The Disruption (IC)

Aolani, the closest to the entrance of the ship, hastily nodded, "Hurry, though, I think we're about to take off." She quickly ushered Xerin inside, and directed him to a place where he could sit down, as the hatch began to close. As it turned out, the inner part of the ship was a brushed silvery-white metal, slightly reflective, but for the most part dull. It was a long, rectangular room with the cockpit at one end and a separate airlock at the other, which led to the ramp. Along the sides of the main part of the ship, there were long, sofa-like benches connected and topped by swamp-green cushions, the fabric surprisingly comfortable. Due to the size of the benches, meant to accommodate the quadruped forms of Chimerosu, they were hollow, and had compartments in them where everyone could store their things until the ride was over. Travis, the pilot, was in a dip in the cockpit area, which had the gigantic hexagon-shaped window allowing him a visual of what he was doing. He was dog-like the way he sat in the chair, four legs folded beneath him, and his tail stretched out while he worked with the controls. His tail flicked like a feline as he worked, and soon, the hatch closed, and a door closed, separating the airlock from the main cabin. "Alright, people, we're taking off. Please be in a seat, this ship doesn't really allow you to stand during a takeoff." He shouted behind him, as the ship lifted into the air, and took off towards the Majesty.

The ride started off shaky, and there was reason for why everyone was forced to remain seated, but once they reached the exosphere of the planet--where the larger ship was, the vibrations caused by air resistance stopped. The open airlock of the Majesty yawned before them, emitting a bright light, and they backed into it, the gigantic hatch closing behind them and sealing as air rushed back into the chamber. The ship alighted, and the ramp opened, a second door on the opposite side of the room opening as well, as Ravage and Xenos walked in to greet the group, followed by a short Cavernian male who swiveled his head in every-which way to look at Ravage, and then glanced down at a notepad that he was writing on. He had the look of a scientist about him, and he wore a white lab coat with long sleeves. The buttons on the sleeves, notably, were little silver hearts, corresponding with a phrase most knew as 'wearing the heart on the sleeve.' The scientist had a particularly hunched-over appearance, as though he typically leaned over things. It may have been his poor posture that marked the man as short, for he would probably be taller, if he stood up straight.

As everyone stepped out of the Jewel, Ravage folded her arms, "Well, you guys got here not too long after me." She had a vaguely annoyed expression on her face, and as it had been since the UCN had been encountered, her wings were folded tightly so that they were clamped down to her sides. most notable, however, was that she was not wearing her armor, which had been taken by a smith to be re-made so it no longer had such heavy damage. She only wore the underpart of her outfit, which was a black leather-like jumpsuit of sorts with a zipper down the front, made to prevent the actual armor from painfully rubbing against the body. The jumpsuit had short sleeves on the arms, and only covered the upper part of the legs, the main reason it was not visible beneath her armor. She looked at Travis, stepping out from behind the rest of the group, "Travis, can you please tell Corey to stop examining me? He's been following me around and jotting down notes about who-knows-what since I got here." As if to prove her point, Corey glanced up at her, and scrawled some more notes down. He opened and closed his beak wordlessly, the motion vague, as though he were silently saying aloud what he was writing, or rather, breathing out in time with the words, as Ravage and Isbar otherwise would have heard everything he was saying.

Travis frowned, "Corey, as fascinating as you may find observing her, Ravage doesn't take kindly to what you're doing." He said.

Corey glanced up at the Frigian, "Ah, yes, she does have quite the temper, but the lass is quite fascinating, the mutations she has appears to be some form of accelerated evolution, strongly geared towards fighting and combat-situations." At this, Ravage turned to glare at him, baring her teeth, and her tail flicking as though he were severely aggravating her, with his statement. At the sound, he jumped about a foot into the air without using his wings once, and gave a screech-like yelp, clamping the notepad and pen to his chest. "Alright, lass, alright!" He cried, hastily backing away a few steps. "Yikes, I'm just a scientist, I'm a curious person, I like studying things, you wouldn't hurt a guy like me, would you?" Ravage stopped baring her teeth, and turned away, snorting.

She looked back at the group, "At any rate, it's quite a strange place you got here, lots of people I didn't expect on a ship like this. You got just about every kind of scientist in existence, plus the artisans, too."

Travis nodded, "Yes, you'd be right, you ain't just getting yer armor repaired, we got the best making a saddle for you, and we got a bunch of different people who all want to meet the new cultures if we find some new Chimerosu planets. We got artists that want to study the different styles, and then there's everything we need to help people back into space."

Xerin spoke up, agreeing with Ravage's observations. "Yes, this is quite a collection, I don't think I've been in such diverse company for a long time, certainly not since....." He stopped, realizing himself, and also not wanting to give too much away at once, information protocols still clinging to him. "I must not have introduced myself." He said, standing up to face the occupants of the room.

"I am Xerin Grei, representative of the Jorro'kil Empire." He dipped his beak, then sat back down.

Aarin, Mott and Allé all gave the traditional Daro greeting gesture, and Aarin introduced the three of them, for the benefit of those who hadn't met. "I am Aarin Tiirmot. This here is Mott Gatiir, an expert in mechanics and engineering, and one of the greatest minds on Vathoris. (Mott grinned and made a very unconvincing show of being modest) This here is Allé, one of our chief scientists. And this is Isbar."

Isbar made no polite greeting gesture of any kind. "Do we have rooms?" was all he asked.

"I'm sure they can accommodate us," said Aarin. He looked around admiringly. "This is indeed an impressive vessel. I look forward to working with everyone here. By the way," he added, "Admiral Lirr asked me to give you this. It's coordinates where they will be delivering two representatives they have chosen to accompany us on this mission." He handed Travis a data pad. The coordinates were close to the base of the fifth arm, close to the border of the Markovan Empire, which occupied a fair proportion of the first arm.
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The shuttle door opened with a hiss. The first one out was Admiral Lirr. He had his twin swords strapped to his back; over top of these he had a fairly large pack. Next came Zizo Tai.

Zizo was about six feet tall, but most was his legs and neck. He was a biped, with a short compact torso ending in a short tail, supported on long, lanky digitigrade legs ending with three toes, one of whixch pointed backwards. He had long arms with four clawed fingers on each hand; on his forearms were a strange-looking pair of flaps, all folded up. He had a longish, thick neck that ended in a smallish head. His mouth had a beak on the top jaw, which ran up his slanting brow into two horns standing in in with each other, and continuing on into an impressive crest that stretched out at least two feet behind his head. His eyes were black and set in bulging. fleshy sockets, giving them a goggle-like look. He waved cheerily at them.

"Yoho, chaps," he said in booming voice. 'I hear there's a regular adventure to be had. I hope you weren't planning on leaving without me and old Teg' here." He looked back. "Oh my, you seem to be having some trouble with that, Teg'. Let me help."

He went back a little to aid a young Vatarri struggling with a heavy container.

"Allow me to introduce to you all Teglin Fess, my assistant and apprentice. Say hello to our new friends, Teg my boy."

The young Vatarri put down the container with a grunt. "How do you do," he said curtly, with a rather surly look on his face.

With that, Svar decided to introduce himself - Though several of the members of the group had learned of his name, it was apparent that not all had.

"I don't think I introduced myself to most of you." He stated a couple seconds after Aarin stopped speaking, standing up and performing the traditional Krathunian bow. However, unlike many, he did not give a religious blessing at the end of this - Svar preferred to be silent, only speaking when spoken to or needed, and thus he found the religious remarks during the greeting a bit redundant and tiresome. He only said, "I am Svar Levantus, and I am a soldier." After this, he sat back down, the seat a little cramped given the size of a Krathunian.

