Derelict / Rise of the Rrellkhan [FT]

[The Kafers]

Blood Destiny cursed profusely. The invaders' use of their ship's gravity field had made any attempt on the part of his crew to launch a counter-attack pointless; how could one plan maneuvers not knowing which way gravity would be running from one moment to the next?

And now time was running out. The armory had been a reasonable base of operations, but now that it was clear the Vah would lose their ship, the priorities had changed. Standard practice called for the destruction of all technology that might prove useful to an enemy, with the preferable method being demolition of the entire vessel. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the armory even remotely capable of that.

If a band of Vah could reach a weapons bay, they might detonate one of the anti-ship missiles; the multi-kiloton antimatter-enhanced nuclear warhead aboard even one of them would be more than sufficient to do the job. Yet even a short sally in that direction seemed hopeless; with Iron Spear turning this way and that in the enemy ship's gravity field - let alone turning on and off at seeming arbitrary intervals - Blood Destiny's crew would scarcely make it 20 meters down the hallway.

At least they won't capture our Ylii, thought the Gnich*. The alien slaves were one of the Vah's most important secret weapons. Subservient yet utterly brilliant, not to mention free of the Vah's greatest weakness, these beings had become indispensable to their masters. Even the knowledge of their existence was more than any enemy should be allowed to know; yet their small size often made gnakshik! foolishly mistake them for Vah young.

Dead, mused Blood Destiny, gazing at the four crumpled bodies lying slumped against the wall, riddled with bullet holes, They won't reveal their true value to us.

Then the Gnich* started. It wasn't the sound of explosions and gunfire nearby that made the Vah jump, even though the cacophony heralded the beginnings of the final onslaught on the armory.

It was the grating behind the bodies of the diminutive Betas that did it. In Blood Destiny's racing mind, a plan was taking shape.

In a moment, it was at the console, looking at the ship's schematics. Blood Destiny knew what lay behind that grating ... yes ... yes!

"Cho'kaav," snarled the Gnich*, "Seal the blast doors to the forward port weapons bay and then destroy the control console. Now!" Then, withdrawing its punch dagger, Blood Destiny began to loosen the grating.

"You!," it shouted to a nearby Vah, "Help me with this!"

---

OOC: You may storm the armory and take it in two posts.

[Capsule Corporation]

Having lost a good number of ravagers already to the cause of capturing this ship, the red-eyed beings decided to press forward, and take the armory. Before entering, they obviously chose to toss in a number of incendiary and flashbang grenades. With the room erupting in flames, the advance team swam into the room. With gravity restored to null, fire tossed around in all directions, and ammunition storage danced through the air like a fireworks show gone wrong.

The crossfire began again, with both sides exchanging fire from across the armory. Surely the area was a battle arena in itself, with lockers and gunracks all around. If an area had more Kafers than Ravagers, a grenade was fired into the mix. Sometimes the ravagers would be aware of the launch and back away, other times they would be fragged apart by their own friendly fire. Dozens charged into the room, but the Dan'Kish could not help in this fight. If they turned the room upside down, everyone would be out in the open to shoot each other, inefficient; if gravity accelerated laterally, then the enemy would shoot up at them through racks and lockers with easy targeting, putting them at advantage. For this reason, the ship floated still in the air between the hulls.

Ravagers around the ship, other than the advancement team fighting in the armory, began to set up detonation charges inside the Kafers vessel. The placement of the charges seemed to be insufficient for total destruction, but seemed to be placed such that detonation would cause the ship to rip in half, like cracking an egg. Dozens of these charges would be set up across the controlled areas of the ship over the next few minutes. Charges were being placed on the outside of the vessel as well, in the exact same manner.

The cloud of spores began to work its way deeper inside the vessel, in a concentration far more than enough to convert the crew. The air inside the vessel began to darken with the clouds of brown microbes.


Inside the hangar, a rather unintimidating man walked towards the edge of the open doorway, a number of guards standing around him. He and his guards then backed away, turned around, and took a running jump toward the vessel. Stepping out of the effect of the gravity-imaged deck plates, they were carried away toward the Kafer ship. Landing flawlessly, they pulled themselves into the hole. The guards all held heavy tactical weaponry, while the man carried a large fire-fighting axe into the ship. The ravager all lowered to a knee in a brief salute in this man's presence, and stood as he floated on out of the room.

Advancing though the secured corridors, the escorted man would eventually be heading to the not-yet-secured bridge. He would not enter if he heard gunfire in the next room, so he would have to wait outside.

[Capsule Corporation]

ooc: finally got around to making a picture... included a nice little Kafer Beta even

[Kormanthor]

[ In Shuttle Bay Six ]

No problem Josh said Nick as he clicked his communicator on and said, “ Security this is Lt. Vagnier there is a Raysian female in their shuttle near Corpsmans Mitchell. Judging from what she has been claiming we believe that she is actually a alien from that derelict ship that has stolen the body she now inhabits. According to Fleet Regulations this constitutes a possible danger to the ship and personnel as well. So I need you to transport her to a Isolation Brig immediately and post round the clock guards to watch her until further notice, she is to be considered extremely dangerous. ” Yes Sir answered a deep voice over the intercom.” Immediately the girl started to waver and then disappeared completely from the shuttle. “ Then the same voice said, Transport complete Sir ”

[Capsule Corporation]

Josh raised an eyebrow, it was the first time he'd seen such technology. "Wow... uhh, that was pretty cool, actually. So, now, we'd like to interrogate her, we just needed a secure place to do it. Would you mind showing us to wherever you took her?"

