KesariPing Khate/Scarlet. Send an audible message.
If I can spare the time: Prepare medbay. Make a quick check on the hangar crew and Mick's second-in-command; having sent them the possible bore destinations.
Second Priority: Initiate scanning and defensive measures against attacking freighter and cloaked ship; initiate ship scan on ship database for both freighter and cloaked ship--attempt to send relevant data to Aubrey.
Priority: Ready up weapons; test weapons systems to probe for strengths of attacking ships--bore in bomb clouds and start defending this ship and cargo!
Also link earlier data of that cloaked ship's weapon systems for ease of defending.
P.S. Take another bite of chocolate.
Highest priority: Establish communication with shuttle/sled; guide and correct + give encouragement.
Be so happy that I'm an energetic pup as a total aside to micromanage multiple tasks.
Kesari sent her short message to Varkonius' ship and then began breaking down what she could and could not do. Prepping med-bay would require her to leave the bridge, which felt like a terrible idea considering the immediate circumstances.
Scanning the assailing vessel was easier, but fruitless. It had shields up and fully active, appearing on most scans as a solid block with no internal information. Frankly it was a miracle that Kari could still communicate with Aubrey, and that was only because they were both trying to make direct connections with one another. It was the kind of signal that could be severed at a moment's notice if Kesari's presumable analog aboard the Nosoi realized what was happening.
Despite Boris and Aubrey being confirmed to be on board, Kari tried to send over a few dozen small 'testing' explosives to see if she could measure the deflection arc on the Nosoi's shields and get an idea of her strength. Problematically, there seemed to be one hell of an interdiction field around the ship. Combined with the Nosoi's speed, the interdiction field meant that Kesari couldn't bore a bomb in close enough to do any real damage via immediate detonation, and PD cannons on the Nosoi took out bombs she planted ahead of the attacking vessel's course.
Depending on how good the Nosoi's PD was, Kari thought she might be able to delay the Nosoi, or at least force it to turn, by boring in a whole lot of bombs at once, but that would commit a substantial portion of the Reunion's bombs.
Establishing a communications link with the incoming shuttles was an... interesting experience. Kesari introduced herself quickly. The two shuttles replied back equally quickly. In very different ways.
"This is Tagget, I read you five by five and have a stable approach on your hangar. We detect enemy contact but have no heat on approach.""Oh, hi! THIS IS AWESOME! What does this button do? OHGODWE'RETURNINGNOWSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYWHICHBUTTONWASTHAT! Okay! Cool butto- OMIGOD YOU VOMITED ON ME THAT'S DISGUSTING! Ugh, it's in the seat now! Wait, why is that red light blinking? I don't want to open the cargo doors! No, wait, that's the engine temperature... No? Oh, right, hey, does anyone know what SAI stands for?"SAI stood for Stable Approach Indicator, and basically was a light that indicated whether you were properly angled and at a healthy velocity and spin to align with the cradle of a receiving hangar. Red and blinking was bad.
Khate"So how do you know me and my ship? Are you a DNR fan?
And uh... do you know why Rainbows wanted your cat so badly? If I'm not mistaken he orchestrated this whole mercy meetup and mass mangling, apparently just for that."
"Dead Neo Running, Cass, and a very nearly infinite supply of explosives are all that I have to divert my attention on long trips. You in particular, as well as a couple of your family members, are on my notifications list for new footage." Vark tapped a final command into the navigation console, and the ship shivered slightly as the cradle disengaged.
"Bet a 500 credit split between you and Raukus making it into the top 50 best new acquisitions some years back, and I still think it's a goddamn crime that they put every member of that fucking boy-band turned bounty hunters in ahead of you two."Raukus, aka Bert Merki. He was part of Khate's clan, distantly, and probably some kind of x-times-removed cousin because of that. She just remembered him getting teased a lot in class for his stub tail and his very-late-to-drop voice. In all fairness, he had yipped like a puppy for the better part of sixteen years. If Khate remembered correctly, he'd ended up specializing in sonic weapons, which seemed like a wee bit of overcompensation.
"So, yeah, I've kept track of your footage. Bought platinum membership to the DNR deepsite a forever ago, so I get the behind-the-scenes reels pretty much live. Kinda looking forward to seeing what this furball looked like from your angle. As to motives for going after her..." Vark glanced over at his panther.
"I understand why people want the Star, I have no idea why people would want my girl. Hell, I picked her up from an acting troupe that was on the luxury liner I lifted the Star from. Not really a hostile connection."Vark glanced at a green light that had begun flashing on the console, tapping it immediately.
"Also, there's an intercepted message from the Reunion, I-""To Varkonius; Hello!
We're currently under attack from those strange fellows owned probably by the rainbow dog. Would appreciate assistance, but to not bother you: I can give a bore solution that'd send your ship right into our hangar; just open a synch link, I'll take over the rest. You've around 25 minutes since my crew gave me word.
Please take care, can't wait to hear from the person Khate has been uppity with for quite some time.
And that's a compliment.
Also if you've any details on the attackers or their ship, that would be much appreciated. Some of our crew have boarded their ship in retaliation before it launched from the Flounder."Varkonius was silent for a long moment.
"Did she just address a verbal message like a text?"