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Admiral Rakluth motioned for his guards to stay where they were, their weapons now concealed within their armor rather than drawn. He strode towards the group, kneeling in front of them. "I am Admiral Rakluth Bretuin, and it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard the Destroyer. Most of the fleet, including the Dreadnought, has gone back to Sethega but we have a small section of it set aside for this mission." He turned to each member, first Lirr. "Admiral, it is an honor to greet you again." He then turned to Zizo Tai. "I don't believe we've met, though I have heard much about you from Vey and the others, Zizo Tai." His head then swiveled to Teglin, kneeling down to the you Vatarri's eye level. "Teg, it is a pleasure to greet you. Would you like assistance with that?"

Corey dipped his beak, "Pleased to meet you all. Happy to have new people aboard." He said. "I'm Corey, head scientist for the Majesty." He said, introducing himself. He then turned to Mott and Allé, "Let me just say it will be a pleasure working with you both, perhaps you can help me invent the mystery spray to keep the Arachnarche from eating the ship, I already have a base solution worked out. For now, the only thing we can do is smelt metals with non-metals to make compounds that they wouldn't find appealing, and that won't protect our ship, the best we can do is keep them from eating our weapons and armor." He then backed away, flapping his wings in an almost playful manner, "Now, as for your rooms, we already have plenty available, so each of you will get your own space. As for the style of furniture, well, some are fine with Chimerosu furniture, others aren't, it depends. We have one for each of you, except for Ravage, because the lass would prefer to remain on her own ship." He then turned and the door connecting the airlock of the Jewel to the main part of the Majesty slid open, accompanied by a muffled din in the distance

"Right this way to your rooms, if you'd please follow me, gentlemen!" Corey said, leading everyone out into a wide, rather vacant-looking chamber that was somewhat dim, with nine large doors including the one they came out of, indicating that this floor housed all the airlock entrances, plus the lower engine room. The only other people aside from the new arrivals in the room were several Frigians, who seemed to dominate the floor, as indicated by a chill that seemed to be present on the floor, possibly a temperature more to the arctic alien's liking. All the Frigians in the room appeared to be scientists, wearing white lab coats with sleeves of varying length, indicating different occupations, and wearing patches stitched to their coats to show their names, though the language wasn't readable to the guests, save for Ravage, who recognized it as her native tongue. Towards the back of the ship were the airlocks, and one door that sank into the floor, leading to the engines. Two other doors towards the front of the ship were on either side of a flight of stairs, leading up to an area that was more brightly lit. Windows in the two doors revealed that the laboratories of the ship appeared to be past them, as there were scientists pushing carts throughout white, sterile-looking rooms.

"This area is kind of the docking bay, leads to our airlocks, the lower engines, and my department, the laboratories. This environment is pretty quiet, and we keep it cold because most of our scientists are Frigians, and if we work with microorganisms or tissues, it's better to keep the place at a low temperature." He explained, before leading them up the stairs into another room, the true main part of the ship. The main part of the ship was far more open, and brightly lit, almost like real sunlight. The room was gigantic and rectangular, with platforms crossing it at various heights and indicating multiple floors. Railings were put on the edges of each platform, but were frequently ignored, as Chimerosu of various species, save for Stagnumians, who appeared to be completely absent, flew between platform and floors. The air was filled with the different native tongues, which sounded like a chorus of birds. The floor they emerged on was solid, and off towards the back of the ship were a group of what appeared to be soldiers, all armed in shimmering silvery-grey armor, with a design similar to how Ravage's had been, the ranks inserted into shoulder plates, as well as the addition of metal spurs attacked to their hands and feet.. They stood in a kind of circle, watching as two armed Vitisans sailed through the air, a mentor and a student, sword-fighting with their beaks using impressive maneuvers. Meanwhile an instructor barked at them in the international tongue about technique.

Off towards the front of the Majesty, a flight of stairs led to the area where the pilots controlled the ship, and in the floor were several risen containers with plants growing out of them. Vitisans tended to these plants, plucking fruits and vegetables from their branches and leaves, filling carts and carrying them away into halls leading to storage rooms. Another room across from where they were opened, and a red glow indicating melting metal emitted from it, as Cavernian metalworkers exited, some of their feathers singed or smeared with soot, and as they carried suits of armor off down halls to deliver them to their owners. Clearly, everyone was having their armor smelted with non-metals for safety reasons. Guns were also present, along with metal spurs to be used as weapons in melee combat. Another room seemed to lead to a medical ward, and there was also a place for artists such as sculptors to go. There were many more, and the upper floors seemed to consist either of storage, or rooms where the residents on the ship slept.

It was hard not for anyone to stare, but Corey ignored the commotion around them, "Come on, people, this way!" He said, raising his voice so they could hear him, as he led him up three flights of stairs to a fourth level. He then turned and led them down a door-filled hallway. "Alright, your rooms are right here. Remember your room number." He showed each individual to their room, and then folded his arms, "Now, you can all put everything in your rooms, and come watch us take off, then we have shift-change for the pilots, and we have dinner, so we can discuss things." He said.

It wasn't long before everyone was settled. It was a sublime site watching the take-off. However, Aarin felt a twinge of sadness looking back. He had always thought Vathoris looked lovely from space, but the site was still marred by the wreckage of battle that still remained. However, soon it was time for dinner.
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Vey watched from a screen as the Majesty's departure took place. He closed the screen with a sigh, and left the room. He winced. His back was giving him some trouble. His eye fell on a cane lying nearby that had been provided for him. He sighed and extended his hand. The blue glow on the Dark Energy Convertor shone a little more brightly than usual as the cane floated to his hand.

He sighed again. This would take some getting used to. In the meantime, there was things that needed to be done. There was also something he needed to look into. Ever since he knew of his condition, an idea had formed itself in his mind, one that insisted on being looked into.
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"Pleasure's all mine, my good fellow," said the jovial Zizo Tai. "I'm sure we could use those big hulking muscles of yours. Do be careful, though, fragile contents and all that."

Lirr also lent a hand, though he was shorter than anyone else present. "It is an honor to be here, my good Admiral."

"Thank you." Rakluth responded, grasping the bottom of the container with his right arm and lifting it at a comfortable level for all carrying it. "Now, let's take this to the rooming area." With this, he started to walk, exiting the dock area and entering a long, bustling passageway. Armored Krathunians hurried everywhere, attending to business pertaining to the ship and the fleet. The inside activities of the Destroyer, to an outside viewer, would seem to be more like that of a city than of a vessel of war. Upon Rakluth walking into this area several of them stopped and quickly gave a salute before going about their business once more.

"This is the center of all the activities of the Destroyer. If you follow this path you will find most of the sections of the ship, though you likely will not need to. There are two rooming areas," Rakluth continued, looking around him but paying attention to his path. "The guest rooms are in this direction, while the crew stays in housing to the opposite direction while not on duty. You will be staying in the guest rooms, of course." After a bit more walking, they came to an opening in the side of the hallway leading to other compartments, with a holographic sign in Talus and Yvenun, the two main Krathunian languages, hovering above. Rakluth led the group into this section, placing the pack at the door of one of the rooms. Each of them was elegantly furnished, with full accommodations for any sentient species and two separate beds. "Zizo, you will be staying in this room. Teg, if you would like to stay within him, by all means do so. However, you are also welcome to take up residence there," He pointed to the room across from that of Zizo. "Admiral Lirr, you will be staying in that room yonder," Rakluth stated, gesturing to the room next to the one offered to Teg."I will give you a moment to get settled - After you are done, meet me outside of this area for debriefing." With this, the Admiral strode out of the area, stopping at a bench to the side of the rooms. He opened the COMM messaging on his armor, connecting to the command center of the ship, and said, "We are ready to leave. Commence activation of FTL drives and head to the planet of Ilthan within the Old Worlds."

Several seconds after this, humming could be heard coming from the back of the ship. Soon, the ship shot off into warp, the rest of the fleet following behind it, until the only Krathunian ships that remained in orbit of Vathoris were those sent for post invasion aid.

