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

[ShadesFox]

Listen as the crowds would sing, "Now the old king is dead, long live the king!"

This conversion was raising red flags at an alarming rate, "Wait a second, can we back up a second and get some answers?  You dropped at least three names I've never heard before.  Like Ahrimen.  That does not sound like a happy name.  Who is he, why was he sending assassins, why are you linked with them, and why are you linked with them?"

It was this moment that Aaron kind of envied Marissa, happily napping away right now...

Marissa's dream scape

Marissa recognized this dream.  She has occasionally had this dream since she was six.  Though, never had she dreamed so lucidly.  Not much had changed... which was kind of troublesome, what with her dress that she was completely unsure of how she could even walk in it, much less how it stayed on.  The expanse around here was almost nothing but snow, except for the cliff right behind her that went straight down into an ocean.  From the distance an angelic fox with large white wings and soft blue fur came along to save her and guide her home,
"Marissa!  I have come to save you!  Please come with me and..."
"Er, well, one second please."
The angelic fox looked genuinely startled, "Oh?"
"Well, first I have to say thank you for saving me all this time, in my dreams that is.  Erm... I'm not sure how to say this really, but... well... I'm expecting someone else now.  Aaron, he should be along soon to save me.  I think he is rather busy right now, but he'll be along.  Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for you being my dream angel and all... but... erm..."
The angel smirked and disappeared, fading into the snow.  Or perhaps becoming part of the snow?  So hard to tell.  Marissa had a new task.  First, she had to make some reasonable cloths.  The cold didn't bother her so much, but six year olds should not be making dresses.  Next, she needed a castle.  Being saved from a snow storm along was kind of boring.  There had to be a moat, and a labyrinth inside.  Oh this will be fun!

Matron

Aaron felt a whole new wave of impending doom, "Eep, cold shivers."
Richard sighed, "So many new questions, ja?  I'm especially curious about why Aaron is so vital to your healing and connection severing?  If I recall correctly, Aaron's connecting with someone who was mostly dead was not overly healthy for him."
Aaron nods, "Yes, though it was ultimately helpful to Marissa.  Still, why am I needed for all of that?"
Aaron harbored his suspicions, mostly that some major commitment on his part was needed.  Of course, he had come much to far to back out of helping.  He was pretty reasonably commited and there seemed to be no good way out of it.

[Azlan]

One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me


Gaea tapped her right cheek gently as she thought, "yes, sorry... name dropping, not very professional of myself is it?  Ahrimen is like Chronos, one of the traitors that sided with the Ixlin.  He is the eldest of those that were tasked with waging war in pre-ascension Acadian society.  These assassins were sent after us because we are the only two who know enough to seal the only portal to the Ixlin reality one way or another."

The golden brown vixen approached the tube containing the female, "we are linked because it was the only way to save our lives.  When they attacked we were caught by surprise, such is their skill, and our damage was sufficient to end our existences if not for our contingencies that lashed out at them... tearing into their being and siphoning a small bit of their energies to support our own, mortally injured selves.  Now Xaos and I are little more than unlife, scouring the life force from the living to satiate our thirst.  Well, nothing so gruesomely undead... but as good an explanation as any."

She drew her hand across the energy field, which responded much like glass would under the same type of tactile contact.  "with Aaron... and Marissa... two awakened, but unascended Acadians, we can take a part of your essences and give you a bit of our own.  With a living shard we can rebuild our spark of life.  Our unliving shards will reanimate within you, replace your lost parts, and strengthen your form with ancient power."

Gaea hated information dumps, but continued irregardless, "ascended essences become static, whereas the unascended remain dynamic.  A static essence can only maintain our unlife, dynamic can revive us.  I am not able to create life, only to rekindle it... enhance it."

[Shachza]

Raptors.  In.  Spaaaaaaaaaace.

La'orth fumbled with with the medical pod, trying with bleary vision to get the cursed pain supressant into the injector.  He almost dropped it twice and nearly got it in backwards once, but he finally convinced it to go in the device and a few moments later he was relaxing and waiting for the medicine to kick in.  Then the VI beeped at him.  Looking down he saw that it had compiled a short list of suggested activities: repair his fighter, activate the distress beacon, and wait for rescue.

"You get to work on the first, I'm not doing the second with a possibly inhabited planet of unknowns out there, and the last...  Move us toward the planet at a speed to get the repairs done before we get there.  We're going to in investigate like the mission profile asked, but we're doing this quiet.  Keep emissions low, sensors on passive, and no broadcasting.  Oh, and let's analyze that signal.  Infrequent and regular is more like a distress beacon.  Does the coding match anything recognizeable; namely that station I was just at?"

After a few minutes of VI-controlled flight he dropped the distress beacon behind the fighter but left it off.  Considering his initial scans, even an intact spheroid that small would stand out to anyone who apprached his entry point.  Nobody on the planet should be able to detect it this far out.  Then he sat back to wait for the medicine's fuzziness to go away so he could get a better look at this signal.

[ShadesFox]

And I discovered that my castles stand, Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

Aaron almost ate the floor.  Had someone offered to trade a shard of their soul for a shard of his soul even just a month and a half ago his answer probably would have been, 'who the hell are you?  How did you get past security?'  Now it is not only a serious proposal, it may be the only realistic answer...

