Everflame (Finished)

[KittKat chunky~]

Throughout the jungle, of what had once been a large city the Triffids made their call, a long loud repetitive 'nock-nocking' followed by a shorp sharp rattle that indicated prey had been found..... they cralwed slowly, in groups or alone, when prey was found the sharp rattles and calls of the plants would increase, filling the air as they advanced ominously.... those that ran where the lucky ones... they would only die of starvation.. those that stayed, or where unable to run, where devoured, slowly and painfully.....

"Admiration, this is colonel Crow of the Triffid enforcement... do not land anywhere near jungle, treat all undergrowth as hostile.... and god thank you.... these triffids... they nothin' like what you seen.... aim for the large floral bloom at the top, cover your eyes, and always stay alert... if you find one triffid, chances are you could be surrounded by many more... they adapt quickly, they learn, they hunt in groups, they aim for the eyes, they pull stragglers away with their roots..... every day we have had to fight this, a war we could never win...."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Back on the capital sphere police headquarters, red lights were flashing like the devil's christmas tree.
"Ma'am, we have multiple casualties and an unauthorised take-off down in the Lower East Ward. According to visuals, all the ex-military we haven't caught made a run for it together."
"Where are they now?" demanded the supervisor.
"They're trying to break through the atmospheric shield," the young employee replied.
"Send out star shield ships, shoot them out of the sky."
"Yes Ma'am," she flicked on a switch, then accessed the Star Shield intercom. "Star shield required, ship of armed and dangerous murderers, use any force necessary." At once, five massive, vicious ships bristling with guns rocketed out of the sphere, tearing towards the veterans.



Meanwhile, on Skeeva, a roughed up Asia rubbed his neck. "You know what the everflame is right? the source of prosperity in the inner sphere. Have you got news of what it's like now? They finally get a dose of what it's like living in places like this." He gestured around the empty bar, covered in blood, beer and splintered wood. Looking through the window to the wasteland outside, he caught a glimpse of an orange fuzzy head that ducked out of sight. "The difference between here and the sphere is ridiculous. They keep the power of the everflame for themselves and leave places like this to rot. They have the power to spread this energy across the galaxy, but they dont. They only spread it over the sphere and to neighbouring planets, making the sphere seem like some magical place." He shook his head, his eyes unfocusing, looking inward at his own thoughts; his own memories. "What I am going to do is use the technology that they use to amplify this thing over the sphere, except I'll spread the power over the whole galaxy. I've had people working on it for years and it's almost finished. The final piece is the Everflame." He glanced over at the wolf's blade. "The problem is people like you, getting in my way. Now you can try to kill me and I doubt I'll be able to stop you, but you'll leave the galaxy as a painting of suffering." Asia sat there, staring at the killer, breaking out a resigned smile.




Over on Coloran, the ship hovered over the infested landscape.
"This whole triffid thing sounds like more than we can handle," said the pilot. The meerkat turned to him,
"They can't handle it. We're just gonna be here for a moment to pick them up and leave. Simple as that." Behind them, a female cat in oil stained overalls skipped into the cockpit.
"Them leafcutters are ready whenever sir," she saluted. The meerkat rolled his eyes at the salute.
"OK ask them for coordinates," he said to the bear, who switched on his headset again.
"Well colonel, we're here to help. What's your position?"

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Brought the sword up and placed it in the empty strap under his coat and on his back that was designed to hold the sheath. Korius then extended a hand to Asia. "Well then, let's get moving, old timer. We don't want to terry for much longer, since your craft crashed out here. Even out here in the Outer Slums, a crash is always investigated. I have a Stealth Streamer a few clicks from here, and... don't ask how I got my hands on it." Korius went over to the bar and grabbed a large bottle of whiskey and walked out the door, popping the top. "Let's get moving."

