As soon as the Captain gave the order, Lieutenant Flynn moved to the elevator that connected the cabin to the rest of the ship. Dominic was one of the last mercenaries to follow. The seven or eight men and women boarded the lift and in a matter of seconds were being transported two floors below. There was a slight tremor as they reached their destination, which Dominic took to mean that ‘Ze Crucifix’ was ready to begin its boarding. There wasn’t much time. The doors of the elevator opened to a sterile white corridor with dozens of doors equally spaced out along its walls. The hired mercenaries filed out hurriedly after the Lieutenant, who took a right – the way to the weapons dock. Carefully positioning himself to be last in line, Dominic turned left, and instead headed to his room. It was a miracle he could find his way around the Perseus – everything looked the same. But, he had made this trip several times over the past few weeks, and his room wasn’t too far away. An alarm wailed throughout the corridor and the lights started flashing red - It was the signal for unexpected activity in the air dock. Dominic picked up his pace, placing a hand on the tag around his neck. His was the next door. He swiftly drew a card from his pocket and swiped it on a scanner to the left of the door. A light flashed green on the device and the entryway slid open with a hiss. The enclosure was a standard passenger’s room on an expedition vessel – white walls, rectangular, about four metres long, two and a half wide; there was a desk against the right wall in the corner, a single bed by the left, and a closet in the wall by the foot of the bed. Dominic threw open the closet as the door behind him shut quietly. He reached for the top shelf – having to stand on the tip of toes to get at the back – and pulled out a belt containing several accessories, including a tach rod, a green-goggled gas mask, a six-inch army-issue knife and several smoke bombs. The buckle had a turquoise shard imbued into it. He placed the belt around his waist, then detached the mask and put it over his face. As everything in sight gained an emerald tint, a familiar soft clicking noise sounded in Dominic’s ears. The word ‘Online’ appeared in his peripheries and as it faded, Dominic said clearly, “Normal.” The green tint was suddenly lifted. Lastly, he dove to his knees beside the bed and from beneath it extracted a metre-long rail gun, its sides lined with small, glittering purple shards. Dominic stood to his feet and strapped the bounty hunter weapon of choice around his torso, letting it rest on his back. He stood still for a moment, allowing his thoughts to drown out the sound of the Perseus’ alarm. Something Dominic was told at the academy always stuck in his mind: The key to victory, is patience. The reason he remembered this particular lesson was because it never really applied to him. He found that the sooner he did something, the better it turned out for him. Dominic pressed his hand onto a circular mechanism in the centre of his door. Once again, it issued a hiss and slid quickly ajar. The bounty hunter took a right down the flashing red corridor – toward the air dock.
"CODY!" barked a voice as Dominic made his way down the sterile passage. Leutentant Flynn came up from behind him, his burly arms deftly carried a massive weapon the size of a small cannon. “You’re supposed to be outside the air dock with the others!” Suddenly the ship was shaken by an explosion from down the corridor. A horrible whooshing sound was heard along with muffled cries that were followed by phaser blasts. “F***ing, bastards blew through the hull right next to the air dock!” Flynn quickly punched a console on the wall and emergency barricade doors sealed off the corridor to the air dock. Their men were dead already; he had to protect the rest of the ship from the vacuum and foul tongued pirates that were now pounding at the door. “Quick, get an E-suit on incase there’s still a vacuum in there when they blow the door,” the Lieutenant had himself just retrieved and donned an Environmental Suit from the adjacent storage room. Made from the still living hides of fyers it was resistant to zero pressure and protected its wearer from the harsh temperatures of the space environment. “I’ll get the Captain to send more fighting men, if there are any left. But you’ve got to cover me until I can disable their weapon, I’m going out Air Dock 4,” he pointed down another passage. He turned back to Dominic and gripped his arm, “My AI will ping yours every 20 so you know I’m still out there. If the ping stops you’ve got to complete the mission, you got that son?” He looked Dominic intensely in the eye; the battle hardened soldier knew no fear, only the glory of battle.
"I'm something of a stickler for old traditions. Speaking of which, my name is Adam Al-Minhar. And you are?" "Old traditions are like old tech. Only good in a museum," Lev replied, although a smile edged out any real harshness to the statement, and he was quick to shake Adam's hand. "I'm a man of mystery," he continued to both Adam and Artemus, clearly relishing the words from the broadly amused expression. "A cipher. What's the name worth to you?" "Hey, Lev. What's this employment thing about?" And with that, the self-satisfied grin Lev had been wearing swiftly disappeared. "Because it's not worth much to me anymore, I guess," he muttered. "Should've expected that. Chalice! Hey. Come here and Doctor Syndax can explain the deal to you. Er. Do you know how to--" "We’ve just caught an emergency beacon from out on the rim. I’m forming a rescue team to head out to the Sirrus belt first thing in the morning." That, at least, rendered Lev silent, watching to see the others' reactions before venturing his own opinion on the matter. "...I've leased the fastest ship I could find, we’ll be leaving at 0700 hours sharp. Meet me on the west end of the camp by then or not at all." As Great Bear fell silent, Lev shrugged, and cued the others to their opinions. Whether they would volunteer them first, of course, was another matter entirely, but he shoved his hands into his pockets then, clearly willing to wait.
