The Line in the Stars (IC) [PG/14]

[Lushin]

Pirate Base
"Get it in your head Knight. THIS ISN'TYOUR MISSION! YOU ARE NOT IN CHARGE! YOU'RE GONNA GET THESE MEN KILLED ALL CAUSE YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING YOU THINK IS A GOOD IDEA! WE HAVE COMPLETED ONE HALF OF OUR MISSION AND GOT ANN'S FRIEND OUT! NOW WE JUST NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! THESE PIRATES DON'T WORK THE WAY YOU THINK THEY DO! I WILL NOT LET YOU ENDANGER MY MEN!" Romulus was very close to pulling the trigger when Micheal spoke up. "Can we have this dick masureing contest later. Knight if you want to grab their "commander" you're on your own. We need to finish what we came here for. Don't make this more complicated then it already is. You don't know how the pirates work. Parleying hasn't worked in a very long time. They would just kill you as soon as look at you. A stunt like this is what got Romulus's father killed"
'SHUT UP HACKER!" Romulus roared as Micheal finished speaking. "Look Knight you'll have a few seconds to grab her after the flash bangs go off so if you plan on doing it do it then. Tell the higher ups about me if we get back. They will just laugh at you"

[ShadesFox]

Matron

It would seem Aaron was not going to have to teach this auto maker (the name Aaron was using for the Acadian means of producing food by magic) how to make good tea.  Quite a relief.  And the scones were delicious.  It make Aaron extremely nervous.  This were going far too well.  The only explanation was either his eminent death or things are going horribly wrong at the pirate base.  

Yes, reasoning with them does not seem to be an option.  You must have poked at our memories enough to know by now what is going on.  The Ixlin are coming for us, and we're going to need help.
Xaos smirked, Oh?  And who, exactly, is us?
Well...
What I mean is, you are an Acadian, enlisted in the ISF.  An Acadian Alpha at that, one of us.  Who is we?
Erm..., Aaron was a bit self conscious at the moment.
No need to think to hard on that now, "how is your tea?"
Gods that toothy grin of his was going to get old quickly, "Delicious.  All I ever hoped for in my tea."
Richard looked quite relived that people were actually talking again.  Which was a different look from the 'these scones are delicious' look on him earlier.
Aaron drinks down a large gulp of tea, "My question though, is what next?  The masters wish to have their way with us, and we wish otherwise.  But we need help, lots of it."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Matron

"proof ...  procedure"  Nova was momentarily flashback to her Grandmother's trial and inquiry into the expedition mishaps as much as her eight year ago mind could remember.  The trials ended when the head judge died, and the ISF were bring stories of another race from the pirates captured.  

Where did this ensign come from?  or More important When?  Thinks Nova

The look of shock on Saioko's face change Nova's train of thought, and she is worry about her cat friend.  As Saioko looks at the retreating Alphas, and Nova says "Captain, fear not so, you have friends if you need help.  And these Alpha are not malicious.  Gaea would answer to anything for you, if you ask."  She puts her hand on the captain's shoulder.

Lt Hunnydew turns to the squirrel, "Ensign, I am sure the captain can answer most of your questions, and when you are ready I will answer some of things she can't.  I'm sorry, I can't help you more, now and your situation is not one, I could understand myself in your position.  From basic survive, I would advice you to find out the Where and 'When', you are, before trying to find out more on the what and why.  An reference point from what you known before is aways good to understanding all.."

Nova leaves with a salute to ensign and then the captain. and runs to catch up with the others.  In the galley, the catgirl seems hungry enough for three people as she loads up on her plate with food.  "Matron Oh I have forgottten how good food is .mmmm."

PBH

[Lushin]

Pirate Base
As Romulus was glareing at Knight one of the pirates got off a lucky shot. The bullet hit Romulus in the skull, there wasn't much blood splatter as Romulus fell to the floor.

[Lisky]

Pirate Base

"Shit! Rom is down!"  Knight shouted at the sudden silence.  He watched the wolverine go limp, and drop to the floor.

"Hacker, if that pirate commander doesn't come out in 10 seconds, toss a flash and cover my flank...  Hold you fire unless she's armed... i'd like to keep her alive if possible."

Turning his attention to the stairs, "As for everyone else... Take and hold the stairs, arrange the cover to give you firing positions down the stairs if you can, but don't advance too far just yet.  If we can get out of here under peaceful terms, or sneaking out... that's far preferable to gunning down everyone we meet and hope for the best when we get outside.   

[Azlan]

Pirate Base


The blur of the surroundings blended into the pervasive white glow.  Surreal sound, seemingly filtered through a large thick glassed fish bowl, drifted all around.  All of this effect circled around the fallen form of a wolverine male.

A canine soldier gaped at the sight, unbelieving what his eyes told him to be truth.  Wordlessly, Ben tried to call the name of his fallen friend.  In this surreal space, he could but watch as time slowed and the white glow concentrated someplace just beyond sight.  No longer in the pirate base, Ben was not given the time to consider this strange occurrence.

Far in front of him Romulus paused in his walk down the path of light, turning back to nod and crack a half smile at Ben.  The canine nodded in response, not knowing a single word to express what he wanted to say.

Blinking, Ben recovered from his momentary space-out to hear Knight's orders.  He noticed Hacker about to say something he might regret to the snow leopard lieutenant and intercepted it with a hand on his shoulder, "you heard him, do it.  Now is not the time."  Of anyone here, Micheal had known Romulus the longest.  Hacker and the rest of the squad, would take it hard.

The wolf nodded, forcing down the emotional outburst, and assumed a position to cover behind the team while he readied a flashbang grenade.

Ben nodded to Jaice and the two opened up with concentrated fire on the stairs.  Marcus grabbed Romulus's weapon and assisted the two soldiers, adding the fire of the carbine to their suppressing fire.

Anastasia Tescrae stared at length at the body of their fallen comrade, heedless to the action occurring around them.  The vixen had caused a lot of damage in her life, hurt countless people and indirectly killed quite a few.  She had worked with many people who had lost their lives, but never had she lost someone she could consider a friend even in her 'mercenary' life.  A pirate bullet drilled a hole through her leather long coat, grazing her side as another one nicked her thigh.  She gave them no mind as anger built up in the core of her being, "damn it, damn you... why did you have to die... why?  Why didn't I do anything... I should have paid attention instead of taunting pirates!"  Her eyes glowed gold as she stood and faced the stairs, energy played over her paws, "this ends now!"

The vixen launched herself forward, out distancing Ben and Jaice, hurling bolts of wild energy forward.  She blasted down the forward guards and relentlessly blasted the reinforcements a flight down.  Her powers caused significant knockback and the technomage had blasted her way all the way down to the hanger deck.  Here a slight snag developed, bringing her out of her berserker-like rage.  A mecha was waiting with its heavy launcher primed. 

