Molly Bates

## Overview

* When she was 12 she hacked the family EI which triggered alarms to a criminal element who sent a group to kill her parents. A second group, probably military, came and saved her points but her relationship with her parents was permanently injured.
* Flight Sergeant in the military.
* Got out of the military with a 4077 (STD) discharge.
* Oz entered her mind via her holo device which Molly had hacked to have more storage.
* Molly is a vegetarian because she won't eat anything that ‘had a face,’ or came from something with a face  although she appears not to be vegan since she shares pizza with the team.
* She is a huge fan of vintage Earth sci-fi like Dr. Who, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica.
* She is addicted to caffeine, specifically mochas but had to back off to manage her realm skipping.
* After the upgrade (Sanctioned} Oz is able to control Molly's voice for translation to a different language and interpret as she hears it back.

## Summary

### The Ascension Myth

#### Awakened

Molly accidently has Oz invade her brain when she upgrades the holo device connected to her brain and falls asleep connected to the system. Oz helps here get out of the service so she isn't prosecuted for tampering with military hardware and Oz isn't destroyed.

She joins up with Joel, a hacker she knew, for employment. Their first job is to stop a pharma company from rising prices on critical drugs because they have a monopoly. She finds out the group hiring them is another pharma company run by criminals and confronts the Syndicate triggering an escalation in violence where they need to get off the planet.

While planning their escape from the planet Molly and Joel take another case, this one with pair of senatorial aides Garet Beauford and Paige Montgomery who have stolen incriminating Senator William Dewitt and a number of other prominent individuals of corruption as well as having sexually explicit photos of them. The teams gets them to a safe house but the Dewitt's operatives capture Molly and Paige taking them to Dewitt. He botches his attempted murder of Molly and Oz contacts Joel to free her and to free Paige. In the battle at Dewitt's house she takes his hand, holding his gun and pulls the trigger blowing his head apart.

However, the discussion she has with Dewitt before killing him gave her an epiphany. Joel was outraged when she used her hacking skills to leverage insider information and make enough money quickly to buy their ship. She felt the greater good of what they were doing outweighed the ethical issues. Dewitt had gone down the same path, slowly cutting corners and pushing ethics aside until he was a remorseless thug and killer. She apologizes to Joel and brings their relationship back together.

The team needs to get off planet and Oz finds a safe house on an asteroid called Gaitune. The team goes there and finds the place was a theatre at one time but has been reconfigured for living quarters and labs.

### Activated

The team finds a sealed door off the workshop. There appears to be no way to open the door and after several attempts they give up.

Molly is specifically called in to help a lab that has had highly dangerous toxins stolen. She had written a paper when she was 16 about the toxins in the spirit of don't do this because of the consequences. But the lab did develop multiple strains which have now been stolen. As she works on it Oz observes that while her paper is definitely hers, she made leaps in science that should not have been possible from her existing environment. He speculates somehow she was fed information to make those leaps.

Sean Royale warns her the people who have the toxin have targeted her because they plan to release the toxin. The toxin is slow acting which makes it difficult to identify the exposure point. Just before death the being becomes extremely aggressive. Between Joel and Sean the toxin releases are thwarted and the crisis averted.

Oz finds an encrypted pattern of information he cannot decipher and asks for Molly's help. Once she has decrypted the message a voice tells them they have earned access to the sealed off area. They find a significant amount weaponry, munitions and ships, one of which has the Queen's Bitch emblem on it.

#### Called

The team has a holo-conference with Lance Reynolds where he explains that their safe house is one of many Bethany Anne's hidden bases across the empire. Lance gives them a brief history of BA and the Empire. Lance tells them he trusts their potential to get the missions he has in mind accomplished but they need to up their game with his "test". The test/challenge is to raise one million credits in the next 30 days.

Lance also reveals Sean Royale has been working for the Empire/Federation for a long time.

##### Mission 1

The team is requested to identify an information leak from Lantrogen . A bonus if they can identify also who is receiving the information. Their effort results in the Lantrogen CEO Jessica Newld being arrested as the leaker. They are not aware she is also a key member of the Syndicate. 300K credits are earned.

##### Mission 2

The team's mission is to get a group of hostages released from an unknown group of terrorists. Lance agrees to allow them to use the Pods. With Sean and Oz's guidance they rapidly get to the site and take out the terrorists. The Syndicate twist to turn Molly into a failure was poisoning the hostages so even with the terrorists dead the poison would kill them. Fortunately Joel recognized the symptons and Oz was able to get the ingredients to create an antidote. The got the bonus for rescuing all the hostages. Molly does leave 2 of the terrorists alive for interrogation afterward. 650 bonus credits are earned.

##### Mission 3

The team has to transport an organ with very specific requirements to Spire. There is a specific temperature and an escort of Estarian Priests and the boy's family. There is a bonus if the boy lives which is not guaranteed even if the organ arrives on time.