"So, you need a shard of my and Marissa's soul to fully revive you and Xaos?  This is a pretty major thing for me."

Richard looks at Aaron, "Boss?  Are you seriously thinking about it?"

"A bit late for that Richard, already decided.  Though you and Xaos will have to ask Marissa yourself, I won't tell her what to do."

Gaea gave Aaron a funny look and chuckled a bit, "You mortals are fairly silly about your essence.  Souls or whatever you wish to call it."

Aaron just glared back as Gaea, who seemed completely unphased by Aaron's look, "I suppose.  Still, I'm willing to go through with it.  I've suck my neck out often enough, putting my essence out on the line seems like a logical continuation of the trend.  Though I do have two more questions.  What kind of time frame are you talking about in terms of you rebuilding your spark, and mine being replaced slash enhanced?  Also, what will happen to them, the two floating in the tank, once you don't need them?"

Aaron turned to face the main screen, "Still, all of that should probably wait anyways.  At this moment we should focus our efforts on extracting the ground team and escaping the system.  Unless you're saying that such a trade needs to happen immediately?"

[Lisky]

All Aboard the Strange and Derelict Ship

Knight hoisted Ana over a shoulder, he waited for the team to make their way in, waiting for everyone who could get on before him to move up.  He saw Holly's hesitation and quickly shifted his grip on Ana, freeing up the closer arm.  He patted her on the shoulder and said, "Come on, you've said it yourself, you're dead if you go back there.  Not the time to get second thoughts, Holly, we've gotta leave."

He gently tugged at her shoulder, urging her up the ramp.  He spoke in as gentle a tone as he could muster, trying to handle the delicate situation,  "I'm sure we can make some accommodations for you once we get everything sorted out... but, we need to leave, now."

Adding a little additional urgency to the 'now'.

(Should she come, Knight plans on following right behind her)

[SquirrelWizard]

On the way back to the freezer.

Robert followed the alien through the ship in silence, when Xaos finally spoke he thought for a moment before answering, "His name is Sven, as to why he was called Spatz? I dont really remember what got him the nickname, I think it involved alcohol, lots of it. All I know is the name stuck, and its what we called him since. As for what he is. Offically? I dont know, I'm just an engineer, you'd need to talk to a person in biology. What I do know is that for all his whining, and complaining, he's my friend."

[Lushin]

Off to Never Neverland
Doc quickly boarded the ship. Looking back at the pirate base with a bit of sadness in his eyes.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

On-board Matron in the Awkward ward...

Nova takes a second look at the carbonite sealed statues.  Nova is embarrassed for a moment, and says "Oh oh no, I guess them don't look that familiar then".  The catgirl places her hand on Loki shoulder for support a moment. { Loki feels her confusion and embarrassment that she thought these things, maybe Gaea and Xaos' bodies in status.  She was glad to be wrong, but she was worried what affect being connected to two assassins has had on her godparents.  Even as she finds increasingly that she may not know them at all. }  Loki reassurings her, but she does not want look at the assassins, anymore.

Nova quickly goes to see Alexsi and Saioko's work, she impressed with the hacking program, and questions the two about the details.  She shows she has some good ideas, and they would have work against the pirates' computers given time, but Nova knows her abilities aren't close to this level.  Yet, then she marked "She doesn't have directly connect computer mind either" to Alexsi and Saioko.   "Hey, What about me?", said Mara as glares at Nova forgetting her.

PBH

[Azlan]

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing, Roman Cavalry choirs are singing.  Be my mirror, my sword and shield, my missionaries in a foreign field.


Something in Gaea's eyes briefly showed a bit of an anxious urge, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.  Adopting a very normal, anthro fox mannerism, the ancient alien shook her head as an answer to Aaron as she spoke, "no, it does not need to happen now... but soon.  With all this activity, with everything that will need to be done, we must be closer to our original strength.  For the safety of your non-vulpine crew as well, our condition will eventually cause Xaos and I to drain all the life force from them and leave naught but dry husks behind."

Richard raised an eyebrow and stealthfully reached for his weapon as he nudged Aaron, "she has very dry sense of humor..."

Gaea did not address the other questions Aaron had levied at her, but instead moved over to Nova, "Nova, honey, I need you to plot the escape course.  We need to exit atmosphere with the planet between us and the Acadian ships at the precise moment of detonations.  I know you can do that."

Loki was now happy that Nova could do something that would challenge her and take her mind off of the dark path it was heading.  He did not want her to feel sad or unneeded.



Old Friends and hard lessons


The pod that was the primary focus of the room was pristine, no dust or anything marred its exterior.  Inside was a slight bit misted, preventing a clear view of the occupant.  The dark colored fox touched a few lighted points on an LCD style instrument panel (very Star Trek like) and the fogging cleared.  Inside was indeed the one known as Spatz and he seemed whole though he was not dressed in his old uniform but a simple jumpsuit like outfit.  He looked a little off though, something seemed too... clean?  Perfect?  You don't remember him being this "handsome".

