I'm glad that I got all these sketches finished, some scenes in them were easy to write and other parts I just couldn't get to click in my head.
I usually had to approach it from another angle like changing the location or timing of the scene to make it flow in my head.
Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter.
Please review and if you spot errors mention them.
I have no beta reader and I'm starting to go cross-eyed from rereading the text looking for errors.
'Speech' - talking through the bond
The Adventures of a Time Travelling Padawan Chapter 23
23.1 [16.1 continued. Big Hero 6] (numair2304)
"By the way you haven't really gone into detail of what your loop is really about. I mean you mentioned Baymax being converted into a superhero..."
"He's glorious by the way. Rocket fist make Freddie so happy." interjected Fred with a dreamy look on his face.
Ezra waited but Fred seemed to be finished and took back over the conversation. "Right. So I assume that means that you most likely have your own super villain."
"Unfortunately yes." Tadashi answered.
"I call him Yokai." said Fred gesturing with a dramatic arm sweep.
Tadashi looked disgruntled. "Yes, him. Fred what do think, safe to talk here or head to home base?"
"Should be safe but why take risks. Besides it always fun to see the looks on their faces when they see home base."
"True, I'll pick up Baymax and we'll head out there."
Fred faced the group and opened his arms wide. "Ah, welcome to mi casa!" he said ending his sentence with a bow as a final flourish.
Ezra looked around at all the non-loopers, all had dropped jaws and a slightly shocked look. He shared a look with Sabine.
'I see what he means, that is quite an amusing look for them.'
'I agree though I don't understand why the extreme reaction though. I mean it appears to be just a large home.'
'Probably something about Fred's standing in the group that we don't get without the context.'
Wasabi appeared to recover the quickest. "Fred really, I mean the concept of time loops is one thing but this.." He cut off as the front door opened and a butler appeared in the opening.
"Welcome home, Master Fredrick."
"Heathcliff my man!"
"Come on in, guys. We'll be safe to talk here." He held out a fist to Heathcliff. "Gimme some." Heathcliff performed a fistbump.
Ezra at the back of the pack had a smile on his face. Glancing back he had caught Baymax fist-bumping Heathcliff before saying "Balalalala."
They followed Fred as he led them through the house leaving the entrance hall and heading down a side corridor.
"Will your parents mind us turning up here?"
"They're on a vacay on the family island. I planned on inviting you all there next month to frolic."
He stopped just before a closed door at the end of the corridor.
"Welcome to home base." He clapped twice and the door automatically opened revealing a decent sized room.
Tadashi was the first in. "Any changes to the decor, Fred?"
"Haven't had a chance to change anything yet."
Wasabi was staring at a painting on the wall, it appeared to feature Fred but with a musculature that seemed more suitably for the Hulk..
"If I hadn't just been shown that video about the time loops, I think this would be the weirdest thing I've seen today."
After Fred had fetched refreshment and everybody had sat down Tadashi started talking.
"Everyone comfortably? Right then before all these time loops began..."
"Think of it as the baseline."
"Ok, this how it goes in the baseline."
"What do you MEAN in that in the baseline you die in a fire and we have to fight an ACTUAL SUPERVILLAIN?!"
Sabine reviewed Tadashi's explanation of the loop's history in her head.
"So to recap Yokai steals Hiro's Microbots, your death being a side effect, sets himself up as a supervilllain and after several encounters Hiro, Baymax and your friends finally defeat him at Krei Tech during the final stage of his scheme."
"In a nutshell yes."
Ezra considered all of this and asked the question he noted that Tadashi had avoided answering "But who is Yokai though, I'm sure that you know who he really is."
Tadashi sagged. "Right then Yokai, well simply put he's Professor Callaghan."
To say that there was a explosion of discord from the non-loopers would be an understatement.
"But how could..."
"Why would..."
Tadashi interrupted. "Guys I get where you coming from. It was a major shock to me the first time I looped through. I avoided the fiery death and ended up having to fight against my mentor alongside the group. I will admit that I found it satisfying to land a punch on him."
Honey looked shocked at this."Tadashi it's Professor Callaghan, surely you don't want to hurt him?"
Tadashi stood up. "Do you know how proud I am of Hiro. My last words to Hiro in baseline were 'Someone has to help'. After I Woke up and Baymax filled me in on events about Hiro and what he, what all of you had accomplished I was so happy.. He took what I said and truly made it his own policy in the baseline. Callaghan though, in his self-righteous quest for revenge hurt so many people. I don't really blame him for the fire as it was my choice to return into the building, at the time I was just trying to help someone. However what I truly can't forgive him for; my mentor, the man I looked up to, tried to kill my little brother and friends just for observing his actions."
Silence followed this speech and Ezra couldn't help sharing a look with Sabine.
'Quite a bit of anger there.'
'Mixed in with sadness and pity too.'
'Shall we try to improve the mood?'
'Lets.'
Ezra started "Well that was how it could have been, now I assume that you have a plan to deal with the loops usual problems."
Sabine took over "But since we're the new kids on the block as it were, what do you say to having a major changeup."
Tadashi stared at them. "How would you suggest we do that?"
"Well we appear to have full access to our subspace pockets." As he talked Ezra pulled out a lightsaber and lit it in front of them. "So what do you guys and girls think about working with technology that's different from your tech level and make the expo an experience to remember."
Fred laughed excitedly. "Oh-ho yeah, I like where this heading..."
They say we are what we are
But we don't have to be
Honey stepped out of the workshop smiling to herself. She and Tadashi had been working together building her equipment, it had been fun to work on something like that and she had been able to get Tadashi to laugh a bit. Ever since that talk about Callaghan, Tadashi was moodier than usual.
