Posted by Lieutenant River Styxx (OIC Marine) in Tick Tick Boom The Promenade - Da Mu…when the past doesn’t match the future or the present

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Tick Tick Boom The Promenade - Da Mu…when the past doesn’t match the future or the present
(A SNIP)

“Why?” River asked “Why what? Why did I hurt him? Look behind you” River said gesturing to the civilians cowering in fear. Amongst them were children, their eyes filled with tears. “Because I swore an oath to protect them no matter the cost., no matter what I had to do to protect them,” she said her tone truthfully.

“Why should you trust me? Well, so far I’m the only person who hasn’t lied to you or tried to manipulate you one way or the other. I have no desire to hurt you I have no ulterior motive all I want to do, is help you and let my colleagues deal with your friend. If that is not enough then I would ask you to trust me warrior to warrior, soldier to solider, servant to servant. We both serve a higher power and we both have sacrificed much for it.” She said her tone calm, she was talking to Jessa as an adult as River guessed she had been treated as a an adult all her life and never as a child.

“So have I. I claimed you…all of you. I am your Protectorate. They are set to raksha karana.” Jessa’s mental skills were sliding from the clear-headed to being muddled with emotions by the battle drug which tended to amplify what a person was feeling. In a trained soldier like Styxx the drug would have tripled her ability to think tactically and react in any situation. With Jessa, it was allowing her fear, paranoia, and emotional instability to percolate over replacing logical thought and reason. The sights and sounds in the room were beginning to culminate into a blurred picture of blank faces and defeating white noise. “There once was a ship that put to sea,” she began trying to mumble out the song that helped to quell the panic attack simmering just under the surface. Rinker’s drug worked better but how could she trust him not to sedate her like others on the ship had done?

“Band karana,” Zala Tsu snapped out still waving her weapon around at Rinker, Ian and now Styxx. Staring at the woman who had somehow taken down Da Mu, she fired point-blank at Styxx’s chest. She had little faith in the outcome but there was a chance and it would instill fear and panic in the room regardless.

River didn’t filch as the blast came. It was odd but River felt a sense of peace if it hither her marines would gun down the aggressors and if it didn’t she could continue to help. Either ways was a good outcome.

Faster than an eye could ever register, long liquid-like shields materialized as if by a transporter covering Styxx.

Instead of fear or aggression River radiated a sense of calm and being totally unfazed. The marines however had raised there weapons and pointed them at Zalla Tsu “You know love, that was probably one of the stupidest things a person as ever done in my presence. But then again i can’t expect much from someone who clearly rose the ranks by being on her back.” she said simply.

“She’s been helping us, if she takes off that armor, the white-haired one is going to snuff us out.”

“You deserve cleansing for your blasphemy Mind Seer,” Zala Tsu snarled at Rinker, “and I will be the one to deliver it.” The longer she was in the man’s presence the more she wanted to kill him.

Da Mu might have seemed as passive and benevolent as a Buddhist monk but River Styxx’s instincts were correct about the man. There was nothing peaceful or humane about the man. As if rising from the dead, a gasp escaped his lips and his eyes shot open grabbing Jessa’s forearm in an iron grip.

“Oh, what the fuquk,” Rinker cursed himself for his stupidity and naivete. “It’s like a Friday the thirteenth movie.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay,” Jessa immediately focused all her attention on Da Mu repeating the same phrase over and over as she pressed her hands to his stomach wound. This was going to do nothing to help or stop the man dying but it was the natural instinct. Jessa felt her chest tightening and was losing the ability to control her breathing.

Holding her weapon still on Rinker and Ian, Zala Tsu began to look at the situation tactically. Nothing was going to save Da Mu or Rogan but there was still a chance for her. Walking slowly back towards Jessa she had only one exit strategy. Without speaking, Zala knelt next to Jessa, reached out one hand and severed the strap from the satchel. Jessa’s gaze snapped off Da Mu and immediately to Zala Tsu’s with a look of pure panic. “Life is full of tough choices. If you take your hands off him, you will kill him. How bad do you want this,” she held up the satchel. “Is it worth a life?” As the words left her lips, Zala Tsu was engulfed in a transporter beam and evaporated from view.

