The Furry Forums
Creative Arts and Media => Roleplay => Serious RP => Topic started by: Asia Kali Yusufzai on January 13, 2010, 03:40:16 PM
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(OOC: http://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=10424.0 (http://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=10424.0))
Above the dirt tracks of Skeeva, a light flared in the sky falling to the sand covered wastes near the small village of SkeeBerren. The light kep falling, gaining speed. The closer it came, the clearer it was, a falling spacecraft.
"Status report?!" Asia yelled as he scurried around the ship dousing fires with retardent gel. The ship's computer refused to respond, before slowly growling, building to a piercing screech. Asia fell to the floor and covered his ears, until the audio shorted out. The rabbit stood back up and ran to the cockpit, looking out the window and watching the ground burn towards him. Checking the status displays, everything flashed red. The wings had long since become irreperable. With only one option left, Asia grabbed his weapons and a small energy dampening case and squeezed into the emergency protection capsule and pulled breathing tube to his mouth. With one button press, the casule filled with a flexible yet sturdy gel, before the ship hit the ground, smashing into pieces, leaving a crater and a sea of debris. A group of children stood staring at the spectacle, as Asia stumbled out of the wreckage, dazed yet relatively safe.
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Korius snorted as the loud bang awakened him. "What is buggeration is going on?" He was sitting against the wall of the tavern, his sword between his legs and against his shoulder. He just finished an assignment out here on suppressing a mob, and celebrated last night. What can possibly be happening now? He took out his little PDA and connected it to his shades. He zoomed in and watched the figure that walked out of the wreckage and his database running through the left lense. "Hmm. A lowly cop. Seriously loaded, but low ranked cop." He sighed and reached to disconnect his PDA when some lights started flashing into his left eye. He smiled, "Hello hello <3. Someone's got a price on their head. Hmm, one of 34 cops that went AWOL after the Everflame got stolen." He picked up his katana and walked casually to Asia. "Good morning, sir. Need any help?"
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"No," said Asia, swaying from side to side, barely keeping his head steady as he looked around. Walking a good yet unsteady few paces towards town, he turned back to the black wolf. He put his hand to his head and thought for a moment, before throwing his arm forward, pointing lazily."I need... a drink."
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"Ok, follow me." Korius led Asia towards the tavern and sat him down at the bar. "Darius, got any of that mineralized water left? Get this man a litre, and I'll have shot of bourbon." He took out his PDA and looked up at the bartender. "How many credits?" Darius growled at Korius as he took out the receiver behind the bar. "That's 200 credits on top of the 3,000 you owe me from last night!" Korius keyed in his PDA and, sure enough, he had money again, just on time. He connected the PDA to the receiver. "There you go, mate." Darius slammed the two drinks onto the table and walked off. Korius now turned his attention to Asia. "So, what's a lowly cop like yourself doing out here? Messed up on your landing, I see. You wouldn't possibly have stolen something of great importance from the government, now would you? O-ffi-cer A-si-a?"
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Asia blinked a few times to shake off the crash. As the drinks arrived, he grabbed his water and splashed it over his own face, shaking his head while Korius spoke. He mulled over the things the wolf was saying, then looked at him, stared, straight in the eye, sat back and smiled.
"I wouldn't think that a person like you would care, but I'm saving the galaxy, especially the kinds of people who live in little towns like these." He gestured around the room with his head, placing his hands on his lap and never taking his eyes off of this most mysterious of strangers.
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The piercing scream of a woman filled the air, the sound rang on and on through the forest, before finally being cut off. The group of civilians froze, furtive gazes around into the surrounding undergrowth.... three members of the group ran back along the path, what had once been a main road was now so overgrown it was barely recognisable, the body lay in one of the many pools of sunlight filtering down through the forest canopy, the air was thick and heavy with pollen.
The lead figure turned the body face up with his foot, a long gash across the young woman's face told the tale of her death... even as another cry came from the main group they had just left behind...
"TRIFIIIID!"
The shout no one wanted to hear.
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Korius chuckled as he took off his shades and glared at him, "Well now, you can't tell me you've never heard of me. Aside from being a mercenary, bounties are a great hobby of mine. And you, my furry little friend happen to be on the police's bounty list. You're one of 34 AWOL cops the day someone stole the Everfire. You might think you've fooled others with an energy suppressant case, but you can't fool my nose. Any feelings you have, I feel, and anytime you lie, I know. So you want to give me a good reason why I shouldn't drag you back to the Sphere? And for your sake, it had better be a darn good one." His right hand resting on the hilt of his katana while drinking with his left.
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High above Coloran, a lone carrier entered the atmosphere. Inside a small crew made final checks on a solid day of preperations. The pilot, a young brown bear, clad in denim, looked down over the landscape.
"Well blow me over, look at all that forest. You sure we wanna land near that stuff? You said it was dangerous," he said to a meerkat who stood at his side. The meerkat looked at him disapprovingly. "Alrighty then, you the boss," said the bear.
Pulling on a headset, he sent a message on all frequencies down to the planet below.
"People of Coloran, this is the good ship Admiration and we come to save yer tails from these..." The pilot stopped, turned to the meerkat and asked in a whisper, "What are those things called, again?"
"Triffids," the meerkat replied.
"Yeah we're savin' y'all from these Triffid thingies. Reply if you can and we'll see if we can clear some forest to land near ya."
Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, the triffids creeped through the forest, you could hear them crawling through the shadows and the mist towards the fearful civilians, cowering behind what weapons they had.
Elsewhere, on Skeeva, Asia's smile grew as the wolf chuckled, watching his hand moving to the katana in the corner of his eye.
"Is saving the galaxy not a good reason? I felt it was... oh well." In one movement, his hands lifted from his lap, threw the table forward and reached up to grab his Miralan Blaster. At the same time, he kicked back against the floor, throwing himself and his chair onto its back, and firing off a shot, tearing the table apart.
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In the midst of all the chaos following he lose of the Ever-flare, in the Stratacorp main industrial building, is a riot. Angry workers who were on strike attacked the main building, and now even the riot troops are having trouble containing this violent act. Howl, being an executive worker, didn't have a problem with his position, yet pushed to improve work for others. Sadly, his efforts did not stop the riot, so now, he is attempting to escape.
Howl opened the secret compartment under his desk then grabbed his Colt 1911a1 with several clips and loaded it, he swiped his suitcase then ran for the back entrance. There, multiple riot troopers stormed in with loaded weapons. One of them shouted, "Freeze!" But being a war vet, Howl tried to use this to his advantage, so he bolted through the door to his left as tazer shots flew past him. He ran down the hall and got to the stairs, he peered down them....no troopers. While on the last floor before the main exit, more riot troopers started coming up the stairs, so he walked into the 1st floor and ran up to the large windows. Howl thought for a moment, "I guess I don't have much of a choice...no way am I getting in trouble for this mess." There, he discharged three shots from his Colt and jumped out the window, landing atop a truck. At first, he struggled to get up, the pain he felt wasn't extremely bad, but certainly strong. Stumbling to his car, he opened the door and sat down, closing the door behind him and fastening his seat belt. He then called to his car, "Take me 30 miles north of this building to my home." The car responded with a, "Of course sir." Howl sighed and thought again, "Now that I'm most likely wanted, I'm going to have to go to the outer slums after I get all the stuff I need."
The car doors swung open as Howl ran up to his house door and opened it with a hand-print authentication pad. Rushing to his room, he packed a couple bags full of clothes, then he took his pistol and combat knife strap with shaking hands, and forced it on. He went to his in home ATM and took out 3,000 dollars from his account, shoving most of it into his second suitcase. "This should keep me afloat for a while." Once everything he needed was packed, he reloaded his pistol then walked back to his car. Putting his suitcases right next to him, he spoke once again. "Take me to the outer slums center about 100 miles from here." Once the car got moving, he settled down for a moment. "Hopefully the troopers won't find out I'm gone until it's far too late...."
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As soon as he saw Asia grab for his gun, Korius unholstered his M500 from under his left arm and fired at the same time. He sat still despite the bar being blown, and smiled as a line of blood showed on Asia's face where he aimed. "Not bad for a cop, but your aim's a bit off. The last time I checked, the Everfire is what keeps the Sphere and its surrounding planets, peace." He smiled and holstered his gun. He briskly, and before Asia can blink, walked right up behind Asia, their backs to each other. He kneeled down and took out his PDA and snapped a picture of the man he killed behind Asia. "You're lucky officer. This illegal hunter stepped in on my territory and was the last of the mob that I cleaned up here. Also, he was aiming for your head.", poking the back of Asia's noggin. He stood up and clicked send on the photo, a few lights winked on and off and he pocketed the PDA. Without turning around, he continued. "Well, thanks to you, I've now got my full bounty and pay for this job. As a thanks for the money, I'll let you off. There's no point in me killing you as you are. Face it old-timer, you're out of touch." Korius walked up to the bar's receiver and plugged his PDA into it. "Here's ten G's Darius, should more than cover that bar and cleaning up that body." He pocketed the PDA again and turned to Asia and smiled as he finished his drink that never left his hand. "Ah... so, where are we headed?"
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On the capital sphere, a screen lit up. "Shots fired, Stratacorp complex, rioting present," said the computer. One of the employees, a young woman, trawled through the records, finding Howl as the only gun owner on the premises.
"Ma'am, another army man just tried to shoot somone." Her supervisor, a tall and wisened vixen looked at her screen and sighed.
"Always the military. Bunch of nutjobs they are. Raid his home, check his movements," she commanded.
At once, a pair of vehicles tore through the city racing to the veteran's home.
Back on Skeeva, Asia sat staring dumbfounded at the turn of events, before slowly letting everything process inside his head.
"I am not old! How dare you," he said, full of disdain as he stood up. "And does this place look like one of the sphere's surrounding planets? I'm just sharing the wealth." He stroked his head, looking around at the mess. Most of the customers around them sat staring, half hiding behind their tables, while others had already fled. "Also, what's with this 'where are we headed' nonsense. I dont even have a clue who you are."
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Korius muttered to himself, "Well someone's been living under a rock." He cleared his throat and took a bow. "I am warrior, mercenary and hunter extraordinaire, Korius Lambent. My contracts range from the government to the lowliest of rich men. Been known as the most dangerous bloke in the galaxy for the last 2 years. As for your question, let's just say you've piqued my interest, and I'm not leaving your side until you explain to me how you stealing that thing is saving the world. If you no longer interest me, I'll probably just drag your butt back to the Sphere." He flashed back to behind Asia, their backs to each other and his sword in a reverse grip, blade to Asia's throat. "So, what do you say?"
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On his way to the outer slums, he hears the news on the radio, "A former Military Veteran attempted to shoot an officer during the Stratacorp riot, he is said to be..." Howl slammed his fist on the wheel out of anger. "How dare they blame me for this?! Those godforsaken-" just then, a large shot hit the car wheel, making it serve out of control. It was a cop using a jet-pack, he had been pursuing Howl for quite some time. "Crap!" With a desperate attempt to get out of the car, he grabbed his suitcase full of money, ammo and clothes then bailed out. The car slammed into a building close to a run-down storage area. He put away his pistol, knowing that shooting a cop wasn't a smart idea, and ran to the storage area. With his clothes torn up, with burn marks and having cuts all over his face, he took a deep breathe and walked in, where he saw multiple dead cops. "Um.....did I come in at the wrong time?"
All the people in the place turned to me with weapons; they were war vets. One of the men in the storage area was a feline who had an type 620e Shredder, it was called that by soldiers for it's high fire power, fire rate and ammo compacity. The man smiled, "So, your that war veteran they're after, well come with us." Howl raised an eyebrow. "What exactly happened here?" He shrugged. "I guess they couldn't resist following us, as we are other falsely accused war veterans ourselves, and with our firepower and numbers far greater then theirs, it was bound to end like this. Anyway, we are gathering up refugees and taking them out of here, you can pick which border planet to stay in, as long as it isn't under the control of these soldiers." He pointed at the dead men. Howl nodded, "Well....it's the best chance I've got." He ran up to all the other soldiers, and they handed him a standard issue military energy assault rifle with multiple energy cores. "Alright, let's go." The 10 soldiers ran out to the main docks, and Howl followed close behind them. There, many heavy armed police officers attacked, shots flew past Howl's head, but he didn't hesitate to shoot this time, he aimed down his sights and fired, killing one of the men, then proceeded to discharge five more rounds at them, killing 5 more. Yet with time of the essence, he ran into the ship the men had seized, and it took off. Howl smiled an walked up to the soldier he was talking to earlier. "Can I get your name, sir?" The Feline smiled, "Yes, I'm Leon." He shook Leon's hand.
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"You're very fast," Asia said, looking down, trying to get a glimpse of the blade. "Let me go and you can tag along. I'll explain things when you dont have a vibro-blade to my throat," he said with a grimace.
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Korius resheathed his sword. He drew and pointed his gun to the ceiling. "Alright everyone! Out!" He fired a shot and all the people cleared out. He grabbed a chair, placed it backwards infront of Asia and sat down. "Explain."
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Throughout the jungle, of what had once been a large city the Triffids made their call, a long loud repetitive 'nock-nocking' followed by a shorp sharp rattle that indicated prey had been found..... they cralwed slowly, in groups or alone, when prey was found the sharp rattles and calls of the plants would increase, filling the air as they advanced ominously.... those that ran where the lucky ones... they would only die of starvation.. those that stayed, or where unable to run, where devoured, slowly and painfully.....
"Admiration, this is colonel Crow of the Triffid enforcement... do not land anywhere near jungle, treat all undergrowth as hostile.... and god thank you.... these triffids... they nothin' like what you seen.... aim for the large floral bloom at the top, cover your eyes, and always stay alert... if you find one triffid, chances are you could be surrounded by many more... they adapt quickly, they learn, they hunt in groups, they aim for the eyes, they pull stragglers away with their roots..... every day we have had to fight this, a war we could never win...."
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Back on the capital sphere police headquarters, red lights were flashing like the devil's christmas tree.
"Ma'am, we have multiple casualties and an unauthorised take-off down in the Lower East Ward. According to visuals, all the ex-military we haven't caught made a run for it together."
"Where are they now?" demanded the supervisor.
"They're trying to break through the atmospheric shield," the young employee replied.
"Send out star shield ships, shoot them out of the sky."
"Yes Ma'am," she flicked on a switch, then accessed the Star Shield intercom. "Star shield required, ship of armed and dangerous murderers, use any force necessary." At once, five massive, vicious ships bristling with guns rocketed out of the sphere, tearing towards the veterans.
Meanwhile, on Skeeva, a roughed up Asia rubbed his neck. "You know what the everflame is right? the source of prosperity in the inner sphere. Have you got news of what it's like now? They finally get a dose of what it's like living in places like this." He gestured around the empty bar, covered in blood, beer and splintered wood. Looking through the window to the wasteland outside, he caught a glimpse of an orange fuzzy head that ducked out of sight. "The difference between here and the sphere is ridiculous. They keep the power of the everflame for themselves and leave places like this to rot. They have the power to spread this energy across the galaxy, but they dont. They only spread it over the sphere and to neighbouring planets, making the sphere seem like some magical place." He shook his head, his eyes unfocusing, looking inward at his own thoughts; his own memories. "What I am going to do is use the technology that they use to amplify this thing over the sphere, except I'll spread the power over the whole galaxy. I've had people working on it for years and it's almost finished. The final piece is the Everflame." He glanced over at the wolf's blade. "The problem is people like you, getting in my way. Now you can try to kill me and I doubt I'll be able to stop you, but you'll leave the galaxy as a painting of suffering." Asia sat there, staring at the killer, breaking out a resigned smile.
Over on Coloran, the ship hovered over the infested landscape.
"This whole triffid thing sounds like more than we can handle," said the pilot. The meerkat turned to him,
"They can't handle it. We're just gonna be here for a moment to pick them up and leave. Simple as that." Behind them, a female cat in oil stained overalls skipped into the cockpit.
"Them leafcutters are ready whenever sir," she saluted. The meerkat rolled his eyes at the salute.
"OK ask them for coordinates," he said to the bear, who switched on his headset again.
"Well colonel, we're here to help. What's your position?"
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Brought the sword up and placed it in the empty strap under his coat and on his back that was designed to hold the sheath. Korius then extended a hand to Asia. "Well then, let's get moving, old timer. We don't want to terry for much longer, since your craft crashed out here. Even out here in the Outer Slums, a crash is always investigated. I have a Stealth Streamer a few clicks from here, and... don't ask how I got my hands on it." Korius went over to the bar and grabbed a large bottle of whiskey and walked out the door, popping the top. "Let's get moving."
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"OUR position is North-west by ten miles of your ship.... the rest of my forces are scattered and dying everywhere..... if you clear a path and land, we will secure the vicinity around you.... that much noise will however draw the Triffids in vast number... so for how long we can keep the area secure... i dont know..."
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"How long they been dead?"
A lean wolf in full Triffid enforcer armour pushed one of many civilian corpses over with the end of his shogun...
"hours?... theres a good chance the Triffids are still here"
The speaker was a young feline, he pushed up his visor to get a close look at the dead bodies, a long scar running from the base of his neck to his temple....
"still here?.... Triffids dont normally hang around Szarda.."
Kitt Szarda looked up, sliding his visor back down and loading a shell into his own cleaver shotgun...
"they dont normally.... but the Triffids are changing, evolving faster than we are.... your kinda thinking is what killed the rest of my last team...."
The wolf stood up, loading his own shotgun..
"begging your pardon sir.... i jsut thought it would be unusual for a plant to have any kind of plan.."
The feline raised an eyebrow, even as the first 'tick-tocking' resonated around them...
"these aint no normal plants private..."
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Asia sighed, shaking his head at his predicament before standing up and following behind Korius.
"A few clicks? it couldn't just be like, next door or something," he said with an attempt at a smile. Behind them, stifled laughter could be heard. The rabbit turned to face it, seeing only the dust settled at the corner of the building. "I have an... associate meeting me on this planet. He's in the capital so we'll need to go there first. The crash probably means we'll be cutting it close in terms of staying ahead of my... enemies." He turned around again, catching a fox's tail slip behind a shack. "You know, you suck at following people."
"No I don't!" replied a young vixen, popping her head round the corner. She was probably only just over half Asia's age
Over the forests of Coloran, the pilot flew through the skies to the north. The meerkat looked around over the landscape.
"Right, we're gonna paint this area here. That's the landing zone. Leafcutters will tear away any triffid coming near," he turned to the young cat. "If you and your mate shoot anything that isn't a plant, I swear to God, you will regret it." The cat frowned in her salute before jogging back to the bowels of the ship.
"We're in spittin' distance cap'," said the bear, swooping low above the tree line.
"Call them, tell them what's happening," ordered the meerkat.
"Ladies and gentlemen in distress, we're gonna be dropping some highly destructive juice about half a click from your position. That is the landing zone. It'll be inert by the time you get here but make sure you're wearin' shoes just in case, cus that stuff sure can sting."
"Good," said the captain, "Now the colonel said there are others, will help them after we've got these poor souls on board."
"If we keep doin' that, we'll run out o' supplies," replied the bear.
"And if we don't, then they run out of life, ok?"
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"roger that, we've got our single commadn team converging on your position, unfortunately we have to pack up what communications equipment so this is the last you will hear from anyone until we meet in person.... Colonel Crow out...."
~~~~~
"Keep moving!"
Two Triffids emerged from the undergrowth, lash-like stingers whipping out over twelve feet towards the triffid enforcers.... without visors the stings would have been lethal, as any poor civilians soon found out.... the stingers lashed out again, aiming for the weak points in the armour of the survivors, one fox was caught off guard and came crashing down as the Triffids long ensnaring roots grabbed hold with inhuman strength....
Kitt stopped to loose a fragmentation shell into the triffids midst, aiming high up for the floral bloom the shell burst into spinning blades, shredding the now shrieking plant...
"Go! run!"
Several more triffids had emerged onto the overgrown highway, crawling slowly and ominously they where surrounding their prey, the constant tick-tocking of their calls rising and falling...
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Suddenly, rounds started to hit the ship. Howl yelled, "What's that?!" One of the pilots responded in an annoyed tone, "Enemy fighters, what else?! Get on the turret's and take them down, this ship doesn't have missiles, only mounted weapons." Cursing under his breathe, he ran to the bubble turret and loaded the gun. Aiming down the sights, Howl fired 20 to 30 rounds at one of the fighters, and it came careening down out of the atmosphere. "Good job, Howl, keep up the fire!" In the second bubble turret, Leon fired, taking down 2 more fighters. Multiple enemy rounds hit the ship. "Crap, our main shields are down!" Howl looked back at the pilot. "DRIVE FASTER THEN!" Getting back on the turret, he fired and shot down the rest of the fighters, but then twice as many came in. "What's taking so long?!" The pilot yelled back, "It's ready, launching EMP to take down the atmosphere block." The EMP shot out at such a fast speed, that a blink of an eye would have made you miss it, but when it reached to atmospheric wall, it let out a charge that spread through it and made a gaping hole, there, the pilot screamed, "BUCKLE DOWN, WE'RE USING OUR MAIN THRUSTERS!" So, he jumped to his seat and struggled to get the buckle on. Next to Leon, Howl smiled, "Hopefully we'll get to someplace that isn't as twisted as this one!" Leon chuckled. "Doubt it!" In the next second, their ship took off at an amazing speed, just barely making it out of the atmospheric wall. The co-pilot exclaimed, "WE MADE IT! HAHA!"
When they were at a safe distance, the pilot broke out some wine and they all had plenty of drinks. Leon got up and said, "TO BETTER DAYS!" Everyone in unison yelled, "HAIL!" Then, taking a large swig of wine, Howl leveled his head and put his hand on Leon's shoulder, "This is where our journey beings truly, isn't it?" Leon nodded, "Sure is."
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Over Coloran, the lone carrier released a section of its load. Swooping over a patch of trees, a waterfall of corrosive sludge poured from the ship's hold, burning away all life in that area, hissing with the shrieks of dying triffid.
"Take her down," said the meerkat to the bear, as the ship slowly lowered into the newly formed clearing. The ooze had cooled and had now become inert. Over the intercom, the meerkat gave his instructions. "Ok, we have zero transmission from the survivors, so when you shoot, you make sure it's a ten foot piece of shrubbery. Aim for the flowers, tear them up."
Across the ship, makeshift guns swiveled to and fro. Mass driver based weaponry, loaded with shrapnel. They were inaccurate, but effective. All around the ship, tick-tocking could be heard, and in the mist of the forest, the triffids closed in.
Back on the capital sphere, the elderly vixen leaned back and sighed. Her sub-ordinate looked to her, her face riddled with confusion.
"Ma'am, forgive me if I'm wrong but it didn't look like we used everything we could against those murderers" she said. The vixen looked to the human girl,
"We have bigger problems to worry about. They're off the capital sphere and the galactic authorities can deal with them. Go send a message to them. It's one more problem out of my fur and into theirs. Those criminals will probably be dead by the end of the week anyway."
On the ship full of veterans, one of the soldiers spoke up. "So, where's our destination?"
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Leon walked up to the soldier, "An arctic planet codenamed G7, it's far from the sphere, we'll stop there to gather supplies, get some military equipment, a REAL carrier and more men. The place is full of veteran refugees." Howl raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so all of us have been falsely accused?" Leon nodded. "I'm afraid so, because if we weren't arrested for any war crimes, they would try their best to set up fake crimes to get us behind bars. So either way, we'll be imprisoned. That ugly war that we fought for them...now they turn on us, this is why they lost the ever-flame." Howl looked confused. "Ever-flame? What's that?" Leon chuckled. "Oh, so you haven't heard of the rumors?" Howl shrugged. "Well, old guards of the sphere say that there was a great object of magical force called the ever-flame, it kept everyone it was around elated so the citizens could be controlled. But they have payed for what they have done to us, what they have done to other planets. You see, they never shared the great power of the ever-flame with all of the developing planets when they needed it the most. So when the great war broke out, we were separated from the ever-flame, causing most of our soldiers to abuse enemy prisoners and innocent civilians, that's why we were tried for the war crimes, remember?" Howl nodded. "The few that did not get effected by leaving the ever-flame were still thought to be a menace by the government, so they turned everyone against us and tried to capture every last vet."
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Korius looked at the little fox. "What do we have here? I swear they get younger and younger every year. Who's this little bugger?" He examined the squirming little vixen in Asia's grip, poking at her from time to time in various places. Korius took out his PDA and snapped a picture and sent it. He connected it to his shades and watched it search through the database in his left eye as he continued to survey the little spy with his right. Finally, it stopped on a mug shot of the child and he sighed. "Asia, you can let her go. Just a little petty thief. Just got out of RC-71 Alpha Juvi. She's tailing all AWOLS that she comes by. She's not a problem. The one who's supervising her is. We need to go, now."
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Asia dropped the young fox, who landed on all fours in the sand.
"I don't have no-one supervisin' me, I go where I like," she said as she stood up. Asia had already turned around and began walking away. "I overheard your little plan, about that forever-fire thing." Asia stopped, and looked back.
"The everflame?" he asked.
"That's the thing, yeah man an' I also know the guy your lookin' for. Your associate? He ain' here man." A broad smile wriggle over her juvenile features.
"Oh really? And why should I trust your word?" Asia asked.
"Well you could go see for yourself, and find a buncha cops poin'ing guns at your face. See I'm good with info." She grinned, looking up at the two men.
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Korius removed his katana from the strap and held it. "Well if your hearing is so good, and your information just as good as you claim, you know my influence and abilities. The police owe me more than they can ever repay. I can still pull strings. If not, I can kill them all. That is, if they're holding him here, still." He took out his PDA and connected it to his shades. This time, both sides of the shades lit up as he searched The entire galaxy's police database, everything running through at lightning speed. The lights went off and he disconnected the PDA, putting it back in his coat. "The young one is right. Your friend is dead. They planned to lure you with him, but he wouldn't cooperate and ran. What do you want to do now?" and he took another swig.
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What could only be the command team burst out of the undergrowth, even as the first Triffids emerged into the clearing, vines whipped out from bushes dragging one of the team backwards from the rest of the group.... More Triffids started to crawl out, drawn to the noise of the ship they where massing like flies to a lone light.... As the command team continued to run a single member turned and let loose a jet of promethean from a hand held flamethrower, burning carcasses of Triffids screamed in pain....
~~~~~
Kitt looked up as the roar of engines swooped low over the forest, he shouted, pointing to the shadow of a carrier flying over the tree canopy....
"we gotta make it to that ship!"
The rest of his team nodded as they ran, dodging the occasional vine from an unseen Triffid, stopping for a brief moment to unload a shotgun shell into one of the plants that had gotten too close for comfort...
"Keep running idiots!"
Kitt shouted, not bothering to fire with his own weapon, the single figure that had stopped was quickly surrounded and brought down...
"he who runs away lives to run another day... so keep running!"
-
Asia gave a smirk at Korius' words.
"No he isn't dead. But he won't be here anymore." The rabbit looked around the desert wasteland. "And we can't be here either, the GA will be here because of the crash." He turned to Korius. "Your ship, can it take us off world? I know where he'll be."
"I can take you guys to it," the little vixen piped up. "My buggy's proper fast. A ten minutes and we're there," she said, pointing to a distant shed. She ran over to it, pulling out a rough ramshackle contraption, barely a rollcage with an engine.
High up above Skeeva, a Galactic Authorities carrier was entering the atmosphere. Bulky and rounded, it looked like a pig in the sky, but within, it was filled with heavily armed specialists, wrapped in body enhancement suits, humming with power.
Over in GA command, the army veterans were being tracked.
"Sir, the sniffer dogs have picked up their scent. Their heading to G7," said a feline Lieutenant. His CO, rested his head in one hand.
"How predictable. Right go send the info to the military. Their operation is happening soon right?" the officer asked.
"Yes sir, within the week." replied the cat.
"Good, it's sorted then."
"Captain, the survivors are comin' through, the triffids are snappin' on their tails," said the cat, as she sat in her room, that had been converted into a remote gunnery, allowing her to blast away at the triffids with her mate, a distinctly larger lynx.
"Right, open the bay doors," the meerkat ordered the bear, who pulled open a panel, revealing a switch to be flicked. The lower section of the carrier soon shuddered, and shifted open, shivering as it moved. It revealed the cargo bay with a good two thirds walled off. That which showed was covered in with toxic residue. Upon the bay floor, stood a Great Pyrenees dog, manning two gattling guns, firing off rounds either side of the survivors and loving every second.
-
Korius laughed out loud as Asia spoke. "You really have been living under a rock! The stealth streamer is the fastest ship in the universe. Your government's been trying to buy it off of me for years. There's only two in this universe. I'm just lucky enough to have gotten mine." He looked over at the little fox. "Alright, you little mongrel. Take us. But make no mistake, I see or sense of any fowl play, your head comes off without word or warning. And don't even think about lying or trying to run away. My nose knows more than you think."
-
Asia rolled his eyes at the wolf's arrogance, as he climbed into the buggy. The vixen slipped into the driving seat with a giggle,
"I wouldn't ever betray you, Mr Lambent." She pulled from under the seat, a pair of goggles and pulled them on. "Why would I? I'm your biggest fan." After shifting to let Korius get into the back, the vixen blasted the buggy over the sandy landscape
Miles high above them all, the GA ship's optic sensors gained visual contact with the town.
"Sir, we have visual on a trio climbing into a buggy, just south west of the town."
"Roger that, chase them down, do not fire until identity is confirmed. Stream the images up to me."
"Yes sir." The carrier swooped down through the clouds, bearing down on the tiny ramshackle buggy, casting a shadow over them all.
-
When close to the atmosphere of G7 and the alcohol's effects finally wearing off, all the soldiers got geared up. Howl was talking to Leon, when another man approached him. "Alright, I'm the equipment manager, and your gonna need this to fight off any tossers who bother ya." He handed me an upgraded version of my assault rifle with countless cores to reload with. "Don't furget your winter suit and equipment, if ya don't want to freeze to death, then grab it. Some blokes have gone out there without the right suit and have died right before my eyes!" Howl blinked widely, "Th...thanks." After talking to the equipment manager, he walked into the suiting room and put on his snow suit, it held enough power to keep you heated for about 5 hours before in need of recharging. He stuffed all his belongings into a backpack, put his 1911a1 clips in quick reloading holsters then stuck on his helmet. Turning it on showed a HUD of vital signs, suit energy and a radar. When he got back to the main bay, the pilot got on the intercom, "Alright, men, we're going through the atmosphere now, so get strapped down!" Everyone did as they were told, not thinking twice about what they were doing. The ship began to shake, Howl felt like his body was going to rumble out of his seat, but once through the atmosphere, all the soldiers got up. The leading officer stood in front of the group. "Ok, get ready to go, it's going to be tough out there, and-" In the next second, a huge round hit the side of the ship, making a big gaping hole in it.
In the pilot's seat, he was trying desperately to slow the ship down, and he had it at the right speed for a parachute jump, so he pushed the auto-pilot, forcing it to keep it at the specific speed, and got on his parachute. "EVERYONE, JUMP!" Howl ran to the hole and flew right out, as he looked up to see everyone else jump out, 5 more men leaped through, but then another round hit the ship, killing everyone else inside. So without hesitation, Howl pulled his parachute chord, slowing him down. Multiple seconds later, someone spoke in their headset, "Ok! The town we need to get to is 50 clicks from my position, I'm sending the data to the rest of you now, once you land, go straight for it!" When Howl landed, he took off his parachute and loaded his rifle. The officer was right, it was going to be tough.....
-
While he sat in the back, Korius dug into his jacket and pulled out two bullets. He took out his M500 and pulled on the release and inserted the bullets. He noticed Asia looking at him and explained. "This is an old Smith & Wessen M500 Tanaka. It's a gun from ancient society, dating back more than 2000 years. I found it, studied it, fixed it, and then modified it. It's history points it housed 5 bullets, but I prefer the number eight. It's "magnum" rounds are no longer existent, but the materials to make them are plentiful. Despite the age of the design, these bullets can blast a 3 foot hole into the side of your daily GA carrier, and all types of armour that we have today." He spun the chamber and flicked the gun and the chamber snapped back into place and he re-holstered the weapon. He took out his PDA, connected it to his shades, and unsheathed his katana half-way and examined the blade, his lenses scanning the blade and making diagnostics. "I'm not sure if you're familiar with martial arts, sir. It is part of a lost culture since the discovery of the Everflame 1,000 years ago. So-called combat training in the military and police force are merely just basic hand-to-hand forms with barely any true application. I was raised and trained by the legendary mercenary, Lilu Yamamoto. He was the last of his clan's lineage, a samurai lineage. It was supposed to die with him, but it lives on in me. The true study of martial arts makes one stronger, faster and more adaptable. However, a conventional and traditional sword can't cut through just anything, given today's armour technology. That is why I had my vibro-blade custom made like a katana. Do you understand why, Officer Asia? Do you understand why I chose this life, and my weapons the way I did, a sword and an ancient ballistic weapon over all the plasma blasting firepower in the universe? Why I would choose to become a mercenary for hire when I can make even more money as a hitman? It is because I share your vision. I see what you see, the tyranny of the Central Government."
-
The command team reached the hanger as more Triffids spilled out of the forests only to be shredded or cut down by the combined firepower of the carrier and Triffid enforcers.....
"Get the frack in!"
Colonel Crow shouted at his men, raising the visor, he didnt need to as every man and woman in the five man team was already clambering aboard hurriedly...
~~~~~~~
Kitt and his team where fighting their way through a literal forest of Triffids..
"They must be frackin' attracted to the sound of that Carrier!"
A scream interrupted Kitt as another of the team was caught by a Triffids sting, it had managed to catch the poor fox right in the chink in the armour at neck height....
"I can see light sir! the clearings just over there!"
The three members of the team who where left, including Kitt, burst out into the clearing, only to have their next breath catch in their throats... the clearing was a mass of Triffids, clicking and crawling towards the carrier..
"Shred 'em! we got this far!"
The team opened fire, inciendary rounds penetrating the form of a triffid and bursting into bright flames, soon a clearing had been cut in the swarm of Triffids around ten metres in width, maybe enough for them to get through, maybe small enough to get them surrounded and killed...
"GO... RUN!"
-
Over the frozen world of G7, the commander of the military task force gave his orders.
"Launch missiles, deploy energy trackers and infiltrators. Make sure everyone dies. They don't deserve a third chance."
"Aye sir," replied a Lieutenant, who pulled up a series of menus on his data screen, aboard the craft carrier, orbiting the planet. Down below, small pods rocketed to the surface, pounding into the ground as aircraft tore the skies above. Immediately, the pods began to tunnel towards the base. In the sky, sattelites were deployed, observing the field of battle, pinpointing positions for the military. From the carrier itself, warheads fizzed with unstable force as the missiles were armed and launched to the stronghold below.
Over on Skeeva, the vixen stared in awe at Korius' every word and movement.
"Wow," she said, shaking her head in disbelief, "You got some next toys, man. You's a bad-man, God I love you"
"Keep your eyes on the road," said Asia, causing the girl to be torn from her daydreaming, swerving the buggy slightly as it bounced over every rock and dune along the way. Asia turned to the merc, "Frankly, I haven't a clue what you just said cus it makes no sense. You're telling me that that thing can punch a massive hole into one of the most heavily armoured craft in the galaxy, and that people forgot how to fight because the sphere forgot to fight, and that using museum pieces as weaponry defies the central government. It's ridiculous."
"Oi!" The vixen punched Asia in the arm. "Dont insult him."
"He insults me all the time," Asia replied.
"That's different. He's better than you," she said, before gazing with big, rich eyes, back at Korius. "I hope he don't bother you, Korius, 'cus if he does i could kick him off right now, and you and me could drive together," she said with a smile.
"He doesn't even know your name, I don't even know your name... And keep your eyes on the road!" said Asia, flailing his arms in frustration.
