NationStates Jolt Archive

Xiscapian System, moon of Kel, city of Someia, slums...
Sio turned over on his bed, eyes half open, staring with his head upside down out the shuttered window at the head of his bed. His orange ears flicked and his tail twitched, yellow eyes gummed with sleep, stringy, greasy brown hair falling across his face.
Dawn was coming to Kel, and Someia, not that you could really tell. Due to complex association with the sun and the proximity to its volcanic twin moon, Regalis, Kel was cast into an almost permanent state of twilight, orange skies and orange light. For a brief period of three hours the light would dim to a soft blue, and for three hours during the day it would brighten to a more yellowish color. They were now in the period just after what passed for night, and Sio’s alarm was ringing, irritatingly loud in the silence of his tiny apartment. He reached over and hit it, sending the device flying across the room to hit the far wall, already dented from years of previous ill-fated flights. The device smacked and fell into the dirty carpet, turning off abruptly and the quiet returned. Outside the window the street was empty, dirt cast as orange on the ground from the sky. A huge shadow fell from one of the four pillars on the outskirts of the city, stone structures named the Monoliths of Ash. Dubbed so for their color, the Monoliths had been there when the Xiscapians had first come to the moon, left by their long dead creators as the only structure to be found on the moon more then twenty feet in height.

Sio wearily dragged himself from the warmth and comfort of his bed, pulling on his clothes from where they laid on the floor crumpled from the night before. He looked at his state of affairs glumly for a moment. His apartment was small, about twelve by fifteen feet, and dingy. The only light was the one above his bed, but he kept it off, the light almost constantly outside illuminating the room well enough and his night vision serving when it was dark. Aside from the bed, the only furniture in the room was a rickety wooden table and an old chair. The walls were made of cheap plaster; the ceiling cracked and on the verge of collapsing, and the floor was covered in stains. A closet on the left side was half open, revealing the few clothes Sio owned and all his worldly possessions, several cardboard boxes full of miscellaneous junk. All the credits he had to his name, a mere six hundred and forty three, were kept on his person when he went out, because of the ease of breaking into the rooms in his building. Any burglars would find nothing of interest or value anyway; just a sad man’s last remaining things. Sio was a miner, contracted by the mining company Detritus Inc. to help in the excavation of valuable Guilda crystals. He still remembered, five years ago when he was twenty five, when the Korr war ended. Such a happy time, he had been one of the lucky few who had not served in the armed forced due to his hearing being significantly reduced at birth though a defect. His parents had been killed in the Korr war by an deadly, exclusively kitsune affecting disease the Korr had produced as a biological weapon five years ago, called by the Xiscapians, hayai shikyo, or Swift Death, for the speed it struck down those it infected. Now word, in this very system, had come of an attack by a mysterious, xenophobic nation known as the Calaverans. So Sio would sit on the sidelines once again, doing his part, away from the action. His uniform was that of a regular miner, gray with a brown helmet, more of an overseer to the droids that did the actual worker.

Sio took a moment to wash his face, picked up his tan katana, and then exited his apartment, locking the door behind him. He took the hall down to the lobby, where he gave a nod to the landlord and walked outside. Kel was never hot, always at a ten to sixteen degree range, Celsius (Fifty to sixty, Fahrenheit). The street was nearly deserted, no one was up yet except his fellow miners and most of those would either still be sleeping or already at the mines, so Sio had the street to himself.

Omega Base landing pad, just outside Someia...
Keiam stared straight ahead, unmoving as he heard the muffled sobs. A kitsune with tawny fur, blonde hair, orange eyes and a red katana dangling at his side embraced his weeping wife and six year old child. He wore a pilot’s dress uniform, with the insignia ranking him as Wing Commander. A fighter pilot, off to fight in the war. Judging by the way his family was dressed; they were upper middle class, unlike Keiam and most of the rest of Kel. There was no poverty, but your average citizen here was not nearly as well off as one on Xiscapia or one of the colonies. His father or grandfather was probably an executive in the Detritus Inc., a company which had a monopoly on mining on Kel.
Keiam was standing in full dress uniform, not a black hair out of place, orange eyes fixed on some distant, invisible point. His rifle at his side, the Marine felt a profound sense of envy directed at the Wing Commander. He had a loving family, status, wealth and rank. Keiam was just the soldier, standing in the background, nobody. This kitsune’s escort, who had not so much as glanced at him the entire time, like Keiam did not exist. And he didn’t, not really, in his universe. In anyone’s universe. Keiam had had to make his own way into the galaxy, mother ran off when he was young, his father an abusive drunkard, brother MIA from the Korr war, probably dead.

Keiam was shaken from his thoughts as a white shuttle descended onto the pad, wings folding, and ramp extending to the ground. The Wing Commander’s wife only cried harder, tears soaking his uniform as he kissed her goodbye and kneeled to his son, whispering some words of encouragement Keiam could not hear. The kitsune then rose, and turned, suddenly strikingly professional. Keiam saluted, and the Wing Commander saluted back, not seeing him as he strode up the ramp. The ramp was sucked back it, the wings folded outward, and the shuttle lifted into the air, hovering as it turned to face the sky, then glided almost silently away. The wife waved, even though there were no windows on the shuttle, and she and the child walked away. Keiam stood alone at the pad, relaxing from being at attention, slumping but still looking at the sky. Finally he, too, walked back into the base, back to the barracks for his off-duty time. Perhaps he would go into town, to the bar, the only place Keiam ever went when he was in town. Buying supplies on-base was much cheaper, and Keiam had no life outside of his military duties. Putting his rifle back into the armory, Keiam went to change into his regular off-duty clothing.

Spaceport, Docks…
Wire goes in, wire goes out.
Vix kneeled at the navigational computer core of the Field of Dreams, a merchant vessel used to transport supplies from Xiscapia up to Kel, pulling her red hair out of her face. She had been paid to fix the system, tinkering with the intricate A.I. and wiring hooking it to the rest of the ship. She pulled her white technicians coat tighter around her light clothing, a tan shirt, navy blue pants and black shoes. The ship was cool, colder then outside, probably to keep the goods fresh for the receiver. Technicians pay was alright, modest but enough to live reasonably comfortably on. With the amount of trade, ships coming from Xiscapia and now merchants from Alversia, there was a good demand for those in her profession, and Vix had required a reputation as honest and competent.

“Hey good looking.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop certain people.
Vix’s gray ears twitched and her identically colored tail swished in annoyance. She rose into a standing position to look coolly at her employer, a roguish Xiscapian named Gomi with probable smuggling connections. He waved a hand encased in a grubby black glove at the computer core, grinning, yellow eyes gleaming, sharp teeth exposed. “Done with that thing, yet?”
“Yes,” answered Vix, turning back around and fitting the cover back onto the core. “It is in operating at full capacity, and you shouldn’t have any problems with it for at least a few months.”
“Good, good,” said Gomi, eyes roving up and down her figure, obviously not having heard a word she had said. Vix put out a hand, having to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at his expression. “Payment, please.”
“Ah, yes,” he smiled, “here.”
Gomi went for his wallet, but his other hand came out holding a blaster. Vix stepped back, startled, but he fired, the Stunner racing across the short space between them and connecting with her chest, throwing her back against the bulkhead. Smiling to himself, he dragged Vix over to an empty room, where he tied her up and left her, whistling to himself.
OOC: NC, you have a TG.

OOC: TG Xis

Spaceport Docks

Stacey sighed as she finished her part of the work and went to look for Vix. Although she was only 20 years old, she was already a talented Technician, she had agreed to join Vix as both a partner and an Apprentice. She was still learning the ropes of what was a difficult profession.

She was short for an Alversian, only 6 foot in height though she weighed even less than a normal Alversian. Her black hair, arranged in a long ponytail that draped down to the bottom of her back, save for a small fringe, seemed to glisten even in the darkness of the ship.

She was wearing a figure-hugging white t-shirt that was too short for her, revealing a 4cm belt of lightly tanned porcelain skin between her top and her jeans. Her blue eyes were bright and full of life. She had been considered a beauty, even by the standards of Alversians.

Instead of Vix, she ran into Gomi, the Xiscapian they were working for. She didn't especially like him, particularly the way his eyes never seemed to focus on her face when speaking but on a constant scan of her slender figure and it made her uncomfortable,

"Hi," She said nervously, "I've finished in the back there. Do you know where Vix is?"

Gomi shrugged, eyes lingering on the strip of skin showing between Stacey's shirt and pants. "No idea," he drawled, "I came to the ship to find a note saying she'd finished with the nav computer and had gone out. No idea where she could be. But never mind her, I have something that needs looking at," he jerked his thumb behind him, "in the cockpit."
Streets...
Sio trudged along the quiet street, eyes downcast, head bowed. He looked up for a moment and saw the lights of the bar shining, even at this morning hour. The local bartender, an obese kitsune named Jax, usually had some tips for him. Where the prices had gone down, which mining foreman felt what, and other business. Plus he was good for a few credits, in a pinch. Approaching the bar, Sio's eye was caught by a kitsune in the alleyway between the general store and communications office. Among the refuse and dirt he was standing, a ciggerate between his lips, looking at Sio. He beckoned, patting his jacket. Sio was no stranger to streetside or illegal vendors, and this was exactly what the man was. Usually they had something for him at an acceptable price. Still he walked in warily, knowing that in this town, you couldn't trust anyone.
Bar...
After signaling the bartender and receiving his intoxicant, Keiam looked at his fellow patrons while he nursed his drink. The bar was as dim and dirty as most of this place, this moon, with only a few overhanging lights for human customers and scratched, battered tables and chairs. The drink wasn't great, a bar fight happened at least once a day, and you could get banned from town if a superior officer saw you there, but it was the only drinking establishment in town. Keiam was hunched over his mug on a bar stool, tail kept close, eyeing the kitsune, humans, and others in the bar. He kept his standered issue pistol close to him, in a chest holster.
Just in case.

Stacey looked at him nervously, saw his gaze fix on her top and subconsciously tried to pull the thin material down to cover a little of the skin. She then started to fiddle with her ponytail, something she always did when she felt very uncomfortable. She gave a small, shy nod.

"Okay. I'll take a look," She squeezed delicately past him, brushing against his thighs and distinctly aware that her tight jeans left nothing to the imagination.

ooc: hey there. since it seems the other thread is sorta dead, can i join this one?

Ooc: Tg, F.u.s

OOC: FUS, please TG me if you still want to enter.
IC:
Docks...
"Good," Gomi grinned as Stacey made her way to the cockpit. However, on the way, there was the room Vix had been thrown into. Here he took out the same pistol and pressed it into the small of her back. "Don't move a muscle, little missy," he growled, enjoying watching her stiffen and realize he had complete power over her.
Alley...
Sio looked carefully from one end of the alley to the other before he turned to the vendor. "What you got?" he muttered, head down, lips barely moving. The vendor was a heavy set Xiscapian, as dirty as the ground under him, wearing clothing that might have once had color but was faded and soiled to a grayish hue, his fur likewise. The vendor silently opened his jacket, revealing pockets inside bulging with stolen merchandise. Chronos, ammunition for illegal weaponry, second rate mini hologram projectors, spice and more. But what captured Sol's attention was the gray bar that the vendor had concealed inside the jacket, three spikes splitting open and sizzling with blue electricity. A stun baton. Sio stepped back, but not quickly enough. The stun baton impacted his chest, opening wide and stunning the kitsune with a burst of electricity that would overload his nervous system and cause it to shut down. Sio fell backwards, arms splayed outward, eyes closed, knocked out. The vendor stowed his baton and dragged Sio into the shadows.
Bar...
Keiam felt strangly sick, holding a hand to his stomach, tail drooping. He set down his glass, pushing it away from him as the bile rose. Leaning over the counter, he threw up, brown liquid spilling over the side to the floor as his body heaved out fluids. He only vaugly heard the sounds of disgust from the other drinkers, and sensed everyone was scuttling away from him and the expanding pool of sick. Keiam felt someone bodily lift him off his bar stool, supporting him under their weight, someone very tall. Keiam could not see the face, or indeed any feature aside from his saviors boots, because he seemed to be stunned, seeing only the floor. His feet dragged behind him as the stranger helped him outside into a waiting hovercraft. Keiam vaugly saw another Xiscapian, this one in a mining uniform, sprawled over the back seat before he was thrown on top of him and lost conciousness.

Stacey did indeed stiffen, feeling the cold muzzle of the blaster dig into her back, it's very touch sent a shiver through her body. The blaster was touching her skin just below the t-shirt and her breathing became quicker,
"W-what do you want?" She stammered in a frightened voice, "Where's Vix? What have you done with her?"

ooc: fair enough, Al.

ic:

Triton
Sitting on a bunk next to an elliptical porthole, Egen crouched low to avoid the conduits running above him. The glow from the ambient bio-etheric energy gave him enough light to read the small book in his lap. A passage leading upwards was his only connection with the rest of the ship. It was from this passage that a figure could be seen floating towards him.

"I thought I'd find you here," the deep voice of Marcus Jones, the Triton's Payload Specialist said as he drifted down. "The Cap's looking for you."

"Can it wait?" Egen asked. "I'm in the middle of something."

"No, not really," Jones continued. "Steph's acting up."

"I told the Captain," Egen began, "To go easy on her. She's sensitive."

With that, he left Jones to marvel at the book as he made his way towards the main compartment. As he reached the bridge, he floated over to his chair, located facing a bank of computer readouts and status screens. On the main screen, a picture of a sleeping woman was displayed. He reached for a small wire on the console and connected it to a small indentation at the base of his skull. Now hooked into the ships systems, he tried to find Stephanie and find out what was going on.

"She's made a real mess of things," the Captain, Mark Hyres said over Egen's shoulder. "I want the Nav-com back online ASAP."

Egen gave a dismissive wave and entered the 'office,' a simulated environment where he and Stephanie-the ship's AI-could interact. He found her VR form sitting comfortably in a leather chair behind a desk.

"Steph, time for you to get back to work," he chided, taking her 'feet' off of the desk as he circled around.

"I'm on strike until the Captain recognizes my rights as a member of this crew," she pouted, resting her chin on her hands, letting her red bangs cover her cobalt eyes.

"Look, I'll talk to him," Egen assured the zealous AI, "But you gotta give us back Nav-com control."

"Don't worry," she said, changing her mood, "I wouldn't have let the ship hit anything or go off course."

