[Story]Tandem Writing: Title to be Determined

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:01 pm

"Why?"

MissTeja · Post by **MissTeja** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 1:05 am

It had been sixteen days full of interrogations and suspicion since she had been exposed as a spy, and yet the crew still faced a mystery as to the reasoning behind her presence. She had refused to speak, despite the crew's greatest efforts, lending no aid to the discovery of who she was, who had sent her or what intel she had so silently gathered.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 2:15 am

The viewport held a field of stars, a sight that never failed to amaze the almost totally non-descript woman that stood before it. All that stood out were her eyes, the color of smokey quartz with flecks of silver. Aside from her eyes, she could easily blend into any crowd, both in and out of uniform. She stood patiently by the viewport, her back to her subject, waiting futilely for the answer to her question. Not that she displayed any hint of her thoughts, she was too good at what she did. This was just the preliminaries, soon the kid gloves would come off and another spirit would be broken.

Vanessa d'Atries mentally frowned to herself, she didn't enjoy doing this, but she had a knack for being able to get into a person's head to figure out what made him, or in this case, her tick. Then use that information against her, to make the subject hers. She sighed silently, she was getting too old for this crap, she silently vowed this would be her last case, before turning back to the young woman at the table.

So stubborn, so defiant. They all were before the end, before she had them eating out of her hands. Vanessa silently paced towards her latest, and hopefully last, victim. Still silent she regarded the young Diane Summers who glared back at her with vibrant emerald green eyes that were so full of arrogrant pride, their owner so positive that this time the Grey Spider wouldn't succeed. Silly girl.

"You know that what you have been charged with is treason? Anything that you give me can help reduce your punishment, perhaps even mitigate it?"

Silence.

Still calm, Vanessa allowed herself a very slight shake of her head and a soft, sorrowful sigh.

"Do you truly want me to bring the espers into this matter? I can because of the charges brought against you. If you cooperate, I won't have to. However if they are brought in, you'll just be bringing it on your head."

She saw the slightest flicker of nervousness in the girl's eyes despite Summers retaining her silence.

"Very well then. I'm afraid I cannot help you any longer" Calmly Vanessa strode out of the interrogation room, and just before the door slide closed behind her, turned to the man standing with the guards, "You might as well call the espers in, since this silly girl won't cooperate."

The Grey Spider allowed herself a very small smile as she heard the chair scrape away from the table in the room and the girl's voice calling out. The smile chilled those who looked on.

Who needed esp when you could tug a strand to make your prey move where you wanted it to?

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 6:06 pm

Who indeed, Ms. d'Artries, who indeed.

The black sigils on a scarlet uniform identified the figure who materialized in the room as surely as she had announced herself. Her red eyes gazed at the figure as she spoke without a sound.

You are lucky she does not realize your importance. I am not aware of the details of your mission, but given your record, the probability that you have retained at least one level of cover is 65.447 percent. It is an acceptable risk margin to assist you. I've induced a surveillence anomoly, its length is approximately 45 seconds. I cannot risk further physical interference without the possibility of detection. The second grate on the north wall leads to the Epsilon-4 counduit network. I trust you remember your navigation from there. We will speak later. Tell no one of my presence.

The figure melted away from sight, returning to her original location. "Yes, I am aware she is not critical to our mission success, but her information is extensive and her performance of a high calibre. Additional risk percentage to myself was 0.000314 and for the mission 0.000572, well within acceptable operating parameters."

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 9:35 pm

God, I hate those 'calculations of risk' jargon and you know it.

You don't believe in God.

Task at hand, esper, task at hand.

Know your place, mercenary, I only tolerate you because you further our cause.

Yeah, well, you didn't seem to mind tolerat. . .

Grieg tried to throw up the walls as he was shown, but an anomaly doesn't have much chance against a full Esper. He snorted, biting his tongue from the lash. He was lucky, they needed him for this particular mission, they needed an anomaly beyond the forty-five seconds he'd have to do his job. Hired help was so hard to come by these days.

He swallowed the blood and cleaned his teeth as best he could. The uniform itched and he longed to scratch at the blue polyfiber but protcol dictated that he could not, especially with his 'commanding officer' standing three feet away. Sweat dripped onto his nose, hanging on the small scar that ran along its bridge.

Two minutes until the Solar Flare, I can wait that long, I hope to God I can wait that long.

He let down his guard and threw his thoughts towards the girl cringing on her chair. One minute, fifty-three seconds, are you going to be ready? Everything we talked about is coming together quite nicely.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:05 am

The chair is empty. Nearly empty cup of coffee sits on the table with a screen flickering rapidly, showing various images of various locations throughout the starship every millisecond. Normally, there is a person working at the chair, scanning through the network with wires extending from the smooth, plexisteel wall into the cerebal cortex. But currently, the wires are still there, still connected to the person lying on the ground, his heart beating slowly like a person in a coma. The image flickers on, showing an empty interrogation room for a millisecond. The chair that is supposed to hold prisoner is empty. Only five seconds ago, the person was on the chair scanning for any intrusions on the ship while sipping a cup of coffee. Only four seconds ago, the chair was occupied by an exposed spy. Soon enough, the image on screen flickers to a coundit-network, showing a person crawling through the coundit pipes for a millisecond before flickering to another image.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:53 am

The tape ends in a burst of static. A hard-mouthed, wide-shouldered man gnaws angrily at his unlit cigar while staring at the screen.

"That was three hours ago. Whoever she was working for, she managed to take a small Cutter off the ship and into the gas belt aroudn Scipio." The major waited a moment for this to sink in, another moment to spit out the end of his stogie, and a third to watch the man opposite his desk squirm.

"You've got orders. Find her, bring her back. We need her head alive and intact enough to know what she knows. You've got permission to take a fully-equipped Excelsior--I know it's old, but there's nothing like it for riding out a plasma storm, and the armor should make up for lack of projectile weaponry."

The old soldier behind the desk ran a scarred hand through a heavily gray and thinning crew cut. He shot an evil, blood-shot glare at the scrawny, sweating, and most importantly, expendable untrained Esper across from him.

"There are indications she may have an Esper with her--an Order graduate, not a Spark like you. So take a Mind-Blind with you, and get going."

MissTeja · Post by **MissTeja** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 5:11 am

"Aryan?" The young girl tapped impatiently on the quarters' door. "Aryan, wake up!"

Swinging his legs off of the bed simultaneously, his head hanging to the side still half asleep, he walked to the door with a jagged pattern. A yawn pressed out his mouth with a strength that could only be explained by his lack of sleep for the last 48 hours. The mission had not yet been completed, but there was much left to be done. Bria was keeping updated on the status temporarily so he could regain a bit of energy with a few hours of sleep. Yet, now she was incessantly attempting to get him back up. She really knew how to wear upon his nerves time after time after time.

Opening the door ever so slowly, he faced Bria, eyes still locked close tightly as he managed to get out a "Hmm?"

"You must hurry!" Bria exclaimed. "She sent the signal! The mission has been aborted!"

