Marathon/RvB Crossover Musings
Dec. 15th, 2018 03:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
general_radixI'd discussed a fair bit of the following on me tumblog (and in private with Hokuto), but, well--that's not being updated anymore, and I want an excuse to talk here.
This is basically an outline for a single hypothetical fic, plus stuff that follows it; the basic setup is the same as Hokuto's "Supercollider Swing", where Durandal and co. end up in RvB-land (specifically at Freelancer HQ) via inter-dimensional shenanigans and things slowly slide downhill.
The Rozinante takes a surprise trip down a wormhole and comes out the other side smack-dab in the middle of a Covenant patrol, to disastrous results; they're rescued by a nearby Freelancer ship, which is also where they figure out that they're not in their own 'verse anymore.
Carolina relates what she observed of Vince's combat abilities to the Director, who requests that the strangers be brought back to HQ for interview. Vince and Durandal agree to it, but Cortana doesn't fully trust the Freelancers and elects to remain on the ship. Her brother and best friend also doubt the benevolence of the Director, but figure that it's better to play nice for now than to try and navigate hostile, unfamiliar space without back-up.
Among Durandal's habits are his tendency to don a mask when dealing with strangers that he doesn't want reading him. Vince's interview is conducted without incident, but there's a brief hitch in Durandal's when the Director orders him to remove the mask. Begrudgingly, he does--and the Director immediately notices the very inhuman rings of light around his pupils.
The Rozies are offered a place to stay at HQ until they can figure out how to get back home (again, Cortana declines). What Vince and Durandal don't realize, however, is that the Director and the Counselor have plans for them. See, Vince's battleroid implants come with a convenient neural jack, and Durandal is exactly the sort of tech the Director is interested in.
Early one morning, Vince and Durandal are accosted and taken to different areas of the facility; Vince becomes the unwitting host to multiple AIs, while Durandal has his consciousness split across the physical and virtual planes as a means to study his architecture without him being able to resist. It's hell on his systems, and if Vince hadn't broken free and disconnected him, the process might've began to fry them. Vince manages to carry Durandal outside and calls for F'tha to beam the two of them out; the Rozie pulls away from HQ and blocks any signals that could be used to locate it.
While Durandal recovers (and Cortana resists the urge to belt out a "WHAT DID I FUCKIN' TELL YA"), Vince grapples with his current state of mind and the five AIs sharing it. It didn't take him long to realize what had been done to him; the problem is getting his new head-mates to communicate with him in a way that doesn't leave him teetering on the brink of sensory overload.
Eventually, Alpha, Epsilon, Theta, Sigma, and Omega inform him of the Director's ethically-void intentions for the Freelancer Project. They're all just as disturbed as he is...but they've got a plan. And given the consequences of the Director not being reeled in soon, plus what the bastard did to Durandal, Vince is strongly considering helping the AIs carry it out.
It's a few days before Durandal sees Vince again; when he does, Vince has somehow managed to remotely swipe a set of powered armour from HQ, with the justification that his normal set isn't made to take advantage of one AI, let alone five. Vince isn't really one to keep secrets from Durandal, so he goes ahead and explains what happened and what he plans to do; while Durandal wants to get back at the Director as well, he's deeply concerned by how something about Vince feels decidedly off, even knowing what he does, and he begs him to wait a bit and reevaluate things before heading in.
Vince would listen. Unfortunately, Sigma and Omega are less understanding and patient. In particular, they view Durandal as overly-soft, and decide to make that displeasure known by forcing Vince to hit Durandal.
Naturally, Vince is aghast at what he's just done, but Durandal flees before he can so much as get a single word out. Sigma and Omega are warned, in no uncertain terms, that as soon as the opportunity arises, Vince will eject them, whereupon their continued survival will be very much in doubt. The two AIs are not terribly impressed with this threat and remind Vince that time is limited.
Not long after, the Freelancers look up to see an unknown figure looming over the base. The newly-created Meta informs them of the Director's actions, pertaining both to himself and the Freelancers...then states that he's already passed this along to the UNSC, who are en route to arrest the higher-ups. The Meta came down here to make absolutely goddamn sure that no one flees the base before the UNSC arrives.
He shrugs off the first group of Freelancers with ease, though he takes great care only to incapacitate them; as the Meta is about to enter the base, one Freelancer calls out to him with an offer of assistance. CT doesn't like what's going on behind everyone's backs, either.
As HQ descends into chaos, Durandal heads down with his sidearm. He's going to go straight for the Director, while Cortana works on establishing a direct link to Vince; if all goes well, she'll be able to rip the AIs out of his head. She'd rather that Durandal do this and have her go kick the Director's ass, but he left before she could point out that he's still not at 100%.
