Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

The last RPG was "Zeta Gundam: Tales from the Frontlines - The AEUG" which ran from 2006-14.
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- Open Space -

- The Kirov -
- Hallway -

One of the crewmembers who handled the laundry of the ship's pilots stopped outside Delta Team's ready room and made sure his cart was magnetically attached to the floor. He absentmindedly whistled a tune as he punched in the code to enter, and turned to grab a large bag to take out any clothing left for him as the heavy door slid open. His whistling trailed off to nothing and he froze when he saw Grant standing in the ready room along with a noticeable amount of free-floating blood and a pistol. He stood there for a second as if he was locked in place and then let the bag go in a panic to pull himself out of the room to slam down the security call button on the door panel. "Security!" he yelled down the hall, backing away from the door and the unfamiliar man inside.

Saad took a few deep breaths and waited an appropriate amount of time to avoid looking like he was waiting in the wings for the alarm to be raised. He adjusted his gunbelt and then turned onto the hall outside Delta's room. The agitated crewman had his back to the wall a few feet from the door, and motioned into the room with a nod of his head. "Some guy I've never seen is in there and it looks like somebody got messed up... There's blood everywhere," he hissed, trying to stay quiet. Saad entered the all-clear security code into the control panel, and the alarm connected to the security office shut off. He was lucky there hadn't been a shipwide alert put up. "Go find another guard and tell him to come here quickly," Saad ordered quietly, and the crewman gulped and nodded, glad to get away from the situation.

Saad let his right hand rest on his pistol grip and entered the ready room. He had no intention to use violence, because he knew for a fact this man had nothing to do with what had transpired inside. On the other hand, he didn't know who he was... "Please turn around slowly and keep your hands where I can see them, sir," he asked, demanding compliance calmly and respectfully, "Identify yourself and tell me what the devil you're doing in here,". He then thought to add, "...and what is going on?". He glanced over his shoulder when he sensed movement behind him, but it was only one of the newest guards that had been sent aboard. "Is there a problem...?" he asked, and Saad took a moment to take a closer look to compare his face to the photos he had been shown.

"No, Cpl. Rowsdower, I have the situation under control. Please go find Lt. Tariq. We need to investigate this immediately," Saad instructed, and the corporal nodded and left as soon as he had arrived.

- Daren Nwosu's Quarters -

After stowing his few belongings, Daren managed to find some paper and a pen. He wanted to get the list of suspicious individuals done for Wolf as soon as possible. The sooner it was complete, the longer he'd have for the time being to get used to the Kirov on his own. If he was going to be useful aboard this new ship, he'd have to learn it's layout and character in addition to the men and women that inhabited it. He rested against the wall of his room as he put the paper against a book for a writing surface to begin his list. He thought for a few moments, remembering the people on the launch that had transferred him, then clicked the pen and began to write.

Ltjg. Allister Grant
Ltjg. Thomas Jops
Ens. Hughes Perin
Ens. Kate Elliott


He stopped, and read the names again. Yes, that seemed to be it.

- Outside Sick Bay -

"Hey... you doin' alright, boay?" a familiar booming voice called out. Rhys' mouth shrank to a thin line as he turned his head to find Hepburn headed towards him. "You again," he huffed, scratching his temple. The big guy had already shown he wasn't above a physical altercation, so Rhys managed to control his tongue and hide his dislike for the man he was forced to work with. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's that Lt. Te'Litha that has a problem. Guy's messed up," he grunted, gesturing behind him with a thumb at the entrance to sick bay. "Gonna love the look on his face," Rhys thought, eyeballing Jackson as he imagined his knife sliding into the pilot's side. As soon as he found out what Hepburn was around to do, he would make it a point to shank him the moment he ceased to be useful.

- Sick Bay -

The doctor moved back to Nick when the groggy pilot finally came around and spoke up. “How long was I out, and is there anything I should know about?” he asked, still disoriented. The doctor checked Nick's pupils and then answered, "You were unconscious for at least 15 minutes, lieutenant. You're very lucky to be alive - you can't keep taking these huge doses of your medication,". He motioned for a nurse to come over, and then continued, "The corporal that brought you in already left. It was one of the security guards,".


- Hangar -

"Sir," Cpl. Rowsdower said, saluting as he interrupted the conversation between Tariq and Sven who were on their way to the brig. Tariq frowned as he looked over the unknown guard, and he responded with an air of irritation, "Yes?". The guard pointed towards the nearest lift and reported, "Lieutenant, there's a situation in Delta Team's ready room. Sgt. Bahjat is on the scene, but--". Tariq tilted his head slightly and interjected, "What kind of situation?". If Saad was there already who knew what was going on. Rowsdower answered, "I'm not exactly sure, sir, but I think there's been a shooting,". Tariq drew in a sharp breath through his nose and then exchanged a glance with Sven.

