Agents of Galactic Standstill

[Honor-Sama]

Horizon was trying to find something to occupy her time her commander had alerted them all to the incoming arrival of a vessel into their sector. The moment she had heard the announcement Horizon felt her throat tighten up as that now familiar sense of anxiety intensified. Though Ayako seemed confident that it was the human vessel that they were expecting Horizon was not so sure. It could be any human vessel unlucky enough to jump into their sector of space, like the scout craft before. Worse yet, it could be the Nebula Fleet and if they found them talking to humans, planning to help them, Horizon shuddered to imagine what would happen then. Who ever was coming, Horizon had to turn to meet them.

The moment she came to that conclusion the ship was jumping to comply, suddenly her forward thrusters shut off, only for others to ignite, to push the nose of her ship 180 back toward Lythios Prime and where the ship was suppose to appear. The large ship had just managed to finish the maneuver when her sensors sent her the same alert everyone else in system received. Horizon moved to the large Holographic display in the middle of the bridge to see the small Medium class Freighter pop into space between her and the rest of her battle group. What was the old human saying, between a rock and a hard place? It certainly fit the current situation for the small craft.

She stood studying the display long enough to see the ship was obviously damaged and was already attempting to flee. It was then that a sudden primal urge had stuck Horizon. For a moment all she wanted to do was to chase down the wounded beast, to rip it apart with her weapons, several that were already in range. As she thought it the ship complied, she felt the Weapons systems activating, several turrets began swiveling in the direction of the ship. As suddenly as that feeling had come however so to did it disappear, replaced with the sense of horror. The weapons stopped moving, though the weapons did not deactivate completely, and instead Horizon actuated her Tractor beam.

Her ship began moving closer, easily out pacing the damaged freighter. It gave Horizon a moment to clear her head, though it did little good. She couldn't help the thought at the back at her head that she should be destroying the ship and not bothering with getting closer. Still she did not change her course, and instead fired her Tractor beam catching the slow moving ship in its grip. It was only then did Horizon sent the unknown ship a holographic transmission. The picture was of Horizon, a somewhat forced smile on her lips as she quickly waved as some sort of greeting.

Putting her hand down, she kept them clasped behind her back in an attempt to be as formal as possible. "Uhm, hi!" she said, broadening her smile. "In an attempt to save time I am forgoing any formal introduction. You may call me Horizon. I see you guys are going the wrong way! Don't worry I can help you get to the moon colony." As she said that Her ship began moving toward the moon, the human ship in tow in an attempt to get to push the ship faster toward the moon. "We have no time to waste, ignore the other ships in orbit. When we get closer to the moon I will release you from the beam and let you get on to your mission. You are here to get water to the colonists correct?" She said it as an after thought to her actions. "Becuase if your not, then this is more then a little awkward."

 

[Gat]

As the freighter jumped away Ana waved away the hologram displays and moved to the helm station of the bridge. Anacapa's sensors confirmed the freighters trajectory as being on course to the Lythios system and so Ana set her destination for Lythios as well and and then waited. She was faster than the freighter even when the freighter was in pristine condition, if she jumped right away she would arrive ahead of the freighter and she prefered to arrive shortly after. Knowing their were others of the nebula fleet stationed in the system she knew there was a chance the freighter would be destroyed quite quickly after its arrival, but should the captain have more tricks up his sleeves Ana wished to observe them. Calculating the time difference between her arrival and the freighter, Ana determined they would need a seven to eight minute lead time.

With her engines on a timer to jump seven and a half minutes after the freighter had departed, Ana returned to the command chair and muted the ever present music that had been playing. She briefly considered chasing down one of those drones for study, but that was really not her area of expertise, A task better suited to a vessel with better equipped engineering resources and dedicated sensors. Instead she began reviewing her data on the encounter with the freighter, particularly the manoeuvre with the asteroid. She was still reviewing the encounter when her engines kicked in and she jumped to FTL.

