Icarus (Sci-fi/Time-travel|IC|Open)

[Europa Undivided]

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Vents

"The computer can see and hear stuff anywhere on the ship. It can also sense our life signs, no matter where they are on the ship," Hannah explained for the benefit of the person crawling along behind her, "It could probably incinerate us in this vent in half a second, but the power is out, which hopefully means it can't see us. I don't know what Ted did to bring it back on but it didn't stay on for long. If I'm wrong and it's still spying on us... well... if I curl up into a ball when the fireball comes down here, you might have some time to retreat back out before you end up crispy," she had heard his first comment, it seemed.

"That is... very morbid of you, Hannah, was it.", Alexei replied with an ever so audible shuddering in his voice. The machine sees all? It could even see where they were exactly in the ship at all times? It's like it had radar, but far more precise, it seems. He was still getting used to all the hyperadvanced technology that this ship possessed, as it had only been a few weeks. Two, to be specific. Or was it three? He couldn't remember. Time was a little hard to keep track when they were in space... the most reliable way to tell how many days it had been were the meals. For him, at least.

New York, a time ahead of yours." The pipe here seemed to be running down the spine of the ship, though it was hard to tell in the darkness, "It wasn't a great future if I'm honest and yeah, I spent plenty of time in tight spaces like this; they were safer than outside. Without going into all the details, when we got off the planet for the first time we drew the attention of some rather unpleasant extra-terrestrials and those of us who survived the war were left hiding in the ruins. In any case, in your time my family were from all over the show; America, Scotland and some from further afield. None you were likely to have shot at, if you were wondering that. By the way," she added, suddenly thinking of Miriam, "We have at least one German on the ship. One from well before your time. I hope that won't be a problem for you?"

"I've already met one of the Germans in here, not including the woman with one eye.", Alexei answered, crawling forward through the vent behind her with a speed that was equal, if not faster. "In either case, I don't really bear any ill will towards their people as a whole. Not anymore, anyway. When I... died, it had been quite a while since the war ended, and I've had a lot of time to reflect on what we had just went through. In the end, war is a horrible thing that should never happen, but a pair of men with comical moustaches ruined everything. So... yes, the Germans here won't be a problem, unless... if they one of those that will think of me, a Slav, as subhuman. Then I'll have a problem there. Though it's mostly a 'them' problem at that point."

It seemed like they were making good progress. Alexei wasn't too sure by now, but he swore they had already passed by the middle point of the Icarus.

Well, hopefully there are no fireballs in here, then.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Zoey Wessel

Zoey wasn't sure why she was so cold.

She remembered the warm, humidity of the jungle. The blazing sun and the hot metal of the jeep as they turned a dirt road-

The lead jeep flipping amidst a spray of dirt as a tank nosed through a tangle of foliage. The echo of its gun booming through the area.

The jeep screeching to a stop as she lunged for a satchel charge instead of her rifle. Scrambling out of the jeep with the charge as she prepared to-

The booming of another gun and the heat of something as the world turned black.

She remembered all of that heat and warmth; so why was she so cold?

And why was it so dark?

Zoey realized that last part as some kind of machinery sounded and the darkness above her was replaced with dim lighting on a metal ceiling. Almost like a ship's.

'Hospital ship?' Zoey thought to herself but found that line of thinking ridiculous. The SADF didn't use hospital ships. And she would have remembered more if she had been wounded wouldn't she?

A panicking voice cut through the dim lighting and caused Zoey to sit up. The lack of protesting muscles or aches didn't led credence to the wounded theory. Zoey made out a dark haired figure a bit further down the room, past pods of some kind. Pods like the one Zoey realized she had just sat up in. Zoey filed that away for another time as she stood and raised an unsure left hand.

"Hello?" She spoke English out of habit. More people understood English then Afrikaans.

As she raised her left hand however, she realized she was wearing something else. She had been wearing fatigues and web gear when she had.... whatever happened to her. Now she wore some kind of jumpsuit that clung too tightly for liking.

'Where am I?

[The African Emirates]

Ted Jackson

Getting into the bridge was great and all, but it was a bit diminished when he almost got socked in the face by a Russian. Then, the A.I slammed the door closed again, promising that resistance would be met with force.

“Hm. I stand corrected.”

Now that Ted was trapped in the bridge along with most of the crew(he was both concerned and relieved to see Leona there), he began thinking about how he could somehow disable the A.I. and operate the ship through lower-class algorithms, all while the power was cut. But before he could respond to Leona’s hypothetical question, Joseph had appeared in front of him with a serious look on his face, and gripped his shoulders tightly.

Joseph Foley
"Ted..." He started off slow; channeling his inner drill sergeant. "...tell me you have a way off this bridge that doesn't involve shoving ourself into an air vent."

“Well...uh...”

Ted struggled to come up with a plan before Joseph lost his patience, but it seemed that some other crew members, including the captain, had already begun their journey into the vents. A memory of some old video game began to resurface involving vents on a spaceship, but he quickly pushed it back down.

“Um... you don’t have to go in the vent if you don’t want to. Anyways, we need some people to stay and respond to the…Themis, was it?”

Ted began his journey into the ventilation shaft, taking a glance back at the bridge. Claustrophobia wasn’t ever a problem for him, but Ted was thinking about how he preferred not to get crushed or otherwise killed in an air vent. Meanwhile, Hannah and the Russian man, Alexei, were speaking of their pasts, of which Ted only half heard.

He then began thinking about the...hand he was holding? Behind him, Leona’s left hand was in his right. That made him feel much better about this excursion. At least someone cared about him, and that was reason enough to go on.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Hannah Brown and the Fortune Teller

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Vents...

"That is... very morbid of you, Hannah, was it.", Alexei replied with an ever so audible shuddering in his voice. The machine sees all? It could even see where they were exactly in the ship at all times? It's like it had radar, but far more precise, it seems. He was still getting used to all the hyperadvanced technology that this ship possessed, as it had only been a few weeks. Two, to be specific. Or was it three? He couldn't remember. Time was a little hard to keep track when they were in space... the most reliable way to tell how many days it had been were the meals. For him, at least.
...

"I've already met one of the Germans in here, not including the woman with one eye.", Alexei answered, crawling forward through the vent behind her with a speed that was equal, if not faster. "In either case, I don't really bear any ill will towards their people as a whole. Not anymore, anyway. When I... died, it had been quite a while since the war ended, and I've had a lot of time to reflect on what we had just went through. In the end, war is a horrible thing that should never happen, but a pair of men with comical moustaches ruined everything. So... yes, the Germans here won't be a problem, unless... if they one of those that will think of me, a Slav, as subhuman. Then I'll have a problem there. Though it's mostly a 'them' problem at that point."

It seemed like they were making good progress. Alexei wasn't too sure by now, but he swore they had already passed by the middle point of the Icarus.

Well, hopefully there are no fireballs in here, then.

"I thought you Russian folk were supposed to appreciate that kind of humour?" Hannah said with a small laugh as she continued to inch forward, "Though in my case its a function of my time. Gallows-humour helped to keep me sane."

Abruptly she stopped, freezing in the darkness, almost certainly causing Alexei to bump into her, "Hey," twisted, speaking back to him in a hushed whisper, "Do you hear voices?"

Zoey Wessel

...

Zoey realized that last part as some kind of machinery sounded and the darkness above her was replaced with dim lighting on a metal ceiling. Almost like a ship's.

'Hospital ship?' Zoey thought to herself but found that line of thinking ridiculous. The SADF didn't use hospital ships. And she would have remembered more if she had been wounded wouldn't she?

A panicking voice cut through the dim lighting and caused Zoey to sit up. The lack of protesting muscles or aches didn't led credence to the wounded theory. Zoey made out a dark haired figure a bit further down the room, past pods of some kind. Pods like the one Zoey realized she had just sat up in. Zoey filed that away for another time as she stood and raised an unsure left hand.

"Hello?" She spoke English out of habit. More people understood English then Afrikaans.

As she raised her left hand however, she realized she was wearing something else. She had been wearing fatigues and web gear when she had.... whatever happened to her. Now she wore some kind of jumpsuit that clung too tightly for liking.

'Where am I?

