Session 151: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
It is a freezing morning in the city and Warren is already drunk and high, his chest supporting a mutalated scar of a hand print. As others get ready for the new day, and others coming in from a long night of doing things, the team slowly comes alive as each gets prepared for the day. Driving to work, Warren eyes the folder on Chuck Yeger as he does. Afterwards he makes sure his team is ready for the 10 AM Presiential conference on the Atlean matter as he narrowly misses driving over a dog. Arriving at the location, Warren meets with Elayne and her honor guards. After ignoring Elayne for the better part of the hour trying to talk him into a cure for his damaged body that does not exist, they move into the room to meet the President. Meanwhile, Maestro is shot in the face and killed while talking out the trash.
Session 152: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Warren and Elayne sit before President Hodges as the meeting begins with him, people already gathering outside for the conference. Hodges states all Atleans will need to be registered before they become part of the EarthGov Federation. After some back and forth, things proceed, with Elayne revealing her real name: Elienhiem Hianule. Warren, after watching his hand in fascination, or boredom, drops it and states that minor races are wanting to put representatives on the deep space mission that he is preparing so Elayne should do so as well. After signing the papers, they prepare for the meeting in 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Zephyr wakes up and realizes she's late, hurriedly dressing and Kane and Celidiah make lovey dovey in their apartment. When the meeting comes, Setsuna, Warren, Elayne and her guard make their way to their spots to be introduced. Taking the stage, President Hodges begins his speech, staring how to day is the mark of a new era for two people and introduces Elayne.
Session 153: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
As the President and Elayne announce the joining of the Atleans to the EarthGov Federation, a camera opens fire on the stage - the President ducks before it does so behind the podium, Elayne dodges, and Warren is shot down and falls over. Zephyr leaps onto stage and finds that he wore a protective vest, though it damaged him slightly. During the chaos, Warren walks off as if on a stroll, trying to provoke another attack, and contacts Chad about what happened. As he walks, Warren discovers a police scene going on with am an shot between the eyes called Lightning Strike. Hurrying to catch up with him, Zephyr joins him, trying to figure out what Warren is planning as he walks about. Meanwhile, everyone who watches the feed, like Chad and Kane, attempt to go through it and discover who did it, while Setsuna searches for clues on scene. Elayne catches up to Warren and points out that Hodges ducked very quickly and Warren agrees. Warren and Chad agree that until they know how motives and who his targets were, going after Hodges would jeaporize the launch in a few months. Warren and Chad agree to meet at the base; meanwhile a holovid talks about a serial killer moving about shooting people between the eyes. Meanwhile, a girl with blue hair, nicknamed Blue, is taking out the garbage and is shot between the eyes and killed.
Session 154: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
John finally wakes up and walks out to where Hotaru is watching the HoloVid and Em is sleeping in a bedroom of his and Myria rooms as well. While driving to the base, Zephyr asks Warren when he plans to tell Ariel about his drinking for the past six months. They come across the death of Blue, which Warren reports in grimly. After studying the scene, Warren determines the killer is a male, rather tall. Kane and Celidiah watch the crime scene from a distance, quietly wondering how to help and John leaves his own apartment after trying to watch porn and being chided, walking the streets in annoyance. The two follow Warren as he discusses the hit with Chad and Ariel comms Zephyr, asking if she can help; after Warren finishes Zephyr tells him about it but Warren quickly shuts it down before turning to Kane. Zephyr lies to Ariel and says Warren love her assistance. The two try to give him his aid, but Warren being in dick mode threatens to remove them from the ship's roster if they help. The two, angry, finally leave. Warren informs Chad after they move off there was another shooting but this time the victim survived - Chris Carter, the son of Commander Jared Carter. With the victims rising, Warren says he needs help - despite turning the other two away - and comms Setsuna to head to the attack scene for clues while he goes to the hospital to look for information. Meanwhile, Angela wakes up and John reaches a strip club.
Session 155: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
As Warren pulls away, he spots Ariel and glares at Zephyr, but lets Ariel in the car while he speculates with Chad on the nature of serial killers and patterns. An awkward silence fills the car as they drive along and Setsuna arrives at the park to investigate. Kane and Celidiah debate the merits of trying to investigate when it might only anger Warren and get them off the upcoming ship assignment. There's apparantly no clues in the park and the killer just walked up boldly to shoot the students, who were high at the time. More people, like Hotaru, try to get on helping and Warren rejects them, saying too many people will complicate matters and for them to find other things. Meanwhile, Warren comes across another big problem, bigger than the current one - 30 minutes ago officers stopped a truck carrying a powerful bomb, believed to have been made by V.I and has the power to take out 16 blocks. Chad estimates there's likely to be about 10 more bombs at that rate and Warren decides to have John McCormick head up a team to look into it. John, after being contacted, calls Chad to see who is available and he contacts Kane, Celidiah, Dias, and Angela to meet him at the base to deal with it. Warren places Zephyr in charge of watching over the boy when he reaches the hospital and wait for him to come out of his coma. While Warren debates waking Carter up despite the risks for information, he decides to wait for Setsuna to try to get answers from the witnesses at the police station. John's team arrives at the base and Zephyr, noting a Jane Doe in the ICU with Carter, peers in at her and is shocked at who it is.
Session 156: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Zephyr pulls Warren and Ariel into Jane Doe's room and they discover Eve Summers is still alive, and beyond that - heavily pregnant. Warren contacts Chad to inform him what they discovered. During this, John's team begins to examine the bomb at the base to try to discover more about it. They learn after messing with it that it's set to go off at midnight and the driver was trying to get it on the ship being built by Warren. Setsuna meanwhile questions the stoners, getting generic answers. While Celidiah tries to disarm the bomb, Chad tells the team his theory, trying to put off the fact that Eve is alive with his child, even though Eve is brain dead. They learn the bomb is leaking standard radiation. Ariel lays into Warren about making this his personal crusade after he tries to inject Carter with the wake up drug and is barely stopped in time. However, Warren gets a call to head to the political building - Xevil is there and demanding Tsivrixsh representation on the ship. Ariel suspects Xevil has some part in all this, and Warren puts her in charge of the investigation as he heads to deal with it. Setsuna meanwhile gets no information at the police station and Warren has her report in to Chad, and John prepares to interrogate the prisoner for information at the base on the bombs.