“Zala…Zala,” she yelled out with a stunned expression. “Don’t leave us. You promised. Jenn you promised.” Jessa no longer cared about the XO’s secrecy or desire for anonymity. He and his female assistant had promised to help Jessa and her friends get free. Why he only took Zala was sending Jessa into panic mode.

River noted the XO name and made a mental note. Her report to marine HQ was certainly going to be an interesting one.

“Help us,” Jessa pleaded looking around as if expecting to see someone. “I held up my end of the bargain. Help me,” she begged looking up at the ceiling as if waiting for a beam of light to take her away like it had Zala Tsu.

Lowering his helmet, the armor retracted now showing Ian’s face even though he was still clad in the battle suit. “Jessa, honey you need to call your robots back. Rinker is a doctor. He can help but we can’t get in. Listen to Styxx. You can trust her. I give you my word that we will do everything we can but Da Mu needs medical attention now.” Ian had seen how fast the MECH’s could move. Styxx was tactically brilliant. Not rushing Jessa’s position had prevented her from doing something drastic.

“Can you promise to save him,” Jessa’s voice hitched as her eyes darted between Styxx, Rinker, and Ian. “Rinker can you promise you can save him.” Even without the standoff, the blood was taking on a thick dark red quality and not spurting but oozing indicating a venous bleed. Since the impaling occurred in the abdominal cavity it was only a logical guess that several organs were injured any of which could be the cause for the obviously fatal injury. A team of surgeons probably could not save the man but Jessa was not asking a team of surgeons. She was asking only one man.

“I don’t know, all I can promise is I’ll try my best.” Rinker as a therapist had a rule to never make a promise he couldn’t keep. Destroys trust and all.

“No. You do better than your best,” she pointed a finger at him. “Your job is to save him. You are a doctor. Do your job.” Jessa’s tone might be demanding but there was a strained plea underlying it. The reality was starting to set in and she was having a hard time both processing and accepting the possibility that not only would the Elders not escape but that she would be truly alone on this ship.

Rinker was cautious, but not overly so. Da Mu was well and truly critically injured. He slid over not waiting for the group to finish their negotiations. He was going to be the stupid medical officer and get himself killed trying to triage a critical injury on the battlefield. “I don’t have my medical equipment. Marine, bring me a trauma kit.” He ordered.

Freya looked at River who nodded. Freya took off her backpack and detached a metal box from the bottom of it. “Catch” she said as she threw the kit at Rinker

Rinker actually caught the heavy bag, but it swung about his arm and then struck his back with a thud. It would have been annoying and a painful if not for the Mecha armour about him.

“Well, to state the obvious he’s still alive.” What he wasn’t, was in good condition. “But he isn’t going to make it here.” In fact, part of him wondered how he was still alive. The fortunate part was if you were alive when you got to a Star-Fleet sick bay, you tended to stay alive.

Seeing only the legions of security forces around her and not the officers that had promised her help, Jessa reacted in panic. “Raksha karana,” Jessa yelled out causing the MECH’s to instantly moved around Jessa and Da Mu forming an impenetrable dome. They melded together forming a shield just like the one the aliens had erected in Marine Country. It was semi-transparent so Styxx, Ian, and Rinker could see what was happening but for the moment only plan a course of action instead of acting on it.

Jessa Novar

As the shield formed River stood her marines down and they formed around her, already River was coming up with a plan “Freya, you’ll stay here with me. The rest of you begin to evacuate noncombatants and nonessentials from the area. Make sure they get whatever help they need it up until security reinforcements get here. Remember they’re going to be terrified. Understood” River asked as she returned her sword to its sheath, she then flick a small switch and the sheath hummed as it cleaned the blade

“What about them” one marine asked as he indicated to Rinker and Ian

“They’re star fleet officers so there essentials. they stay.” River said simply

“You sure about that, I haven’t seen much proof of that.” One of the other marines snapped.

