NationStates Jolt Archive

The massive freightor shuttle flew down, and landed in the hangar, where it would await for passengers to hop aboard. There were passengers from all over, many different customs. The ship was rather hunky, not smooth at all, it was all pure gray, with the only windows being the one on the front for the pilot to look out, and then four place evenly among the rest of the ship. There were four main engines, and two smaller ones.
As everyone lined up they all noticed as four guards moved one man down the hallway, two guards pointing guns at his face. He had on handcuffs, and a rag tied over his eyes. His feet also had chains on them, and a mini-tracking device was on his arm.
If he was ever to escape out of the chains, the tracking device would signal off, and self destruct, emitting an electric shock, strong enough to kill a man.
They did this only for this man, because this man was Nordika, a killer who had killed thirty people in one hour. He was caught by the officials as he was escaping, and even as he was unarmed he had taken down two of the armed police. They brought him onboard the ship, and fitted him into his cyro-tube, sending him into a deep sleep.
The pilot walked into the room, with a shock-stick in hand, the pilot’s name was Jet Harla, an ex-soldier.
“Alright, now that he is asleep, we can start to let the other passengers on,” He said. “I hired two mercenaries to keep an eye on this guy.”
“Very well,” The guards said, and the four of them walked off, Jet opened the door, and passengers started to get on.

[OOC: Join in those of you who signed up]

The first passenger to appraoch the gangplank leading up into the ship is noticable for his height, nigh on 7 feet. Dressed in black flowing robes. A heavy cowl cover his features, revealing only the glitter of eyes flashing with amusement and intelligence. His arms are crossed before his body, hands hidden in the deep sleaves of his robe.

He approaches the guard to the ship's entrace and raises his head "Good day my Son. I am Reverand Mujinsk", his voice resounding deeply in the unatural cavern. He pulls out his boarding token and flashes it before the reader and applies his retina to the scanner.

The guard checks the reading, enters the authorisation code and welcomes him aboard. "Welcome Reverand Mujinsk, I hope you will enjoy your journey"

"Thank you, and may God be with you".

He enters the ship and follows the steward to his cabin.

The young boy stared intently at the ship, the biggest ship he'd ever seen...and he was going to board it! Tastak Heltok was excited, his first space voyage slowly unfolding before his eyes. He had his digicam handy, and he was snapping pictures to send to his friends back at school.

Tas (as his friends called him) waited patiently for his dad to arrive, so they could get this adventure on the road! He saw some movement near the gangplank leading to the cargo hold, and watched in fascination as a heavily-guarded man was pushed into the ship. Tas thought this was the coolest thing in the world, and wondered what the man had done. The boy decided that once he got on the ship, he would find out from the prisoner himself. He looked around again for his father.

The youngest of three children, Tas was also the biggest due to an immense growth spurt last year, and though not as wide as his older brother Liliend, he was just as tall. Lil was supposed to come too, along with Tas's sister Asok. Tas hoped they both got lost on the way to the airport.

She would kill him, Tas had gone off by himself, AGAIN! Asok cursed the god damn boy, one day..

Asok wasnt that angry, but hey..

She made her way through the crowds, and headed to board the ship, she had not yet spotted her siblings, but nearly everyone here was too tall to see over, so she continued on her way to board, wondering where her father was...

He saw her in the distance, her head bobbing as she searched for him. Tas ducked down a bit and using the crowd for cover, snuck his way behind her. He stepped quietly behind her and gave her a sharp pinch on the buttocks while simutaneously yelling "BOO!". He was rewarded when his sister Asok jumped a few feet in the air.

He knew he was gonna get a mouthful for this, or worse, but heck...it was SO worth it!

Looking up at the hulking craft, his cloak pulled tightly around his body, Harleb Tentok walked up the gang plank and disappeared inside the belly of the ship, stopping only briefly to show his ticket to the steward before heading quickly to his quarters. On his way, he spoke to no one, as if he was afraid of being seen.

Finally locating his cabin, he hurried inside, and opened his cloak, revealing a curious object resting in the crook of this arm. He put it one the bed, as his eyes widened as the sypherical object began to glow. Looking around the room, he opened the wardrobe, and wrapped it in a blanket that he found inside, hoping that it would be safe for the journey home.

Feeling calmer now that his prize was safely stashed on board, he left his cabin, a sheen of sweat still dampening his brow, as he walked back through the vessel, this time taking notice of all around him.

Asok turned round, to see Tas, her hand stopped midswing, and her face boiled red.

"TAS!!! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!! YOU ARE SO DEAD" She bellowed

She began to regain composure..

"ARGH!! I hate you sometimes, where is everyone?!!"

Jet Harla looked down the gangplank, out of all the people it was easy to spot the odd ones. There seemed to be a brother and a sister bickering, and some others who seemed to be normal enough, good thing he was seperated from the passengers or this would be a long trip.

Tas smiled innocently at his sister. "I dunno, stinkmitt...probably hiding from you!" He did love his sister, but he loved getting her angry. Her face turned SUCH a lovely shade of red when she was hot and bothered, and Tas knew how to push her buttons.

Now HE was wondering where his father and brother were...Tas wanted to get this show on the road, and was impatient to board the ship. He looked at Asok, and pulled out his boarding pass.

"Maybe we should just get on and wait for them there?" he asked, looking up the gangplank and wanting desperately to board the ship.

[OOC: To let everyone know I gave CoreWorlds, and only CoreWorlds permission to join this thread with his own characters, as in more than one, but no one else get any ideas]

The Cavalry twins, John and Danny (16), and their younger brother Keith (11) arrived at the spacedock in a speedertaxi, getting ready to visit their grandparents at the destination planet.

While John went to get some snacks, Danny had the unceremonial role of taking care of the hyperactive preteen. Keith has been horribly bored during the ride to the spacedock, and need to let loose childish energy.
"Keith! Stop bouncing around!" Danny yelled. "You're gonna hurt someone (not to mention yourself)!"
"Aww, you're no fun, Danny!"
"What, me? No fun?" Danny asked mockingly. "Let's see how fun I am when I beat you in Holo-Gameboy!"
"You're on!"
The two immediately whipped out their portable games and started playing one of several popular games.
John came back, saw the antics of his brothers and rolled his eyes. "Snacks anyone? I brought chips, banthaburgers with cheese and Cokes."
The two grabbed a bag and started munching while they continued playing the games.
Heh, nothing ever stops them when they play video games. John thought.
All three boys have brown hair and brown eyes, and it's nearly impossible to tell the difference between the twins. The only way is by looking at the clothes. John always wears a hooded shirt with the logo L33t M4st3r and blue jeans. Danny wears a button-down blue shirt kept open and a white T-shirt underneath and also blue jeans, and Keith wears a baseball jersey, a thin long-sleeve shirt, backwards cap, and yep, blue jeans again.
The three boys boarded the ship while waving their tickets, and a steward showed them their cabin. It's going to be yet another uneventful trip for them, as they will live with their grandparents for the next year or so.