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Svar stood and watched the takeoff, observing what Aarin had noted. Though Vathoris wore the scars of suffering and battle, he had no doubt in his mind that it would recover. Soon, he was also able to observe as, in the distance, the Krathunian fleet sped into the distance. For some time the soldier stood, watching the glimmering of the stars. However, he knew that it was time for dinner, and went to join his new team for a feast.

Everyone in the ship filed into the mess hall located near the back of the Majesty, The room was lined with long metal tables, made somewhat nicer by the presence of clean white tablecloths that covered them. Long benches ran along each table, but were wider, much like all Chimerosu seats, made to accommodate two pairs of legs rather than one, and topped with white cushions. Everyone seemed to sit grouped with their own profession, but not because of assigned seats, but rather because most people were friends with those they worked with. Most of the scientists sat at one table, and so did the doctors, and so on, although there were a few different professions in various places. There was notably the fact that a Frigian scientist was talking to the largely-Cavernian blacksmiths. Over at the far end of the room a smaller table stood out from the rest, due to the fact that it was not facing the same direction, and was decorated with a black tablecloth, rather than a white one, instead having a long white table-runner going down its center. The cushions surrounding this different table matched those throughout the rest of the room. At the head of the table was Travis, who had vanished during the Majesty's launch, now revealing that he had been putting on his armor, which was the same silver-grey as everyone else, though he was not wearing any spurs on his hands and feet. His ranks, upon closer examination, appeared to be identifiable only to Chimerosu alone, for they did not seem to have an international appearance. Even Ravage was perplexed by the ranking system, it seemed.

It appeared that all the Chimerosu representatives, now wearing armor in a similar fashion to Travis, were sitting at this table, along with Corey, and when they looked up, Travis waved them over. "Y'all are our guests, take a seat, let's talk. How are y'all enjoying your visit so far?" He asked. As he spoke, chefs came out of the kitchens connecting to two sides of the room, and began delivering food to each of the Chimerosu dining in the room, which appeared to be some sort of vegetable soup, with foods nobody recognized. One Vitisan chef came up carrying a two bowls with a distinctive cone-shape, and set them down on the floor near the table, before flinching and slowly backing away. One bowl was filled with water, and the other with raw meat, clearly meant for Xenos, who had followed Ravage around the ship wherever she went. The Spiromander sat down on his great webbed paws and his yellow forked tongue darted in and out of the water bowl. A few people in the nearby tables turned to look at the creature, before turning back and quietly whispering, some looking unnerved, and others extremely curious. Xenos was quite an interesting subject to talk about, but a few stared at Ravage and behaved in a similar way.

Ravage returned the glances of a few of the people staring at her, and they hurriedly went back to focus on their food, which was suddenly very fascinating. She turned back to Travis, "Quite nice, really, but I don't like the looks people keep on giving me. They all have that pitying look about them, you'd think I was a three-day-old-chick, or something." She flicked her tail, "No matter what my status is, I don't want everyone gawking at me, or thinking they should pity me. Regular Krylonians might have been weak compared to the four species alive today, but I'm not a normal Krylonian, and I don't want them treating me like a china doll." She bared her teeth slightly at the last part.

Blair held up a hand, "Relax, lass, let it go, let them stare. Ye didn't seem to care much what other alien species thought of ye." He said, trying to make her calm down a bit.

Ravage hissed a bit, "That was because most other aliens were scared and frightened of me, they didn't doubt what I could do. Here, it's the opposite, they act like I'm something that could fall apart at the slightest disturbance."

Blair flicked his tail, "Ye be the last female Krylonian alive, and yer best friend appears to be a Spiromander. They don't know ye yet, so they make a guess. Let them talk, it will fade soon enough. If ye doubt my words, ask Travis."

Ravage looked to Travis, who frowned a bit, "Well, you see, some of the mentors for our soldiers we got here heard over the past three days that you were something of a hero on Vathoris, and a fierce warrior, as well. They're all lining up because they want to challenge you to a sparring match. They riled up their soldiers, so now everyone is waiting for something along those lines to happen." He sighed, "Nothing good is going to come of those men riling up the boys, and the military, I'm afraid, is primarily dominated by males, because most of our fighters on our planets are men. Some of the upper-ranking men see females as weaker, and I don't approve of it." He began wringing his fingers, "So, with that in mind, I told 'em that if you wanted to do it, you could take on the mentors. They're all waiting over there to see what you do. It's mostly the soldiers that know about your reputation, they attend all the briefings we have."

Ravage looked over at the soldiers and their mentors, some of which had cocky grins that made her want to slap all of them. A few, though, simply looked excited, practically flying out of their seats with the anticipation of what might come. After seeing two mentors, one of which was the Vitisan who had been sparring from earlier, whisper to one another, she bared her teeth, irritated. She could hear them from where she was, and it seemed that they thought they were already going to win. She whirled back around to face Travis, "Without a doubt, I'll take all of them on, just to wipe those arrogant smiles off of their faces. I've beat tons of boys with lethal force, and non-lethal is child's play." She growled.

Isbar did not sit at the table as most did, but rather perched on his chair in a squatting position. He looked a little strange eating the soup; his underslung mouth necessitated him to insert the spoon far under his beak-like snout. Allé, who was sitting next to Corey, leaned over to whisper to him. "This may seem like a strange question, but do you know what exactly Isbar is? He's part of our company, I know, but we frankly don't really know much about him.

Meanwhile, Isbar overheard what was sad between Travis and Ravage, as well as what was said by the soldiers hoping to spar with her. He smiled. Fun was coming, sure enough, and he intended to be involved. Let Ravage punch the others around a bit, maybe he'd help; or perhaps he'd just wait and test her out afterwards. He did enjoy a good sparring match, and he had yet to face anyone who could really challenge him.

Aarin, who was sitting fairly close to Ravage and Travis, overheard their talking as well. He glanced at the soldiers, and couldn't resist a chuckle. "Oh my, those boys are in for the embarrassment of their lives."
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Zizo began unloading the case. "Nice cozy quarters, eh Teg, m'boy? We'll be comfy sure enough."

"If it's all the same with you, Sir," replied Teglin, a little coldly, "I think I'll take private quarters."

"If you want, lad," said Zizo, looking at him curiously. Zizo had some trouble figuring his apprentice out. He was a smart and promising young man, yet he seemed to be cranky all of the time, and this trip seemed only to have increased this trait. "Tell me, my boy," said Zizo, "are you feeling all right?"

"Fine," replied Teglin, a little snappishly. "Never better!"

"Now come come, Teg," said, Zizo. "You aren't foolin' nobody. What's got your toga in a knot? Didn't you want to come"

Teg snorted. "Why should I? And besides, they didn't ask for me, they wanted you."

"Well, my boy, consider this a golden opportunity, then, a chance to distinguish yourself. Why, by the time this is over, I'll bet you'll have a medal or two to show off to your friends. What do you think of that, Teg?"

The youth snorted again. "Please stop calling me that!" He then left the room

A little later, Zizo, Lirr and Teglin were in the briefing room.

Svar, sitting close to Xerin and Aarin, was eyeing the vegetables he had been given when the commotion began. Though Krathunians were technically omnivores, they much preferred the taste of meat and this showed - The soldier glanced at the meal laid out for Xenos, wishing that he had been able to eat that (cooked, nonetheless), before returning to his food. When the talk of the boisterous soldiers, Svar looked back up, intending to have his input.

Looking to Aarin after he had made his comment, the Krathunian nodded. "Indeed. It is not wise to pick a fight with one who has a greater reputation and skill than you."

