\| Divided Paths |/ - Chapt. 3 - Resolute - Biome (IC)

Corena was shocked and startled by the sudden turn of events. Despite this, she was able to keep her composure and began thinking over her next steps. Xavre was likely no longer an immediate threat, but it was all to clear that the mutineers had still intended to take advantage of the Wreae embedded in her. Mischief could be used in a number of ways on the Eternal Devotion, and Corena couldn't stand to see her friend subjugated in such a manner. While she lied on the interrogation table, pondering over what exactly she could do to prevent that, Mischief gave a suggestion through a message on her HUD.

"I have an idea. I'm overriding reticles and other display information on this display temporarily so it will work, but you mustn't do anything until I tell you when," The Wreae said, using a voice based message as to not clutter the display, though Corena was the only one able to hear it, as it was transmitted through her HUD systems. "Look down to your left, where the guard died. What do you see?"

Corena discreetly peered down, and before the duo could notice her doing so, she reverted her line of sight back upwards, almost with an innocent expression. "It's one of those rifles that the guards are all equipped with. It must have fallen off when he got killed," She responded. This message was transmitted to Mischief by using Corena's thoughts to generate and send it, so it could still not be heard.

"Due to the length of your left arm, it would be possible to reach down and grab the weapon with little effort in regards to strength. Do this when neither guard is paying direct attention to you." He paused. "Now." Corena quickly extended her arm and deftly lifted the rifle, barely making a sound. She quickly transferred the weapon to her right hand and hid it almost under her side, as to not be seen if one of the guards turned around. "Turn your head left so that you can look directly at the back of one of the guards," He continued. "Lift the rifle, and hold the handguard with your left hand. You know how to fire a gun, you shot my body, so I won't go too into depth. Aim down the holographic sights so that they are lined up with the targeting reticle I have just put up on your HUD." Corena did as she was told, lining up the sight of the rifle with a the glowing red reticle on her HUD. "When I say so, fire continuously for two seconds and then roll off the table to your right and take cover." Mischief waited for a little over five seconds. "Now."  

Corena pulled the trigger, and brilliant bolts of plasma shot outwards into the guard she had aimed at. Mischief had aimed the weapon where the guard's shielding and armoring were weaker than normal, and where the shots would certainly kill. The Jorro'kil purple blood sprayed outwards, and he screamed in pain as the plasma entered his body and exited just as quickly. After exactly two seconds, an alert appeared on the HUD for Corena to roll, and she did. As soon as she hit the floor, the other guard had begun firing, initially shots aimed directly at her but now it was suppressive fire.

"These rifles have twenty eight high calibre ballistic rounds per magazine, which means he will run out of ammo in about three seconds. When he does, point the gun at the dot I will mark on your HUD and fire." Sure enough, the rifle's thunderous roar as it fired ended, and Corena sprang up. Following Mischief's advice, she landed four perfect headshots, instantly killing the guard.

Corena exhaled loudly as she walked around the table to observe her and Mischief's handiwork. Out loud, she asked herself, "Did I just..."

"Yes," Mischief responded. "I need you to grab the plasma cutter off the floor, and walk to the elevator. We're going one floor downwards from here." Corena did as she was told, and while the elevator was in transit from a different section of the ship, Mischief began again. "According to the time it has taken for the elevator to reach here, its current location, and data about its weight, there is very likely one guard in there. When the door opens, fire the plasma cutter at this reticle." The elevator doors slid open, and Corena fired. The lines of plasma, organized into a triangle, blasted the guard standing inside directly into the head. Blood and guts exploded outwards as the plasma violently ruptured the Jorro'kil's skull and skin. Despite the gory and gruesome sight, she continued onwards.

On the next floor, Mischief directed Corena to a closed door, and began explaining the situation. "A COMM message went out to all the mutineers to find and capture Xavre, and one of the recipients of the message is in here. You decide what to do with him, information is always useful." With this, Corena barged inside to find Lucean and Jex. At first, she pointed the plasma cutter at the Jorro'kil with confidence, but as soon as she noticed Lucean, she lowered the weapon.

"What are you doing with her?" She questioned Jex angrily, almost to the point of it being a demand.

Survivor laughed to himself before walking into the hallway and moving his fingers.

"Get me a sword and a gun and this entire ship will see what my species can do."

He then walked up to a locked door and then looked up at the air vent. Smirking behind his mask he turned back to Ariz moving his fingers again.

