Chapter 8 to 1 - Book 1: Epilogue

[CadetNewb]

Co-authored by: Ray of Meep (GM), Acewing13, Ikate Keda Studios, PaladinGreco, Piston1937, TheCountryWarrior

23XX, 36 hours after the Fabron raid
In low orbit of the Fabron asteroid, aboard Daheim One
[Eberhard and Joan Medbay] (Ray of Meep, Edto, and TheCountryWarrior, primarily)

Eberhard sighed while he tapped away at his datapad, held at a short distance away from his face by a robotic arm as he laid in his medical bed. He was currently in the habitation module's medbay, enjoying the luxuries of gravity while bandages were wrapped around his abdomen, his shoulder, and his chest, while a pipe was sticking out of his right lung, making every breath a pained experience.

The numbers and text scrolled by. Around twenty Chongwu and humans complicit in the illegal weapons fabrication killed, less than ten captured. Multiple crates of unfinished and finished products seized, along with a few computer drives poked with bullet holes, half melted, and any data pads the participants had on them. A video showed Derek's explosive charges shredding apart the facility from the inside, cutting apart rooms and hallways, completely destroying the fusion engine that powered the whole ordeal, making the entire facility uninhabitable and unusable, waiting to be excavated and scrapped by Fabron station laborers.

Finally, there were the reports on friendly equipment expenditures and casualties. An untold amount of ammunition and explosives, two scout droids badly damaged, half a dozen IVAS' in various states of repair. Two members of the Magnuski Special Forces suffered light injuries, one heavy. The Grau Lancers, on the other hand...

Eberhard lowered his datapad, getting a view of Joan on the opposite end of the room in her own bed. She was braced at the neck by a cervical collar, and at her broken spine more polymer braces. A medbot was next to her, administrating a cocktail of drugs that fed through tubes into her wrist and abdomen. The woman currently had her eyes closed, unknown to Eberhard if she was just trying to get some rest, or completely unconscious. He winced, knowing that he'll get a full recovery in due time, but Joan may never live a normally physical life again.

The sliding door to the medbay opened as Ulrike walked in with a mixed, unknowable expression. She glanced at the shut-eyed Joan, before walking up to Eberhard and pulling up a chair.

"We did it." Ulrike remarked to Eberhard with a flat expression. "Amanda Wang's in our custody now along with all those Chongwu and people we got out of there." Eberhard looked at Ulrike as her mouth began to quiver. "We've learned a lot about this operation already, from the armor they were using to the cloaking tech to the gravity plating to the drugs---"

"Ulrike," Eberhard interrupted her, "Do me a damn favor and spit it out already. Your bullshit's making it harder to breathe than it already is."

His wife replied first with an inaudible whimper, then tears, then an exclamation. "You could've died out there!" She leaned forward to hug Eberhard's head next to her own. "And I don't know what to do with Joan! She's fucked, and I can't help but feel that was somehow our fault!"

"Oh fuck off..." Joan whispered, trying to move her head, squeaking in discomfort as she learned she couldn't. She tried to shift in bed, still couldn't, and groaned in frustration. "Wha' drugs are ya usin on me? Dey're more effective den an epidural, data Fer sore," she muttered. "Ah can't see more den da ceiling!"

Ulrike wiped her eyes off, then walked over to Joan's bed. She strapped Joan securely first with some belts, before tapping a button that inclined the bed upwards, allowing eye contact in a reasonable manner. "How... how are you doing?"

"All fings considahed," Joan said, looking down at her legs with a bit of confusion. "Alive is bettah den dead. Ah survived worse, Reckon ah'll be up in about in no time. 'ow're Jacob in Mandy?" She asked, now trying to look towards the door. "Dey know ah'm alive rightr?"

Ulrike nodded. "I've told them their Mom got injured and needs some time in the medbay first. They actually came in to see you while you were unconscious. I haven't told them... you know."

Joan gave Ulrike a look. "Ah know what?" She asked furrowing her brows. "Dat it was a Chongwu dat did dis ta me? Probably not a good idea all fings considahed. At leas', I fink it was a chongwu? Everyfing is all blurry right bout den, is all."

Eberhard and Ulrike looked at each other and winced. Ulrike put a hand on Joan's. "Joan, honey..."

"Spit it out, Ulrike, she needs to know. Ow!" Eberhard commented before flinching at another jolt of pain in his lung.

"Joan, you got hurt pretty badly---" Ulrike stammered.

"Yeah ah kinda figured if ah'm 'ere," Joan said, her throat tightening up a little. "In ah'll be back in a few weeks. Das kinda 'ow gettin 'urt works round 'ere..."

