DocTomoe
Well-Known Member
E-7 System - Lorath Self Defense Force Resupply & Repair Outpost
There was a funny thing about service on outposts on dismal under-developed rocks... the days never seemed to end. Despite the time being well past midnight according to Lorath clocks, the outpost continued to buzz with activity as ships came and went. With the departure of a group of Harvester-Class salvage ships though, the outpost staff had some time to slow their pace of work. Work crews broke away for meals and sleep cycles, guard shifts rotated, and engineering teams got around to maintenance which just could not be done while servicing a whole trader convoy.
Within the outpost, as shifts rotated, Lorath Self Defense Force guards paid their respects to one another as they passed in corridors as the fresh crew took their places at their assigned posts. With the night shift, guard duty largely fell to Lmanel which were bonded to various nocturnal creatures... it was just sensible to place the personnel which found the night hours comfortable on the late shift.
At one of the active docking bays, a Lmanel woman took her post, taking her seat at a workstation at an interior airlock. She was a simple and average Lmanel with short deep green hair which fell just past her ears to match her Trooper rank, and pale white skin which seemed to advertise her nocturnal habits. Once at her station, a small rodent peeked its head from one of her uniform pockets, and sniffed about as it became the equivalent of daytime for her animal companion which she carried with her. After signing into her console, she found that a ship was scheduled to dock for routine maintenance, so she sat ready to process people which were going to be coming and going from the outpost.
As docking procedures finished and the maintenance crew got ready to get to work, two figures disembarked and headed towards the Lmanel's station. One was a blond-haired Nepleslian who flashed the Lorath a winning smile as he pushed a data pad with all the relevant information and clearance notification on it. His companion, a slight Jiyuuian woman with long black hair stayed silent, watching their ship. They had been about the station before; salvagers who made the rounds on the edges of Lorath space stopping by various outposts every now and again to offload their findings. "We got a good haul this time around," the Nepleslian tried to make small talk. "Of course, with the repairs and refueling and everything, it's amazing we break even."
"You know the Matriarchy pays kindly for good finds... if you'd stop dumping at United Outer Colony stations I'm sure you'd make more of a profit." Came the reply from the Lmanel as she picked up the data pad and glanced over it casually. She found the records acceptable, and their identification was in order. "Now for the routine questions; are you unloading your cargo here, how long will you be staying here at the outpost, will you be purchasing any supplies, and will you be unloading merchandise for storage or sale?" She asked, following routine procedure... not even the Nepleslian's prize winning smile could get her to break from it.
The Nepleslian's brown eyes didn't leave the Lmanel's face, he watched her apt as he hung on to her every word. "We're unloading, yeah. We don't plan on buying anything, unless your guys find anything wrong." The Jiyuuian woman behind him seemed to be looking around, past the checkpoint. "As soon as we've dumped our load and gotten clearance, we'll be taking off. For now--" he paused to pick up and stow the data pad in his pant pocket "We were just gonna stretch our legs, do a little-- relaxing."
A small laugh came from the Lmanel as her rodent companion chattered in her uniform pocket. "As much relaxing as can be done at an outpost." She spoke as she instinctively hit the button to open the next airlock... then, the rodent companion chattered again, and reminded her of something. "Oh, one more moment..." She said as she slipped her hand into her pocket and placed a small green device over her eye, then she looked to the Nepleslian. "Just need to document who is coming through." She said, following another protocol... lying about what the device was that she was using. It often produced less anxiety in the travelers that came through. In truth, she was scanning the exterior and interior of the Nepleslian with the use of her sensor monocle. However, she did not look to the Jiyuuian, not yet at least.