They spoke on and off for the next half-hour as Egen tried to broker a deal between Stephanie and the Captain. He was mostly successful, and in the end the Triton was back on course for the Omega base with its cargo of goods. The freighter had been all across the universe and took up any job it wanted. Privately owned, the Captain was mostly free of the constraints held by most Co-Op vessels.

ooc: if my freighter can't be going to omega, lemme know. i was just trying to find a location that wasn't w/ stacey and vix, according to advice from alversia.

Egen & Stephanie: http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa110/123cherrie/04.jpg

Jones: http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii5/Calculus88/Movies/Final%20Fantasy%20The%20Spirits%20Within/926125ff2.png

OOC: Another TG for ye, FUS

"Where's Vix? What have you done with her?"
Gomi simply grinned even wider and shot a bolt into the Alversian, tossing her to the floor like a ragdoll. He dragged her, like Vix, to the little room and dumped her inside. At that moment the entry hatch hissed open and the street vendor and an Alversian walked in, pushing a anti-grav lift. The Alversian, a rough looking tough who had probably migrated here as a loan shark, ripped the cover off of it, exposing the crumpled bodies of Sio and Keiam. They, including Stacy, were bound and gagged in the room, more of a closet barely six feet by seven. The Alversian got to the cockpit, while the vendor made his report to Gomi.
"That's four in all, boss."
Gomi shook his head. "It's not enough, but we can't risk anymore time in port, or the authorities will start sniffing around. They'll have to be happy with what they can get."
Base Omega...
The freighter was spotted on the station's sensors and a message rose up to meet it in the form of a young, male kitsune voice:
"Merchant vessel Triton, continue on your present heading and do not change course. The proper officials will be waiting to offload your cargo and make your payment. You have been authorized to land on pad B. Omega out."

Floating in space near The Space Port was a small cargo ship. The vessel was of an Alversian design and was drifting casually through the area. The ship was minuscule in comparison to the Philosopher-Class giants that made up Alversia's Merchant Fleet but then this vessel's mission was relatively less important. This ship belonged to a company from the Planet of Vexoscan. Vexoscan was not an Alversian planet but one of many where they kept garrisons to help maintain the peace. The planet was always one step away from a riot and only the Alversian Army could keep any order.

But that was of no concern to Edgar Patterson. He may have been Vexoscan but he thought of himself as an Alversian. Now he was trawling through the cold wilderness of space, harvesting gases vital to the Vexoscan Heavy Industries. It was a long and lonely job. One where the pay was low and the hours long. Patterson was sick of it, he wanted to leave and see Alversia, see the planet that kept his own peaceful, but he still had four years of his contract to live out in this barren wasteland and he counted down the days as ever.

Then a vessel appeared on his scope, Patterson stared at it and frowned. He had no idea what it was. He pressed a few buttons ans saw that it was coming right for him. Cursing wildly, he tried to swing the controls to avoid it. Too late. A loud thump was all he heard before he blacked out.

---

That had been six months ago and now Patterson sat and smiled in his vessel, now battered and smashed to look badly damaged. He saw on his scope that a vessel was lifting from the surface and he sent a hail,

"My ship has been badly damaged. I need assistance, quickly"

Then he sat back and waited, fondling the pin he had hidden in his right arm.

Triton

Preparing for landing, the rest of the crew had arrived from their various off-duty activities. At the Helm was the First Officer, Madeline Noblak. Across from her was the Triton's Comm officer, Kristoff Aruel. The only one's not present were the Engineer, Cora Starling, and the Payload Specialists-Jones and his apprentice Alyosha Davis.

"Roger that, Omega," Aruel responded as Noblak guided the Triton in for a landing.

From Egen's Operations console, he monitored the approach as he kept a constant vigil on the computer readouts ahead of him. Flickering to life, Stephanie's *hologram formed beside him, resting her 'hand' on his chair as she waited silently. There was a slight thud as the ship settled down into its landing struts, and a deep hiss as it came to a rest. The ship's engines powered down, and Starling relayed this information to Egen's console.

*for the record, I wrote this story long before GR Andromeda came out.

triton: http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb105/Yodiuahsa/Spaceship_for_Animation_by_Claevius.jpg

"My ship has been badly damaged. I need assistance, quickly"
The Alversian sneered as the message came though, preparing to pass the crippled merchant ship by. But Gomi leaned over the control panel, looking at the ship and listening to the distress call with a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Make course for that ship," he murmured.
The more warm bodies they brought, the more they'd get paid. And there was at least one warm body on that ship.
Omega Base...
On the rocky, eternally twilight surface of Kel six Marines standing in a line gathered around the Triton, anti-gravity lifts ready. Their commanding officer, a tall kitsune with orange fur standing at the door of the merchant ship in an officer's dress uniform, could have easily sent droids to do the heavy lifting, but he liked to make his men work. Naturally, this got a lot of thoughts having to do with "cruel" and "sadistic" superior officers. His boots were shined and he had the look of arrogant customs official plastered all over him as he clicked his boots with his hands behind his back, waiting patiently.

Patterson watched as a vessel came closer and closer to his own ship. He gave a villainous smile, the voices in his mind were relaying instructions even now and he knew what had to happen. He continued to fiddle with the needle before calmly slipping it up his sleeve. He waited for them to arrive.

Xiscapian Ship

Although smothered in bodies, Stacey turned over and tried to groan, which turned into a moan as the breath slipped around the gag in her mouth. She turned over again and saw Vix below her. She tried to speak but it again came out as nothing less than a moan. She couldn't move either her arms or her legs and she knew why as she squirmed under her bonds.

"My ship has been badly damaged. I need assistance, quickly"
The Alversian sneered as the message came though, preparing to pass the crippled merchant ship by. But Gomi leaned over the control panel, looking at the ship and listening to the distress call with a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Make course for that ship," he murmured.
The more warm bodies they brought, the more they'd get paid. And there was at least one warm body on that ship.
Omega Base...
On the rocky, eternally twilight surface of Kel six Marines standing in a line gathered around the Triton, anti-gravity lifts ready. Their commanding officer, a tall kitsune with orange fur standing at the door of the merchant ship in an officer's dress uniform, could have easily sent droids to do the heavy lifting, but he liked to make his men work. Naturally, this got a lot of thoughts having to do with "cruel" and "sadistic" superior officers. His boots were shined and he had the look of arrogant customs official plastered all over him as he clicked his boots with his hands behind his back, waiting patiently.

This was the part the Captain hated. HE straightened his cap and jacket, still starched from the last time he'd worn it. Preparing to unload, Jones and Davis waited patiently. In the control room, Egen kept an eye on the proceedings along with Stephanie, a dozen different images in front of them. The captain opened the hatch and stepped forward, manifest in hand.

Field of Dreams...
Vix and Sio were still unconcious, but Keiam had felt the effects of the drugs in his drink wear off. He was as bound and helpless as the others, but physically stronger and more durable. He pushed himself up against the wall, using the wall to lean on, and managed to stand. His feet were close together from the ropes and he wobbled, threatening to fall. His eyes landed on Stacy and he gave a muffled grunt of inquiry, before toppling to the floor with a thud. A groan of pain and frusteration followed.
Cockpit...
The ship attached to the half destroyed merchant vessal, a tunnel extending to the hatch. The vendor walked down the hall, stun baton ready.
Omega Base...
The officer stepped forward, bowing with a hand already out to receive the manifest. The Marines moved forward to prepare for the unloading as the officer straightened up and gave the data sheet a critical look-over. Under his insignia a name tag hailed him as "Derrk."
"It all seems to be in order," he said slowly, eyes continuing to scan for any error or suspicious cargo. He took his job very seriously, and would love to catch a smuggler or Calaveran terrorist on his watch. The cargo was standered: Food, ammunition, power crystals, paper, ect. "Captain, my men are waiting for your order to offload. If you'd come inside," he nodded to the barracks door, "we'll discuss your payment over tea."

Field of Dreams

Stacy could do nothing but press against the bonds on her ankles and wrists while trying to wake up her Partner,
When Keiam muffled at her, all she could do was look over her shoulder at him and muffle back at him while struggling again.

At the entrance, Patterson watched from the shadows as a Xiscapian walked onto the ship. He had a stun baton with him, not that that mattered. Patterson leapt at the man and managed to make a small cut in his wrist.

Field of Dreams...
Omega Base...
The officer stepped forward, bowing with a hand already out to receive the manifest. The Marines moved forward to prepare for the unloading as the officer straightened up and gave the data sheet a critical look-over. Under his insignia a name tag hailed him as "Derrk."
"It all seems to be in order," he said slowly, eyes continuing to scan for any error or suspicious cargo. He took his job very seriously, and would love to catch a smuggler or Calaveran terrorist on his watch. The cargo was standered: Food, ammunition, power crystals, paper, ect. "Captain, my men are waiting for your order to offload. If you'd come inside," he nodded to the barracks door, "we'll discuss your payment over tea."

"Sure thing," the Captain replied, falling in step as he gave a permissive wave to Jones and Davis. They opened the large cargo holds and started unloading. "Maddie," he radioed, "Keep an eye on things."

"Aye, Shorty," she answered, the only member of the crew allowed to use his nickname.

He nodded slightly at the ironic name. As a former military officer, he had earned it when he had been in his unit. Despite his 6'3" height and broad build, the name had stuck.

Field of Dreams...
Keiam moved his head around until the gag was firmly in his mouth, then bit though the grimy cloth, severing it and allowing him to breath more freely, and speak. He did not, however, inching his way over to Vix. She had awoken and was staring in terror, making tiny noises of fear, eyes wide. Keiam managed to kneel before her, looking from Vix to Stacy. "Try to bite though the gag," he rasped, voice gravely after the drugs. His sharp kitsune teeth managed it, but he wasn't sure if Stacy had the strength and sharpness to do so.
Merchant ship...
"What the fuck-" The Xiscapian clutched his wrist and swung the baton at Patterson with the other hand, the top opening wide to hiss electricity at him sizzling in-between the three blades.
Omega Base....
As the Marines began lifting the heavy barrels and crates, Derrk sat the Captain down in what looked like a break room, two steaming mugs of tea already on the table. Drinking in a refined manner, the officer looked over the manifest again. "Where did you fly in from?" he inquired.

Field of Dreams

Stacy shook her head and tried to readjust her position. She was terrified and a tears were starting to run down her face. All she could do was moan in fear and struggle against her restraints.

Merchant Ship

Patterson was hit by the baton and crumpled to the ground, but even as he did so, he smiled to himself. He peered at the wound on the Xiscapian's wrist and the small cut on his own finger. He had done the first part of his job. In less than 24 hours, they would be joined in Unity. The voices assured him that he had done well.

Field of Dreams...
Keiam looked at Vix, who had also been unable to bite though her bonds. She was as scared as her partner, and both cowered at the back of the room. Sighing, Keiam turned his attention to the fourth person: the miner. He was still unconcious, breathing deeply and evenly. No help there. Keiam considered their situation: The most likely explination was those who captured them were slavers, and they were bound for a Hutt somewhere. He and the miner as workers, the females as sexual slaves. The slave trade was nowhere to be found on Xiscapia or any of her colonies, and the penalty for being caught smuggling slaves, attempting to capture runaway slaves, or owning slaves was execution without trial. Most slavers stayed away, but there always were an ambitious few. The only way they would be able to escape is if they were able to hijack the ship en route. Once they were with the Hutt, they were finished.
Merchant Ship...
The vendor searched the rest of the ship, but he found no one else and nothing of value. He dragged the unconcious Alversian back to the Field of Dreams, and the ship detatched and took off. Gomi smiled to himself as the vendor tie up, gagged, and threw Patterson into the room with the rest, closing the door. The agreement was an astonding one hundred thousand credits per person, making the total amount they would receive half a million credits. Not a small chunk of change.

Field of Dreams

Stacy managed to squirm her way over to Vix and now sat beside her, huddling as close as she could. She was desperate for reassurance and comfort and so she sat and waited with her head on the Xiscapian's shoulder, allowing her tears to run into Vix's top.

Patterson was thrown into the same room as the others and lay limp, stunned to the world.

--

Already the Vendor was start to notice changes, voices in his mind. They would little more than a whisper, a background noise. But he would be aware of them, he would most definitely be aware of them.

Field of Dreams...
Keiam could only sit and brood, helpless to do anything about his fate, stuck with two useless females and two unconcious males. The other one, the Alversian, seemed to be a pilot of some kind. If they managed to get out, he could be useful. The ship shuddered as it entered hyperspace and Keiam leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes in dispair.
Vix could do nothing for her friend, even so much as murmur soft words of comfort or put an arm around her. Her own tears mingled with Stacy's, and she thought hopelessly about her destiny.
Field of Dreams, halls...
The Vendor, or Vendor as everyone called him, stalked though the ship, muttering to himself. Vendor had spent most of his life selling things, usually illegal things, like fake I.D., drugs, illegal weapons, slaves, and other goods of questionable origins and uses. Now that he had joined with Gomi he was in the business of selling people. The Alversian was an old friend of his, whom he had convinced to fly their little ship for the meeting and payment. Vendor shook his head wildly, dislodging some dirt from his hair, wishing the voices would go away.

OOC: Skip forward a few hours?

OOC: Wait for NC.

Meainwhile...

Omega

As the Captain chatted up the commander, the rest of the crew got to work. For Davis and Jones, that meant unloading the cargo, while others went about to duties better suited to being landed. Cora and Kristoff were walkeing about the Triton, monitoring surface abrasions and weathering from contact with micro-meteoroids and cosmic dust. As for the First Officer, Noblak was busy plotting the ship's next course, though there was no hurry, she was meticulous about her work.

Egen and Stephanie were back in the Construct, 'sitting' at a table in the middle of a grassy field. Both were immensly concentrated on the board before them. Egen had taught her to play Go at a fairly young age-for an AI-of three weeks, and Stephanie had become quite adept at the game. He moved a piece onto the board, effectively capturing her piece. She frowned and started conteplating her next move.

The last of the cargo was unloaded, put on anti-gravs, glided over to storage, unloaded and placed inside. The Marines bid the crew good day and trooped off to the berracks as the Officer came out with the Captain, handing him a small datapad. "This code, sent to the account show, will unlock your payment to be funded to the bank of your choice," he instructed.
Now that the Marines were gone, the base was almost silent and deserted again, a mournful wind blowing in from the rocky, desolate wasteland to the west.

OCC: Permission to enter? tg me Xscapia for any plot for me to get your guys charecters in.

OCC: nevermind got the TG Xscapia, thank you.

