Re: The Phenomenal Fracas! (GBS2G6): [Round Three: HMS Thunderhead]
04-06-2011, 02:52 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
Growing increasingly impatient and all the more agitated, Syvex paced back and forth through the hallway before eventually deciding on slumping in the ornate couch placed across from the lift entrance. On multiple occasions a passenger or two walked down the hall, stopping and quickly turning back upon seeing a giant, disgruntled shadow snake glaring at them despite a lack of eyes. To them he was simply an abomination, a Thing that Should Not Be, which they would sooner kill than try to reason with, had they the capability. No different than back on Earth. Most humans would shy away from him, usually in fear. And to top it all off, the one human who had come closest to accepting him was now possibly going insane from a chunk of an eldritch abomination lodged in her abdomen. He could only hope that the ship's doctors actually knew what they were doing, that they could keep Eureka from dying.
After a while, Syvex heard a familiar click.
"Security. Don't move."
Syvex "glanced" in the team's direction. Not an entirely purposeful action from a biological view, but an imitation of human body language in a mostly pointless attempt to be less alien to them.
"Yeah, I know. You want me to go with you, whatever, let's go."
The two security guards behind the head of the team briefly exchanged odd looks before refocusing on the serpent. Generally one would expect a huge, probably dangerous alien to put up more resistance than the bitter agreement Syvex had given.
"...Come with us, and don't try anything funny if you value your life."
"I already said I was going. You probably couldn't even kill me if you tried, anyway."
The two guards nervously followed behind the leader, Syvex between them. Begrudgingly, Syvex slunk into another lift, leaving little floorspace for the security team to step inside. The lift quickly descended, grinding to a halt in well under a minute. After transversing yet another bland, gray corridor, one less illiterate would have seen a large sign proclaiming "MAIN SECURITY" over a large door. Still warily training their guns on the serpent, the guards shoved Syvex through the door.
"This is that... thing, Mr. Gallagher, sir. Doesn't seem to be hostile right now, but we're exercising caution. Did you want to interrogate it?"
The large, intimidating man at the desk glanced up from his work, coming eye-to-lack-of-eye with Syvex. "I'm... busy right now. You go ahead and interrogate him. I need to deal with the other problems, including the rising bodycount by some intruder we haven't found yet. Surprisingly, the giant snake isn't the most of our worries."
"This is Matthew Gallagher. Operation begins in T-minus 35 minutes. All units, report statuses. Montgomery, are you in position?"
"Moving to position now. Security station on the bridge is unoccupied, I'll head for it immediately. Prepared to drop all security at a moment's notice."
"Excellent. Montblanc, what's your status?"
"Hiding near the main reactor core. Ready to deactivate all propulsion at zero hour. The ship'll be dead in the water."
"Good, good. Jones, are you prepared?"
"Waiting in weapons storage, deck -2. I'll distribute the weapons as necessary once the plan is initiated."
"Good."
Gallagher checked in with the rest of the infiltrators aboard the Thunderhead, all but a few reporting that they were either ready or close to. 30 minutes remained until they put their grand plan in motion, looting the most prestigious ship in the Empire's fleet for all it was worth. A heist unmatched in all of history, masterminded by the ship's own security officer. It was the perfect setup, and nothing could interfere with his plans now.
Security officer Faust seated himself across the table from Syvex, trying his best to act professional even in the presence of such a creature.
"Yes, let's begin. First. What are you, and where did you come from?"
"Well, I was created by In-"
Syvex caught himself. Wouldn't be a good idea to tell them where he really came from, especially after the bluff Eureka started. Going along with it seemed like the best option at this point. He cleared his throat for effect.
"I was created by Enderson. John Enderson, actually. He's the girl's father. I was brought here with them, so I'm not sure how I wasn't noticed before. Name's Syvex."
"I find that hard to believe, 'Syvex'. I find no record of a John Enderson aboard this vessel."
"Are you sure? Maybe your database is wrong for some reason."
"Even if the database was wrong, I don't see any possible way you could've gotten onboard the ship without anyone noticing."
"We were some of the first to board. Not many people around, they must've just missed us. I stayed hidden for most of the trip, but... I had to go after Mr. Enderson's daughter. She has this medical condition, you see..."