[KittKat chunky~]

"OUR position is North-west by ten miles of your ship.... the rest of my forces are scattered and dying everywhere..... if you clear a path and land, we will secure the vicinity around you.... that much noise will however draw the Triffids in vast number... so for how long we can keep the area secure... i dont know..."


~~~~~~


"How long they been dead?"
A lean wolf in full Triffid enforcer armour pushed one of many civilian corpses over with the end of his shogun...
"hours?... theres a good chance the Triffids are still here"
The speaker was a young feline, he pushed up his visor to get a close look at the dead bodies, a long scar running from the base of his neck to his temple....
"still here?.... Triffids dont normally hang around Szarda.."

Kitt Szarda looked up, sliding his visor back down and loading a shell into his own cleaver shotgun...
"they dont normally.... but the Triffids are changing, evolving faster than we are.... your kinda thinking is what killed the rest of my last team...."

The wolf stood up, loading his own shotgun..
"begging your pardon sir.... i jsut thought it would be unusual for a plant to have any kind of plan.."

The feline raised an eyebrow, even as the first 'tick-tocking' resonated around them...
"these aint no normal plants private..."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Asia sighed, shaking his head at his predicament before standing up and following behind Korius.
"A few clicks? it couldn't just be like, next door or something," he said with an attempt at a smile. Behind them, stifled laughter could be heard. The rabbit turned to face it, seeing only the dust settled at the corner of the building. "I have an... associate meeting me on this planet. He's in the capital so we'll need to go there first. The crash probably means we'll be cutting it close in terms of staying ahead of my... enemies." He turned around again, catching a fox's tail slip behind a shack. "You know, you suck at following people."
"No I don't!" replied a young vixen, popping her head round the corner. She was probably only just over half Asia's age





Over the forests of Coloran, the pilot flew through the skies to the north. The meerkat looked around over the landscape.
"Right, we're gonna paint this area here. That's the landing zone. Leafcutters will tear away any triffid coming near," he turned to the young cat. "If you and your mate shoot anything that isn't a plant, I swear to God, you will regret it." The cat frowned in her salute before jogging back to the bowels of the ship.
"We're in spittin' distance cap'," said the bear, swooping low above the tree line.
"Call them, tell them what's happening," ordered the meerkat.
"Ladies and gentlemen in distress, we're gonna be dropping some highly destructive juice about half a click from your position. That is the landing zone. It'll be inert by the time you get here but make sure you're wearin' shoes just in case, cus that stuff sure can sting."
"Good," said the captain, "Now the colonel said there are others, will help them after we've got these poor souls on board."
"If we keep doin' that, we'll run out o' supplies," replied the bear.
"And if we don't, then they run out of life, ok?"

[KittKat chunky~]

"roger that, we've got our single commadn team converging on your position, unfortunately we have to pack up what communications equipment so this is the last you will hear from anyone until we meet in person.... Colonel Crow out...."


~~~~~

"Keep moving!"
Two Triffids emerged from the undergrowth, lash-like stingers whipping out over twelve feet towards the triffid enforcers.... without visors the stings would have been lethal, as any poor civilians soon found out.... the stingers lashed out again, aiming for the weak points in the armour of the survivors, one fox was caught off guard and came crashing down as the Triffids long ensnaring roots grabbed hold with inhuman strength....

Kitt stopped to loose a fragmentation shell into the triffids midst, aiming high up for the floral bloom the shell burst into spinning blades, shredding the now shrieking plant...
"Go! run!"

Several more triffids had emerged onto the overgrown highway, crawling slowly and ominously they where surrounding their prey, the constant tick-tocking of their calls rising and falling...

[HowlTheGrayWolf]

Suddenly, rounds started to hit the ship. Howl yelled, "What's that?!" One of the pilots responded in an annoyed tone, "Enemy fighters, what else?! Get on the turret's and take them down, this ship doesn't have missiles, only mounted weapons." Cursing under his breathe, he ran to the bubble turret and loaded the gun. Aiming down the sights, Howl fired 20 to 30 rounds at one of the fighters, and it came careening down out of the atmosphere. "Good job, Howl, keep up the fire!" In the second bubble turret, Leon fired, taking down 2 more fighters. Multiple enemy rounds hit the ship. "Crap, our main shields are down!" Howl looked back at the pilot. "DRIVE FASTER THEN!" Getting back on the turret, he fired and shot down the rest of the fighters, but then twice as many came in. "What's taking so long?!" The pilot yelled back, "It's ready, launching EMP to take down the atmosphere block." The EMP shot out at such a fast speed, that a blink of an eye would have made you miss it, but when it reached to atmospheric wall, it let out a charge that spread through it and made a gaping hole, there, the pilot screamed, "BUCKLE DOWN, WE'RE USING OUR MAIN THRUSTERS!" So, he jumped to his seat and struggled to get the buckle on. Next to Leon, Howl smiled, "Hopefully we'll get to someplace that isn't as twisted as this one!" Leon chuckled. "Doubt it!" In the next second, their ship took off at an amazing speed, just barely making it out of the atmospheric wall. The co-pilot exclaimed, "WE MADE IT! HAHA!"