"Joan." Ulrike put her free hand on her mouth. Eberhard turned his head to look away. "That thing that skewered you... it tore through your spine. We can rig you up with cybernetics, but---"

Joan looked at Ulrike, then laughed a little. "Nice try," She said, looking down at the straps. "Ya know yer a shyte liar right?" She asked, shaking her head. "Dis is on da same level as coverin me body in saying ah'm just a head, and y'all 'ave a chuckle as ah freak out. Ah'm not on enough drugs a fall fer dat un ya know." She said looking at the straps again. "Ya kin undo me you know, not like ah'll just float away in 'ere."

"Joan! Please!" Ulrike moved her hand onto Joan's shoulder, which Joan quickly swatted.

"It ain't funny no more!" Joan snapped, her hands starting to shake as she started at the strap around her chest. "Ya 'ave shit bedside manner, in ah wanna see me dusties. Let me fuckin go!"

Ulrike gave a look at Eberhard, then shook her head. "That's not going to happen. If anything else happens to your spine you won't be able to walk, even with cybernetics. Joan, I can't---"

"No no no..." Joan groaned, laying back down. "I'll be fine... Ah'm always fine..." She whispered to herself.

Juan's heart was torn between getting there as soon as possible and hiding. His choice was made for him for a time, as there was still work to do. But there was nothing stopping him now save his own fear of what he would see. What he knew had happened. Heart full of dread, Juan entered the room, eyes drifting to Joan. Even now she was fighting. He approched the table where she was laid out, a metaphorical lump in his throat the size of a baseball. He stood by Ulrike, looking down at Joan with a sad smile, the sadness of his expression hidden terribly. "Joan, hey cutie, glad to see you're up." Despite his best efforts, his voice wavered.

"Tell Ulrike Ah'm fine in she's shitty at telling jokes!" Joan growled, glaring at Ulrike, who remained wordless, thinking to herself.

Juan's heart dropped further, and he managed to take her hand, and look her in the eyes pointedly. "I'm so sorry, Joan. It's not a joke." His hand trembled but kept hers grasped firmly, as comfortingly as possible for one in his position.

"Fuck?" Joan whined, pulling at her hair with her free hand. "Fuck fuck fuck!"

Juan's breathing was labored, at his least favorite position in life. Unable to do anything. "Yeah." Trying to swallow the lump in his throat, he kept her hand in his. "At the very least you're alive. The kids will prefer that over the other option."

"'ow am ah s'posed to tell ma kids..." She asked, starting to breathe heavily. "'ow am ah s'posed to take care o' em? Ah can't fight no more, ah can't walk, I can't..." She said, continuing to breathe heavily, whining all the while.

Juan leaned on the bed, squeezing her hand. "You're still going to take care of them. You head wasn't hurt, and you're still as commanding as ever. Jacob will help you where he can, and I will help you where I can. Life isn't over..." His eyes were wet with tears. He just stared at her with big eyes, doing his damndest to be strong. "You've got some fight left in you, I know you do!"

"Joan." For what seemed like the millionth time, Ulrike said her name again. "I've known you for a while now. If I was just looking for raw combat skills, I would've hired someone else. I want to still keep you on the ship. How about you work in the bridge with me? I could use the help manging logistics and overall strategy." She offered.

"Oh shut up!" Joan snapped, covering her face. "All o' ya! Just, leave me alone!" She whined, taking another couple breaths. "Fuck!"

Juan didn't back up, still holding her hand. He gave her hand a kiss, pulled a chair over, sat down, and said nothing. He wasn't leaving. But at the very least he could be quiet and let her think.

 

[CadetNewb]

[Amanda Wang's interrogation] (Ray of Meep, Acewing, and TheCountryWarrior, primarily)

Ulrike watched Juan and Beatrix float forwards to the storage room in the command module. "You have no idea what strings I had to pull just so you could get some time with her." She stepped aside. "Remember, she leaves the ship alive, and no permanent injuries."

Juan had been waiting for this moment, this being the only thing that he would leave Joan's side for. "What are they planning to do with her when she's out there? She either gets bought off and saved, goes to jail and we don't get justice, or her boss has her killed. Either way, we don't get our fair share."

"You'd get even less if she didn't get dragged onto this ship." Ulrike shook her head. "Here's your chance to get some answers that'll hopefully satisfy you more than what law enforcement is going to get out of her. Derek's inside to make sure you don't tear her eye balls out or something. Don't give her the option to sue. You know this bitch more than I do." Ulrike admonished, and stepped to the side.

The room was harshly lit with lights pointed at the central figure from all angles, who was strapped in a straitjacket and anchored to the floor, with a desk in front of her with a bottle of water and dry food velcroed to it. Derek was kept in a corner, dutifully providing the prisoner nourishment whenever she requested it. It wasn't necessary; handcuffs would've been less humiliating, but for some reason Ulrike felt it appropriate to bond her in this state.

Derek made a mental note: Never. Piss. Off. Ulrike. Never ever.