“Stow it Corporal.” River replied sternly the marine simply nodded. Once she was happy that her marines were doing as they were told she turned her attention to the shield in the middle of the room. During her spout of giving orders, she hadn’t acknowledged either Ian or Rinker. It was only as she neared the shield did, she even nod to them.

Taking the tricorder from her belt she began to scan the shield to look for any weakness. As she scanned, she looked at the kid “You’ve been abandoned kid. Your elders have left you, through one way or another. And the cowards in section 31 won’t risk their necks to save you. But you don’t have to be left abandoned. I can help you. I know what it’s like to lose a lot in one go.” River said her tone warm and calm, well warm for River anyway. “All you have to do is drop this shield and I can help you. I’ll make sure those you don’t want to come near you, won’t” she added checking her tri-corder scans. All the while Freya was standing close by watching the room in a ready stance, but not an aggressive one.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

Jessa grabbed her torso and hugged it as if trying to self-soothe.

The scans would show the same almost impenetrable energy field that seemed to protect the Elders who were wearing the armor. Aside from targeting them with the photon batteries of the Atlantis’ defense systems, the only way the Marines were getting in was through diplomacy with the one who erected it.

“Really that is what you are going for. Abadone ye all hope,” Ian quoted the line from Dante’s Inferno.

River looked at Ian “While hope is good. Blind hope can be very dangerous. It makes people do stupid and terrible things. As well as making them sacrifice far more than they should” she said simply her tone knowing.

While the shield prevented anyone from entering it, it perfectly allowed the conversation between Jessa and Da Mu to be heard with crystal clarity. “Jessa,” Da Mu’s gurgled speech pulled the girl’s attention directly to him as his grip dug into the soft skin of her arm. Blood splattered from his lips along with some pink foam that began to leak to the corners of his mouth indicating his lungs had also sustained an injury in the fight with Styxx.

“Shush,” Rinker muttered as he worked. Actually the speaking wasn’t having a negative effect on his injury it was a subconscious response from medical professionals. In general, talking lead to moving and moving could be very bad. “Be still.”

A long string of words began to bubble from Da Mu’s lips that sounded like mumbled jargon. Jessa reached out taking Da Mu’s hand and nodding as if she understood what he was saying. “Shhh. Rinker will fix you. It will all be done.” she sniffed back her nose and blinked rapidly. As much as she did not want to admit it, having Rinker and Styxx making the decisions for the moment was like a weight lifted off her shoulders.

Ian glanced at Rinker and then Styxx. He had only had basic Academy medical training. Rinker was a doctor and Styxx had better than fair medical training being in combat. “What are we looking at and how long do we have?”

Da Mu clenched her hand hard and jerked Jessa closer. The ever-expanding pool of blood caused Jessa to slide around a bit next to the Elder. Her attention was directed squarely on the Elder’s face as he spoke to her. “We do not need the unbelievers. You have the power of life in your own body. Use the battle drug, infuse your blood, and cut yourself.”

“Its bad, I’m guessing 2 minutes before he bleeds out. After that he’s got another 1 minute before I can’t resuscitate the body.” Of course, the little magic trick with the nanites probably worked better than his regenerator in sickbay.

He frowned, the trauma pack was useful but it wasn’t a sick bay. “I can save him in sick bay. If we can get him there.”

“Transporters have been locked down,” Ian frowned. “The alien might have little regard for like but the Federation valued all life even malicious ones. “It’s here or nowhere.”

Jessa was not a doctor but she knew things were bad. Da Mu asking her to sacrifice herself for him should not be something she was contemplating but she was. It sickened her that she could not just obey.

