Derelict / Rise of the Rrellkhan [FT]

[Capsule Corporation]

Onboard the NightShade, the small group of passengers that had been stuck inside the Raysian shuttle had already begun to stretch out their legs. A few of them, seemingly apathetic to the recent events made their way down to the recreation decks to pass the time.

Gabe and Josh had littered the deck with several cases of tools and parts, working dillegently at repairing their vessel.

One of the lingering away team members raised an eyebrow as he scanned his eyes over the ship. "Why do you guys care so much about this little gunship?"

Josh was walking across the top of the vessel with a rather large drill in his hand, and responded with a proud shout, "this girl is my baby! I love this thing! Gabe and I have been through a lot with this Kumen. See those markings on the side," he said, pointing at paint marks all across the side of the hull, "that's my mission count. I've flown 32 combat missions, 19 hunter-killer missions, 12 pursuit-intercept missions, and seen countless new and amazing worlds."

"The green marks next to the missions are my successful kills," said Gabe, popping open a panel just to the right of the paint marks."

"Tell me," asked the researcher, "did you ever get around to naming her?"

Jace smiled, looking up after unbolting a panel on the dorsal side of the ship, "a name? I don't think we ever named her."

Gabe laughed, "that's not true, you named her after that girl on Nalek III, remember?"

Josh shook his head, "hey, come on, Kayla was a beautiful girl, but I never made it official. It just didn't have a cool ring to it, needs something a little more majestic..."

Gabe chuckled to himself as he pulled out a permanent marker. He began to carefully write on the side of the ship, just above the paint markings,
Majestic

"What, what did you write?"

"Oh, just something reflecting your tastes.."

The scientist smiled at the two playing off each other like best friends often do. "Heh, so, any idea when we'll be back home?"

Josh nodded, "yeah, looks like we'll be in Raysian orbit in a few hours. This ship's got some new super-warp drive thing... I don't pretend to understand it."

---

Many of the refugees aboard Romashkova's Warship were awfully disturbed by the numbers of mechanical soldiers stomping around all about them. Most of these were the people who hadn't read and understood much on the Kilrany soldiers and way of life.

Sean looked around for a moment, then looked back at the female-ish Reaper in front of him. He pulled a small piece of what appeared to be paper out of a jacket pocket, and handed it to the Reaper. Without any sort of visible interface, the nanite-enhanced Raysian pilot displayed known information on the spore-like creatures. "We honestly don't know much about what's going on. Something struck our ship, a bright red energy. It was immediately followed up by a cloud of these brown spores." As he spoke, video recordings, pictures, and microscopic analysis flashed onto the thin screen. "We weren't able to save the majority of those few which fell to the spores, but we eventually found out how to counter them.

"The spores enter through the mouth or nose, and migrate their way into the central nervous system. They act as a conduit for some sort of higher being, most likely something that came over in that red energy. Upon taking root in the brain, the spores cause an amnesia effect, wiping all personal memories from the victim... They can't remember their names, their personal lives, nothing. We don't know too much else because we ran for the shuttles as soon as they turned violent... something started feeding suggestions into their vulnerable brains. After identifying the problem, an update patch was broadcast across the ship to try to get the correct programming to those with nanites... we installed the patch and the nanites immediately went to work, hunting down the spores on full-alert. Unfortunately, the heightened status of the nanites is detrimental to our short-term health, so a lot of us are risking illness or running high fevers already."

The screen then displayed a number of diagrams and properties of the spores, "our scientists are fairly certain the spores are inert when not in the presence of their 'leaders,' but we don't know for sure. If you could please scrub the air of any particulates similar to this, I'm sure we will be fine."

[Rrellkhan]

The ravagers, all but the leader, were now either dead, or in the process of dying violently from being sucked out through the opening or suffocating from the lack of oxygen. The red-eyed leader exhaled completely, bracing to wait for the air to evacuate. Feeling the need for oxygen and pressure rip at his skin and lungs, he quickly realized the futility of trying to find a way to live. He struggled to gather the strength to aim his weapon at the Kafer warrior. ...where did he go?

Like a terrifying predator in a dark jungle, the monstrous bug-like creature sprang forward towards the surviving ravager, knife in hand. The man convulsed as a scream attempted to form out of reflex, and he managed to fire off a burst of pellets from his shotgun, barely grazing, but noticeably puncturing additional holes into the Kafer's suit. The knife pierced the man's tactical vest, slicing clean through the layers of Kevlar and landing in between two plates of protective composites. His convulsions turned spastic as his body quickly went through every conceivable stage of shock, trying to shut down and bypass critical organs in a panicky attempt to save the brain. The oxygen-free environment would seal his fate within a matter of seconds. The red light behind his retinas began to dim away slowly.

Had he been conscious a moment longer, he would have developed a jealousy of the cloud of spores that easily navigated the vacuum of the weapons bay. Many had been sucked out with the decompression, but the few remaining somehow managed to float towards the Kafer's damaged suit. Propelled by a self-deteriorating fuel, the tiny bugs maneuvered themselves into the holes in the suit, crawling and floating their way up to an open orifice.



On the bridge, the piloting Vah reported something in a language that could not explicitly be translated by any of the nearby humans. Again, his thoughts would be easily red by the powerful being in the command chair. A spark of red plasma floated around the leader's hand as he replied audibly to the Kafer. "If you've sealed off the decompression from that weapons bay, and the antimatter weapons have truly all been evacuated, as you say, then we are ready to continue the countdown to fold. Proceed with final preparations. 15 seconds."

A small plasma shell again formed itself around the Iron Spear, which still lay between the two hulls. The tow cables released from the ship, and maneuvering thrusters straightened out the vessel as much as possible within the confined space. Self-generated shields flickered into place around the vessel, in a configuration suitable to aid in atmospheric flight.



Nanites, are a hell of a thing. Almost everything they did had to be programmed in advance, and the ravager who had been the team lead of the group had been aware of the small computing device strapped to his leg, but had no clue of its purpose. If he were conscious enough to read the output of the device, he would know that it was desperately trying to restart his heart and vital organs. His brain was losing oxygen quickly, and the vacuum of space offered no solution to the problem.



Engage TSF launcher.

A loud crack of thunder echoed through the ship as the energy building inside the plasma shell suddenly discharged into an uncharted dimension of space. The vessel immediately began to shake with heavy turbulence as it instantly found itself flying through a dim night sky. Lights could be seen in the distance, a walled metropolis in the middle of an expansive jungle. The Iron Spear's engines roared to life with incredible force, propelling the ship in a controlled fall towards the nearby city.

The Vah pilot experienced a high unlike any other as the ship he helmed shook violently through an environment in which the little ship was never designed to operate. I shall attempt to overshoot the city. We will release our payload and crash land in the jungle. This will be a great death... and if we survive, this will be an accomplish worthy of receiving a name. Yes... a name would be a great reward!"

The ship managed to cut through the air, guided by an artificial airfoil generated by the deflector shield systems.



Air suddenly sucked into the decompressed weapons bay. It was a thin atmosphere, but enough for the nanites to accomplish resuscitation. A jolt of electricity filled the heart of the ravager, and he inhaled deeply as his heart restarted. Blood began to pump from his wounds, and the massive jolt had neutralized a good chunk of the nanites in his system. He quickly brought himself back together to scan the room. Seeing the missile on the other side of the bay, unattended, he limped over, quickly falling to his hands and knees as the decks of the ship shook violently. He ignored the warning in his mind to look around for the Kafer, and simply crawled his way towards the lone antimatter missile that remained onboard. He only had a few minutes to dispose of it before impact. At this altitude and location, he could launch the missile and detonate it harmlessly above the jungle, but only if he acted quickly.

[Kilrany]

Few of the armoured Kilrany figures showed much concern for the discomfort of the Raysian personnel, to many of the Reapers this was preferred and somewhat enjoyed, even if they chose not to express this to their guests. Those in white however did their best to placate the humans around them, using soft tones and pleasant voices, for after all, they were ones whose purpose it was to administer medical treatment to Kilrany humans, and the desire to see to the comfort of their patients came naturally to them.

Appearing to focus on Sean with her singularly visible ‘eye,’ Sati replied with a simple, “Of course,” to the request to scrub the air after a brief glance at the provided information.

As she said this, a wind seemed to pick up within the hangar as the atmosphere abruptly found itself being sucked out from the left side, only to be replaced with equal fervor on the right. Though it was noticeable, it was not exceptionally strong at the moment, intended only as an interim solution until either all of the Raysians were out of the hangar, or temporarily sealed within one of the Kilrany transports.

Still looking at Sean, Sati spoke again in an attempt to explain, “If these spores are lighter than air, then ideally this will remove any loose samples and trap them for us to examine more closely. We cannot as yet conduct our higher level decontamination protocols until we can transport all of your critically wounded out of the hangar and get all others safely sealed within one of our transports. Only then can we take steps to ensure the total extermination of this pathogen from this hangar and your craft with the release of a chemical agent in mist form. It is exceedingly lethal to unprotected organic material, however mixed correctly it has a half life of only fifteen minutes before it breaks down and becomes inert.”

