Voyages in Andromeda (FT Char RP|IC, Open)

[Grenartia]

Dana never did respond when Phe tried checking up on her. And apparently, Raoul didn't follow her to assist. Before she could attempt to summon him once more, Thanica and then Carter called out over the comms.

"And someone get Dana, get her to keep her hair loose and head down, she'll look like a wounded KC trooper in that jumpsuit they put her in..."

Turning his head to the others Carter backed up Thanica’s order, “You heard the lady, Dana get your hair loose and cover your hair as best as you can, someone get Krystyn one of those jumpsuits too!”

Checking Dana's pulse and breathing, she responded. "Cap, Commander, Mihal, its Phoenix. Dana is unresponsive, but stable. They've got her hooked up to an unknown IV and laying on a bed. I'm going to need someone to help me carry her and the IV bag."

Truth be told, she could very well have carried Dana herself, if she wasn't hooked up to the IV. If she knew what was in the IV, she could probably remove it without risking any medical complications. But as it stood, she had no idea what effects whatever KC drugs were in her system had if they were stopped suddenly, or even if the flow rate changed significantly. She could alternatively wheel Dana back to the Undeniable on the bed, like something straight out of ER, but that would likely blow the team's cover as they made their way back to the ship.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Dana Chrichton / Thanica Vari

Dana blinked. She looked confused and only present, though she wasn't, as Phe had feared, unconscious. She had managed a facetious comment before the fighting broke out, though clearly she was in no position to get up on her own and didn't look like she was entirely aware of what was going on around her. A little bit like Thanica had during the crash-landing on the moon but without the wildly enthusiastic mania that had gone with it for the Dhasath. She made a small noise, blinking at Phe, then rolled her head in the direction of the IV line before finally managing a response, "Just cut it; it's only painkillers. Someone shot me with a blaster."

The KC had gone to quite a bit of effort to keep Dana alive, though exactly what their reason was was unclear and Dana didn't look like she was in a state to give a sensible answer.

"Do you have her?" Thanica asked over the comms, "Everyone, get back into your cover identity and get to the lift, right now!" She sounded stressed, though she managed to keep the posture (to anyone without a comms unit) of a trooper following her superior's orders, watching for prisoners who might be trying to jump her, though the further back they retreated the less of those there were. Still, it would only be a matter of seconds before reinforcements showed up and it became impossible to extract the group...

[Arengin Union]

Brig Bay of The Zearataca, Lift.
(Co-written by Arengin Union, Imaria, Grenartia, and Habertia.)

---

The Crew of the Defiance readies to take the lift out of the Brig and at last leave the Zerataca.

---

"Form up, Undeniable, and secure my prisoners." he called out once again, "We are leaving, now!"

After hearing Mihal issue the order to the group, Romovea held position to mark where the bindings for the two Ragon where. Holding position a the rest of of the crew formed up around Mihal.

Having catched the rifle mid air, Carter caught up to the ploy quick. It wasn't hard to considering Mihal's all fancy attire and unusual hard ass demeanor, still the Human nodded to him in confirmation. Checking the rifle carefully, Carter slightly smiled, it was good to no longer be vulnerable, he quickly took a hold of one of one fallen Marine's jacket and helmet and put them on to become part of the facade.

"On it sir!" Carter responded to the fake captains order to secure the prisoners. Approaching Raoul and Sshalah once more, he tried to help out Roma on getting the binds and muzzles on.

Suddenly Phe's words were heard by Carter, Dana being stable but in a similar condition to Krystyn and the fellow fake marine needing help. Carter was visibly under duress as to what to do first, and Raoul noticed this.

"Go help your fellow not-Dhasath Carter," Raoul's growly voice called, looking down at Carter with a somewhat twisted but at the same time genuine smile, at least it would seem as genuine to Sshalah. Carter nodded regardless and walked over to Phoenix and Dana. Raoul then look over to Roma, giving a slight chuckle at her struggle to get the binds up.

"Here, let me put them on Sshalah!" He said as he took a hold of the binds, helping Roma carry them.

"Thank you Raoul" Roma said will picking up her pace to a near run to keep up with him. After Reaching Sshalah, Romovae bent down to be able to attach the bindings to her ankles and tail leaving Raoul to handle Sshalah's Hands and the muzzle.

Approaching Sshalah with the binds, Raoul waited for her to get her hands up so he could put them up, "We need to blend in once more Sshalah, I wont set them up tight..."

"If things get bad or as these humans say, 'shit hits the fan' then we shall be able to assist.." The large reptile added as he felt Romovae setting up the binds on his legs and tail. It was a rather uncomfortable feeling but at least he knew it could be broken if need be.

Sshalah had her hand up as Raoul put the bindings on. With all that was going on around them, this moment felt isolated as if they where in a bubble. Roma's work below wasn't so much Sshalah's focus, it was demeaning but Raoul's presence kept Sshalah's attention. Sshalah held her head up to make the muzzle easier, it had been low in her personal shame but now she gave as slight a smile as Ragon could while being expressive.

With Sshalah now bound, Romovae started binding Raoul starting with his ankles,hoping for minimal chit chat while doing so because time is not on their side.

All the while Carter approached Phe and Danna, passing by Tyreh who got into the lift, helping both Kaleso and Karesan get their binds back on as they also got onto the lift. Everyone else was getting ready as Thanica and the others kept covering their exit and one by one they entered the lift.

"Please hurry, things are getting hectic up here!" The voice of Yare came through Carter's headset within his helmet. He didn't waste time answering as he approached the two ladies. Phe struggling with Dana who seemed to be rather distraught.

Dana Chrichton / Thanica Vari
"Just cut it; it's only painkillers. Someone shot me with a blaster."

"Alright, that works for me." Phe replied as she removed the IV, and took Dana's arm over her shoulder, while making sure her hair was covering her face. "We'll get you back on the good stuff soon enough.

"Need a hand Ladies?" Carter said with jest as he took Dana's other arm and set it around his shoulder. The three now walking towards the lift.

Just then, Carter showed up and helped carry Dana.And while Phoenix appreciated it (especially after having asked for help), she couldn't help but think that Carter should be in shackles if the plan was to succeed. "I appreciate the offer, Cap, but are you sure its ok for you to be uncuffed?"

The three moving quickly to the lift, Carter set his helmets visor on as he looked at Phoenix with a smile. "They'll know who I am if I pose as a prisoner... But don't worry, they wont carry about a marine among millions." He was likely correct, wearing a marine jacket, carrying the rifle and helmet on it would be hard to notice him as the supposed Captain Nathan T. Carter.

"Do you have her?" Thanica asked over the comms, "Everyone, get back into your cover identity and get to the lift, right now!" She sounded stressed, though she managed to keep the posture (to anyone without a comms unit) of a trooper following her superior's orders, watching for prisoners who might be trying to jump her, though the further back they retreated the less of those there were. Still, it would only be a matter of seconds before reinforcements showed up and it became impossible to extract the group...

Thanica would feel the hand of Carter lightly touching her shoulder, his eyes meeting hers for a slight second but there was no time for any regards or sweet words.

"Prisoners secured and on the lift Ma'am!" Carter said with a rugged military tone, walking back onto the lift and with his weapon out and fixed on the supposed prisoners. It was time to leave this place once and for all.

[Bingellia]

Mihal breathed a sigh of relief once the doors to the lift closed and the group was finally free from the fiasco in the brig. With any luck, their cover would still hold, so long as they stayed away from scrutiny and moved quick enough to outrun those other psykers that would be looking for Aarla. Deciding to use quiet productively. The prisoners, especially the Ragon and the Jokari, were the easiest, but something seemed slightly off from group of guards. None of the armored bodies had a collar around their necks.

"That cehrnovah," Mihal spoke lowly to himself. Of course, there was little he could do at the moment besides hope that she'd find her way back before they left.. They didn't have time to find her and she would probably be in a fight if the could look for her. Under the worry and the anger that was mixing dangerously within the man, some part of him understood that she made the best choice for the group, even if it was likely unintentional on her part.

[Bentus]

Unit 085
The Zerataca

---

“What the hell were you thinking?”

Emeach’s voice was harsh as he slammed a palm onto the synthetic table before him. The sudden sound, along with the cutting tone, caused Eight-Five to flinch. Standing alone in the Commissar’s office, the girl’s head was hung low with dismissive shame, her hair hanging slightly over her eyes. In place of her usual cocky and playful attitude, the psyker’s slumped shoulders only slightly managed to hide her crestfallen expression. Silently, she weathered the stern beratement that Emeach divvied out to her. Even though he saw the girl’s subdued and guilty appearance, the Handler made no effort to mince his words. Her behaviour on the ice moon warranted as much, if not more.

“If my memory serves me correctly, I was crystal clear in my instructions.” Emeach continued, Eight-Five feeling his glare even as she kept her gaze focused on her feet. “You were to apprehend Six-Seven as quickly as possible, without any hesitation and without underestimating her capabilities. And yet, when I renew the mission logs do you know what I see?”

Grimacing as she felt the weight of the question pressing down on her, the psyker shifted uneasily. “I hesitated.” She replied, feeling the words stabbing at her chest as they left her mouth. “I should have followed through on my initial attack, when we had the element of surprise. It was a mistake, and I promise that it won’t happen again.”

“You’re damn right it was a mistake.” Emeach growled. “But even a casual observer would have been able to recognise that. I’m talking about what else I saw.”

Blinking in surprise, Eight-Five’s brow furrowed at the unexpected response. Frowning, there was an uneasy silence as the girl desperately tried to throw her mind back towards the mission. Tracing back her actions and steps in her mind, she felt a growing feeling of dread as she couldn’t think of what Emeach was referring to. Not wanting to displease her Handler, the girl allowed the silence to draw itself out as she continued to wrack her brain for an answer. Sighing at the lack of a response, Emeach flicked a finger across the touchscreen at his desk, pushing a video feed from the mission onto the larger screen behind him. Pressing a button, he allowed the scene of Eight-Five’s initial attack to slowly play out behind him, frame-by-frame.

“How about you tell me what the goal was behind this attack, Eight-Five?” He asked bluntly, his impassive features masking his frustration.

The girl felt her stomach falling to her feet as she weathered the man’s stern gaze, doing her best to concentrate on the scene playing out on the screen before her. She watched herself burst into existence in a flash of sparks within the recesses of the cave. Mid-air, she used her own momentum to propel herself towards Aarla, blue bolts flickering around her closed fist as she brought it down just as the girl seemed to notice her presence.

Shifting her feet, Eight-Five’s diverted her eyes as she answered quietly, nearly whispering as she knew that it wasn’t the answer that Emeach would have been hoping for. “I don’t know.”

“What?” Emeach replied, scowling at the muted response.

Swallowing, the psyker did her best to bite back tears as she looked back up towards the angered Handler. Inwardly she felt her anger at her former squadmate rising once again. This was all Six-Seven’s fault. Everything that had happened to her and Six-Two since she’d left was her fault. After everything they’d been through together, after being squadmates, how could she have so callously done this to them? Eight-Five hated her for what she’d done, she hated her. “I don’t know, sir. I don’t know what I did.”

““Yes you do, even if you don’t recognise it.” Sighing under his breath, Emeach reached out a hand to gesture towards the screen. Freezing the playback, he tapped on Eight-Five’s closed fist, with the strange, unnatural lightning visible around it. “That much energy is a killing blow, Eight-Five. Even subconsciously, in the heat of the moment you ignored your orders. I had explicitly told you that we needed Six-Two returned alive at all costs. But if she hadn’t successfully generated a barrier to soften your attack, she would have been burnt alive by your little stunt.”

Staring at the screen, Eight-Five’s jaw dropped as she was genuinely surprised by the accusation. Watching the fight, she supposed that Emeach was right, but she would never have so callously ignored orders like that! Her training was better than that, she was better than that. “I - I’m sorry!” She began, stuttering as she hastily tried to come up with an explanation for her actions. “I was simply attempting to respond appropriately to the threat posed by Six-Two. She’s a dangerous psyker and I must have accidentally -”

“That maybe being the case, you’re off the mission.” Emeach replied sternly, his expression hiding the slight twist in his chest as he saw the girl’s pained reaction at his words. “It’s my fault for thinking that you were prepared for this. Next time, you’ll stay behind while Eleven and Six-Two apprehend Six-Seven.”

Eight-Five stood motionless for a few moments, feeling like someone had physically punched her in the stomach. The demotion left her reeling, struggling to form words as she dealt with the humiliating punishment. It was an admission of failure, a mark that would follow her as an example of when she couldn’t cut it when Command had needed her. “No! Please, I won’t make the same mistake again. This is exactly what she’d want. She’d gloat and laugh at me if she knew. I need to beat her, otherwise she’s just going to keep acting like she’s better than -”

Stopping herself, Eight-Five seemed to just realise her own tirade. The colour draining from her face as she realised that she’d been talking back to her superior in such an insubordinate tone, the girl quickly stepped back. “I’m sorry, sir. What I meant to say was that Six-Two and I know her the best. Surely we should be the ones to -”

Suddenly, there was a chuckle from the corner of the room. “Just because you were in the same squad as her, don’t make the mistake of believing that you and Six-Seven are anything alike.” The voice sent a chill down Eight-Five’s spine, and she turned her gaze to see Eleven sitting lazily on a chair on the other side of the room. Shrouded in shadows, she hadn’t noticed the boy when she’d first walked in. He must have been there the whole time, watching with that smug smirk that he always seemed to wear, as if he was a cat constantly toying with its next meal. “You’re lucky that she was ordered to surrender. Otherwise neither you nor Six-Two would have made it back in one piece, that’s for sure.”

Eight-Five seemed to stiffen at the other psyker’s words, although she remained silent under his lazy gaze. Pursing her lips, the girl watched the other boy warily as she almost imperceptibly shied away from where we sat. The Dozen were different. They always had been. Even among psykers, they were viewed warily, and Eight-Five had seen enough to know that the whispered stories of their actions were more truthful than not. Seeing the girl tense up as Eleven deliberately pressed her buttons, Emeach shot the other psyker a scowl.

“That’s enough, Eleven.” He declared forcefully, making it clear that he was putting a stop to the exchange. Wearing an expression of faux-surprise at the Handler’s expression, Eleven feigned innocence as he raised his hands disarmingly. Ignoring the gesture, Emeach turned back towards Eight-Five. “That will be all. Return to your quarters, and we’ll discuss any appropriate punishments for your disobeying of orders later.”

For a second, it looked like Eight-Five was about to speak back once again, but at the last moment she bit her lip and snapped off a crisp salute. Turning on her heel, she did her best to avoid Eleven’s smug grin as it followed her out of the room. When she’d left, Emeach immediately turned to snap at the remaining psyker.

“That was uncalled for, Eleven. I could have you reprimanded for interfering with my operative like that.”

Unmoved by the threat, the psyker shrugged. “No you can’t, not really.”

The psyker’s callous brushing aside of his authority only served to infuriate Emeach further. Scowling, he knew that the kid was right. He was one of the Dozen, and that tied Emeach’s hands even if he was technically supposed to be just as subservient as any other psyker. “Six-Seven, Eight-Five and Six-Two were squadmates, and that squad was always an anomaly. They’re close. Closer than any psyker squad I’ve worked with. Eight-Five and Six-Two work as an effective team together even after Six-Seven left. And you saw the mission logs. Do you think Six-Seven would have been so quick to obey the order to surrender if it had been anyone else?”

Eleven’s cocky smile seemed to waver for the first time, and he actually appeared to nearly scowl at the Handler. “Don’t make that mistake of treating her as being the same as the rest of the...rabble.” As he spoke, Eleven waved a hand towards the door that Eight-Five had exited from, making it clear what he thought of the other, more traditional psyker units. “She likes to think that she’s different to us, and she’s been doing everything she can to make that dream a reality. But when push comes to shove, and when she finds herself backed into a corner, you’ll see what she’s really like.” Grinning as Emeach simply scowled at his speech, Eleven calmly leaned back into his char as he continued. “And then you’ll realise that you should have sent me in from the start.”

---

As the door slid shut behind her, Eight-Five immediately felt her legs nearly turn into jelly beneath her. Leaning back into the door, she let out the breath that she’d been holding as she remembered the cold look in Eleven’s eyes as he’d looked over her. She shuddered at the thought, dreading each time she met with the other psyker from the moment she’d learned that he’d been a part of the mission. And now, he’d helped ensure that she was no longer a part of it herself. Growling in frustration despite her mental exhaustion, the girl slammed her fist into the wall as she felt the anger and nervousness from the meeting wash over her. Why did they all treat her like this! She was capable of just as much as Six-Seven now, she wasn’t just the squad’s little kid anymore. She could do whatever Command and the Handlers needed to do, and she’d do it willingly and happily, she would never complain or run like Six-Seven did. But despite all that, why did they all keep giving that girl so much preferential treatment? It wasn’t fair.

“Eight-Five?” Turning around towards Six-Two’s voice, Eight-Five was surprised to see her partner standing in the hallway behind her. There was a look of concern on his face as he glanced towards the fresh cuts on her knuckles. “Is everything ok?”

Wiping at her eyes, Eight-Five forced a smile on her face to try and put her partner at ease. “Hey, you know how I feel about being snuck up on like that!” She said, shoving her friend playfully. “Yeah, it’s fine. Eleven was in there, and you know what it’s like dealing with a Dozen. I didn’t sense him at all when I first went in, but then when I did it just made my skin crawl.” Her comfortable facade didn’t seem to persuade the other psyker as he continued to look at with concern, so Eight-Five tried to shift the focus around. “How about you? I thought you were supposed to be in the meditation chamber looking for Six-Seven, don’t tell me that you’ve found her alre-”

“She’s on the ship.” Six-Two stated bluntly, cutting Eight-Five off as he delivered the news. “She’s here, and she knows that I’ve noticed her.”

“What?!”

Eight-Five’s jaw dropped, but she could tell from Six-Two expression that there was no doubt in his mind, and she knew better than to question his abilities. Reeling from the information, a deluge of thoughts and questions poured into her mind. What was Six-Seven doing onboard? And why had she used her powers if she’d known that Six-Two was looking for her? But among all the questions, the light of an idea shone through. Hardening her expression with determination, Eight-Five met her partner’s gaze.

“Where? We’ve got to stop her. Now.”

“Hold on, I haven’t even told Emeach yet.” Six-Two said, surprised at the sudden shift in Eight-Five’s tone. “He’ll want to come up with a plan and figure out what resources are in the area.”

