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Post by Brie on Jun 13, 2007 8:00:03 GMT -6
Brie noticed something strange, the way Brik moved his head when he looked at Amy. What was it? Disgust? Disapproval? Disrespect? Whatever it was, it shouldn't have been there. Brie decided to use the fact that there were two non-Gold members there to send Brik a message. She looked at Hush and Janey as she spoke. "Captain Amy is Gold Squadron's Third Officer, and a very good friend. I have trusted her with my life many times. There is no finer warrior on the Callisto." She glanced at Persephone, remembering when she had first seen Amy. Literally. She then addressed the entire group. "If everyone will take a seat, we'll begin."
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Post by Skyler on Jun 13, 2007 9:07:32 GMT -6
The empty void filled him. He pushed it out of his mind. He had to maintain his bearing… his military bearing. How he had hated that term in Infantry Basic. The grizzled Drill Sgt. Majareson had hammered it into them. Maintain your military bearing, show them you are Warriors. Never let them see you cry, military bearing will get you through any problem, any situation. It sounded then like the biggest load of felgercarb in the fleet, but it worked. Now it was working again…. Skyler pushed his emotions, his feelings to the side. One day, yahrens from now, if he survived that long, he would face all the things he had pushed to the side, but now was not the time. He had let his bearing slip some in the past yahrens, with Brie and the trail and well, since the moon mission. He wouldn’t allow that to happen again. His friends needed him, the fleet needed him…. Brie would need him.
When they reentered the briefing room the Old Skyler was back. Gone was any sign of the pain, the broken heart. The signs of cracking jokes and picking on Logan, it was all business now. He nodded to the two Warriors from Bronze Squadron, not knowing why they were there, but glad to see them. He was proud of them, they over came to hype and proved to everyone that they were more than third rate Warriors, useful only for leak detection details of various kinds. He went about the pre-mission check list, of course he was looking at the worst case section, and he always did.
Amy walked in, wearing…. A really long shirt for a uniform… he almost wanted to smile. He remembered the first time he had worked with Amy, the spraying mission, her external tank not releasing, and the mess that followed. She did have some strange behavior from time to time, but all in all, a fine Warrior, one he was proud to serve with. He noticed Brie’s facial expression upon Amy’s entrance. He also noticed the looks of the other Warriors, Brik’s head shake, the pure look of unbelief on Hush and Janey. So much for the mystique of Gold Squadron he thought, they will know that we are all just as dysfunctional as the rest of the Squadrons, we just have more…. More what? that was a good question. One he wouldn’t have the time to ponder….
"If everyone will take a seat, we'll begin."
Warriors moved to their seats, Hush and Janey taking seats offered to them by Logan and Brie moved to address them.
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Post by Brie on Jun 13, 2007 12:52:13 GMT -6
Brie recognized the stone cold look on Skyler's face. Separating emotions from duty was something that all warriors needed to be able to do if they expected to survive, but Skyler was better at it than most. She knew that she had hurt him, and had the feeling that he had realized that there was someone else. She briefly wondered if he knew that it was JustinB. Damn that Roxzanna-Rizou and the IFB! It was bad enough that warriors had to put their lives on the line every day in order to protect the fleet, but parading around like their private lives should be public knowledge...it disgusted her. She felt terrible for JustinB, knowing that he was the reporter's target. She knew that she was relatively safe, most people knew Brie only as a warrior and she had only been recognized once when they were on the Starliner Alpha. All suspicion was off of her, thanks to Logan.
Taking her place at the front Brie cleared her throat. "I'm going to start by giving a little bit of background. Captain Amy is already familiar with this, so we can start without her." She turned off the lights and flipped a switch. Pierce's image filled the screen in front of her. "For those of you who may not know, this is Major Pierce. He's the man who killed my husband."
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Post by Logan on Jun 13, 2007 12:55:17 GMT -6
This just gets better and better, Logan thought as she took her seat. With all the curious interactions leading up to this briefing, she had no doubt that by now Hush and Janey could see that Gold was just like every other Squadron in the Fleet, comprised of Warriors with distinct personalities and humans with flaws and idiosynchrises just like everyone else.
As Brie stood at the front of the room and the Warriors settled themselves in their chairs, she took a moment to look around. They were waiting for Captain Amy to return, so she used the microns to try to gain some perspective on the emotions in the room. Even in a routine assignment, the team's temperaments could make the difference between success and failure.
Something was wrong with Skyler. He was sitting in the front row beside Janey and Persephone, a look of pure determination on his face. Logan had seen him bluff through enough Pyramid games to know that he had lowered his 'Attention to duty' mask. She also knew that when he was ready, he'd tell her and Brik and not before. He could be just as stubborn as she was when he had his mind made up about something.
