Somewhere within the crowd of discontented occupants, one of them raise his right hand up at the distance and shout:
I'm the representative of the Workers Association of Consulative, the main functional class of MASGC industrial & agricultural capabilities! We're dire of requesting to come aboard onto your ship and flee away from this unopposed, and destructive anomaly for whatever reason! If you let us boarding at numbering of 224 working individuals in holdings, then the WAC will given you a single piece of powerful mining machinery for your ship, the Movetrite Rotatory Laser Cannon. This goodie will be able to drill any stuffs in space at close range, and also wreaking capital ships too if you can get them really close enough.
Suddenly another person within the crowd quickly raising her hands up for knowing that the WAC was attempting to bribe their way for safety!
ARE YOU TRYING TO SNEAK A BRIBERY WITH YOUR LOUSY DEVICE!? That's stupidly unfair act of manipulation and value over indistinguishable people like us! We're the Municipal Cultural of Species Initiatives will not tolerate from their industrialism standpoint for putting other species for working in those slap shacks of yours!
The WAC Representative angrily and screams back.
THEN WHO IS THE GROUP THAT GIVES YOU THE RESOURCES FOR YOUR PEOPLE'S NUTRIENTS AND SHELTERS THEN HUH?! We have to make several sacrifices just to be at the level of effi..
MCSI Representative interrupts his argument and told.
Shelters? We build them much more comfortable than your death-houses, dingus! Your association force putting other species in unhygienic workstations with your 'legalized' slavery because you thought they're just a disposable people and not even born human to begin with!
WAC Representative argues.
You're the dingus, dumbo xenophilia! The WAC statistic shows that the majority in agriculture and industry sectors were in fact ran by humans! About 80% above more than you think! If you put it that way, we're, the major part of humanity are suffering the most than those minorities. Yet, I don't see them complaining about that! Why giving those small part of a society any better treatment than humans?!
The third party in person emerged and shouted in confidence.
JEEZ COME DOWN EVERYONE! Why won't we just settle the differences and accepted that some of us will going to become some dusty old mists and cannot knapsack away from here instantly. After all, the fate of our MASGC society will faced an inevitable losses on our current event! ....And probably why the Commander doesn't want us to get off in the first place.
The WAC representative goes and argues.
THEN WHICH ONE OF US WILL GOES INTO THAT SHIP? I don't think it can fit a thousand people in that thing, would it? Selfishness and being deluded can be one thing, but we have a little time and there's no process of planning that we decided the best course of action. Worst of all, the whole settlement was in a state of anarchy somewhere after the inevitable news of a planet destroying Hany's Ribbon came towards us with impunity! In short, IT'S A MASSIVE PANIC CLUSTERFACES ALL OVER ICEOLIA! By the time we have drawn a small band of groups to keep a sense of order, Hany's Ribbon was already at our stratosphere and there's nothing we can do about it but being at desperation! You cannot prove that we're doing right all along, but you cannot prove that we're doing wrong either. It just so happens to have that kind of situation we rarely faced in other places we haven't done before.
MCSI Representative suddenly said.
The majority of the population were humans, right? Why can't we have a median equality at a very least? Besides, there's no upper representation of other Xenos in MASGC commanding structures!
WAC Representative responded.
That was because the MASGC was founded by humans, not stupid aliens!
MCSI argues.
That's Xenophobic and Speciests!
WAC Representative last answer before everyone goes into a full-blown argument.
Now you're going off the chart....!!
Everyone are now starting to blame and cussing everyone with words.
Sadly, Ernest now need to find a right choice from this chaotic atrocities. Is getting more supplies requested by the Commander of MASGC was morally correct because the people are terrible (based on vision)? The WAC (based on his desperate, clueless standpoint)? The MCSI (based on alien suffrage and equality), or the third unknown party (getting a bits of this and that).
============================================================================================================= [Near MASGC Space Headquarters]
The Operator of MASGC was appalling for hearing Lars saying they're threatened them (probably equivalent to being offended).
Oooooh.. I'm sorry... Would I need to give you a royally pardon, warmth hearty, formally soft-talking, mouth to mouth pacifist archtype? Of course not! We have every right for being pissed by a certain things that we are getting feared from! Maybe I haven't properly announced on our faction in full term.. We are one of many Space Militarists, called the 'Militarist Armed Superstates of Galactic Confederation'. A sane people whom stuck in a terrible life of hazardous constant warfare to each other, is really our normal day in life. Hmm.. Maybe you don't met a faction that are utterly aggressive in nature before?
Also, the reason for your huge ball of death is not because of fighting capabilities, but as a big piece of space hazard that are waiting to be blown up and terrorizing the galaxy! A single crippling blow from your death ball will swirled into a massive, fragmented space junks that will wasteland'd far more planets, ships and stations than a single planetary strike! Even thought it has no potential weapons.. or other stuffs.. whatever so, but that doesn't means it never harms anyone! Anything can be harm, even you can use a soft pillow as a suffering weapon if you want, if your kind had any soft pillows of course.
By trade, I don't know if you had any good time to negotiate within a span of minutes while being on a death ball, awaiting to be blown apart, and only recently met us in just a few minutes ago! If you did planned for trade with us in the future, then what kind of trade did you want to offer and return? It is better off to hold that agreement until our people have firmed their establishment in a different planet so it produces something for the galactic market (if they have any), and thus giving you an idea on various of resources, tech, currency, and etc. you're wanted to trade on. As right now, the impervious doom of Hany's Ribbon was basically putting all of our stuffs at hold. We're on conservation mode for goodness sake!
GM Pycin, despite having a denser muscular and bone structure than most humans, as all Quatis do, is nevertheless getting on in years. He can’t take a hit like used be able to, and he can’t possibly defend himself against someone like Donny. It also wouldn’t have been terribly smart for anyone to allow a talented killer into their office without an escort of some variety or defensive strategy in place. Being that Pycin is the Grand Minister of Quatis, he would be more than well aware of all these things, as he would have also been aware that informing a killer that a bomb was in their chest was likely to have repercussions. After all, Pycin had been leading his people for many, many years….
As it happens, and as Donny had seen by the fact that Pycin had taken a smoke from Donny and had been drinking like any ordinary man since Donny arrived in his office, there was no reason to think that Pycin had any real protection. In a way Donny was right to assume that, but maybe his emotional detachment from the situation made him overlook the lingering fact that Pycin was still Grand Minister. Even when Donny’s left hook struck, Pycin knew very well what he was doing. He had control of the situation.
The punch didn’t knock Pycin out, but it was hard enough to topple the old man’s figure off his chair and onto the floor, at which point Donny’s hand would have been feeling the effects of punching a specific type of Titanium Alloy called Triobsidium. Referred to in short as Triobsi.
It probably wouldn’t have taken long, though he lie unmoving on the floor, for Donny to notice the old man’s eyes remained open, while the barely audible reeling hum of his primary motor functions could be heard powering down. Donny had punched a Symbot. It wasn’t damaged, not even the synthetic lining of its skin. The main motor function had simply been shut down by an exterior mobile source, but its secondary and tertiary functions remained operational by the real Pycin who was watching on from another room.
The Symbot started speaking again, its mouth the only part of its anatomy currently moving:
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Donny. I hope you can see past your disdain and understand why I had to do this. Insurance, you see. One can never be too sure. I do hope you are still of the mind to take me up on my offer.”
The Symbot paused a few seconds, then added;
“I don’t hold against you your actions towards me. To be honest, it was somewhat expected. And now I know for sure, you are not a man to take another man’s stature in society as a reason to compromise your principles.”
Pause.
“Rest assure, Donny, and as I told you before, you have been acquitted of all transgression towards my people. You have access to all civilian areas of the fleet. I will hold up my end of the bargain. I should inform you at this time that the jeopardy of the MIIT, although it will in fact respond only to my commands, is dependent on a subspace interface link with Dino Gavon’s life signs. Once he is dead, all my own commands will be rescinded. The MIIT will automatically detach itself from the wall of your heart and dissolve in your blood. No harm done.”
"Fuck." He said while running away to his ship. Magnus manages to get in before the larger tree starts attacking the ship. "What the hell just happened?" he said. "Was I just sexually assualted by a tree?". While Magnus was away SANDRA managed to open herself back up, but didn't cease crying. Over in the corner Barclay is slumped down on the kitchen floor. All the while the tree is shaking the ship and Magnus is in an absolute panic. He rushes over to the terminal and finally notices the message sent to him while he was being pulled towards the planet. "Shit, was was her name, Fanny?" he says while the ship was finally tipped over. Magnus falls onto the right side wall. Stunned, he manages to get back onto his feet before the captain's chair falls on him. SANDRA manages to stop crying for a moment. "Are you ok?" She yells. Magnus raises his thumb up before SANDRA continues sobbing. Magnus sighs and pushes the chair aside. Apart from a lump on his forehead, he's alright. But the mystery of this planet is still to be answered.
-Donny straightened up, adjusted his tie, warmth and humanity returning to his features. He'd sigh and glance at the symbot's device. That was probably a common one too, not anything that'd give him greater power than the one he already had. Still, he'd go over and check after blowing the thing's head off with his rifle first.-
"Hmph. Fine. But, Ah need somethin' else from yah, alongside thah ship and Dino's spatial coordinates. Ah need a device that'll take meh to othah ships in a blink and a wink. Restricted areas ain't important, but I must be able to freely traverse between thah fleet and the ship yah gave meh. Do that, and I'll even throw in an advance on killin' yah next political opponent."
Ignoring the food and beverage in front of him, Meta replies to Palin:
Meta: Other galactic factions share your thoughts, ever since the appearance of Hany's Ribbon, people all over started delving into temporal technology themselves. Suffice to say, no one knows where any of them are now.
