Hier Kommt die Sonne [IC 01: Ich Will]

[The Carlisle]

The research wing of the White Zombie was an odd place. It was down the hall from the medical bay, back in the corner like it was pushed as far away as possible. The plaque right next to the door was supposed to say "Research Wing" but that was scratched out and under it was "Doc Alberto's Lab. Do Not Disturb". The inside of the lab was what would be described as a mad scientists lair minus the cobblestone walls, spiderwebs, and hunchbacks. All sorts of contraptions were scattered around the facility, sparking with electricity. Beakers were arranged in strange formations and bubbled with liquids. Vials of odd chemicals and items were strew across every surface. Jars of various body parts and other objects lined the shelves. Strapped to what looked like an operation table was an unconscious lizard-like creature. In the corner was the mastermind and head of the research wing, Doc Alberto. He was sitting at his desk writing. On his desk were various items. Stacks of paper, a holographic computer, several bottles of various alcohols, multiple glasses of various sizes and design, and several feathers.

"If I mix adrenaline with this... No, that might kill them. Might!" He said to himself. "Worth a shot. I got more in case something goes wrong." He got up from his desk with his paper in hand. On it were several chemical formulas and equations which covered the entirety of the page, making it barely readable. He fluttered over to a contraption made up of flasks, beakers, burners, and filters with various vials of chemicals around it. Without looking, he grabbed various vials and put them into a beaker. He then poured the concoction into the contraption to be processed. As it processed, he grabbed other chemicals and poured them into the contraption at various locations. After a few minutes, a green liquid plopped out the other end of the contraption into a vial. Alberto grabbed the vial and and syringe and transferred the liquid into the syringe. He fluttered away from the chemical contraption and over to a table. On the table were many cages of animals from all over the universe. He opened one cage and took out a rabbit. The rabbit looked at Alberto with eyes filled with fear.

"There there. Its only a little shot, it won't hurt you. They chemical inside might, but that is what we're gonna find out," he said with a wicked grin. He stabbed the rabbit with the syringe and injected the green liquid. After a few seconds passed, the rabbit started to shake uncontrollably. It let out a wail that sounded like a banshee. Alberto dropped the rabbit to cover his ears. He looked down and saw the rabbit was growing in size and was turning green. After the transformation, the rabbit was 5' tall, green, red eyed, had vicious claws, and teeth 2'6" long. It wailed and ran around the laboratory, knocking down everything. Chemicals splashed onto the door causing a chemical reaction which melted a sizable hole in the door. The rabbit charged out of the hole, running down the halls further into the ship.

Alberto opened the door which was surprisingly still working and took off after the rabbit. While he flew, he took notes. "Specimen on injection of the chemical transformed into a more vicious form. Characteristics of this form are green fur, maybe skin; red eyes; rapid claw growth; great increase in size; and ability to wail which can disable foes, possibly prey," he said as he jotted the notes down.

[Starkindler]

Ayako sighed at the cultural debate between the Daluu and the Lycanian, while using her mechadendrites to put the environmental controls back together, and as she finished with the last weld and powered up the system, the chamber began to warm up and reach the temperature of the ship elsewhere. Before leaving, she noted in her monotonous voice.

"It's very easy to become the best researchers if you build on Mechanian precision. Most of the engineers I have taught ended up working in Lycanian companies and agencies. And those who didn't went to the humans." - she sighed - "Kids nowadays, they are so greedy. Also, most of the ship prefer people clothed, and please remember it's a mixed-gender crew."

She waited for any reply, then left the room, heading towards Main Engineering to carry on with the maintenance of the high power breaker board, and the main reactors. On her way down there, she noticed a 5' tall lagomorph, which looked like a botched Army experiment. However, she didn't initially assume it to be harmful - as she had met more menacing creatures than it, especially at her time in the Hercules Supercluster - and made an attempt to pass it. However, as a precaution, she called upon the Captain.

"Captain, there's a 5' tall combat-optimized lagomorph I can't place from the crew database. Is it a new crew member or a weapon?"

---

Meanwhile Hoshintoko holstered her sword and stood up. Realizing that her cover is still not complete - and probably will not be until she reaches her cabin - she covered herself up by crossing her hands before herself. She then effortlessly lifted up the floor, starting to levitate. Hearing Ayako's remark, she responded.

"Don't be so full of yourself, Ayako. Organics are pretty adept in sciences and technologies by themselves without AI assistance. And they can create AI by themselves, should it become needed for their projects. How do you think the first batches of Mechanians were engineered and produced?"

She then looked at the Telefable, reading it in a moment. She found the contents interesting. They were about Eos, apparently the Umibozu landing on their ship fighting the ferals of her own species, only to be betrayed and spaced. She then levitated back to her room, getting the prisoner from the closet, and completing her clothing to avoid further embarrassment. She also got her gun ready and connected, aiming for a more frightening look. As frightening as a cute, tall robot girl could look in a white dress. Although she thought about it, she decided a collar would be overkill, as the prisoner is immobile enough not to put on any resistance. However, she double-checked all the knots before picking him up, reassuring that he's safely bound. And that he wasn't harmed by it since when he was bound. To get additional proof, she got his pack as well, and carried it up to the bridge. She placed him and the case before the screen, so the image sensors could clearly see him and display him as proof.

As a scout, she went on to check the sensors of the ship, whether she found anything unusual. She did notice the two cruisers, however, as the Captain asked the crew to prepare for battle, she ignored the observations, asserting that the captain already knows about and have prepared for them.