[Kormanthor]

[ Outer edge of the Raysian Solar System ]

Aboard the Kor Star Carrier, UKS Nightshade the Alpha Shift bridge crew had just relieved the nightshift. Captain Ron Korte felt very rested despite the self proclaimed goddess that now graced his brig. As they neared the outer planets of the Raysian Solar System he said,

“ Lt. Dematteo, drop us out of Warp, give me full impulse until we reach Raysia.”;

“ Aye Sir, going to full impulse now. ”, replied the Helmsman.

“ Comm. Gadomski, I want to know about every ship, space station or any other possible danger to this ship within sensor range and order all pilots to their ships. If our prisoner is right we may be flying into a hornets nest and I want this ship ready for anything. ”, ordered the Captain.

“ Yes Sir, ”, replied the Science and Weapons Officer.

“ Lt. Commander Michalak, open a channel to Raysia Orbital Approach and let them know we are inbound with their crewmen, eta one hour.”, the Captain ordered.

“ Aye, Aye Sir ”…. she said as her nimble fingers quickly opened the Channel.

Outside the Carrier dropped out of Warp into Impulse on their course for Raysia

[Capsule Corporation]

A voice came over the subspace communications band that the Kor Star carrier had hailed used to hail Raysia. "Understood, Nightshade; You are clear to approach. Looks like you're still a ways out, you have permission to use any environmentally-safe FTL you may possess. Oh, and thanks for bringing our crew back home, we've been really worried about them. Raysia control tower, out."

---

"Hey, Josh," shouted Gabe, finishing up work on a circuitry panel, "when do you think we'll be at Raysia?"

Josh smiled, "I felt the inertial dampeners kick in about 5 minutes ago, so I'd say we're pretty dang close."

"Well do you think you can fly us all out of here?"

"That all depends on if you have my engines back for me…"

"Absolutely, they should be working just fine… check the VILEs."

Josh hopped down through the open canopy into the pilot's seat. Carefully, he threw some toggles and brought the ship's main power online. He started mumbling a pre-flight check list to himself, "Power.. Online… plasma shells… online… engage shutters on lift-column VILEs… go."

With a quiet, yet noticeable woosh, the small force fields inside the engine intakes lit up, and small shutters throttled back, allowing a small current of air above the gunship to be sucked through a virtual vacuum. The air pumped through a series of high-efficiency one-way barrier shields until escaping through lift vents on the bottom of the ship. The entire vessel gently lifted itself off the ground, riding on a cushion of air.

"Everything looks fine from down here, Josh."

"Yep, and if the VILEs work, then the space-drives work. I'm going to make a phone call, sit tight for a bit." Josh let the gunship idle, hovering around gently inside the shuttlebay as he put a headset on over his ear. Pressing a few buttons, he opened a channel to his RMF base. "RMF Dispatch, this is Dan'Kish Gunship Alpha-oh-seven. According to our sensors," he said, looking down at computer display of the area, and pressing a few buttons, "we are on the outskirts of the Raysian solar system. We are carrying survivors of the Dan'Kish, and we have captured one of the being responsible for the ship's disappearance. We recommend prison containment immediately… I am uncertain what kind of security she'll need. Over."

A response came over subspace almost immediately; "Alpha-Oh-7, this is RMF Control, we have been monitoring your situation and have been receiving your status updates. We have yet to put Raysia on alert status, as we are counting this as an isolated incident."

Josh's shout could be heard across the shuttle bay, even over the turbulent air of the gunship's engines, "what do you mean you aren't on alert?! This being has made a credible threat against our planet, and if you don't do something, you will be too late! They took the Dan'Kish before we could even fire a shot!"

"Marine, you are not the one calling the shots here, we've got plenty of other-- wait, what?" Clearly, the commander on the other end of the line forgot to release the talk button as he carried on a side conversation. "A Kafer ship? What's a kafer ship? ...Oh yeah, I guess I remember reading a little about them.. What? Heading towards Ashland? Are they cleared for landing? … yes of course I know you wouldn't be telling me this if they were, I just wanted to make sure! Put Ashland on AA alert and TSF-launch some Kumens to intercept. …good! …anyway, back to this idiot on the-- oh crap."

Josh felt it best not to even reply. He hung up his headset and climbed out of the cockpit. Quickly, he ran across the length of the wing to a small set of rungs that acted like a ladder. As he climbed down, he shouted across the shuttlebay, "Hey, Nick! Come with me, it's time to load up the prisoner for transfer!"

---

Aboard the Kilrany vessel, Sean continued his conversation with the Reaper. "Thank you for doing this for us... how soon can we reach Raysia? I really need to get to RMF control and let them know the information we have. And if there's anything we can do to repay you for your service, just let us know."

In the background, the triage center tried to keep themselves ahead of the force fields, getting patients cleaned up and ready to be moved onto the Kilrany shuttles for decontamination. Most of the wounded were gunshot victims, having barely escaped to the shuttles in time to escape the Dan'Kish.

The nanotechnologists were tending to a line of applicants, checking background and medical coverage and intervenously feeding nanites into the bloodstream of those who qualified for the experiment. This was not for people who were uncomfortable with technology. The nanites would take advanced computer skills to maintain and operate; the more savvy a person was with technology, the more tasks they could perform with their new little friends.

[The Kafers]

Blood Destiny's brain was screaming, on the edge of overload.

GetMissileControlPanelCodesActivate-

Its fingers pounded on the button to feed a new missile in from the magazine. Without waiting for it to come to a complete halt on the track, it tore at the cover sitting over the control panel. Its digits fumbled, shaking from over-stimulation.

The panel came off. Its vision was fragmenting, but the activation codes swarmed over the interior of the faceplate of its environment suit as its pedipalps swarmed over the buttons around its mouth. With fingers trembling, it stabbed the buttons, not noticing parts of its mind detaching, dissolving.

ArmSetTimerSelfDestruct-

As the Gnich* worked, strange thoughts began swarming into its mind. Unbidden thoughts, telling it to stop what it was doing. Yet those thoughts might as well have been trying to flag down an avalanche. The Vah who had been Blood Destiny a moment ago might no longer be Blood Destiny, or even necessarily a Gnich* - although that last was less a title than an acknowledgment of a certain level or personal development, something that even a complete wipe of its conscious mind could not destroy - but it was still Vah, and certain primal instincts, fundamental to the way its subconscious mind was wired, still held sway.

StopNoYesWhyRrellkhaniWhatYouNoVahRellkhaniNoObeyTurggh'!gr-

Lights flickered across the control panel. The missile was armed.

The Vah staggered back, its vision fragmenting, its breath rasping in deep, rasping gasps.

DisarmTurggh'!grDestroyShipRrellkhaniNoObeyNowNoTurggh'!grTurggh'!grTurggh'!grTurggh'!gr-

It stumbled, staggered back, felt something enter its mind, a calming touch. Instinct and reason screamed back, joining forces in a mind that had gone far beyond normal arrach*, had in fact gone so far as to place it among the legendary ranks of those who might be called Araach*'ah, even as it found itself bereft of any notion of who, in fact, it was. Understanding flooded through its mind, blasting away the inner voice that was calling upon it to relax, breath deeply, bring its mind under control.

NoNoNoNoNo-

Its suit had been penetrated. It knew that it was being controlled by an alien intelligence that, having destroyed its personality, now sought to conquer its fundamental nature, pervert it, turn it into something it was not.

SuitNoGoodStopNoRestNoRelaxNoNoNoNoNoPainNeedPain-

The Vah collapsed, half from over-stimulation, half deliberately. It seized the punch dagger it had dropped, and slashed its gloved hand with a powerful stroke, laying open the suit and the flesh beneath it. It howled in exquisite agony and nearly passed out.

LiveStopLiveRestNoNoNoNoNo-

Air began rushing into the weapons bay from the open missile ports. The ship had entered the atmosphere. Nearby, the body of the leader of the team of invaders jerked spasmodically, but the Vah that was no longer Blood Destiny failed to notice, its awareness fighting this horrible monster within it that fought to deny it araach*, its very birthright.

Staggering back to its feet as it felt gravity begin to reassert itself, it stumbled from the room towards the hangar. The stumble became a run, the Vah frenzied, banging off bulkheads, its mind reeling into hallucinations and fevered visions of near-religious ecstasy.

RrellkhaniNoRrellkhaniEvilRrellkahniAach*ahRrellkhaniYouNoNoNoNoNoRrellkhaniEvilRrellkahniAach*ahKillRrellkhaniTurggh'!gr-

Staggering into the hangar, it ran into the fighter, one of two carried by the battlecruiser. It slammed the hatch button with its injured palm, felt the scream of pain, almost erotic, like the fevered grip of a lover in the throes of orgasm.

LiveStopLiveRestLiveLiveLiveTurggh'!gr-

Its vision disintegrating, nearly failing, it fumbled into the cockpit, crashing from one bulkhead into another, the pain driving it mad with ecstasy, existential understanding, enlightenment, mind-expanding, mind-blowing enlightenment.

