[Mega-JP] Coup de Etat 
Kitsurugi Yui
11/24/03 9:58

ON> GSS Seigi

One of the AI nekos quickly interrupted the conversation that Dante and Kai were having, "Kai please report to the bridge, Mr. Dante Please head to the Intel office." All over the ship the higher ranking crewmembers were being summoned by the AI, "Ms. Himora Please come to the Intel office." Another sprite said. 

Throwing up his hands in frustration, the fact he hadn't had a chance to read his orders yet Dante stood up. Clipping his rank pin to his shirt he closed his laptop and walked out of the door. Pausing by an information screen he pulled up the basic schematics of the ship and located the Intel office. "Easy enough ... I think." he murmured to himself as he headed off in the direction of his destination. 

Yuuko had recently finished a conversation with Taisho Wolf. As Seigi's voice called Alexis away, she was left alone. Not feeling exactly comfortable hanging around in someone else's room alone, she walked on onto the bridge, curious to see what was going on.

Inside of the Intel office the SAINTs that had gotten there before the others were already hard at work. The main holographic projector was showing a close up of the Qel'noran Industrial Sector and had an overlaid pattern of wind currents and area's outlined in red. At the bottom of the projection several numbers scrolled across the bottom relaying various pieces of information about the area. One of the AI neko's explained the situation to the people just arriving on the bridge and another did the same for the Intel officers, "Several canisters of a unknown nerve agent were released five minutes ago..." She explained. 

Dante entered the office just as the AI began the briefing. Crossing his arms over his chest he took up a spot at the back of the room near the door, these orders would take precedence over his previous ones that was sure. 

Meanwhile... on Ralfaris people were screaming in horror as others fell over clutching their faces as their bodies went into spasms violent enough to break bones while blood came out of their noses and mouths. Several Qel'noran Security APCs were traveling down the roads with loudspeakers retrofitted to the hull. Each one was blaring out instructions to the civilians trying to get them inside or to some other secure area. 

Below Ralfaris: Three Qel'noran Security APC's were traveling through the mass of tunnels under the Qel'noran Industrial Sector, pausing only to get through the various checkpoints that littered the heavily secured areas around the main facilities for Qel'noran Security. Sijik checked his weapons and put on a flack jacket that one of his assistants handed him, ~We can do this~ he reassured himself as the APC's moved on, ~After all more has been done with less~. Back on the surface the majority of the Qel'noran Security forces had been drawn away from their bases and into the city trying to make sense of what was going on.

People were scrambling about, bringing in fresh reports, coffee and makeup. This was the 51st floor of the Qel'noran logistics building and they would be going on the air in four minutes with the story about the nerve gas as well as instructions on what to do. Meanwhile back on the streets below a Qel'noran wearing a simple shirt and baggy pants walked towards the 3rd fleets subjugator landing ships. He was red and had yellow eyes like most Qel`norans but had a tatto of a sunrise on his shoulder. Inside of his pants he carried a canister filled with a clear liquid.

The ships were surrounded with a solid wall of BW-6b series tanks. There were at least ten 35mm chainguns following the man at all times. All of the tank crews were in standard SAPF gear.

As the info rolled across the screen Dante spoke up, directing his question at the AI. "Any information on the apparent creators or users of this gas?" 

Waves of civilians fleeing the inner urban areas were heading outward and right towards the landing area. It wasn't hard for the Qel'noran with the canister to hide amongst them as they headed towards the seemingly endless row of tanks seeking protection, The public universal constructors were creating gas masks as fast as they could but they couldn't make nearly enough for everyone so the crowd surged forward.
        
"We do not yet know the composition of the gas." The AI said as the other SAINTs tried to make sense of the situation. The holoprojector was displaying the current areas believed to be exposed to the gas and where it would be blown if the wind patters continued. fortunately the entire QIS area was sectioned off by wind traps to prevent the desert from overflowing into the area as the dispersion of the gas would be minimal in the areas it was released.

The armored units surrounded only the subjugator-class vessels, not the UC-equipped 4th Fleet ships. Anyone who got too close was being arrested.

The three APC's continued underground and rolled to a stop as they came to a large door labeled with a barcode. Each APC opened its back door and the Qel`norans started to disembark into the area.

"Chaos and panic, well whoever released that gas seems to have succeeded at the first stages of their plan." Dante mused aloud as he continued to watch, there was no point for him to speak unless decent information became available. 

Hundreds of civilians were coming at the tanks. They could only arrest a few and the others were screaming for gas masks. Meanwhile one of the Qel'noran security officers was making a frightening discovery. He had to keep cleaning his visor with a cloth because it kept fogging up on the outside. The mist soon turned into larger and larger bubbles as the gas started to eat through the material of his gas mask and clothing. He shrieked and returned to his APC, after all he wasn't paid enough to die.

"Captain, you may want to get down here to the intel office immediately" a SAINT called the bridge.

Two ships, meanwhile, docked with the Seigi. One was a white and red Kitsurugi ship named Control, the other a blue first fleet ship, GSS Comfort (GD-41), carrying a special SAINT operative to help those already aboard.

Kai was already outside the bridge itself and nodded silently and started for the intel office, he walked at a brisk pace in something less than a bright mood. He reached the room in a matter of seconds. "What is it?" He asked the SAINT who'd called him.

Underground: the bar-coded doors opened, "What the heck are you doing here?" the current CEO of Qel'noran Security asked just before a explosive round turned his head into a fine red mist. "Go!' Sijik yelled out as the Qel'noran Acquisitions soldiers did what they do best.

The WickedArms masks on the SAPF troops seemed to be fine for the moment. The troops pointed the citizens in the direction of the UCs. Anyone who got closer than 20 feet was shot to death. They were dead anyway. The 35mm rounds ripped bodies in half, and worse...

~Keiko, I want you to man the bridge and inform me of what is going on there.~ He ordered his assistant. ~Yes sir~ she replied and hopped off his shoulder and ran for the bridge along the wall as to not get trampled. Again, she reached the bridge quickly.

As Elly said goodbye to her crew and handed over the command of the GSS Comfort (GD-41), she thought how great it would be to get all the weight off her shoulders. With a final goodbye, she turned and headed down tunnel leading to the GSS Seigi.

Third fleet landing area: That was as close as he was going to get, The man pulled the canister out of his pants and, after putting a hand over his mouth, rolled the bottle along the ground. A fine mist sprayed out of it and within seconds people were spasming uncontrollably and falling over as blood pooled around their noses and mouths. The gas started to drift in all directions, exposing the SAPF troops to it for the first time and eating away at their clothing, it wasn't the most powerful corrosive gas but it was powerful enough for them to take note of where it had touched.

A 50mm mortar round blew the man to bits. The full-body flak suits were designed to be acid resistant. The main guys exposed to the gas were the 35mm gunners. They were not only trained professionals, but they were veterans of the Chaos Hive War, which featured much worse slaughters (and corrosives) than this. Staying cool, they stuck to their training. Several ships were already being converted to decon area.

Area's around the Third fleet suffered a total of 3 more gas attacks within the next few minutes, each time by a Qel'noran with a sunrise tattooed to his arm. None of the expected to make it out alive and the SPAF made sure that none of them did.

After she made her way down to the bridge, she looked around fo the Commander. She then saw a Shôshô sitting in the Captain's seat and greeted her. "Hello, I'm Eliona Yakrian, your SAINT specialist." And flashed a smile.

Kai frowned. "What is going on here?" He asked the neko who'd called him here. Meanwhile Keiko looked up at the new neko. "You're looking for the captain of the ship? He's in the intel office." She said to Elly.

Dante glanced to the side as the captain entered, the new SAINT member aboard giving him a quick salute before returning to viewing the screen. 

Seigi relayed several of the ground broadcasts to screens inside of the bridge and the Intel office. "The Qel'noran Industrial Sector sustained several gas attacks within the past thirty minutes." The anchorman started, "People are asked to stay indoors or head towards on the these relief stations." The Qel'noran kept talking as a map showing various areas set up by QnSe were displayed.

Planetside: "What the fuck? Get the tanks and ships ready to move!" ordered Chujo Idsol Vaktensson, the commander of 6th Armor Regiment. The tanks began to tactically retreat to their respective ships.

"Damn, what the hell is going on down there? Who ordered a gas attack on Ralfaris?!"

" Kai demanded to know, his rare irritability showing.

Various dead bodies lined the control center for the planets ground defenses. The area once held by QnSe was now firmly in the hands of Qel'noran Acquisitions, "Close the doors" Sijik barked to one of the soldiers, causing him to run across the room and press the button that would seal the area. Messages were soon being sent to the various Qel'noran Security bases about their new 'owner' and that a CEO of the Qel'noran Industrial Sector would soon be appointed to make sense of this chaos.

the areas that the 15th Armor left were filled with dead bodies and parts thereof that had been blown apart. Large concentrations of gas in that area had killed off most of the civilians along with the firepower of the tanks.

Elly now curious as to the commotion going on, hurried down to the Intel Room where she would be working, to find the commander in a bad temper. "A great first impression", she told herself.

Kai sensed the new person walking into the office and turned to her slightly. Quickly regaining his calm, he was tired and a bit in a bad mood yes, but he wouldn't let it mess with his style. "Hello." He smiled at her. 

the 'relief zones' were quickly being filled with civilians and were an easy target for the gas attacks, A trio of men with the sunrise tattoos headed into them, walking right past Qel'noran Security personnel.

Chujo Idsol Vaktensson sent a message to all SAINT headquarters units. "Gas attacks on Ralfaris. Source unknown. Attackers used corrosive liquid spray in canisters. Attackers reportedly had tattoo of rising sun on shoulders. Currently decontaminating and preparing to enter orbit. Please advise. Looks like a nerve agent."

Each of the trio was handed a gas mask that they put on and each headed their own separate ways as they relaxed in the relief zone set up for their victims.

Elly had a feeling something big was going on because there was a vibe of tension in the air. Nevertheless, she grinned back at him and explained that she was the new SAINT Specialist from the GSS Comfort (GD-41).

Kai turned to a console and sent a reply to him. "Take all needed precautions. Stop those attackers, they will probably be hunting down the civilians." He turned to the new SAINT. "There's a nerve gas attack going on down on the surface, attackers are unknown." He told her seriously. "What do you specialize in?" He asked quickly.

Dante's gaze continued to take in the information flying across the screen, his patience waning as he wanted to get out and see if his training was not for naught. "Is that tattooed symbol in any of the databases?" Dante voiced up, curious to see if they could pin a faction to this attack. 

"I don't know honestly Dante, run a check to find out." Kai said to him over his shoulder.

Part 2 

"What do you suggest Mistress-Taisho?" Kai asked Yui turned to face her screen. He wasn't above asking for advice when he needed it; he didn't know everything

"This is Chujo Idsol Vaktensson. Our ships have loaded our tanks and are rising from the surface."

"Contact QIS directly." Taisho Yui suggested.

Unfortunately the Industrial sector was the size of several cities. it occupied the best land on the planet and had the largest population density of any city on the planet.

QIS had no owner at the moment and consisted of several subsidiaries controlled by their own CEO's

"Arigato." Kai nodded to the Taisho, feeling a bit embarrassed. He looked over at Yuuko; "Yuuko, please open a line of communication with the QIS"

"Wonderful." Dante muttered as he quickly tagged the picture with the title 'possible New Dawn operative', handing it over to Kai he began the search he was instructed to start. 

Yuuko called the heads of the subsidiaries at once for Kai, putting them on conference mode.

Back on the surface APCs started to move out of the areas designated for each part of the corporations. Yuuko got the secretaries for each of the owners, they all asked the reason for them calling.

Kai looked at the picture. "Tell them that Shôshô Ashigari requests an interview with them." He said, hearing the sec's answers.

"This is a priority transmission from the command authority of the Star Army. Shôshô Ashigari must speak with the subsidiary leaders immediately. "

The owners of all the subsidiaries opened lines to the Seigi, all except for Qel'noran Security, "The owner of QnSe will be with you shortly, we are having communications problems." His secretary said.

~Ms Yakrian, see if you can track one of those APCs to the meeting area.~ he mentally told the Taisa, having seen one roll out in the news feed.

all the APCs were mass produced and looked just like the ones from QnSe that were patrolling the streets so it was hard to get a bead on which one was which.


Elly received the message and began the process for tracking the vehicles almost immediately. She also saw and waived to her friend, Taisho Yui. She hadn't seen her in almost two years and this was really a treat, even if they didn't exchange any words.

"Sir will you be sending operatives to infiltrate the meeting place afterwards?" Dante wondered, itching to get some experience under his belt as he continued trying to locate the remaining operatives he found. Pictures were his primary goal, finding any background information on them was secondary. 

Sijik hurried back to his APC and got in, one of his assistants handed him a freshly pressed QnA uniform as the APC moved out.

Kai turned to the QIS CEO's. "Greetings, I am Shôshô Ashigari; we have received threats from the terrorists and wish to join in the meeting. Will you provide the location?" He asked bluntly.

"They have to." Yuuko whispered in Kai's ear.

He typed up a reply to Dante and transmitted it to him. "Prepare to leave once we find out the location." it read. "I know. I'm just being personable." Kai smiled slightly to Yuuko.

The Qel'noran Technologies owner spoke up first, "What is it that you wish to archive by joining in the meeting, it is for us only" Sijik spoke up after him, "They can't pose a threat. The meeting is being held on the top floor of the Qel'noran Logistics building." he said.

Yui spotted Elly in the busy intel center and waved at the Taisa, hoping she'd notice.

"Thank you, and what do you know of this 'New Dawn?'" Kai asked them. glancing down at the picture matching up the people in his mind.

Dante replied to the message as he attached the remaining names and few pictures he did manage to dig up. "Understood, I take it we'll be briefed before being dispatched?"

Elly saw someone she knew on the screen. Only then did she realize it was Taisho Yui waving at her. She grinned at her and waved back, it had been two and a half years since they had last seen each other what with Elly being moved from ship to ship, and Yui being busy with the 1st Expeditionary.

Kai typed up a quick response. "As usual Dante."

"New Dawn has been operating sense a few years back but only now has become active," Sijik said, sounding professional, He was easily a head above the Qel'noran sitting beside him and he had on the QnA uniform, which consisted of a GSA uniform with a added puldron on his right shoulder with a cape draping down from it that attached to his normal GSA cape making it extend around his body covering his right hand.

"Have there been any previous incursions even minor ones?" Kai asked the Qel'noran.

"No," He replied flatly.

Kai had feeling that this Qel'noran knew more than he let on by his tone. "I thank you gentlemen." Kai said. "We will be in attendance." He said.

Yui turned to Hinosami, "Get Irim."

As Kai finished Dante ended his search, without coordinating with a bigger team and having no real deadline to meet it would be pointless to do such a vague incursion into any systems New Dawn ran. Standing up he went to stand behind Kai, waiting for the next orders. 

Sijik nodded to Kai and cut the transmission, as did the other owners.

Suddenly all of the communications channels went out and all the holographic displays in the intel room froze as did the computers.

Elly, who had decided to do some research on New Dawn, she called the Commander over "Sir, I've found that New Dawn has taken part in over 100 terrorist actions, raids, and murders." She looked at him steadily "Are you sure you want to go to this meeting with them?" She questioned him cautiously.

The information that Elly had simply disappeared as the computers froze and went out.

Dante raised an eyebrow in confusion as he calmly glanced to his left and right. "What the hell?"

"Sir!" Yuuko shrieked. "We've lost all communications!"

Kai turned to the other intelligence officers. "Dante, you seem anxious." He grinned. "We need a legitimate way to get you agents in don't we?" He asked as the room froze up. "Dammit! We're cut off. Yuuko, does the communications inside the ship still operate?" He asked quickly.

"No sir!" Yuuko said, frantically messing with her tablet.

"Always sir." Dante muttered as he returned to his terminal, trying to start up in hopes of finding out what happened, he knew it was in vain but worth a shot. 

Meanwhile on and under the bridge, Kessaku technicians were busy working on the computer. The area was half-disassembled, with panels laying haphazardly about the room, while the Overlord computer was being prepared for careful dismantling. The computer was now in a diagnostic-only mode, communicating solely to the special MEGAMI on the KFS Control.

Kai nodded. "Forget it then." He said and closed his eyes, the jewel in his forehead glowing slightly, his hair dancing slightly. He sent a telepathic communication down to the Technicians. ~What happened?~ He mentally asked.

Back on the planet APCs started arriving at the huge Skyscraper owned and operated by QnL. The building was over 100 stories tall and extended a good distance underground.

The Seigi technicians didn't have an immediate answer. Something about parts replacement.

"Damn!, that was my work..." Elly began thinking of things she could do. "I'm gonna go get some chow, be back soon." She left to go explore the ship and find the galley.

The GSS Wicked (GD-232) appeared, and raced into the atmosphere.

Although all the aid provided by the Seigi was now gone it wasn't hard to find the galley, it was right next to the Intel office after all.

He opened his eyes which were a slight shade of blue. "Dante, Elly, I want you both to come with me." He said and swept toward the door. "Oh and Yuuko, as soon as the communications system is back up. Please be careful." He smiled to her.

"Got it sir, I think Elly left already." Dante commented as he got up and fell in line with Kai.

Elly was just outside the door when she heard the Commanders voice and ran after them. "Sorry"

Yuuko looked at the blank screens and back to Kai. "I'm going to interface directly with one of the antennae systems," she announced.

Yuuko was able to link into the communications system directly, the Seigi was designed so that it could be run even without the AI.

She was now curious as to what exactly they were down here for. "Sir, how are we gonna help?" She shivered, it wasn't the most warm area.

Kai paused and nodded to Yuuko, "Thanks, get into contact with the Wicked. Ask Irim what is she doing, quickly please." He said.

As the Wicked entered the atmosphere it was almost immediately approached by two QnSe aerodynes asking their reason for being here. The entire Industrial Sector had been designated a no fly zone for the time being and was being strictly patrolled by fighters.

"Yes sir!" Yuuko darted out of the room, carrying her tablet.

~I want you two to detain anyone who seems suspicious acting.~ He replied to Elly telepathically. He then followed Yuuko down the hallway to get his answer.

Elly replied with a small "I see Sir"

The Wicked's communications officer sent back, "Our authority is absolute. Do not interfere."

Dante simply followed the two without question, if they wanted him to do something they would only have to ask, him being the most junior of SAINT operatives in attendance. 

The two pilots trailing the ship conversed amongst themselves; They didn't have the firepower to stop the ship with command out of the picture so they thought it best to follow it in for the time being.

The Wicked stopped at a hover outside the QnL building. Chujo Irim and her entourage of elite tech-sentries emerged from the bottom, jumping down to the ground in their black robes, heavily armed.

one of the fighters hovered directly behind the Wicked while the other circled overhead.

Kai was getting slightly annoyed and headed for the shuttle bay. Gathering an entourage of technical sentries of his own.

the front of the building was magnificent, obsidian made up the artwork that was the entrance, A wide staircase led up to a revolving door flanked by two normal doors. Beside each was a lightly armed guard and a sophisticated camera system built into the artwork.

Part 3 

"What's the purpose of this mission sir?" Dante asked curiously, feeling a bit barren that he didn't even have a chance to get any gear for now, his only weapon was his sidearm. 

As Kai reached the shuttle bay he was greeted by a familiar figure leaning against the wall, "Hello Kai." Uso said

Yuuko went into a sort of temper tantrum when she got to the antennae system she planned to use. It was completely gone! Kessaku techs were working on installing a shiny new one, but that didn't do her any good right now. "What the hell are you doing, there's a war starting out there!" she screamed at the techs. The KES guys looked at her in confusion. "No one told us?" was the answer.

"I want you to take out anyone who looks suspicious or attempts something on a GSA personnel. "You may go prepare if you can hurry." He said to Dante. Then turned to Uso; "Uso, I'm not in the mood for your jokes." He said seriously, pausing to wait for Dante. He looked at her appraisingly. "Actually I might have a use for you, you're coming with me."

"Aww" Uso said, falling in behind Kai, "That's to bad, I figured you could use my help down there." She said.

Irim and her sentries entered the building and headed to the conference room. Meanwhile, Infantry ships from the 3rd were called up on standby.

"Understood ... thanks sir." sprinting back to his room he slid on his jacket and strapped on all the gear his superiors had given him before he left. Heading out the door again he stopped by a nearby weapons locker picking out a few more clips and a Kevlar shirt before heading back to Kai. "Ready sir." he said confidently.

The lobby of the building was stylish and functional, large counters faced the door from all sides, they had a wood finish but armored bulkheads were underneath. One of the few people in the lobby at the time directed Irim to a elevator at the rear of the lobby.

"Let's go." Kai said boarding a shuttle. "Dante you pilot us down there alright? We're heading for wherever the Wicked went."

"KAI!" Yuuko's voice yelled over the ship's intercom, echoing in the bay.

"Yes Yuuko?" He asked responding over the intercom.

Elly followed Kai and Uso, she had absolutely no idea what was going on other than that she and Dante were to stop anyone from harming GSA people. "Do you want me to take my own ship sir? Or should I accompany you?"

"The Kessaku techs and I got together and patched our communications to the Comfort." Yuuko answered.

~It may be messy, please accompany me.~ He thought back to her.

Dante nodded and entered the shuttle, sliding into the pilot's seat as he began prepping the ship for take off." 

"Good work. We're heading for the meeting. Tell them to be prepared to support us if something happens." He replied.

Anatole stood on the deck of the Theron, his eyes darting from side to side to make sure everybody was attending to their jobs. A few moments lingered by while he surveyed the deck, a sudden idea then popped into his mind. Turning around to the communications officer, Anatole then began to formulate his phrase correctly. "I need you to get me in contact with the Seigi, I have a few questions for the commander."

Yuuko's excited voice reappeared. "Yes sir! Wicked reports Chujo Irim is in the building. Sir! Transmission from the Theron!"

Elly nodded silently wishing she had gone with Dante to the weapons locker, but at least she had her swords, her shuriken, and her pistol.

"I'm scared Master" Keiko said quietly in Kai's ear. "It's ok Keiko." He comforted her.

"patch it through to our shuttle we're preparing for lift off." He replied.

"Roger," Yuuko nodded as she did so. She wished she could come.

"Yes?" Kai's voice asked the Theron.

"Everyone ready?" Dante asked as he sent a signal to the technicians to open the docking bay doors to let them out.

25 stories up the buildings power went out to all the lifts in the QnL building stranding Irim. A message was sent to the Seigi, "We regret to inform you that rolling power blackouts are affecting us planet side. Please come in for a landing at the pad located on the roof" 

"Ready as ever" Elly replied

~Yuuko. I need one more security member, hurry here.~ he thought to her. "Wait a sec Dante."

Releasing his grip on the controls Dante sat back, going over the gear he had on him as he waited. It was a shame he only had weapons for cloak and dagger work, but no matter, it would do.

The communications officer responded quickly with "Shôshô Elek would like to speak to you, just a moment." He was walked over to the console. "This is Shôshô Elek, is everything going alright down there? I just don't feel right..." his mind trailed off with millions of other questions coming up.

Uso stepped into the shuttle as Kai received a communication from Elek

"We're just about to leave for the surface Shôshô Elek. Thing may turn hairy." he replied.

"Is there any way that I could help with anything while you take your leave?" came the rapid response that stammered out of Anatolia's mouth.

Irim was incredibly strong, even for a Neko. She hated dysfunctional lifts, and pulled open the doors, Eve-style.

The doors opened easily and showed a metal wall. They were stuck between stories.

"Watch over the Seigi and be watchful, we may be attacked on the way back." Kai responded, wondering where Yuuko was.

Yuuko momentarily ran into the shuttle, carrying the 5th Dimensional Soliton Rifle and a GP-5.

"Let's go Dante. We're all here." Kai informed the pilot. 

Elly seemed to sense Dante's frustration "If you want my other pistol, you can have it gladly, I prefer bladed weapons anyways" She handed him the pistol, "Be careful though, I specially took out the safety...makes it easier for quick combat."

Irim climbed onto one of her sentries' shoulders, and opened the top of the lift, climbing out into the shaft.

Uso wasn't carrying a sidearm, she figured that she didn't need one, and had replaced it with a data pad inside her holster.

The lift went up about another 25 stories before ending and letting out at the 50th floor.

"Understood" came the response before the console was set back to watching over the radio transmissions. Anatole then turned around quickly, an order barked out of his mouth rapidly "We need to watch over the Seigi and be prepared to offer covering fire to any friendly ships coming from planetside, by prepared for anything!" He then slid off into his command chair, waiting to enjoy his first taste of battle.

The neko security team began floating up the lift shaft...

Dante looked up at Elly then back at her gun, nodding his thanks he still gave it back. "Don't worry my sidearm is prepped and ready, just regret not bringing a sword." He said with a grin showing his favor of the same type of weapons as he returned to the controls and paging the technicians. "This is Shuttle 3 leaving the docking bay, open the doors." 

"I hate T1 shuttles." Yuuko complained, missing her old Ki-T2. Hell, it was in the other side of the bay!

Kai sighed and brushed nervous hand through his hair, ruffling it some. "You look eager Yuuko." He said noticing her weapons.

The flight control officer who was plugged into the system opened the doors. With the AI down things had become slightly more difficult.

Exiting the Seigi slowly, just in case any malfunctions arose, Dante maneuvered the shuttle down towards the planet, eager to get down and out of enemy sights. He kept his eyes glued on the sensors, unsure what awaited them on their descent down.

"Sorry I took so long. I stopped by the GSS Comfort for an ST backup." Yuuko apologized.

Elly smiled at him, "I would lend you one of my swords, but I need both of them and they were custom forged for me...might be uncomfortable for you."

Yuuko explained, "We only have three fingers."

"And in all this I forgot my main weapon." Kai chuckled. He still had his GP-13 sidearm though.

Elly nodded "Exactly." 

Uso held out her hand and a slit of red appeared as her own skin was devoured by her blood. It pooled up in her hand and formed a short blade about 5 inches long, "Here you can use this" She said handing Elly a knife to pass up to Dante as her palm healed up.

"Pennyeater?" Yuuko asked.

"Here you go" she said as she put the blade on the panel beside Dante. Uso nodded to Yuuko.

"Cool!" the short ranger grinned.

"How can ab artist create works without supplies?" Uso said with a slight grin.

Kai leaned back and looked thoughtful. He had made a recent backup before the system shutdown, knowing that the Kessaku people weren't stupid enough to erase the ST backups.

"These shuttles are SO slow compared to mine," Yuuko complained.

Uso nodded, "You can go faster now." She said tauntingly

"Well..." Kai muttered.

"Thanks." he said quietly, a slight smirk playing on his lips, he was bristling with hidden weapons as it was, wouldn't hurt to add a few more. He could still feel the concealed GP-12B1 hidden under his jacket as they exited the atmosphere, the buildings of the QIS coming into view. "We'll be touching down momentarily, time for the show to begin." Dante said enthusiastically, which was different from his previous anti-social facade, as they neared their destination. Slowing down Dante circled the building before slowly touching down on the roof, killing the engines immediately so not to draw attention to their landing. 

"This thing only goes 150 knots in the air."

Two more fighters were behind the shuttle all the way down, tailing him in case he did something they didn't like. 

"No matter." Kai said, "we're here." 

"Are You Serious?!" Elly Asked Incredulously. "That's It?!"

Anatole's left hand gripped down hard on the armrest of his chair, compressing a bit of the metal before he noticed his behavior and stopped it. With his free hand, he reached around and took the necessary cables and plugged them into the

Part 4 

jacks in the back of his neck. With the ship under his control, he awaited further orders.

"Yep." Yuuko nodded. "Mine goes mach 5."

Gazing at the console Dante shook his head as the fighters hovered near the shuttle as he landed; thankfully they seemed to be in a pleasant mood. "Not trusting over here are they." 

"Nice, what kind is it?" Elly took pride in her ship and was always willing to strike up a conversation about it.

"I wouldn't be either," Yuuko commented. "It's a customized Ki-T2 Aeroshuttle."

Kai stood and opened the door and stepped out, looking up and around at the sky. 

Uso got out of the shuttle and stretched, "Ah its good to be back!" she said as she waved pleasantly at the fighters before heading past the twenty something guards on the roof and towards the elevators

"Uso. Wait." Kai said to the neko. "We're going in together, all of us."

Uso turned around and started walking backwards, "Then come on already!" She said with a smile.

Yuuko was strapped. "Ready."

"Just get your little butt back here. I said we're going in as a group, you are not to wander off." He said waiting for everyone else.

"Just get your little butt back here. I said we're going in as a group, you are not to wander off." He said waiting for everyone else.

Irim's team reached the top of the shaft and came out on the 50th floor, The room was little more than a guard room that protected the lift hub at this part of the building. One of the sentries walked over to the lifts to help Irim out and onto the floor, "Welcome." He said, "It looks like your stuck here, all the high security lifts are out for the moment," he explained.

Uso stopped and crossed her arms, "ok then, I'm waiting," she said

Keiko had remained silent, half afraid of what was going to happen.

Stepping out Dante closed the door of the shuttle behind him, fiddling with a few commands to make sure no one decided to enter while they were away. "Where to now sir." the assassin said stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets and following after the others, the knife Uso gave him clutched in his hand. 

Elly made a face. "Wonderful...the marvels of modern technology..."

"Now we can go." Kai said, looking serious and headed for the lift to the top floor of the building where the meeting was to be held. 

Yuuko stuck close to Kai. Her tablet was in a small backpack. "How long till the meeting begins?"

Uso walked into the life and stood next to Kai, waiting for the others to follow.

Elly muttered something. "...finally..."

Dante took up the rear, waiting for the others to get going before he followed afterwards. His eyes continually searched for anything out of place, this spot allowed him to slip away unnoticed if need be. "Sir do you have those images I gave you earlier, perhaps those people will be here." He called out curiously. 

Kai simply continued walking to the elevator and reached it and got inside.

"Yes I do Dante." He said, transmitting them to Dante's data pad.

Irim forced open the doors to the top floor of the shaft.

Pulling his pad out of his pocket he looked them over briefly, doing his best to commit it to memory for now, he didn't want to refer to it repeatedly. He kept to himself, standing in a corner away from the others as he went over what they had to do. 

once everyone was in the lift moved down one story and opened out into a small room with a podium. Behind it was one of the secretaries, "We have been waiting for you," she said in a pleasant voice as she pressed a few buttons, opening a non-see through glass door in front of the elevator which led to a nice hallway decorated with wood finishing and plants. At the end of the hallway was the boardroom.

Elly followed Kai, her hand relaxing on the hilt of her sword. She had no idea what to expect, but she was prepared for anything.

Kai swept into the board room and looked around at the other representatives. "Sorry, we had a couple delays." He said to the woman at the podium.

~Everyone be on your guard, we want no mistakes here.~ He though to his entourage.

Both sets of doors closed behind the group from the Seigi as they passed through the hallway as the security system reactivated. The room had a panoramic view of the city and around the sides were several nekos with short white hair. Each had on a GSA uniform with a flak coat over it, In the center was a large round table with all of the owners of QIS sitting at it, apparently they had started without them and were discussing the safety of the corporation.

As they entered the board room Dante's gaze immediately drifted to the roof of the room, searching for any ventilation shafts or any where someone could enter without being seen. 

Irim continued to head upwards...she took the stairs.

"What have we missed due to our delay?" Kai asked pleasantly.

"One of the AI neko's handed Kai a data pad with a transcript of what had gone on, They had talked about everything from installing a new leader to business plans to the security of the company so far. Right now they were trying to decide who should be in charge. Qel'noran logistics, acquisitions and construction seemed to favor Sijik while each of the others wanted their own leader.

"Hmm." Kai mused. "What I'm interested in is this terrorist faction." He said to himself, listening to all of them. ~Dante, keep an eye on that Sijik.~ Dante cold hear in his mind.

The stairs were long and winding, each flight circled around the lift shaft making the trip longer that it probably should have been. Every 6 floors they had to pass through a security check point that slowed them down even further.

Irim ignored the checkpoints. She and her team ran sideways on the circular walls, accelerated by their anti-gravity fields.

He couldn't figure out why but for some reason that he didn't know, but something seemed...off here.

Giving his commander a subtle nod Dante slowly made his way to stand a few feet away from Sijik. Joining the few nekos standing guard over the group he made no sudden movements just made it seem he was staring out the windows pointlessly. It helped to wear shades when you wanted to look in another direction without being noticed. 

The owner of QnL spoke up, "We each want someone who will be in our best interests however we all can't have who we want, Sijik has promised to keep the sector secure and allow us to follow our own plans." he said. A new round of squabbling soon followed.

The owner of QnT started to speak but was soon cut off by Sijik, "My men have already arrested 23 members of new dawn and we were able to keep the southern parts of QIS safe. What more assurance do you need?" he asked.

Yuuko looked to Elly, "Hmm. How'd they make arrests so fast?" she whispered.

Kai slid into a seat near him and listened quietly. "I want to know one thing, we received an ultimatum from the new dawn demanding we remove ourselves from Ralfaris, what do the rest of you think of that?" 

~Interesting isn't it Yuuko?~ Keiko sent her, her sensitive hearing listening in.

Elly looked at her "I think it's because he's part of New Dawn...but that's only my view of it..."

The owner of Qel'noran technologies spoke over the squabble, "I think that the GSA should leave, Its their fault that we got into this." He said, "Nonsense" Sijik replied, "The GSA have only helped Ralfaris, We should be focusing on this New Dawn organization."

"The question is how did they get their hands on such weapons?" Sijik asked while looking at the owner of QnT as if making an accusation.

Kai looked over at the owner of QtS calmly. "We have done nothing to incite this, our battalions were here defending the civilians."

Kai looked over at the owner of QnT calmly. "We have done nothing to incite this, our battalions were here defending the civilians."

"And thats why they gunned down helpless crowds of civilians?" the QnLG leader inquired.

"They killed hundreds!" He practically yelled back, "they were just as bad as the gas!"

Kai frowned. "I apologize."

Sijik looked down at his data pad, "I think its time for us to put this to a vote, no ones opinions are going to be changing anytime soon," He said

Dante's open of Sijik shifted drastically in barely a few moments, to hear the man claim that he had arrested 23 members of a secretive organization like New Dawn then proceed to stand up for the GSA confused the trainee slightly. 

"I don't care, so long as we can increase our profits." the QnLG chairman snorted.

Sijik gave the man a death glare. It had always been his opinion that they were here to help the people in ways the Imperial government couldn't.

Irim finally busted into the room, followed by her compatriots. Irim's pale face held burning red eyes, which searched the room in the infrared and x-ray spectrums. She was standing behind Kai, and was a bit taller than him. A towering statue of a neko she was.

AI nekos had already begun to pass out data pads for voting to the owners of the corporations.

The QnLG chairman was too busy considering selling the GSA new furniture to notice. "Ah, yes, the data pad." he smiled, snapping out of his daydream of lavish captains' chairs.

The voting started with the each of the owners picking who they wanted to be the next CEO.

Kai looked to Dante, ~I have a bad feeling about this whole setup.~

Sijik managed to get 3 votes including his own while one vote was for Yui another for the owner of QnT and two for the owner of QnSe who was absent. He had been very popular before his disappearance.

Glancing back at Kai Dante could only shrug; they could do nothing unless something happened, something big anyway. 

Yuuko looked at the ultra paranoid Irim. Irim was wondering if the pads might contain bombs.

After hearing the results the owner of QnT stormed out of the room. He almost pushed Irim out of the way but decided to walk around her instead.

( Good idea. )

Irim caught the nasty glare from the man. As a Kessaku, she and the QnT guys had some beef with each other.

Sijik smiled, "Well I should be getting to work." He said as he headed for the door. He gave Irim a reptilian smile (go figure) as he passed her.

"Is that it?" Yuuko scratched her head.

Part 5 and Credits 

The other leaders started to file out of the room, oddly enough Uso was nowhere to be seen.

Kai faced his crew. "I need you to gather as much information as you can on this Sijik."

"Intel here or onboard the Seigi?" Dante asked curiously as he turned away from the window. 

There was still the question of where the gas came from and all the hard copy records stored in the libraries that could contain information that hasn't been scanned in yet.

"Whatever's best. Planetside preferably." Kai answered.

The room had been emptied of Qel'noran personnel and all that remained were the GSA and a few AI nekos

Irim and her entourage headed up to the roof, where the Wicked was hovering.

Elly just stood waiting for orders from Kai.

As the elevator opened to let Irim step in Uso stepped out, Her uniform now had the addition of a Qel'noran Acquisitions pouldron on her right shoulder with a cape that covered her right side as well as a shiny new Taii rank pin for the fourth fleet.

Irim gave Uso a frigid glare, and took the stairs.

Kai looked at Elly looking back at him. "Is there something else?" he asked politely.

"We did all this, and nothing happened. An awesome first day..." Elly stated with more than a hint of sarcasm

Uso smirked at Irim and walked over to kai and handed him a data pad with a transfer request to the GC-51 without saying anything

"Sorry sir, I guess I was just a little excited that something big was gonna happen...oh well" She sighed.

Kai looked at the request, "I'll need a couple days to think it over."

"Maybe we'll have some fun tailing our friend Sijik." Dante said mainly to Elly as he looked towards the door. "We might as well get going, no time like the present." noticing the change in garb on Uso he shrugged and started off on their new assignment. 

"hmpf" Uso said, sounding a bit disappointed, "Alright then. Should we be checking out our leads planetside?" she asked

Yuuko hugged Elly's waist. "I thought we were gonna die!" she squeaked.

Elly patted Yuuko. "You really thought that didn't' you?"

END



JP

Kai
Wes
Zack
Anatole
Dante
Sean




[GSS Seigi] Investigations 
Dr Shinichio Nobumoto
11/24/03 13:51

ON> Qel'noran Logistics Building

Boardroom, 101st floor: "So are we going to go check out the area?" Uso asked as she waited a bit impatiently off to the side of the room. Technically she wasn't a Taii until Kai approved her transfer.

Yuuko adjusted her mass of weaponry, "I suppose we can hang around down here until the Seigi's upgrades are complete. I think we should look for clues about the disappearance of the Security chairman."

Kai nodded, he didn't want to personally give a bad impression here. "We probably should, but we can't act suspicious or arouse any." he mused, thinking about how to go about this. "Uso, I want you to stay around me, you are not to go off on your own again." He said to her, narrowing his eyes. He wasn't in the mood to deal with her 'I have to do things myself' attitude. "But since there's so many of us here we should cooperate in the things we do, wouldn't you agree?" He turned to the Chujo, sensing a slight feeling of frustration.

Keiko turned on Kai's shoulder to face Yuuko. "If you want to go and find out, I want to go with you." She said cheerfully. "That is, If Kai lets me." She said. ~Go ahead with her Keiko.~ He replied to her mentally. Keiko jumped off his shoulder and walked over to Yuuko and pulled on her pant leg for a lift up.

Uso smiled and leaned against the wall. "Alright then," she said as she replaced her Taii rank pin with her old one, for the moment anyways it looked like Uso was going nowhere.

Yuuko lifted the robe from around her ankles and discovered the little black neko tugging on her stocking fabric. She reached down with one hand and retrieved the little girl and placed her on top of her backpack. "Okay!" Yuuko grinned.

Keiko giggled and gave Yuuko a small hug. "Yay." She smiled.

"So where are you heading then Kai?" Uso asked, paying no attention to Keiko or Yuuko.
"Me?" He asked. "I'm going to have a look around for myself." He replied, turning to her slightly. "I'm very suspicious of this Sijik character, so I want to find out a bit more information on him from his peers."

Yuuko frowned. She wished she had her shuttle here. "Who's taking the shuttle?" she asked.

"We all are. It is our only way back." Kai pointed out. "We want to gather some information here before we head back."

Uso rolled her eyes.

"Um," Yuuko twirled a finger in her hair, "I was hoping we could go back so I could get my Kitty."

"Oh. That's why. Well it is a faster ship." Kai mused, brushing a hand through his hair. Then nodded. "If that's the case then go get your shuttle and report back here to me ok? Keiko can lead you back." He said.

"You won't need a shuttle." Uso said, "You'll be walking most of the time and the QIS has large underground areas. You'd be better off getting a car from someone."

"Well that's why I want you here Uso, you know this area better than the rest of us." he said to her over his shoulder. "But, I want a quick way out if the need arises."

"Okay?" Yuuko said in an uncertain tone. She thought they were going to split up; she still wanted her shuttle. She and Keiko headed up to the roof. The GSS Wicked was already gone. Entering the Ki-T1 shuttle, Yuuko (with Keiko) began the tedious ascent to the Seigi.

Kai turned for the door and walked out into the hallway. Dante and Elly probably had already headed down. "Let's go Uso." He said and started off to do some casual investigations of his own.

"What's wrong Yuuko?" Keiko asked from her perch on the backpack.

The shuttle was escorted into low orbit by a pair of ever-present QnS aerodynes. Uso followed Kai to the lifts, falling into step just behind him and to his right.

Yuuko turned on the QIS News channel while she shuttle was rising. "I'm scared that this will turn into something even more horrible," she told Keiko. She didn't like her uninvited escort ships.

"You're worried about everyone down in that building." Keiko said, she was a bit scared as well, but being with someone bigger than her gave her confidence.

The news channel was now bringing reports about the casualties now that the gas had dissipated. It seemed that the attacks had been very disorganized and caused minimal casualties inside of the city. However the news brought numbers and a live feed on the massive deaths near the third fleet landing zone. 

A small picture of the Anchorman was talking in the top right-hand corner of the screen while a cameraman walked over the mass of dead bodies.

In the meantime, Kai was busy asking a few people casual sounding questions about this Sijik person and specifically if anyone knew how he'd captured 23 so far.

"Eww." Yuuko grimaced at the graphic footage.

"Oh that's disgusting, I hope none of our guys end up like that." Keiko shuddered.

Uso gave Kai an odd look as he walked around the lift asking her casual sounding questions

The camera man tripped and fell on a pool of blood and the camera landed sideways facing a corpse that had been blown in half by a mortar round.

Kai and Uso had descended to ground level to investigate. Being wary of anything suspicious.

The streets were completely empty of people. The only sounds were a soft rumbling coming from down the street.

"Eww." Keiko squeaked, trying to hide in Yuuko's hair.

"Hmm? What's that?" He said, hearing the rumbling and started off cautiously in that direction.

"This guy must have done something to get hit my a mortar..." Yuuko pointed. She called the GSS Comfort's science and communications officers and asked for coordinates of the location the camera to be sent to her shuttle's computer.

It took a few moments to get the co-ordinates from the QnL people but the information was soon relayed to the computer in Yuuko's shuttle.

Keiko reached the Seigi and switched into the comfort of her own shuttle. She again called up the GSS Comfort. The destroyer's computer took over command of the Ki-T1, and both shuttles headed back down together. Yuuko's split of in the direction of the landing site, while the Ki-T1 returned to a corner of the rooftop where it had been before. Keiko covered her eyes as the Ki-T2 flew over the line of bodies toward the mauled mortar victim. Yuuko continued to watch the QIS News as she flew.

The only living things in the area seemed to be the small group of camera men and a single reporter trying to make the best of the situation. The bodies seemed to form a curved line around where the tanks used to be. The ground also looked a bit darker than usual in this particular area.

Yuuko landed the shuttle and stepped out, heading toward the body of interest. Kei was still in the backpack, but Yuuko had left the 5D rifle in the shuttle. "Has there been any QIS investigation teams here yet?" she asked one of the reporters.

"A Qel'noran Acquisitions unit was out here earlier," One of the cameramen commented, "The Security units are to busy patrolling the city to come out here." Overhead a few fighters circled like vultures. Even though Yuuko had the exact location of the body she couldn't see it. The ground was slick with freshly dried blood and in some places bodies were two or three deep. The resentment in the eyes of the cameramen could be easily seen.

"Great." Yuuko frowned. She approached the body pile, and starting rummaging through it, looking for some sort of evidence. Perhaps she could find the device used to release the gas.

She found many things, Pictures of loved ones, ID's, Money, Jewelry, but even with all her efforts she was unable to find anything that could be used to release a gas attack upon the area.

"Crap." Yuuko frowned, flicking her wrists to get some of the blood off her gloves.

"Nothing?" asked Keiko.

Yuuko nodded. "The acquisitions unit took it...I think they're involved. This leads back to Sijik again. Keiko, turn on my palm pad and call up the Comfort through my shuttle. Ask them to give us the whereabouts of all the Qel'noran Acquisitions ships." Keiko ducked into the backpack and went to work. Yuuko looked to her hands, "This stuff isn't active anymore or what?" she asked a reporter.

"The gas dissipated quickly," He replied. It took almost a minute but the results soon came back. The QnA units were on patrol away from the planet, all except for GC-49 through 51 who had been recalled to deal with the angel battle feet that had come close to the planet. 

Kai heard a loud screech as a civilian truck skidded out of a side street and made a 90 degree turn onto the main road before shooting off again, nearly hitting Kai and Uso. Right behind it was a 6 wheeled Qel'noran APC in hot pursuit. Although it doesn't look like it the APC was incredibly fast. This was joined by a high-pitched whine as a QnS aerodyne swooped down into the city. They were having a hard time bringing in air support this close due to the proximity of the buildings. 

"Who the hell was that?" Kai demanded. He looked for the next available ride.
Another APC was close behind the first one and Uso flagged it down to a stop, "You coming?" She asked as she ran to the rear of the vehicle and climbed in through the door that was still opening.

Kai nodded and jumped in after her. "What's going on here?" He asked.

"This is horrible." Keiko said, looking at the bodies.

Keiko relayed the results of the ship database search to Yuuko as they both boarded the shuttle. Yuuko sealed the belongings and a chunk of flesh from the mortar victim in plastic bags, then removed her gloves and robe, sitting back in the cockpit seat. She placed the backpack, with Keiko, in the copilot seat, giving Keiko a nod of agreement.

Inside to rear of the APC were two rows of seats on either side facing the center. In the middle was a small platform that the gunner was standing in. In front of the rear compartment was where the pilot was sitting, "We are in pursuit of a suspect." He said, He wasn't in full uniform but the 3 Qel'noran in the back were. Each had a pouldron on their left shoulder that read 'Qel'noran Security'. Before the door had closed the APC was on its way again trying to make up for the lost ground. Uso was monitoring the chase on one of the screens inside the compartment. 

"Who is the suspect?" Kai asked calmly.

"I hope everyone's ok." Keiko said.

Yuuko sent a message to Kai's data pad from her shuttle. "Are you there, Kai-Shôshô? Looks like the Acquisitions guys grabbed the evidence. I couldn't find anything. I've got a sample for DNA testing, though."

"One of those New Dawn guys." One of the soldiers in the back said as the APC sped forward. The truck made a sharp turn and the aerodyne had to stop to avoid hitting a building while the two APCs followed.

"I'm here." Kai replied. "We're with the security here. Chasing after a suspect," he added.
"Roger. Do you need air support?" Yuuko asked. Keiko added, "It was yucky." to Kai.
Kai chuckled a bit. "You'll be ok Keiko." He smiled as he sent it. "If you can, they're having a hard time getting in here." He sent to Yuuko.

The aerodyne sped over the two APCs its lower turret spun forward and took aim at the truck only to loose it at the last second as it turned back onto a man road, This time though there was enough room for the agile fighter to make the turn and follow the truck along with the APCs.

"Do you guys know what kind of nerve agent they used?" Kai asked a Qel'noran.

"On my way." Yuuko responded. Her custom shuttle raced toward Kai, tracking him by his data pad. The shuttle was painted a distinctive shade of purple that made it stand out somewhat. "I'm not sure how this gas vanished without a trace..."

Gunfire could be heard on the speakers in the APC as the fighter fired off a series of warning shots that impacted the road just beside where the driver sat. The man obviously freaked out and started driving erratically allowing the APCs to make up some lost ground.

Keiko giggled "Wheee!" she said.

Yuuko's shuttle darted out behind the aerodyne.

~Doesn't Sijik run the security?~ He asked Uso mentally.

The Aerodyne sped up slightly, moving in front of the truck as the turret swung around to face backwards. The gunner put a single shot through the vehicle's engine block causing it to immediately slow down. ~Sijik runs Acquisitions.~ Uso replied as the APC slowed to a stop and opened its door.

Kai stood up and jumped out of the APC after it stopped, and looked over at the vehicle.

Keiko spotted Kai. "There he is." she said happily.

The truck had crashed into one of the buildings at incredibly slow speeds and before the driver had any time to react the men in the APC in front of Kai's were already all over him, Three pulled the Qel'noran out of the truck and forced him to the ground while two others started searching the truck. All of them had on the Acquisitions uniform.

Yuuko, meanwhile, hovered around the scene. "Kai, let the security guys handle security. Get those QNA guys off him!" she shouted. This wasn't right at all! "We could," she suggested, "tell them SAINT needs to interrogate the prisoner."

Kai walked over and telekinetically threw the guys off him with a wave as his red hair danced around him. He walked over to the man. "I represent SAINT, this man is to be interrogated by us." He said in a loud authoritative voice. ~Arigato Yuuko~ He thought to her.

"You can do that when he is in jail," A rather large Qel'noran said as he stepped out of the first APC, "Qel'noran Acquisitions is conducting its own investigation and will relay its findings to SAINT," he said as the man was bound and being carried into the back of the APC. The two Qel'noran who were checking over the truck pulled out a GP-5 and a small assortment of grenades and were placing them in large trash bags labeled evidence that were attached to their belts. 

Yuuko couldn't tell what was going on down there. "What's happening?" came from the data pad.

"I'm afraid I must insist." Kai said seriously. He psionically stopped them from loading the man and pulled him over by sheer force of mind. "I said this man is under the protection of the GSA for the time being."

~I think Kai's in trouble~ Keiko thought to her.

"They're trying to take him." Kai replied.

The men weren't letting go and were being dragged along with the man, "I'm sorry but I cannot do that" The one who was obviously in charge said as the APC began to spin around in place while the top turret swiveled to point at Kai.

The GSS Wicked glided overhead. The forward most weapons pod on the nose of its blue-gray underside was deployed. Above them, Irim was watching. "Status report?" the ship's communications officer IMed Kai's data pad.

"I don't think so." Kai said, his eyes turning blue, his hair dancing straight up now. The electrical system on the fighter promptly shorted out as he telekinetically disabled the weapons.

~Uso, help out here.~ He mentally ordered her.

The fighter simply hovered in air. Uso steped out of the APC and walked forward, "what would you like me to do?" she asked

"They are trying to take a witness we need." He replied.

~Get up there and disable that fighter.~ He told Uso.

"That one?" she asked as she pointed up at the Wicked and walked towards the man in charge on the ground.

"The APC, Uso."

The Wicked sent back, "Imperial authority supercedes planetary authority."

Kai's eyes turned angry, Uso was betraying him, something he wouldn't stand for. "Our authority overrides yours release this man to us." He demanded to the Qel'noran in charge.

~Uso is betraying us I believe.~ He sent to the Wicked and to Yuuko.

Uso giggled, "ya I know" she said as she started talking with the Qel'noran. The three holding him stopped as they waited for new orders while the two at the truck continued to search it over.

The Wicked asked, "Are you sure?"

"I'm fairly sure, please watch her." He replied. He was getting angry now; he didn't take this lightly. "You cannot refuse us." He said.

"Very well" The Qel'noran said after having his talk with Uso. He motioned to the soldiers at the crash site who set the prisoner down and returned to the APC, leaving the evidence beside the truck, "We will be expecting a full report on what you learn from him." He said before returning to the APC himself.

Kai's eyes turned back to green as he looked over at Uso. "What the hell did you tell him?" He asked, in a tone that said not to joke.

The Wicked was about ready to turn Uso into a crater. Onboard, the weapons officer's finger hovered millimeters over the fire button. Kai had said he was pretty sure, and his word was good enough.

"May I talk with the person in charge of Wicked?" He asked over the pad.

"Irim here."

"I reassured him that I would oversee the interrogation myself," Uso said as she pointed to the addition on her uniform, "Were all on the same side here, remember?" 

"Irim, may I ask you to detain Ms. Tasuki here on your ship under lock-and-key until we are finished here. "She as been acting awfully suspicious and I feel that she may completely betray us out." Kai asked Irim.

"What??" Uso asked.

"You are not the officer in charge here Uso. You have overstepped your authority for the last time on this assignment." He said, fire in his eyes, he was angry.

"Of course, Shôshô." Chujo Irim replied. "Tasuki Uso" the ship's speakers echoed. "Do not make any moves or you'll be killed."

