[IC] Revenant: A Sci-Fi Adventure (Always Accepting!)

[Crossfire]

@Rultaos@Gardevoiran

Stryker turned on his heels just before he left the bridge, remembering something he had to say to Tibulus.
"I know you've got some business to take care of, but I need you to stay at the helm for now. Just long enough for me to get out of this armor and address the others. Hell even just long enough to get a shower would be enough. Radio my cabin when you want me to take over."

Just outside he found Benny climbing out of his gunner seat.
"Good job down there." he said, clapping the Scotsman's shoulder "If I make it through the next hour or two without being keelhauled for what happened down there, find me for a drink, we'll toast to a job well done."

With that said, he wandered off towards his cabin, his mind racing as he scrambled to figure out how to explain everything that happened down there to the crew, and more importantly, how was gonna cover it up when he reported back to the Alliance?

Arriving in the Captain's Quarters, he locked the door and finally started to remove his armor. The clothes he wore underneath were stuck to him like cling wrap. Before making his way into his bathroom to fire up the shower, he decided what to say, and grabbed the datapad to access the ship's intercoms.

"I know things didn't go exactly the way we planned down there. This is all on me, so if any of you want to look me in the eye while I explain what happened, come to the War Room in twenty. I'll broadcast it ship-wide for everyone else, so if you're injured, get up to the med bay... that means both of you Grayson and Amy. Stryker out."

@Xandrya@T2wave

Grayson, still helping Amy stay off her injured leg, looked across to Harriet.

"Dr. Matthias right? Well, ya heard 'em, I guess we'll meet ya up in med bay? Just gonna stop by the Armory fer a sec, drop off the gear."

He turned in the direction of the elevator and started to walk towards it.
"I guess we'll take the elevator this time eh lass? Make it a bit easier for ya to keep off that leg."

@BKBurke@iTem@superservo27

SAL, after receiving the all-clear and Stryker's follow-up message, made sure Tibulus's prisoner was still unconscious before exiting the shuttle. Still mindful of his old duties, he immediately walked up the small staircase into the engine room to get a diagnostic of the ship's systems. He knew one of the two newcomers on the crew was to be the new chief engineer, but he couldn't recall which one, having not committed that info to long-term memory. Nevertheless, he headed back out into the cargo bay. A few members of the crew were still milling about the cargo bay, including the ones he needed to speak to.

"Engineer" he said, directing the greeting to both Harrison and Koren "Ship's systems are reading some minor damages from the rapid ascent through the planet's atmosphere. Nothing urgent, just wanted to inform you, now that those duties fall to you."

"Tobi" he said quietly, after excusing himself away from the others "Come with me to the Tech Lab, we have to speak immediately."

[Rultaos]

"Good job down there. If I make it through the next hour or two without being keelhauled for what happened down there, find me for a drink, we'll toast to a job well done." Stryker said with a pat on Benny's shoulder. Benny looked around behind him to face him before replying. "If ya wanna get real crazy, ser, I can add a little bit o' me own mix ta' spice it up. Yer call" He said as he powered down the turret controls to allow Tibulus to use more of the ship's energy in navigation. Stryker left the helm and Benny followed soon after in order to get out of his armor as well.

In his quarters he quickly released the seals on his armor as they hissed out the compressed air. His clothes underneath were soaked but he wasn't too uncomfortable with them. He simply hung them out to dry in his room while he took a quick shower, before returning to put on the used clothing.

Around this point he heard the announcement made by Stryker to have the crew meet up in the War Room. Seeing as he didn't have much else to do, and also curious as to how the battle played out for the ones on the upper floors of the labs he decided to head over there as well, smelling only slightly better than he did earlier. He took some wireless earbuds from his room, synced them up to Skelly, and then tapped on the holographic interface to start playing a rock music cover of some ancient orchestral track loud enough for anyone standing next to him to hear the sounds as he made his way through the vessel to their meeting room.

[Xandrya]

"Thanks for the notice, Captain Obvious," Amy joked, stopping momentarily as Grayson gave the heads up to Harriet during their brief exchange. The couple then headed towards the elevator, Amy with a limp and one hand delicately pressed against the minor wound on her side. She'd left her helmet behind elsewhere on the ship, and even though Grayson had insisted she take it with her, Amy had been very stern regarding her decision. They didn't argue; it was more so a disagreement the two had had after a rather draining and somewhat painful mission.