He says all of this with a straight voice, devoid of any emotion whatsoever.
Meta then listens to Palin's offer, his steel gaze meeting Palin's own, but in actuality, his helmet's sensors were gathering data of the surrounding area. However, the room had some kind of jammer that obscured much of the area, and thus he could only get basic visual and auditory readings.
As the First Gamma continues speaking, Meta already starts thinking about his possible options and his demands. He knows he has no choice but to accept the mission, and instead thinks heavily on how he would complete it. In this new world devoid of intel, he needs to get as much as he can.
Meta: Of course I'll accept your contract First Gamma, although if you're smart enough you should know that I'm more useful alive than dead.
He pauses for a moment before speaking again.
Meta: My first request is not to interfere, you can track my location but that's it, no more, no less. After all, good relationships are built on trust, so I think that both parties should observe it.
Meta: Second, Take me to your databanks and allow me access, I want to know everything that I can about him before starting the mission.
Meta: Third, finish repairing my ship and do nothing else.
He then rises from his seat and regains his composure, before reaching his right hand out towards Palin and asking:
Meta: Do we have a deal Palin?
---
The droid pauses for a moment, processing what Rufus had just said before its protocols kick in.
“Fuck you....” Dino Gavon’s message is not immediately responded to by the alien vessel. However, had the Admiral or the science officer on board the DGS been paying attention in the following moments, they may have observed the quick spike of an energy readout from the alien vessel.
On the planet, the group of four have not traveled far down the passage before they observe an obstacle several yards ahead. The passage however is rather dark and the obstacle cannot be made out properly. Dino Gavon will find that Mili’s biological signature is coming from the location of the obstacle. So too is the reading of her abductor. No doubt one of the four party members will shed some light on the situation. When they do so, they will see that Mili is there. She is unconscious and slumped over a large stone. Yet Mili’s abductor cannot be seen.
@CmdrAlfieq@Hokum As Ernest Miss May... Please forgive me for this... I do hope you can understand...
"Enough!" Ernest yells, firing some of his plasma cannons in the air to get people to shut up. (He shot them in directions he specifically calculated will not hurt anyone, don't worry)
"You have made it clear to me that you are incapable of choosing who gets on your own." Ernest's usually calm and stoic note has been dropped in favor of a cold, angry, authoritative voice. "As I said, I have room for 100 people and 100 people ONLY, not including supplies. But the supply storage is needed for subsistence, so if I try to keep people in there."
As Ernest's message continues, some more Pods roll out, with their weapons ready as well. "Now, obviously, my judgement is flawed, just like any biological being's judgement. So, I will not pick people based on any specific attributes. The people who I will pick will be completely random. That way, it will be as fair as possible. Attempts to bribe me will not affect your odds. The only bias I will have is that if I pick someone a child, their parents have a better chance of getting on, assuming you people have normal families like that. The only exception is that if I pick someone, that individual may forfeit their spot to give it to someone else, but only if both parties are willing to do so."
Ernest's pods then go out amongst the people to start sorting. "Do not attempt to board my hull if you are not picked. If you do, you will be forcefully removed. Do not try to steal someone else's boarding rights. It will end unpleasantly for you. I do not want to hurt anyone here, but my pods WILL fire upon you if you do not comply. Do not make me."
The Repair Pods start their search for people. Who do they pick? I don't know. That will be up to Hokum and/or Alfieq.
As Rodia and Siren At this point, Lars is livid. He is not taking this conversation well. "LISTEN HERE HERE YOU PUNK! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE SO RUDE TO AN ENTIRE SPECIES! Ok, so, fine, you do HAVE reason to be concerned about the Rodia station even though it's not armed. BUT THAT IS NO REASON TO-"
"That's enough, Lars." Siren cuts Lars off.
Lars: "S-Siren? How- how long have you been standing there?"
Siren: "You don't need to know. Now go down and help Rorod with the engine, Larsy. I'm going to handle this."
Lars: "But... I don't know anything about that sorta-
Siren: "GO."
Lars skedaddles down to the engine to help Rorod in whatever way he can. Which isn't much.
Siren then sits down at Lars's desk, and talks talking on the coms. "Hello, Operator. My name is Siren, I'm the leader of Rodia."
"I do apologize for Lars's behavior." Siren sais. "Normally, he's a good boy, but I think you two must have gotten on each others' wrong feet. Let's pretend that didn't happen, and start fresh, shall we? I couldn't help but notice that the presumably inhabited planet you are orbiting is about to be blown up by Hany's Ribbon. So is Rodia. If you by chance have some way to peacefully move us out of the path of, we could keep some people on Rodia for a while. Even though we R-Core are robots, we have a large farm here that could be used to feed people and we have plenty of room remaining. This isn't a free offer, mind you, I'd expect any physically able people you keap with us to work for us for the duration or their stay. Don't worry, they wouldn't be slaves or anything. They'd still have basic human rights, and would even be paid for their work. I'd say it's a reasonable offer, and I'll be willing to negotiate with you."
@Hokum As Ramrod. Ramrod shakes Rufus's hand, somewhat awkwardly do to the height difference.
"Mraoh, mra-oh! Mraoh... mraoh mraoh?" (Nice to meet you, Rufus! Hey... do you be chance understand me?) Mraoh'd Ramrod.
Ramrod looks at the bag. "Mraoh, mraoh. Mraoh mraoh." (Oh, no thank you. Smoking might burn my cloth.) Ramrod is resistant to burning, not immune.
With a little time in Iceolia's inevitable destruction, Ernest had quickly gathered those disgruntled people in a blind gambit and move them onto a ship. Well, some of them are unhappy with the Ernest randomizing decisions by choosing them unexpected fate by its repair bots, as however, in populace minds knew that furthering the conflict will not going to accomplish them better when the Ernest was threatening them to 'forcefully removed' in queue if they're orderly refused to listen.
It is come to realization that the Ernest, aka a sentient spaceship, had started to learn the dark ways of controlling the population through fear-mongering, just because the MASGC people's indecisive and stubbornness? Accidentally by Ernest's tantrum or not, it was a very effective way to do it and left the remaining population in worrisome by several folds!
Meanwhile at the Commander's monitoring desk in MASGC Space Headquarters, he was secretly grinned for acknowledging that the Ernest's tempering flukes, is a part of Commander's influential plan.
.... Very intriguing resonant... Even for a scrap metal..
====================================================================================== Near MASGC Space Headquarters
Hearing by a different person on a same transmission, the Operator just calmed a bit.
Ah.. I expected to be a wholesome invasion and whatnot. Also if you're looking for towing your death ball away from Hany's Ribbon, then I forgiving unable to do that within a span of minutes. On top of that, if we do have the necessities to try and pull your precious spherical doomsday away from impact, it will be already far too late and soon we'll be in the world of Hany Rib's Hell Lockers. Plus, the MASGC Space Headquarters didn't have the functionality to relocate other spacey stuffs, as since we don't have that kind of technical devices to anchorage huge objects together or barely had enough fuel to escape everything in one piece.
Hence for your kind, the only remaining decisive option to save yourselves is to gather anything you have right now and ditch Rodia immediately! If my figures of information was correct, the robots doesn't required too much stuffs for maintenance themselves as unlike several living things, in which it has a various specific requirements for habitability and other complicated stuffs to consider. Within my last note, if you decided for abandoning the death ball, the MASGC will try and opening the hanger gates of the Space Headquarters for you. The sizes of hanger ports will be at medium-scale spaceships at maximum. The clock is ticking and awaiting your response, over.
Pirila sighs a breath of relief as Dino announces that they have found Mili. The information that her abductor was nearby worried her, but she'd deal with them afterwards.
As the wall of weapons reveals itself, Pirila takes a short moment to see if she sees anything especially interesting. She wasn't too big a fan of guns, but in the end she decides to settle on a simple handgun. She'd probably not use it, but she'd carry it with her just in case. After all, better safe than sorry, right?
Hida meanwhile does the same. She reaches out to grab a gun too when Cas interrupts her and offers her a gun.
"Oh! Thank you very much." She responds, taking the gun with a smile. "And while I'm not especially hungry, a snack is always good, is it not?"
As they are suddenly brought down to the planet again, Pirila has to take a moment to adjust. She wasn't used to teleporting around like this, but her determination to find Mili soon beat her nausea as she follows Dino down into the caves.
As one of the others - likely either Dino or Cas - light up the obstacle, Pirila gasps. There, slumped over a large stone, was Mili.
Throwing caution to the wind, Pirila rushes over to her. "MILI!" She shouts, completely ignoring the convenience of the situation.
Hida however, seems to be more aware of just how convenient everything is, and tries to stop Pirila from rushing forward, yet she fails to grab her in time as Pirila quickly runs out of reach. Growling, she follows after her, though she makes sure to keep some distance between herself and Pirila. After all, she didn't want to fall into the same trap if there was one, but letting Pirila go all alone wasn't smart either.
Had Donny shot the Symbot in the head, the exolining (its skin) will have been shredded, though the alloy skeleton would remain, and also the tertiary motor functions, such as speech. Symbot’s, as the name might suggest, are specifically made to mimic an already existing life form, in this case Pycin. Generally, they are controlled by the real person themselves by way of a temporal receptor that is attached to the users temple. Symbot’s don’t wear wrist devices, though. Like most androids Bots and Cyborgs – with the exception of those being used for specific purposes of deception – they don’t wear the usual wrist devises that real living people wear. Instead, they have a built in teleporter array. Donny wouldn’t have seen and wrist device on the Pycin Symbot.