"Like it or not Kai I am your best bet for getting to the bottom of all of this." She said, "If you let them take me then you can say goodbye to your chances of finding out who is behind this."

Uso slowly raised her hands above her head to show she was unarmed.

A trio of tech-sentries slid down a ladder that from the lower lift hatch of the Wicked. "Come with us."

"I'm am not going to tolerate your insubordination." He said. 

"I got you the suspect didn't I?" she asked him.

"Huh?" Keiko and Yuuko watched in confusion.

"You did, and I thank you, but you need time in a locked cell to think about disobeying orders." He said.

"I didn't disobey your orders." She pointed out.

"I told you NOT to go off alone, you did. I'm not in the mood to tolerate it right now." He said in an eerie calm. but then began to reconsider. "Irim, actually I may need her, soon so don't hurt her too badly if at all." He said over the data pad.

"You said we were supposed to enter together. That's what we did, I went off on my own to check the place for bombs. I also managed to infiltrate QnA. What more do you want?" she asked

The sentries from the Irim looked to Kai for an answer.
.
Kai looked thoughtful... "I withdraw that request Irim. Please forgive me." He said over the pad.

Uso put her hands down at her sides once more.

"The base idea here is to catch this terrorist, if she can do it, I need that." He added.

"Alright then." Irim said. Her sentries gave stern looks to Kai and Uso, then climbed back into the hovering destroyer. "I'll leave this in your hands, Kai." The Wicked moved up and away. "I'll be watching."

"You walking a thin line here." Kai said to Uso. "Arigato Chujo Irim, give Taisho Yui my regards if you see her." He sent over the pad.

"That's what I do best." She said with a smile as she walked to the APC, The Qel'noran Security men moved to take the suspect as well as the evidence and conduct their own search of the truck. The QnA APC drove off while the fighter stayed in place watching over the proceedings.

"I said, that this man is in our protection for now." Kai told the security men. 
Yuuko set her shuttle down on the side of the street.

"Well, where do you want us to take him then?" they asked .

"We'll take him with us back to our ship for an interrogation." Kai said. "Uso come back here." He said to her. "I have orders for you."

Uso nodded and leaned against the front of the APC that was now only a few feet from where Kai was standing. "So what now then?" she asked.

Kai walked over to her with the man in tow. "You are to gather more information on this Sijik. You are to report back to the Seigi in 6 hours; and after that you will provide regular reports."

Uso nodded, "Is that all?" she asked.

Keiko looked up at Yuuko, "What's going on?"

"Yes it is. we will be watching you." he said.

"I'm not sure." Yuuko shrugged, donning her robes and gloves again. The short-statured neko then lifted Keiko between her fingers by the waist, and placed her on her shoulder. The two cuties approached Kai.

"I'm sure you will." Uso said

Kai turned to them. "Hello there you two." He smiled to Yuuko and Keiko.

Uso gave a short wave to them as they approached.

"Sir!" Yuuko saluted Kai.

"Get going Uso." he said. Then returned Yuuko's salute. "At ease you two." He said.
"What happened, sir?" Yuuko asked, watching Uso.

Uso got into the APC along with the QnSe guys and drove off
.
"We got someone who the Acquisitions were trying to capture. He may have info." Kai said. "You're willing to help us right?" He asked the Qel'noran.

The man was bound at the hands and was currently running away from them and into a back ally taking advantage of the time when no one was watching him.
Kai telekinetically reached out and dragged him back. "it's in your best interest to help us." He said as the man got near.

The man was obviously frightened of them and didn't respond
.
"There's nothing to be scared of." Kai said soothingly.

Keiko looked at Yuuko. "This could take a while, but he's cute when he's serious isn't he?" She teased Yuuko playfully.

The man obviously thought otherwise and was struggling against his bonds.

"Hey, what the?" Yuuko said. She looked around at the buildings around them, and the streets. It was too quiet. "Sir, we've got enemies. We shouldn't hang around downtown any longer than we have to." she suggested. "I don't think our prisoner here is very popular either, if you know what I mean."


Yuuko was right; it wasn't long before gunfire could be heard close by.

"Come with us please. or we'll take you forcefully." Kai said, walking toward the shuttle pulling the captive along gently. The man had little choice but to follow.

Yuuko jogged past them and got into the shuttle's cockpit before they entered. The shuttle had some of Yuuko's stuff strewn about it, including a few dufflebags, the 5D rifle, and some plastic bags of evidence.

Kai got in and pushed on things out of the way and had a seat, allowing the captive to sit down as well. "What's your name friend?" He asked the Qel'noran pleasantly.

The man seemed to have giving up on trying to get free and was now just lying limply where they had placed him. Kai looked at him, gently probing into his mind as he wasn't going to get any info out of him verbally.

The man was obviously very paranoid. Kai recognized his face from somewhere though. "Hmm." He said and looked down at his data pad and pulled up the photos of the CEO's, trying to fit it together.

Yuuko looked back through the cockpit door into the rear section. "Kai, could you hand the magazine for my rifle up here?" she asked. It was a necessary precaution. While she was facing rearward, she spotted her evidence bags. Suddenly, a thought struck her. "The Qel'noran guys drove off with the contents on the prisoner's truck?" she half-stated, half-asked.

Kai passed it up. "maybe, lets go check."

The man didn't appear on the pictures of the CEO's but he did appear in Dante's intelligence. He was on of the people who ran the New Dawn website.
a
Keiko jumped up and over to Kai. "I'll go look, I can stealth remember?" She said. "Ok, just be careful." Kai replied. Keiko bounded out and ran over sheathed to the truck.

Yuuko didn't know which APC the bags of evidence were taken away in. She looked to Kai questioningly. "There might be some left in this guys truck that they didn't get. it's worth a check." He said.

~This guys runs the "new dawn" site. that's where I recognize him from~ He thought to Yuuko.

Keiko first searched the cab, using her size to get into the tight areas.
Yuuko looked back out the front window of her shuttle, tapping her fingers lightly on the dash. On a whim, she turned the news back on.

On the floor of the cab, just under the drivers seat, she found a magazine covering an object. "What's this?" Keiko said, pushing the magazine off and looked at the item.

"I'm sorry you didn't see much action Yuuko, I know you wanted to." Kai said to the little neko apologetically.

The magazine flopped open and Keiko got a good view of two nekos enjoying each others' bodies. Underneath the magazine she found an old pistol that looked to be manufactured long before the GSA came to Ralfaris.

"Hmm." Keiko said, eyeing the magazine a bit, then gathered up the pistol....and the mag and brought it back to Kai, who blushed at the sight of the magazine. "Does this help?" She asked happily.

"Yes it does" He replied looking at the pistol and setting the magazine aside. Keiko smiled and went to check the back one more time, but she found nothing more of interest inside of the truck.

Yuuko was still watching the news when Keiko returned again. It seemed to be repeating the same stories again with no new information coming in.

Keiko came back and hopped back in. "Nothing else." she reported; hoping she had done well. Kai smiled at her in thanks. Keiko smiled and climbed up onto his shoulder and gave him a little hug. She was back to being kawaii.

END



JP

Kai
Wes
Zack




[GSS Wicked] Insanity 
Kitsurugi Yui
11/25/03 19:00

ON> Headquarters Complex, Qel'noran Security Corporation

The GSS Wicked (GD-232) landed out front of the bunker where the assassination had taken place. A team of Nekovalkyrja agents emerged from the gray-hulled destroyer, and approached the outer doors. Their pace was hurried. Meanwhile, the Wicked's communications officer relayed a message from Chujo Kessaku Irim (who was with the team) to Taisho Wolf of 3rd Fleet. "Have you received details yet?" she asked.

The Kiyo was still orbiting Ralfaris. They had only heard of a gas attack. Nothing more, nothing less. "Details of the attack? No. Though we'd really, really like to know what's going on."

The public face of QnSe was a new skyscraper just outside of the main mass of buildings that made up the QIS area planetside. The outer walls of the building were made of black glass covering the armored bulkheads that made up the structure. Around back a ramp led down into the mass of high security tunnel systems and around it was a small military base that housed soldiers and vehicles.

"Evidence thus far collected by the Seigi's SAINT team and my own investigation," Irim informed Wolf, "suggests a takeover of Qel'noran Industrial Sector by its Acquisitions subsidiary. The nerve gas attacks were either carried out or pinned on a faction called 'New Dawn'. One suspect of New Dawn has been captured."

"You'll be interrogating him then? Have you learned anything else of interest? Composition of the gas, motive, numbers?"

Irim's team busted into the building as if it were a team of armed robbers combined with a SWAT team. Shouting her everyone to not move, their weapons were trained on everyone who they encountered. One of the first things they checked were the uniforms of the personnel inside. Irim told the Qel'noran at the front desk. "Take me to your security room, now!" at gunpoint.

The lobby was nearly identical to the one inside of the Qel'noran Logistics building thanks to Constructions prefabricated techniques. Around the sides of the room were the various desk's/armored bulkheads. Irim's team was surrounded the moment it entered the building by a small army that was waiting inside of the lobby. "Put down your weapons." A unidentified Qel'noran said over the PA system as a warning alarm sounded. Outside of the building troops started to mobilize, bringing mobile artillery around to face the Wicked as more troops moved in behind the ground team. 

Irim sent another voice message to Wolf, "The Seigi has him. The gas was purchased on the order of 4000 vials. Motive of the New Dawn is to free Ralfaris of GSA control...hold on."

The Wicked deployed its gun turrets and began firing into the lobby, providing cover fire for the agents. Irim shot her hostage's head off with her GP-13 pistol, and her team of 12 sentries opened fire into the building security forces as they flung themselves behind cover. The destroyer used it sophisticated sensor suite to pick off threats from outside. In a second, everyone but the investigations team in the room was dead.

"Irim here," the Chujo sent from her position behind a desk. Smoke and dust were falling around her. "We've met with some resistance. I'm calling for backup. We must get to their security center and obtain access to their computer."

It took only a moment for the soldiers outside to open fire. Several APCs opened fire on the Wicked as well as a dozen fighters and two Minion corvettes. Orbital defense measures were activated, although the missiles couldn't do anything at this close of range so the majority of the firepower was left on the ground for the time being.

Part 2 

The Wicked's weapons pods, designed to take out armored starships, made the APCs into pitiful rolling fireballs. The ship's augmentive armor materialized on its hull. The upper weapons' pods opened up on the Minions; the destroyer significantly outgunned and outclassed the smaller ships. Irim's team headed deeper into the building. The Wicked's MEGAMI system began attempting to hack the building's network. First, it shut off all communications to the outside. Next, the ship's nose turret began taking out phone and networking junctions to snuff the internal communications.

The MEGAMI was initially outclassed by a fully deployed overlord system The Megami was swamped with useless data and in turn the buildings computer attempted shutting down the power systems on the ship. As the nekos inside of the building moved on they were attacked by various internal defense systems armed with special 'nekokiller' rounds that had been made for this exact contingency. Each round was a small sensor system that scanned the neko's DNA as it got close in an attempt to activate its anti-tampering systems.

MEGAMI smiled at the "Overlord's" increase in fervor, and turned on its acceleration systems, allowing it to outrun the overlord processor by an order of thousands. It's power systems were core components of the IES, and couldn't even be touched until the outer systems were down. The nekos were in full body armor. The rounds were largely ineffective; not one of the team was incapacitated. The Wicked requested Taisho Wolf send the 1st Attack Group to assist. Busy, the destroyer couldn't put up its shields or go anywhere.

"The power system of this building...please scan and report." Irim sent to Wicked and to Wolf as she ducked behind her cleavers. Her eyes began to glow slightly, and her skin flushed with pick swirls as the blood beneath conjured power from deep within.

The first line of Qel'noran defense was in the stairwell that Irim had just reached. Several grenades shot forward at the attackers as the soldiers who fired them ducked behind an armored bulkhead at the small landing where the stairs turned to the right. Meanwhile Sijik had just received a notice of what was going on and looked over to one of his assistants, "Send this message to all of the news organizations and all fleet commanders...Irim Kessaku has opened fire on GSA personnel. Currently her and her associates have murdered 18 soldiers of the GSA." A copy of this message along with crystal clear video footage of her killing the soldiers inside of the QnSe building.

The Wicked put its shields up, cutting off MEGAMI's attack on the building, which was damaged more than the destroyer. Irim and her team all turned to ash. No point in a fight like this. The Wicked actually used its TTD, disappearing before the majority of the torpedoes arrived. There was silence for a moment on the radios as the torpedoes impacted with the planetary surface.


Part 3 

"Conversing," the PANTHEON systems all displayed as they took a silent vote. Then, a list. "The following ships are considered rogue (list) ATTN 3RD FLEET CMD. IMMEDIATELY DESTROY LISTED SHIPS."

The ships that had fired on the Wicked moved outside of the anti-TTD fields and teleported away. Meanwhile, the Wicked reappeared with its home fleet, the 1st XF. Yui called up the Kiyomizudera. "I hear we have a rebellion? 6th SF and 1st XF are on the way if you need them."

"Someone get that building scanned, huh?" It took a short amount of time. They could see the GSA agents were dead. About this time they received Yui's message. Wolf ordered a short reply. "Send all available units. We've gotta destroy this fuckin' planet." Wolf also ordered another communicate to the rest of the Third Fleet. "All starships with TTD come to Ralfaris. We are going to bombard the planet."

Yui came back, "No! Do not harm the civilian population."

"Well what do you suggest? We're going to destroy that building at least."

If Ralfaris were to be attacked it would retaliate. The Ender missile batteries planetside were being prepared to fire.

The ships of the 5th, 6th, and 1st Expeditionary appeared. "No."
END

Part 4 

ON> GSS Empire (GB-10)

"Wolf?" Yui appeared on the Taisho's screen.

"Yui? Ah, hello?" Wolf hadn't expected Yui to suddenly appear like she did.

"Let's not do anything regrettable. Return fire only."

"That....that was an outright assault! They tried to fuckin' destroy that ship! We can't let those mother fuckers get away with shit like that!" Wolf was angry.

Yui remained calm, "Wait. Let's think this out."

"Psh." Wolf shook his head "What's there to think about...?" He waited for a second, then looked at the floor and mumbled "Ok."

"Obviously, this is Qel'noran Industries' idea. We should concentrate on eliminating them. I want you to begin taking out all industrial complexes on the planet, since they're all QIS-controlled, in an hour. Tell Sijik he has that hour to surrender all of his renegade forces, or his planet is going to be stuck living like cave men."

"So you're saying just hit the Qel'noran factories? All right, I'll do that. How do you suggest I get in touch with Sijik....whoever Sijik is?"

"Call Qel'noran Acquisitions...Hit the war factories first."

"Right. Acquisitions." Wolf looked meaningfully at a communications officer. The neko moved to execute. "We'll start a planetary scan and find the factories then. Any certain way you want us to take care of them?"

Yui shook her head in disgust. This was a fine time for this, in the middle of two major wars, another had just begin.

"Ah...." This was probably the most sacreligious, stupid thing for a former assassin to say. "Maybe, ah....we could, you know....work it out with them? Get peace, or whatever?"

"That's why I'm giving him that hour..." Yui sighed. It was clear she was upset. Her eyes held a deep sadness.

"All right, we'll get ready then. Do you have a scan or map of the planet so we know where the factories are, or do you want us to get that ourselves?"

SAINT-X1 sent the data to SAINT-3. The charts were up-to-date with the latest RDD scans.

Together they awaited Sijik's response.




[GSS Empire] Standing Down 
Kitsurugi Yui
11/26/03 18:22

ON> Ralfaris

Yui and the rest of her fleet were waiting. She sent the QIS a message of her own. "Sijik, I'm sure we can both agree that this has exploded into something neither of us wants. If you'll recall your ships, we can arrange a peaceful solution between us. If you cooperate now, I'll give you a special deal."

Sijik remained calm in the control center of QnSe. "Before we do anything I would like an explanation of what happened. I have a report of our facilities being attacked by the Wicked and now an order to destroy ships of the 4th fleet. In 5 minutes this will hit the news and we will have a massive PR disaster on our hands."

"Special deal?" questioned Irim. The infamous berserker had been respawned onboard the Empire. In her opinion, the man should be tortured to death. Yui, luckily for Sijik, didn't agree. She told him, "Irim was conducting a surprise investigation. When your men refused to cooperate, they were punished appropriately." Yui paused for a moment to let this sink in. "At that point, some of the ships from 3rd and 4th Divisions of the fourth fleet opened fire on the investigating vessel, resulting in terrible damage to the area."

"The order to attack our ship didn't come from Taisho Jaren or Shôshô Ashigari...so we assume it came from you, Sijik," Irim added.

Sijik pressed a few buttons on his control panel bringing up a video of what had transpired, "Irim walked in and immediately took hostages, The soldiers merely tried to defend themselves when her and her ship opened fire." He replied, "Our ground forces requested air support and I approved it. Irim has single-handedly done more damage than the entirety of the terrorist attacks." 

"But the ships did the damage, Sijik, and you have no authority to give orders to the GSA officers who commanded them," Yui pointed out. She decided to try a little bluff, as well. "We know," she told Sijik, "about the Security chairman's death."

The damaged caused by them was minimal. The impact crated can be repaired and the lower floors of the QnSe building can be replaced but the people killed in the attack can't." Sijik responded. Sensing that the target had left the torpedoes had duded themselves, minimizing damage, "Then please send any information you have regarding it to QnA." He said, "We still have him listed as missing." 

"You had him killed, Sijik. Don't lie to me," Yui stared. "Qel'noran Acquisitions is responsible for this."

"I admit I used the opportunity the attacks presented to assert control, The corporation badly needed a leader, But I had no part in the attacks." Sijik said calmly, "If Ms. Irim wanted to conduct a investigation she should not be taking hostages. Now do you have information on his disappearance or not?" 

"You're not listening, Sijik. The Star Army holds YOU responsible for his death and for the attacks on the GSS Wicked. We're giving you a chance to turn yourself in, in order to save your people from misery."

Sijik shook his head, "I've done what I can to minimize the media coverage of the incident involving GSA soldiers firing on civilians. But now the wicked firing on uniformed GSA personnel and then arresting me would only draw more people to New Dawn's cause." Sijik calmly stated. "They are growing in popularity each time something like this happens and I would appreciate it if you would let us continue our investigations and weed them out before we have another gas attack on our hands."

"You think killing more of your own people would solve anything, Sijik?" Yui asked. "You must surrender. A gas attack is nothing compared to what you face in a matter of minutes. PLEASE, Sijik, come clean and cooperate," she urged.

"More unnecessary aggression from the GSA is not what is needed right now. I am trying to keep QIS functioning but I can't do that if you are constantly threatening our employees. This is just absurd. Yui call off your ships." Sijik said

"Don't say we didn't give you a chance," Yui looked to Hinosami, and the transmission switched to a screen which displayed the time remaining until Wolf's ships began to systematically eliminate the rogue industrial sector. The Star Army ships began broadcasting transmissions to the civilians over radio and television, telling them to evacuate their cities.

Irim goaded her master on, "Don't let that civilian try to tell you what to do." she hissed. "You're doing the right thing."

The Civilians were now in a uproar. The GSA was threatening to destroy their homes and lives eroding the last bit of trust the public had between themselves and the GSA. Riots started to break out in the streets as even QnSe soldiers started to rethink their ideas. The various bases around the city started to deploy more troops and anti-space weaponry. Large flatbed trucks with shield generators and GWB systems started to roll out, taking up places outside of the city as the missiles planetside finished launch preparations. Sijik attempted to contact Yui again and also sent a transmission to wolf.

Thousands of Qel'noran attempted to flee the cities, causing horrendous traffic jams and lethal, desperate road rage as they fought each other to get out. There were Ajuti priests running in the streets screaming "Repent! The end of the world is here!" Meanwhile, the 3 last Iori Star Fortresses appeared near Ralfaris. Each began launching its full complement, lending an emergency PANTHEON-controlled force of 27,648 Irim-Class assault ships, and 967,680,000 Lamia Power Armor. Yui responded to his hail. "Reconsidering?" she asked, hoping.

"I'm giving you another chance to avoid a disaster. What do you hope to accomplish by attacking Ralfaris?" Sijik asked as he continued to try and get wolf on the line.

"We don't tolerate rebellions. Sijik, you have five minutes to surrender yourself and the ships that have mistakenly followed you." The largest Star Army force ever assembled spread out around the planet on three sides (which indicated they were concerned about some weapons going through the planet). The clock was ticking.

"We are not rebelling against anything. All your doing is proving New Dawn right. If you attack now both Ralfaris and Geshrintall will be destroyed." Sijik said, "No one wants that."

"You're running out of time." Irim warned.

"Heh I understand now. What is the relation between you and Irim Ms. Yui? You seem to be following her orders not the other way around. You still have time to avoid a disaster. Don't be foolish Yui." Sijik warned

The ships of 4th Fleet's 3rd Division teleported in with their gun turrets still under their hatches. The ships were surrendering, in order to save the lives of their families. In return, they were exempted from prosecution. Sijik could only watch as the forces he thought he controlled began to give up. Most of them had come of their own free will. The others only had sprites left onboard.

"Sijik, think of the children." Yui pleaded.

Sijik thought that was irrelevant. He thought it would only take a single missile to end every life on Geshrintall, "I am thinking of them Yui. What will be New Dawn's next target if I am not here to stop them? They could attack anything if we don't nab their leader now." Sijik took up more of a friendly tone before continuing, "Yui we are at each other's throats because of a misunderstanding between the GSA and QnSe. We cannot let this rip apart the GSA. I am ordering all of our units on the ground to stand down. I hope you will do the same." Sijik said as he pressed a few more buttons on his console. A lot of the troopers were confused by the order as most had been influenced by the news and New Dawn propaganda but they complied. Slowly the trucks started to head back to their bases.

"Very well. It's not my desire to needlessly kill people." Yui nodded. The Empire ordered its units not to attack unless fired upon. "You will, then, surrender yourself to the Star Army's custody while the investigation continues?"

"We need to make some new laws," Irim commented, "regarding the relationship between the military and the corporations. It needs to be clear who comes first. In addition, I think we need to reestablish the government."

Sijik shook his head, "I'm sorry but that simply cannot be done. We have riots in the streets and more than likely thousands of new terrorists to deal with. Right now we cannot afford a change in leadership."

"I see. Consider yourself under house arrest, then. You're not allowed to leave the Qel'noran Industrial headquarters".

"that is acceptable. I knew you were a reasonable person Yui" Sijik said.

The messages on the radios and televisions changed. "It is okay to return to your homes. Everything is fine now."

Of course, some of the damage had already been done. Looting and rioting continued. Most of the people either ignored or didn't hear the messages. Right now the GSA wasn't very popular with the Qel'noran people. 

ON> Streets of the QIS Industrial Complex

"arrrrGGHH!!! Out of my f__ing way!!" a citizen shouted, unloading his CF-01 into the auto in front of his.

Horns blared, and screaming people ran by. Some of them were carrying furniture or valuables.

"End of the world!!" a religious man cried, face full of tears. "What did we do to deserve this?!"

QnSe APCs were blocking off the streets and using their external speakers to relay the news of what had just happened, "GSA ships are standing down... " 

"What the hell?" another Qel'noran shouted. "I think they just want us to die peacefully."

Meanwhile the news desks at QnL were busy putting together exactly what they were going to say. At this time headlines were often more speculation than fact. "GSA Declares War on Ralfaris!" read one while others were more subdued.

Meanwhile New Dawn was recruiting. People were willingly joining up for a organization that declared itself the ones that would rid the planet of the GSA tyranny.

Meanwhile, some opportunistic individuals figured out what was going on and took what advantage they could. "Please move, I'm trying to get to my family!" one shouted. As the APC blocking his way moved, he drove his van off into the suburbs full of stolen weapons from QnT.

Fortunately he only made off with a bunch of small arms that were readily available at UC's around the city. The majority of the heavy stuff was kept on bases or in the military areas of the underground tunnels. But there were others.

END



JP

Zack
Wes

[GSS Empire] Standing Down: OOC NOTES 

OOC Note: Given that the 3 Iori Fortresses at Geshrintall also made their full production of ships, there were a total 55,296 Irim Assault ships created as a result of the "New Dawn Conflict" thus far. These ships have temporarily been assigned to the 1st and 2nd Provisional Fleets, and are fully automated (so don't ask to transfer to the provisional fleets).




[GSS Seigi] Restoration 
Kitsurugi Yui
11/26/03 18:23

After Yuuko's shuttle docked with the Seigi, Kai quickly exited the shuttle with the captive in tow. He paused and sent a short report to Taisho Wolf: "Sir, we are back aboard the Seigi after a short planetary investigation of the events on Ralfaris. We have a captive with us, and are preparing to interrogate him." Kai sent. "I will send a more complete report after we interrogate him." Kai added.

"Right, I heard about the captive. Motive, numbers, weapons, all that kind of stuff. Awaiting next report."

Kai turned to the captive and looked at him straight in face. "I'll ask you first off, what is your name?" He asked the Qel'noran.

The Qel'noran was obviously very frightened but managed to speak, "Ekzyr."

"Calm down Ekzyr, we aren't going to hurt you, just ask you a few questions." Kai said primly. If you'll follow me; we'll get out of this shuttle bay. 

Ekzyr was trying to keep his distance from the neko's that were in the shuttle bay and had little choice but to follow Kai.

Kai lead Ekzyr to the intel office, the consoles were inactive. He got a couple strange looks from various crewmembers but was left alone by Kai's mental orders. He guided the Qel'noran in and offered him a chair; taking his own. "Please, make yourself comfortable." He said pleasantly.

He sat but was obviously uncomfortable

"Now, please, tell me why you were fleeing from the QnSe and the QnA." Kai prompted. He knew from the report Dante had given him that this man was with the New Dawn, but Kai wanted to hear it from him.

He started to recount the events that led up to now. I was at home working on my web page when I heard a loud bang. Soldiers came in and I ran..." he said.

Kai nodded. "What web page is yours?" He asked innocently; silently coercing the man.

"If I tell you will you promise not to have the neko's eat me?" he asked.

Kai chuckled. "I promise. No harm will come to you while you are on this ship."

He gave the address to the new dawn site that Dante had found earlier.

"So, that's the New Dawn site. Would you tell me what you know about the New Dawn organization that is not on your site...If you know that is." Kai said pointedly.

"No" the man replied." ..I mean.. I can't."

"Sure you can Ekzyr." Kai said encouragingly. 

"I can't.. they would come after me." he said

Kai telekinetically searched him, looking for anything like a tracking device or a audio recorder. "the New Dawn would?" He asked as he did to keep it casual.

Ekzyr nodded

Kai gave Yuuko, who was standing watch in the door. noticing she looked a little suspicious. ~Please relax Yuuko, we want him to talk without having to force him if possible.~

Kai's eyes fixed back on Ekzyr. "They won't come after you, not here." Kai said.

"Sorry." Yuuko apologized. She shouldered her purple GP-12B.

"So please, cooperate with us."

"why should I trust you?" The man said, "Do you know neko's have a history of eating their captives?" he asked.

"I am aware of that, and I assure you that no neko will eat you." Kai reassured. 

"Huh?" Yuuko made a confused face. "Well, there's a law that protects POWs from mistreatment and death."

Keiko mimicked Yuuko at this point, her expression anyway.

"That's just what they want you to think." The man said.

Kai sighed. "That's false propaganda." He said. "You can trust me Ekzyr. I have nothing against you; you'd probably be treated quite a bit worse if QnSe or QnA got a hold of you. So please, repay our favor with some information."

The Qel'noran went off on some rant about how the GSA has been controlling the media and how they wanted to remove QIS because it was a threat to their control.

Kai held up a silencing hand. "We have no control over the media of Ralfaris as far as I know." He said. "We want to know about this New Dawn, like who the leader is."

"Um... that guy.." Ekzyr said. He winced as if regretting what he said.

"Which guy?" Kai probed.

"No he'll come after me..." He said.

"Perhaps we can find you a safe place to hide." Kai offered.

Yuuko grinned. "A submarine on Albini?"

"I'd don't want to be a fish for the rest of my life...." he said sounding a bit disappointed.

"They wouldn't find him there would they?" Kai chuckled. Showing Ekzyr that not all nekos were bad. "Maybe somewhere else then."

"Perhaps the farmlands on Geshrintall?" Yuuko suggested. "Well, we should work it out later. Right now, let's keep going." Time was critical, but Yuuko make sure to act like they weren't in a hurry.

"But tell us who is the leader of the New Dawn." Kai asked in a calm tone.

"Not until you make sure I will not be held accountable for the crimes New Dawn has committed and hide me someplace safe." He said.

Kai turned to Yuuko slightly. "Yuuko, could you get Taisho Yui on the line? If anyone, she'd know where he can hide. I'd like to run any idea past her before I commit." He asked the little neko. 

Yuuko activated the communications terminal, which was still temporarily routed through the GSS Comfort. Soon, Yui was on the screen. They'd caught her in the bath. "Kai?" she looked to him through her ever-present tablet.

Kai was direct, but whistled at her to get her attention. "Sorry to intrude Mistress, but I have a couple questions for you." He said.

"Sure," she said. She moved against the side of the pool-size tub. As her face closed in and took up more of the screen, the view of her shrunk to her face, neck, and the top of her breasts, which were pressed against the marble.

Kai was still blushing a slight red at seeing her nudity and made no effort to hide it. "We have the captive here, he is willing to talk if we can guarantee that he won't be held accountable for the crimes New Dawn has committed and that we hide him somewhere safe. Could you suggest something?"

"The safest place a person could be is on a KFY starship," Yui said. "Geshrintall, after that."

"Perhaps a nice little farm on Geshrintall?" He said thoughtfully, considering Yuuko's suggestion.

"Perhaps," Yui nodded.

"A farm?" he asked sounding a bit disappointed.

"Or would you prefer a starship?" Kai asked Ekzyr.

"Better than the Ralfaris desert." Yuuko mumbled.

"About not holding him accountable?" he queried

"I'd think he'd be innocent, the information could be exchanged for amnesty for him." Kai mused.

"Well now that that's taken care of, please tell us who it is Ekzyr" Kai said.

Yui was shampooing her beautiful hair as she watched the prisoner. Yuuko was, in turn, watching Yui.

Keiko noticed Yui from Yuuko's shoulder and bounced up and down waving at the Taisho. "Hiiii" she giggled.

Yui waved her fingers at Keiko, and blew the little catgirl a kiss.

Keiko giggled and blushed slightly, she didn't know if it was obvious but she was. "You're pretty Yui." She smiled.

"His name is Aukrg," Ekzyr also gave Kai the address for the place where he was staying, "Is that all?" he asked.

"Yuuko, could you run a check on that address if possible?" Kai asked her. "I'm afraid not Ekzyr." he said, gently probing into the Qel'noran mind.

"I should have known... You are going back on your word, Your not going to let me go after all." he said

"Address?" Yuuko seemed confused.

"I never said that, I'm just afraid I don't believe you." Kai said, still probing.

As far as Kai could tell the man was telling the truth.

Kai pulled out of his mind, not wanting to physical hurt him. "Is that all you can tell us? What about that ultimatum the New Dawn issued could they really do all that?" Kai asked

"Dunno," The man said, "I just run the site, they sure surprised me with that gas stuff..." 

"Well that's good enough." Kai said, standing up. Then turned to Yui; "Could you please send a KFY ship to pick him up as per my word?" He asked her, not wanting to go back on it.

"What shall we do with him?" Yui asked, looking for Kai's suggestion.

"Keep an eye on him, keep him out of trouble." Kai said. "I don't want to go back on my word, you've heard that a man's only as good as his word haven't you?" He smiled handsomely at her. "Maybe show him how GSA really is."

Yui nodded, and began searching for an appropriate ship.

Kai turned to the Qel'noran. "I am not going back on my word." He said. "You never know, you may even enjoy serving the GSA."

"Perhaps that's a bad way to put it." Yui cautioned.

He grumbled something under his breath. He hated the GSA and disliked the idea of having to serve them.

"You'll learn eventually that we aren't bad." He said pointedly, sensing his mixed hate and slight confusion.

"You didn't want to go back to Ralfaris with the those people did you? You want to be safe and this is probably the best way."

He started another rant on how the GSA was worse than the people on Ralfaris. 

He gave graphic descriptions of how, in the past, they would rape women and then use them as food.

"That isn't true! The GSA never did that!" Yuuko cried.

Kai sighed and hoped Yui would hurry. "That is not believable." Kai said, sharply, the man's rants getting on his nerves. He'd gotten no sleep in nearly a week and the stress wasn't helping.

"Yes they did." The man said, "I have proof!" he exclaimed.

Yui looked up from her listings and raised an eyebrow.

Kai walked up to him, looking intimidating. "Where then?" He asked, he didn't want to have to rip it out of the man's mind.

"I've heard it was a common occurrence on Nepleslia." He said, "I think it was the... the Uesureyan Army, the organization that became the GSA, that did all this."

"I am a Nepleslian. And they have NEVER done that." Kai snapped irritably.

"That's a lie and you know it." he said, "There are pictures and video clips that prove it."



Yui, who was old enough to know more, spoke up. "That was over twenty years before Nekovalkyrja even existed. It is; however, very true." She went back to her ship rosters.

"So what if they did? That's history now." Kai said,

"See!" He exclaimed, for the first time looking to see who was on the communications channel. "The Nekovalkyrja also eat the Elysian's and all of their other foe's." 

~I'm sure they don't taste good enough for that~ Keiko thought to Yuuko

~They're not bad~ Yuuko admitted.

"Not all of our foes. We have, from time to time, used the dead Elysians to feed our armies. There have been hard times." Yui said. "Why waste the flesh?"

The Qel'noran was trying to move to the side of the screen where Yui couldn't see him. In his mind he had more to fear from her than anyone else.

Kai was quickly losing patience here, but was restraining himself from striking the man. "Shut up." He said sharply to the Qel'noran. "Just get over it, you'll be safe." He said in a strangely calm voice...which was very eerie considering his hair was now dancing around him.

Yuuko shuddered involuntarily.

The man wasn't talking at the time and saw no reason to start up again although he muttered, "oppression," under his breath.

Keiko jumped onto a nearby table and walked over to Kai and pulled on his robe, wanting a lift. She didn't like to see her master this way, it frightened her, but she thought she should try and calm him down. Kai sighed, the telekinetics stopping as he grinned wryly and scooped the little neko up and set her on his shoulder and tickled her a bit, eliciting giggles.

Yui frowned, "No one seems to want guests at this point. I was thinking perhaps the Wicked would take care of him. It's a more luxurious ship than most."

The man freaked....

He turned to Yui. "That may not be safe, could you tell Irim not to hurt him?"

"Irim's as gentle as a kitten," Yui smiled warmly, amused.

The man gave her an odd look, "The same Irim that shot up those GSA soldiers planetside?" he asked.

It had been on the news during the shuttle ride up.

Kai chuckled. "Please ask her too then. Irim's not all that bad"

"Correct." Yui nodded to the Qel'noran. "She's alright so long as you stay on her good side."

The Qel'noran looked skeptical.

Keiko was laying on Kai's shoulder breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling recovering from being tickled.

"The Wicked is my task-ship. I send it on my personal missions. There is no better ship to be on than the Wicked. It has the best crew of any Yui-class ship in the Star Army, and some of the best food as well."

Yui wasn't doing much to reassure the Qel'noran...

"Do you have family?" Yui asked Ekzyr.

"No" he responded.

"They died when the GSA took over the planet." he added.

"Great," Yui thought.

"So Irim'll be able to come get him?" Kai asked Yui.

"Of course. But I want you to find a new home for him within a week."

"But where? Geshrintall?" Kai mused thoughtfully; it was the only place he could think of right now. "Maybe Kennewes?"

"Shôshô Ashigari," a voice came over the intercom. "Taisho Jaren has fallen into a coma."

"What?!" Kai said, shocked. "Take him to the Medical bay at once."

"Yes sir." the voice responded. It was very soft, sweet, and feminine. Someone not on the normal staff.

"Who is this?" He asked, noticing that.

"Chujo Kessaku Anri." replied the voice from the bridge.

"Oh. Hello." He said. Kai didn't want to leave Ekzyr alone but wanted to go handle this situation. This day was going from bad to worse; or so it seemed. He remembered something small that Lav had done when he had chatted with her asked her about the package. "Yui, did you receive a small package from this ship lately?" He asked.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Anri was in a jumpsuit with a flashlight attached to a headband, working on the ship's computer systems. The woman was a genius, and as the best tech, she used most of her time working on the Pantheon-series systems herself.

"I received a small stuffed doll of Chiharu." Yui informed Kai. "Hinosami likes it."

Kai smiled. "I'd expect that of Juni Taiensho." He chuckled, his mood brightening

"Shôshô Ashigari," Anri's voice fell upon his ears like a soft blanket.

"Yes Chujo?" He asked.

"About the AI...Are you fond of her?"

"I honestly didn't know her that well." Kai admitted.

"I was wondering if you'd like to keep the AI." Anri explained.

He half liked the way Anri's voice sounded. soft and soothing. "I don't honestly know. I'm sorry Ms Anri." He admitted. "I'll work with whatever AI is assigned."

"The WIES is very much like the MEGAMI in its AI systems. You remember the GSS Yui's system, yes?"

"Vaguely, but yes." Kai said. 

"Which would you prefer?" Anri asked.

Yui, by now, had left the bath and was drying off out of the view of the tablet's camera.

"The WIES is acceptable, as long as it can make ST backups." Kai said, that was the one thing he had a fear of; dying without one.

Keiko had curled up on his shoulder and fallen asleep, looking absolutely adorable. He had been thinking for the last couple moments.

"Yes." Anri whispered from her nest of electronics on the bridge. "It can."

"Anri, would you mind setting the voice of the AI to yours? It's soft and very soothing." He said, with a honest smile on his face.

Anri took a moment to respond. She was flattered and blushed, making the artistic pink patterns in her snowy skin stand out. "I think I can get it to approximate my voice."

Yuuko tapped Ekzyr, "You still awake, buddy?"

Ekzyr pulled away from Yuuko, seeming not to like her touch.

"Thank you." Kai replied. "Yuuko, could you keep an eye on him until Irim arrives? I want to go met this Anri then go see Taisho Jaren." He said.

"Alright," she nodded.

Kai nodded and nudged Keiko awake. "Yes master?" She asked. "Keiko, please stay with Yuuko and tell me if anything unusual happens." Kai said, Keiko nodded and hopped off his shoulder and walked over to Yuuko. The familiar stocking pull came a second later.

Yuuko picked up the smaller neko and placed her on her shoulder. She then gestured to the captive to follow her.

Ekzyr stood up and followed Yuuko.

Kai walked out and headed for the bridge to check on the progress of the replacement. It wasn't too long before he walked in.

"Hello." His voice came from the door.

Yuuko led the man to the lift. From there the lift took them up through the GSS Seigi, through the KFS Control, and finally to the GSS Wicked, where the doors finally opened to reveal none other than Irim herself. 

On the Seigi's partially-dismantled bridge, Anri's dedicated technical staff was busily finishing the installation. A short Japanese male pointed toward a hole in the floor.

"So they're all in there?" Kai wondered, walking over cautiously to have a look.

Ekzyr was less than enthusiastic to see the inside of the Wicked. He looked over at Yuuko, "Do you mind?" he asked as he gestured to his arms that were uncomfortably bound at his wrists and just in front of his elbows.

"Of course." Yuuko said. "If you attempt anything suspicious, the ship will disable you."

Keiko smiled and waved at Irim. "Hi!" she said. Keiko was a friendly neko that much was clear.

Jadg Wolf joined

Irim poked Keiko's chest and massaged her small mounds with her index finger. "A delight." the pale berserker grinned.

Keiko giggled. "Stop it." she laughed. "that tickles."

Irim placed an NH-12 on Ekzyr's shoulder. "She's your caretaker. Anything you need, ask her." the Chujo explained.

Ekzyr nodded.

Keiko freaked. "Hey hey, I belong to Master Ashigari." Keiko yelped, still giggling from being tickled. She waved at the other NH-12 happily..

Ekzyr chuckled a bit after hearing Keiko.

"Scales..." the other NH-12 ran her hands along Ekzyr's neck. "Oooh." The other NH-12, then turned to Keiko and waved back. "Hi!"

Ekzyr shivered a bit from the other neko's touch.

"What's your name?" She asked cheerfully, hoping to make a new friend.

"Chui Ninko," she introduced herself.

"I'm Keiko." She replied. 

Kai was warily watching the technician's work, it reminded him of the work his father did so long ago. His tiredness beginning to show; though Kai did his best not to show it.

Ninko grinned at Keiko, "Pleased to meet you, miss." She then went to work, "Sir, your room is this way."

Ekzyr nodded and followed the neko to his new room.

Keiko was happy, she met two completely new people; she did a little celebration by giving Yuuko a tiny hug around the neck.

Anri was down in there working on some of the components. It looked like everything was in place except for the data connections. Anri was hooking up massive pile of cables to various sensors and communications equipment.

All over the bridge, the blank screens suddenly went red.

"I guess that means we've got power again." Kai said with a slight grin.

Trance music began to play on the bridge, beginning with a deep, steady beat, and then adding a soundtrack background. The main screen displayed in the top right hand corner, "System startup. Warship Integrated Electronics System v1.1." As the music continued, there was a percentage displayed: 01%.

"This is good, we're almost back up and running." Kai commented.

"This is a tradition," pointed out a technician. The first computers of this sort took days to start up. While they came to life, they played music; the people danced."

"I'm too tired to dance." Kai smiled.

Anri bobbed her head to the beat as she finished the last few connections. She then climbed out, and her crew began to replace the missing floor panels. "She's finished. A Kessaku computer," she declared. Kessaku meant perfect.

Anri delivered a low courtesy for Kai, then offered her slender white hand.

"Ah, that voice." Kai smiled at her. "I hope you got the AI to sound like that."

The music bumped in the background, as if energizing the computer to life. The percentage was climbing.

He accepted her hand shook it gently, then lifted it and gently kissed her back of it in thanks, an ancient custom he'd read about and decided to try.

Anri kissed Kai's cheek and neck in return.

He blushed slightly, his face starting to match his hair. "You must be Chujo Kessaku." He smiled.

"Yes," she softly smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Kai said, the coloration in his cheeks fading away.

"And I you. I've heard such good things from Mistress Yui."

"I haven't done that much." Kai chuckled, feeling slightly embarrassed.

The ship's hologram appeared next to Anri. It looked very similar. "System Online." said humbly, softly.

Kai smiled. "Ah, it's always nice to see a familiar face." Kai said, making a small personal joke.

"Irim and I will be leaving, if that'll be all, Kai."

"It will be, but I'm curious to know what the Mistress says about me, but oh well; it is most likely her own business." He said. "And thank you for replacing it. I know I couldn't have done it." He joked mildly.

"Not many could," she smiled.

"It takes a special person." He agreed.

Anri bowed in thanks, and moved toward the exit. Her technicians made sure everything was in order. When Anri stepped out, the music faded to silence. In a few minutes, the GSS Wicked (GD-232), GSS Comfort (GD-41), GSS Philosophy, (GD-117), and KFS Control detached from the GSS Seigi (GB-08) and from each other.

END




Wes (Anri, Yuuko, Yui, Ninko)
Zack (Ekzyr)
Thad (Wolf)
Kai (as Kai, Keiko)




[Ralfaris] Gettin' a lift. 
Saito Jian
1/8/04 16:10

After spending a couple of days wandering around Ralfaris, Saito was getting bored with how utterly bland the planet was. ~I think I'll go back to Geshrintall, at least there I could find something to do.~ He thought as he looked around for a possible lift. He had known that the GSA was recruiting new members, and he had also learned that Geshrintall was the home of the military, it all seemed to fit in with what he wanted to accomplish. There was only one problem; he didn't want to join the military, only get a lift back home. He walked around for what seemed to be forever, still looking for someone who'd help him.

        It turned out that the inhabitants of Ralfaris weren't too happy with the GSA currently, even rumors of a an armed group that were planning something against them. Saito didn't find this interesting enough to get involved, actually, he thought it would be rather pointless to attempt to attack the military. But that same group had done it a couple weeks eariler and who was to say they wouldn't attempt it again?

"Hey! You looking for something?" a voice called out from nearby, the dust was blinding and made it hard to see, but somehow this person had picked him out of the cloud.

"Yeah, I'm lookin' for a lift back to Geshrintall." Saito replied, using his TOS mind to lock onto the sound waves to pick out who was talking, shifting over to infrared he could tell it was a Qel'Noran.

"Oh. Can't help ya there. Ya might want to try the taverns, they attract alot of travelers, ya might get lucky." The guy said.

~Thanks for nothing you waste of space.~ Saito thought as he nodded. "Thanks, I'll try just that."

Saito didn't wait for the guy's response, and having remembered his way around from wandering, he headed back to a bar he'd been in the previous day, hopefully, lady luck would smile upon him this day. He brushed the dust off himself and out of his hair and looked around, spotting several nekos and alot of qel'norans. Saito, suffice to say, walked over to the small group. "Hello there." He said pleasantly.

A neko, slightly taller than the rest turned around at the sound of his voice. "Yeah what do you want?" She asked, harshly, she'd obviously seen some action from her demeanor. "Make it quick or..." She said trailing off as she looked at him more closely, noticing that this guy was a male..neko?

Saito narrowed his brilliant lavender eyes slightly. "I'm looking for some help." He said, kind of dully.

"What would a guy like you need help with?" She asked, still eyeing him.

One of the smaller nekos giggled suddenly and whispered something to one of her friends that Saito didn't pick up. "He's kind of....exotic looking." She had said, eliciting another general chuckle from the others.

Saito rolled his eyes, this had gotten off to the wrong sort of start. He sighed; "I'm looking for a ride back to Geshrintall." He replied to the leader of the little group.

"Is that it?" She scoffed, somewhat disappointed, she was hoping for something with more action. 

"Yeah, I'm just looking for a lift home." Saito said, waving the bartender over and ordered a drink.

"What can you do for us in return if we get you a ride?" She asked.

The bartender arrived back with a can of beer, which Saito cracked open and took a sip of. "100 KS." He replied to her, looking at the neko out of the corner of his eye.

"Not enough. 400." She countered.

Saito narrowed his eyes again, taking another swig of the drink and set it down. "200." He retorted.

The neko raised an eyebrow, so he really did want to go if he doubled his offer so quickly. She grinned ever-so-slightly, thinking she could get more. "450." She grinned.

Saito frowned. "300." He offered, yeah he really wanted it.

One of the leader's friend's whispered something to her, causing her to grin deviously. "Ok, since you really seem to need it, 400." She offered.

"Hmph." Saito grunted, this was getting too much than he could afford, he only had 451 KS on him. "350, that's as high as I have got." He admitted in a sincere tone.

"350?" She asked. "I suppose I can think about it for that much." She grinned.

"Please." Saito said, giving her his handsomest smile, a look that made one of her friend's blush slightly and passingly.

She nodded and turned to her group as they started talking in conspiritor's whispers. Saito could hear them whispering, but couldn't tell exactly what they were saying. The group was actually talking with each other telepathically, but were using the whispers to keep his attention focused on them, it was money he offering after all and their leader wanted it. Saito finished his drink and crunched the can in his hand, cutting it open, drawing a questioning look from one of the group that had her eyes on him. His mercury-silver blood oozed out and dissolved the can into it's base material and absorbed it though the wound, which it sealed shut. 

~He's a pennyeater!~ The neko watching him exclaimed to the others silently.

~He's a what?~ another asked.

~A pennyeater.~ the first repeated. ~a rare type of neko, they can absob metals and recreate things out of it that last longer than something created by normal hemosynthesis does.~ She patiently explained.

~Interesting, he is kind of cute as well, you see his chest? He's ripped.~ The leader said, getting a chuckle from the group.

The one who had blushed spoke up, she was obviously the shy one. ~I wonder if he's...well endowed?~ She asked, looking over at him, with another passing blush. ~I say we let him ride with us on our small ship, in exchange for the money and a good time.~ She suggested with a devious glance his way.

The leader nodded, and turned to him. "Yeah, we'll give you a ride. For 350 KS plus one favor to each of us on the way there." She said deviously.

Saito's eyes lit up in excitement. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I'm Saito Jian by the way."

The larger neko nodded. "I'm Seliana, this is Mishoko, Ryoko, Sakuya, and Riana." Seliana replied, indicating her friends as she said their names, finishing with the smallest of the group, a cute blonde with blue eyes. (the hair is dyed).

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Saito said with a grin.

They all nodded back. "Well let's go, we'll show you to the ship." Seliana said, standing up, followed by her friends. Saito nodded and stood up and followed them out. After a little while of walking, with Saito being flirted with by everyone in the little group they reached the ship, a older Yui model. 

"Wow, how'd you get this?" He asked.

"Simple, I earned it." Seliana said as the lift opened to admit them. They all got on the lift and went up into the shipand were soon off into space, heading for Geshrintall.





[Ralfaris] A new job 
Tasuki Uso
1/11/04 18:08

ON> Ralfaris

It was a lot quiter than normal today inside of QnT. Normally around this time lots of neko's and geshrin would be working on some sort of project for the good of the corporation. A datapad inside of Dr. Dupree's room silently blinked as a message him was waiting for him there. 

Jarias slowly rolled back over to his desk and picked up the data pad and pressed the button to get the message. He slowly looked around to make sure no one was trying to read over his shoulder. His blue eyes then scanned over the message, a frown deepening across his face.

"Congratulations on your promotion Jarias, Your being given the Qelnoran Organics subsidiary to do with as you see fit as well as their new facility that was just built inside the old residential area. A ship is waiting to take you there so that you may inspect the facility." The message was simply signed 'QnL' and came with an attached map of the facility that would be his new home.

Jarias slowly pursed his lips, he did not want a promotion, he didn't even know about this....what was it? Qelnoran Organics. Dr. Dupree slowly got up from his desk, setting all the safeguards on his computer, gathered up his bag, and slowly walked out of his office, towards the awaiting shuttle. The least he could do was check out the facility, and put in his two cents worth about what he would do with it, after he saw what he had to work with.

It was barely a minutes ride from the top of the QnT building where the shuttle was waiting to the new facility being built. He was able to get a good view of it during approach. The Facility had a outer wall about 100 yards or so from the inner walls. Inside three walled area's were grouped together. One was a U shaped research building with a recreational biosphere and residential building. The other was a row of warehouses and large landing area's where large amounts of supplies were being offloaded. The final area was a small military base and motor pool that would handle the security for the complex. The automated shuttle moved to land in-between the U shaped building where two smaller landing pads were located, "Hello Dr. Dupree," A young neko wearing a GSA uniform with a QnT holster that held several data pads on her hips. "I've been assigned to be your assistant here." She said.

Jarias slowly stood up and walked out of the shuttle, not speaking, or even acknowledging her until he had scanned the area for danger, then he looked at her and adjusted his glasses. "Well, do you have a name? I would rather call you by a name than just, assistant." He didn't mean to be rude, it was just that this was all so new to him, and he was a little leery of being out in the open.....too many places for assassins to hide....to kill him and steal his work.

"You can call me Mio," She said with a smile as her new boss left the shuttle, "Please come with me, There is a lot to do." She motioned for him to follow her inside of the research building.

'Alright Mio..." Jarias said, falling into stride behind his assistant as they walked towards the building. The doctor clutched his bag tight, looking around nervously the entire time they walked. "So Mio, what exactly am I to do here? I mean, what is it that Qelnoran Organics will do?"

"That is up to you sir. You own everything that you see here for the most part," She said as she looked around the lobby area of the research building. It was a white room with a few desks and chairs, almost like what you would expect to see in a bank. "This subsidiary was the genetics research unit of QnT and they were working on several things before this subsidiary was formed. Custom pets and Organic weapons are expected to be this companies most profitable enterprise." She explained.

Jarias nodded slowly. "I see. How many employees are here? What sort of workforce will I have....Also, what sort of technologies are in this facility?" He asked, looking around and adjusting his glasses again. He shifted his bag to his other shoulder, and then pulled out a data pad and began taking notes on all that Mio said.




[Ralfaris] Creatures 
Tasuki Uso
1/12/04 21:08

ON> Ralfaris
Somewhere below the QnT tower...

Various scientists scurried about the nearly empty room. Mostly there were only neko's and Geshrin here helping pack up what remained of the genetics experiments that were going on down here. The lab where the specimens were being held was well lit and painted a bright shade of white. Only one remained on one of the lab tables, "Its time to move this one." A Scientist said as he pulled out a small syringe and injected the creature in the neck with a stimulant. Two large QnSe guards were stationed at the door of the room just in case things got out of hand.