Asok looked back at Tas, rolled her eyes, and pulled out her boarding pass.

"Promise me you'll listen to me, for a little while at least?" She said

"And if you agree, we can board" She added

Pretending to pick his nose and wipe it on his sister, Tas giggled and replied in a happy tone. "WoooHooo! Ok, I'll be cool, yer the boss, blah-blah LETS GO!!!!!"

Tas hadn't finished speaking, and he was already on the move. He ran up the gangplank, darting around the milling passengers. Up ahead he saw a group of people his own age about to enter the ship...and he did a double-take when he saw that two of them were twins. Now that he thought about it, the youngest one looked similar too....brothers? Brother's with video games?! Brother's with video games AND snacks!!!

This was going to be a fun trip.

Reverand Mujinsk entered the large, luxurious cabin to which his rank within the offical Galactic Church entitled him and summoned his luggage from the hold.

Whilst waiting for it to arrive he knelt by the side of the bed and quittelyu paryed for the ship, passengers and crew.

He made a mental note to set up the on-board church in the usual place above the the flight deck.

Finally his luggage arrives via teh portal. He walks over, presents his ID and takes his luggage to the bed where he opens it. He breaths a sigh of releif as he looks in his largest bag and sees that it is still there intact. He takes a large, heavy, golden cross from his largest bag and looks it over. Satisifed that all is as it should be he replaces it.

Suddenly he stands and cocks his head to one side, a usual sign that he feels something is not right. Unerringly his gaze moves to a spot on the wall as he appears to look through it. He detects a presence, evil? Maybe but tortured and possibly insane.

As a gifted and senior member of the Church it is his duty to seek out evil, so he walks to the door taking his Bible and the corss he always wears tucked in his belt.

<<OOC: this happens before they put Nordika in cryo-sleep)>>

Tas didn't wait for his sister, and the boarding agent ruffled the boys hair and let him through. Tas immediately began to look for the cool guy that was all chained up...he looked nasty and tough, like the vid-stars Tas admired. He also looked just a little...sad? The boy looked around, seeing everything but noticing nothing but the sights and sounds of the big ship. He literally bumped into the man he had been looking for...he looked up, past the mans huge, scarred hands, towards his face. Tas was pleased to see that the prisoner was smiling down at him, so he smiled back.

"Hi!" exclaimed Tas, reaching into his pocket to pull out two chewsticks. "want some gum?"

"Gum?" Nordika asked in a bass voice (Think Vin Deisel), he turned his face towards the boy, the rag still over his eyes. He smiled even more, the guards kept a weary eye on him. "Sure, I will take some."
He took the peice of gum, wrapper and everything, as the guards started to lead him off Nordika turned around at the boy, and smirked.

Tas ran after the big man, heedless of the security guards that watched him suspiciously.

"Mister! Hey, mister...why they got you locked up, huh? Are you a robo-fighter?" The little boy was truly fascinated by the mysterious prisoner. Tas didn't feel fear...he felt an overwhelming excitement.

He ran as close as he could, almost tripping up a security guard. He spoke in a loud-stage whisper.

"Psst...hey, want me to help you escape?" said Tas, an impish grin splitting his face.

Nordika smiled, and looked at the guards.
"He think I am a robo-fighter, he also wonders if I am going to escape" He said to them chuckling, he turned his head to the little boy, and lowerd his head and his voice.
"Trust me, you have already helped..." Nordika whispering making sure the boy saw his twirling the gum in his fingers.

Tas felt 10 feet tall after the compliment from the prisoner. The guards were entering a small doorway, and one of them held up his hand, stopping the boy short.

"Bye mister...I'll try and find you later and maybe we can play vids or something...BYE!!!"

Nordika looked over his shoulder and smirked, he put the peice of gum into his mouth and chewed it a little, folding the wrapper up in his hand.

The guards closed the door, and he put his arms over his head, when no one was looking he shoved the peive of gum into the cyro-tube, which sprayed out the gasses that would put him to sleep, the guards turned around and put his arms down at their proper spots, they then slipped close the door, he then took the wrapper, right once it was about to close, he put it in the lock, the locks were super sensitive, so even the slightest materiel would disrupt them.
The guards hit the button, and they thought gas filled the chamber, and Nordika pretended to pass out, all the guards walked away after that, as well as the pilot.
Nordika opened his eyes, and looked around, the room was empty, he kicked open the pod, and jumped out silently.

[OOC: Will post continuation later]

Asok walked all over the place, before she finally found him.

"For god sake Tas, stop walking off, we still need to find Father and our idiot of a sibling" Asok said, glaring at Tas

Arno Heltok was scrambling around looking for his children in the crowd. He looked through out the crowd twice and still couldnt see them. He thought he heard Asok yelling but he couldnt really tell which direction it came from. He thought Maybe they already boarded the ship? But they should have enough responsibility to know not to go on it untill i find them. Arno decided to go search the crowd again for his children. He searched the crowd once more for his children and he started to ask other people if they had seen his children. One person said they had seen a few children board the ship already. Arno decided to go board the ship and look for them on there.

[OOC: I am just gonna assume that your on the ship this RP needs speeding up]

He looked around, he still had the chains on, he wondered how he could take them off. The engine room was bound to have a bunch of tools, he pulled the rag off his head, and started walking down the hallway. The hallways he took were empty, and he easily got to the back engine room.
He walked in, and there was a lady in it, she turned around, her name was Donna Yarnal and she was the engineer aboard the ship.
"Hey your that..." She started to say but Nordika ran towards her.
She grabbed a welding gun off the table and fired at him he ducked down as the red laser made way over his head, she brought the line down for him, but he kept dodging, he ran past her and jumped up onto a table, he jumped off and kicked her in the face.
She fell over backwards, and he landed behind her, he picked her up by the shirt, and wrapped the chain around her neck. He brought her close to him, and smirked.
Then the captain called over a radio. "Donna, is everything checked?"
Nordika looked at her belt, then at her, he tightened the chains. "Say yes, or I will kill you."
She reached for her belt, and pulled it up, he let off some slack and she pressed the button.
"Yes," She said.
"Are we ready for take off?" The captain asked.
"Say yes," Nordika hissed.
"Yes," She replied.
Nordika made a quick motion and soon the radio was lying ten feet away, he sat down on the table.
"Now, I could kill you, or I could do something else to you," He said looking her over.
"You sick disgusting freak," She said.
"So then, you want to die?" He asked.
"It would be be better than you raping me," She said.
He chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not."
He pulled the chains tighter, and she got closer. He smirked. "So do you want death?"
"Like I said, its better than rape," Donna replied.
"Very well," He answered and jumped up onto the table, sticking out his arms the chains acted as a noose for Donna. She dangled in the air, her feet kicking all around, and her arms grabbing her neck, her tounge was sticking out, and her breaths were getting weaker.
Two minutes later she was motionless, Nordika hopped off the table, and grabbed the welder gun, he started at the chains on his feet, making the laser melt through them.