Logan found herself seated between Hush and Brik in the second row of seats. She had swallowed her nervousness and was prepared for the briefing, her confidence restored now that the surpise of seeing Hush again had saturated itself somewhere deep inside her.
Hush and Janey were quiet and she assumed they were anxious to find out what the mission would require of them. They had both been important parts of the last joint mission's success and their talents were obviously being acknowledged once again. Janey's enthusiasm seemed to seep from her like an aura filling the room. In counterpoint to that, Hush's calm manner was reassuring.
Persephone sat with her arms folded in her lap, soaking up the mood of her first official briefing. Logan smiled and recalled how anxious and willing to prove herself she had been when in the new Lt.'s boots.
Brik sat beside her, no expression on his face, but she could see in his eyes that he was mentally prepping for the briefing and no doubt, thinking on the Major's words before they had taken their seats.
Which lead Logan to Major Brie. Her earlier outburst at their joking and her apology. Something about this mission had the Major vexed and wearing emotions more openly than Logan had ever seen in her before. Logan hadn't worked with Captain Amy that closely in the past, but knew that she was a colorful character. Most of the members of Gold were characters themselves, so Logan never listened to the gossip about the girl, knowing full well how rumors distorted truths and denied access to a person's true likeness.
But there was another strange thing. Logan was certain that if she, Persephone or, By the Lords of Kobol, Skyler or Brik had showed up at an official briefing half-dressed and looking as if they hadn't slept in cycles, Brie's response would not have been to tell the others in the room about the dignified career of the Warrior in question. In fact, hadn't Brie just dressed down Brik in the Launch Bay recently for interrupting a conversation between herself and Logan, reminding him of protocol and the image that Gold Squadron Warriors should uphold at all times?
Logan knew that Brik would give Amy the benefit of the doubt, as would Logan, based on nothing other than Brie's opinion of the girl. Logan trusted Brie's judgement implicitly. But Logan had to wonder. What the frack is going on around here?
Taking her place at the front Brie cleared her throat. "I'm going to start by giving a little bit of background. Captain Amy is already familiar with this, so we can start without her." She turned off the lights and flipped a switch. Pierce's image filled the screen in front of her. "For those of you who may not know, this is Major Pierce. He's the man who killed my husband."
And pieces began to click into place for Logan. If the mission had anything to do with Pierce, it was no wonder Brie was on edge. She recalled vividly the lengths she and Brie had gone to back on the Agro Ship to escape with their lives from Pierce's foiled takeover of the Fleet.
Logan sat up straighter in her chair, all her attention on Brie and the screen now. This is not going to be good, whatever it is. I can feel it.
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Post by Brie on Jun 13, 2007 16:09:24 GMT -6
Brie paused but maintained her composure. "Very briefly, let me tell you what really happened, not the IFB version. Several yahrens back Pierce was making plans to assassinate the president. Captain Turner, my late husband, found out about it and their plot was foiled. Pierce had Turner murdered because of it. Fast forward several yahrens. Pierce had a large group in place, people on every ship in the fleet, intending to take over. I'll skip most of the details but Commander Apollo found out about it and formulated his own plan. My phony tribunal and conviction were to make Pierce slip up and it worked. He tried to take over the Agro Ship, wanting to control the fleet's food supply. I was there because they had kidnapped me out of the brig, Lieutenant Logan was there also, posing as a member of Pierce's group. When Pierce realized that his plan had failed he called for a mass suicide, and he died as well. But there were some survivors, and that's where our assignment comes in."
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Post by Brie on Jun 14, 2007 8:04:45 GMT -6
Brie fiddled with the projector, trying to get the next picture to appear. This mission wasn't bringing her closure, it was opening old wounds. After a micron or two, ten smaller, individual pictures appeared next to each other on the screen. "Ten of Pierce's followers are still here, in the Callisto brig. They have all pleaded guilty to a multitude of charges, including treason and murder. They need to be transferred to the Prison Barge. That, quite simply, is our assignment. The prisoners will be divided into two groups, five male and five female." She changed the slide, five females faces showed. "I will be piloting the first shuttle, known as Shuttle One, with the five female prisoners. Lieutenant Brik will be my co-pilot, Captain Amy will be our escort in Viper One. Lieutenant Janey, you will be in the back, guarding the prisoners. Fleet Security will also have one guard on each shuttle." She changed the slide again, this time it was the five male prisoners. "Lieutenant Logan will pilot Shuttle Two, Lieutenant Persephone co-pilot, Lieutenant Hush will act as guard and Captain Skyler will pilot Viper Two." Her face grew more serious. "This is a cult, these people think that Pierce is a god, and will do anything that they think that he would want them to do. They believe that men are superior and women subservient. They refer to my late husband as 'The Great Traitor', to me as 'The Widow', and to themselves as 'The New Secret Survival Society'. They will of course be shackled, but they are extremely dangerous, every one of them. That's why we won’t be bringing our lasers. There will be no firearms at all on the shuttles."