Laying it on thick, the Nepleslian gave his best smile once again for the camera. "Just don't keep a copy for yourself," he joked, posing for the sensor, oblivious to it's true purpose. He was keeping a gun tucked behind his back, held there by his belt, and a second one in his boot. A knife in his pocket, along with the data pad and a small carton containing a couple of cigars. A small metal rod hung on a thin chain around his neck that contained some pills and the bandanna tied around his arm hid his emergency cash. Physically, he seemed fine, though it looked like he had some lung issues caused by corrosive toxic fumes, and his right arm was reinforced with a metallic brace. Behind him, the Jiyuuian continued her own inspection, paying little heed to the Lmanel or her tiny device.
As the Lmanel looked, she could see everything as clear as day. Items which were of significance were even highlighted by the monocle. She felt somewhat bad for the Nepleslian, considering she could see every bit of tissue damage the man had ever had. She smiled though, and documented everything, even the arm bracing implant. She then passively glanced over to the Jiyuuian Doubt she'd have anything, they're so dull. she thought to herself as she saw the usual hemosynthetic flows, and synthetic bones. She was about to look away... then the monocle highlighted something which defiantly did not belong. What the Lmanel saw made her heart skip a beat, and she had to resist the instinctive urge to make a knee-jerk panic reaction. Instead, she remained calm even as the monocle highlighted a creature which was dug deeply into the Jiyuuian's brain and spinal column.
What the Lmanel did do however, was begin to move her hand toward a panel which held the intruder alarm for the outpost. Despite her best efforts though, it was still apparent on the Lmanel's face that she had been spooked... now, it was just a matter of if the two noticed her alarm.
"What?" the Nepleslian asked, visibly confused by the woman's expression, he turned to see his companion standing there. "Ginny? She's just--" The Jiyuuian glanced back, first towards the man, but stopping on the alerted guard. Giving a pointed look at the blond man, it took him a second to realize what was being communicated. "What?" he asked again, interrupting himself almost immediately with "Shit." They had been made. He leaned over the counter, to cover the Lmanel's mouth, holding a finger to his lips to indicate silence. Hopefully the alarm hadn't been sounded, yet. The Jiyuuian clearly wasn't satisfied by this, palming the data pad from the Nepleslian's pants and sending a short range message into space.
There was another reason why Lmanel served as guards alongside their Fyunnen counterparts... they had capabilities which sometimes made them quite comparable to their Fyunnen counterparts. Namely, their capacity to take on traits of their bonded animal companion. This feature sometimes could seem useless, or even a hindrance at a glance... but sometimes, it saved Lorath lives. In this case, the Lmanel Trooper's trait would come to be very useful. As the Nepleslian's hand came over her mouth, the Lorath woman's mouth opened, and soon it snapped down with a sharp and swift crushing force as her front teeth grew into sharp and vicious spikes comparable to her rodent companion's. She hoped to impale the Nepleslian's hand, or at least take a finger or two. As she bit, her hand moved down to her sidearm holster and she attempted to draw her pistol. It was a difficult maneuver, but she knew full well that no matter how nice the Nepleslian seemed... she would either be dead, infested, or used as an incubator if she did not fight.
On the subject of the Lmanel's companion, it was gone from sight as it skittered out from the Trooper's uniform... but soon its presence would be announced as it scampered up the pant leg of the Jiyuuian, digging in with sharp little claws as it moved beneath her attire.
Even with the pain of the Lorath's teeth scraping his thumb and piercing into his palm, the Nepleslian still had the presence of mind to draw his own sidearm. The one he kept tucked behind his back. But in the time it took to pull the gun out and put it to the Lmanel's forehead, she had her own weapon pointed squarely at him. This gave the Nepleslian enough pause not to pull the trigger. Plus, he really didn't want to ruin her face-- well, before she uglied herself up. He took a breath and waited for her reaction.
Meanwhile the Jiyuuian was scrambling to get the rat out from under her clothes, pulling at her shirt and trying to get a grasp on the little bundle pinching little claw marks over her skin. A thin tentacle sneaked from the back of her neck, down her collar looking to assist in the termination of the tiny beast.
