Derelict / Rise of the Rrellkhan [FT]

[The Cosmic Balance]

"Xxpx'rg here," the Skjxn Lieutenant said tersely, her voice vibrating with that strange ethereal ringing that made members of her species notable as musicians across hundreds of galactic clusters. "I'm in the airlock with my people, ready to enter the bay." No one thought it strange that she used the word "people" to refer to the dozen 'bots of various shapes and sizes that accompanied her. Robots, after all, were sentient beings with the same civil rights and obligations as anyone else, biological or not.

"I'll be following you, girlfriend," Fergg quipped, although there was an edge of tension beneath the attempted cheer. "I'm relaying full schematics for the Kafer fighter to you HUD's right now." Lines flared into place across the interior of the Skjxn's visor in a deep blue that was almost invisible to most eyes, but perfectly matched to the Lieutenant's range of vision.

"Be professional, trooper," Captain K'larkk barked over top of Fergg. Xxpx'rg knew that this, too, was nerves. Nobody really cared if the habitually wisecracking Throsian broke the rules - that, after all, was just how Throsians were. But K'larkk was showing his own emotional state by insisting that this all be done by the book.

No problem, Captain, thought the Lieutenant. By the book is just fine by me.

She watched the lights on the wall console patiently until they flashed to indicate that the airlock was fully sealed off from the rest of Constable. "Opening the airlock and preparing to enter the bay," the Lieutenant said firmly.

As the air skirled in, brown specks came in with it, moving in a way that seemed strangely familiar. Then it hit Xxpx'rg: They moved the way certain swarming insects did, as though collectively responding to each others' presence. Several settled on her suit, gravitating towards joints and seams as though looking for a way inside. Not good, thought the Skjxn. Not good at all.

"The contaminant particles are exhibiting network behavior," the Lieutenant said. "Similar to swarming or schooling animals." She paused, and then added: "They also seem very interested in trying to get inside my suit."

She heard Fergg swear. "Copy that. Doc, are you getting this?" he added, calling to make sure that Gurgen, the ship's Chief Physician, was listening.

"Yes," it replied. "We'll need to make sure we can neutralize them before we let you back in."

"Let's talk about that in a minute," Xxpx'rg said. She motioned to her charges to split up and take covering positions around the fighter's main hatch. "I'm going to open the vehicle up and see what state the crew is in. We don't know if we took out their life support with that EMP charge, remember?"

"Go for it, girlfriend," Fergg said, again lacking quite his normal mirth.

The Skjxn Lieutenant examined the hatch controls, cursed unintelligibly, and then decided she'd might as well complain up front to Fergg. "Lover boy, these schematics of yours bite Brokki eggs. How am I supposed to get this thing open?"

"Beat on it with your head, darling," Fergg said, and for once there was a genuine chuckle in his voice. "It's hard enough."

"You don't want to go there, lover," Xxpx'rg snapped. "Hard-soft jokes won't work out in your favor." Then, more seriously, she added. "Really, Fergg..."

"These are the best we've got, babe," the Throsian replied. "The Kafers are a rather reclusive lot, and not much liked by anyone. We just don't have good info." There was a pause, and Xxpx'rg knew he was flipping through a stack of data display windows at lightning speed. "Try looking for a control labeled something like this," and a moment later, an odd glyph flashed across her HUD.

"Got it!" she said in triumph, stabbing a button with exactly that mark. A pop, a hiss, more brown spores swirled and danced around them, and then she was looking up a hatchway with handholds on all sides. "A kiss for you later, Throsian."

"You three," she waved to the three nearest robots, "Follow me." And with that, she entered the Kafer craft.

[Rrellkhan]

The team of Ravagers led by the newly-named Remm'ik spread themselves out through the shipyards, taking over control of several of the ships that were close to being finished. The massive starships were incapable of pangalactic travel, but could easily reach another colony in the system. Their engines and powerplants roared to life, most operating on energy sources slightly more crude than the refined Organic Zero-Point used by the Raysian AdamWorks vessels. Many of these vessels were manufactured using Capsule Corporation synthetic components, very unusual for the more hardcore purist Raysians, but suitable for regional trade.

A pair of Rrellkhan-controlled gunships flew overhead, and began firing at the walls separating the shipyards from the streets, allowing the massing crowd outside to begin flooding into the rather-industrial port. Doors opened up across the hulls of the ships, and gangplanks extended out towards the openings, allowing the Rrellkhan to walk right in.


Only a few kilometers away, a massive multi-front battle was being waged at the spaceport. Rrellkhan spores flew into the complex, immediately affecting any who didn't already have their mouths covered. The ravagers tore through the concourses on their way to the many landed ships, tearing at the doors and trying to make their way into into the civilian starliners. A number of Velraptor ravagers lead the advancement teams, aggressively taking on the newly landed Kormanthor troops. One immediately took a phaser hit, slicing its body in half, with one half vaporizing completely, gore splattering over the neighbors. The entire crowd, with the humans behind, took one pass at the power armors, jumping into the air to try to tackle some of them to the ground, but quickly running off, knowing the futility. The humans as well fled for cover, trying to smash their way into the spaceport. Several others fell by phaser fire as the mecha and power armors engaged them.

The spaceport is ours, but there is a new threat. More fools have joined the resistance against the Rrellkhan. We must protect our people. We must fight them with the heavy weapons.

With that, 6 Kumen-class gunships that had been commandeered by the jungle's ravagers circled their way over to the airport, quickly locating and targeting the Kor Star landers and mecha, firing all cannons, gatlings, and missiles at various targets. Clearly they held these targets as a high priority threat.

---

Inside the Riplakish, the Rrellkhan goddess was, indeed, successfully physically restrained. She lay patiently on a table, waiting for some brave doctor or scientist or officer to come and study her. She lay in the same clothing that the militia-girl had been wearing, the girl whose body had been completely taken over by the being. It was not known yet if any part of the original host persona remained anywhere inside.

While it was true that her physical body was restrained, her mind was busy, directing many of the ravagers as well as the less-harmful Rrellkhani down on the surface. The ship shook suddenly, and a crack of thunder echoed through the corridors, as the ship entered high orbit over the city. Another crack sounded as the ship performed a zero-acceleration maneuver to bring itself into a near-geosynchronous orbit. She had been watching the entire scene through the 'eyes' of the Rrellkhani below, her own mind well aware of the several situations being presented to the ravagers. She could not see images, but she knew where threats were, and where she was in relation to her people. With this sudden shift in position, she could feel her connection grow faint. The people below would be under the charge of Jel'Dhan, the god of battle, lord of the ravagers.

In this quiet isolation, she began to plot her escape, how she would rendezvous with the new command ship, the vessel formerly known as the Dan'Kish. Onboard that ship stood the majority of the gods, enough to form a respectable civilization out of the people they were harvesting from the Raysians. The larger plans had been developed for some time, their next goal being to find a world they could use as an outpost to build the equipment necessary to regain their own world. Raysia was a great place to gather humans, with her open atmosphere, but it was not a defensible position, far too hot to accomplish their goals.

"Time for dinner, Tina," came the voice from double door on the side of the room. A brave RMF marine walked in, carrying a plate and a small table, setting it up in the corner with a glass of water. "Eat up, while we're still treating you nice." The man grinned and walked out, shutting the door and mashing a button that would release her restraints.

Knowing that now was not the time for her escape, she quietly arose and walked towards the table. Huh, a half-way decent meal. The ancient guardians were never this respectful of their prisoners. But then, these men do not know who I truly am.

