Auxesia - Stories on the Eidolon Wraith

[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

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Demon On The Horizon

Hunt woke up to find Raven had gone out for a flight. The two spoke briefly over the link as he proceeded to change his bandages and shower. He dressed himself up in a red button-up shirt and black cargo pants, as is his usual casual wear. He walked out to the living room and brought up his PD.

[TEXT: Hunt > Tantalus: "I'm around if you're still wanting to talk. We can meet at the Keeper's chamber."]

After sending the message, Hunt left their quarters and worked his way through the halls of the Wraith to the Keepers chamber. He stepped in and closed the door of the empty meeting room. Tantalus, walking through the hallways of the Wraith, digs out his datapad.

[Text-> Hunt: "I'm just walking around the Wraith, i'll meet up with you ASAP"]

He sighs in relief, putting his datapad away and picking up his pace down the hallway.

[TEXT: Hunt > Tantalus: "Sounds good. Just uh, knock when you get here. The drones know you're coming, so they won't bug you."]

Tantalus continues walking down the hallway, eventually coming up in front of the Keepers Quarters. He digs out his datapad again, reading the message, relieved he read that before barging in. He puts away the datapad, rapping on the door. Hunt walks over to the door and pulls it open. "Come on in." The interior was a rather dark, calming room. A long conference table occupied the center, with a rather extravagant chair at the furthest end, obviously for the Keeper. Tantalus nods, following Hunt in, looking around the room and letting out a long whistle."This would make Golanski jealous." He said with an impressed expression on his face. "Raven's personal hiding spot. One of many. Also where we have meetings." Hunt walked over to the extravagant chair and sat down next to it. "Take a seat. Let's talk this Osiris business." Tantalus walked over to the chair closest to the end, pulling it out and taking a breath as he sits. He sets his arms up on the table, cradling his head in thought. "There's a lot to think about... It's not everyday you steal one of the Order's battleships." Tantalus notes. "It isn't every day you steal a Liberty Navy Dreadnought, either." Hunt smirked and crossed his arms. Tantalus smirks back, confident in the Auxesian's past. "Well said, but with me here and a few others who have fought for and against the Order before, I feel like there's enough brainpower here to put something together." He looks down at the table. "The first thing we would have to do is set up the location."

"Already have something in mind. Raven and I spoke briefly about it last night. Problem is - The Fedayeen just arrived in Coronado. That leaves the Order with five capital ships present in the Borderworlds. Six, including the Razgriz." Hunt said. "The Fedayeen? The damn mobile flagship is here now... That makes the Razgriz, Oathkeeper, Amenhotep, Tombstone, and The Fedayeen... who's the sixth then?" Asked Tantalus. "Atum. The Crayterians have declared that neither the Order or Auxesia are permitted to fire on one-another within Crayter space." Hunt replied. "So Coronado is out of the question." Said Tantalus. Hunt adjusted his seating position, wincing slightly as he leaned forward. "Most likely, unless you feel like ruining the Order's reputation and risking Auxesias. However, we've been learning who will be where during their planned assault. If we manage to find out where the Atum, or a majority of its personnel will be, that gives us Inverness to act on. Which works as a plausible cover story." Hunt rolls his shoulders slightly. "The people we have on Sabah working on the refit report it lacks additional drydock space. The Invergordon space port remains open and available for refit and repairs. You could potentially request temporary access to remove the trackers on the Razgriz." He said. "The Order wouldn't be too happy about Auxesians in Inverness, the Atum's defense wings would move immediately to intercept." Tantalus commented. Tantalus rubs his temples, thinking of a plan. "Invergordon would work, however there's the problem of getting off the Atum's grid first, and for that they'd need to believe the Razgriz got completely destroyed." Tantalus adds. "The Eidolon is already in Inverness. We're conducting a project with Invergordon and the IRG. The Arktos can easily slip in through Newcastle and possibly confront the Razgriz in open space." Hunt paused, rethinking his words. "Or... The Razgriz confronts the Arktos. That'd fool the crew in to thinking it's a real combat situation."