"There is no road!" the young fox shouted, "It's just sand and dirt and rocks, that's it!" she said, before looking ahead, making sure the way was clear before looking back to Korius. "Name's Tabby by the way," she said, supressing a giggle as she spoke, then she slowly bit her lip as she looked him over. Asia held his head in his hands.
"God please let the ship be close by."
Overhead, the carrier flew in the thin cloud.
"Identity uncomfirmed sir, something's jamming our signals."
"Drop the ground pounders,"
"Aye sir, Vehicle assault team, launch." The side of the carrier slid away as four all-terrain, fast moving six-wheeled vehicles drove off the ship, falling to the ground, initiating thrusters to hit the dirt like a feather. Their wheels immediately tore up the dirt, moving in formation to surround the buggy.
On Corolan, the last of the first group made it on to the ship.
"That's the last one sir!" shouted the great pyrennees into a handheld transmitter strapped to his cheek.
"Ok, lift her up, let's find the next batch," said the captain to his pilot. Almost immediately, the engines roared up and the bay doors began to close.
"Wait up, sir!" roared the voice down the comms. "There's more coming through the forest."
"There's triffid's everywhere!" said the cat, who was currently mowing down all she could. For every plant they killed, the others got that much closer, now able to reach out and grab the turrets before being torn to shreds. The meerkat acted fast,
"Get those doors open, and try and try and bring the ship to those boys down there. People, this is just gonna get harder."
"Aye aye sir!" came the chorus of the crew.
-
Korius smirked. "Well, that's only if I use my dum dum shells. Almost impossible to make and the materials are scarce for that. I only have two shells of those. The normal ones, probably dent the sucker, but not blow it open. They still pack one heck of a..." Yells as they close in on a boulder. "Keep your eyes on the bloody road!!" Korius holds on as the buggy swerved to avoid it. "Alright, stop right here. We go the rest of the way on foot. Thank you for the ride, Tabby." No sooner did he step out when did a plasma shot nail him in the chest and sent him flying. He landed with a huge thud and lay limp on the ground. A voice came from just behind the treeline. "Alright, don't you folks move a muscles. Officer, I'm here for your head and the Stealth Streamer. Make any moves and you both die."
The voice emerged, another wolf, though he was much more shabby looking and he was missing his left ear. He walked over to Korius's body, gun pointing at Asia and Tabby and started to go through Korius's Jacket and took out a remote key. He pocketed the key and took the M500. He examined it a bit before pointing it at the other two with his plasma rifle. "Ok, officer, hands behind your head an...d..." He looked down and found the vibro-blade sticking out of his chest, and there, behind him, stood Korius. "Im...possible. I k-killed.... you...." The man fell hard onto the ground. Korius took his key and M500 back. He pulled a fried piece of metal from the hole in his jacket. "You shot my PDA, you idiot. Hunters 101, always check for a pulse." He threw the PDA onto the floor and re-holstered the M500. He then pressed a button on the key and, the oversized boulder they almost hit blew up into the air like paper in the wind, it was just a camo-sheet that covered the Streamer. Korius cursed as he walked over to the ship. "Bugger! That was my only PDA that could access those databases! Bloody sod! Why in blazes did you have to shoot it! The access chips are irreplaceable!" He violently kicked at the dead body.
He finally stopped and turned to Asia. "Well now. I know that was unbecoming of me, but are you coming? This is my Stealth Streamer. I call her Vee. She's undetectable by normal radar and can outrun more than half of the GA's carriers, gunboats and cruisers. I must warn you though, we're going to have to tread more carefully now. I can no longer gain access to any military, police or government databases. Those access chips are completely fried and there's no way to get new ones. I stole those before they remade the protocol on the chips. One made for each issue and dead-switched to their users. No one can steal them anymore. They fry by remote access if necessary. Now hurry, we haven't time to terry around. Give me the coordinates and let's go."
-
The command team finally having clambered aboard set about firing off their own weaponry into the crowd of Triffids, they too had spotted the three other surrounded...
~~~~~~
Kitt, the Wolf private and a fox where all that remained, surrounded by Triffids... a litteral wall of flak, shrapnell and inciendary rounds burst through the ranks of Triffids, shredding the oversized plants left right and centre... but each time someone had to stop to reload, or for each Triffid shot down, another three would crawl in and strike...
A triffid managed to get in under the rain of fire, roots binding around the fox in an instant, dragging him out of the clearing...
"NO!"
Kitt shouted, spit speckling the inside of his visor... another minute... just one more minute and he would have made it... he squeezed the trigger again, felt the jolt of the cleaver as it spat it's hot death.... he was dead, almost all his team was dead... but to hell if they would die in fracking vain!"
-
Asia looked at the corpse, shook his head and gave a smirk.
"Here's the coordinates," he said, pulling a PDA from his pocket before opening a file onto its screen and handing it over. "The place is called G7, I dont know what the locals call. Apparently is hell out there so maybe it just doesnt have a name," he said as he climbed into the Streamer. Just then, energy fire burned past them, sucking the air out of the sky as they flew. The vehicles that were deployed closing in. Tabby, who had been open mouthed, drooling at her hero felt the energy collide with the dirt around her. It ripped her out of the trance and she ran for the Streamer hatch, diving inside as shots hit the hull.
"Identities confirmed, Korius Lambent, Mercenary and Asia Kali, Guard of the Everflame," said one of the drivers. "Identity uncomfirmed, female minor."
"Asia?" replied his CO aboard the carrier, "seriously? aw what the heck man, why did you do something so stupid? I shoulda known." The CO shook his head, thinking the facts through, "But then with Lambent there. I guess it's obvious who planned this little runaround. Fire at will, take them all down, the girl is collateral." He sat back in his chair. "You stupid boy."
"Cappy, they're not gonna make it," said the bear to the meerkat. "We should get out, no point all of us dying."
"Guns one and five are gone, Cap," called the cat down the comms.
"Keep fighting, if they die, then we leave, if they survive then everyone's happy. Focus fire around them," ordered the meerkat.
"YES CAPTAIN!" screamed the giant dog, drilling through hundreds of plants, tearing them down, with the survivors on board firing alongside him. His laughter was contagious.
-
Korius looked at the data that Asia handed to him. "Yea, I know the place. That's Raven's Nest. We'll be there in two days." As the shots fired, he ran into the first hatch. Korius plopped onto his seat and his hands flew through the controls almost too smoothly, getting the power on and shields up at full. He smiled cynically, like a whole different person. "You picked the wrong wolf to screw with." He flipped a small cover ontop of the joystick and pressed the yellow button, firing his ship's own guns and blowing some of the enemy vehicles. He flipped another panel on the other joystick and pressed the red button, firing one salvo of rockets. He thought to himself, "Bugger! Can't believe I had to use those too." Without taking his eyes of the panels and the enemies, he yelled over to Asia and Tabby. "Ok, children sit down and shut up! This is going to be a bumpy ride!" He fired one more salvo of rockets, but shot them to the ground to make a cover as they lifted off and sped past the atmosphere. There, waiting for them, were two carriers, making a blockade. He smirked evilly again. "I'm sorry, officer, but we're going to have to take a detour. If we're going to bet past that blockade, we're going to have to use up a lot of energy from my ship. About 80% to be exact. We'll have to stop by a nearby system to get refueling after we get out. Hey Tabby! You see that red button under glass in front of you? Press it now!" As the excited little vixen pressed the button, the ship built up a large humming sound. On the top of the ship, a tuning fork-like object came from inside the ship. Power built in between the two prongs and fired a high concentrated beam right through the middle of the blockade. One carrier took hull damage and over 20 small cruisers were decimated. "Eat my rail gun you, ************! Ok, hold on tight! We only have enough energy for one jump and about 10 minutes of flight left. It's gonna cut reeeaaaalllll close! If we're lucky, we crash land on Vega 12!" He punched the drives and they sped into lightspeed 1 towards their destination.
-
The last two of Kitts team focussed on firing almost exclusively towards the carrier, trying to blow a hole through the impenatrable wall of Triffids. With a fierce desperation he pumped the shotgun, forcing another round into the chamber, and squeezed the trigger... the cleaver jolted as an inciendary round spat across the short distance between him and a Triffid....
"Cover me!"
He stopped for a second, relying on his team-mate, the wolf private to shoot anything tall and green nearby while he pulled a large box-shaped ammo hopped off his belt and secured it underneath the cleaver shotgun... pulling back the automated firing pin he grinned... if he was gonna die... then to hell with single shot weaponry...
"C'MON THEN YOU FRACKIN' DANDELIONS!"
Pulling the cleaver up to his shoulder he squeezed the trigger, a long continous stream of inciendary rounds flaring through Triffids, burning their dark green forms to dry withered husks... The wolf shouldered up beside Kitt, opening fire on any triffid that strayed too close, the inciendary rounds tore through the hoard of Triffids like strobe lights.... The carrier was only a few Triffids away... just a few more seconds... they wouldnt die.. not here... not Frackin' now!
-
As the enemy pods landed, Howl raised his rifle and shot two soldiers then ran for cover. It was in the middle of G7's worst blizzard to date, and these enemies had thermal vision. On the microphones, you could hear screaming veterans being killed. Only Leon's vital signs were up on Howl's HUD. Plasma flew by his head, and he ran for a cave, where he found Leon, with a bullet wound in his stomach Leon coughed. "H-howl....I'm not going to make it, go down this cave...it leads to...the base. The cop who stole the e-ever flame is meeting us there...good luck." With his last breath taken, Leon was dead. Howl sighed, he had seen it happen too often. "Don't worry, your death was not in-vain!" After that said, Howl ran into the depths of the cave, where dangerous creatures lurked.
-
"Sir, they jumped!"
"How in the... well it is a stealth streamer. It can jump anywhere. Alright, what's the damage?" replied the CO
"Most of the task force is out of action sir, and the carrier's jump drive has been hit. We wont be able to persue," said the lieutenant, as he flicked through on screen dynamic reports. The CO sighed,
"Is there any way to track where they're going?"
"The nearest habitable planets are PX5 aka Jinto, BuRi2 aka Vintex and LE3 aka Vega 12."
"Ok send the reports over to command. Let's get this ship moving again."
Over the comms, a slew of messages piped into the CO's headset.
Over on Coloran, the team poured their ammo into the advancing horde. Triffids whiped out vines and roots to pull and slash at the carrier and its crew.
"We've only two guns left, Cap," said the feline over the comms. The great dog at bay doors was rapidly running out of ammo, though he had too many targets to care. Colonel Crow and his people fired incessantly, shredding the Triffid, yet the numbers still grew. From the left of the ship, a vine whipped out and slashed around the colonel's arm, slicing his elbow through the armour.. In one quick movement and the pull of the trigger, the triffid was dead and the vine released. Kitt and his team were in spitting distance, and the crew threw everything they had on the horde.
Within the caves of Raven's Nest, a lone soldier stepped through the darkness. In the walls, in the ceiling, a rustling could be heard, a scratching, and a crumbling. The very rock itself seemed alive, moaning in the quiet. The muffled echoes of battle reverberating through to join the quiver of stone around Howl. To the left, within the rock, something was moving, digging. It sped ahead, and he was alone, until a rough yet hollow voice of a woman spoke.
"You, you not from here. Your friends did... no survive."
-
Kitt kept squeezing the trigger of his gun until he had no ammo left, shouting an obscenity to every 'stupid daffodil on this godforsaken planet' he slung the cleaver over his shoulder and pulled a shock baton from his thigh holster, swinging the metal truncheon into the form of a Triffid it crumpled into a writhing mass of leaves and vines, several hundered volts coursing through its entire 'body'...
He swung again, only to have the shock baton torn from his grasp by a mass of roots, spitting several choice words at the Triffid he threw all his might into bludgeoning the plant with his lower arm, the kevlar armour crunching against the tough stem and leaves with a sickening squelch... he pushed the Triffid aside. The ramp of the carrier was within arms reach, grabbed the only survivor of his team, the wolf private. And with every last ounce of his strength hurled himself with the wolf towards the ramp....
-
Korius did his best to control the ship as they came out of their jump. He had overshot his original point, right into vega 12's atmosphere rather than outside it. It rumbled hard as they came in hot. A voice came over the comm, "Unidentified craft, you have jumped past the gate and are not authorized to be within the atmosphere. Turn away now, or you will be shot down." Korius keyed the comm. "Hey! Sloan, listen, it's Korius. I don't have the fuel to do that. Please get me an escort STAT! I don't even have enough fuel to make a landing." "Roger that, craft Vee, I'll need to clear this first tho..." "Just bloody do it now! Unless you feel like me aiming for you and the comm tower as my landing brakes!" "... Roger that."
-
Kitt and the wolf slammed against the bay floor, legs flailing over the edge, as the triffids reached out to grab, only to be torn apart by the twin guns of the great pyrennees. The other soldiers ran for the remaining survivors, grabbing them and pulling them on board as the ship lifted up from the ground.
"Get us out of here, NOW!" ordered the meerkat.
"I am already!" replied his pilot as the carrier took off from the ground, pulling with it some triffid who had grabbed hold, but a few shots from the mounted guns ripped off the hull.
The dog cheered, "Yeah, get some! hahahahaha!"
While the cat threw herself into the arms of her mate, the lynx who was firing with her. Back in the cockpit, the captain looked over the forest and smiled.
"See, a little confidence is worth everything." While in the cargo bay, Colonel Crow fell unconscious.
Over on Vega 12, a pair of automated drones shot out from a control tower on the vibrant red planet surface. The drones zipped through the air towards Vee, flying up to the sides of the craft. In an instant, a bubble of energy consumed the Streamer, emitted by the drones, slowing the ship, balancing it, before gently guiding it to the ground. Tabby stared out the forward viewer, entranced.
"Aw this is sick! I seen this on videos but... it feels weird, man." Her voice was punctuated with wonder filled yips. Asia looked around as well, but at the buildings instead of the drones. The landscape was pockmarked with clumps of plants, punctuated by buildings blooming out from the dirt. The entrances were underground, to prevent longterm exposure to the sun's radiation.
"This place is a bit high profile for my tastes," said Asia. "I hear they have some of the best medical facilities this side of the sphere."
As they landed, the drones disengaged the field and departed back to the control tower. Meeting them, were a pair of red pandas with wide brimmed hats, apparently made from the grass like plants that riddled the view. They had gloves made from something else, a similar plant but larger leafed, covering them like mittens.
"Welcome to Vega 12, we'll escort to the main lobby and check you over... oh and try not to look up."
-
When Howl first saw the women, he didn't raise his gun, seeing as she wasn't an obvious threat. "No ma'am, my allies are dead, cut down by soldiers. I'm Howl, could you please tell me your name?"
(Sorry if this post seems a bit too short, but I didn't have too much to work with in the first place. Once I get to know this mystery women, then I'll beef up my next post)
-
Korius muttered under his breath to Asia. "Yep, but we won't get the luxury of going there, since the whole downtown's gonna be swarming with cops. We're just lucky that the guys here in the spaceport owe me some money, so we're safe. Did you know that this planet's also known for its spaceport security guards, not just this one? The Vega 12 security guards are not to be messed with. Do what they say, no questions asked. See their gloves? Those are made of Triffids. These guys make that armada blockade look like a baby with a wetnap. All security guards on this planet are some species of panda. Want to know why? They are also one of the last line of martial artists in the universe. Pandas raised here are stronger than a battalion of your so-called 'police' and hold tournaments every month. That's why they owe me money" A very tall hyena in an official-looking uniform came up the group. "Ah! Welcome my friends! And how are you today? I am Sloan Macinoff and I run the tower. The transport drones should be bringing Vee over to the underground hanger right about now. So, aside from the fuel, what else can I accommodate you with?" Korius sighed as he looked the hyena in the eyes. "You can drive us to see Jasper. We need some food, supplies, a new PDA scanner, and maybe some protective clothing for the young one." Sloan bowed, "Of course, Korius. If you will follow me, I shall take you there, now." Sloan took out an earpiece and talked into it in a very complex language. "M'i no laiciffo ssenisub rof Suirok." He put the earpiece away as they entered an above-ground hanger. He jumped into a red compact air-car (shaped like a Lexus 2054) with tinted windows and opened the passenger doors. "Okay, let's go." They all climbed into the vehicle and off they went.
-
"My name. Those who did not survive call me Seeker." The voice echoed through the darkened cave, and a deep rumbling could be heard. "I do seek. I seek name and future. Those you call... spirits, connect, react when I look at you, feel you in the pattern. You will meet them and you will know." The rumble built and built, and within the walls, a light began to glow, silhouetting the woman. She was tall, slender, though through the light, it almost appeared as though she was soft, like a flame, flickering in darkness. Rocks began to crumble, the walls shivering, shifting; then it fell. Bursting through, filling the cave with brilliant white light stood the enormous figure of some form of tiger. It had two front legs holding it up, two more sprouting from its back, pushing at the ceiling, two more at the back, like the tail on a seal, all over it was covered in fur the fizzed and glowed with life. The woman seemed to react, turning, twisting her silhouetted body lit up, covered in patterns of thousands of colours, weaving in, over and across, fluctuation, building and burning. Her eyes like diamonds sending rainbows over the walls. Upon her head and shoulders sprouted many appendages, feelers reaching out, carressing the tiger, while her hands bent forwards and back, flowing in a stream of energy. With one smooth movement, she vaulted onto the cat, pressing low to its body. "Must ask, what name you believe you have."
The car glided past the tower, sauntering down the streets, empty of any life, save for the plants swaying beneath them. Tabby looked around the car, picking at the seats, paws running over the doors.
"This thing's proper, dan," she said as she stroked along the joins, ignoring the world around. Asia looked away, looked around, glancing every now and then at Sloan, watching him at any movement, yet keeping quiet. Tabby continued to wonder at the machine. "What's the speed on this? Looks built to last. You dont get many of these, do ya... no, I see now. I get it." She became quieter and quieter with each word, turning to incoherent mumbles. The car powered them along, and in the distance, a lone stamp upon the ground came into view, far from the city, dull, dirty grey. Around it marched animals, the only seen for miles. Six red reptilian constructs, limping awkwardly around the building. Their scales seemed to shimmer, increasing in shine the closer to the tip of the tail one looked, until the final scale burned intensely.
-
Korius slept silently as they drove. He dreamt of money and swimming in it, a large smile crept over his face as he dreamt. When they finally stopped, he dropped his feet from the dashboard and lifted his cap from his eyes. Korius jumped out of the air-car as soon as the doors opened and he went sniffing around. He stopped at a tree that was like any other tree, but permeated a small, but unique scent. He reached into a knot in the tree with one finger and pressed it flat against the other side. There was a small electrical whir and a mechanical lift came from underneath the ground. He looked back at the group. "Unfortunately, to prevent energy detection, he doesn't have grav-lifts, but you can buy the parts for one here. Now, I'm only going to say this once. Don't touch anything unless Jasper says so." The lift brought them down about 2 stories. As they were lowered in, Tabby pressed her face against the glass, amazed at the underground warehouse. The floor was simple concrete and lines of metal shelves over 15 feet high populated half the enormous space. On the other half, there were racks of clothes of all types, food, weapons and spare parts ranging from the smallest hair removal products to spare cruiser engines, and right below them, at the base of the lift, was a lot of empty space.
As they exited the lift, and short, fat, pig walked up to them with open arms, "Heya! Korius, my man! How are you? I haven't seen you since the last time you came to pick up materials to make rounds for that fossil of a gun of yours. And what's with the baggage?" Korius laughed and gave the man a hug. "It's been far too long, Jasper. They're with me. We don't have much time. I fired my rail gun to get us off Skeeva, and now half a GA armada's behind us now. I'm going to need what little supply you have refilled for rounds, a new PDA scanner, a new set of armour for the ex-cop, and some light armour and a dress for the young one." The pig pulled a small panel from his jacket and, despite his pudgy fingers, flew threw the little display and a crane on the ceiling went around the warehouse and brought over a small, 3x3 crate and two large shelves, one with light armour and the other with heavy armour. "Ok, kid, grandpa. Grab what fits and still lets you move. Asia, hope you don't mind, I brought all your weapons. I'm going to sell them and have them scrapped and modded. After we pick out armour, I'll take you to the weapons and clothes, next."
-
Kitt slammed his back against the wall of hangar, sliding down until he was sitting on the steel flooring..... he was so glad that his visor was still pulled down, for he was crying, with great wracking gulps he tried to still the tears... he always put on the pretence of a hardened Veteran of the Triffid enforcers, he was only 17...
one person could only take so much... too lose his whole team... twice.. was too much, looking up through his visor he saw the figure of the wolf private, leaning over someone sprawled across the cargo bay floor.. he'd saved him.... he had saved someone.... without him, that wolf would probably be dead..... still, it was not enough to stop the painfull tears rolling down his cheeks...
"Hey sir! colonel.. we did it! we got the frack off this planet!... sir?.. SIR!"
The logistics officer turned to see colonel crow slump backwards across the hangar bay, the thick set fox who normally would take a Triffid and eat it for breakfast crumpled as his knees gave way...
"SIR!"
-
"Ah it's alright," Asia replied, though still he winced at Korius' ageist jokes. "I don't use my guns much anyway, and anything better is always good." He began sifting through the armour, heaving great mostrous creations away revealing more suitable fits. Tabby squeeled with glee as she pulled out various protective garments. Finding a sleek black body armour with matching hot pants, boots and gloves. Armoured shells slid down from the back to where her legs would be, like coat tails of giant beetle shells.
"Wow... 'ey Korius, what d'ya think of this?" she said, placing the clothes upon her body, presenting herself to him. Asia shook his head with a sigh as he pulled on dirty green heavy armour, connecting the clips at the front before it all slid together around him, shifting into a perfect fit.
Over on the GA carrier, the messages over the CO's comms rumble on, rolling over eachother, blurring into a drone.
"Commodore," said the Lieutenant, pulling him from the noise. "Admiral Kreven is requesting communication, with you, sir."
"Hmm? Alright then, transfer it to my quarters." He pushed himself up from his chair and moved to the door. "We all might as well take a break now anyway. We aren't gonna move anywhere. Get Taylor up here to man the bridge while we rest."
"Aye sir."
Through his headset, the captain could still hear every message floating around as he travelled the corridors. About everything, most he could barely hear, some he couldn't decipher even if they screamed it. It all had turned to noise, so he took off his headset. The sound went quiet, but not silent. Remnants seemed to echo in his mind. He needed a break and knew it, maybe getting hit by the rail gun was a blessing in disguise, giving him time. As he entered his quarters, the admiral's purple, reptilian face was plastered over the wall, watching the commodore walk.
"Commodore Kali, I recieved your report, and we need you to answer a few questions," he said.
"About what, sir?" the commodore replied, pulling off his hat freeing his long lapine ears.
"Your failure there was regrettable, yet understandable. The question is whether you are up to Korius Lambent's challenge." The lizard stared incessantly into the rabbit, who let the gaze wash over and away like water; standing unphased.
"He had the element of surprise. None of our intelligence suggested he had anything to do with the Everflame, or his connection to Asia Kali. Next time we see him, we will be ready. It is also because of this incident that it appears most likely that they have the Everflame. Visual scans identified them carrying an energy dampening box."
"Good, now what do you know of the girl?" asked the admiral.
"Nothing, though I believe she is merely a tag-along. Wrong place, wrong time, and I know Asia. He wouldn't leave her out in that situation. It's unlikely she even knows of the everflame." Slowly, distortions appeared; twitches in the admiral's image, appendages, ideas overlaid for the briefest moments. They flickered over the wall, crawling over the lizard's head.
"That brings us to the subject of your brother. You know him to be guilty, can we trust you, commodore?" There were lights, pictures, faces, words and the everflame.
"He's committed a terrible crime. He needs to face the consequences. Knowing him so well, helps this investigation. I regularly keep tabs on him." A face appeared, that of a woman, bathed in colour. "I know his friends, his contacts. Based on everything I've seen, I'm guessing he'll head to Serra Draconis. It's a minor science colony, with very little government surveillance. We'll head there as soon as we can jump. We should be ready in a day." The admiral nodded, mulling over his assets.
"That sounds about right. The 57th fleet will rendezvous with you there. All available resources will be under your control, you will have final say." The reptile leaned forward, with his stare. "I dont need to remind you the serious nature of this mission commodore. We need the everflame."
"Aye sir." The admiral gave a smile, finally blinking before the image disappeared. Commodore Kali rubbed his eyes and sat back on his bed, covered in a rich blue sheet. He reached over to his desk and pressed the communications button. "This is Commodore Kali to engineering. Do a diagnostic on the comms network, focus on video functions. It's malfunctioning at my end."
On the carrier designated 'Admiration,' the monstrous dog stomped towards the Colonel Crow.
"Outta the way children," he said as his great arms pushed the men back. Kneeling down, he looked the soldier over, finding nothing but the wound on Crow's knee. Unclipping his armour, and undoing his helmet, he pulled much of the obstructions away before putting an ear to colonel's chest. "His heart's going crazy, breathing's ragged; he either freaked out or got poisoned." the beast stood back up and walked over beside the bay door, pulling a communicator from the wall. "Max, get down here, one of the damsels is unconscious." A voice replied, thick with accent; it was the bear.
"Roger that, bud. Lemme just get us out in the open and I'll have a look-see."
"Cool," the dog replied, before putting the comm back into the wall. He turned to the huddled crowd of frightened kittens and pups. Glancing at the colonel with a smile.
-
Kitt stood slowly, legs adapting quickly to the rock and sway of the carrier. He pulled his helmet off, drinking deep gulps of fresh air.... they'd made it, he looked over at the Wolf, he was trying to get an eye in on someone unconscious in the middle of the hanger bay. Kitt walked unsteadily over to the group, the whole carrier shuddered a few times as it gained height, the Wolf turned to face him...
"hey Kitt... we made it huh?"
"yeah... we made it..."
-
"Well... most of you made it," The dog gave a chuckle as a door by the catwalk high above them opened. The cat and her lynx mate walked through.
"Oi, leave 'em be, Alain. They've been through a lot," said the cat
"Yeah yeah, live for the lives you can live and all that," he replied with a huff as she walked over to the middle of the catwalk, leaning onto the edge while the lynx stood back, looking to her while she spoke.
"So, what's up guys? you feelin' good?! You better do." She smiled.
-
Kitt looked up at the catwalk and the two figures, the carrier jolted again, shaking slightly....
"well... apart from the fact almost everyone ive ever known in my life is dead... yeah ya could say im fellin' good..."
Gritting his teeth he unclipped his armour from his upper arm, a long bloody cut running down his forearm.....
-
He blinked widely, unable to comprehend what he just saw. "My name is Howl, as stated before....but what exactly are you doing here, what are you seeking? Not only that, but what do you mean I am part of a pattern, how do these spirits feel me, and are you and that tiger one of them?"
-
Korius took the armour off of Tabby. "That one's a bit too big for you. Here, try this one. It's an impact armour. The plate's not as thick, but it'll protect you better and you'll move better because the impact gel allows the armour to conform to your body's shape." Korius helped her put it on and took off his jacket and shirt. He removed the old and damaged impact armour he had worn and climbed to the top of the shelf of light armour and grabbed one that was different from his old one and Tabby's. This one was more of a shirt, than a normal impact plate. It had sleeves that went down to just before his elbows and compacted tighter around his body. He pulled some vials from one of its pockets and counted five. "Hey Jasper! Get me some more nitro! A box of a hundred would be great! And get the Officer a gun and a sidearm." The pig gave the ok and disappeared in a flash. Korius noticed Tabby poking at his armour curiously. "Um... Korius? Why is it all soft?" He held out the vials for her to see. "You see these? These are vials of pure nitrogen, kept in tempered polyglass and kept at absolute zero. This armour is filled with a strong gel called, Chlorocite. When brought to absolute zero, it makes a hard armour almost as strong as a hull plate, but twice as thick, since it expands. But I need multiple vials because the gel's composition generates heat. So I inject a vial into the armour for about 15 minutes of armour, but I can't just inject it all into it, or else it will crack and burst, destroying the armour."
As Korius put his shirt and jacket back on over his new armour, a small, 4x4 platform cart was brought in by Jasper. He handed Korius two boxes and took Asia over to the cart. "Ok, so. I have a wide assortment of different weapons. Since you're and ex-cop, I figured I'd pick out some you're familiar with, and some new stuff that I think might strike your fancy. Over on the left, you'll see all the standard weapons from the lowest to the highest echelons in the GA. Now, for the stuff you don't use. That little shimmy over there that looks like a mini-me of your classic energy rifle, is a high-concentration plasma pistol. Every energy cartridge either fires 10 shots, or you can force-mesh the energy and get a big blast. It's good for when you're in a tight situation, but be warned, it'll need to cool down for at least 5 minutes if you do the big blast, quickly discharge the pack, and DON'T reload until after it's cooled. Now... hup..." Jasper hefts up an rpg-like weapon that has no missile in it. "Now this one, we call 'The Big Baby'. It's a great ion blaster that can pretty much disable whatever it shoots up to a speed-type cruiser. Any bigger, the most damage you'll do is make the vehicle fart a note or two for ya. It's a one shell, one shot deal. Ammo can be found anywhere, but it's very expensive. Here's a new product that I just got in yesterday. This rifle here is a re-modified version of the Ellistian sniper rifle with a new suppressor model. It's a special ballistics-type weapon. It's bullets are very high calibur, and they are plasma tipped. These suckers don't blow a big hole, but she'll shoot through anything. Clip holds 5 bullets and are only found in black markets, made only in labs, and cost about 10,000 credits a pop, so it's only for the professional sniper and those deep in pocket. The others, I'm sure you've arrested someone using them before, so there you have it."
Korius walked off with tabby after he got his boxes to the weapons section. He climbed to the top of a few shelves before he found what he was looking for. He came down and knelt in front of Tabby and handed her what looked like a dagger. "Where we're going and will be doing, is going to be full of danger. Should you accidentally get separated or caught, you will use this for protection. It is a vibro-blade like mine and made out of the same material, so be careful. By itself, it is a strong and very sharp dagger. However, if the person wanting to hurt you is wearing armour, you need only to squeeze the little black points on the hilt with two fingers to turn it on or off.
-
The cat looked between Kitt, Colonel Crow and the other exhausted survivors, and gave a soft smile. Alain, the dog, began to chuckle at Kitt's display, causing the woman to scowl.
"Well, as long as you're feeling good. Name's Tina, by the way, me and my boy here were the ones firing all those guns." She gestured to the lynx behind her, who nodded.
"I shot some too," said Alain. Tina laughed,
"Yes well done." To the left of them all, up by the catwalk, a door opened with the pilot running through and down the stairs with a first aid box.
"Alrigh' then what's the problem?" he said, moving to Colonel Crow. The carrier shuddered as it flew.
"Max, who's flying the plane?" asked Alain.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he replied, chuckling to himself. "Hehe, don't you worry; Cap's got it handled."
"You put the captain in charge?" the dog said as Tina turned to her mate who was already walking back the way the pilot came.
"He's a good kid, he'll do fine. Now what happened here, boy and girls? I need to know ever'thin' 'bout what attacked you and what happened on the way here."
"You cannot be howl, do not lie!" Her voice tore through the walls and through Howl's ears, shifting through his body, but suddenly, it stopped, the woman calmed. "Unless, the connection is near. Yes, you will hear, you will see. You will learn of the spirits soon, when it is time, you will feel them and their existence. This creature and I are corridors of voice. We hear, but are not of the spirits." She leaned up off the cat, "I am Feshanoq, native species. What I join with, this you see, now, is Gathen, native species." She put her hands to her elongated ears that joined at the tips. "The spirits are heard, growing loud, they shout and scream now. In my ears now. Before, they would whisper. The connection is close."
Tabby stood, with the armour hanging from her fingers as she ogled Korius changing clothes.
"Where do I go change, I mean..." her voice stopped as she looked the wolf up and down, a smile on her lips. "I could just change here. I don't mind," she said with a glance up into his eyes.
Meanwhile, Asia looked over the arsenal presented to him, picking up two of the pistols and a high powered, high fire rate MirrorX E Assault Rifle. Tabby looked over to him.
"Gi's us that snipe," she said. Asia looked at her, confused and incredulous.
"You sure you can even hold this thing?" he said as he held it up to her. It was almost her height.
"Just gi's it 'ere." He threw it over to her and it landed neatly balanced on her armour.
"Next you'll be wanting the ion blaster," said Asia.
"It is kinda sexy 'innit," she smiled broad as Asia shook his head.
"Korius we can't spend long here, we've got to get going," he said.
-
"So...something is nearing, destinies are to unfold, is that what your saying?" Then Howl thought again. "Wait, why would you think that I'm lying about my name?! What makes it so important?"
-
"Nothing nears, it is you who is on journey. Destinies do not unfold, they do not hide or twist. They are as they are to that which can see." The tiger she sat upon began to shake its head, and a growl could be heard, though it sounded like many. It began to inch forward, bending its legs to level its head with Howl's. "When existence nears connection, the nature of the spirit-world is hard to decipher. Your name is known in the spirit world though they do not know of you. Do not frighten, go on journey. Run."
-
Korius made one final check around and grabbed his boxes as they got back onto the lift. "Thanks a lot, Jasper. I'll wire you the funds after I set up my connection." The lift safety bars closed, and they moved up. Jasper yelled up to Korius, "You got 2 weeks. All that product costs 100,000 credits!" Korius sighed and looked up, the sun now visible, and Sloan standing by the car. "Load up and go, the GA's already landed and my men are keeping them busy." They all jumped into the car and they zoomed back to the port double-time. Korius double-checked his weapons as they cruised back. "Be careful there might be surprises up ahead." He examined the M500 more closely and then shot Sloan in the head. The man's blood splattered against the side of the car. Korius quickly cut the power, opened the door and kicked the dead body out. "I told you not to mess with me, Sloan." He kicked the car into high gear and ran a path separate from where Sloan was driving.
-
Howl nodded to the women and said, "I hope in the future, that you can explain more." He then turned to the exit of the cave and took off. When he looked back, he saw a large group of enemy soldiers running down the cave, and they started shooting at him. Luckily, Howl was out of their range, so he kept sprinting until they were no longer visible.
A while down the caves, he got onto his intercom in hopes of contacting someone. "Hello, is anyone there? This is a survivor from the veteran squadron, is anyone out there?!"
-
"What the heck was that about!" said Asia, looking between Korius and back at the body disappearing in the distance. "Am I missing something here?!" Tabby sat beside him with a look of disbelief.
"Yo man that was cold, what the flip man. You're dangerous." She breathed a laugh, eyes wide at the excitement. The car sped along, swooping low over the dirt, clipping the tips of leaves as they passed. In the distance, several GA ships sat at the port, people pouring out of them.
"Where's the ship?" Asia asked.
Back on Raven's Nest, a voice on the intercom was heard.
"Roger that veteran squad, what is your designation and purpose here, and be quick about it.
-
Korius continued to speed around and between trees. "The ship's probably in the main hanger. Sloan sold us out. He lied when he said his men were keeping the GA busy. But his time, there's no way they can set a blockade with less than half an armada." Korius stopped the car just behind the tree-line and got out of the car, signaling the others to follow with the supplies. He reached into the ground and found an emergency hatch. "This is an emergency exit used to exit the hanger. We're using it go get in." He opened the hatch, and drew his M500. As they made their way in, they could hear orders being shouted left and right above them. They waited under the door for people to leave. It just so happens, the commanding officers stood on top of the hatch. "Have we heard from that Sloan yet?" "Yes, sir. He told us about 20 minutes ago, that they were going to come in." "What's your status in getting into the Streamer?" "Still no luck sir. It's fueled and ready to go, but it's still..." At this, Korius slammed the hatch open while punching the button on his key. "Go!" They ran straight for the open hatch. Korius fired three successive shots at the three armoured men that were trying to get into the hatch. They fell to the ground and gunfire started. "Stop! Only shoot the people. We need this ship intact!" However, it was too late. Before they could re-aim, the hatch was closed. Kroius's hands flew the controls again and they were off. This time, there was nothing in the atmospere waiting for them and they made the jump.