"Hello!" the response was crisp, English, female. The speaker sounded relieved, "I was starting to get a bit worried there. Eleanor von der Marwitz, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She stood up from inside one of the same pods Zoey was in. She was slim, fairly tall, though it was hard to make out much in the way of detail in the gloom, "I think I just died," she said matter-of-factly, like she was discussing the weather or a game of tennis, "Did the same happen to you or are you one of the crew members?"

Before she had a chance to answer though, a muffled voice called out from above them, "I'm one of the crew! Just give me a second..."

"Why are you in the ceiling?" von der Marwitz asked. From the shape of her shadow you could see her hands were planted on her hips, her head cocked to one side.

"Err... Iv... sorry, Alexei, do you want to try to explain that one? I'll carry on with trying to get the power back on." There was a brief pause, followed by two 'PHWAT' sounds in quick succession, accompanied by bright flashes of light, then the clattering noise of something large and metallic bouncing off the lid of a pod before coming to rest on the floor, "I'd normally take the time to have a proper conversation, waking up like that can be a bit confusing, but you've come at a bad time; we're having a bit of trouble with the power! I'm Hannah, by the way!"

Meanwhile, unknown to the crew without the benefit of sensors or a functioning computer, the outer hull door swung open...

[Europa Undivided]

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Vents/Pod Room

"I thought you Russian folk were supposed to appreciate that kind of humour?" Hannah said with a small laugh as she continued to inch forward, "Though in my case its a function of my time. Gallows-humour helped to keep me sane."

"Many of us do, at least.", Alexei replied with an audible scratch to the head as he inched forward, keeping in pace with the American lady's movement into the vent. "One could say that I got tired of everyone joking about how they're going to die tomorrow, or today, or a week. But then, that is what usually happened. They dropped like flies... then I was the last. Huh. It's really depressing to be the last one, eh..."

"Err... Iv... sorry, Alexei, do you want to try to explain that one? I'll carry on with trying to get the power back on."

Soon enough, they had finally come to a destination; the same room wherein they had been reborn... resurrected... reconstructed? Whatever term applied to what happened to each and every member of this time travelling crew, Alexei didn't really care anymore. They died and they're back, that's all that mattered... and there are more of them here.

Two voices, both women. One sounded a bit Germanic, perhaps Dutch. The other spoke English. Neither of which were languages that he was particular familiar with, but thanks to the little machines that had been embedded into their brains, they understood each perfectly. Very convenient for situations like these, akin to the one that he had been in when he first awoke. Anyway, Alexei jumped down to the floor, and looked at one of the two newly awakened people. He wasn't sure who was who, morning the darkness.

"Okay... how do I say this...", Alexei muttered, taking a moment to sit on the edge of an empty pod. He took a glance at Hannah, wondering why she forgot his name back there. Perhaps she confused him for someone else for a moment? No, no, that's not right...

"We are in... uh... a time travelling ship and we ha been brought back to life to replace the crew that had been murdered by a very dangerous man named Davin Blackmore. How he did it, we have no idea, it's just that he did. Anyway, we're currently in orbit over Earth... and we're trying to talk to the crew of that other timeship that we're currently... face to face with. Any questions? I hope not, because I still don't completely understand how this all works. I was just a tank driver for the Soviet Red Army..."

Leona Helstrom
The Vents

He then began thinking about the...hand he was holding? Behind him, Leona’s left hand was in his right. That made him feel much better about this excursion. At least someone cared about him, and that was reason enough to go on.

It seemed like she wasn't too used to vent crawling, but her petite form greatly aided her in this regard. She wasn't too claustrophobic, not when half of her life was spent inside biodomes and underground hallways that often twisted into narrow corridors. That, and the personal elevators were usually quite tight too, so she often used the industrial lifts if only because those were much more spacious. Anyway...

"You actually remind me of someone.", Leona blurted out as they crawled the vents together. "My uh... ex-husband. We had a nice start, but as time wound on, it got rockier and rockier, till we had to separate. Could be because he hated aliens and I didn't. Or because one of our twin sons wanted to be a pilot instead of spending his life behind a desk, and I supported him in that regard while my ex didn't. Either way, both of you were... computer people. And tall with black hair."

Leona coughed, as if to steer the conversation somewhere else. The conversation that she herself had started. "Anyway, I think I hear new people. Maybe we should greet them?"

She watched as Hannah jumped down, and then Alexei. "Well, now they're talking."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Vents/Pod Room

"I thought you Russian folk were supposed to appreciate that kind of humour?" Hannah said with a small laugh as she continued to inch forward, "Though in my case its a function of my time. Gallows-humour helped to keep me sane."

...

"We are in... uh... a time travelling ship and we ha been brought back to life to replace the crew that had been murdered by a very dangerous man named Davin Blackmore. How he did it, we have no idea, it's just that he did. Anyway, we're currently in orbit over Earth... and we're trying to talk to the crew of that other timeship that we're currently... face to face with. Any questions? I hope not, because I still don't completely understand how this all works. I was just a tank driver for the Soviet Red Army..."

"Oh no... you're definitely dead. That's important," von der Marwitz declared as she watched people climbing out of the vent, though the rest of Alexei's explanation had her shaking her head in disbelief, "So you are saying this is like HG Well's story, but with a full ship? Frankly, I find that quite incredible, although I would concede that had the orrery not shown me that I would awaken in this place I'd never have believed that story either, so I will keep an open mind," she shook her head again before adding as an aside to herself, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

She gave Leona a quizzical look, before turning her attention back to Alexei, hands still planted on her hips, "I am actually quite familiar with Mr Blackmore. He killed me, quite without any provocation I might add. He is quite simply the most vile man I have ever encountered... so I'm assuming we are under the waterline? I've never been on a ship like this before."

Leona Helstrom
The Vents

...

Leona coughed, as if to steer the conversation somewhere else. The conversation that she herself had started. "Anyway, I think I hear new people. Maybe we should greet them?"

She watched as Hannah jumped down, and then Alexei. "Well, now they're talking."

Hannah, meanwhile had made her way back to the vent. She winked at Leona as she passed by, though she bit back whatever ribald comment she had been about to make, "Hey Ted, you in or out?" she called, "I'm going back up there to try to get to engineering. Sooner we can get the power back on the better!"

[The African Emirates]

Ted Jackson

Their crawling through the vents wasn’t exactly silent. Soft clangs from knees against metal echoed through the narrow space, and an unidentified boom echoed from somewhere within the ship. For a moment, Ted was back in his bunker-bound life on Earth, but he hadn’t ever been holding anyone’s hand during that time. Squeezing Leona’s hand a bit harder brought him back to reality.

Leona Helstrom

"You actually remind me of someone.", Leona blurted out as they crawled the vents together. "My uh... ex-husband. We had a nice start, but as time wound on, it got rockier and rockier, till we had to separate. Could be because he hated aliens and I didn't. Or because one of our twin sons wanted to be a pilot instead of spending his life behind a desk, and I supported him in that regard while my ex didn't.

“Well... I’ve always imagined first contact like in those old shows, where both of us come in peace and we create some federation together, boldly going where no one has gone before. Our first contact with the Ragons didn’t exactly end up like that, as you may have guessed. But I've been fascinated my whole life with all the possibilities of little green men out in the stars. A bit of a shame that they came to us instead.”

Either way, both of you were... computer people. And tall with black hair."

Leona coughed, as if to steer the conversation somewhere else. The conversation that she herself had started. "Anyway, I think I hear new people. Maybe we should greet them?"

She watched as Hannah jumped down, and then Alexei. "Well, now they're talking."

“Heh, are you saying you’ve got a type?” On the outside, Ted wore a smirk, but on the inside, he was veritably ecstatic.

“But yeah, let’s go down to say Hi,” Ted replied.

He jumped down, ending up in an elevated area of the pod room. And fortunately for him, it seemed that Alexei already had the timeship spiel covered. The two newcomers looked quite disoriented, one of them even reciting Shakespeare. He was still next to the vent when Hannah called up to him.

Hannah, meanwhile had made her way back to the vent. She winked at Leona as she passed by, though she bit back whatever ribald comment she had been about to make, "Hey Ted, you in or out?" she called, "I'm going back up there to try to get to engineering. Sooner we can get the power back on the better!"

Ted raised his eyebrow at Hannah’s gesture, but didn’t really dwell on it.

