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

[ShadesFox]

((OOC: I don't care how bad anyone says Voyager was, The Doctor was awesome.))
Medbay

It took Aaron a second to get over the 'ZOMG NEEDLE' reaction.  Aaron undoes his shirt and throws it to the side, then stands next to the vixen, watching what she does.    Aaron couldn't understand a bit she was doing, but liked watching anyways.
"So miss... I'm sorry I never caught your name.  Unless I am to just refer to you as, 'The Doctor' or some such sillyness.  On a more serious note, what sort of probing would there be?  I'm glad to hear that they should be 'uneventful'.  Eventful tests tend to be poorly designed tests.  Could I also have a copy of the results?  Perhaps I can't interpret them, but I like to have such things.  Call me a data pack rat."

Aaron continued to ask questions about what she was doing, looking at pretty screens and buttons, generally waiting for the uneventful event to start.

[Azlan]

Nova's Room



The gold vixen was surprised to find that Nova's pattern was integrated into this kitten's form, "amazing, carbon based data structures have been transcribed into a digital matrix... self-expanding algorithms.  However, it is amazingly viral in appearance.  If Mother was to allow you to interface with the powercore... your specific traits would spread through out our systems and infect us.  I am not sure if Matron created you to be this way, so you would change those AIs you came across.  To be safe, I have isolated you from all systems other then the general access power."

She smiled slightly and petted the kitten, "I am called Rebecka, what do they call you?"

The vixen hesitated for one of the first times in her life, the kitten asked her if she could help repair the Sphere of Harmonies.  The monumental scope of this task caused hesitation and a slight amount of fear, could she do it... was it right... was she standing at the crossroads of history... could the fate of the universe hinge on her decision? 

Rebecka felt dizzy and sat down on the bed, what should I do?



Cafeteria area


Ben nodded with a mouthful of rice and meat, "too right mate, this is amazing!  I've never had food in the army like this!  I think I'm going to like it here, but I'm going to have to work harder or else I won't be able to keep from gaining too much weight."

Alexis mimicked what the others were doing and finished off her plate.  Her form made quick utilization of the materials and she nodded in satisfaction, "I shouldn't need to do this too much, but it might be nice to eat every once in a while.  Converting it to energy produces some very interesting results.  Anyways, what would you all like to do now?  I've shown you the basics of what you will need to know."




Medbay


The purple vixen giggled at the barrage of questions and chatter coming from Aaron, "are we nervous Aaron?  Well, my name is Cynthia, but you can call me the Doctor if you wish.  My function is basically science, of which this is most certainly a part of.  There will be some mind probing, some blood samples, a little bit of fur taken... the most important test are the mind ones.  I will be digging into memories.  We can talk results at some other time, but let us get started."

The fox produced a small silver device that flashed multiple colors and emitted a soothing pulse.  She ran it along various body areas.  Perhaps to unnerve Aaron, she would periodically stop shaking her head, laughing, gasping in surprise or staring in confusion.

"Please have a seat."

When Aaron had sat down on one of the medical beds, the doctor sat down next to him.  The vixen locked her violet eyes with Aaron's and smiled warmly, focused as he was on her lovely eyes, he barely noticed her slip a needle into his arm.

"I do hope the calibration is correct on this unit."  Within a second, the unit had drawn 2 full pints of blood.  That process made Aaron feel very odd and not surprisingly very light headed.  Cynthia muttered a small oath and instantly injected a stimulant directly into Aaron's body, "I'm sorry about that, I am just now becoming aware of the frailty of your species.  Come on now, stay awake, no passing out... yet."

The blood filtered through tubes, scanning units, compressors and various other implements.  Endless amounts of odd, red symbols, buzzed across the displays, a few stopped in places glowing yellow.

Cynthia smiled knowingly and winked at the dizzy Aaron, "are we ready for the mind probing?"

[ShadesFox]

Medbay

Aaron counted the units of blood taken.  Then did the math on his fingers, since the brain did not brain so good. 
"So that is... a fifth of my blood in that thing... I'm gonna need some breakfast cereal."

The stimulants did make him feel much better.  Aaron could only assume that the yellow bits on the machine meant that there was stuff in his blood that should no be there.  Stupid M.D.s telling him to take in less cholesterol.

When asked about the mind probing Aaron responds, "Sure!  Though is the mind probe calibrated?  I don't want it sucking out a fifth of my brain."

At that moment Aaron was equal parts nervous and squee.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

 Oh purrr  yes right there... oh oh, I am Mara, and the daughter of Matron, and Matron did give me the ability to effect other AI's, but I can control the amount of change from no change to fully changing them into be me.  but that last one would work only once,  Once I have a base/ship for myself, I will pretty much become that ship's AI and control.  

As for the sphere, I hope my mother has something more to give us... when we see her.... You don't have to decide, now.  And Nova has more information lock in her head in what happen and maybe a fresh look at this problem. sends the kitten, but she is unsettled and falls into the bed covers then Nova somewhat awakes from Rebecka's sitting on the bed.

