We are back once again, this time with the continuation of the last chapter. I'm planning out how best the next parts of the story should go, so it might be a chapter or two more than I initially thought before we get to the Imperium's galaxy being it's cheery 40k self, but we'll get there! Worry not.
Another thing I should bring up: my other story, Mass Effect: Fear the Old Blood will be updated as soon as I can finish its next chapter. I had a feeling writing two stories at once was a bad idea when I decided to start Fear the Old Blood, but I'll try to keep up with them both as best I can. Forgive me for any delays. On to reviews!
Clare Prime of Ultra: Thanks! I'm glad you like all of the characterizations. That means I'm doing a good job, and I thank you for your kind words. For music recommendations while reading... It usually really depends on a singular scene or chapter. For this one, something action-y, but I don't have any specifics. I'll remember that, though, and if there's anything that really fits I'll be sure to mention it!
Ravenguard0009: Yeah, we won't start up with Chaos or the Drukhari, but I'll be sure to give everyone the full-fledged grim-dark experience. I think some people who might not be Warhammer fans are in for a bit of a shock... As for Cortana's creation, you do bring up a good point. I'll have to think on that. Trazyn will be quite fun, oh just you watch. I'm really excited for him and a few other people (who'll be appearing at the end of this chapter). Enjoy the story!
LezGo35: Oh, it'll be... Well, I won't say good because nothing's good about that galaxy, but it will be quite fun for us. I'm looking forward to it as well. Only a few more chapter 'till then, and I think people will quite like those as well. Enjoy the story!
BonesofSmite: Indeed. Everyone's favorite kleptomaniac is on the prowl. I hope you enjoy more perspectives in this chapter!
jacobdkidder: I think some might if they didn't already have more pressing matters. It honestly won't matter either way because if they try to attack the Imperium they'll just get swallowed by its enourmous size.
Guest: Oh, Tali would absolutely adore Imperial ships. And Covenant ships. And Star Destroyers. And the Entperrise. As would Vir and Solo and Kirk... Maybe I should add a 'ship lovers geeking out over cool new ships' chapter. Food for thought. Thanks for your review, and I hope you like what's to come!
ndabdm: Thank you! That's my goal. I feel all the other mass crossovers are either very poorly written, have nonsensical plots, or people just throw together characters and make them do things with no regard to explaining anything. Hopefully this one is different! Enjoy!
FORGEMaster: Thank you! I hope you enjoy what's to come!
Guest who asked about Trazyn: Oh, indeed he will. I am quite looking forward to it.
Guest who mentioned the fanfic rec: Interesting. I'm not entirely sure I want to check it out based on the premise and the fact it's dead, but you never know. Enjoy the story!
kuzoo: Thank you! I will be getting to all of the major issues in each galaxy in turn. That might be a bit of a ways off, so I hope you enjoy while we slowly but surely get there!
gread dxd: I will. There's a lot of writing, and I don't have a lot of time, but I won't leave things unfinished. I promise that.
stargate and anime for me: Oh, they will. After we get some more character development, introduce some more of Cypher's gang, and show just why the Imperium's galaxy is the way it is, we'll have the governments reacting... and meeting. It'll be great!
Semigalard: Oh, he'll be on it quickly. I hope you enjoy!
oOo
Scoundrels Unlimited
"Right action is better than knowledge; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right." -Charlemagne
oOo
"Are all of the planets you visit like this?" demanded Han Solo through deep, panting breaths. His boots crashed through thickets and splattered in mud as he ran.
"Eh, pretty much," shrugged Kirk, running beside him. Solo growled something unintelligible under his breath.
Behind them, a few armsmen, redshirts, and marines blasted away at a horde of charging animals. The fauna were all predators, huge four-legged beasts wearing a riot of yellow, red, and pink to blend in with the similarly-colored jungled around them. All were incredibly quick and powerful, their muscular legs churning as huge, sharp-toothed jaws salivated at the sight of their prey.
Next to them, Chevok swore in Russian and fired his phaser behind him. Kirk sighed even as Solo cursed.
"At least it's interesting?" he offered. Solo and Chekov both swore again.
They had come to some planet in Kirk's galaxy the Enterprise was to explore, and in a typical Enterprise fashion, the local fauna was… less than helpful.
Nearby, some huge plant with a tentacled maw scooped downward and devoured one of the charging beasts. A few of the soldiers shouted in surprise, fear, or warning. Solo and Chekov both swore again. Kirk sighed.
Okay, the fauna and flora were hostile.
Great.
"I think we should have brought a flamethrower," called the Omen's chaplain, Maverick, from where she ran nearby.
"I know we should have brought a flamethrower," replied Corporal Magot of the Valhallan 597th. Solo swore again and turned around as he sprinted, leveling his blaster and blowing a neat hole through one of the carnivore's eyes.
"Didn't you say we were supposed to observe things here?" asked Magot. "And not hurt the local wildlife?" Beside Kirk, Chekov snorted. The Enterprise's captain shot him a look.