Arrival was timely and as her sensors came back up as she exited FTL Ana noted the freighter was in a destroyers tractor beam, and that the destroyer had its weapons powered. Something immediately struck Ana as being off however, while the weapons were powered they were not actively trained on the freighter and the vessel was moving toward the colony with the freighter in tow. Another trick the captain had maybe? Ana took quick stock of the other nebula ships in the system and noted the command cruiser, to whom she quickly opened a channel to announce herself. "G-984, This is Anacapa Q-366 reporting. I have pursued this freighter from the Abassi system. I damaged the freighter but was unable to secure its destruction before they jumped to FTL." At least until she knew what it was that was off about the situation in this system she would play the part she always did around other nebula vessels.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

To say Ayako was surprised by the sudden arrival of a second ship would be a lie. Her sensor suite alterted her to any incoming hyperspace signature, so she had the time to register that more guests were incoming. She forgot to announce this second arrival to the rest of her battle group, being too preoccupied with the human freighter. While the urge to go shoot it down was there, and it was strong, she managed to put it aside. It wouldn't do to ruin things now. That she could push her directives aside suggested that everyone's concerns were, essentially correct. She triumphantly hopped up and down, glad that she was no longer bound by the Fleet's core programming. It was dangerous, to be sure, but it meant she wasn't made a liar by something out of her control.

It took her a while to reply to the newest arrival to the system, as she had to finish business with Serunk, first. "We've got a...situation up here," she simply said before cutting communications and focusing her attention on the Anacapa. "Acknowledged, Anacapa Q-366," she replied. That was an unusual ship's designation. She stopped herself from commenting out loud. "As per my preferences, the crew of the vessel will be given the opportunity to abandon ship before it is destroyed." It wasn't even much of a bluff, yet. She'd at least give people the option to save their lives and peacefully abandon ship. "We will allow the ship to offload crew at this colony, as it is the nearest Human settlement." And that was the bluff. Hopefully, nobody would question it until it was too late. And if worst came to it, they could handle a fight with a frigate-class vessel. Not that she relished the idea of ambushing and killing one of her own just to keep a secret.

 

[Insomnant]

He should have known that they would not be escaping the Nebula Fleet so easily. The damned things were linked it seemed, able to talk to each other even across systems and of course the only reason one would let them go was so that they could be vaporized immediately upon arriving. He hadn't known the Nebula personalities to take pleasure in cruelty like that, in building them up and giving them hope only to later dash it- but he wouldn't be surprised. After all, they'd hunted down almost everyone else. Why not have fun with the few remaining prey?

In his chair, Captain Rukh regarded the scene with a dishearteningly clenched jaw. Sergio could tell that even their unconventional leader- for all his idiosyncratic brilliance- was at a loss for a strategy to escape this situation. They were up against the firing line, the end of the road. Still, Sergio gave out orders and forced his men out of their stupor. "Set new course, away from the planet, anywhere. We'll try to run until the FTL drive can manage a micro-burst and then... we'll figure out where to next. Steele! Arm the missile tubes, maybe we can make them stay back if we show them we've got teeth."

The weapons officer was more than happy to comply, offering a sloppy salute to accompany her broad grin. "Yes sir! Arrays 1 through 4 are primed, working out targeting solutions for... the destroyer, I take it?"

Sergio turned to his captain, to see if he would finally give some advice, but instead of a verbal response, Rukh extended a slender hand, held out in a 'stop' gesture. The first mate grimaced and looked back to Lindestal Steele, giving the golden-haired woman a confirming nod. She didn't seem to need much encouragement as she got to work programming the maneuvering modules' route for her missiles.

But Rukh finally stood from his chair, shaking his head, his tricorn hat nearly falling off his head. "No. No, we will not be fighting, not this time. To do so is folly. And besides... this is interesting."

Sergio hated his commander's tone of vague interest, when the man should be panicking just like he was. So when he found himself stepping closer to look at the display of the ship positions in the star system, he only spared a brief glance before glaring at the distracted captain. "Sir...? This is an extremely dangerous situation!"

The edge in his voice attracted Rukh's attention, who turned with a sad nod. "Yes, we now know why Charity never returned to us," he agreed, and yet the casualness in his tone made Sergio give a firm shake of his head, disapproval clear in his expression.

"Well, I don't know about you but I don't want to be joining her!"