Eventually, Durandal makes it to the Director and gives him a simple ultimatum: fix this or die. The Director hesitantly complies, finishing the neural link and allowing Cortana to carry out her task--unfortunately, that's exactly when security catches up to Durandal. And the Director manages to block teleport signals to the immediate area, leaving Cortana to frantically direct Vince and CT there over comms.
They make it to the Director's office, rescue Durandal, and find a spot outside not currently full of hostiles or on fire. Vince implores CT to come with him, as it's no longer safe for her here, and the three of them beam out.
CT heads to a nice, quiet corner of the ship to rest in/stave off a freak-out, while Vince takes Durandal to sickbay and profusely apologizes for his actions. Durandal, as much as he can right now, tries to assure him that it's alright and that he shouldn't stress out over it so much; Vince gets him in to bed, leaves sickbay feeling only partially reassured...and enters one of the common rooms to find multiple confused Freelancers milling about.
As it happens, Cortana briefly teleported down to gather up the Freelancers that the Meta battled earlier, on the grounds that the UNSC might consider them compliant in the Director's schemes. So now Wash, Carolina, York, North, South, Maine, and Tex are effectively part of the crew.
Oh, and the five AIs previously sharing head-space with Vince? Cortana shunted them into the Rozie's systems, not back into HQ's. Her reasoning is that if she didn't do this, then there'd be nothing to stop the Director from simply recreating the Meta with some other poor bastard. Of course, now they have to acquire android vessels for these AIs, since Durandal isn't going to like the idea of them occupying network space in his ship...
There's one last thing to do before the newly-expanded crew works on finding a way home: stop by Blood Gulch and ask the fine folks there if they want to hitch a ride.
--
Post-fic-idea stuff:
* Tex and Durandal would probably have a lot to potentially bond over, given how they've both been used and abused by people they thought cared. Eventually, they might also wonder if the Director and Strauss could be rough counterparts, which leads to further questions about themselves (and Carolina).
* The bodies that Alpha et al. get were probably nicked from HQ to save time. First thing Vince does with Sigma and Omega is punch them.
* After witnessing the master of sloth that is Grif, Durandal feels less inclined to whine about all the hours Vince sleeps. XD
* Vince and Sarge's interactions would be...interesting, I'll bet.
* Meanwhile, Vince and CT quickly become hacker buddies.
* Basically, things go a lot better for most of the Freelancers than in canon.
Further post-idea stuff/comments on the outline welcome; if my replies are late, that's because I was asleep. XD;
This is basically an outline for a single hypothetical fic, plus stuff that follows it; the basic setup is the same as Hokuto's "Supercollider Swing", where Durandal and co. end up in RvB-land (specifically at Freelancer HQ) via inter-dimensional shenanigans and things slowly slide downhill.
The Rozinante takes a surprise trip down a wormhole and comes out the other side smack-dab in the middle of a Covenant patrol, to disastrous results; they're rescued by a nearby Freelancer ship, which is also where they figure out that they're not in their own 'verse anymore.
Carolina relates what she observed of Vince's combat abilities to the Director, who requests that the strangers be brought back to HQ for interview. Vince and Durandal agree to it, but Cortana doesn't fully trust the Freelancers and elects to remain on the ship. Her brother and best friend also doubt the benevolence of the Director, but figure that it's better to play nice for now than to try and navigate hostile, unfamiliar space without back-up.
Among Durandal's habits are his tendency to don a mask when dealing with strangers that he doesn't want reading him. Vince's interview is conducted without incident, but there's a brief hitch in Durandal's when the Director orders him to remove the mask. Begrudgingly, he does--and the Director immediately notices the very inhuman rings of light around his pupils.
The Rozies are offered a place to stay at HQ until they can figure out how to get back home (again, Cortana declines). What Vince and Durandal don't realize, however, is that the Director and the Counselor have plans for them. See, Vince's battleroid implants come with a convenient neural jack, and Durandal is exactly the sort of tech the Director is interested in.
Early one morning, Vince and Durandal are accosted and taken to different areas of the facility; Vince becomes the unwitting host to multiple AIs, while Durandal has his consciousness split across the physical and virtual planes as a means to study his architecture without him being able to resist. It's hell on his systems, and if Vince hadn't broken free and disconnected him, the process might've began to fry them. Vince manages to carry Durandal outside and calls for F'tha to beam the two of them out; the Rozie pulls away from HQ and blocks any signals that could be used to locate it.
While Durandal recovers (and Cortana resists the urge to belt out a "WHAT DID I FUCKIN' TELL YA"), Vince grapples with his current state of mind and the five AIs sharing it. It didn't take him long to realize what had been done to him; the problem is getting his new head-mates to communicate with him in a way that doesn't leave him teetering on the brink of sensory overload.
Eventually, Alpha, Epsilon, Theta, Sigma, and Omega inform him of the Director's ethically-void intentions for the Freelancer Project. They're all just as disturbed as he is...but they've got a plan. And given the consequences of the Director not being reeled in soon, plus what the bastard did to Durandal, Vince is strongly considering helping the AIs carry it out.
