NationStates Jolt Archive

The screen flickers on, in the foreground is a ruffled looking woman, her eyes still showing great fear, but her voice trying to remain calm. In the background, the ravages of many battles can be seen, buildings collpased, corpses of both human and Tyranid in the streets. Fighting can still be heard in the background.

The woman speaks, trying to voice her words out in a dire situation.

"G-Good morning, citizens of Saxion. Today I bring the report of a most dire situation. The multi-mega corp. research lab was overun by the alien threat last night. Security forces were overwhelmed completely in the darkness, as the aliens some how managed to cut the power to the city. MMC troops retook the center earlier this morning, with an all out assult on the compound. Unfortunatly, many men and women died, but the alien threat was pushed out.

"We had gotten permisison to send a news correspondant inside the building during the second wave of the assult this morning. We cannot show you the footage of the fighting as it's... too brutal, but we can show the after-battle shots."

A new screen comes up, inside a white-walled room, that looked like it used to be sterile, but now covered in dried blood and gore. The camera man tries to keep the gore out of the shot, but fails completely.

"We are inside the main building now, the troops have justed exterminated the last of the alien threat in this section of the building, and reinforcements are arriving now to help finish the clean sweep operation in the building. What is most discomforting though, is that several bodies are missing. Top physisists body's are missing, aswell as scientists dealing in cold fusion and nuclear fission. We cannot be certain that they have completely gone or have been kidnapped, but it is almost certain they are gone."

The image goes back to the nervous woman, who flinches at every shell detonating on the enemy.

"Uhm, yes. Since that footage, it has been confirmed that the scientists are indeed missing, aswell as several documents, and a few computers. It is very odd, but the intelligence officers are baffled as to why a swarm of insects would take these things. Could this signify a higher intelligence of the beasts? Or simple curiosity on their part."

The woman looks off camera, and gets handed a note-card. Her expression goes from grim, to exuberant.

"Fantastic news! The alien threat is being pushed off the planet! The swarm of aliens are retrating back to the five massive organic ships they emerged from. The 5th and 7th tactical fleets, that have been hiding behind our moon for the right time to strike, are now engaging what the intelligence officers have classified as huge organic destroyers. More news to come as the situation progresses!"

The news broadcast tunes off.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The queen seemed to chuckle, her toothy mouth seemingly stretching into a grin. She had inadvertantly found a deep dark secret that a small planet in the galaxy's armpit was trying to develop. She had found the begginings of a plan to kill a Galaxy.



OOC: As said, serious RP. And before you start bitching, no it will never get to the point of actually creating a Galaxy killer, the point is the RP trying to create/stop its creation.

It was a beautiful day to fly the galaxy. The young Abh woman had just received her pilots license and was taking the Philipae on a run around the far moons of an outlying system. Her father bought the ship and it was accomadated with two twin lens lasers for defense. The ship was light and extremely fast.

The young woman of about 18 years was out enjoying herself. Something that all Abh love to do. She finally just shut all engines off and reclined in her chair.

Staring off into the stars and the nearby moon and planets, she closed her eyes and sighed. Total bliss.

A far strung broadcast was sent out from Saxion. A week after the battle for the world's existance, a request was sent out.

"Too all mercenaries, and anyone else wishing to participate. Not a while ago, very important documents were stolen, and scientists kidnapped. They were taken by a hostile alien force, of organic insects and ships. We do not now what they want with them, or where they have gone. We just want them back, by any means necesary."

With her hands behind her head and both feet on the control panel, the red light was covered so she didn't notice the incoming transmission until the alert beacon finally started sounding. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and punched it in.

"Hostile aliens? Organic insects? Hmmm sounds interesting and possibly a little fun."

The woman started the ships engines back up and spead over towards the orbit of the planet as she left a blue trail behind her.

She was getting ready to send her own transmission down to the planet but stopped to think for a moment. "Well I'm not a mercenary but I am most certainly interested. I have no weapons for myself and my ship only has two lenses for lasers. Not much good against a warship. Hmmm."

She finally hit the comm button down to the planet.

Ummmm hello. I received your transmission while I was flying near one of your moons. I was hoping that you could give me some more information. I am interested in this matter.

She silently hoped that she wasn't coming across like a child or too naive.

An hour or two later, a reply came back, in the form of a young intel officer.

"Greetings, prospective mercenary. We currently have no information on the where-abouts of the enemy force. They left in the direction of the galactic core. You can try to follow the blood crystals left by the ship we damaged. We would attempt to do this ourselves, but our world is damaged, and it will take decades, if not centuries to go back to normal. Out of the eight tactical fleets we have, six have been utterly destroyed, and two more are severely damaged. But if you do this for us, you will be payed handsomely. Good luck, brace prospect."

The woman sat up in her seat "Wait a second! I'm not a mercenary! I need a weapon or something. Do you know where I can get one?"

She sighed and grumbled as she rested her elbows on the console and waited for a reply.

The message came back.

"Brute force will not win this one."

Just as quickly as it started, the message ended.

OOC: Bump, comeon people, this is open to anyone who will take it a bit seriously.

OOC:
Okay, for future reference, Kshatriyaa are a roughly 7 ft. tall , lanky reptillian race that looks vaguely like the Raptors of earth, except for their increased size and brainpower, as well as their humanoid ability to walk upright. They cannot speak any human language, but can understand it and theirs can also be understood fairly easily. They prefer to use hand to hand weapons, but will often use large calibur firearms when they are in dire situations. hey are also fans of large improvised hand grenades. They Pirate shuttles and freighters in groups ranging from 6 - 60, plundering and gaining new technology from their victims.

IC: Dasa Vaisha looked at the message, suddenly displayed on the screen. Dasa was in a bad way with his Hunt leader. This would be a perfect oppurtunity to regain honor in the eyes of his superiors. He now had a ship with which to use as a base of operations. The former owners would no longer be needing it. He had taken the small cargo shuttle crew fairly easily. they had hardly offered any resistence. They were probably too shocked to see him leap from his life pod as quickly as he had. He wiped the blood from his machetes as he loaded the bodies into the airlock, and proceded to dump them into deep space. After making an improvised tail hole in the pilot's seat, he accesed the star map. It was good that the ship was of the construction the it was. He only new how to pilot a small number of ship designs. Dasa was a warrior, not a pilot.
He accesed the star map and set course for the origin of the "Blood Crystal Trail" or whatever it was called that he was supposed to track his prey with.

*********
When Dasa awoke, he found himself sitting in space near another ship. He had apparently dozed off during the trip.
"I musn't let that happen again" he said to himself indignantly
He suspected the other ship to hold a fellow hunter, searching for the same prey as himself. He hesitated. He could try and eliminate the opponent, making his task easier, but then again, he had no idea how difficult his task would be. An ally would be a useful commodity for this endeavor, if it proved to be as taxing as the battle-torn space around him suggested.
He decided to investigate further.
"This is Dasa Vaisha, state your purpose" he commanded rather rudely in his native tongue

The I.S.S. Freedom's Ransom, a Sabrewolf class escort, dropped to sublight at the edge of the star system.

Captain Isaac McFly turns around in his command chair.

"So," he says, "is this the origin of the transmission?"

The first officer, Brian Dutton, replied, "Yep. The Imperial sensor buoys we used to triangulate the co-ordinates confirmed it."

McFly turns back to face foward.

"Good," he responds, "being loosly affiliated with the Imperial military and sanctioned by the Emperor himself gives us some free reign with what to do with this ship. I have been itching for a fight, but the Empire has the war front covered, so we don't have to engage any Shadow vessels. We would get our butts handed to us on a silver platter."

"I agree fully, Isaac."

"This time, however, its party time."

McFly leaned foward and clasped his hands together.

"Hunting season is now open."

The Antaran Fighter Pilot Tobias was flying around in his Antaran raider. He had been part of the battle with the Armada in Abh space when the Armada made a jump to escape,

Tobias found himself around here with his raider at full power and shields offline. The weaponary was still good to go and so was the engines. The cloak however was shot. He decides to send S.O.S. singals back to the Armada. He recieved no sign of a response.

He recieves the message the message for merc help. He smiles to himself and saids, "Time to go hunting." He follows the blood crystal trail intent on finding these organic insect aliens that have been causeing trouble around here.

"We have entered into a standard orbit around the planet from which the transmission originated," said Wesley Carr, the helm officer.

Isaac said, "Very nice piloting, Wes."

"Thanks."

Isaac stands up and takes a brisk walk around the bridge to loosen up his legs before heading over to stand next to his chair.

"Well," he says while looking at the main viewscreen, "report."

Dutton looks up from his position at the science console and says, "Readings indicate we aren't the only ship to pick up the broadcast. Their is an small Abh vessel, a shuttle really, nearby," he presses a few keys, "should I open hailing frequencies? There is enough room in the hanger bay after our second shuttle was destroyed."

Isaac replies, "Not just yet. Lets see what the Abh ships intentions are."

The woman was sitting there pouting as she had no real idea what to do next. She could follow the trail that voice had said but was unsure of how to make her new ship do all that. "Unhhh, I should have paid more attention when father was explaining all this to me."

She startles as she hears the harsh tone coming from a ship that seemed to appear out of nowhere next to the girl. "Oh hi! I'm here to look for the aliens that stole the scientists. I'm only in it out of curiosity and adventure. No money for me. Are you a mercenary?"

The girl started her craft's engines and navigated the thrusters closer to the new ship. The poor girl didn't even see the SeaQuest ship come in.

Abh vessel. We will open hanger bay number two. You are welcome to bring your ship aboard.

Isaac leaned back after transmitting the message and said, "You know the drill boys. Treat our guest as if he, or she, was the Emperor himself."

Everyone groaned, "We know that."

Fleet Admiral Status Aran thanked the Azahan dockworker for the repairs to his ship and stepped onto the bridge. As they undocked, the FNS Feather's thrusters kicked in, and the ship left contact with the repair station.

"Sir, there's a ship in system. Several ships. And they are of organic design. Matching the description in that transmission we got." Said the nervous ops officer. Ops was generally the position that told Admiral Aran the bad news, and as a result, numbers of people prepared for the job had fallen dramatically since his promotion. "Shall we take any action?"

"Move closer." Said Aran. "Engage if attacked. Prep the marine attachment. We're going to kill some bugs."

The girl jumps out of her seat as a new transmission comes in. This time from a different ship. "Oh good! I can finally stretch my legs. I'm tired of sitting in this cockpit." She lets out a tired arm and stretches her arms.

She sends one more quick communication to the other unknown ship. "Ummm, it was nice talking to you....sort of."