"You're not a very good liar, 'Syvex'. Just to get onto the Thunderhead you'd need to pass through security, and there's no word of a massive shadow snake having come through. I know you're lying. How did you get here, and what are you?"
"Fine. You want to know? It's no more believable. Six of us were dropped here by some sort of mask-wearing god as part of a battle to the death. Finch is also one of us. You shouldn't be worrying about me. Your biggest problem is either a cultist or a guy with a hat."
"...A god, and a battle to the death. Really. Although your descriptions do sort of fit the reports of other intruders we've received. For all I know, though, you're just bluffing and they're in league with you."
"Me, in a league with Sandman? You're kidding, right? Maybe you're not. I don't know." Syvex took a sip from the "wine" bottle.
"What's in that bottle?"
"Oh, this? Nothing that'd interest you. Although drinking it would probably kill you instantly. Look, I don't want trouble. I just want to know that Finch is safe, okay? I'll stay out of everyone's way if you can just assure me that."
"You're trying to evade the questions I've been asking. How did you get here, and what are you?"
"I've already explained this. I guess I won't be getting any cooperation here after all. Bye."
"You're not leaving." Faust drew his gun again.
"Shoot me, then. I'm out of here." Syvex pushed the table aside and slithered toward the door.
"I'll shoot!"
"I know. Do it."
A shot rang out. Purple blood oozed from a small wound in the serpent's side, dripping slowly onto the floor. Syvex turned back and began approaching Faust. Faust shot again, and again. His serious demeanor disintegrated as the bullets did nothing to impede Syvex's progress. Syvex grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him in the air.
"You can't stop me. Don't try."
Syvex dropped Faust on the ground, then blew up every light in the room in sequence. He then made a quick portal-escape out of the room, and headed down the hall in the general direction of the infirmary according to his map. His first priority was making sure the doctors were doing their job properly, and not doing more harm than good. However, before reaching his destination, he would instead run into a very bewildered scientist, one who had wandered quite a ways after an odd encounter with a very surprised officer.
Growing increasingly impatient and all the more agitated, Syvex paced back and forth through the hallway before eventually deciding on slumping in the ornate couch placed across from the lift entrance. On multiple occasions a passenger or two walked down the hall, stopping and quickly turning back upon seeing a giant, disgruntled shadow snake glaring at them despite a lack of eyes. To them he was simply an abomination, a Thing that Should Not Be, which they would sooner kill than try to reason with, had they the capability. No different than back on Earth. Most humans would shy away from him, usually in fear. And to top it all off, the one human who had come closest to accepting him was now possibly going insane from a chunk of an eldritch abomination lodged in her abdomen. He could only hope that the ship's doctors actually knew what they were doing, that they could keep Eureka from dying.
After a while, Syvex heard a familiar click.
"Security. Don't move."
Syvex "glanced" in the team's direction. Not an entirely purposeful action from a biological view, but an imitation of human body language in a mostly pointless attempt to be less alien to them.
"Yeah, I know. You want me to go with you, whatever, let's go."
The two security guards behind the head of the team briefly exchanged odd looks before refocusing on the serpent. Generally one would expect a huge, probably dangerous alien to put up more resistance than the bitter agreement Syvex had given.
"...Come with us, and don't try anything funny if you value your life."
"I already said I was going. You probably couldn't even kill me if you tried, anyway."
The two guards nervously followed behind the leader, Syvex between them. Begrudgingly, Syvex slunk into another lift, leaving little floorspace for the security team to step inside. The lift quickly descended, grinding to a halt in well under a minute. After transversing yet another bland, gray corridor, one less illiterate would have seen a large sign proclaiming "MAIN SECURITY" over a large door. Still warily training their guns on the serpent, the guards shoved Syvex through the door.
"This is that... thing, Mr. Gallagher, sir. Doesn't seem to be hostile right now, but we're exercising caution. Did you want to interrogate it?"
The large, intimidating man at the desk glanced up from his work, coming eye-to-lack-of-eye with Syvex. "I'm... busy right now. You go ahead and interrogate him. I need to deal with the other problems, including the rising bodycount by some intruder we haven't found yet. Surprisingly, the giant snake isn't the most of our worries."
