My Voice is Nothing...My God is Dead. (FT, Closed)

[Albert Northe]

Just as a note, I play this game a bit differently from most others. I do not play as a nation, or a company, or anything like that. I play as a single man, a man by the name of Albert Northe. I RP on these forums as this single character in a way much similar to an old DND style game. I plan out very little with the people I RP with, and just sort of go with the punches as the other player- usually a nation, and as such my 'DM'- throws them at me. Here is the introduction of my character into the brave new world of NS!

Why... This was not the first time the thought entered the prisoner's mind. The fetters around his feet seemed to be getting somehow tighter every time he tried to shift, and he didn't even want to look at his wrists to see how bloodied they had become. Another stab of pain shot through them as his thought made his wrists shudder again, and the rusted metal of his steel shackles bit into his flesh again. He groaned faintly as the fresh stream of blood cascaded over the crusted remains of his last such mistake. Why did it have to be them... The poor man had been a prisoner so long that he no longer lamented the fact that he had lost his freedom. He merely grieved for the loss of his previous captors. They were kinder...not kind, but kinder at least. He had been traded now twice, but this was the first time he had been forcefully taken.

"Hey!" Ignore him, nothing can come of it. "Hey, you human! With the pony tail!" It's called a queue, you uncultured- "I'm fucking talking to you!". He couldn't take the incessant demands for attention, so he cast his eyes upwards. He could barely make out the face in front of him, bathing is shadows as it was. The only illumination in the long and narrow chamber in which he sat seemed to be a single overhead light, which was long needing to be replaced; the only thing more headache inducing than its flickering being the buzzing noise it constantly emitted. Most of the people in the chamber were either staring blankly at their own feet (as he had just been doing) or sleeping- or more likely unconscious- as best they could in their sitting positions, chained up against the wall. The fellow in front of him was awake though, and looking right at him. The man was missing a few teeth, and was certainly not human. The man was tall, at least seven feet, and had skin and eyes the colour of a young, yellow star. A single, massive stump of bone protruded from his forehead. Likely some sort of horn which had been cut off at some point by previous captors.

"What?" He forced through clenched teeth. He did not want to be speaking to any of these people, let alone this man, who seemed to be dangerous.

"You know anything about these new fuckers? You look smart." Well, at least his new friend recognised superior breeding when he saw it. That was something he had not forgotten, even through these months of torture and hardship...his breeding. He had been educated, though in truth he didn't know much of anything about his most recent captors, beyond the most rudimentary of factoids. But he could not let this man know that...

"Kisians," he forced himself to say, though it hurt to talk ever since the blast that took down his first holding cell door also cut open his left cheek. "They are called Kisians."

"...and? Come on human, you know more than that shit, don't you fucking keep anything from me" ...as if the could do anything to force information out of him. The bastard was desperate, and there was fear in those piss yellow eyes.

"My name," he gritted his teeth at the pain, "is Albert Northe. The only thing you need to know about them is that they are not friendly. Especially not to your kind."

Truth be told, he had no idea what species the man was, let alone if the Kisians were on bad terms with them. But he did know that the Kisians were xenophobic as all hell, and hated anything they didn't understand. Other than that, he knew they were violently unstable, religious fanatics, and the sort to think you would thank them as they beat you with a fire poker, as some sort of penance for you not being, well, them.

"You watch your God-damned tone with me, human. For lookin' so smart you sur-" The alien was cut off by a chuckle. A quiet, strained, painful sounding chuckle, from another prisoner which Albert could not see.

"You fucking moron..." the disembodied voice of the other prisoner said, from wherever he was. "God is dead here."

That was when the door opened.

[Kisia]

The light shining in from the other side illuminated the holding cell a thousand times better than the pitiful light could have done. Two of their captors walked in. One was dressed head to toe in all black, with the Iron Flower insignia atop his peaked cap. The trimmings of his uniform denoted him of someone of vaguely important rank. The other a mere ranker, dressed in an all white sailor suit. The officer looked around, and wrinkled his face.

"You all smell of refuse." The officer said, speaking harshly in Basic. "Sailor, clean them." The man vanished and came back with a hose. The senior stepped out of the way, the lesser turned on the hose, and a jet of ice-cold shot out at the prisoners. He made a couple of passes with the hose, making sure everyone had been drenched at least twice. Just as silently as he entered, he left once again to replace the hose.

The officer spoke from the door now. "That's...slightly better." He coughed. "Regardless, I bring you great news. His Most Glorious and Esteemed Sovereign, has decided that you all shall have a chance at redemption and some small chance of honor. You will be transferred to the service of the Republican Kisian Army under an Alternative Unit. We shall arrive in some hours. I suggest you try and get some measure of sleep." He turned to leave.

He stopped short, turning his head around. "Ah. One other thing. A God is very much alive here. The Premier has seen it fit for you to live, no?"

The door shut with a clang, the locks falling into place with loud clunks.

---

The room was somewhat dark, with the only illumination coming from a desk lamp, a wallscreen, and the burning end of a cigarette. A servant poured a drink, and a hand whose sleeve bore several gold marks picked it up. The man took a sip, nodded, and waved the servant off. There was a flash of characters across the screen as the war flag of the RKA appeared. An old and grizzled man appeared on screen in combat fatigues. He nodded and bowed.

"To the glory of the Premier." He said.

"Long may He reign." Another voice said.

"To what do I owe the dubious pleasure of this transmission...Captain?" The army officer said in an arrogant tone.

"Please, Commandant Hanyara. I only wish to talk." The man said, before taking another sip of his drink.

"Kaijan, I did not give you permissi-" Hanyara started, before the man laughed.

"Please. If you want the band of convicts for your little 'unit', then I suggest you act as a proper kisian officer should. Don't forget, you are the lesser in this conversation." Kaijan retorted. Hanyara stiffened a bit, speaking in a easier tone, but his face still had a grimace of anger.

"Fine. What is it you request, Captain Kaijan...if I may address you as such." Hanyara spoke.

"You may. I simply wish to ask what is being done with the prisoners. We captured them, so by Military Law, they are property of the Navy." Kaijan asked. Hanyara cleared his throat before speaking.

"We have reports of local unrest amongst the colonials. The local garrison is mostly made up of natives and we fear they will be of insufficient force for a proper crackdown. Some of them are already expressing discontent. Proper units from the Colonial Army are on the way, but are a still a ways off." Hanyara said.

"So, you intend to use a penal unit as a means of keeping the peace? How interesting..." Kaijan replied, a smug smile on his face.

"It's unorthodox, but its the only thing we have at the moment. You and your crew will be paid for every prisoner transferred. We would also appreciate if you could perhaps leave a small detachment of Armed Mariners..." Hanyara replied sadly.

"Oh, how happy I would be to help the great Republican Army in their time of need. We will arrive shortly." Kaijan spoke, with a grin impossible to hide. He cut the transmission with Hanyara looking in defeat, and took another sip of his drink. He tapped a button, and the wallscreen flashed to the bridge. A duty officer saluted Kaijan.

"How may I serve, Captain?" He said quickly.

"Get the Marine Captain and tell him to ready a small security battalion. We will be assisting our friends in the Army." Kaijan said. The officer bowed deeply and shouted orders, and the screen shut off yet again.

This should be interesting... Kaijan thought to himself.

[Tarsonis Reborn]

OOC: I'm a bit rusty, but I should get better as we go. And I'm gonna use this new nation for my RP stuff, leave the old for Politics and stuff.
IC:
She spat at the Kisian’s feet, as the freezing water washed over her. The tatters of her prison garb soaked through, clinging and revealing more of her feminine assets than already shown. For the hundredth time she cursed her captors to the depths of hell, and for the hundredth time cursed her own stupidity. Her husband wanted to stay on the home world for their honeymoon. She should have listened. For the hundredth time Jesaria Dre’Auron cursed her luck.

Shaking her head she pulled the soiled shirt over her head, twisting it tightly to wring the water from it. Others in the holding cell leered at her as she stood naked from the waste up, unabashed. Looking was all they would get, she thought smirking darkly. The blood of the last prisoner who had tried anything with her still stained the shirt she now dried. None would dare assault her or her companion again. This was prison rules, and right now Jesaria was the untouchable.

Satisfied that her shirt wouldn’t get any drier, she slipped it back on before finding a seat on the deck next to her equally soaked husband. His hands shook but Jesaria knew it had nothing to do with the cold. Trip had spent two years under the heel of Federation prison guards, tortured daily leaving him disfigured and frail, all the while believing he had left her to die. Once rescued, their surgeons had been able to repair his damaged body but there was no medicine for what ailed him now, except a bottle.

She took his hands in her own, and whispered consolingly. “It won’t be much longer now. When we don’t return next week Kes will destroy the galaxy looking for us.” It had been three weeks since they had woken in the holding cell, stripped of their clothes and weapons. Trip had explained there had been an accident on their ship, but Jesaria couldn’t remember it ever happening. No doubt a side effect of passing out from lack of life support. Their captors had evidently found them not quite dead. She sighed remembering the first few days of their captivity.

The Kisians, like all sailors, got bored off duty and thought it would be fun to run their own interrogations. Her own interview had been, in her mind, amusing. They had barely asked her any questions; it was obvious they were more interested in inflicting pain. It was clear though that her captors didn’t know who they were dealing with. One did not climb to the head of the ranks of the male dominated Draggonaughts without making friends with pain. The Kisian beatings hardly compared with the mildest of Draggonaught torture sessions.

It became an intriguing stalemate. She could tell she had gained some small measure of respect from her captors, and the other prisoners, from her grit. But Jesaria was all too aware that her captors knew where her true weakness lay. If they wanted to, one well-placed round into the man she loved and she’d be irreparably broken. Pushing those thoughts from her mind she nestled up to her mate. She wouldn’t lose him. She couldn’t lose him. Not again.

They survived, but for how long she did not know. Being a captive was pure misery for her mate. For the last two weeks he’d barely eaten and only drank when she physically forced the water down his throat. But the worst of it was the night terrors. Almost every knight he'd wake up screaming for her, his body damp with sweat. It sapped his soul. He acted strong but Jesaria knew it was only a matter of time.

[Albert Northe]

Albert was not sure at first if he should feel lucky for the cold dousing of water, stifling as the storage unit the prisoners were in was, or if he should shy away. When the blast hit him, he decided on the latter, and when the stream passed him a second time he was ill prepared, and began to choke. He felt as though he would drown if the tumult was continued much longer, and as soon as the thought left his mind, the water stopped. He was left shivering, the paltry rags which served as a loincloth soaked through completely and nearly destroyed as a result. The only warmth he now felt came from the fresh blood streaming down his face, accompanied by the biting pain of his old wounds being torn open again by the industrial strength hose. He tried to shake himself off as best he could, but naturally his movement was restricted by the chains. He did little more but cut himself further on his fetters as a result. He found himself once more staring at his feet as a few tears slid down his face, blissfully hidden by the droplets of water.

"...the service of the Republican Kisian Army under an Alternative Unit."

The military? So he was not to be put in some labour camp...the Kisians were going to make him fight. Fight what? What use would he be, what use would any of these captured be? Everyone present seemed completely broken...at least, most everyone. Was this a blessing or a curse? Once more, Albert was conflicted. This could mean...anything, really. He knew the Kisians were fanatics- would he be used as one of a million meat shields, thrown against some artillery and machine guns? Would he be used as a normal auxiliary soldier? Could this prove to be his escape from his chains...or his escape from this life? He was not alone in his doubt. As soon as the door slammed shut, the yellow man in front of him continued to spout his drivel,

"Oh god damn...shit" he spoke in a harsh whisper, and he was clearly disturbed at the fact that the overlords could clearly hear them. "What else do you know?" he seemed to be pleading with Albert, "Why do they want us to fight? Don't they know we aren't soldiers? How can they expect us to fight? Oh god damn...god damn...it was only a shitty radio...I never knew..."

Albert found himself not caring about whatever it was the man was saying, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, trying to think through the degenerate's ravings. Curious, that he was so quick to threaten violence when he knew he couldn't carry it out, yet when combat reared its ugly head, he panicked so. The fool would not last long in a war...but then, who was to say Albert would do any better? When the sirens had sounded back home he ignored the muster, and tried to escape the city...his cowardice is what led him here. Even then, at least he would get to remove these chains. Maybe they would even give him some proper clothes, and a meal for once.

Maybe this will not be too bad...,he thought, I should be able to escape from the military, shouldn't I...? Why /do/ they want us to fight...and who? If they are relying on the likes of us, it means they are either desperate or these people are crazier than I thought...oh lord, please let it be the first...

[Kisia]

Bridge, K.R.V. Ashanyo, Kihanya Orbit

Kaijan sat in his raised chair on the bridge, the bridge crew working in lowered pits further ahead of him in fearful silence. A Naval Standard hung beneath a picture of Taisvan on the rear wall. Beneath that, a portrait of Kaijan in his younger years, wearing the uniform of a Naval Officer cadet. Only a couple of Security Marines, some lesser commanding officers, and his aide-de-camp Shihan, stood on the actual 'bridge'. Shihan approached Kaijan and bowed deeply.

"Captain. We are approaching Kihanya now. We will be in shuttle range shortly. Shall we ready the prisoners for transfer?" Shihan asked inquisitively.

"Yes, get them ready for transfer. Have the Marines aboard the same shuttle as them." Kaijan spoke. Shihan bowed and left. Afterwards, he pointed at another officer.

"You. Send a message that we are in orbit and will begin the prisoner transfer shortly. Tell them to have decent security this time." Kaijan ordered. The officer gave a quick salute and started shouting to people in the crew pit.

General Holding
The ever familiar sound of the door locks being open could be heard again. This time, the men who entered were all dressed in black. They wore helmets with the Iron Flower, instead of the peaked caps as well. They barged in, shouting in Kisonei, making rapid movements with their assorted pistols and rifles. Some moments after they realized none of them understood, they decided to use physical instructions. They started to jerk the prisoners up.

"Get up! Stand! Come on, stand!" said a more merciful marine. Some stood, others waited until they were thrown forward by their overseers. They undid the wall chains, while attaching ankle cuffs to them at the time, and securing a device around their necks. After several more minutes of unintelligible shouting, the same marine spoke again.

"Alright, listen up! The device around your necks is an electrical collar. It goes off if you get out of range from the locator." He pointed to a marine outside the door, holding a small metal pad. Tapping a button, the collars beeped. Someone said something and the same man tapped another button. The collars made a shrill screeching sound and gave a brief shock.

"Of course, that was a test to insure they worked. The actual shock will be much more painful, I can assure you. Now then, line up outside, single-file! You have 30 seconds!" He spoke again. With that, the marines began prodding people with their weapons, nudging them to the door. Afterwards, once they were assembled and considered orderly, they started off down the dim corridor, the only lighting coming from the evenly spaced red lights.

The march was quiet, save for the rattling of the ankle chains and the occasional rustle of the soldiers weaponry. They filed in silence to the hangar, crewmen jeering and insulting the sorry lot of prisoners the entire way. The actual hangar was more of the same. However, they weren't the only people gearing up for transport. A small detachment of marines was at attention, a duty officer making final checks. Captain Kaijan was among them, looking over each soldier as well. The group was led to an awaiting dropship, its heavy door lowered for entry. The pilot waited inside.

There was some more untranslatable chatting between the pilot and who appeared to be the commander of the troop. Suddenly, they stopped chatting and saluted. Kaijan had made his way over to the prisoners, smiling as he went by. He stopped in front of them, taking a breath.

"You all have a great honor! To redeem not only yourselves, but your families! Your ancestors! Our Heavenly Sovereign has indeed found it fit for you to serve in some shape or form, our great nation of Kisia! Consider yourselves lucky, you could've been anywhere else. That was not the case, fate deemed it proper for you to be here! So then, go forth with dignity and pride! Serve to the best of your abilities! Pride yourself in your task, make not only yourself proud, but the Nation as well! Hayanhei Taishei!" Kaijan spoke, throwing his arms up into the air at the end.

"Taishei! Taishei! Taishei!" The assembled kisians shouted, their chants turning into a loud roar in the large and open space of the hangar. They too, threw their arms up. Even after the initial cry, others kept on. It was several minutes before the cries had died down enough to where proper work could resume. With the inspirations done, they began to be loaded onto the shuttle, the marines chaining them to locks on the seats. Looking, Kaijan asked a question and after a moment, a marine pointed at Albert. Walking over, he looked him up and down and nodded.

"Hmm. You know...I used to have a dislike of humans. Greedy, selfish, corrupt individuals. Only seeking for themselves and nobody else. I've learned however, that humans can be broken. Rebuilt to a proper standard. Humans, while still an inferior race....are indeed better than the vast majority of the savage and backwards people that inhabit this galaxy. So...it is with that, I bid you farewell. Perhaps...with your service to our Republican Nation...you too can be reformed. I would surely hope so." Kaijan spoke. Stepping back from Albert, he nodded again as he was ferried aboard the dropship, the large door closing with an eerie sense of finality.

The actual ride to the planet was short, the waiting time was the most agonizing part. In the boredom of travel, several of the soldiers began to smoke, making the air hazy and idly bantering about things, making the occasional vulgar gesture to some of the female occupants. One of the soldiers looked at Jesaria and smiled, saying something about her, to which the other kisians started laughing. Luckily, nothing would've happened, as not long afterward, through the smoke filled air, came the voice of the pilot. Oddly enough, he spoke in basic.