-
Kitt laughed dryly after nodding a greeting to his rescuers... "what attacked us? where you been hidin' for the last three weeks?... seven foot freakin' daffodils thats what attacked us...." he winced as he attempted to mop up some of the blood dipping from his forearm...
-
"I have been sent here to retrieve an item, I need to know the exact location of where the main outpost is, my other coordinates were scrambled during the landing."
-
Over the skies of Skeeva, images, sounds, voices threaded through the dreams of Commodore Kali. The light, the dark, colour in black, the everflame. Stolen, abused, stolen, and found. Fear and danger of a thousand souls.
The rabbit awoke, a sullen grey room forged around him, the noise of his dreams echoing inside him. With lethargic sway, he climbed out of bed to the sound of a comms request. Moving to his desk, he pressed a button and the voice of a female engineer sparked through speakers in the wall.
"Sir, we ran a diagnostic on the comms system, it's working fine sir."
"What about visual?" he replied.
"We checked that too sir. Nobody else has had any problem with it. We could send someone down to check your screen functions," she said.
"No," said the rabbit. "I was probably just too tired." As he spoke, he looked around for his uniform. "What's the status of the ship? When can we get going?" he asked, while pulling on a top.
"Momentarily, sir. We should be able to jump by this afternoon," she replied.
"Thanks, good work."
"Aye sir, Engineering out."
As Vee jumped, Tabby cackled with joy, looking over herself, her new guns and the adventure she had joined.
"Followin' you guys was the best decision I ever made," she said. Asia looked to her, a frown chiselled upon him.
"No it isn't, you could get killed at any moment," he said.
"You ain't been down the border worlds much, 'ave you," she replied. Asia sat in his seat, staring, his mind pulling away, somewhere else.
"Well I'll sort all that out," he whispered, barely enough for even himself to hear. Over the atmosphere of G7, Vee arrived. Several thousand kilometers away, a fleet engaged the outpost, pounding the surface with ordinance and troop drop pods.
Upon G7 itself, deep in the left wing of the ex-military facility, a voice was emitted out of the intercom,
"You are in the left wing, the Central outpost is a mile due west of your position. The tram should take you there. If not then you're gonna have to run there. Now stop clogging up the comms for your little errands!" Wind, snow and gunfire battered the walls around Howl, and back down the cave, screams could be heard.
Over on the Admiration, Colonel Crow flinched and groaned. Max looked over to Kitt with a the softest, most empathetic smile he could muster.
"Now I know you've had a rough time here, kid, but this boy here is worse off than you and might join yer dead buddies down on the surface unless you tell me everythin' you know, unless that's what you want, in which case, I'll be chuckin' this boy out right now." He looked over to the dog. "Alain, could ya open the bay doors, we better throw this carcass out before he stinks the place up." He began shifted his arms under the colonel, ready to pick him up.
-
Kitt frowned as the ship jolted and shuddered again...
"they'r plants... they probably use spores or seeds for reproduction... they attack with roots and vines, and have a single seven foot stinger on a vine that contains a toxin, they almost always aim for the eyes... never seen one attack like this..... thats all i can tell you... i aint no botanist so i got no idea whats wrong wiv 'im...."
finally stemming the flow of blood Kitt stood slowly, leaning against the wall of the carrier, fumbling in his equipment belt across his chest...
"Triffid enforcers... thats us.... are issued with a shot against the toxin in the stinger.... whether this is somthing new i dont know, but this is all i got.."
with that he pulled out a device similar to a small pistol, upon closer examination it was a needle and small canister of a clear fluid, designed for quick 'in the field' administration.... limping over to crow and max he held out the shot administrator.... "try that... best i got..."
-
The two days in the jump to Raven's Nest was the longest ever, for Korius. Asia continually tinkered with his new toys as did Tabby, he felt uneasy about that last one and feared for both his life and Vee. Tabby hung around him like a bad hangover, but actually gave him a headache. She pestered him for the full two days and asked question after question without letting him answer. He popped aspirin after aspirin, trying to suppress his headaches. He set up his new PDA to access his accounts and to run his scanner into his shades. He was upset a bit, already missing all the database access he used to have. He didn't like not being 3 steps ahead. But at the same time it gave him a bit of excitement. It's been a very long time since he had any kind of challenge. He had finally gotten peace and quiet when Vee's consoles alerted his PDA and his shades lit up, letting him know that they were about to exit the jump. Korius growled and cursed under his breath as he made his way to the bridge. As he sat down and turned to his already seated passengers. "We're here, G7, Raven's Nest." As they exited their jump he saw the spectacle of bombardments and drop ships. He keyed in the scanners and magnification ports. "Those aren't GA troops. What in the bloody sphere is that?"
-
Max took the shot administrator in one hand and held up Crow with the other, moving the device to his neck. Just before it pressed against the colonel, his eyes opened and his hand darted to the bear's, pushing the shot away.
"Woah, what you doing? What's going on?" he asked, eyes spinning around the room, looking from stranger to friend.
"You were infected, we're gonna treat you. It's OK kid," Max replied.
"But I'm fine, looked I'm perfectly healthy, who are you?" asked Crow.
"You're not fine, boy. You took a stinger to yer knee," said the bear, before looking over to the leg. The wound was gone. He put the shot on the metallic floor of the bay. "Well now, that ain't normal."
"See, I told you, I'm perfectly fine."
Over the skies of G7, Asia looked through the viewscreen to the fleet.
"That would be a military task force. Surprised you dont recognise them. They're top level Delta classification, and have been after this outpost for years, and finally found it. We need to get down there, now," he said. Tabby marvelled at the power, open mouthed.
-
The carrier jolted again, the shot administrator sliding across the bay with a sharp clatter before being caught by Kitt who was watching the colonel closely....
"Sir.... how many finger am i holding up?"
The colonel looked over at him, sharp fox eyes foccusing on him quickly...
"Kitt isnt it? Seargent Kitt of third division?"
Kitt nodded, still holding up a paw with four fingers shown...
"its four you dolt... i'm fine, takes more than a stupid daffodil to take the old colonel down..."
Comms officer and bodyguards watched him with growing suspiscion, awe and downright confusion as the colonel pulled himself to his feet....
"sir? you got hit by a sting in the leg, i saw it with my own eyes i did..."
Crow turned to the young comms officer, a dark tan wolf, eyes set grim with determination...
"you musta been mistaken.... i taken my fair share of Triffid attacks, this aint the first time nor will it be the last..."
-
"I saw the wound up close," said Alain. "And I am not mistaken. "I say we put him in quarantine," he said, walking up to the colonel, who clambered to his feet, pushing Max away and whipping out his shock baton. The point of the weapon crackled and glowed.
"Get the hell away from me. Soldiers, stop these men. I am perfectly fine, are you blind or something!" the colonel said as Tina leapt down from the catwalk, wrestling the colonel to the ground. Alain ran in and pressed him down with gargantuan paws. Max stood up and walked over to the colonel, kneeling to his side.
"I say we take him Serra Draconis, get him checked out," he said.
"Sounds like a plan," replied Alain.
-
"Thanks." After he got off the intercom, Howl made his way to the Tram station. When Howl could see the tram not too far from his position, he heard footsteps, so he did a 180 spin and aimed with his gun to see 2 squadrons of delta troopers sprinting towards him. "Quick! Apprehend the suspect!" "Over my dead body you pricks!" With a long burst of energy rounds, he killed 4 men. One shot embedded itself inside his armor, so he ran for the tram, which was only 20 meters away. Howl screamed, "WAIT!!" Luckily, the tram owner saw him running desperately towards the doors of the tram, and he let him in. "Quick, get me out of here!" The man nodded and made the tram speed off. "Well well, what do we have here? Another veteran. It's good to see more survivors, considering the Raven's Nest is under attack." Howl sighed. "Just great, another mountain of enemies to concur..." He looked at the digital map, only five minutes from his destination. He then thought to himself, "I hope that guy with the everflame isn't dead..."
-
None of the Triffid enforcers made a move to stop the crew of the carrier, they too had seen the wound, they too where suspiscious... one bodyguard made an involuntary movement, like a small twitch with one paw towards his cleaver shotgun, but no more....
"sir.... you could be infected, or poisoned... or who knows what else those Triffids could cook up...."
The comms oficer was now almost shouting over the scuffle going on between Crow and the huge Alain...
"BUT ITS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!"
Crow was still struggling, shock baton pulled from his grip expertly by one of his own bodyguards he still fought. there was no doubting it, he was strong... but no match for the large built Alain and a whole group of other people....
Kitt looked down at the administrator in his paw, before holstering back into his ammo belt... sliding back down the wall of the carrier he tucked his legs up to his chin, not caring if anyone could see him...
-
In the Raven's Nest complex, the trams shuddered to a halt.
"Ah heck, they've disabled the system. I'm locked out. We're gonna have to get out and walk," said the driver as he opened the doors to the frozen outer rim of the complex. "Luckily it's not ten minutes from the main complex, and it's warmer in the outer ring. We should get there before we freeze to death. My name's Salvus by the way, nice to meet you," he said as he pulled on the mask of his protection suit. Suddenly, the tram shuddered again, as it began to move back the way they came.
"Oh heck no, we gotta go!" He grabbed Howl, shouted "JUMP!" and threw him off into the snow, jumping off after him.
Alain pulled Crow's arms in, pulled out energy rope and tyied his wrists together.
"I'll take him to the cell," he said as he pulled the colonel to his feet, pushing him to the back of the bay. Tina opened a door and the two men walked down some stairs. A second door was opened and the colonel was thrown into a small toilet cubicle. The door was closed behind him and locked up tight.
Max walked up after them.
"I've told the cappy, we're heading over there now," he said. Alain nodded in reply while the colonel yelled in protest
-
"ta hell with you! you let me outa here right now or i get the whupin' on all of ya!"
Clambering back to his feet the colonel slammed his shoulder into the door of the cubicle, the door juddered but to no avail, slumping down onto the floor he panted... the last few minutes of frantic struggling had taken it out of him....
Arms still bound he attempted to reach for his sidearm holstered on his thigh, but the energy rope held him tighter than a Triffid givin' a bear hug and all he could reach was a stick of mint gum..... not what you would call helpfull in an escape situation, yet decidedly fresh and minty, or so claimed the packaging...
-
Howl reached out and grabbed Salvus, pulling him out of the tram, and with a struggle, he got up. "Jesus, what just happened?"
-
Max walked over to the remaining soldiers.
"We arrive at Dracky in a little while so you boys'll probably have to sleep here in the bay. We ain't got no spare rooms so sorry about that, but you're probably used to a little hard livin'. Just one thing, dont let yer boy out. Just a safety precaution since we ain't got a clue what that thing did to 'im." While he talked Tina walked back to her room and began pulling away and sorting out all the clutter that had gathered from the conversion of her room into a gunnery post. Alain sat beside the bay toilet, standing guard. Max continued to speak, "You can go talk to him if you like, keep him company an' all that. It should calm 'im down some."
Over at Raven's Nest, Salvus pulled Howl along, "The enemy are chasing us! NOW RUN!" he yelled as they pelted through the frozen landscape, alongside the tram tubes toward the main outpost. Rockets pummelled the building as shrapnel and rubble fell around them, and screams rang out all around. Mortars zipped through sky, landing dangerously close.
-
Korius gunned the engines, doing his best to not to be seen on visuals. They entered the atmosphere at the southern pole and made their way up. Korius navigated through devastated lands, cities and mountains. He pushed full throttle to their destination. While they were still a couple miles out, people started shooting from the surface, turrets, troykas, and pulse cannons. "Hold on!" Korius gripped the steering column more tightly and rolled, flipped and weaved past the streams of firepower, pushing full throttle and occasionally firing of a few shots from his guns to clear a path and ease up some of the pressure. He screamed out loud as he finally made it past the siege wall around their target location and scanned his controls. "Ok guys, we're going to have to crash land this one. If I try to brake, we'll over-shoot and end up back in that siege wall. So brace yourselves. Asia, key all shield energy to the front!" Korius aimed for the base of the tallest tower in the broken city. A large plume of dust rose over the city as they crash landed into the second base level.
-
With another mortar round landing dangerously close, Howl's ears began to ring. Bullets flying, the air filled with the stench of destruction. The farther they went down the tunnel, the more dead bodies started to show up. Men from all ages littered the ground, blood splatters painted the walls and the most unlucky ones were blown in half with their organs hanging out. Such awful ways to pass, all because of a corrupt government that clings on desperately to their one motive: Power.
Some Delta Soldiers tried to chase Howl and Salvus, but Howl was more then prepared for them, and he ejected the rest of his core, killing off the troopers. Considering the situation, it was hard to reload his rifle, it was almost as difficult as writing your signature with a bad case of Parkingson's disease, yet he still managed to reload the gun properly. "How much farther?!"
-
One of the Triffid enforcers turned to Max, sliding up her visor she fixed him a stare
"i do believe the term is 'boys n' girls'... you wouldnt want to get on the wrong side o' me now would ya?"
Several other Triffid enforcers laughed, watching the two as they pulled off helmets and backpacks, all of them where more than fine with the accomodation. To them, this was the first night in a long time that they could sleep without the fear of Triffids.
-
Asia and Tabby braced themselves, Tabby wooping wildly as the plummeted through the skies, as the smashed head first into the building, their entry masked by all the other explosions detonating around them. As the dust cleared, the only sound left was Tabby's high pitched cackle. Asia looked around where they had landed. It was an empty room, with a desk that had tumbled against the wall. Datapads were strewn about the place.
"It looks like we're in the right place." Opening the Streamer's hatch, Asia walked out into the office space. He peered out into the corridor, examining signs. "We need to go down one level, it should be just by the tram access which isn't too far at all." Asia turned back to the ship, only to burst out laughing as Tabby brought her arms around Korius' seat and kissed his cheek.
"That was amazing, Mr Lambent," she whispered.
"We're almost there," said Salvus, as they trudged through the snow. In the blinding conditions, faint shadows could be seen up ahead. "See? The door's right there, lets go!" He began to jog through the slush as the cold beat against him. Reaching the end of the tramline, he pulled at a side maintenance hatch. "They keep these things heated to avoid freezing over," he said, as the door pulled away with a hiss as steam poured from its cracks.
"Well now, I do apologise, princess," the bear said with a smile. "I wasn't thinkin' proper." Behind them all, Colonel Crow ranted and raved.
"Let me out! I ain't done nothing! I kill you all! Let me out! This toilet's so small. I wanna see the sky, I need to feel the air. SHOW ME THE STARS!" Max looked back and sighed.
"You couldn't calm 'im down a might, could ya?" he asked
Over the skies of Skeeva, the engineering crew cheered.
"Sir, we've done it!" cried the chief engineer down the comm. Commodore Kali reclined in his chair with a grin,
"Right then, Lieutenant, set a course for Serra Draconis, jump as fast and as hard as possible. We'll sort this web of ignorance out." The lieutenant looked back at the Commodore's words, figuring them in his head. Eventualy he passed it off and began the jump along with the rest of the functioning armada.
-
Howl raised an eyebrow. "You want to go into that, even with all the steam? I think the heat would be far too immense to go through..."
-
"Oh for GOD'S SAKE!" Salvus grabbed Howl's armour and hurled him into the complex, closing the door behind them. The room they were in was much warmer, allowing Salvus to pull off his heavy coat, leaving it on the floor behind him. With hands on his knees he panted, grabbing all the air he could. "See, we made it. So where was it you wanted to go? I'll know every room in this place, I'll show you where to go."
-
"Well, I don't know information about the people, but I will know them when I see 'em. Let's stay on the first floor, they should meet us there." With that said, Howl raised his gun and scanned crept up to the door leading to the other rooms. "Do you think Delta forces are here?"
-
Korius did his best to brush Tabby off of him. He unbuckled himself after he finally got her off. He called in response to Asia, "Alright, but you're taking us." Korius tossed Asia his weapons while checking his own, and walked out with the dampening case. He handed it to Asia as they met up and the hatch closed behind them as they made their way down the crooked steps of the building. He connected his PDA to his shades and did a quick scan. Good. It's still stable enough to walk on. As they reached their destination, the door was jammed. Korius pushed the others back as he bent his knees a bit, about to draw his sword. "Okay, stand back, mates." He squeezed the two small pressure buttons under the hilt as he drew the blade and in a blazing speed, made two long cuts like a sideways V, squeezed the buttons again, and sheathed the sword again. The cuts had went through both wall and door, and the door fell to the ground in 3 pieces. "Lead the way."
-
The female Triffid enforcer pulled off her helmet with a sigh, throwing it down she walked over to the toilet cubicle and hammered on the door
"Crow! if you dont shut up this second, i swear i'l tell ever'one here the story of how ya really got that scar you old coot!"
With that Crow shut up that very second, it seemed the scar in mention was in a rather unfortunate place and a tender subject for the Colonel.
Turning away from the cubicle back to max the triffid enforcer winked, brushing her medium length brown hair from her eyes as she pulled off her carapace body plate. "th'names Kate, ya can thank me later... Princess..."
-
Salvus walked over to a map posted on the wall for those on the tram.
"Well, nobody tends to meet here, your friends should be in the next room." He turned to the door at his left and pressed at the wall, opening it to Howl. Afterward, he walked over to the Tram systems control, sealing the area. The door that opened led to the room Asia and Korius stood. Tabby jogged up behind them, looked around to scope the place out. The rabbit moved forward and called out to Howl.
"Hey, do you know a guy named Leon?"
Max bowed to Kate with a smile. "Y'all should all get some rest now. We wont reach Dracky tonight, but it won't be long."
"I'll stick down here," said Alain as he side by the Crow's room. "Keep watch on him, you know?"
"Was just gonna suggest the same, alright night boys... and Kate," Max said with a smile as he climbed the stairs and left the room. The Lynx walked past him by the door and stood upon the catwalk, watching over the soldiers.
-
All the Triffid enforcers had fallen asleep within ten minutes, exhausted, they had taken the opportunity for the first real sleep in weeks and where all spread out across backpacks or each other as they slept... All except Kitt who sat with his back against the wall of the carrier, flicking through a datapad of photos.
He flicked through a miriad of group and single photos, all of Kitt and his team as greenhorn recruits, out at a nightclub.... wiping a tear from the corner of his eye he looked up at the sound of movement from the groups of soldiers... Kate was watching him closely through bleary eyes...
"hey, you alright Kid?"
Kitt nodded hurriedly, shoving the datapad back into his backpack. Kate fixed him with a steely eye..
"oh no... you show me what you got there, then we can get you back to sleep.. you been fightin' long, same as all of us... you... and me need sleep, and i aint sleepin' till you sleep Kid..."
-
Colonel Crow sat back upon the toilet and stared upwards, looking at the ceiling. He stared and stared, squinting to look deeper, harder, to look beyond the ceiling, to look above.
-
Howl lowered his gun, a frown was displayed upon his face. "Yes, we were friends.....but those bloody Delta Enforcers killed him before I could save him. Now I'm here to take his place." He walked up to Asia. "I'm Howl, and this is Salvus..." He nodded towards him. "...could you introduce yourself and the rest of your group?"
-
Kate flicked through the photos on the datapad, brushing her hair out of her eyes she looked up at Kitt.. "so... they're all?..."
"dead?... yes" Kitt spoke bluntly and quietly, knees drawn up to his chest, watching Kate solemnly...
"well.... they wouldn' wanna see ya like this now would they?.... look Kid, you lost all your friends, and you've just made a new one.... try n' get a good nights sleep, ya need it.."
With that she smiled at him, ruffling his hair affectionately before crawling quietly back over to her rucksack and settling back down to sleep. Kitt sat watching her for several minutes, before he too layed his head across his backpack....
~~~~ meanwhile~~~~~~
Crow chewed on his stick of gum, reading over the ingrediants on the packaging. The more he chewed the more he wondered just what kinda crap they made it out of... and how did they manage to turn all these 'E'somthing or others into a fresh minty taste.... he pondered this for a few moments, chewing on the gum.... it must be one of those unanswerable questions he presumed....
-
Korius sighed and light slapped the back of Tabby's head. "Be nice."
-
"I'm always nice... to you at least," Tabby relpied with a toothy grin before pushing past the two boys to greet Howl and Salvus. "Hi! I'm Tabby, killer in training, and this is my master," she said as she clamped herself to Korius' side. Asia rolled his eyes.
"Look, do you know if the satellite relay controls are ready? What about the pass codes?" he asked Howl.
The meerkat captain stood up from the controls of the ship as Max stepped in and took over again.
"You di'n't do too badly, sir," the bear said to his captain. "That was a nice exit." The meerkat gave a smile and leaned back against the walls of the cockpit.
"We did pretty well today. I'm actually surprised," he said.
"I know, sir. I know."
Down in the cargo bay, Crow could not sleep, constantly searching the ceiling. He pushed against the door, finding it solid locked. Alain on the other side gave a grin.
"Hey," Crow said, "Can't you just let me out for a sec', just let me look out a window or somthin'?" he asked.
"I dont think you get what QUARANTINE means," Alain replied.
"There's nothing wrong with me," said Crow.
-
Korius struggled out of Tabby's grasp and leaned his back against the wall as he listened in on the conversation, while periodically checking Vee's console via his PDA. He cursed under his breath as they were at maximum range, and the screen on the left of his shades blipped occasionally because of the distance and rubble between them.
-
Howl chuckled and spoke in a sarcastic tone to Tabby, "Yes, I can see your 'master' loves the attention."
Then he turned to Asia, with an eyebrow raised. "Wait...access codes? Leon said to meet up with you, never mentioning anything about that. Don't tell me I have to go all the way back into the snow plains to get the bloody codes, it's the last thing I need."
-
"Is that where he is? I mean can you contact him from here, because I need that information," Asia said earnestly.
-
He looked up at Asia, sadness in his eyes. "No, because he's dead. The only one who shared the same false accusations as I, the only man who I could trust, is dead."
-
Tabby looked to the wolf, her face confused and insulted. She walked over to him and slapped the back of his head. "Suck it up! You're a soldier, man."
"Oi!" Asia yelled, putting an arm between her and Howl. "Leave him." Tabby huffed, then turned her back on the soldier, walking to the wall and leaning against it.
"Wimp," she murmured.
"Never mind her," Asia said, "I'm sorry for what's happened, but you need to show me where he is."
-
"theres nothing wrong with me, i'm fit as a fiddle me..." he searched along the edges of the door with difficulty, straining against the electro bonds. The door fitted flush with the frame, the builders of the ship sure had known what they where doing when it came to making toilets.
"c'mon now... i just wanna see the outside world, getta breath o' fresh air... im... im claustrophobic ya know!"
Back in the main cargo hold the soldiers slept, leaning on bacpacks or each other...
-
"Well then, sucks to be you." Alan began to laugh, rumbling in his deep tone. "you'll be able to see the sky soon. We'll be making planetfall in a few hours. Sit tight, count stains or something." Colonel Crow sighed.
-
Korius chuckled, watching the spectacle and what Tabby did and said to Howl. At least she has spunk when it doesn't deal with him. He lightly talked over to Asia, "I told you, didn't I? Anyways, what I want to know is, how did Raven's Nest turn into this? I've been off the grid for 3 days, and it goes from gambling paradise to THIS!? Explain to me how that can happen."
-
Howl walked up to Tabby, a stern look on his face. "You don't have the right to judge me. So I may complain more than some soldiers, but at least I know that it's disrespectful to make fun of someone for morning over another's death! I have seen more lives lost in a minute then you would see in a life time. Most veterans aren't touched by the deaths of random men, but we can feel anguish for those who were our FRIENDS that have been killed!" Salvus butted in. "HOWL! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Howl looked away, his fist bared. Salvus walked up to Asia. "Look, the tram is under Delta Force control, but if we can reach the terminal and take them out, then we'll be able to reach his body quicker."
-
Korius had drawn his sword as Howl yelled at Tabby. "Best listen to your man. We've all lost someone, but don't take it out on her. She's young and inexperienced. If she does anything wrong, I'll deal with it, not you. I've killed plenty of your comrades myself over the years, so don't you get cocky, neither. Soldiers? They're nothing to top mercs like me. We've seen hell you can't even dream about." Tabby made a face at Howl after Korius said this. Korius grabbed her with his left and picked her up. "And you, your first lesson is Honor. Learn it or I swear to god I will dump you on Niral and watch you slowly die from its fumes."
-
Howl nodded. "Your right, I'm sorry I lashed out." He sighed and sat down. "Now I've got a whole freakin armada of elite troops that want me dead because of something I didn't do. At least I'm not the only one, except your guilty, guilty of something good." Turning to Tabby, he smiled. "Forgive my random hostility, it's just that I've lost everything in a day. Then again, everyone here knows what that feels like, am I right?"
-
Crow sat in the cubicle, Chewing his gum he made a face of disgust, spitting the now tastless lump out... "ugh...." he gave a thump on the foor with his bound fists "hey... you got any more mint gum?"
-
Asia turned away at Howl's words, his mind drifting. Tabby was still biting her lip at Korius' show of masculinity. With a shake of his head, Asia returned to the room, and turned to Salvus.
"Right, we take the tram, lets go," he said. Salvus shook his head.
"Tram's out, the only option is walking, and I hope that armour of yours has temperature controls 'cus we don't have enough suits for all three of you," he replied as he walked over to the east wall, pulling open a locker, revealing just one spare suit. "You've seen it out there. Without a good suit, you wont last the run."
Over on the Admiration, Alain sighed.
"I don't have gum," he said, "But I got a fist, and you got a face. You better hope they don't meet up. Now go to sleep, it's almost morning. We'll be reaching Serra Draconis in a minute and you won't get no sleep down there."
-
Crow laughed, despite his situation he seemed thouroughly amused "early bird catches the worm... but the early worm gets eaten... you know what the moral is?... dont be an early worm!" with that he slumped down against the door, closing his eyes wearily...
-
Korius stood at the doorway with Howl and Tabby. "Take it, Asia. The armour Tabby and I are wearing have Chlorocite in them. We'll be fine." Korius and Tabby walked ahead while everyone else got dressed. He turned on the PDA and connected it to his shades again and made a scan. Structural integrity: stable. Unusual formations: none. Possibility of traps: 0%. Korius unhooked the PDA and put it back into his pocket. He checked his blade and M500 one more time before putting them away. He checked his inner pocket, 10 vials, better make them count. He unhooked his sword from the strap and held it in his left hand, waiting to get moving. "Come on! Time between solar eclipses are faster than you!"
-
On the barren rocks of Serra Draconis, a familiar blip on the sensors neared Theta facility Klonoa. Security personnel fired up the lights by the docking section. It was nestled two floors up, at the widest section of building as the tops reached up and scratched the stars with grey telescope domes. The ground itself was desolate and covered in a thick layer of grey detritus.
"Hey Maxi, didn't know you were coming round," said Ted, a bear working at traffic control tower on the facility.
"Neither did I 'til some guy got infected with something mighty strange. I need yer best biologist to take a look. Preferably an expert on Triffids," Max replied.
"Roger that, dock when you're ready, kay?" said Ted.
"You got it," said Max who then reached over to his left, pressing the wake-up call, sending a dull woosh of noise, like a waterpipe full of pans, through the comms.
Asia walked over to the suit and pulled it over his armour, fixing the helmet.
"Alright then," said Salvus, as he placed his hand on the door to the outside. "Let's get going." The exit flew open and a wall of snow and blistering wind slammed against them. "Now RUN!" shouted Salvus as he leapt out into the wilderness, trudging through the snow as fast as it allowed. Around them, nothing could be seen for the fierce snow, yet through the wind, the sound of battle pierced the air.
-
Korius took Tabby's hand and threw her onto his back. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck, and Korius ran alongside the others. The cold didn't bother him since his boots are well equipped and the chlorocite generated heat to his core. His legs and arms didn't really mind freezing temperatures, he just hoped Tabby was feeling ok. Skeeva's lowest temperatures all year only go down to 70 degrees. She's not used to this kind of weather. He tossed her up a bit, so only her arms are touching him, and quickly removed his jacket before her legs came back down and this time, clamped hard around his stomach. "Whad'ya do that fer!?" Korius didn't answer and kept running, putting his coat back on, but around the both of them.
-
Howl trudged along, the cold not bothering him with his suit. Yet the visibility was horrible, not to mention, the Delta Soldiers were equipped with the state of the art thermal vision. In his head, he felt disappointment in himself. "Why yell at one who is obviously to young to comprehend this sadness? I am really slipping up from my good days...its time to suck it up. Time to act like what I really am, I'm no longer a business man, I'm back to being a soldier." Those thoughts were cut off when shots rung around them, the snow making it too hard to see the source. "MOVE IT! WE'VE GOT ENEMY SNIPERS!"
-
Korius lowered his body, getting ready to sprint. "Hold on tight, Tabby." He broke into a fast sprint, pulling ahead of the others, despite carrying Tabby and her gun. He listened carefully for shots. every time he heard a shot, he quickly dodged to the side, expecting it to aim for him, though it wasn't half the time. He pulled the cord from his PDA and hooked it up to run a scan. Structural integrity: slightly abnormal. Unusual formations: 13. Possibility of Traps: 87%. He cursed under his breath, "Awww, bugger."
-
"No worries, mate," Tabby yelled as she pulled her gun to her shoulder, staring down the scope bouncing around on Korius' back. Using the thermal vision, a quick blast is let off, and a sniper goes down. Tabby cackled as she began to shiver. Asia ran low, close to the snow through the howling wind. Ahead Salvus led the way, a shadow in the storm, baring the brunt of the snow. A blast shook the ground, and the shadow flew through the air, breaking into three.
-
In the bay of the carrier the Triffid enforcers woke suddenly, all seemed on edge after so many weeks fighting and several had instinctively reached for nearby weapons. Indeed one particullarly jumpy fox had pulled out his sidearm and fired off several energy pulses before having it wrested from his grip and some soothing words from Kate....
"all right boys n' girls! gear up!"
Kate shouted to the group, alreayd pulling on her carapace chest piece and backpack, slining her cleaver shotgun over her shoulder she walked over to Kitt. Her armoured boots clanked across the steel flooring as she approached the feline who was struggling to pull on a carapce greave and not re-open the wound across his forearm...
"you alright there kid?"
Kitt looked up and nodded to her, straightening up and slinging his own weapon over his shoulder, now she saw him in light he did not seem as young as she had thought... pushing the thought away she nodded approvingly and walked out to the front of the Enforcers who had ranked up into a formation ten across and two deep, armoured boots crashing as they stood to attention, all had grim faces of dtermination , despite the blood and mud that caked their uniform they stood proud...
"TEN-HUT!"
Kate threw a salute, pulling her helmet as did the others, sliding up her visor she looked to the group... As Crow was in quarantine she was now in command...
-
The admiration swooped into the docking ring, slowing to a halt, aided by the docking drones, guiding the ship on either side. A large slice of corridor reached out and connected to the main access hatch of the carrier, causing a light to flash green to signal readiness. Beyond the arm, a large, bulky leopard and husky stood on either side of an elderly iguana and his red panda assistant. The big ones weilded assault rifles, and were covered in complex and unique armour configurations, bristling with different shades of blue, green and grey. The lizard and panda stepped forward, as the airlock matched pressure and decontaminated the occupants, the meerkat captain, Tina the cat and her lynx mate. The doors opened and the spacefarers were greeted with smiles.
"Good morning, captain," the iguana said, "It's always good to see you. I hear you've had triffid troubles." The meerkat bowed.
"One of our passengers got infected by one of them, and we don't know what they did to him." he said. The iguana gestured over to the panda,
"This is our Triffid expert, he'll help you out." The panda bowed. "He's called proffessor Ilhamd. He's not much of a talker, but he knows his stuff." The iguana reached over to the captain, clasped the meerkat's hands in his. "Bring the patient over and he'll be cured in no time." He gave a smile, and the captain replied in kind before looking to Tina and gesturing back to the ship. She pulled out a small communicator, and flicked through to find Alain.
"Hey, Ally?" she said in hushed tones. "Get the soldiers to take their guy along with us. We can use their strength."
"You got it," Alain replied before calling out to the cargo bay. "Alright girls and girls, you lot gotta take your guy over to the lab. Whatever you do, don't let him escape, cus that would just make you all look stupid."
-
Kate nodded, turning to the rest of the soldiers "Alright... you heard him... no one wants ta' look stupid!"
The soldiers shouted a 'hoorah' stamping their left armoured boot down before unslinging automatic carbines and marching to where Crow was being held... Kate smiled grimly, a soldier never forgot his drills... Walking out ahead she approached Alain, pulling out her own automatic carbine and aiming it steadily at the door of the cubicle. She flicked off the safety with a small click....
"h'okay.... you call the shots big guy..."
-
Swat's the barrel of Tabby's rifle as he dodged huge chunks of debris. 'This is not the place to be using that! This part of the pathway isn't stable! The... bugger!" Korius cursed as he narrowly stops in time to not get crushed by a slab of concrete larger than he. He gave Tabby one of those looks, and turned his head back to keep running. Ahead, some soldiers started coming down on lines. Korius growled and reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a vial. He yelled over to Tabby as he injected the vial, "Keep your head down!" Korius unsheathed the vibro-blade katana and turned it on, rushing head first, ahead of the group. "Get me some cover fire!"
-
Howl nodded when Korius spoke. "You've got it!" He raised his rifle, shooting their officer, which and began to draw the group. He shot two more of them before having to take cover. Some soldiers tried to throw grenades, but Howl would toss them back, most of them not doing any damage. "Man, these pricks are persistent!"
-
Korius dodged over to the side as Howl fired and rushed the soldiers, cutting down the first one and cutting the one behind that. He quickly turned while drawing his M500 and shot a couple more in the head before re-holstering it and cutting another one. Korius quickly dodged out of the way as Howl tossed those grenades back. "Watch it, you idiot!" He cut down the one behind him and finished by throwing the blade at the last one, before he was shot. Korius got back to running. "Don't stop running!"
-
He got up and followed behind Korius, scanning the area with his eyes to make sure nobody was going to pop up. "Do you know how many of these Delta troopers are following us? Because it's starting to seem that they didn't come here for the planet, but for us instead."
-
"The hell I would know! From what we saw in orbit, enough to take the planet twice! As for here, I don't want to know! Let's just make it over! Salvus! Let's go!" He checked his M500, 6 bullets left. He handed it to Tabby. "Here, in case they get too close. We're not turning around, so I'm depending on you for this. You have 6 shots, only shoot if you have to."
-
Tabby did not reply, loosely holding the gun in her hand. The group ran full pelt through the snow, ahead of them the tram station wall came into view.
"We're almost there! shouted Salvus. Asia popped off a few rounds, taking out one soldier, finding three more move in from the right.
Over on the Admiration, Alain unlocked the door and Crow burst out, running face first into the giant dog's arm. Alain grabbed his arm and pulled it to his back, slamming him to the wall.
"Right, follow me," he said to the others as he led the way through to the airlock. As they decontaminated, Colonel Crow struggled and yelled, trying desperately to pull away. The doors opened and the sight of the sky made him scream.
"Let me GO! I need it, just let me feel the sky! higher, HIGHER!" The red panda leaned in towards the colonel, examining, searching over his actions. The Iguana stepped in.
"Follow us to the labs, it's just down this way," he said, leading them back down the dock.
-
Korius made a final sprint to clear the wall for them and ran straight towards the man in the middle. "I'm going to need you on this one Tabby, I need you to shoot the one on the right after I run the guy in the middle." He jumped in his sprint and tackled the center soldier, piercing their heart with his sword. Tabby quickly turned and fired 3 shots at one soldier. Korius got up, but stared down the muzzled of the soldier's energy pistol. "Game over." The soldier's head burst open and Korius looked back, Howl had just made it.
