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Fathom's Phantoms Aftermath

Back when Kamrn worked as part of the civil police force he had been a street cop, and proud of it; something about the thought of being an investigator was unappealing since he didn't really have the critical thinking for it. What he DID have, however, was a tactical mind. His understanding of how combat flowed meant that he had a fairly reasonable idea of what had transpired during the events that led up to him walking through the burned-out security door that marked the entrance to the executive suites. He had taken ten minutes to clear the site before he was able to confirm that there were no more hostiles... but that was just the start of his duty.

Theo rushed past him once the all clear was given; the Wolf was obviously concerned for his fellow coworkers. Carol, although concerned, kept a much more reserved approach and stayed safely near Kamrn. Although the fatalities were high, there were others still alive in need of aid. From there the Gorumn turned toward addressing the most immediate issues first: the wounded staff. Unfortunately, before anything could be resolved, he was surprised by Dr Victor Cortez, who seemingly stumbled on the scene by accident... though Kamrn knew enough to realize that little involving the Cat was random.

To the security officer's everlasting displeasure, Victor got right to work stabilizing and treating those who were in need. Kamrn was pretty sure he'd have to answer later to his superiors for having a lower-deck medic work on the VIPS, but it was far more appropriate to be concerned about loss of life more than loss of rank. Despite the Gorumn's focus on the immediate issues he still couldn't put the big picture out of his mind. Despite how much he wanted to think about the attack he couldn't stop to pull out a splinter when there was an enormous open wound in front of him... and that lead to increasing his understanding of the events.

The Gorumn was able to identify the initial breach sight easily enough: he just had to follow the torched security doors between the apartments to where the bulkhead was penetrated by a troop pod. The actual events in the executive apartments, however, required a little more finesse. It all started the moment he walked back through the final door that had stood between the VAC troops and the long, straight hallway that included the three doors leading to each of the Overseer's three apartments.

The corpse of a male Monkey lay right outside the first apartment door and a female Dolphin lay at the second; the two had been in the hallway when the VAC troops had forced their way into the executive wing. Two VAC troops lay three-fourths of the way between the entry point and the first door and that indicated two important facts: first, at least one person in the executive suites had been armed, and second, the VAC assault team was either neutralized completely or they didn't care enough to gather their dead.

In addition to the Monkey and the Dolphin, a Bull, Zebra, and two Sheep were in the hallway, though they were facing away from the entry point. The wounds on their backs made it readily evident that the VAC troops had shot them as they were attempting to flee further down the hall. It really wouldn't have made much of a difference Kamrn realized; the hall was a dead end and there was nowhere to go.

Glancing into the doorway of the first apartment the Gorumn was not surprised to see complete and utter devastation. Small arms fire riddled the suite and splotches of gore painted parts of the walls. Another VAC trooper lay dead inside the doorway, shot on initial entry from-- Kamrn glanced over to several sofas-- one of them was eviscerated by gunshots-- there. Moving over to the ad hoc fortification, the security guard saw two dead dogs: a St Bernard and a German Shepherd, each armed. A Puma lay behind them; Kamrn assumed that, based on her position, she had likely been cowering.

Gently rolling her over with his foot, he realized that he was wrong. The female feline's entire midsection was little more than a hollow husk and the ground beneath her was blasted-- he revised the scene in his mind: after the two dogs were killed the VAC troops quickly ransacked the apartment and set an explosive device. The Puma, who had likely been in hiding, threw herself atop it... and likely saved the entirety of the apartment's otherwise moderately damaged contents. What would possess someone to such a sacrifice for the sake of belongings mystified the Gorumn... and, he reminded himself, the Gens were NOT from a warlike race. That, of course, made the sacrifice all the more abnormal. Of course, Gorumn would have put up more of a fight, but he had to remind himself again that the Gens were not combatants.

Shaking his head, Kamrn returned to the hallway and continued his inspection, stopping only long enough at each body to confirm death. There was another VAC trooper outside the second apartment and three more inside it. The majority of the fighting obviously took place in apartment two, and so he stepped inside to review the carnage. Directly inside the door, with shrapnel covering her back, was a dead Tiger; she was the immediate casualty resulting from the destruction of the apartment's door when the VAC troops invaded the suite.

Unlike the first apartment, which represented the slaughter of the Gen inhabitants, the second apartment was a proper battlefield. With three distinct (weakly) fortified areas, whomever occupied the suite was not going down without a fight... and four slain VAC troopers identified that the defenders were, at least in part, successful. He entered the suite and inspected the fortified positions.