"We're landing! Insure everything is secured to avoid injury!" He said quickly. The marines buckled in and finished their smokes, dropping and extinguishing them with their jackboots. Shortly, there was a lurch and the feeling of ground beneath the vessel once again. A buzzer came on as the dropship door opened once again, giving them the first sight of natural sunlight in weeks. There was no time for admiration, as the marines snapped back into their familiar mode of operations.

"Off, off! Get off the damn shuttle! Line, single file! Go!" Their ankle chains were removed and they were hustled out onto the ground.

Karasho Fortress, Kihanya

The first obvious sight was the Unity Standard flying high on a flagpole in the center of the military base. The Republican Army flag flew slightly below the Standard. The other thing of note was the inner walls, complete with barbed wire and watchtowers in all four corners of the area. It was horridly hot and humid, the surrounding area resembling a type of jungle, showing why some of the soldiers were wearing lighter colored uniforms and shorts. There was also a large amount of non-kisians in uniform as well, laughing at the new arrivals before an officer cracked a whip at one. They quieted down in short order. However, the men there to 'greet' them were in full combat dress, their rifles with bayonets fixed shouldered perfectly on their arms. They stared at the group with varying amounts of disdain and hatred. Someone gave a command and they quickly snapped to attention. An older kisian, wearing full dress with the rank tabs and cuff stripes of a Major stepped up, alongside two lesser officers. The marine officer handed some papers over, saluted, and walked off with his troop, joining the other marines.

"Welcome to Karasho Fortress. I am Major Hanyara, Commanding Officer of all operations of this base and local region. As I'm sure you've been told, you will be helping to advance our glorious nation further. For now, you all will be assigned to a barracks and given equipment from the QM. I'll be lenient and give you the evening to prepare yourselves for the tasks ahead." He paused.

"Before I go onward, have you all any questions?" Hanyara looked at the assembled group, a visage of grim amusement on his face.

[Albert Northe]

Albert wasn't sure how much time had passed since the Kisian had left with the news of their conscription. The silence of the room was only permeated by the occasional whisper from one end of the hall or another, broken occasionally by a sob or sigh, the rattling of a chain. The yellow man across from Albert had finally fallen silent, his mad rambling slowly dying down as he likely came to the conclusion he was already dead. At least, that was the conclusion Albert hope he came to...he would be more pliable then, and less apt to ask questions. There was no way to know exactly how long "some hours", as his captive had described their ETA, was and Albert knew there was no chance of his trying to sleep. His wrists, continuously being opened fresh by the sharp metal, and the pounding he felt in his head as he slowly died of thirst, were a constant reminder that when he woke up...he would not do so in his own bed, as if from a nightmare. He was left only to his own thoughts, which continued in the same circle. What was to happen to him? Who were they going to fight? Why were they going to fight? Could this prove the opportunity he had been waiting for, to escape from his chains? It is likely he would not be able to defect, unless his unit were thrown into the thick of it, but defection could the easiest way out...unless the enemy were even crueller, which was entirely possible. He could try and stick it out, try and be freed by his captors for bravery or something...but he was a coward. He was well aware, painfully aware, of that reality. He didn't even put up a fight when he was first enslaved by the pirates...what hope did he have to convince the Kisians that he was worth his salt on the field?

That was when the doors were opened again, and the fresh blast of light blinded him again. He flinched away from the doors, expecting another dousing or some equal horror, but was surprised to hear the screaming of men and shuffling of bodies. He looked up the hall to see men, dressed all in black as some angel of death and wearing steel helmets, moving down the hallway and striking off the handcuffs and fetters of prisoners. They screamed in a mix of language, sometimes their harsh and rapid native tongue, sometimes in a common he could understand, and pulled the prisoners from their sitting positions. Some cried as this happened, others grunted or even screamed as the pain of such harsh handling was too much, and this was usually met with more screaming and insults hurled into the prisoner's face or a swift punch to the stomach. The guards got closer and closer to him, screaming so shrill that Albert expected a vein to burst any minute, and one of them stopped by Albert to remove his chains. Once unlocked, they were torn off of him so quickly that one of them opened a fresh gash along his arm. He stifled his cry of pain as much as he could, and apparently did well enough that the guard did not beat him for it. He was dragged to his feet and made to stand in the line, and it was then that he realised he had fresh fetters placed around his feet. He would have wept, had he the time. Immediately he felt something else, something cold, clamp around his neck and restrict his breathing. He barely heard the man at the doors up front explain what they were as he tentatively raised a hand towards the collar. That was when he felt the fire streaming down his neck and into his entire body. It felt as though his flesh was being seared from the inside, and he began shaking uncontrollably. He screamed out in pain and fell heavily to the floor, realising that the shock was gone almost as soon as it began. He was left in a foetal position, cradling his head in hands which he no longer felt, and now the tears came readily.

"Up!" he faintly heard the harsh cry, it sounded far away, Albert's entire world devolved to his own shivering and the overwhelming smell of piss and blood which covered the floor. Then his breath was gone, forcibly pressed out of him, as a fresh pain stabbed into his gut. He opened his eyes to see the jackboot recoiling for a second blow, which came eagerly as Albert could not find the strength to lift himself. "I said get up, motherfucker!" and the guard grabbed Albert's queue, using it to hoist him to his feet. Of course, that was something Albert barely felt, as he was still hyperventilating trying to catch his breath. The next thing he knew the face of his attacker was pressed near his own, and Albert could smell the sourness of his breath, sharp yellow teeth and blood red eyes the closest thing to colour on its face, and the guard screamed at him again, "Forward march, kahazi!" Somehow Albert found the strength to lift his left foot, then his right, then his left again, and he was slowly sent shuffling along with the rest of his column. Occasionally he would falter, and was pushed back up by the man behind him, or struck against the back by an unseen rifle or fist. The Kisians had them form up in the main corridor outside the holding cell, where they continued to move through the ship. Albert could barely see anything through the dim red lights, either his eyes were far weaker than that of the Kisians, or he was slowly losing consciousness. He prayed it was the former.

Slowly they made their way to the hangar area, and were brought to halt in front of a small transport vessel. Workings were going on all around the prisoners as Kisian crewmen prepared the ship for takeoff, and went about other miscellaneous duties. They only stopped to joke about, or insult, the prisoners, but they all ceased their labours when a man- Albert assumed he was some high officer, perhaps the captain or a first lieutenant- finished an inspection of a contingent of marines and started moving towards his group. Albert felt the ire of the officer as he eyed the group, and began his speech:

"You all have a great honor! To redeem not only yourselves, but your families! Your ancestors! Our Heavenly Sovereign has indeed found it fit for you to serve in some shape or form, our great nation of Kisia! Consider yourselves lucky, you could've been anywhere else. That was not the case, fate deemed it proper for you to be here! So then, go forth with dignity and pride! Serve to the best of your abilities! Pride yourself in your task, make not only yourself proud, but the Nation as well! Hayanhei Taishei!"

That was when all of the Kisians threw up their arms and started shouting- nay, cheering- with that word. Albert had heard it many times since he was taken by the Kisians, taishei, as if it were some sort of prayer or...some nationalistic mantra. Once they cheered, then twice, and they were about to make it thrice. Something overtook Albert, and he too cast his arms into the air, cringing at the pain and effort which it took to hoist them so high,

"T-t-Taishei!" He screamed on the top of his lungs, his teeth clattering in fear and struggling to find his voice. The other prisoners looked at him oddly, some with hatred in their eyes, and the kisians also seemed to have mixed reactions. The Captain stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around. He asked a nearby marine, who pointed right at Albert. The Kisian, nigh on twice the height of Albert, moved quickly over to him,

"Hmm. You know...I used to have a dislike of humans. Greedy, selfish, corrupt individuals. Only seeking for themselves and nobody else. I've learned however, that humans can be broken. Rebuilt to a proper standard. Humans, while still an inferior race....are indeed better than the vast majority of the savage and backwards people that inhabit this galaxy. So...it is with that, I bid you farewell. Perhaps...with your service to our Republican Nation...you too can be reformed."

"T...thank you, sir. I shall do my best to serve our..." Hell, what did he call it, what did he... "To serve our most heavenly sovereign, sir!" Albert's voice was quivering, and there was obvious fear in his eyes, but he managed to get the words out. Louder than he had intended, but perhaps the man would interpret that as eagerness. These barbarians seemed fond of shouting, after all.

"I would surely hope so." And with that the Captain left, and they were all herded onto the transport. The shuttle was small for the number of people that were on it, but the ride was a respite from the painful movement around the main ship. Albert was able to sit and try his best to gather himself. He was unsure how to take what the Captain had said to him. He did not have Albert beaten, so that was a good sign, nor did he seem angry at all. The gamble may have worked, at least a little bit, in convincing someone that he was not altogether hostile to the idea of fighting for these people. Of course, it all depended on how long he could keep the façade up, and how well he could do in convincing his captors to trust him. Had he done himself more harm than good by his little show? He noticed that a few of the other prisoners were shooting him very dirty looks...

When the shuttle landed, and their shackles were cast off, Albert was one of the people nearest the exit and was among the first to step out. The bright sun of this world seemed blinding at first, and it hurt his eyes to look upon it, but after a short time he was able to make out his surroundings. It was hot on this world, far too hot, and the thickness of the jungle around the perimeter worried him...he had never seen such a thickness and abundance of nature in his life; he had only ever read about such things in old works from the Homeworld. Strange noises came from the forest, a cacophony of chirping and buzzing a strange juxtaposition with the whirring of military vehicles and sharp commands being shouted to what Albert assumed were native auxiliaries. He was unable to focus long on the ominous beauty of the nature around him, however, as his group was further herded- the march was not nearly as bad thanks to the fact that his ankles were now free of chains- and came before a gathering of fully outfitted soldiers. One of them, an officer, began speaking to them:

"Welcome to Karasho Fortress. I am Major Hanyara, Commanding Officer of all operations of this base and local region. As I'm sure you've been told, you will be helping to advance our glorious nation further. For now, you all will be assigned to a barracks and given equipment from the QM. I'll be lenient and give you the evening to prepare yourselves for the tasks ahead. Before I go onward, have you all any questions?"

Albert did not speak. Bide your time...don't provoke them, no matter what you do...One man did speak however. From three spots to Albert's left, out of the corner of his eye he saw a man step forward. The yellow one.

"Yes, whe...yes, sir, ah, when...when do we get fed? And I need a bandage, for my..ah..wounds" he held out his wrists, scraped though not nearly as bad as Albert's were. The man was not nearly as injured as Albert in any capacity, with his thicker skin. Nonetheless he seemed to have found his courage and thought to ask a question of the captors...the fool.

[Kisia]

One of the officers briskly walked over and struck the alien with his cane, shouting at him for stepping out of line. He looked to the rest of them.

"Stay in line! You move only when ordered!" He then walked back, bowing to Hanyara.

"Yes, learn to stay in line. We must assume most of you have either little or no military training. As such, we must instill discipline inside you, so that upon the day of combat, a tempered spirit of zeal and aggression is multiplied throughout the ranks." Hanyara paused.

"Nonetheless, you will be attended to in regards to medical treatment. Dinner will be served in some hours, so there should be time to get you all arranged into a proper unit, gear issued, and put into bunks before night sets." He looked about.

"If that is all....this concludes the first part of your briefing. Officers! Sort and arrange this formation at the Company level and lower! Dismissed!" Hanyara shouted, before walking off. The other officers saluted and went to work, pointing and shouting. An officer walked down the line, past Albert. He continued till he reached a certain spot. After he did, he turned about and yelled.

"Attention! I am Captain Tanei! I will be the supervising officer of the 4th Platoon, of which you are now enlisted in! I will walk by again. Every tenth man, I will stop. When I do, everyone to the left of him will move forward ten paces! Now then, pay attention!" Tanei walked down again, stopping at every tenth man as he said he would.

"First Squad! Move up!" Tanei screamed. Most had little issue following the resultant orders, simply doing the same as the others next to them. However, the occasional soldier wasn't hesitant about 'informing' the prisoners which way to face. He did the same thing another four times. After a while, he finally walked past Albert, about two or three prisoners down.

"Fifth Squad! Fall in!" Tanei yelled once again. The last of the men joined the line, facing forward as ordered.

"Alright, lets see if you lot can follow basic directions! Left face! Forward march!" He yelled, marching to the side of the column of troops. They marched off the center field, going down a path. They passed several buildings, before stopping outside one in particular. The sign bore a green medical cross with slanted edges.

"Line, halt!" Tanei ordered. "This is the Medical Center. Luckily for you, the medics have been preparing for your arrival and should see you all in short time. Enter inside, listen to the doctors. They will treat you well and heal any wounds you may have received on your transport over. Once you've been treated, wait about in the lobby. I'll be back soon with further orders." Coming back to attention, he saluted the assembled line of prisoners.

"Line, dismissed!" Tanei dropped the salute and walked off to another building, chatting to some individuals along the way.

Medical Center
The air was much cooler inside the hospital than it was outside. In what could be assumed to be a waiting area, white suited individuals in caps and berets walked about with charts and shouting at one another. A high-ranking doctor stepped over, looking at a chart. Without looking up, he spoke to the assembled.

"Go sit down over there. We'll call you by groups of ten." He then walked off, making some hand motions to an orderly in the room. They walked over to the group.

"Alright! You all, in the back! Come with me! That includes you, human!" The orderly said, pointing at Albert, looking down at the tiled floor. He then proceeded to walk the group down the hall into a bigger room than the last. Inside this room were a multitude of beds and vats filled with a greenish liquid. On a large screen mounted in on a wall in a corner of the room, a sort of spectacle appeared to be going on. A high-ranking kisian appeared to be speaking on something. He spoke his native tongue, with elegant but powerful voice. He wore an immaculate black military uniform, with gold trimmings and medals adorning his right breast. Alongside this, he wore a red sash with a multicolored star on it. While not immediately discernible as whom he was, it was obvious that this man was of critical importance to the Kisian people. A small crowd was around the TV, even those who appeared to have some amount of serious injuries. They made mention of a 'Premier'. Whenever he stopped speaking, and the televised crowd clapped, so did they. Those more wounded took to crying 'Taishei!' over and over, until he began speaking again.

"Go find an empty bed on this row and sit on it. A doctor will be with you shortly. Also....please be quiet. An event of importance is going on. Aiyaha." The orderly bowed and left, briskly walking over to the TV. Albert took a closer bed than the rest, taking a moment to look about the room.

[Albert Northe]

"Stay in line! You move only when ordered!"

The blow seemed to be light compared to what the beast would be capable of, but it seemed to be enough to knock some of the breath out of the alien. The yellow man clutched at his new wound, and looking down, moved back into his position in the formation. Albert noticed a small trickle of blood coming from where the cane had hit an old wound and made sure that he stood a little straighter...at least, as straight as he could. He was still sore from head to toe from his ill treatment over the past few months. He was thankful to be in the second rank of this small body, and surrounded by much larger beings than himself (most of the aliens were at least a foot taller than him, and far...bulkier) he did not draw much attention from the Kisian officers. He couldn't even see the man who was speaking to them currently. Though he was able to hear the pretentious bastard giving that little speech of his; Instil discipline...a spirit of zeal and aggression...like hell you will. Looking around, many of those in his 'company' were either so frail and hungry they could barely stand or looked like they had never fired a gun in their life. Albert fell under both of those categories. He may have received the initial stages of training in his old home's defence force, but nothing past the basic drill. He had carried a gun, but never fired it...and of course, when the time came to fire it, he ran. Something told him that the Kisians would not be very forgiving if he ran from here.

That was when some new whoreson came tramping along, proclaimed himself the Captain of Albert's ragtag band, and began forming squadrons of men. His shouting was even worse than the last one. I wonder who he pissed off to get this assignment? Here's hoping he takes it out on the others... Eventually the 'captain' made his way through the first rank and came upon Albert, whom had the pleasure of being in the 5th squad. Albert had a slight limp, but he marched as best to join the others, arm swinging to his shoulder in front and to his waist behind, as was custom back home. The command to face left came, and he did so in two counts. Apparently one man did not follow these directions properly, and Albert heard some lower level Kisian screaming unintelligibly at the poor sod; likely the blows would soon begin. The man probably turned too slowly, or in the wrong direction...Albert dared not turn his head to look. As it was, even moving slowly as he was with his wounds, he seemed to be one of the few here who had any semblance of military discipline. Only a weeks worth of drill and he had probably picked up more on military discipline and form than the barbarian 'Tanei' had in his entire life.

The order came to march, and Albert was forced to do so without the arm swings, as no one around him knew enough to do so themselves. Their progress was slow as the underfed prisoners limped shoddily towards their destination...the Captain did not look impressed, and somehow got even louder when one of their number stumbled and fell flat on his face.

"Line, halt! This is the Medical Center. Luckily for you, the medics have been preparing for your arrival and should see you all in short time. Enter inside, listen to the doctors. They will treat you well and heal any wounds you may have received on your transport over. Once you've been treated, wait about in the lobby. I'll be back soon with further orders."