In her life of thousands of years, Mer'kell had come to be known as the goddess of life, a necessary force in keeping the Rrellkhan people strong and thriving. She and Jel'Dhan were often at opposite ends of the spectrum of how to obtain their goals. Many on the surface had become ravagers, followers of the god of battle, but millions more of her own lay in wait for the battle to clear the way for the flooding masses to reach the escape vessels. She was less violent, and a much more pleasant voice to listen to, but equally deadly and malevolent as any other Rrellkhan god.

[The Cosmic Balance]

"There's only one crew member here," Lieutenant Xxpx'rg said. She was looking down at the figure slumped in the pilot's seat in its battle-scarred black hardshell environment suit. "Unconscious," the Skjxn female added.

Looking at the Kafer's suit more carefully, she continued: "It looks like its suit has lost integrity in several places. Combat damage, I'd say," Xxpx'rg noted, "Fragmentation grenades, shotgun pellets, even..." lifting its hand off the control console to look at the slash across its palm, "...Knife wounds."

"Is it alive?" Fergg asked.

"I'll need to have one of my people examine it," Xxpx'rg replied. "Q, get up here and look at our visitor."

The other robots shuffled around to make way for a tall, slender 'bot lugging several cases. A second, squatter robot came up behind it, carrying more. QQ91B8A32 leaned over the Kafer, studied its suit for a moment, found the life support hookups, and said in a slow, even voice: "It's hooked to ship supports."

"Are those working?" the Throsian bridge officer asked.

"There are no displays running," observed the paramedic, "But the feed could be mechanical."

A pause at Fergg's end, and then: "Triple-X, baby, there's a manual restart for the electronics. A typical low-tech response to EMP weapons." An icon flared on Xxpx'rg's visor pointing out its location. "Press that button, and everything should come up again."

The Skjxn Lieutenant tapped the indicated button, and blue lights started winking all over the panel. "These people see into the U-V range as well?"

"Not as far as you do, girlfriend, but yes," Fergg replied. "Life support indicators should be here," he continued. More icons flashed, and both ther Skjxn and the paramedic glanced at them.

QQ91B8A32 responded first: "It's apparently passed out. I'm guessing overstimulation, from what we have on Kafers in the database."

"Did we do that with the EMP charge?" K'larkk cut in.

"Not likely, boss," Fergg answered. Both were in the bridge, but their exchange was clear across the comm channel. "If there's combat damage, I'd say that we a have lucky survivor who escaped that crashed ship down there and passed out afterwards. The fighter was probably running on autopilot; that would explain the lack of evasive maneuvers while we were snagging it."

"Gurgen, here," came the ship's Boljonian physician. "I'd like us to get the Kafer secure and stabilized for transport to the infirmary. We don't know enough to say if its life is in danger or not, and the sooner we decontaminate, the sooner we can get it in here."

"Right," said Xxpx'rg. "Listen, its suit is in bad enough shape that I don't think we can rely on its integrity at all. We'll need to stuff this one in a baggie." Turning to the paramedic, she asked, "Can we move it?"

QQ91B8A32 had been studying their guest carefully while the Skjxn and the Throsian had been conversing. "I believe so. Give me a moment," it said. Then, pulling out several small devices from its packs, it attached them to various places on the Kafer's suit and powered them up. A moment later, it gestured to the Lieutenant. "Give me some room here, and I'll lift it out."

The SWAT team crowded out of the way, and the paramedic touched a control on one of its arm attachments. Slowly, the Kafer began to rise up out of its seat, levitated by the devices attached to its suit. A moment later, it was slowly gliding through the air towards the open bay.

Once outside the fighter, the paramedic lowered the guest to the deck. "Gurgen, I'm going to cut the suit away and check for any further injuries," QQ91B8A32 said. Working with the aid of its assistant, the paramedic did so, and a moment later the Kafer lay naked on the deck.

"Some light wounds, but nothing life-threatening. These creatures are pretty tough," observed QQ91B8A32. "That hand wound is the worst, but we don't really even need to bind that here, and I'd rather not. Doctor, do you concur?"

"Yes," Gurgen said from the infirmary. "Just wrap it up and get it through decontamination, A.S.A.P."

QQ91B8A32 and its assistant quickly moved their charge onto a litter they'd assembled, then extracted what looked like a large sheet of plastic and wrapped that around both. A moment later, the plastic sealed itself at the edge, float devices and a portable life support until were attached by the pair, and the entire mass had been lifted up into the air.

"All right, everybody," Xxpx'rg ordered, "Into the airlock. Fergg, as soon as we're secure, give this place the works. And us, too."

"Oh, baby," Fergg crooned, his nervousness obviously abated now that the situation seemed under control, "You know I'm always reading to give you the works any time."

"Dream on, Throsian," she replied coolly. "You wouldn't be hard enough petrified."

[Kilrany]

Deeply amused, Romashkova’s first response before Laykress was even finished speaking was to allow a very brief, barely audible laugh to transmit across the open channel before she abruptly turned more serious at the mention of their current ‘situation,’ “Understood Riplakish. Your people over here seemed to have more in depth knowledge of these spores at the very least, will transmit the information they gave us now for your examination, let you see if it’s of any help. Some of them were however badly wounded and are currently still within our medical facilities, we will transport them over to you after the rest once they’ve been properly stabilized. Conducting short ranged jump towards the planet now.”

In the few seconds it took for Romashkova to angle her warship along the appropriate vector, she fired off an unencrypted burst transmission towards the planet containing the information she’d been given. Bringing her FTL drives online then, she appeared to disappear for just over a second before her sensor emissions could once again be detected two light-seconds from Raysia, closing at nearly ten percent the speed of light.

-----

With the chemical treatment complete, and every trace of it sucked out of the hangar before a new atmosphere was pumped back in, the Kilrany soldiers sealed in with the Raysian personnel briefly informed them of the situation upon their planet as relayed to them by Romashkova. Once that was done, they gave them the all clear and the transports were opened once more to let them disembark and head towards their Kumen gunships.

Easily able to hear Sean over crowd from near the transport module, Sati called out loudly with no visible effort in reply, “You are most welcome, and if we are lucky, that will be the case.”

Before Sean could start climbing up to the cockpit of his Kumen though, Romashkova briefly snapped into existence next to him, “We are now just under two-light seconds from Raysia Mister Sa’Fyre, and I have already taken the liberty to transmit the data you gave us, however if you are still in a rush to depart for the Riplakish I can open the hangar doors for your gunships now. We will simply have to transport those still in my medical bay at a later time.”

[-Raysia-]

Sean looked back down over the wing towards Romashkova's avatar, "actually I'm only planning on taking the combat-capable people with me right now. We'll leave one of the shuttles here for the wounded, but the rest of us are needed on the ground right now. I haven't been planetside in a few months, because we've been out in deep space, I've missed it. Too bad it's not on a better occasion, the air is so clean compared to most of the industrial worlds out there in the verse... all the nations with their fossil fuels don't know what it's like to breathe clean air... even if the sky's cloudy most of the day." He reached down into the cockpit and started energizing the powerplant and drive systems. Looking back over the edge, he smiled and shouted "you should really come see our world some time!"

He reached one more time into the pilot's compartment and initialized the interface between the ship's navi-computer and his own nanites. He held his finger up to his head for a moment while he got his bearings out of the flood of new information. He then walked back over to the edge of the wing, kneeling down a little to ask one more question. "So, tell me, how is it that the Kilrany and Raysia have managed to run into each other so much over the past few months, but never before? Is it that you find us interesting, or that you've found a new small creature to look after? Because frankly I don't mind either way." He smiled again, straightening out his RMF jacket.

[The Cosmic Balance]

Gurgen looked over his patient. He'd seen lots of species in his career as a doctor, and so could be excused if its strangeness didn't seem to to faze him one bit.

