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Post by Eric Lysander on Apr 18, 2014 20:29:01 GMT -6
"Maelstrom, what about him, what's wrong?" Shala asked. "Just let me know where you are!"
Eric was sure it was the stress of the situation playing on his senses, but not only did he hear the quarian's voice through his earpiece but also faintly from across the main deck. He turned his head to see that it was indeed Shala back on board the Valiant.
I thought she was down in the ruins with Fearless...
Shala drew her shotgun and aimed at the Keeper. "Whatever is wrong with Maelstrom, perhaps that should wait!"
Eric calmly reined her in.
"Shala... Shala, don't draw it's attention. It's thinks I'm the only one on deck... keep your weapon up but get to cover with the others... Mal's only got an hour or so left. I got a way to save him but his pet Lite Brite needs your permission and mine to do it. Bugs are usin' lights to hypnotize him. It can turn up the filters in his helmet to dim 'em out but it thinks that might make things worse for its master. Mal also has Meldom at gunpoint - not by choice. B's got a zapper handy but it may not be enough..."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Apr 19, 2014 3:19:03 GMT -6
Questions raced through her mind, mostly revolving around what happened, but even in the short time she was back, she could tell most of it was not good.
Focus on the most immediate problem, worry about the rest later, her mother ordered.
She raised her shotgun and slowly crept around behind the creature, ready to fire on it if it attacked.
"Eric Lysander, do you mean his ship can override his suit and it needs authorization from both of us to do so?" she asked as she reached cover behind a pylon.
If we make it through this, I'm going to ask him to teach me about human vernacular, she thought.
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Post by Eric Lysander on Apr 19, 2014 15:13:00 GMT -6
"Apparently so," confirmed Eric . "Our... guest doesn't seem to care about what's goin' on with Mal, hasn't made a peep since he came on board. No, wait; he tried sayin' somethin' to me earlier... waved me outside..." He blinked rapidly to come back to the situation at hand "Do I have your permission to dim the lights on his helmet if we have to?"
As he waited for Shala's answer, he slowly brought up his omni-tool. Aractus' advice to let Maelstroms' actions play out began to weigh on him. Some of the ancient vids he grew up watching depicted wars breaking out between species over what turned out to be simple and unfortunate misunderstandings.
Just like the First Contact War...
He started searching through programs and apps, recalling that at one point he was issued a phonic detection algorithm as part of a diplomatic procedural package for first encounters with new races. Maybe it could help him communicate with the Keeper... if he did not delete it...
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Apr 19, 2014 21:56:54 GMT -6
"Yes, but it would be best if I contact his VI," she said. "You are a trustworthy person, Eric Lysander, but I don't think his VI knows that yet."
She opened up a link to Maelstrom's ship. "Venegeance, come in Vengeance, this is Shala'Bekk vas Neema, please come in."
Keelah se'lai, I hope this works...
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Post by Eric Lysander on Apr 20, 2014 11:30:30 GMT -6
"Thanks Shala," said Eric, flipping through data directories. "There's one more thing I wanna try before that..."
Where the hell is it? I deleted it, didn't I? Course I did - you didn't need it anymore, you don't have a command so why keep- THERE IT IS!!
Eric located the phonic detector in an archive folder. Tapping on icons and inputting commands, he attempted to engage the program. Like the keeper it sat inert and did nothinh. Eric's visitor needed to speak for it to work.
Eric held up the omnitool in front of his face. "All right... one last time..."
The phonic detector squelched back an electronic echo of his words. Suddenly, the Keeper's head pointed straight at Eric's omnitool. The display began to flood with characters and letters:
<...^(^&(*&^&*^helpdefenddanger)T^%^%&warnfollowshowdemonstratewitness!@$^%#$&$%beholddestructionapocalypsestrugglehopefutileappeasepleaselistenshowstopfollowfollowrevealstopstop...>
"No, no! Don't flake out on me nowww!" Eric gesticulated over the omnitool, at one point moving to yank it off his wrist.
"STOP!" Eric's head snapped up to the intruder.
"Stop," it repeated in a gentler timber.
"About damn time," the N7 veteran huffed. "Let my frie-"
The Keeper pointed a limb towards the stairwell. "Follow."
"Let my friend Maelstrom go and maybe I will," Eric countered.
