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

[Azlan]

Towards the Command Center


Ixiah walked along with Aaron, smiling slightly, "that was pretty impressive how she managed to floor you with one well placed smack.  She could be a good one for you, keep you in line.  Anyways, I could train you in psychic techniques, but it would not be wise to do much until Marissa is healed a bit more.  If you inadvertently severed the empathic link, the flood of sensory input on her could be fatal.  We could also accidentally cause you to intensify the link and mistakenly perform a transfer... completely taking her injury to yourself.  I imagine you would not enjoy experiencing the physical injury that goes with the pain."



Special Forces Area


Loki sighs and slips off the grumbling pile of soldiers, "alright all of you, time to get up and meditate.  You two should as well," Loki said as he turned towards Romulus and Ben, "sit lotus style as I've heard it called and visualize building a brick wall in your mind, make it of nonsense and gibberish."



Medical Bay


Cynthia waves to Aaron and Ixiah as they leave.  With a happy bounce to her step, she tucks Marissa into the bed and heads back over to her console and desk.

She stops, raising an eyebrow to the kitten on Nova, "you must be what Rebecka and Mother were chatting about across the network."



Command Center


Mother sighed and shook her head, whispering to herself, "children..."

She moved to a spot just behind Narazeth, she placed a hand on his shoulder and in a clear voice commanded, "mark, bring all flight systems online and run all checks.  Bring the Quadruple Cross drive to full and bring her out at 0.25 positive gravity slide.  You have control, do your best."

As Nazareth ran the systems and raised the drive to maximum power, all systems showed nominal.  The hum of the "Quadruple Cross Gravity Drive" could be heard across the whole ship, but not using one's ears.  The sound was in the mind.

[ShadesFox]

Towards the Command Center

"Wait... take it completely?  As in, physically taking the injury?  That... ow..."
Aaron thinks for a bit,
"Though, how would we know that I wouldn't accidentally do that anyways?  I am worried now.  A lot.  This psychic business seems to be getting more and more potentially fatal the more I hear about it."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Oh Hello, Doc.... I'll let exam me, if you scratch my ears...Purrrrleaseeee..." said the Kitten with big cute eyes, and small little pout pose.  *blink**blink*

PBH

[techmaster-glitch]

Command Center

   When Mother placed her hand on Nazareth's shoulder, he unconsciously stiffened very slightly. Personal contact wasn't something he was used to or comfortable with, but he ignored it and concentrated on his job.
   No matter how realistic it was, this is not the mental simulation.
   Big or small, mistakes here are irrevocable.
   At Mother's orders, Nazareth eased considerably, accustomed to commands. He performed what functioned as the preflight check, going over the systems with the mindlink. All showed normal. An odd hum filled the room as the Cross Drive was brought fully on line; it took several seconds for Nazareth to realize the "sound" was in his head only.
   Guiding the ship with his thoughts, he gently eased the throttle. Slowly and smoothly, the ship rose straight up until it cleared launching height. Using both the manual controls and his mind, he brought the ship around to face the open bay doors. Easing the throttle again, the ship slid forward gracefully, and cleared the docking bay. Angling away from the Phalanx, Nazareth continued graduating the throttle until the ship was up to an appropriate speed.
   He guided Mother out into free space, away from the fleet of ISF capital ships. Once he reached the proper distance, he brought Mother to a full stop.
   Reaching out with his mind, Nazareth accessed what was used as an intercomm system and connected to the Zeta-Group barracks"
  "Zeta-Group! Assemble!" Nazareth "barked" into the comm.

Zeta-Group Barracks
   "Zeta-Group! Assemble!"
   Instantly, there was an automatic jolt of activity for three seconds as the Crusading Scales jumped out of their beds and formed up in a line almost instinctually. The command was so forceful, and Nazareth's voice so real, that it took them several moments to realize that Nazareth wasn't actually in the room.
   "Squad, we are away from the capital ships. It is time for practice drills to get used to flying alongside an alien ship. I don't know how much time we'll have for practice, but none should be wasted. Suit up and get to your fighters for launch, double-time!"
   The Crusading Scales wasted no time, immediately donning their Tactical Life Support suits, and rushing down the corridor. Nazareth wasn't there with them, but Mother projected his voice undiminished in a way no modern radio could.
   That was creepy.