Lying stretched out on the table, the Kafer was over 200cm long and massed nearly 200kg. Its skin - a deep charcoal gray - had mottled patches that presented a waxy appearance against a flatter overall tone. Its arms and legs were covered with short, coarse bristles. Its entire back - from shoulder to buttocks - was covered with a carapace comprised of a substance closely resembling the claws or nails on a great many other creatures; it was scarred from a lifetime of hand-to-hand combat and "rough play", apparently a crucial part of Kafer society - or so the database claimed.

The head was exceedingly strange: Two eyes, positioned in front, sat beneath heavily beetled brows. There was a broad nose, but no visible ears; these were concealed beneath tight flaps just behind the angle of the jaw. What was most dramatically different, however, was the mouth. It ran vertically rather than horizontally, and lacked anything like lips; instead, a pair of labial flaps lined with pincers, three to a side, covered the creature's inner mouth. Gurgen knew from the data windows floating around him that the Kafer's inner mouth consisted of at least three more layers of cutting, rasping, tearing, and sucking organs surrounded by eight manipulative pedipalps that members of the species frequently used in the same way other creatures used the digits on their hands. It was a structure that spoke of the Kafers' evolution as omnivorous scavengers accustomed to devouring the carcasses of much more massive herbivores on the dry and dusty plains of their distant homeworld.

Yet right now Gurgen wasn't interested in the Kafer's mouth - or any of its other curious features. He was studying its brain waves and blood chemistry, and didn't like what he was seeing.

There wasn't much good baseline data on this reclusive species, but what there was suggested that its brain shouldn't be acting as it was. Yes, the Kafer was out cold, and part of its brain was engaged in the kind of low level activity one would expect in most sleeping vertebrates. In the case of Kafers, there was generally less of this than with most species; the database indicated that its overall level of mental activity in an unstimulated state should be lower - whether awake or asleep - than what one would expect to see in most sentients. Indeed, when not stimulated, a case could be made that Kafers weren't really sentient at all - or at least not beyond a level of intelligence normally associated with higher animals. It was in their stimulated state that Kafer intelligence rose to sentient levels.

Yet something with the being's brain was behaving in ways that didn't seem even remotely normal. Gurgen was able to locate precisely those neural centers that were hyperactive, but that presented even more of a mystery: The source of the contact was in the nasal area, far too close to the surface for a major cognitive center to be safely located. It seemed to be coming from an area exceptionally thick with sensory nerves, and the activity erupting from that area seemed to suggest that the Kafer's senses were being stimulated, almost to the point where they might be expected to generate low-grade hallucinations.

If this fellow is dreaming, he's having some kind of extraordinarily vivid nightmare, the doctor mused.

The Constable's physician was taking his time. He could wake the Kafer with a stimulant, perhaps even raise its intelligence to the level at which a reasonable conversation could be conducted; but Gurgen's professional instincts told him that his patient needed sleep. It had been through a great deal, evidently: Aside from those minor wounds that were clearly the consequence of having been exposed to shotgun blasts and exploding fragmentation grenades - even well shielded beneath a hardsuit - the slash on its palm appeared self-inflicted, suggesting that the being had felt the need to maintain an extraordinary level of stimulation to keep going through whatever ordeal it had faced.

No, it needed rest, and Gurgen intended to let it get what it needed.

[Kilrany]

OOC: Written with Capsule’s knowledge and consent.

Looking upwards, Romashkova nodded her head slightly in understanding as Sean clarified his intentions, proving her assumption to be quite incorrect. Letting a small smile form then, she brought the atmospheric force field in front of the hangar blast doors online as she quietly replied almost to herself, “Perhaps I shall some time.”

Abruptly her avatar snapped out of existence as Sean went back to his cockpit a second time, reappearing in the blink of an eye atop the wing behind him as he recovered from his connection created through his nanites. Though she kept her face a mask of indifference, she was surprised when he turned to suddenly come face to face with her and seemed less startled and instead rather amused, letting loose a slight chuckle before addressing her once more.

His comment however prompted a smile to return to her face followed by an amused grunt before she replied, “To be perfectly honest, we’d been perfectly content to stay in isolation up until our encounter with the United Alliance of Planets. You can thank them for our sudden departure from that mindset to see who all it was that lived around us, though I will also admit the odds of our increased encounters seem somewhat beyond what probability should allow, but I too cannot see this as a bad thing.”

She then disappeared again, causing the twin blast doors to begin parting as she did so.

[Kormanthor]

[ Star Port Battlefield ]

After slicing one of the raptor creatures in half with a full powered phaser blast Nick adjusted his phasers down to high stun in order to comply with the Raysian directive to not kill humanoid Rrellkhans. He agreed that the humanoid Raysians that had been converted were in truth innocent of wrong doing. He wondered if the entities within that controlled them could be successfully affected by some means without harming the host.

But the Rrellkhan creatures were a whole different story. He would try to bring the Raptor Rrellkhans down without killing them as long as none of his people were harmed. But God help them if they shed the blood of even one of his men! He would chase them to the ends of the universe and beyond in that case. There would be absolutely no where for them to hide from his wrath in that case.

Bravely and aggressively his squads of Kor Security Officers fought on against approximately a hundred various Rrellkhans, while seemingly millions of Rrellkhan spores swarmed throughout the battlefield.

Fortunately the Power Armor and Mechs protected him and his men from being infected. Sending a prearranged signal to the transports above Nick watched as Phasers set on high stun continuously streaked down to hit every Rrellkhan possible in a attempt to bring them down without harming them.

Looking up he could see the star fighters and shuttles quickly streaking about engaging the six captured raysian gun ships that were now attempting to engage his ground troops. Energy shields and protective ships armor flared and sparked with each strike of raysian weapon fire.

Fortunately his craft out numbered them two to one and were more maneuverable then the gunships. Even so that didn’t guarantee that any of them that one of those daggone missiles or five pound gun rounds wouldn’t be able to cause damage to his beloved squadron. However his ships photon torpedoes could successfully defend against missile attack as long as his people stayed sharp.

[-Raysia-]

ooc: uhh... Kor... I might not have made it clear, but do not shoot to kill... photon torpedoes, even tiny ones, would likely wipe out half the spaceport.  Nukes in-atmo are far more devastating than in space... You would kill hundreds of thousands. Just trying to make sure you understand that, I have a tendancy to react to nukes realistically ^_^

The Majestic was hot on the tail of the gunship that had been firing upon the spaceport. Gabe kept the gatlings trained on their target, firing short and controlled bursts right at him as Josh flew the ship between building and low across the spaceport complex. The enemy knew the value of their surroudings, and Josh used that fact as a shield to protect himself from the opponent's blasts that otherwise would have been a blind spray that would destroy everything in sight. 

Hundreds of magnetically propelled slugs hurled their way toward the enemy, thrashing apart their armor plating and forming rather large fissures and breaches across the hull. Still, the enemy's ship was every bit as tough as the Majestic, and as such their target was basically a solid brick of armor with almost no exposed systems.  Gabe managed to disable the target's weapons, and several of the thrusters were losing power. 

"Keep at him, Gabe! He's almost in my sights!" Josh held the controls to the main cannons, as they were mounted on permanant fixtures along the hull of the ship, and thus only could be aimed by the pilot. With the enemy sufficiently weakened, he pulled up straight into the air, matching altitude with his target. He quickly banked and pitched the gunship to line up just right, then fired the main weapons.  Leaving the barrels at almost full power, both Josh and Gabe could feel the ship lurch backward, watching as the enemy ship ripped apart at the seams and fell to the ground. Emergency rocket fuel in the rear of the enemy's kumen ignited, fuel intended to serve as an emergency rocket but now intermixing into a rather large fireball. The wreck crashed straight down onto the spaceport, leaving a nasty scar through the roof. 

"Josh, do you see that?" He highlighted an area over the terminals, "it's the Kor Star fighters! They're sure fighting hard!"