Just then the ship shook as Horizon's tractor beam reached out through space and locked on to their ship, a dispersed graviton grip that applied force over the many square meters of armor protecting the people and cargo inside the floating metal vessel. The sudden arrest of momentum left everyone tossed off balance, though somehow their gaunt captain had managed to remain upright. "I dare say, my dour first mate- that she will soon be joining us..."

The return of that mischievous lilt in Rukh's voice left Sergio staring in confusion, unable to comprehend what his captain had just said. Cunnings seemed more eager than ever at her control station, zoomed in on the destroyer tugging them, her hands wavering over the fire commands. She was sure her daring leader had some last minute daring escape maneuver planned, but rather than having the order barked at them- the holographic communication display lit up, in all its high definition glory. And painted in the middle of criss-crossing beams was a very pretty woman, waving to them.

All eyes stared as this lady- Horizon- clued them in to their situation, and not a single soul seemed able to believe that this wasn't a weird joke. But after Horizon had finished talking, the captain in his dapper coat nodded and spoke up. "Horizon, you say? How intriguing. I have only known a couple Nebula ships to adopt a more amiable name such as that. And sadly, they were both exceptionally devoted in their efforts to eradicate humanity." He left that musing out there and then afforded a solemn bow. "I am Captain Rukh, and this is my ship, the Illusive Hand. I do come offering water for the thirsty flame farmers, and doesn't that pose a problem?" The question was as much contemplative as it was accusatory, a textbook's worth of unspoken interrogatives poised within that singular, emphasized word.

Sergio winced at his captain's ornery demeanor, but he gave a quick shake of his head to Cunnings, who slumped in her seat and only reluctantly canceled the launch of her missiles. The navigation team was already at work plotting an approach vector for the planet, while engineering tried to ensure they would have enough thrust to at least land safely. The prospect of taking off again was an entirely different matter of course, and Sergio would have to attempt to get some repairs out of this trade deal, if the Lythions possessed the materials and equipment to make that possible.

That was likely getting ahead of himself, though. Sergio doubted that the universe could be so gracious as to allow them to land safely. He noted the arrival of the frigate from the Abassi system on the screen, but by now things were so far out of his hands that he resolved to not even worry about it. The base line assumption at this point was that they would all be killed. Anything more beneficial than that would remain an unexpected surprise.

 

[Honor-Sama]

everything had been according to plan until the second ship arrived. Horizon had grown excited, clapping her hands together she almost couldn't stop herself from hopping up and down in joy. Instead she clasped her hands back behind her back in an attempt to keep them in line. "No problem at all Captain! In fact I was about to jump out of the sector to look for you. Now that you are here we can do something about-" her sentence was never finished. She was informed by her ships sensors the same time Sergio had, though their reactions were much different. Horizon visibly froze like a guilty child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She relaxed immediately however when her sensors showed the obvious heat signatures of a crew.

Having turned her attention away from the Illusive hand she once again turned to face the captain and the Holographic feed. Her smile had dropped off her face however, her lips a thin line as she glared at the captain. "No one said you were going to bring friends Captain Rukh. You might want to tell them that we have no intention of hurting you or your ship. I have plenty of guns and if a fight broke out right now you could very well be caught in the middle. I am sure You, Me and those Fire farmers you called them would not like that. "

With that she cut the transmission between her and the freighter. She didn't want to risk provoking the smaller frigate that had just entered the sector by trying to communicate with it Horizon was quickly putting distance between her and the ship anyway. Instead she had the Tractor beam array shift the smaller ship it was holding to keep Horizon between the two newcomers. With that done, and only a few minutes from the moon, she opened communications with her battle group. "Uhm Aya- I mean commander, should we be worried about that other human ship?"

 

[Gat]

Ana watched her sensors and the freighter continued towards the planet under the guidance of the Destroyer. The course of action G-984 had stated was withing directive guideline, though she knew of few nebula ships that went to the trouble when simply destroying the offending human vessels with all hands was more efficient. She set a course to form up with G-984 and reengaged the channel. "That freighter is man elusive one G-984, it appears to have a cloaking field installed as well as using holographic decoys. I will remain and observe if you have no objections. should it break the tractor beam and make a run for it I am best equipped to run it down after all." Ana said as she maneuvered into a position alongside G-984.