The Keeper scurried to the edge of the stairwell and stopped, still fixated on Eric and seemingly unaware of Shala'Bekk or any other crew members on deck.
"Please... follow."
Oh crap...
Eric triggered his earpiece as he began moving towards it. "Well guys... our houseguest wants me to follow it. Lemme know if those bugs let go-a Mal. Keep scanning for changes in the ruins. Stay frosty and be ready to pull the plug on this puppet show when I say. Shala - stay close behind me but don't let it see you..."
(Keeper actions approved by GM)
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Post by Murchadh on Apr 20, 2014 15:01:42 GMT -6
Out on the grey field of the astroid the single figure of the ships mech pilot strolled across the dusty surface. With Thor back on the ship doing a standard damage scan and the situation in the base out of his hands there wasn't much to do but patrol the space between the base and the now landed ship. There was very little sign of the battle that had taken place. All the collector bits where now in a nice pile apart from the individual copse that had been taken to the ships labs for dissection and tissue samples.
He gave a slight sigh as his eyes fell on the valiant. The ship lights light up the cloud of dust from where it had landed. It was rather impressive that the ship could land on this rock given it size and the lack of atmosphere. As he started towards the ship he stopped as something moved int he light of the ships cargo bay. Someone had jumped down from the open shuttle bay doors. Murchadh paused for a moment as he tried to make out the tiny figure. It didn't look like any of the mercs so it was probably one of the ships non combatants crew. What was one of them doing out?
" Murchadh tae th' valiant someain has gain ootwith." He said into his radio. There was a long pause as whoever was on duty tried to work out what he had said with his thick accent. After a while the voice of Paris the ships pilot came over the radio. " Yeah one of the engineers wanted to go for a walk. Why are you asking is something up?"
Murchadh paused for a second ash kept his eyes on the small figure moving away from the ship. Something felt wrong about this. He didn't know why, but his gut was telling him to follow her. Bending low he began to folow the distant figure. She was up to something and he wanted to know what.
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Post by Maelstrom on Apr 20, 2014 21:25:25 GMT -6
"Venegeance, come in Vengeance, this is Shala'Bekk vas Neema, please come in."
Contact established... Greeting requested...
Resuming secure channel- recipients: Shala'Bekk Vas Neema and Eric Lysander...
Initializing interface with organic units...
"Vengeance refers to the vessel this unit is installed aboard. The designation for this unit itself is 'Emily.'"
"Awaiting commands."
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Post by Maelstrom on Apr 20, 2014 22:20:24 GMT -6
The last of the tutorials ended, but rather than feel relief, Maelstrom found the same urgent drive pressing on him.
His hand danced over the control again, inputting another set of commands. A depiction of a number of different ship classes flashed onto the screen. The largest of the classes was familiar, easily recognizable to anyone who kept up with galactic events. That sealed it for Maelstrom; the Reapers were real. There were others with a vaguely similar methodology to their construction, massive in their own rights despite being a small fraction of the size of the capital ship displayed. As his fingers continued to work the terminal, information started cropping up in the margins around each craft. If he understood right, he was looking at top sublight and FTL speeds, as well as formulas for determining each class's best turning rate based on the speed of the craft.
More. He needed to know more. To see. To record. So others would understand.
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Post by PaladinKOSP on Apr 21, 2014 8:55:12 GMT -6
The turian glanced at the console screen. he was right, it contained more info on the Reapers and such. "Do -not- stun him!" Artacus commanded over the comms with a sincere tone. "We have some serious info that your friend is digging up." He remained silent for a brief moment, then speaks again. "It's the Reapers, me and this human have both solid evidence. If you don't believe me, come down here and see it for yourself."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Apr 21, 2014 9:32:32 GMT -6
"Emily..." she said, resisting the urge to apologize. It's just a VI, she thought. An apology would mean nothing to it.
She found herself wondering why he chose that name for it. Knowing him the way she did, Emily must have been someone important to him. His wife? A daughter? A sister?
And none of this is helping him, her mother snapped.
Shala shook her head to clear it and focus on the situation at hand.
"Emily, alter the visual input systems on Maelstrom's suit so that his visibility is zero," she said.
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Post by grandest on Apr 21, 2014 11:58:27 GMT -6
"Do -not- stun him!" Artacus commanded. "We have some serious info that your friend is digging up. It's the Reapers, me and this human have both solid evidence. If you don't believe me, come down here and see it for yourself." Cruendi'has shook his head. "Reapers? What the hell are you talking about?"