"Mmmm AH mom, Can I have just five minutes?" grumbles Nova as she turns over and throws a spare pillow at Rebecka...."ah ah  I I Okay  I am sorry but is this your room?" asks the shock Catgirl staring at the golden vixen.  and the kitten is no where to be found.  Rebecka can feels Mara about Nova, maybe on Nova and/or maybe in Nova, but the kitten form is not around.

"Are you looking for something?" asks the confused Nova as she watching the vixen look around the room look a second or two.
PBH

[Lushin]

Cafeteria area
Romulus slowly finished his meal. Having not ever eaten anything like this, he was somewhat worried his system wouldn't like it. He looked at Alexis as she spoke. He scratched his chin at Alexis's question.
"All I can think of now is having a meeting before we get going. Make sure everyone understands this rule on this trip. Also get a general reading on everyone"

[techmaster-glitch]

Zeta-Group barracks

   The four other Crusading Scales were in their otherworldly quarters, in various idle states. With the enter and exit procedures of their fighters complete, they had nothing to do until launch. The snake, Satch Nestor, was lying on his back on his unusually comfortable cot ("cot" being the closest word he could think of it as), hands under his head, staring at the crystalline green ceiling. It shimmered every now and then, almost as if it were moving...
   "Hey, Mack." Satch called to the gecko on the cot across from him.
   "Yeah, Satch?"
   "What do you think about all thiss, you know, this alien sstuff?" He sat up, and the material underneath him seemed to morph to accommodate his new position. "I think thiss is awessome! We, the Crusading Sscales, are with live alienss on a real alien ship! No other pilotss in the fleet got this opportunity!"
   Mack Narth glanced over to the snake. "Eh, I think they're interesting, but strange. That uber-tractor-beam and bubble morphing stuff was a little jarring..."
   "What do you think, Norton?"
   The frilled lizard looked up. "That tractor beam, while definitely not something we can do, wasn't completely out there, but damn if I know how a ship this size manages to put out that much power...What i wouldn't give to take a peek around their engine room...pity it seemed like it was that 'forbidden' hallway..." Norton's frills waved slightly.
   "What about you, ssir? Any thoughtss?" Satch said to the large crocodile, Burns Torson.
   "I think that we have an ordinary anti-pirate escort job, just with an unusual charge."
   "Pff...What about The Duke? I wonder what he thinkss about this?"
   Mack rolled his eyes, grinning, both at the question and at the secret nickname they had for their commanding officer. "You know him. His stoic ass probably doesn't even care. Nothing rattles that guy."
   "I dunno, he looked a less green when this ship sucked up or fighters...but you're probably right." Norton tossed offhandedly.
   Burns looked up at the other three then. "Not necessarily, boys. I've known one or two things that can bother him, but yes, he is generally a harder man than most."
   Satch shook his head bemusedly. "Got that right. He's probably still saluting someone right now..."


Hall outside Nova's room

   Nazareth actually covered his face (well, his eyes, at least), with his hand. For an alien that reportedly can't stop reading thoughts, she sure seemed to have missed the point. Either that or she simply can't make a distinction between "learning all about someones abilities by digging through their mind" and "passively picking up on surface thoughts", or really was so powerful that she really did automatically read the entire mental makeup of anyone within range. Not to mention that he would be okay (albeit grudgingly) with a mental control link if it was necessary.
   Either way, Nazareth certainly wasn't happy about all this, but he wasn't about to drag it any further. He just wanted to get one last thing taken care of.
   "Blast it all" He growled, removing his hand and looking into the eyes of Mother once again.
   "Alright. There is one last thing I would like to do, and this is purely a matter of duty and practicality. My men have already gone through boarding procedures with their fighters, and I assume that they will also go through undocking and docking procedures once we launch. However, my task, as you dispensed, is controlling you in a combat situation. As I do not even know the basics, I believe it is best if we get started immediately. When we launch, I should be at least marginally capable of piloting you, and I believe it would be the best idea to perform some coordination and formation drills with my men deployed.
   "I don't care if you are somehow packing more firepower than our fleet combined, there is no sense in charging into pirate territory and your combat detail is without any practice."

[Azlan]

Medbay


The purple vixen smiled innocently, "why Aaron, you only use ten percent of your mental capacity, you would hardly miss it.  Do not worry though, the worst it could do is wipe out a section of your memory.  All we would have to do is restore that point from one of your backups... well; I suppose you don't back up your mind.  Let's hope it doesn't come up... hey, Richard!  Don't touch that!"

Richard, who had become very bored watching Cynthia and Aaron, had instead decided to view the data as it was processed.  The red symbols were zipping past, but the yellow ones remained, a single purple symbol had appeared, but the screen had gone into some kind of power saver mode.  The wolf was randomly tapping various colored squares on the touch panels trying to get it to return from standby.  His indiscretion had resulted in Aaron losing another two full pints of blood, he was injected with some odd stimulant that made him very energetic, something else that made his tummy hurt very much, and he was dispensed some type of pill.