He even gave them a salute. How quaint. Albert wondered if the cretin was able to feel his eyes boring a hole into the back of his head. Wait, he is...leaving? Albert looked around him, the only guards were posted at the hospital, and plenty of Kisians were moving around the base...but no actual guards for the slaves. Interesting...this may come in handy... In the medical centre, it was blissfully cool when compared to the humidity and stinking heat of the outside world. A quick look around told him this was probably the nicest building on the entire base, in terms of cleanliness...though it was still shoddy at best, according to proper standards. Most of the people going to and fro paid the slaves no mind, though one of them told everyone to sit down and wait their turn. Likely there would be a long wait. I wonder how many of the barbarians are actual doctors... that is, if there were any at all. Even if there were, Albert doubted they knew enough to treat anything beyond the more simple of battlefield wounds...and who knew how much they would know about human physiology. He was led to a larger room further into the complex, lined with beds where a few wounded or sick men lay in the open air. Damned fools, they are...and what the hell is that supposed to be? Albert wasn't too sure he would want to ever find out as he saw the large vats of bright green liquid. Albert was pointed to a bed, and shuffled over to it. It was not very soft, and there was a surprising lack of proper medical equipment around the room. They hadn't even offered him a pillow or blanket...nonetheless he sat on the 'mattress' and lay down. His head was killing him, his arms and legs throbbed with every beat of his heart, and he felt horribly emaciated as the pit of his stomach grew. He hadn't even been able to shave in days, and the stubble growing around face made him feel as disgusting as he surely looked. A doctor will be with his shortly they said...as if he needed to be bloody diagnosed with something!

Taishei! Taishei! the noise of a crowd echoed through the room as the television screamed its adulation- along with the small group which had gathered around it- of some trumped up barbarian on the screen. Probably some general or politician, if there were any difference at all to these people. Odds are that was why he would have to wait to receive medical attention, as the staff was too busy paying attention to their screens than to their patients. The nurse did say it was something of 'importance' after all. Bastard.

The sounds of the angry man giving his speech slowly dwindled away as, for what felt like the first time in years, Albert was able to drift into a blissful sleep. It probably wouldn't last long, but for now, he was able to relish the precious moment. Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to never wake...

[Kisia]

After the speech had ended, most of the hospital staff had taken to working again. The prisoners were being poked and prodded, while all the while the doctors went on about their inherent inferiority to the kisian body. Taking the time to gloat about their medical advances. Eventually, they came to a sprawled out human on one of the beds. Despite the doctors being right next to the bed Albert occupied, he was in far too deep a slumber to hear, nor comprehend what they were saying. They looked the small, frail thing over, grinning about his meager state.

"Pathetic. Makes you wonder why they got this batch of auxiliaries..." one spoke.

"I know. I mean, look at him! A dirty disgrace he is...and they expect these sods to be able to fire weaponry?" another went on.

"While they have been given less fortunate bodies than our own, our technology shall bring them up to par." An orderly said.

"Indeed. Strip him and get him in Tank 7, if you would." A doctor spoke. The orderly nodded. Lightly shaking Albert, he told him to take off the last remnants of his clothing, and to follow him. In the nude, they walked a brief bit over to the tanks. Luckily, Albert wasn't the only one in the nude. Many of the other prisoners were being made to strip and enter into the odd metallic things. Again, the doctors chuckled as they were led like sheep in humiliation. The orderly in charge of Albert opened one of the pods, and told him to step inside.

It was a large (by human standards) cylindrical thing, with a gasmask attached to a hose. The floor was grated, and from the inside, there appeared to be no other means of sight or escape. There was a dim light in the very top of the pod, there to provide illumination. The orderly closed the door, a familiar click being heard. He spoke, his voice being heard through a speaker in the door.

"If I were you, I'd hurry up and put that mask on." He replied. With that, there was a humming sound and the green liquid began to slosh in from the bottom of the pod, at a slightly disconcerting rate. The liquid was cool, but when it ran over a open wound, it burned with a violent intensity. The orderly came on again.

"Before you panic, that is a disinfectant and healing serum. It will burn, but the pain dissipates over time. Try your best to be still." He said. The tank continued to fill before it was a bit over Albert's head, the machine detecting the decreased weight and adjusting the amount appropriately. The humming stopped, and the light shut off. It was then pitch black inside the tube. However, Albert began to feel tired, and eventually fell into a slumber.

Later on, Albert was awoken by the same orderly. He was back on the bed in a nightgown.

"You're done, wounds appear to be fully healed. You can get back to the lobby now, your officer is present." he spoke. As if by telepathy, Tanei walked into the room. He looked about seeing the last of his contingent getting up and starting to move about. He wasn't impressed.

"Move it ladies! You've still got registration and issuing before you get fed, but more importantly, before I get fed!" Tanei said, in his usual bellowing voice. They filed out as fast as they could, some just stepping out of the tubes and still a bit dizzy from the aftereffects of it, one poor wretch started dry heaving right there on the spot. Some medics came to aid him and help him to his feet, putting him in a chair. Tanei protested, but the medics would have none of it, saying he would be registered later. He went off angrily with the rest of his men. They left the hospital, coming back into the hot air. Some time had passed as the sun had gone down a fair bit, and it was noticeably cooler outside, though still hot.

"Form a line! Now damnit!" Tanei yelled, with more anger in his voice than usual. When another one of the prisoners was a bit dazed from the tank, he grabbed and shook him, screaming in a mixture of kisian and basic the whole while. Some soldiers looked on with varying mixtures of amusement and concern on their faces. Again, a pair of soldiers had to come over to remove Tanei from the poor shaking soul. After calming him down, Tanei regained his composure, and ordered the line off.

They went off, marching at a more brisk pace now that their injuries had healed. They went about the base, which was slightly less hectic now that it was evening time. There was a little of everything to be seen. Some soldiers were idly chatting, enjoying a smoke. Others appeared to be playing a game involving dice, and betting. Others stood on sentry duty, and the ever present men in the watchtowers peered down on everyone. A gunship flew by overhead, heading off somewhere. They stopped outside a large building. The Republican Standard and Army War Flag hung from the front of the building, and several soldiers were on guard outside it. the one they were next to.

"This is the Administrative Office. You will be registered here. Go inside, and again, do what they say." Tanei said. He went inside first, the others following in behind.

Administrations Office

Inside the Adminstration Office, it was cool and structured. Aides of every sort were at work, but in an orderly manner. Kisians talked calmly and sipped drinks while talking about various things. It was a shade different from the hustle and bustle of the base itself. Another officer walked over.

"They need to be registered? What unit?" The officer said.

"Yes. 4th Platoon. " Tanei spoke.

"I see. Regardless, we'll get them filed away." He said. He turned to the prisoners. "Alright, listen up! You all will be getting registered! I want you to break into lines of ten and report to those aides over there! Move, double time!" He shouted.

The aides were no more caring than the rest of the them. They asked some basic questions, such as their name, weight, and species. Afterwards, they were issued a small ID card, a sample of blood taken, and something implanted in their skin. The line moved fairly quick, and in a short while, they had all been issued their credentials and become- rather unceremoniously, part of the Republican Army. After again filing out, they marched to another building, with an office attached to a warehouse.

"Right, its judgement day for you miserable sods. You will be issued gear and basic equipment here. Afterwards, we're off the barracks and then I'm getting my fucking dinner." Tanei spoke, before sending them inside.

Quartermaster's Office

Inside, a burly kisian awaited them. He was smoking a cigar, and wore a uniform like the others he had seen, except the tabs on this one were colored blue, instead of yellow. He carried a clipboard with him, and looked down at them. He turned to Tanei and frowned.

"Where are collars?" The QM said. Tanei blinked and looked at the prisoners.

"They weren't issued when they arrived." Tanei replied. Somehow, the kisian managed to frown more.

"Great, more fucking paperwork. One of you, go get a Z-97 form! Hurry! The rest of you, go find some more collars! This is all against protocol, I won't stand for it!" The man shouted at his lessors. One scrambled off into another part of the office. The others took off as well into the warehouse. Ringing some other part of the base, he shouted into a phone and hung up angrily. After a moment of awkward silence, the door flung open, and two soldiers armed with rifles walked in, standing at attention.

"For Lothrig's sake Tanei, are you trying to get us killed? I mean, we're dealing with bloody savages here!" The quartermaster spoke in kisian.

"These bastards are still scarred from the Navy transport over here. They won't do anything as of right now." Tanei replied in kind.

"We shall see." The other kisian replied, before getting on with assigning equipment. He spoke to the prisoners.

"I am in charge of distributing your equipment. You will be issued your basic clothing. You will then show me your ID card, be issued your gear, and you will give me some form of written identification on this sheet." He paused. "Before you savages even think about it, I know how much of everything is in here. So don't even try."

With that, they were led into a larger area. Several other supply clerks were present, standing in line with various stocks of clothing and other equipment. Immediately they got to work, being thrown their uniforms, boots, backpacks, and other assorted gear that they would be given. At the end of the line was the QM. He would get a device of sorts from a large open crate, tinker with it for a moment, then put it around the necks of the prisoners. Each one made a loud beeping sound once it was connected to the prisoner. Soon, Albert was the one in front of the large man. He put the collar around Albert and sent him back outside, under the escort of a soldier.

Back outside, as there were few others around, many had taken to putting on their underclothes and actual uniforms. Inside the backpack rested several pairs of sleeveless t-shirts, undergarments, and other odds and ends. The uniform itself was practical enough, a simple single-breasted olive green tunic. Yellow tabs had been affixed to the shoulders, as well as the right collar. The left boasted some insignia in kisian which was uninterpretable. The pants were the same color as the tunic, with a thin yellow line running down the sides of the pants. His boots were slightly polished, and jet-black in color. Once the rest of the men had left the building and donned their uniforms, Tanei spoke.

"You may be wondering what those are. These are...'compliance' collars. Unlike their naval brethren however, these don't shock you. They explode. Constraints for which are primarily leaving the safe zone, which as far as you need to know, is this base. They will also detonate if you try to remove them, or if the system detects that it's being tampered with. Besides those automatic constraints, we ourselves may detonate these collars at our leisure." Tanei paused, waving a pad about. He breathed.

"Thus, I would act accordingly if I were you all." Tanei said, with a smirk. He looked at his watch, and frowned. "Supper's already started. You will be shown your barracks later. Guards, with me!" The two kisian guards from earlier ran up, taking places at the front and back of the line. Tanei ordered them off at double-time, running across the base to be fed. They stopped outside a smaller prefab building, where the guards ordered the line inside, while Tanei walked into the adjacent building.

Alternative Mess Hall

The building was clearly hastily prepared, as there was still traces of recently completed construction present. Rows of all metal tables and chairs greeted them, and at the very back, a line of grim looking chefs. In a separate area, were some black suited kisians, silently observing the crowd and talking idly amongst themselves. All the prisoners appeared to be in this area appeared to be getting what could only be assumed to be dinner. Some ate, while others looked on at the dull grey-ish slop they had been issued. Several guards were posted in the room, along the front entrance. Others walked up and down the room, occasionally slapping a prisoner, or taking bites from their own rations, which were of clearly better fare. Albert was shoved into a line, given a metal tray and small tin mug, and waited to receive his dinner. Ahead of him was the alien from earlier, the one that asked the question.

A trio of soldiers looked at the yellow alien for a second. Muttering amongst themselves, one went off while the other two approached him. They looked him up and down, a visage of amusement on their faces. One turned around, looking back at something, while the other spoke to the alien, smiling.

"Hey there. You got a name? Mines Keiharo, and this is Iyaiha." Keiharo spoke, extending his hand.

"V-v-Varushad." he said, shaking the extended hand. Iyaiha nodded at Varushad, before tapping Keiharo on the shoulder.

"Ah. Interesting name. Anyways, we just wanted to give you a warm welcome. I take it your're hungry?" Keiharo spoke. Meanwhile, Iyaiha went around behind Varushad, lighting a smoke. Unbeknownst to Varushad, the third soldier had returned as well.

"Y-yes.. it's been a whi-" Varushad started, before Iyaiha kicked him in the back of the knees. Falling forward, Keiharo caught and held him, tilting his head back. Iyaiha produced a small funnel, shoving it into his mouth, and pinching his nose. The third soldier appeared, a large vat in his hands.

"Soups on!" He said, before opening the lid and pouring the contents of the vat down into the funnel. It was a scalding hot soup, Varushad struggled and strained, the steaming liquid flying everywhere as he struggled to drink the contents down as fast as he possibly could, even with it searing his throat. The kisians laughed the whole while, taunting and insulting the alien the whole time. Despite his best efforts, he started coughing the soup back up, his eyes turning bloodshot as he started suffering from asphyxiation.

"Think he's been fed enough?" Iyaiha said jokingly, the rest of the surrounding kisians doubled over in laughing. Many of the prisoners had joined in as well, pointing and smirking at his plight. Keiharo nodded and the third soldier let up, about half of the soup either swallowed, on the ground, or on Varushad. Letting him fall forward, he clamored for air as he started coughing and dry-heaving. Most others stepped around him, not wanting to incite the wrath of the soldiers. As the clamor died down and the line continued to move forward, Albert eventually reached the front of the line. A chef dipped a ladle into a pot and dropped a grey mass onto his plate. It had no discernible smell, and appeared to have little pink pieces of something in it. Another gave him a hard piece of bread. The last took Albert's cup and dipped it into a vat of water that had remnants of ice in it. The chef drank half of it, giving the half-empty cup to him and sent him off. Now it was only a matter of finding a place to sit, the cafeteria had gotten much more crowded, and it could be assumed they would not be dismissed for some time...

[Albert Northe]

The snow continued to fall in torrents, adding to the already thick sheet of ice which carpeted the forest floor. The wind was biting cold tonight, and not for the first time Albert was cursing his luck for having decided to run out like he had. Lord, what was I thinking? Where am I even going? he thought as he pulled his cloak tighter around himself. Already his feet were wet as the snow leaked inside his delicate shoes, designed more for the ballroom than the forest. How long had he been walking, now? It had seemed like hours, but a quick check of his watch- now an uncomfortable chill against his wrist as the metal froze further- told him he had only been gone around twenty minutes. He shouldn't have left, at least not to the outskirts like this...he had already ruined his shoes and was like to get sick. His trousers were looking to be in pretty bad shape too. He turned to see how long it would take him to get back into town, though the lights of the settlement were distant. It didn't look like anyone was following him. That didn't surprise him; odds are his father didn't even notice he was gone, and if his mother had realised, she would be more concerned with salvaging whatever jewellery and dresses she could before running off to one of her lovers. Funny how his father wouldn't even be able to keep hold of his own wife, after this ruin. Albert couldn't help but laugh as he continued his walk through the snow. He shouldn't go blaming his father like that, because with Alcibiad's failure, Albert too had lost everything. Pathetic. The word rang through his ears repeatedly. For all of the wealth and history of his family, for all their hardships and triumphs, this was the end for the Northe name. Such a simple slip up, such a stupid mistake to make, a single charge, and the next day all of his father's assets were seized by the state. The image of Alcibiad sitting at the head of the table, hands shaking over uneaten food, wearing his best suit, waiting to explain the situation to a waiting family appeared in Albert's mind. Fraud, abuse of power, embezzlement, money laundering, the list went on and on, though most of them were ridiculous lies, concocted by enemies to his family. At least this is what his father claimed, but Albert knew better than to trust that. The bottom line was that his father's recklessness had cost the family everything; fortune and name both. Tomorrow when their small citystate awoke from their slumber, the name Northe would go from a one to instil awe and pride in this great experiment, to a bad joke about ambition gone wrong.

There must have been a low lying root below the snow, because Albert in his circular thoughts of worry soon found himself falling. He was covered in snow already, but falling into the pile certainly didn't help, as broken twigs and frozen soil accompanied the flakes falling from above. With an effort, he was able to turn onto his back, facing the sky above where a thousand thousand brilliant stars sparkled through the trees, accompanied by the massive world which they orbited. The very cosmos, in their infinite beauty, seemed to mock him. A dirty disgrace they whispered, in their brilliant light. Albert's eyes were wetted, from tears or from the snow he knew not. It was over. His family was dead, the pittance he was set to inherit gone entirely, any and all hopes of being remembered dashed. His one chance for immortality in the histories was gone. He had always been a tiny bit aware that it was as silly thing to want, the fame of a great general or prestige of a national leader, but it had been what kept him going in the past...he hated ignominy. Get up Albert blinked and rubbed his eyes, as he thought he saw an anomaly in the sky. When he opened them again, the number of stars had grown, and he could hear the sirens blaring. Get up!

He woke from his bed with a shock, taking a quick gasp of air as he took in his surroundings; quickly remembering that he was still in Hell. It simply took a different form now. One of the medical staff stood in front of him, a slight smirk on the mans face at the fearful way Albert sprung up from the bed.

"Strip," the man said, a simple enough command. Albert moved to obey, though sliding from the bed and removing the simple cloth band around his waist was difficult, as his entire body cried out in ache. No sooner than he had left himself exposed did receive a push from the back- it seemed light for these beasts, but enough to nearly push him over- to move across the room. Others were slowly shuffling across as well, he could see, and all being led to what looked like massive medigel machines. Many of the primals were panicking over the grim looking tubes, though Albert recognized it was simply a primitive form of a medical technique his own people had mastered years ago. After all, it wouldn't make any sense to kill them outright now, would it? Not after they went through all this effort...