[The Carlisle]

The giant rabbit saw on of her predators before her. Turning back wasn't an option as her captor was chasing behind. She instinctively wailed, creating a deafening noise in the hallway. With her captor temporarily disabled and the predator before her out of the way, she started running again. She turned the corner and headed down the halls.

Alberto took his hands away from his ears and opened his eyes. "Damn! She got away! I must get her!" he shouted. He flew up to the mechanian who stood to the side. "Robot-mecha-girl-thing-whatever!" he said. He was slightly tipsy from drinking while writing. "Help me catch this rabbit. I need to experiment on its body in its current form. And don't kill it. I need the specimen alive for my research!"

[Malshan]

Ilyesse motioned Nikhan to follow her as well as she walked towards the brig, located on the starboard side of the ship. As the three walked, Ilyesse moved next to Nikhan.

"I am going back to the bridge. I would rather you interrogate Eos, as you seem to have skill at extracting information. We will arrive at the galactic core in a few minutes."

Nikhan nodded, turning toward Eos and holstering his weapon once more. He gestured forward to one of the cells in the brig, hoping that the creature would be intelligent enough to understand. "Yes, ma'am."

Switching languages abruptly, he asked ["Can it understand Basic, ma'am? Or a better question, what language would it be familiar with?"]

"The rest of you, besides Nikhan and Eos, get ready for battle. Hoshintoko, bring our prisoner to the bridge in case we get stopped."

Nikhan turned to Eos before spinning back to Ilyesse with a whine of confusion, disappointed that he was being left out of the fight. "Why not me? Can't I just stick this...Umibozu thing in a cell until we're done?" Nikhan's ears flattened against his skull and he hunched over, his tail drooping and growing still.

[Rupudska]

Nikhan turned to Eos before spinning back to Ilyesse with a whine of confusion, disappointed that he was being left out of the fight. "Why not me? Can't I just stick this...Umibozu thing in a cell until we're done?" Nikhan's ears flattened against his skull and he hunched over, his tail drooping and growing still.

["I would rather not leave it alone anywhere, since Umibozu are known to be able to travel through air vents."] She then handed him her pistol.

["But if it tries anything stupid, feel free to kill it."]

"Computer, estimate time to leaving jump."

The ship's small computer whirred noisily for several seconds, before speaking out in a tinny voice, [FOuR MINuTES, CAPTAIN]

[Malshan]

Nikhan sighed, still disappointed at being left out. But he turned to the being who had assaulted him not too long before and gestured with the new pistol he had in his clawed grip. "Alright then. If you DO understand Basic, then you'll understand that you're under the threat of death if you don't cooperate. Now get in cell A13."

His tail flicked slowly from side to side, his attention now focused on his new task at hand. Who knows? he thought. Maybe it'll try to run and I'll get to shoot something after all.

[Starkindler]

Upon the rabbit's screeching, she plugged her ears, but that was too much even for her, and she had fallen to the ground, laying incapacitated for a few seconds until she reset her systems. Then she was asked by the scientist creating the monster - apparently a 'her' to stop it. AND keep it in one piece and alive. It was a hard question for her, as with her tools, it would be easy to kill or slice up the rabbit to stew, but it only needed to get stunned.

"I'll try to do my best." - she smiled after saying the line on her mechanical voice. She used her mechadendrites to desolder a panel from the wall, then connected herself to the computer system. The computer beeped, and claimed "Emergency manual override for breach sealing field emitters ACTIVE". Meanwhile at the next junction the rabbit entered, on every exit she could only find a force field surrounding her. "WARNING: dangerous voltages will be redirected over active force field." - the computer exclaimed at both the corridor and around the rabbit's location, when the force fields started to buzz, then made a corona discharge, suddenly arcing over the experimential monster, several times. The current discharge was enough to incapacitate any living thing in existence, including the rabbit.

The mechanian then disconnected herself from the system, revoking her override privileges, and making sure it was safe to approach the force fields. She then soldered the panel back up again.
"The target will be fully functional again in 2-8 hours. You can withdraw the force fields when there. Please, in the future, try to keep your experiments contained, Alberto-san."

[The Carlisle]

By the time Ayako plugged herself out of the system, Alberto was off. He flew down the halls, rounding the corners, stopping at each force field to dismiss it. The rabbit was easy to track, as it was giving off a terrible odor that smelled of burnt green slime. The rabbit was lying in a crumpled heap, smoke coming off it and some of its fur singed. Its eyes were wide open and its mouth was open in literal shock. Alberto check the heart rate of the rabbit. It was elevated but still beating so thankfully it was still alive. Alberto picked up the rabbit and heaved it onto his shoulder. It was around 100 lbs, but to him it was nothing. He flew back down the halls, ignoring Ayako, and entered his lab. He pressed a button on the wall, which opened a secret door. This was the holding chamber, where Alberto stored all his larger specimens. Inside were all sorts of creatures from across the universe. He flew over to a 8' by 8' by 8' cage and put the rabbit inside. From his estimations, the rabbit would wake up in four hours. Alberto dusted off his hands and exited the holding cell. He pressed the button, closing the door to it.

He looked around at the mess his lab was. Shattered vials and beakers, broken inventions and contraptions, knocked over cages. Alberto sighed, "This is the 20-24th time this has happened this month?" he said to himself," At least its not as bad as last time. The whole place was on fire!" HE walked over and pushed another button on the wall. A compartment on the wall opened, revealing a contraptionlabeled "NanoClean". Alberto took the NanoClean machine and put it on. He faced a table with upturned and shattered beakers and activated the NanoClean. Out of its nozzle came yellow nanomachines. The nanomachines repaired the beakers, placed the chemicals they previously contained back inside them, and placed them in their appropriate spots. Alberto went around the lab, shooting the NanoClean, and repairing the damage in his lab. When he was done, his lab was back to its original state. He blew on the nozzle of the NanoClean and set it back into the compartment. He pressed the button, causing the compartment to close up.