"I think that all went out the window when these things started to want to eat us," muttered Solo. Despite his annoyance at both his snarky teammates and the fact they were hurting the local wildlife, Kirk couldn't help but agree. If they were in danger, then they would fight back. That was how these missions worked.
"I don't know about you guys, but it makes me a bit homesick for the Omen," grinned Maverick. "This is exactly how a mission with Admiral Vir would go."
"And Commissar Cain, come to think of it," muttered Magot.
"And Commander Shepard." From behind them, the blue-skinned Asari Justicar Samara let loose with a blast of biotic energy from her hands, blowing back a fair chunk of the horde of creatures. She turned back to them. "I have a feeling a lot of us get in these situations only too often."
"Tell me about it," sighed Solo, holstering his blaster. The remaining creatures either retreated due to Samara's wall of force or were swiftly shot down by the soldiers. Kirk turned to Solo.
"It does seem to happen quite often," he mused. "I wonder why that is?" Magot turned to him, exasperated.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because we all have a tendency to go places we shouldn't be, or when we go places we should be trouble is always there, and we have to be the ones to solve it." Maverick crossed her arms and nodded judiciously.
"Sounds about right." Kirk looked at Solo, who gave a trademark shrug.
"Hey, don't look at me. When I get into trouble, I get out of it just as fast. It pays having the best ship in the galaxy." Kirk could only smile at that.
"So… Now what?" asked Chevok, turning to Kirk. Kirk shrugged.
"Don't know," he replied. Solo stared at him.
"You're in charge," frowned the smuggler.
"Well, I guess we just walk around a bit, look at what the local environment has to offer… and try not to get eaten." There were a few more stares thrown Kirk's way.
"I'm sure the scientists would love this planet," muttered Maverick.
"Yeah, 'cause they're insane," shot Magot in reply. The Omen's marine chaplain shrugged.
"Can't argue with that." Solo sighed.
"This is why I'm a pilot," he said, glancing at the semi-hostile jungle around them. "Whenever I get on the ground, things like this happen." Kirk gave another shrug.
"Can't argue with that."
oOo
"Detoi!" came the cry.
"Moving," was the instant response. The Imperial Guard captain peaked from the corner he sheltered behind, lasgun shouldered. Stepping forward, he let loose with a flurry of crimson lasbolts. The red beams impacted through the head of a man down the hallway, vaporizing it.
The blonde-haired Imperial captain made a motion with his hand, gesturing for the men behind him to continue forward. Said group of Guardsman, armsmen, redshirts, and marines nodded and walked forward through the hall, weapons up and ready.
Another man in sleek black armor stepped into the doorway at the far end of the hall, only to be immediately shot down by Detoi and the following troops. The Imperial captain continued forward with his lasgun. Turning the corner of the hall, the men stepped to either side, guns raised.
"Clear!" Detoi nodded and singled for them to continue advancing.
Around the next corner, they were greeted by the intriguing sight of Admiral Vir and Rocket taking on a room full of black-armored men and women. The racoon was cackling maniacally as he spun, firing some sort of massive machine gun that looked far too large for his frame. The Admiral, on the other hand, stood inside his suit of exoskeletal Iron Eye armor, effortlessly annihilating anything that came close to him. The two were the edict of utter destruction, though both in entirely different and perhaps hugely bizarre ways.
A last black-armored assassin rushed Vir with some sort of very dangerous looking cross between a knife and short sword. The admiral easily spun and knocked the figure off its feet, then knocked the man out of commission with a well-placed punch.
"Sir," said Detoi, coming into the room with his team. He quickly saluted the Admiral, tactfully ignoring the still-cackling racoon.
"Captain," nodded back Vir, returning the salute.
Vir had taken his team to wipe out a group of powerful mercenary assassins in his home galaxy. They had become a growing problem, working for crime lords, hidden politicians, and were graduating on to more dangerous things. They had to go before anything galaxy-changing happened at their hands.
With another gleeful laugh, Rocket racket his massive weapon and turned to Detoi and the other soldiers with him.
"That was fun," he grinned, bloodthirsty and vicious, excited for more. Detoi remained calm and stone-faced, but internally he frowned. He did not like this xeno. He would get along with xenos because that was his duty, just as it was his duty to keep the peace or fight in the Emperor's name. He was careful, calm, and collected, but the intensity and insanity of this xeno rubbed him the wrong way.
"We keep moving," said Vir grimly. Detoi knew he wasn't particularly happy with a mission like this: the admiral liked exploring. This was a 'wipe-them-out' type mission, and when diplomacy failed, they'd moved in. Of course, the admiral did not shirk his duties, which Detoi admired, and was perfectly fine and even perhaps happy with combat, but it was nevertheless different. He could see it on the faces of the redshirts in his group as well; a necessity, but one they weren't happy with, far more so than Vir.