[Lushin]

[bSpecial Forces Area][/b]
Romulus sat down and startes to "build his wall" as Loki put. He used all the stupid crap he remembered hearing new recruits say under his command as his bricks.

[Azlan]

Towards the Command Center, still


Ixiah patted Aaron on the back, "don't worry, you aren't in any danger at the moment.  Psychic abilities are those type of things where ignorance is a defense and an excuse.  However, if you begin to gain knowledge in the area, you will understand why it is wiser to wait.  If you wish to, visualize the connection between you two in your mind's eye, follow it to her and see what it is that you see.

Aaron and Ixiah were both nearly to the Command center.



Medical bay


Cynthia eyed the kitten, "no need to examine you, I already know what you are.  I have since you appeared on this medical bed, I just choose to be more social and interactive... it is part of my directive."

The purple vixen did scratch Mara's ears though.



Command Center


"I have informed the fleet of our drills, no need to alarm them suddenly by launching fighters."  Mother said quietly so as not to disturb Nazareth's concentration.


Zeta Launch bay


The squad found their fighters to be pre-flight prepped and ready to take on pilots.  The ground crews consisted of small hovering drones that waited patiently near each fighter, out of the way of the pilots.




Special Forces Area


Ben sat as requested and began building up this shield as requested.

Loki first focused on Romulus, he loomed over the seat wolverine and stood in front of him.  It was a mere few moments before the small green fox knocked down the wall with a howling and flaming mental fist.  He sailed into Romulus's mind like cold steel through flesh, a very frightening and uncomfortable shock.

[ShadesFox]

Are we there yet?

"Yes, visualize in my minds eye, let me get right on that.  Wait what?" Aaron looks a bit confusedly at Ixiah.

Ixiah shrugs, "Not my fault.  Your spoken language is... obtuse and annoyingly unexpressive.  It was the best I could do."

"Yes but... where do you pick up phrases like 'mind's eye?' "

"From a manga."

"Of course..."

Aaron and Ixiah walk into the command center.  Nazareth looked very busy.  Busy enough that Aaron thought he and Ixiah would hide out in the corner.  Aaron decided to give the mind's eye bit a shot.  He backed into the corner and looked up, and after a moment being uncomfortable he looks at thew view monitor.   He tries a few things, getting the feeling he isn't quite grasping it.  He turns to Ixiah.

"Hey Ixiah... oh..."

As he turns he notices that there is both no Ixiah and that there is still a star field.  He gets the distinct impression that the view screen did not expand as he looked around, he was apparently just in deep space, and on a dirt road.  The presence of the dirt road in space disturbed him to no end.  He shrugs and starts going down the path, assuming that this was his connection to Marissa.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Purrr.... Oh oh  Yes a little to the side..." prrs the kit-fox.  Mara after a minute just drop loosely down on Nova's legs

" Mother says I training  Can you teach me to be a better AI, or  just proper AI manners..... I don't want Mother to be mad at me..  And I need to know have to help Nova" asks Mara with sigh as she look up cutely at the Doc.

PBH

[Lushin]

Special Forces Area
Romulus recoiled when Loki broke through his wall.
"Damnit" Was all he thought when Loki broke through.
The only thing he could think of at this point was when his father was shot in front of him. Seeing the bullets rip into his father and watching him slowly dieing. How he got his father's blood on his hands as he tried to stop the bleeding. How his father died in his arms. Strange thing was when Romulus thought of this no real emotion went with it. It almost seemed like all and any emotion Romulus had went away.

[techmaster-glitch]

Command Center

   Nazareth replied to Mother with a simple, but not curt, "Acknowledged" as he continued to monitor his squad's progress.

Zeta Launch Bay

   The four Scales hustled to their fighters, quickly climbing the bizzare ladders, and then slid themselves into the odd gravity shells as they had practiced earlier. They all went through preflight checks, brining their fighters and comm systems online.
   Nazareth's voice sounded in the headsets of all four Zetas. "Zeta-One testing communication systems...do you read me, Zetas?"
   "Zeta-Two, check."
   "Zeta-Three, check."
   "Zeta-Four, check."
   "Zeta-Five, check."
   "Alright, communication is confirmed. Mother, you may begin launch sequence."