"His injuries were the worst of the three of you and I could not fix him like I did you.  I had to take a genetic sample from his body and allow the system to grow a new organism.  It may have done too good a job though.  I transferred his essence and consciousness to this body.  I haven't woken him up because I needed to make sure we had recreated you correctly first before we brought him back online... so to speak.  If you wish, I can rouse him."

Xaos waited patiently for a response.



Starchaser runabout


Holly seemed to resign herself to some preconceived notion of her fate, and it must have been a gloomy one because she seemed quiet and icy.  Everyone else boarded and secured for flight operations.

Marcus saw to securing Ana, after he got Jeanne to a seat.  Ana remained unconscious as was instructed by Saioko and the command staff. 

Jack, Miyuki and Magick took up seating in what amounted to a passenger style cabin.  They secured Harriet and began more in-depth medical procedures to bring her back to a state of consciousness.

Jeanne, now that she was relatively safe, passed out completely from the sheer exhaustion, sudden adrenaline drop, and general consequences of re-injuring herself. 

The remaining members of the team secured themselves, the body of Romulus, and their gear as they awaited connection with Mother and Matron.



Unknown star system on the other side of the galaxy


The planet that the signals were emerging from was a dry, barren world that would make any desert seem like a paradise.  The signals were regular, but weak.  Had he not been in the system at the time, he would never have detected them.

They were the same format as the transmission he had received from the alien station and it seemed to be a short message of some type.  It would take a bit to translate though.

[SquirrelWizard]

Igor throw the switch!

Robert watched as the fog revealed Spatz's form. Reaching forward, he placed his hand on the cold surface of the pod. He didn't know why he did it, maybe it was some voice in the back of his head trying to disbelieve what he saw in the pod. What was there was both Spatz, and not Spatz at the same time. His jaw hung loose in awe, meanwhile in some dark pit of his mind a voice whispered, "chewed up and spat out; this was the price to pay? To become a mockery, even if it was a better looking version of yourself?"

"How do we measure ourselves?" was barely a whisper that came from Robert. He took his hand off of the pod and looked at his palm. "Am I me?" was all he could think as he flexed his fingers. Gritting his teeth, he looked over at Xaos, "Roust him, wake him, whatever you call it." He looked back at the pod, "You said you regrew him," Roberts voice had regained a bit of its edge, "How long have we been under? That sounds like it would take a while to do."

[Lisky]

Nothing to do but Kill Some Time

Everyone else seemed to go about their tasks of getting prepared, however, Holly seemed to be going towards a dark place.  Her body language was dark, cold, and spoke of where her mind was clearly wandering.  The spotted feline was worried, to say the least.  He locked the Gauss-weapon away, securing it to a rack, he removed the magazine, and ensured it was dry and safe.  He unclasped his armor, and removed the gloves.  He gave himself a looser, more relaxed appearance before sitting down next Holly.   Knight took a few moments to see what everyone else was doing,and once it was clear that they knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing, he tapped the collie on the shoulder.  He gave her arm a gentle squeeze, and said, "You alright there?  You're looking a bit... off... well, moreso than just the bumps and bruises." 

Knight flashed Holly a thin smile, trying his best to lighten her mood,  "You've been cooperative, helpful even.  I certainly owe you a bit of gratitude for that.  If you want or need anything, well, i guess just let me know."

[Shachza]

Speaking of killing time...

Seeing that cruising at a cautious speed would leave him with several hours to kill, La'orth took a short catnap to let his headache, and the medicine, go away.  He awoke slightly more refreshed and ready to do something more productive.  He checked in with his VI and saw that so far the repairs to the fighter were proceeding nicely.  There had likewise been no change in the signal from the planet.

Calling up what cryptography programs he had installed, La'orth isolated one particular repeat of the transmission, took a look at the data, and realized he was in way over his head.  He spent a moment wishing he had Du'ilccad's hardware and experience with codes now, but quickly banished it because that train of thought wasn't helpful.  Running through the things he'd learned from Du'ilccad in their years together he got down to parsing the transmission and highlighting scattered bits of code that resembled eachother.  The first thing he needed to find out was whether this transmission resembled anything that Korsinians were already familiar with, so he and the VI tried comparing what information they had from the base coding against the languages of the various spacefaring species that they had encountered already.  The base organization resembled that of two very localized species to the galactic west and southwest of the system where La'orth's patrol was, but there was no clear match.  Still, it was better than nothing.  He then tried organizing the coding based on what he knew of these two species' home languages; trying to get the transmission to reveal whether it was text, audio, visual, or a combination of them.  If he could get the coding translated and running using his codecs then translating the actual message should be a LOT easier.

(OOC P.S.  I have no idea how cryptography actually works in a case like this, so I'm just winging it with something that sounds reasonable!)

[Chairtastic]

Worst.  Hangover.  Ever.

Harriet was coming around to consciousness, and promptly wishing she wasn't.  The human found herself staring at the insides of a ship, small by the looks of things, with her squad nearby.  "Wha?"

"Hold up, Harriet."  Jack said from his seat.  "The machines are working but they will only do so much so quickly."  From the human's perspective, the fox was just a blur of colour, and half-mumbled sounds.  "...I don't think she quite understands."