Sitting in a dark corner of space, sitting idly and quietly the Calaverian Observer Twilight hung. The ship was quiet and the Men and women aboard up to there normal duty's, be it animal walking, or fixing a leak in the ships hull. Her captain was Fleet Commander Morpheus, a rather dignifyed commander. His record wasnt very long, nor was it short. He had been in the game long enough to know the rules....there were none. He had three attempted assasination's on his head, for his position. He had killed all three of those officers, who acted like his closest freinds. But you had no real freinds when you were a Calverian, you were always spyed on, in the shower, in the bedroom...everywhere. The battle against the animals had only just begun, and the Calaverians werent winning the war. However there was good news, for they would be getting company in the form of humans and Xscapians. " No need to rush things.." the Commander thought, there prize would be arriving soon, and there would be no witnesses to the event. Humans were also an enemy of the Calaverians, seeing as they could be drawn to passion for the animals of the universe, not seeing that they were superior in every way. The Calaverians had a saying to themselves " To trust an animal, is to tape a grenade to your hand..." Those were the words of one of the most brutal GOU troopers ever in Calaverian history....Kash Wilson.

The Field of Dreams exited hyperspace near the Twilight, banking towards the Calaveran Observer and messaging it:
Calaveran Observer, this is the Field of Dreams with our cargo. Request permission to dock and unload.
Room...
By this point everyone had woken up, but there had been very little communication, no one outside of Keiam strong enough to bite though their gags. The door opened and the Vendor, now quite disturbed by the voices, cut the ropes off each of the captive's feet and forced them to walk, even though the circulation had been cut off, making even standing a difficult chore. He held the stun baton menacingly whenever any of them seemed to want to slow down or resist. The Alversian concentrated on piloting the ship while Gomi waited in the cargo bay. "Ah, our captives," he smiled. Keiam spat at him, while Sio only glared and Vix bit her lip and tried not to look at him, keeping close to Stacy.

Stacey remained as close to Viff and looked at the ground. At the same time, she was trying to keep herself out of view by cowering behind Sio. She knew how badly desired Alversian females were, especially ones as young as her. She was only 20. The tears were still running down her face and she was still squirming vainly at her bonds.

Patterson was smiling through his gag. He didn't care that he couldn't feel his legs or his hands. That was of no relevance to him. He smiled at the Vendor,
"You can hear me", Patterson was looking at him and communicating through the Imitator's link, "You know what you have to do. You know what you have to do. You will obey my commands. I am your Commander."

A message was sent back to the FIELD OF DREAMS.

" You have permission to dock, in hangar:1"

Morpheus licked his lips as fifty GOU troopers stormed and beamed into the hangar, rows upon rows of Calaverian fighters were also inside, the giant pure white hangar looked spotles. The ship had already began charging its plasma-ping at a slow rate. He awaited the arrival of his catch.

The Vendor spoke softly, muttering in a way that suggested he didn't know he was doing so. "You are my Commander. I will obey your commands." Gomi looked at him strangly. "What are you blabbering on about?" The Vendor seemed to give himself a tiny shake. "What? I didn't say nothing," he insisted, "millenium hand and shrimp!" Gomi gave a great roll of his eyes and said nothing, walking forward. He roughly pushed Sio out of the way and seized Stacy's face in his corse, scarred hands. "Hello my pretty," he growled, "too bad you will go to...them. Maybe we'll see each other." He grinned.
Keiam spoke up. "Leave off her." Gomi stiffined. "What?" he asked softly, dangeriously, "did you say?"
"I said leave her!" said Keiam, snarling.
Gomi turned on heel and struck Keiam across the face, throwing him to the floor. "You will never speak to-" The hatch opened and Gomi barely had time to compose himself before the outside was revealed, a chrome hanger filled with armed, black armoured soldiers.
Calaverans.
Keiam, even from the floor, saw them, and was horrified. Not them...
Sio flinched and backed up against the wall, and Vix moaned in terror.

The soldiers quickly ran up to the ship and past the merchants, they brutally grabbed the humans and Xscapians from the vessel, dragging the Xscapians by there hair, and some Calaverians threw in cheap shot punchs into there faces. " MOVE IT ANIMAL!!!" one GOU trooper shouted. Morpheus smiled on his holo-video seeing the event take place.

Stacy fell to the floor as Gomi let go of her and backed as far against the wall as she could. She crammed herself as far into the corner as she could, weeping in terror and moaning through the mask. She may have been young but she knew who these men were and she was not happy. Then they dragged her from the ship and she cried in pain and horror as she was manhandled across the hangar.

Patterson still looked as though Christmas had come early,
He was still in contact with the Vendor,
"This vessel is good. I want this vessel and it's crew assimilated. You know what to do. The Xiscapian and the Alversian will be assimilated and this vessel turned to our Cause. I will remain on this ship. Contact me when you have completed your mission"

"MOVE IT ANIMAL!!!"
Keiam managed to loop his bound hands over the head of the GOU shoving him and started to choke the man, face contorted with anger and fear. Sio and Vix were already being taken to the opposite side of the hanger. Gomi calmly walked up to the hologram of Captain Morpheus, smiling. "So, about our payment," he began.
Vendor nodded silently, he had his instructions. Even if he was not entirely assimilated, he could still be partially controlled, and it wouldn't be long until he was fully an Imitator.

Keiam was met by a GOU fist to the face, the man choking got up and held his throat " You will pay dearly for that filthy creature." Three GOU's surrounded him and kicked him in the ribs and legs before stoping and standing at attention as the captain appeared by hologram.

" Yes, about your payment...you have non animal lover."

The GOU's aimed five rocket launchers at the merchant ship, and there assault rifles came down upon the FIELD's crew.

Patterson and Stacy were dragged over with Vix and Sio to the hangar. Stacy was crying silently to herself while Patterson was still laughing to himself. The Vendor would soon have that vessel as one of them and, if he had his way, this fine ship would join them.
As they were manhadled, Stacy tried to stay as close to Vix as possible, she was terrified beyond belief, while Patterson calmly watched the event unfold on front him.

A GOU Officer walked up to Patterson and eyed him, he turned back to the silently crying girl and calmed her " Dont worry, everything is going to be just fine." he grinned and walked away.

Just fine my ass. Thought Sio, eyeing the soldiers beating Keiam. He looked at Patterson, who seemed to be laughing. He caught his eye and silently asked. What's with you?
Sio found nothing funny about their situation.
"Yes, about your payment...you have non animal lover."
"Now, now," Gomi smiled. "You can shoot me, and trigger a bomb to go off and blow up your nice chrome ship, or you can pay me, and we won't have to go though any of that nastiness."

Morpheus smiled " I think our shield's can hold the exposian inside, and second, I dont think you have a bomb aboard that peice of trash ship." He smiled, while an officer put a pistol to his head.

Stacy was not reassured by the GOU and, in fact, she edged even closer to Vix and cried softly into her shoulder, she moaned at Vix pleadingly as if looking for reassurance.

Patterson just watched what had happened and continued to watch the events. He was no longer laughing, although he no longer looked terrified either.

Morpheus's LT. stepped up and drew a pistol, he litterally pressed it against each of the captives heads, playing with there lifes. " Should I press the trigger" and he got to Patterson " How about you, you dont seem of any importance, or am I mistaken animal lover?"

Gomi kept his cool. "The entire point of a bomb is so that your sheilds so hold it inside, containing the explosion so the bomb blast obliterates your ship instead of venting, you stupid fuck. And are you really so foolhardy that you want to kill me and find out? Why take your chances?"
Vix had no comfort to offer Stacy, and she could only hold onto her like a lifeline, tears soaking her jacket, arms wrapped around Stacy's shoulders. Vix was afraid for her life, for Stacy's life, for the life of the brave soldier who was being beaten on the floor. Sio did nothing, he could not, so, like a miner, he waited patiently for new developments.

Another officer aproached Gomi quietly and handed him a case full of Credits. " There you go, now get out of here before something bad happens."

GOU trooper Radik calmy pointed to the prisoners " Hey, you animals are to follow me, try anything funny and you will find a round through your head, you get me!!!" he spit in the faces " You are nothing now understand, a piece of garbage in the wind, get used to it." he showed the sympathy of a drill instructor yelling at the top of his lungs, his face turned red in anger towards them.

Patterson watched as a blaster was put to his head and continued to stare at it as though it were something slightly interesting on the ground. He sighed and shook his head, unable to speak because of the gag.

Stacy simply moaned in fear, struggled against her bonds again and then just settled back to await her fate.

Gomi smiled. "Now, see, you can be resonable." He took the box and walked back to his ship, climbing aboard and telling the Alversian to take off. Another successful transaction made. But the Vendor, in some part of his naturally paranoid mind, sensed something amiss. So he opened a Probe fighter and hid inside, his Imitator instincts serving him well, as the Field of Dreams lifted off and exited the hanger bay.
Sio, Vix, Patterson and Stacy were forcibly marched with the Calaverans, Keiam being dragged to his feet, hit a few more times for good measure, and thrown along with them. None spoke or tried to make any movement.

Stacy was still trying to stay close to her Mentor as if she was going to help her get out of this. She was moaning in fear, pleading with her escort, with Vix, anybody who would listen.
However, Patterson was not happy and he was in furious contact with the Vendor,
"You have failed your mission. You have betrayed our brothers. Why have you not carried out your orders"

They were all lead to a room, with litteraly thousands of chair's plugged into a V-R room. Radik turned to them " Take a seat, you wont be here for very long, trust me" he pointed his rifle at them, then pointed it to the chairs, there were rows upon rows of other speacias in them, out cold.

OOC: TG, NC.
IC:
Sio, Keiam and Vix obidiently climbed into the chairs, Keiam only grudgingly and Vix only after hugging Stacy close for reassurance.

Stacy, having clung to Vix for dear life was forced into the chair and sat there, waiting for whatever the Calaverans had to throw at her. Her thoughts strayed back to her parent at home and she couldn't help but sob.

Patterson finally managed to speak up,
"Why are you putting me with these animals!" he shouted in anger, "why do I have to be lowered to their level? He spat at Vix, "Scum of the Universe!"

Radik grabbed Patterson and pushed him to the other side of the others " You will stay quiet, we have other plans for you." The others were forced into chairs, the neural link took over, they all appeared on a grassy field while a women in a white lab coat with glasses approached them.

SPACE

A plasma-ping set off, the whole ship shook at the awsome power of the weapon as it headed out towards the ship that had brought its prize.

Gomi counted out the credits as he entered the cockpit. The Alversian glanced up from the controls at the box in his arms, staring hungerly. "All there," said Gomi happily, "now if we'll just-"
The Alversian's eyes widened. "Massive energy signiture! Shields-"
The ship exploded apart as the full force of the ping impacted it. Once the beam passed though there was nothing left but spiraling debries.
Twilight...
Because, thought Vendor, if I had gone, I would have been killed. The Calaverans just destroyed the merchant ship.
Vix gave a tiny sob, her gag removed, and refused to look at Patterson as she was forced into the chair. Keiam looked ready to hit him, but was in no condition to, glaring all the way as he was plugged in. Sio merely sat passively, cooperating as the Calaverans shot his mind into the VR field.
Waiting.
As always.
OOC: Bye.

OOC: Bye.

"Very well" Patterson replied, "I have a new plan for you. You will perform your task of assimiliation on this ship. I want this ship for the Alliance"

Stacy said nothing and did nothing. She just sat and cried desperately to herself, looking away in shame from Patterson, He was an Alversian, yet he was treating his closest Allies as dirt and that alone would have brought tears to the youth's eyes.

Patterson stepped across and watched as the others were plugged into the machines. He looked delighted at their pain and anger.

Understood. The Vendor replied. Your command will be obeyed.
Vendor's disobeyance from Patterson's order had shown that some part of Vendor still lived and was in control, although this part was decreasing by the hour. Slowly popping the cockpit of the Probe fighter, the Vendor rolled out onto the floor, hidden by the fighter. The Calaverans had dispirsed by now, their duties down, and now the hanger was deserted. Vendor lay calmly as he dug though his pockets and took out a knife. Slitting his wrist, he smiled as the blood flowed over the blade, then put his stun baton, turned off, to his wrist. Blood coated the baton, ensuring that if he jabbed the baton at someone and pulled the trigger, blood infected with Imitator cells would spray everywhere. Placing the baton back under his dirty jacket, unknowing and uncaring of the huge mess of dirt and grime he was making on the perfectly polished deck, Vendor waited.
VR...
Vix and Stacy hung back, behind Keiam and Sio. Keiam was lying on the grass, staring at the sky, feeling too sore and bruised to move. His orange eyes tracked the women's progress across the field, however, and he licked blood off his lips. Sio was standing solidly off to the side, also watching the women intently. His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his tan katana.

OCC: remeber the crazy pet chick LOL

" Hey there little guys" she said patting each other heads as she walked by them. " My names Amber, DO YOU HAVE A NAME?" she said making them seem stupid. When she reached Keiam she ran her finger across his jawline.

"Mmm-mmm, bitch," said Sio softly, and she felt his blade at the back of her neck. "Even if you are only an A.I., I can still kill you in this realm. I may cut your head from your shoulders regardless. So back off, why don't you?"
Keiam just smiled at her, grinning with a mouth full of very sharp teeth.

Stacy shrunk away from the figure, afraid of even speaking to her or making eye contact, She clung to Vix for support and safety, as though she would help her escape from this nightmare.

ooc: sorry i've been away from this rp for a while. i'll try to jump in and keep it simple.

ic:

The Triton lifted off almost a soon as the Captain set foot inside, its thrusters moving it away from the moorings and upwards on a new course. Unloaded with cargo, the Triton moved lightly and more nimbly than before. Noblak plotted their course and turned the rest over to Stephanie, who would control the automated systems and take over if needed. Sitting back to wait for their next port of call, the crew left the bridge, with only the Captain to watch over things until his duty shift ended. Egen and Kristoff stood from their consoles and headed to the galley for a much-needed coffee break. Stephanie followed them, her holographic representation walking with them as the three discussed their next shipment.

They opened a hatch and entered the small galley. Already seated at the table was Cora and Alyosha. It seemed like the two (who'd been dating since who knows how long) had been sharing a 'moment,' so Stephanie cleared her throat to let them know they were no longer alone. As Kristoff began to make embarrassing jokes, Stephanie stopped in her tracks.

"Steph?" Egen asked quietly.

"I've got something on long range," she said slowly. "I'm not sure what..."

ooc: um, i was supposed to encounter something, right?

