Dominion Blackwing Down | GI Dominion of Tepasi

[Gala Geert]

Tepasi System // Aboard Sachen II // Port-Side Docking Bay
Mission team: Dak // Leon Gallo // Amaris Tanenat​

Over the blood pounding in her ears, Gala could hear the crunching of the team's suits and Dak 's commands to modify their filtration systems. She followed order, and the sound of her cacophonous inhales and exhales greeted her noisily.

It was easy to forget how silent space was.

Gala assisted the other operatives with securing the room. Each movement she made, the flashlight strapped to her blaster pointed to highlight the area with a circular illumination. It bent over cracks and crevices, to the point where she gave the satisfied thumbs-up along with the other soldiers.

The team that had been stationed nearest the bay's doors reported footsteps. Everyone went to their stations (improvised) and in tromped Chief/IC-104 and team. Gala stiffened and relaxed the focus of her barrel. She lifted her own hand, palm up, before sticking all her fingers up and making a patting motion, indicating to lower their weapons.

"He's on our side."

Gaze then fixated on the squadron in armour.

"Where'd you come from? What've you found?"

 

[Dak]

Tepasi System // Unidentified Sacheen II Frigate // Starboard Docking Bay
Objective: 1 & 2 - Investigate the Derelict, Find the TSF Personnel & Pilot
Tags: Gala Geert Amaris Tanenat Chief/IC-104 Jegy Sesara Ryv

There was something not right about another squad being present without the SIA knowing, but the droid didn't have the time to dwell on the curious development. Just as his rifle lowers, a power surge in the room throws the droid back into high alert. The dimly lit crimson lighting flickers, and as power ultimately fails entirely the three doorways leading in hiss and slide open.

There is a moment of pause before two silhouettes can be seen through the darkness of the aft-facing doorway. Dak realigns his BR-212, lining it up with the infrared shapes as they seemingly calmly wander into the room.

"Identify yourself," one of the SIA agents vocalizes through his helmet's audio projector, raising his rifle to the two. They appear to be in naval outfits; technicians from a quick assessment of the insignia on their shoulders and the breast of their uniform. One of their heads turn sluggishly, regarding the agent without a response.

Confused by the silence, the operative steps forward to attempt to subdue one of them. As he reaches out to grab the man in the lead, the one behind lets out a horrific screech and very abruptly becomes far more animated than they had been. Before the other agents can react, the technician barrels over the operative and knocks him onto the ground, falling onto him while continuing to let out bestial screams and grunts.

The other one's head twitches, then it seems to similarly spring into a more energetic state. It lets out a long, vocal-chord shredding wail, then darts forward toward Amaris.

Following their vocalizations, several other distant shrieks can be heard echoing from deeper within the vessel.

 

[Gala Geert]

Tepasi System // Unidentified Sacheen II Frigate // Starboard Docking Bay → Making way to cockpit
Objective: 1 & 2 - Investigate the Derelict, Find the TSF Personnel & Pilot
With: Dak // Amaris Tanenat // Chief/IC-104 // Jegy Sesara
Eventually nearby: Ryv
Spooky Music
and fighting music ​

Expect the unexpected.

Everyone says it, but nobody can ever really qualify what unexpected means. Until it shrieks at them and its movements turn primal. Animalistic bounding and terrorizing. Her dark gaze fixated on the interaction between the fallen SIA operative, and the oppressor. There were a handful of seconds, she counted thirteen, before the unidentified agent moved away from the former-SIA operative and they both rose together. Lethality dripping from their mouths.

When there had been two, there were now three charging at them. "What the feth.." she murmured. Gala didn't need to watch for long before assessing the situation as a hostile environment. This was not her first rodeo. They had a job to do, and while they may have not anticipated any sort of holofilm level horror, they were fully entrenched in it now; and no closer to answering the question of what had happened to the frigate.

They still had to uncover the ship's black box and navigational history.

The mystery wasn't going to solve itself. "Fire and forward!" A SIA agent near Gala declared. Hot lancets of green and blue streaked through the darkness toward the incoming trio of antagonists. The only indication of success was the silencing of the otherwise distressing howls. Gala leaped from behind her perch, blaster belching out salvo as the number of bad guys increased and spilled through the doorway. Where there had been two, there were now six.

The silhouettes of agents and zombies was all the more spooky with the lights out, and only the crimson emergency lights to help them see.

A creature lunged at Gala, knocking her over and her blaster clattering out of her hand and skittering across the floor as she collided with it. As she and the humanoid fell backward, her heels dug into its gut and kicked it backward. In an instance, her vibrosword was activated and disemboweling the creature that was on top of her. It collapsed, slobbering all the while.