Jessa knew exactly what Da Mu was asking her to do. The problem was Jessa wasn’t sure she could do it. Reaching to his neck, Jessa rapidly pressed the disc lodged in Da Mu’s neck desperate for a dose of the battle drug to infuse his system with nanites. When nothing happened, her face took on an ashen color. The grip Da Mu had on her arm made Jessa bend slightly trying to release some of the pressure. It felt like he was going to break her arm.

“They are going to save you,” Jessa stalled not looking at Rinker for confirmation of denial of her statement.

“You know I only speak the truth. You know my divination can tell when someone is lying. By your own words you admit are a traitor begging for their help. You have fallen from the path and killed us all. You have forfeited your life but there is a way to save your soul. Cleanse yourself. Give your life to save mine. Everyone here knows what you won’t accept. You’ve been abandoned. No one will risk their necks to save you. I’ll make sure those you don’t want to come near you, won’t,” Da Mu parroted back everything Styxx had adding only, “she speaks the truth and is offering you the chance to save your soul.”

Jessa Novar

“I can heal him in sickbay, if you let us out of this force field.” He stared at Jessa. “No miracles from God necessary.”

Rinker

Jessa reacted instantly dropping the field however it did not do anything to aid with the repair of the transporters that were now offline to prevent anyone else from escaping the ship.

“You are a messenger of God. We don’t need him. You…heal…me.” Da Mu’s only chance was to drain Jessa of her nanites. His vision was narrowing and his ability to speak was becoming labored. Coughing up a large glob of sputum mixed with blood, Da Mu took a ragged breath. They had the Prism. They no longer needed her. He did not have the strength to activate his own weapons. He needed Jessa to slit her own wrist and give him an infusion.

Snapping her wrist together, Jessa produced a small blade. Her hand shook holding it from a combination of the overdose of battle drug and her own fear.

“If I speak the truth then let me talk some more,” Styxx said.

Jessa did not look directly at Styxx as the woman talked but she was no longer talking to Da Mu. Her head was spinning at what to do and who to listen to. Without Zala or Rogan, Jessa had to make her own choices and find the best way to save Da MU. Casting a quick glance at Styxx, Jessa gave a quick nod as if to continue.

“Listen to what he is asking you to do, give up your life for his. Although he has branded you a heretic already. Your people believe in spreading light. So why would you snuff yours out? The life of child with an amazing gift, a gift that could spread your light further then anyone could imagine. Think of all you could achieve if your light continues. Don’t snuff it out in vein for a man who would just be locked up for the rest of his life. There is nothing sadder then a child who’s light never got to shine, never got to grow up and see the galaxy.” As she spoke River’s voice broke ever so slightly.

“I don’t know what to do,” she looked at the adults around her before letting her gaze settle on Styxx.

“Ask yourself what have you elders done for you since you got on this ship. Forced you to fight, to kill, to attack, told you god knows what to keep you in line. They left you. Even now the one remaining is trying to manipulate you for his own self-interests, his own selfish goals. Ask yourself what has Ian done for you, how much has he helped you and welcomed you despite everything, he is still trying to help you, as is Rinker and so am I. Compare us three to your three elders, and think for love of all that is holy think, Who should you trust” River was pleading with Jessa she wanted her to stop to let them do what they do best. She didn’t know everything as she had been on her own mission. But by the way Ian and addressed her, it was clear their bond was far closer then one could see at first. She knew that the kid had been given fairly open access to the ship, a decision that would have to be discussed along with the actually nature of Ian relationship with the kid at a later date. But right now all River cared about was resolving the current situation.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

OOC: Sorry I got carried away again. Nathan

Rinker shrugged, what she said was accurate enough, so he didn’t need to add or subtract.

Rinker

“I don’t know,” she replied, “but I know what feels right.”