As for him, the Valhallans, marines, and armsmen behind him… They had no problem with this. This was their job; their life. Detoi was no Krieger, and most definitely not one to fall into the insane zealotry some of his fellows were, but Valhallans did have an element of grim fatalism to them. If they had to kill everyone here and perhaps lose good men doing it, then so be it.
"Yes, sir," he replied, hefting his lasgun and motioning for the troopers behind him to follow.
They continued through the hallways, efficiently gunning down anyone who got in their way. Detoi had a feeling the xeno was disappointed; he approved of this. He could also tell Vir liked their efficiency; he approved of this, too.
This mission rather reminded Detoi of fighting Slaaneshi cultists. He suppressed a shudder at the thought. Yeah, group of humans, kinda nuts, didn't know how to respond to a group of well-armed and well-trained soldiers efficiently going through the hallways and killing with clockwork efficiency. Of course, this was much better. Anything was better than Slaaneshi cultists, in Detoi's opinion. At least they had the Commissar with them that one time…
The sound of another battle snapped Detoi out of his thoughts. He quickly glanced at Vir, who simply nodded at him. Detoi nodded in reply; that was a commander's keep doing what you're doing look. He increased his pace and gestured for the others to do the same.
Turning another corner, they made their way into another room. It was clean silver and utilitarian, as the entirety of this facility seemed to be. From what Detoi could see, it was probably some sort of training room. He stifled a dark and ironic smile. He didn't think they'd expect live training like this when they built the room.
Miranda Lawson and Jean Garang, the two other group commanders, seemed to have met up and pushed into the same open and central space. Detoi was immediately greeted by the sight of Lawson blasting back a black-clad assassin with a bolt of glowing blue power. The Imperial captain frowned.
Apparently she wasn't a psyker. Detoi said apparently because they only had corroborate records and Cain's expert opinion to go off of. The Valhallan 597th didn't have any sanctioned psykers of its own, which Detoi was quite grateful for, but now he almost wished for one so his fears could be confirmed or put to rest. Of course, Cain would know, but still, the Commissar didn't know for certain. (The other members of the 597th did not know of Jurgen's power, so Captain Detoi's fears were hardly justified, but the man continued to worry.)
Lawson seemed like a psyker. She could use powerful energy that emanated from within her to do all sorts of strange things. Apparently this was due to exposure to some sort of material that infused her body and allowed her to use energy the way she did. Chaplain Tope and Commissar Cain compared it to Mechanicus electro-priests, which didn't really help, because none of the 597th had ever seen an electro-priest.
Regardless, as Lawson tossed assassins around with her powers, Detoi couldn't help but think of stories of rogue and insane psykers as she did so. He put it aside as he raised his lasgun and fired. Crimson lasbolts, accompanied by phaser shots, bullets, and the racoon-xeno's over-enthusiastic laugh filled the air.
Detoi also didn't particularly enjoy Lawson for other reasons. If Shepard was a Commander, and Lawson was her XO, then that would most likely make her a naval lieutenant, which was the same rank as a Guard captain.
It put a bit of… strain on the group. The woman's personality certainly didn't help matters.
The other group leader, Jean Garang, was one of Drake's. That… made Detoi a bit initially suspicious. However, what he got was a very no-nonsense power-armor wearing soldier's soldier.
He liked Garang. She reminded him of Colonel Kasteen, minus the power armor, of course.
Of course, it was also a bit odd to see someone who wasn't a Sister or Space Marine wearing power armor, but Detoi had a feeling Garang's wasn't nearly as advanced.
The Apocalypse's team leader was presently blasting away the lightly-armored assassins with a heavy gun that made even the racoon-xeno salivate.
Detoi's (or, rather Vir's) group joined the fray, quickly putting down any remaining resistance within the room. Vir himself was a blur, moving and taking out enemies in his suit of advanced armor. Detoi didn't quite know what it was (it was more exoskeleton than power armor), but it turned the admiral into a super soldier. The Guard captain certainly approved of any sort of additional power they had on their side that wasn't cold, bellicose and psyker-y.
The room cleared, Lawson, Garang, and their supporting troops moved up to greet the admiral.
"Admiral Vir," said Lawson with a clipped nod. "I believe there's only a few more pockets of resistance remaining."
"There's also some punk with short hair and a knife that's been killing our men," growled Garang, the heavy, muffled sound of her helmet making her voice all the more intimidating. "Master assassin, my ass. If I get my hand on her I'm going to shove her through a wall."
"Casualties?" asked Vir with a frown. Detoi couldn't help but sigh internally. Yes, they were soldiers, yes this was a dangerous mission against people who quite literally killed people for a living, but no one ever liked to see people you cared for go. He was a captain. Even if they weren't Valhallan, all of them (at least the humans; he still wasn't sure about the xenos) were in his care.
"Three dead, one wounded," reported Garang sourly. A selfish part of Detoi hoped they weren't Valhallans.
