No Euthanasia (FT, Closed, Mature, see OOC thread)

[Karaig]

"You talk to much.."

Revas smirked as the blue creature jerked her thumb over her shoulder, pointing at the lift. He walked by, entering the overcrowded lift. As he entered, he was beseiged by a plethora of stenches, each one worse than the last. He resisted the urge to cover his nose, though he feared the smells might burn away his sense of smell. Revas looked around, seeing few of the passengers, a giant dragon in front of him. With a sudden jerk, the elevator started to climb up the ship's levels.

What was only a few minutes turned into ages as the smells, creatures, and darkness buried Revas alive, he only light being a faint glow from his tatoos and scars; each filled with liquified raidiyas, not exactly the safest of paints. He was squished near a back corner of the elevator, but that didn't bug him. What bugged him was the giant bug's smell. It pierced through his fortitude, making Revas want to rip the insect apart- something he could do. Revas though about the creatures again, the blue leader was armed and probably dangerous, and the dragon infront of him was something Revas would only fight with some Karaigan weapons. The Rex and pink Dragon would probably back each other up, again he'd want weapons if he had to take them on together. The other humans he had a feeling he could take, and the bug he'd gladly squash, but it's carapace would prove invaluable if the enemy shot back. His train of thoughts was interupted as the lift came to a sudden halt. He looked up to barely see the blue leader move to the side of the lift. Smart, considering anyone with a grenade launcher would fire down the center, after all, Revas would. He tensed, ready to fight if an enemy appeared, not having to worry about cover- the dragon would suffice.

The lift's doors opened to reveal and empty, unguarded, hall. The lift's occupents flooded out, Revas waiting until the last of them had left. He then exited, just in time to see the blue leader, Sei, smash a boxy drone against a hard surface repeately. He followed the group, being the last to enter the barracks style room. He stood back as everyone ransacked the lockers, beds and anything that could be opened. Could it be trapped? He thought to himself, no one was anywhere to be seen, had the ship's occupents maybe placed some traps to thin the numbers? He turned his head, looking down the hall, seeing no one. Coast was clear. He turned to the group, speaking in a loud whisper while the others searched the place.

"They left quickly, watch out for traps, never know where a bomb might be hidden." he said as he looked back out of the barracks and down the corridor, scanning for hostiles.

This wasn't good. This stunk of ambush, something he was all too familar with.

[Old Tyrannia]

"Interesting," said Ratak. "It would not be unusual; Inpu is a common name among Nefer's people. However, it was particularly distressing for him as his brother, who is sadly no longer with us."

As the lift opened, Ratak sprung out, but found no one and nothing to tear apart; he was very disappointed. Meanwhile, Inpu thought about the 'Iron Man's' answer. Certainly a Seti had once been a member of this ragtag little group. There were, however, many Seti, and he had only one brother. He had thought for a moment, and then asked the Iron Man, "Where did you meet him?"

Even as he put forward his question, the lifts had opened with a wheezing sound, and Iron Man had leaped out. He glanced over at the blue creature he now knew as Sei, and saw Ratak close to her. The Avios shot him a knowing glance, and Inpu discreetly moved closer to the bird-like mercenary. He watched the darkness beyond with a feeling of dread rising in his stomach, but he thought of his brother's cool and indifferent attitude and tried, as best he could, to replicate it. Ratak sniffed the air and growled menacingly to Nefer, "there is something very bad here. We are not safe."

Almost immediately, the group moved on, and Nefer and Ratak followed. After a moment, Sei ordered the procession to hault, and appeared a moment later with a small, rodent-like droid.

"It's got an internal map on that removable storage device that will tell us where we are and how to get to the hangers," she explained. "Now we just have to find a console to plug in to."

"A bit convenient, don't you think?" growled Ratak. Nefer dismissed his comment as simple paranoia and pessimism, but still felt that something was very wrong here. Nonetheless they both followed Sei and the others down the corridor. They were silent on the journey, but some of the other prisoners whispered to each other and chatted excitedly in hushed tones. After a while they entered another room, but only found a row of empty bunks. The room looked as though it had been lived in, and recently. Ratak pushed his way to the front of the crowd and looked in the locker Sei had kicked open. There was very little of interest there. He sniffed the room, and determined that it hadn't been empty for more than a few days. Still, not the most helpful of information.

"What we really want to know," he told Nefer, "is where they have gone and why."

They moved on, Sei again at the lead. Nefer noticed that Ratak seemed to be more alert than usual, and kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Before long Sei turned to the original group she had been with and read out her findings, before saying, "What do you think? I think we should just make a straight run for it now, while the power's down and they're probably still confused."

"Hey, not to break up the little party you have going, but where is the bloody reactor in this thing? Or the bridge. Either will do. And where the fuck are all the troops? They have some payback due."

One of the prisoners was getting rowdy. Ratak turned around.

"Very well," he hissed, "go and get yourself killed in some sort of vengeful suicide mission. You will not return, and the rest of us could move on without putting up with your stink." He then turned to Sei as several of the more practical prisoners added to his taunts. "I agree with you and your friends here. We should leave now, but I do not think this is... Right. Your friend is right- there is evil in this place- but it may be closer at hand than you think."

[Of The Arch ilands]

Frank looked at the young women and managed a small smile, as she lay their in his arms. She was a rather pretty thing, an Arcadian at that, long lost Friends of the Confederacy, they where always an illusive people, to begin with but their disappearance did not go unnoticed by the confederacy, and several years where spent searching for their lost allies.

That had been some time ago, and now the confederacy got on with business, in its own little bit of space like any one else in the universe. Thats if the Confederacy hadn't been annihilated by some ungodly enemy, during his absence from home.

Home... He thought to him self with a soft scoff at the notion, a place that had been nothing but trouble for him, ever since he was young. Home... A place he missed with every ounce and sense of being he had left, and this girl had reminded him of it all. All the heart ache, and all the good times... his family... his daughter. Ooooh what would his daughter think of him now, he was a changed man and he knew it.

Every glimpse he caught into a reflective surface Frank saw him self but he wasn't looking back.

Shifting the women in his arms as he entered the lift making it his mission to stay as far away from the insectoid as possible. Placing himself next to Sei he inhaled deeply, allowing his mind to ponder what the women in his arms had said. "Ezekiel..." it didn't ring a bell to him.

The doors shut and the lights went out, worst possible scenario he could have thought of happened, each and every one of this "group" was in solitary for a reason. Each and every one was dangerous, and in a small confined dark lift, anything could happen. Franks eye sight slowly began to adjust, as the lift came to a halt, and opened.

If they weren't destined to have lived they wouldn't have. Frank didn't move, he stood their with Ninnian in his arms watching the others dive duck and roll out of the elevator, in what would have been a feeble attempt to survive. As any grenade or charge would have taken most of them out in the single blast, leaving the rest disorientated enough to be mopped up by blaster fire. Instead he rolled his eyes, and exited the lift at a walking pace after the Drakon.

"Do not falter my dear, wake the girl you will need your body for other tasks soon."

Frank winced as the soft voice resounded through his head. Who is that and why are they contacting me? He growled to himself, walking into the barracks building and setting the Arcadian onto one of the lower bunks. Looking down at her he slapped her cheek softly over and over again.

"Come on love... wakey wakey"

"What do you think?" She consulted the original group -Joanna, Frank, Terramo and Nasrys- as she read out her findings. "I think we should just make a straight run for it now, while the power's down and they're probably still confused."

Frank turned to look at Sei and the others, leaving Ninnian for a moment. "Hmmmm I would like a weapon, but im guessing the armoury is a no go... suppose we will pick shit up as we go along. Yeh B-line for the hangar!" He looked at them all his own grizzled face set in stone.

[LTPugh]

After Paul finished his speaking he saw Sei look at him with an inquisitive air, wondering what he had seen and done. She apparently decided she liked what she saw and said to him, gesturing with her blaster, "Good man. Shut up, stick close and stay sharp and you'll make it out."
Considering the circumstances they were in and what he had seen and heard Sei say to the others Paul figured he had roughly just been told that as long as he wasn’t an idiot, pulled his own weight and paid attention he could be a probationary, very probationary probably, group member. And in this situation that was worth more than any amount of money he’d ever heard of. Paul nodded at her and got in the elevator.

As they started up and the lights went out he just shut his eyes and let the rest of his senses take over. He’d been in pitch dark before and even fought in it a couple times so it didn’t bother him that he couldn’t see. However since everybody was in a tight metal box smell and touch were also overwhelmed. This was exacerbated when the insect puked all over one of the group. The smell was completely disgusting, probably in his top five worst of all time.

As the lift slowed and stopped Paul, like most everyone else his senses told him, braced himself for incoming fire. But as Sei and Joanna jumped out into the corridor he was mildly surprised by the lack of incoming death. He got out and followed at a decent interval, head on a swivel and ears open.
He stopped when Sei did and watched as she swiftly and efficiently dismembered the mouse droid to find what she was looking for, which was apparently a data chip of some kind with a map. Following her further Paul took up a position behind her and Joanna as they breached the door. Following them into the room Paul looked around, saw nobody and then started looking for something he could use.

With the luck of everybody else he couldn’t find any weapons. But he found an outfit in his approximate size made out of something a little tougher than his prison outfit, it wouldn’t help much but maybe it could help enough if he was attacked.

Turning around at a noise he noticed another human banging a chair against the wall and prying off a leg to use as a club. Paul waited until he was done and then bent off to legs of his own. Twirling them in his hands he felt slightly better. He knew that they wouldn’t do much damage, the metal was to soft for that, but maybe with the two of them he could distract an attacker long enough to grab a better weapon or take them out with a choke hold or something.

Seeing Sei in conversation with her group and some of the louder escapees Paul simply went over and stood next to the door, keeping watch with another male human whom he simply nodded at. He knew that Sei wanted to get off this damnable ship and that some of the others didn’t seem quite all there so he was going to follow her and do what she had said, shut up, stick close and stay sharp.

[Esternial]

"Come on love... wakey wakey"

Ninian was pulled away from her world of dreams and opened her eyes, confused and disoriented like a young child that got separated from her mother admits the mass of people, rushing past her, unfamiliar faces everywhere she looked. Carefully she dismounted from her rescuer's back and set foot on the ground below, her feet protected by a thin layer of leather that enveloped her feet in a protective cocoon. As she got used to walking on her own two legs again - something she hadn't done for quite some time - Ninian looked at the others, curious and eager to learn in whose company she now resided. She was just about to utter a word when a dark and nauseating feeling crept up from within her stomach like vomit rushing up her throat, but she managed to swallow the vile substance before it poured out of her mouth. Horridly she looked at her own shadow as if she was gazing at a creature from hell itself, a tense feeling taking control of her body and causing her to shiver.

"Umm...where are we? I can't remember..." Ninian whispered with a shy and coarse voice, which was still recovering from her loud scream. While she would have preferred to run and cower in a dark corner, a strange sensation managed to keep her anxiety in check and prevented her from making any stupid mistakes, no doubt the entity inside her was partially the cause of her state of emotional equilibrium, seeing as it depended on its host to be more or less alive and healthy. For a moment, Ninian thought she could reason with it and even have the a pseudo-conversation with it - something she had been trying to do for quite some time, to no avail - but soon realized demons could not be reasoned with, especially not one so vile and malicious as this one. Whether it was truly as evil as it made itself appear was a mystery, but not one that would be left unanswered for eternity.

[Xiscapia]

Boarding Troop Barracks...

When Isthammi, Calo, Terramo and Caligulus more-or-less voiced their opinions in agreement with her, Sei just nodded, partially in acknowledgement, partially in satisfaction, though she snorted at Nasrys's "titless wonder" comment. Some of them might be crazy, but at least they weren't insane...not that such held true for every member of the party. In the interval she noticed a couple of the humans busy stripping down from whatever they had been tossed into their cells in and changing into one or another of the Alignment uniforms. They were braver than she, to expose themselves to this lot, and she averted her eyes, more out of her own sense of modesty than a desire to preserve that of anyone else. When Rili spoke, however, she looked up at the angry young woman, waiting as the others voiced their criticisms of her perceived plan.

