[YSS Celia]Thoughts of Pain Kado walked into his nest. "What a night." he muttered, as he slumped onto his bed. There was no light in his room, except for the desk lamp that he kept. The small glow was barely enough light, that's how he liked it anyways. "Another day without a word, huh?" he grumbled to himself. There was a picture that laid face down on his nightstand. He slowly picked it up...It was a picture of his parents...It was a happy scene, a time before the problems began...

He remembered when the problems rose...His parents didn't care much about him once he got older...soon they practically forgot about him. They didn't care anymore. His father began to make him think he was worthless. His mother started to distrust him...Then came the day he was to leave for the GSA..."They didn't show...I was the only one who wasn't missed..."

Anger rose in him. He looked at the picture once more and threw it across the room. It broke as it hit the wall, sending shards of glass across the floor. Kado got up and hit the wall nearest him..."For everything you didn't do..." He hit the wall again. "For not trusting me" His knuckles already began to turn red. "For not even caring!" He hit the wall more and more...each blow built more rage. He didn't care about the pain. Soon blood started to seep out of his hands. He hit the wall one more time to try to relieve himself, yet that failed. He slumped against the wall, thinking again as he looked at his bloody hands. "I'm sorry then...for not being a good enough son..." he whispered. After a moment he got up and headed for the med bay. His hands were dripping blood on the floor on his way out. "Again...I'm sorry..."

 [YSS Celia] Learning to Dance...or not. Keiko had been watching her sister Yuuko dancing in the crowd and felt a bit embarassed, blushing a bit as she remembered how she'd let herself get caught up in the music. "...a bit too frisky for the guys though..." That small phrase Yuuko had said rang through Keiko's mind, she was becoming confused by it. Dancing like that with her sister felt...odd, but strangely arousing; even though Keiko had trained as a medic she didn't quite understand why she was feeling a mix of shame and pleasure at her actions.

Her mind conceded that she was feeling pleasure from it because she had enjoyed herself while she danced; but it also concluded that she was feeling shame because her actions could've been deemed...the wrong message to send out to all the people in this club. Keiko sat at a table on her own; her violet eyes watching the crowd as she thought about it.

The young neko felt torn; she wanted to get back into it and have some fun like Yuuko was but she also felt that no matter what she did here, that nobody (other than Yuuko) would notice..or care.

 [YSS Celia] Restoration of Hope  ON> YSS Celia

Keiko left the crowd, feeling a bit embarassed by her actions when she saw Ayame leaving. "Ms. Ayame. Please wait up." She said, walking after her.

Ayame slowed slightly to wait for the neko, "Yes?"

She made a copy of her dress in her mind and shimmered into a YSA uniform. Keiko quickly caught up; "I wanted to ask you about Fenyar, I've asked Shina and Sis, but nobody'll answer my questions."

"I don't mean to intrude, but I'm curious." She added after a moment.

Ayame looked at the younger neko calmly, "Have you ever thought that there is bliss in ignorance."

Keiko stamped her foot softly, in a childish manner. "I have, but I'm too curious to just let it go." She pleaded.

Ayame looked at Keiko apraisingly, "Do not stamp your foot at me, especially if you want answers."

Keiko blushed slightly and hung her head, scuffing her foot on the floor lightly. Today was not her day; "I'm...sorry Taisho." She said, bowing to Ayame respectfully.

Ayame started to walk again, "What do you want to know?"

Keiko followed, hanging slightly behind the taisho. "I want to know what those things were that broke Sis's neck..." She said, shivering a bit as she remembered how scared she was. "And why did you go down there to start with? To set up diplomatic relations?"

Ayame nodded, "Yes to set up relations, to understand the people."

Keiko canted her head to one side, looking at her curiously. "From the way you seem to be feeling, it didn't go so well." Keiko said, her association with Kai had given her an empathic talent via training.

"I do not know how that mission can be counted as anything other than a complete and total failure, especially on my part." Ayame said sadly.

Keiko reached out and gently put a hand on the taisho's shoulder. "Don't blame yourself taisho; you didn't kno what would happen." She said, trying to help her.

Ayame sighed, "You are kind Keiko... A good quality in a medic."

Keiko smiled sweetly at her. "Please Taisho, don't blame yourself; I'm sure the empress would understand your position if that's what you're worried about."

Ayame smiled, "The Empress has already expressed her feelings and I believe she was far too easy on me."

Leet walked by carrying a small pink backpack.

"Then please cheer up, she's willing to forgive you right?" Keiko said. She noticed Leet walked past; "Leet, stop, what're you going to do to a poor unsuspecting crewmember?" Keiko asked.

Ayame looked at Leet, "Who is this gentleman?"

"Huh?" Leet looked at her and shrugged innocently, "What ever do you mean?"

Keiko glared at him. "I know it was probably you who stripped my sister with your little device that shut off holograms." Keiko said. She turned to Ayame, talking over her shoulder. "He's the practical joker that stripped my Sister and Ms Ryoshi a week or two ago."

Ayame looked at the bag, "What is in the bag?"

"Uh, nothing of interest," Leet said, looking down at the cute girly pink backpack.

"Empty the contents." Ayame ordered him.

Keiko grinned, thinking they'd caught him this time.

Leet gave her a weird look and emptied it out. There was a makeup kit, a towel, a thumb-size vibrator, a data pad, a hairbrush, and a small music player with earphones.

Ayame nodded, "Are you delivering this to someone?"

Keiko drew back a step toward Ayame, a look of disgust on her face, thinking this was his stuff. "Um..I hope that's not yours.." She said.

Leet gave her his most inconspicuous face. "A technician I know accidentally left it. I'm going to return it."

Ayame studied him closely, "Which technician?"

Keiko was suspicious of him, but decided to stay silent and let the Taisho deal with it as she saw fit.

"Uh, Soldier First Class Ketsuharu Erina," Leet told her.

Keiko looked curious, she'd never heard of this techinician. "Never heard of her." She said softly.

Ayame smiled, "Needed to think about that?" She turned and looked at Keiko, "Do you think we should accompany this fine man on his trip to return her belongings?"

Keiko wasn't sure, she knew that Leet was a joker, but perhaps he was honest this time. "I don't mind either way ma'am." she said finally.

Uso just happened to be walking by at this moment and had overheard the last part of their conversation, "Leet? where were you? Erina has been waiting for you to drop off her stuff..." she said while in passing.

Ayame looked at Leet and thought a moment, "On your way, evidently this time you were telling the truth." She smiled sweetly, "But do try not to cause trouble, I don't want to hear any complaints about you stripping crew members naked anymore."

"The Taisho wanted my attention," Leet explained to Uso with a look that said thanks.

He then went along his way.

"I'll pass that along to her then..." Uso said, "Sorry for interupting you three."

Keiko turned and looked up at Ayame thankfully. "Anyway, ma'am; was there anything of interest on Fenyar?" She asked curiously.

Ayame nodded at Uso before turning to Keiko, "Alot of death and pain Keiko. It was not what I expected, I tend to write journals perhaps I can lend you partial entries with the information pertaining to Fenyar."

"Thank would be most helpful and enlightening perhaps." Keiko nodded. "Death? Pain? Like I felt when Naraku killed my father?" She asked, feeling a bit sad. The young neko tried to lighten up some, "Who passed onto the spirit realm?" She asked.

Ayame nodded, "Yes Keiko, when your father died you did experience death and the pain associated with that death. I must say I am sorry for your loss."

Keiko wiped a small tear from her eye. "I'm ok, I know he's watching over me." She smiled at the Taisho softly.

Ayame smiled and laid a comforting hand on Keiko's shoulder, "I am sure he is, and I am very sure he is proud of you."

"Thank you Ms. Ayame." Keiko said. "I'm sure whoever you lost is watching over you as well." She tried to comfort the blue-haired taisho.

Ayame nodded, "Thank you Keiko."

"You should pray for their souls weekly, you do know that you can see them again in your dreams don't you?" Keiko asked, remembering how she'd seen Kai for the last time.

Ayame smiled, "I must admit I have never experienced anything like that." She looked about, "Why don't you go and rejoin your sister, I will have the information you requested delivered to you."

"Thank you ma'am." Keiko said and bowed to Ayame. "All you need to do is think about them and open your heart, and if your bond is strong enough; they may appear to you." She said, sounding a bit like Inari perhaps.

Ayame nodded, "Thank you Keiko, enjoy yourself tonight."

"And you as well." Keiko replied and turned to rejoin her sister, shimmering back into her outfit from before and headed for the dance club.

Ayame watched her go and sighed before she headed back to her own room. She just wished all the disturbed thoughts she had would go away...


 [YSS Celia] going away letter  Dear Yuuko,

I made a mistake and I am sorry that I came to this ship. Tomorrow I will be requesting a transfer off of the Celia so that you won’t have to deal with me. I know you hate me and that you always have sense the Seigi. I should have made more time for you in-between the 4th fleet and QIS a long time ago.

Sorry for being such a pain,
Wazu

It was a short letter but Wazu had never been a good writer anyways. His finger pressed down on the send button on his data pad that stored the letter and it was sent to Yuuko. With that he put down his data pad and pulled his jacket a bit closer around himself before walking out of the door of his room. He turned around for a moment at the door, “Anet, please look after my stuff while I’m gone,” He said before continuing out to find the Taisho and ask her personally to allow him to leave.

 [YSS Celia] Thoughtful Reflections Ayame walked back to her quarters, her dark eyes pits of haunted sorrow. She wished she could change the past, then Sergei would still be alive and Dante would not be so changed. Perhaps had the marines not fired... She sighed, there were so many variables, so many what ifs, so many that she could trouble herself for the rest of her life. ~Am I weak?~ She thought to herself, ~Is this why it all happened? I could not stop it, I was useless on Fenyar. I was captured, escaped by sheer luck and then came back only to see friends and innocent people die because of foolish actions.~ Her dark eyes reflected cold fury, ~I should have been able to stop it!!~ Ayame almost yelled it out loud, somehow she managed to keep herself under control, her anger was directed at herself, and no one else. She was the only one to blame for this, no matter how many times people told her it was not.

She got back into her quarters, peeled off her dress and lay down in the dark. She felt completely alone, but in the end that is what she was, alone with her duty. Some would say it wasn't much of a life, but in the end it was all she had and most of the time she was happy with that. But as she lay alone in the darkness she began to wonder what it would be like to not be alone anymore. To have someone to whisper to in the dark, someone to reach over and touch and banish the feelings of emptiness. Someone she could love, not merely a lover who she could discard at any time, she had long since grown out of any such thoughts. Her thoughts wandered to the possibilities of a relationship more important to her than her duty, someone she would die for, much like Amaya did. ~That will never happen though,~ she thought to herself. ~I am too hard to love...~ She rolled over onto her side and pulled the thin sheet up over her, "My life began in service and it will end in service. Long live the Empire, for its all I have." Two tears slid down her cheeks as she spoke these words and finally closed her eyes. After hours of lying awake in the dark, she sent a short message to Yuuko, it read:

Yuuko,

I wished to know if you would do me the honour of having dinner with me tomorrow night. Just a quiet meal nothing fancy, bring Keiko if you would like. I'll expect your response in the morning.

Ayame

Ayame slipped back into bed and closed her eyes, she had something to look forward to tomorrow, the company of two nice women. She needed something to take her mind off of it all..

 [4th fleet] Second chances.  ON>Deep in the galactic south

A lone Keiru class ship, outfitted with additional sensors, exited hyperspace and entered yet another system somewhere deep in the galactic south. This area of space was often referred to as 'the feeding grounds' by QIS personnel. The majority of mining occurred out here and provided the food for the ravenous machines of the industrial sector and the 4th fleet but first the systems had to be scanned and prioritized before processing. On the bridge of the ship a single networked neko was piloting the ship while QnL and QnSe personnel waited in the hold of the ship, monitoring the scanners as they started to make detailed scans of each planet one by one.

Larrid was a far cry from anything that anyone would really want to inhabit. It had once been a wonderfully fertile planet that supported many different species of life. But sometime in the past, there had been a war, which killed off most of the plant life, and left the planet as it now was, desolate, and a wide expanse of desert sand. The land, however, still showed one sign of the life that was once there, a large stone building. The edges and details had been filed away from thousands of years of dust storms and desert heat, but it still stood proud against the nothingness that was Larrid's surface.

The building was almost overlooked as just another hill or natural occurrence due to its apparent construction. However the Qelnoran in charge of topographical features quickly picked it out among the others with the aid of the ships AI. Moments later QIS was informed that additional information would be provided on the system after a close inspection of the area. The Keiru angled down towards the planet and entered the atmosphere, touching down just outside of the large stone building. A small, lightly armed, Qelnoran Security unit and a few QnL personnel left the ship and headed towards the structure with a 4 legged bot carrying sensor equipment close behind. The neko in charge of the ship opened a line to the ship in command of the small survey unit and made a request for a ship with better sensor resolution rather than the quick scanning modifications on the Keiru.

The message was related through the ring and up to Pantheon-C, which then picked out the 1st Expeditionary Fleet because they were the SARA headquarters fleet, which was at Yamatai. Yui, on the surface got the message, and deployed a Yui-class ship, the YSS Hellkitten (YD-232) to investigate. However, the planet was far way. It'd take the ship about eleven and a half hours to arrive at top speed; however, one of the Iori Star Fortresses space-folded the scout ship there, making the trip speedy.

The large building seemed to be a large, time weathered temple. The pillars were sanded smooth, only small indentions of whatever intricate carvings had once graced them. In the center was a wide open courtyard, where gatherings were probably held, as well as open air theater, judging from the "benches" that lined the outer edge. There were four rotting, wooden doors, one at each side of the courtyard, and all were barely hanging on from their hinges.

The group spread out and started to make closer inspections of the area. Each of the Logistics officers took a guard as they searched the building from top to bottom, looking for anything of archeological signifigence. The small sensor bot started deep scans of the material making up the structure and begain such basic things like carbon dating of objects in the building. Meanwhile a ISFBx was dropped off in the system by a ring that teleported away just moments later to continue its transportation duties. The ship created a series of unidirectional wormholes over inside and around the planet allowing the sensors to scan it as if they were practically inside the planet. The automated ship's controls were patched through to the small Keiru class ship, allowing the commanding officer a better overview of what was going on.

One of the logistics officers started to study the markings closely, using a datapad to record them and transmit them back to the ship while a seemingly unarmed QnSe guard stood watch. His uniform's cape on the left side of his body obscured the rifle attached to the inside of the cape as well as the additional clips and grenades stored there.

The wormholes and sensors did their work quickly, as the planet was mostly sand and rock, but for some reason, the area beneath the temple could not be studies, or even penetrated by them. If there was something down there, it would have to be inspected by eyes, not technology.

"Qel'noran Kieru," A Japanese-accented little voice perked up over the susbspace radio, "This is Taisa Eikan Minato of the YSS Hellkitten (YD-238). I am here to assist your study," she greeted the Qel'noran crew. The Yui's all-seeing sensor picked up the ISFBx and Minato let out a sigh.

The command neko felt the area that was simply void to the sensors. "Attention command, Sensor coverage of the planet is being blocked, suggest that military backup be kept in reserve." The captins request was processed by the ring in charge of this little operation and its small battle group was readyed in case it was needed. This kind of thing wasn't taken to seriously as they had run into sensor-interfearing materials on the planet before.

The 4 legged bot lowered its torso down to the ground and extended a small 5mm impervium drill bit into the ground to take a sample of the material in the ground while the logistics officers searched for a door or passage way leading down into the ground although a few of them remained to study the carvings on the walls. They had to brush the dust off of the markings occasionally because of the planetary conditions. "Hello Minato, This is Taiki Seigi of the 4th fleet temporary survey unit. We are conducting a standard survey of the world and are having trouble scanning just below our location. Please scan the area and report your findings." Taiki asked.

The logistics officer needed only to go through one of the doors to find all the doors and passages he would every want. There was one door, about half way down the hall, that seemed to be brand new, showing no signs of wear, or rot.

Several of the survey party formed up around this door and attempted to open it.

"Oy," Minato moaned, eying the never-approved battleship and the retired cruiser. She hit the microphone button and replied, "Scanning with RDD, level 10." The teleportation-based sensor bypassed the shielding and revealed the hidden contents of the temple to Minato and her small crew of scientists, who decided to take a good look before answering the Qel'noran guys.

The door slowly slid open with the hiss of pressurized air. A light mist wisped out of the door as it opened, much cooler than the outside temperature that hovered close to one hundred degrees in the shade. What the teleported sensor found, was a massive system of underground tunnels, there were no lights, but there was movements, quick, darting movements from one passage to another. And all around were doors, doors that led to large, vault like rooms, filled with people, and equipment.

The QnSe personnel pushed past the logistics officers and started to check through the area, each one moving carefully as they put on simple NVG systems to help them navigate. The logistics officers followed, however they used a less sophisticated devices known as a flashlight to look around.

"Dada da da, dadada da, dada da da, dadada da," Minato bounced in her chair, humming along to a casual tune playing on her bridge. The scientists onboard the Hellkitten started piecing together the data with the help of the Megami. "Qel'noran Ship, be advised...and we're still compiling the data...that there may be life forms down there," Taisa Eikan's petite communications officer said.

"Affirmative," Taiki replied as one of her bodies opened a channel to the men on the ground, "Our friends from the 1st xf want you to be careful down there. They might have detected life forms."

At the bottom of the ramp, that the QnSe personnel were walking down, the path branched off in six different directions. Down many of them were the sounds of movement, and water dripping from some unknown source. Out of one of the passages to the right, a form darted out, and quickly took a path that was about straight ahead of the Qel'Norans, yet didn't even seem to notice them.

The logistics officers saw this as well. For meeting new races and establishing a dialogue between them QIS had come up with a complex method for making contact and one of the officers decided to implement it. "Hello?" he asked.

The figure quickly turned, hissing like a cat from it's place in the shadows of some crates in the passageway. There was a spitting of sounds and noises only sounding like a feeble attempt at communication.

The logistics officer quickly started to press buttons on his data pad, trying to get the Universal Translator to understand the communication. One of the soldiers just could resist asking, "Take us to your leader?"

"Zoom in there," one fo the science officers pointed, "Yes, there," Minato nodded, equally interested. "Hellkitten, process this data further for us," the science officer said. Minato took a close look at rotated the holographic chunk of space with her fingertips. "What's that thing?" she asked. "Dy'Unnar," the computer responded, after the crew was silent for a moment. "And this?" Minato pointed. "Some sort of subspace-related projection device," the science officer guessed.

"Qel'noran vessel, life forms verified. Type is Dy'Unnar, of Fenyaro" the communications officer relayed.

The translator didn't completely translate everything, but the hissing voice came back with an intelligible, "What are you doing here? This is restricted access....Has He sent you?" The creature slowly slunk out of the shadows, walking to the mouth of the passageway. He was dressed in a long coat, and under it, a sort of body suit.

Taiki instantly relayed the message to the unit on the ground. "We are sorry for intruding and will leave if you wish it, However we would like to speak with you." One of the logistics officers said as the guards pulled back a ways to for a defensive circle around the logistics officers, the guards were crouched down slightly and didn't block the line of sight between the two talking people.

The Dy'Unnar slowly crouched further, almost into a four point stance, trying to see the people who were speaking to it. The flashlights were blinding the creature, who's eyes had been adapted to see in the perfect dark. "What do you want? Why are you here?" The creature repeated.

The logistics officers relised what their flashlights were doing and angled them away from the creature. "We are explorers. We are simply interested in learning about your culture. We represent an organization called the Qelnoran Industrial Sector and would be interesting in discussing a trade agreement."

The creature hissed, and darted back behind the crates. "What are you? You are not like us....and yet you are not like the fleshies....you are like the serpents that we find coiled in our courtyard....."

"Aliens! Strange green men from the stars!" Another Dy'Unnar farther back whispered, and ran to warn the others.

"We are Qelnorans. We come from a planet called Ralfaris, a place far away from here." The Logistics officer tried to explain, "We are similar to serpents in that we share some of the same genetic code but," One of the soldiers cut in on the scientific explanation, "We're reptiles." They could only hope that the UT did a good job of translating the Qelnoran language.

The first Dy'Unnar turned to see the other go running away. Then, his attention was brought back to watching the lizardfolk who had entered their sanctum. "Planet....Ral...Faris?" Was the only thing that seemed to interest the feline creature.

One of the soldiers responded, "Yes, Ralfaris. It is a desert world like this one."

The creature looked behind him, and then seemed to shy away, as a tall, well dressed Dy'Unnar walked out into the clearing, about halfway to the exploration party. He bowed, and spoke slowly, using terms that the translator might be able to understand. "Hello. My name is Eleef. What can I help you with?"

The logistics officers were relaying this conversation directly back to Taiki onboard the ship, keeping it just within the short range communications network set up by their personal computers. "Hello Eleef, My name is Kizer, and this is...." He went on for a few moments giving the names of everyone in this small group, "We would like to discuss the relationship between our two races. Who would we speak to about that?"

"You could speak to me about it, but it will not be the final say. We have just appointed a new ruler, who would require that you speak with him before anything final would be made." Eleef said, slowly folding his hands behind his back and just watching the Qel'Noran with a look of indifference.

"We would like to propose a treaty of mutual friendship and outline trade between our two peoples..." The Qelnoran said, "We would like to set up a meeting with your leader to discuss the terms of such a treaty."

Eleef nodded, understanding enough of what the others were saying to make sense of it. "I will do my best to set up the meeting between you, and the Royal Council."

The small group talked among themselves for a moment, "Would you mind if I stay here?" Kizer asked as the other logistics officers started to turn and leave while the soldiers started making a tactical withdraw from the area, keeping their fronts toward the creature.

The Dy'Unnar bowed to the people as they left, and then looked to Kizer. "I will await further instructions from you and your group on whether you would like to meet with His Highness." Then he turned and walked back into the shadows, flanked by the first Dy'Unnar that had met with the Qel' Norans.

END

 [Kiyomizudera-(Yui's Ship)] Another Admiral Chat  ON> Yamatai Hoshi Teikoku

Yui called up Taisho Wolf. "Good morning!" Her face appeared in a hovering window. She seemed abnormally full of energy today, a faint smile on her tiny lips.