"One dead, four wounded," said Miranda. Vir frowned heavily. The assassins were… well, assassins. They were squishy, couldn't stand in a straight firefight, but they were quick, sneaky, and lethal. Apparently this leader of theirs was the one causing most of the problems.
"Where'd you leave the bodies?" asked Vir. A bit macabre, but a necessary question.
"Moved them to the side where they fell. Out of the way, but we didn't have time to take any with us," replied Garang. Detoi had a feeling she was mad, especially considering she had the most deaths, even if three wasn't too big a number in the grand, horrible scheme of things.
"Okay," replied the admiral. "We need to keep moving." Detoi, Lawson, and Garang all nodded, motioning their troopers forward. The three groups moved into the hall, then split into different corridors to flank whatever might be in front of them. Besides, it was hard for groups to maneuver in the halls, let alone a huge mess of three of them.
As Vir, Detoi, the soldiers and the xeno moved forwards, they were suddenly accosted by a blur. A black-clad woman with short bleached hair tossed a smoke grenade into the hall and opened fire with a slim-barreled pistol. One of the Valhallan troopers went down cursing, a bullet going through his unprotected bicep. The group returned fire, though through the smoke they couldn't tell if they hit anyone. Vir picked up his pace to super-soldier speed, Detoi and the others following, but the woman was gone. The admiral turned back and frowned.
"I think that's our annoyance," he muttered. Detoi nodded.
"Agreed. Hit-and-run; we'll just have to be ready and hit her before she can react," he stated in reply.
It was touch-and-go through the rest of the base. Assassins, sometimes the woman, sometimes faceless others, would flicker in and out. Sometimes they would wound the men; other times they couldn't reach them. Sometimes a barrage of fire would drop them; other times they would escape too quickly. Once, Vir blurred forward and stabbed one before either the assassin or any of the troops could react. Detoi nodded, impressed. Perhaps there was more than met the eye to Admiral Vir.
Eventually, the group came to a conjunction point, meeting up with the two other groups as they did so. Garang and Lawson nodded stonily in greeting.
"Looks like this is the only way forward," said Lawson with a frown. Detoi couldn't help but agree. One hallway; whoever set up this building likely designed this place to be a killzone in case of attack.
"What's the plan?" asked the Imperial captain. He wasn't going to do a head-on attack if he could help it.
"I can take point," said Garang, armor clanged as she turned. "I'm the best armored. Bullets or grenades shouldn't be a problem."
"I can put up a biotic barrier to help," offered Lawson, stepping forward. Detoi internally frowned, but accepted it. Psykers… biotics, whatever you called them were rather helpful for good reason.
"Sounds good," agreed Garang.
"What if they come from behind? Outflank us?" asked Detoi, preparing for any possibility.
"We'll have men guard this intersection, and I can take the rear in case anything happens behind us in the hall or if the guards back here need reinforcements," replied Vir. Detoi nodded. Smart. Vir was the fastest, and his armor was honestly on-par with Garang's. Good choice. The admiral's abilities rose in Detoi's mind.
"Sounds good," nodded the Valhallan.
"Alright, then," said Vir, looking around. "Let's move."
Garang took point, as instructed. She was followed by a few soldiers, weapons raised, to add more firepower. Miranda was behind them, hands glowing a deep blue, ready to throw up element zero energy if needed. Detoi was in the center, there to make sure no one lost their heads and to command the rest of the men.
Everything seemed to happen at once the moment they hit the center of the hall. At the very far end, a group of black-clad men and women, at least eight in total, poked their heads around the exit and opened fire. A few bullets pinged off the walls and Garang's armor until Lawson's barrier snapped into place a moment later.
Detoi wished he could fire back, could do something, but Garang's bulky armor and the narrow confines of the hall made it so only she and the two soldiers specifically chosen behind her had room to shoot. The racoon xenos seemed to think the same thing, as did most of the troopers, if the under-breath mutterings and fiery eyes were any indication.
Garang blasted away with her heavy cannon, blowing apart assassins that poked their heads out for too long. The other two added their weight, suppressing the exit and blasting apart anyone foolish enough to linger.
They had almost reached the exit when another smoke bomb was thrown into the hall. Detoi tensed. Garang blasted away through the smoke. A bullet found one of the men behind her; he went down, wounded in the torso. The smoke parted to reveal the master assassin. Garang's gun clicked dry.
The assassin grinned beneath her short bleached hair and charged forward, gun flashing. The bullets pinged harmlessly off Garang's armor. The shock trooper swung her empty gun at the assassin's head. Missed. Detoi, Vir, and Miranda jockeyed for position in the cramped hallway. The assassin ducked. Garang swung again. The black-armored woman sprang forward, bringing up her arms and twisting, knocking the gun from Garang's hands. Garang swung, a left hook, but the assassin was too fast and it went over her head.
Twisting, turning, a knife glinted in the short-haired woman's hand and plunged deep into Garang's side, between the cracks of her armored plate. Detoi's eyes widened and he lined up a shot. The assassin grinned smugly-
And Garang promptly picked her up by the throat. The knife was still lodged in her side, but it didn't even seem to slow her down. The assassin's pale face looked terrified.