Scarlet"I'm going kicking and screaming if I go at all. Sorry if I bleed on your carpet." She looked at the maid, mentally steeling herself. Dying wasn't great, but she'd been on the delivering end of emergency medical care often enough to know that the process of not dying had a tendency to end up pretty damn unpleasant too. After taking a moment to make sure she wasn't confirming the sexbot's offer of euthanaisa. "Cass, please attempt medical treatment, with no euthanasia as requested." Damn robots. Damn suspicious missions. This was a new one: damn rainbow Canes.
Cass stepped forward and pressed a hand into Scarlet's chest, which only got more awkward when the hand liquefied into transparent goop and began worming its way through Scarlet's clothing and armor. It tingled electrically, somewhat like licking a battery, except in this case it felt like the battery was licking her.
"Pathogen is clearly the result of intentional weaponization, with no match in any known bio-weapon database. Pathogen appears non-contagious and highly individualized. Primary immune system non-functional, vestigial as a result of disuse. Nano-mechanical secondary immune system detected, unrecognized manufacturer. Secondary immune system collapse imminent due to power failure resulting from inadequate energy generation-to-usage ration, only key organs are currently being protected. Recommending intravenous infusion of energized saline in order to extend nanite battery life. Potential side effects: Seizures, internal burns, nerve damage, brain damage, nanite malfunction, nanite destruction, nausea, dry scalp, rash, itchiness. "Cass' arm began retracting from Scarlet's chest, then stopped.
"Partial genetic match to unknown bacteria found in locally stored sample 15b, jaguar blood."
SadishSadish didn't really understand hypothetical concepts and symbolism. Presumably her clones knew this, and were having fun mystifying her.
"...I think this might be a psychological statement on my own interior divisions. Perhaps they are asking that I should choose the path of the explorer, the innocent, the healer, or the antiquarian...rather than being split a among myself. Be one whole cake, rather than many pieces of cake pulled in every direction!
What do you think Aimasc? Should we have cake for lunch, or is the cake only in my mind? Also, do you actually have cake? I'm a bit hungry. Though perhaps I should stick to liquids until I am mended..."
"Er, no, no cake. I ran out of emergency medical rations ages ago, hence why all the remnants are eating fungus. As far as food goes, I'm afraid you're going to be a bit dependent on the remnants to remember that you, unlike a deity, actually need to eat. My apologies, but I wouldn't count on it.""As for your problem, I'm worried that you're taking it too literally, or perhaps not literally enough. How did you come by these little creatures, exactly?"
BorisSuicidal Plan Pt. II: First, find the way to Ka's ship. Make sure the two ships can be easily detached when we undoubtedly come running back with a million goons on our tail.
Second. Avoid guards. Find either: the reactor, the engines, or any convenient critical things like weapons systems, life support, oxygen tanks, etc. Put on my best sabotaging face.
If spotted or caught, err, try to take out goons and stop them from alerting the whole ship. If Ka is there and we are not immediately killed, we do things extra, extraaa careful.
Boris clomped along the freighter's spine, painfully aware of how little room for 'stealth' there was. In the old battleship wrecks from his halcyon days in Strenger, there had been miles of unused corridors and bulkhead that could barely hold atmosphere- places where entire communities could live and die with no one being the wiser. In a little freighter like this... No space was wasted, and there wasn't exactly a wealth of places to hide outside of private rooms and/or a smugglers hold if this freighter had one.
Still, no hiding seemed to be needed. There was no one to see Boris, much less resist him, on the way. The ship seemed deserted, which, considering that it had basically just been a ghillie for Ka's ship, wasn't completely beyond the pale, but it still seemed... too easy.
Carefully, Boris eased the door leading from the crew corridor to the freighter's cargo hold open.
"No, no! What are you doing you hamhanded idiot?!"Boris froze, the sliding door open about an inch. He couldn't see much through it. The door led out onto a catwalk that had stairs leading down to the bulk of the hold, which was little more than large square room for packing in crates.
"Sir, I'm moving the body as you requested."There was a gutteral, disgusted sound from somewhere below Boris.
"Yes, and dragging him by his wrists! He probably weighs a hundred and seventy pounds! You're leaving marks on his body utterly inconsistent with the scene!""Medenov, we're blowing this ship up anyway. Go easy.""Easy?!" The one Boris assumed was Medenov was hissing now, a distinctly felid tone of outrage and indignation consuming his voice.
"I am creating! There will be an investigation into this incident, and they will see precisely what we want them to see. Every reconstruction, every clue, every lead, everything must lead back to one moment that never existed at all. I am fabricating the very robe of lies which makes the body of truth fit to be seen by the scaled eyes of this world, and you tell me to go easy!?"Thanks to the acoustics of the mostly empty cargo hold, Boris could actually hear the tired sigh that followed Medenov's outburst.
"Just tell me the yield I need to use. And initiate, pick up bodies gently so you don't leave incriminating drag marks, and make sure you don't bruise them. Because AL-Loy clearly has a forensic analyst who is going to look at all three grams of recoverable tissue and wonder why there's bruising."Another hiss of disgust.
"Initial shell impact from an AL-Loy light defense boat... 1.324 million newtons."