Choices and Consequences

"Let us pray," said Volodja when Pyotr attached electrodes to his head after him and Pyotr discussed about principles of memory device for some time. Then he closed his brown eyes and relaxed. He was at other's mercy from now on while at least part of him was sent into memory device which he still called a dream machine...

Holographic camp fire was burning and all lose EGO psyches gathered around it when they got a new face amongst them. That face resembled Volodja Uljanov's handsome one and holographic body that face was attached to,  bared Volodja's features. Resemblance made at least Sophie to jump up from her place and squeak from excitement when Holo-Volodja announced: "Time to get you out of here my friends and...Alfred and Psycho Pete. Just kidding. Form a line and we will let you out of here. We start with Amber, of course, because having her back is an emergency. I will supervise the movement until your turn comes, Sophie. Then I will take a hike for awhile for our reunion party. After that I might return and lead the parade until traffic ceases."

"All readings show that Volodja is all right," announced Pyotr. "I do hope that he is smart enough to avoid being sucked into someone's mind when part of him is inside the machine. It would be a shame when he has to spend rest of his life as a vegetable since he is my friend and at least some of you care about him as I do. Place Erika to operation table, please, and we can begin."

Strangely enough, Amber appeared in reality as a hologram first, but as soon as she saw how fragile Erika Widowmaker appeared, she immediately disappeared into Erika's EGO implant to begin the long and difficult task of treating Erika's brain tumor.

Amber stopped long enough to sent a brief message to Dinara, Atticus' EGO psyche, saying hurriedly, "I missed you horribly and I love you immensely, but Mama needs me now!"



Meanwhile, Lexy contacted Lady Christianna, with an urgent message, making her immediately connect Lexy with the rest of the team, except Erika who was still on the operating table.

"Tell them." Said Lady firmly.

"Um... okay... Beast coming!" Warned Lexy.

Lady rolled her pink eyes, then thought to Lexy, "More details please." 

Lady told me to do peri... periodi... every-once-in-a-while scans of the area. Over a hundred Votans with guns and things, from the Votan Col.... Collec... Collection are headed to Defiance... led by a guy named The Beast - that sounds scary! One ve... vehi... car is headed this way!"

"Holy crap-on-a-stick!" Thought Belle, inadvertently for all her team mates to hear except Erika.

 

Seeing that almost everybody's faces turned suddenly serious, made Pyotr to worry and he looked questioningly to others and finally opened his mouth to ask: "Is there something I should know about? Or what's more important - is there something I should worry about?!"

"Well, some bad guys are coming close to town, most likely with not good intentions", Taffer replied, "So the first thing you may want to worry about is to finish our EGO swapping matter. The sooner we finish it, the sooner we have our team at full strength for the fight if it occurs. As I can see, the process is running smooth, so I might be more useful with my gun in the field protecting your home from outside".

He stopped, thinking that maybe he told more than he should already, and sent to the team EGO-to-EGO, "By your command, Atticus. I can go out with my gun to protect this house. Or you can order Volodya to, as his suit is better for stealth in the snow. My dark jacket is sticking out too much, so I'll have to rely solely on Cloak to be invisible. I can replace him in the EGO transfer process then. This house has a nice radio jamming emitter, and our ship has it as well. This can be useful if we want to capture this roller with its crew once they get close. But the emitter could work as a huge beacon for heavy artillery if they have it, so better reduce the time when it will be active to the minimum."

Then he continued informing his team EGO-to-EGO, "General Rahm Tak, also known as The Beast, is a Castithan and a military leader of the Votanis Collective. Known for atrocities during Pale Wars and after. From what Lexy had found out, they are coming from the road to Oklahoma City, known as formerly occupied by E-Reps to build their Mag-Lev train line. That means the E-Reps had most likely fled from there, so we have absolutely no reason to wait for any reinforcements or help from them."