The boys felt the ship take off, and Keith moaned the fact that there's no windows around.
They decided to play some poker to pass the time before they sleep. Well, the twins did. Keith noticed a boy about his age, and walked off to meet him.
"Hi! My name's Keith. What's yours?" He asked the boy(Tas).

The sound of his sister's voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Tas, and he turned slowly to face Asok. Smiling his most innocent smile, the young lad bounced past her, stepping on her toe in the process.

"Dad!" screeched Tas, not because he was really happy to see his father, but because NOW the adventure could start! He barrelled into his father, knocking him back a step. Tas was only thirteen, but he often forgot he was big for his age.

"Dad, you won't believe it, it was soooo cool, like, wow I met a robo-fighter and we're gonna play vids as soon as he breaks his chains and kicks the door down and busts those rent-a-cops right in the nose!!" Tas illustrated how this would happen, swinging his fist in an ungainly way, barely missing another passenger who was walking by. He continued on without seemingly taking a breath.

"...and then he's gonna teach me to be a robo-fighter and I'm gonna catch evil robots and fight bad guys and POW! WHAMMO!! and I'll have a costume and a super-dog who can fly and..." Tas would have kept going, but he saw his sister walking towards them with an angry look on her face. He decided this would be a good time to make himself scarce. He turned to walk away and almost slammed into one of the kids he'd seen earlier.

"Greets, I'm Tas..." he heard his sister nagging, and his own name mentioned so he grabbed Keith by the arm and started dragging him away.

"Uhm, hey what say we go check out something reeeeally cool...you ever seen a real robo-fighter?"

Whoa, talk about energy overload! Keith thought, even though he does bounce off the walls a lot, too. "A real robo-fighter? Where? I wanna meet him!"

"This way! Follow me..." Tas went bounding ahead towards the small entry that the prisoner had been ushered into. The doorway was locked solid, with huge warning signs around it. Not seeing anyone around that might try and stop his fun, Tas pushed Keith towards the door.

"Right in there, thats where they took 'em." said Tas in a stage-whisper, "oh man, he was BIG and huge and his hands were all cut-up and scarred...I wish we could go see him..." Tas looked at the entry, knowing that the door was secured and impassable.

Nordika cracked his fingers, it had been six months since the last time he had no chains. He looked around, they had already taken off, no doubt they were in space already.
He smirked. "Works to my advantage."
He started walking out of the room when he heard a slow beeping, he looked at his shoulder, and saw the little device, it had started counting down, one more minute it will send a shock through his body killing him. He grabbed it with his hand, and started pulling with all his might...
...half a minute left...
His skin was red, and the pain was intense, but he kept pulling, and pulling...twenty seconds....
...ten....
...nine...
He let go, and then grabbed on one more time, with all his might he pulled it, completely ripping it off, along with much flesh, his shoulder was bleeding but he didn't care.
He threw the device, it landed and stuck to an engine.
...four...
...three...
...two...
...one...
The shock spread out from the device, making the engines short circuit, the electric went through the entire ship's system, everything was out, the ship was offline, floating in deep space.
He smiled in the dark, this was going to be fun.

"Doot, it's just like a vid-game," Tas said, contemplating the electronic lock before him, "and all we need to do is figger out the special move." Keith said nothing, observing Tas as he played with the the security device.

"Ok, this is cool, I figger it's like 'Super-Guido XXI', y'know like when you catch the Sonic Eggs and turn 'em into Hypo-Blasters? Ya, that should work...take THAT you fraggin' lock!" squealed Tas, hitting buttons randomly on the keypad of the lock. Nothing happened. Tas looked at Keith with a sheepish smile. At precisely that moment, the lights went out, plunging them into darkness. A moment later, the emergency generators kicked in bathing the room in a dim, orange light. Tas was still staring at Keith.

"Wow. I rock. Game over, man." the young boy said, with a triumphant smile.

"Uh, Tas. I think we should go back. Now." Keith said, getting nervous at the sudden dimming of the lights. "I think something's wrong."

"Pffft, go back my ass..." replied Tas, his inquisitive mind working overtime.

Tas was barely listening to his new friend. He stepped up to the door and tentatively grabbed the steel latch. He looked back at Keith and smiled at the other boys discomfort. Tas yanked on the handle and the door unlatched, the sound of the air-seal hissing as it detached. He gave the solid door a push, and it slowly fell open revealing a narrow, darkened hallway ending in another door. It looked real scary in there to Tas.

"Keith, DOOT! C'mon man, don't be a chi-chi...let's check this out!"

"C'mon, please! What if we get hurt?" Keith asked his new friend. "Then what? We wouldn't be able to play any games, you know."
Despite his fears, he had to follow Tas, if only to keep him from getting hurt or worse.

Asok had gone to look around, she stared up at a sign -Engine Room-, This was the end of the ship, she turned back round, then the lights cut out, before everything came back on, in back-up of course, She froze, she thought she heard something down the hall, coming this way.

"Oh Crap" She said, and flattened against the wall

Not being a lover of travelling, Harleb Tentok preferred to keep himself to himself for several reasons. One, you never knew who you would end up getting stuck with for the entire journey, in his past experience usually people who told you their life story regardless whether or not you were interested; and two, he tended not to trust anyone, always sure that people were watching him, interested to know what treasures he had picked up on his latest dig.

Walking around, his eyes flicked between his fellow passengers, and he was pleased to see that the majority of them were families with children, not that really eased his mind, as he was a very suspicious man, but it was better than strange looking adults who seemed intent to know all about other people’s business.

He was lost in his own thoughts, when suddenly he found himself in total darkness. For some strange reason he blinked several times, as if such an endeavour would give him back proper sight. When it did not, he momentarily went into a panic, like all people do when they are unsure what is happening. Then he just stood for a moment and gave the situation some thought.

Then the lights came back up, and he sighed heavily with relief, before continuing on his way, his thoughts now filled with wonder as to the reason for the blackout. These things never happened without good reason. He was sure they were all doomed.

The quiet darkness of the virtually powerless ship caused Tas to think about his actions. Sure, if he went in the open security door, he would look coolio and maybe even find the robo-fighter. If he didn't go in...well, Keith was the one that was scared, not him, and if he went back with him now he could just say he was taking care of the oher boy. Either way, he came out ahead. Tas looked down the beckoning yet shadowed hall, and decided he would wait until the lights went on.

In the distance, he could hear questioning voices, slowly raising in intensity as people realized that the ship was virtually dead in space. Tas was sure he could hear his sister Asok cursing close by...she probably had a run in her stocking or even worse, smudged make-up. Tas chuckled when he rememered that he used Asok's lipstick tube as a...thermometer on their dog Trixxy, shortly before leaving their home for the spaceport. He looked forward to her reaction next time she got gussied up.

"OK, chi-chi boy...lets go back. We can come back when the lights go on again."

Tas turned and started to sprint down the hall, stopping only when he ran into Harleb Tentok. The two fell to the ground in a mish-mash of arms and legs. Harleb was staring at Tas with a surprised look, which was slowly turning to anger. Tas just smiled.