Dr. Dupree walked slowly into the room, waving off the guards as they turned to stop him. He looked at the specimen on the table and turned to one of the scientists who'd already been there before the doctor arrived. "What have we here? I don't believe I was informed about this project." he then walked to the side of the creature and looked down, lips pursed, and hands clasped behind his back.

"I thought you had already headed out to the new buildings?" The young geshrin girl asked as she attended to the waking creature.

Jarias looked back at the girl with a distasteful expression. "Please correct me if I'm wrong, miss, but am I, or am I not, allowed to know what is going to be going on in my labs. I have come back here from the new buildings to oversee the movement of the experiments. I want to know what has already been started so that I don't step on any toes when I start running Qelnoran Organics. Now, what is this?"

The project #1-635 remained still as the stimulant flowed through the many arteries, veins, and capillaries. As the fluid made it way to the brain the first impulse that this brain had ever created fired, it followed its course through the nervous system to the eyelids. Then as if the golem had turned from the statue to the an living creature. The eyelids flew open as the second set of impulse were sent to the newly developed heart. The new design allowed quicker blood flow it started to pump the blood at the same time the lungs drew in the first breath as a gasp for air. This all happening in a mere matter of seconds. The only problem being that this specimen was not breathing right it was coming in as gasp and going out harder. This particular specimen was having trouble breathing in it first few moment of consciousness. The next impulse seemed to fix the breathing problem though as unseen to the others 2 flaps within the nose open up letting air flow easier. The flaps were designed to filter out poisonous fumes but seem to be not functioning properly at this point. Underdevelped maybe, but the project open eyes seemed to brightened as life was pulsed into them as the Optic nerved kicked into activity. it started to register it first sights. But other than that it remained motionless.

The Girl looked slightly frightened by Jarias's tone of voice, "Th..this is the latest muscle and skin experiment..." She said as she returned to looking at the creature as it woke up, "Its not my fault that no one told you. These experiments are still kept highly classified because of the dislike of genetic modification by the Qelnoran people..." The girl was now busy attending to the creature's breathing. A oxygen mask was placed over the creatures mouth, flodding his bloodstream with oxygen as a small box was brought over and placed on the creatures neck with a collar like attachment. The girl equipped a small visor and began to instruct the nanites in the box on entering the subjects body. She began to preform reconstructive nanite sugery on the project while it was waking up.



The Girl started to rebuild the internal workings of the creature. The problem she found was that the creature wasn't properly sending signals to its entire body, "A software bug?" She thought to herself as she started to patch nanites into the creatures nervous system trying to create a workable solution. 

Jarias sighed, shaking his head. This would not do, this would not do at all. He had experiments that were started, and going to be moved to his labs, but he was not told about? This could have been a disaster in the making. Slowly, the doctor turned and walked out of the room, walking down the hall to go back to his labs. He had things to do. Already, not even a week after the company was founded, not only was he having problems, but he was inundated with orders for cusomized pets.

"HEY COME BACK HERE!" Someone yelled from behind Jarias. What looked like a stickfigure dog ran between his legs as a geshrin male in a labcoat ran past trying to catch it. 

Dr. Dupree had to laugh as the stickfigure dog ran under him. Slowly he knelt down and called after the creature, not knowing what it was at the time. "Come here.....Come on, be a good.....thing....come on."

IT turned around and hobbled over to him. Stopping and nuzzleing Jarias's hand with his head... or at least what looked like a head as it wagged its stick figure tail. The Geshrin stopped by the Dr. and started to breath heavily, "Thank...you....for....stopping....the....frame..." He started to say in between breaths.

Dr. Dupree slowly stood up, picking up the frame and speaking softly to it, not yet even noticing the Geshrin. "Oh yes, such a good frame, yes you are.....Yes, such a friendly frame." He then looked over at the man and finally noticed he was standing there. "Hmm? Did you say something sir?"

The nanintes in the specimen spinal cord located a main problem. For in the central location of the spinal cord, the nanites had found that a large, large compared to nanites, section of nerves had not been developed here causing the impossibility of motor control and movement. The brain was starting to now send signals to the rest of the body but do to the non-existent nerves there it created a break in the circuit. The scientist would have to figure out what to do here. But the creature had the ability to move it eyelids so far and breathe which was a good sign.

The man took a few moments to catch his breath, "We were taking that custom pet frame to the new facility when I um... dropped the case and let it get out..." He said sounding a bit embarrassed.

The girl put down the visor and reached into her labcoat. Two syringes were pulled out and she injected him with each one after the other. The first injection would start to increase the growth of tissue at that area to repair the damage naturally while the other would temporarily act as his nervous system to make his body functional, "Do you understand me?" The girl asked the creature as it started to wake up. The genetic memory experiments should have allowed the creature to be 'born' with basic motor and speech skills. hopefully those developed properly.

Dr. Dupree pursed his lips, nodding to the man. "I see....Right...Well, no harm done I suppose, we got it back." He smiled, and after petting the frame a little more, handed it's squirming form back to the Geshrin. "There you go, little one, go with this nice man for just a little while longer, and then you'll have a new home to run around and play in."

The man nodded and started to take the creature up to the landing area at the top of the tower. The thing seemed to wave goodbye at Jarias as it was taken away in the mans arms. 

"Goodbye little one.....Have a safe trip." Jarias said, waving to the little canine frame.

#1-635 blinked as he started to have feelings in his face. He open his mouth but all that came forth was a gurgling sound. as it started to clear up as his esophagus absorbed the liquids in their making almost no need for a stomach accept to break down solids. He then said "I am project #1-635 code Name Osirus Manuel, Awaiting final activation." the program was intact but it seemed a security program was also genetically implanted into him. Fo as the nerves started to be built a small field slightly a blue tint made from telekinetic energy phased into view protecting his body from being tampered with till the security wall was taken down.

"Paranoid QnT guys..." The girl muttered to herself as she used a nanite soft-key to disable the security system around the body, "Can you understand what I am saying?" she asked again as she bent over the table to get a close look at the creatures face. "We need you to wake up and start moving." 

Dr. Dupree followed the Geshrin after a few seconds, deciding that it would be best if he went with them, since he was going to the new facility anyway. He quickly jogged up to the landing area, hoping that he was not too late to catch whatever transport was available to take him back to his office.

Inside the facility there was an odd sense of everyone and everything being rushed. Even the guards seemed a bit on edge as all the equipment was being moved. On the roof transports were landing and then taking off almost as soon as they were loaded. They didn't even have time to let the engines cool down before taking off again. The man with the dog like frame was waiting just inside the doorway to the elevator where the dust wasn't as bad. 

Out from Osiris's mouth came what sounded like program running" Activation and completion of nerve development in process security key has enabled final rapid development phase to activate." it seems as if the security wall was also a final program to finish nerve development. The specimen now known as Osiris, skin started to change color as it developed the leather look and got the tan color. It's fingers started to move as it sat up. He moved his head from side to side. As the finer motor controls were developed it started to recognize the pre-programmed area, almost as it he was created with the knowledge of this location and would be able to find it at anytime. He was also preprogrammed with basic maps of the area so he would know the terrain and all the location of the QnT building and 

Jarias slowly, and quietly walked up behind the man, leaning on the wall, and just watching the dust swirl and coat anything it touched in grime. The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose, just staring into the cloud and waiting for the shuttle to land, and begin boarding.

"Come on come on we need to get going." The girl said. She was a bit on edge like everyone around her. "Can you move yet?" Meanwhile the dust parted briefly as a ship touched down and started loading. The geshrin ran aboard and took a seat in the front of the rather large transport ship. It looked like nothing more than a large rounded box with a small bulge at the front that was the cockpit. 

Dr. dupree put his arm up to cover his mouth with a sleeve, and then dashed out through the dust, quickly getting aboard the ship and brushing off the covering he had received. He then found a seat near the back of the transport and just sat staring off into nothingness.

As though a smart alec had programmed him, Osiris said "not without clothes" and a strange hiss like laugh came from this odd specimen. h then waited for the girl to respond before he did anything else.

"Oh great they gave him a sense of humor," She said with a chuckle, "Your clothing is on the table over there." QnT had supplied him with a tight pair of black stretch pants and a tank top of the same color, a barcode and nametag were printed in the top right of the tank top. The transport on the roof of the QnT building took off and started to head to the new facility. The Geshrin seemed to relax a bit as they took off. 

Dr. Dupree sighed softly, leaning back to stare at the ceiling in thought. He didn't need all this stress, he was fine with his old life, his old job. Now he was going to be making bioweapons, and custom order pets, he would have to make speeches and give progress reports....Where was Mio when he needed her. Well, she was always at his side, exactly at the right moment....but still.....

Osiris placed the pants and slipped the provided shirt on but after moving a lil he relized it was too confining and removed the shirt tossing it to the ground. He looked at the girl "Alright let move out." He waited for the girl to lead the way to the next location. He seemed to be growing muscle and developing them with every move he made. The rest of his body was developing at every point. It seemed as though he was rapidly developing the final stages as he moved in to follow.

"Good, follow me," She said as she watched the creature start to move. As she led him out a neko walked by and grabbed the girl by the arm. The neko asked a question that caused the small girl to blush and point at the bulge in the creature's pants. The neko winked at him then walked off down the hallway, "Well that was....odd," She thought out loud as she led him up to the roof. 

Another ship had just landed as the girl and the creature reached the roof, "come on lets go." she said as she got onboard the transport. Meanwhile the Dr. had reached the new facilities large landing area where the transport was unloaded. A APC was waiting for him and the Geshrin.

END




[Ralfaris] Waiting for Godot... 
Tasuki Uso
1/14/04 22:58

ON> Ralfaris

Mitgami was going to be shipped off of the planet soon to be part of the joint NDI/4th fleet assault. But until then he was free to wander the planet and explore what was around the city. Dust was everywhere and he soon ended up lost. The only thing he could see was a neon sign that read 'Fate'

Fate, that word kept going through his mind as he read the sign. "aww Bullshivic, That nothing at all Fate is what you decide to do not some predestined plan for you." Soon the world would prove him wrong setting a course for his own fate. Unless he did something to change it

Fate would not take the form of a choice this day, but instead took the form of a small bar. It had been a popular hangout for certain people back before the attacks on Ralfaris and even today could still draw in a small crowd. 

Mitgami made his way in as he found that the place was slightly more crowded than expected. But none the less he might as well try to get a drink. if they even allowed him too. But He looked to be ready for a fight as he entered wishing that he would get shipped out soon.

People for the most part kept to their own tables leaving the barstools empty for the most part. Sitting there was a man that looked to be in his 30's with short, shaggy brown hair. Around his body was a simple white shirt and coat as well as kaki pants the same color. Nearby was a small girl only a few feet high in what looked like priest robes that were mostly red with white trim around the edges. A hood covered her face and her long black hair that prevented light from reaching the right side of her face. 

Mitgami was more into meeting the bigger guys and then destroying them. Well as his nature he made his way to the guy looking to be about 30. He wanted to know where he was and who he was. He also had a plan to piss the man off just to prove he was better. He kept his eyes open along with his mind he was ready for this.

The man seemed to be on his 4th or 5th drink. "Do you know what time it is?" He asked before downing another bottle. The little girl in the robes continued to wander around the bar, talking to people and generally looking curious and having her run of the place. Strangely the bartender seemed to be gone. 

"Yeah i do, Time for you to get a watch you piss poor drunk." Mitgami looked the man in the eyes. He had his usual gear on with armored combat boots black fingerless gloves. and his trusty 12 strapped to his back. He was ready for a fight hopefully this man gave it to him.

Then man chuckled, "No need to get angry, I'm just waiting for Godot... You wouldn't happen to be Godot now would you?" He took another drink from the bottle before reaching in his pockets to search for a few more coins. 

" what if I am?" This guy was either really stupid or really drunk, for he was a lounging compared to the old guy here. He had an itch he couldn't scratch and this guy was being a lil prick and not helping him.

The little girl pulled on the man's coat, "Dad? Can we leave here yet?" She asked. He looked over and smiled warmly at the girl, "We can leave soon. Right now I am waiting for someone to show up. The girl nodded, "alright..." She said sounding a bit disappointed, "So I guess your not Godot then..." He said with a slight chuckle to anyone who cared to listen.

Well the man wasn't playing fair. Time to do it the hard way. Using a lil of his natural gift the chair the man was sitting on started to get pulled back. as Mitgami was just sitting there watching with a smile. He then balled his hands up ready to fight anytime he could.

"You should really calm down. You seem angry and being like that all the time is bad for your health..." The man stood up reached behind the bar to grab another drink, leaving a few KS in its place, "Trust me when I say that you should enjoy the time you have free of work and duty, I never got your name Mr..." He left the conversation open for the other person to answer.

"call me Mitgami" seeing as he wouldn't not be able to fight him he might as well join him, He jumped up on to the nearest stool," and your name is?'

"Just... Just call me James." The man said as he took another drink, "So who do you work for?" He asked. 

"GSA, but who is this Gadot?" He looked at the man as he himself reached for a drink hoping the man would not stop him

The man made no move to stop him, He rose his head a bit and looked around, "What day is it?" He asked, either cleverly avoiding the question on showing how truly drunk the man was.

" the day that fate will guide you all to your doom why I avoid fate and make my own rules"

he looked at the man getting back to his original Question so who is Godot

The man chuckled, "Its a shame that people don't read as much as they used to. Godot is someone who will never show up." He said as he stood up and took his final drink, "So tell me do you believe in god?" 

"Depends what you mean by god" I believe there is a god but not that he rule my life" He looks at the man and chugs his drink. "do you?"

"I've met with god, She's quite the character sometimes..." He trailed off a bit and turned to leave, "God is what you make it, you have the right idea. Don't let anyone rule how you live." With that he turned and headed towards the door, "Come on Anet its time to go." The girl in the robes nodded and turned to follow, "Can I choose where we go this time?" she asked. he nodded, "Go wherever you want." He said with a smile.

Mitgami watched as they left he kept thinking that something had happened to night yet he did not know what.

END




[Ralfaris] Big Dogs 
Dante Stromwind
1/25/04 8:46

Dr. Dupree stood at the window of his office, staring out into the usual swirling dust. His eyes slowly scanned the dust, watching people scramble for cover as an especially large gust started. He laughed softly, content that he was inside and not out in the terrible swarm. Mio, his secretary, walked in and set a few files on his desk, looking at him with warm eyes as she asked what he was laughing at. "Nothing, Mio, just happy that I am in here, and not out there." Jarias said, turning away and watching his secretary leave. "Very good." She said over her shoulder. Dr. Dupree nodded once, and then sat down in his large black leather chair. He leaned on his wooden desk and looked around his office. It was plain, and didn't have many things on the walls, mostly just photos of animals, and various degrees from many prestigous colleges and universities.

Outside in the swirling duststorms a shuttle set down on the roof of that very building, A tall young man stepped out, covering his face with a sleeve as he hurried toward the elevator down. He quickly go tin after a security check, ~I hope they have it done by now, that order was a bit rushed" the blackhaired young guy muttered as the elevator sank to the appropriate level. Once it reached the floor a chime sounded and the doors slid open. Dante walked out, his deep black trenchcoat billowing out behind as he walked, as well as his fine black hair. "Where's Dr. Dupree's office?" He asked a qel'noran, who politely pointed him the right direction. Soon the good doctor had a rapping on his door. "Hello." A young male voice called through the door.

"Sir? Can I help you with something?" A feminine voice said from behind the door. Slowly the wooden divider opened and before the man stood a neko with wire rimmed glasses on, and holding a large stack of files that she was just putting into the cabinet.

"Yeah you can help me, I'm here looking for a Dr. Dupree, I placed an order a couple days ago." The young man said, brushing a rogue hair out of his eye. He had clear blue eyes and glossy black hair that clearly hung long in the back.

Mio slowly reached up and adjusted her glasses, taking them off, in fact and putting them in the pocket of her jacket. There was no glint of light off the lenses, almost as if there were none in the glasses. "Well then, do you have an appointment? Or is the good doctor expecting you?"

Dante chuckled at the glasses bit. "Real cute, glasses without the lenses, But I believe he is, my name is Dante Stormwind, I placed an order for a timberwolf." He said eyeing her up a bit, in an obvious way, then chuckled.

Mio cleared her throat and motioned the man in, closing the door behind him. She smiled to him and walked to the desk, pressing a button for the intercom. "Sir, there is a Mr. Stormwind here to see you." She said. "That is fine, Miss Mio, show him in." came the reply from the other end. Mio looked up to Dante and waved him to a door at the far end of the room. She opened the door and stepped through holding it for him. "After you sir."

Dante nodded to her, feeling slightly disappointed in her lack of response at his glances. No matter really, he wasn't here for fun, at least that is what he wanted to tell himself. "Thanks Ms Mio." He smiled at her then turned to the good doctor. "Greetings esteemed doctor."

Mio bowed to them both and shut the door, walking back to the filing cabinet and beginning her work again. Dr. Dupree slowly stood up from his chair and offered a hand. "Greetings, Mr. Stormwind, I take it you are here for Renjiro? That is the name that some of the staff have begun to call him...."

Dante chuckled and shook the man's hand in a _very_firm grip. "Yes I am, how is he?" Dante asked, his eyes lighting up bit excitedly.

Jarias winced in pain as his hand was nearly crushed. When Dante released him, Dr. Dupree shook his hand slowly, trying to get feeling back in it. "Well, he is.....spirited to say the least. " Jarias smiled softly, seeming the look in the man's eyes. "If you would like to join me, I think that he would be very excited to see you as well." Dr. Dupree said, motioning to another door, this one the door to an elevator of some sort. He walked over and pressed the down button and then turned back around. "I have filled all your requirements, but at the current time, Renjiro still isn't very talkative, having only been programmed with the vocabulary of about an eighth grader."

"That's fine, as long as he isn't cussing out my CO." Dante chuckled and stepped into the elevator. For someone who looked so imposing, Dante had a sense of humor.

Jarias laughed and shook his head, joining the large man in the elevator. He pressed the button for the first layer of labs and holding areas. "What I mean sir, is that his brain still isn't developed fully for speech. He can speak, but only the most rudimentary of words and phrases. He knows how to be polite, even having been trained to bow to ladies." Jarias smiled at the thought of that, feeling very accomplished for pulling that little bit of training off.

"Now that's something I'm going to have to see." Dante said, grinning. "How quickly will he learn?" He was rather amused with this concept, a talking companion, how nice would that be?

The doors slowly opened into a large room that looked very similar to a forest, including trees, logs, and a small stream of water flowing down to split the room about in half. "Well, as far as we've tested him, he is without a doubt, the fastest learner we've come across. He learns at an amazing pace, usually from just watching others and their actions." The doctor said, smiling as he looked about the room. "Hmmm, that's odd."

Dante listened alertly, but looked calm and collected. "What's wrong?" He asked, feeling eyes on him...his training as a soldier had prepped his senses and reactions to these environments as well.

Jarias slowly pursed his lips and looked about the room, speaking absently. "Nothing, nothing......at all....." He looked around the room and heard the rustling of leaves and quickly turned to face the sound, but there was nothing there. Next there was the sound of something large moving through the water, but there was nothing there but splashes. Then something large and black flashed out of the bushes to their right, then was gone in the shadows, and an instant after, something huge slammed into Dante's side. "Suprise!" The huge canid said, as it stood over the soldier.

Dante hit the ground with a thump and a grunt of surprise . "Oh funny you big kid." He chuckled and ruffled the lupine's furry mane. "I knew you were here somewhere. Nice use of your blink ability." He complimented, the bruise from the hit healing already.

The wolf slowly backed off, sitting down at the base of a tree as it's large tail thudding against the ground. His deep amber eyes glittered in the light and he just sat there, front paws fidgetted in happiness. Dr. Dupree slowly walked over and rubbed the area between the wolf's ears. "Yes, he is getting quite good at using it." He then laughed and reached into the pocket of his pants, and brought out a treat and fed it to the wolf.

Dante sprung up to his feet in a single smooth motion and walked over to the large wolf and knelt down in front of him. "I hope you don't plan to do that often." He chuckled and stood up and scratched between the wolf's ears, taking care to pay attention the ears themselves, as they were sensitive to gentle grooming. "He's perfect doctor, erm...what does a lupine of this size eat? hopefully not little kids and nekos." Dante joked.

Dr. Dupree laughed softly, shaking his head. "Of course not, Mr. Stormwind. He eats most whatever you feed him, or whatever he can scavenge. His digestion system has been changed slightly to be able to burn off higher or lower caloric intakes depending on the situation. If he were to be forced to be fed table scraps, he would never get fat. Or if there is a shortage of food, he can survive for days without food, retaining enough strength to feed you, before himself.....He is that loyal."

Dante nodded and continued to scratch the lupine's ears. "That's good, is there anything else he requires, as in terms of sleeping space? And how does he react to nekos?" Dante asked, knowing he'd be associating with them constantly.

Jarias slowly nodded. "Right. Well, he is quite large, so he would not do well in small 
living spaces. He would do best with a large open space to sleep in. As for how he does with nekos, he does quite well. Mio has been working with him almost every day to help him get used to nekos."

"Well I hear I'm going to be on a large ship, I certainly hope so, can't let my buddy here be uncomfortable. But this is a fine piece of work, can I pay Mio on the way out?" Dante asked.

Dr. Dupree nodded. "Of course." He then knelt down to the eye level of the lupine. He slowly reached out and rubbed his muzzle. "And you be good and take care of this nice gentleman, alright Renjiro?" He said. The wolf's tail wagged a bit more, and then he barked a few times, and ended it with a crude, "Yessir". 

Dante smiled and looked down at Renjiro. "Come on Renjiro, let's go." He said and headed for the lift with the lupine following closely behind. As the lift rose he patted the wolf's head. "You're a good boy Renjiro." he said, earning a loud thump as the large lupine wagged his tail. They stepped off the elevator and backinto the office and exited, pausing to hand a Mio a sack of coin KS, in the exact amount agreed upon then made their way out of the building with Renjiro growling at a couple qel'norans. Dante had to laugh at the lupine's joke shortly before they got to the shuttle and left.

JP:

James: (Dupree, Mio, Renjiro*temp*)
Tyler (Dante Renjiro)




[Ralfaris, GSS Ayame II, GSS Celia] A New Beginning
Ketsurugi Yui
1/25/04 13:28

ON> Ralfaris 

Dante and Renjiro were on the landing shuttle and headed back up to the ship he was currently stationed on. The huge lupine curled up laying next to him contently as he scratched behind his ears. "I hope we have enough room for you." The black-haired young man said, grinning. He looked around the shuttle's compartment for passengers, and sighed at how empty it was; but this was usual.

GSS Ayame II (GC-56), now named and manned with a full crew, was still making runs back and forth for the 3rd Expeditionary Fleet, which it was now attached to. It's latest port was Ralfaris, picking up supplies from Qel'noran Industries, after a few days loading up at the capital world of Yamatai. Taisa Kemitha Jeiriel, an Elysian patrician, was now in a GSA uniform, and on the Cruiser's bridge. Floating in orbit over the dusty world, it made final preparations to head out to meet its sister ship, the GSS Celia (GC-55).

The pilot looked over his shoulder and nodded to the two. "Is this all there is?"

"Yeah." Dante replied.

"Well ok..." the pilot was fresh blood, right out of training. He was nervous, any one could tell that.

"Attention Star Army," Mistress-Taisho Irim's voice came over the intercom of Kemitha's new bridge. "All Iris-class Starfighters Carriers are now retired, and should return to Yamatai immediately. That is all." Kemitha made a hmm noise. The announcement didn't really concern her, but it was interesting. Was there a new design to replace the ships? She wondered. "Do we have everything?" she asked one of her bridge officers.

"No, waiting on a shuttle," the Nekovalkyrja answered.

"We'd better hurry up kiddo, they'll leave without us." The 25-year old pointed out. Renjiro looked up at them both and barked loudly; a sound that would've made the pilot jump an hurry up some.

"Call them" Kemitha directed. "Taisa Jeiriel to shuttle. Are you done loading?"
"God I hate this part..."he muttered under his breath. He eased the controls and they made their way to the Cruiser.

"If you have something to say sir, please say it loud enough for us all to hear." Renjiro said haltingly.

"Answer me, pilot," the captain demanded, her voice becoming increasingly harsh.
"S,sorry!" he paniced. "Th,this is the shuttle reporting in. We are coming in close. Do we have acess to land?"

"Of course! Get a move on!" the irritated female officer replied.

Dante chuckled, he'd like this woman, he could tell by the attitude already. "What's so amusing?" the wolf asked. "Nothing Renjiro, it's just that this could be interesting."
"Yes ma'am!" He controled the ship right into the port. His face burning with embarrassment and a hint of anger.

As the shuttle neared the ship, the pilot could see the long, sleek form of the Ayame II, and that of a luminous white craft attached to the underside of a Yui. It was the ECS Thunderbolt. The bay assisted guiding the shuttle in, and soon, the shuttle was parked on the floor of the bay.

Dante rose and pushed the backdoor of the shuttle open and stepped out, the sound of boots and claws echoing in the bay. "Finally here." Dante chuckled. Renjiro looked around, his tongue lolling out in lupine laughter. The two sets of eyes scanned the room for a moment and headed for the hallway into the ship.

The pilot got out too, but he didn't leave the shuttle though. He sat down against the shuttle."I'll never get used to this" he said to himself

Part of the security crew was there to greet the shuttle's occupants. It included both nekos and some white-skinned creatures. They looked somewhat out-of-place wearing the red GSA uniforms...the same uniforms of those they fought against during the war.

Dante noticed the white-skinned creatures and realized what they were, his hand sliding into his trenchcoat, fingering the weapons he had in there. Renjiro looked up them, wondering what they were. Finally the shaken vet spoke up, talking to a neko. "Who was that woman over the radio?" He asked, figuring it was the captain.

The pilot got up and followed his passengers after a brief moment. He stopped a few steps back, keeping silent.

"That was the captain," a Nekovalkyrja informed Dante. The whole ship started to vibrate and hum.

"I should probably go meet her." Dante said, "She on the bridge?" He asked rhetorically before heading that way, Renjiro simply looked around, sniffing the air.

The pilot did an about face and returned to the shuttle. He had no purpose following.
It smelled like spring in here. One of the security nekos scowled at Dante, "Why?"

"It's best to know who you have to deal with while you're dealing with them, wipe that scowl off cutey, it's not fitting." Dante grinned and paused to lean against the wall for a moment. He reached into his coat and pulled out a clear flask that contained a red liquid, twisted the top off and took a sip of it before recapping it and putting it back into the inside pocket.

The neko cracked a wry grin at the man. "Definately ex-infantry," her friend commented.
Renjiro sat down and wagged his tail at the familiar scent, making loud thumping sounds.
Everything seemed to fuzz out for a second, with a dizzying sensation, like the gravity was malfunctioning for a split second. The ship darted across space.

"Great...just great." The pilot returned through the hallway "Gravity's on the blink when that happens..."

"Whoa!" both the man and wolf exclaimed as the gravity screwed up for a moment before regaining their footing. "Got that right babe." Dante grinned at the neko, showing one of his enlongated canine teeth briefly.

In a brilliant flash of light, the ship rematerialized nearly one hundred light-years away, in the Tami System.

"Approaching Celia," an announcement went through the Ayame II.

"That's a good thing." Dante commented, still leaning against the wall; his idea to meet the captain vanishing, he wasn't going to be here long enough for it to really matter.

Renjiro was growing increasingly curious about these white-skinned creatures, he rose and padded over to one and sniffed at it, trying to figure it out.

The Seraph growled, lifting its chin while it's eye-slits peered down at this odd thing.
The pilot snickered at this.

Renjiro seemed to understand the seraph and growled back at it, then made a few other noises, speaking in wolven. "Easy Renjiro...those things are seraphs, not too pleasant to be around." Dante said, still eyeing the nekos, taking his mind off the seraph before anything could be said to the pilot he resumed back into the shuttle bay.
"Don't miss your ride," the neko who had spoken earlier warned Dante.

"Hmm?" Dante said, hearing the footsteps. "Oh? I don't plan to." Dante said and turned to follow the pilot. Renjiro poked the seraph with his nose and followed Dante into the bay. The young man caught up to the pilot. "Hey, wait up man, don't let this get you down man, we all start out fresh, you'll get used to it."

He stopped for a moment, and nodded."right...well anyways...All aboard who's coming aboard."

The security crew started to head out in anticipation of the shuttle's departure.

Dante and Renjiro nodded to the pilot and got into the shuttle and strapped in, the lupine layingon the floor contently. Meanwhile, Sain walked to the bridge of the ship and politely stood in the door awaiting Kemitha's response bowing a bit to her.

"Is there something you need, Sain?" Kemitha inquired. She was a fiesty one.

"Yes mistress, you see, lady Alarielle recently agreed to a planetary duty on Yamatai, and she wished I join her. But you are the captain so I thought it'd be wise to run it past you, I know we haven't exactly had the best of relations...." Sain said respectfully, his time with Alarielle having dissolved most of his hatred.

"Alright. You should have got off with her on Gesh...Yamatai when we stopped. Thank you for asking, though...you have my permission. I hope I can find another medic as attentive as you, Sain. You should do alright on Yamatai, I think. Farewell, then," Kemitha actually smiled, warmly, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

Sain actually smiled at her wryly; he was going to miss being here, but he had to follow his heart...Alarielle... "Thank you ma'am, I took the time to train a medic for you in my spare time, she's already preparing herself." He nodded to her. "We'll both miss you Kemitha, it was a pleasure to serve under you."

Kemitha bowed to the departing crewman. "Good travels."

"Thank you." Sain said. "Do you mind arranging a ride for me? Or make a detour after we drop off the Celia's new crew?" Sain asked.

The pilot waits for everyone to make it aboard, looking at each of his passengers.
"We'll be headed back there as part of our routine. Leave me now." Kemitha commanded, seeing it as disrespectful for him to keep chattering on after she'd already bowed goodbye.

Dante was leaning back against the seat, Renjiro was sleeping curled up on the floor.
Sain winced, then grinned, this was normal. Then bowed goodbye to her and left for his room to gather his things.

"Already asleep is he?" the pilot asked. 

Back in the shuttlebay, a skinny young girl with fluffy pink wings stepped into the shuttle's rear. She had no bags. From the look of her worn blue jumpsuit and white tunic, it appeared she didn't really own anything but her clothes. There was a shiny red Soldier pin on her breast, the lowest rank of the Star Army.

Dante looked up at the pilot. "He needs his rest." His attention shifted to the girl. "Hello there cute one." He grinned at her. Please don't step on his tail." He said, pointing with a finger at Renjiro.

"Ehhh..?" the scrawny plebian's worried-looking eyes darted around, and then fixated themselves on Dante.


Renjiro's ear perked, he raised his head to look at the new scent. "Go ahead, have a seat." Dante said, "We're all friends here now aren't we?"

She looked down to the dog-like creature, taking a step back. It was clear she'd never seen such a thing in her life, and she looked very much afraid of it. She pointed at the animal, "Eee??"

Renjiro's eyes looked at the girl's, he rose silently and moved out of the middle of the floor thinking he was taking up space. "It's ok, he won'thurt you." Dante smiled ather, knowing she seemed fearful.

"Mmm?" she pointed again at the creature, "Uhm..."

The pilot noticed the girl. "Take a seat ma'am, don't mind them."

The Elysian didn't seem to understand the language they were speaking.
Dante shook his head and shifted to using seraphim, a language he'd learned way back in the wars. "Please, have a seat." He said in that language.

The girl's eyes lit up slightly in recognition. "Seat," she said in Seraphim. She pointed at the seats lining the shuttles interior and slowly started scooting in, keeping as far away from the sleeping creature as possible..

Dante smiled and nodded to her. "Seat," He replied in seraphim.

She sat down. "Uuhai," she pointed at herself.

The pilot awaited the command to head out. While he waited he looked back in his life....
Dante smiled at her winningly. "Pretty name." He said in the language she knew. "I'm Dante." He said, indicating himself so she'd understand, it was clear from her speech patterns she was still learning how...

"Friend." He said, petting Renjiro's ears to indicate him, seeing her scared of him.
"Tam-te," she repeated erroneously.

He chuckled and patiently corrected her. "Dan-te." He corrected.
Uuhai grinned. "Daaan-te," she repeated, concentrating on the D.

"There you go, good girl.." He grinned back at her in praise.

Shaking his head, the pilot was growing impatient. He couldn't wait very long.

Dante looked up to the pilot. "That seems to be everyone. Let's get to the Celia, shall we?"

Uuhai buckled herself in

Dante looked over at the young girl, he'd seen a lot of Elysians in his time, but he was getting the feeling that she wasn't exactly one to fight, judging from her small frame. "Going to the new ship?" He asked her in seraphim.
"Ship," Uuhai nodded.

Dante nodded. "I'm going there too." He said. Dante looked up "Let's get moving, I think she's the last one pilot!" He ordered firmly.

"Right away sir!" He pulled back on the controls and the shuttle was out in space once again. heading toward Celia.

END




JP by
Wes (Kemitha, Uuhai)
Rob (Kado)
Tyler (Dante)





[YSS Celia, Ralfaris] A Psychotic Universe 
Ketsurugi Yui
2/2/04 20:20

ON> YSS Celia

Exiting her room, the shifter walked resolutely down the hall toward the lift, satchel strap across her chest and the mostly-constructed body over her right shoulder. She walked toward the lift and stepped in. "Cargo bay deck," she said and waited for the lift to move.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me?" the elevator asked him. It moved, anyway.

The Taisho would send the letter to Yui once she had left, leaving nothing behind..."Huh?" she asked, slightly startled. This was the first time she'd heard the computer trying to make conversation. "No, not really...why?"

"Your behavior is unusual, Alexis," Celia warned him. "You're on your way to your ship," she guessed, taking the lift car to the nearest juncture to it. "I've detained Naraku in the brig and let the Mistress Taisho know we had her. The response has not been displeasing. I want to know what you are thinking, really."

Inside her mind, the two halves of the shifter's former personality were beginning to argue again. The wild one had taken control of the body, and the placid one was already back playing conscience for it...Alexis frowned. "I'm leaving, that's all. I've not done much right since I recieved command here. Why should I stay?"

"This is your post," Celia said sternly, as if that was enough. The lift car came to a halt, but the doors didn't open.

"Well..." The placid half opened a book in the shifter's mind and started flipping through the pages. "How about these people? You said you'd be there for them, remember?" he said, displaying the pictures of Henry, Shina, Keiko, and Sergei.
"My post? Tell me, when did I become part of this military? I have no interest in your expansion of territory. I'm not cut out for this, that's what being here has shown me." Inside, the wild one flinched. "We have no loyalties..." The other frowned. "We THOUGHT we had no loyalties. But we do. To them."

"You became part of us when you accepted your first rank pin," Celia's disembodied voice shot back at him.

Celia's electronic inquiries shot through the Pantheon system. She was a Shosho, and didn't have the authority to stop a Taisho. First, the transmission went to the Iori Star Fortress over Tami, which was only a Chujo, and then to the only AI Taisho: Pantheon-C, at Yamatai. It took a few seconds for the transmissions to be relayed and computed, mainly due to the ethics of the situation. After a short pause, Celia answered, "You shouldn't."

"Why?"

"Throwing away your rank and position would be unwise," Celia warned him again. 

"Why don't we work this out?"

The shifter set the bag and body down, sitting on the body's rib cage. "Alright, I'll give you a chance to talk me out," she said, folding her arms over her knees. "Have at it."

"Alright," Celia said. The door opened, revealing the cargo bay and the Norse-looking avatar of the ship, who stepped inside with him, and leaned back against the wall. "You've been a great help to the GSA and we've helped you greatly as well. I suspect that your involvement with Naraku is only a part of what is driving you away. Your lapses in consciousness are involved, as well, aren't they?" she asked. How perceptive she'd become.

Alexis stood as the avatar entered. "Naraku has nothing to do with this. She was just something that happened in the middle of the process. But you're right about the consciousness thing." She motioned to the body. "Want to have a seat? The ribs will hold you, don't worry," the shifter said as she sat down herself, across from the body. "I might as well spill the whole mess to you, if you're going to try this. First, I don't have the training for my rank. I don't even know why I got it." She brought a hand up and scratched her head, then slid it down to rest her chin on it. "Second, there's that blackout thing. It's not limited to me, but anyone who might be around when it happens. To command anything right now wouldn't be wise." The red eyes studied the avatar, watching for responses. "And lastly, what am I supposed to do with my position? I don't know what to do with it, it just looks like a chance for political immunity and that's about it. I can't deal with politics, nor do I want to."

"The position of Taisho was assigned to you because you were caring, intelligent, old, and because Yui thought you had the capacity to manage the fleet you were in." Celia took a seat down, straddling the bag, facing him. "We can request for you to be stationed on the YSS Jaren, to be there for the fleet and help when you can. Something less involved, but still helpful."

Alexis smirked at the mention of his age. Old, right...he was only five, if even that! The calm one nodded as the avatar's suggestion came through. "That is an option...you may be away from them, but you would still be nearby." The shifter took a deep breath as she considered that...

"I was just starting to like you," Celia smiled. "The Yui's Megami said good things about you."

Finally the dejected shifter just looked down at the floor of the lift. "I don't want to be in command of anything....I just want to help...be useful..."

"We'll reduce your rank to Shôshô, and let you work as a scientist, if you'd like," the computer-woman suggested. "I hate to see you go, but I understand."
Alexis looked up, tilting her head. "Shôshô...what's the translation? Commodore?"

"Science is fun..." Alexis snorted. "You realize that by putting the Jaren under me, then you'd be losing the ship from time to time?"

"No, Kami can handle himself fine in your absence."

"Kami? Who's he?"

"Kami is the computer system above me in the Pantheon hierarchy. He runs the Jaren."

"Oh. Okay..." The shifter stared at the floor again. "I suppose a transfer is better than running away..." She paused, like she was listening to someone else. "I know I said I'd be there for them, but I can't...it's not-" Another pause...

"You can keep in touch, and you'll always be in visitor's range," Celia noted, trying to be helpful.

Alexis shook her head. "He's not going for it," she sighed. "Could we try sticking me in the medbay or engineering here? Somewhere out of the way? I can download whatever knowledge I need to work, but I'll be out of the way enough to not cause problems."

"There are enough people that if I go out than I won't be terribly missed, but I'd still have something useful to do."

"The medbay, here?" Celia asked, a bit confused looking.

"Yeah." Alexis nodded. "What's wrong?"

"You were talking to yourself. I'm sure Inari wouldn't mind you hanging around," Celia smiled.

The calm one grinned, sitting down in on the top of the cage. "Sounds good to me." Alexis smiled too, a bit hesitantly. "Alright." She removed her Taisho pin and handed it to Celia.

"What rank do you want in return?" Celia inquired, taking it in her hand. She looked tempted to pin it on herself for a moment, if her eyes showed what she was pondering.
Alexis tilted her head. "I thought I was demoted to Shosho...if I stay, I get to keep Taisho?"

"I think a non-command position should have something lower. I want you to choose your new rank, as your last act as Taisho," Celia explained, rolling the pin in her palm.

The Draconian Alliance called it the Great Amethyst Fleet because of the shimmering purple color of the ships, but the Jaaq'tah central command simply called it the Sixth Fleet. It was a fleet of mighty conquerors who were even more prestigious than the Crimson and Diamond Fleets that had wreaked so much havoc during the Draconian Civil War and the opening battles of this one. The numbers of vessels were staggering, dwarfing the combined forces of the Draconian Alliance and their newfound allies, the Yamatai Star Empire by several orders of magnitude. It wasn't an expendable assault force as the Jaaq'tah had sent before -- this time the Dragon would strike with a ferocity that had been unseen in the history of warfare. The Second "Diamond" Fleet were acting in tandem with their purple-clad brothers, continuing their advance against the major production facillities of the hated Draconian Alliance. The Amethyst Fleet would open up a second front in largely unknown territory: The Yamatai Star Empire.

As of yet, the Jaaq'tah only knew the location of one Star Empire world and that was the hated Ralfaris, which they had obtained from the dastardly Human battle network (fools they were) during the battle of Tau Ceti. A freak accident involving one of their prized fleet beacons had surprisingly brought them to the Star Empire world, where they met a 'massive' Star Empire defensive fleet that apparently had trouble wiping out the Jaaq'tah's feared drone and strike craft forces. The Jaaq'tah had learned much during that battle, which served mostly as reconnaisance and a warning to the Star Empire, which they had failed to heed. It was of no consequence to the Jaaq'tah, who wished to expand their empire and the influence of the Draconian Sector (albeit under their ultimate control) regardless.

And so Star Empire sensors, no doubt originating from their prized Yui destroyer platforms, would detect multiple distortions in space, but they didn't originate from one place -- they originated in literally millions of places spread over hundreds of millions of miles. The search volumes were huge and even with the comparitively massive forces at their disposal, the Star Army would have trouble covering everything at the point of origin. But the Jaaq'tah never really expected to be engaged now; the Star Army would have to know where they were going. Battles rarely occured in the emptiness of outer space. There was literally nothing to fight for. If you wanted a planet, you had to go and get it. 

"Battlestations!" Celia's voice shouted over the ship, followed by red lights and an alarm.

Alexis paused. "I suppose I'll pick Chui. The rank I started out with. If Yui wants me to do something like command a regiment again, she can give me a temp promotion, at least she knows what I can do." The klaxon startled her as she reached to change the pin, the needle jabbing her finger.

There were millions of them. The combined might of a Jaaq'tah armada numbered in the hundreds of millions of vessels and perhaps tens of billions of strike craft and even more drones. And the armada advanced in a massive crescent-type formation, shifting incredible portions of their forces in one simultaneous instant. A modification in the way the Jaaq'tah rapid transport system worked was now being implemented. Instead of opening up massive wormholes, which the Star Army had decided to target, the location of the Omino drone, and the ship (or ships) it wished to bring to the location were literally reversed by the modified PTP systems.

Your immediate return is necessary. Genesis's Avatar said as she materialized on the bridge of the Seigi, I've sent a ring to gather your ship and bring it back to Ralfaris, The ISFBx class battleship Seigi was soon to be joined by a ring that was hyperspace in to that location. With any luck they would have enough time to bring it back to Ralfaris in time to integrate the Seigi AI with the new defensive systems that had been built sense the first attack. Ralfaris was ready this time around.
"Acknowledged. Seigi is now returning."

Jaaq'tah voice messages (followed by the requisite Japanese/English translations) sprang out across the Star Army communications network. "You WILL stop any resistance to the Jaaq'tah Alliance. You WILL power down your vessels and allow our marines to board. You WILL surrender your senior government officials within thirty Earth-standard minutes OR you WILL be destroyed. This is non-negotiable. If you understand the terms of your surrender, return this message. If not, prepare to die."

"Dammit. The Quantum Detonators were not installed on all of the Iori Fortresses yet," Yui frowned, receiving the news in the palace. "Prepare the fleet for departure within the next five minutes."

"I'll get you the pin as soon as I can," Celia nodded, and let Alexis out.

"Okay, thanks..." Alexis left the lift after gathering her bag and the body again...what deck was she on? "Hey, am I supposed to report to the medbay if I'm still employed here?" she asked, turning back to look at the avatar.

Above Ralfaris the Helix hyperspaced in. The ship was truly massive being almost the size of the entire planet itself. As its name implied Helix was a massive spiral 38712320 miles long that encircled the planet several times. The Genesis AI inhabited the massive ship and was awaiting its sister s return to share control. The Helix, however, did not come alone. With it came its entire defensive compliment of ships that numbered near 23 million battleships and almost 500 million minion attack corvettes as well as untold numbers of the expendable Ronin fighters. Then entirety of the ring production capabilities had gone into this one massive ship and hopefully it would be able to do its job.

A red alert sounded, it was an attack, and from the GSA's enemy at the time, the Jaaq'tah, a race that Eliel surprisingly didn't know a thing about, that's the weird part. "Oh great, just when my work hours were starting to add up...could've went to the nest in another hour, now someone decides to attack this big bucket of bolts, man, some people just gotta ruin the mood..", Eliel said as he ran to the lift and got on, pressing the blue button, it would lead him back to his room. He'd have to go get his rifle in case there was an invasion. "I had better get paid double for all these disruptions, I can't work under these conditions..."

"That's a lot of ships," Yui's voice came over Chujo Sijik's bridge. "I see you had a wild card up your sleeve."

"It seems they have brought out the big guns, Lord Admiral," said the executive officer onboard the mammoth Slaakanessh command vessel in the midst of the fleet. The Lord Admiral bared his teeth, his long tongue creeping out of his mouth. "We will crush them...."

"Attention Grand Star Army," Irim followed Yui, "Engage enemy vessels at will. Certain victory awaits."

A single, huge, ring hyperspaced in around the Seigi and moments later hyperspaced out and headed to Ralfaris. Although Seigi wasn't needed for defending the planet it would be good to have her around. Helix projected a massive shield around the planet of Ralfaris and brought its multitude of guns and defensive shields online as well as deployed its massive swarm of ships out into the space surrounding it. "We will not allow a repeat of the last attacks on Ralfaris," Sijik replied, "It was to costly being unprepared. We assume the target is Ralfaris again but our forces will move to support yours once their target is confirmed." 

"Expeditionary Fleets move to assigned coordinates..." The expeditionary fleets simply disappeared. This was to ensure survival, even in the event of total loss.

Keiko ran off to the bridge, she wasn't in a real good mood due to everything that had happened. She was prepared mentally, physically and just made a backup on the PANTHEON system. She sat in Yuuko's place on the bridge and sent a message to her sister. "Irim, what's wrong? Where are we going?" she asked, trying to hide her fear.
"You're going out of harm's way." Irim replied tersely.

"We can only wait at our positions," Kaori told Eliel, heading to engineering. "Be careful!"

"Okay, thanks..." Alexis left the lift after gathering her bag and the body again...what deck was she on? "Hey, am I supposed to report to the medbay if I'm still employed here?" she asked, turning back to look at the avatar. (repost)

"What about Yuuko?!" Keiko said, steeling herself to it. "She's still on the planet...but at least she's safe. Certain victory to you sister." Keiko said over the comm system to her sister.

"Yes. Go now," Alexis was told. The lift moved extra fast; others were waiting.

Nodding, the shifter took off running for the medbay...dropping off the packed stuff could wait.

And so the strategizing began. "They will assault us with massive area-effect weapons. They will use their superluminal drives to try and outmaneuver us. They will try to engage us in outright combat and try and use our own tactics against us. But this time it will not work! They are even more arrogant than the dastardly Humans, but they do not possess an iota of our skill! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!!" shouted the Lord Admiral over the Jaaq'tah communications network. And every ship, perhaps every voice of the fleet answered in kind. "FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!!" 

The ring bringing Seigi back to the Helix arrived and broke apart at one point. THe ring then bent itself slightly (compared to its size at least) and joined into the massive helix at the top. The Seigi was then brought inside of Helix and its AI intigrated with the computers onboard. Now the two sister's avatars were both present in the main control center of Helix deep inside of one of the ring segments. Genisis and Sijik were both at attention facing the main viewscreen that depicted the fleet movements, although Genisis didn't need to see it she was needed there to facilitate interaction with the organic defenders at a more personel level. "Fire once they are within range." Sijik commanded.

And the assault began, the Jaaq'tah armada advanced on Ralfaris with blinding speed and efficiency, closing the distance in a matter of seconds, coming in contact with the massive defensive forces encircling the planet. This universe would quake with their power and remember the name Jaaq'tah for all of eternity. The opening salvo of Jaaq'tah power was a sight to behold as combined particle, aetheric flux, and positron cannon fire rapidly closed the distance with the whole of the Star Army formation. The recycle time was very fast as well, the second coming some one and a half seconds after. Billions of Salamander Type III strike craft launched along with what seemed like trillions of drones, ready to meet their foes in outright combat. 

Eliel held onto the joystick, which for some reason, he wasn't really used to this type of aircraft, only the slower ones that inch wormed in combat, but did serious damage. But then, as he spotted the enemy, he prepared to engage them. He started working the communications transmissions, where he tried his best to contact his commanding officers. "This is SFC Eliel Recon, I'm about to engage the enemy, is anybody there?"
A distortion in a spherical area of roughly one astronomical area appeared at the source of the transmission, follwed by an intense pulse which released the potential energy of that area like carbonated drink from a well-shaken soda can, emptying itself everywhere in that area, creating a zone of ultimate destruction.

As soon as they were within the extreme range of the weapons on and around the Helix they were met with a carpet of blackholes and tears in space as all 15484928 Legacy cannons on the Helix and the 23227392 Legacy cannons on her escorts opened fire on the advancing ships. The shots were spaced out to cover the entirety of their advance and sweeped from infront of their fleet to absorb the incoming shots to rear of it. 

They had anticipated this! The sphere quickly hollowed around the fleet as the combined strength of their repulsor field generators (the principal Jaaq'tah shielding technology) literally drove that potential energy away from the Amethyst Fleet, a great deal of it racing outwards towards the Helix, while the rest of it radiated outwards. The Lord Admiral of the Amethyst Fleet roared in triumph. "So they did share with them the Quantum Detonator technology!" The assault unleashed by the Helix met almost similar results as the multitude of interdictor fields generated by ships and drones rendered a canceling effect against the Legacy Cannons. 

968,640 Irim-class assault ships suddenly teleported in on the flank of Amythest Fleet, fresh out of Ketsurui Fleet Yards' various facilities earlier today, the massive amount of heavy warships was quickly followed by a swarm of 432,800 Arashi escort destroyers. The ships began unloading their best anti-Jaaq'tah weaponry, their proven positron cannons and FTL torpedoes, dumping an enormous volume of firepower on the attacking fleet from close range. Although the GSA ships were smaller, they outclassed the lower-tech Jaaq'tah ships enough to make a decent difference. Over 50 million extra Lamia M2 power armor had been put into the fray as well, to gun down the smaller Jaaq'tah vessels.

The near infinite amounts of GWB and torpedo launchers now opened up on the oncoming fleet. Helix had more then enough capacity to fire a beam at every incoming ship and combined with her escorts a massive web of destructive energy was being fired at the enemy fleet. As the energy from the first shots started to rebound all the ships retreated within the massive shield generated by Helix as the wave of energy passed over it. Moments later the ships were firing out from the shield while the Ronin fighters moved forward with the Minion's in a massive cloud. They focused on the part of the attacking force that was coming toward the south pole of the planet, sending all of the ships there and then bringing them around the attacking fleet as the battle progressed, focusing on destroying part of the enemy at a time.

In the Eridanus ring of systems, the Draconian Alliance was experiencing similar results. Their main trump card, the awesome Quantum Detonator had been fired ad-nauseum, but the Jaaq'tah was ready, massing the strength of their shields to force away the destructive energy pulses. 

The Irim and Arashi vessels in turn were met with the Jaaq'tah's newest vessels: The Chieftain and Warlord class vessels. 1.4 million YSA vessels squared off against roughly 27 million Chieftain and Warlord vessels in this section of space alone, but if the GSA believed that they would falter quickly, they had another thing coming entirely. Massed interdiction fields spread their presence outward, quickly grinding to a halt the FTL capabilities the YSA had prized so much over the battles of the last few years. The torpedoes suddenly dropped back to subluminal speeds and were picked off at will by point-defense fire, but the positron cannons were a different issue as the sheer volume of the strike overwhelmed portions of the massed repulsor field and inflicted some casualties. But the Jaaq'tah answered, massed beam cannon, positron cannon, and aether flux cannon many greater times in magnitude than the YSA assault lanced towards the enemy vessels at similar range.

And on the other side, the Jaaq'tah experienced similar results against the Star Army defenders, as torpedoes were cut down before they became a serious threat. Massed soliton beam fire was effective, but nearly 80% of the blasts were literally repelled away from the fleet by the massed repulsor field generators. Casualties were inflicted, but those loses were miniscule when one thought about it. Simultaneously, the Jaaq'tah answered with their own volley, this time letting loose with their beam weapons as well as aether torpedoes, which had been substantially upgraded. As the Ronins and Minions launched their assault to try and achieve defeat in detail, they saw a wave of aether torpedoes followed by several hundred million strike craft and drones. 

As soon as the Jaaq'tah could turn a decent amount of their own firepower against Zero Fleet's one and a half million warships, the ships teleported away. Immediately, another fleet, Irim's 1st Fleet, based in Yamatai, appeared from another direction and started racking up kills. Her fleet had 876,480 Irim, and 432,800 Arashi, plus numerous Yui and other ships skulking around. Again, they concentrated on using weapons that they knew were working. They didn't bother with the GWB or the Transposition cannons this time. It resulted in a nice increase in shield efficiency, which helped a lot. The Sixth fleet had also added an additional 150,000 Arashi, logs would later show.