With that thought properly cataloged, Derek admitted this particular person really deserved it. After talking with some of the crew and Ulrike during his regular sojourns through the ship, he was made aware of this woman’s history. She was vile on her own, but then came the whole ordeal with the illegal arms factory on Fabron Station. Derek had a small armory of axes to grind over that, so he’d just accepted this job without question when Ulrike asked. And so, here he was. The people who would actually perform the interrogation, his new comrades, would be arriving soon.

Juan stepped in, not waiting for Bee to speak. He stood before the Bitch with the harshest glare. His face spread out into a wicked smile, and he spoke with ice in his words. "Face to face again. I know you're a bit tied up at the moment, but by golly I was sure hoping you could answer some questions for me. I've got a couple off the top of my head. You play nice now, or I'm going to have to be a little more liberal in my methods. First question, which one is your real name?"

"Mr. Maxwell, can you give me a drink, please?" The woman ignored Juan at first, but then replied back to him. "Amanda Wang." She flatly replied.

Juan smiled still. He looked up to Derek and shook his head lightly. "Thanks for that. So, what was the idea with the whole station? Seems like a lot of work, so what was the point?"

"To make money. Piracy has always had a demand for weapons, and they don't want to go through the scrutiny of getting it registered through bureacracy. Wasn't that obvious?" She kept her eyes down.

"Oh yes, I already knew that. I just like hearing you say it out loud. What a clever move using the Chongwu too, you bitch. Plucked from one life of servitude to another, and drained of every last cent. Tell me about the shit you hopped them up on. What was that about? A little insurance?"

"Drugs are cheaper than gravity, and it's hard to find the space to hide a large hab mod." Wang shrugged. She was clearly neither the smug lawyer they witnessed in the court, nor the announcer at the illegal facility.

Juan noticed her new demeanor, and gave 0 total shits about it. The bill has come due. "Tell us about the console, all the files you deleted before you took some volts to the chest. Which I'm told was hilarious. Tell us what you had on there, before the tech boys figure it out anyway. If you're real helpful, this meeting ends better for you."

"You could've inferred the information from the Chongwu in juggernaut armor, the cloaking tech, and my gravity plate office. I'll give you a minute to make a guess first." Wang looked up with the faintest glint of defiance.

Juan rolled his eyes, stepping closer. "Oh god it's like listening to nails on a chalkboard. Yeah, problem is, the computer no doubt had a lot on it, as computers tend to do. So we can go ahead and say 'oh of course, weapons development for pirates' but what I'm really asking for are names, places, individuals. I'll give you a minute to make a mental list." He gave her a shit eating grin, utterly filled with malice.

Beatrix, having been silent for the past few minutes, chuckled and walked around the table, pulling out a small syringe filled with a purple substance. "Here, let me give you a helping hand with that," she said, before sticking it in Amanda's neck.

"Urggh!" Wang's eyes dialated, then went shut in response to the now blinding lights. She breathed faster and more audibly. "Alright," She started into nothing. "What do you want again?"

"Let's start with the names of the pirates you were dealing with," Bee said, hopping up onto the table, sitting just to the other woman's right.

"Heh, more than you can remember." Wang smirked. "More than I can remember. Come on, you think I got my license by memorizing names? No, it was thousands of pages of laws instead! Wait." She let out a short giggle. "Look, I don't remember. You said you were going to recover the drive anyways, so what's the point? Next!"

"Some buisnesswoman you are," Beatrix replied, before whipping her combat boot into the side of Amanda's knee. "Who were your big customers?"

There was an audible pop as a composite of polymers and metal slammed into bone. "Fuck!" Wang yelped in pain. "A lot of them were either killed or captured, no thanks to you. You know, you hero wannabes are really a pain in the ass."

Juan watched with a smile. "Yeah, that's the general idea. So, a lot doesn't mean all. Care to elaborate on some names?"

"..." Wang paused. "How about GDW and AU space command for you? Or their respective member state armies on Earth?"

"Come again?" Bee asked, eyebrow raised. "You expect us to believe nation states were buying weapons from you?" she added, before grinding her boot into the other woman's injured leg.

"Urrrgh!" Wang seethed. "I take the hero wannabe comment back. No wonder people I know hate your guts beyond hurting the bottom line. Look, I don't know too much about GDW bureacracy, but the Union's is a real pain the ass, like you. All the smaller member states need to get new toys with whatever the hell's going on on Earth, and space command marines are getting nervous about an upcoming war. Don't believe me? Take a trip to the Middle East. People aren't happy with your commonwealth."

Juan chuckled, thinking up some new questions. "To be fair, the Middle East hasn't exactly been stable. Ever. Alright, a new line of questioning. Who's in charge of you?"

"If I knew I wouldn't have taken a boot to the knee." Wang growled. "Simmons, you're a medic, mind if you check that it's not cracked or something later?"

"Ehh, probably just dislocated," Beatrix said, looking at the offending knee. "I'll take a look at it when you give us something concrete to go on."

"Anything like that is on that hard drive. Why do you think I was wiping it?" Wang shook her head.