Opening his eyes with a wince to the glare of the hallway lights, "Aborted? What? Where is she? Was she captured?"

"No, but she sent the signal hours ago. We received it and-"

Aryan crinkled his brow in frustration, "Why didn't you come and get me?!"

"Because! We were still receiving transmission. There was no reason to - but now..." Bria paused, hanging her head slightly before continuing, "Now it's gone. The signal. All communication. It's all gone. We have no idea if she's been captured or if she's silencing for some other reason."

"Damnit." Aryan growled. He turned from the door and grabbed his jacket. Swinging it on as he moved, he quickly headed out of the quarters, shooting Bria a piercing gaze as he passed. "Prepare for secondary protocol. Alert the others."

"But-!" she exclaimed.

Aryan turned around and faced her with a glare of rage in his eyes, "Do not question me. Do you understand? I said, prepare for secondary protocol."

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 6:42 pm

Most impressive, Grieg. No suspicion seems to have fallen on you despite your proximity. I will concur with Thallian's analysis, your suggestive abilities would be a formitable weapon if you could be trained by the Order to restrain your emotions regarding your psi talent. Regardless of your lack of a full spectrum, you might qualify for special dispensation to Pantheon.

Eros smiled with smug satisfaction as she walked through the common area of the ship, almost overlooked as just another of the myriad 'bridge bunnies' in the uniform and cover of Ensign Perez. I will be off-duty in two cycles if you want to act on those thoughts, Grieg. Now however, I do believe the famous Vanessa d'Atries would be gracious enough to accept a dinner invitation from a junior officer and his lovely girlfriend, don't you?

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 10:44 pm

We should’ve been away from here, though I respect your foresight in the matter. We could’ve gotten her out on the after flare, their sensors would still have been down, Grieg hissed as he felt the sweep of a thought probe, just a prick at the base of his skull. He turned his thoughts towards the advertisement on the wall to his left, making sure to note each feature in as much detail as possible.

The girl looked at him oddly, unsure with his fascination with the newest form of imported bottled water. Grieg reached out and pulled her close, “Look dear, it’s come all the way from Sirrius-7, I’m sure it tastes so much better than what you can get from the tap.” Follow the line of the bottle, the shape of the lettering, it really is quite remarkable how much money they put into convincing people what they really need. The pinprick spread for just a moment, trying to see beyond the superficial, and then faded away completely. The Espers were subtle, but that’s wasn’t his problem, his problem was desperately trying to keep from screaming and he was sure she was going to break at any moment.

Grieg took her right hand tightly in his and led her further across the commerce level and towards the residential area. A brief stop and they could get to his ship and follow behind the dragnet. If Eros had done her part the girl’s signal went out on the last ship before the flare. He was starting to wonder if he’d found religion, he was praying again because that’s all he seemed to have.

His hand closed tighter around hers as a security detail came around the curve of the walkway, something was wrong. He looked down at her hand and the smooth skin of its back. Her chip! Eros, shit, where’s her chip! He flipped open the small silver implant on the back of his own hand and checked the time. He had four hours to keep her out of sight before they would get the signal to leave, four hours without a chip and a fugitive was way, way too long. Forget that his was only held in place by adhesive, she didn’t have one at all.

Grieg tugged her arm hard and they headed back the way they had come, "Come dear, let's go see if Ms. Atries would like to have dinner with the two of us."

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 12:34 am

Father, an craft from the empire approaching. It's approaching Mother of the Skies.

A relatively young man in robes looks up to a wizen, old man in robes. The old man strokes his grey beard softly, and smiles as his eyes falls on the bridge of Mother of the Skies. The bridge is relatively simplistic with only two chairs, and small screens to work with, but nothing regarding outside world could be seen. Old man stands up, and scans with his mind. Soon enough, he begins to think back to the time when he escaped from the empire. He had escaped from The Grey Spider herself. He had escaped from her, because Grey Spider wanted him. The massive gas belt of Galaxy Plgerix was and still is a blessing to him as the gas belt can easily block out any Esper's thoughts from here. The gas belt can easily block out any scanning technology. It is a blessing to be here. The old man, who prefers to go by his first name only, Jacques, smiles as his finely attuned esper mind scans the ship. Soon enough, Jacques turns to young man, Lloyd.

My son, accept the ship. The person onboard is an escapee from the empire. We have nothing to worry from the empire. This gas belt should protect us well enough, but we should move on relatively soon. Make a course for Algor along the gas belt soon as we get this person onboard.

Mother of the Skies, the ship, suddenly appears before Cutter amongst the murky gas, and eerie light begins to wrap around Cutter, and begins to pull the Cutter into its docking bay.

Escapee of the empire, I am pleased to see you here. Get on board, and I'll see what I can do.

Jacques smiles as the person on the Cutter complies, then soon as everything on the ship is cleared, Cutter is ejected from the ship, tossed through the murky gas belt, to leave it adrift. Jacques quickly scans the gas belt around Mother of the Skies, using his specially attuned esper abilites to penerate the gas belt, where ordinary esper and technology could not penerate the gas belt.

Lloyd, please resume attempts to contact Aryan. It is going to be difficult for you to attempt contact Aryan, due to this gas belt, but at this moment, we simply cannot afford to get out of this gas belt for a mere moment to send transmissions to Aryan.

Acknowledged, Father.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 1:56 am

"Dammit, she's boarded another vessel."

"You can tell that from here?"

"Yeah. I'm a Spark, remember? Constant telepathic input from birth, sexual deviations and mental instabilities, third testicle, and whatnot, right? That bastard Colonel Gorowitz knew I could find 'em through all this damn plasma and vaporized metal...and that neither me or this ship is a loss if we get zapped."

"Suit yourself Koshie Konigsberg, you neurotic freak. Why am I along on this suicide mission then?"

"First off Mia, call me Joe. Second, it's not neurosis if you can read everyone's mind and know that people like Colonel Jerome Gorowitz visualize repeatedly kicking my crotch with his steel-toed boots, and you're one of those rare and pissy people that can't even be detected by Espers."

"So You take the Esper while I get the spy?"

"No, Miss Inniscent, I burn out the girl's mental protections one layer at a time in a mind-rape while you seduce and/or beat the living shit out of the Esper. They're all S&M freaks, so you'll probably need to doa bit of both."

"You're a pig, Joe."

"So would you be if you picked up your Mom and Dad fuckign whiel you were in the womb. Now hold on, I'm gonna fire an EMP bomb at that big ship..."

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 7:29 am

Something went wrong, Jacques, we had to change the plan. I am surprised that you couldn’t see that. The cutter pilot, an Esper in his own right, glanced sideways at Lloyd. Lloyd returned the gaze for a moment and then focused his thoughts into the crystal before him and away from the Father Superior Jacques and the pilot.

Don’t think I’m so far removed from my senses that I cannot see simple body language. That is the first lesson of an initiate, not the movement of the mind. Jacques turned from the pilot, guarding his thoughts closely, a soft sigh escaping from his lips. He paused, and then released his thoughts, Tell me what happened and from the beginning.

