message. Some then shifted to angry at the fact you wanted them to abandon you, especially the other Brood leaders.
You thank Talli for they're time, and dismiss them for now. You dont want to intrude on your sisters any longer than you have to.
~~~***~~~
Just as you finish your conversation with Talli, the door opens and in stride two tall, extremely attractive human females. Your mental image of the two females in armour appear, and your mental functions match the proportions of the two women who just walked in to the two who took you captive.
The slightly shorter one, the one who said 'Boo' to you, takes a seat in front of you whilst the other sits on the recliner next to you, watching like a hawk.
The woman in front of you looks like a woman in her late twenties, with long golden brown hair and hazel eyes. She has the figure of a goddess and looks that would make any man melt and any woman green with envy. They both do. They look to be the perfect match for one another. The one difference been the other one has platinum blonde, shoulder length hair and ocean blue eyes.
At least you can tell them apart.
The one across from you looks you in the eye before speaking.
"Good evening, Mrs Katia Heartwood"You freeze at the use of your real name. The mental question of 'How does she know' starts to form, and then you realise they ahve probably already combed your unprotected mind for useful information as well as your personal information. This makes things difficult. You cannot lie. They'll know.
The woman smiles.
"Yes, your assumptions are correct. We have already processed your mind. There was not much in the way of intel that we found useful....
However. You, on the other hand, piqued our interest.""Why? If you have already 'processed' me, why keep me alive?"
"Because you could be useful to us. And we know of your feelings for at least some of the Morey." Her gaze drifts to your torso.
"It hurt, didn't it? You were valiant, defiant, but in the end you screamed, like all victims of her wrath."You just stare at her. She knows. She knows the pain you went through. You glace at the woman next to you, only to see pity in her eyes, not hate or malice. She even puts her hand on your hand.
"What if I told you we could make you stronger? Better? It is the same offer we would offer all of your vat-born sisters. We have no quarrel with you, your sisters, the Slinkar or the Morey. Our enemy is much bigger, much more powerful. We'll need to stand together as one to defeat them."You ponder for a moment. "Why would you do this?"
She looks at you intently, as if analysing you, before speaking.
"Except for the reason i just told you? Freedom. We value it almost as high as we value our humanity and our history. The Morey are ruled by the iron fist of the Presidentess. No one, not even the Matriarch, could stop her even if all her opponents united.
Likewise, the Slinkar Federated Coalition is also sharing a similar fate. Their upper echelons are corrupt and selfish. They continue a fight they cannot hope to win without a care in the galaxy for their people. All the while a far more powerful enemy creeps ever closer to their fringe systems.""Creeping closer? I thought the Vanguard was holding them back?"
"We are. For now. It is costing us many lives each earth year, but we are holding.""I assume that the Vanguard want to recruit me?"
"Yes. We'll upgrade you with technology the Morey could not even imagine. You will then be trained to use your new abilities and the new technology. That honour would fall on us.""Us?"
She smiles, motioning to herself.
"Annastasia....." She then motions to the woman next to you.
".....and Levinia. We would be your trainers, your guides and your confidantes."You fall quiet and stay that way for a long time. Annastasia and Levinia watch you, not saying a word.
~~~***~~~
What do you do? Do you join the Vanguard? Do you refuse and try and escape back to the resistance?
~~~
Status:1. Demeanor/Status: Calm.
2. Mental Condition: Mentally fit and stable.
3. Physical Condition: Extensive Scarring. Plasma lower stomach wound (healed) , Hyper Laser knee wound (healed).
4. Clear thoughts and currently inactive mental factions.
Inventory:
1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Wearing) ( Extremely Damaged)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Lost)
3. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit (Wearing) (Damaged)
Available Equipment (Everything not equipped is unavailable at the moment):1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Extremely Damaged)
2. Mark 3 Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Lost)
3. Basic White Skin Tight full Body Under-suit x 4
4. Advanced White Cooled Skin Tight Full Body Under-suit x 2 (One of which is Damaged)
5. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm)
6. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle
7. Dikari Plasma shotgun
8. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle
9. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives.
10. Stun/Concussion rifle
11. Casual clothes x10 (White skin tight suit, Gloves, Boots)
12. Ceremonial robes
13. Royal Guard Armoured Powered Exoskeleton suit
Implants and Augmentations:1. 2x Loyalty probe in the Striatum part of the brain.
2. Multi-range optics (Thermal, magnetic, IR, UV, multi-stage magnification etc) implant on eyes.
3. Command and Control (C&C) nano-module implanted in head.
4. Communications array nano-module implanted in head.
5. Fortified 7th Generation reverse engineered biological nano-machines in blood stream, bones, muscles, tendons and organs.
6. Nano-memory modules in the Cerebrum, holding all relevant non-personal data.
Brood Composition:1. Forward Command and communications: 10 Vat-born.
2. Field Combat Medic: 37 Vat Born
3. Long Range Specialists (Snipers): 48 Vat-Born
4. Heavy assault: 148 Vat-Born
5. Light Assault: 127 Vat-Born
6. Infiltrators: 27
7. Heavy Support: 77
8. Combat Engineers: 69
9. Scouts: 80
Current Prison Garrison:1. Combat Engineer: 1
2. Long Range Specialists: 2
3. Field Combat Medic: 2
4. Infiltrators: 7
5. Scouts: 8
Allied Characters:1. Ala-Shar
2. Ankara
3. Ari
4. Elianna
5. Kaleetra
6. Talli
7. Dornishi, Morey regular Commander
8. Tirl-kha, Morey Commando Commander
9. Quish-ka, Morey Regular Commander
Enemy Characters:1. Presidentess Karista
2. Kirish, the Presidentess's assitant.
3. The Senatorium
4. New Guard Generals
5. Multiple Unknowns
Currently Neutral Relations:1. Brigadier Xander Berginstaff
2. Annastasia
3. Levinia
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Topic: (SG) Starfire: War and Politics - Enemies Old and New - UPDATE 03/07/2014 (Read 87452 times)