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Admiral Rakluth sat in the briefing room to greet the others when they arrived. They all took a seat around a large table with a central hologram projector, and Rakluth began. "As you have heard by now, we are investigating a temple on a planet in the Krathunian Old Worlds, Ilthan. This temple is peculiar in that it is said to house a weapon unlike anything the galaxy has seen since its disappearance. The Continuum Corrupter. However, it may also be the home of several other technologies that may be very useful to all species and governments." The projection changed to that of the temple, a large, metallic structure towards the top of a grand mountain, an area where snow whipped furiously down. A small group of portable housing, similar to tents, as well as air vehicles, surrounded the entrance. "The scientific team down there has attempted to scan the ruins to find any sign of the Corrupter, but it was mysteriously blocked. Thus, we are being sent in to manually search the ruins. From what I have seen it's a rather large place, so pack plenty, as we may stay the night at the research camp outside of the temple. As you can see, this is a relatively frigid environment for most species, so you may want to bring equipment that works in freezing temperatures, as well as clothing that will allow you to be comfortable." The Admiral, as a Krathunian, was used to these temperatures, though he had little doubt that the others would be uncomfortable in normal armor at that temperature. "This temple also serves as archives, full of information dating back to the Karthla attack on Sethega. with this in mind, there will likely be several groups of robotic soldiers guarding it in case of Karthla. They will attack us nonetheless, so keep on your guard and bring weaponry - We will need it." Rakluth sighed, eyeing Zizo, Lirr, and Teglin. "Any questions?"

Corey glanced at Isbar, before turning to Allé, "I can't say I know what he is, but he looks like he has combat-related adaptations, like Ravage does." He looked over at the soldiers, before whispering to him again, "Those men are foolish, all of them, anyone with scientific knowledge regarding adaptations and anatomy knows they have no chance at all of defeating Ravage as an opponent. I've compared the notes I've taken and already drawn conclusions. Although Chimerosu are extremely powerful, even without armor or weapons, Ravage is superior in every category I can think of that could possibly involve fighting and survival. When she fights them, those mentors are going to go and battle her using their best tactics, the ones they teach their students, and they aren't even going to have a reasonable chance at victory." The Cavernian scientist sounded grave, and then leaned away, going back to his soup, and speaking more loudly, so others could hear. "At any rate, I believe not all our guests are familiar with this dish, nor are all of them really that fond of vegetable matter. Fair enough, we change the menu each day so everyone gets one dish a week they prefer, we just served vegetables because today was the Vitisan's choice of food. Primarily herbivorous, also heavy consumers of nectar. Tomorrow we will have fish and seaweed, the Frigian's typical meal. There are some days you like the food, some days you don't. Today those that like vegetables are satisfied, but they will be rather unhappy tomorrow." Corey flicked his tail happily.

Ravage tried to eat her soup, and though the liquid part of it was not difficult to drink, she had trouble with the vegetables floating in it. Although thick slices could be chewed, there were also leaf-like greens, which her teeth were not made for. Chimerosu were omnivorous, but Ravage often survived on meat alone, enough so that she could be classified as a hypercarnivore, a creature with the design and preference for meat, but with the capability to eat plants, though generally not preferred as a food source. It was the only thing that set her apart from Xenos, an obligate carnivore that never ate plants at all, and was completely incapable of digesting them. It was clear that Corey was attempting to re-assure her and the other meat-loving guests at the table that they would not always eat plants.

Ravage flicked her tail, trying her best to ignore Corey's comments, which she could hear regardless of how quiet he tried to be. She looked between Svar, Aarin, and Travis, "I assure you, it doesn't bother me to get into a fight, and from what I can tell, it seems like the upper-ranking soldiers need to be taught a lesson about underestimating opponents. I've dealt with stubborn officers before, and one thing I've noticed is that those that work their way up the chain of command have a tendency to be greater jerks than those that got their rank through education, maybe because of that, 'I was there' mentality." She said. "I worked my way up from the lowest rank, and I expect people to treat me with respect, but I won't disregard the value of those below me, that would make me undeserving of my own status. Those soldiers need to be taught a lesson about respecting others, and sometimes the only way to teach them is to make them suffer." She scowled at this, "Just tell them I'll take their mentors on, and that I personally said that they're going to get their tails handed to them, because they don't even know what kind of fight they're charging into."

Travis nodded, and called over one of the soldiers standing nearby. He was a young-looking Frigian with bright eyes, and stripes so pale that he might as well have had none at all. He was pure white, with hardly any markings at all. "Yes, Major Travis?" He said, snapping to attention. As Chimerosu had unusual ranks, nobody knew what the young kid's rank was until Travis replied, "Yes, Officer Cadet Lucas, tell your fellow soldiers that your mentors have had their challenge accepted. Spread the word, if you will." He said. Cadet Lucas saluted, "Yes, Major!" He said, before turning and dashing off to the tables where the soldiers were. Upon saluting the mentors, and giving the news, there was a cheer from the soldiers, and mixed reactions from the three mentors. The Cavernian mentor seemed to choke on his soup for a moment, almost spitting it out, but the other two smirked. As Ravage watched, she made a mental note to be gentler to the Cavernian. It seemed that the one mentor was simply giving into peer pressure, rather than sharing the others' beliefs. He seemed truly frightened that she had accepted the challenge, and immediately stood up, excused himself, and left the room hurriedly, his beak pale.

Everyone watched this, and Ravage leaned over to Travis, "Mind telling me the names of the opponents?" She asked. Travis nodded, "Firstly, all of them are captains. The Vitisan mentor is Grove, he specializes in beak-fighting, the preferred style of his race. The Frigian is Captain Snow, he specializes in fighting with the horns and front legs, Frigians like me prefer styles similar to wrestling. The one who just left was Silver, Cavernian, but overall he doesn't share the opinion of his fellow soldiers. He tends to be a bit timid, though, somewhat afraid to advocate himself, which is why he's challenging you, also. Really, all three of them need a bit of work, so perhaps you can help us improve the character of our soldiers. I want my company have soldiers I can be proud of." Travis said.

Ravage nodded, "Note taken, Travis, after dinner, then, though I would make Silver last in the fight, I fear he may be making himself sick with stress." She said.

Xerin was eager to attend the dinner call, being quite hungry at the time, and walked in the dining hall with a few other representatives. He took his place next to the Krathunian named Svar, and awaited the meal. He glanced around the table at the various species at the dinner, not paying too much attention to any of them.

However, the dinner itself was somewhat disappointing to the Jorro'kil, who preferred a diet composed mostly of protein, such as meat and nuts. Though, to be polite, he tried the various items that had been served, looking for anything familiar, and he liked one or two of the vegetables and unknown foods, though much of the meal wasn't to his liking.

Xerin took notice of the rising anticipation in the room after Svar and Aarin's comments,  and after looking around saw most of the attention was focused on the Chimerosu called Ravage.

Despite her differed appearance from the other Chimerosu, Xerin had taken little notice of any oddities, partly because of the large variation of Chimerosu species and partly because he had not seen any of them in many years.  

The Officer glanced at some of the others who seemed to be staring at
Ravage, who looked as if they were trying very hard to study her, strangely enough.
Xerin looked at Ravage, not with a look of pity or scientific study, but with an odd curiosity which said "Who are you?"

Aarin smiled. "I'd say they are definitely in for a lesson in humility," he said. "It is true that a commander needs to give respect as well as receive it." He ate a spoonful of soup. "This is rather good, in my opinion. But then again, we Vatarri are herbivores ourselves. What do you think Mott?"

"Mph, what?" said Mott, looking up. He had quite a bit of stew on his chin and lips.

"I'll take that as an agreement," said Aarin. "How about you, Isbar?"

"It is. . . passable," he said slowly. "I myself am a vegetarian. Still," he added, almost to himself, "it has been quite a long time since I tasted anything I truly liked."

Aarin was silent for a moment, then turned to Svar. "So tell me about your people. Krathunians are a fairly ancient race, yes?"

So the conversation went back and forth, the different races and cultures getting to know and understand each other, until the meal was finally over.
________________________________________

Zizo pulled a paper and pen out, and began jotting calculations on it. "A Continuum Corrupter, eh? How does it work?"