"D...Doc!  Doc!  Front and center!"  Harriet barked, whipping her head around to see if she could spot the canine's familiar colours, even if they were just blurs.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The cat was in the cradle     Ah, she is in the driver's seat.?

Nova rough up Loki's hair to let him know she was not going to died of embarrassment.  She could feel his worry for her.  The details of his concern were not really apparent to her.  Yet, Nova sends a worried look at Gaea.  Would she really let her at the controls? She will surely double check, her flight path.  Still, finally get a chance at the real controls.  Nova feels like a teenage with the keys to the skycar, but she is mature enough to know something is up with Gaea.  What that is will have to wait until they clear the planet.
   With Mara help, Nova quickly starts plots a course for the opposite side of the planet from the Acadian fleet.  The Lieutenant is all business as dives into her element.  She works out three different flight paths against any possible change in the Acadian fleet course, adding Alexsi's data on the missile's strength and their flight paths, and factoring in the possible path and flight time of the strike team aircrafts.      

"We have a few more moments before the Acadian fleet will be too close to us for this to work.  Or I may being overly caution.    Yet, this is cutting it, as I close as I can.  The pirate's missiles need to launch in 1.8 minutes from now to be in positions for their explosions to have maximum effect.  And then we will need to be there, 128.28 degree W, 35.57N at  20 minutes, 7 sec after that launch.  The strike team's craft could rendezvous with us right about here, which should still leave us in the planet's blind spot.   Once we are in that position to launch pretty much straight out from there.  There are two more windows after this, but the Acadian will be much closer, and chances of escape drop by about 20 percent on the next window. And addition 50 percent more on the last one.  What is the ETA of the strike team? " asked Lt Hunnydew

PBH

[ShadesFox]

For some reason I can't explain, once you go there was never, never an honest word, and that was when I ruled the world

"Gaea, I love how you emphasize soon.  Don't worry, I plan on making this happen as soon as reasonably possible.  It's just that I define reasonable as having all of my subordinates back and there is no immediate danger that I need to address."

And Richard, don't worry.  I'll make sure to do the deal before there is any danger.  And she does have a terrible sense of humor.

[Lushin]

Everyone wants to rule the world
Doc climbed into the ship and got settled. He looked back at the pirate base and took his hat off. He looked like he was contemplating throw the hat out the hatch as it closed. He silently shook his head and put the hat back on his head and adjusted his pistol on his hip. He sat with his eyes closed for a bit then opened them and just stayed at the wall as if it wasn't there. He nodded could be barely heard saying "thank you" to the air in front of him.

[Azlan]

I'm your re-animator


Xaos appeared to soften his demeanor and take on a more serious tone as his fox ears dipped down a bit, "I can't really tell you if you are really you.  Genetically you are slightly different, our systems corrected flaws in your DNA... based on exhaustive recursion digests and extrapolations run against your genomes.  Your visual appearances are slightly altered, as we identified your ideal view of yourselves, and allowed your own minds to form the templates.  I'm sure Gaea would have some inspiring or insightful empathic revelation for you if she were in my place.  All I can say is that your mind is still your own... as previous discussions can attest to, all of your cripplingly irrational traits still remain."

The fox began the awakening process, "well, not worry you've been under for a very tiny amount of time... insignificant really.  Let me think, your people base a universal time scale off of your origin planet Riallphen... let's see one complete planetary rotation equals the unit called a day.  These group together into weeks and months.  We can further subdivide a day into singular increments which total 25 and are called hours.  The significant measurements here is the one which derives its time measurement from the planet's rotation around the sun Solas.  This you call a year."

He pauses again to run a quick conversion calculation, "that would give us, five years, three months, two weeks, three days and 7 and one half hours.  A very insignificant time in the scheme of the universe, nothing to be worried about."

The process completed and the Pod opened revealing Spatz who opened his eyes and yawned, "ugh, what happened?"

 

Strike team - Starchaser


Holly shrugged off the touch and turned towards Knight, her eyes burning with emotions, "gods damn it, I'm the fraking enemy you dren-head... I mean what the frell?  Why are you being so nice to me?  I should be dead right now."  She let her head and ears droop down as she sniffled.

Ben raised an eyebrow, "are you saying you'd rather be, lass?"

Holly shot her head up with ears flat back, "yes!  I... n...o,  no, I don't want to be dead... it's... it's just that I don't know what I'm going to do."


Magick eyed Doc as he sat down and seemed to be acting weird, "I think Doc is out of it Harriet-sama.  In case you are interested, we are onboard what appears to be a Interceptor class Special Operations Pinnace.  It is used most frequently by the TL's Special Magics Corp... it is a type of Black Ops vessel.  Which makes me wonder about this Ana and her companions."

Miyuki left the company of the human female and the other two anthro males to wander over and take a seat next to Doc, "oi, Dev-chan, what's wrong?  You seem down... we're finally off that mudball, away from those pirates."