She slashed and dashed forward, dodging and weaving as these well-dressed humanoids with malicious intent broke in. As she ran, she registered only briefly the insignias the uniforms bore. "I think we've found our missing crew.." Gala spoke into her comm as she dodged a leap and finally broke into the main corridor.

All there was to be seen were more shadows, more red, and more angry screeching.

 

[Amaris Tanenat]

Tags: Dak Gala Geert Leon Gallo ​

Amaris, naturally, lowered her weapons at Gala's command. Friendlies! Yay! She looked like commandos or something, so perhaps they had an idea of what was going on? Or what should be going on? How long had they been here? Gala asked the question on her mind before she could even blink - what had they found? The mysteriousness of it all made her nervous, but she did get herself into this...

Her blue eyes caught the lights flickering. That wasn't a good sign - and just as she thought that, the power went out. Luckily, everyone could see still. Amaris had a genetic built in advantage there to begin with, but the helmets on their heads probably made them see.

What Amaris was glad was that they couldn't see how puffed out her fur was. Sheesh, her tail was probably triple its usual size at this point.

She stared at two silhouettes moving forward them. She stepped forward slightly as she kept the vibrosword lowered. Her head tilted slightly.

Daks' robotic voice echoed as he demanded the men identify themselves. "Something's wrong," she whispered as she watched the scene unfold, eyes wide. Why wouldn't they respond? Why didn't she hear them before? Wh--

The screech made her skin crawl and her fur stand as she quickly moved to put her hands over her covered ears. Kark, that was way too loud in such a small space. The operative was on the ground...

And one was coming right for her... Oh. Oh hell no. "Hey, stop it. Stay back!" She muttered as she pulled her vibrosword in front of her. She tested her grip on it as she watched the monster in what felt like slow motion rush her. "I'm... Stay back!" She hissed, the more feline in her taking over. If she didn't have the helmet on herself, it'd be easy to see the long canines baring themselves. She didn't want to attack him - especially in front of what she assumed was his compatriots. The last thing she needed was to get executed by the Imperium for killing one of their own, even if it was self-defense.

But her hiss & threatening display of her vibroblade didn't stop the technician from running straight into the vibrosword. Amaris was stunned. And still stunned as her body smashed onto the metal flooring of the ship - with a very heavy, and very angry, humanoid on top of her. Her eyes caught the decayed, ugliness of his corpse as she used her free hand to try to push him back as he snapped his jaws towards her shoulder and neck.

"Shit."

The bite landed in between her shoulder, along her collar bone. Angry, gnawing teeth managed to bite through the suit. Finally, after gaining some sense of control, she pulled the vibrosword forward, splitting the guy in half and crawling out from under him in shock. "I didn't want too," she whispered, her eyes darting to Gala and then Dak.

 

[Dak]

Tepasi System // Sacheen II Frigate, Kantius // Starboard Docking Bay
Objective: 2 - Find the TSF Personnel & Pilot
Tags: Amaris Tanenat Gala Geert Jegy Sesara Chief/IC-104

Dak quickly raises from behind cover as the situation devolves, raining firing through the doorway in an attempt to prevent more from barging through. Pausing his trigger finger, the droid takes a few quick steps to put himself next to Amaris. Covered by the SIA agents and others in the room, he visually assesses her wound.

"I don't have medical routines, but this injury appears to be survivable on it' s own," his receptors shift back to the doorway and he pulls his rifle up to fire several more shots out toward the faded infrared shapes visible farther down the hall "however, if whatever has happened to these crew members is infectious, you may have more to worry about."

Through the sounds of screeching and blaster fire, an operatives voice chimes through the squad's comms, <<Sealing the doors!>>

Activating a portable fusion generator they had tapped into the room's power system, the doorways abruptly snap closed. Caught as it charges through the bow entryway, the severed arm of a naval officer tumbles to the ground and writhes briefly before falling motionless. Lit up under the red lighting, the insignia on the uniform's sleeve catches Dak's attention.

Stepping forward cautiously to avoid the bodies laying around them, the droid bends down to observe the limb closer. "It appears this vessel is the I.S.V. Kantius," Dak states aloud, reading the ship's designation from the officer's sleeve patch. The ship doesn't ring any bells to him, but it was valuable information nonetheless "take note, incase we're unable to recover the navlogs."

In this moment of contemplation it only just seems to dawn on the droid that Gala was no longer in the room with them.

Standing quickly, he looks back to Amaris and the Commandos.

"Time is running short. These doors will not hold forever and Agent Gladio will not survive long on her own," he moves toward the sealed aft-facing doorway, "Find and assist her. We must know where the Kantius came from. I will look for the pilot, my inorganic composition may allow me certain freedom of movement."