"CODY!" Dominic stopped directly in front of the Lieutenant who seemed exceptionally stern. Where were the others? The ship suddenly started shaking and from further down the corridor the sounds of phasers, explosions and several people being sucked into the deadly vacuum of space could be heard. Lieutenant Flynn reactively punched a console on the wall, sealing the two of them off from the others, who Dominic presumed were beyond any sort of assistance. Great, the fight had just begun and they were down all but two men. A certain adrenaline suddenly built up inside him as Dominic relished in the opportunity to show off. "Z-Ray" he commanded from the AI in his gas mask, and everything in sight turned negative black and white. The immediate three walls became translucent and he could see into the next rooms - there was nobody in them yet. “Quick, get an E-suit on incase there’s still a vacuum in there when they blow the door. I’ll get the Captain to send more fighting men, if there are any left. But you’ve got to cover me until I can disable their weapon, I’m going out Air Dock 4. My AI will ping yours every 20 so you know I’m still out there. If the ping stops you’ve got to complete the mission, you got that son?” Dominic nodded, taking one more glance to check that the corridor behind the door the Lieutenant had just shut was still empty. After confirmation, he opened the nearest storage compartment to find six E-suits hanging in the back. It took him a moment to put one on, but when he was fully equipped, the bounty hunter returned. "Ready when you are," he informed Flynn in a breathy, contained voice as a result of his mask. The corridor on the other side of the door was now occupied by what Dominic could make out to be several armed men. He grabbed the automatic weapon from his back and held it ready to fire, a position he was all too comfortable with.
“Hey Tank, did you find any jobs on the rim yet?” asked the mildly enthusiastic bartender to a rather thin and weaker looking guy. He seemed to be trying to find work or settle a bet with two other patrons on another corner of the bar. “You tell me where the work is, asshole,” replied tank in an annoyed tone. Can’t anyone enjoy a drink and not be bothered? It had been a solid month now that he had been whittling down at the giant paycheck from his last job, but bars every night and women every other didn’t help his cause. He had maybe fifty creds to his name now, and they would be spent right here at the bar, forgetting that for tonight. “Hey asshole, ‘nother roun’?” The bartender flashed a quick smile and poured a round of whiskey, larger than the others. He knew what Tank was up to, and he wasn’t about to let him run his tab past his worth on getting drunk. Tank didn’t drink though, he just put his hand on the glass and sat there. Another voice, another drunk of course, caught his attention. A middle-aged gentlemen, seeming to have an air of textual knowledge about him, alongside the smell of over-drinking, sat over opposite of Tank on the square bar. Through his raving about Spectres and other nonsense, he mentioned a six-month job. Six months? That would pay me more than anything I’ve ever taken, more than my short trip past the Outer Rim. What is this guy up to? He mused on the thought of being employed for a full six months. Then more and more people kept coming up to him to join as a crew. Well now I’m ****ed. Best enjoy what I’ve got instead. He pounded the double-shot. “’nother roun’” “Comin’ up, Tank.” “What’s up with the job over there?” The bartender scoffed. “Suicide for free. Don’t bother, he can’t hardly pay for all those people, and he’s goin’ past the Outer Rim for too long. They’re all goin’ to die.” The bartender had a disappointed look on his face, but not a worrisome one. He had seen this happen before too many times to attach himself. “Meh, it’s somethin’ to do.” “I’m tellin’ ya man, you’ll die goin’ on into that ****.” “Fine fine, I’ll take your word for it.” The bartender left him with another double-shot on the counter. He never got a chance to drink it though before and old…co-worker…came in to the room. “We’ve just caught an emergency beacon from out on the rim. I’m forming a rescue team to head out to the Sirrus belt first thing in the morning” Tank turned on his stool and looked at the Bear. “Who we savin’ today, bud?” came out of Tank’s mouth, but wasn’t even heard or noticed. The Bear did look straight at him though soon afterwards. “We don't know who it is from, but seekers keep together, and I won’t have any beacon left unchecked; no matter the odds.” Ah yes, heroics. What else is there to live for? Tank sniggered half-drunkenly to himself. This oughtta be fun. Tank didn’t even care who’s ship it was that got burned. Everyone knows if you fly into that Hell of a place, you’re going to get burned. Why do people try anymore? Oh wait, I know, to give people like my fine self and Bear a job. He smiled to himself and pounded the other shot. He wasn’t even beginning to think of the hangover tomorrow would bring. He would probably throw up in the launch over there, but it was all okay to him. Tank was in a good mood now. “I've leased the fastest ship I could find, we’ll be leaving at 0700 hours sharp. Meet me on the west end of the camp by then or not at all." “See ya then Bear, better not be late.” When the guy looked over, Tank just nodded his head, hobbled off the stool, and slowly made his way to the apartment he was overaging himself on. Tomorrow is gonna be a damn fine day.
"Old traditions are like old tech. Only good in a museum. I'm a man of mystery, a cipher. What's the name worth to you?" “Ah, but there is a power in being able to name something!” Adam countered as he shook the curious man’s hand. And of course, Adam was wary of certain names associated with former employers and other people that wanted him dead. If only Adam could tell people his real name, but that would be too risky on any world. "Hey, Lev. What's this employment thing about?" Who was the mystery man talking to, another person? Adam liked small groups, crowds were to be avoided. "We’ve just caught an emergency beacon from out on the rim. I’m forming a rescue team to head out to the Sirrus belt first thing in the morning." A large bear of a man bellowed into the bar. Lev shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets, it became quiet in the bar. Adam hated long awkward silences. “Well, that certainly is…unfortunate.” In another life Adam might have volunteered, but his days of joining ad hoc parties of any kind were over. In small groups, especially if he could meet his teammates face to face, he was much safer than flying across the galaxy in large bands of strangers. Too easy for a tracker to get to him. “I hope they get enough people. I really do,” Adam tried not to sound too Machiavellian about it.