In another room that looks almost identical to the room that Donny is in, the real Pycin is still seated at his desk with a temporal transceiver attached to his temple. He is watching Donny’s holographic template move around his office, perfectly mimicking the real Donny’s behavior in the duplicate room. In this office, the real office, the holographic representation of Pycin’s Symbot is also lying on the floor, interacting with the holographic Donny.
Pycin now opens his mouth to speak once again, answering Donny’s request, while the Symbot in the room with the real Donny mimics his speech, saying;
“Don’t confuse what you know about politics with those of the Quatis, Donny. My own seat is secure until I die or become otherwise incapacitated. At that point, I won’t really give a shit anymore anyway. That aside, you have no need to concern yourself. My Symbot has provided you all you will need to perform the task at hand.”
The Symbot at Donny’s feet pauses, to add patiently;
“Look to the desk again, Donny. Beside the cigar is a new Transect (wrist device). It will take you freely from ship to ship, only among non-restricted areas. That freedom is already yours. Once you’ve killed Dino you can have his personal ship. It is fitted with everything you request for after the job is done. You can’t have it while he’s still alive…. Still, I’m willing to make a compromise for you. But only this one…. Don’t make me regret this.”
Pause.
“…Securing a temporary shuttle for you will take a little time. I suggest you use that time wisely. I’ll send you directly to the flight simulators on the 18th floor. Learn to pilot a craft, Donny. I’ll then provide you the shuttle. It won’t be anything special, but it will get you around until Dino is dead. Once the shuttle is ready I’ll message you its location and the spatial coordinates of Dino Gavon. After that, you can then use the new Transect to track him. I have, as mentioned earlier, given you your own living quarter’s two doors down from his own on board the Egress. This should help. In your Transect you will find Dino’s personal access codes. With them you can enter his own chambers. Try and keep the proceedings discrete, Donny. We don’t want other members of the Quatis to know what you are up to. And one more thing… Donny. Kill him slow… make it hurt…. Do that for me, my wife, my baby girl.”
Pause.
“If there is nothing else, I will transport you to the flight simulation sector. I’ll inform you when your temporary shuttle is ready and provide you Dino’s spatial coordinates. I do suggest you get some rest, no sense in rushing this. So sleep. Have some food in the mess hall. If you like, you can access Dino’s personnel files by way of the interface terminal in his personal chambers. Best be prepared. Do not underestimate him. His cockiness is his greatest weakness.”
Donny can’t exit this room on his own, but if takes the cigar and Transect from the desk and agrees with these conditions, Pycin would then be teleport him from this room directly to the flight simulation sector, or another room of Donny's choice. Meanwhile, in the real Grand Ministers office, Pycin will remove the interface from his temple and the Symbot will power down completely.
“Good relationships built on trust, you say?” Was the Pilan’s first response. “Is that like my wife letting Dino lick her tentacles?” Palin smirked. It may have been meant as joke, had it not been for the underlining truth behind it.
He then reaches into a pocket of his pants and produces a small tablet-like device in a fashion that suggests he had been expecting Meta to ask for it. He tosses it on the table for Meta to read over:
Tablet reads as follows:
Dino Gavon: First Admiral.
Marital status: Single.
Next of kin: Parents deceased. Two known offspring. Females: Amiah Kayt and Sahmi Tels. Offspring personnel files NA.
Service History:
- First instance: Karnin Civil War. Third Rank secret Ops Officer. Extensive Intel unwarranted. File restricted. - Second instance: Karnin Civil war. Second Rank Secret Ops Officer. Extensive Intel warranted. Sixteen medallions of Quatis honor and Bravery. File Data:
Data Expunged.
- Third instance: First Lieutenant, Gold Class. File Data:
Data Expunged.
- Fourth Instance: First Gamma. Quatis Global War. Infiltration of hostile force. Objective successful. File Data:
Dino Gavon, First Gamma physical Injury. Classification: Casualty. Resuscitation required.
Medical Update: Status Rebuild. Cybernetic and structural enhancements.
Rebuild Stats: Skeletal frame replaced by Triobsidium construct. Responsive Turbine Receptor (RTR) implants applied to all joints.
Current Physical Diagnostics: Enhanced tertiary cybernetic physical abilities.
- Fifth Service History Instance: Promotion. Tertiary Cybernetic enhances Quatisoid appointed to First Admiral. Assigned as acting captain to the Quatis flag ship, Egress.
Current Primary Weapon Status: First Admiral’s Quantum rifle. First Admiral’s Transect.
First Admiral’s Quantum Rifle Combat Stats
Quantum Pulse (QP) – Subatomic molecule disrupting energy pulse. Range effect adaptable on a scale of 1-10. Setting 1=16 cm radius. setting 10=10meters radius. Obliteration of all constructs within a setting of containment.
Sonic Pulse (SP) – Vibrational Disrupter. Range effect adaptable on a scale of 1-10. Destabilization of structural matter within a setting of containment. See Quantum Pulse for containment parameters.
Photonic Piercing Charge (PPC) – Photonic discharge. Narrow Ray Assault, AKA; condensed light capsules. Intensity scaled 1-5. Scale 1=200Celcius contained heat dart. Scale 5=1000Celcius contained heat dart. All heat charges released on impact.
Electro Pelt(EP): Piercing Explosive Electric Charge. Stun Pelt Setting 1-5. Single Setting 1=500,000 volts (926 watts). Setting 5=2’500,000 volts.
Airgun(AG): Nitrogen-field Condensed air bullet. 10.0 Ns. Air bullet density= 0,01134 kg/cm^3. Air bullet Nitrogen containment integrity effective up to 200mtr. Fully and semi-automatic settings. Fully automatic – Setting 1: 400rounds per second. Setting 2=6500rounds per second. (inoperable in Nitrogen free atmospheres)
(note: this is Admiral ranking rifle settings only)
Palin then chuckles at Meta’s third request, but casually taps his finger on the desk while thinking on the matter. “You should really upgrade your repair systems. That said… I’ll assemble a small crew to repair the remainder of your systems.”
He looks at Meta’s extended hand for moment, considering the behavior. It wasn’t an unknown form of physical agreement, it just wasn’t one the Quatis used. Nevertheless, Palin takes Meta’s hand and gives it a shake; saying;
“I’m sure you’re confident in your abilities, Meta. But don’t underestimate Dino. Greater have fallen by his hand.” He releases Meta’s hand, rests back in his chair as though a great burden had been lifted from him. “I’ll transport you back to your vessel. Once your ship has been repaired I’ll send you Dino’s spatial coordinates. If you are contacted by anyone else, anyone but me personally, ignore it. You and I are the only ones supposed to know about this. Good luck. Don’t die.”
Assuming Meta has nothing further to say, he is transported back to The Tempest in a blink of an eye. He is accompanied by a Quatis repair crew who await his instruction.
“Whatever you say, my mechanical dude.” Rufus replies to the ASP and starts following. He shoves the bag of weed in his pocket as he’s walking, taking in the sights of the ship like he were a paying visitor to a futuristic museum. “Really wish I didn’t leave my cell at home ay. So hey, dudes,” He looks back at the second droid, ”Where ya’ll taken Rufus?”
Ernest doesn’t get a response from Fanny. But while he is taking the initiative to allocate specific people from the planet - and while Siren attempts to negotiate with the rude operator - the most unexpected thing happens:
Twelve blue lights appear near the orbit of Iceolia. Each light is the size of a small moon and have taken on the following formation.
At the center of the lights a void within space opens (as seen in the grey area in the image). The lights give off no scientific readings. In fact they show up on scanners as nothing more than light. But they are obviously more than that.
The void within the light formation has a 15,000 kilometers diameter (9,320.5679 miles) and has a heavy, though slow, gravitational pull, more than strong enough to pull in MASGC Space Station and Rodia into it. Ernest can also feel the pull of the anomalous light formation attempting to lift him off the ground. It will only be a matter of minutes before he is removed from the planet’s surface. Decisions better be made quickly, or none of them are going to be saved. He needs to make decisions. Now.
Rufus is already seated, so there was no reason to stoop down to shake the plush hand of Ramrod. Still, Rufus is a little confused. He doesn’t understand a word of what Ramrod is saying. He does feel a little giddy by the cat though, giggling in a dopey way as the plush is talking. After he finished talking, Rufus just assumes Ramrod said yes to his offer. He instantly starts rolling a joint while saying;
“I have no idea what you just said, my little furry dude, but allow Rufus to do the honors.”
It doesn’t take long for Rufus to roll a nice dooby. He lights it up and holds it out for Ramrod to take when suddenly the orange shrub that had followed Ramrod to that point shoves Ranrod out the way. It grabs the joint between two twigs and runs off down the path that Ramrod had arrived by, making a giggly sound as he flees.
“Yo, tree dude – that’s just rude, right?” Rufus cries out like his life was gonna soon come to an end. Picking up Ramrod by one arm, he gives chase after the shrub. “Give us back our joint, little tree dude!”
Magnus starts to feel more effects of the tree outside trying to get to him. The tree wraps its limbs around the vessel, picks it up, then starts shaking it like it was trying to empty nuts from a jar.
While Magnus is being thrown around inside the ship, SANDRA’s communication display receives an audio message from the planet-size life-form known as Fanny.
“Magnus, my darling, are you okay? I have a really bad feeling. I think daddy may have found out about our forbidden love. I’m coming – just you hold on tight!”
Following that, the ship stops shaking and a moment later the door to the ship is forced open by the tree. Bees, hundreds of them, flood into the ship. The bees take on the form of a muscular man that stands in front of Magnus and speaks:
“Filthy human spawn. What are your intentions with my daughter?”
Dino is stunned to see Pirila start running towards her friend, Mili. Anyone, even a savage like Pirila, could see that the situation didn’t add up. Thinking fast, he sets his rifle to sonic pulse, level 3, and fires at the roof of the passage. The shot causes the stone roof of the passage to come apart. A barrier of rocks fall to the floor of the passage between Pirila and Mili, blocking access.
