Author Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/23/03 18:22) [Mega-JP] Coup de Etat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/23/03 18:29) 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. Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/23/03 18:31) 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 Edited by: Kitsurugi Yui at: 11/24/03 10:55 Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/23/03 18:33) 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. Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/23/03 18:38) 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 GSA no Taisho Kitsurugi Yui Commander, Star Army 1st Expeditionary Fleet Author Comment Dr Shinichiro Nobumoto PNUgen Corporation (11/24/03 14:51) [GSS Seigi] Investigations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Author Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/25/03 19:26) [GSS Wicked] Insanity -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. GSA no Taisho Kitsurugi Yui Commander, Star Army 1st Expeditionary Fleet Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/25/03 18:30) 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. GSA no Taisho Kitsurugi Yui Commander, Star Army 1st Expeditionary Fleet Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet (11/25/03 19:32) 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 Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/25/03 18:57) 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. GSA no Taisho Kitsurugi Yui Commander, Star Army 1st Expeditionary Fleet Author Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/26/03 13:07) [GSS Empire] Standing Down -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 GSA no Taisho Kitsurugi Yui Commander, Star Army 1st Expeditionary Fleet Author Kitsurugi Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Fleet SARA - KFY (11/26/03 18:47) [GSS Seigi] Restoration -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) GSA no Taisho Kitsurugi Yui Commander, Star Army 1st Expeditionary Fleet Author Comment Saito Jian GSE Civilian (1/8/04 13:27) [Ralfaris] Gettin' a lift. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Author Tasuki Uso Ship's Cook GSA 4th Fleet (1/11/04 18:08) [Ralfaris] A new job -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. GSA no Shoi, Uso Tasuki Head Cook, GSS Seigi (GB-07) Author Tasuki Uso Ship's Cook GSA 4th Fleet (1/12/04 21:08) [Ralfaris] Creatures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 GSA no Shoi, Uso Tasuki Head Cook, GSS Seigi (GB-07) Author Tasuki Uso Ship's Cook GSA 4th Fleet (1/14/04 22:58) [Ralfaris] Waiting for Godot... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 GSA no Shoi, Uso Tasuki Head Cook, GSS Seigi (GB-07) Author Dante Stormwind Visitor (1/25/04 8:46) [Ralfaris] Big Dogs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) Author Ketsurui Yui YHG Command 1st Expeditionary Flt. Hoshi Teikoku no Ôhi (1/25/04 13:04) [Ralfaris, GSS Ayame II, GSS Celia] A New Beginning -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) Author Ketsurui Yui GSA Command 1st Expeditionary Flt. Hoshi Teikoku no Ôhi (2/2/04 19:14) [YSS Celia, Ralfaris] A Psychotic Universe -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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