Session 157: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
John, bored as he waits for the truth serum to work on the prisoner, wants to pull wires on the bomb to disarm it, much to the horror of the team. After convincing the team of his awesomeness, they let him cut a wire and he cuts one of the red wires - speeding up the timer insanely. In 3 minutes, they are all fucked. Celidiah, with 2 seconds left, cuts another red wire and it stops. Chad meanwhile recommends to Warren that he release to the press that Chris Carter made a full recovery to draw the killer out while Warren heads for the political meeting. President Hodges, in preparing for it, discussing with Ceres in his office the need for an alliance with the Tsivrixsh with the possibility of a war coming soon. He basically orders her to go over Warren's head, since she is handling the diplomatic side of things, and broker the deal no matter what. John interrogates the prisoner and learns from him that he works for V.I. John shoots out his kneecaps and in the stomach, hoping to make the man talk, but when the man passes out after bleeding enough John breaks and orders the medics in to take care of him, shaken by what he had to do. MEanwhile, Xevil demands representation on the ship to the diplomats in the meeting, much to the disgust of the other races. Ignoring Ceres attempts to get him to allow them access to planets they are 'dealing with due to corrupt regimes and rebelling governments', he states they will only speak after they are granted a spot on the ship, staring at Ceres intently. Meanwhile, John and the others have to find some sort of clue to stop the bombs.
Session 158: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
John finds a map of the west coast and lays into Kane in rage, claiming he told him to search the truck and blames him for needing to torture the guy. He begins his plan to head out to the west coast. Pissed off, he tells Kane and Cel they can remain behind to dispose of the bomb, and Cel attempts to disobey and follow, saying John will just fuck things up. John calls in Hotaru and picks her up to go on the mission with them along with Em, and the four of them along with Angela head out west. Meanwhile, Chad Winters arrives at the hospital to enact his plan to lure the killer into a trap and calls in Setsuna to help him and has Zephyr hide in the room to get ready to take out the killer if he shows up. And Xevil and the other diplomats continue to go at it, with Ceres trying to walk a tight rope and delay the meeting. Finally, Xevil demands Ceres call the President in to settle this matter, which she tries to ignore. Xevil, however, seems content to keep them in the meeting all day for however long it takes. With Ceres about to relent, and allow Xevil to place Shretrav, at the base Kane and Cel learn the bomb is leaking dangerous levels of radiation; they clip the last red wire and it blows up the entire base complex. Chad, who is in the middle of telling Jared Carter that his son will be put in danger, is in informed by the datapad. Warren also gets a message and rushes out, and Xevil finds it disdainful. Xevil allows them a few hours to deal with it - graciously. He speaks with his right hand man, Skaad, and informs them it's going according to plan - sowing seeds of dissent amongst the team. John is stunned when he's commed and looks like his world just shattered, having thought it disabled, and feels torn up with guilt for ordering them to stay behind. At the hospital, Eve suddenly goes into labor and the strain will likely kill her; the doctors take her to surgery and Chad watches them go, collapsing to his knees. It ends with Xevil saying to forget the one target and to target the main target immediately.
Session 159: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
John lands outside the base marked and prepares to go in, while Shiva and Ceres continue to argue about Xevil half-way across the world and Chad watches Eve go into her operation. Sighing, Chad prepares for his trap again and is messaged by Warren who has been lectured by the President - General Steel is overseeing the bombs now at the destroyed base. Ceres finally tells Shiva to get out after Shiva says she's just Xevil's love puppet, despite Ceres saying she tried her best to stall the meeting to get concessions out of the Tsivrixsh to help the Cartel and the war going on between the two races. Warren meets her in the hall and changes her mind about leaving, saying he only needs time to learn why Hodges wants the deal so badly with the Tsivrixsh; Shiva agrees to give him that time. John's team work their way into the base and begin to travel through it for clues. They catch up to John and Dias who went ahead fighting a giant robot - like usual. Warren, meanwhile, is shot after trying to get some coffee. Warren tries to escape and is chased by his attacker into an alley. Dropping his comm for Chad to hear his attacker, Warren crawls and a grenade is thrown that blows up the alley and exposing the sewers. Chad hurries for the location and Setsuna follows while Zephyr remains behind to guard Carter. Guards escort Shiva and the other political people to the roof, saying there's an attack going on outside, and they can see the Presidential and Tsivrixsh shuttles already on their way away. Their pilot promises to take them to the President's personal retreat outside the city so they can finish the meeting. John and the others begin to find more information on the bombs and how it may be tied to psionics. Dias wanders off and is attacked by a woman in black in a V.I. uniform while the others try to crack the passwords on the information they need. And back in the shuttle as it flies for the retreat, the pilot says there's some sort of strange signature and seconds later the shuttle explodes.
Session 160: 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
The back of the shuttle has exploded; Ariel quickly grabs on to keep from being sucked out, while Elayne, Ceres, and Shiva all try to grip something inside as well. Crashing along a roof, it slows and then falls down to the street. Elayne and Cereslimp out of the shuttle for safehouses while Shiva and Ariel wonder how to get to the retreat - and if they should show some leg to get a cab. Chad, meanwhile, arrives at the scene of the explosion that lobbed at Warren, finding the police and a large hole - they state it will likely take days to find any bodies amdist all the rubble. He then gets the news of the shuttle explosion, realizing there has to be more than one attacker out there after them. Chad contacts Setsuna about the developments. Across the world, Dias and the mysterious woman continue their battle while John and Angela discover the plans for materials that will make 4 bombs. Hearing the battle, John and Hotaru move in and John knocks the woman out after negotation fail and he brings her along to interrogate on the shuttle, since they need to get the information to Warren. Once on the shuttle, he comms Chad after failing to reach Warren and informs him there are 3 super bombs unaccounted for, but that Angela believes - with enough time - she can get something set up to trace them based on the materials used. She estimates 2 hours, but John makes it closer to 4 hours based on it being Angela. Meanwhile, Em and Hotaru question the mysterious female prisoner, learning she's psionic. And her name is Kyouki. John orders Em to keep working on keeping Kyouki calm as they head back. Chad meanwhile gets a message from Zephyr that his daughter was born, but goes silent when asked about Eve. Saying he's there, Chad explodes on Setsuna when she says the killer might not take the bait and that Carter is their only lead. They're interrupted when one of the officers says there's firing in the sewers so Chad orders Setsuna into the sewers while he takes off on his bike to the hospital. John and his team arrive back at the city, preparing to land at the base so Angela can begin her work when they learn that Ariel and the others are presumed dead after their shuttle exploded. Still alive, however, Ariel and Shiva use their charm to get a man to drive them out to the President's ranch, where the man hits on Ariel all the way. And as Setsuna and the officer move through the sewers, an explosion goes off in front and behind them.
