[Ad Astra Per Aspera] Launch Day

[Thorn Darkblade]

October 6th, 2282


Cydonia Shipyards, Mars


Deimos hung low in the air that night, Spotlights and fireworks were shining in the sky, as the sound of an orchestra filled the air. The Cydonia Corporation's main banquet hall was filled to the brim with a wide assortment of guests that just screamed 'money'. All sorts of debutantes and other individuals with influence had attempted to worm their way into this party, but, the guest list was rather exclusive. Only some of the most noteworthy families from Earth and Mars were invited, along with family members and guests.


In various areas, idle banter was swapped back and forth between corporate entrepreneurs and up-and-coming scientists. The movers and shakers of the planet were here, along with a few faces that didn't seem quite in place.


"Name and identification, please." The doorman tapped his stylus impatiently on a tablet.


Wren produced an ID.


"Schmidt. Jacob Schmidt." He tried to conceal his nervousness as best as possible.


"Schmidt, Schmidt...ah, yes, here we are. Welcome, sir. Hors d'oeuvres are being served in the main hall. The presentation will be starting shortly. Have a good day."


With that, the 'guest' entered the banquet hall and immediately made his way to a side restroom, making his way past a grizzled looking UEC cop, probably hired on as extra security.


Deep within the launch bays, two scientists were making final preparations on an invention that would change the history of mankind forever. An engineer labored in a power frame, attaching some heavy duty power couplings and loading various crates. One man was down in the dry docks, while another in a control tower, observing the final preparations.


"Dr. Beckett, can you please make sure that oaf doesn't damage the cargo? As you know, some of it is very sensitive materials..." His voice said very matter-of-factly, as if Harrier didn't already know that half those crates contained one experiment or another. No biological agents this time. One last job with Preston, and then Harrier's contract would be complete. Free to go private, or maybe even retire.


The partygoers were a bit rowdy already. Throughout the night, multiple individuals that looked disreputable at best had been cleared by the doorman. This was a UEC-funded event though, despite being a private shipyard. Patrick Hennesy had been added on, along with a few rookies, as an extra security contingent. It was a token force at best, though, and Cydonia's own elite seemed to have the place well patrolled. Still, something wasn't sitting right in the stomach of the cop. Too many powerful movers and shakers here. If anything went wrong, heads would roll, literally and metaphorically.

 

[Millershipper]

Hennesy watched the guests coming into the main room carefully. His cybernetically enhanced eyes and ears fed data to the computer tucked just inside his cranium, matching faces against known threats. All that data was also stored for future use, downloadable for study. His earplugs were in place, subtly riding in his ears. State of the art earplugs designed to allow voices and background noise to pass through while nearly completely blocking out the sound of his pistol when he fired it. His grey eyes watched as many places as they could, the fringes of his black hair framing his scarred face. Tall and lanky almost to gauntness, those who knew his nickname could see why some called him Raven.


Stretching to adjust the armor hidden under his suit, Patrick touched the butt of his pistol to make sure that was in place. Handcuffs, zip strips, and ID all stayed in his jacket pocket unless needed. His gut bothered him. Like the night he'd been scarred. This wasn't a good sign. He tabbed his collar mike.


"Raven to Patrol One. I'm going to move around the crowd. Something's not right here. Send one of the boys up here to check paperwork." He waited for a few moments until one of the other agents arrived. Patrick nodded to his replacement then moved off into the crowd. His eyes and ears turned up to the top level of sensitivity as he scanned the room.


What didn't fit tonight?

 

[GalaxyFang]

The whines and groans of pistons echoed in the hallway down below as Alex clad in his power suit was finishing loading off the last of the cargo. He had just spent the last 9 hours connecting, double, triple and quadruple checking the power couplings. This was one hell of a big job and if he screwed up well needless to say hell to pay was an understatement especially when political and corporate jagoff's were involved.


"I got a bad feeling about this." Alexander muttered as even he was starting to question just what the hell was going to happen here in the launch bay, the security outside was damn well near overkill. Granted overkill was necessary in such things for threat's such as corporate and or terrorist sabotage, with a flick of the switch on the keyboard comput alex brought up his comms.


"Normandy to control. Cargo loaded to the Aft storage hold is complete now proceeding to finalize Port cargo storage.


Even as he trudged along in his power suit one thing still rang on his mind. "I got a really bad feeling bout this."

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

Preston watched over on the dock as Alex loaded more things, under his watchful eye, and that of Harrier's. The fool, how could he quit? So many things left undiscovered, unperfected... Morality. What a petty concern. Morals had no place in the heart and mind of a true academic. Only the future mattered. The past and present could be sacrificed if it meant a better tomorrow. Sacrificed... Yes, many sacrifices would have to be made.


"Dr. Beckett, can you please assist Mr. Normandy with the last piece of cargo? It has vital backup components for the life support system, I wouldn't want them to be damaged..."


He had to make this quick, though. The party crashers would be here soon enough to try and steal his precious ship. The audacity, to threaten him at gunpoint... He could've merely changed the codes, but, that would be accepting defeat. Besides, it would be too risky to overhaul the AI at this point... No, no, he would deal with the upstart boy and his ally personally. Dr. Beckett would have to come first, though.


