Dantius Towers
The Skycar gently touched down in front of the imposing twin towers belonging to Nassana Dantius. Two 'shards' of glimmering white panels and bright-colored glass, lights inside glowing. It was also a construction site, an open area where the team could make out various Salarians and the likes. Gunfire quickly took their attention, with Fred and Linda immediately positioning themselves to engage.
Ahead, a platoon of LOKI mechs fired their weapons into a crowd of running, orange-clad Salarian workers, the lizardfolk screaming as the bullets zipped through them. The Clones, Spartans, Jack, Zaeed and Jacob prepared themselves to be engaged, with Jacob commenting, "Rat bastards are actually killing Civilians…"
"Combat Mechs with new targeting programs," Ahsoka hummed, "Seems like Dantius didn't wanna pay the fees for the construction."
"It seems that way," Zaeed laughed, then switched over to his M8 and aimed for the leading mech. Before he could fire, however, Linda's sniper barked and the 14,5mm Armor Piercing sabot round from her rifle removed its head, causing it to explode and sending its comrades reeling. The glass screen ahead of them cracked from the penetration point outward in a spiderweb, then collapsed in on itself, glass raining ahead of the team as they engaged.
Bullets, blaster bolts, biotics and tech attacks cut down the LOKIs and quadrupedal FENRIS mechs with impunity, several dozen machines now scrap on the floor as the large fireteam advanced. Jesse called out, "Jester team's securing the left flank. Captain Agathon, you with us, sir?" and motioned to Fives to take half the team forward toward the central construction area.
"Just got on-station," The man replied calmly, "I'm jamming their coms as we speak. Pray I don't have to deal with an enemy gunship," which garnered a few laughs out of everyone, though there was an obvious hint of nervousness behind some. Jack and Fives pushed forward, weapons at the ready. The clone had handed Jack his blaster rifle and switched to pistols to test out if he still remembered Rex's training.
He had, of course, given the Psychotic Biotic a little manual of arms on the weapon. She was grinning ear-to-ear now that she had an automatic 'plasma' rifle. Fred and Linda pushed up behind them next, with Lin aiming her sniper through the central 'pit' of the construction site and above. She spoke, "More executioners. Thermal's picking them up through the building…"
"Then we're moving uphill, every way," Fred commented. He looked over at the Clones and Ahsoka and gave a hand chop to the right. The General and her troops moved forward, followed by Jack and Jacob. The Spartans moved left, approaching a nearby side room. When they entered the room, they found medical supplies, used ones as well, a few tools… And a few dead Salarians, shot in the backs of their heads by the Mechs
Linda hummed, knelt beside one of the corpses and checked for a pulse, then realized she didn't really know the physiology of these people and stopped. Taking a step back, she shook her head at Fred. The TL sighed, walked to a table in the corner and loomed over it, noting blueprints and plans for the Towers themselves.
He showed Linda to follow, then pointed the various places out without saying a word. She nodded, switched out to a new magazine, then showed Fred they should move. With a nod, the Spartan turned about, only to stop when he heard Zaeed call out, "We got goddamn live ones over here!" causing both Spartans to move forward at a quicker pace.
Zaeed spoke, "In your own time," before gesturing vaguely at the group of Salarians, "One of'em's got a bullet in his leg. That medigel could be useful to us, but I'm guessin' it's entirely up to you or the General on how we use it," before scoffing and taking a step back. Jack stared at the Salarians, one of which was on the floor, bleeding and Jacob was holding rearguard, while the Clones and General wondered how to aid these people.
Fred stepped up and looked at Ahsoka, who nodded. Retrieving a tube of Medi-gel from the container, she knelt in front of the wounded man and said to him, "It'll be alright…" as she sprayed the wound. She saw the alien visibly relax as the bleeding slowly drew to a complete stop as the wound coagulated, sealed and healed.
She gently helped the man to his feet, to which he said, "Thank you… So much…"
"You're welcome," She smiled, then took a step back to let the man gather his wits. The alien blinked almost twice, though Ahsoka realized the fact he was a reptile-related species of alien. She looked at the Clones, waved to Jesse to order him and the team to cover the area, then spoke to him, "Are you okay now?"
