Purr
Kaerri's Man. =)
Captain Hesperus
Kaerri
Silanon
"Mass Effect 2 OST - The Normandy Reborn"
The Bridge. It's one hell of a place.
Not only has the bridge of the SCL-107 Broadsword provided front-row seats to the highest adventures and strangest sights seen on the deck of any of the Garfish-class REF cruisers, it is, as far as the Wild Cards know, the bridge of the only human-made spacefaring vessel to come from the future. 15 years in the future, back to now, mid-May of the year 2025.
The doors to the bridge open and the Wild Cards enter to yet another scene quite possibly never-before-imagined by any human-made vessel on Earth - the viewports and monitors show the Garfish surrounded by the pitch darkness of another May afternoon here on the South Pole. As far as you can see in every direction, there is a lonely wasteland of solid ice and bone-chilling snow made colder by the lack of sun, or the remorseless ocean whose waves splash against Antarctica's shores with eternal restlessness. But it is the lone object in the center of nearly all of the screens that captures one's eyes most.
Dominating the ice is an incredibly-large starship, one that makes the Garfish seem like a molehill before a mountain - it is the Zeki-Zentraedi Command Ship. It stands sleek and silent at over two kilometers in length, a giant alien behemoth made for war and destruction, just like the beings who were created to serve aboard it. The Broadsword is hovering patiently above the ice of the South Pole approximately 3 miles away from the gargantuan warship. And yet... the longer you look upon it, the stranger it seems.
Little flickers of light like speeding fireflies race away in pairs or in trios away from the starship. These tiny ships all head in a northerly direction, off of the ice, to soar across the waters to a destination you cannot see.
One last ship struggles against the icy climate, its engines warming its undersides with a fiery glow. Over the bridge's constant communication chatter, computer-noise, and bits of conversation, you see a young male crewmate look over his shoulder to a figure seated in a chair that is facing away from you and toward the screens. You hear the crewmate report.
"Captain, the Esper is lifting off. All transport ships are en route to Pacifica. Two minutes until the alien vessel is clear of friendlies."
"Thanks, ensign," comes the reply. Female, youthful, familiar, and from the sound of it, in need of sleep. "Synchro Cannon status?"
Another crewmate not even old enough to drink by many of Earth's standards replies. "All systems nominal. Ready to fire, ma'am."
The male crewmate reports again. "All away parties are in place, shielded, and standing by, captain."
"Sounds like we're ready to party," the captain says.
The target is obvious - the Zeki Zentraedi Command Ship the Broadsword crew retrieved the ICE-9 from. Though evidently stripped of much of its armor and outer hull, you can see through the crystal clear low-light and thermographic sensors that the ship's inner hull is still quite intact along with everything inside. The small ships you see flying away are the UEEF transport ships that you have seen putting the Pacifica together like the Esper you rescued in Mexico from the Anti-Unification League. It seems evident that the small transport ships stripped the outside of the Command Ship, deck guns and all, and have been taking it to the floating underwater city called Pacifica.
"Whaddya say, Wild Cards?" quips the Broadsword's newest acting captain. "Feel like pulling the trigger on the biggest gun the Broadsword's got?" Slowly standing up and stretching, her dark curly black hair spilling down her shoulders, is Acting Captain Shirley "Mack" Mackenzie. Her heartfelt smile to you is both weary and heartfelt. "It feels like a year since I've seen you guys!"
Sitting out of the way to your left is a trio of people up to no good. Captain Hiram Sharp is sitting upright in a hovering bed beside Professor Albert Stein and Commander Zyorna Kirin, all three of whom are sharing a smirk. Captain Sharp addresses you in a steady-sounding voice. "The crew wanted me to have the honors," the old ASC tanker grins to you, "but I've blown up enough stuff sky-high in my time. Troops, you saved my bacon out there. Consider this my way of saying 'thanks.'"
Commander Zyorna still dressed in civilian clothing and wearing no military livery whatsoever taps her fingernails on Hiram's hoverchair. "First Flight recovered a small team of RDF-friendly micronized Zentraedi down there. They call that vessel 'the Ship of Death.' After some electronic scanning, we have come to the conclusion that this vessel carries a number of Zeki-Zentraedi biological experiments. By stripping the Command Ship down to the bone, we both supply our city-ship Pacifica with badly-needed materials, but we destroy any hopes of this Zeki vessel performing its biological nightmares upon your people of Earth!"
"In addition," Professor Stein winks, "when isn't it a good day to see something that big go up into pure light?"
"An Arclight," Captain Sharp reminisces. "In the Vietnam War, an Arclight mission was an aerial bombardment of hundreds of thousands of pounds of bombs dropped upon a high value target. With the Broadsword's Synchro Cannon, and with the Command Ship still offline, we can blast that hellish thing to bits while we still have the opportunity."
Acting Captain Mack tries not to lean against her chair. Her smile upon seeing you has not left her face. "The honor's yours if you want it. Whaddya say, Wild Cards?"