Ch*ahYesNoNotYetRestNoCh*ahNOLongerMoreLiveLiveLiveRestNoYesNoNoNoNoNONONO-

Shaking hands seized the armrests, fingers tightened on controls, plugs shot into the Vah's suit arms, colors flared and swirled across the inside of its helmet. The thing that had once been Blood Destiny but no longer had a name, no longer knew who it was - but would, yes, would, most certainly would choose a new name, name itself in a new ritual of Gvach* - nearly passed out, yet somehow summoned its last reserves of strength and will to break through the closing mosaic of exploding visions, hallucination, voices, thoughts, impulses, sensory overload, commands, denials, instinct, everything.

Its fumbling pedipalps hammered the keys that lined the inside of its helmet.

CourseSetStopNoStopNoSTOPNONONONONOLaunchLaunchLAUNCHNOW-

The bay doors opened. The fighter's hydrogen thrusters ignited as it screamed out of the bay and tore skyward.

The Vah that had once been - but no longer was - Blood Destiny passed into unconsciousness.

Turggh'!gr - Literally, "love of race"; the innate urge of all Vah (or any sentient species, really) to preserve and propagate its own.
Aach*ah - Literally, "smart barbarian"; a concept deeply rooted in Vah culture and impossible to explain without a lengthy discourse into Vah history. The closest human analogy would be a cross between the Devil and the "bogeyman", a real incarnate evil that all Vah fear as the deadly nemesis of their race. Creatures that get labeled as aach*ah are invariably targeted for genocide.
Ch*ah - Literally, "death struggle"; the final death experience, through which araach* is achieved.
Araach*'ah - Literally, "enlightened one"; a Vah who has managed to achieve such profound levels of revelation as to be legendary in its insight; the closest human equivalent would be found in religious terms like "prophet", "messiah", or "bodhisattva".
Gvach* - [Untranslatable]; the naming ritual that Vah young experience at the age of six Terran Standard Years, just as they are entering sexual maturity. The Vah names itself in a state of heightened awareness brought on by pain in an elaborate "coming of age" ceremony; where the name has actual meaning (e.g. "Blood Destiny") as opposed to simply being a collection of sounds (e.g., "Tk'gik"), it is seen as an omen of the greater destiny.

---

OOC: Of course, I left you the bomb to eject. It will make a nice, big, thermonuclear explosion, so toss it into a safe place.

[Kilrany]

Without warning, a young woman of Slavic descent simply appeared to snap into existence on Sati’s right, addressing Sean in a cool tone as her grey eyes focused on him, “We can have you back in your home system in roughly seventeen minutes Mister Sa’Fyre.”

Ten centimeters shorter then Sati, she appeared to be wearing a black uniform and stood in a classical at ease position with her hands held casually behind her back, just below her long, reddish black hair, “As for payment, none shall be required among friends.”

Though her body was neither transparent nor obviously projected from any point in the room, it was assumed by Romashkova that her sudden appearance would easily be recognized as holographic in nature, “We were operating in the area anyway, and quite honestly it’s a welcome change from planetary survey,” she then quickly added, “Though obviously I’m sure you would have preferred a less painful break from the routine.”

After a brief pause and she spoke again, one could see a number of the white and grey Kilrany taking stretchers with the wounded over to the main airlock in pairs, “I’m preparing to make the jump now, if we can get everyone safely in place, all should be decontaminated by the time we reach your solar system.”

With a more accurate count on the number of Raysians, yet another of the transport modules farther to the left was opened, freeing another platoon to make room to comfortably hold them all.

[The Cosmic Balance]

"Uh... Boss?" said Fergg tentatively.

"What is it, trooper," Captain K'larkk asked, expecting another sm-rt-ss-d remark from his comm officer.

But Fergg wasn't looking especially jovial. "Something's going on down there," he said, digits playing swiftly over the console in front of him. "The emergency channels just flooded with traffic."

K'larkk leaned forward. "What kind of traffic?"

Fergg hit a button and the message went out across the room over speakers within the comm officer's console:

"A Kafer ship? What's a kafer ship? ...Oh yeah, I guess I remember reading a little about them.. What? Heading towards Ashland? Are they cleared for landing? … yes of course I know you wouldn't be telling me this if they were, I just wanted to make sure! Put Ashland on AA alert and TSF-launch some Kumens to intercept. …good! …anyway, back to this idiot on the-- oh crap."

Fergg tapped a few more keys and cocked his head. A holographic image projected an object - a starship-sized object - plummeting towards the surface of Raysia as tiny lights - the points from which messages were being broadcast relating to the vehicle's descent - began blazing into place all around it. With each second, more lights blazed. They were going nuts down there, that was for certain.

"That vessel looks only marginally aerodynamic, trooper..." began the Captain.

"It is only marginally aerodynamic, Captain," replied the comm officer. Fergg's use of his official title made a cold sweat erupt across K'larkk's chest.

"Uncontrolled descent... directly at that city?" the Captain asked no one in particular, eyes bulging.

Before Fergg could reply, a second - and far smaller - contact shot away from the plunging starship, soaring straight up out of the atmosphere. Unlike the falling mass, this second blip appeared quite capable of atmospheric flight.

"What's that, trooper?!?" snapped Captain K'larkk.

"Fighter," Fergg shot back. The ship's Library AI was already matching shapes. The small caption "Kafer Beta-class Battlecruiser" had appeared next to the plunging craft a moment earlier; now, the caption "Kafer Golf-class Fighter" flared into place next to the streaking vehicle rapidly ascending out of Raysia's atmosphere.

Before K'larkk could frame another question, Fergg's head snapped back in surprise at it scanned another holographic readout. "Stutterwarp?!? But that Kafer battlecruiser folded into Raysia's atmosphere..." the comm officer said, almost in a double-take.

Again, Captain K'larkk started to ask a question. Again, he was cut off by his subordinate.

"But..." Fergg was staring at the detail display hovering a few inches to the right of his nose, growing suspicion it his voice "... Kafers... don't... have... fold technology. Strictly stutterwarp..." He paused, and then preempted his boss for the third time in less than ten seconds.

"Uh, boss, I think this is bad. Really bad..." he began.

[Kormanthor]

Entering a high orbit of Raysia

One hour later the Kor Star Carrier, UKS Nightshade slows to enter a high orbit of the Planet Raysia. Captain Korte sat in his ready room looking over reports from his Senior Officers behind his massive walnut desk. Finally the intercom comes alive with the helms mans voice saying,

“ Captain we are now orbiting the Planet Raysia ”, replied Lt. Dematteo.

“ Thank You Lieutenant, I'm on my way " the Captain said as he stood up and quickly headed towards the door leading to the bridge. As he moved nearer the door it automatically
opened and he walked through onto the bridge. On the view screen Raysia slowly spun beneath the Nightshade. Casually he walked to his command chair, sat down, then poked it’s intercom button to open a channel to Shuttle Bay Six and said,

“ Lt Vanier, this is the Captain. We have just entered orbit of Raysia, please inform our guests that they are now home. "

Immediately Nick Vanier answered saying, " Aye Sir, Josh and I have just arrived in the Isolation
Brig. We will soon be readying the girl for transport to their ship so they can leave."

" Thats fine Lieutenant, just make darn sure that she is under maximum security .... Captain Out."

[Rrellkhan]

The Kafer ship glided through the air, barely able to keep aloft with the help of the aid of her airfoiled deflector shields. In a bright set of flashes, a number of Raysian Gunships appeared alongside the vessel, shining spotlights and tracking weapons, all while trying to hail the ship on short range radio frequencies. The leader, holding on tight to the command chair, heard and grinningly ignored the pleas over the radio. The ship shook violently though the turbulent air, with her shields flickering as air met plasma. The Raysian militia wasn't going to put up with their current trajectory much longer.


Out in the weapons bay, the adrenaline finally reached the ravager's brain, and his bleeding wound could be overlooked long enough to activate the launch mechanism capable of firing the missile which had been armed by the being that had moments ago been known as Blood Destiny.


Seeing the indicator light change on his console, the Kafer pilot's body felt a sudden rush of stimulation, and he quickly mashed a launch button. The missile fired clean out of the tube, flooding the weapons bay with rocket exhaust, proceeding on a course straight up through the air. Clearly evident by the flight pattern, the missile could be seen as one not intended for atmospheric flight.


Seeing the missile leave the ship, the Raysian gunships immediately broke up, a couple chasing after the missile in an attempt to intercept and destroy. Firing a swarm of air-to-air missiles, the erratic, if not wholly-ballistic anti-capital missile, exploded apart; first, just the casing, then a few seconds later the warhead detonated. A bright flash lit up the sky a few dozen kilometers outside of the fast-approaching city, an altitude of 20 kilometers over what was mostly uninhabited wild jungle terrain. A few of the Raysian ships were swallowed in the thermonuclear blast wave, the light from the explosion blinding many onlookers in the city ahead.


Their intentions now assuredly hostile, the Raysian gunships opened fire. Each ship banked itself to expose a number of high-powered gatling cannons, which quickly spun up to speed flung thousands of rounds in a matter of seconds, carving the ship apart and tearing down the shields.


Now is the time to release our payload.

