Operation: Warden

[DeletedUser28032]

They had toasted Jacks proposed transfer to Recon in Jacquen's pitch black cabin, the only light coming from a small shaving light over the mirror. It was within this twilight that they had discussed the details of Jacks move amongst over things including that of the Sicariun’s cat over a bottle Uncle Jack yet another contraband item upon the ship making it appear that either the word contraband had no direct translation in Sicariun or that the entire concept was either not understood or just plain ignored.
Over the following three days Jacquen filled out his transfer documents along with making a few long distance calls to varying members of his former unit in order to not only regain his place but also smooth the way for Jack to join. The rest of his time in between his shipboard duties was spent retraining Jack for his new role, because although he actually intended to die on his first mission Jacquen didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of others by bringing someone dangerously unequipped for the job within the regiment, it also seemed to keep the mans mind occupied and away from the dark thoughts that had led him down his current path something that the Sicariun was still determined to alter if things should suddenly change.
Dressed in full naval uniform complete with boots, something that Jacquen wasn't thrilled about the Sicariun waited outside the airlock with the rest of his unit, the lack of his knives making him feel naked and just a little edgy as he stood with the others. He had heard that there had been moves made by other Sicariun’s to have their traditional knives declared a religious item thus making it exempt from the no weapons rule however considering the number of servicemen admitted to infirmaries after altercations with the Sicariun species it didn't seem very likely to happen.
Moving to stand beside Jack within the cramped airlock Jacquen whispers quietly to the man "This one has spoken to his old regiment, pass the entrance exam and your in" it had taken a bit of persuading on his part but they had eventually accepted the idea, despite the high mortality rate for humans within 3rd Recon Jack wouldn't be the first one to join their ranks "This also asks have you told the CO that you're leaving?"

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Trace stood apart from the others as usual, waiting to move. He'd spent the last couple days trying to assimilate himself with terms unknown in the Kriken world, yet commonly known elsewhere. He was now internally conflicted on so many levels, he didn't know what to think. The Empire had hidden...no, cut away so many things from the worlds they controlled...why? Why get rid of the knowledge of happiness...of most emotions? Why not explain the terms enjoyment and pleasure with respect to more than battle? Why? He trusted the Empire still, but now there was a bit of uncertainty to go along with it...what should he do...what should he believe? Nothing made sense to him anymore...

 

[DeletedUser]

The three days since his confession in the armory passed quickly, something Jack had become unaccustomed to over the last year, so use to every minute lasting an hour, the training Jacquen put him through seemed to fly by.

But all too soon, Jack stood alone on one of the observation decks and stared towards Eroes Prime, floating in the distance like a harbinger of all he'd sought to shove away. The closet door he'd shut on all of those agonizing memories began to bend at the sight of the station. Eroes Prime was the place where it all began for him, returning to it after only a few months wasn't what he intended. Jack had never intended to return at all, he'd expected to die on this boat and have his remains memorialized by getting blown out the airlock. The emotions were difficult to process and Jack had to put a hand on the railing in front of the window to steady himself as he cursed the luck that pulled him back here.

Now, Jack found himself standing among his comrades, just before the airlock that would open on the outer alcove before the long hallway that would lead them to the Assembly Chamber itself. Never having intended to be important enough to actually see The Collective, Carlyle's heart thumped in his chest, even as an anger rose in his stomach. It was suddenly very hot, standing there in his dress uniform and Jack could have sworn that his brow was sweating, despite the air conditioning duct that blew just a few feet away.

"This one has spoken to his old regiment, pass the entrance exam and your in. This also asks have you told the CO that you're leaving?"

Leaning over closer to Jacquen, Jack replied in a whisper "No, I haven't. I thought a letter on his desk from command would tell him I was leaving and I wouldn't have to speak with him again."

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"Very well." Commander Wentworth said to the group at large as he opened the airlock and strode into the tube that connected the Void's Warden to Eroes Prime. With precision befitting their extensive military training, the crew of ODS 3 fell into step behind their commanding officer.

Plants lined the corners of the room they entered. Layered in black marble with white flecks throughout, the room was cold and businesslike, even the plants in the corners seemed to stand at attention. A human woman sat at the front desk, flanked on either side of her marble fortification by a pair of guards armed with Arc Rifles. The woman stood from her desk and motioned with a finger towards a long hallway to her right "The Assembly is awaiting you."

Turning without giving the woman a backwards glance, Commander Wentworth lead the crew down the long corridor, their footsteps echoing loudly off the hard marble. Of all the resounding thumps, Vortag's was the loudest, both from the steel boots upon his odd feet and his own huge weight, he almost shook the station below his feet.