Well, Father Superior, Eros may have not done the job she was supposed to. The Anomaly and the Girl are both still on the Imperial Cruiser Gotterdamerung. They escaped from the cell easily enough, but apparently there was difficulty at their exit from the conduit. Eros approached me and said I was to take this chip with me in the cargo hold, but the girl Summers was nowhere to be seen. The pilot held out a small silver plate, about the size of a Terran quarter credit, It’s been emitting a constant low frequency, I think it’s her Imperial record.

It is her Imperial Record, you fool, Jacques thoughts were a violent hiss in the pilots mind, Get it off this ship. Now, go! Were you followed? Eros! What the hell are you trying to pull?

No, I don’t thin- the pilot backed away from the head of his Order. The old man’s eyes flashed with a crazed fire.

Father, I have found Aryan’s vessal, transmitting our situation n-

Father Superior! A ship is within the gas belt, an Imperial Excelsior class. It’s deployed a weapon.

With a burst of electric blue light through the view screen, the lights flickered and died. A mechanical voice, seemingly far away stated matter-of-factly, “Auxiliary power failure, Switching to emergency power source.

Father, I have lost Aryan’s signal, attempting to retrace, or shall I greet our guests?

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

Joe cackled with glee as the EMP detonated on the hull of the Mother of Skies. The lights flickered out along the blast radius and soon the whole ship was a darkened hulk, “It’s going to be like fucking whores in a whore house, and they think I’m the only one coming.”

His laughter died in his throat as he mentally scanned the Mother of Skies.

“Shit.”

“Problem?” Mia looked genuinely concerned, this was, after all, her skin too.

“There’s something like twenty Espers on that ship. This must be the fucking seat of Esper Mecca and two or three of them are on the order of Grand Master at the Academy.”

“I thought you were a Spark, this bothers you?”

“Shut up, I’m thinking.”

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

Aryan could only take a single step towards Bria when the control panel transmission alarm began to beep.

“It’s from Lloyd on the Mother of Skies, Aryan. He says she’s been found, but there have been some complications,” Bria punched at a couple of buttons on the panel, “Lloyd? We’ve received transmission. Lloyd? Can you hear me?” Bria punched a few more buttons and pushed on a slide control to no affect, “It’s gone. I don’t know if they’re in trouble of if it’s the technology patch. We never had the opportunity to test the Thought Speakers at this distance.”

Aryan ran a hand through his hair and muttered a few choice curses under his breath. This day was getting better and better and he hadn’t been up more than fifteen minutes.

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

“Ensign Perez!" Eros frowned before putting on a more appropriate face and facing the bridge commander. "I'm sorry Major Devishim, I was just-"

"Save it Ensign! Since you can't seem to show up for a shift on time, you will assume repair responsibility for the rear port solar array that was damaged by the flare. I hope this teaches you a lesson."

"Yes, ma'am." Yes, that I can make you do exactly what I want. Eros obediently headed to the maintenance deck and her assigned position, but she hardly intended to fix a solar cell. A quick glance showed no one was present, and of course there were no security cams here.

She smiled and pushed a hand through the wall to her left, walking through it and down through the ceiling of the room below, adjusting the drag of the material to ‘stick’ to her before neatly flipping to the floor.

Show off.

Hmmph, a reminder of why I am what I am. Any word yet?

No.

Very well, I will wait here as long as I can. You may go.

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

They had ducked the patrol somehow, but Grieg was not happy. Being stuck without a chip on an Imperial Cruiser was like asking to announce your presence to the world. He was lucky he had one, that would at least buy them some time. The Enlisted were allowed to have visitors from off ship, but they only had so long before they were required to register. Grieg was pretty sure their time was almost up.

Summers had regained a little of her composure, though it wasn’t enough. She didn’t jump at every sound, and her posture had relaxed enough that she didn’t feel that crouching was ‘normal’ behavior. Grieg still had to guide her out of the main thoroughfares where the security patrols were thickest. It was there that she was closest to breaking down and running, Grieg didn’t think she knew where she would go, just that she should run.

The two were now in the residential decks, and thankfully, here the patrols were sparse. Only once did they have to walk directly past a security officer. Grieg nodded curtly and Summers looked down at the floor, her cheeks blushing from anxiety.

“Drunk, sir, a little too much at Laramey’s,” Grieg offered, and stumbled a little for emphasis. The officer just winked at Grieg, “Next time out of the uniform, soldier,” and continued on his way.

“Apparently this has happened before,” Grieg laughed. Summers swung her head up to look at him, her emerald eyes still blazing with the fire he saw in the interrogation room, Grieg had to look away and at the assignment numbers on the corridor, “Yes, well, we’re almost there. Let’s hope that patrol is the last.”

They made their way through the last few corridors and soon stood before the door to the Senior Interrogator and the Gotterdamerung the Gray Spider herself. Why on earth the fly is seeking out the Spider, I will never, ever know. Grieg exhaled once and unhooked the laser pistol on his hip. It was a cold clunky thing, severly out of date, but hopefully, he thought, still effective. A silent prayer to the Gods of Science, it was the only way he could explain his recent belief in the power of prayer and reached for the door chime.

“Sorry to bother you ma’m,” he used his most formal subordinate voice, “I have the report documents from Observing Lieutenant Marcos, ma’m, It needs your thumb-print.”

“Acknowledged, just a moment.”

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

Vanessa sighed. Her fly had gotten away, still, that wasn’t her problem for the moment. It would become her problem in approximately six hours when Command would put her back on duty so the hunt could begin. She hated that part, she was a web weaver, not a hunter. They rarely needed her art anymore, the horror of the Espers saw to that. Still, her last case, she hoped to god it was her last case, was proving to be most interesting.

The door chimed, “Sorry to bother you ma’m,” the voice was a pleasant tenor, though far too formal, nervous perhaps. She wondered why, and if she’d heard it before, “I have the report documents from Observing Lieutenant Marcos, ma’m. It needs your thumb-print.” Ah, /that/ ensign. No wonder he was nervous, he’d probably just been reprimanded by Command. He didn’t seem to have protocol down exactly right yet. They must have put him on double shift as a punishment.

“Acknowledged, just a moment,” she took a sip from the small glass cup in her hands, set it on the table and moved to the door. She unlatched the door lock and was soon standing nose to muzzle with what looked like an ancient laser pistol. The man who held it was an inch or two taller than her, with an old scar running down his left cheek. Brown hair, tousled, brown eyes, rich with the slight sheen that belies actual cognitive ability. His posture was wrong for a warrior though, too lanky, not enough muscle. The surprise that kept her from acting was crouched by his side, desperately fighting the urge to run away.

“How in –?!”

“Dinner smells great, we’d /love/ to have some.”

MissTeja · Post by **MissTeja** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 5:55 pm

"Shall we continue with the secondary protocol preperation, Sir?" Bria asked, timid of the blatant frustration that plagued Aryan's face.

Aryan paused, looking around at his crew, who were all awaiting his answer quietly. Without answering the inquiry, Aryan grabbed Bria's arm and pulled her into the corner of the large room.