"Hmm?" Wolf had been staring off at nothing when he was sent back into reality by the Mistress-Taisho. "Oh, hello Yui." He nodded his head at her, as always.

"What have you been up to lately?" Yui inquired, adjusting her green bangs. The Empress was dressed in a sheer white dress that was simple, yet elegant. Her red eyes seemed to glow with enthusiasm.

"No, ah, nothing really." Her enthusiasm was odd. Why did she seem so happy? Should he tell her now that he wanted out? "Did you want to speak to me about something, Yui?"

"Actually, yes. You see, Wolf, you haven't exactly been doing anything with your fleets or SAINT lately. I'm really starting to lose faith in your abilities. Now, don't take this personally, but I was thinking of putting you in a field position. Something like a recon ship captain or an agent, like the old days. You're a good officer, but you're not showing the initiative I really need to win this war." Yui paused for a moment, and added, "Plus, I know you hate those big space battles."

"Okay...I've got one last job for you Wolf," Yui said. "Then you can retire at your convenience. The Nerimians are looking to do a special forces operation to take out the head of the Jaaq'tah force, their Emperor. I'd like you to personally be there."

"Special forces operation...." Hmm. Like the old days. Oh, yes, he had taken offense when she basically said "You're incompetent" but the thought of actually doing something was exciting as he hadn't been in any real position to before. "I was actually going to tell you I wanted to leave, but....I'll do this for you. What are the specifics of the operation?"

"I myself don't know just yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll involve our fleets causing mayhem and stalling the Jaaq'tah fleets while you, some LAMIA, and some Nerimians go in and do the dirty work, taking him out. You can get a Phalanx power armor at Phoenix Arms," Yui told him.

"Will someone take control of this fleet, then?" He thought a second about the whole deal. "Phoenix Arms?" he mumbled. Sounds like old Phoenix. That's where he could be right now if he had just said "I don't want to be here any more." but he felt that....he didn't know what he felt but he thought it had something to do with doing something useful for the GSA, for a change.

"Pantheon and Irim will handle it until we find a replacement. It'll be alright," Yui assured him.

"What if we fail? Will there be a backup plan that won't involve us being killed?"

"We'll ST-Back you up, of course. Success odds are low, but that's why you're the man for the job." Wait, that didn't sound right. She'd bettter clarify. "You always go through the worst shit and come out okay. I know you can't run a fleet worth a damn, but you're one heck of an agent."

Well. Ego-boost, insult, ego-boost. Could it be she was attempting to mask insults with ego-boosters?! Huh. "Well, ah, thanks I guess. ST-Backup, huh? Thanks for telling me beforehand about the odds." Not like they'd fail anyway. But even with the possibility of death he didn't like the damned ST-Backup things. It didn't suit him as an assassin and intelligence agent. They would be useful here though. "So, we go in and cap the son of a bitch and then I'm free?"

"That's about the sum of it," Yui grinned. "Give him death beyond death."

"Will do." He nodded again.

"Good luck, then, Wolf." Yui nodded to him respectfully, preparing to end this short conversation, when a thought came to mind. "What will you do on the outside?" she asked curiously.

"G...the outside? Go back to Ayenee, see my friends again, settle some business, and then I guess I'll retire. But if yall would ever need my services again, I'd oblige."

"And, of course, we'll hook you up with a concubine-bodyguard companion of your design, and all the amenities you'd like," Yui grinned. She missed a Ayenee a bit, but, at the same, time had a lot of bad memories.

"Heh, all right." He felt he should thank her. "Thanks for all this Yui. Head of SAINT, fleet commander, Taisho. Even if I wasn't capable, thanks."

"Hey," Yui smiled widely. "I'll look you up if I ever visit that insane place again."

"All right. Just look around for Phoenix's weapon shop." That place was as good as his home, and the tunnels leading from Wolf's and Nero's hideouts to the place insured he'd still frequent it. Faction might actually be doing things now. Well, he'd see.

Yui nodded to Hinosami to end the little videoconference. Great things for great people, she thought to herself. Wolf was one of the oldest guys she knew, and the poor agent deserve to live a happy life after all that had happened.

Tasuki Uso:: END
Tasuki Uso:: well... someone had to say it

 [Fenyar] Disturbance  ON> Fenyar

Sergei slowly awoke as the sun began to rise over the edge of the horizon. He slowly stood, yawned, and stretched, looking over the camp. He walked over to the remaining shuttle and leaned on it for support as he stretched again, getting a few satisfying pops from his back.

Ayame looked out to the direction of the rising sun as she exited that portal, ~At least its morning here~ she thought to herself as she sent her thought out to Yuuko, ~Yuuko?~

Sergei could hear a few twigs snap as something made it's way toward the temple, taking care to skirt the camp. Dante padded along on quadruped style up to the temple's entrance and searched for the method of entry. He paused and look back at the camp, getting the sinking feeling he couldn't ever return to it; he continued to search.

~Taisa Ayame? Is that you? Where are you? Oh by the empress I thought you were dead!~ Yuuko, still clad in her armor, projected back to the lonely captain, wherever she was. She tried to determine the location of the telepathic transmission.

~I am alright Yuuko I managed to escape and am lost in this forest.~ Ayame paused before continuing the message, ~Is everyone alright back at camp?~

~No, Mistress Taisa, one of the shuttles disappeared with Henry and Shina in it, plus Dante. One of the Nerimian grunts is hurt, and we were about to self destruct the other shuttle because it has a bomb on it. I can't reach the Celia, either,~ Yuuko responded. She sounded pretty shaken.

Sergei looked over to the sounds of the branches breaking, and nodded. He then turned and sighed, looking to the south road and taking his tongue off the back of his teeth. This would not be an easy journey, of that, he was certain. As soon as Dante neared the portal, it flared back to life, showing nothing but a black mist on the other side.

Dante grinned mentally, drew up his courage and jumped through, preparing himself for whatever was on the other side. ~Hope this doesn't lead somewhere distasteful~

Ayame began walking in the direction of where Yuuko was, ~Alright I need to head to your location before my former captors find me again. Its important that you try and remain calm, I understand this situation is straining but you need to hold it together for everyone.~ She paused briefly, ~Please try and fill me in on every detail of what has happened since my capture.~ Ayame hoped that by keeping Yuuko talking it might help her think about her troubles more calmly and analytically, even if only for the duration of the conversation.

The portal landed the large wolf in the courtyard of the massive stone temple. The large wooden doors were open, because several of the monks were outside in the courtyard seemingly meditating, and chanting in their own language.

Dante's nose was immediately assaulted by scents, he tried to ignore them and padded along, searching for Xieel. He barked a couple times: "Sir Xieel?" it translated for anyone who knew the language. Dante padded up toward the entrance, heading to where he remembered seeing the high monk.

~I will float in your direction,~ Yuuko raced up and over the treetops, heading towards the source of Ayame's telepathy with great haste; she didn't want to loose her again. ~I can't...there's been so much confusion~ Yuuko thought. She sounded somewhat frantic.
~Please Yuuko you must try and remain calm, if anything happens to me you are in command.~ Ayame thought back putting emphasis on the final four words.

~You're so far!~ Yuuko moaned as she darted over the landscape like a comet.

Xieel sat just outside the door of the temple, eyes closed, whispering his personal mantra to himself. He did not say anything to Dante as he walked by, but somehow, a voice reached into the wolf's mind and prodded him to stop, and turn around to find the fox outside the temple doors. As Yuuko flew over the forest, suddenly green bolts began to surround her. The heat from these bolts, which strangely resembled the disruptor beams fired by the NDI aerial ships, just missed the neko and her flying suit.

Dante turned and paused then walked over to the fox that was meditating. Xieel could hear words in his mind as Dante tried to communicate with him. ~I want to apologize for my eariler outburst sir, but I would like to know how I got here, I remember going to sleep and waking up here..~ He thought, as he sat down.

~I know Yuuko... How is the rest of the crew? Are they holding up well?~ Ayame held the blanket tightly against her, she did not want to lose something that would be so precious to Sergei. She sighed remembering the Sha'Nai and the sacrifice she made to save her.

~They're shooting at me!~ the little neko's voice shrieked in surprise as she was missed by the bolts. At this speed, at this level, the sonic boom probably maimed whoever had taken the shots, and she was lost past the attackers before they could hear her coming, plus she was only over any certain spot for a tiny amount of time. Therefore, she continued unabated.

~Try and remain calm, everything will be alright...~ Ayame thought back trying to reasure Yuuko.

Just as suddenly as the shots had started, they stopped, as if it had all been an illusion. There were no trails of burnt trees, from the weapon exhaust, nor any trails of the shots as they missed Yuuko.

Xieel slowly opened his eyes and smiled to Dante. "I see that you have returned, but to apologize is unnecessary. I understand the shock that must have come to your mind, because I have seen it so often before. As for how you got back to the temple, after the Dy'Unnar attacked your clan's shuttles, we monks noticed a massive EM spike in the center of the Forest of Shadows. I sent some of my best monks out to check it out, and they found you, Master Henry, and Miss Shina. I hardly had to order them to bring you all back, and that is all the story that I can tell you at this point." He smiled and patted his thighs. "Now, on to a more important and pressing topic, breakfast!" He slowly got to his feet after a bit of struggling, and walked into the temple, calling over his shoulder. "You are welcome to join us, Master Dante..."

Yuuko didn't know what was going on, but she kept racing toward Ayame, as if everything depended on it.

Dante followed Xieel, but not to eat. "Sir, is it possible to go back to that shuttle? I want to check to see if we got everything so they can't backengineer it if they found it.~ He though to the monk as he followed.

Ayame continued walking trying to remain in contact with Yuuko, ~You are doing well Yuuko, I must thank you for trying to keep everything under control in my absence.~

"I am afraid that that will be quite impossible. The shuttle that was attacked by the Dy'Unnar, is gone. It disappeared off our maps just over four hours ago, so I'm afraid that trying to go back to it would be a wasted effort." Xieel said as he walked through the aisles of monks, patting a few on the shoulders as the worked on the sick, and removed the dead.

Suddenly, right in front of Yuuko, there was a flash of purple light, and then the sky disappeared in a swirl of black mist. It seems that the Dy' Unnar were using the wormhole technology again. If she was not quick, Yuuko would be at the mercy of whereever the hole led to.

Dante growled in frustration, tempted to howl in outrage, but restrained it for the sake of the sick. ~That is just great, but I..~He smelt delicious food in the temple and continued to follow Xieel. ~I think I'll join you for breakfast..~

~I'm coming, Taisa!~ Yuuko shot out over the ocean, heading south, then a horrified scream as the thing appeared in front of her. Her suit sapped itself of inertia and stopped on a dime, just inside of the portal, then raced backwards to get her out of there.

Xieel looked back at Dante with a smile and a wink. "I don't think that you will be disappointed, we have very good cooks here."

Dante rose to his hindfeet and walked in biped mode, he was getting cramped on four legs. He nodded and found his eyes (and nose) wandering over the inhabitants of the temple, particularly the feminine type.

Yuuko may have been able to stop quickly, but she was already too late, as the hole closed behind her, sealing it's prey to it's fate. The instant the portal closed behind her, she was thrust out the other side, still over an ocean, but floating near a very familiar landmass, with a very familiar shuttle settled into a burned out village.

Xieel slowly cleared his throat and stopped walking, looking around as a room wide gasp rose up. He walked back over to Dante and took off his cloak, wrapping it around the man-beast. "I think it would be wise to show a little more discretion about where you expose yourself sir....." he smiled and patted Dante on the back. "Don't worry though, I will get you some robes after breakfast."

Dante jolted back into quadruped mode, thoroughly glad that wolves didn't blush; he'd forgotten about being clad only in fur....~Um...sorry.~ He thought, embarrassed.
"What the?!" Yuuko screamed, her weapon setting itself ablaze by her fury. She swung the rifle-sword around, slicing through the air in sheer frustration. After a moment, she took off again, trying once more to get to her Taisa.

~Is everything alright Yuuko?~ Ayame asked silently, wanting to make sure everything was well.

~I am coming...~ Yuuko weakly said, ~Hold on, Taisa.~

~Its okay Yuuko. Truly everything will be fine.~ She thought to her, trying to comfort the other neko.

Xieel smiled reassuringly and walked up to a buffet style table, taking a tray that looked to have been carved from wood, and began piling it high with an interesting assortment of meats, cheese, and eggs. As Yuuko approached the area over the village, again a worm hole opened before her, if she entered this one, she would find herself exiting only a few feet behind where she entered, almost locked in a perpetual struggle to gain ground, but losing as she kept entering and exiting the wormholes, holding her above the village.

Dante looked at the buffet and stalked toward it, ~Um, Xieel, I don't want to rise up again, would you mind getting me a plate too?~ He asked, still embarrassed. He remembered the cloak and stood up, being careful to avoid further humiliation and got a plate himself, mostly filled with meats.

This time, AIES took over at Yuuko's request, dodging the wormhole sideways, using the intertial redirection system. The Lamia M2's hip launchers fired a subspace mini-missile that caused the wormhole to collapse when it went off. Ready for more, she continued her race south.

~Xieel, I'm so glad I can't blush anymore, I didn't mean to do that...~ Dante thought to the monk.

Xieel walked over to a bar like area and set his tray down long enough to fill a stone cup with a deep purple liquid. He then set the cup on his tray and began walking to a large table at the front of the room, speaking to Dante using his canine telepathic abilities. "Do not worry too much about it, Master Dante, it is nothing that we have not seen before, it just is something that we do not expect at mealtimes...." He grinned inwardly, and sat down in a large chair, which creaked slightly under the massive vulpine's weight.

The darkly furred lupine sat down nearby at the table, he grinned inwardly and took a bite of the food; which was surprisingly good. ~I am afraid that if I go back to my crew..they'll think me a monster; and I think I can feel my humanity slipping away...~ He thought using canine telepathy, the tone sounding worried.

Xieel slowly set down the piece of boar bacon he had been eating and wiped his pawlike hands on a cloth napkin that had been set on the table. "It is possible, I suppose. I don't think that your crew would shun you as a monster, perse, but you would know them better than I. As for your losing your humanity, what is to say that you ever truely were completely human, hmmm?" He asked, quirking a brow and turning to face Dante.

Dante paused at the question and finished eating a bit of the bacon before thinking, still having a habit of a human. ~That's an interesting question; I'm....was as human as we get it seems.~ He said, facing the huge vulpine. ~Perhaps, maybe I am not losing it; more like it and the wolf are acting as one...~ He trailed off, thinking about it.

Xieel just smiled and winked, turning back to his food and digging his fork into the eggs.
Dante smirked and followed suit, quietly eating.

As Yuuko flew over the forests, two pairs of eyes, from far away on a mountain top, watched the armor fly. They turned to one another with evil grins and a nod. Then two wormholes opened and they lept through, disappearing in a flash.

As silent as the shadows they mimicked, two small figures appeared in the brush to either side of Ayame. They silently lept up onto the trunks of two trees and hung there, thanks to their claws. They watched her walk for a few minutes, and then skittered up into the trees, hopping from branch to branch to always remain just behind, and above her.

~I'm scared, Taisa,~ Yuuko said, heading south in Ayame's direction. She weaved side to side on occasion, randomly changing her course to avoid more wormholes. Her rifle was help ready. ~I'm almost there...~ She headed over the south continent now, closing in.
Ayame continued to walk along, unaware of the presence of the two in the trees, ~It will be alright Yuuko, I'm sure of that.~

The shadowy figures continued their watch, hearing in the distance a loud whining of some sort of engine. As if on some silent cue, they looked at each other and nodded, dropping silently to the ground behind Ayame and followed, slightly crouched, ready for anything.

Dante finished his meal and looked at Xieel; ~Thank you for the delicious meal, but I should probably be going back..~ He said, swishing his tail a bit.

Ayame heard the sound behind her but continued to walk along like nothing was going on. She smiled briefly as she spun around and locating one of them, slammed it into a tree using telekinesis, she then turned her attention on the other.

The suit quickly came to a halt in midair neat Ayame's position. ~Taisa, call me,~ Yuuko demanded, her eyes darting around for the woman. ~I am close to you. I need another signal to follow.~

Xieel slowly pushed his plate away, and quickly a female vulpine snatched it, and Dante's plate, into her arms, putting them into a deep pan for easier carrying. As she passed Dante, she smiled shyly and quickly hurried off to the kitchen, to help with the meal's cleanup. "I don't know how she does it sometimes. I think she just watchs me the entire time I am eating, or even just in her prescence" Xieel said, watching the femme fox almost skip away, her tail flicking from side to side.

~I'm here Yuuko, I am under attack.~ Ayame thought it to her quickly as the one creature bounced off the tree and hit the ground.

Dante's brow perked as he watched her go, his eyes drawn to her tail movements for a moment then turned to Xieel. ~Who is she?~ He asked curiously.

The first figure slammed against a tree, and fell to the ground without another move. The second however, lept backwards and to the side, disappearing into the shadows. It began to use all of it's training, and began darting in and out of the brush, letting Ayame just catch glimpses of it as he worked it's way around her, never following a set pattern of movement.

"That is Seras. She is one of the youngest monks we have here, but don't let that fool you, she is our best cook, and tops in all her classes. She is also, my daughter." Xieel explained.

Ayame lashed out with her telekinetic abilities trying to keep it off balance as much as possible, hoping Yuuko would get here quickly, ~ETA?~ She thought to Yuuko calmly.
Yuuko quickly switched to Rapid Pulse mode and descended close to Ayame, slamming through the treetops in an explosion of leaves, htting the ground with knees bent, facing Ayame. "Come to me," Yuuko held her arms out the way a child would if they wanted a hug or a lift onto their mother's shoulders.

~She's.....cute.~ Dante thought back to Xieel, half weirded out by his odd train of thought, must've been the lupine inside.

Ayame ran over and stepped inside the enclosure of Yuuko's arms, "Get us out of here."
The creature suddenly darted between Ayame and Yuuko, a grin on it's face as it wrapped it's arms around Ayame, and fell into a wormhole that opened at it's feet, pulling the Taisa with it.

EEeEEeEEeEEe Yuuko's rifle spat a flurry of deafening fire, blowing the fallen Fenyaro, and the whole immediate area to pieces. Trees exploded with the sheer heat of the blasts, and the beam pulses left holes in the ground and rock. Gripping Ayame firmly by the arm, the two went through the portal together.

The Sha'Nai that still lived, Ayame, and Yuuko all fell only two feet as the wormhole's outlet was hastily opened in the flurry of action. The little beast quickly leapt away from the massive shiney beast, but still held onto Ayame. A familiar feminine voice spoke into the Taisa's mind. "Come on! We must run before the DeathBringer gets us. Pleases come, Goddess!"

Ayame got up and thought to the Sha'Nai, ~Very well.~ She then looked at Yuuko, ~Its alright, this is the person who hel....~

Yuuko lifted her wrist cannon up and leveled it at both of the others there, and fired, using a low-powered burst of scalar radiation to shock their nervous systems and leave them stunned and unconscious.

Xieel slowly looked back over at Dante and gave him a sort of half smile. "Oh really? You think so?"

Oddly, Dante had to agree; ~She has a pleasant scent.~He thought...then paused. Ok, this was just getting wrong here wasn't it? He just looked at Xieel, still trying to keep his mind about him.

The Sha'Nai did not expect to be shot in the back, as it tried to run. After a minor twitch of it's whole body, it went limp, and fell to the ground. "Please, Goddess you mu-" But it never finished as it went fully unconscious. But there was something wrong, blood began to slowly leak from the creature's mouth. Apparently self destructing wasn't just a neko self defense to avoid being taken and studied.

Xieel's brow raised again. "Scent huh? Well perhaps the wolf in you is growing after all." He left his statement at that, laughing heartily and getting up from his chair. He took a deep breath and stretched, then began walking back towards the door. "If you will excuse me, Master Dante, I must go check on my students. Today is a day of prayer and fasting for them, and I must make sure that they are staying true to their vows."

Dante nodded as Xieel left and got to his own feet, and tossed him his cloak back, while going into the four-legged mode again. He wanted to go back to the crew, but he also wanted to go talk with Seras. Ah what to do? Dante simply sat there for a moment thinking about it. After a moment, the human and beast reached an agreement within him; actually more like his previous self and the wolf did. He padded into the kitchen, following her scent and sat near the door, but not blocking it. ~Hello Ms Seras.~

Ayame slid to the floor as Yuuko shot her, she caught a glimpse of the Sha'Nai woman quickly before darkness claimed her.

Xieel caught the cloak, and with a flourish, wrapped it around his shoulders and clasped it just under his chin. He then started whistling as he walked back to the main door of the temple and went back to watching the monks in training as they meditated.

Seras was at the sink, singing softly to herself when the wolf came in. She heard the voice and turned to try and find it's owner. Seeing Dante, she smiled sweetly and walked over, rubbing the sides of the wolf's head with her soapy hands. "Such a cute puppy! Yes you are...such a good..." She looked down. "Boy."

Dante again was glad he couldn't blush, but found himself wagging his large tail at the touch and rub. And a sudden impulse took over and he spontaneously moved a bit and licked at her cheek and ears, to return the gesture of grooming. ~I'm not a puppy.~ He said.

Slowly, Yuuko walked over to the Sha'Nai, and pointed her rifle at its head. She crushed its skull with her foot just be sure. After all, bleeding and playing dead was also a common trick. She didn't have anything to take a sample in, anyway. Hefting the Taisa's body with her left arm, she slung the woman over her shoulder and slowly started making her way back north, as fast as she could safely travel carrying a passenger.

Seras laughed, and leaned up, fending off the wolf's licks. She chuckled softly to herself and spoke, walking back to the sink, and went back to washing the dishes. "Oh, I'm sorry, my mistake."

Dante shook his head and watched her for a moment before speaking. ~Just came in to say hello~ He thought to her and turned and padded out then continued through the temple portal out.
As Yuuko walked away, out of the shadows, more Sha'Nai came. They walked over to the body of their fallen sister. They all bowed their heads and paid their respects, and then each looked up, over to the direction that the Big Shiney, had gone, as well as the Goddess. They were not going to let the Big Shiny steal the goddess, of that, they all agreed.

