The bridge of the OSIS-Horus is a wonderment of advanced CIC technology and crew stations. Holographics display any number of details about the status of the ship and surrounding space.

Wall panels that fill up the room display an augmented view of the outside through a mix of polyspectral cameras and sensors, creating an informative and evocative view of the space outside.

The ship is fully crewed, preparing for another long foray into enemy space...

Selana chose a seat on the bridge, where she wouldn't get in the way of the day to day operations of the vessel. "Our remit for this mission is a substantial one and one filled with perils and risk. How do you propose we manage to apporach the enemy star system?"

A young officer pipes up from the comms console. "Excuse me, agent, but I think I have an answer for you. Permission to speak?" She stands up from her console, waiting for your response.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:18, Sun 26 July 2015.

"You don't need my permission to speak. If you think what you have to say has value, then you should feel at liberty to say it."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:57, Tue 28 July 2015.

"You heard the lady, Duval. Go ahead and tell us."

"Alright. The corsairs out on the frontier use a certain tactic called Shannon's Gambit. It's an old trick actually, and pretty simple. When they raid a planet, they do a slow drill down, taking about a half an hour to transfer back to N-space, but reducing the drill footprint. They perform this manoeuvre about a light hour out, preferably in the ecliptic so that if you think someone's about to look at you, you can switch off the spike drive and look at first glance like a comet. At that range, most gravitic sensors won't pick up the spike signature, and with the stealth tech on this ship, no one will see us unless they know exactly where to look." She's speaking with an accent you've never heard before, a rapid-fire stream of thought with a slight lisp on her Cs, Gs and Ks. "Now, it's actually harder to pull off than I made it sound. First off, as we get closer to the target, the spike signature gets a lot easier to pick up, and even if the planet itself doesn't see us, there's bound to be some satellites and outposts that would pick us up. So, we drill down, accelerate in-system at max power for a few hours, then we cut engines, shut down the ship's gravity, and coast for the two days or so until our close approach, all the while monitoring their transmissions and finding the location of our target. It's a slow way to get there, but it will get you close. Really close. In Horus, this trick coupled with emissions dampening should be able to get us within a few thousand klicks of any ship before it picks us up, and even the big sensor suites they're bound to have on the planet itself shouldn't pick us up until we're about a hundred thousand klicks away. I've got full information on the planet's sensors, so I'll be able to tell you almost exactly how close we can get, as soon as I run a few more simulations."

All through this, she's been standing at full attention and speaking at full speed. Now she takes a deep breath, slips into parade rest, then continues. "Now comes the tricky part. We wait until just before they would see us anyway, then go to full acceleration again, now in the opposite direction, so that we're decelerating. As quick as we can, we fire off a few shots with the canon, destroy some orbital infrastructure, cause some chaos with ECM and a chaf cloud, and then launch the shuttle in the confusion and turn off from our original course and accelerate in a random direction, trying to draw their attention away. They won't be expecting a stealthed shuttle, and we should be able to hide the launch if it's at the same time as a canon shot. Horus spikes back out as soon as the drive core is heated up, leaving the shuttle behind, with whoever the agent chooses. It uses sensor shadowing to hide from the planet. The shuttle keeps decelerating, but slowly, using emissions dampening for any ship that comes too close, and sensor shadowing to hide from the planet. Then it aerobrakes in the planet's atmosphere. The shuttle's small, and just as well stealthed as the main ship, so you should be able to do that much without any trouble. Once you've slowed down with the aerobrake manoeuvre, you'll have a lot easier of a time manoeuvring. Go to your target, wherever that may be, complete the mission, and then make your getaway. Stay low-key until you're out of the region, then power up the spike drive to full and head for a predetermined rendezvous point, where Horus will be waiting to pick you up." She stops, seeming out of breath, looks up for approval, then, remembering her training, adds a last minute salute.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:27, Mon 27 July 2015.

Selana glanced at the captain her eyebrow raised questioningly "Can you give me an analysis of this theory and how likely it is to work? I'm a little wary of letting our enemies know of the presence of the Horus in any respect as a determined enemy will find it regardless of how much money was spent on the stealth systems, but if you're confident the ship could weather such a search? I fear that the presence of even a small ship might be enough for the enemy to raise the alert levels around our prize and make him harder to interrogate given the time pressures...." she looked at the crewman making the suggestion "A good proposal, we should deconstruct it and analyze it for flaws before a decision is made. Perhaps others can modify the plan and make it yet more sound."

"It's a good plan, but it depends entirely on where in system we find our prize. If we can catch them off world, all the better. Once we get within orbit of Nergal, they'll see us. That's only a matter of time." She nods to the junior officer.

"If we're lucky, we'll catch one of them on a ship or aboard an installation somewhere. We can assault a small ship or sneak on board. An installation would be the easiest, we can simply use the shuttle to insert and extract from a safe distance."

