Right, about time we stopped discussing mods and got down to the matter at hand!
Update time!
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768-06-03 08:36
Ps'y was grinning like a fool as he and Edison stepped off the transporter pad. There was something about flying his turbo boosted Kestrel at over twelve hundred metres per second which just appealed to his inner lunatic. He'd even pulled a tight loop around the Credo et Amos engines. The huge destroyer had been holding position just a couple of clicks off the Last Words port side, and he thought he'd seen the tell—tale blue shimmer of a transporter beam between the two ships as they were on their initial approach. The loop had put a huge strain on his tiny ships inertial dampeners, even making Edison grip his seat tightly. Ps'y laughed to himself at the thought. When he saw Alex though, glaring at him from the bridge, with fury in her eyes and bitterness wrinkling her otherwise pretty face, his smile slipped. He knew he was in trouble even before she took her first step. She marched down the short corridor from the bridge to the transporter pad and slapped him, hard, right across the face.
“Bastard!” she raged at him.
“Ow! What the frak was that for?” he snapped at her with a glare, somewhat shocked that she'd just hit him, and with so much force.
“You bastard!” she said again, accompanied by a second, equally hard, slap. “I was in bed for fraks sake. It's not very often I get to spend any quality time with...” And just like that it made perfect sense. The Credo et Amo, the transporter beam, the beating he was receiving....he'd gone and done it to her again.
“With Lu.” he finished for her, giving her the most apologetic look he could muster. “Sorry Alex, really I didn't think...”
“No. You rarely do.” She was scowling at him, clearly miserable and spoiling for a fight, so he was on guard for another slap....but it didn't come. He could feel her raging in front of him.
'If looks could kill' he thought to himself
'I'd be a very dead Split.'
“So come on then, what do you need me for this time?” she seethed.
He sighed, and gestured towards the bridge. “Can we talk in your office?”
“No. You can bloody well say your piece right here and then get the frak off my ship!.”
“Oh Alex, come on, it's not like I intended to ruin your day.”
“I don't care! Every time I'm settling in you come along and screw it up for....”
“
ENOUGH!” roared Edison and the pair of them stopped and looked at the young Terran in stunned silence. “You two fight like brother and bloody sister!” he said, clearly exasperated.
For a few heartbeats they just scowled at each other, then she suddenly grinned and started chuckling, the laughter breaking the tension between them in an instant. He laughed along with her, and Edison was still stood between them, a thoroughly surprised expression covering his face.
“He's right you know.” she said, swatting the Split gently on the arm. “We do. I think we always have.” Ps'y grinned at her and nodded, relieved that she wasn't likely to hit him again. His face was still stinging. Edison was right though, they'd fought like siblings ever since Rak Gilano had paired them off. He baulked slightly at the thought. It felt like a lifetime ago they'd worked for Gilano. Hell, it felt like a lifetime ago that he'd met Drake. But for some reason he couldn't place, thinking about Gilano always put him on edge.
“Seems that way doesn't it?” he said, forcing a smile, before gesturing towards the bridge again.
“Sure. Come on.”
The three of them had settled into Alex's office and Ps'y was just about to light a joint when he caught her frowning at him.
“Right.” he said quietly and put it back into his pocket.
“Thank you.” she smiled. “So, what did you need to see me about?” Her eyes narrowed at the uncomfortable look that passed between him and Edison. “Ps'y.” He looked up at her and she could see the worry etched on his face. “What's wrong?” she asked softly.
Silently, he reached into his inner pocket and drew out the data crystal. “Your viewer working?”
“Of course it is. Why, what is that?” she asked, pointing at the small blue device in his hand.
“Trouble.” was all he said as he passed her the matrix. “Look at bookmark fifteen.”
As he and Edison watched she slotted the crystal into her viewer and scrolled through the bookmarks Ps'y had set. After a few seconds her eyes went wide.
“By Gunne...” she breathed.
“Yeah.” said Ps'y. “And that's not the half of it. It's not Legion Alex.” Even as he said it she was nodding, she'd paid close attention and could obviously see the cyborg on her screen was not the one she'd come to love.
“Where did you get this?” she half growled at him.
“Drake gave me it a few weeks back. Remember the Dragon that chased us out of Family Zyarth when we were on the run with Legion?” she nodded. He pointed at the screen. “Its captains memories.
“His memories?” For a second she had that same horrified expression he'd seen when they'd rescued Urmankontett. He nodded, a grim look settling on his face. This wasn't easy for her, he could see it. Even being in the same room with him reminded her of it, and it still hurt her. He understood, to a point. She'd never been a killer, always surviving on guile and stealth, or just plain running away. She couldn't do that now. This was a burden only she could carry. The weight of lost innocence. Suddenly he felt angry, and was gritting his teeth as he spoke.
“Yeah. Doc Boni has some sick machine that can extract the memory from a living brain and store it.”
"Cognitive stripping?" she raged at him. "Do you have any idea how invasive that kind of surgery is?" He just nodded at her, all too aware of what the surgery involved. The image of that Split, with bolts piercing his head and drool running down his uniform, still made him feel sick.