Pirila can’t go any further without removing the wall of rocks from her path.
“Settle down, woman!” Dino now moves forward and grabs Pirila’s firmly by the shoulder, showing her the display in his wrist device. “Look here. Two reading are showing up, one of Mili and one of her abductor.”
Meanwhile, Cas lunges after Hida. Doing more than he needs to, he tackles the girl to the floor of the passage. He’s now lying on top of her, face to face, he looks into her eyes;
“You’re so brave and smart….”
Dino then furrows his brow at Cas, he can’t quite believe what is going on.
“What the hell has gotten into you, Nerd!? Can’t any of my subordinates act in the slightest way professional? Get on your feet, man!”
Cas stands and helps Hida to her feet. He looks at Dino a little embarrassed. “Forgive me, admiral, I can’t help myself. She’s so adorable. I want to know what her tentacles taste like.” With a shake of his head, an effort to cast off his unprofessional thoughts, Cas checks his wrist devise and refers to the important matter at hand, adding; “What are your plans, Admiral? It’s clear that the abductor is fucking with us.”
WARNING! TWELVE LARGE UNKNOWN INSTANCES HAVE APPEARED. INSTANCES APPEAR TO BE CREATING A STRONG, UNNATURAL GRAVITATIONAL PULL.
Ernest is quite concerned over... that. He quickly gathered the people he picked randomly, along with whatever foodstuffs he can get ahold of. As soon as he is ready to leave, he does so.
While the people get into Ernest, he gives them a message. His voice has returned to normal, far more stoic, but a tad "warmer" for lack of a better term, which is probably a welcome change for his passengers. Or maybe not. Hard to tell. "My most sincere of apologizes to you all. I must admit that I did not handle the situation down there as well as I could have. But the important thing is that you are all alive. You are all currently in the main deck, and right now the only two locations you all need to know about are this deck and the dorms, which are to your right. Now, we are in for a rough flight, with the appearance of what seems to be a gravity well of some sort. If things get too dangerous, those dorms will be the safest part of my hull you can get to."
Shortly afterwards, Ernest leaves the atmosphere, and gets ready to activate the his hyperdrive should he need to. The primary goal right now is to get these people to safety, and as quickly as possible.
As Rodia and Siren Siren is still talking to the operator. Her temper is usually quite short, much shorter that Lars's, and she is having to put a great deal of effort into not getting irritated at the operator, and it shows.
"I appreciate your offer, Operator, but there is two reasons why I must decline. First of all, Rodia has the ONLY R-Core factory that we know of. Without it, our numbers would slowly dwindle as the R-Core age beyond repair. We do have blueprints for the mass produced variety of R-Core, but the only copies and backups that we have are digital, and somebody thought is was a brilliant idea not to save a copy of blueprint in a format that can be stored on R-Core memory. I hope you see why I have to try to save this station, despite the slim odds of success." She managed to maintain a mostly calm demeanor for that statement, despite her hint of irritation.
Her voice starts getting a bit angier for the second statement, "And the second thing, Operator, is that I know how your leader thinks. He's try to control us. He'd rule the R-Core and force them to work for the MASGC. I get that to some extent, housing an entire small nation would not be cheap, but I know he would want more than for just the R-Core to pull their own weight. MUCH more. He's demand too much. And besides...."
"Nobody controls Siren." With her last statement, she abruptly cuts off the coms.
..............................
Siren heads down to the engine room, bursting in far more graciously (but just as dramatically) than typical R-Core fashion.
Siren: "Rorod! You see that gravity well thingy that just opened up?"
Rorod: "Yes, what about it? We've been trying to get aw-"
Siren: "Move our station towards it!"
Rorod: "WHAT? Are you crazy?!"
Siren: "At the moment, yes. I know it's dangerous, but we are screwed anyway, and it can't be any worse than Hany's Ribbon.
Rorod: "BUT... Ok. fine, good point. But we don't have the engine power to move Rodia towards it, or at least not any faster than we are already being dragged."
Siren: "TRY ANYWAY. That thing is our best bet for survival, if nothing else because it's not a 100% guaranteed death. SO TRY ANYWAY! TRY AND GET THIS SHIP TOWARDS THAT GRAVITY WELL, AND PRAY TO WHATEVER GOD YOU WORSHIP TO SHOW MERCY ON US!"
Because let's be honest, if there is a god, and I hope there is right now, their mercy is the only thing that could possibly save us.
..............................
The massive station starts doing everything it can to move towards that formation in a desperate attempt at survival. Admittedly, they can't do much, since nobody expected... well, any of this.
@Hokum As Ramrod "MRAOH MRAAAOH!" Those mraoh's didn't really mean anything, they were the equivalent of a human going AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
Being carried around like this, he can't do much at the moment.
-Donny took the transect and strapped it to his left wrist just above the other. Having two couldn't hurt. He ignored the cigar, and just nodded to the robot.-
"Sure, sure. Do kindleh take meh to the 18th floor. Ah'll not need long."
-He'd begin exploring the interface of his new transect, again looking for an internet. He was no longer interested in learning more about Dino. He already knew what he'd do to handle that situation. More pressing was finding out about Pycin. He didn't expect the Grand Minister to keep his word, least of all to a murderous loose-cannon outsider. First and foremost was survival. Donny could feel it, that pressure. Here he was once more, standing at the edge. Below, thousands of meters into the darkness, lay a carpet of rotting bones. Somewhere there above the precipice was an unseen lifeline, a tightrope to walk. He'd have to sense it with his gut, predict it with his mind more than see it. If he relied on sight alone he may fall. No safety net, only a brisk drop into the cold nether. It wasn't the first time he'd been here. Donny spoke softly to himself, barely whispering.-
The droids take him to the cell block of the Tempest, where the lead ASP deactivates the force field of one cell and orders Rufus to enter. Soon, an Instigator scuttles into the room, cannons ready and aiming them at Rufus, while the other ASP exits the cell block.
---
Meta replies to Palin's comment about trust:
Meta: My condolences.
He then sees Palin pull out a datapad from his person and toss it on the table towards him. He grabs it and accesses the files inside before pulling out a small datachip from his belt. Thankfully, his technology could still interface with theirs as he slides the datachip into the receiving port of the tablet, extracting all the data that he could. He then puts the datapad down and returns the datachip back to its original location.
He ignores the First Gamma's comment about his own repair systems before returning the handshake and remarking:
Meta: I'll keep the secured comlink channel open, I will inform you if I require anything more.
He lets Palin finish talking before taking a short bow and replying:
Meta: As you wish.
Meta soon finds himself teleported back onto his ship and facing a group of Quatis engineers. Niner's report then comes in, confirming the repairs on the reactor and engines and that nothing has been tampered with.
Meta: Your job is to repair the shielding systems, plasma power generator, the hull plating, and the communications and sensor array.
Niner suddenly hovers into the view of the squad, as Meta says to them.
Meta: This droid will lead you to the respective areas, once you are finished you may leave this ship.
Meta then turns around and leaves Niner and the repair crew, returning to the bridge of the Tempest.
@Hokum In the Primary bridge of the KSS Genghis, the flagship of the Lanist Khaganate's Great Expansion Fleet, dozens of eyes were nervously watching the main viewscreen. It displayed the information coming from several sensor arrays that were located in the Genghis' massive bow. The bridge crew could see a tunnel made of what seemed to be pure light, slowly moving along. The colors were constantly in flux, changing to all different colors of the rainbow. The atmosphere in the room was tense. If the wormhole were to suddenly show any problems, they'd have to cut it and get out immediately. Already, the fleet had lost tons of equipment, thousands of people and several ships to wormhole accidents. The most recent example was the loss of the KSS Tsol and the KSS Mos, which had been lost in the wormhole accident that had brought the Khaganate to the Diddly Do Sector in the first place, after which the two ships crash-landed on a small habitable world. The Khaganate's fleet could not take such a risk again. The fleet still had hundreds of ships to call upon, but the loss of good captains, commanders and other important people was a problem.
The captain of the Genghis, a man whose name was Soth Soun, sat in his chair. He was eagerly observing the situation. Strangely, the wormhole seemed incredibly stable, more stable than the wormhole of many other jumps they had made before. "Navigator," Soth said, "What is the current status of the wormhole?".
"Wormhole is unusually stable, sir," The navigator said while looking at a screen filled with several different graphs and charts. "Exotic matter levels inside the wormhole tunnel are incredibly high. Risk of causality failure is minimal. Temporal distortions are minimal. 5-dimensional spacetime structure is normal. Wormhole collapse risk is minimal. Reactor and drive systems are operating at full capacity. All systems are nominal. The absolute distance would be 500 lightyears if we were not using FTL. We will exit the wormhole in a minute."
"Thank you navigator," Captain Soun replied. The captain opened the ship's intercom system. "Attention all personnel. We are exiting the wormhole in a minute. Please move to your designated area in case anything goes wrong." Meanwhile, several communications officers were busy relaying the same message to the rest of the ships of the fleet. The vice-admiral of the GEF, Jens Knaggs, was still on the Atlas because ship-to-ship travel was prohibited during wormhole jump due to the dangers it had. Both the admiral and the Khan were in a Kurultai meeting again, as they had been before. Captain Soun hadn't heard what it was about, but there were rumors that it was about a state funeral for two important generals and Kurultai members who were reported as missing in action after two ships had been found to be crashlanded on the planet that the fleet first arrived at. Soth did not have the time to worry about this though, as he currently was in command of the entire fleet since his superiors were currently busy doing other things. He, as well as the bridge crew, would have to watch a recording of it later.