The charges that had been placed around the ship surged with electricity, charging the detonators which immediately sent an energy feedback into the cells of organic zero-point energy that had been weaponized into high-yield explosives. The descending Kafer ship ripped apart at the seams like a killer wielding a chainsaw, flaming fragments falling like metorites towards the city as it passed the walls. As the chunks streaked through the air, clouds of the Rrellkhan spores leaked out like rain over the city. Upon crashing, the bulk of the payloaded spores would also spread out into the city.



The pilot pounded away at the controls, trying to keep the shields online, his entire ship just broke up all around him, hundreds of hull breeches showing up on the console like pop-up advertising. Good bye, ship… now I just have to crash this thing and live! Oh ****, there go the shields… The ship passed over the city in less than a minute, Raysian gunships following alongside the largest surviving chunk, following it as it crashed toward the ground. A dozen more Kumens suddenly translocated into positions just ahead of the projected landing zone, clearing the area and setting up to board.

The Rrellkhan god who sat in the ship's command chair watched almost helplessly as the ship started to impact the tree-line of the jungle. He closed his eyes, then began to glow with a red energy circling the air around him as he had done earlier when taking the Dan'Kish. Just before impact, the energy left him in the form similar to a lightning strike, an energy transfer could easily be seen by the observing Raysian gunships. His body, now lifeless, flew out of his chair upon impact, landing just above the console of the piloting Kafer. Skidding across the ground and plowing through trees, the ship continued on and on for a couple kilometers before finally coming to a smoldering stop.

---

Throughout the city, many stood around in vapid stupors, while others stared back in utter confusion. Seeing the clouds spreading, many of the more intelligent citizens quickly covered their mouths and found breath masks or bandanas or tore up shirts to limit their exposure, as basic emergency preparedness would dictate.

Those who were unable to take a similar course quickly found themselves all asking the same questions silently… who, what, and where am I?

A voice gently came into their minds, as if it were their own thoughts. You are a Rrellkhan. If you want a name, you will have to earn it. Anyone who opposes the Rrellkhan gods is a fool, and the fools must be destroyed. Your current objective is to commandeer any spaceworthy vessels, and get all Rrellkhani to safety. You will receive futher instructions shortly, until that time, you might want to arm yourself.

Those who fell victim to the spores quickly lost all sense of identity, and the power of suggestion found a strong hold in many minds. Those who resisted the suggested thoughts, those that were of a stronger will and mental discipline, were quickly 'promoted' into leaders, commanded to gather all Rrellhkani together and storm the docking structures and starports.

Ashland was home to a rather large civilian starship manufacturing plant, one that would easily be a prime target for the newborn ravagers. In the mean time, many stood around in confusion, still trying to get their bearings. Some who already carried concealed weapons quickly drew them and began running through the streets.

---

Raysia was colonized while the planet itself was still very young. Vegetation was abundant, air was new, but earthquakes, volcanic activity, and horrible weather were also very common. Of course, the other thing native to young worlds were amazing varieties of primitive life forms, many in the form of ferocious and incredibly frightening pre-avian reptilian creatures, scaly, carnivorous, and immensely strong like the dinosaurs of pre-historic Earth. Cities were walled like ancient castles to keep the more dangerous animals out.

Out in the jungle, a few kilometers before the impact site of the Kafer ship, one of these terrible looking creatures ran determinedly toward the crashed wreck, his eyes glowing with a bright red, and letting out a loud roar in the shear joy of raw brute power. Finally a form to reflect the ferocious and terrible being that I truly am. All shall fear our new army.

As he ran through the jungle with an incredible velocity, he could smell the spores of the Rrellkhan falling onto the animals. He then commanded the spores that they should fall upon only the most useful animals and the most ferocious and tyrannical savage creatures. As the spores were breathed in, he spread his thoughts, taming the animals almost instantly, training them to his voice. Join with me, my brethren, for we shall be the great army of the Rrellkhan. I am your god of war, your leader in battle, I am Jel'dhan, and you will follow me into battle against the fools in the city nearby. You have friends in the human-mad birds at the end of the trail of fire, they will take you into the battle that awaits.

As Jel'dhan continued towards the crash site, many creatures of similar species formed up behind him in a long pattern, ready to fight alongside their god.

[The Cosmic Balance]

"Nuclear detonation in the atmosphere!" Fergg sang out.

"The Kafer ship?" asked Captain K'larkk

"No, boss," replied the Throsian comm officer. "A missile. Looks like an old laser-head..." Fergg pondered this for a moment, then shook his head. "Which makes no sense - those don't work in an atmosphere. I mean, they blow and all..."

"Ejecting it to prevent an internal blast?" the Constable's Captain asked.

Fergg was scanning holographic output at blinding speed. K'larkk could see the data cable emerging from the Throsian's solar plexus; he was interfacing directly with the Library. "I can't really see that, but I suppose it's possible. From what I see here, the Kafers usually build their gear tough enough to get hammered on with a shovel and still be safe; part of their mentality, it seems. Still..."

Looking at the displays, Fergg's voice changed, going up half an octave in startlement. "It's breaking up over that city - 'Ashland', the raysians call it," he called out, "Releasing ... what?"

"What?" asked K'larkk, alarmed.

"Spores." Fergg said, puzzled. "And there are some really strange energy emissions out there. Like ... no, that can't be right."

"What can't be right, trooper?!?" the Captain demanded.

"Psychotronics?!?" the Throsian gaped.

Not thinking that he and his ship were just guests here, K'larkk's natural tendency to take charge flared into action. "Trooper, grab that fighter."

"Sir?!?" Fergg replied, wrenched away from his efforts to follow the furious pace of events. The Kafer ship had crashed into the jungles outside Ashland, Raysian gunships were descending on the position, and rumors of some bizarre 'infection' were starting to pop up all over the city that had been overflown by the crippled battlecruiser on its way down.

"The fighter, trooper!" K'larkk snapped. "I want it taken into custody - right now!"

[Capsule Corporation]

Josh sat inside the cockpit of the Majestic, continuing along with the preflight checklist and listening to the chatter in his communicator. He focused the ship's radio receiver scope on the area around Ashland, and tried to get an accurate assessment of the situation.

"This is Ashland Civil Defense, broadcasting on all local frequencies, we have an emergency. An unidentified vessel has dropped out of spacefold just outside the city and is apparently on a collision trajectory. Prepare for impact. The militia is going to attempt to destroy the vessel, but all citizens of Ashland should prepare for impact. Militia, fire crews, and hospitals, all should be on standby for emergency response action. Repeat, there is an unidentified ship on a collision trajectory with Ashland, prepare for impact."

---

"Charlie Eleven here, that Beta just launched a missile! Can't get a clear reading of the warhead, but we're going after it. Firing AOD interceptors… good impact, good kill. The missile has been neutra-AHH!"

---

"The gunships have opened fire, and it appears that the ship's shields are weakening. We can only hope that the militia can down the ship before it reaches the city. You're listening to RNN's Ashland Affiliate, 181.3, and we're bringing you live updates of the vessel that moments ago appeared just outside the city on a collision course. Wait, yes, it appears that the ship has been destroyed, we're seeing fragments now, but it looks as though they're still coming towards the city! Obviously the smaller chunks will do less damage than an entire ship, but we're still in some danger. Please, if you're on the streets, seek shelter immediately. We go now to our very own Kara Wachovia for an exclusive angle on the central monument ring. Kara, it looks like the ship is going to pass right over the monument, are you sure you're safe?"

"No Paul, but we've got plenty of concrete up here to duck behind if something gets too close. We're watching the fragments fall straight toward the city. Searchlights are keeping with the debris to make sure nothing goes unnoticed. Wait, do you see that, Paul? (Yeah, what is it?) It looks like there's something coming out of the fragments… something besides just smoke and flame… it appears to be some sort of …gas? This could be some sort of biological weapon! Everyone within the sound of my voice should take biological warfare precautions immediately! Civil defense protocol recommends that you find something to inhale through. (It's coming right for us!) What are you talking about, it's a gas, gas doesn't move like… that… Oh sh--. I think.. We should all cover our… (Kara, are you okay?) find something to… What I'm trying to say, b… … …what's… who… huh? (Kara, what's going on? Is everything alright? You're still on the air! ) "

"Huh, well It appears we've lost our signal from our field correspondent Kara Wachovia, I just hope she's alright. I also hope that many of you are safe from this horrible event. Again, we urge you all to cover your nose and mouths, there is some sort of biological or chemical attack currently underway. Find shelter immediately. It appears that the fragments of the ship, now Identified to us as a Kafer Beta-class vessel, have impacted with minimal damage to the city. Crews are on their way, but it's going to be difficult to reach people with this gas spreading around. This is terrible."

---

"No, I don't know why they landed in the jungle, but it seems obvious that destruction wasn't their goal! (What are you talking about, marine?) That nuke was fired straight up! It wasn't heading for the city! And now they've overshot us? I have no idea why, but I think we should all proceed with serious caution… whatever is happening is just beginning. We're landing at the crash site now, gas masks on. Door's open, we're heading towards the first open door… my word, this ship has been torn to pieces. The bulkheads didn't even have enough power to shut off the breaches."

"It's possible the doors were opened to release whatever chemical or gas that was. Do you see anything yet?"

