Episode Twelve: White Flag

[Paul Chapman]

1343
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Armory

Sticking close to Colonel Walker, who'd spend months aboard the Icarus during his recent deployment to the Ida Galaxy, Paul moved through the ship. Their final destination was the nearest armory, to allow them to outfit themselves for possible enemy contact. I hope it works out better than the last time the ship was boarded - it ended with four people dead on our side." Robert said, which didn't exactly inspire confidence in Paul. He keep his head down, and follow the Marine down the hallways.

Navigating like it was the back of his hand, they arrived at a weapons cache, and moved inside. Robert issued Paul with a sidearm and tactical holster, and both men loaded up sub machine guns. They'd have to be careful when and where they fired, for fear of causing a hull breach; when they reached a better stocked armory it might be a good idea to grab some Zats, which were less likely to damage the ship structurally. "Cut 'em off at the pass, huh sheriff?" Walked asked, to which Paul nodded in reply. "Fox Alpha."

The two moved into the hallway, clearing the immediate area and moving out. Just down the hallway, their radio's crackled to life. "Colonel Walker or Colonel Chapman, please contact Tech Sergeant Garrett ASAP." Paul raised a clenched fist, and the two stopped in their tracks. "Garrett, Chapman. What's the status on those computers Sergeant?"

The reply was not welcoming. "Sir, we have intruders. Multiple attempts to infiltrate the ship’s systems from both B- and D-decks. Also, I’m seeing unusual network activity coming from the infirmary. I’m about to head there now. Paul exchanged a concerned look with Robert, and cursed under his breath. Between what he was hearing from Erin on the bridge, and now Marcus, the enemy were on decks B, C, D, E and F - only the upper and lower decks were clear. "Copy that," Paul replied. "We'll RV at the hallway outside the infirmary. Chapman out."

Weapons at the high and ready, the two officers moved out again, sweepings halls and rooms as they moved, covering each other as they moved. They'd managed to avoid enemy contact when they came across a friendly; Admon Halevi of SD-3, an Israeli special forces operator. In fact, it was Admon who came across them - he approached the two officers from the rear, not making a noise. It had only been an unrelated noise that had caused Paul to turn and see the man. He tapped Walker on the shoulder and pointed to the NCO, lowering his weapon.

Robert called out to his team member, who continued to advance toward the two Colonel. It was at this point Paul noticed the over-sized sword in the man's hand. He raised his weapon again, training it on the man. "Colonel.."

< Tag SD-3 >

[Robert "Jackal" Walker]

1346
Corridors

The fact that they had indications of both structural breaches and internal systems being accessed (or at least attempted) could mean only one thing - they had intruders aboard, of this the Colonel had little doubt. The two officers continued down through the winding corridors of the BC-303B (as it had been designated after its unique refit by the Asgard), when suddenly the ship's commander stopped in his tracks and turned around. Bringing his weapon up without turning to face Chapman, Walker stayed facing forwards to cover their front flank. As he was about to ask Paul what was going on, the Lieutenant Colonel started, "Colonel ... " and Robert turned around.

The sight that greeted him was that of Admon Halevi, the IDF operative recently assigned to SD-3. Walker smiled slightly and called, "Halevi ... good to see you." Then Robert noticed the Israeli's bearing, and the way he moving towards the two at a sufficient speed, a long sword held in his grip and a determined look on his face. "Sergeant!" the Marine Colonel barked at the man - despite the language barrier, the short of the E-8 equivalent's rank was Sergeant. "Stand down now!" The Force Reconnaissance veteran now leveled his weapon at the approaching man, wondering what in the hell was his problem ...