"They're right," she jerked her head at Calo, Nasrys and Ratak, tail curling. "Look here." She motioned the woman closer and tapped the map, tracing a path up from their position; the armory and bridge compartments were above them, separated by a number of decks. "If there's anyone left on this ship, they'll be in those areas, which is why we'll want to avoid them to not, you know, get fucking shot. The reactor and engines are almost directly behind us," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, back the way they came, "and I have no interest in messing with them. You can go and commit suicide-by-stormtrooper if you like, but if you're going to try something with the reactor you might as well let me put my gun in your mouth and pull the trigger, because the result would be the same either way -and letting me shoot you would have the pleasant byproduct of not risking killing us all."

Looking between Terramo and the Alumina though, and, almost as an afterthought, Nasrys, she scowled and shook her head. "Charnel was evil, as evil as anything can be. This place isn't evil. Just...creepy." She thought back to the figure she'd seen in the hallway, and pushed the memory away. No such thing as evil. Just motivations and instincts.

"Remember a second ago how we discussed those implants? I could have made that little toaster take us straight to the hangar bay, and avoid all his little friends, who usually are leading squads of guards."

"Good to know," the anthro said, regarding Caligulus thoughtfully. He was obviously not the only one with extensive modifications and implants in the group, but he did seem to be the only one with such that could actually prove useful to anyone beyond their owner. The implication that he could listen in on comm chatter was interesting as well. Hopefully he could warn them if he heard something indicating they were about to walk into a trap, although now that she had some sort of handle on his personality, she thought it likely that he might just let the undesirables be killed and take with him whatever was left -like her. Not to be trusted, she reminded herself. Respected, maybe. Trusted, no.

Speaking of lack of trust...
This entire time the others had been making a great deal of noise in going through the lockers and containers or, as two enterprising men were doing, ripping apart a chair to give themselves makeshift clubs, but the loudest of all was the bug. She had been vaguely aware that it was doing something with the many and various trunks, but it was only now, turning, that she saw what. It had torn apart each of them with its legs and secured them across the gaps in its armor, obviously making sure she couldn't pull the same trick with the blaster that she had before. Abruptly, apparently finished in upping its defenses, it turned its head to stare at her in the way that only something with no eyelids could, penetrating and without expression. She sneered at it, stroking the barrel of her weapon meaningfully, and it was the first to look away, the blink of a creature which could not blink, though she knew it had not stopped watching her.

"You and I are going to get along quite well, I suspect. Gaius Caligulus, hedonist. I realize more and more that, as detestable as I find it, cooperation may be the key to our survival here, and who better to cooperate with than someone who shares your hobbies?"

"Great, maybe you can start on Nasrys and keep your eyes off my ass," Sei leered. Of course, she was partially ribbing Nasrys for his tough-guy talk -fine, tough-Drake talk, fuck off- but she was also letting them both know that Caligulus's advances were not appreciated. The Belkan already knew that, but the message should have been clear to Nasrys; you, watch him. She could take care of Rile and the bug and whatever other foul things showed up, but she did not care to be raped by the cyborg. Once at Charnel was enough to convince her that she didn't like it.

"It would not be unusual; Inpu is a common name among Nefer's people. However, it was particularly distressing for him as his brother, who is sadly no longer with us."

"Couldn't say," Sei shook her head. "He was the first one of his kind I ever met. Given that I mistook Nefer for Inpu, I can't exactly judge who is who."

"Where did you meet him?"

Overhearing that question, Sei grimaced. Charnel again. It kept popping up in her thoughts, like a bad houseguest that wouldn't leave. She'd lost a lot there; all her gear, her freedom, her virginity, her ship and partner (at least as far as she knew), Haydin, nearly lost Joanna, even lost her sanity for a little while. It would be nice to forget, but she knew she never would. Too much had happened.

"Charnel," Joanna answered for Terramo, speaking up at one of those rare times. She looked sick just saying the word. "Calaverian death world. He didn't leave."

"Hmmmm I would like a weapon, but im guessing the armoury is a no go... suppose we will pick shit up as we go along. Yeh B-line for the hangar!"

"I guess that gives us group consensus," Sei muttered, examining the map again. Zooming in on the projected route to the main bay, trying to memorize it thoroughly so she wouldn't have to stop again to consult it, she gave it all a final look before tugging the stick out and dropping it back into her pocket. Everyone seemed ready, those who had changed were dressed, a few of them had fashioned clubs out of bed legs and the rest were just standing around waiting. At least they had some kind of cohesion, and no one was wandering off on their own quite yet, though it could just be the sense that there was safety in numbers. "Let's move." Looking to Joanna, she moved away from them all, passing between Caligulus and the insect, and made her way out into the hall again.

At the end of the corridor they ended up having to crowd into another turbolift. She could tell everyone was getting tired of being in close proximity to each other, but while the bug's stink didn't get any better at least this time around it didn't throw up on anyone, so they survived, though she did wish she had taken the hint from Isthammi and made a bandana for herself. Skipping a couple decks, they came out on the first deck above the "pit" of decks between the boarding tubes and the antimatter engines and reactor where they had been detained, now even with a series of boarding tubes just off the primary hanger. If there had been an inhabitable planet nearby, and if she hadn't thought there still might be someone manning some of the ship's guns, she might have just hopped into one of the tubes and jettisoned it, but because they were in deep space that would just be consigning herself to death of starvation or oxygen deprivation, whichever came first. So Sei led on down the halls, which were getting noticeably wider; they were close now.
Then, in a passage before a junction, she stopped.

A combination of her acute hearing and her keen nose, now dulled to the odors of the insect, allowed Sei to hear the activity ahead. If the others possessed acute senses, they would be able to tell there was something ahead also; most tellingly, Caligulus would be able to hear comm chatter just a dozen or so meters away. Edging out ahead of the group, Sei took a big breath, shut her eyes and began to dissect the organic data passing through her nose, tail whipping back and forth like a feline's, ears perked and trembling slightly, fine hairs picking out sounds that would go unheard by others. Settling onto her haunches, she concentrated, signaling back with her tail. Masculinity, sweat, fear. Twenty...no, twenty five. Durasteel, plastoid. Stormtroopers. Ozone and ash. Blasters. Recently used.

Palming a hand mirror, Joanna used it to look around the corner, confirming Sei's "readings." "I see twenty five stormtroopers," she whispered, pseudo-Arabic accent somehow stronger now that her voice was lower. "They've set up a barricade in front of a pair of blast doors. There's some sort of blaster turret on it. They're not looking our way though, they're focused on something else...a different corridor, I think. They don't know we're here." She glanced at Sei. "Is there a way around?"

"No," she opened her eyes. "Any other route would mean we have to go through that junction anyway. We're going to have to attack." She glanced back at the party. The odds weren't very good; her and Joanna with their blasters, a few of the prisoners with makeshift melee weapons, and the rest with their bare fists or other appendages, maybe claws or mandibles if they were lucky. Most of it wouldn't penetrate stormtrooper armor. This, and they were outnumbered and facing an emplaced weapon to boot.
Priority number one: Take out that turret.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon," Sei murmured to the general party. "After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty," she half groaned sympathetically, half snarled angrily, "but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up." She lifted her blaster. "Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

With that, she and Joanna turned the corner in almost perfect synchronization, Joanna kneeling and sighting down the barrel of her weapon, Sei standing and staring through the sights. They fired less than a second apart. The first bolt from Joanna hit the trooper behind the E-Web in the helmet; he went down with a smoking hole in his faceplate. Sei's shot fused the barrel of the turret together, preventing it from firing; she would have dearly loved to hit its power generator and caused it to overload and potentially blow apart, but the device was set up behind the barricade, protected from her fire. This done they both switched to fully automatic and began to spit hot, crimson death at the targeted platoon, encouraging them to keep their heads down while the rest of the party charged.

[Esternial]

Confrontation is bad; very, very bad!

The sentence kept rushing through Ninian's head until it was all she could hear. Instructions from the de facto leader of this lose group of former prisoners went unnoticed in the waves of static that twirled around inside her head, ravaging all her thoughts and turning them into small shreds. Slowly growing more mad and desperate with the second. The things this place had done to her mind would have turned any soul into an unrepairable train wreck, yet somehow she managed to leave with a shard of sanity left inside her - which could be considered as a miracle. If it hadn't been for her unwanted roommate in the loft that was her own body, she might have been off a lot worse than she was now, although her predicament at the moment wasn't much of an improvement either.

By an uncanny coincidence however, Ninian managed to recollect what little sanity she had left and come up with a plan to assist the others. Quick thinking - so she thought - was the best way to getting herself out of this mess, so she quickly reached for whatever makeshift weapon she could find - in this case that would be a pipe - and waited for a moment to strike, preferably as one of the last.

"I'm no good at fighting!" She said to herself, trying to talk some courage into herself and failing horribly at doing so.

[Of The Arch ilands]

"I guess that gives us group consensus,"

Frank simply nodded, looking at the map same time as Sei trying to memorise it the best he can before she ripped the chip from its socket and placed it in her pocket. Frank adjusted his jacket he unlike some of the others prisoners hadn't been forced into prison uniforms. He whilst on the shuttle to this prison ship they troopers had washed his cloths, he at the time had hoped it, it would get rid of the stench of Charnel... It didn't, or at least not fully. The smell would crawl up his nose every now and again depending on how he moved, the smell of rotting flesh, ash and fecies never quite left anything.

He adjusted his clean but ragged Miners coat, the padding and protection it provided in the mines was valuable in these situations. The Newer ones where even said to protect against medium yield blaster fire, but he doubted his would after all he had been through. Turning he almost jumped back, as the girl he had rescued stood there looking strait at him.

"Umm...where are we? I can't remember..."

She spoke obviously shaken by some ordeal. Frank stood their for a few seconds getting a good look at her whilst he had the chance, he knew Sei and the others where making there way out of barracks, he noted it down in the back of his mind. The girl wasn't a girl at all she was a fully grown woman, or as far as he could tell. He had never bothered to learn Arcadian physiology, whilst in the penal colony, and he doubted that even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

"Welcome to purgatory love... You got a choice arcadian, follow me and return home, or wonder off on your own and probably end up somewhere worse than Charnel." he smirked playfully at her his handsome smile spreading across his lips, all to quickly turning back to stone, grimacing at the thought of Charnel.

He indicated for Ninnian to follow him with a flick of his head as he walked past her picking up one of panels the bug had left behind after armouring its self even more. The Metal sheet was light but thick enough... he hoped to make a sort of shield. Looking behind him as he picked the piece up he checked to see if the Arcadian was following him.

"The Names Frank Kilkenny by the way." he said hoping that she would take the hint and give him her name in return. he nodded again for ever to follow him as he exited the barracks and followed the rest of the crowd. Groaning more to himself as he watched them all pile into another elevator. How many of these damned things do we have to use...

"Be calm my dear... Frank my darling Trials are coming you would do best to concentrate."

Frank shook him self... that voice again, this time it didn't hurt like a stabbing in the back of his head, it how ever filled him with warmth as if something was watching over him... he didn't like it. Piling into the lift himself he waited as it ascended once again. Piling out of the lift several floors above he followed the crowd assuming the Arcadian was following.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon," Sei murmured to the general party. "After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty," she half groaned sympathetically, half snarled angrily, "but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up." She lifted her blaster. "Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

Frank simply grunted adjusting his grip of the makeshift shield, waiting until the sound of blaster fire ripped through the corridor, In an instant frank lept forward racing down the corridor, shield held in front of him protecting him from the inevitable black lash. It came in the form of several blaster bolts, searing through the metal racing past his body. Peering through one of the new holes in his shield, he realised he had made up the distance rather quickly.

One last mad dash and he was almost on top of two of the troopers turning his shield width ways he jumped tackling them both to the ground using the shield to knock them down. He had to think fast now, if he didn't do anything quickly he would be riddled with holes. Rolling to the left off the metal board he scrambled to his feet running at the nearest storm trooper who was now getting up, Frank ploughed his heavy steel capped miners boot into the grunts head with all the force he had. the sheer force behind his blow snapped the soldiers head with a sickening crack, sending the poor soul spinning to the floor dead.