Three Cat corpses lay in a pool of blood behind two overturned sofas; a dead Pony had been drilled through the table he'd been using as cover; finally, a Weasel dressed in corporate spec riot armor had succumbed to his wounds behind a low stone accent wall, though he lay with an arm wrapped around the snapped neck of a fifth VAC trooper. Shaking his head at the scene, he could admire the tenacity of the Gens as they attempted to defend themselves-- apparently only the Weasel was even close to properly armed, and yet the Gens had given almost as good as they had received. No, they weren't Gorumn, but they made a good show of it.

Kamrn continued to the third and final apartment, and only there did he find signs of life. The Gorumn made no attempt to hide his scowl when he saw Victor was kneeling beside an elephant, treating what could only have been a gunshot wound. A bat in fine tailored clothes was helping him. What caught the security officer's attention however was Theo, who was being restrained by a Hyena holding him by his sports coat. The Hyena barked. "No!"

The Wolf was practically frothing at the muzzle, paws grasping at empty air as he tried to lunge for a man wearing a VAC uniform; the trooper was face down and tied up. Theo roared, gnashing his teeth in a feral manner. "He'll pay for what they did!"

A Mouse Gen braced her feet against the floor as she held onto Theo's belt, aiding the Hyena in keeping the Wolf from attacking the prisoner. "It's not worth it, Theo!"

Victor glanced up from his work on the Elephant, rolling his eyes. "Who would have thought a Wolf could be such a drama queen... honestly... he's making SUCH a scene..."

Kamrn ignored the Doctor and moved over to Theo then interposed himself between the wolf and the captive, "Are you done yet?"

Theo continued snarling, doing a reasonable job of imitating a Gorumn in the throes of combat lust. "Look what they did to every--!"

Kamrn reached up and calmly brought a huge hamfist down on the wolf's head; the Gen toppled over. He turned to face the surprised Hyena and Mouse. "Put him somewhere comfortable, and get him some ice."

The two Gens complied immediately.

Physically deactivating corporate property, the Gorumn reminded himself, should always be done with the keenest of technical know-how and precise control-- he was certain the discussion he'd have with his superiors regarding Theo would probably be even worse than the one regarding Victor. Regardless, he was committed to his course of action.

The surviving Gens of the third apartment had obviously begun trying to do as much as they could before Kamrn had arrived... which meant that the combat scene was muddled. Given the choice between an unclear series of events and having survivors, the Gorumn was perfectly content with having the battlefield smudged. Besides, he reasoned, he'd be able to talk to the Gens that managed to put down the remainder of the VAC assault troopers... all six of them.

The only fatality among the third apartment was a Lion, who had been shot so many times his fur appeared to have been painted red. As the Gorumn continued inspecting the scene he saw that someone had managed to maintain the wherewithal to set up a portable fortification, and that had likely made all the difference. A Weasel with his arm in a sling was busy punching in commands on its control panel.

Kamrn rested a hand one of the metal panels as he addressed the Gen. "This yours?"

The Weasel turned to glare at Kamrn, managing to get out an entire sentence before he realized he was looking at the Gorumn's abdomen and not face. "Just because I'm a Weasel people seem to think I steal everything, is that it?"

Kamrn grunted an indistinct response and watched as the Weasel's expression changed from indignation to one of surprise. The Gen's eyes traveled up to Kamrn's sternum, then went from surprise to alarm when he finally leaned back far enough to see his face, "It's the Overseer's... sir."

"Is it now?"

The Gen offered an unsteady salute with his uninjured arm and introduced himself. "Marco. Of Overseer Thurstenburger's personal security team."

The Gorumn motioned to the dead VAC soldiers. "Did you do this?"

The Weasel nodded, then indicated one of the dead troopers. "All except for that one. Henry got him.... oh... or that one..." Marco motioned to the tied up trooper. "Leonar subdued him before--"

"Before what?"

The Weasel's eyes wandered to the bloody pulp that remained of the lion, "... well... before."

Kamrn nodded at the vague answer and was content to call the debriefing complete... for the time being. "Good."

Carol's soft voice spoke up from the open doorway. "Theo?" Kamrn turned to where the Hyena and Mouse had laid the enraged Wolf on a sofa. The Doe woman was kneeling down, pressing an ice pack to the lupine's head. Theo reached up to take the ice pack from her, responding with a simple "Ow."

She smiled down at him. "I'm glad you're safe."

The Wolf murmured in monotone. "Carol... everyone's... everyone's dead..."

The Hyena spoke up quietly. "The VAC came in and started shooting."

The Mouse nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa. "They kept shouting demands... like they expected us to know... but it wasn't in English... but I'm pretty sure the were looking for something."

The wolf closed his eyes as he covered his forehead with the ice bag, "Where's Xavier? Is he alright? He speaks Spanish and Portuguese."

The Mouse rested her paws in her lap, looking to Theo. "He was on his way to the shuttle bay when we got attacked. "I'm sure he's fine... I mean... I hope. Oh! And I don't think Oswald knows about all of this either. He was helping down in Agroponics."