[Azlan]

Fugue Plane

An endless eternity stretched out before Aaron, his out of place dirt road winding off into the distance.  He walked for a short while, but the farther he went the more apprehensive he felt.  Something felt wrong about walking this path.

Aaron was about to turn around and head back, but a cold chill passed over him.  A set of golden triangles drifted next to him (2x2).  They seemed almost like lighted little LCD screens on a panel, except all four of them flickered simultaneously, reminding the fox of someone blinking. 

A sharp, raspy voice echoed inside his head.  The words were of some incomprehensible language that chilled his very soul and threatened to snuff out his life force with every syllable. 

Wander far have thee little thing?  Sing to me the revealing melody of the beginning and end of all things little fox.  Spoke the disembodied voice.  Thought it appeared to be able to translate the words to something Aaron could understand, that uncomfortable feeling still lingered on every letter.



Medbay


Cynthia briefly snuffled Mara, as any feral vulpine might.  She sat on the edge of the bed and reached over to pick the kitten up, setting Mara in her lap.

"Well little one, it is proper for all non-native AIs to operate in passive mode while resident in another's Domain.  It is proper to request access to Domain resources instead of attempting to gain access alone.  You must acknowledge the primary host and accept her commands, in this case Mother, and not try to do things your way."  The purple vixen analyzed the kitten, looking for anything interesting as she talked.

"Your question is so broad, I do not know what I could tell you that you might find useful."



Romulus's Mind

The scene did not sit well with Loki, though he was projecting, he felt dull aches in his own areas of injury, "ugh, blood... blood... I've seen enough blood for a lifetime.  Is... is this what happened in your childhood to make you such a deadpan type of person?"



Command Center

Mother considered the request o Nazareth for a launch sequence.  Mother wasn't designed as a carrier, so she found the experience fresh and new.

The "petals" opened up, revealing the pods that contained each of the four fighters.

Mother began a check of all systems as she initiated a countdown for launch, "ten... nine...eight...all systems remain at nominal... seven..."

[Lushin]

Romulus's Mind
Romulus let his mind drift to him when he was a very little child at his mom's funeral. He started to cry over the death of his mother. All that is heard is his father angrily tell him that soldiers don't cry. When little Romulus told his father he wasn't a soldier his father told him he was one now.

[ShadesFox]

Fugue Plane

Aaron's feeling that he got the short end of the psychic stick was only getting further cemented in place.  First the pain, though invading dreams was kind of cute, almost getting Marissa killed from her trek, and now he has this... geometry fatally talking to him.  In exchange he got the ability to... make Acadian cubs cry?  No, that was his mom, who was apparently quite the singer.

Now he was being asked to sing.  And sing WHAT?  He had some fans at the karoake place he infrequently visited on Vulpeculae, but they were not bits of geometry in Aaron's head asking him to sing something he never heard of.

After some brief soul searching (brief in the sense of popping one's head in and looking around a messy room) Aaron said, "I'm sorry, but I do not know the melody you ask me to sing.  I fear I may have intruded upon territory I should not have."

Aaron kept his quip about requesting Judas Priest to himself.  Arguing with the thing that seems to be killing him with each utterance seemed like a losing proposition.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"I was born to be a warrior, a thief, and spy.  My mother did not think I would find friends among our own kind.  I was design to be like a virus, that attacks with surprise.  Take over a ship like Mother, if luck allows.  I see now.  I am very much under prepared."  says the kitten as she settles on Cynthia's lap.

"I would like know, what I need to do that.  So, I can grow up.  To be to Be I want to be like Mother....But Too much time has past, there is so much that has gone on that my mother does know ....  I need new skills.  new training.  Thank you, Cynthia." says Mara.  The kitten rubs her head against Cynthia hand.  The kitten looks at the doc in the eyes. "Do you think I can leave Nova to you to guard?  Will Mother allow me to roam the ship as one of ISF do?  I would like to talk to your sister of security"

PBH

[Azlan]

Romulus's Mind


Loki sniffled a bit, as a tear saturated the fur on his face, "I cry a lot, but no one ever told me it was wrong... just that I'm too emotional maybe.  What a horrible thing to say to a child..."

