Ridley DeLovat's Story

The docking station proved to be as busy as any other as Ridley made his way through the dense crowds of people going about their business. It wasn't necessarily noisy, simply crowded. Ridley was fine with crowds, in fact he was fine with anything. Throughout the years he had learned one lesson and one lesson only; take everything in stride. Whether it be politics or formalities, he had always enjoyed taking the most comfortable seat. Perhaps his lack of ambition was why he was stuck in a Lieutenant's position, not that he minded. In fact he preferred to be the number two guy, or even the number three, over being the one at the top. After all, the one at the top was the one with all the responsibility. As for who that responsible man would be this time, it turned out to be none other than the great Aronimus Weston, whom he had heard of in more than just a passing reference. The Admiral had commanded fleets in his time, and yet here he was heading a single ship.

Speaking of the ship...

The gate that would take him to the Salient loomed into view as Ridley finally forced his way through the crowd and out into the waiting area. It was almost completely deserted, a few people walking about or chatting, but what really caught Ridley's eye was the woman in the crisp Officer's uniform. Admittedly, Ridley was perhaps the only Lieutenant who didn't bother trying to learn the long list of insignias that designated rank, he usually judged someone's station by how shiny their uniform was, and her's was shiny. Striding forward, he walked up to the disciplined-looking lady, snapping off a casual salute shortly before reaching her; "Good day, Ma'am." He stopped before her and inclined his head in a polite fashion, "Lieutenant DeLovat reporting and at your service."

Ridley made way as several others approached Chen to introduce themselves. "Starting to get a little crowded in here." He said with a smile. Soon after they were all gathered round, Chen brought up the New to Old question, no doubt to find out what and who she was working with. As was expected, the fully decked commando piped out his reply soon enough. "Well of course we can expect big, strong and bulky armour-lad to have a record, just look at the guy." He waved his hand up and down the armoured figure as if no one else had noticed. "I mean I'm sorry, but who walks around like that? What was your name again? Jen?"
He waved him aside without waiting for a reply, turning to Chen with another polite inclination of his head; "Four tours for me, Ma'am, and I loved every one of them. Well, except for the third one, that was aboard the Cradle, I swear that thing's haunted." He turned his head in the direction of the gate "This will mark lucky number five, I'm sure it will be bundles of fun. Bundles of restrained fun." He added quickly, remembering the LC's rather disciplined nature.

Jon ignored the man his AI pegged as Ridley, they'd settle their issues another time, if anything went sour on the mission they'd have to and rather than waste field time it'd be best to get such nonsense out of the way early.

It was at that point his unruly older brother addressed him, while he couldn't condone the man's blatant disregard for standard authority there's no denying he'd rather work with him than anyone else.

"I didn't, I'm here to field test the new toy the Brass made," Jon clasped his brothers arm, the suit compensated to not crush it. "Apparently they're hoping for something nasty to go down cuz they sent not just one of these monsters but two." Jon nodded in Thaddeus' general direction, the guy would make himself known when he wanted.

Figuring he may as well start breaking the ice early Jon turned to Ridley, "yeah I know the suit looks ridiculous and about as subtle as 10 kilos of C-13. But the brass told me to test it and the more data it picked up the better, what's more it's damn useful." He held out his hand, "By the way, the name's Jon and like it or no we'll be shipmates for awhile so it's best to make nice."

A.D.A.M
"About the men in question with the AI's it would appear that they're on a top secret project headed by certain Admiral Chase Michelson. You've met the guy Admiral, any takes on this because based on his psychological profile and service history it seems to me that the likely-hood he is seeking to get the honorary 6th star based on the results of his project exceed 93%." The entire time Adam phased from holopad to holopad keeping just ahead Aronimus.

"If the case stands as is we may be flying blind into a potentially dangerous situation, shall I arrange contingencies for extreme danger parameters?"Adam stopped for the Admiral to answer but quickly received an incoming transmission "Hang on, high security message incoming from Naval Command, unencrypting... finished, it's for you Admiral, Command says you may insert the two men in your chain of command as you will and grants you clearance to all pertinent files, forwarding to your personal communicator."