"It would have a pretty good effect in front of the Other Order capitals, its not hard to convince them to have the Razgriz move temporarily into Inverness either." Tantalus adds. Hunt rubs his temples briefly. "Damaged reactor, maybe? Infestees - and now Nomad Purifier-classes are being confronted all over." He said. "Exactly, even if they think I'm lying about the Reactor, they still have to take me to the more equipped Atum to see."

Sapphire Raven was leaning in the doorway, sneaking up behind Tantalus. "Too bad they'll try to drag it back huh? Or - you know - we could get them while distracted." Hunt looked from Tantalus to Raven mid-sentence. "The Razg- Oh, hello Keeper." He said as a slight smile dawned his face at the sight of his partner. Tantalus puts a finger up, pointing it in the vague direction of Raven behind him, hardly surprised. "Depending on how the confrontation goes with Arktos, it may be necessary to actually damage the Razgriz to pull this off, or plan one hell of a big explosion." Raven takes a seat, slumbering herself down, putting her feet up on the desk with slight groans. "They're preeeetty distracted by the whole Tau-117. I'm not sure if the Atum will actually be deployed.I tried sniffing for info, hired a broker to go find out." Tantalus leans back slightly, thinking. "The Atum is still in Inverness, and has been there long enough that its equipped for ship repairs. They would need to take the Razgriz to the Atum to prove any sort of damage, and by then the plan would be in effect." Raven leans back in the chair, attempting to relax. "Hrrrmmmm. What if... we tip off the Core? Golanski is in the Independent Worlds. Mostly separated from Mu. He has nowhere to hide. Thus - distractions can be created." Hunt stroked his chin briefly, thinking on Raven's suggestion. "Can we trust the Core to not reveal the source?" Raven looked at him and raised a brow slightly. "Reveal what. Oh, us tipping them off?" She asked. Hunt nodded in response. "The source of the information, yes." He said. "Maybe I can tell them." Raven added. Hunt shook his head. "If the Crayterians catch wind of us assisting the Core against the Order even temporarily, that's the end of any relationship we might've had." He retorted. Tantalus' face contorts in a strange way. "Working with the Core? Seems like simpler times." He sighs, looking down at his weathered hands. Raven sighed slightly and tapped her finger on her chair. "Could tell the Bretonians. They hate the Order too. Eh - although..." Hunt interjected. "Bretonia wouldn't really care. They're more focused on the Gallic war. No. Our best option is to stage the Razgriz being confronted by the Arktos or vice versa." He said. Raven continued her sentence. "They may know and... yeah."

"That still means removing the transponder and tracking devices. But - wait. The Tombstone captain mentioned that the ship was 'lost'? Or missing, rather." Hunt said, leaning back in to his chair slowly. "Or - something." Raven commented. "Could be lying." She said. "Possibly, but remember - The Order cut Tantalus off, and some smaller patrols, as well as the Amenhotep, weren't in contact and experiencing a similar blackout. It may be that there's a reason behind it. Or - They might just be that incompetent these days to not even communicate with their people." Hunt added. Tantalus raised a finger. "The Transponders could be removed in space after the confrontation... could fake the Razgriz's death well enough the Order moves off to ignore it since they're heavily focused right now on Tau-117. The Order knows why they cut me off. I'm sitting in front of the reason why. I'm sitting on the reason why." Hunt shook his head and turned to Tantalus. "So they've caught wind." He said. Raven looked at a map on her Personal Device. "Why Inverness? Why not Puerto Rico?" She asked. "Inverness has the Atum's defense grid, you're more likely to provoke the Order there, they'll also likely engage since its out of Crayterian space." Answered Tantalus. Hunt looked between the two briefly. "That's what we want, right? It needs to appear real, and since a majority of the Order's forces will be focused on Tau-117, they won't see it coming when one of their warships opens fire on the Arktos. You're acting on the kill order issued by the Grand Admiral, outside of Crayter space. The Razgriz loses and its destruction is faked." Hunt said. "Yes but they'll track on to him, especially if he's been cut off, eh. I don't know." Answered Raven unsure. "Its risky, but better than engaging in Coronado." Mentioned Tantalus.