The other now dived for Frank reaching out landing a armoured punch to the right cheek of Frank sending him stumbling back. shaking off the punch Frank leaped as a crimson bolt seared past his shoulder. Rolling he picked up the metal shield once again. Another Lance of energy ricocheting off the reflective surface. Instinctively Frank throw the metal board with all the might he had. Grabbing the first storm troopers blaster squeezing the trigger riddling the second trooper with holes.

[Boico]

Casually swinging his new weapon through the air, in part to try to find the best way of using it but also because he had little else to do, he observed as one of his fellow prisoners, one of the large ones, he seemed to recall it being called Nasrys, fashioning his own weapon. He wasn't sure why, it looked as though his body alone would do significant damage. The insect, the other ungodly sized one, was ripping apart strips of metal and fixing them to its body. It seemed it was intelligent, or at least intelligent enough to protect itself from the kind of move Sei pulled back in the cell block. Seemingly challenging her to try it again, it stared at her across the room and she at it. Calo hoped they wouldn't come to blows. If they did come across any of the crew, it would be useful to have as many people in the group as possible. Besides, he wasn't sure whether anyone other than Sei knew the way off, what would happen if she were killed? Thankfully, the oversized bug simply looked away.

He cringed as Gaius continued his revolting 'charm' offensive on Sei. He didn't really care what happened to most of the party. It would be useful if Sei lived, but there was a chance that together the group might be able to muddle through, they already had the map. But there were some, namely the bug, that he hoped would be lost along the way. Gaius was another one. He gave Calo the creeps, untrustworthy and unpleasant, most likely already planning on leaving the rest of the group to die. Calo knew his type.

"I guess that gives us group consensus," "Let's move."

"On the move again." Calo mumbled. "Hopefully no more bloody turbolifts." His hopes were crushed almost as soon as they set out. Letting out a sigh, he crowded in with the rest of the group, again. The one benefit of not having his armour was that it wasn't soaking up the smells of certain members of the party, he doubted he'd be able to get rid of it. Still, he'd rather fork out the credits for a new set when he got back, if he got back, than wander around the ship with nothing but a stiff uniform, it seemed he'd be doing both.

Observing his surroundings, he wondered if there was any variation at all on the ship. Most of the corridors looked the same, the rooms looked the same, the uniforms looked the same (which wouldn't have been unusual if it were not for the fact that there wasn't any noticeable rank insignia). It must have been incredibly dull living and working on board, but then again he could never picture himself serving on board a warship. The real fighting was done by the Mobile Infantry, the Navy wasn't used to put down insurrections, so it was full of pampered wimps who had no idea what warfare was like. He assumed it was the same elsewhere.

As they came to the junction, Sei stopped and Calo did the same. The way she stopped, it was as though she had sensed something around the corner. If she was similar to some form of fox, she would no doubt posses a better sense of smell than a Human and would be able to hear higher frequencies of sound. Confirming his theory, she seemed to sniff the air. What was around the corner? Had they finally found the crew? Then her friend put a mirror around the corner, most likely to confirm there was something there.

"I see twenty five stormtroopers," she whispered, pseudo-Arabic accent somehow stronger now that her voice was lower. "They've set up a barricade in front of a pair of blast doors. There's some sort of blaster turret on it. They're not looking our way though, they're focused on something else...a different corridor, I think. They don't know we're here."

God damn. That's too many. When Sei confirmed that there was no way around, he felt a slight sinking feeling. He'd much rather take out a few of them if he was going to die, he'd be lucky if he managed one with his metal bar. Still, at least he'd finally get a chance to see his captors.

"Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot." Calo smiled when he heard the final remark. Just like General Kriegh. More likely to be killed by your superior officer than by the enemy. It gave him comfort to think back to the days in the Free Corps, and the 133rd Division after that. Sei was beginning to remind him of some of the men he served with.

When the first shot did sound, he charged around the corner. He saw a gunner fall and his turret begin to smoke. At least we don't have to worry about that. Blaster shots flew around him, all missing him narrowly until one hit him, grazing his left calf. "Fuck!" As he fell, his weapon flew out of his hand and his momentum slid him across the smooth surface of the deck, straight into the feet of one of the stormtroopers. Toppling over onto Calo, the man tried to aim his rifle, but Calo quickly hit him. He wished he hadn't. A horrible -crack- confirmed soft flesh being crushed between bone and armour. Wincing and making a mental note not to try that again, he grabbed the stormtroopers neck, pulling him into a choke-hold. A quick elbow to the stomach from the trooper pushed Calo back, but grabbing what looked to be some kind of knife from the trooper's belt, he stabbed it into the shoulder area where there was a gap in the armour. Howling in pain, the trooper made a move with his other arm to grab the knife. Calo quickly slashed at his unprotected neck, sending blood spurting out in the direction of the blade and across Calo's face.

Looking at the dead man, he slipped the knife into the belt of his uniform and picked up the dead man's rifle. The armour looked as though it might be useful as well, but that'd have to wait until the fight was over. Standing to re-join the fray, his injured leg gave way slightly. "Damn." It looked like he'd be limping for the rest of their little journey through the ship.

[Necrisis]

"Their right," she jerked her head at Calo, Nasrys and Ratak, tail curling. "Look here." She motioned the woman closer and tapped the map, tracing a path up from their position; the armory and bridge compartments were above them, separated by a number of decks. "If there's anyone left on this ship, they'll be in those areas, which is why we'll want to avoid them to not, you know, get fucking shot. The reactor and engines are almost directly behind us," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, back the way they came, "and I have no interest in messing with them. You can go and commit suicide-by-stormtrooper if you like, but if you're going to try something with the reactor you might as well let me put my gun in your mouth and pull the trigger, because the result would be the same either way -and letting me shoot you would have the pleasant byproduct of not risking killing us all."

Rili glared down at the other woman - even though she was definitely shorter. The general presence of a gun in her hands did nothing to soften the Necrian's cold, hateful eyes. Behind them ran stream of thought, and while it seemed like an eternity, it was but a strangled pause before she spoke.
Part of her - the part at the back of her mind that felt like a numbing cold - wanted to say "Yeah, bad idea. Wasn't thinking. I'll follow your lead. Let's go". It was sensible, though humbling, to admit that she wasn't thinking ahead. There was a feeling that she should know that.
But there was another part of her brain - one that itched at the thought of violence - that wanted her to say "Fuck you, bitch," and claw her eyes out, take the gun and move on to the bridge.

In the end Rili settled for saving face. She folded her arms and leaned against the bulkhead.
"You know what, fine. Let's just get the fuck out of here. After you, mighty leader."
She ignored many of the other jabs aimed her way at the stupid idea. They didn't matter, their opinions little more than hot air. But Sei... something about her... the defacto Alpha, the leader, the one who they could all blame when everything went to shit and back... She had earned Rili's respect.
Necrians in general had a strong class and respect system. Someone was better than you were a higher class. To be as good or better you followed them, learned from them. You didn't despise or hate them. Jealousy was foolish. You aspired to be them, not wallow in self pity.
The ideas of such things had been twisted and perverted in Rili's mind to the point where it was at its most base. But where many would flock to the bug or Nasrys or any of the other physically strong, Rili was drawn to Sei's command. It was mental, strong and stable. And something deep in Rili, something that was still slightly Necrian, respected that.

So Rili didn't comment when they had to enter another lift. She didn't say anything nor really respond to anyone besides her customary glare. However, when they reached the exit, and Sei started to sniff around, acting very much like a Neshcar - a trained hunting animal on Necria - Rili gave her pause. When she spoke again, Rili felt her heart starting to pound.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon," Sei murmured to the general party. "After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty," she half groaned sympathetically, half snarled angrily, "but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up." She lifted her blaster. "Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

The coldness in the back of Rili's mind spread. It was crisp and clear what she had to do. Follow the order of the Commander.
It was a very alien feeling, but strangely Rili was not adverse to it. It was as if she had merely been waiting for a worthy commander to... well, command her.

The adrenaline pounding through her sparked something deep and primal. The veins in her eyes glowed a brilliant blue, though it was likely unnoticed in the midst of combat. Yet her cold, surgical demeanor remained in control, a startling contrast to the anger that had seethed so close to the surface. The itching in the back of her head, the one screaming for blood and the taste of it, was squashed beneath a frigid iron will.

Even so, the Re-Flux Collar burned a bright purple along its intricate markings. Though alien to the others, anyone with a hint of techno-savy would understand the trait as a machine pushed to its limits. It was working very hard to keep whatever was inside her head dormant.

The first out was the one called Frank, with Rili right behind him, using the man and his makeshift shield as cover. As the man crashed unceremoniously into two stormtroopers, Rili vaulted the barricade - a friendly bolt slicing across her leg - and bowled over the two troopers behind it, forcing them briefly from cover. One staggered back, lost his footing and collided with another two. The three troopers had no time to worry about Rili however, as the charge of former inmates finished the length of the corridor and were upon them.

Rili paid them no mind. Her concentration was on her opponent. She had dropped right on top of him, surprising the trooper with the sudden switch to melee. But the trooper kept his head and rolled up into a fighting stance. Rili did a quick analysis of him. Weak points were the joints, but from the front most were covered. However the neck and underarms were the most vulnerable.
The helmet was restrictive - definitely made as a terror weapon rather than practical headgear. Line of sight would be impaired at shorter ranges. But that armor would likely be too strong for her to bypass directly.

Standing still at close range wasn't viable either. Given the number of troopers to prisoners the odds were against them.
But she could not think for them. Best to target the one she could and then move on.

She ducked down, weaved to one side and jabbed up into his unarmored armpit. He blocked it - his forearm deflecting it away, his blaster carbine skidding under his feet. The slight imbalance the blaster caused allowed Rili to catch him - pivoting on her right foot she caught him square in his chest with the left, smashing him into the blast door. She pressed the attack - knee to stomach plating; ineffective, good distraction. Left fist, needle jab to right armpit; connected, debilitated. Elbow to helmet; connected, disorientate. Sweep leg, knee drop to gap in thigh-pelvis plating. Final blow to left underarm - needle jab to nerve cluster. Pain caused would black out normal opponent, severely cripple above normal humanoid.

The trooper sagged to the ground about seven seconds after Rili had tackled him. He was alive, but barely conscious. Rili wanted him that way. She dragged him off to the side then turned to survey the field. She picked up the crude blaster rifle then knelt next to her prisoner, taking a pot shot or two as the need arose. However, the troopers obviously had not been expecting to be rushed by many unarmed prisoners. They fell before the weight of numbers and Rili contented herself with making sure her prisoner was kept alive. He could give them valuable information, something they needed.

She did not tend to the burn wounds of blaster bolts that had nicked her body. Whether by grace of the Goddes she did not believe in or blind luck that she despised, she had been unharmed during the fight.
So far.

[Saurisisia]

Charlie and Kathy stepped into the room and looked around. They were impressed by the interior, as it reminded them of a barracks on a Saurisian warship. Glancing at a nearby footlocker that was open, Charlie and Kathy noticed a holomag depicting a naked Twi'lek on it. "Ugh..." Kathy grimaced, while Charlie smiled and replied "Heh, reminds me of those Dino mags I kept under my bed! Good times..."

Looking around, Kathy overheard a Human making advances towards Sei, the blue-furred Mammal. The Dragoness grumbled "Ugh, I think I'd rather overhear a male Dragon hitting on a female like her, not a stinky Human!"

When Sei rallied the group and led them out, the two Reptiles followed suit, not wishing to be left behind in this unfamiliar ship. Walking down the hallway, the Tyrannosaurus and Dragon both grumbled when they entered another lift, which took them upwards. After arriving at a floor, they continued onwards with the others, just wondering what was waiting for them here.