"What do they think they're doing? Blasting away at everyone like that they're only going to provoke more violence!"

"I have no idea what they're thinking.  Would your friend Nick be in charge of that?"

"Don't know, don't care enough. We're being directed to head over to the shipyards and disable the ships before they can take off."  With that, the Majestic came about and moved toward the shipyards.  

"First target for us, that cargo FoldShip... Patriarch-class. I'm marking it on the targeting computer as a high priority.  I'll target the fold systems while you go for the navigational sensor arrays."

"Sounds good," said the pilot as he pulled the airship around in a loop and line himself up for an attack run. The main cannons fired at full power, smashing apart the armor and systems over the top decks of the ship. At the same instant, Gabe fired his Gatlings in long streaks across key points of the ship, shattering her ability to generate shields or enter spacefold. 

"That should do it, what's the next targ--whoa!" It didn't take long for every point defense cannon mounted on the ships to activate and start blasting away on an auto-fire defensive program.

  The Majestic shook violently as cannonfire impacted the hull. Gabe shouted over the internal comm, "we can't repel firepower of that magnitude for very long, and with those other gunships in the area, we'll be everyone's new favorite target!"

Josh pointed the shuttle straight up into the air, and reached for a red and yellow lever marked 'emergency thrust.'   "Hang on, Gabe, we're going to get ourselves set up for another run!"

Josh couldn't see the look on his friend's face, but it was one easily reflective of his next words, "oh, crap..."

The pilot pulled the lever, and two tanks of hypergolically combustable liquids pumped into a rather large nozzle on the back of the gunship.  The explosion produced a massive thrust, as well as a large plume of smoke and fire, sending the Majestic on a course straight up and over the forest. After about 20 seconds of the 8g thrust, he reset the lever and the engines cut off. Air resistence quickly set in, dropping the ship to subsonic speeds within a matter of a few more seconds.

Gave was still holding onto his straps, catching his breath and trying to shake the blood back into his body, everything feeling quite numb and sore. 

Josh, was like a kid who just got off a roller coaster, begging to go again. 

Coming about, low over the jungle, it was easy to see that no one had pursued their trajectory.  "Looks like it worked, buddy; we're all set up for a big run. Gimme another target or two."

"Josh, look!" He highlighted the large ships already leaving the Shipyards, slowly and carefully rising from the docks. 

"Any way we can get an ion shot off?"

"No way, not in atmo, not at this range, and definitely not enough to bring that thing down. We'll have to leave that one up to the RMF ships in orbit."

"Yeah, but what if they.."

It was too late, the large vessel rose up about 3 kilometers over the city, and turned on a rather powerful plasma shield, which grew slowly but steadily, sending powerful lightning strikes down to the surface.

"I'm going to take the shot!"

"It's too late, we can't do any damage quick enough. All we'll do is waste our opportunity.  I'm going to feed you the next targets."

They watched helplessly as the massive  plasma storm around the ship grew into a shell, growing brighter and brighter, with powerful lightning strikes discharging all about. It then vanished in an instant, leaving a long vacuum in the air above the city, in which air quickly rushed after a devastating clap of thunder resounded through the city. 

The gunship sped toward the shipyards again, pulling up into a higher altitude, then firing down at a pair of ships that were still being loaded. The grounded vessels were disabled quickly, but the Majestic drew the attention of every heavy artillery piece and every rocket-wielding ravaged. 

Still several kilometers outside of the city wall, Gabe could see and track the missiles that were inbound, picking them off with the Gatlings, all while Josh tried his hardest to predict and dodge the artillery emplacements. 

"This is not going to be easy. Where the crap are those evacuation teams?"

"Actually, I just spotted them. They must have defolded over the jungle just a little bit ago, they're almost to the walls."

A message came over the general military bands, "all defense teams, be advised that evacuation crews are being dispatched to the less-occupied areas. Protect these areas, and direct civilians into the safe-zones. As for the hot-zones, we have an issue brewing at the spaceport. Quite a few friendly civilians have managed to get themselves stuck at the spaceport, and are now trying to board shuttles at terminals 3A, 27C, and 14B. Clear the way for their departure, and make sure they're safe. The Kor Star forces are probably the closest at this time, and they need to get out quick and safe. RMFC, out."

---

Sean smiled as Romashkova's avatar disappeared. He then climbed into the canopy of his ship, sealing off all the doors and looking out the hangar opening for visual confirmation of the Riplakish' position. He saw it on optical scanners a mere hundred kilometers out, and signalled for the other gunship to move out. He watched as they slowly thrusted themselves out of the hangar bay and into space, firing their main engines at full throttle shortly after. He then performed the same maneuver, leaving the ship and heading out to the ship that the Kilrany were now becoming quite familiar with. 

One ship remained in the hangar, waiting patiently to receive her wounded and take them to medical facilities on the surface. 


ooc: haha, sorry it took so long, typed this post up on my phone while we were on the road

[Kormanthor]

[ Star Port Battle Field ]

Suddenly another message from the RMFC came over the general military bands saying, “

All defense teams be advised that evacuation crews are being dispatched to the less-occupied areas. Protect these areas, and direct civilians into the safe-zones. As for the hot-zones, we have an issue brewing at the spaceport.

Quite a few friendly civilians have managed to get themselves stuck at the spaceport, and are now trying to board shuttles at terminals 3A, 27C, and 14B. Clear the way for their departure, and make sure they're safe.

The Kor Star forces are probably the closest at this time, and they need to get out quick and safe. RMFC, out. "

Immediately Nick clicked on his mechs communicator to give new instructions to his men as he continued to aggressively fight the Rrellkhan Raptors. He quickly jumped and flipped repeatedly from one side to the other of them, fighting hard to avoid raptor teeth and claws seeking to rip him and his mech apart while continuously firing his phasers at them.

The problem was the raptors seemed to only be slowed down somewhat by the stun settings instead of being rendered unconscious as they should have been. The humanoid Rrellkhan’s however didn’t seem to share the benefits enjoyed by their beastly brothers because many of them now lay unconscious from being struck by his squadrons stun level phaser strikes.

“ Ok guys and gals listen up! You all heard the orders, so I want half of the War Buggies to take charge of directing the friendly civilian population to the safe landing zones.
The other half are hereby directed to terminals 3A, 27C, and 14B to clear the way for the departure of the friendly civilians trapped there while they continue to board the shuttles waiting to pick them up.”

Numerous times he had been forced to grab attacking raptors and throw them head first into groups of their fellows in order to successfully continue his attack. He watched grimly as the hurtled beasts bowled over their associates repeatedly only to see them get up again and come back for more.

He had to admit that they were a very determined foe, but knew that he had to keep the pressure on them. Mercy wasn’t something to be employed during a battle. Normally it would be kill or be killed, but he was already being forced to handle them with kid gloves just by not using the phasers kill settings.

But he was nothing if not a good soldier that followed orders especially when dealing with a first contact situation. Then as he continued his attack he again started broadcasting orders to other members of his squad saying,

“ I want three of the transports to report to the safe zones to help ferry civilians to safety. The fourth transport is to stay here to assist us by starting to use the cargo transporters to transport these darned raptors far away from here into the surrounding jungle. The Star Fighters are to disable the civilian fold ships engines so they can’t take off while continuing to defend yourself against those gun ships if at all possible.

I want the shuttles to lay down cover fire for the ground troops, as well as assist the fighters in their struggle against the enemy gun ships and not allow any fold ship/s to take off if at all possible …. Vagnier out! "

[Rrellkhan]

After finishing their volley against the Kor Star troops, then Rrellkhani forces all retreated deep into the spaceport, the raptors running through the crowds without much care of those whom they would trample.