"Oops... I'll just go back up..."

It fired the missile as a reply to her hasty backpedaling.  Her powered flight barely kept the vixen ahead of the explosion as she grabbed both Ben and Jaice who were trying to secure the landing below the lobby.  Fire erupted from the stairwell and when it had died down, Ana dashed over to the stairs.

"Bloody hell, they seem to have wiped out their own stairs below the floor one flight down.  Took out the lads I didn't kil... oh gods and goddesses what did I do..."  The vixen dropped to her knees in shock, well limited shock as she managed to blast one surviving pirate that had crouched in a corner and was attempting to line up a shot with her head.  She gazed at her hand and clenched it into a fist, "breathe, get it together."


Meanwhile, the pirate commander did not come out from her cover.  Perhaps she was a little better informed and was counting on the large reinforcement group coming up the stairs.  She carefully collects the sidearm of one of her deceased guards.  She tries to cover both her right and left, keeping her tail to the rubble and her belly to the ground. 

Regardless, she gets a flash bang dropped in on her.  She is assaulted with ear splitting bangs and bright flashes.  Disoriented, she scrambles away from the thing and rolls out into a more open area.  The collie is definitely confused and fires both pistols into the wall away from Knight.



Another part of the base nearby


It was another day for Harriet TiBalt, halfway into her one year assignment to infiltrate the "Razor's Edge" pirate group and she was scheduled to be pulled out by command due to upcoming operations against more relevant foes.  That was a couple of days ago and her ride was overdue, ISIS operations are precise and delays are communicated. 

Despite this she had continued to meet with her small cell of sympathizers, a very reliable sort of group, and a rough few jewels among the dross.  A male coyote everyone calls "Doc", a female human named Miyuki, a male fennec fox named Jack, and a male sable nicknamed "Magick".

The group, minus Doc had assembled just as they had come to be aware of a battle being fought in the "guest area".  Something to avoid normally, except for the fact that her special hyperwave unit was detecting an ISIS IFF unit near where the hostilities were to be found.


Doc had managed to slip away from his duties as he generally managed to do.  Not the best pirate, he stuck through it partially for the memory of Alexandera, but mostly due to the ISF agent he had met.  She was his best ticket out of this den of vipers and perhaps to a more respectable job somewhere.  Arriving a bit late at the meeting, he reaches it at the same time everyone comes to the realization that a major conflict is brewing in the base.



Matron


Saioko was taken a bit aback by this squirrel.  He was hung up on some of the most obtuse things. 

"Well, the E.S.M. protocol is not applicable in this case.  We weren't going to the site of a wreck, but an alien vessel that was still inhabited by its owners.  Our scans showed the vessel to be safe beyond any salvage protocol, even if our eyes at first lead us to believe this was a wrecked starship."  The pantheress paused and regarded Robert briefly, "simply put, we are ignoring E.S.M. protocol because we don't have to follow it... our insight puts us above it, our mission is far nobler than any salvage doctrine, and first contact protocol applies.  So this is now the job of diplomats and xeno-researchers.  Acadians are strictly hush-hush stuff..."

Saioko was interrupted by Matron who had decided to add a bit to the Acadian portion, "the Acadians are a rather young old race or old young race... something along those lines.  During some exploration and research, we managed to breach the space between dimensions and reach another universe.  What we found was a truly horrible thing.  A universe devoid of any life save one race, the Ixlin.  They had destroyed all other races, not because they were different, for territory, or because of some ideology.  They did so because they feed off of war, strife, and death.  It gives them sustenance.  To them the universe itself has a harmony, each individual person contributes to this making it an amalgamation of all and a truly unique signature.  Ixlin desire uniformity, only one song... their own, to prevail amount the universal song.  When we discovered them, they were quite starved and rushed into our universe in a frenzy.  Their technology was very advanced, but a coalition of races was formed and we prevailed, sealing the gate within what has become known as the Sphere of Harmonies.  A small number of the Ixlin escaped and they secretly infiltrated our government, becoming the Masters.  They seek the means to break the Sphere and release their kind into this world."

Gaea brings her kit charges over to Nova and sits across from her, with Ixiah and Loki sitting across from one another as well.  The vixen merely watches Nova, not speaking at this moment and merely waiting for the questions she knows the kitten want s to ask of her.

Xaos sighed, "in reality I don't have any grand plan.  We could use our Nova to repair the Sphere, she can guide one of us in its reinforcement.  I think we need to destroy it, and then help your people defeat their little problem.  Oh, by the way... where is your girlfriend Aaron?"  The fox smiled rather sinisterly.

Richard nearly dropped his tea, the wolf did not even notice she had disappeared.

[Lushin]

Another part of the base nearby
Doc walks into the room and tips his hat to Harriet. "Ma'am" He then looks at the others in the room. "Sounds like someone had a disagreement out there.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The catgirl was stuffed, yet she was enjoying her food too much to stop eating as her weakness was slowly fading away.  Upon over- hearing Xaos, Nova's food  suddenly tastes like sand in her mouth.  She drops her fork to the table with a loud clang.  She stands and stares at Xaos.

"Now, I remember, even as a little kitten, I could hear you two and Matron fight over this.  You made a mistake of linking me to Matron via Mara.  I know.  The Sphere, even broken, is the only thing keeping the rest of Ixlin in their home universe, and they want it destroyed.  They'll over-run us and keep us playing war games to feed them with hatred and strife, until this universe is lifeless as their home dimension.

"So, Do tell us....Will destroying the sphere close the hole in the trans-dimensional space, Xaos?  Will repairing the sphere call the rest of the Ixlin out from their hide holes from over this universe and back into the sphere to be lock away again, Gaea?"   

Looking at her fairy godparents, Nova sees now they don't know everything, Gaea look sad and sorry, and Xaos is just angry and frustrated and not looking at her.  They didn't have a plan, and she was their small hope.  For what, she didn't know.  She felt she had fulfilled her mission, she returned with Acadian who would/could help them.   Yet, if not the repair for the sphere what else would she be needed for.

"I know that if the Sphere of Harmonies is restored, it will be impossible to destroy it from the inside.  BUT! there is a way to destroy it from the outside, and sooner or later,  they or their agents will break them out again.   I .. we need to know what we are going to do, now?  What am I going to do now?" 

She had many more question but they were for Gaea  alone,but now wasn't the time.  "Mara, please locate Marissa at once."   the little kitten appear on the table, steals a cookie and runs to and disappears into the wall. 