Dinara, my EGO psyche responds to Amber. "I have missed you sooo much! I have been so worried about you! I love you sooo much! Not sure if you know about Erika and Atty, but you must help your mother! She needs it, and if I distracted you from saving her, then Atty would NEVER forgive me given their new relationship as of late last night!So Pulease save her! Save your mother and Atty's long unknown big sister! We can have a great reunion later! Love you sooo much, MY Amber baby!"

After I get everyone's messages and hear them, I say outloud, over EGO, and over my Helmet's comm systems, so the whole command crew and Lexy can hear, "If I have a crown it is very dark and tarnished, perhaps even made out of the bones of my enemies, but that doesn't matter. Well apparantly my personal issues must wait for another day. Change of plans! We can not stay here for long so we must evac and take Pyotr and his wife with us. We will bring you both back, when you feel it is safe to return."



"So here's the plan. Stephanie get all essentials together. Volodja and Pyotr do as much as they can to help our friends from here. Lady get in the Mech and get back to the Vigilant. Get it ready for emergency takeoff. Chris will handle weapons systems, until I am onboard.

Taffer, I saw some old turrets around the perimiter. Get them working and alter those omnivolts to see us as non-hostiles, and do what you can to protect everyone during the bugout. Erika, you are bodyguard to Volodja Petrovich and his wife. I will take the runner, and go to the Vigilant and make a quick costume change to look more menacing by putting on my well-known Harbinger garb. Belle if you dissaprove of me donning my favorite and most iconic and protective armor, then save it for later, when you give me the lecture and hate that you are probably already storing to unleash on me. Anyway, after my quick wardrobe change, I will station myself outside the main gate to stall any that come, for as long as I can, with the runner hidden nearby for my escape. Belle will scout, but not to far from the compound and Vigilant, as you will be riding back on the runner with me to ensure we are both onboard as soon as possible. Now, we need a vehicle to Evac those on foot.

So Marcel...if you are offering to help, as Lena's life may depend on the team and my crazy schemes, then get to the Durango just outside the wall. I assume it is yours. Get to it and get it running then bring it back to the team here. Taffer, Erika and Volodja can handle things here. So after you bring them a working vehicle to help with the bugout. Get to the maingate. We will make use of some of your talents I heard about in Paradise. I will be very visible just outside the maingate, with the runner hidden just inside as our get away vehicle. If they do drive up to me and the gate then...this is where you come in. You will be hidden nearby with that nasty shotgun as my hidden protection. If they do indeed approach me, Then while they are questioning me, you come out of hiding and confiscate their vehicle..."

I look around, then say, "And as much as I hate to say it, you and I will try to do so without killing them. We knock them unconscious, and you take their vehicle and bring it back to the evac squad. Then you help with the Evac, guarding everyone's safety, and then guarding the open hangar bay of the ship, once they are on board, for as long as possible to give Belle and myself time to get there on the runner. Belle and I will be the last to board the ship, as we will be the main line of distraction and defense to ensure that the evac is successful.

Marcel if you refuse to help, I will do my best to guard the gate AND get the evac vehicles myself, but we, and that includes Lena and you, have a better chance with your help. We may not like each other, but the safety of our loved ones comes before our feelings. Agreed? Anyway, after we liftoff, we will scan the area. If it is possible to land where your plane is and get it, then we will. If not then we will do what we can to ensure it's safe return to Paradise at a later time."

After I am certain everyone on the team agrees to their parts, hopefully including Marcel for he must be seen as a teammate for now even if him and I dislike it, I help Lady get to and climb into the mech. Then I get on the runner and get back to the Vigilant. I blur to my quarters, where I quickly unlock my secured armor locker. Then I quickly don my Harbinger suit and all the weapons I stored with it. I then blure back to the runner, and quickly get to the main gate, and stash the runner as I stand there looking imposing, and hoping Marcel really does agree to his part in my scheme and come to back me up, since having somebody that may also be ruthless as my protection just may be needed given the situation.