-
Salvus gripped the door handle and began to pull it open as steam hissed off the edges. It barely opened a crack before a button was pressed and the door exploded, sending shrapnel flying along with pieces of Salvus' body, which rained down red in the blizzard.
-
The Soldiers followed either side of Alain in a phalanx formation, carbines held up to shoulders warily as they escorted the group.... Several of the soliders where nodding or making movements as if talking, it seemed exactly what was happening to Cololnely was a hot topic on the helmets intercoms... Kate, the leading figure descernible by her more femenate formed carapce armour and officers helmet made put one hand to her helmet and all the soldiers looked to her briefly before shutting up... it seemed she had had enough with the chatter over the comms...
Flipping her visor up she looked across at Crow and the panda, she didnt like this one bit, keeping her visor up she continued to accompany the group. Carapace armoured boots crashing across the walkway accompanied by the slight hiss and creak of carapce armour...
-
On Serra Draconis, the soldiers and guards thudded down an narrow spiral corridor that wrapped around the tower, slowly curling higher and higher. So narrow that they had to walk two by two, Alain by the Colonel's side, and the panda behind with Kate next to him. Doors passed every few moments on the right, windows on the right. Crow would wail and shriek whenever a window went by, pulling away to look outside, occasionally beating his head against it. They thought to hold him back, but despite the harm, Crow healed almost instantaneously, something the red panda found most intriguing.
They neared midway up the tower, when Crow made his move. With immense strength, he smashed his wrists against the wall, breaking the device generating the energy rope. Alain grabbed his arm, but Crow pulled Alain, slamming him against the window, before leaping against the dog, sending both crashing through the window, hurtling to the ground through the thin, almost non-existent atmosphere.
-
"FRACK! TEN FOUR!"
Kate ran over to the smashed window, leaning out she looked back to the others, all of whom where standing in mild shock looking from one to ther other..
"Well do somthing!" She shouted, a few of the soldiers taking a step or two back from her, an angry, snappy, female feline was not good... she rounded on the panda..
"is there any way down from here quickly? elevator? anything?!"
She took several steps toward him threateningly before a soldier grabbed her by the arm and pulled her a step back... his action was uneeded however as she had stopped in her tracks...
"wait... how tall is this tower?" she looked from the panda, to the window, to the grappel atatchment on her carapce belt....
-
Only the tiniest shred of air escaped the tower before a field generated over the broken window, seeling the hole. The panda cowered against the wall, while the iguana peered out through the window, straining to look down and watch Crow and Alain as they continued to fall. They were so far down, almost dots in the distance when finally they stopped, crunch on the dirt. Crow stood up, dusted himself off, while Alain was a mess of red and white on the dusty floor. The Colonel struggled to breathe, but continued on, jogging towards the tallest central tower of the science complex.
"You can't go out there," the iguana said. "Not this way atleast, There's an elevator you can take, about a hundred yards back the way we came. You'll need to get to the vehicle bay and take a buggy."
-
"Right.... Move you slack jawed idiots.. double time!"
Kate slapped the nearest soldier across the back of the head before they all set off back down the tower, boots crashing on the stairs as they jogged down in double time... Shouting at the group from behind Kate grabbed the Panda by the lapels...
"where do you think he's headed? your supposed to be the expert here! and you! how many men could a buggy take?" She pointed to the Iguana as she held onto the panda with one hand, the servo assisted armoured gauntlet hissing slightly as she pointed, rivets and pneumatics grinding and sliding as she shifted her weight from one foot the other agitatedly...
-
"Well, I guess that makes it a fair fight, right?" He chuckled and kept on shooting at soldiers. For a moment, Howl thought about all the veterans that were being slaughtered right now, trying to fight for their lives, only to be executed for war-crimes that were caused by a corrupt and powerful government. But he pushed the thoughts from his mind and fought on.
After the near death of Korius, Howl ran up to him. "Hey, are you ok, I thought he almost got you-" Then, he saw Salvus being blown away. "NO!" He ran up to Salvus, checking his pulse. "Crap, poor guy. Rest in peace, mate." When he got up, he looked at the others. "There's no time to waste, lets go."
-
Within the Raven's Nest complex, beyond the tram station dor, three soldiers blasted assault rifle fire through the newly blasted hole. Asia peered round the corner, popping off a shot to kill one, causing the remaining two to hammer at his position.
Over on Serra Draconis, the red panda murmured, looking everywhere but at the cat grabbing hold of him.
"I'm not... sure. I've never seen this before but... guessing from his behaviour. He'll climb the central tower, right to the top," he said. The iguana pushed himself between the panda and Kate.
"Look, he's trying his best, calm down," he said, arms up. "The buggies take five men each, we have three and you're allowed to take two. The other is for people still in the building."
The soldiers and guards marched down the corridor, piling into the lift. The only ones still left at the window were the Meerkat captain, Tina the feline and her lynx mate.
"Damn it.... another one," said the captain as he moved back to the wall, leaning against it. He pounded his fist against his leg. Tina moved to the lynx's arms, which he closed around her.
"Sir, what do we do now?" she asked. There was no reply. "Captain... what do we do!?" The meerkat gritted his teeth. "CAPTAI-" the lynx raised his hand, cutting her off. He let go of her, and moved over to the captain, putting his hands upon the meerkat's shoulders.
"Marcus," the lynx said. His voice was strained and coarse, barely louder than a whisper. "We must continue the mission." The meerkat looked up at him.
"Yes sir," he replied, before looking around in his mind, assessing the situation. "We're gonna have to stay here, once this problem has passed we still need to transport them to the nearest civilian planet. We'll go back to the ship and I'll get the security here to give us status reports on what's going on." The lynx nodded, and gestured for the captain to lead the way.
On the planet's surface, Crow continued to run through the vapid atmosphere, coughing and wheezing as he went. His eyes constantly staring up to the summit of the massive tower. He sped up.
-
Howl went unnoticed by the men who just blew through the door, so he raised his assault rifle and fire two bursts, killing both soldiers. "Well, we don't want to stick around here, lets GO!"
-
Korius nodded and let Tabby off his back and onto Howl's. "She's better off on yours, now. She needs to be able to shoot easier." He took his M500 back and emptied the 5 empty casings and quickly reloaded before holstering the weapon. Korius re-strapped the sheath and held onto the sword. This should be fun. and began to run with the others.
-
The soldiers stood in mild awkwardness, piled into the express elevator a quiet tune was playing through a small speaker in the wall, puncuated by the hiss of pneumatics and scrape of armour on armour. None of them realised how annoying the tune was until they had been in there for several minutes.
"c'mon... c'mon..... stupid slow elevator..."
Kate shifted her weight from one foot to the other, watching a display flick through numbers of levels. Turning back to the crowd of soldiers she counted them out, twelve including herself, five to a buggy and two could stand guard behind... she looked to Kitt who was reloading his carbine. "you... Kid..."
Kitt looked up, sliding back his visor... "i have a name...."
Kate bunched one hand into a fist... and then relaxed...
"Kitt.... you come with me, as well as you eight.... you ten will take the other buggy.... and you two will stay behind... NO ARGUING!... we do this proffesionally, and quickly...."
-
Tabby pushed off Howl's back and lands on her feet,
"Heck no, I ain't disabled. I only stuck on you, cus you're you. I can run with all o' you!" she says as she powers on ahead, sliding onto her knees round a corner to stop up against the opposite wall, gun poised, firing a shot taking out a guy looking back down the entrance of the cave.
On Serra Draconis, a computerised voice filled the buggies.
"Welcome to the c500 Mason VX Personnel Transport. When outside of the complex, remember to keep all doors closed unless every passanger is equipped with an oxygen mask."
Meanwhile, Crow reached the central tower, and scrabbled at its surface. His hands dig into the steel surface and he clambers up the side of the tower.
-
"shut the hell up" Kate shouted at the buggy in general before jumping in with Kitt and six other soldiers, eight others jumped into the second buggy... four men where staying behind, this meant they would have both back-up, and more room when in the buggies....
"right... pressurise your suits, we each have two hours of oxygen so if we need to jump out just put visors down and activate your air supply....."
With that she slid down her own visor, took hold of the wheel and punched the accelerator... the buggies wheels span with a squeel as it shot out of the tower into the thin atmoshpere, the second buggy close behind...
-
Crow looked back and opened his mouth to yell, but instead came a muffled moan, scraping out from his throat. He coughed again before continuing his climb, higher and higher up the tower.
-
The buggys bounced and jostled over the rugged terrain of the planet, a thick layer of ash-like debris lay thick across the ground and it whipped up like a dark grey snowfall about eh buggys...
"Right, we get to the base of the tower and then unload... try too talk him into coming down, if that dont work...."
The other soldiers looked at the back of her helmet as she spun the wheel, dodging a deep crevasse, hanging on her every word...
"if that dont work.... shoot to stun... Kitt... relay that to the guys in the other buggy..."
-
Howl sighed then looked at Tabby. "Hey, if Korius wants you on my back, then it's for the best. Personally, I don't want you on my back, but if he says so, then he obviously knows what he is doing." He reloaded his gun then scanned across the area, trying to see if anyone was taking aim at everyone in the group.
-
Korius took out the hookup from his PDA and connected it to his shades and ran the scanner, but limited to his left eye so he could move around without those flashing lights being to much.
-
"I idolise Korius," said Tabby, as she headed the way into the cave, "But he ain't my dad, y'know."
The rumble of battle echoed through the cave, mixing with the sounds emanating from the walls.
-
The two buggys rolled to a stop at the base of the main tower, the doors swung open and the soldiers jumped out, the thumps of power armour muffled in the thin atmosphere. Soldiers looked from one to the other, breaths loud in their enclosed helmets... Kate stepped out after them, turning to see Kitt raising a carbine to his shoulder...
~KZZCH~ "hold your fire marines! ~KZZCH~
Kitt turned to look at her, before nodding, carbine falling back to a relaxed position. Though his grip still remained tight on the weapons grip as he watched the still climbing Colonell. Kate depressed a small comms button on her helmet, switching on her helmet amplifiers....
"CROW! listen to me Crow! stop what you are doing and get down here now or we open fire to stun!"
She watched to see what his reaction would be, the fifteen other marines where all lining up into fire positions, carbine flicking through from inciendary rounds, to shock core rounds that administer a usually incapacitating blast of air used for crowd suppression. A few of the more gung-ho marines had pulled out dual pistols or other bizzare or unusual combinations of weapons... Kitt walked up beside Kate, also watching Crow...
~KZZCH~"suppose he dont respond?"~KZZCH~
Kate turned to face him, pistons and power armour clanking and hissing...
~KZZCH~"then we shoot..."~KZZCH~
-
He thought for a moment, then nodded. "I understand that. Do what you want, Tabby, I'm not going to stop you. I only wish to do what's best for everyone here and follow my orders." Then he turned to Asia, "Hey, I know this isn't the perfect time, but how do you think that your plan to use the ever-flame will work? I'm not doubting you, it just seems like an interesting scenario, considering that if it doesn't work then we made the completely wrong decision."
-
Korius put a hand on Howl's shoulder. "Well, then we'll be putting this on faith, now. Won't we? Worst case scenario, he's wrong, I kill you all, and I bring the Everflame back to the Sphere." He pulled out his gun and held onto it with his left and readied himself and looked over to Asia. "We follow your command, now."
-
Halfway up the tower on Serra Draconis, Crow continued to climb. He heard the voices calling to him, and turned to look down. His arms and legs continued to climb as he tried his best to speak. Instead of words came vomit, spewing out of him as he moved higher and higher.
Asia looked to Howl, then to Korius, and gave a slight nod.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. If it doesn't work, then do what you want, it wouldn't matter anymore." His face grew cold, before he shook his head, clearing it. Around them, the rumbling grew louder, closer. "But for right now, we need the info Leon ha-" His voice was drowned in a massive crash as Seeker, riding her Gathen, burst through the wall, filling the cave with light as they smashed into Tabby, slamming her against the stone wall. The young vixen yelped in pain before she pulled out a pistol, furiously blasting away at the Gathen's tiger-esque head.
-
Howls eyes widened and he raised his rifle. "Seeker?! What in the hell are you doing here?!"
-
Korius tackled seeker off the Gathen and held his sword to Seeker's throat, stopping just short when he heard Howl. "Do you know this one?"
-
"Yes! Now get off of her! If I have to choose who I'm going to kill, it's certainly not going to be the one with a giant tiger for a pet!"
-
Korius slowly let seeker go and pointed to the giant, bleeding gathen as he stood up. "You mean that thing that Tabby just put about 40 holes in its face?"
-
Howl nodded. "Yes, and I met the Seeker on my way to the tram station where I met Salvus." He then turned to the Seeker. "What is it that you want? Because I don't it as a very good entrance to just pounce on one of our allies."
-
Seeker climbed to her feet, and ran to the Gathen, pulling it away from Tabby to check its wounds. The girl falls to the ground, covered in blood. The woman turns to Howl.
"You are my ally, but these people are not. They will steal from the dead, I cannot allow this!"
-
He ran to Tabby, kneeling next to her with worry on his face. "Wait! What do you mean, steal from the dead? Are you saying if we take the codes from Leon, then....."
-
Korius stood over her and placed his blade at her neck, M500 pointed at her head. "Woman, watch who you talk about. You know bloody well who I am, and my reputation. Being one of such upbringing, I would have expected better of you. I know about you. If anyone be making accusations, it would be the ones who were attacked first in this little bump-in. So don't get cheeky. I don't care about Howl very much, and even less for you. So unless you care to listen, say goodnight....... for good."
-
Seeker stared up at Korius, whispering a growl. "You know nothing of me, or I of you, assassin. I know only of myself, and of the spirits. What I know is you will steal from the dead. You must not."
-
Korius sneered at her. "Whatever we do, if it's necessary for the mission, I will do it. Should this whole thing be a waste and for naught, I'll see to its disposal."
-
Kate jumped to the side, dodging the falling vomit...
~KZZCH~ "eugh! open fire marines! shoot to stun!" ~KZZCH~
The marines pulled carbines to their shoulders and opened fire with rapid bursts of concusion rounds, Crow was buffeted as he climbed but despite the blood dripping from one nostril he seemed unpreterbed by the shots.... A few marines switched to shock rounds, in an attempt to stun him....
-
Asia walked up by Korius,
"Yeah, we need Leon's info. It's mission critical," he said before turning to howl, seeing Tabby bleeding onto the cave floor. "Howl, how is she?" Seeker growled louder, looking from the rabbit to the wolf.
"Your mission is not my conern. I must keep safe the dignity of the dead." He body began to flare with colour, as her feelers, stroked the Gathen's fur.
On Serra Draconis, Crow continued to climb, high up near the peak of the tower. Every shot that hit, he brushed off like dust.
-
"She is the conveyor of messages, from spirits to mortals. I would guess she is giving us a message from the spirits to stop." He turned to the seeker, "But why would you stop us from taking something we need from Leon? He was going to give it to Asia himself but died in the process."
-
Kate swore loudly into her helmet comms...
~kzzch~ "this aint doin' frack guys!"~Kzzch~
a few other marines continued to fire, but it seemed the Colonel really was somthing else... Kate angrily pushed her way through to the buggy, getting into the drivers seat she sighed heavily... no one wanted to look stupid...
~kzzzch~ "get back in the buggys boys and girls.... we failed.." ~kzzch~
-
Asia looked to Howl and grabbed his shoulder,
"Hey! I said how is Tabby?! For goodness sake man, I'm no doctor and you know wounds, help her!" he said, pointing to the injured girl, slumped against the wall. Seeker stared back at Howl, disdain flickering over her.
"The spirits do not deal with flesh bodies, but my people know that when person die, their selves and their possessions must not be disturbed," she said, turning back to Korius to add, "He will not have peace, if I let you pass.
On Serra Draconis, Crow coughed and spluttered, continuing his climb until finally reaching the peak. He looked to the sky, opened his mouth wide and let out the devilish call of the Triffid. It crushed his normal voice, squeezing it until he could not speak. Something was filling his throat as his mouth grew wider and wider. His eyes bulged, his nose cracked as a green shoot pushed out from his head. His face splaying out like a blooming flower. The shoot grew out from him, up higher and higher, reaching up into the air like a green beacon stained with blood. At its top, a large sphere grew, changing colour from green to yellow as spores popped upon its surface. The shoot stretched and creeked to as high as it could muster.
Then it exploded.
It burst into a cloud of spores, falling across the planet's surface. And from each one that hit the ground, soon young Triffids would grow.
-
The two buggys rocked and bounced across the planets surface, kicking up bright yellow plumes of newly dropped spores... at the wheel of the lead Buggy Kate frantically steered around a deep creavase...
~"The Colonel's dead miss!"~
~Yes you moron! and that puts me in charge! follow my lead and dont you dare die you idiots!"
~"yessir... seargent Veldrat out"~
~"We need to get back to the tower and carrier! frack! and i thought we'd just got away from these infernal dandeloins!"~
Wheels spinning the buggys headed back for the bay, while warning the guys back at the base seemed pointless, for who could have missed the event that had just happaned, they needed somewhere to defend. If they where caught in the open like this... well... Kate could only cringe and push the thought away...
-
Korius withdrew and sheathed his blade, but kept the M500 pointed at her head. "Say the word, Asia. I'll kill her here and now." He knelt down by Tabby and inspected her, keeping an eye on the seeker as well as his gun. "She'll be fine. Just minor bruises, nothing else. She's got a small concussion, though. She's going to act and sound like she's drugged/drunk for quite a while. Otherwise, completely fine."
-
Howl frowned, "Sorry about that Asia." Then he turned to the Seeker, walking in front of Gathen. "If we don't get those codes, Leon would have died in VAIN! His objective was to get the codes to Asia, and that's what he wants US to do. Let us pass, Seeker, for if it is your duty to keep the peace in Leon's soul, then you will let us go!"
-
Korius got up and picked up Tabby, carrying her on his back. He kept his gun on the seeker, "I'll just kill her, then. That way, she has no say."
-
The meerkat captain on Serra Draconis called out to Kate through the buggy comms.
"What is going on? What happened?"
In Raven's Nest, Asia breathed a sigh of relief at Tabby's condition, before his grew stern.
"Look... Seeker is it? Look we're getting the codes today and you know you can not stop us." The woman turn to him, her body grow brighter and brighter, burning with colour. She smiled, before she shone out a blinding light. At the same time, the Gathen turned to Korius lunging for him with its massive body.
-
Korius scoffed and drew the vibro-blade, while holstering the M500 and cut the beast in two. "Tch, my foster father was more dangerous than that."
-
Kate shouted back to the Captain, literally punching the reply button on the buggy console... "the colonels dead.... some kinda Triffid spore thing... i dunno.. but i dont like the look of it, these spores are everywhere! i reckon whatever it is it cant be good... we'l be back in less than five minutes... out..."
The buggys continued to speed back to the base, great swirls of bright yellow spores billowing around them...
-
Seeker's eyes widened, and in an instant, small barbs protruded from her pupils and shot out at the wolf.
The meerkat captain worked through the comms, contact all he could.
"This is unlike normal Triffid behaviour," said the timid red panda. "Traditional reproduction is quelled through any average scan and disinfectant, and are never so... explosive." He slowly quietened, almost murmuring to himself. "The potential of the Triffids is unimaginable."
Out on the planet floor, gas begins shooting out from the ground in great plumes and clouds begin to form.
-
The two buggys screeched to a halt inside the compound, yellow spores billowing in with them. Kate and the rest of the team jumped out with a cacoughany of thumps and hisses as the power armour absorbed the impact, releasing spent pneumatic gas...
Kate shouted through her helmet comms, spit flecking the inside of her visor...
"Captain! you still reading me? we need to set up defensive positions at the very least, i reckon we dont have much time before this whole planet becomes Triff'ied and we need to reduce losses as much as possible... get that Panda on the line!... Team.. spread out!"
The other Marines spread out around her, steps clanking as they walked heavily, accomanied by the occasional hiss of pneumatic gas....
-
Korius deflected the barbs like they were nothing and held the tip of the blade not even an inch from her eye. "Sorry, but you're not the only seeker I've come across. Nor will you be the first one I kill."
-
With Korius just about to kill the seeker, Howl got up. "WAIT! Don't kill her yet! I still have some questions for her, and if I don't get the answers now, then I'll never know for sure!"
-
Korius kept both his eyes on the seeker, ready to strike, his eyes now turned a blood red, ready to kill. "5 minutes..."
-
He walked up to the Seeker. "Why do you have disbelieve in the fact that my name is Howl?! Why is it so special?!"
-
The security personnel of the Serra Draconis facility, marched down the corridors to ground level, joining the Kate and her team to build defences.
Over on Raven's nest, Seeker stood firm at Korius' blade.
"Your name is Howl," she said to the soldier. "There was much confusion, you are Howl now and you will be Howl that I know, but Howl that I know is not you, but will be," she said.
"Well that makes perfect sense," Asia muttered.
-
Getting impatient, Korius stared at his watch. "Listen, there are about a few hundred men behind us. Either let us through, or die. We don't have the time to play your games!"
-
Howl thought for a moment. "So, I will change in the future, a certain event shall make me different...well, I guess I'll have to see for myself to truly understand. Thank you, Seeker, I think I understand." He then looked at Korius. "I am done, in the future, all my other questions should reveal their answers to me. Do what you wish, as if I could stop you."
-
Korius looked the Seeker one more time. "Last chance. Will you let us through?"
-
Kate strode amongst the assembled soldiers and security personel, heavy power armour hissing and clanking...
"Three Draconis personel to every marine! we need to hold them off here in the bay while ships are readied!"
-
"My place is between you and the dead. When you force me into their arms, I ask that you respect my body. Do not desecrate as you do to Leon." Seeker looked over a Howl, "I will see you, ambassador." She closed her eyes and spread her arms out, presenting herself for execution."
Asia turned to Tabby, checking her over, and trying to bring her out of unconsciousness.
On serra Draconis, the sky became thick with cloud, and wind whipped up over the rapidly growing plants. They creaked with their speed. Around them, native plants burst from the ground, dusty brown shoots with spindly tendrils streaking off them. They spread between the roots of the Triffids. From the clouds, rain began to fall.
-
Korius sighed, "Truly, all the lot of you have no more sense in your minds. Very well, join your fellow seekers. You all make me sick." Without another word, brought back his blade and ran it across the seeker's neck and relieved her of her head for a quick and painless death. He looked up at Asia and Howl as he cleaned the blood. "Let's get moving, those platoons are getting closer as we speak." He sheathed his sword and walked over and picked up Tabby and began to go for Leon's location with the others.
-
Before Howl went with the others, he looked at the seeker's body. "You will see me soon, eh? I hope that isn't true...and Ambassador?" Then he got up and ran after Korius, Asia and Tabby, wondering what the Seeker meant by all of that.
-
Through the caves, they found Leon's body, laid neatly beside the bodies of military personnel. In total, about 40 corpses littered the ground, leading out to the blizzard outside. Asia kneeled by Leon, ad rifled through the pockets of his armour; finding a datapad. Accessing it found the co-ordinates, and the codes were encryted in the pad, ready to activate once connected to the Everflame Expansion Transmitter (EET.)
"Right, we have what we came for," Asia said as shouts ehoed down the cave behind them, backed by footsteps and the clunk of equipment. "Now we need a way out."
-
Korius turned around and drew the M500. He shot all 8 bullets at strategic points on the ceiling, causing it to cave in, blocking the path they came from and reholstered the weapon.. "Not that way, I can tell you that much. And we're too far away from Vee for me to activate my homing key. You're going to have to find us a way out of here."
-
Howl looked outside, where the horrible blizzard was still active. "We could go through the snow plains, the troops wouldn't follow us that far."
-
Korius looked over his shoulder at the unconscious Tabby. "Howl, help me pick her up, first. I need to cover her with my jacket. I'm not sure how much of the cold I can keep her from, but if we're going through that, I'm going to need whatever I can to cover her."
-
"Right. I've got an extra jacket for her, but even then it's still dangerous to go outside...." Howl opened his backpack and tossed a winter jacket to Korius then closed up his backpack. Then he walked to Tabby, lifting her up and sighing. "I hope Tabby will be alright."
-
Korius quickly took his jacket off and dressed Tabby with both coats and put her back on his shoulders. "Well, then. We better bloody well make a good run for it, or we're bloody screwed." He heard shooting on the other side of the rock wall. "Hurry, they're shooting through.
-
"Well then let's go! We haven't much time anyway," said Asia. The group set off running into the blank whitness, surrounding in wind, snow and the crack of gunfire.
-
Korius sighed as he reached into his pocket. He had hoped to not waste it, but he doesn't plan on dying because of a stupid cold. He took out an auto-needle of adrenaline and injected himself with it. Ah, his body's going to be burning for quite a while. He dashed full speed alongside Asia, keeping a tight grip on Tabby.
-
"humidity in the air is up by 230% and still rising! whatever's goin' on out there its big.... Captain, how we doing on getting the shuttle ready?"
Kate strode back and forth along the rows of nervous marines and Serra draconis security members, power armour hissing and clanking as she read out diagnositcs from her suits scanners....
"Kate, Mam! we just lost contact with the research facility five miles from here... their last message was a call for help... "
Kate turned to the Draconis security member who still had a radio clutched in one paw, the young wolf looked frightened...
"theyre growing fast... it might not be long before they get out to this facility... Captain! we need that shuttle ready to fly!"
-
Howl was running next to Asia and would look over his shoulder now and then to make sure nothing was following them. The white plains have proven to be very dangerous to some, but the group has yet to even spot a wild create out there. He wondered what they would look like, either being small, but agile creatures or monstrous behemoths that touch the sky and crush all living things in it's path.
-
"We need to get back to your ship!" shouted Asia, through the blizzard to Korius. "How close do we need to get?" he asked as they turned towards the heart of the battlefield, trying to get to the central station.
The stormed whipped up around the Admiration as the crew frantically sealed up repairs and set themselves to lead. The Meerkat spoke through the facility via the comms.
"We need to get out of here, and my ship can carry fifty people to the nearest planet. Get here ASAP." He turned to his pilot. "How long before we can get going?"
"Not two minutes sir," the bear replied.
Outside, Triffids were growing to full size, soaking in the rain beside the root-like tendrils of native plants, spreading like mutants across the surface. The Triffids moved towards through most of the towers, tearing open doors and walls, whipping out tendrils. A small group crawled towards the right most tower. Kate and her team stood at its base with the Admiration docked high above.
-
Korius switched the view of his PDA to both lenses and his eyes ran through the proximity indicator. "We have to move due east for another 5 KM! But there's a problem! There is a massive battalion near it! They don't know it's there, but they coincidentally set up a field HQ about a couple meters from it! If I set off the key for remote flight, they'll shoot it down before it gets over here! Our best chance is to sneak into it and shoot them down a bit before we leave!"
-
Kate watched as the Triffids crawled towards the foot of their tower, the suits helmet zooming in and focusing digitally on her targets...
"we got 'em coming! Captain we need that ship ready ASAP!..."
The marines around her shifted positions, armour clanking and hissing, behemoths compared to the lightly armoured security personel...
-
"Maybe if Korius sets charges on some type of oil tanker near the base then the men will get distracted long enough for us to slip past them." Howl took out some c4 and smiled. "There's no telling on if this plan will draw the attention of most of the guards, but I think it's the best chance we've got."
-
Korius frowned as they went on. "For your information, I doubt they're going to use petroleum tankers for a field HQ. Best to sneak around. That c4's going to attract more unnecessary attention, especially from orbit. Let's just stick with the original plan and get around them."
-
Asia eyed the c4 close, "Stealth looks like the best approach right now. We just need to get out of here, we're not fighting this battle." Jogging through the snow, he pulled up a visor from his armour, magnifying through the snow, spotting a mine field two hundred metres to their left. Pulling the visor back down, he looked over to Korius and Tabby. "Five kilometres is a long way, is she gonna be ok?" he asked, gesturing to the young vixen.
On Serra Draconis, the meerkat barked down the comms.
"Kate, get whoever's around you up to the ship. We're ready to leave. We're not sticking around to get torn apart. Most of the scientists are on-board, so GET MOVING!" Max, the pilot chuckled, while down in the cargo bay, scientists were herded in by Tina and the Lynx.
-
Korius nodded to Asia. "She'll survive. I'd say we have a good hour before she slips into hypothermia. We'd best not waste anymore time and get this done quickly. I hope that visor of yours has a map of this place, because I only have proximity readings, not a topographical map."
-
"Not a map on my visor, but," Asia reached into his pocket, pulling out Leon's datapad. He searched through and found a map of the complex and the surrounding area. He showed it to Korius. "Your ship is there, right?" he said, pointing on the map to create a destination marker on the pad. "Follow me," he said, pointing out into the white mass of snow and wind, jogging onwards.
-
Howl followed close behind Asia, as he was, he turned to Korius. "When will Tabby wake up? It's been quite some time since her injury took place and I'm starting to worry that her head got hit a bit too hard...."
-
"Right! security personel first, marines, cover their backs!"
The serra draconis security teams ran to the elevator, the marines turned to the face the implacable advance of the triffids... Once all the security personel where in the elevator the marines turned as well, armour clanking and hissing. The doors to the elevator closed with a hiss even as the first clangs reverberated through the bay, roots and vines pressing hungrily against the window of the airlock...
"captain, this is Kate, we got my twenty marines, and around ten draconis security personel here, coming to the top as fast as we can!"
-
Korius shook his head, "I gave Tabby a sedative. She'll be out for at least another 2 hours. I couldn't risk her waking up and messing things up. She's still very young and inexperienced in these types of situations. He then turned to Asia, "Asia! We're going to have to find another path! My proximity sensors show that they're on this side of my ship! We need to go around without being spotted!"
-
"Roger that, Kate," said the Captain. He looked over the sensor readings, scanning around them. The Triffid signatures looked like Indian streets in Diwali. Max peered through the cockpit window, looking down the side of the building. Triffid vines were climbing.
Asia looked around through his visor. "We can't go around, there's minefields that way. Navigating round would take half a day atleast!"
-
"Well, then what do you suggest we do? Run right into them? There has to be another way around them...anyone have some sort of idea? Because I'm fresh out."
-
Korius growled, "Ah, bloody hell! Fine! Load up boys! We're going to plow through them! Don't stop no matter what! I'll key weapons as soon as we're in range!"
-
"Oh this isn't gonna be good," said Asia as he checked his weapon, hunched down and sped up his run through the snow
-
Korius took out the M500 with his left and managed to flick it open and emptied it. He dug out some bullets and put them in a line in his mouth and he loaded it and then snapped it into place. 3 KM till engagement.
-
Howl changed the core in his assault rifle and checked his side-arm, everything was ready. Overlooking his armor, he found a couple of shots that had embedded themselves inside it, but not doing any damage. "I'm ready."
-
Reching the very top Kate and the marines left the elevator at a run, piling in through the ramp of the carrier...
"Captain, everyones aboard! now get the hell out of here!"
-
Asia's visor began lighting up with readings of enemy combatants, far in the distance, masked in the blizzard. "Contact coming up," he said.
"Roger," the captain replied, "Max, take us out." The bear was already pulling away from the docking station, crawling out into the open air. There was a tug on the left wing. Looking at the sensors, Triffids had grabbed hold. The meerkat yelled down the comms, "Tina shoot that thing off our boat!" The cat ran up out of the cargo bay, over to her room and reformed the gunnery station. They only had one gun left. She aimed at the Triffids and ripped into them.
-
The ship had started to list slightly, the Triffids unwilling to let prey get away so easily... the vines fell away with a screech and the ship lurched before gaining altitude, the tick tocking of the Triffids following them eerily, for miles around trees and vines spread across the planet like a virulent disease....
-
On the map, contour lines showed a ridge facing the group. It rose near to the main tower. Asia jogged through the snow and dove against it. He grabbed its surface and clambered up to peer over its plateau. Two hundred metres from the edge, a collection of soldiers stood by, guarding the doors that stood further along the building. One vehicle was with them, a transport whose armour shimmered in the snow like stained ice. Asia turned to the others.
"We've got to take them now before they move into the building. Once done, Korius you better get your ship down here. The wind is towards us, so we can get close, a hundred metres or so, maybe less if we're lucky." The rabbit crawled onto the snowy top and crouched low, looking around for anything else his visor could pick up. There was nothing. "Korius, once we take them out, get your ship down here fast. It won't take long for their commanders to notice one of the groups missing. We can leave Tabby here and pick her up on the way back with the ship."
Asia stood up, hunched over, and trudged towards the enemy.
-
Korius nodded and took a flanking route, drawing his sword and not his gun. As they got closer, Korius crept quickly through a back window and rushed in, going quickly down the stairs. 2 more floors. He had landed on the 5th floor, but the only parts of the building still showing above ground was the 60th and above. The key vibrated within his pocket and he pulled it out. Korius found an elevator shaft and sheathed his sword after using it to force the doors open. He grabbed onto the service ladder on the side and slid down, periodically gripping harder to make sure he didn't go too fast to stop.
-
Howl followed close behind Asia, ready for a huge battle. In a low voice, Howl said to Asia, "Howl many of them do you think we'll have to fight off? There seems to be quite the hefty amount of 'em."
-
"There's about eight... ten of them," said Asia as he scanned around the area through his visor. They moved up, a hundred metres from the target. Pushing their luck, Asia continued on to eighty metres. Even the snow could barely hide them. Four soldiers, two dogs a cat and a mouse, stood by the vehicle in plain sight, making idle chatter. The Asia looked down the sight of his gun, making sure to shoot with the changing height of each soldier.
Four shots. Quick succession. Two headshots, one chest, and one leg. The others turned to face, and opened fire.
-
Korius heard the shots ringing through the shafts. Oh, bugger. Hold on, Asia, only 20 more stories to go.
-
Kate shoved past the assembled marines and security staff, armour hissing and clanking she pulled off her helmet, hair thrown out of her eyes she climbed up the catwalk to the main cockpit... "Captain!? You needa congratulain' .."
-
While Asia was setting up his shot on the four front soldiers, he took aim on the back ones, because Howl new Asia could take them with his eyes blindfolded. Howl fired on the first set of guards, they both fell to the ground, making a large thud on the impact. Another pair of enemies charged at them, and he hit them in the center mass, killing the soldiers instantly. "Find cover while you can, Asia." The closest thing to them was the side of a building and one or two chest high walls for defense, Howl chose the building, it provided more defense for his flanks. "Your good to go, mate. The other soldiers are still trying to get ready."
-
Korius skid to a halt before he hit a pile of rubble. Floor 6, and everything else is buried beneath him. Bugger, must have collapsed when we landed. He pried the door open and ran about, looking for stairs. He found the stairs and kicked the door open. However, the door only opened half way before it slammed back shut. He heard a large thud and yelling. Double bugger.
-
The enemy soldiers ducked behind nearby rocks as well as the personnel transport. They fired their weapons immediately, shooting streaks of light through the falling snow. Asia sped for a nearby rock, that barely stood above his knees. He lay upon his front, and balanced his weapon upon the ground, loosing a few shots. He yelled down the comms to Howl as the shots zipped past his measely rock.
"Howl, there's only a few left, see if you can flank them, I'll draw fire." He fired off some more rounds. "Korius, we're almost finished here, you better be getting into your ship soon. We can't wait out here."
-
Korius hopped up over the door quickly and stretched as far as he can and tensioned over the door. 3 men came running out and ran for the door that Korius came from. Where's the one I hit? Just then, one more came staggering in with one hand on his nose and the other, on alert with a pistol. Korius dropped and grabbed the man's gun with the same hand as he and snapped the soldier's neck while removing the gun and firing at the others. None of the shots even came close. That's bullocks. That's why I absolutely HATE energy weapons! Korius quickly dropped the gun and the soldier and ran straight down the stairs. He pressed his key to ignite the engines and the door blew off the 5th floor. Triple bugger. The bloody door's behind the thrusters.