"I have a bad feeling about this one..." Amy randomly confessed as they both stepped inside the elevator. The Alliance would want answers, and a half-assed lie just wouldn't do. Amy hoped that for their sake, Stryker had something solid in mind, otherwise, they would be in serious trouble regardless whether Stryker placed the blame solely on himself.

Once they'd arrived at their floor, Amy motioned towards her room. "Mind dropping me off? I wanna take this damn thing off already before heading down to the med bay."

Amy was unsure whether to let Grayson know about the vial of blood she had on her. If she was wrong, then at least she wouldn't have to explain herself, saving her the trouble in the long run.

[Gardevoiran]

"Taaaaake ooooon meeeeee..." Tibulus sat in the cockpit with the autopilot on and his stun-gun aimed at the captive nearby. A small music-player nearby had the tune of Aha's "Take On Me" playing at low volume. Stryker went to go and do whatever, Tibulus had to stay at the helm, and everything was going fairly smooth for him at the current moment in time. Sure, the mission was a bust for the crew overall, but for Tibulus it was a hell of a success. He got a new body to use later down the road, he had figured out some cooler shit he could do, it was great. "Taaaaaaaake meeeeeee ooooooon..."

"Hnng... wha?" The captive stirred awake as a feminine voice echoed through the room. "Where am I? W-what's going on here?!"

"IIIIII'll beeeeeeee gooooooone..." Tibulus sat there singing as the captive looked at him, her hands tied behind her back as she tilted her head. "What the fuck are you and where the fuck am I?" With a 'sigh', Tibulus turned down the volume on his music even further as he stared at the girl with his stun-gun in hand. "You're in space, sweetheart, and you're aboard a cargo ship full of crooks and criminals. It's kinda shit, to be dreadfully honest with you, but I'm not gonna just say that." Tibulus shot her with his stun-gun on a low setting, just enough to send her back into an unconscious state. "O-oh... misfired. Ah well, she'll make for a good body."

[iTem]

Koren walked out of the shuttle with the rest of the group. Matija was talking about something before heading in the elevator. But the Juz’ was distracted with the uncomfortable heat underneath his armor and clothes. With a hiss of compressed air, Koren disconnected his helmet from the rest of his suit and took a relieving deep breath. He was thankful that he was at least alive.

He took a moment to breathe and look around before heading towards the elevator, but not before being stopped by SAL’s call. "Engineer… Ship's systems are reading some minor damages from the rapid ascent through the planet's atmosphere. Nothing urgent, just wanted to inform you, now that those duties fall to you.” Koren nodded in acknowledgement, saying “I’ll fix it as soon as I can,” as he headed towards the elevator with everyone else and went straight to his shared room.

The Juz’ headed straight for the showers after he had shed his armor where he took his time cleaning himself. When he felt aptly refreshed, Koren changed into something more comfortable: a hoodie and some cargo shorts. With his chest of tools in tow, he headed to the engine room to get a complete rundown on what needed repairing and what he could fix while the ship continued on its course to somewhere. In his mind, he wondered if Harrison was going to help him as the man initially promised and also hoped that he was as good as he claimed himself to be.

Matija on the other hand, took her time in the showers. She basked herself underneath the cool water that dripped on her like a blessing from the oppressive heat that clung on to her skin from their most recent mission. When she felt clean and recharged, she headed out of the women’s showers and was about to enter her room when an unwanted scent wafted by her from a certain Scotsman passing by. She grabs him by the arm and pulls him closer to herself, sniffing at him on his arms, neck, and chest before scrunching her face. “No. Change ye clothes. Right now.” She stared the Scot down, challenging him to oppose her. Benny’s mood quickly cycled from surprise, to annoyance, to fear, and then to defeat as he grumpily stomped back to his cabin to change, muttering ”It dun smell that bad…” under his breath. When Matija saw him successfully change into fresher clothing, she nods to herself and heads in her own room to change. The Mecorian wore a comfortable wool plaid shirt and some cycling shorts for the debriefing that would occur in the following minutes since she definitely has questions that needed answers.

ooc

it's a mini collab with @Rultaos. :3

Tag!: @Crossfire, @superservo27

[BKburke]

The shuttle ride was nice. Some bits and pieces of awkward silence every now and then but nothing Tobi didn't care about. He was humming to himself most of the time anyway. His visor remained red the entire time of the ride.