"If we're unlucky, we'll have to go down to the surface, which means a distraction is the only thing that might work. We do have assets on the surface, operating in secret however... so there's a silver lining, even there."

"It is my professional opinion, that once we capture the target, we should proceed to drill out of system immediately. There's no reason to stay and we have no intention of returning him to his comrades." She glances back at Selana "However, that decision rests in your capable hands, Mistress."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:04, Tue 28 July 2015.

The tall XO of the ship entered with two familiar individuals in tow. With a nod to both Selana and the Commander, he took up a position to her right, hands behind his back and eyes alert, as befitting a ship's executive officer.

Slinking in behind XO al-Qabis, the Shivari, dressed again in his billowing robes and only his Skana at his side. He takes a sit across the room from Selana and faces the group without saying a word.

Maire walked in, but decided to stand to the side instead of sit down. A faint smile tugged at her lips, but did not appear to come even close to touching her eyes, which remained neutral. "I'm afraid I'm not quite aware of the protocol for situations like this." She said. "Do I bow, or salute? Or neither?"

"Agents of the Hegemony are not required to salute anyone, Mistress Doiteain. As you well know, your jurisdiction.. and ours, is somewhat outside the normal chain of command. Given the nature of our duties, we are expected to maintain a low profile at all times. Thus, no indications of rank or affiliation. The same reason all your equipment is unmarked or commercially obtainable." She smiles warmly, in a way that strangely reminds you of your own mother.

Selana smiled warmly seeing Mairead enter the bridge, her smile vanishing instantly the moment the Shivari showed up. Selana pursed her lips in thought. "I think our needs for the mission to succeed takes precedence over ceremony this time."

Maire's praticed gaze registered everything, including Selena's reaction the Shivari. She glanced at Selena and tapped her head, speaking quickly. "Talk with me. We've got some catching up to do." She extended a mental link immediately, without even blinking. "We have time to discuss business in a bit, yes?" She asked Bast Han. "If not, I can easily add you to the link and me and Venn can catch up later. Far safer to discuss business in the safety of a Mental Link, in any case."

"We still need to refuel before we jump out. We probably won't be in the target system for about a week, total. We'll have plenty of time." She nods to punctuate her point.

Selana's mental voice was as cold as the chill that suddenly seemed to infect the bridge. "Indeed there is much to be discussed" Selana voiced over the mental link established with Maire. "Time is the only thing that is in short supply Captain. We do have some time, of course, but soldiers are dying while we wait."

"If you'd like them to go faster, feel free to hop down to engineering and demand they defy the laws of physics..." She looks at you, wide eyed in defiance of your rather thoughtless remark. Yes, men and women are dying, but you can't simply go faster than is possible, especially not on a ship which is already going faster than anything else in the known galaxy.

It doesn't take much to know that she has lost someone in this war already...
This message was last edited by the player at 06:40, Tue 04 Aug 2015.

Sipping his tea, the assassin watches each of you with measured interest, though he makes no notes, it's clear he is committing your details to his memory.

He lets out a short sigh and places his teacup on the saucer.

"I'll do my best, but you know, even this bucket's got limits." Annabel joked as she entered the bridge, catching the tail end of the previous conversation before stopping and saluting.

"Chief Engineer Grey, reporting that engine checks are complete. As soon as we finish victual, we're ready to go, ma'am."

Maire smiled at Annabel faintly. "Annabel, it's been too long." She said. "Despite the fact that most of your memories are of me either puking on a shuttle or being aloof, I'm quite happy to see you." She glanced at the Shivari. She was analyzing him as much as he was keeping tabs on them. He wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was doing it, so neither did she. "There are three of us from the Shackleton on board...?" Maire asked Selena. "And him? I honestly didn't recognize him until I saw your reaction, and I can't be sure it's really the same one, but we have a past that they couldn't have ignored. Not for a mission this important. There's a limit to how much they can expect us to deal with our baggage. I'm hardly insinuating that we'll have breakdowns, but we'll have even less trust for him than usual, which will only impact the mission..."

Bast returns Annabel's salute. "I'd prefer to get underway ASAP, Mistress Grey." She hesitates slightly as she says your name, having only read your file before and not met you in person before now. "We have a lot of space to put behind us before this mission is completed."

"Aye-aye." Annie replied, nodding to the captain and linking her hands behind her. "That's down to the Mate then. Good to meet you in person, ma'am." she greeted her formally, then gave Maire a little grin. "I'm confident we won't have a repeat performance." She teased, before nodding to Selana. Goot to see you again, too..." she trailed off, squinting at Janus, before shaking her head and looking again... then back to Selana...

She figured that if they weren't busy killing each other, something other than the obvious must be going on. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced, mister..?"

Look up with you with those unnaturally colored eyes, the Shivari lifts his teacup to his mouth and takes a drink, closing his eyes, savoring the drink before replacing it on the console as before.

He stands, smoothly and in the same motion steps closer to you. He is unthinkably swift, almost appearing to instantly appear next to you, extending a hand in greeting.