"I'm walking through a little bit of the gas right now… I can see it quite clearly… it's floating around like it's guided… more like a tiny swarm of insects."

"Insects? What do you think we're dealing with here?"

"I haven't a clue. What symptoms are being seen in the city? Anything yet?"

"You… you really don't want to know. Amnesia, confusion, violence, it seems to be dividing the city into a rather large riot."

"A riot you say? Not unusual considering the panicky nature of streetwalkers… We're in the ship now, trying to find our way around. What the hell? The entire ship is charred and damaged even in the unexposed areas… it looks like a massive fight broke out inside the ship. Looks like we have dead bodies everywhere, I'm going to guess these gross looking bugs are the Kafers?"

"Yeah, that'd be right; nothing pleasant about those things."

"The other party appears to be human. It's awfully hard to see in the dark. Wait, these are RMF jackets on these other guys… RMF Dan'Kish. Commander, what the hell is going on here?"

"We lost contact with the Dan'Kish yesterday… but I have no idea why they'd be responsible for this. That is starting to answer a few questions, like why the ship appeared to enter our space via a TSF drive."

"Yeah, I'm sure it makes some sense to you guys, but I am really lost here… …what was that? Kyle, did you hear that? (Hear it? I just saw something move!) *gunshots* There is at least one Kafer still alive! I can't find him! He's sneaking around inside the ship! …GAH! He's … got me in a hold! *gunshots are fired wildly* It's ripping my mask off! I… I…"

"Commander, this is Kyle, I'm losing him! He's inhaled some of the bugs and the Kafer is using him as a human shield! Wait, Kyle, what are you doing? He's right behind you! Shoot him! Wait, no! NOT ME! AHH!"

"Report! …. Someone, respond!"

"This is Alpha twelve's gunny, I'm watching from the gunship, and it's looking really horrible. The marines are all turning on each other! I can not even begin to guess at whom I should I fire."

"Just sit tight, worry about yourself for the moment, are you safe?"

"Yeah, of course… except for this pack of vel-raptors coming for us."

"Usually they hate fireworks and gunshots, they've learned to fear us."

"These ones aren't! They… they are in a large group… a formation! They're organized! Screw this, I'm firing." *gatling gunshots could be heard through the transmission*

---

"This is Paul Childers, RNN Ashland, and we're back with live coverage of the rather large riots forming across the city. I honestly have never seen this kind of violence in my life. One side, apparently those infected, have taken up arms and are now ravaging the city. Their primary targets seem to be weapons stores and civilian starcraft dealers. A large group seems to be heading straight towards the shipyards at the northeast corner of the city. No one at RNN has been able to discern their motives or goals, but they seem to be gaining strength and gathering in numbers. It appears they are only attacking those who are fighting back… I'm not going to advise anyone to lay down arms, but if you're in your homes, stay inside, and lock the doors. Don't give them any reason to attack you. These 'ravagers' are going to tear the city apart, I just wish we could find out what they're looking to accomplish.

"As you know, Ashland has a population of 28 million directly in the city, and it appears that many tens of thousands, if not more, have been infected. We could be looking at a million infected within the hour. Ah, it appears the militia has finally arrived in force. The RMF Run'Kish has just defolded into the air above us, and is on its way down. Apparently, they're going to assume martial control of the situation, but I don't know how they can do it with just one ship's compliment… I expect we're going to see plenty of militia activity for the next few hours."

---

"I've gotta get down there," said Josh, to no one in particular. He then pulled himself out through the canopy and yelled down to his gunner, "Gabe, we have to go, now! Ashland's under attack, and they need as many militia as they can get!"

"Seriously? What's the fastest way down there from here?"

"We're entering orbit now, and we can rendezvous with the orbital elevator, then use it to TSF-jump us down to the surface… We're going to have to drop by RMF Central and drop off our passengers, but we should be good to go from there. We'll be in action within the half-hour."

Gabe nodded, and yelled over to the security guards, "we're talking off in 3 minutes! Please get that prisoner back up here, and gather all our crewman back into the shuttle! We're needed in combat immediately!"

[Capsule Corporation]

Sean, quickly determining that this new woman was some sort of holographic representation of an authority figure, nodded gently to acknowledge her presence, then listened carefully as she spoke. He contained a smile to reply with a simple "Seventeen minutes? That would be great. I'll make sure everyone's onboard the shuttles and braced for jump."

Looking back toward the refugees, he could see a certain number of the more well-composed personnel gathering everyone together to move toward the shuttles. Triage equipment was quickly lifted and moved toward the Kilrany military transports to wait out the decontamination process.

"I really wish we knew more about this new enemy," Sean said, talking toward both Romashkova and Sati, "I have no idea what force is controlling these spores, or those ravagers. We don't know why they suddenly turned violent, but from what we could tell they all just lost it; there were some complaining of voices in their heads, others that just immediately picked up their weapons and fired as if they had been at war with us for years. The look in their eyes was just ...terrifying... like everything about them was gone and replaced by a thoughtless warrior. Have you ever heard of such an event? I just hope they don't spread to a planet, that would be an incredibly bad thing."

---

A bubble of energy burst apart just as quickly as it formed, revealing the form of a Kryptonite-class FoldShip in high orbit of Raysia. Establishing her bearings, the RMF Riplakish plotted a course for Ashland to play a support role.

"Commander Laykress," came the voice of the Tactical officer on the bridge, "RMF Central is sending us an urgent message, we're to find out what happened to the warp-fighter that escaped from the crashing battleship... priority two order."

Jace sat down in his chair, slipping his arms into a pair of shoulder straps and fastening a lap belt across his waist. "Helm, take us into position over the city. Flight control, get all pilots to their gunships. Sound the alert, we're going to fold into the atmosphere in two minutes. Load every marine we have into the payload bays and arm them for heavy violence. They're going to roll out in two and a half."

The different respective crewmen each turned to their stations and started talking into their communicators, passing down orders.

Raimi spoke up from her science station, "The radio activity down there is off the charts. People are freaking out in every corner of the city. Jace, this is really bad."

"Do we have a visual yet?"

She nodded, and immediately threw a bunch of video feeds on the main viewscreen, including the local news and observatory satellite camera views from high in orbit. The crowd was quickly multiplying, the clouds of the Rrellkhan spores floated thinned themselves out, gathering thousands, hundreds of thousands. Soon there would be millions.


"Prepare for fold... charge the shell. 3, 2, 1.. " the ship then shook violently as atmosphere slammed into the vacuum that had been pulled along with the Riplakish. "Open the hangar doors, drop the fighters in."

The ship's atmospheric engines kicked in immediately and air rushed all around the ship, holding it aloft. Dozens of gunships pushed themselves out of the hangars, falling straight down toward the city below.

[Kilrany]

An amused smile played briefly across her face as Romashkova responded, “Just over sixteen and a half minutes now mister Sa’Fyre, no one need prepare, for we are already on route,” her smile faded a little then as she became more serious, “I’ve dispatched my escorts back to our rally point, your traffic control will likely react with a little less concern with just one unidentified ship appearing close to your homeworld rather than half my squadron.”

She allowed a slight frown to form then as she continued, “I share your concern, this pathogen is too much of an unknown, and not something we’ve encountered before. Hopefully we will have entrapped a few specimens for dissection and study for us both to learn something of its nature.”

Snapping out of existence as abruptly as she appeared, Romashkova then left Sean to be escorted by Sati into one of the rectangular transport modules. Little more then an open space, there were no seats or benches to make use of, only forty-eight hand rungs along the ceiling. A single Reaper joined the Raysians within each module before the large front door was sealed shut, their purpose there to let them know when it was safe to leave.

Those entering the Beta Type shuttle would find a similar situation, however at the back of this large cabin, they would see a pair of ArcAngel class heavy infantrymen standing with their backs to the cabin sides. Identical in height to the Reaper series, they had more human like heads which watched the Raysians enter, but were far more bulky in appearance with small arms connecting out from the shuttle sides to hold them in place during rough descents. Without a Reaper to join them, these ArcAngels would serve as host for these particular Raysians.

Only after all the Raysian personnel were safely outside the hangar or sealed within one of their transports, and several Reapers finished a quick check of their Kumen, was the mist released into the room and winds increased. Colourless and without odour, it appeared to be little more then rain as it blew about in an artificially created cyclone, spreading itself into every nook and cranny. This was highly deceiving however as this designer agent had properties not unlike white phosphorous and other corrosive chemicals.

Mixed as it had been on this occasion, it had a short half-life of merely fifteen minutes. Had it been mixed slightly differently, this agent designed originally for chemical warfare would have had a half-life of nearly three weeks.

-----

As the mist went about its work, Sati addressed Sean and the other Raysians within the transport module she had joined, “Decontamination has begun and should be complete in approximately fifteen minutes. I will inform you when it’s safe to leave. If you have any questions of concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

At the same time the other temporary hosts gave an identical message to their own guests, as the Raysians would find themselves cut off from each of their respective, surviving groups.

OOC: Concept art used for the ArcAngel. Not my artwork I'm sad to say.

[The Cosmic Balance]

"Matching the fighter's warp vector... now," HJ38GS19U, Constable's robotic helmsman intoned. "Preparing a warp snare."