“You know that’ll take too long. Chances are that she’s trying to get off the ship as quickly as she can, so by the time you tell Emeach and he informs the Commodore, she’ll probably already be gone.” Grabbing onto Six-Two’s hand, Eight-Five looked up to the boy with a glimmer in her eyes. “We can do this. We’re the only ones right now who can. They’re counting on us Six-Two, and she won’t be expecting us to find her so quickly. You can send Emeach a message and he can send us reinforcements by the time we get across the ship!”

Six-Two hesitated. He knew the proper protocols, and he knew what Emeach had instructed him to do when he found Aarla, but none of them had expected for him to find her right under their noses like this. Considering that, Eight-Five was right - they had to act fast if they wanted to catch her. But something about it still didn’t sit right with him. Why would Aarla expose herself like this? It didn’t make any sense. Though when he looked down to see the intense look of conviction and determination on his partner’s face, his doubts fell by the wayside. He trusted Eight-Five, and if she was set on doing this, he was going to help her in any way he could.

“Alright, but we’ve got to be quick. There’s no way she would have gotten here without any help.”

Aarla - Unit 067
The Zerataca

---

The sound of something striking metal echoed through the corridor as Aarla slammed her boots into the vent’s grating. Bracing herself against the walls of the narrow vent, it took her a few hard kicks to knock the barrier free from its mounting, sending it clattering loudly onto the floor below. Normally, such an overt action would have drawn the attention of any guards nearby, but any sounds were drowned out by the constant wailing of alarms that echoed throughout the ship, doing their best to draw guards towards the out-of-control riot going on in the brig. She would have also preferred to look ahead for any signs of Command soldiers, moving more slowly in order to better stay hidden. But time wasn’t on her side, and her real opponents would be able to find her no matter what she did. Dropping herself down from the ceiling vent, Aarla landed effortlessly on the floor and immediately glanced around for any guards. Seeing that the corridor was thankfully devoid of any other life, the girl made her way towards the next door. Behind it should have been the secondary hangar, and potentially a free lifeboat that she could use to get off the ship on her own. Her armour was tainted in fresh blood, the blue liquid splattering the Kiellar uniform in a way that made it sickeningly clear that none of it had come from the wearer.

Punching in the code that she’d pulled from a guard earlier, Aarla frowned as her thoughts drifted for a moment back to the others. She wondered if their mission had actually been a success, despite her misgivings. She supposed that it wouldn’t have been the first time that the strange crew had defied the odds. Surprised, she even found herself content with the thought that they’d already made it off the ship to safety - even though she knew what that would have meant for her own chances of escape. But just as quickly as the thought had appeared, Aarla scowled and forced it from her mind. Distractions like that got people killed, and she’d survived long enough to know that she wasn’t the type to get distracted. And yet, when the door in front of her slid open, she was entirely unprepared for the sight that greeted her.

With her eyes shooting open in surprise, Aarla had just enough time to duck behind the door frame as a hail of stun blasts flew through the doorway where she had been standing a moment before. Grimacing, Aarla allowed a sigh to escape from her lips. She supposed that it had been too much to hope for her to secure an escape before they’d find her.

“Oh come on, Six-Seven. I made a bet with Six-Two that you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to actually come straight here! You cost me my desert rations for the next two weeks!” Eight-Five’s voice called out from where she was taking cover in the hangar. She was grinning widely, ecstatic to have caught her former squadmate right where she wanted her. Beside her,

Six-Two offered his partner an exasperate expression as she seemed insistent on goading their opponent. He shook his head, knowing that coming here was hardly a ‘stupid’ decision for Aarla. If anything, the ease with which they’d been able to deduce her escape plan was simply an indication of how few options she had. Not taking the risk of leaning out of cover, Six-Two called out across the hangar. “Come on Aarla, you know that I can track you wherever you go.” He ignored the scowl that Eight-Five shot at him as he used Six-Seven’s preferred name. “You’re not like this. Just come home and things will sort themselves out.” The only response he received was silence, and as it drew out longer than it should have, he exchanged a glance with Eight-Five. The girl shrugged, offering no explanation why Six-Seven wasn’t responding.

“Aarla, did you hear me?” Cautiously, Six-Two poked his head out from the supply crates he was crouching behind. Moving slowly so as not to draw Aarla’s attention to where he was seeking cover, his eyes nevertheless shot open as he saw the barrel of a rifle extending out from the open doorway straight towards him.

Unable to utter a word as Eight-Five reached out to pull her partner back to safety with the cuff of his uniform, Six-Two’s surprised shout was drowned out by the gunshot that sent the blaster bolt flying inches from his face. Mouthing a silent thanks at Eight-Five, who simply scowled at him for being so careless, Six-Two glanced over his shoulder to see the smoking scorch mark in the crates right behind where his head had been moment’s before. He frowned at the sight. She wasn’t using stun rounds like they were, which would make this even more difficult than it already was.

Meanwhile, Eight-Five immediately opened fire on Aarla in an effort to push her back into her own cover. The tactic succeeded, and the pink-haired girl had to quickly duck behind the door frame as a hail of bolts impacted the ground and walls around her. Cursing under her breath, Aarla looked around the tight corridor. She was pinned now, which meant that she had to find another exit to get around her squad. But other than the vent she’d arrived in and the door at the other end of the hall she couldn’t see any alternate routes. As she was trying to think of a plan, Aarla’s eyes widened as she saw the datapad next to the corridor’s other door turn green, signifying that it had been unlocked from the other side. Reacting as quickly as she could from where she was crouched, she whipped her rifle around just as the metal doors slid open to reveal a squad of Command soldiers who wasted no time in firing towards her position. Fortunately, they weren’t prepared for how quickly she returned fire. A few bolts struck true, causing a few of the soldiers to cry out in pain as their comrades ducked for cover themselves. Wasting no time, Aarla shifted her aim towards the datapad itself and delivered a series of shots into its circuitry until it gave up the ghost and caused the door to automatically slide closed once more.

Sighing in relief, the girl grimaced as she placed a hand against the stinging sensation on her torso. Looking down, she scowled to see it come away with her blue blood as the smell of a cauterised wound began to reach her nostrils. That had been a stupid mistake. She should have secured her rear when she’d had the chance. It was pure luck that she’d only been hit once, and in a non-vital location on top of that. And all the while she was still being pinned by Eight-Five. Well, there’s something to be said about being at rock bottom. Aarla thought to herself, only to immediately regret it as a bright, orange light illuminated the edge of the door that she’d just sealed behind her. Recognising the sight of a plasma torch cutting through the hardened bulkhead that protected her flank, Aarla groaned in frustration. Watching the cutting tool’s progress for a second, she made a quick estimate for how long it would take the soldiers to cut through the barrier. The answer was not what she’d been hoping for. Not long at all.

Scowling as she was forced to act immediately, Aarla leapt up from her hiding place and began to dart towards the sealed door. Extending a hand out behind her, she generated a shield to absorb the barrage of bolts that the other two psykers fired towards her. Ignoring their attacks as best she could, she focused on the door just as the plasma torch’s light completed its circuit. Counting down the seconds as she imagined the soldiers on the other side giving it a solid kick, she was ready when the solid metal barrier fell forward onto the ground with a loud crash. The soldiers, on the other hand, were entirely unprepared for the determined girl that had now closed the distance between them to a scarce few steps.

“Open fire!” The cry went out just a moment too late, and Aarla pushed the closest soldier’s rifle to throw off his aim just as the barrel erupted with noise. Close enough to cause a ringing in her eardrums despite the protection of her helmet, the psyker ignored the dull pain as she allowed her instincts and training to take over her movements. Reaching out for the knife held in a sheath on the young man’s hip, Aarla didn’t hesitate before pulling out the blade and plunging it into the soft fabric on the underside of his helmet. Immediately, she heard a shocked choking sound from his throat, but she paid it no mind as she pulled the blade from the wound and allowed the body to crumple onto the floor.

Still in close quarters with the fallen man’s comrades, Aarla wasn’t given a moment of respite as one of them yelled out as he attempted to strike her with the butt of his rifle. Side-stepping the comparatively sluggish blow, the psyker flipped the bloodied blade in her hand before burying it into her opponent’s thigh. He cried out in pain, dropping his weapon just as Aarla grabbed onto his torso and spun him around just as one of his panicking allies fired a burst towards her. Gripping onto the injured soldier, she felt his body shudder as his allies’ rounds pounded into his chest, with the other man not having enough time to release the trigger before the deed was done. Taking advantage of his surprise before he realised that he should just keep firing at that point, Aarla pulled her now damaged helmet from her head, revealing the pair of implants that protruded slightly above her hairline. Spinning herself around, grunting as she put her effort into her arm, she hurled the helmet across the hall so that it smacked painfully into the guard’s face and knocked him off balance. By the time he had regained his footing, he was greeted by the sight of Aarla’s foot shooting towards his eyes, before the force of the kick twisted his neck around with a sickening snap.

Watching the one-sided massacre unfurl as the soldiers struggled with their opponent’s ferocity and unexpected pre-emptive attack, Six-Two cursed under his breath. The plan of flanking Aarla had all but evaporated, and they couldn’t risk shooting at her while she was in such close proximity to other Kiel. Even if their weapons were set to stun, that wasn’t a guaranteed non-lethal injury with how high they’d set their settings, nevermind if they hit a soldier who had already been wounded. Thinking quickly, he turned his attention towards his partner as she also watched the unfurling slaughter. “Eight-Five!”

Blinking as it seemed like she was pulled from a reverie, Eight-Five pulled herself back into the moment. Meeting Six-Two hardened gaze she nodded firmly as she replied. “Right, I’m on it!” Before the other psyker could stop her however, the girl flicked a switch on her blaster, turning the dim light on its barrel to change from blue to red. Six-Two’s eyes widened as he nevertheless noticed the action. However before he could say anything, the girl blinked out of existence in a flash of light, leaving the boy to simply once again utter a curse as he once again turned to watch the brawl in the corridor.

Meanwhile, Aarla was still embroiled in her fight. She had a bruise forming on her face from where one of the soldiers had managed to land a solid blow, with a trickle of blood running down beside her eye. She could also feel the growing aches and pains from where her armour had borne the brunt of any attacks that had slipped through her guard, but she nevertheless kept up her offensive. Having swept the legs out from under one of her attackers, she lifted a foot up to slam her boot down upon his neck just as she heard an electric pop in the air just behind and above her. Recognising the sound immediately, Aarla tried to turn around but found that she was just too late as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her torso.

“Gotcha!” Eight-Five called out, before once again triggering her powers and causing both of them to vanish from the hallway.

[Bingellia]

Zeracata Halls-Carter and Mihal
Cowritten by Arengin Union and Bingellia

Once out of the lift, the group began slowly but slowly making their way back to the hanger where the Undeniable laid in wait for their return for the crew of the Defiance. It seemed Thanica was right about the group's ability to blend back into the their roles, as they passed a group of Kiellar soldiers on their way to secure the brig. However, distant sounds of an ongoing fight seemed to have grown louder after dropping off for a while. Obviously, someone was fighting somewhere else other than the brig, and Mihal didn't need much of a jump in logic to guess who it was.

"Carter," Mihal nudged the man as he shuffled closer to him.

While trying to keep his Command Marine composure, Carter answered with a simple and rather quick.

"What is it..." Still with his eyes upfront, and keeping watch of Dana, Krtstyn, Thanica and the others as best as he could.

Truly he was more concerned with the group making their way back to the ship rather than whatever was happening elsewhere on the Cruiser. Nevertheless he couldn't ignore whatever Mihal needed to point out.

"We're missing Aarla. I think that noise that's her in a fight," He quickly whispered the best he could," and I'm not leaving her here."

Aarla?! Carter thought to himself, he had not noticed her at all during this whole time, might have been the fact he was preoccupied with just surviving or that his relation with her had never been on the best of sides. He couldn't help but feel surprised at Mihal's priorities and his mindset, if Aarla wasn't here it only meant she had run off to do some personal vendetta which endangered the group, or she had become a turncoat once more. Regardless of whatever was happening Carter was not interested in spending a single extra moment in this god forsaken ship if he didn't have to.

"We're almost out of here Mihal..." Carter answered with a fast tone, "What do you want us to do!?" the question itself was empty, there was an obvious answer to him. Leave on the Undeniable and let Aarla to her own fate. Personally that's what Carter felt like, but Mihal's demeanor, his worry, that was something he couldn't really ignore. But the question still wavered, what could they do.

"I know, Carter," he nearly cut the human off in reply, "but they're going to do terrible things to that girl if they capture her." The Kiel sighed as he glanced over to Carter, "I'm dressed as an officer, so I can get practically anywhere and talk my way out of anything, but I have to do this now that you can get out. She saved me in the brig, so I'm not leaving her to die or worse."

At that moment the human, and the group by extension stopped walking. Turning directly to Mihal, Carter looked at him in the eyes for just a second and he knew that look, he recognized it because he himself had gone through similar situations not only back on Earth but in this very own galaxy where he a complete alien and yet he owed so much to so many people. If Mihal can do this, and if he has to this...

"Then go do what you have to, brother..." Carter said with genuine resonance of respect to the Kiel. He had come to know Mihal well in this strange journey, and he truly had come to respect him just as much as everyone else in this crew of rogues, criminals and general outcasts. Carter extended his hand to Mihal, the Kiel taking a hold of it as both men nodded to each other.

"I'll make sure we don't leave without the both of you..."

"Thank you, Carter," Mihal replied back, clearly dropping the act for a moment as he offered the Captain a warm smile as the group started moving again. "I know this risky, but try not to worry anybody either."

As quietly and subtly the Kiel could, he split of the from the group, keeping his stride normal and as confident as he could as he turned down a hallway before the group lost sight of him.

[Arengin Union]

The Zerataca, Docking Bay.

Written by Arengin Union and Dyelli Beybi

---

With Mihal slipping away, it was now up to the rest of the crew to get to the Undeniable without further issues. The ambient was tense, Raoul and Sshalah kept moving calmly as did most of everyone else but within Carter’s own mind a sea of ranging thoughts and emotions made his heart pump fast as he couldn’t help but feel that in any second the soldiers, pilots, engineers and whatever else was within this hangar would turn their attention on this strange band that was moving prisoners at a rather odd time.

All the while dozens and dozens of soldiers of the Command were moving either to the lift to contain the riot or off to whatever disaster Aarla had caused. All the same Carter felt the urge to just leave, much more so when considering it was him that they wanted and it wouldn’t take the Ship and especially that bastard Ouroboros long to notice he was gone from his cell.

Carter moved closer to Thanica as she moved alongside the Ragons, Cidrac and Vandul meanwhile were helping both Krystyn move with the various medical trinquets attached to him and Phoenix with helping the still catatonic Dana move. As he moved closer to Thanica, Carter remembered the last time he had seen her, near death and with the only possibility for her survival being to retrieve that crystal the damned Gollar wanted. She lived… But how? It doesn’t matter… I just, I need to tell her. His priorities had to be first on telling her the situation with Mihal and Aarla, and then getting the hell out of here.

Walking over to her side, Carter remained with his eyes front. They were finally closing in on the ship.

“Mihal has gone off…” Carter said with quickness, still remaining composed but vigilant on what he said.

Thanica tapped her helmet. When she spoke it didn't sound like Carter's revelation was much of a surprise, "He's racing after his young protégé. I thought she was staying on the frelling ship. They'd better be quick. Nobody seems to be onto us yet, but that will change," sounding somewhat exasperated at the last part. Everything had been going so well up until that point.

Finally the group arrived to the ship, the main door opening up and one by one each person entered. First was Cidrac helping Krystyn in, then Phoenix and Dana alongside Vandul. As both Thanica and Carter stood by the door waiting for the "Prisoners" to enter the ship he looked back at her.

"We have to trust him," his voice was apprehensive, within himself he was unsure if Mihal really would be able to bring Aarla back. Every inch of him told him that they had to get into the ship and leave. But he couldn't do that, they couldn't do that to Mihal, to anyone in this crew. They had come too far for that and his code of never leaving anyone behind, even in this galaxy he had to live by that just as he had not left Thanica behind.

Finally everyone was inside the ship, Thanica and Carter were the only ones that remained, both of them looking at each other's helmeted faces. Carter was only able to see her wide deep blue eyes as he tried to keep the facade going, act like the Command marine he had dressed up as. Despite it all, he was still human and he had to make sure they wouldn't leave anyone behind, even though Mihal's actions seemed arbitrary at best and idiotic at worst he had to trust him, they had to.

"I didn't leave you behind back on Gadawei... I never would, and I won't leave him behind. We have to trust him, we have to wait..."

There was good reason to get moving as well. The hanger bay was beginning to look busy with armed troopers rushing in the direction of the dual disturbances, though none paid any mind to the small ship docked in their bay. Yet. As they watched Vrondich and Rabaech appeared, hurrying back in the direction of the ship. The pair paused briefly near the door, looking for something, though they definitely appreciated the gravity of the situation and started back towards the ship after only a cursory search.

"Carter, I remember, don't worry, I'm not planning to leave him behind either. I didn't expect you to come, but you did," Thanica replied. Her hand came up to the side of her helmet as she switched her voice to broadcast over the comms unit, "Mihal, whatever you're up to, you need to hurry up!"

[Europa Undivided]

Docking Bay, the Zerataca

---

"Wait what?"

"Yes, Yare. You heard that right.", Kaleso said to the Sarufi as she remained in front of the controls of the ship. "Mihal has gone off to run after the psyker girl."

Yare snorted at the news. "Dastrut yah porsehzen..."

Kaleso raised his brow at Yare at hearing her speak. "What was that Yare?"

"Oh?", she answered, fidgeting nervously. "Nothing. I just said that... He's gotta hurry..."

"No, that last part.", Kaleso questioned furtherm "Did you call him... 'babe'?"

The dragon's eyes widened with denial. "What? No! Of course I did not!"

"You forget that I am a telepathic Sorceror, Yare."

"Uhm... So..."

Kaleso sighed. "And I thought that I would be enough..."

"What?"

"I can't believe you have fallen for a disgruntled accountant. Am I not enough?"

Karesan peeked in to their discussion, curious.

"Kaleso, are you..."

"Yes! Yes I am! And to think your heart is after some... ugh... I'm sorry."

Yare shook her head. "Well, you're still my friend, no matter what."

"I thank you, then.", he answered as he turned and left.