"Hey can I talk to you for a moment?"
She turned to see Gogo, wait that wasn't right she meant Sabine, standing there. She hesitated still unsure how to act around this new girl who had apparently replaced one of her friends this loop.
Sabine caught on to her hesitation. "You''re finding it a bit confusing this situation, aren't you?"
"It just that I've known you for 2 years now but Tadashi says that you're replacing Gogo but to me you are Gogo and it's very confusing."
"So how about a fresh start."
"What do you mean?"
"Hola mi nombre es Sabine. Me gustaria ser tu amigo."
Honey smiled.
"Es un placer conocerte Sabine. Mis amigos me llaman Honey Lemon. No sabía que usted hablaba español."
Sabine switched back to English
"I remembered that you spoke Spanish and thought you would enjoy a chat in your native tongue. I'm still learning it though."
Honey looked excited. "I can help you with that!"
I'm bad behaviour but I do it in the best way
I'll be the watcher (watcher) of the eternal flame
I'll be the guard dog of all your fever dreams
Sabine looked at Tadashi, her expression askance, as he nervously held up a hand scanner. Everyone else had been scanned and there was only her and Ezra left.
"Arms up. We want to get a good scan if we're to make you equipment."
She just turned her face to Ezra, standing beside her, and saw the grin on his face.
"I do have a spare set of armour stored you know, I don't really need equipment made."
Ezra pouted. "Come on Sabine, we might as well enjoy what this loop has to offer."
'All right, all right. I'll do it but only if you promise not to do that face again this loop.'
'Deal' "Ok Tadashi we're ready."
The scan was over quickly and Tadashi lowered the scanner.
"And that's the scan done, now have either had any thoughts of what you what you want to use gadget wise. Hiro usually rode shotgun with Baymax and Gogo focused on high speed."
Ezra spoke first. "Well, I don't mind working with Baymax. I've never paired up with a superhero robot before, I mean there was Chopper but that was a partnership for pranks more than anything else."
Tadashi remembered what Ezra had told him about Chopper and winced "Right you mentioned him, please don't corrupt Baymax while you're here."
Ezra spluttered. "What do you mean?"
Tadashi just gave him a look and turned his attention to Sabine.
"Yeah, I remember what Gogo was working on, it was interesting but high speed not really my thing, I mean it sounds cool but not me."
"So what do you enjoy in your home loop?"
"Painting and explosions, sometimes the two combined."
"Why... never mind. If you want to focus on explosives you'd probably want to talk to Honey, her chem-bombs are probably a similar technique."
(oh...) I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass. (glass, glass)
(oh...) I'll try to picture me without but I can't
Sabine looked over Honey's costume. Tadashi had put the final touches to her battle armour last night and she was now wearing the full ensemble.
"So how exactly do your chem-bombs work?"
"I love chemistry and the variety that they give me is a major advantage, at least that's what Tadashi says. The MCL here.." she said gesturing to her purse
"Sorry MCL?"
"Oh, mini-chemical lab. It's fed empty capsules from the strap and the touch screen on the side allows me to inject various chemicals into them."
"Interesting. So can have a demonstration?"
"Sure, I think Fred set up some training dummies in the garden."
"Lead the way."
The grounds of the mansion were quite extensive and featured a walled garden, just as been stated a set of training dummies held central position in the middle of the garden. Sabine watched with interest as they were subjected to an assortment of attacks all coming from the girl beside her, flame, ice and foam amongst them.
"I see what you mean about variety. There is one thing I noticed all the effects seem to be concentrated on a single target. What happens if you need to seal a groups movements?"
"That's something to think about, I mean I could just a smokescreen to block their sight but that would still leave them free."
"Have you considered that you could increase the yield by.."
'Cause we could be immortals, immortals
Just not for long, for long
Ezra and Tadashi were just doing a test run of Fred's suit with him wearing it. Ezra finished making a few connections.
"How's that feel.." The ground shook and they heard a solid boom in the background. "What the..?"
In the aftermath of the noise, Ezra thought that he heard Honey yelling. "WOO! Now THAT'S a chemical reaction!"
Ezra shivered.
"Please don't tell me that there's another upcoming Trixie out there."
"Who?"
"Pray you don't find out."
Tadashi just looked at Ezra's drawn face and decide not to continue the topic, instead he focused on the present problem.
"Right I betting the whole neighbourhood and possibly the entire city heard that. How do we deal with that?"
""I'll just tell them I was trying to gain superpowers again, they'll just give me the usual fine for the noise."
"Fred just what do you get up to in your free time?"
And if we meet forever now, pull the blackout curtains down
Just not for long, for long
We could be immortals, immortals, immortals, immortals
(Immortals)
Tadashi sat on the grass outside looking up at the sky. Everything seemed to be working out fine, the group was getting along well with the replacement members and everybody was enjoying the tech they were working on.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
He turned his head to the side and saw his brother's replacement standing there.
He went back to staring at the sky. "I don't mind, it's up to you."
He felt Ezra sit down beside him. After a few minutes of silence he heard a slight cough.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"What's eating you up inside."
Tadashi started. He faced Ezra and saw a solemn look on his face.
"There's nothing wrong with me."
Ezra gave a wry grin.
"Everybody here has noticed just by your body language that you're not in the best mood. Besides that I think I mentioned that I was a Jedi in my home loop, among the abilities that come with that label are being able to read people empathically. Normally it's very low-level and takes years to develop it to a standard where it's actually useful but thanks to the loops I've had plenty of time to work on it. I can feel when your emotions are agitated and they haven't been stable since you talked about Callaghan. So do you want to talk about it?"