Constable didn't use so-called "tractor beam" technology; such systems had been obsolete within intergalactic society for... well, just about forever. Instead, the cruiser would use the ages-old tactic of sending a small warp-capable device to intercept the target vessel and generate a large enough warp field to encircle both the snare and its quarry; at that point, the snare would then simply fly back to its source, dragging the target - or more precisely, a bubble of space containing both target and snare - into a direct rendezvous with the apprehending vessel. The approach was simple and far more effective than any "tractor beam" could ever hope to be.

Of course, all of this required that the vessel in question not have the ability to maintain a warp field of its own, which in turn meant disabling its warp drives, preferably without destroying the target in the process. That, of course, was the hard part - but here Constable had the advantage of enjoying quite a large technological edge over its prey.

"What sort of powerplant is that fighter using?" asked K'larkk.

"It appears to be employing a magneto-hydrodynamic turbine," Fergg, the ship's Throsian comm officer replied. "The chemical reaction being used isn't documented, but from the heat output I would say it's not all that powerful a system. I'm guessing it's hydrazine-based, but it could be burning hydrogen at a lower output than its size would suggest."

"Non-nuclear, then," the Captain sighed with relief. "If we use an EMP device, what's the worst that could happen?"

"We could fry their life supports," Fergg replied sourly.

"Yes, we could do that," K'larkk acknowledged. "We'll have to take that risk." Turning to the ship's Orthasi weapons officer, K'larkk called, "Kharga, prepare an EMP pulse; synchronize with the fighter's stutterwarp system - and our snare's warp drives."

"On your mark, Captain," Kharga growled, her large tusks giving her a feral look.

K'larkk paused a second, raised a hand, and then - with a cutting motion - barked out: "Mark!"

The EMP charge flew straight at its target, synchronized to detonate precisely at that moment in the fighter's stutterwarp cycle when its drives were between "skips" and the vessel was - if only for a fraction of an instant - merely hanging there motionless in space. Simultaneously, the outer surface of the snare's warp envelope contracted to microscopic size, guaranteeing that only the tiniest fraction of the EMP device's effects would be felt inside the bubble; the rest of the burst would simply wash on past.

Had the fighter been maneuvering evasively in any way, none of this would have been possible. But it had flown on a clothesline at at constant velocity ever since it had reached a high enough altitude over Raysia that its stutterwarp drives could engage, leading Constable's Captain and crew to believe that it was essentially operating on autopilot.

With a small but brilliant burst, the EMP charge detonated, sending a surge of charged particles directly into the path of the Kafer fighter.

[The Kafers]

The Vah who had once been Blood Destiny was completely unconscious; the fighter carrying it was indeed - as Constable's crew had guessed - operating on autopilot. Thus the effort to disable its drives with an EMP burst was completely successful: Having no shields - only armor - the EMP burst overwhelmed the military grade electronics hardening and shut the fighter's systems down completely. Fortunately, Vah spacesuit and life support technology was designed to continue functioning even in the event of complete electrical failure, let alone something as trivial as an EMP burst, which generally did little genuine circuit damage as much as simply tripping off all the circuit breakers and knocking most everything offline pending a full restart.

Normally, a fighter's crew of three would initiate this restart using chemo-electrical systems that automatically went offline as soon as the vehicle's main and auxiliary power systems fired up. Once shut down and drained of all electrical current, such systems could easily survive an EMP-generated "power spike", thereby providing the bootstrap ability to bring everything else back up after a brief delay. But this fighter didn't have a crew of three; its sole occupant was utterly unresponsive, and would likely remain so for hours.

Consequently, those systems that went down stayed down, and Constable's "snare" was free to grab the Vah fighter and haul it wherever its owners pleased.

[Capsule Corporation]

Gabe ran toward the gunship's ladder, pausing for a moment to stare and visualize something in his head. He laughed to himself as he raced up the ladder and onto the wing. "Hey, Josh, I've got a crazy idea," he said, holding a piece of paper in his hand as he walked toward the canopy.

Josh hardly looked up from the startup sequences, "what is it, kid?"

"I've been thinking... we lost our ship, right? Terrible thing. And we're completely useless without a ship to haul us around from job to job, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, we need the TSF catapult, and the missile stores, and not to mention the Militia likes us to have a commander or two to yell at us."

The gunner, half of their duo that had been stomping around the Raysian territories enforcing peace and security for years, tossed down the paper.

"Gabe, what am I looking at? You know I never did too well in my engineering classes.."

"Look at it," he said, climbing down in and pointing at the paper. "The red is the room we can convert into capacitor and power banks... the green is the space we can use for the drives. There's so much empty space in these ships to keep them light and configurable, I just figure we can replace it with something useful."

"Dude, come on, you've removed all the hypergolic systems... how are we ever going to break atmo without a rocket booster?"

"Stay with me, buddy, we're talking about installing a TSF drive on the Majestic. It would be short range... and the engineers I've talked to about it say we'd probably only get about a hundred light years per jump, if even, but that'd be enough to go planet skipping. The recharge rate would be short, and she'd burn through OZP fuel like a rocket, but we'd be able to get ourselves around all nice and free-like."

"So you think we could finally do it? Mod up the ship and go merc?"

"The capacitor banks would be the most expensive system, but we could probably get the whole refit done if we pulled out a loan for 100 mill, using the ship as collateral. We could have it paid off in a year if we work hard. Do you think you'd be up for it?"

"Yes! Very yes! Let's do it. Screw the RMF, we can go merc and run missions against these Rrellkhan whenever they need support."

A few of the away team members saw the ship preparing for liftoff and ran over to board. A large passenger entrance revealed itself with the pull of a lever, and the team began to seat themselves. A few militiamen stood by, waiting for the prisoner to come join them.

---

Sean stared out into the bay, the sight being quite amazing... containment fields creating small vortexes that would suck all the contaminants from the air. "15 minutes is great. We couldn't ask for better." He looked over to the groups moving towards their shuttles, and quickly added "I guess I should rejoin my group. Thank you for doing all of this for us." He bowed deeply to Sati, and walked off toward one of the shuttles. The last of the triage equipment was being hauled back into the shuttles to await the air scrubbing's completion.

---

Jace waited for the shaking to subside, a shaking he had grown accustom to whenever he was bringing his ship back into the atmosphere. He mashed a militia-band talk button, and sent a quick transmission, "This is RMF Riplakish, we are on site and launching gunships. We're not sticking around long, but we're donating a good 200 marines to the fight. RMF control, whenever you figure out what the hell is going on down there, be sure to send me a report. Laykress, out."

A response came quickly, "Laykress, this is Chief Captain Echella, Ashland Defense; we've been gathering as much data as available, and frankly we don't have much. There is some sort of pathogen or psycho-effective drug that has convinced a chunk of the population to rebel. They're looting weapons stores and from what we can tell they are trying to obtain ships. Some of them have already captured a few Kumens, so watch where you fly. Also, there is a lot of animal activity around the crash site of that Kafer ship, I wouldn't doubt that some of that bug has gotten to the wild Velraps out there. Be careful, no matter where you set down. Oh, and if you can get any help from those lovely guests in orbit, please do. Echella, out."

[Rrellkhan]

The herd of Vel-raptors found their way up inside the Raysian Militia perimeter around the crash site, mercilessly thrashing apart the humans who were unaffected by the will of the Rrellkhan. Many of the creatures, most standing less than 2 meters tall, crowded into the payload bays of the Gunships whose pilots had been converted.

One of the raptors, the glowing one who called himself Jel'dhan, perched himself on top of one of the gunships and let a loud roar, one that could be interpreted by those of the Rrellkhan, Gather into the birds, we take the city! Follow your god into battle!


Inside the wrecked ship, the resilliant Kafer pilot crawled out of one of the busted bulkheads, a slight limp in his step, and blood all over. I will join the fight, would be the rough translation of the clicks that sounded from his mouth. He then made his way towards Jel'Dhan's shuttle.

The Rrellkhan god grinned and snorted, letting out a grunt in the direction of the Kafer. "You are one resilient little roach. You are now in charge of the troops in that shuttle over there," he said, pointing to one of the shuttles. "I give unto you the name of Remm'ik, and command you to take control of the shipyards."

The Kafer that had once been known as Tk'Gik bowed in acceptance of the name and limped his way over to the shuttle, regaining his strength as the anticipation of battle flooded his veins.

The gunships loaded up quickly, a number of them still fighting within themselves, but the pockets of resistance were quickly fading. The Rrellkhan spores had successfully trained, if not completely brainwashed, all the raptors and men to stand next to each other without fear or internal violence. The gunships quickly took off, heavy-laden with passengers crammed into multiple tiers like shelves. A few moments later, the Kumen-class ships reached the city's walls, with no resistance from the militia or city defense, as they would naturally assume the vessels were friendly. The vessels then landed at various points across the city, the human marines and raptors working side by side to force their way into areas of critical resources. They pillaged and raided their way through from one corner of the metropolis to the other.

Approaching the shipyards, Remm'ik the Kafer led his army of more than 100 in through the gates. Security guards that hadn't been converted ran to hide rather than face the horrible force that approached. They made their way down to the lots of dozens of civilian-grade FoldShips, preparing them for takeoff. and cleaning them of any who would oppose.