Gabe stood up, rather confused as to why she suddenly disappeared, then walked away from the crowd to approach Josh. "So," he said, with a curious and anxious tone, "when do we get to go home?"

"I don't know, " said Josh, looking back towards Nick, "did you hear if you're going to be flying us home or if our ship is meeting you here? I'm up for getting as far away from here as possible."

[Kormanthor]

[ Shuttle Bay Six ]

“ I believe we are taking you home Josh, but I will verify it with the First Officer at my earliest opportunity ” answered Nick. ” Now if you are ready to question the girl, we can be on our way ” Nick said as he turned his head towards a bank vault like door built into the interior bulkhead of the shuttle bay.

Concentrating Nick mentally commanded the door to open and ready passage for himself and Josh to the Isolation Brig. Immediately the heavy looking metal door swung open seemingly of it’s own accord.

Within the doorway a swirling cloud of orange energy could be seen. “ Follow me, said Nick as he walked towards the open doorway, ” All you need do is step through the doorway into the cloud and then you will emerge in the Brig area where we transported the girl.”

“ However I feel I must warn you and your other team members Josh. No one other then you and I may enter. If any unauthorized person tries to enter they will simply feel a force repel them from entering. They won’t be harmed, they just won’t be allowed access understand?”

[Capsule Corporation]

Josh nodded, then walked towards the orange cloud. Even knowing full well what lay ahead of him, he still managed to have a look of excitement on his face as he walked towards the transporter, touching the cloud with his fingers for a few seconds before stepping through and disappearing.

ooc: I'll let Kor describe the isolation room further if she feels like it

Assuming Nick was right behind him, Josh walked toward the red-eyed girl. He nodded to the guards to have them step back for a moment while he talked with her. He began in a soft, curious tone, "so, are you going to tell me who you are?"

The girl, bound at the hands and feet, looked over to the Raysian Militaman, and answered with a sharp tone, "you require me to repeat myself? I am the one who will rule you, you just can't see it yet."

"Uh huh... Well, from what I can tell, the others on the shuttle team said your name was Karen... but as she doesn't seem to be around here anymore, I'm going to have to call you something else... Do you have a name? Or should I just call you ...Tina?"

The girl's red eyes flared in anger, "you are not worthy to pronounce my name."

Josh sighed out of futility, "Okay, then, Tina, how about you tell me what you were doing on board that ship of the Guardians?"

"We were banished long ago by fools who thought they could keep us from rebuilding our kingdom. They tried locking us away on a planet without human life, but it wasn't long until human life found the planet, and we took their form, and their ships. Then the fools thought they could stop us from spreading by locking us away in the great expanse you found us in... but as you can see, man's nature is to expand and conquer, and that nature quite literally sets us free. Once again, your race has given us the means to rise again. We will use your people and your technology to rebuilt to an extent unseen by my race in ten thousand years."

"Your people, eh? Well how about you tell me about this 'race' of yours. What do you call yourselves."

The girl grinned, a flicker of bright light running across her eyes as she spoke, "we are Rrellkhan. And we have been planning a rebirth for quite some time. Spend a few millenia in the cold of space, forced to convert into a powerless being of energy, trapped inside a derelict coffin of a starship, and one will have plenty of time to formulate their rebirth. You have no idea of what we're capable. But it will not be long until you see for yourself the true power of the Rrellkhan."

Josh tried to hide an expression of nervous fear, compensating by drawing his weapon abruptly, and pointing it straight at her face. "Where is the Dan'Kish! What did you do with the ship I called home?"

The Rrellkhani leader smiled, "they have been... reassigned. Yes, reassigned to a much higher calling. If you had friends aboard that ship, you might as well accept the fact that you will never see them again. The spores of Rrellkhan have already rewritten their souls. They have left behind their past lives as members of your race, and are now Rrellkhan, as you will be soon. You will help me rebuild my nation."

Josh looked over at the guards who were now probably more than a little annoyed at the constant brandishing of his shotgun, and decided to sling his weapon. "You're not going anywhere, Tina. Enjoy your cell, because you won't have the luxury you experience now when we get back to Raysia. You're going to stand trial, and you will be destroyed for your crime."

"Many have tried to destroy the souls of the Rrellkhan gods, with no success. You will fail, and Raysia will be the first to fall to our cause."

"I have to say, you're pretty good at this whole demonic drama bit you're pulling, but if you think you're going anywhere Raysia in anything less than shackles, you're kidding yourself." Josh turned to the guards, and said "don't let her out of your sight." He then turned back towards the transporter and returned to the shuttlebay.

Gabe saw him from across the room, "dude, what the hell is that thing?"

Josh shook his head, then shrugged, "Tina seems to think she is going to take over Raysia, and has dreams of being a new galactic power."

"Oh, well that seems fairly typical for an alien psycho. I guess that means... wait, did you call her Tina?"

"She refused to give me her name, so I--"

"Yeah, I get that, but why Tina?"

[The Kafers]

Tk'Gik and the few Vah with it fought furiously, and the joy of battle was exhilarating.

The cho'kaav's hardsuit was splattered with bits of flesh and blood, and it reeked of gunshot residue. In its left hand it held a vved luch*; in its right, it held a hand axe, both blade and back-spike dripping with gore. Around its dwindling band of companions, firearms crackled, grenades roared, voices - Vah and gnakshik! - grunted, screamed, and howled in pain and fury, bodies crashed against wall and deck, all sounds magnified by the fact that the air had become thick with smoke and fire.