The Genghis, and then the rest of the fleet, slowly moved out of the wormhole. As soon as the entire fleet had departed the wormhole tunnel it closed instantly, and dissapeared from view. The captain looked at the viewscreen, and he could see many structures, seemingly from an artificial origin. "Give me a status report," captain Soun demanded.
"We have arrived in a solar system with a small blue star. From my scanners I have gathered there's eleven planets in the system, of which three are habitable. That's odd... the star would be classified as a blue dwarf by Terran stellar classification and theoretical models of star evolution, but blue dwarfs are evolved forms of red dwarfs so the universe is not old enough for blue dwarfs to have actually formed yet, unless this universe is way older than we thought."
"Isn't it just a B-type star?" The captain asked. He knew the stellar classes. Everyone in the bridge did, or at least they were supposed to.
"Negative, sir." The science officer replied. "B-type stars are always heavier than our sun, while the star of this system has the mass and size of an M-type, but it's actually blue rather than red. There also seem to be hundreds of artificial structures in this system, but they give off no energy signatures, so we were not able to see them when we were making the jump."
"Try to find out more about them using the electromagnetic-wave based scanners. They reflect light, so we should still be able to gather information about them. Get an absorption spectrum as well, we need to know what those things are made out of. Check for signs of hostility as well."
After less than a minute, the warning and accompanying alarm that signified that something was approaching went off in the bridge. The captain peered at the viewscreen, trying to discern what was happening, when he saw it. A giant stone cylinder was approaching the Genghis. Some of the other ships in the fleet reported two of the same objects approaching from the left and right.
"Get thrusters and shields ready." The captain ordered. "If the object gets too close we will have to attempt to dodge it. Tell the other ships in the fleet to attack if these cylinders are hostile. We have four hundred ships, and there's 3 cylinders." Dodging the massive cylinder that was approaching them would be no simple task, captain Soun new. The Genghis itself was 8 miles long and 3 miles wide, and several of the other ships in the Khaganate fleet were nearly as large as the flagship. He ordered the bridge crew to be silent and to attempt to send a message on the most general frequencies. "Unknown vessel. We are the Lanist Khaganate, and we come in peace." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fanny had completely and suddenly dissapeared from the room she was in. "Command, this is PA-1. The subject is gone. She dissapeared in the blink of an eye." James said upon seeing how Fanny had instantly vanished. "She said something about me being tested telepathically as well."
"We can see that too." Operation Command replied. "We did give her permission to leave. We'll send a recovery team to make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble. You are to report to your team's designated briefing room for a debriefing. We suspect that the subject is a Type-1, seeing how she was so easily able to become invisible to our sensors and telepathically contact you. We've already changed the classification to Delta. It would probably be wise to heed any warnings she may give us, like the one about how we should not invade the medieval world."
"Understood, Operation Command, we will go to the briefing room." James switched the communication device to the task force's frequency. "Phalanx Alpha, we are to report to the briefing room immediately."
James and the rest of Phalanx Alpha went to the briefing room, while the vice-admiral that had been sitting in the containment cell with Fanny moments earlier left to go to the hangar. The fleet was still in the wormhole so space travel was forbidden, but he had nothing better to do anyway.
James and his team entered the designated briefing room. We didn't have to put away our equipment, James thought, maybe we have another mission coming up They sat down in the 12 chairs that had been set up for them. James and their commander started to talk about what exactly the team experienced, with a focus on the strange telepathic messages James had received from Fanny and the fact that they had already encountered a new anomalous entity in the new universe they were in. Afterwards, they had been given the task to go to the hangar bay again, to make sure that the pod that was there wouldn't do anything. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The small pod stood on the hangar bay's floor. James could see that it was a haphazard construction of different parts of escape pods, thrusters, power cores and more various machines the Khaganate used for spaceflight. A small group had gathered around the capsule. There was James' team, but there were also repairmen with their nanite-based repair tools, firemen, doctors, a quarantine team, and several other groups that had been assembled by Operation Command. Phalanx Alpha, James' task force, had their rifles pointed at the door of the small pod. They had no idea what was inside of the pod.
The door started moving. The sound of metal scraping could be heard as the hatch's primitive magnetic lock, the one that was supposed to make sure that the hatch door was closed during spaceflight, was opened. Two people dressed in old spacesuits climbed down from the ladder that had been welded on the capsule much earlier. The spacesuits were Khaganate spacesuits and the people standing around the pod were slightly shocked. What made them even more shocked was when one of them took of her helmet, showing off her long red hair.
"No fucking way..." James whispered to himself as he was staring at the face of General Katie Anderson.
Unbeknownst to the Operator for notifying a slight cutoff in transmission between the two large stations, he'll then goes to his Commander for debriefing about the situation. But not long before the bringer of void has shown up to further ruining their day and MASGC Space Headquarters had been gravitational pulled towards with several people's fear of death.
[At Commander's Monitoring Office]
Commander sir! I foresaw several bad news in that matter of our current event. Care to listen if you had any time?
Go on, quickly and efficient.
*Ahem* Other than a speedy light of doom called Hany's Ribbon, we have a bigger problem. A strange enchanted lights have created some sort of a manipulated black hole at the furthest of space, and worst of all, we're currently been dragged slowly towards to that gravitational pool of some sorts!
.... Other bad news? Do you have any messages from that big, looking death-staring, station?
Yes. It's goes yadida..yada..We don't want to disband the R-Core factory thing so we stand there. Yadayada.. Doesn't want to be in control by some foreign aliens... Yadidayada.. and some other minor excuses like angering by calling their big spherical station a death ball..
Also sir, I've notices that the big death ball was attempting to do a suicide move by going towards into that gravitational void. Sadly, with our sensors for trying to figuring out the strangest anomaly in existent, we're unable to identified those strange 'crystallic' lights and probably questioning of the law of physics on this part of the universe.
Hmm.. If that the case, then we're dealing a single explanation reason for a strangest things to exist in this universe.
And what is that supposed to be meant, Commander?
The existent of SPPAACCEE... WIIIIZARDS.... Anyways, enough delaying! How is our station's energy reports?
If by luck of finding any closest habitable planets to anchor on orbit, It would've been sufficient forrr... just enough to run several laser drills at once in just a few days.
What if we're unable to find a habitable planet for resources and a place to settle on that time?
By then will be.. enough only to maintain a station with a minimal usage. We will be very sluggish at that rate. Functional, but mostly slowed down.
Operator, once we're hyperdrive'd and follow Ernest from somewhere, I want you to probe every planet as possible for a best survivability for our people... Oh and my last note on this briefing, I need you to deploy a probing satellite and using it to mark something inside of that void, just to be sure if their death ball miraculously ever survive by going through it.. You know, the Sputnik thing?
Oooh, I get it. I'll get those system on as ordered.
Very well. Prepare for the ramming beyond lightning speed! Because, we're outta here!
The sound of ringing alarm has heard all over the MASGC Space Headquarters, and the Operator has told everyone for an upcoming warp speeding out from such disasters. It'll take a minute to charge everything up before they can safely jump out from here and prior before that, the Operator has ordered a station workers to deploy a sensory Sputnik, then letting it pull towards the moonlight-ish gravitational void, acting as a location marker for not only find a location where Rodia is, but also marked the location later for a further, mysterious exploration.
By that moment of time, the Hany's Ribbon is about to hit Planet Iceolia within a minute and a few seconds. Barely enough time to escape from impact and probably going to scratch the surface of MASGC Space Headquarter's components for making their life a little more miserable.
Pirila, shocked at the sudden gunshot and cave-in, narrowly manages to avoid getting crushed by the rocks. As Dino moves forward and grabs her shoulder to explain, Pirila simply reacts in anger.
"That's exactly why we need to get there fast! So whoever took her can't do anything else to her, can you not understand that much?" She responds, batting away Dino's hand.
Hida, who was completely out of danger, gets tackled onto the solid stone floor by the over-eager Cas. Frowning, it takes about a second for to realise what happened, and sighs before smiling. "Thanks." She simply responds as she gets to her feet and inspects the cave-in, soon joined by Pirila.
"So, she's on the other side of this wall, then?" Hida asks, placing her hand on the barrier.
"Sure looked that way, can you get through?" Pirila responds, frowning and almost impatiently tapping her feet on the floor.
"If you give me enough time, sure, but I think Mr. Dino might have a different idea." Hida answers, turning her attention to Dino. "Now what?"
The three encroaching cylindrical objects held position near their points of appearance and became utterly still.
Captain Soun attempts to deliver a message to the alien structures via various general frequencies, naturally uncertain if any of these frequencies are actually those used by estranged alien technological establishments. One way or another, there was but a short wait of silent anticipation before a response was received on each of the various frequencies used. Each response was the same:
“Unknown Vessel. We are the Lanist Khaganate, and we come in peace,”
Meanwhile, the electromagnetic-wave scans uncover what might be seen as disturbing. They manage to confirm the shape and size of the many hundreds of objects in the solar system, the structural parameters of which may show up on the Captain’s telemetry. But, for the instant after the electromagnetic-wave made contact with each of the alien objects, they vanished. For what was merely a few seconds every alien object in the solar system seemed to… cease to exist. What was even more curious, is that for the minuscule instant before they vanished, many more objects were detected by the electromagnetic scan. It would seem that there were other unseen objects occupying this solar system as well. If the Khaganate captured an image of what was seen in that minuscule moment, they would see a vast network of tens of thousands of objects of various size and dimensions throughout the solar system, most of which were not visible outside of that instant.
Upon the reappearance of the objects that were already visible prior to the event, The Khaganate fleet find themselves systematically scanned by electromagnetic waves, apparently no different to their own. Like the message sent out on various frequencies, the scans appear to be relayed back to them, that, or maybe their technology was being mimicked down to the finest detail. It would be impossible to tell which.