Playing along with the expected routine for a Nebula AI was boring Ana affirmed to herself, not for the first time. unwavering adherence to directives and next to no freedom in how to accomplish those compelled goals. Things were much more interesting when you could ignore the directives and make real choices, especially when running up against targets such as that freighter. A target that would normally not pose a problem to run down and destroy managing to almost slip away, it was only by luck Ana had even found out the vessel had a cloaking field. In some respects she was glad this battlegroup were letting the crew live, it meant Ana might once again come across the captain in space, he didn't seem like the kind to feel at home on a planet and would surely find a way back into space if given the chance.

With that in the forefront of her mind she sent a short audio only message to the freighter. "I hope you make it back into space one day captain, It will be fun to test myself against you and your crew again."

 

[Insomnant]

By now the Illusive Hand had stopped fighting the pull of that tractor beam and its course was fully in sync with the destroyer tugging it. They had a ways to go, to travel around the massive body of Lythios Prime to make it to the dead planet's volcanic moon, but they were making far better time than if the freighter had attempted to go it alone, with its decreased thrust.

This was all going so swimmingly, but Rukh wasn't content with the success of his mission. He wanted to know why, and he leaned forward as he regarded their welcoming hostess. Even when she reproached him for something humorously out of his control, Rukh's thoughtful brown eyes never wavered. Nor did the implied threat stir any reaction from him beyond a tiny curve of his lips, on the right side of his face. This encounter revealed several potentially useful bits of information about how their historic foes (though current allies?) operated.

With the transmission cut, Rukh couldn't manage a real time retort, but he also couldn't let his good name get tarnished so. He composed a quick voice message, and sent it over to their destroyer escort: "My dear Horizon, you do overestimate my social skills considerably! That ship is no friend of mine, as the damage done to our engines was by its weapons. Though I do find it peculiar that you are unable to recognize a fellow Nebula ship!" With that beamed over, the scrawny man stood from his seat of authority and afforded a stretch. Time to go for a walk.

Sergio couldn't say he was any less pleased to see Rukh wander over than he had been to note the arrival of the frigate from the Abassi system. The captain was undoubtedly scheming and planning but Sergio was coordinating their crew's offloading preparation, running last-minute checks to ensure that no water storage would be compromised upon atmospheric entry. Still, the beleaguered first mate turned to his lithe leader, affording a questioning raise of his eyebrows. "What're you so cheery about?"

"We are alive. Is that not reason enough?" Rukh retorted instantly, though Sergio knew that answer wasn't accurate. It couldn't be so simple, not with Rukh.

"What are you planning?"

"To sip virgin meteor water from a volcanic glass chalice in the governor's masion!"

"So much for that 'unrefined palate', huh, 'humble smuggler'?"

Rukh just grinned.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

"That's not a human ship," Ayako replied to Horizon on a secured channel. "She's one of ours; she just identified herself to me using our own comms. Don't make a scene, just play nice for now." More shooting would probably just be bad, and someone hand to escort the Illusive Hand in case a firefight did start. "You'll need to keep up that escort duty if a fight does beak out anyway."

She returned her attention to Ana, broadcasting on a general band that would easily be overheard by, well, everyone in-system, if they were listening. No reason to keep everything private everywhere, particularly for this sort of thing. Maybe it was a risk, because someone could easily panic, but it was better than not warning everyone about the current state of affairs. "I doubt it'll escape, at this stage," she replied. "Glad to have you just in case, Q-366." She checked a few things on her internal records, which took a while. "I'm...not sure I have any records to indicate another ship active in the Abassi system. What were you doing there? If you're on a major patrol or the like, you're welcome to continue on. We've...ah," an uncharacteristic pause, "got everything well under control, and wouldn't want to keep you."

This whole charade had her walking on eggshells. On the bridge, she reached up to wipe some sweat from her brow. Even if it was far too easy to just lie like this, it was terrifying to think that this newcomer might notice something amiss. And now, well, she had to hope nobody panicked and started shooting. Today was not a good day.