Alberto walked over to his desk and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a glass and took a swig from it. Alberto then took out his transmitter and called Ilyesse. "Ilyesse, the rabbit is detained and contained," he said.

[Neo Arcad]

Nikhan sighed, still disappointed at being left out. But he turned to the being who had assaulted him not too long before and gestured with the new pistol he had in his clawed grip. "Alright then. If you DO understand Basic, then you'll understand that you're under the threat of death if you don't cooperate. Now get in cell A13."

His tail flicked slowly from side to side, his attention now focused on his new task at hand. Who knows? he thought. Maybe it'll try to run and I'll get to shoot something after all.

Eos was fairly dismayed. She really, really needed something to eat. Like, REALLY badly. Voicing her concerns wouldn't likely earn her any favors from the wolfman she'd just pummeled in a hibernation-induced panic, but nonetheless, it was worth a shot. "I ͠n͘e͘ed͠.̷.͠. somet̷hi̧ng ҉t̨o̴ ̀e͜at̶. C̵a̕n't ̡t̛h̨ink...́ I̛ ̀can̸ ̴h̡a̕r̢dl̶y͡ s҉t͠and ̢up." Eos had been... well, stumbling, for lack of a better word, for a while now; she reached out to steady herself on Nikhan's arm. She was at around 20 degrees Celsius, whereas an ordinary Umibozu is roughly room temperature, due to the effects of starvation and being in the comet.

[Esternial]

Nikhan sighed, still disappointed at being left out. But he turned to the being who had assaulted him not too long before and gestured with the new pistol he had in his clawed grip. "Alright then. If you DO understand Basic, then you'll understand that you're under the threat of death if you don't cooperate. Now get in cell A13."

His tail flicked slowly from side to side, his attention now focused on his new task at hand. Who knows? he thought. Maybe it'll try to run and I'll get to shoot something after all.

Eos was fairly dismayed. She really, really needed something to eat. Like, REALLY badly. Voicing her concerns wouldn't likely earn her any favors from the wolfman she'd just pummeled in a hibernation-induced panic, but nonetheless, it was worth a shot. "I ͠n͘e͘ed͠.̷.͠. somet̷hi̧ng ҉t̨o̴ ̀e͜at̶. C̵a̕n't ̡t̛h̨ink...́ I̛ ̀can̸ ̴h̡a̕r̢dl̶y͡ s҉t͠and ̢up." Eos had been... well, stumbling, for lack of a better word, for a while now; she reached out to steady herself on Nikhan's arm. She was at around 20 degrees Celsius, whereas an ordinary Umibozu is roughly room temperature, due to the effects of starvation and being in the comet.

"Ah can 'ear a guttin' stomach!" Varric exclaimed as he tossed an arbitrary amount of salt in the pot that could probably hold several human beings, mixing the somewhat unappetising stew with a large wooden spoon. With a satisfied grin he took a whiff and nodded.

"Noo 'ats whit ah caa a stew, laddie." He yelled to his assistant, even though the man was close enough to make shouting rather redundant. His hearing had deteriorated after working with Varric the last few months, and future prospects didn't look much better.

Grabbing a sturdy metal ladle, he poured a generous serving of stew and handed on to the assistant, who looked at it with some modest excitement. Say what you will about his character, Varric was always a good chef and the assistant knew that all too well. Sometimes he just...experimented a bit too much.

Hesitantly he reached for a spoon and dug in. The chunks of meat were - remarkably - still moving slightly, but the vegetables had lost their slimy exterior and now looked a little more appetising than before. Even though the stew had a sickly greyish/brown colour, it tasted remarkably well. A hearty stew, indeed. The assistant nodded and smiled. Varric was pleased.

Turning around, he walked towards the intercom system hanging on the wall and pressed a button in the panel before shouting.

"Grubs dain! Come an' gie it, ye tossers!"

The assistant ran off through the nearby door, adjacent to the mess hall, to get everything ready.

[Rupudska]

Alberto walked over to his desk and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a glass and took a swig from it. Alberto then took out his transmitter and called Ilyesse. "Ilyesse, the rabbit is detained and contained," he said.

"You certainly took your sweet time eliminating that overgrown leproid."

Four short minutes later, the Zombie pulled out of warp less than a quarter of a light year from the supermassive black hole that marked the center of the galaxy it was operating in.

It was kinda beautiful outside the ship, if a bit terrifying. The black hole itself looked like someone had quite literally punched a hole in a star: The area around it got continuously brighter and brighter as it approached the event horizon, then turned perfectly black. Of slightly more importance to the crew were the two light cruisers, each barely a meter smaller than the Zombie herself, to the rear of the ship, and the significantly larger dreadnought a quarter of a lightyear directly ahead of the ship.

["Ilirra, prepare to drop the positronic bo-"]

Klaxons. Judging by the sound, whatever was attacking the Zombie was coming from the left and behind it, most likely one of the cruisers. "Ilirra, evasive maneuvers, hard to starboard."

The fellow Lycanian nodded and easily pulled the ship to the starboard side, narrowly preventing the ship from being impacted by the missile. Still it detonated, emitting what appeared to be an electromagnetic burst. The lights in the ship flickered for several seconds, as did the warning lights on the captain's control board. One of them, however, remained on.

"Ayako, report. What happened to the faster-than-light drive?"

Static for a few seconds, then a quick, agitated response: "It's been rendered entirely unusable, Captain. It'll take at least an hour to repair."