“Yeah, I’m in. Let’s get going. Leona’s also coming for...uh...emotional support. Mine in particular.”

He crawled back into the vent after Hannah, leaving the two new crew members in the room.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Zoey Wessel
Pod Room

"Hello!" the response was crisp, English, female. The speaker sounded relieved, "I was starting to get a bit worried there. Eleanor von der Marwitz, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She stood up from inside one of the same pods Zoey was in. She was slim, fairly tall, though it was hard to make out much in the way of detail in the gloom, "I think I just died," she said matter-of-factly, like she was discussing the weather or a game of tennis, "Did the same happen to you or are you one of the crew members?"

Before she had a chance to answer though, a muffled voice called out from above them, "I'm one of the crew! Just give me a second..."

"Why are you in the ceiling?" von der Marwitz asked. From the shape of her shadow you could see her hands were planted on her hips, her head cocked to one side.

"Err... Iv... sorry, Alexei, do you want to try to explain that one? I'll carry on with trying to get the power back on." There was a brief pause, followed by two 'PHWAT' sounds in quick succession, accompanied by bright flashes of light, then the clattering noise of something large and metallic bouncing off the lid of a pod before coming to rest on the floor, "I'd normally take the time to have a proper conversation, waking up like that can be a bit confusing, but you've come at a bad time; we're having a bit of trouble with the power! I'm Hannah, by the way!"

Zoey felt a little relief at the sound of another voice. The familiar accent from her brief year of university also helped add on some small amount of comfort to this alien environment.

Both the relief and comfort quickly fled as the dark haired woman inquired if she, Zoey, had died as the speaker had. She said it as if asking for directions or about a bus line. Zoey was thrown for a loop. Her first instinct was to think the dark haired, English woman crazy. But, she remembered being in Africa fighting a border war and now she was here in a darkly lit metallic room with no explanation or gap in memory.

Then the vent started talking. Female, an American accent this time. Harried and excited, the American paused briefly to blow the vent off with something. Before continuing on their journey to restore the power; leaving welcoming duties to someone named "Alexei".

Anyway, Alexei jumped down to the floor, and looked at one of the two newly awakened people. He wasn't sure who was who, morning the darkness.

"Okay... how do I say this...", Alexei muttered, taking a moment to sit on the edge of an empty pod. He took a glance at Hannah, wondering why she forgot his name back there. Perhaps she confused him for someone else for a moment? No, no, that's not right...

"We are in... uh... a time travelling ship and we ha been brought back to life to replace the crew that had been murdered by a very dangerous man named Davin Blackmore. How he did it, we have no idea, it's just that he did. Anyway, we're currently in orbit over Earth... and we're trying to talk to the crew of that other timeship that we're currently... face to face with. Any questions? I hope not, because I still don't completely understand how this all works. I was just a tank driver for the Soviet Red Army..."

Alexei was apparently a Russian who was well versed with the fact they were on a time traveling spaceship. So versed in fact that he was giving a synopsis of how Zoey was standing here in a dimly room.

But what grabbed her attention the most wasn't how the man was giving a spiel about them having died. It was how he was speaking Russian; and she could understand each word and nuance the man said. She had apparently died and been resurrected; reclothed and apparently educated on the finer points of the Russian language at some point. She felt herself let out a harsh chuckle as she leaned against a pod and tried to absorb it all.

As her newly awakened English companion began jabbering with Alexei and a host of new arrivals who began to drop down through the vent. She didn't pay attention to the details of the conversation. Instead her thoughts turned to her family and friends. ]

Her parents. Were they even still alive. Were they here too maybe?

Her Platoon. Was Mattys here? Did he survive? Or did he not make the cut?

Zoey was so absorbed that she didn't notice the new arrivals make their way back into the vent until it was just her and the dark haired, English woman she had met first. Taking a breath she pushed herself off the pod and walked awkwardly beside her.

"So I'm Zoey.... Zoey Wessel." An awkward beat as she looked at the open vent. "Should we go after them?"

Joseph Foley
Icarus Bridge

Foley watched as Ted disappeared into the vent, following Leona like a dog after a bone. The operator felt his eyebrow twitch at the suggestion the marine should try to contact the other timeship with a bridge full of dead gear he barely knew how to work when it was powered.

Still as he watched the lanky man's boots drag themselves into the vent, he let out a sigh and turned his attention back to the crew still present on the bridge. At least those he could see in the dim lighting.

"Any ideas while they try to get the power on?"

[Mediama]

Apollonia of Athens
Icarus Bridge

Two weeks had passed, and a lot had occurred within that time, Apollonia had met a plethora of people who inhabited the ship, among them a near-mad soldier from further north, a sea captain from the same region but from a different time, a barbarian from the west, and another from the east.

In her time she was able to be acquainted with the various objects within the vessel of the gods, and was able to look through the vast library to find her own fate and the fate of her beloved Athens.

Suffice to say her homeland had been through much suffering.

It was equally as surprising for her to see to the return of the group from their mission, much to her embarrassment some of them were dressed as heterai. She could not deny they fit their role based on their looks, she herself could not take her eyes off of them, particularly the one who she would learn to be Cornelia, an older woman from an empire in the not-to-distant future, one that carried the legacy of Troy.

From what the group had went over, it appeared that Athena had granted them the blessing of victory, though not without Hades claiming his due.

And so for the most part, her shy demeanor kept her close to Elizabeth and Rebecca, the former especially as they shared sleeping quarters. She was still unused to the now lack of privacy compared to her own room in her Oikos, but oddly enough, being close to Elizabeth and to some extent Rebecca was comforting. She managed to find a chiton for herself, made of powder blue silk and tied within the doric style most familiar to her, and so she felt more at ease in her own dress and sandals.

She was talking to Tayena, Elizabeth and Rebecca about her fixation on poetry when it was brought to their attention that a ship came onto their view, and as communications failed and the Icarus locked herself and her crew away, Apollonia trembled and held close to Rebecca and Elizabeth, arm wrapped around arm, finding safety with them since their encounter with Heins.

She shook her head when Foley, the warrior, asked if anyone knew how to turn the “power” back on.

“I-I have yet to master the channeling of Zeus’ power. I am sorry I cannot be of any further use.” She meekly replied.

She just hoped that someone would know how to restore light, as Prometheus had done to man, and Hestia grant them safety in their new home.

---

Hans Dietrich
Icarus Bridge

Hans on the other hand, had also kept a low profile for the past two weeks. Based on his assessment, the crew were no threat to him, as the war was long over. Still, he held reservations about fully revealing his past, and simply said he was a captain of a boat during the war, and left it at that. He was surprised at the types of individuals that crewed the Icarus, had they been crew to his boat, they would not have survived their first combat action.

What was more perplexing was chain of command, or rather the lack of one.

A woman named Hannah had took command as the ship’s skipper, yet though she held the appropriate bearing when it came to planning and issuing commands, she did not necessarily act like she was heading a multi-tonne vessel. The co-captain was just as perplexing, a Frenchman from the same distant future as Hannah, held the familiar decorum of a naval officer (much to his concern regarding to possible recognition), yet was sickly.

Nevertheless, when the situation had unfolded, they all went their ways, Hannah went with a group through the vents to find a way to restart the ship, and Jean-Luc stayed behind on the bridge, yet an American, Foley, was the one who took the initiative and was asking if any knew how to restore the power.

For the time being, he’ll help wherever he could, and if they needed help with command he’ll step in when he needs to.

Hans fixed the leather jacket he had found with the turtleneck sweater, work pants, shoes, and peaked sea captain’s cap he found in the dressers, and nodded, “I’ve had some experience working with my engineers with wiring in emergencies, though how effective I’ll be might depend on whether or not wiring has changed since the fourties.”

[Europa Undivided]

Jean-Luc Lafayette
The Icarus Bridge

"Any ideas while they try to get the power on?"

Jean-Luc sighed as he heard Foley ask for any possible ideas any one of their merry little crew might have to fix their current dilemma with the power. He might have had a few ideas, if only he was the builder of this timeship. Or knew about it enough to really have any hint on what might rouse the silent vessel's veins of energy back to life. No one really knew what the time travelling vessel made of, or its exact schematics... just the basics needed to know about its capabilities.