After stepping one the shuttle, he took his weapons down to maintenance. The gasps of over crew members as Tobi walked by did not concern him in the slightest. He walked over to a small station table and began to take his weapons apart to clean them. He was well isolated from most of the people in the area. That was until SAL approached him and said they needed to speak in tech lab. Tobi turned and looked at SAL. Why do we need to go to the tech lab? I've done a good job of killing the hostile forces. I'm sure that's much more than any simulation could show....Ah well. Sure, but I should probably get cleaned up first. I can tell a lot of people don't like the new coat of paint. Just give me a moment and I'll be there. Tobi took his time in maintenance getting cleaned off. Bits of viscera and be covered in blood made cleaning rather tedious. After the cleaning was done however, Tobi headed directly to the Tech Lab.

Tobi entered the tech lab and looked at SAL. He then sent a private message through his A.I. directly to SAL's private messaging server. Normally, a quiet tone coming from an A.I. like you or me is very serious. Do I need to kill someone on this vessel?

[Crossfire]

@BKburke

"Negative, its nothing like that" SAL said "My sensors registered some... distress among the humans at your methods. I'd like to download the combat data for analysis. Please, link your systems to the Framework terminal."

@iTem@Gardevoiran@Rultaos@superservo27@T2wave

Stryker, fresh from the shower, immediately went to his private terminal. He had thought up a plausible cover story and wanted to type out a draft of it before he forgot any details. Once that was completed, he noticed the twenty minutes he had allocated was up. He picked up his datapad and scrolled into the VI controls. Ren had thankfully left some core components of his interface on the ship when he had abandoned them, including the power to short circuit, or edit footage captured by the Alliance's intensive surveillance package. His hair was still damp when he walked down the hall and into the empty War Room, where he summoned up a holographic map of their position in the Galaxy. Tibulus had chosen a route that would take them into an area of the Deadzone that was susceptible to solar flares, a perfect opportunity to kill the cameras and talk openly. As the ship crossed the invisible line, he ordered the VI to interrupt all cameras and microphones on board.

"Time to face the music" Stryker said to himself as he waited for people to arrive.

@Xandrya

"Yeah, wanna get out of my armor too." Grayson said as he started down the hall towards the room. Inside he set Amy down on their bed and jerked his head towards the spare bunk. "Just toss it on the bed, I'll drag em up to the Armory later on and buff out the damage. Now lass, gonna need ya help to haul this off my arms."

They got to work pulling off their respective armor suits, helping each other where necessary to get their injured limbs freed without causing any additional pain or discomfort. Amy stood, holding Grayson's shoulders to keep her balance as he helped her get her injured leg out. A sudden movement caused her to almost fall on him, but he moved quick to keep her on her feet and whispered a few quick apologies if he'd caused her any pain. It was then he noticed a vial of blood had fallen out onto the bunk. Grayson shifted his glance up to Amy and back to the vial.

"What's that?" he asked.

[Xandrya]

Amy looked down at the small vial, then back up at Grayson.

"Yeah, that's a small sample I took from the woman Benny killed down there." Amy finished removing what little she had left of her armor on her after Grayson had helped her take off the hardest part. She then turned around to face him once more. "This may sound odd, but that woman looked quite a bit like my mother, almost as if they were related. I'm planning on running a quick DNA test since I have an aunt on my mother's side I've never met, she was one of her younger siblings. I just want to kill any bit of doubt in the back of my head, you know?"

Amy sat on the bottom bunk, slowly stretching out her injured calf as she carefully lifted her legging over the wound. "But don't worry, it's not like I'll go around telling everyone."

[twave]

Harriet

@Crossfire

After that intense mission Harriet headed to the med bay in a slight daze. Though she hadn't really shown that much concern throughout, the whole thing brought up less than pleasant memories. Despite not having the same physiological responses as before, once alone for a moment the recent events had begun to catch up with her. While attempting to run a few tests her hands shook. Clearly not able to do her usual routine for the moment the woman took a seat to wait for her patients.

Much to her relief it took some time for anyone to show. By that point she at least appeared composed. Some pretty severe injuries had been taken from the attack. They weren't anything that she couldn't handle thankfully. This kind of work she could focus on. And while she had them in she administered another dose to be sure no one would have any major side effects from the toxin she'd used on the mission. Once everyone was done she took some more doses and brought them to the the meeting where everyone else was supposed to meet.