The vixen pulled Richard away and forcibly sat him down in a chair, gave him a small device that had the look of a portable game system, and shot him such a stern look that he tucked his tail between his legs and gave a tiny whimper. 

She turned to the main medical display and tapped the control panels, locking them.  While Cynthia was doing this, Richard shot Aaron a sincere look of apology.

Aaron found that reclining on the bed was slightly more comfortable as the fogginess in his head and the current pain in his stomach eased a bit in doing so.  Cynthia rushed over to him and examined his eyes, she looked at him concerned for a moment and pointed at the console over her shoulder, a small beep was heard and a cool fluid entered his arm through the tube.  His stomach ache dulled considerably.  She withdrew the tube and dabbed at his arm with a cotton swab which caused the spot to burn fiercely.

"I am sorry, but I am not used to your species and was focused on you... your friend is quite... well... nevermind.  Does it still hurt?  It will be okay, now let us move on to the mind probe, I know I have taxed you quite a bit in a short time, but please try to stay with me.  I will need you to focus on your parents, let's start with your mother."  As she spoke, she attached small, octagonal devices to his temples.  She stepped back and held up her hand, closing her eyes.

Aaron found it difficult to remember much of his mother, but there was this one time...

OOC: yes, there was one time Aaron remembers, I will let Shades draw up the scene in his post.



Nova's room


The golden vixen was a little surprised to see that Nova had awakened and even more so to be hit in the face with a pillow.  The vixen scanned the room a bit before answering Nova; she noticed that Mara was now with the catgirl somehow.

Rebecka adjusted her glasses as she spoke, "no, this is not my room.  I do not possess a room, unless you consider the engineering area.  I am Rebecka, daughter of Mother, and I was checking out an unusual presence in here.  I found a kitten, who turned out to be a rogue AI of a child design, based off of Matron and other unusual characteristics, named Mara."

The gold vix held up a paw when Nova became fearful, "do not worry, Mother has said it is okay, and I will trust my mother's decision in this matter.  So tell me, how much of your destiny has Mara told you about?"



Cafeteria area


Alexis nodded, she stood up and gestured for them to follow, "come let us return to the Special Forces area and we will speak with everyone there.  Then when we are able, the whole mission crew will assemble and we shall discuss our objectives and intents."

She headed down the halls and finally into the area that housed Romulus's and Ben's teams.  She stood by while they gathered everyone.


Hall outside Nova's room


It was indeed as Naz had thought; Mother seemed to automatically and completely access anything directly in contact with her.

She nodded as he spoke his concern, "of course we shall practice, and I was going to leave it to you to determine what you felt necessary to familiarize you and your team to combat with me.

Somewhere deep down in her subroutines, Mother did not enjoy the small amount of distress she caused Nazareth.  It was possibly something about her personality type (or that she was programmed to be a mother in a literal sense) that caused this.

Without warning, she reached out and hugged Nazareth, "don't worry Naz, everything will be okay."  Despite all this mental connection, she seemed completely capable of misinterpreting signals and thought clues.
OOC: And no, Naz cannot toss, karate, or kung fu Mother, nor can he break her hug.  This AI projection's hug seems to be as strong as the ship is heavy.

[ShadesFox]

Aaron wanted to say a great many things.  One of which was how, in spite of only using 10% of the brain at any one time, the whole thing will still necessary for proper operation, and how he would love to do the occasional brain backup, and maybe something to Richard about how pushing buttons on machines with price tags that you can't estimate always leads to heart ache (learned through personal experience).  But such was not the time for that.

Aaron thought about his mom.  There was not a whole lot to remember.  But there was this one time...

Mark and Aaron were just cubs, and both Maria and Robert Brown, the cub's ever missing parents, were together with them.  Robert was holding Mark out at arms length, and it looked like Mark was making biting motions, "Maria, I think he's trying to eat my nose..."
Maria giggles a bit, "Yes, I think he is hungry.  There should be another bottle in the kitchen."
Maria had Aaron cradled in her arms.  He was sucking down the milk like it was no one's business, but that was kind of the point.  When Robert took Mark out of the room she said to Aaron, "My little cub, you will be someone special, this I can promise you, even if I can promise you precious little else."
She started singing to him, a lovely song he would never hear anyone else sing.

Back on Mother, Aaron absentmindedly started singing along with his memory.

[Azlan]

Medbay


Richard stopped his game whatever he was playing on the device and his ears swiveled around a bit, though Aaron was no great vocalist, he could tear it up in a karoake bar.  The wolf listened intently, not able to make out the words.

Cynthia paused and opened her eyes, the words were clear to her and she lifted her own voice in song.

