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

[Azlan]

Medical


Ixiah and Aaron arrived at the same time as Romulus and Loki at the entrance to the Medical Bay.  Somewhere on their trek over, Loki had somehow convinced Romulus to carry him.  Actually Romulus can not even remember how that happened.

"Hey Ix!  Aaron!  Oh hey Aaron, you are doing that bleeding thing, you might want to get that looked at."

"Oh Loki... Aaron can't help but have a few accidents, but you need to stop being so irresponsible.  Mother will kill you if you die."  Ix was uncharacteristically serious.

Loki shrugged, a gesture that seemed strangely infectious since Ix picked it up from Richard, "it's not so bad, but I did over do it I think."

They were all greeted by Cynthia as they entered, who seemed very cross for some reason, making the motley bunch of injured rather nervous.

A fire burned in her eyes as she pointed to the medical units, "in now!"

Everyone complied quickly, even Romulus thought it best to do as she said.  Cynthia's tone and order was so strong, even Ixiah took a bed.

Cynthia really wanted to throttle all of them, but she took a breath, which was more symbolic then literal.  Normal protocol would put Loki at the front of the queue for treatment, but Aaron seemed to be worse off, for which she was partly responsible.

"So Aaron, what were you doing now?  Making first contact with voidlings?  Hmm?  Looks like I'm going to have to synthesize some blood to transfuse into you, you've lost far too much for you to recover without assistance."  She went about the task of fixing him up and transfusing blood back in.



Damaged Escape Pod


With the systems restored somewhat, a backlog of data poured in.  Unfortunately, the logs recorded the rescue ships had come and gone already.  This did not bode well.

In the corner of the pod, near the damaged system panels, a shadow moved.  A mottled black mass formed a basic anthro shape and regarded Knight's back.  The thing was the same mottled black organic-like material that made up the hull of the ship he was just on.



Command Center


The communications unit activated, displaying a distress signal from an ISF escape pod.  The pod appeared to be on the opposite side of the system from where Mother was currently.  Mother regarded Nazareth, "should we investigate?"

[Lushin]

Medical
Romulus took a bed though he felt he didn't need to.
"I'm just after a pain killer is all. I have a horrible headache"
Romulus looked over at Loki.

[ShadesFox]

Medical

"I'm sorry doctor, I was exploring my psychic talents.  Found a bad corner that kicked me.  Or stabbed me really.  Then Ixiah saved me before anything really bad could happen.  And that blood is good stuff, hitting the spot nicely."

Aaron settled down in his bed, he was going to stay there a while, and it was going to be uneventful.  Aaron wished hard for this.

[Lisky]

Escape Pod

Knight checked the logs again, and a mixture of dread and terror caused a very real shiver to move down his spine as they confirmed that he had in fact been missed by the first rescue teams.  He checked his supplies, which should be sufficient for a few weeks.  Not knowing the deployment schedules of the regular navy, he hoped that a secondary crew got here before he ran out of food, clean water, or breathable air...  he patted his right leg, and found his pistol still holstered...

well, at least i can go out quick and painless if worst comes to worst

he sat down in the crash couch, and started to bring up a simulation program when he noticed a strange black material in the pod with him... it worried him slightly as it seemed to be similar to what his old starship was made of... he pondered the black mass for a bit, then went back to working out what had happened while it was still fresh in his mind, figuring that he could always go and play with whatever it was later... before the program was active, he checked the charge on his pistol with a quick glance, the telltale green light on the grip told him it was at full charge.

[techmaster-glitch]

Zeta Flight Practice

   When Nazareth really started showing what Mother could do, the other Zetas were, needless to say, amazed. However, they did manage to keep up with Mother for some time, and when the no longer could, she took over again.
   As she launched in the explanation of a special warp-jump maneuver, the technical preamble went right over Satch and Mack, but as she went into the tactical explanation of what she intended them to do, they were all fully alert. when the opened the jump gate, the Zetas did not miss a beat in keeping up. When the came up on the first asteroid after exiting the jump, they terminated the target as if they had drilled the maneuver. The proceeded to the second target and eliminated it likewise.
   
Command Center

   After the exercise, Mother then alerted Nazareth to an ISF distress signal, asking if they should investigate.
   Nazareth replied immediately. "Affirmative, Meta. Especially if it is a friendly in distress, duty and ISF code require that we do."
   He then broadcasted to his squad. "Listen up, Zetas. Form standard flanking escort formation. We are going around this star system to check out an ISF distress beacon."

[Azlan]

Medical


Loki shrugged as Romulus's eyes shifted to him, "it's not my fault you stubbornly kept putting up a fight, it was over the moment I entered, but I thought I would play around a bit."

Cynthia would have nothing of it right now, she cleared her throat as a wicked grin spread across her muzzle, "please do settle down and be good, I would hate to have to sedate all of you."