"Well good luck with your escape kid. I'm finding my ship getting my PDA and inserting a virus so good that this ship will beg for it to come out."

He then crouched down and jumped up into the vent and crawled through the vents looking through until he can find the hanger.

Jex looked up in a disinterested manner, and casually replied; "You have bloodstains on you. Unfortunate..." He glanced at the plasma cutter, then looked at Corena's face. "And you'll know exactly what I'm doing in a moment. Put the cutter down, you're too far away to do any damage, and I don't intend to die before I see my work through." He said, and turned to the viewscreen. "You can ask this one if you like, but I doubt she knows what's going on, either, despite that pervasive smirk." He gestured to Lucean.

"Watch." He said.

Among the stars and the blackness of space present on the screen, something else began to appear. A swirling rift of energy. A slipspace rupture.

Corena lowered the plasma cutter, and diverted her attention to the screen, looking with an expression of surprise and relief. She didn't fully trust Jex based solely on what he had said, but it was enough that she wouldn't kill him immediately. It was clear, however, that he played a role in something much bigger than the Eternal Devotion, judging on the slispace rupture that had materialized on the screen. This anomaly fascinated and astounded her. While she wanted very much to get off the ship, she wasn't keen on being imprisoned once more, on a different vessel.

She was about to ask Jex what was about to happen when a small fleet of ships blasted through the slispace rupture at high speed, as if they were chasing something. Corena could observe a large cruiser, followed by four frigates and at least a dozen fighter craft, though there were likely more. Each ship had a dark grey metal coloration, with orange and white highlights and small stripes. They took on a practical, industrial, and yet sleek design, and Corena could draw notable similarities to these vessels and Krathunian ships. "But what would Krathunians want with the Eternal Devotion?" She wondered. "Shouldn't the Jorro'kil be the ones after this ship?"

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Relthar Levantus stood on the bridge of the Steel Tempest with a poised manner. In front of him was a holographic display of the surrounding space, and highlighted at the center of it was a spaceship, and Relthar's target. The Eternal Devotion. The cruiser's systems scanned that of the Jorro'kil vessel as a precautionary measure, and the Councilor's information matched up. Relthar magnified the image, and examined the ship. In a one on one fight, the opposing ship wouldn't stand a chance against the Steel Tempest, as it was superior in almost every way discernible. However, Relthar's intent wasn't to outright destroy the vessel. As the orders had stated, he needed to extract Jex as well as any alien crew members. After that, the Eternal Devotion was nothing but a plaything. He could do what he pleased with it.

Relthar could observe several possible areas of entry into the ship, though he had already decided upon the plan based on the Councilor's schematics of the ship. He closed his eyes, replaying the plan over and over in his head. Every detail, no matter how significant, had to be perfect. He didn't doubt that it was possible to improvise, but he intended to have as little casualties for the Alkisuns as possible. Given the information he had, there wasn't too much risk, but there were variables that he could not control - Variables that were dangerous. It was because of these that he needed to execute the ones he could control flawlessly.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him, one that he recognized instantly as his assistant, Veralka. "Sir, the boarding crafts and fighters are ready to mobilize. Just give the word." He turned and opened his eyes to observe her. Veralka's usual manner of fighting would not work well in confined spaces such as those on board the ship, and thus the pale white Krathunian wore thick armor with straight, neat edges to the plates and a silver coloration. Orange lights dotted its surface intricately, and she wore a smooth helmet with glowing lights in line formations running sideways across it.

"I will be leading the boarding party, as usual." Relthar responded, smiling. "I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. I can't let these soldiers have all the fun." Veralka let a light chuckle loose, and the two of them traveled together to the cruiser's hangars. The Steel Torment was a rather large cruiser, so it took several minutes, but the three dropships left rather quickly afterwards. They were escorted near to the Eternal Devotion by a frigate and several fighters, taking up the rear of the formation as to prevent from being hit. It was not long before they entered in close proximity to the hangar doors of the insurgent Jorro'kil ship, and the plan went into action. Two heavier fighters went out of formation, hovering slowly towards the enormous doorways. Magnetohydrodynamic cannons at the front of each activated, molten metal bursting forward in a beam as they methodically cut the doors off of the ship. However, a cataclysmic event involving the vacuum of space was prevented by an energy shielding device behind the doors that blocked weaponry such as what they were using but allowed ships and other objects through. One the doors were off, the fighters went in closer and activated gravity devices similar to tractor beams and pulled the doorways away, revealing the hangar. The three ships carrying soldiers burst forward inside, though they were careful as to not collide with the other ships that had already landed.