The enemy had not played funny games with gravity for the last several minutes - largely due, Tk'Gik supposed, to the fact that its minions were tangled up with the crew feverishly trying to defend the last portions of Iron Spear still in their possession. This had been a relief for the surviving Vah, as they had finally been able to engage the gnakshik! aggressively instead of waiting for the enemy to come to them. But the odds were still bad; the crew was horribly outnumbered, and that fact played against them.

As Tk'Gik rounded the last corner before the armory - its destination - a knot of gnakshik! coming the opposite way surged into them. In the ensuing melee, the cho'kaav felt its vved luch* and hand axe torn from its hands as several of the invaders bore it to the deck in a clumsy tackle. It swore and fumbled for its punch dagger, but found its arms pinned.

This is the end, then, it thought. It tried to muscle its way upright, bucking. I don't want to die pinned to the floor, that's for certain. It got a hand loose, found a gaaach*, and tried to activate it.

But this was not to be.

Tk'Gik felt hands fumbling at the latches holding its helmet in place, latches made for Vah and not gnak'shik; yet with so many hands, someone was going to get it right in a moment. Then, sure enough, a pop, a hiss, and the helmet came off.

The cho'kaav looked into the red eyes of the crazed gnakshik! that held it down, waiting for one of them to strike a lethal blow at its now-exposed face. But they didn't; they just remained motionless, expectant.

Then it saw the tiny brown flecks moving through the air, surging towards its mouth and the spiracles along its jaw.

What! Tk'Gik thought in startlement. What are...

And then its mind just washed away.

Vved luch* - [Untranslatable]; a combat shotgun, chambered to fire 19mm x 58mm rounds of various kinds.
Gaaach* - [Untranslatable]; a hand grenade, armed not by pulling a ring but by slapping the base against a hard surface, although a fist can sometimes do it if sufficient force is used.

---

OOC: You may take the armory now. Also consider both engineering and the auxiliary bridge under your control. They may be a few roving bands of Vah still at large, which you can start hunting down if you wish.

You have not captured Blood Destiny.

[Rrellkhan]

"What are... "

The Kafer's mind trailed off with his words.

A cluster of brown spores found their way into his brain, immediately causing an amnesia-like effect. Whatever persona that lived inside this body, whatever life he had, whatever memories he had possessed, immediately flashed away.

Who... what... where... am I?

A voice gently came into his head, as if it were his own thoughts. You are Rrellkhani. If you want a name, you will have to earn it. Anyone who opposes the Rrellkhan is a fool, and the fools must be destroyed. Your current objective is to take control of this ship away from the fools. Do the engines still work?

The words echoed through his head over and over for a moment, and the bug-like creature began to believe the words being spoken in his mind. His eyes began to glow a dim shade of red, and the creature began to move towards engineering, passing a number of ravagers who now stood guard in the controlled area of the ship. Looking over his own body, he saw plenty of blood and gore, none of which being his own. I am surely a great warrior, to have caused this carnage... He stepped over many corpses, somehow not feeling fear or terror, as a calming chemical flowed into his brain. Why do I know this ship so well? Why does this seem so familiar? I can't recall ever being here before, but I know every console, every corridor.

An explosion rippled through the air, originating several decks over. Whoo! I am close to those explosions, perhaps I should join the fight? Are we winning? Are we losing? Who are we fighting? Do the engines work? I don't know, how am I supposed to know? Wait, maybe I do know... The Kafer walked into engineering and looked around for a console that hadn't been smashed to pieces by firefight. Upon finding one, he tapped away at the interface, pulling up an operational status report. Hmm.. shields, offline; warp systems, damaged; Life support ... is.. questionable; power generation, online; sublight propulsion, offline. Offline, huh? I don't know what could have knocked them out, but let's try turning them back on.

A loud clank rippled thorugh the ship, followed immediately by a forceful jolt as the engines kicked on. Ah! Zero throttle, zero throttle! He pulled a slider down on the console to bring the throttle down to thrustless idle. The ship drifted a little, bouncing around and tugging on the tow cables attached to the Dan'Kish.

Engines work. Good, you are now the ship's pilot. Get her ready for launch. I'm the pilot. Wow, I'm the pilot? Where are we going?

"You're my pilot," came a voice from a human male behind him, a voice which echoed with an unusual undertone inside the Kafer's brain, clear as if he had spoken it in his own language. "We're going to Raysia. Get the shields online, then meet me at the battle bridge." The man, escorted by a number of guards, walked over to the bridge, and moved a few corpses out of his way to take his seat in the command chair. He smiled as he sent a message through to the minds of all the ravagers on the ship. We should command them to surrender, command the fools to give up and let us have their ship. We should tell them we will not harm them if they surrender.

Shouts then came from advancement ravager teams across the ship "Surrender! Give up your ship and we will not harm you."

The man's eyes flashed red as he chuckled quietly to himself, staring off through an undamaged section of the main viewscreen. The restoration has begun. We will expand our numbers through assimilation. We must begin operations to rebuild our great nation. We will begin with Raysia, home of descendants of that ancient race which imprisoned us so long ago. The Rrellkhan rise again.

[The Kafers]

As the Vah who had once been Tk'gik manuevered the ship in preparation for its intended flight to Raysia, it felt alarmed to realize that its mental acuity was slowly slipping away. Instinctively, it understood that this was because it was becoming calmer, and it understood that becoming calm was not something it should do.