"Sounds like it might be a while then," Bee said, hopping off the table and grabbing the injured leg. "Might as well see how bad it is though," she added, probing the bruise with her thumb.

"Fuuck!" Wang winced. Then, in an act of lunacy, she leaned forward and licked Beatrix in the face, like a dog.

Derek quietly winced, and wondered just what the hell Beatrix had given the woman. He remained quiet, though.

"I don't like you enough to be into that," Beatrix said, before giving Amanda an uppercut to the jaw.

As Bee slammed her fist into the woman's chin with a glorious upward motion, Juan kicked the chair out from under the bitch so she'd land on her back, her head feeling a grand pain as it bounched against the floor.

"That makes the two of us." Wang spit out some blood, revealing scraped up gums. "Bring me up, maybe?"

"I don't know," Bee said with a shrug. "Kinda like you being on the floor. Seems fitting."

"Yes, it really is fascinating to see how far you've fallen." Juan looked down at her, smirking maliciously. He raised his own boot and swiftly kicked her side.

"Ugggh..." Wang coughed. "Alright alright I'm sorry I crippled Ambrose. Feel better now?"

"I will when you give us something useful to check out to confirm that there's going to be a war on," Beatrix said, putting her weight on a chair leg, so the back of the chair came off the deck a few inches.

Juan frowned, and kicked her again. "Oh how nice, you're sorry. Tell Bee about the War to End All Wars, maybe we'll by it. If you help us out, I'll kick you for slightly less time than I would have."

"Just read the headlines. I anticipate they'll come out in a few hours. I don't know the details, but I do know that we sent supplies to some frontier Union system." Wang smirked. "Look, both you and I know you're going to have to stop eventually, or else you might accidentally rupture an organ and the higher ups are going to get pissed at your petty little band of hero wannabes. More likely though, Mr. Rational here," She nodded to Derek, "will have to hold you back and at that point you should replace this shit you call food and get me some real popcorn."

 

[CadetNewb]

"And even if you do beat the shit out of me, what is it going to do? Will it get Ambrose up walking again? Or is it going to satisfy your pathetic ego? What I was doing was business, nothing personnel. What you're doing right now? It's petty, real selfish." In her drugged up state, she antagonized Juan further.

Juan leaned down to her face, and nodded. "Yeah. I know." He stood to his full height, and looked to Bee. "I think you can handle what I'm putting on her. After all," he looks back down to The Bitch, "nothing permantent. I got some petty shit to work through." He raised his boot and brought it down on her stomach. "Just business. Yeah yeah yeah, I heard it all before. 'I was just doing business! It ain't personal! You're the selfish one for taking it so personal' bitch you are a broken record for a band that covered someone elses tune." He delivered a kick to her ribs, his voice slowly rising. "It's the whores and bastards like you that fuck this world, no, the whole fucking universe untill you've bled it dry. No sympathy. No fucks given." He leaned closer, holding her by the shoulder with his off hand, and bringing a heavy blow to her face, his voice low, enraged, his eyes hateful. "If it were up to me every last one of you would be shot." He was off his fucks now, a fist to her face, a second round of that, and again, and again, and again...

Someone grabbed Juan's off-hand arm, then grabbed his punching arm as it pulled back for another go, and then that someone started to pull the man away from the prisoner. The sound of Derek's voice, with more than a bit of urgency to it, sounded in Juan's ears: "Alright. Whoa, there. That's enough Juan." The man continued to pull Juan away as he spoke. "Any more, and you'll kill the woman."

Wang's face was a bloodied mess at this point, and she already passed out after the first two blows.

Once Juan relaxed a bit, Derek let him go.

Breathing only slightly heavier than before, he stood upright, staring down at his work. He spoke so coldly of her, glaring down at her with a hate in his eyes. "What a shame. If anyone deserved removal from the face of the fucking universe it's her." Juan was done here, his fist bloodied with the blood of the heartless, he turned around and walked out of the room.

----------------------------------------------

[Discussion with Chloe of the Chongwu] (Ray of Meep and Edto, primarily)

Chloe sat in the ships bar, nursing one of the Grau's specialty beers as she looked over a Datapad. She was wearing her usual attire, a charcoal skirted suit, wearing glasses. She sighed a little, flicking over to another screen, taking her glasses off and looking about the room at the other patrons. A few crew members. She looked at an older one, looking over an excessive amount of Datapads, while drinking something that looked like wine. She let out a hum, putting her own Datapad away and walking over. "Hello there," She smiled kindly, and expression that came easily to her. "Mind if I take a seat?"

Derek looked up from the datapad he was holding to see the shockingly familiar monochrome furred dog Chongwu. Once his eyebrows returned from orbit, the man nodded and said, “Sure thing. Pull up a chair.” He then set the datapad down atop the stack, and took another sip.