And for Ziggy to go rogue the moment the Themis flew towards them was another thing that none expected. It had always seemed to be pinpointed on helping them with their task of fixing the timeline, but its silence and subsequent lockdown just didn't make sense at the moment...

Hans fixed the leather jacket he had found with the turtleneck sweater, work pants, shoes, and peaked sea captain’s cap he found in the dressers, and nodded, “I’ve had some experience working with my engineers with wiring in emergencies, though how effective I’ll be might depend on whether or not wiring has changed since the fourties.”

"The basics would be the same," Jean said, looking over his shoulder to look at the German man that had also been a captain, though Hans had been from the older variety of aquatic vessels, while Jean-Luc was more of a space battleship captain... well, formerly. "But the technology is undoubtedly different from your time. The colors of the wires may mean something different now."

Which fourties? The 2040's or the 1940's? Did they have a Kriegsmarine captain in here?

"Now," Jean said with a slight cough, "If only one of you lot has a flashlight or any light source that could be turned on and off to communicate in Morse Code, we may be able to tell the other vessel something. They are undoubtedly watching us at the moment."

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Pod Room

"So I'm Zoey.... Zoey Wessel." An awkward beat as she looked at the open vent. "Should we go after them?

Alex looked down from the vent, peering towards the pair of women that had just newly awakened. He could barely see them, but as the pods had remade their bodies and removed all the wounds and imperfections, he had sharper eyes than he had in his previous life. "The doors are locked, so you're stuck in that room anyway. Now get up here, and do tell what kind of jobs you had before. Would be better so that we know what you can do."

Leona Helstrom
The Vents

“Heh, are you saying you’ve got a type?” On the outside, Ted wore a smirk, but on the inside, he was veritably ecstatic.

“But yeah, let’s go down to say Hi,” Ted replied.

"I suppose you can say that.", Leona replied with a small giggle in her voice as Ted pretty much confirmed his own question. She really did have a type. That, and she likes nerds. Like herself.

Ted raised his eyebrow at Hannah’s gesture, but didn’t really dwell on it.

“Yeah, I’m in. Let’s get going. Leona’s also coming for...uh...emotional support. Mine in particular.”

He crawled back into the vent after Hannah, leaving the two new crew members in the room.

Leona shook her head at Hannah's wink, but Ted telling about her purpose on coming with them the rest of them into the vents had her eyebrows raised. "Emotional support?", Leona chuckled. "Oh, how dare you. Well, I suppose that's what I'm doing at the moment."

Holding hands, ehem.

[Westeastern Dicantia]

Rebecca Watson
The Bridge

Rebecca, for the most part, had done her best to keep to herself. In between ventures out of her room for food and the occasional meetings with Apollonia and Elizabeth she poured over everything she could find written about her and the day she died. She was already well aware of the reality of her second life, a morbid fascination with her first was what drove her. In the last couple of days, however, her depression had started to lift, and she had just answered the call to the bridge when everything went dark and they were stuck with another ship waiting outside. As startling as this was, somehow Rebecca wasn't surprised that the insanity continued.

"Any ideas while they try to get the power on?"

She waited for a few of the others to speak up first before she offered her best guess. "The door has to have a latch somewhere, right? There has to be some physical mechanism that makes it work and I bet there's an access panel for it nearby. If we can disconnect the physical door from the control electronics, then we'd have control over it. If, that is, a Nineties understanding of electronics can get us by." She paused and mulled on the thought for a moment, "But obviously it'll piss off HAL. Who decided she doesn't want to cooperate." She was trailing off at this point, looking for more ideas, "Who's up for some fuse pulling and going through wiring harnesses the old fashioned way?"

[Grenartia]

Elizabeth/Athena, Icarus bridge

The last two weeks had been a whirlwind. The mission had been a success, though at the cost of the confederate's life. The Screaming Dane had seemed to calm down. Apollonia was clearly drawn to Elizabeth, and neither her nor Athena could say it was unwelcomed. Though they certainly felt conflicted.

On the one hand, Apollonia was so easy to be around. Despite the massive difference of time between their previous lives, and the differences of experience between their lives, talking to her, or even being near her, in total silence, just felt so right. On the other hand, these were the same sort of feelings they had spent their entire previous life bottling in. Feelings that were supposedly forbidden.

"You know, what I said to Heins the other day applies to us as well, right?" Athena asked, without really caring that there was an important conversation going on with the others. Its not like her or Elizabeth could have contributed anything significant to it even if they paid attention to it.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth counter-asked, even though she already had an inkling of what Athena was referring to.

"Look around. Everyone died either a gruesome death or at old age. And yet, we all have young, perfectly intact bodies, with no signs of deformation, injury, malnutrition, or any other malady, even those from pre-industrial societies. That would imply that whatever process resurrected us also gave us bodies without defect. As if we had all grown up and had plenty to eat, never got sick, never had an accident during childhood, etc. Presumably, this also applies to our brains. Nobody seems to be mad. Even Heins had a rational motivation behind his actions, and could be reasoned with. That likely means that neither our co-existence, nor our attractions, are disordered. We're not messed up!"

To any outside observer who cared to glance at Elizabeth in this moment would have noticed her face visibly brighten with hope, before almost immediately sinking, troubled by doubt.

"I...I want to believe that, Athena. So desperately. But what if you're wrong?"

"If I was wrong, then we would have ended up at the pearly gates when we died."

"I. I ju--I just..." Elizabeth stammered, unable to put together a sentence, being torn between wanting to believe, and still not fully convinced.

"Its ok, Liz. This is a lot to deal with. Take your time."

While Athena was letting Elizabeth take a break, she noticed Apollonia had spoken up.

Apollonia of Athens
Icarus Bridge
“I-I have yet to master the channeling of Zeus’ power. I am sorry I cannot be of any further use.” She meekly replied.

"Don't worry, Apollonia. Nobody expects you to know how to fix it. This machine was built millenia after your last life. Nobody can be totally useful all the time." Athena said with a reassuring smile as she clasped Apollonia's hand.

---

"The basics would be the same," Jean said, looking over his shoulder to look at the German man that had also been a captain, though Hans had been from the older variety of aquatic vessels, while Jean-Luc was more of a space battleship captain... well, formerly. "But the technology is undoubtedly different from your time. The colors of the wires may mean something different now."



"Now," Jean said with a slight cough, "If only one of you lot has a flashlight or any light source that could be turned on and off to communicate in Morse Code, we may be able to tell the other vessel something. They are undoubtedly watching us at the moment."

"The door has to have a latch somewhere, right? There has to be some physical mechanism that makes it work and I bet there's an access panel for it nearby. If we can disconnect the physical door from the control electronics, then we'd have control over it. If, that is, a Nineties understanding of electronics can get us by." She paused and mulled on the thought for a moment, "But obviously it'll piss off HAL. Who decided she doesn't want to cooperate." She was trailing off at this point, looking for more ideas, "Who's up for some fuse pulling and going through wiring harnesses the old fashioned way?"

Phoenix, Icarus bridge

It seemed like aside from Jean, Phe was from the most advanced time period, and had the most experience with advanced technology, so she decided to speak her piece.

"I'm from the 2020s, but I also worked on an alien starship prior to my death. If this ship takes any design cues from that, there's not much we can do. The bridge is one of the most secured locations on any ship, and without specialized tools, the odds of finding a way to physically correct or bypass the software issue are slim to none. Shining a light might work, if we had a class 4 laser pointer and an actual window. Unfortunately, most ships I'm aware of tend to use view screens and cameras instead of windows on the bridge, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that metal is more durable than glass. We'd have to leave the bridge in order to get to a window. Also, messing with the wiring also won't do much good. The circuitry is microscopic, and simply yanking out the power and data wires won't help, either." she explained.

Phoenix began pacing around the bridge, contemplating their options, when a sudden realization hit her, and she pressed her ear up to the nearest wall and began knocking on it. "There might be a tool kit hidden somewhere in the room. Someone had to anticipate that the bridge crew might need to repair a critical component without access from engineering. Its probably somewhere not immediately obvious, but still easily accessible in an emergency. Possibly in a console, behind a wall panel, or even in a hidden floor compartment."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Ted Jackson
...

Ted raised his eyebrow at Hannah’s gesture, but didn’t really dwell on it.