Tadashi sighed.
"How do you cope with it?"
"With what?"
"These loops. I would be one thing if time was just looping but the fact that people aren't always Awake just makes me...I don't know. Hiro has never mentioned it but we think the first time he Woke up, he died in the fire as well trying to save me. Baymax remembers a loop when he came out of standby mode to find Aunt Cass alone in the house crying her heart out and neither of us around. I'm supposed to be his big brother and protect him. How can I protect when I'm not even there half the time?"
"I don't really have an answer for that, all I can give you is my opinion. Look at it like this, yes there are times when you won't be there to protect Hiro, but you've given Hiro a brilliant support group. Even if your friends aren't Awake they support Hiro and Baymax is the anchor, he always Awake. Don't get distracted by the what ifs, the could ifs and if onlys. Trust that Baymax will try his hardest to protect Hiro to the best of his abilities when you're not around."
Tadashi sighed again, he knew that there was still a problem but thinking about his friends how could he not trust them to look after Hiro.
"Thanks for the talk."
"It's no problem, it's like you said. Someone has to help."
Sometimes the only payoff for having any faith
Is when it's tested again and again everyday
I'm still comparing your past to my future
"Fred, would you stop playing that song at all hours?"
"It's great isn't it? I've decided it's our origin song."
"Fred, you've been playing the same song for the last 102 hours, 26 minutes and 12 seconds; if you don't stop I will LASER-HAND you in the face!"
Professor Callaghan wandered around the exhibits studying them with an experienced eye. So far he hadn't seen anything that could help him with his plans of revenge against Alistair Krei but he held out hope that something would show up. He noticed a group close to the stage, wasn't that Tadashi and his friends? Why were they here with Tadashi's Baymax project. The answer to that question appeared to be the next person on the stage.
"Hi, my name is Hiro Hamada and I've been working on something that I think is pretty cool. I hope you like it."
The tarp next to him was pulled off revealing two objects of a very familiar design.
"I bring you the next step in transportation. This machine is able to link to its counterpoint creating a wormhole giving you the ability to move anything anywhere with ease."
Callaghan froze, his mind crystallizing on what had been just been said. He was unable to act as Hiro pressed a button. On one of the devices a portal opened but in the second nothing.
"Well that wasn't supposed to happen, sorry folks I don't know why the other portal isn't activating."
There was movement in the crowd and the white marshmallow robot was pointing.
"My sensor is detecting signs of life."
Callaghen was startled out of his daze. 'What?'
Hiro gestured to the open portal. "Coming from there?"
"The life signs are female. She appears to be in hyper-sleep."
That couldn't be, she was dead. He needed revenge.
"We better check on it. LOKI could you fly into the portal and check."
There was a whistle and what appeared to be a trashcan on wheels appeared out of Tadaeshi's group. After a beep thrusters appeared on its struts and it took off disappearing into the portal.
Seconds passed in what felt like years and a familiar capsule came through the portal, a young woman held within it.
That couldn't be his daughter, his daughter was dead and he needed to get revenge
"Baymax!"
The capsule was opened and the Baymax robot was hovering over the girl, his glowing hands held over her.
"Miss, can you hear me? What is your name?"
Callaghan felt his mind racing jumping from one extreme to another.
Krei deserves to be punished
That's...
Punished for destroying my light
my...
I want vengeance
daughter...
I deserve veng...
Abi...
I need...
Abigail
Callaghan shattered the ice that seemed to be holding him down.
"Abigail!"
The girl stirred and blearily opened her eyes.
"Dad?"
The scene broke and people started reacting.
Ezra watched as a tearful Callaghan hugged his daughter, not looking like he was going to let go anytime soon. He noticed Tadashi standing beside him.
"I thought you wanted to punish Callaghan?"
"I do but he hasn't done anything yet this loop even though he was planning to. Besides it wouldn't be fair on Abigail to take her father away from her after what she has been through. That's not fair on her. Revenge is a hollow victory."
"There are other ways of getting some payback you know."
"What do you mean?"
"You know what we have to deal with in our home loop. What we usually do is pull pranks on high rank members of the Empire such as the Inquisitor and Agent Kallus. It helps us get some revenge for the stuff that they put us through without causing them serious physical injury though mental trauma is a possibility."
Tadashi considered this and after hearing a few examples of pranks pulled on the Inquisitor and Agent Kallus found himself agreeing with the suggestion. He addressed the group.
"There's a good few months left until the loop finishes, I propose that we prank Callaghan for the rest of the loop. All those in favour."
Not a single hand remained down.
Later Tadashi and Ezra were walking around alone outside enjoying the break in the fresh air.
"So do you think that I'll be accepted into SFIT?"
"I don't see why not you demonstrated a impressive use of varied tech just for one project, shields, robotics, quantum tunnelling, and reunited Callaghan with his daughter." Tadashi smiled. "You did all that and with your fly down for the whole show."
"Ha, ha hilarious." Ezra couldn't help glancing down however and saw that it was true. "WHAT?!" Tadashi collapsed with laughter as Ezra quickly zipped up his trousers. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!"
Through his laughter Tadashi managed to stutter out. "Hiro had the same thing happen to him his very first show."
23.2 [21.6 continued. Dead Space] (numair2304)
In the descending lift Ezra had managed to control his breathing and calm himself down. Nothing screamed imminent danger to him and now that he had a moment's peace he could take stock of this whole situation.
'What do I have to work with here. I still have my jedi abilities to an acceptable degree, not my best but definitely better than baseline. Access to my Subspace Pocket seems to be negated.'