Yare nodded at his departure and promptly went back to work. She looked over at the console, and made sure to be ready to activate the engines once Mihal and Aarla made it back to the ship. "Crazy ass girl running off for no reason...", she muttered to herself just as a pair of footsteps came into the bridge. Yare looked around just to see Karesan with his hat and all.

"It appears that my brother-in-law had a romantic fixation for you for a long time, Yare.", he said, examining his Kravsagar and the bloodstains on its metal frame. "What do you think of that?"

"He's a friend, nothing more, nothing less...", Yare quietly replied as she opened a channel to Mihal. "Mihal, can I have an ETA from you? I need to determine the appropriate time to heat up the engines, ba- Mihal."

"You almost slipped there.", Karesan snickered to her.

"Oh, shut up."

[Bingellia]

Aarla - Unit 067
Cowritten by Bingelly and Bentus

---

In an instant, the corridor around Aarla vanished. In the blink of an eye, its halls and the bloody scenes were replaced by the sight of the hangar’s metallic floor racing up towards her. It was all so fast, that the psyker didn’t even have enough time to throw up her hands to brace her fall before she landed face-first, with the air instantly fleeing from her lungs. Grimacing in pain as the impact sent a jolt through her body, and ignoring the taste of iron in her mouth as the fall caused her lower jaw to bite her cheek, Aarla knew better than to stay still.

Before she had a chance to fully enjoy catching Six-Seven by surprise, Eight-Five’s head was snapped back as Aarla thrust an elbow into her jaw. The blow sent a few stars swimming in the other girl’s vision and she stumbled backwards off of the other psyker in a daze. Aarla wasn’t given a moment of respite however, as she instinctively rolled out of the way of a fusillade of blaster bolts that impacted around her. Rolling onto her feet, she threw up a shield just in time to prevent any of Six-Two’s realigned shots from hitting home. Instead of being able to flip into a counter-attack though, Aarla found herself having to quickly backpedal out of the way of a punch as Eight-Five once again joined the fray.

Scowling as she found herself forced onto the backfoot by the coordination between her two former squadmates, it was all Aarla could do to jump between blocking shots from Six-Two and trying to keep up with Eight-Five’s physical attacks. Whenever the younger girl would leave an opening, Six-Two would provide enough cover for his partner to fallback, while Eight-Five’s unyielding offensive kept Aarla from turning her attention towards her primary target. To make matters worse, she could feel the fatigue from her previous fights beginning to weigh on her movements. While both her opponents were coming into the battle fresh, Aarla had to do her best to ignore the slow trickle of blood from her blaster wound, with her rapid series of movements having reopened the injury despite the cauterisation caused by the bolt. Distracted as she tried to think of a way to turn the tide of the fight, Aarla allowed one of Eight-Fives attacks to slip through. Staggering backwards as she was hit in the chest, she looked up to see the other girl wearing a smug grin.

“What’s the matter, Six-Seven? I thought you were going to be tougher than this. What, with the way that everyone always talked about you like you were just so special compared to the rest of us.” Aarla’s features remained impassive, and she didn’t offer the other girl an immediate response, instead she spat out a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

From where he was, continuing to aim his weapon at their opponent, Six-Two offered a nervous glance towards his partner. “Eight-Five, stay focused.” Turning back to Aarla, his expression seemed to soften. “Give it up, please. You know that there’s no way for you to get out of this, Aarla. Even if you were to get off the ship, they’ll just have me find you again and again. You know that we’re really on your side in this.”

A frustrated snort interrupted Six-Two. “Oh, give it a rest. Are you seriously thinking that she ever cared about us?” Eight-Five growled, the venom evident in her voice as her eyes never left Aarla. “She doesn’t care about anyone except for herself. That’s why she left us to deal with the consequences of her mess. Why she left the Handlers to doubt our loyalties just because she was too selfish to do anything else. I bet the compassionate part of her brain was burnt out years ago.” Turning towards Six-Two, the words seemed to come effortlessly to Eight-Five now, as if all her anger and pain for the last few weeks all came out at once. “And yet despite all that, you’re still trying to give her another chance. Why?”

A surprised expression flashed across Aarla’s face as Eight-Five’s frustrations bubbled over, though neither of her opponents seemed to notice. Pressing a hand against her injury in an effort to stem the blood flow, the outline of a plan began to form her head. Clearing her throat, she spoke with a cold edge to her voice.

“Because he knows that you’ll just never be good enough.” The words were delivered bluntly, striking Eight-Five like a dagger to her chest, though Aarla didn’t hesitate as she continued. “It was cute for a while, having you follow me around. But you were always just that: some dead-weight that would conveniently always say yes to anything I asked. Nothing more and nothing less.” Her jaw dropping, Eight-Five seemed to be at a loss for words as Aarla smirked at her. “The Handlers never cared about you because I was always more useful to them. And I never cared about you because frankly, I couldn’t be bothered.”

Shifting uneasily as his partner seemed to be frozen in shock, Six-Two kept his blaster trained on Aarla. “Eight-Five…” He cautioned, though the other girl was having none of it.

“NO!” She shot back. “She’s right. No matter what I do, everyone just treats me like that bitch’s shadow!” She declared, jabbing a finger towards Aarla. “She gets away with everything: disrespecting our Handlers, going off-mission, insubordination, and every tiny little thing she does well gets blown out of proportions. Meanwhile, I do everything right, and it’s never enough. I’m sick of it!”

By this point, sparks of electricity were flickering between Eight-Fives fingers, dancing up and down her arms as they seemed to gradually spread across her body. Six-Two bit his lip as he saw her powers starting to display themselves, knowing the risks if she lost control of them in the heat of battle. But before he could say anything else, Eight-Five let out a cry as she raced towards Aarla once more. Shit, he thought to himself, unable to do anything as his partner raced at their foe with murderous intent.

Having expected Eight-Five to lash out after goading her, Aarla nevertheless wasn’t prepared for the force of the tackle that slammed into her chest. Having the wind knocked from her lungs once more, she found herself disoriented as Eight-Five triggered her powers and teleported them so that Aarla would be slammed painfully into a wall. The follow-through attack was even worse though, as Eight-Five plunged her fingers into Aarla’s injury, causing her to cry out in pain. Reacting as best she could, the psyker flung her head forward to headbutt her opponent and send her stumbling back and off of her. Scowling in anger now herself, Aarla ignored the pain as she darted forward to slam her knee up into Eight-Five’s stomach, causing the younger girl to keel over before she was pulled over onto the ground.

Pinning her opponent down, Aarla pressed her weight into the girl’s neck, cutting off the flow of air to her windpipe. Six-Two fired a few shots from where he was standing to try and help his partner, but Aarla had little trouble in blocking them with her powers. Gasping for air, Eight-Five closed her eyes shut as electricity once again coursed around her body, causing the pair of them to vanish once again. When they reappeared, the two girls were falling through the air onto a pile of supply crates, landing painfully and tumbling separately onto the floor. Dizzy from the fall, Aarla’s eyes widened as she saw that Eight-Five now held a grenade in her hand.

His heart sinking as he too noticed the weapon, Six-Two tried to call out. “Eight-Five, don’t!”

But it was too late as the girl triggered the explosive and tossed it lightly towards the still unsteady Aarla. Reacting as quickly as she could, Aarla reached out towards the beeping grenade and willed herself to summon a barrier between her and it just before the ball of plasma erupted into existence. She felt the heat first, a split-second of intense warmth as the blast was initially cushioned by her shield, but in her weakened state her powers were quickly overwhelmed. Pushed backwards by the force of the up-close explosion, Aarla felt her own shield slam into her and send her tumbling backwards onto the floor, with shrapnel and debris showering her as it shattered like glass.

Groaning as she felt her every limb screaming out at the storm that she’d weathered, Aarla felt a wave of nausea washing over her as she slowly pushed herself back onto her feet. Coughing, she looked up to see Eight-Five standing a few steps away with her sidearm pointing straight towards her. Standing just to her side - now also in fairly close proximity to Aarla - was Six-Two. With all her teleporting, Eight-Five had inevitably pulled the three of them closer together, not that Aarla appeared to be in any state to take advantage of the situation with an attack of her own. But Eight-Five’s attention was entirely focused on Aarla, with the faint red glow emanating from the side of her weapon indicating that she had little intention of setting it to stun.

“I knew you’d survive that.” She growled, meeting Aarla’s still unflinching gaze. “But I wonder if you’ve got enough juice left to produce another barrier?”

Breathing heavily, Aarla didn’t offer a response, instead mentally judging the distance between her and her opponents and estimating how long it would take her to close the gap. Eight-Five didn’t seem to notice as her finger began to press down on the trigger, her heart pounding in her chest as her whole world seemed to shrink down to that moment. This was it: she’d won. She’d done it despite the odds. She remembered the fake smiles from the other girl, how her awe of her abilities and strength had twisted into pain and hatred as she time-and-again tossed her aside. She remembered her anger and frustration, channeling it all into that single moment as her finger slowly squeezed the trigger.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and placed itself on Eight-Five’s blaster. Blinking in surprise, the girl’s peripheral vision returned to her as she was pulled out of her focus. Turning, she saw Six-Two looking at her, his weapon in one hand still pointed towards Aarla. He wore a sympathetic smile, a smile that Eight-Five had come to cherish whenever she needed a shoulder to lean on. A smile that she would coax out of her partner by making him laugh whenever she could.

“Let it go, Eight-Five. I care, ok?” Six-Two spoke softly, a pained look in his eyes. “We’re here to capture her, alright? Those were our orders. If you kill her, then I’ll lose you, too.” He began to press down on Eight-Five’s weapon, causing her to lower it as a conflicted look spread across her features. Slowly, a few stray tears began to run down the girl’s cheeks as her arms began to shake slightly.

“It’s...it’s not fair, though. Not after everything. She was one of us. We were a team, and then…”

“Yeah, I know. I thought we were a team, too.” Six-Two said, his mouth turning into a frown as he turned to meet Aarla’s steely gaze, a look of sadness in his own eyes. “But I guess we must have been wrong about -” Suddenly, a single shot rang out from across the hangar.

The sight of his shot landing true and the subsequent effect the bolt had on Six-Two’s head, which speckled Eight-Five with boiling blood and brain matter, immediately sent waves of nausea rolling over the civilian’s body. How startlingly light the trigger pull seemed both fascinating and sickening Mihal as he stood, panting for air after running to the hanger, trying to process what exactly he had just done.

[Bentus]

Mihal of Obe and Aarla - Unit 067
Cowritten by Bentus and Bingellia

---

Mihal’s throat was painfully dry as he tried to reflexively swallow. He was shaking intensely, nearly firing another blaster bolt before he remembered basic trigger discipline, and every urge in his body just wanted to throw the pistol down as he aimed vaguely at Eight-Five. He tried to call out to Aarla, to get her attention beyond the sudden blaster bolt, but choked on his words.

The pair of psykers, if they glanced his way before continuing their melee, might have dismissed him as a paralyised cadet getting his first taste of real combat if the Zeracata had been any other ship in the Command’s fleets, but he stood out as an intruder given his reaction.

After the crack of the shot tore through the air, cutting Six-Two off mid-sentence, a silence fell over the hangar. Eight-Five had instinctively closed her eyes as she felt a spray of blood spread a few droplets across her features, though she seemed to totally ignore them as she stared in confusion at where Six-Two had been standing just a moment before. The gears in her mind turned slowly, struggling to piece together what had happened in that flash of an instant and the repercussions of the spreading pool of blood at her feet. “Six...Two?” She managed, her voice croaking as if some shocked part of her hoped for a response.

Aarla meanwhile, blinked in surprise at the sudden turn of events. For a moment, she too was frozen as her squadmate’s body collapsed lifelessly onto the ground. Her gaze tracked downwards to where Six-Two lay, and her mouth twisted into a grimace as she noted the results of Mihal’s handiwork. He clearly hadn’t been expecting an attack from another opponent, though Aarla had known that the other psyker would’ve exposed himself as soon as he’d seen Eight-Five starting to struggle. But none of that mattered right now, not when they were still in the hornet’s nest. Glancing toward Mihal, Aarla frowned as she saw the wide-eyed look of nausea on his face. With his hands beginning to shake, she knew that he was going to be more of a liability than a help until he snapped out of it.

Acting quickly, Aarla pulled her gaze away from Mihal and began to stride towards Eight-Five. The other girl didn’t even seem to notice her approach, and she continued to stare blankly into the space that had just been occupied by her partner. As she closed the distance between them, Eight-Five seemed to finally notice that someone was approaching her as she turned towards Aarla with a dazed expression. She looked like she was about to say something, but she didn’t get a word out before Aarla grabbed her by her collar and swung her around into a stack of supply crates. Slamming Eight-Five forcefully into the containers, Aarla pressed her forearm slightly down on the other girl’s neck, applying just enough pressure to make the other girl begin to struggle against her grip.

“Snap out of it, Eight-Five. He’s gone.” She stated bluntly, although Eight-Five refused to meet her icy glare. Instead, the other girl’s gaze remained fixated on Six-Two’s motionless body. Her eyes widening as her mind seemed to finally catch up with what had happened, Eight-Five’s struggling began to increase.

“No...no, no, no. He was just standing right there!” She pleaded, a frantic tone seeping into her voice. “I was there to protect him. I would never let anything like this happen…” As she struggled, silent tears streamed down Eight-Five’s features. “Let me go, Six-Seven! Let me go to him! I can still save him, I just need to...I just - gah”

Instead of releasing her squadmate, Aarla increased the pressure on her windpipe, cutting off her words as she did so and forcing her tear filled eye back towards her. “No, you can’t. He’s dead, and there’s nothing that any of us can do about it. But that doesn’t matter right now. You were tasked with protecting him and capturing me. You know what will happen to you if you fail both of your objectives like this. Without a squad, you’ll be more trouble keeping around than you’re worth.”

Grabbing onto Aarla’s arm in a vain attempt to try and relieve the pressure on her throat, Eight-Five seemed to finally listen to the other psyker’s words. They didn’t seem to placate her however, as her brow furrowed at her former squadmate. Forcing her words, she spoke with a hateful venom. “You did this, you did this when you ran off. You ruined everything!” Unphased by the accusation, Aarla nevertheless frowned as she started to see the sparks begin to leap across Eight-Five’s skin.

“Eight-Five, calm down.” She cautioned as the girl’s eyes seemed to begin to glow, her veins beginning to pop up against the flesh of her neck and face. “You’re not controlling your powers right now.”

“I don’t care!” Eight-Five screamed, flailing about with a renewed ferocity as she tried to claw at Aarla’s arm, drawing blood even though the other psyker refused to relieve her pressure. “You killed him! You killed him!”

Grimacing as she felt the waves of heat from the increasingly violent bolts of lightning shooting out from the other girl, Aarla knew that she didn’t have long before Eight-Five had built up enough power to fry both of them on the spot. Wincing in pain as her arm was slowly being burned simply by being in contact with the increasingly out-of-control psyker, Aarla refused to let up. “That doesn’t matter. If you don’t control yourself, then you’ll -”

“I said that I don’t ca-!” Lashing out wildly, Eight-Five seemed to be glowing from the inside, bright enough to nearly cause Mihal to have to squint just to keep his gaze on the pair. But then in an instant, there was a subtle beep from the device clamped to the young girl’s collar. And then, a moment later, an explosion that forced Aarla to flinch away.

Suddenly, the room was silent once more, while Eight-Five’s limbs all fell limp by her side. Breathing heavily and visibly surprised by what had happened, Aarla was left bloodied by the activation of Eight-Five’s collar, and her ears were ringing from the controlled explosion occurring so close to her. Stepping back from the dead girl, she allowed the headless corpse to drop gracelessly on the floor as she turned towards the corridor that she’d entered the hangar through.

Standing in the doorway, was Emeach. The Kiel had a grimace on his face, the activated detonator being held firmly in his hand. For a moment, the two exchanged a glance: the Handler that had been forced to act on an impulse, and the tired psyker that stared him down. Appearing to break the moment, Emeach turned around to yell out to a group of soldiers behind him. “Get them both!” He called out, forcing Aarla to forget her two dead squadmates and race towards where Mihal was standing.

Just as a hail of blaster bolts began to fly towards them, the psyker slammed into her ally and sent them both flying over a row of crates. The boxes served to protect them from the initial fusilade of weapons fire, but the Command soldiers were quickly flooding into the room and would be on top of them at any moment. “That was stupid.” She yelled over the sound of battle, scowling at Mihal. “Now we’re both stuck here, idiot!”

The sudden impact snapped the Kiel out of his daze, but the force of a hidden rifle being driven into his chest forced a loud ground from Mihal as he tried to reorient himself. “Gods, I know!” He wheezed as Mihal threw open his coat and snapped the blaster rifle off of it’s sling, “Buy us some time, damn it!”

Still scowling, Aarla took the offered weapon, but the volume of fire ensured that she had little opportunity to actually provide any return fire with the fully charged rifle while Mihal frantically looked over the carnage in the hanger for any potential means of working their way out of the complete mess that situation had developed.

His first attempt to peak out from the crates at the group of Kiel Soldiers and the various nooks and crannies was quickly ended by a shot nearly singeing the top of his hair, the surprise of which nearly sent him jumping back from the crate he was behind. He soon tried again, scanning between two crates at a wall of lockers lining the wall on the furthest side from them, he cupped his face as he realized anything useful there would be suicidal, but there was a fuel tank. There was nobody near it, but it would be loud. Then inspiration struck, there was a battery of escape pods he passed on the way to the hanger, and the door was behind them to their right.

“Aarla,” He spoke loudly to make sure she’d hear him over her ringing ears and the sounds of blaster fire, “I passed escape pods my way here. We’ll only need a barrier for a few seconds.” Mihal scrambled for his pistol, moving around the bunch of crates the best he could before he found it between the two of the pinned Kiels.

Firing a bolt into a Kiel that had leaned out of his cover for just a moment too long, Aarla dropped back down behind the crates just as a retaliatory barrage of fire screamed above her head. Frowning, she turned to Mihal as he laid out his plan. “I don’t have much energy left to block many shots. They could overwhelm anything that I put up.”