Ayame slowly came to awareness and looked at Yuuko, "What happened?"

The Sha'Nai quickly disappeared through a wormhole, appearing in a massive stone cave. Laying all over the floor were the bodies of a truely massive army of To'Yaree. "Excuse me! Please listen to me, my warrior brothers. There has been a great disturbance in the Flow of Life. The big shiny that came from the sky, has killed T'Rowth, our leader. We are askiing that you collect your might, and help us to repay this injustice, by taking the shinys, and the fleshys out of the Flow." One of the Sha'Nai spoke, loud enough to be heard throughout the entire room. Slowly, a few of the warriors awoke, rousing the rest and telling what they had heard. Within minutes, the cave was alive with growls of anger, and anticipation of battle.

Dante shugged and approached the portal and watched it flare to life with it's inky black mist. The dark wolf leapt through the portal and ended up landing outside the temple and padded back to the camp and the sounds of twigs snapping returned as he walked upright this time now that he was on his own. He neared Sergei and kicked a stick out that landed near the guy.

"I shot a scalar pulse. I...hit you with it," Yuuko said, ashamed, as they flew north at around 30 feet above ground. She didn't mention anything about the Sha'Nai at first.

"I left it there," Yuuko said, giving her the truth, but not all of it.

Ayame nodded, "Lets get back to the shuttles as quickly as possible."

"It could take a while," Yuuko said solemnly. "I can't go too fast or you'll be hurt."

Dante barked once at Sergei from his hiding spot. "hey!" He was saying and waited.
The To'Yaree were battle ready, with their massive shields, and assortment of guns, and blades, in mere minutes. They quickly rallied around the Sha'Nai, and got the whole story, and instructions about where they would be striking, the center of the people from the sky's forces. But they were not going to come right out and battle them....No, they were going to make them suffer, just as the Big Shiny made T'Rowth suffer.
Ayame smiled at Yuuko, "Thank you for coming after me..."

"I was so worried about you," Yuuko said. "I haven't known you for very long, but I really do care."

Ayame nodded, "And I care about your well being, I am glad to see no harm has come to you."

"I want to go back home to the ship, Taisa. I miss my sister Keiko. I don't know if she's managing..."

"We'll get you back to the ship as soon as we can Yuuko, I promise."
Sergei smiled and greeted Dante. "Good day, and how is the morning finding you, my friend?"

Dante replied in Putnar; "well, those Kee'Awloo really do know how to make food." He said. "Anyway, what's going on around here?"

After recieving their "breifing", the To'Yaree quickly moved from their cave, deep under a mountain, and started off for the Human's camp.

Sergei smiled. "Yes, they are the best cooks on Fenyar....As for what's going on here, I don't really know. About half an hour ago, nearly the whole camp was nearly everyone was deafened by Yuuko flying by in that danged armor of hers....."

Dante's ears twitched, hearing something scamper through the underbrush. "Yuuko left? Just up and left? stupid girl going off alone." Dante asked.

"Oh, I don't know, I think that she is perfectly safe in that armor of hers. I mean, come on, my friend, you and I both know, even with our limited time working for the GSA, that they don't make shabby things, and that armor could probably stand against anything that could be thrown at it. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't have a weakness to it." Sergei said, laughing at the thought.

Dante shook his head; "Everything has a weakness, one must watch and strike when it is revealed." Dante said, shifting to the tactical thoughts of the wolf. "To be honest, I'm afraid of showing myself to Yuuko..." He said worriedly.

Sergei laughed, and poked a little good natured fun at the wolf. "Who's side are you on here? But I do understand what you mean about worrying about showing yourself to Yuuko."

Yuuko showed up in camp just then, floating over, then hovering down to the ground with Ayame safely held over her shoulder. As she settled her feet to the surface, she leaned forward and placed the Taisa up on her feet.

Dante growled softly at him. "I'm just worried is all, I mean I just feel...inhuman, less and less.." He said, thinking about the conversation with Xieel. Dante noticed the sound and crouched down; his fur blending into the shadows.

Ayame smiled again at Yuuko, "Thank you so very much. I wasn't sure how I was going to get back here."

"Thank you for surviving, brave captain," Yuuko smiled from behind the helmet.
Sergei looked over at Yuuko, and then added quickly to Dante. "Well it's like a wise man once told me, How do you know that you are ever truely human?" He then turned and jogged up to Ayame and Yuuko. "You don't know how glad I am to see you both back safe."

Dante watched the three of them with a slight pain, he was happy Ayame was back, but terrified at facing either of them....

Ayame smiled at Sergei and slowly handed him the blanket, "A Sha'Nai woman gave this to me, she said it was stolen from you, she said it was from your parents..."

Sergei slowly reached out and took the blanket, eyes wide in a mix of wonder and shock. "This can't be.....No....." He slowly brought it up, and buried his face in the white, soft fur.

"She was very kind, she said she was sorry for what they did to your people and to you." Ayame folded her hands neatly in front of her, "She helped me escape."
"T'Rowth...." Sergei said, rubbing his head against the fur. He took a deep breath, and wrapped the wolfskin blanket around his neck, holding it there. "Yes, I'm sure she did."
Ayame looked at him curiously, "You know her?"

Renjiro had smelt a new lupine in the area lately, but thought nothing of it, except that it was natural. He noticed Ayame and ran over and skidded to a stop near her and barked.
Ayame reached down and pet Renjiro behind the ears.

That massive tail swept back and worth in pleasure. "I'm sorry Ms Ayame." He said.

"Vaguely, very very vaguely. I was very young, and she was sort of like a mentor to me as I was growing up...This was before all the troubles started between my town, and the Dy'Unnar." Sergei said, slowly looking down as the memories came back of all the time he had spent with the Sha'Nai leader, practicing his stealth. And then came the day of the Dy'Unnar uprising. The day that the Sha'Nai turned their backs on the Fenyaro and Fenyarin alike, and began persuing only, "Shinys"

Ayame smiled at Sergei, "I am glad I could bring this to you."

"Thank you very much. You don't know how much this means to me." Sergei said, smiling, and then hugging, Ayame.

Ayame hugged him back, "You're very welcome."

Deep in the forests, as the crew was once again all collected, the massive To'Yaree warriors, with their following of Sha'Nai spies and stealth specialists, moved ever closer. There was only one thought in their ranks, make the visitors from the sky pay dearly for thier intrusion upon Fenyar.

END


 [YSS Celia} Questions with a side of loneliness  ON>YSS Celia

Keiko had been sitting in Yuuko's position on the bridge as communications officer to fill in for her absent sister. Since she felt someone needed to do it; and nobody else had volunteered. The little neko had another, more compelling reason for handling this and her medical studies: she wanted to make her other sisters proud of her as a Kessaku. She felt that by working hard, Keiko could gain notibility like Irim and Anri. "Celia? How far are we from the planet Yuuko's on?" the lovely young neko asked curiously

"We are over roughly 200 light-years away, Chui Keiko," Celia answered. The Norse avatar was sitting in the captain's chair, since it was the highest ranking officer aboard her long hair evenly spread out to either side of her face.

Keiko pouted, she wanted to go back now. "How long will it be until we return for my sister and everyone else?"

"We are about to return now, Chui Keiko," she told her. "I'm warming up the engines."

Keiko rose from her chair and walked over to the avatar and hugged her, seeking comfort and reassurance. "Thank you Celia."

Celia stayed still for a moment, then embraced the young neko, rubbing Keiko's back with her hands. "You're welcome." The ship shuddered slightly, and things got blurry as the ship began to intitiate a hyperspace fold.

Keiko let go of the avatar and stepped back and sat back down. "Celia...do you think Kai would be proud of me.."

"I think he would be happy to see you carrying yourself on with such diligence," Celia quietly responded.

The young girl smiled, the thought encouraged her. "I want to prove myself to Yuuko, Irim and Anri....that's another reason I'm working so hard."

"Don't overexert yourself," Celia warned. There was a momentary weightlessness as the ship went into fold.

"I don't think I am Celia." Keiko said as the weightlessness faded. "I miss Yuuko, I feel so alone here."

"We will get to her soon," Celia reassured her.

The young woman smiled at the avatar; "I plan to become as notorious as Anri or Irim one day." She declared to encourage herself.

"Notorious?" Celia questioned. "Do you mean that, or perhaps famous?"

Keiko looked confusededly at Celia; "What is the difference? I thought it meant the same thing. But yes ma'am, famous." She said and leaned back in the chair, hoping her sister would be able to come home soon.

JP

Wes (Celia)
Tyler (Keiko)

 [YSS Celia] New Impressions and Scares....  ON> YSS Celia

Eliel just got off of work, his back was sore and his new leg was giving him so many problems. It pained him like crazy, and it was hard for the Elysian to walk with it, and the problem wasn't with the leg itself, it was the fact that Eliel hadn't gotten used to the new leg and all. "GEEZ! You'd think these people could make better stuff than this, but you get crap like what I have to deal with now!", Eliel thought to himself as he limped over to the lift and got onto it. He pressed the med bay button, he really wanted to get home to his new "friends", they'd make him feel all better, but in some ways better than others.

Alexis sat at a medical station, already beginning her studies in the new field. The computer screen in front of her was flickering information by fast enough to make an epileptic go into seizures, she's sort it out later. Her satchel was slung over the back of the chair and the spare pod was propped up in one of the visitor's chairs. She brushed a strand of green hair out of her ruby-red eyes and paused the playback. "Sometimes I hate having an organic body," the shifter muttered as she took a bottle of water out of her satchel to get a drink. Alexis wasn't a Neko by birth, but she currently inhabited the form of an NH-7 Neko, and had all of the needs of one too. Well...most of the needs. Not all. Ingestion of water was one of them.

Eliel made his way towards the med bay, luckily, Keiko was no where around at the time, she must've been in another part of the ship, otherwise, she'd give him a hard time for the way he treated her this morning. "I know I was a little disrespectful....I'll have to get her some flowers or something", the good hearted Elysian said, he was so angry with himself for exploding like that, Keiko had no idea how much he wanted to shoot himself in the head for what he did, and she had been so nice to him, giving him a new leg and all. After the med bay door opened for Eliel, he walked inside to see Alexis, and immediately, he smiled, the sight of anything that even looked like a neko made him happy. "Hello there...are you the med bay nurse on duty? If you are, I've got a slight problem with this leg of mine", Eliel explained.

Alexis looked up at the Elysian. "Huh?" she said, capping the bottle and putting it in the satchel. "Oh...yeah...I guess. What kind of problem are you having?" Alexis asked, standing up and motioning an offer to help him over to a bed. "Sit here while I check it over," the shifter said, thinking a bit before picking up a scanning device.

Eliel allowed Alexis to help him to the bed, but once she even touched him, Eliel knew she was good at what she did, just her touch alone was comforting to him. He sat down on a metal bed and his leg bled a little, meaning that it hadn't been checked over for efficiency. "I'm in a lot of pain miss, I think the wounds are festering....Miss Keiko did a good job putting it on, but she didn't really check over it, and I don't think it'll stay on my body for too much longer...I'll need for you to put it on tightly, and give me some pain medicine if you don't mind...", Eliel said as he clenched his eyes shut, the pain shot up through him.

“Lessee…” Alexis reviewed the procedure for lost limbs and figured that the limb would have been replaced with a hemosynthed one. "Hmm. This limb is entirely organic, it's not artificial....it should match your old leg perfectly, maybe even be better," she told him while she scanned it. "I think the problem here is the nanites weren't calibrated right, though. Here, hold on a sec." She turned and went over to one of the lab tables and chose a vial of liquid.

"And miss, thanks for taking me in on such short notice, I should've called before I just came barging into your busy work schedule, forgive me. I never did catch your name..", Eliel said, and in a sense, he was asking Alexis her name, he was trying to get to know as many crew members as he could. At least then he'd have some friends, but in his case, some enemies as well. "I think me working as hard as I did had a lot to do with the pain as well...", Eliel mentioned as he sat up on the table, the leg still bleeding.

"Maybe Keiko made a mistake or something...but it should have been just fine." The shifter stuck the vial on the end of an injection gun and stuck the blunt end against the angel's thigh. There was a loud hiss as the gun forced the serum liquid through the uniform fabric and skin into the bloodstream. "There...the bleeding and pain should stop within a few seconds." Alexis smiled and set the gun down on a nearby tray, then offered her hand to Eliel. "M'name's Alexis. It was my pleasure, I was just studying up. We didn't have any casualties in that attack...in fact, I heard the Jaaq'tah were attacking Ralfaris; that's a long way from here so we were in no immediate danger."

“Alexis....nice name....really nice...never really heard anything like it. My name is SFC Eliel Recon...an Elysian sent here for duty, oh well, I guess you could already tell I'm Elysian, just check the wings..", Eliel said as he waved his set of huge wings once, to prove whom he was, not that he had to, but it was just in his nature to do something like that. "Miss Keiko...I had a little pow wow with her this morning, I was going to see if I could find roses to give to her to show that I'm sorry and all..", Eliel said as he stood up, and then, instantly, there was no pain and his leg felt better than it did all his life, he was walking normally again. "Oh thank you miss...now about that pain medicine", Eliel said as he held onto her hand, he was reluctant to let her go, he had grown a fondness for Nekos.

"Thanks for the complement...it's a Greek name, I think. And nice to meet you, Mister Recon." Alexis glanced at the wings and nodded. Then she shook her head. "Pain meds? I fixed the nerve problems, there should be no pain from now on unless you injure the leg," she said.

"Well....now, I owe you...I always owe people who help me, and I'm good on my return favors. "So, what would you like? I can set it up where you can all the latest weaponry...or, I could just take you out to dinner?", Eliel offered as he smiled, his wings flapping only once, it was a stretching motion, they had been folded all day. "I won't injure this leg again....well, I'll try not to...", Eliel said as he folded his arms.

Alexis smirked -- Not a mean smirk, just this half-smile that she had -- as if he had said something amusing. "It's alright...the services here are supposed to be free, and besides I already have all I need," she said, folding her arms behind her back casual-like. "And...oh, nevermind." She turned and returned to her seat, preparing to continue her studies.

Eliel smiled, this girl would play hard to get, which is the way he preferred it most times, the girls that didn't like to be easy. And yet, this was sort of contradictory to some of the other Neko that Eliel had already met, they were faster than most women period. "No, no miss, I insist. If you refused, I'd be insulted, come now...what do you say? Would you give me the pleasure of taking you out for a bite to eat? I mean, really, it wouldn't hurt anyone, and I don't have a thing to do, how about tomorrow night?", Eliel asked, trying to get her to say yes.

Alexis broke out into a guilty grin...this was funny, but it was the wrong kind of fun. She looked down at the floor, then got up and walked over to him, motioning for him to let her whisper in his ear.

Eliel knew this wasn't good, she'd insult him, he just knew it, or at least that's what he thought. "Ok, but don't let me down hard, I've been let down a lot..", Eliel said as he looked down to the ground, already waiting for her to drop the bomb on him. He leaned over to her and waited for the bad news.

"You see, you don't want to date me...I'm male." After she whispered that, Alexis backed up and took a couple steps back. "It's something you Elysians gave us, Soul Transfer technology, that makes that possible, in case you're wondering," she added. "This is a female body, sure, but I'm male. And when that is ready, I'm going to be wearing it." She pointed to the near-skeletal form of a half-made body slouched in the chair near his bed.

Eliel could've thrown up, he was so disgusted, and so much so to the point where he just gave his goodbye and got the hell out of there. "Well, it was nice meeting you and all miss...um...sir....um ma'am...um sir", Eliel said as he shook the guy…um...girl's hand and walked quickly out of the med bay. He started sweating, just how many other people out there were like him? "OH GOD! GOD WHY HAVE YOU CURSED ME LIKE THIS?!", Eliel thought to himself as he got back onto the lift and pressed the button to be taken back to his nest.

END

JP Done by:

Nick (Alexis)
Dion (Eliel)

 [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.


 [YSS Celia] Greeting the Greasemonkey  ON>YSS Celia

Keiko rose from her chair and nodded to the avatar that was running the ship currently and departed the bridge. The young neko was happy at being reassured by her and walked through the hallway with a slight spring in her step; eager to see Yuuko again. ~I hope she comes back safely~ Keiko thought as she walked around the ship.

Kado left the bay for a break, he needed one badly. He headed down the corridors looking for the showers. His clothes were covered in grease and he was feeling a bit down. He couldn't take much more of working.

Keiko saw the greasemonkey coming and waved at him in a friendly fashion. "Hello there."She said, her Violet eyes meeting his.

He looked up and smiled the best he could, he rarely smiled. "Hi...uh Keiko right?" he replied back with embarrassment. He wasn't sure if that was her or not, since he was new.

Keiko nodded and extended a hand in greeting, "You're supposed to bow to a superior officer, but I'm not on duty right this instant so I'll let you off the hook this one time." She smiled at him prettily. "You look tired."

"S,sorry ma'am..." he stuttered. He felt stupid that he forgot that."So you can tell I'm tired huh?" He smiled once more."I was heading to the showers, heh you can guess why."

Keiko nodded and chuckled lightly; "It's ok Shoi." She said noticing the rank pin. "You look like you've been swimming in grease and oil." The young lady commented. "What's your name? I can't go around calling you 'shoi' the whole time."

"Kado Jomei ma'am." he replied. "I've been working on the shuttles..and uh...hit some oil along the way" he looked down at his heavily stained suit, and looked up once again.

Keiko looked him over, imprinting his look into her memory so that she wouldn't have to ask everytime. "You're kind of handsome, even in the grease." She said teasingly, she liked his demeanor; not overly flirting on her like Eliel did. "The baths are down this hall past the medbay toward the shuttlebay." She said with a smile.

"Ah, took a bath in the ol' Texas tea, eh?" The voice came from behind them, originating from a neko coming up the hall with another half-loaf of bread in her hand, hollowed out and stuffed with a large variety of things...including some things that didn't belong in a sandwich. She was an older model Neko, an NH-7. As she approached, she swallowed a bite of the sandwich/breadbowl and tilted her head at Keiko. "Out of curiosity, what time is your shift?"

Keiko turned and bowed to Ms. Jaren. "Hello, my shift starts in about 45 minutes. Wish I had time to eat and bathe." Keiko chuckled, eyeing the sandwich for a moment. ~Texas tea ma'am?~ She asked Chui Jaren telepathically.

Kado turned and bowed as well. "Ma'am." he said. He was becoming used to being seen in grease now, he stood at ease between the two.

Whoa...Alexis frowned as the Neko brain accepted the telepathy and translated it for him. That was new. He could never receive telepathy before...digging around, he found the part of the brain that controled it. ~Um...something I picked up before coming here, don't worry about it. Just another name for oil,~ the shifter sent, her messege kind of unstable. "Hello Kado...M'name's Alexis Jaren," she said with a slight smile as she turned to look at the oiled man, then looked back at Keiko. "Okay...hmm. Think they'd let you bathe if I covered until you arrived?"

Keiko giggled a bit; "I don't know, Inari may be annoyed if I'm not there on time." The young neko joked. "But I'd be appreciated if you would be willing to do that for me." She turned to Kado; Keiko shook her head and chuckled, finding the grease covered guy amusing

Kado looked back at her. "Hmm? is there something on me? grease on my face?" He chuckled a little.

"Just a little bit," smirked Alexis.

Keiko nodded and reached over to his face and trailed a gentle finger down it and showed him a dark black blotch of oil on her finger. "Yup." She snickered.

"Ah..." He reached up and smeared his face even more, leaving part of his face pitch black. He looked up again and laughed.

Keiko laughed at him in a good-natured fashion; "Better make sure to scrub that mess off thoroughly." She chuckled.

"Well, I'll see you in the medbay," the shifter said and headed off down the corridor.

"Bye." Keiko waved at her as she left.

"Good bye ma'am"

Keiko looked at Kado for a moment. "Well, I should go take a quick bath too; I'll show you the way as long as you give me my privacy."

He smirked a little, he knew he wouldn't annoy her..."You won't have to worry about me."

The young lady nodded and started walking toward the baths. "Come on, this way."

Kado followed her, trying his best not to look down in case she noticed. To keep his mind off he started to day dream a little.It was hard not to think about her.

Keiko moved to slide the door open and walked in and over to a far part of the pool-like bath and yanked a curtain to give herself some privacy. The only thing he could tell about her actions was the shuffling sound as she took off her clothing as she took them off, and a loud purr as she sunk into the warm water.

He looked at the baths, they were big. He got undressed himself and got into the tub. He sighed as he got in, he felt relaxed already.

After 45 minutes passed, Keiko got out and slipped into a pair of clean clothes. she was wearing the ones from before and pulled the curtain back then shook the water out of her cleanly cut emerald hair. "Have fun here. I'm off to work." She chuckled and walked out and headed for the medbay.

JP


 [YSS Celia] Alcohol Eliel got off the lift, he was recently freaked out completely by what the med bay worker had just told him, that she was a he, something that Eliel wasn't very much used to. But he had to expect this, these people seemed weird to him, and with the recent abnormality he just encountered, it only added to his suspicion of this being his very worst nightmare. "Decent people are hard to find these days, they either have to be some kinda android, cyborg, or a guy in a female's body...I tell ya, this universe is coming to an end...", Eliel thought to himself as he walked back to his room and the door automatically opened, again, something that was weird to him as where he came from, he had to open doors. He walked in to see Kaede and Kaori sitting on a bunch of pillows. "Hey girls....I've had a long day, how about you two?", Eliel asked as he sat his toolkit down and sat their two rifles on a small shelf above them. "I fixed up your guns, take a look at em if you like...", Eliel offered as he folded his wings downward behind his back and layed on them, right in the middle of the two nekos. He was exhausted.



	2 "And uh...sorry about the way I went off this morning at Keiko girls....I kinda went nuts...", Eliel said, he only wanted to defend them and himself. "But I won't let anyone insult any of us, without the common workers like us and so many other people on this ship, well, there wouldn't BE a ship", Eliel explained.