The Hyena grunted, turning a coffee table right-side-up so he could sit on it. "I almost left too. Jen asked me to--" he paused, glancing to Kamrn, then back to Theo, "Ms Thurstenburger wanted me to make sure the cargo deck was sending up the HID in the next delivery."

The Mouse "Well I'm glad you didn't, Henry." she smiled at the Hyena, "If it weren't for you--"

Henry shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Just a lot of experience with first person shooters. Not exactly the real thing, but... I mean... it's all about aiming and--"

Theo interjected. "Cameron?"

The Gorumn stood up a little straighter. "Yes, Mr Theo?"

The wolf looked up at him. "Did you just hit me over the head?"

Kamrn sighed; he knew things would turn sour eventually, but didn't quite expect them to happen upon him so quickly. "Yes, sir."

Theo's next words were quite surprising. "Thank you."

The Gorumn left the Gens to themselves after being excused, and he stepped out into the hallway to make a report. Once Kamrn had contacted the security control center it did not take long for four high-sec armored troopers to arrive; the Commander was very pleased to hear that they had taken a prisoner alive. Although three of the new security personnel were Sergeants and one was a Lieutenant, none seemed particularly concerned with pulling rank and let Kamrn continue to handle the scene.

Two of the Sergeants went with him while the Lieutenant and remaining Sergeant stayed with the rest of the group in the executive apartment. The soldiers marching with him were perfectly content to march down the hallway and let him handle the VAC Tiger, who provided surprisingly little resistance. The prisoner, in fact, simply walked onward, eyes forward, as if nothing around him was in the least bit interesting.

The Gorumn asked the first question about a situation that had struck him as odd. "Why didn't you have a weapon?"

Kamrn led the tiger from behind by holding firmly onto the metal that linked his paws behind his back. The prisoner responded simply, his voice sounding strongly of an accent; the Gorumn wasn't very good with Sol accents so he couldn't be sure of its significance. "I am a non-combatant, Sir."

Kamrn growled. "If that's true then why were you with a group of VAC troopers blasting your way through the executive suites?"

The Tiger continued to be very forthcoming... or perhaps evasive; Kamrn wasn't sure. "According to the paperwork I received before being sent on this foray, management was looking for a collection of files that they seem to believe came here with the Overseer."

One of the Sergeants, a smallish Water Buffalo spoke up, "The Commander will handle the interrogation, Grunt. Just keep the prisoner moving."

The second Sergeant, a Human of medium build interjected. "If he's willing to talk, why not?"

The Water Buffalo shrugged. "Fine... Name and rank, prisoner."

The Tiger continued his trend of open disclosure. "Doctor Surresh Makowi. Junior Research Technician, bio-tech division of Vamosla Corp."

A deep, growling female voice spoke up from ahead. "And a dead man!"

Kamrn recognized Mol; the Cytkus security specialist was as outspoken as ever. He'd been assigned with her on numerous projects, but had never recalled seeing her quite so hot-headed. She stormed right up to the prisoner and backhanded him, sending him sailing into the hallway's wall.

The Water Buffalo stepped between her and the stunned Tiger. "Hold. That's enough, Corporal!"

Mol roared, pointing a talon at the prisoner who, dazed, still remained on the ground next to the wall, "They gunned down my entire team on their way in! And now he's gonna pay!"

The Human guard pulled out his shock rod and raised it, "This man is being detained for questioning, Corporal..."

Kamrn also interposed himself. "And they can't question him if you kill him."

Mol paused, turning to look at the Gorumn as if noticing him for the first time, and paused. "Cameron? What are you doing here?"

Kamrn motioned to the tiger, "Escorting a prisoner. I'm responsible for him."

He added the second part with a hint of challenge. The Cytkus female let out a deep breath, licking her front fangs in agitation, "I guess it'd look bad if you brought in ANOTHER one beat to within an inch of his life..."

The Gorumn nodded. "Yes... it would."

The rippling scales on Mol's shoulders and neck slowly settled back into place, "Scum."

The Water Buffalo nodded. "Yea... I think he's heard that enough by now."

The Cytkus sneered at the prone prisoner before looking back to Kamrn, "I'm coming with. I won't hurt him if he behaves, but if he tries to escape I'll take off a leg... maybe two."

The Human guard pulled the Tiger back to his feet. "Well, he's been very cooperative so far."

The prisoner took a moment to find his balance then looked to Mol. Despite the prisoner's accent, Kamrn could tell that his next statement was closer to genuine than it was to a sarcastic or barbed comment. "I am sorry about your team, miss. Truly."

Mol moved to the front of the group, not bothering to look at the Tiger as she responded. "Don't talk to me. Cam... Brig, right?"