The ship lights a blue trail of anti matter as it navigates to the ship. "Wow that's pretty big. I wonder who it belongs to."

She brings her ship into the hull and gently sets it down. The door slides open and she walks out into the bay. It's a bit peculiar since she is not dressed like a military officer or a diplomat. She appears to be just a basic civilian.

She walks out in a sun dress looking around the room. As she moves, the dress accentuates her figure of the Abh race. Slender body and very beautiful.

IC: Isaac bows, his coat billowing around him, and says "Welcome aboard the Freedom's Ransom, m'lady. What brings you to this out of the way planet?"

OOC: F.Y.I., the Sabrewolf class has a crew of only sixty souls.

As it seemed to be the custom of those from the Draconic Order when there was region altering events that included them in some way, they decided to butt in uninvited to contain or set the regional powers against each other.

A squadron of Svent Class Mk1 and a squadron of Svent Class Mk2 Corvettes (three to a corvette squadron) made quite a rukus as they appeared in the system, heading at full burn towards the wreckage cloud.

Draconic Order Info (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=8381392#post8381392)

OOC: Think sheltered rich girl. Every guy knows them. So the ship looks big to her.

IC: The woman walks along with her heels clicking the hard floor. She walks up to Isaac with her hands behind her back with a look that is a little unsure in her eyes. She bows as she tries to keep her long blue hair out of her face. "I ummm... was flying my new ship around the nearby moon and decided to take a rest and just enjoy the scenary of space. I must have fallen asleep when a message came through asking for mercs and those that were interested. I was curious and responded to the call. I think they believe I am a mercenary but I was only curious."

She chews her bottom lip. "I was at a loss as what to do next until your ships came along."

"My I ask your name? You can call me Isaac. I am in charge of this boat. Excuse me for a moment."

He leaned around an open door frame and grabbed something. He straightened while holding a young blonde man's left ear.

"Wes, how many times do I tell that its not nice to snoop."

The woman fidgeted and tweedled her thumbs behind her back. "My name is Jessica...of the Clasbul system."

Her gaze shifts nervously to the young blond man.

Isaac lets go of Wes's ear and says, "Nice to meet you, Jessica. Would you like to be shown to the guest quarters? I am sure Wesley would love to escort you."

He glances at Wes an icy look.

Wesley quickly says, "Yeah, sure would."

A subspace message was sent out to all new ships, and ships nearing the devistated system.

"Greetings all prospective hunters! All the information we have is a frozen blood trail that leads towards the galactic west, near the outer rim. We advise extreme caution in your undertakings. The fleet that consisted only of tenty massive ships utterly destroyed most of our fleets. Brute force will not get you the hefty reward that will come to you for getting these scientists and documents back. Good luck, and be safe, prospective hunters!"

Jessica looks nervously around. "That would be nice if you have the room." She looks back at her ship. "Oh wait!"

She rushes back to her ship and rummages around the base of the cockpit. She pulls out a pack and opens the lock box. "Hmmm I completely forgot I had this with me." She looks around and shoves the sidearm into her pack.

Jessica comes rushing back out, dress flowing behind her. "Ok. I'm ready now?"

OOC: wow, i go for like one day and look what happens.

IC:
"This is Dasa Vaisha,106th Kshatriyan Hunter Killer Unit, requesting permission to come aboard. We seem to be on similar missions, if you are searching for the scientists being held captives by the insect vermin. perhaps we can be of mutual assitance to each other. You will find I am a most capable warrior, as well as a master of Kshatriyan delicacies which i would be happy to share with your chef."

Dasa didn't believe the last part would actually sway the commander's decision, but he had seen it work before, especially if they liked spicy food. He attached the headset as best he could to himself. His head shape made that difficult for him to give up, as he began cleaning blood from the walls of the vessel. He would not be able to get it all, but he would get enough to be able to create a convincing bluff.
He slung his Rifle, sheathed his Machetes, and tied his bandolier on as to make an incredible first impression on his hosts.
He awaited the contacts decision.

Brian Dutton read over the message from the alien ship and sent a response.

Your ship is to large to fit in our hangers. Place here in a parking orbit and we will beam you over.

Dutton sent a message over the ships intercom system, "Isaac, we have gotten the info giving directions on where to go. What do you want us to do?"

Isaac excused himself for a moment and went over to a panel on the wall. Wes led Jessica out of the hanger bay to the best guest quarters available on the small ship.

He pressed a button and says, "Brian, go ahead and set in a course along the trail they indicate."

"You sure about that? From the last message broadcast from the planet, I don't know if the ship has enough fire-power to make it."

"That is why we will shadow the targets at extreme sensor range. When they stop, we will send the team over in the Dignity. If we need any additional fire power, we will just call for reinforcements."

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot that. Its standard operating plan 101. Oh, how is our guest doing by the way?"

"She is doing fine. Her ship seems to be more of a personal transport instead of just a simple shuttle like we first thought. Wes is showing her to some quarters now. I plan on having her launch in her ship if we get into any dangerous spots."

"Also, we will be getting another 'guest'. He seems to be another one after the targets."

The fleeing fleet existed the warp some 5 parsecs from the homeworld, not too far from the homeworld now. Now they stopped to heal themselves, and group. The five hiveships did survive, along with two destroyers.

Jessica looked at Wes. This may end up being a long trip so she figured she might as well try and get to know some of the people on the ship. A young blonde man seemed like a good start to her.

She chewed her bottom lip a bit nervously. "Hi...so how long have you been with the ship?"

Location: Deck 2

Wes leaned against the wall and said, "Well, I have been here since the ship was launched three years ago. Well, technically, we all have been. Isaac may come off as being a bit ruff at first, but he really is a kind hearted guy. He got this ship as his own mainly because he is a distant relative of the Emperor."

Location: Bridge
Dutton stood up from the command chair as Isaac walked onto the bridge.

"Sir, we have detected the targets five parsecs outside the system. They have stopped moving and seem to just be sitting there."

Isaac sat down and said, "Take us to extreme sensor range. Warp two."

"Course and speed set in."

"Engage."

The Freedom's Ransom elongated and disapeared into a flash of light as she entered warp speed.

OOC: Okay, don't mean to put a damper on things but if i'm like being ignored or anything, just go ahead and tell me, seriously

OOC: Okay, don't mean to put a damper on things but if i'm like being ignored or anything, just go ahead and tell me, seriously

OOC: Well, it would help if you indicate who you are directing your character's speech at. Then we would know who needs to reply.

OOC: well, my character doesn't really know who to direct his speech to, so I'm kinda just having him throw it out to the group.

OOC: well, my character doesn't really know who to direct his speech to, so I'm kinda just having him throw it out to the group.

OOC: Well, I think where you mentioned about landing threw people off. As far as I know, everyone else is still in orbit.

OOC: oh, i meant in whatever docking bay y'all were in. Yeah, sorry about not being too specific with my last post, I just wanted to catch up cause so much stuff happened while i was gone. I guess I just assumed that you invited my dude aboard too.

"Oh that seems like a long time. I suppose you miss your families. What made you become a mercenary?"

IC: Wes responded, "Actually, we usually only stay out from our home port half a year at a time. And were not what you would call mercinaries, we're what you would refer to as adventurers."

OOC: @Kshatriyaa: Perhaps you could follow my ship at a distance and send a transmission asking for permission to dock when I stop. Or, if you rewrite your last IC post, I'll edit mine and bring you aboard as well.

Jessica's ears perk up at that last statement. "Adventurers? So have you been to far away places and seen much of the galaxy?"

The young woman had been kept up in her father's court and the young countess had never seen the wider galaxy. She was excited to hear anything that she could about it and even more so if she could be a part of it.

Dasa suddenly found himself in a strange state of vertigo for a fraction of a second, as his surroundings dramatically changed Right before his eyes. His rifle fell off his shoulder, and he reslung it as he gazed around the room he was in. He had never been "beamed" anywhere before, and he was still slightly buzzed from the trip.The room he was in was empty. He yawned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, then let out a roar, as it seemed the best way to alert his opponents to his presence. he stood at full height and began to familiarize himself with his surroundings, and prepare for a possible attack, as his training dictated. He could never be to careful of an opponents intentions.

IC: Wes said, "Well, ma'am, this ship has been to the ice rings of Lo'rin, the 'fires' of the Rashon nebula, and has navigated the Rainbow Maze nebula."

OOC: @Kshatriyaa: I have gone and altered my post after your last IC post to include a response message.

"Sounds fascinating. Oh and you don't need to call me ma'am. Please call me Jessica. I hope I get a chance to seem sights like that. I've never been out of the Empire."

She blushes very much sounding like a young child though she is 18 years old.

Deck 2

Wes said, "Got ya, Jes. You can call me Wes."

Deck 3 - Main Transporter Room

"Welcome aboard," hissed Sruvrak, "I see that I am not the only reptilian huminoid aboard this ship now."

OOC: Sruvak, she is a Gorn.

"So how much further to the room, Wes?"

Dasa gave a well meaning, but menacing toothy smile to the Gorn.
"It is good to see a capable warrior among such delicate humanoids" Dasa spoke loudly.
"Would you happen to know where I may find food now, or more importantly, speak to the commander of the vessel?" he asked in a series of clicks and whistles as he opened a door leading to a long hallway. he almost hit his head going through the opening. He looked back at the gorn.
"please show me if you know, if not, I bid you ado, and perhaps we shall meet again during this hunting trip"
He looked down each end of the hallway and found he had just missed a pair of his fellow mercenaries walking down the hall.
He hissed loudly as he vegan to get a feel for the new vessel.

OOC: okay, I got a picture of Dasa's head for reference. Don't make fun of me for bein a dino nerd

http://www.digital-images.net/Images/Universal/Velociraptor_6001.jpg

Sorry Ksha, this thread is progressing alot faster than anticipated, and I have to skim through posts, sometimes I miss things. In the future I will be more obersvant and look at what you're doing., Uhm, lemme read some posts before I go IC.

EDIT: Actually doesn't look like I am needed yet. Once Seaquest posts about the hiveships, then I shall post.

Deck 2

Wes replied, "Actually, we're standing right outside the door."

He pointed at the door next to him.

"Its right in here," he said as he pressed the door activation key.

Deck 3 - Main Transporter Room

Sruvak hissed, "Isaac is in command of this ship. We will find him on the bridge. For an Alteran, he is a mighty warrior. He has proved himself in battle. Follow me."

Bridge

"Okay, time to drop out of warp," said Isaac.

The Freedom's Ransom slid into a spot one-hundred kilometers from the targets.