A dead world, and the Space Raptor


VI was able to extrapolate a lot of data from its understanding of the involved language.  On the main digital display the fighter's computer displayed the message which contained both video and audio components.  The picture was full of artifacting and the audio was heavily distorted, but La'orth was able to discern the image of a teal colored arthropod, resembling a very large, evolved kolihapeltis (a type of trilobite), which seemed to produce auditory communication by the rubbing of eight, tiny limbs interlaced over the mouth structure.  These limbs were covered in fine hairs that somehow interacted to produce sound.  The language, course and alien, was translated as best as possible by means of subtitling in the Korsinian language.

"...at *perceive* this collection of auditory *assemblages*, stay at a distance that is not close.  *[untranslatable]* is afflicted of a *[untranslatable]* plague that spreads *[untranslatable - possible due to the use of local colloquialism]*.  All vessels seeking to be ones that can generate abilities that are to be of assistance, please perform actions that are in synchronization with those issued by the central Stellar Transportation Command.  We be graciously accepting of *allowances* given for *convenience* not forthwith in issuance." [OOC: words between ** are VI's estimate at what the word in the other language means.]

A second message is present from a more directed source, weaker and much shorter.  It is on a constant repeat, "We are all ceased to be biologically active.  *Save* *yourselves* and do not approach.  We have ceased as a species."

     

It was the wicked and wild wind.  Blew down the doors to let me in.  Shattered windows and the sound of drums.  People couldn't believe what I'd become.


Gaea nodded to Aaron, a very normal gesture he was familiar with.  It would appear she was adopting mannerisms like he used, she seemed very capable of adapting to the perceived normalcy of others.

Alexis runs a few figures and answers Nova, "their ETA is too long to rendezvous with us at our current location, they can make our optimal point of egress within a safe margin for an aerial snatch and grab.  Matron can easily dock Ana's craft without any concern, but don't expect to fit too much more.  Communicating the course correction to Dex."

Ana's Polynesian appearing pilot's visage briefly appeared on the screen as he made the necessary adjustments, "acknowledged, we have exited the danger zone and entered safe air space... proceeding at best possible speed, see you in ten.  Dex out."

Mother's eyes flashed and Matron turned towards the screen, Rebecka smiled and was the only one to speak up, "all 'birds' in the air, let's do this thing aye?"

Mother smiled a bit, "kids these days."  She turned towards her older counterpart, "Eilenil if you will?"

Matron giggled at the use of her personal designation, "but of course... Vella, we move."

Had anyone been present, they would have witnessed the aged cruiser's effortless and noiseless ascent.  Anyone present would have heard the keen of the engine within their minds, but that was restricted to relatively small sphere of effect.

[Lushin]

Strike team - Starchaser
Doc looked at Miyuki, with a tear in the corner of his eye.
"I know that isn't what's bothering me. It's just her body is still buried out by that damn base. I know she wasn't my real mother but she raised like I was her own. Now all I have left of her is the hat and pistol. I used to go to her grave and talk when I needed company. Iunno why I feel like I'm abandoning her leaving like this"

[Lisky]

Knight gave a bit of a sigh, "you're acting as though i should hold a grudge, as if i should have left you to die.  Your past deeds are of no consequence to me..."  He squared himself up with her, and brought himself face to face with Holly.  "As long as you don't actively try to hurt this mission, or the personnel involved, i'll be happy to try and work out something for you.  There's a lot that you'll probably have to learn, such as, many of the soldiers you see around you are in fact, ex-pirates.  I guess... i do empathize with you on several levels as well.  I know the feeling of having my home ripped away in the blink of an eye, left stranded and unsure of the future.  I'm sure my very presences is a bit jarring... A bit of a dichotomy....  but... i'm hoping we can work beyond that."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed again, trying his best to be reassuring, confident. He added,  "You're worried about what's going to happen?  What you can do?  well... why not just talk?  Can you tell me a little about yourself, Holly?  Time, and the ability to talk are about all we really have at the moment, after all."

He smiled a bit more pleasantly, stood up for a moment, and pivoted himself into the seat next to the pirate girl.  His ears alert, eyes focused on holly, and his appearance, though a bit more ragged than usual, seemed to give off a feeling of genuine interest.

[Chairtastic]

"I don't care if he's in pieces, scattered around the planetary gravity well; I gave him an order, and I expect it to be followed.  Mr. Holiday, front and center!"

The human did not raise her voice any more than was needed to reach down to the others.  The mask she had been wearing for six months now was starting to break apart under her will.  For the intermediate between her dominant personality regaining control, and the imposed one dissolving, she would be robotic, and unsympathetic.  "My thoughts are similar to yours, in that regard, Magick.  However, cut off from any information databank of note for the moment thoughts like that are best kept in your head.  Jack, no hacking the ship's information while it's in flight."  Harriet whipped her head sharply to look at the fox, warning against any action he might have been planning.  Her vision was still blurred, and her hearing in one ear iffy at best.  Still, she had a look about her.  Like the fewmets were about to hit the windmill, and she hadn't a raincoat.  She looked scared, genuinely scared, so much that even the robot pseudo-personality she was operating with couldn't control.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"It is good to be useful, is it?" - Thomas

The view from outside might be grand, but Nova was taken by the beauty of the energy flows display on the main engineering screens.  She was only seeing 10% of the data, yet she understood the streams of energy and data of the main drives as if she was part of it. Nova felt great joy in finally giving somethine to expedition. Also, Loki could feel the catgirl's mind almost become in sync with energy flow in the Matron ship, but before Loki could say anything, she ....