Chloe did such, keeping her easy smile, resting her head on her hands as she looked at him. "So, three data pads?" She asked, looking the pads over. "You know, one can do the same job," She said, looking back up at Derek. "I mean, unless you don't like tabs..."

Derek nodded and grinned wryly. “Yeah... I should know better. Old habits die hard I s’pose. Got swept up in getting things done, and….” He shrugged, snerked at himself, and took another drink. “So what brings you into my orbit?” Derek asked in a lightly bemused tone one only hears from old hands aboard naval vessels when a commissioned officer wanders up to talk to them.

"Curiosity," Chloe said simply. "Boredom," She added with a soft shrug. "Nothing like a handsome, well aged man to occupy your time with, no?" She asked coyly.

Derek chuckled and shook his head. “Curious, bored, and playful.” He put his drink down, looked in her direction, still grinning. “Alright, how can this well aged man slake your curiosity and cure thine boredom, hmm?”

"Ooo, Gentleman," Chloe cooed, leaning back in her chair. "Well, to be honest I don't really know. I'm not a huge fan of spaceships. There really isn't much to do?" She half asked, looking around the room. "I mean, I could drink, but that just makes me drunk. Though, it's funny how many of the men on this ship have been staring. Maybe that's what drew me to you. You haven't been staring. I'm trying to figure out why. Are you the only one on this ship who doesn't find me pretty, or are you gay?"

Derek smirked at Chloe’s playful assertion, and nodded when the woman stated the obvious about normal folks having little love of and little to do aboard a combat ship like the Daheim One. It was one of the reasons why he’d deliberately formed the habit of roaming ships he’d been posted to. Just moving around was decent exercise, but the real reason was to run into people and find things to do to fill his time. In other words, Derek liked to, as the saying went, ‘borrow trouble.’ He supposed that’s what Chloe was doing. Or, given her playful tone and her choice of words, actively courting it would be a better description.

Derek was in the middle of taking another drink, when Chloe’s blunt phrasing hit him right in the funny bone, causing him to spit his drink back into the glass… mostly. He was desperately trying to stifle his laughter as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, but gave up the effort as soon as he was done and just laughed heartily for a moment. Derek turned to look at the woman, and just up and said, “Oh, please. There’s no reason to stare slack-jawed and drooling like a snot nosed middy. I don’t need to undress you with my eyes. I’ve already seen everything.” He paused, and took a drink before continuing in a more conversational tone. “I figured you get enough of that kind of treatment, just like any other famous person, and decided I wasn’t going to add to it. Thought you’d appreciate it.”

Chloe was unphased by the literal spit take, only grinning wider. She licked her muzzle slowly, picking up her beer and taking a few doggish laps at it. "I suppose that's fair. Most men have likely seen quite a bit of me in action, though usually when I talk to them they gawk. It's cute, actually. You can actually watch the fantasies playing out in their eyes when they get excited enough," She leaned forward. "But why do I have a feeling you're just much better at hiding it?"

Derek had to admit, it would be quite easy to just stare and fantasize about her and his wife, now that Chloe mentioned it, but he declined to do so. It was clear this was a game to Chloe, and she’d just get bored again and wander off if he played to her expectations. Derek didn’t like letting this opportunity to just talk with her get away like that, especially when he had plenty of curiosity to sate in return. “If I weren’t, would you be here talking to me now?” Derek grinned, denying nothing. Then he sounded thoughtful. “I must confess to curiosity of my own… Like why are you here on the ship?”

"Because we're paying her to help us with the Chongwu we arrested." Ulrike walked in, nodding to Daheim One's staff as she passed them by, then sat next to Derek, keeping him between her and Chloe. She poured herself a glass of beer.

 

[CadetNewb]

Chloe sighed softly, looking disappointed. "There goes the broom closet idea," She said, before looking at Ulrike with a smile. "Hello there Ms Grau! I hope your other night with Eberhard was as eventful as I think it was," She stated with a coy, teasing tone.

Derek turned to face the bar and finished his glass off while he mentally connected the dots, and tactfully kept his mouth shut. He realized he'd been on the bridge with Ulrike when Eberhard burst onto the scene near the end of their meeting, and that must have been what was eating at her attention span throughout their chat. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the Other Woman in that picture was Chloe. Not after Derek's short experience talking to her, at any rate. ...The glare Ulrike was giving her also helped.

"That's a terrible joke, considering that my husband is on a tube right now. But you didn't know that, so I'll ignore what you said." Ulrike took a gulp of her alcohol.

"Oh no," Chloe said, pulling out her Datapad and shaking it slightly. "I'm well aware. Lung shot, and your comander," Chloe said, air quoting commander, "Is paralized from the waist down. I provided this house visit to see if I might cheer them up, but Eberhard might be a little sore about the whole movie night thing, and well... Ms Ambrose hates dogs it seems. Who woulda thought? No idea why, we are amazing," She grinned. "Smiling is good for the soul Ulrike. You should do it, even if it hurts."