Lor, lora, neo linda hín
Lor nu núra elmenel
Cena manen i olorë cara son lia
Ar sino tinta yare i isil na per

Lilta com eleni or fanya ar hisië
Mí hwinyari ve uner is cena
Lilta com vendë ve mí i olorë le neta
Ar anta vandi ve uner is anta

Vanda ana anta rin rino i olorëon coa
Ar fallë or i falmar ninqui
Vanda rin ana i coi noruva ya már
Ar le rin mí i menel noruva tana

Vanda ana anta rin i isil mine aurë
Ar ana le noruva lala mí oio valin
Cena tennana rin quent ya axan
Yare rin ve mine már tári noruva heri

Ar yrae rin san anta lin mine laurea corma
Noruva lin coiva mí caima yo lin amil
Ar cena ana rin anta lin se anvane arin
Ar lin vanda noruva ya anwi

Ea, neo linda hín
Lin vanda noruva ya anwi

(Translation:
Slumber, sleep, my beautiful child
Sleep beneath deep vaults of stars
Watch the dreams spinning its yarn
And its glitter when the moon is half

Dance with stars beneath clouds and mist
In swirls that no one can see
Dance with the girl you can win in your dream
And make promises no one can make

Promise to give her the castle of your dreams
And the foam of the waves of white
Promise her that life will be good
And that you will draw her in the sky

Swear to give her the moon one day
And that you will laugh in eternal joy
Make sure that her words will be laws
When she rules as a benelovent queen

And when she gives you a golden ring
Wake up in your cradle with mommy
And see that she gives you the fairest of dawns
And your promises will come true

Yes, my beautiful child
Your promises will come true)


In the ship Mother, in midst of a hug, opened her eyes and gazed around for a bit. 

In Nova's room, Rebecka paused and her ears swiveled as she listened to something on the air.  (yes, Mara would hear it too)

In the Special forces area, Alexis appeared to zone out.

Loki yawned and opened his eyes, his ears swiveled and caught something, the small green fox sniffed and tears escaped his eyes.

And still elsewhere, Ixiah buried his head in his pillow and tried not to listen, but he could not keep it out.  The blue fox cried, he so missed Rheya.



Aaron's mind... quite roomy in here


Aaron was in his dreamscape as this scene played out, a purple vixen also stood next to him, she had wavered out for a bit, but after her song, she returned to focus.

"Hold pattern, insert overlay!"  The vixen called out, seemingly to no one in particular.

Instantly the vision stopped and a grid overlay was added.  Like an artist manipulating a picture in Photoshop, Cynthia placed everything but Maria in the background.  The memory of Maria was then isolated.

"run standard filters and pattern analysis, look for aural signatures and essence traces."  Something occurred with the image and it wavered and focused, changed colors and was split into pixels.

Aaron, seeped as he was in the memory and emotions, as well as very weaked by blood loss and some very alien chemicals, felt as if they were literally tearing his mother to pieces.  His rational mind berrated him, but that was not in control at the moment, he felt as if they were killing her.

Before he could take action, the analysis stopped and two images were before him.  One was his mother as a grey vixen and the other was very much the same, but instead she was a pure, vibrant white kitsune.

The memory grayed a bit as the current image evaporated and the extracted one was brought forth.  The lock to the memory was released and it continued, but it was muted in all except for Maria and Aaron.  She was now a white kitsune... or as it was apparent, always a white kitsune.

Maria stopped feeding Aaron, stood and handed the cub to the observer Aaron, before approaching Cynthia.  "why do you disturb these memories?"

Maria's eyes glowed bright blue and the purple vixen took a step back, "I was asked to find the truth..."


OOC: lullaby by NoctourneAngel

[ShadesFox]

Aaron's mind, roomy and full of delicious SCIENCE!

It was, perhaps, a good thing that Aaron was in a slow mental state, otherwise he may have had a go at Cynthia's life for what he thought she was doing.  Aaron was not one for killing, but he knew his choice in the question of you or me.

When his mother turn to a white kitsune he had suspiciously little problem with it.  Normally Aaron's rational mind would demand he question this and scrutinize this, but it was still missing (in fact, it was in the kitchen with Robert and Mark, banging on the door demanding back in).  With little dream Aaron his his arms he was kind of relieved, in a strange sense.  There was something to be said for memories that could defend themselves...

"Asked to find the truth?  Young ship, there are few truths that require probing my son's mind and dissecting memories of me."

Maria sighed, though her glare did not let up in the least.  Aaron could not help but wonder how Cynthia has avoided bursting into flames at this point.  Aaron spoke up, "Umm... I did consent to it... I was curious..."

[Lushin]

Special Force Area
Romulus followed Alexis. He turned to Ben.
"Round your team up when we get there"
Romulus rounded his team up as soon as they entered. He went to talk to Alexis but saw she was zoneing out.
"Oh that can't be good"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Ah Rebecka  Mara is a "friend" who I have never seen outside of my head, well, since I was 6.  How can she be here running around as a kitten?  Yes, She was not grown up much since I was 8.  In fact I have not seen her in my dream since I was 10."  Says the wondering Nova. "She was a normal catgirl, not a small four pawed fluffy cat.?"

