and now we have to open a new thread :D

T'risa sent a warm wave of approval to Elsbeth.

"Inviting Blakiir to shoot with you might be a very good and wise idea. If you like I can give you some hints that would indicate to him you are interested in spending more time with him."


T'risa reviewed the recording intently. She knew the inference from what Poppy said, but it was obvious Poppy recognised it and she only had a guess at the facts. T'risa opened a communications link.

"Poppy, who or what is Marduk?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Fri 03 Sept 2010.

  " Bit sucking bastards who ought to be recycled into bedpans. Popy repled acid in her tone" cyberoids loyal to the psycho bitch Hecate. She started the AI wars, killed a couple billion humans and murdered Hephaestus,.... Prometheus' brother."

    "Why, you just asking or do I need to go find a nuke or two?  .
This message was last edited by a game moderator at 02:50, Sat 04 Sept 2010.

"Poppy, What are their combat capabilities? Tactics? How large are they in numbers? Tell us more about cyberoids."

She flashed a glance to Leo "Next time you talk with Prometheus, find out all you can about Hecate, cyberoids and what happened to Hephaestus. Also what might motivate Hecate to ally with Her."

In reply to T'risa K'mahda (msg #989):

 She got tears in her eyes as the lady said her parents might be alive, because for one brief second she wanted...no, allowed herself to believe it. But no, she knew they were gone. She knew from the empty space in her heart and in her mind where they had always been until they weren't there anymore, as suddenly as if a candle flame had been snuffed out. There was really no other way to describe the feeling. She just knew there was a sucking void where once there had been warmth and love and laughter and so many other things she couldn't name, may never put a name to. It was what had made them who they were, every nuance, every essence, every thought and gesture. She wiped a tear away and nodded to the pretty lady but couldn't focus upon what she was saying, not really.
 "Ok Ma'am. I guess we'd better stay on the ship. It's no more dangerous than that thing that ate people, or that lizard bug thing that hated everything and everyone."

When T'risa broadcast her offer to help Elsbeth, a flash of confusion and what T'risa could probably only interpret as consternation flooded into Elsbeth's mind for a moment.  After a pregnant pause which itself had followed a few moments of counting and strict visualizations of simple geometric shapes in an attempt to clear and focus her mind, Elsbeth's thought came through with a bit of a halting cadence, T-Thank you for the offer, Ma'am.  I...I am not sure that I would be able to do your lessons justice.  There was another pause and some more counting, before Elsbeth stated a bit forlornly, And, in any case, Friend Balkiir has stated that he has his choice of Valkiir women at home.  I do not want to burden him and our friendship with anything more.  It is enough that he is willing to shoot and spend time with me...  Elsbeth's mind was easy enough for T'risa to read, that she could sense the Praetorian-templated woman was withholding some deeper, potentially sublimated desires - ones that she was probably not yet ready to vocalize.

There was another pregnant pause, before Elsbeth broadcast one other thing, Ma'am? she sounded a bit hesitant, I hope that I am not to forward... And there was another pause, and T'risa can sense more conflict or confusion on Elsbeth's part, but Friend Balkiir mentioned that the O'meadan prisoner tried to infiltrate his mind, which I am sure that you are aware of.  But, he also mentioned to me offhand, that he was still dealing with some aftereffects.  He...he did not seem overly concerned about it.  B-but I just wanted to bring the fact to your attention, I guess.  The worry surrounding her thought patterns was readily obvious - Elsbeth was doing little (or perhaps could not mask effectively) her feelings on the matter.

  " I've only got second hand stuff. but I'd say they are solid combat models. ballistic sheathing over internals, boosted fire control. Optics, probably no pain receptor...not always a bad thing if you ask the lady who just got her face shot off."
    Cant be that many, we flat line them if we spot one. usually come in a six pack. not hard to pick out of a crowd, well a crowd of cyberoids anyway. Big, mean looking. no personality emulators... just stand there and look bad assed.

   Basically we're synthetic people. most of us can take a beating that would put an organic down. mostly cause were metal inside. high end not so tough more bio-mimetic cant take internal damage as well. put a bullet in the right spot and we fold like a deck of cards. of course more mechanical models cant take EMP or electricity as well...burns out there circuits and plays hell with their nerves....ummm those guys are not like something you just talk about... and you seem to want some pretty specific stuff....