As he clambered into the device, he was for the first time thankful that these aliens were so much larger than himself. He would have a rather roomy chamber, whereas some others could barely be fit inside. A horrifying experience indeed. By the time a doctor told him to put the mask on through a small speaker in the chamber, he had already been putting on his gas mask. Lord, it was freezing! The chamber was all metal, and the grating below irritated his cut feet and froze them. He tried to keep his arms at his side, knowing that if he crossed them it may inhibit the flow of the gel. He was a shivering wreck by the time the chamber began to fill. The liquid, more like a green ooze than the medigel he was used to, was cold as well, and as soon as it made contact with his soles it began to burn like vinegar on his wounds. He grimaced and had to resist the temptation to hop from foot to foot, the way one might on hot pavement. Thankfully the pain was subsiding almost as fast as the chamber was filling, and so it was not completely maddening. Soon the ooze reached over his head, and it became silent in the chamber. It was dark, too. As the stinging all over his body slowly subsided to a tolerable degree, he found he was able to relax, probably more than he had been able since his capture. It was like his own little world, floating as he was in cold nothingness, and he tried to forget all about the horror of the situation he was in...sadly, he was not so skilled. Whenever he tried to distract himself with different kinds of contemplation, his mind was dragged forcibly back to the grim visages of barbarians of darkened flesh with rifles and swords. It must have been at least half an hour, he later figured, by the time he found himself slipping into sleep.

...The anomalies had grown. Great silver daggers were cutting across the skies, two or three, with smaller ships zipping about on unknown missions.

"I said get the fuck up, boy!" A grim tower of metal stood above Albert, shoving the muzzle of a rifle into his face. A black facewrap stood in place of a proper helmet. Albert had trouble catching his breath as he weakly tried to pull himself away from what seemed to be death itself. He felt himself back into something cold and solid; a steel boot, which promptly delivered a kick to the back of his head, sending Albert wheeling onto his side and clutching at his ringing head.

"Heh, this one's even more pathetic than the others," one of the faceless men growled.

"Worth more'n his weight in gold, though. Look at his clothes; night of fun in that price alone."

Albert felt another kick to his side, forcing the breath from his lungs. He curled up further in pain, every gasp for air bringing blades of pain to his lungs. He was crying, and his lack of cooperation only made the strange men angry. I have to run he thought to himself, I need to be home! Though when he tried to get up, he found that he could not make his legs work. He slid before he even moved an inch, and soon found himself being lifted by gauntleted hands.

"Please," he tried to speak, but the words came out in a gibbering squeak, which only resulted in a guffaw from one of his captors. He felt cold steel at his back, whether the blade cut him he couldn't feel. Then he felt the cold kiss of metal on his legs, and his arms were painfully pulled behind him and tied. With what, Albert couldn't know. He could hardly feel his extremities by now; let alone focus on those details. There was a glow in the distance, and alarms still blazed their warning. Even in the darkened night Albert could see the smoke billowing up from the settlement. A shove in the back, and he was walking back home.

Blinding light crossed his vision, and Albert jerked awake once more. Back in the hospital, moistened with the remnant of slime and wearing a gown. He rubbed at his eyes as he caught his breath, and saw one of the aliens standing over him.

"You're done, wounds appear to be fully healed. You can get back to the lobby now, your officer is present."

"My off-" Albert started, still feeling woozy, though he couldn't finish by the time the barbarian Tanei strode in. He barely had time to register the order in his head by the time a soldier came and forcibly pulled him off the bed, throwing him towards the door. Had he the time, he would have feigned sickness- or at least made his condition more noticeable, as one man was allowed to stay behind. Their officer was too weak to protest against the orders of the medicos.

They were marched over to another part of the base, though the going was even slower than before as many were feeling sick from the tubes. None seemed to pay mind to their officer's shouting for speed, until he took one aside and started to beat him. That made the group, and especially Albert, add to their speed as much they could as they made their way to an administrations building. He gave them the correct name, something he later regretted, and received an identification card to that end. He also had a tracking device of a sort implanted into his wrist. Then they were moved to another building for equipment.

Albert continued to sweat as he stood in line with the rest of his 'unit' as the one called Tanei was being shouted at by what Albert assumed to be the quartermaster. It seemed to be a common theme that the other officers, even enlisted men, treated Tanei differently than they treated others. The naval officer, the man in command of this base, the doctors, everyone seemed to fear and respect the officers placed above them in this place, but whenever an enlisted man passed Tanei their salutes seemed less prompt. Perhaps it was why he was always screaming at his men. Perhaps it would be useful at some point.]

They received their equipment, clothing which was ill fitting on Albert, a rifle he could barely carry, thankfully a large canteen, and a collar. It was not surprising that the Kisians would do something like this to keep their auxiliaries in line, but that thought did nothing to quell Albert's panic as it was snapped around his neck. Did this mean he would be unable to escape? He found he could barely put his head down in the hefty thing, and it seemed to want to drag him into the ground. He could hardly breathe. One slip of that madman's finger, and he would be dead; thrown into some mass, unmarked grave on an alien world, part of some conflict he had nothing to do with. That was of course assuming the savages wouldn't eat him.

It was shortly after that Albert found himself standing in a lunch line with the other slaves. He was approaching the front to receive his own share of grey paste when he noticed the man in front of him- the yellow man who had caused trouble earlier- was on his knees surrounded by three of the soldiers stood around him. When had that happened? Albert came to a halt as the soldiers began forcing scalding hot liquid down the man's throat, and found that he was unable to look away. The fellow slave was sputtering and lashing out, but it was no use as he continued to drown as his lungs burned. The room had grown silent except for the pitiful gurgling and the laughter of every Kisian in the room. A few slaves apparently found it comedic as well.

When the horror had finished, the three threw the man back to the ground and left without a word. Albert cast his eyes down immediately to avoid their gaze, praying that they did not stop and speak with him the way they had Varushad. He stepped around the crying man quickly, not daring to stoop down to help him or even look. He received his food and half cup of water- an annoyance, but he was so thirsty by this point that he didn't care that cretin put his mouth to the water. The portions were sized for a Kisian, and so Albert still had plenty of...whatever the grey slop was. He quickly sat at the closest available seat, between two of the other men in his company, and began to drink. There was backwash in it, and a thin, slimy layer of what he only could guess was a sort of cooking oil, but he didn't pay it any mind. The coolness of it was too pleasant for him to care. He drank it to the last drop, and immediately regretted it. He should have tried to conserve what he had. He had not been allowed to fill his canteen, and God knew when he would next be able to get more water. He looked down at his meal, if one could call it that, and gingerly spooned some into his mouth. It twisted his insides, but at least it was something. He ate as much as he felt he could, hardly a fourth of what was given, before he felt too sick to continue. He lifted himself from his food to look around a bit, noticing that only just now was the yellow man- Varushad- being carried away by uninterested medical staff. A few guards were still chuckling at his misfortune. He looked to be unconscious...or dead. Come to think of it, that may be more likely. The thought made him feel even more sick. Out of the corner of his eye, Albert saw that someone was approaching him. He cast his eyes down again, but the shadow did not move past him. Albert slowly looked up, terrified of what he might find. And those fears were met. A Kisian, dressed in a uniform different from the regular soldiers, stood over him with a smirk on his face.

"You going to finish that?" The barbarian asked simply. It looked like he may have belonged to another penal unit.

"I...," Albert began, but couldn't find the words. He dared not say anything remotely negative to the man, that much was obvious. It seemed that this particular slave thought he was better by virtue of his species...and that the guards clearly agreed. Any attempt at opposition and they would look the other way while he faced Varushad's fate. "No...here you are, sir."

The Kisian smiled and took the tray eagerly, moving back towards his own table. With a sigh, Albert looked around at the men surrounding him, each one looking more battered and dead inside than the last. No one spoke to him, and he dared not speak to them. He had no means currently of making allies, and had probably already made a few enemies with his earlier behaviour. He scratched at his uniform, which was rough and hot in this environment, and played with his spoon. He had considered tucking the metal object into a side pocket, but the overseers were constantly watching, and it is not like it would have been any use to him. He would have to simply bide his time, and eventually perhaps some opportunity would arise. Of course, it was far more likely that he ended up dead in a ditch tomorrow. He struggled to keep back tears at the thought.

[Kisia]

The depressing meal went on, as metal utensils clanked against plates, and the quiet sipping of water. The odd conversation between the penal kisians went off and on, while the alien unit remained utterly quiet. Many of them sat there, staring at their food. The guards sat about, chatting and smoking while the kisian prisoners sauntered over and took the food of the xenos who didn't eat. There were others that did- a scant few ran to a trash bin, the food doing more harm to their bodies than good. Soon though, several officers from coming from their own dining hall entered the tent. The guards promptly got up and snapped to attention, brushing themselves off of any crumbs and quickly stomping on their cigarettes.

"Cease eating!" One of the guards yelled. Hurriedly, many tried to get last spoonfuls of the slop into their mouths, before putting everything down, and looking at the assembled group of officers.

"Kaikoto Jian! Inajta!" An officer yelled in Kisonei. The kisian prisoners stood at once. "Nahiso!" The same officer yelled again. They filed outside, quick and orderly. Another command was given, and the sound of boots was heard, slowly fading away over time. Soon afterward, another group of officers came in. Tanei was with them.

"Alright, get up you bastards! Dinner's over! Outside, now!" Tanei said. After noting their sluggish response, the guards moved in, beating and berating them.

"Did you all not just see with the drill and quickness that your superiors moved at? Get going!" One of the minor officers yelled. They herded the aliens into the columns that they had been used to standing in all day, and set off again- to the gates. It was night now, and there were less soldiers outside now than there were earlier. It was still a decent force, however. The march was quiet, as the forces moved past the gates into an open area just outside the base.

Outer Perimeter

It was quiet outside the base. City lights could be seen far off in the distance. There was a ditch running on both sides of the entrance and bit further in front of it, some anti-tank traps. There were also some assorted bushes and trees in the area. The kisian penal unit from earlier was outside. The alien units were then formed up into blocks. Another officer stepped forward, speaking though a megaphone.

"These are your sleeping quarters. Stay off the road, vehicles pass over it. Don't stray too far from the base, or your collars will auto-detonate. There is a line drawn to show you the limit. That is all." With that, some soldiers stepped forward with boxes, throwing them into the general mass.

"Here are some blankets and tarps. You might need them, it's the rainy season." The soldiers spoke, before returning behind the officers.

"Get some sleep. You'll be needing it soon." Tanei said. The kisian soldiers and officers formed up outside the gate.

"Dismissed!" The lead officer said, and he and Tanei retired behind the walls for the night. The ordered columns quickly became a mass of infighting as kisians and alien alike tried to grab something to survive the night. While it wasn't cold per say, it was a tad cool. Some grey clouds could be seen off in the distance. As the units were not segregated into males and females, some of them had taken the time to attend to other means.

[Neo ORB]

It was the cold relentless void empty with millions of galaxy's blazing by, trillions of stellar objects with there own worlds deeply hidden away far out of reach to any beings who did not have the technology to travel among the stars. With new races discovered everyday new possibility's were learned and advancement continued its silent but sometimes glorious march forward.
However for those watching intently, the mystery's of the universe could once and a while show there brilliant dance of cosmic extravagance. Today however was once such anomaly not made by nature, but by science, for traveling faster then nine hundred million meters a second was a small metal pod as sharp in its design like a diamond for the pods frame, with the ends being shaved off into a rounded point, but oddly enough each end of the pod gave off a faint light made from energy.
On the nose of the pod streaming through the cosmos, was a crystal sphere which was spinning rapidly clockwise which give off a small light. Once and a while that dim light flared and release a torrent of visible blue energy which would dance along the pods frame licking at the metal momentarily until it faded from existence. On the pod four small thrusters located on the front of the body and a single engine located at the back end of the pod gave off a slightly brighter light. But against the backdrop of space, the light didn't really stand out among even the most bright or dimly light stars.
Its single on board energy generator at its engine gave off the same dim light that had once pushed the pod through space, now long since placed into a seemingly eternal standby phase. However such a phase was going to be ending soon as the energy once again flared for its final time along the frame of the unknown pod as if on some strange cue forcing the long dormant systems to awaken from slumber.

That awakening was violent as the crystal at the front of the pod started to spin even more violently eventually shaking and wobbling until it broke free of a single clockwise motion and started spinning in every direction imaginable. As it did the energy floating along the pod became constant until it was covered completely in a bright light as if it was the core of a miniature sun freshly being formed. It was then that the pod's thrusters kicked into life as four streams blaze out energy in straight lances and then slowly started to spin and form a spiral.
As energy was given off the pod's thrusters, its forward momentum had started lessening, slowly at first but every moment increase that countered force to its acceleration. Then as the pod finally lowered its own speed by twenty five thousand times divided from three times light speed, it roared into an unknown system at thirty six thousand meters a second while cutting off all energy to the pod causing it's brilliant light show to completely cease, from there it ran through the system smashing into asteroids and comets which caused the pod to violently redirect its route towards a unknown planet after decades of silent travel.

It had started simply, the pod had smashed into a large asteroid that had been traveling towards the planet on a passing course, however the pod had hit the asteroid with enough force to split the asteroid half and by unlucky chance get stuck right smack dab in the middle of the rock. Karma and fate were cruel mistress's indeed as the asteroid had been only slightly porous in the way in the pod had entered, the resulting shock wave had started a domino effect within the solid rock as it became unstable as air the few air pockets burst, cracked and broke into further pieces creating a large meteor shower that was going to hit the planet, however by scanners the meteor shower was broken small enough to not be of any damage to the planet itself and all the rock would likely burn away in the atmosphere.

So in the middle of the night fireworks of blazing rock streamed across the night sky. But for the pod which had traveled the void, its added on rock covering had provided a shortly used up shield which had eventually exploded sending the pod rolling through the atmosphere towards solid ground. Unfortunately, the pod which had been designed for waking the occupant up inside by reaching a specific temperature during re-entry had not reached that minimum safety design. Thus the unseen occupant had been kept completely frozen, unable to deploy the pod's shield generators and anti gravity protocols. The pod continued to spin helplessly towards the ground and below sirens had started to wail alerting a compound below of the incoming objects due to the asteroids exploding overhead, however the warning came too late. By the time searchlights had been pointed on the direction of the pod and falling rubble that had survived re-entry, the pod had slammed into the dense forest beyond the compound to its west, exploding in a ear splitting band and momentarily causing a blinding flash of light to illuminate the night sky for a split second and then there was silence other then the forest moaning as trees broke beneath there own weight at the crash site.

At the point of impact, a twenty meter crater dug into the earth with a radius of at going away from the impact point for sixty seven meters spread, near by trees which had still been standing had been shredded by small crystals, while others which had the unluckiness of being at the direct point of impact had been either completely uprooted and tossed around or simply vaporized, the ones that had been shredded by the pods explosion but not fallen would collapse at any moment due to weight. And in the middle of it all, in the crater was a young girl floating in a luminescent gel covering (like a gel pill) which glowed a faint mixture of green and blue.

The girl within the gel only wore bandages which had been arranged to look like a skin tight two piece uniform completely devoid of any markings or identifiers to signal where or when she had come from. On her right hand six small gems glowed faintly, one in the middle of her palm with the five remaining gems being nestled into the collateral ligament between the first and second phanlax (the finger joint which bends after the knuckle).
Her body was Caucasian in skin tone standing at only 4'8" and looking In age she at no more then fifteen or sixteen. The hair on top of her head was a mixture of blue and black, cut at the shoulder length while the hair lower to the base of the spine was longer then the rest, however a small braid going down her left side of her face to her breast with a small bell fused into it was the longest piece of hair on her body. With her hairline leaning to the right it caused her bangs to cover up her right eye on most occasions. Her closed eyes suffered from Heterochromia iridum, which caused her right iris to look like azure, unlike her left solid ocean blue iris. The most disconcerting fact was even though the girl looked like a human being, there was something unmistakable off about her not only in presence, but in the fact that sprouting from her back, tightly folded around her body as if she were using them to hug herself were two long wings of jet black with the end of the feathers showing that same deep blue coloring also found in her hair.
The girl's beauty if it could be called that was strange, comforting and unmistakably alien and that would prove itself evermore within the coming hours.

Sounds could be heard outside the crater moving towards it through the forest, the sound of branches cracking underfoot, of lit fires being hastily put out, the sound of strange voices with a hint of annoyance and lots of anger while others sounded fearful. Then a presence entered the crater, it was one at first then dozens as whoever they were, they were looking at the lightly luminescent gel and floating being within.

Then there was a small three second tone of music like a machine beeping when booted on that echoed from the impossibly from the gel itself and then a tone of music notes reached out into the surroundings like a hidden message as the gel was absorbed into the girls bandages and disappeared from view. Leaving the girl alone on the dirty crater flooring however the same tones of music then played once again in the air as a small electric shock discharged from the girls bandages causing her body's muscles to lockup and then release all built up tension.
The girls body quickly relaxed in the dirt as the electrical discharge faded from her body and ever so slowly her eyes awakened and looked towards the night sky, slowly she spoke as one of her small hands reached to hold onto the side of her head, but it was not words that came out of her mouth, but mainly musical tones and the slightest of chirps as if a songbird and a musical orchestra combined itself to form a language.

