Syqadelic
That's not a mountain.
- Location
- Earth
Well, that's not strictly true, is it? The key is that what caused Raynor to split with the Sons of Korhal was this very event. That would buy him... a lot of leniency rather than a degree of leniency.
Devastation Comes In Big Packages [Planetary Annihilation/Multicross SI]
Well, that's not strictly true, is it? The key is that what caused Raynor to split with the Sons of Korhal was this very event. That would buy him... a lot of leniency rather than a degree of leniency.
- Location
- West Michigan
When did Mann go to Resident Evil?
(I know it's a typo)He was part of the conspiracy to murder everyone on Tarsonis, that he was a dupe may protect him. It may also not. It really depends how the people whose families got murdered think about it.
102 – Skulkcraft
102 – Skulkcraft
Thunderous C-14 fire flooded the corridor, fired by a pair of Dominion marines that kept backing up further and further. They had shifted to full automatic fire, loosing thirty of their hypersonic 8mm armor-piercing steel-encased spikes per second, a fusillade that was capable of absolutely shredding most things in general despite how quickly it was depleting their ammo.
"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
"KILL IT, KILL IIIIIIT!"
The bulkheads and walls buckled and rippled outwards from almost careless exertions of unfathomable force. The ship's main lights had cut out, the entire ship reduced to emergency power, which left only barely breathable atmosphere, gravity, and the red emergency lights. Said lights were ever being reduced in number, glass fixture and bulbs shattering, drenching a growing section of the ship in complete darkness. They kept firing before one of the marines was yanked forward with a terrified scream and squelch, the sound of tearing CMC armor barely audible over the gunfire and screams from the remaining marines. The remaining Dominion soldier yelled louder, finally turning about to try and run before the air left their body, a loop of force wrapping around their midsection and dragging them backwards. With a vicious pop and scream, the marine was bisected, both halves of their body then thrown forwards to slam at bone-crushing speeds into more Dominion forces that had arrived from the corridor intersection ahead, bowling most of them over.
Not all, though. A brave firebat managed to keep himself from falling and instead set his feet while the marines around him struggled to get back up.
"Burn, motherfucker!" the resocialized arsonist howled in a mixture of glee and terror.
Twin-barreled incinerator gauntlets spewed out flames hot enough to instantly cook and kill an unarmored human being, and seconds more to kill zerglings and hydralisks. The inferno completely obscured the darkened half of the corridor in a massive cascading column of joined fire.
Or, at least, it did.
Until the gauntlets were squeezed and forced shut without actually shutting off the ignition of all the volatile chemicals and gasses contained in the suit. The firebat had enough time to widen their eyes and shout in alarm before they violently exploded, suit and all. The fireball flew backwards, roasting and charring the marines who'd been waiting behind. A coruscating wall of shimmering energies blinked out of existence, revealing that the initial blasts of flame had reached no further than a few feet ahead of the firebat in the first place. The Dominion marines did not have more than a second to reflect their new circumstances, some of them trying to pat out the flames, before they started dying again. Some were thrown so hard into the walls that they were stuck halfway through the bulkheads, their bodies almost liquefied in their armor. Others were torn to wet pieces of meat and metal.
All the while, the lights exploded, in the end leaving the corridor and its gruesome dead invisible in the shadows. More marines began pouring out of the doors, as well as firebats and marauders. All of them firing with all they had, yelling defiance. In such close quarters, such a volume of fire could punch through a hardened ultralisk's carapace.
It wouldn't be enough.
=======================================
Captain Jonathan Hayes was screaming at his crew.
This was quite the change from the norm, considering that he was one of the most even-keeled captains in the entire Dominion navy. His lack of overt notability was in and of itself a valued quality by his superiors, quiet and dependable. No major reports of issues between he and his crews, no political missteps, only a man who was willing to blow up an entire colony that was readying itself to declare independence without question as quickly and efficiently as possible. Now, however, he was red in the face, his hat askew and white mustache flecked with froth.
"Well keep bloody calling them!" He bellowed, wincing as the sounds of screams and gunfire echoed out from the doors to the bridge. "Someone else in the fleet must know of what is happening her!"
"I'm trying, sir! No one is picking up! Our lines are jammed!" The comm officer shrieked back as they pounded at their console.
"How is this happening!?" Captain Hayes hissed to himself, running a sweaty palm down his face.
The sound of something heavy thumping against the locked and secured door to the bridge made him jump in his chair. Several others on the bridge did so as well. The marines still on the bridge looked at one another before they began rechecking their weapons. For a moment, they all just listened as the last screams began to fade away, gunfire quieter and quieter before going completely silent. Hayes swallowed and reached for his service pistol at his side, an action repeated by others on the bridge as well. A single heavy bead of sweat began to make its way down his forehead along the side of his face.
"…maybe they got-," one of the marines began before the door exploded inwards.
Hayes whipped out his pistol and began firing into the smoke and flaming ruin that was on the other side, the result of a battle involving marauders and firebats in extremely close quarters. He was joined in his attack by the rest of the living marines and those on the bridge with their own weapons. At some point he began screaming, as did others. As they watched, some of the marines exploded where they stood. Some were thrown into the ceiling, disgustingly pancaking the humans within as well as the thick CMC armor they wore. Others gave a scream turned gurgle as a bolt of what looked like lightning struck them, piercing through faceplates and into the marines within, vaporizing the bodies instantly.
Just before the end, Hayes finally saw what had slaughtered its way through his ship.
A floating debris field made up of bone and sheared off pieces of CMC armor, red and black alike, covered them like a sphere. Within was a lithe yet bulky figure, splashed liberally with the blood of those they'd torn apart, those brave soldiers who had been reduced from human beings into pieces of dead meat. In some place the red had turned black as it was turned to char by the attempts of the firebats. They were faceless, inhuman, just a smooth pane of unknown alloys that regarded him without care or emotion, tilting to the side like a predatory bird examining its dying prey. One hand went up, and a blast of lightning shot out, striking and killing crewman after crewman, the bolt bouncing between them all until dissipating leaving only blackened skeletons behind.
Hayes was the last one alive.
"What…what are you…?!" He gasped out as he was forcibly lifted off the ground by the creature's power, floated closer and closer to it.
"Your new master," it said, voice a monstrous metallic growl.
Then its blood-soaked hand pressed against his forehead and his world went white.
========================================
Yuriko paused, inhaling deeply through the helmets cleaning air filters, blinking as she looked at the blinking communication request out of the corner of her eye. With a twitch and double blink of her eye, it opened up revealing a slightly sweaty and dusty face with stress lines along the forehead and slightly greying hair. The background was of the bridge of the Hyperion, the camera view pulling back to reveal Raynor, Matt, and Tychus. Well, the first two at least. Tychus was on the bridge, at least as far as she could see, but the man himself was facing the other way, looking off wistfully in the middle distance with a lit cigar he was lazily puffing on. Her transmission image was a still one, by comparison, mostly of the identi-card image she'd taken a while ago. Not that she wore her nametag everywhere like Doctor Hanson did.
