Selana woke up from the dream with a start, coated from head to toe in the frigid cold sweat of the nightmare. Watching the dream and memory fade to the worst thing imaginable for her daughter. The waking up was blessed relief from the visions in her mind. Selana's eyes slowly opened, a small pit of fear in her stomach as she waited for biometrics to clear her. She wondered what they might want this time. Hadn't she lost everything already in service?

As the message flashed on the screen, Selana held still for only a second trying to figure out the implications of the message. It was big. Huge even. She wondered at the enormity of the task. Asking the impossible. She wondered what they could possibly be thinking to think she'd be ready for something like this, but deep inside she knew. Picking up the mug beside her she took a sip of the ice cold coffee she'd brought to the workstation as she finished up before she fell asleep. With the liquid soothing her throat from the unvoiced screams, Selana stood up heading towards her cabin.

Selana took her time in walking to the cabin. Once there she showered and changed into a new uniform. She answered the day to day queries of being the CMO on the ship until her message queue started disappearing. Then she realised it was time. Checking to make sure she was presentable, she opened a secure communications link to Mr Grim.

"Mr. Grim I presume?" she said, saying no more as she looked at the screen.

"Agent Venn." The image is a bust of a man in his 40s, dour face, the kind of scowl that is born on a man, rather than put there. His hair is cut in a traditional military style and you can tell he is wearing a business suit. Everything about him is generic, without any distinguishing marks or features. You'd be hard pressed to describe him to anyone else without visual aids.

"It's my duty to be your handler for this assignment. Anything you need or require and I will procure it. Personnel, equipment, weapons, starships. Anything. Given the pressing nature of this particular assignment, there may be limitations in exactly what I can provide for you."


"There is one more thing, Agent." He pauses "And this is non-negotiable, as it comes directly from The Boss himself."


"You'll be bringing a Shivari along with you as an adviser and assistant."

Selana's eyes flickered with anger before settling into studied neutrality. "The assignment is....significant. I understand the Boss' request, but I'm not sure they'd be needed." Her voice cool and emotionless she left unspoken that after the last mission whoever the agent was they would be entirely untrusted. She wasn't going to work with the Shivari if at all possible. They'd have their own agenda during the mission, which might run entirely counter to what she'd been told the mission profile was.

"If you insist however, I'll bring the Shivari with me. You've obviously prepared some basic mission brief for this. A rough idea on where I might find someone to meet the criteria? The mission goals are nebulous and need clearer definition. At a minimum, a pilot, security personnel that know how to move quietly, an engineer or two. Transportation and weaponry to suit each individual as they request. The mission directives state the end goal, so are the means and methods completely at my discretion?"

The unremarkable man steeples his fingers and exhales softly.
"Trust me. You'll need him."

"Here's what we know. The elite fighting force of the Brotherhood is called the ARKANGELOS. All capital letters, but not an acronym. They appear to be pulled from the lowest classes, anyone hardy enough can join and only a few of those survive the training process. They produce a very capable, very loyal sort of soldier. Each and everyone of them is a survivor through and through,they are exceptionally deadly and they have a zealot-like fervor for their theocracy. You can see why the Hegemony is concerned about them. We need to capture one of their Tribuni and... interrogate him until we know everything about their organization and who leads them."

"I am... hesitant to mention this, but we lost a world last week. Not a frontier world, but a core world. Nergal. Millions dead, the House of Marduk destroyed completely. Temples burned to the ground and priests burned in the streets. Hierarch Solune is furious. It hasn't broken on the news yet because we want to finish our current operations before it goes public. We predict panic, rioting, mass hysteria."

"But there's something we learned. The ARKANGELOS is led by a single man, who they call Apollyon. It means "Destroyer". The survivors are terrified of him and we need to know everything we can about him, because killing Apollyon might be our chance at stopping their invasion."

"First things first though, Mistress. We have to capture one of his Tribuni. We know just the place to do it... a moon around Nergal has an old shipyard. Reports are that some of the Tribuni have be sent there along with bodyguards and troops to get it working again. We don't know what they're doing there, but we want you to sneak in, capture one of them and sneak out." 

Selana raised an eyebrow "I'm more than a little surprised you could lose a core world and keep it quiet. So the mission is to capture an ARKANGELOS Tribuni. Do you wish me to commence the interrogation on our way back?"

Selana looked up information regarding the shipyard. "Well a stelthy and fast ship will be important and the crew to operate it. I'll also need more than a few soldiers who can keep things quiet and the best gear you can put in place for us. If these warriors are their elite? I'm going to need people who are better."

