03 - Warden

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TVC 03/1 Shinigami and Barnabas at another game of chess, where she displays what human characteristic she has added to her repertoire. He was finished with the mine situation in Tethra (everyone dead) and he missed Aebura’s special juice. Gar was watching them. Barnabas had refused to give Gar a full upgrade concerning pain, as he felt pain was useful in training, and Gar did admit that it was. So went to do more training.

They were to meet an informant at Shu base, to obtain schematics for the syndicate’s base. On the way, they were detected by a slaver/pirate ship, which wanted to take them for the ship and for Shinigami, who, as a legend, was invaluable.

TVC 03/2 Barnabas won the match, with accusations by Shinigami of cheating, which he did not deny. And he won’t tell her how he did it.Shinigami alerts them to a problem, a debris field littered with rocks and ship’s parts. But when Barnabas looks out the window, he sees nothing. An electronic, artificial field, so that they would be induced to take a “safe” path. It was an electronic net, which over-rode their control systems, and took them captive. A trap! So Barnabas decided to “fall in”. It was a half-circle of devices which emitted signals if you came into their range, which locked the ship in place. Shinigami fired a set of missiles which destroyed them all. Which only made it more of a challenge and increased their desire to take the ship.

TVC 03/3 Barnabas goes onto Shu Base, gets schematics, takes them to ship. This is the base that Yennai built for Crallus’ predecessor when the syndicate joined up. Examines them, and Shinigami decides they need to enter through the garbage shute. State of the art base, so will need time and diligence to circumvent its devices. Uleq now running the Yennai Corp. Was partner in old KGB Enterprises. Is the Torcellan who was Crallus’ “second”, and was really running the show. Barnabas decides to take him and the base and the Corporation, all at one time.

TVC 03/4 Crallus and Uleq on hidden Yennai base, moon of UR5 system gas planet. Crallus asked Uleq why he bothered with the mercenaries, who he did not respect. Uleq tell him his background. (See Uleq). Uleq feels that humanity might change the whole Universe, unless someone deals with them. “I suppose I could tell them,” the Torcellan admitted finally, “but I hadn’t intended to. After all, once I have the Shinigami, Yennai Corporation really won’t need my father at the helm, will it? Or my sister.” His face was as cold and hard as the void outside. “I really don’t care if they know I was right before they die.”

TVC 03/5 ‘’’TAKING THE YENNAI SECONDARY BASE’’ Shinigami noticed when they approached base, by the ‘’Jil’’. Destroyed the ship, with a “snap of her fingers.” She liked the human touch. She criticizes his armor, says Bethany Anne’s is better. Shows avatars all over the bridge, showing she can be doing multiple things at once. Barnabas wishes for simpler times. Barnabas takes Gar with him on this mission, with trepidation, but he has to have a first battle sometime. Now, remember to keep breathing. I think that applies to your physiology as well. The urge to start spraying bullets everywhere will be quite high. Don’t do that. Keep breathing, pick small tasks like taking down one person, stay aware of your surroundings— “And stay behind me,” Barnabas concluded. “Battle is chaotic. There’s really no way to understand that or prepare for it until you’ve seen it.”

TVC 03/6 Gar and Barnabas enter through the garbage room, find four soldiers in their path. Barnabas takes the first four, then Gar takes the Shrillexian and the Brakalon right after them, feeling good while he’s doing it! They advance to the stairwell, and find several dozen , mercenaries there. Barnabas attacks, but one pushes the alarm button, and it sounds throughout the station.

TVC 03/7 After the alarms sounded, Crallus and Uleq found Barnabas and Gar, and Shinigami, and realized what had happened. Crallus and Uleq will escape to the main Yennai base while all of the fighting is going on, to re-group. Uleq has sent all of the ships under his command (18) to capture Shinigami while they escape. Shinigami reports same to Barnabas, and that she’ll have all 18 ships to deal with as soon as she lifts off. Will be turning their own turrets on them, so no problem. But she will be turning their own turrets on them, so no problem. Shinigami will be putting a tracer on the escape ship, while fighting off the others. Barnabas instructs her to connect him to the 18 ships’ comm systems. 12 of them have stopped firing at she, so he tells them that if they wish to live, they are to land and meet with him in thirty minutes in Crallus’ conference room. Anyone lifting off or not there will be destroyed. They find Tafa Boreir and Joltun hiding, slaves, and take them to the room with them. Tafa hated Boreir, (mind-reading).