"Oh, hey Raynor!" She said cheerfully. "Did everything go well?"
Raynor glanced at Matt then back to her.
"For a manner of speaking. We got a lot of good scrap, some regular mineral and gas stockpile stuff. But more importantly…we got this adjutant. Dates back to the Confederacy."
"Oh, excellent! Hope you know someone who's got Confederacy code experience," Yuriko chuckled, stepping slightly to the side and pressing an arm against the back of a chair slick with fluids to prop herself up.
Raynor looked surprised, which to Yuriko was certainly a welcome change from the sardonic tired face he normally wore.
"Uh…MannCo doesn't? Would have figured by now you guys would have something for this."
"Nothing and no one that is the same as having first-hand experience and skill."
Same not necessarily meaning worse, but still.
"Huh…well," Raynor rubbed at his chin before clapping Matt on the back with a wide grin on his face. "Looks like we might need to hit Deadman's Port after all, Matt."
She'd never seen Captain Matt Horner the revolutionary look so completely miserable. It was apparently enough for Tychus to also see and laugh about, before the convict started coughing and thumping at his armored chest from the unexpectedness of it all.
"…great," Matt sighed, rubbing a hand at his temple at the same time. "I need to…I need a drink," he said before moving off screen and presumably towards the cantina.
Raynor just chuckled at as he went before looking back at the screen.
"Also," he said with a bit more seriousness, "About these MannCo spectres…," he trailed off uncomfortably. "They said they didn't need a ride to get off of Tarsonis? Does that mean MannCo is coming to pick them up?"
"In a manner of speaking," Yuriko said, stepping over a chunk of dead marine as she reached the pilot station. "Don't worry about that. But more generally speaking, what did you think of them?"
"Well," Raynor folded his arms, "Pretty handy in a fight. Effective. Professional…except for one of 'em, at least."
Yuriko sighed.
"Let me guess. Brex?" She tutted, "Yeah, he's a bit of an ass. But a good fighter. Sorry about that."
"Nah, it's fine," he waved it off, "But uh, more seriously, these spectres do some good work. Held off an army for us while we hit the last train. Guess the Dominion had something of a good idea, investing in creating them."
"True. Luckily after the Shadowblade turned against them, MannCo was able to scoop them up – hold on," she paused and turned back to the only living person left on the ship and muted her comms. "Sit in your chair and be quiet."
Captain Jonathan Hayes nodded at her, face locked into a stretched rictus with blown out pupils.
"O-of course, Empress," he strained out, wobbling slightly as he did so, tottering away to sit down with a slump.
Yuriko squinted at him before unmuting herself.
"Sorry, back. Anyway, yeah, the spectres work with us now. I do have an offer for you, by the way, regarding payment for Bel'shir?"
Raynor shifted his weight, but to her eyes didn't seem immediately resistant.
"Yeah? What are you thinking? We're doing pretty good on cash, and on equipment. Scooped up just about every contract Mr. Hill has, except the Jackson's Revenge."
"The mercenary battleship?"
"That'd be the one," Raynor confirmed with a nod. "They've got a pretty big asking price, but as of yet we ain't gotten into too many fights that would need a whole 'nother battlecruiser."
And, Yuriko knew, he wouldn't trust that entire crew and ship. Not with the reputation behind it. Losing captains to battles was one thing, but having multiple captains being outright murdered by the crew multiple time? Not worth it, whatsoever. Every other mercenary that Raynor had purchased the contract for was more trustworthy, including the ex-UED, the ex-Dominion, and the ex-Confederates.
"Mmm, interesting. But yes, MannCo is willing to actually contract out to you some spectres, if you want some additional psychic firepower," she continued.
"Wait…," Raynor uncrossed his arms, head jerking backwards slightly. "Really?"
"A spectre per canister," she said. "That's ten spectres. It might not stand up to the entire Dominion Ghost Corps, of course, but you've seen them. They're pretty good in a fight."
Raynor didn't answer immediately, but then she didn't expect him to.
"I'll let you think about it. Call me back in a bit?"
"Uh…yeah, sure," Raynor nodded absentmindedly before the call shut off.
Yuriko inhaled slowly and centered herself before walking back over to Hayes, the man's mind surprisingly resilient enough to force her to actively keep control. The voice modulator reactivated, just in case. A snap of her fingers had the replicator cloud she carried in one of her armor compartments consume part of the ship's nearby non-essential materials to form a data pad and hard drive that she handed over.
"You're going to enter all of your Dominion access codes, information you have on any classified Dominion military operations, and confess to anything regarding suppression missions," she said while focusing her powers just that little bit more. "And dealing with 'dissidents'."
"Y-y-yes, my Empress," Hayes grit out, hands twitchily beginning to do so. "Gnnn…Gnn…Glory to t-the Dominion."
Yuriko nodded and turned away, surveying the bridge of the ship before walking over to the comm system and activating it.
"Chief Engineer Waylon, you can turn the engines back on to full power."
The response was prompt.
"A-a-aye aye…Admiral…," the man's strangled voice answered back.
Immediately, the lights on the bridge became significantly brighter, the ship rapidly rising up from its artificially induced low power state. Yuriko then switched channels on the comm station to the rest of the battlecruisers that floated in formation.
"All Captains, this is Yuriko. You will jump to the coordinates I plugged into your consoles in approximately five minutes."
She paused, waiting for the responses.
"Aye…Empress," Captain Talia Hawkthorne wheezed out.
"Aye…Empress," Captain Johann Bakersfield said through grinding teeth.
"Aye…Empress," Captain Paul McIntyre slurred.
"Great!" Yuriko clapped before turning back to Hayes. "As for you, all done?"
Hayes drooled a bit before nodding in a violent twitch, hand shaking as he held out the data pad. Yuriko's good mood dropped entirely as she examined the contents, specifically towards the end.
"Why did you accept the kill mission on the refugee ships fleeing Prion IV? Answer truthfully."
"O-orders, Empress," Hayes forced out. "They…were s-suspected of…of harboring…members of the KLF. Couldn't…couldn't let them…into the Core Worlds to…spread…their lies..."
Yuriko sneered inside of her helmet.
"So you destroyed the entire fleet, killed tens of thousands, because they might have held people who might talk about the Dominion in negative terms," she growled. "Ugh. You'll follow these coordinates too, Hayes. Same timeframe."
He slapped a hand to his forehead in a haphazard chop, neurons firing furiously as he tried to salute. Yuriko nearly spat on him but instead just decided to walk past. Still, as she began to exit the bridge, she spoke up one last time.
"You are one of the worst kinds. Sadists, sociopaths and psychopaths who luxuriate in the violence, megalomaniacs, those are one thing. But your…casual evil is just…disgusting. I hope that the sun you're about to drive into isn't nearly as hot as the hell I hope you rot in."