The boarding craft opened up, revealing many Alkisun troops, each equipped with heavy black power armor that was noticeably more advanced than that of the Jorro'kil crew. By the way the armor looked, it would seem as though each was trained and capable of orbital drops for assault on enemy targets. The soldiers had their objectives, and began to sweep through areas close to the hangar, killing all guards in their paths with ease and attempting to locate either Jex or any aliens.

Relthar, Veralka, and three of the more elite troopers acted as vanguards, going ahead of the group to extract any aliens before the guards figured out what was happening. The five entered the elevator, overriding the systems as to not work unless an Alkisun used it, and exited on the floor where Jex, Lucean, and Corena were.

((Whoster, get some guards or something on that floor, I would do it myself but I need to go))

Ariz watched Survivor go, and then made his way down the passage. He would need a weapon first, then he would have to find some way to cause as much damage as possible. He would die bringing this ship down.

Coming to a control room, he cautiously peered in. It was a small room, not of much importance. There was just one Jorro'kil present. Moving in quickly and cautiously, he lunged and wrapped his arm around the Jorro'kil's neck, and gave a swift wrench. Although not strong enough to kill the Jorro'kil, the attack had the affect of stunning the Jorro'kil

Ariz began searching the Jorro'kil for a weapon, but then noticed the screen. According to the information, it seemed a slipspace rupture was opening, and ships were coming out. Ariz paused, frowning. Was someone coming to rescue them? It didn't matter. Ariz had his own plans.

Finding a small handgun, he made a quick examination of the controls. Nothing much. Nothing that was really useful to himself. Ariz took his weapon and left the room.

He paused as an alarm went off. The Alkisuns were invading the ship.
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Gettrav checked his time keeper as he sauntered into the takeoff pad. Fashionably late. Just the thing to make him disreputable, and hopefully irritate Meris. It was always better when people thought little of you. If the expected little of you, they gave you little, and you had more freedom for your own work on the side. Again, angry people were always easy to control.

Gettrav chuckled a little to himself as he caught sight of Meris. Adopting an air of bored indifference, Gettrav sauntered up, a lit cigar in hand. However, his eyes never once stopped to take things in.

"A fine day for takeoff, eh?" he remarked cheerily.

Disorder spread quickly throughout the ship as the mutineers revealed themselves, and were pitted against the loyal soldiers in bloody combat. Even before the Alkisuns entered the Eternal Devotion, purple blood was spattered across numerous hallways, and segments of Titanium alloy power armor was left strewn among the corridors. However, as the crew had turned on eachother, they were left exceptionally vulnerable to the Alkisun troops' assault, and hurried to form a defense against the unexpected assailants. This failed pitifully. One or two Federation soldiers were able to hit their opponents, but were caught in an endless retreat. The COMNET became a flurry of confusion; orders were barely observable generally set the crew in disarray. Only the bridge remained calm, as the bridge crew were one of the few Kils whom neither the loyals nor the mutineers wanted to kill, and they themselves offered no resistence or support for either side.  They were more concerned with keeping everyone out of the bridge, and keeping the Eternal Devotion alive. And in the thick of it, no-one knew where Xavre was.

If Survivor reached another level, he would most likely find the remnants of a hellish fight.

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Only made briefly unconscious, the crewmember whom Ariz had thought he had killed moved quietly towards the Markovan. He grabbed him by the neck, wrapping his arms around the shorter being, and wrestled the weapon Ariz was holding from his hand. Much to the Kil's relief, someone limped around the corner. Captain Xavre.

"Kil.." He started. "Are you loyal?"

"Sir, always." The soldier replied.

"Good." Xavre was clearly out of breath. "Take this.. recruit back to your.. post." He pointed to the room from which they had just come. "What's.. going on.. I need to know."

((Sorry, out of time, I'll post with Jex, Lucean and such soon))

Ariz hissed, kicking and struggling. His eyes glared pure hatred at Xavre.

"Recruit?" He spat out some foul language in his own tongue. "I'll never help you! No matter what you do, no matter what lies and propaganda you shove in my ears, no matter how much you try to bribe me, you'll never be anything to me except my enemy! And I have nothing to lose!"