Suddenly, Charlie and Kathy detected... something with their keen senses of smell despite the lingering stench of that damned bug. When Sei, who had detected it too, checked out what was it coming from and announced that a group of stormtroopers was around the corner, Charlie couldn't help but comment "Shit." while Kathy innocently asked "What's a Stormtrooper?"

Of course, Sei didn't answer as she and her Human companion managed to gun down the owner of an E-Web repeating blaster and render the weapon useless before laying down suppressive fire on the remaining stormtroopers. As the others charged forward, the two Reptiles hid behind the wall. Kathy turned to her companion and said "What do we do? We don't have any blasters!"

Nodding, Charlie replied "I know..." before he glanced around the corner, trying to see if there was any way they could help take out the stormtroopers without presenting himself as a tantalizing target.

[North Calaveras]

The bridge was to well guarded as he had well learned when he approached it. There were many guards and they had specific ways to identify themselves, mostly by there rank and number which was unknown to the Great Leader. Plan B was to go to the secondary systems terminal, which was close but at the same time he would have to dodge guards yet again, something he would do but really didn't want to. The advantage of the memory bank was that it could simply be broken to be destroyed there was no interface that needed to be accesses to ruin the information stored on board. All he needed to do was get close, open the panel and bash the hell out of it until nothing was left to salvage. The good thing about the stormtroopers helmet he had was that he had access to comms and he was still listening in, though this could only go on for so long before they know that the trooper had been compromised.

As one of the patrols passed him he fell in line with them jogging with them towards the panel. They had traveled for about three minutes before the troopers went in the wrong direction so the Dear Leader stopped and changed direction soon found himself staring at the panel. There was one guard standing by it, clearly they didn't have the need to provide much security. In fact, this guard was being very lazy and sitting down with his blaster up against the wall. The Dear Leader entered the small room where the panel was located. The guard jumped up and brought his rifle to bear onto the clone. The Great Leader raised his hands " Whow trooper..." The stormtroopers slowly lowered his weapon. " You know better than that..." The Great Leader walked up to him " Actually no I don't" He said before swing down with his baton hard on the mans wrist. There was a loud crack and a scream as the trooper dropped his blaster to grip his hand. As he did so the Dear Leader came in with a strong uppercut to the jaw stunning the man, hitting the ground in a thud. The man quickly crawled up and was stumbling to his feet but was met by the the grip of a blaster to the back of his head knocking him down again.

The trooper crawled up against a wall and one could see his chest go back and forth breathing hard. The Great Leader slowly walked up to him and pressed the weapon into his chest. The convulsions of breathing became much faster before the trigger was pulled and blasts of light passed through the man. The clone just kept pulling the trigger steam and smoke spew forth from the guard before the Dear Leader finally stopped. His attention now came to his primary objective. He ripped off the side panel and put the weapon inside of the box and squeezed again destroyed the inside of the memory frame. Charnel was now gone from the ships computer as well as anything else that was stored within. No one would know where the Great Leaders world was now and that's how he wanted it. There was only one more thing left to do...

[Belkaros]

Caligulus followed the group down the hall to the next turbolift, tossing his cigarette to the floor before boarding it. "Let it never be said that I am not without just a modicum of consideration," he said with a sarcastic inflection as the doors slid shut.

The ride was much less entertaining than the last one, though the bracing for sudden death as the doors slid open was almost as much fun the second time. A faint buzzing in the back of Caligulus' mind grew louder as they moved, until the unmistakable short bursts of communications chatter could be clearly distinguished. He listened to Sei's assessment of the situation, and nodded in agreement.

"I can detect twenty four storm trooper IFF devices, and the officer that would accompany two squadrons would indeed make twenty five. Interestingly enough, I cannot hear anything beyond those doors they are guarding, at least not from here, so I think these men may be a final line of defense, so probably no surrender. Not that any self respecting unit would surrender to our little band anyway."

As Sei and Johanna laid out the battle plan, Caligulus slipped the droid power cell from his pocket into his left hand. His right hand had locked into a fist, with his middle finger extended, and his wrist had locked into his forearm, though without advanced scanning equipment the only visible sign of this would have been the skin flowing from his middle finger into his hand, revealing the mechanical workings underneath. He punctured the battery with the finger, coating it with the power cell's caustic filling.

He charged just after the first few had gone, dashing towards a trooper wielding a heavy repeater. He tossed the power cell at the trooper's helmet from 5 meters, causing the damaged cell to burst onto the wearer's faceplate, obscuring his vision and causing his burst of fire to miss Caligulus. The aged cyborg grabbed the barrel of the repeater with one hand, turning it from himself, though possibly towards another group member, he did not care. Stunned, the trooper tried to grab his vibro-knife with his left hand, providing the opening Caligulus needed to force his finger to the third knuckle under the helmet of the trooper and into the soft tissue beneath. He relieved the dead trooper of his weapon and removed his hand just as another soldier moved into a firing position to his right.

Caligulus swung the butt of his new weapon into the soldier's stomach, causing his shot to miss Gaius' chest and instead hit his thigh. Enraged, Caligulus threw his fist into the storm trooper's helmet as hard as he could, not enough to do penetrate the armor, but hard enough to buy him the time to raise his weapon. He pressed the muzzle of the repeater into the unprotected black body glove at the right hip and fired, severing the limb. Caligulus wished he could see the look on the trooper's face as he fell, and even more so when the dying man raised his weapon to fire again, only to have it stripped from his hands and used to kill him.

Caligulus shouldered the repeater and quickly made his way back to Sei and Johanna, leaning against the wall behind them and cursing in Belkan. He looked at the smoking hole in his left leg. Lots of tissue was gone, though his important pieces were untouched. The limp on the way back was an act, and he knew that the nanites in his blood would have most of the non-cosmetic damage repaired within a few hours, but nobody else could know how meaningless such an ugly wound was to Caligulus. "Hopefully one of those troopers has something to patch this with," he said as he assumed a covering fire position with the others. "And so help the rest of the men on this ship if the nanothreading in my suit can't repair that hole. I could have bought a starship for what it cost me." With that, he continued to fire his blaster down the hall.

[Setulan]

Terramo-in a shocking display of humanity-squeezed Joanna's arm for a moment as she mentioned Charnel, distress clear in her voice. He was momentarily befuddled by the act; he hadn't had non-violent contact with another creature for some fifty years, and it had come out of nowhere. He didn't allow himself to dwell on it, however. He waited until Joanna moved up to talk to Sei before addressing the Nefer directly.

"Our hideout was rumbled by the GOU. We made a run for it." He shrugged, a gesture that clearly said there was no hope. "He wasn't the only to die in that group. So far as I can tell, he won't be the last."

The Setulan listened to Sei's denial of the nature of the ship and shook his head angrily.

"No, Sei. Charnel was simply one type of evil. I'm afraid we'll be experiencing another soon enough."

He listened thoughtfully to the plan as the group prepared to attack the storm troopers from the rear. Thanks to his extensive bionics, he had heard and smelled the men around the same time Sei had; his conclusions were similar, except for one difference. Clearly, the storm troopers were afraid-nay, terrified-of something else on the ship. Terramo didn't care. What scared an Alignment soldier was nothing, less than nothing to the grizzled veteran. It was time to kill, and killing was what he did best...and because they had been his captors, he would enjoy doing it.

Terramo was around the corner like a lightning bolt the moment the first shots were fired, the chain loose in his hands and swinging in an invisble circle as it whistled through the air. The storm troopers were already turning to face this new threat when the group fell upon them in a savage bunch, tearing apart their formation and forcing them to confront an entirely new and unexpected enemy.

In their defense, the storm troopers put up a fight. He didn't expect any less; they were somewhat able soldiers. But the group that was attacking them was full of some of the most dangerous scum in the universe.

The man Terramo went to kill turned and brought his weapon up in time to fire a hasty shot at the Setulan that thankfully missed. He didn't get a chance to fire another, as the chain smashed into his wrist and made him drop the rifle. The next second, Iron Man was upon him.

No contest.

A first the chest sent the man flying, his armor crumpled. Terramo lept on top of the struggling prone form's back and wrapped the chain around his neck twice before yanking it impossibly tight.

"Give...me...your...FACE!"

Crack!

Dropping the loose ends of the chain and rising from the limp corpse of the storm trooper, he hefted the blaster rifle and went looking for more trouble.

[Saurisisia]

Peeking around the corner several times, Charlie and Kathy could see that a number of the others were charging headlong into the stormtroopers. Seeing that, Kathy suggested "Why don't we charge them? I mean, you're big and strong, you'd fare better in a charge than I would!"

Nodding, Charlie replied "Yeah, I would. But I also would be a bigger target than you would."

"That is true..." Kathy admitted

"Still, you are a huge Tyrannosaurus, I am sure the Stormtroopers would be terrified of you, especially when they have to deal with the others."

Nodding before glancing around the corner, Charlie relented "Fine, but keep behind me, alright?"

The Dragoness said in response "I will, trust me."

The Tyrannosaurus ran out of his cover and charged forward with a roar, surging towards the stormtroopers. He ran towards two Stormtroopers who were out of their cover while Kathy followed close behind, keeping up with her far more powerful companion. One Stormtrooper turned around, and the last thing he saw was the heavily-muscled torso of the Tyrannosaurus before he impacted, sending the smaller and weaker Human clad in his white armor flying before he crashed into a nearby crate. Charlie walked over to where the stormtrooper lay, dazed but still alive... but not for long. With a vengeful snarl, the giant Therapod stepped on the Stormtrooper's chest, a sickening crunch announcing that he had crushed the trooper's chest, breastbone, and ribs. If he did survive that, he undoubtedly would've bled or suffocated to death as his heart and lungs were crushed under pressure from the huge Reptile's three-toed foot.

Meanwhile, Kathy ran up to the other trooper, who had managed to jump out of the way of Charlie and was now lying down, his back pointing toward the ceiling. Crouching beside the trooper's helmeted head, she grabbed it on both sides and jerked it violently, causing his neck to snap. With this done, she let go, causing the head to drop back down and hit the floor, limp.

With the troopers dead, the two Reptiles confiscated their blaster rifles, both of which were lying beside the lifeless bodies of their former owners, and proceeded onto other things.

[Huerdae]

ACV Spinor, Boarding Troop Barracks

The mighty form of Tutukiku had little to do now that his armor was complete, and his many eyes considered the group as they armed themselves as well. Many did not have his carapace, forced instead to acquire clubs and other generally worthless pieces of hardware with which to defend themselves. He had no such need. The sheer weight and strength of the insectoid would serve him well enough, though more likely his advantage would come in the extra armor and chitinous exoskeleton.

The next lift ride required much less loss of weight. He had already expelled all he could, and the others had decided to very thankfully whine less about the stench which they could clearly not appreciate. He had the misfortune of being captured alongside the most disgusting, complaining criminals in the history of the galaxy.

They were also, possibly, the bravest. When it came to the path which they were forced to take, they barely even hesitated in preparing an attack. Perhaps, just maybe, they would be of use to him. But they needed direction. Leadership. Turning, he screeched toward the others, stomping his legs to set them firmly as some of the others charged around the corner.

He chittered something quickly to them, then threw himself around the corner, powerful legs propelling him like a battering ram. Luckily for many of those in front of him, the noise and size of him made him much more of a target than them, and his simple ability to survive was probably what saved a few. Blaster bolts slammed into the metal plating, or ricocheted off his carapace, leaving scorch marks and small, burning divots in his body as he screeched a warcry. His target, however, was very carefully picked, and one that apparently knew it. At the last second, the man slammed a grenade into the heavy repeater, launching it toward the Winger's face. Only a timely lifting of the stolen trunk saved him from what would likely be an unpleasant death, but the concussion stunned him, and the big bug, despite his armor, stumbled, fell, and rolled to a stop.

For a moment, he was down, legs twitching, but as the others hit the defenses, the trunk suddenly was lifted, slamming into the torso of the approaching stormtrooper. The impact tossed the weapon from the man's grasp, and as Tutu rose, he dropped the trunk. Once more, massive amounts of fire came at him, but this time, much less drastic, more-so as the bug tore the stormtrooper's head from his body, spraying blood across the entire platoon.

