Harridan's Heart, Part II

The crew discovers Pfotenhauer's true intentions as they team up to try and stop Warmind from bombing Andoni out of existence

Short Summary
Thirteen hours remain before the malicious AI, Warmind, uses the Pfotenhauer battleship, Harridan's Heart, to destroy the planet of Andoni. Currently, Higgins and Piani are making their way from the engineering deck of the Harridan's Heart to the Swan Song after being attacked by drones and deadly robots. Prosper and Mr. Sicarian are making their way from the core to the Swan Song after being unsuccessful in convincing the Warmind to stop its attack on Andoni. After a couple of hours, the crew reunite at the docking bay that the Swan Song is located at only to find three large, patrolling, maintenance robots. With the help of Connor Wu on the Swan Song's weapon controls, the crew dispose of the robots. After explaining the situation to Ms. Mesa, she mentions that an officer by the name of Madam Oubliette may be able to help the crew defeat this malicious AI and that she should be located on the bridge. Once the crew gets to the bridge, Madam Oubliette explains that the Warmind is an ancient AI and that they may be able to brake it, but they will need time. She then explains that in order to create this time, someone will have to go outside of Harridan's Heart while it is in drive-space and manually cut off three fuel lines. Mr. Sicarian decides to volunteer for the job. After he gears up and steps out into drive-space, he is immediately hit by a large array of colors similar to that seen in a kaleidoscope. Because the Harridan's Heart is so large, it takes Mr. Sicarian a couple of hours to go to each of the fuel lines. During this time, Mr. Sicarian has hallucinations of his dead wife appear before him. He also gains visions of the past when he used to work for the Pfotenhauer Society, namely when he let his squadron die due to his own carelessness. Mr. Sicarian pushes all of these memories into the back of his mind and is able to cut all three fuel lines and return safely back to the bridge. Unfortunately, Mr. Sicarian was not fast enough as the Harridan's Heart fell out of drive-space only half an hour away from Andoni. Not having time to brake the AI, the crew cuts their loses and leaves the Harridan's Heart. In the viewport of the Swan Song, the crew watches as Andoni gets destroyed.

Detailed Summary
The date is July 2, 3200. Thirteen hours remain before the Pfotenhauer battleship Harridan's Heart carries out planetary destruction protocol Typhoon Epsilon and obliterates Andoni. The crew is currently stationed on the battleship in two separate parties. Piani Pic, Wilbur Higgins III, and Ms. Mesa are on the science deck making their way to the Swan Song while simultaneously trying to dodge giant robots outfitted with rocket launchers, machine guns, and all other kinds of dangerous ordinance. Prosper Trudeau and Mr. Sicarian have just left the ship's core room after being unsuccessful in convincing the malicious AI, War Mind, to stop its advance on the destruction of Andoni.

Getting To The Swan Song
Mr. Sicarian exclaims over the comms that their mission to stop the War Mind was a failure. Prosper then tells everyone that he would like to try and brake the AI. Ms. Mesa mentions that there is a Pfotenhauer liaison of the maltech-division named Madam Oubliette that may be able to aid them. Piani requests that everyone reconcile at the Swan Song before going to the bridge to find Madam Oubliette.

It takes two hours for both parties to reach the hanger that the Swan Song is located in. Immediately upon entering the room, three previously dormant maintenance robots animate and start to slowly make their way to the party. Piani attempts to get a vantage point and climbs up onto a catwalk suspended 20 m (65 ft) in the air. While attempting to sneak towards the Swan Song avoiding the robots, the party all of a sudden hears over the ship's loud-speaker, "Wu Mother Fuckers!" The party turns and sees the ship's multifocal laser fire and blow a hole into one of the hanger bay walls. "I found where the gun controls are. Give me a second... next shot will be better," exclaims Connor Wu. One of the robots then turns a corner and starts to close in on Mr. Sicarian's location. Knowing that he doesn't stand a chance against the VW bus-sized robot, Mr. Sicarian turns around and sprints towards the Swan Song. With some guidance by Higgins, Wu shoots the robot tailing Mr. Sicarian, completely demolishing it. The other two robots then begin to head towards Higgins and Prosper respectively. Wu shoots at the robot chasing Prosper but only manages to get a glancing blow as it continues to chase Prosper down. "This is the most fun I've ever had in a spaceship, inside another spaceship!" says Wu excitedly. Prosper turns around and shoots the badly-damaged robot, stopping it in its tracks. Cocky, Higgins turns around and starts to moonwalk back towards the ship while finger-gunning the robot who is chasing after him. Wu attempts to fire at this robot but misses, blowing up a rack of missiles next to Higgins and Ms. Mesa which knocks both of them onto the ground unconscious.