Then she turned and left, leaving Hayes twitching on his chair, the automatically punched in coordinates already accepted. The data pad of his misdeeds was consumed by nanites, the information collated and added to the greater database, joining the information already gotten from the rest of his compatriots. She didn't even bother getting rid of the jamming devices she'd planted onto the ships, as they would be consumed by the same sun which had baked Tarsonis' surface since it had fallen. The benefit, of course, was removing all proof entirely, beyond making a ship's crew completely fail to shift course or even communicate with its fellows as it was overtaken from the inside.
It took until she was out in space again, racing in her super vulture at high speed back towards where the Hyperion waited until Raynor called again.
"Ah, Mr. Raynor," she said formally before relaxing her tone. "Made a decision yet?"
Down below, she watched with the super vulture's scanners as the other warheads were planted. Nuclear bombs were one thing. Traceable. Believable to be sourced from other terran sources. No doubt the Dominion would be able to figure it out, if it was just those. They would, potentially, depending on the next tight beam transmission that Mr. Findlay sent out. And whether or not anyone altered those transmissions. Still, no need to make it easier for them. A small smattering of white blinking lights from the spectres lit up her visor, marking the points on the planet where they were.
"Yeah. The spectres did some good work, but I'd appreciate some assurances that they won't…"
"Go crazy?" Yuriko finished his thought and laughed quietly. "Well, tell you this. If they do, I'll get rid of them."
"Er…get rid of them?"
"Remove them from service and replace them," she said slowly, before pausing on purpose. "What," she affected an offended tone, "Did you think I meant kill them or something?"
"What? No! I-,"
"If they get that bad, their peers will help me out if that happens, but I doubt it will," she interrupted with a chuckle.
The spectres were moving now, all of them at high speed on dropship out of the atmosphere.
"As it is, Raynor, I can't promise you more than that. I'll run herd of them, but just so you know their trainers did and do the same. Strict self-discipline is the watchword for spectres. You can't cut it, you don't get to be one."
She did a few barrel rolls in space to fill the time while Raynor thought to himself, the Hyperion growing larger and larger all the while. Tarsonis might have looked lovely from space, once, but now really was just a ball of dust, ruins, and craters. And it was going to be gaining a few craters by the end of this. Frankly, its orbital lanes weren't that much cleaner. The capital of the Confederacy had quite the clogged skies, when it came to satellites and the like. All of them decaying in orbit, slowly. There were, she noted as she zoomed past them on the super vulture, large gaps where scavengers official or otherwise had already partaken, but also gaps where some of the larger ones had already fallen. It was depressing, honestly.
"We'll see how it works out, I guess," he eventually said. "We can give it a go. Wouldn't complain for some more extra-normal superpower."
"Hah! So long as you don't think you're getting another me, Raynor. I'm one of a kind."
In this universe, at least.
"Would never dream of it, darlin'. Scanners are showing you coming in now, appreciate you turning off the stealth just for a bit on our behalf. Cargo Bay 19 is open for you."
"Appreciated, Raynor."
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- Location
- Albany
Lol, the Jurassic Park flashbacks.
In game-terms, there were only a handful of main powers. The 'regular' attack, which let her pull Kirov airships out of the sky at rapid speed, juggle aircraft carriers and King Oni at the same time, and do the horrific forcibly swell and pop to infantry thing. Then the main battlefield power of psychokinetic burst, which instantly kills all infantry nearby and stuns vehicles and buildings, presumably ungamified to mean knocking their systems offline temporarily. Though it only gained the latter capabilities in Uprising, which to me means a growth in breadth/strength as time goes on because it must be remembered that Yuriko Omega proper was a teenage psychic.
Then there was the psionic slam, which let her throw things like people and vehicles around far more violently than the 'usual' attacks, usually causing death in the subject, the psionic shield which outright reflects all attacks on her for a while, and finally outright Psychic Domination. Which had an increasingly large radius to it as time went on. Again, sure, game mechanics. But also reasonable to assume, I feel, that she still hadn't reached her full potential yet in terms of strength. She literally is capable of growing stronger across the campaign as time goes on, because she's still growing. And Yuriko Thirteen was forcibly grown to equal biological age, though later had all cloning errors corrected by certain healing devices, meaning that she was, for all intents and purposes, truly equal, biologically. The difference since then is experiences, personality, etc.
Since then, she's trained in ways of the Umojan Shadowguard, who place an emphasis on aggressive telepathy to weed out spies and the like, but also are generally just thought of intensely elite psychics in general. To the Terran Dominion ghosts, surviving an encounter with a Shadowguard is unheard of, encountering them at all quite rare.
So. You know. She was classified as a psychic commando for the Empire of the Rising Sun, after all.
Then there was the psionic slam, which let her throw things like people and vehicles around far more violently than the 'usual' attacks, usually causing death in the subject, the psionic shield which outright reflects all attacks on her for a while, and finally outright Psychic Domination. Which had an increasingly large radius to it as time went on. Again, sure, game mechanics. But also reasonable to assume, I feel, that she still hadn't reached her full potential yet in terms of strength. She literally is capable of growing stronger across the campaign as time goes on, because she's still growing. And Yuriko Thirteen was forcibly grown to equal biological age, though later had all cloning errors corrected by certain healing devices, meaning that she was, for all intents and purposes, truly equal, biologically. The difference since then is experiences, personality, etc.
Since then, she's trained in ways of the Umojan Shadowguard, who place an emphasis on aggressive telepathy to weed out spies and the like, but also are generally just thought of intensely elite psychics in general. To the Terran Dominion ghosts, surviving an encounter with a Shadowguard is unheard of, encountering them at all quite rare.
So. You know. She was classified as a psychic commando for the Empire of the Rising Sun, after all.
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Massgamer
Advance toward the Future
- Location
- The Future
Yuriko being super scary is just normal at this point, along with giving out nice things.
Could also offer to train up new spectres or something, but then again I imagine making any decent one would require months of training at least.
I wonder Yuriko would appear to some Protoss given her psionic strength in general.
Could also offer to train up new spectres or something, but then again I imagine making any decent one would require months of training at least.
I wonder Yuriko would appear to some Protoss given her psionic strength in general.
Devestation on its way
-Overlord tank
Hmm... well not much action but its fine by me
Will you do the secret mission?
-Overlord tank
Hmm... well not much action but its fine by me
Will you do the secret mission?
Understandable have a nice day
It's a really good deal considering Raynor isn't strapped for cash, and plus the adjutant is the real prize. Also they have the common 'Mengsk screwed us over' thing to talk about.
Oh yeah... his wife.
Preaching to mind controlled enemies about your righteousness. Can you please tone down the moral masturbation?
Otherwise nice to see this story continued.
Preaching about what righteousness? At what point was that word used, referenced, or implied? None, nowhere, and at no point.