Pausing in her work on Aaron, she took stock of the situation.  She had one adult fox, physically adult, that was effectively a child of her creator's race who was losing his life's blood faster than she could put it back in, but she was almost done repairing his physical structure.  A normal member of her creator's race, aggravating his injuries, but in a stable condition.  A stubborn alien wolverine, with a significant headache brought on by every normal contributing factor from eye strain to dehydration, who could not cub sit if his life depended on it.

Why does Mother trust this Romulus with Loki?  He hasn't been on this ship more than a few hours and already Loki is in the medical ward having opened his wounds back up.

The last patient was another Acadian fox that didn't happen to have anything wrong with him, other than a low blood sugar.

She turned her attention back to Aaron's wound, "do you know what a void creature like that does to beings such as yourself?  They existed before the universe, they are unlife, to be killed by one of them is to be unmade." 

She chose to place a bit of fright into him, "it has taken a part of you, a small part, but enough that it will be able to capture your essence if you expire due to this wound.  I am doing the best that I can, but you are losing more blood than I can put back in... then there is the essence poisoning, you will have a battle ahead of you before you recover."

Marissa weakly opened an eye and sat up from her medical bed to stare dumbfounded at Aaron, "what happened to you?  How can you get hurt in the middle of an ISF fleet that is not in combat?"


Escape pod

 
The black shape moved from the shadows, it possessed a form nearly identical to that of Knight except for it being mottled, organic black bio-material.  It's black hollow eyes made contact with his own and instantly he had made some kind of contact with it.

I am ship's computer core.  You will protect me until we return home.  You will not allow anyone else to know I exist.



Command Center


Mother nodded, "acknowledged.  Zetas, best possible speed to beacon location."

In space, the ship and its escorts moved the safest route across the system.  The ship's advanced sensors picked up a fair amount of wreckage.  The ship did not seem to recognize the debris, the hull material was a strange blend of ultra-advanced technology and the ISF's best, most common materials.

A lone, heavily damaged life pod drifted among the wreckage.  Mother moved closer and brought the pod into her small cargo bay. 

[ShadesFox]

Medical

"Wait, what do you mean a battle before I can recover?  The only reason I wasn't... how did you put it, unmade was be because Ixiah saved me.  And a bit of my essence is gone?  What does that even mean.  At least we get a little bit of it too, stupid thing."  Aaron was going to have to be far more mindful of what he was doing in the future, meaning no more blindly 'pushing buttons' like he has been.

He sighs and looks at Marissa, "Apparently I was attacked by something more ancient then the universe.  I was trying out some psychics and... well... one of those things stabbed me.  I think Ixiah still has the bit that was stuck in me.  Hopefully I'll be fine.  Though I'm not sure how much longer I can keep operating if this sort of thing keeps happening."

[Lisky]

Escape Pod

knight's mind started rushing as the proximity warning in the pod went off... apparently a ship of unknown size and origin, that wasn't transmitting any signal to his pod, was in the process of picking him up... his first mission was to keep the computer safe under any circumstance, he looked over to the black mass and said "any chance you could become less conspicuous... if you can change your shape, cover the crash couch, if not, well, i'll see what i can do, but a single pistol, and special forces training only goes so far..."

with a sigh as he started to adjust his focus and relax his mind.  Knight pressurized his suit, and drew the pistol.  He switched the small terminal over to the external cameras and sensor feeds to see if he couldn't get a better idea of what he was up against... while the terminal was in the process of booting up and displaying the data, Knight knelt on the floor and started a light meditation, figuring that a clear mind, and relaxed body was the best way to avoid pre-combat jitters

[techmaster-glitch]

Command Center

   Mother and the Crusading Scales cruised around the system, before finding a large debris field with IF and unknown wrecks. Nazareth definitely felt something wasn't right.
   They found the broadcasting life pod. Mother then virtually shocked Nazareth by immediately pulling in the pod. Nazareth didn't have a chance to object before it was already locked in. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and covered his face, exasperated.
   "Mother, I dearly hope you have a foolproof way of at least temporarily quarantining that pod now that you've brought it in." He said in a lower voice than usual. "Standard procedure upon finding a life pod is to scan it to detect if anything is still alive, and hail to attempt to confirm anything aboard. Depending on the circumstances of a life pod find, there could be any number of possible risks, and more complete scans and verification methods may be necessary. Since we have found this life pod not only in an obvious ISF battlezone, but that the apparently enemy wreckage is of unknown origin and design, making sure that pod was safe to bring aboard was a critical priority that you have skipped."
   Nazarteh turned around in his chair to face thje projection of Mother. He had a gravely serious expression on his reptillian face. "If you are capable of totally quarantining the cargo bay that pod is in, do so immediately. Then I want you to run every focused scan you possibly can on this pod as well as attempt to establish a comm. While you're at it, if you have any remote drones that can enter and examine the pod, please deploy those as well, but only if you can quarantine."