Amber began to backpeddle and her smile changed from nice to an evil grin " Bad creatures!!!" Fifteen GOU troopers appeared with electric stun sticks, and began to charge the kitsune that had the weapon.

"Hmmm?" Sio saw the GOU approaching and grimaced. Their stun sticks had far less range, and were far less lethal, than a katana, even if there was fifteen of them. But Sio was no warrior, and he suddenly regreted his act. Keiam, on the other hand, seemed to feel differently. He grabbed Amber, bringing her close to him, unsheathed his sword, and put it to her throat. "Any of you come closer and she'll have a second smile!" he growled. Sio was left standing in front of them. If the GOU didn't stop, he'd be forced to engage them head-on.

Vix cringed and dragged herself and Stacy back, away from the other two kitsune. "They're going to get themselves killed," she groaned.
OOC: NC, I think someone is begging to be captured. (FUS) Maybe they meet another, different Observer? Or even the same one.

A Sgt. Commanded " Private!", he smiled as he pulled out a 9mm pistol and put a bullet into Ambers head, splatering blood and brain over the kitsune. The other GOU continued to approach. The Sgt. Shouted " lay down your weapon, or face a very severe beating animal."

Keiam was shocked as he let the body fall, decapitated by the force of the shot. This really was the last thing he expected. Throwing down his sword, he nodded to Sio, who did so as well after a moments hesitation. The two then awaited their fate, regarding their captors with confusion mixed with hatred.

The Sgt approached him " Good, good boy." he said as he turned back to walk away, he then turned back around again and the GOU troopers began to beat both of them with stun sticks, aiming for the face and ribs. They were spat on and kicked. " You dont try that shit again animal you get me son!!!" the drill instructor shouted." as he socked Kiem in the face. The V-R was almost through with them, another femal scientist appeared and returend to the other's normal dutys, waiting for the beating to finish, after about 1 minute of severe beating, the GOU left.

Keiam was already bruised from before, and now he made a mental note to resist by less open means in the future. Sio was sporting a black eye, bruised ribs, and general soreness. Keiam, on the other hand, had both eyes blackened, was nasuated, had what felt like a cut lip, a heavily bruised nose and his tail hurt from being beaten down. He could barely stand, Sio supporting him as they watched the second scientist approach. The corpse of the last one was still lying at their feet, and Keiam grinned ferally, with blood stained teeth, at the scientist. Sio just kept his same, detatched, passive look, dispite the beating.

the new scientist named Lilly ran up to Keiam and grabbed his face looking at the bruises, she immediatly began to work on it, reducing the swelling was first. " Oh you poor little things, did you miss behave, you know to be a good boys and girls."

Keiam flinched but repressed his instincts that told him he should be chewing this ladys face off. Doing so would mean another beating, and she was helping the swelling. Besides, humans don't taste very good. Sio picked up and sheathed his sword, amazed that they were still allowing him to keep it after that stunt. Best not to question such things.

Stacy allowed herself to be dragged back from the battle that was about to take place and gave a small whimper of fright. She screamed in terror as the woman was decapitated then went back to sobbing as the others surrendered. She wasn't built for this. She was a Technician. So she sobbed with Vix, seeking comfort from her old mentor.

Patterson still waited outside the VR Room, calmly regarding the Calaverans. Soon he would have them all in his grasp as his little spy crept through the ship, doing his job and completing his mission.

HANGAR

A calaverian engineer was working on a probe fighter, no doubt it was a leaky egine line. He would work frantically to fix it, then he could go to lunch, his stomach growled and he frowned slightly.

V-R

The Chairs made a clicking and screwing sound then disengaged, the kitsune soon found themselves in a situation, red lights were lighting up the ship as alarms went off, Calaverian personal ran around, and soldeirs did as well.

Outside V-R

The Sgt. next to Patterson laughed as one of his comrades approached. " They think they are free" he cracked up " Silly animals."

Patterson gave a chuckle of his own,
"They always were stupid" He said as he held out his hand to shake,
"Name's Patterson. You?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

The Calaverian took the hand " Makil, Sgt. Makil." he smiled at the warm handshake.

As the Calaveran stretched forward, Patterson scratched at his hand with the pin,
"Oh my God!" He looked genuinely aggrieved at the small drops of blood that were running from the wound, "Sorry about that. Forgot I had a pin in my hand" He grinned and tucked it back in his pocket before taking out a blood-stained handkerchief,
"Here," he said, "Let me clean it up"

Makil thanked the man " Thank you comrade Patterson, things happen, I understand you had no intentions." He patted him on the back " You can stay in my bunk for the time being, this could be the start of a beutifal freindship."

Patterson just smiled as he wiped the wound with the blood stained cloth. His own blood. Imitator blood. By the time the two bunked up, he would be an Imitator and Patterson would have him under control and ready to partake in his mission, it seemed he had been landed on the perfect ship.

He looked around the corridor again,
"Thanks Comrade Makil, tell me, what crew does this ship have? It must be quite impressive"

Makil began to walk to the bunk-rooms. " Well, aside from military personal, the required crew that it takes to run this ship is less than one hundred, why you might ask, its because the ship is almost fully-AI ran."

"That is interesting" He said, thinking. A hundred crew was less than he would have liked but even so, it would be enough. A hundred crew and this ship, interacting with other ships. He could have a fleet within a few weeks and that excited him,
"That is very interesting"

Mikal shook his head, as some voices began to appear inside, but they were not very strong. They walked into the room " Well, this is my bunk, do yuo want top or bottom?"

"What the-" Keiam looked around, now excited. Something was going on, something big enough to make alarms flash and everyone panic. We've been found! he thought joyiously. Xiscapian or Alversian ships are here to capture the Observer and allow us to go free! He unsheathed his sword once again and began to cleave a path though Calaveran personnal to the doorway. Sio drew his sword and moved back to the females, standing in front of them. "Come on, now's our chance!" he hissed. Vix, eyes now dried and arms wrapped around Stacy, nodded and followed.
Hanger...
Vendor considered. So much easier for him if he did not reveal himself and still infected the man, leaving Vendor uncaptured and still alive, and one more Imitator on board. What he really needed was a cook or baker. Such a person would be able to infect the entire crew in a short time, putting a little Imitator blood with every meal.

But first Vendor had to control the man several fighters away. He felt around in his pockets and extracted a slightly crushed sweet, a tiny cake of sorts, and opened it. Dripping a little blood onto the cream on top, he mixed it to look like cherry, then, satisifed with his handy work, rolled it to rest behind the man. If all went well he would eventually turn, see it, and eat it, assuming it dropped by someone in the hanger earlier. Vendor had heard his stomach growl, and figured his plan would work.

VR

Small screens in the hallway observed the battle between the Observer and a small mixed fleet of Alversian and Xscapian vessels. The Observers shields came down and the Xscapians hailed them " Release your prisoners or face death." They were beamed aboard the bridge of an Xscapian vessle as the Observer exploded.

HANGAR

The enginner turned around and saw the cake, and looked around " You got to be kidding me" he thought to himself "SCORE!" he shouted and picked the cake up and began gobbling it down.

Stacy was delighted by the sirens and ran with Vix and behind the other two. She knew that the Alversians or Xiscapians had found her. Even now she could imagine one of the C-Class Dreadnoughts that she had seen from a variety of Merchant ships. She could see it pounding the Observer's shields. She could see the Marines boarding the ship and fighting their way through to the Prisoners.

--

"I'll take the bottom" Patterson grinned, "When are mealtimes do you know?" He asked.

Stacy was delighted by the sirens and ran with Vix and behind the other two. She knew that the Alversians or Xiscapians had found her. Even now she could imagine one of the C-Class Dreadnoughts that she had seen from a variety of Merchant ships. She could see it pounding the Observer's shields. She could see the Marines boarding the ship and fighting their way through to the Prisoners.

--

"I'll take the bottom" Patterson grinned, "When are mealtimes do you know?" He asked.


BUNK

Mikal sat indian style next to the bottom punk " Well, chow time is 10:00AM, 5:00 MM, and 9:00 PM. breakfast, lunch, and dinner my freind."

Vix and Stacy hugged each other, not in fear this time, but in joy. Keiam bowed to the Captain, snapping of a salute. "Sir!" he stood at attention smartly, covered in blood with his sword still out. Sio just turned and watched the expanding ball of flaming gas that had been the Observer.
Hanger...
Vendor grinned as the Calaveran wolfed down the food. Soon he would be theirs. Slinking away into the shadows, Vendor crawled up a handy ventaliton shaft.
I have got one, Commander.

The Captain saluted,
"Welcome to the Calliope" He grinned at the four, "What happened to you lot to end up on a Calaveran Warship?" He asked staring out at the wreckage of the Observer.

Bunk

"Glad to hear it, I'm starved" Patterson smiled, then he heard the report from the Vendor,
"You have done well. Continue to Integrate. Inform your new Comrade of his mission as soon as he wakes up"

OOC: TG, paddy.

The Captain saluted,
"Welcome to the Calliope" He grinned at the four, "What happened to you lot to end up on a Calaveran Warship?" He asked staring out at the wreckage of the Observer.

Bunk

"Glad to hear it, I'm starved" Patterson smiled, then he heard the report from the Vendor,
"You have done well. Continue to Integrate. Inform your new Comrade of his mission as soon as he wakes up"

VR

The whole seen dissappeared as they were brought back to the field, the doctor giggled, and the GOU laughed there sides almost splitting.

BUNK

Mikal scratched his head at the voices " Damn, i must be hearing things." he said to Patterson " Anyways, where do you come from?"

"Well, it all started-" Keiam stopped in confusion when the field lifted to expose the Calaverans. "Real fucking hilarious," Sio muttered, sheathing his sword. Vix cried out in dispair, sinking to her knees in sadness. Keiam was furious. "You bastards!" he screamed, brandishing his sword. "I'll kill you all!"
Vent shafts...
Vendor crawled though, seeing light spilling from one of the grates. He scrambled up to it and saw a mess hall, filled with eating and talking GOU and other crew, about twenty-five he'd say.
Perfect.
OOC: Don't forget to RP the Calaveran from the hanger!

"Well, it all started-" Keiam stopped in confusion when the field lifted to expose the Calaverans. "Real fucking hilarious," Sio muttered, sheathing his sword. Vix cried out in dispair, sinking to her knees in sadness. Keiam was furious. "You bastards!" he screamed, brandishing his sword. "I'll kill you all!"
Vent shafts...
Vendor crawled though, seeing light spilling from one of the grates. He scrambled up to it and saw a mess hall, filled with eating and talking GOU and other crew, about twenty-five he'd say.
Perfect.
OOC: Don't forget to RP the Calaveran from the hanger!

OCC: Yes mother

The GOU still laughed at the kitsune and replyed " Cmon, you should have seen the look on your snout animal hahah" they fingerd there weapons incase

Hangar

The man was in the mess hall with his comrades, chowing down, and drinking a big glass of milk.

"Me?" Patterson asked, "I'm from a planet not far from Alversia, a real cesspit. I hated it. What about you?" She asked grinning.

--

Stacy just moaned and fell back to the ground, whimpering in fear. So near yet so far/

Makil replied " Of course Celesits, what did you think " he laughed lightly.

OOC: That's right. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out. Don't matter to me, 'cause I'll make another one just like ya.
IC:
Keiam brought his sword up and made as though to lunge at the Calaverans, but Sio grabbed him by the shoulders, swinging him around to face him. "Don't," Sio murmured, sheathing Keiam's blade for him, "they might kill you this time."
Vent Shaft...
Grinning to himself, Vendor readied his stun baton. He had figured the holes in the grate were just wide enough, and the noise level just loud enough, that if he fired off the baton, sending infected blood flying in scattered droplets across the cafeteria, it should infected at least a few GOU. He placed it next to the grate and pulled the trigger, watching in pleasure as blood sprayed across the room, almost invisible unless one was watching and knew what to look for.

"Of course," Patterson nodded, "Say, can you hear voices?" The process should be nearly complete, he should have control of the Calaveran by now.

OOC: BUMP for NC. :rolleyes:

OOC: That's right. I brought you into this world, and I can take you out. Don't matter to me, 'cause I'll make another one just like ya.
IC:
Keiam brought his sword up and made as though to lunge at the Calaverans, but Sio grabbed him by the shoulders, swinging him around to face him. "Don't," Sio murmured, sheathing his own blade, "they might kill you this time."
Vent Shaft...
Grinning to himself, Vendor readied his stun baton. He had figured the holes in the grate were just wide enough, and the noise level just loud enough, that if he fired off the baton, sending infected blood flying in scattered droplets across the cafeteria, it should infected at least a few GOU. He placed it next to the grate and pulled the trigger, watching in pleasure as blood sprayed across the room, almost invisible unless one was watching and knew what to look for.


Most people didnt feel the blood hit them in the spray and kept eating, others went to wash whatever it was off.

OCC:sorry busy.

Vendor grinned to himself and scampered away into the darkness of the ventilation shafts. In the cafeteria everyone was rapidly infected, Imitator cells beginning the first stages of their reproduction and eventual total assimilation of the host body. This was nearly a full fourth of the crew, and the infection would undoubtedly spread to the rest, not to mention the prisoners, bringing the entire Observer under Imitator control.
VR room...
Sio and Keiam both sheathed their blades and backed down, submitting to whatever the Calaverans did to them.

They were released from the V-R room and brought down to the mess hall, as a cruel joke they were allowed to keep there weapons and freely move about the mess area. Guards patroled in case they tried anything funny. Sgt. Makil was busy with biscuts and gravy.

The Imitator cells were reproducing happily in the gravy, sliding down Calaveran throats, perfectly inserted. Many of the crew would begin to hear voices, faint but there. Sio and Keiam looked around nerviously. Both had their hands near the hilt's of their katana swords, Vix and Stacy having been left in the VR room for some unknown purpose. Neither Xiscapian even wanted to touch Calaveran food, especially the meat, considering the horror stories they'd heard of what the Spam found on the Lenin was actually made of.

Makil wiped his mouth and went over to sit with there new guests " Hello, I dont know if i introduced myself, but I am Sgt.Makil, how was your experience in the vr?"

"How about I break your nose, crack your head open, disembowel you and hang you up by your balls? Then you might get some idea." growled Keiam, hand now resting on the hilt of his sword. Sio said nothing, merely examining the Calaveran as if he was an interesting specimen under a microscope.

Makil nodded with understanding " Ya, that must have been pretty bad..." The voices were now growing much more faster...he stopped for a minute" I..I have a headache."