The absorption spectrum on the other hand, had no perceivable effect. Whatever substance these alien structures were made of, did not allow such absorption technology to penetrate.
Despite these three efforts providing no firm information of just what the Khaganate were dealing with, a few minutes transpired before the first of the cylindrical objects to appear dispersed a violet flash of light. The short flash of light enveloped the whole Khaganate fleet like a cocoon for an instant in time, though no effect would have otherwise been felt.
Soon, however, there was an effect to be felt by Khaganate. Each vessel in the fleet would have felt it simultaneously. Just seconds after the flash of violet light, the fleet was shaken. The instance, that lasted no more than a second or two, could be comparable to the sudden turbulence felt by in an airplane. Yet, whatever caused this effect on the fleet wouldn’t be determined; it was accompanied by no known energy reading at all. Immediately following the impact, several hundred random Khaganate, both civilian and personnel alike throughout the fleet, would have felt lightheaded. An unlucky few of those people would have felt dizzy enough to collapse, though every individual effected would recover within a minute or two, undamaged.
Close to fifteen minutes then pass before every functional speaker device in every ship and in any room or on any person equipped with a functional audio communication or media device of any kind, receives an offensively loud screech, similar to that of an audio feedback squeal. The tremendous screech resonates through every vessel for near seven seconds before sharply cutting out.
The three massive cylindrical structures hold their positions, unchanging. Now, the center structure, though keeping its position, releases a spherical object. Its exterior however does not open up to release the sphere, the sphere simply appears to form from the cylinders curved exterior like a bubble rising from a surface before detaching. The sphere has a 50.555meter diameter, its surface apparently comprised of the same substance the cylinders are. It moved directly, though slowly, towards the Khaganate flagship, but stops at 100.555meters from the foremost point of the flagships bow. No propulsion systems are detected. No energy. Like the cylindrical structures, it gives off no readings at all. It looks like nothing more than a massive stone ball.
In the hangar of the Atlas, just a second or two after the fleet was shaken by the unknown force, Vice-Admiral Jens vanishes. From the admiral’s point of view, he feels nothing. One moment he is in the Hanger, the next thing he knows he is on board the civilian vessel KKS Yurt, seated at a table in the canteen with Fanny May seated across from him. On the table are two trays of food and a bottle of beer, one of each for him, one of each for her. From the perspective of any personnel monitoring surveillance footage, the admiral will simply appear at the table with Fanny. There will be no power flux or energy surges accompanying his transition from the Atlas to the Yurk.
Fanny didn’t arrive at the same time as the Admiral, though. She'd been spotted strolling through various random places throughout the many ships of the Khaganate fleet, yet she was doing little more than just strolling about like a tourists checking out the sights. She doesn’t interact with ships systems and interacts very little with personnel or civilians. Her specific locations seem random also - Civilian, military etc; no apparent discrimination made for her choice of destinations, which would likely make very little sense to any personnel attempting to keep track of her whereabouts at any given time. She simply appears in one place, walks around for a moment, disappears and reappears in another place on another vessel, and at times appearing in more than one place at once. But she eventually winds up in the canteen on board the Yurk just a few minutes before Jens arrives. When she arrives, there are no other instances of her appearing anywhere else among the fleet. The canteen is occupied by roughly eighty Khaganate civilians, some eating and conversing at the many tables decked out in the room, others dishing out food from the buffet style food counters.
Dressed as she was previously, and although her specific fashion may not meet the general dress code of the Khaganate civilians, nobody really pays her much attention. She casually walks to the buffet counter and grazes casually down the line taking up one each item on the menu then takes the tray back to an empty table positioned next to one wall of the room. She places the tray on the table. When she does so, and exact duplicate of the tray and its content appears beside it, along with two bottles of beer. She then takes a seat. That is the moment that Vice-Admiral Jens materializes at the table with her
While the Admiral is likely trying to come to terms with what just happened to him, Fanny takes that moment to casually rattle of some words that may not need be responded to. Perhaps a way to help him settle in faster. Or not.
“You know what?’ She says with a congenial smile, “You remind me a lot of my dad – Just kidding though!” She slaps the Admiral’s hand playfully and laughs lightly. “But don’t you just adore places like this? I really prefer the more humble surrounds, don’t you? All that posturing and broomsticks up butts is enough to give me a headache. And believe me, I’m not the person to be around when I have a headache. So eat up!” She gestures to the food in front of him. “It’s probably not what your prestigious taste is used to, but it’ll give you what you need. And oh, I hope you don’t mind, I provided my own drinks. Enjoy!”
At this point, Jens will probably have some general idea of where he is and what’s going on, but he isn’t given a chance to respond, yet. A loud piercing screech erupts throughout the room from the intercoms and various other media and communication devises that be present in the room. Fanny cringes, screwing up her face until the noise cuts of sharply.
“Oof,” She tells him, as her face returns to its normal casual demeanour; “They make such a horrible noise, don’t they? Anyway, so I thought I might have some lunch with you, Admiral. So just relax. Maybe you can answer a few more questions I have.”
If the admiral attempts to reply at that point, Fanny will reach out and place a finger on his mouth to hush him, like a mother would with her child. Kindly with a smile.
“First of all, I’d really like to know the Khaganate’s ambitions, generally. I’d just really like to hear it in your own words, you know what I mean? Secondly, picture yourself on some planet somewhere, Admiral. Let’s call it home. While you’re there, you’re walking down the street of a city and come across two strangers, one a business man, the other a street bum. Who do you smile for?”
Now willing to let the admiral speak, she picks up a bread stick and rips off a bite, chewing contently while she listens to what he has to say.
The internet, or as the Quatis used to call it, QIR (Quatis Inter-media Relations) was abolished some years ago. The Quatis felt that free information for all was more of a hazard to the Quatis infrastructure and security than anything else. Since then, information access is based on an individual’s rank or status in society. For Donny at the moment, been given class Z civilian status, he can access all he wants to know about the civilian infrastructure throughout the fleet, the ships functions, maps, almost anything aside from military sectors, political sectors, and ranking government and military personnel sheets. As for technological information of ships and other fleet functions, Donny will need to tap into the appropriate terminals that are position at their coordinating station throughout the Vessel.
Donny is transported to the 18th floor, section C, subsection A, the Flight Simulator Range. Now that Donny is out of Pycin’s office, he can use his new device to traverse through the different ships of the fleet, limited to civilian occupation. He has his own Quarters on level 5 of the flagship, civilians canteen rooms, sports centers, entertainment and theater halls, libraries etc.
The Flight Simulation Range is basically a long corridor with designated cubicles, each cubicle having its own bridge simulator. The cubicles can be sealed off by the user. Once that is done, the user takes a seat at the helm, at which point the entire cubicle transforms into an interactive realm. For Donny, it would seem like he is on the bridge of a smaller Quatis vessel complete with view screens and all the equipment, including the simulated view of space outside. The experience will feel real. Even crashing the ship is possible, to the point of the simulation resetting to start again.
That said, the Cubicles interactive vocal subroutines kick in when Donny takes a seat. It’s computerized female voice, stating:
“Welcome, Donny. You can call me El. Please state your preference. Safety protocols On or Off? At this point I must warn you, with safety protocols off any simulated accident will result in realistic consequential injuries to your person. Having the safety protocols on will restrict any injures to your person. Please state your preference.”
Once Donny answers, the interactive vocal subroutine will instantaneously set the specifications to Donny’s choosing. He can verbally request it changed at any time from this point on. He’s now free to start his training...
[Note: these are not stats on the operations of a Fleet ships, only smaller standard vessels]
The controls are fairly straight forward for anyone with a reasonable degree of intelligence. They are divided into four main boards/terminals, all four within reach of the person at the helm: Communications. Science. Propulsion. Defence and combat. Besides manual controls for everything, many of the systems can also be interacted with via voice command when more than one function needs to be applied at once.
Communications terminal
All known methods of intergalactic communication is contained here. Audio, Text, wave lengths, frequencies etc. Too many to list. Standard communications are listed on the primary panel. All communication systems are equipped with a universal translator that deciphers alien dialect in the most efficient fashion possible. For complex languages, there may be a wait before the translated message is released.
Science
Scanning array: Can scan all known elements, matter and energy and biological signatures for up to a lightyear radius. Data input is huge and distributed to various areas of the science databanks. All unknown data is distributed to sections of science analyses system for further study and computerized hypothesis.
Detection scanning array: Can scan in search of up to four elements at once within a radius 5 lightyears.
Biological Scanner: Can read and organize life signs on a planet and categorize and index of up to 200 trillion individual life sources.
Weapons array scanner: Detects, deciphers function and organizes external weapons (those of alien vessels) into data.
Propulsion terminal
Coordinates Interface: Is a scanning device that can be used in coordination with any of the propulsion systems. Scanning range of coordinates is effective up to 10 lightyears. If coordinates are chosen for any propulsion system, a speed must be chosen, and the vessel will enter autopilot until arriving at its destination. Coordinates Interface must always be used with TJS and LSF propulsion systems, as manual steering will not work.
Steering: All propulsion systems, besides TSJ and LSF, are synchronized with an Omni-directional steering stick. While at Impulse, a slight move up, down, right, left etc. will change the vessels direction correspondingly and instantly. While at Secondary Impulse, speeds must be reduced to below 2,000miles/sec for the steering to be effective. [WARNING: Attempting to steer at higher velocities will shut down all ships propulsion systems instantaneously]. Holding down the button on the top of the steering stick while changing direction will keep the vessel facing the same direction even though its direction of flight has changed.