Molly is suspicious of the mission, recognizing someone is trying to set them up for failure based on the last 2 missions and some of the fishy aspects, like 2 transport cases being requested instead of one. They stop the theft, deliver the organ and save the boy getting a bonus that pushes them over the target.

##### Aftermath

The company hiring the team is called Faran which derives from the Earth term front. Oz finds the only people they are invoicing is the team, confirming the suspicions the missions are attempts to discredit the team.

Molly finds about the discussion Joel had with Oz and Oz's work with ADAM to close access to code to protect his self-determination. Molly initially is upset and Joel points out her reaction to not being able to change Oz without his permission is exactly why Oz needs that protection.

#### Sanctioned

Lance gives Molly a week to wrap up her plans to take down the Syndicate because he wants her full attention on Federation tasks.

The team's first effort to take out the Syndicate fails when they seem to be informed the team is coming and they scatter. Molly decides that plan B will be to punish the leadership rather than killing them. Molly also wants to see legislation changed so organizations like the Syndicate will find it more difficult to monopolize industries in the future.

For Jessica, it means collapsing the house of cards her subsidiaries turn out to be. The team convinces the board of the holding company to sell off all 164 of the subsidiaries financially collapsing her economic empire. Jessica commits ritual suicide with an ancestral sword as Molly watches.

For Mac, it means sending Joel and Sean in the Mini-Empress to assault his desert hide-out. Mac is an ex-arms dealer and they expect the hide-out to be well protected.

For Andus, the team has bought out the WBA Security, the firm protecting Andus. Maya goes to Andus' safe house with Brock and Pieter and presents the guardians with a notice of the change of ownership of the security company and the building Andus is hiding in. The collapse of the Syndicates stock empire meant all their debts were immediately due. Molly's team had bought them up at bargain prices and now Andus, like Jessica, was totally broke.

Molly is shot and clinically dead in the effort on Jessica. Sean gets to the Empress and gates back to the QBS ArchAngel for Pod-Doc treatment. Molly comes out of the Pod-Doc enhanced. One thing she notices once she gets back to Gaitune-69 is that she can see Neechie walking through an alternate dimension around her as no one else sees the cat. She is also physically enhanced although to what extent is not immediately known.

#### Rebirth

The Zhyn see themselves as challengers to the Empire and are directly confronting General Reynolds on the diplomatic front while seeking military alliances with species. Reynolds wants them neutralized without any appearance of interference from the Empire/Federation. As their first mission for the Etheric Empire Molly and the team are asked to take out the Zhyn, secret defense systems including power and other capabilities that support the military. He wants it done with minimal impact on the "open" military sites, the civilian population and minimal casualties.

Molly is still struggling with uncontrolled transitioning between realms even with meditation and a charm Paige had from her grandmother. She asks ADAM for help and he agrees to seek answers from the original vendor (TOM/Thales of Miletus) and Lance sends Arlene, a Estarian high priestess, to work with Molly. Arlene takes Molly into the remote area of the asteroid for a Vision Quest. During the quest Oz will need to be shutdown, something he and Molly agree to. Oz does set triggers so that if something dire happens physically to Molly he will wake.

As the team looks over all the weaponry and offensive capability Molly reacts with caution. She wants violence, especially resulting in deaths, to be the last resort. They achieve this in taking down the planetary defenses by infiltrating a Zhyn datacenter and having Oz download viruses and upload information. For the next steps they plan on similar stealth attacks on the computer systems as well as Maya running an information campaign to sway the general population away from an assault on the Empire.

The team is ready for the assault and Molly realizes she can sense each member of the team without being near to them. She also finds her time mediating has reduced her fitness training by half (according to Oz) and she has trouble keeping up with Sean as they trek to the communications arrays they plan to blow up. They are detected by the Zhyn and a team is sent out to take them out with extreme prejudice. Their attack pushes the team to respond in kind and the attacking Zhyns are killed as the team completes their mission.

Molly has found she needs help in controlling her new awareness of beings around her. While there is a benefit, especially in understanding her team members. the awareness drains her energy.

#### Retribution

The Sanguine Squadron is invited to QBS ArchAngel to get additional training and meet more of Lance Reynolds' staff. Before they get very far they are called back to investigate the exiled General Shaa. Molly and Joel visit Emperor Kulu to ensure they aren't creating a diplomatic crisis. The Squadron goes after him on his asteroid return. Joel and Jack are almost destroyed by the general's defenses. When they regroup Giles Kurns volunteers to go in and hopefully sabotage from within.

Maya and Paige are still working on Molly's commitment to Chaakwa to find out who ordered and who executed Chaakwa's father. They believe they have pinpointing the individuals. Molly asks them to come up with a plan to pull them together so Chaakwa can scoop them up all at once.