That had come as a major shock to Ezra as when the things had started ripping through the vents he had tried reaching for a weapon but had been unable to withdraw anything.
'Probably a Null Loop, have to test that later.'
He felt the elevator start to slow its descent and heard yelling.
"Is someone there? Hello?"
Finally someone who might have a clue what was going on around here.
The ship groaned, creaks and thumps echoing off each other filling the unsettling surroundings with noise. There was a haze to the air, water leaking from cracked pipes and exposed wiring. Flickering emergency lighting, low visibility, the place was a nightmare for the senses. The Ishimura was a slaughter house filled with the dead and dying. The creatures trying to kill who was left alive, the dead crew twisted into new forms. The man he had heard calling had fallen victim to one before he could reach him. The only apparent method to take them down was to separate their limbs from the main torso and even that he was sure was a delaying tactic rather than a true victory, if had the means and the time he would burn the remains to ash. Areas he passed through on return trips were often clear of remains and he highly doubted the janitors were still working. There was a twisting mental field of sorts pervading about the ship. He could feel it on the edge of his mind, like wisps of mist, trying to latch on to an idea or an image. A subtle whispering just on the edge of perception, close enough that you felt that if you just tried hard enough you could understand it. He hated to think what it could do to a person without any kind of mental defence or natural immunity. He had been contacted by Hammond and Kendra soon after his elevator ride and he was glad to see that they had survived. Something however was wrong with his communication systems, it was only working one way. He could be contacted and could hear the individual on the other end but not the reverse. With them stuck in quarantine and him unable to response to them, he had been sent to repair the ship's localised transport system. All he had to do right now was get the tram line fixed, once that was done it should be easier to move around the ship and find out just exactly what was going on.
The tramline was fixed and he was on his way to the Medical Deck. Hammond and Kendra had gone on ahead to the bridge. They were all still in a bad situation but there was some good news. After some tests he had found he could still place items into his Pocket, he just couldn't retrieve them. He had even managed to arm himself enough for his own satisfaction.. First with the loop's termed Plasma Cutter, then soon after finding a worktable he had managed to craft the local tech equivalent of a lightsaber. Luckily some of the tools had been based on plasma core technology, the locals had managed to utilize plasma energy but had been unable to stabilise its structure into a solid form instead using it as a ranged cutting beam. He had managed to stabilise the output of one of the cores and using a power node as a power source had fashioned it into a plasma blade. It was no way near the work of art as a true blade but it got the job done. Having a familiar weapon on hand put him at ease and while the suit was restrictive he had freedom to flow through various katas when facing his foes. He could even locate them due to the sickening feeling that they gave off. It had proven incredible useful for anticipating ambushes. As the tram approached the Medical Deck Ezra reviewed what he had to do. Gaining access to a data terminal he had managed to hack a few systems, annoyingly a lot of the key systems required a key code stored on an executive rig. So he had no choice but to acquire the captain's personal rig. Where from? Why no less than the ship's morgue of course, this wasn't going to be fun. Stepping off the tram he could hear gentle sobs almost drowned out by the buzz of flies drawn to rotten flesh.
The woman's death had unsettled Ezra, there was nothing he could have done for her, her body was already shutting down when he reached her but it still left a bad feeling. The blood stains on the exposed surfaces and the filled body bags that covered the room hadn't helped either, and now Hammond and Kendra had gotten separated. Hammond had contacted him upset with what had happened before telling him about a barricade the crew had built blocking his path to the morgue. As Hammond explained his solution involving thermite, Ezra ignited his blade. The makeshift barricade fell easily to the plasma blade and he smiled to himself at the surprise in Hammond's voice when he realised he was already through, next stop the morgue.
By the time he left the Medical Deck, Ezra had been able to discover more about the ongoing situation from the data logs he had found. He was upset that so far he hadn't been able to save any of the Ishumara's crew he had come across, whenever he got within sight of one they were already on their death bed's and the best he could do was to be there for them as they breathed their last. or they had committed suicide unable to deal with the madness surrounding them. The madness right, he had found a name for the infected, the science crew studying the problem had been using the name Necromorphs to describe these forms. These Necromorphs were linked to an artefact discovered on the planet, something called The Marker. Looking at data from the research wing he had come across a shock, someone on board had been studying the infection but not to stop it. No, this mad man was working on how to encourage it, improve on it. He wasn't sure who the individual was though. Doctor Mercer seemed to the most likely candidate based on the files and someone had definitely been moving around in the background while he had been on the Medical Deck. The body bags that had filled the tram station and reception were gone, removed by the time he returned from the morgue, he would have gone searching for whoever it was but a hasty message from Hammond soon had him focused on other priorities. The ship's engines and anti-gravity had gone offline, they were now in a decaying orbit around Aegis VII. He had to get to the Engineering Deck and get them back online. Just before he boarded the tram he looked at where the woman's body had been. He didn't know who she had been and now he was likely to never find out.
The Leviathan gave one final dwindling roar and fell silent. Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. The last five hours had been hectic. It had been a whirlwind of disasters threatening their survival, one after another, he had had no choice but to flow with the events. All the key systems required to keep the Ishimura operating safely in space kept failing and had to be repaired; the engines, antigravity centrifuge, asteroid defence system and hydroponics. What was worse was that in the case of at least two of them sabotage had caused the existing problem. Unless the necromorphs were hiding a knowledge of basic mechanics someone aboard the Ishimura was trying to bring the ship down, whether they intended to aid or hinder the infection was unknown.