"Y-Yes, the painkiller in the gel hit," The man replied, scratched the back of his scaly neck, then asked, "I'm… Sorry, are you a new species?" as he stared at Ahsoka with wider eyes. His other Salarian friends behind him spoke to one-another in whispers about the Knight, while the Clone Troopers who'd secured the perimeter stared for a moment.
"Yes," Ahsoka smirked, staring at the Salarian for a moment. Her blue eyes then peered toward Fred and Linda as they joined her at the front, causing the Salarians to gasp in surprise. The leading man examined the Supersoldiers from head to toe, while they looked over to the General. She gave a thumbs up.
"Oh…" The man remembered he was in a conversation, shook his head to clear the astonishment, then greeted the General and her troops with unease, "Welcome to the Galaxy, I guess…?" while fiddling with his three-fingered hands. A couple Clones scoffed and one even elbowed the other. Bold was the one who was elbowed, going by the Z6 Rotary.
"Thank you," Ahsoka offered kindly, trying to build up a rapport with the Alien male.
"Mm…" The Salarian nodded, still stunned, then asked, "Why are you and your troop here?"
"I was hoping you'd ask me that," The girl replied coyly. She motioned to her fireteam, then stated, "We're looking for miss Nassana Dantius. We have some business with an associate of hers who's on a visit," only to hear a couple of short, quiet laughs echoing from the fireteam. She looked back at Jack and Fives engaging in some form of bet and high-fiving on it.
"Oh…" The Salarian did what could only be their lizard-y variation of furrowing their brows, by narrowing his eyes via closing his inner pupil. He blinked, then asked worriedly, "Going by the way you all are armed, I'm guessing you have problems with both…?" as he scratched his neck. He didn't know of any other business partner of Nassana's here.
"Actually, we're looking to hire said associate for our own business," Jesse voiced from beside the General and the Spartans. The entire group of soldiers remained tense, the most terrifyingly calm out of all of them, however, being the seven-foot-tall war machines of the UNSC sat beside the General. Jesse wasn't that tall and he was kind of envious.
"Oh. Nassana doesn't like people snubbing her business partners…" The Salarian warned, twitching a little, while his comrades murmured in agreement behind him. He added, "And she's already pissed off enough to deploy the dogs and Mercenaries after us. She wants to get rid of all the night watch workers for some reason…"
"Any idea why?" Linda broke her silence, much to everyone's surprise.
"No… She probably doesn't want to pay our fees, I think…" The Salarian shrugged, laughing awkwardly.
"Figures," Jack scoffed. She hated assholes who cheated good people out of work, but nobody else had figured out that she did beside Fives, who was right beside her with twin blaster pistols out. Jack herself looked over the DC-15a in her arms and sighed deeply, her biotics flaring for a moment into a lilac aura.
"Kind of an asshole move," Jacob quipped. He shifted uneasily, watching Jack basically handling a handheld plasma rifle the likes of which even the Geth seemed to be struggling to make, going by reports. He sighed deeply, scratching his chin, then mumbled something to himself that only the Spartans seemed to pick up.
"Well, Asari like Dantius aren't particularly good at anything but ruthless business…" The Salarian quipped, a little more at ease around their rescuers now that he saw they were normal people. He continued, "Seriously, some of the Matriarchs who've been around in the business sector long enough are worse than her…"
"Right…" The General nodded as a few more chuckles escaped the fighting group, save Fred and Linda. She then asked, "What can we expect on the trip up the towers? Because I'm guessing Nassana won't like us just waltzing in to see her killing her 'employees'," while utilizing the air quotes. She figured they were possibly indentured servants. Slaves, to use the proper, less correct terminology.
"Platoons of Mechs and a lot of hired muscle from the Eclipse Mercenary Corps… Basically, some of the best stuff in the business," He replied calmly. Sure, the Eclipse were probably all over this planet, meaning that they were about to be dealing with a company-strength unit at the very least. Ahsoka partially wondered if she should've called the Tribunal with them.
"And goddamn dead-eye killers, hunting defenseless lizard like you all," Zaeed mumbled with irony in his voice as he checked his M8. The man let out a deep sigh, set the rifle on auto, then showed the General to hurry things along. Ahsoka hummed, nodded, then looked at the Salarian again and felt for her weapons.
"Thank you. Get out of here and let us work our way up now," She then told him.