In an instant, the battle went from madness, to sheer chaos. The amount of blood now made footing difficult, and Tutu stumbled once, falling again as he scrambled with his many legs for the heavy repeater. Grasping it, he turned, setting his stance, and fired rapidly into the chest of the next storm trooper, many-faceted eyes taking in the carnage to see who was dead, on both sides.

[Vipra]

Isthammi shot a wicked smile at Nasyrs, unseen behind her mask, “Aw, I like you too sweetheart,” she looked him from scaled head to clawed toe. How delicious, Isthammi licked her lips in thought, I wish more of this sorry lot were like him. He truly was more impressive than near any other man she had met, and definitely closer to her type as well from what she had overheard him saying. It was a shame they had to work together, a deep part of her wanted to bludgeon him half to death and then see how much of a man he was in other more salacious ways. Tearing her eyes from the delectable piece of man meat, the atoran convict went back to scanning the others present. Harsh realities had taught her never to trust anyone even remotely akin to herself, and right now everyone present were all too similar for her pleasure.

The collected convicts around her gathering weapons and changing were also keenly caught by her cybernetic eyes. The insect, fashioning itself some crude armour, was most certainly of interest. She did not trust the creature to any degree, and spent an overly long time looking for chinks in its new plating which could be exploited. As her gaze turned from the giant bug a sly grin tugged at her mouth at the sight of humans stripping down, taking a quick glance before looking elsewhere. Everyone was armed or otherwise prepared it seemed, certainly they would do their best as fodder before the ultimate untimely end.

The only other apparent cyborg among the lot, Caligulus, fell under Isthammi’s gaze. Uglier than me, she chuckled on the inside as she got a better look at his many apparent augments and modifications. His advances towards Sei and open statement of a dislike for cooperation had him labelled as a liability in Isthammi’s mind, to be terminated at the first possible opportunity. Already she was beginning to imagine what she could do to keep his augments intact but still kill him cleanly, his corpse would be worth a fortune on the black market or at the very least she could replace some of her own worn out cybernetics.

“Let’s move.”

Her mind was torn from the pleasant thoughts of murdering and dissecting the cyborg back to reality as Sei began to move once more. Isthammi followed more than a few steps behind, letting others take up space at the front of their group in case of an ambush. No ambush came though. Instead she was met by another turbolift. Gods those things were dreadful, practically no cover except for other living beings and far too many elbows poking and prodding her in terribly uncomfortable places thanks to her height. Still it was better than sitting on the floor and waiting to be thrown back into a cell or shot. Isthammi piled in and toughed the ride out.

As the turbolift halted and the assorted crowd swarmed out once more, Isthammi took time to note the boarding tubes. The brief and rather delightful idea of stuffing the cyborg in one crossed her mind, as she could potentially return and pick up his desiccated corpse in the future. However it would have caused too much trouble, and without a gun she dreadfully needed to stay on Sei’s good side by not randomly murdering people. Although in this case she might have thanked Isthammi for removing the nuisance. All so quickly the group was at the junction, Sei ducking ahead of the group and taking a stance that looked all too similar to a hound beginning the hunt. It was not a good sign. Sei’s companion used a mirror to peer around the corner, and their situation made clear.

"I see twenty five stormtroopers," she whispered, pseudo-Arabic accent somehow stronger now that her voice was lower. "They've set up a barricade in front of a pair of blast doors. There's some sort of blaster turret on it. They're not looking our way though, they're focused on something else...a different corridor, I think. They don't know we're here."

Son of a bitch, Isthammi quickly looked to her compatriots, and then back to the corner where Sei waited with one of the only two guns, Some of this fodder needs to go first. It was better odds than she had had the last time she had faced the stormtroopers, but this time she lacked a gun. She need meat shields to even the odds. Now how could she get the others to go ahead of her-

"Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

Isthammi smiled, first problem solved. She waited until the first shots had rung out, then a bit longer, waiting just that last tentative moment as the others began to charge forward before joining in. Then she was at a crouched run, doing her best not to be the tallest and most opportune target. Blaster shots flew by as the air seemingly turned into deadly bolts of energy intent upon killing every last person in the sortie. The sounds were delightful even if the view was dreadful, a cacophony of shouting and the chorus of weapons colliding with armour filling the air as the rush met the waiting troopers.

With a deep and bloodcurdling bellow Isthammi threw herself into the fray, picking out the first stormtrooper within arm’s reach and making to tear his throat out with her crude weapon. These soldiers were wearing armour though, and armour is harder than bone. While the blow landed squarely, the bone shattered and crumpled into sharp shards that ripped into the wraps she had covering her hand. The trooper fell back a step, throwing a hand to his throat as he gasped for breath through a nearly crushed windpipe. With his other hand he brought his heavy repeater to bear upon Isthammi. Instincts and adrenalin controlling her every move, Isthammi threw herself at the winded soldier even as he drew his weapon up. He pulled the trigger and a cascade of rounds ripped into the air, and Isthammi.

The next few moments were a mostly a blur for Isthammi, her left arm caught in the burst of fire as she raised it for protection and a good deal of the light blue skin was flensed from the artificial musculature below. Her other arm she used to slam down the weapon before it could reach her chest or vital area, causing ricochets to ping off of the flooring and to god’s knew where. The rest of her charge was spent knocking the soldier down, shoulder checking him. Isthammi followed him to the ground, letting her weight crush the air from his lungs even as he struggled to draw life granting air in. In but a blink she was atop him, straddling his chest with her legs pinning the soldiers arms at his sides. The repeater slipped from his grasp, and Isthammi’s hands found his throat, blood flowing from her left arm to quickly turn the formerly white armour a dark crimson.

She could feel his life slip from him, his struggling slowing as she crushed his windpipe underneath the armour and yet continued to crush the weakened flesh below. Only when that last vital jerk of energy had left the soldier’s body, and his limbs went limp, did she rise. Without further ado she went for the rifle that had caused her so much harm. Grimacing and groaning as she pulled the weapon from the ground, Isthammi quickly looked to her arm, breathing a sigh of relief as the bloodflow was quickly stemmed by internal coagulants. With the skin ripped away in most places, the grey fullerene muscle below was exposed, a sight that drew a grunt from its owner. Hefting the gun from the ground with her bloodied arm, Isthammi raised the corpse of the trooper she had slain with the other, holding his lifeless corpse in front of her to act as ad-hoc cover. Feeling more secure, if in agony, Isthammi scanned for any targets she could unleash her newly born anger upon.

[Alversia]

Syona’s warning of evil appeared to be heard but unheeded by the group as they attempted to instead locate a way off the vessel. The range of their reactions was most interesting to the feline, at least, most interesting to the voice that had spoken through her mouth. Sei seemed determined to ignore the very concept of something being evil in itself, Nasrys seemed determined that whatever this evil was, he would meet it head on and smash it in the face, which was acceptable. It was Terramo’s reaction which seemed to be the most fascinating. He appeared to agree with her, lightly rebuking Sei in the process and speaking of a planet called Charnel. She had not heard of it. Her curiosity was piqued, particularly when she saw the ghostly expression which danced across Joanna’s visage and how the others, who all appeared to have a shared history of this place, made subtle little signs that highlighted to her that it was not a place to be curious about, simply a place to avoid. Even so, she made a mental note of the name and made up her mind that she would do some research when she returned to her people…if she returned to her people. Her body shivered involuntarily at the thought. It was not a reaction her own mind had inspired.

Once the group’s would-be Casanova had been repelled from his initial move, and the various members of the group were finished dressing and vandalising the place, it seemed they were ready to once again move. Syona liked the current plan very much. Get off this ship as soon as possible and and return to some sort of civilised space. Her thoughts would not turn to that until they had passed beyond the hangar but there was a sense of urgency in the way she walked. She was being willed to depart the vessel as soon as was possible. Sadly, this thought was interrupted as the group once again piled into one of the turbolifts, squeezed around the massive insectoid who now took up even more room thanks to his improvised armour. At least it had the decency not to throw up in the middle of them all again. Even thinking about it brought made her stomach churn.

After an eternity or so, the doors to the lift reluctantly creaked open and the group spilled out into the corridor, determined not to be the last one left in the cramped space with the rancid bug. Syona sort of flowed out with them, allowing herself to be carried out by the flood and standing on her own two feet once they were clear. Now free of the lift and the smell, Syona’s thoughts turned once again to the wonderful idea of getting off the ship. She paid little attention either to the rest of the group or their surroundings. To her it was a warship, plain and simple; dull grey bulkheads, slightly chilled atmosphere and sterile but stale air. It could have been any ship from Alignment to Huerdaen. What was of slightly more concern was its size. The walk appeared to be never ending. She bypassed the escape tubes without a second thought. She knew they were deep in space and without any sort of distress signal or, indeed anyone to actually hear it; it could be a long, long time before their frigid, oxygen-starved corpses were rescued.

Suddenly she came to a halt as her ears perked up. She could hear voices. And they weren’t in her head. She cautiously approached the front were Sei and Joanna were positioned, her ears perked forward as she strained for any further sound. Once she was alongside the blue-furred Anthro, she could hear the buzz of vox systems interacting with one another. Better than that, she could now feel them as well. She agreed with Sei’s prognosis; twenty four men dressed in armour with recently fired blasters.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon. After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty, but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up. Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

‘Good talk.’ One of the voices in Syona’s head thought amusingly with a hint of menace, ‘how about I take your blaster and shove it up your ass? Then we’ll see who’s doing the rushing…’ Syona clamped down on this errant thought rather quickly.

Of course, something which helped that process was the mad chittering and clicking of the insect behind her. Syona could not understand a word it was saying and had no real desire to, but somehow, in her mind, there was a sense that perhaps she could just hang back a moment, long enough to allow the bug to move in front of her. It would protect her. The Feline Soldier suddenly drew up images of battle from her memory, times she had gone into action. She felt the same twist in her stomach as then, the same tensing of the muscles, the sour taste in the back of her mouth as fear began to circulate around her system. Normally she could convince herself that she had a chance. She was dressed in armour and had a weapon. She had a chance of making it through alive. Now though, she was dressed in only a pair of shorts and a shirt, she had no weapons except those she had always carried. She felt very much isolated and vulnerable. That made the taste of fear all the more potent.

The shots were fired; two ringing out in quick succession and Syona forced herself from her cover. Her fears and anxieties went to the back of her mind as she counted down a second. Sure enough, the insectoid pushed past her, although it was too slow to beat the initial rush. When it had disappeared around the corner then Syona took her chance to do the same, rolling from the only cover they had and advancing. It reminded her of a penal unit, with the enemy guns to the front and the friendly guns behind, each ready to mow you down if you advanced in the wrong direction. She could feel the heat as blasters fired round after round into the floor, ceiling and walls, melting it into black, misshapen metal. She could smell it burning, the noise was deafening, the sounds of weapon discharges, the screams of battle, the heavy thumps of fists and bars on armour. It was precisely what she had been expecting, a brutal close range battle between desperate prisoners and men who had not been prepared for them. The bulkhead directly in front of them was shut but she could pay no attention to it as a crimson bolt shot by her ear.

Syona bent over slightly, presenting a small target as she dashed forward, seeking cover. Even as she moved though, the sinister voice in the back of her head began to nudge her thoughts,
“Let me take over.”

“What? No.” Syona’s mental barriers went up, she refused to listen to the voice but it was there, insidiously whispering at her, wearing down her defences slowly but surely.

“You know I could finish this with a single swipe of the hand. You know I could do this without breaking a sweat. You’re scared of me, scared of the dark side of yourself even when you know it’s best to use it, you won’t. You’ll let people die before you unleash me…”

Syona forced her mind back to the sounds of battle, the smells and the sights. She focused herself once again, concentrating on her training and ignoring the whispering. Of course, it never went away…it only hid in the background…

She had somehow found while fighting with herself, a metal bench that had been overturned to act like a temporary cover. Of course, the smooth surface had been pot marked with a hundred blaster rounds as others before her had used it and then moved on. She could sense movement above her, flailing limbs and the squelching sound of close-quarters combat.