"Look," he said firmly, but with low volume so as to not alarm the others regarding what the protocol entailed, knowing that some may raise questions. He knew if they were to engage, it would have to be an immediate command to keep any from questioning his actions. "it is as simple as this - Summers has intel that we need. She knew ahead of time the risks of the procedure. We cannot allow her to divulge the information and it is my duty to make sure that does not happen - even if it takes extreme measures."

"So, what?" Bria asked at a louder volume than Aryan wished for, which he made evident with a scowl. Lowering her voice to just above a whisper, Bria continued, "So, what? We're just going to blow the Gotterdamerung out of orbit if we have the slightest inclination that Summers is -"

"Yes," Aryan answered, "and your obvious hesitance is exactly why we must not speak of this to the others right now."

Bria stared at the floor for a moment, then replied with added conviction, "Aryan, please take under consideration that we have made contact with the Mother of the Skies. Just give it a little longer. I know we can regain contact. Let me try. Please."

"Very well then, but you must hurry."

"Yes, Sir." Bria nodded before stepping away from him.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:08 am

“Dinner smells great, we’d /love/ to have some.”

Surprise froze her, then she smiled very slightly and graciously allowed the two into her humble sitting room. The door closed behind the two fugitives as they surveyed the surprisingly homey room, it was given its sense of warmth by the handmade weavings that decorated the floor and walls.

"You could say a weaving is a hobby of mine", the soft, colorless voice said behind them. "Now, why don't you two sit down and we'll have a little discussion before dinner is ready."

Neither moved, though the girl looked like she was ready bolt for the door, or lunge for Vanessa's throat, the man kept his weapon her despite his nervousness. The Spider sighed to herself, this wasn't going well, and it would seem she would have lure her prey in with a different sort of bait. But first to immoblize their fangs which meant she was going to have to shed her carefully crafted persona. The later she wouldn't weep over, while her two unwelcome and quite unwanted guests watched her nervously, she puttered around a bit in the sitting room, then went to the kitchen. It didn't seem like much to the two humans, but to one of the Watchers that the Spider had in place, it meant an important, but very simple message: It was time.

She coughed slightly as she turned away from the heating unit after turning it off, then before Grieg could react, she spat out a wad of a sticky grey substance, clogging the weapon, and gluing his hand so that he couldn't pull the trigger. "Don't worry son, it won't last long, but let us say it will prevent any unfortunate occurances from happening."

As the two began to react in surprise, the door behind them opened and closed with an odd thump. It was the pressure seals kicking into place, it would be impossible to open the door without the proper codes. Codes which only Vanessa had, though that was something neither of the two realized.

The newest person to arrive was a far more welcome individual than the other two, and was another non-descript woman. In fact if her eyes weren't such a vivid amber color, she could have been Vanessa's identical twin, then their eyes shifted colors, "Vanessa's" taking on the amber hue, her twin's taking on the smokey quartz.

She smiled thinly at their expressions as she and her sister completed their exchange of identities. Then began a subtle transformation of Grieg and the girl to slightly different people with cosmetics, judicious padding, new clothing and fake identities. "For now, you may call me Matria. And you really shouldn't have come here, even if the Arachnae have old debts to settle with the Empire."

Diana paled as Grieg's lips tightened grimly even as the webbing finished drying and crumbled away so he could put away his weapon. Now that he knew there were at least two of them here, there was no point in shooting them, there were bound to be more, and he didn't feel like having his name added to their list. No one knows why the Empire rendered the Arachnae homeworld into a barren piece of rock, since they were a quiet people who wished only to stay to themselves making stories and songs along with their beautiful weavings. Arachnae silk had always been prized, and thrice so when the homeworld was destroyed causing the rest of the species to go into hiding. They were a strange folk, humanoid, but alien. Their mannerisms struck too many as being close to the spiders they were named after, but they were a gentle people. But after the seemingly senseless destruction those that remained became the predators spiders were known to be.

So "Vanessa" was one of the Arachnae, or more likely, a succession of them...and slowly worming "her" way higher and deeper into the echelons of the Empire. He mentally shuddered as "Matria" lead them to a ship to go wherever the woman had planned. He sighed to himself, they had well and truly fallen into the spider's web, and it only remained to see if she was going to let them go, or consume them.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:26 am

Eros had waited patiently for the right time, plotted and set in motion elaborate plans that she could have never kept track of if she had been a normal human, most Espers weren't even capable of the level of concentious control she had of her memory, and here was a long awaited event, or so Grieg had signalled. She could simply materialize there, but dramatics had its place.

She spoke aloud out of courtesy as she landed in front of the small group, dropping in from the ceiling above them in her black and scarlet uniform. The same cut of the Order, certainly, but both Greig and Diane knew what those colors meant. Both also briefly realized they had never heard her speak aloud before. It was a much softer and deeper voice than her thoughts implied.

"Honored to meet you Ms. d'Atries, or should you prefer, Matria. While I do take a peek into dear Grieg's head when I deem it neccessary, he does not have the same liberty, so I shall have to introduce myself. My name is Eros, the Hand of Ares, Esper Prime of Pantheon." She paused a moment to let that knowledge be absorbed by not only Matria but Grieg as well, her intense red eyes clear as rubies.

"While the intent was indeed to arrange for this incident and this meeting, its outcome was entirely unexpected. Still, I suppose the offer is valid just the same and must be made. Ares sees much corruption in the Order. The Father Superior pushes for secrecy and harmony, forgetting our roots. He cannot oppose Pantheon without losing face, and we intend to restore the Order to the very real threat to the Empire it once was. He requests your cooperation, and offers you the services of Grieg, and myself as my duties permit. You are, of course, welcome to refuse, though I would not consider it a wise decision."

Eros smiled. It would have been warm and inviting in any other outfit and without her unblinking stare. I did warn you that this was a long-term contract, Grieg.

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:09 am

Eros smiled slightly, Grieg's thoughts were swearing so loudly that he couldn't keep the thin shield he could errect in check. His eyes raged, but whatever words he actually wanted to speak he choked down and remained silent. Diana quivered at his side, crouched in a ball and ready to dive for whatever escape she thought she could find. There wasn't one, Grieg knew that much, unless they wanted to destroy the windows and suck the whole crew into the vacuum. Eros would find a way around that somehow, he knew that too.

Grieg blew out a single long breath, trying his best to calm his raging thoughts. In the deepest part of his mind he was counting out on a mental hand just who seemed to be involved, since the rules were changing by the minute. I was hired by Eros to rescue this girl. My sources told me that it was a gig for the Order, and that she simply had information that they wanted. All indications said she was going to be let go after fulfilling her duty. And hell, I wasn't going to let someone be killed for exsisting which seems to be the only thing anyone's been able to tell me about her. Then Eros turns out to be a faction split and she's working with the Spiders of all people? He turned to look at the girl, Who are you, Summers? And what the hell do you know?

----------

Rage, Hate.

No. I will fight you, I will fight you all.