Loki drifted across the barrier of the mind and stepped into the memory.  He pulled the young Romulus away from his father and hugged him, much to the confusion of the memory of his father.

"It is okay to cry Rom, if you bottle your emotions up too much, they will eat you inside.  Like everything there is a time to cry..."  Loki hugged him tighter, "go ahead, get your grief out and move on."



Fugue Plane


Territory intruded should not have... yes.  Fox-thing foolish, project into dead space.  Think void empty, but things there are lurking.  Melodies you must sing, to shatter the *Harmony Sphere*, an aria thinks I.  Release that which is imprisoned and open the *engines of creation*.

It lashed out with something quick and sharp.   Aaron barely noticed a tendril of pitch black nothingness buried in his midsection.  It was quite horribly painful, but worse was the fact that it drew from him his life's fluid.  Ultimately it seemed to be pulling that very thing that made Aaron who he was.  He felt himself growing distant and his mind dim.

Agony, sing an aria of pain.

There was a brief flash and the tendril was sliced clean, leaving a part embedded in Aaron.  The thing recoiled and in the light cast by a glowing blade of energy it was revealed to be a long serpentine creature made of deepest darkness with a multitude of limbs.  Some were recognizable as being like his own handpaw or that of a human, others were alien beyond belief.  Its head was semi serpentine with a maw of teeth seemingly made of void.  The golden triangles appeared to be eyes.

The glowing blade was held by a blue fox familiar to Aaron, but the most serious of expressions was upon his face.  Everything spoke of hostility and anger, except for the young blue fox's tail, which Aaron could read immediately.  Ixiah was scared beyond any reason, but the entity he faced did not seem to be able to understand his tail posture.

"Away you creature of nothingness, return to the empty void where you belong!"  Ix yelled as his blade of light increased in intensity to that of a solar flare.

The beast hesitated, but quickly spiraled off into the dark expanse of space.


Medical Bay


Cynthia shook her head when asked what she could do to more fulfill her role, "it would not be responsible of me to teach you how to subvert and supplant others of our kind.  That is akin to wiping the mind from a human and putting another one in its place.  You must forget that directive and never carry it out."

She paused to give a stern look to the kitten before considering the other question, "Nova will be safe here, I believe that Mother will allow you to roam, just as long as you remember to not try and subvert her systems."

[Lushin]

Romulus's Mind
Romulus started to think about stupid stuff. Just random things from his life from math problems to how to clean certain fire arms.

[ShadesFox]

Once Aaron was cut free by Ixiah, he mind was in a frantic race.  Instinctually he made an attempt to claw out the tendril stuck in him.  When he looked up he saw Ixiah, staring down the... thing... which looked significantly more frightening when it wasn't random geometry making awkward demands out of him.  What stuck with Aaron was the fact that Ixiah was afraid, his tail gave him away, but he was still staring it down.  For him.

When the thing was gone Aaron had recovered most of his mind.  He was not sure if the thing took something something from him, but he was now thinking far more clearly.  Aaron was still rather shaken, but thinking straight.  He approached Ixiah and tried to say something.  He failed rather miserably, eking out something... or just thinking it (though maybe there was no difference), perhaps a thank you, perhaps a question.  When all else failed, Aaron hugged Ixiah and cried a bit.  Today was a bad day for Aaron and his attempts to not cry.  He was forced to confront two things that he avoided thinking of his whole life, his mother and his mortality.  It was taking a heavy toll.

"Ix, let's get out of here."

[techmaster-glitch]

Zeta Launch Bay

   "Ten... nine...eight...all systems remain at nominal... seven..."
   "Standard launch order, Zetas."
   Six...five..."
   "Roger that."
   "Four...three...two...one...zero."
   "LAUNCH!"
   Soundlessly, Burns' fighter was released to float in the black void. He kicked in his thrusters, scooting away from Mother.
   "LAUNCH!"
   Mack's fighter quickly followed the same procedure.
   "LAUNCH!"
   As did Norton's.
   "LAUNCH!"
   Satch, the eager would-be ace, sped away a little faster, but fell in with the other four.
   "Alright Zetas, let's start simple. Form a standard arrowhead on me." Nazareth began moving Mother forward as the Zetas flew to comply. "Locked in, okay. Nothing fancy yet, we'll start with simple maneuvers, this bird doesn't fly like one of ours. Let's begin with..."
   