Allen was getting tired of waiting around for something to happen to him. He had a quick thought and then acted on impulse and started to walk towards the bridge of the ship. He passed a man who looked like someone he knew but throw it off his shoulder and continued on his way. The place was a little crowded and almost confusing to him. He then drifted off in thought about earlier that day. He was arguing with a man to let him on the ship a little early so that he may check the engines and give everything a small little test. Allen did not figure out that it was the Chief Engineer until the man had introduced himself. This set a few things in motion for Allen. He knew that showing up early would or should get him in trouble, the man was mad but then the man gave him a small tour of the engine room. He told him to run some more tests because he was so eager to be on board. His tests took far longer than he had expected them to so he knew he was "running" late to the others that were waiting to board. Allen then picked up his pace and rounded a corner to the bridge. A lot of people are in this room was the first observation he made. He noticed a women out of the corner of his eye. He knew her as the second in command, and at a young age too. He then ducked behind some Boxes that had been stacked up and made his way around to look like he just entered the ship for the loading area. He looked around and finally out the window. He approached the group. "This is where we are to meet correct?" he didn't think about it but he accent was a little thinker than normal.

Faith Mackenzie scowled at the people, that happened to get in her way, as she strode forward across the deck towards the sleeping giant resting in its cradle.The F.S.S Salient, the last of its kind, was enormous even at rest and no one who looked at it could doubt it was a warship. Various types of weaponry covered its surface like barnacles on a whale. Faith was not naive enough to believe this would be a peaceful tour, no matter what those in command said, a ship built for war could no more avoid it than a shark could avoid blood. But then that was why she was here after all, to fix those who got hurt whilst on the this tour.

She travelled light, most of her belongings already being transported on board, carrying only a small shoulder bag filled with a few personal belongings she didn't trust to dockworkers. Last time she had done so her favourite antique hairbrush had ended up on a merchant ship heading for the other side of the galaxy. It had taken her months to finally get it back and it now had a couple of nicks to show for the journey. So now she carried those important things with her. In between her lips was her ever present cigarette, and in the pocket of her doctors coat was a new pack, which was her third already that day. She knew smoking was bad for her, she was a doctor after all, yet that had never stopped her and she felt it kept her sane when the world went to hell.

As she approached what was to be her home, for the next who knew how long, she saw people gathering together in a cluster and she changed direction heading towards them. She kept the scowl on her face and most people stopped short of walking into her avoiding her gaze if possible, inwardly Faith was amused. Looking like she wanted to murder someone never failed to clear a path and she had used it many times in the past for just such an effect. As she neared the group and saw a woman garbed in officers clothes she sighed quietly. She stopped short of the group and took a last drag of her cigarette before regretfully stubbing it out with the heel of her shoe.

She walked straight into the group no hesitation in her stride or posture, this wasn't the first time she had been lumped together with strangers and she doubted it would be the last. She met the woman's gaze ignoring the others to begin with, as she knew military protocol well enough to greet the senior officer first. She straightened her posture and nodded once briefly to the Lt Commander.

"I'm Doctor Mackenzie." She said brusquely "and I would like to get started as soon as possible."

Ridley waited until the Colter fellow had finished his announcement before looking down at his card, which was glowing a bright green. "Guess that means I'm in the clear." He said with a satisfied smile. Looking up, he saw a few others already heading through the gate, and headed in after them. As he walked up the ramp that would take him into the belly of the Salient, the ship itself loomed into view. If he were capable of being impressed, he might have been. Well-built and sturdy, it wasn't quite as grand as the mainstream Naval vessels, but perhaps that's what made it stand out. Eventually the ramp ended and Ridley found himself in the belly of the beast. He noticed Chen and another person heading down one of the hallways. Easy to assume that was the way to the Assembly Hall, Ridley headed down after them.

Once the hall had filled, and Captain Colter being the last person to step in the auditorium, the Admiral finally began to speak. His voice over the speakers quickly quelled all digressing conversations and attention from the parts of the hall that were not present before soon faced the Admiral. It was resounding, firm, courteous, and resolute, aspects of an Admiral’s voice, specifically Aronimus’ voice. Yet there were subtle undertones which took on a different nature, one that was an overtly paternal voice, one with experience that was no less marked by the vicissitudes of life than any other person of his age.

“Welcome to the Salient, I am Admiral Aronimus Weston,” he paused and awaited the crew’s appropriate response which was a round of applause.

Then he continued.

“I will make this briefing…brief. First off, all of you who were assigned to this ship vary in past field experience, but that does not make you any more or less privileged than your fellow servicemen on board this ship for the duration of this mission.”