  " You know this ain't working." Balkiir stopped and put his hand on Elspeth's shoulder. right now your giving off enough vibes to rattle the windows." I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer so you have to use small words and tell me." as his hand touched her shoulder he blinked and looked even more puzzled. then chuckled shaking his head." you nervous, now thats one i didn't see coming. whats eating ya.?,

Laughing M'kira smiles eyes twinkling merrily when Poppy uses the  intercom broadcasting  her words throughout the ship. "Mmm He thinks all A.I. are sexy I bet. I can't wait to see Tiny back in a proper Mech body. Though I don't know if your going to have missiles. I Think a proper Rail gun or energy  mount is better then missiles. They tend to blow up when you take hits. So I would use em early on in a battle if you get any." While it was true missiles had built in safety features to help avoid exploding from battle damage M'kira still didn't care for them.

She gently hugs tiny as well happy to comfort one of their newest friends. "She's right about that. You can take the ones that did it out of this world. I am glad you two met I think your good for Tiny poppy. We are a family and remember that your always welcome Tiny you to poppy."

She coughs into her smoothly for a second when Poppy talks about pouncing on Rhic or maybe Conrad.Her expression was slightly amused as she thinks about it. "Mmm live for today and not worry about tomorrow? Sounds like your going to be a handful and a lot of fun to be around. I wish I could have met pepper. Though I arrived to late to have a chance to make friends with her. If you go shopping I will be happy to go with you. I figure depending on how much you pick up you might need a extra pair of hands to carry things.

A bit later when the subject turns to Hecate M'kira listens with interest. That might explain why Prometheus personally showed up. Course it very well could be other things. After all it was a big universe full of Chaos as Poppy put it. She listens with interest as poppy shares the details on the stuff. <blue> "It's probably because Chronos was here not so long ago in a full on Dreadnought to Dreadnought battle not so long ago. Is that why your asking questions in that direction T'risa?"

Tiny starts to wonder around again.  She felt like useless not having anything to do for now, and she didnt want to get into any more trouble.  Eventually, Tiny managed to make her way over to were Conrad was building her new mecha body.  Tiny took a few minutes to look at the initial build and starts to piece together stuff she would want on there.

"Hmmm... I wonder why Conrad is doing that?  Where am I going to go in this?  Where is Conrad at anyways...?  I better go find him."

Tiny goes of searching for Conrad, in hopes to track him down and barrage him with questions about what he is doing.

In reply to Elsbeth (msg #6):

T'risa chewed on her bottom lip as she wondered how to respond to Elsbeth. "Balkiir's situation with the female O'meadan is more complex. You know the Tau are all psionics? That Valkiir gain their physical prowess through the use of psionics? Well, there are some aspects to their lives that are more complex. They "know" as soon as they come into the presence of someone that would be an ideal partner for them for their lives. It doesn't matter whether the person is a mass murderer or violent or as meek as can be. When it hits them, they are umm, attracted." T'risa paused for a few moments before continuing "Balkiir got that feeling around the O'maedan prisoner. It means we need to be careful when the two are together. She will use it to her advantage. It is up to all of us to make sure Balkiir and ourselves are safe. The other thing you should note is that many Valkiir are married to people they do not have these feelings about and sometimes they can just know someone for years and feel nothing and one day, something changes and click. Elsbeth, the other thing to note is that Valkiir males are much more used to women taking the lead as far as these things are concerned. I'm sure his mothers are pressuring him to join a circle of eligible young women. I'm also equally convinced Balkiir is looking for something more than an arranged marriage. If you're interested, then ask him to spend time with you. Do something romantic or buy some guns together. Something to show you have common interests."

Her own surprise would need to wait to a more fitting time. "Maran, welcome to the Crow. While you are here, you are in the care of the entire crew. You must do as we say. I will urge you to talk to Rhic to see about getting you some protective gear. Come talk to me once you have some free time."

T'risa reviewed the information Poppy was telling her. It made sense. "Poppy, could you please review what you know about cyberoids with Sergeant Grym. Specifically the areas he might need to target. Conrad once you've rested, I'd like you to look at way of bringing down a cyberoid both lethally and non lethally."

T'risa leaned back in her chair rubbing at her temples. Stygian hunter drones....they came here for Stygian Hunter Drones. Now they had an ancient age old war about to reawaken. Tae, Tau, the Steeds, Prometheus and Kronos on one side. She, O'maedan traitors, Q'sa, Hecate, cyberoids on the other. At the moment things did not seem ... favourable for their side. She needed something to give them an edge.....and then it came to her. The abandoned starport. The mercenary Captain gave them co-ordinates. Conrad might find a treasure trove of items he could use....and if any of the ships were useable...they could evacuate if they had to.