[Lushin]

Medical
Romulus looks over at Loki.
"Hey you told me to try and keep you out of my mind"
Romulus looked at Cynthia and stopped talking.

[Azlan]

Medical


"Yes Aaron, a battle... an ordeal.  The voidlings are so different an existence from any of our own, so alien that they pass an affliction that slowly renders a being of our reality into a souless husk.  That husk becomes like a voidling and seems to exist only to consume lifeforce.  Since you are a psychic, you should be able to fight off the sickness, but you are so much a novice... Ixiah and Loki should be able to help you though."

The discussion was significantly captivating, especially do to the subject matter, to Aaron that he was completely distracted from the fact that someone was poking around in his abdominal cavity without the use of anesthetic.

"That should do it, with a few ounces of blood to spare... let's see, suction... filter... recirculate... transfuse.  There we go, changed the air filter, replaced a few hoses, repaired the manifolds, and cleaned the injectors."  Cynthia giggled as she sealed up the wound and applied bandages, "just kidding about the automotive stuff, but not about the affliction... for now you will be okay as long as you do not go to sleep or pass out.  As soon as I tend to Loki and feed some orange juice to Ixiah, we can have them go with you and face the void."

The purple vixen made sure the medical unit kept a steady stream of stimulants with the remaining blood transfusions before checking on Loki, "young master, you really must stop being reckless... this form must be allowed to repair itself, in your condition you cannot easily shed it and return to your true form.  You must take better care of it." 

"I know..." sighed Loki.

She removed bandaging and ran a quick scan of the damaged locations.  With precise equipment, she carefully repaired what damage the young fox had done and closed him back up, reapplying fresh bandages.  She patted him on the head before turning to Romulus.

She rooted around in the medical cabinet for a bit before producing two white capsules and placing them in the wolverine's hand, "take these two and remain in this bed for a bit, your ordeal with the young master has depleted your body's reserves, so I am stabilizing your hydration, blood sugar and such.

Her last task was to hand Ixiah a tall glass of orange fluid, "drink this."



Escape Pod


Put your mind at ease and come down from your combat instinct.  The ship has identified itself as being with the ISF's First Scout Fleet.  My... memory cells... seem to indicate that this vessel is actually Acadian, but it also says that Acadians do not typically lie about such things as affiliation.  The fighters flying escort are ISF Naval Sabers.  The ship's crew do not seem to realize I am not what you are, but they seem to be communicating telepathically.  I am receptive... but it appears you are not.

Feeling the wisdom in Knight's suggestion, the strange bio-material computer core changed its shape.  However, it did not hide on the crash couch, instead it formed into an anthro feline... a female one at that.  However, it lacked clothes.



Command Center


Mother smiled knowingly, "I have already done the scans and been in contact with a member of the crew that is susceptible to telepathic communication.  The pod's comm systems are damaged, so I improvised.  You would be aware of all the scan data and processes underway if you fully connected to the control system instead of rejecting the immersion like it was a vile disease.  I suppose I should apprise you of the results."

Mother created another holowindow, "the wreckage appears only to be of one vessel, not multiple, and it does not appear to be a battlezone of any type.  Superstructure appears to be ISF made, but the external hull is unusual.  The design is not in the databases I borrowed from the Phalanx, but that doesn't mean that secret research or prototype designs are not out there.  The pod is heavily damaged, and of conventional ISF design.  It contains one to two biological signatures, but it is hard to tell what is there.  The one I communicated has provided appropriate identification codes, though they are ISIS codes." 

   

[Lisky]

Escape Pod

Knight felt elated at the news that he wasn't in fact going to be stuck in the pod for the rest of his foreseeable life.  When he turned back to the computer, he was suddenly struck with the observation that 'it' had decided to become a 'she', and furthermore lacked any clothing whatsoever.
He opened the bag he'd brought with him into the pod, and handed 'her' a shirt, and some pants.  He was grinning as he said "if your trying to be inconspicuous... clothing will go a long way towards going unnoticed, even if they don't quite fit right"  he then turned to the display and went about ignoring 'her' as best he could for a few moments while 'she' got dressed.

[Lushin]

Medical
Romulus did what he was told to do. He took the pills and stayed in the bed.
"Yes ma'am"

[ShadesFox]

Medical

Aaron sighed and lied back in his bed.  He was, apprently, afflicted.  Not the first time in his life to be sure, but the first time the end conecquences could include, 'becoming a life essense leach'.  He was also a tad upset with himself for leaning so heavily on Loki and Ixiah.  He had a certain amount of personal pride, comes from rasing himself and his brother and perserving through a decade of higher education.  His pride wasn't so great that he would refuse help, especially with the whole 'becoming a soul stealing husk' concequence on the table.  Though it troubled him non the less, asking for so much and offering so little in return.

He watched Ixiah down his juice and said, "So, shall we get this started?  I would like to be rid of this affliction.  Then I would like to nap, for a very long time.  Maybe even in my own room.  You know, I just now realized that only Richard, Naz and his men are the only ones NOT here.  Seems like a bad portent for things to come."