Ulrike raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I can smile right now, considering that not only is my best friend crippled, my husband shot, but also that you know what happened to them. I don't recall making that information publically available."

Derek mentally sighed as he refilled his glass, and settled in to play the role of De-Militarized Zone between the two women.

"Who said it was publically available?" Chloe asked, swiping through the tablet. "While you may think you have a lot of connections Ms Grau, I can assure you I have a significant amount more," She said with a smile. "Anything the Government can do, the private sector can do ten fold, and you spend most of your life in the public sector, so I don't hold it against you," She said plainly. "That, and one of the Chongwu you saved," She said, giving 'chongwu' a strange inflection, "While drugged, is apparently used to it, and remembered quite a bit of the scene regarding Ms Ambrose. Oh, and she also isn't a chongwu, if you would believe it."

Ulrike downed her entire drink, then poured another. "That's a lot of what-the-fuck you threw at me all at once. I already know I have to go give an earful to leakers, but come again with the Chongwu? What else are we dealing with here? Aliens?"

Derek found the idea of Ulrike trying to prune back 'The Grapevine' fairly amusing. Commanders had tried over the centuries to kill it off entirely, but it always resisted such efforts like a weed. He supposed he'd need to suggest ways of using it for her own ends than just going after it like an angry gardener. His Bosun had taught him a few tricks about tapping into it, getting a feel for who was talking about what, and also feeding it. He'd found that very useful.

Less amusing, though, was Chloe's baiting and goading of Ulrike. Derek quietly wished Ulrike would stop falling for them, but could see that her present emotional state was making that... difficult. Derek really couldn't fault her for that, since he'd been present for the whole ordeal, and she hadn't. He'd had a lot more time to adjust to the reality of those events and their aftermath than she had.

"Yes, actually," Chloe smiled. "Literally an alien. Not Human, not Daqin, not human at all. She is apparently something called an Aos Si. And if you would believe it, her appearance is due to, well, actual magic! Can't say I fully believe it, but I've done the DNA tests and, well, nothing came up! Which is much weirder than it sounds."

"I've heard rumors from the Soyuz, how they're integrating elves into their society. Are they the same as Aos Si?" Ulrike asked in a much calmer tone. "Regardless, what do you want me to do with her? I'm almost afraid to ask. We're already transporting the ones we did arrest back to Sol for you."

"Oh," Chloe said, taking another few doggish sips from her drink. "Turns out, she was alive back when the Chinese Communist Party still existed, and she has some not so nice stories to tell. She's a medic," She said, looking at Ulrike. "Though, I think what is more important at this stage is what are you going to do?" She asked. "You've not exactly had the greatest track record according to reports, and the government seems to be enjoying fucking you every chance they get."

"More pirate hunting in the Sol system, I guess." Ulrike played with her glass. "It'd take some getting used to with Eberhard down for a while, and Joan completely out of the picture, at least tactically. So I don't----"

 

[CadetNewb]

[News bomb of the Battle of Reiss] (All)

A large screen in the bar room lit up with unusual breaking news. Across every datapad, every monitor in the ship, spelled the same headlines:

"The Hawking System declares independence from the American Union. Six Statesmen-class starships destroyed in high orbit of Reiss. Magnetic Assembly declared terrorist organization."

On the bar room screen was apparent footage of the battle, captured from high orbit in impressively high resolution. A wide shot showing a trio of engine plumes from long range before zooming in on one of them, the camera showing a stabalized shot of the exterior of a Statesmen class with 'AUS Jerry Brown' printed on the exterior. Its cannons firing away at something off screen for a few seconds before the front section of the ship lit up. It was like the front of the ship was being hit by an impossibly bright spot-light, the camera footage switching to thermal imaging for a moment as its color-electro-optical sensors were overwhelmed. The seconds ticked by as the front of the Jerry Brown was heated up to 400+ degrees by a laser attack, the color eventually returning once the laser was shut off.

Now the video feed was showing the windows of the crew compartment of the Jerry Brown, fires were raging inside of the ship even though the hull was still intact. One could only guess what was happening to any flesh-and-blood crew that were still onboard.

The footage then cut over to another ship, showing the interior of the AUS Lord Palmerson according to the text being shown on screen. It looked like the captain of the ship was screaming at her crew, yelling at them to open the door to engineering with blasting charges, the cameras cutting over to another view of the ship to show the rest of the crew in full revolt!

Finally additional footage was shown of the surface of the Reiss, Moon-buggy style drones with their wheel's spread out for traction were slowly approaching large numbers of what looked like American Union marines, all of which were surrendering in mass to the drones themselves.

As Ulrike watched the carnage unfold, her mouth went agape. Finally, as the footage ended, she looked down at her glass and nodded to herself. "Alright. We could've torn out Wang's entrails and plastered them on the side of the ship, cursed out every GDW councilman, and we'd still get hired for work at this point."