<Tag Admon, ERIN, and ETHAN>

[Erin Stuit]

1346
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Computer Center

Erin stared at the blue and white terminal display, she had been working for what seemed ages trying to track down the intruders in the system. She knew the protocol for enimy infiltration, that if the firewall failed they would have to pull the plug, leaving the ship without controls, life support management and any form of communications. Erin frowned at the output and tapped a pencil against her teeth, a habit she had picked up from an old crewmate on her second tour of duty. In front of her lines of code drifted by trying to track down the source of the hackers. As she worked she could see a form of logic developing in the pattern, they had gone for the security cameras first, then the blast sensors, and now, she realized with horror, they where focusing on the life support system. A shiver passed through her as she recognized the tactic. Clicking on the radio she clicked on "Sir we have a serious problem, logs report that the hacker is focusing on the life support system. If they get control.. they get the ship" she said not daring to tempt fate by documenting the ways in which a enimy might use the life support to their advantage, it would take nothing to turn off the air, or pump pure carbon-dioxide in and gas the lot of them leaving the ship free for them to board with little or no resistance. "The firewall seems to be holding them for the time being, but it will only be a matter of time until they get through" she added, moving to another terminal as a tech took over.

"We need to track down the source" she said, half to herself and the other half to the Colonel's on the radio. "These guys had to have come from somewhere" she said, her eyes drifting over the map propped up on one of the spare bits of table. the circle still visible like a dire warning of what was to come. Clicking off Erin started to mentally check down all the ways of finding the source of the intruders, ship sensor was out, logs where slow and didn't tell her much, the LTS was too vague... Erin was for the first time lucky for her short stature as she barely missed a whack on the head from the overhead cabinet. The beaming computer was separate to the network and had a centralized sensor to locate targets. Erin grinned to herself "Heading to the Beam Control Room, Erin Out" she said over the radio. Grabbing the map and a pencil she stuck her head out the room. She would have liked to take one of the guards posted outside the room with her, but at the same time she knew that every hand was needed and the last thing they wanted was the intruders getting physical access to the Computer Core.

<Tag Any>

[Robert "Jackal" Walker]

1347
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Corridors

Silently, both officers had their weapons trained on Sergeant Halevi. Walker knew Chapman was smart enough to not aim for a kill shot, similar to his own current aim on Admon's right shoulder, above the arm holding the sword. "What's going on buddy? What's the problem?" the Colonel inquired as the Israeli slowly continued toward them. Then the radio crackled to life, and it was Petty Officer Stuit with some very bad news. "Do whatever you have to in order to keep them out of those systems," Robert replied over his radio with a nod from Chapman. "Walker out." He doubted the Petty Officer was finished talking, but he knew she could tell from his tone he cut off the conversation for a reason ...

<Tag Anyone>

[idun]

OOC: I got told to annoy =P

1347
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Asgard Core

The human craft was stuck, this did not surprise him. He had locked the doors to the core, and was in the process of shutting down the beaming technology. These Human's always got them selves into trouble. Though he did not want to meet these new "people" who had appeared throughout the ship. As he was an Asgard, he wasn't designed for combat.

But he had his fair share of it during his lifetime. He had just gained access to life support, and had encrypted it beyond any primitive's knowledge. Though taking direct steps to protect the Asgard components on this ship wasn't a task for someone like him. Unlike most Asgard he did not see what Thor saw in these people. And he doubted they could ever be part of the great races.

He pushed a stone to the right and accessed the personal communication systems. "This is Idun at the Asgard Core. I have isolated life support and the beaming technology to our control. Is there anything else you wish to keep in your hands?" he asked. He could be able to reactivate shields, and given enough time reinitialise the Hyperdrive. But he was instructed by Thor himself to follow orders of the Human commanders.

< Tag >

[Paul Chapman]

1347
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Corridors

The situation in the hallway was tense, with Admon continuing his slow advance toward the two Colonel's, sword in hand and a devilish look in his eye. The two men edged back slowly, weapons trained on the NCO, unsure quite how to proceed. With every passing moment it was becoming more evident that something was very wrong with the man, though the didn't have the information to allow them to determine what. Paul had only just met the man, and didn't know him as good as Robert. He prayed this was normal behavior for the man, but from Robert's body language this was something to be very worried about.