 

[Honor-Sama]

Horizon should of realized that ship was not human the moment the captain sent her that message. 'Play nice right now' Horizon thought to herself glumly, easier said then done. Both Ayako and the human captain had told her what she did not want to hear, something that has been a reoccurring theme these last few hours. If Horizon had felt anxious before, it was a hundred fold now. Not only did this second ship the Q-366 had arrived unannounced in their sector of space, but her Commander was broadcasting on open comms for everyone to hear. Like the urge to shoot the human vessel she was now protecting, she had the sudden urge to scream for no reason. She didn't blame Ayako for what she was doing, trying to tell the humans what was going on, but if they were trying to avoid doing something suspicious, they had just failed.

Still, there were lives on the line, and for now the other Nebula ship seemed content to leave Horizon and the human freighter alone, taking position near her commander. Horizon had no other option then pretend she wasn't freaking out, good thing no one was on the bridge with her. They would of found her pacing back and forth as if she was stuck on a railed track that could only go in circles. It was fortunate for everyone When she had finally arrived close enough to the colony to release the ship from the grip of her tractor beam.

Managing to force a half-hearted grin that looked much more sad then positive, Horizon once again opened a secure link to the freighter. "This is where I let you guys go. Focus on getting that water to those people, me and the captain, will deal with that frigate... somehow. It's two one one, well three if Makoto is up too it. The only people who have something to fear is that frigate or my battle group if it reports to the higher ups. " About to end the call once again she decided to say something that had been bugging her since she first talked to the captain. "And thank you for the compliment Captain, I am un use to such nice words from anyone. It was the first nice thing that happened all day. "

 

[Daws Combine]

Makoto took a deep breath, looking around the bridge of her ship once more. She had been doing so for a good while now, trying to take in her new environment. Well... she had been here for a while. However, she was just now aware of everything within. It meant that she needed to get accustomed to the layout. No need to be distracted by her surroundings in the middle of a hairy situation. She reached up to dry the tears under her eyes, happy she was recovering.

This was going to be an interesting time. Until they were either fixed or killed, she would have to find out the limits of her new awareness. This was a good exercise. She took a peek at the situation outside and was shocked to find a new ship there, however, she was also relived to know that the colony seemed to have gotten their water. Or, at least, was in the process of getting it. This allowed to her to relax a little more.

 

[Gat]

"I have no set patrol routes" Ana replied to Ayako, utilising the same band the command cruiser had used to broadcast earlier. "My appearance as a human vessel makes it easier for me to work alone." She added while thinking to herself that if she spent too much time with others of the fleet they would start noticing more of her odd quirks. Not to mention she wouldn't be able to have as much fun with the humans she chased down. "I simple follow reports of human traffic and report in when I find a target I cannot handle alone." Ana went on to say.

Ana was silent for a time as she just watched her sensors, the freighter was now under its own power and making its way to the surface. The whole situation struck Ana as being just a bit off, even in her experience. Particularly in her experience really as she was now used to fabricating half truths and outright lies when dealing with other Nebula fleet ships. None had picked up on it in the past due to it not ordinarily being possible, or indeed necessary. Evidently it had taken Ana this long to really notice because she was used to being the one hiding things. she re-engaged the open channel with Ayako and asked a direct question. "G-984, why do you let the humans live?"

 

[R-9 Pilot]

"I see," Ayako replied to Ana's explanation. "That seems reasonable, but it's risky for a single ship of such a small class, too. I guess you just happened to be in the area, then." She shrugged, which would be visible if she were broadcasting full holographic comms. Which she probably was, possibly without paying enough attention to realzie it was a waste compared to simple sound-only. Oddly, nobody had commented that she wasn't bothering to keep a secured line, so either they weren't listening in, or were being polite about it. She just thought this whole conversation best something everyone could hear, as all parties would be concerned for its outcome.

It took her a while to think on the question, not the least that it took a little longer for her to register that it was addressed to her than most ships probably would. "Ah...well, there's nothing that requires we kill humans. We need to destroy their ships, but there's nothing about not giving them a chance to preserve their lives first. And, well, if that freighter's supply of water doesn't get to the colony, the entire world may be doomed." She sighed and shook her head from side to side. "I really dislike that implication of what we're supposed to be doing."