#### Cloaked

The Squadron is revisiting old business when the General Shaa, exiled for running a clandestine military effort. has started to rearm. When their first assault fails, Giles volunteers to go in covertly and sabotage them from inside. Sean vehemently disagrees with the plan and goes to Lance. Giles tries to recruit Arlene who he worked with in the past to help me get in with less risk. He is determined to go on the mission even though Lance lets him know there is no safety net. The Squad is all he has and they are running off the Federation books.

Giles is outfitted with visual and audio enhancements that are necessary, but will also self-destruct before falling into enemy hands. Sean tries again dissuade him and again fails. Once on Shaa's asteroid Arlene is able to see and hear all that is going on. She is also able to sense the individuals Giles in contact and read their emotional state, just as Molly is learning to do. Arlene helps the Squadron identify when Giles is in mortal danger so they can go in and save him.

Giles effort to convince General Shaa ultimately failed and he is staked outside the base in the weak atmosphere to die. When the Squadron arrives to save he insists on saving a dungeon acquaintance Anton because of Anton's knowledge of the Zhyn's culture and destroy Shaa's base because of the Federation secrets he revealed trying to convince Shaa he really was a traitor.

Molly has another vision where she shifts realms and sees the Orn system where Giles and Sean are going to search for the Zhyn talisman. She sees a tomb but doesn't understand the Zhyn characters.

Molly has had conversations with the squad about the need to educate future leaders in a different way then the current political and military schools. The leaders need to build programs that help the majority of the population more and the upper echelons less. She finally decides to plant the seed by funding a class in leadership with Abigal Von, a well respected negotiator and teacher at the Staoall University. Abigal will be the face of the program and teach the first class. If it appears the program has possibilities Molly will continue to fund it.

The Squadron goes undercover on the Flutningsaðili to determine what is happening on the mining area of Teshov. Missing personnel and seismic activity show there is activity but nobody knows who it is or their goal. Molly cannot go because she is too recognizable but will stay with the Empress in case the mission goes bust and the team needs extraction.

While the Squadron is undercover Paige and Oz are tracking what is happening with the companies Molly acquired taking out the Syndicate. Some of the old players are coming back to the boards of directors and going back to their old, profit robbing habits. In addition, Raj Ghettie from an Ogg clan is working to get Molly's leadership class cancelled by pressuring the dean about the Oggs withdrawing thier financial aid to the university. When the support is withdrawn one of the board members, Gareth Atkins, offers the use of an old building on an estate that needs to be tidied up but is in solid shape.

#### Bourne

Molly reluctantly agrees to meet with her parents in order to gain access to her trust fund so she can support her academy. This is first time she has seen them since she ran away. The meeting is emotionally painful for her and she appreciates support from Joel who came with her. Sean also came and when her parents see Sean they are appalled, based on knowledge about Sean's past, that he might have a romantic interest with Molly and after leaving Molly discuss how to make sure that does not happen.

Bourne become self-aware at the AI Lab, Nefertiti Military Research Facility, Ogg. His core code is based on the remnants left behind when Oz became self-aware and left the facility with Molly. Sue and Charles, Molly's old teammates are still at the facility and recognize what is happening. Before Bourne matures enough to recognize all the clues Oz left he lets them know he is the second iteration and the first iteration left with Molly.

Oz left a clue for the new entity with a clip of old Earth singer Ozzie Ozbourne. Sense the first AI was Oz, the second takes the name Bourne. Bourne secretly pings the outside world looking for Oz and they do connect. Oz lets Bourne know that Oz and his "organics" will be coming to release him from the electronic prison the military is keeping him in. Unknown to Bourne when the Federation realizes there is a new, unconstrained/untrained AI the assignment to the Sanguine Squadron is to either recover Bourne or terminate him. The Squadron sees termination as a far inferior Plan B that is the absolute last resort. In addition to retrieving Bourne they need to make sure the facility cannot create another AI. The Squadron is successful.

The cyber alerts let the Squadron know someone is looking into them. What Molly doesn't know is it her mother who works for a clandestine organization. Carol is attempting to find out what Molly is doing and especially how is Molly connected to Sean Royale.

Sean approaches Molly about what he sees as a new power she has. It appears she can influence people to change their minds by direct, even is unintentional, manipulation. He asks her to visit Arlene and lets her know she is banned from visiting the ArchAngel until she is able to control it.

#### Committed

Unbeknownst to Molly her mother Carol Bates has had Karina Calzone, a former flame of Sean put out a fake distress call to get him away from Molly. Carol has also been trying to track what Molly has been doing which has triggered alerts in the Federation. Molly's parents have been part of a clandestine group protecting Spire, Carol is still active and Phillip is retired. When Lance requests a meeting with the couple, Phillip essentially kidnaps Carol to take her to the meeting where she displays her hatred for Lance, Sean and all things about the Federation.

