Disruption (IC)

Allé had arrived at the ICU, along with Mott and Aarin. Tevri stood just behind them. Mott frowned worriedly.

"I'm not sure what I could do; this sort of thing would be more in Allé's line. Still I'll try."

"So will I," volunteered Allé. "What can we do?"

Slowly the security systems within the Dyson’s sphere started to activate. It belonged to a second-generation AI called Farsight. Sphere’s systems were still in disarray, but finally the slaveminds and secondary systems figured out that there was foreign force present in the system, and that it had invaded the Sphere’s systems. Outer layers of the Dyson’s sphere started to dissolve to fleets of ships, while the satellites located around the system activated. Aside the gas giant there were no other planets or even asteroids, as they had been deconstructed and used at the building of the Dyson’s sphere.

It didn’t take long before the Confederacy’s fleet was traced to the gas giant. Up to ten thousand ships had emerged from the Dyson’s sphere, and all of them took a course towards the gas giant. Although, calling them ships would probably be uninformative, as most of them were barely half-done, missing their outer hulls and some even their shields. Their size ranged from frigate to heavy cruisers, and they divided to ten fleets, swarming over the gas giant, coming at the Confederates from every direction. The main purpose of the attack was to chase the enemy out from its cover, into the line of sight of the Dyson’s sphere’s powerful artillery lasers.

Corey glanced at Blair on the gurney, before waving everyone to take a step into a small private room off to the side, so they could discuss the topic. It wasn't his sound-proofed office, but over the commotion going on at the moment, nobody was sure to hear the conversation between Ravage and the others, to begin with. Once they were all inside, Corey closed the door, and turned to everyone. "Okay, look, I don't exactly like people to take me for the 'mad scientist' type, but right now, something along those lines is the only possible way we can keep Blair from dying, that acid has burned through most of his digestive tract, it barely missed his lungs and heart, but they're hooking him up to a respirator, because it destroyed most of his diaphragm, and he can hardly breathe on his own. The chances of him living very long are very low, and even if he does survive, there's no chance of him living anything remotely similar to a normal life, because he'll be dependent on machines for everything. Even then, there is still the fact that the bacteria living in his digestive tract have escaped into his abdominal cavity, that alone is enough to kill most people, unless the antibiotics they give him kill all of them." The Cavernian scientist slowly flicked his tail, and began to pace back and forth.

"Now, you see, I practice many different scientific fields related to this: biotechnology, advanced and specialized medicine, chemistry." He stopped pacing, and turned back to the group, "I can use these things, and we might be able to devise something to heal Blair's injuries, by giving him a healing factor similar to hers, but only if Ravage allows us to draw a blood sample and extract a sample of mutagen from it. If we can give Blair a small dosage, it might give him the healing factor, because Ravage has displayed a uniquely specific set of adaptations, all geared towards survival or combat." He flicked his tail, "The risks, however, is that his body might reject the mutagen, we might not get it in time, or something else I'd rather not think about happens. There's roughly a fifty-fifty chance this will work and heal him, but there's a much higher chance that the mutagen will have other unintended side effects." He then took a deep breath, and sighed, before turning to Ravage, "The question is, we can't do this without your consent, and if something happens because of it, the mutagen derived from you will be to blame. Can you accept if it does something else to Blair than just healing?"

Ravage thought deeply, before looking up, as she heard sounds of choking from outside, as the doctors tried to kill bacteria that were trying to cause him cardiac arrest. Nobody else would hear that sound, but they would hear the machines monitoring his vitals setting off an alarm, and the panicked cries of the doctors as they rushed to treat him. She looked at Corey, and nodded, "If we don't do it, he'll die, I've seen men die from injuries like this before, very quickly. The doctors can buy time, but that's it, I could already smell the bacterial infection trying to set in."

Corey nodded, "Alright, then, that's all there is to it." He turned to Mott and Allé, "Alright, we're going to go ahead and do it in here, this room is a small side-lab used for a variety of microbiology purposes, since it's too much trouble to run samples down to the main labs. I need someone to fetch me a clean, prepped syringe, ready for drawing blood." He then turned to Allé, "Can you go and set up some components? I'll need some petri dishes, but we might want to set up the things needed to perform a Polymerase Chain Reaction and Gel Electrophoresis, as well. If we find that the healing factor is genetic, which it probably is, and not just linked to mutagen, we might err on the side of caution so we have a sizable sample of DNA to work with. Mapping the gene so we have a template won't hurt, either, we'll dispose of it when we're done, but for now, we need one."

He then guided Ravage over to a bench, and told her to sit down, where she folded her arms, feathers ruffled, as she heavily disliked needles. "Ravage, I need you to tell everyone else while everyone is doing everything else everything that could possibly happen from your point of view, we don't want to think it's not working and hurt Blair if it is."

Mott hurriedly began prepping and disinfecting a syringe, as well as collecting a few petri dishes; meanwhile, Allé collected the necessary equipment the chain reaction and electrophoresis.
_____________________________

The battle was turning against the Despot and UFIAI.

The defense around the Prototype disintegrated. Five Markovan vessels promptly began attacking it with cutting beams. Pandemonium reigned on board.

"Abandon ship!" Mondarians yelled. "A chain reactions occurring in the Dark Energy Convertor! Abandon ship!"

Soon everyone else began detecting something strange.

"Sir," said the helmsman of the ship Vey was on. "There's a huge influx of Dark Energy going on around that ship!"

"Pull back," ordered Vey. That same message was sent to every Vathorin, Markovan and Confederate vessel in the area. The Dark Energy Convertor was about to explode.

51,764

Inside Vil-Nolwikkan Space

Inside the Space Station at Estrompir

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resara nodded at the Diplomat's comment. Once he had left the room, Resara got up, and, with the Jorro'kil soldiers following her at the same pace, left the room. As she walked through the Space Station, some of Nilwikkans gave her and the soldiers distrusting looks, though she ignored them. She went back aboard the Intent, and headed up to the bridge. Upon arrival, she ordered a message be recorded for sending once they had left Vil-Nolwikkan space. It told of the meeting, the discussion and the somewhat abrupt end, and that she would soon be going to see if she could gain transport to the surface of Estrompir.

She wouldn't normally do this, but if they were going to be allies, she figured she might as well get to know these aliens better... or atleast see what kind of weaknesses they had.

As Corey took the prepped syringe from Mott, and grabbed Ravage's arm to draw blood, she flinched, feeling as he pressed the needle in. He waited for there to be enough blood to fill it, and then quickly tugged it out, though finding that he was actually forced to fight against her skin to a slight degree. It had already tried to heal the pinprick, even while the projectile had still been stuck. He took it over to the machines and began working with petri dishes, and Ravage unconsciously grabbed the arm that he had taken the blood from, her feathers ruffling slightly. This whole thing made her uneasy, it was a known fact that she heavily disliked any sample of her DNA being taken, and this was going against everything she believed in. However, if it saved Blair, and Corey honestly meant to destroy what remained of the project, she couldn't really protest it. "Alright, Ravage, tell us, what happened when you mutated?" He said, somehow managing to carry on a conversation as he worked with the tools that had been set up.