"I..I have a headache."

"Oh dear, do you?" Patterson stepped up innocently beside him, "It must have been something you ate. I would advise that you lie down for a while, see if that helps" He gave a grin then turned to the two Xiscapians,
"Try the pie," He offered them a slice, "It's vegetarian"

--

Elsewhere, Stacy was still in the VR room with Vix and looking around frightened. She was scared but beyond the crying stage. She'd cried herself out.

"It's vegetarian"
"And what part of that spells 'good'?" asked Sio dryly. Keiam looked similarly enthused about said pie, neither kitsune wanting much to do with things that did not have meat in them.
VR room...
Vix huddled closer to Stacy, not saying a word but trying to lend comfort by her physical presence. She was finally in a correct state of mind, beyond fear. All she knew was that she had to get out of here, as fast as she and Stacy could. Vix did not like the unpleasant, somehow knowing looks the GOU guarding them were giving. But they had automatic rifles, there was six of them, and all Vix had was her katana, with only basic knowledge of how to use it.

They were also realeased from the V-R room and brought to the bridge, along with the others. Captain Morpheus was excited to see his catch of the day, and he didnt want to wait any longer. The bridge surveyed the endless reaches of cold space as they were beamed aboard. With his back to them he said " Of what planets and goverments do you hail from..."

"And what part of that spells 'good'?"

"Well," Patterson looked about light-heartedly, "If you want a Kitsune Pie, I can go and get you one. Do you prefer Male or Female?" He gave an evil grin and his hand strayed to the pistol at his side.

Bridge

"Uh..." Stacy was too terrified by the appearance of the bridge to say much and so she just stuttered in fear,
"A...A...Alversia, Sir" She said meekly

"If you want a Kitsune Pie, I can go and get you one. Do you prefer Male or Female?"
Keiam went for his sword, stopping himself as it was drawn halfway. Sio just snorted and gave an eyeroll that would have made an Alumina proud. "We're the only kitsune on this ship. You know what, we know that. We know you know that. I think you just get a kick out of being unplesant," he said as they were led away to the bridge.
Bridge...
Vix nodded. "Same," she said. Keiam just smiled slyly, seeing the Captain so near, within killing range. Sio, as usual, said nothing.
OOC: Be back in a bit.

Morpheus stared at the animals and nodded to his men, humans were seperated from the group and put on opposite sides. " Im going to explain what were going to do to you, Alverisans and Xscapians alike, but first I have a proposition to be made with the Alversians." He smiled slightly as one of his men walked over and put a hand gun out to each of the humans " You can join us, or go with them. But to join us would mean having the guts to kill one of these animals."

Patterson waved as the two were led away and gave a discreet and satisfied grin. He could already feel the entire crew starting to come into Unity and he was loving it. He was in contact with the Vendor and he congratulated him on his excellent work.

Thank you, Commander, thought Vendor is a self-satisfied way, but I couldn't have done it without your leadership. Only a quarter of the crew, including the Captain, remains uninfected, as well as all the prisoners. But that will easily be taken care of.
Even an Imitator knew how to suck up.
Vix looked desperatly at Stacy, she knew Stacy would not do it, but she was unsure about Patterson. Keiam thought If either of them tries to shoot me I will stab them. Sio remained silent and still. If he was shot and killed, so be it. His fatalistic attitude left him the calmest of the prisoners, most clear-headed. He knew if they hoped to survive they had to keep their eyes open and mouths shut.

"Ladder effect" Patterson explained telepathically, "Infect one of the Bridge and let it work it's way up. The Captain is top priority though." Patterson still continued to stare calmly ahead. He was as good as a Calaveran.

Patterson thought about it,
"Which one?" He asked calmly.

Stacy just cried in horror and shook her head,
"No!" She cried, "I can't. I won't!"

Morpheus nodded " I knew you couldnt do it animal lover....Choose whoever Comrade Patterson...whomever you please." Sgt.Malik was under complete control and had given the captain a drink...made extra speacial.

Already done, thought Vendor, so one could practically see the grin on his face. I see things are going well on the bridge.
Keiam glared at Patterson, daring him to take the gun and come forward. Vix shrank away from Patterson, praying he would not choose her. Sio just looked at him though dead eyes, wondering if the man had the guts.

"I know. I can feel the crew. Gather our brothers in the main hangar. We need to find what information we can from them before the process is complete"

"Hmmm!" Patterson looked from one to the other of the Xiscapians before finally snatching a bayonet from one of the Calaverans and stabbing at Keiam. However, he only stabbed his sword arm and kicked in the stomach at the same time, ignoring Stacy's scream.
He looked at the blood gushing from the wound while a small tickle of blood still stuck to the blade. It had belonged to the Calaveran and he was one with Patterson.
"I thought you wouldn't want one of your newest Specimens destroyed so quickly," Patterson reasoned.

Keiam grunted in pain, but with his other hand he drew his sword, the hilt smashing against the chin of the Calaveran and the blade singing outward towards Patterson. Vix scrambled away and even Sio took a step back, hand on the hilt of his katana.
Hanger...
Some seventy-two Calaverans were assembled with Vendor standing on top of a Probe fighter. All were loyal to him, and most were still undergoing assmiliation, indiviuality not entirely erased.

Patterson was able to raise his bayonet in time to parry the strike as he backed off out of range. Calaverans closed in on the Kitsune, his Calaverans,
"Transfer their loyalty to me" Patterson ordered the Vendor, "We will use one mind for now. You will obey"

We will obey.
Almost insantly the presence of the Calaverans was transmitted across the network of the Imitators to Patterson, lending him all their strength and soundness of mind. Keiam was buried under a pile of Calaveran bodies, his sword spinning away across the bridge to cut into a control panel. Sio backed up, turned, and ran out the bridge door, shoving a Calaveran to the floor. Vix was up against the far bulkhead, tugging at Stacy. "We have to go, now!" she growled.

Stacy just stared at the mass of bodies and gave a small nod. She turned and ran from the bridge with Vix.
Patterson watched them go,
"Get me those samples" He said without opening his mouth, "Bring them to me. Get them now"
The ship was under his command, it was an Alliance vessel now.

" We are one, we are the Alliance, We must continue our insurgency into this people for future generations."

Morpheus turned to Patterson " Celestis is far away, we will jumpin into hyperspace and wait for our coming, they will not expect us at all, we will go down to the surface and start to take the population"

"No" Patterson was firm, decisive, "There is still resistance aboard this vessel. We shall secure our own ship then head for Celestis. We shall also dispatch a small group of crew in escape pods to attract other Observers and have them join our cause."

Morhpeus read the ship stats " There are no escape pods aboard this vessle, the only way out is by beaming or landing the vessle, Calaverians dont want there men escaping destruction, so none of there secretes got out."

"We shall find some then" Patterson merely said, "Until then bring me those Xiscapians! We could use their expertise in the Alliance. This one has already joined us in Unity" he indicated to Keiam, "It will not be long before all are taken"

Morpheus nodded, already GOU troopers were began patrolling the ship for the Xscapians.

OCC:wait for X?

OOC: Yup

"This one has already joined us in Unity"
"Oh...yeah?" Keiam asked weakly as he picked himself up, blade in hand. He was weak, having gone without food or water for some time, beaten three times now, barely able to stand. He didn't know who these people were, or why they were acting this way. But he felt them.
The voices.
His sword was already unsheathed and, turning the blade to face him, prepared to stab it into his stomach.
Halls...
The Observer was strangely empty as Vix, Stacy and Sio ran, stumbling and racing away from the Calaverans they knew followed them. "Quick," panted Sio, "the hanger bay. There's fighters there, it's our only chance."

Patterson smiled,
"Go ahead," he said "Kill yourself. Or try it more to the point. You know you want to remain with us in unity" He leant against the wall, "I'm waiting."
At the same time, he sent a message to those under his command,
"Send a Unit to infect the Specimens, They will join us in unity and help us capture the Runaways. You will assist us" The last message was to Keiam.

Halls
"I can't fly fighters" Stacy cried desperately as she ran. There was something very wrong. There was no alarm, no Marines and no defenses"

We will obey.
Along the cells of the prison GOU and scientists walked, waiting. On the bridge the Calaveran hit a control and the cell doors sprang open. The Twilight had been busy before the Imitators got to it, but the variety of species aboard were disappointingly small. Korr-like Terranians, water-going hunter Aquarians, scaly Balderians and insectizoid Swarmites, seized and quickly imbued with Imitator cells. Some fought back, but ineffectually and they were soon brought into Unity.
You will assist us
"Sure..." Keiam gasped, positioning his sword to point at Patterson. "Right after your ski trip to hell." The voices were louder, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to rip apart the man before him.
Halls...
Sio looked at Vix. "Can you?" he asked, not even out of breath. Vix just nodded, too winded to speak. Sio didn't know how big the fighters were, but he hoped it could accomidate Vix and Stacy. Otherwise the Alversian would have to figure out how to fly really fast. They were mere yards from the hanger enterence doors now.

"You can feel the unity can't you?" Patterson stated, not all bothered by the weapon pointing at him, "You've never had anything before and now you have millions with you. We are a family, a unit, the one thing you want. The one thing you need"
At the same time, he sent a message to the controllers,
"Lock down the ship. Close all doors and seal all hangars. I don't want them to escape"

"You've never had anything before and now you have millions with you. We are a family, a unit, the one thing you want. The one thing you need"
Keiam was trembling, with anger and fear and indecision all competing for his attention. The voices were louder, and at times he thought he could almost make out words, encouraging him gently like the parents he never had would have, telling him this was the right thing. Drawing make his sword, he made to stab Patterson, but the combined take-over of the cells and his own uncertainly dulled his reflexes and aim, causing him to over adjust and miss, falling on all fours, the sword clattering away across the bridge. He panted heavily, tongue hanging, tail whipping fast.
Hanger...
The three entered to find the hanger empty of life, but full of fighters. Hurrying forward, Sio hit the button on one of the cockpits and the hatch sprang open. The inside was barely big enough for two small persons, Vix and Stacy. "Get in-" There was a hissing noise as an electrified shield came down over the hanger exit, and then a clang as blast doors dropped down over that. Sio and Vix stared, horror sprouting in their hearts.
They were trapped.

Patterson watched, a malevolent smile fell over his face and he leant down to the Xiscapian,
"This is what you want" He said, "This is what you need! Don't fight it. You belong with us, your brothers. We are one. We will help you. You will become strong."
He turned to one of the Calaverans,
"Scan the ship! I want to know where those Runaways are and I want it now! Bring them to me alive and untouched"

-----------

Stacy gave a loud cry in terror as she saw the door seal shut. She knew it was over. They would be gathered and ripped apart alive by the Calaverans, just to see what they looked like. She was trembling in fear at the thought.

The Calaveran saluted. "Sir!" He turned and his voice rang over the telepathic mind-link of the Imitators:
Begin scanning. Find the escapes, and do so quickly. They are to be brought to the bridge alive and untouched.
On the deck Keiam reached up and grabbed Patterson by the throat, pulling the Alversian Imitator down to his knees, face-to-face. He was smiling horribly as he felt the last control begin to dissipate, and he whispered these words, both orally and though the mind-link, as Keiam, as a person, was destroyed:
"The kitsune will come for you."
Then he shuddered and stood, shaking once all over then standing still, at attention. The Imitator saluted. "Sir!"
Keiam was gone.
Hanger...
Vix moaned in fear and began to back away, but Sio seized her by the sleeve, grabbing Stacy with the other. "Now is not the time to panic!" he hissed. "To the ventilation shaft! We'll escape!" At that moment the door opened and a squad of eight GOU stood there, rifles raised. "You three!" the leader barked. "With us! Now!"

Patterson rasped as he was pulled to the floor, unprepared for the sudden strike of the Xiscapian. Then he was released and stood up again, massaging his throat. He looked at the new Imitator uncertainly,
"The rest had better not be like you" He said aloud with a certain amount of distaste. He strolled over to the other side of the bridge and picked up the katana. He walked back to Keiam with the Katana and handed it to him,
"Who is your Commander?" He asked aloud.

Hangar

Stacy squealed in fright at the GOU's and tried to back away from them desperately. She was moaning in terror to herself, pleading, tears running down her face

"Who is your Commander?"
The Imitator looked uncertain. "I obey only you. I work to bring others into Unity for the furtherment of our great race."
Hanger...
Vix dove behind a fighter while Sio released Stacy, drawing his sword with a metallic ring. "Come and get us!" he taunted, florishing the sword. The GOU approached, weapons leveled, towards him. Sio charged, but two seconds later one soldier had his sword and two others were supporting him, arms under his armpits, feet dragging on the floor. A nasty purpling bruise colored his forehead as the other six GOU spread out to capture Vix and Stacy.

Patterson nodded,
"Then take your sword, Brother. Help us to to capture the Runaways. Escort them to me" he stated.

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

Stacy backed into the corner,
"Please," She begged, "Please, no,"

"It will be done."
Keiam turned on heel and jogged out the door, going down the hall to the hanger.
Hanger...
Two GOU grabbed Stacy and held her between them, manhandling her over to where Sio was being held, head lolling, half-conscious. Vix scrambled over a fighter to escape the three GOU chasing her, but she literally fell right into the arms of a fourth, who got her in a headlock until the others came and gagged the yelling, cursing, screaming Xiscapian and forced her and the others up the hall.

Keaim came walking down the hallway towards them. Vix struggled harder, trying to say something, but she couldn't though the gag. Sio managed to lift his head. He gasped weakly and reached out to Keiam, who smiled. His head appeared to explode, bursting into "combat mode", a horrid mass of tentacles and feelers and mandibles and teeth taking place where his head had been.

Stacy was gagged at the same time and could only muffle a scream through the gag as Keiam's head seemed to explode into a mass of tentacles. She fought to try and get away from them but it seemed the GOU were leading her right past them. She gabbled in fear and tried to put as much space between them as possible.

--

Patterson stood on the bridge and looked over a scanner scope, he looked up at one of the crew,
"Where is the nearest Observer?" He demanded.

Keiam walked alongside Stacy, if he still had a face he would have been leering. As it were the tentacles wiggled close to her, just barely seeming to brush her skin without actually touching. Then they arrived at the bridge and Keiam's head was suddenly whole again. He smiled sinisterly as the GOU led them though.

"The Observers Hades, Hercules, and Apollo are approximately eighty-two light years from our current position, in the Xiscapian system." reported a GOU from a nearby console.