The trillions of Ronin fighters and millions of Minion's continued to focus on taking out enemy ships at close range while the large vessils continued to fire from long distance. "Gen, when this is over remind me to total a few of their planets..." Sijik said sounding a bit annoyed, "Yes sir." Came the response as the battle raged outside of the helix. The focus was there and not on a small shuttle dispatched by Genisis that headed down to the QnT building. the GWB fire was consintrated entirely on the part of the fleet attacking towards the south pole of the planet. The enemy assult craft were largely ineffective against the Ronin fighters... there were simply to many of them. The beam weapons of the Jaaq'tah were easaly absorbed by the powerful sheids of Helix although to much more of this would be fatal. The physical weapons like torpedo's met with the newest anti-missle systems. Turrets swarmed across the sheild bubble of the Helix. There were nearly twice as many of them as there were Ronin fighters and the massed crossfire all but eliminated the incoming torpedo's leaving a insignifigent few to hit the Helix directly.

The Jaaq'tah quickly adapted their own fighting tactics, their internal AIs watching closely as one fleet was replaced with another. As enemy ships made their second strike, they were treated to the sight of almost 2/3rds of their own fire passing through the fleet harmlessly while the other 1/3rd was mostly repulsed. The Jaaq'tah's new secret weapon, the displacement device, had made an appearance. It facilitated a series of rapid teleportations that largely allowed vessels to avoid enemy firepower.

And the battle raged on near the southern pole, the massive numbers of Ronins seemed to give the Qel'Noran defenders an advantage -- or at least it seemed like it on paper. As their missile defense systems went online, the Jaaq'tah strike craft shifted backwards at a rapid rate as the aether torpedoes exploded violently with the same effects of an awesome quantum detonator blast, albeit smaller in their individual radi. So as Ronins raced to get a shot at the Salamander Type III mecha and their drone escorts, they found themselves in the midst of a type of 'no man's land' that would no doubt inflict serious casualties. And even so, the Ronins that were sure to survive the area-effect weapons found themselves facing a tenacious line of Jaaq'tah strike craft and drones, who weren't the pushovers they were believed to be. Parasite drones were even more numerous than the Ronins (they were each the size of baseballs, mind you) and swarmed the Ronins while they tried to dogfight with the Salamanders, their parasite assault systems attempting to allow them to attach to the starfighters and literally take them over. It was simple numbers. There were too many to simply dodge or 'shoot down' and the drones were even more maneuverable (due to mass and accelerative issues) than the larger Ronins, which made them hard to shoot down.

But the Jaaq'tah weren't done. They weren't here to crush a fleet -- that was a secondary objective. Their primary goal was to make the Yamatai burn. The 100,000 Slaakanesh vessels had remained silent while their escorts and ships of the line prosecuted the battle, but now it was time. The Jaaq'tah formation parted as each of the command vessels unleashed their Kraslanesh spinal weapons, all of them focusing down a single 20-degree vector. These were strategic weapons on par with the Confederate stellar converter. Each beam had the equivalent power of a fusion weapon in the 1E22 megaton range (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), or 100 trillion times the K-T extinction asteroid impact or as much energy as the Sun has generated since the time of Moses. Multiply this by 100,000 times and the destructive power was simply immeasurable. The goal: To destroy the planet Ralfaris in one, simultaneous volley. 

Given the interdiction fields, the teleportation because much more difficult, but the Pantheon was behind the scenes, manipulating its space to negate areas of the field. Forty of the fifty Iori-Class Star Fortress's were on hand, now, using hundreds of directed fold cannons each to surround the Jaaq'tah fleets with chunks of stellar core material, which, no longer under pressure, exploded outward, illuminating space with thousands of miniature supernovas. Irim's fleet jumped back 20 million miles, to keep the destructive matter away. Again, the Zero Fleet ships appeared, also farther away. Under an omnidirectional bombardment of the sun-chunks that were enveloping it (and vaporizing the small fry like the drones), the beams would be impossible to see coming, and infeasible to defend against. While the blasts were unaimed, they numbered in the tens of millions and gouged giant holes in hulls for a swiss-cheese effect that would cripple many ships. Meanwhile, the Star Fortresses had projected their own hyperspace interdiction fields, so that the Jaaq'tah could get to burn in this artificial hell, as they deserved. Meanwhile, Ralfaris was visited by the rest of the Sixth Fleet, along with the second and third, which scrambled to evacuate the planet before the burning fires got too close.

"ATTENTION ALL GSA PERSONAL, WE ARE EVACUATING RALFARIS," These words were broadcast over PANTHEON by the Genisis AI. With that a massive ball of light appeared around Helix and the entire planet of Ralfaris were Hyperspaced away along with the entirety of all the ships within Helix's planet protective shield. Later they would all reapear again in a entirely different starsystem, away from the attackers. The entire planet had just been evacuated.

Back in Eridanus, the Third Naval Battle Force rallied against the Diamond Fleet, led by the legendary Admiral Vladimir Ruzhyo and his Fifth Fleet. His new Sierra-Romeo destroyers had unleashed a massive psionic storm throughout the Jaaq'tah fleet, flaying the minds of entire enemy vessels while stacking dozens multiple Quantum Detonator blasts on concentrated areas to break the massed defensive effort of the Jaaq'tah.

The Ronin fighters were expendable and simply self destructed when one of their command AI's detected a intrution in the flight controls. The large blasts caused the numbers of the ships to dwindle but it would still take a long time before they were destroyed. The AI's made sure that the ships to be lost would take their toll on the enemy. The Minion's Begain their retreat to supporting positions around the other GSA fleets. With the loss of Ralfaris, her moons shot outward from the sudden loss of gravity. "Irim, there is no need to save the system now." Sijik informed her.

"We still need to destroy them, or they'll show up elsewhere," Irim explained to Sijik. "Are your people alright?"
.
"The planet is going to be damaged quite badly from that little stunt but everyone is fine." He said. The planet now had no moons and so the gravitational forces were disrupted, putting strain on the planets crust. "Go ahead and teliport the core of the star away and wipe them all out with a supernova"

"Impossible!" snapped the Lord Admiral, watching the holographic screens before him as a third of his fleet literally vaporized and as Ralfaris seemed to dissapear microseconds before his ship wiped the planet from the universe. But the Grand Amethyst Fleet vowed to fight on, the remaining ships intensifying the power of their repulsor fields to literally herd the stellar material around them and keep the destructive plasma away. "Sir.....the primary target is gone!" added in one of his suboordinates that had survived the strike. "....we have to move on, sir!" 

The Lord Admiral uttered a guttural growl. "General retreat!" The Amethyst Fleet took a portion of its own interdictors and reversed their functions, canceling out the effects of the star fortresses' interdictors. A quick transmission to the nearest fleet beacon came and portions of the Amethyst Fleet began to disappear in rapid succession. Within a manner of ten seconds, the entire fleet was gone. Back in Jaaq'tah territory, the Lord Admiral looked at the losses: A little over a third of his forces had been lost. "We will adapt....and return, victorious...that I assure you..."

There was a single Yui-class Recon-Scout Destroyer sitting in the middle of the retreated Jaaq'tah fleet. It was cloaked, of course, slipped in during the transuniversal teleportation by Pantheon X2. It's RDD scanners quickly did a planetary-level scan of the area within one hundred light years, and teleported the data back home. It's name was YD-1590072.

Helix detached several segments that soon flattened themselves out into several new rings that quickly teleported away to try and catch the planets moons and the people still on them. Quakes were reported from all around Ralfaris as the planet settled into its new place in the universe. "Sir, I am reminding you to go blow up one of their planets." The AI's reminded Sijik as Seigi handed over the latest casualty reports from planetside. There were lots of injuries and the hospitals would be full for a while but fortunately casualties were minimal other than a oddly high concentration of deaths in the 24 basement level of the QnT building.




JP by
Nick
Wes
Derran
Zack
Tyler
Dion





Blood on Chocolate 
Kitsurugi Yui 
10/28/03 7:57

ON> Ralfaris

A small young woman knocked on the door to the home where Wazu's family lived. She had a bag of candy in her hand.

It took a few moments but eventually a young elf girl with long green hair opened the door, "Hello, how may I help you?" she asked the girl as she opened the door only a little bit at first showing only a white wall on the right side of the house.

An Elf? How strange. "Hello," greeted the girl outside the door. She was wearing the uniform of a local girls' organization. "My name is Jennifer. My group of scout is trying to raise money for a trip to Geshrintall by selling chocolates and cheesecakes. Would you like to maybe buy some?"

"Sure!" The elf's eyes lit up at the mention of chocolate, "um..hold on one moment." The elf turned and walked away from the door and deeper into the house. After a quick conversation with another women who spoke with a very deep gothic accent the elf came back to the door with a purse, "What exactly do you have?" she asked.

Delighted, Jennifer retrieved a catalog from the bag, full of pictures of delicious-looking cheesecakes and ice cream and various sweets. She also pulled out some good-smelling chocolate bars. "Take a look...may I come in?"

"Oh sure," the elf said. She seemed a bit more interested in the catalog than in the girl's requests. As she stepped back the door swung open a bit more showing the insides of the house. It decorated with paintings of a place far away with several nice couches and chairs facing a holographic view screen in one corner of the house. A wall obstructed the view of the kitchen and stairs that led to the rest of the building.

"Wow!" Jennifer exclaimed, whirling around, looking at the place. "You have a Bee-YOU-tee-ful house!!"

"oooo" the elf said as she looked through the catalog still oblivious to the girl. A older women walked out into the living room from the kitchen, "why thank you." She said as she slowly made her way to one of the couches and sat down.

The hyper little salesgirl waved to the older woman. "Hi!" she smiled. "I'm Jennifer." Holding a big bar of dark chocolate, she waved it around and said, "These are suuuuper-good and only 1 KS!"

"Kes," the older women said as she brushed some of her short blond hair to her side, "huh?" the elf said as she looked around, "oh right!" she then walked over to the girl and handed her a four KS in exchange for some of the candies. "My name is Lisa." She said with a smile.

The girl grinned happily, pocketing the coins in her tiny purse. "You will LOVE the cheesecakes..." she started. "Hey!" she realized, "You're related to that cute Taisho scientist guy, aren't you?"

she nodded, "I am" The elf started to write down everything she wanted from the catalog as the older women started talking again, "No thank you. I am allergic to cheesecake." 

"Allergic!?" the salesgirl was crushed. Clearly, sales were not going much. "Oh..." Jennifer pouted... "So you're his mom? Does he take you on space trips and stuff?"

(to be^)

"usual not." She replied. The elf walked back over to the girl, "can I get one of these one of these...." she went on and on till she had asked for nearly 75 KS in candy, Lisa only ordered a little bit.

"Eep," Jennifer let out as her bag became lighter and lighter, somewhat surprised by the amount of candy bars and such that Lisa was buying. She kept the conversation going with Kes, "So, he's too involved in his work to visit much...my dad is like that. Do you have other kids? How old are they? Any girls that are my age?" Jennifer naughtily giggled., "boys?"

Lisa smiled a bit, "Your very curious, just like him. I have one other child that is only 8 years old but he is in another universe or something... I can never understand Wazu when he is trying to explain it..." she admitted

"Oh..." Jennifer seemed disappointed. She looked to Lisa, wondering if she was done ordering.

'...one of these two of those and.... 5 of these." She said with a smile as she finally finished.

"Thank you. The delivery should come in three days or so. Could you sign here?" Jennifer handed Lisa a clipboard and a pen.

Lisa signed the clipboard and then handed it back to Kes.

The clipboard never made it back to Jennifer. Once Lisa had her hands full, Jennifer jerked her arms outward, and a small pistol slid into each of her childish hands. In an instant, the little girl had aimed each of the weapons at the two women's heads, and fired. It was quite fast. Jennifer was quite the professional.

Kes's head snapped backwards as she fell and Lisa just slumped over to the side.

Jennifer's name was not a fake name the girl had made up...there was a Jennifer. The girl who had escaped when the rogue neko called Eve had been taken down. The girl who carried Eve's consciousness. The girl reached into the bottom of the bag of candy, and pulled out a bomb of some sort, attached it to a nearby wall, and then retrieved the brass casings from her rounds.




[GSS Seigi, Ralfaris] A new Psion? 
Mitsu Amaya
12/5/03 19:57

Kai had been settling in for a little period of rest and had just gotten out of the baths aboard the Seigi. "Ahh." He said as he got out, wearing nothing but a towel.. There wasn't any day or night on a starship, but it was setting into the dusk hours on the surface of the planet. The situation was still rather tense, but the relations were starting to ease ever-so-slightly. 

Amaya slid back further into the shadows of the partially ruined building, even this amount of movement was difficult. It has been over 24 hours since she had left the centre and had her last dosage of the drug that suppressed her abilities. ~Damn~ she thought to herself silently as she wrapped her arms tighter around her knees to keep herself from shaking too much. ~Why didn't I bring any of that drug with me!!~ Amaya sighed, she knew even if she had brought it with her it would have run out eventually. She had two choices, to deal with the withdrawl from the drugs and try and control her abilities or return to the centre, and she would die before she returned there. She laid her head down on her knees and closed her eyes, night was falling on the planet and she was tired. Unable to stay awake any longer after over twenty four hours without rest, Amaya slid into blissful sleep, releasing her rather tenuous hold on her abilities.

Kai yawned, he was feeling much more refreshed after bathing, the warm water had really helped sooth his aching muscles. Keiko was waiting for him and smiled and tugged on the towel; as sign she wanted a lift. Kai chuckled and knelt down and picked the little neko up and set her on his shoulder and tickled her slightly, eliciting a giggle. He smiled and went to dress himself; being nude in the presence of others unsettled him, but in GSA, it wasn't really something to worry about. He dropped a pouting Keiko onto the bed and and went to dress and came out from behind a partition a few moments later wearing a royal blue and gold outfit the rank pin clearly visible. His little assistant whistled appraisingly at him, making him blush.

Amaya ran down a long white corridor, doors running along each side. She looked back and could vaguely make out Dr Xian walking slowly towards her. No matter how slowly he walked and how quickly she ran she could not get away, in fact he was closing in on her. She turned back and tried to open the first doorway on her right, locked. She then tried the next and the next, all locked. Dr Xian began to laugh as he came towards her, two guards appearing at his back. They reached towards her... Amaya woke up screaming, clutching her head in pain. All the voices came back into her brain, searing into it like a white hot poker. She knew the drugs had finally worn off, the voices were the thoughts of all the people near her, the thoughts she could not turn off. She clapped her hands over her ears, trying to keep out the voices, but in vain she heard them, until darkness claimed her.

Kai jolted, his psionic senses kicking into high alarm, there was another psion he did not know of...somewhere, not close but still within range of his sensing. He tentatively reached out with his own calm mind, wading through the mental static trying to pinpoint the source. Keiko looked at him as his features became still...this worried her, she'd never seen him using his power before. She jumped up and climbed onto his shoulder and hugged him gently, being slightly scared for him. "Master? what's wrong?" She asked...but Kai could not hear her, all his energy was focused on finding this source. He opened his brilliant emerald eyes and looked around. He could sense a high amount of psionic power coming from the planet, he now had to find the source. Kai sighed, poked little Keiko who giggled and hugged him earning a smile that delighted her. He rose from his chair and swept out of the room heading for the shuttle bay to get a shuttle to the surface; one he found easily enough as he was the second-in-command on the ship. Kai didn't feel he needed a security team with him for this, he was leaving and coming back, no major operation. He, Keiko and the neko pilot were soon on their way down. After what seemed to be hours, the little team soon landed in a open area of the city. Kai turned to the pilot and gave her orders to wait here until he came back, the area was empty and posed not much of a threat. Kai focused his mind on the psionic power and followed it to a abandoned building after searching several others. "What are you looking for?" Keiko asked, kicking her little feet as she sat on his shoulder. "There's someone else like me here and I want to find them." He replied in a gentle tone of voice as he reached the building that was radiating a strong psionic pulse. "Hello?" He asked softly.

The building was still and quiet no noise was heard except for the gentle breathing of someone hidden in the shadows. 

Keiko's hearing was much sharper than Kai's; she jumped off his shoulder and followed the sound to the curled up form of a young human woman. Keiko smiled and hopped on the form's shoulder and touched her gently, probing seeing if she's injured. "Find something?" Kai's voice could be heard, along with his footsteps drawing closer. 

Amaya stirred gently and opened her eyes briefly before another sharp pain seared through her brain. She grimaced in pain and a few stray tears trickled down her cheeks. She raised herself slowly and looked at the little neko before backing up further against the wall. 

Keiko looked at her quizzically, cocking her head to the side, making her brown hair flutter a bit. Kai walked up to Keiko and knelt down and smiled a bit. 

"Hello there." He said being as nonthreatening as possible. Amaya could feel a distinct, gentle probing in her mind as he gauged her situation.

Amaya rose, edging slowly up the back of the wall until she was standing. She then tried to push him out of her mind, succeeding only to bring her to her knees. In a broken voice she finally spoke, "I won't go back..."

Kai sensed that she didn't want him in her mind immediately and withdrew himself from her mind. "Go back where?" He asked gently.

She looked up, her haunted violet eyes were clouded with tears, "You do not work for Dr Xian?"

"Dr. Xian?" The little neko asked, confused. She looked up at her master for an explanation. "I do not know of any Dr...Xian." Kai said. A police helicopter flew overhead, flashing it's search light into the building, just to make sure that there wasn't anything suspicious doing on down there. She could see his gentle face, flaming red hair and those eyes.... "I know of no Doctor of that name."

She hugged her knees up against her, "Then why did you come here? And who are you?"

"I could feel your power from orbit, I just had to find out who was making such a racket. I'm sorry I'm Shosho Ashigari, and this is Keiko." He said as the coal black neko walked up to her and smiled. "Who are you?" They both asked, then chuckled at that.

She looked at them cautiously, "I am Amaya..."

The little neko smiled and hugged her leg gently. "Glad to meet you." She said, rubbing herself against 
her leg affectionately. "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Amaya." Kai said. "Are you an orphan? Why are you alone?" He asked.

She looked at the Neko, touched by the sweet gesture and she smiled at her. The beauty of her smile was diminished however by the pain in her eyes, "I am... I was a lab experiment..." She looked down at the ground, ashamed of what she was. 

Kai looked at her sympathetically, and subconsciously reached out to comfort her, but stopped short. "That's horrible." He said. "They messed with your mind and forced psionic ability on you didn't they? From how badly it was flaring, you can't control it." He said, getting right to the heart of it.

She nodded, "They created us far too powerful... We can not shut it off. Dr Xian created a drug to supress the talent, however it lasts for only 24 hours and is highly addictive. He wanted to make sure I had no where to go."

"A psionic suppressant? I've never heard of it." Kai said. Keiko jumped up on her knee and slid down her legs and cuddled against her, trying as a small neko could to comfort her. "Sounds like the ADN on our ships."

She wrapped a shaking arm around the Neko and loooked at Kai confused, "Ships? ADN? Who are you exactly?"

Kai sighed. "I am a GSE officer. The ADN device disables or suppresses psionic ability, preventing telekinesis and telepathy." Kai explained. 

She continued to look at him confused before laughing suddenly, "I am afraid you lost me somewhere in there." Her laughter broke off as quickly as it had started as another jolt of pain took her and she buried her face close to the Neko.

Keiko looked confused and laid a tiny kiss on the girl's nose, trying to cheer her up. "What is it?" Kai asked moved over to her and looking at her cautiously. He felt a spike of psionic power and raised a mental barrier to shield himself from it, seeing as it had sent a couple of small rocks flying.

She looked up at him, "I have no way to shut off my abilities, when strong emotion is felt near me I become...unpredictable."

Kai thought about it for a moment. "It's a lack of control, you need to learn how to control them; I could teach you if you want me to." He offered; sensing she needed a friend at the moment.

She smiled and spoke quietly, "I wouldn't want to burden you with my problems..."

"It's not a problem, it's my responsibility to seek aid for those who need it." Kai said. "My ship, the Seigi could be your home until you learn how to control it. I'll find a way to help you." He said with a warm smile. 

She slowly began to rise, keeping one arm around Keiko so the little neko wouldn't fall. She leaned back against the wall for support, "If you are sure I would not be too much trouble... I have nothing to stay here for and learning to control these powers would be safer for everyone."

Kai nodded, "How'd you control them before? There must have been someway." He said, thinking.

Amaya looked at Kai, her expression thoughtful, "Dr Xian used drugs to supress my talent." She smiled, "I remember mentioning earlier that they are highly addictive..."

Keiko looked up at Amaya and jumped onto her shoulder and played with her blonde hair. "I remember that." She chirped happily. Kai's expression continued to get thoughtful, as if he was planning something. "I suppose we'll need some of that at first then wean you off it." He said.

She looked at Kai, her eyes wide with horror, "I won't go back there..."

He rose up to his full height; and looked at her squarely. He could feel her horror at the thought of returning. "I understand how you feel, you don't want to go back there for fear he'll try and take you again. But I am truly sorry that I need to go back there and get at least the chemical makeup of the serum so we can reproduce it if we have to." He said with a downcast look, feeling her fear.

She looked at him directly, "And you need me to go back with you to show you where it is..."

Kai nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry to have to make you go back; but it'll be good in the long run."

Amaya nodded, "I... I will take you..."

"Thank you Amaya, I'll make sure that that 'doctor' doesn't try and hurt you again." Kai said. "Please show us Amaya." Keiko chirped giving the girl another hug. Amaya walked out of the ruined building slowly, exhausted by the mental drain of her headaches and began to lead them through the winding streets. Amaya felt a force surrounding her, supporting her as she walked, keeping her steady. Kai had noticed she was wobbling a little bit and decided to give her a little support. "Is it far?" Keiko asked.

She nodded and looked at Kai gratefully and smiled gently, "Thank you..."

"Not a problem." He smiled back as they walked along. Kai didn't even seem to notice he was using his ability.

Amaya slowed her pace and walked next to Kai, "Its just up ahead..." She pointed up at a large building partially charred by fire, from looking in it seemed almost deserted.

"Keiko. Check it out for possible danger." Kai said with a nod. Keiko smiled, and leapt off Amaya's shoulder gracefully, turning invisible while in the air and ran off toward the ruins and entered, scouting ahead. "How far in do we have to go?" Kai asked Amaya

Amaya looked at the building, "The lab is down the main corridor, to the left. After about 20 metres you'll find two double doors, the lab is behind them..."

"Ah." Kai said and mentally fed Keiko what he was told. Keiko sended back a mental ~alrighty~ and sprinted off through the corridors, her stealth rendering her invisible to all the security sensors. Keiko wandered into the lab completely unnoticed and standing in the centre of the almost bare, sterile room was a man in a white lab coat. His short dark hair was a mess, and he looked like he hadn't slept in awhile. He seemed to wander around looking for something, oblivious of Keiko's presence. Keiko giggled and ran over and knocked over an empty vial making it clatter to the floor, just having a little fun. 

"Ready to go in?" Kai asked her, letting her prepare herself for it.

Amaya nodded and touched Kai's arm gently, "Don't let him hurt me... Please..."

"I won't let him do anything to you." Kai said, looking into her innocent eyes. "Let's go then." He said. ~Keiko, is everything safe?~ He thought to the little neko. ~Yep, just some hobo in a white labcoat.~ She thought, the tone of her thoughts playful. Indeed she was as she walked around the lab, knocking over empty vials.

Dr Xian turned around as the vials clattered to the floor, "Who is there?"

Keiko knew better than to show herself and stood there silently, still invisible. Meanwhile, Kai was pushing aside rubble with a wave of his hand, moving it telekinetically; more like tossing them lightly. He walked slightly in front of Amaya intent on protecting her.

Amaya slid her hand into Kai's, drawing strength from his physical presence as they neared the lab doors. Kai blushed ever-so-slightly and went through the doors, following Keiko's trail and eventually got to the double doors outside the lab. "Ready Amaya?" He asked.

She nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on the door in front of her, "As ready as I ever will be..." 

Kai reached out with his hand and pushed the doors open and walked through with Amaya in tow. "Alright Xian, where's the serum?" He asked, his voice more authoritative than before.

Dr Xian turned around slowly, "Ah you brought my pet back, how can I ever thank you?" Amaya moved closer to Kai, until they were touching softly.

"Your pet?!" Kai said, his tone making it clear he was outraged. "You're not getting her back...ever." 

He looked at Kai, anger flaring in his eyes, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the commander of the Seigi, my name isn't important to you. And I am ordering you to hand over the serum you used to control her powers." Kai said with a definate bite in his voice. 

Keiko was busy looking around and grabbed a small hyperdermic syringe and filled it with what she knew was a powerful sedative..just in case.

Dr Xian laughed, "You are in possession of MY property and you think I am going to give you the serum?"

"You're wrong old man." Kai said. "She is in the protection of the Grand Star Army; and as thus, she is no longer YOUR possession. She is an individual and has freewill; and she wants to come with me." Kai said. "I'll ask you one more time, give me the serum."

Amaya slid closer to Kai as soon as she saw the outburst coming and flinched when Dr Xian yelled, "OVER MY DEAD BODY...." 

"I wouldn't say that." Kai warned as Xian felt a dim ringing in his head. "please reconsider."

Keiko was inching closer and closer armed with her syringe. She was right behind Xian now and ready to sedate him at Kai's order.

Dr Xian laughed, "Without the serum she will die, and without her my experiments are nothing." He smiled evily, "And just remember the chemical composition of the serum dies with me."

"Just hand over the serum." Kai said flatly, his hair starting to dance and his diamond started glowing.

He slid his hands into his lab coat, "No..."

"I advise you to simply hand it over, you don't want me to force you to Xian." Kai said as Xian's hands ripped out of his labcoat and held stiffly off to his side. Keiko pounced on Xian at that moment and began searching him on after a moment.
After rummaging through his pockets for awhile, Keiko felt a vial of something hidden within a secret pocket within the lining of the coat. ~Found something.~ Keiko dutifully reported and climbed out and ran over to Kai turning visible and hopped up on his shoulder after a small CRT jump. "Here." She said depositing it in Kai's open hand. "Is this it Xian?" Kai asked with a sharp tone as Xian felt a wave of cramping run up his body.

Amaya answered before Xian could, "Yes that is it..."

Kai nodded and turned to leave halfway turned, he paused. "I'd advise you to find a better profession doctor." He said as Keiko bounced over to Amaya and looked innocent. "Did I do good?" She asked seeking praise. 

Xian slid his hand onto a lab table next to him and grabbed a syringe quietly. He silently slid it into his pocket and looked at Amaya as she turned away, "Tell me something, did we treat you that badly?"

Amaya kept her back turned on Xian and spoke quietly, "Yes..." 

Keiko turned around on Amaya's shoulder and shot Xian a dirty look. Kai smirked as he made Xian trip. Xian rose and pulled the syringe from his pocket, moved the distance towards Amaya quickly and reached out to grab her arm.

Keiko jumped into his face and bit his nose hard. Kai felt her get grabbed and spun around, pulling her away from Xian standing in front of her. "I warned you old man." He said, his green eyes melting into a brilliant blue, his hair flowing around like in a moderate wind.

"GIVE ME BACK MY TEST SUBJECT!" Dr. Xian shouted

"Do you value your sanity doctor?" Kai asked in a voice that chilled Keiko and Amaya to the bone. ~Take her and get out of here.~ He mentally ordered Keiko. Keiko got off Xian's face and hopped over onto Amaya's shoulder. "Let's go!" She said. Amaya was scared of Dr. Xian and hoped that somehow Kai could make him stop coming after her; she heeded Keiko's alert and ran for the door. Dr. Xian howled in anger and tried to run after her, but smashed headlong into Kai's psionic barrier.

"You...you..." He growled, pissed off and frustrated that his life's work was slipping away. He ran over and hit a button on a console, trying to shut the security systems on. All around the laboratory, sensors and alarms started going off, the main doors sealing shut, trapping her inside. 

~Kai! He's sealed off the center! We can't escape!~ Keiko's urgent thoughts came to him.

Xian collapsed to his knees holding his head, suddenly screaming at the images Kai was fixating in his mind, those of his deepest fears. As he started reliving his deepest fears, Kai was already leaving the lab. 

Meanwhile, Keiko was trying to open the doors to get out, she found a small box and was already picking the electronic locks. By the time Kai got there, Keiko was smiling and hugging Amaya who was standing outside waiting for him. "Let's head home." Kai said.

After a while of walking; Kai, Amaya and Keiko reached the waiting ship and climbed inside. Kai administered a shot of the serum into Amaya, who smiled thankfully, but was very tired and soon was asleep hugging her "hero" gently. "Awwww." Keiko said and snuggled into Amaya's blonde hair and they both slept, while leaving Kai to turn red....


JP

Tyler (Kai and Keiko)
Jennifer (Amaya and Xian)




[GSS Seigi, GSS Chiharu] The Saddest Day 
Kitsurugi Yui
12/6/03 22:58

ON> Ralfaris System

In a tremendous flash of light, the three Iori Star Fortresses disappeared, headed elsewhere. Meanwhile, watching in stealth, an Elysian ship watched, and sent a message the Nariel's fleet. "Cue"

"Is their 4th Fleet's computer network operational?" asked Nariel.

Kai was sitting in the captain's seat of the Seigi, thinking about what he was going to do now. "Well, there's nothing I can do. It's out of my hands until I hear something official." He mused and sat up straight in the chair and looked over the bridge crew. There was so much to do, and so little time to do it in...

"Intelligence indicates no. A rebellion of their ships occurred recently..." responded an archangel. "There seems to be no master unit in the 4th fleet's network."

"Excellent." Nariel smirked.

Kai looked over at the nekos manning the consoles. There were all there except Lavinia wasn't present. Figuring it was time she stopped fooling around he sent out an announcement. "Juni Taiensho, report to the bridge." His voice called over the speakers. He paused and gave it some thought... and decided to call Yuuko to the bridge as well. "Yuuko, please report to the bridge." He added. After a few moments a perky Lavinia entered the bridge. "Sir." She said, and knowing her duty, sat at her piloting chair and interfaced with the system, it was a bit new but she quickly got used to it.

Kai sighed and absently watched a sensor console.

An Elysian fleet of some 1,800 ships appeared over the Qel'noran Industrial Area of Ralfaris, and began attacking the ships of the fourth fleet with their superheavy weapons. Some ships were also taking out some of the planetary defense platforms over the QIS.

Yuuko walked onto the bridge to find the entire thing filled up with holograms and tactical charts. The 4th Fleet was being ravaged. 

Kai almost leaped out of his seat when the elysian fleet flashed out in huge numbers on the sensor readouts. He rolled his eyes, this was the best day EVER..pish, yeah right. Kai quickly got on the communications from his console and sent a warning out to the ships of the first division; but with the tension high....he didn't know if they'd respond. "All ships of the 4th fleet 1st division, we have Elysians attacking. Take'em out." He ordered..

Missile batteries on the surface opened up and launched their complements of ender missiles as soon as the angel ships were detected. some 200 missiles were launched in the first wave, each one traveling at over 20,000c toward their targets. The other ISFB's in the 4th fleet started deploying their minion's. Most of the ships were still on high alert from the last angel threat so the response time was minimal. All of the smaller destroyers activated their CDD's and accelerated to combat speed. The Antaeus class battleships were little more than large targets at this range, they immediately TTDed to a safer distance to launch the rest of their missiles.

"Shields up! Prepare for battle!" Kai ordered his own crew. Lavinia nodded and prepared to start evasive tactics. The Seigi's crews were quick to get into action, and in a matter off minutes, it's own Minions deployed. 

The missiles, designed to go light speed, disintegrated in the atmosphere before their CCDs even got the up to 1c. The ships of the fourth were already halfway gone by the time anyone saw it coming. There were ten times as many Elysian ships as the 4th had, and they had unleashed a devastating main gun attack as the battle began. Fast Attack frigates targeted the missile launch sites and began melting them with their nose beams. Meanwhile, the Orbital Defense Platforms deployed their cannons and began to return fire.

Lavinia wasn't too familiar with the new AI program but needed to quickly adjust to be able to evade the shots fired at it.

Yuuko looked to Kai, stammering, "I...is this it?" The Seigi found itself assigned to five battlecruisers, which all were firing their main guns in about five seconds.

The holographic displays on the bridge of the Seigi were showing that this was completely a losing battle for the 4th fleet. They were totally outnumbered....Kai looked over at Yuuko. "Not for us. But I have a bad feeling we're severely outclassed here. "Send and emergency signal to the nearest friendly fleet." Kai said.

"Sending!" Yuuko said.

The Antaeus class battleships started to fire their missiles. They were aimed for the largest ships in the angel fleet, Several of the missiles went straight through several ships before detonating, making maximum use of their abilities. The surviving ships unleashed a long range torpedo barrage against the angel ships while the 1st division moved into the combat area from reserve. Swarms of minions descended on the angel fleet. their nearly 700 GWB's fired trying to take out as many ships as possible.

The Seigi's Minions among them, its Ronin fighters were also being deployed to engage the enemy. 

"Let's provide what aid we can." Kai said, his eyes narrowing. His weapons officers were running the GWB's against the Elysian frigates as well from long range.

The Elysian Fleet, knocked down to about 1600 ships, returning fire as they split into several groups. Some sort of new class of Elysian ships was breaking through the planetary defense system and headed for the surface. The Antaeus ships were rare, big targets and were dogpiled by groups of battlecruisers intent on taking them out. A hundred thousand CX-7 fighters seemed to counter the minions and Ronins. As the Seigi's pursuing battlecruisers opened fire, the ship was surrounded by a soft white light.

Lavinia screamed and somehow pulled a nice evasive move and picked up speed, the superconductor railguns opening up to return fire.

Kai swore. "Damn! I hate to say it, but let's get the hell out of here!" He barked. The ships TTD drives prepared to fire off to get them away from the pursuers.

The Antaeus class battleships simply teleported away each time an angel battlecruiser got close enough to have any chance of hitting it. Their missiles continued to take a large toll on the Angel fleet from long range. The minions heavily outclassed the fighters and easily started taking them down with GWB and turret fire. Wazu and Wakizashi started to make passes against the ships heading for the planet. The anti-teleportation system kept the angel feet from getting to close so they had some time to slow down the angel advance.

The Seigi's weaponry, punching some holes in the battleships that were trying to engage them. Lavinia snarled and tensed up evading the shots from them remembering her training, doing her best to keep one ship between her and another one.

The corvettes and the Ronins fighting back against the attackers with fervor.

The silhouette of the Seigi shimmered at its form eroded in the beams of the cruisers, which continued to tail it. The docking ring broke into shards, the fighter bays melted. The Seigi was in ruins and began to fall to the surface. "We've lost power!" Yuuko shrieked. The bridge was filled with smoke.

The Minion's started to form a protective screen of ships between the majority of the angel fleet, backed up by fighters and Wakizashi while the Antaeus and Wazu's formed a perimeter around the attacking ships and started to pummel them with long range attacks. Ralfaris started to fire more missiles, letting them breach the atmosphere before the CDD systems activated. They made sure not to hit the planet.

"DAMN!" Kai cursed. "We need to get the hell out of here and evacuate!" Kai ordered. 

Elysian ships began using their own systems to trap the Antaeus ships. The battleships found their TSDS systems malfunctioning...subspace charges were going off around them. The Seigi wasn't alone. Thousands of damaged ships and fighters began to fall from the sky like screaming comets. The Elysian weapons seemed to be every bit as effective as the Star Army's, and Minions were being swatted down as fast as the Elysian guns could find them. There were now only about 1000 Elysian ships remaining, sandwiched between the 4th Fleet's handful of remaining ships and the hundreds of thousands of orbital platforms that made up the temporary defense system.

Yuuko nodded, checking her control panel. "YES!" she yelled. "My shuttle's still ok!" It was a miracle.

"What a shame," the Seigi's new avatar softly sobbed.

"Let's go then!" Kai said. "All the rest of you get to the escape. Yuuko..take the girl with you, please. Head back for the surface." Kai said and went over to his room to get Amaya and came out with a sleepy girl on his arm. "Keiko, take care of them." He said, getting a sad nod from the neko.

Yuuko sent a message over the intercom, "All crew abandon ship immediately!"

"I am so sorry WIES." Kai apologized to the AI, can we get this ship to land as safe as possible?"

"Sir," Yuuko said as the gravity on the ship started to fail, "Don't you think she'd be better off with you?"

The Antaeuses were far to valuable to let be destroyed. They teleported back to Geshrintall. The minion's were fairing fairly well. Their small size was deceptive. Damaged ships started to fall back for repairs from the few fleet tending units that made it out of the initial attack while the ground forces started to prepare for an attack.

"Probably, I'm going to go with you instead of that original stupid idea of going down with the ship." Kai said fiercely. "Let's go to the Kitty." He said, scooping up the sleepy girl into his arms.

"Right!" Yuuko crawled out into the hallway. The gravity was now pulling them toward the front of the ship.

Kai's eyes glowed bright blue as he lifted Yuuko into a psionic field and used telekinetics to hurry them toward the bay...and then the ADN activated.

"ACK!" Kai grunted. "WIES turn that thing off!"

He said now fighting gravity to get himself and the person in his care on the move.

"Sir." the computer did so.

Kai's telekinetics came back in time to propel him, Amaya and Yuuko the rest of the way to the bay.

Yuuko strapped in and headed out the melted bay door into the skies of Ralfaris, with the two passengers in the back.

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope everyone else makes it." He commented. Lavinia and Ritsu had gotten a ride with another lucky pilot who had fled.

"AHH!" Yuuko shrieked, dodging a Ronin that was headed back up. Elysian ships were now nearly to the surface.

"Holy!" I hope they can hold them off." Kai commented.

Yuuko's shuttle took a hit from a passing Elysian fighter. All around the shuttle were vapor trails form missiles and engines. "Hit!" Yuuko told herself. The shuttle was trailing smoke as it headed to the surface.

Ground forces started firing at the angel ships although their weapons didn't take to heavy a toll on the ships. Several Ronins fell downward into the QIS buildings shields as the aerodynes started to make passes on the landing ships.

Kai held Amaya to him protectively as the shuttle jolted. "Yuuko, can you land it somewhere safely?"

The landing ships seemed to have the most (but not heaviest) weapons of any Elysian ship. As the beam eyes began popping off shots at any threatening objects in their range, thousands of white bouncy balls began pouring out of the ships onto the surface below. Each hit with a few bounces, before morphing into a humanoid figure. Seraphs.

Yuuko nodded, lowering the landing gear of her smoking shuttle, and lining her course up with a street.

QnSe forces were well dug in inside of the city while the LZ's of angel ships were pummeled by long range artillery.

"You have any good weapons on this shuttle Yuuko?" Kai asked, sensing that they may need to defend themselves.

The rioters had found better places to be...

The seraphs began to spread out far and wide, largely shielded by the by the carriers that had dropped them off. The ships began to rise through the atmosphere again, mauling the orbital defenses from below with their beam cannons. The Elysian Fighter horde had air superiority now, and the Ronins had fallen back to guard key QIS structures. The seraphs began slipping into the sewers, the alleys, and various sneaky hiding places. Many of them changed their appearance to Qel'noran.

There were still hundreds of Minions left and combined with the large force of Aerodynes the sky's above QIS remained contested. Seraphs were shot at almost as soon as they came in. Nearly every building was garrisoned and every street turned into a kill zone. 

The GSS Ketsurui Chiharu received a short, desperate message. "GSS Seigi, Mayday! Ralfaris being invaded!"

"I hope help arrives soon." Kai murmured, now truly worried...

Amaya placed her hand gently on Kai's shoulder and spoke to him softly, "I am sure help will arrive. You hardly expect your comrades to not answer at a time like this..."

Taisho Ketsurui grimaced at the message as soon as it came in over the lines. "Alright folks, time to rock and roll! Izumi reroute the 1st fleet to assist and have the 2nd fleet reroute themselves to protect Geshrintall! Aya, get us back there NOW." The crew didn't reply but only did as they were ordered. 

The seraphs were not easy to kill, however. As they spread out through the QIS in hundred of thousands, they kicked over APCs, and killed QIS crews outright. They were invisible, after all. The ones who weren't were, of course, in QnSe uniforms. Some Seraphs were especially large this time.


The GSS Ketsurui Chiharu activated its TDD and disappeared as it sped back towards Ralfaris space.

Kai looked at Amaya and smiled...then his eyes began to glow bright blue as he formed and invisible aura around the ship to detect threats and spike their minds. After all, this was self defense.

The Chiharu, arriving first, found it was the only GSA ship left on in Ralfaris space. There were roughly 700 Elysian ships remaining. Meanwhile, on the surface, Yuuko grabbed her ammo belts and rifles.

Few APC's were lost. QnSe was starting to get pushed back from angel landing zones but they took plenty of Seraphs out along with them. The largest area's of angel troop concentration attracted the attention of columns of Sphinx tanks. Two columns made a push to retake one of the landing zones.

Kai didn't say anything, the was totally focusing on the aura that extended out about 15 ft from the shuttles base. This was very, very taxing on him, this was a power seldom used.

Keiko jumped off Yuuko's shoulder and walked over to Amaya. And jumped into her lap to help her if she needed it.

The Taisho frowned knowing that this did not bode well but, she barked a command. "Ishida, open fire using the Legacy cannon." Ishida nodded and powered the cannon up and opening fire on the Elysian ships. Aya instinctively raised the ship's shields.

Amaya wrapped her arms around Keiko and hugged her close while watching Kai, "Lets hope he doesn't tire himself with this effort Keiko."

Keiko looked up slightly scared. "I hope so too."

Keiko looked over at Yuuko. "Yuuko, could you please send another signal to any friendly ships? I think that's what Kai would have asked."

A baker's dozen of Elysian battleships concentrated on the Chiharu. The beams surrounded the ship in an eerily soft white light. The legacy cannon fired, weakening the shield of the Yuumi to their breaking point...

"Yes sir," Yuuko nodded. She sent a transmission to the nearby Nerimian ships. "Ralfaris being invaded. Any assistance would be appreciated." Since the message was from a mere shuttle, it was scratchy, weak, and distorted.

Ketsurui Chiharu:: In the blink of an eye, the Ketsurui disappeared from the universe forever, as the rest of the first fleet arrived and opened fire on the Elysian ships using the various weapons arrays. 

"Damn it," Nariel cursed. Only 450 ECN ships remained.

"Very well," said the commander of the lead vessel of the Nerimian squadron. "We will be there shortly..." The remaining vessels of the Nerimian squadron moved into relative close proximity to the Prometheus cruiser, who began to power her inter-phased drive. Space distorted as a fold bubble surrounded the twelve vessels. By the time it took the bubble to surround the vessels completely they were gone. 

Less than one minute later, the squadron was at Ralfaris, crewmembers racing to battle stations and VF pilots getting ready for launch. The enemy ship formation had already been identified and targeting solutions were being calculated. 

More waves of freshly synthed missiles started to come in from the now advancing Antaeus class ships. The Minions had been whittled down to a few hundred ships, much less than half of their original numbers, and the aerodyne squadrons were more than happy to see help coming in for their side.

"FIRE!!" yelled the commander of the Prometheus, the mighty cruiser's main gun focusing on the lead ECN vessel and releasing an incredibly destructive blast of plasma energy at the enemy vessel. The other ships followed suit, even the Desperado frigate letting loose with its planet-shattering Stellar Converter cannon. 

The first fleet fought valiantly, being one of the most seasoned of the Star Army. The numbers of Elysian ships began to be whittled away even more. A battlecruiser exploded in the Desperado's face as the cannon blasted away.

Yuuko burst into tears when she read the latest intel, screaming "Kai!!"

Amaya looked at Yuuko, "What is it?"

Kai was too busy concentrating on his shield, just in case. 

"The Chiharu! It's...it's gone!" Yuuko bawled.

Keiko started to cry knowing Kai liked Chiharu

Amaya walked over and placed a hand on Yuuko's shoulder, "I am truly sorry..."

An Elysian Fast Attack Frigate's nose beam fired to pierce the desperado's upper hull. Several more swarmed around the Nerimians, while the bigger remaining ships fought tooth and nail against the 1st Fleet.

The Nerimian squadron quickly began to maneuver, volleying its missiles towards the Elysian fleet. "The Desperado has lost its shields! 20 seconds before Zyro Shields are back online!" An energy beam struck the assault frigate's upper hull as layers of Xintium and Zanarium armor were liquefied by the blast, but didn't falter. 

"They're fighting just like the damn Jaaq'tah!" said one of the ship captains, each ship firing their beam turrets at the swarming frigates, launching and reloading missile tubes in order to deliver as much destructive energy to their foes as quickly as possible.

The remaining ships of the 4th fleet started to pull back and reform themselves, out of the 4 battle groups they had they started with only 1 was able to be formed now. The ships started making faster than light runs against the angel ships near Ralfaris. The ground forces were starting to feel the effects of the seraph attack. Infantry had started to pull back further from angel landing zones. They had to rely on their comlinks to identify friend and foe, reducing their combat effectiveness. The columns of Sphinx tanks moved through the city largely unchallenged becoming mobile strong points for QnSe troops.

The Elysian landing ships began to discreetly slip out of the anti-FTL fields, while above the remaining battlecruisers were creating fields of destruction with their main guns, serving more to keep the 1st Fleet back than to damage them. The seraphs stopped fighting and began to concentrate on blending into their surroundings.

Sphinx's started to hunt the remaining seraphs while the call went in to bring out more APCs with the command modifications to try and clean up the seraphs before a significant amount of them were able to slip away.

Very, very few of the seraphs were dead. The tanks just weren't equipped to follow an enemy that was not only invisible to the tanks, which had no sensors. They sought to return another time. Above, the last of the Elysian ships either escaped or were destroyed, leaving the Nerimian ships and the 1st Fleet victorious.

The angel landing zones were quickly retaken and sweeps for seraphs started.

Keiko wiped her tears and looked at Yuuko. "I think we need a new ship." She quipped, trying to lighten the atmosphere

Amaya laughed, "I think you are right Keiko."

"I feel sick." Yuuko groaned.

"Casualty count?" asked the squadron commander. No vessels had been lost to combat, though the Desperado frigate suffered damage to its dorsal hull. Luckily, that could be repaired rather easily. The squadron itself had claimed nearly three dozen enemy vessels, including one of their capital ships -- that kill belonged to the Desperado.

Keiko jumped off Amaya's lap and walked over to Yuuko. "What's wrong Yuuko?" She asked.

"So many dead."

Salvage corvettes began to leave their berths from the larger cruisers, seeking to collect portions of smashed enemy vessels for analysis.

Keiko frowned and tried to hug Yuuko. "I know Yuuko...It was a total overrun...poor Chiharu..." Keiko said, starting to cry again.

"At least maybe now the GSA will give us a little leeway.....we did help defend one of their planets......"

More debris started to rain down from orbit as some of the larger wrecks started to enter the atmosphere. Very close to Yuuko and Keiko a small escape pod sized piece impacted and created a large crater.

Keiko jumped and stealthed in fright then clung to Yuuko and reappeared.

Amaya tore her eyes away from Yuuko and Keiko and calmly walked over to a small window and looked out, "A piece of debris landed outside... I am not sure what it is..."

"These ruins will be a legacy to our brave nekos." Yuuko told Amaya.

Kai started to waver, the use of power at this level and started to sway, his eyes bleeding back to a dim green. He promptly slumped into the seat, breathing hard.

Amaya looked at Yuuko, "They all fought bravely, and they will be remembered as sacrificing thier lives for..." Her voice trailed off as she saw Kai slump over in his seat and she crossed the distance quickly and kneeled next to him, "Are you alright?" 

Keiko nodded. Then jumped off Yuuko and ran over to her master who was laying in a seat, resting and looked up at him, afraid he'd hurt himself. 

15min later a flatbed truck and 3APC's approached the wreckage. "HEY THERE ARE PEOPLE OVER THERE!" one of the soldiers shouted as he dismounted from the APC. The squad's medics hurried over to where Yuuko was as the flatbed started to recover the soul savior pod that had crashed nearby.

"Who's in command?" GSS Crusader asked.

"I'm....alright. Just...tired." Kai replied to Amaya.

Amaya nodded, "Is there anything I can do?"

Yuuko opened the shuttle's back door as she saw the APC approach them. Apparently one had spotted her through the windshield of the shuttle. She gave them a sad wave of her hand.

The Nerimian squadron approached Ralfaris itself, hailing the GSA vessels in orbit asking if they could offer any further assistance.

"Nerimian vessels, you're welcome to visit the planet if you'd like," the GSS Crusader (GD-203) offered the Nerimians. "By the goddess."

Kai stood up, his eyes turning back to the normal green, he wavered a bit then regained his footing and stepped out and looked around and noticed the QnSe guys.

Amaya followed behind Kai, standing behind him ready to help him if he needed her.

QnSe responded to the hail from the Nerimian ship, "The main attack has been repulsed but Seraphs are blending into the city, we require additional ground forces to search the city."

Kai turned to Yuuko as Keiko sat happily on his shoulder. "Yuuko, Please come along. " He said in a tired voice

"My shuttle..." Yuuko weakly protested.

Kai walked over and put a hand on Yuuko's shoulder. "You can fix it can't you?" He asked.

The lead Lightning cruiser released two A5 Aerodyne transports from its forward berths, the two transports heading towards Ralfaris' atmosphere. The equivalent of a battalion of Marines were en route to the planet.

A small welcome wagon of 8 APCs and 2 sphinx tanks were waiting for the Nerimian's at their LZ.

The A5s queried QnSe on landing clearance and deployment zones.

"Please head to the landing area just outside of QIS, a landing beacon has been deployed for you." one of the QnL public relations officers said.

"I can fix it." Yuuko seemed to be in a sort of trance. "Poor, poor, Chiharu."

Both A5s landed safely, letting their engines idle as four companies of Marines in Golem powered armor suits deployed. Out the back of each A5 came two GEV-17 LGEV-PCs, designed to facilitate rapid movement for the marines.

(LGEV-PC = Light Ground Effect Vehicle - Personnel Carrier) 

"Yuuko...If you want to fix it, you should go ahead and repair it I suppose." Kai said and headed out to greet the QnSe guys. "Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to have a working radio on you, would you?"

"You have been given free range to scan the city as you'd like however the underground tunnels are off limits, So far they have not been penetrated by our forces." one of the officers in the APCs informed the Nerimians.

Amaya followed close behind Kai, not wanting to leave him alone right now.

The Lieutenant Colonel in charge was distinguished by the blood red Warhawk-class armor she wore. "I'm Lt. Colonel Madelyn Price, what ever you need finding, we'll find and kill. Just tell us the description of the target."

"here is your target." the officer said as he transmitted what data they had on seraphs to the Nerimians.

One of the soldiers was leaning against the side of the APC that Kai was approaching, "Ya sure, Its right in there." he said motioning to the APC's door.

The data filtered through the SLICS network into the tactical computers of each suit. "Understood. Alright, boys, you heard 'em, MOVE OUT!" The marines responded with a resounding cry of "HOO-AH!" before breaking off into their component units. Two platoons manned the LGEV-PCs and moved out the fastest, while the others moved out using their jump jets to cover ground more quickly.

There was a rifle seeming floating in midair, just over the top of an overturned APC some 400 meters away. It was pointed toward Price's neck; a small target, but not a difficult one for the Seraph. A quick calculation of wind speed, and then the trigger squeeze.

Kai nodded and went to the door and got on the horn to any GSA ships. "This is Shôshô Ashigari of the Seigi. We are safely on Ralfaris, I request a pick up if possible." He sent.

"Sir, this is the GSS Crusader. We've assumed command of the first. Not much of your fleet is left sir. Shall our destroyer retrieve you?" came a response to Kai.

"If that's possible. I have 3 survivors with me, tell me have any escape pods of the Seigi been recovered?" He asked, hopeful

The Antaeus battleships started to come back to Ralfaris to rebuild the fleet. Most were intact however GB-17 was missing the front half of the ship.

A yellow-white field emerged from the point of impact of the round and Colonel Price immediately raised her SIAR, her sensors sweeping for signs of the target -- she found it! But before she could pull the trigger, the marines were already upon the target, using their wide array of sensors to detect, and then eliminate the target.

The seraph was quite surprised and quickly darted through the rooftop it was on. A variety of round impacted as it squirted itself inside. The result was a very small seraph composed of the original one's remains.