"Where am I... all I remember was being shoved into that pod... ouch my head... I wonder how long I've been out... i think i remember them saying that if the head hurt and a electrical discharge was used that meant extended cryosleep... I don't recognize these star formations... and i don't think my body is really going to move anytime soon..."

But then the voice stopped as something hard impacted against her head where her hand was held, her thoughts stopped and only an intensive pain like being shocked remained... the girl wanted to say "huh" as if in confusion, but such a sound never left her mouth when another blow connected into her hand, there was a sickening snapping sound as the blow connected, her hand broke and twisted away from her body. The pain was almost as intense as the day her wings had started growing, but this new sensation had no chance of stopping as more blows connected into her body, instinct told her that she had to protect her head with her arms, but somehow a hard boot had found her face before she could make such an action. Her head snapped back as another blow connected to her midsection, lifted her off the ground and sent her smashing into one of the weakened trees near the edge of the crater.
Once again there was a snap, one far more sickening the the last one as her head hung down as she lost conciseness from the sudden pain and a large gash released blood steadily from her forehead. She couldn't tell what the blow with the tree had broken but from the outside looking in, was her wings as they hung from her body at strange angles and were in shreds. Feathers floated down through the air as the few on the ground were covered in crimson blood. The bones that weren't pulverized within had broken, splintered and protruded through the flesh covering the girls pretty feathers with a slightly red coating as blood slowly soaked them. Her right arm and left hand bent in odd locations and bled steadily causing the girls white bandages to be died a sickening crimson in areas as well as along her midsection below the belly button. However silently the strange clothing was also tightening lightly where wounds had been opened, sealing blood flow slightly while the same luminescent gel from earlier in far smaller amounts sealed wounds stopping blood from escaping and starting an advanced but highly limiting regenerative process as her wounds closed up for the first stage of healing but not able to go further.

But girl laid there against the tree as it fell behind her for a few moments before being roughly dragged away by her legs as a small trail of blood lead away from the crater and towards a compound as unknown beings dressed like each other still stood frozen in what looked like utter fear.

And in the sand near the center of the craters impact zone was a small palm sized sphere able to fit perfectly in female hands, its luminescence gone, it's energy's within unresponsive, and yet the object was odd, it was a solid sphere of crystal, something that couldn't be formed naturally in nature and yet it seemed like it demanded attention, the sphere was almost watching as the beings dragged its master away by her legs into the compound beyond, but then something happened which it didn't expect as beings yelled at each other as groups formed lines and patterns. An unknown hand quickly grabbed the sphere up and placed it as naturally as possible into its back pocket.

[Albert Northe]

Albert watched with a grim fascination the procession of the Kisian slaves marching out and away from the mess hall at the command of their officers. Their immediacy and style gave them the appearance of automotons, who even in their current roles as- what he would assume were- suicide units, they responded to their officers with what seemed like absolute loyalty and devotion. These were a warrior people, for certain, and probably entirely devoid of all Philosophy and sense of ethics. Then, after a brilliant display of command, came the next show; his own officer Tanei. At his own command Albert stood as fast as possible. He was clearly the first of his own company to stand, and tried to mimic the movements of the Kisians as he moved to form the column. He hated every moment of it, and every time the insepid, pitiful excuse for a man who called himself their officer gave a command or opened his mouth for any reason, the hatred he kept bottled inside grew a tiny bit more. It took effort to avoid grinding his teeth when the lowborn dared call him bastard. This burning hatred was compounded by the complete lack of respect he held for the man. A good commander inspired love among his men, as those on his homeworld had. A bad commander inspired fear, as the other Kisians had. The worst commander could inspire nothing but contempt and hatred. It was clear which of these Tanei represented. He, and his entire species, were the exact sorts of people his forefathers had escaped from, and warned against, when they took flight to Delos. Nevertheless, at least for now he hopped at the command of the creature, and imagined he would have to swallow his pride many more times to suvive this hell (not that he had much pride to start). Even still it was tempting, as the company was drawn up and marched towards the gates, to unsling his weapon and engage in unsolicited target practice.

Wait, the gates? That isn't right, they can't be training us now, they- oh, no... As the column went through the gate to the outside world, he was able to see that his company was hardly alone. All of the auxilliary units had formed up outside the base, including the Kisians themselves. The officers distrubuted a very limited number of rags to serve as bedding, and marched off back into the base. It was quiet for a few short breaths, as the Kisian slaves sauntered up and took what they wished of the bedding. No one dared to stop them, and before the fight could start over who would get the remainder, Albert turned and started to talk. He wondered how far away that line, which when crossed would trigger his collar, actually was, or if one existed at all. Either way he moved perpendicular to the walls out of fear of the thing, until he as far enough away from the gates that he felt secure no one would try to bother him. He laid down on the softest piece of ground he could find, propping his pack up as an uncomfortable pillow beneath him. It was dark, and the air was thick and muggy. Above the noises of the base and the fighting over supplies, strange insects and birds sang their songs from the alien forest. Albert wondered what sorts of horrors likely awaited him in that forest. Be it some queer beast or an enemy scout, it was entirely possible he wouldn't even last through this night. After all, it was rather obvious that he and the others formed some primitive early warning system, a first line of defence which was entirely expendable, against the nameless and faceless foe against which they supposedly fought. Iwonder if they would be able to remove this collar... he thought to himself, but quickly dismissed the idea. They were probably just as likely to behead him and steal his equipment as take him in and help him escape this horrible world. You could not trust a barbarian, and those who called themselves 'Kisian' were some of the worst. That much he had heard in the past, and now it had been confirmed for him. Of all the peoples who could have found his former captors, it had to be the Kisians.

The clouds above broke to reveal a massive white moon, surrounded by a celestial sphere entirely different from the one which once comforted him. He was very far from Delos; he missed the comforting mass of the planet Aegea, which once would encapsulate his entire vision in the night. He missed the ringing of the church bells to announce the late hours, and the faint humming of the liturgy from the distant monastery, sung every hour of every day. There were no bells on this world; the only singing that of the beasts beyond thick walls of trees. This sky was cold and lonely. "Oh God", he whispered, not knowing to whom, "Why have you so forsaken me?". He had never been much of a one for the study of the Theos, but at this point he could think of nothing else. No other force in this universe seemed quite as appropriate to question and curse at this moment. If there was truly a Divine Reality, be it the God of the Christian community on his old home, or the vague discussions of Nous from the Aristotelians, it had proven itself to be either arbitrary or impotent once and for all. He was truly alone. The teachings of his homeland, so loving of the 'dignity of the sentient being', had not served as a bastion against the barbarism of the galaxy, nor had their faith. It was all lies. It was all dead now. Was he the last one? Who knew how many of his former countrymen were now spread across the galaxy, or buried in unmarked graves? He may as well have already been buried. "A sign," he whispered, "that is all I ask. A simple sign that I shall not die come the morning."

And that was when the sky began to rain fire.

[Kisia]

After the initial commotion of securing bedding for the night, it was relatively peaceful. Everyone did their own things, be it chatting about recent events and battles, sleeping off in a corner or conversing with the opposite sex. They were still under supervision from the Kisian sentries in the watchtower, the illuminating searchlights roaming over them every once and awhile. From inside the base, a broadcast was going on, and the powerful notes from the East Hano State Anthem were playing. Overhead, meteors were falling, adding a unique compliment to the broadcast. Some kisians on the walls paused to look up. Everything was calm.

Then it happened. A streak of fire across the sky. A flash of light. An explosion in the forest. The base suddenly went to high alert as an alarm was raised. A kisian started shouting commands over the radio, and the searchlights turned to the immediate forest surroundings.

Administration Center
Hanyara walked in briskly, while two guards flanked him in full combat gear at his sides.

"What in Lothrig's name was that explosion? Are we under attack?" Hanyara spoke rapidly.

"We don't believe so major. Reviewing footage from our aerial drones in the area, we believe....something fell in the general area. We can't get a good view on it, due to the smoke obscuring the area." a minor officer spoke.

"Send out a force then, I want no potential threats this close to this base." Hanyara said. The officer nodded and started speaking over the radio again.

Outer Perimeter

There were very few who hadn't awoken from the explosion, and those who did were currently being jostled awake by other prisoners and minor officers. The command squad from earlier had formed outside again, and was rapidly giving formation orders. Tanei was shouting with a megaphone while everything was going on.

"Auxiliaries! You are on Fire Service! The stronger of you will be issued portable water tanks to carry. The rest of you will get buckets, and put out the fires before they spread any further! Follow all orders, or you will be shot. Escape, as always, is impossible. Remember that when you think about trying to run away in the jungle. Now then, get equipped!" Tanei shouted.

By then, soldiers had come out, throwing buckets at the auxiliaries and equipping some of the stronger aliens with the water tanks. The kisians were being shouted at in their own native tongue, but from the looks of it, it appeared they were acting as base defense, supporting their non-imprisoned kisian brethren. Actual Republican Army troops had already emerged from the base in full combat uniform, holding their rifles. They marched ahead of the auxiliaries, who rapidly reformed and marched into the burning jungle.

It was somewhat organized chaos, as the auxiliaries put out the fires, with some kisian support. Little by little, they fought their way to the crash site. Oddly enough, none of the auxiliaries tried to run, those that looked like they were got beat promptly by a combination of soldiers and nearby officers. When they arrived, and managed to put out the final fires, they took a look at what had landed...

There, appeared a girl encased in some sort of gel capsule. Wearing nothing but some various bandages, she had been clearly rendered unconscious from the crash. A group of kisian officers walked closer to the girl, while the rest of the kisian soldiers and auxiliaries stood around the crater. Upon closer inspection, they saw that she had wings of some sort. The officers looked at each other in puzzlement and interest.

"What....is...she?" Tanei spoke. The officers looked about.

"We know one thing, she isn't human. Those wings...suggest otherwise." spoke Mokaro, who was the leading group officer.

"Probably a damned spy from West Hano." spoke another officer.

"Maybe. I don't see how they could manage to hire off-world agents however....unless they've manged to develop limited forms of non-planetary communication." Mokaro replied. Standing next to the girl was disconcerting, as some of the officers got anxious, drawing their pistols, before he gave an order not to shoot as of now.

"I say we kill her now and get it over with!" yelled Tanei, brandishing his sword. He held it up as if to strike.

"No. I'm leading officer here Tanei, and you will follow my orders! Kill her, and your life is forfeit."

"You would allow this abomination to live? Kill it now rid the galaxy of such a thing!" Tanei barked back, sensing the challenge. Some officers nodded with Tanei, agreeing tactly with him.

"This thing may know valuable information from West Hano. We will capture her, find out what she knows, and go from there." spoke Mokaro, staring Tanei in the eyes. He knew he had won. Tanei simply sheathed his sword and bowed. Mokaro pointed at two kisian soldiers.

"You two, she appears unconscious. Carry her back to base." Mokaro stated. They nodded and walked over, but before they could pick her up, a musical tone played. The gel absorbed into the girls bandages, and she appeared to 'lock up', before her muscles released. They looked at her for a moment, deciding if it was safe to attempt to carry the girl. But again, before they could, she awoke into brief consciousness. Expecting her to speak in normal voice- she instead spoke in an odd musical language and a series of chirps. One of the soldiers lost his nerve, and hit the girl point blank in the face with his rifle butt.

"No, don't cause her any further harm!" Mokaro tried to state in vain. But the unnerved junior officers and green soldiers refused to quit, stomping and kicking the girl. They beat her until bones shattered and broke, as blood ran from opened wounds and cuts. The assembled kisians around the crater had gone into a war fervor, screaming and hollering as they watched the group beat the girl beyond reasoning. Mokaro screamed in a guttural tone.

"Stop this, now. Do you all see what you've caused? If she dies, we have all failed in the service of the Premier, by failing a task from a superior officer." Mokaro stated plainly. The officers and soldiers froze.

"If she does....we must kill ourselves for honors sake." An officer muttered offhandedly.

"Well then, quit beating her and try your utmost to save her life then!" Mokaro retaliated. They sprung into action, one soldier injecting her with a vital stimulant, while another attempted to make a splint to stabilize the girls broken limbs. Another radioed the base to inform them that they had found the girl in critical condition, and to prepare Medical for their hasty arrival. After they had tried to bandage her as best they could and securing the arm in a locked position, they dragged her by the legs out of the area. The soldiers had rapidly reformed and marched off quickly, the axuillaries had gotten the message much sooner and had already fallen in behind them.

In the mass hysteria of earlier, nobody had noticed that a strange crystal had fallen to the ground...

[Albert Northe]

The shower of lights was beautiful at first, as the bright spears shot across the sky before winking out of existence. For a short time the noise coming from across the way, where the other slaves were camped, quieted as the sky fell. Albert felt his eyes water. The warm air, laying on the grass, with naught but the stars for light...he could almost imagine he was home, were it not for the blaring of heathen notes over a radio. The words were alien, but he knew what they were singing. "Your home is now so far away, never more to see your love, never more the sun!" Once again the stars themselves seemed to mock him as they danced through the void, across the great celestial spheres. How long had it been since that last fateful night? It could only have been a few months now...but it had seemed to be an eternity ago. He used to be someone, the son of one of the most influential men in all Delos, a student in one of the greatest academies of the universe...but never very brave. Even had he been in the city at the time of attack, he still doubted if he would have been brave enough to go to muster. Every man of Delos was required to take up arms to the defense of the homeland if it was required, but would he have followed that duty? Would he have actually fought to protect the traitorous Archons and their ilk in government? Well, it was unimportant now. This time he had no choice, it seemed, to fight...for a force far worse than any politician back home.

Then the alarms began to ring, and massive spotlights shot their probing fingers into the sky, fixing on a meteor as it sped towards the ground. Albert wasn't able to get a good look at it before it slammed, with a monstrous crash which made him clutch at his ears, into the dense forests. Before he could even stand, there were officers at the gate shouting at the men to form up, as soldiers trotted off into the woods after the meteorite.

"Auxiliaries! You are on Fire Service! The stronger of you will be issued portable water tanks to carry. The rest of you will get buckets, and put out the fires before they spread any further! Follow all orders, or you will be shot. Escape, as always, is impossible. Remember that when you think about trying to run away in the jungle. Now then, get equipped!" Tanei shouted.

Albert was tempted to put that threat to the test, to just say screw it and run as fast as he could. He was farther away from the main group, and in the chaos no one would likely notice him...but as he sucked in he became all the more aware of the collar under his neck. He wouldn't get far. With a muffled curse, he ran towards the group as it formed up, accepting the bucket he was given and trying to drown out the constant buzzing that was Tanei.

It was slow going through the forest, as the fires spread slowly in such a wet environment, but being equipped with only buckets and water tanks they could only advance so quickly. Eventually they had come to the clearing, where a number of trees had been knocked down before a large crater. This was where the hardest work was to be had, as Albert went back and forth from tank-carrier to flame trying with the others to douse a tree. None of their officers had been thoughtful enough to organize any sort of line. In the chaos, Albert had not noticed that many of the Kisian soldiers had gathered around the crater, staring confusedly inside. Some strange creature from the forest, it must have been some large bird, began to sing. Albert looked around, but saw nothing, and quickly decided to get back to work when a soldier made to clout him on the head for stopping. He could not see inside of the crater; but he did take note when one of the officers began screaming at men in the trench. From what Albert could gather, something had gone wrong, likely a breach of discipline of some sort. What the hell had they found in the meteorite? All of the officers looked ashamed of themselves, and the enlisted men a mix of dread and dishonour. Something had clearly happened.

A few moments after the last of the major flames were put out, with no major concerns other than a few burns and scrapes among the slaves, Albert was trying his best to catch his breath without leaning on a tree or sitting down. It wouldn't do to have the others see him like that. That was when a few more Kisians slid down into the crater, and started to pull something out. Something beautiful. He could see wings, black as the night, and they were covering a girl, a child. It was wounded, wearing hastily applied bandages and bruised all over, as the Kisians dragged it out of the crater and began to run it back to the base. So hasty they were that they passed right by Albert before even stopping to form up an escourt. He could see clearly the being, which for all intents and purposes seemed a human, just like he...were it not for the wings of blue and black, and hair of the same. Yet, even covered in bandages, she was beautiful.

"An angel..." he found himself whisper, "it can it..." His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a blow to his back. He dropped to the ground, the air pushed out of his lungs as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Up! Finish your job!" The soldier pointed to the crater, where a few other slaves were putting out the remaining flames. Without a word, Albert snatched up his bucket and slid into the hole. He filled the bucket from a larger slave's tank, and walked limply over to a small flame, cackling on a twig. He poured the entire bucket over it, a horrid waste, but it was the last of the flames. Just as he went to turn away, however, something caught his eye. It didn't seem important at all, just a small rock on the ground, he didn't know why he glanced at it a second time. Yet, like the girl, it seemed to have a strange beauty about it. He snatched up the stone and slid it into a pocket before running off to join the others.