[Kormanthor]

[ Shuttle Bay Six ]

Emerging again from the transporter door into Shuttle Bay Six Nick heard Gabe yell,

“"We're talking off in 3 minutes! Please get that prisoner back up here, and gather all our crewman back into the shuttle! We're needed in combat immediately!"

“ She's ready for transport now Gabe, replied Nick. Simultaneously he quickly hit the intercom activator on his belt opening a channel to the brigs transporter operator and said, “ Jamie transport the prisoner immediately to the cargo hold of Alpha-Oh-7. ”

“ Aye Sir, replied the security transporter technician.

A second later within Alpha-Oh-7’s cargo hold a section of empty space started to slightly waver and suddenly the girl prisoner reappeared still bound in security restraints.

Then Nick turned towards Josh and Gabe on the gunship, saluted and yelled, “ Gods Speed and Good Hunting Guys! ”

[-Raysia-]

Inside the payload bay, many of the crew had already strapped themselves into their wall-chairs, and were staring as the girl materialized before them. A couple of guards drew their weapons and pushed her gently back into a chair, tying her down. "Why must you all insist on treating me like cargo, transporting me from one room to the other without the decency of letting me use my own feet? Do you realize how many centuries it's been since I've had legs to walk with?"

The guards smirked, and tightened her to the chair.


Josh popped his head out to hear Nick's farewell, and waved his hand in a friendly salute. "Thank you for everything, Nick. If you contact RMF control they will compensate you for the fuel expended. Get clear of the path of any escaping Rrellkhan!" He plopped back down into his chair, strapped himself in, and sealed all doors. The ship's engines flared to life, pumping air into the ducts and generating lift quickly. Air rushed around the deck like a strong wind, and the ship pulled itself out of the bay.

As the ship passed through the airlock force field into the vacuum of space, the engines were quickly rendered useless, having no air to move around them. Josh flipped a toggle that began vaporizing and ionizing gas, and sending it into the charged fields of the VILE drives, making a very functional ion drive. The Majestic angled herself away from the Kormanthor vessel, and fired the engines at 1/3 throttle, propelling them away at comfortably fast pace.

"Josh! We've got a transmission coming through from RMF control!"

The message was quickly patched through onto the crew's communicator earpieces. "Dan'Kish Alpha-Oh-Seven, this is RMF Control, you are being redirected to rendezvous with the RMF Riplakish. Get your entire team, and the prisoner, on board. They are currently fighting over Ashland. Once your passengers have disembarked, we could really use your help on the ground down here. RMF, out."

Josh nodded, to no one in particular, then said "Roger, RMFC, we're on our way, via the orbital TSF elevator nearest to us. We'll arrive in 2 minutes. Majestic, out." He laughed quietly after he released the talk button.

"Majestic? What the crap is that about?"

He laughed audibly over the air, "we figure we don't have a ship anymore, so we had to come up with some designation."

"Roger, Majestic. Glad you're home. RMFC, out."

The gunship increased her throttle, on approach to the access point. When it arrived moments later, a prompt came across a local wireless network, asking for authorization and fold coordinates. The gunship entered the orbiting station's fold zone, and immediately a shell of plasma formed itself around the vessel. It only took a second for the shield to be pumped full of enough energy to translocate the vessel, and when it reached that point, the shell and ship immediately disappeared.

Josh and Gabe, as well as the rest of the crew, held onto their straps as the ship fell free for a moment, then regained engine power. The pilot smiled upon finally being in Raysia's cloudy night sky once more. "Now, where is the Riplakish" He looked around, and saw burning phosphorous lighting up the tracer rounds that flew through the skies. "Wow, we are really in a serious fight here. Gabe, be ready for enemy targets... they could be airborne already."

Gabe nodded in confirmation, panning around with his guns and searching the city on optical and EM sensors. "Josh, she's right below us!"

The pilot looked around, then turned on the floor displays. "Ahah! Found you!" The RMF Riplakish Lay only about 2 kilometers below them. The ship pulled around on atmospheric thrusters and quickly asked for docking permission, which it received and immediately began to land. The gunship fired reverse thrust as it entered the space between the Kryptonite-class vessel's twin hulls. It then landed inside the port-side hangar, and the doors opened with a hiss.



Commander Jace Laykress received the confirmation of the gunship's landing, and quickly ordered a security team to escort their prisoner to an isolation cell.


Josh climbed out onto the dorsal face of his gunship's hull, and shouted down to a team of mechanics. "I need OZP, a full tank! Get on it quick, because we're due on the ground immediately!"

The mechanics quickly hooked the ship up to fuel lines and began pumping. Life support systems were changed out, and a single crowd-control gatling was mounted to replace one of the anti-material cannons. Josh looked out into the hangar, quickly noticing that they were on full deployment... the place was empty except for the few necessary for evacuation purposes. He the leaned down into the canopy, shouting down to his gunner that sat below the pilot's seat. "These Rrellkhan are going to be a pain if this is just the beginning."


ooc: reposted as correct puppet nation ^_^

[The Cosmic Balance]

Having drawn the Kafer fighter into Constable's hangar bay, HJ38GS19U declared in a flat, even voice: "Fighter secured and hangar bay sealed."

"Good," K'larkk said. "Let's get Turemish down there with a SWAT team and a paramedic to get at the crew." Then, turning to Fergg, he asked: "How many people does that fighter carry?"

"According to the database, three," the Throsian replied. "Kafers tend to be pretty nasty when riled, so we need to make sure we have a pretty large squad."

"Make it at least a dozen in the SWAT team, then," the Captain replied.

"Captain," HJ38GS19U cut in, "I'm picking up signs of some some of biological contamination aboard the fighter."

Captain K'larkk wheeled his chair around to face the robot. "What kind of contamination?!?"

"Carbon-based, Captain," the helmsman replied. "Type unknown."

"Belay that order to Turemish!" snapped K'larkk. Pausing for a second, he declared: "Have Xxpx'rg head up the SWAT team instead of Turemish, and make the rest all 'bots if we can arrange it. No carbon-based personnel are to enter that bay until decontamination is complete. And let Gurgen down in the infirmary know that they'll be bringing in a dirty one; he'll need to work in isolation until we're sure the Kafer crew is clean."

[Kormanthor]

The UKS Nightshade / Orbiting Raysia

Lt Nicholas Vagnier piloted the Lead Kor Troop Transport out of Transport Bay Four followed by four other transports. Immediately upon clearing the carrier he angled the ship down into the Raysian atmosphere escorted by six star fighters and six argo class shuttles on a course to the walled city called Ashland .

http://usera.ImageCave.com/Kormanthor/colonyships.jpg
Kor Troop Transports

http://usera.ImageCave.com/Kormanthor/ArgoClassShuttle.jpg
Argo Class Shuttle

http://usera.ImageCave.com/Kormanthor/fighter_valkyrie.jpg
Valkyrie Star Fighter

Quickly the nimble troop transports and their escorts descended towards the northeast side of the city where he knew the cities spaceport was located. Soon he spotted the airport and shifted the transports impulse engines into hover mode five hundred feet above the space port then activated the offensive and defensive systems as well as the AI Pilot.

Outside the other transports followed suit and the shuttles continued to descend towards the spaceport as the Star Fighters started bussing around the parked transports. As soon as the shuttles were within ten feet of the ground their back doors opened and enclosed ground vehicles armed to the teeth shot out landing on the spaceports pavement as they scanned for areas of the city where raysian citizens were being threatened. The shuttles then ascended back to formation with the transports.

Near the area where the armed ground vehicles had landed, suddenly squads of men in Power Armor and Mechs lead by Nicholas Vagnier begin appearing as they were transported to the surface from the hovering transports.

[Kilrany]

Unaccustomed to the physical presence of human beings, and with a decided lack of interest from them to speak to her further, there seemed little for Sati to actively do beyond stand as still as a statue during what felt like a terribly long fifteen minutes. Putting this time to some good use however, she indulged her growing interest in these unusual people by carefully observing their interactions with each other and listening intently to the various conversation going on around her.

Unheard by those sealed away inside transports, the artificial storm within Romashkova’s hangar continued to rage unabated, ensuring the mist spread throughout the open Kumen. Seemingly oblivious to all this, the platoons of Reapers displaced to make room for the Raysians stood stone still in their orderly formations.

-----

As the decontamination procedure was entering its final stages, Romashkova dropped back into normal space at the edge of the Raysian home system. Still hidden behind her cloaking systems with only her active sensors to give away her presence and position, she was quick to transmit her voice upon an open channel to dissuade the fears of any patrol ships, utterly unaware of the events transpiring on their home planet, “This is Romashkova of the Fifty-Second Kilrany Scout Squadron. We are currently carrying a number of survivors from the Dan’kish, and request permission to conduct a short range jump deeper into the system to transfer them over to your care.”

[Kormanthor]

[ Location Northeast Sector of the Ashland Shipyards ]

Before coming down Nick had monitored all the local modes of communication on the planet. He was sure he understood what was going on here on Raysia as much as anyone really could.