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Post by PaladinKOSP on Apr 21, 2014 12:32:34 GMT -6
"Trust me on this." He responded to the batarian. "I'd be talking blasphemy if I hadn't seen it for myself." The turian look to Maelstrom, still in control of the giant swarm around him. "I swear.. if anyone doesn't listen to me, I'll tear them in two." He thought.
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Post by Eric Lysander on Apr 21, 2014 15:57:52 GMT -6
The Keeper made its way down the stairwell with Eric right behind, concerned only with the human it made contact with. It moved in short bursts, accelerating away when Eric came within a foot and a half of it. Shortly they were down in the shuttle bay. The Keeper quickly crawled up to the shuttle bay door, turned to face Eric and pointed to it.
“Follow.”
Eric instead headed to a rack with a couple of spare environment suits. The Keeper scurried forward a tad and called out “STOP!”
Eric rolled his eyes. The intruder indicated the bay door again.
“Follow.”
The N7 commando pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m a bit underdressed ta go outside! Atmosphere doesn’t agree with me. Just lemme get one of these on and I’ll go wherever ya need me to, ‘kay?”
The Keeper remained as still as a statue while Eric removed the lower half of his Kestrel armor – the upper torso locked up in the med bay with Iskra – and donned one of the environment suits, tapping on buttons on the limbs to adjust the suit’s omniframe to his size. No armor, no weapons. Eric was completely vulnerable if the Keeper wanted to make an attempt on him now. He prayed that Shala or some of the other crew were hidden nearby.
Eric thumbed his earpiece to reach out to Emily and the other team members, toggling between frequencies. “Tinkerbell, how’s Mal doin’…? Guys, what’s happenin’? M‘Bout to head outside with the intruder. If I don’t like where this guy’s takin’ me I’m ready ta pull the plug on its little puppet show with Maelstrom.”
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Post by PaladinKOSP on Apr 21, 2014 16:17:51 GMT -6
"Copy that. Though I'd advise you to not pull the plug just yet." He responds to the human on the other end of the radio. He looks to Maelstrom again and back to the console. "This "Keeper" is trying to tell us something. It means no harm." He replied to Eric, adjusting his grip on his weapon. "Keep following our friend." Artacus insisted to the human.
The turian pondered to himself for a while as he watched the swarm fly around the encased Maelstrom. Would they even listen? Would they even take his advice? Maybe so.. if Artacus is correct, then he and this expedition acquire more data from this ancient tomb. He already knew the truth of the Reapers before anyone else. He knew how to cripple them and destroy them. But what will Maelstrom find, he wondered..
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Post by Maelstrom on Apr 21, 2014 16:19:05 GMT -6
“Tinkerbell, how’s Mal doin’…? Guys, what’s happenin’? M‘Bout to head outside with the intruder. If I don’t like where this guy’s takin’ me I’m ready ta pull the plug on its little puppet show with Maelstrom.”
Analyzing request...
Conditions fulfilled for dissemination of information...
Standard anti-infiltration scan initiated... System security confirmed...
Re-checking conditions... Confirmed... Conditions fulfilled...
Resuming secure channel- recipients: Shala'Bekk Vas Neema and Eric Lysander...
"Data burst scheduled in ten seconds... mark..."
Data burst received...
Analysis: on-time and with correct security encryption... Identification: Maelstrom...
Processing audio-visual feed at 1,000x real time... Complete...
Processing vital signs readings... Complete...
Resuming secure channel- recipients: Shala'Bekk Vas Neema and Eric Lysander...
"No significant changes to report."
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Post by Maelstrom on Apr 21, 2014 16:26:02 GMT -6
Maelstrom did not let the fatigue in his gun-arm concern him, as his fingers flew over the interface. Meldom's life was what kept him able to access the data. Without having the salarian at the other end of the barrel, the others would certainly become uncooperative. So he ignored the pain. It was not important.
Another analysis flashed to life, replacing the previous one. As the models of the Reaper ships rotated in three dimensional space, cones radiated from certain points along their hulls. Each cone was followed by several formulas. If he understood correctly, they represented firing arc, rate of fire, range, and damage output of each weapons emplacement.