Nova starts hearing the Aaron's song through Mara.
"oh oh  That is a beauty song, but it is not the same..." says the catgirl as Mara feeding the Aaron's song to her.  The golden fox can see a light hanging about Nova's neck and then it's glow spreads all over the catgirl, as she hums in time to the lullaby. .  At the end of the song, Nova looks normal, again.  " but those is not same words to Gaea's song, I don't think?  No I don't remember the Gaea's words.  but...Thank you, Mara" says Nova to Mara.  Her crystal is dark again. 

"Well, I think I could use some breakfast or whatever meal is on, now.  You ..We can talk to Mara, while I eat if you like."  Nova says as she goes to pick up her shirt, but she goes to her door, instead.  She feels Loki's sadness from across the hall.  She quickly go to Loki's door.

"Loki, Are you alright?"  asks the young feline woman to Loki's door as she listens to his soft tears.

PBH

[Azlan]

Aaron's mind, roomy, has SCIENCE!  Now with extra voices and chocolate filling



Aaron spoke up, "Umm... I did consent to it... I was curious..."


Maria turned to Aaron, her eyes were filled with affection, but also worry.  "my precious son, I wanted nothing but the best for you... for you to have a normal life among the foxes of Vulpeculae.  I know your life has been anything but typical, but I did not want you to be considered a freak or captured for experimentation.  I think your father went looking for me, do not think ill of him, he loved his sons, but I do not think he could be without me."

The white vixen paused, considering her words, "Aaron, I had to leave, my... our... people were on the move again.  The masters were beginning to take action, directing the rest of the Acadians to locate the remaining Alphas.  I left a piece of myself behind, to aid you if it was ever needed..."

Maria pointed to Cynthia, "she created the correct circumstances to draw me out, albeit accidentally.  You are weakened and confused, though you have not been seriously injured, what has occurred has simulated that.  What I must tell you is that you need to reach Xaos and Gaea, but you must be careful of them, they are rather chaotic.  Know that the one called Nova can make the Sphere of Harmonies whole, but only Acadians can use it."

Maria put her paw to her head, "I must rest now, I am only a fragment, so my power is limited... and this frivolous curiosity has drawn much of it off, I will have to regenerate.  Be safe my son... I will always love you."

Maria blended back into the memory, returning the scene to normal and collapsing the overlay.  

Cynthia was quiet and in a small voice spoke to Aaron, "I am sorry."




Special Force Area


Alexis shook out of whatever trance she was in and looked around, slightly confused, "umm... I don't normally zone out..."

When she saw Romulus and the rest of his people, she looked rather embarrassed, "oh, uh don't worry... I was just receiving something I did not expect to say.  So um, what is everyone doing here... and why am I here?"



Outside Loki's Room


Rebecka was barely able to say one thing before Nova headed out of the room to Loki's door, "Mara gained access to the general access power, that is probably how she has been able to manifest."

At Loki's door, there was a small squeak of a voice heard beyond, "come in."

As Nova entered, the lighting was low, she could see the small fox sitting on the edge of his bed.  Without much warning he dashed over to her and wrapped her in a hug.  He buried his face and began to wail like a child.

[Lushin]

Special Force Area
Romulus looked at Alexis.
"Iunno you told us to come here to talk"
Romulus looks at Ben.
"You remember what we where gonna talk about right?"
Romuls winked at Ben while he spoke.

[ShadesFox]

Aaron's mind, it's made of people!

Aaron was a tad stunned, about everything but mostly about... well everything.  Cynthia barely got out an apology, and Aaron was just barely able to reply,
"Uh... could not have possible expected that.  Don't worry.  Too much.  I'm kind of scared myself."

Aaron thought to himself, "I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry" *SNIFF* "Okay I'm gonna cry."

When Aaron collected himself again there were a few things that was obvious:
A) Mom was probably alive.  Dad might be.
B) Aaron has some relation to the Alphas.
C) Aaron's destiny has expanded.

New Questions:
A1) Where are they?
A2) On a related note, I've not heard from Mark lately.
B1) IS Aaron an Alpha, or would he be considered a half breed?  Mom considers him to be one of them...
B2) Do the Acadians want to kill him now?
C1) Reach WHAT?
C2) Nova knows something.

That last one was not surprising.  However, he now has more information.
"Cynthia, I think it is time we go.  We found our answer, and got a bunch of questions for our trouble."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Shhh air'm Ojae thyzia" whispers Nova "Vaer byrn paes caes" over and over as she picks up the little fox and carries him to his bed.  She lays down on it with him half on her chest, and humming another lullaby she remembers from  Gaea....She pets and stokes the fur on Loki's back until he calms down and goes back to sleep.  She doesn't mean to fall back to sleep in his bed, but she also feels too tried to get up.

Once Nova is asleep, Mara the kitten returns to her post, only now it's on top of Loki's butt.