She emerged from the cover and quickly surveyed the situation. In most cases, at least half a dozen or more of the Stormtroopers had already fallen. The first group had been destroyed and now it seemed like most of the prisoners had been armed with the fallen soldier’s weaponry and the odds of the battle evened considerably.

Despite this, it appeared that the group had not attacked entirely unscathed. A little to her left she could see that one of the group, she remembered his name was Calo, was limping, wounded in his fight with a Stormtrooper. She watched him for a few moments, concerned, and spotted another Stormtrooper, safely out of melee range, taking aim with his own rifle.

“Look out!” She cried instinctively and threw her palm forwards the Trooper. Unerringly, he and a trooper behind him flew backwards in a white blur and hit the bulkhead behind with two sickening thuds. They were embedded in the metal wall, so strongly had they hit it, their limps
limp. Syona was afraid. Because she had lost a little control in her panic at seeing one of the group in danger...she couldn’t even explain why.

“Are...you okay?” She asked Calo over the noise of the blaster fire.

[Karaig]

Revas followed the rag-tag group of humans, felines, reptilians, and cyborgs. It was quite the party; Revas could see them doing a lot of damage. He measured up the group to be not only criminals, but ex-special operations, assassins, super soldiers, and even a take charge leader to boot. He followed closely, his eyes stalking the shadows as he kept vigilant against the sterile hallways that were now being dirtied by the gang's poor hygiene. As he walked he thought about his life, pondering his past. Had he been in worst shitholes then this? That was a yes with a capital "y". Nothing would ever beat that Cytrox fortress world during the 4th. Had he ever been without equipment? Another yes, but at least this time he has pants. Had he ever been with such a threatening bunch that he could tell who to trust? Yes, hell that was about half his friends. Then he thought for a moment if he had ever been in a gang that was more threatening and powerful than this one.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon. After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty, but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up. Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

His train of thought was interrupted by Sei’s order. He turned to see the blue feline thing, what whatever the hell she was, dart around the corner, firing at some stormtroopers. As the gang surged forward like a wave of death, Revas joined in sprinting towards the plastoid clad troops. As the two forces clashed, Revas assaulted some troopers backed up to the corridor’s left wall. There were two of them, each aiming into the crowd, well brawling chaos that had erupted in the ship’s hallway. He drove his left elbow into the closet white trooper, the elbow violently crashing into the faceless man’s throat, crushing it under the muscle that was Revas. As the trooper stepped back, dazed and suffocating from the blow, his comrade spun, priming a blaster rifle at Revas, who in turn countered. He darted towards the trooper, falling into a slide and slamming into the trooper’s knees. He fell, as gravity dictated, just as Revas flipped, landing on the fallen trooper. With his knee crushing the trooper’s neck, he lost his value as a threat, only a nuisance as his arms flailed for the air he’d never have.

Revas looked around the field, well corridor, of battle seeing his new comrades besting the stormtroopers. He chuckled, the petty white clad troop were nothing, maybe lower than nothing, when compared to Karaigan Stormtroopers. He turned back to his situation, the man under his body now dead, Revas grasped the blaster rifle, checking its sights, clip and build. Behind him came the other trooper he had elbowed, aiming a gun to the back of the karaigan’s head. He took aim, preparing t kill the unsuspected man, it would be instant. Then came a flash, followed by ozone and smoke, and the rattle of a blaster falling to the ground. Revas looked over his left shoulder, a smile cracking his face. Under his right armpit was a smoking blaster, poking through.

“Yep, it works.” Revas said to himself. He looked over it one more time, before aiming down at the dead trooper below him. He pulled the trigger over the trooper’s head. Never can be too careful. He stood up giving the weapon one last look over; it was a petty weapon, but it’d serve him for the time being. Man, he missed his SPKR. He moved over the other dead trooper, picking up his blaster. They could be easily dual wielded, but that wasn’t his style. He peered over the dying battle, his gang would win, and he was betting everything he had on it.

“Man I haven’t killed in a while!” Revas yelled as he used both blasters to lay down a perpendicular suppressive fire to Sei’s. This was a prison break.

[LTPugh]

Paul followed the gang down the hall and into another elevator and took an uneventful ride up to whatever floor Sei led them to. After more seemingly endless corridors the group stopped and several of the species with better noses sniffed the air. Sei and Joanna had a little conference after they peeked around a corner and saw an emplaced position surrounded by troops.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon. After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty, but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up. Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die. Go on the first shot."

Paul gripped his relatively flimsy weapons tight and prepared himself right as the two blaster wielding escapees turned the corner and started firing away. Out in front were a human with a makeshift shield and the big bug in armor. Paul sprinted off after them both, close behind the insect that did a rather good job of blocking any fire which might have hit him.

Paul had been in similar situations before and knew being outnumbered and outgunned meant little to nothing if the enemy was surprised, you kept the surprise up and if you were savage enough. So, in what any military review of the incident would have called stupid and reckless, in mid stride he leapt up onto the barricade and made a flying leap right into one of the very white and very stunned stormtroopers.

While the flying leap was visually surprising it actually had not been aimed very well. However this time luck was on his side and he crashed down on top of the stunned trooper and ended up basically squatting on his chest. Knowing his clubs were basically useless he dropped them and immediately chopped the trooper across the windpipe, causing him to involuntarily choke and grasp at his neck. Hearing a clatter Paul saw a vibroknife laying on the ground that was probably dropped by the stormtrooper. Grabbing it, he slammed it into the troopers exposed neck area and sliced, nearly decapitating him.

Standing up he grabbed the troopers main weapon, a Heavy Repeater not one of the more common blaster rifles, leapt back to the other side of the barricade and started laying down aimed fire at whatever enemies he could get a decent shot at.

[Kesou]

Pain.

Her ears would ring, even now. The flash of gunfire from her weapon reminded her strongly of the howling weapons that pelted the street. She still felt the sting in her back as she'd fallen. That was it. She'd died. She had felt the last of her life drift away. Imagine her surprise when she'd awoken again. They.. saved her, and she was ever so thankful. She doesn't remember much, her sorry state blurring out just about everything of her journey away from that forsaken planet. But she was with -her-. She was safe, now. They were both safe. It didn't matter that whomever was transporting them had been keeping them locked up. Anything was better than that place. Anything was better than the cargo hold. Clean. Fed. Almost healthy, Joanna had regained her colour quickly. She was averse to speaking at first, not because she dared not say anything, but because they didn't need to. The comfort was there. What else did they need?

It was a pleasant life. She didn't need to know what happened to the others, nor did she care. She found herself offering Haydin, that strange strange man, a single passing thought, and a question arose, but it never left her lips. She did not get through her life worrying about others. She had not considered the irony that led to this moment. Then one day, the hum of engines that she found so soothing changed. The atmosphere followed the same course. Herded into a smaller, windowless cage like an animal ready to be sold. But at least she had Sei. Her hope had been broken more than once, and the woman had learnt to accept small comfort. This was a luxury. She dared to speak once or twice only to break the silence, but Sei had silenced her, and Joanna was not one to complain.

The engines died. Sei grew restless, yet Joanna found it a strangely peaceful time. She wondered if she was broken inside. Wasn't I always?
----

She shook out of it. What the hell was that? Flashbacks. The woman blinks, and stuffs the mirror back into her flightjacket as Sei relayed orders to the others. She'd become talkative. Both of them had. Out of necessity, she imagines. She looked down at her weapon unsurely. It was a piece of junk. You'd find better weapons in a scrapheap on the Ion Lance, but then again, the Ion Lance were arms dealers, so that made sense. When she returned, she'd be graced with her own ship, and she'd reclaim everything she'd lost. It was no longer a question of -if- she'd make it out. Nothing was worse than Charnel. Nothing. Blocks out the conversation held between Sei - her chosen leader - and the scum they've managed to continue hauling about. She'd not suffer half of these to live on a regular day, although many of the actual 'normals' she'd probably offer a gun and a place on her ship. Funny how that works out. But Sei was in charge now, and Joanna would defend such a choice until she died. There was no better choice. Anyone who disagreed could strike out on their own.

She notes as Sei begins to twist around, and is instantly ready for what's to come. She knew what she had to do. This was like a callback to the good days. Except back then the slaves under her command weren't giant insects or lizardfolk, and they had guns. You just can't have everything. She leans around the corner with Sei, and leans down the sight of her shoddy blaster. She really needed to clean this shit out. But she wasn't about to disassemble her weapon next to these lunatics, either. Life is full of bad choices. She squeezes the trigger, and listens to the symphony created as Sei does the same. The 'minions' charge. How satisfying it would be to rid them of a few of the rotten eggs. Would anyone care? She could blame it on misfire. That's suggesting anyone would notice. But no. For now she simply covers them. She'd run trimming the team through Sei, first. But she was back. Gun in hand. She felt good. Very good. This is paradise.

[Old Tyrannia]

As the group advanced, Ratak turned and whispered into Nefer's ear. Nefer listened quietly, occasionally nodding but otherwise acting completely oblivious. His amber eyes were fixed on the corridor stretching out before them, his sensitive ears twitching. Ratak could tell something was wrong. He could smell danger ahead, too. Obviously they weren't the only ones, as just then, Sei turned around to face the advancing horde of misfits. Ratak stiffened and examined her face carefully. He could literally smell her fear. She looked grim, and Nefer seemed her mirror image.

"Me and Joanna are going to put down that turret gunner and his weapon," Sei murmured to the general party. "After that we lay down heavy suppressive fire, however much we can. The rest of you are going to have to rush them. Yeah, I know it's shitty," she half groaned sympathetically, half snarled angrily, "but we don't have another way through, not without a plasma torch and a few hours we don't have. It's this, or wait around for even more of them to show up." She lifted her blaster. "Put it this way; rush them, they shoot at you, you might die, or stay, I shoot you, and you definitely die."

"You sure about that?" said Ratak mockingly. Sei didn't notice.

"Go on the first shot," she said, and sure enough, a split second later she and the other woman opened fire. The first bolt hit the trooper behind the E-Web in the helmet; he went down with a smoking hole in his faceplate. Sei's shot fused the barrel of the turret together, preventing it from firing. Nefer was among the first to charge, leaping across the small distance between him and the first stormtrooper; he knocked the soldier aside but another prisoner, a human by the looks of it, got in his way. Ratak spotted another stormtrooper aiming for Nefer, and leaped towards him, pulling the Seti down before ducking for the trooper.

The stormtrooper dropped his weapon as Ratak closed a clawed hand around his neck. As Ratak throttled him, his opponent punched him in the stomach and grabbed for the blaster; Nefer ducked through the chaos and got there before the trooper, raising the weapon triumphantly and shooting the fallen trooper in the face. Blood drenched Ratak, and he licked it off his face, revelling in the bloodshed. Nefer pulled him to his feet, and they watched as the stormtroopers fell back. It appeared that, against all odds, the little band of misfits had won the day. Nefer watched one dying man reach for another dropped weapon, then placed a clawed foot on it and stared at the trooper.

"You should be glad that I have no time to be anything but merciful," he sneered, shooting the man in the head as he had the other. The stormtrooper's body jerked, then quivered and died. Satisfaction welled up inside Nefer's stomach.

"Well done," said Ratak simply, as he picked up the other weapon and looked around. The battle was coming to an end. It had by now moved down the corridor. They could hear weapons' fire, and had to duck as a stray bolt of red energy passed them by. Ratak gestured that they should move forward, and Nefer did; they rejoined the group, opening fire on the handful of remaining stormtroopers. There were casualties on their side, of course. Probably for the better- both Ratak and Nefer had taken a strong dislike to several of the fatalities.

[Xiscapia]

Corridor...