There was a momentary flash of thought in the Lmanel's brain, a thought of fearing death at that moment... yet the Nepleslian's hesitation took away that fear as she did the first thing that came to mind. She grabbed onto the Nepleslian's arm and shifted her head out of the line of fire of his firearm. She pulled upon his arm, holding it before her face like someone preparing to bite into a delicious turkey leg, or a corn on the cob... then, she bit down again, and began to rapidly gnaw upon the Nepleslian's forearm, snapping muscle and bone. Her gun-wielding hand shifted as she fired several shots at the Jiyuuian, not sure if she'd hit her mark, but just wanting to keep her off balance as she handled the Nepleslian. As she tore through flesh, she thought on how important it would be that she survived, she had to warn someone about the infiltration, she had to tell someone of what she knew was only the beginning of something.
"Let go of my hand," the Nepleslian growled through his clenched teeth, moving his gun to try and shoot the the firearm out of the Lmanel's hand. Her forearm or wrist would be acceptable. Wherever he could manage. Hopefully the close ranged discharge would be muffled by the close point of contact. He still didn't want to kill her, but she wasn't leaving him much room to achieve that goal. The flesh on his other arm was being shredded. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, but that didn't make the intense pain any easier to bear.
Getting fed up with chasing the rodent about her clothes, the Jiyuuian unzipped and started to strip off her outer layer. Being able to see the blasted creature would go a long way towards catching and killing the annoying pest.
There was a sharp sensation, it was like a bolt of lightning to the Lmanel's brain as she felt the pain surge through her arm as a round tore through it. It was a shock to her, but it anchored her mind to the moment. She latched her jaw upon the Nepleslian's arm to hold him, as she took her hand away and used it to grab the Nepleslian's firearm, and rake her thumb over the safety of the weapon to engage it as she held tightly upon the firearm. It was an odd moment, awkward to say the least, but she did what she could. As for what she could do, she did just that as she jerked her head, and intended to rip the Nepleslian's gnawed and torn forearm away from the rest of the ruined flesh. It would at least give her some sort of advantage.
With the layers of clothing being removed, the rodent knew that it was now vulnerable as it made a final move... it crawled rapidly over the Jiyuuian's bare skin before scampering onto her face. This was where things became messy... it lashed out with it's tiny and sharp fangs, biting at the Jiyuuian's eye, and clawing at the flesh as it attempted to burrow into the eye-socket for safety. Unlike a wild animal, this bonded rodent had far more sense available to it than to scramble about in its efforts... it focused upon the goal it had, it had only the urge to burrow present in its actions.
The force of the Lorath woman throwing the weight of her head to pull at the Nepleslian's arm pulled it from it's socket with a loud pop, but that's as far as it got as doing so also pulled the man off-balance towards her. His own weapon clattered to the floor as the shock and pain loosed his grip as he careened into her. The little rodent, now clear on it's glassy target, dug into the Jiyuuian's cheek with it's claws, drawing blood as it lunged for her eye. The furry beast was quick, but not quick enough as the thin tentacle swiftly slid into the side of its tiny head, skewering the rat and tearing it from her face. "Stop fucking around," she ordered, turning to reorient and deal with the situation with the guard.
Meanwhile, out in space the XSS Parrilla led the 28th Fleet towards the outpost, taking out the scattered Gallus Drones along the way. On the bridge, Doctor Tiberius Cotton was organizing with the captains under him the particulars of the assault. Parasites or infected only. Minimal damage to the station itself. Take as many prisoners as possible "And--" the Doctor added, "Infected hosts do not count as prisoners."
With the Nepleslian 'disarmed', the Lmanel had full capability at that moment to get her job done... a job which she now felt a greater need to do as she saw her companion fall. She brought her weapon up and over the fallen Nepleslian which was laid out over her, and she used him as a rest as she pulled the trigger, firing off a half-dozen rounds at the Jiyuuian, aiming for her head, intending to turn it into a fine paste, and with those shots done, the Lmanel craned her head down, and delivered the final blow to the Nepleslian... she sunk her sharp teeth into the back of his neck, cutting clear through his spine before tossing him aside. She then brought her hand over to her console and hit the alarm button... her job was done, and after dumping the Nepleslian upon the floor, she got out of her seat. Clenching her arm, the Lmanel walked out from behind her desk and looked down to the torn body of her companion. She knelt down, scooping it up and placing it in her uniform pocket before she moved back to her desk, and went about locking down the airlocks which she was in charge of.