"You should watch where yer goin', Mister..."

Barely getting his bearings, Harleb found himself unceremoniously on the floor knocked over by some unruly child that had obviously been raised with no manners. He frowned angrily at the boy before him, and picked himself up off the floor, dusting himself down as he rose.

“Damn kids shouldn’t be allowed to run around like fools.” He checked his belongings were still where they were. He had seen more than a few examples where children could pick pockets before they could even walk. “You need to learn some manners, young man.”

With little more attention to the boy, he continued on his way, muttering under his breath about the youth of today.

"Yes sir, sorry sir.." Tas chuckled to himself, flipping the bird to the man as he dusted himself off and continued down the hall. The young boy had already forgotten about the poor soul he had just flattened, and ran off, looking for his father - or more trouble.

Keith just rolled his eyes. Why did I have to hook up with this crazy kid?
But he still stayed with Tas, just to keep company.

Nordika was watching the whole thing, he was lying on a metal bar over their heads, unable to be seen, he had his hands behind his head, and was at a great peace, he always enjoyed the peace before the kill.
He turned his head slightly, looking down at everyone, if he wanted he could drop right down, and land on Tas's head, which would kill the boy instantly

-=BUMP=-

Nordika looked down as Tas and Keith started running by, the others were far enough away, he dropped down from the ceiling, landing right in front of the two boys, he looked down at them, and smirked, his eye twitching as he did so.

Asok couldnt hear the noise anymore, so she walked off into the restricted section, well, only slightly, nothing could be restricted on this, she was sure she had heard Tas down here, she rounded the corner and walked striaght into the 2 boys who were looking at a man.

Tas was one of them, she scowled and flicked his ear.

Asok Noticed the man's scars and such, and froze.

Nordika's mouth twitched, making a smirk slightly.
"Hello there little missy," He said.
He looked over her body, and smiled, he looked back up at her. "Are you the one who are in charge of these littles boys, because they should know better than to just be wondering around the ship when there is a killer on the loose."

Tas eyes widened as the big man landed heavily in front of him. He recognized him immediately due to his immense size.

"Mistuh Robo-fighter DOOT!" squealed the boy, pleased to see his hero again. He was even bigger than he remembered, and Tas knew that there weren't many robots that he couldn't beat...well, except maybe Techtron, leader of the TransFormo's, which Tas missed terribly as it was his favorite cartoon...*OUCH*

The sharp pinch of Asok's manicured nail brought Tas back to life. Arrgh! Just when his fun was about to start, his stupid, stinkmitt of a sister had to find a way to ruin it. Tas wasn't about to let her ruin his fun.

Tas ran to the big man, standing behind him and pointing at his sister.

"Hey mistuh? Protect me, m'kay? That ain't my sister...it's a ROBOT!" Tas giggled to himself, amazed at his own brilliance.

Asok eye'd the man, and glared at Tas.

"Shut up Tas." She turned her attention back to the man

"A what now?" She questioned him, she still eye'd his scars

"Uh, Tas.. and whoever you are" She said, looking at the other boy

"I think we should be going" She partially said, partially squeaked

Nordika jumped up in the air, grabbing a bar he spun around then threw himself, he did a flip in the air, and three spins looking like a needle before he landed in front of Asok, blocking her path.
"Aww come on, whats the rush, slow down, enjoy it while it lasts," He said smirking.

"Enjoy what? Look, get out of my way you Creep, Tas come on"

Asok was getting frightened, something .. everything wasnt right

Nordika put his hand right right on her sternum.
"Did you just call me a creep?" He asked. "I don't cope with being called creep very well."
He looked over at the other two, and smiled. "Now boys, lets say we go on a little adventure, how do you like the sound of that?"

"Uh, no way! C'mon Tas!" Keith said, and grabbed for Tas, in order to take him back to the passenger section and his brothers.

The brothers in question were getting worried about Keith, now that the ship seemed to stop moving. They flagged down a ship's officer...
"Sir, our brother is missing and we're getting worried about him." John said. "Help us find him, please?"
Danny was already getting his flashlights from the cabin and came back with a couple. "Good thing I brought these with me."

Jet Harla nodded to the two boys.

"Yeah, come on, I need to go check on the engine room anyways," He said and led the way.

The twins followed the officer, flashlights prepared for the darker corners of the ship.

Jet turned a corner, and nearly fired his weapon, but sighed at the site of Harleb.
"You startled me sir," He said.

This was supposed to be fun, but when the robo-fighter reached out for his sister, Tas's family instincts took over. He ran to place himself between the man and his sister, shrugging off the hand of Keith who was trying to pull him away.

"Back off, mistuh...no one touches the stinkmitt 'cept for me!" Tas felt nervous saying the words, but felt a rush of adreneline as well. He thought that this is what it must feel like to be a hero.

He was still angry when the robo-fighter smiled at him, asking the boy whether he wanted to go on an adventure. Tas immediately forgot about his sister, and let his clenched fists fall to his side. He looked at the big man, hypnotized by his eyes.

"Me? With you?? You betchya, mistuh!" he walked over to Nordika, looking up at him.

"We'll make a great team, I just know it..." Tas was already dreaming of spandex and flowing capes.

"No Tas.. No.." Asok said, using the voice she used when she was serious, not the normal "Stop being an idiot tas" voice.

"Yeah, Creep, now get out of my way" Asok said, pushing Tas away from the man and attempting to get round him.

"Tas, And you, shift it now!"

OOC: BTW, here's a good site about Explosive decompression, or death by vacuum of space (http://www.sff.net/people/Geoffrey.Landis/vacuum.html).

IC:
"Tas. C'mon, he's not a nice guy!" Keith said. "Who knows what he will do?"

"Ok fine, fine, FINE!" Tas stormed away from Nordika, angry at his sister for embarressing him in front of his new friend, and the robo-fighter. He stomped down the hallway away from them, intent on finding his Dad. Just wait until he squealed on Asok for ruining his fun.

Before he left, he looked back at the big man. He had a strange glint in his eye, but Tas gave him the "thumbs up" sign, and continued down the hall.

OOC: BTW, Gawdly, can you get on MSN?

<<OOC: not during work hours, but send me a telegram with your plans>>

Nordika looked down at Keith, and shrugged, he walked silently towards the other two, and whispered into Tas's ear. "Meet me here in two hours, make sure to bring Keith with you."

Asok urged Tas away with his friend, slunk away out of the man's sight, and watched him, then carefully followed him.

Keith walked with Tas, dragging him to the passenger compartment when they bumped into the twins.

"Hey bros! Glad I found you guys!"

"Yeah, we were worried." John said.

"Listen, there's someone there...big mean guy with some scars, and he scared me."

"Hmm. Could he be a stowaway?" Danny asked.

"Dunno, but we'd better be careful." John said.

"Agreed." Danny said. "You and your friend stay close together, whatever happens. We don't want to lose you both."

"Ok, Dan. Don't worry, we'll be alright."