Edit: fix it, I think ?.
PBH

[Lisky]

Pirate Base


As the Flashbang was thrown, Knight slid the rifle behind his back while drawing his pistol, and waited for the ear-spitting *BANG*.  As the sharp crack met his ears, the feline took off at full speed, clearing the edge of the pirate commander's cover, and finding her having chosen the wrong way to spray. 

He leveled his own side-arm at her center-mass, trotting in to maintain accuracy, he moved to kick the pistol out of her hands, while shouting, "Drop it! Hands behind your head, NOW!"

The spotted feline's focus was on the pirate commander at that point, if someone else was around, he hoped his backup would be able to take care of them.

[Chairtastic]

Clandestine Meeting Area, or Where Nothing Gathers

The mission hadn't been easy; given the naturally suspicious nature of pirates, and the oddly competent nature of this particular group.  But she had done it, through a mixture of blind luck, careful lying, and the occasional 'disappearance' she had done it.  Harriet D. TiBalt was in.  She operated under the guise of a technician, with some skill at maintaining a communications network, keeping the left hand informed of the right and vice versa; well as some talent in flying a dropship for the occasional ferrying mission between the main base and the outpost.  Nothing special, nothing dangerous. 

Oh, the irony...

It had taken some time, to find out which of the...oh, how to put it nicely; pirate scum would be useful in gathering intelligence, namely the conscripts, and disillusioned.  Some were more useful than others, and in true Consortium spirit, she rewarded their usefulness with favors, information of her own, not feeding them to the paper-shredder...  Of course, there had been turncoats, and they had been...dealt with.  When she had been told her mission was being cut short, Harriet was mildly disappointed.  She'd become rather used to being a Boogieman...er, Boogiewoman.  Much to her surprise, and mild horror; the ship responsible for her evac, the Cold Fire, was overdue.  The radio silence on the subject was also disturbing.  But in the absence of her liberators, Harriet's mission was to behave normally.  Like it was so damn hard.

Harriet regarded the coyote impassively, then returned her focus to the display of her hyperwave unit.  "Yes, a disagreement would aptly describe that."  The meeting area was a juncture of multiple auxiliary service ways, giving Harriet and her cell easy access to almost anywhere in the base, and a myriad easy escape routes in the event it was discovered.  Dark, difficult to see in, walls lined with pipes and wires; most unsafe.  It served her purposes well, having many places to hide the more...dangerous equipment she had in tow.  Dangerous having the meaning of "If they find out this is here, we're dead." 

She had been more than willing to let the guests get themselves killed, maybe steal one away for interrogation; after all, every bit on intel helps.  Then, by some divine prank, she discovered an ISIS IFF transmitting.  She briefly wondered if one of the pirates had somehow stolen it, and immediately discredited it.  In the event of imminent capture, ISIS protocol dictated the destruction of all sensitive information and devices, lest they be used against other ISIS operatives.  Which meant...it was genuine.

"Jack, Magick; confirm the status of the service pathways and ducts to the Deck, see if that explosion damaged them, then report back.  Doc, Miyuki; get some weapons and stand guard, we may be getting some company."  Orders having been issued, Harriet devoted her full attention to the outmoded means of communication, and put out a message with an ISIS encryption, which would hopefully reach the IFF without alerting the pirates to an unauthorized communications device in use.

Hopefully...

[Lushin]

Another part of the base nearby
Doc taped the handle of his pistol and walked out to take up watch.

[ShadesFox]

Matron

Aaron's face was quite firmly planted in the nearest flat surface.  There is no plan.  Xaos did not seem to have a better idea then Aaron on how to proceed.  Well, there was the new idea of destroying the sphere, but Aaron had no idea what all that would imply.  Add on top of that Marissa was missing.  Aaron was wondering further about her.  Added to that the fact that he really can't think of her as his girlfriend until... well... she was no longer her bondsman.

"Okay, that grin on your face implies that you know something about where Marissa is.  If you would be so kind, could you take me to where she went while explaining the relative merits of reinforcing the sphere of harmonies versus blowing it up?"

[SquirrelWizard]

Spork!

Robert's ear twitched as Saioko dismissed the need for E.S.M. protocol because the ship wasn't technically a wreck. "Right," thoughts arced about in his head, "so this ship has been patiently waiting twenty years for us to drop by with a casserole and welcome it to the neighborhood..."

He wanted to point out that by scanning the ship they had likely performed E.S.M. protocol prior to entry, but that would just cause another argument. Robert really wanted to bust some heads for them not telling him this before, it would have prevented a lot of the misunderstanding before. Seriously, these people need to work on their communication skills. Instead, Robert settled with pinching the bridge of his nose and grumbling, "I... I need to think, this is a lot to go over," he left the presence of Saioko, and walked over to the nearby table and sat down. Robert was too burnt out to eat, and so he cradled his head in his arms and shut his eyes. As he dozed off he vaguely heard something about a girlfriend and something to do with spheres.

[Azlan]

Pirate Base - Conference Rooms


Knight managed to kick the pistol out of her right hand as she spun to face the snow leopard, but she had picked up another gun earlier and it is with this weapon that she took a panicked shot at him with.  This also forced Knight to retaliate, firing in response.

Both shots impacted harmlessly on an invisible barrier, inches from each combatant's fur and clothes.  The dark blue vixen, looking rather wild-eyed and rushed, had both hands extended forward, the tops roughly facing one another and shaped into a fist as if she were grasping at something unseen.

"Enough!  Knight, secure her weapon.  Hacker search her for anything else.  Ben, Marcus and Jaice hold what's left of the stairs... that's our only way out.  Uh, Jeanne... stay put for now."  She stood, swayed for a second and then straightened, "too much energy used.  You, Commander..."

The collie stood abstinent for a moment as Hacker padded her down before relenting to Ana's question, "Holly Kidsan".  She stepped away from Hacker as he began to be very thorough, "oi, I'm hiding bazookas in my navel or between my boobs!"  She yelled as she pulled her uniform shirt down.

"No, just knives."  He replied blandly.

She shrugged, "well we are pirates, arrr matey and all."


Knight's special comm was receiving a message.  A very odd thing to happen here.  It was encoded and encrypted, such a device would be the first thing destroyed if an ISIS operative if they were captured, so it was very likely genuine.  It was a request for confirmation of identity and possibly communication.  The identifier used the Cold Fire's passkey.



Pirate Base - Clandestine Meeting Area


Jack and Magick nodded in acknowledgment of the order.  The fennec trotted off, quietly padding through the service ways.  Magick on the other hand stepped into a shadow and slowly withdrew into it, disappearing completely, just like magic.