"Oh don't you worry about work," Chloe smiled. "Though, do you really want to continue being the governments scapegoats?" She asked, unphased by the events on television.

Ulrike contemplated Chloe's question, then looked at her with a determination in her eyes. "Despite all the politics, the shitty bureacracy, the GDW has been kind to us. The commerical alliance with the AU, has been kind to us. Pirates and illegal drug and weapons manufacturers, have not. What these ungrateful sons of bitches are doing?" She gestured to the screen. "They're going to cause no small amount of pain, and if the oppurtunity arises I'd like nothing more than to pour all of Daheim One's missiles and coilgun rounds into whichever bastard is orchestrating this chaos."

"Well, I can tell you that wasn't me," Chloe said, continuing to nurse her drink, rolling her eyes. "Jeez, that screen certainly knows how to take the life out of a room doesn't it?" She asked, looking back at the screen. "Mind if I stay here tonight, by the way? Since I have no idea right now why you called me, and it is certainly getting late."

"No problem, and I really just wanted to tell you how it's going with the Chongwu." Ulrike took a hefty gulp. "But apparently you knew anyways."

"Wonderful," Chloe said, shooting a quick glance at Derek. "I might yet be able to warm a few beds tonight," She teased coyly, going back to her drink.

Derek was just finishing processing what he'd seen and heard over the last few minutes when Chloe made her offer. He paused for a moment, finished off his drink for the second time, and set the glass down. “You are welcome to spend the night in my bunk, but without my wife here, all we do is sleep.” Derek paused for another moment to let the woman process the terms, then added: “Now, ask me again when we get back to Magnuski, and my tune will change, unless you object to the inclusion of Francesca that is.”

Chloe sighed. "That's a bust," She sighed, hanging her head. "Man, why are the cute ones always married?" She asked rhetorically. "IF I said I'm a Chongwu and therefore not a person, would that change your mind?" She asked cheekily.

"Nope." Derek replied off-hand. "I don't concern myself with those distinctions. That's politics, and politicians are notorious for having their heads up their collective asses."

Chloe groaned. "Right, and he doesn't play ball with the whole Chongwu aren't people," She sighed. "The Grau's really need to hire less morally upstanding people so I can finally get laid without an entire security detail crawling up my potential partners ass."

"Nobody said we had to leave the ship when we get to Magnuski." Derek added while stacking the datapads.

"Well, I likely won't be here in the morning," Chloe said, crossing her arms. "I have an empire to run after all."

Derek nodded. "That's a shame." He got up, and went off to deliver the pads back to their owners, now that his work was completed. "Good night, you two."

"Last chance for a once in a lifetime opportunity," Chloe cooed as Derek got to his feet.

"Life is like that." Derek said over his shoulder as he left the bar to find Montgomery.

"Damn," Chloe sighed softly. "Oh well."

Ulrike snorted. "That's what you get for firing mixed signals at my husband!"

"Knew I could make you smile somehow," Chloe grinned at Ulrike. "And don't blame me for you and your collective freakouts. You let your opinion of me as a sex worker color your view. No one thought to ask what I wanted, just why I wanted it," She sighed in mock whimsy.

"Doesn't stop you from being a headache to work with though." Ulrike took another glass and filled it up, but passed it over to Chloe instead. "Tell me of this Aos Si trapped in an anthropomorphic body."

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "What is there to explain? She is an alien in an equally alien canine body. A little... Weird? Eats cookies like they're going out of style, it's actually kind of cute. Though, given your track record, I'm thinking you could use another medic. There's only one issue..."

"Hold on, you want me to actually hire her?" Ulrike raised an eyebrow. "We already had to pick up a marine Space Command didn't want, I'm not about to turn the Lancers into a full on refuge for misfits. Besides, I know nothing about her history. How should I know she can be trusted?"

"Well, are you the best of friends of the Daqin?" Chloe asked. "I mean, she's literally harmless from what I can tell. Managed to pull up something of a report on her from the Daqin's citizenship database. No criminal record, no political ties, only recently left Tiantang to see what else the galaxy had to offer, and wound up enslaved and hopped up on drugs for an illegal gun manufacturer," She explained simply. "Though, I'm offering you the easy way out on this one. We could go the more fun route if you like."

"How does recruiting an alien have more than one route?" Ulrike tilted her head.

"Well, this ship is on loan from Commonwealth Space Command." Chloe said with a sickly sweet smile. "And Admiral Logan is such a sweetheart! Such a fan of my work it seems, would you believe it?"

Ulrike gave a mixed expression. "What do you want? If you're trying to buy the Lancers out, that's not happening. My loyalties are still to the GDW. I just think running as a black ops group helps us get things done faster."