Run and hide, run and hide. You cannot win. They want you for what you are, chaos incarnate. Rage and hate, it's all you are. Why do you resist?

Because I am not you.

But you are, and you will be. Rage and hate. Rage and hate. End up as a dish on that Spider's plate.

Hollow laughter echoed off the walls of her mind.

You need me. You called me.

I did not.

You did, you found the Sage Ogion's tome, you read the pages. I found you. I've won.

You have not.

Rage and hate, rage and hate.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 11:23 pm

Jacques stops. He quickly scans across the ship. His fine attuned Esper abilities could detect the properties of people on the ship. Not only that. Gas Belt has another special property: ability to diffuse some of Espers abilities to the point that they are detectable in small radius. Jacques took advantage of that very quickly, and saw two very interesting thing: In the swirling cloud of Gas Belt, there are one very bright light enmanating from a source, spreading out radially, only to be pulled toward very dark dot next to the light. It is a quite sight to Jacques, but Jacques immediately knew who are their guests. Not by their name, but by what they are. It is quite surprising to Jacques that they have yet to look into the effects of Gas Belt on Espers.

Lloyd, we got a Spark. Mind Blind too. I am quite thankful for Gas Belt...somehow Order all espers on board to put all necessary protections from their mental attacks, then we shall greet them, and find out what they are there for, who they are working for. When that is done, we will deal with the other guest.

Jacques places a metal triangle with an eye in middle of it on his forehead, effectively blocking any mental attack from anything except for those with metal triangle on the forehead. Soon enough, Jacques could not feel outside the ship, but he could feel all espers on the board, and whatever is nearby.

We are ready. Hail the Spark. Do not ever tell the Spark that we know about Mind Blind. Should be enough to place false confidence in Spark. Tell everyone to prepare at docking bay.

Aye, Father Superior.

Lloyd manages to get a communication channel up and going, and speaks for first time in long time. His voice, hoarse from lack of usage, "Spark, please identify yourself, and please board this ship or face dire consquences."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 3:04 am

Joe slammed his fist into the arm of his chair. Then he did it again because it made him feel better. The smiling face with the metal triangle apparently super-glued to his forehead stayed on acreen.

The Spark frowned, then shot the Mind Blind a maniac grin.

"Okay. I've got an idea."

"Listening."

"Those bastels are blocking me, but it works two ways. Right now, they can do a chess tournament in their heads and check probabilities of each move while they're at it. But they can't read me, and they sure as Hell can't read you."

"The point? Quickly, please?"

"I know tricks that people in Orders never figure out. I'm going to try and break their block. While they're distracted, you do a pre-emptive stirke and try to ram their vessel."

"Ram it?"

"Sorry babe, we're expendable. The spy dies or the Colonel literally has my balls for lunch. Cannibalism as a disciplinary deterrent, section 6 under Psychics Law."

Mia quickly took stock of the controls and brought targeting subsystems online.

"Well, now or never. The EMP wouldn't last more than another ten minutes on Imperial tech, Ghost only knows what it'll do on theirs."

***********************************************************************
Joe Konigsberg stared at the ribbon of "metal" in front of him. This was their little network, a ring of iron-grey triangles against the landscape of his mind. Twenty or more little candle-lights blazed, one in each triangle.

Joe carefully dug around in his psychic reserves and banished memories. A few happy thoughts and he was a towering inferno compared to the weak pulses of light and their dark shields.

"Let's go then, hombres."

Joe became a ring of flame surrounding the ribbon, attacking each one at the same time as he imagine himself a firey snake constricting his prey.

***********************************************************************

Mia hit the engines to full throttle and zoomed at the alien vessel, firing superdense buckyball projectiles from the e-mag guns.

***********************************************************************

In the gas belt, plasma and vaporised heavy metals swirled into a spiralling cone following the wake of the Imperial ship, accelerating as the vessel did. A spear-shaped wave of flame and electrically charged gas was descending on both vessels.

MissTeja · Post by **MissTeja** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 12:47 am

Aryan resumed his position at the helm of the ship, staring out of the front to the space beyond. There was an unsettling silence that lingered the room. He hated keeping things from his crew. Trust had never before been an issue, and yet, their silence had patented his guilt with an extra sense of nervousness that he had not felt before.

It was not like he wanted to end Summer's mission. If nothing else, the two had shared a long history. Now, her intel had assumed a value to which Jacques had assured him he would never fully be able to comprehend. Yet, as Guardian of that precious intel, it's security outweighed the potential loss. Allowing Summers to fall into the wrong hands was not an option. He knew that. The lack of communication up to this point would had served to be enough justification for others, in his shoes, to abort the mission and destroy the Gotterdamerung already, but in doing so, he would be risking a possible unecessary attack and the grave loss of intel that had sixteen months of preperation backing it.

The confusion, coupled wwith his lack of sleep, made Aryan's head pound like a freight train screaming as it plowed through a bustling city.

"Bria," he asked as he turned to face his crew members, "has there been any further communication from Mother of the Skies?"

Bria hung her head in solemn disappointment. "No, Sir."

Aryan nodded in acknowledgment and took a deep breath before turning to William. "Set course for the Gotterdamerung. If we have not regained transmissions from the target or Mother of the Skies by arrival, we will move forward with secondary protocol. Understood?"

'But, sir?" William stared at Aryan in confusion.

"Elimination, William. We are to destroy the Gotterdamerung if there is any evidence that the mission has failed." He continued more sternly to avoid a rebuttal, "Look, I am following orders. Now, I suggest you do the same."

The absence of argument calmed Aryan's nerves momentarily and with that, the massive battleship set course.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 8:08 am

"Ereina?!"

Her steps echoed loudly across the marble walkway, arches on either side opening to nothing but sky for near a mile down. The doors got more ornate as she went through them until she opened the heavy blackwood and silver inlaid ones.

"Mother, Eros-"

The woman seated near the floor length window gave the girl a sharp look, even the harsh gaze not marring the beauty of her simple prescence.

"she. She is in a dire situation, she plays a game she cannot win, I can See it, please let me talk to him!"

"No. You may not be involved with him anymore than I can be involved with her. You know this. Do you think he cares any less for her than I do for you?"

"No-"

"Then we will all do as we must for the safety of you both. You cannot be linked through anyone and most importantly you cannot be seen together, you know the dire consequences such an action would cause."

"Yes. Of course." The girl cast her eyes downwards, resignation evident in her bearing. A knock came from the small door to the rear of the room, and a man entered, bowing deeply.

"Queen Helena, Princess Ereina. The Queen of Arcadia lies ready for your departure to the Assembly, your Majesty."

Helena sighed deeply. "Very good, Marcus. Please fetch Giles and inform Captain Gerhard we will be departing shortly."

"My Queen?"

"I believe it is time I educate my daughter in her future responsibilities as a soverign of the Assembly. She will accompany me on my voyage, Giles will act as Steward of Arcadia until such time as we return."

"As you command, your Majesty."

"Captain Gerhard does not like to be kept waiting, Ereina. Pack what you think you will require for your activities and we shall she if you can be of help."

