Chapter 8.2 - Englene Station

"Captain, how long ago was the Heaven's Wing ta...uh...how long since it disappeared?" Douklan asks quickly as we prepare to rush to the armory to kit up. "Does it strike anyone else as weird that these Choir people showed up so suddenly after it vanished? It feels coordinated."

Mercer stores his Spikethrower and grabs a Laser Rifle and a Stun Baton.

Hank assumes that Douklan and Corbin will be running the operation, as they have military experience and Hank does not. "Is CFU 'light' enough? It isn't a full assault suit, so it isn't completely escalating things. Also, should we be using stun rifles? That should be less lethal than lasers or blasters

Assuming the above is all correct, Hank wears a CFU, and takes both a stun rifle and laser pistol. And there any smoke, stun, or concussion grenades we have that we should take along? I don't imagine Hank knows how to use such, but if others can and they could help, let's take some.

Hank suggests security or woven armor and stun weapons. He's not interested in a stun baton as he has no Stab skill. He would prefer a rifle, too, but if that is over the top, he'll forgo that.

Corbin don's his Armored vacc suit and grabs a stun baton in place of his laser rifle.

Hank really wants better protection, but it is what it is. He takes his armored vacc suit and a stun baton. With the -2 proficiency penalty I'm worried that a stun baton would be as dangerous to himself as to others, but he takes one anyway. He also takes a stun pistol, but keeps it concealed.

Now, Hank makes a mental note to check a summary report when this is all over. After checking the report, he will concentrate for a minute to focus on the most important parts of the report. He then spends an Effort to answer the question: What do I see as the most important parts on that summary report?

In the chaotic and fluid future, Hank sees an after action report were they succeeded in rescuing the Stellar Express personnel and get them back to safety. He closed his eyes, allowing his precognitive abilities to surface as he concentrated, feeling the edges of the report blur into a mental haze as potential paths, moments, and choices began to unfurl like threads in his mind.

In his mind’s eye, he saw vivid possibilities—a myriad of branching paths that could have shaped the mission. Each was clear and fluid, stretching back to that moment were they left the CeeVee and entered the chaotic docking bay. One path shimmered with a straightforward but brutal option: a route where they would have engaged the zealots head-on in close-quarters combat, relying on firepower and strength to cut through their ranks. He could almost feel the weight of the rifles, the flash of energy blasts, the shouts of his team as they held the line against the Revelation Choir. It was a raw path, one that would’ve left blood on the deck and carried a high risk of escalating the entire situation into an all-out station conflict. But it would have worked, he sensed—at a cost.

Then, another possibility drew his attention, flowing like a shifting shadow in his mind. Here, they’d used stealth and deception, slipping into the ranks of the zealots, using guile rather than strength. He saw his team moving like ghosts through the bay, cloaked in robes, chanting in sync with the Revelation Choir, exploiting the zealots’ own fervor to convince them they were allies. In this version, his team infiltrated seamlessly, slipping into the maintenance bay undetected, ushering the Stellar Express personnel out under the zealots’ very noses. It was a quiet, cautious path—safer, but requiring every ounce of patience and precision his team could muster.

A final thread caught his attention, one of calculated distraction. In this scenario, Mercer or Douklan might have broken away, drawing the zealots’ attention elsewhere—perhaps igniting a blaze or activating an alarm to pull them away from the main path. Hank saw the tension in this path too, the moments where timing was everything. In this vision, a split-second delay could mean the difference between escape and a deadly chase through the labyrinthine docks, but if it worked, it would buy them just enough time to secure the Stellar Express workers.

Hank says, "Well, two different ideas that came to me are to either attempt stealth by taking some of their cloaks to get through them to the SE folks, then bring them back through; or to have a couple of us set up a distraction while the rest of us get the SE group and guide them back. In either case we'd be less armed and armored, so either way is pretty risky."

Thinking for a moment he says, "Instead of a distraction to focus their attention on, perhaps we could make a distraction to drive them away from it. If we could make a bonfire of some kind, the heat could drive them back while we work behind it."

I'm willing to be a distraction if that's what we want. I can probably stay out of their reach, but if I get cornered I will start with the stunner. I can probably make them back down.
But if it's me or them, I'm letting you know I'm not choosing them.
The rest of you can snag some disguises and get through. ...
I don't know if we have time to make the kind of distraction that can cow a mob...

Douklan nods. "I agree. Drawing them is a lot easier than driving them, and a curious or angry mob is much more predictable than a scared one."

The air in Docking Bay Twelve was thick with the heat of open flames, acrid smoke, and the vibrant energy of chaos as the crew of the Celestial Voyager opened an airlock deep in the ship's underbelly and prepared for its hasty operation.

Mercer adjusted his lowlight googles, activating the infrared overlay to cut through the smoke. The plan was "simple"—he and Douklan would draw the attention of the white-robed zealots of the Revelation Choir while Hank, Corbin and Erin slipped through the chaos toward the maintenance alcove where the Stellar Express workers were holed up.