97 – Molten Money
As Yuriko entered the bridge, tapping at a data pad, she found herself stopped by an upraised palm. With her abilities, most of the time she genuinely didn't need to see where she was going when she could us her mind to 'feel' her way. Still, once engaged, she had to respond. It was only polite.
"Captain Horner," she tilted her head as the man in question lowered his hand. "Can I help you?"
"You already have, Ms. Thirteen," Matt Horner said politely, deeply inclining his head. "I just wanted to thank you," he held out his hand towards her.
"For what?" She asked with feigned coyness, even as she briefly shook his hand.
"Running a revolution is not the cheapest endeavor," he answered after taking his hand back and folding it behind his back at attention. "And, though I hate to admit it, we were dancing on the red line there more than once. With MannCo's funds, we're doing better than we have been in some time."
Yuriko raised an eyebrow at him.
"Even with Swann using up most of it for upgrades on the Hyperion?"
Horner nodded, the picture of absolute seriousness.
"Even with. The Hyperion is our headquarters, and knowing that we could definitely stand up to the Dominion if they sent some battlecruisers at us is a heartening thing," he said calmly. "The rest we can use to finish paying out other various expenses without worrying that we won't have food next week. So you definitely have the crew's thanks on that front."
"Well, it was our pleasure," Yuriko smiled at him before looking over to the other major occupants on the bridge.
Raynor and Tychus looked up at her from where they stood huddled around the star map as it projected the Korprulu Sector, the former favoring her with a nod. Thankfully, after quite a thorough conversation with his chief officers, and more than a little ranting from Tychus, he'd given in and accepted the money she'd offered him. Even if he was a bit sore about it, he'd at least pledged to put it to good use beyond the party that the Raiders had promptly thrown. Though both men definitely looked a bit hungover.
"So, what's going on?"
"We're deciding what to do next," Raynor said, folding his arms over his chest as he glanced at the screen. "We've still got that artifact on Monlyth to go after, for one."
"Especially cause you're ol' pal Tychus don't get almost none of it," Tychus growled. "Why'd
everybody get ta get a bonus anyhow?"
Raynor just rolled his eyes.
"Tychus, you didn't even come down to Agria, I don't know why you're complaining."
The convict just sighed unhappily.
"You spent it all, Jimmy. You got all of that, and you done spent it all
already," he groused. "I ain't never seen so much cash get pissed away so
quick!"
"Yeah, well, you ain't never had to try and upgrade a battlecruiser that was out of date before!"
Oh, sure, now Raynor was all behind the decision, Yuriko thought with a barely held back snort. Swann had argued long, hard, and well to explain his usage of so much of the money. Simply throwing together a battlecruiser in a handful of minutes was impossible, for the terrans at least. Setting aside the sheer amount of time it took to build them with even the most modern of facilities in the Korprulu Sector, the Raiders hadn't the funds or access to the facilities for such things, let alone the numbers of personnel to crew the ships at the moment. As such, the Hyperion needed to be as effective and upgraded as possible, in ways that Raynor hadn't even known, thanks to Swann. And after Swann's brief but comprehensive lecture, Raynor had become intimately familiar with the benefits and costs.
Others, who had not been present, had not gained such knowledge.
"Oh, sure, blame us poor folk for not understanding the trials of the rich," Tychus rolled his eyes.
"Mmm," Yuriko just hummed as she looked between the three men. "So…why am I here?"
"Well," Horner rubbed at the back of his head. "You had some good info on Agria, more honest about it than the Dominion, that's for sure."
"Ah," Yuriko nodded. "Well, we are certainly more wide-spread than the Raiders. Having more than one battlecruiser helps," she faux-whispered to Matt.
"Right. So if you've got any major flashpoints, or the like," he gestured towards the star map.
"Also," Raynor added, "I know that you brought up getting some artifacts on your own, similar to the ones Moebius is apparently after?"