"I didn't think there was anything wrong with them," Kaede said, confused, inspecting their heavy weapons, GP-12B Phased Pulse Rifles. The guns were basically maintenance-free, since they had no moving internal parts to speak of, and were sealed from the outside environment. They, of course, both had pistols, too, but they'd kept them on hand when they went to work, because, after all, a pistol was part of the uniform. Both of them owned a rarely-seen dark-grey GP-13 pistol with its built-in laser sight and flashlight. They' hung their pistol belts in the corner by the door.



	3 "No no...I fixed them up so they'd be more precise...so you know, you wouldn't miss many shots, just point and shoot. I don't wanna sound like a techno guy here, but I wanted to do that for ya, the whole GSA fleet is on alert now, I don't know exactly why, I wasn't given that much on detail, but we're after someone, or someone is after us...", Eliel explained. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of alcohol, vodka even, he was saving it, and with that, he pulled out 3 plastic cups, plastic because he didn't want to carry glass. "I say we drink to a good days work eh? ", Eliel said as he popped the cock off the bottle and started pouring the servings into the cups. He sat the bottle down on the floor and handed Kaori and Kaede a cup. "Anyone wanna make a toast or do I just have to make one up?", Eliel asked with a smile.



	4 Kaede still seem confused, uncertain why the guns would have become any less accurate than the factory had created them. She'd always been careful not to be to rough with the rifle, although she'd she others put the things through some grueling situations without any ill effects. "Why are you drinking in our sleeping room?" Kaori asked him, with a frown on her face. Kaede leaned in closer, "What sort of drink is that?" she said, wiggling her nose.

"You see...uh...well, I thought you guys would like it, considering that it's, well, vodka, who'd say no to that? Besides the anti-alcoholists in the universe, which is I know there are some, just haven't met any. I just like to drink, although I shouldn't...and this kind of drink, if you drink enough, will have some 'interesting' effects, you really should try it", Eliel explained as was about to take a sip. But then he stopped, "Oh, about that toast...". "And it's called vodka, a good drink to me, and it's a little expensive for my taste, but I love it, alcoholic, so it gets you happy even when you're down, or at least that's what it does for me...", Eliel explained.
]

	5 Kaori and Kaede hadn't got back too long ago, for they were both still in the work uniforms. "You're kind of oily," Kaede said, running her hands over his wings. "Does it come out of your skin?" she asked, running a finger across his forehead. "It's like a lubricant or something." Kaede undressed, again clad in only her birthday suit and of course the holographic clothing that'd she'd just dispelled. Kaori followed suit, exposing herself without the least bit of shyness. "Don't spill it, or we'll have to sleep in it," she warned Eliel. Kaede sniffed the cup in her hand. Kaori put the cork back in the bottle that was on the nest's mattress, afraid the soft material would shift and spill it. Neither took a drink at first.



 [YSS Celia] Kessakus....  ON YSS Celia

Uso had already left the lift and headed to the galley. "So where are our rooms exactly?" James asked, trying to start up a conversation while they waited for the lift to reach its destination.

Eliel frowned at Uso's remarks, obviously, he could tell who'd be the better new guy, or in this case, guys. He smiled at James, "Ah, no problem....you'll have a better nest than most, including me", Eliel explained as the elevator came to a halt. Eliel got off but then stopped, waiting for James to follow.

James followed him out of the lift with Anet right behind him, "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is James and this is Anet" He said as he motioned toward the young girl following him. The neko that came with us is Uso Tasuki."

"By the way, you're on Deck 6, you'll be sleeping with officers, a rare thing for people like me, so you're lucky. Then again, I don't think you could get roommates like mine, they're the best. I think you're lucky to have better rooms, but I don't know about roommates, some of the officers here can be some real jerks, I mean, most will tell you that", Eliel said as he sighed. "Also, I never did tell you, I'm the armorer here on this ship. So I'll be issuing any additional weapons you may desire, if it's acceptable to the CO", Eliel explained as he lagged up a little so that Anet could catch up, he wanted to talk to her a little as well. "Sorry Miss...I've been, in a way, ignoring you, haven't I?", Eliel asked her.

Jame chuckled a bit, "I won't be needing a weapon..." He said as his hands went to one of his jacket pockets to pull out a data pad, "And I know how people in the GSA can get... Ever heard of the Kessaku's?... well nevermind." Anet was right behind James the entire time, "I was being ignored?" she asked, not really noticing it, or caring.

"I've heard of that place. What weapon loving armorer hasn't? You have to be a pure crome dome not to know about that place.. anyways, here's your rooms...", Eliel said as he pointed to two doors, they looked identical. "I got them put right together, tell your friend that his room is to the left of yours James", Eliel said as he pointed to a door to left of James' room. "I'll have to be going now, got another work shift coming up...later days", Eliel said as he turned and walked the other way, back to the lift. But he stopped when he was about to pass Anet. "Glad to see more pretty ladies on the ship..", he whispered to her.

"What was that about the Kessaku's?" a female voice rang out from behind James.

James took a step to stand inbetween Anet and Eliel. before thanking Eliel for being their guide, "Long story..." James said as he turned around to look at who had adressed him, "It dosen't really matter anyways..."

"It matters to me since I am a Kessaku." Keiko said from behind him. She was relatively tall with long smoothly cut hair and violet eyes with black skin.

"Well then should I be blaming you for my mothers death?" he asked.

"You're Wazu?" Keiko said, remembering what Naraku had said. "Our prisoner had said something about killing someone named Wazu's mother..." She murmured.

"Like I said... it doesn’t matter," He turned to direct Anet into the room before looking back at this girl that had approached him.

"I don't know what my sisters did, but i'm sorry." Keiko said with a smile.

"Tell your sister Irim that I'm looking for her next time you see her." Wazu said as he headed into his room.

END

 [YSS Celia] New Interest, New Love Find  ON> YSS Celia

Armada walked through the docking bay and sighed, it was going to be a long and boring day for her once again, she had practically nothing to do but to work, and after that, work some more. She repaired some of the operating computers on the Celia, the problem is, she wasn't really good at it, nor was she a really valued crew member at the time. She walked past Kado whom was still working on his ship, which he was still having trouble with.

Kado was ready to fix it this time. Especially after the bath he took. He noticed Armada walk by and looked up at her.

"Morning....well, afternoon, or whatever...I can't tell the time around here, it's always...different", Armada said to him as he sat down on top of a small stool. "I'm so bored...oh sorry....my name is Armada Youriyana, I'm new around here....what's your name?", Armada asked him as her ears flicked.
He chuckled a bit. "My name's Kado Jomei, and this..." he pointed to his shuttle. "Is a piece of junk."

"No no...Mr. Kado, nothing is junk, I bet it's a great ship and all....it just needs some fixing up, that's all", Armada said as she smiled and yawned. "So, uh....what's your rank?", Armada asked him, not knowing his rank or much about him at all.

"I'm a Shoi." He showed her his patch. "And my guess is that you are too, right?" He asked while continuing on fixing the ship. Some oil spurted out and landed on his face. He leaped back in surprise and looked at Armada again.

"I'm a chui...I'm...uh, not really a high rank, I do just odd jobs here and there really, but uh....why is oil coming out of your ship Mr. Kado...well, here, I can help....", Armada said as he stood up and reached into Kado's toolbox and grabbed a small wrench. "The reason why your ship isn't operating is because there's an oil leak, you need to fix that Mr. Kado if you want it to fly..", Armada said as he reached into the small hole Kado had made himself into the ship and then, using the wrench, she seemed to have had tightened up some screw, and then, the oil stopped leaking. "Hmm....the computer systems seem to be off if you can just reach into the ship, nothing is stopping any bandit or robber from stealing it, I'll have a look if you want me to..", Armada said as she blushed, Kado stared at her a lot, she loved it when guys gave her lots of attention.

He smirked at her. "You know a lot about fixing things." he said. "You'd make a good pilot, heck even an officer."

She shook her head, saying no to him. "No no Mr. Kado...me? An officer? Please, don't make me laugh, I'd screw up everywhere, and no one likes a screw up if you know what I mean", Armada said as he tapped him on the shoulder. "Will you allow me access into your ship, I'd like to take a look at the computers and operating systems inside, I'll have it up and running in no time", Armada promised as he she smiled at him.

"Knock yourself out!" he lifted the panel which showed the computer. To him, Armada was cute. He just needed to know more about her.

"Sure....", Armada said as she boarded his ship and opened the control panel and brought out a little stencil looking laser pointer and went to work on his ship. "Man! When's the last time someone checked this thing?!", Armada exclaimed as she tried to fix the ship. The control panel was all dusty.

"Like I said...it's a hand me down almost." He replied back. He looked at the control board too. It was really dusty...probably hasn't been checked for years.

"You'll have to get some of this dust out before I could possible do anything with this, geez, you'll have to do better than this Mr. Kado, you can't blame the ship now, you haven't been doing the check-ups you were supposed to be doing....", Armada said as he took a deep breathe and blew into the control panel and a huge cloud of dust came flying directly into her face. Then she went on a sneezing frenzy because of all the dust. "A....A...A...CHU!", Armada yelled as he jumped when she sneezed. ~Men....they can't take care of a thing~, she thought to herself as she took the laser pointer and began working on the crossed wires.

"Bless you." he commented. He watched her work on the computer. He couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work...now he knew. He felt a little stupid and blushed a little.

"No no...bless you...and once I'm done with all this....you owe me Mr. Kado...you're taking me out to dinner...", She said as she almost could've kicked herself in the butt for saying that. She crossed the last wire and then the ship jumped its self back online and it hovered a little. "All Done!", Armada explained as she closed the control panel and unboarded the ship. Then walked up to Kado. "Come by my room, I'll be all ready at 7ish maybe?", she asked him. "And uh...wear something that doesn't have oil stains...", She said as he looked to his shirt and blushed.

"7 huh? Ok then." He got up and shook some dust off his shirt and pants. "Oh...uh...where is your room anyways?" he asked. He needed to know that in order to take her out for dinner.

"Uh...I don't think you'd be allowed up into my room nor on that same deck, but I tell you what, I'll meet you here...", Armada offered as she walked up closer to him, right in his face. "I'll have to be leaving now Mr. Kado...sorry I can't talk long, but I have a lot of work to do...but I can give you this instead", Armada said as she leaned closer to him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She smiled again as she walked away. Armada walked to the lift and got on and then turned around the lift’s corner and let out a huge sigh as she closed her eyes. "Oh that man….THAT MAN! Oh my God he turns me on!", She exclaimed as the doors to the lift closed.

END

Rob (Kado)
Dion (Armada)

 [Fenyar, YSS Rave] A Promise Broken  ON> Fenyar

Sergei slowly leaned against the East Gate arch. He stared out into the field, eyes were narrowed as the sun was at it's highest, and brightest. He slowly shifted his rocket launcher on his back, never taking his eyes off the spot at the edge of the forest. He reached up with one hand and adjusted the wolf pelt he now used as a cloak, sighing softly.

Dante was nearby hidden in the heavy brush, using his fur to attempt to conceal himself from everyone. He was bit ashamed of himself for ending up like this..but a part of him felt like it had been released from captivity. "Sergei, are you eager to leave Fenyar?" He asked quietly. Dante wanted to show himself, but a secretive part of him said to stay hidden. His nose surveying the surrounding for intruders, Renji was doing the same on the other side of the camp; the two had partnered up as wolves for this.

Yuuko crouched at the base of the shuttle. Woot, Bloodfist, and Matsui were nearby, all fully armed and ready for action. They strategically positioned themselves around the area. Woot, in a high sniper spot, Yuuko on the ground where she could do the most damage, and Bloodfist and Woot patrolling around the perimeter.

Sergeant Anthony Rivetti and Enlisted Seven Sean Kerry were out on patrol to Sergei's immediate right and left flanks, respectively. Colonel Trenton Kincaid and Enlisted Eleven Xander Smith remained at the shuttle, disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling the large T6e X4X fluid cone bore repeaters.

Ayame stood about 10 paces behind Yuuko her hand resting lightly on her pistol, she slipped her hand off and walked up behind her. "What do you think of the situation Yuuko?"

"Let's get out of here and regroup on the ship. This plan isn't working...we need a new one," Yuuko answered.

Sergei sighed softly, looking back over the assembled forces in the camp, wondering deep down if it would be enough. Something kept nagging at his mind, that even though they had superior weapons, the Fenyaro would be taking a few of them with them to the Great Beyond. When Dante spoke, Sergei played it off as if it were nothing but whispers in the wind, but spoke softly in reply, barely moving his lips, "No, Dante, I am not really eager to leave, nor honestly, to stay."

"I'm not...sure if I should go back." Dante said, laying in the shadows out of the marine's sight; the language sounding like soft growls and groans. But in the forest it was hard to decipher it for words.

"You are right Yuuko. We must regroup and come up with a new plan of action, this current path will only lead to death." Ayame said silently, her eyes focused on the distance.

"I'll call my ship to come down and retrieve us, Taisa," Yuuko told Ayame. Immediately afterwards, she sent the orders to the YSS Rave (YD-523), one of the Celia's attached Yui-class Recon-Scout Destroyers.

Ayame nodded, "Thank you Yuuko."

"Done!" said Smith with some degree of satisfaction, standing up and resting the long barrel of the psuedorecoiless repeater on his shoulder. He looked up as one of this drones came back and landed on the back of his armor, quickly being replaced with a fresh one. Kincaid stood a few seconds later, re-inserting the C45 BEIR (Enhanced Intel/Recon) pack into the back of the weapon.

The two XF-14s orbited above them at a relatively high distance of 10,000 feet, acting in an unconventional role as a sort of AWACS craft even though they were designed for air-to-air combat and close air-support. Kincaid frowned. "What about Charlie Battallion? We still don't know what these bastards did to them. I say we find them and kill them all."

Keiko was on the recieving end of the transmission and snapped to attention at the orders. ~Must be sis!~ She thought happily and tried to send a communication back. "Hi, I've missed you." She said, relieved that Yuuko was ok.

"Raver, come to the shuttle landing site to extract us. On the way, take out Shuttle 1. Keiko, I missed you too. Man the weapons pods, okay?" Yuuko smiled and gave Ayame a little squeeze around the waist. "Taisa, we'll be home soon."

Smith simply shook his head. "And we didn't do this sooner because...?"

Ayame smiled and slipped her arm around Yuuko, "Looks like it, thankfully." She looked around, "I think I have had enough of this place."

Smith continued: "Oh, yeah, that's right...because somebody thought it'd be a good idea to dick around down here while stupid beasts run after us."

"Will do." Keiko said and did as she was told. "Rave, can you please help me? I'm not familiar with the weapons pods of the ship." Keiko requested.

Slowly, out of the forests to the south of the town, two small figures scampered. They were of a racoon species, possibly Sha'Nai, but instead of black garb, these two were dressed in all white. One carried a large envelope, and they seemed intent on getting to Ayame and Yuuko, not even noticing any of the others. They chittered lively back and forth to one another, and then would point to Yuuko and seem to laugh.

"This is the tactical station," Raver (the YSS Rave's avatar) told Keiko, putting a holographic arrow over it. A targeting display for the nose cannon appeared over it, showing the planet getting closer as the ship sped from the Celia towards the landing site. A single shot turned the lost shuttle into a crater.

Ayame stepped forward and spoke to the two Sha'Nai, "What might we help you with?"
Dante smelled the Sha'Nai and jumped to his four feet and turned toward them, issuing a a warning growl in that direction. He silent stalked over in that direction, just in case...
Yuuko used her suit's optics to watch for motion in all directions at once.

"Raver please handle that ok?" Keiko said, not really sure of herself.

Kincaid raised the large psuedorecoilless rifle and pointed at the Sha'Nai, moving in front of Ayame and Yuuko. "Stay the fuck back......" Kincaid had an idea that they didn't understand English, but he didn't care. Smith took to the air, hovering about 20 feet above the rest of them with his rifle pointed downwards.

One of the Sha'Nai looked up at Ayame and seemed to smile. He slowly lifted the envelope and chittered softly. He opened the flap, but when that soldier stepped between him, and Ayame, he stepped back, and closed the envelope and looking at the rifle with an amazing calm. He had understood the man's words, and translated them to his assistant, an attractive creature, albeit animalistic. They chittered softly back and forth to one another, and then just stood there, staring at the marine, completely unafraid.

"Yes, Keiko," Raver replied, entering the atmosphere.

"Put the envelope on the ground and step back -- slowly," said Kincaid authoritatively.
Ayame stepped forward again, "Please, they are afraid," she said of the marines. She didn't really mean that, but it was better than saying suspicious.

Dante's eyes watched the Sha'Nai, the brilliant amber orbs glimmering in the dull sunlight.

As the rave began to enter the atmosphere, it encountered more and more resistance, as the planetary shielding was still in effect.

"They should be afraid," said Smith, circiling around back behind the Sha'Nai, selecting KEAP rounds from the central helical cassette just in case things got ugly.

The Sha'Nai looked at each other and laughed, pointing to the marine, and then chittering back and forth. The Female seemed to blush, look to the man, and then laughed.

"What the fuck are they laughing about?" snapped Smith, his trigger finger getting a bit jittery.

The YSS Rave sensed the resistance and compensated by upping the energy of the distortion shields' FDS system, effectively creating a penetrating spike and stabbing into the planetary shield.

By now Renjiro had circled the camp silently, using his hears and nose to sense intruders.
"Calm down, Smith," replied Kincaid, retaining his cool. "No need to get jumpy......they know we can destroy them if they try anything funny."

Stepping even closer, Ayame moved to put her hand on the shoulder of the one with the envelope. Her movements were slow and deliberate, meant to be benevolent, not threatening. "Is this for me?" she asked curiously.

~.....This is fishy..~ Dante thought to himself, as he watched the exchange ready to attack if the need arose.

Smith lined up the shot carefully, so that if he had to fire, he could frag both Sha'Nai without harming Ayame. "C'mon......I dare you....." he said in a low tone.

:The male looked to the man and laughed again, liking his reactions to not understanding. Then when the woman put her hand on his shoulder, he looked up at her and smiled, nodding and chattering quietly in his own language.

Ayame held out her free hand, offering to accept the envelope. Her eyes held a question.
As the Rave penetrated the shielding of the planet, they found the cloud covering opening not onto the surface of a planet, but an ocean of pulsating blue light, with six shuttles held motionless, markings showing it to be the shuttles that the marines had tried to send down to reinforce them. Which meant that the ship was being held in the same stasis.

"What's this?" Keiko asked, looking at the sensors. "Can we get through?" She asked the ship.

"We'll penetrate it. Contact the NDI dropships and tell them we're going to tear a hole for them," Raver responded. There was a whining noise as the ship kicked in its auxiliary generators, maximizing its power output in preparation for some complex field manipulation.

"We're gonna tear a hole in this field for you guys!" Keiko said over the comm system, talking to all the NDI dropships.

The lead dropship tried to hail the Rave, sending out the universal ship in distress communication.

Keiko received the signal and sent the message to them. "Don't worry, the YSS Rave is here to help." She said.

The warrant officer onboard the dropship responded. "I've got a lot of angry marines onboard who are ready to deal with whoever did this..."

"Just calm down sir." Keiko's sweet voice said over the system. "This'll take no time at all." She tried to reassure them.

Sergei looked up at the sky as there was the sound like thunder. His lips slowly moved, repeating over and over. "No.....not now, anytime but now." He quickly jogged over to Ayame, looking over her shoulder at the paperwork, instantly turning away and swearing under his breath. The Sha'Nai shied away at first, but seeing Sergei as not being a threat immediately, they went back to watching Ayame.

"What is it?" Dante asked, hearing Sergei's swearing, again the sounds of wolfish communication echoing softly.

The Rave fired a concentrated 5th-Dimensional Soliton beam with subspace penetration enhancements at the edge of the little limbo universe. It was the perfect choice for collapsing wormholes and cutting one's way out of such a place.

Sergei was rubbing his temples, back to the Sha'Nai, Ayame, and generally the world. "Exactly what we don't want right now, with the Celia breaking down the door." He said, not looking up.

"No, I mean what do the Sha'Nai want?" Dante asked clarifying.

"I say we frag 'em right now," said Smith, making minute adjustments to his shot.
Ayame kept her hand out, waiting to see if the letter was for her. "Sergei?" she looked at him, worried by his expression.

Sergei slowly turned back to Ayame, holding out his hand. "May I, ma'am? I'll translate it for you. "

Ayame nodded, "Very well Sergei..."

Sergei slowly reached out and took the envelope from the Sha'Nai, having seen the Seal of the Fenyaro government on the front of it. He took a dep breath, and opened the flap, pulling out a sheaf of papers that looked like a bunch of random dots and lines.

Sergeant Rivetti stopped dead in his tracks as the two XF-14s sent him a datapulse update. "What the hell........is that Charlie Battallion?" Enlisted Seven Kerry looked up to the sky as one of the XF-14s raced off towards the six new friendly radar contacts to form escort.

Sergei slowly began scanning over the paperwork, getting gist of what he said. He then turned to Ayame and smiled weakly. "Alright, it's nothing too difficult to understand, so-" He looked up at the sky as the fighters flew over, and he knew that it was too late to warn anyone about the serious error they just committed.

Dante looked up at the fighters and sighed mentally; what was he supposed to do now? He did want to go home; but he didn't want to show himself...not yet. ~Great, just great, now how am I supposed to go back to being human?~ he thought.

Ayame looked at Sergei seriously, "What does it say?"

Sergei looked confused at Ayame. "Oh! Right!" He looked down at the paper, summarizing as he read. "Well, this is the order and terms of surrender for us. They say that if we do not leave the planet, taking nothing but the dead and wounded, they will summon the full force of their race, 25000 strong." He looked up, a little worried. "Miss Ayame, they could be bluffing, or....." He let his voice trail off.

"What's going on down there?" Keiko transmitted to Yuuko from the bridge of the Rave. "And what the heck was up with that shield?"

".......Let's nuke the planet......I'm tired of hearing this shit......" said Smith.

Ayame sighed, "They are serious. We need to get off this planet right away. Will they accept that we will go once we are able without attacking us prior to that?"

"They're asking us to surrender? That must mean we're at war, then," Yuuko said. "In that case," she asked, "permission to open fire? I'm not giving myself up to these savages." She didn't respond to Keiko for now, except for a text message saying to hold on.