"Summon them. Broadcast a distress Signal" Patterson ordered as he turned to face their three Prisoners,
"Nice to see you all again," He said calmly, "It has been a while" He gave then a nod of greeting.

The GOU nodded and typed into a console as the prisoners were brought onto the bridge. Vix's gag was removed, as was Stacy's and Sio's, but she spoke first. "Who are you? What do you want? What," she pointed a finger shaking with fear at Keiam, "is he?"
Keiam just grinned malevolently. Sio shook his head. Out of the frying pan...
Behind them the GOU turned around. "It has been done."

Stacy simply shrunk away from Patterson as he smiled,
"Me? I am Edgar Patterson, same as I always was. Except I now serve a greater purpose. I am one with everyone on this ship and they are one with me. We are sentient beings whose minds have been overthrown and remodeled for a greater purpose"

"So..." Stacy stuttered, "You're...Imitators?"

Patterson's head snapped around to face her, with a look at her face of terror he smiled again,
"Imitators? Yes...I like that...I like that name very much. Thank you ma'am. We are the Imitators and this is the beginning of a new Universe" He said it with menace rather than joy.

Vix just looked at Patterson, beyond fear, seeming to visibly shrink under his gaze. "And what are you going to do with us?" she asked in a small voice. Before Patterson could answer the GOU turned from his console to the Imitator. "The Hades has been destroyed, and the Hercules and Apollo have self-destructed." he reported. Sio waited without moving, barely breathing, apprehensive of what would come next.
OOC: TG.

OOC: TG? No TG

Patterson snapped around,
"What do you mean they've self-destructed? There must be a reason for that! Find it!" In the meantime, set a course to Celestis. It's time we introduced our joy to the people of the Calaveran Empire no?"
He turned back and started to walk up down between Stacy, Sio and Vix,
"I think it's time you were brought into unity with us" He said with menace them turned to Keiam, "You know what to do" He stated simply.

OOC: Sorry, composing took longer than I thought, only just sent it.
IC:
The GOU nodded and continued his work. Keiam grinned as Patterson spoke, and grabbed Sio roughly by the shoulder, forcing him to his knees. The Imitated Xiscapian drew a knife from somewhere, the blade wet with blood, and raised it to slice at Sio. Sio leaned away so far he fell onto his back, but he kicked his feet out and they connected with Keiam's chest. The Imitator staggered, and the knife fell to the deck. Sio tried to rise, but two GOU brought him back down, beating him relentlessly.

OOC: Replied

Stacy cried out as Sio was beaten badly by the GOU's and Patterson circled him as he was being kicked and punched relentlessly,
"You are a stubborn bunch," He said, almost to himself, "It's almost as if you don't want to come into Unity with us. Ah well, you cannot delay the inevitable. Hurry up and finish the job!" He snapped to the two GOU's standing over Sio.

Keiam had gotten back up and now held his blade high. "I'll do it myself!" he snarled, and plunged the knife downward towards Sio's left arm. Sio rolled, catching the foot of one of the GOU and throwing him into the path of the blade. Keiam accidentally stabbed the Calaveran though the back of the neck while Sio broke his cuffs on the rifle of the other GOU. They shattered and the man stumbled back, allowing Sio to take his weapon and shoot him in the chest at point-blank range.

The two GOU guarding Stacy and Vix on either side moved up and raised their rifle, but Vix smashed her cuffed hands against the forehead of the one beside her. He was clotheslined as he tried to run to Sio, falling to the deck with a broken nose. Consoles erupted into flames and threw bridge crew into the air as Sio opened fire on the entire bridge, keeping Vix and Stacy behind him.

Stacy watched in fright as the fight broke out on the bridge. Then she saw Keiam's sword break out from the brawl and Stacy picked it up. She held it in her hands for a few seconds as a GOU ran towards her. She slashed at him clumsily and watched as the blade dug through the armour and sent the man flying. She held the katana more comfortably then.

Patterson had vanished from the bridge, along with the Vendor.

The Observer was heading to a planet nearby in flames, the AI had given up the ghost and now it was heading for a fiery grave.

Most of the Probe fighters were now in a smashed heap on the other side of the hanger, broken and unflyable. Vendor went to one of the few remaining ones and tugged open the cockpit. Grabbing the pilot by the collar he threw him out, the Calaveran flying across the room into the hanger doors and being electrocuted to death from the shields. Climbing in, Vendor prepared for take off, looking for Patterson the entire time.
Bridge...
Sio dropped the rifle, the barrel hissing as the heated metal hit the cool deck. Bodies, GOU and bridge crew alike, lay dead around the bridge, sprawled on the floor or slumped over control panels. He shot off Vix's handcuffs, motioning them both to keep still as he watched the icy planet grow larger and larger of the view screen. "Don't touch any of the bodies, and make sure none of the fluids get on you." He told them, taking the helm. The instructions for flying the ship were clearly labeled, and it was only intended for a single pilot. "Take to the doors, and shoot anyone who tried to approach."

Patterson approached the Vendor in the open cockpit of the Probe Fighter and gave a nod of approval, he had one hand behind his back,
"Well done" He said aloud, "Very well done"
He whipped his hand around, revealing the blaster pistol he had hidden, he pulled the trigger and watched as a bolt of energy hit the vendor between the eyes.

Bridge

Stacy strode over to where the door latch was located and sealed it shut. She was walking with more confidence now, a burst of adrenaline was keeping her alive and she took one of the blasters that had been sitting in a rack nearby, checking it for blood before picking it up.

For an instant Vendor stared at the pistol. Wha- sounded in Patterson's mind, and then Vendor, like so many of the others, was gone. Blood splattered against the seat and Vendor slumped over in his seat, charred flesh getting flecks of skin a drops of blood all over the controls.
Bridge...
Sio's face contorted in a grimace of concentration as he tried to angle the huge, lumbering Observer to a relatively soft landing. In seconds they would be hitting the atmosphere, and then things would really get bumpy. Outside the bridge door there was the sound of clanging metal gloves on the door. "Open up in there! Open up in there!" came the voice of a GOU. Vix gave Stacy a worried look, holding a automatic rifle on one hand with her fingers wrapped around the hilt of her sword in the other.

Patterson strolled forward and threw the blaster across the hangar. He picked the dead Vendor up with ease and threw him from the cockpit and settled himself into the seat. Without hesitation, the Fighter burst from the hangar and vanished into space.

Stacy peered through the scope of the rifle and gripped Keiam's sword in the other. Even though he had been an imitator, it seemed his katana had navigated the events without being harmed and Stacy was fine with it. She calmly waited for the GOU's to come through the door.

One GOU by the name of Rick Johnson stumbled forward to the last fighter. By some freak chance he was the last survivor of the Twilight, unassimilated. But he had been cut by a combat knife while fighting his way out, and the assimilation was taking far slower than normal. Sometimes Imitator cells were met with stiff resistance by a body, and in this case they were making almost no progress. Rick shot a alien trying to escape in the last remaining fighter, jumped in, and took off. Unfortunately for him, the Observer entered the atmosphere at that moment, and the sudden influx of air threw of his piloting skills and sent the Probe fighter spiraling downward towards the surface.
OOC: Rick shows up later as the "first Imitator", aka the first one we see, in a different, now long forgotten thread.
Bridge...
There were a few more clangs at the door and then a sudden silence. Vix grabbed Stacy by the arm and dragged her away from the door, both taking cover behind a console as it exploded inwards. GOU poured though, some in the hideous combat form, and Vix sprang up and opened fire, strafing rapidly. At that moment the ship hit atmosphere and being unshielded it jolted violently, sending everyone off their feet to the deck.
Except one person.
In the hall beyond the door, Keiam's eyes glowed yellow in the darkness as he looked at the bridge.

OOC: What about Patterson?

Stacy fired burst after burst after burst from her own weapon before being jerked off her feet, she looked up at Sio as if to ask what the hell before taking advantage of the moment to fire burst after burst from her own weapon.

OOC: What about him? I meant that Rick was the first Imitator NC ever introduced into a thread, not that he was the first biological creature to become Imitated.
IC:
"WE'VE HIT ATMOSPHERE!" Sio bellowed, taking pot shots with his pistol as he desperately tried to correct the flight line of the doomed ship. A GOU launched himself at Vix but she brought out her sword in a single fluid motion and cut off his right arm, the severed limb spinning away across the bridge as it's owner slumped to the floor. The assault rifle spat lead and two more GOU went down, bullets in their chests. A GOU screamed, his head exploding into combat mode, and dove at Stacy under her fire at his fellows, intending to hit her over the head with the stock of his rifle.

OOC: Was the Alien he shot not Patterson?

The Imitator that attacked Vix sliced to pieces by Stacy who had picked up another assualt rifle and was now firing both, one in each hand. She was screaming and firing them at one target, then two then firing in wide arcs with both Assault rifles.

OOC: You said Patterson left the hanger in a fighter, and Rick came after he left, so, unless he possesses the ability to be in two places at once, he couldn't possibly be the one Rick shot. Besides, to Rick Patterson would look like a normal human, unless he was in combat mode, which I don't believe Patterson ever engaged in. The alien Rick shot was an escapee from the cells.
IC:
The last GOU charged while firing his rifle, and Vix was hit in the shoulder by a slug. It spun her around but she dropped her katana, flipped the rifle over to her uninjured arm, and fired on him. Stacy's twin streams of bullets hit him as well, and the Calaveran was propelled backwards out of the room to fly down the corridor, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

Only now did Keiam step out of the darkness. Vix pointed her rifle and pulled the trigger, but a little click told her she was out of ammunition, and that had been her last clip. Others surrounded her on the floor, but every one of them had blood, dry and wet, on it. Vix threw the rifle at Keiam, who deflected it with a smooth arm shield, and Vix picked up her katana. Even as she bent Keiam tugged out a pistol and fired. The bullet hit Vix in the knee, shattering the cap and sending her to the floor with a scream. As she fell she tossed her hands in agony and the sword flew from them to Keiam.

Keiam tossed the pistol away and caught the sword by it's hilt, looking at Stacy. Vix was badly wounded and Sio had to fly the ship: It was up to her.
"Foolish human," he hissed, "I have all the reflexes of a kitsune and the assets of an Imitator. You are slow and weak from fighting. Give it up, and join us painlessly into Unity."

The only sounds were the whimpering and moaning of Vix from the floor and the wail of the last few alarms Sio hadn't already managed to shut off.

OOC: Ah, my mistake

Stacy looked at Keiam with a calm face. She wasn't scared anymore. She was past being scared and now she looked on Keiam with a hatred unknown to any Alversian. She had been changed. She threw one rifle forward and pulled the trigger. It clicked. Nothing happened. It was empty.

She looked at it in mock fear,
"Oh No" She said sadly then pulled the trigger on her other weapon. A 2 second burst of fire came from it and headed for Keiam's chest.

Keiam threw himself out of the way, doing a cartwheel to the left, the bullets just barely grazing his right boot. He hadn't actually dodged them, the Imitator had been smart enough to recognize the signs before a person pulled the trigger on a weapon and had acted accordingly. "Yes, oh no." he grinned, flourishing with his sword. "Why don't you come out and play, little human? Or are you frightened of the big, bad Imitator?"
On the floor Vix gave another whimper and tried to keep quiet. Sweat was rolling down Sio's face as he tried to keep the Observer steady. The rumbles and bucking of the ship were nearly constant now as the huge sphere was buffeted by the atmosphere and lost chunks of metal and equipment off the sides.

Keiam threw himself out of the way, doing a cartwheel to the left, the bullets just barely grazing his right boot. He hadn't actually dodged them, the Imitator had been smart enough to recognize the signs before a person pulled the trigger on a weapon and had acted accordingly. "Yes, oh no." he grinned, flourishing with his sword. "Why don't you come out and play, little human? Or are you frightened of the big, bad Imitator?"
On the floor Vix gave another whimper and tried to keep quiet. Sweat was rolling down Sio's face as he tried to keep the Observer steady. The rumbles and bucking of the ship were nearly constant now as the huge sphere was buffeted by the atmosphere and lost chunks of metal and equipment off the sides.

OCC: Observers are piloted by a cord like tentacle that is inserted to the back of the neck, neural link ^^, i will take control of non-imitated Calaverians once you encounter them.

"Play? Why would I play?" She called back and launched another burst, this time she had not betrayed any signs of her intentions, her body language suggesting a terrified girl. Her actions being to pull the trigger and fire another few rounds at the Imitator.

But Keiam was no longer where Stacy had fired. Now his voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, hidden in the shadows. "Very dishonorable, as I understand, to refuse a sword fight and try to gun your opponent down. A sign of weakness, that you are not tough enough to kill by your hand. But it's understandable, with your inferior swordsmanship and undeveloped muscles."

OOC: TG

"Nothing of the sort," Stacy's agitated voice replied, "Just doing whatever is need to win." Stacy remained where she was.

OOC: Responded.
"Ah, so very sad that I have to kill you, you would have made a fine addition to Unity. But ultimately it is futile. We will spread, silent and unseeable, among every nation of this galaxy, infecting all we meet. No one will go untouched, and no one can possibly know, until it is too late. Starting with these fine humans, and then the kitsune, and finally," a dark chuckle, "your people, Stacy."
Keiam appeared once again, in the same place he had originally been in. "You're out of ammunition," he said with a cold smile, and charged Stacy with his sword drawn and held high above his head.

Stacy realised that she was beaten, she could never fight a Xiscapian in sword combat and she was, indeed, out of ammunition. She would just have to try and and go out with a bang,
Closing her eyes she lunged forward with katana she had forgotten she was holding. Hoping to at least make a prick on the Imitator before she either died or joined them.

Unfortunately for him, Keiam had made a fatal mistake. Even kits were educated by parents and older friends on the way of the sword, and one of the very first rules was to never, ever an charge opponent with your sword above your head for the cleaving stroke. This left your entire body open to a fast attack to take you down long before you could strike down your enemy. However, while Keiam had the benefit of his enhanced speed, he did not have the benefit of instruction from elders or peers.

Running forward, Keiam gasped in surprise and pain as the blade pierced his stomach, impaling him upon his own blade. He sunk to his knees, dropping the sword, the cortosis metal clanging on the deck as blood burst from his mouth, hands over the wound. He swayed for a moment, head bowed, then fell backwards, knees pointing upward, the sword sticking out of him like a grotesque flag.

Sio just gaped at the dead Imitator kitsune and Vix managed a ragged cheer, lying on the deck holding her shattered kneecap.