That brought Tychus out of his money woes, eyes narrowing as he remembered how his first encounter with Yuriko had gone. He had no idea how many artifacts there were, nor how much Moebius would or wouldn't pay him if there were others claimed by another company. Even if it was just his cover story under Mengsk, part of that brutal cunning had definitely focused on trying to squeeze some kind of real cash out of the deal.
Yuriko paused, tapping a finger against her chin before nodding.
"Well, there are a few things, sure," she said as she approached the screen and began typing at it. "We've got a mining operation on Redstone III that's under threat by the zerg, MannCo would gladly pay a hefty sum for rescuing the miners there, either in cash or further equipment."
Captain Horner frowned.
"Isn't Redstone claimed by the Combine? I think they fought a war over it."
"It was, yes," Yuriko nodded, her expression prim and proper before it dipped into a smirk. "Then the zerg showed up, and the Combine fled from all their fringe worlds, and then some."
Horner sighed and shook his head
"At least they have the excuse of being unashamedly corporate about their actions."
Yuriko had been keeping an eye on Tychus, on the thoughts that were solidifying there, and so turned to face him just as he scoffed.
"Moneybags ain't got the crews to defend themselves?"
She made sure her expression was serene.
"It's not about the money, Tychus, it is what is
in the minerals on Redstone."
"Oh yeah? What?" Raynor asked, eyebrow raised.
Yuriko smiled and stuck a data stick into the terminal, a series of images and infographics appearing on the screen to obscure the image of Redstone III.
"Jorium. It's a very rare crystal that helps stimulate certain kinds of brain activity, such as psionics," she paused at the shock coming off of the men around her, "But in certain other uses it can be used to interfere with them, which is useful against telepaths and the like."
Raynor looked at her, the Matt, then Tychus.
"And…what, precisely, does MannCo need it for?"
"Scientific studies, potential military applications like anti-psionic gas grenades, the usual things involving rare substances," she said with a shrug. "MannCo
is a company, after all, Raynor. It's in the name. Still, the reward I'm authorized to offer is extensive, and you'll also get to cut the teeth of your forces on a minor zerg brood."
Greed bloomed in Tychus once more, managing to overwhelm his irritation and suspicions. Raynor, on the other hand, seemed even more suspicious, though it was lessened by the fact that she'd outright told him why. His mind puzzled over the jorium and its purported properties, though he also had none of the scientific background required to theorize more. It was enough, it seemed, that she was a psychic, talking about a substance that could affect psychics.
"Uh, hey," he said quickly. "If we hit Redstone, I'm deploying," he stared Raynor down. "That means I get a bigger cut, right?"
Raynor just rubbed a hand against his temple before pulling out another cigarette.
"You said cash
or equipment?" Horner asked, seemingly unaffected by the other two.
"In monetary equivalence," Yuriko nodded. "But yes. I've noticed that, with many being former colonial militia and being a bit…ragged, no offense," she added on quickly, "Many of the Raider marines are using older models of CMC armor, for instance. 200s and 300s. The Dominion is running 400s as a standard."
It wasn't to say that the 200s or 300s were worthless, by any means, they were still each individually durable and powerful enough to easily overwhelm someone else who was not prepared. But there were definite quality differences, durability and survivability most prominently amongst them. The same was true of the firebats and medics.
"We could outfit the Raiders, top to bottom, in 400s, for starters," she continued. "Supply you with new wraiths, some munin flyers-,"
"Some what now?"
Yuriko paused in her patter, blinking. Oh right, she hasn't actually brought those up before now.
"Ah, well, remember the science vessels during the Great War?"
Recognition flickered through the minds of all present, save Tychus who had been on ice at the time.
"Of course you do," she went on to say without waiting, "The issue with them was that they were not primarily meant for combat, they were expensive, bulky, and required significant crews that could be better used elsewhere."
Raynor nodded, his mind cast away to those dark times. Of science ships, mostly meant for peaceful exploration, being torn apart by zerg mutalisks or spore colonies. Screams. Fire. Death. Painful enough that he needed to take a sip from his hip flask just to burn the thoughts away for a time.
"Yeah, I remember. Still pretty effective for all that, though," he said after wiping his lips.