Ereina smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Mother, I shall try my best."

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 4:48 am

Jacques smiles as he knew what is happening. An inferno is coming into the triangle. Spark had attempted to enter the circuit of protected minds and succeeded. In essence, it was not what Jacques planned, but in general, it played into Jacques' advantage if Spark does not see the potential trapfall.

This is not an ordinary Spark. It is a powerful being. Not ordinary at all.

Jacques smiles at his thoughts, and then began to communicate to all members inside the protected circuit of esperes, Remove all your protection. I shall handle the Spark. Personally. Lloyd, you take care of Mind Blind as Mother of the Skies may not be around much longer.

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

Jon peers into the link of minds, which appeared to disappear, and suddenly saw one big ice-being in front of him, and somehow, it appears to be enamanting light.

Hello, Jon. I am Jacques, Grand Master of High Order. It is remarkable to see a Spark here. Especially of your strength and magnitude. Somehow, I sense that you are not controlled at all...just like a fire. I can sense your desire to increase your power even further, and I can help you by teaching you how to control the fire. Eventually, we, as espers, shall rule all. Imagine your powers as the Spark with combination with us. This is my one-time offer to you.

Jon suddenly sees a light approach his inferno, and could feel his mind tightening into the realm. The world quickly seemed smaller and smaller to him as Jacques approach Jon quickly, and everything changed as Jacques made a contact with Jon's mind, then taking a steel-hold on the mind.

Jon, now you will never be able to get rid of me. No matter how hard you try. No matter how much you try to burn away.

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

Lloyd looks around as his metal triangle is removed, and sees two dead bodies nearby him, and he could not recall few seconds before him. Only seconds before, he was faced with a massive Spark, and seconds later, an ice-beast that resonated with Jacques' energy appeared in front of him to deflect inferno blast. Initial scans shows that Spark ESP blast had fried their brains entirely. Initially, Lloyd was very confused, then he saw a large darkness approach him fast. With that darkness approaching him, Lloyd felt a nagging emotion inside him compelling him to give himself up to the darkness. Lloyd refused to heed his gut feeling, but there is something about the darkness that he could embrace. Perhaps yes. He could embrace the darkness and ride it through. This is the darkness of Mind-Blind, and never before, an Esper has faced against a Mind-Blind and succeeded. Mostly because they fought against Mind-Blind, but Lloyd would be first one who gave in to Mind-Blind rather than fighting off. As a large bulk of darkness approaches Lloyd rapidly, Lloyd knew the answer, and let himself to succumb to the darkness without any fight.

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

Molecules begin to hit each other more and more, more electricity begin to spark through everything. What is much more interesting is the fact that it began to develop occured at the exact center between Jacques and Jon Konigsberg. The reaction between molecules between Mother of the Skies and Cutter began to grow and grow and grow, and somehow, it begins to generate some kind of sphere of violent reactions that appeared to surround both ships, not affecting them at all. Only moments later, the flaming spear of Cutter's wake approaches both ship, looking to destroy anything in its path.

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

Jon, if you so desire the power...

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:28 am

Konigsberg's flaming aura dwindled against the icy enveloping presence of Jacques. A single shaft of rigid thought and discipline pierced the heart of the Spark in the place between the minds.

*************************************************

Mia opened her mouth to scream, her diaghrams convulsed and her lungs emptied. They continued hurtling toward the alien ship, but Mia could not think, could not feel. Something held...her. Something in her. Not anything physical but...her.

Mia froze, staring without seeing at the alien vessel as they drew closer, and at the spot in between.

*************************************************

The icy, endless cloud that was Jacques surrounded the Spark-star, seemless orderly thoughts and discipline smoothing the flaming auras layer by layer, leaving only a single smoldering point, burning so white and so very bright. Jaques single thought still pinned it, leeching the heat from Konigsberg. He had but to wait until Jon gave up, and then the Spark would be his.

Hey, Jacques
The icy web rippled as a single wave pulsed from the defiant Spark.
The name is Joe, not Jon.
The Spark star sputtered, and began to cool. Rigid lines of frost grew from the straight, ebon shaft at its heart, twisting the flames into lines of power that hummed with two heartbeats becoming one.
You built your link well. Now, you cannot escape either.
Jacques felt...cold. Like frostbite. All was ordered now, the Spark should be his! Wait..the Spark had relapsed onto his own disciplined training. It was a question of who could outmaneuver the other. Jacques had played these games of old, and prepared himself to contain the spreading patch of glowing, crystalline ice within his cloud-stuff that was Konigsberg. The grand master would excise the cancerous thoughts that invaded his own.
You spoke of burning? BURN motherfucker!

***********************************************************

On the Mother of Skies, Jacques, Grand Master of the High Order, died. A chillful burning had spread throughout, until the introns of his genetic memory grew stiff, then still, and then shattered with a brittle psychic shudder.

***********************************************************

On the Excelsior-class ship Stooge , Joe died. The link had been inseperable. As his body slowly collapsed upon itself, the last synapses in his mind flared. On the astral, a failing ray of light entered a mind like a black hole.

***********************************************************

Mia saw again. She breathed, and she screamed. The mysterious sphere expanded rapidly until it dissapeared, the chaos at its center vanished.

Mia watched as the ship finally achieved contact with the Mother of Skies

***********************************************************

If someone had been watching, and if someone had certain advanced sensors, they could have watched as the Excelsior-class ship Stooge broke through the alien ship, as the solid mass punched a hole straight through the vessel...and as the roaring conflaguration following it enveloped the punctured vessel.

If someone had been watching, and if someone was an Esper, they could have heard the last few death cries, the strang surcease of a powerful Esper, and then have received a blinding migraine with blood pouring from their eyes as the first front of the sphere hit them.

No one who had been watching could have seen the Excelsior-class ship Stooge diving through the lower gas belt toward Scipio. Or picked up the few life signs on the beseiged Mother of SKies.

***********************************************************

Mia! How ya doin'?
Joe? Wait, you're dead! I can see you right next to me!
Yeah. This is a pre-recorded telepathic message.
I'm a Mind-Blind Joe. Telepathy doesn't work on me.
Normally. However, this is not a normal situation. Mia: meet Llyod.
Hello
Lloyd accidentally downloaded his mind into yours. The sudden overload seized up your autonomic systems and your subconscious shut down, because you're a Mind-Blind and it couldn't accept someone had contacted you telepathically.
Um. Okay. I think I almost got that.
Great! That's the good news. here's the bad: you're going to be a mother.
What.
The head Esper, Jacques, took me out. No way I could have gotten out. But since you're defenses were temporairily down processing Lloyd, I took advantage of you. Well, nothing that romantic. I downloaded this prerecorded message, and then I encoded my genetic memory into one of your eggs, whipped up one of your eggs as one of my sperm, and impregnated you.
You evil bastard!
It was the only way babe. If it makes you feel any better, you're a mind-blind again, although you can shut that off whenever you want Lloyd to use his telepathic abilities.
I'm going to survive this specifically to abort you.
I wish you wouldn't. By-the-by, we've got Scipio in front of us, a spear of charged plasma behind us and the mission isn't accomplished yet.