[Azlan]

General ship message

Everyone on the ship hears a general message in their heads, Security detail to cargo bay.  I repeat, security detail to the cargo bay.  This is not a drill.  Medical, standby to evaluate survivors.

Romulus hears this message, but with an added part at the end, Except you Romulus, remain in medical until Cynthia releases you, please.



Escape Pod/Cargo Bay


With time of the essence, the female took the offered clothes and after a moment slipped them on.  Working her mouth for a few moments, she spoke out loud, "ah, I see.  It has to do with this flap of... fleth en ma moush."  The last portion of her speech was done with her tongue sticking out as she examined it.  Sticking it back in, she continued, "yes, clothes, thank you.  I cannot shape things like this out of myself, and the only examples I have of such beings as yourself did not seem to wear any or very little.  I will need to be addressed as something... you will call me Saioko... Natsume, I am a science observer from R&D... with a military rank, yes."

She twirled about with sparkles in her eyes, "a general... admiral... field marshal... grand high inquisitor!"  The feline laughed with a tone slightly megalomaniac, she stopped her bout of silliness as her gaze fell over Knight.  She stopped and blushed, scratching the back of her head and laughed nervously, "eh, sorry... Washu, my chief designer and programmer was a little eccentric.  I'll go for a Captain, O-3, it will cause less attention.  Okay Eric, now we wait."


Outside the pod, security robots waited for a more official person one of actual ISF military standing.  Within moments, Ben and his team arrived.  Ben, using a voice amplifier called out to those in the pod, "this is Staff Sergeant Benjamin Foster, ISF Army Special Forces.  Please exit the pod slowly, if you are carrying any weapons, leave them behind."

     

Medical


Loki slipped off the medical bed and approached Aaron.  In one motion, he assumed a spot near the end of the bed.  Ixiah did likewise, taking up a similar spot.  The medical beds were rather large after all.

Loki started off, "Ok, ok Aaron this will be fun!  I've never fought a void creature before.  Now you are going to need that as a focus."  Loki pointed to the solidified tentacle of the creature that had pierced him which Ixiah still held.

Ixiah carefully handed the object over and grabbed his hand, "time for you to go to sleep now..."

Indeed it seemed it was, no matter how hard he tried, he could not keep his eyelids open.  Stupid things just won't listen.  His last waking sight was a pair of faces, Ixiah's worried expression contrasted with Loki's exited and jubilant energy.

Aaron was once again in an open plain, featureless and dark.  He was alone, though he could feel something which made the hairs on his neck stand on end.  Within moments, a blue fox, followed by a green one appeared.  The feeling lessened, but remained.

"Alright, now we will contend with the thing... if it decides to show itself."  Ixiah flatly stated. 

[Lisky]

Escape Pod

knight tried hard, yet failed to keep a straight face as the computer went about her little bout of silliness... He paused, chuckled and said "seriously, don't worry about it, i think you've already made my week by announcing i'm not dying in a little escape pod... and that little bit there just made it better... Captain Natsume"

hearing the message from the security outside, knight asked "so, ma'am do you want to take lead, or shall i?"

[Azlan]

Captain Natsume thought for a moment before gesturing to Knight, "you take the lead on this, Lieutenant Whitehaven.  I can emulate very well, but in reality, I'm not very good at being social or a person... I am a very highly developed Artificial Intelligence built off of super-advanced alien technology, but this is new to me.  Though, I am not sure what might linger in these bio-cells."

[Lisky]

Cargo Bay

Knight reached the airlock, took a few seconds to calm his nerves.  He eased the door open after confirming breathable atmosphere, then opened the lock.  He moved slowly out of the pod, then turned back and motioned for 'Captain Natsume' to follow he said in a low voice to her "ma'am it looks safe enough" then he walked towards the security at a slow pace, keeping his hands at his side.  His right hand fell on the empty holster, and he felt a bit of worry run through his system, if he didn't get the pistol back, a ship this size couldn't hid the thief for very long.  Knight's thoughts we're snapped back into reality as he reached the deck of the bay. 
With a crisp, military salute he announced "2nd Lieutenant Eric 'Knight' Whitehaven, special forces , and my ships science officer Captain Saioko Natsume will be out shortly... i think we owe you a great big thank you for the pickup Sargent"

[Azlan]

Cargo Bay

Saioko carefully exited the pod, she did her best to emulate how a female of the species should act in her state, at least a generic stereotype.  She did a truly good job as she winced and meeped at the cold of the metal ramp against bare foot pads, and her apparent discomfort at the way she appeared to be dressed.  The act left Knight to wonder if her female research was based off of manga.

"You will have to excuse me staff sergeant, I was off duty and sleeping when we were attacked.  I did not have a chance to grab anything before I ran to the escape pod."