-
"Alright, I'll try to get around this building then." He looked over the side of the building; no one. So Howl sprinted down the side of it and peaked again; they were all there, in his line of sight. Staring down his rifles scope, he fired off a couple bursts and the men went down. "I think that's it, Asia!"
-
Korius switched off the engines and quickly ran through the hall and jumped into the open hatch. He quickly ran through the ship into the bridge and his hands flew through the controls. He missed his baby. He checked the sensors and his face turned white... which would be visible if his fur wasn't there. His sensors were going mad. The two orbital ships are now over their location. Buggeration!!!!! He checked the proximity sensors and saw that the other three had finally caught up at the door. Korius fired the thrusters and incinerated the pursuers and fired the top-side guns and lifted directly up.
-
Asia lifted his head and looked around, there was apparently no-one there. He got to his feet, then jogged over by the vehicle, looking all about. Inside the vehicle were various supplies, nothing urgently needed by them. Poking his head round the edge of the transport, he spoke to Howl.
"Well, looks like we just wait for Mr. Fancy Assassin man. If he doesn't show up then we're a bit buggered." He looked over to the main building, and with his visor, detected a massive heat source, growing inside.
-
The Stealth Streamer burted out from under the vehicle and hovered over them. Korius keyed the loud speaker. "Hurry and get Tabby! We have 3 minutes before the two ships in orbit start shooting at us! Now MOVE!"
-
"You heard Korius, let's get going, we can't leave him waiting. I'd rather not be on the receiving end of those ships."
-
"Stop talking, start RUNNING!" shouted Asia as he darted out of the vehicle and bounded through the snow. Thankfully the wind was at his back. He looked through the snow flowing past and found Tabby's heat signature. "We weren't gone long, she should be ok." He trudged through the snow, reaching her. The blizzard had piled up on her suit. A white coat pouring off her as her limp form was lifted off the ground. Asia looked at her face, seeing her shiver. She was getting far too cold.
-
Korius opened the side hatch as he steered over them and got as low as he could without having to land. "Okay, ladies. Sometime before we are removed from this dimension would be nice!
-
Howl took off after Asia, not falling behind. After reaching Tabby and seeing the condition she was in, he frowned. "My god..." But his thoughts were interrupted by Korius's urgent voice. He grabbed Tabby and placed her on the ship first, seeing how her condition wasn't exactly prime. Then Howl climbed up himself. "C'mon Asia, let's get the hell out of this place!"
-
Asia ran, leapt and scrambled onto the ship.
"Get going! Go to Serra Draconis, NOW!" He yelled to Korius as the door closed behind him. He pulled off his helmet, then started taking off Tabby's suit, her body was cold. "Korius, where's the heaters on this ship? Tabby's cold."
-
Korius gunned the engines to full and prepared to jump while they were still in the atmosphere, very dangerous due to possiblities of being thrown off course because of the gravity ring and the planet's rotation. "Throw her into the seat first and fasten up! We'll deal with her after the jump!" Korius made quick evasive maneuvers as he turned on the cloak and dodged fire and drop pods. Come on! Give me an opening! There! He gunned the ship to jump and they set off, on a 3-day jump to Serra Draconis.
-
"Commodore, we're about to arrive above the planet's surface," said a voice through the comm. Afgha Kali, the lapine Commodore, groaned, his head in his paws, gripping and releasing his skull. The sounds, the noise inside ricocheting, blurring and scratching. It was unstable, switching through time and unreality. Voices that dont exist, people long dead, or not yet born. It didnt connect, didnt equate to reality, didn't make sense. He stroked his ears. Calmed himself down. The voices were distilled, and one thing was clear, the everflame had to be retrieved, kept safe and hidden, away from any species, except for those who speak to him. The rabbit stood up from the chair in his office.
"Understood, power up weapons just in case. I'll be there shortly."
On the Admiration, the meerkat turned with a smile, "Thankyou Kate," he said, exhaling the excitement of escape. "Be sure to thank the crew as well, they're a rare breed. Every time I lose one, it's near impossible to find a replacement." The captain's smile faltered just slightly, before he turned and look up to the sky, seeing the shimmer of stars as they rose up through the clouds. There was a beep on the sensor, followed by another, followed by twenty, thirty, fifty more. Max, the bear at the helm, darted his gaze from instruments to space above.
"Cappy, there's something out there. A fleet!" Sure as anything, the emptiness above was snapped; as the Galactic Authorities filled the sky. The left console chimed. "They're hailing us," said Max. His voice had lost its spice, his eyes were cold.
"Go ahead," said the meerkat, with a flick of his head. Max flicked a switch on that left console, and out came the voice of the Commodore.
"This is the flagship of the GA fleet. This planet is now locked down, we believe you have a fugitive in the area," The meerkat looked to Max. His face began to drain.
"An entire fleet for one fugitive, that's quite excessive, isnt it?" said the Admiration captain.
"It's excessive for most," replied the Commodore. "But this particular fugitive is the cause of riots and mass murder. It is no bad thing to hand over this individual or any information on where he is. Any attempt to hide him or resist our efforts will result in you being shot down. Tell us what you know."
Meanwhile, Tabby slept in shivers in her seat. Space flew past as they darted through to their destination. Asia stood by her side, beckoning Korius over.
"I think she'll be ok, she just needs to warm up faster. I dont know your ship, you should take her to the hottest place on the ship. Don't leave her there too long ofcourse," said the rabbit. "I'll make sure nothing happens while you're gone," he said with a smile.
-
Korius smirked as he picked up the little cat, "You obviously forget who you're talking to." Korius carried Tabb out of the bridge and down the corridor and another on his left into his quarters. He kicked over boxes of used up guns and other crap loitering around. He cleared off all the bullet casings on his bed and tucked her snugly into it. He then powered on the bed and started the heater. At least I finally found a use for this. Always slept in my chair at the bridge.
-
"I'm going to get changed." He walked into the bathroom and looked inside his backpack; everything was there. After taking off his winter equipment, Howl slipped on a pair on jeans, put on a light set of body armor and covered it up with a black T shirt and leather jacket. He threw on some sneakers and walked back to where Asia was. Remembering the hell-hole they'd just crawled out off, he admired Asia's skills in combat, he was obviously someone who has trained a great deal. "Your quite the fighter, what did you serve as before taking the Everflame? Sorry if I seem so daft to your whole past, but we've only just met when you think about it."
-
Asia leaned back in the pilot's chair, before looking over to Howl. he examined the wolf, searching his face. The rabbit was rich with thought. He smiled.
"I was just a regular policeman on the Capital Sphere," he saidbefore looking forward, watching the stars pass by. "I'm guessing you were a soldier, what with being on G7."
Tabby's shivers slowly started to calm. It would still take an hour or so before she was conscious.
-
A few flashbacks of war ran through Howl's mind, giving him a cool shiver. Too many dead to make it a just cause, too many lost in the name of a corrupt government. This happened all too often after the Everflame's theft, the aura of comfort and happiness was drained from his body all too quickly. But he cleared his head and looked to Asia. "Yes, you are correct. But ever since the Everflame was used in such a powerful way, I've lost some of my soldiers' appeal, as you might have seen. I wish to apologize if I got too emotional, it's just that I've been drowned in the feeling of euphoria for so long...anyway: I don't think one with such fighting skills, much like yourself, would have a regular position in the Capital Sphere, their academy's training doesn't go to the extent of elite." Howl sat down in front of Asia. "Were you guarding something valuable...the Everflame, perhaps? That would be one reason for why you were actually able to steal it."
-
Korius turned off the lights of his quarters and headed back. As he neared the bridge, he heard their conversation and walked in just as Howl finished. "THAT should have been obvious, Howl. Like me, he's trained for more years than military personnel. His combat goes beyond that of any normal soldier. Though I will say, for the record, he's not that good a shot." He gestured for Asia to get up. "I agreed with you looking after the ship, but nothing about you siting in my chair. Up." Korius walked over and sat back in his seat. It's going to be a 3-day flight. We can't use the small mess hall, more like mess room, but it's too loitered right now, so we'll be eating in this room. Keep all liquids outside of the room. If you're thirsty, step outside. That goes double if you have to relieve some gas."[/color] Korius checked the instruments and their course to make sure they were still in the right. Sure enough, he had made the jump at the right time. He turned in the seat and sighed as he got up. "Asia, Howl. Meet me in the cargo hold in 1 hour. Let's do some sparring..." With that, he left the bridge. He keyed the comm on the side of the door before returning to his quarters. "And stay out of my chair." Korius entered his quarters and quickly removed his armour, taking off his coat and weapons, leaving him with only his black zip-up leather shirt, black leather jeans, shades, boots and gloves. He left the quarters and headed out to the cargo hold, which pretty much looked like a weight gym.
-
Asia stood up as he was told, shaking his head with a smile as he moved.
"Howl, I'm surprised you even know of the thing." The rabbit rubbed his head, and sighed. A headache was forming. "I'll see you in the bay," he said. His voice was slightly deadened, and his smile faltered, but just barely. He turned and walked out the door, making his way to his quarters. Once out of sight, he moved faster, speeding up to a jog. Almost running into his room with a smile as he pulled open a draw in his desk. It revealed the energy dampening case the everflame was in. He opened it just a crack, put his finger inside, and lay back on his bed, still in his armour, enjoying the happiness flowing over him.
-
"Right, see you there." Howl walked to his quarters, in a daze of all that happened, so deep in thought. When he arrived, he laid down on the bed, then stared at the ceiling. He took out Leon's dog-tags that he had picked up off of his body and gazed into the words inscribed on it, all meaningless letters compiled together to give information about his lost comrade. Leon would never be remembered, nor would Howl if he were to die, nothing would come out of it. He gave a soliloquy, speaking to himself, with no one there to listen. "I wonder if Korius or Asia feel the sting of death from the death of an ally? Do they hold it up inside, break down in front of all to see? Or crack for a second, letting out little bits of feelings and leaving the rest to wallow with alone, as I do?" Howl then sat up, his eyes weighing with both sadness and post fatigue caused from the vast amounts of running he did today. "After this is all over, I shall break free from this cold and empty life, and live for something that has meaning." He rummaged through his back-pack and found a water bottle, then took a sip and sat back down.
-
Kate listened to the message from the commador, looking to max she raised on eyebrow inquisitively, and then with a great cacophany of clanks and hisses marched back out of the cockpit and back down to the main bay where the marines where unsuiting, stretching and nursing wounds from fighting Triffids for so long... she sighed as Kitt walked up beside her, already unsuited and wearing combat fatigues...
"we did it... we lived..."
She turned to look at him, her frowned turned to a half hearted smile, watching him closely...
"yeah... we lived...though for how much longer can we keep saying that?"
-
Korius spent the hour practicing his hand-to-hand combat on his wooden rotating practice dummy. (Like the ones in kung fu panda. those are real training dummies.) He then did some sit-ups and push ups, waiting for the others to showup.
-
Asia looked through the crack into the box. The faint glow toyed with its prison, muted and enhanced in different places, simultaneous.
He wanted to close the box... he didn't want to, he saw it, he felt it, he knew he had some time on him. He wanted to open the box. He wanted the everflame free, open for all to free.
The mission rumbled on. He was needed. He closed the box.
He took off his armour and searched his wardrobe for fresh clothes, taking loose fitting, airy items. Leaving the room, newly dressed, he passed by Korius' quarters, and Tabby was waking. He peeked in, smiling at the mess of ammunition and weaponry.
"You ok, kid?" he asked. The vixen sat up, holding her head. She looked around.
"The heck? I'm all mashed, what happened?" she asked.
"Go ask your hero. Korius saved you. That's his bed you're in," said the rabbit, freezing his face, keeping it as straight as he could. The fox could barely take it in.
"This is..." she looked around, her eyes widening. "Oh damn," she pulled the sheets around her.
"I'm going to go see him now, have a little spar, you're free to join." the rabbit turned, walked through towards the cargo hold, grinning like an idiot, stifling his giggles.
over Serra Draconis, the captain and the commodore continued their verbal manouvers.
"Commodore, we have no fugitives aboard. None that we know of at least." The meerkat nudged Max, the bear. He gestured back down the ship. Max nodded, relinquishing the controls of the ship as he bounded off down the steel corridors. He burst into the barrelled through the cargo hold, down towards Tina and the Lynx's quarters. He slammed his fist against the door.
"Hey, you kitties, best get up and get moving. We might have a GA firing squad on us in a second."
"Admiration, you are the only ship leaving this planet. The Triffid infestation has been noted, and therefore leads us to believe that a dangerous criminal would want to leave this planet. The only way he can do that is a ship, therefore we will be boarding your ship. Make yourself ready, we will be sending a shuttle down to you momentarily. Understood?" The meerkat stood there, his tailing twitching, his head shaking, his paws running along the control console.
"Understood." The communications halted, he pressed the intercom through to the whole ship. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Admiration, we are being peacefully boarded."
-
Kate looked up at the intercom, and back down at the assembled marines..... she shrugged, leaning against the ships hull and waiting for said 'peacefull' boarding.... she looked to the side and noticed Kitt was copying her, leaning against the shipps hull.... she frowned slightly and stood up straight, loading her weapon.... peacefull or not, she didnt want to be unprepared when the bullets started to fly...
-
After spending a good amount of time in bed, Howl realized it had been about 45 minutes, and was time to make his way to the Cargo Bay. He took off his body armor, it wouldn't be needed for just sparring, then walked slowly to his destination. Truthfully, Howl wasn't in the mood to spar, it could create unnecessary feuds between him and Korius and/or Asia. He was very competitive, having the personality of the Aries (One who hates conforming to others he is not well acquainted with) and could get over serious about a mere training session. Though, he did not want to leave the impression that he was chickening out (Also a trait of an Aries). So, arriving 5 minutes early, he smiled as he saw Korius. "Hello, you've seemed to have gotten a head start."
-
Korius sighed as he had been resting for about 10 minutes, but he sweat stains still apparent. "I always have tight schedule and strict training when I'm not working. It's always good to maintain strictness in one's life. Particularly if we all need to see each other's fighting style to make future scuffles easier on us. We can't always rely on guns, that's why I carry my vibroblade with me. Guns, no matter the type and/or make, has limited ammunition. The same applies for your enemies. We will be sparring today to practice hand-to-hand combat and to learn how each person fights. Why don't you two do some stretches and warm-ups before we start? I have benches, weight sets, free weights, and mats. Get yourselves ready, we'll start in 15 minutes.
-
"KORIUS!" Tabby rockets past asia, bursting into the cargo bay, heading straight to the assassin. She dove forward, arms oustretched for a hug. Asia spun about as she passed him, then let out the heaps of laughter he'd been hiding. Hyena-esque giggles rippling out of his mouth, a sound he could barely control. He crouched to the floor clutching his sides in tears.
A GA shuttle spat out of the main carrier, zipping down towards the Admiration. Other ships could be seen burning down through the newly formed atmosphere. The approaching shuttle asked for boarding clearance, which was given without fuss. The captain brushed himself down and marched to the airlock just behind the cockpit. The docking clamps were secured and the airlock was pressurized. It opened and in marched a group of five soldiers, armed to the teeth. With them, walked an lupine officer in dark formal wear, lined with silver.
"We have orders to search the entirety of this ship as well as its crew and passengers. We expect no resistence."
"And you shall have none, the ship is open to you," the captain replied in his most official of voices. He stepped aside and the soldiers marched in, spreading out across the corridor. Two searched the cockpit, finding small gems and momentos from Max's previous flights. The others invaded the mess hall (nothing more than a kitchen with a long slim table in the middle. One of them found a side door with 'Captain' written on it. It was locked. The officer looked to the meerkat.
"Open it," he said. The meerkat hesitated for just a second, then looked around at the soldiers and sighed. Pulling keys out from his pocket, he let them invade his home.
Back past the cargo bay, Max reappeared from the leftmost door. Seeing Kate loading her weapon, he hollered out in a frenzy.
"Woah woah woah now hold on there, pretty. You best be cleanin' that gun and not loadin' it. I ain't goin' to jail again cus you soldier folk couldn't keep yer pistols in yer pants. Put 'em away," he said.
-
Korius stepped to the side and let Tabby land on the mat he was standing on. "I'm not really the hugging type. But... it's good to see you back to your normal self." Korius picked Tabby up by the arm and dragged her to the edge of the mat at the bench. He walked over to Asia and kicked the laughing man. "Very funny, mister bunny. How about we start the sparring with you then?"
-
Kate nodded approvingly... though grudgingly.. and slung her carbine over one shoulder....
"if you going to jail its gonna be your fault buddy... i aint gonna do nuthin'..."
The other assembled marines shrugged and carried on playing cards over which one plucky private had bet his entire ration of cigarettes....
...the stakes where high...
-
Tabby looked up as she was dragged, admiring the strength and speed of her saviour.
"Thanks for letting me into your bed," she said as she was moved to the side. She pulled her knees to her and rested her head upon them, smiling. Her tail wagged with a lethargic sway behind her while she watched Korius wherever he moved. Asia continued to chuckle as he was kicked. He stood up, failing to force down his grin.
"Sorry," he said, "but ok if you wanna spar, let's do it." Again he burst out into laughter, barely standing up. "It's okay! It's okay, I'm okay." He shook his head to hurl the smile from his face, as he stood ready, one foot in front of the other, one fist, one palm.
He was still smiling.
-
With a smile and quick movement, Korius took one step forward with the outside foot, grabbed Asia's hand, turned behind Asia, and threw him over his shoulder onto the floor. "That funny to you, mister renegade cop?"
-
Asia looked up, back towards the assassin, and smirked. Climbing to his feet, he faced the wolf again.
-
"Well, this will be interesting. I wonder when I get to have my $@%& kicked." Howl stretched his body as he watched Korius and Asia spar, and then glanced over at Tabby, chuckling at her "drunken" state. Looking to the sparing match, Howl looked at how the two fought, and their techniques they used to best their opponent.
-
Korius dropped his shoulders and seemed to shift his balance a litle back. He then sprang forward, coming in with a high-aimed kick.
-
Tabby giggled to herself in the corner, before looking over at Howl and beckoning him over.
The kick leaped at Asia, as he dipped and stepped forward with a forearm pushing up beneath the leg, and a front leg, stepping behind Korius' standing paw. He forced forward to push Korius back and fall over the foot.
Tabby booed.
Over on the Admiration, the soldiers trudged through the ship, pushing open the door to the cargo bay. Seeing the display of soldiers, they lift their guns and aim. The officer turns to the meerkat, expectantly.
"They're passengers," the captain shrugs.
-
Korius caught himself with his drooped arms and spun around, kicking off from his foot and pretty much doing a split while on his hands, his forward foot pretty much turning into a sling hammer coming down on Asia.
-
Asia's arms came together across his head to block. The foot slammed down onto the guard and Asia grabbed Korius' calf pulling it back, pulling the wolf to the rabbit as he kicked out his powerful leg.
-
The assembled marines turned to face the newcomers with a cacoughanpy of clanks and hisses, power armour gave some of the best protection in a firefight, but made day to day life in it a living headache.... Kate pushed aside two marines forecefully and stepped, giving a cheeky smile, brushed her fringe over to one side and addresed the captain of the soldiers...
"we're with the captain... and if ya dont mind we marines dont like having guns pointed at us; hun..."
-
Korius quickly pushed off the floor with his hands and caught Asia's leg. He then brought his other leg over and hooked it around Asia's neck. With a twist of his body, Korius forced Asia to the floor.
-
When Tabby motioned Howl over, he walked up to her and spoke in a low voice; not to speak too loud in the middle of the sparring match. "Yes, Tabby?"
-
On the Admiration, the officer nodded slightly to Kate, before smiling a diplomatic smile.
"You may not like it, but you don't have a choice. There is a dangerous criminal on this planet, and finding a bunch of armed individuals on a modified and unregistered ship is very suspect. So stay away from your guns and take off your armour." He looked over to his men. "Go search them." The boarding party marched down the shuddering metal stairway down to the bay floor, weapons always ready.
Asia fell to the floor with an 'oof', struggling to get out from Korius' legs.
Once Tabby saw Asia get taken down, she leapt up into the air and whooped her lungs out. Then, she grabbed Howl and pulled him down to sit next to her.
"Don't just stand there like a log, mate. Come on... now, I wanna ask you. What you think of them?" she said, gesturing over to the two sparring furries.
-
Kate looked to the assembled marines either side of her and shrugged, power armour hissing as she did so...
"fine... do as he says..."
With much grumbling the marines dropped their carbines to the floor with clangs, and kicked them away to a far corner of the bay; after that they proceeded to take off the power armour which, with the newer versions of the suits, was a rather quick procedure....
Once everyone was de-suited and standing in a jostling line they watched the soldiers approach...
-
Korius coughed a bit as they both hit the ground, though probably not as hard Asia did, but that rabbit's leg was fairly thick, and was difficult landing on it. Getting his gripped foot released after the impact, he hooked that leg around Asia's neck as well, not letting go.
-
Howl looked to Tabby with a raised eyebrow. "Asia and Korius? Well, I haven't got a lot of time to make a good judgement on them. When it comes to fighting, Asia is certainly good, but Korius has been trained far more in martial arts. They've both got very well developed marksmanship, but that's usually common in their types of combat." He sighed and looked to the sparring match. "Other then that, I don't them well enough to pass judgement on their personalities. Sure, Korius may be blunt at times, but he's probably nice once you get to know him, and Asia is a well-rounded guy from what I know." Smiling, Howl glanced back at Tabby. "Your friend Korius is one of a kind, I'm sure of that."
-
The GA soldiers on the Admiration marched down the rattling stairs to the cargo bay floor. Each soldier was padded down, and all personal items were thrown into a big pile at the officer's feet. The soldier frisking Kate made sure to take his time putting his hands all over her.
On Vee, Asia slapped the ground,
"OK, ok I give up. Howl, you take him on," he said. Tabby clapped and whooped.
"Yep, one of a kind," she replied to Howl, before pulling him up and shoving him towards Korius.
-
Korius chuckled at Asia. "You got some great feet work there, Asia. I thought I'd be able to match it, but apparently, I still needed my arms." Korius stretched out a bit and patted himself down to loosen up his muscles again. He watched as Howl approached him and smiled a bit. "I'm glad the three of us can get together and talk strategies. After this, you're taking on Asia, Howl. Try not to hurt yourself, ok?"
-
The marines went through the routine search with only minor anoyance, Kate swept her glossy hair out of her eyes and smirked as the soldier searched over very thoroughly... she laughed softly and muttered quietly too him, only loud enough for him to hear...
"keep feeling soldier, its the closest you ever gonna get..."
Laughing internally she chewed the mint gum that Colonel Crow usually finished off, she could see why he liked the mint...
-
Stumbling towards Korius, Howl smiled. "Alright Korius, let's have a go at it then, though I shouldn't feel so ready to fight against a martial arts specialist." Raising his fists and getting into fighting position, Howl was ready.
-
Korius changed his stance as well, similar to that of a boxer. He kept his fists up near his face and quickstepped in quickly, throwing quick jabs at Howl, pulling back as fast as he throws each punch, weaving left and right, alternating between high and low punches.
-
On the Admiration, one of the soldiers turned to the officer.
"They're clean, sir," he said. The meerkat captain of the Admiration smiled.
"Very well," replied the officer. "Kera and Barry, you stay here and guard this place. The rest of you continue the search."
"Yes sir." Two of the soldiers stood back, guns ready just in case, while the others marched up the metal stairway to the catwalk and headed over to the door at the other side to the next door. They walked through, finding the crew quarters. Max the pilot stood in the corridor, leaning against the wall.
"Well hello there, boys. How may I help you," he said with a warm smile. Readouts flickered over the inside of the helmets.
"He's innocent," said one of the soldiers.
"Well ofcourse I am," said Max, as he imperceptibly relaxed. The soldiers pushed past him opening doors to find cluttered bedrooms. They invaded each room, kicking walls, upturning beds. One of these bedrooms was full of guns and ammo, draped over the walls and steel floor. A soldier turned to Max.
"Pilot, explain this," he said, gesturing to the room. Max knew who's room it was, and sighed.
"That would be Alain's. The poor boy loved his guns," he replied.
"Where is Alain?" the soldier asked.
"Back on the planet. He's dead," said Max, keeping his pleasant smile on, but it wasn't so genuine anymore. The soldiers looked at eachother. One of them stood forward.
"We're sorry for your loss, but we might have to take the guns," he said.
"Whatever you say," Max said with a salute.
A door opened further down the corridor, and Tina walked out.
"Hey Max, what's up?" she asked.
"Well, them soldiers are here and are just checking the rooms for a fugitive." Tina stretched.
"Yeah but we don't have a fugitive," she said.
"Well there's no harm in a little check," he replied. Tina sighed.
"Alright well, let me just go clean my room." A soldier stepped out into the corridor.
"Sorry but you can't do that. We'll check your room as is." They trudged out of Alain's bedroom and forced Tina to press to the wall to let them pass. They opened her door and waded into a sea of her clothes. The gunnery station had been removed and hidden in the engine room. The soldiers kicked the walls and the bed. They pulled the bed away and kicked the walls behind that, finding a hollow section. Tina looked to Max; anxiety bubbling under her skin. They pulled away the wall panel and found her Lynx boyfriend. Their helmets flashed red. He looked up at them and whispered a sigh as they raised their guns. Tina yelped in fear and tried to run to pull them away. Max grabbed her, held her back as she hissed and thrashed. One of the soldiers pulled him out and frogmarched him out of the room. "Daray Mabaton, by the power of the Galactic Authorities, you are under arrest for treason and mass murder. Don't make a fuss or a lot more people will die because of you." The lynx walked with his head low. Max pushed Tina against the wall as the soldiers marched past. His large body holding her down as she scratched and bit and screamed.
They walked out into the cargo bay. The Meerkat's face drained, his fist clenched. The officers hands did the same, but his face was lighting up and a smile crept up with the realisation of what his soldiers had found.
Over in hyperspace, aboard Vee, Asia walked over to the edge of the room, next to Tabby.
"How you feeling?" he asked.
"How am I feelin'? I'm feelin' awesome, man. Wouldn't you?" she smiled.
-
Kate stood at ease with the rest of the marines, watching the two guards that had been left, warily, but with little interest...
"So..... whos up for a game of Colonial Diamonds?"
A couple of marines grunted in agreement as Kate pulled out a pack of Colonial Diamond cards from the heap of personal items that had been taken off them in the search.. both Guards raised weapons as she did so...
"Marine, step back from those items!"...
Kate stopped, paw hovering over a dog eared pack of cards amongst the pile of cigarette packets, wallets and handguns...
"Surely.... just a game of cards.... no harm in that?"
The first soldier hesitated, and then shrugged, nodding... "Sure.... but i got my eye on you...."
Kate Laughed softly as she picked up the pack of cards... "Sure ya do.... ever'ones got eyes on me...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay... i raise to thirty credits.."
The marine, a dark tan furred fox, threw down the money and looked up at the group, smiling widely... all the players looked down to their cards and back up at the fox...
"Im out.." "Same.... " "Make that three..."
Easily half the assembled marines threw down their cards and proceeded to watch how the game would turn out.... Kate smirked, chewing on her gum...
"Well then... Kitt, your call..."
She stopped suddenly, looking up as did the rest of them to see the Lynx frogmarched down the catwalk....
-
"Ah, boxing...my favorite." Howl started blocking Korius's jabs, but some managing to either get the edge of his cheek or landing in his stomach. Even with his core strength, the blows that landed hurt a good deal, yet that didn't stop him for more then a second or two. He retaliated with two punches with his right, then a surprise uppercut with his left hand (all aimed at Korius's head), following up with another punch to the stomach.
-
Korius quickly dodged the blows, the blows just barely bracing his skin under his fur, and he did his best to stay away from them. He quickly backed up at the upper-cut and took the stomach shot in the kidney as he grappled that fist and flipped Howl over. "I only know the basic form for boxing, but that seems to be a textbook combo, to me. Come on, surprise me." He smiled, having fun for the first time in a long time.
-
After landing hard on the ground and squinting a bit from the pain, he laughed and smiled back, "You've got it, hot-shot!" Leaping back to his feet, Howl gave off a couple punches, did a tornado kick, landing on his feet, "I guess it's not exactly boxing anymore, is it?" He chuckled for a moment, then got back into a fighting stance.
-
Korius smiled and dodged the attacks and took a more formal stance. "You are absolutely right. But you can't blame a guy for wanting to try new things, eh?" Korius took a large step and came in with a reverse-roundhouse, but it was a feint and he turned it into a reverse-sweep in mid swing.
-
The lupine officer aboard the Admiration, smiled wider and wider, showing more teeth, turning half into a sneer or a snarl as the lynx pushed to his knees on the catwalk.
"My God," said the wolf. "I've been looking for you for years, and yet I find you, when I'm not even looking." He pulls a pistol from his belt. "They always appear when you least expect them." The lynx looked at the floor; his face was solemn. The meerkat captain darted his gaze all around, from his crewman, to the officer, to the gun, then the guns of all the soldiers in the bay. The officer's face grew cold as he pointed his weapon square on the brow of Daray Mabaton.
"This is a mercy upon you. Thank me for it," he said. There was silence in the bay. "I said thank me!" His hand was quivering, a soldier stood forward.
"Sir, what are you do--"
"What! What is it private?" said the officer. His swung his aim from lynx to soldier and back. He gripped the handle hard.
"Sir, our duty is to arrest him."
-
Kate shoved through the crowd of marines, all of whom where watching the scene with trepidation.... pushing two marines aside she looked up to officer on the catwalk, to the soldier who had spoken out.... flicking her fringe from her eyes she stood straight backed, watching the scene calmly, tail flicking lazily....
Her paw slid behind her back, aparantly in the stance of military parade, back straight, arm behind her back... in reality her paw closed around the handle of the pistol she had taken when she reached for the pack of cards... flicking the safety off with one thumb she judged the distance... with the close range sidearm at such as distance, her chances where pretty slim.... but if he tried to kill the prisoner, she would have to fulfill her duties as a colonial marine.... killing a prisoner... could not go unjudged....
-
Not seeing the kick coming, Howl hit the ground with a "THUMP", then got back up. "Hey, it's MY job to surprise you!" He said it with a bright smile, then he popped his left hand out three times, his right twice, then did a round-house kick.
-
Korius held his hands up and merely deflected the punches and then ducked under the kick, pushing it to give it more momentum than Howl can control. "Not bad, Howl, but again, very textbook moves. You're going to have to think outside the box when fighting. Even if it works on your average soldier, you're going to really need to surprise them. Remember, ammo is never unlimited, but your enemies can be."
-
"Whoa!" Another loud 'THUMP!' resounded across the room. "I guess I should think 'outside the box'..." Charging up to Korius, he did a Tornado kick, then landed low, allowing him to sweep Korius's legs, then followed up with an upward kick.
(Sorry if my attacks are rather predictable, but I'm no fighting specialist)
-
On the Admiration, the wolf officer growled, breathing heavy, gripping the pistol tight in his paw. He stared down at the lynx, a mass murderer, a traitor. He looked around at his soldiers, standing unsure. His grip loosened, he relaxed and calmed. He put the gun back into its holster, and straightened himself up.
"Don't worry. I'm fine," He punched the lynx's head. "I'm fine," he punches again. "It's this murderer who isn't FINE!" He leaped at the cat, pushing him to the ground before pounding into his face. The soldiers on the catwalk rushed in, pulling the officer back. He struggled; thrashing wild. The lynx manouvered onto his front, then pushed himself up to his knees as he was before; ready for judgement.
Eventually the officer calmed down once more.
"Sorry," he said. The team looked to eachother, then slowly released him. He looked upon the cat, still submissive. The officer furrowed his brow, staring, examining the cat. He shook the thoughts away, and looked around the cargo bay. "Arrest them all." The soldiers put up their guns.
-
Kate and the marines watched the officer with trepidation, this guy seemed unhinged.... when he announced the arrest a few of the marines flinched instinctively for weapons at their sides, only to realise they where unarmed..... Kate looked to her assembled squad and shrugged, these soldiers where the law, and Marines could be arrested.... willingly or not....
Flicking her fringe out of her eyes she slid the small side-arm down the back of her combat khaki trousers.... anyone reaching down there would have a LOT more to worry about than just finding the pistol....
Smirking at that last though she brought her paws out from behind her back, now empty, and put them defiantly on her hips and flicked her fringe to one side...
"We give ourselves up..... peacefully..... SIR...."
-
Korius tightened his body and took the hits. As the upward kick came in, he threw his head back and hugged the leg. "Gotcha!!" Korius jumped forward, clutching Howl's leg, and bringing it all the way over and onto the mat.
-
The soldiers walked round the bay, handcuffing people with little resistance. The meerkat grumbled as he held out his hands. He looked around his ship, admiring its construction. A few soldiers walked back to the crew quarters corridor, finding Max holding Tina. She had been crying non stop and her face was wrecked. The meerkat walked with the soldiers.
"Do what they say," he said to his crewmen. They obliged, though Tina could barely hear anything, she wasn't focusing. Max had to hold out her hands. The whole entourage walked back through the ship to the airlock, which opened up to the GA transport. They filed in to the dark, crampt, little steel furnished ship. It had a fat rear end which acted as a brig and most of the Admiration crew and passengers were funnelled into it, which activated energy barriers that closed behind them. The walls were flat and cameras with microphones surrounded them in their box. Next door to them, in sealed chambers, the Captain stood in his own cell, and the lynx was in one next to that.
Back aboard the flagship of the GA, the vulpine communications officer recieved a message from the transport.
"GA-D millenium calling GA Demolition. We have returning with high priority prisoners. Primary target is not aboard, repeat primary target is not aboard, suggest ship strip," said one of the helmsman of the little transport.
"Roger that Millenium," said the fox, "Come on back, we'll send a team over to the ship for a full work over."
-
Kate sat with her back against the cell wall, chewing her gum with ferocity...... sitting around with nothing to do made her... snappy... to say the least....
"Sir.... you know whats gonna happen?"
Kate looked over at the marine who had spoken, he was a short scarlet furred fox, his fur colour was a bright contrast to his dark grey and steel-blue camouflage reliefs... he was also one of the newest additions to the squad... she chewed the gum for a few more moments before answering..
"Son... we're the Colonial Marine Core.... whatever happens, we come out on top... remember that..."
The fox nodded, aparantly reassured, and turned back to staring blankly at the opposite wall.... Kate went back to the chewing of her gum, sliding out the same pack of dog eared cards she had taken earlier...
"Anyone for a game?..."
-
Being a bit surprised by his moves, Howl was a bit dazed to see Korius still standing from that combo. "Dang, Korius, I can't seem to get any good hits on ya, guess I should learn a bit more, but that's what this training is for...could you kindly let my leg go now?"
-
Korius slowly let go of Howl's leg and helped him up. "I wanted to see how each of you fought. It helps if we need to coordinate CQC. I needed to know what you two were capable of should it come down to the fact that we are out of bullets/energy. Also, I have my own little agenda for you both, but that's about the meat of it. Anyways, I'd like to see how you fair against Asia as well. Remember, the best way to coordinate is by knowing who you're working with. And there's no better way to know than by experience."
-
"Very good point." He turned to Asia. "You up for a little sparing match, like Korius said, it's good for coordination."
-
Asia sprung up from the floor, sprightly and ready for another bout of sparring. "Yeah I'm up for it, let's see what you got." He bounced from foot to foot, before settling them in a battle ready stance. Tabby stood up as well, skipping over to Korius with her tail flowing behind her. She moved to wrap herself onto his arm, while looking up at powerful body.
"You were amazing, just now," she said. Her voice was soft, slow and femenine.