“Yeah, I’m in. Let’s get going. Leona’s also coming for...uh...emotional support. Mine in particular.”

He crawled back into the vent after Hannah, leaving the two new crew members in the room.

"Emotional support," Hannah chuckled as she began crawling forward again, "You know I'm actually slightly envious of you two..." she trailed off, either because she'd decided that continuing might embarrass Ted and Leona or because she was beginning to feel warm. It was getting very, very warm, almost like they were heading into a furnace. The temperature had to be hovering near 110F/45C and it got higher every yard forward they crawled, "Is it just me, or is it getting a bit warm in here?" she asked. The metal of the vent was hot enough that further forward would probably start to cause burns to uncovered skin and Hannah was wearing a tank top.

"I think I can see the way out just up ahead, stay back I'll crawl forward and blast it open. She crawled forward, breathing heavily, there were a few quick 'phat' noises and then Hannah tumbled out of the vent onto the floor of the engineering bay in an untidy, sweaty heap. She lay there for a moment, then realised that the others would probably come out of the vent pretty quickly and land on top of her. That would definitely suck. She rolled away, pulling herself back up to her feet.

When the others came through, all logic said Hannah should have been badly burned by what she'd just done, but standing in the emergency lighting, she was, despite having worn a sleeveless top, seemingly unscathed though she had broken a sweat, which was unusual for her, "Everyone okay?" she asked, "Alright Ted, you're familiar with the AI, see if you can stop it from booting up when I turn the power back on... or boot it up in safe mode or something. Use that big brain of yours!"

---

Eleanor von der Marwitz

...

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Pod Room

"So I'm Zoey.... Zoey Wessel." An awkward beat as she looked at the open vent. "Should we go after them?

Alex looked down from the vent, peering towards the pair of women that had just newly awakened. He could barely see them, but as the pods had remade their bodies and removed all the wounds and imperfections, he had sharper eyes than he had in his previous life. "The doors are locked, so you're stuck in that room anyway. Now get up here, and do tell what kind of jobs you had before. Would be better so that we know what you can do."

"You want me to climb in there?" Eleanor took a step backwards. She didn't look particularly keen on the idea, "I was a Fortune Teller and before that a Librarian," she answered, though there was a sense she was being a bit evasive, "I'm quite sure I won't be of any use to you up in that metal duct. I'm very happy to wait for someone to get the door open. It's not a bother in the slightest."

She could see already that she wouldn't be able to turn around in that metal tube the others were hopping into and the thought of getting stuck in it made her feel a little ill. This hadn't been what she'd expected at all.

---

Phoenix, Icarus bridge

It seemed like aside from Jean, Phe was from the most advanced time period, and had the most experience with advanced technology, so she decided to speak her piece.

"I'm from the 2020s, but I also worked on an alien starship prior to my death. If this ship takes any design cues from that, there's not much we can do. The bridge is one of the most secured locations on any ship, and without specialized tools, the odds of finding a way to physically correct or bypass the software issue are slim to none. Shining a light might work, if we had a class 4 laser pointer and an actual window. Unfortunately, most ships I'm aware of tend to use view screens and cameras instead of windows on the bridge, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that metal is more durable than glass. We'd have to leave the bridge in order to get to a window. Also, messing with the wiring also won't do much good. The circuitry is microscopic, and simply yanking out the power and data wires won't help, either." she explained.

Phoenix began pacing around the bridge, contemplating their options, when a sudden realization hit her, and she pressed her ear up to the nearest wall and began knocking on it. "There might be a tool kit hidden somewhere in the room. Someone had to anticipate that the bridge crew might need to repair a critical component without access from engineering. Its probably somewhere not immediately obvious, but still easily accessible in an emergency. Possibly in a console, behind a wall panel, or even in a hidden floor compartment."

Phoenix was, it turned out, spot on. There was a tool kit in a wall panel. Once you knew what you were looking for, it wasn't too hard to find - it was the panel with the cut-out hand holds on either side to let someone reach in and lift it off it's mounts easily. There were tools and emergency power which, provided there was someone with a bit of technical knowhow on the bridge, would give them the means to bring systems back online. They could try to get the sensors on, try to bring communications back online or unlock the door. They'd only be able to do one at a time and with the situation changing rapidly, they'd need to prioritise...

[Europa Undivided]

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko - Leona Helstrom
The Vents + The Pod Room + The Engine

"You want me to climb in there?" Eleanor took a step backwards. She didn't look particularly keen on the idea, "I was a Fortune Teller and before that a Librarian," she answered, though there was a sense she was being a bit evasive, "I'm quite sure I won't be of any use to you up in that metal duct. I'm very happy to wait for someone to get the door open. It's not a bother in the slightest."

Fortune Teller... and a librarian. Alexei hadn't met any fortune tellers during his own life, perhaps because he had never attempted to know his future, as he preferred to try to make the path himself. Well, one could say that this road that he paved for his own life hadn't ended well.... but at least there's another try available for him at this second incarnation. Either way, he courteously nodded to the two women below within the pod room, slowly pulling back into the vent and away from the nearly nonexistent view.

"Suit yourself then... we'll be back soon.", Alexei said as he began to turn away from the opening of the vent to that particular room. "You ladies may as well get acquainted. This whole thing is apparently poised to turn against us..."

That was one morbid forecast of his... because it was probably true.

"Everyone okay?" she asked, "Alright Ted, you're familiar with the AI, see if you can stop it from booting up when I turn the power back on... or boot it up in safe mode or something. Use that big brain of yours!"

Leona had dropped a bit awkwardly from the vent, almost falling over when she made landfall. She somehow, somehow maintained her footwork, and stood up to look around the engine room. Yep, she had no idea about engines. Leona was more of the kind that tinkered with biological machinery rather than... timeship engines.

As she stood there, she remembered what Hannah said. Jealous? Of them? Of what-

Oh... that... was that a real thing, anyway? It probably was, but now wasn't the time. They needed an AI silenced and power returned to the vessel's grid.

At the meantime, Alexei too had landed upon the floor, but unlike some others, he had a good landing. He had quite the time with the Red Guards during the war. There was a lot of jumping in between ruined buildings in campaigns, and he had more or less perfected the art of happy landings.

"Well, this is surely not the kind of engine I'm familiar with." Alexei closely inspected one of the mysterious machines, noting just how advanced and sleek it all was compared to the roughshod construction of the vehicles of his day. He then eyed the surroundings, as if suspecting that something might be skittering in the darkness. Baba Yaga maybe? No, that's ridiculous...

Jean-Luc Lafayette
The Bridge

They could try to get the sensors on, try to bring communications back online or unlock the door. They'd only be able to do one at a time and with the situation changing rapidly, they'd need to prioritise...

Now Jean was faced with a dilemma he never had to face before, not even as the captain of the space battleship Aquitaine. They had no time to do more than one task. They had to choose, now...

Unlock the door and head for the armory? No, that room had a door of its own and they will have to manually unlock that one as well; in that time, something else could occur that would require their attention. Open sensors? Perhaps the Themis had moved, or maybe even boarded them while the power was out. What if they were the ones that put it out to begin with...?

Communications? There was no guarantee that they will have an answer from the Themis.

"I'm open to other options, but I say that ought to return the sensors back to life and gauge an awareness of what is going on in and outside the ship.", Jean finally said. "The only thing we know is that the Themis is outside, and we have to ascertain what it is doing. I don't think communicating will have the guarantee of a reply, and opening the door... we won't learn anything about the situation by stepping into the lightless corridors."

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Joseph Foley
Icarus Bridge

Foley was silent for the most part as a handful of individuals stepped forth. None of them were experts but all were apparently experienced enough in their times to feel some confidence. Which was a step above Foley's level, so he remained quiet as they discussed what to do among themselves. Differing time periods, changes in technology and feasibility of ideas seemed to have put a stop to most of the ideas of the chronologically older crew members. Though there suggestions were pretty much hot wiring a spaceship's electrical system in the dimly lit gloom; so perhaps it was for the best.

Then, Phoenix found a damage control kit. It was a hefty sized case that looked like it belonged on an ocean bound warship. Foley found himself standing over Phoenix's shoulder as she opened the case and rummaged through the equipment. Most of the equipment was foreign to Foley but even he could recognize old fashioned pry bars and door spreaders scattered among the more advanced stuff.