The Admiral then called upon Alice Chen and Atomsk Dunaway to platform. As he said this, their profile images and names appeared on the viewing screens, as if on cue, for all the hall to see.

“Lieutenant Commander Alice Chen is my second-in-command, should I be busy and unable to fulfill my duties then Commander Chen will address them for me under her own initiative. All ship crews, pilots, technicians, medical crews, and Science corps personnel will answer directly to her. As for Mr. Dunaway, he will be the Commander for all marines and security personnel; you will directly answer to him. These two will be my top subordinates for the duration of the mission lest some incident prevents either of them from fulfilling their duties.”

The Admiral then told the two officers to return to their seats.

Then he paused to regroup his thoughts, at this point he was at a juncture. He could tell them a truth, which would scare some to the point of requesting re-assignment, or he could leave the matter alone, believing the old saying “what you don’t know can’t hurt you.” However, he decided to err on the side of truth, simply because that was who he was.

“I will not lie to you. In this mission, like all missions, there is a chance that you will die. I address this to each individual on board, right here, right now, in this room. I must present to you then, a decision. You can choose to stay and complete the mission, or you can choose to re-assign yourself elsewhere. Should you elect the latter, we will gather your personal belongings and transport you back to the station via drop ship.”

He paused, awaiting reactions. Some began to look startled and scared. Others accepted the news as nothing new.

“For the rest of you, we are departing immediately, command crews head to the bridge. I trust you will be able to find directions for yourself. Marines please follow Captain Colter to the Barracks section of the ship and set up your belongings. After which command will revert fully to Commander Atomsk Dunaway for the remainder of the trip. Thank you all for coming to the briefing...so...promptly.” The last bit was a touch of sarcasm that Admiral amused himself with.

The Admiral left the platform immediately, heading through a smaller corridor that led directly to the bridge. He had said all that was needed to be said.

Ridley could hardly contain his laughter throughout the Captain's speech. It was all to clear that he was avoiding telling them some of their journey's finer qualities, but that just added to the excitement, he was looking forward to seeing how people reacted to the unexpected. A broad smile split his face; "A chance you will die." He muttered to himself. "Life's full of chances, isn't it?" Standing from his seat, he gave a quick look around the Assembly Hall before heading out into the hallway. As Lieutenant, he would be expected on the bridge, and so started down the long hall in that direction. One hardly needed a map to locate the bridge, regardless of what ship you were on, as long as you had able to pick out the 'important' looking areas. Nevertheless, he stopped by a map that had been posted to get a quick readout. Sure enough, to reach the bridge, all he had to do was climb. He continued heading down the hallway toward what would be his station for quite a while to come, that is unless life decided to play his 'chances'.

Allen sat and listened to the speech that the admiral had given. It was nice to hear some of the things, he almost trusted that nothing would happen to anyone. Yet he somehow knew better to think like that. After the speech was over and people started to mil about he turned to those remaining near him. "Well, i'm off to go and get a drink." He stated as he stood up and started to walk off. He knew the way for the most part from being allowed on just a tad bit early but he still got lost. He touched two fingers to his forehead out of frustration, then began to search for a map. Once he found one Allen place his finger where he was and then traced where he wanted to go. "There we are." he said as he turned a corner to find his way. He had to be honest with himself he was tired not just from lack of sleep but all the emotional things that he never wanted to talk about. As for this moment the only thing left in his mind was wanting a good drink.

He stood as he took the Admirals words very seriously. He thought he had made a decent impression. He also looked forward to talking again in the future. He disagreed with the arrogance though. He didn't believe he was arrogant. He simply didn't like rules. Or people undeserving of their ranks. He smirked when the Admiral brought up the insubordination and attempted court marshals. He loved the failed attempts at his post. To him it meant that the rules he broke weren't as important as the good he did.

As the Admiral turned to walk away Atomsk said a very respectful "Thank you. sir" with a slight bow, even though the Admiral had turned away. He was excited to talk again in the future. At this point he walked to a comm terminal close-by. He input a code that would give him the intercom for a minute. After he had control he stated a message for his portion of the crew. "Attention all military personnel. This is Commander Atomsk Dunaway Meet in Barracks 1 in 45 minutes. We will be performing a mission brief along with a few evaluations as well as forming our squads. Captain Eli Colter please meet me at Barracks 1 immediately for per-brief." He was aware of Captain Colter's position on the ship and wanted to size him up. He was sure they would be working together closely and wanted to start building a relationship fast. He began a brisk walk to the Barracks. He wanted to get as much talk time as he could.