She quick snapped back into herself, as she realize the time, and reports,"Launch time is T-10 sec.  Missile firing in 5 sec waves alternating between lunar and planetary batteries. On my mark in 5, 4, 3, 2, and fire. Launch sequence started, First wave and second waves away.   Drones are also  away.  Missiles are on course.  ETA in about twenty minutes.  All lunar batteries are now empty, and planetary batteries will completely empty in 30 seconds.  Scanning enemy response."

PBH

[Lushin]

Strike team - Starchaser
"With all do respect, SOD OFF!"
Doc didn't look at his former leader as he said this.
"If you haven't realized by now I don't work for you any more"

[Shachza]

La'orth had not expected to be so successful so quickly.  He stared in surprise through two full loops of the longer message before snapping back to his senses.  He wasn't just looking at an unoccupied world out in the boondocks with some unfortunate who had crashed.  No, he was looking at a deathtrap of unknown proportions.  With sudden dread he realized that the space station that should have been on the edge of this system might have been destroyed on purpose to keep anyone from leaving!  As long as he stayed in orbit he would be safe, but landing on the planet to search for supplies was probably a very bad idea.  He tried doing some quick calculations to see how long it might be until a rescue mission could be mounted from the other station.  He really had no idea.  It all depended on how well the other station worked.

With not much else to do he stopped the broadcast from playing on his screen after making a capture, and then he made an entry into his mission log.  This was interrupted after a couple minutes when the VI announced that repairs were done.  With the planet looming in front of him he pondered what he could do.  Various possibilities ran through his head, though none of them seemed like particularly good ideas.  There were no aparent stations left in orbit, and the most likely other location for existing ones would be on the opposite side of the planet's orbit in the third Lagrange Point.

With some resignation he plotted an orbital pattern that would gradually allow him to do a detailed scan of the planet.

Then another idea popped into his head.  He'd seen it once in a holovid.  It had been a dystopic vision of the end of the Korsinian race.  The final survivors had fired a probe into orbit beyond the disaster radius complete with records and genetic information.  The aliens might be the ugliest thing he had ever seen, but he was sure they deserved the chance that someone compassionate would come along and help revive them.  He quickly modified his orbital plan to include scanning the nearby space in an effort to locate a small time capsul.

[SquirrelWizard]

Spatz, welcome to the fire

"Well, To some of us five years is an eternity," Robert remarked, his voice was tinged with dispair, and anger; anger that would seem destined to grow into resentment. He took a moment to compose himself; to try and straighten out his thoughts.

"Five years... five damn years... What? Did they even try and look or did they just write me off; write all of us off? We need to regroup. Get everybody together and talk to whats-his-name? Mr. Labfox. Get some straight answers out of him, even if I have to use a welding torch. Pah, thats probably a lost cause. He sounds like a glorified lab monkey. Oh Gods, what happened to my family, are they even alive? And Mina and Spatz? I dont know how they'll handle this..."

The pods door was beginning to unseal, Robert swallowed hard.

He felt nausious.

He felt like he wanted to hit something very hard.

He felt like he wanted to scream at the world, purging himself of spite and venom.

But he couldn't. As much as Robert wanted release, he needed to remain stable for them. He owed them that.

"Ugh, what happened?" Spatz yawned and stretched.

"Spatz? Do you remember what happened on the Delphi? We were all injured when the pod crashed. I tried to bring us in safetly, but..." he sighed, "I didn't. I'm sorry, we've been in stasis for five years while these..." Robert glanced at Xaos, somewhat at a loss at how to refer to the personification of a rogue alien AI, "they repaired us." He offered his hand to Spatz to help him out of the pod, "We need to hurry. We're in a giant mess, and we need to get to Mina. I'll try and explain whats happening as we go."

[ShadesFox]

Revolutionaries wait, for my head on a silver plate. Just a puppet on a lonely string.  Oh who would ever want to be king?

At this point things looked to be on course with no way for them to go wrong.  As best as his imagination can envision anyways.  His presence seemed unnecessary and his thoughts drifted towards Marissa.  

Gaea, things look well in hand here so I'm going to go talk with Marissa now.
Okay Aaron, I'll let you know if anything happens

Aaron turns and walks out of the bridge to find Marissa's room.  He finds Marissa's room still in the way he left it, complete with a bed that was much larger then need be and Marissa sleeping quite soundly with a huge grin on her.  He was quite glad for the excessive size of the bed, since it allowed him ample space to climb on and sit down and assume a meditating position.  Slipping into her dreams was easy, he had been doing it almost by accident for a few days now...

Marissa's dream scape

Marissa took another step back, surveying her handy work.  It seemed like she had spent hours getting every detail just so.  Rooms that were big enough to hold elaborate puzzles and fiendish monsters but small enough to allow a large number of such things.  There was also an elaborate set of tunnels and trap doors so that she could watch the progress.  Though she couldn't help but wonder if she had over done it.  The whole thing should be silly, but what if it just annoyed Aaron?  Maybe he would just bypass it all and find a way straight to the top?