TVC 03/8 Barnabas talks to the surviving Captains, telling them of the conditions for their survival (complete surrender of all goods, complete silence about Devon, moral and ethical lives in the future), killing the one who intended to betray him. They agreed, and left, to continue their lives as law-abiding citizens. He then addresses Tafa and Jeltor. They needed help. Both had doubtful pasts, but he would not judge them before he knew of their circumstances. “I do not indulge in cruelty for its own sake,” he stated, both to Tafa and the Jotun. “There are crimes for which I would judge you, but I would never do so without cause. Rest. We will heal you, and then we will determine what to do next. You will not be a captive or a slave no matter what happens.”

TVC 03/9 Uleq and Crallus discuss their actions, Crallus not happy with having left all of this men to die, men who were his responsibility and his friends. And to Uleq, they were totally expendable, as was Crallus himself. Uleq accused Crallus of the same thing, and he was right. And Crallus HATED him ! Shinigami was trailing the escape ship, while Gar and Barnabas recovered from the fighting. She had placed an alert system on the captured base, in case anyone else tried to land there, Barnabas to decide later what to do with it. Gar and Barnabas spar. Time for Gar to learn to PLAN his attacks, and to anticipate an opponent’s moves before rushing in. After enough, Barnabas turns to Tafa, wanting to learn more about her.

TVC 03/10 Barnabas plays Jeltor’s arrogance against him, mind-reading while speaking of Tafa. Tafa’s parents were the family embarrassment. Were members of the Hyo-Tein, a terrorist group. The Yennai wiped the Joltun off the map (no info available to Shinigami re Tafa or parents). Borein group also wiped out terrorists group, after killing them, planting stories about them. (See Characters, Tafa)Barnabas questions her, compliments her on her paintings. (Mind-reading), and apologized for invading her privacy. She wants to know what he wants to do with her, so he tells her. Enemy? What does SHE want to do with her life?

TVC 03/11 Zinqued and Chofal talk, on Zumbir about continuing to go after Shinigami. Zinqued has a special device that can burrow in and inject a virus into their computer systems. It’ll shut everything down, they won’t have a chance in hell of defeating programming this sophisticated.” He’d paid through the nose and called in every favor he had at their last stop, but it would be worth it. “I just need you to make sure it can latch on securely and get through the hull.” She agrees to work on it.

TVC 03/12 Tafa on shopping trip (Barnabas had given her an account), for paints, personal items. The smells brought her back to the concepts of a larger Universe. She also offered to buy things for Jeltor.

Uleq and Crallus were just finishing their meal on Virtue station when Barnabas appeared at their side. Uleq shouted that Barnabas was trying to assassinate them, and they ran. As there were too many guards for them to take down in a short time, the two of them got away, as they had manually locked down all other ships on the station, and were using a special Yennai system to depart. Then one of the dock workers insulted Gar, as a Luvendi, and a REAL fight began, with Shinigami taping it all.

TVC 03/13 Barnabas tried to keep Gar from fighting, not worth it, but Gar turned it into a legend. Zinqued receives notice that Shinigami was leaving Virtue station, so he commands ship Zumbir to follow. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

TVC 03/14 Barnabas, Gar, and Shinigami are famous at Virtue Station, except that Barnabas is really a Torcellan, Gar is really a Leath in disguise, and the ship is really named the Calcifer. Gar and Barnabas spar, inspiring Tara to paint them, and an alert sounds. All go to their places, (bridge, cabins, ), and they found that a ship was following them. (Shinigami’s avatar had changed – See Technology, Shinigami). She saw the other ship launch a small item, and decided to allow it to hit them. She was amazed that it had bored through her hull, and was trying to hack her, so she sent back the particles, with the message they were so ineffectual that she wasn’t even going to be bothered with destroying their ship. Chofal and Zinqued were dismayed at receiving the message, and STILL did not give up on taking Shinigami!

TVC 03/15 Shinigami was upset that that the Yennai ship had gotten away, and that she had not realized what they had done to do so. Barnabas likens the Yennai Corp to a living entity by this time – so widespread that people gave it their loyalties, and would defend it, as a living being. In th process of evaluating Yennai as a government in formation, Shinigami told them that Jeltor had contacted the Jelton Military, in regards to Barnabas’ intentions, and was told that there was nothing to worry about. Jeltor had also investigated Ilia’s intentions re Uleq, and had also guessed correctly that she was worried about him and HIS intentions as to inheritance and Yennai power. Otun Navy has a description of the Main Bases’ weaponry, and would be pleased to give it to Barnabas if he wanted to take it out.