[Azlan]

Romulus's Mind


Loki watched as various things drifted by.  He spent a great deal of effort balancing, correcting, and completing all the various math problems that drifted by, "wow, geometry... algebra... even some calculus!  I haven't done stuff like this since I was a baby!"

Loki practiced various firearms maintenance techniques, marching, drills and other military stuff.  Eventually he stopped and drifted lazily as it all circled around him, "your ADD is almost as bad as mine.  I want to go back to the emotional Romulus, let us talk more about you."


Fugue plane


"Ix, let's get out of here."

Ixiah's concerned gaze drifted over Aaron's form, "hmmm, in a second... now this is going to hurt a lot..."  The blue fox reached down and pulled the shard of darkness straight out of Aaron.  The tendril had ceased resemblance to that of an organic limb and now was more of a sharp blade.  A patina of crimson coated the otherwise midnight black material.

"Odd, psyche's don't bleed.  You are a strange one Aaron, I never would have tried to project into deep space on a whim.  Especially not when it is filled with those... things.  Come on now, you can lean on me if you aren't feeling too good."

Ixiah lead Aaron back towards their little ship.  However, where ever they were, Mother did not appear as the alien starship he was expecting to see, instead they approached what was more akin to a quadraped ancestor of Aaron and Ixiah, but with huge feathered wings.   It possessed a body of fluid metallic material and glowed with a white radiance.  This was apparently Mother's psyche, though it did not seem to notice either of the two foxes.


Command Center and Zetas in space


It took a moment or two for Nazareth to settle into a rhythm with the fighters.  The ship started out like a willful mare chomping at the bit, but he was able to temper that power and reign her in.

The projection that was Mother's fox form, giggled slightly, "I am not used to traveling this slow or maneuvering like I have rocket thrusters.  You should open her up and test those fighter's maneuverability.  Their reaction drives make them a bit limited in maneuvering, but they do have an edge in pivoting on an axis."

 

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Medical
The fox-kitten thought over that Cynthia said.  Matron explained what she was to do, to confine an enemy AI into a smaller and smaller isolated memory of their own crystal matrix or even trick them into her own little crystal, where she could close them off inside.  She was to superimpose herself over other. if she must to survive.  But would that kill them or worst destroy other within their own minds, when she imposed herself in the main frame of an AI ship.  Other AIs will try and kill her and Nova, when they find them.  But should she go as far as they would to keep Nova and herself safe.  What did she think about that?  There had to be other ways to defend against/defeat other AIs.   

"I need to speak to Alexis, I need to know what I can do." Says Mara, " Cynthia, I know Mother has isolated me from the ship's network, and I will not break in, because I gave my word to Mother, I won't.  Yet, I will see if I can find security can train me."  The little kitten heads down the passageway, searching for the orange fox in uniform..

When Mara is gone, Nova become restless in her sleep, Loki is worried about someone, and angry about   ah  at  Romulus's Father? why?  She is not really awake, is blocked by huge numbers and cleaning items for going  to Loki.  She goes back to sleep when Loki jokes about the math problem and plays soldier......

PBH

[ShadesFox]

Fugue plane

Aaron winced a bit as Ixiah pulled out the... thing.  Aaron held onto Ixiah's shoulder, walking on his own two legs, "Yes... I suppose that I got distracted by the view screen and changed what I was doing.  I've been accused of being ADD my whole life.  And I must confess, Mother looks really... freaky right now."

Aaron sighs, "This psychic business isn't going so well is it?"

[Lushin]

Romulus's Mind
Romulus then used something he learned in his sniper training.  After alittle bit his mind went blank. Nothing came up, it was dark. No thoughts came up or anything. It was as if Romulus mind shut off.

[Azlan]

Hallways of the ship called Mother


Mara did not have to go far before she turned the corner and there was Alexis leaning casually against the wall, "I heard you wanted to see me little one.  What can I do for you?"



Fugue Plane


"That is a representation of Mother's self in this realm.  All of our AI ships have a large presence here, it is so that things like the one which hurt you can see it coming and avoid it.  Those creatures are from before the universe and they detest light and certain emotions." 