Elsewhere in the outpost, alarms sounded as the limited garrison was stirred from their short slumbers into a ready state. In the primary control room of the outpost, sensors picked up upon the incoming fleet... they were caught in a swift attack, one they did not have the capacity to respond to in short order. A signal was sent out in distress, but it was on a slow carrier... it would take time before the Matriarchy could get ships out to support the position. Time enough, unfortunately, for the NMX forces to make their approach and assault the outpost.
A shadow rose behind the Lmanel. After the parasite had taken control of the Jiyuuian's body, the head was no longer strictly necessary to survive. A strong, meaty tentacle wound its way around the guard's neck, pulling her back as a dozen others sprang from the headless neck and went to work, injecting the Lorath with muscle relaxants and other assorted chemicals. Though she would much rather have killed the annoying bird woman, it looked like instead she would be needed in assisting the takeover of her workplace instead. Not that the 28th would have trouble taking the lightly fortified installation, but the parasite wanted to pass on its eggs at least once before she found out what sort of punishment would be awaiting for the sloppy job she had done in trying to subvert the place quietly. In any event, now they knew a little more about the technology the Lorath possessed. Future efforts would have to be planned more carefully.
On the Bridge of the Parrilla, Doctor Cotton could care less. The outpost would soon be his, as well as a bevy of new test subjects. The Lorath were really a fascinating species and, if the Mishhuvurthyar were to continue to adapt and survive, then it would behoove them to incorporate all the best features of as many of the universes creatures as possible. Not that most of the NMX cared for anything other than conquest. But then again, that's why he was taking this initiative in the first place.
There was a funny thing about service on outposts on dismal under-developed rocks... the days never seemed to end. Despite the time being well past midnight according to Lorath clocks, the outpost continued to buzz with activity as ships came and went. With the departure of a group of Harvester-Class salvage ships though, the outpost staff had some time to slow their pace of work. Work crews broke away for meals and sleep cycles, guard shifts rotated, and engineering teams got around to maintenance which just could not be done while servicing a whole trader convoy.
Within the outpost, as shifts rotated, Lorath Self Defense Force guards paid their respects to one another as they passed in corridors as the fresh crew took their places at their assigned posts. With the night shift, guard duty largely fell to Lmanel which were bonded to various nocturnal creatures... it was just sensible to place the personnel which found the night hours comfortable on the late shift.
At one of the active docking bays, a Lmanel woman took her post, taking her seat at a workstation at an interior airlock. She was a simple and average Lmanel with short deep green hair which fell just past her ears to match her Trooper rank, and pale white skin which seemed to advertise her nocturnal habits. Once at her station, a small rodent peeked its head from one of her uniform pockets, and sniffed about as it became the equivalent of daytime for her animal companion which she carried with her. After signing into her console, she found that a ship was scheduled to dock for routine maintenance, so she sat ready to process people which were going to be coming and going from the outpost.
As docking procedures finished and the maintenance crew got ready to get to work, two figures disembarked and headed towards the Lmanel's station. One was a blond-haired Nepleslian who flashed the Lorath a winning smile as he pushed a data pad with all the relevant information and clearance notification on it. His companion, a slight Jiyuuian woman with long black hair stayed silent, watching their ship. They had been about the station before; salvagers who made the rounds on the edges of Lorath space stopping by various outposts every now and again to offload their findings. "We got a good haul this time around," the Nepleslian tried to make small talk. "Of course, with the repairs and refueling and everything, it's amazing we break even."