Ravage winced at the memory, "Well, what happened, first, was that I began to feel really sick. I got dizzy, could barely stand, and my vision was swimming black at the edges, blurring a bit, too. Everything started to hurt, my muscles ached and burned, and it was painful to move my joints. I couldn't fly, I couldn't do anything but dodge attacks, I was in the middle of a battle against enemy forces in a jungle, at the time. I was able to camouflage, though, so nobody actively tried to hit me, but regardless, I think it was a miracle when I reached my Stealth Strider unharmed. The next thing I knew, I was passing out on my cot. I was in a sort of lucid dream, I wasn't really dreaming anything, but I wasn't able to think much, either. I remember feeling strange sensations all over, though, tingling down my back, an odd, painless burning in my arms. My beak stung, but overall, it just didn't feel like anything actually hurt, it was like I just...didn't care, like I was under some sort of strong painkiller that knocked me out of it." She folded her arms, and flicked her tail, closing her eyes at the memory, as she had nothing else to contribute, they only needed her blood. "The next thing I knew, I was waking up, and I didn't want to open my eyes, because I was in some sort of warm, humid, slimy sac, it smelled sweet, like nectar, but underneath that there was the smell of blood and plasma, my own bodily fluids, I figured. I broke out, and found that it was some sort of cocoon, there was an outer black layer like a soft egg, that was where the smell of blood came from, and it had red spots in it, too. The rest was some sort of clear nutrient slime, that was the sweet smell."

She folded her arms tightly, "I don't enjoy remembering that, I smelled things I didn't recognize, everything was stronger, scent, sight, hearing. I didn't feel soreness, anymore, but for a few minutes, I was having trouble trying to move, I felt like some sort of newborn chick, like I was going to wobble and collapse, like my body just didn't want to take another step. Next thing I knew, I started to feel a wrenching in my gut, because I was starving, and I had to eat something. That finally got me moving, and when I made my way to the bridge of the ship where my Stealth Strider was docked, everyone just stared at me, like I was some sort of horrible monster. They hadn't expected to see me transformed, to have teeth and talons, or spines running down my back. I had features that didn't naturally belong to my kind. I left that mission soon after, it had been completed while I was out cold, and they were considering handing me over to doctors, which I didn't want." Her tail flicked slowly at the tip.

Corey looked over at her from where he was examining Ravage's genetic fingerprint, multiple solid bands running down it, lots of DNA strands of varying lengths that had been cut by the enzymes, held under a light so the dye would glow. "Alright, then, well, this is pretty difficult to say. Ravage, I saw some mutagen particles, and it looks like the instant they get out of the syringe of blood, they try to denature. That means you don't have to worry about blood shed on a battlefield being used, the instant oxygen in a gaseous state hits it, it falls apart into things nobody would even give a second glance at." He looked over at a microscope, "Alright, let's try this." He turned on a machine, and set it to a temperature, before pulling out an odd vial. "I'm going to see if it doesn't mess up when it's kept at a proper body temperature, and is transferred without air present."

Ravage looked up, "You're several degrees off, my body temperature is higher than that." She got up and walked over to the machine, and clicked it up to a higher temperature, almost ten degrees above the original. She then looked at Corey, "I get it, that would be considered a fever, but nobody ever says anything, it's been like that ever since the mutations, I figure it's just the amount of energy I give off, and besides, I haven't felt any negative effects, so I guess my body just works normal at that." She then turned and walked back over to the bench to sit down. Corey stared at her for a moment, before moving the syringe into the machine, and slipping it into a slot. He began working with some other utensils inside the machine, inside the airless area it made inside of it.

His beak widened, "Ahah!" He exclaimed a little, "So that's what it needs, if it's in a simulated environment similar to the organism that it's kept in, the mutagen particles don't seem to be affected. I don't know if the temperature has anything to deal with it, but air might. It must have been a unique thing that was used to deliver the mutagen, if it's so sensitive outside cells." He carefully began to extract the strange black particles out of the cells, carefully using certain chemicals to purge as much as he could of the substance. He thought there was something else strange in the blood cells, but Corey, despite his itching scientific instinct, ignored it, this was a fragile, delicate task. Eventually, he dropped a good amount of it into a petri dish using a clean dropper, and then grabbed a syringe, prepping it. He held it up, and pressed down on the plunger, trying to get out every molecule of air that there was to be found. "Okay, fingers crossed, here. We need to hope the mutagen won't respond badly to being in this inferior syringe." He turned around and dipped the syringe into the machine, sucking out the black fluid, and pulling out the syringe, holding it up. He hurriedly put a gloved talon over the tip of it, when the part of the mutagen still dripping on the outer edge of the needle instantly flashed into a brilliant red as it denatured. The mutagen inside the actual syringe, however, remained a dark, oily black. He found a cap and slid it onto the needle, to keep it safe.

He held up the capsule of mutagen he had extracted from Ravage's blood, but the look on his face was grim, not the expression of accomplishment, "It worked, this is the mutagen, but we have to hope it works, still." He turned and looked at everyone, "I hope nobody expects me to administer this, I might have very clumsy talons trying to do this, I don't want to spill any of it. Would someone else volunteer to inject it? You have to move quickly, the color change is what happens if the mutagen denatures, and as you can see, it happens very, very fast."

Without a word, Isbar, who had been quietly hanging around watching the proceedings, took the syringe from Corey and injected it swiftly and smoothly into Corey.

"Not one to mince words, are you?" observed Mott dryly.

"Now is the time for action, not words," said Isbar shortly.

A tall creature stepped from the shadows. A few Zraak sat hunched almost fearfully over a metal table. The figure that stepped into the light was very familiar to them. Yet also very different.

It was very tall and muscular. It had four immense horns on its head and two scarlet eyes. Black reptilian skin. Scaly skin. A blood colored underbelly.

The creature wore a black cape and an assortment of armor around the waist with a black loincloth. There were a few strips of metal making a "cage" around the abdomen.

A clicking sound emerged from behind the tall Jadel. A Karthla. Hunchback and walking on nine spider-like legs. Edus had grotesque features that set her apart from the other Karthla Sentients.

A metallic collar around her neck beeped with an electronic voice after she made a gagging collection of Karthlese words. "Just as promised. Skandalon The Ruthless."

A Zraak eyes him head to toe. "Impressive Edus. How might you have come up with a Jadel? They're extinct."

"Not so" Edus declared proudly. Her legs snatch the side of the table. "The remaining Jadel live in a secret sanctuary under the very surface of mud-ball Maful. Kradus's very birth-world."

"Knoll said it was his son" interrupts a female Zraak.

"Not biologically. Kradus never had a son, nor a mate to produce one. For several reasons though. His past mate dying, his general cruelty, and how busy he already was. Knoll was faithful to some of the Sentient beliefs. This was simply stating that he is a new chosen. Kradus was like a god to the Karthla. They believed he was the son of Krathel."