Ben nodded, if he suspected anything he did not show it.  Turning to Eric, he returned the salute and addressed him first, "lieutenant, by your uniform I can tell you are part of the mecha division... LAM pilot by the wings." 

Ben cleared his throat and nodded respectfully to Saioko, he did not salute as she was out of uniform, "ma'am, we understand... I am sure Mother, the ship, can provide you with something more appropriate.  We can speak more as we walk, this way please, we need to have you checked out in medical.  It is standard operating procedure."

Knight received a quick bit of insight from Saioko as a slight bit of panic crept into her expression, but it was quickly suppressed, "is that really necessary staff sergeant, I feel fine..."

"It is ma'am, please this way."  Ben gestured down the hall.

Not having much choice, she walked in the direction indicated, "so, Foster, what exactly is your mission out here in this unusual vessel?"

"I am not at liberty to say at this time ma'am."  He replied without missing a beat.

Saioko already had all the basic details from a scan of his surface thoughts, but was surprised to find his mind protected. 

Ben paused and raised an eyebrow, "did you just...?"

Saioko gave him the most befuddled expression that could be given, "huh?  What do you mean sergeant?"

He shook his head, "nothing ma'am must just be something lingering from earlier today."

The group approached the Medical area and entered, only to be greeted by a purple vixen, "hello, I am Cynthia, the ship's doctor.  Don't mind the others, we have a full house today.  Please have a seat here."

The vixen indicated a large medical table.  Saioko took a seat at one end and waited.     

[Lisky]

Medical

Knight had only nodded to Sargent and had chosen to listened intently to the exchange between Saioko and the Sargent rather than reply...he started to worry slightly about how to keep the fact that 'Captain Natsume' was actually his ship's memory core a secrete.  He debated asking if he could speak to the captain on the matter, possibly he had the authority to view some of the files, and yet keep them a secrete from the rest of the crew. 
Once in the medical bay, Knight took the seat closest to the doctor and said "do you mind if i go first, i'd like to get myself oriented with my new surroundings as quickly as possible ma'am"
He looked at the doctor, doing his best to ignore the other patients while he tried to work out a solution to Saioko's predicament.

[ShadesFox]

Battle of the Brain

Aaron was quite scared.  Which is actually rather good for Aaron, as not being scared in such a situation would be the mark of a fool.  Aaron was also not quite sure what to make of the little foxes.  His life philosophy said to be scared when others were excited and to be excited when others were scared.  This left Aaron confused with a score card of 1 to 1.  This lead him to his fallback position of soldering along, expecting new developments to nudge an answer along.  Aaron picked a direction and went that way with Ixiah and Loki following.

There wasn't much talking, mostly watching and waiting to find the Voidling during their trek.  The terrain remained featureless, with no one really sure if there were really going on a direction, as much as they were going in directions; plural.  Eventually, after what seemed like a eternity they came across a sight familiar to Aaron, his home for the last decade, the university grounds.  There, sitting on the steps leading to the commons was someone Aaron never saw before.  Aaron was sure that it was the Voidling.  He just sat calmly, eating a sandwich.  One of Aaron's favorite sandwiches too.  The Voidling approached, looking like a rather pasty human in a really slick suit.  Agent Smith style to be exact.  Aaron was always being accused of liking the Human science fiction a bit too much.  Seems to have stuck deep in his mind at any rate

"Finally you showed up.  I was wondering how long that would take.  I barely had time to make myself at home."  The agent looked to be cleaning a disgusting taste from his mouth.

Aaron glared at the Agent Smith wannabe, "Unfortunate, all that work for nothing.  You will not be staying long."

"Oh, I disagree.  You and I will be together for a very long time.  At least, until I finish consuming you.  Slowly.  I shall enjoy it, perhaps too much.  The best part is, you can't stop me, not even your leather clad friends there."

"My wa...", Aaron long around and sees Ixiah and Loki in very stereotypical The Matrix outfits.  After a moment of false starts and odd hand gestures Aaron finally blurts out, "Don't feed the things delusions!"

The agent grinned, "It doesn't matter what they do, we're in your mind Mr. Brown..."

"Doctor Brown to you.  Or Major.  Either way there is no Mr. for you."

"Major brown then.  It matters not, soon you will be nothing, much like us.  You shall be the silence between musical notes, you shall be the space between words, you shall be one of the void."

Aaron got about fed up with letting this thing talk and decided to punch it in the face instead, "I really don't know where you get off acting like you already won.  I'm not going to let you."

Before Aaron really knew what was going on, the Voidling was on top of him.  And then, before he figured out what he didn't figure out before Loki jumped in front of him, with a glowing sword of energy much like Ixiah had before.  Ixiah grabbed Aaron's arm and led him into a nearby building.  Aaron remembered the area well, especially were the military buildings were and where they kept their guns.