Jet Harla didn't hear the comment the boy made.. unforutunately for the entire crew, where were those blasted mercenaries? He told one of them to come and talk to him.

Tas was steaming.

Keith had pushed him along the dark corridor, away from the scarred man. He lost sight of Asok on the way. They bumped into the other brothers, the Twins, and the party was suddenly over. The Twins spouted some nonsense about sticking close and being careful, but Tas was already counting the minutes of the 2 hours he had to wait, before he could return to become "The Great TasMan", hero of the weak, most fearsome enemy of robots everywhere.

He hung around the boring trio...Keith was just like his brothers...who reminded him of his sister. But the robo-fighter DID say to bring Keith back...and Tas suddenly felt a surge of jealousy. Maybe he would have to find a way to convince the robo-fighter that Keith was an...android! Yah, that would work! Then maybe the big hero would let Tas practice his new powers, trashing the Keith-Android. Yah, that would be cool. Very cool.

Tas waited patiently, watching the minutes tick off of his wrist-chrono.

The twins moved off to eat, glad that their little brother is safe and sound. Keith, however, was seriously wondering if it was a good idea to stick with Tas, seeing as he's obviously in his own little world of 'robots' and stuff. But he had his brothers' words and he isn't about to go back on them, not and face his parents' and grandparents' disappointment.
"Hey, Tas? Wanna play some games?" He asked, in order to pass the time. "I got Star Wars XX, Freespace: Infinity, and Mortal Kombat: Galactic Annhiliation. Take your pick."

Tas looked at Keith...at least the kid was trying to be cool, and he DID have some mega-cool games, but Tas had his sights set elsewhere.

"Doot, with the lights out, I bet we could get into some really cool shitz...I mean, why don't we check out the hold, we could probably find some neat stuff in the bags down there..." Tas paused as Keith looked like he was about to speak. Tas hurried on.

"Nah, don't get me wrong...we find cool shitz, we BORROW it until the lights go back on, ok? C'mon, you chi-chi'd before, doot, don't lemme down now!"

Tas checked his watch: 90 minutes to go.

"Yeah, why not. There might be something interesting there anyway." Keith said. "But we're only gonna borrow stuff, k?"

"Yuppers doot...you can trust me!" Tas looked around and saw that the Twins were busy, and not looking in their direction. His eyes had adjusted to the dimness, and he could see much better now. Putting his finger to his mouth, Tas motioned Keith to follow him. They snuck out of the cabin, their hearts beating rapidly. Sneaking was just sooooo cool.

They bumped their way down the corridor, scaring passengers and generally causing as much bedlam as possible. Finally, they found a corridor that led to the crew cabins, and the forward baggage compartment. Tas squinted up at the sign that hung over the door. He snickered out loud.

"No entry: yah...right!" Tas pulled the latch, and smiled triumphantly when the door opened. The boys entered quickly, pulling the heavy door shut behind them. Tas looked at his watch...he still had plenty of time to mess around.

Maybe some mischief is in order... Keith smiled. "Let's see what we can find..."
Keith leafed through the baggage, looking for anything interesting in there.

Nordika smiled as he watched the boys from the emergency room, there was a nice big button in front of him, it was red, and circular, and written above it was

Emergency Cargo Launch

which in other words, would open the hold doors, releasing everything it into space, he reached for the button, putting his finger on it, not pressing it, but ready to.

Tas was getting bored with underwear.

Almost every bag he had opened contained clothes and toiletries, but nothing FUN. Oh sure, it was cool to write "Tas is the shitz!" in shaving cream on the wall, and he did have a moment of pleasure when he found his sister Asoks bag and spent a few moments spitting big loogies into her socks, but all in all, this place was a bust.

30 minutes remained before he was supposed to go meet his partner...well, he HOPED that he wanted Tas as a partner...

In a corner was a solid box, bolted to the floor. It had been locked electronically of course, and with the power failure, it was now easily accessible. Tas opened it slowly, peering in. His eyes widened at the sight of the weapons in front of him.

There were blades of all sorts, individually packaged for resale. They looked expensive, and oh so cool. Tas lifted one up, an elegant curved dagger, and quickly hid it underneath his shirt. Keith was coming over, so Tas slammed the box shut, knowing that the goodie-two-shoes would probably rag on him for stealing. Well, what he don't know can't hurt him!

"I'm bored...and hungry. Lets book, and go see if the kitchen is open!" As usual,Tas was already moving before he finished his sentence. He ran out of the cargo hold and feeling mischevious, he slammed the door behind him, trapping Keith in the hold. Tas leaned against the door, looking forward to making the chi-chi boy wet his pants.

"Huh?" Keith asked when the cargo door slammed shut. "Tas?"
He noticed an open box full of weapons. "Damn. You really are crazy."
He picked up another finely engraven dagger, and decided to make a plan to scare Tas out of his wits. Maybe then he'll learn not to call me chi-chi.

"Hey, Tas. Open the door!" He shouted when he couldn't push it. "C'mon, buddy! Please?"

Nordika smirked, should he press it now? Or wait for the door to open?

"Ahh the kid helped me escape, he can live just a little longer, the fool of him if he opens the door," He said to himself smirking, and pressed the red button.

A sudden alarm jerked Keith from the door, and red warning lights started spinning.

"What's going on?" Keith wondered.

Suddenly, the cargo bay airlock burst open with a BANG, and due to the extreme pressure differential, all the air turned foggy and began rushing out of the cargo bay, with the sound of a howling explosion. Everything that wasn't tied down was sucked out the airlock. Unfortunately, that meant that Keith was carried along with the baggage.

"AAAAHHHHH!" He screamed as the airlock yawned for him. Flailing his arms, he managed to grab a bolted pipe, but the winds tugged at him so strongly he lost his grip and was sent spinning out the airlock, and away from the ship. The boy immediately felt extremely cold, and his hands swelled up a bit painfully. He tried to draw breath, but there was no breath to draw in the vacuum.

Why? Why do I have to die? was Keith's last thoughts before unconsiousness overtook him in 15 seconds, and two minutes later, he was dead.

Passengers wondered what the alarm meant, except for a few, like the twins.

"Oh no." Danny moaned. "We're gonna lose air! and where's Keith?"

"Calm down, bro. I'm sure he's fine." John said.

A passenger suddenly screamed when she looked out a window. Some of the other passengers also exclaimed loudly.

"What? What is it?" John asked.

"A boy! He's out in space!" The woman sobbed.

"WHAT?!" The twins rushed to the window, and Danny used a pair of binocs to get a closer look. "SHIT! NO, NO, NO, NO! KEITH!"

John grabbed the binocs, and he, too swore, devastated. What was he going to tell Grandfather?! "Keith...no. It...can't...be..."

Their spirits were crushed, and their little brother was gone...forever.

Tas figured that Keith had had enough, and was just about to open the latch to let the poor kid back in, when suddenly he heard a large, muffled bang from inside the cargo hold. Tas pulled on the door, but it was unmoving, the loss of pressure clamping it closed. A high-pitched alarm started screaming.

