Tying Up Loose Ends [Open]

[governmentninja]

Stacy's drives made managed to come back online, and they had been on the move again. Though, on their journey to whatever destination they were going to next, the ship came to a halt at what would be a very brief pit stop...

...at the edge of a supermassive black hole.

In Stacy's hangar, Leon was finishing up programming the autopilot of a shuttlecraft to fly dead center into that black hole. No, he wasn't the least bit suicidal, and he wasn't staying for the flight. But the shuttle's cargo, the stone that held the Nightmare King, that was something Leon never wanted to see again.

He wanted to toss the Yeerk on there as well, but he agreed to uphold a jury decision. Thus, that thing still remained in indefinite stasis. (And, yes, he had checked personally to make sure it was still there)

The shuttle was easy to program, as it responded to verbal commands. The whole thing only took a few moments before Leon left the shuttle, and it departed, taking the Nightmare King to a prison that no living thing would ever be able to free it from.

As he watched the shuttle sped into the Event Horizon, Leon started going over his To Do list mentally. He had reports to write, and dozens more to read, he had to find out from Gauron which areas of the city were too damaged for occupancy and needed to blocked off so they could be demolished, arrange for Aang and Haku to be evaluated for release, keep the crew from killing each other, and about a thousand other things.

But as the shuttle got swallowed up by the darkness, he let out a breath and relaxed a bit.

"At least there's one less thing to worry about." Maybe he could finally take a break before tackling the rest of that list. Lord knows he needed one.

Comments

[governmentninja]

To the Lounge. Everyone else was busy getting sloshed at Kang's tavern, so the place was empty. Which was fine by Leon. He wasn't in the mood to be surrounded by everyone right now.

The walk there was largely silent, save for the odd bit of non-verbal communication between them. Namely just a glance from him, silently noting that the Major didn't normally defer to, well, anyone like she was doing now.

But everyone had their coping mechanisms, and it was a lot easier to just be a soldier than to be anything else.

"So what sort of skill set are you looking for in a replacement?" he finally asked, gabbing a cold beer from behind the bar for himself, and another to offer her.

[standaloneshell.livejournal.com]

Oh, someone with background experience in the army, covert ops and with a working knowledge of wizard-class hacker skills. They should also be able to bench-press a car and banter philosophy, if that's not to much to ask for.

Motoko peeled off the cap without looking to see if it were a twist-off or not.

"Covert ops background would be preferable, but knowing this group, I'd rather train someone than deal with an idiot who'll grow a pair at an inopportune moment," she replied, after the first swig, "I'd like a sniper, if I can get one. Backup."

That's what she'd call them, for now, whoever they turned out to be. Not partners, not teammates: backup. To do otherwise was unreliable. Dangerous. Wait and see.

[governmentninja]

"It's still a crap shoot, but there are some people who have shown a degree of promise. Unfortunately, like most of the crew, they keep looking at the wrong thing." Like each other.

Everyone was so busy sizing each other up, trying to gain the upper hand, that very few people seemed to ponder the big picture. Who you were kidnapped with was less important than why you were kidnapped to begin with.

Or at least Leon thought.

[standaloneshell.livejournal.com]

"Willful blindness is a common coping mechanism," she replied evenly, though what she didn't say was that she fully intended to make the only thing their little reverse munchausen syndrome could focus on was her. If you weren't terrified of Motoko in some small, significant way, then you weren't paying attention, and no-one came under Motoko's control without paying attention.

"Who did you have in mind?"

[governmentninja]

With a few taps on his omnicomm, a quick message was forwarded right to the Major's brain. All it was a reference number, that would point to the basic roster information of one of the crew.

"She calls herself Nova."

Don't expect him to elaborate on that suggestion. That would mean he would have to pause in enjoying his beer.