"Launch a Class IV probe to investigate the targets."

The probe deployed from one of the bow torpedo tubes. It sped towards the targets.

"Telemetry coming in.... Targets are organic. Reading hollow interiors, weapon implacements... Sir! Their living ships!"

The Draconic Order corvettes slowed as they neared the debris field. When they reached the edge they stopped. A build up of energy was focused into the front of the ships. Waves of colored lights coned out from them as they began to circle the cloud, scanning and probing.

Tobias's Antaran Raider goes in orbit of the Planet. He then sends a message: (This is Senior Pilot Tobias of the Confed Space Navy. I am here to help hunt down the monsters that threaten this area of the Galaxy.)

Tobias waited for a reply in orbit.

"Sir, the marine attachment is ready. But there is a problem..." Said Ops, shaking with fear. "The s-s-sensor defluctuator we just had installed..."

"What is it, ensign?" Asked Aran.

"It was made by CitaCorp-"

"Damn them and their costcutting ways! OK, we're probably the most powerful warship in this sector, but we're blind. Ops, put the last sensor sweep on screen." Ops complied.

"So. The Freedom's Ransom. A Seaquest ship. Dammit. They were useful in that Talaaxian thing a while back, but we're going to need to ask for some help from them. Comms, open a channel. Hail the Ransom."

Comms made it so.

"This is Fleet Admiral Status Aran. You may remember me from such conflicts as the Talaaxian Entrance skirmish and the Hunt for the Galactic treasure. We need intel, as our sensor unit is damaged."

Deck 2

Wes replied, "Actually, we're standing right outside the door."

He pointed at the door next to him.

"Its right in here," he said as he pressed the door activation key.



She peers through the door look around at the room. "Will I be staying in it by myself?"

Since there were so many ships arriving to take part in the great hunt, the message was set on a continuous loop, sending on all frequencies.

"Greetings all prospective hunters! All the information we have is a frozen blood trail that leads towards the galactic west, near the outer rim. We advise extreme caution in your undertakings. The fleet that consisted only of tenty massive ships utterly destroyed most of our fleets. Brute force will not get you the hefty reward that will come to you for getting these scientists and documents back. Good luck, and be safe, prospective hunters!"

The two reached to bridge in 5 minutes. Dasa was taken aback at the extreme discipline of the mercenary crew.
'These must be professional soldiers' he thought to himself as they made their way past technicians and ensigns monitoring the ship.
"Commander Issac, I wish to introduce myself as Dasa Vaisha of The Kshatriyan 106th Hunter Killer Division. I am here to offer my services in retrieving any plans or personnel you may be searching for. I assure you that I will perfom above your expectations when I extract and information or personages from the insect vermin. I would also be willing to share some of my reward with you in compensation for transportation." Dasa said. he always knew to start with his most lucrative offer and go down from there, never compromise. It was a lessen learned the hard way far too many times.

Kshatriyans had a tendancy to be very upfront, which Dasa was at this point, but few were as deeply rooted in tradition as to bring their chauvanism straight to an opponent aboard their own ship.

The Draconic Order ships seemed not interested in a hunt, but in the material deposites of this artifical asteroid belt. Three Arcaniss Class Mining ships jumped into the system after about twenty minutes of scanning. The corvettes abandoned the cloud and began to retreat to the mining ships, taking up flanking positions around the new fleet. The mining ships, with their new escort, began moving toward the debris field.
Like giant vaccum cleaners, the surrounding pieces of hull began to slide toward the front of the three ships. Absorbed by the miners.

The Antaran Raider followed the blood trail thanks to the design of the Fighter it was very fast. Tobias had been working on the cloaking device soon his raider would be steathly to or so he hoped.

Bridge

Isaac turned his chair to face his ship's newest guest. He looked at the reptilian visitor with eyes the color of frozen steel.

"Welcome to the bridge, Dasa Vaisha," he said, "you should know that everyone on this ship has survived multiple encounters with various hostile life forms. For example," he stands up, walks toward the new comer, and clasps his hands behind his back, "the Internecivus Raptus (http://www2.hh.se/staff/saag/GameWallpapers/Alien%20Resurrection.jpg) hive on Fury 365 was dealt with by this crew and that of one other ship. None from this ship were lost, but the other ship was infected and had to be destroyed."

Deck 2

Wes nodded, "You can go ahead and put your stuff in here. I'll show you the mess hall next if you want.

This ship, though the class was designed to have a crew of sixty people, has been modified to run with a crew of only fifteen people on board."

Bridge

"Isaac," said Dutton from his station, "we are being hailed by a Falcanian ship. According to the records, past encounters with them have not resulted in any treaties, but neither have they resulted in any conflicts. They want to join us."

Isaac turned around and said, "Send them a message with our co-ordinates."

"You got it."

Fleet Admiral Status Aran of the Falcania ship. The crew of this ship have not met you in person, but we have heard good things from those that have. You are welcome to join us. We are including our present co-ordinates from which we are observing a group of organic objects.

Tobias sits in his cockpit and watchs the trail when he picks up the Seaquestian vessel. Tobias knows they are an enemy of the Inter-Galactic Confederation of Deatharon and they will try to kill him if they detect him. He turns on the Cloak device that he worked on. The Antaran Raider cloaks for merely three seconds and goes off line. Tobias screams, "Darn it now I am dead!"

Bridge

The lights dim and turn red as alarms blare. Isaac turns and jumps into his chair.

He barks, "Report!"

Dutton responds, "Sensors have picked up a ship that the computer has flagged as belonging to an enemy nation. The ship went automatically to Tactical Red Alert. Shields are up and weapons are hot."

OOC: Keep in mind an Antaran Raider is a Fighter class ship really small and weak armor but decent firepower and really fast with average shielding and a cloak device.

IC: Tobias decided to prepare for the worst he was by himself with no back up agaisnt a much larger enemy ship that had way better armor than him. Tobias decides to send a message:

This is Antaran Raider code number 000571 of the Confed Space Navy, We would like you to identify yourself over.

Tobias hoped to give the impression that he was a scout for a much larger Task force of Deatharon ships.

IC: Isaac sent a response.

This is the Freedom's Ransom, a Sabrewolf class escort. Isaac McFly in command. Adventure is our business. What's yours?

OOC: Here is a pic of the Sabrewolf class escort.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b140/SFShadowPhoenix/Ships/sabrewolf1.jpg
Also, a Imperial SeaQuestion vessal would have the I.S.S. prefix before the name.

Tobias sends a responds:


I am a Scout for the 3rd Confed Space Fleet under Fleet Marshal Sarin. My orders are to report of any enemy activity and hunt down the supposed Alien insect problem.

Tobias was lying through his teeth he was not even in the 3rd Fleet he wanted to hide the fact he was in the Armada that battled the Seaquestian and Abh Fleets.

Isaac smiled. Not being a military man, he had spent his life exploring the universe. He decided to stall for time and keep the comm channel open while the computer ran an analysis of the Deatharon man's voice pattern.

And how much experience have you had hunting problem xenomorphs down? We have a stuffed and mounted Queen Internecivus Raptus in our trophy room. We had to fight through the entire hive to get it.

Tobias replies:

I have fought agaisnt Tyranid during the Republic Wars back when Deatharon was an Empire under Emperor Akarth Von Antheron, I think I have plenty of experience with dealing with hostile bug like aliens.

Tobias was working on the cloak as he talked he thinks he found the problem and nearly has it repaired,

Isaac leans foward.

And what are these "Tyranid" like? The Internecivus Raptus is a species that can think. The Queen makes the big decisions, but the Drones are able to think for themselves. Did I mention that Internecivus Raptus reproduces by planting an egg in a person's chest cavity? The egg hatches while the host is still alive.

Tobias responds:

The Tyranid would attack in massive swarms devouring entire planets and leaving them as nothing but barren rocks. They attacked in large Hivefleets that think and plan strageties with a giant Hivemind they are relentless and can take millions of causilties and still keep going without any fear, pity, or remorse..

Aran grinned. "We're on the way. Aran out." Comms closed the channel. "Comms, get some backup from FNHQ. We're going bug hunting!"

"You said that already, Captain," Remarked Psi-Lieutenant Craw.

"Whatever. Just prep the plasma drives."

"Going to warp 9, Admiral." Said the helmsman.

------------------------------

"Sir, we're arriving at the source of the crystal trail. FNS Howard and FNS Darkwing are in the system too. Both are refit Birds of Prey. We gotta lot of gauss aimed at those ships. But there are still plenty more of them," Ops said.

"What do you recommend, Mr. Craw?"

"We are evidently dealing with a hiveminded race here. Our Psichic Choir could influence the whole thing if we were to get into a synapse."

"Come again, Mr. Craw?" Said Aran, who mistrusted the use of Psichic powers.

"Basically, sir, if we can channel our choir's Psichic power through a synaptic member of the race, normally one of the larger, stronger ones, we could bring down the whole system from within."

"Gotcha. But first, we need a synaptic creature. Prep the marines. If it's big, tell them to wound it. In fact, you'd better go down there with them, Mr. Craw."

Isaac blinks. He was growing tired of this banter.

Deatharon pilot, it would appear that we have both encountered different species of xenomorph on our travels. Would you object to a temporary cease fire and a pooling of knowledge while this current threat is dealt with?

Tobias sends a Message back:

"Agreed, but techincally we did not declare war on the nation of Seaquest the war is currently agaisnt the Abh."

Tobias then recieves a singal from the High Command that is being sent on all military frequenicies. The message was that the High Command was going to try to forge a ceasefire with the Abh Empire.

Tobias sighs and saids, "Never mind that last comment. We are trying to forge a cease fire with the Abh."

Bridge

Deck 2

Wes nodded, "You can go ahead and put your stuff in here. I'll show you the mess hall next if you want.

This ship, though the class was designed to have a crew of sixty people, has been modified to run with a crew of only fifteen people on board."



Jessica walked in slowly scanning the room as she set her bag on the bed. She perked up at hearing about the mess hall. "Oh please do. I'm hungry."

She stops mid sentence with her mouth open and blushes a bit forgetting her manners. "Oh sorry...it's just that I haven't eaten in a couple of days and the food stuffs on my small ship are not that tasty. If it is alright with you, I would very much like to see the mess hall." She bowed humbly.

Aran raised an eyebrow.

(OOC: Like this: -_^)

"Are the Seaquestions here yet?"

OOC: It will be interesting to see your Psykers try and take control of the Hive Mind. I predict an Alzibeth Bequin situation. Psykers are inhibited by the Shadow; to plunge straight into the Hivemind is to invite lunacy and death

OOC: @Falcania: I am actually waiting at the co-ordinates I RP'ed sending you.