Turned out glancing at the map didn't quite work out as he had planned, Ridley had gotten himself lost down corridors no less than five times before finally finding the correct route to the bridge, and even then only after asking for directions. Luckily his rank made asking for directions possible without getting chewed out. As he climbed another ladder he tried to memorize the route he was taking, the layout of the Salient was certainly different from other military vessels, though he didn't realize just how much so until now. Sure enough the constant backtracking cost him time, the ship was already underway and he was expected on the bridge. He picked up his pace as he headed down the corridor to the bridge. When he finally arrived, he noted the personnel all bustling about their duties, but most notable was the Lieutenant Commander in the Captain's chair. He walked up to her; "Lieutenant Ridley DeLovat reporting for bridge duty, Ma'am." He said with a quick salute, his eyes flashed over her nameplate before returning their gaze to her. "You taking the comfy chair, Lieutenant Commander Chen?"

Alice blinked slowly at Ridley, taking in every inch of him, before her lips curved into a slight smile. She laughed and sat forwards in the Admiral's chair, resting her elbows on her knees. She was unshaken by his comment - what did she care what he thought? She was in charge here. There was no questioning that. She would not have been caught dead in the Admiral's chair without the express granting of command from the Admiral himself.

"Admiral Weston had to step out for a bit," she answered calmly. "I have the bridge until he returns. Was there something you wanted, DeLovat? I see you got lost on your way here."

There was no hostility in her voice, nor any real disapproval. One officer making small-talk to another. Alice knew how to take command, and did so. When she needed to. Otherwise, what reason was there to make enemies by pushing people around?

Chen surprised him with that, he had assumed she would be the up-tight kind that thought being a soldier meant being overly strict. Yet here she was fully willing to engage in idle prattle. Sure enough she had noticed he had gotten lost, no doubt due to how long it took him to reach the bridge.

"I may have misplaced myself once or twice." Ridley replied, scratching his chin. "As for what I want, I desire nothing more than to see this ship through it's journey." He said with an added hint of exaggeration. "It is my duty to wait on hand and foot for the Captain's every need. Or the Captain's fill-in's every need." He added with a smile and a bow. "Therefore, my business on the bridge is strictly business. At least until the Captain returns, or unless you have something that needs doing." He looked around at the bustling, yet quiet, activity of the bridge. He always preferred it here, there was less chance of being charged with some menial labour when you were in the administrative zone. "Of course, I'd be more than happy to test out the food in the mess hall, if that needs doing."

Alice, too, glanced around at the bridge. Everything was running smoothly, every man knew his job, they were flying at high speeds through space going who-knew-where? Because Alice certainly did not.
And that meant it was likely that nobody on the ship did.

She shook her head slightly.
"So far as I am aware, there is nothing to be done until the Captain returns," Alice answered calmly. "Unless you have duties elsewhere, I do believe the official taste-tester skipped ship." She smirked slightly at Ridley. "There is no need to worry, DeLovat. While I may pay attention to protocol, I have served the Federation long enough to realize that if a commander is stiff all the time, it tends to make voyages much less fun. We're all going to be stuck with each other for several months, at least. Let's all try to get along."

Uncrossing her legs, Alice came to her feet. She offered a hand to Ridley. Alice had always believed that first impressions could be wrong. She hoped that the personnel could overcome her initial professionalism, as the crew of the Nottingham had done. If she'd managed to find friendship on that living hell, surely she could find it here as well.

Ridley shook the hand with a smile; "Gotta admit, I admire a bit of levity." He released her hand and clasped his behind his back in a casual manner. Oddly enough it was a military posture, yet he'd always been quite comfortable with it. "I've had more or less a few CO's who got a bit on the power-trip side, liked to flex their authority muscles. Sure they had the right to, but it wasn't exactly a very efficient atmosphere." He glanced toward the bridge entrance to see if the Captain had returned yet before returning his gaze to Chen; "Certainly the Admiral isn't like that, right?" He took a few steps away from the chair to look out at the view as the Salient moved onward. "Admiral Weston... That's a pretty well-known name, though I've never met the legend himself." He turned to Chen; "I find it kind of odd that someone so powerful would give up so much for... this." He said, indicating the bridge; "Though I suppose I've no right to judge, maybe he prefers the quieter life of Captaincy than the hectic administration of commanding fleets." He returned to his position beside the chair; "You've met him already, am I right? Any personality quirks I should brace myself for?"