Miyuki nodded to Doc who had taken position to cover the entrance.  This freed up Miyuki to grab some more significant weapons, she headed into the storage area.  Grabbing a sidearm and a pair of carbines, she joined Doc.  Tapping him carefully on the side she offered the carbine for a larger caliber and volume of fire.



Matron


Xaos smiled a bit wider and stood at Aaron's bequest, "maybe I do."  He waved to his mate, ship and guests, "we will be back in a bit."

Richard shifted in his seat and downed his tea, "these people are far too exciting for our health.  I may not need to worry about getting old."

Saioko left Robert in peace at his table, choosing to sit down near Matron.   The vixen who is the ship turned to regard the feline captain and spoke quietly so Nova, Robert and Richard would not hear, "do Darkshasa AI's process organic matter and liquids?  If so you may like some tea and scones."

Saioko gaped at Matron and offered in response, "I'm not sure, if I find one I'll ask it..."

Matron nodded, "I see.  I understand now, hopefully the others will be told before things turn strange."



Somewhere on Matron


The distant song seemed to get louder as the red vixen walked.  She was not sure what the words to the song were, but it compelled her onward.  After a few minutes, she found herself in a strange area.  Not an expert in alien vessels, if Marissa had to field a guess she would say it was the engine room.  If she was right, it was drastically different than that of ISF ships.    The conduits were vastly different and the central reactor was, well alien. 

The song seemed to emanate from this central fixture and she felt compelled to touch it.  Reaching out with her paw, she hesitated and then relented, laying her hand upon the cool surface. 

The song in her head exploded into a crescendo before dying down to a high cacophony of music.  She was struck with a strange clarity about her surroundings, the passage of time and the nature of the universe.  This time, it appeared that Marissa McAllister was just a bit more than just a cute vixen.   

[ShadesFox]

Matron

Richard was torn between being stuck in the gallery with the local color and going with Xaos and Aaron to parts likely to be unhealthy.  He did, however, get the feeling that Aaron wanted him to stay and make sure that no one got in too much trouble.  One day he should ask Aaron if he was planting those thoughts in his head.  Silly Richard didn't seem to quite realize that Aaron couldn't implant thoughts that smoothly.

Xaos and Aaron went out the door, with Aaron expecting to hear about the effects of destroying the Sphere of Harmonies, but the conversation took a different tone, "Tell me, where did you pick up your girlfriend?"
"Hmm?  Well, I think it started on the day I shot her then bandaged her up.  She was fighting for a band of pirates, though she never seemed too thrilled about it.  Since then I've been holding onto her as a bondsman.  Honestly though..." Aaron check around to make sure Richard and Marissa were not around, "I would like to try and end the bondsman thing fairly quickly.  I like them both but I don't want to... well... hold them..."
"Seems to me that Marissa may be more then 'I like them' to you yes?", Xoas quipped.
Aaron was astonished that Xoas' grin could even get wider, "Erm... well... uh..." Aaron looked away, with the slightest bit of blush.
"Seems like you could do well to be a bit more honest." Xoas nod nods quite sagely, in spite of his grin.
What Xoas was not admitting to was intentionally sending Aarons mind into something of a swirl.  So much useful information.  His fears of dragging people into thing much larger then what they can handle.  His little fears that perhaps Marissa and Richard were only being friendly because he was, 'the boss'.  His fear of getting into a relationship with Marissa only to leave her heartbroken if he goes beyond mortality.  Such a silly bunch of fears.  Aaron should be more honest indeed!

[Lushin]

Pirate Base - Clandestine Meeting Area
Doc took the carbine but looked alittle bumped he could just use his pistol.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Nova couldn't just sit and wait.  She had to do something when she conforting her feelings.  Looking Gaea, she needed something for her hands while she thinks carefully what she would ask the Alpha lady.

"Matron, please can I have my favorite toy?" she ask.  Matron only looks back briefly to Nova and then back to Saioka, and the sphere puzzle appears in front of the catgirl and Loki.  "Remember, this Loki.  My puzzle on the ISF Phalinx is model I made from memory, it is not good as this one.   This one is closer to the real thing.  I could and did play with this for hours, because it has more than one solution.  What Gaea and Xaos couldn't believe?  Gaea made me sing to it after each time I finish it.  And each time the crystal would break apart, but with her solution it wouldn't, unless I touched with outside.  I have had a long time to look at this, and I found another solution which doesn't break apart unless you touch the inside."

Nova had completes the puzzle in front of her.  The crystal sphere seem to sing on it's own very low volume, it was a different melody from Gaea's song, but it very close to the same song.   Nova turns away for it and looks to Gaea.

 "Gaea, you could have made us see nothing when my grandmother, my family and I found this place.  We would have left once our ship repairs were finished.  Why did you show yourselves to me? Why didn't you just let me stay the way I was?"  asks Nova.  She never did know the whole story.  Why, she was playing and following a glowing butterfly one moment, to wake-up in bed the next moment, her mother and Nanny just getting over being frantic with worry. And her eyes suddenly being opened to so much more than a normal kitten should be.

"Gaea, do you love me?" asks Nova with a tear in her eye.

Engineering
The kitten, Mara had found Marissa, but she was unsure what to do with or for the young vixen.   Somehow she was now connect to the song of the ship.  She alerts her mother, Matron, Nova and Xaos.

[Lisky]

As his kick swept the weapon from the collie's hands, Knight saw her reach for another gun, he wasn't quite fast enough in his recover to stop her from pulling the trigger... but he managed to get a few shots off himself.  The feline watched in amazement as his shots stopped just short of the collie's torso.  He stood agape for a moment, wondering why he didn't feel the punched-in-the-gut impact of bullets to armor. 

The vixen began spouting of instructions.  Knight had already been moving for a zip-tie when she started issuing the orders, replying over his shoulder, "Do as the lady says... if that explosion is anything to go by, we might be here a little longer than expected..."

About to ask the pirate officer some questions, he was interrupted by an incoming communication on a line he'd thought lost.  He checked the comm unit, thinking it had malfunctioned... it hadn't.  Keying in the authentication coding he'd been given for the mission, he added  a text reply under a burst transmission, hoping to not give away whoever was down there.  He sent, 'Lt. Whitehaven ISF on ISIS coded communication channel.  Identify yourself.'

[Chairtastic]

Pirate Base- Clandestine Meeting Area

Meanwhile, Harriet was slicing her way into the pirate communication network, or at least trying.  The sheer amount of chatter was making it difficult to get in without disrupting the flow, and alerting the pirates of something amiss.  Even so, she got in.  The outpouring of data from the many individuals either shouting orders, acknowledging them, or talking about how crappy the galley's coffee was did not function as much of a distraction for Harriet.  Now that she had a way to tell if the scum was onto Jack or Magick, she responded o the Lieutenant's communique, in a similar manner to his message.