“There’s a fuel tank across the hanger. I’ve got a shot on it between two crates,” Mihal explained, positioning himself the best he could, “and once it goes, we move.” Blinking in surprise at the former desk worker’s plan, Aarla stole a glance between their crate wall to see the exposed fuel tank. That could actually work, if it gives us enough time. It was a gamble, but they didn’t have the time or the luxury of doing anything else. Leaning over awkwardly, Mihal did his best to line his weapon up with his target. It was a difficult shot, and he cursed his own heavy breathing as it caused his aim to sway, but he managed to fire off a burst of blaster bolts and hit the tank directly.

The resulting detonation, although mostly contained to the far side of the room, nevertheless sent a wave of heat across the hangar. Although a few of the soldiers nearby were blown off of their feet by the pressure wave, most of them were left unharmed even though they had to shield their eyes from the sudden flash of light. Taking advantage of the lull in fire and the chaos that the explosion had caused, Mihal jumped to his feet and began racing towards the escape pods. Keeping his eyes focused on his goals, he forced himself not to think about the line of soldiers that were slowly regaining their senses and seeing their quarries making a run out in the open. He flinched when he heard the first renewed shot fly across the room, but glanced over to see that it had dissipated against some kind of invisible obstacle in the air. Smiling in relief, he saw Aarla grimace as she raced only a few steps behind him. His smile quickly evaporated as he saw the trail of blood trickling down the girl’s nose, as well as the bleeding wound in her side.

She’s hurt bad. He thought to himself, hardening his gaze as he turned back towards his goal. They had to get out of here and regroup with the others, and fast. Even as the soldiers cried out to their fellows as they started to grasp what their plan was, Mihal forced himself to focus. They were nearly there, just a few more steps was all it would take. Just hold on, Aarla.

[Dyelli Beybi]

The Undeniable

The explosion could be heard from the other hangar, causing Thanica to duck instinctively. The also dropped down behind a large metal crate. Vrondich risked a glance over the top, then tapped Rabaech on the shoulder as the small Kiel adjusted his askew glasses. The two set off at a run. It wasn't unusual in the hangar now. The place was abuzz with panicked crew, seemingly not quite sure what to do. That included Lieutenant Havann who pelted up the ramp of the Undeniable, still clutching his tablet, "What are you doing?" he demanded, "Where is your Captain? Why have you brought the prisoners back on -"

Thanica wasn't very large, or particularly strong, but with the advantage of surprise and the armour from her suit, when she delivered a surprise uppercut, it sent the officer reeling, back into the arms of the also somewhat surprised Vrondich, "Vari... I never thought you had it in you."

She snapped the visor of her suit open, "Get him into the medbay before anyone notices," she said, before turning to Carter as Vrondich dragged the semi-conscious officer onto the ship, "I don't like killing KC troopers. I used to be one," she said, as if expecting some kind of comeback, "I heard about what happened on that moon and I can't help but feel that, any one of the ones the crew killed could have been me, but for the grace of the Maker." While she was speaking, Rabaech had lurked behind. He looked apprehensive, bouncing on the balls of his feet as if desperately wanting to say something but not sure if he was allowed. Thanica had noticed, "Rabaech?" she prompted.

"We didn't get a chance to use the, whatever the thing is that your AI made. We had planned to put it into the targeting system," he added for Carter's benefit, "But there wasn't time, things got chaotic too quickly. If they start shooting at us with the big guns this ship will get blown to very little pieces."

"Right... Carter," she unclicked her helmet, passing it across to him. She had pinned her hair up before the mission though pulling the helmet off had left a dark strand hanging over her left eye. She huffed, blowing it out of the way, "Talk to Mihal on the comms and get him back here. I'll take command of the bridge."

She turned and ran, back to the bridge, boots echoing down the hall and announcing her arrival. The ship was nowhere near the size of the Defiance and the trip was a relatively quick one, "Yare, and anyone else up here!" she yelled ahead, "Get back to the entrance and give Carter some backup," she came to a halt, sounding ever-so-slightly out of breath, "And remember, no killing KC troopers," she added, still somewhat worried about the reptile's bloodlust, "If things get violent, we only need suppression fire to give Mihal and Aarla a chance to get back on-board."

She slid into the pilot's chair with a sense of comfortable familiarity. Yes, the consoles were designed for a Kiel so she needed to keep the chair at it's highest and needed to reach a little further than was perfectly comfortable, but it was what she had been doing for the last ten years and she felt like she knew what she was doing here. All this running about and shooting guns was not what she had trained to do, although to be fair, she had never trained to lead a mutiny either and that hadn't gone too badly.


Meanwhile back at the ramp to the ship...

No sooner had Thanica left though, than trouble did show up, in the form of a half dozen KC marines, who fanned out about the bay, taking up positions behind what cover was offered by the small vehicles, crates and cylinders that could be found scattered about the bay. A familiar female Kiel with a blue bob cut was heading the team. Evidently she hadn't had time to pull on her helmet though, coincidentally, Carter hadn't had time to put the helmet Thanica had given on either and she recognised him instantly, "You! Drop the gun and get on your knees you murdering son of a hazmot!" she yelled. There was more than a slight hint of anger in her tone. It wasn't characteristic for Aethienn to lose her temper, but Carter was really getting under her skin...

The blast doors to the docking bay hadn't closed yet. The only thing between them and space was a (state-of-the-art) atmospheric force-field which would hold the atmosphere in, but not the ship. It was probably quite the wonder of science for the human crew, but there wasn't time to appreciate it. Things were, as Thanica had put it, about to get violent.

[Arengin Union]

Captain Nathan Taylor Carter

The Undeniable

---

Carter was finally within the ship that had managed to sneak in this diverse bunch of renegades in space, it was quite a fine ship that though small it could very well hold a Ragon as large as Raoul. For his part, the Ragon had already freed himself from his bind and was all too glad for it, helping Sshalah with her own if she needed it. Carter for his part removed the Marine helmet he had put on, basking in fresh air for a second as he felt a complete sense of relief for a short moment. His hair flinged freely as his entire brow dripped in sweat and part of it was blood from small cuts within his forehead but it didn’t matter to him as he felt absolute solace.

The human then remembered the only loose ends that really worried Carter was Mihal and Aarla, even when he was nowhere to be seen Sho had already proven he could easily make it past the most impenetrable of defenses.

But it was Aarla and Mihal that were less predictable in their abilities. But he had already assured Thanica that whatever they were doing they had to count on them to make it back to the ship, any kind of expression of doubt would not aid in this already hectic moment. Goddammit Nathan… Why do you always have to see the best of things… The human cursed himself.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the surrounding bay, it seemed nearby and not accidental whatsoever. It caused Thanica to duck and the others to act on instinct, Carter himself readied his rifle, gripping onto it tightly and unwilling to be brought back into another cell.

Then a rather confused looking Kiel dressed in fancy uniform arrived to the scene within the ship. It was obvious to Carter and all the other rescued that he was not in on this little escapade.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, "Where is your Captain? Why have you brought the prisoners back on -"

Before anyone else could take actions it was Thanica who took matters into her own hands as she quickly knocked out the officer with ease. It left Carter quite surprised but also left him a cheeky smile as he looked at the feisty Dhasath with seemingly gleamy eyes.

The officer fell into the arms of Vrondich who Carter had just found out was also in on this whole thing.

"Vari... I never thought you had it in you."

The engineer said in shock while the Human simply smiled with a sense of delight as Thanica shot back.

“That explosion must’ve been Aarla’s doing somehow… That or Mihal…” Carter then commented as he looked out one of the view mirrors of the ship, seeing the scene of chaos unfolding out on the bay. “It’s gonna draw more attention for them and probably for us…” He continued, then muttering to himself “Unless they didn’t already catch up to us…”

"Get him into the medbay before anyone notices," she said, before turning to Carter as Vrondich dragged the semi-conscious officer onto the ship, "I don't like killing KC troopers. I used to be one," she said, as if expecting some kind of comeback.

Carter had none, what could he say? “Yes Thanica, I’ve killed several myself!” would not exactly be appropriate or level headed in any way. For anything it only made Carter glance down with a sense of discomfort as he could only recall the many Kiel’s he had already killed. Killing was not something he had ever been proud of, even in self defense it felt wrong to take the life of another, but the Human knew it was either that or he himself suffered the fate he had been forced to inflict on countless.

It comes with the job… He thought as he recalled the very day he had signed up to the air force, to be a combat pilot and serve his nation. It had not been an easy decision and he always knew what it entailed but part of him wished he could take it all back.

It didn’t help matters that Thanica herself had been a soldier within the Command’s ranks. For all he knew he could’ve been killing some of her own species, other Dhasaths who were exploited and forced into this life. He had made a decision, they hadn’t.

"I heard about what happened on that moon and I can't help but feel that, any one of the ones the crew killed could have been me, but for the grace of the Maker."

Again, the thought of someone like Thanica dying by Carter’s own hand was not something that made him proud, it made him feel more like shit. But this was not the time for that, it was not the time for anything other than awaiting Mihal and Aarla and getting the hell out of here.

The second turncoat Kiel engineer then made his presence known, Rabech, Carter tried to recall. Thanica gave him an acknowledgement and the Kiel then spoke, mostly directed at the Human.

"We didn't get a chance to use the, whatever the thing is that your AI made. We had planned to put it into the targeting system," he added for Carter's benefit, "But there wasn't time, things got chaotic too quickly. If they start shooting at us with the big guns this ship will get blown to very little pieces."

Carter nodded, unsure of what exactly to say. He looked at Thanica, his face wasn’t of alarm or even angst, rather it was trust. Looking back at Rabaech the Human smiled.

“With her on the helm, we can get out of Satan’s very own fiery pit if we want to!” The remark would make little sense to both Andromedans but it didn’t matter to Carter, it was all that he felt he needed to say. Thanica seemed to be rather confused by the comment but nonetheless remained determined.

"Right... Carter," she unclicked her helmet, passing it across to him. She had pinned her hair up before the mission though pulling the helmet off had left a dark strand hanging over her left eye. She huffed, blowing it out of the way, "Talk to Mihal on the comms and get him back here. I'll take command of the bridge."

“Got it!” Carter shot back as held onto the helmet, rifle in hand he moved over to the opened and fully extended door of the Undeniable, looking out to see the hundreds of frantic Kiel crewmembers of the Zerataca who scrambled to see to whatever was happening within the cruiser. He was careful not to make himself too visible, kneeling down at the entrance with his weapon on one hand and the other hand holding onto the helmet Thanica had given him, he tried to get a hold of the communicator within, struggling to do so as sweat began to drip down his brow once more.

The situation then became just as bad as he feared as dozens of real Command marines began to flood the bay, they were not directed to the brig or to the halls from where the explosion had emanated from but instead directly to the deck where the Undeniable rested.

Carter was quickly able to make out who was leading this force, the very own person that had threatened him and the other captured humans. All in the name of information for the Command, and for the Commodore’s bidding. The large armored women walked confidently as she made her way towards the rogue ship followed by marines who moved alongside her with uniformity.

“Shit…” Carter whispered to himself, quickly and frantically he pulled the communicator out of the helmet, no point in trying to mask himself anymore.

“Mihal whatever you did is stirring up the hornet’s nest more than it already is… What's your status!?” He called in through the communicator, receiving no immediate answer.

"You! Drop the gun and get on your knees you murdering son of a hazmot!"

Standing up without any kind of fear or uncertainty the Human stood only mere yards from the Kiel soldier. Her words were ones of obvious and unapologetic anger at him, it was clear to Carter that he had become a real thorn on the Command’s side and he was one hundredth percent willing to continue on being one. No matter what happened or what this woman threatened him with he would not give up those coordinates, he would not go back to a cell, and he would no longer see anyone else dying because of him.

“Yeah that’s not gonna work out for me Madam…” Carter shouted back.

“In fact I’m willing to let bygones be bygones if you have your footmen lower their weapons and walk away… You as well.” His words were genuine, but even he knew they would not be followed through whatsoever but that was the point.

“You’re all just slaves to the Command, they’re no better than that Empire you fight against… Think about it? What is the point of defeating them if you continue to live the rest of your lives as slaves to another group of greedy monsters…” Carter’s words were audible to everyone within the bay as it all had fallen silent, with multiple troopers aiming their weapons at him and the ship.

“Conquering the galaxy for what… So everyone is under the collar of the Command instead of Ragon feasts? I’m sorry if I dont think the same way as you lady… But the Command gives me two choices, to die in a silver platter or to live with a collar on my neck, well I choose freedom, from both the Command and the Empire. I have a choice, my own, and you all have one too!” The Human, Captain Nathan T. Carter made his stance known, though his every bone feared the multiple weapons trained on him he remained unfazed and valiant. He was done running away, running to scour back to Earth and wait for the Command or the Ragons to come and enslave his own people as both had already decimated his other brethren within this Galaxy.

He was ready to fight now, for the crew, for the Dhasaths, for Earth, for this Galaxy, for Lee.

[Bingellia]

Aarla - Unit 067 and Mihal of Obe
Cowritten by Bingelly and Bentus

---

It seemed for an instant that the plan had worked as the pair sped through the halls of the Zeracata, even making some distance ahead of the group of soldiers. The distant sound of shouts still proved that the marines weren’t going to be shaken quite so easily as Mihal fought the intensely growing burning in both his lungs and legs as they longed for a moment of rest. As he nearly stumbled into the battery of escape pods, his lungs greedily grabbed for air as he finally slowed to put the second part of his plan into action. If they could launch a pod, maybe they could fool the Command into thinking they took it as they worked their way back to the Defiance.

Aarla had fallen behind the uninjured civilian as they continued to move closer to the pods, with her adrenaline high having evaporated. Step after step, she strenuously shambled down the hallway as she willed herself to keep moving with her legs long past the point of weakness Driving her own fingers into the wound in her chest, she stubbornly hoped that the searing hot pain would distract her own body from the fatigue insisting that she stop. Moving closer to the wall for support, she slammed harshly into it and collapsed to the floor, heavy breathing causing her chest to quickly rise and fall.

The sound of her tumbling caught Mihal’s attention, and he quickly turned to see her trying to stand again. “Gods,” he somberly thought as ran back to her, “She’s not going to make it much further.” Once at Aarla’s side, he reached for the girl’s arm only for her to pull away from him.

“I’m fine, you idiot.” She growled at him with a scowl etched on her face, although the expression only partly managed to mask her grimace of pain. “Keep going.”

Ignoring Aarla’s stubborn confidence, Mihal frowned back at her. “No, I’m not leaving you here. They will do much worse than kill you if you stay.” Firmly grabbing the girl and lifting her onto her feet, he supported her with his body. Why did she have to be obstinate now? They were so close. They could both make it, at least to the pods. “The pods are just up the hall, Aarla. We just have to keep moving.”

Rolling her eyes as Mihal refused to leave her to look after herself, Aarla allowed him to grab onto her arm and quickly shoulder her weight. The motion caused a hiss of air to escape from the girl’s lips, and she bit back the pain that shot up her side. Nevertheless, with Mihal’s help she was able to hobble along more quickly towards the escape pods. But even then, the sounds of their pursuers were rapidly getting closer. Lifting the gun in her arm, the psyker blinked away some of the blood and sweat from her blurry vision as she fired a few shots behind them. Hopefully the fire would deter the soldiers, but even she knew that her aim was worse than worthless at this point.

Once at the pods, Mihal rested Aarla against one of the walls as gently as he could before going to use one of the consoles. “We’re almost out,” Mihal reassured Aarla with the best smile he could manage as both guilt and uncertainty gnawed at him. The girl simply offered him a snort in response, rolling her eyes as he helped her along. Plans had changed, they couldn’t make it back to the Undeniable in any reasonable amount of time with Aarla injured as badly as she was. The escape pod was the only way out that didn’t leave the girl to the whims of the Command. Fortunately for Mihal, the exposition in the hanger had unlocked the system and opening a pod was just a matter of inputting a command through the prompts. As he worked his way through them, the console beeped in affirmation and, second later, the hatch to the first pod on his left hissed open.

Supporting the girl again, Aarla’s hiss of pain once shot through the hall causing Mihal to wince in empathy as he practically carried the girl into the pod. Sitting her upright in one of the dozen chairs that lined the interior of the small craft, Mihal took the opportunity to do some breathing exercises as he loosely strapped Aarla down and went to the simple helm of the craft. Working the console, he began the launch sequence, which closed the rear hatch with a hiss as it re-sealed itself.

“This is Mihal,” He finally radioed through his earpiece, “We have to take an escape pod. Aarla wouldn’t have made it. I’ll try to get word to Alfegweg once we’re safe.” The pod’s engine whirled to life as a sudden blast seperated the small craft from the Zeracata, sending it off into the void “Let the gods be with us, and I hope we meet again, friends,” He solemnly added as he worked through the navigation console before the pod disappeared from realspace.

It was up to fate to decide where ever the pair would end up with their single warp-jump, but the immediate concern of stabilizing Aarla kept Mihal’s mind away from that reality.

[Kylantha]

---

ショチャブック

---

Kiel troops in formation jogged through the fighter bays. Chatter amongst the engineers had livened up significantly. Sho didn't need to guess why. There was a riot several decks below, and apparently Mihal--someone that Sho had yet to speak to--had run off after someone. All this meant he needed to hurry up with what he was doing. Laying on his back underneath one of the Kiel craft, he had a cable between his teeth as he messed around with the ship's undercarriage. Once he'd pried the cover off, he shifted up to a crouch and started tearing away layers of metal, electronics, and whatever else was blocking the way. With all that cleared, he had a path into the fighter's cabin.

Poking his head into the cramped space, he started giggling with excitement. "Ohh.. Ohoho.. Ohohoho!" Wasting no more time, over the back of the seat he went and bounced a few times on the cushion. He then reached over and started messing with all the controls, wondering if he could somehow take the little ship for a spin. But, ah.. He was getting distracted again. What he came here for... Were the ship's weapons. And of those there were two, just as he guessed. Now he needed to find out how to get them out and still be able to use them.

Since he was a fighter pilot once, he (sort of) knew the basic lay-out of this ship. There were some notable differences however, that prevented him from fully understanding how to extract the twin cannons. In the end, he threw away all plans to use surgical precision and started burrowing into the fighter once more. He was still careful not to harm any wiring, using his antennae to judge what was hidden from his sight. It wasn't long then before he found the fighter's guns. They were placed adjacent to each other in the bow, their ammunition cell placed snugly in between them.