I should not be allowed to calm down. Why not? It turned to the soft-skinned creature sitting next to it, whom it needed to obey. I will lose my wits and become less useful to you if I am allowed to relax.

What is needed to serve the Rrellkhani properly? The Vah responded instantly, with a credo that it realized at once was alien and yet fundamental to its nature. Stimulation. Excitement. Violence is the lifeblood of the people.

The other did not quite understand, so the Vah demonstrated. Reaching for a side compartment, it withdrew a short rod, flipped a switch on its side, and then calmly jammed the end of the rod into its arm. An electric snap sounded, and the Vah's muscles spasmed; its mind flipped back to sharp focus. Not too much, but not too little. I will need to rest at some point, but now I serve.

The soft-skin sitting next to him spoke calmly and decisively, again with that strange undertone, as if he had spoken in Gah: "Do as you must to remain alert. I will not do anything to calm you unless you ask it of me. You will have plenty of excitement once we reach our target."

---

OOC: Figured I'd help you out a little.

[Kormanthor]

Transporter Pic:

http://usera.ImageCave.com/Kormanthor/Gary%20Sevens%20Hidden%20Transporter.jpg

As Nick followed Josh over to the transportation doorway seeing the unmistakable look of excitement on his face, like a kid with a new toy, and it wasn’t even Christmas or his birthday. Nick smiled as he watched Josh first touch the orange cloud with his fingers before entering it. Nick remembered feeling much the same way when he had first been made aware of this awesome new way of transporting.

Following close behind Josh, Nick again was amazed at the near instantaneous
way he stepped from Shuttle Bay Six to the Nightshades Isolation Brig. As he emerged
into the brig he saw the huge frame of S.O. Rodgers setting behind the Security Control Console to his immediate left carefully watching the prisoner.

Above them on a catwalk which encompassed the entire room were eight security officers setting on the seats of eight very high powered energy cannons of various types. All were trained on the girl prisoner in her cell behind a re-enforced force field in the center of the room. The Cell itself was engineered to prevent prisoner escape with every high tech gadget available to the Empire.

Even as Nicks eyes moved around the room checking each of his Security Officers
readiness he listened to the entire verbal exchange between Josh and the Rrellkhan girl within her cell. He could see that what the girl was saying was causing Josh to feel a tad nervous. But Nick was glad to see Josh doing his level best to conceal his enter emotional state while displaying a brave outward appearance.

Nick knew that the Captain and First Officer were watching and listening in as well in silence from the Bridge. From his mental interface with the ships computer he also knew that the Nightshade was now underway towards their guests home Planet Raysia at maximum warp. He had also found out that Kor Star Com Pact had been updated with the information spoken by the prisoner and had reassigned a number of Starships to the defense of the quadrant including the ones with the CSID Drive against the
possible Rrellkhan threat.

As he turned to leave he made eye contact with each of his Security Officers, silently
acknowledging his pleasure will all the precautions and preparations they had put in place. He then entered the transporter cloud returning to Shuttle Bay Six and finally willing the massive doors on both sides to close and lockdown to maximum Security specs.

OCC Note: Above is a pic of the doorway in question, with the exception that the cloud within is all various shades of orange in the storyline as stated.

[The Cosmic Balance]

After a short side trip to New Landograd to deal with a minor problem there, SF 143-576-9918 Constable slid gently into Raysian space and hailed local system traffic control.

Hello, Raysia.  This is SF 143-576-9918 Constable on routine patrol, requesting permission to use your
facilities for reprovisioning as well as possible shore leave for our crew.  We have already registered
with IRON thanks to the diligence of the KMF Bel'Kish.

<Registration data follows>

"'Permission to use your facilities'?!?" thundered Captain K'lark.

"Couldn't help myself, sir," giggled Fergg.

[The Kafers]

Blood Destiny wriggled along the narrow conduit, trying to make as little sound as possible. Fortunately, it could still hear gunshots and grenade blasts echoing through Iron Spear; these would surely mask its movement.

If I'm lucky, it thought, I'll get to the weapons bay before they can break down the doors and enter themselves - or maybe before they even think to try.

Its heart pounded; its excitement had reached the point where it was almost unbearable. Yet this is best. I am not worried about overstimulation, for my araach* draws near.

Then it felt Iron Spear lurch, but not as it had done before, when the gnakshik! were twirling it about like some cheap toy on a string. No, thought Blood Destiny, Those are the maneuvering thrusters. They have taken control of the ship and are trying to fly it somewhere.

A thrill of excitement filled the Gnich*, much as terror might fill a gnakshik! - only the Vah were immune to such emotions. The enemy had a plan, a plan for Iron Spear.

A plan that had to be thwarted, however that might be done.

Araach* - Literally, "moment of destiny"; the moment when a Vah dies, and is thus (ideally) at its lifetime pinnacle of excitement and mental acuity. To die in a supreme moment of existential awareness at the end of a full life is the ultimate hope of every Vah.

[Capsule Corporation]

ooc: a repeat, because Kilrany will be joining us:

General Distress Call: We are survivors of the RMF Dan'Kish. We have passengers in our cargo bay. We need medical assistance and rescue immediately. We have wounded, and some possibly infected. Send help immediately. Quarantine recommended. -RMF Dan'Kish shuttles Charlie03, Alpha21, Charlie09

The message repeated itself as a beacon, transmitting on all bands in realspace and short-range subspace.