When they were at a safe distance, the pilot broke out some wine and they all had plenty of drinks. Leon got up and said, "TO BETTER DAYS!" Everyone in unison yelled, "HAIL!" Then, taking a large swig of wine, Howl leveled his head and put his hand on Leon's shoulder, "This is where our journey beings truly, isn't it?" Leon nodded, "Sure is."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Over Coloran, the lone carrier released a section of its load. Swooping over a patch of trees, a waterfall of corrosive sludge poured from the ship's hold, burning away all life in that area, hissing with the shrieks of dying triffid.
"Take her down," said the meerkat to the bear, as the ship slowly lowered into the newly formed clearing. The ooze had cooled and had now become inert. Over the intercom, the meerkat gave his instructions. "Ok, we have zero transmission from the survivors, so when you shoot, you make sure it's a ten foot piece of shrubbery. Aim for the flowers, tear them up."
Across the ship, makeshift guns swiveled to and fro. Mass driver based weaponry, loaded with shrapnel. They were inaccurate, but effective. All around the ship, tick-tocking could be heard, and in the mist of the forest, the triffids closed in.




Back on the capital sphere, the elderly vixen leaned back and sighed. Her sub-ordinate looked to her, her face riddled with confusion.
"Ma'am, forgive me if I'm wrong but it didn't look like we used everything we could against those murderers" she said. The vixen looked to the human girl,
"We have bigger problems to worry about. They're off the capital sphere and the galactic authorities can deal with them. Go send a message to them. It's one more problem out of my fur and into theirs. Those criminals will probably be dead by the end of the week anyway."

On the ship full of veterans, one of the soldiers spoke up. "So, where's our destination?"

[HowlTheGrayWolf]

Leon walked up to the soldier, "An arctic planet codenamed G7, it's far from the sphere, we'll stop there to gather supplies, get some military equipment, a REAL carrier and more men. The place is full of veteran refugees." Howl raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so all of us have been falsely accused?" Leon nodded. "I'm afraid so, because if we weren't arrested for any war crimes, they would try their best to set up fake crimes to get us behind bars. So either way, we'll be imprisoned. That ugly war that we fought for them...now they turn on us, this is why they lost the ever-flame." Howl looked confused. "Ever-flame? What's that?" Leon chuckled. "Oh, so you haven't heard of the rumors?" Howl shrugged. "Well, old guards of the sphere say that there was a great object of magical force called the ever-flame, it kept everyone it was around elated so the citizens could be controlled. But they have payed for what they have done to us, what they have done to other planets. You see, they never shared the great power of the ever-flame with all of the developing planets when they needed it the most. So when the great war broke out, we were separated from the ever-flame, causing most of our soldiers to abuse enemy prisoners and innocent civilians, that's why we were tried for the war crimes, remember?" Howl nodded. "The few that did not get effected by leaving the ever-flame were still thought to be a menace by the government, so they turned everyone against us and tried to capture every last vet."