Edus chirped, before the shady figure of General Shancar stepped into the light as well. "We have much planned for him."

Blair was quiet, for a few moments, and the doctors slowly walked away, leaving the scientists to look after the Cavernian. For a long, extended period of time, he was quiet, nothing happening at all. However, the next thing that happened, surprised everyone. He drew in a long, shuddering gasp, something that he shouldn't have been able to do, as muscles responsible for breathing were supposedly destroyed, and he was hooked up to a respirator. The machine monitoring his heartbeat began to beep faster, as his heart rate increased, and much to everyone's horror, he reached up and ripped the respirator out of his throat, as well as the IV, and all other things that had been plugged into him, for the sole purpose of keeping him alive. "Blair! No!" Travis said, shocked and alarmed by the sudden, swift movements, which nobody had thought he was capable of, in such a bad condition. Nobody knew quite what to think, until Blair gave a wrenching cough, and clutched the edges of the cot tightly, his talons cutting slightly into the fabric. The machine monitoring his vitals was wailing an alarm, now, as everything began to react to the mutagen that coursed through his veins. His heart rate skyrocketed, his breathing quickened into deep, ragged takes, and his blood pressure increased, as well. His eyes flew open, and his pupils had contracted to pinpoints, as he screeched, a terrible, wailing sound that no normal Chimerosu should make, injured or well, and sounded more like the roar of some terrifying beast, than a bird.

Ravage's pupils contracted to thin slits, "Oh no, he's mutating, everyone get back!" She flew between the group and Bair, and, although using slightly more force than she wished, swatted all of them away with a single swipe of her tail, before dashing over with them, hoping it was enough to keep them from suffering anything from the reaction, which might become violent. As everyone watched, a slimy, oily black fluid began to seep through Blair's feathers, as he collapsed down on the gurney again, his body wrenching, and then relaxing, as though in surrender to the strange things in his system. His eyes closed, and the disgusting black slime continued to seep, until it formed a gigantic blob around his entire body, bright red veins streaked through it. A faint, sweet smell filled the air, but otherwise, there was the nauseating, alarming scent of blood and plasma, a stench like death almost completely drowning out any other scent. It was Blair's blood, as cells in his body began to change, while others began to die off completely, to make way for the new, altered ones. There was also a metallic stench, that could make one's stomach do flip-flops uneasily. The slime stopped forming, but the machines all began to hum an alarm, as the pupa disconnected them from the patient.

Doctors ran in, and then stopped, not sure what to make of what was sitting on the gurney in Blair's place. Suddenly, all was still, but there was an eerie, charged tension in this lull, this temporary peace. Everyone was stunned by what had just happened, and how quickly it had occurred. Ravage winced, as though she had been physically struck by some terrible, wounding blow, and she slowly sank down to her knees, closing her eyes, as tears welled in them. She could still smell it, though, nothing could drown out the smell, "He'll live..." She choked. She then took a deep breath, to calm herself, and shuddered, before getting back up, re-gaining her composure. When she opened her eyes, they were distant, and disconnected, "He'll live," She repeated, "But as a mutant. It's changing him, I have not a shadow of a doubt."

A doctor moved over, and Ravage shot him a look that made the Vitisan flinch back, "Nobody touch him," She growled, a harsh edge creeping into her voice, as her pupils contracted a bit more into thin slits. "There is nothing we can do, we can only wait for the change to be done." With this being said, she walked over to a spot by the wall, and slid down, sitting on the floor, a distance from the cot, as her eyes warily darted about the faces. "Well?" She snapped, and it seemed she was angry with herself.

Haku, who had arrived in, tried to move to calm her down. "Now Ravage, this isn't all your fault-"

She cut him off, "Yes, it is. Do me a favor, and just leave, alright?!" She snapped, her pupils becoming barely visible, they grew so thin. She put a hand over her face, as though suddenly suffering a headache, closing her eyes. When she opened them, the third eyelids had closed, leaving them milky white, and she had a wild look about her, the kind of out-of-control look she had when she had viciously bitten and attempted to kill Snow. She looked at everyone, and there was a long, threatening pause, before she spoke again, "Stay away...you don't know what I'm capable of..." The way she looked, nobody had any doubt that she might turn her incredible strength on them.

Haku and Corey both opened their beaks to argue, but Travis came up and clamped down a hand on their shoulders, stopping them, "I'd say we'd be wise not to debate this matter..." He said, quietly, to them both. He then turned and left the room, before the Chimerosu present warily looked at Ravage, and hurried after them. Ravage, seeing this, closed her eyes, and folded her arms, although she still had a dangerous look about her, even though this reserved position seemed more controlled. Clearly, regardless of whatever mental state the shock had put her in, she intended to watch over Blair however long the mutations took. She then wrinkled her beak, "Turn off the lights, or they will blind him when he wakes up." She growled.

Aolani looked regrettably at Ravage, before turning to the alien representatives, "This isn't a situation to talk about, I think we should all just do what she says. She knows what this is like, she's the only one who understands what's happening to Blair inside of that thing. Let's go, we can talk about this somewhere else..."

With this, the Vitisan ushered everyone out of the room, leaving only Ravage there with the cocoon, and switched off the lights, revealing that when Ravage opened her eyes to watch them go, that they seemed to glow in the dark, clearly, she was capable of seeing them in the dim lighting. Aolani closed the door quietly, but quickly, behind her, and turned to everyone else, before looking at Travis, and then tensing up. Moments later, she burst out crying, "I...I don't know...!" She wept, tears streaming down her face. "What's going to happen to Blair, is Ravage going to...hurt him?"

Travis looked up at her, and slowly shook his head, "I...I honestly don't know...Aolani..." He said, "If she were fully in control of what she was doing, I would say he would be fine....but right now..." He drifted off.

Tevri looked distressed when he saw the looks on everyone's faces as they came out. "Is he all right? He hasn't died, has he?"

"No," said Aarin quietly. "He'll live, though he won't be the same, I'm thinking."

"What's happening in there? Where's the Lieutenant?"

Aarin rubbed his eyes distractedly. "She's inside. However, I fear you'll have to wait for answers to the first question, and only if Ravage is willing to tell you."

Isbar went to a spot opposite the door of the room they had just left, he sat down facing the door.

"What are you doing?" Allé asked.

"Keeping watch," was the reply. "Someone should be around when they come out."

Aarin looked at Isbar curiously. When the two of them had first met, Isbar and Ravage had not seemed to hit off very well; however, Isbar now seemed to be showing concern and sympathy for Ravage, albeit in a rough fashion. Isbar almost never showed sympathy to anyone.