When they had returned to their ramshackle camp, the sirens had gone out, and everything had seemed to have returned to normal. The walls were dark, the forest still sang its noise- though the birds seem to have left, with their queer noises- and more dreadful marching music was playing over the speakers. Albert went back to his old spot, and laid down. Then he remembered the stone...why had he picked it up? He pulled it out and made to throw it away, before noticing something. A part of the stone, which was covered in ash and dirt, had rubbed clean and...it was not a stone. He began to rub away at it, scratching away the thin layer of dust, to reveal something not altogether natural. He hid it, looked around himself to check no one could see. No one was paying him any mind. After all, why should they? He turned back to the stone, crystal, whatever it was...it was small, just smaller than the palm of his hand, and it was a perfect sphere. That was what was so strange about it. It was perfectly round, a smooth crystal...it must have been cut; it may have been worth something. He smiled as he slid his hands across it. This was a lovely find. It might just be his ticket to freedom, if he could use it properly...could he trust it on his person? The Kisians had never searched him before, but if they found it...

Perhaps I should bury it... he thought, but then who is to say I will have it when I may need it most, or what may happen if I am captured...but then, if they catch me with it... his mind flashed to the torture of the yellow man, Varushad, on a merely arbitrary basis. He shuddered to think what might happen if he was found harbouring riches. Not to mention what might happen if another slave found him with it; he would wake up with a stake through his heart. Yet something told him he shouldn't bury it. It was beautiful, the work of at least a craftsman, if not a master of the art. It was...the closest thing to something he might see at home, in this terrible place. He didn't want to bury the magnificence by digging it into a ditch. He loved it. He laid back on the ground, holding it close to his heart, fingering the coolness of its smooth sides as he contemplated what to do. He would need to come up with a decision by sunrise, he knew...and yet he could focus on so little.

[Neo ORB]

The girl had been dragged through the forest by her legs, the serums which they had injected into her body silently worked there healing process together with her own gel that had entered the wounds to seal them. Unfortunately that mix quickly started to have complications within her body and unforeseen side effects as the strange serum form her unknown hosts fought against the medical gel that was already within her body. However this serum was stronger then the gel rapidly healing beyond what the "Nare" Cryo-healing gel that had encased her was able to do.
And so slowly as she was transported through the forest the gel was being pushed out from her pores back into her bandages, from there the wounds that had already been sealed and partly healed by her own technology rapidly progressed until the wound had almost never been there to begin with. Cellular regeneration was amplified and her unique bones which where weaker then a humans due to being hollow were slowly formed back together from the pulverized calcium and shards that had speared her flesh, only to be forced back within her bodies mass and reconnected or completely recreated.

In fact it could even have been called a blessing that these beings had beaten the girl into unconsciousness because the pain that speared her body otherwise now would have been far too much for the conscious mind to bare and she would have been completely broken. It was as they had entered the medical building within the confines of the encampment that such processed had even started working however as the infighting between the two serums finally ceased. Unknown doctors looked at the girl scanning her body while others quickly took some blood for analysis It was while they tried to remove the girls bandages that they encountered the first problem that would come associated with the girl.

They had tried to cut them away physically, only to find that the bandages while seemingly delicate but very elastic fibers would not cut, in fact as one of the doctors tried to cut it with a pair of metal medical shears. That the finely honed edges of the blade not only wouldn't cut the fabric but where in fact quickly dulled trying to slice the fabric. However the doctors were determined and concentrated their efforts on the same spot until final minutes after they had started to finally cut into the first line of the strange bandage on the girls hand, however the damage for even a few millimeters of sliced fabric was the damaging of three shears.

It was only then that one of the doctors finally noticed a small groove on the chest of the girls bandaged shirt going down from her neck to her belly button and by medical curiosity pressing the grove from the neck down with light force did the girls bandages react. A small beep rose from nowhere and then the bandages that had covered the girl's body and had cause the doctors so much grief rapidly unraveled by themselves losing all ability to hold together over the girls entire frame and connected together overlapping the same spot on the girls right bicep and right tight as if they were a single piece of cloth. Silently the doctors sighed and spoke amongst themselves having achieved some success at moving the girls bandage's but as they looked at there three damaged shears, they could help but feel that the girl was going to be a lot of trouble since even after everything they had done they still couldn't remove the bloody bandages from her body, only move them.

The girl now naked was striking, but the doctors paid her frame no mind as the scanned her body once again and took more blood samples, at the same time they removed a few of the girls feathers and took some small bone samples for composition and records. It was then that carefully they picked the girl up and carried her into one of the metal containers within the medical facility. As they leaned her unconscious body against the cold metal one of the medical staff took the time to connect the mask to the girls face since she couldn't do it otherwise.
They had received preliminary reports that the girl had been surrounded in gel without any sort of breathing application, but from those reports the doctors could also assume that whatever was in the girls lungs had also been removed when the gel had flown into her bandages. Sighing the medical staffer that had connected the mask looked at the girl one last time and then left the container. Its doors sealing shut as more solutions slowly filled the pod until the girl was completely covered beyond from head to toe by a good foot or two. Her body being far lighter then most quickly started floating within the solution as her body lightly bubbled from more healing and disinfectant.

And it was while she, this strange girl was in the container that her blood analysis came back. Within that information was her DNA which had read over two hundred chromosomes pairs and had a theorized DNA strand unlike anything that had been seen before which wasn't only twisted as the standard but was likely hexagonal and interwoven in design. All in all even though this girl looked like some lower class hybrid being, she was anything but, at least genetically.

And it was then while the doctors where busy either looking over her newly created charts or over there own people, that she started to stir silently within the confines of the medical container, the healing process progressing enough to wake her for her slumber.
Silently floating within the solution, her eye lids slowly twitched and then started to open.
Her vision was blurry and black as she opened her eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever and immediately the stung like fire as the unseen solution caressed her opening eyes, she twitched from the sudden pain, but her body felt unconnected as the pain quickly subsided.

And so slowly she blinked adjusting to the darkness until she felt comfortable enough to try and move her wings, they unfurled slowly but they had felt heavy it was strange why would they be so heavy to the point where she had difficulty moving them and as she wondered, she realized that this couldn't be "Nare" Cryogel it wasn't this heavy, although the biggest realization was that there was no glow, no illumination, she quickly started to panic, moving her heavy arms and wings trying to escape for this new found darkness, but no matter what she did her body gave no reaction to any movement and so she floated there in solitude and was forced to calm down and analyze her situation. After minutes of thinking she realized she wasn't exactly breathing on her own as air was pumped and sucked out gently from her lungs... she was confused, where was she... why couldn't she remember anything.

It was lonely within the darkness, but her silence was about to end as light slowly flooded into the visible spectrum, in fact it grew bright enough that she had to close her eyes and even then the light assaulted through her eye lids forcing her to be momentarily blinded. It was as she was blinded that the solution that surrounded her started to be released from the container, flowing though the metal grate below her. As it lowered to did her body until she stood on the grate, it was cold and damp as the solution soaked her wings and hair which made her feel more uncomfortable. She quickly shook her hair trying to removing most of the excess while lightly flapping her wings within the container to try and remove the excess off of them, unfortunately her endeavor on the latter count was far slower then she would have liked but within a few moments her wings while still kinda drenched at least had a slight sheen to them as she flapped them and then nestled them to her body. It was cold and that made her jump from it once again but then put the discomfort away since she could dry them later.

It was then that she noticed she was in this metal container naked, her eyes grew wide as her fingers lightly touched her skin feeling her body up. She wondered why she was naked as her fingers enclosed upon the mask that was attached to her face and pulled it off, there was a small suction to it which popped as she removed it from her skin. It luckily didn't leave a mark, but the adhesive used had made the area where it had been attached to her facial skin softer which was to her annoyance. It was then after fuming for a moment she took a step forward and felt the wall of her container, it was smooth, warm and then as if on command opened. Her eyes blinked as she tried to used her right hand to shield her eyes form the excessive light that flooded in but as she tried to block the light two unknown pairs of hands reached in and grabbed her arms and pulled her out violently while quickly throwing her to the floor, she chirped in surprise and then spoke out in that musical language.

"Hey what are you doing to me..."

And then the girl went silence as her eyes focused on several people in front of her, for them they felt different and looked at her with animosity filling their eyes some smiled, others spoke quietly as they pointed at her and one in far nicer looking clothing with an odd flaming object in his mouth simple lowered his body to get a good look at her, he was far older then those who she had seen as she felt that his aura pulsated power. Of course she did try struggling to get up, but the two unknown beings who had grabbed her held her down tightly as technicians secured chains to her arms and legs. And so she simply looked at her captors realizing now at least partly her situation.
and then ten beings entered from behind the smaller group in front of her all dressed the same way save for two hulking masses in massive armor with giant weapons quickly pointed at her.

The older being who had gotten down to look at her closely quickly then took the effort to stand up turn on his heels and then spoke rapidly to the newcomers, they of course made strange gestures, but even then his tone sounding angry as he quickly walked up to the one that looked in command of the group while he pointed at her. The commanding new comer took the verbal assault with a stone faced expression... the Girl though she saw the older being smile a bit before shaking his head and taking the object from his mouth and placing it against the newcomers unsuspecting hand.
His body shook suddenly from the pain, but his didn't dare move or scream and remained stone face which seemed to make the older being happy as he relit the object and then placed it back into his mouth, its smoke hanging around the ceiling of the building before speaking obscurely and pointed towards her before pointing outside. The group spoke at once and then with sudden movement, the two beings who had held her got up and then started to drag her by her chains along the hallway and out into the light.

What greeted her was an contingent numbering in the thousands who looked at her with awe and fear, they hollered and cheered, others threw what she could guess was food of some sort at her which mainly missed but the few lucky potshots did hit her naked frame smearing it with grey matter which momentarily clung to her body before dropping to the ground and being dragged through it. Whenever something hit her the cheering got even louder as some of the beings fired objects which fired fire momentarily from there ends into the air which strained her hearing to the max and made her dizzy. And then that older being walked out from the building behind her with his smaller contingent now followed by a few doctors and everything went quiet.

Every beings around made gestures as she was dragged on the ground away and the being spoke loudly while pointing to the mess on the ground and then spoke angrily while taking an small object from his side and pointing it into the air and fired. quickly everyone in the area started cleaning up with fearful vigor as the man smiled and then put away the object before following the escorted girl. She got so see the compound for quite a while as the was dragged through it, but everywhere she looked beings in uniformed stopped what they were doing momentarily to look at her and holler in her direction with strange smiles and gestures. they laughed and cheered which confused her. where they laughing at her and what did there gesture mean?
She wanted to ask but felt that doing so you invoke an action similar to the strangely cruel treatment like that of Yula'fier back on Alpha-Genisi. And so remained quiet and tried to hid her face ungracefully from growing embarrassment to which the older being simply smiled and lightly chuckled in her direction.

It was as she was dragged into a another building that everything went dead quiet, the solders dragging her stopped their odd conversation which she couldn't understand while her escort quickly relaxed a bit but still pointed their objects in her direction. And that being who had followed her speaking only once an a while went stonefaced his expressions went dead serious. They walked through dozens of armed passageways which the girl looked at in what seemed partial interest, but it was more just a reaction to the bright lights which illuminated overhead that would pass her which blinded her ever so lightly creating dots in her vision. It was then as she was dragged down stairwell after stair well painfully that the entire mood of the group grew stricter and deadly as after finally stepping off the final steps, the dragged her through the only passageway to a door at the far end, of course there had been other doors, but unlike them the one she was forced to look at was lit and heavily armed by at lease a dozen personnel. They gestured and then started entering some sort of code into a nearby panel which opened the door in front of her.

She was quickly dragged through into a pure white room surrounded by reflecting glass, on the furthest wall were built in chains which they turned her around so that her back was facing the wall and then quickly locked her arms and legs into before removing the one's they had placed onto her prior. It was then that she saw the doctors quickly moving to the side of the room, the man who escorted her standing in a gesture and then spoke to someone who entered. As he stepped aside she saw two beings. One far older with clothing that was covered in objects and another who held a beautiful chair which was quickly placed in front of her. The older being then sat down in front of her only a foot or two separating them and then spoke as his eyes looked upon her with slight interest before turning to the others in the room.

The being spoke several things at first to the rooms other occupants and then turned his gaze back onto her, this time it was harder and then he spoke, his tone heavy as his hands reached into a pocket and pulled a small object out and opened it. Within were several smaller thick brown objects which he took one out and then handed the box to his follower who quickly handed a small multiple holed silver object back to the being, as he placed the end of the brown object into the center hole the end of it quickly fell away to the ground and then placed it into his mouth before his follower made a small flame appear from there hands and held it to the open end which quickly grew red as the flame was sucked in, smoke drifting into the air. The being smiled before blowing smoke into the girls face. She gagged and then started to cough violently as the being lightly laughed towards her and spoke.

Of course she couldn't understand and could only tilt her head towards the man with a confused expression and the man sighed and the spoke again, the same sounding words. after no response the quickly looked to his follower and spoke, a quickly conversation broke out between the two of them before he turned his attention back to her and spoke again, this time in another language. Of course she still didn't understand and only tilted her head again towards the sitting being with a confused expression played out on her face.
He then continued to speak one language after another, but all received the girls same response of silence and confusion. the man sighed as he placed his head within hi hand and then got up and lightly pushed the chair away and then turned to his doctors and engaged in conversation.

It was then that the girl spoke her tones and chirps gentile and clear as a bell as if she was singing, at and the same time she looked at the chains binding her to the wall and lightly moved her arms and hand trying to remove them, the metal clanking loudly against each other as she made a furrowed face trying to get her hands out from the chains on the wall. her response was obviously more or less directed at the being who had pushed his chair away.

"Hey where am I? and why have you chained me? Lorthorus's sacred guides, your breaking them so release me already I don't want to be forced to kill you... since there is no chain made that's able to bind one of the "Nare" you know that right?
Actually you people likely don't since we as a collective did close ourselves off from the universe... Hey... Hello? Great... and their ignoring me... Don't' you people know I've come in peace?"

Everything stopped after she spoke the man's face turned towards her, his eyes wide as the object fell from his mouth and rolled on the floor he quickly looked then to his doctors and started screaming as he pointed at her, at the same time his follower simply grabbed the fallen object wiped it off and handed it back to him. The being slapped the doctor and then turned his hostile gaze onto the girl he slowly turned on his heels and he quickly sucked on the object making its end glow a dull red.
That stare made her freeze and the quick approach and made her suddenly start to quiver in fear, she was afraid... why? but she really didn't get the chance to think about why as the being screamed point blank at her, there was obviously no response the girl could give and so the being violently grabbed her left hand and lightly placed the red end of the object into her open palm.

The girls eyes went wide not understanding what had happened for a moment as her gaze followed the path of the object as it was place against her hands skin and then the pain, a burning pain so intense that tear's immediately flowed from her ducts and she scream that majestic musical scream while trying to enclose her fingers. The being pulled the object away as the girl collapsed to the floor onto her knees holding her hand screaming unable to understand what was happening. The man screamed even louder but the only reply was the girls musical sobbing as she held her hand while trembling, the man clicked his tongue and bend low as his hand reached for her blue and black hair and pulling it back to align her vision with his and screamed once again into her face. The girl trembled unable to comprehend what was happening to her, unable to understand what the man was saying and so the man then smiled as he held the girls hair tightly in his fingers and then with his free hand sucked on the object lightly, took it from his mouth and then placed it gently against the girls open left eye. Her mind went blank her vision in her left eye disappeared and a scream so sharp in agony sounded and echoed within the room as the girl was held there. only to eventually collapse onto the floor and convulsed holding her face, her wings opening and folding from uncontrollable convulsions.

At the same time she weakly chirped and sang.
"Why... why are you doing this... you're making a major mistake if you screw with the "Nare" surely you understand that don't you?"

The man with his object simply stood up after looking at the girl pitifully and then snapped his fingers, machines within the walls pulling the girl up off the floor against her will and leaving her hanging in the air as the chains holding her grew tighter and then turned to his followers within saying his orders.
Something most likely along the lines of "Find out what she knows... make sure she doesn't die... and break her." And then with his follower left the room in a hurry with other business to attend to as the girls musical screams started up again fresh with the sound of electricity crackling in the background mixed in.

---

The Sphere silently watched this being who had picked it up held it almost lovingly its fingers caressing its surface, what the being didn't know was that silently the crystal was scanning his biological features making a genetic road map for it's master trapped within the compound. But it had clearly remembered the events that had followed. It slamming into an asteroid in space and falling to the planet, The dense rock acting as a heat shield which caused to the pod to malfunction. The pod crash landing on its side which had cause it to shatter into thousands of shards which was turned into shrapnel that destroyed the surrounding forest near the crash site.

It remembered how these beings violently beat its master to the point where bones and blood broke and flowed... it couldn't forgive them, it would never forgive them... but this being, this human from a genetic standpoint... this male had done something remarkable, it had picked it up... found it and with that there was a chance at a quick reunion with its master within the compound if luck was on their side.

But as it was linked to the master genetically if she died then the sphere too would cease and then turn to fine dust. And so it formulated a plan, it had read the genetic code of this man and since it was unable to be with its actual master but had picked it up and temporarily aligned itself to his code signing over ownership to him. On the surface the sphere It grew warmer and then started to pulsate as it aligned itself to the mans own heartbeat. As it did it started to shrink in on itself until it was the size of a small marble and then began to fuse painlessly into the man's palm trying to become one with his genetic system. Unfortunately as this man was not one of the Nare there would be no real benefits for integration other then the sphere not being so easily found and being able to warm up the man's body should he get cold.