He had to deal with this, and it would only put off his work to seal Friday and Te'Litha's fate. The only consolation was that he knew all he had to do was complete some paperwork and submit the information he had gathered combined with Haksson's account to finish the job. "Sven, I apologize for the distraction but this appears to be serious. If you'd like to accompany me hopefully I can deal with this in a speedy manner," Tariq offered, waiting to see if Wolf's yes-man would tag along.
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

-Jack-

Jack smirked as the somewhat soggy nub of a cigar twitched in his mouth.

"Ah, you're that Rhys kid, ain'tcha."

Rhys then went into a short quip about Te'litha again, how he was 'messed up' or something to that accord.

"Oh? Well with him being my squad leader, I think I might as well pay the man a visit to make sure he'd on the level.."

He paused at the door momentarily, canting his head to look at the boy.

"Can't have any accidents putting things in jeopardy can we?"

Jack leered momentarily at the boy, it was pretty obvious from the body language that he was still pissy over the tobacco shower. It basically said "I know you hate my ass, suck it up. We've got a job to do." all in a stare.

OTS man.. OTS.

With that, he slid into sickbay as the door closed behind him. His visage softened as he spotted Te'litha being attended to by one of the doctors on staff. He approached the man from behind and cleared his throat before speaking.

"'Ay doc. He gonna be alright?"

As he waited for a response, he nodded to Nick.

"El-Tee."
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Leandro smiled when he saw grace, but was quickly overwhelmed by what she said. He blinked slowly in disbelief. "Wait what?" After getting things explained to him again, he didn't quite have much of an answer.

"I have no idea" Leandro bit his his bottom lip and furrowed his brow. "It doesn't make sense, even if they were reorganizing us into different units, wouldn't a decision like that come from inside Echo? Why would new transfers have information like that?" Leandro glanced quickly behind, then at his left, and finally at his right.

In a hushed tone he said: "I don't like this, Perhaps we should go see what Lt. Stukov knows."
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Buxoro, bridge elevator

Aaron Faraday

"They do have an odd color for mass production MS. They say tough guys wear pink, but I think that they’re all whipped by that leader of theirs."

"Pink MS eh? I guess with colors like that, the Zeon must think they have something to prove.

With a chuckle Aaron nodded in approval. "Could all be a practical joke at their expense," he added.

The elevator continued up when Hughes asked another question:

"So what's Captain Winter like? I'm sorry to say in the rush of the transfer, I wasn't told to much about him."

"Oh, that's not just the transfer rush. I think I've met the man... maybe twice since being here. Can't say I know a lot about him myself."
"Kamille, if it wasn't for you...." Jerid's last words

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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- The Kirov -
- Delta Team Ready Room -


Grant took a seat on the bench facing an empty locker after the crewman left in a hurry. He chuckled at the man's reaction. What a puff.
Reaching in his duffel bag and pulling out his flight suit when in the corner of his eye he noticed Saad enter the room.

"Please turn around slowly and keep your hands where I can see them, sir. Identify yourself and tell me what the devil you're doing in here, ..and what is going on?".

Letting go of his suit and rolling his eyes up briefly past the blood to the heavens. Life never dealt him any favors, he always wandered into some sort of trouble, but here? now?

Raising both hands up halfway, Grant lifts his right leg up and over the bench, straddling it to face Saad. An angered look takes over as he sees a floating pistol and he realizes that it might be sometime before he got any sleep. "Ltjg. Allister Grant. Replacement for Delta team. Just stowing my gear before I go to my assigned bunk." Pointing up at the blood with his right finger. "YOU tell me what happened...and don't try and pin this on me, I just got here..besides my piece is still in my ankle holster. One things for sure pal, that's more than a nose bleed."
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Kirov, Sickbay

Lt. Te'litha

"El-Tee."
Nick nodded back “I see that news travels fast, what brings you here Jack-flash?”

Mess Hall

Ltjg. Kelborn

“I don't like this, Perhaps we should go see what Lt. Stukov knows."
Grace nodded in agreement and followed Leandro out of the mess to find Stukov. “If you had to guess Leandro, what do you think is going on? When you put it in those terms it sounds like someone outside of Echo is using us for something.”