Diana's hand instinctively reached for her comb. A distress signal from the Sirrus belt. Her mind spun, memories of space, asteroids, mogles, dear friends, and disaster clouding her thoughts. A distress signal from the Sirrus belt. All Diana could think of was the implications of such an event. Of who could have sent the signal. "Pallas, read me off the inventory minus 5.8 credits for the juice.", Diana was putting down a number of credits on the bar counter as she spoke. She didn't bother to say goodbye to the others, or rather, she just didn't think of it. It didn't cross her thoughts. It wasn't important now. "... credits, twelve class three shards, twenty 100 count cases of shot..." Diana's AI continued to recite her entire inventory in a voice invariably based on that of a scholarly young lady. Pallas was designed for efficiency and computing power, as such, she lacked much of the personality other AI's had. But that was fine by Diana. Pallas was good at her job. "Thank you, Pallas" Diana said once the AI had finished. By this time Diana had left the Bar and was gathering supplies from her room. A number of cases of shot, spare shards, spare tach-rods and other assorted spare parts and components. She had to pack light, but still needed to bring enough so that all systems were redundant. She wasn't about to be stranded, killed, or incapacitated because she lost a part. "Pallas," Diana said as she continued to ready her things, "please create a separate inventory of the items I am bringing with me, recall their locations in my pack and on the suit at all times, and set an alarm for 0600, 0630 and 0700. Do not turn off the alarms until asked and steadily increase volume every minute until canceled. Also, cancel or postpone all and any meetings of any sort until we return, and mark the west side of camp on the GPS and map and be prepared with the fastest viable route." "Of course, Diana" Diana was prepared.
Antair Madison grunted as Tank moved past him and left the bar. Others mumbled but over all there was far less eagerness than he had expected. The spleeny looking researcher by the bar raised his hand. “Bear, if you give me the coordinates, I would be glad to assist I was just assembling a group to do a survey to the very same to assess the hypothesis that -“ “With all due respect Doctor, I know about your fool brained ideas. I’ll take any help I can get, but this here is Seeker business. If you choose to go, your life is in your own hands.” Just then a screaming siren pierced the air. The bar tender leapt beneath the bar covering her ears. “SPECTORS INCOMING!!” someone yelled from outside. “Dimmit! How did they get past our centries!” Growled Bear, “Change of plans! We are leaving IMMEDIATELY! Anyone worth their shards will be at my shuttle in FIVE MINUTES!” Great Bear’s massive frame turned and bolted back out the doors. He quickly disappeared into the confusion of the market outside as people rushed about in panic and shuttles began to lift off in desperate attempts at escape. It was only moments before the ground began to quake with the impact of meteoric collisions signifying the arrival of the deadly creatures. Perseus "Ready when you are," “Good luck kid,” Flynn hoisted the massive gun onto his shoulder and ran down the corridor toward Dock 4. No sooner was he out of sight when Dominic heard his voice again in his ear-buds. “Cody, this is Lieutenant Flynn, I’ve cleared you for a direct line to the Captain’s bridge, he’ll keep you up to date if the situation changes. Remember, listen for the ping. Flynn out.” As Flynn opened the air lock door he heard an explosion from the passage he had just left. They had gotten through the barricade. He paused long enough to say a quick prayer for the young merc when the shouting began and then pressed on his way. A moment later he was standing on the exterior of the Perseus with nothing but empty blackness and the raider ship the Crucifix between him and the stars. The artillery blaster on his shoulder held a class 4 shard; strong enough to make the Crucifix look like Swiss cheese from this range. But all he needed to do was find the weak point in that jerry rigged weapons system and get if offline so that the Perseus could make its escape.
"Diana!" Diana's visor rapidly flashed red and Pallas's Avatar appeared on screen. Diana truly loved Pallas, but there was a flaw (in her eyes) with the program. Pallas, clad in a loose chiton of silky cloth, barely covering a large bosom, stared out at Diana with giant Anime-esque eyes behind cute glass. For some reason, Pallas's creators decided that since Pallas had less personality than most AI's, that she need to have an Avatar of sorts. They also felt that by making the character cute and attractive, they could further increase her charm. Of course, Diana found the Avatar distracting. Of course, at times such as these, the distraction was put to use. It caught Diana's attention immediately. There were only a handful of times when Pallas was instructed to show her AI. And there was only one time when a red alarm was used. "Pallas! Open the mini map, activate my tach-skates, load the magazine and prepare to activate the tach-Catapult and knife as soon as I grab them!" Even as Diana was speaking she was kicking open the window of her second story room, gears were spinning, motors running, and shards activating as Diana spit out her commands. Diana leapt out of the window, but did not reach the ground. Instead, she began skating along the tachyon waves. She really truly looked as if she was ice skating along the wind. Diana's boots were lined with small tachyon rods that would rapidly push against the tachyon waves, propelling her forward. Moving just as an ice skater -or a speed skater in this case- she could race along with speed and agility other seekers could never accomplish. "Pallas, mark the map with the location of already present and those about to make land fall." Diana's minimap was immediately marked with numerous red x's. That many? Diana thought. Antair was in trouble. "Maximize output of the skates" "Already accelerating to max velocity, Diana" "Thanks"
As Lieutenant Flynn disappeared down the corridor toward Airdock 4, Dominic kept a close eye on The Crucifix's raiders. “Cody, this is Lieutenant Flynn, I’ve cleared you for a direct line to the Captain’s bridge, he’ll keep you up to date if the situation changes. Remember, listen for the ping. Flynn out.” There were six of them on the other side of the door. One was attempting to somehow open the door using the console to its right on the wall, but the bounty hunter guessed it was no longer online; the other five were busy setting blast fuses at the door's corners and centre. The Lieutenant's ping sounded in his ear. The men moved away, and Dominic knew a blast would follow in the next few seconds. He opened the storage room he had just obtained the E-suit from, simultaneously ripping a smoke grenade from his belt. Ping. He threw the grenade directly by the right corner of the door, and another by the left; he then threw one directly at his feet, some three metres away from the door. The area managed to fill entirely with smoke very quickly. "Thermal." Dominic commanded, and the goggles once again changed colour, allowing him to see everything in its temperature. Ping. He hid himself in the storage room just as the explosion went off, and when the dismantled parts of the door flew past him, the bounty hunter poked his head and gun around the corner calmly. Shots were fired recklessly from the raiders, who had no clue of where they now were or what was going on. Ping. One of the men in the back accidentally shot the man in front of him, and a scream followed. Dominic tactically started picking off the remaining five, firing one or two Class 2 phaser shots at each. Before long, the six raiders lay dead on the floor of the corridor, but the smoke was disappearing too. "Normal." Ping. Dominic quickly checked his inventory. There was only one smoke grenade left, and he guessed The Crucifix had a lot more men he would have to dispose of. As much as Dominic hated doing it, he knew he had to call for backup. Ping. "Connect me to the Captain," he ordered of his AI, after which followed some static, and another ping in his ear from Lieutenant Flynn. Before Dominic hearing any response or acknowledgement from the Captain, or anyone else on the bridge, he spoke clearly, "Need backup on second floor corridor, Air Dock 4!"