"You know the Matriarchy pays kindly for good finds... if you'd stop dumping at United Outer Colony stations I'm sure you'd make more of a profit." Came the reply from the Lmanel as she picked up the data pad and glanced over it casually. She found the records acceptable, and their identification was in order. "Now for the routine questions; are you unloading your cargo here, how long will you be staying here at the outpost, will you be purchasing any supplies, and will you be unloading merchandise for storage or sale?" She asked, following routine procedure... not even the Nepleslian's prize winning smile could get her to break from it.
The Nepleslian's brown eyes didn't leave the Lmanel's face, he watched her apt as he hung on to her every word. "We're unloading, yeah. We don't plan on buying anything, unless your guys find anything wrong." The Jiyuuian woman behind him seemed to be looking around, past the checkpoint. "As soon as we've dumped our load and gotten clearance, we'll be taking off. For now--" he paused to pick up and stow the data pad in his pant pocket "We were just gonna stretch our legs, do a little-- relaxing."
A small laugh came from the Lmanel as her rodent companion chattered in her uniform pocket. "As much relaxing as can be done at an outpost." She spoke as she instinctively hit the button to open the next airlock... then, the rodent companion chattered again, and reminded her of something. "Oh, one more moment..." She said as she slipped her hand into her pocket and placed a small green device over her eye, then she looked to the Nepleslian. "Just need to document who is coming through." She said, following another protocol... lying about what the device was that she was using. It often produced less anxiety in the travelers that came through. In truth, she was scanning the exterior and interior of the Nepleslian with the use of her sensor monocle. However, she did not look to the Jiyuuian, not yet at least.
Laying it on thick, the Nepleslian gave his best smile once again for the camera. "Just don't keep a copy for yourself," he joked, posing for the sensor, oblivious to it's true purpose. He was keeping a gun tucked behind his back, held there by his belt, and a second one in his boot. A knife in his pocket, along with the data pad and a small carton containing a couple of cigars. A small metal rod hung on a thin chain around his neck that contained some pills and the bandanna tied around his arm hid his emergency cash. Physically, he seemed fine, though it looked like he had some lung issues caused by corrosive toxic fumes, and his right arm was reinforced with a metallic brace. Behind him, the Jiyuuian continued her own inspection, paying little heed to the Lmanel or her tiny device.
As the Lmanel looked, she could see everything as clear as day. Items which were of significance were even highlighted by the monocle. She felt somewhat bad for the Nepleslian, considering she could see every bit of tissue damage the man had ever had. She smiled though, and documented everything, even the arm bracing implant. She then passively glanced over to the Jiyuuian Doubt she'd have anything, they're so dull. she thought to herself as she saw the usual hemosynthetic flows, and synthetic bones. She was about to look away... then the monocle highlighted something which defiantly did not belong. What the Lmanel saw made her heart skip a beat, and she had to resist the instinctive urge to make a knee-jerk panic reaction. Instead, she remained calm even as the monocle highlighted a creature which was dug deeply into the Jiyuuian's brain and spinal column.
What the Lmanel did do however, was begin to move her hand toward a panel which held the intruder alarm for the outpost. Despite her best efforts though, it was still apparent on the Lmanel's face that she had been spooked... now, it was just a matter of if the two noticed her alarm.
"What?" the Nepleslian asked, visibly confused by the woman's expression, he turned to see his companion standing there. "Ginny? She's just--" The Jiyuuian glanced back, first towards the man, but stopping on the alerted guard. Giving a pointed look at the blond man, it took him a second to realize what was being communicated. "What?" he asked again, interrupting himself almost immediately with "Shit." They had been made. He leaned over the counter, to cover the Lmanel's mouth, holding a finger to his lips to indicate silence. Hopefully the alarm hadn't been sounded, yet. The Jiyuuian clearly wasn't satisfied by this, palming the data pad from the Nepleslian's pants and sending a short range message into space.