"Keith? Doot?? KEITH??!" Tas pulled frantically on the door, to no avail. He looked around, but could see no sign of anyone around to help him. He kept pulling, until his shoulders burned from the effort, all the while crying out for help.

Nordika had crawled through the vents, and landed right behind Tas, he was in a crouch position, and watched him as he tried to re-open the doors.

"You might not want to do that little boy," he said.

"Mister!" Tas ran to the big man, hugging him happily, a huge sense of relief filling him...his Hero was here! He could use his super exo-muscles to tear the door down, or maybe his plasma eye-beams, ya, eye-beams would be cool, and cut a hole in the door and grab Keith who was just about to be eaten by a huge, tentacled snarly Bolaxian Deathborg, and Tas would help and the robo-fighter would win and he would say "Tas, you are the shitz! Be my partner!" and they would go off and it would be soooo cool...

Tas smiled, then looked up at the massive figure standing in front of him. He dwarfed the boy, and Tas was not small. He noticed that big man was scarred from...well, probably from some nasty-ass robots...but there was also a trickle of fresh blood seeping from small cuts on Nordika's face and hands.

"Mister, I'm real happy to see you...are you ok? Did someone hurt you?"

Asok stumbled across the Security room, after the little.. decompression of that boy that had been with her brother, she wanted to know where that man was, and now.

She scanned across the different screens, checking, passangers here, passangers there.. Tas.. and the man, he just wouldnt leave her brother alone.

She Left the Room, grabbed a small Energy Pistol holdered in the wall, and headed for them.

"No I am fine," Nordika said then added with twisted humor. "You on the other hand are in danger right here, your freind is dead, he got sucked out into space..."

He turned around, and hopped up the wall, into the vents again.

"I suggest you hide, your sister will be looking for you, I still expect to meet you again soon," He said then crawled off.

Jet Harla tried to unlock the door, but with the power going down the security must have locked down all authorized doors, he stood up, and aimed his blaster rifle at it, and shot it several times, before kicking it in. He looked in the room, and saw the open cyro-tube, Nordika escaped.
He cursed, and looked all around the dim room, he turned on the flashlight at the end of his gun, this room had doubled as a equipment room, he gazed at the rack of weapons.... two were missing.
"Oh no..." He said.
He turned around at the sound of screaming. "What the hell?" He asked and ran down the hallway.
He made it to a hallway, he pushed aside some of the crowd, and saw the boy, out in space... his mouth dropped and his eyes widened....
"No..." He said.
He turned around and pushed his way back through the crowd, and ran right into the brothers of the boy who had deceased.

Numb with pain at the loss of their brother, the twins didn't know what to do. Danny buried his head in his hands, quietly crying, and John just paced back and forth, head trying to get around the loss.

It was John who spoke first. "We'll have to tell Gramps. You and I are the only ones left, since our parents are dead."

"Y-yeah. That's if we ever get back."

"C'mon. We'll get back."

"Get back? No we won't! Whatever's wrong with this ship will get us LIKE IT GOT KEITH!"

"Danny!" John had to punch him to knock sense into him. "Stop it! Right now. We're alive. That's what counts. That's all that matters!"

Danny, smarting at the punch to his face, was ashamed. "I'm sorry. You're right. We have each other."

It was then that they bumped into Jet.

"Sir..." John started, but couldn't go on.

OOC: I think I'm going to cry... :(

"Boys...I am...I don't know what to say," Jet said, slinging the gun over his shoulder more. "I am sorry."

"Yeah." John wiped a tear. "Yeah."

The twins were mute, still grieving silently.

"How...how could we let this happen?" Danny then asked. "And how come we aren't moving? Shouldn't we send a distress signal or something?"

"All power to the engines are out, the only power we have are backup, and transport ships don't usually go out like this, so distress was never issued to backup power," Jet said.

"Murphy's Law at work." Danny sighed. "At least I think it's Murphy's Law. Anyway, what do we do now?"

"The killer is on the loose, and I think he is the one who..." Jet's voice drifted off, but he came back. "I am heading off to find him, those damned mercs disapeared."

The twins looked at each other, and through the twin-bond, decided.

"I think we should help find this killer and...deal with him." John said, cold edging in his voice.

"Yeah. If he's the one who did it...he must pay." Danny agreed, just as cold.

He watched the huge man jump effortlessly upwards into the vents. Tas marvelled at his power and agility...he was like a big cat, a space-cat, a robot-fighting, super-hero, space-cat. He was sooooooooo cool. Tas yelled after him.

"Mister, if you need me just yell...mister? MISTER?? Awwww....crap." Nordika had already disappeared into the darkness. Suddenly, Tas remembered Keith, and ran back to the cargo door. He began to scream Keiths name loudly once again.

Asok rounded the corner, to see Tas banging on the door, she sighed.

"Tas.. The Cargo Bay.. it opened.. The boy.. he.. he's gone" she said, barely squeezing the words out of her mouth

His face drained of color, and suddenly Tas felt weak in the knees. He looked at Asok, disbelief in his eyes. The enormity of what she said sunk in, and Tas was struck by a wave of guilt...he had locked Keith in the hold, just trying to play a joke, and now the kid was...dead?

He stumbled into his sister's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Jet led the two other boys down to the hallway that led to the cargo, he looked at the brother and sister as they hugged, the kid lost his freind.

"I am sorry," He said to Tas. "Do you know how this happened?"

Fear filled him. Tas knew what happened, and was scared for himself: he was the one that locked Keith in the hold! Tas was even more scared for his friend, his hero, the robo-fighter. He was afraid they would blame him, then lock him up again, and Tas would be stuck being a little brother all his life, and not be a junior robo-fighter. There was no way he would let that happen.

"No sir...he went in without me, and shut the door, then I heard a bang and...and..." Tas started sobbing again, this time more out of fear than sadness.

"I see," Jet said, he paused waiting for the boy to stop crying. "Have you seen a man around? Tall, muscular, scarred, have you seen him anywhere?"

He replied immediately, without hesitation, knowing that honesty was the best policy.

"No sir."

"Damnit," Jet said, he turned to the Asok. "Nordika is on the loose, he is a serial killer, I have no doubt he is the one who...murdered these boy's brother."

"Wait a minute, Yes.. Yes, he kept bothering my brother here, he seemed a little odd.. Tas why did you just lie?" Asok still continued to "cradle" tas

"You saw him? Damnit..." He said. "Little boy, when I ask you a question like that do not lie."

He turned to the two twins. "Lets go find him."

"Wait a minute. I told Keith to stick with Tas before he...went.." John said. "Tas. Tell me the truth, and lie no more. What happened to Keith?"

Danny also stared at the 13 year-old, with disappointment and anger.

Nordika. Now THAT was a cool robo-fighter name. Nordika the Robo-Fighter, and his Trusty Sidekick, the TasMan. They needed suits, that was for sure, tight ones with pockets and utility belts and a cape, ya a cape is always cool...Tas crashed back to reality when he heard the words "serial killer"...why would anyone want to kill cereal? Tas was a little confused, but he realized he was in a LOT of trouble.