Shit.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the scientist hostage trying to free himself from his ties. Or perhaps attempting to speak. Ilyesse walked over to him and roughly removed the gag, ignoring his pained coughing.

"Is there some form of tracking device on you? It would be quite beneficial to your well-being if there were not," she said, pointing her kukri at the scientist's neck.

"N-n-no, but..."

"But what? I happen to have military vessels attempting to kill myself and my crew. I do not have time for 'buts', sir."

"But we need to get out of here. I'm not exactly on good terms with the military of this galaxy. They wanted my services... specifically, what's in that case. But I wouldn't give it to them, they're idiots who wouldn't know how to handle such technology."

Ilyesse was a bit surprised, raising an eyebrow. "Ayako, send someone to the bridge and get the briefcase. Analyze the contents. It could be interesting."

"Wait, no, you ca-" His words were interrupted by Ilyesse bringing the kukri even closer to the scientist's neck.

"If you want to get out of this situation alive - on the off chance that the rest of us do, you will do everything in your power to assist us, or I will slit your throat here and now."

The scientist, meekly, nodded, swallowing hard. This appeared to satisfy Illyesse as she sheathed the kukri and went back to her seat.

"Put the surrounding area onscreen, make it a 360 view. Ilirra, evasive action, do not stay in one place for more than 1 Standard minute at most."

[Starkindler]

As she entered Main Engineering, Ayako felt the ship shake, and a large explosion. The computers were shut down, however, she seen them all reboot. All, but the one controlling the warp coil and subspace navigation. Fortunately, the coil itself was too large to be knocked out by EMP, and the effects of it were lessened by the ship's shields enough to keep the three Mechanians aboard in good condition, however, with most of the control circuitry burnt out, it's as good as ruined.

She reported to the Captain, then started to disassemble the warp coil control circuitry, scavenging what she could. Even though she calculated she needed a large amount of spare parts. She then called upon the specialist.
"Elettra-chan, could you please get spare isolinear components, and warp coil parts to Main Engineering? Also, please prepare the Sickbay for an influx of damaged organics, and arrange the continuous ammo supply of the crew." - it was then when the Captain asked her to get the briefcase. As the last time she had seen the prisoner at Hoshintoko, she asked her.

"I've got the briefcase right here, and my preliminary analysis shows it's some complicated science stuff. Certainly not hydrogen or drugs." - the winged Mechanian replied, and Ayako knew the perfect crew man for the job. She walked into the lab of Doc Alberto, hoping she would have some time before Elettra's reaction.

"Alberto-san. Your expertise is needed on the bridge. The captain found some stuff that could be very interesting to you. You can use Hoshinto-chan's sensors, or you can bring your own."
She did not wait for the answer, in stead rushed back to Main engineering and continued repairing the warp drive.

---

Meanwhile Hoshintoko was on the bridge looking at how the Captain was interrogating the prisoner. When Ayako was asked about the briefcase, she showed it to the Captain.
"Captain, I took the liberty of bringing his stuff up here. I also scanned him for sensors before, and he showed up clean. Although he might have concealed sensors." - looking at the briefcase, she conducted a brief scan to help the engineer, sending back the information she gathered as a parameter. Then she opened the case, and started an in-depth scan to comply with her captain's orders, and to have precise results when someone more competent arrives to the bridge.

[The Carlisle]

"Well, specifically a Sylvilagus Floridanus. But names don't matter. I could have taken it out faster, but I wanted to get its maximum speed and acceleration. Fast little bugger," he said. He took a drink from the whiskey. "I'll call back if I find anything interesting." He turned off his transmitter and took another swig. This concoction he made had odd effects, most of them were astounding. He had to study it more and on other specimens. "Wonder what this will do to a Lycanian," he said to himself. He chuckled maniacally. "Oh, I have to find a guinea pig now."

---

The lab Ayako entered was a faint tint of blue. Objects all around were floating, but were moving at an incredibly low speed, barely making any movement at all. A sign saying "Stasis On" was lit up on the far wall. Alberto heard what Ayako said before she disappeared from the doorway. "Great, now where is my Omni-Scanner," he said. He walked around the room, pushing objects in his way with a gentle touch. He opened a drawer and rummaged around in it. He found what he was looking for, a small, metallic gray rectangular box. He grabbed it and exited the laboratory. He jumped up and started flying towards the bridge.

He landed on his feet in front of the door to the bridge. He walked towards the doors which automatically opened for him. "Odd, she usually has the doors locked for me," he thought, "Must be this emergency or a problem with the doors." He walked up to Ilyesse, Hoshintoko, and the scientist they apparently picked up on that frozen rock. "Doc Alberto reporting. I was told by Ayako that I might be needed?" he said. He looked over and saw the briefcase. He eyed it curiously, wondering what it contained.

[Esternial]

"Oi!" Varric firmly held onto the inert metal pot to prevent its contents from spilling. Once the tremor had died down, he lifted his face and sniffed the air.

"Ah can reek a guttin' cheil." He muttered, his eyes narrowing. The imposing chef reached for a bowl and filled it with a royal serving before leaving the kitchen. Seconds later his assistant returned and found the place empty. The boy was more relieved than genuinely concerned.

Plotting his course through the deck, Varric allowed his gut feeling to guide him to the brig, where he found the starving creature called Eos. "Cannae ye see it's starvin'?" The seven feet giant mass of muscle snapped to Nikhan, ignoring any retorts and pushing the bowl in Eos' hands.

The Krayneth nodded and smiled at Eos, which turned out more like a sneer. "Enjoy 'at. Freshly gart."