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Post by Logan on Jun 14, 2007 17:45:15 GMT -6
Every survival instinct Logan had was on high alert now and the prickling feeling at the base of her neck made her shift positions in her chair.
If this is what the Brass considers a routine mission, they've been in the war room and out of the cockpit too long.
And the faces of the male prisoners were still on the screen at the front of the room. One of them seemed to be looking straight at her, increasing her unease. Comeek. Not as muscular as he was now, but just as strange, with that bizarre gleam in his eye and the curtains of stringy hair framing his face.
Prisoner transfer was usually light duty. But these weren't normal prisoners. These were madmen bent on the destruction of anyone or anything that stood in the way of their goals. They weren't afraid of death. They weren't afraid of the authorities. They certainly weren't afraid of a few unarmed Colonial Warriors on a shuttle.
Logan felt, more than heard, Brik's grunt of dismay at the order that they would be unarmed. She would usually agree with him, but after seeing the way the Secret Survival Society operated she could understand, if not agree with, the decision.
And all of the Warriors in this briefing were trained in hand to hand combat, if the need arose. Logan had even employed a very satisfying physical training technique on the Agro Ship when she had been forced to knock Comeek unconscious.
But there was something else. The timing of Comeek's request to meet with her, his questions and now, this mission. It was all too convenient. She hadn't seen any need to tell Brie about her meeting with Comeek and had decided to put the interview out of her mind.
But now, with his image leering off the screen and the warning klaxons going off in her mind, Logan readjusted herself in her seat again and waited on the edge of her seat for Brie to call for questions.
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BRIK
Viper Pilot
Posts: 227
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Post by BRIK on Jun 15, 2007 0:52:50 GMT -6
"They will of course be shackled, but they are extremely dangerous, every one of them. That's why we won’t be bringing our lasers. There will be no firearms at all on the shuttles." "Mmph!" Brik mildly startled himself and, after a moment, looked casually around to see if anyone noticed his grunt. He hadn't meant to respond so vocally and was afraid that it might give the wrong impression. He might not be happy with the announcement but, being a highly trained and experienced professional (as they ALL were, make no mistake) he understood and, grudgingly, agreed, even admitted to himself that he would've made the same decision. But FRACK. He was a man capable of dealing some rather impressive bare-fisted damage, but sometimes a blaster settled the matter a bit more authority. And these prisoners were in sore need of some properly applied authority. Well, at least he'd be paired with the Major and Janey, both Warriors that he needed to know more about. Routine mission. How he hated that term, it gave the wrong impression to the un-initiated. NOTHING was "routine" and when you included some conniving, murdering, blood-thirsty maniacs like the New Secret Survival Society, the word shouldn't even be allowed in the same room. May the stars watch over them all, he had a feeling that this mission was going to be anything but routine.
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Post by Brie on Jun 15, 2007 13:59:52 GMT -6
Brie thought she heard "Mmph!" coming from Brik's direction upon her announcement that they would be unarmed but chose to ignore it. She paused for a micron so that everyone would have time to let that announcement set in. She knew that there were some warriors who felt naked without their sidearm. She also knew that depending too much on one's weapon and not enough of one's brain could be dangerous.
"We won't be defenseless," she continued. "The back of the shuttles will be equipped with canisters of anaesthesine vapor. Janey and Hush, if either of you are allergic to it you need to remove yourselves from this assignment. I myself am allergic to it and believe me, it's no picnic. The doors to the cockpits will be closed, and it there is the slightest hint of a problem from any of the prisoners, the vapor should be released. It would knock everyone out, including our guards, but it would take care of any potential situations. Major Urdea is informing the two Security Officers that will be joining us of the same thing. A special ventilation system and timer have been installed in the shuttles, it will clean the air once every five centons so if the vapor is released it won't linger."
Brie changed the slide, Trula's face was now seen. "Now on to our passengers."
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Post by Skyler on Jun 15, 2007 15:35:19 GMT -6
Brie changed the slide, Trula's face was now seen. "Now on to our passengers."
Brie paused, "No, we just can't shoot them and be done with it." and she turned her attention back to her breifing.
Skyler cut his eyes from side to side... how... ok, he thought, so it would be simpler to just shoot them and be done with it. Wasting space and supplies on low life scum that wanted to kill the entire fleet.... crazy.... but how did she know he was thinking that...?
Brie continued her breifing.....
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