Somewhere around this time Aaron had sneaked up behind Marissa, and her next step back she had bumped into him and he hugged her, "Now now, I wouldn't say annoyed, but the whole thing seems excessive anyways."

"Eeeek!  Ahhh... oops.  Oh you..." Marissa blushed a bit and looked away, "You weren't supposed to be here yet.  I wanted to finish my castle."

"Well, it looks rather done to me.  And it is a lovely castle.  I like the ice theme.  Still, I need to talk with you."

"Oh?  Like what?  Maybe a few words about what happened to me, hmm?"

"Ah, yes.  A good subject to speak on.  Marissa, you are, apparently, acadian like I am.  In that, 'not true form but now awakened' way."

Marissa smiled a wide when told this, "Sounds... oh I don't know..."

"Heh, I know the feeling.  Now just to keep you more confused, Xaos and Gaea, the ones we came to find, have made us an offer.  They want shards of ours souls.  A small bit of our living Acadian souls for a small bit of their ancient unliving souls.  Apparently they need a new spark of life to come back to where they once were, and we can provide that and in exchange we gain some ancient power.  Now, I just have to say that I won't tell you what to do here.  I want this to be your choice."

Marissa was giving Aaron a strange look when he started talking about unliving souls and it all sounded quite intimidating.  He was being rather mean, saying she had a choice.  Aaron was far too nice for his own good, so she knew he was going to do it.  She was going to follow.
"Okay Aaron, I'll think about it.  Though, what do we do now?  The whole castle thing seems silly now, what with you having already caught me."

"Well, the two of us, alone in a large castle, probably very sound proof, only one thing to do really..."

Marissa giggle as Aaron lead her inside.

[Chairtastic]

Strike Team - Starchaser

"So be it.  Miyuki, could you be a dear and go ask for some restraints from Lieutenant Whitehaven?  It seems someone overlooked binding one of the prisoners."  Jack and Miyuki looked surprised at this turn of events, but Magick just buried his face in his palm.  It had been too long since Harriet showed her ruthlessness.  They ought to be grateful that she hadn't a paper shredder on hand to feed the good Doctor into.  "Magick, did the Lieutenant share our heading?"

"He didn't."

"Damn."

[Lushin]

Strike Team - Starchaser
Doc just shook his head at Harriet's comment and rubbed his face. He then looked at Miyuki.
"She just has to be in control of others. You ever notice that? Someone stands up to her and she gets all mad, I swear she's a bully"

[Azlan]

Strike Team - Starchaser


Miyuki, Magick and Jack seemed very uncomfortable.  None of them knew exactly what to do right at this moment.  Thankfully an unexpected voice cut through the nervous tension.

"Just knock it off already!"  Shouted the tigress Jeanne as she teetered on shaky legs, "I can't even drift off into a state of unconsciousness without the pair of you crumbling into dissension.  Miss Harriet from what I can tell this was just a job for you, you worked for the ISF or whatever against piracy.  Doc, you grew up here and your roots are among the people here.  Some of us were forced into this life, die or serve and such.  Just have some consideration... both of you.  Ugh, I think I'll try that unconsciousness again."  The pale tigress collapsed back into her seat and drifted back into an unconscious state.

Ben, Hacker and Jaice just looked to Knight.  It was Ben that spoke, "this is going to be a great ride if things are going to be like this."

Holly just glanced at Jeanne and then back to Knight, "is this where we bond... I get cooperative, you get sympathetic?  I'm not sure how you got the fluff-headed brunette to be such a turncoat.  I'm not feeling the same thing I see in her eyes, but maybe I need to take a hit to the guts to see your charisma."

She sat in silence for a moment before sighing, "look, I'm sorry... I'm tired, my hand and arm are sore from the scuffle.  Can we talk about this later."


Meanwhile the Starchaser reached the rendezvous point and got their first look at the ship called Matron.  Taking guidance from her command and control systems, Dex executed a high speed landing in a very tight shuttle bay.  

"Landing complete, we are aboard.  Let's burn sky."  Dex replied into the Comm.

Mother acknowledged mentally to everyone, understood Dex, welcome aboard.



I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing, Roman Cavalry choirs are singing.  Be my mirror, my sword and shield.  My missionaries in a foreign field



Noticing that Aaron was exiting the command center and Nova appeared busy, Ixiah grabbed Loki and pulled him aside.  They whispered something conspiratorially to one another, giggled and then casually exited the bridge as well.

Rebecka tugged at Alexis's arm and pointed to the kits, "should we let the boys wander off?  I trust our hosts, but..."

Alexis hugged her sister, "they'll be fine.  On a complete non sequitur... what does this mean to you?"  She paused and then sung a few lines, "For some reason I can't explain, I know Saint Peter won't call my name.  Never an honest word, but that was when I ruled the world."

Rebecka smiled, "it means the song is over."


Nova's screens show the smaller vessels and the cruiser form up protectively in front of the behemoth vessel.  They do not seem to respond at all until the mass sub-orbital detonations occur.  As Matron executes her precise jump, the last thing she can see from the fleet is the cruiser and smaller vessels darting forward at fast sublight speeds.