Praedromus slowly stepped forward, the footsteps echoing harshly in the distance. The Vrentus Supreme was in what was known as the Mind Cache. It was a hollowed out planet, filled with enormous metal spheres. Within these objects were Vrentus consciousnesses, collective intelligences. When the outer form of a Vrentus perished, its very being escapes into the void and eventually finds itself within the Cache, stored until it is needed. The exceptions to this were the Primes, as they simply collapsed in on themselves. Praedromus headed to a sphere of significant importance. Unlike the others, which glowed with a brilliant green, a red light emanated from its surface. The other Vrentus working to oversee the Mind Cache avoided the Supreme, knowing that he was their absolute superior. Only the Primes dared to speak to Praedromus without being spoken to first.

Praedromus reached the end of the platform and hesitated for a moment. "Bring me the shell," He ordered at the Cache's workers after several seconds of staring at the sphere. The employees of the cache immediately brought a smaller sphere, around 2 meters in diameter. This was larger than most Vrentus shells, and was a midnight black in color. Within it was a miniature star, powering the sphere, like Praedromus. However, it lacked the dark energy weaponry of the latter, instead having large plasma and electricity generatoring devices that worked in tangent with the star. The workers carefully set it down in front of their Supreme and awaited further orders.

“Release the mind and combine it with others to… Fix what has been broken.” Praedromus commanded. The sphere in front of him slowly opened up to reveal a blinding red light within. Several of the other spheres close to it also did the same, revealing a green light. The green energy flowed down and into the red, combining the two. After exactly ten minutes, this stopped and the spheres containing the green energy closed. The one Praedromus focused on remained open. “Release the mind into its body.” Praedromus, had he had a mouth, would have held a grim smile as the red energy burst forward into the sphere, filling it with the consciousness of a Vrentus. Red lights started to appear on the sphere as the process completed. “While it is adjusting, give the mind its former body.” The sphere quickly shifted into a figure that would be peculiar to most in the galaxy. It was, height-wise, enormous, standing at ten feet tall. The being had large, digitigrade legs, with three toes. Interestingly it had four arms, reaching just past the waist of the creature. Each hand had three fingers and a thumb, all talons. Fin-like spikes jutted down the length of the spine and the backs of the forearms and legs. The face of this new creature was flat, with no visible mouth and four eyes – Two of these were adjacent near the center of the face, while the other two were adjacent near the bottom. It seemed to have armoring nonetheless, as if the original being it was based on wore armoring. The entire figure remained a black hue with red lighting, however.
The figure stood for a couple seconds, its consciousness processing before it brought its hands to the side and closed its fists. “Who are you?” It asked, stepping forward towards the Vrentus who had brought it back. Its voice was deep and raspy, almost a rusty sound.

“I am Praedromus, the current Vrentus Supreme. Do you remember who you are?”

The figure paused. “I was the Vrentus Supreme, all those years ago… I was at peace, in deep slumber, and then you returned me to the chaotic light.” It hesitated. “I am Abarron.”

“I brought your mind into this reality because I need your help.” Praedromus responded, staring the former leader right in the face.

“Why would you need my aid?” Abarron defiantly questioned, electricity starting to spark at his fists.

“I cannot alone command the Collective against the forces of the Confederacy. You will be my second in command, still superior to the Primes.” Knowing Abarron wouldn’t know what that was, he quickly told him of the Confederacy and their war.

“The Krathunians are no threat to us. Have you forgotten our true enemies?”

“No, I have not, but they have not roamed this galaxy for 60,000 years.”

“If the Confederacy finds him-“

“They will not,” Praedromus reassured Abarron angrily, clenching his fist.

Abarron stopped for a moment. “I will help you.” Praedromus nodded, but the other was not finished. “But, when the time comes and your goal is abandoned, know that I will not stand by your side.” Abarron walked away, leaving Praedromus alone within the Mind Cache, pondering.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Svar walked angrily away, staring at the floor. This emotion was present for a multitude of reasons, namely the fact that the Engineer was unable to help the others with the procedure and also because he blamed the event on him. If the railgun hadn’t shot the plasma bolt and used a metal projectile instead, it was possible that what happened between the Aracharchne Tyrant and Blair wouldn’t have happened. He rushed to his room, ignored the Chimerosu around him, and sat on his bed, thinking.

For several minutes he sat in this position before his eyes wandered over to a box at the edge of the room, made of a white plastic alloy. It contained a farewell gift from Admiral Rakluth – A rifle dating back to the war against the Vrentus. Svar slowly walked over to the container, and upon opening it, grinned. He knew exactly what he had to do.


((All I have time for atm, rest of it coming later today))

After about three hours of tense waiting, it seemed that the swarm of Arachnarche was not coming back, possibly because all of it had been slain by the Tyrant, and because the mutant creature had other plans aside from tormenting the people of the Majesty. However, this did not settle anyone, as they anxiously awaited for Blair to emerge from whatever state he was now in. There was little relief in the realization that he would live, as now they had to worry about what he would be like in a new, mutated state. Ravage, they knew, was dramatically different from what a normal Krylonian should have been, and a great deal stronger, so what would happen to a Cavernian, in this case? The concept deeply disturbed everyone, but nobody had the courage to ask after him, and others didn't want to deal with such dangerous individuals. There was whispering, however, about what might happen to the good representative, as they knew that the mutations could affect one's mental state, as well. It was highly unlikely Blair would be the same person he had been before this whole disaster.

Thirty-minutes into the fourth hour, there was a loud crash in the room where Blair was being watched over by Ravage, and everyone present turned to look at it anxiously. There was a bit of screeching in the room, one sounded like Ravage, and people could only guess she was furious, although there seemed to be a hint of despair in it. In response, there was another sound, an eerie, different screech that sounded more like a scream, fused with the roar of some unnatural, primal thing. It made one's blood run cold, and there were more violent crashes, and the sound of something breaking, before silence came back. The smell of the cocoon, the reek of blood with an underlying sweetness, wafted out from underneath the door, and finally, the door opened up, and Ravage stepped out, supporting something on her shoulder. Clearly, there had been a scrap in the room, because in the small strip of light offered by the doorway, one could see that the cot had been flipped over, and the monitors and equipment in the room for the most part smashed. There were faintly shining black objects all over, and as people watched, Ravage tugged one of the objects from her beak, where it had lodged in, like a needle.