Colonel Price growled, "They shot at the wrong woman." And the marines were on the hunt....

a QnT APC was taking notes on the Golem's, this data would be most useful in the next few weeks.

END



JP

Wes
Tyler
Kim
Derran
Jennifer




More Survivors. 
Ketsurui Chiharu
12/7/03 1:59

Kyoshi was the only one in his escape pod that was still conscious when it made contact into the planet's soil. His head spun as he felt himself thrown forward but was held in place by the pod's harness. His vision went black but when it regained focus again, he saw the other occupants of this pod hanging limply in their harnesses. Two of the other techs (Hikari, Tomoyo) had managed to fit into the pod along with a single neko Medic (Inari). He wasn't sure if anyone else had managed to escape from the ship in time.

He felt very sick as he noticed that none of the others were moving. He unhooked himself from the harness and hurriedly scrambled to check their vitals. Hikari was the first one he checked and then.. he panicked. Hikari wasn't breathing and she didn't have a heartbeat. He couldn't let her die, not now after escaping the Seigi before it was destroyed! He frantically started CPR once he clumisly pulled her out of the harness and laid her on the floor of the pod.

His heart was frantic and the nausea wouldn't go away as he performed the chest compressions and rescue breathes in the correct intervals. ~Please wake up Hikari! You can't die on me!~ 

Kyoshi didn't notice when Inari woke up. Inari also felt ill but her ears registered the sounds of a panicked First responder and her eyes snapped open. She tried to free herself from the harness but her entire body felt weak. "Hold on." She forced herself to unhook from the the harness and moved to the floor beside Kyoshi and Hikari. "Kyoshi, let me handle this.. you should rest.."

Kyoshi stopped and allowed Inari to quickly place her hands over Hikari's heart. She focused and saw where the difficulty was and concentrated on that spot, repairing the Geshrin from the inside with the hemosynth techniques he had been taught as a child, to use the patient's own blood to knit the body back together. "Check Tomoyo." Inari's voice sounded strained and distant but Kyoshi nodded, moving to comply.

Tomoyo was breathing but she still was unconscious from the impact and the stress of the situation. Kyoshi frowned and returned his attention to Hikari and Inari. The neko looked drained but when Hikari coughed, his heart skipped a beat.

Hikari's eyes opened as she coughed up some blood that had been stuck in her lungs. Inari let herself fall back against the side of the seat, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Sgt. Inari, are you okay?" Kyoshi asked as he remained frozen to the spot, still in shock with joy that Hikari was alive. 

"I'm just tired.. you all need to rest for now, but we need to try to signal somebody to recover us.. the pod will only sustain life support for 48 hours." Inari yawned, closing her eyes for a moment and reopening them again.

"Do you think anyone else made it out?" Kyoshi asked, finally moving to check on a dazed Hikari.

"Where are we?" Hikari whispered, it hurt to talk. 

"I think we landed on Ralfaris.. hopefully someone will be by to recover us soon?" Kyoshi hugged Hikari gently. "I'm so glad that you're alive! I thought I'd lost you for a moment there.."




[Ralfaris] employment oppertunities 
Tasuki Uso
12/7/03 16:33

ON> Ralfaris

Kai turned off the radio and hung it up, not getting a response to his inquiries. He sighed and walked back over to Amaya; "I feel a distinct sense of loss and sadness here, what happened to cause this? Do you know?" He asked, he had been in a trance-like state when the Intel of Chiharu's death was broadcast.

A medic was checking Amaya for injuries, a small sensor was placed on the inside of her arm and connected to a wrist-mounted computer. "She seems fine... But what is this drug in her system?" he asked himself.

Amaya ignored the medic and looked at Kai carefully, "The GSS Ketsurui Chiharu was destroyed Kai... I am so sorry."

Kai closed his eyes, holding back the sudden, sharp pain of loss. "It's....ok Amaya, "He said, trying to keep from breaking down into sadness. "I feel...responsible for it...I ordered the call for help that lead to her doom.." Kai murmured, his voice starting to break and tears watering in his eyes.

Amaya reached out and put her arms around him, "You are not responsible, those monsters that did this are."

"Thank you Amaya.." He said softly and opened his eyes to show sad green eyes that spoke volumes more than his words said. "How is she?" He asked the medic, wanting not to think about the pain right now.

"physically she's ok." he said, "But she has some weird neural suppressant in her system. I would remove it but she seems to psyker, We should get her to the QnT guys, They'd be able to help her with this." The cord attaching the sensor to her arm retracted and the Qelnoran stood up

Amaya looked at Kai and then at the medic, "QnT?"

"HEY Karjak!" One of the soldiers yelled out as he ran up tot he shuttle, "We need to get moving, the pod's data has been recovered and Sensors show Serph's heading our way." 

Kai nodded. "Don't remove the suppressant, it's suppressing her abilities." Kai said. "She's in my care for now." Kai said, then jerked up at the mention of seraph.

The medic nodded, "The Technology division of QIS, They have a good psyker unit and are in charge of research."

The flatbed and one of the APC's turned around and headed back into the city over the sand dunes of the desert.

"Perhaps. But if there are seraphs around, maybe we should get somewhere safe? Can you tow that shuttle to a hangar for her to fix?" Pointing to Yuuko.

"sorry sir, we don't have the recourses to do that, A lot of the soul savor transmitters were damaged when they hit the atmosphere and the recovery units are all tied up getting to them." the soldier said.

"It's ok, can you assign a few soldiers to watch out for her while she repairs it?" He asked, gently holding Maya's hand.

"We have to be getting out of here too." He said

Amaya looked down at his hand and wrapped her other over the top of his, "We might need to bring Yuuko with us, for her own safety..."

"She won't like it, but you are correct." Kai nodded. Then sent a mental order to Yuuko. ~Yuuko, come along with us, we'll return for your shuttle~ He thought.

"Well I think we should get out of here then." Kai said, gently leading her to the vehicle. "How far is the ITS building?"

"20min from here by APC." Karjak said as he headed for the APC with the soldier.

"Alright." Kai said.

"I CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!!" The driver of the APC yelled out from the top of the vehicle. Karjak looked over at Kai and Amaya, "...better wear your harness..." 

Kai strapped himself in and looked at Amaya.

Amaya strapped herself in with a hesitant look at Kai.

"What's wrong Amaya?" Kai asked her softly.

Amaya smiled, "Just don't like the sound of 'better wear your harness.'" 

The rest of the Qelnorans did the same, a few had tensed up having gotten used to the drivers style. A small smirk was on his face as he gunned the engines. The APC accelerated quickly pulling all of the occupants toward the rear.

"Well it's for safety, this guy's a fast driver." Kai said he got jerked toward her and ended up leaning on her shoulder softly.

Amaya smiled at Kai and spoke happily, "This is fun..."

To the drivers credit they did make it back in less than 20min. 15min later they had reached the QnT building and headed around back to enter the underground garage. It was little more than a large open area with a ramp that led up to the surface. Security camera's covered the area and a group of QnSe guards were standing by the elevator shaft and stairwell entrances in flack coats and helmets. 

The APC's door opened and the troopers started to file out and were approached by a security team, "ID?" one of the guards asked, He was given a small card which was scanned by the guards computer, A small sensor as attached to the soldiers neck from the guards wrist mounted computer and in a few moments he motioned the soldier forward towards the lift. The guard repeated the process for all of the QnSe troopers until he came to Kai and Amaya.

"ID?" The guard asked Kai.

"I don't have one, I'm GSA personnel. And she's under my care." Kai said, not really know what else to say. "So I don't have one." He added, hoping they'd notice the rank pin.

"Crap... What's your name then?" The guard asked.

"Shosho Kai Ashigari." Kai replied.

The guard attached a small sensor to Kai's neck. All Kai felt was a slight tingle from the device. "All right you can go," The guard said as he moved to Amaya, "Name?" he asked. 

Kai patiently waited for her.

Amaya looked hesitant and spoke softly, "My name is Amaya."

"She's with me." Kai said.

The man attached a sensor to her neck and looked at his wrist-mounted computer, "We have no record of you." He said as he took a step back and put a hand over his pistol.

Amaya stepped back a few paces, "I mean you no harm..."

"I understand this is for security reasons, but I assure you gentlemen that she is of no threat." Kai said smoothly. He walked over to Amaya again and stood slightly in front of her.

The man relaxed a bit as his computer displayed some message to him, "You're free to go, sorry ma'am but needless to say we've been having Seraph problems so security is kinda tight." The guard then turned and went to scan the driver. 

"Oh." Kai said. He reached back and offered Amaya a hand or arm for her to hold onto. It would be easier to keep her out of trouble this way.

Amaya took his hand gently and followed after Kai, "Thank you..."

Kai nodded and continued on with her along side. 

The medic also looked down at his computer, "hmm... Ms. Amaya it seems that you have a friend somewhere in the corporation," Karjak said with a slight chuckle as he waited for the elevator to arrive. Once checked the APC went to the back of the parking garage to a doorway that led into the tunnel system. It was scanned again then let inside.

Amaya looked at the medic, "A friend? I am afraid I don't follow you."

"I wonder who that could be, I hope it's not Xian; it couldn't be." Kai mused.

The elevator doors opened and a fresh QnSe APC rolled out, all of the soldiers climbed in, except for Karjak, and rolled off back into the city. Karjak stepped into the elevator, "Please come with me." He said.

Kai nodded and followed Karjak into the elevator cautiously, holding Amaya a bit closer to him.

"Who would know her here?" Kai asked Karjak

Karjak chuckled, "Who can tell? QnT guys are weird..." The elevator doors closed and it started moving down. Above them were several sensors and automated gun turrets. When the doors opened they didn't open into the usual drab gray of the city streets or garages but into a very nicely built room. The walls and floor looked like they were made out of marble and off to one side were a few couches a table and some of the very rare non-desert plants of Ralfaris, "Please sit." Uso said.

"Uso. I should have known." Kai mused.

Amaya looked at Kai, "Who is this?"

"This is Uso Tasuki, ex-ship's cook for the Seigi." He said.

"You said check in every six hours, this is something like 8 or so but I think you'll forgive me." She said with a smile, "Either way I'm just acting as a messenger for the moment."

Amaya brushed her blonde hair out of her face and behind her ears, "Messenger for whom?"

"What is the message?" Kai asked, he wasn't going to play with her today.

Keiko turned and scowled darkly at the much bigger neko.

"Actually, Its for her." Uso said, pointing at Amaya, "You've impressed someone in QnT, Not many people can generate a psionic signal that can be detected from incredibly long distances. They think you have what it takes to become a very high level psyker." 

Amaya nodded, "They are correct..."

Kai grunted.

Uso leaned back in the couch and put her feet up on the table in front of her, "Needless to say they want to offer you a job and any recourses that you might require."

kai stood there, somewhat irritated with all this.

"I can do it too, but I didn't get any offers." Kai chuckled amusedly.

Amaya looked at Uso calmly, "I had decided considering recent events to join the Grand Star Army. Please convey my thanks to the corporation and whomever sent this message."

A slow smile started to cross Kai's face when she said that.

"He said you'd say something like that," Uso said with a smile, "He also told me to tell you that most of the 4th fleet works for QIS as well. There would be no drawbacks from working as part of QnT and for the GSA." 

"Who said that?" Kai asked, "Spit it out Uso."

Amaya looked at Kai, "Is what she says true?"

"Yes, but it's up to you. I'm leaving the 4th fleet after I leave this planet."

Uso gave Kai an odd look, "I can't pronounce his name..." she said, "He would come and visit you himself but he's kinda busy at the moment."

"Why?" Amaya asked Kai curiously.

"Spell it then." Kai said, getting suspicious. "Because I prefer one of the other fleets honestly."

"I didn't bother to learn how to spell it either," Uso said, "Also, why leave the 4th? You'd miss out on a lot of fun."

Amaya looked at Uso and smiled, "Once again I thank you for these offers, but I can not leave Kai."

"And be surrounded by double agents Especially when the GSA and QIS are against each other on something?" Kai said.

"Look Uso, I just want to recover my crew from the destruction of the Seigi and get back into space." He added.

"Well if you don't want to play that's fine by me." Uso said as she stood up and headed to the elevator, "They were Alexis's Crew. Anyways he said if that was the case to wish you good luck and to see to it that you make it back to the lobby safely. If you ever reconsider Amaya drop QnT a line sometime." 

"I don't like your meaning of play Uso." Kai said flatly.

Amaya watched Uso walk over to the elevator, "Maybe one day when 'he' is available I'll reconsider. I like to know who I am dealing with and exactly what would be asked of me." 

"He should have a opening in his schedule in about an hour or so... You can never tell with him." Uso said, "I could have it arranged if you'd like."

Amaya nodded, "Very well, thank you Uso."

"I suppose I'll wait as well, I'm curious about 'him'" Kai said.

"its no problem really." She said, "You can wait here then unless you'd like to have a look around."

"Tell me Uso. How does it feel?" Kai asked, feinting friendliness

"How does what feel?" Uso asked.

"working for QIS." 

Uso smirked, "fun."

"What type of fun?" He asked

"All types," she said, "Its just like old times."

"Oh yes, playing people into bad situations huh?" He smirked.

Amaya leaned against the wall watching these two play their little game. 

"Something like that." Uso said as she went back to the couch, "I see you found yourself a new girl." 

"You're incorrigible." Kai muttered. But also blushed ever so slightly.

"let her sleep in your bed yet?" Uso pried jokingly.

"Actually, yes, she was tired and I didn't know where else to put her Uso." Kai said casually, knowing Uso was going to blow it out of proportion.

Amaya looked at Uso shocked, "There is nothing going on between Kai and myself..." She then added quietly, "How could anyone care for a lab experiment..."

"That's not true Amaya." Kai said turning to her. "I care about you."

"I'm a lab creature too." Uso said, "and so is he," referring to the QnT guy.

Keiko jumped off Kai's shoulder and climbed down his leg and ran over to Amaya and yanked her pant leg wanting to getup.

Amaya sighed, "Tell me Uso, how long until you were given your freedom?" She reached down as she said this and picked Keiko up.

Keiko smiled and gave Amaya a tiny hug.

Uso chuckled, "I still something like 20 years to go. According to the GSA at least..."

"Is that because you joined the army?" Amaya asked softly.

"forced into it," Uso said.

Amaya looked shocked, "How were you forced into the army?"

"No, Nekos are owned by the military for 8 years then they are freed, but most remain in because it's the only life the know." Kai said.

"Uso got in trouble, I read the report." He smiled.

"Forced, it isn't like we have a choice." Uso said.

Amaya looked at Kai, " I see. Forgive me I know nothing of the universe at large. "

Kai shook his head. "It's understandable Amaya." He smiled at her.

Amaya looked at Uso, "What sort of work does QIS do?"

Kai looked at Uso as well. "I am curious as well, I have only seen the military side of it."

"Almost everything, they supply the planet with food, clothing, ships, buildings, and everything needed for its survival. Quite simply without QIS the population of the planet would die out." Uso said.

Amaya nodded, "Tell me would you have much use for my talents as a geneticist?"

"Hmm sounds nice, maybe I have been wrong all this time." Kai mused.

"Very much so, QnT has been looking for a way to boost the Qelnoran immune system for a while now." Uso said, "And all sorts of other things."

"Can't they as PNUgen about how they created the immune system of a geshrin?" Kai asked.

"Is there something genetically wrong with the Qelnoran immune system?" Amaya asked.

"Uso, about that working for both QIS and GSA, you know that GSA comes first according to law." Kai said.

"No, But they aren't as strong as that of the Greshen or other races, And for political reasons they can't let PNUgen do it." Uso said. "According to the law yes, In most of these peoples minds no."

Amaya laughed, "I have a lot to learn about the universe I think."

"Well this is a very casted system; I'm sorry but I can't imagine it any other way. Must be from being in the military since birth." Kai laughed.

"besides, what can I do in QIS?" He chuckled.

Uso chuckled, "It has nothing to do with the military." She said, "QIS is looking for new crewmembers to man the 4th fleet..." 

Amaya looked at Kai and walked over to stand next to him. "It might be the right path..."

"I'm already one." Kai said. "I prefer life in space anyway." He said.

"Where is 'he' anyway?" Kai asked.

"In the 'Psyk ward'," Uso said with a chuckle, "its down about 20 levels from here I think."

"What is a Psyker anyway? A psion like Amaya and I?"

"it's the same thing basically. The only difference is how the energy is taped." Uso said.

"hmm I thought it was all the same." Kai mused. "I don't know how I draw my power."

Amaya looked at Kai, "And I cannot turn mine off."

"You'll learn that Amaya." Kai smiled at her. "Or we can find a way to."

"All of that should change in time." Uso said and without skipping a beat she turned to look at Kai, "He is has an opening now."

"How do you know? If so, take us to him, or get him up here." Kai said.

Uso headed to the elevator, "He just told me." She said with a smile as she motioned for them to follow, "I think you'll understand why he didn't come to meet you himself once you see him."

"Hmph." Kai said and offered an arm to Amaya.

Amaya took his arm and followed Uso.

"Why didn't he come here Uso?" Kai asked, his curiosity unsated.

The elevator took them all further down into the building, "Try not to freak out ok..." Uso said as the doors opened, In front of them was a set of high security doors made of impervium and protected by energy shields. They had already been opened as if they were anticipating Amaya's arrival. "This way." Uso said as she led them down one of the corridors in front of them. The entire area was a bright white color and all of the walls and floors were padded, "Sore wa Hemitsu Desu." she said with a slight chuckle as she opened one of the doors on the sides of the corridor, leading to a small chamber that looked like an airlock.

"what in the?" Kai asked

Uso chuckled, "your the first one not to ask about the padding right off the bat."

"I'm not curious about it, it looks like the guy might be insane." Kai mused.

Uso closed the door behind them as they stepped into the chamber. There was a loud pop as the other door opened, Kai could feel himself being shot in the head, neck ,chest. Amaya could feel the same thing as if all of their possible deaths occurred in that instant. Every possible future replayed itself in the blink of an eye for them and they felt every bit of it. 

Amaya closed her eyes and felt it all, tears forming in her eyes. Death was not something she wanted at this time in her life, not after finally being free from her imprisonment.

Kai held her close to him to give her strength. "It's ok Amaya..." He soothed.

Inside of the small room was a Qelnoran, His eyes were rolled back as if having a seizure and various cables and sensors were attached to his body. Scars and implants were visible for the many surgeries that he had gone though, ~Hello~ he thought at them all.

~Greetings sir. ~ Kai thought back respectfully.

Amaya's eyes opened as she heard the voice in her head. She looked at the Qelnoran and spoke aloud, "Hello..."

He chuckled a bit, "Now you see why I sent Uso... ~ He thought good naturedly

~You didn't need to send her. ~ Kai thought with a bit of bitterness. ~You wanted to offer her something? ~

Sensing that this old guy was reading their auras, Kai tried to show off, turning his eyes blue again and making his aura shine brightly.

~She had offered to do it herself, something about reporting in.~ He thought, ~and yes I wanted to offer Amaya a job, QnT has been looking for people with her exact talents." 

~I have the same talents, I just have absolute control over them~ Kai thought, offended slightly. ~What exactly do you want her for? ~ Kai thought.

~Your have the same talents as her right now, however she hasn't been trained or had access to any power enhancers. ~ He thought, ~She could become incredibly powerful if her talents are fully developed~

~Perhaps those enhancers could help me as well~ Kai thought back. ~Talent is what you can do, not the raw force of mind~ Kai thought.

Amaya stood there watching the Qelnoran and Kai, realizing there was a conversation occurring she could not participate in.

~You've already had enhancers and training, you've reached the limit of your potential~ He thought mentally displaying the jewel in Kai's forehead, 

~I was born with that~ Kai thought. ~ I am Neplesilian, we all have some weird traits.~, He obviously didn't know what he was talking about.

Keiko smiled and blew on Amaya's ear. "This is strange."

The Qelnoran chuckled,~It was grafted to your body when you were still in the womb. You cannot give birth to a mineral~

Amaya looked at Keiko and smiled, "They are speaking with their minds."

~Hmm maybe more jewels could enhance me further...but I fear I can't. ~ Kai said.

He was afraid to release his true power and really use that jewel.

"I wonder what they are saying?" Keiko whispered/

He knew Kai didn't have the amount of ability that they required, ~Anyways Amaya we would like you to join QnT so we can help develop your talents. ~ He thought at her.

~If she joins, I do as well, I am her guardian at the moment. ~ Kai pointed out.

Amaya nodded and spoke aloud, "Yes... Yes I will join you."

~That is great! ~ He thought, ~Welcome to the corporation. ~ 

Amaya smiled softly, "Thank you, I trust you will put my abilities as a geneticist to use as well?"

~But sir, I must reassemble my crew from the Seigi. ~ Kai thought. ~Am I welcome as well? ~ He asked mentally, as if unsure.

~You are welcome to join as well. ~ He thought, ~your geneticist skills would be very useful. QnT isn't as strong as PNUgen in that area and we are looking to close the gap.~

~Thank you sir.~ Kai nodded. ~What else would you have me do?~

~You would be best suited for some fleet duty.~ He thought, ~The Seigi will be back up again soon~ 

~Can Amaya be stationed about the ship as well?~ He asked hopefully.

~Her station is of little concern right now,~ He thought, ~she may be assigned anywhere.~

~I am aware of that, but I want to have her close to me....~ He thought 

~For the moment she has the authority to go anywhere in the corporation.~ He informed Kai

Kai smiled. ~oh, then please excuse me. ~

~Perhaps you'd like to clean up Ms. Amaya.~ He thought, ~A room has been prepared for you to use temporarily until you decide where you'd like to be assigned and a change of clothing is waiting for you there.~

~Anything in specific you wish me to do. Mr....~

Amaya looked at him, "Thank you very much." She looked down at her clothes and laughed, "I think I need to clean up a little." Her expression became thoughtful, "My drugs should wear off within the next 18 hours, that will not be a problem will it?"

Kai withdrew a small vial from his pocket. ~I have a sample of it right here, but I need it synthesized for her.~

"This building is equipped with a ADN system so your abilities are not in danger of harming anyone, ~ He thought with a smile.

~I guess I need to brush up on my physical skills~ Kai thought with a bit o humor.

Amaya smiled at the Qelnoran, "I think I will go clean myself up if you have no other need for me."

~I suppose I'm stuck here until the 4th is rebuilt~

~Not for the moment, however we would like to begin training once the drugs in your system ware off~ he thought

Amaya nodded, "Very well, I look forward to the opportunity to use my abilities."

~I guess I can help her train, you never know I myself my improve. Isn't that right?

Uso coughed rather loudly 

~Right Uso... They will have it for you at the door~ He thought to her.

Kai felt ignored.

Amaya looked at the Qelnoran, "Is there someone who could show me the way to my quarters?"

"Right then time to go!" Uso said, "I'll take you there," 

Amaya smiled at Uso, "Thank you."

Kai sighed and headed for the door as well. "What'd you get paid Uso?" He asked mildly.

"Time to find a hotel." He added with a chuckle, referring to his situation. Amaya may have a room, but he didn't

They all walked back into the air-lock chamber and once the door shut it felt like reality had returned to normal, "I got paid in help." she said with a smirk as the outer door opened.

"Help? how so?" Kai asked. 

"Information to be exact." she said as she led them to the elevators again.

"What kind?" Kai asked curiously, and walked a bit closer to Amaya.

"The kind that I want to know." She said

"Please Uso, Just tell me." He said

"aww but I like this little game." she said as they reached the elevator.

Amaya looked at Kai, "I do not think she is going to tell you."

"Probably not." Kai said. "I'm gonna tickle you if you don't tell me Uso."

"You had your chance to tickle me when I was in your bed Kai." She said with a smile as they all reached the elevator and started traviling up.

Kai blushed. "You'd have slapped me stupid Uso, you and I both know it."

Amaya looked sideways at Kai after the previous comments. ~Has someone not told me something~ She thought silently to herself.

"I might have, who knows what could have happened had you tried." She said.

"Why should I have tried?" Kai said. He then caught Amaya's look and thought he needed to explain. "I let her sleep in my nest once and slept in a cot. She has a dirty mind thought.." He said.

Uso chuckled, "Well when you put it THAT way..."

Kai glared at her in a sidelong glance. 

"Do you two always fight like this?" Amaya asked.

"Not really." Kai said, deciding not to let Uso get to him.

"Well ya kinda... ever sense he tried to have me imprisoned." Uso said.

"You should have told me sooner what you were planning Uso." Kai said defensively

"If I had told you it wouldn't have worked..." Uso said.

"I thought you had betrayed me, honestly woman." He scoffed in a mocking tone.

A trait he had gotten from his dad showing

"Who says I didn't?" Uso asked with a smile.

Kai ignored that and kept walking.

Kai ran into the door of the elevator, getting a giggle from Uso

Kai spun on her and glared. "shut up Uso."

A small ding and the elevator doors opened, "here we are." she said. they had reached what looked to be living quarters for those who worked into the building. "You room is that one I think..." Uso said, pointing.

Amaya smiled at Uso, "Where is Kai going to be staying?"

"guess it's time for me to leave then." Kai said, not knowing where else to go.

"dunno." Uso said, "He could find a place in the city if he wanted, I know the hotel's there are great." 

Amaya looked at Kai, "If you have no where else to go you could share my quarters if you'd like."

Kai smiled shyly, blushing slightly, the look befitting him. "I'd be honored Amaya." He said.

Amaya smiled at him, "Its no problem. Now if you'll all excuse me I'm going to go change." She turned away and walked into her room

Uso nodded and headed back to the elevator.

Kai chuckled and waited outside for her to finish.

END




[Ralifaris]... 
Lavinia Taiensho
12/15/03 21:17

After the evacuation of the Seigi Lav and Ritsu had barely made the last escape pod. The escape pod pummeled toward the planet, the outer hull white hot from the atmosphere, Lav was terrified and clinging to Ritsu in a deathgrip: Ritsu was holding her close, trying to comfort her then they both jolted hard and ended up with Ritsu on top of Lav as they plowed into a sanddune? 

Ritsu let go of Lav who was clinging to something in the escape pod. He opened the door to the pod as the locks automatically opened after the movement stopped. He stepped out into a dark, hot desert, and looked around; wondering where he was. Lavinia soon got out and stayed close to him... and in a shaky voice she asked. 

A small barking was heard as a very very lucky Siaga jumped out and pounced on a still wary Lav. "SIAGA!" Lav cried and hugged the puppy close, earning a few dozen licks.

"Where are we, and what do we do now?"




{Ralifaris} A quiet time and talk. 
Kai Ashigari
12/8/03 16:24

After Amaya went in to change, Kai patiently waited outside for a sign she was decent. He didn't want to just go in and risk seeing her..less than dressed. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, with little Keiko on his shoulder. She was happily humming and kicking her feet; "Why don't you go in with her? I know you like her Kai." Keiko teased lightly. "Because it's rude Keiko." Kai chuckled. Nekos were very open about that kind of thing, but he was still modest about it. Kai's eyes still looked sad, he was thinking about the death of Chiharu...he still felt a bit guilty about it.

Amaya had removed her garments and changed into the clean garments provided by QIS and stood looking in the mirror. She pulled her blonde hair back and braided it into one long braid hanging down her back. Locks of hair still framed her face, but she now felt cleaner and more at peace than she had in a long time. She smiled softly to herself and looked at the door, ~Better go collect Kai.~ She thought to herself and quickly crossed the distance and opened the door. "You can come in now." She said it softly not wanting to startle him.

Kai was a little surprised, but mostly due to his thoughts distracting him. "You done?" He asked, turning slowly, giving her time to retreat if she wasn't. He faced her and looked her up and down appraisingly and smiled; Keiko grinned. "You look pretty Amaya." She giggled lightly, poking Kai in the ear. "He thinks so too. He's tell him in my mind." Kai blushed slightly and walked in. "Feel better?" He asked.

Amaya smiled, "Yes, actually I am." She looked at him thoughtfully, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm feeling tired." Kai admitted, yawning a bit; but being polite about it. "And a little sad."

Amaya looked at him sadly, "I..I am so sorry for your loss Kai."

Keiko looked ready to cry again, she was a very emotional little neko, capable of changing from them easily. She caught herself and jumped off and onto a soft seat and curled up for a nap. "It's ok Amaya, she'll be remembered forever." Kai said. "But don't let my troubles worry you, you're going to have to train hard to control that power of yours." He said.

Amaya nodded, "I look forward to it actually. But why dont you come in, you said you were tired and you certainly look it."

Kai nodded and walked in and smiled at the little neko who was curled up resting. He looked around the room taking in the setting.

Amaya smiled at Kai, "You should probably grab some sleep, the effort you expended on the shuttle was great I imagine."

Kai chuckled. "what I need is a shower and something to eat." 

Amaya smiled, "Why dont you go take one, I'll keep Keiko occupied."

Kai nodded and went to the shower, having noticed it in the back. He disappeared through the door and started the warm water.

Amaya looked at Keiko, "Are you tired Keiko?"

Keiko yawned a bit. "Yeah I am a little, but I can talk if you want to." She giggled, sitting up

Amaya smiled, "Or I could put you in bed and go find Kai some food."

"He does like you you know." Keiko giggled. Kai had taught her to tell the truth in presence of friends. But she hadn't yet learned what not to say.

Amaya smiled and walked over to Keiko, "I'm glad he likes me, he is a good friend."

"He's a very nice man; if anything; he cares a bit too much." Keiko said.

Amaya looked distant and thoughtful, "And perhaps that isn't a good thing." She said it softly, almost as if her mind was somewhere else. She shook her head and looked at Keiko, "So how does that bed sound?"

Keiko looked confused. "How can that be a bad thing?" She asked, not understanding.

Amaya smiled, "Sometimes caring too much can drive people to do odd things in despair Keiko. You are right though Kai does care far too much about people sometimes."

"Could you please explain a bit more?" keiko asked, now wanting to understand her logic.

Amaya sat down next to Keiko, "Alright, if someone dies and the person closest to them feels it far too acutely, they can be driven to do things in their depression that they wouldn't normally do." She paused a moment and collected her thoughts, "I suppose Keiko, I feel that caring too much can be self destructive."

"You sound like you're worried about him." keiko said. "You're afraid for him almost aren't you?"

Amaya laughed, "Yes and he spends most of his time worried about me. I worry for him because one day all his feelings for one person will work against him and... I shudder to think about what will happen to him." She smiled, "I just know I'll be here to help him."

"Someone could use it against him..?" Keiko asked beginning to think it out more clearly. They could hear Kai singing an old tune in the shower.

Amaya looked at Keiko, "Yes Keiko and unwittingly he will use it against himself one day. He isn't one to hide his emotions, rather he is a person who feels them with the very core of their soul." She laughed softly, "Or perhaps I am not making any sense."

"Maybe it does make sense." Keiko mused. "He told me one time that he was afraid one day he'll lose control himself; he knows what he can do and if he did..." Keiko shuddered, remembering what he'd told her. Keiko looked at the whip laying on a table where Kai had set it.

Amaya sighed, "Psions can do amazingly horrible things. It is the purpose to which I was manufactured."

"Sometimes..I think he wishes he wasn't psionic." Keiko said sadly.

Amaya sighed, "Sometimes I wish I wasn't as well. Sometimes I wish life was completely different and I was normal..." 

Keiko sighed. The normally cheerful little girl was becoming depressed... "I think he worries so much about you is because he wants to have a real connection, he's been lonely for a long time. I try to keep him company, but it seems that I can't be what he needs." Keiko said.

Amaya picked Keiko up and hugged her close, "We'll both just have to try and make him happy won't we."

Keiko giggled. "We will, but how?"

Amaya sighed, "I do not know Keiko, but we'll think of something."

Keiko smiled brightly and hugged Amaya back. "We will I just know it. A good man like him deserves something nice. I think he needs a little time to relax is all. He never gives himself time to do so."

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "You are right, very perceptive for a little Neko."

Keiko giggled at Amaya's praise. "What do you think of him?" Keiko asked, now making girltalk.

Amaya smiled, "I like him, he is probably the nicest man I have ever met."

"Point." Keiko smiled. "He's the only guy you've met."

Amaya laughed, "Except for the ones who studied me all my life."

"They don't count, they were mean." Keiko said, sticking out her small tongue.

Amaya laughed, "You are a treasure Keiko."

Keiko giggled "He's a good singer isn't he?" She asked, listening to him sing the old song.

Amaya smiled, "Yes quite good." 

Keiko laughed. "He'd turn as red as his hair if he found out we're listening to him."

Amaya put Keiko gently back down on the couch and walked over to a window and looked out, "I wonder what Kai will do, if he'll stay here."

"He would be a counseler I think." Keiko said. "You sound like you want him to stay."

Amaya smiled, "His true love is in space, I think he should return to active duty."

"Kai's not in love with anyone." Keiko said.

Amaya laughed, "I fear I was not concise enough, I meant to say his true love is space."

"I do not understand." Keiko said with a pout.

Amaya continued to look out the window, "He was born in space, he hates being planetside. If my abilities were working I'd be trashing this place from the high amount of raw emotion coming from him." She turned and looked at Keiko briefly, "And I don't need to be a psion to know how conflicted he is feeling. You can just see it."

"He's just stressed out." Keiko said, hoping it was true.

Amaya turned back to the window and sighed, "Maybe, maybe not. We'll see I suppose."

"I think he's done." Keiko said. And sure enough, Kai had just stepped out of the shower wearing only a pair of pants with the towel slung over his shoulder. "Ahhhh that feels sooo much better." He said with a true smile. His hair let loose falling down his back and over his chest a bit. Keiko blushed at the look, she liked it.

Amaya did not turn around as Kai entered the room, but spoke quietly, "I will go find you something to eat, Keiko do you require anything?"

"Japanese food!" Keiko chirped happily as Kai pulled his shirt back on, it was sleeveless as usual. then the cloak over it. "Think I should cut this hair?" He asked idly. "And if you want to."

Amaya turned and left the room quietly and went to find Keiko and Kai some japanese food.

Keiko looked up at Kai. "You look goodlike that, take the shirt off again." She giggled, having a little joke.

Kai laughed at her and walked over and sat down and started tickling her gently, illiciting gails of giggles from the little neko.

He stopped after a minute or two. And Keiko took a little longer to recover from it and stood up. "A new look may be nice. Ask Amaya to do it for you, it's hard to do it alone." She said. "I may just do that." Kai said amused.

Kai leaned back and stretched as Keiko jumping onto his belly and did a little dance just because she felt like it.

Amaya returned after five minutes or so carrying a heavy looking tray, she closed the door with a slight kick, crossed the room and placed the tray on the table. "There you go, should be enough for both of you."

Keiko stopped her dance and jumped onto the table, happy as a kitten and started eating daintily. Kai looked over at Amaya. "Thank you." He said and got a little something to eat.

"Not a problem." Amaya said quietly as she walked back over to the window.

Keiko looked up at Amaya with a noodle still hanging out of her mouth, making her look silly.

"You should both get some sleep after you eat, you both look tired." Amaya continued to look out the window.

Kai finished his plate after a few minutes and stood up and walked over to Amaya. "Something troubling you?" He asked. Keiko had eaten her fill for her tiny little tummy and jumped onto the couch and curled up for a nap.

Amaya turned around briefly and looked at Kai, "Merely contemplating our situation."

"Ah." He said. "Amaya, can I ask you something?"

Amaya smiled, "Of course."

"Would you cut this hair for me? Just to top of shoulder length?" He asked.

Amaya laughed, "Me, cut hair? I don't think you should be trusting me with that. And besides what is wrong with it the way it is?"

"It's been like this forever, and maybe I need a new look." Kai chuckled. "but if you don't want to." He said, levitating a pair of scissors over and cut his hair on his own, actually getting it right. After a couple moments a mass of flaming red hair fell to the floor. Kai now had short hair that was slightly spiked, but curved back leaving a couplebangs over his forehead.

"What do you think?" He asked, he was also missing those long sideburns. And she could see a golden earring in his right ear.

Amaya smiled, "Probably better than I could have done it." 

"That'll come with practice." Kai smiled back.

JP

Tyler (Kai, Keiko)
Jennifer (Amaya)*edited as well*




[Ralfaris] a swift kick... 
Tasuki Uso
12/8/03 18:18

ON> Ralfaris

A small chime went off inside of Amaya's room, someone was at the door.

Amaya looked at Kai, before crossing to the door and opened it.

"Hmm?" Kai looked over at the door, Keiko groaned and sat up.

Karjak was outside, "Hello again," He said, "May I come in?"

Amaya stepped back and smiled at Karjak, "Of course."

"Hello Karjak." Kai said from the window.

Karjak walked in and stood close to Amaya, "The guys down in genetics wanted me to conduct some scans and get a DNA sample before we try and apply any enhancers to your body." 

Amaya looked at him and nodded, "Alright I can understand the necessity."

Kai watched patiently, this was Amaya's choice and he could not make it for her. Keiko yanked on Amaya's pant leg. 

Amaya looked down at Keiko, "Yes Keiko?"

"Please sit down then, this will only take a few moments." He said as he pulled several small disk shaped sensors from the machine and attached them to Amaya's neck and arms.

"Can I ride on your shoulder?" The sleepy neko asked.

Amaya picked Keiko up and went to sit down, "Keiko will not be in the way will she?"

"No Ma'am," He said as the devices started to take DNA samples and scan her nervous system.

Kai walked over, absently fingering the gold ring in his ear, he had never taken it off. 

Amaya sat there and closed her eyes calmly, enduring the testing 

Keiko curled up on her shoulder and went back to sleep, snuggling into her blonde hair.

All she could feel was a slight tingle as the machine did its job. In about 4 minutes Karjak had gotten all the data he needed and removed the sensors, "Thanks," He said as he headed out the door, "I'll be back when those drugs wear off so feel free to poke around the building."

"What is there to do in this building?" Kai asked.

"well there is a food court two floors down and the recreation area is up a few floors." he said.

"Hmm." Kai said.

Amaya nodded, "Thank you Karjak."

"Well I suppose poking around can't hurt, the seraphs couldn't have gotten in here right Karjak?" Kai pointed out

"In theory..." He said, "But this would be the safest place you can get not counting the military tunnels"

"Well. Where to go where to go?" Kai mused, rubbing his chin. "Where are you heading to Amaya?"

Amaya laughed, "I have no clue, possibly to the recreation floor, I'd like to see it I think."

"Well that's where I as headed anyway." Kai said. And started for the door. "Sorry about the hair on the floor." He chuckled to Karjak.

Amaya shook her head and exchanged a quick look with Karjak before following after Kai.
Karjak shrugged and left as well, cleaning was left to the bots. 

Kyoko had just been transferred to the 4th fleet and her shuttle was coming close to touching down on the surface. Out of the windows she could see the surface for miles in each direction, The sprawling QIS city and small forest, the desert wall beyond that and endless sand further out. Fire streaked the sky as more debris fell towards the planet.

Kai strolled out into the hall, his cloak billowing out behind him slightly as he crossed his arms behind his head. He headed for the elevator to go to the rec areas.

Amaya followed silently behind him and stepped into the elevator. She looked over at Kai, "You seem more relaxed now."

Kai chuckled. "yeah, I needed that shower bad, the sound of rain always relaxed me, it's one reason why planets aren't that bad."

Amaya smiled, "I'm glad to see you feeling better."
#Kyoko:: She began to fidget as the shuttle touched down. She stood up, holding her 9mm close. She moved slowly, cautiously out of the shuttle, holding her arm up to stop the bright sunlight. She looked around, squinting, trying to get her bearings straight.

"I am too, I see Keiko's relaxed too." He said, looking at the little neko that had snuggled into her hair.

Kyoko's shuttle touched down on the roof of the Qelnoran technologies building. Almost immediately after her shuttles doors opened the security units were checking things over to remove any threats of a Seraph sneaking in through the roof entrances. "Ms. Kyoko?" One of the soldiers asked.

Amaya looked at Keiko, "She looks quite relaxed doesn't she."

She spun around, looking at the soldier with an upturned brow "Yes?"

Keiko purred, having nice dreams and rolled over and her shoulder and not fall off.

"I can tell you two like each other." Kai smiled.

Amaya gently pushed Keiko further on her shoulder, "She is sweet, almost like a sister."

Keiko giggled. "She is." Kai said

The man attached a small sensor to the Neko's neck and after a few moments, "Come with me," he then led her to the main elevator shaft in the center of the roof, "You got here at a bad time. A large force of Seraph's have landed on the planet and the ship that you were assigned to has been shot down. Your going to be stuck planet side until the 4th fleet has been rebuilt." He explained.

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "I missed having people around in that lab, after I lost my siblings."

"ah." Kai said and pushed the button to go up.

"Man, feels good to have that hair off." He said.

She shakes her head a bit, grumbling under her breath "What am I? The harbinger of bad luck?" She shook her head and looked up at the soldier. "Any active orders?"

Amaya smiled, "I always liked my hair long, I can do so much with it. Not that I ever had occasion too of course."

"You'll find some occasion." Kai said to her. Keiko absently started giggling in her sleep. "stop tickling me." She squealed, laughing.

A few moments later they arrived at the recreation floor, It was a small bar with a few black walkways extending over area's that they couldn't quite see, a group of people were crowded around the short fence that encircled the bar and were obviously looking down into whatever was going on below.

"Ladies first." Kai said as the door opened.

Amaya looked over at the crowd of people as she stepped onto the recreation floor, "I wonder what is going on over there."

"Your on shore leave for the moment," The officer replied as he escorted her to the elevator, "for the moment you will be given quarters in this building, It isn't advised to leave but you can if you want. I suggest heading to the rec room on your way down."

Kai looked over. "Let's go check it out." He grinned and headed over there.

Amaya followed Kai, staying a few paces back, careful not to wake the sleeping neko.

Kai approached one of the people in the group. "What's going on here?" Kai asked.

Below the small bar and walkways were several rooms with a small staircase leading up from each one and to the walkways, Each one had some sort of activity from sparing to videogameing going on inside of them with the action highlighted on a large holographic display, "I have 2 to 1 odds on green hair!" one man yelled out as they looked down into a padded dojo. 

She nodded to the soldier "Thank you. Keep you head down out there. I don't want any needless Casualties" She said before activating the elevator, and making her way to the Rec Room

"Hmm?" Kai said and looked down into it.

Amaya looked down and then looked at Kai, "What in the world is going on?"

"Looks like people are sparring." He said.

Amaya sighed, "Violence is not a game..."

A few KS were hurriedly exchanged before the man yelled out that the odds were now 3 to 1 against her. In the small dojo a neko was facing off against a rather large Qelnoran. She had on a white tank top and baggy cammo pants with a small chain tieing her arm behind her back. 

"They don't kill each other." Kai pointed out.

"True enough I suppose..." Amaya conceded.

He shook his head and started silently reading the big qel'noran's mind in the arena, being careful not to be noticed.

The Qelnoran was at least twice as big as the smaller neko and unknown to most was that he had several strength enhancers running at that time. He made a backward lunge toward the neko only to have her lean to the side and extend one foot to trip him sending him face first into the wall. Meanwhile Kyoko's elevator reached the rec room.

Kai oddly wasn't able to read anything from the Qelnoran's mind.

She taps her foot before finally punching the wall of the elevator. Not being able to do anything annoyed her, especially now. As the elevator stopped the door opened. She peered out into the room, holstering her pistol

Kai chuckled at that withdrawing his mind. "That's odd, Kai said.

Amaya looked at Kai, "What is Kai?"

"He's not showing any thought activity. OH yes, isn't there a adn in his building?" He asked.

Amaya nodded, "Yes, its why they are not bothering to make a batch of my suppressant."

"Well it's ok for now, I suppose." Kai said. "How's it feel to be normal?" He laughed.

The Qelnoran turned around and charged at the neko again only to have her roll backwards and use her feet to toss the Qelnoran over her and onto his back. He quickly got up only to have her roll forwards to her feet.

She steps out, moving over toward the group. She moves slowly though, tending to be cautious around anyone she doesn't know

Amaya laughed, "Alright I suppose." She looked back down to the fight and watched the fight.

Keiko woke up hearing the footsteps and turned sleepily on Amaya's shoulder and looked over at Kyoko.

The neko turned and unleashed a series of high kicks against the Qelnoran, landing two on his head before he grabbed her leg and tossed her against the wall.

Amaya turned and looked in the direction Keiko had, right at Kyoko. She touched Kai lightly on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" Kai said and turned slowly.

Kai could barely see her face from this far away but the neko in the pit looked familiar.

Keiko giggled. "Is that Uso in the pit?" She asked now that she was facing it.

She hit the wall and rolled forward. She was on her back now and fired off a small amount of her CRT fuel to send her flying across the floor and under the Qelnoran, Her foot was raised and it impacted him squarely in the crotch. The audience seemed to sympathies with the pain he must have felt.

Keiko winced. "That looked painful."

Amaya looked at Keiko, "It probably was..."

She stopped, looking into the pit to see what seems to be drawing everyone's attention. She bit her lip, quickly looking away.

Kai looked through the crowd and picked out the neko in the GSA uniform. "Hmm interesting, wonder why she's here. Must have been assigned to the 4th."

The Qelnoran toppled over and some of the gamblers looked regretful about their bets. Uso then walked up the staircase and onto one of the walkways, heading for the bar.

Kai turned to look now. "I knew it, only Uso's kicks make that much noise." Kai laughed.

The crowd gathered around the exchange their bets while Uso Sat down at one of the barstools to get a drink.

Kai walked down and over to Uso. "Good fight." He said as he approached.

Uso chuckled, "He was drunk."

"easy, child's play." 

Amaya watched Kai walk over to Uso and spoke quietly to Keiko, "I think he likes her and doesn't want to admit it."

She nodded, "I could still take anyone here," she said with a smile.

"Feh." Kai said.

"Come on admit it..." She said pryingly.

"You cheat outrageously." He said.

Keiko giggled. "Maybe, I don't know. I don't like her."

"Beating the crap out of your opponent isn't cheating." Uso said.

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "You sleepy?"

"true." He grinned.

Keiko yawned. "a little."

shook her head, her attention drawn to Amaya. She approached her quietly, and rather timidly "H, hello" 

Uso was handed some blue drink and she put a small pill in it before she downed it in one gulp.

"More caffeine Uso?" He sighed.

Amaya looked at Kyoko, "Hello." She looked down at the uniform, "Were you assigned to the 4th fleet? Or were you on board one of the ships when they Elysian's attacked?"

Uso nodded.

Keiko looked at Kyoko and jumped up happy to meet a new person and waved. "HI!"

J, just assigned. I landed to learn the ship was destroyed, so I'm on shore leave

"Who's your next fight green hair?" Kai teased.

smiled gently down at Keiko "hello"

Amaya smiled at the Neko and then smiled at Kyoko, "I am Amaya, this is Keiko and the man over there is Shosho Kai Ashigari, he would have been your CO had things gone differently."

Uso seriously considered kicking Kai in the balls and calling it a victory, "Dunno... I just got here, I can't leave for a while."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Good point." Uso then gave Kai a swift kick to the crotch.

She nods gently "It's nice to meet you both"

Amaya smiled, "And you are?"

"Kyoko" She said, almost trying to tell herself

Amaya smiled reassuringly at the girl, "Forgive me if I gave you information overload a minute ago, I tend to just throw everything out there and let people ask all the relevant questions." 

Uso chuckled and ordered another drink.

Kai fell backward and rolled off a table then shrugged, not embarrassed in the least. "Don't try that again

Smiles "it's quite alright. I'm normally not to talkative"

Amaya nodded, "You might wish to speak with Kai, he may have something you can do while you are on Ralfaris."

She nods, stretching as she lets out a yawn. She swings her arms a bit in their sockets

Uso popped another pill into a fresh drink and gulped it down quickly, following it up with a refreshed "ah..."

Uso grabbed another bottle and headed over to Amaya, "hello again." she said.

Kai looked around the area and up at Amaya and walked over to the little group

Her gaze shifted over to Uso, waving timidly "H, hello"

Amaya smiled at Uso, "Hi Uso, nice fighting down there."

"You new here?" she asked Kyoko, "And thanks, It was nothing."

She nods "ya, just assigned"

"great timing!" Uso said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Amaya suppressed a laugh at Uso's comment.

Kai just remained silent.

Amaya looked around at everyone, "I am starting to get tired, I think those drugs might finally be coming out of my system so I am going to go sleep." She looked at Keiko, "You coming Keiko?"

Keiko nodded and played with her hair.

"night then." Uso said

Amaya smiled at Kai, "Goodnight Kai." She then looked at Uso, "Night Uso, as always its been...interesting."

kyoko nods, yawning again 

"goodnight Amaya." Kai said. Then looked over to Kyoko. "Hello."

Amaya looked at Keiko, "Come on then lets go take a nap." She crossed the room and got on the elevator and went down to her quarters to sleep.

"hi," Kyoko said.

"That's the point." Uso said as she looked to Kyoko. She popped a few more pills into her drink and handed it to Kyoko, "Here drink this."

END




[Ralfaris] Time to Talk...
Kai Ashigari
12/9/03 17:45

Amaya walked back to her quarters with a sleepy Keiko clinging to her shoulder and nuzzling into her hair. She looked at her and smiled gently, she liked having Keiko around, she was almost like a new sibling. She sighed as the doors to the elevator opened and she stepped off the lift, walked over to the door to her quarters and opened the door. She carried Keiko over to the bed carefully and rested her gently against it. She stepped back and looked at the sleeping neko, her _expression softening, ~I just pray I don't lose her and Kai~ She thought to herself. Her thoughts now became fixed on the man who saved her. There was no doubting their ability to get along and that she truly loved the time she spent in his company. She shook her head, clearing the thoughts of the man from her mind and walked over to the couch and laid down. 

Amaya stretched out and put her arms under her head forming a pillow. She stared up at the ceiling, her violet eyes losing their new found happiness to be once again replaced by the haunted sorrow usually seen within their depths. ~Kai has been so wonderful~ she thought to herself. ~He has saved my life twice, not even thinking about the personal risk to himself. He is the first person to truly care for me~ she closed her eyes as tears slowly began to well up in them, as a sudden realization hit her. The worry she felt for him and the pain at seeing his, it was more than friendship. She opened her eyes and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, ~Shut off the feelings~ she told herself silently. ~It will never work, you can never allow yourself to get too close, in the end it will only hurt him.~ She swung her legs off the couch and sat up quickly as she heard Keiko giggle again. ~She's having another tickling dream it seems~ she thought silently. ~I might as well join her.~ She rose from the couch and walked back over to the bed and curled up around the Neko.

She knew she was dreaming, somehow she had learned to tell reality and dreams apart, she could however not awake from this dream. She was standing in a dimly lit room, she could smell the sweet scent of flowers all around, they seemed to numb her senses, taking the edge off. A door behind her opened and she turned around quickly and she saw Kai walk through the doorway. She looked at him and spoke having no control over what she was saying, "I missed you!" She crossed the distance and was soon in his arms, her concious mind enjoyed the feeling of his closing his arms around her gently and holding her close.

"I was only gone a little while" he said quietly, she needed to strain to hear his words.
She laughed and leaned up on her tiptoes and smiled up at him, "Yes but a moment away is too long..."

He smiled and bent down until his lips were brushing hers, "Is it now?"

She smiled and gave in, throwing her arms around him and kissing him deeply.

Amaya awoke with a start, sweat was beading her forehead, her heart racing. She slid her legs off the bed and stood up, careful not to wake Keiko. She walked over to the couch and sat down and sunk her head into her hands, "It was only a dream..." She muttered it, only to herself.

After Amaya awoke, she found Kai sleeping lightly sitting in a chair, his eyes closed sitting crosslegged. Keiko was giggling lightly. Amaya looked up when she realized she was not alone, she rose quietly and began to tiptoe towards the door,Keiko stirred, sitting up yawning, her hearing could hear a pin drop in the room next door if she wanted them too. She sat up and rubbed her eyes looking at the blone trying to sneak out. She smiled and stealthed and gently clambered onto Amaya's foot without her feeling it. Amaya looked down at the neko and spoke quietly, "Go back to bed Keiko..."

Keiko reappeared and pouted cutely. "I wanna go too." She said.

Amaya smiled at the neko, "Why don't you curl up with Kai..." The smile fell from her face, "I..I truly wish to be alone right now Keiko, I have alot of thinking to do..."