Those gods-forsaken metal men have torn the wings off some of our birds... but there are still many that fly. We must take these and leave.

Jel'dhan led the pack of surviving Vel'raptors through the halls and concourses of the spaceport complex, running towards a collection of rather large civilian starliners, each equipped with short-range fold drives capable of getting well clear of the Raysian star system within a matter of minutes... normally.

This particular ship was already being loaded up with converted Raysians, strapping themselves into their seats, when the pack of raptors crashed their way in clumsily. They each then calmed themselves, kneeling down to the deck and waiting patiently, as if someone had ordered them to 'sit' like a dog. They growled quietly at the humans around them, but the sounds died down quickly as the creatures became accustom to their presence. Jel'dhan, the creature who seemed to glow from the cracks in his reptilian skin, made his way up to the cockpit, and stood behind the pilot. "We leave, now. I don't care if you have to take off from the parking lot, do it." The words came out audibly as a series of grunts and squaks, echoing deeply with a resounding undertone. The undertone seemed to carry a clear translation straight to the pilot's mind.

The doors pulled themselves shut, and the ship fired her primary VILE engines, ripping off various moorings and blowing ground equipment all around the terminal. The starliner was shaped like a larger version of the Kumen-class gunship, not quite as well armed, but certainly not defenseless. Lifting up just over the terminal, the ship engaged her throttle to full, pulling away from the complex at such a quick pace as to blow right over the Kormanthor forces. A group of 6 other ships took off in a similar manner just afterward, following close behind and staying low over the jungle at extremely high speeds. A few of the Raysian gunships followed, trying to get in close enough to use their ion weaponry.

As if pulling a thread from a sweater, immediately every ship at the spaceport started up their engines and followed. The shipyards roared to life, explosions ripping through the structures as many of the ships had to blast their way out. Many could not move, having been disabled, and those either followed as far as they could on atmospheric drives, or abandoned their ships and fled back into the complex. There were just under a hundred starliners, dozens of massive super-freighters, and quite a few private and charter starcraft that all followed in a flocking formation over the jungle.

The gunships that followed in close quickly found themselves outnumbered, and begging for new orders, only to receive word that they should break off pursuit and return to the city to aid in the evacuation.

Jel'dhan, in the lead ship, concentrated in meditation to gather a figure of the number they had managed to gather into the ships behind him. ...I hear more than 800,000 of you... ravagers of Jel'dhan, and the people of Mer'kell... all together. There are over a million more of Mer'kell's people still in the city, and your goddess shall not leave you for long. Gather ships, and all things useful unto the Rrellkhan. Your goddess shall return for you, and give unto you further instruction. The fools will try to come for you, try to trick you into turning away from your gods. If you remain strong, you will live forever in the kingdom of the Rrellkhan that your gods prepare for you. If you show leadership and courage, you will earn yourself a name. We will return.

With that, the lead ship pulled up into the air, gaining momentum enough to energize her plasma shell, charge their capacitors, fire, and disappear. Within a matter of seconds, the ships all followed suit and disappeared out of the local space. Thunder sounded for hundreds of miles with the sounds of collapsing air filling the vacuums that replaced the air where the ships had flown.


The voices in the minds of those on the ground, dropped silent.


The clouds of spores across the system all fell to the ground, leaving only the ones that had taken root in the minds of the people of Mer'kell. Without the support of the spirits of the gods, the spores were powerless, guideless. The few that didn't fall dead instantly clumped together into small nests and hid themselves within the crowds of the Mer'kell.


The people of Mer'kell maintained their composure through a mob mentality, but several began to waver, falling away from the crowds and running about as if they had been locked up in a private cell for what seemed like years.

The few ravagers of Jel'dhan that remained either ran over and joined with the Mer'kell, or found themselves forming tight clans and running back out toward the jungles.


No one offered any further resistance for now, as self-preservation was restored once again.


After less than a half-hour, many of the mobs and riotous crowds surrendered themselves to the militia, slinging their weapons and allowing themselves to be herded together. Many heard the quiet prompting from Mer'kell, who was herself still bound aboard the Riplakish in orbit... a prompting of two words, passive resistance....

Those two words motivated the sudden change in tactics, and within a short time the Mer'kell people found themselves standing in place, following the directions of the militia, but most certainly unscattered.


Naturally, the militia had progressed from helplessness to speechlessness. How could they ever handle a crowd of a million?

ooc: post from Raysia to come tomorrow. It's late, and there's an air show tomorrow afternoon, so it might be even later in the evening. Sorry to disappoint any who expected their to be more ground combat

[Kormanthor]

[ Space Port Lose Ends ]

Finally after what seemed like hours of continuous battle the Rrellkhani forces suddenly broke and ran for the waiting fold ships that were still space worthy. Nick watched in horror as the raptors ran through the crowds of people with little care of those whom they might trample, their only desire seemed to be escape regardless.

Knowing that the Rrellkhani forces were extremely determined to escape and that he wouldn’t have any immediate way of successfully chasing the fold ships once they got away Nick immediately fired numerous missiles at the waiting fold ships which exploded just above the craft, without causing any harm to them.

Instead the explosions released clouds of nanobots programmed to secretly attach themselves to each individual ship and relay its position via a nearly undetectable subspace signal hopefully giving him a way to track the ships to their destinations.

Soon after the explosions, all the fold ships fired their primary engines, ripping off various moorings and blowing ground equipment all around the terminal. The Starliners looked similar to the gun ships only larger and not as well armed. One then lifted up off the ground near the terminal, then engaged it’s engines quickly pulling away from the complex at such a rapid pace as to blow right over Nick’s Squad. Seconds later another group of six fold ships took off in a similar manner following close behind the lead vessel and staying low over the jungle at extremely high speeds whiched caused them to disappear from Nicks sight almost immediately. A few of the Raysian gunships followed the seven that were making good their escape.

Soon after the Raysian gunships had left in chase every other fold ship still capable of flight followed suit causing the shipyards to roar to life, explosions ripped through various shipyard structures as many of the ships were forced to blast their way out.

Thunder sounded for hundreds of miles with the sounds of collapsing air filling the vacuums that replaced the air where the ships had flown, and Nick knew that within a matter of seconds the ships would all disappear out of the local systems space.

But he felt relieved that he had been able to plant tracers on them before they had left, and that Raysia was now much safer then if had been only moments before. He and his squad would stay and help with clean up for as long as they were needed. Only then would he make plans to follow the escaped Rrellkhan fold ships.

[The Cosmic Balance]

In Constable's infirmary, Gurgen was studying a jar containing a large number of those odd brown spores that had filled the hangar bay after the retrieval of the Kafer fighter.

For several minutes, they swarmed and swirled inside the jar, displaying the same odd "schooling" behaviour that Xxpx'rg had first noticed when she and her SWAT team had first gone in to retrieve their Kafer guest.

Then, suddenly, the bulk of the spores simply fell to the bottom of the jar, while a few clustered into thick brown clumps and then ceased all movement.

Gurgen looked tentatively at the container; then, reaching one gloved hand out with a medical probe, he tapped its side gently. Nothing happened.

"Captain," he said over the ship's internal comm link. "Something strange just happened to the spores I'm examining."

"What's that, Doctor?" came K'larkk's voice from the bridge.

"They just stopped moving," Gurgen replied. "Completely."

Fergg's voice cut in. "Boss - and Doc - can you tell me exactly when that happened?"

Gurgen looked at his monitor, replaying the data stream. "One minute and seventeen seconds ago."

Silence for a moment, and then a response from Fergg: "Precisely at the same moment as those captured Raysian ships folded away from the planet."