"Rhic....look up the co-ordinates we have for the abandoned shipyard. See if the colony has any records or maps of the area."

What she really needed was M'Kira or Star.

" You called Madame star hopped up into T'risa's lap have purr and fur, and will travel. ...looks like you have a lot on your plate...whats got you so tense. well other than being the one in charge and the one ho has to make decisions that could get people killed.
    star kneaded her a nice comfy spot in the womans lap then bounced up and licked her face a couple of times, purring softly as she snuggled in against T'risa.

   " On the job. Rhic motioned for Maran to join him at the computer terminal. pulling a chair over beside him. " You know how to do a search on the H-net?...if you do go in and find me all you can about Hecate, the AI wars and something called Marduk...don't worry about making sense of it, I'll do that I need an extra set of hands right now.
     " I'm not that good with things I cant ..fold, spindle, or mutilate" He added with a grin and a laugh.

  " Sure thing boss. Poppy grabbed the gear she had claimed from salvage and headed off to find Grym. since she had out faces to all the other names she figured the buy with the big gun would be the best bet, that and sneaking a peek at the ships crew manifest.

      asking around if anyone had seen a guy with the biggest rifle anyone had seen, was a little odd, but then right now people toting portable artillery stuck out in a crowd.

    " Don't shoot friendly. Poppy called out as she neared the snipers perch Grym had set up.hunkering down out of sight she sat down a backpack full of food and water. Nice view, just the place to rain hell on the wicked. better adjust your sights. the air is 12% denser than Earth standard so the wind has a bit more umph than normal. The winds come out of the north east this time of year, can get pretty gusty from what I read on the way in. and this god cursed rock has a slowe spin..twenty nine hour day. so your fire control has to be recalibrated too...

   I like guns what can I say, the feel, the skill, the touch of the butt stock against my cheek, the way a shot feels when it's perfect you know he targets down when the gun goes off......that and taking one more antisocial, psycho out of the world kind of makes me all tingly."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:04, Sun 05 Sept 2010.

Elsbeth slowed and then stopped with Balkiir.  She turned her head to the side and up to look at the big man.  The look on her face was slightly vacant as she attempted to multi-task and maintain the conversation with both T'risa as well as Balkiir.  She was only partly successful.  Yes, Ma'am.  I will try. was about all that she could manage to tell the Marshal.  And even that sounded a bit tentative as she thought it - the conflicting and confused strands in her mind were readily apparent.

She looked at Balkiir for a moment, as she thought things over.  It was as though the Marshal and the ex-Marine were consorting with each other, both choosing right now to confront her.  And given what T'risa had said, all Tau were psionic - so, perhaps they were talking to each other right now.  She sighed slightly and her shoulders slumped, just a touch.  Elsbeth spoke slowly, her voice and words measured, "I-I would very much like for you accompany me to the shooting range for coordinated target practice, Friend Balkiir."  She bit her lower lip for a moment and then pushed on blindly hoping that her voice sounded more confident than her mind and thoughts were, "and if you would partake of ... um...  beer and pizza with me afterwards.  I-it would please me immensely."

A slightly crooked smile crossed Elsbeth's lips.  "As for your sharpness, your axe is plenty sharp for me, Friend Balkiir." she noted rather deadpan.  Then, one of her eyebrows raised up slightly and she added more playfully, "And, in case you hadn't noticed, I am rather fond blunt tools, anyways."  She put her hand on the one that Balkiir had on her shoulder.

But then, as her gaze lingered on Balkiir, Elsbeth finally finished processing everything that the Marshal had tried to convey to her as well as what Balkiir had said previously.  As comprehension dawned upon her, Elsbeth's brow furrowed slightly and her smile started to fade from her lips.  She asked slightly aghast, her tone coupled with a touch of hurt as well, "A-are you really that attracted to the O'maedan prisoner?  Enough so, to actually betray me and the others on this ship?"

    " I'd like that. Balkiir smile broadly as he spoke. "I kind of like the way you are, cant figure you. one minute tough as nails next kind of soft and shy. Don't know where we are gonna end up but looking forward to gettin' there."


     And that woman, Balkiir spoke with no hint of insult, or anger or doubt. He set down his boxes put both hand son Elspeth's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye." before I let her do anything that harms anyone, or gets in the way of the mission I'll put a bullet in her head." Balkiir paused looking pained" I cant explain it but it'd tear me up to do it. and if it came to that I'd hunt down the bitch who sent her, and it wont be pretty what i do then.

   For now we got work to do, and then we can go cap off a few rounds and get used to having the boss in your head... By the way, your kind of cute when your nervous.