Keiko nodded, she understood that and followed Amaya's request and ran over and climbed up Kai's clothing and gave him a tiny hug and curled up in his hair. Amaya exited her room, walked over to the elevator and made her up to the recreation facilities. She couldn't think of anywhere else to go. Amaya sighed as she stepped off onto the floor and walked over to the bar. She ordered a drink and sat there quietly sipping it, her thoughts elsewhere.
Amaya stared at the wall blankly, ~I can't do this~ she thought silently. ~I can not be near him, not this close.~ She sighed once more and took another sip from her drink, she rested her elbow on the bar and laid her head on top of her palm. She peered down into her glass, ~It was only a dream Amaya.~ She thought to herself, ~Yes, but dreams show what we want in reality.~ She sighed again, she couldn't love him, she couldn't care for him, in the end it would only hurt him. 

Meanwhile, Kai shifted slightly and stretched out, Keiko smiled and held onto his shoulder. His eyes fluttered a bit. Kai was looking over all his recent experiences from an outside point of view. He sighed; Seeing the worry that crossed his face often when dealing in matters with Amaya. He liked her indeed he did; he could feel a warmth in himself. It was a feeling he thought he liked; he hoped that someway he could find a way for it to continue...when he was with her, he could see the softness in his eyes; how he had become protective of her; even seemed to love her....
Keiko couldn't get back to sleep, Amaya's change in attitude confused her. She gently slid off Kai's shoulder and walked out of the room and headed for the elevator, having a feeling she had gone to the rec rooms. Keiko jumped up and down trying to hit the button, then pouted, being short did have it's downsides.

Keiko decided that she needed to use some help so she CRT jumped and hit the button, making it chime as the door opened she ran into the elevator and repeated the performance to go to the rec room. When she got there she danced happily over to Amaya and pulled on her pants leg. 

Amaya looked down at Keiko, "Yes dear?"

":Can I get a drink?" Keiko asked innocently.

Amaya smiled, "What would you like?"

"I don't know. What do they have? I'm too short to see the menu you know." She giggled.

"I think that they would have almost anything you could like. But..." Amaya reached down and picked up the little neko and sat her on the bar. "Now you can see the menu."

Keiko smiled and looked up at the menu; "I want a glass of water." She said, looking at Amaya. "What are you thinking about?" Keiko asked, "I'm confused..again." She smiled.

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "Why are you so confused Keiko?"

"I don't quite understand the problem between you and Kai; you seem to like each other. But you keep pushing him away...I think.." Keiko said, cocking her head to one side giving Amaya a cute confused look.

Amaya sighed, "I.. I like Kai, I just cant be near him."

"Why not?" Keiko asked.

Amaya looked at Keiko, "Remember that talk we had about Kai liking someone too much?"

"I remember. But I still don't see the problem."

Amaya laughed, "I know you don't Keiko, I just dont ever want to be a problem for him. Its why when the 4th fleet is finished we will need to part ways..."

"You're scared that if he becomes too close, he'll only end up hurt. I think he understands that." Keiko said. "You think that'll help him?" she added.

Amaya nodded, "Yes Keiko I think it will help. It will remove him from the problem...me.È

"You're not a problem for him, I think your leaving would do more damage than good. But that's my confused opinion." Keiko said.

"Why do you think that?" Amaya asked.

"Because...I don't know; I think he wants to keep you close to him. I notice the way he acts around you. You help him relax." Keiko said and kicked her foot on the counter she'd jumped to. "I don't want you to go anywhere either."

Amaya smiled, "You could always come and visit me."

"But if he goes back up, I think I have to go too. And I don't want to leave you." keiko said. "You're fun to be around." Keiko smiled.

Amaya reached out and hugged Keiko close to her, "I don't want you to leave either but your place is with Kai."

Keiko hugged her back the best she could for being so small. "I want to see Kai happy, but..." Keiko said.

Amaya looked at Keiko, "But?"

Kai stirred awake and yawned, feeling much better and rested. He sat up and looked around; "Amaya? Keiko?" He asked. He stood up wondering where they had gone; and figured that since Amaya only knew this floor and rec floor he made his way to the elevator.. "I'm so confused. I don't know what to do." Keiko said.

Amaya smiled at her, "Don't worry everything will be alright."

"I hope so. But I still think you shouldn't just let him go like that; it's almost like you're just...throwing him away like a few other women have done. It hurts him you know; he tells me." Keiko said.

"I..I am not throwing him away, I am doing what I feel is best for him." She looked at the ceiling, "He is a wonderful man, he doesn't need someone like me..."

"I think he does; He needs someone who can understand why he is the way he is and can accept it." Keiko said. "There he is now." She said as Kai stepped off the elevator and looked around the area, just wandering knowing that he could trust Keiko and Amaya to stay out of trouble.

Amaya turned and looked at Kai, "He looks a little less tired I suppose. He should still be asleep."

"Nah, he sleeps deeply, but not for very long...I think he overworks himself." Keiko said. "I'm worried about him honestly." Kai was looking in on the sparring going on.

"Do you want me to take you over Keiko?" Amaya asked.

"Hmm?" Keiko asked, looking up at Amaya. "I'd like it, but I belong to him; he's like a father to me."

Amaya tapped her shoulder, "Come on I'll take you over and you can talk to Kai for awhile."

Kai finally got tired of watching the pointless fighting and walked over to them. "Hello." He said. Keiko smiled and waved happily. "Hi!" She said.

Amaya looked at him, "Hello, I was just about to bring Keiko over to you."

"What for?" Kai asked, sitting down and ordering a glass of red wine.

"She wished to see you Kai." Amaya said it softly, almost too quietly.

"So did she" Keiko giggled.

Kai chuckled. "Why'd you both want to see me?" He asked.

Amaya looked at Kai, "Truthfully I'd rather see you still asleep, you have been through alot recently."

"I suppose you're right." Kai said. "Should we go somewhere we can talk without all these half-drunk qel'norans?" 

Amaya looked at him, "If you would like." She looked at Keiko, "Want a lift?"

Keiko was already climbing onto her shoulder. "Ready!" She announced, being cute. Kai nodded and stood up, paid for the drinks.

Amaya rose from her seat and looked at Kai, "After you..." 

"Ladies first." He smiled.

Amaya nodded and walked over to the elevator and waited for it. "Back to the room then, I am afraid I don't know where anything else is." Kai nodded and waited with her.

Kai sat down in a chair and looked at Amaya with soft eyes. "What'd you wish to speak about?"

Hard, violet eyes stared back at him, "I am not sure really..." She looked at Keiko, "Any ideas?"

"You wanted to flirt with him remember?" Keiko giggled, poking Amaya lightly.

Amaya turned and looked at Keiko, "What gave you that impression dear?"

"The way you were watching him out in the hall." Keiko chirped.

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "Your overactive imagination is adorable."

Keiko nodded and jumped up and kissed her on the cheek. "well you know you want to." She giggled. Kai was sitting there silently amused.

Amaya looked at Keiko and smiled, "Where are you getting these ideas Keiko?"

Keiko looked up at Amaya with a big mischieveous grin. "You're body language, your skin is getting hotter and your cheeks are turning red." 

Kai was chuckling now, finding this highly amusing.

Amaya turned and looked at him, "What is so funny?"

"Nothing." Kai said, stiffling a chuckle. "It's just adorable how she's poking her fun at you. 

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "She needs to behave."

Keiko turned to Kai. "Why don't you come over here and sit next to her? You know you wanna."Keiko pouted at Amaya's comment. "meanie." She said sticking outher tongue playfully.

Amaya laughed and looked at Keiko, "Aren't you tired yet?"

"I don't mind, I like to see her having fun. I told myself I would never order her around; I want her to be herself, not a creature of my creation."

"Not anymore." Keiko said and jumped onto a table and decided to be funny, this chuckling and smiles encouraging her and pulled off her body suit until she was a little nudist and marched around the table. Kai laughed outloud. "I remember this."

Amaya shook her head, "Keiko aren't you at all modest?" She said it jokingly.

"There's no problem with it. We nekos are very open about our bodies, I once saw a magazine with two neko enjoying each other's bodies, now I wonder what that feels like." Keiko giggled. Kai turned bright red remembering that.

Amaya blushed a nice shade of pink as she listened to Keiko, but said nothing.

"Keiko, get dressed and calm down some." Kai said, still red. Keiko stopped dancing around and put her clothes back on and sat there happily mocking Kai's meditation position, legs crossed hand together.

Amaya looked at Kai, "I'd say she had too much caffeine but she only had water."

Kai nodded. "I like her like that." Kai said fondled running a finger over keiko's soft hair, elliciting a content purr.

Amaya nodded silently, before she rose and walked over to the window.

Kai's eyes followed her. "Amaya, something's wrong, please tell me what it is, you can trust me. what's on your mind?"

Amaya didn't look at Kai, "No, I can not tell you."

"Amaya...." He said, his voice sounded a bit pained.

She now turned and looked at him sadly, "Why does it matter?"

"Because I care about you Amaya. more than I realized...you are such a joy to be with." Kai said.

Amaya sighed and turned back to look out the window, "You shouldn't care about me Kai."

Kai stood up and walked up behind her. "I shouldn't maybe, but I do." He said.

She reached out and placed a hand on the glass and then laid her forehead against the glass, "This will only hurt you in the end, I know it."

Without a word, Kai slipped her into a gentle hug from behind. "Maybe it could, but I'd just have to deal with it myself."

Amaya put her free hand on his, "You don't handle emotion well, I do not want to be responsible for your sorrow."

"You aren't responsible for anything that happens to me." Kai said. 

Amaya leaned back against Kai and sighed, "I am sorry but I feel like what happens to you might end up being because of me. You have taken far too many risks on my behalf already."

"No risk is too great for a person in need Amaya." Kai reassured.

"Yes, but I worry that.. Maybe any relationship we might have would place you in danger. You feel too much..." Amaya sighed.

"I can handle any danger thrown at me." Kai said. Keiko looked on and sat on the table where she was and listened, hoping to learn something.

Amaya looked over at Keiko, turned back and turned her head so she was leaning further against Kai, "She is studying us I think."

Kai chuckled. "Nothing wrong with that, maybe one day the knowledge will serve her well." Kai smiled, running a hand through her hair subconsciously. His heart pounded in his chest as he held her..this was the same warmth as before...

She closed her eyes and sighed in content. She loved the feeling of him so close, she could have had that moment extend forever. Her eyes snapped open and she turned so she was facing him, "We...we can't."

He loosened his hold on her gently and looked into her eyes. "You're still afraid I'll get hurt...I've always heard that sometimes having someone to 'come home' to can make someone strive harder to survive."

Amaya sighed and looked down, "I am defenceless at the moment, all someone needs to do to get at you is use me. I will never allow that to happen, I will never be a tool leading to your destruction."

"Amaya, I'm not going anywhere for a while, it'll take weeks for the fleet to be rebuilt. I'm going to be here to protect you." He said looking at her.

She smiled slightly as she watched the floor, "I want to leave with you, but that may not be possible, I do not know what QIS wants me to do...

"Neither do I, but I assure you I will be here if you need me." He said.

She looked back up at him, "Life is so hard isn't it. I feel like I can't breathe when you are gone. But I fear being with you."

"I know life is hard Amaya, but we grow to become better people. We also learn lessons from it; like how to care for someone, to love even." Kai said. "I know ...how you feel." Kai blushed slightly, he was enjoying having her this close.

She wrapped her arms around him, "I never thought caring for someone could be the hardest thing in the world. But I can't just deny what I feel. No matter how much I want to, no matter how hard it is."

"Love can be the greatest pain and the greatest pleasure in life." Kai said, holding her close to him, caressing her back gently. This action got an "awwwww." from Keiko

Amaya looked at keiko, laughed and buried her head in Kai's shoulder, "Keiko's enjoying this I think."

Kai laughed as well. "So am I." He said, his hand going through her soft hair again.

Amaya smiled and looked up at him, "So...what now?"

"I don't honestly know Amaya..." Kai chuckled.

Amaya smiled at him, "Well, life has never been anything but predictable..."

"Really?" Kai chuckled. "Did you predict this?" He asked, holding her away from him a bit and slowly going in to for a kiss.

She kissed him back, a kiss that increased with passion as it continued.

Keiko started doing dance cheering them on. Kai tried not to laugh but ended up kissing her and laughing at the same time.

Amaya laughed and pulled away gently. "She is quite distracting isnt she."

Keiko giggled and knew they wanted to be alone so she walked out into the hallway and stealthed for a little while. In the meantime; Kai kissed her again, becoming more passionate. She wrapped her arms around his neck, for once in her life letting herself go, dropping all her well guarded defences. Kai gently started to push her toward the couch gently. Amaya allowed herself to be moved backwards, until she hit the couch and slid down onto it, it wasn't long before she found herself pinned under Kai, still kissing passionately.

Kai blushed slightly as he passionately kissed Amaya, his hands caressing her back gently, sensually... the feeling of her love permeating his mind, the closness of her body and mind...

Amaya closed her eyes and gave in, opening her heart and mind to him. She kissed him passionately, her hands moving over his back gently.

His lips found their way away from hers as they trailed down her neck and cheek, his hands subconsciously moving to her backside, rubbing it gently. He gently nibbled on her, giving gentle lovebits. He was braced over her, holding his chest away from hers and angling his hips off to the side a bit.

She followed Kai's movements slowly, until she was lying on the couch with him braced above her. Kai stopped and turned a deep red color and started to pull off her. Amaya blushed and sat up. "Sorry." Kai said, still very red, but looking at her with love in his eyes.

She leaned up and kissed him softly, "Don't be..." She said as she moved away. He smiled and caught her in a gentle embrace, leaning close to her and kissed her lips gently. Amaya kissed him back softly, her lips just barely touching his. He held her to him gently and kissed her more deeply, caressing her back gently. She kissed him more passionately and hooked her arms around his neck gently. Kai broke the kiss gently and started to stand up, pulling her along gently.

Amaya rose and smiled at him, "Where are we going?"

He smiled and nodded "Where do you want to go?" He asked.

She yawned, "Truthfully... I am getting a little tired. And I am pretty sure you still are or at least should be..."

"I should be and I think I am." Kai smiled and put an arm over her shoulders and lead her to the bedroom area.

She looked at him, "From what Keiko tells me you should spend more time in bed sleeping."

"I'm going to have to talk with her about that." He smiled and opened the door to the bedroom for her.

She walked in and stood next to the bed, "What side do you want?"

"Hmm?" He asked, a bit surprised. "You can choose first." He said.

She sat down on the bed next to where she was standing, "Personally I don't care..." She smiled up and him and 
patted the bed next to her.

Keiko bounced in and giggled and jumped onto Amaya's lap and curled up and fell asleep curling up like a kitten, she was very tired now. Kai smiled gently and got into the other side of the bed and laid down.

Amaya lay down on the bed and placed Keiko lightly next to her. She looked up at the ceiling, "Well it has been an interesting day hasnt it..."

Kai had pulled off his cloak and shirt and had folded them up and placed off to the side and looked at her. "It has Amaya, it truly has."

She crossed the distance and laid next to him on her side, she trailed her fingers down his cheek slowly, "I still don't know if this is the best idea."

He turned and looked at her. "It may not be but sometimes you have to take a risk if you want to behappy." Kai said and looked at her.

She leaned down and kissed him gently, yet briefly, "And I am happy with you."

He kissed her back lightly. "And I with you." He said, Kai's eyes were fluttering shut gently as he started to drift off.

She laid down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder.

He felt her do it and gently put an arm over her and heldher gently, not wanting to let her go.

She curled up against him and closed her eyes almost unable to keep them open. She then drifted off to sleep, for once her dreams not troubling her as she lay in his arms.

Keiko woke up and a sleepily tottered over Amaya and climbed up on her head and used her hair as a pillow and blanket and fell back asleep purring happily.

Amaya awoke hours later, she did not know how many hours, all she did know was that the drugs had finally worn off. She jerked in her sleep and woke up, sitting upright, sending poor Keiko flying to the bed next to her. She wrapped her arms around herself trying to stop the shaking, but it was no use, the withdrawl had kicked in too fully.

Keiko sprung awake and leapt to Amaya. "What's wrong Amaya?" She asked urgently, Kai had woken up as well. 

"Amaya?" He asked, putting his arms around her to try and stop her shaking.

She sighed and spoke shakily, "This is the after effect of those drugs, withdrawl, Dr Xian wanted to make sure I had no where else to go."

"You're ok Amaya. The ADN's on in this building, it should go away on it's own..but slowly..." Kai said, now slightly mad at Xian for doing this to her. Keiko hugged her gently. "Amaya..."

She nodded, "In time they will go away but for now they will only get steadily worse." She laid back down and closed her eyes.

Kai laid down with her, trying to get to stop shaking. 




JP

Jennifer (Amaya)
Tyler (Keiko, Kai)




[Nowhere, Seigi crash site] Dead 
Alexis Jaren
12/13/03 0:50

An emotionally numb R'Lari hung in the midst of the time loop that held him. It had been almost a week -- by his reckoning, at least; it was hard to determine time in this place -- since Alexis had seen the Seigi get shot down and Ketsurui Chiharu, the ship and the Taisho, become so much space dust. He had watched those disasters dozens of times over the first day, until the length of the loop had grown large enough that the occurence was rarer now.

The first time it happened, he was dumbfounded. The second and third, enraged, fully ready to turn into a brick, or the hyperactive annoyance known as Dingo, when he came back to make good on the threat he had made to his Storyteller when this captivity had begun. But, by the time he lost count of the repetitions, Alexis had resigned himself to a silent anger and plotting. He would get Chi back, somehow.

With nothing else to do, he watched the new developments as they passed by...the landings of the life-pods and the seraph occupation of the planet; Kai's discovery of the new psion and the growth of their relationship (one that gave the shifter new information on the concept of "love", something that had evaded his comprehension and in some ways still did); and the conversation between Taisho Yui and Shoki. 

That most recent event had put a damper on his plans. He hated to admit it, but they were right. Bringing her back would cause more problems than they would solve. And ultimately the only reason he wanted to do so was a selfish refusal to think of her as gone...Right? The plans persisted, though. Maybe one day...

Something nudged him. Alexis brought his thoughts back the "present", or the newest scene added to the loop. It was the Seigi crash site on Ralfaris. He found himself hovering in the air above the ship, then moving closer and passing through the impurvium hull like a ghost. 
~Are you letting me come back?~ he asked, watching the decks pass by, heading to the medbay where his physical body had been stored by the medics. The only reply he got was a sense that he was just here temporarily, to see something.

The medbay was a mess. The ship had been shot up, then crash-landed after an uncontrolled re-entry through the Ralfaris atmosphere. The interior looked like it had been run through a blender...there were scorch-marks and left-over foam where fires had started and then been put out by the supression systems. More than one body was present, mostly sprite Nekos that had died when the main computer shut down.

Alexis found his body in a corner of the bay, underneath a smoldering medical bed and bent in two. He was pincushioned with nearly ever sharp object in the medbay and some objects that weren't sharp at all. The body was scorched, from fires started by chemicals and exploding consoles, among other things. No bones were broken, but the skin and soft tissue was going to need a lot of work to fix.

~Ooookay...that's gonna take a while to repair.~ Finding that he could move where he wanted, the R'Lari drew closer. ~First, I need to get that bed off me...then straighten out those joints, gonna need a good chiropracter to do that...then take out the knives, scaples, pens, and that energy conduit...oh. Uh-oh.~ The phantom's eyes widened. There was no energy signature coming from his body. None. Sure, he was good at masking his life-energy, but unless he was phase-cloaked there was no way to hide the signs totally. That ment one thing. 

~I'm dead.~




[Ralfaris surface] Temporary Housing 
Alexis Jaren
12/15/03 4:04

ON> Somewhere on Ralfaris...

Tomoyo had been sleeping for.. only lord knows how long. The voices of her friends fussing about had finally reached her but.. her head hurt. "Where are we?"

After finding his energy-less form in the med-bay, Alexis was returned to the time-loop. He hung there a second before looking around. ~So what now? I can't be dead or I wouldn't be here. But I can't return to my body, so where do I go now?~
The time-scene changed to show another crash site, a lifepod in the middle of nowhere, near the Segi site.

Hikari stood with Kyoshi and Inari outside the life pod, looking around at the surroundings. "Yup.. we are screwed." Kyoshi announced with a strong sense of impeding doom. 

"Don't say such things!" Hikari scolded Kyoshi, she was scared but she didn't want to give up hope so soon. 

Tomoyo unfastened the straps that held her in the pod and held her forehead as she tried to figure out what had just happened to them.. they had been forced to abandon ship.. they had made it into the life pod and then.. everything went black. Where was everyone else? Did anyone manage to take Taisa Jaren into a life pod as they evacuated?

Alexis could see that there were several bodies alive and moving as they tried to work out where they had landed. The medic from the Yui, Hikari, was one of the only ones he recognized, until the scene zoomed in and the shifter could see inside the pod. Tomoyo, the engineer he had met on the Seigi, was also there...~Okay...~ Alexis quirked a brow. ~Those are my former crewmembers. What about them?~

Tomoyo wanted to cry, her ship was gone and she didn't even know how many of her friends had even survived outside of who was in the life pod with her. "H..hiki?"

Hikari turned towards the pod and went back in to go check on Tomoyo. "Tommy! You;re finally awake! We were getting worried about you!"

Choose one. The thought appeared in the shifter's head and he looked puzzled. ~For what?~ You need a body to replace the one you lost. Choose one to share with you. Alexis frowned, then caught on. ~Oh, right...but this isn't how it goes...~ The thoughts started to sound annoyed, but they answered anyway. No, it isn't. Normally you wouldn't have a choice in how you came back. But you were not supposed to be here when you died. So choose one. Sighing, Alexis looked at Hikari, then Tomoyo...

Tomoyo winced a bit, "Did anyone save Alexis in the evacuation? I have this horrible feeling that he was left on the ship to die..."

~The techie remembered me and the medic didn't?~ Alexis smirked to himself and pointed at Tomoyo. ~I'll pick her. She would probably be more willing to share with me. Besides, I can always switch if she doesn't, right? I mean, I could body-hop before.~

Hikari frowned a bit. "I.. don't know Tommy.. Maybe someone else got him?" Tomoyo looked upset, her head ached more than it should. "We left him to die... how could we forget about him? He was in the sick bay unconscious and we left him there.. that's not fair.. we could've been able to revive him but.. he went down with the ship.." Tomoyo sniffed, she felt horribly guilty for what happened.

Yes, you can switch later. Just be quite, this might feel a bit weird...The disorientation Alexis had when he left his body came back, followed by a tingling as his mind linked with the nerves and brain of Tomoyo's body. Suddenly he could feel everything she did, see and hear everything she did. But he couldn't control any of her movements or hear any of her thoughts...This was definately not what he had thought it would be.

Inari frowned a bit hearing Tomoyo shout. "Tomoyo.." The Neko turned towards the life pod and then paused... it finally dawned on her that she did not return to the Med Bay when she had run into the technicans in the hallway. It was shift change and she had been heading to the Med Bay when the ship went down..

As Alexis entered Tomoyo's head, her irises faintly glowed orange for a brief moment. ~Heh...trading one prison for another,~ the shifter thought, watching everything through his host's eyes. Though he didn't know it, the thought was a "loud" one, not restricted by his mind but sent through the brain and able to be heard by Tomoyo.

Tomoyo felt ackward for a moment and she winced... holding her forehead again. "I think I might have suffered a concussion.. I think I'm hearing things Hikari..."

"Inari!" Hikari called out for the neko. "Inari, please come take a look at Tomoyo!" Tomoyo just winced again, still unsure why her head hurt so much... ~Poor Taisa Jaren..~

~Concussion? Hmm...~ Alexis started 'feeling' his way through Tomoyo's brain the way he would when performing a self-diagnostic in his old body, checking for nerve and tissue damage...he found a deep bruise where her head had been repeatedly banged against the pod bulkhead. ~Ack...she's right. Maybe I can patch that up before it does more damage,~ he thought, not noticing that he could hear Tomoyo's thoughts too. Carefully, the R'Lari gathered some of the heat energy from around Tomoyo's hands, making them feel cold. ~Careful, now, dun wanna give the girl frostbite,~ he thought as frost started to form in the air around them. Meanwhile, the faint glow had returned to Tomoyo's eyes as he worked. In the shadow of the pod, it might be noticable.

Tomoyo winced as Inari reentered the pod to check her vitals.. "Tomoyo are.." The medic stopped talking as she froze in her steps noticing that the air was freezing cold now and that the Geshrin's eyes were glowing. "What...?"

Tomoyo shivered, she didn't understand what was going on..

It took longer than it normally would have, but, while it wasn't enough to synth new tissue, Alexis was able to gather enough energy to pull the broken blood vessels back together and seal them. The frost melted and the desert heat rushed back into the pod and the glow stopped as he stopped the absorption process. ~There, that should do it!~ he thought at Tomoyo, out of reflex.

Tomoyo felt better but she was still frightened. She spoke quietly.. "what just happened?" Inari and Hikari looked at each other warily, not sure either and then Inari moved to check on Tomoyo. "Are you okay Tomoyo?" The girl nodded.. "I feel better now.. my head doesn't hurt... how long have we been here?"

The shifter didn't answer Tomoyo's question, not knowing she had heard him, and decided to check for other injuries...a tingle ran down her body as he checked for broken bones, other bruises, and nerve damage. Atmospheric landings can be tough on a body sometimes...and the least he could do while sharing her body was help keep it operational.

Inari shrugged as she checked Tomoyo over, noting that the girl was still cool to the touch.. "Maybe 3 days?" Tomoyo sighed, she hoped that Alexis did manage to survive the crash somehow... she had liked him very much. Alexis could feel a warm feeling at the thought of this, perhaps Tomoyo had developed a crush on the shifter?

Nothing was wrong that he could find. Though a bit strange, it wasn't all that new to Alexis to be female. He had worn that gender's form before, around this age range too, as a change of pace whenever he got bored. His was a modified form, lacking certian equipment because he didn't see the point in having it...just like his male body. So the only thing different for him this time was the fact this was the real thing, and he was only a passenger in it.

Tomoyo sighed again as she started to tune everything else out to ponder for herself what was going on. Inari and Hikari had started talking about the crash and hopes of a recovery soon.

~Sooo...how to talk to someone and let them know I'm in here. Wait, this is just like touch telepathy, except I'm in direct contact with the brain here. Lessee...~ Alexis redirected his thoughts and sent them outward, at Tomoyo, using the Geshrin girl's brain as his own. ~Can you hear me?~

Tomoyo continued to ignore the outside world. And she heard a voice in her brain again.. ~Yes... I can? Who are you? ~ Her eyes closed, she was very tired still..

~Yes! It works!~ Alexis cheered silently, then replied, ~Um...I'm Alexis, the guy you met once outside the Minion bay...I hope you don't mind, but I kinda need a place to stay until I can find a new body. My old one is toast.~ He was kind enough not to send an image of it, since it, literally, was toast. With butter and jam. Hopefully someone would enjoy it who needed it more than he did.

~Oh!~ Tomoyo's heart started to beat a little faster, she didn't expect this at all. ~I don't mind at all! I... I am so sorry that we didn't bring you with us to begin with!!! I hope that you won't mind being in my body?~ Her thoughts were very fast, the girl was excited, never before had this sort of thing ever happened to her before.

~It's alright, everything turned out fine in the crash. I'm still around, just a bit displaced. Dun know why I would mind being in here, though, it's your body and I'm the intruder...but no, I don't.~ She hear a smile in his thought, this was something a bit new to Alexis too. His next message lost the smile, though. ~Tomoyo, does anyone know where we are? Where this pod is, I mean.~

~We're on Ralfaris.. that's all I know. We've been here for three days apparently... hopefully we'll get recovered soon?~ Tomoyo sighed, she didn't like this at all.

~Hmm...~ Alexis thought a bit, then spoke up again. ~I want to see where we are, but I can't move us. Could you go outside?~ He paused. ~Unless you could somehow let me drive. Do you want to try something?~

END>>

JP
Kim - Tomoyo, Hikari, Inari, Kyoshi
Nick - Alexis




[Ralfaris, GSS Fortitude] A Falling Star 
Kitsurugi Yui
12/17/03 9:35

Her eyes darted back and forth nerviously, clutch onto the straps of her seat as the pod shot through the atmosphere. She could see nothing but ground, and couldn't really do to much about it "Damn it... Of all ways to die..."

Just then, a sharp jerk let Sakura know that something was impeding her descent. The pod's parachute had deployed, a big, white circle of fabric above the pod. She'd been floating for days now, until the planet had finally caught up to the pod and pulled it in. For a while, it seemed as if she was going to drift in space forever. By some miracle, the planetary defense systems let her though. Did it mean that she'd been scanned and found "harmless?"

Meanwhile, SAINT units recieve some interesting information from the Pantheon network. An Elyisan woman, not a seraph, in an escape pod, was headed down toward the desert surface of Ralfaris. Its arrival coordinatates were sent to the local GSA forces--but not to any Qel'noran Security units.

She merely shook her head, gazing at the ground as it drew closer. Thankfully, it was not as fast as before. She hated being couped up in the pod, no real way to escape if something happened, nothing really to do. She sighed, giving her wings a flutter and hitting her fist against the control panel

Kai was preparing to leave and go find the Seigi's escape pods and any others he could find. He adjusted his clothing, fixing the rank pin in its proper place on his black shirt. Keiko was sitting on the edge of the bed watching him "Where are you going?" She asked. "I'm going out to find our friends from the Seigi, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Amaya." Kai said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "Yes Sir." the little neko said. Kai nodded and walked out of the room to see about getting a lift out to find them.

Yuuko's shuttle was parked outside. She had apparently fixed it and made it back safely.

Kai looked at his datapad, which he kept on his person in his cloak. ~An elysian woman?~ He thought and went to look for a ride; he punched the button to the elevator to go to the roof to see if there was an available ride. He soon got there and stepped out of the elevator and looked around and noticed Yuuko's shuttle and grinned. The flame-haired young man was relieved she was alright. "Hi Yuuko."

"Just got a notice from Pantheon. An Elysian pod is coming down. I thought we'd seen the last of them." She let out a big grin. "Wanna go meet this Elysian?" looking around, she added, "Where's Keiko?"

"I asked Keiko to stay behind and keep an eye on Amaya. I don't like the idea of leaving her alone in this building. But let's go find this lady." Kai said and hurried toward her. "Let's go!" He smiled.

As soon as he was in, Yuuko shut the back door and the shuttle took off, racing to the pod's landing site.


"Glad to see you're alright Yuuko." Kai said, settling into the copilots seat and strapped in.

She sighed again, rubbing her temple. The pod has finally landed, and the blinding sun made her squint to see anything. She punched the side of the pod again "I'm in the middle of nowhere... no food, no water, in this, god-forsaken desert..." She wheeled around to punch again, but stopped, and sat against the side. "better conseve what little i got..."

A QnSe fighter was already circling above the crashed pod when Yuuko and Kai arrived. the remainder of the 4th fleet had notifed the ground forces of the incoming pod and a single ship was dispatched to check things out. Apparently the Qelnorans had little intrest in the angel. "Stay where you are..." a loudspeaker on the outside of the fighter boomed. The sun had began to set and it would be nightime in the desert soon.

"Stay where I am" she laughed, before she stood up and shouted at the fighter "Where am I going to go, anyway?"
Kitsurugi Yui:: A hundred feet away, the Kitty (Yuuko's shuttle) made a near-silent landing. Yuuko had left the door to the cockpit open and twisted in her seat to talk to Kai, "Perhaps we should have...huh?" she turned to spot a fighter. Hadn't QnSe been disbanded yet? "The pod has yet to open," Yuuko observed.


"I think so." Kai frowned. "We'd better go help her."

"You mean detain? It's a Navy pod." Yuuko looked confused.

"Either way. The first priority is to made sure she's ok." Kai said, standing up and facing the back door.

Yuuko opened it, then removed her harnesses and began dressing in her gear, throwing on a vest and some ammo belts. Rifle in hand, she followed Kai out cautiously. The door shut behind them once the GSA soldiers were out.

Kai was armed with only his sidearm and whip, but that was all he felt he needed. Kai silently walked over the distance toward the escape pod.

She shook her head, looking around toward the fighter, the shuttle, and the soldiers. She raised her arms, knowing any fight would be futile

Yuuko used a palm device to message the fighter above them, "GSA's handling this. Thanks for the help."

Kai looked up at the fighter with a slight look of contempt; then over at the Elysian and grinned slightly. He started over toward the angel slowly. "Hello." He said to her.

The fighter banked hard to the right and jetted off, It was needed elsewhere.

Sakura tried to hide her grin. "Hi" she replied. Her white shirt was long, almost past her knees, she skirt was only slightly longer. It was green, and clung to her figure. She kept her arms raised in the air

Kai nodded to her, walking right up to her, looking her over to assess her injuries. Kai performed a quick psionic search of her person to see if she had any weapons or other hazards on her.

Yuuko, the rave-dancer, liked Sakura's fashion sense, and appraised the Elyisan's body. "She's cute," the short-starured neko grinned. "Look at her dark hair...she's very Geshrin-looking, if she didn't have those fluffy winglets."

She shook her head. She was completely unarmed, and had seemingly nothing to hide. She kept her arms raised, and fluttered her wings "It's casue i'm half human"

"She speaks Japanese!" Yuuko's eyes widened in suprise.

"She does." Kai commented and looked at her in the eyes. "You may put your hands down miss...." He said, leaving it open. ~Interesting~ Kai commented to Yuuko.

Mitsuragi lowered her arms, and streched "Ya know, i'm kinda glad someone showed up, it was getting pretty boring here." She shook her head, yawning. She didn't seem to mind anything that was happening, or had happened

"No, she's wearing a translator device." Yuuko spotted the white clip-on earring, much to her disappointment. "She probably only speaks Seraphim, then. Kai, I'd like to search the pod."

Kai turned to Yuuko slightly. " You may." Kai nodded to her. He then turned back to the elysian; "I am Shosho Kai Ashigari, and you are?" He introduced himself.

"Sakura" she said, flatly. Her eyes seemed to dull from the childlike shine they had a moment ago, to a pale grey color

Yuuko slung her rifle onto her shoulder and slipped past Sakura into the pod, and began to rummage around. There wasn't much in there. GSA escape pods carried survival kits and supplies, but this thing was empty. Emerging from the pod, Yuuko joined Kai at his side. "Sakura, eh? A good Geshrin name to match your good looks," Yuuko winked.

~It's nice she's got a translator device, makes things much easier.~ He thought. "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Sakura." Kai said. "What ship were you aboard when it got shot down?" He asked her. ~Find anything Yuuko?~ Kai asked the neko mentally.

She merely shook her head "beats me. I was just assigned to it when this fiasco happened"

~Nope.~ "I think it'd be kind of cute if she was incomprehensible," giggled the neko girl.

Kai winced. "I can imagine that's quite annoying." He said with a chuckle. ~Unfortunate.~ Kai replied to Yuuko. "Please come along with us Sakura." Kai said.

She followed him, yawning again. Her hand covered her mouth, and she streched. Her wings fluttered again as she looked up at him

Exhausted?" Kai grinned at her. "In here." He said indicating the backdoor of the shuttle.

Sakura hurried through the door "so... what's exactually going to happen to me?"

"Nothing to harsh if you are willing to share any information you may possess." Kai said, sitting down across from her.

She shrugged "Go ahead, i'll tell you anything. I hate arrch-angels, probibly more then most anyone else I know"

"Well then." Kai smiled. "Please tell me what you know." Kai was using his more familiar technique: being friendly.

"Anything in paticular you want to know about?" Sakura asked.

Yuuko hopped back in her seat, shut the back door to the shuttle, and set her armor, ammo, and rifles in the empty copilot seat. The craft lifted off of the ground. "Where to, Kai? Hmm...at some point you need to order a new starship."

"About the computer systems if you know anything about it." Kai asked. ~Is there a GSA ship in orbit?~ He thought to Yuuko.

"I know next to nothing about computer systems. Someone like me? You guys treat me better they the Arch-angels do"

"Half-breeds are weird. They tend to dislike the archangels...most plebians are fine with them, so long as they're treated well," Yuuko said. "There's third fleet and first fleet ships up there."

"Let's go to one of the first fleet ships. I'm sure we can find a good place for her until we get a new ship..that is if the captain does not mind." Kai said to Yuuko. "How do they treat you Sakura?" He asked her gently.

"Ok. I'm looking for a big one," Yuuko nodded.

"Arigato Yuuko." Kai said.

"Well, since i'm half human, i'm treated less then a human. I was orphaned, so the Arch's decided i'm make a fun 'toy'..."

One of Kai's eyebrows shot up. "They did what?" He asked, astonished. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

The shuttle headed up through the atmospheric ceiling towards one of the luxurious, but lesser-known Yuumi-class Battle Command Ships, the GSS Fortitude (GB-12), which was the command ship of the 4th Star Regiment, a veteran unit.

She shook her head "You have no need to be sorry. You had nothing to do with it"

"A toy?" Yuuko asked, wanting to know what Sakura meant.

~Which ship is this?~ Kai thought to Yuuko. "Nobody should EVER be treated that way Sakura." He said to the young woman.

I disagree, Kai," Yuuko commented. "It's the GSS Fortitude."

Kai looked at Yuuko. "Why is that?" He asked curiously. "Ok." he said in response to the name of the ship.

"Well, some people like being toys, and some people are made to be toys. Others deserve it," Yuuko explained.

Sakura sighed, looking down at her lap "Ya know that they treat captured neko's better then they treat most half breeds... They go out of their way to catch nekos... they make me sick. Power hungry sons of..."

"Do you know why they want the nekos exactly?" Kai asked Sakura. ~But did she Yuuko? I think not.~

"Elysians know next to nothing about Nekos... They want to know everything about them... plus the arch's love to keep them as pets."

Yuuko was getting irritated that Kai kept sending her telepathic comments instead of just talking. "You never said what you meant by toy, Sakura," she prompted. "I think they know more than you realize, from the reports I've seen."

"Take rape, and make it worse..." Sakura said coldly, flatly.

Yuuko was quiet.

Kai closed his eyes and sighed. "There's not much worse than that." He commented. He turned slightly to Yuuko. "I think that's just horrible, wouldn't you agree?"

Sakura swallowed hard, trying to keep her mind on something else. She bit her bottem lip tightly

Yuuko made a face, "I guess so."

"Sakura, please don't bite your lip like that, it'll bleed." Kai said. "Yuuko, what do the reports you've seen say about what they know?" Kai asked quickly, his mind racing for some reason.

"We don't discuss SAINT reports in front of..." she paused, not wanting to say prisoners "...outsiders."

Sakura Mitsuragi sighed, sinking into her chair. She shook her head trying to disband some memories. She pulled her knees close, hugging them tightly to her chest

"Then we'll do it after we get to the Fortitude." Kai said. "Sakura, do you know anything about the seraphs? Please try and relax, I know it's hard for you to forget what happened to you; you're safe with us." Kai reassured the elysian.

The Fortitude's large bay's easily engulfed the small shuttle, and within moments they were parked on the deck on of the battleship's shuttlebay. No one had come to greet them save a sprite in an orange skirt version of the neko uniform.

"Nothing more then biological weapons. As you've seen, no hair, no real features. Just a beast, created to fight"

Kai rose from his seat and opened the back door after noticing they were inside. "Anything else?" He asked as he waited outside the shuttle.

Yuuko rotated her seat to the right, and looked back thorugh the cockpit doorway, "How long do you plan to stay, Kai?"

"Powerful telepaths, powerful telekenetic abilties, they can absorb a hell of a lot of damage... Some can change their appearance at will"

"Just long enough to get her set up, I want to get off that planet as soon as I can; but I don't want to leave Amaya or Keiko behind." Kai said.

Sakura stood up, slowly moving out of the shuttle. She seemed to be filled with intimidation

"Seraphs are annoying and dangerous, they're all over Ralfaris." He added. "It's ok Sakura, stay close to me. Nobody will harm you." Kai reassured the intimidated elysian and started toward the skirted sprite. "Who's the captain of this ship?" He asked the neko.


The sprite neko had a rifle pointed at Sakura's heart, leaving a red dot on the Elysian at all times. "Chujo Kitsurugi Mayame," she answered. Mayame was one of the lesser-known Kitsurugi, made in another era, originally as an NH-2 at PNUgen.

"Please, get the sight off of her. She poses no threat, she is unarmed and in my custody. May we speak with her?" Kai said with a chagrined look on his face.

"I don't think targeting her does any harm," the sprite objected, keeping the red dot on Sakura's breast. "You may speak with the Chujo through the ship, or in her office."
Kai Ashigari:: "I suppose not if you want to be that cautious and that's a good thing." Kai said. "Please in her office if she isn't too busy at the moment." He said.

"This way," the sprite pointed with her free hand, which lit up with a fluorescent glow as she gestured. The wall panels of the hall also had directions for him, too. The neko followed them from a good ten feet back, constantly aimed at Sakura.
Sakura's eyes focused on neko, her legs shaking slightly. Sakura's wings fluttered as she lowered her head

Kai nodded and followed the wall panels in the corridor. He offered Sakura his arm to hold onto if she was scared. "I'm sorry about all this, but it's protocol on this ship it seems."

Sakura followed him closely, shivering. She was barefoot, her feet making a soft slapping noise as she walked. She didn't want eye contact with anyone, so she kept her head lowered. She hugged his arm tightly as she shivered

Kai walked throught he corridor, following the directions as the panels displayed them, heading for the Chujo's office.

Luckily, most of the ship, once in the actual hallways, was carpeted with the typical navy blue flooring most Kitsurugi-built ships had, which was nicer was much nicer to walk on than the cold floor of the shuttlebay. The Chujo's office door was guarded by two sprites, who pointed their rifles at Sakura's head as soon as she was in their sight. From what Kai could see, this ship was a very strict, very military ship.

Sakura loosened her grip on his arm, hoping she has not been any sort of a nusence to him since they had gotten here

"Are you sure you want to bring her in there?" the neko from the shuttlebay asked.

Kai didn't really like all this strictness, but it was the Kitsurugi's ship and he had to respect that. "No, I suppose not, please escort her to a suitable room. And do not harm her." Kai said as he paused in front of the door.

"Move along!" the sentry ordered her. The walls of the ship showed the way to the brig.

Sakura released his arm, stepping back before looking up at the neko. She knew that the neko had all the power to end her life right now, so she hurried along.

Kai sighed, feeling bad for her. But he swallowed it and approached the door to the office. He bowed to the Chujo after he entered, a gesture of respect. "Ma'am." He said.

She was led to a small, but comfortable cell with a large transparent impervium window (into the brig's central area, where a security officer sat) and a small door. Inside was a soft bed, a shower, and a toilet. Not a lot of privacy.

END

JP by
Wes
Tyler
Sakura
Zack




[Ralfaris] learning 
Tasuki Uso
12/17/03 19:54

ON> Ralfaris

The soft chimes in Amaya's room sounded again, someone was at the door. Now that the drugs had worn off it was time for Amaya to start her training.

Amaya slowly slid off the bed and walked shakily to the door and let them in, "Yes?"

"Hello!" Uso said cheerfully as the door opened, "I was sent to help you with your training and," "And I was sent to make sure that you don't get her killed..." Carjack said as he walked past Uso and handed Amaya a couple of pills, "those should help with the shaking." He said

Amaya quickly swallowed the pills and looked at Uso, "Nice to see you again Uso."


Uso nodded, "Well they just sent me here because... well I don't really know why, I'm not the first person I thought they would send." she thought out loud as Karjak monitored Amaya's body on his wrist mounted computer. He wasn't planning on letting up until he was satisfied that the pills were working.

Amaya smiled, "How do you intend to commence my training?"

"They said something about mental defense.... so I guess I'll start there," Uso said as she invited herself into the room and sat down in one of the chairs, wasting no time in propping her feet up on the table nearby, ~So do you know how to send messages like this yet? ~ Uso asked her.

Amaya shook her head, "No..."

"Well um..." Uso thought out loud, "Try thinking something at me. Like your talking only without using your mouth," she said trying to sound like she knew what she was doing.

Amaya looked at Uso and tried to send her thought out to her ~Can you hear me? ~

Uso nodded and smirked, "yep." She said, "Now lets try something simple, Catch!" Uso said as she lightly tossed a small coaster towards Amaya.

Amaya reached forward and caught the coaster, "How was that a test of my psionic abilities?"

Uso started to toss several more at Amaya until the table had been cleaned of all objects.

Amaya kept trying to catch all the items until she finally realized the true test and tried to reach out and catch them with her mind.

They started clumsily fall around her, then the next one hovered in the air for a while before dropping. Uso continued throwing random objects at her until Amaya was able to hold them up or knock them away with her mind alone.

Amaya smiled almost satisfied, "It's getting easier..."

Uso's right shoulder started to bleed. The blood seemed almost to drip upward forming a long tentacle that wrapped around a nearby chair and tossed it at Amaya.

Amaya caught it with her mind, "How did you do that??"

"I'm a weapon remember?" she asked, "to be more specific I am whats called a penny eater. I eat metals and can use the nanites in my blood to form objects like this." she said waving the tentacle around to emphasize her point, "Perhaps you should take a look at some of the information PNUgen provides about nekos." she added before she stood up and looked directly at Amaya. Uso formed a mental connection and started to control some of her actions, ~Now, Try and throw me out of your mind. ~ 

Amaya closed her eyes and found the connection with her mind and began to try and sever it.

Uso could feel Amaya putting up resistance, "Good, Now put some real effort into it, Channel your rage into your mental defense and so on." Uso said

"Push you out with anger?" Amaya asked curiously.

~Ya, Strong emotions can overcome even the strongest of minds. ~ Uso thought, ~It doesn't matter which one, Sorrow, Anger, Rage, Frustration, you can send them all back to me while I am trying to enter your mind. ~

Amaya held onto the grief she had experienced in the lab and tried to shove Uso out of her head.

Uso felt the same grief she did and left Amaya's head, "Very good, now lets move on to something more complex." Uso said. Over the next few hours Uso taught Amaya techniques on how to focus her abilities by controlling her thoughts, How to manipulate small objects, And even warm up the room. If Amaya was going to help terriform the planet she would have to become very good at these skills.

Amaya sunk into a chair and sighed, "God that was tiring."

END
-----------------------------------
JP
Jennifer as Amaya




Sortie 79: The Serpent's Grand Plan Is Revealed 
Derran Tyler
12/17/03 19:54

The Battle of Tau Ceti
N.S.S. Misogi - 653rd Carrier Air Wing 

The Ramses-class strike carrier was regarded as one of the stealthiest vessels in the Confederation's inventory, active countermeasures suite coupled with tens of thousands of tons of Zanarium stealth armor making the vessel extremely stealthy as it approached the icy fifth moon of Tau Ceti. In truth, nearly all Confederation vessels were stealthy by their simple design. It was very hard to find emissions from NDI vessels due to the nature of their primary propulsion systems, the gravimetric drive, which used superstrings and the peculiar characteristics of the zero-point field to 'pull' the vessel to its destination with amazing speed. 

In truth, finding a ship like the N.S.S. Misogi when it did not want to be find was an exercise in futility. Captain Nell Dalton understood this fact and kept her vessel on the speedy approach towards the icy moon, all of her fighter squadrons on alert status. The majority of these fighters were drone units, albeit regarded with 'veteran' and 'elite' status due to the extent of their operational capacity in this campaign alone. But she still had a demi-squadron of ultra-elite Human pilots in VF-32 mecha at her disposal, which would actually carry out the mission. The rest of her fighter compliment served to fly cover for the real pilots.

"The defensive compliment around the moon is relatively light - by Jaaq'tah standards. It looks like we have a few Fatlusk carriers and Kranhkt destroyers and the standard array of defense installations surrounding the target package. Nothing we can't handle, Cap'n," said Lieutenant Orlando Blanco, the tactical action officer onboard the Misogi. 

Dalton took in all the information around her in the holographic screens which seemed to be rotating about her, feeding her the relevant information at will. "Launch strike wing," she finally said in an even tone, the main screen before her shifting to the TO&E of the 653rd Carrier Air Wing. Status, ammunition, fuel, and sensor readings were available for each and every strike craft underneath her command. Thank God for SCRIBOL.

The eight quick-launch bays of the carrier went active, catapulting one strike craft into the fray every three seconds. The first fighters to be sent out were XF-14C space superiority mecha, the most competent dogfighters in the fleet. They were designed primarily for fighting other enemy mecha, but had sufficient weapons capability to serve as strike fighters at the cost of sacrificing their medium-range missiles for heavier warhead missiles. After the XF-14s came the two squadrons of XB-29C strike bombers, large and heavily armed with a bristling array of guns and missiles that made enemy ship commanders quake with fear. Finally, the single squadron of XF-18 interceptors leapt from their launch rails, fanning out in two-fighter elements to serve as advance scouts and to serve as the first line of defense against enemy strike craft. 

Only six mecha remained onboard the strike carrier, those belonging to the VF-32 pilots, who were waiting patiently inside the cockpits of their highly advanced mecha, bringing themselves to a state of serenity before they leapt into the heat of battle.

"ETA to target is at six minutes, Captain," said the CAG officer, his eyes glowing with azure energy as he used his psionic abilities to tap into the air wing's battle network, issuing a modicum of commands to the drone elements using his mind alone. "I believe we have the element of surprise on our side."

Less than a second after the CAG officer finished that statement, the threat warning receiver went off as the Misogi found itself being illuminated with active search radars from multiple ships in the Jaaq'tah fleet.

"Recall fighters, Captain?" asked the CAG officer immediately. The strike carrier wasn't a ship-of-the-line. Against these types of odds, it wouldn't survive. 

"Negative. Our orders are to destroy the primary fleet beacon. Take evasive maneuvers. Instruct all strike craft to destroy their target and then high-tail it to the rendezvous point. If we time this just right, they'll meet us there. Set course for extraction point B, now!" said Dalton forcefully. "Load missile tubes and power up main weapons."

The air group suddenly kicked it up a notch, going afterburner and accelerating at their highest levels to clear the road to pave the way for the strike elements of their unit. The enemy carriers went active, launching their Salamander II mecha to intercept the Misogi's strike craft.

"We have engaged the enemy, Captain."

The XF-18s swept through the first line of Salamander mecha like a typhoon, unloading their long-range cluster missiles into the enemy line with devastating results. Over 150 enemy mecha exploded in brilliant displays of orange, yellow, and black across a wide section of space, but this was something that could only be duplicated once. The XF-18s were out of long-range missiles. They quickly closed into their close-engagement range along with their XF-14 brethren, taking on the second wave with mixed results. The Jaaq'tah's Salamander mecha was a very fast and agile mecha that could hold its own with the best of Confederate strike craft, using their primary beam weapons to deal extraordinary damage. 

"Squadron 1 has been totally destroyed, sir! Squadron 2 is at 70 percent," said the CAG officer. "Strike Squadrons 1 and 2 remain intact.....they're approaching their maximum missile range."

The Misogi was now racing at its top speed of .71c, firing off multiple volleys of anti-warship missiles to keep the approaching Jaaq'tah destroyers at bay. "Launch all remaining fighters, now," said Dalton finally. With that, all six VF-32 mecha ripped from the bays of the mothership, blue-white fields of energy surrounding each nimble mecha as they accelerated towards relativistic velocities.

"What are they doing?" asked Orlando, reading velocities from those six mecha that were far beyond the capabilities of the mecha. "They'll tear themselves apart if they go any-"

Orlando stopped in mid-sentence as the mecha disappeared completely from his screens, then reappeared in the frigid atmosphere of the icy moon below. "What the hell?"

Captain Dalton smiled. "The pilots are all powerful psions," she explained. "Trained by the Vaishan to manipulate Psi to the point where they can perform spectacular techniques that would otherwise be impossible."

"I have visual on the target, Misogi tower," said the squadron leader of the VF-32s over the battle network. "Two, Three, lay down disruption fields now!" 

Before the Jaaq'tah air defenses could react, fields of white-blue static swept across the ground and air, destroying equipment and literally fragging the minds of the Jaaq'tah personnel below and in mecha trying to intercept them. The squadron leader, Four, and Five continued on their path, fanning out in attack formation as twelve missiles launched from the wing-sheath missile systems. The missiles raced at their targets at hypersonic velocities, moving in wild zig-zag patterns that seemed like a hypnotizing dance, but in reality was just self-defensive maneuvering. 

"What the hell?!" said Three, a gray-white field starting to form around the Jaaq'tah fleet beacon a second before missile impact. The anti-matter reaction warheads released the equivalent of a 30 megaton blast each, shattering the monolithic structure. However, as the blast literally engulfed the surrounding area, along with the progressing blast wave, the dimensional fabric began to tear uncontrollably, outracing the speed of the VF-32s, taking them in.