"I'm open to other options, but I say that ought to return the sensors back to life and gauge an awareness of what is going on in and outside the ship.", Jean finally said. "The only thing we know is that the Themis is outside, and we have to ascertain what it is doing. I don't think communicating will have the guarantee of a reply, and opening the door... we won't learn anything about the situation by stepping into the lightless corridors."

Foley turned to appraise Jean in the gloom of the ship. Based on the limited time Foley had spent with the man, he had commanded a spaceship. A warship at that; but that left the man with a bias towards certain things. Like wanting to power up sensors to see what the Themis was doing. The other ship was a wild card to be sure; but reestablishing the sensors didn't mean they could do anything about what they saw. They would still be on the bridge awaiting Hannah's group to reestablish the power. So he said as much.

"Sensors don't give us anything. We can't do anything from here anyway." He turned from Jean back to Phoenix. "Get the door open. I'll head out with a handful of crew and make sure nothing else is going on in the ship. Ya'll can get the sensors on after we leave."

Zoey Wessel
Pod Room

"You want me to climb in there?" Eleanor took a step backwards. She didn't look particularly keen on the idea, "I was a Fortune Teller and before that a Librarian," she answered, though there was a sense she was being a bit evasive, "I'm quite sure I won't be of any use to you up in that metal duct. I'm very happy to wait for someone to get the door open. It's not a bother in the slightest."

Zoey appraised her companion in the gloom as the Russian slipped away back into the vent. But not before leaving them the advice of getting acquainted.

She gave it a few awkward seconds before she turned and stuck out a hand.

"Zoey Wessel" She tried again. "Scout. South African Defense Force"

[The African Emirates]

Ted Jackson

Climbing back into the vent, Ted followed Hannah deeper into the innards of the ship. The clangs of limbs against metal continued as the group neared the residence of the rogue AI.

"Emotional support," Hannah chuckled as she began crawling forward again, "You know I'm actually slightly envious of you two..."

“Um…us? What do you…”

Ted suddenly knew exactly what she meant. The flirting directed at Leona, at first a bit teasing, all but became actual advances, which by now had been reciprocated.

“Ha, guess so,” Ted responded with a grin.

His face became hot, which was a bit strange as he was more overjoyed than embarrassed. But it made a bit more sense when the rest of his body became hot as well. Ted’s suspicions were confirmed when Hannah went down a vent ahead of him, presumably into the A.I’s memory banks.

He jumped down into the room with a thump, he noticed that he had nearly landed on the captain, so he moved away both to hide the fact that he had almost squashed her and to find the nearest A.I terminal.

"Alright Ted, you're familiar with the AI, see if you can stop it from booting up when I turn the power back on... or boot it up in safe mode or something. Use that big brain of yours!"

“Well captain, as you very well know, I’ve already messed with the A.I. once. Glad to do so again.”

While tapping away at the keyboard, Ted thought he heard something in the darkness of the room. He shot his head up from the A.I. terminal, only to see his crewmates and nothing else. If anything, the Russian man seemed on edge as well.

Must be my Ragon-escaping brain coming into play. It’s nothing

After 10 minutes of rooting around the system, making changes to files and rerouting permissions, Ted let out a sigh and plopped onto the ground next to Leona, surreptitiously putting his hand into hers.

“Ok, I made sure the A.I. won’t activate on startup, and there’s some non-A.I. subroutines operating all the necessary ship functions. Should be good to start at any time.”

[Aclus]

Awakening
A new beginning

The sounds of battle had seemed to become drowned out, the crackling of the fires and screams that engulfed the city of Rome had become deaf at an instant. The pain that lingered through his body had no longer been present as the darkness came with the closing of his eyelids. Embrace eternity, enter the light and find the peace you so longed for in your life. The battle is over, the pain now gone from inside his soul as his mind seeped deeper into the light, heavens gates were soon to be visible........ or so he thought.

The light faded as it was slowly switched with the blurriness of his sight returning to him. Blinking with the feeling of his eyes having been closed for hundreds of years, the feeling was all too uneasy. Then came the view, a metallic like tube around his mouth and nose, pushing air into him as his body was brought up in a standing position.

The view of flashing lights of different colors lit up around the glass door that encased him disoriented him even more, could this be the heaven he was always promised? is this what the scriptures and prayers depicted it to be? nonetheless there was nothing of familiarity around and the feeling of panic grew ever closer.

Though as soon as his anxiousness came, so did a hissing sound to both sides of him as the glass doors began to open. Followed by his mask coming loose his restraints had also let him go, bringing the Roman to his knees gasping for air as if he had never breathed before. "What is this hell? where am I?" was all he could think as he collected himself surveying all around the room he had found himself in.

"I must a spirit, that has to be it? no Crassius you're losing it, get it together" he told himself

Crassius then walked up to what seemed to be a giant metallic door, from which a screen recording the room was visible showing him with all his surroundings.

"What barbarian sorcery is this?"

[Dyelli Beybi]

Eleanor von der Marwitz

Zoey Wessel
Pod Room

"You want me to climb in there?" Eleanor took a step backwards. She didn't look particularly keen on the idea, "I was a Fortune Teller and before that a Librarian," she answered, though there was a sense she was being a bit evasive, "I'm quite sure I won't be of any use to you up in that metal duct. I'm very happy to wait for someone to get the door open. It's not a bother in the slightest."

Zoey appraised her companion in the gloom as the Russian slipped away back into the vent. But not before leaving them the advice of getting acquainted.

She gave it a few awkward seconds before she turned and stuck out a hand.

"Zoey Wessel" She tried again. "Scout. South African Defense Force"

Eleanor took the profered hand, though she didn't seem to know what she was doing and looked all the more surprised when Zoey shook it. Hand shaking was something that businessmen did... maybe it was different in the colonies? "A pleasure to meet you Miss Wessel," she said, assuming the other woman was unmarried, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the South African Defence Force. Is that some kind of Commando? I thought they were normally named after towns, or at least that was what Mr van der Valk told me. I didn't realise there were women in the Commandos." There definitely weren't any women in the Union forces during the Great War. She'd have known about that... though the Commandos had been disbanded after the Second Anglo-Boer war so that didn't really make sense either...

Awakening
A new beginning

...
"I must a spirit, that has to be it? no Crassius you're losing it, get it together" he told himself

Crassius then walked up to what seemed to be a giant metallic door, from which a screen recording the room was visible showing him with all his surroundings.

"What barbarian sorcery is this?"

Eleanor's attention was taken by the man examining the door. He was speaking some kind of Latin, though not the classical kind they were taught at school. His sounded a bit more like the kind that the church-men spoke. How peculiar, she'd have thought she'd have had more difficulty understanding it. She cleared her throat, dropping into her best attempt at the language. It wasn't very good. It sounded archaic, yet Crassius would have no problems piecing together what she meant, "Hello Sir! I don't think it's any kind of sorcery, it's locked from the other side, though someone went scrambling up that pipe," she pointed at the vents the others had gone into, "And they think they can unlock it. If I understand correctly, I believe we are on something similar to Charon's ferry... though not actually Charon's ferry."

Now she had his attention, she decided it was best to present herself, "Eleanor von der Marwitz, at your service Sir," she said with a polite nod of the head, "Are you Italian?"

As she answered the question the lights abruptly came on in the room, "Oh look!" she declared brightly, "If I understood what those other people were saying before that should mean we can get out now," she pursed her lips, looking the door up and down, "But I can't see a handle anywhere. How peculiar."

---

Hannah Brown

Ted Jackson
...

After 10 minutes of rooting around the system, making changes to files and rerouting permissions, Ted let out a sigh and plopped onto the ground next to Leona, surreptitiously putting his hand into hers.

“Ok, I made sure the A.I. won’t activate on startup, and there’s some non-A.I. subroutines operating all the necessary ship functions. Should be good to start at any time.”

"Alright, let's do this!" Hannah declared, bouncing up and down like she was limbering up for a fight. She was nervous and trying to hide it, but she pressed the button anyway, closing her eyes as she did. The lights came back on. She cautiously opened an eye, "Hey HAL, you hear me?"