 

[Amaris Tanenat]

Tags: Gala Geert Dak Jegy Sesara Chief/IC-104 ​

Gala wasn't even there. Woman had ran off into the heart of the mess. Amaris had to admire the woman, she had courage. The sound of gunfire made her feel more at ease - she hadn't just killed someone without orders to do so. Although, she had a good defense. He did attack her, not the other way around.

Either way, as her blue eyes stared at the man who she subsequently cut in half, she immediately noticed something odd. There was no blood. It looked like rotten flesh that had somehow not fallen off of the dead human.

She glanced up to Dak. Injury? Her hand moved to her shoulder, where she felt the impaled teeth marks and a small trickle of blood. "Infectious. Ugh, just what I need?" She blinked between Dak and the guy on the floor. "Guess we better hope it's not," she muttered after brief pause.

The doorways slammed shut. And the young woman finally crawled her way back to her own two feet. "What's wrong with these people?" She whispered as she observed the body she had sliced. She recoiled slightly, mostly at the scene and the realizing of where the terrible smell was coming from. "The smells from them," she stated flatly, although she guessed they probably had pieced that together by now themselves.

Amaris nodded as she gripped the vibrosword. And gave a nod to Dak. Find Gala... Where did that woman get too, anyways? She walked over to one of the doors as she took a breath and glanced to Dak. "Good luck," she said quietly as she pressed the button to open one of the doors. A few steps out and the door hissed back down.

Lucky for Amaris, Gala had already cleared the path towards the main corridor. Dead crew members lay twisted about, in half, and everything. Amaris ran, quietly, skidding to a stop at the entrance. A little, muted scream escaped her as she heard a screech from her left side. This time, though, she aptly jumped to her right as she raised and subsequently slammed the vibrosword through the middle of the crew-person's skull before yanking it back out.

"Creepy..." She muttered as she turned, on her way to catch up to Gala. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but man, she wasn't feeling so great anymore.

 

[Gala Geert]

Tepasi System // Unidentified Sacheen II Frigate // Making way to cockpit
Objective: 1 & 2 - Investigate the Derelict, Find the TSF Personnel & Pilot
With: Dak // Amaris Tanenat // Chief/IC-104 // Jegy Sesara
New discovery: Ryv
Music Vibes​

The mission objective had caused an override to the stick-with-me suggestion she'd given Amaris earlier. She missed the apologetic eyes of the feline at having being forced to dismember someone. Or, who had been someone. She probably would have given her props for the success.

The hallway was as pessimistic as the starboard docking bay. Gala's arm was growing tired with the repetitive motions of stabbing and removing. She twisted here and there, avoiding as many of the former crew members as she could, taking careful note of the blood spattered walls. Parts of the former piping had disintegrated, looking like someone had tried to set a flame in the containment of the ship.

The sound of flesh collapsing beneath her blade was growing familiar. A former lieutenant (as boasted on his breast) seemed to go blind for an instant, a scream caught in their throat, and hands reaching for nothing before collapsing from her disemboweling.

Thunderous breaths rolled from her diaphragm as she took pause at the end of the hallway, turning to look over her shoulder. A slew of corpses confirmed her travels through the corridor. A thick sheen of sweat was making her armour sticky and heavy, and her arms were shaking from the adrenaline. She trembled as her body started to regulate after the extreme exertion.

There was another figure coming through the doorway, and Gala adjusted her stance and drew her vibrosword to eye level, ready to charge before she realized it was someone she knew. The tail was a good indicator. Temporarily, she relaxed slightly and gave a silent nod of acknowledgement to the girl. In the dim lighting, the mirialin couldn't see the wound the girl had incurred since the last time she'd seen her. Which was probably for the best.

She kept mostly silent because she didn't feel comfortable giving out orders in this situation. That sort of responsibility was above her pay grade and interest. Therefore, she merely gave an indicative nod of her head in the direction of the ship's main control and communications centre. As tired as she was from that almost superhuman evidence of conviction, she was still hyper alert. The silence they met in the control room was pretty eerie, and it made her uncomfortable.

"We're looking for the navlogs." Gala spoke for the first time since Amaris had returned to her side, and stooped near one of the dashboards that was flickering ominously. The cerulean projections from the screen conflicted with the red emergency lighting of the frigate and created a creepy purple luminescence that highlighted both her and the cat girl's features in a holo-film appropriate way.

There were more noises coming from outside the blaster doors, and Gala skidded over to them to slam her elbow against the button that would cause them to seal, glaring in Amaris' direction. "Can you help? Hurry!"