"Hey, I'm no fashion critic! Good grief, I'm standing here in red white and blue armor!" Replied a smiling Belle Starr, amused that Atticus really thought she was worried about his choice of garb when she was so proud of how the confirmed lone wolf killer was taking tactical command of their group like a fish to water. Belle had known when she first met Atticus that he was a natural born leader, and knew if he could somehow be turned away from his self destructive path, he could be a great force for good, and she felt he was proving her right again.

Erika Widowmaker came up to Belle, looking pale but already moving more like her old self, and warned, "Do not be captured by the Beast! He has a well warranted reputation in the Votan Collective of being ruthless and cruel in how he treats humans."

Erika touched the large scar running diagonally down the left side of her face, not burdening her friend with the story of how she received that scar from the Beast and not the enemy. Early in the Pale Wars, Erika was a teenage private serving under the Beast, then himself a young captain, but who already had a reputation as a sadist. The Beast had ordered her to torture to death a human noncombatant, but instead she killed him outright, pretending to misunderstand the order, although that didn't keep the Beast from slashing at her with his charge blade. The next day she was transferred to the Florida front by a sympathetic commanding officer, who she would be eternally grateful to.

Lady Christianna had already blurred out the door and into the Mech, headed to the Vigilant, when Belle left the lab to begin her scouting mission, giving a jaunty wave and wishing everyone before she left, "Good luck y'all!"

Erika had a small difficulty getting Stephanie to just take the basics, convincing the cyborg that her prized ceramic frog collection was not an essential, but that they would return for it later. Meanwhile, Lena slept soundly recovering from her operation, oblivious to the approaching danger.

Marcel Lestrange dashed through the snow with no horse and no open sleigh but on his two feet. Although he went over the snowy fields there was no laughter and no freaking bells everywhere because stealth was main characteristic of his movement. Dodge was abandoned and intact when Marcel observed it, but still he approached it after meticulous scanning procedure. Life has taught him being careful. Fortunately nobody was there - except him, of course - so he opened the door, removed straps and the stone and sat to driver's seat. After few minutes, full off ignition attempts and muffled cursing in French, Dodge Durango finally started to move and Marcel stopped it only after reaching behind the gates.

"First stage completed," he informed Atticus. "Now we will wait until scouts car approaches and then you can play a scarecrow as you planned. Just do not let me wait in a snow too long. Sneezing and coughing are not part of your plan, I assume." He went out from the yard again and found himself a nice, comfortable and really cold snow pile to hid into. 

"Pyotr, as you just heard, I'll be manning your house's defense system while you're working with Volodya. Please take my hailer so we would stay connected", Taffer said, handing the device to the scientist. "If you need immediate help and can't talk, tap S-O-S in Morse code on its screen. It will send an alert signal and your location to me. I need access codes to all systems including energy management. You may want to change them first if they contain something personal. Also it would be much safer if you give me the ID of the EGO unit you had just installed in that Casti girl. I'd like to brief her on the situation immediately after she wakes up."

Taffer rushed to the second floor, where the main control room was located, His EGO receiving access codes from Pyotr on his way there. He contacted Omnivolts and commanded them to return, noting that only three of them stayed online. He checked the electrical fence then went to the turret controls. He set all his team mates' EGO IDs as friendlies for both Omnivolts and turrets and added Marcel's and Lena's EGO IDs to the list as well. Turrets went online just fine and he noted he could see surroundings through their cameras. Once all means of defense were on and checked, he opened a window and climbed to the roof to look around the area with the his scope of his Ranger.

"Looks like another bunch of Dark Matter wannabe fanatics", he said to his team's EGOs, "good thing they are rather predictable, bad thing I'm afraid all negotiations with them will be futile. Wait, I've just lost Belle's signal. Her vitals were under my constant monitoring and she was not receiving damage before the connection was lost. I suspect a signal jammer somewhere or something like that. I'm sending you her last coordinates I've received. By any means, I'm staying here protecting our Doctor and his patients until they are evacuated. Unless Atticus orders me to do something else of course."