Paul's radio crackled, and the voice of Idun, the Icarus' Asgard engineer was emitted. "This is Idun at the Asgard Core. I have isolated life support and the beaming technology to our control. Is there anything else you wish to keep in your hands?" This Asgard, who renowned for his dislike and confusion about humans and their behavior, but he was also a master of coming through just in the nick of time.

"Idun, Chapman," Paul whispered into his radio. "We have a situation, please beam a Sergeant Halevi directly to the brig, and inform Lieutenant Sander that he has a guest on the way." The men held their ground, issuing one final warning for the NCO to stand down. When he did not, he was replacing with a blinding flash of light, and transported to the ships brig for detainment. Paul and Robert would have to deal with him later.


1349
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Infirmary

Within minutes the two men were stacking up outside the doors to the infirmary, preparing to enter. From a quick look through the open door they'd learned Major Logan was not alone - an unknown man was inside, holding a sword to her throat. Watching and covering the rear of their positions, Paul waited for Robert's orders as to how they should proceed. They could wait around for backup, but from the looks of it, they'd need to move quickly to ensure Katina's health.

< Tag SD-3 >

[Katrina Logan]

1349
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Infirmary

"You're stalling for time! Where is your commanding officer poppet? The man was adamant that Katrina knew where Chapman was at all times. Maybe he believed that she was his sidekick or right arm, but was sadly mistaken. "I told you, I have to contact him via that control box." she began pointing to it, but only to the have the sharpness of the blade punctured slightly more releasing a tad bit more blood. Kat winced at the sting of flesh being sliced, but just closed her eyes. "They'll be no dirty tricks being pulled on me this fine day madam. I've been around far too many scalliwags to know when you're playin with me brain."

<Tag: Anyone>

OOC: Please don't expect me to NPC this guy, cause I have no idea where this is going.

[idun]

OOC: Why do they sound like pirates of the Caribbean? =P

1347-9
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Asgard Core

The Human's seemed to always like started conflicts with direct firepower. Yes they may have helped with the destruction of the Replicators, but it took Ancient technology to help in that. And now the Ancients were gone, but they left their "offspring" who were technologically inept except for using weapons that could shatter the bonds of the Replicator nanites. He was annoyed that the Asgard High Council had overturned their earlier decision, so that the Humans may carry some Asgard designed improvements. Idun had lobbied in vain to make sure this didn't happen stating the Humans could end up like the Goa'uld or the Replicators as a threat to the Asgard race. His pleas were ignored.

"Idun, Chapman," His communications stone lit up, it was tied into their "radios" which were a crude communication system. "We have a situation, please beam a Sergeant Halevi directly to the brig, and inform Lieutenant Sander that he has a guest on the way." Idun had no idea who was who, they all looked the same. But he assumed the one embedded with a locator ship with the name ‘Halevi’ was the correct human to transport. He had no idea what this 'Halevi' had done so that the Human commander had to confine him to their prison cells. But He had to do what was told. "Stand By" he said, and then he muttered in his own language. "Lieutenant Sander. Prepare for prisoner transport." he stated as he moved a smaller stone to the right. The Transporter registered some sort of weapon on the man. So he isolated that pattern and extracted it so that the prisoner would be unarmed as he rematerialised.

"The Human has been transportered" he replied to the one called 'Chapman'. "If you need anything, please alert me" he said with a tone indicating annoyance and boredom. He began to work on the Hyperdrive sub-systems again.

< tag >

[Erin Stuit]

1347
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Corridors

Erin ran down the corridors her ponytail bobbing along as she weaved through bulkheads and up and down ladders, it seems almost humorous how natural it all seemed to her as she made a sharp turn and belted down yet another identical looking hatch. Playing over and over in her mind was the way the radio had cut out and the readings from the logs. Ignorant of all the other goings on across the ship she ignored the radio clicking on, only slowing slightly as the characteristic Asgard voice cut in over the comm system. If it was any other time Erin would have smiled, if she had the breath she would have replied that fixing everything would have been nice. Still Erin respected the few Asgard she had met during her training and time on the ship, and knew that they where one of earths oldest allies. Around her the ship was alive with the sounds of orders being barked and carried out, but in the undertones was the sound of people crying out in pain, and of something that Erin thought she must have mistaken, or had her mind caught up in memories. She was sure that she heard the distinct sounds of a sword fight going on.