IC: Deck 2

Wes replied, "Why its right over here."

He walks to the end of the hall and opens another door. Inside is a smallish room with a single table in the middle, a screen on the far wall, and a couple food replicators built into the wall.

OOC: Here is a pic of the Mess Hall.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b140/SFShadowPhoenix/Rooms/pike-briefing.jpg

Jessica chews her bottom lip. She wasn't used to food replicators. It was more typical for her to have someone cook her food. "Ummm...can you show me how to use the replicators? I'm not really familiar with them."

Wes nodded, "As this is such a small ship, we don't have the room for a full kitchen like on larger classes." He walked over to the nearest replicator. "To work one of these things, all you have to do is specify what you want. It uses transporter tech to rearrange the atoms of some of the ship's stores into the requested item. When you're done, just put the dirty dishes back in here and they will be deatomized and added back to the ship's stores. I think an Abh menu was added in at our last visit to Emerald City."

OOC: It will be interesting to see your Psykers try and take control of the Hive Mind. I predict an Alzibeth Bequin situation. Psykers are inhibited by the Shadow; to plunge straight into the Hivemind is to invite lunacy and death

OOC: You forget, we only need to influence a synapse creature. Any Psichic damage will be taken out on the synapse creature.

Oh, and Seaquest? My sensors are fucked, remember?

IC: "It would appear so, sir." Said Ops. "Engineering reports they will have the sensors online in half an hour, sir."

"Hmm. Comms, open a channel to Seaquest. Request quarter on their ship while we discuss the situation with them." Comms complied.

OOC: Still unlikely to work :P It'll be nice to watch your psychic choir destroy its own minds. The Hivemind is insanity and lunacy for any Psyker who touches it; they hear it scratching in their minds. A synapse creature is a focus for the living will of the Hive Mind; and if it focusses; well; you'll get negative psychic feedback :D

OOC: @Falcania: You mean that your ship can't even tell where it is?

IC: Bridge

Dutton looks up from his console and says, "Isaac, we have recieved a message from the Falcanian ship. They are requesting quarters aboard the Freedom's Ransom while their sensors are repaired."

"How close are they?"

"Just within transporter range."

"How many can we get into quarters without doubling up anyone?"

"Let me see here... With our crew of fifteen, plus the Abh, that means sixteen rooms are currently occupied. With a total of sixty quarters, that means we can hold around forty-four more people."

"Ask the Falcanian's how many people they want to send over. I think it would be best if they sent a small group, just in case somebody else shows up and needs quarters."

"Transmitting....now."

OOC: I know where I am, but not where anyone else is.

Oh, and Necron dude? You use Psykers, I use Psichics. Difference!

IC: "Just me and my lovely bodyguard mates." Comms keyed this in. "Craw, ready to beam?" He nodded. The men were beamed over.

OOC: Actually I don't use Psykers; I use Pariahs, who inhibit psychic activity :)

Besides; your pitting a 'Psychic' (I assume you either mis-spell it, or use an alternate spelling' against, what is essential one enormous Psyker.

Also, I'm going to post here soon; kinda related to my attacking the Hive in another thread :) Mwah!

OOC: Time to introduce another crew member of my ship.

IC: Deck 3 - Main Transporter Room

"Welcome aboard the Freedom's Ransom," says the raven haired Asian women as she steps out from behind the transporter console, "My name Susan Lee. I am in charge of Sickbay on this ship."

OOC: It's Psichic. A mix of Psychic and Psionic. And it's not just the esteemed Mr. Craw, it's the entire complement of the Psichic Choir onboard the FNS Feather. All 200 of them. Plus, seeing as we're running through the mind of a synapse creature, no harm can befall any member of the Choir. Besides, maybe your Pariahs could inhibit the Hive Mind and help us?

"Greetings, Susan. I am Fleet Admiral Aran and this is my entourage." They all gave the Falcanian Salute, spreading wings wide whilst bowing slightly. "We must discuss this issue with all due speed. I would request that you please escort us to the Captain of the ship. May I ask, do the Seaquestion race have any Psichics or similar?"

Susan chuckled, "Isaac is on the bridge with another guest that arrived ahead of you. This way," she opened the door and proceeded to walk down the hall while motioning for the new arrivals to follow her, "As to your question about mental abilities, some of the species that make up the Empire have special mental abilities to some degree or other. Some members of said species are stronger than others. The one species that is best at mental abilites, rarely, if ever, leave the space they inhabited when the Empire came across them. Sorry to say, there isn't one aboard. Of course, they wouldn't fit either. As to those aboard this ship, I can't say. Never really had cause to ask.

As for your rooms during your stay, we have a few state rooms left, though most quarters on this ship are designed to berth multiple persons, four bunks in each, due to the small size of the ship."

"Four bunks should be adequate. Mr. Craw doesn't sleep much. One of the costs of having phenomenal mental abilities." Aran strode through the door. "Isaac. Since action in Talaax, I have watched your race with admiration. Your name in particular springs to memory. Good work." He stepped forward and shook hands. "And who is the apparition of beauty I see before me?" Aran bowed low and kissed the Abh lady's hand. "I apologise for not introducing myself earlier. I am Fleet Admiral Aran. And you are, miss?"

"Four bunks should be adequate. Mr. Craw doesn't sleep much. One of the costs of having phenomenal mental abilities." Aran strode through the door. "Isaac. Since action in Talaax, I have watched your race with admiration. Your name in particular springs to memory. Good work." He stepped forward and shook hands. "And who is the apparition of beauty I see before me?" Aran bowed low and kissed the Abh lady's hand. "I apologise for not introducing myself earlier. I am Fleet Admiral Aran. And you are, miss?"

OOC: Last I checked, Abh's character was on Deck 2 in the Mess Hall, Isaac was on Deck 1 in the Main Bridge, and you were on Deck 3 in the Main Transporter Room.

IC: Susan said, "Well, I can either show you to your rooms now, or would you rather meet Isaac?"

OOC: My bad.

IC: "I would be absolutely delighted to meet the esteemed Isaac."

The Immense Tombship appeared as though from no way; seamlessly materialising near where the signal had originated. A necrodermis hand stroked the countours of its command throne; as metallic servants moved silently about it; Pariah's guarded the doors, their warscythes gleaming; alive with dancing energy. He let a soft chuckle slide forth.

These wretched insects make fine meals; taking all life to one place; ripe for comsumption The psychic null about the vessel; generated by the vast amounts of Pariahs onboard; enveloped the entire ship as it pressed onwards towards the world; the psychic disturbance certain to be picked up by any Psychically attuned beings nearby; strange structures glistened and crackled within the vessel; their soul purpose to deny psyker ability on board.

" Bring us about; by my will. I shall watch and see who deserves the aid; the insects or the slave beings. I enjoy the conflict of lesser beings; it amuses me...But the hive...thing...must be ingested; bent to our will..."

OOC: Necrons, the Tyranids were already pushed off the planet, and they fled. They inadvertently found the plans, and just ditched the planets, eager to get the planets back to the homeworld.
IC:

The hive ships slowly started to move forward once again. They knew they were being followed, sensors probing them, and a few ships lurking just our of weapons range(NPC and PC). But that did not bother them. They were all pitiful compared to the might of the hive ships.

They did not jump to warp. The ships themselves were still healing themselves, but they were almost healed enough to make the long distance warp jump back to the hive system.

OOC: Falc. IF you plan to board, you'll need to pick a number between 1 and 5. The reason is, two of these hive ships have a full compliment of Tyranids, meaning if you got in some how, your men would be ripped to shreds in a matter of moments. The other three still have Tyranids, but to a much lesser extent, still holding a couple to a few thousand. The hive ships are large enough to sneak around in, inside a ship with only a few thousand Tyranids. I have pre-selected two numbers, if you choose one of the two numbers, than you will board(If you get that far) the one with the most Tyranids, and fail at your mission. IF not, you have a slight chance at getting to a Hive Tyrant, but there is still the chance that the Tyranids on those ships will find your men, and kill them. Be sneaky and silent.

Wes nodded, "As this is such a small ship, we don't have the room for a full kitchen like on larger classes." He walked over to the nearest replicator. "To work one of these things, all you have to do is specify what you want. It uses transporter tech to rearrange the atoms of some of the ship's stores into the requested item. When you're done, just put the dirty dishes back in here and they will be deatomized and added back to the ship's stores. I think an Abh menu was added in at our last visit to Emerald City."

OOC: Falcania, the meeting can be arranged later on though.

IC: Jessica walked over to the replicator and tentavly began searching for the Abh menu though there were other items that sounded tempting for no other sake than experimenting.

She finally came upon it and ordered a limeonade and a small bowl of soup. She did remember her manners despite her hunger and didn't want to order too much.

Jessica looked back to Wes as she placed her bowl and cup on a tray. "Aren't you going to have something?"

Deck 2 - Mess Hall

Wes said, "I am not that hungry right now. Though I am a bit thirsty."

He pressed a couple buttons on the food replicator and a 1-liter bottle of Pepsi materialized.

Deck 3 - Outside Transporter Room

Susan said, "Then right this way. The lift is right down the hall."

She led the Falcanian's to the door at the very end of the hall and opened. The group stepped inside the small, round room. Susan pressed the button for the bridge, the doors closed, and the lift began to move.

Jessica looks around at the fairly empty room and picks out a chair. She carefully sets her tray down and takes a seat. She looks back up at Wes. "Will you sit with me?"

Wes nods and pits the bottle down at the seat across from her. He begins to set down, but stops mid-way.

"Oops," he groans, "I forgot to get a cup."

He goes back to the replicator and has it materialize a cup before returning to his seat.

Jessica watches Wes come back to the table and sit down. She slowly eats her soup as she tries to think. "Ummm, why don't you tell me about yourself."

Wes leans back and says, "Hmm, where to begin... For starters, my parents were colonists on Fury 365. I was only ten-years-old when the Pilot ship crashed and unleased the Internecivus Raptus (http://www2.hh.se/staff/saag/GameWallpapers/Alien%20Resurrection.jpg). They overran the colony and took everyone as hosts. I escaped by hiding in the ventalation system. Isaac was the leader of the military unit that came as a response to the distress signal. They destroyed the hive, but it was too late. I was the only surviving colonist. As I was all alone, Isaac filed the paper work and adopted me. That was around twelve-years-ago."

OOC: Ah an alien fan. Sweet.

IC: Jessica visibly cringed. She humbly bowed her head without hitting her head on the table. "I am sorry. That was a foolish question. Please forgive me."