Blair, however, was the immediate focus of their attention, and it was horrifying, because to most people, it looked like there was nothing left of the Cavernian, and in his place, there was a subdued demon, instead. The Cavernian had grown taller, his height would have ranked him at around 6'5", enough to rival an average Frigian, and even tower over some of them. His feathers had all changed in color and in quality. They remained stiff, and scale-like, but now had a thicker shaft running down the center, and were a pure shade of pitch black, with an oily sheen on them, and when he moved in a certain way, there was the startling flashes of magenta and red, an iridescent quality they didn't possess before. His wings were much, much larger than before, and it seemed that he was much more suited to flying than a normal Cavernian, now. The first five primary feathers had edges that seemed to glint in a metallic way, and one didn't need to take a second-glance to see that they were razor-sharp, like blades. The feathers on his legs and arms, normally ending at the shoulder, and just past the upper hip, went slightly further down than they had before, the feathering on his arms now ending just past the elbow, and the feathering on his legs now ending.just past the second-joint. The scales and plating on his belly and arms had changed, as well. They had a sharper, almost reptilian-like look to them, keeled and pointed at the ends, rather than rounded, and were a shade of Gainsboro grey, not white, but definitely pale, forming a striking contrast with his deadly-looking black talons, still capable of interlocking when the fingers were closed, but now long enough to rival a Stagnumian's in length, and perhaps much sharper. Serrated spines of the same pale grey ran down his back, ending close to the tip of his tail. His face, however, was perhaps the most alarming, the part that bore the least resemblance to what he had looked like before. Blair's mane was longer and thicker, but seemed capable of clamping down in flight, now, similar to Ravage. His horns were now a pale grey, like the rest of his body, and they remained thick, but the tips seemed much sharper than they had before. Blair's beak was likewise the same grey, and retained the ridges it had before, but they had a sharper, pronounced quality at each spine-like part, and seemed smoother than before, less bulky. The tip of the beak itself was slightly hooked, and very sharp, as were the long, serrated, needle-like teeth that poked out of it, and when Blair breathed, it was revealed that a second pair of nostril-slits had formed. The bony plates in the center of Blair's forehead was the same grey as all other plating, and ran up to end at his main, likewise sharp, and the skin around his eyes was also grey. The rest of his face, however, had the greatest notable change. A heart-shaped arrangement of bony plating gleamed the purest shade of white anyone had ever seen, especially compared to the darker grey of the beak and ridges up the center, making it look like some terrifying mask. Blair's pupils, everyone could see, were now slitted, as Ravage's were, when she had been mutated, but what disturbed everyone the most, however, was that as they emerged from the darkened room, Blair's eyes seemed to glow in the dark.

Blair's eyes were now a deep, smoldering shade of red, their color having been completely changed, eliminating the one thing that all Chimerosu had regarded as what they had in common. It was so frightening, that most of the doctors that saw this, visibly shuddered. Blair was also covered in something sleek, and sweet-smelling, the slime from the cocoon he had been in, as he had not been able to clean it off. His left eye was closed slightly, and constantly blinked, weeping slightly. It could only be that Ravage had punched him there, and everyone guessed that somehow, Blair had lost control of himself, just as Ravage had done before. Everything about him was different, and when one with a strong nose breathed his scent, underneath the smell of nutrient slime, it was completely altered, nothing like it had been before.

Ravage shifted him back onto her shoulder, and it was revealed that Blair wasn't being supported because he was weak, but because the mutated Krylonian was, in fact, tightly holding both arms in a position that would make it difficult for Blair to use his hands, and allow her to keep him in that hold for as long as possible. She was trying to make sure that if he lost it, nobody but her would be injured in the process. Indeed, one could see the faintest of bruises fading from her beak, and it was obvious she had fought him and calmed him down again. Grimly, she looked at everyone, daring them to say anything at all. Immediately, people who didn't personally know Ravage walked away, not wanting to be part of the conversation that would take place, as it would probably be a very ugly one.

Blair then shifted, and Ravage's grips on his arms visibly tightened, as she gazed ahead, not looking at anything. He blinked, squinting, as though the light hurt his eyes, and he focused on everyone, his scanning their faces. "I am alright..." He said, his voice having a feral, growl-like quality that hadn't been present before. "But...what have you done to me?" The question itself was innocent, but there was an underlying mix of anger and sorrow. Blair would never be normal again.

Ravage, not wanting anyone but her to answer the question, responded, her gaze downcast now to the floor, "It isn't their fault, I'm the only one to blame. Don't be angry, or you'll lose control." Her eyes seemed to glisten with what might have been a bit of tears, though her downcast face hid her expression, for the most part, and her voice was even. "You wouldn't even know who you were, and I would have to kill you..." Her voice now choked off.

Isbar had stood up the moment the door opened. At the sight of Blair, he arched an eyebrow, but otherwise showed no reaction. It was impossible to say what he was thinking.

When Blair spoke, Tevri hung his head. Poor Blair. Tevri had no idea what to say.

Aarin was similarly silent. The mutation had been more extreme than anyone could have imagined. Aarin pondered what to say in response to Blair's question, but found nothing. What could one say? Blair seemed angry, and who could blame him? His life had been changed forever. It may well be that Blair would have rather died than have this happen to him.

Aarin knew what he would say, but he wasn't sure now was the time; Blair would probably not be ready to hear it. There was only one other thing he could think of to say; it didn't seem right not to say anything, that might be even worse.

"We're sorry."

Aarin glanced at Isbar. He was the one who had spoken the phrase, before Aarin could; however, his face was as flat and emotionless as ever.

51,764

Inside Vil-Nolwikkan Space

Planet Estrompir

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually, the diplomat and a "guide," who really was a Dark Officer, escorted Resara and a few Jorro'kil guards down to Estrompir.

The small ship landed in a large, bustling docking station, placed high at the peak of a hill, above the nearby city. The door opened, revealing a strange, oddly beautiful sight of the Vil-Nolwikan city. The buildings seemed to be 100% metals, but were round, reflective, and were well-designed. Strange ships flew above, some flying over the horizon, some landing in the docking station, and yet more flying into the sky until nothing could see them.

The Dark Officer, who really didn't look at all like an officer, stepped in front of Resara's party.

"Welcome," He started, "To Estrompir. I'm Dark Officer Edacious Kal-Damasi, and I'll be, well, your guide. Please, don't take the space station as a true example of Nolwikkan culture..." The diplomat looked a bit skeptical, but let Edacious finish.

"...So, welcome to the city of Karsala. We'll give you a basic tour of the city, and give you a basic idea of our... culture. Our citizens' attitudes towards aliens aren't very pleasant, but for the most part, they should leave you alone. Please, take a while to study our art, architecture, history, and military might-- you'll get to see a load of all of it during this tour. Please, feel free to ask questions, any at all."

With that, Edacious turned and began to lead the party through the docking port. He hated that he had to act as a tour guide, but he has determined to make a good impression on the Jorro'kil. He wanted his empire to have a bright future, and he figured that forming a healthy alliance would be a terrific start.

Blair did something unexpected, in response to Isbar's apology, "What are ye apologizing for, Isbar?" His eyes still blinked rapidly, he couldn't see in this light, it was too bright for him, still. Did Ravage always have to deal with this, were her eyes really this suited to darkness, or did this wear off and then they would adjust normally again? He laughed, despite it, though there was a somewhat hysterical edge that everyone could hear. He didn't care, though, because it released the awful pressure that kept building in his chest, the tension in this room was enough to make him feel as though he were being physically crushed. It was also hard to ignore the tight, vice-like grip Ravage had on both of his arms, he couldn't move them at all, he was positive that he would find bruises where her fingers had been, later. Cavernian hearing was already regarded as sensitive, or so he thought, but all of Blair's senses had been enhanced. Blair heard every little thing, the sounds of everyone breathing, their heartbeats. He could smell, too, and he could detect each person's scent, each one wildly different, something new to him. Of course, Ravage's scent was the most prominent, because she was the closest to him. She had a somewhat reptilian smell, somehow cold-feeling, and there was the faintest trace of blood, as well, warming it, but also making it seem more predatory. Over it all, however, there was the smell of something sharp that he couldn't place, mixed with a faint, earthy aroma, like soil. For some reason, this both surprised him, and didn't. Part of it seemed to make sense, the other did not.