---

As the Iron Spear's crew faded in numbers, a general retreat order was called. Over the next few moments, all but a skeleton guard crew around the bridge and engineering would leave the ship, sweeping the halls for any stragglers. As the ravagers left, billions of spores flooded the halls, turning the air brown.

We must prepare for spacefold, all non-essential personnel are to evacuate the ship, came the thought into everyone's brain.

---

An air traffic control station in geosynchronous orbit over Raysia responded to the call from the TBC vessel, in both text and speech, "Roger, Constable, you are cleared for approach. Please be advised that Raysia is a coreworld falling inside the jurisdictional claim-space of several different organizations, and we have thus declared our world to be independent and a no-fly-zone for any sort of patrol force. IRON and Hermes have no presence here, nor does any other foreign vessel. Any patrolling duties must be 'left at the door,' so to speak.

"Please consult The RaysiNet for a directory of the many great tourist attractions and starports available. Most of our major cities have starports in orbit, as well as at stratospheric and ground levels. Welcome to Raysia, Constable."

[Kilrany]

<By Svyet, I can’t believe I’m actually beginning to miss the conversation with those three Raysians.>

<Heh, it’s not so entertaining sitting here while the probes survey nearby solar systems now is it Romashkova.>

<Is it hardwired into you Karali, or do you simply enjoy understating things?>

<I’m pretty sure in his case, it’s probably a little bit of both.>

<Why thank you Kedrova, I really needed that. I-wait, what is that?>

<I hear it too. Breaking general silence, bring data-link online and attempt to triangulate the origination point of that signal.>

As ordered, the five warships of this scout squadron shifted from their narrow beam, sub-light communications to an omnidirectional, FTL signal, sharing with each other their sensor information and compiling the data.

<Can’t be sure of the potential power output of the source, but I think we have a general location on the origin, and it doesn’t look to be terribly far away.>

<Right then, Novikoff, Sorokin, remain here and fall back under silent running, if we need you I’ll call, the rest of you with me, formation type sent.>

A chorus of acknowledgements followed as three of the five warships began moving, bringing their active sensors online in order to coordinate their movement. Quickly they angled themselves along the required avenue and conducted a short ranged jump, killing their active sensors and the data-link as they did so.

Without a flash or any burst of radiation, they dropped back into normal space forty-three seconds later, spread out in a line with nearly a full light-minute between them from their prearranged jump. Hidden behind their cloaking systems and running silent once more, they opted to passively listen to their surroundings for a few seconds on the chance the signal was a trap.

Slightly off on their estimate, the three gunships sat nearly six light-minutes off to the front left of their formation, and though the Kilrany ran silent, they were able to passive observe their presence as the six to seven minute old light from their position passed them by.

With their appearance confirmed as Raysian, Romashkova broke from silent running and brought her active sensors back online, pushing their signals out at FTL speeds while sending a communications burst to her comrades to remain quiet. Wasting little time, she then brought one of her communication arrays online and directed an open signal towards the three gunships, “This is Romashkova of the Fifty-Second Kilrany Scout Squadron, we have received your distress call and are closing on your position now. We are prepared render assistance to you if you’ll accept the offer.”

[The Cosmic Balance]

Please be advised that Raysia is a coreworld falling inside the jurisdictional claim-space of several different organizations, and we have thus declared our world to be independent and a no-fly-zone for any sort of patrol force. IRON and Hermes have no presence here, nor does any other foreign vessel. Any patrolling duties must be 'left at the door,' so to speak.

"All work and no play," said Fergg with a laugh.

"Just acknowledge, trooper," said Captain K'lark

Absolutely understood, Raysia Control.  We're here to take on provisions and see the sights.

"A little less chatty next time, please" the Captain said with a shake of his head. Then, with almost a note of weariness, he ordered: "Take her into orbit."

[Capsule Corporation]

Three responses immediately came on short-range subspace as soon as the Kilrany transmitted; all basically said the same thing, "Kilrany vessel, we need medical assistance! There are quite a few wounded onboard, both civillian and militia. We recommend quarantine. There was a bug that broke out onboard our ship, made everyone go crazy. There may still be some bugs in the air around us, we can't know for sure. Over."

---

As the last of the nonessential ravagers made their way back to the Dan'Kish' hangar, a number of klaxons sounded across the ship, and the echoed through the air leading to the Iron Spear.

The Vah took his seat at the helm of the starship, taking a position that seemed rather familiar for some reason he hadn't quite put together, though the adrenaline in his system convinced him to ignore the strange feelings. Spacefold... I don't know how to spacefold... that doesn't sound familiar at all. Close the blast doors, seal all breaches. Right, of course, the doors.. don't want to lose the atmosphere when we fly off.

The doors across the ship sealed shut, leaving only a few dozen ravagers inside, spread across the ship in pairs.

The atmosphere pumped quickly back into the mothership so that the containment shield could be retracted back into its emitters. It didn't take more than a few seconds for the shield to reestablish itself around both ships. The plasma shell began to glow, small lightning arcs appearing occasionally as the shell charged with several TerraWatts of energy. With a flash, the internal observer would see the shell immediately fade to black, then disappear back into the hull with a flicker. Their position now several thousand light years closer to Raysia.

Massive capacitor banks inside the ship began to whine and expand, building up an incredible power to perform the next jump. 5 minutes later, the fold process repeated itself, and the two ships found themselves a mere 200 light years from Raysia.

The capacitor banks charged again, preparing to launch the small Kafer ship.

Thoughts immediately came into the Kafer's mind, We have 2 minutes until spacefold. Prepare for atmospheric flight. Wow, atmospheric flight? Can this ship even do that? Sounds like a suicide mission to me. This should be great!