"Here we are!" he said grinning widely as he rolled over onto his belly. Just then an explosion rang through the bay, startling Sho momentarily. "Uh-oh. I had better move quickly!" he squeezed into the space and started dislodging the cannons. He connected face to palm as he realised that he'd have to open the maintenance hatch (which is what he should have done in the first place) to get the guns and their ammo pac out. But at least this one fighter would have no guns in the chase that would most likely ensue after this. But as he jerked the ammo pac out of place he realised something else--Would these weapons fire at all once removed from the craft?

"Aurgh!" Sho grumbled, dropping the ammunition cell to think for a moment as he heard Carter reply to whoever it was that confronted them. He needed to piece something together quickly, before they had to leave him or they were apprehended successfully! Judging that there were a couple minutes more before plasma bolts started flying, Sho crawled back into the pilot's cabin and took the seatbelts out. The navigation stick (where the trigger for the cannons was) came out too, along with their wires. And finally, the fighter's very power source and ignition. A little more time passed, and the result was a gutted fighter and an extremely crude weapon system, quite literally stuck together with whatever Sho could find near the fighter. He was proud nonetheless of the abomination he had created, and stood over it with his hands on his hips.

"I will call you... Lefty... And... Hmm... Righty! Yes! Excellent!"

Ready to test his new toy, he began to laugh. "Ohohoho--Hack! Koff!" After coughing up some capacitors and bits of rubber, he cleared his throat. "Now, let us see if these work!" he said as he wore the ammo pac and power cell adhered together, tightening the seatbelts over his chest, and the picked up the two autocannons with their wiring still running loose. Stuck to the right-hand cannon was the joystick twisted with the ignition system, with the trigger just under Sho's thumb. Turning the power on, Sho guessed the autocannons were ready to fire and pointed the barrels at the next fighter over. There were two engineers mucking around near its engine. Stepping out into the light, he called out to them, dropping the left-hand cannon to wave at them.

"Hello boys! I'm ba~ack!"

One of them looked at the other, as if to check if he had the same expression. "Is that... Are those--" he asked his fellow mechanic as Sho picked Lefty back up.

Sho grinned. "YES & YES!" And pressed on the trigger. He expected the autocannons to go, but nothing happened. The engineers started to laugh as Sho frustratedly jiggled the cannons, cursing profusely at them.

One of the engineers wiped a tear from his eye, struggling to comment to the other engineer who was just about on the floor laughing. "I knew it wouldn't work! Those cannons aren't even engaged! You'd have to hit the small button twice and then the big one to allow the plasma cell to... Oh gods."

"GREGG YOU FOOL!" the other engineer yelled out in horror just as a barrage was loosed upon them and the fighter.

How strange, Sho thought, watching the smoke seep out the end of the barrel. I suppose they now work! "Now it is time to return to the others!"

But not before blasting as many of the unprotected fighters as he could see on the way back down. Once he was just above the Undeniable, he could see that the soldiers and their leader were already aware of his shenanigans. But they didn't know where exactly he was at that time. So he unequipped Lefty and Righty, and walked over to a nearby fighter. He took out its ammo cell first, then lifted it. He brought it up to the edge of the bay, just out of sight of those below. Hehehe, hohoho, a little gift for my friend the aelfe. He was going to toss the fighter down, hopefully at the entrance to the hangar to prevent the worst of the reinforcements from coming through. And so Mihal and his lady-friend needed to come back quickly, because if things got any hairier than they already were, Sho would have to toss the ship to allow the crew to escape!

The Tz'ath patted the side of the fighter and pressed on his earpiece. "O' Commander, I am nearby and ready to cover our egress!" he said first to Thanica. His next words were directed to Mihal. "False Captain! If and when you come back with your lady-friend, do not- I repeat- DO NOT walk in the middle or you will be made pudding!"

A short while after this however, Sho noticed KC troopers beginning to accumulate behind him, and he gulped. Fortunately, Mihal reported that he and Aarla were leaving in an escape pod, prompting Sho to briskly stand up. It was time to go. Now.

Suddenly there was a voice from another part of the hangar as Sho jumped atop a row of crates. He was unarmed. "Excuse me madam, but we can no longer entertain you and your lovely entourage! But let me give you one last gift before we depart!"

The Tz'ath then disappeared, but only for a moment. What followed would have hopefully caught the Kiel off guard. A damaged fighter suddenly flew out from behind the crates, set to land right amidst the group of assembled Kiel troops. Hearing the loud crash, Sho pumped his fists and started laughing maniacally as he put on his new makeshift weapons. He jumped down just as the KC troopers from the adjoined decks opened fired on him. Not wanting to fall on and damage the Undeniable, Sho used his feet and teeth to slide down the wall, leaving in it a large gash. Several dozen feet above the floor, he began to wreak havoc on the Kiel soldiers who were composing themselves after receiving Sho's gift.

Stopping only to change the plasma cell, Sho ran as quickly as he could, unfortunately receiving several returning shots and staggering a bit. But he was still able to jump back into the ship from which he fired another barrage, hurling out curses and laughing all the way.

"Okay!" he glanced over his shoulder but kept his eyes forward, he called out over the buzz of the autocannons, his tone taking on one of uncertainty. "May we leave now? I think I will run out of juice shortly!"

[Dyelli Beybi]

The End is only the Beginning (Co-written by Arengin Union, Europa Undivided, New Udonia and Dyelli Beybi)

---

Where the crew escape from the Zerataca.

---

Despite every part of his body shaking within, his heart pumping rapidly and his lips quivering with uncertainty the man who had left his planet to lead what was now a mere field trip compared to what he had been through, Captain Nathan T. Carter stood defiantly and unshaken by various Command guns fixed on him. He stood alone for that moment, going through thoughts of tragic results to his show of draconian dissent but still standing despite it all.

Suddenly, and as almost as quick as he had finished speaking a response came through the comms. It was Mihal and his words were both comforting but also rather concerning given the circumstances in the hangar. His words would be heard by every member of the crew who had an earpiece on.

“This is Mihal,” He finally radioed through his earpiece, “We have to take an escape pod. Aarla wouldn’t have made it. I’ll try to get word to Alfegweg once we’re safe.”

Carter's eyes remained forward as he heard Mihal's words. They had made it out, perhaps not alongside the group but they were okay.

The pod’s engine whirled to life as a sudden blast separated the small craft from the Zeracata, sending it off into the void “Let the gods be with us, and I hope we meet again, friends,” He solemnly added as he worked through the navigation console before the pod disappeared from real space.

"Godspeed, brother..." Was Carter's sole response, his voice deep and somewhat brittle. Those would be the last words Mihal and Aarla would hear as they went on to undertake their separate voyage in Andromeda.

Kaleso spoke in reply to Mihal as he said his farewell to everyone else. "May the strands of fate align in your favour, Tovaril," he said while adding emphasis to the Jokari word for 'comrade'. "Now..."

A winged figure would suddenly glide over Carter's head and land in front of him. It was Kaleso, armed with his two plasma swords and fully intent on shielding him from attack. "Comrade Captain," he said with urgency. "Let us withdraw now," he said to the Captain. "The targeting systems of the Zerataca may come online soon."

Leaving the chaos behind, Cridrac and Vandul had assisted their crew-mates in moving their injured allies. Supporting Krystyn with one arm and dragging his medical paraphernalia with the other, Vandul literally had his hands full. Cridrac had been helping Phoenix with Dana, lending support whenever she began to leave the path.

Reaching the Undeniable, Vandul beckoned for Cridrac to assist him move Krystyn up the ramp and to a secure location. The Commander's orders brought them back to the landing bay, just in-time to witness the end of the Captain's speech. Mihal's revelation brought a groan from Vandul, who hadn't been against leaving without him.

As Kaleso and Yare engaged the troops, non-lethally, Vandul and Cridrac stood behind the Captain watching the chaos unfold. Vandul watched the Tz'ath rain hell on the troops, comparing his tactics against his own. Damn.

Cridrac was beginning to see a pattern and didn't like it. "Cridrac here, we need to leave now. Every second we wait increases the odds against us." Pausing for a moment, he preemptively ended them from going down the same road as before. "Sho can handle himself, if those two could reach an escape pod, he surely can." Just after he finished, Sho entered the ship. Vandul saw him and beckoned to the Captain and his defenders to move into the ship. "Sho is on-board, let's go!" Cridrac was just happy that they were almost to the finish line. It was supposed to be a stealth mission.

At that moment, a hot ball of fire came flying over Carter's head, close enough for him to feel the heat. "Bloody hell, Mihal," said Yare over the communications as she stepped unto the ramp that led into the entrance of the Undeniable. "Captain, the little critter we call Sho'chavuk is here. We are no longer waiting for anyone to return," she said just as the ball of fire crashed into one of the vehicles their enemy was using as cover, blasting it to splinters while the ones hiding behind scattered due to the explosion. They were dazed, but not dead.

The dragon muttered to herself while launching another ball of flame, this time aimed at a crate being used for cover, By the gods, Mihal. I was hoping to know you better once all of this done. And now you run off with the psyker girl that smashed your nose first thing in the morning.

The KC troopers in the vicinity of the fireball scattered. A few others returned fire, now that the standoff seemed to have been broken, sending a volley of fire in the direction of the criminals who had just opened fire on them. Aethienn, had rolled behind a small vehicle, though she came up to a crouch again almost immediately. Her high pitched voice rang out moments later, "Don't hit the human you fools... target the engine!"

A volley of shots was immediately directed at the, currently unshielded exhaust ports of the engine, which was visible in the bridge as a series of big flashing red lights on Thanica's console. She reacted immediately, slamming her hand down on the button to activate the shields, which swam into existence around the ship, "Guys, the shields are up so don't do anything stupid like try throwing a grenade. The port booster nozzle is damaged and I don't know where the hole is. Get in and strap yourselves in place, this is going to be a very bumpy ride!"

If we don't spin out of control, fly into the wall of the bay and explode. She kept the last thought to herself though.

As Thanica began to turn the engines up and get the Undeniable into the air, Carter has been busy hurrying everyone into the ship, Yare, Kaleso, and anyone else who had come out to lend him aid in his moment of defiance. Mihal and Aarla were long gone by this point, Its time we get the hell out of here ourselves! Carter thought to himself as he hung onto the rail of the ship's entrace as it began to hover above the deck.

Sho had been busy firing the last remains of his makeshift weapon and that had allowed the group to make it back to the ship rather unscathed, the Command troopers showing hesitation to shoot directly at the Human was added benefit. Nonetheless everyone was within the ship, shields were up and though the engine had taken damage Carter hoped it could maintain steady course out of here. The stakes were high as the blast doors were starting to close on the exit, they had to leave now.

The ramps were the only thing struggling to close as it seemed that some of the volley by the troopers had hit one of the gears. Holding tightly onto the rails within the ship Carter scrambled to find a way to close the door, finding an emergency manual switch at the side. Tearing out the cover the Human began to pull on the lever, but much to his misfortune it was stuck much the same as the door. Goddammit! Carter yelled within his head as he pulled the lever with all he could, slowly it began to move as the ramp also started to close in, the inertia caused by the constant racking of the ship didn't help but the Human was managing as best as he could. However Carter was more than visible while doing all of this effort.

As the blaster bolts began to dissipate on the energy wall provided by the ship' shields, sending a blue shimmer through the bubble each time one struck, Aethienn stepped out of cover. They were protected from each other now, with no way for the people on either side to do anything to the other. She tapped a trooper on the soldier, then when they looked up at her, took their rifle from them, drawing a bead on Carter's head and firing. The bolt dissipated harmlessly on the shield as she lowered the weapon, her face an impassive mask once again.

"Not to be alarmist," Thanica's voice sounded over the comms again, "I know it feels like we're invincible with the shield up, but if they bring some of the big squad weapons into the bay they'll be able to wear it down. That would be bad."

"I'm working on it!" Carter yelled out as he once more pulled the handle with all of his strength, finally he managed to turn it all the way and the door began to close up, but not before Carter looked back out into the bay. The Human's eyes found the very own of an enraged Aethienn, having unleashed an entire cell of blaster fire towards the Human which had proven futile but showed just how much angered she had towards him.

Carter for his part looked at her with dwindling sympathy that then turned into a hardened expression as the doors began to close off and the two soldiers of different galaxies kept eyeing each other with fervent rivalry. They would meet again no doubt, they would fight again, she would not rest until he was back on her custody and he would never give the Command what they wanted as long as he lived, an internal war brewed within each other as finally the doors closed off and both were left to their own thoughts which had become fronts of their own.

"Ramp's up, get us out of here!" Carter called out to Thanica as he made his way up to the bridge of the Undeniable.

On the bridge Thanica started the engine power-up routine, "Everyone, I wasn't joking about strapping in!" she called down the comms, in case anyone was under the misapprehension that the inertial dampeners would make what was about to happen safe.

As the engines kicked into life and the blaster fire set up a fireworks display on the outside of the ship, Thanica eased the ship up, only for it to lurch downwards on the port side, thumping violently into the Zerataca's deck and sending anyone who hadn't followed instructions flying, "Okay," she muttered to herself, "That's not good, but if we fire up the larboard manoeuvring thrusters we should be able to sort-of compensate."

There was no time to do it properly though, as even as she tried to figure out just how much power she needed to divert to the manoeuvring thrusters, and as the display in front of her showed the shield power slowly, but surely draining away under the hail of blaster fire, the blast doors to the hangar began to close. She didn't yell another warning, just kicked the engines into gear, her knuckles white on the console as the Undeniable surged forward, racing towards the doors, dragging its port side along the hangar floor in a shower of sparks, scraping away the shield power as it did.

There was a split second in which she realised the port side was going to clip the blast door. Thanica reacted instinctively, pushing full power into the port side manoeuvring thruster and the ship lurched the other way, spinning out through the closing maw of the hangar and out into space in a barely controlled, nauseating aileron roll that put far too much strain on the ship for the inertial dampeners to compensate, flinging the crew to the edge of the ship like liquid in a centrifuge.

She righted the ship a few moments later, finally giving the crew some relief from the wild rolling and yawing, "Spinning up the skrim drive now," she informed everyone. She sounded more confident than she felt. The shields were almost completely depleted and the Zerataca did have some very big guns, not to mention the wings of fighters at their disposal. The seconds ticked by into minutes though. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead. The ship had a massive cross-hair on it and she knew the KC must be drawing their sights on the ship. She expected the shot to come at any moment and blow the small corvette to pieces... but the subspace window opened and the shot never came.

As they slipped through, Thanica finally relaxed, slumping back in her chair with a relieved sigh, staring up at the ceiling. Command had definitely had the shot, the Undeniable had been as helpless as a negnec, but they hadn't fired. It had had to have been a deliberate choice. She didn't understand why, but for now, she didn't care. They were out.

[Europa Undivided]

The Vanguard, the Sorceror, and the Rebel
The Undeniable

The minutes leading up to their exit into subspace had been minutes of pounding hearts and minds bathed in nervousness and anxiety as the threat of the Zerataca's guns looked over them. However, the shots never came. One shot from the great Battlecruiser's cannons would have been enough to destroy them. But they did not fire. They were spared from the cold depths of space, and they were now safe at last, sequestered in the shifting tides of hyperspace.

Kaleso, the disgraced Corsair Lord, exiled from the now occupied Undying Light for using forbidden magicks that brought back the death to speak with the living, sat down as the exhilaration of battle left him as quickly as it came. He holstered the now silent blades on his belt and pulled up his dark blue robe over himself, covering his eyes to hide the shift of colors that occurred. The Jokari shifted his focus towards his metallic hands; the same things that forbid him from using his own latent psychic ability for anything more than a very short séance and telepathy.

He looked around the hold of the little corvette, sighing as Karesan sheathed his Kravsagar inside a metallic scabbard, the Purified's red eyes as fearfully malevolent as they have always been. Then there was Yare, curled up in one corner of the hold while breathing out sparks and embers due to using her firebreathing ability recently.

"This is the end, then.", he thought as he glanced over at Carter, and then to everyone else inside. "We have rescued the humans... What's next...?"

"Friends.", Yare suddenly said as she stood up from her apparent stupor. "What do you plan on doing now that our friends have been rescued?"

The Sarufi's focus shifted. "I for one plan to return to my brethren and... improve myself. We should meet again soon after that however. I... Well, this is more than just a mutually beneficial cooperative."

The Sarufi sat back down and curled up again. "I hope that Mihal and... Aarla are fine..."

Kaleso frowned. Of course they're fine... he just knew it. Or were they? Mihal did say they will try to contact Afewag once they get somewhere. In that case...

"Comrade Captain.", Kaleso suddenly said as he stood up and strode towards Carter. "Once we return to Afewag, I too will return to my brethren. I have earned penance in their eyes, and the next time you see me, these hands," he said as he held up both of the metallic cyber hands to show them to Carter in full. "-will be of flesh and bone. Before that however..."

Kaleso handily took one of the blades he used, the original one at that, and presented the non-ignited hilt to the human. "This is a Sturakasa, a choice weapon used by Jokari Sorcerors and Corsair Lords like myself. It is difficult to use at first as there is a awkward weight distribution, but once you are used to it, it will be as easy as swatting a fly. I am confident that this weapon will serve you well, Comrade."

Yare approached from behind, brows furrowed. "So who's going to teach the captain how to use these since you're... we're not going to be around for some time?"

Kaleso winked at Karesan. The Purified sighed, taking off his mask and helmet to reveal his own avian face. "Alright, alright, so you're saying that I will teach this man the fighting styles of our people with that weapon?"

"I most positively am. And make sure you teach him how to use a blade and a pistol like you do."

The Purified Rebel sighed before resolving himself. "Alright... I will do that."

Kaleso adjusted his hood before answering. "I'll make sure my sister knows that you have been listening to me, my in-law."

"Oh... Hehe."

"With that said... Comrade Captain. I assure you that our two compatriots will be alright. I sense that the goddess of fate has smiled upon them tonight... Mieyt Doog."

With that, Kaleso Stralbane, a Corsair Lord that had committed many a crime and fought a Crusade of Penance just to earn his brethren's forgiveness, pulled Nathaniel Carter to an embrace. Perhaps Carter did not know it, but to the Jokarun, this was a gesture of sincerity.

Karesan looked on, still clutching his mask and hat. "Well... I suppose I will stick around with you lot."