"Y-Yes, of course! Thank you as well…" The Salarian bowed, smiling brightly. He then requested, "If you see Nassana, please, don't let her walk away after what she's done here," then he motioned to the dead before leading his fellow survivors out of the place. Ahead, there was a door that Jacob quickly moved up to open by sliding his omni-tool across the green lock.
"Alright, people…" Ahsoka spoke. She unclipped the hilts of her weapons from her belt, the ignited and brandished them as she ordered, dead serious, sharp and focused, "Form up. Move hard and fast. We have to get to Nassana if we wanna find our new 'associate'," while the door's central locks rotated. Her team readied up, weapons off safe.
When the door fully opened, the team advanced down the main hallway. With cover in the form of various boxes and unfinished walls between them and an arriving hostile force, the squad moved forward, Ahsoka dodging out of the way as bullets zipped over their heads. Return fire came quickly from the Clones and Spartans, blasters singing alongside magazine-based rifles.
Linda's aim stunned everyone for a moment. She snapped off a shot to the right, one which normally would've missed or hit and embedded into the wall. The round, however, hit at just the right angle off the metal wall to scrape it and ricochet off, striking the leading FENRIS Mech right between its two head-mounted optical sensors, then punching through into the foot of a Merc.
"Holy shit!" Jack laughed, taking cover. She aimed and fired at one of the Mercs.
Zaeed poked out and fired a burst from his rifle as he barked out, "Remind me not to piss her off!" then knelt and let Fred fire over his head. A volley of plasma exploded from the barrels of the Clone Troopers next, bolts singing the walls, cratering them and drilling through them into the electronics. Bold's rotary cannon spat out about the same amount of bolts as the rest of his squad in a one second volley.
Several shots caught one man as he was trying to make a run for it, bursting through the kinetic barriers and armor and frying the man inside. He collapsed, drilled full of blaster holes and rifle clattering on the floor. Jacob moved to flank and planted the barrel of his shotgun into the face of an Eclipse Initiate Asari. When the gun barked, the woman's head exploded.
The enemy was pinned down, giving Ahsoka ample opportunity. Surging forward utilizing Force Speed, the General dodged through her team's and the enemy's shots and basically appeared behind a pair of Eclipse Mercs, both of whom stared, bug-eyed at her. With one swing of her left-hand lightsaber low and one high, the Togruta split them into three, with the head rolling off the body first.
She turned right and her hand shot out, then was pulled back. Rifles clattered to the floor, causing several of the enemy troopers to become disarmed as Fred and Linda pushed up next, Linda's rifle barking. The fired round sped past the men with no weapons and nailed an enemy sniper on a higher perch, atop one of the scaffolds.
The disarmed Mercs raised their hands and knelt. Ahsoka gave one hand signal to her clones and seven stun rounds, round circles of emitted electricity, slammed into the soldiers, putting them to sleep. The Clones then bound the men with mag-ties and set them aside for later interrogation. They moved forward with the commanders of the squad.
Pushing up one ramp to the next level, the group was met by a tiny hallway. Above them, a ventilation duct was filled with the chatter of a group of Mercs. Though barely audible, it was obvious it was an argument of some kind. Aside from that, there were a few more Salarian corpses around, as well as open medi-gel boxes.
Jack murmured, "Jesus, talk about being fucking thorough…"
Fives nodded as he knelt to check one of the ones shot, flipping him onto his side and noting the multitude of bullet holes drilled into his clothing, blood congealing against whatever synthetic materiel the cloth was made out of. He sighed, looked at Ahsoka and shook his head, only for the entire team to pause and aim their weapons as something landed among them with a thump.
Multiple stab wounds clean through the armor. A dead Eclipse member had fallen through the tube above them and landed clean between the team, killed by his own. Zaeed remarked, "Seems about goddamn right for these idiots. Can't even keep themselves from stabbing their own…" before he kicked the corpse in the head, cracking the helmet visor.
Ahsoka spoke, "Show a little more respect to the dead, Massani," before sighing and taking a knee beside the corpse. She searched it thoroughly while Jack let out a snort, Jacob nodded in approval and Zaeed simply shrugged as the Spartans moved forward to provide advanced warning. In case the enemy was coming in, most thought.