Session 161: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Setsuna, in shock at seeing an explosion almost kill her, stands frozen, leaving the officer to explore the tunnel alone. Shiva and Ariel arrive at the Presidential Ranch and the guards see them in. Ariel, in a state of shock, is led off while Xevil and Shiva banter - him informing Shiva that with Ceres Connor apparantly missing, that the President is signing the documents to get a Tsivrixsh on the ship himself. He then makes her an officer, stating the humans and Erusians are clearly not good allies and that the Cartel should ally with the Tsivrixsh Empire. At that moment, Ceres Connor and Elayne arrive at the building. Xevil agrees to delay the proceedings for 30 minutes while Ceres speaks with her President, then moves off. Meanwhile, Chad arrives at the hospital to learn Eve Summers passed away a few minutes ago; crushed, he moves to the newborns and finds Zephyr peering in at them - she points out his newborn daughter to him. After pouring out all his troubles to her, Zephyr comforts him - and he asks her to take care of his kid if anything happens, Zephyr agreeing. She then has him hold her newborn daughter. Setsuna finally snaps awake after 50 minutes but all clues are long gone and she has no choice but to leave. Meanwhile, John is chewed out by General Steel while Angela works and Shiva returns to Xevil's office to hear his offer of the Cartel becoming part of the Tsivrixsh Empire.
Session 162: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Shiva agrees to consider and the two enter the meeting to deal with a Tsivrixsh being placed on a ship; Shiva continues to hold her stance of not allowing it while Ceres says EarthGov wants to agree to it. After some back and forth bantering, Xevil agrees to call off all attacks for a week if a representative is allowed on the ship, so they can work toward 'peace'. Shiva says she has to take this to her superiors and Xevil gives her leave to step out to do so. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Chad receives a phone call from a wounded Warren who is still alive. Chad traces his comm and promises to be there to help, heading out for him after informing Zephyr he's alive. John meanwhile speaks with Kyouki, who seems quite insane and rage filled - like most of Alicia's characters - and refuses to believe V.I. is a terrorist organization. He finally gives her a datapad with all that's happened and sends her off with a doctor to a cell to read up tosee if the truth can open her eyes or not. After being given a list of items to get by Angela, John looks through the base - he tells Dias he doubts they'll succeed, and when Dias asks why they don't just run away, he states he'll be there at zero hour no matter what, because protecting lives is important, even strangers that you don't know. And that John would rather be dead than do nothing to help them. Chad finally arrives and picks up a wounded Warren, giving him more pain pills. The two discuss his attacker - Warren states he was rigging up the sewers with explosives, so he could clearly see through walls, and must be human to blend in well. So a human with biotics. Meanwhile, Erevis is ice skating despite it being night when a figure walks up behind her. Turning around, she sees Xanatos.
Session 163: 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Erevis announces that the man before her is not Xanatos, that some creature is surpressing his thoughts, much to the creature's amusement as he controls Xanatos' arm to aim at her to shoot her. She attempts to use her psionics on him to crush him, but Xanatos is wearing something to null it. Instead, Erevis breaks the ice with her psionics and dumps them both into the cold, icy lake. Moments later, Xanatos emerges, eyes the lake, then hurries on to his next target. Meanwhile, Warren and Chad begin to head to the base and at it, John continues to feel stressed over his mistakes that led to Kane and Cel's deaths while Angela works on the bomb detector. Angela finishes and says they will have to begin with low sweeps of the city to begin with but the closer to the detonation time, the more radiation will leak and the easier it will be to detect. As John prepares to get a team together, Angela adds he should find some who can do proper bomb disposals unless he just wants to cut wires again, hurting him as he walks off. Warren and Chad arrive at the base at that moment. After being briefed and telling them he'll bring in more people to help with the search, Warren heads to medical. As Chad tells them they have a clue on the serial killer - having bionic eyes - Angela points out Xanatos had them, but Chad tells her he is dead. After a debate, Hotaru states 'the dead stay dead usually', and John, who lands in the shuttle, hangs his head, thinking of his sister. They all take off - John, Dias, Hotaru, Angela, and Chad - and begin their search while bantering, Angela promising to show John her breasts since his stripper day was ruined - if they all survive. Shiva returns to the Presidential meeting and informs Xevil they have an agreement, so Xevil states he will send for Shretrav immediately - she will arrive in 11 hours and they can seal their agreement then. In the shuttle, they debate if VI is behind this and John questions if they got all of the command structure. Angela says they only got 5 of the 6, leaving one unaccounted for. It turns to dead is dead only if you have a body and Angela, playing devil's advocate, points out they never saw Durran's body since his shuttle blew up. Warren gets their location and sends he's sending some off duty personnel to aid them and that 'she' will be there shortly. After flying a few more moments, they get a blip underground and John brings them down to land.