[Malshan]

Nikhan sighed, still disappointed at being left out. But he turned to the being who had assaulted him not too long before and gestured with the new pistol he had in his clawed grip. "Alright then. If you DO understand Basic, then you'll understand that you're under the threat of death if you don't cooperate. Now get in cell A13."

His tail flicked slowly from side to side, his attention now focused on his new task at hand. Who knows? he thought. Maybe it'll try to run and I'll get to shoot something after all.

Eos was fairly dismayed. She really, really needed something to eat. Like, REALLY badly. Voicing her concerns wouldn't likely earn her any favors from the wolfman she'd just pummeled in a hibernation-induced panic, but nonetheless, it was worth a shot. "I ͠n͘e͘ed͠.̷.͠. somet̷hi̧ng ҉t̨o̴ ̀e͜at̶. C̵a̕n't ̡t̛h̨ink...́ I̛ ̀can̸ ̴h̡a̕r̢dl̶y͡ s҉t͠and ̢up." Eos had been... well, stumbling, for lack of a better word, for a while now; she reached out to steady herself on Nikhan's arm. She was at around 20 degrees Celsius, whereas an ordinary Umibozu is roughly room temperature, due to the effects of starvation and being in the comet.

As Eos's 'hand' brushed his arm, Nikhan shivered and pulled away from the creature. "So you CAN talk." he said quietly, ignoring the Umibozu's attempts to steady itself. "Right then. Sit down or fall down, doesn't make a difference. Just stay away from the doors. As for food, I'll see what poison the chef has got for us today."

Plotting his course through the deck, Varric allowed his gut feeling to guide him to the brig, where he found the starving creature called Eos. "Cannae ye see it's starvin'?" The seven feet giant mass of muscle snapped to Nikhan, ignoring any retorts and pushing the bowl in Eos' hands.

The Krayneth nodded and smiled at Eos, which turned out more like a sneer. "Enjoy 'at. Freshly gart."

The wolfman moved away from the angry figure, shrugging his shoulder mildly. "And? Captain told me to wring what information I could out of it. I WAS going to use your delicious home cooking as a motivator. But hey, universal motivational techniques? They're garbage anyway. I'll just the standard routine of question, answer, no answer = pain. You know, that whole scheme." he said sarcastically as he watched the man bastardize Basic.

[Nachfolgia]

Alberto walked over to his desk and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a glass and took a swig from it. Alberto then took out his transmitter and called Ilyesse. "Ilyesse, the rabbit is detained and contained," he said.

"You certainly took your sweet time eliminating that overgrown leproid."

Four short minutes later, the Zombie pulled out of warp less than a quarter of a light year from the supermassive black hole that marked the center of the galaxy it was operating in.

It was kinda beautiful outside the ship, if a bit terrifying. The black hole itself looked like someone had quite literally punched a hole in a star: The area around it got continuously brighter and brighter as it approached the event horizon, then turned perfectly black. Of slightly more importance to the crew were the two light cruisers, each barely a meter smaller than the Zombie herself, to the rear of the ship, and the significantly larger dreadnought a quarter of a lightyear directly ahead of the ship.

["Ilirra, prepare to drop the positronic bo-"]

Klaxons. Judging by the sound, whatever was attacking the Zombie was coming from the left and behind it, most likely one of the cruisers. "Ilirra, evasive maneuvers, hard to starboard."

The fellow Lycanian nodded and easily pulled the ship to the starboard side, narrowly preventing the ship from being impacted by the missile. Still it detonated, emitting what appeared to be an electromagnetic burst. The lights in the ship flickered for several seconds, as did the warning lights on the captain's control board. One of them, however, remained on.

"Ayako, report. What happened to the faster-than-light drive?"

Static for a few seconds, then a quick, agitated response: "It's been rendered entirely unusable, Captain. It'll take at least an hour to repair."

Shit.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the scientist hostage trying to free himself from his ties. Or perhaps attempting to speak. Ilyesse walked over to him and roughly removed the gag, ignoring his pained coughing.

"Is there some form of tracking device on you? It would be quite beneficial to your well-being if there were not," she said, pointing her kukri at the scientist's neck.

"N-n-no, but..."

"But what? I happen to have military vessels attempting to kill myself and my crew. I do not have time for 'buts', sir."

"But we need to get out of here. I'm not exactly on good terms with the military of this galaxy. They wanted my services... specifically, what's in that case. But I wouldn't give it to them, they're idiots who wouldn't know how to handle such technology."

Ilyesse was a bit surprised, raising an eyebrow. "Ayako, send someone to the bridge and get the briefcase. Analyze the contents. It could be interesting."

"Wait, no, you ca-" His words were interrupted by Ilyesse bringing the kukri even closer to the scientist's neck.

"If you want to get out of this situation alive - on the off chance that the rest of us do, you will do everything in your power to assist us, or I will slit your throat here and now."

The scientist, meekly, nodded, swallowing hard. This appeared to satisfy Illyesse as she sheathed the kukri and went back to her seat.

"Put the surrounding area onscreen, make it a 360 view. Ilirra, evasive action, do not stay in one place for more than 1 Standard minute at most."

Hearing the captain's command, Ilirra gave a devilish smile. " My pleasure Captain! Let's show these shit heads how to fly!" Ilirra yelled as she jerked the controls to the right, causing the ship to make a hard right, just evading another missile blast. She continued to evade missile after missile, weaving in and out of the enemy ship's fire. " Oh c'mon, y'all can't hit the broadside of a barn." Ilirra laughed. Her laugh was cut short by the sound of the missile alert system. She looked at it as it indicated several heat seeking missiles. " Let's see how you like a decoy." Ilirra smirked as the slammed her fist down on a button. Behind the ship, a compartment opened up and a couple of small decoy drifted out of their compartments and took off in different directions. Some of the missiles took the bait and impacted the decoys. Two missiles that didn't fall for it continued to pursue the white zombie. " Follow the birdie." Ilirra said with a smirk as she banked the ship hard and headed straight for one of the enemy ships with the heat seekers following behind.