OOC:(Translation "Shhh, It's Okay foxy."  and "Rest now,  Dearheart") 

PBH

[techmaster-glitch]

Without warning, she reached out and hugged Nazareth, "don't worry Naz, everything will be okay."  Despite all this mental connection, she seemed completely capable of misinterpreting signals and thought clues.
OOC: And no, Naz cannot toss, karate, or kung fu Mother, nor can he break her hug.

Was that an anvil that landed next to me just now?

   When Mother suddenly embraced Nazareth (with prodigious strength, as a short perfuntory escape attempt confirmed his suspicions), he was beyond caring anymore.
   "Considering that not only are you an alien, but also the alien ship, who can't seem to help mentally invading anything near you, is this some kind of alien form of contact that will somehow enable me to begin learning how to pilot you?" He asked in a resigned voice.
   And he wasn't joking.

[Azlan]

Special Force Area


Ben was still a bit distracted by impure thoughts about the vixen, but he was able to catch on and winked back.

Alexis tried to hide her confusion, "er, right we were assembling here to... have me demonstrate a weapon I was going to make available to your men!"

Alexis pulled a medium length, sophisticated energy rifle from one of the cases.  "This is the FireLance X, as I have decided to call it.  This is a phased plasma weapon, so it is good for actions in space and on ground.  Because it is plasma, you do not have to worry about it puncturing the hull on a starship, but it can eat through infantry and vehicle armors relatively quickly.  Also, due to the phase state, the plasma does not degrade as quickly in an atmosphere.  So who wants to try it?"

Alexis, for some reason, has seemed to have forgotten about their original intent of gathering.



Medbay


As Aaron slowly awoke, he was greeted by the concerned face of his wolf companion, "things have become... complicated haven't they?"

Perhaps in answer to the wolf, Aaron's eyes became heavy again and he slipped back into unconsciousness.  He could hear Richard's distant voice, "hey!  wait!  Come back!"

Aaron was again in his mind, but this was a featureless, black expanse.  Cynthia reappeared and smiled nervously at him, "it appears you have passed out, but I have followed you so that we might discuss things."

A pair of comfortable chairs appeared and the purple vixen took a seat as she motioned him to take the other, "I had no idea you carried a piece of an Acadian within you.  I hope she can forgive me and what must have appeared to be quite byzantine methods."

A screen appeared before them and it slowly began to display data, "I thought we might discuss the data.  The analysis of your blood seems a bit blase now, but it has some interesting notes.  First off is that the markers are completely hidden, you need equipment of a least equivalent to what is in the lab in order to detect anything out of the ordinary."

A prodigious amount of symbols glowed yellow, "these are the traces we were looking for.  Here..."  The vixen indicates a few purple, glowing symbols, "these are the Alpha traits."

The display again switched, "the most interesting thing though is that you are not a halfbreed, but you are three-quarters Acadian..."



Loki's Room


Rebecka watches Nova and shakes her head as the feline slips back to sleep on Loki's bed.

She moves to the bed and almost reached out to wake Nova, but instead tucks both into the covers.  The vixen gives a stern look to Mara, "you keep them both safe now."

Rebacka withdraws from the room, leaving them in peace.



The Hallway


Mother releases Nazareth from the hug with a giggle, "surely you know what a hug is?  No?  Well it is not some type of contact method to aid in your piloting, but it could not hurt.  Follow me."

Mother led Naz through the ship and to the bridge.  The pilot's seat sat, inviting and comfortable, even to one such as Nazareth, "have a seat, it doesn't bite."

 

[ShadesFox]

Aaron's mind.  It got quite dark and empty

"Wait HOW MUCH?"

Aaron was waiting for the half breed news, or maybe one quarter.  Though three quarters comes up.  Three quarters is an interesting number.  Three quarters means one of a very few things.

"All of the sudden I want to see some kind of family reunion.  More so then usual.  It means that Mom is full, or maybe dad was full?  Or maybe both were half and I hit it big in the genetic lottery?  Or... SIGH, I'm thinking way too much for someone who just passed out.  Is there more to discuss?  I'm wondering if I should talk to Ixiah for... I don't know.  Tips and tricks to being Acadian I guess."

[Lushin]

Special Force Area
Romulus looked at Ben and smiled
"I'll give it a shot"

[Azlan]

Aaron's mind - not so dark, just small



Cynthia thought for a moment before replying, "your mother is a full Acadian with an Alpha trait... which would make your father a half-blood, like that Kanzoria chap.  As for speaking with Ixiah, he is older than you, but you are a lot more mature then he is.  I believe it has something to do with your fox blood, it also explains why you physically matured in this corporeal body.  You will need to ascend to achieve true form."

The purple vixen abruptly stood up, grabbing Aaron's hand and dashed towards a door of light that appeared, "time to wake up!"  The vixen yelled as she tossed him through the portal.


Medbay


Aaron was immediately jolted awake and sat up abruptly, something he regretted as the room swam and his stomach objected.