MissTeja · Post by **MissTeja** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 5:43 am

The Moxie was a Fighter, built and bred to defend that to which it's loyalties lied. It seemed as though that was the case for her pilot as well. For as long as Aryan's memory proved useful, he knew what he had been destined for and the first time his eyes lay upon the massive battleship, they were intertwined as close as a man and machine could be. When Moxie took a hit in battle, Aryan cared for her as a child would their mother. When Aryan fell ill, the Moxie provided a shelter and comfort to him that could only be parallelled as a home. To Aryan, never feeling the hot sand mesh underneath his feet or never breathing in the crisp, dry breeze again would be to soon. The ship was his home now. It was where he belonged.

Despite it's massive size, the Moxie could travel with incredible speed, capable of outrunning many of it's contenders. It was as if Hades, himself, took in two lungs full of air, only to let out the massive breath to fuel the ship's thrusters.

Aryan stood the entire time they hurdled through space towards the Gotterdamerung. His previous need for sleep had once again faded into the backdrop of his thoughts. Rather, he stared forward, quickly contemplating the reprecussions of his every move. In his mind, he calculated the potential steps to be taken in every possible case he could think of. He knew that the Moxie could pound the Gotterdamerung like a fist to a fly. It was only a matter of time.

Within moments, there she was before his eyes. Though her size did not intimidate, her beauty did. The Gotterdamerung was far from a hunk of metal hurdling through space. It was exquisite and precise in it's detail. Rarely was evil so magnificently composed.

"Sir, we are within proximity; awaiting your command." William confirmed.

"Prep the missiles and hold for my word." Aryan said as he took a deep breath. A momentary rush of doubt pierced his brain.

"Sir, we're being requested for transmission." Bria said with a twinge of confusion in her voice.

"Ignore the request. I do not wish to speak to whom I'm about to destroy." Aryan said sternly.

"Not by the Gotterdamerung, Sir." Bria responded sharply. "It's Mother of the Skies! They've regained transmission!"

Aryan swiftly turned to face Bria. "What? How the hell - ? We're completely out of their...Damnit! If we don't fire now, we're going to lose our chance!" Aryan fiercly exclaimed. Quickly, he jumped all five of the steps down to Bria's platform and took control of the transmitter.

"Jacques - this is Aryan, do you copy?"

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Tue Feb 10, 2004 7:54 pm

Matria's jawline clenched but she didn't speak. Eros took it as a sign of acceptance as her mind raced in several directions. Everything had been balanced and counter balanced, weighed and sorted, and here was this Arachnae throwing a thousand more variables into the process. She was supposed to have been simply an excellent officer, one without ties and would not be missed much. Her layers of record falsification must have been extensive to hold up to Ares' review.

Operation integrity was falling by the minute. She had recieved no communication as promised on a meeting location and extraction. The decoy ship had left, but there was no traffic on the Empire's network about capturing it yet, or that the pursuit ship had been destroyed by the Mother of Skies.

She did not like this arrangement. She had been trained well, trained from the moment she had been born to manipulate. Space, objects, memories, time, and most especialy emotions. But there was an innate cunning to Arachnae. Prepared and directly opposed, she would be superior, but the extranous factors and unknown quantities magnified the margin of error well beyond safe limits. She would have to be very careful.

To the rest of the hallway's occupants, Matria clenched her jaw, and Eros blinked. "Now I do believe you were in the process of leaving, and I have already arranged transport for us. Come." Eros watched the group as she talked to others in their positions. Still no word, but the risk factors in staying versus removing Matria and her sister from their known environment made the choice for her. A small non-descript looking escort class ship waited, and the door slid open at Eros's command.

Do keep her safe, Grieg, nothing has changed from your original assignment. I will deal with the..unexpected factors of our other guests.

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:05 am

This is Lloyd. I copy. Cannot talk long. Mother of the Skies is gone. Jacques is gone. I'm only one left. I am much more powerful than before now, but time will reveal itself. Secondary protocol now. Shut up. You're useless. What. Who are you...

Mia's body shakes, as she tries to reasserts herself as a new being. She was still a mind-blind, but something changed. It is almost as if...she's a trimuvirate of espers...all of opposing kinds...Spark, Mind Blind, and normal Esper. All in one body. In essence, Mia could feel that there are parts of Joe, Jacques and Lloyd (even if she doesn't know who Jacques and Lloyd are) She could feel baby inside her, even it is very small, barely a few cells, but still, she could feel the baby. And with the baby, it was infused with essence of three different kinds of espers with essence of Lloyd. But in a sense, the baby is already conflicting with itself, trying to reconile all kinds of espers together.

Mia thought, This is a powerful being...I don't normally sense these things, but I could sense the powers of this...being. And I am carrying it.

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

And thus, this is the end of Mother of the Skies. Mother of the Skies had served for so long, and finally has given its life to begin a new cycle of life.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:08 am

Aryan was not having a good day. He'd been hounding the Gotterdammerung for what seemed like an eternity, lost contact with the Mother of Skies and basically watch a carefully planned extraction mission go thoroughly to shit one piece at a time.

Now, right before he might FINALLY get to blow the vessel he'd been following into little itty pieces and make himself feel better, one Jacque's underling Espers gets through and is either completely psychotic or being held prisoner by one or more individuals.

Time for a little cognitive dissonance.

"Bria, do a full sensor sweep on the area that transmission came from, and see if you can get them back on line. Gunner, fire the damn missles now! And tell the Espers to start giving everyone on that ship a headache."

Aryan sank down into the command chair of the Moxie and ordered a specific neural enhancer from a touchpad menu. Moments later a nanopad extruded from the cushion on his left and snapped around the inside of his forearm, a dimple showing over the hollow were his most prominent vein was.

Neural enhancers were not recommended for extended periods of time, or even excessive use. Never, ever in combination. But sometimes you just needed an edge.

Bria spoke "Sir, I triangulated the signal, approximate position was near where the Mother of Skies should be, but heading at a steady clip toward the upper gas level of Scipio. The belt'd heavy metal content is too high for any accuracy, but there's a lot more than there should be from the x-ray scan, and some heavy, destabilixing isotopes hitting the cosmic ray band definately could have come from the engine."

On the screen projection, the Gotterdammerung and the Moxie's missles were involved in a careful affair of countermeasure and counter-countermeasure. The Gunner swore audibly trying to get the damn things to home in on the ship.

Aryan nodded, switched her comm channel to his right ear and the battle reports to his left. He felt the exotic chemical waft into his brain. The neural enhancer he ordered had invoked certain memory analogs and redundant structures in the brain while temporairily enhancing telepathic ability. Not enough to qualify for an Esper, but to receive and process two chains of information very, very fast it was more than sufficient.

"Sir, the Gotterdammerung has launched some small EMP bombs and a shielded plasma torch!"
"I've got a channel through to the ship with Lloyd sir...the registry channel says it's the Excelsior-class ship Stooge. Checking memory banks for that registry..."