'This is Chief Warrant Officer Harriet TiBalt, ISIS Infiltration operative reporting on ISIS coded channel.  Lieutenant, what is your status?'

Sending the message on its merry way, Harriet dove into the communication network, for any mention of her missing henchmen, or her for that matter.  "Miyuki?  Any contacts?"

"Negative, ma'am!"  The Asian human replied.  Good, Harriet thought to herself.  Last thing we need is for them to figure out these tunnels are good for sneak attacks.

"Doc, be a dear and start packing some of the more important crates for transport.  One way or another, we're bugging out soon."  Miyuki was good enough with a carbine to hold off some mangy pirate scum; and if she wasn't...well, that's why grenades were invented.

[Lushin]

Pirate Base- Clandestine Meeting Area
*Alright* Doc laid his carbine against a wall by Miyuki as he moved to get to work packing stuff up.
"Guess that isn't just from a simple dispute"

[Lisky]

Sending a reply over the small unit, again via burst transmission, Knight replied, We're alight, one man down, with prisoners, but trapped.  Currently occupying the upper floor of a building just off the landing bay.  Any assistance would be much appreciated... Air support status currently unknown, will update when more info available.

With his request sent, and his attention able to be focused again, Knight rotated his head back towards the pirate commander.  "Right... soo, going back to talking, and negotiations... Lets start with a few questions, Ms. Kidsan.  What type of armor do you have on base?  What are your tactical radio frequencies? And, were you planning on stabbing her..." pointing to the navy and gold vixen, "...all of us, really, in the back?"

His eyes were fixed on hers, his tone flat, and cold.  His words, short and crisp.

[SquirrelWizard]

Exploring the final frontier, Inner Space! That area between the left and right ear.

Robert drifted off to sleep, he no longer heard the people talking at the table, his mind seemed to wander.

...

In front of him was a ship console, it had a whole lot of red on it which, in layman's terms, wasn't good.

He could hear the popping of warheads on their outer hull each impact sending tangible shudders through the consoles and crew. There were several rending cracks that foreshadowed a much more urgent matter.

"We have multiple breaches in sectors 2, 5, and 7," the human to Robert's right was reading off a damage report.

Robert glanced over to the man, "Well, seal them off, and vent the oxygen."

The man paled at the order, "what about the people there?"

Robert sighed, "Damn it! I'm not happy about this either, but if we don't seal the area off and vent, we run the risk of losing all of our atmosphere and the decompression causing structural damage to other sections of the ship. They're lost, we cant save them." he watched as the tech reluctantly went about sealing the areas off. Robert turned back to his console where the ship's commander, a human by the name of Alfred Halistor, looked up expectantly at him, "Engineering, Status report!"

Robert shook his head, "Sir, it's not looking good. Our engines are shot we only have the sublight drives, and our jump drive is currently offline. We've got scarring on the hull, with reports of breaches in sectors 2, 5, and 7. We've sealed them off to prevent further damage to the ship and I've rerouted most of our power systems to our ablative armor. It will buy us fifteen minutes tops, assuming we don't have any critical systems failure from kinetic bleed-through. Unless we have reinforcements on the way I advise we start prepping for evacuation."

The commander nodded in acknowledgement and his face blipped off of the console. Shortly thereafter his voice came over the intercom, "This is Commander Halistor speaking; In light of our situation I am issuing a full evacuation of the ship, evac code Alpha Zeta Two Gamma. Let it be known that I have considered it an honor to serve with you. Good luck, and God's speed be with you. Evac in ten minutes... Make it so."

The commander's voice was replaced with the ship's AI performing a ten minute count down. Robert turned to the rest of the people in engineering, "You heard the Commander. We have ten minutes, I want all personnel that isn't essential to keeping the ship up needs to head to the escape pods. If you can, try to assist medical with evacuating, they'll probably need the assistance. Everybody else," Robert put on his best command face, "We are going to make sure they have those ten minutes."

The orders washed over the engineering crew. The air was silent with understanding, as the engineers started to grimly go about following the orders. Shortly, two others were left in the room with Robert; a rat who went by Spatz, and a Vulpine they called Mina. "So are we to go down with the ship?" Spatz was more fidgety than normal, "I mean, it's a noble idea but I'd really prefer not dying today."

Mina sneered, "Grow a spine you coward," with her short temper her name was, at times (often after she had a drink or two), often pronounced and misspelled as Meana, "That way I can rip it out and beat you with it."

Robert cut their bickering off, "Will you two shelve it? Our job is to ensure that none of the systems fail. It takes two minutes to get to the escape pods from engineering, we'll leave at two and a half till.  Spatz, I want you on our armor control. Mina, you are on damage control. Where did Lieutenant Landings get off to?"

Mina flipped her hair over her shoulder, "He went into the reactor core, said something about stabilizing some couplings."

With their assignments the other two turned back to their consoles. Robert pulled up a comlink to the reactor room, "Lieutenant Landings, there is an evac in place. Sir, whatever you are doing in there you better finish it up fast like we're going to be leaving soon." a reply crackled back over the intercom, "You damn well worry about the rest of the ship, Robert, I'll be done shortly."

The trio remained at their consoles, periodically raising their voices over the impacts of the warheads outside. Minutes passed like years, when all of a sudden there was a particularly loud explosion that rocked the ship nearly sending them flying from their consoles. "Status?" was all Robert could grunt as he regained his footing.

"Armor is holding, hell of a lot of kinetic bleed-through," Spatz relayed the info from his console.

Mina looked up from her console, "The impact was near our reactor core." As if to further punctuate her statement, Robert's console lit up in flashing red lights with the words "Reactor Overload Imminent" flashing onscreen.

"Evac is set to complete in four minutes," he looked down at the console, "Reactor failure in five." he picked up the comlink again, "Lieutenant I'm calling it, we need get our asses out of here."

"No can do, emergency doors are in place." the Lieutenant's voice came over the intercom, "Save yourselves."

Robert glared at the console for the lack of staring the old man in the face, "We can blow the door, or cut our way through we aren't going to leave you behind."

"You don't have time for that Robert, even if you did the breach would ruin the rooms containment. The reactor's release would affect any of the late pods trying to escape. I'm ordering you to leave now ensign. Save those you can."

Robert sneered, "Damn it, you still owe me money!"

Landings chuckled, "Get over it, life isn't fair. Now go!"

...

Robert shifted in his sleep, and mumbled, "you owe me money..."

[Chairtastic]

Pirate Base-Clandestine Meeting Area

Jack's sudden reappearance preempted Harriet's responding to Lt. Whitehaven.  "Report," she barked once the fennec had caught his breath.  