Up above on the catwalk, Piani sees crane controls and gets a flashback to a bad arcade that she went to as a kid where she consistently lost at the arcade's crane-game. She positions the crane just over the robot chasing Higgs and lowers the crane arm in an attempt to pick the robot up. She curses as she misses, "Just like the game! Piece of shit!" The robot picks up unconscious Higgs and Ms. Mesa and then begins to head towards the hanger-bay exit. Wu takes one last shot at the robot which causes it to cease function as it drops Higgs and Ms. Mesa onto the ground. Piani runs over to the two of them and uses her psychic healing ability to restore Higgins back to consciousness. She then uses a lazarus patch on Ms. Mesa, which stabilizes her until they can properly bring her back to health. Piani then carries Higgins and Ms. Mesa into the ship's medbay. Pi tells Piani that Higgins told them that they are god and that they should have restorative powers. Piani tells Pi that she doesn't think that they are capable of that kind of power. Pi tells Piani that the War Mind is currently only a piece belonging to a bigger puzzle and that the other pieces that are missing. Piani tells Pi that she will do everything in her power in order to get Pi off of the battleship safely and that she thinks it would be best to try and brake the War Mind. Pi lets Piani know that they don't believe that the War Mind should be braked, but that they will do what Piani wishes for them to do. Piani says, "I love you" and Pi responds back, "I love you too." Knowing that an entire planet is at risk and not wanting to waste any time, Mr. Sicarian tells the party that he is going to go to the bridge. He then leaves with Prosper.

Madam Oubliette - Maltech Division
Ten hours remain before the execution of planetary annihilation protocol Typhoon Epsilon. It takes Mr. Sicarian and Prosper an hour to arrive at the bridge. Upon arrival, Mr. Sicarian introduces himself as Mr. Sicarian and tells them that he is there to help fight against the War Mind. When Mr. Sicarian's name is mentioned, everyone looks around and begins to whisper at each other. Mr. Ossuary says that he thought he recognized Mr. Sicarian and that he had come to believe that Mr. Sicarian had been dead. Mr. Sicarian fills Mr. Ossuary in on the party's current situation and desire to try and brake the War Mind.

Afterwards, a woman who is nicely dressed comes up to Prosper and Mr. Sicarian and introduces herself as Madam Oubliette. She takes them over to a viewport and outside, they can see the weird multicolored bending of light that is drive space. It has the resemblance of something that could be seen in a kaleidoscope. Prosper becomes intrigued by the colors and the more he looks, the more of a sense of synesthesia that he perceives. He starts to hear pipes and see strange patterns. He gets a copper taste in his mouth and after a few moments, somehow gains the willpower to look away. Everything then returns back to normal for Prosper.

Madam Oubliette tells Prosper that the AI is incredibly ancient and that it knows things that her and the captain would very much like to know. Prosper then asks Madam Oubliette if there is a way to slow down the ship so that they can brake it before it gets to Andoni. Madam Oubliette tells him that if someone where to go outside of the ship and manually empty fuel lines, then that may give the party the time that they need. Mr. Ossuary tells Prosper and Mr. Sicarian that exposure to drive space may cause severe unknown side-effects but that if successful, their plan may give him enough time to get the information that he needs in order to possibly go to another sector and maybe even find Earth.

Mr. Sicarian informs the rest of the crew of their plan and that he will be the one putting on the vac suit and going outside of the ship to cut the fuel lines. Piani tells Mr. Sicarian that she has rebuilt the code that she used when unbraking Pi and that all she will need to do when he is done is insert the code into the War Mind directly. Mr. Ossuary says that Ms. Mesa would be the best person to direct Mr. Sicarian as to what to do outside of the ship and so Piani wakes up Ms. Mesa. Ms. Mesa is not in very good shape, but she is able to stand and Piani fills her in on their plan. Ms. Mesa asks Mr. Sicarian if he has had any signs of MES in his family and Mr. Sicarian responds no. She seems very suggestive and asks Mr. Sicarian if she can run some tests on him sometime later and Mr. Sicarian agrees to her request. She then gives Mr. Sicarian her comm number and tells him that if he is able to get them off of the ship alive, then she will see to it that Mr. Titan is misinformed about his location.

The Unknown Effects of Drive-Space
As the airlock opens in front of Mr. Sicarian, he is immediately assaulted by the vast array of colors produced from drive-space. It is as if a multicolored blanket was pulled over the ship and the colors on the blanket were chasing each other around at high speeds. Latched on with his grav-boots, Mr. Sicarian walks to a nearby fuel station that Ms. Mesa told him to go to. Mr. Sicarian is breathing heavily. The tasks that he has to perform go by slowly as it is hard to work in zero-gravitational space and his vac-suit often gets in the way. As he is performing the tasks instructed to him, he hears a familiar voice from behind him.

Mr. Sicarian turns around and sees his dead wife wearing the same clothes that he last remembered her in. He says over the comms,

Mr. Sicarian: Uh, there's a woman that I know very well standing behind me.

Higgins: Don't trust that bitch!

Prosper: Mr. Sicarian, there is nothing on the camera.

Mr. Sicarian: That's fucking cruel.

Mr. Sicarian then flips off the ghost and continues working on the fuel lines. It takes Mr. Sicarian an hour before he is able to cut the fuel lines at the station he is at. Just as he finishes cutting the lines, his wife who is still behind him, speaks up and says,

Mr. Sicarian's Wife: What are you doing?