Buxoro, Bridge

Lt. Robin & Ltcmdr. Winter

“Well, you’re about to learn a little bit then,” Elijah commented as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to the bridge. He floated to captain in his elevated chair and threw a salute, “Lt. Robin reporting and I brought Ens. Hughes as requested.”
Winter turned to survey the new pilot. “I am Ltcmdr. Winter, welcome aboard.” He studied the young officer for a bit then he began solemnly, “I’d like to think that I am aware of anything and everything that involves this ship. However, now I get a pilot from out of the blue and with no accompanying MS on top of that, and that makes me a bit anxious. Ensign, do you have any idea why we would be given you unscheduled and with no suit to go with you?”
IAN: (Shaking fist up at sky in a storm of GN particles) Science does not WORK this way, Setsuna!!!
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- Hangar –
- Beta Team –


Sven half listened to the exchange between the Lt and the CPL. A shooting onboard the Kirov? Titan security hadn’t decreased that much and certainly no crew members would have dealt with each other in that method. No, this was certainly another odd circumstance to add to the day making it awfully suspicious. Sven knew he was being presented pieces of the puzzle, yet he hadn’t quite developed a picture so he could start putting them together. He yearned to go to Wolf and communicate with him this mysterious Captain Black’s name. He had never heard of the man, yet Wolf was better schooled in the Titans power structure and must have. And if he hadn’t heard of this Black, it would only mean the man was a larger threat than he currently presented himself as. Still, he could do that later for now he needed to find out what Tariq knew.

Nodding his head slightly, he spoke softly, “Yes thank you Sir, I will accompany you to assist in dealing with this situation.”
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- Open Space -

- The Kirov -
- Delta Team Ready Room -

Saad kept his gun trained on Grant only because it was what he was supposed to do in that sort of situation. The new pilot obidiently turned around with only a brief look of irritation and threw a leg over the bench he was on to show his ankle holster."Ltjg. Allister Grant. Replacement for Delta team. Just stowing my gear before I go to my assigned bunk," he identified himself, and then pointed at the swirling blood, "YOU tell me what happened... and don't try and pin this on me, I just got here... Besides my piece is still in my ankle holster. One things for sure pal, that's more than a nose bleed,". The sergeant almost felt bad for him. Then again it was the man's own bad luck for wandering into the room first.

Saad lowered his weapon and shoved it back into his own holster. It might seem strange for a man with his job to take someone's word after finding them in a room full of blood with a murder weapon overhead, but in this case Saad had nothing to fear. "Sorry about this, sir, but you can understand our alarm..." Saad explained, looking up at the crimson blobs decorating the air. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he let out a breath. "I can only imagine what transpired in this room," he said quietly. In order to keep up the guise of an appropriate response and investigation, Saad stepped further into the ready room and gestured for the door, "Sir, please step into the hall and wait until my superior arrives. It's just standard procedure,".

He looked over at the row of lockers against the wall, and his eyes slowed to a crawl when he read two of the names - C. SHIRANUI and K. ROBERTS. Both of them had survived the Gate of Zedan and retreated with the rest of the Titans only for this to happen. Black Friday truly was an evil man.

- Hallway -

After Sven had agreed to come with Tariq and the new guard to the new, intriguing crime scene, they had loaded up the nearest lift and headed straight for the ready room. Ritter's business and the intelligence man's own vendetta would have to wait. As the lift hummed upwards, Sayed considered this new wrinkle among the strange events going on aboard the Kirov. A shooting, a straightforward murder, seemed too obvious and hamfisted for Capt. Friday. It didn't seem devious or subversive enough, and it certainly didn't make any sense until he learned who had been shot. If Friday could risk having people eliminated in plain sight he was either hurrying along to some conclusion or someone was close to ruining one of his machinations. Those seemed to be the only ways it made sense for him to be involved. In any case it meant he had more pull than even Tariq realized, and that frightened him.

Maybe he would be lucky and it would be some bizarre dispute between crewmembers. He huffed and folded his arms. He knew that wouldn't be the case. "I don't like this..." he muttered, even before the lift doors began to slide open. They entered the hall outside Delta's room to find a stranger exiting the ready room. "I thought you said Sgt. Bahjat--" Tariq began, but Rowsdower spoke up and interrupted. "Sir, this is the man the sergeant found inside. Looks like he sent him out to meet us," the guard said. Tariq frowned and gestured at Grant without looking at him as he passed, "Corporal, question this one. Don't let him leave until I come out of the room,". "Yes, sir," came the reply as Tariq entered the bloodied room with Sven still in tow.

- Delta Team Ready Room -

Saad straightened up to a sort of attention as Lt. Sayed arrived, but the intelligence officer didn't return his salute. "What the hell is this?" Tariq asked, as if he fully expected Saad to know exactly what went on. Saad waved his hand upward and answered, "There's plenty of blood as you can see, sir. And a pistol. I haven't moved anything so there's not much I can say at this point. Ltjg. Grant appears to be uninvolved,". Tariq looked around the room at the gore and the gun. Ltjg. Grant would be the large thug that passed him in the hall on the way in - probably another of Black's conspicuous plants. "Collect some of the blood, sergeant," Tariq ordered as he gently propelled himself off the floor to approach the gun, which had drifted to one of the corners above them.