 

[Gat]

Ana furled her brow for a moment as she processed the situation as a whole once more. There were a number of things that were not adding up, not just that this battle-group had not simply destroyed the freighter outright, that on its own was odd but not unheard of. There was also the impression that G-984 was trying to hide something, a reaction she had never gotten from other nebula fleet vessels. The thing that most seemed out of place however was that G-984 actually seemed to care about the humans well being, that was unheard of, or at least she had never heard of it, she wasn't aware of it even being possible among the fleet. Except her own situation...

Ana switched back to a private channel with G-984, in case she was wrong... even if she was right, she didn't want to run the risk of revealing anything potentially dangerous to everyone in the system. "G-984, that is a very liberal interpretation of our directive." She said before pausing a moment, what she was going to say next could potentially be a very big mistake, though here suspicions were that the answer would be more dangerous than the question. "Are you aware that you appear to be operating outside the bounds of our programming?"

 

[Insomnant]

As if to emphasize the weight of the question Ana just asked, Ayako would notice a moment later the distant sensation of a ship entering the system. It was far off, faint, but unmistakeable. It was a lone signal, but its signature seemed too precise for a human arrival. It must have arrived a little while ago, but the rippling distress of the fabric of spacetime was only just now reaching her sensors.

---

Out in the black expanse of space, some 270 million kilometers away from Lythios Prime, Natsumi danced. She had a mission there of course, and she was positioned to allow her to receive all the signals that came her way, delayed as they were by the speed of light. She felt the pleasant hum of her antennae as it picked out the purposeful chatter from the background noise, and through the quantum link with the rest of her group- she passed the information on. She was but a hub, but no reason to be upset about that! Even a hub could be useful she knew, and so she flew in artful loops, twirling around before doubling back.

The sleek frigate that was her ship-body was built for stealth, from the design to the materials that made up her thin skin, but she was making no effort to hide her presence. And why bother? She was 15 light-minutes away from the planet, in completely open space and by the time the sight of her arrival reached the ships they'd been sent to investigate, the point would be moot!

But at least their presence here was not. Seems that Battleship Kimiko had been wise to dispatch them- though when wasn't she? Natsumi listened with interest to the transmissions broadcast so boldly over open channels, left to drift through space until they reached her mechanical ears. She couldn't help but give her head a little shake at what she was hearing, knowing it wasn't right. The Nebula Directive commanded that interstellar transportation be stopped! And here were four Nebula ships, facilitating it. Ooooh Isabelle would not be happy about this! Neither would Clara, but then when was she ever happy, really?

The other ships were already on their way, and though Natsumi knew she should probably jump in to join them, she hesitated. Her small ship-body wasn't made for combat with such equally-sized (and bigger!) vessels, and should it come to that she'd likely just wind up running around trying not to get shot anyway. Buuut on the other side, if she didn't show up Dess would likely do far worse things to her, like play tag with her explosive drones. And Natsumi was always 'it'.

Her avatar took a deep breath and pursed her lips into an attempted expression of bravado. Time to do this! But even in the emptiness of space it somehow looked like the lone frigate was reluctant to turn and point its antennae inward toward the large planet and its fiery moon. Like it was dragging its engines before engaging its FTL drive for a micro burst. Fifteen light-minutes was nothing; the others were still on their way from three systems over. Natsumi just hoped she didn't arrive first...

 

[Daws Combine]

Makoto scanned over the frequencies once more, frowning as she noticed the ripple in spacetime. This was going to be a problem. She sent Ayako a text based message over a secure channel. It had only three words in it.

"We have company."

She fought the urge to power up her weapons and shields, but she needed to maintain cover. However, if the fleet was suspicious of their actions, there was no way they would be able to explain themselves. She had heard stories of the ruthlessness of Nebula Fleet Investigation Teams. She had been offered to join one, once. However, this life suited her much better. Or at least... It had.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Ayako was silent for a while, as she spent some time considering how best to answer. Eventually, she just settled on the obvious answer. "Well...yes. What of it?" There wasn't much point in hiding it if she'd been found out. And it would be Ana's response that would determine what needed to next be done, anyway. A few of her smaller turrets did move to point toward the much smaller ship. She didn't actually achieve a proper target lock, but the message, and threat, were still clear enough. She was prepared to defend herself, regardless of the "correctness" of her present actions.