Ayame turned to look at Yuuko, "Not yet, if we can get out of this without blood shed we will..."

Sergei looked all around him, confused. "Miss Ayame, I'm afraid that the situation has only gotten worse with the addition of the ship, and the extra marines. We are walking a thread here, and the scissors are slowly closing. I can't guarantee it, but if they are already sending a request for surrender. They are very serious."

Renji padded out of the cover slowly, showing he wasn't a threat and walked over to Ayame and sat down, looking at the Sha'Nai curiously.

"GRANTED!" said Smith, pulling the trigger of his T6E pseudorecoiless rifle as the weapon's CPU injected a small amount of ExxfourExx gas into the action of the weapon as a 3cm round was ejected from the barrel of the weapon riding the shockwave to eight kilometers per second. The round was aimed that in such a way that it could go through both Sha'Nai in one shot.

Suddenly, some foliage in the surrounding forest shifted, and Henry and Shina stepped out onto the original landing site. They appeared to be in good spirits, and Henry's uniform still looked clean and spotless.

The Sha'Nai fell in a bloodied heap, their white clothing stained crimson with blood. Sergei looked up at where the shot had come from, and then fell to his knees, cradling the body of the small female Sha'Nai. "No....."

"Damnit, Smith!" said Kincaid, opening fire as well, firing a second kinetic energy anti-personnel round from his rifle as well because once the first shot was fired, there was no coming back.

Yuuko whirled around, staring at Smith's power armor in shock.

"Let's kill 'em all!" yelled Smith in a maniacal tone of voice. He swept his rifle around, looking for new targets. "If they want a war, we'll give 'em a war!"

Dante jumped at the sound of the shot and moved out of the way of the shots. ~Sergei! I'm coming out. Tell the marines I'm a friend..not a Fenyaro.~ Dante thought to the wolfkin from a safe area; in deep cover.

"Um..." Henry stared at the bloody bodies of the Sha'Nai as he and Shina walked up to the group. It appeared that they had shown up at a bad time.

Ayame stared in horror at the two fallen Sha'Nai, before turning on the man who did it. "What was the meaning of that?? They meant us no harm."

Sergei pulled the body close, staining his white shirt with the creature's blood. He looked at the male, while speaking to Ayame and Yuuko, true fear evident in his voice. "Miss Ayame, Miss Yuuko, I suggest you and all the crew of the Celia, get off this planet.....NOW!"

"Yeah.......they only declared war upon us!" said Smith. "So let's show 'em how we do it......"

"Smith! I'll deal with you once we're off this rock right now, we need to haul ass!" snapped the Colonel at his suboordinate. "Rivetti, Kerry.......get to my position now. Echo-One, provide us with air cover..."

Sergei dropped the body, looking towards the marine. "You idiot! They didn't declare war on us! They were telling us to surrender for our own good! Need I remind you, THIS IS THEIR PLANET!"

Right on time, the YSS Rave (YD-523) showed up and hovered over the camp.

"We DO NOT SURRENDER!!!" snapped Smith. "I don't give a damn if it's their planet or not. No one dictates terms to the Spacy Marines, right, Colonel?"


Sergei looked to the colonel, awaiting his answer. Either way, the landing party was in trouble, but it could only get worse if the military men started getting pig headed, and wanting to die.

"Yuuko! We're here." Keiko said over the transimission. "Rave, send a shuttle retrieve them please." She said.

A few seconds after the Rave made its appearance, a vanguard of Dragonfly-II assault dropships made their appearance, several companies of Phalanx-clad marines hovering in the air to watch over their commander.

Dante remained hidden, not having gotten a message from sergei that he'd tell the marines that Dante was them, he didn't want to die today.

"We never surrender, kid, but we do not go looking for trouble! There are rules of engagement -- and you broke them. Now let's get the hell out of here. Kerry, Rivetti, hop to it!" said Kincaid, rising up into the air towards one of the Dragonfly dropships. "You're with me, Smith."

"That's not necessary," Raver replied to Keiko. The ship let down a rope ladder from its forward lift shaft hatch.

"We'll go," Ayame said, leading the way, and starting up the ladder.

Ap broke cover and headed for the ladder.

Smith grumbled to himself and followed after the Colonel up to the dropship. Once they were secure, the dropship's door closed. Kerry and Rivetti got into another dropship, securing themselves. The two XF-14s stayed some ways behind, watching over their regimental commander.

~Ayame...I'm sorry.~ Dante attempted to speak to her silently.

Henry was staring at the bodies of the Sha'Nai, wondering just what had happened. No one was paying any attention to him, and he didn't feel that it was his place to ask. Shina gently tugged at his arm, "come on, sir, it appears we are leaving."

Keiko waited eagerly near the forward lift shaft, hoping to see her sister again; but left room for them to get up comfortably.

Ayame was about halfway up the thirty-foot ladder at this point. It was a little scary on the thing, as it swayed under her footsteps and those of ApZack below her.

Sergei looked back down at the Sha'Nai, and was just turning to walk towards the ladder when a flurry of about fifty arrows peppered the ladder, bouncing off the metal, but many came near to, or hit those climbing it. The To'Yaree archers had been watching, and were now getting their payback, by killing at least one of the fleshies, the sniper known to his clan as 'ApZack' seemed the most valuable to his clan, and therefore was the target

The XF-14s responded to the fire by launching three Black Arrow anti-personnel munitions from their ventral launch compartments down around the source of the fire, each canister exploding violently and releasing 192 individual self-guiding submunitions each into the To'Yaree's hiding spots. The resulting heat, overpressure, and shrapnel was enough to lay waste to virtually any target in the area of effect, which was the equivalent of about two football fields.

"Son of a-!" Sergei cried running and diving behind a fallen log as the archers opened fire, and from all directions, energy weapons, arrows, and darts began flying, he wasn't quick enough though, and was engulfed in fire, and shrapnel that cut him down.
Apzack held onto the ladder as arrows pierced his legs. The arrows were primitive weapons and didn't penetrate his body armor though. He started to drag his useless legs and body up the ladder with his hands alone.

Shina was following Henry to the ladder when a sudden pain flared in her left arm. She looked in time to see an arrow sticking out if it. "Sir! Get down!" Before Henry was even aware of what was happening, Shina tackled him to the ground.

Ayame let out a shriek of pain as two of the the poisoned arrows penetrated her, one in the torso and one in the thigh. She nearly slipped off the rungs of the ladder and caught herself by one arm, looking down at ApZack.

The XF-14s began to saturate the areas of enemy fire with anti-personnel munitions, maneuvering swiftly over the combat area to avoid enemy fire that might come their way.
The ship itself held its fire except for the weapons pod hovered below the nose, which spat out powerful energy blasts at wherever the enemy seemed to be concentrated.
Smith, Kerry, and Rivetti leapt from their dropships and moved out to defend the climbing GSA personnel, with Smith moving out to grab Ayame and carry her up to the Rave because of her injuries. Rivetti and Kerry assisted any who needed help while laying down a concentrated line of firepower.

Dante hid near the ladder and and howled in fury as Ayame slipped; he couldn't stand it and ~Hurry Taisa!~ He shouted to her, his humanity coming through in his concern.

"Ow, fiddlesticks," mumbled Shina as she tried to ignore the pain. Sensing a temporary drop in the number of incoming darts and arrows, she quickly got up and helped Henry to the bottom of the ladder, but stopped him from climbing it. "It's not safe, sir!" she shouted over the sounds of weapons fire all around them, "if the Taisa falls, she will hit you on the way down! I'll need your help to catch her if she does!"

Suddenly, right below the ladder, a wormhole opened. From the anomaly stepped a thin Dy'Unnar, but there was something odd about this creature, it seemed, to be misshapen, especially in the area over its chest. It grabbed the ladder with one hand, grinning sadistically as it reached back to pull something from off it's belt and hold it in it's hand as it climbed closer and closer to the escaping crew.

Ayame felt so terrible from the poison she vomited over Smith's shoulder as she was lifted toward the lift hatch. Her arm snapped as it got caught in the ladder rungs, leaving a bone jutting out the side. The ladder swayed violently.

Ap let himself fall off the ladder and slammed into the creature that was climbing it with full force, trying to knock it off.

Rivetti caught sight of the Dy'Unnar and began firing at it with his pulse cannon, trying to take it out before it did whatever it intended to do. "C'mon, hurry the hell up! You're sitting ducks out here!" Rivetti's aim was thrown off as Ap crashed into the creature. "Damnit! Is he trying to die!" He swooped down after Ap, to catch him before he hurt himself.

The Dy'Unnar caught the falling man, smiling sadistically as he wrapped his good arm around the sniper and lept off, keeping one hand on it's detonator.

Dante jumped out of hiding and climbed the ladder in a couple leaps and quickly got into the ship, now standing near the hole.

~It's me Dante....please believe me~ He thought to whoever was closest.

"What the hell is that thing?" Yuuko pointed out the beast jumping on the ladder to Smith, who was at the top.

Rivetti quickly caught up with the Dy'Unnar and AP, his targeting systems giving him a precise firing solution upon the creature's head as he fired a single energy pulse at the creature's forehead, hoping to kill it.

He strained himself and trying to speak geshrin. "Dann....te.." He said barely, but in a loud voice.

Smith looked over to Yuuko. "No fucking idea, but ---"

Shina caught sight of the device in the Dy'Unnar's hand, and her TOS immediately kicked into action. She launched a spinning kick at the Dy'Unnar, aiming at his hand and trying to avoid Ap. Henry was already a few steps up the ladder, "Shina! We have to go!"

Smith's own telepathic talents picked up the telepathic communication from Dante. "......He's one of yours!"

From the burning brush on all sides of the town, Fenyaro started flooding in, firing at anything that moved. They held onto their shields tightly, deflecting any incoming shots, and returning fire with specially made crossbows that fired serum tipped bolts at the velocity of a rail gun.

Yuuko unleashed the fury of her GM-05 rifle on the To'Yaree as the second wave surged forward from all directions. While she was focued on the ladder, they'd tried to overrun her, and she was now fighting them in melee. "Unnnh!" she moaned as she danced through them.

Dante sat down, safe in the ship, out of the way of the hole. Meanwhile, Keiko was on the bridge watching Yuuko; "Yuuko! Sister! Please hurry back here." She said, crying somewhat from being so scared for her.

The Dy'unnar rolled with the kick, and hit the button. But nothing happened. It hit the button three more times, but still nothing. It dropped Zack and tossed away the detonator, turning to just disappear into the crowd of To'Yaree, and then into the shadows of the forest.

The assault dropships opened up with their 15mm gatling guns and began to tear into the advancing Fenyaro forces, finding no shortage of targets. It was a simple killing field as the sheer volume of fire was akin to a literal wall of super-dense hyveloc rounds traveling at speeds exceeding ten klicks per second. The XF-14s had exhausted their own missiles and had resorted to strafing enemy forces from above. Smith and Kerry fought alongside Yuuko with incredible ferocity, forming plasma blades from their hands and going to work against the enemy.

Smith yelled in the midst of battle. "Why does Yuuko sound like she's having an orgasm?!"

"Rave! can you help my sister? Without hurting her or the NDI guys?" Keiko said
Rivetti swept down and caught Ap before he impacted with the ground, flying back up towards the relative safety of the GSA and NDI gunships.

Henry breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Shina made her way up the ladder. He himself was almost safely to the ship, and was wondering why he was still uninjured.

From behind Yuuko, a To'Yaree berserker wrapped his thick arms around the neck of the armor and twisted violently, trying to break her neck, like all the many others that had fallen to his great strength. "Today, you shall meet the Shonto!" He roared as he put all his force into the wrenching.

~Yuuko!~ Keiko said mentally, ~Please...~ She thought to her helplessly.

More marines launched from their dropships, including Colonel Kincaid, who found himself crashing down towards the back of the To'Yaree bezerker. "LET'S GO MARINES! HOO-HAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!"

The ship started picking off the would-be member's of Yuuko's mob, as Yuuko continued to kick and slice her way backwards. At the unexpected twisting, Yuuko's head whirled aroud, followed by the rest of her slender armored body. She made a gagging noise over the radio. Bloodfist's rifle butt busted in the thing's face as the huge troll assisted. Woot and Matsui started tactically moving to the ladder. Yuuko slumped to the ground along Bloodfist's side.

The bodies of the dead piled high as the battle raged on, and the To'Yaree Berserker gladly joined his brethren, happy in the fact that he had not wasted his life, and had died in battle.

Charlie Batallion moved through the enemy forces like clockwork, the Marines showing their exceptional skill in the arena of combat against the combat-hardened Fenyaro military forces. Kincaid ordered a company of his marines to secure the area around the ladder so GSA forces could climb up safely while the other two companies fought back the enemy advance.

Bloodfist moved toward ther ladder backwards, taking Yuuko's rifle and using it to maim anythign that got close to him or the limp LAMIA M2 he hefted under one arm. Specialist Woot yelled out, "Man down!" as Matsui took a crossbow bolt in the temple, blowing his brains out all over the sniper.

At seeing the forces of the YSE and NDI turning to the use of thier ships, instead of hand to hand combat, the Fenyaro began to disperse, and retreat even. Living to fight another day, was better than dying senselessly today, in their minds. Plus, their secondary plan had worked, they had stood up against the force, and saw what they had to fight against. Now, they could begin work on technology that would rival even those weapons.
"YUUKO!! YUUKO!!" Keiko was screaming over the radio.

"Goddamnit!" said Smith, firing a final shot with his rifle and catching a Fenyaro warrior in the back as he retreated with his brethren. "You had better run!"

Henry climbed aboard the ship and turned around to help Shina up, only to see her lingering a few rungs below the hatch. "Come on! Shina! We have to go!" he shouted. Shina reluctantly looked down at the battle below. It was obvious that she wanted to join in the battle before it was over. "Shina! Remember your promise to my mother!" Shina nodded and allowed Henry to help her into the ship.

Bloodfist went next up the ladder, carrying Yuuko up into the ship. Woot, the sniper, picked them off in rapid succession even as they retreated, from a standing position at the base of the ladder. After two dozen or so, he slung his weapon and scrambled up the ladder.

As the last of the Fenyaro disappeared into the wilderness, a general cheer of victory came from the NDI Marines. Kincaid checked the inventory of his XF-14 detachment -- each of them still had their Starscream missiles.

The warrior's armor took most of the damage, seeing as it was made from thick plates of Terrainium, but there were some lucky shots from Woot and the Smith, melted holes through the plates, catching a vital organ and sending the warriors to the ground.

Kincaid and his marines began to return to their dropships, while the XF-14s flew off in the direction of the Fenyaro retreat, their look-down radar searching for any targets of opportunity. Once the fighters had reached a satisfactory distance from friendly forces, they targeted the nearest structure they could find, going into a maneuver called the "Idiot's Loop" as they volley fired their "Starscream" tactical missiles, swinging back around in the opposite direction at near top atmospheric speed. Seconds later, multiple bright flashes were seen in the distance as the plasma-fusion warheads detonated with a force of 35 KT each, a mushroom cloud ascending towards the heavens. The XF-14s flew past the allied formation at hypervelocity, turning towards the heavens and began their ascent into space.

Keiko was waiting in the ship, sobbing. She followed the ship's medical sprites to the medbay as Yuuko was taken there. The little armored neko was going to be okay, the sprites assured her as they stripped her of the armor and laid her down in the bed next to Ayame.

In an instant, and without any prior knowledge of what was going on, the Kee'Awloo temple went up in a plume of fire. The missiles from the NDI ship torching the stone structure, and all the monks, and Fenyarin wounded in an instant.

Kincaid stared at the mushroom cloud. "Serves them right. Tell the Pyromaniac we're coming home."

"Dammit", swore Henry as his sensors detected the temple going up in flames. He had his laptop open, and was searching for any survivors below. "Is there anything I can do to help, sir?" asked Shina. "Yeah, get yourself to medbay and get that arm looked at."
The Dragonfly-II dropships began to ascend into the upper atmosphere and towards space.

The YSS Rave (YD-232), which had been still there at ground Zero, rose out of the area, its scorched hull trailing smoke as it exited the mushroom cloud. Keiko helped set Ayame's broken bone once she saw Yuuko was recovering from her broken neck. Ayame didn't know what had happened just yet; everyone was hesitant to tell her.

"Sergei..." whispered Henry as he picked out the man's body among the dead To'Yaree as the ship left.

Shina was sitting quietly in the medbay. She knew that her injury was not life-threatening, and therefore waited patiently for the medics to get her. Suddenly, Henry marched into the room and went straight to the ST backup records.

Henry punched a few buttons on a keyboard, and the screen in front of him showed the Celia's backup records instead that of the Rave. "D... D... Let's see... Daishi... Dazai.... Deushi... Diego, Doi..." Henry's face turned pale. Sergei's name was not among the Celia's backup records. Did anyone even tell him about the technology?

Cyber Eye: Slowly, Henry went over to Shina and sat down beside her. "Shina," he whispered, "I have some bad news about Sergei..."

END

JP by:
Wes (Yuuko, Woot, Bloodfist, Raver, Matsui, Dante, Ayame)
Derran (NDI Forces)
Yangfan (Henry and Shina)
Jenn (Ayame)
Tyler (Renjiro, Dante)
Zack (ApZack)
James (Fenyaro, Sergei)


 [4th fleet] Recon in force  ON> Deep space

The gaping holes in the structure of the Helix had healed themselves, pulling material from nearby planets and stars to facilitate the new construction. It’s fleet of automated ships now numbering in the had been gathered together at a rally point somewhere in deep space, far away from any GSA planets or other important installations. It started to fold space so that it, and all the ships with it, started to move toward the Jaaq’tah’s universe. More specifically toward the systems of Kitana, Beta Lyrae, and Sssla. For right now it was keeping its distance from all three systems but it wouldn’t be hard at all for the Jaaq’tah to spot them as big as the distortions from the Helix were.

Three ships had already been sent ahead of the main fleet, coming in from much different entrance points with full stealth systems on. Each Kieru class ship, although decommissioned, had been retrofitted with a cloaking device, CDD, and a single weapon as well as a large forward facing passive sensor system that, despite its low resolution, could pick out a large object from a considerable distance. Each ship relied on its passive sensors as it made their way into range of each of the three systems, keeping as much distance between them and the Jaaq’tah ships as possible. They did not head directly for the planets but came in on a line parallel to each system’s star’s axis. The had come in several hundred light-years from each planet and were closing the distance rapidly.

The core of the Jaaq'tah Empire was a veritable fortress in and of itself. Remote sensors were scattered everywhere as to provide near-complete coverage. A combination of high-powered active sensors coupled with passive and semi-passive sensors formed a sensor net that the most stealthy of Confederate vessels, the mysterious Darkwolf, had never been able to penetrate successfully. As the Kieru ships made their reconnaissance sweeps, passive neutrino and tachyonic sensors along with quintessent wave differentialometers began to pick these ships out among the background radiation. Once the passive sensors were tripped, active sensors went online and a wolfpack of Polatas destroyers made their appearance at each Kieru's location, blanketing the areas with nested interdiction fields to deprive the ship of its superluminal option.

As each ship was discovered it made a retreat toward the main advance. The Helix made its appearance inside of this universe with its entire fleet of automated ships that made their way toward the Kitana system. With there were several more of the refitted Kieru class ships as now the ones that had been detected were considered expendable. All of the Minion class attack corvettes were launched and headed out in front of the main attacking force which consisted of the Helix and a massive group of ISFB class battleships. The skirmishers were far enough ahead to give the main advance plenty of response time. To the sides and rear of the advancing battleships, the Transposition cannons were fired. This put a patchwork of black holes and spatial distortions along the flanks and rear of the advance, providing an amount of protection against any attack coming from those directions.

The minute the sensor net had detected an enemy, a series of automated orders had been sent to every fleet and task force commander, who in turn moved out within seconds of the alarm going off. The reaction time was as close to instant as one could hope to get it as interdiction field projectors went online, blanketing the system with large-scale, nested fields. The transposition cannons that fired found themselves largely ineffective with the activation of these fields and the Royal Guard Fleets came alive, coming to meet the Helix fleets in outright combat. These ships were largely white in their color scheme, which might lead the YSA to call them the Great White Fleet.

The Kitana commander activated all twenty of his fleet beacon complexes on the planet below, sending them into a passive, reactionary mode. After several battles with the annoying YSA, they had a little surprise for them if they tried to employ their standard array of tactics this time. With this measure in place, the Great White Fleet launched an opening salvo at the advance screen of corvettes, a tide of particle, aetheric flux cannon, and aether torpedoes streaming towards the advance wave with an ETA of just under two seconds.

The skirmishers scattered as did a majority of the battleships. The fleet reshaped itself with the battleships forming a hemisphere with the center facing towards the Jaaq’tah defending the system. Thousands of ships had been destroyed in the first attack salvo, and what hadn’t been fully destroyed was cannibalized by the internal systems of each ship so that no important technologies fell into Jaaq’tah hands. The 4th fleet wasted no time in its own attack, firing all of its GWB weapons, but only aiming ¾’s of them into the Jaaqtah fleet. The rest of the beams headed directly toward the Kitana system’s star. It would only be a few minutes before it would hit from the range that they were at. A large number of the oncoming torpedo‘s were destroyed by of the larger ships point defense turrets however the Minion‘s did not have the same amount of turret coverage and were steadily being wiped out by the Jaaq‘tah attacks. The battle plan had already gone past plan’s A and B but the 4th still had plenty of tricks up its sleeves.

The Jaaq'tah kept the tide rolling as a massive of portion of them simply shifted forward to within a half a light-second of the enemy fleet, hundreds of thousands of Hermes drones orbiting each ship as the GWB attack began. Drones intentionally put themselves in the path of GWB attacks, which relayed the beam to another drone, and so on and so forth until the individual beams were in a sort of 'loop' of drones. The same effect happened to the beams aimed at the red giant star, though these were an entirely different batch of drones because of the distance.

Upon the Jaaq'tah fleet commander's command, the Drones effectively fired back the GWB blasts into the YSA fleet while the rest of the White Fleet fired a second salvo of their own weapons systems.