"The service ways around the ground floor are a bit dented in places, but holding steady.  For now.  But the entrances above the first floor have been sealed.  Probably to keep those guys in the conference rooms from using them."  Harriet nodded, then gestured in the direction of the storage room where Doc was prepping crates.  

The entrance that Miyuki was guarding had been hacked from the pirates control by Jack an Harriet some time ago, to make sure they always had a way to get to their stash of weapons and information.  It was in fact that incident that made Jack's entry into Harriet's inner circle.

"Grab a tablet and help me with giving our hosts some trouble." Jack went off, eager to get back into his comfort zone.  Harriet, meanwhile was focusing on a few snippets of conversation she was picking up.  Something about an attack, and the second floor.  But they also mentioned the third floor.  She deduced that most of the information was being transmitted by word of mouth, rather than the communications network, but kept her ears open.  

In typical Magick style, the sable just walked out of a shadow, startling both Harriet and Miyuki.  Which was a good way to get oneself killed in most circumstances, unless the first words out of his mouth were: "The freight elevator is useless."

After a string of expletives that left Miyuki red-faced,  Harriet shouted back to Doc.  "Doc, forget the crates!  Grab only what can be carried while running, and bring me some grenades!"  Jack by this time, had trotted back to the main area, holding a tablet computer.  By the pinkish tinge to his ears, Harriet judged that he had caught the last bit of her tirade.  

The human took a deep breath to calm down, and inform the Lt. of these happenings, again through burst transmission.

Lt.  I am in the same building as you, in fact within earshot of your...confrontation with the pirates.  I can offer some assistance, namely intelligence, and maybe a get-away.  There are a network of tunnels going all through the building, if you have any explosives available, you can punch a hole through to them and bypass the damaged stairs and elevators.  If not, I'm afraid you'll have to use the stairs.  Be advised, hostiles may be planning an attack on the third or second floors.  I'll let you know for certain when more intel comes my way.

"Now where are my damn grenades?!"

[Lushin]

Pirate Base-Clandestine Meeting Area
Doc handed Harriet a strap of grenades. "Here"
He then went back to the crates to fill up atleast on backpack with what he could.

[SquirrelWizard]

Scene change? No, scene switchback.

Robert lingered a bit in Engineering. Maybe it was a sentimental pause, or he was just mentally ticking things off of his checklist. Either way he didn't linger long, and dashed through the door after Mina and Spatz...

---

He briskly walked over to the console and turned it on, "Good evening," he surveyed the people sitting around the meeting table; Spatz was busy fighting back a fidgeting attack, while Mina leaned back in her chair seeming to choose whether she was more annoyed with being called into a meeting or Spatz's incessant shifting. Lieutenant Landings and Commander Halistor were to her left.

"I've brought you together about a potential change in the Delphi's hardware. As it stands we have a powerful sensory array on board," he motioned to the screen and the schematic of the Delphi appeared, several bits were outlined in red, "I've been researching the remnants of the xenotech we have, and I believe I may have stumbled upon a method of isolating their signature, which may allow us to find intact modules opposed to ruins."

Spatz rolled his eyes, "Robert, this isn't news. The technology has had an energy signature, just never the same one for each piece, and they tend to fluctuate."

Mina chimed in as well, "Spatz is right, none of our test panned out. What makes you think you succeeded where we failed?"

Robert smirked, "That's because we were trying to isolate a single signature from broken materials." he brought up a several graphs onscreen, "By analyzing the xenotech we have, and requesting similar analysis through ISIS, I found that the signatures tend to fall withing these bands." the graphs fell together showing a distinct grouping.

Commander Halistor looked at the graph intently, "Landings, what do you make of this?"

Landing's was beginning to grin, "I'll be... that could work." He turned to Halistor, "We could potentially locate a piece of functional equipment, and from there be able to refine the scanner to be more accurate."

"Yeah... accurate," Mina snorted, "About as accurate as rolling out a map of the known universe and chunking darts at it. There is no guarantee that we'll actually find anything."

"Well, if we don't look we're guaranteed to not find anything." Spatz shifted in his chair again. Mina shot him a glance that seemed to say "You do not want to play Yoda with me. It will be unpleasant.".

"Either way, this would require a refit of the Delphi's sensor suite," Landings was reading from his own tablet, "That would take time to do so, more importantly it would conflict with out other duties."

Robert shook his head, "no, not really. I developed a prototype of the sensor booster with our sensor techs. The design is simple enough that it can be added onto our current sensors relatively easy. And it would be modular so we could deactivate it to use the sensors as we normally do."

Landings shot Robert a steady gaze, "So that's why they've been requisitioning those materials... I thought I felt your hand in that."

Robert smirked, "Well, I just helped them design it, I didn't expect them to actually build the thing." he turned to Commander Halistor, "Sir. The opportunity to find functional xenotech is too great to pass up. The ability to search for it would be a great boon to us, and any functional equipment would vastly extend our knowledge of the technology. I've sent a packet to your in-box regarding the details of the sensors and their installation, also it includes my research and findings on this matter."

Halistor nodded once, "Well, I will definitely take this into consideration before I present it to my superiors. If they authorize the mission, we'll go from there." He stood up from the table, "Now, if you will excuse me, I will leave further discussion of this in the capable hands of Lieutenant Landings here," he crisply saluted and left the room.

Robert was busy clearing out the console when Spatz walked up, "Robert, have you put any thought as to what we'd be finding should this sensor trick of yours work out? For all we know we might be barreling into a bomb or some other nasty surprise." Robert shook his head; Spatz was never comfortable outside of his heavily reinforced method of thinking which was, for the most part, good as a structural engineer, but bad if you wanted to get anything done fast or in an unconventional manner. "Spatz, that's just a bridge we'll have to cover when we get to it. Uncertainty is the only certain thing in exploration." the words seemed to do very little to calm the rat down.

Meanwhile, Mina was busy with Landers"So, he just walks in and says he has developed a method of scanning out xenotech where everybody else failed. I though they said it would be impossible to do with the materials we had?"

Landers merely shook his head, "Improbable, but not impossible. Some times I think we scientist use the word impossible too loosely." he chuckled, "Anyways, this is Robert we're talking about. He's a bit rough around the edges, but throw him into a situation like this, and the odds always seem to improve. Good odds or not though, I doubt we're going to fully realise the impact of this project today, or tomarrow. Not likely until a couple of years from now will it be important. We would just be taking the first step down the road."

---

That had been almost a year ago, before they located the planet that would serve as the Delphi's headstone.