He laughed again, and Ravage's grip on his arms tightened anymore, and he could feel her tensing, as though worried that he was losing it. "I...don't know what to make of this..." He said, his voice a bit sad and upset, but with clear intentions of trying to remain positive, despite the fact. "I can hear and smell things I never thought I knew of, though my eyes can't seem to adjust to this light, not yet." He raised his head, and looked in the directions of each scent, so it looked as though he were looking between each person. "It frightens me, and upsets me, I don't even know what I look like. Don't forget who it was ye treated, though. Ravage told me, if ye hadn't done what ye did, I would have died." He wanted to pull away, but Ravage still wouldn't let him let go, fearful he might attack someone. "I suppose I be different, now, but I'll not be alone. I want ye to know that even past this, I be grateful to ye, I just have to get past the initial shock, of all this here." His eyes stopped blinking, and finally, he could see everything. All the colors seemed brighter, and more vivid, his vision had grown sharper, and more powerful.

He searched the faces again, "I will always be a representative, and no matter how bad things may seem, I won't ever give in to sorrow or despair. There is so much more I can do in this form, than I can in my previous one, and it's me, now, so what choice have I got?" He turned to look at Ravage, and scented something salty, that could have been tears, "Ravage, there be no need for crying, I cannot hold a grudge against anyone, even if ye think I be furious with ye." He then tried to tug away, "Ye can let go of my arms, now, lass, I don't think there's any danger of me having another one of those episodes, and yer cutting off the circulation, my hands are going numb." Ravage then, after pausing a moment and raising her head slightly, released his arms.

Blair rubbed them, seeing bruises where her fingers had been, before watching as they rapidly healed, leaving no evidence of anything having been there. They were different, much different, but he forced down all the fear he felt from it. This was him now, there was no changing it. He straightened up to his full height, and his eyes widened a bit with surprise, "It seems either everyone has shrunk, or I'm taller than I used to be." He frowned, the expression frightening on his new face.

Ravage, stunned, couldn't believe what she was hearing, that Blair was taking this so well, how was it even possible? She couldn't process it, and after a painful moment of pressure welling up inside, she broke into tears again, weeping quietly, and reaching up to wipe the tears away. It seemed, now, like she was the one more upset than Blair.

Isbar raised an eyebrow at Blair's reaction; however, this time a small smile seemed to play on the corner of his mouth.

Tevri raised his head. "I. . . uh," he began, looking for something to say.

Aarin stepped forward, smiling, and gave Blair's hand a pump. "It's good to have you back, Blair," he said. Although he smiled, one with good perception might have noticed the edge of his voice and of his eyes that betrayed some sympathy and sadness, knowing that, although Blair was trying to be positive, he was undoubtedly more upset than he let on.

"Don't worry, Ravage," he added. "Everything is going to be alright now." However, he guessed well enough that it wouldn't be as easy as that for her.

(@Zaroas Perhaps you should respond to my post for the battle of Daryssan. The Dark Energy Convertor on board the prototype is about to go boom.)

The Ryun-Wreae fleet heard Vey's command and followed the lead. The Summit rocketed back with Markovan forces, still firing its weapon directly into the heart of the Mondarian fleet. Meanwhile, the surrounded Confederate fleet altered their formation to avoid a reaction with the Dark Energy and continued their efforts on the rest of the Despot fleet and the UFIAI.

_____________________________________________

Unsilenced Retribution watched as the UFIAI counterattack started to take place. It knew exactly what they were trying to do - The Dyson Sphere's structure had been scanned by multiple Confederacy vessels as soon as they entered the system and the UFIAI plan to draw them out from their cover and into range of the structure's defenses. The Wreae, after a bit of planning, knew what it had to do.

As the recon fleet seemed to follow what the AI wanted it to do, the UFIAI fleet chasing it out of cover, Unsilenced Retribution began to speak to Xej. "As you may know," It began, pacing the bridge as the Valence broke off from the formation, its technology scrambler devices going into action, "This is a rather unique ship. It is fitted with an experimental Federation technology - The Micro-Warp Drive. It happens that this ship is the perfect size and purpose for this device. What it does is allow for a miniature warp to occur so the ship travels a small distance within a very short time. It does not need to charge up like an FTL or other warp drive, but its maximum range is the average distance between two planets."

The Valence, along with the recon fleet, got closer and closer to the Dyson Sphere, the small frigate leading the UFIAI and Confederacy fleet. Just as it went into range Unsilenced Retribution saw the artillery lasers activate and yelled a prompt, "Now!" The Valence microwarped several times, seeming to fade in and out of existence as it exited the range. The rest of the Confederacy fleets activated hull engines and were propelled back towards the gas giant, firing weapons wildly in all directions. The intended effect was the Dyson's defenses firing upon its own ships.

Xerin, who had quietly, but seriously monitered the events since Blair had been wounded by the menacing Arachnarche, stood among those who were there to greet the newly mutated Blair.

He observed the short conversations between the others, and decided to put in a word.

"Change can be very disturbing.. but your perserverence will see you through." He said, nodding slightly.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________


51,764

Inside Vil-Nolwikkan Space

The City of Karsala on the surface of Estrompir

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resara nodded, and followed Edacious through the port, observing the structure in a detached way. Upon leaving it, she and her guards took in the sight of the city. It was well made and overall good looking to their eyes, being used to the metallic look of things from Jorro'kil architecture.

"Very good." She muttered. Turning to Edacious, she said, "Well, lead the way."

Q’ren stared forward into the depths of the dust-filled room, anger welling up inside him. “I don’t understand,” He muttered as he slowly turned back to the group. “The Seraph Shell is supposed to be here, but I can’t find the energy signature at all.” He rubbed the part of his helmet that covered the face, clearly distressed.

Admiral Rakluth looked up at the area they had just left to arrive here – A seemingly endless staircase spiraling down to these depths, surrounded by silvery vaults undoubtedly filled with Vrentus technology. Q’ren insisted that they ignored these caches of technology, quickly deeming them to be useless. “Why wouldn’t it be in any of those up there?”

“The R’lek and, in turn, the Vrentus stored all captured Krathunian technology at the bottom of their storage areas so any invaders would have to fight through the entire system to get to retrieve anything lost.” Q’ren stated dryly, blinking as the dust settled after an unknown commotion.
“Analysis suggests that this chamber was built from the same material as the above portion, but has existed for far longer.” The Lieutenant Wreae stated in its blank, electronic voice, turning to Q’ren. The Krathunian, under his helmet, had a puzzled look.