With all his strength, he slammed his elbows into the Jorro'kil holding him, just hard enough to make him unintentionally loosen his hold. With a savage wrench, Ariz pulled his head free. The move hurt Ariz's neck badly, but he no longer cared about such things. Without a single pause, he flung himself at Xavre, landimg full against him with his full weight. Snarling like a beast, he sought to get his teeth into Xavre's throat while simultaneously going for the torso with his claws.

Seeing his Captain's plight, the recovering soldier took aim with his plasma pistol at Ariz's back whilst Xavre struggled to hold back the Markovan's toothy maw. He seemed much more like an animal to J'kol, now that he was fighting to prevent more physical injury.

Relief formed at the muzzle of the soldier's rectangular plasma pistol. The superheated gas bolted forward to hit Ariz from behind, and created a metallic whine as it did so. This allowed Xavre to shove Ariz off of himself, and almost stutter to an upright position. using the cobalt-and-silver walls as a support.

"He's not dead. Sir.. I can finish it." The soldier said. Many thoughts flashed across Xavre's mind, and his emotional stability weakened.

"N-no.. Leave him. We have other things to.. attend to." Xavre straightened his posture as best he could, and with the assistance of the soldier, limped into the security post. He looked back at Ariz once, still unwilling to leave his ideal of carrying on the Federation through a new generation; the door which held the entrance to the post shut tightly after both were inside, and without a significantly powerful cutting tool or weapon, there was no way of getting it open, only from the inside.

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As commotion within the Eternal Devotion increased, most officers left their posts to fight, or hide. All of those operating on Dolos did so; leaving him alone and without more restraint than metal cuffs.
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Relthar and a group of mutineers converged on the same point; both were seeking Jex Kavel. Seeing the xenoform attackers, they took up alternating firing positions, and shot down at Relthar's group. The sounds of the plasmatic whine and the firing of the high-caliber ballistic rounds from the troopers' assault weapons rebounded off of the metal corridors, creating an insufferable din for those not encased in power armor.

Pain. Pain and blood. These were the most important things now.

The Markovan, gasped and wheezed. Something brown and sticky was coating the floor. It seemed to be coming from his back. Was that part of him? Was it important?

The Markovan tried to rise, but an explosion of pain roared through his spine, weakness gripped his limbs, dizziness his brain, blurriness his eyes. Slowly he slumped to the floor. His ears were ringing with strange sounds, unpleasant sounds. Maybe they would go away, and he could rest. Then maybe the pain would go away. No, they were getting louder. But he could do nothing about it.

Was that footsteps? Yes, it was. Someone was coming.

But the Markovan could do nothing about it.

(I'll leave it to you guys to decide who it is that's approaching Ariz.

Survivor jumped down into the hanger and began to sneak through the commotion. Hiding behind various ships and boxes he eventually finds it his ship The Dark Solace. He ran up to it and quickly entered the one man ship that is also his home. Quickly searching his ship he eventually finds he PDA and turns in on. Moving his mechanical fingers he speaks to it.

"Wake up you stupid AI. I need you and your magnificent virus."

The PDA wakes up and types out a message to survivor. Yes master, I am booting up the program now please tell me the system it is for.

"Its for a ship but I can't plug you in yet. First I need to get you to someone who can improve the code to work for this alien vessel."

Survivor then leaves his ship and begins retracing his steps to the airvent he came out of.

A low pitched voice with an almost weary tone sounded from above Ariz. "Sir, we found one of the kidnapped alien crew members. A Markovan, critically wounded by the looks of it." A large shadow loomed over him as the owner of the voice stepped closer, kneeling down as if to examine him. A very quiet whine was emitted as a linear orange light swept across Ariz, as if scanning him. "Plasma bolt to the back..." It trailed off.

Another voice sounded from further off. "I've been hit with one of those. Ulvak Federation machines caught me out of cover. It's certainly painful - I still have some tissue damage from it."

"Well, that's why I'm going to help him," The closer voice responded almost angrily. The tip of a small needle gingerly entered Ariz's skin, and painkillers flooded into his system, taking away at least some of the pain. He was turned over, and a standard medical cloth was placed and held over the wound to maintain pressure and stop the bleeding. The Alkisun soldier, encased in bulky power armor, lifted the relatively small Markovan off the ground with care. He turned and approached the three others in his squad. "We need to take him back to one of the dropships. Let's move out. Cover my flanks." With that, the group moved out.