[Azlan]

Matron Engineering


Xaos knowingly led Aaron on a short trip through Matron to the engineering section, which typically was in the aft of a starship.  Matron was a bit different than Mother in regards to her general appearance.  Mother had the feeling of warmth and protection, Matron was more of a cool feeling, coupled with one that could only be described as openness.

Aaron arrived with Xaos just in time to see Marissa touch the reactor unit, for a moment he could hear the song as well.  Instinctively, he knew she had awoken to an existence like he had, but only half as strong.  However, that revelation was briefly paused as the psychics on-board were assaulted by a mental screech a full two seconds in length.  The drive, which was dormant and in a low power state, had activated fully. 

The effect knocks out Mara, as she came into being many thousands of years after this drive had been long silent.  The psionic platform module is loaded, updated and activated in her "driver" list, though it does not appear to do anything for the moment.

Xaos's ears twitched and swiveled and he gave a slight chortle, "it appears that things have been sped up a bit.  That drive is a rather unique Psionic Wave Drive, and everything psychic in this solar system heard that.  It will be picked up on the harmonic grid and Master controlled emulators will arrive to cleanse us... soon.  They will have to search, but it won't be hard, Matron is rather unique.  Time table has been moved up it seems."

Psychically sensitive and still a bit new to all this, Aaron followed the wave as it expanded from the ship and outward.  Reigning in his mind before it dashed off into deep space again, he did become aware of one disquieting thing, Romulus was gone.

Marissa turns and notices Aaron and the one known as Xaos.  She takes a step towards them, but her head feels a bit foggy and her legs rapidly become wobbly, she appears about to tumble over.  "I feel funny..."



Matron Galley - though, Acadians don't need to eat, so why this is here is a mystery to me...


Gaea regards Nova with a warm smile, "love in a platonic sense, yes.  You have to understand that what you know of us is very limited, dear Nova.  The kids are impressionable, being so young, and emotions are the 'new drug', if you will, for the young Acadians.  Our transcendence to what we are now makes us different than you, and emotions are somewhat casual in use.  You would have always been able to see us, though had I wanted to, I could have concealed our presence from you actively.  However, when I saw you playing it triggered something long since left behind in all of us."

She paused, "for Xaos... it was more of an experiment.  He saw you as... a pet at first, then an experiment.  He has always been an inquisitive type and loves to play with toys so to speak.  I viewed you like a daughter, and eventually even the old cynic sees you like that.  You were exceptional, but nowhere near us, and Xaos expanded you, experimented.  He needed a tool for the Sphere of Harmonies, but do not think harshly of him.  He is fond of you, he was just thinking practically back then."

Gaea, Matron, Loki and Ixiah all stand suddenly at the same time acting as though they hear something that other cannot perceive.  Saioko has her ears flattened against her head, grimacing with pain, as she tries to block out the noise.  Nova hears the faint mental screech of the drive as well.  It lasts but a few seconds, but Matron and Gaea are very active.

"Trust him he says.  What was he thinking letting that girl wander off like that?"  Gaea says in a huff, "this is a complication we do not need now."

Matron nods, "this does accelerate the time table at bit, perhaps that is what he wants?"



Pirate Base - Conference Rooms


Holly did not flinch, keeping a steady gaze she responded with sharp replies, "tens of thousands of mechanized forces, a hundred divisions or more.  Our tactical radio frequencies are K, M and A*.  And as for back stabbing, I was not planning on anything, what the Captain might have planned is another story and one I would not have known until he sprung it.  Though right now, since you are all here, that means things are in a bad state for ours at the far side base... so, no back stabbing, more like front so I can look in her eyes as I twist the knife in her gut."  The collie glared at Ana, who returned the stare with an icy one of her own.

Ben, Jaice and Marcus continued to guard the stairs from covered positions.  No movement is seen from below.

*Kiss My Ass



Pirate Base-Clandestine Meeting Area


Magick smirked slightly at Harriet's reaction and crossed his arms, reclining nonchalantly against the wall until it was time to move or he was needed for something.

Jack motioned to Harriet, "hey Harriet, it looks like they aren't putting the base into lockdown.  I can't tell why because everyone is keeping off the tactical frequencies.  The encrypted channel is different though, I caught a transmission that Lieutenant West is in temporary executive command.  That seems to indicate that our friends must have shot and/or captured Commander Kidsan... that's going to make Captain Khaile really cross.  Probably best that we pull out now, with this action going on, we are all late for our action stations..."

Miyuki snapped off a shot with her carbine and a muffled cry was heard briefly, followed by a loud thump, "ma'am we got a problem.  I think they released harbingers** into the service ways, going to be dicey to get out now, but still easier than fighting the whole army."


**Harbingers - a german sheppard sized quadruped reptile with nasty claws and a poisonous bite.  They are about as intelligent as a smart Earth canine, stealthy, but not extremely vicious or blood thirsty.  Called harbingers because their scales turn bone white when domesticated for some unknown reasons.  Xenobiologists believe they do this as a rudimentary pack distinction to differentiate themselves from wild members (which are yellow-green or tan).  The base personnel use them as hunting hounds and fighting animals.   

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Matron's "Galley" (or where the Nova, as a kitten, remembered that she could always getting cookies and milk, yet never anywhere else when she was on Matron.)

Nova looks over at the squirrel ensign, who was asleep, as Gaea talks to her. goddess here is his answers and my answers and he a sleep thinks Nova.   "*Sigh*, Matron, a cup of ISF Chief's lounge coffee for the squirrel, Please".  A mug of the blackest coffee which has left to blew and warmed for 8 hours in the ship galley's coffee pots appears in front of the squirrel.  Its aroma smell quickly surrounds the squirrel.   The Lieutenant turn her attention to Gaea, again.

Tears begin to fall from Nova's eyes, after she listening to her fairy-god parent's story and she goes to hug Gaea.  When psychic wave hits, and then Nova's puzzle of the sphere becomes fully active, and it raises above the table and then above everyone's head making an angry hum.  Matron can tell the puzzle is now, locked solid, and it looks and acts like the sphere of harmonies only on a very small scale.  Matron's scan show that the sphere has no weakness or cracks on the outside, and what was on the inside was not clear to her.

"Oh goddess, No! That shouldn't have happened.  Where is Xaos?!  I wanted to show him this sphere before it explodes" says the worried catgirl as moves the fox-kits away from the sphere.  

Engineer
Mara finds herself against a wall with an aching head and says, "Did someone get the number of that space freighter that hit me?".  The kit-girl shakes her aching head trying to clear it. "Oh Nova, Is this a hang-over?" asks Mara to Nova over their mind link then she hears Nova make her commend about the sphere.