You could almost hear what they were going to say before they said it, and vice versa with his orders.
"Standard countermeasures, anti-EMP bombs and tactical x-ray lasers. Keep the Stooge on channel, run voice analysis, stay off any computer system needed for the weapons or electronic warfare. Urk."

The psychic wave from the destruction of the Mother of Skies and Jacques/Joe's death duel of the mind had just reached Aryan (and, incidentally, the crews of the Gotterdammerung and the Moxie, with their resident combat Espers.)

Under normal circumstances, Aryan would have received a mild headache. With the slight boosting of the drug, he currently suffered a blinding flash-migraine and nosebleed. Bria and the Gunner caught a bit of the feedback, and watch tiny glowing worms of pain flash across their vision.

"Urk. Someone, find out what that was. Everyone else, assume it was that damn ship and blow it to Hell."

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 4:18 pm

The ship rocked violently under their feet just as the alarm klaxons blared through the corridors. Red lights swirled at every intersection and at the airlock infront of them. Eros had apparently thought of everything. Except for the fragility of Greig's charge. Summers had crumpled to the fetal position and was doing her best to stuff her hands into her ears. The Arachnae and her sisters had already boarded the vessel, following closely behind Eros and, as far as Grieg could tell, arguing with her. He wasn't sure if Eros cared though.

He took five seconds to make up his mind. There was safety in numbers, especially when he could only count one other person as being an ally and she was currently trying to hide within herself, away from the trouble that was turning into an avalanche around them. The world was quickly becoming his enemy and that was not a pleasant thought.

The ship rocked again as he scooped Summers up in his arms and boarded the ship.

It was a Slepnir class transport, posh and used primarily as a dignitary's ship. He found the master quarters and tucked Summers down into the wide bed. The silence of the ship a welcome relief from the blare of the hall. Grieg thought she smiled once before the dead sleep of stimulus relief overcame her. It had been a long day for everyone involved, and it looked to only get longer.

It wasn't a pure silence, Grieg heard the engines whir to life and felt the sense of weightlessness that followed detachment from the Gotterdamerung. The thrusters pushed gently out of the docking bay and into the launch tube. Grieg glanced back at Summers one last time as he pushed his way out into the corridors of the ship and towards the bridge. A soft feminine voice told him he had five minutes until acceleration gravity. He told the soft feminine voice what she could do to herself in her spare time. He wasn't sure if the computer took offense or not.

The bridge was even more elegantly designed than the sleeping quarters. Fine oak paneling lined every wall, and the instrument panels had been done up in high quality platinum inlay. Grieg wasn't sure the two went together, but he wasn't a diplomat of the Empire, he didn't need the grandeur that this room reeked of.

Eros and the Archnae were already strapped into their acceleration chairs, or at least the sisters were. Eros seemed to be floating above her chair, just an inch or two but still disconcerting to look at.

Is she safe?

As safe as going out into the middle of a firefight can be. "Can we go now, or is the computer still warming everything up?"

She is perfectly safe as long as /you/ keep your en-

Eros winced visibly, crying out, "Father Superior!". Grieg felt it to, though his dulled, untrained senses interpreted it as a slight throb at the base of his skull. In the depths of his unconciousness a small blue figure stated matter of factly, "There is a disturbance in the force." Attunement, Grieg guessed, and the rules of the game have just changed.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Mon Feb 23, 2004 8:21 am

The shockwave was massive. She had felt that feeling once before, too young to really understand, but the riptide of telepathic backlash was familiar. There were bounds every Esper of the Order held to simply because self-preservation had never been part of their design. Every full spectrum Esper could literally kill himself with his own power, that was the way the first ones had been engineered by the Empire, single shot weapons that leave no evidence behind.

Jacques had exceeded his safe bound tenfold. There were harmonics in the backlash, but none so powerful enough to be made out clearly through the ex Father Superior's imprint. Her best guess was that the Mother of Skies had been destroyed. The noise of sparks, anomolies, and espers within the broadcast range was deafening, but at the smae time was a window of opportunity.

Background harmonics make the risk acceptable.
Agreed. Status.
The package is safe, the Anomoly safeguards it.
The Anomoly is a liability

Eros's mouth tightened. The Anomoly has proved more adept than my direct subordinates if limited in objectivity and control. Current operation integrity remains stable due to its prescence.

Displeasure colored the communication. Continue.

Unknown parameters expressed well outside of initial boundary margins, variable factor equilibrium calculations concluded a tolerable condition for contract. Consent to contract was verified by non-action. Backlash activity requires further authorization for guaruntee of contract. Eros hesitated before continuing.

Requesting appropriation of alliance cell seven one o eight.
Denied, Seven one o eight is direct combat class and engaged as planned.
It is the only data complete allied vessel I have within operation theatre. Safety of the package will be compromised without combat systems.
...Very well

Eros closed her eyes, a schematic overlayed with pricks of static flashed in her mind. Grieg felt the hair on his neck stand on end. He blinked, feeling very much like he had just missed something terribly important, and noticed that Eros slumpiung tiredly into a chair with her eyes closed looked an awful lot less imposing.
---

"Sir! Cargo Hold 7 is depressurizing!"
"What? Gimme that you idiot, Cargo Hold's don't cycle themselves, besides, 7 is..." The word 'empty' remained unsaid as the senior tech watched the automated scanners update the manifest.

Hold 7, Cargo Deck, Moxie
Slepnir class shuttle Defiant

FlameBlade · Post by **FlameBlade** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 12:54 am

The Stooge hums softly, indicating that engine and life support is running at its nomial level. Several red icons flashes, indicating that shields are gone, hull is starting to breach, and many more various problems on the ship. No weapon systems. No steering. Nothing can control the ship, no turning. Only way is to drift in one direction. Everything on the ship is crumbling. Except for Mia, lone survivor of Mother of the Skies destruction. Joe is dead. The ship emerges out of the gas belt, which is quite fortunate, for if the ship was in the gas for one further second, it would have been destroyed, as the dangerous nature of gas is starting to eat through the hull.

Not long later, a large ship appears on the screen. Mia gasps, and deseperately tries to make a contact, because at the moment, Mia knows that she's now very expendable, as she is considered to be a traitor, as Joe is dead. Mia was responsible for Joe's safety, but she did not expect to face different battleground in the gas belt. She did not expect the signatures of Espers in gas belts to be different, and thus, she had tremendous difficulty trying to protect Joe from Jacques. As a result, a very rare, and extremely valuable Spark was lost, and Mind Blind must be exterminated to compensate for Spark's loss. So is the ways of the Imperial Empire. All of the sudden, the ways of Imperial appears to be very cruel to Mia, as Mia knows that she will be racing for her life.

Not only her life, but for her baby's life too.

Babe in my womb...you will be always be protected by me. Babe in my womb...

Then she saw the ship for another time for a closer look. Fortunately, it is not an Imperial ship. Unfortunately, it is a ship looking for those who caused the explosion that took the Mother of the Skies.