Tank laughed his whole way to the door of the bar. I ****in’ love my job! Then the alarm screamed, and Bear started roaring. All he needed to hear was five minutes; enough time to get his baby slapped together, his cigarette lit, and jack a bottle of the hard stuff from to bar. Good enough for him. He moved quickly to his first floor room, though the alcohol was catching up. It was a race against time before he couldn’t run anymore, he need to be in the shuttle by then. Tank slid to a stop by his door and kicked it open. He instantly opened the three foot long silver case next to his bed, and simultaneously punched a button for his AI to pop up. “Hey MAC, make sure I don’ **** up, and tell me when four minutes is up.” Tank grabbed the main body and mechanism of the massive gun popped them together. He then grabbed two of the barrels in the case and slid them in, spinning them to lock them in. He did the same with another barrel afterwards while popping on a bipod simultaneously. He then grabbed a small holo-sight and slapped it on the top. Tank finally grabbed one giant ammo can that took up almost a third of the case. Even Tank had a little trouble lifting it in his inebriated state. He clipped it onto the bottom while stumbling out the door, and his shoulder seemed to sink as he leaned against the weight of the gun. 12,000 micro-rounds really brings out the best in me…****, this bitch is heavy. “One and a half minutes remaining sir,” called out MAC as Tank pulled out a cigarette and lit in while fast-walking to the bar. “How’s she lookin’ MAC? Shiny?” “There seems to be trouble with the Ammo…” he was cut off by Tank pounding once, hard on the side of the giant magazine. “Yes sir, the weapon is perfectly assembled. One minute remaining.” Tank bolted as well as he could to bar, in an amazing amount of time for his current conditions. He ran passed screaming personnel, completely shutting them out , and snatched a bottle of whiskey of the counter that hadn’t been broken. Tank breathed smoke from his cigarette, both inhaling and exhaling it like it was air. The cigarette fell out of his mouth and burned his forearm as he ran through the hallway after the bar the docking bay. He didn’t even notice. The gun bounced and rattled against his side, and weighed him down. He didn’t even notice. The alcohol was catching him in his final bolt to the bay, it was beginning to win. He tried not to notice. The doors to the shuttle bay were open. When Tank passed through the gate, the last person was boarding Bear’s shuttle, Bear. Tank roared at him to wait up and bolted at the shuttle before the hatch closed. He gripped the whiskey bottle with an iron fist, and held the loop near the barrels on his rifle, making it look like a metallic extension of his own appendage. “Four minutes has passed sir.” “No **** dumbass. Thanks for the ****in’ warning.” “Anytime sir.” Tank growled as he was just about at the shuttle. He basically slid into the seat on Bear’s shuttle, one of the last, and propped the monster up next to him. “You almost cost me hun. You know that?” She didn’t reply though he was hoping for one. Tank started to laugh rather happily as he caught his breath sitting there. The hatch doors closed as he took a large drink from his bottle. It almost came out onto him as well because of his giggling. “Hey Bear, miss me?” The giant smile on Tank’s face, and the sweat rolling down it said everything.
“Hey Bear, miss me?” "Bear? Who the Hell are you and what are you doing on my boat!" the old spacer yelled. In his inebriated state Tank had apperently boarded the wrong ship. As big as Tank and his weapon were the muscluar asteroid miner was larger. He escorted them both roughly off of his craft and dropped them from the boarding ramp while several feet in the air. The large gun landed on top of the drunken man with a thud and left a noticable welt on his foread. Tanks looked up to see the actual ship that Great Bear was preparing for take off with its ramp still open and the gruff figure of Bear glaring at him from across the way.