[Bentus]

Carter and Emeach
Earlier…
Cowritten by Arengin Union and Bentus

---

Stepping out of the elevator, Emeach wore a persistent frown as he ran the debriefing through his head for what felt like the umpteenth time. The mission had been classed as a success by the Navy, despite the heavy losses that the ground forces had sustained and his own failure to capture the rogue Unit. And yet, despite the pat-on-the-back that the command staff had given themselves, Emeach had left the room with all the same questions that he'd entered with. Ouroboros hadn't even been present, and his immediate underlings had stonewalled all of his attempts to get in touch with the Commodore. While it was true that the primary mission had been accomplished, Emeach found himself still frustratingly uncertain about what that mission even was. What was so special about these strange aliens that had sent the Commodore this deep into the neutral zone, and what amounted to a blank check from Command? Why had the Gollar thought intervening was worth starting a shooting war with their far more powerful neighbours? And why was the Defiance's Captain capture deemed to be worth the shedding of so much blood? Emeach hadn't been able to get a satisfying answer to any of the questions eating at the back of his skull, but he would be damned if that would stop him from getting to the bottom of it. Even if he had to do all of the digging himself.

Looking up from her desk, the on-duty prison warden did a double-take as she saw the Handler striding confidently towards the prisoner quarters. "Commissar! I - uh - the Commodore instructed us not to allow any visits to the prisoners without his express -" Waving a hand, Emeach dismissed the woman's concerns with a warm smile, shoving one of his hands into a coat pocket to give the appearance of his being perfectly at ease.

"Relax, Lieutenant. I just need to ask some questions related to my own investigation, the Commodore doesn't even need to know."

A worried expression flash across the soldier's face. Emeach was her superior by all standards, and no matter what choice she made she would be disobeying a direct order. Such a stark choice left her frozen with indecision, which was exactly what the Handler had been counting on as he didn't even break his stride.

Flashing his ID across the door's scanner, a flash of green indicated that he still had the access befitting his rank. Turning around to walk backwards through the sliding door, the Commissar flashed the woman one final friendly smile. "Don't worry, it's all just standard procedure. I'll be in and out in a jiffy." Appearing to suddenly regain her wits, the woman hurriedly tried to respond.

"Wait! If you just let me call the bridge and check with the -"

Before she could finish however, the door had once again slid shut. With his smile vanishing, Emeach knew that he only had a matter of time before Ouroboros found out what he was doing. With that in mind, he walked briskly towards the Captain's solitary cell. Once again pressing his card against the scanner, with his biometrics as well as his authorization being read, the Commissar stepped in to see a small, spartan space, though his gaze quickly fell upon the room's sole inhabitant. "Captain Carter. I think we need to have a chat."


The Humans reaction to Emeach's arrival was unsurprisingly hostile. Immediately Carter stood up and set himself in a defensive posture although the two men knew how their last confrontation had turned out Carter was still determined enough to fight if he had to, the very presence of the Kiel who had killed Lee was enough of a motive for that. Nonetheless it was obvious Emeach had not come here for a fight as he himself had stated. "I have nothing to say to you..." Carter uttered with a resilient tone which also carried a nervous vibe in his overall posture. The Human's body shivering slightly as he glanced down at the white brace covering his once broken arm, enough of a visual gesture to tell Emeach why the Human was less than pleased to see him, if Lee's death hadn't been enough reason.

Scoffing at the human's response, Emeach offered the Captain an amused smirk. "You and apparently every navy officer on this ship both." Pulling out the room's rickety chair so that he could sit across from the human's bed, he sat himself down and gestured for the human to do the same. "I'm not here to fight you, Captain. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of what's going on." Pulling out his e-stim, the Commissar leaned back as if to feign comfort in the spartan furnishing. He offered the inhaler towards the human. "I don't suppose your kind smokes?"

Relaxing himself and lowering down his arms Carter glanced down on the floor and then back at the Kiel Commissar as he offered him the odd looking smokes. "I'm more of a drinker.." Carter answered as he sat down on the opposite end of the room. The human sat far away enough to show Emeach the little trust and care he had for him but it wasn't as if he would not be able or more so obliged to hear whatever the Kiel had to say.

Shrugging, Emeach took a deep breath from the device before closing and returning it to his pocket. "Suit yourself." Narrowing his gaze at the human, he remained silent for a few moments before he folded his arms across his chest. "I'll be blunt with you, Captain. I don't have long before someone with a gun comes down and asks me to politely leave, but I need answers. If the Commodore and his men are going to insist on keeping their cards close to their chest, then I don't have much choice but to go straight to the source. Namely," the Kiel pointed a finger towards the human, "you." Leaning back, Emeach continued. "So, with that being said, I was hoping that you might be able to tell me why so many good men and women just had to die, and why you and your crew seem to be worth fighting a goddamn war in the neutral zone. Assuming that isn't too much to ask, that is."

Giving a slight smile Carter raised his eyebrows in witticism, it didn't really make sense to keep anything secret at this point, the Command wanted to dominate the galaxy, to win this war by all means possible and necessary. Emeach seemed to be a loyal soldier, one that did things as best as he could but who also much like Carter himself on Earth, demanded answers and would seek out explanations to why he fought. It was an admirable position, even if Carter hated his guts he had to respect a fellow soldier for taking that risk. "I'm the key to winning the war for your Command..." Was the sole answer from the Human, pointing his finger at his head Carter tapped it lightly. "It's all in here. Your leaders want it... Ouroboros wants it, not only to win the war against the Ragons but to dominate the galaxy..." Once more Carter glanced down on the floor, away from Emeach's gaze. "And I can't let them have that... The Ragons may be an onslaught, something that I also would prefer not taking over the galaxy..." Looking up to the Kiel, Carter now seemed to have a more genuine expression to him, "But there's a saying back on my planet, back on Earth... Its better to die on your feet than live on your knees... The Command wants me, and you and everyone to think there's only two choices, to die as the cattle for the Ragons or to conform to the rules of the Kiellar..." This time Carter looking straight to Emeach, "But there's always another choice... Your own. And that's why they won't tell you the truth, they'll keep it to themselves because they're afraid of what you may do, realize there's another way..."

A look of genuine surprise flashed across the Commissar's face. For a moment, he wondered if the alien might have suffered some kind of mental trauma during the battle. But studying the man's feature's Emeach couldn't deny the firm confidence behind his tone. Nevertheless, he scoffed at the statement. "Figured it would be something like that." Letting out a sigh, he continued. "With all due respect Captain, as much as I hope it were the case, this wouldn't be the first time that someone thinks they've found the key to winning the war. So excuse me if I hold off on the champagne for a little bit longer." Pausing, the the Commissar furrowed his brow as he looked over the human, trying to figure out what it was that made this man tick. "Why do you hate us, Captain?" Emeach stated bluntly, continuing quickly to explain his point. "You seem to be very confident in your opinion of who is 'right' and 'just' in this galaxy, especially for someone who's seen so little of it. There are bad eggs, and I'm afraid that you've run into more than your fair share, but you seem to insist on condemning our whole society based upon them. Pardon me if that doesn't sound even just a little bit hypocritical."

Carter remained silent for a few seconds, he pondered on the question. He didn't hate the Kiel, he hated the Command, what it stood for and what it was doing in this galaxy. The Ragon Empire was greedy, voracious and violent and yet Carter had managed to have a connection with two members of its species. Granted they were renegades, criminals who didn't quite fit into their given role, much like Mihal, Rabaech, Cidrac and so many others in the crew. Perhaps there was a point of meeting more of the bad or good apples, but even then Carter knew enough of the Command and the Empire to know both were not good.

"I suppose that's a fair question..." Carter said with a rather curious tone more to himself, "I don't hate you Commissar..." despite the utter resentment that the human held towards the Kiel he addressed him by his rank much as Emeach had done for Carter. "I dont really like you personally but I dont hate your people... I hate the government that runs you..." He struggled to find the proper words for his thoughts, but Carter remembered back to his home, "Back on Earth we have many problems, a lot of them... We've had wars, we've killed one another... Hell the first interplanetary exploration mission is really a miracle that it even was gonna happen in the first place..." The talk about Earth made Carter feel a sense of remorse, that he should not have been in that mission to begin with but now he was here and there was nothing he could do to change that fact. "I'm new to this galaxy, I don't really care about the war, about your government... But I do care about the Dhasaths, more so what has happened to them under yours and the Ragon's grip on this galaxy. None of you can hold the position of power when you have driven a people so similar to mine to the extinction..." Carter's tone was rather tame as he said these words.

Taking a deep breath, Carter continued "If it was any other way I'd give your leaders what they want and leave this galaxy and never come back... But I simply can't do that... I can't allow the Dhasaths, and the so many other species of this galaxy to fall on the grip of your Command or the Empire. I simply can't..."


"The Dhasath?" Emeach stated, surprised at the Captain's clear empathy for the other species. It might have been due to the similarities between their two kinds, but something about this struck him as being more than just that. Filing away the information for later, the Kiel continued.

"Captain, you do know what it's like being a Dhasath outside of Kiel space, don't you?" Emeach knew that he didn't need to elaborate on the horrific fates that awaited the dwindling species when they weren't being protected by Command. "I agree that they're far from equal within Command either, but that is changing - gradually. Heck, it's a wonder to some older Kiel that they are able to gain citizenship through military service. Most Dhasath that I know are thankful for the security that Command provides, nevermind the fact that they - perhaps more than anyone - know the importance of holding back the Ragon."

"Captain, your homeworld sounds idyllic, truly." Emeach admitted, growing increasingly curious at the Captain's convictions as he glanced towards the ticking hands of a wall-mounted clock. "It sounds like your people live in equality, and from how you speak of them they sound like they would accept any outsider in need with open arms. But has your kind ever been in a position where rights and ideals have to be curtailed in the name of survival? Have you never faced a threat so severe, so dangerous, that you recognise the need to stand behind a centralised, authoritarian power until you get through the crisis? Andromeda has tried democracy, Captain, and in peacetime I can honestly see the appeal. But both of the major democratic governments in recent memory fell into ruins during war: both our own and the Dhasath's. It was only when the military took over that we finally even stood a chance."

Allowing his words to sink in, Emeach added one last thing. He knew that it might push the Captain away rather than gain his trust, but he was curious to see the man's reaction. "It wasn't Command that ignored our ceasefire on the moon, Captain. You were the one that rose the false flag of surrender, and yet you argue that our way of doing things is in the wrong?"


Carter didn't bother to say anything else, the more he talked with Emeach the more he was reminded of Lee. The last staggering moments of either a courageous, stupid or courageously stupid young man who had died as a consequence to Carter's own arrogance at the hands of the man who stood right within this cell. He didn't have much else to say anymore, though every fiber of him wished to try to convince Emeach of a better way he just couldn't anymore after what the Kiel had just said.

"You think I feel proud of the choice I made... I never asked to be in this damn galaxy, to be gagged and caged like an animal by your so mighty Command. I just wanted to go back home, I did what I thought I had to do..." Carter struggled to contain the tears pilling up within his eyes, a deep pain within his chest that was only known to him as he remembered Lee's bloodied lifeless body on the snow.

"You didn't have to kill him... It should've been me..." Looking back down to the floor, almost hiding his face in shame Carter said nothing else, he had nothing else to say as he remained downtrodden and with the memory of Lee still fresh within him.

The Captain's reaction was real. Watching Carter, Emeach remained silent as his shoulders visibly slumped as he recalled the fate that had befallen his friend and his role in it. For a few seconds, the Kiel remained silent as he allowed the weight behind the human's words to hang in the air. But eventually, Emeach cleared his throat to respond.

"I don't regret killing him, Captain." Emeach stated carefully, trying to choose his words honestly. "He was a soldier, and he knew the risks. I wish that I didn't have to, but no matter how much you might wish otherwise, Lee was a dead man from the moment he hit that ice. But I won't apologise, because his life is your burden to carry." Emeach brow furrowed slightly as he continued.

"I've got to bear the weight of thirty-two other lives that were lost on that moon, Captain. Many of which were lost because I made the decision to trust your surrender. Those soldiers followed my orders, and they died because of it. You might be mourning the loss of your friend, but what do you think the families of those young soldiers feel?" Allowing his words to hang in the air, Emeach shrugged to dissipate the atmosphere in the room. "But that's the weight of command. And if nothing else, any commander should take away one key lesson from a fallen soldier: don't fuck up like that again."

Before the Captain could respond, a beep sounded at the prison door. Sliding open, it revealed the prison warden being flanked by a pair of armed guards. Shooting a suspicious glare towards the Captain, the woman turned her attention towards Emeach. "Commissar, there's need for you on the bridge." Smirking, the Commissar shook his head. "I bet there is." He stated simply, turning towards the Captain. "It was nice talking to you, Captain. I'll be seeing you." Pushing himself onto his feet, Emeach turned and allowed himself to be escorted out from the cell.

---

The Present

Amidst the emergency response crews tending to the lingering flames, while medics and maintenance staff alike picked through the rubble and corpses that littered the ship’s interior, Emeach stood with a frown. Some of the worst damage had occurred in the secondary hangar, and it wasn’t pretty. The Defiance crew’s escape had been far from bloodless, and he’d heard that they’d targeted technical and engineering staff as well as combat troops with their weapon’s fire. Standing watch over the medical crew collecting two specific bodies within their plain black bags, the Handler was struggling to imagine how this unmitigated disaster could have possibly gone any worse, all while he recalled his brief exchange with the Captain. After all this, the human's justification of his own actions seemed all the flimsier to the Kiel, with his actions about as counterproductive as the terrorist attacks from the Dhasath Restoration Movement. Suddenly, a loud sucking sound from beside him pulled Emeach's focus back into the present.

“Would you stop that?” Emeach growled, not even bothering to turn towards the psyker standing beside him.

Looking up as if surprised at the reaction, Eleven offered the Commissar an innocent shrug before he shook his juice box to make sure he got the last of its contents through the straw. Tossing the empty container behind him, the young psyker let out a bored sigh. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“She didn’t kill either of them, Eleven.” Emeach replied, visibly more frustrated than he usually was with the Dozen’s antics. Why the hell did they go after her without telling me? He thought to himself, cursing inwardly. The death of two Units - one via termination - demanded a response, and Emeach was being pulled from the field to explain what had happened. Eleven though, hardly seemed concerned by the scenes of destruction around him.

“Not directly. But I still think she deserves another two on her tally, just seems fair.” He offered, shrugging nonchalantly as he calmly dismissed the Eight-Five and Six-Two’s deaths. “Though she was smart. With Six-Two gone, it’s going to be a lot harder for you to find her again.”

Sighing as the final bag was zipped closed, obscuring the grisly remains of Eight-Five’s head, Emeach shook his head. “I doubt it. You know I’ve been called back, most likely to get pulled from the mission in person.”

Chuckling the psyker calmly turned to walk away - almost certainly to try and find another box of his drink. “I wouldn’t be so sure, Commissar.” Frowning at the boy’s words, Emeach didn’t quite follow his meaning. Oh no, what’s he done now? “I’ll put in a good word. After all, I think that we make a great team.” Still wearing a smug expression even though his back now faced Emeach, Eleven waved a hand over his shoulder. “Till next time, Commissar.”

For some reason, the psyker’s words sent a chill down Emeach’s spine, and the man narrowed his gaze at him as he departed. Frowning, the Handler simply sighed as he pulled out his e-stim and lifted it to his lips.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Epilogue

---

Dana Chrichton, Three Hours Later
After the adrenaline had died down, and the inertial dampeners had adjusted properly for the Undeniable's corkscrewing motion, Dana sent out word for the surviving human members of the crew; Carter, Phoenix and Krystyn. She had insisted on only getting a low dose of painkillers, she wanted to remain sharp, at least for a little bit. The scientist-come-Commissar looked pale where she lay in the med-bay, her back supported by a couple of pillows. Her eyes were sunken, her voice quiet when she spoke. She had slipped back into barely Lowland Scots, though the translator microbes helped fix that problem, "I would have called everyone, but I don't think they would fit in here and, to be honest, I think it's better that you hear this first so you have time to think about what you want to do, personally, and then plan what conversation you want to have with any of the aliens you have grown close to."

"So, to cut a long story short- Carter has the knowledge in his head to potentially open the wormhole. I didn't know that until I overheard people talking in the brig, but it means I haven't pulled us into a war with the KC for nothing," she used 'us' to refer to the Gollar Confederacy, identifying more with her adopted alien nation than the people of the planet she had left behind, "And the good news is, if Ouroboros was pretty confident he could get the door back to Earth open, then there is no reason the Gollar can't as well," she paused before adding, "That means, you can all go home."

"It might also mean trade deals for Earth and a boost in technology that would give the Homeworld a fighting chance against any big nasties that tried to come through the wormhole, or who might be lurking closer to home," she gave Carter a significant glance, "If you're happy with this arrangement of course."

[Arengin Union]

Epilogue

---

Nathan Taylor Carter and Thanica Vari
The Undeniable
Co-Written by Dyelli Beybi and Arengin Union

---

They had made it, they had all made it out. The atmosphere within the ship was one of relief, reunion and friendship as everyone chatted, rested, or took in the sweet scent of victory at last. Carter for his own part was glad to be out, to be free to once more be the master of his own destiny, he knew now what he had to do, but for now he could relax and be free.

"Thanica..." He uttered to himself as he moved through the main cabin and pass Krystyn, Cirdrac, Novo, Sshalah, and so many others giving them all smiles and nods of acknowledgements and recognition for their bravery through this whole thing. Nevertheless his priority was seeing Thanica, the Dhasath female he had last seen near death, so much had happened that neither of them had had a breath of fresh air to talk.

However, Carter was stopped from leaving by Kaleso, Yare and their fellow Jokari friend.

"Comrade Captain.", Kaleso suddenly said as he stood up and strode towards Carter. "Once we return to Afewag, I too will return to my brethren. I have earned penance in their eyes, and the next time you see me, these hands," he said as he held up both of the metallic cyber hands to show them to Carter in full. "-will be of flesh and bone. Before that however..."

Carter felt sorry to have to see both Kaleso and Yare leave soon, but he would not hold it against them. They both had things to attend to, and hopefully he would see them again, but Kaleos had something else to say before Carter could even say proper goodbyes.

Kaleso handily took one of the blades he used, the original one at that, and presented the non-ignited hilt to the human. "This is a Sturakasa, a choice weapon used by Jokari Sorcerors and Corsair Lords like myself. It is difficult to use at first as there is a awkward weight distribution, but once you are used to it, it will be as easy as swatting a fly. I am confident that this weapon will serve you well, Comrade."