Impulse: standard Omni-directional flight. Velocity .005 to 1,000miles/sec. Functional with instant velocity (can increase speed gradually or start instantly at the specified speed. Impulse is the only propulsion system that can be used while within a planet’s atmosphere. It can also be used in space.)
Secondary Impulse: Secondary Omni-Directional flight. Can only be used in space. Velocity 1,000 to 80,000miles/sec.
Light Speet Flux[LSF]: Single directional light speed (uses subspace as a slipstream to achieve light speed).
Trans Stellar Jump [TSJ]: Hyperspace jump. Near instantaneous travel to the desired coordinates. Works by folding space. Effective up to 10 lightyears only, as compatible to the Coordinates Interface scanners of standard vessels.
Defense and Combat terminal
Disruptors: An energy ray designed to penetrate and disrupt/destabilize all electrical and other energy power at its target. effective diameter is adjustable from 1 to 100 meters from point of impact. Range: 30, 000, 000 miles.
Quantum Cannons: Designed to remove all matter from a set containment parameter. Is effective to all elements and material known to the Quatis, besides what their own vessels are made of. Rate of fire: 2 per second. Speed of projectile: Half Light speed, depending on the gravitation pull or other influences of the surroundings. Destructive radius adjustable from levels 1-10. 1=5meters. 10=50meters. Range: 30, 000, 000 miles.
Sonic Pulse: Ineffective in space or outside an atmosphere able to support sonic waves. Is a vibrational Disrupter. Destabilization of matter within a setting of containment. See Quantum Cannons for destructive radius parameters. Range: 30, 000, 000 miles.
Photonic Charge: Narrow laser capsules of compressed, stimulated photons. Speed: Light. 1-5000 rounds per second. Will instantly melt a hole in most materials, alloys and metal upon impact. Destructive radius 5cm to 10 meters. Range: 30, 000, 000 miles.
Triobsidium Gun: Single shot or automatic. Level 10 Fully Auto=5000 rounds per second. Fires Triobsidium heavy armor piercing bullets (lead and most other metals and alloys), though ammunition is limited. Otherwise fires highly stimulated protons contained in a bullet-size self-magnetizing field, and can fire Nitrogen-field condensed air bullets within atmospheres that contain Nitrogen (all three bullet types have the same destructive capacity). Effective range: 50 miles.
Shielding
Graviton Shield: Invisible force field. A reverse gravitational/magnetic field to prevent objects from entering but allows objects to exit. Can be used while firing weapons. Cannot be used during TSJ and LSF propulsion are active.
Transphasic Shield: Will show up as a transparent red cocoon that envelops the vessel. Prevents all matter and forms of radiation from entering or exiting. Cannot be used while firing weapons. Cannot be used while any form of propulsion is active. Can withstand a blast with the yield of a supernova. Can remain effectively active for up to 15 minutes.
[NOTE: Donny will also read through the information displayed on the weapons panel of the defense and combat terminal, that Quatis vessels are impervious to their own combat technology. Saves any loose cannon Quatis trying to destroy their own kind.]
There are four view screens, all of which can be selected to display whatever data or visual information the flyer wants. Usually, at least one of these view screens are allocated to show a view of space from all six directional perspectives in split-screen style.
Rufus doesn’t seem to mind the escort, in fact he looks pretty fascinated by the proceedings. It’s all so wonderful to him. When he enters the cell the force field reactivates and the Instigator enters for added security.
“See ya later, my main man!” Rufus gives a small wave to the ASP as it exits the cell block. He then nods with righteous sentiments at the instigator. “Another marvel of the modern age, ay?”
Rufus gets bored pretty easy though. He starts rubbing his stomach while his face winces uncomfortably. After a short while he regards the Instigator again.
“I have the munchies, my dude.”
He then reaches out towards the force field of the cell, just out of curiosity, but seems a little confused when nothing happens. He reaches a little farther thinking that maybe he hadn’t reached far enough, before he realizes the force field wasn’t working. Well, at least, it wasn't working on him.
Rufus grins, looking pretty mischievous at that moment while his stomach continued to grumble.
“I’m so sorry, my righteous machine.” He said as he steps out from his cell unhindered. He steps gingerly though, cautious as to how the Instigator might respond. “Please don’t shoot me. I won’t hurt anyone. I just need to find me some food, right?” Now standing in the cell block outside of his cell, Rufus looks around for an appropriate exit. “Which way’s the kitchen? Maybe I should speak with your captain dude if he’s back? I feel like I should explain Rufus’s situation.”
The Quatis Engineers are merely under orders from their commanding officer. They say very little and comply with Meta’s instructions. They do seem a little curious, maybe a little apprehensive when Niner shows up, but systematically follow the droid to their respective areas. They get to work immediately.
It’s only a matter of minutes before Hany’s Ribbon decimates Rodia, the MASGC space station, and the planet Iceolia. Ernest readies his Hyperdrive in case he needs to use it, Siren and others on Rodia hope to God that there is in fact a God to save them, and The MASGC start charging their propulsion systems to prepare to go to warp.
Alas… the 12 lights of the nearby formation grows brighter, and the gravitational pull of the void within the lights grows stronger. Now, The Ernest has waited too little too long, even if he initiates Hyperdrive he will not be able to escape the gravity of the void. In the same way, MASGC headquarters will find their station is unable to enter Warp, because the gravitational pull of the void is creating too much subspace interference. Whether they like it or not, The MASGC are being pulled in. As for those on board the Rodia, well, maybe their prayers have been answered. Or have they? They too are inevitably being pulled into the void. The good news is, if you can call it good news at this point, is that the void will swallow them before Hany’s Ribbon arrives.
MASGC Headquarters is the first to enter the void. A few seconds later Rodia and the satellite that MASGC launched get sucked in as well. Last of all, Ernest enters the Void.
Did Hany’s Ribbon destroy Iceolia along with those poor soul left behind? Or did Hany’s Ribbon re-enter subspace and vanish just moments before impact? Maybe none of the abducted will ever know what happened to Iceolia….
When The MASGC Headquarters exit, the spatial anomaly closes behind them. They have arrived in another galaxy far, far away, in a solar system supported by a yellow dwarf star with ten major planetary bodies in orbit. The solar system is occupied by a space veering civilization that occupy 5 of these planets and a great number of artificial space colonies, satellites and stations of various kinds.
Upon their arrival, The MASGC are almost instantly approached by 10 space craft. Seven of these craft are about the length of an earth’s luxury ocean liner with elongated bodies and broad bird-like wings, brown in color, and no exterior lighting. The other craft are almost ten times that size with a similar shape and coloring, but they do have markings of striped yellow light on the lower bow and frontal regions of their wings.
The ten alien vessels quickly encompass the Commanders station. MASGC Headquarters quickly receive an abrupt, less than warm reception in the form of an automated message:
“We are the Kradam Supreme. This is the Kradam Domain. You have violated our space. You are of a foreign origin. You will not react with hostility. You will state your intentions. You will do it now.”
Despite the hostile approach of the Kradam, if the commander was to conduct scans of the region, he would find many of the planets rich in commodities.
3.5 lightyears away from where MASGC Headquarters ended up, The Ernest arrives on the outskirts of a Nebula. The Nebula is made of various gasses of different colors, and at the heart of the nebula is a pink binary star system. The binary system also has 22 planets in orbit. Many of these planets seem to be supporting life, and other space dwelling structures can be detected within the system and throughout the nebula. These other structures seem to be comprised of biological material. The whole thing is a beautiful thing to see.
Soon after arriving at the Nebula, Ernest receives a hail from somewhere within the Nebula. It’s an odd transmission composed of a series of high-pitched clicking sounds, maybe a form of language. The message lasts for several seconds before fading out like an echo in his systems.
A few minutes later, a pulse of blue light is dispersed from an unknown location within the Nebula as well. The pulse of light doesn’t damage Ernest. But soon afterwards, Ernest receives a second transmission. This time in words he can understand:
Rodia, may have had their hopes in a God fulfilled. They emerge from the anomaly in a completely different part of the universe as well, but nowhere near the MASGC or Ernest. Instead they are spewed out in what is now a solar system supported by a dead, neutron Star. The outer limits of the solar system is encompassed by a dull, grey nebula, kinda like the solar system is cloaked in a thick layer of space dust that completely blocks out the view of the outside universe.
The inner planets that may have once existed in this system have long since been done away with by the star’s aging process, and the three planets that remained in the outer perimeters of the system seem like lifeless, dark orbs continuing their slow, ancient rout around the distant glow of their sun.
There is another structure though. At first glance it might look like a planet, and a large one at that. It’s keeping a closer orbit of the sun than the other three, but on closer inspection Rodia scans will find that it’s an artificial planet 72,555miles (116,766km) in diameter and made of various unfamiliar metal types. Scanning beneath the surface of the massive planet might prove a difficult task. Maybe Rodia should take a closer look, which shouldn’t be a problem, because soon after arriving they find themselves being pulled towards it by an unknown and invisible energy beam. The pull isn’t fast, and it may take an hour or so to reach the planet, but they are definitely being pulled towards it.
Last of all, the small satellite MASGC launched before being swallowed by the void, comes out in yet another location in the universe. As it drifts of into the endless expanse of space, it is intercepted by a large vessel, 30 miles in length. This elegant looking vessel looks and moves a lot like a silver colored snake through space. After a close inspection of the satellite, the mouth of the snake-like vessel opens up and swallows the Sputnik.
“Don’t panic little dude!” Rufus said, as he continued his pursuit of the tree, “We’ll get our dooby back!”