It's perfectly possible to dislike someone without putting yourself on a pedestal in comparison. I can't tone down what isn't there. Furthermore, mind control, neuro-resocialization, and mind wipes are a known and accepted part and parcel of the terran psychic and social technological arsenal. Mind control especially being a majorly desired power in the Dominion ghost program. That doesn't prevent the fact that 53% of all Dominion marauders have been to jail, and 23% of all Dominion marauders have been accused of murder. Meanwhile the firebats are known psychotics in many cases. The Dominion Reaper Corps is made up outright mostly of the criminals who resisted resocialization procedures with an outright horrific training process of which 10% graduate alive, and that's just with unapologetic Dominion training tactics/officers. Terrans in Starcraft are generally hardcore. Meanwhile, Yuriko's had regular experience with some of the worst of humanity, plenty of time, delving into the minds of outright evil/twisted/broken people in a manner that I can write about but will likely never truly capture in totality of how horrible an experience it is. She knows just how little or how much someone who we would regard as a war criminal cares about the lives they've ended in an unfathomably intimate way if she delves deep enough into their mind.
Also, Yuriko has never blown up tens of thousands of refugees or slaughtered an entire colony because there was the potential for them to be harboring a group of dissidents to Emperor Mengsk, so...yeah, I'd say she's allowed to dislike the guy who sees nothing wrong with that sort of thing whatsoever. Almost like she was cloned and forced into combat to serve an Emperor who callously accepted whatever amount of blood it would take to establish the Empire of the Rising Sun as the ruling power of Earth, while also simultaneously signing off on things like the Psychic Decimator, and all the experiments of the Sanitarium where she was cloned. Almost like the experiments, casual callousness, and public image of divine or near-divine destiny to rule over humanity pushes her own psychological buttons intensely. Yeah, she mind controlled them and had them drive into a sun after taking their valuable information out of their heads while confessing their crimes. She wasn't giving a grand speech about 'how she's better than them' or anything like that. Just expressing her disgust.
So...don't really know where you're coming from there, pal.
Sorry, but...not sorry.
It's perfectly possible to dislike someone without putting yourself on a pedestal in comparison. I can't tone down what isn't there. Furthermore, mind control, neuro-resocialization, and mind wipes are a known and accepted part and parcel of the terran psychic and social technological arsenal. Mind control especially being a majorly desired power in the Dominion ghost program. That doesn't prevent the fact that 53% of all Dominion marauders have been to jail, and 23% of all Dominion marauders have been accused of murder. Meanwhile the firebats are known psychotics in many cases. The Dominion Reaper Corps is made up outright mostly of the criminals who resisted resocialization procedures with an outright horrific training process of which 10% graduate alive, and that's just with unapologetic Dominion training tactics/officers. Terrans in Starcraft are generally hardcore. Meanwhile, Yuriko's had regular experience with some of the worst of humanity, plenty of time, delving into the minds of outright evil/twisted/broken people in a manner that I can write about but will likely never truly capture in totality of how horrible an experience it is. She knows just how little or how much someone who we would regard as a war criminal cares about the lives they've ended in an unfathomably intimate way if she delves deep enough into their mind.
Also, Yuriko has never blown up tens of thousands of refugees or slaughtered an entire colony because there was the potential for them to be harboring a group of dissidents to Emperor Mengsk, so...yeah, I'd say she's allowed to dislike the guy who sees nothing wrong with that sort of thing whatsoever. Almost like she was cloned and forced into combat to serve an Emperor who callously accepted whatever amount of blood it would take to establish the Empire of the Rising Sun as the ruling power of Earth, while also simultaneously signing off on things like the Psychic Decimator, and all the experiments of the Sanitarium where she was cloned. Almost like the experiments, casual callousness, and public image of divine or near-divine destiny to rule over humanity pushes her own psychological buttons intensely. Yeah, she mind controlled them and had them drive into a sun after taking their valuable information out of their heads while confessing their crimes. She wasn't giving a grand speech about 'how she's better than them' or anything like that. Just expressing her disgust.
So...don't really know where you're coming from there, pal.
Sorry, but...not sorry.
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- Location
- Albany
His name tag says Zealot. His response was hardly worth a sentence, let alone two paragraphs.
But I thought it's was a nice bit of narrative continuity that Yuriko is triggered by actions similar to the Rising Sun's modus operandi. Shows how she, like Mann, is still going through the healing process and how some wounds never fade.
103 – Tally Pass
103 – Tally Pass
"Well, I'd say that was a good haul," Yuriko said as she entered the bridge. "Right?"
Jimmy glanced at her and then back at the star map, hand on his chin and one arm tucked under the other as he mused. She'd taken off the armor panels she stuck on in battle, leaving her in just the regular old purple and black environmental suit with glowing power lines. Still, her expression was reasonably cheerful, meaning that she was closer to Tychus' current temperament than he or Matt at the moment. Not that the thought of seeing Matt meet his 'wife' again didn't at least brighten Jimmy's mood ever so slightly, of course.
"Yeah, I guess. The adjutant was the real prize, I guess. The stuff we got off the trains ain't but a drop compared to the buckets that you've given us," he finally admitted, turning away from the star map to fully face her. "Too bad the hunk of junk won't talk to us."
"Well, you said something about Deadman's Port," she shrugged. "Let me guess, Orlan?"
Jimmy hung his head for a moment before looking back up at her.
"Yeah. How'd you guess?"
"He's sort of infamous," she raised an eyebrow, "At hacking Confederate stuff, at least. I've got no idea on if he's any good at Dominion networks."
Strictly speaking, Jimmy didn't know how good he was at the latter either. On the other hand, the man was a whiz at it, according to everyone.
"Suppose he is. I don't know if I can trust him, though," Jimmy frowned. "He got kicked out of Alpha Squadron back in the old Confederate days for selling information. The man ain't got no cause but for money."
Tychus chose that moment to speak up.
"Aw hell, Jimmy, that ain't so bad. Least he's honest about it, right?"
Yuriko, on the other hand, pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips as she looked between the two of them. At least she had her helmet off now, so he could follow where her eyes went. It was downright disconcerting when she looked at people when she had that thing on. And…then she smirked at him, the moment he had the thought, so she was definitely scanning surface thoughts actively again.
"Perfect time to use some spectres, then," she said, smirk widening. "We can set a few of the ones you've just purchased the contract of to keep an eye on him."
Jimmy blinked at her.
"Wait, really? We don't have any idea how long it'll take Orlan to do the job, though."
"And? They're spectres, Raynor, it's pretty hard to find them when they don't want to be found."