Hunt nodded. "We hit them while distracted. They won't divert forces or delay their operation for one Osiris that's moving to a secondary position, now would they? If it appears as though the Razgriz opened fire, any Order vessels present will recognize it as enacting the kill order. Worst case - We can record the scenario and publish a news update on the Order acting aggressively in the Borderworlds despite being offered assistance. It ruins their image even further, and puts up a public video display of the fight." He said, crossing his arms. Tantalus nodded slightly. "What of the Aftermath? The Crayterians will likely see this, It would appear Auxesia would be acting in self defense, so I doubt that would damage their reputation too badly. But what happens when Auxesia is flying around with a ship named the Razgriz?" He asked. Hunt chuffed. "Why would it matter? The Order already shoot us on sight. At least now they'll have a real reason to. It can remain hidden for a while, if we leave enough evidence at the scene." Hunt retorted. "Maybe we could scrounge up some scrap whilst we move the ship to be repaired. We do have the Junkers after all." Added Tantalus.

Hunt shook his head. "Scrap might not be enough. What about the wreckage of the Vengeance in Cortez? It's the most recently destroyed ship in the region. It's Liberty tech, and essentially unrecognizable in its current state." Hunt typed in to his PD briefly, bringing up a holo-display.

"Scorch it slightly with some plasma, melt off the paint and drag it to the site." Hunt said, examining the wreckage. Tantalus looks over the image, looking heavily at the scrap. "It's Libertonian tech correct? Scorch it like you said and its indistinguishable from an Osiris." He said in agreement. Hunt nodded. "Exactly. Same silhouette, same origins. They'll see scorched metal and assume the worse." Raven shook her head slowly. "Designs are always different..." She added. "Material... Eh... I guess it works." She said. The situation was stressful and worrisome. "They won't put that much time in to investigating it if the crew is recovered. They'd have a testimony of the combat situation." Hunt retorted. "Both of the models were designed in Liberty, the schematics have hardly changed since then. The most important thing is playing off this confrontation, needs to be big enough to get all the crew off, might actually need to lob something heavy at the Razgriz." Tantalus added, examining the wreckage briefly. "How about... I sent out a communication that can be intercepted by them. Me arranging a date to give you 'info'." Raven added with some finger quotes. "For what reason?" Hunt raised a brow at her. "So it isn't coincidental that we meet up." She replied. "Would have to be burst transmission, low encryption. You never know who could show up." Tantalus added. "He said they knew Tant' was on the Wraith. So... Make it seem like he got back-stabbed." Raven said. Hunt nodded slightly. "Or alternatively, he makes it to the rendezvous and decides to enact the kill order." He added. Tantalus rubs his neck slightly. "So, comm would be sent, Order ships would trail. And Auxesia would 'backstab' me at the meeting?" Raven shrugs. "Okay - but think about it, why would it go there? They'll start questioning it." She said. "Call it tricking the enemy. He's been trying to get close to us so he could have a shot at killing us." Hunt notes. "If he really was... He'd be in contact. So no."

Hunt chuckled silently to himself at the thought of his own words before he spoke. "Unless he doesn't want them to be aware of his plan due to fear of it being spoiled. You know how certain Overwatch members are loose about intelligence." Tantalus chuckles "You've no idea... But its still a complicated event... I say our best route is still the supply route ambush." He said. Raven sighed and looked down at her round abdomen. "Yeah... right... I'm just..." She stands up, stretching, being annoyed by her son again, "You can keep discussing. I have some 'things' to take care of." She turns around, leaving the room. "So what if Tantalus organizes the meeting with - Oh..." Hunt frowns slightly. The two began to communicate with each other through their link. Tantalus grimaces, waving Raven off. "So... Hunt." Tantalus crosses his arms. "What are your thoughts on it, we basically have three options to choose from here." Hunt looks to Tantalus. "Have they made contact with you at all recently?" Hunt asked. "Yesterday, but we had to scram due to some Infested." Replied Tantalus. "Anything confrontational?" Hunt asked. "Partially... Hunter had deduced that I was with Auxesia, completely and wholly." Replied Tantalus with a slightly sour tone. "Have you told him anything or argued the point?" Asked Hunt. "I did argue the point with him, his argument was to brush it off and attack Auxesia for their 'Childishness and irrelevance'." Replied Tantalus. Hunt chuckled at the comment. "And what was your response?" He asked. "Its hard to to rebut when you're running away from Aliens, but the best I could do was explain Auxesia's lack for a want of aggression if the Order hadn't initiated it in the first place." Replied Tantalus. Hunt sighed and shook his head slowly, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Hrm. That rules out playing the loyalist card that I had in mind. I think we'll just have to go with the interception run. The Order knows we operate in the Borderworlds. The Fedayeen was intercepted by the entirety of the Basilisk wing and as expected - The Order threatened violence. They know we're here. The Crayterians know we're here. The Navy and Armed Forces know we're here. It's a tense situation." Hunt rubbed the bridge of his nose briefly. "We aren't left with a lot of choices, especially with the Gallics in Magellan. Inverness is our best option. The Razgriz doesn't make the supply run as it openly engages the Arktos in open space. Perhaps set up an emergency warning to evacuate, and we have the Basilisks detonate torpedoes in the nebula to simulate the explosion of the ship in Avlemore, and the remains of the Vengeance are put in place around the escape pods, or at least near enough to be discovered for them to assume what had happened. That leaves us with where the ship will be taken after the fight." Hunt finished.