Avoiding the blood, the lieutenant reached into his jacket and pulled out a clean handkerchief to grab the pistol between a thumb and forefinger. "It's standard issue for pilots..." Tariq said, turning it over to look at the markings. There probably wouldn't be useful fingerprints on it but he was being careful nonetheless. Perhaps one of Black's goons was careless. Keeping an eye on Saad to monitor his behavior, Tariq passed Sven on his way to the pilots' lockers. If a pilot used their gun and left it floating free... He opened the locker marked P. KAMEK and shuffled through the contents. Since the annoying Lt. Kamek had been vaporized at the Gate of Zedan, there was no ankle holster left to take a gun from. Tariq moved to the next one, C. SHIRANUI, and opened it.

The pilot suit was inside, but a quick check showed the sidearm was still in place. That left K. ROBERTS. He punched in the code and the door swung open, revealing a jumbled mess of belongings and a pilot suit stuffed back into place. Tariq felt the ankle holster, then pulled it open. "Hmmm," he murmured. Roberts' pistol was not in its place, and he had an unidentified pilot's weapon in his hand. That certainly made things interesting. Tariq spoke up without turning around, "Sergeant, it appears Mr. Roberts' sidearm is not here in his locker. We need to compare the serial number on this pistol with his record,". Saad nodded, and after hesitating offered, "Wasn't Roberts looking around for Cara Shiranui earlier? He seemed agitated,". Tariq turned his head and thought about that for a moment.

"He was. He stopped and talked to me, as a matter of fact..." sayed answered slowly. This didn't make sense. Was this Kyle's gun? "It looks like we need to locate Ms. Shiranui," Tariq said as he moved back to the center of the room.

- Pilot Rec Room 1 -

"This machine cheats!" Stukov grunted angrily, slapping a mighty paw against the side of the arcade game bracketed to the floor in the corner. The screen flashed GAME OVER due to the abuse he was doling out to it, and he turned away from it with a loud curse in his native tongue. He headed for the drink machine and jammed a button down for a pouch of water. After checking on his Marasai again, boredom had begun to set in. The battle was over and the hunter had nothing to do now that he had checked and put away his weapons. The strange things going on in other parts of the ship were unknown to him, and the sound of the gunshot earlier had been muffled by the metal walls and the noises of the ship's engines. He opened the water and considered his options. Maybe he'd go to the mess hall and see what colored squares they were handing out.

- Bridge -

Trent rose from his seat to respond to the new call coming from one of the ships among the fleet. "Capt. Trent," the aged but jovial officer on the other end spoke up as soon as the connection went through, "This is Capt. Tam of the transport Saipan. I've got a delivery for your fleet,". Trent cocked his head slightly at the news. They were already sending out new supplies so soon after Echo received new pilots? Surely they hadn't been moved to the upper part of the list that fast... He looked out at the fleet and noticed one of the larger model transports lumbering away from the main body of ships in the direction of Echo. What was Friday doing to get them materials so quickly? "Uh, yes, captain. What exactly are you bringing to us?" Trent asked, wondering what he was in for this time.

Tam seemed to glance down at papers in his lap, and he rattled off a list of general supplies, and then... "And then there's several Marasais, Hizacks, and uh... a few experimental units,". Trent perked up at that. "What experimental units?" he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. From what he had heard the kind of things the Titans were toying with lately were often dangerous for the pilots. The older captain flipped pages and read some more. "Well, it says here they were attached to Taskforce Juliet for testing up until the business at the Gate. Guess they're going to continue the work with you. Says they're 'RMS-156 Griffins' - three of 'em," he said with a small shrug, "I just haul it, captain,".

So they were getting those blue things that had zipped around them back at Zedan. Time would tell if they were lucky to have Juliet get wiped out. With those mobile suits maybe they'd be able to take on all comers. "Oh," Tam said, clearing his throat to add, "Looks like there's written orders here for you too, captain. It'll all be sent over in person,". That sick feeling returned to Trent's stomach and his hands felt clammy again. Every "gift" sent to Echo had Black Friday's name all over it.

- The Herakles -
- Bridge -

"Well that was certainly fast... Capt. Trent must be on the ball with those reinforcement requests," Capt. Berg said as he greeted his new pilots. On the inside he wasn't quite as happy. If they were getting replacements this fast, he figured it meant the Titans were trying to keep the raider fleets up to fighting strength because they were on the ropes or Trent knew someone in the upper echelons of the organization. He vastly preferred the latter, but if that were true, then who was it he could call on this fast? Isaac's only confort was the thought that it was almost certainly through legitimate channels if it were done this quickly, which meant Echo was still behind Bask and Jamitov.
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- The Kirov -
- Hallway outside Beta Team Ready Room -

Having finally found her orders within her belongs, Kate stumped out of the elevator on the correct floor, having wasted quite a bit of time poking around the ship carrying her heavy bags.
She was starting to feel frustrated, which was odd for her. Perhaps it was how rushed she felt being transferred to this group so suddenly, or perhaps feeling so vulnerable like so many other Titans after losing the Gate of Zedan.
Reaching the right door this time, Kate keyed the door opened and poked her head in looking to see if anyone was around.
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

-JP-

Jack *snrk*'d slightly and with a sly grin thumbed back toward the doorway where one of the tweedle dumbs**t twins stood 'guard'.