Arriving at the door, their commander turned on them "Men, I expect you to be on your best behavior. These are soft politicians, don't expect them to understand what it's like to be on the ground in mud up to your chin with a crazy man trying to blow your brains out the back of your skulls." Wentworth took the necessary step forward to open the motion activated doors.

On the other side of the door was a small room. In the middle of the room a group of figures sat at a table, their appendages crossed in front of them. As the crew of ODS 3 stepped into the room flanking their commander, they realized that this was not the whole of The Collective, but a single member from each of the races involved. A Kriken sat at the end of the table, next to a Sicariun who did his best to hide his sharp toothed smile from the human and vortag sitting next to him. ODS 3 stopped with military precision just behind Commander Wentworth, who saluted. With crisp movements, the crew of ODS 3 saluted The Collective as well.

Then Commander Wentworth spoke "Void's Warden and her crew reporting, sirs." his gaze lingered on that of Kevin Fowler's - the human representative "I trust you have all been informed of why we are here. We are here to deliver you this." Commander Wentworth pulled a small chip from his pocket and laid it on the desk before The Collective "This is a drive containing all the data we recovered from our mission. And standing behind me are the brave soldiers who fought so dearly for it and their Squad Leader." Wentworth gestured grandly with his hand at them "I present you, Lieutenant Rolf, Gunnery Sergeant, Sergeant Walker, Servicemen Jefferson, Jacquen, Trace and Carlyle.

"They are at your disposal, sirs. As it is necessary to verify the data on the drive, they will make their EC's available to your inspection."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Leaning in slightly so as to better hear Jacks whispered reply Jacquen frowned slightly before making one of his own "It would but...this one thought you humans liked to do these things face to face?" Jacquen hadn't the CO of his impending transfer either but then again his species didn't have that particular cultural tradition of giving notice, nor did he have any sort of relationship with the CO so he wasn't particularly worried though he thought Jack would have been.
Quietly following commander Wentworth Jacquen looked around himself like a tourist, he'd never been into this part of Eroes Prime before, in fact his time in any part of Eroes Prime hadn't been particularly long and so he did his best to absorb all of the sights and sounds of this strange and alien place.
Upon entering the council chambers Jacqune snaps of a quick salute just as he had been trained to do before inclining his head to the Sicariun delegate, an elder of his species with skin like leather and covered with so many scars that they seemed to have meshed together into one single mass of scar tissue.
Folding his hands behind his back Jacquen quietly waited for either one of his comrades or one of the delegates to speak.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

There they were, the leaders of the Collective, some of them, at least. One representative from the represented species of the Collective. Rolf saluted on the invisible command, along with the rest of the crew members gathered in the hallowed place. After another invisible cue, the NI dropped their salutes, and stood at attention, while Commander Wentworth explained the situation to the Collective members. At mention of those who were there during the discovery of the files, Rolf stepped forward along with the rest of those gathered. After Commander Wentworth finished, with a slightly disquieting statement about the men barring their ECs to the Collective.

“Thank you, Commander. I am Kapitänleutnant Rolf Helmfrid. During our latest mission against a slaver compound, Gunnery Sergeant Vortag discovered a door. He requested help, and the others standing in front of you answered. Serviceman Jacquen opened the door, and Gunnery Sergeant Vortag discovered the files. The six of us downloaded them to our ECs, shortly before the database they were stored on was irreparably destroyed. We now stand before you with those files, which you shall now see on you FSDs.” At the end of the sentence, a zip file containing the ten recordings discovered on the Collective members’s FSDs. “I suggest you look through them immediately, and then decide your next course of action.”

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Jefferson followed nervous. He watched everything and as they walked into the Assembly Chamber he smiled. Nothing had gone wrong so far. Maybe for once he was just being a bit to paranoid for his own good. He stood and waited and checked the firewall he'd put on the files. No one could delete anything from his EC without him knowing and he had a secret back up of the files hidden among the EC service data just in case.

 

[DeletedUser]

Councilor Fowler nodded his head at the collection of warriors in front of him, pulling his EC up and looking at the display in front of him. As the human delegate inspected the files, the other councilors followed suit all of them accessing their ECs in some form - some let a display appear on one of their appendages, while others just stared blankly at a wall as their ECs pulled the files up. There was complete silence for at least fifteen minutes.

Jack felt his EC probed multiple times, and, standing there in dress uniform, covered in his tour stripes. He felt so naked, as his EC informed him of every move The Collective representatives made in his EC. As they looked through every part of him, randomly accessing memories, inspecting everything about him, confirming his character while breaking it down. By the time the final Councilor let him be, Jack had the urge to leap across the desk and throttle Fowler. A shiver ran down his spine.