Worse than that, Nordika was in trouble: Tas had to help him because thats what sidekicks DO.

"Well, uhm well Keith was bored and, and...see, I said I needed to find my Dad and...well, he said he wanted to get some snacks and I was hungry n' I said sure but he made me sneak and then he went in that door, and then he closed it and it didn't open and then BANG!" Tas looked at Asok, appreciating the familiar face. "I didn't see no one else 'til you showed up, stinkmitt..."

"You're lying." Danny snarled, his temper short. He suddenly grabbed the younger boy and slammed him into a wall. "You stinkin' brat! Do you have any idea what happened here? A killer's on the loose and he's already killed MY brother! Nordika could kill you or me or anyone else and not care if his victim's a kid! CAN YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL??!!"

"Dan..." John started.

"No! Leave me alone! I'm going to get the truth out of this stupid kid, even if I have to beat him raw!" Danny yelled, tears starting to form. Then he moved for the cargo bay door, dragging the kid. "Tas, you tell me the truth RIGHT NOW, or by God, I'm going to toss you out the airlock!"

"DAN! Sir, help me!" John shouted and grabbed Danny before he could make good on his word. His twin started struggling and fighting, landing punches and kicks everywhere. He's gone crazy!

Tas had been in fights before, in fact he was getting a reputation for being a bit of a bully at school, being larger than most kids his age. Still, when the older boy began raining blows down upon him, Tas focussed more on defending himself than fighting back. It hurt, not as bad as he thought it would, but enough that he realized it had to stop. Now.

"Ok, ok, OK!" he cried, pushing Dan off of him. The twin seemed surprised at Tas's strength...and so was Tas.

"Everything I said was true, 'cept that when we got here, the big Norpickle guy was hanging around and Keith said "shhh" so we watched him and he opened the door and went in the hold and Keith said that he was prolly gonna steal stuff from our bags and for me to go get help and he followed him in and the door slammo'd and I ran back 'cuz I was scared and that's when I heard the noise and tried to open the door but it didn't open."

Tas took a breath. He knew that Nordika was a hero, and that Ventox, the Robot-Overlord was able to control peoples minds and make them think bad things. Thats what happened here, thought Tas...these dweebs thought that the big robo-fighter could be anything BUT a hero.

"I guess the bad man is dead too 'cuz he was in there...?"

"Oh, I doubt that, idiot." Danny managed to swipe the back of Tas' head before being pulled off. "Hell, I bet you've had something to do with Keith's death, and the Noridka guy just pushed the button!"

"Dan, you're insane." John said, finally locking his brother's arms, immobilizing them. "How could Tas have helped kill Keith? Hold the door shut? Besides, last I checked, they were fast friends."

"Feh." Danny spat. "I don't trust you for one bit, kid, and if you make one wrong step, you're dead, you hear?"

Tas stared at the older boy, the threat ringing in his ears. He felt angry, angrier than he'd ever been. He imagined himself slugging Danny, real hard, in the nose. The kid was gonna be a pain, thats for sure. Well, robo-fighters knew how to deal with robot-lovers like Danny...WHAMMO!

Rubbing his head, still stinging from the hard slap, Tas looked at his sister Asok, who stood beside him protectively. For once, he was happy she was there...though she still smelled like a frog.

"Where's Dad, Asok?"

"I.. i dont know.. " Asok said to Tas, before manouvering away from him over to Danny, she was furious, and she showed it.

"YOU EVER DO THAT TO MY BROTHER AGAIN, AND I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND STICK IT DOWN YOUR GOD FORSAKEN NECK, THEN USE YOUR TEETH TO CASTRATE YOU, UNDERSTAND!?" She screamed, and slapped him.

The slap stung Danny's cheek bad. Man! That girl really hits! I...guess she's pretty protective of her...brother.

Danny sighed, and just felt annoyed, sticking his hands into his pockets. "Well, since we can't get the truth out of him, we'll just have to find and destroy this killer. No matter what it takes."

Wowsers.

No other word for it...when Asok began to scream at Danny, that stinkin', robot-kissing chi-chi boy Danny, Tas looked at his sister in surprise. When she threatened to rip his head off, Tas smiled and and began to see Asok in a new light.

When she said "castrate", Tas almost barfed with laughter. Castrate, HAH! He wasn't quite sure if he knew what castrate meant, but he did know it had to do with sex, and sex was pretty cool though not as cool as vid-games and toons, though he could not really be sure because Tas had never HAD sex...well, not with another person at least.

When Asok slapped Danny, Tas realized for the first time that he loved his sister, because she had robo-fighter balls! WOWSERS, what a smack! Tas saw Danny's head snap back from the force of the blow, and the sound resounded in the small corridor. Tas wished that he could've whacked the weenie himself, but watching Asok do it was almost as good. He hoped she would follow it up with a hard kick in the balls....heh, balls...that would be sigma COOL!

To his chagrin, the fight seemed to be over. Tas decided to use this break to make himself scarce. He started to walk towards the main cabin, speaking to his sister as he passed behind her:

"I'm gonna go scan for Dad..." Tas said, moving quickly, "...oh, and Asok?" The young man stopped and looked at his sister in appreciation.

"Thanks." He turned and ran towards the passenger section, calling back over his shoulder. "YOU KICK ASS, SIS!"

Asok Sighed, and broke into a run after the boy, he wasnt going ANYWHERE without her now.

Tas ran ahead, losing his sister in the darkness of the quiet ship. He had to find Nordika and let him know the bad guys were searching for him. Tas ran through the cabin, stopping only to grab a few sandwiches from a steward who was providing them to the nervous passengers at no charge. He doubled back, and entered the corridor where he had last seen the big robo-fighter. He looked around to make sure he was alone, then looked up at the vents where Nordika had hidden.

"Mister?" he whispered, afraid that someone might hear, "Mister, I got some food for ya...and a present." Tas remembered the ornate dagger he had stolen from the hold, now tucked safely under his shirt. He was sure his new partner would appreciate the weapon...it looked like it could slice a robot in half!

"Mister Nordika, sir? It's me, the TasMan."

Nordika dropped down from the ceiling partway, he had his feet jammed into a beam, so he wouldn't fall and he hung ther upside down, smiling at the kid.
"Hey there Tas," He said. "What kind of gift did ya bring me?"

His heart started beating when Nordika spoke to him, the power of the big man apparant in his voice. This was not the time to daydream though, because there was danger all around. Tas spoke quickly.

"Sir, they're looking for you and think you killed Keith and they say yer bad and they want to catch you...uhmmm...I brought this sam'wich for you, and this..." Tas pulled the beautiful and deadly blade from under his shirt. He handed it up to Nordika.

"Can I help ya? Tell me what to do...boss." Tas, or TasMan as he now preferred to be called, waited for instructions from his new partner and boss, the Amazing and Incredible Nordika, Killer of Robots and Hero of the Universe!