"Correct. I don't know if you've seen them yet, but the Dominion has recently created something called the 'raven', a semi-autonomous remote piloted mechanical craft drone," she tapped on the data pad she'd been looking at, a projected hologram of a pronged robot in the air coming up that slowly rotated. "Scouting, auto-turret manufacturing, sensors advanced enough to uncloak protoss, seeker missiles, and so on. It's
okay," she said blandly.
Then she tapped a button, and the image was replaced with something sleeker yet larger with a familiar laser turret on the front, along with its various other armaments.
"This, on the other hand, is a munin. You can capitalize it if you like, neither I nor Mann really care. It's a more advanced and combat capable version, has a nanite repair beam for vehicles and mechanical repair, a laser turret, and all the other general capabilities of the outdated science vessel for combat purposes," she blew up the image further with a flick of a finger.
A number of the bridge crew were looking over, now.
"When you said remote piloted…," Horner asked, obviously clearly interested.
"One pilot, working in conjunction with the ship's AI systems, can control from orbit if preferred," she confirmed with a nod. "It's nowhere near as fast or maneuverable as a wraith, but it's meant for supporting more than anything else, just with some self-defense capabilities."
"And you'd just…give us some," Raynor looked at her. "If we save your Redstone miners."
"Among other things, training programs and pamphlets included," she finished with a smile. "But, on the other hand, there is Monlyth. I hear that you've managed to get some of your Raiders trained with the new marauder suits? They could be useful there."
Tychus shifting his weight was impossible to ignore, his armor whirring and thumping with the motion. His greed had slowly been draining away as she'd spoken, the realization that Raynor would likely choose to upgrade his forces rather than take the money dawning on him rather quickly. It was not as if he could upgrade either, as he'd been granted the usage of his old Confederate armor as a matter of course. It was, however, no doubt one of the most advanced sets of CMC armor on the Hyperion, albeit because it had been altered and upgraded to both specially protect Tychus and kill him at a moment's notice if necessary.
"Jimmy…," he drawled, his eyes on the man.
Raynor sighed and looked at Yuriko.
"Will them MannCo boys be okay for just a bit, Yuriko?"
She couldn't resist.
"Oh, of course. They'll keep going until they die, Raynor."
He flinched, heavily before he paused and glared at her.
"That ain't funny Yuriko."
"It was a little funny."
"No, it
wasn't."
"Stop," Raynor put up his hand.
Yuriko inclined her head, backing off.
"The artifact ain't going anywhere, unless the zerg show up to take it, and even then I'm thinking that these Tal'darim are gonna do their best to fight 'em off."
Tychus groaned in annoyance, his armor whirring as he approximated folding his arms as best as the armor could articulate.
"Oh, you can be assured of that, Raynor," Yuriko nodded, "They'll never surrender, especially not to the zerg. As for you, Mr. Findlay, I'm sure something could be found for you, even if we can't do something about your armor."
======================================
"Zerg and lava, my two favorite things," Raynor snarked as they entered the Redstone system, sighing as he turned to Yuriko. "I ever mention I hate volcanic planets?"
He said it casually, almost amused, but Yuriko could see the painful truth of it in his mind. It didn't matter where or when, there was only ever one world in particular that he thought about when it came to volcanic ones – Char. A place of absolute horror and madness that it was infamous across the entire Sector as the effective homeworld of the zerg. He was working very, very hard to not think about Char at the moment, even though it was yet another volcanic world with zerg on it. Unfortunately, Yuriko could watch the recursive loop that such attempts created form.
"No, but we shouldn't be here for too long. All MannCo requires from the Raiders is a bit of aggressive protection against the zerg brood that's taken root here while we gather the jorium crystals," Yuriko said, activating the star map's projector system for the probes already on the planet. "This coordinates are for the mining team's command center. You can land your forces here."
Raynor rubbed at his chin.
"And we don't have to do any mining ourselves or anything?"
"None," Yuriko nodded. "We're running MULES, so it should be quick if you can keep the zerg off of us for long enough."