"Which captured Raysian ships, Fergg?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh, sorry," the Throsian said sheepishly. "You're down there and haven't been following things. Those spores appear to have been infecting huge numbers of Raysians planetside. Many of them converged on the local spaceport and stole every ship they could lay their hands on; a couple of minutes ago, they folded away." He paused, then continued. "I'm getting reports from the surface that spore activity has stopped there as well, and that the infected Raysians who remain on the surface have suddenly turned - well, docile."

Gurgen rose and turned to their Kafer guest. He was still unconscious. Evidently the same thought came to K'larkk and Fergg on the bridge: "Doctor, what's our Kafer friend doing?"

"Sleeping, still," the Boljonian said softly. "He was clearly overstimulated - that's something that happens to Kafers from time to time - and I deemed it advisable to let it sleep things off." He paused for a second, and then added: "I think I want to continue to let it sleep for a while, but I'll be interested in seeing what happens when it wakes up."

"Let me know when that happens, Doctor," the Captain's voice came back across the comm link.

"Oh, I will," said Gurgen. He had moved over to look at the brain wave readings coming from the Kafer; they were much less agitated, but there was still some small activity - like that of a person in a dream state.

[The Kafers]

The Vah stood beneath stormy skies. Thunder smote its ears, and the distant flash of lightning lit the darkened sky.

The wind swirled around it, thick and heavy with dust in the first gust of the oncoming storm.

Dust. What did that mean? Something. Its mind reached, grasped, found nothing.

Its awareness was abnormally keen. Was this a dream? It had never remembered its dreams being vivid like this.

A strange voice, like a whisper, came from nowhere. Not in Gah, but another tongue, strange and liquid, yet perfectly understandable.

"Passive resistance..."

Passive resistance? What a strange concept. No, that was not right. That was not part of the Ch *kaar. That was not at all part of the teaching.

It felt wrong. But it felt... compelling, almost.... seductive?

That felt wrong, yet the Vah knew it would do as the voice said, even as it knew the voice was wrong, that to obey it was wrong.

Perhaps for the first time in history, a Vah felt the guilt of sin.

What is happening to me?

Who am I?

Ch *kaar - Literally "Statement" or "Testament"; the Core Principles of Vah philosophy, as expounded by Rra Gh'kraach (literally, "Striker of Stars"), the greatest Vah in all of history (viewed as a semi-divine figure, akin to Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha all rolled into one).

[Kilrany]

It would be nearly twenty minutes after Sean and the second gunship left that the last of those Raysian personnel taken to Romashkova’s medical bay again saw the hangar. The most critical of their wounded, the Kilrany medical staff had felt compelled to ensure they were properly stabilized and in several cases, outright healed, before they were allowed to leave the ship.

Those who were conscious upon their return, would immediately have tales to tell of the silent efficiency of the faceless white figures moving about them, mending broken bones and closing wounds without scar tissue, all with an apparent wave of their hands; something of a minor exaggeration brought on by the combined effects of the painkillers and the unfamiliar surroundings. Some were not as well off though and came back unconscious, kept that way to keep them still and calm, as they were ones who had suffered more serious gunshot wounds and loss of blood.

Carrying no stores of blood upon the ship for transfusions, these Raysians had to settle for anesthetics and volume expanders. The former ensuring they did not move in order to keep their need of oxygen at a minimum, and the second a chemical cocktail to temporarily help both in keeping their blood flowing to all points, and keeping them from going into shock until they could be given a proper blood infusion from their own people.

Once they were all accounted for and safely placed within the last Kumen gunship, it was allowed to leave without incident, sending the hangar back into its earlier state of stillness after the Reapers returned to their craft.

Romashkova was not idle during this time however, as while she currently had not been in a position to aid on the planet below while she remained in high orbit, she took this time to sift through the wealth of unencrypted wireless signals flying about to gain a proper understanding of what was going on. At the same time, a few of her medical staff were busily studying and dissecting several samples they had taken of these ‘bugs’.

[The Cosmic Balance]

A small chime sounded from a medical monitor. Gurgen turned to look at it, then looked at his patient.

He stroked a few keys on the monitor's control pad, and then touched a button on his lapel.

"Captain," he said, "Our guest is awake."

[-Raysia-]

"What, they're gone? Just like that?" The question repeated through the comm chatter and in every office of the Raysian Militia command centers. The Rrellkhani people on the ground were suddenly submissive, turning into deeply meditative recluses. It had only been a few hours since the ships had departed, taking just short of a million people with them. With the spores now lifeless, the people were advised that it was now safe to emerge from their shelters.

It was morning, the dawn giving light to the devastation that had rocked the city in the middle of the previous night. What had once been the spaceport was now the graveyard where many ravagers lay massacred by the Kormanthor troops. Police and militia cordoned off who sections of the city to try to get cleanup done as quickly as possible, while also herding the Rrellkhani into camps. More than one million of the People of Mer'kell were now huddled together in large groups, most sitting on the city streets in what appeared to be a stoned and spaced-out daze.


Josh and Gabe had landed the Majestic just behind a police blockade and were now walking amongst the crowds of the red-eyed beings that had once been Raysian just like themselves. It was silent. The streets were emptied of cars, and the skies were a no-fly-zone for anyone but militia and allies. The only sounds that could be heard were those of the militia and police talking occasionally over the radio.

Gabe looked out over the crowd to his pilot, and spoke in a tone that was barely elevated, "dude, this is eerie." He walked right past a petite teenage girl with a her hair dyed in several shades of black. "This girl here looks like she already had identity issues, and now she's been wiped to a clean slate."

Josh turned around, looking back over to his gunner. "They're all just lost inside their own minds right now. What do you suppose they're doing in there? Are they talking to each other over some sort of telepathy network?"

"I doubt it," the gunner said, shaking his head, "they're probably just trying to process their new existence."

"Laaaame... come on, man, use your imagination! They're drones! Zombie drones that are impervious to human emotions!" Josh laughed and began making large over-dramatic gestures and talking in a deep and gravelly voice. "They are warriors who seek to destroy us all!"

"Actually," came the voice of a militaman a good fifty meters away, "your friend is right."

Josh turned further to look over at the man. "Ah, Sean Sa'fyre... you would take his side, wouldn't you!" He smiled and slowly walked towards the flight leader.

Sean had no reason to remember the pilot's name... there were hundreds in the RMF and Josh had still yet to do anything really remarkable outside of his own mind. "They've basically been brainwashed. They're being reprogrammed through reinforcement. They're trapped in their own minds, processing all the new information and formulating their new identities. The psychologists are all saying that they'll probably snap out of it by this afternoon... which is why we need to be ready. Oh, and Gabe," he said, making the gunner spin around into a half salute, "you and your pilot are supposed to report in for an Ensem injection. Get over to the medical camp at the southwest corner before 0830."

Gabe watched as Sean walked off to continue on with his duties, then smiled over at Josh with a mocking face. "Bwahaha, Flight Lead Sa'fyre remembers my name."

Josh rolled his eyes, "who cares, man. Everybody's going to know our names once we go merc. We'll be the hottest pair of contract double-oh's out there."

Gabe paused and almost did a double take back in the direction of the flight lead, then turned back to Josh. "Wait a sec, did he say Ensems?"

"What, the nanite things? Those little blood bots? I don't know about it man... seems like an awful lot of weird."

"RMF issue... it's free of charge!"

"Wow, that's my second favorite price! I'll race you there, kid!"

The two ran off back to their Kumen-class gunship in order to get across town to the medical camp.

---

"So," commander Laykress asked the tactical officer, "did we figure out where it went?"

"Yep. I finally have the logs from the observatories. The shuttle was apparently warp-capable... a weird little short-range puddle jumper. It was awfully hard to track, kept popping in and out of reality."

"...Yeah, well, that's a great science lesson.. I appreciate it."

"No problem, sir."

"...."

The tactical officer raised an eyebrow, not quite sure of what the commander was waiting for.