The Dan'Kish fired her engines, adjusting their velocity vector to match the planetary rotation of Raysia. The upcoming fold maneuver would place them about 50km above ground level, right at the upper edge of the stratosphere.

Sensing a little confusion from the Vah, the man in the command chair spoke up, "we're going to be jumped right into the atmosphere of an enemy planet. We're a delivery team. Your objective is to fly us over a major city, where we will release our payload. You probably won't survive this."

The Kafer pilot audibly snarled something unintelligible in return, but his thoughts were a clear translator, "My araach is near. I will not fail." He pressed a few buttons and sounded a general alarm, calling for all hands to brace for gravity and turbulance.

The final preparation for our mission is to prepare the ship for a crash landing. We must disarm all volatile weapons and jettison anti-matter stores. Sudden impacts tend to make anti-matter explode..

The pilot then got up from his seat and ran to the engineering room nearby. He pulled a number of emergency levers that would jettison the ship's antimatter storage into space. The ship would have to fly on reserve power. He stepped back into the bridge, glancing over to the leader as if to signal that the dump was complete.

The atmospheric depressurization had sucked the warheads out of one of the weapons bays, but a small team would need to manually jettison the antimatter weapons in the secondary bay. 6 ravagers rushed their way over to the bay, and began to force open the locked door.

Fold preparations complete. We will jump when the anti-matter has been jettisoned.

[The Kafers]

Blood Destiny had just managed to pop the edge of the grating out past the flange that held it in place with its punch dagger when it heard banging sounds from the sealed blast doors that led into the forward port weapons bay.

"!!’rr*chk!" it swore softly to itself. Am I glad I had those doors sealed! It threw its shoulder hard against the grating and heard a satisfying crunch as this last obstacle broke loose.

Thrusting itself out from the conduit into the room like an infant emerging from the womb, it fell headlong to the floor with a crash and rolled in a ball. The impact hurt, but the pain was not unwelcome. Springing up, it vaulted towards the nearest missile, soaring in the blessed absence of gravity.

Tools, it thought as it grabbed hold of the missile casing and stabilized itself. Glancing around rapidly, it saw the toolkit strapped to the wall where it belonged. Once more, it sprung; once more, it braked itself with its arms and feet and, clinging to the wall curled like some kind of monstrously huge springing insect, it snapped the toolkit out of the recess that held it.

The hammering and pounding from the door grew louder and more insistent.

I had best be ready in case those gnakshik! get in here, the Gnich* thought. From its waist, it drew a holstered vved ush, made sure all six chambers were loaded, and then sprang back towards the missile casing once more.

!!’rr*chk! - [Untranslatable]; an especially pungent obscenity with no close human analog, although "f---!" probably comes closest.
Vved ush - [Untranslatable]; a heavy six-shot 0.57 caliber revolver, firing 14.1mm x 31mm ball cap rounds.

---

OOC: Remember, we're back in zero-g again...

[Capsule Corporation]

The pounding ceased for a few brief seconds, and an audible conversation could be heard outside the door, obviously between humans. At a particularly quiet moment, one could hear the team leader arguing, "no, you idiot, it's a "blast door;" use two of them."

A quiet clicking sound could be heard as a charge was placed on the door.

"Clear!"

With the sound of an explosion and a crash, the shaped charges blew the blast doors apart like sheet metal. The six ravagers jumped into the bay with with weapons drawn, scanning the room quickly, but not finding anyone clearly visible. All but two of them immediately began scanning the room for the antimatter weapons. "There, reinforced magnetic containment, that's the first place to look." Three of the ravagers vaulted themselves over to the rack and started looking for some sort of emergency disarm hatch, as most anti-matter weapons should have. If one could not be found, they would have to just launch the missiles out the launchers, if they still worked.

The team leader hopped quickly around the room in the null-gravity, checking the weapons stores for anything else beyond conventional and nuclear warheads. Antimatter was their only concern, as it would probably explode in the rough turbulence of the air, let alone in a crash. He panned his gun around, and spotted a loan missile that must have been waiting on standby in case of battle. "You two, disarm that one over there!"

The two ravagers who had previously been idle immediately dove over, weapons in a rather unready position. The team lead continued to look around the room, his own shotgun very much ready.

[Kilrany]

<I don’t like this Romashkova, I thought their small craft were short range, where is their host? Even if it were utterly destroyed there should be something here to see.>

<Nothing we can do about it at the moment Kedrova. I will approach and recover their transports, you two will hold back in case this is a setup.>

Angling towards the three gunships, Romashkova brought her FTL drives out of standby and conducted another short ranged jump. Lasting less than a second, she reappeared roughly three light seconds away for the nearest gunship, travelling towards them at five percent the speed of light.

As she closed on them, there was a bevy of activity within her hull as Alpha and Beta type assault shuttles silently shuffled themselves and their transport modules around her hangar space. Working as fast as they could to clear enough landing space for the three Raysian craft, a small host of human-like figures sprinted down corridors and stairwells towards the hangar airlock in preparation to see to the wounded.

In the last few minutes before interception, there were few obvious preparations Romashkova could take to prepare for a contamination she had no specifics on, so she could do no more for the moment than leave blast doors closed and pump a breathable atmosphere into hangar while leaving the corridors in vacuum.

Once close enough, she directed the pilots to the proper location near the lower stern quarter of her ship, never powering down the field hiding the size and shape of her hull. Much as she did for the Raysian shuttle not more than week before, she warned them briefly before energy beams shot out the open hangar doors and enveloped them, pulling them slowly in past the field and towards hangar deck.