And now all it could do was hope that this man would eventually cross path's with its master.

[Kisia]

Realm Council Chamber, Azure Republican Palace, Teishian

Many things had changed over the years. When the Solarian Empire fell, the Republic’s economy went into freefall. The timing was more than imperfect, as First Premier Taisvan had renounced the office of Premier, instead setting Kisia on a path of democratic elections. However, Taisvan’s influence was still felt in the government, as the Realm Council conferred upon him the title of “Transitional Overseer”, insuring the elections went smoothly. Even more so, a new council had been formed, dubbed the “Council of Premier’s”- albeit Taisvan was the only one on the council as of now.

Regardless, the elections had been successful and gone through without much trouble. In the end, Nanishi Aiyonto, one of Taisvan’s top generals during the People’s Revolutionary War, took the title of Second Premier of the Kisian Republic. Nanishi advocated an aggressive stance was the only way to rebuild the economy. Starting with the increased selling of arms to other nations, he increased military spending even further, and intended to start a series of conquests to jumpstart the industry, which was mostly dedicated to building heavy equipment of all sorts.

Thus, here they were. Nanishi had called a meeting about the state of affairs of the nation. As per traditional roles, Nanishi sat on the raised dais in an immaculate black uniform. Taisvan sat in a slightly lower platform to the left of him in a civil suit, occupying one of the six seats which had been reserved for future Premiers. He sat motionless, merely observing the new ministers and their gestures.

“…thus, the economy is doing better, due to the recent influx of military-based industry production.” the Education Minister spoke.

“Due to our efforts in drawing more citizens to the colors, we shall have no trouble in finding men once we commence the 2nd Kihanya War. We shall be able to mobilize within the week, with the reserves being ready for deployment within another week, should they be required.” the Army Minister spoke.

“It is decided then. Begin primary mobilization orders and implement wartime protocols. I want a formal declaration of war drawn up and proposed to me within three days.” Nanishi spoke.

“If I may...” spoke Aiuha Nemihade, the Minister of Internal Security. Nanishi nodded, and Aiuha stood.

“There’s been an incident on Kihanya. From initial reports, we understand a girl fell out of the sky. She speaks in some unknown tongue, and the Kihanya Colonial Army was very close to murdering the girl.” he paused. “I recommend getting this war commenced as soon as possible, as war fever is starting to manifest itself in these acts of…patriotic aggression.”

“…and the girl?” Nanishi replied.

“I’ve sent a Republican Agent from the RSS to deal with that already. Any results we find will be relayed to you at once.” Aiuha said, bowing.

“Very good then. If there is nothing else…this meeting is adjourned.” Nanishi said, putting his white gloves back on and walking off the dais, while all the ministers saluted him. Taisvan followed next, with the same respect.

Shuttle, Upper Atmosphere of Kihanya

Aihira Kitonai was a Republican Security Agent. Dispatched to Kihanya over the finding of the recently discovered alien, Ahira was actually somewhat glad to have been sent off of Kastian-jo. Being one of the top agents in the Central Sector, she was constantly performing and competing to maintain her prestigious status. Even with the relative gender equality that the Republic attempted to uphold, Ahira had still fought an uphill battle.

Her status as agent was helped by her appealing figure, with curves in just the right places. She had alluring purple irises, uncommon in most Kisians as well. Her short cut hair gave off a natural sheen in the sunlight as well. She had learned over the years that alongside her mind, her body could just be as an efficient- and deadly tool as well.

She sat in a Shohan Shuttle, the relatively spartan vessel served as the main ship of choice for Agents, as it was sleek and fast, and carried weapons to defend itself if need be. Aihira sat in the passenger compartment, idly twirling a knife in her hand.

"By Lothrig, it feels good to be off the capital. Seeing this world might be a change of pace...besides, It'd be nice to see some of these men jump through hoops to impress me..." Aihira thought to herself.

"Agent, we're arriving at the base now." A personal pilot spoke over the intercom. Aihira tapped the button on her seat, sheathing the knife.

"Thank you, Kiharo." Aihira replied. She noted a shuddering, and the soft impact of the shuttle hitting the ground. There was a hiss, and a green light appeared in the cabin.

"Leave whenever you're ready, Agent." Kiharo spoke.

"Let's get this started...." Aihira thought to herself, flipping a switch to bring down the ramp. She made a last minute adjustment to her dark grey uniform, before walking out. She saw before her, the rather generous honor guard that had been assembled. She also took note of a rather ragged looking bunch of prisoners, who had also been assembled.

"Well, looks like they wanted to impress me...I've seen worse. This /is/ the Colonial Army we're talking about though..." She thought. She noticed an older man and a small retinue of his men walking over briskly. She stepped up some, her polished black jackboots clicking on the surface. The men walked over, stopping a short ways before her, and saluting. Aihira returned the salute.

"I am Major Hanyara, Commandant of Karasho Fortress. To what do we owe this unexpected arrival of a Republican Agent?" Hanyara spoke.

"My name is Aihira Kitonai. I'm here to investigate the discovery of a rather particular alien. I understand that communication has been unsuccessful?" Aihira replied.

"Ah..yes mis- Agent Kitonai. This particular alien speaks in chirps and melodies, it matches no particular language that we can identify."

"Well then, let’s see if I can't change that. I'd like an aide as well, while I'm here."

"There are many capable-" Aihira stopped him.

"I don't want a Kisian aide." Aihira replied, making her way over to where the penal legion was at. She walked up and down twice, studying all of them. She stopped in front of Albert.

"This one. I'll take this one as an aide." she said, finally. Many of the officers looked around, unsure of what to do.

"Ma'am, this particular human is under penal service to the army, he has an exp-" Tanei started.

"Give me the transmitter, I'll transfer his code over myself." Aihira said, extending a hand.

"He is property of the Republican Army." Tanei retorted.

"Yes, and I am an agent of the Republican Security Services. Now tell me, does it seem like I am a person you want to make an enemy with?" She said, displaying a star emblazoned with the insignia of the RSS. "I have the authorization to not only take this man, but have you shot, and your family sent to wither and die in a labor camp- or penal services. Now give me the transmitter." Aihira replied.

Such arrogant men are often afraid of their own blood. When faced with the threat of force, they crack. she thought to herself.

Tanei flinched, and gave her the transmitter. She ran through it quickly, and Albert's collar beeped rapidly, stopping suddenly. By this time, her pilot Kiharo had walked out.

"Go with Kiharo, he will get you into something more...suitable." Aihira said, starting to walk off.

She turned around to say, "Don't worry either, I've disabled the proximity setting on your collar. You have the ability to walk around the base- but you'll be with me or under supervision of Kiharo. I do still suggest you don't go out the gates or attempt to run into the jungle." She then walked away. With the fiasco taken care of, she returned to Hanyara, who promptly escorted her to where the alien was being held.

Detention Block, Special Interrogation Cell

The room was dim, mostly illuminated by the various machinery and computers that were scattered in the room. Given by the errant spots of dried blood and various tools scattered in the room, it was evident this was more of a torture chamber than a true interrogation room. The girl still hung to the wall, buckled in by chains, her feathers starting to stick together again with blood, as agitated doctors and interrogators had resorted to more primitive tactics, thinking the girl would eventually speak some form of an understandable language. A heavy metal door was opened, allowing for a bright- but artificial light to flood the room, briefly blinding the girl. The others went on unaffected, as their eyes had some form of low-light vision. Aihira stepped in.

"Alright, which one of you is in charge here?" She spoke, displaying her badge. Those looking briefly froze.

"Uh... there he is. Director Kenro, sir!" A technician spoke, pointing to a bloodstained man in a lab coat, running a needle into the girl. He looked, pushing up his spectacles on his face, before turning back to fumbling with the needle.

"You need something? I'm busy trying to get this bitch to speak. She's a real savage, but we'll break her yet." Kenro said, who was attempting to draw blood from the girl.

"Yeah, I do. I'm in charge of interrogations now, cease whatever it is you're attempting to do." Aihira spoke. Kenro chuckled.

"How very amusing. Why don't you sit down over there and sort papers?" Kenro said. Aihira drew her pistol, the technicians crowded behind her.

"Sir, she's RSS!" One of them cried. Kenro still scoffed.

"They send a woman to take my job? I simply won't have it. She can assist me if she wishes, but I will remain the head of this endeavor." Kenro said, finally sticking the girl with the needle as she cried. Hanyara had remained outside, and was just about to leave when he saw the commotion. He entered rapidly, a guard right behind him, pistol drawn.

"You see, Commandant? This hothead thinks she can just walk in and do whatever she pleases. Can you remove her? She's interfering with my work. I'll hand a report in myself to the Home Government if that's what they want."

"Agent, please lower your weapon, I'll handle this." Hanyara said. Aihira holstered her pistol as asked. "Guard, arrest Director Kenro."

"Commandant! I'm so close to mak-"

"No, you aren't. You've spent the greater part of two days fumbling about incompetently. Agent Kitonai is here to speed up this process. As of now, you are placed under arrest, and stripped of your medical duties. Your new class is that of Private, Third Rank. You will remain in this detention center until you can be brought up for trial for refusal to follow the orders of a Republican Government Official." Hanyara replied coldly. Kenro looked coldy at the woman who had just cost him his life. The guard started to drag him away.

"You fucking bitch! I'LL KILL YOU!" Kenro screamed, as he was drug down the hall, the laughs of others echoing into the room.

"I apologize for the actions of some of the personnel on this base, Agent Kitonai. Some of these men can be quite...rash." Hanyara said, bowing slightly as a form of apology.

"Please, there's no need to bow. It's the personalities of this men that just aren't fitting for the nature of the army. Too many people wanting to give orders, instead of receiving them. And please, call me Aihira. You seem to be one of the more competent commanders I've seen in a colonial force. That says volumes. I'll notify you if I get anything of value." Aihira said, returning the bow. Hanyara exited, the door shutting behind him. The assembled group of technicians and doctors looked around, then to their new director.

Aihira looked at the girl. She was sullen, silent, her head ever so slightly looking up, a fearful gaze on her from what they'd done to her over the past hours. What little was left of her ragged clothes Even though Aihira felt a slight twinge of guilt about what they'd done to her, she still had a duty. She turned to her new associates. She pointed at the first one.

"Go find some bandages and cloth to take care of her wounds. Get her a " The technician bowed and left. Aihira walked over to another. "Get a chair, and unlock those chains on the girl. The rest of you, get to cleaning up this place." She paced around a bit. "Ah. One of you fill me in on what has happened here."

"Are you sure? We aren't sure if she has any dangerous abilities yet..." The aide replied in hesitance. Aihira tapped a button on a panel next to the door.

"Detention Command. Is something required?" A man spoke, his voice static-like.

"This is Agent Kitonai. Send four extra guards to Cell S-1, I wish for extra defense."

"As you wish, Agent. We will send our best troops posthaste." The man replied, before the link went to total static and then died. She turned back to the aide, who had then moved over to the computer controlling the locks on the girl. Aihira held up a hand.

"Wait until we get one of the guards in here. You do speak the truth, we aren't fully aware of her capabilities." Aihira said. Meanwhile, a young man dressed in a labcoat, most likely the Director's junior, stepped forward with some papers, bowing deeply.

"I apologize for the actions of Director Kenro... or more aptly, Private Kenro. I am Doctor Shun, his junior. Anywho... we tried all available languages in our translators, none worked. The Director believed that she could speak basic, but was merely holding out for some reason. However, I ran more tests he performed....shall we say....'alternative methods'. Shun paused. "These papers show some of the languages that the computer thinks could be related." He handed the papers over.

Aihira flipped through some pages. "Do you have an AI?"

"No. It sets us back some, as you can see." Shun replied.

"I see. I'll get on that." Aihira said, before tapping her earpiece. "Kiharo, when you finish with my aide, bring over the AI chip." There was a knock on the door, which Aihira moved to open. There were four guards, two of them in light powered armor, carrying their high-powered rifles. The other two were in normal combat armor, sans helmet. One of the men in power armor moved up to speak.

"Command wasn't sure what type of detail you wanted, so they sent a mix. We're here in case this turns south- but we hope it wont." The guard said, saluting.

"I wish the same. Have them cover the door, you come with me." Aihira said. By now the other aide had returned with bandages. The room had been cleaned to a decent point, and the same aide still stood next to the lock controls. They shut the door, which clicked as Aihira bolted it, effectively locking it twice over.

"Alright, release her." Aihira spoke. The aide tapped several buttons, and there was a buzz. The chains holding her to the wall released, and two others walked over to help her as she fell forward. Sitting her down in a chair, they went to work bandaging her. There were raw cuts from where the chains had dug into her skin after being on for so long, as well as various cuts and lashes from other events. Aihira found a piece of paper and a pen, and once they had finished doing the best they could, she placed the pen and paper in front of the girl, making a scribbling motion.

[Albert Northe]

The stars continued to shimmer above as he rolled the crystal across his hand. It kept the heat of his hands well, and it emitted a delicious warmth as he held it against himself. Albert found himself consistently looking from the stone to the skies above and back again. He had remembered asking for a sign. It was a call to God to save him, to send some deliverance from this hell...he had asked for a sign, and that was when the sky began to fall, and he found the stone. Could it have come from above? Hell, what do I even mean 'above''? Of course it came from space, but it wouldn't make any sense for it to be from anything else...but then the girl... She was beautiful, with her feathered wings, even as she was dragged across the harsh landscape by the soldiers. If the stone had come from the same...whatever she came down in, was it somehow related to her? Perhaps a personal trinket? It certainly seemed special enough...but either way, she was long gone, probably raped to death in some barbarian officer's room. It was not the sort of thing he would put these people past. Now the gem was his. He could use it the way he saw fit, and he would do exactly that. He didn't quite like the idea of keeping it for that reason, and yet he still seemed drawn to it, almost feeling guilty at the thought of getting rid of it in exchange for an escape of some sort. It just didn't seem right to abandon it...

No, again he thought to himself, that is bloody ridiculous. I will keep it with me, and if there comes a time where I could use it to bribe some guard or something, I will not hesitate to do so. I have to get out of here! What use is all the gold in the world when I am trapped here as a slave? Still he could not find the will to pack it into his haversack, keeping it clenched in his hands as he stared up at the sky, resisting the urge to glance once more upon the stone. He had to keep his resolve; he had to find an escape, lest he die in this forsaken place. It didn't matter if this were a gift from God or just some alien girl's trinket. It was one more tool which had made itself available to him, and he would use it as such. He tried his best to find focus enough on the stars to try and find a constellation he recognised, see if maybe he was anywhere near home, and was somehow able to fall asleep in the process.


He was woken by the call of a trumpet after only a few hours. The sky was only just starting to gain light, and the grass was wet with morning dew. He shot up to see that the prisoners were all being forced to their feet and formed into a raggedy rank, Tanei screaming at them all the while. Does he ever even sleep? He lazily wondered as he, much more hurriedly, gathered up his helmet and pack. As he began to move towards the group, he reached his bag to feel the comforting presence of-

No, he must have put it into his pocket before he fell asleep-

He must have dropped it. He had dropped it before falling alseep. Quickly he turned on his heels and returned to his sleeping place, and on his knees began to scan the ground...it was nowhere to be seen. He continued to search through the grass, but nothing, no sign of the sphere. He began to breathe heavily; had it been stolen? If it was reported to Tanei, he would probably be shot as an example, that was going to be his ticket out of here, he had to have placed it somewhere, he-

He found it. Albert stared blankly at his palm...it was there. He rubbed at it gently, and found that there was no pain, but no doubt either; the little blue...thing sitting inside of his hand was the gem. It pulsated rapidly, and emitted a comforting warmth. As he stared at it, the beating slowed, and it didn't take long for Albert to realise it was somehow synchronised with his heart. What the fuck is going on... He thought to himself as he sat staring at it. He didn't know how to feel, his mind was empty; he hadn't lost it, but...now it was useless to him...what the hell was it? And what was it doing inside of him like this? He didn't have time to concern himself further as a shot rang out. Albert turned to see Tanei standing with a pistol in the air, shouting at the stragglers to hurry. He was looking directly at Albert, who scrambled to his feet and ran towards the formation. With difficulty, he did not meet the fiery eyes of Tanei, and he kept his palm hidden. If the others knew about whatever was happening, they would likely send him to the 'doctors' for some disturbed experiment or other. Probably what was happening to that girl right now.

Their fearless commander gave the order to march, and the company made a sluggish path into the camp. Most of the prisoners were groggy with sleep and lack of food, something which would have been affecting Albert as well, were it not for his panicking. Oh no, as his mind raced in a circle of confusion, fear, and dread, his step was just as springy as before (though this was not to say much). As they made their way towards the landing area of the fort, Albert could see that a number of other companies had been formed up in parade, a few colours fluttering in the breeze and officers checking over their men. It looked like they were awaiting someone important.