“Tick toc, we are running out of time. He is dying while we think.” He was now thinking maybe a statis chamber would keep him alive. “Adding adenine to his blood stream might give him a couple of minutes of consciousness, but it will increase his blood flow and thus have him bleed to death more quickly.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Jessa yelled out closing her fist which made the weapon fall to the ground. “I don’t know how to save him.”

The situation was going on far longer than necessary and Ian wasn’t going to take the chance Jessa was going to juice up the alien in an attempt to save him. “You save him by letting Rinker help him,” Ian replied reaching down and taking Jessa’s arm removing her from the alien.

The blood was now barely pulsing out of Da Mu’s body. The alien’s heart rate slowed enough that Rinker did not need to know Da Mu’s anatomy or physiology to understand his heart was barely beating.

Jessa Novar

“Rinker held up his bloody hands. “Now or never.”

“I know,” Ian growled out knowing Rinker was waiting for someone to give him information or help. =/\=I need site-to-site medical transporters up now,” he yelled into his comm badge but only received the same report that teams were working on it.

No sooner did Rinker get the chance to treat him, Da Mu’s head listed to the side and his eyes took on a glass expression of death.

An icy wash of fluid seemed to start at the base of her skull and flood her body numbing her fingers, toes, and belly. She looked at Rinker growing ashen. “He’s dead?” It was more a rhetorical question by the tone of her voice than a pronouncement.

Rinker pursed his lips. He didn’t have much to say.

Pulling her arm away from Ian, Jessa began to pace and shake her hands to her side. The battle drug was intended to numb the soldier’s sense of pain, heighten their perception, and increase adrenaline to make one feel invincible, also had the dissociative effect of agitation, delusions, and irrational thought patterns when the nanites were not present to curb the withdrawal effects. She was still wearing her armor but had the helmet retracted so her face was clearly visible. “I killed an Elder,” her voice had a shakey quality and it was more of a monologue to herself than a statement directed at anyone else. Bringing a hand up she ran her fingers through her hair leaving long red streaks of Da Mu’s blood in it from where she had tried to stop the bleeding from the mortal wound with her hand.

“You didn’t kill him. I did.” River said her tone calm

“Does that matter? An Elder is dead and someone will have to pay the price,” Jessa looked down at her hands and wiped them on her armor as if trying to wipe away the sin.

“I have to be cleansed for my sin,” she said before looking at Ian, then Styxx, and finally Rinker. Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest. The suit had released all three doses of the battle drug into her system: The first was when they started fighting in Marine country and the last two each time she used her body as a projectile to break through the forcefield. Ian and Rinker were much larger in body mass and had only had one dose of the drug when Jessa clad them in the suits of armor against their will. They would also be feeling the effects but at a third of the dosage.

“That is a huge leap. You didn’t cut him or make him bleed out so…” Rinker stared.

“No, but I forced him here. All of them,” Jessa waved about even though none of the other aliens remained in the space. “If I did not bring them here they would still be alive doing God’s work. She,” Jessa stabbed a finger at Styxx, “was scared, misguided, and acting on emotions instead of faith. God will not punish her for this no different than you can punish a baby for crying when they are hungry.”

River didn’t put much stock in faith. She thought it a dangerous delusion for the most part. Something that spurred others into dangerous actions and lead to nothing but suffering and misery. In history they had been no greater killer then faith. “That’s a quaint excuse as to why nothing will happen” she said under her breath.

“Nothing will happen,” Jessa sounded exasperated. “Have IQ’s dropped sharply in this room or is my translator broken?” The sarcasm was thick in her voice.

“An Elder is dead,” she spoke slower. “Entire planets have paid the price for such blasphemy. I will not allow that to happen to this ship. You have to believe me. I will protect you.” The more roles Jessa tried to play the more emotional she became. Each emotional state began to vie for dominance: Anger, sadness, fear, hope. The drug was making it harder for her to focus on only one train of thought as the consequences of what had happened was taking up center stage in her head space.