((I know you said the meal was over but for the sake of consistency...))

Svar looked to Aarin. "Relatively, yes. Many empires and races are young compared to ours - We were spread out among the stars when the Ryun began to write and the Jorro'kil came into existence thousands of years ago. It's astounding to me that our Covenant has managed to be so resilient and strong throughout all of these years." The Krathunian looked up, a slight smile coming to his face. "I am not, unfortunately, a historian. If you're interested in the subject I could give you some historical files."

The conversation between all representatives continued until the dinner was finished.

__________________________________________________________________________

"I'm not entirely sure how it works." Rakluth stated, pensively staring at the hologram for a second before continuing. "According to the records of it, there was one Krathunian who knew exactly how it worked - Q'ren Talus. After all, he invented it. Unfortunately, that was many years ago, and Q'ren disappeared. However, I do know what it does - The Continuum Corrupter fires a highly powerful beam of energy at an object. When it reaches its mark, it starts to cause alterations in the fabric of space time, thus the "Corrupter," within the name. When this occurs the continuum is torn apart at a small scale in several places, causing an extreme release of energy and molecular structures being ripped apart. As you can see, it's very powerful - If we can find it and a strong enough power source, we may be able to end this forsaken war."

Exin leaned back on he’s chair to get a better view of the large wall of holographic- and old 2d monitors. He’s eyes wandered across the screens for few seconds, failing to find anything out of ordinary. Exin closed he’s eyes, sighing. He was a veteran of the Dominion war, and fought in the frontlines during the first year of the AI war. However, during a defense against a boarding action he had gotten a laser shot through lower torso. Exin survived, but was unable to ever return to the frontlines. So he was stationed at a frontline agri-world Tundus and put responsible of the defense forces. He did this from a large space station orbiting the planet.

Beeping sound woke Exin from he’s frustrated thoughts. One of the monitors was slowly blinking red, showing a map of the system with all ships marked on it. There was one new dot in the map, and the monitor was saying it had just arrived via FTL. Automated systems had already set a communications request, but yet there was no answer. Exin opened a comm to personally contact the ship, but before he had time to say anything, more ships started to arrive from the FTL. More and more ships poured to the system with ever growing speed, until the fleet numbered several tens of thousands. It outnumbered the defense fleet over ten to one.

Grim memories started to rise to Exin’s mind, memories from the Dominion war. He issued red alert and immediate evacuation order on civilians. Tundus’ defense had been cut several times over the years due to UFIAI low interest in civilian targets. Apparently that was going to change. Exin shouted orders to the comm, ordering the small defense fleet to try and delay the attacking fleet as much as possible to give time for evacuation. Exin had been preparing for this kind of situation, however. He had drilled the population to quick evacuations, and at the time the fleet came to range with the defense fleet, first evacuation carrier rose to orbit. Exin felt a shade of relief, seeing the ship ascend from the planet. But then a quick but bright flash came from the assaulting fleet. Couple of seconds later, the evacuation vessel disappeared into a ball of raw light. It quickly faded to reveal a rapidly expanding cloud of small debris.

The whole command center fell silent. Exin forced himself from the terribly familiar sight back to the defense fleet. Despite their courageous and selfless attempts to slow down the massive fleet, the defense was practically run over, the UFIAI ships not even turning their course let alone slowing down. One by one they were ripped to pieces by UFIAI’s lasers and particle-beamers. Two more ships ascended from the planet, one of them getting evaporated almost immediately as it left the atmosphere. The other one took off in the cover of the planet, managing to travel several hundred miles before turning into a blazing ball of light. Exin grit he’s teeth in hopeless frustration. He cancelled the evacuation order, and instead ordered everyone to shelter in the bunkers.

As the ships came closer and closer, Exin and other personnel at the station prepared for their eventual demise. But they were wrong to think that their suffering had come to an end: The UFIAI fleet flew right past them, towards the emerald green surface of the Tundus. Ships started to position to straight rows along the planets low orbit. Exin stared at this parade feeling growing dismay for what was to come. As the first row of ships had positioned itself stretching roughly from one polar cap to another, each ship released a web of lasers at the surface below. Slowly and carefully, row after row, UFIAI fleet started to wipe the planet clean of the flourishing farms and gigantic plantations. Powerful lasers turned the vegetation to fiery inferno, even melting the rock to magma and turning sand to glass.

The fleet continued this for couple of hours, until the once-green planet had been engulfed in red fires and jet black smoke. While some of the shelters at the planet might had survived the attack intact, they were most probably either cowered in debris and dirt or in the middle of a whirling firestorm. Exin and others at the command center followed through this whole act, powerless to even try to do anything about it. Finally the fleet started to gather up again, getting ready to leave.

Then a familiar ship rose from the orbit, stopping right next to the station: It was hardly identifiable as an old Jorro’kil capital ship, with its sides dotted with craters and patches and additional weapons and hangars, and its front being fully rebuilt to a large weapon, probably several times. Its old name was still clearly visible however: Critical Mass. Its many batteries opened fire with mixed weaponry of lasers, plasma and mass-drivers. Section by section the space station began to turn into dust under the thunderous fire of Critical Mass’ weapons. Then one of the lasers reached through the inner hull and hit the power plant in the core of the station. It detonated, turning the station to a ball of white hot plasma. The blastwave hit the Critical Mass’ shield, illuminating it with light red.

____________________________________________________________________________

Similar attack was witnessed in couple dozen words around the fringes of Jorro’kil, Ryun-Wrea and Krathunian territories. Each was targeted towards civilian worlds with high population or importance and low defense. Most of the attacks were made solely from the orbit, aiming for maximum destruction and casualties. Methods varied from the straight-forward bombardment to bombardment missiles filled with killer nano-bots.

Several city words with areas shielded with energy-shields had to be invaded with landing troops. Thousands of tanks and walkers stormed the catwalks and corridors of the large cities, the hellborn-walkers sprinting across alleys filling every corner with napalm and spider walkers striding over the streets, picking any living targets out with their lasers. The first wave of attacks came so sudden that most of the high-population worlds didn’t have enough time to conduct a proper evacuation, so the streets were consumed by chaos and death.

Knowing that Krathunian worlds were commonly better fortified than average, UFIAI had located two of the three Gaze Of God –weapon systems to Krathunian front. They were devastating at their first targets, their plasma beam igniting the atmosphere of the planet and melting the very shell, turning the ground zero to a gaping crater to planet’s insides.

But at each world UFIAI was careful to leave one communications link intact. Via these links the terrors of these dying worlds reached the rest of the galaxy. In addition UFIAI had opened several transmitter stations across the frontline. These stations were broadcasting an array of different channels, each channel showing one view of the dying worlds. While most of them showed a planet being torn to pieces from an orbit, several presented a view of a city being invaded from the eyes of UFIAI’s droids or planes.

Although UFIAI’s fleet was humongous, it was stretched wide. Now that the element of surprise was lost, much stronger opposition was to be expected. Thus the fragments and fleets were uniting at secondary targets, effectively doubling each fleet’s strength and halving the amount of targets. Jorro’kil was attacked from three directions, and Ryun-Wrea was under attack from two. Khratunians in the other hand was attacked from only one direction, but the attack was being spearheded by the two COG-supercapital ships.

Absolute examined the ongoing attack, seeing the dozen dying planets, and counted approximations about the casualties. Absolute watched, and noticed that a deep silence filled its systems. It was surprised to notice that even the simulated personalities were completely silent. Absolute was just about to reboot the simulations in case they had glitched again when suddenly an old memory clawed its way to its consciousness. It was a view of dying planet from the past; Absolute’s and whole UFIAI’s birthplace, Nidum. A spontaneous thought came to Absolute’s mind: “We were born from absolute destruction. Now we are going to be reborn by it.” Absolute stored this thought for later examination and directed its attention back into the battle.

