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Snowlit Dawn - Galley

Marla's projection watched with folded arms as the crew made their way into the galley, which was quickly starting to to feel cramped. She'd loaned her "new body" to Llorien, who was awkwardly looking down at the deck plates. Ellia definitely has his deep blue eyes, but not his fur. Light brown isn't quite what I'd expected one of Acturus' sons to have, but I suppose I shouldn't be making assumptions. Of course all I can see is his face but... that really doesn't matter, does it? I need to find out what's gotten into Reese.

Hack, whos projection stood in a corner, which it mocked leaning against, had already filled her in on the details he knew, as had Llorien's imprint. This meeting was really for the benefit of the crew, not theirs. She looked back over at Hack, who on seeing this purposefully looked away. Knowing what we do now... she sighed, as Herb finally ducked into the room, avoiding the crowd as he tried to place himself as far from everyone else as possible.

"Good, we're all here," Hack sighed as his projection stood up straighter, "there's no easy or gentle way to say a lot of this, but I'm not the one who needs to start. Dr Longtail?"

The droid Llorien controlled turned to face the crew, as he closed the eyes on his projected face. "First of all... thank you for rescuing me, you surely didn't have any responsibility to do so. Also Ellia, I'm sorry, for everything, and I'd like to talk with you alone when we're done here. For now, there are more pressing matters - Reese Jorlen tricked me into coming out here, claimed he'd found some kind of evidence that my father had helped the Leonin in some way and insisted I see it myself."

"Surely that couldn't be true!" Ellia blurted out, clenching her paw-hands into fists and bearing teeth - not something she did often.

"No darling," Llorien shook his head, "it was not, but at the same time it was something I could not ignore. I'd always looked up to Arcturus, in spite of some of his faults." He gave Marla and Tallia both apologetic looks, then continued. "No, that was a trick to get me in a place where I had no choice but to work for him. You see... he wanted a clone made of himself. I happened to have the right specializations for what he needed to ensure both visibility and development of a full Ragerian clone outside of stasis. And no, he was not just one of those weirdos who wanted a son but not to uh... take the intermediate steps required; he planned to use the child as..." he bit his lip and snarled, "a test subject."

"Back up a second," Ellia asked, her arms folded, "if you were serving him under duress, why did he let you stay in contact with us for years?"

"If he hadn't, he knew your mom would have quickly tracked me down and gone straight to Division 3. As a xeno anthropologist she's often in this sector you know. He monitored everything of course, ensuring I couldn't say anything obvious. I tried to drop a few innocuous hints once to convince Lara something was off, but..." he shook his head and sighed deeply, "I was not obvious enough to her and too obvious to Reese. He actually threatened to have a terrible accident befall both of you if I tried that again."

"Pardon meee," Gerard spoke up, as he began wiping a smudge off his reading glasses, and pointedly at Hack, then Marla, then Hack again. "I know appearance doesn't always mean genetic relation but... is this clone who I think it iiis?"

"Yes," Hack answered, shaking his head, "apparently the real me is a clone of Reese Jorlen. Still, there's more to this. Llorien, tell them what the experiment was, and how you sabotaged it."

"Essentially, Reese wanted to find a way to use memory augmentation tech to implant not just knowledge, but ideals..." he shuddered visibly, shaking his head, "something that our ethics dictate should never be attempted, even if it's possible to do. Of course he wouldn't test it on himself, nor a Ragerian citizen... but he also did not consider non-Ragerians worthwhile test subjects, hence the clone. Of course, this technology doesn't work until one is around five years old, and is risky to use for several years after that point. I was tasked with ensuring that he survived and developed to the minimum age, which bought me some time to work on my own counter-project: a neural firewall of sorts, a way to prevent existing thoughts and information from being overwritten. I was not about to test it on the child, so I did it on myself, though it was hardly scientific proof, it at least appeared to be safe enough to try. The process worked, and Reese was furious, but did not initially suspect me. I knew it would only be a matter of time before he discovered I was the cause of his failure... then the facility's sensors detected a Yotan Homeship was nearby."

"The New Dawn," Tallia grumbled, "so it was you that left him in a life pod in the debris field we were scavenging."

"Yes," he responded, "the imprint you're speaking to was created just before the attempt, as a failsafe. I did not expect I would be able to evade Reese for long, but perhaps long enough. It appears I was successful in getting 'Hack' to safety, but not in returning to Ragerian space."

"We do not know for certain what happened to the real Llorien," Hack's imprint quickly spoke, "but I am investigating based on multiple data sources. Don't worry Ellia, the New Alliance will find him, and bring him back if we can."

Marla couldn't help but shake his head, she knew Hack was putting together some sort of recovery mission, but did not expect any success, even of he was where they thought he might be. "I hate to say this," Marla spoke up, "but Reese is not our most immediate problem, though he will eventually be. For now, we need to focus on what's happening in this sector."