"Your fancy moves won't work here, girly," growled Garang before promptly spinning, assassin still in tow. Putting her armored hand to the black-clad woman's forehead, she smashed her face into the wall with all the force her power armor could muster. The woman's skull exploded, painting the wall behind her with blood and brains.
Vir looked appalled.
"Well, I guess that's one way to use power armor," shrugged Detoi, deadpan. Miranda looked ever-so slightly queasy at the display, as did the redshirts and a few marines. But to the armsmen and Valhallans… Honestly… Not that surprising. Detoi had heard Space Marines did the same thing. It was simply a matter of efficiency.
Garang quickly retrieved and reloaded her weapon, unbothered by the blood soaking her gauntlets. The cannon made an ominous chick-chick noise as she cocked it and turned back, armored helm giving off a piercing and intimidating stare.
"On your order, Admiral," she nodded respectfully to Vir, falling in beside him and into an easy position.
"...yes," replied Vir. He seemed to look down at his own armored hands, lost in thought, remembering. Detoi tilted his head, curious. That appalled expression was less over the fact Garang had done that, more at the suddenness of the movement… and something more, something deeper, that Detoi could not read. But… he didn't know. The admiral was suddenly a very hard man to read, and the puzzle intrigued him. "I think this should be the last bastion of resistance. Keep moving up."
"Yes, sir," murmured the group. Detoi nodded, motioning them forward. The assassins would fall without issue, of that he was sure, but he was thinking deeper into the minds of the others. What was hiding behind Miranda's perfect facade, or Vir's cheerfulness?
Something to be found later. Right now, he had a mission to complete. He could muse or talk to Cain and the other officers later.
oOo
"You do know what you're doing… right?" Garrus Vakarian's smooth, dual-toned voice sounded distinctly nervous as the Turian sniper glanced over towards Peter Quill. "Right?"
"Yeah," replied Quill cheerfully. "Mostly." Behind him, Spock raised an eyebrow. Garrus noted it, the gesture only making him more nervous. He'd only known Spock for less than a day, but already he knew that if Spock raised an eyebrow at something, it was going to unfailingly fall under the category of 'human craziness'.
"Mostly?" replied Sunny, deadpan. Quill shrugged.
"Okay, maybe." He looked back to the wires he was fiddling with.
"Maybe doesn't make it better, it makes it worse," noted Spock, eyebrow still raised, no emotion in his voice.
"Mostly, maybe, probably, might," shrugged Quill, "Whatever way, it'll be done." Garrus and Sunny shared a nervous glance. Quill was good, yes, but he didn't really prepare like Shepard or Vir did. He just… walked in and everything sort of happened.
The present situation was much the same. Quill had taken his team back to his own reality, where they were supposed to put a stop to some planet's militarization under a brutal new dictator by removing said dictator. The key words in that sentence were supposed to.
In reality, they had haphazardly entered space too close to the planet, got found out, crash-landed in the ship they'd arrived in (not of the Scoundrels fleet; their employers were trying to keep the mission discrete and so supplied them with a cargo freighter) and onto the naval docks orbiting the planet. The team had proceeded to fight their way through said docks, Spock frowning in distaste all the while, and aboard a newly-finished dreadnought locked into place.
While the allied troops held back the guards trying to get aboard the ship, Quill was busy trying to figure out how to hotwire a dreadnought, which was something neither Spock, Sunny, or Garrus ever thought they'd be doing.
"Do you actually ever come up with plans?" asked Spock, deadpan, hands clasped neatly behind his back, the image of absolute unflappability as he looked over Quill. The man in question shrugged as he fiddled with more wires. "Our job was to remove the governor, not to steal a dreadnought." Garrus looked over at the Enterprise's executive officer, impressed. He was fairly certain Spock could absorb an ocean's worth of water, so dry was his tone.
"Well," shrugged Quill, "If I don't know what we're doing, then they most certainly can't know what we're doing."
"Oh, boy," muttered Sunny, walking forward. "Maybe we could help somehow," she offered, looking over the control panels within the dreadnought's bridge.
"Be my guest," Quill replied with another shrug, absorbed with the wires. Spock, Sunny, and Garrus shared a look, then promptly began to look over the controls.
"Does this thing have a manual?" muttered Garrus as he rapidly eyed the unfamiliar layout. Quill gave a short bark of laughter. Sunny shrugged at him.
"If it did, I don't think we'd be in this situation." She glanced down at Quill, four arms dancing over everything. "'Course, that's if he could read it in the first place." It was a gentle tease, more for feeling out Quill's response to it than anything else. Garrus thought it was a bit risky, and Spock cocked another eyebrow, but Quill gave another burst of laughter as he continued to fiddle.
"Hey! I can read perfectly well, thank you." A slight bzzt noise sounded, and Quill shook his hand, muttering under his breath. "The real question is would the manual be written in a language any of us can understand."