"Lord Janus Meyrink sworn Indaris, if you please." He smirks, rather than smiling politely. "And you are?"

"Confused." Annabel replied. "But I'm sure you're used to having that effect on people by now, your Lordship. Mistress Annabel Grey, Indari Fleet Engineering Corps." She shook his hand, although she concealed her wariness very, very poorly. She was genuinely scared of him, in fact.

Selana said nothing as the assassin spoke "It is him. The one who murdered my daughter. His presence here is an affront and insult to us all. He killed our friends and family on the Shackleton..... his presence is only tolerated due to the critical nature of our mission...else I would murder him here even as we speak. I have to tolerate him, it does not mean I have to be polite or speak to him when it is unnecessary." she said in her link to Maire.

Maire nodded, which to anyone not in the mind link made her look a little strange. "The mission first, however." She said. "I honestly have no idea how stupid whoever assigned him to the same vessel as us has to have been to not realize who he was assigning where... I'm almost embarrassed for the lack of thought they must experience."  Maire stood, and approached Annabel, tapping her on the shoulder gently. "Annabel, you're going to get a... figurative knock on the front door. I'm sure you have mistrust for those with my powers, but I assure you it's for communicative purposes only. I can't see or hear anything but what you give me, and you can turn the connection off at any time, but we need to speak privately." She said this with a pointed glance at the Shivari. "Of course, you don't need to accept. There's no pressure, but I highly recommend that we at least try to meet up somewhere later where we can speak without fear of being overheard." She hadn't even bothered to whisper. It's not like the Shivari could really do anything to stop them short of murdering her, and their actions were hardly detrimental to the mission.

Annie blinked, uncertainly, before nodding.

"Sure... It's not like I haven't taken a few dives into strange minds of my own recently." She said, glibly playing down how nervous the idea made her with a little wiggle of her new I/O cyberware tendril.

Commander Han turns away from the discussion and begins preparation for the spike drill. Most of the work had already been done before the conversation and refueling, resupply had been accomplished while they were waiting for Maire and Janus' arrival.

The computer begins to count down the jump once again as navigators and pilots busy themselves. Somewhere deep in engineering several junior firemen go over their final checks, having already confirmed everything well over an hour ago.

It pays to be careful when you're diving through metaspace...

It was good to remain in his place, watching and waiting. Kwai had no trouble integrating himself into conversation, but he had learned the value of patient observation. Better, however, to present the image of a polite, helpful young man who knew his place and refrained from interrupting unnecessarily. For one thing, his observations suggested that Selana Venn was quite mistaken as for the reasons for his assignment. The woman didn't need a minder, what she needed was a spokesperson. That being said, he didn't expect everyone he met to be silver tongued and honey voiced, that would have put him out of a job, after all.

Selana responded to Maire barely looking at the Shivari "I can only assume that he must be a superlative murderer. I despise and hate the man, but for the sake of all of our worlds I will do this mission with him. I only hope at some point after all is said and done with this that he and I will have a reckoning. I think you should read into this something more. How desperate must things be for them to send him with us?"

Lord Meyrink finishes his tea and promptly excuses himself from the bridge without so much as a word or a sigh. The bulkhead door closes behind him automatically and he disappears into the ship...

"A good point." Maire said, her eyes following the man out of the room before turning back to her friends. She smiled at Annabel and stretched out her hand. She didn't need to, but some found it more comfortable if they believed there was a physical aspect to establishing mental connections. She touched Annabell's hand and established the link, then turned her attention back to Selena. "I suggest we keep this link open. Having connection throughout the ship will be useful. In the meantime, let us go and explore the equipment that was brought on board for us. I was told they brought a psi-blade. I'm looking forward to that being true."

Annie touched Maire's hand, then blinked and shook herself off as she heard the voice.

"Oh, that's weird. Uh. Can you guys hear me?" she tried thinking at them, really not sure how the whole telepathic link think worked. "Isn't it draining to hold something like this active?"

"Hmmm..., imagine it a little bit like a weight in a backpack." Maire said. "Whether or not I use the ability, I've put it into that pack. So it will weigh me down no matter what. It isn't tiring, per se, but it is limiting. Not using it, but simply having it. It's complicated, but... basically me trying to talk about it with you would be like you trying to talk about the Spike-Drive with me. I might be skilled in engineering, but I haven't got the faintest clue what to do to repair a Spike-drive."

The communications officer holds a hand up to her headset, listens for a moment, then speaks a quick response into the microphone, before turning around to face Bast. "We have confirmation, ser. All other Spike signatures are at a safe distance, and civilian traffic has been diverted from the region. Nobody's going to be able to observe the test up close, and certainly, they won't be able to interfere with or follow us. We're cleared to jump. OSI central wishes us good luck."

This said, she turns back around in her chair and busies herself at her control station, retracting sensitive communications equipment and sensors to keep them from being damaged during the jump.