With a light atmospheric force field in place, the large expanse of the hangar featured Kilrany shuttles tightly packed on either side with an open space near the center that was large enough for the three gunships to land side by side. Around the edges of this clearing an entire platoon of light infantrymen from the Reaper series stood at the ready or in cover next to their shuttles, unsure what to expect when the gunships came in to land.

[The Kafers]

Blood Destiny reached the missile just as the charges set by the intruders tore the door open. It cursed softly and scrambled for cover, counting its foes. Six, it thought bitterly. Too many for me to be certain of shooting them all before I'm out of ammo. Stowing the toolkit in its utility harness, it took up its punch dagger in its off hand and moved into a position to attack.

Two of the gnakshik! were coming its way. Two shots, it thought. No misses...

The vved ush roared twice.

[Capsule Corporation]

The three Kumen-class ships let the arrestor beams drawn them into the hangar, and then engaged their atmospheric drives a little to soften the touchdown. Doors opened along the front of each gunship's payload bay, and a crowd of escapees exited the vessels, many bloody and wounded, most wearing bandannas or scarves or breath masks over their mouths. The pilots opened their canopies and climbed out, with their gunners close behind.

One of the pilots hopped down off the top of his plane, landing in a single bound. It would be fairly evident that this marine had a lot of training in martial arts just from the way he carried himself, let alone how he managed to land himself flawlessly from height of 5 meters. The pilot, wearing a loose RMF flight jacket, and no breath mask, approached the foremost reaper and started a quick report. "We can not thank you enough for the rescue. We rescued 112 personnel that have managed to escape the Dan'Kish. 112 out of a total of 2400 that were onboard the RMF Dan'Kish. We waited as long as we could, then used the ship's TSF Launcher to get ourselves clear. Now," he said, pointing towards the group of huddled and bloody crewmen, "we've managed to do a little first-aid on these men, but there's a good deal of them that need medical attention... we all need attention. I don't know what kind of medical facilities you'd have on this ship, but at the least we could use a decontamination... something to kill off those little bugs in the air."

He smiled, and extended his hand as the start of an introduction; "Sean Sa'Fyre, Raysian Militia Force, Dan'Kish, Charlie Flight Lead. You are the first good news we've had all day. If there is any way that you could take us to Raysia, our government would surely compensate you for your trouble."


In the background, a number of the crew were running in and out of the shuttles, pulling out stretchers, cots, and medical equipment, setting up a basic triage center. A few science officers came out of the shuttle carrying tablet computers and several cases marked with AdamWorks logos. One of the officers, not wearing any mask, stood upon one of the cases and shouted "anyone willing to take part in the Ensem^TM program should come meet us over here. The Nanite injections will protect you from the effects of 'the bug.' If you've been hesitant thus far, now is the time to sign on. As this is a medical emergency, you may qualify for the nanites under your health insurance... if not, they are fairly cheap right now, due to the fact that they're still just the early-production models. We have enough for any who wish to participate." The man stepped off his crate and pulled out the computer, loading up an application form for whomever decided to sign on. It didn't take more than a few seconds for large crowd to show up with health cards and credit cards in hand.


Sean smiled, then looked back at the leader. "Nanite enhancements... I just got my injection last week. Absolutely wonderful product."

[Rrellkhan]

ooc: I keep forgetting to us the right nation for these posts

---

One in the chest, one in the eye. The ravager who hadn't died instantly let out a shout, immediately followed by a yelp of pain. He swung his weapon around and shot wildly at the Kafer that covered himself behind a weapons rack. Every other ravager immediately dropped their tools and fire their weapons. The team lead quickly pulled an airburst fragmentation grenade that had been strapped to his weapon, chambered the round, lined up a laser sight, ranged the enemy, then fired. The round sped through the air in a spiral, an internal microchip counting to a predetermined number of rotations. Target was 20 meters away, 4 meters per rotation. 1 rotation, 2, 3, 4, 5...

[Kilrany]

Tilting its head to the side slightly, the two meter tall, black and dark red armoured figure standing before Sean was rather amused by his boldness, even if it could not show it outwardly. Choosing to hide this amusement though, the Reaper straightened before replying to the Raysian pilot in an even, female voice, “We did not anticipate so many wounded, normally we are not equipped to handle large numbers of human casualties at once in proper facilities. The more critical cases will be taken directly to our medical bay while the rest will have to merely receive triage here for the moment. Room shall be made in our transports to ensure a sealed environment for protection against any further contaminants.”

As she spoke, the heavy half meter thick hangar doors began to close, sealing the hangar off from space before the force field keeping the atmosphere in was powered down. At the same time, the central blast door to the back of the hangar opened, revealing three dozen faceless, but significantly more human-like figures who promptly came jogging in after receiving the signal it was safe.

Two thirds of their numbers had white armour plating over their endoskeletons and carried with them equipment bags full of medical supplies along with several stretchers. The remaining dozen had dark grey armour plates and individually kept next to one of their white comrades to assist them however they could as they quickly approached various Raysian personnel to offer medical assistance, and to be told where they were most needed.

Continuing without pause, the armoured figure’s voice softened into something slightly more friendly as she continued, extending her heavy looking hand to accept the offered handshake in a carefully controlled grip, “I am Lieutenant Sati of second company, first battalion. Romashkova informs me there should be no difficulties in returning you home shortly, but before we can carry out a proper decontamination, is there anything you can tell me about the pathogen? I assume it is biological if your nanites are capable of fighting it.”