"Invergordon? Either that or we'd have to tow it out to the IMG." Added Tantalus. "Possibly, but that means backtrackin- Oh no it doesn't. Newcastle. We'd need to be in contact with the Guild. We could even use the Meridian Circle and get in touch with the Junkers in Puerto Rico." Hunt said. "As long as its protected on its journey, we could track around the Order, things would be relatively painless as long as its repaired and back in action quickly." Tantalus mentioned. "Worst case we can fix it up with the repair ships well enough that it's able to move on its own. Internal damage and serious combat damage would need to be done at a shipyard. We can circle the ship from Inverness to Newcastle, through to the Taus. That means bypassing the Gallics, which can easily be done during one of their fights with Liberty or Bretonia. Their focus will be elsewhere." Hunt stated, rubbing his face. "Well we don't need to /destroy/ the damn thing, but likely disable it to convince the Order and the Razgriz's crew the ships a goner." Added Tantalus. "Exactly why the repair ships will be necessary." Said Hunt. "Aye. Disable the ship, Auxesia will chase the Order off after the Razgriz's crew evacuates, and then we bring in the wreckage of the Vengeance to mask the ship once we leave. Maybe set off a few more Nova torpedoes with the Basilisks to make it look like the ship was shredded to pieces." Said Tantalus. "Exactly. The Crew testifies that the Razgriz initiated the combat out of fear when it encountered Auxesia and to enact the kill order, and that takes suspicion off of you. You died obeying orders and attempting to complete your duty, and any political fallout falls on the Order for initiating combat once again. The ship ends up repaired and possibly refit, and returns to active duty. Commanded by the same person who died on it." Said Hunt with a small smirk.

Tantalus smirks, running his hands through his hair and leaning back. "Seems quite a title... Dead commander piloting a dead ship." He said. "You're sitting across from someone who was once considered dead twice by the same House." Hunt shrugs. "Either way, we'll need to finalize a plan of action, and get in touch with either the Junkers or the Independent Miners Guild." Hunt said, adjusting his seating position again. "And after everything's finalized, I'll need to rattle off comm's to Admiral Hunter and he will get the ball rolling." Finished Tantalus. Tantalus shuffles in his chair, standing up. "So, that'll be all then Hunt?" He asked. "For now." Hunt nods. "Keep in touch." Tantalus nods back, giving a short salute "I will Hunt, for now I have to head back to the Razgriz, get everything together. Let me know once things on your end are in place." He leaves the room, immediately heading for the Hangar and strapping into a Nephthys fighter. The Nepththys speeds out of the Hangar, quickly heading back to Coronado and docking aboard its mother ships bays. The ship remains, staring into the blazing horizon of Coronado. Hunt sighs and carefully stands up, being wary to not damage his surgical wound. He left the Keeper's chambers and wandered the halls back to his and Raven's quarters, where he would proceed to join her in an attempted rest, solely for the purpose of comforting her while she attempted to sleep.

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