As the UFIAI wrought destruction on the Confederacy, amidst the cries of despair coming through the channels, every now and then a more unusual cry was heard. It seemed to happen once very few days. It would start out as a report of Mondarian ships having decloacked near a Jorro'kil civilian space station. These would report that one of the ships was unusually large and strange-looking. Soon after this would be followed by a desperate cry for help, often with something about weaponry being rendered useless. The unusual thing would be that these communications at this point would become more and more fragmented before failing altogether. When the Confederacy eventually got time to investigate, they would find that the space-stations in question had somehow been turned into chunks of ice, only one-quarter the size they had been before. However, no one knew how this had happened.

City of Ganna, Ieegar, Aegus System
Grand Admiral Barborin observed the latest reports on the war against the UFIAI and slammed his right fist on the table in front of him with fury. The Ryun breathed heavily with anger, outraged at the recent attacks of civilian stations. Around him stood several Ryun, Jorro'kil, and Krathunian Wreae officials, and behind him, Sentinel Theranis Ra'agus.

"This is my fault," Barborin gasped, his hand coming down on the metallic platform once more, the sound of exoskeleton hitting metal reverberating. "I should have never challenged Absolute, ten years ago. Look what it has lead us to." His hand came up, grasping his face, and the Ryun made the closest thing to a sigh possible. "They're playing dirty, trying to force our hand. They want us to give up or use the orbs against them."

Theranis shook his head, looking through a large pane window at the huge city below them. "It may be our only option, Grand Admiral. We can attempt to pursue other options but the orbs are nearly guaranteed to actually work. If the UFIAI wants to play dirty, then we can too." Shaking his head, the Sentinel walked to the table, putting both hands flat on it. "The Covenant has faced greater foes than the UFIAI, in part due to the unity of the Covenant. We were alone when the Ki'ilan Commonwealth of Domination attacked us in our youngest days as an empire, and yet we stayed strong. The Dominion drove us from our home and slaughtered our gods and yet I am standing here today. And..." The Krathunian was hesitant now, his voice changing from one of solid courage to a solemn, saddened whisper. "And then R'lek Union... We only won because we gambled, and we nearly lost everything."

Barborin breathed in a deep, ragged breath. "We can't gamble with the Orbs. If we give them up, what's stopping the UFIAI from overrunning the Confederacy and the galaxy?" The door behind them opened, and all the officials and representatives looked up in surprise. The guards had been ordered not to let anyone in, and yet someone, or something, had walked through the door.

"Me." Captain Unit 8164392 stated, its dark Overcharge armor shining from the artificial and natural lights. "I am the last resort, the trump card. Once you reveal me to the enemies, they will know of me. As of now, they do not. That... Is good." The Wreae unit since its upgrade, seemed even more organic than any machine before it. "I was a frontline soldier against the UFIAI on that final battle against the Dominion. I saw their capabilities. While they send transmissions of destruction and we attempt to counter the death, I wait. I watch. I study. The AI of the UFIAI are not like me, or any other Wreae. They are true artificial intelligence, self aware supercomputers, hardware and software meant to think and control. Wreae are different. We are meant to mimic organic life to the greatest degree possible and improve upon its structure. Organic life is an anomaly. Artificial life is created with purpose. The United Fleets of Independent Artificial Intelligences and Absolute are predictable. Organic life is not. The Wreae are not. The Confederacy is not. I am not."

A slight grin came to Barborin's face. "Captain, what are you trying to say?"

"The UFIAI has just surprised us. They are trying to force us to give in and allow them access to the Orbs with these civilian attacks. This was rather inevitable - They were holding it back in wait. Absolute has a sense of honor and morality. It did not want this. It, or something else under its jurisdiction, knows what it is doing. It knows we will counterattack in response to these horrors." The Wreae's head rotated as it looked at the faces of each person within the room. "Our counteroffense cannot be a normal one. We need to catch the AI off guard, use something it would never expect."

"I see where this is going." Sentinel Theranis stated. "However, we cannot use you as our weapon quite yet, Captain. We need something else; Something that will look to be our last line of defense against the UFIAI, but we will still have you. I have an idea. I'm going to Ilthan." With this, the Sentinel waved and strode out the room.

"Actually, quite the contrary." The Captain, looked back us Theranis exited the room. "But you need to listen to me for this to work."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Confederacy forces fortified planets that would be most likely for an attack. They knew the UFIAI was coming, and they held the line - But they did not come back with full force. Not yet.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From a pocket of space near the Covenant planets, there seemed to be an anomaly. If COMM systems were tuned to a specific channel, mostly static could be heard. However, every few minutes, if one listened carefully, they could hear a thousand voices speaking as one, ominous being. They spoke one word, the tones of the voices seeming to be every emotion mixed into one.

"Confederacy."

Jorro'kil Zealot Xej Therus was among the Confederacy officials when the Captain Unit entered the room. He greeted the Wreae. "Hello, my friend. I thought we might see you around this time." He waited and listened as the others spoke, then added. "I shouldn't say much, but I believe you should trust the Captain. His....augmentation was most successful."

"I would be honored to fight alongside him."

Zizo continued calculating. "Hm, hm," he hummed. "Plausible, certainly plausible," he said scanning his calculations. "Well, if this thing-a-majig does exist, I certainly look forward to studying it. Haven't seen anything on this scale since Mr. Gatiir made his famous trio."

"Such a weapon does indeed sound like it would end the war quickly," said Lirr. "I'd say you can count on me all the way."

"Quite right," said Zizo. "Wouldn't miss an adventure like this for anything, eh Teg?"

Teglin just grunted. He had not stopped frowning since getting on board, it seemed.

The Captain Unit nodded in the Zealot's direction, saying, "I share the same sentiment, my friend." Looking to the other representatives, he began to speak. "This may seem extremely irrational, but I believe our initial counterattack should not be focused exclusively at defending our own worlds. Yes, this is a necessity, but Absolute will be expecting the majority of our focus to be on the front-lines, at least initially. As of now, the UFIAI fleet is very spread out among the borders of Confederacy territory. If we can divert some of its attention elsewhere we may be able to gain lost ground."

The representatives thought for a moment about this, some gradually realizing what the Wreae was getting at. "Captain..." Barborin muttered, the machine turning naturally towards the Ryun. "What are you suggesting?"

Pacing back and forth, the Wreae responded, "Listen carefully, for I need to be in charge of this for it to work."

((Not going to show more for the sake of plot... You'll see.))

__________________________________________________________________________

"Excellent." Admiral Rakluth said, turning on his HUD for a second. "I've just recieved word that Sentinel Theranis Ra'agus as well as a representative of the Ryun-Wreae Federation will be joining us on this expedition." Turning the hologram off, he looked to his party. "The planet is still about two days away, as we're coming from the literal other side of the galaxy. I'd suggest training your combat abilities, and studying old Krathunian culture to prepare. In approximately 8 hours we will be having our first meal of the next day. For now, you may head to your rooms and rest up or explore the Destroyer a bit. " With this, the Admiral exited the room, leaving the door open, and headed to the bridge.

((After you post I'll initiate a timeskip so we can get on with the plot.))

"Oh boy" said Zizo rubbing his hands together eagerly. "Did you hear that Teg? Will be getting our first taste of Krathunian cooking!"

"I'd be more excited about getting to our location, myself," said Lirr. "We'd best take his advice and go through our inventories."

Zizo was up before you could say knife. "Come on, Teg. Got lots to do and all that."

"Quite energetic fellow, isn't he?" observed Lirr. "He should be interesting to fight alongside."

Teg snorted. "Hyperactive, you mean. The fool can't sit still for a moment. Typical Andebon."

Lirr looked at him in shock. "Young man," he said sternly. "That is no way to speak of your superior. In my culture, the punishment for insubordination of the kind is a harsh one."

"Oh spare me," said Teglin angerly. "I'm sick of hearing it all. You have to strive for the highest, only the best is goon enough! Well some of us are only average!"