The Voidling stood no chance against Loki.  Loki, for whatever reason, was just better then the intruder.  There were bright flashes as Loki cut him, though he had yet to connect with a really good hit, just scratches.  The agent had a giant hand gun, reminiscent of the movie he comes from and was shooting at Loki, but none of the void bullets would connect.  Loki was dodging his fire, deftly and quickly, but it was not long before Loki overexerted himself.  In the brief interruption the Voidling was able to get away, and tracked down he true foe, Aaron.  The fact that he instinctively knew where to find Aaron meant that he quickly got to his location, just in time to find out that Aaron got to the laser weapons locker at the shooting range.

Aaron fired a large number of well placed shots into the agent.  Though Aaron's aim was true and he got a number of good shots on him, the agent did not flinch and was on top of Aaron quickly, knocking his weapon away and grabbing Aaron by the throat, lifting him in the air.  It did not take long for Ixiah to jump from his hiding spot, wielding his energy blade and charging the agent.  Aaron was flung into a wall, making an appreciable hole in a reinforced wall meant to take small arms fire with little incident.  Ixiah did not fare as well against Smith, his attacks were not nearly as sharp or devastating has Loki's, though he was certainly doing better than Aaron's laser stunt.  Though this ultimately meant that he lasted twice as long before being thrown into the same wall Aaron was embedded in.  Aaron pulled out a pistol and unloaded into the Voidling, but at this point it had a sufficient handle on this reality in Aaron's head, his hands seemed to glow with a dark energy that deflected the shots in a fashion similar to a dark lord of the sith.

This display took long enough for Loki to catch up, putting the agent on the defensive.  Aaron was focused on trying to catch his breath after he held it just long enough to finish his hissy fit of laser fire.  The situation did not look good.  Loki seemed to be in his own world, but could not land a solid blow.  Ixiah seemed better equipped then Aaron, but over his head.  Aaron was just stuck in a wall, serving as the target and the occasional speed bump.

Aaron...

And now he was hearing things.  Great.

Aarrrroonn...

At least it had a nice soothing tone, sounded a lot like his mom.

*giggle* My son, that is because I am your mom.

'Explains a lot,' Aaron thinks to himself out loud, as a pure white kitsune, so bright she seemed to glow with her own light, stood in front of him and his hole.  She helps him out of the wall, with a calm that seemed awkward in light of the fight going on behind her, Loki's bright blade striking against the dark energy surrounding the Voidling's arms.

"Mom, I thought that... you were still..."

She nods, "I wish I could step in to save you and your friends, but I am too weak.  However, I could not sit by and let what is unfolding come to pass.  Loki is strong, this is certainly his element and the Voidling cannot defeat him.  But it is not he that the Voidling must defeat, this is your battle."

Aaron sighed, already breathing much better.  Maria's calm seemed pleasantly infectious.  "I do what I can.  I just need to get to the lab, the machinery there could..."

Maria shook her head, "Your plan is noble, but unworkable.  As dangerous as that equipment is, this is still your mind, it will do precious little other then trapping you in the lab with no other way out.  The agent will simply wait for a moment of weakness in Loki then dispatch you, possibly taking Ixiah with you."

Aaron looked terribly upset, "Then what do I do?  I cannot let them come to harm.  I will save them and I will save myself somehow.  I just need something that I can do."

She smiles and says to Aaron, "These two are very dear to you already, though you hardly know them.  You have always had good instincts about others, especially without the gift of Insight."

She pulls a crystalline sword from somewhere Aaron could not quite perceive and hands it to Aaron.  Aaron was dumbfounded, trying to find words to say but she shushed him, "Do not think this a gift, it has always been yours."

Aaron decided against thinking too much right now.  The sword felt nice, very light when held still, but seemed to gain mass and had a reasonable heft has he swung it.  He didn't have much time to appreciate this fascinating property, as his first blow went squarely into the agent's back.  With a wholly unnatural scream he hit the floor, Loki taken for a surprise by this development.  The Voidling was on his back, obviously in misery.

"I see.  I was so close too."

"No, you never had a chance.  Now, go AWAY!"  Aaron ran the sword through the agent's head.

[Lushin]

Medical
Romulus lays back on bed and closes eyes.
"Well I'm bored"
He opened an eye and looked to the door when people where brought in. He didn't sit up but kept the eye open.

[Azlan]

Medical


Cynthia nodded to Eric and procured a small black device from the medical console.  She ran the unit up and down the feline, nodding satisfactorily at the results which she only knew.

"You are in good health, though I recommend drinking more water and a more balanced diet.  Now this will sting for a second..." 

She produced a small device which looked a lot like a stylus, she touched it to his finger, and there was a small, sharp pain.  A tiny amount of red could be seen entering the needle area and transferring to a small sample area.  The blood sample was deposited into the console and analyzed. 

"Please complete this questionnaire with the vital information of your person, we will be creating a file like that of the rest of the crew for you."  She handed him a computer tablet with a basic medical style information form.

Cynthia moved on to her next new patient, Saioko seemed a bit nervous, but smiled back as pleasantly as she could.