Meanwhile, over on the GA-D Millenium, Tina whimpered in Max's arms. He nudged her, gesturing over to Kate.
"What?" Tina asked, as she wiped off her tears.
"Come on, let's go play cards with them," he replied.
"Oh," she said, and looked over to the marines, then she scanned the bare dirty-pale room, wishing her lynx was there with them, instead of being sealed away in his own cramped cell. "No it's okay. You can go play, I'll be alright," she said.
"I'm not interested in playin' cards, girl. Now come on, lets distract ourselves, alright?" He pulled her along with him towards the marines. "Yeah we're up for a game," he said.
On the GA Demolition, the fox on communications turned to the commodore.
"Sir, Asia Kali is not on board. We're stripping the ship to be sure." The rabbit glanced at the fox, then turned away, dragging a paw down his face.
"Of course he's not there, I knew he wouldn't be. Not yet. I just knew he couldn't have arrived yet. Why did I know he wasn't there? Why did I know?" He tensed up, curling his paw to claw against his face, dragging down leaving red scratches in their wake. The fox stared for a moment, then the commodore glanced to him again, seeing his eyes. The fox turned away.
-
Korius sighed, annoyed by the little girl, and, with her still wrapped around his arm, flung her over his shoulder and carried her back to the sidelines like a duffel bag and pretty much put her down like one as well. He looked up curiously at his two new comrades and assessed them in his mind. Howl's good with following textbook moves. He'd best be suited for fighting by my side, it'd be easy to know what he's doing and make some combos from that. Asia's good with his feet, and very unpredictable. I'd rather have that watching my back. Still, between a textbook fighter and a kicking specialist, it's still pretty hard to see who would triumph in this match.
-
Kate looked up at Tina and Max, she smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner...
"You know how to play colonial diamonds i guess?"
With that she dealt out the cards to the three other marines who had decided to play, which included Kitt, the fox private and a heavily scarred wolf...
"We aint playin' bets seeing as most our belongings are taken... Kitt... left from the dealer..."
Kitt looked down at his cards, a rather bad hand, unless he could bluff it through.... The game took those who where playing's minds off the situation, if only temporarily. The other marines set about sleeping, or generally staring into the middle distance...
-
Clenching his fists and standing in fighting position, he began the fight.
Howl started off with a round-house kick, following up with two punches with each and, then finishing off with a front kick.
-
Max sits Tina down beside him, and pushes her cards towards her as they start the game. Meanwhile, the lynx, Daray Mabaton sits huddled in a box of smooth white. He grumbled and drifted to sleep. Beside it, was a larger cell. The captain stood inside, stroking his hands along the walls, walking round and around in circles.
On vee's cargo bay, Asia dodged back from the roundhouse, ducked from the punches and stepped with a hop forward beside the forward kick, flicking a kick through to the standing leg.
-
Several rounds into the game and most people seemed to have their concentration bent entirely on the cards... even the other marines who weren't playing had sidled over to watch.... Kate hugged her cards to her ample chest and smiled a wicked smile that could turn a hardened veteran into a simpering coward from ten feet...
"People... prepare to lose..."
The other marines either laughed, or shook their heads in amusment...
Kitt looked down at his cards, and then back up at Kate... he smirked....
"I call your bluff missy.... three diamons, right here..."
Kate raised an eyebrow, watching the feline...
"I'm still your commanding officer, corporal, Kristev..."
Kitt stiffened slightly, frowning... the marines knew how Kitt hated his christened name... but Kate laughed, breaking the tension in an instant..
"Three diamonds?... alright then sonny... lets see who's lyin'..."
-
Seeing Asia's kick coming, but having no power to stop it, he simply said, "Ah crap." The next thing he new, he was on his back, laying on the ground. The only thing Howl could do, was smile to Asia. "How come whenever I hit someone, they fall down, but with you guys, it's just not even worth trying?" Stumbling to his feet, still surprised that he couldn't even land a hit on Asia, he raised his fists again. He thought to himself, "Perhaps going for a left, right, jab, jab, kick combo will...ah, who am I kidding? It's not going to work, the only way I can get better is to not do predictable moves, then again, how can I do that if my all of my attacks are based off of it, with no real training done for a different style. I'll just wait for Asia to go on the offensive, and try to muster up some sort of counter."
-
Korius chuckled at Howl's statement. "Right now, Asia is doing textbook moves as well. The difference is, is that you're too grounded. You're too stiff and not at all moving with your legs much, if at all. Even boxers are light on their feet. Knowing textbook moves or having something else is a trivial matter. It all depends on how you apply it. Here's my lesson to you from Fighting 101. Always keep moving. You're not trained for a normal or strong defense. So do the opposite. Use your offense as your defense."
-
"Keeping moving..." He looked down at his feet, they were planted straight into the ground, not budging at all. "Oh, I didn't even notice that." He loosed his leg muscles to making movement a bit easier. "Alright Asia, your turn."
-
"GA Demolition, this is GA-D Millenium requesting docking clearance."
"GA-D Millenium, you are clear to dock."
"Roger. Initiating docking procedure."
Noises, clanks, clangs reverberated through the ship as it landed in the hangar bay of the GA flagship.
There was a knock on the cell door, and it squeeked as it opened, showing a spread of guns aimed at the prisoners.
"Welcome to the GA Demolition," said the officer, behind the many helmeted soldiers. "Come with us."
Over in Vee's cargo bay, Asia chuckled. "I've often found the front kick to be the clumsiest," he said, before he brought up his arms and flicked out two jabs.
-
Kate looked up at the many gun barrels, flicking her fringe over one amber eye she shoved the dog eared cards back into their pack... She stood slowly, and stepped forward, paws raised to chest level... the rest of the marines stood as well, the dark grey of their urban-camp fatigues creating blended with the dark steel walls of the cell... Kate peered over the heads of the soldiers to the officer, paws on her hips...
"Glad to be aboard sir"
-
"Hehe, true, but it's still good to add on another hit to an enemy, don't you think?" Shortly after, Asia threw two punches at Howl, so he dodged both, one grazing his skin, then he followed up with an uppercut with his right hand.
-
The soldiers moved back from the doorway, allowing the prisoners to pass. They walked to the airlock, which closed around them. Decontaminant flooded the around them, before the door opened with a very slight pressurising hiss. It revealed a gangway, leading to a wide open hanger, littered with various sized ships littering the sides. Ahead of them, about fifty metres away, was the door to the ship proper, however right in front of the gangway was another team of soldiers, with highpowered weaponry and steady hands. The officer prodded Kate.
"Come on, you lot, keep going, you're not here to enjoy the view." The prisoners walked down, and Tina held on to Max, looking around as they continued onwards. To the left, metal boxes were being unloaded. They were just large enough to fit a furry.
On Vee's cargo bay, Asia slips to the side from Howl's punch, and delivers his own, mid-level, straight and deep, aimed at the gut.
-
Kate lead her marines down the gangway, she slid one paw down the back of her khaki trousers, the reassuring touch of the small pistol brought a feeling of safety to her... even if it was only for a few seconds....
"Sir? Whats going on sir?"
Kate looked back over her shoulder to see Kitt walking behind her, his voice was wavering slightly... she had always known he was a good fighter... but he was too young.... sighing she gave a halfhearted smile before looking back ahead..
"Whatever happens marine... we'l pull through... we marines always pull through... remember that.."
Kitt nodded as a soldier shoved them forwards again...
"Hoorah to that sir..."
Kate growled to herself, looking up at the soldiers and officer.... she had never enjoyed lying...
-
Howl grabbed Asia's punch, then went to hit Asia's gut with is free hand.
-
The soldiers led them onwards to a small entrance to the large metallic hangar. It opened with a squeel, revealing a dead steel corridor, grey and grim, leading downwards. THe prisoners were led through, and as a door passed, one of them was pulled away and dragged inside.
Asia caught Howl's punch, and yanked both hands down, pulling the wolf with it. He used the pull to leap up with a high and powerful nee, rocketing to Howls lowered head.
-
Asia's knee was coming right towards Howl, and once again, he couldn't do a single thing about it. His knee hit him right in the nose, and from the impact of it he let go of Asia's hand and fell to the ground. An overwhelming feeling of pain ran through his head, Howl's nose was bleeding by that point, yet he got back up without saying a word and readied for another attack.
-
Korius chuckled at the spectacle. It was truly enjoyable and he clapped. However, all was cut short as the alarms of Vee went crazy. He quickly ran into the bridge, his hands, again, flying the controls. They then left the jump into sub-space and it was an asteroid field, but according to the charts, there shouldn't be any. Korius ran the scanners over and over again, finally, a visual told everything. They were in a grave of ships. All of them still sparked, meaning they were here in whole pieces only moments prior.
-
The prisoners continued to walk down the corridor, forced to look dead ahead no-one noticed the last in line being dragged off silently.... a soldier shoved the next in line to get him or her walking faster as the prisoners footsteps echoed down the corridor....
Kate walked at the head of the group, followed by Kitt... Behind him walked Annie, a young vixen the same age as Kitt, and behind her the Wolf private who had recently been added to the marine squad...
-
Howl looked to Asia and raised and frowned, "This could only mean something bad." He followed Korius and looked at the Korius, covering his bleeding nose. "What is it?!"
-
Asia and Tabby walked along behind the wolves, and stood agape at the sight.
"What the hell," said Tabby. "That's insane. I ain't never seen anythin' like that." She stood beside Korius and stared at the screen. Asia frowned, and looked back to his room, then to Howl, seeing his bleeding nose.
"Are you alright?" he said.
On the GA Demolition, each prisoner was soon pulled off. Tina barely made a noise as she was herded into a unlit room, the door closed behind her. Max soon followed into the next door. The young wolf private after that, then Annie, then finally Kitt. There were only a few soldiers with Kate left in the corridor. They carried on walking, and at the end was thick black door. It groaned as a soldier pulled it open, and the Marine was grabbed from behind, pushing her forward into the darkened room. They pushed her in, making her stumble forward, hitting a table with her thighs. The door closed behind her, and a light in the ceiling slowly began to glow before flicking fully on. It was a harsh light, and showed the small box of a room. The table was small, sharp and unadorned. There were three chairs, all on one side.
-
Kate listened as each marine behind her was pulled off into separate rooms... she didn't turn around until she was pushed roughly into the final room... looking around the small room she straightened up after knocking into the table, keeping her cool she slid her arms behind her back in the typical 'at attention' position....
only a single bead of sweat and the occasional flick of her long feline tail gave away her true nervousness... a nervousness that even the grip weight of a gun wouldn't have removed...
-
Korius ran his hands through the controls, switching the monitor to several different scanners. "It looks like quite a large number of downed cruisers. They were destroyed recently, but they're so many of them and so mangled, I can't tell what class they are. I can't even find any identifying insignias or emblems. Asia! Mind helping me out here!? Tell me what we're seeing because I've never seen anything this big. I do espionage, not war."
-
The officer stepped into the room, backed by two of the soldiers, armed to the teeth. The closed behind them and sat on the three chairs.
"So, what got a soldier like you to hide a mass murderer?"
Amidst the wreckage of the cruisers, Asia searched over the readouts.
"There's nothing here... no traces of laser fire, so it could have been a ridiculous collision. It doesn't make sense but you nevvv..." Asia froze, staring ahead, his eyes glazing over, his body quivering, tensing as he gripped the consoles.
-
Kate stood to attention, straight back and with her paws behind her back.... she down at the officer sat behind the table and, with the tiniest of movements, cocked her head to one side slightly, flicking her fringe out of her eyes in the process...
"I am afraid i do not know what you mean... sir.... me and my marines where simply taking transit on-board that ship, after being rescued..."
She looked the officer straight in his steely eyes....
-
"Don't worry, my nose is fine, I've been shot before, anyhow." He looked for something to stop the bleeding, and found some tissues lying around, so he grabbed two and stuffed one in each nostril. Running back up to Korius and Asia, he raised an eyebrow when they both went silent. He turned to Tabby, then back to Asia and Korius. Howl got frustrated, and it was apparent in his voice, "Ok, what the hell is going on?!"
-
The officer aboard the Demolition stared up at Kate, then coughed into his hand. "The planet you were stationed on was under quarantine. The effort and skill required to get to the surface to rescue you would far outweigh the needs of a bunch of strangers who may be dead. Either that ship is full of saints, or you were protecting something important, for example that psychopath in your care." He covered his smile with a cough. "Tell me why you are protecting him. Tell me all your contacts. Tell me everything."
Over on Vee, Asia crumpled to the floor.
"No no no," he said. "No no no. This isn't right." Tabby yelped and ran to his side. The rabbit began to crawl, back through the cockpit.
"Asia, what the hell are you doing?" Tabby asked. Asia continued to crawl, moving through to the corridor that ran through the ship, as tears sat upon his fur. He looked up, seeing his room, right at the end.
"I've got to get to it," he said. "I need it, NOW!"
-
"Tabby take him and contain him, now! He's going for the Everflame!" Korius' hands flew through the controls as they got closer into the grave and fired his thruster rockets two at a time to clear a path or at least blast one. He gunned the engines burst through the wreckage. When they were finally clear, he turned Vee around and they floated there, motionless. Korius began to run his scanners of all kinds to try to uncover the mystery of the wreckage. "Howl, please help Tabby hold down that bloody rabbit. he needs to be restrained. Use force if you have to. He's been using that flame on himself. Just make sure you clean up anything you make a mess on."
-
Kate's normally complacent brow furrowed in a slight frown... but nothing else in her expression changed...
"Sir.... I understand the planet was under quarantine... me and my men where left, to die.... in all honesty... i couldnt give a frack how this looks to you... Sir... all i know, is my men and I, are damned lucky to still be alive.."
She stayed straight backed, and as calm as it was possible to be in a room with only one small weapon... when the other guys had two very large guns... She flicked her fringe out of her eyes, and stared straight back at the officer, noting his concealed smirk...
-
The officer's smile disappeared.
"Miss, I think you should know that if you do not tell us what we want to know, your luck will run out." The soldiers stood up, and moved to either side of Kate.
"This isn't right!" Asia yelled as Tabby moved to press down on him.
"Keep still, damn it," she said.
"We have to get out of here," he replied. "Can't you feel it? Life is being sucked out of the air!"
-
Kate drew in a breath, looking between the two soldiers....
"Ah... I see that's how it is... but I am telling you sir, we had NO idea... we where just grateful for a rescue, why we where rescued? I do not know... I could easily be dead five days ago, as would be the rest of my men... surely you, a man of the military yourself, can understand that... "
Her tail flicked anxiously, as he paws clenched behind her back....
-
Howl ran over to Asia and held him down, "Snap out of it you twat, don't you know what your doing to yourself?! YOU want to use the everflame for good, so don't throw away what we've all been fighting for!" Howl's flames of anger died out, and he turned his head slightly to Tabby. "I've got him, find something to bind his hands with, or maybe sleeping pills, use whatever you can find!"
-
The officer nodded to soldier on the left, who then grabbed Kate's arm.
"No idea? You have no idea?" the lupine officer said, moving his face close to the fox. "So you just happened to be rubbing shoulders with one of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy?" He stood up, pressing his paw against her head. "Now, tell us the truth. That's all we want."
Tabby nodded and darted down the ship, looking into all the rooms. She darted into Korius' room, stumbling over ammo boxes before finding a cupboard with tranquilisers inside. In the corridor, Asia ground his teeth and thrashed on the floor.
"I'm fine!" he screamed. "It's this evil place. Can't you feel it? Something is dark here, pulling at me, I can feel it in my head. Get me out of here!" Tabby ran back to Howl.
"Will this do?" she said as she presented the drugs to both wolves.
-
"Settle down you bloody ape!" He looked to Tabby, then back to Korius, "I don't know, ask Korius, he'd know if they're made for people or elephants."
-
Korius keyed in the mic as he had watched the surveillance from the Nav monitor behind him, while still searching for something. "Go ahead, Tabby. Just inject half of it. The full vial normally CAN take down 5 elephants, enough to kill anyone under 400 pounds. Give him half, it'll put him to sleep for the rest of the trip. I'm just recording all the data I can get, and we're going to be jumping back onto course."
-
Tabby crouched by the rabbit and stabbed the tranquiliser into his neck, injecting half, as instructed. The rabbit growled and yelled.
"Get us out! Please we have to go! We have to.... we have to go... w... we have.... we... go..." and then he slept. Tabby ran a hand through her hair, sighing.
"Damn, that was exciting. So what we gonna do with him?" she said as she examined the drug in her hand.
-
Korius keyed in the mic as he steered Vee back on course for another jump. "I've logged this place in the Nav computer and we can come back to it later. For now, take him to his quarters. All the beds here have straps in case I have more than 4 prisoners. The keypad on the side of his bed, the code to auto-strap him is 357. I suggest the rest of you hold onto something when we jump. You have 10 seconds."
-
"Damn it, Korius, I need more time!" Said Howl, while he was rushing the sleeping Asia to his bed. 8- He laid him on the bed. 5- He pressed the strap-in numbers. 3- He held onto the bed as tight as possible. "Whew, ready!"
-
Tabby ran back to Korius' room and stuff the tranquilizer back into the cupboard, pushing it shut. She then stood in the doorway, holding herself against it to brace for the jump.
"Ready, Korius!" she said, with a high and happy tone.
-
Vee made the jump and everything/everyone on board shuttered for a brief moment before they were fully in the jump. Korius double checked everything on the panels and then the nav logs. He unstrapped himself and keyed the mic. "Thank you for flying the ManHunter Airlines. If you feel any bit nauseated, please jump out of the emergency pod as I will not have any messes on my ship. For anyone who ran into my quarters, I hope that hurt."
-
Kate's breathing quickened as the officer grabbed her, she stared into his eyes with content, and disgust... through gritted teeth she growled...
"I... Know... Nothing..."
She stayed as straight backed as possible, staring back at the officer, she was an officer of the marine corps... she wouldnt frack with this idiot, not if her squad depended on it... no fracking way....
-
Nothing could really have described going into a jump, only a second of unimaginable speed and confusion. Seeing as the ship went to a stop, Howl decided to go back to the quarters, upon arrival, he smiled at Korius, "Do you say that every time you go into a jump?"
-
Korius keyed in his mic after hearing Howl. "For starters, no one should be in my room and I expect everything to be taken care of especially since we are now really pressed for time. We're more than one day's jump away from our destination. We need to make the best of what time we had. The wreckage was too much even for the Stealth Streamer's scanners to take in fast enough."
-
"Well, those ships must have been destroyed by those elite soldiers we saw on G7, right? They seem like the only group powerful enough to make wreckage like that."
-
Tabby lurched against the doorframe as the ship burst into FTL. After hearing Korius' little comments, she skipped and hummed over to the cockpit.
"I needed to get into your room, it was an emergency. Plus it ain't that bad to just check out a little of the bedroom of someone you... can't get enough of." She smiled. She then turned to Howl. "And there ain't no way military did this. Them ships weren't armed. I would 'ave seen that, you probably would 'ave too. Why would the military shoot some random ships like that?"
Over on the GA Demolition, the officer slapped Kate across the face.
"Say that again, and I won't be so kind. We need information."
-
The slap rang through the cube room, a silence dropped in which the groan and hiss of the ship around them could be heard as Kate turned her face back to look at the officer... She licked her lip where it had split, and a single drop of crimson blood rolled down, and hit the steel floor with a quiet, drip....
"We where garrisoned on that planet, we where attacked by Triffids... we where rescued by those people... my men and I have fought our way through horrors you could never even comprehend..... I am no police officer, i knew nothing of this guys warrant for arrest..."
-
The officer's face dropped into fierce indignation. He stared shocked at the fox's words, and his fist clenched.
"Don't you even try to assume that you have seen worse than I have. Your friend made sure that millions saw far worse than your bloody daffodils could ever manage!" His breathing was harsh, and he turned away, settling himself, tensing up and relaxing. He faced her again, now with utter calm, before slamming a fist into her gut.
-
Kate doubled up in pain, her breath knocked from her, even as she was dragged upright again by the two soldiers... She coughed, taking in a breath she stared back at the officer and muttered huskily... "Friend? I already told you.... we where not working with that murderer... How many times must I say that?"
-
Howl thought about it, it doesn't take much to take down unarmed ships, but at the same time, why would anybody attack defenseless ships like that? There was something more to this, but Howl didn't know what. "I guess you have a point there, but in any case, I think I'd best go and my equipment ready for the next time we land, I have a feeling there's going to be some heavy fighting soon."
-
"You'll keep saying it until I believe it," he said, before punching her again, this time in the face. "We're done for now," he said, gesturing to the guards. One opened the door, the other grabbed Kate by the arms, pushing them up behind her back to frog-march her out. "We'll get to the real interrogation tomorrow when the specialists are ready." They marched through a door to the left of the room. It squealed open to another corridor that wound away, further into the ship. The the left was a large steel door. On of the guards opened it, and it scraped along the ground screeching against the metal floor. Kate was tossed into a large sparse room with a pile of bedding in the corner, and she found with her, the rest of her soldiers. The crew of the Admiration were absent.
Tabby smiled wide,
"Sure thing man," she said to Howl. "Go to your room. Me and Korius can entertain ourselves somehow." She giggled and skipped into the cockpit, towards Korius' chair.
-
The rest of the first day for Korius was spent going through his ship's recordings and shooing Tabby every 2 minutes. For the love of the hunt, this girl just does not know how to shut up. Got to turn her off. Korius thought for a second and thought of something. He reached over and pinched her neck right where it met her shoulder and she collapsed onto the floor. Korius smiled and sighed in relief as he keyed in the mic. "Mr. Howl. Please come in and drop Tabby back onto my bed and this time, strap her in as well. The code is 023."
-
Kate wiped the blood away from her muzzle, pulling her self to her feet she waved away the two marines who tried to help her up.... She flicked her fringe out of her eyes again, a habit she had never been able to get out of; and sat down heavily on the bedding....
Kitt sat with Annie, she had curled up into almost a foetal position, resting her head on Kitt's shoulder her bushy fox tail flicked anxiously ...
The marines stayed quiet, watching their team leader as if she was a messiah, the one true leader... Kate set her back straight and forced a half smile...
"We'l pull through.. remember.."
-
Howl put down his his assault rifle and pushed a box of ammunition off his lap and jogged over to the cockpit, finding Tabby unconscious on the floor.
"What happened to her?" he said as he picked her up. "You didn't do anything to her, did you?"
On the GA Demolition, the cell door screeched open, revealing a large, heavily armoured guard. His helmet completely hid his head, though he had no tail. He had a bag with him.
"Here," he grunted, throwing the bag into the center of the room, spilling foodpacks across the floor. He stepped into the room and behind him came Tina, the cat from the Admiration. She was hunched over, almost cowering as she shuffled into the room. Another guard, smaller and more female than the first was behind, with a gun at the cat's back. Once inside, the smaller guard opened the visor of her helmet, it was an avian with feathers like blue flame.
"Ok listen up, because this is important," she squaked, as her gun floated its aim across the room. "At the next available opportunity, we shall be sending you to Hope's Fate. It is the highest security prison there is!" Her stare locked on Kate, so intense it could almost start fires. "All you lovely, innocent, wouldn't hurt a fly, boys and girls will be sent there to await trial. The trial will held there, and probably televised to planet Zarath, so the victims of your boss' fun will see revenge enacted." She spat out the word fun and then was infested with a deep smile. "And after the trial, you will all be shot." The large guard shot a look at the bird.
"Oi," he said. "They ain't even go to the planet yet." The bird sighed and clenched her beak, narrowing her eyes at the other guard.
"Fine, whatever, if you are found guilty then you get shot. Personally I'd rather you be burned at the stake, you filthy murderers." The large guard moved his arms to herd her back through the door, closing it behind them.
Tina looked around at everyone in the room.
"Where's Max?"
-
The marines watched as the guards walked back out, a couple groaned, others hung their heads in despair... Kitt hugged Annie close to him, as Kate looked up at Tina...
"Uh... i dunno, anyone seen Max?"
The question was directed to the rest of the marines, those that did look up just shook their heads, and then stared back at the walls or their feet....
Kate turned back to Tine and winced as she shrugged, apology in her eyes....
-
Tina's face drained, you could see it in her eyes as they widened and quivered, like her soul was free falling. Her body was shaking hard and tears welled up as she clenched her fists tight
-
Kate walked up to Tina, limping slightly with every step on her left leg.... she put an arm carefully around her shoulder.... she felt unsure of what to do... if a marine faltered in combat, she knew what to do, what say to get that marine back on his feet, and fighting like he'd never fought before... but this.... this was different...
"Hey... c'mon... he's gonna be fine... i'm... i'm sure he is...."
She stuttered slightly, speaking softly so only Tina could hear... Kitt looked up at the two, then hung his head... wishing he had the strength to go up and comfort her too.... he even though by rank, he was technically second in command after Kate, third in command after the late colonel Crow.... he couldnt string together a sentence, that made it seem everything would turn out fine..... he burried his muzzle in Anni's neck, she whimpered slightly, but made no attempt to shrug him off...
As the ship around them creaked, the marines despaired, for the first time... it seemed even Kate couldnt pull them out of this one....
-
Kate tried consoling her, Tina seemed to shrink, curling into a shuddering, distraught totem.
"No he's not gonna be fine, how can he be fine? How can any of them be fine? They have him, they'll kill him. Oh God, they'll all be dead and I'll be alone again and... No no no! This can't happen, stop it!" She clutched her chest as her breathing grew harsh and fast. She crouched down and held the floor, gasping for air. Eventually, she steadied herself and stood up, searching around the room. "I've got to get out, I need to... do something. I need to get out, I need to help." She pushed Kate away and walked over the the walls, searching over them, examining them.
-
Kate stumbled back, feeling hopeless.... she watched as Tina searched across the walls, uncertain of what to do or say.... slumping down against the nearest wall she put her head in the palm of one paw, fingers at her temples as she tried to think straight.... The other marines paid little to no attention to Tina, wallowing in their own thoughts or pity... the only person who did watch her was Annie, she flicked her bushy fox tail and stood up, pushing herself away from Kitt who gave her a puzzled look...
She walked over to Tina, standing just slightly back from her.... she watched as she checked the walls scrupulously...
"Tina.... i think.... i think the best things ya can do... is have a lie down... c'mon, your tired... we'l make you up a bed... I... i just wanna help Tina... we're in the same boat now..."
She bit her lip as she lay one paw softly on Tina's shoulder.... Kitt stood up and walked up beside Annie and waited for Tina's reaction... Kate watched from where she sat, breathing slowly, her chest moving shakily up and down...
-
Korius shook his head as Howl turned to leave. "No, you don't have to. We're still a day and a half away from Serras Draconis via jump. However, after you check on him, I'd like you to get back in here and watch the Nav computer and the scanners. I'm going to try to analyze the photage from earlier and find out what the hell killed all those unarmed ships."
-
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea," said Howl as he walked over to Korius, looming over his chair. The images came up, showing the destruction. "It's incredible. Something big must have made this."
-
Tina shot a glare at Annie, staring fiercely.
"The same boat? No... no we bloody are not!" She pushed Annie away, screaming at her. "You and all your friends are gonna be fine, but mine aren't! They're all gonna die, how the hell is that the same boat? Now get away from me, or help me save them." She turned back to the wall, running her hands over the steel panels trying to find weaknesses over its smooth surface.
-
Annie stumbled back, and if Kitt hadnt been behind her, would have fallen over altogether.... Standing straight again she watched as Tina searched the steel panelling, Kitt turned away, muttering about a lost cause... Annie however stayed where she stood, she looked over the group of marines, what Tina had said was right... they where her only friends really, she tried to imagine just how it would feel to know all of them where going to die... Kate, Jake, Kitt....
Annie walked up beside Tina, and put one long fox ear to the wall, she nocked against the steel and listened to the sound it made... bushy tail flicking she moved along to the next section of paneling, closer to the doorway... she whispered under her breath, just loud enough for Tina to hear alone...."I'l do whatever i can to find them Tina, they saved me, and i owe them...."
The other marines paid no attention to Annie, only Kitt, and Kate watched her, unbelieving and intrigued....
-
Tina looked to Annie, smiling, tearing up. She paused for a second, looking at her feet, and shaking her head. Once her head was cleared, she ran her paw across the wall, finding a little crack between wall panels. Her manner picked up, examining the gap, putting her face near.
"There's a..." a smile burst across her as she started pulling at the crack, yanking at the wall panel. "There's a draft here."
-
Annie moved over beside Tina, and started to pull at the edge of the wall panel... whoever had built the ship obviously knew what they where doing, for the panel budged slightly, and then wouldn't move not matter how hard the two pulled... Just as Annie was about to give up and let go, Kate stepped up beside the two....
"To hell with this, if you're trying to save your friends, i reckon i'm gonna help..."
She gripped the edge of the panel as well, and pulled with the other two... a few seconds later they where joined by Kitt after Annie shot him a glare over her shoulder....
"One.... two... three.... pull!"
With all three fully trained marines pulling at the panel as well, it was only a matter of time until something budged..... The whole panel shuddered, and then prised away from the wall with a dull groan.... The other marines couldnt help but notice somthing was going on, most had stood up to get a look, while other had taken several steps towards them, wondering whether there was any way they could pitch in....
-
Korius ran through all the footage for half a day, going through references with as many databases as he could connect to. He ended up falling asleep after about 8 hours, on top of the console. Vee continued on course, the panels all shut off before he collapsed onto them.
-
The wall panel revealed the only vent shaft in the room. Tina immediately crawled half way in.
"Darn... this is tight." She pushed herself back out and sat outside, biting her nails in thought. She looked up at the others. "Thanks for that. It'll be hard for most of you to fit, so you can just... you know... stay here. They'll let you free eventually, you've done nothing wrong. No point risking your life for criminals, eh?" She sighed, and turned back to vent, looking down its shadowed passage. "The rest of this is on me. I can do it," she smiled.
On Vee, Howl blinked hard, rubbing his face and yawning as he trudged back to his room. After a long, slow sigh, he felt the cold emptiness of the everflame's withdrawal. It was harder when he was alone, like a shovel digging at his guts. He pulled off his clothes, climbed into bed and pulled the quilt tight around him, closing his eyes to focus on the physical warmth, over the emotional icicles in the pit of his stomach.
-
Annie shoved her upper body into the shaft, it was a tight squeeze even for her... it seemed sometimes having a good upper body muscle structure was not always preferable.... She pulled back out and looked Tina up and down.... Even for her it was gonna be tight....
"Hey, I would risk my life for you.... its just I reckon your the only person who would be able to get in that vent without getting stuck..."
behind her Kitt frowned at the mention of Annie risking her life for Tina, he stopped frowning very quickly when Kate elbowed him in the ribs...
"Owch!.. I mean, yeah... we'd help if we could.... but, erm... good luck, n' all..."
Kate saluted proudly, ignoring Kitt's reluctance....
"You'd make even a marine proud with that bravery Tina... When we all get out of this you could join up as luitenant any day..." She winked, smiling for the first time in a while....
-
Tina coughed out a little laugh.
"Thanks, but I'm not the military type. Too many rules," she said with a smile before looking back through the vent. "You'd best cover the vent once I'm in, just in case some one checks on you." She stood, collecting herself. "Thanks for this, and wish me luck." She still had her smile but her body didn't agree, dragged down in her endless thoughts. She climbed into the vent and pulled herself down its passage. Her body rubbed against the sides, echoing down the vent, but once the panel was pushed back on, the room was fully soundproof.
A few hours later, someone started banging on the door, before pulling it open with a screech as it dragged on the floor. It was the two guards again.
"Right, lights out, get to sleep you bunch of trash," said the bird.
"Wait a minute," said the larger guard with no tail. "Where's that girl gone? The cat."
-
The couple of marines who even bothered to look up feigned extreme uninterest... Kate looked over at the guards from where she sat, near the door beside Kitt and Annie, and shrugged lazily...
"Dunno who you mean... Me n' Kitt are the only Felines... and Annie is the only other girl too..."
She yawned, reaching lazily behind her back as if stretching...
"I mean, I think we'd know if you'd dropped someone off... its not like we got anything else to do in here..."
-
When he woke, Howl was gripping the sheets for dear life. He soon came to his senses and got ready for another jumpday. Putting on his clothes, he walked through the ship to the cockpit, finding Korius passed out.
"Hey, Korius," he nudged him slightly. "Wake up."
-
Just as he finished speaking, the ship began to chime signifying the imminent end of the jump. Howl stumbled as the ship lurched into normal space, three thousand kilometres from the largest GA fleet in the galaxy.
"Oh my God, there's so many!"
-
Korius stirred and pointed the M500 at Howl out of reflex and groaned as he realized who it was. "Oh, it's you. Try to just use the mic next time. I'm usually on high alert all the time because of my profession, you feelin' me?" He holstered the giant gun and rubbed his face a little. "So what did you want? We have at least another hour before we reach our destination."
-
"An hour? I dont think so, I mean, what are we gonna do about all those ships? I should go wake people up." Howl jogged off down through the ship, undoing the straps on the other two passengers. Tabby lay there for a while, rolling and smelling your bed. Asia accessed the comms.
"Korius, we there yet? Howl says there's an armada outside. I should come over there, I'll point you where to go." He turned off the comms and jogged to the cockpit. "So what's the situation?" Seeing the fleet outside, he started stroking his ears. "Geez, that's a lot... and I think the science facility is right below them.
Over on the GA Demolition, the large guard turned to the female bird.
"Watch them," he said. She quickly grabbed her rifle, holding it up at them. The large one walked over to the vent and kicked it's wall covering. it came loose, showing the open vent behind. "She's escaped!"
-
Korius keyed into the console after re-activating it. "Alright, let's get out of this jump first." Vee rocked violently as they got out of the jump, the armada now on visual. "Oh, (censored). Prepping the rail-gun just in case." The power generator starting humming louder than life once more like before. Korius' hands flew through all the controls, the missile and rocket pods opening in preparation and gun ports opened. "I personally don't really care too much about you, but you're on my ship and I'm leaving if we can't push past this."
-
Kate stared down the barrel of the avians rifle... subconsciously she had stepped between the gun and the other marines who, in turn, had stepped subconsciously slightly behind her... as if she where the voice and representative of the whole group....
"Uh.... I'm guessing that thing isn't supposed to come off right?"
She kept staring straight down the barrel of the rifle, almost going cross-eyed doing so.... Kitt, who had stepped behind Kate like all the others, had also, maybe not quite so subconsciously, stepped in front of Annie... Annie flicked her tail in annoyance, trying to look past Kitt... She elbowed him in the ribs and stepped up beside him so she could see more clearly... leaving Kitt wincing and rubbing his side gingerly...
-
Asia shot a glare at Korius.
"All you need to do is get me down there, by any means possible. You don't need to take on the whole fleet, just get me to the facility, and then you can leave me there if you have to, please." Howl looked between the rabbit and the wolf.
"Well we've come all this way," he said. "I mean, this is important, right?"
Over on the GA Demolition, Afgha Kali, the lapine commodore, leapt from his seat. His lieutenant turned to him.
"Sir, what's wrong?" said the cat. Afgha began to smile.
"Finally! He's here, bring the ship about, hail him, get him now!"
"Who, sir? The target, Asia Kali?" the lieutenant asked.
"Yes, who do you think?!" The Commodore stomped about the bridge, gripping his paws into fists again and again.
"Sir, there's nothing on sensors."
"Oh get out of the way," said Afgha as he ran to the lieutenant's console, pushing him aside and activating an in-depth sweep in Vee's general direction.
"There, you see?" He pointed at the sensor screen, showing a faint flicker of activity.
"Sir, that could be anything." Afgha grabbed the lieutenant and pulled him back into his chair.
"Send a signal in that general direction, hail them and tell them to surrender." The commodore ran to the back of the bridge, darting through the door. The lieutenant turned around,
"Sir where are you going?" There was no reply, leaving the cat lost in instructions. He sent the signal.