Nordika took the knife, and looked it over, he ran his finger down the blade, it was very sharp. He tossed it up into the air, and caught it on the hilt, then spun it around in his hand, he dropped from the ceiling, landing on his feet. He walked around for a little bit practicing with deadly skill with the knife.
"And you brought me a sandwhich you say," He said. "Now that is very nice, can you hold the sandwhich up for me to see?"

SPIN.
FLICK.
SWISH.

Nordika made the blade dance and weave, cutting the air gracefully around Tas. He hoped that one day, the big robo-fighter would show him how to do that. Responding to Nordika's request, Tas took the sandwich out, raising it in the air in front of him.

"Here ya go, Mr.Nordika...it's ham n' cheese..."

"Thank you," Nordika said smiling, he tossed the knife into the air, and caught the blade, he looked at it, then at Tas, and threw the knife.
It soared through the air, peircing through the sandwhich, and through the boy's hand, he was close enough to a wall that it peirced the wall as well, he was stuck to the wall, with a knife through his hand.
Nordika walked over to him, and smiled.

He was too stunned to scream.

He was too shocked to feel pain.

His heart broke, and his dream shattered.

He realized that his bladder had emptied.

Tas looked at his hand, skewered and pinned to the wall. He looked back at Nordika, his Hero, and did not understand. Was this a test? If it was, it really sucked space-dust.

"Mister? Wh-wh-why?" moaned Tas weakly, the blood-loss and blossoming pain overwhelming the young boy.

"My dear boy," Nordika said, grabbing onto the hilt of the knife. "Don't you ever learn, I did kill your freind Keith. I was going to kill you there also but you escaped me, I am no robo-fighter or any riff raff like that, I am a serial killer. You chose the wrong person to follow, the wrong idol to beleive in..."
He pulled on the knife and it came out of the wall and his hand. He looked at the boy, biting his lip slightly, then in a moments notice he had reached down to his belt and pulled out a blaster pistol.
"You should have really grown up when you had the chance," He said aiming the gun at the boys head. "I am sorry."
He acted like he was going to pull the trigger but didnt.
"Sorry I can't quite find the guts to kill you," he said. "After all, you did help me escape."

Tas could only stare down the black barrel of the large gun. His hand was throbbing, but his heart was hurting even more. This HAD to be a test, a test of loyalty and strength...Tas held back his tears, not wanting to appear weak.

"I...I only wanted to help ya, is all...please..."

"And indeed you did help me," Nordika said, spinning the gun in his hand and putting it away, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a capsule of blue gel. "Put this on the wound, it will heal it."

Asok had last him.. AGAIN.. he really needed to be taught a lesson maybe he would like a slap..

Asok was lost in her thoughts as she turned the corner seeing a slightly familiar back of a man and a slightly familiar face, but it was at a distance, didnt think much of it, and continued to walk on down the corridor.

"When i get my hands on him.." She said to herself, unknowingly walking towards Nordika and Tas

The blue gel closed the wound immediately, and a quick wipe on the carpet got rid of most of the blood, but Nordika's words took away all of Tas's pain. He had passed the test! He'd shown the cereal-fighter that he was tough and brave and...Tas paused, then looked at the big man.

"Why do you fight cereal anyways?" Before his hero could reply, Tas heard the voice of his sister in the distance. So did Nordika. Tas watched his feet take control, and he ran quickly past the scarred man towards Asok's voice. He spoke over his shoulder.

"I'll head her off and you hide! I'll come back later!" Tas ran down the hall, trying not to stumble in the dark.

The twins were hunched in a dark corner of the ship, going over a plan they are making together. They found some pistols earlier, and were checking the charge on them, to make sure the laser would shoot right. They also had other weapons, from broomsticks to knives.

"Ok. Here is the plan." John whispered to Danny. "We find the bastard, and try to lure him into a spot from where we can kill him. If we can't trap him, we blow out the nearest window to him, so that he dies the way our brother did. No matter what, he must die."

"And if he has a hostage?"

"We try to hit him between the eyes." John said coldly. "Barring that, a good hand or leg shot should do it. If we can't get a shot in, we'll have no choice...but to shoot through the hostage."

Danny stared at John. He never believed that his twin brother would be so callous and ruthless. "John...what happened to you?"

"Our little brother happened. No...matter...what. This guy has to die." John clenched his fists in cold fury. "You understand that?"

"Yes." It was all Danny could say.

"Good. We move out and search for him."

"Hold there boys," Jet said as he walked into the room, he had a blaster rifle slung over his shoulder. He had on light armour, behind him, were two other men, they were burly, and had very large heavy on, making their heads looked dwarf in comparison to the rest of the body, in their arms were two massive guns, almost as big as a average adult male.
"These two are our mercs," Jet explained, he pointed to the brown haired one. "This is Largent Farth, and this one..."
He pointed to the curly orange haired one. "Is Tom Salj, the two of them and I will be going with you."

John just nodded. "Alright. The more people we have to find him, the easier."

"Alright," Jet said. "Lets go."

Tas slowed down to a walk, still somewhat weak from the blood loss. His wound was almost invisible, with just a slight burning to mark its passage. The young boy continued to search the dark hallway for his sister Asok.

"Sis...? Asok...? Dad...? HULLO???" Tas kept moving, looking for a familiar face amongst the shadows of the strangers.

He felt alone. His hand began to throb, a reminder of the danger he just faced. He was more scared NOW than he had been when Nordika stabbed him...

"Sis? Asok?? HULLLLLLOOOOO???"

It was eerie...the emptiness and the silence of ship was scaring him, and the young Tas was beginning to get very worried. Where was everybody? He called out for his sister, his brother and his father, but no reply came to him. He even considered calling for the robo-fighter Nordika, but decided against it. He didn't want to call attention to his friend.

He wandered on, alone in the dark.

A laspistol suddenly appeared in the dark, aiming straight for Tas' head. The figure was too dark to see, but the gun was clear enough for the boy to see and fear...

"Yipes! Dontshootmedontshootmedontshootme..." yelled Tas, diving to the floor.

Snickering, Danny came out of the shadows. "Hehehehehehe! You shoulda seen the look on you face! Priceless! Boy, I spooked you good!"

John wasn't around, but if he was, he would bound and gag Danny for this little prank.

"Hehe yah doot, you scared me good. Where the frick IS everybody?" Tas was nervous, because here was the kid that beat on him before, and now he had a gun...and they were alone.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too. I went down a corridor, and the next thing I know, my twin and I were separated." Danny said, holstering his gun. "Eh, don't worry, I won't kill you. It's no good to take my hate out on you anyway, since it won't bring him...back."

"Doot, I know ya don't believe me, but I'm really sorry for what happened...Keith was lethal-cool, y'know?" Tas looked at the older boy, face hidden in the shadows.

"So, what now?"

"Now," Tom said as he and Larn walked up from behind Danny, both still in their massive armour. "We find this Nordika fellow, and kill him."