Of course, he could hardly make sense of the information, beyond a general understanding of what it was. He could not express in megatons or any other unit of measure how much damage the weapons could do any more than he could explain the previous formulas he had accessed. It was all on a level beyond him. How he could even recognize what the different expressions represented was confusing to him. It did not matter, though. It was not important.
He needed to find the rest of the data.
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Post by grandest on Apr 21, 2014 17:58:45 GMT -6
"Trust me on this. I'd be talking blasphemy if I hadn't seen it for myself." Artacus asserted. "Trust you?" Cruendi'has growled. "You're asking for a lot here, in case you didn't notice these things that 'just want to show us something' have a GUN pointed at Meldom. For all we know, YOU"RE under their control as well! You want me to trust you, that's not given out blindly. ESPECIALLY when lives are on the line." Cruendi'has stepped closer to the Turian. "So tell me exactly why I shouldn't be trying to stop these things."
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Post by Maelstrom on Apr 21, 2014 18:09:53 GMT -6
Maelstrom pulled his aim a couple millimeters to the right when he felt the batarian approach. Cruendi'has was a friend, but he could not trust any of them not to interfere. Having the turian so close to him was bad enough, but having two people within striking distance was unacceptable. He pulled the trigger.
The sound of a gunshot filled the room, and the round left a small flicker in the ever-shifting pattern of the walls. The moment he compensated for the recoil, he centered the weapon back on Meldom's forehead.
"Everyone, back," Maelstrom commanded.
He did not want to hurt anyone, but he could not let them interfere either.
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Post by PaladinKOSP on Apr 21, 2014 18:15:32 GMT -6
The turian glared at the batarian behind his visor. They were always such disgusting creatures, a race that runs only on slavery and piracy since they don't have anything else to do with their pitiful lives..
Artacus props his shotgun against the near by wall and activates his omni-tool, typing on it. A holographic image pops up from the omni-tool, visible to the batarian. It seems to be info regarding the methods and tactics these "Keepers" used against the Reapers. "See this?" The turian responded in a calm tone. "This is data that I have retrieved from one of the ruins many rooms. A room that shows you the past like you are actually there." He scrolls through the images, each one containing the sight of the battle he saw earlier. Most of the ships are recognizable, the ships that are seemingly attacking the Keepers look like the "Geth" ship that attacked the Citadel. "They are real, this is what they look like. There are more of them out there, lying in wait for an oncoming storm." He turns his head to Maelstrom, still succumbed in the cloud of the swarm. "The images I saw had the same ship structure. They are telling us something, even if it means they have to force us to do it." He turns back to the batarian, his tone of voice still a calm one. "If we stop your human friend now, we won't get anymore of this priceless information. You either step back and let him do his thing, or I'll have to put someone down myself." The turian continued to glare at the batarian, his tone unflappable.
"Your choice.." He finished, staring at him coldly through his visor.
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Post by Murchadh on Apr 22, 2014 9:59:09 GMT -6
Menwhile the scot was keeping low on the edge of one of the rocks craters as he followed the figure on the horizon. All the years following expensive cars to nick on the streets of his home combined with the skill's he'd learned as a scout where paying off. The crewmember was definitely not wanting to be followed as she had looked back multiple times. He could tell she was heading towards the pile of the dead collectors. Pocking his head up he noticed she bending down next to the rather large pile. Pulling himself up he half crouched and slowly walked over. She was too busy in her work to notice him creeping up behind her. Looking over her shoulder he could see she was using an omni tool to cut fingers off the dead collectors.
It was only after a considerable time that she paused combined with Murchadh shotgun in her back. " Noo whit ur ye up tae lass." He said beckoning her to stand up. She rose slowly but tried to dart for her omni tool control which got her a blow on the back of the head from the scot's shotgun. She collapsed to the floor in a heap causing Murchadh to give a slight smile. He bent down and picked up all the severed fingers of the collectors before chucking them back onto the pile. As the digits fell down the heap he noticed a sliver objects was sitting there. Reaching in he cringed as a horrid green gunk poured over his armour as he pulled out the silver ball. He recognised it as an alliance incendiary device. He turned to unconscious crewmember lying on the grey floor. Why would she want to burn what was left of the collectors.
Hosting the unconscious crewmember over his shoulders he headed back towards the ship. When someone woke up she would have a lot of explaining to do.
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