Stacy opened her eyes and stared down in shock at the dead Imitator. She was looking at the katana in her hands and the body on the ground, trying to take both images in. She had done it! She had survived! She had killed a Kitsune in sword combat! Admittedly not a real one, but still with fox ears, eyes and tail. Then the reality of the situation hit her and she ran to Vix's side,
"How are you?" She asked, looking at her kneecap, "Can we fix it?"

"Can we fix it?"
Vix just shook her head. "Not unless one of yous a doctor. I looked over my shoulder and this, and both bullets seemed to have exited cleanly, but I can't walk or move my right arm that much. I'm pretty much incapacitated until we can find a surgeon."

Outside the Twilight the ports were white, and it was impossible to tell whether they were miles above the ground or inches from it.

"Can you stand?" Stacy asked, concerned. She wasn't a Doctor. She had no idea how the Xiscapian Body worked and she had no idea how to help her old Mentor,
"Where are we going to find a Doctor?"

One of the Twilights doctors had shut himself up in a locker and was awaiting for othe Calaverians to dissolve the situation and these animal. His named was Edward Manner, and he was quite nervous.

"Where are we going to find a Doctor?"
"Everyone else here is dead or Imit-"
The entire ship shook as violently as an earthquake, the deck on the far side of the bridge tearing as easily as paper, all the computer consoles which had not already bee destroyed going offline. Sio was ripped from the neural link controlling the Observer and thrown across the bridge, bouncing off a bunkhead and tumbling to the floor. The whole deck tilted steeply, bodies, weapons and other things not bolted down or secured in some way sliding away. Vix grabbed a blown out console with her good arm and held on tight, yells lost in the noise of electricity zapping from the dead lights, metal screetching as it tore and the ship plowing though the snow on the surface. All three felt the gigantic Twilight slide to a halt, settling into the snow, and then there was silence.

Stacy was able to grab a long length of wire that was protruding from the wall and hold on for dear life as the ship seemed to come down around her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, the arm she was holding on with was burning, her palm was burning she felt like she was about to drop. Then the ship hit the ground and Stacy was flung from her position into one of the walls where she slumped to the ground

Sio was the first to stand, albeit shakily. He felt on the back of his neck, grimacing as his fingers came away wet and bright red with blood. The wound was shallow, he would live. The question was: Would the other two? Vix had propped herself up on her good arm and sat up against the bulkhead behind her, tail curled around her injured knee. Sio approached and she looked up at him. "Got shot in this knee," she pointed to it," and the shoulder." She gingerly patted her right shoulder, wincing in pain.

Sio nodded quietly. Vix needed medical attention, and fast, but she could wait a minute. He knelt by Stacy's prone figure and examined her. All good, except for her right hand, with a charred palm and badly burned fingers from holding the live wire. She had been lucky she hadn't been electrocuted and died instantly. Sio peeled away her hand from the wire, turning the Alversian over. "I'm going out for medical supplies," he said to Vix, pressing a pistol into her hand, "if any Imitators come, shoot them. If Stacy comes round, tell her to not touch her burned hand to anything." He turned and limped from the bridge, sword across his back and rifle cradled in his arms.

Stacy groaned and rolled over, looking bleary eyed at the debris that had surrounded her,
"V...Vix?" She gasped, her wide eyes now fixed on her charred skin, "What happened? I can't feel my hand"

"We crashed," said Vix grimly, "and you grabbed a live wire, which burnt your hand. Sio went off to hunt for medical supplies, he told me to tell you not to touch anything. Probably has to do with infection or something."
OOC:
Going to wait for NC to return before continuing, as I plan on having Sio find the doctor.

Stacy's eyes opened even wider but she nodded in understanding,
"I don't want to be like them" She said indicating to some of the bodies nearby. Even as she looked at them, she felt revulsion. They had been living beings and she had helped to kill them in her rage.

"They were just dirty...what did he call them? Imitators? Yeah, they would have killed you in an instant. You're not one of them, just forget about it and concentrate on surviving." said Vix gently.
Halls...
Sio prowled the halls and rooms of the Observer, stepping over bodies, sparking wires and smashed machinery. The Observer was lit only by soft red emergency lighting, casting shadows into all the corners.

The doctor was stumbling down the white hallways, his white jacket swaying as he walked. He cursed as he walked around, trying to find the bridge in the dark and red emergency light " Fucking animals, always breaking things, what a mess."

Stacy nodded,
"Thank you," She said smiling and dragging herself towards Vix with her good hand, "How are you feeling now?"

"Fucking animals, always breaking things, what a mess."
Sio smiled in the dark. That was a Calaveran if he'd ever heard on, an uninfected one, and a doctor, all essential for his purposes. Xiscapians were masters of the shadows, and he concealed himself until the doctor passed close enough, upon which point he stepped out and leveled the rifle. "Freeze."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Like shit," Vix groaned. "I can't move my left leg or right arm because if I do it feels like someone is stabbing me repeatedly. I've gone one and a half standered days without food, water or a good bath. I'm on a crashed ship in some armpit of the galaxy with only two other survivors, we have no transport, and touching any fluids will turn us into monsters. I am not at my best right now." she finished dryly.

Edward smacked his head with his hand " Damnit!!!" he put his hands behind his head, he had a scalpel but he dare not draw it against a weapon like that.

"Listen to me Calaveran," said Sio, pronoucing the word "Cal-uh-ver-an", "you are going to go and get a stretcher. I am going to help you transport one of my friends to your sick bay. There you will operate to heal her wounds. If you refuse, I will shoot you in the feet, and blow off each of your toes one by one. If you make a mistake during the operation, or kill my friend, I will cut you open and force-feed your own organs to you, keeping you alive for as long as possible, before you die of blood loss or choke. Do you understand me?"

Edward smiled and nodded " I could have mistaken you for one of my own, fine..." he would begin to follow Sio, he would gladly cut this animals throat if he got the chance.

Sio did not take them as a compliment but merely got the stretcher and rushed for the bridge. Upon appearing he and Edward loaded Vix onto the stretcher and ran her down to the medical bay. "Follow us, don't touch anything with that hand." He told Stacy, with a nod to her burned hand. In less than a minute they were in the Calaveran sick bay, lying Vix onto a operating table. "She has a left shattered kneecap and a bullet wound in the right shoulder. The shoulder wound bullet appears to have exited cleanly, but the shot in the knee may have lodged into a bone fragment. I need you to disinfect and bandage the shoulder wound, then remove the fragments of bone from her knee and replace them with an artificial kneecap. Remember what I said I'd do if you mess up."

At this Sio ran his hand over the hilt of his sword. He looked to Vix, then Stacy, speaking to them both. "The Calaverans have never heard of morphine, or anesthesia. He's going to operate while you are still conscious, and aware," he told Vix, "so we need you to be strong."

Vix reached over with her left arm and grabbed Stacy's unburned hand, squeezing it tight as she closed her eyes. Sio wheeled over a cart filled with surgical tools, along with a jar of disinfectant. He examined Stacy's hand critically, shaking his head. "Third degree, which explains why you can't feel it. Come on, up," He gestured for her to stand and Stacy would be forced to let go of Vix's hand as Sio led her over to a sink. He washed the burned hand with water, to expel any foreign matter, and then bandaged it, directing her back to her seat. Vix once again grabbed Stacy's hand, and the operation began.

Stacy followed the three other Survivors and then sat by Vix as soon as her hand had been bandaged. It scared her that she couldn't feel it but now she was going to be strong for Vix,
"Don't worry" She said softly to her, "I'll be here for you. Now and forever" She squeezed her hand gently.

Vix was panting huskily, sharp teeth exposed, yellow eyes wide and staring at Stacy. She seemed to have lost all ability to speak, and her only communication was to rub her fingers across Stacy's hand, taking comfort in her presence. Sio stood back, leaning against a counter. He had done all he could. Now it was up to the doctor and Vix to see what the outcome would be.

When he heard the "no morhphine" he whispered " Cause animals dont deserve it." Edward pulled out a disposable needle and slammed it into her thigh, it was adrenaline. " She dosnt need an artificial one" he said as used his scalpel to chip out a piece of her knee, he then put inside a replicator. In ten seconds there was a whole kneecap of bone, he quickly inserted it, and sprayed the area with stemcells. " The stem cells will create a new muscle structure, but it will be weak for a while, and the bullet went clean through." he ran a scan over her body and the shoulder wound. He took the scalpel sliced off her burned skin, then applyed a stemcell bandade to it, so she would have no more scars and return the feeling. "hmmm" he said at the bullet hole in the shoulder he patched up the front hole and back hole, he punctured the bandade and inserted a faster reproducing stemcell filled liquid. Pulling the needle out, the hole in the bandade dissappeard. Edward washed his hands and crossed his arms, looking at the women on the table. " There you go animal, should be fine in about three hours."

Several times Vix had nearly cried out with pain as the scalpel cut into her wound and probing fingers and instruments removed bits and pieces of bone and lead from her flesh. The moment it had seemed like she might scream Sio had hastily stuffed his finger on her mouth, and when it was over and her withdrew it deep bite marks covered it, from where Vix had reflexively bitten down in an effort not to make a sound.

Sio patted Vix's sweating forehead as tears of pain gathered at the corners of her eyes. "Just relax, it's all right now." Vix was still panting, and she squeezed Stacy's hand so tight the circulation was being cut off, even though the treatment was over. Sio nodded to the doctor. "Well done doc, it looks like you don't die today."

Stacy almost yelped in pain herself as her fingers were crushed by Vix during the operation. When it was over, she took her hand away for a second to get the blood back then embraced Vix in a gentle hug,
"I'm so proud of you" She said happily, "You were so brave"

Vix finally got back enough composure to speak. "Thanks to you," she whispered into Stacy's ear. A shudder went though her as the adrenaline wore off and she was shaking in the Alversian's arms.

Stacy held the Xiscapian tight, stopping her from shivering and giving her support and affection, just what one needed after an Operation,
"You're okay" She whispered in her ear, "I'll look after you"

The doctor just sat in the back watching them and then he said " Interesting, we never knew your were cabable of compassion, im going to write this down." he said bring out a small peice of paper.

Sio was sitting backwards on a rolling chair, chin resting on his hands as he stared at the doctor. "What else do you believe about us, Doc? Maybe you could compile a list of myths about us, and when you return to your home you can publish it. Such a thing might end the fighting."
Vix withdrew her face from the warmth of Stacy's body, tears dried but her face still somewhat red from crying. She gave the Alversian a light peck on the cheek, making her sexual interests and orientations clear. "We have to stick together, now," she said seriously, "we can only survive if we rely on each other."

Stacy took the peck on the cheek and blushed a little red,
"I know" She said in reply, "We have to look out for each other. That's what we're gonna do" She said with determination.

Edward smiled " Do you want me shot on site my furry freind?" he shook his head " The ship is heavily damaged, were lucky the self-destruct didnt kick in, we usually dont leave a ship out dead on a planet without destroying it." He juggled a bottle in his hand " Painkillers" he said smiling.

Vix nodded solemnly, reaching for a painkiller from the doctor.
"Shot on sight?" Sio asked. "If you can at least prove we have the same emotional range as a human, it might end the war, or at least open diplomatic negotiations."

Vix nodded solemnly, reaching for a painkiller from the doctor.
"Shot on sight?" Sio asked. "If you can at least prove we have the same emotional range as a human, it might end the war, or at least open diplomatic negotiations."

Edward tossed the bottle over and returned to Sio's attention " No, we take out races we encounter if they are advanced enough for space travel, could judge why your forces are doing better than ours, we arent prepared for total war."

"No, we take out races we encounter if they are advanced enough for space travel, could judge why your forces are doing better than ours, we aren't prepared for total war."
Sio frowned. "The races you encountered in the past must not have been very advanced. I'm no soldier, or military man, but I know we're not using total war. Right now I believe we're on the defensive as it is."
Vix caught the bottle and popped two pills, swallowing them quickly and slipping the canister into the pocket of her jeans. "Do you know where we can find cold-weather gear?" She asked the doctor. "Or a ship? We can use this Observer as a base while we search our surrondings. There's a chance there's civiliazation here." She didn't sound very hopeful.

Edward nodded " Yes, thermal protection gear is located on deck four room 12." he turned back to his work, taking down more and more notes as the moments went by, although he couldnt see why he was writing no one would see them.

"Alright," Sio stood. "Stacy, I want you to come with me to deck four. Vix, you'll have to stay here and recover. I don't think there's anything else left alive on this ship other than us, but be alert. Doctor, you can stay here or come with us. Whichever you prefer." He gave the pistol to Vix again.

Edward disagreed " I will stay here, Its damn cold outside from the sensors, Ill watch after her" he smiled for a moment then turned back to his notes.

Stacy looked reluctantly at Vix then nodded,
"Fine then" She picked up the rifle she had been using and followed Sio

Edward dropped his notes and turned to Vix " Need anything? more pain medication?" he drank a cup of water.

Sio nodded and they strode out of the medical bay into the shadowed halls beyond. The dim red emergency lighting only barely lit enough to see by, for a human anyway. The red glare did hurt Sio's eyes though. They stepped over bodies, wreckage and weapons on their way to the elevator at the end of the hall. "We're at deck ten, so we'll be going down," muttered Sio, rifle held easily in one hand as he reached the doors. He hit the button and the doors opened silently, revealing three dead Calaverans. Judging by the blood stains and the positions of the bodies, one has been an Imitator and tried to infect the other two before they'd all killed each other.
Medical Bay...
Vix looked at the Doctor, eyes bright. "So what's your name, anyway?"

Edward pulled a chair up close to Vix " My name is Edward, but everyone just calls me doc or doctor."

Stacy kept an eye out for anything that might have posed a threat. In a ship like this, that could be anything,
"I wonder what happened to the others they captured" She said aloud, "What happened to them?"

Vix nodded. "Mine's Vix, Doctor. So how did you survive the..." she considered for a moment, "outbreak?"
Elevator...
Sio just shook his head. "Definitely infected. That would have been a goal of the...Imitators, to get the prisoners too. Zero opposition. We haven't seen any of them because, between the unimiated Calaverans thinking there was a breakout and the Imitated ones trying to escape, most of them probably died in the cell blocks." The doors closed and the elevator descended.

Edward laughed " I uhh.....I ummmm...I hid in a locker." he said " How brave."