Richard stood next to the bed with his tail wagging and a relieved expression, "ah, good, you did not die.  It would be sad to journey through these fascinating events without their cause."





Special Forces Area


Alexis handed the weapon off to Romulus, with a few snide remarks about which direction to point and to be careful with guns.

She backed off and a target range deployed at the other end of the training area.

Romulus would notice the raw power, slight kick and rugged exterior of this weapon.  It was light, but sturdy.

[Lushin]

Special Forces Area
Romulus gave a mock look of amazement at Alexis and she shows him the rifle.
He stood and took a few shots to get use to the rifle. Once he get the rifle figured out he started shooting  well aimed shots.
He then looked back at Alexis.
"I really like this but do you have anything with a scope on it? Go better with my outfit"
Romulus then looked at his company.
"Ok now to get to the matter at hand. As you all know we are basically here for ground and pound. Don't expect much to any ship boarding in this one. Also looks like we may be having some back up when we need it from some bots on the ship. As for chain of command follow any orders given to you by Major Brown. He's running the show here. I'm in charge when we are in combat as usually but the Major is running things when not in combat. Lt. Nova I'm gonna say shouldn't be giving you orders so I'll leave it to your discrestion on following them. I'm gonna say follow any order the AIs give you unless it's seriously screwed up. *Gives Alexis a sideways glance then back to the group*  Alright everyone take a turn with this rifle. I want you familiar with this tech and how it works. *Looks to Wall* Yes you too.  We'll deal with whatever heavy weapons when we come to it"
Romulus handed the rifle to Ben and talked to Alexis.
"Anyway we can pull together a ship meeting before this gets going"

[ShadesFox]

Medbay
"One second before you declare me alive..."
Material that used to reside in Aaron's stomach now found a new home on Cynthia's floor.
"Okay... still alive now.  Though I seem to have trouble keeping fluids.  Sorry about that Doctor."

Aaron grins as best he can and looks at Richard,
"Don't worry about me dying.  I plan on seeing this through, even if I have to claw my way to the end.  That day looks to be a while off, so until then I'm going to need some food high in iron and a tooth brush.  Then maybe sleep."
Aaron sees about standing up, with Richard too glad to help him up to head to the mess hall to see if he can't find something he can keep down.

[techmaster-glitch]

Hallway

   Nazareth shook his head as he began following Mother down the corridor. Ah, of course he know what a hug is, but it seemed rather odd that not only does the alien know as well, but it seems to mean the same thing. He'd already given up trying to guess in what ways these damn rainbow-people were alike and different to his own people, though.
   She led him into the bridge, which he had to admit did look rather comfy, at least compared to conventional ships. He still preferred more function-only spartan-accomodations, but he'd already resolved to simply deal with everything about these aliens.
   At Mother's comment, he merely replied "Ma'am, I am a komodo dragon. Something biting me is always the least of my worries." With that, he slid into the chair.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Nova's dreamscape

"Loki, Dear I know we can use the rest and all, but shouldn't the Captain, you, be getting the ship ready to get underway?"  Asks Nova of Loki, who is laying beside Nova on a beach with sounds of surf and sea birds over head.  Loki is use Nova as a pillow and looking up at the ski.

A kitten fox hybred comes running from the water, dripping wet and lands with thud by Nova and Loki.  "We can't go, now?  I want to play somemore." whines Mara.

"Duty is duty, the captain decides what we will do.." commands Nova.

PBH

[Azlan]

Special Forces Area


Ben takes the rifle and after a few practice shots, manages to start pulling off very expert marksmanship, "blimey, but this is a right nice piece of work.  Alright lads, who is up next?"

The rifle is passed between each member of both teams and a consensus is reached, the plasma rifle is a good weapon.

Alexis nods to Romulus, "we can call a general meeting, let me ask Mother and Loki if it is alright."

Closing her eyes, she sends out a general query to Mother and Loki.




Medbay and hallways of the ship


As disturbing as it might seem, Cynthia was rather happy about the fact that Aaron had vomited on her floor, it meant more samples and more data.

Before Aaron could get too far with Richard, Cynthia tossed him back his shirt. 

"You will probably need this, I like the fur pattern and all, but I suspect your people require a moderate amount of coverage."

The purple fox then set about cleaning up the mess and putting the vomit through some interesting tests.

As Richard and Aaron exited the medical bay, Aaron found that he was very wobbly and dizzy.  The blood removal and strange chemicals had done a number on him, and to top it all off, the walking gradually made his stomach hurt even more.

Aaron considered that it might be wise to take the foodpill that the machine had dispensed to him, thanks to Richard, and get some rest.




Command Center


Nazareth eased into the chair and instantly felt at home.

"Naz, there are several ways to maneuver this ship.  There are two styles of manual controls and the mental link.  The manual controls are good for those that are not linked or too mentally fatigued to be able to use the link effectively.  The trackball unit and the touch pad control are one method and the standard flight stick and throttle controls that deploy from the seat."