Kamrn tapped the security contact on his PCD and waited for the answering chime before speaking. "Central, this is Kamrn, acknowledging prisoner transfer. Do we have clearance for a holding cell?" He waited several seconds for a response, then glanced to the two Sergeants with him, who shrugged. "Central?"

A courteous voice spoke up after a moment. "Please wait, Grunt Kamrn. We are patching your communication through to the Commander."

The Gorumn hadn't expected to talk things over with Commander Vanessa but he also realized it wasn't his place to make decisions on prisoner transfers. A few moments later the connection was made. "Cameron, this is Commander Vanessa 3J."

He looked down at the familiar face of the highest ranking security officer on the station, "Yes, Commander. We have a prisoner taken from the executive suites. He's a Tiger... didn't have any--"

The Commander interrupted him. "Please bring him up to the Alpha Line."

The Gorumn was dumbstruck; the Alpha Line led to the bridge. "You want me to send him to the bridge?"

Kamrn reminded himself that it wasn't his place to make decisions on prisoner transfers and chose instead to rephrase his question, "Please repeat... I'm not sure I heard you right, Ma'am."

The Commander confirmed. "You heard correctly, Grunt. Captain Nida wishes to speak with him immediately."

The Gorumn nodded, "Yes, Ma'am."

Sighing, Kamrn changed direction; he wasn't happy about it, and he heard Mol silently simmering to the side. The Gorumn didn't have to look her direction to tell she was furious with the change of events but he reasoned that it wasn't something he had the authority to discuss. Besides-- he had anger management issues of his own to deal with; he resolved to offer some of his books to Mol.

* * * * * *

Victor Cortez. It was his name: a simple identifier of who he was and a moniker by which he would be called. He had done nothing to be awarded his name other than be born. It seemed like such a simple task... hardly worthy of any real pomp and circumstance. It wasn't a bad name by any means, but it certainly didn't instill the cat with any great amount of pride; everyone had a name.

The Cat had never really appreciated his life. Belonging to a family that was neither wanting or rolling in excess money he often didn't get enough but rarely went without. His childhood was wholly unspectacular... yes... that was a very reasonable way to explain it: unspectacular Like most Gens, the Cat spent his youth trying to figure out where he belonged-- unlike most of his kind, however, he had discovered it before he had completed his education.

DOCTOR Victor Cortez. He had achieved the title by completing studies in a field that most balked at entering. Still, anyone with half a brain and enough drive was capable of completing classes in an accredited university. Between hard work and some well placed blackmail there wasn't any earth-shattering achievement in earning the right to cut people for a living in a way that didn't get the police involved... well... USUALLY didn't get the police involved.

There was a certain challenge to finding an alternate way to beat the system-- that much was true. Whether it was skating through courses and achieving a certificate of completion by the lowest allowable margin (just for the thrill of it) or identifying those in the world who were willing to pay top credit for services that came with a strong sense of discretion, the Cat was always interested in 'what next'... and he'd found it.

SENIOR DOCTOR Victor Cortez. It seemed like a nearly impossible feat for the Cat to rise in the ranks of an industry that put more credit in perceived success rather than applicable skill, but, since coming to Sigma-Echo it seemed that everything was slowly rotating into his favor. Despite the challenges and setbacks everything was coming up roses and he certainly didn't mind the smell compared to what he was used to finding in the back alleys. All-in-all, he'd come a long way...and that thought pleased him.

The new medical bay to which he'd been assigned was much more up-to-date than much of what he'd had in his professional career... and decidedly more well-lit. It was CERTAINLY better than the husk of a triage unit he'd been forced to cope with down in what he'd heard 'lovingly' referred to as the 'Ghoul Pens'. Unlike his last assigned workspace the updated med bay in the science deck was well stocked with the finest of equipment and his own personal office (which was a very convenient place to store a lot of 'excess equipment') could serve their function much better under less supervision.

CHEIF SENIOR DOCTOR Victor Cortez. That title seemed like much less of a pipe dream since he'd finally managed to break through what had become the most displeasing glass ceiling of his entire life. The management of Sigma-Echo was finally starting to look past his orange coat and realize that his skills and talents could be put to better use than sewing up the dregs of society that made up the vast bulk of his prior patients... the recruited... the work released... the unworthy... the 'Ghouls'.

The thought of actually working on worthwhile subjects almost made the Cat giddy with glee; he would be able to practice his art once again... and it would be noticed. He DID realize, of course, that far fewer injuries occurred in the science bay than down in the Ghoul Pens, but he also accepted the fact that anticipation meant that the satisfaction would be that much greater when he was finally free to help the masses. And, of course, if it turned out he COULDN'T manage to wait... well... he knew how to help fate along and expedite the process.