Arriving a bit early she loaded a cartage into her a small injector. Motioning to it she spoke up to Stryker. "Best that I give everyone another treatment. That gas I used isn't something to take lightly.

[Crossfire]

@iTem@Gardevoiran@Rultaos@superservo27@BKburke

"Here we go" Stryker told himself as he checked the datapad one last time to make sure all the ship's surveillance gear was disrupted and engaged a ship-wide P.A. broadcast. With a last breath in, he began to speak.

"I want to begin by saying that, thanks to an exploit the AI platform Ren discovered before it left the ship, I've been able to disable the cameras and microphones the Alliance have planted throughout the ship, so we can talk openly about what happened down there, because if anyone knew the truth, we'd be finished. Our current route is taking us through a corner of the Deadzone infamous for flarestorms from an unstable sun in a dead system, I'm gonna blame the electronics disruption on that in my report."

"Right from the start of the mission, I had a bad feeling about it. There were very little good things the Alliance would be developing at a secret lab hidden in a mountain, on a planet at the ass-end of the galaxy. And my fears were confirmed the moment I was taken into the main lab. The men and women working there were under the impression they were working on some sort of new-energy program, a renewable power source for the galaxy or something like that. They were altruistic about the whole thing, completely indoctrinated by the Alliance's lies, because they weren't developing something to make the galaxy a better place. In fact they were doing exactly the opposite."

"There's no other way to say it, they had created a functional dark matter generator. Of course, the head researcher spat out some garbage about converting it into raw energy and harnessing it, but all of us here know the Alliance's true goal was to turn it into a weapon that creates black holes. I don't care about any of your personal stances on that, but I believe that no one in the universe should have access to a weapon that devastating. I mean, imagine having the power of a million nukes at your fingertips. Now multiply it's destructive power by thousands. Entire systems wiped out in the blink of an eye, just gone entirely without a trace they ever existed. And if we had done the job, and delivered those scientists, they would have made us accomplices to the eventual genocide of billions of innocent lives. I wasn't going to let that happen, so I gave the order to Grayson, Amy and Benny to open fire, and kill them all. After that, we gathered up all of their research, everything they had developed, every backup in sight and Benny and myself rigged it and the place to blow. None of it, not a single shred of data was allowed to go back to the Alliance, hopefully we were successful there. Obviously things were complicated by the Skaldurm showing up, Taleste being captured and all of that. I wish things had gone differently, but that's where we stand."

He glanced at the holographic galaxy map at the center of the room and did a quick calculation.
"We've got roughly an hour before we pass out of the flarestorm, after that I'll have to turn the cameras and mics back on, but until then, I'll wait right here in the war room. Ready and willing to talk about anything on your mind after what I just told you all."

@T2wave

Harriet arrived a moment later, an auto injector in her hands.

"Best that I give everyone another treatment. That gas I used isn't something to take lightly."

Stryker nodded and motioned towards his arm.
"Yeah, good call, a few others should show up in the next couple of minutes, and if not, I can flip the intercom back on and tell them to come by for the dose. I wasn't directly exposed like some of the others, but give me a shot if you think I should have one."

@Xandrya

"Wow... that's... wow." For one of the first times in his life, Grayson was lost for words "I mean, what're th' chances really? If she was kin to ya, I mean, the odds of the two of ye crossin' paths like that, millions-to-one at the least. Alright well, stow it away for now, let's get on up to med bay, see what the doc can do fer us."

They made their way up and Harriet made fairly quick work of their injuries, applying salves to the laser burns and setting both Grayson's shoulder and Amy's leg on the road to recovery. After both of them being told to stay in the medbay for observation, Harriet headed off to speak with Stryker, who was nearing the end of his speech by then. Once they were alone, Grayson turned to Amy in the adjacent bed and spoke in a low voice.

"Ya know, I just thought of somethin'. I remember passin' by a few places in my travels, clinics like, promisin' cheap, discrete an' quick DNA testin' maybe once we hit port, we could track a place like that down for ya?"