Bear bursting in with his rescue mission offer, an incoming invasion of specters... The speed of events was quickly escalating, and under the sudden pressure the bar patrons were beginning to scatter like roaches under a lightbulb. Chalice quickly turned to Syndax. "All right, Doc, I have no idea what kind of job you're offering, but we all need off this rock right now so if you need someone who knows their shards, I'm your girl. All I ask in addition to room, board, and salary are shards for my research -- with first pick on any interesting ones -- and opportunity to work on my own projects. Just tell me where your parked and I'll bring my craft around. Any ship that can support a crew of six in deep space for half a year can hold a long-term hard dock to an NK-4 personal flyer, and there is no way I'm leaving my research to the specters. I'll sync the fields and thrusters; you'll never know it's there." ~~~~~~~~ Chalice dashed through the city of ships and tents, her boots beating a heavy tattoo on Antair's red silt. She had no shard harness, no tachyon para-sail, no personal transportation equipment of any kind. She was just a scientist, suffering under the curse of constant poverty that came with the freelance search for knowledge. All she had was her NK-4 flyer which served as both her home and her transportation, her experiments which littered the tiny spacecraft's cockpit and cargo bay, and her shareware AI to whom she now barked commands as she ran. "Phaxhad, we're leaving. Lock down anything loose, raise the basic shields, begin the pre-flight checkup, and start pumping air into the emergency tanks -- even the one that is still partially filled with the purchased air. Monitor the outputs of the flyer's lattice, boot up the synchronization interface, and start crunching numbers. I want to be ready to sync with another ship as soon as I board. Halt all stable experiments and minimize memory usage on anything fragile, focusing all possible system resources on these new tasks. And for Plork's sake, turn on the bypass of that 'feature unavailable' message of yours. If you can't do something, just tell me!" "Your air-pump request is inadvisable. The atmospheric mixture of Antair is not recommended for pressurized breathing. A prepared nitrous-heavy mixture is much safer for..." "Just do it, Phax! We're not taking this into space, this is just to hold until we can connect to a bigger bird."
Zack was sitting on his bed, looking at the stars from his bedroom window. There was something different in them. Something mystical. For him, a simple thing like looking at the stars was like envisioning the past - his life with his family. "I´ll save her! No matter what! I promise" said Zack closing his eyes and tightening his fists. He was the only member of the crew that the captain had dismissed from the bridge. Maybe I should check if there are any updates. He opened the door that lead to the corridor, when suddenly it abruptly closed on him, leaving him a bit confused. "Whoa!" said Zack raising his hand to his face in pain. [The Perseus was rocked violently. Alarms began to sound as the crewmen gathered themselves.] The alarms?! What the hell is going on?! Zack quickly approached his window at the back of his room, and saw an imposting battleship. From the way they attacked us, they must possess one heack of a blast shard! It didn´t took longer untill he recovered himself from this unexpected situation. Quickly he opened his locker, and equiped himself with a pistol and some munitions. I think i´ll try to possess more equipment, for when another situation like this one repeats. [A second blast lit up the view port of the main deck.] Arghh! By the way things are going, if we don´t do something about this soon, there will be no hope left for all of us! He thought increasing even more his speed. All he could hear now was the endless sounds of the alarm and explosions. Then, amidst all the chaos, his AI intercepted a message. ["Need backup on second floor corridor, Air Dock 4!] Zack´s room wasn´t far from Air Dock 4, and he immediately punched the door open once more. Without wasting another secound, he started running in Air Dock 4´s direction. Climbing up to the stairwell that lead to Dock 4, he checked carefully to make sure there were no enemies in sight. "This is Zack Hawkins, I´m moving to Dock 4. I repeat, this is Zack Hawkins, I´m moving to Dock 4!" he said, responding to the backup request. Zack climbed some more steps until he had finally reached the corridor leading to Dock 4. Several bodies lay on the floor, and the emergency door in the corridor leading to Dock 5 was totally busted. Many enemies were coming from this corridor. I need to hide myself, Zack decided, and headed quickly to the open storage room ahead. He reached the storage room without compromising the hideout, and he found that the bounty hunter, Cody, was there too. "It looks like we had the same idea! There are too many of them! Maybe we should try to find a way out!" Zack suggested.
The bar began to buzz with excited talk and rapid movements. Seekers were journeymen profiteers, not bloody commandos. Best leave the rescue work to the professionals. Adam had enough problems to worry about without having to add to a long list. The piercing, shrill cry of a siren shattered what remained of any serenity in the air. Even those unaccustomed to their Harpy cries would still find it unpleasant and unbearable cacophonous. “SPECTORS INCOMING!” someone bellowed. “Damn it! How did they get past our sentries? Change of plans! We are leaving IMMEDIATELY! Anyone worth their shards will be at my shuttle in FIVE MINUTES!” It almost seemed unfair, was fate determined to have Adam board that shuttle? With a heavy sigh Adam addressed Doctor Syndax. “Doctor, I’m afraid that I must leave now. Circumstances are such that I am required to act hastily, against my wishes.” Bodies ran past Adam as he calmly walked to the shuttle, imagining himself as a convict on death row stoically approaching an execution device. “Thoth,” Adam said addressing his AI. “Yes, master.” “Standby to receive telemetry from HORUS (Heuristic Operational Reconnaissance Unmanned Surveyor). Buffer all data, inform me of relevant details and cross reference against known.” “As you command.” Adam pulled out the small robot bird and let it fly for the shuttle. A few people might have noticed it take flight, but once inside of any contained space it was programmed to find places to conceal itself as it gathered data. “And may the cosmic mother kismet have mercy on my soul,” Adam said as he shakily boarded the shuttle.
Tank lay on the ground nearly unconscious from his own gun's blow to his head, and from the excess of alcohol. But he saved it. Through falling a few feet, having a beast of a gun land on his face, and being excruciatingly drunk, he saved it. The bottle of whiskey firmly stood on his belly, with his fist firmly grasped around the neck. Tank laughed and laughed while lying there, and looked up at the launching shuttle. "You mother****in' son of a bitch, I ****in' saved it!" Tank laid his head back down on the hard docking bay floor. "Son of a bitch. They left me. My own buddy left me out here to die, and I don't have one damn idea why. What Hell's up with that ****. Huh? What?!" He started to stand up and took a drink from the bottle. His hand could hold it any longer and he dropped the bottle on the hard ground. It cracked, and his pain reliever bled around his boots. He roared out in agony and then gritted his teeth. "I'm gonna kill you you son of a bitch, get you're ass back here boy!" Tank put his left hand on the loop at the top of the gun, his right at both of the triggers, and pulled the front one that spun the barrel. His other finger fumbled for the second trigger, but he stumbled backwards and took a hard seat on the bay floor. Tank watched the transport launch of to far for him to shoot it any, but it wouldn't have mattered anyways. "****..." The back of Tank's legs, from his boots to just past his knees, were soaked with floor alcohol. The huge weapon lay across his medium sized waste. Tank's arms were out behind him as he watched the blur in front of him, it was a colorful sort of haze, and he enjoyed it. To anyone watching, it would have looked like a sad sight to behold, but Tank really wasn't all too concerned. He was out of his mind, and there really wasn't much that could be done for him other than drag him out of there. He wasn't to happy he was going to die passed out on a floor, left behind by his buddy, but he was happy it would be painless. Tank looked down at the gun in his lap and gave a half smile. "I'm sorry hunny, we didn't get to kill anything today."