Clyde - Bridge

"This should be an interesting voyage," Alice Chen observed quietly. "The talent they've pulled in... even putting an Admiral on ship's command. It seems as though there's a lot expected out of the Salient, this time."


Clyde spun around in his seat and leaned back with his hands clasped behind his head. He had set his implant to record the footage of the ship so he wouldn't miss anything. For now, it was time to get to know the people he would be living with. Or at least, get them to know him a little better. He would know them all inside and out before the week was finished. He addressed the bridge openly.

"I'm sure the Federation does expect much from the Salient. But does anyone know what we're going to be doing? The Admiral? Higher than him? Since nobody's told us a thing yet, I'm guessing we won't find anything out until we actually get to where we're going. And we're not expected there for about two months. Until then, we're just all going to be living together, one happy family. Anybody have any good stories? Jokes? Things we could do for fun to make the wait interesting?" Clyde nudged the other navigator, who hadn't seemed intent on talking before. "Anyone? What about you, A.D.A.M.? Got any interesting ideas?" Clyde purposely addressed the other navigator, and the ship's AI. The navigator because he hadn't spoken once yet and the AI because A.D.A.M. was practically a person. He probably did have ideas.

Adriana - Barracks One

Adriana gave a mental sigh of relief. The colorful counselor was going away and taking the android with her. "Stressed" he had said. Boy, was he wrong. She knew she wasn't stressed- she was always like this. It was how she lived and that was her comfort zone.

The last few arrivals were coming in- Dunaway with his super suit and a handful of straggler ship guards. It was almost time to start the briefing.

Clyde - Bridge

Clyde couldn't help it - he laughed. The computer had essentially asked him to start. "Are you sure you have no experience? It would be no problem for you to find all the jokes in the universe. But fine, I'll start. Let's begin with some good old fashioned stereotyping jokes. Three blondes walk into a bar." He held his hands out like he had already completed the joke and waited for laughter. Then, he gave an exasperated look. "Well. You'd think one of them would have seen it. ... Now. Anybody else want to take a turn?"

But Clyde wasn't finished speaking to A.D.A.M.. He was still wired in, so he spoke directly to the computer using that connection. If your calculations are inaccurate, perhaps you could allow me to help you. The implant in my head has far more power in it than I have ever really needed before. If I clear out some space and use it all, it rivals you at your current limits. Together we could probably complete the calculations with a very high degree of accuracy, and you would not need to ask for more processing power in the ship.

Adriana - Barracks One

Adriana sat quietly and gave her customary blank stare to the commander. She supposed insane tactics sounded like poor planning in every case, but he had said they only seemed insane. If the commander knew more about the situation than the soldiers, then it might only be natural that they would see it differently. She only hoped that was the case. As a scientist, she would remain skeptical until his work yielded results. However, Adriana was technically a soldier as well. Due to her extensive amount of performance doing ground missions with the other soldiers to test her weapons, she had gained the rank of corporal and learned to follow orders without question, if the CO actually bothered to give her any directly. Corporal. Not high enough to be one of Dunaway's squad leaders. That was fine by Adriana- less responsibility to deal with away from her work. She would play the commander's game, but if he showed himself to be a poor leader, there would be... problems.

Clyde - Bridge

Clyde smiled inwardly. The computer was going to put on a show for the people on the bridge. In the time it took ADAM to synthesize the words Clyde could have explained everything several times over. "There is a stereotype for people with that particular hair color that they are of inferior intelligence. The solid object part was a pun. "Bar" could mean a place that serves alcohol to customers as well as a cylinder used for support. The humor lies in the irony of the second spoken part of the joke- the punchline- where the listener is to understand that bar had an unexpected meaning. Want to give telling a joke a try, ADAM?"

Data Stream

A secret AI? I think I'll take a look into that in a little while... This ship is just packed with secrets. Intriguing. Clyde hadn't expected Weston to keep many secrets. And if there was something to hide- why an AI? Hah. Of course... Integration. I was more concerned with getting the Admiral's approval for the jump. A functional crew is doubtlessly more important. Clyde watched ADAM knock on the firewall for a while longer. You could just... Tear it down, you know...