[Rultaos]

((OOC: Mini-collab with @iTem

@Crossfire@T2wave

Benny arrived in the War Room alongside Matija, having been awaited by his white-haired companion to ensure that he was actually going to change into something remotely decent. They had arrived just some moments after Stryker's statements, and saw their leader having something being injected into their arm by the plant-lady, Harriet.

"Gettin' yer flu shots early this year, cap'n?" Benny joked as he walked around the galaxy map to stand nearer to their other 2 crewmates. He'd wait a bit for their responses before continuing to talk about the matter at hand.

Matija smiled bitterly at the joke. "Prob'ly caught some kinda flu from someone," she added.

Benjamin looked at her curiously due to the vague remark, but shrugged at it dismissively and turned back to Stryker to speak. "Fer what my yammerin's worth on this ship, I would'a done tha' same thing ta' that research. No Galactic government should have a weapon that powerful. Too easy ta' threaten people with ta' get their way. Not to mention it dinnae feel right. An explosion that can scatter bodies an' buildings is as satisfyin' as poppin' bubble wrap. But killin' entire systems with a vacuum that just makes it... disappear jus' feels... wrong in so many bloody ways. Wut's tha' point of killin' if ya cannae even see the results of yer handiwork?" He said as he looked on the holographic projection of the galaxy map, trying to imagine the number of planets and stars that would've just disappeared unceremoniously from it if the Alliance ever decided to fire their Black Hole Gun at their current system.

Matija spoke up as he finished his statement. "Not getting your handiwork shown to the whole universe to see ain't exactly fun, but you gotta do what you gotta when you're in the Alliance's shoes. But it's also wasted effort on the brainiacs' part since we should've had some kinda backup data or something. It'd be nice for some money or for our own," she shrugs, leaning forward and placing her chin on her arms that she had crossed on top of the holographic table. She huffs in boredom and poked at the holographic display with idle interest. "I hope you got a good excuse for this bull, Stryker. I know what I signed up for when I came to this ship, but I plan on keeping my head from rolling off'a my neck," She said, hoping for a satisfactory response from their leader.

[Xandrya]

"Is that a streak of genius that just hit you?" Amy smiled, adjusting her weight but slipping up and accidentally hurting herself a bit. She grit her teeth through the pain, complaining by simply whispering a few curse words. "Either way," she went on after a few moments of silence, "those places are relatively cheap if they don't ask you for an arm or a leg," she chuckled at her own bad joke before her facial expression changed, turning her head to look over at Grayson.

"But really, thank you for being open-minded about this. Just about anyone else would have looked at me funny and reminded me that the odds of getting a match are next to none so I shouldn't even bother. I mean, you may have been thinking that but at least you encouraged me to go on with it."

Amy then sat up, more careful this time with her movements. "Haven't been here long but I'm already getting a bit anxious. I hope we can get the hell out of here soon..."

[Crossfire]

@Xandrya

"Yeah, can't wait ta get the green light to go. Much rather spend the night in our own bed than in here." Grayson grunted as he shifted up and turned, leaning on his elbow to face Amy. In doing this, he inadvertently sent a sharp ripple of pain through his side "No need to thank me lass, what kind of man would I be if I didn't stand by ya? Not much of one I can tell ya that, we're in this together til the end Ames... even if it does cost an arm or two."

@Rultaos@t2wave@iTem

Stryker nodded at the comments from both Benny and Matija, measuring his response carefully.

"Yeah, I've got a cover story written up in my after-action report, haven't transmitted it yet though. I'm gonna tell them the truth, just not the part where I ordered the scientists killed and the research destroyed. Here's what I've got."
Stryker picked up his datapad, cleared his throat, and started to read.

"A Skaldurm patrol skiff spotted us shortly after landing, just around the time our undercover operative completed her mission, a task Taleste paid her life to pull off. We headed down into the facility, but technical glitches prevented us from sealing the doors before the Skaldurm raiders arrived en masse. Lives were lost trying to defend the scientists, but ultimately we couldn't save them, the savages killed them, tore into their unarmored bodies like lions on a gazelle. An errant laser blast in the lab cracked the containment cube on the prototype generator, dark matter seeped out into the open air, and in its volatile state, destroyed the entire lab, we barely escaped with our lives."

Remembering suddenly, Stryker looked at Harriet and gestured over to the others.
"You weren't that far off with that joke about a flu shot. Harriet just administered a dose of antitoxin, to ward off any effects of exposure to the poison she used down there, everyone has to get it, can't afford to lose any more of you guys, especially with Amy and Grayson out of commission for a bit. So who's up next?"

