The Prize – Vaulted ceilings
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared

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Title   Vaulted ceilings
Mission   The Prize
Author(s)   HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared
Posted   Tue May 21, 2019 @ 4:05am
Location   Central Bank
OOC: Jared (Lochy) is unwell and doesn't get to write much, so it will basically be Tell and Jared tagging along. Your mission is to get into the Huge Banking place and find a way to get to the Borg Beacon so it can be activated or destroyed. Of course getting into the bank undetected will take some doing, you would expect.

There was a red shimmer in the air and Tell and Jared appeared outside the Central Bank and Office complex. The FHew had been unable to beam them any closer due to heavy teleporter shielding on the place. Inside this imposing, Latinum-faced complex, was the hub of wealth, bureaucracy and whatever it was the Corporation had purchased as it sold its soul and the souls of the billions of lackey's who serviced it.

There were no guards at the doors, just a pair of open doors. As they watched a trickle of people of various different species trickled in and out of the main doors. Predominant among them were the small grey skinned individuals who tended to represent the Company.

It seemed that the Corporation was eager for money to come in, but they could expect difficulty once they tried to get out, or go to more sensitive areas.

"What's you plan Jared?"

Jared shrugged, "Walk in the front door and follow any signs saying, 'Secret research; this way'? Beyond that I don't really have a plan."

"What do you mean you don't have a plan? You always have a plan."

Jared nodded, "Oh you mean the, 'Don't get caught and killed for breaking into a bank' plan? Well, it rather involved not being assigned the task of breaking into a bank."

Tell watched the people come and go through the doors to the bank. She was hoping to find some kind of pattern in their coming and going. She noticed more different species than human ones and a thought occurred to her.

Tell turned her best smile on Jared, which was more disturbing, Tell didn't smile often.
"How about this, you and I have just been married so....Sweetie, why don't we go and open up an account in this wonderful bank? I have heard they can invest our money wisely and we can make loads of money so we can retire early and spend the rest of our life on er Risa She looked questioningly at Jared and blinked her eyes two or three times.

"Er..." Jared began. This was new territory for him. Or at least territory so old he had forgotten the rules. "Sure... sweety."

"Then we cause a distraction of some kind."

"Of course."

The happy couple moved up the steps, but no one paid them any attention until they arrived through the front doors at that point one of the grey skinned people hurried over looking decidedly flustered.

"I am so sorry, sir" he called while still approaching. "We had no idea that we should be expecting a second visitor so soon. May I be the first to say what a privileged it is to have you in our facility, and anything you need you only need to ask. How can the Corporation serve you?"

Tell turned up the charm

"My how prompt you are Mr... Mr..."

"G...Grey," the man answered, a thin patina of sweat appearing on his brow. "I am the Manager."

"Mr G-grey your very kind. Isn't he kind Sweetie?" she asked Jared

Jared was watching closely but said nothing. A 'second visit' the man had said. Second visit of who?

" Well Mr G-grey. We have just got married. My new husband and I have heard all about your wonderful bank and have decided to open an account with you. Now if you could just direct us to one of your cashiers? Believe me when I say that we have an extortionate amount of cash to put into your bank."

"An account?" Grey's expression was hunted and frightened. "b-but I assure you, the Vetus credit is unlimited. Y-you..."

The mans expression changed to sudden enlightenment, "Oh! you are making a donation?"

Before Tell could respond Jared jumped in, "That is right. We are donating to support your infrastructure. Particularly we would like to sponsor your research and development. What projects do you have running at the moment?"

Tell glanced sideways at Jared and was surprised to see his hair was bristling.

Grey paled again. Today was not his day.

"Of course, sir. If you would like to come this way, I will show you to the R&D project wing and you can talk to the lead researcher yourself."

"Why thank you Mr G-grey. So very kind."

As they walked Jared whispered to Tell, "The man had mentioned my race by name; the Vetus. We are almost extinct because of a weapon that was devised by a general Martis. It would suck the life force from an entire planet of our people and turn one individual immortal. We knew Martis was helping the Corporation, which is why he knows about us, but he talked about a second visit. Martis has been here very recently."

"How can you be sure it's Martis. You might be mistaken."

Jared did not like disclosing the full story, but there were times when it was necessary, "You need to understand. Every Vetus you meet has walked away from a planet wiped clean of people. Either that Vetus pulled the trigger on the weapon, or someone pulled it on their behalf. It is so long ago, that I literally do not remember if I killed a world to be immortal, or a world sacrificed itself for me, nor why it should do so."

"But Martis... he developed the weapon. And he used it not once but twice. It may be that other worlds sacrificed themselves to avoid Martis growing more powerful. The only reason he stopped using the weapon was he ran out of his own people to kill."

"You think he's here to do the same thing to this planet? Or is he on a different agenda?" asked Tell feeling a little anxious.

They arrived at a pair of doors which slid open to reveal a long corridor. As they moved along it they could see in a number of windows technicians working on different projects. Jared recognized most of them; minor tech advancements the Vetus had encountered over the centuries. A few were unknown to him.

At the second to last window they saw a team working on the target of their mission; the Borg beacon. It lay dormant on a table while the scientists prodded and scanned it carefully.

"I hope to hell that they haven't found the on switch." she whispered