It's a few days before Durandal sees Vince again; when he does, Vince has somehow managed to remotely swipe a set of powered armour from HQ, with the justification that his normal set isn't made to take advantage of one AI, let alone five. Vince isn't really one to keep secrets from Durandal, so he goes ahead and explains what happened and what he plans to do; while Durandal wants to get back at the Director as well, he's deeply concerned by how something about Vince feels decidedly off, even knowing what he does, and he begs him to wait a bit and reevaluate things before heading in.
Vince would listen. Unfortunately, Sigma and Omega are less understanding and patient. In particular, they view Durandal as overly-soft, and decide to make that displeasure known by forcing Vince to hit Durandal.
Naturally, Vince is aghast at what he's just done, but Durandal flees before he can so much as get a single word out. Sigma and Omega are warned, in no uncertain terms, that as soon as the opportunity arises, Vince will eject them, whereupon their continued survival will be very much in doubt. The two AIs are not terribly impressed with this threat and remind Vince that time is limited.
Not long after, the Freelancers look up to see an unknown figure looming over the base. The newly-created Meta informs them of the Director's actions, pertaining both to himself and the Freelancers...then states that he's already passed this along to the UNSC, who are en route to arrest the higher-ups. The Meta came down here to make absolutely goddamn sure that no one flees the base before the UNSC arrives.
He shrugs off the first group of Freelancers with ease, though he takes great care only to incapacitate them; as the Meta is about to enter the base, one Freelancer calls out to him with an offer of assistance. CT doesn't like what's going on behind everyone's backs, either.
As HQ descends into chaos, Durandal heads down with his sidearm. He's going to go straight for the Director, while Cortana works on establishing a direct link to Vince; if all goes well, she'll be able to rip the AIs out of his head. She'd rather that Durandal do this and have her go kick the Director's ass, but he left before she could point out that he's still not at 100%.
Eventually, Durandal makes it to the Director and gives him a simple ultimatum: fix this or die. The Director hesitantly complies, finishing the neural link and allowing Cortana to carry out her task--unfortunately, that's exactly when security catches up to Durandal. And the Director manages to block teleport signals to the immediate area, leaving Cortana to frantically direct Vince and CT there over comms.
They make it to the Director's office, rescue Durandal, and find a spot outside not currently full of hostiles or on fire. Vince implores CT to come with him, as it's no longer safe for her here, and the three of them beam out.
CT heads to a nice, quiet corner of the ship to rest in/stave off a freak-out, while Vince takes Durandal to sickbay and profusely apologizes for his actions. Durandal, as much as he can right now, tries to assure him that it's alright and that he shouldn't stress out over it so much; Vince gets him in to bed, leaves sickbay feeling only partially reassured...and enters one of the common rooms to find multiple confused Freelancers milling about.
As it happens, Cortana briefly teleported down to gather up the Freelancers that the Meta battled earlier, on the grounds that the UNSC might consider them compliant in the Director's schemes. So now Wash, Carolina, York, North, South, Maine, and Tex are effectively part of the crew.
Oh, and the five AIs previously sharing head-space with Vince? Cortana shunted them into the Rozie's systems, not back into HQ's. Her reasoning is that if she didn't do this, then there'd be nothing to stop the Director from simply recreating the Meta with some other poor bastard. Of course, now they have to acquire android vessels for these AIs, since Durandal isn't going to like the idea of them occupying network space in his ship...
There's one last thing to do before the newly-expanded crew works on finding a way home: stop by Blood Gulch and ask the fine folks there if they want to hitch a ride.
--
Post-fic-idea stuff:
* Tex and Durandal would probably have a lot to potentially bond over, given how they've both been used and abused by people they thought cared. Eventually, they might also wonder if the Director and Strauss could be rough counterparts, which leads to further questions about themselves (and Carolina).
* The bodies that Alpha et al. get were probably nicked from HQ to save time. First thing Vince does with Sigma and Omega is punch them.
* After witnessing the master of sloth that is Grif, Durandal feels less inclined to whine about all the hours Vince sleeps. XD
* Vince and Sarge's interactions would be...interesting, I'll bet.
* Meanwhile, Vince and CT quickly become hacker buddies.
* Basically, things go a lot better for most of the Freelancers than in canon.
Further post-idea stuff/comments on the outline welcome; if my replies are late, that's because I was asleep. XD;
no subject
Date: 2018-12-18 03:49 am (UTC)A little perspective goes a long way (especially for Durandal). XD
Not too many vehicles, but plenty of things the crew's gonna have to Caboose-proof. XD; Especially the SPNKRs.
I bet Delta would have a good time there! And d'oh, I totally forgot him in that writeup...maybe he managed to stay with York in this scenario?