CATALYST

"You can't sit back and defend this injustice! I demand action!"
"This council will not come to conclusions without evidence."
"What more evidence is needed? Andromeda war ships were the only ones in
proximity to the colony ships when they fired upon them!"
"Though a noteworthy observation, it is little more than that."
"I will not sit idly by waiting for you to make up your minds!"
*beep* *beep* *beep*
The video feed cuts off. You sit there, hands folded and eyes closed.
"this isn't going to end well..."
Your companion breaks your train of thought. You open your eyes and look up at
him as if to listen to more. He sits across from you. You both are in a small
waiting room. He seems to be a sturdy man even for his clearly older age.
Wrinkles cover his face but it's hard to tell what creases are from maturity and
which are scars from long ago. His hair is short but thick and pure white. He
continues.
"that whole conference was a sham! It was his intention all along to start a
war. Everything is already in place for it to happen and he just pressed the
start button."
The both of you sit there in silence for a few moments as you take in his words.
"listen, there's something the higher ups didn't want you to know but it won't
matter now if you do."
He pauses and draws his breathe, but before he let out a sound, a large crash
was heard throughout the building. You both jump to your feet.
"what the hell! Was that a bomb?!" your companion yells.
"We need to get you out of here now!"
As he speaks, the man throws back his robes and reveals not only a good sized
submachine gun but also the true bulk of his forearms(the equivalent to a
submachine-gun since it's a plasma weapon). Every inch of his skin laden with
massive scars. He ran to the door so quickly that his robes (now a cape) could
be heard snapping in the wake. The door slid open and he peered around both
directions.
"the delegate ships would be grounded. There's a secret shuttle bay 100 meters
from here. LETS GO!"
You are completely dazed at what is going on. Surely this couldn't be the UPR,
you think. How could they have the audacity to attack a sanctuary? Never the
less, if it is the UPR they are sure to be coming after you. After all, You are
the ambassador of Andromeda.

You try and try but like words on the tip of your tongue, you cannot remember
any more. Your reality seeps back into your senses and you open your eyes.
"unfortunately you cannot complete the mission from the comfort of this vessel."
Ops sarcastically says.
You sit up and step out of the gondola and begin walking into the district. It's
a noisy place with vendors yelling for your attention. For you, this is the
slums of trade.

"you look like you could use some decals on that armor! Don't just use a
firearm, use the weapon of fear in your next encounter!"

"sir, what data package do you have?! Did you know Datamor is the fastest
growing data system retailer!"

You notice you're in a mercenary marketplace. You decide it's better to quickly
remove yourself and make your way to the docks which are visible in the
distance; perhaps a thousand meters away. As you walk, you pass a halcyon
security mech questioning one of the vendors.
"he just took off running with a set of my jetpacks around that corner over
there without paying. I'd go after him myself but I have a storefront to look
after."
the vendor tells the mech. You hear the operator chuckling in the comms.
"don't tell anyone but they're talking about agent 002." (Paul)
he chuckles again.
"he's a bit of a reckless fellow but he seems to get the job done."

You keep walking. The path turns into just a gap between large cargo boxes and
eventually opens up into another shopping district.
"I heard there was a really nice flower shop around here"
The operator says jokingly. The district looks more permanent then the last. You
assume it's because of the proximity to the docks. There are less mercenaries
but almost everywhere you look you can see a halcyon mech stand as still as a
statue. You notice that the dock workers (people running the operations of the
entire dock) are all wearing yellow suits and have a wrist device. Some casually
engaging in commerce and in the bars. There seems to be a control station at the
top of a large building only a little ways off.
"I'm sure that's where docking permissions and cargo routing takes place. That's
going to be our best bet for success. We just need a ticket in."
It strikes you as odd that ops has nothing better to do than look through your
video feed. Never the less, you know your target. You think of all the entry
points you can discern right now. There must be a front door, most likely
guarded. All of the equipment around here could probably take you to the roof of
that building given you could take control of one of the hypo-lifts (an
extending bar which is attached to the ceiling and lifts thing from above). Or
perhaps you could buy a small craft. Anyways, once there you could probably get
in through a balcony door. Then it dawns on you; perhaps you needn't enter this
building at all. If you could acquire a craft, it would be possible for you to
rendezvous with the cargo ship on approach and try and stop it from docking. You
could sit here all day thinking of other possibilities because they are truly
numerous, but time is running out.