In the meantime, as she was about to make her way back to the youth, she realized a form that was not moving. It was concealed pretty well beneath one of the primary dashboards, and she tightened her grip on her sword once more and approaching. It didn't stir. No moans. No twitching. No similar mannerisms to the hallway of horrors. It was a scrawny form, and she poked a toe forward to it. When she crouched to get a better look, still holding her weapon tightly at her side, ready to strike, she'd noticed the tattoo of the individual and the wound incurred on its thigh.

"Hey." She levelled her blade at the humanoid, giving a puncturing poke to its bicep. "Wake up."

 

[Amaris Tanenat]

Tags: Gala Geert Dak Ryv ​

Mental notes for later - stay on the dang ship. Her hand briefly returned to the bite mark, frowning as she felt dull throbs around it. What if it was contagious? What if she became right like these guys? She heaved, ducking and rolling forward as one of the officers screeched toward her. Her vibroblade slicking his legs off before she stabbed it into his head briefly.

It was always the head in the holomovies, right? Gotta get 'em in the head or whatever. Ugh, she hoped they would at least kill her in the back of her head. She didn't want to die ugly, with a blaster or blade or whatever wound pushed through her at least somewhat presentable face.

Her pity party had to end, though, as she caught up with Gala. Amaris returned the nod. And then Amaris walked into the control room. Navlogs, right. That might shed some light on what in the Gods name happened on this horror ship. "Do we really wanna know what happened, though," she muttered, mostly to herself as she looked for them on the other side.

She glanced over as Gala skidded to a door, causing it to seal. "I'm trying! I can't find anything and I don't have my slicing equipment," she practically whimpered as she began to look more hurriedly around the controls.

"There's someone there?" She whispered as she peered over Gala's shoulder briefly, staring at the body that laid there. "I'll leave you to that," she muttered as she continued her search, her fingers dancing along a the keys to a computer station. Maybe if she could get into the terminal... And if they didn't lose power again.

 

[Ryv]

​

Time: Present
Tags: Gala Geert | Dak | Amaris Tanenat​

​

Ryv awoke with a start, his arm batting aside the vibroblade before he scrambled away from the green-skinned woman. His back hit the wall and pushed himself up, drew forth his lightsaber, and activated the weapon. A verdant glow washed over the room, bathing everything around them in its color. The kiffar was a mess. A large tear decorated the pants and armorweave legging beneath, revealing a hastily sewn together wound. His cheek and forehead were badly bruised from some sort of blunt weaponry. All in all, Ryv was more like a caged animal at that moment than he was an actual person. His eyes flickered around the room as his instincts kicked in and he familiarized himself with the surrounding area. Slowly, the fear and confusion melted away as his attention settled on Gala.

"I know you," he kept the weapon active but lowered it a bit. "I've seen some intel on you. I think you're with the Imperium," there was still an air of suspicion around him, but he seemed to be piecing things together. His eyes moved past Gala and stopped on Amaris. "Whoa dude, is that a furry?" Ryv pushed off the wall completely and deactivated the lightsaber. As he slipped it into place at his side he limped away from the wall. He slipped a holodevice from his jacket pocket and activated it, revealing the time to him and everyone else in the room. "Oh shit, that must make you guys Cedric's boarding party. Right on," he fished around in various pouches hanging off of his belt before finally pulling out a small device about the size of his thumb. He moved to hand it to Gala before pausing and closing his fingers around it.

"I was sent ahead to gather intelligence and collect any information I can find on what happened here. I have no goddamn idea what's going on, but I managed to secure the ship's navlogs before being injured and forced into hiding," the padawan's earlier persona melted away as he fell into more professional mannerisms. "I'm unwilling to part with the logs until I have evidence you are who I think you are."

It was overly apparent how bad Ryv's last twelve hours had gone and the young man wasn't taking any risks.

 

[Gala Geert]

Her hands snapped up defensively when the lightsaber was activated, and her sword hovered warily at her side while the frazzled youth talked himself down. She was happy to remain silent while he rationalized and only confirmed when needed. "I am with the Imperium." She nodded. "Agent Gladio." It was a weird name, but she'd been fond of it at one point. Ancient Mirilian for sword. He came to his own conclusion that she and Amaris were part of the boarding party. Gala hadn't known there'd be other attempts issued before them, but it looked like this kid had seen fractions of what they'd just been through. "And that's my trainee, Amaris." Trainee may not be the right word, but it was better than side kick.

Gala wasn't hip enough to understand the connotations of a Furry. Amaris just got fluffy sometimes when she was stressed.

The apprehension to divulge anything sensitive was certainly telling. her brow quirked and she shook her head slightly. All these Imperium folk were the same - overcautious and overzealous.