There was no response from the AI and she gave a long sigh, visibly relaxing, "Okay. Well that situation is fixed. I'm going to Head back up to the Bridge, but do you think that you can figure out what is wrong with our fearless AI companion?" she asked Ted.

She stepped over to the door, pressing the button to open it that had so confused Eleanor and stepped out into the corridor... then immediately back inside again. There were armed people in black armour with what looked like blasters in the corridor. Two of them, but there might have been more, "We've been boarded while the power was out. Hide!" she hissed to the others who had followed her in here.

If they could get the AI back online

---

The Bridge

Before people had finished rerouting the emergency power, main power came back online anyway, though there was no sign that Ziggy had been reactivated with it. Apparently Ted had done his work well.

There were a few surprises. Sensors immediately picked up that a shuttle had docked with the Icarus during the power outage and the cameras picked up eight people in black futuristic looking armour and blasters, in the corridors. Four of them were directly outside the bridge, two were by engineering and two more were by the docking bay.

The door opened before anyone had a chance to stop it and they entered, weapons raised, "Back away from the consoles!" a female voice yelled. They controlled the room well, weapons tracking back and forth, focusing on anyone who seemed to be trying something, "We aren't your enemies, stay calm!" she called.

They might not be enemies, but they weren't behaving like friendlies. Resistance, at this point, was a thoroughly suicidal idea and within moments they had the bridge under control. At that point, one of them, a tall figure who seemed to be the leader, lowered his weapon, "Anyone seen it?"

"No, Sir. Not here," the female trooper replied.

"Alright, I know this is confusing, but we don't have much time and can't afford to take chances since we don't know what your intentions are," he said, turning his attention to the Icarus crew, "When we took over your AI we downloaded the files on who the ship had replicated to try to get a picture on how you might react to us. We were shocked to discover there was a what in that number as well. I didn't know it was possible, but the ship replicated an extra-terrestrial being as well."

He looked between them, his dark helmet swinging back and forth, "Creature from another world. Obviously, that is incredibly dangerous and illegal. Do any of you know where it is?"

[Europa Undivided]

Leona Helstrom

After 10 minutes of rooting around the system, making changes to files and rerouting permissions, Ted let out a sigh and plopped onto the ground next to Leona, surreptitiously putting his hand into hers.

“Ok, I made sure the A.I. won’t activate on startup, and there’s some non-A.I. subroutines operating all the necessary ship functions. Should be good to start at any time.”

Hand-holding? Ah, right. They've been on and off with that ever since the power went out. Are they going to do that a lot more today? It looked like that their hands were going to merge together, be one being. Is that a good thing or bad thing when in the middle of cleaning up the timeline?

"I'd like drinks after all this.", Leona blurted out. "You fancy any?"

"We've been boarded while the power was out. Hide!" she hissed to the others who had followed her in here

"Oh, crap, so that's what they did..." Leona abruptly stood up, nearly tearing off Ted's arm off its socket in the process. "We... we gotta go."

Alexei Olegovich Chernenko
The Engine Room

She stepped over to the door, pressing the button to open it that had so confused Eleanor and stepped out into the corridor... then immediately back inside again. There were armed people in black armour with what looked like blasters in the corridor. Two of them, but there might have been more, "We've been boarded while the power was out. Hide!" she hissed to the others who had followed her in here

"Suka...", Alexei quietly muttered as he moved backwards, glancing towards their rear to make sure nothing or no one had somehow sneaked in behind them. "So that's what the Themis wanted to do?"

The Russian scampered off, his eyes scanning the inside of the engine room in search of a suitable hiding place. There hasn't been any gunshots or screams, which meant that they weren't here to kill them, not yet at least. Just what they were looking for?

"Perhaps you should awake the machine spirit, machine mind, whatever the hell the thing is called.", Alexei whispered at Ted. "Though it really doesn't help that it seems to be keeping secret, no?"

Jean-Luc Lafayette
The Bridge

"When we took over your AI we downloaded the files on who the ship had replicated to try to get a picture on how you might react to us. We were shocked to discover there was a what in that number as well. I didn't know it was possible, but the ship replicated an extra-terrestrial being as well."

He looked between them, his dark helmet swinging back and forth, "Creature from another world. Obviously, that is incredibly dangerous and illegal. Do any of you know where it is?"

"I have no idea. I'm sure none of the others here don't know either.", Jean-Luc replied after the rather sudden inquiry of an alien in the ship, his voice unnervingly calm, as if he was confident that this day won't end badly. But seeing quite literally everything that had happened, it is unlikely that this will be a completely smooth affair. Especially when weapons were being pointed at them. Some of their motley crew might be a little... unhinged. Jean aimed to prevent anyone from trying to attack their boarders, since they were trapped in the bridge, outgunned, and surrounded. No way a firefight will save them.

The Frenchman had his hands up, showing that he didn't have any kind of weapons on-hand... for now. "It is not like we had been checking each individual pod for who's in there. Each of us are from different time periods, too, so some don't even know what a spaceship is."

The only aliens he had ever met were Ragons. Hopefully, whatever extra-terrestrial that is in here wasn't one of those man-eating lizards...

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Joseph Foley
Icarus Bridge

The lights returned before anyone could reach a consensus on the damage control kit. Power returned to the bridge and Foley watched as the array of consoles lit up and the door open-

Four dark armored figures barged through. Not as fast as Foley's unit but fast enough to catch the operator flat footed. An unfamiliar muzzle leveled itself at his chest well out of his reach. He sighed internally as he drifted his hands down towards his pistol.

The dark armored figure lifted their weapon's barrel slightly and Foley stopped and put his hands loosely in the air at shoulder height. 'His' guard seemed satisfied with that and lowered the barrel to its original height as they began to swing it loosely between Foley and other nearby crew-members. Foley took exception to that and took a huge sidestep; placing himself between a gathering of crew-members and one of the armored invaders. They tracked his movements before deciding he wasn't attempting a suicidal charge and returned to their duty of....

....finding an alien judging by their leader's conversation. Foley wondered if this alien was of the kind Hannah had hinted at; or if there were others out there. Could an alien look human. A frown took over his face as he removed his ball cap and ran a hand over his buzzcut. He kept the hat in hand after; just in case he needed.

Which given Jean had begun talking to them; would probably be coming sooner rather then later.

Zoey Wessel
Pod Room

Eleanor took the profered hand, though she didn't seem to know what she was doing and looked all the more surprised when Zoey shook it. Hand shaking was something that businessmen did... maybe it was different in the colonies? "A pleasure to meet you Miss Wessel," she said, assuming the other woman was unmarried, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the South African Defence Force. Is that some kind of Commando? I thought they were normally named after towns, or at least that was what Mr van der Valk told me. I didn't realise there were women in the Commandos." There definitely weren't any women in the Union forces during the Great War. She'd have known about that... though the Commandos had been disbanded after the Second Anglo-Boer war so that didn't really make sense either...

Zoey noted that Eleanor's grasp of the handshake was weak, both metaphorically and physically. She seemed as shocked as Zoey's grip and subsequent shaking as apparently dying and being resurrected on a spaceship.

Then she began talking about the Commandos. Not as quaint historical trivia; but as if they were a relatively recent news piece. Then there was here being shocked at Zoey's being a soldier. She was about to open her mouth to ask when Eleanor was from when another pod released its occupant. Zoey couldn't make him out in the dim lighting but she could here the semi-familiar tone of Latin that she understood with perfect clarity; just like the Russian before him.

Eleanor seemed less phased by the development and tried to speak to the man in Latin; it sounded cruel and mispronounced but once again translated perfectly somehow. Zoey was still wrapping her mind about near sudden understanding of two different languages when the lights retuned.

"Oh look!" she declared brightly, "If I understood what those other people were saying before that should mean we can get out now," she pursed her lips, looking the door up and down, "But I can't see a handle anywhere. How peculiar."

Zoey inspected the door as well and eyed her newly found companions before letting out an internal sigh and striding to the door with something akin to a shy eagerness to get out of the room.

"Werk in die flieks". She walked up to the door and wondered if the future used automatic doors like every movie depicted them to.