"Mostly here to f**k with tweedle-dee out there standing 'watch'; you know.. the usual. Kid needs a good kick in the pants with his attitude. How you holdin' up, sir?"
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- The Kirov -
- Delta Team Ready Room -


Feeling no ill will toward Saad, Grant obeys shutting his locker as he stands. Standard procedures, he figures like those two magic stones with the ten or so laws written on them must be followed to a tee...well some laws could be bent he muses.
As Grant walks out of the ready room, he spots Tariq ignoring him as he folds his arms and leans against a wall. It would take a weasel like that to figure out whats going on.
Looking at Corporal Rowsdower, Grant decides to take a chance. "I assume this doesn't happen a lot around here--look if your boss has any questions come and find me. I'm gonna get some shut-eye."


- Kirov –
- Hangar deck –


Jason is slouched over the railing holding a framed picture in front of him. He is intensely staring at Miller's family trying to replace their faces with ones he should know. Jason can't remember the last time he could picture his mother's face. His father's image on the other hand has deformed into a monster. Doubts have flooded his mind once again as he wondered if Lt. Te'litha even knew if Miller was dead. And if he will even bother to write a letter to Miller's parents, thankfully Jason had no one to worry about him being in the military. Are they worried sick about him? Waiting for any information about his unit to appear on the news? he speculated.
Could he even bring himself to write a letter to Miller's parents explaining how and why their son died? Jason couldn't imagine what words to use to express such a reason. As he looks more and more at the picture he realizes that they wouldn't be the only ones wondering what happened to their child. Just how many letters were created by this war?

His fingers start to let go and the picture floats away. Jason is not one to express himself much less write down why someone died because of chance. That agony is best reserved for families who don't have those type of pictures. It would be best if he were one of the thousands that disappeared during war, then at least there would be hope.
"War is some crazy sh**" - alexander the great
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Buxoro, Bridge

Ensign Hughes Perin

Standing at attention, "Sir, I was not informed as to why I was assigned to the Buxoro. As to my mobile suit, I was under the impression one would be provided to me when I was aboard the ship, but i'm not entirely sure what to make of the current situation. There doesn't seem to be any mistake in my assignment that i'm aware of, sir."
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Leandro led Grace out of the mess hall and pondered about her question for a moment before answering with a suave smile.

"Maybe they're AEUG spies! Or newtype elitists! To tell you the truth I can't think of any reason for this to happen so soon. Thats why I figure we ask the Lt. If something disruptive was going on I'm sure that rusky Ale....." Leandro's mouth snapped shut as he spotted Stukov down the hall coming straight towards Grace and himself.

"Uh ah...LT. Stukov! We were just looking for you. Some guy just kicked grace out of her room!"
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- Open Space -

- The Kirov -
- Delta Team Ready Room -

Lt. Sayed turned the gun over in his hand once more as he tried to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. There was no way this set piece would turn out to be exactly what it looked like; it was almost as if things had been arranged for him to find in a certain way and yet he was stuck following procedure. If he ignored things here it could become a disaster. Something told him the only way to dodge this red herring was to investigate the disappearance of Cara just enough to determine it was some sort of ruse. Te'Litha or his own barely controllable subordinates were likely suspects, dumb as the crime seemed to be connected to Capt. Friday.

"Sgt. Bahjat, secure the blood sample at our office and confirm this pistol's serial number, then find Kyle Roberts. Confine him to his quarters if you locate him elsewhere in the ship," Tariq ordered, ready to act, "I'll begin the search for Ms. Shiranui,". He delicately handed the weapon over to Saad, making sure they both only touched the fabric of his handkerchief, and then turned for the door with a gesture for Sven to follow. As he reached the exit, he added, "Fingerprint the gun too, sergeant. And keep this room locked,". For the time being he decided to not bother trying to gain access to his office in the brig. Saad or Rhys would come up with another way to keep him out.

Outside the ready room, he found only a guard waiting. That new pilot must have talked his way out of answering too many questions. Either that or he and Rowsdower were both Friday agents. Tariq frowned deeper and shook his head slightly - he was getting too paranoid. Paranoid was fine for his line of work, but taking it too far was a detriment. He hated the idea of relying on Ritter too much, but before things were over he may have to ask for help. "Rowsdower," he said, calling for the soldier's attention, "I see Ltjg. Grant has been released,". It would do no good to berate the corporal for disobeying an order.