River listened to Jessa as she spoke not entirely sure how Jessa was going to protect them. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. So if you want to protect this ship there are two people you need to work with and trust. Me and our Chief of security Mardusk. Let us help you and you will help us” she said her tone calm.

“Trust,” Jessa spat out angrily. “You killed one and he killed the other. Someone took Zala and how do I know you did not beam her out into the abyss of space? What am I supposed to trust?”

“I have to pay the price for my betrayal of the Order but....ughhhh,” she let out a whimper clenching her fists and shaking them out as if it would clear her mind. “I am sorry. I am so so so sorry. I don’t know why this happened? No one was supposed to get hurt. I just wanted to go home. Why did you not let me just go home,” Jessa moved back a few steps looking around for a place to run.

“You need to stop.” She was spiraling down.

“Triff you Rinker. I am saving your life by sacrificing my own. Be grateful,” she lashed out feeling her body starting to ache and shake. “All of you should be thanking me for what I am going to do especially you.” It was a backhanded compliment in a way. Jessa had tried to be aloof and act as if no one but the Elders mattered to her however her comment signaling out Rinker showed she had made a connection if it was tenuous at best.

River smirked at what she could only assume was a swear directed at Rinker “You know I’m starting to like this kid” she said her tone amused for a moment before returning to its serious level

“You’re not responsible for this. If you want the real culprit its section 31 and Primrose they are the most likely people to have set all this up, as well as working against all of us form the start. If you want to blame someone, blame them not yourself.” River said trying to be reassuring, she knew how dangerous guilt could be.

“They,” Jessa looked at Styxx letting her confusion show on her face. Her head began to swim in ideas that threatened to drown her. It made sense now as to why they would only talk to her for short bursts, only took Zala Tsu in the extraction, and wanted complete secrecy about their contacts. They had set up beaming Jessa into the brig and the middle of Marine country.

“The people I spoke to…the man you call Jen is part of it so does that me he is section 34, 16, 32....31.” It was getting harder for Jessa to maintain facts and details. Hitting her head several times Jessa felt an overwhelming urge to hurt someone or run. It was as if her body could not decide between fight or flight.

“Possible, its hard to know for sure. there are many angles people can play” River said truthfully. there where a lot of moving parts at the moment and it was hard to know such parts moved with hem and which moved against them

“Don’t change the subject and don’t try to spread the blame. You killed an Elder,” she pointed at Styxx. “Rinker has tried to break my faith. Ian has tried to play the nice guy but he wants something. I,” she took a breath and stopped.

River shook her head “I’m not passing the blame I killed Da’mu I take ownership of that. But to know how best to move forward we must all be made aware of the bigger picture. telling you what I did can better prepare you for the next move, Knowledge is almost as powerful, if not a more powerful weapon as any when it comes to defeating those who stand against us” She said simply. It was the truth. River couldn’t help but wonder if she and others had been made aware of the bigger picture how different everything would have gone.

Shaking her head, Jessa felt her breathing increasing and the edges of blackness filling her vision. “I told them I knew where the Prism was. I could not tell Pellan. He would not have let me come but nothing will stop me from finding and helping my mother so I had to lie and that lie killed Da Mu and Roh,” she felt the name choke in her throat. Jessa began to hum the tune that she used to calm down. Rinker’s drug worked so much better than the song but it was all she had to try and clear her head. After a few bars, she looked up as if making a decision.

Ian was not immune to the battle drugs effect either. His mind was racing but the full dose of nanites he got with it was keeping him from the downward spiral into paranoia and panic Jessa was entering. Moving forward he felt the burst of rage and tension bubble over from the past week. These people had tried to kill his wife, take over the ship, and slaughter the crew of the Atlantis. He probably should have measured his words with the next utterance but he was also running on emotions and not rational thought. “Because Jessa I am your Father and I am not letting you go back to that psychotic hippie you call a mother.”

Jessa Novar

“What,” Jessa looked at him feeling like a thousand people were talking to her at once and she could not process all the words past a white noise ringing in her ears.