Something definitely odd showed up to Raven after a few moments. Several men, in fine suits, were interrogating the front guard. The cybernetically enhanced senses were able to pick up a few things. They did in fact have proper clearance to be here, but the way they carried themselves suggested they were heavily armed under their suit jackets. They also were showing a picture of a man with white hair, not unlike the young man who just entered not ten minutes ago and left for a side bathroom.. 'Wren Dimitri', the file they flashed on a tablet read. Sizable list of suspected crimes as well, mostly high profile assassinations. Where did he go anyways? It was the bathroom, right? But, ten minutes ago...


That couldn't be good.


Above the shipyards, on a support strut connected to a ship of a design he had never seen before, Wren opened a small suitcase that had been planted there ahead of time. Security would've been too hard to smuggle this past tonight. Good thing he and Talon thought ahead. Piece by piece, he assembled a long-barrel MCR. A little overkill, but he needed to clear the launch pad of all the guards completely. He'd make it quick. No more torture, no more brutality. One last job, and this one was going to count for something. His wraithsuit flickered around him, bending light, as he stepped out from the shadows concealing him, climbing to a better vantage.

 

[Millershipper]

Hennesy swore as his cyberoptics zoomed in on the tablet and his ears focused on the men questioning his replacement. A hired assassin just walked past him and he never even twitched. He must be getting slower. Still, the security was pretty tight. Cameras might have caught the guy after leaving the bathroom.


"Overwatch, this is Raven. Please send vid feeds from time hack 20:01:00 on to my tablet. Sort priority is: main door, bathrooms, hallways, service access points. Hurry, dammit! We might have an assassin moving in here!"


While waiting for the feeds Hennesy headed for the bathrooms. He checked the mens' room for any sign of disturbed ceiling tiles or other exit points. Ten minutes was forever ago, but damned if he'd stop just because he was behind.

 

[GalaxyFang]

"And now the god's descend from mount Olympus to join with us mortal rabble." Alex muttered to himself as he saw Dr. Beckett coming towards him. Other thing's were going through his mind at the moment one of them being the ship that he was loading cargo to, It was one hell of a piece of work and a part of him would have loved to get his hands on it just to see how far it can go if not push it to it's limitation's for various reason's, but that was just the engineer in his own mind talking.


Logic and pragmatism were taking hold as he looked around the launch bay, something was ungodly sketchy here or maybe Alex himself was being over-paranoid but with so much guards and firepower here? Maybe being paranoid wasn't such a bad thing? But alas A job is a job and it needed to be done especially with a big fat paycheck coming his way... hopefully.


A visor and face plate formed over Alex's face as he began loading the final cargo component's, saving the life support back up for last. "Normandy to Control, Port Cargo loading nearing completion, just got to put in the last package." Alex muttered over the comms. Even still something in his gut was screaming GTFO NOW.


"I really really have a bad feeling about this."

 

[Maus]

Inside Leonard Beckett's left front pocket, an aged silver pocket-watch tickedtickedticked to 8:01 pm. The hour minute second hands all aligned perfectly for one still moment.


--


Tonight was the night that everything moved, months of careful planning and bridge-burning culminating in one massive conflagration of property damage and chaos. False cargo manifests (and real contraband), delayed action computer attacks, pre-paid actors in remote locations, staring at clocks, sweating anxiously. Beckett himself was, at that moment, neck-deep in his own systems, stealing the parts worth a damn and deleting everything.


--


"Dr. Beckett, can you please assist Mr. Normandy with the last piece of cargo? It has vital backup components for the life support system, I wouldn't want them to be damaged..."


--


Without even acknowledging Preston, he turned on his heel, already moving to the lifter. The fuse had been lit. The shotgun concealed underneath his off-white longcoat felt comforting, even facing the enormous task of stealing his own work. Thousands of possibilities spiraled out in his mind as to how this whole business could go sideways, but the doctor forced himself to see only the the path that lead forward.


"No looking back. Time to make amends," he muttered, wiping the last of the designs for the ship from the corporation's computers.


He flashed the dock-woker his 'fifty-megawatt professor grin', his glasses nearly opaque from the number of datastreams running before his eyes. "Shall we?"

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

Something odd happened with the security at the launch bay. The sentry turrets were coming online, armed but not firing, instead scanning by everyone on the docks. Harrier and Normandy cleared without a problem, as cleared personnel.


A warning came through the speakers, as several guards came out and began poking behind crates, in sensitive areas, and so on.


"Be on the lookout for suspicious personnel. All authorized staff continue your duties until further notice."


It repeated ad nauseum, as the security finished their sweep around the prototype. The turrets remained on, repeatedly scanning, until one paused a moment, aimed at Dr. Beckett. SKELETON beeped...an outside force was controlling it, not the standard protocols, but, it was designed to look like a targeting glitch. His personal radio frequency chimed in.


"Unfortunate industrial accidents do happen, don't they? It's been a pleasure, Dr. Beckett, but, we always knew there would only be one of us that could continue playing this game."