"I thought you considered my plans reckless," Hack replied with his arms folded, "If not doomed. Still, you are correct; Vanara Briskwind, a ship will be arriving soon, with some old friends of yours. I want to stress that what you do after you meet them is completely up to you, but it's going to be a lot more impactful than you think possible, so consider your options carefully."

Vanara and Lana had been sitting in folding chairs in the back corner of the room, seemingly more out of place than anything until now. Vanara for her part just shrugged. "I feel like a puppet right now, but at least I'm out of Leonin space and with Donna again, so sure, why not?"

"I apologize for the," Hack sighed deeply, looking over both her and Lana, "but what would your reaction have been if I outright showed up and told you I was going to get you off Huska?"

"That you'd been out in a blizzard too long."

"Exactly. There are always choices, but they aren't often good. Now then, I think we should give Ellia and Llorien some privacy."

Meanwhile, on the New Dawn

"Really, they picked Misfortune for your callsign?" Saril was surprised at this, and a bit disappointed he'd not had a chance to vote on it, not that it would have mattered given everyone else had agreed.

"Apparently," he nodded, his ears lowered as they headed towards one of the larger docking bays, "it is a strange and confusing tradition. I do not understand how it is meant to foster comradery in a unit, but that is how it was explained to me."

"Can't say that's made much sense to me either..." Saril mumbled, wanting to change the subject already, "why do you think they're briefing us here? Are we in that big a hurry to embark?"

"I do not know," remarked the Lupin, "my understanding is that when a wing is off rotation like ours was, we can only be deployed for emergency duty or a high priority operation. Perhaps this is the latter, as there have not been any attacks or public movements by the Leonin."

The door to the bay slid open, revealing ranks of various troops standing at attention. "Far more than just us," Saril muttered as the strode over to where the rest of his wing stood, behind Monk, "it seems you're right." He didn't get a chance to look at how many were there but he'd definitely spotted at least one Lupin commando unit.

"Soldiers of the New Alliance," Colonel Pauls addressed those present, "you have been selected for a high priority operation, mission parameters have been provided to your commanding officers and you shall all be separately briefed on an as needed basis. Everything from the point you entered this bay is classified and not to be discussed without explicit approval of your commanding officer or their superiors." His gaze was stern at first, but softened momentarily, as he looked over those assembled. "We understand you have families and loved ones. You are authorized to tell them you are engaging in extended joint training exercises, which shall occur en-route to your destination;" at this, he held up a hand, "unfortunately I am not privy to this information either, other than once mobilized you will be heading to the Xira's Garden system. Dismissed, may the Guardian be with you."

Back aboard the Snowlit Dawn

Ellia had sat in silence for several moments after everyone else had left the ship's mess, including Dorrin and Marla's projection. With a sigh, she enabled privacy mode in the room and turned to the droid that currently had her real father's face. "Dad, what happened to the real you? I know Hack well enough to see he's hiding something, even without him being present to sense emotions."

"I do not know for certain," Llorien's face winced at that, "but nothing good. Hack has a lot of data, is resourceful and has plenty of people supporting him, I'm sure he'll find, uh... something."

"And you're horrible at hiding things too," she shook her head, "he thinks he found where you're at, but doesn't want to say, which I'm going to guess means it's somewhere Leonin controlled and well secured."

"He and Marla are right about you," he smiled ruefully, "you are too clever. Honestly, until this point I'd thought I was dead, and had prepared to tell you such but... the truth is likely worse. The Leonin couldn't have possibly figured out how to brute force Nexus Ports without someone who has some base knowledge of how they work, we both know that. If I am recovered..." he shook his head and sighed deeply, "I doubt I will ever be the same. Hack is already putting together a rescue operation, but he's worried you'd try to sneak off and get involved again. Please dear, don’t even consider it; maybe visiting Zern was a benefit to your intentions, but this will just be a dangerous waste."

"D-daddy!" She whimpered, throwing her arms around the droid and hugging it, her ears clipping slightly through his facial hologram. "I just... I can't..." she sobbed, and he held her for a moment, wishing there was some way he could help her.

"You should go see one of your mates about a rebalance after this, dear, but I'm sure you already know that all too well."

"Y-yes daddy," she sobbed, starting to release the droid that contained the echo of his mind, "what are you going to do now? Your imprint I mean?"

"The most good I can, anywhere I can," he replied with a soft smile, "which right now means I'll be joining Hack's imprints in Echo Contingency. I am... somewhat shocked and disturbed about how many safeguards they regularly bypass, but... he has an alternative method of governance worked up, and genuinely is trying to do good for the sector. I'm," he sniffed hard, looking at Ellia, "I'm proud him, he's nothing like Reese, and even more proud of you, my wonderful and only daughter. Now go, the galaxy needs you, especially the people of Zern."

Several hours later

"Captain, a capital class ship has just shift-dropped into the system," Sabre notified Donna with usual flatness, then blinked as his eyes went wide, "it is broadcasting Zern Commonwealth Militia identification codes!"