Wes shook his head as he poured himself a cup of Pepsi, "That wasn't a dumb question at all. If a person doesn't learn to live with his or her past, that person will eventually become a hollow shell. The entire xenomorph colony was destroyed. We even have the Queen stuffed and mounted in the trophy room of this ship."

Jessica could only nodd. "I understand." She looked down at her bowl of soup with half still left. She didn't feel very hungry at the moment so she continued to drink her lemonade.

Wes blinked, "Sorry if I made you loose your appitite, Jes."

The Draconic Order ships seemed not interested in a hunt, but in the material deposites of this artifical asteroid belt. Three Arcaniss Class Mining ships jumped into the system after about twenty minutes of scanning. The corvettes abandoned the cloud and began to retreat to the mining ships, taking up flanking positions around the new fleet. The mining ships, with their new escort, began moving toward the debris field.
Like giant vaccum cleaners, the surrounding pieces of hull began to slide toward the front of the three ships. Absorbed by the miners.

Almost the entire debris field was gobbled up by these mining ships within a space of a half hour (galactic standard), still without coming into contact with any resistance. Some pondered if the residents of the system gave a damn about the salvaging of their ships. But since nothing was hindering their efforts, they didn't complain. A couple more minutes and they could leave with their prize, enough materials to construct a whole new fleet.

Wes blinked, "Sorry if I made you loose your appitite, Jes."


Jessica looked up a little embarassed. "Oh it's not your fault."

She looks away thinking for a moment and then comes up with an idea. She looks a little sheepishly at Wes. "Do you think we could see the head of the Queen you mentioned?"

OOC: 4.

IC: Aran followed Susan into the turbolift, which blasted up towards the bridge. As it stopped, Aran stepped out.

Deck 2 - Mess Hall

Wes said, "I don't see why not. Its down on Deck 3 and is just a short lift ride away."

Deck 1 - Bridge

Isaac turns in his chair to greet the new arrivals to the bridge, "You must be the Falcanian group. Welcome to the bridge," Issac gestures at the main screen, "As you can see, we are currently monitoring the alien craft. If they move, we move. Once we have enough preliminary data, we will send a team in our shuttle over for a hands-on inspection."

Aran raised an eyebrow. "Inspection? Those are Tyranids. They'll eat you alive. The Psichic Choir onboard the Feather is working on getting a floorplan. Now, if they have any high-ceilinged rooms, they're done for. To my knowledge, none of them can fly, and anyway, aerial fighting is easier. However, we will need to get aboard. And then we fight. We haven't decided which craft to board, yet."

Jessica looked around. "So when can we leave to see it?"

She looks down at his drink. "Oh sorry. I didn't mean to rush you."

Deck 2 - Mess Hall

Wes says, "We can see it right now if you want," he returns the cup and bottle of Pepsi to the replicator to be dematerialized and returned to the ship's stores, "I love the fact we don't have to do dishes."

Deck 1 - Bridge

Isaac stood up and walked up to his feathered guests, "You would be willing to share any data you have on these 'Tyranids'? The most dangerous xenomorph we hav encountered is the Internecivus Raptus (http://www2.hh.se/staff/saag/GameWallpapers/Alien%20Resurrection.jpg). They use people for only one purpose, as hosts for their young. They plant an egg in the chest cavity. The egg hatches while the host is still alive. Very dangerous. Just one was able to decrew a scout ship that had accompioned(sp?) us to Fury 165 to take care of the Hive there."

Jessica giggled as she put her tray away. "Yes this is quite nice. Well, lead the way please."

Wes walked over to the door and opened it. He opened the door on the Mess Hall's immediate right. The two stepped inside and Wes pressed the button for the area of Deck 3 that was closest to the Trophy Room.

Jessica looked around on the ride down. "So what do you expect will be going on during this mission?"

OOC: Since everyone seems to be sitting around talking rather than doing anything about the secret plans, then I will spark something.

Sensors would have picked up something massive. Well, not someTHING, alot of thingS. Tearing from the warp, several hiveships, and dozens of cruisers ripped themselves free of the maelstrom. They appeared only an hours distance from the planet. Advanced escort sized Kraken sped ahead.

Immediatly, what remained of the planet's defense fleet, sprung into action. They were going into certain doom. The hive fleet was 5 times larger than the defense fleet in numbers, and the hive ships and destroyers were much larger, and well armed than the defense ships in size and firepower. Long range orbital defense cannons started to fire off from the planet. There were not many cannons firing, as most on that side of the planet had been destroyed by the first invasion. Even then, the orbital cannons do little, of nothing to the Tyranid ships, their prows boney and harder than any known steel, capable of taking an infinite beating on their fronts without breaking.

Radio chatted errupted from the radios. Screams of panick, tactical options were yelled back and forth. This went on for several minutes before something boomed over everything else...

"Plan B, repeat, plan B, evacuate the planet, I say this again, EVACUATE THE PLANET. The defense fleet will do what they can to stall the hive ships. We have no hope of saving everyone... but to damn and hell, we will try! Mercenaries! Instead of sitting around like you weren't given a mission, help our defense fleet hold them off, or escort our transports off the planet and to the proper hyperspace routes. MAy god save our defense force, and our peoples. Grand Admiral Harris out."

OOC: That ought to keep you busy.

Deck 1 - Bridge

The lights dimmed and turned red as an alarm klaxon began to blair.

Isaac returned to his chair and roared, "Report!"

"We are picking distress singals from the planet that was attacked. A new group of alien ships has arrived. They are requesting assistance."

Isaac orders, "Come about and set a return course, maximum warp! Take the ship to Tactical Alert. Prepare for strafing runs."

"Aye."

Isaac turns to his guests, "You may want to hang on to something."

He turns back around and closes the restraints that form the arms of his command chair. The ship makes a high-gee turn, every one not secure falls flat and slides to the other side of the room. The ship streatches to infinity and dissapears in a flash of light.

Half-Way Between Decks 2 & 3

The lift froze in position as the ship went to Red Alert. The two occupants were knocked to the floor by the jar.

Jessica rubs the back of her head with a sore look on her face. "Ow. What was that all for?"

Wes dabs a hand on the cut over his left eye where his head had banged against the lift's controls, "From the sound of that alarm, I would have to say we were going into a combat situation," he stands up and jumps, knocking a panel open, "Looks like we are going to have to climb."

Jessica grabbed him by the back of the shirt and dragged him back down. "Wait a second. Let me have a look at that." Jessica inspected the wound above his eye. She moved to her waist and removed the sash there. Her nice dress no longer exaggerated her nice narrow waist but that was beside the point at the moment.

She wrapped the red sash around his forehead so as to cover up the wound and she tied it off in the back. "There that's better. Let me know if you start getting dizzy."

The ships the Saxions once thought to be great war ships, were ripped asunder one by one. Wave after wave of infinite spines picked and ripped hulls apart. Fighters barely got out of their bays before they were hit by a barrage of huge spines.

After 10 minutes worth of fighting, only half of the two defense fleets survived. They backed off and sped back to their planet. They had only succeeded in crippling one ship, a Tyranid cruiser.... There were nearly fifty other crusiers, with twenty hive ships.

Evacuation was under way. Transports were over-packed, thousands of people crammed into every square foot of them, overflowing to where the bay doors crushed a few people as they closed. Not even 1% of the population were underway, when the hive fleet was 10 minutes away from range of the planet.

Stalled Turbolift

Wes said, "Thanks, Jes. Well, we better start climbing if we don't want to be stuck down here. Should I help you up into the lift shaft first or do you want me to go up first and pull you up second?"

Outside

The Freedom's Ransom dropped to sublight and headed towards the craft attacking the planet at full combat velocity. She came so close that she was nearly skimming the surfaces. All the while, her pulse phaser cannons were blasting away. The ship was designed for one thing and one thing only, combat, and she was built to take a beating while still dishing out a plate of smack-down. Also, being small, she was agile.

The ships the Saxions once thought to be great war ships, were ripped asunder one by one. Wave after wave of infinite spines picked and ripped hulls apart. Fighters barely got out of their bays before they were hit by a barrage of huge spines.

After 10 minutes worth of fighting, only half of the two defense fleets survived. They backed off and sped back to their planet. They had only succeeded in crippling one ship, a Tyranid cruiser.... There were nearly fifty other crusiers, with twenty hive ships.

Evacuation was under way. Transports were over-packed, thousands of people crammed into every square foot of them, overflowing to where the bay doors crushed a few people as they closed. Not even 1% of the population were underway, when the hive fleet was 10 minutes away from range of the planet.

((Twenty hiveships and around fifty cruiser classes! When did a new hive fleet form up? This fleet is way more then the current ships in the system can handle.))

The Draconic Order ships were already on their way out of the system before an organic cruiser class appeared in their way, jumping into the system as the wing of a much larger fleet. The corvettes broke away from the mining ships and charged, trying to give their charges time to escape. Particle beams and laser fire thudded into the thick hide of the cruiser, some of the energy was dispersed by the clouds of spores that formed a protective bubble around the organic hull. The counter attack smashed through the shielding on one of the corvettes, ripping a hole through three layers of armor.

Deck 1 - Bridge

"Isaac, we just don't have enough fire power to waste these."

Isaac responded, as he held onto his chair as the ship was rocked by the spines making glancing blows on the ablative armor of the fast manuouvering craft, "Arm the torpedos. And call in some support ships. We need some big guns here."

Outside

A pair of blue-white glowing Quantum torpedoes launched from the Freedom's Ransom and headed for the nearby organic hull of the alien ship.

It appeared at the battle as though from no where; hunting its organic prey mercilessly across space and time; the psychic nullification engulfing the vessel; seething through the void about it, as it turned, laboriously rotating to view the hive ships. They were mere organics; and when it came donw to it, they were frail; weak, limited. Perfectly ripe for consumption.

A low hiss of energy crackled forth; the sound of lightning on wet ground; the roar of tyrant thunder over the battlefield; as the nebulous vessel lashed out; arcs of lightning seething forth, hissing towards the enemy hivefleet. Flashes of green energy stained the void; tainting it with its very presence; as the Gauss Particle whip sliced forth against the foes of the Necron's Master.

Portals readied to open; waiting only for the signal of their God; who lounged, watching with a low glee. "Do it" He sneered.