TVC 03/16 Zinqued is determined to take Shinigami, and addressed Paun with a plan of ambush, attack, and sharing the wealth. Paun says fine, if you can do it, Zinqued starts sending messages. Uleq intercepts one of his messages, and contacts him, promising him some funding and some ships. Uleq will go to his sister for them. Zinqued receives the message, s Paun about it, and Paun feels they cannot trust the Yennai people, but goes along with it, with a very bad feeling in his gut.

Yennai Headquarters: The Yennai Corporation headquarters looked like nothing—a hunk of rock floating in outer space. There were no noticeable patrols, no buildings or visible entrances, and no emissions on any of the scanners. Ilia requests Uleq meet her in another room, the Overlook, a room looking down into a nuclear furnace, the radiation shielded from the room. But the shielding does not stop falling bodies. This is where they perform executions. Ilia tells him that she has complete control of the company, as per their Father, and that she will tell him of his future when she decides.

TVC 03/17 Paun, the ship, and the syndicate mercenaries met on Tretoar, a station jumbled together from an old mining rig and a few cargo ships. Paun hated this place, though it was one of the best spots in the sector to offload stolen goods with no questions asked. The station managers there were some of the best paid in known space. Their cut was high, and for good reason: they never, ever gave information about who had gone through Tretoar. Ten ships were participating, all paid for with Yennai money, but Uleq had disappeared. Zinqued contracted for forty ships more. Zinqued makes a deal with the syndicate leader to keep the ship after its capture, and not hand it over to the Yennai Corp. A deal.

Jeltor et al get ready for battle on the main Yennai base. Jeltor activates his suit, and Banabas is pleased, thinking that Jean Dukes and the Federation will want to make a deal on this with the Joltun. (See Weapons, Armor) Jeltor’s Suit) As Shinigami breaks stealth to approach the base, klaxons sound, and it’s put on alert that an attack is imminent. Problem was, it was a decoy base. Ilia was notified, and was upset. She ordered that all of her brother’s communications and information on Shinigami be forwarded to her. She would take down this ship, and be head of the Corporation.

TVC 03/18 As Shinigami attacks the base, Jeltor comes in with additional schematics, and Barnabas and Shinigami alter the plan to attack the top of the green zone. As they continue the attack, and Barnabas is able to see the areas, he realizes that it is all a decoy station, and that there is no one there.

TVC 03/19 Ilia and Uleq meet again, and again Ilia accused him of destroying their holdings. That there way was to rule from the shadows. But Uleq tells her that the Federation has morals, and that it cannot be bribed, and that they need the ship to be captured, so that THEY will have the power of force. Ilia knows she is right, and leaves the room. Uleq knows she is wrong, and knows that she has destroyed the Yennai. Ilia knew better. She now had Uleq’s plan, would execute it, along with him, then her Father as well, and she would be prime. Then Shinigami speaks up, telling them that they were only a decoy force, made to be destroyed, despite their valor, and that if they would defect, all of the bases assets would be split up among them, and their ships unlocked so that they might escape. They should talk it over, and decide. She would return.

TVC 03/20 Barnabas meets with the guards, and they seem calm about the tricks played on them – that Yennai Corp made money off of munitions, slavery, piracy, all bad things. The guards think that this is the normal way of the Universe, much to Barnabas’ chagrin, so he explains that it is NOT the right way, and that when they are gone, the Universe will be safer. The Guards think they are somewhere near the Votayett System, all messages coming to the guards from a relay on Seres. Barnabas will tell Bethany Anne of this decoy outpost, in case she might want to send armament experts to check it out, and perhaps establish an outpost for herself. Ilia calls Zinqued, and set up a meeting with him, telling him that she is the one to deal with. Paun doesn’t trust her, and tells Zinqued so. She calls her husband, Wirav, so take the mercenary ships under tow, to the base. She would not allow them to come alone. Protection.