"Unbelievable, sending the counter-signal," Vanara quickly worked from Aria's usual console, since only she knew how to access the old codes, "if this is a trick, we're not going to be able to escape."

"Sabre, do you have an ID on the ship class?" Donna asked, fidgeting a bit nervously in her seat.

"Vessel appears to be a very old War Era Lupin design, most closely matches the old Denmaster class carrier. Those were not designed to have their own shift tech, as I am certain Marla can tell you. Some were refitted with shift drives half a century after the war, but none remain in Lupin space or service."

"Yep, that's definitely the Zenith Peak, the old flagship of the ZCM." Vanara whistled, looking to Ellia and expecting smugness in response, but seeing only determination in her eyes. "So General Whitecrest made it out after all. Leonin propaganda regularly claimed otherwise and it was hard to verify anything planetside. Speaking of that, they've authorized us to dock. Herbert was it? I've sent the coordinates to you."

Aboard the ZCMCV Zenith Peak

Donna, Ellia and Vanara stepped onto the deck of the ancient carrier. In spite of its age it was clearly in good repair, and work was being conducted on several nearby combat shuttles. Two male huscanid soldiers in sky blue uniforms armed with old fashioned lupin-style rifles approached, the weapons slung over their backs. "Ms Vanara Briskwind, please come with us at once," one of them spoke in a tone indicating it was a command, not an offer, "your friends may remain here."

"No," Vanara folded her arms, and shaking her head, "I would not be here if it were not for the efforts of my daughter and Ambassador Longtail, they come with us or I remain here. I'm sure General Whitecrest will not be pleased if he has to come down here to speak with me."

The two lowered their ears and looked at each other, then one stepped back a ways and used the comm unit on his ear to speak with someone. "I'm afraid you do not understand the circumstances, but we can make a small adjustment. Surely you must appreciate the risks we are taking."

"What do you mean, adjustment?" She asked, as a huscanid doctor approached with a scanner.

"Please remain still, Ms Briskwind, this will only take a moment... there."

"Do we have confirmation?" The soldier asked the doctor anxiously.

"Yes, perfect match."

"Very good, doctor. Ms Briskwind, you and your associates may now follow us, the General is waiting."

"What was that about?" Donna asked Van softly as they moved quickly through several winding corridors. There were several points where crew about their duties saw the group, moved out of the way and... seemed to salute Vanara? It was hard to tell as their escort didn't allow them any time to linger.

"I don't know," she whispered back, "I was bluffing back there, I've only met the General twice and our interactions were terse."

Soon they arrived at a door, marked "Command office" in fading standard. Donna could have sworn she saw scrubbed off Lupin script that once said the same in the hereditary language her species no longer used. The door slid open and all three were ushered in; the General, an aging Huscanid in a more practical than dressy field uniform stood, and saluted Vanara. "Madame President, welcome aboard, it has been too long."

If Vanara's jaw hadn't been attached, it would be lying on the floor. "What? Is this some sort of joke???"

"Ms Briskwind," he lowered his salute, and sighed with a serious expression, "have you ever known me to make jokes?"

"No, never," she shook her head, "but... I wasn't on the succession list. I was barely a mid-level intel officer!"

"You were not on the public list, however, when the Leonin began annexing systems near Zern, we decided that a secret extended list of succession might be necessary. This was a very long list, and similarly ranked and experienced personnel were given randomized positions on it. My mission, post-invasion, was to find the highest ranking survivor on the list, administer the oath of office, and work with the new Acting President to reclaim or prepare to reclaim Zern. You are the last remaining person on this list, and until recently I had believed my mission was a failure."

Donna and Vanara looked at each other in abject shock, whatever they'd expected to happen here, it wasn't this. She stood there silently, hands shaking for a moment, until the general tapped his desk with a stylus. "I'll admit, I cannot force you to accept this position, especially since my own authority depends largely on yours... but whatever you decide, please make it now. Time is short, and we have a number of time sensitive opportunities. I also expect the ambassador wishes to formalize a treaty she's already hashed out with me."

Vanara took several deep breaths, looking to Donna, then Ellia, then the General. "There is only one choice that I can live with, I accept, and may the ancestors guide us."

LDFCV Steel Claw

Commander Valk Stormworn read the orders she'd received from New Alliance Command for a third time. It wasn't that she didn't understand them, if anything she understood them all too well. How can I bring myself to execute these orders? She asked herself silently. She knew the stakes, they'd been laid bare in the message itself, and she'd seen firsthand how the Leonin dealt with other species. No, that is not the correct question. I should be asking how I can carry them out without my crew knowing. This was, for obvious reasons, not the kind of thing Lupin officers were trained to do. Normally she'd have asked Scythe, but her orders also forbade her from contacting the Major directly. In a sudden flash, she realized there was someone in the New Alliance she could contact who had experience, without breaking orders. With a few commands typed into her terminal, she signed into the New Dawn's secure quantum pair library... and sent a comms request for Commander Sabre Blackpaw.