Dominic waited several minutes, embracing his weapon as if it were a lover, whilst sitting in a corner by the entrance of the storage cabinet. There was still no answer from the bridge, and all he had to give him any sort of comfort was Flynn's irritating pinging every twenty seconds. Just then, he heard some footsteps - they were extremely close and appeared to come from a complete different direction than the enemies he had just disposed of. Dominic readied his weapon. A man - well, more like a boy - ran into the room with the bounty hunter. He was armed with only a pistol and a couple blast grenades. Dominic had seen him before, and for that reason lowered his weapon. "It looks like we had the same idea! There are too many of them! Maybe we should try to find a way out!" Zack suggested. "A way out?" Dominic retorted, "I called for backup, not a way out - we've got a job to do." Some more footsteps sounded from around the corner, this time from the expected direction. Dominic stood up and inspected the boy more closely. Was this all they could send? "You're not even wearing an E-suit - grab one from the back there and get ready to cover me."
Antair "Any ship that can support a crew of six in deep space for half a year can hold a long-term hard dock to an NK-4 personal flyer, and there is no way I'm leaving my research to the specters. I'll sync the fields and thrusters; you'll never know it's there." “That might be quite advantageous,” Artemus shouted over the sirens. “My ship is on the west end also, get there as soon as you can! Lev, Adam, if you would kindly follow me we will get out of here before all hell breaks loose.” “Doctor, I’m afraid that I must leave now. Circumstances are such that I am required to act hastily, against my wishes.” Adam commented as he walked steadily out of the bar. Artemus frowned and darted out of the bar with Lev close behind. Two technicians of dubious experience in the field were a good start, but not the kind of support he was looking for, if he wasn’t able to catch up to Great Bear he would have to make another recruiting stop. **** “Tank you drunken bastard! Over here!” shouted James Madison from the air lock of his leased ship the Patriot. Diana evidently heard him and circled wide as she approached and landed next to the drunkard still mourning his bottle of whiskey. Al-Minhar was already boarding the ship with a grim look on his face. Bear had heard he was good, but mostly what he knew of him was that not much was known. A four man team would be sufficient, he thought, so long as the stranded seeker hadn’t strayed far from his beacon. “C’mon, get a move on! I’ve counted seven landings so f-“ the seasoned seeker was interrupted as a large fiery object fell from the sky directly onto the Patriot. The impact split the ship nearly in half and threw Madison and Al-Minhar out onto the ground twenty meters away. Before he could get to his feet a glowing figure was ejected from the crater and landed on the fallen veteran with a pounce. The energy surrounding the specter glowed a brilliant neon yellow, while the stones of its body reflected a dark almost purplish hue. With one of its long arms, it gripped James Madison by the shoulder, skeletal fingers pierced the armor of his heavy shard harness. It stared into his eyes with its black crystalline face. The stones that comprised its body floated mysteriously in the yellow energy field giving it an almost skeletal appearance. Its free arm flashed white as it was quickly raised before plunging through the man’s chest. Madison barely had time to scream before his torso was seared through. The creature retracted its arm from the limp, charred corpse and held the shard it had retrieved high in the air. It gave an eerie cry somewhere between a pitched, carnal war cry and the piercing ring of an electromagnetic field before turning its attention to the nearby Adam. Without warning a flash disrupted the Specter’s killing spree. The creature fell to the ground as its glowing form dimmed and its crystalline body quivered and disorganized. “He’ll only be down for a moment. Get aboard my ship, I’ll take you to Sirrus!” Artemus stood with Lev close behind him. The long barrel of the pistol in his hand still glowed from the shot that had taken down the specter. Despite his awkward appearance and academic demeanor the scientist had a great deal of hard won experience gained from many months in the depths of space. Without another word Artemus jogged to another nearby spacecraft, the Pelican. It was a much slower craft than the patriot, especially considering that it was now fully outfitted as a research vessel, but there was little choice as most of the other ships in the area had sealed their hatches and were preparing for take off. Artemus touched his finger to his ear, “Archimedes, prepare for immediate lift off. We’ll be having guests this time, so prepare them room.” Perseus (Ping) "Need backup on second floor corridor, Air Dock 4!" “We’re getting hit from multiple sites, I’ll send someone over to help you cover Flynn but I can’t promise anything.” The voice of the captain came back with curt efficiency. (Ping) More noises could be heard from down the corridor, footsteps and a muffled scream. Dominic was about the inspect when someone nearly collided with him. "It looks like we had the same idea! There are too many of them! Maybe we should try to find a way out!" the young researcher was armed with only a pistol, but his eyes were fiery. (Ping) The pair paused a moment as another strangled cry was heard. What was going on out there? I blast blew out the air lock that separated them from the open hull of the Perseus, the storage room door quickly shut to protect them from the vacuum. Fortunately there were plenty of E-suits for Zach to don in case that door too was blown. From outside a strange scraping noise and an intermittent hiss that sounded neither human nor machine advanced toward the storage room. (Silence) The pinging stopped. A warning light flashed in Dominic's goggles alerting him that contact with Flynn's AI had been lost.