Session 164: 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Hotaru and Dias are selected to go underground to find the bomb while John, Chad, and Angela continue to search for the other two bombs. Angela gives Hotaru a beacon to use once she locates it. They located a cemented entrance to an old sub-way tunnel and Hotaru breaks her way through it. As they fly and scan, John asks why they would put a bomb in a sub-way system when they could do more damage hitting specific targets, and the two explain that if the tunnels are filled with gas, the bomb could do three times the amount of damage over a larger area of the city and damage the infrastructure of it. When John asks if they means Hotaru and Dias could accidently ignite it, and he's unable to contact them on the comm, they quickly head back to find the two to warn them. In the tunnels, the two discover the bomb on a sub-way train car. Wires are rigged inside the train car so that if it's moved or get too close to it, it will detonate. At that moment, V.I. troopers arrive and begin to attack the two. After a long battle with dozens of troops, John, Chad, and Angela arrive and aid them in the battle. As they finish off the last of them, they are distracted by throwing a grenade away and do not notice one surviving trooper getting onto the train car and starting it up, throwing an explosive pack off of it to slow them down. They all leap and grab the back of the train car as it goes off, igniting the gas and sending an explosive wave chasing them and the train. Thankfully the train is faster and begins to out race it, allowing the group to climb up to the top of the train to avoid the wires inside so they can reach the bomb. It's then Chad remembers an important detail: this particular track has a dead end. They reach the front of the train after a long climb along the top and take out the soldier, but even as they begin to apply the breaks, John announces they missed their time table by about a minute to safely stop it in time. At that moment, some large object barrells into the front of the train to stop it mere seconds before it crashes into the wall, but it's destroyed. Poor Diego the Beta.
Session 165: 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM
After barely surviving, the team agrees it's too dangerous to move or cut the bomb, leaving it for the bomb disposal team, and they have to jog a mile back to find the closest exit. When they reach the surface, they are still a few miles away from their shuttle when another lands with the bomb disposal unit, and Red Fox. After she leads her team below, John quickly steals the bomb squad's shuttle to use, their team taking off again. They're suddenly attacked by an enemy vessel, and being in a bomb squad shuttle have no weapons. Chad tries to get outside help, but something jams their signal. Unable to dodge well in the shuttle, Chad lowers the ramp and leans out, firing his gun at the missiles that fly at them. Angela joins Chad and shoots the enemy shuttle, while the missiles begin to activately dodge, and when one is destroyed near the shuttle, the blast impact hits the back of the shuttle, damaging it and knocking Chad off, forcing Hotaru to run back and grab his hand, along with Angela, to save his life. The enemy shuttle flies above them so John flies straight upward in the sky so they can fire downward; Angela takes it and blows it up - destroying it before it could launch nuclear weapons at the city. Chad then comes to the conclusion that the New Year's Eve ball drop will likely have a bomb there somewhere since thousands will be gathered there to watch it. As they fly there, multiple enemy craft begin to move to intercept them so John lands in a busy street and they quickly get out before the shuttle is destroyed. However, a piece of debris from the explosion strikes John's head and takes him down in a bad way. While the others gather around him, Chad punches in two car windows and hotwires them, ordering the team to split up and take half each. Despite protests, Chad orders them to leave John behind after they contact the medical units to get him, and they each take a car - Dias and Hotaru take one and Chad and Angela the other. Meanwhile, Xanatos arrives at the hospital.
Session 166: 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM
As Xanatos arrives to take care of Chris Carter, he overhears two nurses talking about Eve Summers, the Jane Doe they had for the last six months, giving birth to a baby; he pauses then heads for the stairs. He heads to the file room and shifts through some files, then eyes one particular name before exiting. During all this, the two cars work their way through heavy traffic, having to dodge cars and civilians at high speeds in real time until they reach a roadblock to keep traffic away from hitting civilians. Chad slams on breaks and heads through it. Angela informs him of two things: First, the bomb is the ball itself and second medical cameras picked up the serial killer at the hospital, which she knows due to her protocol with Zephyr, who is getting her people into position for, and that it is indeed Xanatos Durran. Zephyr heads to the babyward and does something with Aya while Angela, still using her datapad to track the motion of Xanatos on the cameras, tells Chad that Carter isn't the target apparantly. Chad radios in the bomb squad to deal with the ball drop while Zephyr finishes what she is doing when she turns around and is shot three times in the chest by Xanatos, collapsing to the floor. Xanatos eyes the crib and tells her he didn't think this target would be born yet, but 'he' is never wrong before firing into the crib several times then aiming back toward Zephyr. She curses him and then is shot again several more times as Xanatos leaves, moving in and taking out Chris and Jared Carter next. Chad tries to figure out where the last bomb is located while Angela closes her eyes in pain at what she felt through her link, trying to force herself to focus on the matter at hand. After a moment's thought, Chad concludes the final bomb is on the ship itself and that once destroyed, the pieces will crash into the city as it's locked in orbit around it. While they get a shuttle, a cop on his radio announces there's a shoot out at the hospital; when Hotaru demands he send units, he says that's impossible due to the crowd here and there could be rioting if they pulled out too many people. After arguing with her and wasting time, the cop gives Dias a map to the hospital and he takes off for it. Angela, Chad, and Hotaru fly their shuttle up to space and Chad says they'll have to disarm this bomb themselves due to the limited time left. While Xanatos has a shoot out with what cops are outside the hospital, Hotaru gets the bomb squad commander on the comm as they locate the final bomb on the ship. Warren arrives at the hospital meanwhile and Xanatos grimaces at failing to get one of his targets. Despite being in bad shape, Warren does battle with Xanatos, attempting to take him in alive, with Red Fox following him to help. On the ship, Hotaru follows the bomb squad commander's directions and disarms the bomb. As Warren takes the elevator, Fox takes the stairs, so they can box him in; arriving at the top floor, Warren fights with Xanatos, the two trying to shoot the other, though one to maim and one trying to kill. Warren manages to fire at Xanatos and get to hide into a patient room; panting he tells Fox, who just blindly walks right in and is shot by Xanatos in her side. As she collapses, she fires and hits Xanatos, dropping him. Warren looks in and sees both in pools of blood, shouting for a medic, and doctors rush in to take care of them both. He heads to Carter's room and finds the bodies, then quickly heads to the baby area to find Zephyr, staring in horror at what he finds; at that moment Dias arrives at the hospital. Angela, Hotaru, and Chad quickly head down in the shuttle for the hospital while Angela goes over the decoded data that's been working this entire time and it lists Warren Carmichael as the final V.I. member. Chad rushes into the hospital while Angela stares in shock, following him to inform him, but Chad ignores her, racing in without listening. He arrives in the baby room to find Warren cradling a bloody Zephyr who whispers weakly in Warren's ear that she switched the babies.