Admiral Rakluth, able to see more clearly now that the dust that permeated had faded, pointed to the center of the room. “What’s that?” He asked, something catching his eye.

The object that he referenced was a large monument, seeming to be made of a dark marble. By the looks of it, the figure once depicted a kneeling bipedal creature, though features had been violently worn away by someone or something.

“It looks like a… statue of something.” Q’ren remarked, stepping closer to the object. “The Vrentus wouldn’t build something like this, and it is definitely not Krathunian. There has to be a reason it was physically altered and, well, here in the first place. I’ve never quite seen anything like it.” Q’ren tapped it with his finger and the statue nearly instantaneously unfolded to reveal a holographic computer display, in an unknown language. Q’ren tilted his head slightly, confused. “The Vrentus don’t use any computers like this, being energy beings, and it’s not in a tongue I recognize.” Q’ren peered closer uses his HUD to scan the language using his translator, starting to read off snippets of words out loud.

“How are you doing that?” Rakluth inquired, leaning in.

Q’ren turned for a quick second before looking back at the console. “Our translators are much more advanced than yours, Admiral, and somehow the device is recognizing it.” He straightened up, looking at the others. “Ok, the shell was here, but it was moved to a planet at coordinates that I just downloaded into the HUD’s database. By the looks of it, it’s being used to contain a power source that holds the exterior of a Vrentus fortress world aloft. This means-“ He stopped talking as he heard footsteps from behind the console. Q’ren leaned to the side to see a familiar face.

Walking towards them was Sentinel Theranis Ra’agus, still using his sword as a cane. “Hello everyone,” He called, the armoring shifting slightly though it maintained the position that would allow him to stabilize his injury.

“Theranis, I thought I told you to guard the ship. Why are you down here?” Q’ren growled, walking forward.

“I found an entrance, figured you could use some help,” The Sentinel responded, tensing up slightly.

Q’ren nodded, and went forward towards the Sentinel. “Any sign of activity when you left?” As soon as he asked, he activated the armor’s COMM link to Theranis.

“No sign of Vrentus activity, just wind and dust, desolation and despair.” On the COMM, all Q’ren could hear as this was being stated was heavy breathing from a Krathunian.

Q’ren nodded, and came face to face with Theranis. “It’s good to see you back in action,” A blade jutted from the elder’s gauntlet armor, unbeknownst to the other Krathunian, “Sentinel.” As that word came out of his mouth rather harshly, Q’ren slammed the knife into Theranis’ armor, cutting right through the plating. The other Krathunian stumbled back and fell flat to the ground, dead, as Q’ren slid the knife out from him and it retracted back into the armor. A fine, green, mist like substance lifted into the air from Theranis’ body. Q’ren stood, staring at which he had just slain.

Blair flicked his tail, "I am sure ye be right, Xerin, although for the moment, my life will likely be filled with the simple challenge of getting used to all of this. Smells, mostly, though, I thought this ship didn't have much of a smell, but apparently, the whole thing does. It be mostly organic cleaning products the Vitisans use, but there's plenty of others. My curiosity is getting the best of me." He then looked over his shoulder at the room they came out of, and there was a regretful twinge, with maybe a small degree of fear that flashed into his gaze, "If anyone is wondering what those shiny black fragments on the floor are..." He curled around his tail, and plucked a feather off the end of it, just a short distance from where the tuft was. People watched as right before their eyes, a new one rapidly grew in to replace it, and then it seemed that he had not done the action at all. He held up a feather, "Apparently, I can fire these like projectiles." He said, looking at Ravage. It seemed he knew he had gone into a rage, but wasn't quite capable of remembering it.

Ravage looked at him, starting to regain her composure, though sadness lingered in her eyes, "Yes, you can, the main plumes of your feathers are stiff, and very sharp, like needles. Because of the way a feather naturally is, if you aim accurately, they're guaranteed to hit the mark. They're a little bit like armor, now, and meant to re-grow if you lose any, probably so you never run out of them." She looked away and shook her head slowly, "Whoever invented the mutagen...they weren't idiots, I would say they were a mad genius, but they didn't have much of a sense in order, either. There are similarities in our mutations, but we were also given different enhanced abilities based on what traits we already had. Krylonians were the only ones who could camouflage themselves, everyone else lost that ability. My own camouflage is incredibly powerful, I can be looked at from any angle, and not be seen, and I can run at top speed and I'll change to match the scenery around me, I'm practically invisible, and that's not even much mental effort, for me. She flicked her tail, and looked back at Blair, "You, as a Cavernian, had scales that were notably stiff, like scales, it enhanced that into a weapon, and because your people have smaller, less powerful wings, it changed that, so you should be able to fly much further, with more speed. It looks like you have razor-edges on your primaries, too."

Ravage then frowned, "Look, Blair, you hit me with a lot of your feathers, I need to go pluck them out. I can't get infection, but they sting, regardless. I need to think things over, too." She then narrowed her eyes, "Just a warning before I walk out of here, though. No matter how well you take this, it has made the part of you that controls basic instinct stronger, just like a Karthla. If you lose your temper over anything at all, you aren't used to suppressing the primal aspects of your mind. I can go into a rage and remember it, even fight it off before I hurt someone, you can't even recall what happened in that room when you woke up, and the simple fact is had the person present been any weaker than me, you would have killed them." This, clearly, was the part that disturbed her so greatly, "Do not lose control, the only reason I'll trust you is because you've never gotten angry at anyone before, anyone else, though, I would be watching them constantly." She looked around at everyone, "As for the mutations, the physical changes, the way you look, isn't the part that horrifies me so much, I don't care how people look. It's what it makes you do."

With this, she turned and walked away, likely headed back to her Stealth Strider.

Teglin gave a shriek. Zizo dashed forward. "What have you done?" he yelled at Q'ren.
_________________________________

"Welcome to the ranks of the genetically enhanced" said Isbar to Blair in his usual dry way once Ravage left. "And now that the excitement is over, I think I'll do some workout." Without another word, he walked off.

"Leave it to him to ruin the moment," said Mott.

"In the meantime," said Allé, "perhaps you should get some rest Blair. You must be tuckered after all that."
_______________________________________

The Markovan, Vathorin, and Confederate ships were all cleared away. The Despotic vessels were also fleeing the immediate area.

Marr had drawn his knife and was slashing left and right. "Get someone over there, you fools!" he shrieked. "We can't lose the prototype!"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, then the explosion occurred. There was a blinding flash of light, and a fireball appeared where the prototype had been. It rapidly expanded at an alarming rate. All ships tried to get away from the approaching inferno, but the fireball was moving faster. It caught up with a few stragglers, engulfing them, when suddenly, it seemed to collapse in on itself, shrinking until it vanished completely.

"What just happened?" demanded Vey.