Not having to risk any of the structures that the Hyperion carried definitely appealed to Raynor, Yuriko could see it. Plus, though it was grim, he wanted to cut the teeth of the new recruits from Agria and Mar Sara on a relatively low importance fight, all things considered. The latter of the two had fought on Agria, but the colonists who had signed up with the Raiders had combat experience that could be summarized as 'surviving' the fall of their world. On the bright side, they might have the chance to exercise their anger for the loss of their world on zerg that were not so overwhelming as the ones they last fought.
"…sure. We can drop some Raiders down there, there, and there," he pointed out points on the provided map. "The recon your boys did before we got here is gonna be pretty helpful."
"Better than having them just sit around," she nodded before glancing at Tychus, also on the bridge. "As for you, Mr. Findlay, I've got something special for you and a few of the mercenaries while the Raiders play defense."
The convict had not been happy about Monlyth getting deferred for this, but his interest was obvious as she looked over at him. As was Raynor's.
=========================================
The dropship's door slammed down, and Tychus was the first one out, the heat of the volcanic world just barely pushing its way past his armor. His new gun felt oh, so sweet in his hands, and with his armor he barely felt the weight of the backpack installed on it. Behind him were War Pigs marines, Devil Dogs firebats, Siege Breakers tanks, and even some fellas calling themselves members of 'Spartan Company' in goliaths, all of them deploying quickly and professionally as they checked the drop zone. Corners were checked, perimeter confirmed, and the dropships lifted off, now ready to perform their job not as just transports but as medivac vessels as well, the pilots within shifting controls to the surgical beam projectors. The War Pigs had been one thing, but he'd been surprised about the Devil Dogs and the Siege Breakers, what with Jimmy being one of the people who'd helped break the Confederacy. But, as it turned out, the ex-Confederates seemed willing to work with them, so long as the money was good enough. Tychus had been even more surprised about the UED folk, considering what he'd heard of them. But apparently, just like with the ex-Confederates, money was their calling now more than their lost home.
He could respect that.
"Okay, boys and girls, let's get this show on the road!" Tychus crowed. "We got us a beasty to hunt down!"
And to think, he'd only been introduced to his new weapon less than an hour ago.
Tychus watched as the psychic carefully floated out the weapon and laid it upon the table. The cargo bay had been mostly emptied for this, save for a pair of dropships that would be loaded up soon. The rest of the Jimmy's boys had already begun landing on the planet below, setting up defenses while the MannCo miners mined. The only ones still in the bay were himself, the War Pigs and the Devil Dogs, the mercenaries that Jimmy'd used some of his money to hire on to supplement his own limited forces. Tychus had been more surprised about the former group than the latter. The last time he'd heard of the War Pigs, they'd been a lot more rough and tumble, plus a bit more flexible about the contracts they took. Apparently, at some point, they'd cleaned up just a bit.
"This," she said with a proud smile, "Is your prize, Mr. Findlay."
She definitely deserved to be acting like a proud momma, Tychus marveled as he stared at the wicked looking thing as it sat there.
"This is a MannCo original," she said, placing one hand on it, rocking it slightly before slowly pulling her hand across it. "It's a rapidly rotating plasma and ballistics cannon, firing MC15 penetrator rounds, MC14 incendiary rounds, and MC13 HEV rounds, all determinable, shot at twice the speed of the standard chain gun, with the simple press of one of these three buttons," she stopped, tapping the small section on its side near the trigger. "Within easy reach of a single flicking finger, you can change which of the three you're firing without actually stopping firing."
If it weren't for the armor he was trapped in, Tychus was pretty sure he would go weak in the knees.
"The former can punch through a battlecruiser bulkhead, the second can burn a man alive in his CMC armor within seconds, and the third detonates with enough force to blow holes into siege tanks or ultralisk carapace. All at the press of a finger. Ammo here, here, and here," she pointed out different sections on its bulbous and blocky body. "Plus," she then gestured to the backpack that was clearly connected to it with a feeder and hopper system, "This, for extended engagements."