She pulled a few more thermal clips from the deceased man's pocket and tossed them to Zaeed and Jacob, then said, "Spares,' before standing up, cracking her knuckles and drawing her lightsabers again. She joined the Spartans in the middle of a wider area of the atrium. Down below, they could see the way they'd come in, filled with corpses and destroyed mechanoids. She then tapped her com and said, "Helo, do you think you can take out the mechs?"
"Encryption scheme is decent, but nothing we shouldn't be able to break," The man replied calmly, "Shoot for the chests, just in case. I saw those toasters explode when shot in the head," and the group saw the Raptor flying beside the tower for a moment, its lights dead and only its engines making noise. The silhouettes of the pilot and co-pilot could be faintly made out among the darkness, but the ship was running as quiet as it could.
"Suicide bomb clankers," Fives spoke, disgust in his voice as he checked his blasters, noting the scoring on the weapons' muzzles. He added, "Should we split the teams up, ma'am? Enemy com's black thanks to our EWAR ship, so that means they won't see us coming even if we go halfsies…" then he looked up, staring at the Towers and mumbling, "Kriff me, though…"
"I know, Fives. Maybe we'll find an elevator, but we're not splitting up," Ahsoka reassured him, though she was focused on listening to the footsteps. The bridge below them vibrated as what sounded like an entire platoon of Mechs and Mercs marched toward them, aware that they'd lost contact and probably shifting to check on the units below.
"Would be fuckin' great. The elevator, not splitting up," Jack mumbled as she took cover beside them. She said, "Thanks for the gun, Five-Oh. Damn if this thing ain't awesome," and she flashed a grin at the Clone. The man gave a nod, though he remained silent. Ahsoka, however, cracked a small smile as she focused on the man's heartbeat. It was going a little faster than standard.
Fred spoke over the radio, "Enemy unit is about to enter contact. ALCON, take positions for ambush…" and the com cut off just as Linda cocked her sidearms. Ahsoka straightened up, shut her sabers off and prepared herself to use the force as the first enemy unit appeared ahead, a LOKI mech. She breathed, watching the others arrive, then looked at Jack.
The Biotic nodded, powering herself up, cocking her hand back and, through some rippling magic, sent forth a shockwave volley that knocked the mech off its feet and into the depths below, the machine itself crying as if scared. The Mercs balked as they crossed Blue Team's hiding place, only for two of them to immediately get their throats slit.
Linda poked out, firing twin sidearms at the enemy, rounds slamming against barriers with enough kinetic force to stagger the enemies charging them. The Clones, Jacob, Jack and Zaeed pushed up, engaging with their blasters and firearms. Jack staggered as she took a sniper round against her biotics, scrambled for cover and gasped as she saw Fives take a round in the shoulder that drilled a hole through that weird pauldron on his left, but did little damage otherwise.
"You good, Fives?!" Jesse barked as he moved up to him, firing his blaster. A dozen more Mercs appeared out of the corridors ahead as the Officer went to check on his ARC Trooper, but Fives gave a thumbs up, stood up and blasted seven enemies with his blaster pistols. The Spartans moved up next, charging forward alongside the General.
Ahsoka danced amidst the bullets, some managing to scratch or narrowly miss her. Her blades whirred to life as she spun, cutting down three more mechs by vivisecting them at their middle. She stabbed through a Merc into another one, pushing both over to a window and using Force push to throw them out to their deaths, should they have survived the Lightsaber stab.
She ducked into cover as a bullet struck near her left lekku, her left head-tail. She ducked under bursts of fire from the enemy, charged forward and sliced the legs off of one enemy, planting the blade of her shorter lightsaber into the back of the man's skull before pushing forward and cutting two more down in a charge.
Zaeed laughed as he took cover and reloaded his rifle's thermal clip, stating, "I gotta keep reminding myself not to get on anyone else's bad side! Especially not you people!" as he looked at the Clones. Jesse nodded in approval, approached a corner and intercepted a Merc that was about to turn it. He slammed his rifle down against the man's hands, causing him to drop his weapon, before grabbing him by the throat, pulling him back and slamming him against the wall.
He pinned the barrel of his blaster rifle against the mercenary's chest and squeezed, three bolts cutting through the kinetic barriers, the ceramic armor and boiling the man's heart away. The Clone dropped the corpse, turned about and grunted as a trio of rounds hit him, one skimming off the top of his helmet, one hitting him in the hip and blunting off the armor and one shattering against his armor and sending a little shrapnel into his shoulder joint.