She puts her hand on Mr. Sicarians’. Mr. Sicarian starts to tremble as he can physically feel his wife's hand over his. Ms. Mesa begins to speak but it is hard to hear her as she seems like she is underwater and many miles away. Mr. Sicarian feels his mind being torn in two different directions. His wife then puts her fingers onto his face.

Mr. Sicarian's Wife: You don't have to do this. It's dangerous out here. Why don't you come inside?

At this, Mr. Sicarian stammers backwards falling down onto a knee.

Mr. Sicarian: What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here. They took you away from me. You're not supposed to be here... They took you.

Mr. Sicarian's Wife: We thought you might be confused. No, it's fine. Everything is fine. You don't have to worry about Titan, or the ship, or any of this. Just come with me.

Far far away, Mr. Sicarian can just barely make out someone else's voice.

Ms. Mesa: Mr. Sicarian. You have to focus. Whatever it is you're seeing, it's not really there. Remember the valve Sicarian. All you have to do is open it. There's two more to go after this. Please, we don't have a lot of time.

It takes Mr. Sicarian another hour to stumble over to the second fuel line and disconnect it.

Ms. Mesa: Alright, you're doing good. That's the second junction done. We just need to do one more, and this one's a little trickier. If you turn to your left, you see that strut? If you disconnect it, there's no way we're going to be able to maintain speed. But once it's disconnected, you're not going to have a lot of time to get back onto the ship. Probably an hour at most before the War Mind realizes what's going on and shunts us out of drive-space. I'm going to walk you through this, we can do it.

A Reveal of Mr. Sicarian's Past
One hour passes as Mr. Sicarian walks to the last fuel line. It is on top of one of the battleship’s large struts.There are only three hours remaining before Typhoon Epsilon comes into effect. As Mr. Sicarian is climbing the wing, his Heads Up Display (HUD) fades away and is replaced with an old HUD that he had when working for Pfotenhauer. Displayed on the HUD are his old squad-mates' names and vitals. He looks around and recognizes a memory of his where he was supposed to infiltrate a tower on Onintza, but something went wrong...

Mr. Sicarian looks around, he can hear gunfire. He looks down and sees a gun in his hand, he can feel its weight as he advances onto the tower's location with his squad...

He remembers what went wrong, it was the only time that he had ever messed up on a mission. He was in charge of going over the schematics of the fortified tower, making sure that the attack would be coordinated and go as planned. He unfortunately overlooked something that day and it cost his entire squad's lives. The tower had recently been equipped with heavy armament that they were unaware of...

Crouching behind cover, Mr. Sicarian looks over to his right. One of his squad-mates is beside him. He knows that his men would trust him no matter what order he gave. He could see that trust in his teammate's eyes. After a nod of approval, his teammate runs out from behind the cover and machinegun rounds coming from a heavy mounted turret are the only sound that can be heard, echoing in his ears for eternity.

Mr. Sicarian opens his eyes. In front of him is the last remaining fuel tank. Ms. Mesa begins to give him instructions. Both Ms. Mesa and Mr. Sicarian are having a hard time concentrating, both are fading in and out of consciousness at this point. It takes some time, but finally the fuel line gets cut. Mr. Sicarian watches as the mosaic of colors surrounding him peel back before his eyes. He is now surrounded by empty space.

An Irreversible Decision
All of the lights on Harridan's Heart turn off, the emergency lights come on shortly after. Their location, about half an hour away from Andoni. Mr. Sicarian stumbles his way back onto the ship. He steps onto the ship, Madam Oubliette tells him that he did it and that they are all going to be leaving the ship soon. Shaky and sweating, he turns to the side and throws up.

Prosper connects to The Six of Swords, a ship belonging to The Order of Annunciation. Prosper informs them about the parties current situation and when he tells them that he has a brake ready for the War Mind, The Six of Swords tells Prosper that he isn't allowed to brake AI as per orders directly from Odette Rainier. They say that after chariot, it’s how things have to be. Prosper says that he understands and terminates the connection. He whispers a prayer under his breath and says to Piani that they are ready to leave. Before departing, Piani sends an anonymous distress signal to the planet of Andoni, warning them to get off of the planet as quickly as possible. The Swan Song leaves from Harridan's Heart and watches as it goes back into spike-drive space, continuing its march of doom to Andoni. Because the Swan Song is only able to move at a third of the speed of the battleship, they know that they are only arriving to witness the aftermath of planetary destruction protocol Typhoon Epsilon.

Andoni
The Swan Song emerges from spike-drive space. The crew sees the Harridan's Heart looming over a desiccated wasteland that was once Andoni. The planet has many large craters in it, its atmosphere burning. The destruction doesn’t look to have claimed all of Andoni, but those that survived may be less fortunate than those that died. Prosper asks Pi to put on Soave sia il vento by Così fan tutte. A message from the War Mind broadcasts within the Swan Song, "Witness worms. This is only the beginning." Hearing this, a look of rapture befalls Prosper's face. The last scene is that of Mr. Sicarian alone in his room. He pulls out a never before seen picture from his drawer, sits on his bed, and cries.

Crew Status

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Criminal Activities

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Business

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