And down the line The Collective went. With each of the crew, they probed them. Not only accessing the files required, but delving deeply into the solider's own personal files -- confirming their identity, and satisfying their own curiosities no doubt. Jack knew not how the others felt about their probing, but he knew he felt as though the only thing sacred to him was violated by uncaring sycophants.

Finally the last soldier was probed and the representatives let themselves rest easy -- secure in the knowledge that none of the ODS crew had secrets left. Fowler stood from his seat and addressed the warriors "Thank you, men. We have what we need to begin proceedings. Please retire to the lobby and wait for us, we shall call you in when we need you."

Snapping off a brisk salute, Commander Wentworth acknowledged the order, though Jack thought his gaze lingered on that of Kevin Fowler's a little too long. The Commander of Void's Warden led the crew out into the lobby once more. The bored looking secretary was busy at her terminal, the sounds of her incessant typing the only sound in the entire room.

They waited.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Frank stiffened as the searched the EC's. He knew it was necessary but all the same he didn't like it. It was the one bad thing about EC's. He made sure that the council didn't find his second copy of the file and breathed a sigh of relief when the final Council member finished looking through his history. They saluted and went out. They went into the lobby where Frank sat down and visibly relaxed. He had just been so pent up recently. He had deleted the memory of the conversation him and the captain of Void Warden had discussed just in case. He sat there and relaxed planning a nice holiday for himself on one of the vacation worlds near Eroes. Finally, he thought, this might just all be over.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Trace stood impassively as the officers looked through his EC. The important things that they wanted were in Common...the rest was either in standard Kriken and difficult to translate, or in military Kriken and impossible to know if not in the Kriken military. The truly important things were in the latter, so there was no fear of them finding out something they shouldn't. Once finished they were told to wait while the officers processed the information, so Trace took up a spot in a corner, leaning against the wall. He wasn't particularly inclined towards talking at the moment...he found the whole process quite trying...what kind of military couldn't trust their officers to tell the truth? The humans may have knowledge the Krikens didn't, but in military process, they cannot hope to match them.

 

[DeletedUser]

Tom stood to attention as his EC was searched, he hated these formal occasions, still, had to grin and bear it.
after the Collective finished examining their ECs, the group moved out into the lobby.
Tom sat down on one of the comfortable white leather chairs, silence reigned throughout the group.
"I fancy a drink, anyone know where the bar is?" He broadcast to the others via his EC.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Frank saw the EC message and replied "It can wait. Don't think there is one around here and I doubt the councillors would be impressed if they summoned us back and we were drunk." this message was sent only to Tom.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Rolf stood at attention patiently as the Collective scanned the documents, then, in a not so surprise twist, looked through his personal memories. The worst part of the EC, in Rolf’s opinion, was the ability to look through anybody’s memories if they had the ability to. Of course, the Collective could go through anybody’s memories, unless you had the best protection and antivirus software. And Rolf hadn’t had time to go to a black market dealer to get that sort of protection. All he had were the military issued programmes, and the Collective could break through those, they had the keys. Rolf guessed it didn’t matter much, though. He didn’t have anything to hide from the Collective. Eventually, they were dismissed, and Commander Wentworth led the group to the lobby.

Taking seats around the secretary, who was clicking at a keyboard, the detail waited for the representatives to call them back in. As Rolf prepared his pipe, a message came over his EC, asking about the closest bar. It came from Tom. Rolf responded, “Don’t you remember etiquette? The Collective has ordered us to wait here. Since there is no alcohol here, you can’t leave to get any. Until you have been dismissed, you cannot leave.” Rolf didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but the representatives going through his EC was a bit irksome, and he hated these pointless waits.

 

[DeletedUser]

Sitting hunched over his knees in one of the white colored chairs, Jack put his head in his hands and ran them through his short hair. Sitting by and not being able to say anything as a group of uncaring, disinterested parties sorted through his most intimate and private memories was like having it all happen again. The whole process made him want to scream and become violent. Instead he tried again the way he'd been keeping himself barely functioning this past year.

Jack imagined himself sitting in a room with an open box sitting in the middle of the floor. Scattered across the floor were hundreds of memories, lightly sprinkled with rogue bits of emotion entangling certain memories together and making them glow from within -- as if begging to be opened and watched. The serviceman wouldn't give in to the temptation, however, and instead he flipped them all upside down and began gathering them up. Grabbing handfuls of memories up and flinging them into the opened box. Memory after memory pleaded with him and each of them were silently denied, instead being dumped into the box one after another. Finally the floor was clear of memories and emotion, clean, white carpet showing beneath. Jack sat down on a cream colored couch and pulled the box close to him, before folding the edges in and sealing it shut with duct tape.