Shit, Jimmy had never really thought about what he'd do if he had some ghosts on his side. Or spectres, he guessed. For a moment, he fantasized about sending them out to go assassinate Mengsk, like they'd apparently tried in the past, but a slight flash of warning in Yuriko's eyes had him shut that idea right quick. On the other hand, maybe they could sabotage enemy installations or, hell, watch invisibly to keep an eye on things. Just like Yuriko had suggested. He'd worked with ghosts before, sure, but they'd all been Sons of Korhal, ex-Confederates like Kerrigan had once been. He'd bet most of them were Dominion or dead, by now.
"So long as we don't gotta pay for their room and board while in Deadman's Port, that's fine with me," Jimmy decided, nodding as he spoke. "I'll want regular updates, though."
Yuriko smiled brightly at him.
"Great! Then, in that case, can you not shoot the dropship that'll be coming to Docking Bay 6?"
"Uh…what?"
"The spectres…," she said slowly, tilting her head to the side. "You met them? Down there?" She pointed in the vague direction of Tarsonis.
"Wh- oh, I get it," Jimmy groaned. "That's why they said they didn't need a ride. Cause they had one."
"Precisely."
"And they're probably stealthed like your super vulture?"
"Also correct."
Jimmy sighed, something he'd been doing a lot around anything MannCo related.
"Yeah, okay."
======================================================
"Okay, this one you gotta let me look at," Swann declared loudly.
In front of them was another MannCo-branded medivac dropship, only it hadn't looked to be there before. Everyone present watched as the stealth field that had surrounded it disappeared, another process releasing to let the engine noises release. It was at once similar to how wraiths performed the action, as well as ghosts. It was painted in the purple and black, landing carefully and resting there as its engines slowly began to come to a halt. It definitely wasn't as sleek as Jimmy's personal dropship, if anything it had some extra bulk to it. It didn't take a genius to know that the extra weight was probably from the cloaking generator and the additional reactor power required for it. Luckily the bay had held space, but all things considered they were rapidly running out. The vast majority of the hangars were full, at this point, of all a manner of vehicles. Wraiths, vikings, banshees, dropships, general cargo and scrap they were going to sell later…it was staggering to think about, honestly. For so long, parts of the Hyperion had felt damn near cavernous. Now it was getting almost a little bit stifling, only in the best possible way. As it was, there were already three other dropships and two vikings in this area alone.
"This one, you can look at," Yuriko said with nod, arms crossed with an almost pompous expression on her face.
Jimmy snorted as it thumped out another cigarette and lit it while waiting for the ship's ramp to drop. It took a few more seconds for the engines to fully wind down, as well as release residual heat, at which point the spectres finally emerged. As per what he'd seen before, they were all still wearing their odd armor paneling and environmental suits, all of them still wearing their masks. Jimmy hadn't actually gotten an accurate read on their numbers on the planet below, now that he thought about it. Towards the end there was so much dust and chaos that their tactic of flickering in and out of sight mid-fight had made it completely impossible to be sure. On the other hand, just as promised, ten of them walked out of the dropship, glancing about the cargo bay as they did so. Some of them he thought he recognized, but he wasn't quite certain. There they stayed, ten spectres on one side, Jimmy and the Raiders on the other. Stetmann had also been quite interested in seeing the technologies that MannCo would be utilizing and Yuriko had asked if Doctor Hanson would look over the spectres, which was why they were here, but Tychus had been a surprise. Jimmy would have figured he would have been wigged out by so many psychics in one place, but there he was.
"Right," Yuriko said into the silence, striding forward until she was halfway between the two groups.
Immediately, all ten of the spectres fell into mirror copies of Yuriko's attention posture, shoulders straight and legs only slightly spread, heads all tilted up and staring at some middle distance. Presumably, at least. The masks they wore ensured that knowing exactly what they were looking at was unknowable, even if they showed more obviously where their eyes were. None of them wore the distinctive featureless smooth mask that Yuriko possessed, and unlike her weird super railgun – Swann's latest theory – they bore far more recognizable AGR-14s, if a bit obviously modified and individualized. Others had their oversized missile launchers mag-locked to their backs, their environmental suits definitely packing the improved musculature weaves that Stetmann was convinced was the source of their improved strength and agility.
"Operative Thirteen, ma'am!" They called out in perfect unison, so seamless that it almost made Jimmy's skin itch.
It only got worse when Yuriko's more relaxed expression flattened before swiveling about with the faintest usage of her psychic powers, offering a salute back.
"At ease," she barked, the tone and authority forcing Jimmy's spine to straighten somewhat.
And, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Tychus had similarly been affected.
"That is James Raynor," she pointed up at him. "As of now until contract completion, he is your commander. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"You are to follow his orders as if they were my orders, as if they were Mann's orders, unless otherwise countermanded by myself or Mann!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Damn," Tychus muttered from next to Jimmy. "She got real serious right quick, didn't she?"
"Well-," Jimmy began.
"Great!" Yuriko relaxed completely, jerking a thumb at Jimmy and the others. "Go ahead and mingle. Maybe get a drink in the cantina. That means you, Brex!" She pointed a finger at one of the spectres. "But afterwards, you'll need to find Doctor Hanson," she tilted her head towards the woman in question. "Regular check-up, tests to make sure you're all stable, etc. for the edification of your contract holders."
The spectres managed to relax out of attention just in time for them to be rushed at then passed by the Hyperion's engineers.
"I get first dibs!" Swann called out, rushing right past the confused looking spectres.
Jimmy just put a hand to his own face and laughed.
It was a good distraction, for a while at least. Eventually, though, Jimmy felt his mood drop as the spectres were given the tour by Yuriko, being introduced and introducing themselves to the rest of the Raiders. Swann and his engineers poked around the stealth-capable drop ship, but all Jimmy could see was the planet outside that the Hyperion still orbited. He didn't even question whatever Yuriko did to get rid of the Dominion fleet that had been in the middle of its patrol. All he could see was Tarsonis. If he closed his eyes, he could still remember what it had looked like before. Before Mengsk. Before the zerg. But that only made it worse when he opened his eyes again and saw what it had become.
Large blooms of light caught his eyes, then, down on the surface.
For them to be visible from here, they had to be rather incredibly powerful explosives, but only some of them were the telltale mushroom of nuclear weapons. If anything, that was part of why Tarsonis had become so badly ravaged, the panicking death throes of the Confederacy involving setting off their own stockpiles in an attempt to something, anything, to the zerg that were overrunning the planet. Then, Kerrigan had made her home there. Then, the Brood War. Then, the UED. The planet had seen an awful lot of war in a short amount of time. But these were different. Some of them were confusing scintillating balls of twisting energy streams that clearly and obviously sucked in the very clouds above them, marking their position by where they affected even the atmosphere.
If Jimmy had to guess, it'd be MannCo making sure their tracks were as covered as could be.
"…sorry," he muttered to the dead, his words obscured by the shouting of the engineers.
He needed a drink, and pulled out his flask to do just that.
"Jim…," Doctor Hanson's voice came from next to him, making him jerk away in surprise.
Jimmy cursed as he nearly dropped the flask, fumbling it in his hands for a second before looking over.