[Neo Arcad]

Eos was fairly dismayed. She really, really needed something to eat. Like, REALLY badly. Voicing her concerns wouldn't likely earn her any favors from the wolfman she'd just pummeled in a hibernation-induced panic, but nonetheless, it was worth a shot. "I ͠n͘e͘ed͠.̷.͠. somet̷hi̧ng ҉t̨o̴ ̀e͜at̶. C̵a̕n't ̡t̛h̨ink...́ I̛ ̀can̸ ̴h̡a̕r̢dl̶y͡ s҉t͠and ̢up." Eos had been... well, stumbling, for lack of a better word, for a while now; she reached out to steady herself on Nikhan's arm. She was at around 20 degrees Celsius, whereas an ordinary Umibozu is roughly room temperature, due to the effects of starvation and being in the comet.

As Eos's 'hand' brushed his arm, Nikhan shivered and pulled away from the creature. "So you CAN talk." he said quietly, ignoring the Umibozu's attempts to steady itself. "Right then. Sit down or fall down, doesn't make a difference. Just stay away from the doors. As for food, I'll see what poison the chef has got for us today."

Plotting his course through the deck, Varric allowed his gut feeling to guide him to the brig, where he found the starving creature called Eos. "Cannae ye see it's starvin'?" The seven feet giant mass of muscle snapped to Nikhan, ignoring any retorts and pushing the bowl in Eos' hands.

The Krayneth nodded and smiled at Eos, which turned out more like a sneer. "Enjoy 'at. Freshly gart."

The wolfman moved away from the angry figure, shrugging his shoulder mildly. "And? Captain told me to wring what information I could out of it. I WAS going to use your delicious home cooking as a motivator. But hey, universal motivational techniques? They're garbage anyway. I'll just the standard routine of question, answer, no answer = pain. You know, that whole scheme." he said sarcastically as he watched the man bastardize Basic.

Before she entered the cell indicated by her lupine captor, Eos took the bowl from the thickly-accented chef, devouring the contents and then the bowl itself with what might be approximated as glee. She stood up a little straighter as her severed limb stub bubbled and expanded slightly. It didn't regrow, however. Not enough material in a bowl of stew for that. "Th͝a͜t̡ ͝was v͞er̨y͞ ̕g̷o̴o҉ḑ! ͡Is͏ there̛ a͘ny̴ m̵ore҉?̡" she inquired, her happiness now evident to basically any sentient being. "I'd ̧l̀i͠ke͏ ̸to ̶h̵ave my ḩand̸ ͟bácḱ..." Just then, the ship lurched to the right ever so slightly as the inertial dampeners lagged. Eos practically fell over into the cell.

[Rupudska]

The lab Ayako entered was a faint tint of blue. Objects all around were floating, but were moving at an incredibly low speed, barely making any movement at all. A sign saying "Stasis On" was lit up on the far wall. Alberto heard what Ayako said before she disappeared from the doorway. "Great, now where is my Omni-Scanner," he said. He walked around the room, pushing objects in his way with a gentle touch. He opened a drawer and rummaged around in it. He found what he was looking for, a small, metallic gray rectangular box. He grabbed it and exited the laboratory. He jumped up and started flying towards the bridge.

He landed on his feet in front of the door to the bridge. He walked towards the doors which automatically opened for him. "Odd, she usually has the doors locked for me," he thought, "Must be this emergency or a problem with the doors." He walked up to Ilyesse, Hoshintoko, and the scientist they apparently picked up on that frozen rock. "Doc Alberto reporting. I was told by Ayako that I might be needed?" he said. He looked over and saw the briefcase. He eyed it curiously, wondering what it contained.

Ilyesse motioned towards the briefcase. "Analyze its contents as much as you can without breaking anything. They are apparently quite valuable, if our hostage is to be believed."

He nodded, looking a bit worried by Alberto's appearance. Which quickly transformed into shock as a low rumble was heard, coming from the dreadnought. One of the larger missiles was coming towards them.

"Ilirra, if you would please, avoid that. Forward turrets, open fire on that missile before it hits us. Judging by the appearance it has a nuclear tip. Immensely primitive, but just like lead, it can still do damage."

[The Carlisle]

Alberto got a grin on his face. "Thank you Ilyesse. Now, give me some room. I don't like it when people are near me when I work," he said. He carefully moved the suitcase to a spot on the table far from the other crew members, but close enough to let them see while giving him plenty of room. He held up the Omni-Scanner over the suitcase. He plucked a feather from his wing and slid the point of it along an indent in the Omni-Scanner. Instantly four slender legs shot out of the bottom of the Omni-Scanner, landing upon the table with a metal clack. Alberto let go of the Omni-Scanner, letting it support itself. The Omni-Scanner then started projecting multiple holographic screens out of its top. Alberto pressed a button on one the screens, saying "Begin Scan". Projected out of the bottom of the Omni-Scanner was a light which moved across the suitcase.