"No sign of the ships caught," said the helmsman. He frowned at the odd readings. "Sire, there seems to be some sort of wormhole where the explosion occurred, but unlike any we've seen before."

"Well, it will have to wait," said Vey. "We still have a battle to fight."

Seweral of the artillery lasers fired, attempting to hit The Valence and other ships. They didn’t reach their intended targets, but trying to make an AI to shoot its own ships unintentionally was like trying to get someone shoot one’s own arm. Shots went close, some almost scratching UFIAI’s ships, but practically it was the same as if they had missed by a mile.

The sudden disappearance of the Valence however was very interesting from the Farsight’s perspective. UFIAI had been developing similar device that Valence had, but UFIAI’s device was based on entirely different technique. Farsight started to furiously scan through the system. Aside from the gas giant there was practically no cover from the heavy lasers of the Dyson’s sphere, although due to light speed’s limitations on astronomical distances, those weapons became increasingly inaccurate when targets got farther away.

____________________________________________________________________________

They had also assumed an overall more defensive stance after the Confederate fleet had received reinforcements. These were brand new UFIAI ships, and Anima didn’t want to lose any more than necessary in a fight that held not actual interest for UFIAI. At least it didn’t hold any until the prototype appeared.
When the prototype had started acting up, Anima’s ships had been the first to take some distance to it. UFIAI didn’t want such technology, but the sole information that such technology existed was worthy price, more so because now UFIAI knew to what Jiiran needed the orbs. Now that the prototype had been destroyed, the strange wormhole got Anima’s interest.

Anima reorganized its ships to a counter-attack. Confederacy’s cyber-attacks had had no visible effect on them. While a sneak attack on UFIAI’s systems could cause havoc, a head-on attack didn’t have the advantage to hide within UFIAI’s was amount of information. Also, Anima was the AI that had invented the art of mind-surgery and by that the slave-minds, UFIAI’s latest word in cyber warfare. So far Anima had settled in just defending, but now, as its ships prepared to assault enemy’s physical armour, Anima prepared an army of slaveminds to assault enemy’s systems.

Xej, after giving the situation some thought, turned and spoke to Unsilenced Retribution.

"Wreae, the situation is becoming increasingly unbalanced - and not in our favor. I am calling in reinforcements, because without heavy loss it's very unlikely we will come out of this victorious." With that, he turned again to a nearby communication console, walked down over to it, and sent in a request for a Jorro'kil fleet, specifically those of Glorious War's ships, to come and assist with the battle. After sending the coordinates, several tense minutes passed by, when slipspace ruptures began to appear in clusters around the UFIAI Dyson Sphere.


Dark grey structures drifted out of them, and the swirling energy spheres collapsed into nothingness. A Jorro'kil fleet of twenty ships had arrived. Ten Battlecruisers, seven Cruisers and three Destroyers, all armored and armed for a fight.

Xej, who had severed the COM link, re-opened it, and spoke out to the Jorro'kil fleet. The message was directly sent to one of the nearest ships and relayed through to the rest.

*static* "Commanders, target their ships and the Dyson Sphere's personal defenses but do not attempt to destroy the Sphere." *static*

Q'ren turned and faced Zizo, holding out a palm in a gesture for the Vathorin to stop. "It's not Theranis, that was a Vrentus." As if to prove a point, the Krathunian lifted the "Sentinel's" body from the ground and set it in front of the rest of the group. Rakluth and the Lieutenant unit silently stood watching as Q'ren's knife detracted from his armor and he knelt down. He placed the knife in the cut he had made earlier and dragged the blade down a sizable portion of the torso. Surprisingly, there was no blood, nor was there the sound of flesh being cut, only a harsh metallic grinding. The glowing mist like substance continued to rise into the air. Q'ren grabbed both sides of the large incision he had made and pulled the armoring with incredible strength to reveal there was no body within the armor, only the remainder of the odd substance. The plating distorted and faded like the hologram it was, revealing dull gold, small, hexagon plates in the shape of a Krathunian.

Q'ren looked up at Zizo, Teglin, Lirr, 18079, and Rakluth, placing his hands on the "head," of the Vrentus. "This is what we they will do to you. They'll pry into your mind with their illusions and disguise, you just need to recognize the signs." He stood up, looking around for a couple seconds. "At any rate, it wasn't lying about there being an exit that way. In order for it to be able to replicate Theranis it would have had to encountered him on the surface, and the Vrentus came from over there." Suddenly, the chamber shook violently, as if from an earthquake. Q'ren activated the COMM again, yelling into it, "Sentinel, you alright?" As if to prove Theranis was still alive he turned the volume up loud enough for the rest of the group to hear.

"All clear, Q'ren, though you may want to get out of there. It looks like there is... artificial seismic activity, and it doesn't look good." He nodded at the others, gesturing for them to follow him back through the vault.

As they dashed, the structure started to collapse, dust spraying down from the ceilings and debris falling all around them. "It must be a defense mechanism activated by that computer," Q'ren commented hastily, breathing heavier than most due to his age. "They didn't want us escaping with anything." After a couple minutes they breached the surface, the tunnel breaking down into a pile of stone almost as soon as the last of them escaped. The real Sentinel Theranis Ra'agus shouted at them to get moving as sections of the ground caved in. The group made it to the ship, quickly closing the door and starting their ascent into the atmosphere.

Q'ren's ship, the Anomaly, broke through the upper atmosphere as the crust of the planet cracked and collapsed, revealing a searing mantle underneath. None of the ruins remained, and any Vrentus technology or soldiers there would have been molten. As soon as they made sure they were within safe space, Q'ren went to the holographic console and inputted the coordinates from the vault to reveal their next destination. A glowing red dot appeared in between the 5th and 1st arms, closer to the 5th.

"That's near Markovan territory," Admiral Rakluth commented, peering at the hologram. "We do need to stop at Ryun-Wreae territory, however, for resupply and any reconnaissance they can provide. Even though the Markovans are nearby the Vrentus there would undoubtedly be targeting Federation worlds as well due to the proximity."

"Then, let's go." Q'ren smiled, and headed into the pilot's section of the bridge.

Marr ranted and raved. "Fools! Idiots! You let the prototype and its power source get destroyed!" With a snarl of rage, he ran the helmsman through with his knife, killing him. He stood for a moment breathing hard, then slowly got control of himself.

"You there," he said to one of the crew. "Take the helm!" The crewman scurried to obey.

"Order all ships to withdrawal," he said. "We're leaving."

"What about the UFIAI?" asked a crewman.

"What of them? Let them stay if they want to."

With that the Despotic vessels quickly retreated, cloaking once they had put a sufficient distance between themselves and the battlefield.
__________________________________________

Teglin sat and twiddled his fingers. He was getting tired of this trip. And he had been disturbed by what he had seen. If the Vrentus could copy the appearance and behavior of people, how could they tell them apart? Teglin glanced at the faces of all around, but could get no satisfactory clue as to what their thoughts were.