Even Rob felt the sudden drop in temperature, even though he couldn't move his face to stop admiring the wood, he felt the grip of Jordan tense then relax then tense again, he could tell that he made a mistake when Jordan was dragging him by the collar, while the senior officer of the federation looked in shock at how his official was being treated, but he just thought that Jordan was too slimy, he never thought his life would be in danger.
Then came the voice from the bottom of the abyss, so enchanting yet filled with something strange, something that caused Rob to feel, that, maybe suicide was not such a bad thing to do. "So you volunteered to go planetside, how wonderful, when do you plan to embark, I believe you will absolutely love the fireworks show that we usually reserve only for the bravest of souls".
Rob shivered.
Jordan let Rob go and soundlessly left the office, He didn't make a single sound even as he closed the door in a hurry, now only Jester and Rob were inside the office. Rob straightened his posture and tried not to glare back at the captain who just told him he was a dead man, he went through his training and finally found the courage to stammer: "all citizens of the empire are obliged to come forward in time of crisis, and you yourself called this situation a black flag, therefore, as the most senior federation officer in this ship, it is my duty to volunteer myself and my ship to help solve the crisis".
"Your ship?" That was the last straw, it would be much better to kill Jester than to call her ship names, and Rob just claimed ownership over the cruiser. In federation law, it is true that an officer can commandeer a ship, but that was only applicable to situations where entire planets are on the line.
Rob spent the next week indisposed in the medbay, and Jordan took over the communication with the federation, he showed them some falsified footage and vital signs that proves Rob was not completely sane, Lars diagnosed him with a severe case of "outer-space delusion" a case that used to happen in the olden days when humanity has just started to reach out for the stars, a condition that still occurs to individuals who suffer a sudden trauma or are continuously under pressure, very rarely,
Everyone knew this was nothing but garbage, but what could they do to them, when Rob seems to keep injuring himself whenever his bonds are loosened, the poor guy was still held by the words he said under record, but they couldn't hold Jester and her cruiser to the same, since her medic declared the federation officer unfit to make such decisions, she chose to ignore the federation attempts at buying her cooperation, the law was on her side, a captain held absolute authority on her ship, and unless the federation sent someone to specifically commandeer the ship, Jester was still the only queen bee.
Rob understood his mistakes in the medbay, he finally understood what the teachers kept telling them under training, "never go beyond your station, you are alone out there, the federation can not even avenge you if you died, the book comes second, you lives first.'' For a very long week, he experienced the true effectiveness of a fringe quack doctor, that and he finally understood why being at the mercy of someone you antagonized is ill-advised.
Not only Jester and Jordan, every crew member took a chance to "spar with him", Rob was finally realising how weak the federation was, in the endless space a badge is nothing but a piece of metal, useless, his own existence as a federation officer was just a show of power, the captains allowed it because the federation left them at peace, if they took in a liaison officer they would even be rewarded for staying within the guidelines, and the federation felt safer with the captains not forming pirate fleets to raid and pillage everywhere.
He was the useless token of a peace treaty. That reality dulled his enthusiasm, in all his previous missions, no one paid him any attention, leaving him to do as he wished, but this ship was different, other than the close relationships of the crew, they took tiny jobs and stayed for too safe for his liking, all his usual tactics had no effect, and finally backfired in his face.
During that week, the crew of the Serana; a name of which Jester loved to remind anyone who would listen, did their tasks to a respectable degree of completion, piles of data were ready for Jester to look at by the end of the week, there was even a compiled summary of the videos on her desk. The patrons were happily digging a vein of sapphire crystals while looking out for pirates, all excited and jittery.
Rob was confined to his quarters until they left this accursed patch of space, while Jordan and Argus hacked as many secure networks and top-secret information holders as they could, it did not matter what information they got, it was not everyday that one gets a secure line to the federation, especially to a department that deals with apocalypse-type of incidents.
While Jester is watching the videos and reading the piles of information, let's change perspective, to the one who is narrating the events of the apocalypse, Tyrelle.
"As soon as the organ is tested, store it and send a missive to the federation, i bet they would love to see something that imitates both Bionics and Psionics, Terras have always wanted to showcase their superiority by merging the two extremely different technology trees into their own". Tyrelle sent this message to the scientists who were approaching the planet and preparing for re-entry.
He shit off his comms and prepared to find a bed to crash in, he has been active for too long, his brain refusing to execute any operations that were not, breathing, digesting and finding a spot to sleep, ge ended up leaning onbhis chair and dozing off, when he woke up, twelve hours had passed and he found a few ambiant reports that held no significance.