Session 167: 12:00 AM - 1:00 AM
Zephyr clings to life, trying not to pass into the darkness that threatens to overwhelm her, and Warren strains to keep her alive. Angela, meanwhile, tells Hotaru what the data says and begins to put in calls. Telling Chad she won't survive another five minutes, Warren struggles to keep her awake as Chad grabs medical supplies, returning to help. Angela and Hotaru arrive at that moment and follow the carnage to them, both shocked to see their sister dying. The ER doctors finally arrive and take Zephyr while Warren numbly leans against the wall with his staff. He tells them that Xanatos is in ICU from the gut shot Fox gave him, popping pain pills and looking rattled even for Warren. Chad states that it's finally over, only for Warren to tell him it's far from it - they need to learn why Xanatos was targetting these specific people and fast before someone else resumes his role. Chad and Warren begin to move out to deal with it and Angela informs Hotaru mentally to keep with Warren, but do nothing to tip him off that they know who he really is and that the military has been alerted. As they head to the surgery floor to deal with Xanatos, Chad tells Warren that Aya is the key - barely out of her mother's womb by a few hours and she was targetted for death. As they head for Xan's room, they try to warn Chad through his datapad, but it fell off in a hallway while he was rushing. As they step in, Warren tells Chad he will get Chad his answers and shows him how - there's a parasite in Xanatos' brain like Warren had when he was taken over by the Tsivrixsh, meaning Xevil is likely behind this. Warren orders the doctors out of the room and grabs his datapad only to find he's been locked out. As soldiers begin to move into the hospital, Warren uses his comm to contact the base, only to be given the run around. Suspicious, Warren looks outside and sees the soldiers; ordering Chad to get in touch with Peacemaker to get the parasite out, he heads off. A gun shot is heard and the soldiers begin to yell in their comms, trying to find Warren; when Chad asks what is going on, he's informed that Warren is a V.I. agent reported in by Angela half an hour ago. Dias tries to leave, but the soldiers force him to remain for security reasons. After needling them, the soldiers tell Dias to get out and let him go. As Dias heads for Chad's bike, Warren beats him to it first, telling him to get his own ride and drives off. After Chad hears from Angela why she did what she did, he contacts Warren and asks him if it's true about being a V.I. agent, he counters with asking if Chad believes he would help try to blow up the city, then put his best people on stopping the plot, which Chad agrees is not likely. Chad attempts to go join with Warren to help him, but he tells him not to - that if he helps him in anyway he'll be arrested as well and the best thing he can do for Warren is to assist Peacemaker in removing the parasite so they can get answers. Chad leads Peacemaker to the ICU where they find some soldiers under attack by a wet Erevis. Shaking and with blue lips, clearly suffering from hypothermia, Erevis demands to know where Xanatos is at so she can deal with the thing controlling him. At that moment, Xanatos busts out of ICU after shooting a soldier in the face, and then aims at Peacemaker. Hearing the gun shots, Erevis and Chad hurry up to the ICU while Xanatos orders Peacemaker not to move again or he'll kill her.
Session 168: 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Erevis pants, her body clearly trying to go in shock, but despite Chad's warning, Erevis states she does not care and that she wants to help Xanatos. After making Peacemaker face the wall, he warns her if anyone tries to stop him, he'll make Xanatos brain hemorrage and be glad to do it; with that he begins to try to escape using her as a shield. Erevis guides Chad after him using her psionics and they ambush him. Chad throws his knife down the hallway and hits him in the shoulder and Peacemaker grabs his gun from him. As Chad rushes to try to reach them, and Erevis lagging behind heavily, Xanatos warns Peacemaker if she doesn't stop Chad, he'll kill Xanatos - when she refuses and says if she hurts the body she'll just kill the parasite, the parasite begins to make Xanatos have a seizure. As Chad runs to get sedatives, Erevis uses her psionics to stop the parasite, collasping to her knees as she fights with it. Applying the sedatives, they find it has no effect like it did with Warren, but with Erevis halting the parasite with all the remaining energy she has, Xanatos is able to speak briefly, begging them to kill him because he is a murderer. Erevis tell him to shut up and that he is no murderer, looking upset at him for saying such things even as she begins to weaken. Chad applies the next sedative directly into the parasite itself and they manage to knock it out so Erevis can stop using her psionics. Chad and Peacemaker quickly take Xanatos into the ICU while Erevis remains sitting in the hallway, too weak to move. Warren meanwhile breaks into the base, wearing all black and a trench coat, and works his way into Kyouki's cell. After asking if she read the files and seeing Kyouki feels anger at having been used by V.I., he tells her they will doubt her innocence and keep her in jail forever if they choose, but he has an alternative: he wants to find out who set them both up and clear their names. Kyouki agrees to aid him and they begin to work their way out of the base by taking the hospital wing and trying to act natural. Dias arrives at the base to check in on John when he sees some soldiers pass, saying they found the motorcycle outside and to fan out. He's annoyed Warren didn't give him a ride. Chad meanwhile gets a blanket around Erevis and asks her if she got any information while restraining the parasite. She tells him yes - the targets are all people from the previous universe and that they are wanted dead so they cannot interfere later. When asked who gave Xanatos the list, she informs him a Tsivrixsh named Skaad. Back at the base, Warren sees the soldiers closing in so he decides they need a distraction: Dias. Offering him 10 credits if he beats up the soldiers, Dias says he'll do it for 50, which Warren begrudgingly pays. He runs into a soldier and begins to accuse him of getting his way, starting a fight with them. Warren and Kyouki break into the hanger and take a shuttle to leave. He begins to head for the V.I. base that Kyouki was discovered in, hoping to find more answers there. President Hodges, meanwhile, asks Ceres if she thinks it will be likely they can bring in Warren peacefully, but when he gets news that Warren took the V.I. prisoner and escaped in a shuttle, he immediately orders the shuttle be taken out no matter what and he refuses to have another terrorist attack happen today. Back at the hospital, despite being hypothermic, Erevis states she wants to remain in the hallway near Xanatos, not wanting to leave him. Peacemaker steps out and informs the two Xanatos will be alright after some rest and that the parasite was safely removed. Meanwhile, President Hodges watches his view screen as their shuttlecraft catches up to Warren and begins to open fire, with Warren trying to dodge and avoid them as best he can manage. Having Kyouki locate the pilot's mind since they don't show up on radar, he zooms up to the shuttle and has Kyouki fire at the left engine only so they don't kill them. He then positions behind the dark shuttle and Kyouki takes it out, making the dark shuttle descend. President Hodges frowns and wonders outloud how Warren knew where to find it, and prepares to attack the shuttle again once it lands. Meanwhile, in the infant ward, the reporter from the morning eyes the babies with an evil grin.