"As you know, the standard courier vessels take about a week to make the trip to the next system. We managed to intercept them and keep it quiet for a few days. It'll be weeks before the whole Hegemony hears about it."

"We don't care how you do it, as long as you do it. Torture him, burn his brain out with mindprobes, drug him, kill him an revive him with a Lazarus patch. I don't care, we just want the info. In the end, he doesn't even need to survive. It's grim bit of work, Agent, but the lives of billions may rest on what we uncovered from this asshole."

He pauses, looking like he's checking something off screen.

"I took the liberty of prepping a ship and a good crew. She'll be arriving tomorrow with the Shivari Operative on board. I'm requesting a squad of Udaeoi Immortals and a platoon of Gareshi infiltrators to assist in this. If you have any personal recommendations, let's hear them. We're on the clock, so all this is being handled Priority 0. In other words, you've got the full might of the Indari Hegemony behind you busting their asses to get into position. If that doesn't make you feel good about this mission, nothing will."

GMs note: It takes about 8 days to spike from a planet in one system to a planet in another system at Spike-1. Time is divided by spike rating. A good navigator and helmsman can further decrease the time by taking risk in calculation (cutting it close to a star, riding a metaspace current, red-lining the spike-drive, cutting through an asteroid belt or system of moons.

"I'm afraid Mister Grim that being the Chief Medical Officer on board this ship does not provide much opportunity to mingle with those who might be necessary in this course of action. I'll accept your recommendations. Please provide the most skilled pilot and navigator you have available along with the most complete interrogation facilities available to the Hegemony." Selana face twisted into a look of distaste. "I understand the need for information regarding the threat, though I'm not personally comfortable with the level of interrogation I'll need to perform on our victim. If I'm to direct this action and I'm aware of the potential implications, I'd request the best available equipment for both myself and the teams we'll be employing. I'd appreciate what information you've managed to uncover on languages and culture so far"

The OSIS-Horus waits for you docked to the starboard airlocks of the Havenspire, first thing the next morning.

You receive a quick breakdown on this ship via your comm system, piped straight to your datapad. The Hecate-class special operations frigate is mostly classified. Pricing in at just under 6 billion creds, she was laid down at Raoul-Mandar Shipyards above Terminus. She is part of an unknown number of stealth frigates, all of which are in the service of the Office of Special Intelligence. Her past missions are all classified, even beyond Clearance Level 6. What you can find out about her is that she boasts a state of the art stealth system which renders her very difficult to detect, even at close ranges. It has no effect on visual systems, but thermal, magnetic, RADAR and MADAR sensors will be unlikely to detect a Hecate-class operating in stealth configuration.

Armed with a Ares Type C Plasma Cannon on a dorsal turret with VI assisted automated target systems, state-of-the-art navigation core and sensor suites. She comes with a small shuttle bay, containing a Wraith-class stealth shuttle, which utilizes similar stealth technology and due to smaller size is basically undetectable in space or in atmo by modern sensor systems. Perfect for a small insertion or pick up.

Her main drive is rated Spike-3, the fastest drives in production today. Additional fuel stores mean she has an extensive range, though she does require refueling from a fueling station and does not have fuel scoops.

All that you need do now is board your new ship and pull away from the Fourth Fleet to meet up with your Udaeoi squad to complete your crew.

Selana was surprised at the level of technical sophistication of the ship. It was overwhelming almost to be considered capable of running this vessel when she'd not really had to do much to pass basic naval training. She was born on board a ship and just walking the decks towards the bridge she could feel how alive this ship was. It wasn't a bruiser of a vessel. It was a stiletto. Quick, silent and gone before anyone would ever know it had been anywhere close.

As she walked through the ship she felt like she'd gained an appreciation for the ship and her crew. She sent a page for the ship true captain the XO to meet with her and give her the information she needed about the shipyard. She needed more information before she could commit to a good course of action and to meet this Shivari that they all thought was so essential.

The Executive Officer, Master Adeem al-Qabis, met you at the airlock as you boarded the vessel.

The XO was a tall, handsome man. Dark of skin, lengthy tribal dreadlocks and piercing eyes that hinted at the soul of a poet as much as that of a warrior. He bared much of his scar ridden skin and more than once you heard the crew refer to him as "Assad." On his hip was a curved sword and a laser pistol which looked to have been crafted as a matching set.

He offered you a dutiful expression and a crisp naval salute once you were on board.

"Ma'am." He held the salute for a moment. "Commander Han will meet us shortly in the ready room." Adeem begin to lead you down the corridors through the ship, passing by various stations and crew members at work.

"It's good to have you aboard. Is there anything I can do to assist you on your mission?"