Alice sat forward in her chair, listening to the chatter on the bridge. Blond jokes... well, she might have found them offensive if she were blonde, but being pure-blooded Asian from three different countries she had a fairly emotionless view towards them. The one that Clyde told even caused her lips to curl slightly in a look of amusement. Not laughter, but amusement. She glanced at the man.

"You're an unusual man, Summer," she told him calmly. "There are not many officers in the Federation who would think to trade jokes on the Bridge." She tossed her hair lightly over her shoulder, glancing towards the door as she did so. She had to admit that she wanted the Admiral to return as soon as he possibly could. Alice had never been totally comfortable in the Captain's chair - she would do her duty, and do it damn well, but she was not seeking total command over anybody. Second-in-command was more her sort of job. More than that, she was picking something up from the hangar side of the ship. Something she needed to check out...

Clyde - Bridge

Clyde looked up at his Commanding Officer and responded with a pout. It was fake, and not long passed before his customary relaxed expression returned. "I thought you promoted a relaxed relationship among the crew. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but trading jokes on the bridge might help a little in that area, and it almost sounds like you're not going to participate." Clyde ran through what he knew about Alice Chen, looking for what he could say for any response. Spotless record... Served on a prison ship... Had a date with a pilot named Tiaan Peyton. Each one said quite a few things, but that last one was the closest thing to a guarantee she wasn't going to stop him trading jokes. She had to have her fun too, right?

Adriana - Barracks One

Adriana turned her gaze on the outspoken squad leader. Her expression didn't change, but she was angry. "If you're afraid of going out into battle, say so. I'm sure you could be removed from service at the drop of a hat. If you're looking for a guarantee of functionality, you come to me. I designed those suits, the weapons on the ship, the training system in this room, and half of the guns you all are carrying. If you are unsatisfied with your service, I can either make you a new one... Or shoot you.

As to your borderline insubordination, as a soldier you are expected to follow orders. But It's not my job to deal with that part of your concerns."

As an afterthought, she added to the super soldiers: "Sorry I didn't come to meet you super soldiers. I've been busy lately. It will be my job to keep your suits in working order if something happens to them while you are on duty here."

Alice raised a hand calmly, calling for silence. She shook her head at Clyde.
"I did not tell you to stop," she answered calmly. "Please rest assured, when I wish for something, you will know. I was merely making the observation that the trait is unusual." She narrowed her eyes slightly in thought. "Of course, I may be wrong. Several years on a prison ship may have skewed my view of standard conduct a bit."

She tipped her head, considering the others on the bridge.
"Anyone else know any jokes? I'm afraid I have been sold short on the humor side. Serial killers aren't very funny."

Clyde

"Federation Vessel, this is Altamus Cooperation escort detail 973 requesting assistance. Moving to your location, possible hostile contact."

Clyde looked up as the communication link came over the speakers. There was no reason to do it- nobody sees anything by looking up. People just look at the source of the sound...

"Hostiles." He checked the ship scanners to pick out the locations of the ships nearby. "This is a cargo route... Duillium. We've got pirates. We'll be in range with the particle canon in a few minutes. Should we engage?" It wasn't Clyde's call. The frigate would be roasted at the drop of a hat if it was- but Alice was in the admiral's chair. He turned to look at her, a questioning look on his face.

Alice glanced at Clyde. In the space of a breath she measured her options, much faster than most humans might have been able to, and opened her mouth to respond. She was cut off by the Admiral's voice on the intercom.

“This is Admiral Weston to Bridge crew, engage hostiles. Military personnel prepare for boarding action.”

Sitting up straighter in her seat, Alice nodded to herself. She cast her gaze around the bridge.
"You heard him," she answered with utter calm, with certainty. In Alice's mind there was no room for doubt. She fixed her eyes in the view-screen, mentally preparing herself for what might very well be her first conflict on board the Salient. This would be nothing like riding aboard the Nottingham, and for that she was grateful. There had been no conflicts between the Nottingham and other ships. All the fighting had gone on within that great barge's hull. She had faced down, alone, men who had slaughtered dozens of people with their bare hands.

A hostile ship, from within her own ship? Nothing to fear. Which was, she realized, probably an irrational reaction. But it did help keep her head clear.

"Engage the hostiles."