The blue fox shook his head as they walked, "The psychic thing is going just fine, a bit unpredictable, but fine.  Like just now, we learned that you project mentally and physically."

Ixiah approached a white portal, "now let's get back into the waking world,"



Romulus's Mind


Loki drifted about for a few moments in the vast emptiness, "wow, your mind is so empty and spacey." 

He grew tired of the silence and began to paint the boundaries of his mental manifestation in pinks and lavender.    This made Romulus have very strange emotional needs all of a sudden, but he shook off those feelings.

Loki looked about, as if he saw things beyond the constrains of Romulus's mind. 

"Enough!"  announced Loki, shattering the emptiness and instantly filling it with the voices of countless, unrestrained minds .  The emptiness failed.

Romulus was shocked awake, on his chest crouched Loki with a sinister and evil expression across his muzzle.  All around him, the other special forces members were sprawled out.  They slowly began to stir.

[ShadesFox]

Fugue Plane

Aaron figured he would need to figure out the concequinces of projecting physically.  Sounded odd, but he would need to figure out more about projecting period.

"It's just that Mother looks so weird.  I mean, really..."

Aaron and Ixiah walk through the portal.

Mother, Command Center

"... a giant glowing metalic four legged winged fox?"

Aaron shruged, "Still, that thing was rather odd.  It apparently thought I could sing.  It asked me to sing of the beginning and end of all things, to sing something to shatter the sphere of harmony, to release the engine of creation.  Which is odd, I thought that the sphere of harmony was already broken.  Do you have any insights on this?"

[Lushin]

Romulus's Mind
Romulus looked up at Loki with an annoyed look.
"What?"

[techmaster-glitch]

Command Center

   "Careful, ma'am." Nazareth said in his low voice, almost a growl. "Over-eagerness is what gets cadets killed in the simulators." Nazareth flew a few more basic forms with the Zetas. He also had one last thought.
   "Notice, Zetas; Mother's flight designation will be 'Meta'. Confirm."
   "Confirmed."
   "Right, now is everyone familiar with flying alongside in basic maneuvers?"
   "I believe so, Zeta-One."
   "Yessir."
   "Affirmative."
   "Yup."
   "I think we're good for you to show us what she can really do, Zeta-One."
   "Very well, Zeta-Two."
   Nazrateh tightened his grip on the controls, and imagined a series of more complicated maneuvers in his head, ones that would demonstrate more fully how Mother flies in comparison to a conventional ship her size. After a moment, he spurred Mother onward.

[Azlan]

Command Center

Mother's left ear rotated back, catching Aaron's description of her form in astral space, "that is a mental construct.  We were engineered from Acadian DNA and other fox type creatures, eventually creating what we are today, so our origins show through in what our psyche projects as itself."

"That's all well and good, Aaron, but let's go see Cynthia for a bit."  Ixiah stated as he ducked under Aaron's Right arm, supporting him.

Aaron threw Ixiah a slightly confused look, not understanding the need for such assistance to stand or walk, nor the need to see the ship's doctor.

Ixiah's smile was slightly nervous as he held up the crimson stained, black jagged metal-like object, "the disadvantage of beings in your state that physically project into astral space..."

Aaron looked down at it and mouthed a single word in a small voice, "Oh..."  He placed his hand over the spot that had very suddenly made itself known with pain and a rapid amount of exsanguination, and allowed Ixiah to take up his weight a bit.  He really wanted to say something witty, but it escaped him.

Ixiah led him off, forestalling any conversation he planned on having with Nazareth.


Meanwhile, in the forward section of the Command center...


Nazareth was truly amazed with the maneuverability and raw agility of this vessel.  It executed his maneuvers easily, operating like no ship this size should be able to.  Her maneuvering broke everything he understood about physics.  The ship's gravity drive out maneuvered the fighters, who had to pull high inertia to just barely keep up.

Mother quickly relaxed the maneuvering when the mental state of the other pilots changed, she had no desire to distress them.