Session 169: 2:00 AM - 3:00 AM
Dias and Hotaru watch over John in his medical bed. Elsewhere, Chad arrives at the infant ward after the strange evil man has left, only to find Aya not in her crib. After telling the doctors there that the children were switched and his child is missing, they tell him a special operative was here a moment ago but is strangely not. After demanding a picture of the man, the doctor tells him they do not have one. Rushing into the hallway, he finds no one in it to his rage. Meantime, Warren and Kyouki arrive at the base and begin to search for clues inside it. There they find the robot before no longer deactivated and do great battle with it once more before moving onward. At the hospital, Chad gets troopers searching for his child and has Peacemaker put Erevis on the comm; after waking her up, Erevis answers. He asks her to find an adult with an infant child and Erevis agrees, heading up to the roof to scan the area. There she finds the man with Aya and a shuttle lowering it's ramp; she tosses Peacemaker the comm to inform Chad as she prepares to fight the man, but her telekenetic slams fail and he boards the shuttle. Erevis leaps and weakly grabs the shuttle ramp as it flies upward. When Chad finally reaches the roof, the shuttle is already out of range and it begins to snow. Back at the base, Hodges' soldiers begin to surround the parimeter as Warren and Kyouki, inside, find a restricted area. Warren attempts to break his way in when he's contacted by some mysterious person from the Tsivrixsh, supposedly. They offer help and tell him that the soldiers are closing in on them, clearing the base one floor at a time. The datapad, once hooked up, opens the doors for them just as the soldiers are coming into view; Warren and Kyouki slide in quickly and shut the door after them. Back at the hospital, Chad Winters contacts Angela for help while a shuttle comes in to pick him up. They both climb on with Peacemaker and begin to trail after the shuttle; when Angela asks who the baby is, Chad lies and says it's Liza Evans. Back at the V.I. base, Warren and Kyouki find themselves in a lab and Warren finds information on PsiProject001, which is Kyouki. They see that Kyouki's genetic genes for the psionics came from Erevis, from when her DNA samples were taken when V.I. had her captured. When trying to find out who authorized it, the information is blocked from him, but Warren writes down the address and information he has, stating he thinks he knows who authorized it and knows a place he can match it up that won't be protected. Warren and Kyouki climb into a vent and follow an escape route he memorized just as Hodges' soldiers bust in to find the lab empty, to the President's anger. Back in the shuttle, Chad sees the enemy shuttle has landed in a parking lot, so he lands as well, hopping out and moving over to the enemy shuttle. He finds a disabled bomb inside, no doubt a trap to kill him that Erevis disabled before following the man. Looking around, they find cuts in the parking lot pointing out what direction to head and they quickly begin to follow it, speaking into his comm silently as he does, the other two wondering what is going on. Back at the base, Warren and Kyouki steal a military shuttle and take off - but one soldier leaps on. Kyouki beats him up and knocks him off the shuttle as they head back to the city.
Session 170: 3:00 AM - 4:00 AM
Chad busts in another car window with his bloodied bandaged hands and they all climb in as he explains what the cuts in the ground meant - a partial license plate and that he already has an address to go to, driving them toward it. Meanwhile, Warren begins to arrive back in the city and in range of the missile defenses. President Hodges orders them to be shot down and not to let the order out to anyone else so that whoever is warning Warren will not be informed. He tells Ceres that Warren will not be able to dodge these new missiles with his sub-par flying skills and that this will finally come to an end. Warren's mysterious datapad savior warns him that missiles are coming in from below. Kyouki tells him and Warren spins them into evasion tactics trying to avoid the missiles. Hodges eyes the monitor and then looks at Ceres, ordering his security to take her to a holding cell. When she demands to know what he's doing, he tells her only three people know about the missiles and yet somehow Warren knew they were coming again. Ceres claims he's looking at the wrong person, but Hodges has her escorted away anyway. As they reach the city, the shuttle controls begin to lock up and refuse to work, so Warren grabs a parachute and they both leap out of the shuttle before it crashes, then steal a car to get into the city. At the hospital, a male and female assassin enter pretending to have pains and once past the guards, the male assassin sneaks into Xanatos' room and pumps something into his IV that makes him flatline. The staff rushes in to try and save Xanatos after the man sneaks back out. Chad arrives at the house and they sneak over, peering inside at another couple watching the holovid. He motions for Angela to knock on the door, which she does, and the man moves over to answer it. When he does, Chad spins out of the darkness and aims his gun at the man's face, demanding to know where the child is at. The man says he's a government offical and for Chad to back off, claiming to not know what he is talking about. Chad orders her to the search the house and makes the man cuff himself. They make the woman come out, which she does after she hangs up the phone. Despite Angela's questions, they say they have nothing to say, much to Chad's anger. Chad begins to look around the house while Angela tries to get a rise out of the two by stating what will happen, but they appear to remain unphased. Finding a locked door, Chad shoots the lock off and finds a tied up and gagged Erevis inside, who looks pissed off as only a goddess can. Peacemaker, hearing the shot, moves to investigate, leaving Angel alone with the couple who then attack her, with the man running out afterwards. Peacemaker tackles the woman while the man gets outside and dives over some bushes. Erevis tells Chad that they switched cars after taking her. Realizing he'll need the man, he and Erevis head after the two and join the chase. Comming Angela to ask where the man is at, she's distracted momentarily when she answers and the man, having gotten his hands in front of him, stabs her from behind and through the throat. Sensing Angela dying, Erevis leads them to her as she lays, gargling in her own blood. Erevis tries to follow the man, but still being weak from her hypothermia, is quickly passed by Chad, who yells at Peacemaker to save Angela's life as he runs. Chad pauses, grabs Erevis and tosses her over his shoulder, then resumes running so Erevis can use her psionics to locate the man. Reaching another yard, he sets her down and asks her where the man is at he looks around; Erevis calmly tells him that the man is behind her, then shifts to block the knife attack that comes in at he and Chad shoots him in the shoulder. Chad kneels on the man and shoots him in the other shoulder, telling him that child was his daughter and he wants her back. When the man ignores him still, he breaks his fingers. Erevis, reading his mind and finding that he wants kids of his own one day, takes the knife and stabs one of his balls. Before she can stab the other, she gleams from his panicked and pain filled mind what they want and lets the knife go; meanwhile, a medical team gets to Angela and treats her. Erevis tells Chad that V.I. has Aya for her genetics and she was taken to the Presidential Ranch; when Chad tries to go alone, Erevis flatout says she will be joining him. Elsewhere, Warren and Kyouki arrive outside a government building, where the archieves are located that will clear their names; Warren warns her once they go in, chances are slim they will be able to escape, so Kyouki finishes his thoughts: they have to clear their names here or else.