"...And where is-?"

"Oh, right! It met course with that police cruiser and disappeared. I think it's safe to assume they intercepted it before it could leave."

"Very good. And wake up... I know it's been a long shift, but for Pete's sake get on the ball."

The tactical officer hung his head low for a moment, then slapped himself in the face rather audibly. "...ow..."

Jace rolled his eyes and turned to the helm officer, "pilot, set intercept course for that alien cruiser. Two-stage TSF intercept on my mark."

"Right, all set, sir."

He sat down in his chair, put an arm through a shoulder strap, then mashed a button on the console that sounded a klaxon indicating to prepare for fold. The viewscreen tinted green as the plasma shell expanded around the Riplakish' hull, energizing and preparing for fold. The commander then looked over to the helm, and with his free arm made a quick pointing gesture, "Go for ZXL."

The ship's shields flashed brightly and immediately her velocity increased to an exact match of the Constable, soaring away from the planet below at great speeds. The plasma shell remained erect, charging itself with the energy required for a short-range fold. A single klaxon blared again across the ship, and Jace gave the second-stage order, "go for TSF." The ship disappeared from Raysian orbit and instantly found itself alongside the Constable, flying parallel at a distance of 3 kilometers.

"Wow, could we have gotten any closer to the alien ship that we haven't even met yet?"

"Actually, no, given the chance of advanced shield technologies, it was safe to assume a minimal distance of..." the helm officer trailed off as she looked up at the commander and saw his face burried in his palm.

Jace looked over to his science officer and first mate, "Raimi, could you take this one, please?"

She nodded and reached for the comm button, "This is Raysian Militia Force Riplakish. We have you registered as the Constable. Constable, we are looking for the Kafer-tech shuttle which escaped from the Beta just before impact. Our logs say that the vessel was probably intercepted by your own ship. Can you confirm? Over."

[Rrellkhan]

A spacefold... I've changed positions. I'm now.. with the ravager. That Kafer ravager is nearby! I can faintly hear his thoughts.. Mer'kell lay still on her cot as she focused all of her attention and concentration onto this one being. Oh, brilliant... he's a mindless oaf. Not even really a he at that. Oh, Jel'dhan will love this one... weak minded and easy to manipulate. But, in the mean time...


Rrellkhani, awaken.

The monstrous Vah opened his eyes to see the laboratory inside the Constable. The voice then entered his mind, seeping in as if it were his own thoughts. Be still. You mustn't alarm those around you. You have been captured by an enemy which will pretend friendship to take advantage of you. You are Rrellkhani. You must organize yourself and get a grip on your surroundings. You are Rrellkhani. You have been captured. You must wait until the opportune moment for a strike presents itself. You are Rrellkhani. The gods will inspire you with the wisdom you will need in order to survive this. You are Rrellkhani, your god, Jel'dhan, awaits your return. If you return, you will be honored with they which are name'ed. You are Rrellkhani, and your goddess, Mer'kell, is also a prisoner on a neighboring ship. Together you can escape, separate you will perish. Be calm, and listen for the wisdom which shall come to you.

The Kafer let the thoughts swirl around in his head, digesting them much slower than most intelligent species in the galaxy. I am.. Rrellkhani... Jel'dhan awaits my return... Mer'kell needs... my assistance... I need... rest...

Still tired from the whole ordeal, but quickly recovering, the Vah looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. A man on the far corner pressed an intercom button and sent a quick message, "inform them that the Kafer is awake."

[-Raysia-]

OOC: A relevant clipping from another thread...

An observatory orbiting one of Raysia's moons was monitoring the state of the system, trying to collaborate with the dozens of other massive sensor arrays in the Raysian star system.

The system once had a name, but for the sake of pan-galactic confusion and ease of reference, the star was now called, simply, the Raysian Star... but that's another story. Actually, that was the whole story... back the story.

"Are we picking up anything yet on the subspace scanners?" The operations chief paced around on the catwalk of the observation room, a large sphere, a single computer display, showing the sensor activity working across the skies. "Those frequencies given to us by the Kor-Star troops should be able to transmit something, right?"

"Well that's just it, they were transmitting fine, up until the space fold... and now they're not."

"Well what could be stopping the signals?"

"Well, I'm no expert, but it could be that the Rrellkhans had themselves a hiding spot already picked out. I have several pan-spectrum anomalies on that we're trying to fine-scan that could easily be masking the signals... but it's like looking for a needle in a stack of needles."

"Right... well, keep on it, expert."

"Wait, I'm getting something on locals. The local defense probes, the southwest corner redundancies are all sending their alerts... something's coming in, mean velocity of about 3 times the 'constant', realspace travel."

"Do we have a visual?"

"Nothing clear, they're not staying put long enough to expose a still image."

"Call up the RMF system-defenders. They'll love to finally get an opportunity to try out their new ships."

ooc: this side-track continues on in Aid and Comfort, a completely unrelated, and yet concurrent, closed RP going on elsewhere.

[The Cosmic Balance]

This is Raysian Militia Force Riplakish.  We have you registered as the Constable.  Constable, we are
looking for the Kafer-tech shuttle which escaped from the Beta just before impact.  Our logs say that the
vessel was probably intercepted by your own ship.  Can you confirm?  Over.

Riplakish, this is Constable.  We have indeed secured the Kafer runaway.  One, repeat, one Kafer native
was found present on board in an unconscious state.  It is current under examination in our infirmary;
its status is currently unknown.

The Kafer vessel contained the same spores that were released on Raysia's surface.  We have removed all
trace of the contamination from said vessel; a small sample of the spores are being held in isolation for
study.  We assume you have plenty of samples of your own, but if you need any, we will be happy to provide
some.

We currently face no threat of contamination at this end.  We are planning to return to orbit over Raysia
with your permission.  If we learn anything about the spores, we will pass that information along to you,
and request that you do likewise.

Gurgen eyed the monitor displaying the Kafer's life signs. Yes, it clearly is awake, the physician thought. Brain wave activity is quite aberrant. Almost like it's hallucinating...

Picking up a voder, Gurgen checked it, made an adjustment, clipped it to the helmet of his isolation suit, and spoke. "Can you understand me?" he said in Gah.

For an unstimulated Kafer, the words seemed to have a much greater impact than Gurgen expected. Response levels are much higher than normal. That's odd, he thought.

Hating what he had to do next, the Boljonian picked up a small metallic object, checked the setting on it, and then told the Kafer: "You're going to feel a stab here."

He pressed the business end of the probe against the Kafer's wrist. A sharp static crack! emanated from it, and the creature flinched.

"Can you understand me now?" Gurgen asked. "If so, tell me your name."

[The Kafers]

"Can you understand me now?" Gurgen asked. "If so, tell me your name."

My... name? What is my name? thought the Vah. I have no name. If I return, I will be honored with those who are named. But I have not yet been honored with a name... have I? No, but if serve my god, Jel'dhan, and my goddess, Mer'kell, I will be honored.

An odd thought, not a memory, for the Vah had no memories. No, something deeper - a primal teaching. Gvach*. Yes, I will get my name through Gvach*. No, that makes no sense. No? No. I am Rrellkhani, and we Rrellkhani are named by our gods. Gods? Yes, my god, Jel'dhan, and my goddess, Mer'kell. But... but... what is a god? A god is... a god. And why do gods come in two sexes, like gnakshik', instead of one? Why should the power of creation be divided? What is the joy in only one partner bearing young?

Have I borne young? I am older than the usual age at which that happens, but I can't remember. I... can't... remember my own children?

Hollowness and grief tore at the Vah. To not remember its mate, its previous pregnancies, its own children? How was that possible?