Bold pushed up next. Slowly, the man advanced, his HUD's automated targeting system allowing him to accurately sweep the area ahead with automatic blaster fire. Behind him, Jacob let loose one of his own powers, a singularity attack, that Jack quickly complimented with a Warp strike that caused the singularity to detonate.
Ahsoka surged forward next, utilizing a box as leverage and pushing herself into a jump and spin. She landed with her feet against the ceiling, then pushed herself off of it at an angle, all within the span of a second, her blades making contact with and melting through ceramic, flesh, steel and circuitry at the same time as she sheared through three mercs and a FENRIS dog mech. She jumped away from the FENRIS before it detonated, only to pause as she saw the other mechs in the room suddenly turn hostile to the Mercs.
"I couldn't get them on our side," Helo spoke over com, "But we did scramble their targeting parameters enough for them to shoot at the mercs now, too. With any luck, it'll make'em think Dantius turned them to not have to pay them," and that garnered a few whoops and cheers from the rest of the squad as they watched the fighting turn into a three-team free-for-all.
The Spartans, however, remained stoic. Linda's SRS rang loud, the bullet penetrating through three Eclipse that were neatly lined up, ripping one's heart open, another's arm off and stopping in the third, breaking her kinetic barriers and severing her forearm just as she was about to cast a biotic blast of some kind.
The team kept on pushing through, blasting, cutting through, Biotic-slamming and shooting any Mech or Merc that so much as scoffed at them wrong. After securing another group of Salarians and pushing through yet more hostile units, gunning them down as they went(Which included Jack shooting a wounded man clean through the skull as he was crawling away), the group finally made it to an elevator.
Checking ammo and the rest of their equipment in silence, the soldiers of Shepard's task crew dropped spent magazines and melted thermal clips, loading in fresh ones while the Clones checked their tibanna gas clips for their blasters. Jack bounced from one foot to the other, a grin on her face. She lightly slapped Fives's shoulder, to which the pistoleer gave a nod.
A single Mercenary on an unfinished bridge connection awaited them in front of a window. Ahsoka scoffed, showed the team to wait, then stepped forward as she heard the man try his coms, "... Swear to Christ, Dawes, you better answer," only to slam his hand into his helmet, "Mother… They're jamming us, aren't th-" and he gasped as an energy blade ignited right in front of him, next to his neck.
Ahsoka spoke, "Your com working, shooter?"
"No," The man replied, hands raised, "But you ain't getting a damn thing from me…"
"Really," Ahsoka spoke. She shut off one of her lightsabers, stowed it, then utilized the Force to lift him off his feet, causing him to yelp and start thrashing around as the ground left his feet. She moved him in front of her completely, next to the window, then pointed the tip of her active lightsaber at him and said, "What else is coming up on the bridge above us?"
"I told you… I don't have anything else to say to you. I don't know what you did to our mechs, or com, but-" And the, only an ever-farther yell echoed amidst the cracking window. Fives, the soldier who'd kicked him over, looked down and hummed, before turning to Ahsoka. The General sighed, well aware they weren't getting any info out of that bastard anyways.
The team moved up the ramps, Jack laughing a little after seeing that, while Zaeed simply mumbled something in approval in regards to killing the Merc. The bridge itself seemed surprisingly clear, to the point Helo found himself able to fly overhead. It was then that they saw the remaining Mechs on the bridge, heavily damaged and stumbling around without a target.
And a dozen Mercenary corpses.
Helo spoke, "I think I might've done too good a job…" more as a joke than anything. Ahsoka snorted, nodded approvingly and led the way forward and across the bridge. It wasn't long after, then, that the team had entered the fancy penthouse/office space of Nassana Dantius herself. A platoon of Mercenaries with half-expended thermal clips stared at the arriving platoon that soon surrounded them.
Ahsoka then greeted the stunned Asari behind the desk with, "Miss Nassana Dantius, I guess. Commander Shepard sends her regards, by the way," as she crossed her arms to her chest. Nassana blinked incredulously, staring at Ahsoka. The General watched the rest of her platoon approach and disarm the closest mercs.
"Did you say 'Shepard'? I heard she dropped dead," The woman replied, stunned.