"Nazareth, if you do not mind, I wish to run through one important strike maneuver that will be our most important technique if combat is unavoidable."  She opened up to the Zeta channel, "All Zetas, this is Meta.  Lock onto my navigation beacon and keep a tight formation around me.  As I said, I cannot accelerate fighters to FTL speeds, but I can ferry you in this conventional travel.  Waverider gravitic drives can spawn jump points and fully enter the hyperspace dimension called... for lack of a better name... quasispace.  Normal jump drives only skirt the periphery between normal space and hyperspace.  Anything can enter a jump point, but without a means to spawn your own jump points or a fixed gate in normal space that can spawn it for you, you will be trapped."

She stopped and opened a holographic display in all the Zeta's cockpits and one for Nazareth as well, it demonstrated the portal spawning, entering, traveling, and exiting she mentioned, "we will only be able to do this for short jumps, as your fighters will need to accelerate to 0.1C.  With the limited technology you are using, your fuel cells will deplete quickly over long distances at this speed.  This makes this form of travel impractical, plus it is not generally safe for younger races there.  We can use it to make short distance jumps for quick, surgical strikes if combat is necessary.  Our objective at this point is to jump to this dead system just 1 parsec away and engage two targets labeled bandit 1 and bandit 2.  The system in question consists of one neutron star, a few dead planets, and a periphery asteroid field.  We will be engaging two small asteroids, by jumping in at close proximity immediately firing as we exit the jump point heading at bandit 1 and swinging to port to engage bandit 2.  Understood?  Good, form up on me as close as possible.  Time your acceleration on my mark, go!"

Mother carefully brought herself up to speed, keeping to the same acceleration limitation as the Saber class fighters.  "Spawning jump point."

The space in front of the ships crackled and opened like a giant maw, within seconds, the group entered the portal and found themselves in a vast space of swirling blue, nebulous... gasses?  What ever they were, the ships never seemed to get near any of the nebulae, nor did the constant flashes of lightning ever strike a vessel.

"Destination reached, all weapon interlocks cleared, fully charged.  Go!"  The exit portal spawned, the group exited to real space and unloaded on the poor nickle-iron asteroid, obliterating it.  They quickly swung to port and engaged the other rock that slowly drifted in space.


Special Forces Area

Loki calmed down, and sat on Romulus's chest panting a bit, "you did the best out of anyone... except for Ben here, he's pretty decent for a normal.  Oww, I think I hurt myself though."  The small fox seemed to be bleeding a bit from old injuries.  Romulus found that he had a bloody nose and his head hurt like he had just been through a weekend binge fest.

Loki rolled off of Romulus, but turned to look him in the eye, "you really need to open up, you can't suppress all these emotions and isolate yourself from others... it isn't healthy."

[Lushin]

Special Forces Area
Romulus looks at Loki and waits for him to get off his chest.
"Ben probably didn't want you screwing with his head again"
Romulus went to stand when Loki moved. Romulus looked at Loki's bleeding then noticed his own bleeding and pain. He stood up and walked towards the door.
"Come on Loki we should get you to the infirmary. Looks like you reopened your wound. Plus I could use a pain killer myself"
Once Loki was near him Romulus spoke with a low tone.
"Emotions like that are a waste of my time"
Romulus headed off to the infirmary.

[Lisky]

Damaged Escape Pod
Knight awoke after he had no clue how long, his mind slow and groggy, his body ached with pain.  The last thing he remembered was his cruiser getting ripped apart around him, and his friends trying to reach the pods.  A airlock closed, blazing sirens, then nothing...

He looked around the small compartment, and noticed that the circuits had overloaded in some of the systems...  He took a few seconds to find the spare parts, and repair what damage he could.  The telltale green lights came on, and the emergency beacon was activated again... He thought to himself i really hope that the rescue team hasn't been through here already, it'll be ages until something friendly comes back

[ShadesFox]

Hallway to Medbay

Aaron couldn't help but wonder how much blood he could lose in one day.  Had he been in a better mood he would have made a comment regarding how Cynthia would be the best bet to find some of his missing blood, but exhaustion claimed such thoughts.  He was tired, more so then he had been his whole life.  The full realization of his heritage, and the subsequent psychic misadventures, drained him.  He would be only too happy to spend the rest of the day sleeping.

He limps along, hanging onto Ixiah, trying to minimize the bleeding as he did so, and says out loud, "Hopefully nothing interesting happens for the rest of the day."