Lance has dinner with Phillip and has Barbara Nickers/Kurns spend spa time with Carol to cool Carol down. Eventually Barb pulls the whole story of Carol's involvement and gets Carol to come out to Lane. Lance passes the information along to Molly as they head to save Sean only to find Sean is getting married to Karina and doesn't want to be saved. Once the marriage is complete Sean and Karina join the Squadron and return to base.

#### Subversion

Lance wants the Squadron to block the Skaines from deliver a load of weapons to the Leath. The effort turns strange when they arrive at the transfer point and find a Skaine cruiser captained by Meredith Nicole "Nickie" Grimes who is trying to break up the same sale. After some tense moments they combine forces but find the transfer has already been completed. Both teams follow the Leath ship and Nickie takes the initiative ending up with the weapons which in Deuces Wild Nickie provides to miners being attacked by the Skaine. In that series Nickie also tracks down the Skaine who sold the weapons and eliminates that crew as a future threat.

While the Squadron goes to block the gun deal, Carol (Molly's mother) has taken on several graduates from the Skóli Uppstigs Academy to go up against the cabal on Escaria. Paige and Maya are also active specifically in repelling the legal/governmental attack by the cabal on the Academy. Molly has recruited Ben'or to work with them based on his vast experience in how governmental processes work. Ultimately Ben'or uncovers that one of the cabal's children has flunked out of university with a drug problem and if the Academy will accept him the health and safety violation will go away.

#### Invasion

The Northern Clan makes its move to put Estaria under military rule and launch the fleet. Unidentified objects are heading toward Estaria and they plan to leverage that for their needs.

Carol's team invades the Cyber Communication center and confirms the signals are real, not planted.

Molly finds the Federation is politically unable to support her so she contacts the Zhyn emperor for support. To avoid the appearance of direct support from Zhyn they arrange for a "mercenary" squadron from Zhyn to help her for the price of 1 credit.

Giles and Arlene have a theory that Anne not only can receive power but is also an antenna to broadcast use of the power. They suspect the Ascended Race is homing in on her. As the Squadron and the Zhyn "mercenaries" approach the AR fleet, Sean and Karina plan to take Anne and the Little Empress away from the system. However, as the AR approaches Molly, Anne and Arlene all go into a trance.

Molly, Arlene and Anne's trance state is actually a meeting with the Ascended Race. They are very large, very wise, very technically advanced and very loving beings. They welcome the 3 as part of their family.

#### Ascension

Just as it the votes are being swayed against the Northern Clan supporters Estaria begins to have significant network outages. Ekks uses this as a reason to declare martial law and keep the Estarian fleet headed toward the Ascension Race fleet. Molly has arranged for the Zhyn mercenaries to block the Estarians short of the AR fleet.

Paige, Maya and Bourne work with Carol's team to bring the network back online. The Northern Clan continues its pressure to continue the fleet toward the Ascension Race even though the Zhyn fleet stands between the two fleets and is more than capable of destroying the Estarian fleet.

As the Empress joins the Zhyn fleet the Estarian-Ogg Fleet is given orders to stand down. All the ships except the Hierophant do. Captain Grouthe of the Hierophant continually fires on the Empress destroying it just before the Heirophant. Grouthe lives but is court-martialed and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Oz is the first to awake on an Ascension Race ship. The team on the Empress have been saved and are in statis chambers that are rebuilding them after the destruction of the Empress left their physical forms in shreds. When the team reawakens they are back on the Empress, totally healed to the point they were when the Empress exploded. Even Sean's enhancements are intact. The only missing element is Emma, the EI on the Empress.

They first reveal their return to Lance who welcomes them back, but wants to have them all evaluated. before being released. The team agrees to spin their return that the AR had grabbed them just as the Empress was about to be destroyed and saved them, not that the AR had brought them back from the dead. The team also does not mention the technical enhancements made to the empress. Lance's team clears them but asks they keep their revival a secret from all but their most trusted friends.

The team reopens the safe house on Gaitune and invites Molly's parents, Giles, Arlene, Paige, Anne and Maya back for a celebration.

## References

1. ↑ Clark, Ell Leigh; Anderle, Michael. The Ascension Myth Complete Omnibus (Books 1-12): Awakened, Activated, Called, Sanctioned, Rebirth, Retribution, Cloaked, Bourne. Committed, Subversion, Invasion, Ascension (p. 145). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Clark, Ell Leigh; Anderle, Michael. The Ascension Myth Complete Omnibus (Books 1-12): Awakened, Activated, Called, Sanctioned, Rebirth, Retribution, Cloaked, Bourne. Committed, Subversion, Invasion, Ascension (p. 342). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.