Getting a grip on the heavy box from the bottom, Jack lifted it up and walked down a nearby hallway. At the end was a simple white door that stood open, a closet full of other brown cardboard boxes just like this one sitting on the shelves and stacked on the floor. Jack just tossed the box in with the others and slammed the door shut, feeling the smooth wood grain of the door on his fingers.

Sighing, back in the real world, Jack sat back up straight and righted his uniform as he waited.

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Ten minutes turned into ten. Then into twenty.

At one point the sound of an airlock made all the crew of ODS 3 look towards the door, but it was only a janitor pushing a waxing machine in front of him. The man stopped and cranked the machine up, and for quite awhile the room was filled with the whirring sound of the waxer and the overflow music from the janitor's headphones -- faint below the overwhelming sound of the machine he operated.

The sounds sat Jack's head to aching and he had to hunch over again and put his hands over his ears. Finally the noise stopped and the janitor drove his charge out the door.

That was when another door opened and in strode a group of men dressed in full Collective uniform. The golden pins of Medical and Psychology division glittered on their lapels and they had a swagger to them that only untested, soft, but cocksure men stationed safely on-world had. They laughed and chatted with each other as they passed the crew of ODS 3, not even glancing at them, as they turned and made their way down the corridor towards The Collective Chambers. The doors opened before they got there and they disappeared inside, finally going quiet as they entered the Assembly.

"Why?" was the only thing Jack could say, as he watched the last man disappear into the Assembly. A quizzical expression across his face, as he wondered.

Commander Wentworth was forced to turn away from the group at large to hide the smirk that came across his face.

 

[DeletedUser]

Tom watched as the a group from the Medic and Psycho divisions passed by in full dress uniform, moving into the Collective chamber.
"Why?" asked Jack.
Tom turned to Jack and shrugged."Probably just some other smegheads who've done something to get a medal." He replied.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Jacquen stood impassively as the council members delved through his EC a sensation akin to having ones mind read against your will and although all the communications concerning his and Jacks transfers out of the unit were there for all to see there was thankfully no mention of the cat currently asleep within his quarters, something that would have caused him some real trouble.
Once this had been completed the unit was dismissed and sent to wait back in the lobby from where they had originally come from.
Making himself comfortable against the wall Jacquen made a low whistling sound causing the receptionist to look up in irritation however upon seeing the rather fearsome smile on the Sicariuns face hurriedly dropped her eyes her discomfort obvious for all to see as Jacquen quietly chuckled to himself.
A sudden bleeping sound from his EC momentarily distracted him from his sadistic mind games with the receptionist as one of the team asked for the whereabouts for a local bar, Jacquen assumed that he'd been sent the message by mistake but replied all the same.

There’s the "Blackout" bar in section seven so long as you're not afraid of the dark

Truth be told Jacquen suspected that the majority if not all of his unit would be barred access to the nightworlder’s bar and even if they weren’t would probably find the pitch black environment rather uncomfortable…it wasn’t called the blackout bar for nothing.
As the group of officers, the majority of whom appeared to be from the medical corps entered the council chambers Jacquen listened to the comments made by the others and shook his head “No…medals are awarded where photos can be taken…the collective does like its photos…this….this is something else” not for the first time this day Jacquen began to feel rather uncomfortable about the entire situation

 

[DeletedUser]

Tom looked at the message on his EC from the Sicariun;
'There’s the "Blackout" bar in section seven so long as you're not afraid of the dark'
He smirked, before using his EC to look up the bar using the ship's floorplan, yup, there it was, the 'Blackout' bar, the description said that it was pitch black, and suitable only for nightworlder's. Like that'd stop him, besides, he could just switch to infra-red, night vision, or thermal imagery via his EC.
“No…medals are awarded where photos can be taken…the collective does like its photos…this….this is something else”
The Sicariun replied to Tom's comment.
"Maybe they're here to do a thesis on us." He smirked, the mentality of some shock troopers, especially the more trigger-happy members of the unit, would keep psychologists amused for years.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

"You might just be right." Frank replied to Tom from the couch. "They could be here to make sure that the evidence is valid and the files aren't faked which they aren't of course. I just wish they'd believe us and let us get hunting his royal highness so we can drag him back here to explain himself." Frank finished. He, like most people, had been amazed when the news had announced that Adaris was getting vanguard status. He had aspired to do what Adaris had done and he hated the slavers. That was why he had gone on the mission. To find out Adaris was behind the slaving had stung him badly. Now he wanted revenge for all of the collective.