There was another reason why Lmanel served as guards alongside their Fyunnen counterparts... they had capabilities which sometimes made them quite comparable to their Fyunnen counterparts. Namely, their capacity to take on traits of their bonded animal companion. This feature sometimes could seem useless, or even a hindrance at a glance... but sometimes, it saved Lorath lives. In this case, the Lmanel Trooper's trait would come to be very useful. As the Nepleslian's hand came over her mouth, the Lorath woman's mouth opened, and soon it snapped down with a sharp and swift crushing force as her front teeth grew into sharp and vicious spikes comparable to her rodent companion's. She hoped to impale the Nepleslian's hand, or at least take a finger or two. As she bit, her hand moved down to her sidearm holster and she attempted to draw her pistol. It was a difficult maneuver, but she knew full well that no matter how nice the Nepleslian seemed... she would either be dead, infested, or used as an incubator if she did not fight.
On the subject of the Lmanel's companion, it was gone from sight as it skittered out from the Trooper's uniform... but soon its presence would be announced as it scampered up the pant leg of the Jiyuuian, digging in with sharp little claws as it moved beneath her attire.
Even with the pain of the Lorath's teeth scraping his thumb and piercing into his palm, the Nepleslian still had the presence of mind to draw his own sidearm. The one he kept tucked behind his back. But in the time it took to pull the gun out and put it to the Lmanel's forehead, she had her own weapon pointed squarely at him. This gave the Nepleslian enough pause not to pull the trigger. Plus, he really didn't want to ruin her face-- well, before she uglied herself up. He took a breath and waited for her reaction.
Meanwhile the Jiyuuian was scrambling to get the rat out from under her clothes, pulling at her shirt and trying to get a grasp on the little bundle pinching little claw marks over her skin. A thin tentacle sneaked from the back of her neck, down her collar looking to assist in the termination of the tiny beast.
There was a momentary flash of thought in the Lmanel's brain, a thought of fearing death at that moment... yet the Nepleslian's hesitation took away that fear as she did the first thing that came to mind. She grabbed onto the Nepleslian's arm and shifted her head out of the line of fire of his firearm. She pulled upon his arm, holding it before her face like someone preparing to bite into a delicious turkey leg, or a corn on the cob... then, she bit down again, and began to rapidly gnaw upon the Nepleslian's forearm, snapping muscle and bone. Her gun-wielding hand shifted as she fired several shots at the Jiyuuian, not sure if she'd hit her mark, but just wanting to keep her off balance as she handled the Nepleslian. As she tore through flesh, she thought on how important it would be that she survived, she had to warn someone about the infiltration, she had to tell someone of what she knew was only the beginning of something.
"Let go of my hand," the Nepleslian growled through his clenched teeth, moving his gun to try and shoot the the firearm out of the Lmanel's hand. Her forearm or wrist would be acceptable. Wherever he could manage. Hopefully the close ranged discharge would be muffled by the close point of contact. He still didn't want to kill her, but she wasn't leaving him much room to achieve that goal. The flesh on his other arm was being shredded. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, but that didn't make the intense pain any easier to bear.
Getting fed up with chasing the rodent about her clothes, the Jiyuuian unzipped and started to strip off her outer layer. Being able to see the blasted creature would go a long way towards catching and killing the annoying pest.
There was a sharp sensation, it was like a bolt of lightning to the Lmanel's brain as she felt the pain surge through her arm as a round tore through it. It was a shock to her, but it anchored her mind to the moment. She latched her jaw upon the Nepleslian's arm to hold him, as she took her hand away and used it to grab the Nepleslian's firearm, and rake her thumb over the safety of the weapon to engage it as she held tightly upon the firearm. It was an odd moment, awkward to say the least, but she did what she could. As for what she could do, she did just that as she jerked her head, and intended to rip the Nepleslian's gnawed and torn forearm away from the rest of the ruined flesh. It would at least give her some sort of advantage.