"Dang, sorry Doc. Just sort of got lost in my own head there a bit," he apologized.
"Don't be," she shook her head, placing a hand on his arm. "Are you all right? I'm sorry I pried, earlier, when I asked about Tarsonis. I knew it was tearing you up inside, but…I shouldn't have made you feel that pain again."
She'd certainly been shocked, that was for sure. It shouldn't have been surprising to him, considering that all the records had 'somehow' been lost of what happened that day, but her reaction had still struck him somewhere deep.
"I'll survive, doc," Jimmy sighed, hunching slightly as he leaned on the railing. "For a while longer, at least."
Doctor Hanson turned away slightly, holding herself uneasily as she looked down at Tarsonis.
"I…I looked it up," she started slowly, "After what you said in the lab. There were rumors of psi-emitters, but nothing ever openly confirmed," she trembled slightly. "Two billion dead confirmed, hundreds of millions more estimated lost without confirmation because of the chaos afterwards."
She curled in on herself slightly before exhaling and straightening, looking at Tarsonis and missing how Jimmy's fingers had clenched tighter and tighter on the railing until they almost turned bone white.
"Arcturus Mengsk is a monster…and he needs to be stopped. Just…," she turned, placing a hand lightly on his own and making Jimmy look down at her. "Don't lose yourself to do it, okay?"
Then she turned and walked away, looking back at him only once with a sad smile before heading back to the labs where the spectres would eventually be coming. Jimmy just sighed as he tapped another cigarette out of the box and lit it.
"No promises, doc. No promises," he said as he exhaled a lungful of smoke.
==============================================
Colonel Orlan, of the late and only sometimes lamented Alpha Squadron, spat to the side before stuffing a bit more chewing tobacco in his mouth. He sucked a bit of air in his teeth as he looked over the adjutant, which had mostly been cleaned up by the efforts of Swann and a few other team members. A group of tough looking marines and marauders crowded in behind him, the mercenary leader unwilling to land on the Hyperion without bringing as large an escort as his dropship could carry. The disgraced veteran rubbed at his scraggly chin hair as he looked the adjutant up and down and then back at Jimmy. Outside, visible through the energy shields, the ramshackle and deadly Deadman's Port hung in the void, ships of all kinds and nominal flags poking about here and there. There were even a few Dominion ships, though that was likely just because their new owners hadn't yet changed the paint.
"And you say you found this thing where?" Orlan drawled, sniffing slightly.
"I didn't," Jimmy said back, arms crossed over his chest.
The Raiders had plenty of marines and marauders on their own, but none of them were in the cargo bay. It was only Jimmy, Tychus, Swann, and Yuriko. At least visibly. Jimmy knew, having seen them get into position, that there were all ten of his spectres – and wasn't that an odd thing to say – were in the cargo bay as well. They would know, even faster than Jimmy or Tychus, if something was up, what with the telepathy and what not.
"…yeah, okay. I can crack it, maybe, but it'll take me a bit."
"Ain't you supposed to be some kinda wizard with this sort of thing?" Tychus rumbled, the man having slotted seamlessly into the shady nature of the dealing with incredible ease. "That's what everyone says."
He didn't even puff on his cigar, instead keeping his faceplate down the entire while and a C-14 held in his arms at the ready.
"Yeah, well, everyone is an idiot," Orlan sneered. "It ain't like the holo-vids. Hacking something like this'll take time, I can't just crack my knuckles and flail on a keyboard for a few seconds."
"Just tell me how long, Orlan," Jimmy rolled his eyes.
He wasn't in his armor. A deliberate choice, but one matched by Orlan who'd shown up in his old Alpha fatigues.
"Like…a week, give or take a day," Orlan sucked some more air through his teeth. "I want half up front, half upon completion."
The price the man had quoted was exorbitant, Jimmy knew it. But for once, he had the money to space.
"Sure, sure. We'll transfer to your account."
Orlan paused and looked at him suspiciously.
"What, don't gotta tell me you'll 'definitely get me' my money at the end, all at once?" Orlan said. "Maybe take out a loan with someone out at the port?"
"Nah, not this time," Jimmy shook his head.
"…fine," Orlan spat to the side again. "Load her up boys."
They did not exchange a handshake, but then Jimmy didn't want to. He didn't fancy having to wash his hands a couple dozen times to get the slime and stink off of 'em. At the same time, two of the spectres didn't reappear after Orlan left, and it took a second of their expectant looks before Jimmy realized that two of them had somehow hitched a ride in complete silence. It really was a trip, having some stealth troopers on his side for once, instead of attempting to assassinate or capture him.
It was just a shame that Matt was so insistent that they leave immediately, before Mira Han could learn of their presence.
=====================================
"Nova!"
"Yuriko!"
The two psychics embraced again, even while MannCo marines carefully tugged the MannCo generators off of the Hyperion and back onto their waiting dropship. Swann and his engineers watched them go only a little bit mournfully. As of twelve hours ago, however, their service simply hadn't been needed. The reactor core was fully installed and put through its pace. The laser batteries were up to snuff, as were the interception missiles, the defense matrix, the new neosteel plating, and the improved engines. As of now, Jimmy couldn't help but think happily, the Hyperion was definitely the equal to any ship in the Dominion fleet. Even Mengsk's damn hoity toity flagship, according to Swann. Jimmy believed him. There was a steady thrum to the ship, now, almost like a strong heartbeat rather than the threadbare pulse it had sometimes had. The lights no longer flickered, there were no more brownouts. Everything was a close to spick and span as was humanly possible. Possibly even beyond that.
"Oh...baby," Tychus drawled happily as Sweet Thang emerged from the dropship, carried in the hands of one of the black-armored MannCo marines. "That is some nice work. Quick too."
Nova looked him up and down slowly, then at Yuriko, then back to Tychus.
"Yeah, well, our ship had the facilities on hand to repair and replace what was damaged," she finally shrugged. "It wasn't any trouble. Just try not to get it get damaged again, Mr. Findlay?"
"I swear to do my best, ma'am," Tychus said with so much serious that for a wild second Jimmy was sure he was listening to a marine who hadn't been discharged from the military yet.
Nova nodded at him approvingly before looking at Jimmy.
"Ma'am," Jimmy held out his hand, to which Nova laughed slightly and shook back.
"Mr. Raynor," the blonde psychic nodded. "I hear you've met some of my fellow spectres."
"Only some," he was quick to point out. "Still, I've only known them for a day or two. On the face of it, mostly good folk."
Nova's face immediately darkened as she looked over at Yuriko. Jimmy was forced to watch as the two exchanged a great many expressions and silent looks in rapid succession, no doubt communicating with their telepathy-
"Oh, sorry," Nova said, blinking and looking back at him. "You're right, Raynor, that was rude. Apologies. It was Brex though, right?"