Looking around Nick saw a large group of Raysian Marines working together with some two legged creatures that kinda looked liked raptors from early earth history.

‘ You have got to be kidding me ’ he thought to himself.

He watched them force unconverted security officers away from dozens of otherwise unprotected civilian looking fold ships. As he continued watching the marines were busy attempting to start the foldships engines so they could steal the ships he reasoned. He knew if they could get air born he would never be able to catch them let alone stop them. So he figured he needed to stop them here and now.

Immediately he opened a secure intercom channel and said, “ Ok Ladies and Gentlemen we have some alien butts too kick so lets get to it!” then he activated his mechs jump jets to hurdle him into the center of the monstrous shapes while instructing the star fighters, shuttles and troop transports to deter the fold ships from being able to takeoff.

His jump jet arc landed him close enough to one of the raptor creatures to fire phasers at it as he watched his crew land all around him. Seeing his attack they to opened fire on the strange assault forces too.

[-Raysia-]

"Commander Laykress," came the voice from the Riplakish' tactical officer, grabbing the attention of his commanding officer, "we've received a message, routed through RMF control. The Kilrany vessel Romashkova has just entered the Raysian star system. They're carrying survivors from the Dan'Kish, and RMFC says we're to rendezvous with them on our way to chase after that warp shuttle that broke away."

The commander laughed subtly in disbelief, then said to the officer, "open a channel, tac-man; this should be interesting."

The tactical officer then nodded, and the commander held down the talk button, "Romashkova, this is Riplakish, I'm beginning to think you might be taking up these Raysian missions just to see more of me! Thank you for bringing them home, we didn't even get a distress call, and almost all of us were convinced that everyone else was lost. We've got about 15 over here on our ship, 14 of which were unaffected by the 'attack.' Unfortunately, Raysia's got a bit of a situation, particularly down here in this city we're currently situated over. Whatever happened on the Dan'Kish has spread down to the surface. About half an hour ago a Kafer vessel was TSF'ed into or atmosphere, releasing an agent that has completely brainwashed many of the city's population. It seems to be slowing down at about the 500 thousand mark, but there could be many we aren't seeing yet... that's just the ones on the street. Either way, we've been assigned to take on the passengers you have in your bay, we'll meet you in geosynchronous orbit directly above the city. Laykress out."

---

Inside the hangar, the Majestic was being unplugged from the several hoses and cables that had been replenishing her stores.

"Alright, all passengers are out, we're all fueled up, good to go, Josh." Gabe looked up from the gunner's chamber and watched Josh as he jumped back down inside and closed the canopy.

Josh had barely even bothered to power down the ship, and in this he was able to express his eagerness to join the fight by flaring up the engines before the doors were even closed. The gunship began to float up off the ground, drifting toward the hangar door. "Alright, prepare for drop, buddy!"

As soon as the ship left the controlled atmosphere of the hangar, it immediately dove straight down in a flat drop. Josh hesitated to engage the vertical thrusters, if only to wake himself up with the thrill of a near freefall. He shouted as he was thrown into his own shoulder straps, and fired the engines just before reaching the street levels. The massive gunship pushed off the ground in a cushion of air, running almost completely silent, save only for the sound of a strong wind, a wind that blew light objects around on the streets below with ease. The main engines then engaged and the ship began to cruise down the long streets like a high-speed hovertank.

Gabe watched his surroundings on several screens, pivoting both the lethal and nonlethal gun turrets and tracking potential targets. "There's one, twenty degrees," he said, enhancing his cameras to zoom in on a group of ravagers trying to break their way in through to the spaceport, a massive civilian complex adjacent to the shipyards. Here, many of panicked civilians were trying to board their shuttles, but the entire facility was in lockdown. Every door to the complex had been sealed shut, and every air vent in quarantine mode. "If those guys get inside the spaceport, those spores will get to the entire crowd. They'll have ships, they'll have people, they could skip the planet and evacuate their people."

"Yeah, but should we let them?"

"What are you talking about, Josh?"

"Well, I mean, if they're all sentient beings, what right do we have to hold them?"

"They would have effectively killed everyone in that airport!"

"Yes, but they're not actually dead, do we have a legal precedent to engage?"

"Josh, since the crap when have you ever been a student of ethics?"

"Hey, come on, I care!"

"Leave it to the commanders, what we should do with the 'converted.' In the mean time, we have to stop them from getting to those scared people inside!"

"Right, going in!"

The gunship strafed sideways over the crowd, flying low enough to create a wind that sent the crowd into chaos, many holding on to whatever they could or diving to the ground. Gabe came over the loudspeaker system, shouting "back away from the spaceport, or we will open fire. We can not allow you to go inside!"

A group of converted Velraptors ran up to the front of the crowd, growling up at the gunship, standing in a completely unnaturally structured formation.

"Holy crap, do you see that?"

"I haven't seen a Velraptor since that bad camping trip I had back in youth scouts... this is nuts, I'm firing a warning volley." With that, the gunship's main gatlings roared to life and tore a line through the ground, digging a trench between the crowd and the spaceport, sending rock and cement in all directions like a fragmentation grenade. Several of the more brave frontline ravagers took hits from debris and fell backward, bleeding, but not dead.

"Hey, ease up on the collateral damage, kid! We don't need to be killing everyone."

Gabe laughed, semi-maniacally, "I didn't expect it to do that! I haven't had too much experience with non-lethal combat."

"Treat them all like civilians, because they are!"

Immediately, members of the riotous crowd displayed heavy assault weapons, and began firing. Infantry bullets impacted the sides of the gunship, most of them bouncing right off without issue. "Whoa, we have a new problem, they are armed and firing!"

"Fire the bean-bag rounds, they installed them while we were refueling."

"Right," said Gabe, as he switched his controls over to the less-lethal bean-bag cannon. Bludgeoning the more dangerous pockets of the crowd with the spray from the cannon, dozens immediately went down unconscious. Many, however, seemed unfazed. "I don't think we're going to get anywhere like this."

Another gunship came in, firing her primary cannons at the ground directly below the Majestic, throwing debris in all directions and damaging the windows. Josh mashed his talk-all button, and shouted "Kumen, what are you doing! We're trying to protect that building! Stand down and..." he then saw the gunship coming about on another attack run, aiming right for the Majestic.

Gabe looked up and saw the incoming vessel on his all-view screens, "uhh.. Josh, brother, I really don't think that's a friendly."

"You know what... you might be right, hang on!"

The gunship's vertical engines blasted at full power, creating a powerful shockwave of almost transonic compressions in the air below them, pushing the craft straight up and away from the target area of the enemy's fire, which, missing only by a fraction of a second, impacted the side of the airport and blew a rather large hole through the wall, sending debris and shrapnel straight into the building. Screams of death and terror could be heard from inside the airport as the riotous crowd of thousands of ravagers poured into the complex.

"Josh, I don't think we're going to get anywhere here..."

Josh was already a step ahead of his gunner, hitting the military-band communicator switch he sent a quick message, "RMFC, this is Majestic. We've lost the spaceport, it doesn't look like there's anything we can do. What are our orders if they try to take off in the civilian ships? Out."

A response came immediately, to all combatants, "attention all friendlies in Ashland. The tactics for handling this situation are still up for debate. For the time being, try to disable any ships leaving, but do not, I repeat, do not shoot to kill. Those are still intelligent civilians, many of whom have done no real wrong. We can't just shoot them because of what they've done to us. Disable them, try to contain them. But these are all going to be secondary priorities, as we are now giving the order to evacuate Ashland. Repeat, we are going to evacuate Ashland. A fleet of evacuation ships are on their way, and they will cordon off and decontaminate anyone you can get inside. Round up all the citizens, and if they do not present themselves as a threat they will not be attacked, according to our intelligence and reconnaissance. Be sure to tell everyone to cover their faces. If there are people already inside sheltered areas, do not try to move them. Just work on the ones out in the open. We'll be broadcasting on all frequencies to tell the civilians to stay inside their shelters and open them for no one. Anyone else, head towards the shuttles with faces covered. Keep them safe, and don't breathe the air. RMFC, Out."

Josh sighed, "I hate a no-win situation. There has to be something we can do..."

"Well, you go ahead and think of something, in the mean time, I've gotta disable that Kumen. Get me on her tail!"

---

A message came over the radio to the Kormanthor troops, "Kor Star troops, this is the Raysian Militia Force central Control, we thank you for volunteering your services. We're giving you instructions to disable as many escaping vessels as possible, and protect any Raysians from these ravagers. Do not shoot to kill, repeat, do not shoot to kill. Out."

---

Sean led his group back out of the Kilrany shuttles, and began herding them back into the Kumens. "Sati," he said, shouting over the calming wind to his new acquaintance, "again, if there's anything we can do to repay you, we'd be happy to do so. It looks like we didn't quite get here in time to warn anyone, but we still hold vital information that can save millions. The Riplakish should be in orbit by now, so we can rendezvous at any time. I hope we get to see each other again soon, on less-hectic terms." He then turned to run back to his shuttle and climb into the canopy.

OOC: Sorry for the short response posts, there's just a looootttt to cover here. And don't worry, Kil, you're not out of the story yet