Saioko was the first to speak, "purple is an interesting color, but not normal among foxes."

"True, for people you are familiar with, I am an Acadian computer intelligence, and this fur color was rather known among them."  Cynthia replied.

Saioko's eyes widened, "oh, you are the ship's AI?"

Cynthia smiled, "One of them dear, now settle down so I can finish my examination.  We wouldn't want any strange aliens wandering in here without us knowing and all."

The feline laughed nervously, "yeah wouldn't want that, aheh..."

The medical scanner was used to scan captain Natsume, and surprisingly no alarms or reaction was visible from Cynthia.  The medical vixen then grabbed the stylus and pricked Saioko's finger.  It penetrated, but broke, "ouch!"

Cynthia was very apologetic, "Oh I'm sorry, clumsy of me."  She turned to get another stylus and an alcohol swab.  Just as the vixen turned away, 'blood' bubbled up from the small wound, a strange gray fluid.  Saioko looked around nervously and quick as a striking snake drove a claw into Knight's side.  It was a sharp pain.  Saioko stuck her finger in her mouth just as Cynthia turned around. 

To Knight's eyes it seemed as though everyone in the room had luckily missed this little incident.  Very lucky.

"My sincerest apologies, let me take that sample please."  Cynthia withdrew the feline's finger from her mouth and gave a slight squeeze of the finger, causing Saioko to wince.  Amazingly enough, a drop of red blood formed, which Cynthia quickly withdrew.  The vixen dabbed the alcohol swab on Saioko's finger, "there now dear, that wasn't so bad."

Saioko nodded slowly, "I guess..."  She was also handed a medical tablet which she quickly filled out.

The vixen gathered the medical tablets and smiled warmly to both of them, "you two are free to go, I'm sure Ben here can show you around... oh and Romulus."   

The purple vixen gestured to the wolverine in one of the medical beds, "you are free to go Romulus."



Aftermath of the Battle of the Brain


The strike to the agent was quite fatal and his body slumped to the ground and was still.  The scene around them melted away, revealing a peaceful clearing among a pristine, verdant forest.

Aaron remembered this place, it was near his parent's home on Vulpeculae.  The bright blue sky was marred by a strange crack, it was as black as pitch it was a void.

"the sky is reminiscent of the damage to your essence, that is the spot where you lost some of yourself.  Nice sword."  Loki said as he slumped down next to Aaron, his fighting had made his wounds bleed, "Mother is going to be angry with you and me."

Aaron gazed at his sword, but his contemplation of the weapon was broken as the voidling's body began to crack.  Like a crystal shell, the form slowly broke apart and fell away.  A white glowing form arose from the shattered remains, it was opposite of what he originally encountered.  The spirit keened and exploded into energy which rushed up and filled the holes in the sky. 

Aaron felt whole once again, but strange, different.  Everything seemed bright and vibrant, Aaron's dream form pulsed and a wave of energy washed over everything.  Loki and Ixiah were restored to the state they were at when they entered.

Ixiah bounded up and tackle-hugged Aaron, "now you understand, now you are like us."

Loki nodded sagely, "training he will need, yes."

Wake up son.

Aaron was awake.

[Lisky]

Medical

Knight kept silent through both his and Saioko's examinations, he even managed to suppress a yelp of surprise when Saioko had jabbed him.  Once they were both cleared, he turned towards Captain Natsume and thought really... was that jab really necessary, if it's bleeding then i'll need a shower right away, red stains stick out rather obviously on white fur...  he then turned towards Ben "Well Sargent, lead on, i'm at your disposal for now... at least until i'm on the formal duty roster...speaking of formalities, it'd probably be a good idea for Captain Natsume and myself to meet the CO and Ex O before too long... well, no matter how you plan on handling this tour, it's your show, so... lead on Sargent"

[ShadesFox]

Medical

Aaron woke up and sighed.  Aaron felt... really good.  Better then he had felt in a long long time.  It wasn't every day when something that was broken was fixed, and made better then it was before.  Not just physically either, there was a certain sense of relief, hearing Ixiah and Loki say he was like them.  Even in med bay every thing seemed clearer, more colorful and had new people.
...
...
NEW PEOPLE?
He was talking to one of Romulus's men and she was rather cute.  When he spoke up about meeting the CO Aaron decided to interject,
"If you are looking for the commanding officer I'm right here.  I trust you have an... intriguing story."
Aaron sits up.  At this point in time his grey fuzz was a mess, his uniform had a puncture in it and a suspicious amount of still wet blood on it.  This is in spite of the fact that Aaron look perfectly fine physically.