Portals crackled into being on various Tyranid vessels; Pariahs and Immortals striding forth; scarabs pouring like a moving carpet about their feet as they surveyed the interior of the organic monstrosities; the Pariah's spun their Warscythes; and readied to cut; as the Immortals fired their first volleys of Gauss. A Destroyer hovered free of the portal, turning it's targetting arrays against the bio-organic fiendish enemy. Phase shifting around them, shadow, serpentine figures; fingers gleaming like so many surgical knifes; came the Wraiths; terrible icons of death and destruction...

Thus did the Necron forces make their first assault; and brought the meanign of Death to the Tyranid hordes...

OOC: It's to make sure things get rolling. This fleet is meant to win this time. YOu can attack the ships, just attack the outer laying ones, help stall them for the transports to escape.

The hiveships took the damage, taking minimul hits from the Draconic threat. But of course anything can be worn down over time. Hive ships were no different.

Then, the side of a hive ship exploded into an array of energy and light, as a Quantom torpedo struck the ship on its port side. Blood spewed forth, but was quickly stopped as it "scabbed".

But the real threat now, was the thing never seen before. The massive arcs of lightning, and guass rounds pounded on the hive ships, arcs cinging the tough hide of the ships. The standing up to the beating only lasted that far, before the green beams of energy hit the ships. The flesh and bone of the ships simply melted away. Destroyers desintigrated into nothing, only leaving the metal traces they carried. Immediatly the ships turned their attention to the great ship. Speedy Kraken sped a head to pick and prod at the ship to find weak points, destroyers started to flank the ship, and hiveships went at it dead on.

Inside the ships, swarms of Tyranids attacked the metal invaders. Many were cut down, but they kept coming. Tens of thousands on each ship, attacking the small teams in unison.

A raw blast of Gauss tore through several of the Tyranid horde; the hisses fadign as their flesh was consumed; atomised by the blasts of the Necron weaponry; Warscythes tore through the raging flesh of Walls and beings; scarabs writhed underneath; pouring into the dead; or up, plunging with scalpel mandibles into the underbellies of the living. A raw swipe of Tyranid talon and bio-weapons tore an Immortal apart; a Pariah breaking to it's side; even as ruptured machinery mended itself; fragmented crawling together, wires and necrodermis re-knitting itself; forging together once again; readying to stand. The destroyer hovered forward; firing, again and again at the oncoming tide; before being torn from the air; reaching up to fire one last defiant shot; before it was shattered....It did not rise again.

A Necron Lord stepped forward; swiping the air with it's clawed hand, swinging the crackling staff it carried towards the oncomign horde; an immense flash of energy surging forward, as it advanced, as unthinking and monotonous as it's servants; and cruel and unyielding as its master.

The Tombship continued to open fire, even as vessels approached it; lighting searing the void; gauss whipping forth to sear the flesh of the Tyranid race; a vast single life to be consumed...Let them come closer; let them draw nearer...

The Star Pulse Generator flared; a vast wave of energy surging forth from the Necron vessel; the C'tan upon the bridge chuckling lightly as he rose. " What better time for me to feed, than now? Let them come, let them die, let them feed my endless hunger! I shall bleed them dry till my cup runneth over"

Stalled Turbolift

Wes said, "Thanks, Jes. Well, we better start climbing if we don't want to be stuck down here. Should I help you up into the lift shaft first or do you want me to go up first and pull you up second?"


Jessica blushed a bit. "Why don't you go ahead and go first." With her sash gone, her dress was a bit more open and flowy. She really just didn't want Wes looking up her dress while she was climbing up.

OOC: You use gauss too? Sweet!

IC: Aran picked himself up. "Craw, we need to get back to the Feather. They'll have fixed the sensors by now. We need to get there now. Do you feel up to a Molecular Control?" Amongst the panic, Craw nodded. "Great." Aran and the team got in a circle around Craw, each touching him with a part of their body. Craw screwed up his eyes, concentrating, and finally screamed, facing up into the air. His whole body began to glow. The Seaquestions were looking at him strangely, as the Falcanians glowed and turned to dust. The dust gathered itself into a cloud and flew out of the wall. The cloud of unphased particles traversed the space between the ships almost instantly, and rearranged themselves on the bridge of the Feather.

Aran was giving orders, and the ship brought itself to bear. It drove straight at the nearest Tyranid ship, firing the gauss weapons. The depleted uranium nuggets the size of Volkswagens blasted through the air and whipped massive holes in the hull. The Psichic choir, minus Mr. Craw who was recuperating in the sickbay after his ordeal, managed to disintegrate the hull further. The former ship was now nothing but a floating pressurised hulk. The Feather closed further and prepped the landers. They flew out of the shuttlebay towards the largest gap, deploying 200 marines, led by Status Aran himself. The Psichic Choir were viewing the action through Aran's headpiece, ready to assist Psichicly if possible.

Stalled Turbolift

Wes said as he felt over the wall underneath the open panel in the ceiling, "Now where is that control... Ah, here it is," he presses something and bars slide out from their concealed sockets forming a ladder, "I almost forgot about that trick."

Wes climbs up it and pulls himself ontop of the stalled turbolift. He looks around and sees that the ladder is on the opposite side of the tube from the door to Deck 2.

Bridge

Isaac, not having the time to pay attention to the departure of the Falcanians, taps a few commands on the controls located on the arms of his chair.

"Targets locked, Isaac."

"Fire!"

Outside

A trio of Photon Torpedoes glowing a bright red-orange erupt from the Freedom's Ransom's bow launchers and slam into the hull of the organic ship amongst a hailstorm of Pulse Phaser blasts.

The squad cautiously scuttled through the hulk, occasionally blowing a flaming hole through a Tyranid. They reached a larger room, with a ceiling. A large gate hung at one end. "We must have reached some kind of containment room. Everybody up." He gestured and the entire marine complement soared into the air. "Craw, could you get some molecular control on that gate?" Said Aran into his mouthpiece. Onboard the Feather, the recently recovered Jon Craw began to conduct. The Choir began to sing beautifully, eyes closed but all focused on the screen on one end of the choir chamber.

Back on the hulk, the gate disintegrated. A giant creature with scything claws came out, and, detecting no Tyranids in the surrounding area, went beserk. The marines all fired down on it, until its body was a shattered mass on the floor. "Craw, can you detect anything inside it?"

"Hmm. Not much. But there are synaptic elements for the massive amount of control this thing needs. I can't get through to the hive-mind core, but I can get a location for the other synaptic creatures. There's a Tyrant just north of here."

"Got it. Let's go, detachment." They swooped down and ran through the corridors. A huge creature blocked their way. They all fired their gauss rifles, but the thing charged. "Shit! Shit!" Aran swore as he held his ground, pumping rounds from his gauss pistol. He grabbed a particle grenade from his belt and tossed it in the Tyrant's path. It exploded, the Tyrant tripped and fell, but rolled, and brought its claw round in a sweeping arc which sliced a squad in half. It absorbed another salvo of gauss, and swept through another squad. "Craw, we could use some Psichic help!" Said Aran, as another volley swept into the tyrant.

"Sorry, Status. It's synaptic properties render it impervious to Psichic interference, and Molecular control would be impossible unless we can wound it to breach its exoskeleton." Replied Craw from the Feather.

Aran swore again and threw another grenade, which had no effect either. The Tyrant had killed fifty men for no loss. Aran fired at the head's shell, which shattered into a million tiny pieces. "Go for the head!" He ordered.

"No!" cried Craw. "That's where the brain is. We need the brain. But now I can start Molecular Disruption." He conducted the Choir again. With this chink in the armour exposed, the Choir poured their Psichic skills into the head. The beast screamed a terrible cry, and the claws disintegrated. The crushing muscles atrophied, and the once formidable beast was reduced to an inert pile of flesh. Fifty men picked up the Tyrant, and made for the breach. The Genestealers, smaller minions of the Tyrant, had reverted to their old "programming" as it were, and spilled forward in a great tide of evil. The carriers had a head start, and the hundred remaining covered them in a futile effort to break the tide.

Aran ran out of ammo; he abandonded his gun and leapt forward, spreading his wings and soaring towards the hordes. Claws flashed on either side, the Genestealers' white and scything, the Falcanians' long, sharp and grey. The two sides engaged in a terrible close combat. The Genestealers were terrifyingly efficient and brutal, but the Falcanians gave as good as they got. Somehow, abandoning the modern entrapments and technology, going totally against their beliefs in technology over nature and fighting tooth and nail against the species bred for close combat. Aran was briefly interrupted by a comm message: Through the thick veil of bloodlust he managed to make out the fact that the Tyrant had got back safely. He kicked the genestealer dead, summoned the rest of his team and soared back. The genestealers gave chase, but it was futile. The Falcanians got in the landers and departed the hulk.

The grappling arms of the cruiser lashed out and latched onto the damaged corvette, tearing it in half. The corvettes swung around for another run, launching an ordanance of missiles into the carapace of the vessel.
The distraction was enough to give the mining transports enough time to jump out of the system, leaving three expanded blips of energy in their wake. As the vessels were clear of the system, the remaining corvettes completed their run and broke off at full burn towards the outer system. Their engines preparing for the jump.

OOC: Falcania, Lets see; one, I clearly stated my ships presence would be inhibited psychics, so you should have at least noticed or felt it; second; your men are on ships; as are my Necrons, with Pariahs who (shock horror) inhibit Psychic ability....Thirdly, you are posting alot of Azaha's losses there.4, Why is everyone ignoring me!?

Wow... okay... what just happened?

Ahem.

Falc, I kindly ask you to please redo all your posts having to do directly with my ships and tyranids. Change them by letting me have a say in their destruction/living, and if you can even get on the ship, let me have a say on how my minions react, whether your guys would be dead in 10 seconds of boarding, and/or how my creatures would react to some one trying to "hack" their mind.

Now then, there is option B. You contact me on MSN, we work out what might happen on my ship, civilly, then you may post a big long post about what ever happens, with my consent, and with my alterrations.

Thank you for your time.

OOC: Can we move this to an OOC thread and get back to the action?

Stalled Turbolift

Wes said as he felt over the wall underneath the open panel in the ceiling, "Now where is that control... Ah, here it is," he presses something and bars slide out from their concealed sockets forming a ladder, "I almost forgot about that trick."

Wes climbs up it and pulls himself ontop of the stalled turbolift. He looks around and sees that the ladder is on the opposite side of the tube from the door to Deck 2.


Jessica climbed up out of the turbo lift and looked at Wes. "So how do we get out of here?"

OOC: Arse. OK, pretend the following components of that post didn't happen:


The carnifex didn't come out of the chamber.
The hive tyrant didn't start attacking.

OOC: Or you could just not post his losses. I don't see those 2 things making much of a difference; so why not strip out all the killing and assuming that you made; and wait for Az to reply. And then maybe he'll reply to me.