The Holographic screens buzzed with data gathered from the scanning. Alberto processed this data as it popped up. He looked perplexed and surprised, but also excited. "In stasis... hundred, no thousands of AIs detected, nanobots but nothing I've seen before... look at that flux reading!" he said to himself. The scan stopped, making the light disappear. Alberto reached over and opened the suitcase. Inside were several vials and a flux unit currently in stasis. He searched in the suitcase for a button and pressed it, ending the stasis. He took out a vial and look inside it. Thousands of nanobots were suspended in the vial of liquid. He set the vial down on the table along with the rest. He counted around 13 vials in total. He looked back over to the flux unit with a look of immense curiosity and bafflement. He carefully picked it up and looked over it. It looked like a normal flux unit, but the readings he was getting from it were off the charts. It was nothing like any other unit he's seen. He doubted there could be anything in the galaxy, no universe, that could be compared to it. It was unique in every way. He set the device down back in the suitcase.

He walked over to where Ilyesse, Hoshintoko, and the prisoner were standing. "From my examination, we have 13 vials of some highly advanced nanobots. But most importantly, we have a 'Flux Unit' which gives off strange reading," Alberto said. He looked at the scientist with a look of curiosity. "I believe our friend should explain what that device is and how he acquired it."

[Nachfolgia]

The lab Ayako entered was a faint tint of blue. Objects all around were floating, but were moving at an incredibly low speed, barely making any movement at all. A sign saying "Stasis On" was lit up on the far wall. Alberto heard what Ayako said before she disappeared from the doorway. "Great, now where is my Omni-Scanner," he said. He walked around the room, pushing objects in his way with a gentle touch. He opened a drawer and rummaged around in it. He found what he was looking for, a small, metallic gray rectangular box. He grabbed it and exited the laboratory. He jumped up and started flying towards the bridge.

He landed on his feet in front of the door to the bridge. He walked towards the doors which automatically opened for him. "Odd, she usually has the doors locked for me," he thought, "Must be this emergency or a problem with the doors." He walked up to Ilyesse, Hoshintoko, and the scientist they apparently picked up on that frozen rock. "Doc Alberto reporting. I was told by Ayako that I might be needed?" he said. He looked over and saw the briefcase. He eyed it curiously, wondering what it contained.

Ilyesse motioned towards the briefcase. "Analyze its contents as much as you can without breaking anything. They are apparently quite valuable, if our hostage is to be believed."

He nodded, looking a bit worried by Alberto's appearance. Which quickly transformed into shock as a low rumble was heard, coming from the dreadnought. One of the larger missiles was coming towards them.

"Ilirra, if you would please, avoid that. Forward turrets, open fire on that missile before it hits us. Judging by the appearance it has a nuclear tip. Immensely primitive, but just like lead, it can still do damage."

" No, I was thinking about going up to it and say hi." Ilirra said sarcastically. Much to the detest of her crew mates, she continued to fly toward the nuke. She had an expression that was all to familiar to her crew mates, the expression of a very bad idea. The sly smirk she had indicated that she was about to do something that will most likely put the crew and ship at risk.

Ilirra waited until the last possible moment. When the warhead was just about to hit, Ilirra pulled the stick to the left, causing the the ship to jerk left narrowly avoiding the nuke. As soon as the missile passed over them, Ilirra activated the thrusters, accelerating the ship away from the area. The heat seeker slammed into the nuke, detonating both. The nuke explosion produced a giant, light blue disk that expanded in all directions. The White Zombie was not fast enough to outrun the explosion. As the explosion hit them, the entire ship shook violently. Determined to survive, Ilirra continued to fly the ship, holding onto the controls for dear life. Within a couple of seconds of violent shaking, the White Zombie made it out of the blast radius.

[The Carlisle]

As the ship rocked back and forth, the vials started falling over and rolling about. The Omni-scanner started flashing red. In an instant, hooks popped out of its legs and attached to the table, making it stable. Out of its bottom it projected a stasis field, slowing down to movement of the vials and everything else to a unnoticeable speed.

[Malshan]

As Eos's 'hand' brushed his arm, Nikhan shivered and pulled away from the creature. "So you CAN talk." he said quietly, ignoring the Umibozu's attempts to steady itself. "Right then. Sit down or fall down, doesn't make a difference. Just stay away from the doors. As for food, I'll see what poison the chef has got for us today."



The wolfman moved away from the angry figure, shrugging his shoulder mildly. "And? Captain told me to wring what information I could out of it. I WAS going to use your delicious home cooking as a motivator. But hey, universal motivational techniques? They're garbage anyway. I'll just the standard routine of question, answer, no answer = pain. You know, that whole scheme." he said sarcastically as he watched the man bastardize Basic.

Before she entered the cell indicated by her lupine captor, Eos took the bowl from the thickly-accented chef, devouring the contents and then the bowl itself with what might be approximated as glee. She stood up a little straighter as her severed limb stub bubbled and expanded slightly. It didn't regrow, however. Not enough material in a bowl of stew for that. "Th͝a͜t̡ ͝was v͞er̨y͞ ̕g̷o̴o҉ḑ! ͡Is͏ there̛ a͘ny̴ m̵ore҉?̡" she inquired, her happiness now evident to basically any sentient being. "I'd ̧l̀i͠ke͏ ̸to ̶h̵ave my ḩand̸ ͟bácḱ..." Just then, the ship lurched to the right ever so slightly as the inertial dampeners lagged. Eos practically fell over into the cell.

Nikhan paced a bit, looking more increasingly agitated as the ship began rocking. His hackles went up along with the fur on his tail as his ears perked and swiveled to every sound. He growled in frustration before stopping and punching a wall. "Fuck it. I'm the specialist and I WON'T sit around while we're being attacked."

Nikhan turned to Eos, activating the shield wall and pointed a claw menacingly. "I'm going to go defend this ship. If you so much as ooze a molecule out of that cell, I'll find something that WILL completely eviscerate your remains." He turned and jogged toward the exit, muttering, "Maybe a big sword or something..."