The team has escaped the planet.



It's alive!  It's alive!


Spatz looked very confused, but knew better than to argue with Robert when he said weird things.  He attempted to stand, but strangely he found his legs didn't work.  He remembered them working just fine not five minutes ago, but what was that he said?  Five years?

"Uh, I think you'll have to help me.  I'm having trouble walking, my legs are really weak."

Xaos smiled innocently, "he'll be fine, help him walk it off.  This way for Mina, but there are a few things different in her case."

Xaos led them down a different path, through a large central room that held more pods like the one both Robert and Spatz had occupied.  This room was different, more active and more prominent.  Where the areas that the two of them had been in seemed more like small, secondary facilities, this one was obviously the main area for procedures like they had been subjected to.

The disturbing thing about this area, is that it must have held around several hundred pods and they were all occupied.  Robert noticed that they held foxes of differing sexes, fur colors, and structural features.  These were all unique, and the central most pod was the focus of Xaos's attention.  It was in the process of being prepped.

"You see, Mina is a vulpine.  She is like Aaron, though her bloodline is much thinner.  Unlike the two of you, she died before we could reach her.  However, she came back... with Gaea's urging, before her essence passed beyond the threshold.  Gaea has had this discussion with Aaron before in regards to other things, but we cannot create life... that is the purview of the universal engine itself.  We can, however... rekindle, extend and improve it."  Xaos gazed at the capsule and was silent for a moment.

"Mina is still Mina, she just awoke to her heritage.  And before you think ill of us anymore than you already do, it was not myself or Gaea that is responsible for her being like this.  Her grandmother or grandfather was likely one of our species that had gone rogue against the Masters that now control them."

As the pod opened it became obvious to Robert that Mina had become a lot more maroon than he remembered her being.  She opens her eyes, yawns and opens her mouth to speak, but the words are completely beyond Robert and Spatz.  She looks confused and blushes, "sorry, sorry... things have been weird since I've been here."



The new, dead world and the cold loneliness of space


VI chirped at La'orth with regular intervals to indicate the ship was still within functional parameters.  The system identified around 190 hours of life support remaining at full usage, with increased time based on conservation strategies.

Nothing remarkable remained in planetary orbit but a few minor bits of what were likely satellite debris.  


Marissa's dreamscape


Inside the castle, the pair find the most comfortable room is already occupied by a pair of young foxes sitting semi-patiently on a U-shaped couch that is facing a large plasma monitor and a huge sound system setup.  

Marissa is surprised to say the least, "I... don't remember a karaoke setup in here.  How did you two kits get in... here?"

The two sing-songed their answer complete with adorable faces and peace signs, "we have always been here."  

Loki gazed back out the door, "seriously though, that dragon... how was he supposed to have gotten in that last room?  He couldn't fit through the door."

Ixiah replied, "obviously he was brought in when he was a baby and fed a relatively steady stream of adventurers.  There were so many that he got too big to leave the room and got stuck."

The dragon stuck his head in the door, "haven't you ever heard of shapeshifting?"

[Lushin]

Strike Team - Starchaser
Doc took a deep breath and looked at Jeanne.
"That's where your wrong. I grew up here because these people killed my parents and one of them took pity on me. She took me in and raised me as her own. The only roots I have on this planet is buried by that base. Anyway we're here so lets see our new home"
Doc picked up Romulus's body and disembarked. As he walked towards Mother he looked at the ship.
"This looks promising"

[ShadesFox]

Marissa's dreamscape

Marissa looked to Loki, "Really, haven't you ever heard of magic?  The dragon gets there because he wants to be there!  He was supposed to have kidnapped me and Aaron saves me and... oh..."

Loki has his tongue out ever since Marissa mentioned magic, "Of course I have heard of magic, it is practically everything I do~  Also curious, why would a dragon kidnap you?"

"Well, I was supposed to be a damsel in distress."

Ixiah chimes in, "Well, you weren't exactly helpless.  Also, what interest would a dragon even have in a damsel?  That is the part that always confused me."

The dragon chimed in, "Well, she is rather cute..."

Marissa stared at the dragon with enough intensity to melt lead.

"Er... I mean beautiful to the point of being drop dead gorgeous that a dragon would obviously want to kidnap?"

Marissa looked a lot more pleased and Ixiah and Loki were giggling amongst themselves.  For his part, Aaron was going through the song selection.

"Hmm... I think I've heard this one before.  The guy with the human playlist had it playing on occasion."

The plasma monitor lit up with the image of a dragon and the sound system boomed with guitars. [1]

Ixiah looked over, "Aaron?  What did you just put on?  It sounds..."

"Rhapsody of Fire, Emerald Sword.  It is a supremely silly song and rather catchy, just right for a karaoke setup... I crossed the valleys, the dust of midlands!"

Ixiah and Loki sit on either end of the couch, Marssa grins and lies down in the middle of the couch, giggling as the song goes on and the dragon hangs out in the doorway.  By the end of the song the whole lot are singing along.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye6YHQ8AZzU