"What, Nova? What is going to explode?" asks the kitten a loud out as she walks/crawls to where Aaron and Xaos.

PBH

[ShadesFox]

Matron Engineering

Mara's comment got lost amongst the other 'excitement' of engineering.  Aaron goes forwards to meet Marissa just in time for her to collapse into his arms, "I bet you do feel funny.  But everything will be okay.  We just need to find you someplace to rest."

This, of course, conflicted with the general 'they will be here soon' directive from Xaos.   Speaking of Xaos, "I suppose it wouldn't be much of a leap to assume you are behind all this then?"
"Why, what ever makes you say that?"
"Well, your laugh there was most disconcerting, and you generally seem pleased with this outcome."
"But I did nothing~"
"Well, you didn't stop Marisa, though you do seem to know what she was doing."
"Neglecting to stop your girlfriend is a subset of doing nothing.  Besides, she is upgraded now!", as Xaos grins wide.
That grin again.  Something about it unnerves him.[1]
"Speaking of upgrades, you said that time tables have been moved up.  What 'not grand plan', since you don't have a 'grand plan', has been moved up?"

[1]http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/3472958/images/1232533969970.png

[Lisky]

Conference Room

Checking that the ties were secured, firmly around his prisoners wrists, Knight made a bit of a show of his natural abilities, extending those long, vicious claws, and digging them into a nearby chunk of debris.  His face lightened a bit, though he gave her a toothy smirk, as he replied to her answers,  "Well... that was both uninformative, and that end bit was rather unnecessary.  I'm trying to come to some agreement that keeps as many of your people alive as possible, as well as mine.  Besides money, is there anything -you're- looking for?  Anything that you want?"

He shrugged, not having too much to go on, all he could do was consider how best to go about this.  He had to get out.  The stairs were covered, probably by way too much firepower.  A though occured and Knight snapped his attention to his team-mates,  "Hacker, think you can get me a schematic of this entire base, blueprints for this building and the surrounding sector at least?  Anyone else who can get a signal out, check the status on air-support."

Turning his attention back to his captive, he continued, "I'm hoping that you're willing to cooperate, Ms. Kidsan, for your own sake, if nothing else... We're currently at a bit of an impasse, and i'm sure you'd like to come to a quick and painless solution, as well.  So... if you're willing to,  why don't we try this negotiation thing again?"

[Chairtastic]

Clandestine Meeting Area

"Harbingers?  Oh that's just beautiful.  B-e-a-utiful."  Harriet was getting sick of all the surprises hurling themselves at her sanity today.  She took another deep breath,  forcing herself into a nice, calm state of mind.  Anything less would get her team, and more importantly, herself killed.

"Okay, we're leaving.  Right now."  Harriet declared once she was calm. "Magick, go get Doc, and bring me a weapon.  Something slim and ladylike, if you would."  While the sable went off to get the doctor, Harriet hastily put together another burst transmission.

'Lt. Whitehaven, I'm afraid I will not be able to provide much intelligence to you for a time.  I am sending some of my subordinates to you; if you chose to go through the service ways, which I recommend, they can help you navigate.  Be on the look-out for an Asian human female, a fennec fox male, and a coyote male with a broad-brim hat.  They are a weapons-specialist, computer techie, and a doctor respectively.  Put them to good use.  TiBalt out.'

When Magick would return with Doc hopefully in tow, handing Harriet a carbine, Harriet would speak.  "Ladies, gentlemen.  We might not make it out of here alive.  So, if any of you die out here today, I will feed you to the paper-shredder, alright?  Also, Jack?  You know all those times I said I wasn't starring at your ass?  Well I lied."  The human waved a hand to disperse the scandalized look Jack was giving her, and the snickering from Miyuki.  "I know; shocking.  But you must overcome your surprise and-"

"Duck!"  Miyuki suddenly shouted.  Harriet didn't hesitate, hitting the floor, just in time for Miyuki to crack off a shot at a harbinger that had been creeping up behind the older human.

"Thank you, Miyuki.  Now as I was saying,"  Harriet quickly got to her feet again, her attempt to lighten the mood, draw both her cell's and her own attention away from how close they were to dying having failed miserably. "Before I was so rudely interrupted by glorified bloodhounds; Miyuki, Jack, and Doc, I want you to use this entrance to link up with the good folks out in the conference rooms.  There will be no discussing it, so hush." 

"You want us to help them?"  Miyuki asked, keeping an eye out for more of the harbingers.

"Correct.  You tell Lieutenant Whitehaven that I sent you, and you do as he tells you.  If I find out you didn't I'll-"

"Feed us to the paper-shredder," Jack,  Miyuki, and Magick chorused.  Harriet nodded, saying "If any of you need me, I will be down on the Deck, with Magick; getting us a ride out of here," then she jerked her head toward the entrance, a silent order to go.  Before Doc would leave, however, Harriet would grab Doc's shoulder, and lean in close.

"I need you to do something, for me."  She would reach into her pocket, and pull out a small white plastic stick; a computer USB drive.  "I need you to give this to Whitehaven when you get there.  Tell him it's ISIS eyes-only."  Then she would hand it over to Doc, pull away, and gesture for him to leave.

"So, were you lying when Iasked if you were starring?"  Magick queried.  Harriet didn't answer right away, using the carbine to destroy the hyperwave unit she'd been using, then going to the storage area, priming a grenade on the strap she'd been carrying, then tossing it among the crates.

"Of course, now run!"  By the time the grenade went off, triggering the others on the strap, and obliterating virtually all the crates,  both the human and the sable were gone, their footfalls echoing distantly in the service way.

They kept running down the corridors, using ducts and ladders to get between levels.  Magick's skill with stealth helped them avoid most of the harbingers roaming around, and those that couldn't be avoided, were felled with a swift carbine shot from Harriet.  There were close calls aplenty, but they made it down to the Deck's service ways.  "Take a look, outside," Harriet told Magick when she'd made sure no bone-white lizards were sneaking up on them, yet.  The sable nodded, and vanished into a shadow.

Sighing, the human leaned against a wall, "'One more doughnut can't hurt,' you said.  'I need to keep cover' you said.  When I get out of here, I'm going on a diet."  It was only a small clicking sound, so quiet if she had kept talking, she would have missed it, that alerted her to the harbinger's presence.  In a quarter of a second, she was on the move, bringing the gun to bear just as the lizard surged forward.  The carbine was seized by the creature, and wrenched from Harriet's hands.  Before she could go for her side-arm, the lizard came again, only to receive a sharp kick to the side of the head.  It didn't take long to recover, but by then, Harriet had her side-arm out, and pointed at the creature.  A single band marked its demise, but also masked the second, barely noticeable click that Harriet should have heard.