As she and Joanna laid down covering fire Sei watched the charge as best she could while taking potshots at the exposed heads and torsos of the stormtroopers. When the prisoners charged they went in more-or-less two waves, the first full of those who were too eager or too scared to wait, the next with those who had either needed a moment to get ready or hoped that the first group would absorb most of the fire and break the line for them upon attack. Some of them fell as they ran, or went flying when they tried to attack, while others kept themselves more controlled; either way, they all ended up behind the barricade. The battle devolved into a furious melee between the white-armored soldiers and the dirty, unkempt prisoners, loud with blaster fire, shouts, screams, metallic-tinged orders and enraged war cries. Sei's eyes narrowed as she watched, a myriad of scenes crossing briefly before her eyes.

Frank, all but curbstomping a stormtrooper, looking alive. The man named Calo, skidding across the floor, a burning hole in his leg, makeshift club clattering out of his hands. To the side, Rili, pulling off some indistinct but nevertheless impressive-looking martial arts on her unfortunate victim. On the front, Caligulus throwing something Sei at first thought was a grenade at a stormtrooper before neatly disarming and putting down his opponent. In the middle of it all, Terramo screaming something savage about ripping faces as he choked a hostile to death with the same chains they had used to bind him, spittle flying from his mouth. Charlie, tackling and then stamping on one of the shock troops until blood and gore splattered out of his joints and permeable bodyglove, guts forced from his body like a crushed insect. The bug itself, going down like watching a train derail before decapitating the man who went out to finish him off with a contemptuous sweep of its hairy leg. Bleeding from an arm wound, Isthammi, straddling a man, squeezing the life out of him on the neck. That Alumina, cowering behind an overturned crate lid; so much for her race's supposed fighting prowess. Tattooed man, or so Sei called him because she had never caught his name, shooting down a foe behind him without even looking. The other unnamed man she had told to stick close, rising from behind the barricade covered in blood, hefting a Heavy Repeater triumphantly. Ratak, dragged his friend to the floor to avoid being shot before Nefer mercy-killed an injured trooper. And, of course, Joanna, face lit up every time she pulled the trigger on her rifle, both in the crimson illumination of the shot and in a strange, feral kind of happiness, or as close as she had ever seen her express.

Then, all at once, it was over. No more shots rang out, no more struggling bodies rolled in the darkness, no one shouted or screamed or yelled anymore. Most of them were still behind or somewhere around the position formerly occupied by the enemy, but Caligulus was nearby, leaning against the bulkhead, a slight wisp of smoke rising up from his wounded leg where he'd been shot. She looked down at the wound, unsympathetic. The thought briefly entered her mind that she might kill him to steal his clothes, if they were as valuable as he said.

"If you fall behind, I'm not coming back for you," she told him, and walked up towards the blast door and pile of dead stormtroopers around it.

Amazingly, no one from their party seemed to have died in the assault, though there were several other wounded. "Stormtroopers all have personal medpacks on them," she informed the group, kneeling by a still-smoking corpse with a big hole in its breastplate. Concentrating around the belt, she lost no time in stripping him of useful items, a high-tension wire with grappling hooks that could come in handy for any number of situations, spare power cells for weapons, ion flares in case she ever needed a light source, food and water rations, an extra commlink, both medical kits, a pair of restraining binders and, after a bit of searching, also pried his proper resonator out of his armor. This last piece of technology was especially valuable, as it would let her bypass any security doors stormtroopers were permitted to enter, potentially shortening their trip to the hanger bay. All of this secured about her person, Sei went looking for better weapons.

There were five different ones available on the dead. The most common were the vibroblades, useful melee weapons that Sei had a store of on her own ship, or had when she still had a ship; she took two, because there was no such thing as having too many armor-piercing knives. SE-14r light repeating blaster pistols were also in abundance as the standard sidearm, though she passed over them, they were even weaker than standard rifles and the reduced range and shot output didn't justify their simply being easy to carry. On most of the stormtroopers were the regular E-11s like she and Joanna had found in the detention center, which Sei swapped out to have a cleaner one, replacing it with a fresh energy pack. The most rare, and interesting to her, were the last two.

Imperial Heavy Repeaters were weapons she could respect, despite their origins. Primary fire was a fast, deadly accurate stream of metallic bolts, not unlike the energy-sheathed slugs the Xiscapian military favored in its firearms, while secondary was a built-in concussion grenade launcher, perfect for crowd control and laying down suppression fire. The other came in the form of FC-1 flechette launchers, like small, nasty shotguns that fired bursts of flechettes, as the name would suggest. To her disappointment none of the ones she looked at came packing the 110 millimeter anti-vehicle missiles the weapon was capable of firing, but they were instead loaded with proximity grenade canisters, an acceptable substitute. Picking up one of each weapon, making sure both were fully loaded, Sei returned to Joanna.

"You should probably have the Heavy Repeater," she commented, handing the large, automatic weapon over to the woman. "Quick, precise, lethal -seems your style. Hold on to your blaster though. Also got you these," she pressed a vibroblade and commlink into her palm. "I've got one too," she muttered the frequency, "if you need me, all you have to do is click it once. If we get separated, call. And if any of these bastards starts looking at you funny, well, you have two guns and a knife, you know what to do. This is the good stuff, but you should probably loot them of supplies while you still can, we might need them."

Brushing one soft, warm hand against Joanna's for a moment, she nodded seriously to her, and turned away. Hooking the blaster to her belt, Sei cradled the flechette as she returned to the group, tail flicking as she looked once more over the carnage. The idea of stripping the men of their armor and making a suit for herself briefly crossed her mind, but she dismissed it; most of it wasn't made for someone of her anatomy, and in any case it hadn't helped them all that much. As she looked it all over her eyes fell on Kathy, the dragon-like humanoid, and she replayed the battle in her head, tracking her over the course of it, remembering where she had been and what she had done. Without warning, the anthro raised her FC-1, pinning the female reptile to the wall with its four-eyed sneer.

"You didn't go," she quietly uttered, ears perked but tail deathly still. "I remember. You and your boyfriend waited for everyone else to go, and then you went, when it was safe. You wouldn't have gone at all if it weren't for me sitting there with the gun. Coward. Unacceptable."

A tense moment, and Sei turned her head, and looked directly at Ratak. "Consider this a yes to your earlier question," she said softly, and fired.

Once, twice, three times the flechette recoiled in her arms, satisfyingly forceful as it spat death at the woman with a distinctive pseudo-coughing sound. The first spray caught her all along her midsection, searing the bits of shrapnel into her body, making her jerk backwards into the blast door. The second took Kathy's legs out from under her, one twisted and mutilated, the other entirely torn away in a spray of blood, forcing her to crumple against the metal wall behind her, arms flailing. The third and final shot blew her head off, splattering blood, brains and shards of skull in a grotesque tapestry across the bulkhead, turning the decapitated body into a pulpy mess. What little was left sagged to the floor, the only sound in the entire hall the hissing of the flechette shards as they burned themselves out against the deck.

Pivoting, Sei turned her aim on Charlie. "I won't shoot you, because you actually went; she only followed. Let it be a lesson to you. All of you."

Lowering her weapon, Sei calmly knelt by the blast door, beginning to check the control panel for a way through. Her seemingly random act of murder was actually a calculated value judgement. There had been others who had waited until the last possible second to go, or hadn't done a bit of damage against the stormtroopers, and Sei knew who they were, but they were all still potentially useful for one reason or another, unlike Kathy. The execution had three motivations behind it, the first and most obvious being the holding of herself to her word; no one could deny that what she had said was true. Additionally, Sei knew she needed to keep herself in a position of authority in the group now more than ever, they were all armed and dangerous, and while she couldn't care less if most of them wandered off on their own she didn't want any of them trying to shoot her, or worse. This proved to them that she was perfectly willing to kill them if they tried anything. Finally, and this was the easiest to admit, she had just wanted to test out the flechette launcher; suffice to say it was to her liking.

Frowning as she worked at the console, Sei shook her head, wiping some of the hair out of her eyes, her proper resonator hadn't worked on the door. The security on the thing was very heavy, if she'd had a slicer droid, or better yet, Enishi, she could have blown through it in a moment, but it was more sophisticated than she knew how to deal with. Despite the fact that she'd managed to access the specs for the thing, they were more disheartening than helpful; it was a double blast-door, with full seals, energy shielding, heat sinks and a plethora of other defenses that meant that she wasn't getting through without proper authorization or high explosives, it even had an anti-psychic field attached. Indeed, she thought with a hint of worry, the thing was so secure it was like it hadn't meant to be opened again, which was bizarre considering where it led to. It was as she was working at this that she heard a muffled, mechanical groan from nearby.

Looking up, she saw one of the stormtroopers who had been lying prone on the deck start to raise his head, somehow still alive. Before anyone could go for their weapons Rili was on him in a flash, a pair of binders dangling from one hand as she straddled him and restrained his hands behind him, keeping him from trying to rise up again. Watching, Sei realized, given her reaction, that the woman had been waiting for this to happen, she must have taken the man down without killing him intentionally. It was very impressive, there was no middle ground with stormtroopers, either you struggled hard to kill one or you blew through them like paper tigers, so it bespoke both a high degree of martial skill and a significant amount of foresight that Rili had managed to incapacitate the man, particularly while he was still inside his armor. Seeing her get off him Sei nodded in approval, facing the woman.

"You got him alive? Good job," she gave a brief smile and turned to their prisoner, kneeling before him. Putting her flechette on the deck beside her, where neither anyone in the group nor the stormtrooper could easily reach for it, she reached up and felt around roughly in his chin area, feeling between his armor. Finding the switch she was looking for, she flicked it, and almost tenderly lifted the helmet away from the man's armor with a hiss of air depressurizing. Putting the helmet aside, she took a good look at him. Human, male, dark brown hair, gray eyes, pale, sweating. Good.

"Hello there," she whispered. "I'm not interested in your name, rank or serial number. I want off this ship. How do I get through this fucking door?"

"Please...don't...I don't know...I want..."

"Hey, I don't care what you want," she palmed one of her vibroblades and held it to his throat, reflecting that that's how she should have started things out. "What's the code for this door?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I want out, anything...please..." His eyes rolled in his head, and the sweating was getting worse. The fear rose off him in such a stink that she was sure even those with weak human noses could smell it. Sei settled back on her haunches, disgusted. He sounded like a babbling moron, all but incoherent. The man didn't even seem to notice the knife against his neck.

"That's not good enough. Who does know, then? Your commander? Should I go pick his corpse? Somebody go pick his corpse." A thin trickle of blood began to run down his neck. She eased off a bit; he was actually leaning forward into it.

"No...please. You don't understand." His eyes, which had not made contact with her this entire time, suddenly focused, and he stared directly at her. "They wiped us out. All of us. Anything is better than them. Death. Please. I want it."

"I swear I'll kill you right after you tell me what I need to know," she rolled her eyes, unsettled in spite of herself. "Who's 'they'?"

"They're marvelous, really," his eyes brightened, manically, and his mouth twisted into an unnatural smile. "Miracles of modern...amazing." He blinked, head lolling back. "They woke up!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The man didn't answer, but was starting to rock, arms straining against his bindings looking down. Sei followed his gaze and spotted what looked like a scanner on his belt. Reaching carefully for it, she took it off him and examined the display critically. It showed a map of the immediate area of the ship, all the corridors and rooms laid out with methodical precision like a blueprint. The display was only marred by a cluster of glowing red dots grouped against the blast door, which she guessed were the life signs of herself and the group. Probably uplinked in realtime with the ship's interior sensors. It at least told her something useful; there was no one on the immediate other side of the blast door. Indeed, the entire deck appeared deserted but for them and the prisoner, according to the scanner.

"That still doesn't-"

"The test subject!" a voice cried behind her.

Whirling about, Sei just managed to catch sight of one of the humans attacking Rili. The assailant was a cloaked, wispy-looking boy that she had noted only because he hadn't spoken a single word so far, and hadn't charged with the group. The cascade of fists from the robed one proved to be a mistake on his part, whatever fighting skills he knew, or thought he knew, didn't match hers and in an instant she threw him, sending the boy stumbling back to bang into the blast door, keeping his footing nonetheless. She noticed he was twitching, apparently not fully in control of his own body, and his eyes seemed to vibrate back and forth in his head, like he was having some kind of drug withdrawal. As she raised her weapon, intending on gunning him down for his unwarranted aggression, she froze at a sound.