Ahsoka chuckled, "She got better…"
"Did she send you all to kill me?" The Asari demanded, leaning against the table, "Oh, she does one odd job for me and now she thinks she can put me down, too? And two years after not even bothering to send a Goddess-damned letter to tell me she's pissed at me for something," only to raise her hands and say, "I had nothing to do with her death."
Fred stepped up next to Ahsoka and stated, "We know. And we aren't here for you," before he checked his Motion Tracker and cast a glance up. Almost unnoticeable to anyone else… Except Linda and, in this case, Ahsoka, the person physically closest to him. He then looked at the General, asking her what to do, to which Ahsoka shrugged.
Nassana, though confused, did not get to utter one word before the ceiling grate behind her dropped, obscuring the setting sun glowing between the half-open blinds behind her. A green blur moved like a shadow and, before long, two mercs dropped dead and Nassana barely had time to turn around before a blade pierced her sternum and came out the other side. She died in her assassin's arms.
The man, a seemingly amphibious humanoid with red gills hidden by scaly green skin, gently set her body down, her arms crossed over her chest, before he put his hands together, closed his black, pearly eyes and began to silently pray. Ahsoka, who had seen the others lift their weapons to meet the Assassin, showed everyone to lower their guns.
She then walked over to the desk and waited for the man to finish praying. Their gazes met and Ahsoka asked, "Thane Krios?" with a smile.
The man bowed his head and said, "Indeed. Greetings…?"
"General Ahsoka Tano. I'm a friend of Commander Shepard's," The woman replied, then motioned to the rest of the team and said, "As are they. We're here to… Well, ask you to fulfill the contract you signed and join us," before looking at Nassana. She blinked, stated in a mumble, "That's some good bladework, though…"
"Mm," Thane spoke, then looked over the team brought to take him in and stated, "Quite a colorful squad. Very well-armed," quite matter-of-factly. He looked to Ahsoka and examined her, then spoke, "And led by someone well-balanced. Commander Shepard remains true to her legend, then…" before turning and extending his hand, "I will join you in your mission, of course."
"Glad to have you aboard," Ahsoka smiled.
Fives quipped, "Keep the sword outta our chests though, please…" and that got a few laughs out of everyone… Once more, save for the Blues, who stared at Thane with respect. The team then moved out, calling their gunships for transport back to the Normandy. Ahsoka pulled up her com and activated it, radioing to Shepard.
"Oh, holy hell, you guys are done already, too? We were just on our way to the ship," Shepard stated.
That solved that…
Aboard the Galactica
Among the many modifications being done to the honorable, age-old Battlestar from the First Cylon War was a refit of newer UNSC weapons and computer systems. Ranging from advanced coilguns to supplant weapons lost during their months-long trip through their own Milky Way to surface and front-mounted ARCHER missile pods and, as Adama saw now, new internal electronics.
Replacing his old light-up table in the middle of the CIC was a central holographic console that linked to the ship's DRADIS and additional sensor suites to provide essentially real-time positioning for allied and enemy ships, fighter squadrons and munitions launched by both sides. Mixed in with this technology were new consoles currently being installed to replace the previous, ancient analog items and even bridge crew brought to train the staff.
Of course, the replacements and retrofits made the CIC and the overall bridge area of the ship a slight mess. Wires ran to and fro, loose panels lay spread around the floors and open floorboards showed the ancient inner electronics that the UNSC staff operating on-board the Cradle vessel they were currently docked to had to coerce into fitting with standard UNSC tech.
It was working and they were thankfully at peace right now, however Doctor Halsey had felt the need to tell him a while back that the technology currently being strapped to his warship was at least a generation behind standard UNSC technology. It would still connect to standard UNSC gear, however, in the same multi-domain combat DataLink as them. The UNSC BattleNet.
One point already in the favor of the UNSC:helping the navy retrofit and rearm for potential future encounters. Bill thought they were gonna do well with Laura already being picked as the candidate. And there was no real opponent to her. Zarek was a criminal, a man that he could barely trust, even after Kobol. There were no other possible candidates.
As he walked into the CIC, making sure to avoid the aforementioned wires and loose panels, the Commander marched past the coms consoles, the gunnery stations and the likes. He greeted, "Mister Gaeta," as he walked past his Tactical Officer. The young man greeted the Commander with a salute and a nod while watching one of the local staff teach him how to use the new consoles.