With the layers of clothing being removed, the rodent knew that it was now vulnerable as it made a final move... it crawled rapidly over the Jiyuuian's bare skin before scampering onto her face. This was where things became messy... it lashed out with it's tiny and sharp fangs, biting at the Jiyuuian's eye, and clawing at the flesh as it attempted to burrow into the eye-socket for safety. Unlike a wild animal, this bonded rodent had far more sense available to it than to scramble about in its efforts... it focused upon the goal it had, it had only the urge to burrow present in its actions.
The force of the Lorath woman throwing the weight of her head to pull at the Nepleslian's arm pulled it from it's socket with a loud pop, but that's as far as it got as doing so also pulled the man off-balance towards her. His own weapon clattered to the floor as the shock and pain loosed his grip as he careened into her. The little rodent, now clear on it's glassy target, dug into the Jiyuuian's cheek with it's claws, drawing blood as it lunged for her eye. The furry beast was quick, but not quick enough as the thin tentacle swiftly slid into the side of its tiny head, skewering the rat and tearing it from her face. "Stop fucking around," she ordered, turning to reorient and deal with the situation with the guard.
Meanwhile, out in space the XSS Parrilla led the 28th Fleet towards the outpost, taking out the scattered Gallus Drones along the way. On the bridge, Doctor Tiberius Cotton was organizing with the captains under him the particulars of the assault. Parasites or infected only. Minimal damage to the station itself. Take as many prisoners as possible "And--" the Doctor added, "Infected hosts do not count as prisoners."
With the Nepleslian 'disarmed', the Lmanel had full capability at that moment to get her job done... a job which she now felt a greater need to do as she saw her companion fall. She brought her weapon up and over the fallen Nepleslian which was laid out over her, and she used him as a rest as she pulled the trigger, firing off a half-dozen rounds at the Jiyuuian, aiming for her head, intending to turn it into a fine paste, and with those shots done, the Lmanel craned her head down, and delivered the final blow to the Nepleslian... she sunk her sharp teeth into the back of his neck, cutting clear through his spine before tossing him aside. She then brought her hand over to her console and hit the alarm button... her job was done, and after dumping the Nepleslian upon the floor, she got out of her seat. Clenching her arm, the Lmanel walked out from behind her desk and looked down to the torn body of her companion. She knelt down, scooping it up and placing it in her uniform pocket before she moved back to her desk, and went about locking down the airlocks which she was in charge of.
Elsewhere in the outpost, alarms sounded as the limited garrison was stirred from their short slumbers into a ready state. In the primary control room of the outpost, sensors picked up upon the incoming fleet... they were caught in a swift attack, one they did not have the capacity to respond to in short order. A signal was sent out in distress, but it was on a slow carrier... it would take time before the Matriarchy could get ships out to support the position. Time enough, unfortunately, for the NMX forces to make their approach and assault the outpost.
A shadow rose behind the Lmanel. After the parasite had taken control of the Jiyuuian's body, the head was no longer strictly necessary to survive. A strong, meaty tentacle wound its way around the guard's neck, pulling her back as a dozen others sprang from the headless neck and went to work, injecting the Lorath with muscle relaxants and other assorted chemicals. Though she would much rather have killed the annoying bird woman, it looked like instead she would be needed in assisting the takeover of her workplace instead. Not that the 28th would have trouble taking the lightly fortified installation, but the parasite wanted to pass on its eggs at least once before she found out what sort of punishment would be awaiting for the sloppy job she had done in trying to subvert the place quietly. In any event, now they knew a little more about the technology the Lorath possessed. Future efforts would have to be planned more carefully.
On the Bridge of the Parrilla, Doctor Cotton could care less. The outpost would soon be his, as well as a bevy of new test subjects. The Lorath were really a fascinating species and, if the Mishhuvurthyar were to continue to adapt and survive, then it would behoove them to incorporate all the best features of as many of the universes creatures as possible. Not that most of the NMX cared for anything other than conquest. But then again, that's why he was taking this initiative in the first place.