Session 171: 4:00 AM - 5:00 AM
Chad and Erevis get in the car and begin to head for the Presidental Ranch; Chad gives her an energy pill to help pick up her energy levels since they were so low. He tells her it will take them 40 minutes to reach their destination. At the building, Kyouki tunes out so Warren leaves her behind, which then forces her to look for him randomly throughout the building. She finally finds him on floor 10, his datapad hooked up to some terminals. He announces he has what they came from, when he notices on the video feed guards and soldiers entering the building, having surrounded it. He sends a message to his mysterious benefactor that he needs a shuttle on the roof. Warren and Kyouki take the elevators before they shut down and get on the shuttle; Warren sees it's on automatic and their benefactor not on it, to his annoyance. He programs in the Presidential Ranch as their destination. At the ranch, Xevil sneaks into Ariel's room, who is still unconscious after zoning out, and tells her he has had to bump up his timetable. He begins to inject a needle into her vein to kill her when there's a knock on the door; pulling it out he steps into the shadows as Shiva enters to see Ariel. Standing at her bed and peering down at her, Xevil uses this time to sneak around and open the door as if he were coming in, telling Shiva he was looking for her. Xevil tells her that with the meeting in less than 4 hours, he wanted to check on her and see how Ariel was doing; outside Elayne, wandering the hallways, attempts to listen in before entering. Elayne checks on Ariel to see if she can do anything and Xevil excuses himself, mentally cursing at his failed attempt. Returning to his room, he tells Skaad they are out of time and must kill Ariel and the child immediately. He tells Skaad to kill the child first, and do whatever it takes, even if that means being seen. Back in the car, an unmarked shuttle flies up to the car and begins to fire missiles at them. Chad fires at the missiles, but the explosion knocks their car off the road and into the river. Grabbing Erevis and helping her swim, they try to stay under and appear dead; Erevis finally begins to need air, so Chad grabs her and kisses her on the lips to exchange air. Despite her instinct to slug him, she is too weak, even with the pill, and doesn't resist, and Chad then leads her along the river again. Finally they surface into the cold snow and wind, both weakened from it. Warren and Kyouki land outside the land of the ranch and step off the shuttle. He checks his datapad locator to find Ceres location and they avoid guards as they move in. Chad and Erevis sprint past the guard checkpoint elsewhere as Warren and Kyouki enter the back door; Skaad meanwhile begins to check out the map of the building to try to find where Aya might have been put. After finishing, he steps out into a hallway and runs into Warren.
Session 172: 5:00 AM - 6:00 AM
Warren fires at Skaad, who dives through a nearby door to get away. Unable to get in the room due to the firing Skaad, who even fires through walls, Warren is forced to pull back a little; the shots are heard through the building, even by Shiva. Skaad finally exits, seeing no sign of Warren, and he slowly begins to move about, keeping his eyes open, while Kyouki heads down to the holding area to get Ceres and frees her. They are joined by Elayne and the three begin to escape. As Chad and Erevis enter, they spot Skaad firing into walls and around areas trying to find Warren, so Chad fires at him. The two begin to do battle throughout the building, with Warren aiding Chad from other angles with his gun. After the shoot out, Erevis and Chad move down the hallways for Hodges office, while a wounded Warren and Skaad continue to play cat and mouse with each other. Warren, despite being chased, gets on his comm and has Kyouki put Ceres on; once done, he tells her to use her connections to get the District Attourney out of bed because he has evidence on who the last V.I. leader really is. Afterwards, Warren steps into the room with Chad, knowing why he's here - Chad finds a computer with a counter going down from 4 minutes on it. Warren tells them to get everyone out of the building immediately - Skaad, arriving to kill them, hears that and rushes to escape as fast as he can as well, heading for Ariel's room on the way. Shiva lifts up Ariel and Elayne breaks in, telling her to grab on right as Skaad steps in and fires at Ariel; Shiva grabs Elayne and she uses a personal teleporter to get them out and into her personal vessel in space. As the others escape, only Skaad is killed when the building explodes and Warren is not seen, possiblely still inside. Chad is sent flying from the explosive force into a tree, injuring himself and Erevis kneels to touch his forehead, then helps him back to the burning building to find Warren. Soldiers and medical personnel begin to arrive as well as Elayne and Shiva return with Ariel, handing her over to the medical people. The wreckage has no sign of any bodies, not even Skaad's, but after a moment Warren emerges, wounded and tired. The DA arrives a moment later and tells them the bad news: the President has sealed himself off in a military bunker and activated the missile defense system for the planet - and plans to use it against Earth itself as a scorched earth tactic. And only the team has the time to reach and stop him. As they get on the shuttle, Warren tells Ceres to tell Shiva the deal with the Tsivrixsh is over like he promised her. Kyouki, Chad, Ceres, and Erevis join Warren in heading off. Elsewhere, Xevil pulls a burnt and damaged Skaad off the ground, telling him he will have one more chance to make up for his failure - by going to the city nad striking at the heart of the team itself. Elsewhere, John finally awakens, much to Dias and Hotaru's delight. After the happiness, John confesses to Hotaru that he slept with Myria.