Selana had read the datafile on the crew before she'd arrived but still the man that greeted her seemed much larger in life than his bio had indicated. "First off, Master Al Qabis. i think we'll dispose of the nonsense that I know more about this ship than you do. I realise I'm in charge here, but as far as I'm concerned it's in name only. I expect you to volunteer any and all information that might be relevant regarding the capabilities of ship and crew. With that to be taken as a given. I need more information. Location, enemy movements, equipment and tactics. Something or indeed anything that we can exploit to increase the probability for success for the mission. My initial thought would be to leave this vessel out of all possible detection range while we run sensors and drones if we carry any to figure out the patrol framework at the shipyard, ferry us in on the shuttle and have a diversionary attack to draw attention elsewhere when the frigate comes in to pick us all up. That is however very rudimentary and hardly the basis for a sound plan."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:45, Wed 17 June 2015.

"You've read the specs of the Horus, ma'am. I can't tell you much more about what she's capable of, except that you need to see it for yourself. She's an aphrodite and we'll all very proud of her." He beamed as he spoke about the ship, his handsome face framing sparkling white teeth in the dimness of the cabin.

"I'd say you're on the right track, though. We should set up listening posts and work out their patterns and routes. Wait until the right moment..." he punches the bulkhead, striking as swiftly as a neoviper. "Bam. Grab the bastard."

"Of course, it's not simply that easy. He's a ranking officer and bound to have bodyguards as well as being formidable in his own right." You can tell by the look on his face that this is a man that relishes a good fight.

"Are you ready to meet the Commander?" He gestures down the narrow hallway towards what you assume is the bridge.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:35, Mon 22 June 2015.

Selana nodded as she followed the man through the ship agreeing with his observations. "Nothing is ever easy, but this is our chance to pay those bastards back for what they've done to us. Intelligence and Knowledge will help us win this fight." Selana stated, with far more conviction in her voice than she felt in her spirit. "I believe I'm ready to meet the Commander now. Thank you for your time and company."

Commander Bast Han was not exactly what you'd expect to see captaining an OSI ship. She was short, barely over a meter and a half tall. Her hair was dreaded and braided in the same style as al-Qabis and part of you wondered if this was cultural or maybe just a fashion statement of some kind. A lot of what was happening on this ship seemed like it wasn't exactly within regulations. Non-standard weapons, uniforms not worn to reg or not worn at all.

She bows to you as you approach. "Mistress." She smiles warmly. "We are pleased to have you on board. Welcome, on behalf of our crew, to the Horus."

Commander Bast turns and seats herself in the commander's chair and hangs one of her legs over the arm-rest. She strikes you as more of a mercenary captain or privateer skipper. It occurs to you that she may well have been one or both of those at some point.

At first you think she is surprisingly young to be in charge of this ship, but you quickly realize she has aged remarkably well and your medical experience tells you she is probably in her early 40s, even though she carries herself and appears more as if she was a decade younger.

"I hope you understand," She continues smiling pleasantly as she lowers her voice "That while I acknowledge your absolutely authority regarding this mission, that this is ultimately still my ship and my crew. I will not put them in needless danger nor commit them to foolhardy actions. As long as we understand each other in that respect, I foresee a quick, successful operation."

Selana nodded curtly to the commander. "I will not put your ship needlessly at risk, commander, but the success of this expedition is paramount. I hope the skill of your crew and the condition of the vessel will mean there is no need to put anything at great risk." Selana looked carefully at the woman, not overly impressed at her treating her bridge so casually. It seemed to her as if she were establishing the ship were her territory when the truth was that they both knew it was Selena's. "I believe we understand each other. So work with me, so I understand your ship and help me plan our mission so we can do what we have to with as little risk as possible to this ship and its crew." she wondered how easy it might be to find a replacement captain that might take the job more seriously.

She lightens up at your response, repositions herself more befitting a commander and leans forward.

"Alright, Master Venn... or should I say 'Agent' Venn?" She smirks, acknowledging that your official rank is below hers, but your actual status is above anyone aboard the ship.

"We have a couple things to take care of before we get this mission truly underway. A squad of Immortals awaits us and an OSI cell in the Prometheus system. We'll jump there as soon as you're ready and collect the Immortals and the rest of the personnel."

You remember the Immortals. Sometimes called Daeoi Immortals or Hetairoi, they were the best and brightest of the Indaris Infantry. Recruited solely from House Indaris active duty forces and screened for perfectly loyalty, they are trained on Planet Hel until only the greatest warriors in the universe rise to the top. They are the ultimate special forces of House Indaris and are used spearhead assaults, rescue VIPs, and assassinate key targets. Most of this is of the record, though from what feats they are known for, the armed forces and much of the civilian populace hold them in heroic regard for their accomplishments.