The 4th fleet battleships evaded the majority of their own fire but the AI in control of them was giving little thought to the welfare of her own ships. Genesis, the AI in charge, continued to run through her list of pre-prepared attack options. The battleships, along with the Helix, released all of their Fighters which numbered in the hundreds of billions, being greatly reduced from the last battle and considered extremely expendable as the fleet wanted to get rid of them and replace them with the Phalanx units as soon as possible. Once all of the fighters had been deployed Each battleship, along with the Helix, Fired their transposition cannons. The weapon itself wasn’t fired but rather then entire ejectable legacy unit was fired, heading into the system under its own power with its own shield generator to protect it.

In response to the releasing of fighters, the Jaaq'tah responded with the launching of their Parasite A & B drones. The former literally attached itself to enemy strike craft and used its sophisticated electronics to effectively hijack the vessel and use it against the enemy. The latter possessed a powerful plasma pulse cannon that actively sought out and destroyed enemy strike craft. They were only the size of baseballs and literally outnumbered the enemy fighters 20 to 1. Add to this a horde of Salamander Type III mecha to actively engage enemy fighters, and the battle would be chaotic at best.

As the battleships fired their ejectable legacy units, a tide of firepower from Jaaq'tah vessels thought them to be large strike craft and they were summarily attacked with a massive array of beam weaponry and missiles along with the rest of the fleet.

The Legacy units would normally be quite easy targets however the swarms of fighters acted as cover. The formations were close enough together to where shots intended for the legacy units would hit, or be intercepted by, the fighters instead. The swarms of fighters were quickly thinned and even more so once the legacy units started to reach the Jaaq’tah fleet and self destructed, releasing massive amounts of zero-point energy into the area. Meanwhile back at the rally point used for bringing the 4th fleet together the last of the Anteaus class battleships had come together. Each launched a series of Ender class missiles. Each of the missiles then used its onboard TTD to transport itself into the Jaaq’tah universe. As they appeared they detonated, releasing massive amounts of zero-point energy that blanketed the area.

The Jaaq'tah absorbed the losses from the resultant explosions and shifted forward again with the help of their PTP and fleet beacon systems. This time, they were in the midst of the YSA fleet, literally engaging enemy vessels at ranges 10,000 miles or less. The only vessels that stayed back were the line of 10,000 Slaakanesh command vessels, which were watching over their White Fleet closely.

The Transuniversal artillery of the Anteaus ships continued to fire, only this time they were targeting the cores of the suns in the Beta Lyrae, and Sssla systems. The goal was to disrupt the gravitational forces that held the stars together by destroying the dense core. This would cause the star to supernova and destroy everything in that system. Now that the Jaaq’tah ships were within the YSA formation the battleships began close combat, ramming ships when possible and slicing them open with the GWB’s. Each time a battleship took damage, or was in close proximity to a group of Jaaq’tah ships it would self destruct, releasing massive amounts of zero-point energy and anti-matter inside the core of each ship. The Helix, which was to valuable to loose, simply teleported out. Now on the other side of the Kitana system another Helix TTDed in with another full fleet of ships, This time they were the more modern ISFBx class. Immediately they launched salvoes of torpedo’s and GWB fire into the system from behind along with another full load of Minion attack corvettes and fighters. .

The fleet beacons worked in tandem with the transuniveral transmissions made by the YSA vessels, creating a situation where the intended target of the TTD was literally re-directed into empty space harmlessly. Simultaneously, as the Helix teleported out, a split second later, the Great Amethyst Fleet appeared before the massive structure, this time unleashing their full load of beam fire upon the massive structure -- including the Kraslanesh beam weapons from their 100,000 Slaakanesh command vessels. One of these blasts alone was enough to completely obliterate a Jupiter-sized planet with one shot; 100,000 blasts fired in tandem at the same target was enough to reduce it to its subatomic components. Couple this with the combined firepower of over 50 million vessels and the magnitude of firepower directed upon a single target was unfathomable. So while the White Fleet engaged one fleet, the Amethyst Fleet had made its return and had engaged the Helix and its new fleet. Fleet Beacons were working at full tilt, redirecting whatever the YSA was sending into this universe and sending it elsewhere where it would do damage to nothing of importance.

The 4th fleet wasn’t expecting the Jaaq’tah to do something like that but were indeed prepared for the eventuality that one of the Helixes would come under heavy attack. Each of the separate 512 rings that made up the structure had unlatched and made its own TTD jump to a second predetermined fallback point. Several of the rings had been destroyed but the scatter move had saved the majority of the structure. The second Helix made no move to attack the Kitana system now. Its target had arrived. The ISFBx’s torpedoes that had been fired when they first arrived were already among the Jaaq’tah fleet when they came in around the second helix. They detonated releasing not only the standard zero-point energy ammunition but space as well, flinging the Jaaq’tah fleet apart from each other. All the ships of the 4th that were part of the second Helix started to gang up on smaller concentrations of Jaaq’tah ships, taking particular interest in destroying the command vessels, now using the GWB‘s to close the wormholes as well as break apart the PTP system and attack the enemy ships. The Transuniversal artilery of the Anteaus slowly found its way to the PTP system that was causing so much trouble. As each missle was moved off course it made a second jump to the system that had moved it using its own sensors to detect the cause of the distortion. The missles were using their TTD’s to do this however and ended up causing damage to the space inside of the Jaaqtah universe as it was dangerous to do such a thing. Missiles started appearing inside the PTP becons before they were launched and occasionally would be delayed unreasonably as they hit their targets several minutes in the future from when they were fired.

To be continued....


JP,

Derran Tyler: Jaaq'tah
Zack: YSA 4th fleet

 [YSS Celia] point a to point b  ON> Helix

The top part of the massive structure broke off to form a very short spiral. That spiral then bent itself downward to form itself into a ring before activating its hyperspace drives and heading out toward the Celia, "Why did you want to go there instead of staying on the ring?" Uso asked with a puzzled look as she lay down on the grass inside of the artifical landscape of the ring's civilian area. "The this ship would be out of the way, detached from the main combat efforts of the GSA and I don't trust Sijik... or you for that matter but it looks like your tagging along reguardless..." James responded, "Well.... ya," Uso suppresed a small chuckled as the ring neared its destination. "Celia, requesting permission to transfer three fresh crewmembers." the Seigi AI asked, as it was the one controling this ring for the moment.

Celia of course, took the information from Seigi regarding the passengers and the ring before allowing anything. "I'm sending a shuttle," she told the ring. Shortly thereafter, Sixthree flew a Ki-T2 over towards the ring.

Seigi transmited the location of the docking area as well as a becon so that it would be easy enough to find. "Well... Time to get going...." Uso said as she rolled onto her chest and then stood up to face James and the young girl who were already on their way to one of the transist systems tucked away in the sides of the ring. "HEY! WAIT UP!" Uso yelled after them. The docking area of the ring was huge and opened directly into the civilian area of the ring. The landing area designated for the shuttle was a small landing pad in the middle of a grassy field with a few trees strewn about the place and even though the stars were visible through the transparent celing of this area their was enough light coming from the ring itself for it to be considered 'day'.

Sixthree landed the shuttle skillfully, and opened the rear door. The old genetically-enchanced.

James, Anet, and after a few moments Uso boarded the shuttle and took their seats. Uso wasted no time in siting sideways and resting her legs on another chair while trying to achive a 'comfortable position.

"Let's go." Sixthree grinned. In a few minutes, the shuttle was abord the Celia again.

OFF>
 [YSS Celia] point a to point b (cont.)  ON> YSS Celia

Eliel got off his shift, lately, he had been overworking himself, and so far, he was getting alot done, not alot the commanding officers could complain about. Normally, he'd head back to his nest with his roommates that he liked so much, but Wikkedson just had to make him do some more work, no matter what it was, work was all that Wikkedson thought Eliel was good for, and he was somewhat correct, Eliel worked harder than most, but got tired pretty easily. "Oh great, I forgot to get these new guys acquianted...oh well, better go see what the cat dragged in...", Eliel thought to himself as he took the lift down to the shuttlebay. And then, he instantly smelled exhaust fumes and all, Kado warned Eliel about that, oh course, Kado would know all about this if he traveled as he did. "Geez, how do you breathe down here with all this smoke?", Eliel thought to himself as he saw 3 new people, he hadn't seen them before really. He waved his hand over them, trying to get their attention.

The three were talking amongst themselves about something but from this distance Eliel couldn't tell what it was. The trio consisted of a green haired neko wearing a tight tank top and a pair of baggy cammo pants, hardly uniform, with a pistol straped to her hip and a shoi rankpin attached. The man talking to her seemed to be ignoring her as she talked. He had on a heavy black jacket and the standard male GSA uniform under that. He had to occational brush a few strands of his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes while glancing down at the third member of the group, This girl looked to be bearly 16 and was a bit short for her age, looking almost chibi in appearance. She had on white priests robe with red trim and something written across the bottom in a language that looked incredibly gothic. The neko spotted the angel first, "HELLO!!!" She yelled from across the shuttle bay.

Eliel paused for a second, he yawned, proving he was a bit on the tired side, and a little lazy so to speak. "Hello!", Eliel tried to yell back with the sounds of engines and drives working. He walked over to them, flapping his wings once, a weird thing with him, it seems the more he walks, the more his wings seem to jump or twitch sometimes, weird. Maybe it was just the combination of nerves in them, or just him being jittery at times. Once he got up in facial range of them, he only stared and cocked an eyebrow. "So you must be the new people...", Eliel said as he coughed, he wasn't impressed nor did he really approve of them already. "The name's Eliel Recon...some call me Aeolus, some call me Eliel, but you just call me Eliel, I like that more...Well come on, don't just stand there", Eliel said as he turned and waved his hand at them, signaling for them to follow him.

The group followed him but only the girl was looking directly at him, The other two were continuing to argue amongset themself, "Uso... shut it," James finnaly said, "OK.. that was mean..." Uso replied as she put her hands behind her head in a relaxed position as they continued to walk, "Hey, where can I get something to eat?" Uso asked.

"The mess hall...now, I don't suggest you really go there unless you have an appetite, to me, they believe in LARGE portions, I like the place myself though. Well guys, I can't tell you how to fit in though around here. I'll tell you something though, there's some people on this ship that you SHOULD avoid, but those people shall remain nameless, I don't wish to start any arguments because of anything I can tell you...just heed my warning and whatever people you think are crazy, stay away from...", Eliel said as he noticed Uso and James arguing. "Now...guys, please, I think we have enough arguments on this ship without you two going at it...trust me, there's enough females on this ship, you won't have time to argue, only flirt...", Eliel said with a smile before he let out a small chuckle and got on the lift, and waited for the others to get on too.

"I really couldn't care less who is on this ship... I got work to do," James said. "I really don't think its as large as you claim it is" Uso said to Eliel, "We are going to stop by the galley before you show us to our rooms," James rolled his eyes and sighed, there was no use arguing with her anyways.

"Well...we could, but then, what's the fun in me showing you everywhere when you can't figure it out for yourselves? And this ship is bigger than you think, it may not SEEM that way from your standpoint, but it's that way to me because well....the people on here, and with their different personalities, it'll seem like a whole new city, seriously speaking...", Eliel said as the lift closed and he pressed the button for them to be taken to another deck. "You have to check into your rooms first, because if you don't like them, then I'd have to get you accomodations somewhere else, so it's best you see your nests first before anything else, you understand right?", Eliel asked as the lift continued to go.

James leaned against the wall and sighed once more, knowing what was coming next. Anet, the little girl, was constantly looking around and memorising the layout of the ship as well as the people and equipment. She had always been curious. Uso pointed to the pin on her chest, "This says Shoi, yours doesn't, so unless you want me to come down on your for insubordination then I suggest you take me to the galley." James looked over at the angel a bit supprised, "Heh, looks like you got off easy... You can find your own way Uso, I'd rather be taken to my room." He said as he looked over at the door of the lift, waiting for it open, "Thank you for the advice on the ship, I don't know much about large vessiels like this" James said with a smile.

OFF>
 [YSS Celia] bargins  ON> YSS Celia

Keiko was feeling good, having slept well and bathed already, she sat at a desk in the medbay, continuing her studying of the medical books. Sure, she could learn it via download; but it gave her a sense of pride by learning it by reading the books and learning hands on. "Inari, do you think I should simply download the data for my training?" The young neko asked innocently.

Uso had already exited the lift, leaving the angel behind, and headed into the galley. "SO what do you have to eat?" she asked outloud, not really expecting an answer, as she looked around the area for food and a seat. She idely started to play with her braid in her right hand.

"We'll download it, of course," Inari told Keiko, "But it is just information. Experience will help you, but the information will make you pretty capable by itself. If you have confidence, your secondary mind will guide you through things, and once you use that knowledge you will become proficient."

"Well...ok!" Keiko smiled at her friend. "but first, do you mind if I go get something to eat? I haven't had breakfast yet."

She fingered the translation earring in her right ear, still not really used to having her ear pierced. Keiko was giving thoughts to getting a genetic tattoo on her torso.

"Go ahead," Inari smiled.

"Arigato." Keiko smiled back to her and got to her feet. "Want me to bring you back anything?"

Inari pondered for a second, "Some sushi, please."

"Sure thing." The young woman said and headed for the door, walked out and turned toward the galley. She whistled to herself as her soft footsteps echoing through the halls. She soon reached the galley and walked in; "Hello?" She asked, hoping one of Sergei's assistants was in.

By now Uso had gotten a plate of food and was reclining in one of the chairs with her feet up on the table as she gulped down her food leasurely, "Hello!" she said with an air of sarcasum as she waved to Keikio, knowing full well that she wasn't being adressed by her. "So this is where you ended up then?"

Keiko scowled, her bright mood rapidly fading at hearing the familar, annoying voice. She turned to Uso and narrowed her eyes, brushing a hair out of them. "Well well, look what cat dragged in, old green-hair." Keiko said in a less than pleasant tone; she really didn't like Uso much. She walked over to the kitchen, noticing that there was nobody here other than her and got her own mug of hot cocoa and some oatmeal. She turned to Uso as she waited for the water to boil; "Speak only when spoken to,..shoi." Keiko reprimanded.

"Oh ouch!, Is that any way to treat an old friend?" Uso asked with a smile as she continued to gulp down the large helping of rice and chicken on her plate, "There was this cook at QIS, I liked her food much better than what I can cook..." Uso commented. abstractly as she watched Keikio.

Keiko got her hot drink and bowl of oatmeal and took a seat near the door and looked over at Uso. "What is your occupation aboard this ship other than annoying people?" She asked, pointedly. It was painfully obvious that Keiko didn't like Uso too much. She was arrogant and annoying.

Sergeant Svars Seraphsmasher and Master Sergeant Idsol Sixthree Tangozulu walked by, each carrying a large plate of steak and mixed vegetables. Sixthree's eyes lingered on Uso's backside as he passed her. The two were talking about Eliel and some of the other new guys.

Uso shrugged, "I haven't gotten my assignment as of yet, but I assume it will be cook or something similar to what I had on the Seigi..." Uso shruged and continued to eat.

Keiko glared at Uso, "We already have a fine cook, perhaps you can be the ship's whore or something; those guys are looking for a good time." Keiko said, defending her buddy Sergei and pointing at the troll and the Geshrin.

"Well I'm not much into cooking," She paused abruptly to lean really far back in her chair to the point where it was almost falling over. Her head draped over the side and she waved hello to the men behind her, giving them a good view of the clevage contained by her slightly unzipped uniform.

Sixthree licked his lips sensually, as if to say he'd like to show her how well he could use his tongue. He and the troll then moved on, headed back to their usual spot in the corner.

~Tramp.~ Keiko thought about Uso, but keeping it to herself. She didn't understand why they were oogling Uso; she wasn't cute by any means. "Keep it in your pants in the galley soldier." Keiko said to Sixthree, noticing his actions.

Uso mouthed, "maybe later," and then returned to the normal upright chair position, "You should really relax and learn to enjoy life Keikio..." Uso said as she returned to her food once more.

"I enjoy a better life than you do ya shiphoppin' bag of garbage." Keiko scowled at her, her bad mood amplified by her sense of loneliness without her sister around.

"Gee, You act like you know my life... You haven't been spying on me have you?" Uso asked jokingly.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Keiko replied and took a drink of her hot chocolate. "You caused my master alot of trouble you know that?" Keiko said, just looking at Uso was disgusting her.

"Now your talking like me too?" Uso asked with a smile

Keiko slammed her free hand against the table, "Answer the question." She said. But something inside her made her start to calm down a bit. She leaned back in her chair and sipped her drink, but she was not sorry.

"I'm sorry about Kai, but there are forces much more important that must be served before him," Uso said below her breath as she ate.

"No you're not, I'll bet in your sick, twisted little mind; you're glad he's dead." Keiko said, a small tear rolling down her lovely face. Her ears caught the last part of what Uso had said "What other forces?"

Uso took a long drink from the glass by her plate, as if to avoid the question, "Just trust me on this one Keiko," Uso said as she finished up her food and stood to put away her plate.

"Sit down Shoi. I'm ordering you to tell me what you've heard." Keiko said authoritatively.

Uso chuckled slightly, "Kai was playing a game and he lost, The Dr. had some powerful friends," Uso put away her plate and then came back to lean against the wall near Keiko, "It is best if you just walk away from this one Keiko."

"Tell me more." Keiko said, now intrigued. "Actually, tell me everything."

"I'll I've heard is that the Dr. was able to get a very... special... assasin, You can't get people like that without knowing some people." Uso said, giving Keiko what little she did know about Kai's assasination that she gathered on Ralfaris.

"Naraku." Keiko scowled and fingered a poisoned knife in a sheath at her hip under the table. "It's about money Uso, anyone will do anything if you offer them enough." Keiko hated that blue-haired bitch; the one thing she wanted more than anything was to torture her beyond anything even Irim had ever seen. "Anyway, did you hear anything about Ms. Amaya?"

"Heh, Certain people don't care about just money and want a specal payment..." Uso said, "Amaya, what's to know about her other than QIS wants her for their Terraforming projects and they aren't going to let her get killed anytime soon."

"I heard that she went and got herself..."Keiko trailed off, figuring what Amaya had done wouldn't be wise to mention. "What do you mean by 'special' payment"

"All I've heard is that your little assasin didn't just want cash..." Uso said.

"What can you think she wanted." Keiko asked curiously.

Uso shruged, "Your going to have to find that out for yourself."

"Hrmm" Keiko let out and drankher drink, having finished her food in the course of the conversation. "Do you know the current situation on this ship?"

"I just got here..." Uso said, "But I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later..."

"You sure will..." Keiko said, still curious about what Uso meant by "special" payment. She decided to take a potshot guess. "Celia, is Naraku still on this ship?" She asked, thinking that the little witch had escaped somehow during the recent transfers.

"She is in the brig," Celia's voice answered, speaking through a sprite that was nearby.

"She...is?" Keiko was surprised. "Who is guarding her?"

"No one," the server said. Her eyes had a frightened look; it was evident the woman was uncomfortable with something else in control of her mouth. Keiko was being somewhat inconsiderate, trying to talk to the computer in the middle of a crowded room. A control panel would have been better.
Dante Stormwind:: Keiko sighed, that simply wasn't right. She finished her drink and took it to kitchen to have the dishes washed. She returned to the table and looked at Uso; "Just don't step out of line too much, I'm going down to question her." She reminded Uso and looked over at the guys. "Bye." She said to them all.

~Gee... questioning a 'special' assasin... this looks like a job for~ Uso got up and followed Keiko out, "Mind if I tag along?" Uso asked.

Keiko thought about it for a moment, she would probably get mad at the captive; so having someone who had shown to keep a cool head would be a good idea. "I suppose so, I've heard how you can keep cool and get the info." Keiko said. Her gaze went over the guys again, hoping she wouldn't have to bust them on lack of ettiquette.

Uso nodded and followed Keiko out, wiggleing her hips slightly as she did.

"Who's that woman?" Sixthree asked, watching her leave.

Keiko and Uso where already gone, the guys had let the young Chui down again. "Uso, did you come here alone?" She asked curiously as they made their way to the brig.

"Nope," Uso said as they continued to walk, "Two others came as well"

"Oh who are they?" Keiko asked as she neared a control panel. "Excuse me a moment." She said to Uso and addressed the Celia via the panel. "Celia, could you please indicate the way to the brig?" Keiko asked, having never been there.

Uso leaned against the wall and waited for Keiko to finish up.

"There's a lift shaft over there. I could take you directly," the ship answered.

"Thank you." Keiko said and went to the lift, waving Uso on.

Uso followed Keiko to the lift.

Keiko boarded the lift to go directly to the brig.

She got out after a few moments of swift lift movement and got off in brig area.

"Naraku?" He voice said, looking for the captive.

Uso got out of the lift and immideately looked around the area to get a feel for what it was like.

Keiko remembered the carnage after the assassination and requested Celia to turn the ADN on in here if it wasn't already. "Celia, please activate the ADN in this area."

The brig was white-walled, sterile-looking room with 5 cells, two on each side, and one in the back, opposite the door they entered in. There was a desk in the center for the sentry, but no one was in the chair. Naraku was in the cell on the back left, but they couldn't see her from the brig entry. "Done."

Keiko looked around in the cells as she walked through them for her and got to the one Naraku was in. "Naraku, I have some questions for you." Keiko said.

Uso sat down on the desk and crossed her legs, watching the interogation from there.

"Would you be willing to answer them for me?" Keiko asked pleasantly, suppressing an urge to kill her right there.

Naraku sat on her nest-pad on the floor, a petite little girl with soft-looking blue hair that ran from her small horn down to around chin-level. Dressed in a simple white slip, she looked up at Keiko and stared blankly, not answering.

"I merely want to ask you why you killed my father." Keiko said, fixing her eyes with Naraku's as she hid her emotions.

"Uchhk," Naraku scowled.

Keiko perked a brow at her. "Please just tell me why you did it." She said.

"It was a job," the slender child said frigidly, "Just a service, like when I did Wazu's mother."

"For whom? this Dr. X?" Keiko asked. "You stole my dad from me and I want to know why you did it, and who did it." Keiko said.

"That's not yours to know," Naraku harshly replied.