As the admiral reached the bridge, most of the crew were on their feet, swinging back and forth from station to station assessing the current situation. The navigators steered the ship in the direction of the distress beacon, and A.D.A.M. was activating the rail guns along with the mini-ion cannon nodes. Alice was standing, perched in the captain's platform in the bridge, calmly observing the situation. At least he could count on one person to stay calm when hell seemed to break loose.

"I want a status report immediately, Mr. Hansen patch me through to the gunship,"

"Aye Captain," the Scotsman got to work immediately relaying a comm. link to the lone gunship that went before two Altamus vessels being hunted down by a pair of pirate ships. Aronimus could see through the bridge's view port on the bow. The lead Altamus vessel was being hammered by light auto cannon fire coming from a hostile frigate. The second Atlamus vessel was much closer to the fangs of their predators, and received the brunt of close range missile fire and strafing.

The situation grew worse, as several smaller ships started to appear on the horizon, they had been on the other side of the planet. These ships were very agile, weaving in and out between the pair of Altamus freighters. The Admiral knew this tactic, the first phase required two point ships to attack the target from an angle and force them to exit at another angle. Once the targets had reached designated coordinates, one of two outcomes may occur. Should the targets reach the destination intended by the pirates, they'd be ambushd by carefully placed mines. In the current situation, they would require EMPs in order to protect the precious Duillium cargo on board. The second, more raiders lying in wait would file out in lighter, more maneuverable ships to repeatedly hit the targets until their propulsion systems had been thoroughly damaged to begin boarding action.

It seems as though the latter of the two options had been reached, and to Aronimus, it meant more raiders. The fighters were being scrambled already, but the lone gunship was still limping towards the Salient, and was easy picking for the marauders.

"Sir, the gunship is IDed as Tartarus Group, callsign Ronin, security detail," Hansen replied.

Tartarus Group Ronin, Tartarus Group Ronin, this is the Salient, what is your status?

The Admiral didn't exactly need to call for her status, he saw with his own eyes that she was being chased, but he wanted confirmation due to protocol.

A.D.A.M
ADAM was shocked when the AI TAU ghosted the unknown AI away from him, it was not a scenario he had anticipated. While he was pondering all the potentials, variables and implications of such an event the alarms went off. He started observing the situation and after an overly long analysis began preparing firing solutions and scenarios, covering literally everything short of an FTL or Hyperdrive leap to be used as an engagement mechanism. His overly extensive calculations took him awhile, especially because he linked them in sequence to adapt per the scenario, he hated redoing his math.

When Aronimus ordered the cannon on the escaping vessel, he altered the trajectory a bit before uploading his firing sequence, even accounting for the particle cannon. According to his scanners the altered shot had killed all inhabitants of the vessel without damaging the ship, granted scanners only showed life in the cockpit...regardless everything else was perfectly salvageable.

"My apologies admiral, it would seem that the emotion of surprise and shock were more severe than I had anticipated. As you can see I've prepared adaptive firing sequences and tactics and locked them in, you may peruse them at your leisure but all in all there's nothing more for the bridge to do here. However we may want some birds out as soon as possible, as shown in the data their presence on the field within within the next 5 minutes increases the odds of success to 87.63 percent. A strike team drop onto the vessel to counter any potential boarding parties is also recommended but it will have to be done on the fly." His hologram shrugged, "The use of the suit testers would be most effective, according to past records those 2 should be enough of a stall to get the ship into safe distance for a full sweep. As for the ship I kept you from destroying a retrieval team should be able to bring back enough gear for us to track their signals and allow total destruction on the local base."

Clyde

The recoil from the canon rocked the ship; a sudden jerking that would knock down anyone who wasn't well balanced. The fire from the main canon seared through empty space and... glanced the frigate.

Clyde leaped to his feet, slammed his hands down, and stared slack jawed out the window. "ADAM... You turned my shot!? Why!? Now they're still a problem! And who knows if that canon even works anymore! Who even gave you access to the canon!?" Clyde sputtered out a few more pointless questions. He was shocked at the AI's behavior. Adam had taken over the gun nobody told him to fire, decided all of the crew's actions for the rest of the encounter, and told the Admiral he did his job for him. It wasn't even the tactician AI. It was just the ship AI. Who had told him to do this? Who programmed this behavior in him? Clyde slumped back into his chair. If the bridge's job was over, he supposed he had nothing further to add.