Carter took hold of the hilt, he inspected the weapon carefully and with curiosity. Indeed it was a magnificent weapon, he was in a loss of words of how to thank the Avian-like Alien as he looked at him with a grateful smile. Then Yare brought up the issue of who could train the Human in the art of using such a weapon. Indeed, who could? Carter asked himself, if Kaleso was leaving then he would have to be self taught he figured.

But it would not be the case as Karesan, a fellow Jokari was brought up and though needing a bit of persuasion he agreed to train Carter in the use of the weapon.

The Purified Rebel sighed before resolving himself. "Alright... I will do that."

Kaleso adjusted his hood before answering. "I'll make sure my sister knows that you have been listening to me, my in-law."

"Oh... Hehe."

Carter shared the chuckle, looking over to Karesan he nodded at him.

"I look forward to learning from you, I'm sure Kaleso will put up a good word don't worry!" He said with a jokingly tone.

"With that said... Comrade Captain. I assure you that our two compatriots will be alright. I sense that the goddess of fate has smiled upon them tonight... Mieyt Doog."

With that, Kaleso Stralbane, a Corsair Lord that had committed many a crime and fought a Crusade of Penance just to earn his brethren's forgiveness, pulled Nathaniel Carter to an embrace. Perhaps Carter did not know it, but to the Jokarun, this was a gesture of sincerity.

Carter set one of his arms around Kaleso, sharing the sentiment the Jokari expressed with the Human. Both men didn't have to say anything to each other, Carter held respect for Kaleso and he was sure the feeling was mutual.

Karesan looked on, still clutching his mask and hat. "Well... I suppose I will stick around with you lot."

"Guess you are," Carter said as he and Kaleso parted from each other, he patted the wingless Jokari in the shoulder. He was part of this crew now.

---

More interactions followed like this, Carter would not have time to see Thanica for now as he had to settle issues with everyone in the ship accordingly. Soon it was Dana who called upon not only Carter but all other Humans too, only them as she and Krystyn were confined to the Undeniable's med bay for the time being until arriving back to the Gollar.

It was quick what Dana had to say, revealing what she planned to do and how the Confederacy could get involved to get Carter and the others back to Earth now that they knew that the location of the wormhole was within Carter's head.

"It might also mean trade deals for Earth and a boost in technology that would give the Homeworld a fighting chance against any big nasties that tried to come through the wormhole, or who might be lurking closer to home," she gave Carter a significant glance, "If you're happy with this arrangement of course."

Carter took in the words, going back to Earth finally after so long. A few weeks ago he would've been exhilarated, relieved, overjoyed even, but his response was silence. As Dana and his fellow Humans looked at him with varying expression they could see only an untouched man whose mind was involved in a battle with himself. Should they go back, should He, go back, was this really good for Earth? It was hard to come up with any kind of resolute thought, idea or plan. He didn't even know if he wanted to go back, if it was what he had to do, all had changed.

"I... I think that's great." Carter said while trying to work a smile, unsure of himself.

"If there is a way back, then we have to do it... To warn them back home." Falling silent he began to walk out of the small sized room, the door opening up.

Just about exiting the room, Carter stopped right at the edge of the door his head turning back to the crew of the Destiny, "I have to... I need to see Thanica." Walking out of the room the Human wandered out silently, unsure how to process everything, looking at the brace surrounding his arm, the ring from Ouroboros set on his finger and the sword given by Kaleso.

Thanica was not that difficult to find Having stripped off her armour and gone back to the more customary black tank-top and cargo trousers, she had returned to the bridge where she was sitting at the navigation console, one boot parked lazily on the edge of it, watching the strange swirling pattern of blue-green subspace light through the viewscreen. With the spiraling motion of the damaged ship, it was both an enthralling and somewhat nauseating sight.

She turned as Carter approached, droping her foot from the console and standing up, "Captain," she said with playful formality, motioning at her former chair, "The helm is yours."

Walking slowly, taking deep breaths at every step he took, Carter approached the chair looking at it for only a few seconds with eyes of apprehension. He then looked over to Thanica, the cheery and bronzed skinned and her bluish purple like eyes were what brought him a truer sense of relief and familiarity than the thought of going back to Earth.

Thanica would suddenly find herself around Carter's arms, his strong and rough demeanor tendering at his embrace of her as he then looked at her eyes yet again. The two kept silent for a moment, Carter smiled.

"You're all I want..." His words soft and calm as his lips connected onto hers.

Thanica had been going to keep playful, try to avoid saying anything that might have given away the depth of her feelings for her Captain. She had gone into the last mission expecting to get herself killed and she'd figured it was worth the chance to see him again, and there was always the chance he'd have blamed her for what had happened with the KC ambush... but when he kissed her that plan went out the window. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him close to her, pressing herself tightly against him, trembling in relief and anticipation.

For a long moment she was lost in the kiss, but when she did, finally, need to break for air, she replied, breathlessly, "You have me," she leaned back slightly, studying Carter's face for a moment, "Did they hurt you?" she asked, frowning and chewing her lip with sudden worry.

"Back at the Moon... They patched me up after I arrived to their ship. I was pretty messed up," Carter looked back at his once broken arm, the white brace covering it up and reconstructing his bone fiber was still there. Looking back at Thanica he remained close to her, his arms around her waist and the two holding each other well, they had managed to do so through this entire ordeal.

"That Kiel women, she was gonna torture me... Dana and Krys as well." Carter's tone shifted as he remembered back to Aethienn, the hulking Command Commissar firing directly at him during their escape still embedded in his thoughts. Brushing off those thoughts Carter looked back at Thanica, moving one of his hand away from her waist to point at his head.

"They want what's here... Coordinates to a wormhole, back to Earth. That's why they didn't kill us..." A part of him felt unsure to tell Thanica this, but he had to trust her. They had gone through so much, she had saved him, both had saved each other and he was ready to face anything else with her.

"Dana thinks the Gollar can find a way to open it, a way to maybe harness the power..."

"I'll see what I can do to make you forget your ordeal," Thanica promised. She sighed slightly, then dropped her arms, nestling her head against Carter's chest, "Why do they want to go to Earth?" she sounded confused by the idea, "You've made it sound very nice, but I can't see there being any advantage to Command going there."

She paused, for a split second, not enough time for Carter to respond to the first question, before she asked another, "Ah... so you know how to get back now? Does that mean you are going home?" she tried her best to hide it, but a hint of worry still managed to creep into her voice. He had every right to go home, of course, but she couldn't help but feel a little concerned that that would mean he would be leaving to go and pick up the pieces of whatever he had left behind before the accident that had set the two of them on a collision course. Was there someone waiting for him back of Earth? She had never asked. It hadn't seemed relevant.

Carter noticed the worry in Thanica, her concern over him going back. Had it been at the time before Pleasure Heaven, before Gadawei, before them, he wouldn't have hesitated to leave this galaxy. He had not cared about the war, about the Dhasaths, about whatever troubled this galaxy, but now he could not go back as much as he wanted to, as much as he wanted to bring her with him.

"I can't go back... Thanica the Command knows of a way back to Earth. Even if I go back and take you with me we will not be safe..." He paused, moving his hand to Thanica's cheek he caressed it with care her skin smooth contrary to his harsher skin and yet he was gentle. He wanted her more than anything, to have a life with her back on Earth, he imagined it. An open prairie back in Indiana, a large house and a farm, children playing as he worked on a tractor and Thanica looking at him from the porch with a belly carrying their child. That is what he wanted, but as long as the Command and the Empire existed that would not happen, it would always be at risk of utter destruction, he had to fight.

"They will find Earth, either the Command or the Empire will conquer the galaxy and the won't stop there... I'm not going to allow what happened to your people happen to Earth, I can't..." He remembered back to Lee and how he had died, died saving Carter despite his own stubbornness, he couldn't let his death be for nothing.

Holding tightly to Thanica's hands Carter looked right into her eyes, "I'm staying, to fight for Earth, for your people... For Lee. Fight for our future..."

Thanica gave a small, relieved laugh, snuggling against him, "I'll take that," she said quietly, "Though, you know, if you'd said you'd take me back to Earth and keep me safe there I'd have taken that as well. I'm so tired, Nathaniel. I feel like I've been put through a mangle over-and-over for the last few months. I came within a hair of dying on that last mission in Gadawei... and the time before that I got tortured and had an implant stuck in my head... and on Pleasure Haven I got concussed, and if things had gone slightly differently that Sarufi would have eaten me," she gave another small laugh as she realised just how badly most of the missions had gone for her, "I guess what I'm saying is I appreciate that I'm lucky to still be alive."

She leaned back, looking up at Carter, "But if you want to stay and fight, I'll stay as well."

Carter gave thought to everything she had said, looking down on Thanica he smile as he once more skimmed his hand onto Thanica's cheek and held her tightly. She had been through hell, just like him she had gone through near death, capture, and so much more. Thanica was of this galaxy, she was used to the dangers of this world and yet she was exhausted as anyone would be. He wanted to take her back, he did, and he would.

"I promise you, we will get through all of this and live together... You and me and whatever the future may have for us." He smiled at her, giving her quick kiss on her lips.

He felt tired as well, like her he wanted to at least for a moment escape from all of this and be with who he loved, "We don't have to do anything now Thanica, you deserve a rest... We all do."

Thanica smiling as she shook her head, "That's not a promise you can keep, but the fact that you want to makes all the difference." She reached for Carter's good hand, leading him insistently towards the pilot's seat, "I wasn't actually thinking of resting, right now. Maybe in an hour or two." She reached for his face, tracing the line of Carter's jaw. He looked so much like a dhasath, though he had the kind of pale hair and more usually seen amongst the kiellar, though she had heard that before the fall there had been more diversity amongst her species as well; most of the living dhasath were descended from one colony on the border of Command space.

Thanica looked happy, lost in the moment and untroubled by all the terrible things they were gearing up to face in the not-so-distant future. She could deal with them later. She reached around his neck, pulling him down into another long kiss. Though as she did she fumbled behind her for the button on the console she had set up to play the human music Carter had introduced her to and which she had come to enjoy so much.

She didn't quite get it right. Instead of suitable mood music she managed to get Steppenwolfs 'Magic Carpet Ride'. It wasn't what she had planned, but somehow it didn't seem inappropriate.

[Europa Undivided]

One week later
Jokar Undivided
The Seventh Armada

---

It had been a week since Kaleso had parted ways with the rest of the crew of the Defiance and his friend, Yare-Lokem. He had chartered a transport ship with a hefty fee to get him to the Draziin System, where reports of Jokari Corsair attacks were very abundant. The corsairs had welcomed him back with open arms; they were glad that one of their Lords had returned from apparent captivity at the hands of the Kiellar Command safe and sound. After speaking with Corsair Prince Varakiel for a lengthy amount of time, recounting the times he had spent while absent from his brethren, the Corsair Prince agreed to bring him along to the Seventh Armada, the nearest Jokari rover fleet that had escaped the fall of the Undying Light to the Gnosara.

Now here he was, marvelling at the work of his people after so long. The golden walls glistened with light from within, pulsating with the flow of energy that coursed throughout the arkship that served as the fleet's heart like blood through a man's veins. Chandeliers of blue and purple hung on the ceilings of its great halls. The ghosts of their long dead Transcended brethren wandered freely as whispers of wind and energy that occasionally flew by in wandering. The many thousands of drones that did menial tasks buzzed within the glittering hallways, watering gardens and removing litter from the floor.

The Jokarun of this fleet hailed from the planet of Lantigrod, a barren mining world that churned out weapons and ships of war by the thousands during the First Galactic War a million years prior. They had terraformed the planet after that, turning it to a green coated world filled with oceans and continents. They were merry folk, loving dance and song alike more than anything. One must not be deceived however; their warriors are of great renown.

Kaleso stepped on the golden floors just to be met by another Sorceror: Heirzerung Trolhak, the one known as the Lord of Flames and one of the stronger members of the Council of Sixty-Six. "Greetings, Kaleso Stralbane.", Trolhak greeted with a slight bow. "We are glad that you have returned."

"Indeed you are…", Kaleso answered as a six soldiers, all armed with rifles and Kravsagar swords kept inside scabbards on their backs, approached to escort them to the leader of this fleet: the Sorceror of Seven, Solya Karamaz…

---

"It appears that your penance is complete, Stralbane.", Solya Karamaz said to the Corsair Lord as he handed Kaleso a cup of wine. "So, I'd like to ask you some things before we go with the thing."

Kaleso shifted on his seat on the Sharp-eyed Master's dinner table, half expecting what Solya was about to say.

"A few weeks ago, we received news that a certain Dhasath was able to kill a Sarufi Technomancer on Pleasure Haven when said Technomancer tried to eat another Dhasath as well as to kill your cousin, Azar.", Solya said as he poured himself a cup. "I am aware that you were present during that incident. Tell me, how did he do it?"

"He killed the Technomancer with a lucky shot from an expulsor cannon.", Kaleso replied. "I was engaging the Technomancer there, and I was able to keep him distracted enough to get hit by it."

"Oh no no no, Kaleso.", Solya shook his head. "There is no such thing as luck. There is only a grand design predestined from before time began. Have you forgotten your Sorceror training, Kaleso?"

"Yes… right."

"The name of this man has also been made known to us. It was Nathanael Cartier… and we in the Sixty-Six are intrigued. This man, apparently, is not truly a Dhasath, but something else. My sources tell me that he does not reek of the nitrogen compounds present in the Dhasath. Do you know of it?"

"He is from another galaxy. There are a few of them, in fact."

"Interesting.", Solya said, brushing his chin. "Either way, you come at an opportune time."

Outside, dozens of ships began to emerge out of hyperspace portals, all of them belonging to the various Jokari fleets that were scattered all over the Neutral Zone. "The Council has decided to come together again to deliberate on our nation's course of action in light of recent events."

"Which are?"

"The Ragon Empire and Kiellar Command are now at war once again. The Gollar Confederacy had joined in the fun as well. But we will do one more thing before talking about all of this madness."

Kaleso winked at Solya, as they both knew what it entailed. "The Council will return your power as a Sorceror and your hands. But should you try raising corpses to life again…"

"Don't worry Comrade Sorceror Solya Karamaz." Kaleso replied as he stood up while holding a now empty cup. "I have learned my lesson."

---

Sixty-Six Sorcerors stood in a circle around Kaleso in a dark room. They stood on the sixty floors that the room had, with those above looking down upon him with glowing eyes of various colors. One of them, a man dressed in a grey and brown robe with metal coating his wings, approached Kaleso, the floor glowing with a blue hue.

"Kaleso Stralbane, you have earned forgiveness due to your crusade of penance being complete. As such, your powers as Sorceror will henceforth be returned to you and your hands will be yours again."

The Sixty-Six all began to chant a spell of power. The room began to thrum with energy. Columns of power danced round and round. At one moment, Kaleso's hands were of steel. A flash of light, and he looked at them to see that they were back to normality; flesh and bone.

"Thank you, comrades.", he said to the Council as they replied with nods. "Now, you were going to have a meeting, yes?"

"We were. But you Corsair Lords are included."

"... We?"

"That's right, Comrade Stralbane.", a familiar voice said to him as no less than fifteen Jokarun, all dressed in the Corsair colors, entered the room. "We are part of the Undivided."

Kaleso chuckled. "Well, if you say so, comrades."

The Unteregnum, arkship of the Lokem Migrant Fleet

"Look at who's back, friends!"

When Yare stepped out of the transport ship into the hangar of the Unteregnum, she was immediately swarmed by no less than a dozen of her compatriots. They flew in like lightning, scales of black, white, and grey approaching as blurs in the wind. They knew who she was, and has missed her dearly.

"Hey, Yare.", an Alseri named Tielmont said as he dropped down from the ceiling to meet her face to face. Crackling with electricity, he looked at her from head to toe. "Still as lovely as ever, eh?"

The white dragon blushed. "Well, uhm, yes."

The others hollered at the apparent romantic connection between the two, but Tielmont hushed them all. "Yare, how about we go our own way and talk about how things went while you and I were separate?"

"Ahhh… I'd be honored, Tielmont."

With that done, they flew off into the innards of huge dreadnought that served as the fleet's heart. They flew over the great forests within the nature preserve situated in one of the ship's wings, the animals screeching and shrieking below them. "So, uh, Tielmont…"

"Don't worry Yare. Nothing between us has changed. Not even when the Starfire was confirmed to be destroyed. You are the only one…"

"Eh.. hehe, right. So have you-"

"Heard of some Dhasath man to have killed Kralmon-Lokar, that crazy son of a bastard? Of course we have. All of the Migrant Fleets know of this tale."

"Funny enough, he isn't actually Dhasath."

"Hoho, really?"

"For one, he doesn't smell sweet…"

"WAIT.", Tielmont said as they paused midair right above a big tree. "You've met him?"

"I was there, Tielmont."

"Oh, right. There was another Sarufi there, they said. It seems that it was you after all.

"And, uh…", Yare stammered. "He and a few others are actually from another galaxy…"

"You're pulling my tail, are you?"

"I definitely am not, love."

"It looks like there is a way to cross galaxies after all…", Tielmont said as another arc of electricity travelled around his long, sinewy body. "Well, what was he like?"

"A pretty nice captain and a lover to boot. He's smited with an actual Dhasath."

"So you were his underling?"

"I wouldn't say underling, I'd say 'willingly subservient in terms of authority, but we're technically equal.'"

"So you're friends."

"Basically."

"So, what you were saying about being a Vanguard again?"

"I'd rather be one instead of being a raider Commander. That stuff gives me the nightmares!"

Tielmont winked at her as they began "I'll see to it then, love."

[Kylantha]

---

Sho'chavuk | Anja

---

Immediately after their escape from the Zerataca, Sho'chavuk remained where he stood, having been stuck there. A wave of nausea replaced the rush that the rescue gave him, and he leaned forward slightly. Looking around at the crew, he felt glad. His time with them had definitely been some of the more exciting in his life. Right now he wasn't sure what was going to happen though. Now that the Captain had been liberated and they were on their way back, what was he to do? But then he remembered Anja, and his ears perked up. Peeling his feet off the floor he ran to the closest window. I will be back, Little one..

"Soon."

---

Later, after their safe return, Sho'chavuk immediately went looking for Anja. He let Thanica and Carter know before he ran off. Asking directions from whoever he ran into, he eventually reached the room where she was being held, and was subsequently relieved to find that she was okay. The small pinkish Tz'ath was perched by a window, curled up as if in fear. Sho stood in the doorway just looking at her until she noticed him. Her ears which had been plastered down over her head slowly rose, then suddenly she was in his arms, knocking him backwards into the hallway.