"You're definitely one of the Lord Imperator's."

She didn't sheath her sword, instead gestured passively to the attempt to hand her the information. "Those are the navlogs my team is looking for. You keep 'em, and we'll get you back to our shuttle. There you can hand them over to the mission leader.

Have you seen any of the crew in health?"

Her comm opened and she spoke into the back of her wrist, keeping an eye on the mangled kiffar, and then back at the door. The hallway was still howling. "We have the navlogs secured and will make our way back to the starboard hangar. One more Imperium personnel acquired."


Dak // Amaris Tanenat // Ryv

 

[Amaris Tanenat]

Tags: Gala Geert Dak Ryv

A throbbing pain hit her shoulder rather suddenly. Her fingers briefly locked up as she shook the pain off. At least it just hurt, and she didn't have any urge to eat anyone. At least, she didn't think she did? What would an urge to eat someone be like? What if...

Right, random person - perhaps the only person who didn't want to eat them was laying on the floor, all curled up. The wound on his leg looked pretty nasty, but maybe it was the rather brutal looking stitch job the guy made. Or maybe someone made it for him? Eh, probably safe to assume he had to do it himself. Amaris moved slightly behind Gala but also slightly to her right as she peered towards the man. "He looks a little rough," she muttered quietly.

... a FURRY? Did she look like she was in a fake costume of fur? She gasped. For all intents and purposes, she was hairless besides her head and tail. Something wrong in her genes, that's what her adopted mother, Agatha, had told her. Something went wrong and she just didn't get furry like many of her adopted sisters and brothers. The light, white fur that did exist on her body blended in well with her skin-tone and truthfully, only made her skin feel more silky than anything.

It had been the bane of her youth, being surrounded by rather furrier Felacatians. "You know what? I don't think he has what we need, let's go," she muttered as blue eyes grilled him. "Furry, can barely even see any fur on me. I look like a hairless monkey with pointy ears and a prettier tail, for Force sake," she muttered as she moved away from both Gala and him.

But if anything that steered her back, it was Gala's rather extreme and impressive eye roll. Amaris had become immune to it at this point, but it never got old. "Don't know why anyone else would want to get on this freaky horror ship," she mused after a moments thought. A loud bang on the door, along with a screech, made her jump back a little as her tail and ears puffed back out. "This place is so annoying," she muttered, mostly to herself.

 

[Dak]

Tepasi System // Sacheen II Frigate, Kantius
Objective: X - Blow This Popsicle Stand
Tags: Gala Geert Amaris Tanenat Ryv

<<We have the navlogs secured ... one more Imperium personnel acquired>>

Mission success. And... the pilot?

<<Affirmative,>> Dak responds, slowing his advance toward the aft of the vessel to reconsider his objective. Several corpses can be seen farther ahead, each one showing cold. Before he can continue speaking two shapes come into view of his infrared sensors, these ones still showing a heat signature -- albeit only faintly. Quickly noticing the droid, they bull rush toward him with a fit of screeches and hollers. Surprised, but not caught off guard, the droid responds with several quick body shots from his rifle, putting both down on their approach.

Interesting. He notes to himself, undaunted by the encounter. Things were proving to be different than they initially appeared.

The felacatian had not succumbed to her wound as would be expected from Dak's understanding of the Blackwing Virus. The presence of other, un-turned bodies on the frigate further demonstrated the lack of the pathogenic nature the Sickness was infamous for. But this interaction had been the most curious evidence so far -- an interest in a droid? An inorganic being?

Whatever they were dealing with here, whatever this crew had encountered, it was not Blackwing.

<<Gladio,>> the droid's voice once more broadcasts over the groups' channel <<proceed with the evacuation of the pilot and secure the navlogs. I will attempt to confirm the deaths of the TSF boarding party on my way to the vessel's reactor. I'm going to rig the frigate to self-destruct.>>

He takes a few careful steps forward, monitoring the data coming through his sensory input to prepare for any imminent threats lurking around the bends of the corridor. <<I will utilize a pod to facilitate my own escape. Or, if necessary, eject myself from an airlock. I estimate I can survive in the void for several hours before sustaining any measurable, permanent damage. Assuming I am not damaged by debris.>>

Rounding a corner tightly, Dak catches the outlines of several entities up ahead. He quickly pulls himself back behind cover, delaying his engagement to finish his statement. <<Should I be unable to evacuate, advise command that I am unconvinced that a strain of Blackwing was responsible for this. I'm not yet sure what's happened here, but I'm afraid the explanation may not be that simple.>>

<<May the Force be with you, team.>>