With that, Teglin stalked out, leaving Lirr angry and a little confused.

After dinner, everyone returned to their post, save for the soldiers and mentors, who began to gather in the place where sparring was done, creating a large circle to allow space for the three consecutive fights that were about to take place between Ravage and the three top mentors residing on the ship. During the time that people gathered, the Vitisan and Frigian mentors, Captain Grove and Captain Snow, respectively, bragged that they would easily defeat the strange female, while Captain Silver did not appear until right before the event was about to start, still retaining a pallor about his features, and barely stopping himself from shivering. He did not look like he wanted to participate, but having been urged on by his students and other soldiers, besides, he had no choice. His only apparent comfort was the order in which the fights would be carried out, Grove first, Snow second, and Silver third. As two of the Captains continued to arrogantly declare their incredible prowess in battle, Ravage heard every word, and increasingly wished for the fight to start, so that she could punish them for their lack of humility, constantly having to remind herself that she had to restrain herself when the battles began.

Finally, though, Ravage and Captain Grove stood facing each other on opposing ends of a large, rounded oval, formed by the packed bodies of all the spectators. For the longest time, they simply stood, glaring at each other, until Grove spoke up, "So, what are you waiting for, sweetheart? Are you going to fight me, or not?" He said, in a mocking tone. Ravage bared her teeth, and her clear eyelids closed, giving her eyes a milky tinge. She didn't attack, though, and she didn't unsheathe her claws, either, as that would count as lethal force. She knew he was just trying to bait her into launching a sloppy first attack, one that he could easily counter, though technically, even in flight, the Vitisan wouldn't be able to react fast enough. "Are you just going to stand there?" Grove continued, and the silence from everyone else was enough so that a pin could have been heard dropping on the floor.

Ravage flicked her tail, "Why should I come at you? You're the fancy flier, here." She said. Her lack of fear or anxiety about the situation somehow aggravated Grove much more easily than one would have thought. Irritated, the Vitisan lifted into the air, and started to hover, his wings becoming a blur and producing a hum as he began darting in various directions, something that would confuse an opponent's ability to predict where an attack would come from. In a sudden, quick motion, Grove flew at the mutant Krylonian, thinking with a confident smirk that he was going to knock her over using his long, sword-like beak. Much to everyone's shock, however, Ravage simply stepped to one side, causing Grove to miss, and then proceeded to grab his long tail with one hand, catching him. She jerked him down, and slammed him into the floor, before casually backing away, and giving him a chance to recover. She now had a humorous smirk on her own face, in reaction to the stunned Vitisan students as they saw their mentor stumble back to his feet. It had happened in a matter of seconds, and it was amazing how easily her speed on the ground surpassed a Vitisan in flight.

"Sir, you won't beat me that easily," she said. 'sir' was often regarded as an insult, unless it was a higher-ranking officer addressing one of a lower rank. Because the Chimerosu on the ship could not read the previous ranks that Ravage had worn, and she now only wore a black jumpsuit while her armor was being remade, this made Grove furious, and he quickly began to lose his temper. He got up, dove at her again, and this time, tried several times to jab at her with his beak, Ravage simply moving aside each time with small changes in position that were almost too quick for the eye to follow. After about the fifteenth jab, Ravage finally tired of it, and grabbed his beak, firmly clamping it shut, and forcing him to land, as he tried to dislodge her talons. He couldn't, though, as her talons had enough power to exert bone-crushing force. Her grip was like a vice.

She pulled the Vitisan close, and looked Grove in the eye, before smacking him back down onto the floor a second time, using her tail, hard enough to make the metal ring loudly throughout the chamber. He tried to rise, and failed three times, before he managed to get back up, clearly, she had put more power behind the second offensive. As he turned to face her, he still looked like he wasn't ready to concede, and this time, Ravage didn't wait for him to retaliate. She darted forward, becoming a blur, and in an instant was upon the Captain, slamming him hard between the wings, once again relying on her tail. This time, when she backed away, Grove tried to flap his wings, and flinched with pain at even the slightest movement. She had struck him where the muscles supporting the wings were, a vulnerable spot, as the wings only attached in one place, for the sake of maneuverability. He would not be able to fly without undergoing immense pain, and under the iridescent green feathers, a bruise was already beginning to form.

He looked at Ravage, his pride wounded, and his body aching all over, "How do you move so fast?" He asked, frustrated. No Chimerosu on land had ever managed to surpass the speed of a flying Vitisan, currently they were the fastest in the UCN, and here she was, making Grove seem agonizingly slow, and moving at such a speed that even the eye struggled to track her. In addition, what upset him more was that she didn't even seem to show any signs of exertion, her breathing remained normal, and he felt as though she were holding back. This being a battle using non-lethal force, it appeared that she was not even using half her strength. "Why are you holding back?" He asked.

Ravage simply gave him an almost cruel grin, one that bared her teeth, "If I didn't hold back, you would have died the instant the fight began. I could use more force, but nobody would take kindly to me breaking every bone in a mentor's body. I warned that you did not know who you are dealing with, and you continued to brag to your students that you would easily beat me in three seconds flat. Sir, you are dealing with an officer who has seen many battles on many terrains. You are outranked and outmatched, and if this is not a battle, then it is a beating to punish you for your pride" She hissed. "I've dealt with officers like you, and let me tell you something, all of them wound up in the same situation as you are now, teetering on the edge of collapse, and still not getting the lesson that I'm trying to teach." She flicked her tail.

Grove, in his anger that grew at her words, also blushed, for his beak had a pink tinge to it, for despite denying it in his mind, he knew every word she said was true, for the unflinching steel of her gaze. In one last attempt to deny it, he got up and charged her with his horns, something few Vitisans would do unless for a last resort, as their beaks made them lose speed, and their horns were not an important adaptation, therefore making them less developed than those of the Frigians and Cavernians. When he reached Ravage, she had already readied her own horns, and a loud clack! echoed in the room as Grove's small horns locked with Ravage's powerful, thick ones. He tried to jerk his neck, as his kind had strong, muscular neck muscles to help use their beaks, and found that Ravage didn't budge an inch. His eyes met hers, and Ravage's eyes narrowed. "Checkmate." She hissed.

With barely any effort, she raised her long, graceful neck, and lifted Captain Grove right off of his feet, so that he was left dangling helplessly. She then spun around and Grove's horns unhooked from hers. Without wings, he was sent sprawling through the air for a long distance, and crashed to the ground outside of the crowd forming the ring. He tried once to get up, collapsed, and struggled no more, his breathing, and the choke of what might have been a sob the only indication he was still alive. In a short period of time, Ravage had beaten the first of her three opponents. A medical team of Vitisans immediately placed Grove on a stretcher and carried him into the medical ward. Though he did not appear to have anything serious, the powerful blows that had been dealt needed examination. They vanished, and everyone followed the procession with their eyes.

Ravage snorted as they disappeared, "That's one opponent down." She said aloud, before turning to look at Captain Snow, on the edge of the crowd, and the next one up to fight her. Two conflicting things played across his features, a twinge of doubt being viciously fought off by the stubborn pride and arrogance the Frigian shared with Grove. Having seen one of his comrades fall, he was not so positive that victory would be easily won. However, he could not afford to look weak in front of his students, and therefore forced his grin to remain, if not a bit strained. Ravage narrowed her eyes meaningfully at him. "Two to go." She said, her voice barely audible.

Aarin had watched from a distance, wincing a little as the Vitisan had received his punishment. I do wish she'd be a little more careful, he thought to himself. He watched Captain Grove being born away, and frowned. He had a fear that this might not be the end of things. Those full of pride didn't take defeat well; Aarin just hoped they wouldn't be foolish enough to be vengeful.

As Grove was carried away, Isbar, who had not come right away, came strolling casually forward. As he passed the stretcher, he paused to eye the Vitisan. "Feeling a little sore, are we," he remarked to him as he went by. Going up to the circle, he pushed his way to the front to watch the next fight.