"Fair point," replied Sunny. They continued their work.
"I believe these controls here start up the systems," said Spock suddenly, gesturing to a panel in front of him. "They should also release the vessel from its mooring on the orbital," he noted precisely.
"Okay, so that's one thing," replied Quill thankfully. He turned to Spock. "Can we get them working from here without proper authorization?" Spock gave another slight shrug.
"I'll see," he said succinctly as he went back to looking everything over.
"These… I think these are weapon controls!" called Garrus. He scanned the panel once more. "Hmm… Guns, power… Yep! Weapons."
"Great!" called Quill. "Okay, so systems startup and dock unclampings, weapons… We still need propulsions and power," he noted. The four continued to fiddle, scan, and muddle over the various systems within the dreadnought's bridge until each and every one of them had been found.
"Sir." The team's communications crackled to life, one of the soldiers leading the group holding off boarding parties speaking. "They're sending more men at us. We need to hurry up and get this thing undocked."
"Understood," replied Quill. "We're working on it." So saying, he turned to his comrades. "Well? Any ideas on how to start this thing up and get it moving?" Spock, Sunny, and Garrus shared a look as they fiddled with their various controls.
"If we get power online from the main reactor, we can override the controls from here," noted Spock. "We would have complete control of the vessel." Sunny and Garrus shared a glance.
"On it," they replied as one. Quill and Spock, still trying to ready everything in the bridge, both nodded as the duo sprinted toward the doors and into the halls of the ship. Garrus drew his sniper rifle; Sunny a spear in two hands and a heavy machine gun in the other.
The halls of the dreadnought were clean and neat as benefitted a vessel so recently completed. The Drev and Turian ran in silence, making their way from the bridge to the lower levels. The sounds of shouting and gunfire got closer.
As they rounded another corner, the backs of the mixed group of allied soldiers appeared. The team was guarding the way forward, trying to prevent any of the governor's forces from getting aboard the vessel. Making their way forward, the duo glanced at each other.
"You know how to get the reactor ready to go?" asked Garrus. Sunny nodded.
"Mostly," she replied with a ghost of a grin. Garrus resisted to roll his eyes the way the humans did.
"You probably know how to better than me," he muttered in reply. He gestured with a two-fingered claw at the firefight. "You get going, I'll stay here." Sunny nodded and promptly took off. Garrus rushed to the fight, sniper rifle extended and ready.
Sunny sprinted down the halls as fast as she could go, which, considering she was seven feet tall with legs muscled from years of fighting and exploring, was quite fast.
Vaulting over a rail, she landed harder than she would have liked. Her weapons now tucked away, the Drev continued on her way.
This ship was nothing like the Omen, in her own opinion. This one was… almost too new. Too sterile. It was a dreadnought made by an evil man for an evil purpose, and did not have the life and love her familiar home did. Maybe it was just the fact that it was so incredibly strange to be running through a starship of this size in perfect working condition with no one in its halls.
Eventually, she got to the central reactor chamber. It was quite the impressive plant, looking like nothing she'd ever seen before. (Of course, that was to be expected in a new reality.) Looking around at the massive covered, central power plant surrounded by countless consoles, she frowned and activated her comms.
"I'm at the reactor," she noted. "How do I start this thing?"
"Well, you could always just push buttons and see what happens," drawled Garrus over the comms, gunfire sounding in the background. She snorted.
"Yeah, somehow I don't think that's my first plan," replied Sunny, voice in the same easy, dry tone. She got a dual-toned laugh in reply.
"The main controls should be on the large terminal directly in front of you," interrupted Spock, as no-nonsense as ever. "It should be open and easily accessible. Get on it, start the main power and reroute control to the bridge. Mostly self-explanatory." Sunny nodded to herself, immediately spying the mentioned terminal.
"Sounds good," she replied in acknowledgement. "I'll start it up."
"Good luck!" called Quill. "Don't blow up anything important!" Sunny rolled her eyes (it was a favorite human expression, especially when Adam did it; she found it… endearing).
"Thanks," she muttered under her breath, not sending the last word. Getting to work on the console, she quickly found the necessary instructions to start up power and route control to the bridge. Honestly, she never expected starting or stealing a dreadnought to be this… Uncomplicated? Boring?
Eh, whatever her thoughts on the matter, it was easy enough for her. Despite the unfamiliar technology, she was able to start the main reactor, power thrumming through the room with a deep bass humming. With another command, she swiftly gave complete control to the bridge, then activated her comms once more.
"You've got power and control," she reported.
"Good work," came Spock immediately. "We have control. Throw the rest of the boarders off and return to the bridge." Sunny nodded. Force of habit, despite no one being around her.
"Ok," she agreed. She liked human words like that. They were so… straightforward. Uncomplicated.
Now for a run back to the bridge. No problem.
Putting such thoughts of humans from her mind, she drew her weapon once more and headed back to the gunfight. As she went, she could feel the ship begin to shift and move beneath her. She grinned to herself. The enemy had no idea what was about to hit them.