River echoed Jessa’s reaction “What” she exclaimed “What the bloody hell do you mean you’re her father?” She demanded.

Jessa slammed her wrists together and produced a handheld weapon that looked like a pulse rifle only small enough to fit in her hand. She did not point it at anyone in general but held it up defensively. “Why would you say that? My father died at the hands of the Angra Mainyu. Do not blaspheme his sacrifice to Ahura Mazda.” The Elders had told Jessa the crew would do anything and everything to ensure they were the owners of the Prism. This was just another way to confuse and cull her from the path of enlightenment.

Ian understood his mistake the instant he said. Luckily Rinker pulled Jessa’s attention onto a new topic.

“You are taking more responsibility than you actually have.” Rinker continued.

“I am responsible for all this,” she gestured around and felt her legs go watery seeing the alien pods and the people trying to get into them. The scene might be new to the crew of the Atlantis but it was a scene Jessa had witnessed before. Parent’s clawing at the pods desperate to release their children from inside. “I tried to stop this on Halston but I made horrible choices. My decisions killed everyone which is why I had to come here. To redeem my mistakes.” Her thoughts were completely disjointed to anyone trying to follow her conversation; yet for Jessa, it made perfect sense in the distorted reality the battle drug was creating in her mind.

“You don’t solve a new problem by believing you should have made better decisions in the past.” He looked at her.

“That’s why the windows in the front of a ship is bigger than the windows in the back. You should be looking forward not back.” He snapped. “What is the next steps.”

Rinker

Rinker was not a man that commanded attention by large muscles, a loud voice, or a penetrating stare. He was the furthest thing from what Jessa would immediately call intimidating but he could command a room with a level tone and specific directions guiding those lost in a fog and fear to safety and clarity. “Repay my debts to the universe before I give my life to the cleansing,” Jessa stated. Her response indicated mentally she was still teetering on delusional thoughts but her tone and words were no longer filled with gibberish and panic.

“Mukt karana,” Jessa announced loudly. The MECH’s instantly reacted moving from all the locations Rogan had scattered them to and forming a straight line as if lining up for inspections.

The hard exterior seemed to melt and then liquefy releasing each child gently and slowly to the ground. The now inky and oily skin which had made up the MECH’s slipped and slide like a mercurial pool back towards Jessa.

Jessa Novar

“That’s sounds like a lot of debt to repay.” River said simply as she finally got a chance to survey the child in front of her. “Luckily you can start with this ship and her crew” she added after a short pause.

Lieut Styxx (OIC Marines)

The inky droplets retreated toward Jessa until they formed into the original hard be be like pellets she scattered to the ground when the fighting started. Bending down she began to pick them up and place them in a compartment on her thigh as she talked. “We need a pyre. It needs to be three feet high, five feet wide, and seven feet long. We need four sources of fire that come from a house of a priest, warrior, farmer, and artisan. I am going to need five representatives of your ship to bear witness to the ritual. All this must be done so that Da Mu’s sole is not trapped in the fog and mists of Hamestakan.” Standing up, the motion was not fluid or smooth. Jessa winced slightly and squinted her eyes as if the room was too bright as she tapped the device on her neck that matched the ones on Ian and Rinker’s necks. The second her finger touched her neck the armor retracted completely so that Jessa was no longer protected.

Jessa Novar

“That sounds doable.” River said simply “But who do you want to help you get those things and make the perpetrations?” River asked. She wasn’t sure but she was willing to bet that it was the first time, in along time, someone was genuinely asking Jessa what she wanted.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

OOC: We can continue to add to this thread if we want but I am not sure how to move the story along unless I create new threads. I created new threads for anyone that wants to write the next part of the story.
Nathan or anyone that wants to jump in I have a security thread where I replied to the last part of this https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf3/atlantis/posts/208320/
Luke I moved the thread to more psychological counseling here https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf3/atlantis/posts/208370/

Kate