Keiko looked over at Uso, she was about to lose her cool. "You robbed me of my only family, and you say I don't have a right to know why?" Keiko shot back at Naraku.

"Perhaps if you tell us we can help you out somehow?" Uso asked Naraku.

"That sounds tempting," Naraku smirked. "Go on."

~But I'm not letting you go until Yui decides what to do with you~ Keiko thought, knowing her thoughts were safe.

"If you cooperate then I wouldn't be responsible for say... a massive system failure that would unlock the brigs." Uso said.

Keiko glared at Uso, but said nothing, Uso *did* have more experience at this.

"Are you willing to help us out then?" Uso asked Naraku.

"I'll kill you," Celia warned.

"Give me something plausible," Naraku replied, listening to the computer's voice. "The ship..."

"You know very well that I can't do that, not without being killed by the computer. But then again I wouldn't be having this conversation and needlessly risking my life by talking in front of the AI if I had no intention of really helping you now would I? All I want is a name, will you help us?"

Keiko looked at Naraku; thinking that Uso better not fuck this up.

"What do I get out of it?" Naraku laid down on her side, her head resting on a pillow.

"As I said, I wouldn't be responsible if you got free..." Uso said, her voice heavy with implied meaning.

Uso flicked her tongue, sending a tiny, clear drop of spittle on the transparent impervium window between the cell and the central brig area, then looked to the door. "The person to open that door has to either outrank the ship or have the authority of someone who does...unless you can convince the ship."

Keiko looked wary; she only wanted a reason. But she kept silent, watching the interrogation closely. ~I have a feeling the ship would not be convinced.~

"I have some people who owe me favors..." Uso said, "And if worse comes to worse I can be very convincing, after all, what do you have to loose by telling us?"

Keiko shot Uso a look saying; "you'd better not let her out."

Uso simply ignored Keiko.

Naraku closed her eyes, as if she was going to just go to sleep.

"How about something more real then? Something that we could give you right now?" Uso asked, "If you don't want what I am offering then perhaps we can give you something in trade for your information. Your stay here could be a lot more comfortable." Uso said.

Keiko looked at Uso; "What are you thinking here..." She wondered through her expression.

"Give me some children," Naraku grinned.

Keiko's eyebrow shot up. "Why would you want that?"

"I can arrange for that, but I can't get anyone to agree to it unless you give me something that we can use." Uso said

Naraku laughed evilly. "I like children."

"Why?" Keiko asked, noticing her evil look.

~Didn't that Eve-person like children? That laugh was too creepy...~ Keiko thought, remembering some of the rumors she'd heard.

The childlike neko smiled, her eyes closed, wrapping her legs around one of her pillows while her head rested comfortably on another. "They excite me with their vulnerability and innocence."

"How is that exciting?" Keiko asked, now kind of freaked out.

"Stupid questions," Naraku said.

"All we need is a name... Then we can get you some children," Uso said.

"Children first. You have got to get them in here with me," Naraku demanded.

The young kurovakten considered her question, then dropped it, she didn't want to know now. "Name first, children second." Keiko said.

"No deal. Go away," Naraku said quietly but firmly.

Keiko's lip curled back into a soft growl.

"Good day then, It must be very lonely in there with no one to talk to or play with," Uso said as she headed out into the hallway.

Keiko shook her head and followed Uso's lead. "How annoying.." She commented quietly as she neared the lift.

Naraku clenched her pillow tightly and buried her face in it.

END

 [YSS Celia] Roomies  ON> YSS Celia (GC-55): Mess Hall

Keiko yawned in the mess hall, she had had a long night; she sipped at a mug of hot cocoa as she read over a book she found in the medbay. "Hmm, so that's how the HSCS is used in ST respawn." The sleepy neko murmured. Keiko missed her sister Yuuko and pulled out a datapad she kept on her for notes and such. She put a message in to her other sisters Anri and Irim. "Hello sis, it's Keiko; just writing to say there has been no contact from Yuuko in 2 days..I'm worried." She sent to each and continued to read and sip.
"We're all made to be uniquely beautiful," Kaori smiled, her white teeth contrasting against dark purple lips. She yawned and stretched, stretching her arms above her head and popped her shoulders and elbows. The little neko purred contently and returned to studying; promptly skipping the section on male anatomy. That section was one she didn't want to know about; for her own reasons, it made her uncomfortable...maybe she'd study it later. Keiko's brilliant violet eyes scanned the room looking for something stimulating to take her mind off her book for a moment. She understood that her sisters were busy on their own, but she still hoped they'd reply.

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	2 ON> YSS Celia (GC-55): Enlisted Quarters

Eliel woke up, the nest he was sleeping was a little uncomfortable with such a wing span as his, needless to say, his wing span is twice that of any normal Plebian God worshipper. And yet, he was willing to make a good first impression, he woke up 3 hours before his shift was even supposed to take place, and he would get to work 2 hours, and 35 minutes early than what he was supposed to come in. "They can afford all these big weapons yet they can't afford better sleeping quarters...", Eliel thought to himself as he sat down, he was starving, yet, he didn't know where to go if he wanted something to eat, no one even told him about that. Eliel looked to his neko roomies and stared at them, they were still sound asleep.

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	3 "Unnnh," one of the naked girls stirred slightly at his movements, her catlike ears spasming slightly. Apparently she'd become entangled with him sometime during the night. The other one was buried under some pillows with one arm around the first. Their garments had been holographic, for his pleasure, but had faded after they'd fallen sleep. They were both on their bellies, so nothing was overly exposed but the bottom of the one that embraced him.

"Nekos....they always got some freaky stuff on their mind....", Eliel said to himself as he began to talk to one of the Nekos resting on his lap, the one that was awake and sat down next to her. "Tell me something, what's your name?", Eliel asked the neko. He always believed in getting to know a girl first, and more than likely, he'd end up having sex with either one of them, or more preferably, both of them. But in either case, he'd prefer to get to know them just a little before anything else surfaced.

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	4 The nest had been decorated by the two girls, and had vines and flowers painted along the foam that coated the metal and plastic walls that lined the small compartment. In the corner, a shelf held two tablet computers and some feminine items: perfume, mirrors, toiletry kits, and various other items. "Hmm?" She opened her eyes, "I'm Kaede," she told him, leaning her head back to look up at him.

Eliel stared at the neko. "How well did you sleep?", Eliel asked her wondering. "And I never knew this, I'm not into your types yet. Are all neko female?", Eliel asked her. "And you wouldn't know where to find a mess hall around here or a cafe or something now would you?", Eliel likewise asked. "Kaede....that's a nice name, original, yet pleasing to the ears...", asked the more than curious Elysian. It was obvious that he wasn't around a whole lot of neko.

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	5 "Almost all of us. There's a few...unusual nekos, but they are exceptions," Kaede told him. "Thank you...I can take you to the mess hall if you'd like," she smiled. "This is my sister, Kaori," she pointed at the lump of pillows at her side. Kaede had a sweet, smooth face with a blue tattoo running from her nose, over her lips to her chin.

"Well, could you put on something a little less revealing? I mean, I got NO problem with what you have on, trust me on that...", Eliel said as he smiled, already, he had decided that neko types were his favorite race of all, at least with them, you don't have to worry about being a virgin for too long, if you are a virgin that is. "Well, no rushes, I'm not due to work for another 3 hours, I got time Kaede", Eliel explained as he tried to move his wings, but it was so bunched up in there in his opinion. "Kaori...that's a good name too..", Eliel said as he looked to the other cat woman. "What are your jobs here on the Celia? You and you sister?", Eliel asked, still curious.

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	6 "I'm sorry," Kaede apologized. A soft-looking silken set of pajamas appeared over her exposed skin, covering her body except for her feet and above the shoulders. She got up, and the garment seemed to flow naturally on her, revealing a little bit of cleavage in its looseness. It was, however, an illusion. "We're power systems technicians. We work on the generators and wiring," Kaede explained, flopping her sister over on her back. Kaori didn't seem to want to get up until Kaede grabbed a pinch of her tiny puff of pubic hair and pulled. This caused the slightly-older-looking counterpart to immediately jerk upright.

"Mrmmm!" Kaori growled.

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	7 "No it's ok, it's just I don't want you to be talked about and all. "Wow, you're awake, my name is Eliel you two, Eliel Recon. I work here as an armorer and the occasional butt of the jokes around here. Someone hit me with whipped cream, well, it was Leet, you guys know and probably hate him. Tried to be nice to the guy, but hey, he's impossible to me, I told him to keep his distance from me and I'd keep my distance from him..", Eliel explained as he got ready to go. "Power technicians? How interesting....seeing as to how tired you both are, I take it you work very hard?", Eliel asked.

"Put something on, he's shy." Kaede told her sister. Kaori was quickly in a long shirt with frilly edges. She smiled to Eliel apologetically. She had the same pattern on her face as Kaede, but the line from her nose to her chin was black instead of blue. The comment about Leet made them giggle, but neither commented further on the subject.

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	8 "I'm not shy, I'm just uh....", Eliel said as he blushed, he never really got that kind of attention from alot of the nekos, most times, because he didn't choose to talk to but a few of them, that's one of the reasons why he didn't know much about them. "Are all the neko as beautiful as you two? I mean, not a single one of you so far are ugly....I think I'm in Heaven already if you know what I mean", Eliel said as he chuckled a bit. "And by the way, if you ever need a pillow, just give me a holler, I'll send a wing right over, see for yourself, it's as soft as a pillow, yet they're big as hell....", Eliel said as he referred to his overly large wings.

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	9 "Well, you all are beautiful nonetheless to me...", Eliel said with a smile. "And no offense, but I kinda already knew you guys were uniquely beautiful, you don't have to tell me twice", Eliel said, trying to flatter them, of course, with him, he'd try that. "Now would you look at me? I'm not even dressed myself, and here I am talking about you guys", Eliel said as he wore a small, black tanktop with a small pair of boxers. He put on a blue and maroon colored, long sleeved shirt with his rank pin on the front, a pair of light sky blue pants and a gray belt with a gold colored buckle. On top of that, two large cut outs were made for his wings, he had this custom made, of course he'd have to, these all were made for Elysians and all.

Kaede and Kaori looked to each other and grinned, bringing their faces close and nuzzling their beautiful little noses together. Kaede smiled back to the Elysian, "You must have been tired yourself. You went straight to bed after getting here. We didn't fully awake we you climbed in." Kaede seemed to be a slightly shorter, slightly cuter, girlish version of her sister Kaori, who was a slightly taller, beautiful, womanly version of Kaede.

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	10 Eliel smiled as he tied up his boots, he did his best to move around in the small room, he rubbed up against the two neko, trying to move around them, which is to say, it's not like he was frustrated or something, he was enjoying it. "So, you get many Elysians here? Or am I one out of a million?", Eliel asked as he rubbed on Kaori's face. "Soft....you don't find females like you guys where I come from too often...", Eliel explained.

Kaede leaned herself against her sister's bosom and puckered her lips into Kaori's ear, whispering something excitedly. Kaori seemed to be surprised, her eyes flashing. Kaede giggled and nodded to to Kaori, who seemed uncertain. "You're one of very few Elysians aboard this particular ship," Kaori answered, while her sister was smiling and rocking herself excitedly. Kaori seemed to enjoy the touch, and she did nothing to stop it.

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	11 Eliel chuckled to himself, he was thinking that these girls must've been deprived of male interaction in this sort of scenario. "Sorry if I startled you Kaori...", Eliel said as he ran his hand through her hair. "Wow....soft as hell, what do you put in your hair? I couldn't get my hair to be that soft in a million years..", Eliel explained as he looked into her eyes. They were cat-like, and to him, it was a little creepy and sexy at the same time.

Kaori blushed slightly, transfixed by his affection, leaning into his chest so he could better inspect the thin, straight strands of deliciously soft hair. It was very very, fine, but he could tell it had a good amount of strength to it, too. While most of his attention was on Kaori. Kaede started playing with his wings, rubbing them softly at the base.

Edited by: Ketsurui Yui  at: 2/1/04 13:10
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	12 Eliel's wings were a little sensitive, they had extra nerves, partially because they were so big. They kind of jerked away from Kaede at first, but then, Eliel forcifully calmed them down and made them stay still for Kaede. "I'm sorry that I'm so curious, I just don't see alot of you guys alot, and it's interesting to find out about other races besides my own...", Eliel explained as he looked at Kaori's tattoo. "Who did that tatt for ya?", Eliel asked her.

Keiko, having finished her cocoa, scooped up her book and pad and started back to her room, taking a detour through the enlisted area. "I'm so tired...man, I hope Yuuko returns soon, I can't do her job and mine." Hearing a conversation in a room, she opened the door to see inside.

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	13 Eliel looked up, his hearing was alerted. He reached into his bag for his rifle, but then as Keiko apologized he let it go. "Carry on then....", Eliel said as stopped going for his weapon. "Anyways....where is that mess hall? And uh...if you want to mess with my wings some more, you're welcome Kaede. When you touch them it kind of gets jittery, so it tickles a little...", Eliel explained.

"I was born with this marking," Kaori responded, "It symbolizes the Nishizaki family of Nekovalkyrja. There's so many of us nekos, that we use markings on your faces and bodies to tell ourselves apart if the faces and bodies are the same. Somewhere out there, there are identical nekos, with different markings." Kaede's exploring little hands gripped harder on his wings as he produced the weapon.

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	14 "Eliel?" she asked, only having taken a step. "How's the leg?"

"My leg is fine Miss Keiko....just fine, and by the way, tell Leet that I'll be gunning for him if he wants a round two...", Eliel explained as he leaned back on Kaede a little. "These are my roommates, Kaede and Kaori if you haven't already met them", Eliel conveyed, he was still a little mad at Keiko for rejecting him like she did, but now, he had gotten over it. Eliel's wings jerked when Kaede gripped on his wings. "Hey that tickles...", Eliel said laughing a little.

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	15 "Chui," Kaoru nodded her head in salute. Kaede did the same. The didn't speak; it was not allowed to speak in the presence of an officer unless spoken to. Meanwhile, Kaede's hands firmly massaged the tops of both of the Elysian's wings, rolling and kneading them in her little hands.

Keiko smiled and returned the slight bow. "You may speak freely." She said, knowing they couldn't unless told to. "Eliel, don't you have work?" she asked, not knowing his duty times. Her eyes narrowed some; "Or are you already wasting time?"

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	16 "Is there some reason you are in our home and not on your own ship?" Kaoru asked. Maybe Keiko shouldn't have given her permission. The comment was made with politeness and respect due, but it was like ice, especially when combined with the violated look in the technician's eyes. It was clear that Keiko was on the enlisted people's turf, and that it wasn't appreciated.

Keiko smiled at Kaoru. "I was on my way home and heard voices in here while I passed." She said, she didn't really have to explain, but she saw no harm in it. "I'm just a bit lonely I suppose; I'm separated from my sisters and all." Keiko said, sounding tired. She turned to leave, sensing she wasn't welcome by the look in the Tech's eyes.

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	17 "Miss Keiko, I'm going to be frank about all this. Aren't you supposed to be at the med bay? Or people don't get sick today? People get sick all the time, so don't tell me about when to work and when not to work. I'm a Soldier First Class, and I ask you to respect that, not lower me into some sort of weaker being...", Eliel said as he got offended by some of things that Keiko said.

Keiko shot him a glare. "I read your file after you left the medbay. You are no officer, you have no right to even attempt to tell me my business." Keiko was tired and annoyed now. "Get your butt out of that bed, and report to your duty station right this instant." She said, her voice full of venom.

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	18 Keiko huffed, spun on her heel and stormed out, thoroughly annoyed and headed for her home on the Rave.

"Look here, it's not even CLOSE to my time to go in, and I have my rights lady. I'm not due for my station for another 2 hours. And you forget, technically speaking, you aren't my commander. And I'm early, you barge into our room, you've gone beyond your welcome...", Eliel conveyed angrily, but she was gone already.



	19 "Alright Kaede, Kaori....I'll talk to you guys later, well, tonight that is....", Eliel said as he crawled his way out of the room, he'd have to in this case, his wings were just too big. And he went to the lift, where it took him down to the cargo bay, more weapons were being shipped in this morning, which is Eliel couldn't really tell if it was morning or night here, the time zones were always different. He picked up this weird looking handtruck, which is to say, in this place, everything is weird, it floated.

"Goodbye, Mister Eliel!" the sisters waved as he left. Kaori proceeded to set the door to only open for the three who lived there.



	END
JP by:

Wes (Kaori, Kaede)
Tyler (Keiko)
Dion (Eliel)


 [YSS Celia] Everyone's Working....  ON> YSS Celia (Cargo Bay)

Eliel took the lift down to the Cargo bay area where he'd get the unused weapons and take them back up to his work station for modifications. He picked up this weird looking hand truck, which is to say, in this place, everything is weird, it floated. Eliel, being as strong as he was, started unloading the extremely heavy boxes of weapons by himself, without the aid of the hand truck. He sat them down on top of a flat bedded hand truck. He had lots to unload, mostly, they were all rifles, no pistols this time. After unloading the weapons, Eliel pushed the heavy flatbed onto a bigger lift, and it took him to the work station he was supposed to be at. "Now, for some handy work", Eliel said as he took off his backpack and pulled out a tool kit. Eliel starts checking through his issuing list and sees who he has to give out weapons to. "One order from Kaede, I'll give that to her when I get back in the nest, and one order from....Kado?", Eliel said as he checked the list.

Kado was going down the lift for some tools. His shuttle was on the frits again. He prest the button for the cargo bay and was on his way down.

Eliel started working on Kado's pistol and his rifle, he tightened up the triggers so that it was harder for him to shoot. Eliel liked Kado, but he didn't exactly trust the guy too much with a loose trigger, for Kado wasn't exactly a soldier just yet. Eliel's wrench made a squeaking noise as it turned.
Halo88:: The lift made it to the cargo bay, Kado was busy checking his list of tools he needed and walked right in. He didn't notice Eliel until he heard the squeak of the wrench.

Eliel looked up as he heard the lift closing, and someone getting off. He smiled as he saw Kado, "Kado! Just the man I needed to see, remember when you put in that order for a weapon? I know you'll need something, you're a transporter basically..", Eliel said as he put the pistol back together, Kado's rifle was already up and ready to fire. "Here, a gift from me to you, for giving me a ride....", Eliel said as he handed Kado a GP-13 Phased Pulse Pistol and a GP-12 Phased Pulse Rifle

Kado could barely say anything. "Thanks sir! I..I was just doing my job. Honestly I thought I would be refused a weapon."

Eliel patted Kado on the back, of course he didn't expect a weapon, he never really got a chance to be what he wanted to be, a soldier. "Well, you just keep those, and that rifle....well, I don't know exactly if the CO wants you having that....but just keep that issue between you and me, know what I mean?", Eliel conveyed as he winked his eye.

Kado nodded his head and started to check out his new weapons. He couldn't stop looking at them. "Thanks again, sir," he said. Now the only problem now was, how was he going to be able to test them out?

"And uh Kado, I made it very easy for you, just point and shoot. I modified them a bit..", Eliel chuckled a little before he could finish. "That rifle should have a little more 'punch' to it than usual, and the pistol's trigger is a little hard to pull, so that makes for better aim, or at least that's what I think", Eliel explained as he patted Kado on the back. Eliel went and grabbed a really heavy box of tools. "This what you looking for? I stashed them over there for you...I'll carry them if you like, the box is a little heavy", Eliel said as held it up easily.

"Uh...I don't if you should..." He replied, a little hesitant. He didn't want Eliel to do all the work, it was his job after all.

Eliel insisted, he knew this guy couldn't have carried this box all by himself. This was tools for a shuttle, and any shuttle tool kit will be heavy, for it repairs something that travels space, it only makes sense. "No no, I don't want you to get all tired, you have your whole day ahead of you. And besides, what's the point in me having these muscles if I never get a chance to use them huh?", Eliel asked as he smiled and started walking towards the lift. "Now are you coming or should I carry you too?", Eliel asked as a joke.

"I'll think I'll pass on that." He got onto the lift with Eliel. He pressed the button for the shuttle bay. Kado started to trust Eliel a little more. After all, he gave him what no one else would. A chance.
Garelock:: "Say, where you from Kado? I mean, I know what you do, I'd just like to know more about you. I'm new here and all, and I....I know how it feels to be....left out", Eliel explained to Kado as the lift was at the halfway mark to their destination.

"I'm from Yamatai. My parents weren't very...uh...fond of me, so I left and came here." It felt weird telling someone his past. He remembered that day he left, his parents barely even caring. He began to become sad, but snapped out of it. "So what about you?"

"Elysia, of course, where else do you get Elysians as big as me? Then again, you don't see too many Elysians anymore in my opinion. My parents loved me, well, too much, they loved me so much to the point where I literally lived in a boot camp if you will, a real hell hole. Had to wake up at the crack of dawn every morning, eat slop for breakfast, things like that, they were training me to be apart of the Elysian Celestial Navy. Now, don't get me wrong, I love ECN, but not enough to be tortured. Yeah, I enlisted, but grudgefully...Anyways, got a lady in your life?", Eliel asked as he too felt a little weird telling someone about his past. But he really never intended to bring up the girlfriend or wife thing, just a question off the top of his head.

"Nope not yet..."he replied disappointingly. "But you've got to admit, those Nekovalkyrjans are pretty." Kado couldn't think of anything else to say, but it was the truth to him.

"I know some of them are, but you still have to treat them like what they are, ladies. I'm staying with two of them now, and I know I could have sex with them anytime...the problem is, I want to get to know them first, I'm not a womanizer although I do like women. You wanna do right by them, but you don't want to look and stare at them all this time, know what I mean?", Eliel explained as the lift came to a halt, and he walked out of it, walking towards Kado's shuttle. "I'm not involved either, but with those two, that will change soon..."

He nodded. Kado knew exactly what he meant, he didn't want to treat them like nothing either. Problem was, he barely knew any. Yet that could wait another time, he had his shuttle to fix.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eliel noticed an unusually-dressed girl working on a shuttle's engine. The girl was wearing a blue jumpsuit and a white tunic, a common plebian uniform aboard Elysian Navy ships. The fluffy pink winglets sprouting from her back verified the outfit. Surely, this was the one the medics had mentioned.