"Ah…yeah," Jimmy rubbed at the back of his head. "He's mostly fine, though. Really. Just sort of sits in the back of the cantina."
"He's an ex-Confederate ghost, so he's an old and crusty bastard," Nova flapped her hands, snorting dismissively. "You don't have to make excuses for him."
Yuriko just snorted.
"Anyway," Nova looked over at Swann, her bemusement disappearing. "Everything seems to be in order, no tampering detected, though you did get clever with power draws to try and parse more than you should've," she said flatly.
Jimmy turned, slowly, to see Swann pale significantly.
"Uh…look, we uh, I'm sorry, but-,"
"Don't do it again, Rory Swann, or we'll rip out every single thing you purchased from us off of this ship," Nova interrupted coldly, the faintest bit of purple-blue psionic light burning in her eyes. "While you're on it."
"Woah now," Jimmy moved to intersperse himself between them. "He didn't mean any harm."
Nova just glared at him, softening only slightly.
"What one means, and what one does, and what one experiences as consequences are rarely as we desire, Mr. Raynor," she said frostily.
"Nova," Yuriko sighed.
"I am MannCo Internal Security," Nova continued without looking away from Swann, cocking her hip. "That means it's my job to make sure that things that are meant to be Internal stay that way. By most any means necessary. Don't do it again, and we won't have a problem."
Then the light faded and Jimmy felt himself able to breathe a little better. Only then did he realize that there had been a subtle but slowly growing pain in his very lungs that was wholly from an outside force.
"But you get one," Nova said, suddenly all smiles and brightness again as she held up one slender environmental suit-clad finger. "Most people don't, but Mann said you get one," she repeated, expression intensely focused in a manner that greatly differed from the tone of her voice.
The spectre straightened and looked back at the dropship where the last of the generators was carefully put into place.
"Anyhow, our job is done here. Thank you for purchasing from MannCo, we hope you'll use our services again," Nova said cheerfully before stalking back up into her ship, flickering away into stealth as she did so.
Behind her, she left twelve MannCo marines watching the cargo bay silently as the door of the dropship lifted up and sealed, the ship itself departing soon after towards the battlecruiser that hung in the void across the way from the Hyperion.
"Damn. It. Swann," Jimmy growled through grit teeth. "What did I say!?"
"I thought they wouldn't notice," the engineer protested, "I…,"
His excuses slowly drained away as he caught sight of Yuriko with crossed arms right behind Raynor.
"Ah, cripes. Spooks the psychic," Swann sighed, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Right."
"I didn't tell them, Swann, I didn't need to," she shook her head, tutting in disappointment. "Of course they'd know how much the generators were drawn on. They have internal monitors. You do realize this will cause penalties in purchasing power equivalence per credit now for all future MannCo deals, right?"
"Bu-whuh?!" Swann gaped.
Jimmy's headache only increased.
"Damn it, Swann!"
"If anyone needs me, I'll be working on my bike," Yuriko shook her head as she walked away.
"It wasn't me! It was Kachinsky's idea!"
"Aw, that's cold, boss!"
=============================================
Already, most of the Agria colonist ships had dipped into warp space, and only a few remained. Hundreds of colonists had joined the Raiders, but they were only a fraction of the proper colony itself. He'd known it couldn't last forever, things were getting more dangerous lately, after all, and it just wasn't safe for the colonists to hang around them forever. He was a bit worried about them picking a planet so close to protoss space, but hopefully if there was any friction he might be able to talk things out with his old friends.
"Well doc, it's been a pleasure having you," Jimmy offered his hand to Doctor Hanson, only to be surprised as she slowly pushed his hand back down.
"Actually…I don't intend on leaving, Jim," she said softly. "My people need to get somewhere safe, but you're doing good work out here. And…I can still help."
She had, for instance, looked into the spectres when he'd asked. It was comforting to have someone else independently confirm Yuriko's words, to put a piece of concrete surety on the haze of deliberate confusion and misinformation that MannCo seemed to enjoy employing. The spectres were a bit weird, but so were all psychics. They were only a little bit more eccentric, keeping small good luck charms on their person they swore helped them use their powers better. It wasn't like non-psychics couldn't have good luck charms, after all. In fact, after a bit of prodding from Yuriko, Doctor Hanson had begun applying her extensive genetics knowledge in searching for a cure for the infamous zerg infestation, as well as looking at certain research projects with the zerg sample that Stetmann had been forced to discard.
Hell, she'd already figured out how to manage an improvement of their command center into a proper fortress, with Swann using some of his new materials and funds to pull together a major boost to the Atlas Rockets to ensure that the command center could still move despite the massive increase in weight.
"I don't uh…don't quite get what you mean," he frowned at her.
"Well, MannCo's sworn to dedicate an entire fleet and planetary garrison on Haven, and all they asked was that I keep helping you out," she said, tucking an errant hair over her ear. "While they help my people get settled and stay safe."
"Woah, hey," he shook his head. "You don't gotta let them force you to stick around. I can-,"
He was forced to pause as she placed a finger on his lips.
"Actually, Jim," she chuckled, "I agreed with them. Swann is mostly focused purely on machinery, and Stetmann is incredibly intelligent but…erratic."
Jimmy very carefully put his hand on hers, feeling the warmth in it as he pulled it away from his mouth.
"I don't want you put in danger, if I can help it, doc," he said quietly.
Doctor Hanson just smiled at him.
"I've talked a lot with Yuriko, Jim. And your crew. And my colonists, those who are staying here with you and those heading to Haven," she said. "And I agree with them. It was nice when Agria could just stay out of the way of the Confederacy, of the Dominion, almost even the zerg."
Jimmy very abruptly remembered he hadn't let go of her wrist, and she hadn't pulled away.
"But we can't just ignore the universe, especially when we can help," she continued. "And I can help. And if my help ensures the Raiders can save just one more life, get just that small bit closer to taking down that heartless monster of an Emperor…," she trailed off, looking up at him in a way that made him swallow for some reason. "I'll give it."
"I uh…," he coughed, tugging his hand away in the same motion. "I appreciate that, Doc."
Doctor Hanson just gave a quiet, humming laugh before she turned away, pausing in the doorway out of the corridor they'd been in.
"We'll talk later, Jim. Okay?"
"Uh…yep," he said with a small acknowledging wave. "Yeah."
He needed a drink.
=======================================================================
"Ladies and gentleman, each night I bring you the news in the most fair and balanced manner possible-,"
A bout of laughter erupted from everyone in the cantina, though some of it was more angry than amused, as Donny Vermillion spoke on the television.
"But tonight I have a commentary!"
"Oh, here we go," Yuriko crowed from where she lounged in one of the chairs, legs crossed on top of the table.
"Some have asked me what the difference is between our leader, Emperor Mengsk, and the traitor Jim Raynor."
"Well he's certainly a sight prettier than the old goat," Annabelle Thatcher, one of the preminent technicians on the ship murmured, setting off another round of drunken laughter from some of her off-duty compatriots.