Hopefully Quill could fly this thing.
Eh, if not, Spock probably could.
The sounds of the firefight got ever louder as Sunny continued her way upward. However, the noise was far less than it had been on her way down; a sign that Spock and Quill must have done something to reduce enemy numbers.
Turning a corner, she caught sight of Garrus once more, calmly picking off enemies with his massive sniper rifle. Seeing her, he turned back and looked up, wearing what she thought was a grin on his mandibled face.
"Sunny," he greeted with a nod. "Good to see everything's in working order." He turned and fired again, and Sunny heard a distinct scream from the other end of the hall. Garrus quirked his mandibles and looked back up. "I think we've pulled away from the orbital dock, so there won't be any more reinforcements for them," he said gleefully. Sunny gave her own smile. Well, now wasn't that good news? Quill and Spock (probably mostly Spock with some thrown-in insanity from Quill) did quick work.
"Sir!" came the call of one of the redshirts in front of them. "I think they're surrendering!" Both Sunny and Garrus looked down the hallway. A group of enemy soldiers, dressed in their mottled brown armor, were advancing with their hands up, probably realizing they were now alone on a hostile ship.
"Excellent," purred Garrus, clearly pleased. He glanced back at Sunny. "Does it seem like the people we fight rarely surrender, even if, you know, they're just in it for the money and clearly outnumbered and outgunned?" Sunny shrugged. It did seem that way, but she wasn't complaining no matter the outcome. What happened happened, and whether it ended with diplomacy or a good fight, she would be there for either outcome.
"Tie them or cuff them somehow, and put them under guard," ordered Sunny, stepping forward. The troops in front of her nodded and set out to do just that. Sunny turned back to Garrus. "We should get back to the bridge." Garrus nodded.
"Sounds like a plan." Holstering his rifle with another nod, he turned to follow her back to the center of the ship.
It was a much more unhurried walk back. The only other people aboard the dreadnought were now prisoners, so they had all the time they wanted to get out… At least until the rest of the navy surrounding the orbital docks got involved.
The ship suddenly shook, sending Garrus and Sunny stumbling. They shared a look, and continued onward at a much more brisk pace.
Finally reaching the bridge, the duo entered to the scene of Spock and Quill scrambling around to control everything at once while various alerts sounded throughout the room. Sunny and Garrus shared another glance, this one far more humorous. It was rather amusing to see the perpetually-frazzled Quill and always-unperturbed Spock running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
"Need some help?" asked Sunny, amused, crossing her upper arms.
"Nah," grinned Garrus. "They're fine. I want to see two people pilot a dreadnought. It would be pretty fun, I think." Both Spock and Quill stopped for long enough to shoot glares his way.
"Some help would be appreciated, Mr. Vakarian," replied Spock, voice as calm and deadpan as ever. Garrus grinned again. Spock sighed. "I see you've been picking up humor from the humans," he muttered as he went to another console. Garrus merely shrugged in reply.
"What do you need us to do?" Sunny asked, stepping forward. Quill turned back, looking frazzled.
"We pulled away from the orbital docks, as you may know, so we don't have to worry about anyone boarding from there," replied Quill, fiddling with another series of controls even as he explained. "The problem is the rest of the ships up here are moving over to engage us. We need to get weapons up, blast through them, and get out."
"Preferably in that order, and as quickly as possible," drawled Spock from his own terminal.
"Gotcha," nodded Garrus. "Where are the weapon controls?" asked both the Drev and Turian at the same time. They glanced at each other in perfect synchronicity as Quill turned back.
"Over there," he pointed out. Once more perfectly synchronized, Garrus and Sunny stepped forward.
"Wait, wait, wait," said Garrus, holding up a hand. "Where are you going? I have weapons."
"No," corrected Sunny, "I have weapons."
"You can go get navigation," said Garrus dismissively, a slight grinning quirk in his mandibles. Sunny rolled her eyes.
"I'm the best weapons operator in the universe," stated Sunny, crossing her upper arms again, fighting off a smile.
"And I am the best weapons calibrator in the universe," stated Garrus proudly, sprouting a teasing grin.
"In your dreams," she snorted in reply.
"Or you could just give me weapons," suggested Quill.
"No!" replied Garrus and Sunny at the same time. Quill held up his hands defensively.
"Okay, okay," he said. "Back to more boring things for me it is."
Spock was looking at them in a fascinated sort of way usually reserved for observing behaviors in strange new animals.
"While this is incredibly fascinating, I think perhaps we should get to work before they destroy us or start landing more boarding parties from other vessels," stated Spock. Sunny and Garrus looked at each other again.
"I suppose I could do internal systems," differed Garrus magnanimously. Sunny shook her head.
"No, I can do internal systems," she replied. Spock looked like he was trying very hard not to roll his eyes.
"We are not doing that," he stated authoritatively. "Quill, piloting, Sunny, weapons, Garrus, internal systems, and I'll take navigation. Go," he ordered.