On Vee, the signal was recieved.
"Unidentified craft, you are under suspiscion of hiding a fugitive. By order of the Galactic Authorities you are obligated to power down and await boarding."
Back on the GA Demolition, in the holding cell, the large guard tapped his helmet, accessing the comms.
"A prisoner has escaped, I repeat a prisoner has escaped. Female, young, feline. Brown fur, purple hair, wearing mostly blue denim. Use lethal force if necessary." The bird stared at the prisoners, accusing with her eyes as well as her voice.
"Where is she? Tell me now or I'll shoot it out of you."
-
Kate shrugged, still staring down the barrel pointed at her...
"I dunno... she just pulled that cover off and wriggled into the vent, by the time I'd got over there she'd already pulled the cover back on behind her... I dont know where she could've gone... don't you know where that vent leads or something?"
The marines shifted uneasily, a few taking hesitant steps back from the guard, she looked like she meant business...
-
Korius grit his teeth and punched in the full throttle. "Get your (censored) into those seats, this is going to be a bumpy ride. Asia, get into the Nav seat, I'll hand over controls to you after we finish entering the atmosphere. Howl, get ready to fire everything we got, wait for my signal. They won't see us on their scanners, but visuals can see us just fine." Korius steered Vee into a path for the center of the commotion on the ground. The console gave the signal that the rail-gun was fully charged. As Vee evened out, Korius slammed on the controls and the rail-gun fired right through two of the carriers directly in their path, and all the fighters even near the energy beam. "Fire! Keep all the others off of us! I'll take care of the debris in front of us!"
-
"Where did she go?" asked the large guard, grabbing his gun and standing by the bird, who's face contorted, fierce with anger.
"They're lying!" she said. "There's no way that weak little kitten could possibly pull the wall apa--" She was interrupted by red lights flashing through the ship, and a voice through the comms.
"All hands to battle stations. All hands to battle stations."
"What the heck is going on in this stupid ship?!" The bird ranted and squaked before running off to her post, leaving the large guard behind.
"Where did she go?"
On Vee, Howl nodded at the orders and moved to his own seat. Asia darted to his new position at the Nav.
"Thanks Korius!" he said. Fire filled the viewscreen as ships exploded everywhere. As soon as the order was given, Howl started targeting every ship he could, shooting down fighters left and right. Above them, three carriers crawled into position. The largest ship, the GA Demolition, looming in the distance, a behemoth lit up red by the nearby sun, charged its weapons.
-
Kate watched as the avian ran back into the corridor, her boots clanking across the walkway loudly... she turned to the guard who was left and shrugged...
"I dunno where she went... she just gone through that there vent and thats the last i see of her.... seriously, dont you know where the vent leads?"
The other marines took another hesitant step back, keeping themselves well out of the way of the guards weapon...
-
The GA Demolition launched a wave of weapons fire at Vee, filling the sky with light.
While inside the ship, the large guard stood with his gun at the prisoners.
"This isn't the first time someone has escaped," he said, watching the movements of soldiers. "Vents seem to be popular, and they can lead you anywhere in the ship. What we found was that it's a lot easier to track someone down, when their friends tell us where they were intending to go." He loosened his shoulders slightly. "Now if the friends don't want to tell us, then we shoot them until they do. It's harsh but then this isn't some light-weight petty thief we're talking about here. You will be shot. All of you. One by one. Now tell me where she went, and how long she's been gone."
-
Kate looked behind her, at her assembled team.... her assembled, family.... she sighed, loosing her usually straight backed posture, visibly shrinking...
"She said she where gonna get out, and that anyone else who wanted to escape should come with her.... she's been gone maybe, ten minutes..."
The other marines stared at the back of Kate's head, some in a mix of shock and surprise.... The usually strong figurehead of the team had visibly, given in.... to the marines, the worst had happened.... Annie attempted to step up beside Kate, only to be held back by Kitt who had taken her by the wrist...
-
Korius' hand flew through the controls while his other steered the ship. "Howl! Stop shooting!" Vee dipped and dodged shots, weaving through wreckages, rolling at lightning speeds, and only firing to destroy unavoidable obstructions. Weapons fire aimed at them ended up hitting debris and pursuing fighters who were able to dodge the floating wreckages. Korius keyed in several buttons on the console to engage the heat panels, protecting the stealth streamer from burning up in the atmosphere. The pursuing fighters lit up as they were destroyed by the planet, and Korius retracted the plates. He quickly switched controls to Asia as he manned the forward and lower guns. "Howl! Cover our (censored) and overhead!"
-
The large guard relaxed, though his expression was hidden behind his helmet. he kept his gun pointed at the prisoners.
"Thanks, but that's not giving any specifics. Any locations, any names she mentioned. Perhaps she's gone to free her friends. What else did she say to you?"
"Yes sir!" barked Howl like the soldier he used to be. Vee swerved and dived into the atmosphere.
"I got it," said Asia as he took control over the ship, flying down towards the science facility. Below them, a forest was swaying by the tall spires of the buildings. Asis headed to the largest building of the complex. "Alright there's our destination, we'll land at the mid-level dock, the main chamber is just below that. Once I'm in, you guys watch my back and I'll deal with the everflame." As they moved closer, he could see the trees move. "What the hell? Are those triffids?"
-
Kate looked back up at the guard, shrugging mopily... "She just said she where gonna escape... somthing about one of the smaller ships in the hangar? I dunno, she didnt really say anything else...."
The marines stood close behind her, in a mock military parade. Kate had lost her usual strong stature, and so too it seemed had the rest of the marines. They stood unsure and fidgeting, tails flicking and boots scuffing the floor...
"She just asked if anyone else wanted t'r come with her... and when we didnt answer she just pulled the cover back on and dissapeared.... like i said she where gone maybe ten minutes or so...."
-
The large guard watched the movements of the other prisoners, before lowering his gun.
"Thankyou, you made the right choice. You certainly helped me out. Shooting you would have been paperwork hell, but I'll make sure that I put your comments into the report. That also means that if we find that you're lying, then you'd have just put yourself in far worse trouble." He turned to the open doorway, to leave, hitching his gun up to his side.
"Thanks again."
On the bridge of the GA Demolition, the lone feline lieutenant was now accompanied by a team of officers.
"They've gone down to the surface, they're docking with the central tower," said a uniformed mink.
"Right, send down planetary assault teams, equipped for close range firefights." said the lieutenant before accessing the comms to the Commodore's communicator. "Sir, they've reached the planet. I've sent down some teams, but we need you in command here, sir."
Afgha Kali ran through the corridors, dodging and swerving passed other personnel.
"This is it," he said. "Now's my chance, I've got to stop everything. Can't fail, it's not right." His voice spurted through the comms to the Lieutenant.
"Sir, what are you talking about?"
"It's not right! Get away from it! It's not yours!" The rabbit bounded through the hallways before reaching the armory door, slamming his palm against the access pad. Recognising him, it swished open and he burst through, dodging past the soldiers suiting up to god down to the planet. Tearing through that room, he got to another door. He then took off his Commodore's uniform, stripping naked before typing in a code on a keypad beside the door. It opened to little more than a grey cupboard, filled with sandy carapace suits that had dusky fabric with a honeycomb mesh connecting the solid sections together. They were folded and compressed in the small room. He stepped inside and the door closed behind him. A light flicked on and robotic arms stretched out, curling around the rabbit, grabbing his arms and legs and splaying him out, presented to the suits. More arms crawled from the walls and searched through the suits, finding one and stretched it out to match Afgha's size. They then began pulling it apart, opening it up and pushing it upon the rabbit's body, closing it around him, holding it tight against his skin. It hugged his biceps, his calves, all over his body; and wrapped tight onto his fingers and toes. A mask pressed against his face and wrapped itself around his head and his long ears. He Felt small claws in the fabric, dig into him, reaching to access his muscles. He gritted his teeth as the suit found its shape and tensed hard to calibrate to his body. Once complete, a green light flicked on, on the back of his hand. The door behind him opened, and when he walked out, the soldiers had already gone.
Down on the planet, Vee docked with the tower, and as they looked out of the viewer, they could see a triffid crawling along the docking area.
"The chamber we need to get to is one floor below us, and I don't think that's the only triffid in this building."
High above them, a drop-ship full of troops was falling from space.
-
Kate's grip lessened on the small pistol down the back of her fatigues... sighing in relief she still stood, diminished and alone... it was several moments before Annie approached her silently... she walked right beside Kate, and whispered to her... "Thats not what Tina told us...... you lied about the escape...."
Kate stiffened slightly, before losing her composure again as she turned to face the rest of the marines. She whispered back to Annie out of the corner of her mouth... "I was thinking on my feet.... best i could do...."
She caught the eyes of the rest of her team members, and finally she set her back straight and her shoulders high....
-
Korius keyed the doors open and rushed everyone out, while unstrapping the young cat from the bed. "Everyone exit from any of the hatches! MOVE!" Korius grabbed a few small fast-reloads for his M500 and pocketed them and grabbed his katana vibro-blade as he jumped out the side hatch. With his PDA, Vee switched back to optical camoflague and flew off. It won't get far, but at least it'll be far enough for anyone to even find it.
-
At the holding cell, someone knocked on the door.
"Hey, soldier-folk, you there?" whispered a voice on the other side. "It's Max, the pilot from the Admiration. Tina sent me. She needs your help."
On Serra Draconis, Asia and Howl ran to their quarters, grabbing their guns before leaping from the ship, shooting down the triffid and running to the nearest elevator. Tabby scrambled out close behind, lugging her sniper rifle with her, grinning at all the excitement. Howl pressed the elevator button, and a huge thud echoed through the building. The doors opened to a space with elevator cables wrapped in triffid vines.
"Looks like we're taking the stairs," said Asia, as he led the group to the stairwell, shooting down two triffids as the ran down. Up above them, the drop ship engines could be heard, hovering at the dock as the soldiers poured out, before heading back up to the GA Demolition. Footsteps echoed around the group, as the soldiers searched the docking area.
"We have to move fast," said Howl. "They're right behind us." Tabby laughed before pulling out her pistol and emptying a clip into a triffid that blocked the door to the lower floor. Asia moved forward and pushed the dead triffid aside, opening the door to the surrounding hallway around the main chamber. windows covered the inner wall, but in their way, were hundreds of triffids.
Up on the GA Demolition, Afgha Kali ran clung to the hangar ceiling, watching the drop-ship return. He scuttled along the top, like an insect passing over the crewmen and craft. Once the drop-ship was inside, the gargantuan hangar door began to close down from the ceiling, protecting against outer attack. Afgha mumbled incoherently, shaking his head viciously, throwing thoughts around before dropping from the ceiling and hitting the floor at an ungodly run. His powerful legs enhanced by the suit shot across the carrier floor, like a blur beneath the hangar door, climbing to the underside of the ship. His eyes darted over the planet, zooming in to find the main science facility. On board computers calculated the angle to jump and land on the building. He transferred energy to his legs and with a mighty kick, he rocketed down to the surface, leaving a dent in the Demolition's hull.
On the bridge of the Demolition, messages about a rabbit in a supersuit came thick and fast from the hangar. The lieutenant gripping his forehead in frustration, before getting back on the comms.
"Sir, what is going on? Where are you?!" There was no reply.
-
Kate nocked quietly back, leaning close to the cell door...
"Thats Marine folk to you, sir.... And if you can open the door we'l help however we can...."
The other marines crowded around the side of the doorway, the prospect of escape seemed like a good one... Kitt and Annie both moved up beside the doorway next to Kate... "Kate, sir.. how'd we know it really is Max?"
He was stopped when Annie elbowed him in the lower ribs.. "Shuttup Kitt, we owe them...."
Kate frowned at the two, bickering that they where, pushing them carefully but firmly to the side of the door....
-
"Alrighty then, Marine-folk," said Max. "These here doors ain't nothin' to me." There was a soft clanging, and scraping accompanied by Max making little noises, grunts and mumbles to himself, until a huge THUNK shuddered through the door. Slowly, the door moved as Max pulled it open; smiling and panting at the jailbreaking marines. "Thanks in advance, you boys and girls are the best." His voice was hushed to a conspiratorial whisper. "Now basically, Tina's gonna go free the captain and her mate. She needs us to help her by taking out the guards. The place is the highest security so it's gonna be dangerous. It's just up this corridor to the left, so come on, follow me." He turned away and started walking.
A few steps in, there was a flash of light. Max fell to ground and screamed in pain clutching an energy burn in his chest. The large guard stepped forward, and aimed his gun at Kate.
"Looks like I've been lied to." He pulled the trigger.
On Serra Draconis, triffids whipped out vines grabbing Asia. Howl quickly fired off a few rounds, felling the plants at the front, while Tabby aimed her rifle, planted her feet and took a shot. The sound blasted up the stairs as the bullet tore through a line of triffid, taking out ten or so. Ten more took their place.
"Korius, we could use some help here!" said Asia, as he pushed the dead vines off of him.
Up above them, the soldiers heard the gunfire and kicked the stairwell door in, running down to Korius, guns raised.
"Drop your weapons!" they yelled.
-
Korius merely smirked as his killer side resurfaced for the first time since he partied with this bunch. In a flash, Korius weaved towards the soldiers and drew his vibro-blade as he reached them, cutting the lot of them up. "Hahahaha!!! Is that all you've got? Come one! My grandmother puts up more of a fight, and she's dead!" He threw a grenade behind him, past Howl and Tabby and it landed onto the head of the Triffid that Asia was unwrapping himself from. Korius charged and tackled through the group of soldiers coming out through the door. He quickly jumped up, dodging and weaving and using the walls to launch himself at the soldiers, killing them one by one with his sword. After killing the last one in the area, he got up in the pool of blood and examined himself. There were some shots that nicked many parts of his coat and the bottom of it was hashed. Korius' blood boiled at the sight and took it off as more soldiers came rushing in from all doors except the one he came in. "That... was... a Trillian... hand-made... designer Special!!!!" Korius picked up a dead body next to him and flung it at the furthest incoming soldiers and charged the closest ones, now enraged.
-
"Hey, no problem Max... We're the marine core!"The return "Hoorah!" was a lot quieter and hushed as the marines started to jog along behind Max. With the bright flash of light and a scream of pain they dropped to the floor, hugging the walls for cover, that was except for Kate.... Having been right behind Max, there was no way the guard could miss... even as he squeezed the trigger, she reached for the concealed pistol, drew the weapon... and fired in one last, desperate attempt...
-
"Well I guess that's helping of a sort," said Asia as he continued to struggle with the vines, before watching the grenade fly into the Triffid right in front of him. "You'll kill us all!" Asia tried to scramble away, as Howl shot the vines apart, and running with tabby beneath the stairs. They threw themselves into the corner as the grenade exploded, taking down the Triffids in sight. Tabby ran into the corridor to check for any more plants while Asia writhed in pain under the stairs.
"Are you hurt?" asked Howl.
"Nope, just slammed myself against the everflame box." Howl pulled Asia up and helped him run through, finding the door to the chamber. They pulled at the door finding it locked. Tabby hitched her rifle on her back and looked around, finding white computer consoles, covered in multicoloured buttons beside the door.
"Hey, look at this, man. I seen that somewhere," she said.
"How?" Asia looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"Let me try somethin'" She pulled a few switch, and pressed one of the larger green buttons. The door opened.
The chamber was enormous. A space surrounded by smooth walls, reaching down hundreds of metres into the complex, filled mostly with the impressive machinery at its centre. A large smooth block of white casing covered endless machinery and electronics. A catwalk reached out, over the endless drop, to the user interface. It was a small specimen recepticle with a laptop beside it. Cables connected to circuitboards were strewn around it from modifications made by the scientists. Asia stepped into the chamber, opened the energy dampening box, releasing the everflame, filling him with irrepressible joy. He held it to his chest and smiled before turning to the machine and running to interface. Half way there, a ceiling panel fell, clanging against the catwalk and falling into the abyss. Right after it, Afgha Kali, in full military enhancement suit, jumped down, landing on the catwalk.
Asia stopped, still with a smile, his eyes darted around, looking for a way past.
"Asia, put it down," said the commodore, his brother. Asia stopped looking around, and his smile grew.
"Afgha? is that you under all that?"
"Asia, put it down, I'll keep it safe, out of reach of everyone." Afgha stepped forward, reaching a hand out to the everflame.
"Afgha, what's wrong?" Asia replied, stepping back, holding the everflame to his chest.
"It's not ours!"
"Asia, get down!" Howl yelled, aiming his gun at the commodore. Asia dropped to the ground, and the wolf fired straight at Afgha's helmeted head. The energy blast slammed against the Commodore, knocking his head to the side, but he did not fall. Afgha leapt over Asia, high in the air as Howl fired full automatic at the enemy as he dropped down on Howl, crushing him to the catwalk. Afgha picked him up and threw him over the edge. While this happened, Asia got up, and ran to the console, while Tabby planted her feet and aimed her sniper rifle. In lightning speed, Afgha darted to her, pushing the gun away as it fired, piercing through the ceiling. Asia pushed the everflame into the recepticle and reached into his pocket, pulling out a scrap of paper covered in codes. As he typed them into the laptop, Afgha grabbed Tabby by the throat. He looked back across the catwalk, seeing his brother.
"Asia, stop!" He turned and hurled Tabby across the catwalk, slamming her into Asia. They crumpled into a heap. Tabby crawled forward and heaved a cough.
"Korius, help!" she yelled, as she stood to her feet, between Asia and Afgha.
Howl fell, dropping into the darkening depths of the chamber, watching the fight up above shrink to dots. In the darkness, voices called out to him. Screams, songs, lullabies. He heard the Seeker.
"The connection is here. Welcome Howl. Welcome to the spirits." He closed his eyes and landed against the steel floor of the chamber, all breath and heartbeats forced out, leaving only a corpse.
On the GA Demolition, Kate's shot pierced the guard ribs, and he fell to the floor. He grunted in pain and crawled to the wall, resting against it, keeping his eyes on the marines. Max continued to writhe on the ground, breathing hard between screams. The guard lifted his gun, wobbling in his left hand.
"Get back to your cells. It's better for all of us!" His right hand reached for his helmet, turning on the comms.
"Security, there's an escape... attempt. Bring medics... three..." His breathing became harsh, and he a cough scraped along his throat. Blood spurted inside his helmet. Letting go of comms, he pulled it off, letting him breath, showing his blood covered human face.
-
Korius stood over the bodies of all the soldiers, in the pool of blood. He snapped out of his rage as he heard Tabby's voice echo to him through the wall. Korius quickly looked at the one corner that the voice rang from and saw one of the dead soldiers against the corner had grenades at the front of his uniform. He pulled out his M500 and shot one of the grenades, blowing a hole into the wall. Beyond, was a ledge just over where Tabby was. Korius jumped down and landed between Tabby and Afgha, separating them with a strong punch to Afgha's gut, sending him flying back 2 meters.
-
Kate held the pistol straight, aim not wavering an inch from the humans head.... her finger tensed on the trigger, the human soughed and spluttered, blood trickling from his mouth.... "You've got a ruptured lung.... you wont last five minutes...."
With that she kicked the gun from his hand, and fired off three shots into the helmets comm system... "Lets see how much fate loves you shall we?"
With that she turned and ran back to the group, several marines had tried to pin down Max and calm him down... they all knew it was pointless...
"Kate, why didn't ya kill the frackin' bastard!?"
Kate shoved Kitt out of the way as she knelt beside Max...
"I don't kill if i don't have too... I'd rather die with a clean conscious if i can help it soldier........ max, max can you hear me?"
-
Afgha stumbled back, but kept on his feet. He shook his head back and forth, throwing thoughts out of his mind.
"This has nothing to do with you!" he said as his body started to shudder. "You all need to leave!" He charged forward at a violent blurring speed, leaping to tackle korius to the ground. Behind them, at the laptop, Asia clambered to his feet, keeping the paper tightly in his grip. He got back to typing the codes. Tabby hung to the railing, holding her stomach in pain.
Meanwhile, the guard felt the blood filling his mouth and throat. It dribbled out, down his chin and onto his chest. He coughed more, trying to breathe, feeling his senses disappear. Along the corridor, Max stared up at the marines.
"Help Tina! Gotta help..." His yells quietened, he needed to breathe. His chest was heaving as he gripped Kitt's arm looking him in the eye, begging him. Inhaling quickened to short bursts. Each heave harder than the last. The time between breaths slowed. He stared up at the Kitt,
and stopped.
-
With the same amount of speed, Korius returned the charge and knocked Afgha back again, since Korius had a bigger body mass. "Sorry, but I'm not about to let you ruin everything that we've worked for on this mission. I've already taken my stand. If it's not satisfactory, I'll kill Asia myself. But until then, he's my comrade for the moment." With the speed to rival, Korius charged into a rotation kick, bringing it down a power-heel-drop.
-
Max's chest finally fell still, Kitt stared back into his still open eyes... and softly closed them with one paw....
"C'mon, you heard what he said.... we gotta help Tina! Kitt... get your tail up and moving!"
The marines took several tentative steps back the way they where going. Kate gave the nearest marine a brief and rough shove... "Move forgodsake! You heard that guard, security's coming and times fracking running out!"
-
Afgha ducked lower than should be possible, and with intense speed, slipped under and past the kick before punching up Korius' gut, aiming under his ribs.
On the GA Demolition, the marines ran through the corridor, turning left to a dead end with one door. Beside it, something moved inside the wall. A vent cover came loose, and Tina popped her head out.
"Great, you guys are here. Ok, basically there are a lot of security in there," she said, pointing to the door. I'm gonna jump in through the vent and open the door. You lot better come in guns blazing, ok. Or else we're all dead. Once in, Max can open the cells to the captain and my mate. Okay?"
-
"Err... Tina, Max didnt make it.... m'sorry..."
Kitt looked down at his feet as another Marine nervously added in... "And we aint got no guns to in blazin' with... they confiscated everyt'in..."
Kate sighed, holding her head in her paws... there had to be somthing... some way.... she growled softly, concentrating...
-
Korius took the hit and grabbed Afgha's arm in the process. As he landed, he grounded his feet and rotated the arm, twisting it over Afgha's shoulder and took a step forward to break the arm.
-
Tina froze, her face turning stone serious. She didnt blink as she took in what they said.
"We're not stopping. I thought Max would have taken something on the way to you. I guess he didn't have the chance. We're not stopping. I'll do it myself if I have to." She blinked, turning away and looking down the corridor. "I haven't got anything else left."
Afgha felt his arm straining under the pressure. He watched Asia type in the codes, and he stood his ground. Stepping forward, he heard his arm snap. The suit halted the pain for a while, and he grabbed Korius' throat, pushing him over the catwalk railing.
"Korius!" Tabby pulled out her pistol and fired endlessly at the armoured Commodore. He didn't flinch.
-
Korius was taken aback, but held on tightly to Afgha's broken arm, intentionally pulling it down with him to force the man into shock. "I'm surprised you don't feel much right now. But soon, I'll enjoy torturing you for even TRYING to kill me." Korius then twisted the broken arm to get an unbreakable grip on it and grabbed onto the railing, pushing downward. "Let's see how long you'll last before you can't take anymore. Want to wager that I'll completely rip it off before you passing out?"
-
Kate nodded "Well c'mon then... we still gotta captain and your mate to rescue..." The other marines watched the two sullenly, obviously the prospect of attacking a high security prison block with nothing but a pistol didnt seem to welcome.....
"Wait... i gotta idea!.."
Kitt ran off back down the hallway to where the dead guard lay, prising the gun from his cold grasp Kitt hefted the weapon up to one shoulder and checked it was loaded... satisfied he also stripped the dead body of a pistol, two teargas grenades and his body armour... running back around the corner to the group he dropped the scavenged goods....
"I found a sidearm, armour grenades and this rifle...." He panted, looking up at Kate... she smirked.. "Kitt, you savvy scavenger.... good work..."
-
"I should have passed out long ago," said Afgha as his bodysuit enhanced hand crushed around Korius' throat.
Tina watched Kitt return and repaid him a her warmest smile.
"Thankyou." Then she looked to everyone else. "Ok, get ready." She shuffled back through the vent, before going silent for a moment. A crash was heard. Yelling, gunfire, and the door opened. Tina was huddled under a console by a glass partition some of which was shattered over the floor. Beyond the partition, five armed guards were moving forward to flush her out. Red Pandas in white coats huddle in cover, and the Lynx hung from the wall, unconscious.
-
Kitt hefted the rifle up to his shoulder and flicked the switch to 'engage'... the weapon hummed as its power generators whirred into life, ready to let loose a volley of charged energy blasts... he threw the body armour to Annie, along with the pistol sidearm, and handed out the three gas grenades to Kate... she cocked her own pistol and hastened the rest of the marines to stay back...
"You boys dont got no guns... stay back and out of the way for pity's sake..."
Kate, Kitt, Annie and the wolf private turned backs to the edge of the doorway, and in one movement rounded the corner in a textbook door breach manoeuvre... Kate threw a grenade towards the group of guards... the small metal cylinder clipped the nearest wall and bounced down the corridor, a moment later and a loud -whoompf- along with a cloud of grey gas filled the corridor, partially blocking the sight of the guards....
"Right... give 'em hell!"
-
Feeling the hand tighten, Korius pulled harder on the arm, pulling himself up. He planted his feet at the edge of the catwalk and jumped over Afgha, twisting the broken arm 5 times around, ripping it off. Korius coughed as he landed and threw the arm off his throat. "You really are one persistent [censored]. Another day, anther situation. We might have been friends."
-
Tina huddled under the console as the door slid open, and a grenade flew through the air, filling the room with smoke. Two of the guards fired blind towards the door, while the others ran for a cupboard filled with gasmasks. Tina saw the gas float towards her around the glass partition, and felt her eyes and throat start to burn.
"This isn't my choice!" Afgha said, finding Korius on the other side of him now. He turned to Tabby and Asia and grabbed the young cat. She fired her pistol, frantically pulling the trigger as fast as she could. Screaming, she felt her feet leave the ground. The armoured Commodore lifted her and threw her over the catwalk edge.
"Korius!" she frantically reached for the railing, missing it, grabbing onto the catwalk itself, hanging on by fingertips. As Asia typed, Afgha grabbed his head, slamming his face against the white metal casing of the machine.
-
Smoke poured out of the room, rolling down the corridor past Kate, Annie, Kitt and the wolf... Kate coughed once, covering her mouth with one arm.....
"Goddamit Kitt, you said they was smoke grenades!"
Kitt tore a length of material from his combat fatigues and tied it around his muzzle, shaking his head...
"I said no such thing! I said they was teargas grenades!"
The argument was interrupted when a burst of fire ricochetted off the door frame. The guards had opened fire wildly in the direction of the door and shots zipped and clattered off the corridor walls... Two unlucky marines took bullets to the chest or head and instantly went down, the rest of the marines gave a shout of alarm and moved back further down the corridor...
Another burst of fire flew through the smoke, this time closer to the attacking four marines... The wolf gave a shout as a bullet tore through his upper thigh, he dropped to all fours, clutching his leg... Kate pulled him out of the way, past the edge of the door frame and took his pistol...
"Right... you Stay here soldier..." she was interrupted by another chatter of bullets... "Dont move, and keep the pressure on the wound... we just gotta get 'em out of there first..."
The smoke was already clearing, the ships ventilation drawing the smoke away into the shafts... as soon as the figures of the guards became discernible, Kitt let loose three precise volleys of energy bolts from his scavenged rifle before ducking back behind the edge of the doorway...
-
(That's some friggin godspeed there, Asia. To pass by me without me to say anything across the catwalk.)
Korius quickly grabbed Tabby and pulled her up with one hand. With his right hand, he turned and drew his M500. With two consecutive shots, he took out Afgha's feet. In a quick run, he holstered the M500 and pulled Afgha from Asia, slamming him face-first into the catwalk. "Hurry this up, Asia. I can't exactly hold this guy for too long."
-
Asia shook his head, clearing it, and focused his eyes on the paper full of codes.
"It's ok, just one code left."
Afgha sprang to hand and feet, before leaping up with an elbow into Korius, lifting the assassin off his feet. He then grabbed his brother, Asia, and flung him back up the catwalk.
On the GA Demolition, Tina gripped her knees and coughed hard, tears streaming from her eyes as they burned, while the security stood with gas masks. Three energy blasts tore through the smoke, and three guards fell to the floor, but there were still two left, pressed against the partition for cover. The scientists huddled in the corner, one of them standing by the wall, opening a small casing and activating the alarm. A high pulse of noise filled the air, attracting extra soldiers, helmeted, armoured and with guns ready.
-
Korius pulled out his M500 as he landed and pointed it directly at Afgha. "Stop right there, buddy. Even with that suit, I can still blow your head wide open into nothingness. Now back off."
-
"Frack... Kitt and co, we got company!"
Kitt turned fired off bursts at the new guards, aiming for the legs and necks, ignoring the armoured chest and head... The guards returned fire, shots ricochetted in all directions through the doorway... another unfortunate marine was caught in the throat, Kate dropped to the floor, dragging Annie with her...
"I told you guys to get the frack out of here! Kitt, get back here!"
She was interupted as another burst of fire tore through the air, Kitt made a run for it, sliding to a stop beside Tina... he took another of his torn fatigue sleeves and tied it around her muzzle... more shots richocetted around them and he pressed himself to the wall, pulling Tina behind him in an act of bravery unusual for him....
-
Afgha froze, and turned around to face Korius. He thought for a moment, silent beneath his helmet. Then, in a blur, he dove off the catwalk, down the cavernous chamber. Tabby ran over and pulled Asia to his feet.
"Come on, before he comes back," she said. Asia hurried over to the laptop and keyed in the final code.
"That's it, we're done." Up above them, the machine started to whirr, and rumble. "We better get out of here, I don't how safe the psychological effects will be." They turned to the door, but before they could move, new soldiers had arrived, ready to fire.
"Stay where you are!" they yelled. Then, something thudded on the underside of the catwalk. Before they could even look down, the far end of the catwalk exploded. A huge blast tore it apart and broke it off from the entrance. The soldiers were left in pieces. Afgha leapt up as a blur to the ceiling, clinging to it with his feet. In his hand, was the second of Howl's C4.
"Look out!" Asia clung to the railing as the catwalk creaked and moaned, seperated from the entrance and bending, buckling under its own weight. "It's gonna fall!"
Tina thanked Kitt with a nod, coughing and spluttering for air, but breathing easier. She looked around spotting the guns of the fallen guards, shrouded in the gas. She gritted her teeth, whiped her eyes and ran through the crossfire, grabbing a gun and planting herself by the partition. She aimed, and shot down the two last guards in the room. She ran to their bodies, yanked off their gas masks, throwing one to Kitt. She pressed herself to the partition, spotting the scientists huddled in the corner. Before putting on her own mask, she called out.
"Marines, get in here!" The soldiers continued to fire, and a stray bullet thudded into Kate's gut.
-
Kitt got to his feet, pulling the gas mask on he checked all the angles to make sure they really where clear.... he nodded to Tina, returning the thanks for the mask...
By the door Annie ducked behind the edge of the doorway as the last spray of bullets whizzed past... she jumped back to her feet, pistol at the ready... she nodded to Tina, turning back to the rest of the marines.... "C'mon! Get in there and grab a gun, leave the dead behind... Kate, lets go!"
Kate looked up, taking her paws away from her stomach... the normally tan fur was now stained bright red.... Annie felt her heart skip a beat "No! Kate!"
Kitt looked up at the shout, seeing Kate fall to her knees, slumping against the doorframe... she muttered weakly through a gasp, blood blossoming across her grey combat fatigues...
"Well this is really gonna ruin my day.."
-
In the Serra Draconis Everflame chamber, the catwalk gave way, groaning to fall, twisting away from central machine where the everflame began to whirr, spin and glow, undulating light glowing from within it. Afgha leapt forward to the flame, landing on the catwalk behind Asia, Tabby and Korius. The armoured Commodore turn to the flame encased in the transparent chamber. He immediately began slamming his fist against it.
"You're gonna destroy everything," he yelled as he attacked the machine. Korius ran back and grabbed him. The catwalk continued to twist.
"Korius, we have to go!" Asia grabbed Tabby's paw and moved further to the edge of the catwalk. The wolf slammed Afgha to the machine. Afgha turned, pushing the wolf back against the wall.
"I'll stop him, you lot get going!" Afgha thudded a knee into his gut. "GO! I've always wanted a challenge and I'm not passing this up!"
Asia turned, feeling the catwalk bend, the entrance move further and further away.
"Tabby come on," The cat was frozen, watching Korius fight, afraid, excited, she couldn't move. "Tabby let's go!" Asia pulled her along, grabbing her. "Tabby, we have to jump."
"What?" Tabby yelled being suddenly yanked forward, forced to run, running with Asia, they reached the end of the catwalk.
"I said JUMP!" The strong rabbit legs, pushed them both up to the doorway, scrabbling through.
On the catwalk, Korius slammed the rabbit against the the railing, making him roll down the catwalk, before Afgha grabbed onto the edge, slowly pulling himself back up. Korius looked over to Asia across the gap. He pulled out his PDA and auto-tracker.
"Asia, catch!" Hurled the tech across to the entrance, where Tabby reached out, grabbing them before they fell. "Get going, get the streamer, get out. If they find you, they wont find me." Korius smiled wide, and started to laugh. "You know what, this plan weren't too bad, I feel great about this!" Afgha crawled back up to his feet and ran again to the wolf.
"Korius, look out!" Tabby yelled, but the wolf was already ready, dodging Afgha's attack. Asia pulled Tabby along.
"Come on, we gotta go."
On the GA Demolition, Tina ran over to the scientists, pointing to the lynx hanging from the wall.
"Wake him up, set him free, hurry up." The red panda scientists quivered, pushing eachother to do as she said. One of them, male, scrawny, got up, moved to the Lynx and pulled open a side compartment from the wall. He pulled out a syringe and injected the big cat.
"He'll come round in about ten minutes." said the panda.
"Alright, now where's my captain." The scientists looked to eachother then to the wall left of the Lynx. "Open it." The scrawny one moved over at a lever embedded into the wall. It opened and out fell the meerkat, coughing and dazed. Tina gave a smile. "Thank you," she said to the pandas. They smiled nervously, staring at the high powered assault rifle in her hand. "Hey, you marines, let's get going, we've got..." Some of the marines were huddled around Kate, covered in blood.
"Aw hell."
-
Korius used Afgha's momentum and tripped him to the floor, tackling him. He grabbed his katana vibro-blade and threw it towards his fleeing comrades. "Tabby! Catch! I'm sorry that I forgot to sign it to my number one fan..." With a firm grip on Afgha, Korius rolled the two of them down the hole.
-
"Medic! We need a medic over here! Annie shouted, pressing down hard across Kate's stomach... she looked up at the marines, almost all of them empty-handed and looking worried... "Oh... yeah... no medics right now, huh?" Kate coughed deeply, blood still oozing out beetween Annie's paws...
"Dont worry 'bout me... i pulled through from worse.... takes more than that..... to take me out..." Her voice fell quieter as the pain receded to a dull, muffling blanket of darkness... Annie continued to try to stop the flow of warm blood as Kitt ran over to Tina...
"Kate's been hit... and we could have guards on us in minutes.... whad'we do?" He clutched a minor bullet wound in one brown, stained red, furred leg....
-
Tabby ran back for the vibro-blade, picking it up and gripping it tight, before looking back through the entrance, watching Korius and Afgha fall. She smiled in tears.
"I love you!" From the stairwell beside them, new troops could be heard. Asia ran back to the cat and pulled her along, as she held the weapon close to her.
"We've got to go! Come on."
"We... we have to... no, no we can't stop now." On the GA Demolition, Tina looked around. At her captain, at her lynx, at the marines who helped her save her friends. The meerkat stumbled to his feet.