There is no time for this. It does not serve the gods. I am Rrellkhani. I serve my god, Jel'dhan, and my goddess, Mer'kell. I must organize yourself and get a grip on my surroundings. I have been captured by an enemy which will pretend friendship to take advantage of me . I am Rrellkhani. My goddess, Mer'kell, is also a prisoner on a neighboring ship. Together we can escape, separate we will perish. I must be calm, and listen for the wisdom which shall come to me.

The Vah's mind felt sluggish, confused, conflicted, wrong. It look up at the alien in its isolation suit, with its scaly skin, its serpentine face, and its wide eyes with their vertical, slit-like pupils peering through the broad mask.

Don't answer. It is the enemy. Don't answer.

The alien adjusted the probe in its hand, and then casually pressed the tip to the Vah's wrist. A sharp stab of electrical pain burned all the way up its arm as blessed awareness flooded into its brain like sunshine.

"Can you understand me now?" the snakelike alien repeated, its voice distorted by the voder at its throat. "If so, tell me your name."

[The Cosmic Balance]

The infirmary door opened, and a thin, fur-covered biped with a long snout staggered in. Gurgen turned in alarm, hastily put the probe down on the tray beside him, withdrew from the isolation chamber, leaving the isolation suit parked in its place by the chamber door, and hastened to her side, seeking to steady her.

"What is it, Monash?" he asked in alarm.

Monash could not speak. She shook her head back and forth, her large pointed ears fluttering slightly from the violence of the motion. Gurgen helped her to a bed, and she sat shakily.

"Monash?" Gurgen asked again.

"Voices," the bipedal canine stammered. "I'm hearing voices..."

"Voices?" asked the physician, his alarm even more apparent. "Please, lie down. I need to do a scan."

Monash nodded her head and lay back on the couch, panting slightly. Quickly, Gurgen attached wireless sensor pads to Monash's body.

The readout behind Monash flared, and Gurgen ran his eyes over it. Heart rate and blood pressure elevated, clear signs of stress, but no signs of hallucinatory brain activity. His fear that the spores had somehow breached containment passed, but his concern for his patient did not.

"When did this start?" he asked Monash, continuing to check her vitals.

"Just minutes ago," she said. "I heard voices. I couldn't really understand the language, but one of them - the dominant one - is on another ship; the other one - the slow, weakened one - is here on Constable."

Gurgen straightened, his eyes opening ever so slightly.

[-Raysia-]

"What's going on down there?" Jace Laykress was really getting curious now, and demanded a report from his security detail over the ship's comm.

"The Rrellkhani girl has not moved for several hours now. Attempts at communication have proven worthless, as no one feels like being brave enough to get too close to her. They're worried she'll try and take control of their minds or something like that."

"Is that true? Can she actually do that?"

"Commander, we just lost almost 2 million of our citizens to the Rrellkhani overnight. No one wants to go near her. One brave soldier goes in to give her a meal every couple of hours, and then he walks right out. We've tried asking her questions through the isolation chamber windows, but who can have a respectable conversation through that?"

Jace sat in his chair, thinking for a moment, then replied with a quick word, "understood."

The first officer, Raimi, spoke up from her station at the science officer's console. "Jace, what about the Kilrany?"

"Yeah... I'm thinking the same thing. Tac, open a channel to the Kilrany vessel." The officer nodded, and a short tone sounded to indicate the open channel. The commander pressed the talk button, "Romashkova, this is the RMF Riplakish. We need your help with something. Can you send your avatar over to our ship for a visit? We need your... abilities. Turns out that we have a leader of the Rrellkhan captured aboard our ship, and no one wants to get too close. Organics tend to be easily manipulated by their kind, and we don't know enough to counter them yet. Commander Jace, out."

---

Only an hour later, Josh and Gabe were leaving the medical camp, slowly getting used to the nanoscale enhancement modules now floating through their bodies. They had each been given a small control pod to carry with them, a sort of manual control keyed specifically to their own nanites.

Josh couldn't help but try out one of his new application programs, one that was specifically built to operate the systems on the Kumen-class gunship. As he approached the vessel, he mentally went through a pre-flight procedure, actively participating via remote in the startup of the Majestic's engines. He ran up the rungs along the landing strut with a laugh as a kid with a new toy. Gabe would, of course, want to try aiming the weapon turrets with his mind, but it would take some time before either of them would be ready to use these abilities in combat.

"Josh, let's go meet up with the Kor Star group. Nick is over in sector 7 doing roundup duty."

"Right, lock the canopy when you get inside."

The two climbed down inside the ship, and sealed themselves in, taking off immediately and making their way over to the corner of the city where the Kor Star troops were at work. Upon seeing Nick and his team of power-armored troops, Josh set the Majestic down in an open street, then climbed out. Walking across the top of his ship, and listening as the drives shut down to total silence, he hit a small talk button on his earpiece communicator. "Hey, Nick. Thanks again for all your help last night. Have your men been able to find anything on those tracking probes?"

Gabe climbed down and walked toward the group, then chimed in with a follow-up question, "how do those things work anyway? I'd imagine they come in handy."

[Kilrany]

Presented the option to conduct close observation upon an interstellar civilization without the risk of coming under fire from them, Romashkova had quite easily decided to seize upon this unusual opportunity, rather then return immediately to her squadron’s rally point. Thus it was that she had remained in orbit above Raysia, listening to unencrypted signals and passively examining the planet, allowing Commander Laykress of the Riplakish to contact her with ease.

Deeply amused for a moment, Romashkova allowed a sense of that to come through clearly in her voice as she replied in an audio only signal, “Well now, and here I thought I was supposed to be the one making excuses for us to meet again. Someone could get the wrong idea here you know Commander.”

With the barest hint of pause, her tone abruptly turned serious as she continued, “But of course, joking aside, anything we could do to be of assistance to our newest friends. I shall dispatch a shuttle shortly.”

Hardly in a position to deny a request made of her that would in turn grant her access not only to one of the affected, but supposedly one of their leaders, Romashkova wasted little time in dispatching one of her shuttles as she said she would. It served perhaps as the only potential sign of her true interest in the situation that the small Alpha broke through her warship’s cloaking field less then a minute after Laykress’ message, however that could have also merely been simple machine efficiency.

Angling in towards the Riplakish, it was not a terribly long time before the small shuttle was being directed where to land, granting the Raysian vessel it’s second visit from the Kilrany, albeit on a considerably friendlier note.

Touching down quietly, both hatches on either side of the craft between its forward and rear pair of wings opened, allowing Romashkova and a single Reaper to exit on whichever side their escort would be upon. Appearing identical to the holographic image from earlier, this physical avatar strode out slowly with her gloved hands held casually behind her back, the larger armoured figure following just behind and to her right.

[-Raysia-]

Raimi walked through the hangar bay, wearing rather casual clothing, as if she had just thrown her militia jacket over her street clothing. Still at a moderate distance, she smile and shouted"good to see you again, Romashkova." She closed the distance with a hurried hop in her step, gesturing with her hand for the Kilrany to to come walk beside her. "I thank you for coming on such short notice, but I think we can all agree that your inorganic nature provides certain advantages in this situation." She began walking down the through the hangar, toward the corridor that would take them the short distance to the isolation chamber. "We didn't really even have to capture her, she just showed up on one of our gunships when the Dan'kish was overtaken... I don't know if she caught the wrong ship, or if she just thought she was going to get somewhere good by coming aboard, but she was immediately restrained as soon as the militia found her out. She hasn't told us her name, but she claims to be a Rrellkhani goddess... apparently someone who helps reprogram and influence the minds of the masses... she's very powerful, and no doubt her power of persuasion goes beyond remote telepathy... she could probably even take advantage of you if you don't be careful. Anyway, we'll meet up with Jace in a sec to get you more fully briefed, but again I thank you for coming to help."