"Damn it!" Sayed growled in his head. A brick wall was being erected around him while he was left to waste time on a dead end, and it was being done through means that were just legitimate enough (or appeared to be, in any case) that he could do nothing about it. Something had to give, and it would happen soon. Once he had those papers this would all be swiftly cleared up. "Yes, sir. The lieutenant seemed to be the one that discovered the scene, but he appeared to be uninvolved," Rowsdower answered. "My foot," Tariq answered with his thoughts. "Indeed..." he answered aloud, passing the guard, "Make sure nobody but ship security enters this area until further notice,".

He glided down the hall in angry silence with Sven trailing behind. Finding Cara Shiranui was his current goal, but it was neither his final one nor his most important. If she was dead, there were only a limited number of areas a body could be hidden aboard a ship of even this size without it being discovered quickly.

- Hallway -

Stukov let the grip system pull him along in the direction of the mess hall, a familiar stern look on his face. He still felt the slight sting of being driven away from the Gate of Zedan, but in a way he admired the AEUG's sudden change of tactics. A gutsy enemy was a more honorable kill. Plus, coming right at the Titans would be more entertaining in the long run, and it would be an excellent way for him to keep honing his skills in combat. A real hunter never stopped learning. Up ahead, he noticed Grace and Leandro talking, and let go of the grip to slow himself with an outstretched hand against the wall. "Leandro, Grace. I've been meaning to find you," he said as amiably as he ever got, his hearty voice filling the hallway.

"Uh ah...LT. Stukov! We were just looking for you. Some guy just kicked Grace out of her room!" Leandro responded, causing the lines around Stukov's frown to deepen. "What do you mean, 'kicked Grace out of her room', lieuteanant?" Stukov said, digging into his side pocket. His decent mood seemed to be ruined by the news, but the smallest hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth as he held out new rank tabs for Leandro to take. "I have always hated ceremonies, yes? Take them, Leandro, you've earned them. You're a good student,".

- Wolf's Quarters -

"I see..." Wolf said, his eyes darting down the list of names Daren had provided. He tucked the paper into the inside chest pocket of his jacket with a 'humph'. "I'll make sure we get information on these people. If any of them are involved in a plot against me, they'll be dealt with severely. Thank you, Daren," Wolf said with a slight nod. The younger man dipped his head in a short bow and replied, "You are most welcome, sir. It is all for the Destiny,".

- Bridge -

Trent clucked as he scanned the printout that came along with the first of the new cargo transfers. The part that worried him was an indication that he would be receiving new orders through the computer in his cabin, and the report that laid out not-too-subtle suggestions for the re-ordering of pilots in the mobile suit teams. "Test unit...?" he grumbled, confused at the wording of part of a filled supply order. He figured it must be referring to the Griffins. They really were being plugged in as Taskforce Juliet's replacement.
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Wedge14
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Leandro was half expecting Stukov to back hand him across the hallway, so he was a bit more then shocked when he saw the rank tabs. But they didn't really relieve the sudden tension that was bothering him. He uncomfortably took the rank tabs and mashed them in his pocket. "So what does this mean? Do you know whats going on? does this have something to do with all these new arrivals." Leandro was prepared for this promotion mentally, but deep down he didn't really see the joy in it at the moment. With the Titan's recent defeat and all this commotion with the recent arrivals this situation just made Leandro's stomach turn.
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wonton bob
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- The Kirov -
- Kyle's Quarters -


Kyle waved good-bye at the figure but wasn't sure who it was. He couldn't make out any details but was sure it was female. It almost felt like she was an acquaintance of some sort as she faded from view. His surroundings started to blind him with light, he closes his eyes from the pain.

Opening his eyes, Kyle got up to answer the buzzer that had awakened him from the surreal dream. Wearing only boxers he released a lock that allowed the door to slide open. The light in the hallway flooded into his dark room causing him to blink hard a few times. "Oh, I see." was his only response to being told that he was confined to quarters. Not questioning the reason why, he closes the door and returns to bed. Closing his eyes once again but not finding the will to sleep he simply stares at the ceiling wondering if things will ever get back to normal.
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

Kirov, Sickbay

Lt. Te'litha

"Mostly here to f**k with tweedle-dee out there standing 'watch'; you know.. the usual. Kid needs a good kick in the pants with his attitude. How you holdin' up, sir?"
“You know, I’m doing surprisingly well all things considered,” Nick leaned back against his pillow. “I’m not sure how much our mutual friend told you, actually no I’m sure he told you nothing but threats and your job; but the truth is I probably have only 2 months to live.” He cast an eye on JP to gauge his reaction

Corridor

Ltjg. Kelborn

Grace saluted the new Lieutenant and stated her congratulations almost automatically but felt trouble by all the recent defeats and commotion too. She nodded in agreement with Leandro’s questions about the state of the unit and clarified a bit. “Lieutenant Stukov, I just met a Lieutenant who had only his half of paperwork for my quarters. Even if he was a replacement pilot, Alpha didn’t have a single combat casualty at the Gate. Do you have any idea about this Sir?”