Session 173: 6:00 AM - 7:00 AM
The sun is finally starting to rise after a long, terrible night as the shuttle flies for the military bunker to end Hodges' reign of terror once and for all. They land and Warren informs them that getting inside the underground bunker will be nearly impossible due to how strong it is. Seeing no other way inside, Warren states they have to find some way to take the blast doors out - he checks out the shuttle to see the payload. Getting an idea, he flies them in low and tells Kyouki and Erevis to form a psionic barrier by linking their minds together. Kyouki immediately tries to link but Erevis blocks it, not prepared, and looks hostile, not wanting to link her mind with another, but relents after Chad tells her it's the only way. Switching and locking up the back part of the shuttle for those in the back to give them more protection, Warren begins to fire the turrets into the door as he flies in at them, then the missiles. He rams the shuttle the moment the missiles are fired, causing a point blank ram/explosion. The back of the shuttle is jolted hard and intense heat is felt, and everything five feet in front of them has been melted away. The shuttle cockpit is completely gone however, and so they have to use the ramp to step out. They all hurry around and see the cockpit where Warren was at is completely gone now from the vaporization. Erevis, turning a shade of blue from her hypothermia shivers in Warren's trench coat as Chad works his way into the base, crossing metallic shards of debris. Having 15 minutes until the missiles launch, the four rush into the base despite their wounds. Meanwhile, Ariel finally awakens on a military vessel, being briefed by Elayne on what happened. She begins to try to move her body after hearing what occurred. After heading to the bridge and brooding, Ariel is told by Elayne that her daughters are in critical condition, catching Ariel's attention. Back at the bunker, the four encounter defenses and a metallic door slams shut on them. Kyouki and Erevis link to lift it up and Chad and Ceres crawl under it, then Erevis sends Kyouki through; the door slams shut after Kyouki since Erevis is unable to move and hold it up. The remaining three run into troopers who refuse to listen to them that the President is a traitor, Chad has Kyouki mess with their minds to distract them and then they take them down with nonlethal shots. Blasting into the Control Ops room, they find Hodges there in a chair and Aya on his lap. Hodges orders Chad to remain where he is if he doesn't want Aya hurt, then begins to tell her how Aya will make Chad pale in comparison with her true potential. He also tells Kyouki that she was a complete failure, a pale shadow compared to the greatness that is Erevis, and that such a being would rather play human than rule with such power. When Kyouki claims he ruined her life, he says he finds that funny, since he gave her a rare gift. Chad calculates then fires a richoette shot that strikes Hodges, dropping Aya from his lap. He begins to stumble through the computer and terminals as Ceres and Kyouki open fire, both of them damaging the computers as Chad rushes over to his daughter. Realizing they need a key that is on Hodges to turn off the countdown, which is at 1 minute, they begin to try to stop him - with lethal force. However, they fail to get him in time and the missiles begin to arm and launch. Chad and Ceres stop their pursuit and begin to work on the computer terminals, trying to reprogram the hit locations and run into each other instead. They succeed and protect Earth, and Chad is finally able to hold his daughter, who gurgles happily, not even having cried during it all. Hodges curses Chad's name, vowing revenge as he gets in his car and tries to escape. However, Warren steps out and begins to open fire at the car window even as Chad programs the base turrets to target the car and fire at it, destroying the car in a flaming fireball. Afterwards, he decides to collapse and wait for someone to bring him pain pills. At that moment, more V.I. troops begin to arrive outside the bunker so Ceres begins to arm the defenses. Erevis, having finally passed out, is unable to aid them as the V.I. troops begin to take up positions. After being fired on by the turrets, some V.I. troops pull Warren out and demand they surrender lest they kill Warren; Warren thinks loudly for the psionics to go on and take the V.I. troops out, his life in danger or not. Ariel, meanwhile, is led to the hospital - Hotaru is visiting an upset Angela who has learned her vocal cords were sliced and leaving her as a mute. Despite her daughters being hurt, Ariel feels the need to help the others, asking where they are located.
Session 174: 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Ceres halts in firing and the V.I. troops tell them they have 1 minute to surrender. Doing nothing, the troopers put the gun against Warren's head and fire even as Chad tells Ceres to open fire. She activates the turrets as Warren's body collapses. The turrets cut the troopers to pieces quickly. At that moment, Janus military shuttles finally arrive and land, medical personnel coming out. Chad orders them to find Warren and treat him if he's still alive and to treat Erevis for her hypothermia. When Ariel contacts Chad, he tells her Warren is dead before pulling his comm out of his ear and walking off, holding his dear child in his arms. The team is brought in on shuttles to the hospital to be treated. When Zephyr awakens, grief striken for the babe she let die, and other things, learns Warren is dead and begins to cry while Ariel flops over her daughter's bed, drained herself. AS the team mourns in the hospital, Ariel and Angela notice there's a type of void in the protocol from Zephyr, possiblely due to the damage or grief. During all this, a Tsivrixsh shuttle discreetly leaves the planet. Chad goes down to where all the bodies are being sorted out and asks a soldier to lead him to Warren's body bag. After arriving, he unzips it to find it isn't Warren Carmichael. At that moment, Warren enters Zephyr's room and mutters about doctors making him wait to get his pain pills. Everyone is stunned and Zephyr leaps up to hug him, even though her stitches are pulled a little. He says he got a ride on Ceres shuttle. Down at the morgue, Chad shakes his head in disbelief at Warren not being dead when there's a gun shot; looking down at his own chest, he sees blood forming. He collapses in his own blood and Skaad, on a rooftop far away, lowers his sniper rifle, smirking.
*summaries by Death Star