Talking of sabotage he had found the culprit for those experiments on improving the necromorphs, a Dr. Challus Mercer. While back on the Medical Deck to collect some materials to aid with the repairs the mad man had confronted him, spouting religious fanaticism about sacrificing humanity to the infection. Ezra would have dealt with him then but had to focus on the man's creation. His so-called Hunter, a necromorph with enhanced healing abilities, every time he cut off a limb the thing regrew it. He had pondered how the creature was creating the new biomass, but in the end the regeneration hadn't saved it. He had chosen the extreme approach, cut it into small pieces and then burned those pieces to ash with a flamethrower he'd recently gained and enhanced. Mercer had been in radio contact for a long time after that screaming abuse over the loss of one of God's children as he put it. He had even vented the Medical Deck's atmosphere in an attempt to kill him but the suit's inbuilt air supply and his own breathing control meant there was little chance of him suffocating. Mercer had got away but he would likely have to deal with the man if his beloved children didn't get him first.
At least now the ship's systems should be stable enough to prevent environmental death but while they had been dealing with those problems, the place was getting worse. The infection, necromorph moss, Corruption, whatever you wanted to call it was starting to grow on the walls, spreading through the interior of the Ishimura like a cancer. The mental field reached everywhere on the Ishimura though it was strongest around amidships, around the Cargo Hold where the Marker was supposedly stored. He could easily block it but it remained there in the background like nails on a blackboard. One trick he had discovered was that hiding his Force presence decreased the amount of necromorphs drawn to his location, the opposite was also true that by broadcasting his location in the Force the forces in the area would congregate to him. It was a useful trick to have, choosing whether to avoid conflict or confront the enemy to decrease their numbers. This had proven particularly useful when Hammond had started moving around the ship to help with the problems, Ezra had been able to draw the local necromorphs away from his location.
The man stood nearby catching his breath after the latest ordeal, Ezra had told him that he didn't mind facing the Leviathan alone but Hammond had insisted on helping. Hammond was a good ally to have in this place, the man was focused on a goal and didn't stop pushing towards it, even to the detriment of his own being. He smiled thinking back, when he had met back up with the guy on the bridge he had ended dragging Hammond to the nearby ship's Store to forcefully stuff him into a full body RIG.
-start flashback-.
Ezra entered the bridge looking for Hammond. Before he had gone two steps there was a slam and directly in front of him a piece of asteriod debris punched through the ceiling before continuing on through the floor. In the sudden adrenaline rush Ezra heard the ship's automated voice system pipe up.
"Warning Hull breach detected."
Calming down Ezra thoughts turned sarcastic. 'Really you think?' His comms then activated and Daniels was on the line.
"Ezra. Impact on the bridge directly at your feet."
'What is this? Stating the obvious time. Next thing you know Hammond will be calling in.'
He paused, nothing happened. After waiting for what seemed looking back an embarrassing amount of time he started walking. He made his way swiftly to the Captain's Nest and opened its door.
Inside he saw Hammond jump slightly before quickly glancing towards the now open door. Seeing Ezra standing there he turned his attention back to the terminal he was working on.
"Ezra. Damm, you scared me. This place is making me jumpy. Fucking asteroids coming through the roof."
Ezra gave a wry smirk as he entered the room.
"Yeah I know one came down twenty feet in front of me." He moved opposite Hammond getting a view of the man's eyes. "By the way I heard that mess earlier with Kendra. I don't want to point fingers but I have to ask, did you know anything about this?"
Hammond sighed.
"Look, I know Kendra doesn't trust me, but I don't know anything about a Marker or anything else. This was supposed to be a repair mission, plain and simple."
Ezra had been studying him carefully both with his eyes and the Force during his explanation and had come to two conclusions. Either Hammond had missed his calling as both an actor and upcoming Sith at hiding his intentions or he was telling the absolute truth.
"I believe you."
"Thanks you. This mess" working at the terminal, "is the Asteroid Defence System. I can fix these boards, but the main power routing is shot. You're going to have to re-route them manually through at least three junction boxes to activate the primary cannon. Oh, but first you need to activate the Atrium elevators from Bridge Security. You can use them to get to the junction boxes. By the way, Ezra. Be careful. I saw something out there. I don't know what. I only got a glimpse, but it was big. Really big."
Ezra put on a serious expression.
"Ok I'll clear that, but straight after that we're getting you in an RIG with an air supply."
Hammond looked up at Ezra in surprise. He gesticulated to the display.
"But I need to get this done. The ADS needs..."
Ezra interrupted.
"Hammond, there are already holes all over this ship. Taking a few minutes to make sure you can breathe is not going to change a thing! You in a bodysuit now!"
-end flashback-
Hacking the Store to upgrade Hammond's RIG had been easy. He had grumbled for a while after but while dealing with the mess hydroponics had become he had accepted that it had been a smart idea. The rotten air would have been most likely deadly without it. His comms lit up, Daniels was on the line. Oh that was right, Kendra was alive and safe. She had barricaded herself inside the computer core and re-established contact with them. He switched his attention to the video call.
"Ezra, you did it! Hammond? Do you read? Oxygen levels are returning to normal. Dammit! He's gone again! No sign of his RIG anywhere!"
Wait what? He looked across at the Hammond, yes the man was still standing there looking confused by the words. Kendra carried on speaking.
"It's up to us now. I've got a plan to get off this ship! I've located an SOS beacon on the Mining Deck. If you can get down there and activate it, we might be able to send a distress call." There was a thump in the background. "Oh god. I don't know how much longer that door will hold..."
As the video call was terminated Ezra and Hammond shared a look of confusion. What in the world was going on?