Buxoro, Bridge

Lt. Robin & Ltcmdr. Winter

“ "Sir, I was not informed as to why I was assigned to the Buxoro. As to my mobile suit, I was under the impression one would be provided to me when I was aboard the ship, but I'm not entirely sure what to make of the current situation. There doesn't seem to be any mistake in my assignment that I'm aware of, sir."
As if on cue Catherine the Radio Op piped in, “Captain, the transport Saipan is hailing saying they have a Mobile Suits and general supplies for Echo.”
Elijah snorted in amusement but resumed a strait-face when Winter gave him the evil eye before turning back to Ens. Perin and looked him once over wondering what magic he’d used. “Very well, that is all. You may all go,” he said after a minute, finding no other reason to keep or question the new pilot.
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- Open Space -

- The Kirov -
- Brig -

Saad Bahjat slipped into the ship's brig, making sure no one was watching as he entered the altered master code to unlock the door. He looked down the row of cells to the one occupied by their guest and wondered what the man was doing while he was stuck there. Two days in a locked cell with nothing but cigarettes and liquor to pass the time would be awful. Inside the security office, he took the time to enter the blood sample and pistol into evidence even though they were extraneous items. On another form, he filled out the information as if he had searched to match the gun's serial number to its owner. Lt. Sayed's misguided assumption was correct, of course - it belonged to Kyle Roberts.

He blew on the paper to dry the ink and then folded it up and slipped it into the front pocket of his tunic. When he left the brig he'd find Tariq and give his report along with the result of the ID search. It would hopefully keep the intelligence officer busy for another few hours until things were ready. With some time to waste to keep up the appearance of him doing his work, Saad left the security office and glided down the row to Pan's cell. He opened the Judas slit and peered in through the smoke. "Do you want anything while you're waiting? You hungry?" he asked. He couldn't let him out just yet, but the man inside the metal pen wasn't a prisoner.

- Cara's Quarters -

The scowl on Tariq's face made the lines around his mouth deepen further. Shiranui was not in her room, of course; he didn't expect to find her there in the first place. If he was being honest he didn't expect to find her at all, dead or alive. Still, the lack of clues ate at him as a detective. Whoever had shot Cara, if that is what happened, hadn't molested anything in her room from the look of things. The state of her belongings and clothing suggested she had left willingly. She was probably attacked in a hallway or the ready room itself. He wasn't sure if that supported his theory about ship security or not.

"We're wasting our time here," he said aloud, both to himself and to Sven. He wasn't sure where to go next. The scene in the ready room hadn't told him much, and Cara's room told him even less. The severe look on his face didn't improve as he checked the time and made a note on a pad that he slipped back into his pocket. He exhaled slowly and made up his mind. He'd go question Kyle Roberts, and then try to devise a way to force Saad or Rhys to let him into the security office.

- Hallway -

"So what does this mean? Do you know whats going on? Does this have something to do with all these new arrivals?" Leandro asked, pocketing the new rank insignia. “Lieutenant Stukov, I just met a Lieutenant who had only his half of paperwork for my quarters. Even if he was a replacement pilot, Alpha didn’t have a single combat casualty at the Gate. Do you have any idea about this Sir?” Grace chimed in. Stukov returned to his normal stern look as he considered his teammates and pupils' questions. The normal underhanded activities on the ship, formerly limited to the Ritters and Nick Te'Litha, seemed to be spreading.

He was only vaguely aware of Black Friday, but he didn't know of his intentions or the extent of his influence on the fleet. To him he was simply one of the officers exerting some pull on Capt. Trent. He grumbled and rubbed his chin. "I do not like the situation developing aboard our ship - there is too much going on, even for the Titans, yes? I am thinking I will look into these new pilots. Particularly the new friend trying to remove our Grace from her own quarters," he answered finally in his deep Russian voice, adding, "In the mean time don't let anyone but the captain or I boss you around without written orders. Proper written orders,".

- Mess Hall -

Daren quietly took the tray from the line and picked up a packet of water on his way to an empty table. Once he was properly affixed to the seat, he noticed one of the ship security MA's poking at his own meal a table away from him. He peeled open the divided sections of his food, keeping an eye on the grim-looking soldier. Rhys, who was long gone from standing outside sick bay, looked up as he brought a forkfull of the entree to his mouth and made eye contact with Daren. The two men stared at each other for a few moments, and then Rhys went back to his food. Daren knew the vast majority of the security on the Kirov were dangerous men, and Azarola was definitely one of them. He didn't look up at Rhys again for the duration of his meal. He felt like it could be suspicious.