[Westeastern Dicantia]

Seemingly as soon as they had started discussing what to do, a group of armed space cops barged in and started swinging guns around. Rebecca was so startled that she yelped and instinctively backed into Apollonia before she had time to react. Once she had regained her footing, she found one of those guns pointed at her. As if the last several weeks hadn't been insanity-filled enough, the four who'd just barged in insisted both that they were friendly, and that there was an alien aboard? Don'tkillmedon'tkillmedon'tkillmedon'tkillmedon'tkillmedon'tkillme filled her head and she tried to focus on the corridor behind them.

Rebecca shakily raised her hands as Jean tried to explain. Her mind raced faster than it ever had, trying to find a way to get her out of the situation. She wanted to speak up, to invite them to see the pods themselves. Maybe if they took the initiative and offered to help them find the alien, they would leave.

[Mediama]

Apollonia of Athens
Icarus Bridge

Apollonia froze as the armed men barged into the room before she could even reply to Elizabeth’s reassurances. She barely had any time to react before Rebecca backed into her. Instinctively, she wrapped an arm around Elizabeth’s, and held her hand, intertwining their fingers. With Rebecca she held her equally close, though she had no capability to stand up to the armed men, it was clear for whatever reason that the older woman had found safety with the two of them.

She could only hope that either Elizabeth knew of a way to protect both of them, or that there would be devine intervention from Zeus or Athena. Either way her only solstice now were with the two women huddled close to her and the men that surrounded them. Even then that wasn’t saying much.

She stuttered after the man named Jean had spoken. “H-He speaks the truth, w-we are not aware of anyone here that is not a descendant of Gaia and Prometheus. M-Most do not even know where we are? P-Please by Zeus’ hospitality do not kill us in cold blood! He forbids it!”

Hans Dietrich
Icarus Brudge

Hans could not believe what the Greek woman was saying in her panic, his heart twinging as he remembered hearing similar appeals to god from newer boys who were assigned onto his boat. Judging by her reaction and the women surrounding her they weren’t better off on keeping their cool.

The French sub-captain of the ship had tried to de-escalate the situation by saying that none of them were aware of the presence of any alien life forms on board.

Alien beings, the submariner mused. Who would’ve thought? God knew that if any of his more fanatic crewmen were still around, they would’ve went ballistic at this point.

Dietrich followed Jean’s lead and raised his hands, showing he wasn’t armed, he hadn’t had time yet to see if there was a p-38 lying around just yet anyway. Although both the Frenchman and the Greek women had already made it clear he decided to err on the side of caution and calmly reaffirm their claims to the armed men.

“As you have heard gentlemen, we are not aware of any life forms on board that are not of our Earth. As you can also see we do not pose any immediate threat to you and your men.

As an officer responsible to one’s men to another, I understand the responsibility you have to your subordinates, but I believe we can work through this without having arms pointed at our heads? As the good Frenchman has mentioned, we are not even aware of our own manifest at this moment, much less some of the more deeper workings of our ship.”

She glanced to the group of women, “Furthermore, you have provided enough grief and terror to some of our own already.”

He hoped what he said would help in providing a diplomatic resolution, or at least buy some time for the rest of the crew to figure something out.

Even if he was a military officer, he was a gentleman first.

[Grenartia]

Elizabeth/Athena, Icarus bridge

Elizabeth did nothing as Apollonia and Rebecca hid behind her (a familiar experience at this point), except squeezing Apollonia's hand in reassurance. Meanwhile, Athena decided to seize an opportunity. "You mean like Martians? No sir, just as my friends have said, none of those here."


Phoenix, Icarus bridge

Before Phoenix could give her thoughts, the problem seemingly solved itself, before morphing into a completely different problem entirely: the intruders demanding to know about an alien.

"Well, Ziggy did go rogue before you showed up, so perhaps your information is incorrect?" she helpfully suggested.

[The African Emirates]

Ted Jackson

"I'd like drinks after all this.", Leona blurted out. "You fancy any?"

“I’d like that too, Leona. Sounds like a date.”

Although he only had a small smile on his face, his mind was racing. Where would it be? Would this mean more than just two friends that may or may not like each other passing the time together? But that would have to wait.

There was no response from the AI and she gave a long sigh, visibly relaxing, "Okay. Well that situation is fixed. I'm going to Head back up to the Bridge, but do you think that you can figure out what is wrong with our fearless AI companion?" she asked Ted.

“Sure thing captain. I’ll get right on i-”

"We've been boarded while the power was out. Hide!" she hissed to the others who had followed her in here.

Nonononono. No! Not again!

Ted froze for half a second, unwilling to believe that he was back in the position of being hunted. Leona took him back to reality by yanking his arm upwards, and the four of them hid in the room now humming with activity. After a deep breath, Ted looked up. Men in black with energy weapons were outside the door, while the quartet were hidden behind a secluded data storage bank.

"Perhaps you should awake the machine spirit, machine mind, whatever the hell the thing is called.", Alexei whispered at Ted. "Though it really doesn't help that it seems to be keeping secret, no?"

“Are you sure? Remember, this is the same AI that tried to trap us in the bridge.”

He took a deep breath, and tried giving Leona a reassuring look before turning to the captain.

“Alright Hannah, I’ll try and get the AI activated and on our side. Preferably all of the above.”

Ted said it in a low voice as to be unheard, but it also masked his fear. Sure, he’d be able to do what Alexei had recommended, but without getting shot?

He’d have to try and find out.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Elizabeth/Athena, Icarus bridge

Elizabeth did nothing as Apollonia and Rebecca hid behind her (a familiar experience at this point), except squeezing Apollonia's hand in reassurance. Meanwhile, Athena decided to seize an opportunity. "You mean like Martians? No sir, just as my friends have said, none of those here."


Phoenix, Icarus bridge

Before Phoenix could give her thoughts, the problem seemingly solved itself, before morphing into a completely different problem entirely: the intruders demanding to know about an alien.

"Well, Ziggy did go rogue before you showed up, so perhaps your information is incorrect?" she helpfully suggested.

The leader looked between everyone on the bridge before homing in on Phoenix, "You were a crew member on the Destiny, were you not?" he asked, but didn't give time for a response, "In the 32nd Century, in my timeline, humanity is becoming displaced on our own planet by a species known as 'dhasath'. In my timeline they emigrated openly, however, it is believed that they may have deliberately infiltrated human society in your timeline. When the Ragons came they found 'cuckoos' hidden amongst the human population but we don't know much more than that. The Icarus was tasked with finding evidence of a deliberate dhasath conspiracy."

Which probably meant something to Phoenix, but few if anyone else, "Have you seen any signs that one of your crew might be dhasath?" he asked, before turning to the others, "They appear human, though there are a very limited range of phenotypes. They will appear Middle Eastern or perhaps Southern European. If they appear adolescent they might be considerably younger than they seem. They will be unusually resistant to temperature fluctuations. They are capable of enthralling people and might have an unusually subservient companion."

---

Hannah Brown

Ted Jackson
...

“Are you sure? Remember, this is the same AI that tried to trap us in the bridge.”

He took a deep breath, and tried giving Leona a reassuring look before turning to the captain.

“Alright Hannah, I’ll try and get the AI activated and on our side. Preferably all of the above.”

Ted said it in a low voice as to be unheard, but it also masked his fear. Sure, he’d be able to do what Alexei had recommended, but without getting shot?

He’d have to try and find out.

"Wait, what?" Hannah's eyebrows shot up, "Why would you do that? Run diagnostics when there aren't unknown hostiles on the ship."

Even as she spoke she was slithering into a hiding place behind a particularly large piece of machinery. There were some advantages to being small.

---

Eleanor von der Marwitz

Zoey Wessel
Pod Room
...

Zoey inspected the door as well and eyed her newly found companions before letting out an internal sigh and striding to the door with something akin to a shy eagerness to get out of the room.

"Werk in die flieks". She walked up to the door and wondered if the future used automatic doors like every movie depicted them to.

The door wasn't automatic, but there was a large button on the wall. It didn't have a label on it, but it was rather obvious to anyone familiar with electronically controlled doors. Which Eleanor wasn't. She pursed her lips, then tried to work her fingers into the crack to manually pry it open. It didn't work. The door was designed to keep atmosphere separate from the cold vastness of space if something went wrong and it was not going to pried open like that.

After a few moments she gave up with an exasperated, "Hhhmmph!" She took a step back, hands on hips, "Well, I can't see a handle anywhere, maybe we should have gone into that pipe after all."