Ezra moved along the Mining Deck looking for the SOS beacon. After Kendra's message he had checked Hammond's RIG and found that yes it's signal was being blocked but, and this was the kicker, it's signal was being blocked from the computer core where Kendra was. What was she up to? After a debate Hammond agreed that while Ezra followed up on the beacon he would search for a way off this ship. Both would keep their eyes open for whatever Kendra was planning while keeping in contact via a comset that Ezra had assembled from some of the dead crew's RIGs. Hopefully he would launch the beacon, Hammond would find an escape vehicle and nothing would go wrong.
Ezra woozily regained conscionous and found himself lying on the floor. He cast his mind back to what happended and groaned. Why did he tempt fate? The beacon had been successfully launched and after moving some arrays into position outside communications had been established. The ship underway, the USM Valor, haD however already been overrun by the infection carried to them via one of the Ishimura's life pods. With no one on board piloting the thing the ship had stayed on its flight path had collided with the Ishimura itself. The resulting impact had been strong to send him flying out of the ADS seat he was in and knock him out for a spell. He groggily got back to his feet and winced as an audio feed activated.
"Ezra! Ezra, are you there?" That was Hammond, but over the RIG communication.
"I'm here. Just rattled."
"Thank god you'll all right! I'm been trying to reach you! Someone's been blocking my RIG signal remotely. That crash must have interrupted the signal block."
Kendra joined in the conversation. "Hammond! Where have you been?"
"Surviving, barely." Hammond coughed wetly, it sounded fake to Ezra " I found some med supplies and patched myself up. Listen. I'm calling abort on the mission. Fuck the CEC and fuck chain of command. We have to get the hell out of here! I think I've located a shuttle on the Crew Deck. The flight log says it need a new singularity core, but we can probably salvage on from the Valor. I can see the tail-end of it sticking out of the side of the Ishimura. I'm heading down there now to find a way inside. I'll meet you there. Hammond out."
"Ezra, if what he says is true about the shuttle, then we might have a chance of getting out of here. Head to the cargo bay and see if you can help Hammond. In his condition, he may not last long."
As the link shut down, the separate comset on his belt beeped. He answered it and heard Hammond's voice down the line.
"So how was my acting?" He was sure he heard a smirk in that voice.
"Well Kendra bought it, though I think you need some work. What's the plan?"
"Exactly as stated. We'll give Kendra the benefit of the doubt for now, but keep an eye on her actions. We don't know for sure it was her blocking my signal even if it was coming from the computer core."
"Ok meet you onboard the Valor, but Hammond!"
"Hmm?"
"Just stay safe."
"Try my best. Hammond out."
That had been close. He had nearly lost Hammond aboard the Valor during their retrieval of the Singularity Core. A Necromorph Brute had cornered the man in the drive room and another clear barrier separated them. In desperation Ezra had grabbed hold of as much Force as he could gather and pushed with everything he had. He had nearly lost consciousness in the process but it had saved Hammond. One moment the Brute had been about to crush Hammond, the next it was lifted off the floor and sent barrelling backwards at high velocity. The impact it had with the wall in its flight path left quite a sizable impression in the metal. It had been stunned rather than finished but the time it took to restart the conflict allowed Ezra to cut through the barrier and join Hammond. Hammond hadn't come out of the fight uninjured however and was now on his last legs. Ezra had ordered him to retreat to the shuttle and wait inside until they left. Resisting his protestations Ezra had stated not only did he not want to see him die after surviving so much, he wanted him to guard the shuttle in case of a double cross. The Valor's logs had stated that they knew about the likelihood of an infection outbreak before even shocking into the system. Hammond caught his meaning and agreed, Ezra setting up Hammond's RIG to broadcast that his vitals had flat lined. Their subsequent escape from the Valor had been harrowing to say the least, the ship had been racked by multiple explosions due to a catastrophic failure in its fuel containment, but they had pushed on and had successfully reached the comparative safety of the Ishimura. The newly acquired Core secure, they needed to head for the Crew Deck. A new twist had been added however. While he had been aboard the Valor, a Ishimura survivor had made radio contact with him asking for his help, a Doctor Terrance Kyne. The man had appeared sane if a little emotional, but then again the last doctor he talked to was definitely not the poster mark for sanity. He would have to wait and see what Kyne wanted.
"What do you cling to when all must seem so utterly hopeless around you?"
On the Crew Deck he had come across the lunatic, Mercer, again but this time he wasn't the one being focused on. No, the man had someone tied to a chair, gagged to prevent speech. The man fought against his bonds staring at Mercer with a combination of fear and anger.
"Dr Cross was true believer. She had faith. And now she awaits her transformation. Her rebirth. Are you ready ascend, Mr Temple?"
Jacob Temple the man whose path he had been following through the data logs, one of the few sane ones in this mad situation was the man's prisoner. The dead woman beside him, Elizabeth Cross, the girlfriend he had been searching for. He had found them both only to find one dead and the other about to be killed by a monster in human skin.
"Of course you are. Have no fear. You will play..."
He'd heard enough and a mistake had been made. The only barrier that separated him from them was a window, he could see everything through the tempered glass and he acted in an instant drawing his blade. Mercer's monologue was interrupted as he was picked up and sent flying backwards over the counter behind him. He slide along the floor, not too gently, and rose unsteadily to his feet. He glared at Ezra, a crack appearing in his calm demeanour.
"What are you? One of God's children. No, you can't be a child of god. A demon, a demon sent to corrupt the weak, you will not succeed devil. Devil in the grass."
By the time Mercer stopped talking Ezra had cut through the glass and was freeing the prisoner.