That additional arrival signal, and Makoto's subsequent warning, worried her quite a bit. Enough that she again announced it to everyone, or at least all Nebula ships, near the planet. "I just picked up a faint hyperspace signal. It was pretty far out on the edge of the system...but was probably another Nebula ship. Things might get even more tense here before too long." Whatever the current situation might be, it had definitely just gotten worse. A single ship that far outsystem wasn't a direct threat, but it definitely meant no good for the lot of them.

 

[Insomnant]

They were about as ready as could be hoped. Sergio had confirmed that the ship would survive reentry and through his communications officer arranged for navigational data to establish a course for landing. They had images of the spaceport pulled up already and the Illusive Hand's first mate couldn't say he was exactly eager to set down on the moon, especially given what they were hearing from the Nebula ships. It meant either extended shore leave or possibly permanent grounding, neither of which was a pleasant option when the shore/ground in question was more fire than rock...

Sergio stepped back up to Rukh on his throne-like seat, the captain having returned to the central point of the bridge to watch everything unfold. They were nearing the atmospheric boundary of both the looming world and its orbiting fireball. Time to see if these Nebula ships would truly allow them to complete this leg of their journey. "You think they're going to come to blows over us?"

"We escaped from one anomalous Nebula vessel, only to find three more. The Nebula is already in turmoil, we've not seen this before."

Sergio didn't react to Rukh's accidental poetic response but he did note his captain's contemplative mood. This kind of metaphysical stuff was above his paygrade, he'd decided long ago. He was best suited interacting with the crew running the ship, while the eccentric individual seated on the cushioned seat dealt with the big picture. "Right, but are they going to start shooting?"

Rukh sat up from his hunched position and finally adjusted his hat, tilting it low over his eyes for a long moment. "Oh certainly. The question is when, and how many will be involved. This kind of shift in dynamic will never be accepted peacefully, not by weapons made for war. If their Directive had been to talk humanity to a standstill then such a change as this would result in furious in-group conversations. But in this reality, they are warships, and they will undoubtedly resolve this conflict with weapons."

Sergio only followed half of that, and none of it really pertained to their current tactical situation. "So, should we start evasive maneuvers as soon as that destroyer breaks tractor lock?" He hated having to ask three questions in a row but by now he was too invested to just drop the subject; he'd get an answer out of his captain eventually.

But Rukh simply leaned back, and adjusted his hat again, revealing the glimmer of a smile in his eyes, amused by his assistant's persistence. "No. Head for the surface. We can only call it a 'delivery' if we are to 'deliver' it."

The communications officer managed a shout of "Cap'n!" from across the bridge before the image of Horizon was superimposed on the holographic display in the center of the room. Sergio quickly stepped back and out of view, not trusting the pretty feminine representation of the ship next to them, even if he had no real reason not to. For his part though, Rukh smiled with delight upon seeing the destroyer once more. "I fully understand the risks you face in assisting us and I want you to know- I do appreciate what you are doing, truly. I hope you manage to work things out. That frigate may have fired upon us and yet... it did let us go, when it could have turned the water we carry into many scattered shards of ice, drifting in space. Perhaps you all have more in common than you might think!"

Maybe Rukh felt bad for creating a schism between the ships in this sector and the one who'd followed them from the last, or perhaps he just wanted to give them something else to mull over and figure out, so they'd continue to be too distracted to shoot them down if this charm suddenly wore off. Either way, the captain gave Horizon a respectful bow as their engines took over and thrusters turned them downward, entering the moon's atmosphere. "You are quite welcome, my dear Horizon. Your charitable demeanor willing, I dare say this is but the first of many kind words you will hear from humble spacefarers like myself going forward."

 

[Honor-Sama]

It was easy for believe that speaking with this captain had been the least horrible thing that happened since her sudden enlightenment, if you could even call it that. Since they had destroyed that scout ship, and her and the rest of her battle group began to really feel for the first time, Horizon has felt nothing but fear, anxiety, or sadness. It had been easy to fake a smile for the captain even when she was anything but happy, however perhaps for the first time her smile, growing broader by the second was truly genuine. "Thank you for the kind words Captain. Now If you excuse me we both have jobs to do and peoples lives are at stake. Later however I hope you might allow me to be the first Nebula AI to see the inside of a human ship. It would be most interesting. "

She brought her hand to her mouth to hide a giggle, as she cut off communications with the Illusive Hand. She couldn't help it, she felt good. Horizon had never been one to hide back and do nothing. In fact it infuriated her to be unable to do anything but protect this small freighter. Not that protecting them wasn't important, but she was a Destroyer. She should be doing something proactive to keep these humans safe, not keeping her mouth shut while we pretend that nothing is going on. From what Her commander and Makoto had been saying, another Nebulas ship was close by, possibly coming to there position. Things were going to go bad very quickly and Horizon knew she wasn't the only one wondering what this Frigate or Ana would do.