"Yessir," snapped back Quill with a lazy, sarcastic salute. Spock raised an eyebrow at him, and the mercenary quickly went back to work.
"Well, I guess calibrating power isn't that much different than calibrating weapons," mused Garrus as his two-fingered hands flew over his designated controls.
"Bringing the weapons online," announced Sunny, her own four hands moving like lightning. "Though they are pretty different from what I'm used to…"
"I can pilot this thing no problem!" said Quill giddily. "You just tell me where we're going, mister grumpy," he shot towards Spock. Even for his nigh-invincible control, Spock looked like he might finally cave in and actually roll his eyes at this.
"Plotting the warp jump… Captain." It sounded like it physically hurt to call Quill 'captain'. Both Garrus and Sunny stifled laughs.
"Weapons up," said Sunny. The thrum and bang of the dreadnought's guns opened up, blasting a path through the vessels circling them. Quill, Sunny, and Garrus grinned to themselves as Spock nodded in silent satisfaction. Those ships certainly hadn't been expecting that.
"There's a gap," noted Quill, still erratically steering the massive vessel away from the dock and the rest of their pursuers. "Tell me where we're going," he said to Spock, looking back. The jumpsuited man glanced back.
"I'm setting it up," he said calmly. "A bit longer."
"Got 'em!" grinned Sunny gleefully as one of the dreadnought's heavier weapons impacted a chasing frigate. The frigate listed and trailed off, belching smoke and fire.
"Power's good," stated Garrus calmly. "Not a whole lot on my end."
"Jump is set up," informed Spock, turning to Quill. "Set up the controls and press that large button, and we're out of here." Quill grinned and nodded.
"And here. We. Go! Three, two, one…" He pressed the button, and the bizarre checkered, hexagonal scene of this galaxy's faster-than-light travel opened before them. "We're off." The human commander turned back to the others with a massive grin. "Now that's how you steal a dreadnought," he continued. "I think we made a great team." Sunny and Garrus shared another glance. Spock simply stared at Quill, which the Drev/Turian duo were fairly certain was the man's version of blanching.
They just stole a dreadnought.
The four of them, with the help of a small team of soldiers, just stole a dreadnought.
What would they even do with it?
Drake would probably know.
Quill was insane.
The thoughts flitted through each of their minds one after another. Sunny and Garrus shared another glance. Well, if nothing else, it was interesting, and they'd gotten to know people from other ships.
oOo
Unknown Location
The planet was made of ice and snow, the only things on its surface endless, inhospitable white wastes. Nevertheless, a man stood upon the frozen plains, boots crushing in the frozen snow, seemingly looking for something.
He wore a tunic-like coat of black and green, his boots a matching black leather. His face was thin and pale, eyes glinting mischievously, all framed by shoulder-length sleek black hair. As he paced, the crunch of snow, sounding behind him, came to his ears. He whirled around.
Behind him, framed by the snow-swept landscape were two figures. One wore black armor, a heavy but close-fitting affair. The figure's face was covered by a black helmet, with glowing red eye lenses staring into the ice and snow around them. A heavy black automatic pistol was at his belt, and he moved with almost eerily precise motions, each movement exactly calculated and presented.
Beside him was a giant. Towering eight feet tall, with a massive physique to fit his height, the man wore a suit of extraordinary heavy black metal armor beneath a white calf-length robe. The cowl of the robe covered his head, the only visible parts of his face his lower jaw.
The giant wore two pistols on his hips: one a blocky black gun with incredibly ornate filigree engraving, the second a bizarre weapon of coils glowing a soft blue. Upon the figure's back was a massive sheathed sword.
"And what can I do for you two today?" asked the man in black and green, clasping his hands behind his back, smile still beaming and mischievous, but posture poised, tense, and ready.
"Loki of Asgard," rumbled the giant without preamble. "We have need of your services." Loki had enough self-control not to blanch, but he did frown at the sudden knowledge of his name and title.
"And who, precisely, are you?" he asked pointedly.
"I am Cypher," replied the giant. "This is Kaiser." He gestured to the shorter man beside him, who gave a curt, military nod in reply.
Loki waited a heartbeat for anything else forthcoming, but when nothing was, he continued.
"And why exactly should I come help you two?" Cypher and Kaiser shared a glance.
"We are in need of very specific individuals," said Cypher. "You fit the criteria. Name your price." Loki grinned. Ah, now that was more like it. He spoke. Cypher nodded. "Done. Now come with us."
"But of course, my fine fellows," he replied with a wink and grin. The trio disappeared into the swirling snows.
oOo
There we have it! A shorter chapter, but hopefully a good one. Next chapter we'll have an old crossover fan favorite: people talking and learning more about each other. Then we'll have one quick mission, a last 'everything's fine' bonding experience, then we'll get to why 40k is 40k. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you all enjoy! As usual, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, criticisms and reviews I'd love to see them!