"What I am doesn't matter, stopping this whole mess that's what's important."
The man ran for the door. Ezra ignored his flight, he knew the man wouldn't get very far, there were necromorphs right outside the door. Helping Temple was more important.
At last he was facing the object responsible for this whole mess. He had located the marker, a twisted helix with a red tint, stored in the Cargo Bay below the Flight Deck. He could feel the marker's energy pulse standing so close to it, the signal it was broadcasting. As he stood in front of it he started working through his options.
Maybe the best thing would be to place the marker in my pocket. It should cut off its signal. Once I get back home I can take it out and study it at my leisur... He realised that the last line of thought wasn't his own. Tricky thing aren't you? He thought strengthening his mental shields. You're somewhat alive aren't you, at least enough to recognise and react to a threat. I wonder if that's why nobody on board tried to destroy you, Kyne was trying to just return you to the planet. People did claim that it was indestructible but I bet those individuals didn't try very hard. Worst case scenario fire the thing into a sun even if it survives the heat, I doubt the signal would be able to escape through the radiation. He steadied his feet and placed two hands on the hilt of the blade. Let's just try the simple method first.
Ezra swung his blade at the Marker. There was a screech of tortured metal as the marker was struck. It was slow but the marker's material was slowly giving way to the blade. The energy pulsed faster and he could hear the ships echo with the screams of the twisted dead. Ezra forced the blade through the material as it gave way inch by inch. He could sense the sickening feeling growing exponential, what felt like all the necromorphs were heading towards his position. Neither made any difference, the blade took less than a minute to finish its work. The marker split in two, the top half falling to the ground with a clunk. He swore, the marker's signal was still broadcasting but now from both sections. He could feel the first wave of necromorphs approaching. He glared at the fragments. I've got no choice but I promise you when I'm back in my own loop, the first sun or fusion reactor I find you're gone. He threw the pieces into his Subspace Pocket. The roars and screams that filled the air were cut off immediately. Ezra fell to his knees gasping, the sound of his breathing echoing in the sudden quiet. at the very last second before being shut away the signal had blasted out stronger than ever. He had had no choice but to clamp down on his mind hard. He stayed like that for a while recovering and when he felt better rose to his feet. He reached out to confirm the situation and it appeared to be as he'd hoped. Removing the Marker had destroyed the necromorphs. On the way towards the shuttle he observed the various remains of necromorphs dissolving slowly into sludge.
The shuttle took off from the Flight Deck and started leaving Aegis VII system. On board were three people, Ezra, Hammond and Temple. Temple was still dull to his surroundings, the death of Elizabeth had hit him hard when the adrenaline of his capture had worn off. Kendra, a now revealed government agent, had been left behind on the Ishimura. Ezra cursed her under his breath. She had killed Kyne, shot him through the chest with a pistol and had attempted to take the shuttle for herself. She hadn't gotten very far with her scheme though. Ezra wondered what the look on her face was when she boarded the shuttle and found Hammond still alive and waiting for her. Then again Hammond said that he had clocked her the moment the hatch opened, so there was a decent chance all she had seen was a fist incoming. When she regained conscious they had interrogated her, it took a while to drag the story out of her but they got it. The marker was man-made, buried on Aegis VII after the previous study lost control of the experiments. Kendra had been sent to confirm if it had been found and if so to relay that information to the Valor so that it could deal with the problem. Of course said solution would have probably involved the destruction of the colony and the deaths of the Ishimura's crew. She appeared to have no guilt over her actions, Ezra couldn't tell if that was her true self or whether damage from the Marker's induced psychosis had led to that. They had discussed the concept of killing her but they were sick of death at the moment. Leaving her stranded alone on the Ishimura would have to do. Moving back to the shuttle they had then talked about their options. There had been some talk about waiting for rescue aboard the now safe Ishumura but that idea had been shot down quickly. The last response had been military, there was no telling what the government might send next time to try and keep this under wraps. Ezra piloted the shuttle past some debris on the route to the system's edge. In the chair next to him Hammond turned to face him.
"So what happens now."
"I don't know." Ezra replied and that was the truth, he didn't know. The loop might end at any second or it could continue on. They might have to keep running from the government or they could perhaps find people to support them. The best he could do was keep moving forward. His last thought before they jumped away from the system was a silent prayer for the individual he was Replacing, a prayer that the poor soul never activated as the Anchor for this loop.
23.3 (numair2304)
An Awake Kanan was giving the usual lesson.
"You have to make a connection-"
He suddenly became aware of two things. The first was feeling Ezra's emotions and soul suddenly change through the bond signifying he was Awake and the second was a surprising impact as Ezra glomped him tightly.
"Ezra ... need ... to ... breathe!"
"Sorry." Ezra said loosening his grip.
"Now Ezra what happened? What brought this on?"
"The next expansion happened. We saved you Kanan, we got you away from the Empire. It was all baseline too, I only Woke up after we'd safely escaped and we were talking with Fulcrum."
"Well that's all good, but why the hug? Even if you had failed you could have rescued me the next time you were Awake."
Ezra opened his mouth, then hesitated.
"Ezra, why?"
Ezra answered slowly as though reaching for a reply across a distance.
"I don't want to lose my friends, I don't want to Wake up and find it's too late to change events."
Silence fell on the two as they thought on that answer. Kanan knew that there could be no true loss of life in the loops as an individual would wake up again eventually, however what you could lose in the loops was time and for the anchors of the loops this was particularly true. Unspoken between them though was the thought of lost time, Ezra was already alone in the loops more than the crew really liked. Actually losing a crew member in the baseline would increase the likelihood of Ezra being alone in a loop, they even hoped that Agent Kallus stayed around as that increased the chance of Yoyo being around. Kanan shook himself. 'Right that's enough on that line of thought.'
