"Wait, overload?  What the fuck I thought you were bluffing!" Billy shouts as he abandons the empty shuttle and bolts for Persephone.  He shoves any stragglers into Muse as he gets on board.  "Dynamis, close the ramp.  Someone cloak us."

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 802):

Nightmare has Percy gather any supplies that Fiernas points him to.  She stays outside the ship until the last possible second, defending.  The door closes and she appears inside the ship looking at the door.  Her voice rings out in everybody's head.

WELCOME EVERYBODY!  Thanks for joining us, its going to be an uncomfortable ride, but its what we've got at the moment.  We appreciate your cooperation and ask that you stick the main area until the crew figures out exactly what is going on.

Oh and if any of you were interested you have been rescued by the IDA.  Right now sit back and be prepared for....


PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

She says as her eyes land on the dogs in the back.  Her voice changes from a cold scientist's findings to an eager little girl.

She runs to the back of the ship phasing through people in her way and kneels down in front of the dogs.  Her voice becomes gentle remaining in your head.

You are good boys.  Brave boys.  We are friends.  Come here.

She offers her hands, back side to the dogs to sniff.


As the dogs sniff she scratches their necks and chins cooing in their minds quietly.  When they appear appropriately docile she throws her arms around their necks in a big hug and sighs contentedly.

Once Billy starts talking she appears next to him.  Miraculously free of dog hair and ready for business.

]

Fiernas looks at Xander with trepidation, but then is distracted by the strange ghost girl cozying up to his hounds.  The dogs take a great interest in her, and Fiernas only slightly more distantly so.


His eyes tighten and follow Nightmare across the room, sickness evident on his face.

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 804):

You seriously can't melt the ship down!  I mean... there are people who are only peripherally involved!  Please tell me it will just hinder and not kill.

She looks disturbed and frightened at the same time.  Without waiting for an answer, she grunts and says

I'm going to go help Kayla.

She disappears into the cockpit, closing the door behind her and engaging the cloaking device first and helping Kayla with takeoff.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:28, Wed 19 Apr 2017.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 805):

Muse has Penny bound with the best restraints available on the ship and takes the opportunity to secure Gestalt and Timon as well. He keeps close watch over all the prisoners, responding to any of Penny's inquiries with silence and a steely gaze.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:12, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to Muse (msg # 806):

Everyone hurries aboard the shuttle, after which Dynamis is quick to seal the ramp.

Rebecca makes her way to the cockpit -- the only one able to enter while the hatch connecting it to the reset of the ship is closed and locked, as it is now.

"This is the captain speaking," Kayla's voice booms throughout the ship. "Welcome to Persephone. You are currently in IDA custody, with release pending successful return to...realspace, I guess we'll call it?"

She clears her throat.

"We have a full house, as I'm sure I don't have to tell you. And it's not that I don't trust you, but...I don't trust you. Non-crew who approach the cockpit will find themselves forcibly restrained. Other than that, welcome aboard! Find a place to sit or a wall to lean against. I'm getting us out of here quickly, not comfortably. Hang tight!"

On cue, Xander forces the docking bay open -- the last command he is able to relay before both he and Sophia are booted from the Pragnanz's inner workings. They've left behind quite a mess, however; almost every alarm in the ship is going off, and personnel are beginning to rush toward the docking bay in panic.

As Persephone lifts off, you can see several uniformed and armored personnel enter the docking area, shooting into the backs of the non-armored personnel and dropping them one by one until the majority turn and stop fleeing. Orders are given, weapons are brandished, and the crowd files back down the hallways toward some unknown destination.

***

Shuttle Disposition

Cockpit
-- Kayla
-- Rebecca

Lounge/Galley
-- Fiernas + pups
-- Durst
-- Holt
-- Xander
-- Billy

Cargo Area
-- Muse
-- Gestalt
-- Timon
-- Penny

Bunks
-- Darling
-- Tyndal

***

The shuttle blasts off, activating its adaptive armor plating to shroud it from ships when at sufficient range for it to matter. There are no screens anywhere in the main portion of the ship, so no one can see what's going on outside except for Kayla, Rebecca, Dynamis, and Xander (via Sophia).
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:29, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 807):

View from the Cockpit

Kayla, Rebecca, and Xander (through Sophia's "eyes") watch as Pragnanz fires blindly upon the fleet around it. The fleet seems to react quickly to the incoming threats -- their AI, it seems, is capable of screening defensively and passively.

Starfighters scramble to get out of the way, reacting more slowly than the larger vessels due to their pilots having been caught unawares, and the capital ships fire antiballistic rounds to screen themselves.

Ordnance rips through one of the freighters, which explodes into a shower of sparks and twisted metal. Two of the starfighters clip each other in their rush to get out of the way, and are sent spinning out of control and out of formation, but they do not immediately explode or collide with anything.

The larger ships turn on Pragnanz, but do not fire upon it. If you had to guess, there are heated conversations going on right now between the bridges of the major ships here. Pragnanz itself looks to be in bad shape. It's listing to one side, and a plume of ionized gases is escaping from its hull in key places.

It does not, however, explode -- and as you watch, the plumes grow fainter and fainter until they fade away completely.

By the time Persephone has reached the jump ring, the remaining freighters and starfighters are screaming toward it...and the larger ships aren't far behind.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:41, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 808):

A broadband frequency is hailing us, Dynamis announces to the cockpit. I don't think they know where we are, but if this is the only jump ring, they probably have an excellent idea of where to start looking...