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The Alkisun soldiers were about to begin firing back upon the Federation troops, but Relthar held up a hand, signalling them to stop. They knew exactly what was coming. If they had any experience with Relthar in the field, they knew one thing about him. Before his opponents died, he wanted them to feel devouring fear swallow up their minds and very souls. He began walking forward slowly and purposefully, the full fire of the Jorro'kil centered on him. His intensely durable armor was able to completely shrug off all of the damage, save for some scratches and small dents.

As the Jorro'kil began to back away out of sheer terror at this seemingly invincible foe, Relthar lunged forward and attacked. He whipped out his two battle axes using weapon compression spheres, though to his enemies it would have seemed as though they materialized out of nowhere. With a flurry of strikes, he felled his foes left and right, the blades of the two weapons shredding through armor, flesh, and bone. Purple blood splattered and sprayed across the corridor, a chilling representation of the entire attack. When he was finished, he sheathed his weapons, and turned to a door in the hallway.

He beckoned for the others to come to him, and when they did, he growled, "This one." He quickly opened it to find Jex, Corena, and Lucean. The soldiers all had their guns at the ready, especially after seeing Corena's equipment, but Relthar lowered them with the command of a twitch of a finger. "You are all coming with us," He commanded. "Your salvation has arrived."

Ariz observed all that was happening to him with dismay, unable to do anything about it. He wanted to cry out No! No!, but was powerless to anything except make a few groans. What were they doing? Why couldn't they just let him die? He didn't want to live. Why couldn't they understand that? Struggling was useless. He made a feeble effort extricate himself from the grasp of the Alkisun, and then passed out.

Survivor crawled through the vents again searching. He eventually found the room Corena was in but to his dismay he saw other Xenoforms looking ready to take them away. He angrily banged his robotic fist on the vent wall causing a loud echo.

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Avlex sat in the room with Keo staring at the locked door. He didn't know if he was going to get out of here and that was starting to get to him. He tried to remain optimistic if only to trick his own body into staying calm. All he could do though was sit there and say quietly to himself.

"My brother will get us out because he has the best planning and tactics of any Xliveien living today."

"Perfectly punctual." Jex said. "I wasn't sure who to expect, and I've had a long time to rehearse for this. I am Jex Kavel, and I assume you were sent by.." He went on to name the Kil whom he assumed had sent the Alkisuns for his and the recruits' rescue; and started to pace around Relthar. "I would like to leave now." He looked up at the Krathunian with an earnest and slightly tired expression. "I have served my tour. 23 years of it."

He angled his beak slightly as he heard Survivor smash at the vent walls angrily. He looked back at Relthar, noticing the purple spatters on his armor, and remarked, "You have blood on you."

While Jex spoke, one of the elite, highly trained and armed Alkisun soldiers scanned the Jorro'kil with his HUD, matching it up to the information given while accounting for aging. "It's him, sir," She confirmed, nodding in Relthar's direction after Jex was finished.

Relthar stepped forward, carefully eyeing the vent wall where the sound had emanated moments before. He stopped in front of it, Corena backing herself cautiously away as if afraid of the Krathunian. After a pause lasting several seconds, he looked to Jex. "What difference does it make?" He questioned, tilting his head slightly. He then directed his voice towards the source of the earlier sound. "Whomever you are, we are no threat. I am Relthar Levantus of the Alkisuns Organization, and I have been sent to retrieve those held against their will on this foul vessel." He paused. "Even if you do not accept my help, I would advise you to find a way to leave. Soon, the Eternal Devotion shall be obliterated."

Survivor sighed. He then kicked open the vent and crawled out eyeing the aliens before moving his fingers.

"Fine but before I leave I need to find two things. My brother and my sword. One is for business and the other is because it is Irreplaceable. So either give me a gun and let me rampage through this ship to find them. Or give me a gun and come help me find them. The choice is yours alien."

Thousands of light years away the Forge Hulk Great Glutton crawled through space, its immense bulk blotting out the stars. Myriad turrets scanned the cold void while Sickle drones circled in orbit of their parent ship, providing a formidable defense should any hostile foolish enough to attack.
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Ifka K'iirdax Stood in the center of the Forge Hulks circular control room, her helmet bringing up a thousand images from all areas of her ship, allowing her to see and hear everything that occured at her whim. She liked it here, where only the occasional murmur from one of her pilots punctuated the grind and clank of the lower decks' machinery.