 

[DeletedUser]

Tom shrugged in response.
"But if they wanted to check the validity of the files, why are they using medics and psychos? surely a couple of EC programmers would be more helpful." Questioned Tom.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

"Some files can be so cleverly disguised they'd be the same as real with no difference. EC programmers can't deal with that. However it they get a psychological report on us they are more likely to be able to determine if this is something we'd fake or not." Frank looked up and saw Commander Wentworth's face. "What are your thoughts on the matter sir? I'm sure you know more than we do probably."

 

[DeletedUser]

"What are your thoughts on the matter sir? I'm sure you know more than we do probably."

Straightening from where he leaned against the wall, eying the doors the swaggering officers had went through, Wentworth put on his poker face and responded "I know not, serviceman, though I doubt it is anything as sinister as disproving your claims." The captain of the Void's Warden went back to looking at the doors, hiding his face from the rest of the crew as he smiled to himself. That seemed to silence his disgusting excuse for a combat crew, as they all went back into their own little worlds, thinking their own strange, inhuman thoughts -- even the human ones. Wentworth smiled to himself as he thought of admiral bars on the shoulders of his uniform.

And so another long hour rolled by. Behind the desk, the woman manning the terminal was finally relieved and another secretary came on - this one a Quarian in her flattering, skintight body suit with embroidered golden lacing. Jack had to gulp heavily and turn away from the secretary, crossing his legs and staring at the marble wall.

Finally the waiting was over. The doors opened once more, and a voice came to them over the terminal at the desk. It told them the Assembly was ready for their return. Commander Wentworth stood and straightened his uniform, ordering the others to do the same, as he spun on his heel and went down the corridor. Falling in behind him, the others arranged their uniforms accordingly and puffed out their chests - if that was possible. Their footsteps loud in the deathly silent Assembly Chamber, ODS 3 took their positions before the members of the Collective. There was a different air to the room this time. Instead of warm congratulations and appreciation, it was cold and ungrateful. The previous smiles, or at least neutral expressions, upon the council members were replaced by grimaces, frowns and outright snarls. The group of Officers that had previously entered the Assembly chamber were still there, standing in a line to the left of the Councilors. Just like the Council, the Medical and Psychological Officers had angry grimaces on their faces.

Commander Wentworth raised hand in salute to the Council - as did his crew - before letting it fall to his side. In a loud voice, he stated their presence "Crew of Orbital Drop Ship Three reporting for debrief, sirs."

Standing from his seat in the middle of the Council table, Kevin Fowler almost screamed at the crew "What is the meaning of this!?" He slammed a hand down upon the desk in front of him, as the faces of the other councilors intensified in support. Falling back into his seat, as if he had just run a great distance Fowler commanded "Tell us what you have found about this data, Lieutenant."

One of the Med and Psych officers stepped forward and began to speak "Three years ago, a research team from our division began investigating the effects of individual psychology on matters relating to the proper use of the Evolutionary Chip." The Lieutenant walked across the room to Commander Wentworth and handed him a folder, which the Commander opened.

"That research team discovered something that has yet to be widely distributed; the ECs are not perfect devices. They can be changed, both by legitimate mental illnesses, such as as the Battle Fatigue so many ODS crews suffer from and from intentional tampering." Speaking both with his mouth and hands, the Lieutenant paced between the Councillors and the crew of ODS 3 "The files that have been offered as evidence in this hearing we have determined were intentionally fabricated."

"Intentionally and maliciously fabricated by the men who stand before us now!" Kevin Fowler said to the council at large. "Servicemen Walker, Jefferson, Jacquen, Trace and Carlyle. As well as Gunnery Sergeant Vortag and - perhaps most surprisingly - Lieutenant Rolf Helmfrid."

Fowler looked at Helmfrid especially "I need not tell any of you how shocked and disgusted this chamber is at the actions of this crew." Standing once again, Fowler slowly stepped around the Council table and stood before the remaining members "I put forth that these men shall be stripped of all rank, medals earned, and assistance given them. They shall be struck from the manifest of every ship they have served upon and dishonorably discharged. So says I."

Raising his hand to signal his vote on the subject, Councilor Fowler watched with growing satisfaction as slowly, each hand was raised in support. The last to vote on the subject were the Kriken and Sicariun Councilors, who looked mournfully at their respective charges, as they raised their hands in agreement.

"The Collective has spoken." Fowler turned on his heels. "Commander Wentworth, for your part in uncovering this egregious conspiracy for personal gain, you are to report to Ring 85, where you will be given your new command.

"And as for you," Fowler's eyes turned from Wentworth to the shocked, men of ODS 3 "you are discharged from service, and ordered to leave this most hallowed place of honor immediately."