Tychus wondered if it was possible to be in love with an inanimate object he'd just been introduced to.
"And…I get to keep it?" He said cautiously.
"If you fulfill the job. The zerg down there are not too much of a threat, and haven't displayed any of the extant major forms, such as ultralisks or brood lords. The biggest is the brutalisk. It's a relatively unique and divergent bio-form, and we want it dead. You'll all get paid extra for this," Yuriko had said the last part to the rest of the mercenaries. "Plus, Stetmann says that samples from it might help his research, he was real excited when we told him about it."
Then one of the War Pigs raised their hand.
"Uh…do we get any cool custom gear?"
Yuriko just stared at him until the hand went down.
Within a minute of being dropped off, the zerg had come a runnin', and so Tychus got to test out his new gun real quick. It was just like Yuriko had described, the sensation of putting so much hot death downrange he damn near felt like it was the fiery sword of an angel in his hands. The mercenaries around him fought just fine, but Tychus was practically in his own world. It didn't seem to matter. Zergling. Hydralisk. Crawlers. Even that nasty purple creep gunk got all burnt up from wherever he pointed the damn thing. As they inched their way across the battlefield in the direction of the brutalisk, the zerg just kept coming. Dumb critters, but hell if they weren't a lot of fun to shoot and kill.
On occasion, he heard flickers of conversation on the radio, but he could hardly bring himself to care. Sure, the zerg were attacking the base, and Jimmy was fighting them off. Yuriko went off on one of her big ol' extermination missions, blowing up zerg hives and whatever. Some kind of pithy exchange between Jimmy and Yuriko that Tychus was too busy killing to listen to it. Hell, he was too busy figuring out which of the three ammo types he liked the most. The big booms were incredibly satisfying to feel rumble through the air and ground, but the sight of burnt zerg damn near awakening something in him. But so did the penetrator shots, tearing through so very many of the critters at once.
Every now and then they had to take refuge on the smaller raised plateaus, what with the lava rising up like it did periodically. That was when the mutalisks came screaming in, right before the corruptors did. So, just like the rest of the War Pigs, Tychus pointed his weapon right up and started firing at the aerial zerg.
"Hahaha! I'm a goddamned anti-aircraft emplacement!" He shouted with glee, feeling the storm in his very hands as the gun rumbled his entire body.
If it weren't for his armor, he wouldn't have been able to even lift the damn thing, let alone plant his feet and take the recoil. But with it, it was pleasant as could be to feel thumping in his grip. The zerg got blown to tiny bits, bigger bits, or burning bits, and he still couldn't decide which of them he liked better! It helped that the zerg were all too focused upon their dropships, rather than the ones with guns down below, but even when they started to realize that the biggest badass in the Sector was the bigger threat than the ships, it wasn't enough. By the time the dumb animals realized it, it was too late.
Then the lava went down, and they were off again, bounding across the hellish landscape. Spine crawlers, freaky long spikey tongue things, and others. Course, even they couldn't spike him before he could shoot 'em. Stomping on the 'creep' stuff was nasty as all hell, it stuck to his boots and made disgusting squelching noises as they moved through it. Zerglings and hydralisks popped up through it, like mobile pus coming out of a squashed pimple, but they went down under a good weight of fire regardless. Some of the War Pigs and Devil Dogs got hit, at one point even saw a Devil Dog go down, but then he shot the zerglings off of them and the medivacs started their work from up above. Fire burned the zerg up all nice and crispy, but he wasn't about to lower his faceplate to smell it, not just yet. They still had work to do. As for the Siege Breakers, they could just run over what their guns couldn't blow to pieces.
More transmissions flying about the radio, something about the Jimmy and Yuriko joining up to take down a hive, a bit of offensive defense.
"Head's up, Tychus, scanners say you're almost at the brutalisk's lair," Jimmy's voice cut in, distracting Tychus from his fun. "You be careful now, I've seen the images the MannCo scouts took."