Back onboard the Misogi. "We've lost contact with all six!" said the CAG officer, feeling a tremendous psychic backlash throughout the battle network. "They're gone! All of them!"

Dalton frowned. "Recall all fighters!" 

"They won't make it, sir," replied Orlando. "They're too far out and liable to be destroyed before they make it to us."

"Damnit! Spin up FTL drives 1 and 2!" 

A yellow light filled the bridge and the rest of the ship as the battle computer's avatar sounded off: "Preparing for inter-phased jump in 4.....3.......2.......1...."

The carrier was engulfed in a bright white light and then it was gone. The orphaned mecha continued to fight on, some of them going to their more suicidal tendencies and flying in the center of a large formation and then self-destructing, wiping out scores of enemy mecha along with them.

"This is the N.S.S. Misogi reporting to Thirteenth Fleet Command.....our entire air group has been destroyed, but the target has been neutralized. Over," said Captain Dalton with a solemn voice.

"We read you, Misogi. Fall back to previous position and wait for transfer of new air group from the nearest M.O.B.I.L.E."

As the carrier dropped from hyperspace, in the midst of the Thirteenth Fleet, the CAG officer felt something strange. 

"They're still alive...."





Ralfaris - Grand Star Empire

The space in a three AU area in the Ralfaris system suddenly became entirely unstable as half of a mammoth Durash dreadnought drifted through space helplessly. Bits and pieces of the Jaaq'tah fleet beacon remained as well, and among all this debris, six VF-32s remained intact, albeit damaged - two beyond repair.

"Kerry, do you read me, over!" snapped Lieutenant Commander Clark Iovanna, the commander of the attack squadron. "Lewis, Nelson, Guerra, Sanders, Vickers!"

"I read you, Commander," said Zeke Sanders, looking over at the fighter of his wingman, Phillppe Guerra, who had been killed. "Guerra and Nelson didn't make it."

"I'm here," said Rachel Lewis. "But my engines are shot....where the hell are we?

"No idea. This system isn't on any of my navigational maps," said Darren Vickers. "Commander?"

"The fleet beacon must have been sending that dreadnought somewhere when we hit it. For some reason, only half of it got where it was going and we got brought with it," said Clark firmly. "Our first orders of business are getting our mecha back operational and try and get in contact with allied command. How's your life support?

"It's holding up. She's a rugged plane, sir," said Lewis. 

"See if you can initiate self repair, have your nanolathes reclaim energy and metal from some of the debris around here," replied Clark. 

Clark ran a diagnostic check on his mecha. It was mostly fine, but the explosions had scrambled his computer and psionic amplification system. A quick reboot and recovery would bring them back online. Outside of that, his mecha was battle ready. So were Vickers and Sanders. Good, at least they could defend themselves if they were in hostile territory....

...But something told Clark Iovanna that he was in a bad situation...




[Mega-JP] Too Close for Comfort (Ralfaris Attack) 
Kitsurugi Yui
12/19/03 18:50

ON> Ralfaris System

Lt. Commander Clark Iovanna's VF-32 was in its battloid configuration hovering over the damaged mecha belonging to Ensign Rachel Lewis, fingertips emitting an green stream of particles that swarmed around the damaged section of the mecha, regenerating the damaged materials. "That should do it, Ensign," said Clark, glancing over to the two other strike craft that were establishing a perimiter. The damaged hulk of the Jaaq'tah capital vessel had remained dormant for some time, the bodies of Jaaq'tah sailors drifting lifelessly into space. 

"Attention 4th and 1st Fleet Forces, this is Chujo Kitsurugi Mayame. Unknown objects have defolded at the following coordinates. Deploy mecha and engage hostiles. Ships spread out in standard multipurpose formation. Battleship Fortitude out," The command ship (by way of the destruction of the Chiharu sent out orders to its fleets. Thousands of tiny mecha poured from the fleet ships and headed for the wreckage.

"Looks like whatever lives here is making a move," said Vickers, the XION system onboard his mecha extending his clairsentience outwards over several AUs radius. "And it seems like there's a helluva lot of 'em...."

"We obviously can't fight them off, so get ready to make a run for it. "Zeke, try and get a transmission out to whoever it is, identify us as NDI pilots."

Whatever the little mecha were, they were tiny. A little eight-foot, three-hundred pound ghost of a design. It didn't take but a few second before the things were on top of them. They must have had some sort of FTL drive built in. Just a moment after Vickers transmitted, he could see them visually.

"Aye," said Zeke, using the standard communications array for using telepathy could be construed as a hostile act. "Mayday, mayday....Nerimian Defense Initiative distress code Zulu. Request assistance, over. I repeat, Nerimian Defense Initiative distress code Zulu. Two of our pilots are incapacitated, request assistance."

Vicker's face appeared on Clark's screen. "....Hyperpulse....." Clark nodded, turning the head of his mecha towards the small mecha. "No bigger than Golems...."

The swarm of itty-bitty mecha remained silent, but for a quick, "Acknoledged. Surrender to us."

Lewis chimed in. "Those look like the same kind of mecha the GSA used in Tau Ceti....."

"Surrender? What the hell are you talking about? We're friendlies....."

"Resistance will be met with extreme discretion," the disembodied male voice warned.

Clark's eyes brightened with a bit of azure as he looked across at the small mecha. "Duly noted. I wish to talk to your superior. We're not here to cause trouble, but we're not surrendering."

"And we'd like to know where here is....."

Vickers' mecha was practically engulfed by the little things, which attempted to latch onto him with their hands. The other five Nermian mecha found themselves in the same situation. Meanwhile, the unnatural voice responded to Clark. "You have intruded into the Ralfaris System."

The small mecha would find themselves repulsed before they got within ten meters of the mecha by an intensely powerful barrier shield. "Back off, midgets. I'll strike a deal with you. You can escort us back to your base ship, but we keep our weapons -- albeit off-line."

"You're to be taken to the Nerimian Cruiser in Ralfaris orbit," a female voice informed him. One of the pilots, perhaps.

".....Nerimian Cruiser?" said Clark with a bit of surprise. "There's an NDI ship here?"

"You've got to be kidding me," said Vickers. "Didn't even show up on my IFF."

"There are eleven," the pilot responded.

Sanders used his own clairsentient abilities to scan the stars. "......It looks old.......a Lightning class......and what looks to be a whole squadron."

Clark frowned. "Fine. You lead the way....." Clark's mecha converted to fighter mode along with the others.

"Allow my LAMIA to take hold of you," the male voice insisted.

"How many of you are there?" the pilot asked.

"Fine......but don't get too frisky.....I just put a fresh new coat of paint on this....." said Clark, allowing a portion of his barrier shield to go down, but the PD lasers on dorsal and ventral surfaces seemed to follow the movement of the LAMIA. 

"There are four of us.......six if you count our fallen squadronmates....." said Vickers, issuing a telepathic command to the computers of the other fighters, which suddenly SCRAMed themselves, rendering themselves completely inoperable and unable to be reverse-engineered.

The tiny mecha grabbed on, and there was brief flash of red light, and then a bright glow off of the planet's surface. Well...that didn't take long. After the short trip, the Lamia freed the fighters and floated away to give them some room. The formation of NDI ships was nearby. They seemed to have brought the two wrecked ones as well.

Telepathic activity between the special forces pilots was somewhat heavy. If the GSA could hear it, they'd continue to hear the word 'hyperpulse' being repeated over and over. The four strike craft were engulfed in blue-white energy for a split second before they were before the starboard mecha bay of the Prometheus cruiser, which had the largest mecha accomodations of the ships here. Auto-landing systems took over the controls of the jets and they were guided safely into their 'cages'.

Once onboard the cruiser, the four pilots dismounted their mecha, removing their sealed helmets and looking at the ship's crew. They looked at the patches on the arms to see the unit designations -- there were none.

Clark immediately asked the Senior Petty Officer on duty. "Why is there an NDI contingent here?"

The SPO responded: "We work for the GSA in exchange for something the CONSTRACOM wanted. We've already helped repel an invasion of this place. The question is....how did you get here?"

The calm, male voice of KAMI had sent a message to the NDI squadron, "These belong to you."

"What belongs to us?" said Sanders, wiping sweat from his brow. "And who the hell is that?"

"This is Kami," the voice responded. "I just brought back six fighters of yours."

Lt. Commander Clark Iovanna shook his head. "We need to get back to the Misogi immediately. We request immediate return to the Edo Fleet Star Fortress."

"Yeah, we need to get back in the fight ASAP," chimed in Lewis, ready to get some revenge for her fallen comrades.

Meanwhile, around the floating husk of the Durash dreadnought, small pieces of debris were spreading throughout space, actually accelerating at a good rate of speed away from ground zero. These pieces of debris were incredibly small, as not to be noticed unless placed upon very intense scrutiny. 

"KAMI, is it?" said Vickers with a smirk. "Could you patch us into NDI command at least?"

Thousands upon thousands of LAMIA mecha were scouring the wreckage for enemy survivors. The debris didn't go unnoticed. KAMI knew it was a tactic of the Jaaq'tah to disguise drones as random rocks and scrap. Specifically designed for taking out just such an enemy, the Lamia were prompted to hunt escaping objects down and destroy them.

The NDI wasn't equipped to handle KAMI's normal forms of communication, so a Yui-class was dispatched via TTD to Tau Ceti, where it requested a relay to command thorugh the forces there.

A Tatsumaki vessel linked up with the Yui, lending its communications array hand-off to the forces inside Ralfaris. "This is Battle Force Tau Ceti Command, identify yourselves."

"This is Lieutenant Commander Clark Iovanna, 653rd Naval Air Group. We're in this place called Ralfaris where there just happens to be NDI vessels. Request extraction."

"How in the hell did you get to GSA territory, Lieutenant Commander? We have you listed as KIA 13 minutes ago along with the rest of your air group," replied the commander of the Star Fortress Edo.

Meanwhile, the LAMIA were unloading subspace and anti-matter missles on any stray objects. They wouldn't allow a chance there could be a hidden beacon drone.

"No idea, sir. When we fragged the Jaaq'tah fleet beacon, we got blasted here.....we lost two Hellstorms in the process......"

Meanwhile, inside the wreckage (which was immense to say the least, at least the size of several GSA capital vessels), multiple portals opened, releasing a host of Salamander II mecha, Omino, and Parasite drones. The wreckage area quickly became a monstrous battle ground between LAMIA and Jaaq'tah strike craft.

"......We'll get back to you, Commander. Discom," said the star fortress command abruptly.

"What?" said Clark. "We need to get out of here!"

"Attention Star Army," PANTHEON-C announced to every ship in the universe, instantaneously recieving KAMI's data on the attacks. "Please stay out of my designated combat area while I work."

Omino-B drones began creating zones where LAMIA drone FTL drives would find themselves inoperable or at the very least, work at a highly-reduced efficiency. Omino-A drones began bringing Hermes A and B drones into the fray, which began orbiting entire squadrons of Salamander mecha like satellites, absorbing soliton beam blasts and releasing them back at the LAMIA mecha. This was quickly becoming a contested battlefield.

Pantheon summoned the The Grand Provisional Fleet, numbering some 332,800 Ki-D3 Arashi-class destroyers and 52,296 Irim-class Assault ships, with a number of Yui Destroyers to support. Apparently the Lamia in the battle zone were to be sacrificed. The largest fleet ever built by the GSA was back out of the battle zone, charging its main guns.

Back in Tau Ceti, DEIMOS had explained exactly what happened with Sortie 79 of the N.S.S. Misogi. When the fleet beacon was destroyed, it was in the middle of transmitting a Durash dreadnought into the GSA universe. The resulting explosion catapulted everything within a certain radius into the GSA universe, which included the portion of the Durash dreadnought and the squadron sent to destroy the beacon.

"This is Star Fortress Edo, transmitting to the GSA command on Ralfaris -- The Jaaq'tah have discovered the location of your homeworlds."

"Spirit of the mother!" Mayame exclaimed, enchanted by the sight of the automated fleet's size. Then, to Edo, "It seems doubtful."

By this time, hunrdreds of thousands of Jaaq'tah strike craft had come onto the scene, separating into multiple strike groups. They would notice larger wormholes starting to be created within the battle zone, growing larger and larger as every second passed.

Elsewhere, the Jaaq'tah were mounting an intense counterstrike against NDI fleet forces in Tau Ceti, seeking to beat back the Draconian Alliance and strike back against the mercenaries the NDI had sent upon them in the opening moments of the battle. 

A brilliant light made Ralfaris reflect light like the sun for a moment. Every bit of the battle zone was flooded with the combined beams of the automated fleet's bombardment. It was a brutal measure, but perhaps necessary. This fleet was like none before, in that every ship had a transposition cannon, making it the most lethal Star Army fleet ever.

The amount of power unleashed here was simply unreal in its scale of magnitude and it seemed to spell doom for the Jaaq'tah strike team which had been dropped into action here -- or did it? The transposition cannon caused the space-time continuum of an area to collapse on itself, but with the presence of tens of thousands of Omino drones and their nested interdiction fields, the amount of destruction the Star Army wanted to unleash wasn't quite realized. In the midst of a sea of chaos, a 350,000 mile sphere of space remained intact, the Jaaq'tah strike force congregated there, and as a unit they moved, existing at one point for one moment and then in another the next moment, making 'jumps' that looked like teleportations throughout space. They weren't looking to fight the massive Star Army fleet that existed solely to kill them. Instead, they were making a path for Ralfaris itself.
Saito Jian joined

To put it simply, this was not a good day for the first fleet, almost all of the ships were still receiving crew and supplies from the planet and no commanding officer was present at the time. Corporate offices were scrambling the few Anteaus class battleships that were in the area to get them out of orbit and into some sort of defensive position so that their multitude of missiles could be used but ironically the planet's safety was solely in the hands of PANTHEON.

The second wave of the attack came form the automated fleets as quickly as the first. Over a million soliton beams raced toward the battle zone, each aimed at some significant target, anything vaguely hostile. Another five million smaller beams crisscrossed them, coming from orbital drones of the planet's defense platforms. One way or another, PANTHEON intended to have them. The Arashi destroyers began to close the gap, in case they had to use their positron cannons.
Derran Tyler:: The massed Jaaq'tah strike group broke off into five smaller, but still huge groups of strike craft and drones while the first massive portals began to yield entire battle groups of Jaaq'tah destroyers, frigates, and cruisers. By this time, some 10,000 Jaaq'tah vessels were in the Ralfaris system -- dwarfed by the GSA fleet forces, but not much longer if things continued at this rate. As the Provisional Star Army fleet started to unleash their soliton cannons, they met significantly increased success, but the sheer distance at which the weapons fired and the nature of space ensured that the vast majority of the mecha managed to evade the blasts. Still, other blasts were absorbed wholesale by Hermes drones, which orbited the groups like satelites along with the other types of drones. At this rate, they would be upon Ralfaris in 2 minutes.

The massive Antaeus class battleships rotated on their axis's bringing their top missile banks to face the oncoming fleet. A horde of Ender missiles were then unleashed upon the Jaaqtah. The onboard CDD,s activated as well as the shields and soliton cutting beams. All of which traveled at nearly 90,000 times the speed of light covering the distance in almost no time at all. The majority of the 4th fleet ships were still attached to the ships and were being flung about as the ship brought its weapons to bear. 

"Shift soliton fire to mode B," Mayame ordered. This was the alternate energy mode that had been designed to overload the drones as they attempted to absorb the beams, something SARA had been saving in its sleeve for such a moment. The soliton fire was fast, only seconds between intervals. The automated ships shifted their fire to leave small open zones of space and began to teleport right into the midst of the battle and unload millions of missiles, torpedoes, and beal fire. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. There were now _billions_ of LAMIA units in the area, in a fabulous display of chaotic-looking tactical strikes on emerging vessels. Their subspace missiles, as designed, were seriously fucking up the wormholes. The PANTHEON system minimized fratricide as the 4th, 1st, and Provisional Fleets placed each other in the crossfire.

The Jaaq'tah waded through the storm of fire, their numbers seeming to multiply as wormholes within the midst of the horde began to pour more Salamander mecha and drones into the fray. As the Ender missiles approached the Jaaq'tah formations, their CDDs suddenly went dead after they reached about 100,000 miles from their intended targets, quickly falling prey to the host of Omino drone interdiction fields (which made CDDs useless or near useless in their AOE) and massed PD fire, which destroyed the missiles before they could make an effect.. The first of the Jaaq'tah formations was approaching the planet's atmosphere. ETA: 45 seconds.

The massed Star Army fleets were starting to rack up kill totals now as the time on target with their guns were starting to become shorter and shorter and not giving the Jaaq'tah time to react. As automated ships began to break into the midst of the Jaaq'tah formation, they were met with multiple detonations of aetheric flux weapons, which in themselves served to detonate a great deal of the missiles and torpedoes before they could make a lasting effect. LAMIA units and the Jaaq'tah engaged in tremendous feats of combat that would be remembered for years to come. But despite the losses the Jaaq'tah were taking, the advance continued. Jaaq'tah vessels deployed their own strike craft and drones, forming together and deciding to attack a single portion of the Star Army fleet to try and break a hole in their own formation, particle beams coupled with aether torpedoes blazing towards their targets.

Missiles started to get shot down, However the PD fire wasn't nearly as effective as the Jaaq'tah would have hoped. The missiles continued on as the shields and soliton beams absorbed or destroyed the majority of the incoming fire. In addition to the massive payload the missiles carried they now were acting as mobile solition beam batteries. The Anteaus Battleships started firing more and more waves of missiles into the oncoming fleet as swarms of Minions started to form up just above the planet.

"Pantheon, using the data from the wormholes, find out the TTD coordinates of the other end," Mayame ordered.

The first Jaaq'tah formation, consisting of something in the number of 150,000 strike craft suddenly breached the upper atmosphere, the formation suddenly forming into a mammoth claw as a massive aqua-green colored beam emerged from a mass of nearly ten thousand Hermes drones, wide enough to engulf anything in a 2,500 mile diameter. The yield of the beam was simply attrocious, equivalent to the yield of a 600 gigaton fusion weapon upon impact. The energy came from energy absorbed from attacks from the Star Army fleet. It was itself aimed at one of Ralfaris' largest population centers. 
Tasuki Uso:: Ralfaris lit up like a star for several seconds. The massive shield generators of the planet absorbed the blast and a majority of the oncoming ships. The remainder were being cleaned up by the Minions which were making runs on the outer edges of the formation.

The coordinates on the other end were nebulous to Pantheon, because the source of orgin could be any of nearly a million places inside the Jaaq'tah's vast empire. Their massive fleet beacon complexes were interlinked to a point, but there was no one 'definite' destination that was the source of orgin for the wormholes. They came from literally millions of locations inside the Jaaq'tah Empire.

Mayame frowned. "Fortitude to local NDI forces, what are the Jaaq'tah homeworld defenses like?"

The lead Prometheus cruiser captain responsed. "We have no idea. No one has ever been there to report."

"Give us some place to counterattack, then?" Mayame asked. Better to have the battle on enemy turf.

"No one I know of has ever been past Tau Ceti, but we do know that Beta Lyrae is the Crimson Fleet's HQ."

The forces of the Star Army were making progress, their sheer firepower overwhelming the rear of the Jaaq'tah advance. Firing their transposition cannons strategically, each shot removing (besides any enemies in its path) a 5,000-mile wide strip of space to plant a wormhole. There was quickly becoming a very limited area for the drones to function in, which made it easier for the Arashi destroyers to hang around and wait for the next enemy to show up, ready to pound the shit out of it with positron cannons.

The Jaaq'tah formations continued their descent until they met the enemy planetary defense shield, which was soon marauded by a barrage of aetheric flux warheads, which by their very nature tore through shields like butter. In a planetary atmosphere, their unleashing of the latent energies of the surrounding area had even more devastating effects, creating massive blast waves that swept across the landscape like a typhoon. The Jaaq'tah forces, battered, but certainly not beaten, had dared make their beachead on the Qel'Noran homeworld with such ferocity as to make the Elysian attack seem like a Sunday skirmish by comparison.

The thousands upon thousands of planetary defense batteries opened up on the incoming ships. With the Jaaq'tah ships captured between the Minions' powerful weapons and the ground forces numerous guns and inhibitor fields which prevented them from bringing ships directly to the planet they were quickly reduced in numbers, blunting their attack. The majority of the factories and towers on the planet remained intact with layers of impervium blown off but the civilian areas did not fare so well. Hundreds of habitation facilities were simply wiped out. What remained were only a hand full of heavily armored entrances to the underground tunnels where the population had hidden once the planet was warned of an attack. The blast sent untold amounts of dirt and debris into the atmosphere in a slowly expanding cloud. Even if the planet was to survive it would be altered forever.

The 1st Expeditionary Fleet and the 6th Star Fleet defolded suddenly in the vicinity of Beta Lyrae and unloaded maximum firepower on the habitable worlds of the systems. Surprise would be on their side. Hopefully this would distact the enemy's efforts by drawing attention away form Ralfaris. Within only a few seconds of firing, the ships disappeared again. Yui, among these ships, hoped for at minimum, revenge.

From this point forward, the Jaaq'tah forces did nothing but try and wreak as much havoc as possible before they were eventually defeated. The Star Army would have to understand that to the Jaaq'tah, this was just a -raid-, not a full-scale attack. Jaaq'tah forces broke off into much smaller groups now, more regiment-sized units that now focused on specific tasks. Jaaq'tah forces had landed and simply attacked any target of opportunity, which included ground forces, defense batteries, factories, basically anything of importance. But by this point, it was just a matter of time before Ralfaris' defense forces would defeat the raid. 

The minimal units that did make it to the ground did little, The city was completely empty of people and important materials had already been moved to the lower areas. What they did find were thousands of automated weapons and drones that went deal with the ground forces. 

A transmission went to the entire GSA communications network, an automated message that seemed like it was generated by computer and not given by an actual person. "Do not interfere in our war with the Draconian Alliance again."

And that was it. The raid was over. The Jaaq'tah considered all of these forces simply expendable. The Jaaq'tah didn't want a war with the Grand Star Army, but they had to send a message the only way they knew how. This was but a minute portion of their vast power. Nearly one million units had been deployed here today and it was nothing compared to what the Jaaq'tah could unleash upon its enemies. Hopefully, the GSA would learn that an all-out war with the Jaaq'tah was not in their interests and would terminate their dealings with the Draconian Alliance.

Pantheon decided only the bridges of its ships should hear it, and thus it was so. "The shipyards must be trashed," Sakai Yuuko was noting, on the bridge of the GSS Fotitude when she heard it. "Ha! They're flailing at us!" she grinned. "Look at their ships fall. I hope they're satisfied with the number of soldier-lizards they sent to their death."

The Jaaq'tah Emperor watched it all from the Imperial Palace on Sssla, his blood red eyes glaring at the display. "If they interfere again, we will break them. Let it be known to the Grand Emerald Fleet."

"How many worlds will be sacrificed for someone's failure in politics?" Mayame asked absently. "Yui-chan, did you get what you wanted?"

"I did," Yui nodded, on the bridge of the GSS Empire. "Beta Lyrae is out. You fought well today, sister."

"Thank Anri."

END



JP

Wes
Derran
Zack





[GSS Fortitude, Ralfaris] To the Stars 
Kitsurugi Yui
12/20/03 16:07

Kai was still on the GSS-Fortitude considering what to do. He needed to retrieve the Seigi crew, Keiko and Amaya. He stretched himself and looked around, having remembered the way to the fighter hangar. Kai started in that direction, reaching the doors after a few minutes and looked for Yuuko. "Yuuko?" He asked aloud.

Yuuko popped her head out of her shuttle's open rear door. "Hello?"

Kai smiled at her. "Yuuko, please take me back to the QnT building. I must retrieve both Keiko and Amaya, if she wants to leave that is." Kai said, walking toward her.

"Yes sir," Yuuko nodded, and got back into the shuttle, folding her sleeping bag up and then strapping herself into her pilot seat. The girl had just woke up and was still in her undies.

Kai politely stripped off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders, covering her gently after getting into the shuttle. Kai had waited for her to roll it up. "Here you go Yuuko." He said.

Yuuko turned on the shuttle's systems, and in short order, the Kitty was heading back toward the surface.


Kai sat in the back of the Kitty. "I hope everyone from the Seigi is safe." He mused. That had worried him for a while.

Yuuko lead the shuttle over the scortched desert, much of which had been turned into glass by the heat of bombardment, headed to the Qel'noran Industrial area. They landed on the roof of the QnT building.

Kai stepped out of the shuttle after opening the door, feeling them touch down and stood outside and waited for Yuuko. "Want to come or do you wish to stay here?" He asked Yuuko, allowing it to be her choice.

She seemed busy with her tablet.

"Staying here then Yuuko?" Kai asked and turned to head into the building. He needed to go find Amaya and Keiko, quickly; he believed.

Yuuko told Kai she'd stay in the shuttle, "Yep."

"Ok" Kai waved to the little neko and pushed the button to ride the elevator down to the floor he knew the room was at. He stepped on and rode down, reaching the level fairly quickly and went to the door and knocked at it. "hello." He said through it.

Amaya walked over to the door, let Kai in and then leaned against the door frame, "Haven't forgotten about us after all I see... " She smiled at him playfully, "It's nice to see you again."

"Kai!" Keiko laughed and pounced on him happily huggling his neck as best she could. "Sorry it took so long Amaya. I had to get a new ship, and I have something to askyou." He said, looking at her with a genuine softness in his brilliant green eyes.

Amaya smiled, "What do you need to ask me Kai?"

"If you'd willing to come with me up into space and serve in the GSA." Kai said, brushing a hair out of his eyes. Keiko was now sitting on his shoulder humming happily kicking her feet. 

Amaya's expression turned thoughtful as she walked from the door and took a seat on the couch. "I would love to Kai, but I have made a commitment to QIS that I feel I must also fulfil. I would love to find a way I can do both." 

"Hmm? What'd you commit?" He asked, sitting next to her on the couch.

"I did tell them I would help them. Truthfully though the details of my assignment have not yet been revealed to me." Amaya sighed and looked over at Kai, "I would truly love to join the GSA with you, after everything that happened I do not want to be separated from you."

"Well there's a protocol for that. You can work with them, but GSA comes first." Kai said with a chuckle, knowing that Irim made that up and it had worked out well.

"Please Amaya?" The little NH-12S on his shouler asked, giving her puppy eyes.
Sgzyr joined

Amaya smiled at Keiko, "How can I refuse when Keiko asks so adorably?"

Keiko smiled and kicked her feet excitedly and jumped over to Amaya and hugged her, rubbing affectionately, she had bonded with both of these two. Kai looked at her with a handsome smile. "I'm glad you want to come, but please, I'm in a bit of a hurry; do you have anything you need to bring?" Kai asked.

Amaya hugged Keiko and stood up, "Just myself."

Kai rose as well and offered her his arm in preparation to leave the room. "Consider yourself a member of the GSA."

"Thanks for coming back for me Kai." Amaya said it softly as she linked her arm in his.

"I wouldn't leave you behind, ever." Kai said and lead her out and to the elevator. "awww" Keiko said from Amaya's shoulder. "I think someone likes someone else here." She teased.

Amaya looked at the neko, "You shush missy."

Keiko giggled, "Look ait him blush." Indeed Kai was, his face turning red.

Yuuko was waiting on the roof. She been practicing her holograpic clothing skills, creating the GSA skirt uniform she'd downloaded from the Fortitude's computer (Chiharu had left the skirt uniform to the first and second fleet as part of her legacy). Of course, she was actually not wearing anything. It felt kind of kinky.

Amaya glanced over to Kai and then looked at Keiko, "Do you ever behave dear?"

They soon reached the roof and Keiko giggled. "all the time, Kai likes me to be funny and adorable."Keiko said innocently. Kai looked over at Yuuko and turned red, catching her inbetween experiments. Keiko noticed too and whistled lewdly at Yuuko as they approached.

Amaya looked at Yuuko and smiled before looking elsewhere to give her some sort of privacy.

Yuuko lost her concentration and nearly lost the outfit entirely, covering herself with her hands before hopping into the shuttle. She emerged wearing the holographic uniform and Kai's fleet cloak, just in case something went wrong. She shot Kai a dirty look.

Kai was looking elsewhere at the moment. Keiko was too, satisfied with herself while giggling

"Ahem," Yuuko prompted.



Amaya walked over to the shuttle and got inside. She made her way over to one of the seats and buckled herself in.

"Gomen Nasai." Kai muttered as he got in and strapped in next to Amaya. Keiko jumped up onto Yuuko's shoulder and kissed her ear. "You're cute Yuuko." 

"Thanks," Yuuko couldn't help but grin at Keiko as she started the takeoff sequence.

Keiko smiled back and playfully poked Yuuko.

Amaya looked over at Kai and reached over and took his hand gently in hers, "I'm still not used to this flying thing..."

Kai blushed gently and held her hand gently. "You'll get used to it, it's really quite exhilarating." He said.



JP
Wes
Jenn
Tyler




[GSS Celia, Ralfaris] Pick ups 
Lavinia Taiensho
12/30/03 15:49

ON>GSA Landing area, Ralfaris

It had been a while since the fall of the Seigi, and all the survivors had been collected up into the GSA landing area to await their pickups or reassignments. "Ahh man, it's good to be out of that desert isn't it?" Ritsu asked. Lavinia was sleeping leaning against him gently as they sat on a bench, safe under an overhang, watching the ships and shuttles.
He turned to Rikku who (I assume is nearby waited for her pickup as well) was sitting nearby. 

Rikku yawned and fidgited for a momenttrying to gt comfortable, "Yea, you got that right." she looked up at the two with a slightly warm smile before looking at her sister who had again fallen asleep, her bandage had become quite red from the wound she had been given from the pod crash. She flinched and moved about in her sleep. Rikku smiled and brought her legs up to her chest and sighed, resting her chin on her knees. They hadn't been on the seigi for very long and already this type of thing happens. Must just be our luck. Rikku thought to herself

Siaga looked up at Rikku with his big brown eyes, looking cute and licked her leg and curled up on her foot and fell asleep. "He seems to like you." Ritsu grinned at her. Lav purred in her sleep and cuddled against him closer, she had hemosythed a makeshift blanket and pulled it over her. "I know it's depressing being new and getting the ship destroyed. But they'll be here soon." Ritsu smiled at Rikku, offering comforting words.

Rikku nodded and watched the pup for a moment, "I guess I should expect the unexpected, and get used to things being destroyed, heck, I should already be used to it." she spoke softly stareing at the pup at her feet.

Just then a shuttle touched down not far from them, the backdoor opened smoothly and a green-haired nekos stepped out and looked over at them. "I am looking for Ms Kitsune Himora, Rikku Himora, Lavinia Taiensho and Mr. Ritsurin." she announced. Ritsu smoothly stood up and cradled the sleeping neko in his arms. "That's them now." He said and walked over. "Please get in, Chujo Ashigari sent me to retrieve the crew of the Seigi." The neko instructed. Ritsu nodded and strapped himself and Lav in, after calling: "Get the puppy will you?"

Kitsune snapped awake as Rikku stood, she automaticly stood up and waited for Rikku. Rikku stood carefully not to disturb the pup as she picked him up into her arms. Kitsune swiftly walked ahead silently, Rikku walked slowly rocking the puppy back and forth slowly, strapping herself and the puppy, as Kitsune sat next to Rikku and sighed looking at her hands.

The green-haired neko nodded to them and got into the pilot's seat and soon had the shuttle ready to take off and after that they were on their way back. "I'm taking you to the GSS-Celia, the Seigi's replacement." She offered offhandly. Lavinia was still outcold purring contently; Ritsu looked over at Kitsune. "Tired?"

Kitsune shook her head quietly and looked at the puppy for a moment and smiled, "No not at all." she said seemingly refreshed by the short nap.

"Well, looks like they've found you two a new home." He said. "I think it's time we leave and head back to geshrintall, Lav wants to settle down and have children." Ritsurin said, ruffling the purring nekos hair gently, making her snuggle against him.

Kitsune smiled and looked at the two of them, "I'm glad you two are happy, you deserve to be. And I hope you live out a long, loving life." By this time Rikku was stareing at the pup warmly, and sighed "I'll miss you two, even if we..." kitsune interupted "Haven't known you for a long time" Rikku finished it "We will miss you." 

Ritsu laughed good-naturedly. "You two are funny, it's not like we're leaving forever, you're gonna be welcome to come visit." He was wondering why she was staring at the puppy. "Why are you looking at the wolf like that?" He asked.

She blinked and smiled, "Hes just a cutey." she said smileing, "I'm a sucker for pups." she said smileing at Ritsu, Kitsune shook her head and smiled "Shes a crazy one is what she is." she said giggleing as she poked Rikku. 

"Would you believe I looked partially like that?" Ritsu asked offering her a recent picture of him and Lav. He had long dark hair with cute dog ears on his head instead of human or neko ears.

She grinned and giggled, "Awwww, your just as cute as the puppy." she said still giggleing as she showed it to Kitsune, "Awwww he is a cutey" she said teasing him.

Ritsu laughed. "You can keep that one, we have a few more." Ritsu looked sad apparently and suddenly.

Rikku blinked at his expression, "Hey whats the matter?" she said as if she was the only one that noticed his expression

"I see that picture and I get reminded that I was the last of that species." He shook his head. Just then the shuttle landed in the shuttle bay of the Celia and the neko hurried through and opened the door. "We're here." She announced proudly and stepped off. Ritsu shook his head and laughed again, unstrapping himself and Lav..

Kitsune stuck the picture in Rikku's back pocket and smiled, Rikku picked up the pup after unstrapping herself and made her way to the exit of the shuttle. She sighed and gracefully stepped out and onto the bay ground awaiting the others.

Ritsu walked out and nodded to them; "Chujo Ashigari is a bit busy right now, but I'm to show you to your quarters." A MEGAMI sprite said, motioning to them.

Rikku nodded and looked at Ritsu, wondering what she was to do with the pup. Kitsune followed straight after the MEGAMI sprite. Rikku strode through the bay after the two of them, still hopeing she wouldn't wake the pup as she did so. 

Ritsu followed them as the sprite showed them to their rooms. Apparently they were going to share the same nest. "Just settle him into the nest and he'll be fine." Ritsu said.

Rikku nodded, she set the pup in a comfy spot and sat on the ground with a sigh. She was exhausted, and so was Kitsune, though Kitsune sat down and suprisingly fell asleep just as quick as she sat.

Ritsu set Lav down and kissed her forehead gently, causing her to curl up and snuggle against Kitsune, out of old habit.

"I'm going to talk with the captain." He said and silently left the room.

Rikku nodded and leaned against Kitsune falling asleep doing so. Siaga woke up and jumped into the nest and curled up on the batch of warm nekos and went back to sleep.

JP

Tyler
Tish




[4th fleet, Ralfaris] Fire, Brimstone, and Reconstruction. 
Tasuki Uso
12/23/03 10:02



The massive doors to the underground tunnels opened once again to let the population of the Qelnoran industrial sector out into their ruined homes. As the millions of refuges left they were greeted by one of the rarest occurrences on the planet, rain. Their homes lay before them, flattened by the torpedo strike on the planet while the dust and sand in the sky continued to expand. In only a few more days it would cover the entire planet and drop temperatures worldwide. 

Qelnoran Construction had already started to rebuild the damaged area's. hundreds of prefabricated structures were taken out of storage and placed in the various trucks and ships that would take them to where they would be needed while bulldozers started to clear out the ruined residential area. 

From space the ships of the 4th fleet could see the cloud expanding around the planet. But this was not to delay their work. The few prefabricated parts of the planetary ring were being moved into place by using their own drive systems as well as the help of thousands of fleet tending drones. All of the moon's started rapidly building more of the ring to be put into place. 

The 4th fleet continued to receive crew from the planet. The population was now moved to war. With no homes, hordes of people came to be recruited. Over the next few days the fleet would be fully crewed and in need of even more ships marking the start of another major expansion for the fleet.




[GSS Celia, GSS Fortitude, Ralfaris] Lost and Found 
Alexis Jaren
12/29/03 15:27

ON>

Yuuko felt right at home on the bridge of the Integrated Strike Force Crusier. The bridge was the same design as the one on the GSS Yui, except that there was an additional control center below the main one, which hung over it like a balcony over a garden. The ship was in orbit over Ralfaris with the rest of the small group of ships that was the core of the newest fleet, the 3rd Expeditionary. Where would they go first? She wondered.

Alexis slipped through the halls of the Star Army outpost on Ralfaris, expertly dodging people as they hurried by. The recent attack by the Jaaq'tah had occurred just after Tomoyo, Inari, Hikari, and Kyoshi were retrieved by a search party. And before that, Alexis had discovered that if Tomoyo allowed him, he could...well, for lack of a better term, "pilot" her body. Meanwhile, only Inari knew that Tomoyo was sharing with the shifter, they had told her after she questioned Tomoyo about the strange occurances (her glowing eyes, the sudden cold spell in the escape pod, etc.). But no one else knew about it at this point.

~Where are we going?~ asked Tomoyo. ~I need to get back to the Seigi, there are some personal belongings I left there. Some I don't want anyone disassembling.~ He arrived at the transport area and started looking for a vehicle he could borrow. "Excuse me? Can anyone take me to the Seigi crash site?" he asked, using Tomoyo's voice.

Sakura yawned again, staring out of the brig. She streched, and rubbed her eyes as she desperatly wanted to wake up. She streched her wings, as scrawny as they are, and laid back against the wall

Yuuko got up from her station and headed to the shuttlebay, where her lavender shuttle was parked among the the other 3 of its type that came with the cruiser. Strapping herself in, she had Megami open the bay doors. She headed toward the GSS Fortitude.

"I'm heading there right now," A QnL officer said as he waved to Tomoyo, "I can take you there if you want." He had on the standard QnL uniform and a gasmask. The sky was filled with enough sand and dirt to block out the sun and going out unprotected was a bad idea. His ship was a large bulk transport that was being unloaded.

Alexis smiled and bowed his head. "Thank you. When are you leaving?"

"Good morning, Sakura," Ryoshi cooed to Sakura. The neko was on the cot with her.

Sakura looked over at her, and jumped a bit, almost falling off the cot. "G, geez, You scared me"

"In a few minutes," He said. He was waiting on the ground crew to finish unloading the stuff onboard. From the looks of it only a few crates remained, "So why are you heading to the Seigi?" he asked.

The sentry gave wrapped her arm around Sakura's waist and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "I hear someone wants you as a crew member, if you're up for it...an exploration ship."

"I left some personal items on board that I would like to get back." Alexis eyed the mask...maybe that would be a good idea to have...he patted Tomoyo's hips, where pockets would be on a male uniform, and frowned at not finding any. A skin-tight outfit like this didn't really allow for any.

She poked Ryoshi's nose "Depends" she said as she hugged her back

"Looking for something?" The QnL officer asked as the final crates finished unloading.

"Yes. Those belongings." Amazing how often people didn't really listen to you, Alexis mused.

He chuckled,"I didn't mean that, You just look like you lost something becuase you just searched your body." 

"An intel job," Ryoshi explained. "I'm transferring to this new ship, in Third Expeditionary, and I asked if you could come along. I know the communications chief, Yuuko, from our old assignments working in Central Uesureya as security sentries."

"Oh, right...I was looking for something to serve as a dust mask. But I forgot that I didn't have any pockets. Um...would you happen to have a spare?" Alexis asked politely.

Sakura smiled, and rubbed Ryoshi's head "I'd love to come along" she said as her wings flapped.

He walked over to a nearby HCS terminal and pressed a few buttons. It synthed him a new dust mask and he tossed if over to her. "Here ya go," he said as he went to board his ship.

In a few minutes Yuuko was aboard the Fortitude and moving to the brig. Ryoshi smiled when the short purple-haired neko arrived ,and introduced the two. "Yuuko, this is Sakura. Sakura, Yuuko."

"Thank you!" Alexis draped the mask around her neck until she needed to use it and followed the Qel'noran aboard the ship. "May I know your name, sir?" she asked as she came inside.

"Good to see you again Ryoshi," Yuuko nodded.

She bowed respectfully "How do you do ma'am? It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Diak," he replied. The ship had a small cockpit with 4 chairs, two for the pilots and two just behind those. The door out of the cockpit led to a large open area used to store stuff. He sat down in the pilots chair and pressed a few buttons to bring the ship's drives online and soon they were airborn.

Yuuko returned the bow. "Shall we go?" she asked.

"I'm ready" Sakura said with a giggle "It's not like I have anything to collect up"

"Diak...nice to meet you." Alexis quickly took a seat in one of the rear chairs, hoping they were for the passengers if this ship carried any. Once they had left port, she looked outside...The shifter heard Tomoyo gasp in his mind and nodded slowly. "This planet will never be the same, will it? Remember what they said? That wasn't even a full-scale attack. I hope this war is ended quickly, before they can destroy a planet completely..." he murmered aloud. It was like Mount St. Helens multiplied, the dust was everywhere...

Diak was general silent. A few minutes into the trip he reached over to one of the pannels and flicked a switch that turned on the external lights. This afforded them the ability to see a feet infront of them. Even with the powerful lights it was completely black. ""Transport 06 change your approch vector by..." The general incomprehensible babble of a control tower came in over a speaker. The pilot was paying attention but for the most part was letting the computer fly the ship. The ship started to decend and soon they came below the massive dust cloud. It was still dark and dusty but at least they could see the ground. A large shallow canyon was dug into the ground by the impact ending in a massive crater. A makeshift dome had been erected over the resting place of the ship and around it were a few wearhouses and living quarters. Inside of the impact canyon a small landing strip had been set up where other transports were being loaded. A few more moments and the ship was about to touch down.

Yuuko and Ryoshi both nodded, and together with Sakura, they headed to the shuttle.

Yuuko asked Sakura, while they were walking, "Will you be ok with living with nekos, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded "I don't see why not. It sounds pretty fun"

The short neko grinned and leaned over to whisper in Ryoshi's ear. Whatever she said made them both giggle.

Sakura poked Ryoshi's nose "What was that?"

Ryoshi grinned. "She wanted to know what you slept in."

Yuuko pinched Ryoshi's butt in revenge and the security neko yelped, "AIEE!"

The angel giggled, still in what she was captured in "You two certainly are playful"

Alexis waited until the ship was on the ground before getting up and heading to the exit hatch. She pulled the mask up to cover her face before leaving the ship.

Yuuko stepped into the shuttle's cockpit and Ryoshi strapped hersefl into the rear section. "Do you mind," Yuuko asked, "if we take a trip to the surface to pick up some of our people?"

The outside area was fairly well lit even through the dust. Diak went to talk with another QnL officer as his ship was being loaded with crates.

Sakura strapped herself in as well, "I don't mind at all,"

The shifter quickly headed to the Seigi and found the entrance, then made her way to the bridge and her former quarters...the shuttle was important, but she wanted to grab her satchel first.

Yuuko's shuttle shot out of the bay and descended to into the dusty skies of the planet below, headed for the main Fleet Support base. Two SOSD drones from 1st Fleet escorted the shuttle as if headed below. Yuuko left the doorway to the cockpit open, so the two people in the back had a good view, but there wasn't much to see with all the dust in the air. Yuuko had to rely on her sensors more than her eyes.

"FSB, this is Taii Sakai Yuuko. I'm looking for Ex-Seigi crew... can you tell me where the survivors are?"

The Seigi was very different from what it once was. Most of the ship had been altered in some shap form or fashion. The pilots quarters had been removed completely. Everything that had been on the Seigi when it crashed was gone, moved to the wearhouses while the ship was being refited. While she was on the ship several QnSe guards were following her while a few engeneers were running around finishing up their work. The majority of the work on the Seigi itself had been completed and the workforce was elsewhere at the moment.

"Oh, gotta stop by the medbay too..gotta grab my pad and the other stuff I had in my pockets," Alexis noted. "Wow, I left a lot here...did you leave anything?" Tomoyo thought a bit. ~I did! Acara's seedpod! We've got to go to my quarters...they're near the medbay, so we can go there before then.~ "Okay," answered the shifter, nearing the bridge.

The AI gave Yuuko a quick listing of where all of the Seigi crew was including the neko's that were onboard fighters and minion's when the ship went down.

Yuuko browsed over the list. "Hmm, Tomoyo's in the Seigi. Let's go there and pick her up."

Ryoshi seemed to have a crush on her former prisoner. As Yuuko flew the couple around, Ryoshi took Sakura's hand in her own and began stroking it with her thumb.

Sakura blushed a soft red, her wings fluttering a bit.

"Hey...where is it?" Alexis arrived at her room and frowned when she saw there was nothing in it...everything, even the pillows in the nest, were gone. "Oh...I hope they didn't get rid of my body!" she exclaimed and rushed back to the exit. If they took everything, then maybe the shuttle and the seedpod were okay...but what would they do to a corpse? "Excuse me, but where have they put the dead?" she asked the next salvage-worker she saw. "And personal belongings too?"

Yuuko was too distracted by flying to notice Ryoshi making moves on Sakura. Ryoshi keaned in closer to the girl, leaning her head on her shoulder, her lips pressing against Sakura's reddened cheek. Opening her mouth slightly, she licked at the half-angel's ear.

"All the stuff that was on the ship has been moved to the warehouses to await transport to a storage area in QIS," The worker responded.

Sakura blushed a darker red, closing her eyes as she felt Ryoshi's tongue. She turned her head a bit to look over at Ryoshi, still blushing

"Including any dead?" Alexis asked.

"They found one body, it was sent to the medical tent I think," he said

Yuuko's familiar shuttle pulled up next to the ship Alexis had arrived on. Ryoshi french-kissed Sakura. Yuuko turned around just in time to catch it, and quickly looked forward again, not wishing to intrude. The small-statured pilot was more embarassed than Sakura.

~One body? So everyone got out!~ Tomoyo and Alexis thought at the same time. ~Yes!~ added Alexis, relieved that the damage was not as bad as it could have been. "Where might the med tent be?"

"Its outside....somwhere, I gave up trying to find the other buildings after the attack."

She blushed a crimson red as she felt Ryoshi's tongue press against her own. Her tongue moved a bit, rubbing against Ryoshi's in return

Yuuko announced, "We're here." to the two kissing girls in the back.

Ryoshi made a disappointed face, which quickly turned to a devilish grin. "Why don't you find Tomoyo. I'll stay with Sakura," she suggested.

"Oh. Okay." Alexis started toward the nearest one, hopefully the medical one...there were a couple of devices that might allow QnS to access the Cat's Claw. What had posessed him to bring that ship in the first place? At least it had given him something to work on...Tomoyo noticed the shifter's agitation and tried to send a feeling of relaxation his direction...~It'll be okay. Stressing about something never did anything to help it, you can relax.~ Alexis smiled slightly, then nodded slightly. ~Thank you. I'll try.~ Arriving at the building, the shifter looked around to see if it was the right one.

Sakura blushed darker, but nodded in agreement "Sounds like a plan to me"

Fortunitly Alexis managed to find the medical tent on his first venture through the dust. Two layers of plastic flaps kept in mostly free of dust. The entire area looked polished and sterilised. Two medics were in the room and near the back a single body bag that was full. 

Yuuko reluctantly, after a long consideration, stepped out of the shuttle, and went into the Seigi, looking for Alexis. As soon as the rear door closed again, Ryoshi unstrapped herself from the side seat and sat across Sakura's knees facing her.

Alexis approached the bodybag and slowly unsealed it. Inside lay a fairly charred body, but it wasn't stinking. The skin seemed to be dissolving on its own. Tomoyo shuddered. Alexis patted down the body, but found nothing in the pockets. "Stink," she muttered, then noticed something in the tray nearby. "There they are, good." 

As Yuuko entered she was tailed by two QnSe guards. 

"Where's Tomoyo?" Yuuko asked one of them.

"Tomoyo?" The first one asked, "She means the Geshrin that came in here earlyer smart one," the other said sarcasticly as he checked with the computer, "Ya she is in the medical tent." 

Sakura blushed darker, and wrapped her arms around Ryoshi, drawing her into another kiss.

"Mmm," Ryoshi was so into it. The holographic uniform on her disappeared, exposing her creamy-looking neko skin.

Yuuko appeared at the entrance to the medical tent shortly. "Tomoyo?"

The shifter quickly fingered through the stuff and then tried to figure out how to take it with her...she had no pockets. ~You could use your old jacket,~ Tomoyo suggested, but Alexis could feel that she didn't want to see that body again. But he took the suggestion anyway, closing their eyes so she wouldn't have to see it. ~Good idea,~ he said, then stuffed the pad, interface device, and a couple of other things into the jacket pockets before turning around and jumping. "Oh! Yuuko!"

Sakura blushed darker, sliding her tongue against Ryoshi's, her hands rubbing her back softly.

"Hey there! I was looking all over for you!" Yuuko smiled.

"Oh, yeah." Alexis fumbled, folding the jacket over her arms in front of her. "I wanted to come back here to gather a few things. That's all."

Ryoshi's hands slipped beneath Sakura's clothes and caressesed the mounds beneath, lustily pressing herself closer. (See this post for details of these relations)

"I brought my shuttle. Do you want to come back to the GSS Celia?" Yuuko asked. "You could join the 3rd XF exploration mission."

"Thank you, but I already have a ride to the Celia," Alexis said quietly. "And I still have some things in the warehouse to get together before I can go, I wouldn't want to make you wait."

"You do?" Yuuko asked. "Oh..."

Sakura moaned softly, feeling Ryoshi's hands beginnign to play

"Ok. Do you know any other survivors that need a ride to the Celia?" Yuuko questioned, looking to make her journey here worthwhile.

~Tomoyo, what do I do?~ the shifter asked, a hint of nerves in his thought. ~You're doing fine,~ Tomoyo replied. ~Hey, we left the others at the outpost, maybe they would want a ride to the Celia!~ Alexis mentally smiled and relayed the suggestion to Yuuko. "Um...no, sorry...Oh! Wait, we...I mean, I left Inari, Hikari, and a man named Kyoshi at the GSA landing area, they might want a ride up," she said with a smile.

"Okay!" Yuuko enthusiastically smiled, and headed back to her shuttle.

Alexis smiled bigger and waved after Yuuko. "I'll see you there!" she called after the Neko. Then she turned toward the warehouse to search for the satchel and the Cat's Claw...

Yuuko nodded and flashed her teeth in a grin as she left the tent.

"Well it isn't one of ours...," Said the first QnT guy, "well ya... what is it then?" the other asked, the converssation continued for a while before they came to a conclution, "Lets open the door and find out." One of the scientists picked up a rather long metal stick and started poking at the door controls from a distance, "why are you doing that?" the other asked. "Because... it could be dangerous."

Alexis quickly found the assault ship, it was in plain view. Smirking at the two QnT people poking at it with a stick, she got out the interface device from the jacket pocket and placed it on her temple. Tomoyo suddenly felt a rush of information leaving her brain...but nothing from her mind, it was all coming from Alexis. The craft, which was previously just sitting on the ground lopsided because of the angled-down nacelle on the left side, suddenly lifted into the air and started hovering a foot above the warehouse floor. ~Maybe they will think they did something now,~ Alexis thought to Tomoyo with a smirk.

"What the?... why is the onbutton on the outside of the ship? that makes no sense..." The one with the stick remarked. The other sighed and let the man poke around. He started to poke at the underside of the ship and at the nacelles, trying to get other reactions from the ship.

All they got were the strange halo effects as they pressed on the nano-armor...sometimes the nanites would stick to their fingers or the stick, but it would always evaporate if they pulled it away. Alexis decided to let them play a bit more, and started looking for the satchel. Poking the armor was like poking really firm gelatin covered with plastic wrap.

"What are you doing?" "I'm trying to open the door..." The man with the stick said as he continued to poke at the ship.

Great...almost everything was crated up to be shipped out. Hmm...Alexis went back to the two messing with the ship and tapped the one with the stick on the shoulder. "Do you guys have this stuff organized by any chance? I think something of mine is in there," she said politely.

The with the stick kept poking while the other responded, "The Seigi was a real mess but we did our best to get all the personal items together. If your stuff is not listed on the inventory digitaly then try looking in that pile of stuff over there." he said as he pointed to a large field of stuff layed out in the center of the warehouse.

"Where is the list?" the shifter replied.

"Do you have a datapad? You can get the list from the computer if you do." He said.

"Okay, thank you." Minutes later, after some searching and mistakes, Alexis found the satchel. But they couldn't find Acara's pod anywhere in the manifest. "Was there a sort of seed reported anywhere?" she called back to the stick-weilding scientists. "It would be fairly large."