(omitted: I turn to my companion suddenly, "Ops, you are familiar with this
area. Find us transportation to that cargo ship immediately."
My companion replies with a slight grin, "Yes, sir."
He begins to run. I follow close behind.)

(completely omitted)

(aside: the operator is communicating with you through a com system. He is not
with you. Even if this was a completely accurate entry, it would have failed to
merit any points. Further more, I feel like this entry was a deliberate slight
intended to show how much you care. A few things need to be noted. One, Ops can
try to do anything you ask him to do that's within his capabilities. That is to
say that right now he is no more than a technological entity that operates
within that technological domain. He is your Swiss army knife of futuristic
technology. Two, I will not play the game for you. You just tried to sidestep
the entire point of your participation by passing it off to me in that way. This
isn't about you just making a decision, this is about you writing your character
into a story.)

A muffled womans voice is heard echoing throughout the massive warehouse. "Cargo
F72-A now departing. Cargo M83-C on approach."

"That's our ticket." Ops says clearly dissapointed. "looks like they're running
ahead of schedule. There's not going to be much time if that tank is really
onboard. I couldn't tell you when it will activate but when it does, there will
be little you can do to slow it down. Killing it will be out of the question.
Not by yourself at least."

(player replaced)
-

I stand there a moment taking it all in, all the noise and confusion.
"ops, can you get access to dock controls?"
"yeah" he says confidently.
"then I need you to make erroneous directives. Make it seem like a virus for me." I say as I walk towards a cab service. 
"ah," Ops puts the dots together. "prompting them to purge the system manually. It may take me some time to get in."
I pause for a moment to figure out the self service taxi station. I never used one before. That or I don't remember it. 
"beep beep beep" the machine notifies me of the transaction and the door of the cab unlocks with a click. Once inside the cab I make sure my environmental suit is sealed and ready for open space. Within seconds I am soaring through the level heading for the dock doors. They are immense giving a good view of the cargo ship looming closer. 

(narrator interjection: Out of nowhere, a far larger ship than your taxi soars by you nearly hitting you. It's thrusters on full.

"sorry about that" ops says over the comm.)

(player interjection: "I guess I won't ask what that's all about", I say trying to stay focused on my mission.)

I pass through the force field. The docking sequence for such a large cargo ship takes quiet some time. I try to determine the best place to land and decide on the belly of the beast. I stop at a maintenance hatch and discard my vessel. Hanging onto a handle, I call Ops in hopes he can get me through. "Ops, show me what you got."

3

"these doors are off the grid. You'll need to jack in to the panel on the side. This model has proprietary data nodes but the SB2 node should work with some fiddling." 

After a few minutes of first finding the connector and then getting it to work, the light on the door turns green. 
"you decoded that pretty fast" you say to ops. He doesn't respond.
"ops? You there?" not even a sound is heard over the comms.

Slowly, you push open the door. There is nothing but hollow blackness inside. You expected to see a maintenance tunnel but instead you are met with nothing. 

All of a sudden a wave of energy hits you. It is a strange, unexplainable feeling. Without a chance to struggle for control, your body suddenly belongs to something else. You can't move anything but your eyes and Sweat is pouring down your face. Your arms and legs begin dragging you inside the ship against your will. 
Unable to scream, another voice fills the void. Just as odd as this mysterious force, the voice is heard through open space and not through your comm… A familiar child's voice.
"don't be afraid, this is the beginning. This is your new home."

They door closes and locks.

(Player terminated)