Speaking of which, a big ship reducing hive ships to their constituent atoms and inhibiting psychic activity, really should get noticed...But should I use my invisibility for good or evil....hmm...

OOC: Ya.

OOC: Please take the bickering elsewhere you two. Its getting annoying.

IC: Wes looked around. "There," he pointed at a hatch almost level with the door to Deck 2 but right next to the ladder, "looks like we'll have to go through the Jefferies Tubes."

He walks over and begins to climb using the sockets in the wall that make it so the ladder can be in the shaft at the same time the lift is going by. He reaches the hatch after a little bit of climbing. He braces his feet on the ladder and reaches for the controls with one hand. He presses a few buttons and a panel opens up. He grabs hold of the lever inside and pulls. When the lever reaches nintey degrees, the Jefferies Tube hatch slid open.

Jessica hiked up her dress to her knees as she latched onto the sockets and begins to climb over to Wes. "If you look up my dress I'll kill you!"

OOC: this looks like a nice RP. is it too late for me to join in?

OOC: Falc, it would be alot easier if you just made a small short post about it, because I am really confused right now... just other things and this, would make it alot easier. Until then I am going to put off your post, just because I'm confused, and no personal offense meant. And SeaQuest... you don't have to read the OOC banter you know ;) . Pluto, it's not too late, it's never too late for anyone. And what do you mean NEcrons?! My hive fleet that was *supposed* to win is getting obliterated by your flesh killing weapons.
IC:

The hive ships had taken too much. This was supposed to be a simple take over of the world, but now it seemed many other ships, and one giant ship capable of melting flesh had intervened. TOo much was at risk to let the fleet die, so now they would retreat, for now.

Slowly, the remaining ships, some five hiveships, and twenty destroyers started to turn slowly back out to space, trying to escape the planet's gravity well before they tried to make the tear into the warp.

OOC: Falc, it would be alot easier if you just made a small short post about it, because I am really confused right now... just other things and this, would make it alot easier. Until then I am going to put off your post, just because I'm confused, and no personal offense meant. And SeaQuest... you don't have to read the OOC banter you know ;) . Pluto, it's not too late, it's never too late for anyone. And what do you mean NEcrons?! My hive fleet that was *supposed* to win is getting obliterated by your flesh killing weapons.
IC:

The hive ships had taken too much. This was supposed to be a simple take over of the world, but now it seemed many other ships, and one giant ship capable of melting flesh had intervened. TOo much was at risk to let the fleet die, so now they would retreat, for now.

Slowly, the remaining ships, some five hiveships, and twenty destroyers started to turn slowly back out to space, trying to escape the planet's gravity well before they tried to make the tear into the warp.
OOC: Thanks. Before I start, how far is Sol (the one with Earth orbiting it) from the fray?

Turbolift Shaft

Wes called as he started into the Jefferies Tube, "Kind of hard to do that from up here, Jes. I'll crawl to the first junction and wait for you there. Should be standing room in there."

Outside

The Freedom's Ransom continued to pound the organic ships with her quad of pulse phaser cannons.

OOC: Edge of known space, AKA, galactic rim.

Jessica grumbled as she moved over to the sockets. She climbed her way up and crawled to the junction point to stand beside Wes.

"Alright now where to?"

Jefferies Tube

Wes said, "Well, right now we are between Decks 2 and 3. We have to climb up," he gestures to the ladder behind him, "to get back to Deck 2."

Bridge

"Its like I thought, we just don't have the fire power needed to destroy craft of this size."

"We'll keep at it until back-up arrives."

"You're the boss."

Jessica looked up and then back to Wes. "Well lead on then."

Wes climbed up the ladder to the next junction. There he opened the hatch to one of the horizontal tubes. He crawls the few meters to the end, lies on his back, and kicks the panel covering the end onto the floor of the hallway outside. He then scoots out and calls back, "Looks like the hull hasn't been breeched yet."

Jessica crawled through the little crawl space. "Well that's a relief. Otherwise we'd be swimming through a vaccum right now. Where does this lead us?"

Wes walks a few meters down the hall and pries open one of the wall panels.

"In here," he says, "Is the emergency access ladder to the bridge."

He gets the panel off revealing a ladder that goes from the floor up to a hatch in the ceiling. He gets on the ladder and opens the hatch and pops out on the bridge.

"Come on up, Jes," he calls back down.

Jessica silently whined as she moved on to the ladder and began climbing up. "Why doesn't your ship have emergency generators for times like this?"

Wes replies, "The lifts are physically locked in place for safety reasons, not for a lack of power. You wouldn't like the results if the lift suddenly plummeted all the way down to the bottom of the shaft as power is diverted to combat systems."

Jessica gulped. "Point taken." She looked up the shaft some more. "Let's hurry up alright? I kinda want to get out of this shaft and meet up with the rest of the crew."

Wes helped Jessica finish climbing up the Bridge Access Ladder. Once she was up, he closed the hatch so nobody would fall down it. On the main view screen, one could see that the ship was perferming various gyrations to make sure that blows glanced off the ablative armor.

Wes said, "Welcome to the bridge, Jes."

Jessica thanked Wes for the help as she straightened out her dress. She looked around the bridge in awe. "This is quite impressive. You'll have to forgive me. I haven't been on many military vessels and this is the first time I've been on one from another nation."

Wes replied, "Not a problem." He walked over to a console and pressed a few keys. A panel on the near-by wall folded out to become a seat that face the main screen. "You may want to strap in, Jes." He pressed a few more keys and the floor below the console he was at rose to become a stool. He reached to the side of it and tapped the controls there. Straps of fabric with metal buckles sprung out of it. He looked at Jess, "Need any help?"

Jessica looked at the chair and sat down. She looked around at the buckles and blushed. "Ummm...can you show me what to do?"

Wes smiled, "Sure thing." He walks over and picks up the two straps that hang from the back of Jes's chair. "These," he says as he flips them over, "criss-cross over your shoulders and hook into these slots here." He then moves to third strap, "This one is the waist strap and goes into this socket over here."

Jessica grabbed the two shoudler straps and hooked them in. She then crosses the waist strap over and snaps it in. She smiles at Wes. "Thanks Wes."

Sorry guys, may have to end this thread for several reasons. Not many people involved, thread seems to be about lost anyway, and I am in the middle of a race change, Tyranids are going bye bye.

Sorry if this wasted your time, but hey, got your post counts up!

OOC: Can we at least bring in some big ships to blow the current alien ships out of the sky?

IC: Freedom's Ransom - Bridge

Wes nods, "No problem, Jes." He returns to his seat and straps himself in.

Freedom's Ransom - Outside

The ship darted from the side of the large bio-ship and started to target the smaller craft. Her pulse phasers laying waste to anything that got in her way.

Jessica smiled but it quickly faded as she looked around at everyone. "Umm...should I be doing anything?"

Isaac turned in his chair, his crew knew what it had to do and he was starting to feel like a fifth wheel, and said, "Young lady, the only thing either of us can do right now is to watch the show and pray like mad that none of those spines get a direct hit." He turns back around to watch the main viewscreen. "Wes," he calls over his shoulder, "you getting any readings back there?"

Wes punched a few commands into his consle, which happened to be the science station, before replying, "Not much. Just that those large organic ships are just to big for us to take out on our own."

Just then, the console that Sruvak was standing in front of exploded in her face. The Gorn was thrown across the room.

Isaac jammed a button on the controls on his left arm-rest, "Medical Emergency, med team to the bridge!"

"I'm on my way," replied Susan Lee's voice over the comm.

Jessica looked like she was about to be sick upon seeing the gore go flying everywhere. She fumbled with the straps and buckles finally getting loose. She rushed over to the fallen woman. Her face was cut fairly badly and her pulse was low. Jessica tore the lower part of her dress off and then chewed it in half so it could be used as a bandage. She wrapped the blue cloth around her head which immediatly began to soak up the blood.

Jessica knelt down on the ground and layed the woman's head in her lap to use as a pillow. She stayed there cleaning the blood off her face while waiting for the medic.

Susan stepped onto the Bridge through a door that led onto the rest of Deck 1. She saw Sruvak and rushed over to her side.

Running a medical tricorder over her patient, she said, "You just lucky that scaled hide of yours is so tough, Sruvak. None of these injuries is life threatening, though you will be off your feet for a few days."

Sruvak hissed, sarcastically, "Off my feet! Never."

"I'm afraid so," Susan replied, with a slight grin. She looked at Jes, after putting her tricorder away, "Care to help me carry her to Sick Bay?"

Jessica nodded her head. "Sure." She grabbed on to the woman's shoulders and helped carry her away with Susan.

Bridge

"Wes," commanded Isaac, "Divert the functions of Sruvak's station to yours. Get me a tactical view."

Wes nodded. He pressed the buttons that would transfer the duties of Sruvak's station to his and those that would bring up a tactical plot on the main screen.

Deck 1 - Hallway

Jes and Susan dragged the non-resisting body of the injuredGorn down the hall to the infirmary where Susan Lee worked. Susan jabbed at the door controls with her foot to open the door. They dragged the patient inside and hoisted her onto one of the bio-beds.

Jessica heaved the body on the bed and stepped back. She looked down at her once blue long sun dress. It now had blood stains on it and she looked like a pent house prostitute in a miniskirt.

She groaned as she looked at her dress. "Ungh...I just bought this dress and this was my first time wearing it. Now look at it. I think I'm revealing a little too much now."

Susan blinked. She said, as she applied anti-biotics to Sruvak's wounds, "Perhaps we could do a little repair work. My mother taught me her sewing skills, pretty handy in my line of work, and I happen to know a medical cleanser that also happens to be pretty good at getting out stains. All we will need are the pieces to put it back together."

Jessica smiled as her eyes lit up. "Oh that would be wonderful. She has my lower part to the dress and Wes has my sash wrapped around his forearm."

Susan nods. She says, "Well, I can start work on repairing the bottom right now as I've finished with the anti-bacterial cream," she pulls off her gloves, "but you are going to need something else to wear while I work, young lady."

Jessica looks at the ground sheepishly. "My military uniform is back in my room. I honestly don't feel like crawling back through all those spaces if I don't have to."

Susan says, "I may have some spare clothing in my office that might fit you. Just in case you were wondering, I keep it in there if I'm ever in need of a quick change and don't have time to go through the corriders to my quarters," she looks at Jes, "and I judge us to about the same measurements."

Jessica smiled. "That sounds just fine with me. Umm...I'll return them after I have them cleaned and I can get to my uniform if that's alright with you."