"Why thank you, Ms. Thatcher," Jimmy lifted his drink to her, causing the woman to return the gesture.
"Just speaking more truth in a sentence than Donny in a year, Jim," she said back, getting some more laughs.
"They point out that Mengsk rebelled against the government of his youth, and came to power through the use of violence and subversion," Donny continued to spew, looking disapprovingly at the camera. "Why is it wrong for Jim Raynor to rebel in similar fashion?" An impressive amount of disgust managed to appear on the news anchor's face. "There is a difference! When Emperor Mengsk began his revolution, there was no threat hanging over humanity. James Raynor is waging his revolution while we war with two alien races!"
The general amusement in the cantina soured rather quickly, smiles and laughter being replaced with far grimmer things.
"James Raynor, have you no conscience?"
"What!?" One Raider coughed out, his fellows needing to thump him on his back.
"Shouldn't you fall in line, putting your petty complaints aside-,"
"PETTY?!" Big Ben yelled, the Mar Saran rebel's dusky brown skin turned darker by the anger on her face.
It took four fellow Mar Sarans to keep her from trying to throw their table up at the TV, the woman ranting under her breath about the loss of her husband and son to the Dominion in the mines the whole while. Her lifelong use of steroids ensured that it was actually a danger, table being made of solid metal or no.
"As we struggle for humanity's very survival against this alien menace?!"
That tore it, for some at least.
"Fuck that guy!" One of the Agria colonists who had joined the Raiders growled. "Who the fuck - who is - wha - I should kick this guys fucking ass!"
"Struggling for...what the fuck!?" Another shouted. "You assholes all LEFT! Ran away with your tails between your legs, shot at anyone trying to board your ships!"
A few of them outright got up to throw their beer bottles at the screen, only for them to be caught in the air by one of the spectres who was also in the cantina.
"Now now, darlings, ain't no reason to get ornery at the TV," Joyce, the most approachable said as she too lounged on a seat, one leg hiked up against her and the other swinging freely. "It's just doing its job. We can just turn it off as we like."
"I mean, I get being pissed, though," Yuriko spoke up. "Look at the ticker at the bottom. '1st and 2nd Fleet combine to protect Coreworlds'," she recited to the disgust of some of the watchers. "I guess that's what Donny means when he says 'humanity's survival'."
"Yeah, I saw some of those too. Zerg in over half the Dominion, James Raynor's continued 'reign of terror', and interstellar shipping cut by two thirds," Kachinsky spat. "Freaking Dominion. Bet you anything that half ain't the Coreworlds, though."
"No bet, zero odds," Yuriko shook her head before looking over. "Uh...Raynor, you all right?"
Only then did Jimmy realize he'd been silently squeezing the sides of the table, and he wasn't sure if it wasn't because he was intending on throwing it or using it to stabilize himself to not fall over. It was jut about the angriest he'd been in a long time, his whole mind and body just gone as he tried to puzzle through the absolute horse shit that Donald Vermillion had just vomited out. He wanted to rant about the protoss and zerg attacking back then, wanted to rage, to scream, to shoot something. Around him the rest of the Hyperion crew was lest restrained, yelling and comparing tales of oppression, imprisonment, martial law, and pain.
"I'll be fine," he grunted, pushing off from the table. "I just need to clear my head."
"Uh huh," Yuriko said dubiously.
Shit. Right. Telepaths.
"I'm serious."
Thankfully, the psychic didn't say anything as he left the cantina. He waited until the door closed behind him before he slammed a fist against a wall, the alcohol in him dulling the pain almost as well as the rage. Walking down the corridor, his fingers twitched so much with anger that he nearly failed at lighting the cigarette.
It was going to be another sleepless night.
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Mors
Searching for immanence
Silvercrystal
Some form of jewel?
- Location
- The Silver palace of Crystal
Zeratul interrupt incoming?
Did MannCo put spike and draw monitors on the ZPM just to make sure people were honest. That's almost funny but then back in the day many power companies intentionally blacking out a facility with a spike meter so they can charge the highest rate all month.
Massgamer
Advance toward the Future
- Location
- The Future
That doesn't happen till dog site I think.
But yeah, poor Jim. Its not so much the insults as Mengsk being considered a good and honest man despite all he has done.
I don't think Donny is evil, just acting as a reporter in Dominion, and he does crack when news of Taronis comes out since he had a brother there at the time.
What do you think a usage meter in your utilities closet is? Keeping an over time record would be trivial.
Donny's basically drunk the kool-aid because AFAICT not drinking the kool-aid is too terrifying a concept given what he's reporting on. As the anchor he does have a good grasp of what's going on in the Dominion, and what the situation is.
Unfortunately, not quite. Kate Lockwell shows that well enough, considering that she's willing to rock the boat that Vermillion loves to rest on. Then there's the peanut butter incident, and after he got back from the mental hospital he started up his own show from home. Where he mostly praised Arcturus and criticized Valerian, Raynor, and the renegade ghost Nova Terra. And this is after the Tarsonis broadcast reveal. He picked his corner, and stuck with it even when it was revealed that the Emperor had directly led to the death of his brother, and Valerian had led the Dominion in the End War.
Donny Vermillion is just...Donny Vermillion.
Donny Vermillion is just...Donny Vermillion.
Silvercrystal
Some form of jewel?
- Location
- The Silver palace of Crystal
a Spike Meter is a little different then your standard utility meter.
For one they were only ever used for commercial buildings. (some of them aren't even at the customer but instead are located in the substation)
For two it's in the name Spike meter (can't remember the actual name though there were supposedly several types) measures the highest spike and you pay as if you used that high rate for that entire time; some measured in half hr chunks, some only reset every day, or even only once a month.
A usage meter records what you actually use.... some even record when so you could pay more or less depending on the time of day.
So for example if you used 100kWh (4.167kWh/hr) a day on a usage meter you would pay 100kWh($/kWh)
With a spike meter that resets once a day
you are using 4.167kWh/h but at 9 am the power blinks off for a few seconds, all the air units, servers, computers, motors, etc stop and then start all at the same time and your draw spikes to more like 20kWh for a few seconds. The meter locks in that spike then 20kWh*24h = 480kWh($/kWh) for the day.
(and for a once a month reset 20kWh*24h*30days=14,400kWh instead of the 3000kWh you really used)
With a spike meter that resets every hour for the period of 9 am - 9:59 am you get charged that 20kWh rate instead of the 4.167+- that you really used.
Edit fixed a few errors, I almost miss the old days of letters on the phone buttons... or even phones that had buttons
Edit the second, and the new Smart meters can probably do all that and more.
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It probably was, but Swann probably signed off on it.
Guy probably got so many memory wipes his mind is a jumbled mess.
Raynor sure does have alot of trigger words.
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
Or kick Donny in the rear.