TVC 03/21 he Jotun Navy receives a closed message from Jeltor, seen by the Captain and the Admiral, and the admiral does not take it seriously. As the Joltun have been taking bribes from the Yennai group, they would not be inclined to help Jeltor and Barnabas defeat them. When Jeltor and Barnabas were discussing this, they were interrupted by Admiral eton, who had been listening to their conversation. Barnabas speaks plainly. Barnabas resisted the urge to sink his head into his hands. “I agree that your political system can hardly be overturned in the next few days,” he said simply. “However, I do believe that standing up for your principles and speaking honestly is a necessary piece of restoring integrity to your political system. Right now, your strategy is to ignore the corruption and hope it goes away. That is one of the most idiotic plans there is. After much conversation, the Jotun Navy sends all of their information on the Yennai to Shinigami, and promise to go to their planet and effect change. They also hope to never meet Barnabas again.

TVC 03/22 Ilia goes to Wirav, tells him of the plan for the ambush, and that he CANNOT shoot at the ship, as they need to capture it intact. He thinks she’s crazy, and so she threatens to replace him with his rival. He accedes, and as they are talking, her Father walks in, telling all of the Captains to remove themselves. He then talks to her, testing her for the “right” answers. She tells him of the human ship searching for them, and that it is close. She has called the fleet back, to protect them, and to neutralize Uleq’s actions. Her Father was pleased that she was taking action, and also that he would see his sone one more time before he was executed. This sat poorly with Ilia. She was happy that her Father would not last much longer, either!

TVC 03/23 Barnabas has discovered that Shinigami is cheating on the digital chess boards (Jeltor, Gar, and their hacking abilities), so has had a manual board made so that he will move all of the pieces, as she cannot materialize anything. All’s fair!. Barnabas asks Tafa if her art could be her purpose in life. She thinks about it, COULD it be a worthy purpose in life ? and Shinigami interrupts. They have a lock on the base’s location.

TVC 03/24 Uleq and Crallus are visited in the Observation Room by his dad, Koel Yennai. Koel was proud that his son was not pleading for his life- a sign of pride and courage. Koel reviews the sibling relationship, along with the Yennai Corporate one – that of heirdom. Uleq has fulfilled his purpose, to test Ilia in two areas – her hatred of Uleq, (she did not kill him immediately0, and she must now face her love for him. Only if she passes BOTH tests will she be heir. Uleq had made something that was geat into something greater. For that Koel thanks him. Uleq starts to laugh, madly, and Crallus can say nothing over the crazy sounds. Ilia is happy to see her Father, and that he will be back when she is ready to show him the core of the captured AI.Wirav addresses Zinqued, telling him that his ship is turned off, and that there will be no tracking capabilities to their base. Paun and Zinqued become suspicious, but there’s no backing out, now.

TVC 03/25 Barnabas and Shinigami peak of the potential trap being shown by the fleet, that they will draw Barnabas away, then try to capture Shinigami. She asks for advice, and Barnabas suggests that this might be the right time to use her flamethrower. She agrees. Ilia and Wirav discuss how to handle as intelligent an AI as Shinigami. Ilia thinks it can be disconnected and partitioned, to be controlled. Zinqued accosts her as she is leaving Wirav’s ship, reviewing the plan. Three waves, one to battle the crew as they descend to fight, one to back up that crew, and another as reserves. Force will win the battle. Shinigami is enjoying weaving through the missile attacks so that they are colliding and exploding with each other. The captains were relying on slow-thinking humans to avoid the missiles, so she was reacting accordingly. She could see the landing bay they were herding her into. Large, with lots of room for soldiers to hide. Soldiers now, crispy soldiers later. Shinigami was pleased to meet the fleet, as she was looking forward to showing them her true capabilities. They landed, and Gar, Barnabas and Jeltor came out to fight.

TVC 03/26 The soldiers waiting for the crew were down three hallways. The soldiers waiting to capture her were above her. If they never get down, she will flip the ship, letting them fall off, them flame them.

Barnabas attacks first, coming in from above the soldiers (special boots), attacking them with guns and knives. The hatred radiating from them was almost overwhelming. He could hardly close his mind to it. Gar and Jeltor appeared to be able to easily handle the infantry, untrained soldiers, so Barnabas wanted to go looking for Uleq, which he did. Barnabas found Uleq, with a small bomb that he had planned to use in conjunction with the reactor, to utterly destroy the entire facility, but Crallus snatched it from him, jumping into the reactor, smashing the bomb into small bits, sending his last thoughts, “Koel must be killed ” to Barnabas, who addressed Uleq, asking where Koel and Ilia were, mind-reading the response. He then killed Uleq, and went after Ilia and Koel.