As Adam calmly boarded the vessel he noticed the large fireball bearing down on him. A moment’s hesitation was all he could afford, as HORUS returned to him and perched on his shoulder he turned and began to sprint as if he were being chased by syndicate hitmen. A second later and a large explosion erupted behind him, no doubt the Specter destroying his means of leaving Antair. Adam managed to get his shield generator on in the nick of time but the shockwave flung him twenty feet from the impact. Luckily the debris and shrapnel seemed to be easily dismissed by his personal shield. “Specters be damned! What a waste of life, and a perfectly good space worthy vehicle!” One of the creatures emerged form the crater it made, adeptly dispatched the poor man named James Madison, and then regarded Adam with its cold crystalline eyes. “You fancy me then, do you? Well, I’m not running away this time,” Adam said and reached for his plasma pistol. He set the Plasmon setting to high, with a tandem high polariton yield. A blast from behind quickly retired the beast, it was Artemus. “He’ll only be down for a moment. Get aboard my ship, I’ll take you to Sirrus!” Artemus yelled and ran to a smaller nearby vehicle. “Doctor, your timing is impeccable. For saving my life I owe you my loyal service. I believe the contract was for six months, let’s hope that our future adventures are somewhat less eventful.” Adam laughed and looked for some kind of station where he might be of use, he knew his way around most space vehicles. Finding a sensor station, he sat and scanned the sky and perimeter for more Specters.
The door to the storage room shut automatically as a blast seemingly blew open the airlock connecting the Perseus to the The Crucifix. The pinging was no longer present in Dominic's ear - Flynn was inevitably dead. At least the Lieutenant accomplished what he'd set out to do. Now it was just a matter of getting out of here. "Get the suit on quick!" Dominic ordered his partner. At that moment there was an eery scraping noise on the door of the storage room. What the hell? Was somebody out there? And if someone was, surely they would have blasted the door open by now. No, it was impossible for anyone to be out there. And yet, the scratching continued. It was an irritable sound - as if someone was running fingernails made of iron across a chalkboard of the same material. It was a sound he had heard before. "Z-Ray" Behind the entryway was exactly what Dominic had envisioned - a Fyer.
The fyer nearly filled the corridor as it crept about drawn by the scent of shard radiation. Its Its boney head with tightly stretched skin swayed to and fro like a gaunt dragon as it searched for source of the shard emmisions. The head was disproportionately large compared to its slender, frail body. The long skewer-like projections that extended from its middle acted much like tach-rods to control its rapid flight through space. It was from these that the scraping sound came as it passed through the hall, dragging itself on its two long mantid like arms. Fyers never traveled alone. The rest of the pod was likely still outside the ship, and judging by the lack of signal from Flynn enjoying a nice feast of shards and flesh. "Dominic, Zach, the we've got fyers swarming out there. The Crucifix has halted its attack for the moment to deal with them, but is still attached. You've got to disable their weapon, while their distacted so we can get the hell out of here!" the transmission came directely from Hardigan. It was obvious why there was no mention of Flynn.
Kor’s Hellion, the Outer Rim, Jacob’s Latter…all places Tank, or Sergeant James T. Russell, had served with Madison. They came back to him like a childhood, memories of the Hell that raised him, that raised them. Now, in a matter of seconds, Madison was burned alive and torn apart. Tank was a generally angry man, and a generally happy one at the same time. But it was rare for anybody to see him furious. Vision partially came back, blood flushed his pale skin, his muscles tensed as he lifted his violent appendage. The weapon’s targeting system locked on to the mass of crystallic figure in front of him. It whipped up slightly in his arm. “Thanks MAC, can’t see none too good.” “I have you covered sir.” With his left hold up the gun and his right holding down the triggers, he tore the creature apart. He must have fired five hundred rounds into it in the thirty seconds he fired, tearing off its arm and drilling a gaping hole through its center. He knew it wouldn’t die in a natural sense, but if he could cripple it to beyond repair, he was well enough with it. But it wouldn’t bring back Madison. It would just burn those that burn us. Cremate the bastards. **** ‘em all. He didn’t notice that he had been clenching his jaw the whole time. Tank reached down in his back pocket and popped out another cigarette, and lit it while on the way to a ship with the other man he somewhat recognized from the bar. He fumed literally and mentally as moved towards the last shuttle. Screams surrounded him as the specters slammed into Antair and tore them apart. He thought about his life and the jobs he loved, and realized he had always hated it. Always did. But then the alcohol caught up to him again as he looked down at his friends destroyed body, and flicked some ash of his cigarette down over him. As he moved closer to ship, he heard the scream of a spectre slamming through the atmosphere down near him. He looked behind him and felt the impact tremor of it hitting the bay, then immediately springing towards him. The creature bee-lined at Tank. MAC centered the targeting automatically again, while Tank just held down the triggers. The barrel spun, rounds flung out of it, and they deadened its shield. Not fast enough though. He didn’t notice he had been slowly backing up and screaming obscenities at the creature. His foot caught on cropped floor panel and flew backwards, still firing at the lunging creature. It flew over him as he fired up into it, MAC helping him the whole way through it. The creature was caught by surprise and adjusted just to slow for it. All it could do is burn one of his arms with a claw, and rain hot shards and ashes down on him, burning and cutting his flesh. It landed like a piece of thrown thrash just past where Tank lay, in pieces. He stood up haphazardly, wondering what the Hell happened to the second cigarette he lost that day, and moved towards the vessel. As he reached it, he through his giant rifle on board and tried to lift himself up in by the door railing. The alcohol caught up with him. His legs started to give out as he pulled himself up. It took most his effort to pull himself up. The burnt arm gave out on him as did his legs and he fell to the hard, grate floor, biting through his lip accidently as he hit the ground. In all actuality, he thought he died as he fell. He felt the blood flow out of his head and all he could see was black. He wasn’t happy about what he had seen at the end, what had happened. He wished he hadn’t been drunk, and that he could fight them all gloriously till he died. It didn’t matter if people knew it was him fighting there. He just wanted to be there, ready to go. But before he could think of the next thing, he was passed out on the floor, bleeding slowly.