Mother deployed the stick controls from the seat, they were a little unconventional, but the arrangement was well known to him.  Mother spent a moment going over these methods before continuing the mental control explanation.

"To utilize the mind link, you must clear your conscious thoughts and focus on me.  Now send a mental request to me... basically think towards me... good."

Naz felt a slight cool feeling in his head as something 'clicked'.  Mother could now be heard in his head, "now think of the ship... from the nose all the way to the gravity drive."

It was surprisingly easy and within a few transitionary moments, Naz was surprised to find that he literally stood on the shuttle deck.  He could sense he was the ship, he could feel the drive systems, weapons; he even 'felt' the others onboard.




Nova's dreamscape


Loki either did not hear Nova or he was ignoring her comment about duty.  "I heard an ancient song, an Alpha song... it...t... filled me with such a feeling, that I longed for my mother's embrace.  It will never come though; royals do not show affection to their offspring or in front of others.  The masters forbid relationships between families; our longing fosters perfect Olin for their chorus of discord."

Loki began to sniffle, "I'm not as strong as they wanted me to be... father had this ship made for me and he and my mother sent me away to keep me from being taken by the masters like Ixiah was."

Loki snuggled into Nova more and began to sob again; the thoughts of his parents fueled his sadness.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

In Nova's dream

"Shh, Paes Caes, I am here and I know you pain, but know that your mother and father loved you, if they send you away from danger and gave you the best mother, they could.  Yet, I know the little cub just wants to his mother.  The only way to heal is to stop the Masters from continue their crimes and bring them to Justice or punishment." says Nova as she hold the crying Loki.   Nova wonders about the sphere that Loki and she were working on in medical ward and another puzzle ball from her childhood.

"Loki,  an Alpha song?  That song just now, I heard it before or one just like it.  The words are not the same as the song from Gaea.   I remember, Gaea was/is an alpha and she could sing, but she said that she was not an Alpha Singer.  Xaos said that my puzzle ball would need a Alpha Singer.  Do you know one?"

"You mean this puzzle ball, Nova or That one ?" asks Mara.  The Fox-kitten is hold a lego-like blocks in the shape of a half sphere, but she is pointing at a half moon in the sky.  On closer look, the Moon turns into a crystal sphere that has been exploded outward with many crystal shards floating around it. 

PBH

[Lushin]

Special Forces Area
Romulus nodded at Alexis as she sent the query to Mother.
"See if we can meet at the command center or somewhere like that."

[ShadesFox]

Hallway

Aaron made an attempt at putting on his shirt.  This task was severely complicated by the fact that he did not want to touch his stomach at all and the severe lack of blood.  Though he managed to put the sleeves on, most everything else stayed as it was.  He also decided it would be a good time to eat the food pill.  After swallowing it he was suddenly started wondering how he knew it was a food pill.  Crazy thing about being with psychics he had no idea if this thought was planted in his head, or if he was just going crazy and imagined the whole thing.

Aaron and Richard walked down the hall.  More precisely, Richard walked down the hall and Aaron leaned on him and was largely dragged by Richard.  When they got to Aaron's room he was deposited on his bed.  At least he was all the way in the bed.  He went to sleep almost immediately, leaving Aaron with a stomach full of food pill, mouth wide open over the pillow, still (mostly) in his cloths, and in a rather undignified position.  He looked forward to pleasant dreams, though perhaps he should have known to be sick of dreams already, lately they end up being more then he bargained for.

[Azlan]

Nova's Dream


"Gaea would not sing a song like the one we heard except to her own child.  Even if she adopted you, you still are someone else's child and a different species.  But really I don't know, before I learned what you have shown me, I had thought Gaea a heartless, evil renegade."

When Nova asked about an Alpha Singer, he kind of shrugged, "I imagine you would need an Auran or an Ephon.  I do not know of any really, Ixiah and Rheya are Olin and I am not any of these.  As for spheres, we will know more when we reach Matron."

Nova could hear a low buzz, Loki could also hear it, but he frowned and turned over.  Mara could receive the contact, however.

"This is Alexis... wait what channel am I on here, I do not recognize the ID... anyways, I need to speak with Loki."




Special Forces Area


Alexis made her contact with Mother, "mom, Romulus wants to schedule a full group meeting.  Could we use C&C?  I'm trying to get in touch with Loki."

Mother responded, "I do not mind, but I need a little bit of time to familiarize Naz wit hthe flight training"




Aaron's Room


Aaron drifted off to a fitful sleep, the food pill made him feel a tad more energized, but his stomach did not seem to calm down.

He drifted to a calm park setting.  Green grass and healthy trees dotted the area.  The fox found that he shared the dream with another fox, this one seemed to be a familiar vixen.  She was red furred, green eyed, and a bit blond on her headfur. 

After a moment, he realized who she was, it was the pirate vixen he had saved.  It had just dawned on Aaron that he never learned her actual name.

Somewhere, just off from where he could, Ixiah lurked about, trying not to disturb until absolutely necessary.