[Lushin]

Medical
Romulus sat up when he was able to leave.
"Good I got to get back to training"
Romulus climbed out of bed and started to walk to the door and eyed the newcomers. He walked by Ben and talked low to Ben.
"Made some new friends I see"

[Lisky]

Medical

Knight heard someone's voice and noticed that it came from a somewhat bloody figure laying on a bed. when he claimed to be the CO Knight awaited anyone to contradict the statement. when none came, Knight walked up to the man and said, "i'll give you what i'm legally allowed to sir, but i've got to warn you now, most of the information is rated highly classified or higher... but i'll give you what i can... i'm 2nd lieutenant Eric Whitehaven, special forces, callsign Knight...which, if you wouldn't mind, is what i prefer to go by... other than that i can tell you that i'm on loan to another wing of the navy for a special purpose mission... my ship was attacked, and your ship recovered the escape pod containing myself, and my ships science officer... anything beyond that, and i'm going to need to see your clearance information before i can give out anything more specific.... i'm sorry sir, but i've been sworn to secrecy... "

The spotted cat eyed the rather nasty looking wound and asked "can i ask how you received an injury like that... um... i'm sorry, i didn't actually catch your name or rank sir"

[ShadesFox]

Medical

"Major Aaron Brown, PhD.  Just call me Aaron.  Titles and ranks always made me a bit uneasy.  Anyways, on the subject of classified information it is best not to even mention it rather then put it up in the front like you did.  First time on something hush hush hmm?"

Aaron smirks a bit, "On the subject of my injury, it is because I was attacked by a creature of the void.  Did you know that there are void creatures in the vacuum of space?  Nasty bunch."
A pair of fox cubs, one blue and one green giggle behind him.
"Anyways, if you wish a grand tour of the ship I could help out, probably want to find Mother for that."

[Azlan]

Medical


Saioko thought at Knight, Eric, I am sorry about the claw jab, this form seems to have very sharp and long claws, but I needed a sample of your blood to change my internal biofluid to match.  I replicated and altered the DNA enough to fool most casual genetic scans.  For now, try not to project thoughts like that, the Acadians will pick up on it.

Ben eyed Romulus and shook his head, "hardly mate, the ship picked them up in a life pod, apparently their ship was destroyed.  The one guy is Special Forces mecha pilot, normal enough, but there is something odd about the female... can't place it though."

Saioko heard the exchange between Ben and Romulus, but she did not pay it much attention at the moment.

Her attention was focused on the gray fox that was sitting up in bed, "Dr. Aaron Brown?  You... went to the Academy with my creato...ive... creative mentor Dr. Washu Habuki!  You are a xenobiologist, but you took a lot of engineering classes with Dr. Habuki, I remember you from a number of pictures."

She caught a number of images and information as she spoke with Aaron, a lot about the University, but a fair amount about his mission.

Ship... Gaea, Xaos... Matron... the masters... Acadians... interesting, this is far more important.  I need to be here, this is what I was created for.  She thought to herself, careful to shield her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I am being rude.  I am Captain Saioko Natsume, ISF Fleet Research and Development.  I am a computer engineer specializing in xenotechnologies and alien artificial intelligences.  Our advanced ship was sent to rendezvous with your fleet to add additional support and scientific resources to your mission against the masters.  It is fortunate that you rescued us, as we are likely exactly where we should be.  Eric might not have his LAM, but he will be very useful as a commando, as he has a lot of experience working closely with ISIS xeno-archaeological teams that collect alien artifacts from dead worlds beyond ISF space."  She grinned, happy with her logic, "or maybe I shouldn't have told you about that ISIS part, no one outside of ISIS is supposed to know they are reverse engineering alien technology."

Loki and Ixiah both slipped off the bed and circled around Saioko and Knight.  Loki, who appeared to be little older than 12 standard years and was mint green of fur color, stopped in front of Eric and extended his hand, "hi, I'm Loki, welcome to my ship."

To try and alleviate Knight's skeptical look, the blue fox nodded in acknowledgment, "yes indeed, Mother is Loki's ship and guardian.  I'm Ixiah by the way."  Ixiah looked to be no more than 14 years of age himself.

Saioko suddenly felt self-conscious as the foxes had looked her over, she was still wearing only what Knight had given her, "I uh, lost my uniforms with the ship... is there anyone here that is my size that can lend me some clothes?"

Cynthia placed a paw on the feline's shoulder, "we can do better, we will replicate a bunch of them based on our database of ISF information... captain, army equivalent.  We will have some for you in your quarters."

Saioko breathed a sigh of relief, "wonderful.  Thank you." 

[Lisky]

Medical

Knight took the fox's paw and gave him a somewhat gentle handshake, still a little disoriented with what was going on, he understood that it was going to take a little while to get used to everything, and a little longer to figure out just what he'd be useful for.

He put a smile on his face and said to the young looking foxes"Loki, Ixiah, it's a pleasure to meet you, and you can call me knight"  then turning back to Aaron "um si... i mean Aaron, is there any chance we could get that tour underway, i'm feeling awfully disoriented right now, and i think a hot shower, and a little rest is what i need to help clear my mind and adapt...  after that, i'll just need to know what you have in mind as for my duties..."