"Ya they found something like that somewhere on the ship and put it in some place..." The man with the stick said, "Try looking in the warehouse next to this one, I think they have the chief engener's body in there or something like that," The stickless man said.

"Oh, okay. Thank you!" The Geshrin girl returned to the Cat's Claw and smiled sweetly at them as she climbed up on the left nacelle and dropped into a hatch that had suddenly opened on the top. "Thank you for your help and for taking care of my stuff," she said and disappeared into the compartment below.

"HA! see! I told you that is how you open the door." The man with the stick said...

~Okay, I think we can pick up the pod later, I'm not sure you would have the clearence to get it out now,~ Alexis said as he set her hands on the control panel in front of them. The engines powered up, a slight rushing sound coming from the right nacelle as the APAD drive started. The holographic display in front of them showed the stick-weilder behind them, but he wouldn't be in any danger as long as he didn't move right...The craft rose higher, then slowly moved to the doorway of the warehouse.

Yuuko was watching the activity inside her shuttle from outside the front window. Apparently the sentry was keeping the half-Elysian quite "occupied." She wasn't sure if she should interrupt. Finally, Yuuko walked over to the shuttle and used the control panel to open the rear door.

Ryoshi turned and hopped up, flashing back into her uniform as the rear door to the shuttle began to open. She kicked a pair of panties behind one of Yuuko's dufflebags. Yuuko slowly stepped into the shuttle after the door opened, giving the two an amused and questioning look. Ryoshi tried to act casual.

Sakura closed her legs and whispered to Ryoshi "I better get those back!"

Yuuko raised an eyebrow and strapped herself in the pilot's seat. Shortly thereafter, the shuttle headed to the GSA landing site to pick up Hikari, Inari,and Kyoshi.

END>

JP: 
Wes - Yuuko and Ryoshi
Zack - Qel'norans and AI
Nick - Alexis and Tomoyo
Solo - Sakura




[Ralfaris] Picks up (cont) 
Lavinia Taiensho
12/30/03 15:49

As a part of the continuing effort to recover the Seigi survivors; Kai had sent out another shuttle to pick up or search for anymore people. Having nothing to really do while Lavinia napped, Ritsurin ended up being ordered to accompany the neko pilot Reiko down. The Ki-T2 (like the Kitty) had been tracking a pod's homing signal for a while when it died; damaged on reentry apparently.

"Ah Dammit!" Ritsu swore. "Go to the last place the signal was recieved."

"Good thinking, but I'm already a step ahead of ya." Reiko grinned at him.

They landed in the pod's site a few moments later, it was in shambles, debris and smoldering pieces everywhere...but no dead bodies. "Odd." Ritsu commented.


"There's tracks over here." Reiko said, looking at four pairs of boot prints.


"Hmm?" Ritsu looked over and noticed the tracks heading for a small settlement.

"Let's go find'em!" Reiko said in a no-nonsense tone. Ritsu shook his head with a light chuckle as he got in. The shuttle was off again following the tracks; staying low as to not miss anything important. 

Keenara and her medics had survived the crash, but all the communications systems had been fried in the reentry. It had not taken them long to find the settlement nearby. Acara was nowhere to be seen. The people of the settlement had suffered many injuries and casuaties due to the attack on Ralfaris, and Keenara couldn't turn a blind eye to it, so for the time being she stayed there to help the wounded.


"Yo!" a voice from above her head called. "You the one they call Mikoshu Keenara?" A platinum-haired young man addressed her. Ritsu was leaning out of the back of the shuttle that was hovering overhead.

She looked up and smiled. "Finally, you guys sure take your sweet time don't you? Gimme a second and I'll get the others."


"Not my fault!" Ritsu laughed. "Hurry up will ya? We don't have all day ya know." He teased.

She laughed lightly as she entered a building; after a few minutes Keenara come back out with the other medics. "Now if you'll just get down here we will be happy to return to the ship."

Ritsurin stuck his tongue out at her as Reiko landed the shuttle nearby. He stepped off out the door to the make room. "Now if you'll just get your butts on the shuttle."

Keenara let out another short laugh as she and her team stepped on board. "Shall we?" was all that was said as they buckled up and left for the GSS Celia.

JP

Garion (Keenara)
Tyler (Ritsurin, Reiko)




[Ralfaris] drinking buddies and luggage racks. 
Tasuki Uso
1/2/04 19:54

ON> Ralfaris Civilian Landing field.

After what seemed to be an inordinate amount of time in a small, cramped ship. Saito stepped out of the Civilian craft and looked around. "I think this is the place where all the action is." He mused aloud as he started to wander out of the area. He had gotten a lift to the planet with a traveling Geshrin who has going to a GSA ship in orbit and ruefully agreed to drop him off there. 

As he stepped out of the ship he was greeted by the infinitely large cloud of dust that had engulphed the planet. Even with his body's enhanced sight he could only make out a few meters in front of him. The only real light came from the landing beacons and from the spotlight they now used to locate buildings that was shining from right beside the door of the main complex.

Saito adjusted his open chested kimono shirt and the sword in the sash around his waist before continuing on. "Odd sort of place this is.." His metallic silvery hair glinting like the edge of a sharp sword and rustling slightly in the light breeze, the young male neko idly strolled toward the door of the main building.

Two Qelnorans rushed inside of the building from their craft with dust masks over their heads. The stuff was everywhere.

He looked confused and followed the two Qel'Norans inside. "Hey, what's going on?" He tried to ask one of them.

One of the Qelnorans had on a QnAg uniform, "All the corporate landing platforms are backed up," He said, "So we got stuck coming down to this one."

"Why are the corporate landing platforms backed up?" Saito asked in a confused tone. He didn't know much about what was going on this planet; his curiosity had driven him here to find out.

"Recruitment," The other said, "It seems that sense the Jaaq'tah showed up everyones itching for some payback, I hear that QnL is having a hard time finding ships to put everyone on."

"Oh." Saito replied. "I suppose that's understandable; is there anything else to be done other than run around like bakas?" He smirked.

"Were heading into QIS, your free to run around like a baka." The QnAg man said as him and his companion again hurried off outside after an APC pulled up and honked its horn.

"Hey! Mind if I ride along?" Saito asked quickly, following them.

They didn't seem to pay attention to the neko as they got onboard the APC although the door stayed open for him

He grinned slightly as the thought of something to do entered his mind and he leapt inside after a moment and pulled the door shut. "Guess not." He commented as he sat down cross-legged.

In a few moments the APC closed up its doors and headed out into the dust for QIS.

"Is this place always so dusty?" Saito asked idly.

"Ever sense the attack..." The Qelnoran replied.

"It'll calm down after a while I think." Saito nodded.

They both chuckled

"What?"

"The dust is here to stay. There is nowhere for it to go so it just continues to spread out all over the planet. Its going to be up there for many, many years.

Saito frowned. "That sucks."

"Ya... that is why a lot of people are leaving." The man said with a frown.

"Um...there wouldn't happen to be many nekos around would there?" Saito asked hopefully.

"There are, but most of the people are Qelnoran." 

"I guess that'd be right, this is the Qel'Noran homeworld." Saito laughed, brushing a hair out of his face. "Since I am one, I was hoping to find a couple like me."

"I have never seen a neko male before..." The other commented, "little chance of finding another like that." "Well there are the NH-X's, The QnAg man commented.

"I'm a custom order. I was originally owned by a woman." Saito said casually. "But I meant other nekos period."

"Well..." "We are almost there," The driver interrupted, "Well there are a lot of them here and there." He said.

Saito brightened up. "I hope I can meet a couple nice ones."

The APC continued on for a little while and then stopped outside of the QnT tower. At which point the Qelnorans got off and headed inside.

Saito jumped out as well and looked around. "Whoa."

The tower stretched for as far as the eye could see, which here wasn't very far but the dust made a nice effect anyways. The Lobby of the building was packed with people. Most were joining up with the GSA or QnT.

Saito yawned and wandered through the area, looking at the various faces of the people who were joining. Saito didn't have any intention of joining either one of them since he valued his free time.

There were no neko's among the crowd. They were either already enlisted or already part of the company, in most cases both.

Saito grimaced and looked around for a place to get a drink, the dust had made him thirsty.

The recreation areas were off limits to civilians as were most of the tower, but a lookout area that had been set up before the dust was open to everyone.

Saito headed for the observation area to have a look around. "Oh man. No place to get a drink for civilians? Shit that bites."

The elevator took him directly to the observation floor, which looked out upon the city. From here you could only see some of the other towers but not the streets below. A few neko's and Qelnorans were also here.

Saito grinned and nodded to one of the nekos. "Hi" He said as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

The neko was talking with a Qelnoran at the time and bearly even noticed Saito, "Oh hello," she said before returning to her conversation.

He shrugged idly and looked around at the tops of the other buildings. Saito sighed heavily; this wasn't all he had hoped for...too much dust. "Is there any rec areas in this huge building?" He asked a nearby qel'noran

"Ya, The Qelnoran said without looking away from the window that had started its self-cleaning cycle, "But for security reasons its Corporate and Military personnel only, you might try checking out one of the local bars." He said.

"I'll do just that. Thanks." Saito said and headed for the elevator. He hit the button to return to the ground level still in hopes of finding a friendly neko or two.

The streets were filled with dust like always as he returned to them to seek out a bar

Saito coughed out the dust a bit and walked through it, using his enhanced sight and smell to find the sight or odor of a bar.

Saito got a nose-full of dust as he tried to smell out a bar. His body seemed to be covered in the stuff now.

"Damn!" He swore out loud and snuffled the dust out as he looked, straining his sight to see through the dust. "I need a way to disperse this crap." He mused, thinking. Saito grinned and hemosynthed a pair of large wings with a metallic sheen to them and fanned the air in front of his, using his grav system to stay in one place while he tried to blow away the dust enough to try and spot a bar.

All he managed to do is clear the air around him, however he did manage to see the neon sign of a bar off in the distance.

Saito stopped his actions and dissolved the wings back into his body and walked toward the neon sign that he had seen. "At least that helped some."

The bar had a rotating door, the inside was relatively dust free with many Qelnorans and Neko's sitting at the various tables. 

Saito coughed once as he entered, and brushed himself up, shaking the dust out of his hair. "Darn, whatta pain that dust is." he commented as his lavender eyes swept the room to view the patrons, his eyes also went to the bar to see if there were any open seats.

There were 5 open seats at the bar out of 10 total. A group of four were clustered around a data pad while the 5th, a Neko, Sat off to the side a bit.

Saito popped his neck and walked over to the bar and took a seat, closer to the neko off to one side. "Got any green tea with some mint?" He asked the bartender.

The bartender took a few moments then brought him exactly what he asked for. 

"How much?" He asked, digging into the deep pocket in his hakama pants, the slits on the sides showing only black pants. His eyes looking over at the lone neko out of the corner of them.

The bartender chuckled, "We don't really use KS around here." The neko off to his side was wearing baggy work pants and a white tank top. Infront of her was a datapad that had a hand drawn map of the tunnel system below Ralfaris.

"Well what do you work in?" Saito asked. "And who is she?" He asked nodding his head toward the neko.

"We don't really use money around here anymore..." He said, "And that is," "Uso," She interrupted.

she took another drink from her glass and continued to look at the map in front of her.

"Uso hmm?" Saito asked, how looking at her more, wanting to see more what she looked like.

Uso looked like, Uso. She hadn't changed much sense she was on the Yui other than her new outfit. She still had her long green ponytail and purple eyes, she hadn't even given much thought to changing her appearance.

Saito sipped his drink and grinned, it tasted perfect. "Ms. Uso?" He asked a bit hesitantly. "What're ya lookin' at?"

"Maps," She said as she motioned toward the datapad with her head.

"Oh, of what?" He asked leaning back slightly and over at the datapad screen.

"If I told you I'd have to kill you... painfully," She said with a slight laugh.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Saito laughed back, slightly. "Cute woman like you. I wouldn't think you would, but that's the advantage." 

"Ah so you've died painfully before?" she asked with a slight chuckle.

"Had to several times. To save my master." Saito said as he sipped his drink.

"Whom were you sold to?" she asked.

"She ordered my construction. I was a custom order, like you were." Saito said, looking at her with his lavender eyes.

"Heh, I'm not exactly custom." She said.

"violet eyes." Saito said. "I thought all custom orders had them."

"Well technically I guess all custom orders would have them... unless they wanted a different eye color. In any case I'm just a standard store bought version," Uso said.

"You must be talented then." He grinned at her. "My mistress wanted an exotic look so I've got this hair and eye color. I was meant to be a bodyguard and pleasure as well; I was treated well in return."

Uso was busy looking at datapad she had put down on the bar. Beside her was some male neko asking questions. The bar was called Fate and it had been a popular hangout for QIS people to visit. It wasn't to crowded this time of day and the endless dust darkening the skies of Ralifaris were keeping the normal crowds from swarming the place.

Sergei sighed slightly as he walked out of the restaurant he had been in. He was having a hard time finding work around this new planet.. He had the credentials to make a wonderful cook, but he just didn't know any of the local dishes. He shook his head and looked down the street, deciding that he would try one more place, then would head for the place he had been staying. He walked up to the door of the bar and walked in. He found a seat at the bar, setting his black duffel bag down at his feet and looking around.

"You want anything?" The bartender asked Sergei as he sat down. The Qelnoran looked a head taller than everyone in the bar and his red scales were clean and shiny much unlike the rest of the people who had come in through the dust. 

Saito took an idle sip of the green tea and looked over at the newcomer, taking in his features instantly at a glance. The male neko looked down at himself and sighed, brushing off some residual dust. "Whatta drag this place is, I thought something better would have happened." He looked back to Uso; able to tell that she was the type of person who was in things for the thrill of it from her demeanor.

Sergei smiled slightly to the person who had spoken to him. He rubbed a hand over his white ponytail to try and get the dust off, then responded . "I don't know...Do you have green tea?" He watched the Qelnoran, head canting to the side as he took in everything about the bartender's features.

"Yep," He said as he turned around and got a can of the stuff, he poured it out into a glass and then brought it to Sergei, "Anything else?" he asked.

Since she was small enough, Natsumi slipped into the bar easily. She got a few dirty looks from people since she was less than four feet tall. She mumbled something as she looked around, before she moved toward the bar.

"You're looking for excitement?" Uso asked as she looked over at him, "Try joining the military or the corporation, I'm sure they will give you something to do," She said with a chuckle.

Saito yawned a bit and turned slightly and looked at the small neko with a perked eyebrow; his sensitive hearing having picked up her entry. "What the perks of it?" He asked Uso, now looking at her again.

"Hello there Ms, I'll be with you in just a moment," the bartender said to the new arrival, assuming she was a neko youngling.

"No, that's it." He responded and slowly took the glass and sipped its contents. He nodded his approval to the bartender, wondering just what good it would do. He began to look around the bar again, his amber eyes taking in the occupants, and sharp ears picked up bits of conversations. He was particularly interested in the people talking not far away. They were talking about the military, and some sort of "corporation."

Natsumi nodded to the bartender, and yawned softly. She swished her tail a bit, the same color as her hair. She climbed up onto a bar stool and stretched, yawning softly

The bartender walked over to the small neko, "Hello what can I do for you?" He asked, Uso turned a bit to face Saito and started talking, "Well you have a very good change of getting blown up in QnSe. After the attack New dawn has been able to recruit a lot more people and word has it they are planning on attacking Geshrintall sometime soon. As for the military it looks like the Qelnoran industrial sector will be home base for the 3rd XF, you can get with them and get lost out in the stars for all I care."

Saito grinned, she amused him, at least the attitude did. "They won't get through Geshrintall's defenses. My homeworld is too tough to go down that easy." He said. "Feh, military aint my thing. What does the QnT do? I was there earlier."

"I just want a drink... not to strong, but something that still packs a punch," Natsumi replied, looking up at him "please," she added to stay polite. Her tail swished more. She looked around the bar, her eyes scanning each person, before turning back to the bar.

Uso chuckled, "Gesh's defenses won't do anything, these guys aren't going to attack directly and I have no faith in SAINT's (Star Army Intelligence) ability to stop them." Uso took another drink and then started again, "QnT is responsible for creating new technologies. They have quite a sizeable fleet now with he completion of the Seigi and the Genesis, you might want to join up with them sometime." She said. The bartender nodded to Natsumi and left, coming back a few moments later with some odd fizzing red drink. "Is that all?" He asked.

Sergei smiled at the woman's seemingly fiery attitude. He set his tea on the bar and just watched her. He was starting to get interested in the Military she was talking about. He had heard of Geshrintall, and the weapons that they possessed. It seemed to him, that someone had told him that the entire populace of the planet was some sort of super weapon. He didn't believe that for a second, but it would still be interesting to go find out. But what really intrigued him was the mention of some 3rd XF, what could that be? Something space bound he would guess, from her mention of her companion's getting lost in the stars.

"Yes, thank you" Natsumi replied, and picked up the drink, taking a quick, long drink. She put it down, and wiped her upper lip

"Whatever you say. They may surprise even you ms cynic." Saito scoffed. Saito looked over at the bartender, "can I get 6 cans of soda?" He asked since the tender was there. He looked back at Uso; "QnT sounds interesting, but I'm not much for technology, I'm only a guardian." Saito said, fingering the golden hilt of the sword on his lap.

"Oh ya I'm sure, you must be SOOOO good with that outdated sword of yours." Uso said as she took another drink. "And another thing," Uso turned to look at the person easdroping on her, "Its not polite to do that," She said.

"Better than you are." Saito muttered. "Isn't my fault I was created this way." He said with a fire in his eyes. He grinned suddenly. "Maybe someone as brash as you are could show me a thing or two hmm? And leave the dog-guy alone, not his fault he has good hearing either."

Sergei's eyes went wide as he quickly looked away from his eavesdropping. "Um...I'm sorry, Ma'am. I was just very interested in what you were saying....I hope that I didn't offend you, and I promise to not do it again." His voice trailed off, and in a show that he meant what he said, he took his duffel and his tea, and walked to a table at the other side of the bar.

Natsumi peered over at Uso, her tail swishing about. She looked back at her drink, and twirled her finger along the rim.

Uso got up from the bar and sat down next to the eacesdropper, completely ignoring the swordsman, ~So who do you work for?~ she asked telepathically.

She looked back, watching Uso with interest. She sipped her drink and watched her, beginning to purr softly

"That was a really dumb thing to do, Sergei, you've been on this planet for a who-" He stopped scolding himself as the woman walked over and sat before him. She spoke, but her lips never moved. He looked around, just to make sure there wasn't someone else who could have spoken, and finding no one, he looked back at her. "Well, um, I don't work for anyone at the moment.....I'm sort of just freelancing for now."

Uso suddenly felt the pommel of the sword in her back. "That's not polite either ya know." He said as he capped it back into the sheath slowly. "I don't take being ignored too well, don't do it again." Saito said with an edge in his voice. He looked over at the small neko and smiled, ~Hello young one.~ He said telepathically.

Natsumi's eyes darted up at Saito, a little timid ~h, hello~ she responded, her eyes moving to the floor

~He isn't playing dumb then...~ she thought to herself without even paying attention to the sword at her back, "It looks like I have the wrong person then. Excuse me," She said to the man as she turned in her chair and sythed a knife which she drove in to the hilt of the back of Saito's knee, "Its not a threat unless you have the intent to do harm." She said.

He smiled softly at her, thinking she was but a a child, brushing a silver hair out of his face. ~you're a little young to be in here aren't you?~ Saito grinned as he quickly dissolved her knife into his body. "Thanks for the boost Uso." He said not looking at her as the wound closed.

Bye then Uso was already looking back at her datapad, "So Mr. whoever, do you have any experience with maps?" she asked.

~I'm not that young... I'm 2, in fact~ Natsumi replied. Even if she thought it, it still reflected her timid nature

~Wow, you're older than I am.~ He chuckled with the thought.

Sergei nodded slowly. "Some. I used to do a lot of hunting and backpacking back on my home planet. I was really good with finding my way, and finding what it was that I was looking for. And just for the information, It's Dimitriov....Sergei Dimitriov." He smiled and took a sip of his tea.

A weak smile ran across Natsumi's face as she kicked her legs back and forth like a child. Natsumi's tail swished about, lifting her eyes to the small group

Saito didn't like Uso's attitude much, he stood up and stretched a bit and looked over at the little neko. ~I'm Saito, and you are?~ He asked her silently.

"Alright well then tell me what you make of this Mr. Dimitriov," Uso said as she slid the datapad across the table toward the man. On it was a hand drawn map of the tunnels below the city, The map was labled but seemed incorrect as it different tunnels that occupied the same space even though they didn't intersect, The primitive 3d rendering Uso had to accompany parts of the map showed that certain tunnels simply shouldn't exist there.

~N, Natsumi~ she said meekly. Her tail swished more as she sipped her drink

Sergei pursed his lips as he looked at the map. "Well, what I would make of it is that it's some sort of tunnel system for a city. I would guess that it would be this city's, or one near by, or why else would you be studying it? As for what I think of it, I don't really know. I am not sure it's completely accurate, judging from these tunnels here." He pointed to some of the ones that were under ground impossible to withhold a tunnel. "And this," He pointed to one tunnel that started, stopped, started again, and then just seemed to disappear as if it never existed.

Saito started heading for the door but paused close to Natsumi. "Nice to meet you kiddo." He grinned at her and ruffled her hair gently, a habit picked up in Tania. He started for the door and saw all the dust out there. "ugh, I don't wanna go out in that crap." He said to himself and turned and took a seat off to the side. 

"What if I told you that the map you are holding is 100% accurate within a few meters? Ontop of that..." Uso reached down to the holster around her waste and pulled out another Datapad, "Ontop of that this is the 'official' map of the underground tunnels," She slid the datapad over to him, most of the tunnels on Uso's map were not listed on the official one.

Sergei nodded softly and looked between the two maps, noting the differences, but still listening to the woman. "Well, then I would say that this city has more intrigue than I thought. So this map," He held up her map. "is 100 percent accurate?"

Natsumi stood up, giggling softly as she watched Saito. She finished her drink before hopping off the stool. Natsumi moved toward Saito, and stood in front of the chair next to him "Mind if I sit down?"

"I've been down there myself," Uso reassured him.

Saito sighed, his lavender eyes not leaving Uso as she explained the maps. He could hear her easily, but he also thought she was attractive as a neko. He looked up at the little neko who was talking to him. "Sure." He said and pushed a seat out with his foot.

Natsumi sat down, looking up at him as she bit her lip. She lowered her head, sensing something was troubling him.

Saito shifted his attention to Natsumi. "something wrong?"

A small beep came from the Data pad that Sergei was holding, "Crap its time for me to go, You want to come along?" She asked him as she turned to look over at the bartender, "5 MORE FOR THE ROAD!" She practically yelled out across the bar.

Natsumi smiled "I was gonna ask you the exact same thing."

"Nothing's wrong with me. I'm just new around here." Saito smiled at her, the light dancing in his metallic looking hair.

He nodded slowly. "I see. Well then I would have no reason to doubt what you have here. Why do you ask me? I'm just a wandering cook. I just arrived here on this planet about a week and a half ago." Sergei slowly took his glass up again, took a large gulp of his tea, then reset his amber eyes on the woman, awaiting her answer. When she said she had to go, he nodded. When the invitation to join her was presented, he snatched up his bag and was on his feet within seconds. "Sure."

~Leaving Uso? Mind if I tag along?~ he thought to the one who had yelled at the tender.

"That makes two," Natsumi said before mumbling softly

"We all start somewhere Natsumi." Saito grinned at her.

Uso smiled and headed toward Saito, "Carry these," she said as she tossed him the cans of drinks that the bartender handed her, "Oh ya bring those maps Sergei!" Uso said as she headed out the door.

Sergei nodded quickly and stuffed the maps into his duffel and ran after the woman with amazing speed. He had caught up to her in no time at all.

"Well, I'm still waiting for my start... I need to get assigned somewhere first" Natsumi said "Need some help with those?"

Saito grinned and got to his feet. He slid a drink into his satchel when she wasn't looking. "Nah, I'm outta here now that something's up. I'll see ya again sometime!" He said as he left after Uso. 

Natsumi nodded, looking down to her knees "Take care... I'll hold you to that..."

~I'm sure you will cutey~ He replied to her from outside barely hearing what she had said.

Outside was a waiting Qelnoran Technologies APC, It was more heavily armed than the other 6 wheeled APC's used by QnSe and had a small group of soldiers sitting in the back with one officer outside, "Who are these people?" He asked Uso, "A Drinking buddy and luggage rack." she said, "I don't think that they...should..." He looked at Uso as she simply walked passed him and into the APC, 

"Funny Uso, you're carrying your own shit!" Saito said as he threw the drinks at her and got in. "Don't worry 'bout us, we're not too much trouble" He grinned at the qel'noran.

"You carry them or we leave you here." She said flatly.

"too late, I've drunk them all already." Saito teased, the cans he hit her with were empty, he'd created them on the spot, the real ones were in his bag.

Uso gave him a dead serious look, she didn't care if they were fake or not. She was going to make him carry them anyways.

Saito grinned and scooped them up, cutting his hand up badly, the mercury-silver blood dissolved the empty cans and absorbed them in a couple moments. "You can't make me do anything ya know, these drinks are mine now, thanks!" He laughed.

END


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

JP

Natsumi
Tyler
James
Zack




[Ralfaris] Into Uso's Tunnel 
Tasuki Uso
1/3/04 18:54

ON> Ralfaris

The air was dusty and cold, the sky filled with a dark shade of gray that meant it was day; somewhere out there, the sun was shining overhead.

The APC continued down the dark streets of QIS, finally reaching the entrance to the military tunnels at the back of the QnT building. The APC disappeared into the underground storage garage and came to a stop at the tunnel entrance where a QnSe security unit was waiting for them.

Sergei sighed slightly as he hugged his duffel bag against him and looked at the others that filled the APC. He hadn't spoken since they left the bar, really finding no need to do so.

Uso had to leave the APC, as did Saito as it was scanned. "Please put the," "Ya I know the drill," Uso interrupted the security guard as they did a standard memory check on her then the other neko. The APC meanwhile was given a through scan by the sensors inside of the building.

He hopped out of the APC right after Uso, shouldering his bag and looking around with his amber eyes, but remaining silent.

"Don't leave just yet," Uso said as she dragged him back into the APC with herself, leaving Saito behind. The APC started up again and headed into the military tunnels. Through the view screens mounted inside of the APC one could see out into the research facilities under QnT as well as the massive stockpile of weapons and vehicles. "We aren't heading to QnT..." She said as the QPC drove on into the tunnels. After a few minutes the APC rolled to a stop at a massive hexagonal door with a barcode on it, "This is it." she though out loud as the door on the end of the APC opened up.

The GSS Wicked landed nearby, and a team of Nekovalkyrja in black robes followed the APC down the tunnel entrance. Irim was among them. "Routine surprise inspection," she explained to the guards.

"We still have to check your ID," The guard explained.

Sergei looked around quickly as he was dragged back into the APC, and it continued down the road. When the door once again opened, he looked out and then back at the woman. "Here?"

Chujo Irim was interested in looking around and perhaps finding an interesting spot to hang out for a while. With her were her friends and trusted security team, a mix of all types of nekos from Shirovakten to NH-17T to small NH-12s hidden among the larger nekos.

"Ya here," Uso said, "remember that weird map I gave you? This is where those tunnels start." 

Sergei jumped out of the APC, bag still over his shoulder. He walked a small distance away, just enough to give everyone room to get out of the vehicle. While he waited for the others, he knelt down and took his black trench coat and the data pads with the maps out of his bag.

"Hello," a neko in black greeted him. She was part of Irim's entourage. The group of armed tourists was nearby surveying this place.

The Parking lot outside of the tunnels was fairly standard. A few cars, some pillars, and an elevator in the center of the large open area were all that were present aside from the various security cameras and turrets.

Saito yawned as a group of nekos passed him. "I wonder what is all going on here? Why are these tunnels so important?" He mused to himself as he slowly, cautiously walked toward them. The large group of nekos intrigued him; so he went up to one of them "What's up with the black?" He asked amused. 

Sergei put the coat on over his black shirt and white work pants. He then put the data pads into his pockets and took a pair of wicked looking knives from the bag, then zipped it back up and shouldered it. He then attached the knives, one to each side, to his belt.

"It's a uniform," a kurovakten tilted her head as Saito, somewhat taken aback by his ignorance of GSA policies.

"Excuse me ma'am. I'm ...not a military neko." Saito admitted; saluting her. "Please forgive me."

Uso and the group of soldiers in the APC dismounted and approached the door, "These tunnels are what QnT has been trying to study ever sense they found them, but they haven't made any sense for a long time. Some of the guys think they have been changing every time we leave." Uso explained out loud to her 'drinking buddy'.

"Oh really? And if I may be so bold as to ask, why do you need me? I'm just a cook." Sergei asked, quickly following the woman to the door. "I mean, I may have some talents with finding my way, but I am in no way experienced enough to go spelunking in the tunnels of a planet I've only just arrived on...."

After the basic checks QnSe cleared the neko's to enter the military tunnels. The large heavy door to the chamber that led into the actual tunnel system opened up so that they could get in.

The tunnels that they entered looked almost exactly like the ones that they had just left, Large and hexagonal, made out of some sort of metal, and having rooms and open area's where rooms could be added on or were already installed.

"What's down here?" asked one of the sentries, her eyes fixed on Uso. They had followed the APC using their anti-gravity fields to float behind it.

Saito was completely lost in the action, did he follow them down or stay with the relative safety of a group?

Sergei walked a few steps behind the woman he had met in the bar. His eyes scanning over the metal walls, and looking into the rooms that branched off. He had a smile on his face that didn't seem to fade in the danger of the situation. Every once in a while, he would look down at the map and try to find where they were. 

Uso shrugged, "I don't really know why I brought you along..." She thought out loud as they group moved into the tunnel system., "Stuff," Uso replied as the Qelnorans took point and headed into the tunnels, More than one was a bit annoyed with Uso's lazy handling of the situation.

Irim and her cohorts poked around, looking for a bar or restaurant.


The tunnel system that Uso and co had entered seemed completely devoid of any rooms whatsoever. They reached another door and opened it before heading further into the tunnels, letting the door close behind them. In the standard military tunnel system there were all sorts of facilities from motor pools to recreational areas. The Bar wasn't to well advertised, just a simple sign painted on a normal sized door in the side of the tunnel, but it was there at least.

Sergei nodded at the woman's explanation to why he was here.

"Looks like a whole city underground." Saito mused as he looked around...and noticed that he was totally alone....again. This sucked, he wanted to be around some people.

"Oh now watch this, its the cool part," Uso said to Sergei. She turned around to the door they had come through and opened it. The tunnel they had come through to get there was strait, But now the tunnel system behind them curved to the left.

Saito continued looking around for that big group he'd seen a few moments ago, having lost track of Uso. ~Hello?~ He broadcast out to anyone in the area

"What was that?" one of Irim's girls asked, floating by randomly.

:slowly looked over his shoulder at the doorway, and the now curved path on the other side. "Whoa." was all that Sergei could managed.

~Looks like I'm alone again. This is typical.~ He thought as he made his way out of the area, now nowhere near the group.

"QnT has some idea's on how the tunnels do that but none of them have been proven yet," Uso said as the group moved along through this area. 

Saito sat down near the entrance in sight of the wicked and cracked open one of the drinks he'd swiped from Uso and downed it in one gulp and absorbed the can.

"So, it's a mystery, then? How old are the tunnels?" asked a pink-haired Shirovakten, floating after Uso.

Uso chuckled to herself, "about two or three months... None of the tunnels existed at all until QnC built them.

"So, does that mean Qel'noran construction is hiding from the technology division?" another neko asked.

"Ya they wish they could build like this....," Uso thought out loud, "As far as QnC knows they never built this place, It was programmed into the nanites that built this place by someone obviously but no one knows who. This isn't even listed in the private maps QnC has that show all of the secret military tunnels."

Saito yawned. This trip to Ralfaris was turned into a real bummer. He idly used his thermal vision to look for their foot prints thinking he'd catch up to see what's going on.

"Wazu?" Irim asked.

Saito stood up and stretched and started walking after the group following the still warm footprints, walking along briskly, but not running.

Uso shrugged, "It could have been him I guess... A lot of people in QnT seem to think that anyways. What we know about the tunnels so far is that they seem to follow distinct patters. Each doorway has 4 tunnels that connect to it, 2 on each side, but they seem to change randomly. Ontop of that when we mapped these tunnels earlier we found that they overlap. See for yourself." Uso said as she tossed Irim the data pad that she kept her map on.

Sergei looked to the rest of their "tour group". He looked a bit confused at all the talk of companies and people, but nodded politely whenever a question or statement was made that he knew the answer to. He was fascinated with all the excitement that surrounded him. He used all his heightened senses to keep track of things going on, but it was all just so much.

Saito activates his anti-grave system and flew along after the prints and got within sight of the group after a few minutes and let off it. ~This could be interesting~ He thought as he walked up slowly, listening to what everyone was saying. "Hey there." He said to Sergei.

"I see." Irim didn't like this place, although she understood what was going on now. She and her group turned around and headed back to the surface, navigating the tunnels rather well, with assistance from the Wicked, which sorted out the overlapping planes. The group passed by Saito heading the other way.

The next door that they came to led them to different tunnel system. Everywhere around them were Qelnorans moving about in what looked like a market place. "crap... Tell QnT that we intersected the civilian tunnel system..." Uso said to one of the Qelnorans.

"Hey, this looks much more fun." Saito commented.

Outside, the Wicked collected its crewmembers and returned to the First Expeditionary Fleet.

One of the Qelnorans in Uso's group made a call to HQ while the others locked the door they had just came through. A entrance to the military tunnels from the civilian side wasn't good. Especially sense no one knew about it till just now. 

Sergei looked to the man whom he had seen in the bar. "Hello."

"Hey, maybe there's a souvenir shop around here?" Saito commented. "A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't..." he started, leaving the rest for Sergei to say.

In a few minutes a fresh APC came to pick them up. "Have a look around luggage rack, I'm sure you can find something." Uso said as she got into the APC with the rest of the soldiers.

"I don't think that they have anything like that down here. " Sergei said, looking around the tunnel. He walked to the door of the APC. "Is there any way that you could return me to the surface?"

"I'm coming, too," Saito followed, not wanting to be left alone.

"Ya sure just head that way," Uso said as she pointed toward one of the tunnels that led out of the huge underground open area, "no wait I mean that way." She said pointing out another, "I'm afraid we are heading somewhere else other than the surface for the moment but I'm sure you can hail a taxi if you need one.

Saito did so, holding his arm up at the side of the street.

Sergei laughed and nodded. "Alright, I'm sure we'll find it." With that he began walking in the direction she indicated the second time, always keeping a hand near his right knife.
END




[Ralfaris] Big Tools 
Sergei Dimitriov
1/3/04 22:31

ON> Ralfaris 

Sergei walked slowly out of the tunnels and took a deep breath of air. He had had the foresight to tie a bandana around his face so that the dust would not clog his lungs. He looked around, trying to find something he recognized. 

He had come out into what used to be the residential area of QIS. Now it was just a big flat piece of dirt. Off in the distance he could hear the sounds of QnC construction equipment as they continued to rebuild 

"Just great, I'm in the middle of no where." Sergei spoke to himself, as he slowly unclipped the knives from his sides and put them in the bag on his shoulder, zipping it up quickly to keep the dust out. 

Saito pulled a stick of...something out of his satchel and started chewing on it idly. The silver-haired neko crossed his arms over his chest and shot Uso a dirty glare. 
"What a waste of time that was." He commented. Can't believe I did all that. 

Just then a piece of paper blew across the empty area and hit Sergei in the face, "Looking for action? Revenge? A job? Join the GSA TODAY!" it read. 

"Hmm?" Saito said, hearing the paper hit Sergei. "What's this?" 

Sergei grumbled loudly, ripping the paper off his face. He was just about to throw it as far as he could, but then the neko spoke and piqued his curiousity. "I don't really know..." He looked at the paper, his eyes scanning it. "Hmm, it is some sort of advertisement about something called the GSA 

"The military." Saito said 

Sergei quirked a brow. "The military....Hmm...They need cooks, I would think...." He slowly folded the paper and put it into his bag. "I'll check into that later." He mumbled to himself. 

A large gust nearly blew the piece of paper out of his hand as a QnC ship flew overhead. Large mechanical arms rigged onto the bottom of the ship guided several poles into the ground and with a large bang each one was forced down several meters into the ground. The underside of the ship then folded outward and wall sections slid down the polls. A new structure was put in place on a matter of moments and soon a group of technicians were connecting the power, water, and media systems to it. 

Sergei watched the structure just seem to appear from what he thought was only a ship. His amber eyes watched intently, through a squint. "Hmm, interesting." He said to himself as he began walking over in it's direction, intent on speaking to one of the techs. 

From the dust a entire group of buildings came into view, All of which were around a small plaza with a large rectangular object in the center. The techs were busy connecting wires inside of the walls and installing certain things in the new building, like the roof, which was being slid ontop of the building from a flatbed truck that was parked nearby. 

Sergei walked up to the technicians unloading the room. He watched them for a moment, then unshouldered his bag. "could I give you a hand with that?" He asked, already takiing a step closer. 

"Ya sure," The tech said through the dust mask covering his reptilian face. He moved aside so that Sergei could get a better view of the wall. The tech had opened a small pannel and was connecting the wires inside, fortunitely they were all color coded and practicly idiot proof. 

He smiled slightly and began connecting the wires. "Thanks." He smiled and finished. "So, what is all this stuff for?" Sergei asked. 

The Qelnoran gave him an odd look, This creature didn't look like he was from around here though perhaps he hadden't heard? "All of the residential buildings were destroyed after the attack. QnC is rebuilding all of them," The tech said. 

Sergei's smile quickly faded at hearing this news. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that? Um....could I ask you a question? Have you ever heard of this?" He asked, walking back to get into his bag and bringing back the advertisment that had hit him. 

"Ah, those have been all over the place." The tech said, "A lot of people's entire lives were destroyed after the attack, they could either rebuild or make a new life for themselves in the GSA. A lot of people chose the second option and are signing up for the fleets." 

"Oh really? is the GSA a good place to work? I mean, do you know?" Sergei asked, quirking a brow lightly and leaning against the flatbed truck. He slung his bag over his shoulder and just watched the man. Tobias Geminasu left 

"Well that is a matter of opinion I guess..." The tech said, "Some people just joined the military not caring where they go, Most joined the 4th fleet out a patriotic sense, so most think it is a good thing however there are those who don't think to highly of the GSA. Their troops guned down thousands of civilians durring a terrorist attack and one of their ships attacked the Security building. There is even talk of some Qelnorans planning to attack the GSA capitol world of Geshrintall... But then again other people just want to get away from everything and joined the 3rd xf to get as far away from all of this as possible. 

Sergei slowly nodded. "I see. I don't know if that is something that I would want to have myself associated with....I mean, I need work, but I don't want people to think me cruel. 

"well a lot of people joined so they can't be that bad right?" The tech asked. 
"No, I suppose not...." Sergei said, slowly stroking his chin. "So where would you recommend I go to find out more about this....'GSA'?" 

"Check out any of the corperate towers, They are handling the recruting these days," The tech said. 

Sergei nodded and looked around, squinting through the dust. "Are they easy to find? I mean, they're towers, so how hard could it be to find them, right?" 

"They are easy enough to find, Just follow the road," He said. 

"Alright." Sergei said, turning to leave. He grabbed his bag and jogged down the road. He found a large tower and walked inside, thankful to be out of the dust that seemed to be this planet's forte. He quickly brushed the dust out of his hair and quickly attempted to make himself more presentable. 

Saito yawned idly, taking a small bite outof the piece of something in his mouth and looked around to figure out where he was. 

The lobby of the QnSe building had desks aranged in a semicircle around the door, with automated turrets on the roof. "Hello, is there something I can do for you?" A neko behind a desk asked. 

"Let's see here, where am I?" Saito mused. This dust was everywhere and starting to get on Saito's nerves..quickly. 

Sergei looked to the neko that had spoken to him. "Well, I think so. I'm here to talk to you about this." He walked over to the desk and held out the paper. "What can you tell me about this, GSA? I'm thinking of joining, but I still have some questions." 

Saito's lavender eyes swept the surroundings, hoping to find someone to ask for directions....to anywhere 

"The Grand Star Army consists of several fleets each with its own mission. Right now the 3rd XF requires more people for their exploration mission. Perhaps you would like to join them? In any case I can answer any questions you might have." the neko said. 

Sergei smiled and nodded. "Alright, my first question is this, does the Grand Star Army need cooks? I have other talents, but I would prefer to go with my strong point of cooking." 

"The ships are in need of skilled cooks. " She said. 

Saito was annoyed with this dust and tried to use his thermal vision to see through it to find his way out of the area. 

The residential area was flat for as far as Saito could see. 

~Sheesh~ He thought. The annoyed neko scanned the surroundings for anyone he could ask directions of. 

"Perfect. I think that I would like to sign up for the army then. Would this 3rd XF be anywhere near? I would like to leave as soon as possible. I'm sorta getting restless with all the planet hopping I've done, just to have to do menial labor....I want an exciting job....." 

A QnC ship flew over Saito's head, heading into the Industrial Sector. 

The 3rd XF is currently out on assignment. Although we have a few ships headed out there soon," The neko said. 

~There we go, whatta lucky opportunity~ Saito grinned, in a matter of minutes, he had a pair of large silvery wings growing out of his back and a long tail, with a couple pumps of his wings, and in combination with his anti-grav field he was in the air, heading after the ship flying low enough to see. The tail acting as a rudder. 

"Really? Hmm. I think that I still want to get signed up now, and then I can await the ship's departure. " Sergei said, nodding. "Do they have any restrictions on what they do and do not want? 

Saito soon came to the industrial sector. 

Saito landed and dissolved the tail and wings back into his body and had a look around. ~I wonder....that GSA....damn, wish I'd followed that guy with the paper.~ 

"Not really," she said as she pressed a few buttons on the console infront of her, "The 3rd has been notified of your enlistment, A QIS ship will be taking you out shortly. Until then you have guest clearance at this facility. Feel free to have a look around." 

"Thank you very much. Is there anything that I should know, or things that I should get to prepare?" Sergei asked, folding the paper and putting it back into his bag.

"Not that I am aware of sir," she said. 

Sergei nodded and walked on, stopping and turning to ask one final question. "Where should I go from here? Is there a restaurant or something where I could get something to eat?" 

Saito looked around the area as he walked through the streets, hoping to find one of those recruiting centers to ask some questions. 

"There is a mess hall in the upper levels of the building," She said. 

"Alright, thank you." Sergei said, nodding and turning to find some way of getting to the upper floors. He hadn't eaten in a few days, and could really go for something. 

He was checked over at the elivador and then allowed inside. The mess hall was on floor 50. 

END




[Ralfaris] Aftermath 
Tasuki Uso
2/3/04 21:57

Ralfaris was now orbiting a new star at roughly the same distance that it had been orbiting at previously. The planet now only had two moons, each surrounded by its own ring for the moment. The massive Helix was no where to be seen, it was off collecting resources to be used planet side in the reconstruction efforts after the extensive earthquakes and natural disasters that followed the movement of the planet. The hospitals on the planet had set up temporary treatment area's inside of the army bases and landing fields, anywhere where enough open room could be found to set up the facilities. Most of the injuries were minor, requiring only basic treatment but the problem was there were so many injuries and the earthquakes were still continuing about the planet. The two remaining rings did their best to apply gravitational force where it was needed to help balance out the lack of a third moon. Over the course of the next few days they would both form up into a single artificial moon that would end the majority of the problems on the planet.




[Ralfaris] lost in the sauce 
Tasuki Uso
2/15/04 18:39

ON> Ralfaris

The security at the QnO complex seemed tighter than it usually was. Additional guards were patrolling on the inner wall of the complex and QnT units were setting up additional force field generators just inside of the main area of the compound that held the Living quarters and work areas for the QnO personnel that worked there. In the landing area of the complex massive amounts of crates had been moved out to be loaded on incoming transports. Almost the entire planet was at or above maximum construction capacity as the entire planet was being reshaped as well as the moons that orbit it. 

Sam sighed as he finished stuffing the last of his clothes into his bag. He looked around the sparsely furnished room and nodded, satisfied that everything he wanted to take with him, was in either his backpack, or his bag. He picked up his backpack off the bed, and slid it onto his shoulders. Then he turned to the door, and headed for it, bending down to grab his bag by the leather handles. He walked the halls of the building that had been home and work for the last few months, heading for the main landing area. He was supposed to catch a shuttle out to a YSA ship somewhere, and he hoped he would get a good ship, with plenty of exploring and time to analyse new life forms. As he weaved his way through the throngs of people, he didn't speak, and mostly kept his head down, only offering a soft, 'pardon me', to anyone he bumped.

The employees of QnO let him pass and the guards let him through to the Landing area. Civilians were kept out of QnO as well as kept in the dark about what this facility did. Genetic engineering of any kind was considered unholy among the religious of Ralfaris and the casts have been known to organize holy warriors to destroy such things. The Landing pad was freshly cleared as a Keiru transport took off to leave an open space for the next arrival, leaving a swirl of dust as it took off. The sun was still blocked out by the clouds over the planet and it seemed like night time although in truth it was almost noon. Sam had to use the textured guidelines to find his way around the open-air parts of the complex.

Sam muttered something to himself as he pulled a red handkerchief from his shirt pocket and tied it around his head, so that he could at least breathe. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, as well, and looked at the writing, walking his way through the dust and security guards, to the area that his shuttle was supposed to arrive. He was a little early, but he figured that that would be best.

Another Keiru arrived in short order, its landing brushing away the dust for a few moments as it settled down onto the landing area and let the massive side doors, which were the only seeming flat parts of its smooth Yui class like hull, open from the storage bay that bulged out from the centre of the craft. Crates were quickly pushed into the ship by ground crew using anti-grav devices. A lot of the crates were clear containers where some of the animals created here, at QnO, were being ready to be shipped out. 

Sam smiled as he saw the QnO seal of approval. It gave him a sense of pride to know that he had worked for a company that produced high quality products like those animals. He reached out and caught a member of the ground crew, speaking softly to him, "Where's this going?" He then pointed to the shuttle, pulling his backpack off his back and setting it next to the bag, at his feet.

The man paused and turned, using one hand to keep a hold of the crate. Fortunately the powerful ground lights kept at least some visibility in this area. "This is heading to Tasuki for distribution to the 3rd XF," He said before recognizing the face of the man who he was talking to, "...SIR!" he hastily added.

"You needn't call me sir. My name's Sam, just call me that." Sam said, looking at the crate. "Well, then I guess I should follow you, because I have to meet a ship heading out the 3rd XF. By the way, did a small crate arrive yet? Addressed to a Miss Kyoshi Ayame, Taisa of the 3rd XF Ship, Celia?"

"It was just loaded Sam," The Geshrin said, his hair nearly filled with dust, "Why do you ask?" he questioned while he motioned for Sam to follow and pushed the crate into the transport ship while other ground crew members did the same. Even though visibility was limited the outline of a massive four legged loading mech could be seen through the dust as it lifted the largest of loads into the top of the Keiru ship to maximize the use of space available.

"Well, my unc- I mean, Dr. Dupree asked me to deliver it to her, with his apologies about it taking so long. We ran into some problems, what with our labs nearly destroyed in the attack." Sam said, following closely behind the ground crew member, into the ship.

Sam felt a gust of wind on his face as he entered the ship. The inside was kept at a higher pressure than Ralfaris. This basic trick of NBC warfare kept the insides completely free of the dust that was choking the planet even though a massive part of the ship was exposed to the elements. The inside of the storage bay was large and had two doors that led to the interior of the ship at each end although the view was obscured by the walls of crates loaded into the ship. "I'm just glad the quakes are over," The man said as he put the crate away and headed back out, "I hate those things." Only recently had the earthquakes on the planet stopped. Thoth, the massive fortress-moon of Ralfaris, had been built to occupy the space taken up by the lost moon of Ralfaris. It restabelised the gravitational fields around Ralfaris and reastablished the equilibrium among the planets tectonic plates. "Feel free to ride this ship up to the moon." The ground crew member yelled out as he stepped back out into the dust.

Sam nodded, only having heard, "free" and, "moon". He guessed that that meant that the ship was going to one of the moons, and that it would be all right for Sam to ride along. He walked through the crates, until he found the one for Ayame, and slowly pulled it out, careful to not shake or jostle it. He walked slowly among the boxes, carrying his pack on his back, cradling the crate to his chest with one hand, and carrying his bag in the other. He walked to the front of the bay, and into the interior of the ship, where he found a seat quickly and set all of his gear down, laying the crate on his lap as he leaned his head against the wall and sighed again.

The doors closed and the ship took off, making the quick trip to the Moon. Sam didn't get to see the facility from the outside due to his position but he did get a view of the internal area. The docking centre was enclosed in one massive dome. From here the large brownish sphere that was Ralfaris was visible as well as the jet-black outline of Thoth. Crates were immediately being offloaded by automated bots and scanned for contraband, Tasuki was going to be the processing centre for all of Ralfaris soon, as some QnSe personnel stood guard, "Can we help you?" One of them asked the man standing inside of the ship.

Sam smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'm looking for a ship that's heading to the 3rd XF. I was wondering, has it arrived yet?" Sam asked, setting all his stuff on the floor and looking to the person who had addressed him. He set the crate between his bag and backpack, then added. "So have you heard of this...." He looked to the paper as he pulled it out of his pocket. "YSS Celia?"

The guard was dressed in a pure QnSe uniform, meaning he was not part of the 4th fleet, and had on black pants and a black tank top that highlighted the Qelnorans muscular body as well as a cape that was attached to a pauldrin on his left shoulder that covered his left arm. He looked down and pressed a few buttons on a small computer strapped to his wrist. "Sorry but it hasn't arrived yet. You should probably head to the main terminal. Just follow the arrows." He said.

Sam sighed and nodded, picking all his stuff back up. After getting it all situated comfortably, he began walking towards the main terminal, following the arrows, just as the Qel'Noran had instructed. When he arrived, he looked around, trying to memorize his surroundings so that he wouldn't get lost, as well as to find what all was offered here.

This room was also a large dome. Additional pure QnSe staff were on hand moving about. The roof of the dome was transparent and you could see out into the stars. The centre of the room was occupied by a large help desk and radiating out from it were a few kiosks and chairs (like what you would find in a airport). All around the terminal were hallways that led out to other areas where ships were either loading or unloading. Each hallway had a screen above it that displayed the relevant information on where the hallway actually led.

Sam walked slowly over to what he suspected was some sort of information desk, setting his bag, and the crate, on the floor, smiling to the person behind the desk. "Um, I'm sorry to bother you, but could you tell me if you know when the shuttle going to the YSE 3rd XF will be arriving? I know that you probably don't know any more than that gentleman who greeted me as I got off the shuttle, but I thought that I would at least ask."

"Several ships are heading out that way. The Ayame II will be the next one and we are awaiting its arrival at gate 14" The neko at the information booth said. She had on a standard GSA uniform and also had on the shoulder cover of QnL, the logistics division.

Sam smiled and nodded. "Thank you." Sam grabbed his bag and lifted the crate, heading out the way of Gate 14. 

The YSS Ayame II (YC-56) was docked by the time Sam arrived. He could see the sleek white hull of the 3rd-XF ship, dotted with little lights, through an observation window. Nekos with the brilliant red and stark white rising-sun emblem of the 3rd XF on their cloaks hurried at the gate loading palettes of supplies with KFY forklift mecha.

Several crates were hurriedly loaded into the Ayame II by the automated drones in the docking bay. The docking area was huge; a large open area in the moon gave enough space for the entire ship to fit inside. Several extremely large doors also hinted that ships could fly further into the base facility but several construction ships hinted that it wasn't yet finished. 

Sam stopped at the observation window and stared out at the ship. "Wow....." Was all he could say as he stood, just taking in the whole sight before him. He grabbed his stuff and started off towards the ship, hoping to get on and take a tour of it's interior. He didn't really like being on ships, preferring planeside exploration, where you could touch and smell, and use your senses to explore, instead of technological gadgetry, which told you what you were supposed to think. He decided, though, that for this, he would put up with it, especially if this were the ship that Henry was on....Oh, he had a surprise planned for him, if only he had guessed right on the ship assignment request.

The ground crews quickly finished loading the ship and pulled away so the ship could head to its next destination and let other craft take its spot. 

END.