"A way out?" Dominic retorted, "I called for backup, not a way out - we've got a job to do." What?! He actually wants to go through with this?! He´s just gonna get himself killed and take me with him! Zack hesitated for a while. Maybe I should just let him kill himself and find a way out by myself. Zack thought giving a brief look around the room. The room´s light was still flickering. He´ve made up his mind. I can´t be by myself carrying only this lame equipment! And neither I can leave Dominic go through with this alone! I´m gonna cover him and hope for the best! "Get the suit on quick!" Dominic ordered his partner. Zack obeyed, grabbing one of the E-suits. He equipped it and turned into Dominic, ready to rumble. "I´m ready" said Zack to Dominic, holding his pistol anxiously. (Silence) The pinging stopped. The silence left Zack even more anxious. What´s going on out there? What´s taking them so long? At that moment there was an eery scraping noise on the door of the storage room. And yet, the scratching continued. It was an irritable sound - as if someone was running fingernails made of iron across a chalkboard of the same material. I had enough of this foolish mind games! Just show yourselves already! After the moment Zack finished his thought, he found out just how deeply he will regret it. "Dominic, Zach, the we've got fyers swarming out there. The Crucifix has halted its attack for the moment to deal with them, but is still attached." Whoa! A Fyer?! I´ve heard stories about them, but I had never seen one before. Zack retreated a bit, preparing his pistol. According to the stories I´ve heard from people, there´s no way we´ll be able to defeat those things by using fire power! "You've got to disable their weapon, while their distacted so we can get the hell out of here!" the transmission came directely from Hardigan. I knew it! Life is a game! You can either win or loose, but anything, no matter how mighty it might be, has his own weakness. Zack remembered one of his father´s lesson. "I´ll go and distract him, when he explodes the door!" Zack said to Dom. "Make sure you disable his weapon!" Zack said, placing a big trust on his companion.
"I´ll go and distract him, when he explodes the door!" Zack said to Dom. "Make sure you disable his weapon!" Zack said, placing a big trust on his companion. "Like hell you'll go distract it!" Dominic shouted in a hoarse voice, sticking his arm out to stop Zack from being able to reach the door. "I'll dispose of this thing quickly - you just need to get the first hit and it's a done deal." Dominic did a third take to make sure Zack had put on his E-suit, then placed a hand on the console in the centre of the door before them, holding his rifle at the ready. On the other side, the creature was still frantically scraping, digging deeper into the metal of the door. It really wanted to get at their shards. Now was his chance. "Normal." Dominic pressed his palm on the console and the door slid open. But then something unexpected happened - in the moment that he had taken off the Z-Ray setting on his goggles, the mantid creature had moved. It was now on the ceiling, and much too quick for Dominic to react in time. The shimmering white beast whipped its forked tail at the bounty hunter. Dominic was hit by the tail's edge straight in the chest. He flew backward, dropping his weapon due to shear unexpectedness. The creature lurched into the room, flailing its arms at him. Dominic kicked furiously in an attempt to defend himself - He had to get up somehow, but the strain on his chest was too much, he could barely roll over. The creature pinned Dominic's left arm to the ground and then prepared to throw another strike down on him.
"Diana!" With Pallas's help Diana managed to just avoid collision with the falling Specter. Great Bear wasn't as lucky, and was quickly dispatched. “He’ll only be down for a moment. Get aboard my ship, I’ll take you to Sirrus!” Luckily, the drunken scientist was ready with a plasma pistol to stop the Specter and ready a new ship. "Pallas, be prepared to activate maneuver delta on my count and keep the catapult on standby" Diana said as she spied a fast moving and flying specter racing her way. It resembled an ancient Pterosaur, except that it had an odd third wing protruding from its back and all three wings seemed to be facing backwards. The Specter shrieked as it rushed to attack Diana. Diana hadn't learned nothing under Ben's guide though. She was a master of Aerial Combat. "Now!" Diana shifted sideways and leapt up with an extra boost from her tach-skates, immediately turning into a spin and rotating horizontally. The Specter, though distracted by the unexpected maneuver still attempted to strike out at Diana. Diana merely brought one leg downward in a reaper's arc, Pallas changing her skates into de-atomizing fields immediately before impact, severing the Specter's head in a flash of light. As Diana fell she pressed two buttons on the her right arm, with the first, a slingshot like contraption composed of reinforced tach-rods and a sling unfolded itself on her arm followed by a dense ball bearing which attached to a small magnet on the forefinger of her hand on the opposite arm. Diana slotted the metal hornet into the sling, pulled it back with the help of actuators in the left arm of her suit, and sent the hornet flying through the deatomizing field and a bolt of energy into the chest of the beheaded Specter, just for good measure. "Stop my fall three feet from the ground and prepare a horizontal boost" Diana launched another three shots at various specters as she fell to the ground, not bothering to see if they struck though. This wasn't the time for a fight. They needed to get away. Just as instructed, Diana's tach-skates reactivated, halting her fall just before the ground and launched her forward into Artemus's ship. "Get us out of here!" Diana yelled as she pulled an injured man further into the ship from where he had fallen. He was hurt, and his lip was bleeding everywhere, but the priority now was getting out.