As if on cue, a series of warning lights blip up on the overlay.

Incoming missiles. Non-guided. Analyzing trajectory...they will miss the jump ring, but strike multiple approaches around it.

A silhouette of the shuttle appears on the main viewport, a distorted version superimposed over a solid one.

Mirror my maneuvers precisely, Captain.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:30, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to Dynamis (msg # 809):

Kayla grips the steering controls with both hands and carefully mimics Dynamis's course adjustments.

[Piloting: 76, success]

The missiles blast past without hitting anything, and Kayla brings the ship to a stop just before the jump ring.

"Easing it into place," she says aloud. "Hold your breath..."

Xander watches in horror as the security guns down their own people.

Jesus...who *are* these people?!

He wonders darkly if he should have forced a more immediate overload, rather than giving the ship AI ample time to contain the leak or evacuate the crew.

Still, the primary objective - sowing utter chaos - seemed to have been accomplished in fine form.

Good enough for government work, he quips.

He walks into the cargo bay to check on Abraxas, pausing to look down at where Penny is unhappily restrained. Is this really necessary? he asks Billy. If she was an IDA traitor, why would she have been in the brig of the AoS vessel?
This message was last edited by the player at 14:35, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 810):

Kayla eases Persephone into the center of the jump ring.

Nothing happens at first, and then the familiar arc of ionic energy surrounds the vessel completely. The viewport goes opaque...and the purple haze vanishes abruptly, replaced by a field of stars.

"Yes! It worked! We're back in realspace!" Kayla laughs, overjoyed.

Captain! Alert!

Kayla blinks at Dynamis's urging.

"What is it, D? There's nothing...wait...what is that?"

She taps her controls to zoom in on something floating off in the distance -- something that appears to have once been an expensive staryacht.

"...command crew to the cockpit, please," Kayla broadcasts to the ship. "Now."

"They didn't have guest rooms," Billy replies to Xander before Kayla calls, "I don't trust her, we can get a full story later, alright?" he says, already on the way to the cockpit.  Once there he bangs on the door, "What's going on, we alone in the ass-end of space or something?" he shouts at the obstruction.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 813):

Kayla opens the cockpit hatch to admit Billy, and closes it again afterward (Xander and Muse are welcome to try their luck, as well).

"I'm not sure where we are yet," Kayla says. "D is still trying to figure that out. But we did find that..."

She points at the screen, which is still showing the zoomed-in wreckage of a ship that looks very much like the Hubris.

"Any sign of his escort?" Billy asks as soon as the wreckage is pointed out, "Or what did that?"

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 812):

As the crew enters the ship Nightmare shows them three pictures on her tablet to pass around.

We have three augers on board... and other problems.  Should we blow up the space ring if those fighters are coming after us?


This message was last edited by the player at 14:58, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 816):

Kayla, can we take evasive action before the other ships exit the ring and evaluate Husker's ship afterwords?  If we can get out of their signal range maybe we can hide out here while they try to find us.

"Did you even see the ring on our way out?  We don't even know where we are, we're not blowing up anything else until we get answers.  Send an encrypted message back home, ask how long before the fleet can get to the coordinates we left from." Billy is quick to respond.  He glances at the list of augers but apparently doesn't consider it an immediate concern.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 818):

As Persephone draws closer to the wrecked spaceyacht, something about the starfield surrounding it seems...off.

Abruptly, the silhouettes of several ships become visible against the backdrop of space:
- one battlecruiser
- two destroyers
- one armored troop transport

Even though you know they are there, they remain difficult to see. Perhaps they have adaptive armor of their own...

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 819):

"Welcome back, Persephone," Faust's voice rings out over your comms. "Glad you made it back in one piece."

There is a brief pause.

"Director Kelce appraised me of your mission parameters. Did you get what you came for?"

In reply to Commander Faust (msg # 820):

I...still do not know where we are. These stars, from this position, do not make any sense.

In reply to Dynamis (msg # 821):

Those of you who normally have regular access to the Archive cannot currently connect to it. It's not a jamming issue, either -- you just can't find a signal.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:48, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

"We didn't come to get anything," Billy shakes his head as he looks at the remarkably small fleet Faust is heading, "He shouldn't have cloaked ships.  He shouldn't have four ships.  Keep comms off, Dynamis scan...anything.  None of this makes sense, where are we?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:54, Thu 20 Apr 2017.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 823):

Nightmare's hand seeks out Billy's mechanical one.  She grabs and squeezes looking up over her shoulder at him.

Why did he blow up Husker?  That seems like the kind of thing we would do and then get yelled at for it.  Should we ask him?  Why is he here and where is here.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

I also think he is our only way out of whatever subspace pocket we are in.

"I don't know if we're in subspace." Billy replies, too busy trying to make sense of anything to be particularly comforting.  He does at least tense his fingers around Rebecca's hand, confirming her grasp as he speaks,  "Dynamis, you said the stars don't make sense from this position.  Can you not calculate our position, or does it just contradict assumptions about how far we traveled?"

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 825):

...both. Disregarding distance traveled, the surrounding stars do not correspond to their proper locations in navigational records. And I cannot download expanded ones.

Possible solutions include a distorting presence inhibiting the collection of clear and accurate information about our surroundings, or our location being light-years off course.