"Aw, Jimmy, you big softy, you worried ol' Tychus might get a boo boo," he chuckled back, "What, gonna kiss it better?"
Jimmy's groan just made Tychus smile even wider.
"All right, fine, see if I care," Jimmy growled, but Tychus could tell there weren't too much heat in it as he cut the transmission.
In the end, it was impossible to miss the lair. Big spikes of black stone and glassy obsidian spilled out over the red crunching soil, at least where there wasn't ropey pulsating creep everywhere. Plus, a whole swarm of zerglings that came bounding out to protect the big daddy. Not that they managed to do much, those that got close enough to be a problem getting roasted alive. Then, likely incensed at those who had come a'knockin' at its door, the biggest damn zerg that Tychus ever did see deigned to show its ugly mug. Almost immediately, the Siege Breakers had reversed so quickly and far that for a second Tychus had thought that they'd turned yellow on him. At least until they slammed their tanks into siege mode and charged up their shock cannons.
"Mother of mercy," he murmured before his lips twisted into a bloodthirsty grin. "You shoulda stayed in your hole!"
The brutalisk stood twice as tall as an ultralisk, and was plenty wide. Enormous spikes as big as siege tanks poked out of its body this way and that asymmetrically, but the problem was with its big size it was ponderously slow. Each rise and fall of its feet shook the earth as much as a shock cannon barrage from a whole company of tanks. When it reared back and bellowed, the noise was so loud that it rattled Tychus inside of his armor, damn near making him drop his gun. The very second it had reared its ugly head out, everyone had begun firing, himself included. This time around, he switched to the penetrator rounds and then the incendiaries with every few seconds of fire, the beautifully seamless transition a work of art of death dealing engineering. And, just as Yuriko had promised, the hyper-charged systems within the gun let the penetrator rounds slam right through the carapace and out the other side, at which point the incendiaries could fill the holes with fire. All while two souped up shocker cannons blew holes into it.
"Keep pulling back, keep pulling back!"
"It's the size of a fucking building, I'm not gonna get close!"
"Devil Dogs," Tychus yelled louder than them all, having seen approaching zerg out of the corner of his eye. "Looks like the big daddy's calling his runts in! Watch the flanks! Keep those tanks safe!"
The firebats turned about, lumbering almost as much as the increasingly wounded brutalisk, and started letting loose clouds of flame big enough to have come from the devil's own ass. Hell of a lot bulkier than the old firebat armor that Tychus was used to, but he wasn't about to complain considering how much better they were in both spread and sheer heat output. All that Tychus cared about was that he didn't have to kick a zergling in the face when he could be shooting his cannon off. The brutalisk stomped forward all the while, almost speeding up as he blew off more and more of its mass, over half of it burning now thanks to the sheer rate of fire pushing more than a thousand rounds of heavy incendiaries inside of its body.
In the end, it was a foregone conclusion, but damn if it wasn't a satisfying one.
The brutalisk gave out an almost mournful shriek as its legs collapsed beneath it, the oversized creature collapsing down to the ground slowly but heavily. If it had just had any ranged mutations at all, Tychus knew it would have been a different story, hell, he didn't even want to think of it shooting its multiple-meter long spikes out like the hydralisks did. At the same time, he could see how something so damned big could be a threat to the miners if they didn't have much in the way of guns for themselves. All it would need to do is just walk up and stomp down, and he'd bet even a command center would get squashed.
"You just picked a bad time to be alive in the same universe as Tychus Findlay," he chuckled lowly as he lifted his faceplate, releasing a cloud of smoke from his cigar while inhaling the smell of burning zerg deep with immense relish.
"So," Yuriko Thirteen suddenly said from a foot away from him, sitting sidesaddle on her super vulture. "Are you satisfied with your gun as payment? Seeing as how Raynor went the material route."
Tychus Findlay, biggest badass on the planet, most certainly did not jump when she'd spoken. Instead, he just looked at her, all cool like, and regarded the gun. Bastion of self-control as he was, he still couldn't stop the smile on his face.
"
Hell yeah."