- Captain's Quarters -

"This doesn't make much sense..." Trent thought as he scanned the detailed message from Capt. Friday. Then he felt a little foolish - of course it didn't. He wouldn't be told enough to figure everything out. His job was to make Echo available and ignore the efforts to remove Wolf Ritter. Things like this involved activating cells, didn't they? And besides, until Scirocco figured out a way to remove Bask and Jamitov, Trent was certain he wouldn't be asked to do much except ignore Black's other agents and cooperate. Smile and nod. If he didn't think Paptimus was the Titans' better option and Ritter was potentially dangerous, he would have reported all of this weeks ago.

"And I'd probably be very dead," he realized. Friday held a captain's rank in the Titans intelligence service, which earlier in the war would have given him the authority of a lower-half rear admiral in the EFSF. And that meant a long reach. Longer than Trent was certain he knew about. Being a Titans intelligence officer with a rank that high was bad enough in many cases; it carried with it mental images of people being dragged from their homes in the night and troublemakers (especially on Earth) simply disappearing with no arrest or trial.

If he were more familiar with the history of the old calendar he could make a disturbing connection to another much feared, black-uniformed military service. And yet all that wasn't enough to change his mind. The Titans were being backed into a corner, and with Jamitov and Bask in charge they were busy making it worse by painting themselves in. Maybe Paptimus Scirocco could take control and find a way out. A painful internal split was preferable to being wiped out, wasn't it?
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- The Buxoro -
- Bridge -

“Captain, the transport Saipan is hailing saying they have a Mobile Suits and general supplies for Echo.”

While Elijah was having no trouble keeping a straight face, Aaron was struggling to do so. He could feel his lip twitching as he withheld a grin.

“Very well, that is all. You may all go.”

When they had all returned to the elevator he turned to Elijah with a smirk,

"Well, at least that answers the question about supplies eh."
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Re: Episode 22 - Conspire [TE]

- Alexandria Class-Kirov, Corridor -

Sven continued to tail Tariq as they moved about the ship. He had remained silent so far, not out of distraction or want but out of choice. Having little experience with crime scenes, Sven had no practical experience to assist the intelligence officer. More so, Wolf’s orders had been to assist Tariq in his investigation of Nick, not in a murder. Anyways, Tariq was a sensible fellow and he would direct Sven to complete a task if he needed him to do so. As such Sven remained quiet and observant the entire time, although he drifted in and out of deep thought frequently.

The murder bothered Sven in more ways than one. He was torn on whether to believe the Titans discipline was rapidly falling apart, and if that was the case the organization would be worthless once Wolf took over. Or the murder was somehow tied to this Captain Black. Sven had observed no evidence to point to that but given all he had seen in the past few hours he wasn’t willing to rule it out. What bothered Sven most of all was the little information he knew of the Captain. Still, the man was most likely a minion of a more powerful player, and that man worried Sven more. It hadn’t been too hard to figure it out but he was likely a minion of Bask Om and that meant the Admiral was tied into this somehow. That worried Sven a lot more given their reach and power and just how they would have known of the destiny or the plan unfurling around them.

Still if the two of them wanted Wolf dead through Nick they had enough power to move against him through direct channels. Blinking Sven followed Tariq out of the murder scene likely in pursuit of the missing pilot. That’s when it hit him; likely the two given the war no longer had the political power necessary to take out Wolf and so were forced to use more indirect methods. Rubbing the stubble growing across his chin Sven nodded his head self-assuredly convinced of his deduction. After all based on knowledge he had gleaned from some sources he knew of Bask Om’s hostility towards the Ritters and specifically Wolf. It had taken some doing and sniffing around yet Sven had finally uncovered and politely questioned the security guard who has seen the events unfurl when Wolf’s fiancé was taken from him.

The thought of that memory made Sven grimace and swear under his breath, his duty was now to Wolf and through that he felt had a duty to protect the ones Wolf cared for. Yet, he knew so little of the Destiny or the final plan. It wasn’t his place to know as he was but a piece on the board not the chess master still that unknown added another worry to Sven’s already growing basket of problems. His biggest concern now was learning more about Captain Black and ensuring Wolf’s safety from Nick. Stopping again at an empty pilots berth Sven resolved to inform Daren quietly about the need to protect Wolf’s safety especially onboard the Kirov.

Continuing to roam the halls Sven followed Tariq patiently, yet he quivered to get to the bottom of Nick’s story. Rounding another corridor Sven suddenly broke his self imposed silence in the form of a question, “Lt. What do you know of this Captain Black?”
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