Anja was met with a flurry of loud huffing and licking, something which was unfamiliar to her, but it felt nice. Suddenly she felt safer. Perhaps it was instinct, she thought. With the presence of a fellow Tz'ath, she automatically began to calm down, bringing back her usual demeanor. Finding the fat wet tongue dampening her fur annoying, she batted Sho on the nose. He gave her a confused look in reply, tilting his head, and she laughed. She couldn't believe how much things had changed since they first met. She had jumped into all this, tail-first, just wanting to get away from her former life. And now it felt so natural. Like this was where she belonged.

The conversation that followed was mostly asking how they were now doing, how the crew was doing, and ultimately what was next. Anja hoped that they could stay with the crew, having become accustomed to them, despite still being innately afraid. Sho on the other hand, wasn't entirely sure. He had Anja to look after, as well as the other Tz'aths who'd become displaced after the incident on Afewag. A part of him wanted to take a pause, akin to the one he'd had before his capture, and another wanted more carnage. More experiences like he'd had with the Defiance crew. He was a troublemaker at heart, after all. Sitting on the bed provided for Anja, Sho'chavuk fell back into the foam, rolling over so that he could knead his paws into it.

"So? What do you think?" the little one called from behind, jumping onto the bed shortly thereafter. She could tell Sho was thinking hard, as he didn't notice that he was ruining the pallet. Swatting at him got his attention. Sho turned to her and twitched his nose.

"We.. We shall see little one. We shall see.." was his reply. In the back of his mind, he contemplated further courses of action. One of them involved taking Anja back to Ter'nokah. But it'd take a while before he could do that. So until then, they would have to do what they could to survive. And it looked like they were going to have to stick around here in order to do that.

Eventually, Sho and Anja were reunited with the rest of Afewag's Tz'ath diaspora, or rather what remained of it. With Ansemek out of the picture, they were now free to do what they wanted. But they didn't know where to start. Everything they had to make a living with was left behind on the station. And they definitely didn't want to go back there now.

Sho convened with Khuzme, who had taken over after Ny'shanuat's breakdown. He seemed to still be out of it, which Sho found unfortunate. The remaining Hurks were quiet and separated, regretful of their part in fouling things up. Narkhi'zesh represented them and appeared ready to make amends for his group's offenses. It was a little odd for Sho'chavuk, who didn't know exactly how to respond, being that he had never led anyone before. Now suddenly everyone was looking to him for direction. I suppose it is because I smell the most dominant. This is most excellent. Were I on Ter'nokah I would have gathered so many mates! Ha! To think that I would have a group of Hurks submit to me! This is most excellent, indeed!

Noticing Sho's expression, Anja groaned and drove an elbow into his side, snapping him out of his delusions. Khuzme was shaking her head, and Narkhi'zesh stared blankly at him.

Clearing his throat, Sho shifted into a straighter position, trying to stand taller than the two before him. "Alright. First of all, I would like to say that I am honored to lead you all. Know that I shall do my best to--"

"Cut to it, Sho'chavuk," Khuzme cut in, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"A-ah.. Of course." Sho giggled with embarrassment before continuing. "I will try and get some supplies to get us started. Then we'll find someplace safe where we can do business. And by business I mean... You know... The boring kind? Yes. That kind. Sad as I am to announce it, it is the only way that we can be accepted by society."

Khuzme shrugged. "I don't think anyone would be opposed to that. Narkhi'zesh?"

The Hurk sniffled, the hesitance evident in his eyes. "I am opposed to it. But I am not unreasonable. I will see to it that my brethren behave themselves."

"Excellent!" Sho clapped his hands together. "Now I may go and make the arrangements." As he walked off, Khuzme and Narkhi'zesh looked at each other with the same expression of incredulity. He could be heard talking as Anja went after him.

"I will probably need someone to entreat the Confederacy on my behalf." he said thoughtfully, "I don't think they're going to be very fond of us."

Anja agreed. Sho wouldn't make for a credible diplomat, and they'd need the Captain or the Commander to ask help for them. In the end though, the Tz'aths were only allowed to remain on the green moon they'd been dropped off on. Khuzme was annoyed, but Narkhi'zesh was okay with the thought of having the run of the place. Sho seemed okay with it though, which is what mattered. A new start for all of them, it felt like. But whether Sho and Anja were going to stay was never really clear. Everyone could see it. They itched to go adventuring like they had been doing. But for now they were content to help their people maintain a little settlement of their own.

Perhaps in the future they would meet with the others of the Defiance once again. If that happened, they wouldn't hesitate to join back in.

[Endem]

An Epilogue

As soon as all the ceremonies were ended Tyreh slipped away from the group, and made his way towards the escape pods of the Undeniable, and disappeared with one into space, presumably to settle his old scores, thus the Cestrenti Assasin left this group of misfits after that final battle.

Yp, well, he simply sharpened his blades after the mission he was denied the participation in, he gained little honor and only a small amount of enemy heads so far, and hoped for the next battle to come soon, little else could be for the Kel'Resh warrior except that he was now impatient for such a battle, as the day he would need to return to Reshi was looming.

Krystyn, still needed recuperation, it would be doubtful to think he would leave the med bay for a couple of weeks at the least, his life support system still being the only thing between life and death, but he was coming back from the edge, slowly but surely the Polish pilot was getting back into health.

[Bingellia]

Mihal of Obe and Aarla
Hyperspace

---

The mesmerizing patterns of hyperspace flickered through the canopy, flooding the room with a faint blue as Mihal returned to the seating area. His first instinct was to check over Aarla. Shots to the gut were slow, agonizing killers, and the amount of pain she was in was clear to Mihal even in the dimmed lighting through her slow, laborious breathing and the animalistic throes that occasionally followed. It did, however, prove that she was still alive as he searched underneath the seats, fighting the violent shakes once he found what he was looking for.

Sliding out a crate, which Kiellar script stamped on the lid read supplies, Mihal opened it. It’s divided contents included a few days worth of rations and, more importantly, a fully stocked medical kit and a flashlight.

“Aa-Aarla,” he gagged as he took in the sight of burned armor and charred, bloody flesh for the first in his life, “do you know anything about treating wounds?”

In a cold sweat, Aarla forced herself to blink in an attempt to clear her swimming vision. Turning towards Mihal, she felt her brain moving slowly as the pain seemed to rapidly subside from her injury. She knew enough to know that was a bad sign, recognising the symptoms of shock as her body struggled to deal with the damage. Nodding, the girl began to tear at the uniform around her injury, opening it up to expose the burnt flesh around the entry wound.

“There should be antiseptic in there. A dark coloured bottle. Along with a bandage roll.” She stated bluntly, keeping her sentences short and her breathing quick in an effort to keep herself from passing out. “Give them to me, and then get the wound sealant can.”

Taking the bandage roll, Aarla placed it in her mouth and bit down. Taking the bottle of antiseptic next, she unscrewed the top with unsteady hands before pouring its contents onto her skin. Immediately, a sizzling sound could be heard from the injury and Aarla couldn’t stop herself from biting down harder as she screamed in pain. For a moment, she thought that she was about to actually pass out, but fortunately the immediate agony passed quickly. Spitting out the bandage roll and tossing aside the now empty bottle, Aarla reached down with her bloodied hands and began to press the edges of the open wound together. Grimacing as she ignored the fresh stab of pain, Aarla turned back towards Mihal.

“Shake the can, and spray the sealant onto the wound. Quickly.”

“Right,” Mihal answered as he vigorously shook the can of sealant. A widget rattled within the can as it jerked back and forth. Holding the flashlight in his mouth while he aimed, Mihal sprayed the black sealant on to the wound, eliciting another hiss out of Aarla as it bound the two edges of flesh together.

Mihal returned his gaze down to the supply box as he felt his stomach rumble, but it wouldn’t be fair to the girl if he ate or drank anything given her condition. Sighing, he hoped the disinfectant and the sealant would buy Aarla enough time for them to get proper help once the pod landed. He looked through the supplies once more, and, after unscrewing a bottle, produced a large purple pill.

“This is a painkiller,” He looked back at the bottle, “and it’s one of the stronger ones.” Offering her the pill, Mihal seemed to calm down slightly as he met the pysker’s eyes. “Please take it.”

For once, Aarla didn’t argue as she opened her mouth to swallow the breath. Her heart rate had already come back down, and the cool sensation of the medical sealant was quickly relieving the harsh pain from the antiseptic. Nevertheless, a cold curtain of sweat still coated her forehead, and her breathing was laborious as she leaned back into her chair. After a few moments of silence, she shifted her head slightly to turn toward Mihal.

“Thanks.” She stated bluntly, a slight frown twitching at the corner of her lips as she spoke. Not used to expressing gratitude like this, she nevertheless continued. “For coming after me, I mean.” Though just as quickly as she’d spoken, Aarla swiftly made to change the subject as she nodded towards the escape pod’s small cockpit. “Do we know where we’re going to end up yet?”

He warmly smiled back at the Aarla as an instinctual if an unnecessary attempt to reassure her that things would hopefully be fine. “The computer’s charts said we were going to Voziri,” He answered with a yawn. “I don’t think that’s a Kiellar world, but it’s about a twelve-hour jump.”

Mihal stood up, wiping his own forehead. He seemed to pause in thought for a second, his expression tightening as he pondered what to say next. Potential questions ran through his mind. Why did she run? How should he apologize for what happened? Should he apologize?

He chose to not ask or answer any of those as he took off his jacket, forgetting about the detonator as sympathy took over. “I’m here to talk if you want,” he spoke softly as he laid the greatcoat over the girl, “but I think you should rest.”

“Voziri.” Aarla repeated, moving her tongue deliberately as she tried out the name. “Never heard of it.” She stated disinterestedly, shrugging her shoulders after having run through the brief list of planets that she knew about. Even if she’d travelled to a few different worlds during her missions, she rarely got to see more than a single moonless night, and often even the planet’s name was considered extraneous information for their objectives. Mihal’s next action caught her off guard, however.

Not reacting at first as she watched the man place his jacket over her, Aarla stared at him curiously as he looked at her with evident concern in his eyes. Studying Mihal’s expression, the girl seemed to eventually decide to take him up on his compassion, and she weakly moved an arm to pull the jacket higher up over her chest. Turning herself over in her seat, she faced away from the other kiel as she closed her eyes. “You’re right. Something on Voziri is probably going to try and kill us.”
Sighing, Mihal fought the urge to chuckle at the blunt truth psyker had offered. They may have made it off the Zeracata, but they weren’t safe, or at least as safe as they were on the Defiance. Even with the Ragon aboard and all the fights that the crew got into, this was an unknown. However, there was little choice besides facing it when they made it to whatever system Voziri was in after their jump, but Mihal knew they’d at least try to live.

For a few moments, he lingered by the girl’s side. Watching the jacket rise and fall alongside her chest, he felt his own muscles and limbs crying out for some respite, though the thoughts racing through his mind would never have allowed him the luxury of sleep. A part of him envied Aarla. How she could handle all the chaos and insanity that seemed to erupt around them as if it were all a normal occurrence. Perhaps it was her training, or perhaps it was simply that this had been all she’d ever known, but he felt weighed down by the part of him that longed to see the peaks of Herillia . But when Aarla shifted on her chair, revealing the slightest hint of the whip scars that crept up her back and onto the base of her neck, Mihal’s mouth twisted into a frown. No. I would never wish that kind of a life on anyone, least of all someone as young as her.

Careful not to disturb the girl as she tried to get some sleep, the kiel pushed himself to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. He couldn’t quite stretch all the way in the pod’s cramped confines, but the action nevertheless offered his limbs some semblance. Walking along the metallic flooring, he planted himself in the spartan pilot’s chair before the vessel’s limited controls. As he sat, a deep sigh escaped from Mihal’s lips as he simply stared out into the flashing lights of hyperspace out of the viewscreen. Glancing down, he ran his gaze over the navigation display, with a blinking point of light indicating their current destination: Voziri.

Suddenly, a feminine voice spoke sleepily from where Aarla lay behind him, jolting Mihal from his momentary reverie. “Mihal. Back in the cell, you were telling me about your planet.” There was a slight pause of hesitation, and Aarla seemed to shift under her makeshift blanket as she tried to get some rest. “Could you tell me more?”

Blinking in surprise at the question, Mihal glanced over his shoulder to see that the girl hadn’t shifted from her seat. Caught off guard by the apparent sincerity behind the request, a faint smile lighted itself across the older man’s features. “Of course, Aarla,” Mihal calmly answered, despite the high of emotions induced by the question, quickly picking himself up to sit down closer to the injured girl.

[Grenartia]

Phoenix, Undeniable Sickbay

The entire way back to the ship had been a blur. All Phe had been focused on was getting Dana and the rest of the prisoners safely on the ship. Though she could hear the commotion going on outside, she was busy tending to Dana and Krys, ensuring their vitals were steady, and hooking them back up to IVs to stabilize them. After getting a warning from Thanica about the bumpy ride ahead, she strapped her two patients into their beds, secured the equipment in the room, and then secured herself. All in all, it wasn't that different from the centrifuge during astronaut training. It was almost fun.

"I would have called everyone, but I don't think they would fit in here and, to be honest, I think it's better that you hear this first so you have time to think about what you want to do, personally, and then plan what conversation you want to have with any of the aliens you have grown close to."

"So, to cut a long story short- Carter has the knowledge in his head to potentially open the wormhole. I didn't know that until I overheard people talking in the brig, but it means I haven't pulled us into a war with the KC for nothing," she used 'us' to refer to the Gollar Confederacy, identifying more with her adopted alien nation than the people of the planet she had left behind, "And the good news is, if Ouroboros was pretty confident he could get the door back to Earth open, then there is no reason the Gollar can't as well," she paused before adding, "That means, you can all go home."

"It might also mean trade deals for Earth and a boost in technology that would give the Homeworld a fighting chance against any big nasties that tried to come through the wormhole, or who might be lurking closer to home," she gave Carter a significant glance, "If you're happy with this arrangement of course."

The endless possibilities floated around in Phoenix's mind. Some scarier than others. But no matter what possibility presented itself, there was always one thing that stuck out, first and foremost in her mind. "And we can send Lee's body back to his family. Give him a proper funeral, amid the cool green hills of Earth."

Olorisa, Undeniable's computer systems

While those on the bridge were giving the orders and commands, Olorisa was the one actually implementing them. Diverting power from various non-essentials, micro-regulating power transfer from the reactor to the engines and various other bits of machinery that made the ship move, etc. The AI had hoped that her little Trojan Horse program was doing its job, ideally, by de-calibrating the targetting sensors, or even causing unpredictable power surges and losses to the turrets themselves. Various little bits and tricks that could be used to hinder the Zerataca whilst hopefully remaining stealthy.

As the Undeniable began its escape, she noticed the issue with the port engine nozzle. Thankfully, she was more than capable of manipulating the inertial dampener system (why the organics chose to call it this when it was a wholly inaccurate description of the technology's function, she would never fully understand) to ensure that the crew didn't become, as Phoenix would've described, "a splattering of chunky salsa". However, it took a while for her and the pilot at the helm to adjust to the ship's new flight behavior. To put it in human terms, it was like trying to walk a marathon with a rusty nail embedded in one's foot. But eventually, she got the hang of it. After things had gotten settled down, she noticed one of the engineers, Rabaech, at his post, monitoring various readouts. "Engineer Rabaech, I am glad to have caught you. Did my Trojan Horse operate as expected?"

Rabaech jumped, looking slightly startled, awkwardly adjusting his glasses, "Ah no... but that was on us. We were trying to get to the guidance systems but exploded before we got there and we needed to run back here to not get left behind. Although," he added, "You'd have thought we had managed to get there since nobody fired at us."

"That is odd, but perhaps it was for the best. The mission was successful regardless." she commented. "I thank you for taking the risk anyways." She then continued. "If you do not mind, would you be so kind as to help reintegrate the Trojan's code back into my own?"

"Of course!" Rabaech replied enthusiastically, though he paused after that, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Though you might need to tell me exactly what I need to do. I am good with engines, less so with computer programmes."

He didn't comment further on the failure of the Zerataca to fire on them. He was very glad they hadn't though something about it didn't sit easily with him. He'd have felt happier if he knew the reason.

"It is simple. All you really need to do is connect the data transfer device back to the ship's systems. I should be able to handle the rest from there."

"Ah yes of course," Rabaech replied, shuffling over to the nearest console, then patting down his pockets until he found the device. He plugged it in, though after a few moments he, spoke up, a little timorously, "Olorisa?" A pause, "Do you think the other crew like me?"

The AI paused for a moment, unsure of how to react, before speaking up. "I do not believe I am the best one to answer that question. I am not an expert on organic interactions in any way. However, I see no reason why they would dislike you. You are a very competent engineer, and you do not seem to antagonize the other members of the crew. For his part, I believe that engineer Lee held you and engineer Vrondich in very high esteem, as mentors."

"That is very kind of you to say," Rabaech replied, "Vrondich is talking about leaving and... well, I realise I haven't spent that much time with anyone but Vrondich. He is my best friend, but I don't want to leave: The Defiance is my home. I am just a bit worried I haven't spoken enough for people to really notice me. I always left it to Vrondich. He was the chief engineer after all. I worry I might be lonely."

"That is an understandable feeling, Rabaech." she responded, with much sincerity. Other than Lee and recently, Phoenix, Olorisa had never had anyone she could properly consider a friend. "There is a bit of human wisdom I have come across inside the Destiny's database, that might apply here. Everyone is the hero of their own story."

"But I've never wanted my own story," Rabaech replied, sounding slightly distressed, "I've always been happy helping other people out," a pause, "I guess I need to make my own now," another pause, "Or maybe not. Maybe we're all just the supporting cast in the story of the ship. I like this ship as well, but it isn't the Defiance is it? It isn't home."

Olo wasn't sure how to respond to the first part, so she just said what sounded right. "Maybe we are all just writing our own story, and they just happen to overlap. Whether or not you want to be the hero of your own story, or a supporting cast in someone else's, only you can make that choice. It is a choice that I have had to make as well, so I understand where you are coming from." She paused once more, before continuing. "And human wisdom says that home is where you make it." Rabaech nodded. Everything was getting a little too metaphorical and hard to understand (which was partly his own fault). He understood Olorisa's last point though; the Defiance was home and that was where he wanted to stay.

[Dyelli Beybi]