Distantly, from the other side of the blast door, there had been a corresponding thud, matching the one made when the boy had struck the metal.

Seemingly mystified, he put his ear to the door, listening. Sei's own ears perked curiously, and a second later she wished they hadn't. There were more crashes and shakes coming from the other side of the hatch, it seemed to have moved from imitation to full assault on the barrier. Worse, however, was the scratching, she could hear it and she knew the others could too, nails scraping against metal furiously, like a cat sharpening its claws. It grew in pitch and volume, and slowly, Sei stood, turning her aim from the boy to the door itself, heart pounding in he chest. With some trepidation, she looked down at the scanner.

There was nothing there. Then, suddenly, a single red dot popped up on the screen, right on the other side of the door. Then another, and another, three, four, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, appearing faster than she could keep track of. Where the rest of the deck had previous been empty it was now swarming with these lights -deadlights, Sei's mind gibbered frantically- moving up corridors, shafts, lifts and passages towards the door, bunching and massing and coming on in a never-ending tide. On the screen they seemed to be broiling up from the bowls of the ship itself, seething and pushing terrifyingly quickly towards them, a horde of red burying everything they came across. Everything ahead and below them had been overrun.

Breath catching in her chest, she took a step back, eyes wide, tail lashing, and looked down at the prisoner. He looked up at her, breathing shallowly, and, trace-like, spoke a final three words.

"They just...eat."

They could hear it coming, a rising, unholy screech more terrifying than any battle cry or animal roar Sei had ever heard. It was charged with primal emotion, rage, aggression, hatred, and, overwhelmingly, a raw, ravenous hunger that made her blood seem to congeal in her veins. The bellow was the sound of a hunting pack -or was it a single organism?- that had just found its prey. She couldn't hear anything anymore, it was so loud, shaking the bulkheads themselves, making rivets and bolts pop out of their sockets and ping across the corridor, denting the far walls. Impossibly, she saw the blast door, that thing she never would have gotten through even if she had a thousand years, begin to bend inward. For some reason, she looked at the boy, who had turned to face her, and she could just hear his voice, which sounded like a dozen different voices all speaking at once, say the first and last words she ever heard from him.

"Oh bugger."

Turning, Sei ran. She didn't think about a direction, didn't check to see what everyone else was doing, didn't wonder how this could possibly be happening, she just knew she shouldn't be here, so she ran. As she passed Joanna the anthro took her by the hand and pulled her along with her, barely even slowing down, and it was when this happened she dared to turn and look behind her. The others were either following her or sprinting past her down the other corridor or still standing there, staring at the creaking, bulging metal of the failing blast door.
Then it burst open, and it seemed as though Hell itself had opened its maw for her again.

Metal buckled, twisted, and split apart, unleashing a torrent of bodies. Sei glimpsed a tide of dark-eyed faces, arms and legs already shredding themselves on the jagged edges of the broken door as they tried to force their way through, with the skin stretched across their skulls, giving them malevolently grinning expressions. Some wore Alignment uniforms, others stormtrooper armor, always tattered or in pieces, dripping and blood-stained. Hands were reaching out of that squirming mass of flesh, broken, sallow and dirty with fluids under the fingernails, reaching for her, stretching out for her and the others, beckoning to them.
Then there was a sharp crack, a long, protesting groan, and something gave way in the entire plate, ripping open a hole multiple stories high and a dozen meters long.

It was like the gates of the underworld had been thrown open to exit here in the realm of the living. An avalanche of walking corpses spilled down, one long, continuous chain of yellowed skin and broken armor, grasping hands and shrieking mouths. Some fell the entire length of the breach and smashed against the deck, thrashing and writhing as their own motions tore their bones from their sockets, while others rode the wave down, coming up on both feet or all fours, losing no time in running or bounding after the party. Their eyes were flat, lifeless, and had the same kind of hideous, destructive hunger one finds in a desperate starving man. They could no longer see the boy, the prisoner, Kathy's remains, the dead stormtroopers or indeed the barricade or even the original blast door itself, so full was the compartment with the living dead.

Turning her head away, Sei ran like she never had before. Corridors, compartments, even entire decks flashed before her in a confusing whirl; she had no direction but away. She was never sure for how long she ran, or how far her sprint took her, only that at some point everything was quiet, clean and cold again and she was staggering to a stop, barely able to breath, sagging down onto her knees, doubled over, wheezing. Wide, dilated eyes looked around her, catching a brief glimpse of the room she had entered.
Then, lowering her head, sides heaving, Sei threw up on the deck.

She and Joanna -she still had a death grip on the woman's hand- had ended up in a long, wide corridor that she recognized as a gun bay. Large broadside turbolaser mounts were lined up all along the port side, fitted against the hull, actual barrels sticking out into space. Shells were neatly secured in munitions dumps on the far side, a fleet of anti-gravity carts beside their housings. It was all dim, cold, and completely silent but for her own labored breathing, at least to her ears. Lifting her pilfered scanner, Sei stared at it. No red lights around except her, Joanna, and the others of the group who had made it with them, she had yet to actually look and see who had managed to keep up.

Wanting to collapse, but knowing she couldn't, Sei spat a few times to get the taste out of her mouth and stood shakily, looking around to see who had survived.

[Necrisis]

Rili discharged the ammo cartridge as soon as the fighting stopped and ransacked a nearby trooper for his spares - stripping his belt, med packs and a vibroblade while she was at it. She would have taken his boots, but her feet were much smaller than his. She knelt and waited with one of her two pairs of cuffs in hand for the trooper to wake up.
She only glanced at the sound of the flechette rebounding through the softer tissue of the female dragon. Her cold gaze took in the three shots and estimated that one to the face would have been enough. At that range at least.
"Waste of ammo," she muttered. But Sei had her reasons, she guessed.
Watching Sei work on the door was... interesting. Rili didn't know the first thing about tech. If she did, she'd have removed the collar already. But the fox-skin didn't seem to know much more.
Pity.
Rili's attention suddenly flashed to the trooper at her feet. She was on him and had the binders on him before he was even truly awake.
"You got him alive? Good job," Sei said, kneeling next to the trooper.
Rili gripped the back of the trooper's armor plating and jerked him into a kneeling position. "Thank you, mi'lady."

Rili listened quietly as the soldier babbled on about something. She left the 'what about' to Sei though. It did remind her of something though. That something that sent hot waves of anger through her at the very though.
She suddenly wanted to rip the man's teeth out one by one, and pull the skin off his body.
She shook her head and looked up just in time.
"The test subject!" a voice cried behind her.
The boy struck out - left fist, aimed for her face. It was clumsy, however, and Rili had no problem in catching his arm and rolling him over her back, throwing him into the door.
She was about to shove the vibroblade so far up his ass it would reach his brain, when the door shook.
Rili didn't know what was going on. But something inside - a survival instinct that was rarely listened to - told her to run. To run hard and fast. To run and run until nothing was left to run with.
Rili, as usual, ignored it. Instead she placed her hand against the banging metal and felt the vibrations coming through.
Bodies - hundreds of them maybe - were throwing themselves at the door. Scratching too, like rabid beasts trying to get through.
"They just...eat."
Rili - the cold veneer already broken by the boy wanna-be assassin - grabbed his shoulders and jerked him around to face her. "Who the fuck are 'they'?"
But she never got an answer.
The door caved in.

Rili had been raised, to some extent, in the Temple of Necrisis. She had heard all the tales. Those who strayed from the paths of Light and Necrisis, the Forsaken who had denounced Her so vehemently, that they could never redeem themselves. Their bodies and Souls were banished to the Abyss, where they festered and schemed to overthrow Her and subvert her Will.
In some small part, Rili remembered and like every Necrian, believed these stories.
So when the doors burst open, Rili remembered nothing but a single thought, a prayer she had learned years and years ago.

"Praise be Her Judgment, for it is Just. Praise her Will, for it Guides us all. Do not fear the Darkness, for this is Her Body. Do not stray from the Light, for this is her Heart. Guide me Necrisis, Goddess of our flesh and breath. Protect me from the Forsaken who haunt the Abyss. Protect me from Their ignorance."

The black, rabid, un-sated eyes were nearly on her when Rili ran. She felt a claw brush her back, missing her by inches.
She knew others were running - who could stay and face that? - but not who. And rightfully, she didn't care. She nearly stumbled over Sei and the other woman - Joanna? Didn't matter - as she caught up to them and passed them. She kept looking back, knowing that fear could drive her on and on, without rest if need be. She followed Sei from the front, so to speak, her mind clouded with adrenaline. Rili quickly lost her way and knew only that safety in numbers had its limits.

She didn't know how long the ran, or where they had gone. Rili only knew that Sei was with her, and some part of her acknowledged that she knew what to do.
Rili wanted to ignore that part.
While Sei threw up over the nice clean deck, Rili rushed to the door panel. Bulkhead doors and blast doors were prevalent in these ships, to prevent mass atmosphere loss. She knew others were coming - or were already here - and so felt confident that if any one was left behind it was for he better.
Fuck 'em, she thought, punching the close button on the blast doors. The... things... had already proven that they could - and would - rip through sold metal to get at them. As the heavy doors started to grind close, Rili paced with the door, keeping an eye out down the corridor.
She wouldn't stop anyone coming in, but did not plan to stop the doors from closing in any way.

Once the doors slammed shut - and everyone that could get through, had - Rili walked over to Sei.
"I know this probably is an unfair question, but what the fuck were those things and where the bloody fucking Abyss are we?"
The cold, militant was gone now and Rili once again the foul mouthed brat she had been.

[Setulan]

Corridor

The brief but vicious firefight over, Terramo looked around the former holding point at the dead troopers. They had fought back. Not well, but they had. As the big man looked, he watched a group of the escaped convicts finish off some of the white-clad men with brutal if effective blows. Sighing that there was nothing left to kill, he turned to Sei as she began to interrogate the prisoner.

Watching the exchange with some unease, he began to look around. The sense of evil he had been feeling was growing every second, and it was coming from...

BOOM. The massive blast hatch shook. He stepped over cautiously at about the same time as Rili, placing his palm against it gently. The sensors in his hand took in what was happening on the other side of the door in a heartbeat. He backed up quickly, looking over at the group.

"Run."

BOOM.

The door shook. Rivets exploded out of sockets, a horrible scrabbling sound echoing all around them. The keening wail rose to a fever pitch around them. Terramo gave Sei one last, desperate look. He had to keep her safe. He had to.

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNN!"

The door exploded outwards, and death came behind it. The horde of mutants flowed like a coursing river towards the party. As the rest of the party backed up and ran, he went forward, rifle at his hip sending bolts howling into the mass trying to get through the door. Zombie torsos and heads exploded, dropping them as they moved, arms went flying off in showers of gore, but the horde kept coming. Another step forward. The rifle in his hands began to steam and turn white hot as he fired again and again, the weapon on full auto. Red bolts like a storm of light flashed and pulsed. It wasn't going to be enough. The entire platoon of troopers wouldn't have been enough.

He had to buy time for Sei to get to safety. It was his one remaining goal in life. So he took another step forward, and then another, drawing attention to himself and blasting apart the creatures by the handful.

With a muted whine, the powerpack ran out. The next second, the zombie horde was all over the Setulan.

Terramo didn't bother with a knife. Throwing aside the useless rifle, he lashed out with his hands and feet, each bionic-enhanced blow crushing heads and torsos. Every strike killed or maimed, each punch and kick guided by three quarters of a century of constant warfare. It wasn't enough. He felt bites on his arms and neck, his body registering that poison, a virus, was being put into his synthetic skin. Teeth shattered and jaws broke as the zombies' bites met solid metal, but nothing stopped them. Nothing could.

An elbow lashed out, crushing a skull and sending fragments flying. A fist repeated the manuever. A knee to the groin cracked a pelvis and send the monster three feet in the air. It wasn't enough. Nothing could ever be enough.

Down the hall, the escaped prisoners could hear inarticulate screaming...

Then, there was nothing.