With a swift flick of her eyes the images flurried to a single one showing the vast mechanised cavern that was Great Glutton's engine room. Hanging directly from the ceiling amongst the wiring and walkways was the goliath Warp Drive that would expand the Xenoqqi empire tenfold. Unaided Faster Than Light travel had been previously unobtainable by the Xenoqqi, but now the K'iirdax Family had taken the leap into the unknown, whether it be success or abysmal failure.

Ifka's more important concern was how she had ended up with the task of the initial test drive. The only way the Xarl would have entrusted such a risky mission to her was if he completely believed in her abilities and those of her crew or thought of her as expendable in case things went wrong. Ifka couldn't help but shudder at the prospect that the second could be true.

Ifka watched as the teeming multitude of slaves rigged evermore cables to various ports, diverting more power to the machine. Seeing things as all clear for now, her eyes moved to a second image showing the ships Engineers lounging about, their Chief himself making a toast. Their blatant arrogance irritated her and with a blink the images shut off to be replaced by an orange render of the ships hull. It was at that moment that her chief Negotiator and brother Braaj entered the bridge.

Gulping nervously, Braaj spoke up.

"C-captain, the Warp drive is almost installed and fully o-operational".

Ifka did not turn, her voice coming out hollow and synthesised through the helmets filter. "Tell the Chief Engineer to get off his rear and activate the start up cycles once it is finished. The sooner I know whether this'll work or kill us all, the better".

"O-of course, m-my Captain".

"Also notify him that if I see him drinking on the job again, I'll throw him out the air lock myself".

"Y-yes Captain, of c-course, right away".

With that Braaj scuttled away, obviously eager to put distance between himself and his vexed sister. Ifka shook her head, finding it hard to comprehend the fact that the typically bold and headstrong K'iirdax Family had produced someone so timid. Still, Braaj was an intelligent Xenoqqi and an adept negotiator when he was able to stop stammering, and so he was tolerated.

As she heard the hiss of the automatic doors, Ifka returned to her monitoring of the ship, her mind still roiling with things that could possibly go wrong.
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Slavemaster Gorth drummed his fingers on the sidewalk railing, overlooking the masses of slaves as they worked on the goliath Warp Drive. The device itself took up a majority of the cavernous engine room of the Forge Hulk, a massive cylinder encircled by several stone rings. Gorth knew the rings were Hithe tech, and smiled at how their worst enemy had led to them being capable of their greatest triumph.

The Slavemaster straightened as one of his charges held his or her hand up and performed a complex sign with it, signalling that the installation was finished.

"Alright! Move back you lot!" Gorth barked, his harsh voice temporarily cutting through the mechanical din.

At his shouted command the slaves retreated, several slipping and injuring themselves. Gorth sighed at this, the rate accidents kept happening he would be down more slaves than Ifka's raids could supply. He turned stiffly to his leftmost guard and motioned for her to notify the other Slavemasters that it was time to put their charges back in their pens. The guard nodded and headed off, Plasma Carbine slung over her shoulder.

With that Gorth settled down to wait, his eyes fixed on the Xenoqqi empire's greatest creation.

Relthar and Veralka looked to one another and stared with a confused and slightly worried expression. After a couple seconds, the latter shrugged and opened up her gauntlet neurologically, carefully taking out a small metal sphere. She tossed the weapon compaction device at Relthar almost playfully, who caught the compressed firearm with an almost jaded grunt. He turned back to the Survivor, tapping the sphere with his thumb. It expanded into a high caliber pistol, which used metal bullets specifically designed from shredding through armor. He tossed the weapon at the Xlivien, and as he did so, began speaking once more. "Your wish is granted," He growled, slightly angered at the tone of this new arrival and calling Relthar simply 'alien,' despite his introduction. "You must come with us, however. I can't risk a mindless rampage through this ship." This was true - Relthar didn't trust the Survivor at all, especially given the implied hostility, and had wondered whether or not the Xlivien would have made the distinction between friend and foe, Jorro'kil or Krathunian, while in the process of finding his brother and sword alone.

"Now..." Relthar sighed, and rotated away from the others, walking to the doorway and activating his COMM device. He was updated automatically of the current situation onboard the ship via a map on his HUD but he had always found that old fashioned communication worked best. "Status report," He called out into it, presumably going to all of the Alkisun soldiers. He paused for a bit, saying a couple more phrases, though they were in Etalun rather than the international Loccalian tongue, before turning off the COMM and going back to the group.