TVC 03/27 Ilia watched as everything collapsed, knowing it would be her end if she did not win. She saw the real battling armor of the Joltun, and realized that they had been duped, that they had mis-judged their mechanical knowledge. She stated to look for Barnabas, and couldn’t find him. She saw Uleq in the Observation Room, dead, and no Shrillexian. Where was he? He was behind her, reading her thoughts. He reminded her of all those she had killed and tortured, so that she would die with them in her mind. She had killed and killed, and the Universe would be a better place without her.

TVC 03/28 Zinqued watched the landing bay as three figures descended from the ship. Three people, only? THIS was the crew everyone was afraid of! And one of them a Luvendi! A joke! They started descending onto Shinigami, whe a group of mercenaries showed up, and told them to stop and go away, they they were taking control of the theft. It was their lives on the line, and they wanted the ship. Paun told them they were right, and led them all away from the ship. As they ran towards the hallways, they heard the flamethrowers activate into the crowd of mercs that had accumulated around the base. When they got into the hallways, and saw the slaughter, they knew they were dead. Then they saw Barnabas, Gar and Jeltor, and Zinqued fainted. Barnabas thought that was funny! A good day, when he could make a Shrillexian faint! Barnabas read their minds, saw that they were really not murderers or slavers, and let them go, with the warning to tell everyone that Shinigami was not to be taken, and to tell everyone of the massacre they had seen that day. They boarded their ship and took off.

They went back onto Shinigami, and collapsed into tears of laughter. Tafa came out into the hall, and asked what was so funny. The attackers had actually soiled themselves, and the three thought that was hilarious.

Barnabas asks Shinigami to take them back to High Tortuga, as they are all out of juice and he needs some.

TVC 03/29 Back in Aebura’s bar, Bethany Anne, Tabitha and Akio were eating some of the sandwicjes, and Bethany Anne thought they were OK, good, but not as spectacular as Tabitha had mentioned. Akio had won the bet with her, so she paid up. Just then Barnabas suggested that they try the juice – the first they had heard from him since his message. Barnabas was sad that he probably wouldn’t becoming back there as much as he wanted to, as the Universe was impossible! The more I see of what’s out there, the more I realize how much hopelessness there is How do you keep so many people around and keep your resolve?” He was becoming to realize just how much people suffered as individuals, not as groups. Did she ever lose hope of making a difference?

Bethany Anne sat quietly for a moment. “No,” she said at last. Her voice was strong, and it only grew harder as she spoke. “Running an Empire was soul-sucking. It was like rolling in a pile of shit all day long. I had to give up everything that was important to me. I hated it. But I would do it all again. Anytime there’s one less bastard out there ruining the universe, anytime there are people better off when you leave than when you get there, it’s worth it.” Her eyes started to glow, though she kept a rein on her temper. “There are a lot of assholes out there. It’s why I was the Queen Bitch, not Queen Everybody-Gets-a-Hug. Let it make you angry. Don’t. Ever. Let them win.” Barnabas commented , “Anytime there are people better off. Someday I hope to have faith like yours.”And they all stayed for more of a good time and for more juice.

TVC 03/30 Gar, Barnabas, Shinigami reviewing the outcome, and that the whole Yennai fleet has disappeared. No trace, no base, no people. Gar is pleased that someone is finally afraid of him, and Tafa wants to do a series of portraits of Barnabas in his moods, maybe even come out with him sometime when he’s “dispensing justice”. Just then there was an incoming message from Koel Yennai. It is his message to Barnabas, he states that: “You have signed not only your own death warrant, but that of everyone you have ever loved,” the patriarch proclaimed. You are not safe, human. There is nowhere you can hide from me. Eventually, someone you love will be caught off their guard, and I will destroy them. One by one, the members of your family will fall. I will take apart your legacy piece by piece. I will destroy it, as you destroyed mine. I had crafted the perfect heir, and you took her from me.”

“Ilia was a living, breathing person,” Barnabas pointed out. “She was not solely your creation. And might I add, she had plans to kill you when you came back to take the AI core.”

“I taught her well, then. When she could kill me, she would be strong enough to take my place, and I would no longer be fit to rule. My death would be the greatest gift I could give the Yennai Corporation. I will wipe out every human settlement. I will kill every alien who has so much as talked to a human. I will make sure that no one in the universe remembers your species ever existed. And I will make you watch all of it before I let you die."

“Well, that’s convenient,” Barnabas said. He looked around at the others with a smile. “Here we were, so worried about finding him, and it looks like he’ll come to us.”