=========================================================
"Everyone's aboard, Commander, heading to the edge of the system now," Matt said, marking the time on his watch. "Quickly, too."
"Damn," Raynor said with a short laugh after taking a sip from his flask. "That went almost too well."
Yuriko just side-eyed him as they watched Redstone III disappear from view as the Hyperion slowly turned itself away. Raynor looked back down at the database console on the bridge, letting him scour through the reports given by the Raiders from their fighting. Between the medivac dropships, the medics on the ground, and the marauders and hellions, Redstone III had proven a most acceptable testing ground for the Raiders to try out some of their new gear and build on some of the schematics that she'd provided them. They hadn't even lost anyone, which was a major success in Yuriko's opinion. Sure, there'd been injuries, enough to require cyberlimbs in a few cases, but for all that they looked moderately crude they were remarkably rugged and effective.
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked sardonically, head tilted to the side. "For things to go well for once?"
"Hell no," Raynor shook his head vigorously, "I ain't gonna tempt the universe like that. It's knocked me on my ass too many times for me to be that stupid. It loves to do it."
Yuriko snorted into her closed fist before putting it back behind her back. There was a general feeling of contentment and satisfaction across the crew that Yuriko had noticed as she'd walked through the ship. There were few things better for morale than victory and money, and with MannCo promising all the gear and equipment that the Raiders could need, Raynor and Matt had decided to distribute some of the remaining cash that they'd gotten for the Agria job to the crew again. It was almost entirely gone now, but that could easily be fixed too.
"And you're sure that those MannCo boys'll be all right before evac comes for 'em?" Raynor asked, just about the time when the perimeter sensors of the Hyperion activated.
"Commander!" Matt's call wasn't completely alarmed, considering he'd seen the profile before as it lit up the star map's projector. "New contacts have just jumped in system. Looks like…uh…," he trailed off as the Hyperion's sensors danced this way and that across its hull, only to get confused returns. "Oh, right, that's a MannCo ship."
The Captain of the Hyperion looked up from the garbled structural projection of the new ship in the Redstone System and right at Yuriko.
"MannCo sure like their mystery tech, huh? Your ships are the only ones I've seen mess with the Hyperion's sensors like this – and Swann already installed those upgraded ones you sold us too," he continued, looking back down to scrutinize the vaguely familiar shape.
"Oh, Matt," Yuriko tittered, "Everyone knows that you can't cloak battlecruisers. It's too much mass and weight for the cloaking generators of today."
As was growing to be the usual, a number of the bridge crew joined Raynor and Matt in looking at her with a considerably varied mixture of expressions and emotions.
"That…isn't quite what I was implying," Matt said slowly, looking from her stealth-capable environmental suit and then down at the ball of static that was now being winking in and out on his star map.
"Well good. Because it's impossible. No one could do it."
"Uh…Commander?" one of the crew spoke up, and after a second of searching she remembered his name as Bralik. "We've got an incoming communication from that ship, it's broadcasting MannCo identi-codes, and declaring its intent to recover the mining team."
Unfortunate that he was on comms, the least used function on the bridge compared to the jobs of the other crewmen.
"Jeez, that was quick," Raynor said while looking back at Yuriko, another little rumbling note of suspicion in his head.
"I told them you were on the job the minute you accepted it," she shrugged. "You get results, Raynor, don't feel ashamed of that."
"…uh huh."
"Plus," she pointed to the projections of the star map where a second ball of static had appeared, this time without even tripping the perimeter sensors. "You also get quick delivery of associated vehicles and equipment, along with training modules and manuals alike."
Raynor and Matt blinked at her and then looked over at Marcus Cade, the one responsible for the sensors, navigation, and the Yamato cannon. He'd noticed at about the same time, Yuriko noted, and his wince and embarrassment were visible enough on his face that she didn't need to be a telepath to read it.
"Uh…second ship on the sensors, Commander," Cade said weakly.
"…yeah, thanks Cade," Raynor sighed and drew his hand slowly down his face before glaring at Yuriko without heat. "Let's just get this delivery done."