Junior Lieutenant Dualla stepped up, saluted the Commander and said, "Here you go, sir," as she handed him a tablet similar to those in standard UNSC service. She told him, "The local staff on the Cradle say the installation of the new counter-intrusion software is going great. Almost seventy percent of the ship's electronics have been overhauled and we're down to detailing now."
"Thanks, Dee… Are the new sensors and additional armaments playing well with our systems?" The man asked as he took the tablet and started flicking through it. He still was not used to touch-pads like these, nor to the fancy holographic stuff doctor Halsey had gotten approved for their ships. He saw that the DRADIS screen had been uninstalled in favor of the holo-table, too, with the necessary emitter being placed above by a crewman of the Cradle, clad in an orange jumpsuit with the UNSC Engineer Corps's wings on his shoulder.
Dualla nodded and stated, "Teething problems are luckily being worked out as we speak. They had to install a few new armored points on the fore of the ship in order to house the targeting systems for the ARCHER missile tubes, however," then she pulled up a three-dimensional representation of the Galactica, clad in her new, dark clothing.
She looked like a fine ship again. They'd even allowed her to keep her colors, with some crew still working right now to paint the red stripes of the Colonial Navy onto the places where the armor panels were placed. Tiny bulges in the armor that didn't detract from the overall silhouette of the warship too much.
"I see," Bill nodded, "If they'll help us keep the Cylon off our tail, or, better yet, wipe them out, a few extra armored points on the bow are fine," then he handed Dualla the data, "Thank you again, Dee. Dismissed," and they exchanged a quick salute. He saw Saul coming in as well, storming in more like, quite miffed.
"One day you get everything cleaned up, then agree to let them fix the Old Girl's back and here we frakking are…" Sighed the Colonel as he looked at the men and women working to reconnect everything and make it work properly. He told Bill, "I swear, I don't think we'll recognize the Old Girl by the time we're out of Drydock, Bill…"
"As long as we get full armor and everything else working again, Saul, I'm fine with them beautifying her to their Standards," The man replied, "Status on the starboard Pod?"
"Being re-converted to working order," Saul nodded. He looked at Bill and said, "UNSC said they wanna attach a permanent force on board alongside the other allies. Maybe we'll see some of those fighters that Starbuck nabbed a flight in, considering how much she's been singing their damn praises…"
"Combine that with the fact a Task Force of Stealth Ships is moving toward our home system as we speak and we can pretty much retire the moment we pick our drop site," The Commander spoke with a half smile. He looked at Saul and asked, "I didn't ask you where you think we should go. I know my position and I know Baltar's. The President's still deciding."
"The UNSC, obviously. They're the ones strapping armor and new guns to the Old Girl, regardless of my complaints. Means we get to live longer," Saul replied as he and Bill approached the new Holotable at the urges of one of the staff. She flipped a few switches on the bottom and spoke to one of her comrades of a similar ethnicity in a foreign language before giving a thumbs up. The two men watched as the table's switches were flipped…
It activated and flashed, the emitters powering on with a soft purr. Sensor suites came to life, as did freshly-installed consoles that their own bridge and CIC Crews were being trained on by the UNSC Navy's staff. Holograms displayed IFF tags spread across the system. Hundreds of vessels were shown on a zoomed-out view, followed by a zoom-in next to the Gas Giant where the Waystation was built and the sight of allied vessels in traffic.
Tigh motioned to the consoles and everything and stated, "Case in point…" in a murmur. Bill nodded in agreement as he watched the sensors tracking the movement of the ships in real-time. He wasn't sure if the military that had the boot on the neck of the people for as long as he was comatose was gonna be a good enough argument to sway the people toward the UNSC, however.
They'd cross that bridge when they got to it, the man thought as he sipped from his coffee. He told Saul, "Hopefully, president Roslin sees it as we do, too. Taking into account we've got much worse trouble to deal with, being away from home. We'll need to start raiding for Tylium soon enough, considering we've been burning it while idle."
"I get it," Tigh sighed deeply, scratched his chin and said, "By the way, the Senator from the Republic told me we should expect officers from them and the UNSC to stick around, too, if those ships do land on the Galactica. That'll make this place mighty busy in the future," then he looked at the holotable as they switched it off to continue installing the final detailing. The UNSC was here to stay. So were all their allies.
All the better for them, honestly, Bill thought as he continued to supervise.