OSI of course, the Office of Special Intelligence is one of the two major Intelligence Branches, the other being the Office of Military and Naval Intelligence (OMNI) which deals with less psychic related information.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:32, Thu 02 July 2015.

"You can call me anything you please so long as the job gets done. Selanna said as she moved closer to the captain. Her eyes watching the captain warily. "Is the Shivari aboard already? Does the ship require restocking on anything? Do you feel we have the necessary resources to go behind enemy lines and successfully complete this mission?"

Selana watched the woman evaluating her. They needed to be able to work together. "Presuming my gear has already been loaded, you may leave when you desire."

"No Ma'am. The Shivari is waiting for us in the Prometheus system along with the rest of the OSI team."

She punches in a few commands to her chair console and a holographic representation of first the route to the Prometheus system and then a blinking dot on the very edge, as well as a second dot within the Goldilocks zone.

Commander Han gives one last look around the bridge and gestures to Adeem, who barks a series of commands to the rest of the crew. The computer voice in the background calmly states the countdown state at regular intervals.

"Pilot, lock final calculations in. Confirm vector."

"Engineering, release safeties and increase arr-pee-em to one-thousand kay. Confirm final output within tolerance."

He syncs up with the computer and counts down in time with it.
"All hands, prepare for Spike Drill. Drill commencing in five... four... three... two... one... SPIKE!"

The whole world jolts for you and your stomach falls into your boots as your vision swims. You never really get used to Spike drills, no matter how many times you pass through metaspace.

All the broadcasted radio traffic winks out and suddenly space is silent. The external cameras display a bizarre swirl of lights in place of the familiar stars. The Comms officer shuts off the external displays replacing them with a read out of the ship status on all main monitors.

"Drill complete." He grins. "ETA to Prometheus system: 24 standard hours."

On almost any vessel Kwai had been on, he'd found that the best way to blend in was simply to appear to be someone who should not be bothered under any circumstances. Standing briskly to attention, hands clasped behind his back, level gaze fixed gravely on the bridge. It offered a soothing way to pass the time, and let him focus on picking up any little snippets of intelligence that might be drifting about.

Once he had sensed the lull he had been awaiting, he approached the pair, always one to be wary of two high ranking women who might possibly be antagonistic. Well, any women who looked like they might start sparring, verbally or otherwise. He had finely honed survival instincts. He snapped off a neat salute and offered a warm smile. "Kwai Kanensen, Astra Prime, OSI Psy Division. Here to help however I may."

"Ah yes, Prime Kanensen." She returns the salute. "Good to have you onboard. You're going to be our switch-hitter on this mission. If anything goes wrong, it's your job to jaunt the target back to the ship. We need him at any cost. Ack?"

Selana looked over the new arrival carefully "I see I was sent a guardian to make sure I behave." Her eyes narrowed as she watched Kwai "No matter they should know by know that I am to be trusted. Your skills will come in useful in this engagement. Our operating law is this. The mission is first. We aim to do it as swiftly and safely as possible, regardless of personal cost."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Tue 21 July 2015.

If anything goes wrong. In his experience, things inevitably went wrong. The nature of his mind made the borders between events quite arbitrary and nebulous from his perspective. Missions never truly began or ended, the participants and circumstances simply changed. Nothing ever began or ended, the lines drawn were necessary artifice in order to keep people sane and focused. "I shall endeavour not to fail, if it should fall to me to act." What else could he say? Promising success or victory in advance was something best left to those who would have to answer for such promises.

That he had gotten off to a bad start with Selena before he had even appeared was evident. "To the best of my knowledge, I have not been commanded to regulate your behaviour beyond what is expected among comrades. I have every intention of providing an exemplary service, though I should very much like to return alive and intact, if at all possible."

"Hmmm, it's largely irrelevant in any case. Your utility as a jaunter is why you've earned your place here. Thanks to your talent it might well be that we can pull this mission off with fewer casualties than I was initially suspecting." Selana nodded as she pondered over the new arrival "So tell me about your training and skills." she said.

There was very little that was truly irrelevant. That Selana Venn saw herself as someone who was liable to kept under closer surveillance was a ways away from irrelevant. Not that he felt a need to make mention of his judgement. "I am a class 2 telekinetic, have basic marksmanship and infiltration training. Beyond that, I have precious little to offer but for a mildly pleasant disposition." There seemed to be no sense in saying more. A man had to be wary of putting himself too far out.

>>> Horus: The Bridge