OOC: Dudes, I'm back from the hellhole known to some as Wales. *shudders.* Anyway, what did I miss?

OOC: @Falcania: Not much. RP seems to have shrunk though. So far, there are only two consistant posters, Abh and myself.

IC: Freedom's Ransom - Deck 1 - Med Bay

Susan nods. She starts to rummage through her closet. Remarks about items being too formal or too casual could be heard coming out of the door to her office. Eventually, she pulls out a simple ruby-red gown. The gown had ivory-white lace accents on the collar, cuffs, and hem. There was also a thick, emerald-green sash at the waist; the sash was attached to the front of the gown with descreet stitches and tied in the back to make a rather large bow.

Susan held it up and asked, "What do you think? I think it will go great with your hair."

Jessica smiled as her eyes lit up. "That looks wonderful. Are you sure it's ok that I wear this?"

Susan nods, "Go right ahead. Its a bit small for me, but I bet it will fit you just fine," she adds with a sly grin, "besides, its much better than a medical gown, and less revealing too."

Jessica's smile faded and was replaced by a small tint of red on her cheecks. "Your point is taken." She looks around. "Where can I change?"

Susan points at the other door in her office, "You can change in the bathroom. Its small, but their should be enough room."

Jessica walks into the bathroom. She unzips the back of her torn blue dress and lets it fall to her ankles. She steps out and picks up her new attire. She slides the ruby robe on and ties the ribbon in the back.

The dress accentuates her curves fairly well. She was surprised at how close to her size the dress was. She stepped out of the bathroom and looked at Susan. "How do I look?"

Susan sighs, "Lovely, quite lovely. You know, as it doesn't fit me anymore and seems to fit you quite nicely, why don't you keep it."

She opens the door to her office closest more so Jessica could see herself in the full length mirror hung on the back. Susan then retrieves the discarded dress and the strips that Jes had torn from it.

Susan opens a cubbard in the main sickbay area. She pulls out a large tub and several closed containers. She places the dress and the pieces in. She then opens the containers and pours their crystal clear contents into the tub as well. She wrinkles her nose at the smell as the agent goes to work cleaning the dress. She would get the sash later and clean it then since she didn't have to use her sewing skills to re-attach it to the rest of the dress.

"The cleaning process should take at least an hour," she says coming back into the office.

Jessica was in shock. "I can keep such a pretty thing?"

She walked over in front of the mirror and checked herself out. She twirled around seeing how the dress fit. She liked what she saw and smiled the entire time. She lifted the ends out and then let them fall back to see how the dress would move. "Thank you so much Susan!"

She looked at her new dress and then to her old one. "You know you don't have to worry about going through all the trouble of repairing my dress. I mean, you gave me this lovely thing. I can't have you work on something of mine after such a wonderful gift."

Susan smiled, "Don't worry about it, my dear. If I don't stay in practice, my sewing skills will dissapear," she started to walk to the main door, "now you stay here and watch our reptilian friend while I go get your sash. She's asleep right now as her Gorn body starts to heal itself," she adds from the door-way, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Alright." Jessica took a steel stool and sat down next to the patient while she waited for Susan to return.

Deck 1 - Bridge

Susan unwrapped the sash from around Wes's forehead. Noting the wound, she examined it before allowing him to go back to work. Head wounds, she knew, always looked worse than they really are, and Wes's injury was healing just fine.

Deck 1 - Sick Bay

Susan came back in a few minutes after she was done on the bridge. She placed the sash with the other dress fragments in the cleaning agent.

Jessica stood up from her chair and placed her hands in front of her at the waist. "How is Wes doing?"

Set'thiran chuckled softly; dematerialising; rematerialising by Jessica and the others; his form changed to a more...Humanoid form. His robes were not ornate nor gilded; instead they were simple; as of a simple traveller; and he bowed his head. "Hail and well met, noble friends" He bowed again. "I am Thiras; I flee the insectoid host that devours the stars. For seventeen score moons have I journeyed, and wept for long lost Irthican; my home of many splendid centuries; now lost beneath the wheels of tyrant time"

Jessica jumped up out of the way and ran to Susan's side. "What or who is that?"

Susan says, "I don't know."

She pulls her medical tricorder from its standard hip-holster and begins to use it on the new arrival.

She says, to the new arrival, "If you have any weapons, I suggest you lay them on the table and step away from them. I don't know how you got on this ship while the shields are up and Isaac will be very interested in how you did it," she turns to Jes, "Over in that cabinat," she points to one near the main door, "are four Zat'Nikatals. Grab one for yourself and bring me one, please."

It shrugged, instead of complying it turned to running it's fingers along the wall; ornately carved shards of Necrodermis; shifting and changing as he touched it, in place of fingernails. He let a soft chuckle escape his Necrodermal lips; eyes flickering. He still held his humanoid shape; but knew their little scans would reveal nothing. The superstitious, fear-driven monkeys had always possessed a certain difficulty in understanding true divinity.

"Isaac, who is Isaac? He glanced over at Jess and then to the cabinet. "You would threaten me with trinkets?" Sliding the robes off; folds pooling at his feet as though they were liquid, morphing and shifting; a formless Necrodermic pool; it quickly reformed, rising up to form a rough staff. He leant upon it; watching them closely; exposed flesh was dazzling; pale and beautiful; a simple adaptation of form. He glanced once again at the walls; at the place were they stood.

"Tawdry little technologies, aren't they...." He sighed softly; rolling his eyes. "Did you not notice that it was we who injured the alien foe? Did you not see them flee our great vessel?" The Tombship outside was draped in a shadowy field; the Necrodermis shifting and changing; temporarily forming features that hid their ancient legacy; their Necron'tyr origins. "I come here as an emmisary of peace; and you threaten me? This will not bode well, children of Terra"

Jessica stopped her approach to the cabinet after hearing that this thing wanted to discuss peace. She looked back at Susan. "What do you want me to do and what is a child of Terra?"

"How terribly ignorant of you; you seem Human...yet you claim not to hail from hallowed Terra? Terra. Earth." Poor pathetic lost children; wandering in the void without leadership or hope. This did not bode well for man; a divided offering for a vengeful god.

" You can begin by introducing yourself, and these others. Your prattle bores me now; your technology interests me; but your paltry flesh offends me. You bear the scent of ignorance and dis-interest" Rolling it's eyes, tittering as it moved to the other side of the room. "We fled the insects and hunted their foul get here; we are a refugee population; Indeed I fear I am amongst the last." He wished again to be in the embrace of psychic void; he could not hear these beings thoughts; and he knew he seemed cold, strange; soulless...He possessed no psychic power; only a frightening grasp over the Material Realm

Jessica shook her head. "No, I am not an earth dweller. My people were born among the stars."

She raised an eyebrow at his last remark. "Interesting how you find yourself superior to us all and yet are the last of your people. How is it that you are so high and mighty and yet you are near extinction?"

"Interesting indeed; is it not?" That wry laughter again; echoing about her. "One cannot help the tragedies of the past; to be wiped out by the venomous vermin of the stars. We fought them; sacrificed much, and you would mock us? We are arrogant and prideful, true; but we have reason. Worlds were once governed by us; a vast civilisation stretching across space. We have learned much; seen much...And now we are mere shadows of former glory. Baleful whispers of once, and future power..."

"Born amongst the stars, you say? Interesting...So man still has promise beyond his own little orb?" A tittered mockery. "Humanity is but a blink of the eye compared to us, to our, ancient and proud culture."

Jessica smirked. "And your eyes are about to be closed perminantly why others make their own history. I pity you. For someone that is interested in peace, you have a peculiar way of going about it."

"Are you threatening me, little girl?" He laughed. "You could no more close my eyes forever than you could find the place amongst the stars were your rutting bestial parents bore you from abhored womb" He turned from her. " We were young when the stars were new; we were worshipped and served; we were C'tan, Yngir...Words that mean nothing to you; words lost to your kin." He sighed softly.

"How pathetic that such children walk the stars. I come here for peace; because I aided in the fight against our common foe; but your...Wretched manners do not ingratiate you to my kind. We are meant for finer things than this." And so it turned from Jessica; its flesh twisting away from her, and looked to Susan "Can you be more civil than this ape? I fear it knows not whom it offends" He sighed.

He had not survived the ravages of the Enslaver Plague, and the rigours of its concious and changed Kin, to be insulted at the hands of these...Lesser beings. He was a devourer of stars; of life itself...

Jessica smiled. "My you are quite defensive. Especially if you took that as a threat." She flicked her hand in disgust. "No matter. I have no patience for your kind."

She left the room and headed back to her chair beside Wes.

It shrugged, instead of complying it turned to running it's fingers along the wall; ornately carved shards of Necrodermis; shifting and changing as he touched it, in place of fingernails. He let a soft chuckle escape his Necrodermal lips; eyes flickering. He still held his humanoid shape; but knew their little scans would reveal nothing. The superstitious, fear-driven monkeys had always possessed a certain difficulty in understanding true divinity.

"Isaac, who is Isaac? He glanced over at Jess and then to the cabinet. "You would threaten me with trinkets?" Sliding the robes off; folds pooling at his feet as though they were liquid, morphing and shifting; a formless Necrodermic pool; it quickly reformed, rising up to form a rough staff. He leant upon it; watching them closely; exposed flesh was dazzling; pale and beautiful; a simple adaptation of form. He glanced once again at the walls; at the place were they stood.

"Tawdry little technologies, aren't they...." He sighed softly; rolling his eyes. "Did you not notice that it was we who injured the alien foe? Did you not see them flee our great vessel?" The Tombship outside was draped in a shadowy field; the Necrodermis shifting and changing; temporarily forming features that hid their ancient legacy; their Necron'tyr origins. "I come here as an emmisary of peace; and you threaten me? This will not bode well, children of Terra"

Susan scowls, "You appear out of nowhere on this ship while it is in a combat situation. What did you expect your reception to be like?

"As for children of Terra, bah, I'm from Altera as is every other member of this ship's crew. Including Isaac, the guy in charge of this ship."

In reference to the beings shifting form, she says, "And I've seen Nanites perform similar tricks as well as more intricate ones."

"And now," she growls, "I suggest you leave my sick bay and go to the bridge if you want to talk diplomacy."

"I wonder if your kind are always so curt, child of Altera. You bear much similarity to the superstitious sons of Terra; such fear and petty loathing. I'm sure you've encountered it; zealotry and conceit amongst the stars for a dead Emperor and a burned out Empire. Not like my get; who live and reign even now. A pity that the humans haven't progressed much further...I wonder if any have..."