Again as she spoke, one of the smaller rectangular transport modules, this one located near a Kumen on the left side, popped open its angular front hatch, which swung down and impacted the hangar floor with a dull clack. In perfect unison, a second platoon of Reapers marched out in a four by twelve formation and turned away from the Raysian craft for the moment, clearing the open space within.

To the right most Kumen, the side hatches on a thirty meter long Wyvern opened, allowing yet another platoon to exit and clear space in a sealable environment. Unlike the first two platoons though, they advanced towards the Raysian personnel and in a myriad of male and female voices, offered assistance alongside their less armoured comrades.

OOC: For those not already familiar with them, here's the concept art for the Reaper. Not mine obviously I'm sad to say; wish I had that kind of artistic skill, and only really consider it accurate from the upper torso and up. A bit more obviously mechanical then I'd like, but awesome at the same time, heh. So imagine a little more fluid a form.

[The Kafers]

Vah physiology is not human physiology.

Vah brain chemistry is not human brain chemistry.

Vah brains respond positively to a hormone their bodies secrete that is similar in nature and effect to epinephrine, also known as adrenaline. Indeed, without this hormone, their cognitive functions are sluggish, their minds dull and inattentive. Unstimulated Vah have no problems engaging in boring, repetitive work by sheer rote (something at which they actually excel), but otherwise move through their duties without much conscious thought or awareness of events around them.

Stimulated Vah, on the other hand, have superb powers of perception and intuition, making amazing logical leaps in a heartbeat, especially as they become ever more stimulated. Of course, as the level of stimulation grows, narcotic effects begin to manifest themselves, up to and including hallucinations that would make their most incredibly rapturous human counterparts look pale by comparison; yet even at narcotic levels the brain is flying, surging, unchained, ecstatic, in wild flights of brilliance - and all the more so because the Vah caught up in such flights of hyper-awareness knows that it must eventually come down, down, down, down.

Down through brilliance, down through clarity, down through understanding, all the way down to brutish rote existence.

Blood Destiny had reached near narcotic levels of stimulation even while still crawling through the conduit towards the forward port weapons bay. It had passed the point of narcotic stimulation when the door had blown in, surging further into ecstasy that it had ever been as its .57 caliber pistol rounds had slain the two intruders. Now, to its overstimulated mind, the revolving grenade was a mathematical masterpiece of beauty that, seen in human terms, might have rivaled Dante's Inferno or the Sistine Chapel.

5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

Thoughts hurtled through Blood Destiny's mind like stars past a warp-ship, forming galaxies of meaning, falling into place in unexpected ways. Its vision curling and breaking into pieces at the edges in near hallucination, it saw everything - grenade, gnakshik!, spores, red glowing eyes, and knew. Knew.

The thoughts poured together like a flash flood down a dry stream bed, meaning carried like debris in their violence, Thoughts compressed to single words, abstract concepts, connections.

Spores. Red glowing eyes. Control. Air. Suits. Infection. Detonation. Overpressure. Vacuum. Missiles in storage.

The solution fell into place instantly.

Blood Destiny's right hand, moving with frightening speed, slammed the wall button to scram the missiles.

The outer missile launch tube hatches, each about 150 cm in width, popped open. The missiles in the forward port launch bay were ejected. This was a minor setback for Blood Destiny, but not a show-stopper. The important thing was that, along with the missiles, almost all the air in the bay went straight out into space, along with plenty of debris. The weapons bay, after all, was meant to be sealed away from the rest of the ship by those now-damaged blast doors and, in any event, Vah warships routinely depressurized all interior spaces before combat anyway, just to reduce the damage done by enemy weapons fire.

Of course, it would not do if Blood Destiny went out the launch tubes along with the missiles. But this was scarcely a problem. As its right hand struck the control panel on the wall, its left hand came up and fired two .57 caliber rounds from waist height.

Moment of mass. Impulse. Bullet. Reaction. Flight.

The Gnich* flew along the wall, perpendicular to the oncoming grenade. It twisted as it flew, curling into a ball, its large back facing the oncoming charge, its helmet tucked down.

Fragments. Carapace. Protection.

The grenade detonated. The exploding ball of hot gas it produced was sucked straight out into space harmlessly; indeed, as soon as the atmosphere within the weapons bay had disappeared, the threat from the grenade's anticipated shock wave had vanished along with it. It was like a candle guttering in the face of a hurricane. The real threat came from the fragments, but Blood Destiny's fevered mind had already moved on to seize at the solution to that particular problem. Its hardshell environment suit and its thick carapace would likely absorb any fragments that might violate the integrity of its personal air supply, which it had now grasped was fundamental to its survival as an independent entity still able to oppose the will of these gnakshik!, whoever they were.

A second later it crashed into a side bulkhead. Snapping out of its balled position, it braced itself, aimed at two of the remaining gnakshik!, fired two more shots, and tore off its vved ush.

Pressure. Airflow.

On the inside of its helmet, one of the Vah's pedipalps tapped the keys of its interior suit control. Air flow roared to maximum in order to created an interior overpressure intended to blast any of the infernal spores right back out of any tears or holes in its suit the grenade fragments might have created. If there were tears, the suit's air supply would be gone in a matter of minutes, but that scarcely mattered now.

Knife. Kill.

The Vah raised its punch dagger and sprang at the nearest surviving invader, the supreme joy of violence filling its mind.