[Gardevoiran]

Conversion

(What Tibulus did while Stryker talked to everyone else.)

"..."

The abducted Skaldurm laid on the operating table, unmoving as she felt herself begin to come out of the sleep she had just been put under, her arms heavy with lag and her brain feeling rather tight. Slowly, her eyes opened, and quickly after she realized where she was, she shot back up from the table.

"GAH?!" she shouted as she looked down at her body. Stark naked, aside from the underwear she had on her despite her never remembering that she had put it on. She glanced around the room for a few seconds, her vision incredibly blurry as she began to adjust to her surroundings. Everything seemed unfamiliar to her initially, but the atmosphere began to set in as she turned on the table to face the nearby robot. A mechanical churn sounded as the robot creaked to life.

> Careful. You just got out of surgery. It's voice was automatic, but strangely friendly. The girl looked around some more as her vision slowly came back to her even more, the room finally being recognizable. It was the Medical Bay of the Revenant.

She ran her hands on her body, simply to feel the skin, before the girl attempted to stand up on her feet. Naturally, her body shivered as she felt her feet touch the cold metal floor, but she was more or less expectant of it, like this was supposed to happen. Stepping forward with a short stride, the girl walked up to the nearby mirror and glanced at herself, hands planted firmly on the sink.

That was her, wasn't it? Red hair, tanned skin, slender build. A hand slowly lifted to feel her face, pushing her parted bangs out of the way to properly feel the smooth skin behind it.

Bad Art done by Yours Truly

It looked like her, but it wasn't her.

She looked around the room a bit more as she noticed the strange skeleton on the second operating table, his skull carved into and a brain placed beside it, suspended in a jar of transparent green liquid. A folder with the words "Open and Read" in it was placed under his foot. The girl figured it was for her, so she stepped over to it and opened it's contents.

Picking up the polaroid picture of a family and the letter, the girl began to read it.

Hey me, it's you.

Well, it was you. What's probably in front of us now is your old body, likely with wilting mushrooms inside the ribcage if I had to guess. Here's a quick rundown of shit to get your memory back in case you forgot.

Your name was Jackson Rhodes, then changed to Tibulus Sepitan after you died for the first time. Whatever name we choose now is entirely up to us again, though knowing me, we'll probably just go with an unoriginal name since we took so long to think of the pun for my last name.

You're aboard the Revenant, working with ex-criminals to get a lifetime of money and our family back. The latter is just as likely now as it was in the past, but that's something I'd rather not let anyone see, so we're not gonna write that down here on this paper.

Your pilot skills are fucking legendary. Don't let anyone tell me that we aren't the best fucking pilot you know.

Hopefully this was enough to jog your memory enough. If not, maybe Stryker can help you. Our communicator is over on the table opposite of you, use it and get him in here regardless if we remember everything. He should probably see us now.

That's all. Congratulations on probably being the first medically resurrected human this side of the known universe.

- Sepitan.

Looking over to the table, the girl noticed a gray jumpsuit with an electronic communicator on it. Additionally, the girl saw numerous different items on the table, probably hers if he had to guess. She walked over to the table and picked up the communicator, looking over at the door before speaking into it. "Stryker to Med Bay, you'll want to see this."

The girl stepped back to the mirror and sink and simply stared at herself in it. "Welcome back, me. I guess we're a girl now. This means we've been three different people all within one life. Kinda crazy, isn't it?"

---

@Crossfire (Also @Rultaos, @t2wave and @iTem because of hearing proximity.)

[Rultaos]

@Crossfire@t2wave@Gardevoiran@iTem

"Yeah, I've got a cover story written up in my after-action report, haven't transmitted it yet though. I'm gonna tell them the truth, just not the part where I ordered the scientists killed and the research destroyed. Here's what I've got...

A Skaldurm patrol skiff spotted us shortly after landing, just around the time our undercover operative completed her mission, a task Taleste paid her life to pull off. We headed down into the facility, but technical glitches prevented us from sealing the doors before the Skaldurm raiders arrived en masse. Lives were lost trying to defend the scientists, but ultimately we couldn't save them, the savages killed them, tore into their unarmored bodies like lions on a gazelle. An errant laser blast in the lab cracked the containment cube on the prototype generator, dark matter seeped out into the open air, and in its volatile state, destroyed the entire lab, we barely escaped with our lives." Stryker explained.