“Frak.” she hissed. “And the Admiral is willing to use this technology?” He nodded again.
“Only this once, at least as far as I know. The Dragon commander wasn't being very cooperative, so Drake asked Doc to get the information out of him.” She watched silently as Ps'y tried and failed to suppress an involuntary shudder. “Boni took him literally.”
“Has Legion seen this?” The question, like the earlier slap, was so unexpected it almost stunned him.
“What? No of course not!” She was glaring at him , and for a second he thought she was going to leap across the table to whack him, thought he saw that dangerous glint in her eyes, but she just sat back in her chair, staring at the screen for a few moments.
“No...no I don't suppose the Admiral would want to let him in on this.” she said softly, looking out the viewport at the sector beyond, at the Montalaar sun hanging in the distance. “Ok,” she said looking back at him. “Drake doesn't want Legion to know because his reaction would be an unknown quantity in the Admirals 'plans' , right? “ Both of them nodded slowly. “Ok, I can support that. But at some point Ps'y, Legion deserves to know. One way or another.”
She was still glaring at him, and this time the steel in her eyes was unmistakable. He'd seen that look before, more often than he liked. This was a contract now, a conditional act in their friendship. If he didn't follow through on the deal, she'd be gone. It wasn't the first time she'd done it and he just knew it wouldn't be the last. One way or another, he was going to have to .... how would she put it? 'Do the right thing.'
“Ok.” he said, fixing her with his own steeled eyes. “But not until the Admiral is good and ready to tell him. And Alex?” He said, holding up a finger to emphasize his point. “As much as you want him to know the truth of it, it's got to be on Drakes word. I swore on my honour that I wouldn't show this to Legion. I owe him Alex. I'm not prepared to let him down.” She nodded, and seemingly content with that, leaned back in her chair again.
“So. Why bring this to me now Ps'y? What are you thinking?” she asked calmly.
“I want to know if Njy has anything to do with this.” he growled. Edison glanced at him.
“Njy?” his first mate asked. “I thought this was about keeping Rhonkar off Drakes back Ps'y?”
“It is!” barked the Split, rounding on his young friend with a dangerous look in his eyes. “But if there's anything there that connects to Njy then it's something we can use to-”
“Actually....that would make a horrible kind of sense...” Alex said quietly, cutting him off.
Ps'ys head snapped back around and he fixed her with a dark look.
“What? What do you mean it'd make sense? His eyes narrowed threateningly. “Alex, what do you know?”
“Nothing...yet.” She looked him right in the eye for a moment, then clicked a button on the side of her viewer, lowering it into a horizontal position so they could all see it clearly. Calling up the galactic map she circled her finger around the Split sectors leading east from Family Ryk. “This is all Njy territory, right?” He nodded.
“Aye. Njy's Deception, Family Njy and Ghinn's Escape are all Njy turf. What of it?”
“Well, we know from the information Legion pulled off that Dragon you captured that Tkr are involved in the cover up of your...dismissal.” She looked up at him as she said it, and he could feel the rage burning in his own eyes. “See, I've done some digging over the last few weeks.. I may have been quiet, but I've not been idle.” He nodded again, not sure where this was going, but found he was thirsting for information. “I've been following Njy's finances Ps'y.”
“The old bastards money?” She nodded, once. “And?” he asked, struggling to keep the threat out of his voice.
“Well, that's the thing. According to the intel I've dug up, Njy's finances are in ruins. Some of that stems from Drake blasting the hell out of his assets, but most of it started before that.” She tapped the galactic map twice and typed something into her keyboard, calling up the sector map of Family Njy. “Look here.” she said, pointing at the screen. Ps'y and Edison leaned over and looked down at the map. The shipyard and equipment dock were highlighted in green, the many chelt aquariums in red and the scruffin farms in blue.
“What am I looking at Alex?” he asked looking back up at her.
“The green stations belong to Njy, so the shipyard and equipment dock. All the red factories belong to Family Tkr, the blue to Family Ryk.” She grinned. “Njy is selling off his assets. Well, actually, hiring them out would be a better description. But this is where it gets weird Ps'y.” He stared at her, his heartbeat rising rapidly. “He's not getting any money for them.”
“But you just said he was hiring them out.” remarked Edison. “How is he hiring them out if he's not receiving any payment for them?”
“Odd isn't it?” she said, looking right at Ps'y. “Njy is renting out these stations, but what's he being paid in return?”
“Stars!” Ps'y cried, his mouth agape as the realization hit him. “He's charging them in parts and labour!” She grinned at him.
“Not as dumb as you look, are you? If you're right, and right now that's still a pretty big if, then there should be a trail to follow. I'll need to take some time out and maybe fly out that way to investigate properly, but if there's something there to dig up, I'll find it.” He was staring at her.
“I thought you didn't like putting your ass on the line.”
“I don't, but for you,
again, I think I can make an exception, don't you?” She winked at him slyly. “Brother.”
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