- - - - - - - - - -
Security chief Matthew Gallagher watched the guards lead the creature out of his office, waiting expectantly for the door to close. As soon as he was alone again, Mr. Gallagher turned back to his computer console and immediately closed the feed of security reports, making a note to lock the door at maximum security clearance. One encryption key later, a lengthy text document appeared onscreen, listing a multitude of names and scores of other information. A few minutes later, Matthew Gallagher opened an encrypted communications channel, accessible only by him and a select few."This is Matthew Gallagher. Operation begins in T-minus 35 minutes. All units, report statuses. Montgomery, are you in position?"
"Moving to position now. Security station on the bridge is unoccupied, I'll head for it immediately. Prepared to drop all security at a moment's notice."
"Excellent. Montblanc, what's your status?"
"Hiding near the main reactor core. Ready to deactivate all propulsion at zero hour. The ship'll be dead in the water."
"Good, good. Jones, are you prepared?"
"Waiting in weapons storage, deck -2. I'll distribute the weapons as necessary once the plan is initiated."
"Good."
Gallagher checked in with the rest of the infiltrators aboard the Thunderhead, all but a few reporting that they were either ready or close to. 30 minutes remained until they put their grand plan in motion, looting the most prestigious ship in the Empire's fleet for all it was worth. A heist unmatched in all of history, masterminded by the ship's own security officer. It was the perfect setup, and nothing could interfere with his plans now.
- - - - - - - - - -
"You going to ask questions, or what?"Security officer Faust seated himself across the table from Syvex, trying his best to act professional even in the presence of such a creature.
"Yes, let's begin. First. What are you, and where did you come from?"
"Well, I was created by In-"
Syvex caught himself. Wouldn't be a good idea to tell them where he really came from, especially after the bluff Eureka started. Going along with it seemed like the best option at this point. He cleared his throat for effect.
"I was created by Enderson. John Enderson, actually. He's the girl's father. I was brought here with them, so I'm not sure how I wasn't noticed before. Name's Syvex."
"I find that hard to believe, 'Syvex'. I find no record of a John Enderson aboard this vessel."
"Are you sure? Maybe your database is wrong for some reason."
"Even if the database was wrong, I don't see any possible way you could've gotten onboard the ship without anyone noticing."
"We were some of the first to board. Not many people around, they must've just missed us. I stayed hidden for most of the trip, but... I had to go after Mr. Enderson's daughter. She has this medical condition, you see..."
"You're not a very good liar, 'Syvex'. Just to get onto the Thunderhead you'd need to pass through security, and there's no word of a massive shadow snake having come through. I know you're lying. How did you get here, and what are you?"
"Fine. You want to know? It's no more believable. Six of us were dropped here by some sort of mask-wearing god as part of a battle to the death. Finch is also one of us. You shouldn't be worrying about me. Your biggest problem is either a cultist or a guy with a hat."
"...A god, and a battle to the death. Really. Although your descriptions do sort of fit the reports of other intruders we've received. For all I know, though, you're just bluffing and they're in league with you."
"Me, in a league with Sandman? You're kidding, right? Maybe you're not. I don't know." Syvex took a sip from the "wine" bottle.
"What's in that bottle?"
"Oh, this? Nothing that'd interest you. Although drinking it would probably kill you instantly. Look, I don't want trouble. I just want to know that Finch is safe, okay? I'll stay out of everyone's way if you can just assure me that."
"You're trying to evade the questions I've been asking. How did you get here, and what are you?"
"I've already explained this. I guess I won't be getting any cooperation here after all. Bye."
"You're not leaving." Faust drew his gun again.
"Shoot me, then. I'm out of here." Syvex pushed the table aside and slithered toward the door.
"I'll shoot!"
"I know. Do it."
A shot rang out. Purple blood oozed from a small wound in the serpent's side, dripping slowly onto the floor. Syvex turned back and began approaching Faust. Faust shot again, and again. His serious demeanor disintegrated as the bullets did nothing to impede Syvex's progress. Syvex grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him in the air.
"You can't stop me. Don't try."
Syvex dropped Faust on the ground, then blew up every light in the room in sequence. He then made a quick portal-escape out of the room, and headed down the hall in the general direction of the infirmary according to his map. His first priority was making sure the doctors were doing their job properly, and not doing more harm than good. However, before reaching his destination, he would instead run into a very bewildered scientist, one who had wandered quite a ways after an odd encounter with a very surprised officer.