Benny nodded along throughout the explanation, and waited until Stryker had finished before he said his piece before replying. "Soun's believable enough but ya better hope Captain Dawsack dinnae ask about tha' specific of these technical problems. Even I'd 'ave trouble keepin' 'em consistent" Benny replied.

After a while though, Stryker told them that everyone was getting an anti-toxin shot because of the spores that the plant-lady Harriet had released upon them all during their operation, to which Benny groaned in response. "Urgh... Always hated needles. Always thought of 'em as tha' worst part of gettin' cybernetic limbs attached" He said with a tone of joking annoyance.

Before any of them could get around to getting stabbed with it however, a voice rang out on the intercoms in the War room. it was an unfamiliar female voice, and that fact put Benny on edge, especially after remembering that they had taken one of the Skaldrum alive. The voice summoned Stryker to the medbay but didn't specify what. Benny turned away fro mthe speakers to look at Stryker wit a questioning glance.

"Sooo... Any otha' secret projects we should be aware of while we're here?" He asked, somewhat sarcastically.

[Crossfire]

@Rultaos@Gardevoiran@iTem@t2wave

Stryker was about to reply to Benny when the mysterious voice rang out over the intercom.

"Sooo... Any otha' secret projects we should be aware of while we're here?" Benny asked.

At a loss for words, he looked around at the others. The look on his face told it all, he was just as confused as any of them.

"Not that I'm aware...... oh wait... No way." The realization hit him all at once. Still talking, but mostly to himself, he turned on his heel and waved for the others to follow him as he marched out of the War Room and down the hall to the med bay.

"He did it, he actually did it." The captain was still muttering to himself as the med bay door slid open and he walked inside. Immediately his eyes were drawn to the drawn curtains around a pair of beds, presumably where Amy and Grayson were resting up. Finally he slid his vision across the aisle to the surgical robot Tibulus had built, the Funganoid himself lying immobile on the operating slab and the redheaded woman staring at herself in the washing basin mirror. The war paint had been washed away, but her build was unmistakably that of a Skaldurm vanguard. Stryker slowly stepped closer and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Tibulus? That you in there?"

[Rultaos]

Following their captain out of the war room, Benny felt a sense of both curiousity and apprehension. If there was one thing he had learned about Stryker throughout all his time aboard the Revenant, it was that the stoic Bounty Hunter wasn't easily spooked or surprised. So whatever he was expecting certainly had to be a Hell of a thing. Matija and Harriet trailed behind them as they made their way to the ship's medical bay. Stryker had gotten there first and slid the doors open. Whatever Benny was expecting, it certainly wasn't that.

Their pilot was lying on the medical table, limp as if unconscious. There was a girl inside the medical bay, staring at one of the faucet mirrors. Someone he didn't quite recognize, yet felt oddly familiar. It took a little bit for him to notice the neck tattoos, the muscular build, and hairstyle of the girl, which matched those of the Skaldrum pirates that they had fought very recently.

He instinctively flinched back away from the woman and tensed up. "What tha' Hell's this pirate doin' here?! Is she a prisoner? Why dinnae we restrain her?!" Benny sputtered out as he felt for the wrist-laser he still had mounted on Skelly as a "just in case" policy whenever he could get away with it.

Stryker then spoke up. "Tibulus? That you in there?" He asked. Benny turned towards Stryker with an incredulous look on his face. "Has yer noggin gone batshit, cap'n? Wot are ya talkin' about? Tibulus is conked out on tha' table" He said as he raised the wrist laser to point at the redheaded woman.

[Gardevoiran]

"Calm down, Benny. I didn't know me losing my cigar would cause you to forget who I was." The girl chuckled to herself softly as she grabbed the jumpsuit off the table beside her, unfolding it and tossing it to the floor as she spoke again. "And yeah, Stryker, it's me. Well... it's the new me." The girl calmly stepped into the jumpsuit on the floor as she bent over to pull it up on her legs, uncaring to the people watching her right now.