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius looked at the little fox. "What do we have here? I swear they get younger and younger every year. Who's this little bugger?" He examined the squirming little vixen in Asia's grip, poking at her from time to time in various places. Korius took out his PDA and snapped a picture and sent it. He connected it to his shades and watched it search through the database in his left eye as he continued to survey the little spy with his right. Finally, it stopped on a mug shot of the child and he sighed. "Asia, you can let her go. Just a little petty thief. Just got out of RC-71 Alpha Juvi. She's tailing all AWOLS that she comes by. She's not a problem. The one who's supervising her is. We need to go, now."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Asia dropped the young fox, who landed on all fours in the sand.
"I don't have no-one supervisin' me, I go where I like," she said as she stood up. Asia had already turned around and began walking away. "I overheard your little plan, about that forever-fire thing." Asia stopped, and looked back.
"The everflame?" he asked.
"That's the thing, yeah man an' I also know the guy your lookin' for. Your associate? He ain' here man." A broad smile wriggle over her juvenile features.
"Oh really? And why should I trust your word?" Asia asked.
"Well you could go see for yourself, and find a buncha cops poin'ing guns at your face. See I'm good with info." She grinned, looking up at the two men.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius removed his katana from the strap and held it. "Well if your hearing is so good, and your information just as good as you claim, you know my influence and abilities. The police owe me more than they can ever repay. I can still pull strings. If not, I can kill them all. That is, if they're holding him here, still." He took out his PDA and connected it to his shades. This time, both sides of the shades lit up as he searched The entire galaxy's police database, everything running through at lightning speed. The lights went off and he disconnected the PDA, putting it back in his coat. "The young one is right. Your friend is dead. They planned to lure you with him, but he wouldn't cooperate and ran. What do you want to do now?" and he took another swig.

[KittKat chunky~]

What could only be the command team burst out of the undergrowth, even as the first Triffids emerged into the clearing, vines whipped out from bushes dragging one of the team backwards from the rest of the group.... More Triffids started to crawl out, drawn to the noise of the ship they where massing like flies to a lone light.... As the command team continued to run a single member turned and let loose a jet of promethean from a hand held flamethrower, burning carcasses of Triffids screamed in pain....



~~~~~


Kitt looked up as the roar of engines swooped low over the forest, he shouted, pointing to the shadow of a carrier flying over the tree canopy....
"we gotta make it to that ship!"

The rest of his team nodded as they ran, dodging the occasional vine from an unseen Triffid, stopping for a brief moment to unload a shotgun shell into one of the plants that had gotten too close for comfort...

"Keep running idiots!"
Kitt shouted, not bothering to fire with his own weapon, the single figure that had stopped was quickly surrounded and brought down...
"he who runs away lives to run another day... so keep running!"

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Asia gave a smirk at Korius' words.
"No he isn't dead. But he won't be here anymore." The rabbit looked around the desert wasteland. "And we can't be here either, the GA will be here because of the crash." He turned to Korius. "Your ship, can it take us off world? I know where he'll be."
"I can take you guys to it," the little vixen piped up. "My buggy's proper fast. A ten minutes and we're there," she said, pointing to a distant shed. She ran over to it, pulling out a rough ramshackle contraption, barely a rollcage with an engine.

High up above Skeeva, a Galactic Authorities carrier was entering the atmosphere. Bulky and rounded, it looked like a pig in the sky, but within, it was filled with heavily armed specialists, wrapped in body enhancement suits, humming with power.





Over in GA command, the army veterans were being tracked.
"Sir, the sniffer dogs have picked up their scent. Their heading to G7," said a feline Lieutenant. His CO, rested his head in one hand.
"How predictable. Right go send the info to the military. Their operation is happening soon right?" the officer asked.
"Yes sir, within the week." replied the cat.
"Good, it's sorted then."





"Captain, the survivors are comin' through, the triffids are snappin' on their tails," said the cat, as she sat in her room, that had been converted into a remote gunnery, allowing her to blast away at the triffids with her mate, a distinctly larger lynx.
"Right, open the bay doors," the meerkat ordered the bear, who pulled open a panel, revealing a switch to be flicked. The lower section of the carrier soon shuddered, and shifted open, shivering as it moved. It revealed the cargo bay with a good two thirds walled off. That which showed was covered in with toxic residue. Upon the bay floor, stood a Great Pyrenees dog, manning two gattling guns, firing off rounds either side of the survivors and loving every second.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius laughed out loud as Asia spoke. "You really have been living under a rock! The stealth streamer is the fastest ship in the universe. Your government's been trying to buy it off of me for years. There's only two in this universe. I'm just lucky enough to have gotten mine." He looked over at the little fox. "Alright, you little mongrel. Take us. But make no mistake, I see or sense of any fowl play, your head comes off without word or warning. And don't even think about lying or trying to run away. My nose knows more than you think."