1349
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Outside Asgard Core

'Finally' Erin thought as she reached the Beam Control Room, shaking as the adrenaline from the run across three decks and half the ship started to ware off, at first she didn't notice that the room beyond that was affectionately titled 'The Asgard Core' was locked tight and barricaded from entry. It was only after she had been standing there a few seconds trying repeatedly to swipe her card and punch in the entry code that she noticed. Too tired to run any further Erin walked over to the door and hit it with her fists in frustration, doing nothing but to bruise the skin and make a hollow banging sound against the thick metal. "HEY!...Hey! Stuit here, I need the beam system, let us in!" she cried out, exhaustion from the run clouding her common sense that it would be near impossible to hear anything through all that metal. Wiping her face with her hands in frustration she just stared at the door in mute incomprehension before calming down and realizing what a fool she was acting like. Delicately... almost apologetic in her actions she clicked on to the radio "Stuit here, I'm just outside the Asgard Core, require access to the Beam System. The room appears to be sealed shut from the inside.". Feeling a little like she was stuck in a hotel room lobby Erin shuffled on her feet, glancing around the room and double checking her equipment and map as she waited for a response. As she waited the humm of the ship couldn't settle her nerves as underneath the noise she was sure she could hear the sound of feet quietly moving down the hallways outside, as if tracking her to see what she might do.

<Tag All>

[Marcus Garret]

1349
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Infirmary

Marcus had briefly stopped at one of the armories between the network center and the infirmary, grabbing a few more items. While his G36 was safely tucked away in the main armory, he wasn’t about to truck all the way across the ship for it. He grabbed a P90, clipping it to the Tac vest that he hurriedly donned before quickly making his way through the intervening distance to the infirmary. The reflection of Maj Logan’s predicament in one of the glossy signs in the corridor caught his eye as he makes his way toward the doorway where his CO and the ship’s captain were standing. He slows to a stop, and pauses for a second before his face goes completely blank, except for his eyes, which clearly show the anger burning just beneath the surface.

He quietly steps over to the doorway, and double checks to make sure the P90’s on safe before letting it hang from the snap. He draws and activates his Zat, and half-whispers across the doorway to Col Walker.

“Sir, I can put him down. Just gimme the word.”

His eyes aren’t the only thing displaying the anger he felt, as his voice had an undertone that conveyed the fury that he was doing his best to focus and direct. He’d never been a believer in controlling his emotions, but rather in harnessing them and keeping in control of his actions. He’d always thought of his team as family, and he wasn’t about to let someone hurt a member of his family.

<Tag Walker, Anyone>

[Robert "Jackal" Walker]

1350
Outside Infirmary

Seeing Kat's predicament, Walker felt anger rise from his chest. Cocking his head to the side to Marcus Garret, who had just joined them, the Colonel realized that would be the best scenario. The Air Force Technical Sergeant had a Zat, which would stun the intruder; that mixed with the fact that in the current situation, Chapman or Walker's fire could hit the Major if any number of things went wrong.

"On three, Garret," the Colonel said quietly. Motioning with his fingers, he told Chapman to flank to strafe to the right behind Marcus on entering the infirmary, with Walker himself going to the left. Holding his hand up, Walker counted down with his fingers ... three ... two ... one ... the former SERE instructor darted to the doorway and inside, and before Walker could see inside, a single Zat blast was heard, and the two Colonels followed in right behind to sweep the room.

<Tag Anyone>

[Katrina Logan]

1350 Hours
Infirmary

Kat just nodded slightly, but the blade was now really beginning to feel like it was going further in, but it wasn't. Talking made it hurt a little more, but she had to try and negotiate before her head became a masterpiece upon whatever mantel this guy was referring to. "I guarantee you I'm not stalling. I just need to... was all that came out before the man's eyes opened wider than saucers. Before she could react the sword dropped only cutting a little bit more on the way and a body dropping.