"The skeleton on the slab over there's now... kinda dead? I'm not sure about his condition. I'd assume dead, since his brain is in me," The girl nonchalantly explained as she pulled the jumpsuit over her body (a surprisingly nice fit, considering the last one who wore it was only skin and bones) and zipped it about halfway up her chest, enough to reveal her collar bone and a bit of her chest, but not much else. "Does the jumpsuit still fit me, kids? Not sure if it does anymore. That's besides the point though, as I need a new name. I'm thinking Tibulass, because... well... Tibulus, ending in lass, which means girl. Honestly surprised I came up with that so quickly."

The girl stepped up a bit closer to Stryker, and looked up at him with a snarky smirk. Even though she could definitely take him on in a fight, she was a fair bit shorter than him. "I don't suppose you can fly for a bit. I need a few hours to get acquainted with this before I pilot a ship this big."

[iTem]

The unfamiliar voice on the comms made Matija tense up. The thoughts of having some kind of unwanted visitor in the floating heap of metal that they now call home took to her as a terrifying thought. Especially with the recent events and literal genocide that they partook in.

With cautious anticipation, she had followed behind Stryker when he fled to the med bay. There they saw that a Skaldurm woman was up and about while their captain was positively bewildered by her. The Mecorian found the display foolish: to have one's defenses down like that in front of a stranger is a deathwish. Benny at least made the right choice to point his ever-present wrist-laser to the stranger while she slinked towards one of the beds to look over Tibulus’ body. The unfamiliar woman was claiming that the old Tibulus was dead, and that she is now the Tibulus that they have come to know. A few prods and shaking of the Funganoid’s body confirmed that he was, in fact, dead. A claim for the name "Tibulass" was also proposed and Matija found it stupid. Or maybe stupid-er in comparison to their ace pilot’s old name.

While it was possible that the Skaldurm in front of them now really is Tibulus, it was still mind-boggling for her to accept that the transfer that the Funganoid had been prattling on about actually worked.

"Stay still, Tibulass. I’m givin' you a bit of’a looksie," Matija said with a fairly tense voice as she approached to look the stranger over in hopes of finding any, if at all, incision marks for the transfer that he, or she, has done. She gave Stryker a glance before she started touching the lass. She at least hopes that their leader knows to be cautious while he talks to this Tibulass fellow; regardless of how true her claim is.

"Hope you took your meds. Surgery ain’t always without side-effects. No matter how successful it is," she muttered mindlessly to the Skaldurm as she continued to look for proof that the now-woman is indeed their old friend.

[BKburke]

Tobi complied with SALs request. Distressed? Why would they be distressed? I protected them didn't I? For a moment, Tobi displayed something very unfamiliar. He began to twiddle his thumbs while looking at the floor though he soon raised it back to look at SAL. I probably shouldn't approach them if I make them feel this way should I? His voice wasn't the usual slightly high pitched but cheerful tone, but rather, it actually sounded like Tobi became depressed by the idea. This further displayed the complexity yet unstable A.I that Tobi possessed.

Well...if that's all then I better get going. Tobi exited the tech lab. I told you that you were a mistake. Your actions only breed problems. Your irrationality and complete disregard for competence further displaces that you should be deleted like a corrupted server. Hey. You're back? Where did you go? I was surprised you didn't show up during that fight we had on our last mission. We really could have used your help. I have been running some numbers to get a conclusion to my current problem...which is you. You're a pathetic excuse for anything other than spare parts, and that's only because I'm here too. Shut up! LEAVE ME ALONE! Tobi smashed his fist into the wall causing it to dent. He snapped out it and looked around to see several random crew members staring at him. Tobi turned around and walked away with a quick pace. He headed for the the training room.

Once there, Tobi began the usual. He of course started one on the most difficult combat programs installed. However, something was wrong, Tobi's fighting tactics were different. His visor continued to flash red and blue as they bickered and argued. It was obvious the Red Tobi was the one doing the fighting. As the simulation progressed, Tobi's tactics became more self destructive than usual. His disregard for himself was evident at this point. Despite the drawbacks, Tobi was able to complete the simulation though with much more difficulty than usual. Tobi pulled out a live grenade from his belt. Shut up! I'll do it. I'll fuckin do it! Just leave me alone and let me think! Tobi's visor stopped flickering and remained red. He lowered the grenade and out it away. He suddenly realized his outburst were vocal while his other side wasn't. If any was around, they would not have heard or understood what blue said to the other. It was apparent however, that red was becoming a hazard.