"They have not reached the barracks yet, nor have they gotten to the vaults where they store the belongings of the abducted crew." He glanced at Jex. "These locations are the same since..." Jex cut him off with a curt nod. Relthar glanced at the three other soldiers and motioned towards Jex and Lucean with his head. "Escort these two to the ship. Veralka, you'll be coming with me and him on this mission." He narrowed his eyes and stared at Corena, taking note of the blood splatters and weaponry. "Are you fit to fight?"

Corena smiled and tapped her rifle with a finger. "More than ready."

Relthar nodded. "Excellent," He said, then turned back to the Survivor. "The choice is yours. Your sword, or your brother first?"

Ifka's search of the familiar lower deck halls were interrupted by the tentative cough of one of her pilots.

"Captain, installation has finished. Shall we proceed with the Jump?"

Ifka nodded, dismissing her current image and spoke up so that all of those in the control room could hear.

"Alright people, we're going where no Xenoqqi has gone before, so brace yourselves and keep the ship on high alert until we're in the clear. Initiate Jump cycles now!"

With that, the Pilots grabbed and pulled at several identical levers simultaneously, unlocking the cycle mechanism and allowing it to power up. From within her helmet, Ifka could see the Engineers (Chief looking seriously more worried then usual) performing the same action with the secondary cycles. Slowly the sound of machinery was drowned out by an ever louder whine as the Warp Drive prepared to tear a wormhole in space. Ifka had been through several wormhole Jumps before, but they had been permanent and stabilised fully. No-one could be prepared for Jumping through a temporary forced wormhole.

Ifka braced herself as the blinding light engulfed the ship.
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As the stone rings reached full speed the Warp Drive activated, firing a thin stream of particles from Great Glutton's now open maw. Hitting an invisible point ahead, the particles began to spread apart into what appeared to be a two dimensional cloud of roiling energy. As the cloud grew to be even larger than the Forge Hulk it collapsed into a massive swirling tunnel of light and fire; a wormhole. Very quickly the Forge Hulk's frame appeared to stretch before launching into the maelstrom at bewildering speed, collapsing the wormhole entrance behind it.

Survivor caught the pistol and examined it abit. Simple nothing he was not used to. He noticed the anger in Relthars voice and laughed internally to himself. He knew that would offend the alien. He did not care that he had to travel with them actually he welcomed it to a point. When the question came up about which to get first he moved his mechanical fingers.

"My business can wait til I get my sword. I mean it is irreplaceable and what kind of merchandise would I be if I didn't have my full equiptment?"

Survivor then turn and took a few shots at Jexs bed to get used to the guns recoil and aim before turning back to the aliens and moving his fingers.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's kill some things."

A slight biolominess glow in he eye can be seen for a few seconds before fading away.

Jex held up a hand in distress at Survivor's words. "Stop. The point of this is to leave the Eternal Devotion, not let you kill for the thrill. We find the other recruits and whatever stolen items are so dear to you, and leave. Forever."

He started forward, about to leave the COM chamber, before stopping himself midstride, and turning around to face Relthar.

"That reminds me. I overheard some of the other officers discussing a new recruit, but that they discovered something unusual about it. It was an artificial intelligence with a machine body, similar in height to myself. Perhaps we should see if it is still where they left it? It would be on the same level where Corena was being held. Responsibilities on the bridge have their privilege."

With that, he left the room with the others.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 
Meris was, in truth, irritated by Gettrav, but on the outside presented himself as nearly emotionless. "Perhaps." He said to the approaching Gettrav. He stood in the open entrance of the stealth craft that he and the Markovan were to take into UCN space. The ship was rather small, jet black, with few protruding instruments or weapons. It adopted flat panels as its exterior sensors, and an advanced camouflage system which could protect against thermal scanners or visual; the armor was a special type which allowed it to deflect photons, rendering it almost completely invisible.

"Welcome aboard." He said dryly.

"Why, thank you," said Gettrav, oozing oily courtesy from every pore. Sauntering into the vessel, he dropped down into a chair, his eyes quickly scanning and taking in the interior and everything of relevance. He leaned forward and studied the controls with a look of dismay, although he in fact had no trouble figuring them out.

"Dear me," he sighed in a tragic tone. "Give me some crystalline motion controls any day. This, however, is strange to me."

(Assuming Luceanjust went along with everything that happened...)