"What? Where am I... Tina?" His voice was hoarse. He coughed, and shook his head out of the dazed confusion.
"We're getting you out of here, sir," Tina said. She watched Kate bleed, a thousand thoughts running at once. "We've got to go." Looking back at her lynx, she was silent for a moment. "We have to leave her." Without another word, She turned to the scientists huddled in the corner. "Let him down," she said, pointing to the lynx. They immediately did so, unclipping and deactivating restraints. He fell the floor unceremoniously, but was soon stirring to wake. Sidling past Kitt, Tina moved to the doorway, keeping her eyes diverted away from the marines. She peeked through the doorway, down the corridor, watching bullets shoot past. Stepping back, she looked at Kate, looked at her wound. "She'll be fine."
The meerkat captain moved over to the Lynx, holding him, shaking him to wake up. The cat's eyes flickered in his lethargy.
-
Annie looked up at Tina, and then back down at Kate... blood soaked both her own paws and Kate's uniform, but the flow had now almost completely stopped... she drew her paws away, shaking..
"We can't just leave her... we cant!"
She shouted, paws clenched into fists... Kitt lay a paw on her shoulder and she swiped at him, shoving him away... her bushy tail flicked as she growled in frustration...
"Annie you prat! Do what you gotta do, Kitt... you where second in command, you'r responsible for the team now... i'l get fixed up by whoever finds me... just go, thats a direct order!"
Kitt looked, shocked, from Kate to the rest of the marines... Annie whimpered, laying kate to rest against the frame of the door... Kitt put an arm around her, and nodded to Kate...
"Yessir... it's been an honour..."
-
"That's very good of you." Tina stood, seperate from the rest, and her voice was small. She was silent for a while, looking at the walls. The captain prodded the lynx again, he stirred but didn't move.
"Hey, come on, get up we're getting out." The lynx still lay there, unresponsive. Tina looked over to him, her face draining as she predicted disaster.
"Daray, get up, come on baby," she said, going to his side. He murmured incoherently.
"Daz! Get your tail moving, let's go!" The meerkat yelled, and the lynx reached out, grabbed him tight. His eyes opened a crack. He opened his mouth and whispered.
"Don't call me that." Tina smiled, an honest wide smile as she hugged him, then got him to his feet. She grabbed a gun from the floor and thrust it into his hands. He looked at her, confused at the situation. "What are you doing?"
"We're getting out of here, I'm saving your life," she said with a nod and a grin, before looking around the room. "There's no other way out, Kitt, use those grenades to screen our escape." She turned to the scientists, who still had their gasmasks. Walking over to them, she grabbed their masks and pulled them off the quivering pandas. The new masks were given to the captain, the lynx and the few marines who still had none. Looking back at those pandas, her face loosened in relief. "You lot," she said to them. "Take care of her," she said, pointing to Kate. "Make sure she gets taken to the medbay. They nodded, frightened.
Daray, the lynx swayed a little still confused, raising his hand.
"Wait so... you did this all yourself?"
"With a little help," she looked at him, swimming in his presence. "I'd do anything for you," she moved to him, holding his chest, kissing him. When the kiss broke, she practically giggled in spite of the situation, which clung to her thoughts. "Now come on, we're not free yet."
-
Annie fired off a loud burst of bullets at the feet of the pandas "And you better give her the best damned treatment you frackin' can!"
Kitt grabbed her shoulder, she growled and pulled away from him... still aiming the gun threateningly at the pandas..
"Soldier, get a grip!" She looked at him, surprised by his authority, and turned shooting the pandas one last filthy look... Kitt sighed, ensuring his mask was secure...
"Alright... three... two... frack it, go!"
He pulled the pin, and threw two grenades through the doorway and raised his gun... "Keep it tight, fire on valid targets only marines...."
-
Tina pulled the Lynx along while the captain followed behind, gun ready. They advanced into the thick smoke, while the guards moved back and shot off a few rounds, anticipating the prisoners. From the heavy fog, figures grew as shadows. Tina caught a glimpse, identified, and fired, taking down a guard and moving ever onward, towards the turn that would eventually lead back to the interogation rooms. THe lynx shook his head, gunfire sparking up his brain, getting him running, getting him thinking. He spotted a guard and took him out, almost in one movement. The scream pierced the smoke.
Post Merge: May 14, 2010, 10:50:56 AM
On the planet's surface, Tabby and Asia ran to the stairwell that led to the docking bay, but the sound of boots echoed down to them. They moved back, guns ready. Asia had a smile on his face, practically a grin.
"Do you feel that, Tabby?"
"Feel what?" she said. Her lips were curling.
"I feel good." A grenade clinked down the stairs. Asia and Tabby ran for cover, giggling back into the hallway around the chamber. "I think we did it."
"Did what?"
"The mission, the everflame." the rabbit smiled wide and open. "The government would extend the everflame range around the capital sphere; I extended it over the entire alliance. Every inhabited planet!" Gunfire filled the stairwell, bullets shooting past, ricocheting off walls and shattering windows back into the chamber.
"But if we're happy, shouldn't they be happy too?" Tabby said
"They have their orders, they're just happy about carrying them out," Asia leaned out from cover, assault rifle firing off a few shots, hitting a fox in the shoulder.
-
The marines followed through, almost all had scavenged weapons by now and they fired off precise bursts of fire... "To the left, ten-four" The marine closest to Kitt turned and gunned down a guard who had been readying a flash-bang grenade.....
"if they throw a flasher, everyone close your eyes and cover your face with an arm..... keep close and.." A burst of bullets tore into the group, a canine marine screamed in agony as he was hit in the chest.... "Frack, straight ahead!"
Three marines levelled guns and sprayed the guards with bursts of fire....
-
The lynx ran ahead, picked the flashbang from the fallen guard and armed it.
"Flash out!" He threw it, and it burst in heat, light and a deafening bang. "Go go go!" Grabbing Tina, he led the advance, moving forward, picking off guards, watching others pull back for cover. They reached the turning to the interrogation cells. Up along the narrow corridor, they heard the roar of engines in the hangar bay.
-
Kitt ran up to the edge of the corridor turning, leaning up against the wall... the other marines ran up behind him, all half-crouched and ready to move at the moments notice...
"Right, up ahead should be the cells, and by the sounds of it the hangar too.... keep it as tight as we have been, and this should go smoothly...."
He leaned around the edge of the corridor, ready to duck back behind as soon as bullets started to fly....
-
Tabby ran ahead, popping off a few shots from her pistol, to clear the stairs, before pulling out the sniper rifle, watching the door. A guard looked in, and she fired. Lumps of his head spread over the docking bay. Asia moved forward, popping his head out. Two shots zipped passed. He pulled his head back, reading his rifle, looked back out with quick aim and a shot. The last guard fell, out in the sky, he caught the sound of an incoming force.
"Let's go, come on."
On the GA Demolition, the captain smiled, wider, bigger.
"This is great," he said, looking to the lynx, who was smiling right along with him. The big cat opened his mouth, coughed.
"That's strange," his voice as always, was barely a whisper. He looked down the narrow corridor, and guards filled the hangar. The hangar doors were open as the latest troop carrier returned from the planet, with soldiers waiting to be picked up. The lynx turned to the captain, grabbing his arm and showing him the sight. The meerkat tapped Kitt.
"We're a bit screwed."
-
Kitt pushed the tapping hand away, ducking back out of sight... "Yeah, yeah... i know, trying to work it out....."
Annie popped her head around the corner, and then ducked back to the group... "Okay... well i dunno what we do now, we dont have the numbers to win through an outright firefight... maybe we could sneak onto one of the closest ships?"
Several marines sniggered, earning themselves a smack around the head from the still stern faced Annie... "Whats funny eh?.. Look I... Kitt, what the hell... stop smiling so much!"
She whacked Kitt around the side of the head with the palm of one hand, frowning... "Oh i give up..."
-
Asia pulled out the auto-tracker and PDA.
"Ok, let's see if this works." He activated the recall function, and in the distance the stealth streamer flew into view. It whirred as it came to a stop at the docking bay. Up above, a troop carrier roared in descent. Tabby and Asia piled into the ship, and ran to the cockpit, taking the controls.
"You know how to fly this, right?" said Tabby, as Asia powered up the engines.
"Basically, yes." The ship lurched forward and shot into the sky. "Now get on those weapon systems."
"Basically?" she said as she sat in one of the chairs, activating the console, watching the sky flood past them, and the troop carrier zipping past. They broke the stratosphere and the stars opened up, with a fleet of ships filling the darkness. The GA Demolition was straight ahead, screaming towards them, lighting up with activity.
"Tab, we're gonna need those weapons!" Asia turned the ship a fraction, and skimmed over the Demolition's hull.
"We almost crashed!" Tabby set up the targeting, warming up the guns. "Your basically flying sucks!"
Tina whacked Kitt on the shoulder,
"Have you got a better plan? We can't stay here." The meerkat captain moved between them.
"Getting to the closest ship. It's a possibility, but it's risky." He looked to Kitt. "What resources do we have left?" The meerkat peered around the corner, assessing the place. He watched lights fill the hangar that started to flash. Alarms began to wail. The soldiers and guards sprinted to the ships strewn around the hangar. Engines powered up, lifting the crafts off the hangar floor, moving out. The whole area was alive, and across the hangar mouth, a new ship, different and fast streaked past the open door. "We could use a distraction."
-
Kitt held up his paws in defence against the sudden onslaught of slapping to his head and shoulders... "Sheesh, what am i in a firing line?... Stop with the slapping!" Annie smirked, and slapped him once more across the side of the head... "That's cos your still smiling.... and because i needed somthing to let my anger out on..." she shrugged, loading her rifle...
"Hmn.... distraction is just what we needed... i dont who or what is on that ship, but they may just have given us our way out... right, we move towards that ship there.." he pointed to a ship smaller than most of them and draw out the imaginary route they would take to it...
"Looks like a troop carrier, it's weapons are already warmed up so we just get in there, DONT shoot the pilot, we may just need 'im.... keep to the crates and other large objects... once we get spotted, i'l throw the last smoke grenades and you sprint your fluffy tails over there.. gottit!?"
The marines looked slightly taken-aback for a second... and then, with a slight hint of doubt, replied with a quiet unison "Sir, yessir..."
-
"Alright," Tina turned to Daray, her lynx, and kissed him deep. Once they parted, she looked over to the hangar. It was emptying fast, but there were still a few guards left, two of which watched the corridor. She flicked round the corner, on her knee, aiming her assault rifle, and shot down one of them, while the other moved back into the hangar for cover. "If we're gonna do it, do it now."
-
Kitt looked from Tina and Daray kissing, and then to Annie, raising an eyebrow and winking... She slapped him across the side of the head again "Ye gad Kitt... focus please...." Kitt shrugged, still smirking, and raised the rifle to his shoulder..
"Fine Annie.... but i think you wanted to as well" He earned himself another slap, this time to the back of the head, though not as strong as the last time... "Alright, alright... no more hitting, please... okay, we'l go in three... two.."
Tina jumped round the corner, the sound of gunfire and muffled screams burst into life...
"Oh, what the heck... just go!"
The rest of the marines followed up behind Tina and Kitt, taking out several more guards as quietly as possible...
-
Tina ran up ahead, sliding behind one of the larger crates. She searched around, two dogs were looking for them, an stood by the carrier, guarding the troops as they leapt onboard. The lynx hobbled up behind her, and in a flash the dog caught sight of him and aimed his gun. he put a paw to his helmet, an ten other guards learned their location.
"I think we've been spotted," bullets zipped past the meerkat captain. "Kitt, the grenade."
-
Kitt ducked below two stray shots, and pulled the pin out... "Smokes up!"
The grenade bounced twice as it struck the floor, and then suddenly with a muffled -whoompf- a cloud of light grey smoke exploded outwards.... "This is the time you hurry your fluffy tails guys... go!"
Bullets flew blindly through the smoke, one striking a marine in the left calf, his two team mates grabbed the injured wolf under the arms and ran with him howling in pain as they neared the ship, guns raised...
-
"Pfft, fluffy tails." The meerkat ran up ahead, and in a crouch, shot down a guard nearest to the ship, while Tina ran past, up behind the troop carrier, it's rear door still open as the soldiers strapped themselves in their seats. Gun raised, she stepped in, pulled the trigger, bullets filling the soldiers. They were stuck in their seats. The pilot, a young gecko boy, leaned round his chair down the ship's length, looking straight at Tina's gun.
"You!" she said, marching over to him, gun to his head. "There's a ship down below, hovering in the atmosphere of that planet. Fly us there." The pilot stared at the gun in his face, then turned, facing dead forward, hands on the controls, powering the engine. "Everyone, get in!"
-
The marines piled in after Tina as the rear door slowly started to close... Kitt pulled a belt of grenades off one of the dead soldiers, as well as several ammunition clips. THe other Marines followed suite, taking pistols, rifles, grenades... anything and everything.... Kitt walked up beside the pilot and threw a fragmentation grenade into the air, catching it again in one paw...
"Smart choice kid... now dont try anything funny or i'l personally force feed you this grenade, understand?"
He smiled, despite the situation... "Kitt... for fracks sake why you smiling?" He looked up at Annie, who had taken two sub machine-gun pistols and was now looking at him with an ever growing frown..
"Youre supposed to be responsible for this team, not frackin' around smiling like a loony... you sure you didnt get hit in the head or summin?"
Kitt smirked, reloading his rifle... "Well... actually now that you mention it i do remember several blows to the head earlier from" Annie smacked him across the back of the head again, quickly wiping the smirk from his face.. "Okay.. shutting up.... though a kiss would'v been nice since we did escape alive n' all... agh, dont hit me again!"
-
Tina giggled at Kitt and Annie, while the Lynx and Meerkat threw soldiers out of the ship. The engines roared, lifting them all off the hangar floor, while bullets pinged off the hull.
"Close the door!" yelled the Lynx. The pilot did as ordered, and the rear door whirred as it closed. The floated through the hangar, and out into space. The cosmos opened to them, filled with ships firing lazers and missiles, all aimed at the sliver of a ship darted in the distance. Tina prodded the pilot.
"Right, go down, to the planet, you see that?" She pointed to the sensors, which were filled with green dots, and one grey. "That should be your destination. Take us there and we won't feed you to the Triffids." The ship headed downwards into the atmosphere, dropping like a stone. The Admiration, hung in the air below them, approaching fast, but at its side a small pod was clamped to it.
The Lynx walked to the cockpit, looking down at the cargo transport. He narrowed his eyes then turned to the meerkat, who's face screwed in anger.
"They're stripping her," he grumbled.
-
Kitt leaned over the back of the pilot's seat, laughing... "Ooh, yeah... the Triffids, lets feed him to the Triffids!" he laughed again, smiling widely... Annie shook her head, peering closely at him... "Why the heck are you so happy all of a sudden?.... Are you... drunk?" She frowned, watching Kitt burst into another round of laughter...
"No im not drunk... but we made, we're alive!... we got out of that hell hole and we... are... alive! Wooooh!" he punched the air, tail swishing ecstatically... Annie finally gave in and hugged him close, smiling...
"Kitt.... i wanna hug you... but at the same time... i kinda wanna hit you with somthing real hard...." She hugged him even tighter, to the point where he started to choke for breath... "Yeah... we made it....." And with that she pulled off his mask and kissed him suddenly...
"Alright boys and girls... nothing to see here..." The wolf private stood up, cross-armed, in front of the two... Kitt finally re-emerged, straightening his fatigues... he cleared his throat, looking down at the floor.. "But ah.... let us not.. forget, those who fell... so that we could stand here today.... hoorah, marines... first rounds on me tonight..."
-
The last three members of the admiration crew turned to Kitt and Annie and their little drama.
"We're not done yet," said the meerkat as he sat in the co-pilot seat, setting the weapons, aiming at the pod and shot it off the side of his ship. "They've probably infested it with bots, grabbing all our stuff." Tina shoved his shoulder.
"Oh come on, they're right. We're free, we did it. It's a time to celebrate." The meerkat looked back at her, still grumbling, but cracks of relief wriggled in his anger.
"I can't celebrate, not yet." He turned back to the viewscreen, his ship coming up beside them as they docked. "I mean look at it. They've probably debilitated the engines too."
"Oh that'll be fixed," she said with a smile, before stepping behind his chair and wrapping her arms around him.
The ship slowed to a crawl, then shuddered as it docked with the Admiration. Tina moved over to the gecko and hugged him to.
"Thanks a lot."
"Uuh," he mumbled, full of twitching nerves. "No problem." The rear door opened to the airlock and the Lynx stepped out. The place was bare, save for the ship's original systems. He moved through to the cockpit and activated the controls. Tina came up behind him, looked around and laughed.
"Looks like we still got power. You guys ready to be free?"
-
Kitt grabbed the gecko by the neck of his uniform, and pulled him up out of the pilots seat... "C'mon... i aint leavin' you at them controls..."... he pulled the pilot along with him to the airlock and pushed him towards two rifle-wielding marines "You keep an eye on him... if he tries anything funny, remind him i'm still debating about feeding him to a Triffid..."
The marines nodded, both taking off the safety no their weapons.... Kitt walked up beside Annie, as the Lynx walked out through the airlock... "Back there... was that?..." She blushed, bushy red tail flicking.. "Heat of the moment sir... nothing more..." Kitt nodded, looking slightly crestfallen... "Yes, ah.... right...."
With that they both checked weapons, and moved out into the ship... "Captain... i recommend you and youre crew stay in the transport while my marines search every deck and cabin... we have no idea what could be in here...."
-
"Alright," said the captain. "But we will leave in three minutes." He looked up to the ceiling. "That ship up there can only distract the fleet for so long. To be honest, I'm surprised it hasn't jumped away yet already." He sat back in the pilot's chair. "After that, they'll come after us. They know we've escaped and they know where we are. We can't afford to to be caught now." He walked over through the transport, and leaned out into his ship, looking over to the cockpit. "Hey you two, you best come back in here. The soldiers think it might be dangerous and I am inclined to agree." Tina popped her head into the corridor.
"Oh come on, sir, we're ready to go."
"I've given them three minutes, we go after that." The cat frowned.
"Fine, but I'm not going to that transport, I'm going to my room." With that, she marched out of the cockpit, pulling the lynx in tow. They moved down through the kitchen and and past the cargo hold. The meerkat sighed and headed across from the airlock, to the kitchen and over to the captain's quarters. Opening it, it was completely bare, without even a bed or shelves. He sighed again.
Then, a gun shot filled the ship.
-
Marines on all decks raised their weapons, the -kerchick- of weapons being loaded resonated around the ship...
"Captain? Where the hell was that gunshot from!?" Kitt silently cursed the fact that their comms systems had been built into the confiscated power armour, as he ran down the nearest corridor, he caught up with Annie and the two ran back towards the airlock... "Keep frosty Marines! And captain, i'd advise your crew stayed aboard the Transport!.... Captain!?"
-
The meerkat ran out of his room, gun ready at his side, he moved through the kitchen.
"Tina and Daray, they went to their room, come on, follow me." He headed off at speed out the door and across the cargo bay catwalk. Opening the door to the quarters' corridor, the lynx was pressed against the door, keeping it shut. Tina faced the door with her gun raised. "What happened?"
"The thing that's stealing all our stuff is in there," Tina said, not taking her eyes from the door. "A big armoured floating robot eyeball with arms. It came at us with a plasma torch." Just as she spoke, a dot on the door, by the lynx's head, began to glow. Sparks started shooting off from it. "It's cutting through! Baby, get away from that." She reached to pull him as he leapt to the other side of the corridor.
-
"Okay... so when i said stay on the transport... that obviously means go off wandering around the ship doesnt it?!"
Annie slapped Kitt around the back of the head as she ran past... "For fracks sake stop shouting and do somthing usefull.... sir..." Kitt loaded his rifle, ordering what marines had managed to find them into a firing line...
"Okay... as soon as that thing has finished cutting through, open fire with everything we got... dont give it time to actually get out just fire straight into the hole it's cutting..."
Five marines knelt at the front, raising whatever rifles they had, while Kitt, Annie and the wolf private stood behind... The wolf loaded a smooth bore combat shotgun, setting it to solid slug... Kitt looked to the recruit, raising an eyebrow... The wolf smirked, pumping the shotgun with a load -kerchunk-...
"What?... I likes my guns simple sir... point and shoot... dont get much more simple than that..."
Kitt rolled his eyes, flicking a switch at the side of his rifle... everyone else did the same, eight laser lights sprung into life, wandering over the sparking doorway like fireflies...
-
Tina sighed, "Ugh. Our room is going to be ruined." Her lynx breathed a laugh, and she glanced at him with a smile, shaking her head. While the plasma torch curved over the door, the captain stepped beside Tina, away from the marines.
"Well at least it didn't finish taking your stuff. I barely have a room left at all. It stopped short of stealing the wall panels."
"Where does it put it all," Tina lowered her gun, letting the marines do the work. The red line on the door curled into a circle
"You know that pod that I shot of the side of the ship?" said the meerkat. Tina stared at her captain, her eyes widening as she realised what he had done. "Exactly," he shrugged with an apologetic grimace.
The plasma cut was complete and the circle fell from the door. A large white ball flew through it, plasma cutter outstretched.
-
The automaton had barely passed through the hole when eight red dots lit up across it's surface... what followed could only be described as a maelstrom of bullets as the marines opened fire. Depending on their personal preference some marines fired on full auto, other firing semi bursts while the low percussive boom of the Recruit's smooth bore blasted a solid slug into the machines metal casing...
The machine which was now so riddled with holes it now looked like a large, metal Swiss cheese, sparked and dropped to the floor with a clang. It sparked a few times, twitching, before finally falling still... Kitt walked up to it, and gave it a testing kick... it whirred and fizzed for the last time, before falling completely still...
"Okay... Everyone stay back... let's just make sure this guy hasnt got any friends with him..."
-
"The quarters seem empty now. There's only the engine room left," said the captain. "Tina can show you the way there, she's the one who fiddles around with it." He turned to her, before noticing the lynx looking over the corridor to Max and Alain's rooms. Tina watched him, her expression falling as he walked to the rooms, opening Alain's door, and pausing. He didn't sigh, he didn't move, he just stood, looking at the room. His shoulders faintly drooped as he moved to open the next door, finding nothing again. Tina walked up behind him.
"Oh," was all she said. Her voice was frail, evaporating in her throat. The lynx turned and sheperded her away to the captain.
"Anything?" asked the meerkat. The lynx shook his head, the captain stood back, against the wall. He ran his fingers scratching against his thumb, which then clenched into a fist. "It was in the pod." He folded his arms, closed his eyes and swung his head back, pressing against the wall. "Ok," he said. "Tina go show them the engine room." She watched him, staring at him with solemn eyes. Her teeth were clenched behind her lips, half in accusation, half in worry.
"Okay," she said, and sidled through the marines to lead them out the door.
-
"whadya thinks eatin' those guys?" The Wolf recruit whispered out of the side of his mouth to another marine, but still loud enough for everyone to hear... Annie gave him a sharp slap to the back of the head, growling she stepped aside to allow Tina through...
"You shut yer yapper marine.... or you'l be out of the marine core before you can say Triffid..." The wolf rubbed his head, growling back... but didnt say another word...
"Err... We'l jus' leave you cap'n... I'm just sorry we couldnt do more to save the others... i reckon once we give the engine rooms a once over we can get out of here..." Kitt turned to follow the rest of the marines, and stopped, looking back over his shoulder at the meerkat...
"You guys showed bravery that would put a marine to shame.... it's been an honour to serve with you sir..."
-
"Yeah," the captain said, unmoving. The lynx looked to them, giving a little appreciative nod.
Tina led on over the catwalk and down its shuddering stairs to the cargo hold floor. Across the far side, under where the quarters would be, a heavy, rusted brown door with a wheel at its centre, was swung open. Inside, a huge block sat at the middle of the room, attached to the wall. Metal rotating pipes reached out to small cylinders spread around like worshippers to a monolith. The whole thing rumbled like a growling elephant. There was also the sound of something being scraped or dragged.
"There's one in here," she said, her expression contorted with a growl. "Don't shoot the engine."
-
Kitt nodded, having caught up with the other marines..... "Okay... Tina, you stay back out here in the cargo hold.... i reckon only three or four of us should go in... it looks pretty cramped in there, and like you said... we dont wanna hit that engine.."
four of the marines stayed back at the entrance to the doorway, weapons still ready... while Kitt, Annie and another marine readied rifles.... Kitt motioned forwards and to split up quietly with two deft hand signals. The three moved with practiced precision, red laser sights lancing through the steam....
Another dull clank reverberated through the engine room, followed by more scraping.. the noise had come from just around the corner of the main engine block... Kitt knelt down onto one knee, and signalled forward for the second marine. Annie fixed a scope to her rifle, and leant back against the wall of the room, aiming just over the shoulder of the advancing marine.... The timber wolf switched his rifle to full auto, and kept one finger hovering over the switch for the torch that was secured below the barrel of his rifle... creeping quietly around the edge of the engine, the darkness mixed with the constant hissing steam meant visibility was down to a few feet at best....
Outside the engine room, the marine who had been the communications officer for Corporal Crow, hesitantly spoke up... "Uh.... what if theres more than one of those things in there?"
-
"Then they shoot two of them instead of one." Tina looked over to the comms officer. "They've survived this far, they'll be fine."
In the mist, the scraping stopped, and the object was dropped with a clang. There was a click echoing around the room. A flame ignited. Through the fog, the robot burst out, launching itself at the closest marine, plasma torch raised and burning hot.
-
The Comms officer rubbed the back of his neck, nodding... "yeah.. guess so.... jus' gotta bad feelin' about..." He was cut off suddenly, as a loud scream erupted from the engines room...
The front-most Marine had fallen backwards, clutching at a great scald across the side of his head he pulled the trigger accidentally and a burst of bullets ricochetted around the engine room... Annie shouted in surprise and fired off several rounds of fire into the automaton, it's metal casing sparked as bullets bounced off... Kitt poured his own fire into it as well and droid finally fell to the floor lifeless... Smoke now filled the room and there was a distinct smell of sulphur and burnt fur...
"Oh god! Frack! Eeeerh!" The Marine writhed, clutching at the side of his head, the torch hadn't hit him directly.. but the heat still seemed to have been enough to burn a long scar from one ear down to the base of his neck... Kitt dropped to one knee beside the wolf as Annie inspected the remains of the machine...
"We need a medic in here, pronto!"
-
The scream and gunfire filled the ship, and the meerkat and lynx pelted through to the cargo bay.
"What happened?" said the meerkat as they both ran down the shuddering metal catwalk stairs.
"Someone's been hurt, go get the medical supplies," Tina replied. The lynx nodded and headed to the wall beside the door, opening hatch and bringing out a red box. They all headed into the smoke-filled engine room, moving toward the screams. Finding the group, and the destroyed robot, the lynx dropped to the marine's side. He opened the box and pulled out a bandage smeared with a cooling salve attached. He motioned for Kitt to move out of the way, as he applied it to the screaming wolf.
Elsewhere, high above them, the stealth streamer Vee darted over and under all the ships that swarmed around it, firing off lasers and high explosive missiles.
"What the hell you doin' man! Jump!" Tabby yelled as her hands darted over the controls, shooting down whatever she could.
"It's not that easy!" Asia searched through menus screens, while simultaneously flying the ship, swerving around at intense speed. "Got it!" The ship went quite until a dull moan turned into a beastly roar, as the jump drive burst into life. The universe spilled over them and they disappeared from Serra Draconis.
The carriers and larger vessels turned and jumped off in hopeful persuit, emptying the skies, leaving just one destroyer left, looking down on the triffid filled planet, and the little ship hovering in its atmosphere.
-
Kitt stood back, watching as the Lynx applied the bandage... the Wolf continued to shout and yell, as soon as the cooling salve touched the burn his screaming subsided to a quiet moan... Annie knelt beside him "Hey there recruit...." The wolf looked up at her through his one good eye, his grasping hand reached for hers, she smiled... "you'll live... seems like a certain green recruit is gettin' some experience under his belt..." The Wolf smirked, still looking up at her...
Kitt frowned, looking up at Tina... "Hey... is it just me... or did it just get a hell of a lot quieter just now?" The marines looked up, frowning as well... "Err.. yeah... wasn't there a battle goin' on above us?"... Patting the Recruit encouragingly on the shoulder he stood up and started off back into the cargo hold...
"Captain?!... We may need to get goin' sometime soon.... we're running outta time here..."
-
The meerkat looked up at the ceiling, and chewed his cheek. He headed over to the engine room, popping his head in.
"Tina! Check the engine, see what that thing was doing in there. I'm going to the cockpit." Tina nodded and headed over to the broken pile of white painted metal. Behind it, was a chunk of machinery, heavy and dirt brown.
"Damn, that's not good." She motioned for the marines to join her. "Gonna need a few strong hands here. This is part of the jump drive. It's pulled out of there, you see?" she pointed over to the main block in the centre of the room. There was a gash in its side. She looked back to the component, grabbing and examining it. "It shouldn't be hard to reattach. It took care not to damage anything."
The captain jogged through the to the cockpit, landing himself in the chair and pulling it closer to the console, adjusting for the physical difference from the previous pilot. He powered the ship up, causing the pipes i the engine room, attached between the block and the cylinders, to rotate more energetically. He activated the sensors, and immediately, lights began to flash. He pulled on the comms.
"What's the situation, Tina, because we really have to go."
-
The marines piled into the engine room, bustling around the piece of machinery... "Well strong hands seems to be one thing we got plenty of Tina... you just show us where you need it..."
Marines rolled up the sleeves of their sleeves and all tried to get a good hand-hold onto part of the machinery.... it was chunky and unwieldy... Kitt let his place be taken by another marine and jogged out of the engine room... Running up towards the cockpit he stopped at the doorway... "I'm just gonna guess that those flashing lights mean we are royally screwed... That thing pulled off part of the jump-drive... Tina and the rest of the marines are fixin' it.."
-
"You grasp the obvious rather well." The captain turned around to Kitt. "How long until its fixed?" The lights around them screamed, and something started to beep. "Ah hell, it's right on top of us, and it's big."
High above them, the destroyer fell through the sky, clouds bursting apart as it tore through. It aimed it's draconic guns. "We gotta go!" The engine room roared and the Admiration lurched as the engine sparked up and screamed. The guns fired and the ship edged out the way, gaining speed. "Tina!" he yelled down the comms. "Sorry about starting the engines but you got work in there, now get that stuff fixed!" He shot another look to Kitt. "You, get on those controls there." He nodded over to the right where a dusty old console sat against the wall. "It won't do anything but it'll make me feel better."
The engine room moved, breathed steam and pipes rotated, excited. "Annie, there's a toolbox in the cupboard over there," Tina nodded over to the far right wall. Her and the rest of the marines heaved the piece of machinery into the block, slotting it into place. "Don't let it fall. Annie, I need a spanner."
-
Kitt sat down at the old console and wiped off some of the dust from the screen... most of the controls where inactive but the main view screen was showing a view from the ships bow...... and of course the immense destroyer bearing down on them.....
"Captain.... fly starboard if you can, it will take us into a decent blind-spot of a few of those guns!...." As a marine he'd had basic training of ship statistics in case he ever needed to be stationed on-board one as a boarding party or defence force...
Down in the engine room the marines struggled to keep the machinery in place.... it was heavy, but combined they managed to keep it up... Annie ran back to Tina's side with the toolbox and rifled through its contents, finally finding a spanner....
-
"We have extra eyes? Brilliant, useful. Okay, starboard." The ship swun across the face of the destroyed, munitions, lasers and missiles belting past. A laser clipped the wing and the Admiration swerved through the sky.
The engine room swung with the ship, but the marines held the component in place. Tina grabbed the spanner and repaired the jump drive, securing the machinery into place.
"Thanks Annie." Tina stepped back and dropped the spanner into the toolbox. "The drive is open to the air, but we can fix that later." Grabbing the toolbox, she ran to the cupboard, stuffing it inside. Beside her was the comms, and she pulled out the mic from the wall. "We've done it, Cap. Get us out of here!"
The captain moved and swerved with the ship as he steered around in the sky. He pulled up the comms again.
"Roger that, good work." To the left of him, an orange light turned green, and beside it was a small panel with a keypad, and a big red switch in a plastic case. He turned to Kitt. "Alright, Kid, see that light?" He nodded over to it. "Type in co-ordinates, 77-48-B7-SUNSET, then pull that switch and hold on tight."
-
"Hey, no problem... " Annie smiled happily... they'd done it...
Punching in the co-rordinates, Kitt flipped the plastic case open ready to pull the switch..."Thank you for flying air-admiration... have a pleasant jump ladies and gents..."
In the engine rooms the marines gave a loud "Hoorah!" as Kitt pulled the switch....
-
The pipes in the engine room whirred, span, roared with the engine, cheering and exclaiming. The air around the ship twisted, spread contorted and set ablaze. A firework in the sky, as the Admiration vanished leaving flames and a whoomph of rushing air and burning skies. The destroyer buffeted about, blasted by the blaze. The meerkat, The captain, watched Serra Draconis, the triffids, the GA and all their problems disappear. The stars welcomed them, space embraced them. Criminals, killers, honourable friends and honest people. On the wrong side of the law, in the right place, with a galaxy of change ahead, they smiled.
The meerkat pulled on the comms, speaking to the whole ship. "I think now's a good time for a good meal. Everyone to the dining area." He pushed himself up off the pilots chair, leading Kitt through to the kitchen, with a grimy table in the centre. The lynx was already there, setting up the food. Tina jogged up the stairs laughing and smiling like a child back from boarding school, with the marines close behind. She ran straight to her lynx, clamping herself behind him as he began to cook. The meerkat turned to Kitt.
"Sit down, boy." He pulled up a chair for the cat, then another for himself. Sitting down, he watched everyone arrive. His face changed, becoming solemn, honest. "Now before we celebrate, and I know that we all deserve some fun, I've always felt it prudent to get the important things out of the way." He bowed his head. Tina turned, keeping one hand on the lynx's waist. "We have all lost people," the captain said. "We are also, all fugitives. Ahead of us may well be a nightmare, so I ask you marines with true sincerity. Will you join us so we may help eachother survive, and live our lives as best we can, aboard this beautiful little ship?"
-
Annie sat down in the chair beside Kitt, laying an arm around his shoulders... "We did it.... we actually did it...." He turn his head to look at her, and the rest of the marines.... Only five or so had survived, and right now they seemed to be on top of the world.... "Yeah... we did it..."
The marines listened to the captain, most falling into the basic military posture simply out of habit.... Kitt pulled out a folded piece of paper from his fatigues, and unfolding it looked down at the image with a mixture of sadness and relief.... Annie too leaned over slightly to look down at it, and smiled sadly....
On it was a photograph, from several years previously after their team had successfully infiltrated an enemy position, with no casualties sustained... Kitt, Annie, several other Marines... Kate and even the deceased Corporal Crow stood proud and in full military regalia for the camera, and at the bottom was several scrawled signatures from that day of happiness....
Kitt looked up at the captain, and then around at the rest of the marines..... "Sir... i'm sure me and my men, would be honoured to help you..."
-
"Good choice," said the meerkat, standing up with a beaming smile and an outstretched hand. "Welcome aboard. I don't think I told you my name. I'm Marcus Dresen." The lynx placed plates of food on the table, while Tina put down drinks, raising one in a toast.
"To us!" She raised it in the air, then drank it down. "You're gonna love it here."
-
"Well, it's been a pleasure Marcus..... without you and your crew we would have been Triffid food days ago... Kitt smiled, re-folding the photograph and sliding it back into his fatigues...
Annie raised her glass to Tina's toast "To us..."
Kitt smirked and raised his own drink nodding... "To us..... and the marine core!" The marines around the table laughed, raising their drinks and giving a loud chorus of "Hoo-rah!"
-
THE END