The chase lasts until they arrive at the clearing with the vessel that Ramrod had arrived in with Hank. There the thieving orange tree stops abruptly, but not because it saw the vessel, but because the heat from the joint had caused its leaves to catch light. Within seconds one of its branches were engulfed in flames as it threw the joint away and started squealing in pain and jumping around the area in a an attempt to shake off the fire. Unfortunately, all that jumping around only made the flames spread further. The surrounding grass soon caught alight as well, each blade of the grass that caught alight also started to scream in agony, while several of the nearby trees uprooted themselves and started running away.
Rufus was the one to panic now, saying; “I should have never stepped into that portal!” He then swung his arm fast, throwing Ramrod in through the crack of the vessel to keep him safe from the fire. “Stay in there little dude, Rufus has got this!”
When Ramrod lands inside the vessel, he heard a low groaning sound. He soon realizes that the groaning is coming from Hank who is still broken on the floor in the corner. But he isn’t alone, three small shrubs have since entered the vessel. They were using their branches to poke and prod at Hank. One of the shrubs were trying to pull parts off of him. This was causing Hank a lot of distress. He was helpless and needed saving.
Meanwhile, Rufus realized he didn’t have control of the situation at all. The fire was spreading wildly. The orange tree had already reduced to ash, his dying screams cause Rufus to feel sick with pity. In the distance, maybe 30 meters away, he could see a pond. Water! But how the hell was he going to get the water from way over there to put out the fast growing fire over her?
“Little plush dude!’ He yelled out. “I think I might need your help after all!”
Dino grins at Pirila when she bats away his arm. Apparently he kinda likes a sassy woman.
"That’s fine, you attractive dame, I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Being cute will get you by.”
With his hands now placed smartly on his hips, he regards the barrier of stone, then gives a nonchalant look at Cas, Pirila and Hida, before saying smoothly. “A plan I have.” Pausing for a moment, he adds, and aiming the explanation at Pirila more than the others; “You see, young wench. Mili’s abductor is right there with her. We just can’t see him. This means he has some abilities we didn’t count on. It was an obvious trap. As a rule I tend to be wary of traps.” He gives her a smoldering look. “Call me crazy, right? But don’t worry your pretty head. Think of it this way: That monster obviously wants that girl alive for now, and I think its best we keep it that way. Let’s play along with his game for the time being.”
He looks at Cas: “You remember your spot attack and salvage training, Nerd?”
“Yes I do.” Cas gives Dino a confident nod. “Ready when you are, Admiral.”
“Then wait for my command and make sure you keep these dames safe in the process.” Dino says, then turns his attention to the girls; “Stand back, ladies, this might get messy….” He thinks for a moment and suggests. “If by chance either of you too have abilities I’m unaware of that might help along the way, and assuming you arrive at a point that you understand what’s going on at the time, feel free to lend your support to the situation.”
With that said, Dino quickly reconfigured the scanners on his wrist device, then sets in carefully laid coordinates before pressing the Teleport button.
“See you all on the other side.” He says, as he then vanishes in a flurry of light.
Once he’s gone, Cas takes a position on one knee in front of the fallen barrier of rock. He activates an open communication channel to Dino, then readies his rifle, aiming at the rocks.
In the passage on the other side of the rock barrier, Dino reappears facing towards the rocks and the position that Mili was last seen, also where her bio signature is still located along with her abductors. He is just a few meters from her. He’s also down on one knee and read for anything….
@Hokum And kinda sorta @CmdrAlfieq As Ernest Before Ernest gets the message, he absorbs the situation.
ATTEMPTING TO PINPOINT LOCATION. WARNING! ODDS OF PINPOINTING LOCATION SUCCESSFULLY ARE VERY LOW.
Ernest gives a message to the people on board. "People of the MASGC. We have good news and bad news. The bad news is that we have been dragged through some sort of wormhole and flung into an unknown part of space. The good news is that we are, as far as I can tell, safe. At least safe from Hany's Ribbon. Also, we are in this location wherever this location is."
One of Ernest's pods starts pointing towards one of the windows to show the nebula they arrived at. At least it's pretty. Since the windows don't show much, Ernest opens up some images of what his sensors are picking up on some of the screens scattered about the hull.
"Anyway, if any of you need anything, you can just tell me, and I will do my best to provide."
A few minutes later when we gets the final, understandable transmission, Ernest responds: "Greetings unknown entity. I am The Ernest, a sentient spaceship made by a people I have forgotten. Despite what my heavy armements might suggest, I come without the intention of being hostile. I am carrying 100 humans who are in desperate need of a lasting supply of subsistence. I have food and water for them, I don't know how long it will last though. If you would be willing to help, that would be most helpful."
@Hokum As Rodia and Siren Alright, god. I may know as much about you as much as these idiots surrounding me do, but at this point I am convinced you exist. So whoever, or whatever, you are, thank you for helping these people.
Siren snaps out of her random thanking of a god she knows nothing of. "Ok, so, we survived. That's good. We don't appear to be in a good situation, but we are alive."
Siren walks back to what was formerly Ramrod's office and sits in his chair. This is the first time that she's actually sat down in her own office chair. Because of that, it's still set to Ramrod's height. Ramrod is much shorter than Siren. She must adjust the seat accordingly. Then Rorod Bursts in.
Rorod: "So. Did you by chance notice the giant metal planet that's dragging us towards it?
Siren: "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. This place doesn't get a second of peace."
Siren sends messages to the giant space herself. Several identical ones in fact, each in a different method of messaging, just to make sure the message gets through. The message reads:
"This is Siren, leader of Rodia. We've had a long day. We were attacked be a giant space bomb, started getting dragged along space by said bomb, then EXPLODED by said bomb. Then we were threatened by short-tempered humans while nearly getting rammed into by a Hany's Ribbon, a giant space string of death that destroys everything in touches. Then we got sent through a wormhole, and now we are being dragged by you guys. So you had better have a darn good reason to be dragging us across space."
As Ramrod Ramrod is a bit distressed by the events taking place. Not that you can blame him, any sane person would be a bit stressed by being carried by a drug-addict twice their height, then being tossed into a small spaceship while a sentient bush catches the local forest on fire.
Ramrod runs up Hank. "Mraoh! Mra-oh mraoh!" (Hank! You are alive!)
Ramrod then pulls the plants away from Hank while angrily mraohing "Mraoh mraoh, mraoh! Mraoh!" (Bad plants, bad! bad!)
When Ramrod hears Rufus, he starts heading back out to help. "Mraoh mraoh! Mra-oh, mraoh mraoh!" (Sorry Hank! I need to go, I'll help you as soon as I can!)
Dino Gavon is in store for more than he bargained for. The best laid plans come to nothing.
When the Admiral appears on the far side of the passage, out of view of those he left behind, he is down on one knee, perhaps aiming to assault Mili’s abductor, or perhaps overpower him and through a well devised plan of interception retrieve the young, helpless girl. But nothing is so fluid.
As Dino Gavon appears in his arrogantly positioned stance, he is not yet aware of the person standing behind him. This man’s name is Cain. Cain is an old man by any standards. He has with him a staff. With this staff he instantly strikes the Admiral's shoulder. At the exact same time the rock on which Mili slumps transforms into that of a human form, Dnias. As Dnias rises, Milly, who was always Milly, drops to the floor of the passage as any unconscious person would.
Presuming that Dino looks over his shoulder to view the old man behind him, he would not see Dnias rise as Mili falls to the ground.
“Mine.” A familiar word that Dino would remember receiving from the alien vessel before arriving on the planet, now repeated from Cain’s own mouth. As Cain speaks this word, given that Dino is taken by surprise and the dreaded mark of Cain, Cain will tap the end of his cane a second time, this time hard against the ground on which Dino is positioned. The ground beneath Dino falls away like that of an ashen floor. If Dino is not quick as a bird in flight, he will thereby sink fast into the ground.
As this happens, Cain looks upon Dnias and speaks these following words to Dnias:
“Return what is mine.”
Before Cain has finished speaking, Dnias expounds a cry of frustration. This clearly inhuman noise, like that of a tortured goat, is loud enough to be heard by the three people in wait on the opposite side of the stone barrier. As Dnias shrieks, his Vector Pathol on his arm illuminates and Dnias is gone.
In the wake of Dnias’s absence, Cain grits his ancient teeth while stepping over the hole that Dino Gavon has supposedly found himself fallen into. The old man shuffles quickly and picks up the unconscious Mili, taking her under one arm like nothing more than a sack of grain. With his other hand, he uses his cane to strike at the barrier of stone. The stone instantaneously turns to dust, opening the way for those on the other side. Cain carries the child to Pirila and drops her at her feet. The child is still unconscious. Hida, Cas and Pirila will no doubt feel the sensation of mortal dread given off by Cain in his presence. The mark of Cain, given to him by God many years ago, is an inevitable sensation to feel in his company.
Regardless of Cas’s reaction, Cain does not subdue. After depositing the girl, Cain continues down the passage in direction of which the group of four had come, and vanishes into the darkness.
Dnias and Cain have now gone. The alien vessel in orbit of this planet departs a few minutes later.
-Donny was only in the simulation for an hour and a half. He didn't intend to do anything fancy or technical, and so long as he did his job right, he wouldn't need to. He'd learn the basic functions such as the essential controls, steering, hyper drive, and setting coordinates. He retired to his room afterwards, and in there he remained for several hours. He'd leave only to pick up some drinks and food from the cantina before heading back for another half day. By the end of it all, his eyes were red rimmed and heavy. He'd searched everything he could on the Grand Minister, the public information about each ship in the fleet, and any other resources available that'd tell him about the Quatis history and their known technological advances. Afterwards he'd sleep. The next afternoon he'd be practicing with the transect, teleporting from ship to ship quickly, his fingers memorizing the patterns needed to quickly tap out a destination. Mobility was an aspect of warfare he intended to not neglect.-