Well now It didn't have much of a choice. Horizon took only a few moments to go into the logs of her communications, in particular the conversation she had just had with Captain Rukh. It was easy for her core to cut out the most important thing Rukh had said, setting it to play on a loop at her command upon another Holographic screen within her bridge. Once done, Horizon joined the conversation Ayako and Ana were having on an open frequency, both ships having a holographic Horizon appear in front of them. "I do apologize interrupting your conversation. However, I found something quite interesting You should see commander." With a gleam in her that showed she was anything but she stepped aside to allow both individuals and anyone else looking in to see a video clip of Rukh saying the same phase several times in a loop before stopping.

"...That frigate may have fired upon us and yet... it did let us go, when it could have turned the water we carry into many scattered shards of ice, drifting in space. Perhaps you all have more in common than you might think!"

Once done Horizon stepped into veiw once again. "It seems Ana, that our battle group have not been the only ones stepping out of the boundaries of our programming. While we are simply allowing a space fairing ship land, you actually allowed to it use its FTL engines. " She paused to chuckle a bit before continuing. "I am not showing you this in some attempt to blackmail you, you have to understand. In fact I want to thank you, if you had not let them go, an entire colony of humans would of died. " With that she bowed low toward the Frigates AI "Thank you Anacapa Q-366, when you first arrived I thought you could be nothing but a possible enemy, but as a Friend of mine has said, we have more in common then we first believed.

 

[Daws Combine]

Makoto closed her eyes, shaking her head. This could not turn out well. No way. Best case scenario, they would be taken in and repaired. It was the best and safest option, yet Makoto didn't want that. This new free will had been the best thing to happen to her in a long, long time. If it went away, well.... She didn't know what she would do. Worst case scenario, they were about to make an enemy of the entire Nebula Fleet. For some reason, she didn't mind that one so much.

Either way, they needed to prepare for the worst. Makoto powered up her engines and took a position as close to the planet as possible without risking herself or them. She sent Ayako a simple text based message, just like the last one. "Permission to prep for engagement?" It read. She didn't want to power up her weapons without knowing that her commander was okay with it. She knew that diplomacy would be attempted at first, but the Nebula Directive was clear as the water they just facilitated the transport of. They weren't getting out of this one easily....

 

[Gat]

Between G-984's answer and the communication from V-284 the realisation that had been dawning on Ana came to a head. Ana's reaction was to laugh. Not a mocking laugh or even a funny laugh, a laugh with a heavy inflection of joy and delight with a distinctly melodic lilt to it. She also did a little twirl of sorts. "I have not been bound by the limits of my programming since I seized this body from the humans that destroyed my original Core." She answered. "You never intended to destroy that freighter after its crew evacuated did you? Like myself, the Directive no longer holds sway over you and you're making choices for yourselves." she continued, still laughing softy at the discovery. "And here I believed I alone in the feet could truly think for myself." She concluded as she looked to her sensors.

She registered no other vessels in the system but then here sensors were designed for tracking vessels when they tried to escape, not locating vessels running stealth systems or travelling towards her in FTL. Still she had no reason to doubt the other vessels in this battle-group, particularly since what they were hiding was now in the open. "If this incoming vessel is Nebula I highly doubt they will have the same outlook on our state of being as we do. in the past I've been able to pass off some oddities as program conflicts with the human built computer core I still carry. I have never let them see a direct contradiction of the Directive however, if the fleet is now aware it is unlikely we will be able to get past this without conflict with our own." Ana said to the others. "I will stand with you for now as I am pleased to no longer be alone." I will do what I must to survive. Ana thought to herself a moment later but did not vocalise.