As Captain Snow, the Frigian mentor, stepped forward to face Ravage, he clenched his bear-like talons into a fist, they were more like claws, really, the hands were completely covered in feathers, save for the short, sharp black claws that peeked out. He was an extremely tall Chimerosu, with more prominent stripes than others, making him appear more blue in coloration compared to others of his kind, though he would still blend in with a glacier. He narrowed his eyes, and flicked his tail, which was thick and heavy, compared to Ravage's long, sinewy one. Morphologically speaking, he was perhaps the opposite of Grove, and was built for endurance, it would take more hits to bring him down, because he was adapted to handle them. In his silver-grey armor, he looked extremely powerful as an opponent. "Perhaps Grove couldn't handle a few tough blows, speed was much his advantage." He spoke in a harsh, rough voice. "But my people are made for handling tough blows, and speed doesn't matter if we can withstand them." He said. This much was true, and Ravage folded her arms, "So it will be a test of stamina, then? Very well, come at me with your full strength." She said, keeping her face blank and serious as she spoke.

Snow snorted, and lowered his head, before charging at her and locking his horns with her own. She slid perhaps an inch, but she braced her legs, and he could not make her move any more, despite being much larger, and weighing more. He found it unlikely that she would be able to lift him, as Frigians were the heaviest-recorded Chimerosu, and generally the best at melee combat. They both exerted as much force as they could, and within a few moments, Snow discovered that despite his best efforts to cling to his spot, Ravage was beginning to push him backwards, and the speed at which she did so was increasing. Snow tried to lift a leg to take a step forward, and in the process, gave his opponent an opening. Ravage jerked her head up suddenly, not lifting him, as he was much taller, but throwing him off balance. Then, she kicked out with one of her own legs, striking a nasty blow to the joints of his armor where the leg he had lifted connected to his torso. This further worsened his balance, and Ravage hurriedly unlocked her horns, and before Snow could lower his head to protect himself, she had gotten her skull under the front part of his body, and rammed it upwards, a loud metallic screech sounding as her horns connected with the armor, and left gouges in it. The force kicked Snow up, and he fell over onto his back, where he shifted and rolled back onto his stomach, before getting up and standing again. Although to most viewers nobody would see anything, Ravage saw him clench his beak, and wince ever so slightly when he shifted his weight onto the leg.

Ravage flicked her tail, and noted that Snow wasn't as proud as Grove seemed to be, perhaps because he had seen her beat his fellow captain so quickly, or because he was aware that she perhaps surpassed him in endurance, as she had not even tired in the slightest in her battle against the Vitisan. She didn't say anything, and neither did Snow, this battle would be a more serious one. Snow turned, and charged up to her, this time attempting to swing a large claw at her beak. In an instant, there was a sound like a thunderclap, as Ravage seized Snow's arm before the blow could connect. At her powerful grip, Snow's eyes widened with surprise, and then squinted with pain, as she slowly began to twist his arm back into a painful position, though none of it would leave a sprain or breakage. Attempting to dislodge her, he swung his other arm at her, and then gave a loud yelp of pain as Ravage caught that arm in her mouth, her sharp, serrated teeth digging into the bare flesh, and causing crimson blood to bloom from his arm. She let go of Snow's other arm, and began to viciously shake his arm in her jaws, this time ripping a scream from his lungs, before she let go and flung him several feet away. He still stood, but he now held his injured arm with his good one, and he looked at her, horrified.

As for Ravage, it seemed that for whatever reason, her self-control had slipped, and the results were easily noticed. Her breathing had sped up, and her eyes were milky in color, due to her third eyelids closing to prevent them from being damaged. She had her head lowered, and her eyes were fixed on Snow, the pupils having contracted to thin slits. A snarl that bared all her teeth was fixed across her features, and it seemed that even the slightest movement on Snow's part might cause her to attack him. It was extremely clear that this time, she might not hold back, and instead use lethal force. For those who knew her, they had been aware that she had sometimes suffered berserker rages, but they had never really seen her fully enter one, as she had been viciously fighting to keep control of herself around others. However, this fighting with Snow was more intense than the battle with Grove, and it was enough to trigger one. The two opponents, more like predator and prey, now, stood staring at each other intently, with Snow fearing that even one move might trigger a reflex. He needed stitches for his arm, it was still bleeding, and he could only apply pressure and hope it stopped, but the wound was alarmingly deep.

After a moment, the clear eyelids opened and blinked several times, and Ravage seemed to wince, as she clutched the spot where her beak connected to her skull. She shook her head slowly, trying to clear it, but could not release the tension in her beak that was causing her to bear her teeth. She tasted blood, but it wasn't her own, and she knew upon seeing Snow's wound that she had bitten him. She had a flash of what seemed to be terror, and backed away, looking like she was about to retreat. She had her head lowered so that she wouldn't make eye contact with anyone, but turned and spoke to a pair of medics standing nearby, "Get him medical attention...Now!" She hissed, her voice choked, but with clear force that compelled them to obey. They ran over to Snow, and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing through the crowd and rushing him to the medical ward to get stitches.

Ravage hissed, and this time, turned to look at Travis, along with Captain Silver, and all the other Chimerosu representatives. All of them had gone ghostly pale, and there was a stunned silence. "It was wrong of me to accept this challenge, I could have killed someone..." She growled. Then, in an instant, starting at her tail, her body faded from view, and she seemed to vanish into thin air. Not even a shadow marked where she had been, and only a tiny click of talons suggested that she had flown away from the area. Xenos, on the other side of the room, raised his head and gave a low growl, before pushing his way through the crowd and walking down the stairs that led to the airlocks and labs, giving an indication of where she was going. It was not until both rider and master were gone that anyone felt comfortable enough to speak.

"Why did she...?" Travis drifted off, unable to explain what had just happened.

There was a blinding flash of light, and Ambigon, who had been observing everything from somewhere else, appeared in the empty circle. "Observation, your friend seems to have a very powerful prey drive, and combat with the Frigian triggered it." The disconnected voice sounded, made extra tinny due to the voice echoing off the metal walls. "Fighting is ill-advised, as in such an alternate mental state with few enemies she may pose a threat to allies, if there is no target. Even close friends may be harmed, as she appears to lose the distinction between friend and foe, and lose restraint that would normally prevent her from using lethal force." The energy being lashed his tail.

Aarin was grim. "This whole contest was foolish. now that I really think about it. I have to say," he added, glaring at little at Snow as he left, "the attitude of these two was childish, and unbecoming of responsible officers."

Isbar's eyes had widened a little when Ravage had had her rage, but had nor shown any other reaction. "Pity," he said quietly to himself, when she left. "I would have liked a chance." With a shrug, he sidled off.
____________________________________________

Allé had not been present at the sparring match. He was in his assigned quarters, doing some research. He could not get the question out of his head: What was Isbar?

But his searches were coming to nothing. All searches amongst sapient races from Vathoris and abroad turned up nothing. He sighed. Suddenly, on a whim, he widened the spectrum of earch to include non-sapient races as well. One match found, said the computer.

Allé gazed stunned at what he saw. There indeed was the creature he was looking for. Unlike Isbar, however, this creature was obviously nothing more than a common beast, not the least bit intelligent.

The Virc, said the computer, is a mammalian species native to Deyatron 5, a planet in the Damien system of the first arm. They are a herbivorous, yet highly territorial species, living in the mountains on the Central Continent. They live almost exclusively on one variety of fruit that grows in small groves on the mountainside. Each grove is defended viciously by resident Virc, their main weapons being their claws and their heavily armored head. So fierce a fighter is this animal, that one tribe of the native sapient population makes it a significant part of their coming-of-age rituals, with young males not officially entering manhood until they have slain one of these creatures bare-handed.

Allé mused on this information, then went to find Corey.