Stacy was still looking nervously about and nodded, her finger hovered over the trigger in case they were surprised,
"Where do you think we are?" She asked, wondering what planet they were on

A voice sounded inside the Observer, it was the AI, her soft voice running through the ship " What do you think your doing animal" she said to Sio and Stacy.

"How brave."
Vix shrugged. "Maybe not, but it's a hell of a lot better than being a slave to some parasite."
"Where do you think we are?"
Sio shrugged. "I have no idea. There's thousands, probably millions, of lost planets like this. We could be absolutely anywhere-"
"What do you think your doing, animal?"
Sio looked at the ceiling. "Who are you?"

Edward nodded " Ya, I guess your right " he laughed while he scratched his head.

AI targeting

" I am mother, and I would like to know what you attempting to do, you seem to be heading towards the thermal protection gear."

"Uh, hello Mother" Stacy gripped her trigger slightly harder, "We were going to have a look outside at...whatever's there" She also looked at the ceiling, although felt slightly ridiculaous for doing so.

"Uh, hello Mother" Stacy gripped her trigger slightly harder, "We were going to have a look outside at...whatever's there" She also looked at the ceiling, although felt slightly ridiculaous for doing so.

" It is quite cold outside animal, estimated tempatures are twenty-below at the moment."

OCC: are we at the imitator homeworld or what?

"Ya, I guess you're right."
"So you've been on this ship long? What did you do?" asked Vix with interest.
"It is quite cold outside animal, estimated temperatures are twenty-below at the moment."
"Hence the thermal protection gear," said Sio. "Look, are there any flyable ships still left in here?" Sio doubted there were, all the Probe fighters had probably been taken or destroyed, and even if they could get a few of them, only Vix knew how to fly one, and there was a chance the hanger was buried under snow.
OOC: Yes...and your point is?

"Correct that is why we are heading to the Hangar. Shall we head?" Stacy asked, looking at Sio then at the roof.

OCC: probe fighters are considerd quality Heavy fighters, they can easily hold three( two front seats, one in the back) and can fit two more in rather comfortably.

Mother answerd " There is one probe fighter that seems undamaged, however, you need to learn how to fly, and I will surelly delay you in that quest."

Medical bay


Edward grinned and sort of frowned " Cutting up people like you..."

"There is one probe fighter that seems undamaged, however, you need to learn how to fly, and I will surely delay you in that quest."
"Will you now?" asked Sio innocently, and unbeknownst to Stacy or the A.I., he had changed the controls on the elevator to take them back to the bridge deck. "I think we can change that," he looked at Stacy, "c'mon, I have a plan."
Medical Bay...
Vix rolled her eyes, far past the point of being scared of any Calaveran. "You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"

"There is one probe fighter that seems undamaged, however, you need to learn how to fly, and I will surely delay you in that quest."
"Will you now?" asked Sio innocently, and unbeknownst to Stacy or the A.I., he had changed the controls on the elevator to take them back to the bridge deck. "I think we can change that," he looked at Stacy, "c'mon, I have a plan."
Medical Bay...
Vix rolled her eyes, far past the point of being scared of any Calaveran. "You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"

Mother responded to there movement " What are you planning animal, you won't be able to access my controls."

Edward sagged " umm...sorry, how about you?" he said shrugging.

Stacy looked up at the ceiling again and sighed,
"For a ship's computer," She said, "You sure are stubborn" She was still looking about and sighed. She didn't know why, but she wasn't afraid of the situation anymore.

"What are you planning animal, you won't be able to access my controls."
"I don't need to," responded Sio as they entered the bridge. It was unchanged from when they left it, littered with corpses and weapons, Vix's katana still sticking out of Keiam's cooling corpse. Sio tugged it out, carefully rubbing the blood off, and handed it to Stacy. He found the console marked "A.I." and shot it repeatedly until it was a smoking pile of broken parts. He knew it would probably be able to repair itself, but not for a long, long time. "That's solved." he said in satisfaction.
"umm...sorry, how about you?"
"Ship technician," said Vix, looking at him. "A.I. cores, nav computers, hyperdrives, engine componets...that sort of thing. I guess you could say I'm a doctor too, except of metal and wires, rather than flesh and blood."

Stacy took the katana and tucked it into her belt, then raised her eyebrows at Sio's destruction,
"That's one way to do it" She sighed airily.

"Yeah, well, that A.I. had almost total control over the ship. If she hadn't been engaged talking to us, she probably would have stopped the elevator in between floors, and we would have been stuck. But we'll still have to wait until Vix has recovered before we can leave," he looked out the bridge window, which was a white void from the snow howling outside and the ice already forming and making the view decidedly distorted. "I suggest we try to gather supplies...if we can find any that haven't been infected."

"Oh, don't say that" she shivered, "It's bad enough to think we're stuck here without food or supplies" She sighed.

"I was thinking more along the lines of we'd pack a fighter full of food and water to leave enough space for the three of us. We have a way out, and the Probe fighters have hyperspace capabilities, but we have no idea where we are, and we could be stuck, wandering, for a long, long time. Maybe we could attatch cargo boxes to the side of the fighter, to hold more supplies...?" Ideas and plans were racing though Sio's head. It was too bad they had no shuttles or the like, because fighters had very little room for storage.

"Well," Stacy thought, "I am an Engineer and so is Vix, perhaps we could rig something up out of all this junk" She looked around at the rubbish, "You don't know what you might do unless you try." She stated, ideas racing through her own mind.

Sio nodded. "Well, this is what we'll do: Let's go down to the hanger and see about the condition of the fighter. After that we'll start salvaging supplies and anything that looks like it might be useful. Vix will be able to help too, as soon as she can get back on her feet. We might have to spend a few days here, but this ship seems well insulated from the cold, so we probably won't have any problems."
Even as he spoke he was walking back to the elevator, dialing the keypad for deck two, the hanger.

Stacy nodded,
"Sounds good" She said as she waited in the lift. She had no idea how a Calaveran Probe Figher worked but she was good at what she did and therefore she could work it out while she was there.

The lift arrived and both Sio and Stacy stepped inside. The ride down was uneventful, and they arrived at the hanger deck to a hall with a carpet of bodies. Dead Calaverans, trying to make their escape on fighters, killing each other to make more room for themselves. Sio stepped carefully across the sprawled corpses and discarded weapons to the doors marked "Hanger Bay." Inside there were a few more bodies, but what drew the eyes was the mangled wreckage of most of the Probe fighters on the far wall. He nodded to them. "Looks like you won't have any trouble finding spare parts..." he drawled. He stepped over a body and looked down at the Vendor's surprised face. Sio stared at the Xiscapian who had put him here. A laser blast had blown the kitsune's forehead off, frying all but a few charred bits of his brain. His dead eyes still reflected shock, and his mouth was slightly open. The body was not decaying yet, so he must have died recently.

Sio shook his head and approached the only Probe fighter not appearing to be damaged. He smacked a button on the side and the underbelly opened into a ramp. He gave a mock bow and waved a hand to the opening of the white fighter. "After you, madame."

Stacy looked around at the horror, appalled by it. But, at the same time, not appalled at all. Something about her had changed over the past few hours. Something inside her was no longer revulsed by the bodies. In fact, she barely noticed them. All she noticed were the dozens of spare parts littering the hangar which she could use for the Probe Fighter.

She gave a mock bow to Sio as well and headed up the ramp, weapon raised in case something else had happened.

The inside of the fighter was surprisingly large, somehow bigger on the inside than from the exterior, not like the cockpit-only XX-30s or Shuriken class fighters. It had controls for three, and an actual storage space at the back. The inside was pure white except for the controls and marks on the floors and walls where years of scuffs and scrapes had worn in. Sio sat down on one of the chairs. "This simplifies things somewhat," he said approvingly, "more space than I thought. Still, I want to see if we can somehow enlarge it..." He ran a hand over the blue-glowing buttons, stroking a white joystick. "How the hell does this work? A pilot, gunner and communicator?"

"This is my first time in one of these two y'know" She replied dryly then took a seat in one of the chairs nearby, "Doesn't seem like a fighter does it?" She asked, "Seems more like a...shuttle" She was running her hands over the control surfaces to try and feel if they would support a little improvement.

"Actually I was thinking it looks a lot like the interior of one of our standered patrol ships. But it will do for our purposes, at any rate." He looked around. "I'm not an expert with ships, like you, but do you see anything wrong with this ship?"

"Technically?" Stacy shook her head, "Looks fine from what I can tell. I'll need to make a more thourough chek-up to ensure that all systems are working fine but for now all seems well. Having said that..." She shrugged, "...you never know with these ships" She sighed.

Sio nodded grimly. "True that...alright, here's how it's going to go: You stay here and collect parts and preform check-ups on this fighter. I'm going to go out and look for food, water and anything else that looks useful. I'll check on Vix, too, and send her up when she can walk. I don't think anything else aside from us is alive on this ship, but..." he nodded meaningfully to her rifle before stepped out of the ship and striding to the doors.

The white interior glowed with its ice blue controls, her shields were down but coult be raised almost instantly. Dual heavy plasma cannons were cabable of tearing through unshielded frigates with relative ease.

Edward still sat taking notes, waiting for the animal's return.

Sio made his way to the armory, where he picked up another two assault rifles and a case of extra magazines. Holding these under his arm he placed them on a dolly and wheeled it along to the mess hall on the ship. It was deserted, like all the other rooms and halls, but no bodies were here either, save a few outside the doors. The trays were still sitting where they had been when Calaverians had been eating, as well as pans and entire boxes of food in the serving line. Not trusting any food that had been out in the open, Sio checked the freezers and was delighted to find them fully stocked and apparently untouched. Gathering as much foodstuffs as he could in boxes and crates, he put them on the dolly as well, which groaned under the weight.

Soon enough he was back at the medical bay, dolly outside the door, looking in on Vix and the doctor. Vix was dozing and the man was writing, taking more notes he supposed. Moving softly so not to wake Vix, Sio put an assault rifle by her bed and gave the other to the Calaveran. He exited and brought the dolly back to the hanger, stopping in front of the door. His eyes flicked from right to left, ears perking, looking around, holding his assault rifle loosly in one hand, katana across his back.

And in the barracks and VR rooms between the medical bay and hanger, something stirred.

Stacy nodded and drapped the rifle over her shoulder with the strap. She looked around the destroyed hangar and gave a frustrated cluck. Where was she going to find diagnostic tools in all this rubble.

Then she heard something and glanced up. Nothing there. She shrugged, she must have imagined it. Then she heard it again and looked up, this time longer. She shrugged the rifle off her shoulder and gripped it in her hands. She was panting heavily now but still twitching on the trigger finger.

OOC: See above post.

OOC: Replied

There was a terrible scream from somewhere further down the hall, out of sight. It could be heard throughout the entire ship, and Sio bolted into action. He took the dolly and shoved it though the door, letting momentum carry it to bang to a stop at the fighter. He saw Stacy among the rubble of ruined fighters, and gestured wildly. "There's more of them! Get ready!" he yelled.

Stacy was looking around wild eyed and jumped out of her skin when the dolly smashed into the fighter. Then she saw Sio and nodded, raising the rifle to her shoulder and peering at the ground and the roof,
"What are they?" She called to Sio

The door hissed open and Imitated alien prisoners of all kinds began to pour though. "There!" Sio screamed, and fired fully automatic into the horde, backpadeling to the fighter. The things screetched and roared as the deaths were handed out via fast-moving slugs, but they just kept coming. "Get onto the fighter! I'll hold them off, you need to activate the engines and the plasma cannons!" Sio cried, ejecting a spent clip and slamming home another magazine, keeping up the fire.

Stacy stumbled backwards at the sudden arrival of the prisoners, firing bursts of her rifle as she fell backwards. She was up within moment through and quickly scrambled to the fighter. She jumped inside and listened as the cockpit was sealed shut,
"I need to reroute these wires to start her up! How long can you give me?" She called out of the cockpit

"Sixty seconds is all you got!" Sio yelled as he continued to hold back the force of Imitators with sprays from his rifle. The tide had stopped but the hanger was still half full. Thankfully their survival instincts had kicked in and the prisoners were no longer trying to charge him directly, but were rather prowling warily among the wreckage, throwing things at him. Sio had taken cover behind a half a smashed Probe fighter and winced and cursed as he heard fire hit the side of his make-shift cover. The Imitators had either found the guns scattered across the floor, or they had picked some up from outside. He leapt up, fired, and ducked back down as return fire flew over his head to hit the hanger doors, hissing off the shields, and rebound back to the deck, ceiling or bulkheads.

Stacy frowned, sweated and fumbled as her training came back to her and she struggled to connect the series of wires that would start the thing up. It took a few more seconds before it finally started up and she punched the air with delight.

With that, she jumped into the pilot seat and started to tap a variety of buttons on the control panel. The Probe Fighter rose slightly from the ground and began to fire at a variety of the creatures. Stacy concentrating on one target at a time.

Sio backed up, firing the last of his bullets before grabbing another two clips of the dolly. He was directly underneth the fighter, and watched in grim satisfaction as the Imitators were blasted into oblivion and bloody body parts as the plasma cannons tore though them, throwing debries everywhere and blowing holes though the hanger deck. Finally all the Imitators were a pile of gory bits of flesh, most of them against the wall along with the smashed fighters. Sio let out a breath and began to laugh with sheer joy that he and Stacy were still alive.

Stacy gladly out the Probe fighter on the floor again then left, laughing with delight as she got out of the fighter.
She looked at Sio,
"Are there any left do you know?" She asked mildly as she fitted a new clip to her rifle.

Sio shhok his head. "The only reason I even knew those were coming is because they were noisy on approach. They must have been trapped in their cells, and it took them this long to get out, or be let out. There could be more, or that could have been the last. It's a big ship, there could be any amount anywhere."

"I think we should get back to Vix" Stacy said, thinking, "They might attack her next" She said with real fear, her mind drifting to the Medical Bay were her mentor was sitting.

Sio paled. "They might have been already, I only left them with a couple of assault rifle. Come on!" He turned on heel and sprinted for the door.
Medical Bay...
Vix's ears perked at a noise, metal being briefty scraped across metal. She looked at the door, frowning, rifle on her lap. The kitsune technician was recovering rapidly, and soon she would be able to walk. She could stand now, but was only able to hobble a few steps before needing to rest. She looked to Edward. "Did you hear something...?"
OOC: Wait for NC.

OOC: Understand

Stacy was already running, her feet barely touching the ground as she tore down the corridors towards the Medical Bay. Her rifle was armed and she was going to protect Vix even if it meant her own death.

OCC: wont be on tonight.