"So you managed to get me away. How did you manage that?"
Ezra broke out into a smile. "It was really cool. We managed to break you out from a group of Star Destroyers, you even fought and defeated the Inquisitor during the escape."
"Really? Let's head back to the Ghost, you can fill me on the rest of the details on the way."
As they started walking Kanan was struck by a sudden thought.
"By the way, who's Fulcrum?"
Zeb smiled as he Woke facing down Agent Kallus. Everything had worked out fine with Kanan's liberation. Life was good, he might as well go easy on Agent Kallus this time. This meant no bo-rifle and no bare fists either, the amount of time spent beating up bucket heads had improved his punching skills. What he needed was to use something that was not strong and that he had to avoid breaking by hitting with it too hard. After a quick thought he retrieved an object from his Subspace Pocket making it appear to be drawn from his back pocket. Kallus looked bug-eyed at the weapon that Zeb had produced.
"You expect to fight me, with that! A spoon!"
Zeb gave a wry grin.
"Yeah sorry about that, I haven't got anything smaller."
Hera was piloting the Phantom with Sabine riding along. They'd Awoken moments earlier enroute to Fort Anaxes, an abandoned asteroid base. Hera tilted her head towards Sabine.
"So you've gone through the new expansion?"
"Yep. You as well?"
"Yes, we saved Kanan and got away safely. Part of me still can't believe we did that successfully."
"Yes it was great that we got out of there all in one piece."
"Including your masterpiece."
"Will you shush about the masterpiece." said Sabine taking the joke in good humour.
"I will if you answer one thing, how in the world did you hide from me through all these loops that you kept and decorated the TIE Fighter that Ezra and Zeb stole?"
In the bowels of the Star Destroyer, Kanan and Ezra, armed with each others lightsaber, were engaged in combat with the Inquisitor on a bridge above the engine core. The Inquisitor blasted Kanan back off his feet with a Force push and with the moment's respite sent a spinning lightsaber flying towards Ezra. Ezra attempted to block but was unable to completely stop the blade, the tip scarring his face. The resulting impact knocked him back off the edge of the ledge, Kanan Awoke just in time to see Ezra fall from sight.
"No!"
Staring over the edge he could see no sign of Ezra but through the bond he could feel a faint pulse. He was alive, unconscious but alive.
He looked up to see the Inquisitor just smiling with glee at him.
"That was a mistake."
"Why because you have no one left to die for you."
Kanan breathed deep, calming down his body and mind. He raised Ezra's blade.
"No, because now that I'm truly Awake, you have no chance against me."
What followed shortly was a completely one sided beat down.
Aboard the Imperial transport the crew had just been united with Kanan after his capture. Kanan approached Hera.
"I owe you all a great debt of gratitude. Even if what you did was rash and reckless."
"You're welcome, dear."
'Would you two just kiss already!' An Awake Chopper whistled.
"Not to worry Agent Kallus, the Empire has sent an alternative solution."
Yoyo Woke up to those words and seeing the situation in front of him thought they had a problem.
Yoyo'd: Anyone Awake?
BTHead: I'm here.
BTHead: What's happening?
Yoyo'd: We have a problem with the new loop expansion.
BTHead: Why?
BTHead: What's the problem?
BTHead: We managed to rescue Kanan in baseline with no losses.
BTHead: The Empire was even down one Star Destroyer in the process.
Yoyo'd: Have a look at this data packet.
Yoyo'd: DATAFILE-EP_FIREACROSSTHEGALAXY
BTHead: ...
BTHead: Oh
Yoyo'd: Yes, oh.
Yoyo'd: The Inquisitor is one thing, the Dark Lord of the Sith is quite another.
Yoyo'd: He's on a whole other level and he has the authority to mobilise a large part of the Empire to focus on us.
Yoyo'd: I suspect that the next expansion is going to be a problem.
BTHead: We better start making plans.
23.1: This took a while to finish. Rae started off this sketch with a great introduction in 16.1 and ever since I read it I wanted to see what happens next and now I know. A lot of thanks to Rae for looking over the work to see if it was worthy of the original sketch. It was a lot of fun writing for the characters especially Fred.
In case people were wondering Honey Lemon apparently knows three languages: English, Spanish and Japanese. I thought as Sabine was multi-lingual, it would be a nice way for their characters to bond.
Hola mi nombre es Sabine. Me gustaría ser tu amigo: Hello my name is Sabine. I would like to be your friend.
Es un placer conocerte Sabine. Mis amigos me llaman Honey Lemon. No sabía que usted hablaba español.: It's nice to meet you Sabine. My friends call me Honey Lemon. I didn't know you spoke Spanish.
23.2: Finally the death and decay is over. Had to refresh my memory of this by replaying it again. I found some interesting things on the way and some new ways for the plot to move in. I did find it interesting that the Cutter and the lightsaber work on similiar technolgical ligns. There is actually a repair schematic for the Plasma Cutter on the wall near where you pick it up for the first time. I even managed to find an alphabet translation for the Marker script off on one of the Hydroponics bays which I hadn't found before.
Hope that you enjoyed the story.
22.3: Up to 'Fire Across the Galaxy' at last, now I can watch what happens next in the plot. I'm expecting it not to go well since Vader has turned up.
I'm glad I got this finished, I was having major trouble trying to create a scene for Sabine and Hera. It just clicked at one point and I was able to finish the sketch quickly.