They were drawn up in the far corner, and made to stand in wait. The men were sluggish as they stood in whatever vague poses they felt passed for 'at attention', as Tanei moved slowly within the ranks eyeing every man down. Many of them had fresh bruises from the day before, but he made no move to ask what they were about. Thankfully he spent no extra time on Albert, didn't notice how hard he was clenching his palm. Eventually, after what seemed like at least a few hours, a small shuttle descended and opened to reveal a single female. Her uniform was different from those of the army officers around him, and she had a pretentious air about her. Not that Albert looked for long, offering a mere glance at their guest before turning his attention to more important things- chiefly, his own thoughts. Of course, as she approached the group of slaves, his attention returned. He swallowed hard, and tried to stand straighter. He was in the first rank, and this one seemed important. Given how she was talking to the others, they feared her, and Albert did not put it beyond the savages to put a slave to death merely for not standing correctly in front of a higher up. Then she stopped. Directly in front of him.

He dared not look up to her eyes, rather he kept his gaze exactly where it was previous. His breathing picked up as she talked, in her native tongue, to the men around her. Tanei offered what sounded like an objection. My God, he thought, She knows, she knows about the gem, why else would she be here? A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, to flee, to kick her as hard as he could, to beg for mercy, to fess up and show her the gem in a hope they only removed his hand and not his head. All of these options were madness, it was obvious to him, but as his heart pounded and he felt the throbbing in his hand, all reason was leaving him. She took a tablet from Tanei, and his collar began to beep. His eyes clenched shut as tears blinded him, and he offered a silent prayer before the coming explosion. Then the collar stopped...

"Go with Kiharo, he will get you into something more...suitable." And the woman began to walk away. He was left dumbfounded, utterly stupefied as what seemed to be an aide approached him. Was he being freed? Transferred to another unit? Being made an example of? The man called Kiharo motioned for him to follow as he walked away, and for the first time Albert looked to Tanei for instruction. The officer glared at him angrily, and then looked away. He was clearly upset about...was it losing one of his command? Albert followed the man Kiharo shakily, his confidence growing with every step.

""Don't worry either, I've disabled the proximity setting on your collar. You have the ability to walk around the base- but you'll be with me or under supervision of Kiharo. I do still suggest you don't go out the gates or attempt to run into the jungle." The woman turned to say before tromping off again. She was speaking directly to Albert, who found himself touching the collar around his neck. The proximity was off...his collar was still there, but he didn't have to worry about stepping too far out and setting it off...it was progress. His thoughts were filled with questions, with hope for the first time in a long time, and he wanted desperately to croak out a question to 'Kiharo'...but he didn't know to whom he now belonged, and dared not speak first...

[Neo ORB]

The darkness floated in and out like a wave and breezes blowing against the sea. Her consciousness fading between worlds of blinding white and horrifying black while dyed with crimson as pain ripped across her body. How many days had it been since she had come to this world, how many days had it been since she had awoken... she could no longer remember... no that wasn't right she just didn't want to focus, to realize that these beings blurred in her vision by tears created of pain and endless torture we're before her endlessly crushing her very core that made her being.

How many times had she felt the spasms of her muscles constricting against her will as electricity danced along her neural pathways, how many times had she screamed until her voice was raw with her breathing becoming more and more labored. The feel of the cold steel gripping against her skin, rubbing it, digging into it as if she was a corpse being fed to worms as she was forced to watch over and over her own life's fluids be drawn out of her nonstop. oh who the girl tried to beg... to plead for these beings, these lab coats to cease their performance. but no matter how much she wished for it as she felt the beings voice ring like a speaker against her ears, their hands gripping against her frame squeezing painfully in frustration. the cold feel of the chains that bound her against her will, chains which restricted and tore away her last bastions of hope as days passed, as her trial of fire which was to lead her to hell continued, until finally somewhere within herself something started to break.

it had only been maybe three days that they had been performing tests, screaming words she couldn't understand... but her mind now felt so heavy... her thoughts telling her reasoning that it had actually been so much longer. That their torture had lasted a lifetime or maybe she had always been her chained to this growing darkness. but just when it seemed like all hope would be lost to her, it would happen the only one comfort in this world of black white and crimson where the days seemed to stretch into infinity.
When the pain was too much to bare, she could feel herself finally slipping fading out as if finally released from her bindings from her ever growing suffering and found herself back home...

Back on Alpha-Genisi, that lunar world so far beyond the scope of known space and hidden away within a highly exposed nebula that finding such a world, such a seduced system capable of life was like finding a golden needle in a haystack of regular needles. it was such an unfathomable thing that it had given them eons of peace... she remebered it even now, the bright green foliage of the thousand year old trees, there massive trunks that not even the connected arms of fifty people could wrap around that main mother tree. She remembered the bright smile on her mothers face glowing in the reflection of there parent world that their home revolved around. The feeling of warm yet cold wind beneath her fragile wings, the air on her face as it rushed by as she flew and glided on the breeze... and her beloved pet Ulati, (a winged/flying redtail squirrel hybrid) its small black eyes, brown fur, its adorable chirps and humming's. Silently in the darkness of her memory's she played with it never wanting to wake from the dreams, momentarily able to forget the cruel reality before her. but always just when she thought that she was really back on her home...
The world would shatter and the warm comforting air would turn fridge cold as if in an ice bath... something dark would be flowing through her veins and then those beings would be in front of her. Screaming as electricity would dance along her frame and her voice would scream that unknown musical sound that made out her language. she hated this reality, why... why wouldn't they understand that no matter what they did she couldn't understand them, why didn't these being's understand that she had to learn in order to have any chance at communication... there was no "Messenger" with the selected when it came to the "Migration", there was no nearby "Overlord". She was on her own as was decreed as even the Migration was a test of the selected ability of adaptation... and then as her mind barely flashed in thought her eyes fixed on
the closest being near her.
A bloodstained man in a labcoat, it was her blood splashed allover him as he held some sort of tube in his hands as he closed in on her. while she thought she could see a weak smile on his face and his eyes covered by the glare of light reflecting off is glass's.
She unconsciously shook in pure fear as her eyes lightly widened, her weakened muscles begging to be moved but blocked by the heavy chains that still held her tightly to the wall that were still carefully cutting into her flesh. her body just felt too heavy, her wings barely moved and felt soggy... covered in something far more heavy then water, but she begged silently for it not to be true no to be her own crimson blood, but mind knew differently knew that they had been drawing blood, torturing her for days... how much blood had she lost... why wouldn't Mother Lorthous release her already... why was she condemned to this unending shame and fear.

And then the man was there holding her arm and her head lightly fell once again defeated by reality, her eyes shut tight as she braised herself for the pain while her jaw clenched tightly. Then it happened the sound of heavy doors opening, instinctively her head lightly raised and her eyes lightly opened as light then blinded her painfully... but it was a pain she could manage as her blinded eyes desperately searched momentarily forgetting the pain as the needle was inserted once again into her veins, she lightly screamed from the pain and increased sensitivity.
However whoever entered, no one really seemed paid them any mind, but her girl was blown away momentarily, the being held a graceful presence and wore grey, but what held her small fearful gaze was her eyes... those purple iris's that shown like a gem, silently the girl gulped still caught in the past frozen to the commotion that was actually transpiring in front of her, she couldn't notice the pistols draw, the screams or the feeling as the needle was removed from her arm, she didn't even notice the blood covered man who had tortured her being dragged away.
She was locked in the past, captured by those pure purple eyes to the point where she still looked fearful. No she was fearful of these eyes.
This being possessed eyes that reminded her of that despicable man back on her world who had gain position of one of the five, that had flaunted his newly gained power and had endlessly chased her relentlessly like she was some sort of doll, some possession to be obtained.

and then the door opened again snapping her back into reality, four forms armored moved in with weapons in hands, the being moved as gestures were exchanged and strange words spoken. it was then the girl notice the different feel of the air, the doctors hurriedly cleaning up blood... fer blood from the floor... and chairs? she couldn't understand what was happening, but before she knew it was was falling and caught and then gently placed onto the nearest chair... what was happening why were they acting so... kind now... was it some ploy, some trick... had she maybe finally died and "Mother Lorthous" was showing her some sort of alternate reality to ease her pain in passing?

her mind was shocked as she watched them gently bandage her wounds, she couldn't understand what was real anymore but as they finished her eyes focused heavily on some sort of object being handed to her as the being made scribbling motions... did she want her to write?

However silently the girl found her hand's slowly reaching for the object not that, that wasn't all as her vision blurred heavily as her fingers touched the soft paper, small droplets of tears dripped from her eyes rolling down her cheek, was she happy? tear of joy? she couldn't understand anything as she held the paper and pen as small droplets of tears dripped down her face, some hitting the paper. why could she be so overcome by emotion by the simple act of some sort of kindness... maybe it was the fact that they had finally stopped torturing her and had finally given her something to communicate with... but as the girl tried to calm down she could help but silently look back on the events that had transpired as a small black tightness gripped her feelings deep within.

But just as she was silently holding that page with saltwater drying on her cheeks she couldn't help slowly cracking a small innocent smile as her other hand finally held the pen. And then she started writing alien symbol's, character's that had strange form that contained no resemblance to each other, but line after line, row after row the page was quickly filled with these odd characters until there was over several hundred neatly confined in fifteen rows of twenty each while every odd row contained even more. and then when there was no more room, the girl quickly flipped the page over and then hesitated lightly holding the pen only a few millimeters from the page and then lightly looked at the being momentarily before lightly looking at the page and then rapidly scribbled some more on the top of the page and then rapidly drew a strange picture which resembled her "Ulati" and herself, and then held the picture up and and pointed at the creature and spoke in her musical tones and melodies while her head lightly bent questioningly as she focused her attention on the woman before her.

"What had you done to my pet... where is he... did you eat him?, also where am I...? why did that being torture me and how long have I been here... wait... why am I even bothering you people can't understand what i'm saying I mean how could you, you've never even seen us "Nare" in thousands of eons we're nothing but myth and legend by now if any records even still exist... well that is how we wanted it but..." and then the girl lightly handed back the paper and pen before sighing and then spoke once more.

"If only I had some reference material... maybe I could create some sort of translation devise... oh who am i kidding such a translator would still take at least a year to create... " and then the girl stopped short and slowly raised her right hand, her eyes focusing on the five multicolored gems nestled within her collateral ligament between the 1st and 2nd phanlax and at her palm with the small gem nestled in the center and then lightly sighed before holding out her left hand and then lightly chanted some sort of song, However her eyes quickly widened when nothing happened as she brought her left hand closer to her face and then started rapidly chirping and lightly shaking her hand in odd directions and gestures as if she was tying to expel something from within... however her face clearly expressed discomfort and then dead shock as her melodies went almost to an inaudible level.

"Where... Where is it... where is my generator... if i don't have that then I wont be able to support flight, my body's too weak for even short distance flight... no.. no nonononono... I wont be able to fly... oh god... I wont even be able to leave this planet... hey... is my capsule alright? nothing happened to it did it? Hey come on tell me!"

And then the girl look at the beings... they silently stared at her while others looked rather tense as they had quickly raised weapons when she had started making strange gestures. Had that been maybe taken the wrong way she wondered as she looked at the weapons however she lightly smiled trying to put them at ease. She couldn't help staring at the bandages the doctors had put on her body however seeing the seeping crimson while stopped was still uncomfortable.
And then as she looked at the two white armbands on her right arm and thigh, slowly her fingers touched the compressed fabric bands and pressed the two small bumps as a tiny beep signaled once and then the bands quickly unraveled back into that white bandage like two piece skintight uniform that had been on her before. All it's damages had been repaired almost instantaneously as the bandage like suit quickly covered her frame. Underneath it she could feel the familiar warmth of the clothing as she looked at the being's once again giving her full attention to the woman who held the paper with her scribbles and picture on it.

[Kisia]

Kiharo didn't turn around, remaining silent on the way back to the shuttle. He was looking at a tablet, and tapping it the whole while, also speaking into his headset occasionally. They reached the shuttle, and he motioned for Albert to sit somewhere while he looked for another uniform. There was the slightest noise of things being moved, but eventually he returned with new set of clothing, placing it next to Albert. He had finally put the tablet down, and was speaking to Albert directly now.

"Right. While you put that on, I'll explain the basics. That's your new standard uniform, for the time being. Grey tunic and pants, black field cap, and an armband. I suggest you use that armband, otherwise you might get shot for impersonation of an RSB employee." Kiharo paused, taking out the tablet again. "For all intents, you may consider yourself a Shobikanto-rai, or State Slave, if you wish. For all intents, your direct superior is me, Officer Kiharo."

He paused, something coming in over his headset. He talked for some seconds, then looked to Albert. "Congratulations, you have your first task." Producing a chip in a sealed plastic container, he also put it next to Albert. "You're to deliver that to the prison block. It's tamperproof, don't bother trying to open it." He looked around. "What else- ah." He turned to Albert, face stern.

"You will need to practice the proper art of showing respect to one's superiors. When talking to officers, including both Ahira and myself, you will kneel. Stand up. Arms at your sides. When you kneel, you will come down on your right knee, placing your right hand in a fist on the ground, looking down." Kiharo demonstrated, before making Albert do it several times.

He's hopeless.... Kiharo thought. "Alright, stand up." he stated. "It's not decent, but it'll pass for your status. You'll also be learning a bit of speech. I'll introduce it to you in bits. For now, your most important word is Rikusei-kei. It means 'officer'. Say this to get the attention of the person you are supposed to be addressing, then kneel. Once you get through speaking, say it again. The only other word you need to know is 'yes', which is Hieh." He paused again, giving Albert time to think to himself.

"Now then you've had a crash course in what your role is, here are your orders." He made a motion for him to kneel. "Deliver that chip to the Prison Block. Ahira may have more tasks for you. If she doesn't, report back to me. I'll instruct you further on our language. Don't speak to anyone who doesn't address you. If you are hassled, speak to me or Ahira. We'll take care of it. Your uniform should put off most would-be hecklers." Kiharo produced an earpiece from his pocket, and put it on Albert's ear.

"Tap the button to talk. Dismissed."

---

The kisians looked on as the strange being scribbled row after row of symbols in neat, organized rows. One of the aides looked on, slightly amused. "She isn't a total barbarian, they at least use a symbolic language, like us." Some of the other kisians chuckled. Ahira shushed them.

"Quiet, let her concentrate." As the girl finished scribbling another page of symbols, she started to draw a picture of something. It looked to be some sort of animal, alongside herself. She held the picture up, saying something in her song-language that they still had no understanding of. Doctor Shun tapped Ahira on the shoulder.

"Perhaps she is referring to the crash site?" Shun spoke, Ahira nodding slightly.

"Tell Base Command to send over images of the crash site taken from your recon drones." Ahira said to Shun, who looked on.

"I'm not sure that's possible, those are class-"

"Doctor Shun. I am the highest ranking person on this base, third highest on this planet. I assure you I have clearance to see those photos. Now get them. Alongside that, get me a map of the galaxy."

"Y-yes ma'am!" Shun stammered, speaking over his headset. There was some arguing, which Ahira solved promptly. Some minutes later, one of the outside guards walked in with a sealed parcel, and a large tube. He handed it to Ahira, before saluting and heading back outside again. She opened the folder, putting the pictures of the crash site in front of her.

Ahira showed the girl each one in turn. The first was a picture of her in the crashed pod, and the resultant fire. The second picture was that of when the Kisians arrived. The third was a shot of when they dragged the girl away, and the fourth was simply another picture of the pod later, as it was recovered by other soldiers. The fifth was a close-up of the pod, where the inner workings of it could be seen, as well as the true damages the craft had endured upon its entry into orbit.

Ahira pointed to the drawing of her and the creature, then pointed to the first picture.

"Is something in here?" Aihra questioned, pointing at the creature, then at the pod. While the girl pondered, Ahira turned to the soldiers.

"Has the surrounding area been searched? Have you seen this other creature that she drew?" she spoke. One of soldiers shook his head.

"We were ordered to do a quick search, but everyone was looking for traces of West Hano soldiers or those damned terrorists...nobody mentioned seeing anything strange. Perhaps....it might still be in the pod, ma'am?" the guard said.

"Possibly." Ahira turned on her headset, setting it to the command frequency.

"Is Base Commandant Hanyara on this channel?"

"I am. What is required?" Hanyara replied.

"The pod. Has it been searched?"

"No, Agent. The pod has remained in secure storage guarded by troops from the Republican Guard."

"I want you to take some technicians and armed soldiers, and search it. The girl seems to be inquiring about a lost creature, from a picture she drew. I'm not sure what or why, but maybe it can translate for us. Retrieving it might lend us a hand in understanding."

"We'll get on it at once. Hanyara, out."

Ahira turned back to the girl. She gave her another piece of paper, and handed her the pen again. She pointed to a small Republican Flag hung in the corner, and then pointed to herself. She pointed again at the flag, and then to her. She gave the girl time to ponder while Ahira set up her next test. She took some other tables in the room, and pushed them together. She opened the tube, and unrolled the galaxy map. There were symbols denoting where the Republic, the Imperium, and various locations of other nations the kisians knew of.

"May we ask what you are doing, ma'am?" Doctor Shun asked.

"I'm trying to see if we can't get her to either draw her own flag, and run it though a scan of the flags of ations we know. Otherwise, maybe she can pick out her nation on a map. I'm firing shots in the dark, Doctor Shun- but maybe one of these will hit."