Eliel sat the tool box on Kado's shuttle, loading it up and walking back over to Kado. "Say...give me a visit anytime you want. But for now, I better get up there before the CO finds out I gave you that rifle...", Eliel said as he extended out his right hand to Kado, for a gentleman's hand shake. Eliel tried to ignore his fellow Elysian, but after the hand shake, he'd go and talk to her.

Kado noticed her too. but ignored her for now. "Thanks again, sir" He said. Kado shook Eliel's hand. He soon began opening the tool box for the shuttle.

Eliel patted Kado on the shoulder as he walked over to the Elysian girl, he picked up a small clipboard with a list on it, it had nothing to do with his job or anything, he just wanted to make the girl think he wasn't going over to her. He pretended like he was reading some stuff off the clipboard when he walked past her, his huge wings rubbed up against hers. "Pardon me miss...sorry for that bump...say, you wouldn't be from ECN now would you?", Eliel asked her.

"Huu," the plebian greeted him. She wore an oil-stained hand-made blue jumpsuit and a tattered white tunic over it. Her face was a bit dirty, but her smile was lovely. "Uuhai," she said.

Kado looked up at what he was doing. He recognized her name. "So it was her.” he said to himself. He continued working on the shuttle.
Huu? Uuhhai? The translator didn't get a single word she said, they just didn't make a bit of sense. But as Eliel looked her over, he knew she was a true Elysian. "My name is Eliel Recon, what's yours?", Eliel asked her.

"Uuhai?" she cooed, staying and swaying her hips from side to side. "Sir," she added, trying to show respect.

Eliel got an idea, he pulled out a small pen and turned the piece of paper clipped onto the clipboard over and began writing on it. "Here, read this....", Eliel said showing her what he wrote. It said, "My name is Eliel Recon, and don't call me sir...".

"Uuhai?" she cooed, staying and swaying her hips from side to side. "Sir," she added, trying to show respect.

Eliel got an idea, he pulled out a small pen and turned the piece of paper clipped onto the clipboard over and began writing on it. "Here, read this....", Eliel said showing her what he wrote. It said, "My name is Eliel Recon, and don't call me sir...".

The plebian technician looked at the paper and then back at him, giving him a look of total miscomprehension, along with a shrug. Her tiny pisk-tinted wings drooped. After a moment, she gestured for him to give her the clipboard.

Halo88:: Nearby Kado throws a wrench on the ground, causing both of the two to jump. "Piece of crap!" He kicks the shuttle, and continues to work.

"There's gotta be some way to communicate with you...", Eliel said. But then, he showed her his pen, showing her he wasn't that high in rank. Eliel saw her gesture and handed her the clipboard. But as he looked at her pink colored wings, he wondered about her. "You must be a Plebian", Eliel thought to himself. And as he looked to Kado, he yelled out, "Hey, you may want to use those tools and not throw them around".

Sadly enough, the plebian had an undecorated red pin, the lowest rank in the Star Army. She was even with a newborn neko, or a clone. Upon receiving the clipboard, she pointed to the pen.

Eliel handed her the pen as well as he sighed and wondered again. He saw her rank and felt ashamed of himself, not for trying to talk to her, but for her being of such low rank. Had she been in the ECN, she would've been higher ranked.

There was a flurry of scribbling and sketching for about a half-minute. She the plebian was finished, she returned the clipboard. On it, a perfect 3D cutaway diagram of the engine system of the shuttle she'd been working on, complete with arrows pointing to where the problem was. She drew a wrench to show she was fixing it. "Engine," she said. "Subspace distortion coils," she pointed, her finger tracing along where the arrows pointed.

"You can't read or talk for that matter but you can do this?", Eliel said as he patted her on the back. But then, he'd have to get back to work. "I'll talk to you later when you're off from work. See ya!", Eliel said as he ran back to the lift and got on, he remembered what Keiko said, he'd have to get to work.

END

Wes (Plebian Elysian)
Dion (Eliel)
Rob (Kado)


Ship's Cook
3rd Expeditionary Flt.
Posts: 28
(2/1/04 15:12)
	[Larrid] POW Goes AWOL ON> Larrid

A Dy'Unnar slowly walked into the room that Ayame was being held in. The room wasn't like most would expect, instead of a drafty stone cell, the Dy"Unnar had put her into a lavish heated room, with a private bathroom and running water. The Dy'Unnar knocked on the door as he opened it, keeping his eyes down, in case the "prisoner" was indecent at the moment. "Miss? I have come to give you your meal....." He said, walking to a large table and setting a covered tray down.

Ayame looked at the person who entered, "Thank you..." She said simply, not bothering to rise from her seat on the floor.

The Dy'Unnar bowed slowly, and turned to leave, but was stopped short by the form of Eleef walked in, muttering to the underling. "You may go." he said, shutting the door behind him after the lesser Dy walked out. "Now.....I have a few questions, Ma'am, and I would like some answers."

She laughed briefly, "Good luck on getting them." She raised her eyes until she met his, "I will not betray my people."

Eleef laughed. "I wouldn't ask you to. I just wanted to know a few things about your prescence on Fenyar. Why, for example, are you here? Unless of course those pathetic humans finally found a way to get a message to space." He walked to a chair near the table and sat down, watching her, and folding his hands in his lap.

Ayame looked down at her hands that were folded neatly in her lap, "We are explorers, we were exploring your world. Nothing more..."

Eleef leaned forward quickly. "Liar! If you were just exploring, you wouldn't have brought weapons, and that awful armor.....If you were just exploring, you would have been doing so, instead of killing off my brethren, and our protectors, the To'Yaree."

She turned to look at him coldly, "We were warned of the inhabitants of this planet before hand. We brought them for our own protection, you should not have attacked Sergei and myself. If you hadn't we would have left you alone."

Eleef laughed. "My dear, it wsn't us that attacked you. We were merely out for a recon mission, when you two stumbled upon us. we were....just protecting ourselves. It was our thought that since you both carried weapons, that you meant to kill us...."

Ayame looked away, "They will leave this place shortly, which leads to the question of what you will do with me."

Eleef slowly reached a hand up to his chin, rubbing slowly. He then reached the other one up,and pulled back his hood, revealing a face scarred on the right side from some sort of burn. "What we will do with you, is of no relevance, for you will not be able to stop us, one way or another."

Ayame brought her legs up until she was sitting cross legged, "What was your purpose in coming here now?"

Eleef slowly cleared his throat, looking down at his hands. "My purpose was to make sure that you were doing alright, and to try and find out why your people are killing mine. We really don't want to damage your friends, but they don't seem to realize that they have upset a very delicate balance....." It seemed as if all the hostility had just instantly drained from him, and now he was very unsure of himself.

Ayame smiled at him briefly, "You could let me go and I could order them to leave this place."

"No, they wouldn't do that.....the large group of armored people would never allow it. I have informants telling me that at this moment, your clan is getting all their weapons together to try and attack us..." Eleef said, leaning back in his chair.

Ayame nodded, "Allow me to try and stop them. I am sure we could come to some form of arrangement..."

"No, we do not want, 'an arangement'. We want you off our planet.....We want you to just go away." Eleef said, pulling his hood back over his face and standing up.

Ayame started to grow irritated, "And I am telling you I can probably arrange that in exchange for certain things."

Eleef turned back to her, hand resting against the metal door. "And what would those things be? Though I really don't think that you are in a place to be demanding anything of us. We are fine with keeping you here indefinitely."

She peered at him closely, "What would be the purpose in keeping me here? I'll never tell you anything you wish to know..."

"Be that as it may, I'm sure that not having you with them would drive that wolfman crazy. He would never stop looking for you. And besides, by keeping you here, we could learn about you, just from watching." Eleef said, touching the door near the edge and getting a satisfying click as the door unlocked.

"Let me go and provide me with a cure to your serum and we will never return." She said it calmly, her eyes never leaving his.

Eleef turned back to look at her, purple eyes glowing from the shadows of his hood. "I will not betray my people either, miss. i will not give you the secrets of The Art."

Ayame sighed and leaned back against the wall, "Then many people will die..."

Eleef continued to watch her. "Then so be it. If it is the will of the gods, then my people are prepared to die, but I will guarantee you this, there will be loses to your friends as well....Especially that pathetic man you were with before.

Her dark eyes betrayed nothing she was feeling, "Is there anyway we can come to an arrangement that would guarantee the survival of both of our peoples?"

Eleef walked out the door and shut it behind him. Before he could completely close it, however, he responded with a cold, "No. I do not make deals with killers....."

Ayame sighed and slammed her fist into the floor, "Damnit!!"

Eleef walked to the end of the winding corridor, and looked to the two Dy'Unnar guards standing there, with rifles at the ready, scanning the path for intruders. "I want you to keep the woman in her cage for the time being. She will be a tough one to crack, but once that attacks get started, and her friends start dying, I'm sure she will be much more receptive to our questions." Eleef said, walking down the corridor to his right.

Kyoshi Ayame:: Ayame looked over at the tray of food, but did not rise. She was not going to take anything these people offered her, just like she wasn't going to give up any information.

Sergei Dimitriov:: Slowly, the door swung open, but there was no one in the opening. Then, in a flurry of movement, a four and a half foot figure darted into the room from a spot outside, and above the door. The creature was clothed in all purple robes, and looked about the room quickly, then slowly, silently shut the door, and stood leaning against it, chittering softly.

Ayame looked at the creature, "What do you want?"

The small one darted across the room and put a small paw over her mouth, chittering softly as it looked around the room and pointed to the corners, showing the room to be bugged.

She thought for a moment before trying her telepathy, ~What do you want?~ She asked inside the creatures head.

The creature looked around for the origin of the sound in it's head, slowly pulling it's gloved paw away from Ayame's mouth. It looked at her, and slowly smiled, pulling off it's hood to show the dark mask of a raccoon. It reached behind it, and freed it's large ringed fluff of a tail, and sat down in front of Ayame, reaching into a bag and pulling out two small masses. The creature nodded slowly, and put them in it's small triangular ears, and then focused it's thoughts, sending them telepathically to Ayame. ~I'm sorry to have startled you, but the guards are keeping a very sharp eye on you. Yes indeed, they are. Of course, there isn't a place created yet that I, or my clan, couldn't get into.....~ It's "voice" was strangely feminine, yet there were no signs of gender visible.

Ayame smiled at the creature briefly, ~Why are you here?~

The Sha'Nai smiled warmly. ~I am here to talk with you. I am not like The Great One, I don't really care about why you and your clan are here....but there is one thing I do want to know about......those shineys.....what are they....The shineys with people inside...." The creature's tail flopped back and forth, almost in a wagging sort of way as it's dark eyes glittered like black onyx.

~I am afraid I can not give out that sort of information.~ She brushed her dark hair out of her face as she watched the creature.

The creature's tail fell still again, and it's eyes looked down slowly. ~Please, I want to know what those shineys are....Please, oh Great One who comes from the sky?~

~Great One who comes from the sky?~ The voice inside the Sha'Nai's head seemed slightly perplexed.

~Only the Goddesses live in the sky. They bestow upon us gifts, like sunlight, and food, and shineys for me. You must be one of the Goddesses, because you and your clan came down in those bright, shiney carriages.~ The raccoon explained, slowly reaching back to pick up it's tail and set it in it's lap and start picking at it, almost nervously.

Ayame watched her curiously, ~Is there a way out of here?~

The creature nodded slowly, looking around. ~Of course there is, but it is very hard, especially with one like you....You are not trained in how to shadow walk, so I'm not sure you could make it.~

~I am willing to try, I need to...~ A determined look spread across her face, ~Better to die trying to escape than to die in captivity.~

~Oh, you would not have died here, The Great One would never have allowed it. You might have been taken to the labs, but never killed.~ The Sha'Nai said, slowly getting up and walking to the door. It placed it's paw against the lockpad, and a click was heard. Then, the creature opened the door and looked down towards the guards.


Ayame rose and followed her, as the door opened she slid against the wall to the side of the door and waited for the Sha'Nai to move.

~Alright, if we are to get out of here, I'm going to need a few things from you. First, If you have any, I would like some shineys. This will be very dangerous, so I won't do it for free. Second, here, put these on.~ The Sha'Nai didn't even look back as she reached into a bag that hung off her shoulder, taking out a pair of small black gloves, and matching booties.

Ayame slid the gloves and boots on, ~You shall be rewarded with a large amount of shineys after we escape. You have my word.~

The Sha'Nai smiled at the woman, and nodded. ~One last thing, no matter what happens, do as I tell you....Now, for right now, I want you to climb the door. It may look like stone, but it isn't, it's metal. I assure you. There are very strong magnets in the gloves and boots, so you will stick to it quite well.~

Ayame nodded and did as she was told. ~I can adhere to this if it gets me out of here.~ She thought to herself quietly.

The Sha'Nai smiled at seeing Ayame comply so quickly. Then, with little difficulty, the creature fixed it's tail into a belt like attachment on the back of it's robes, and lept up to stick to the top of the doorframe. She then walked on all fours out, and up the wall to the cieling. ~Follow please~

Ayame complied quickly, following the Sha'Nai across the ceiling.

The Sha'Nai "walked" across the ceiling until she was right above te guards. ~Now, here is where we're going to test your abilities, Oh Goddess. Here, the final peice of equipment I can give you.~ The Sha'Nai now hung upside down from the ceiling and reached into her bag, pulling out a small black ring. She walked back to Ayame and grabbed her hand. With a quick motion, the Sha'Nai pricked her hand with a claw. She took the insuing blood and rubbed it on the ring, making it turn a deep crimson color. Then the Sha'Nai slid the ring onto the Neko's finger. ~Now, when I say to, drop from the ceiling, and run down the corridor to your right. This ring will make you invisible from direct sight, but the Dy'Unnar's peripheral vision is second to none. I want you to take this path to the left, and keep going straight until you run out of path, and then take a right. If you are quick, and don't get the alarms sounded, you will be in a room full of living shadows. Any one you choose will lead you back to Fenyar....and I just pray that you find the rest of your clan before The Great One finds you.~

Ayame nodded. ~Thank you.~ She dropped down from the ceiling and ran down the left corridor. Her heart was racing, as she hit the end of the corridor she took a right and then a left. She prayed as she entered the room that the alarms would not sound.

The Sha'Nai dropped from the ceiling and knocked out the guards with speed and stealth, running behind the neko. There were a few times that someone tried to raise an alarm, but the little raccoon spy disabled them quickly, and non lethally.

Ayame looked at the Sha'Nai as she approached, ~Is there a way to tell which portal leads where?~

The Sha'Nai slowly shook her head. ~No, only the Kee'Awloo know the secrets of shadow walking.~

~You will be coming with me?~ Ayame asked silently.

The raccoon shook her head. ~I can't....I must answer for my crimes. I was not supposed to help you, but only to give Master information on you and your clan.....For disobeying, I must face the consequences.~

~Come with me... You do not need to face the consequences of these actions. I am indebted to you.~

~No, Ma'am, I cannot. If I run, he will find me, and I will only be punished further. And you are not indebted to me, all I ask is that you take this, and give it back to it's rightful owner.~ She reached into her bag and pulled out the last thing within, a pure white wolf skin blanket. ~This was taken from The Outcast right after he was born....His parents gave it to him to keep him warm, and The Master ordered us to steal it when we attacked his town.....I just can't bear to think of th cruelty we've given those people. Not with my own just being born.....~

Ayame impulsively hugged the woman and then clutched the blanket to her, ~I will see that he gets it... And thank you for everything...~

The Sha'Nai fell down on one knee, keeping her eyes at the floor. She then took the neko's hand, kissed it softly, then jumped up and disappeared out of the room, the sounds of fighting could be heard.

Ayame looked at the portals and stepped through one, she could only hope it led to where she needed to be.

END

 [Fenyar] It's like a hangover, only without the alcohol. Slowly, Henry stirred and awoke. He felt like someone had cracked his skull open and punched his brain repeatedly. “Oww, son of a…” He tried to sit up, but discovered that he could neither feel nor move his right arm. Also, he only seemed to be getting vision in his left eye.

“Are you all right, sir?” Shina was sitting on her mat, and looking at Henry with a concerned expression.

“No, not really,” Henry grumbled as he gave up trying to sit up with one hand, “what the heck happened to me? All of my cybernetic parts are knocked out.”

“The last thing my TOS detected was a huge EM spike, sir,” replied Shina, helping Henry sit up, “it was off the charts… And I think I landed on my head some time last night, some how..."

“That would explain why I can’t move my right arm or see in my right eye. And I guess the headache is from getting an electric shock in my eye socket… Are you going to be all right, Shina?”

“I should be fine, sir, I do have a slight headache, though,” answered Shina, “so I’m afraid I’m not going to be 100% combat effective for a while.”

“That’s okay, Shina… Um, where the heck are we?” asked Henry. He found it hard to focus his remaining eye, and felt as if there was a horse race going on inside his head.

“We are in the Kee’Awloo temple, sir,” Shina said with some certainty. She watched idly as the monks went busily about, tending to the sick and dying.

“Hmm, and they seemed like nice people, too. Didn’t figure them for kidnappers…” mumbled Henry as he placed his now inanimate right hand onto his lap with his left hand, shifting the weight enough so that he could stay in his current posture without Shina holding him up.

“I don’t think we were kidnapped, sir,” replied Shina as she looked around, “no one seems to be guarding us. I think we are free to leave if we want.”

“Then how did we get here in the first place? And what happened to our possessions?”

“I can not explain for certain sir. I have been awake for the past hour, and so far no one has come up to me to offer an explanation for our presence here. Most likely, we were brought here to ensure that you did not suffer any serious injuries from the EM spike…” Shina’s eyes suddenly darted toward a pair of Kee’Awloo monks, who seemed to be engaged in a quiet conversation, “but I’ve been picking up pieces of their language from the conversations around me, sir, I should be able to act as a translator if needed. And… I don’t think any of our equipment would have survived the EM spike, sir.”

“Hmm,” replied Henry, trying to consider whether his current state qualified as “seriously injured”. His head was still throbbing.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Shina?”

“Should we attempt to join the rest of the landing party? They might not have been informed of our whereabouts, and I don’t want them to worry.”

“All right, but let me rest for a minute, Shina,” answered Henry, “I want to see if my headache is going away any time soon…”

“Of course, sir… As long as we are not going anywhere, sir, there is something that has come to my attention.”

“What is it?”

“It appears that I have been mistakenly listed as a medic in the crew rosters, sir…”

Henry burst out laughing. Several monks turned and looked at him uncomfortably.

“Ahem,” Henry stopped himself, realizing that the laughter was not appropriate. “Well, I can see how that misconception can get started. I mean, we are wearing green uniforms, after all… Don’t worry about it, we’ll get it all cleared up when we meet up with the new Taisa or Chusa Kessaku again.”

“Yes, sir,” nodded Shina, looking at the monks with curiosity.

Henry closed his eyes and meditated, focusing on a single, pleasant thought. Soon, he would have to get up, and deal with the current situation the best he could. But for a few, precious moments, he was in a beautiful garden in his grandparents' estate back on Neplesia, and all was right with the universe.

 [YSS Celia] Packing up Mental Baggage & other preparatio  ON> YSS Celia

"Naraku, wake up. We need to talk." Alexis lightly shook Naraku by the shoulder, the padd set beside her.

Naraku scrambled to life in a flurry of paranoid activity, eyes darting around, claws ready.

Alexis flinched, but kept her hand on the other Neko's shoulder to try to calm her. "It's alright, Naraku...you're with me, remember?" She realized that the room was pitch black, save for the padd's screen, and activated the lights, setting them low enough to see by. "Did you sleep alright?"

"I am fine," Naraku nodded. "It's been a long sleep." The neko started to rise, dresing herself in a sheer black nightgown as she did. She brushed aside her blue bangs, uncovering her curious red eyes.

"Good." The shifter sat back on the edge of the nest. "I'm leaving the Celia sometime soon. I figured you should know so you knew it wasn't because of you." She looked at Naraku for a reaction before continuing anyway. "It's because I can't stay, there's too much going wrong while I'm still here."

"We all walk our own paths," Naraku nodded. "And what of me?"

"That's what I was going to ask...I'm going to be taking a ship I came here with and finding somewhere else to live. If you want, you can come with me."

"Well, I'm a crazy killer, remember?" Naraku reminded him. "I had one of the sprites ask, and the current policy on me, as far as Pantheon goes, is that I'm supposed to be held in prison eternally if I'm caught. Probably, with torture."

Alexis though for a second...."If given the choice, which would you prefer? Death or imprisonment?"

"Oh, I don't like the thought of death."

"You'd rather live like they want you to than die? Or escape?"

"I suppose. I'm a mental case of sorts. I'm better than I used to be, but still unstable at times. They might try to mess with my mind," Naraku said, leaning up against a wall.

Alexis sat against the wall next to her, thinking this over. "So, basically, they'll treat you like a broken machine and try to repair you. Can they fix you?"

"I really don't know. It wouldn't be cost efficient."

"Neither would incarserating you for eternity." Maybe....Alexis shook her head, not everyone had a Storyteller. But, if Naraku did, it would make it impossible to cure her if her Storyteller didn't want her cured, if it didn't fit the path of her story. "If they want you gone so badly, why not kill you and get it over with?"

"I'm a Ketsurui," Naraku grinned. "And a special case because of my age. Besides, most of my crimes were before the laws, and out of GSA territory, if you think about it."

"What will you do once I leave? You can't exactly stay in the commander's quarters, your first attempt to escape failed, and the Celia computer is online now." Alexis looked away, staring at the floor as she thought.

"Oh, go peacefully. The ship is watching," Naraku answered. It seemed as good a plan as any.

"So you'll give yourself up."

Naraku nodded.

"Okay. If that's what you want." Alexis stood and walked over to the desk and started chipping the dried wax from the candle off of the desktop.

Naraku said nothing. She watched Alexis for a moment, then turned and left the room.

Alexis finished chipping the wax and shoveled the chips into the satchel. Then she gathered her things and flung her spare body over her shoulder, and left the room, heading for the cargo bays where her shuttle was stowed, not saying a word to anyone on the way.

OFF>

JP

Wes - Naraku
Nick - Alexis