A small sense of relief overcame the major while she looked around to see no one. Obviously, they finally got to the infirmary making the medic place her hand trembling over the cut on her throat. It wasn't bleeding profusely, but enough to saturate her fingers until a suitable gauze pad could be found. Not even realizing how much stress that endured, knees buckled and she landed on them before attempting to savor any dignity left to stand back up. Making it back on to two feet, the major just stood there leaning against the wall catching her breath and wondering just what in the hell was going on.

<Tag: Anyone>

[Paul Chapman]

1350
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Infirmary

As the number three man into the room, following Garrett and Walker, Paul moved along the left wall toward the far left corner of the room, following his room clearing training. The swept back as he moved with his P90, looking for targets. He reached his corner with no contacts, having successfully cleared his section. Marcus and Robert followed there paths, taking down the tango with a Zat blast. With the room clear they moved in for a closer look.

The Major seemed in good health, with Robert checking on her. Paul restrained the man's hands behind his back and rolled him over. The man was dressed in a old tattered outfit, which appeared leather in creation but was soft like satin. His hair was messy and his face unshaven, and the condition of his clothes lead Paul to believe this man lived on the run. He started to come around, and Paul sat him upright.

"Who the hell are you?" Paul inquiring, getting right up in the man's face. "How many of you are on board?" Again, no response. "How did you men pull our ship out of hyper space?" Still the man remained silent, a grim smile beginning to form on his battered face. He was stalling; his men occupied the five decks above his one, and it was only a matter of time before they'd arrive here. He needed to get the information flowing a little more freely.

"Get him outa here Chief," Paul said, and Ethan DeVoss pulled the man to his feet. He lead him past Paul, and toward the door. Approaching from behind the bound man, Paul seized him from Ethan's grasp, and violently threw the bound man face first into the deck. As he rolled over, the assailant found a loaded 9mm buried into his forehead.

"Bit more ready to talk?"

< Tag SD-3 >

[idun]

1349
BC-303B Battle Cruiser Icarus
Asgard Core

Idun had started working on the Hyperdrive systems, the Humans had changed some of the coding, they always seems to ruin things they touched.. or had little knowledge about. They were children playing with things they would never understand.

The Asgard High Council was foolish giving technology to these people. Then he received another communications burst, but it sounded different. This one was from a female, that identified herself as Stuit. He did not know all the crew, so he did not know if this was one of the intruders. They may have taken over the Human's communication systems. He moved a stone to the left and pressed several symbols.. A blue ring came down and a forcefield was formed. It would restrict movement of the occupant.

He then beamed the person inside the forcefield and looked up at them and stared. "Greetings. I am Idun. State who you are?" he asked

< Erin >

He moved another stone to the right, which activated Chapman's primitive communication system. "This is Idun, I have a Petty Officer Stuit at this location. Is this a member of your crew?" he asked. As he had no idea who was who, He hoped the man could describe her. "I will put her on audio for you" he stated meaning the human female could talk to Chapman.

< Erin / Chapman >

[Robert "Jackal" Walker]

1351
Infirmary

Rushing to Kat's side when he saw the threat had been neutralized, Robert kneeled next to her and propped her against the closest wall. Seeing the bleeding wound she was holding, he opened a nearby drawer and extracted a gauze pad and held it to her wound to temporarily stop the bleeding. "Remind me to get a full medical staff assigned to this ship," he said quietly to Katrina, looking into her eyes, knowing she could detect the concern in his eyes.

Hearing the interrogation, Walker allowed it to continue without him. Chapman could handle it well enough for now; after all, the pirates were dumb enough to try to steal his ship; it was Paul's right to interrogate the man first. Then came the radio call from Idun, and Waker replied, "That won't be necessary, Idun. Erin Stuit is a member of my team, this is Colonel Walker ... she has clearance."

<Tag EVERYONE>

OOC: Let's get this wrapped up