The wolfman burst into the corridor and promptly fell into a wall as the ship veered, avoiding incoming fire. Dammit! Why didn't the Captain order someone ELSE to guard that damn blob? he thought angrily. Abandoning his assigned duty was nigh anathema to him, but between that and dying, he'd rather risk the wrath of the Captain. Nikhan ran toward his quarters which shared the space with the weapons systems; torpedo tubes, missile pods, and an array of cannon controls and laser batteries could be accessed from there.

Not long after, Nikhan was ducking around hanging missiles and torpedoes while heading for a console in the center of the room. He flipped a switch to key the system and said into his comm unit, "I need coordinates for the targets to calculate a firing solution! Someone get on the rangefinder and get that data!"

[Rupudska]

He walked over to where Ilyesse, Hoshintoko, and the prisoner were standing. "From my examination, we have 13 vials of some highly advanced nanobots. But most importantly, we have a 'Flux Unit' which gives off strange reading," Alberto said. He looked at the scientist with a look of curiosity. "I believe our friend should explain what that device is and how he acquired it."

"Fascinating, but I would rather you be a bit more specific about this, namely, explaining what the nanobots do."

The scientist made a bit of a hem-hem sort of sound, motioning towards the case with his eyes, then to Ilyesse, then to the case again.

"I assume you have something to say, sir?"

He nodded, attempting to stand up and failing. With a huff, he sat back down. "You've likely all heard of the material kinesis project a few years ago, correct?"

"The project that was cancelled because the humans lost interest, yes." Ilyesse pressed a button, and a glass of some alien juice ascended from a panel. She continued, a bit mockingly, "Are those the vials?"

"Yes."

Well, there are certainly other ways to surprise Ilyesse, but that is one of the faster ones. She nearly choked on her drink, but managed not to spill [or spit] any.

"It is also likely the real reason why that man attacked you. He probably thought you were after me and did not want any competition."

Ilyesse nodded. "Well, if I had known that you had something like that in your possession, I would have certainly been competition for him. And I would have succeeded, as he is an idiot when it comes to selecting henchmen."

However, it did not explain the military dreadnought. Perhaps it had simply been in the area. Fairly likely, as large ships usually went on figure-eight paths through the galaxies they patrolled in.

"And the flux device?"

"Experimental long-range device. Even I don't quite know if it will work properly or not. It seems to be rather sensitive to dark matter reactions."

Ilyesse frowned, growing quite concerned by this news.

"Ilirra, do you think you can keep dodging at this rate for an hour? Ayako, can you scan that dreadnought from that distance? Check for DM weaponry."

[Neo Arcad]

Before she entered the cell indicated by her lupine captor, Eos took the bowl from the thickly-accented chef, devouring the contents and then the bowl itself with what might be approximated as glee. She stood up a little straighter as her severed limb stub bubbled and expanded slightly. It didn't regrow, however. Not enough material in a bowl of stew for that. "Th͝a͜t̡ ͝was v͞er̨y͞ ̕g̷o̴o҉ḑ! ͡Is͏ there̛ a͘ny̴ m̵ore҉?̡" she inquired, her happiness now evident to basically any sentient being. "I'd ̧l̀i͠ke͏ ̸to ̶h̵ave my ḩand̸ ͟bácḱ..." Just then, the ship lurched to the right ever so slightly as the inertial dampeners lagged. Eos practically fell over into the cell.

Nikhan paced a bit, looking more increasingly agitated as the ship began rocking. His hackles went up along with the fur on his tail as his ears perked and swiveled to every sound. He growled in frustration before stopping and punching a wall. "Fuck it. I'm the specialist and I WON'T sit around while we're being attacked."

Nikhan turned to Eos, activating the shield wall and pointed a claw menacingly. "I'm going to go defend this ship. If you so much as ooze a molecule out of that cell, I'll find something that WILL completely eviscerate your remains." He turned and jogged toward the exit, muttering, "Maybe a big sword or something..."

The wolfman burst into the corridor and promptly fell into a wall as the ship veered, avoiding incoming fire. Dammit! Why didn't the Captain order someone ELSE to guard that damn blob? he thought angrily. Abandoning his assigned duty was nigh anathema to him, but between that and dying, he'd rather risk the wrath of the Captain. Nikhan ran toward his quarters which shared the space with the weapons systems; torpedo tubes, missile pods, and an array of cannon controls and laser batteries could be accessed from there.

Not long after, Nikhan was ducking around hanging missiles and torpedoes while heading for a console in the center of the room. He flipped a switch to key the system and said into his comm unit, "I need coordinates for the targets to calculate a firing solution! Someone get on the rangefinder and get that data!"

Eos dejectedly watched Nikhan leave. The ship shook again, and she stumbled, but caught herself. The soup was helpful, but she really did need to eat something else. And clearly, the others were busy... but she didn't want to go back into space, no! Anything but the cold again... So Eos stayed in her cell, for the moment. However, she did put the food to work regenerating her hand.

[Minroz]

Daluu rushed in through the ship’s hallway, once he reached his own turret controls. The Norr Merc jumps into his seat and started activating his respective turret. Zeroing in on his first ship/prey, he began firing the gun. This reminded him of his time as an Imperial soldier doing ship-to-ship action. He practically enjoyed it.

“Heh, it’s been a while I’ve been in ship-to-ship combat.” Daluu chuckles, continuing fire his turret at the enemy ship in his sights. “Anyhow, thank gods for this opportunity. I was itching to kill anyway, hehe.”