Lucean frowned at Survivor, who seemed a bit too giddy about using his weapon. She had only seen him one other time before the recent events, and that was during the first meeting when they were all captured. His anxiousness to kill was not leaving a good impression on her, being someone who prefers the idea of avoiding violence with words and only attacking when necessary. The neveal's lights brightened as her annoyance grew.

She was about to open her mouth to say something when Jex did the talking for her. Luckily he had the same view on the situation, and so she offered a slight nod in his direction as a way of thanking him before looking at Relthar, the next person her attention was directed to. He was helping with their leaving the dreaded ship, but she had a nagging thought that influenced her next words.

"So where, exactly, will you be taking us?" She questioned, her golden eyes looking up at him blankly, though there was a smirk resting on her lips. She folded her slender arms as another thought came to mind, and she threw this one in, as well.

"As your crew was..." she chuckled under her breath as she pondered the accuracy of the next statement, because she had a feeling more blood may have been shed then needed, "Saving us, what happened of Captain Xavre?" Both of the questions, she felt, needed answers, and she was rather surprised no one else had stopped to ask them. If Xavre was dead, she may feel a bit less annoyance over all the bloodshed... yes, annoyance. The blood wasn't something she was angered over so much as annoyed. It went against most every policy the Nevalrok followed- that is, avoiding as much bloodshed as possible.

Ariz wandered in a world of fevered dreams. Images of his life flashed by, interspersed with strange, and sometimes frightening visions. The world of dreams is a strange place, and at times it seems devoid of all logic, though there are times when some claim to have messages delivered through this strange landscape.

One thing remained constant in Ariz's dream; the pain in his back. Sometimes, it would get extra sharp, as if someone was poking or digging at it, but it remained all throughout.

Ariz suddenly found himself in a dark place. He tried to stand, and found his foot chained to something. Looking back, he saw an immense boulder, with a plate bolted to it. Attached to that plate was a chain, running straight to a manacle attached to Ariz's ankle, fitting it perfectly. Terror gripped Ariz. No! No! he cried. It can't be! He knew the legend. Few races are without a belief in some sort of afterlife, and Markovans were no exception. Also, like most other races, their stories featured a separate place for those who had died in honor, and another for those who didn't. This place could only be the latter, the one the Markovans called Zhassincar, the prison of the dishonored.

Ariz screeched and struggled desperately, but the manacle held him firm. Mercy! cried Ariz out into the darkness. Mercy!0

Before his eyes a shaft of light came down. A dark shape formed itself inside, and before long, formed itself into a Markovan, none other than Ariz's own father.

Father! Help me! cried Ariz desperately.

The figure glared at him with anger and contempt Abandoning the Empire! it said accusingly, the one I taught to you to love and respect. Have you forgotten those lessons so quickly? And now, on top of that, you've allowed yourself to be captured by the enemy. You are a disgrace to me, to our whole family, to our whole people! There's no redemption for one such as you!

Please forgive me, Father, pleaded Ariz. I beg you!

The figure turned away. Im not your father, and you're no son of mine!" With that, the figure and the beam of light it had been standing in dissolved away to nothing.

Father! Come back! cried Ariz. Desperately he tried to move forward. The pain in his back increased. Three more chains suddenly snaked out from behind him, manacling his other limb and holding him fast. Help! screamed Ariz. Have mercy! Don't leave me!

Hold him still! yelled a voice from the darkness.

Ariz awoke on the medical table of one the Alkisuns' dropship's medical bays. Two Krathunians had a firm grip on his limbs; another was doing something with the wound on his back.

At Lucean's remarks, Relthar and Veralka glanced at each other rather sneakily, both of them thinking. This was only natural - They were partners, having had to work together for many years. Over time, they had adapted pieces of each other's personalities, thought patterns, and more, and knew each other very well. As such, both were conjuring the proper response to the questions Lucean had in their minds, and they were almost identical. Relthar nearly always spoke, however, and as such he did.

"That is not yet been decided," He explained, folding his arms. "If it were up to me, I would bring you back to your respective territories - your homes, if you will. Even so, it isn't up to me." Despite his brutality and violent tendencies, Relthar had the capability to be caring and thoughtful of others - It just depended on the situation. "As for Captain Xavre, we have not yet apprehended. Given the current success of this operation, though, you can be assured that we will find him." He nodded, looking to those he had chosen to take with him - Particularly Corena and Survivor. "Let's go." With that, the group of them walked cautiously but confidently out of the room, ready to take on whatever other challenges the Eternal Devotion had in store as they went towards the elevators.

((Whos do some stuff))