 

[CadetNewb]

"You would be wrong," Chloe said simply. "They don't actually give a damn about you. Do you think they do or something?" She asked, shaking her head. "You're loyal to a government who sees you as entirely expendable, and any proof they may have provided of the otherwise will only exist so long as you continue to be convenient. The moment you're not, they'll bury you. Though, why do I have a funny feeling you're already feeling the pressure of the Government finding you a little more trouble than you're worth?" She asked pointedly. "If you're so loyal to the GDW, join their military. At least then you'll be moderately respected as a glorified guard dog..."

"If you're here just to chastise my values, then we might as well just stop talking. I've always anticipated extra government scrutiny and the politicial maneuvering to keep us tactically independent." Ulrike interjected flatly. "Now, if you want to offer us funding for some side work for you, then we can actually negotiate."

"Sorry," Chloe sighed. "I don't give jobs to government pawns. You never know when their allegiances will fuck you," she said, running a finger around the rim of her beer Glass. "You can let me know when you want to stop being the big fish in the bathtub and actually do some work that will pay half decently. With all the insurance payments you'll have to start making soon, you might want to consider doing it sooner, rather than later."

Chloe stood up then, giving Ulrike another smile. "Thank you for the bed, however. Not to worry, I'm sure I can find my own way to it... Unless I get lost in someone else's room," she said playfully. "See you at breakfast I hope!"

Ulrike glared at Chloe as she walked out. Looking down at her glass, she stood up and filled it a quarter of the way with vodka, drank it all in a single gulp, then slowly strolled out of the bar room herself.

-------------------------------------------------

[Meeting the Chongwu] (Ray of Meep, Acewing, and TheCountryWarrior, primarily)

"How is that hand healing? Do you need an X-Ray?" Ulrike remarked to Juan as Beatrix and they descended downwards in one of the hab module's shafts, towards what was once an empty compartment.

Juan looked down to his hand, not exactly pleased that he was fine. He wasn't sure what it meant that he was relatively unharmed after that brutal episode, but his current disposition led him to believe it was a bad things. His voice when replaying, combined with his overall countanence, was far from it's ordinary state of mostly happy-go-lucky dude. "It's fine. I've punched harder things that deserved it less. Worth it."

"Amen," Bee said, looking up from her datapad. "Got off easy, in my opinion. Wish I'd had time to find some of that drug she gave the Chongwu, maybe give her a taste of her own medicine."

"I think she would've been awfully pleased by that." Ulrike gave a sarcastic smile. "But I hope you will be, sincerely, pleased by this as well." She opened the hatch into the compartment. Like the other three, it was made of three floors, with the three currently on the second floor. The layout was fairly simple: a hallway with rooms on each side, repeated. She led Juan and Beatrix into one of the rooms. It was about the same size as the dorms, with a mattress strapped to the floor at the corner. On it was a bull-form Chongwu with his eyes closed. Next to him was a med bot administering a cocktail of drugs through his arm's veins, along with a large, familiar figure, hunched over watching the bull attentively, with a loving smile wrapped around his snout: Pan, the bull Juan and Beatrix met at Fabron station.

His ears twitched up at the sound of the groups entrance. Glancing backwards, Pan stomped over immediatley and grabbed the two of them with both arms into a strong hug, lifting both of them off the ground. "I can't thank you enough for saving Jon! I owe you everything!"

"Don't forget Eberhard!" Ulrike lifted up her datapad to show her husband on video chat, waving at the bull.

For the briefest of moments Juan felt a sense of peace, immediatly after a quick fight or flight after the bull hugged them with the strength of a bull, as it were. He smiled, a real smile for the fist time since the mission, and chuckled warmly. He knew better than to try to reassure Pan that he owed them nothing. Juan expected nothing, it would be selfish to take anything at all, but he knewn the sentiment would last. "I'm glad we got him out of there. That place was hell." Looking over the sleeping bull, he asked, "So he's gonna pull through?"

"The drug is pretty nasty," Ulrike replied, "But at the same time it's an old one that's been used since the 22nd century, so we've got the treatment process down pretty well. What they need right now beyond the medical stuff we're giving them is gravity and time."

"Glad to hear," Bee said, her voice slightly strained from the fierce hug. "You should totally give Ulrike a hug too. She doesn't get enough attention, since she's usually coordinating things, you know?"

Juan smiled, and nodded mischievously. "Yes, if it wasn't for her it would never had happened in the first place."

"What?" Ulrike shook her head furiosly as Pan let go of Juan and Beatrix, descending on the woman. "Nononono owwww!" She had her datapad held above her head as the rest of her body was constricted by the complete embrace of the bull. "Alriiight. Your thanks is known." Ulrike remarked with a deeply strained voice while Eberhard was visibly hiding a giggle on the video chat.

Beatrix smiled at the display as she straightened her shirt. "Anything else you guys need?" she asked.

"Nothing else, thank you." Pan backed off from Ulrike as she made sure her ribs weren't broken. "Mrs. Grau has been quite kind to us."