Everflame 2 (FINISHED)

[tangletail]

The feline scratched his head as he turned to the side looking at the cupboard. He reached up to open the cabnet and quickly sift through it grabbing two plates. He would turn around to the vixen and shrug slightly "You can say that. I... feel like I'm begining to lose my total grip on reality from today." he sighed laying the plates out. "Really, I'm starting to no longer care, I mean nearly everyone on the sphere is nearly dead, I got killed... wait no I haven't... did I?" paused for a minute thinking "yeah I am still alive."

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie straightened her jacket and took an expectant step towards the door. She stopped and glanced to Tina, eyebrow raised curiously "Prisoners?"


----



Finally the carrier lurched to a halt, reappearing into real-space with a flash of light. Captain Vladiik pulled himself to his feet, turning to face his navigator "Where did you send us?" The hawk was clutching a gash across his forehead, blood smeared across the corner of his console "Arbani quadrant. Twenty kilometres from a Mechanicus outpost..."

Through the bridge windows a great structure of steel and lights hung in space. Five long arms stretched out from a central ring, lights blinking and flickering. Vladiik nodded and breathed a faint sigh of relief "You did well... See about docking at the station and put medical on standby."



----



Blaze screamed in agony, tears blurring his vision as men and women ran in all directions. His arm was trapped from the elbow down, a heavy crate crushing with all its weight against the hangar wall. Tess knelt beside him, tears streaking her cheeks as she ran shaking hands over Blaze's neck "Shh- Shh- Its gonna be fine, its gonna be fine..."

Engineers hauled on the chains for a third time, crate screeching as it slid across the metal flooring. Blaze's screams where drowned out as they pulled for a final time. The crate pulled away and he curled up, sobbing and whimpering as a team of wolf medics rushed through the terrified crowds...

[Entaru]

Nero snarled ThE ShiP Doesn'T MatteR, IT IS SimplY A WaY TO GeT FroM A TO B...UnfortunatelY WE Don'T KnoW WherE B IS!!  I AM ThrougH NegotiatinG MisS VuraniN!!  I WilL DevouR TheM BOTH!!!!!  The stars all seemed to go out at once as Nero burst into an amorphous black shape.  In the center was what looked like a miniature black hole.

KILL THEM ALL!!!!!

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The vixen smirked, though her eyes were cold. "No, you're not dead yet, though chances are, we all will be soon." She put the packets onto the plates, two on each, and opened them all, spilling food out and ready. "Now eat up," she said, and tossed the empty packets aside. "We all need our strength in times like these, and it won't be long before we reach our enemy."




Tina narrowed her eyes. "Your two chaperones, or prison guards, however you want to call them." She stepped through the door and looked back, waiting for Annie. "It doesn't matter either way, they're not your concern."




"Well, according to this," said the finch. Reggie gripped the table, his face shoved near hers, growling with every breath. "The Arbani quadrant." She looked up at him, as his face twisted, contorting with the changing thoughts in his head. She pushed back against the desk, moving away from him on her chair.
"The... we're in a different quadrant?" The finch made a little nod, and scooted even further, her back pressed to the wall. Reggie gritted his teeth, his growl rumbled through his body, and the desk creaked. "How many lightyears?" His voice was strained, and stumbled through his throat.
"Um," the finch glanced from him to the screen. She squinted rather than lean forward. "Eight hundred-"
"Eight hundred?" The finch jumped as Reggie slammed his fist on the desk, and left a deep dent. "Eight hundred."
"And... fourty seven," the finch murmured, and shifted away into the corner of the room. REggie grabbed the computer screen, twisted it toward him, and stared at the coordinates.
"Eight hundred." His growl deepend, becoming heavy, and he snarled, baring vicious teeth and eyes. "What the hell!" He grabbed the screen in his massive hands, and wrenched it from its socket. The display cut out, and it tore from the desk, bringing with it wires and a panel from the desk itself. He hurled it to the wall and it shattered into pieces, while the finch shrieked in the corner. The double doors swung open, and the lizard returned.
"What's going on?" he said, before he turned to the finch in the corner, and Reggie turned to him.
"Who's in charge of this place?" Reggie yelled, marching toward the lizard, who seemed to shrink back to the doors.
"Sir, calm down, I don't know what's going on, but if you want assistance, I can call security."
"Security?" Reggie snarled again, then barked at the man, who flinched, and stumbled back against the double doors. "You're gonna call security on me?" Reggie followed him into the morgue, his fists clenched, and his teeth bared.
"Sir, I never said that."
"You were gonna get me arrested?" The man flicked his glance around the room, catching something in the back corner. Reggie looked up, saw the back door. "Don't you dare!" Reggie charged.





The beast grew, and swarmed around them all, his heat closed about in a perfect sphere that began to shrink. Howl could feel the fire lick every mote of energy within him, reaching into his head, touching everything like snowflakes in a fiery grip. The beast closed closer, Nero's black hole encroached, the universe became small. Howl gripped Vuranin's tendrils tight, and shut his eyes. The flames twisted around them all, then burst to nothing. Nero was gone. The stars had changed, they had moved far away. Howl breathed relief. His teleport had worked.

[Entaru]

Nero stopped, shocked.  They had escaped.  The space around him cracked and bent as his anger grew to full blown rage.  NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!  HOWL, YOU FILTHY HALF-BREED!  I'LL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!!!

[tangletail]

Leo smiled at this comment "Eh I guess we should just hope it's short and sweet" he chuckled taking a bite out of some of the food. "Hm... I never really learned your name. Either that or I forgot, what was it again?"

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie narrowed her eyes, not moving any closer to the door "A dingo and serval? Tina, I'm sorry but I wont let you kill them..." A growing frown crawled across her normally smooth forehead "Not everyone in the company is as bad as the high-ups... Kill them and your as bad as Shivan."


---


Blaze's vision blurred, rolling and bouncing in the stretcher as the wolves weaved between crowds. Everywhere red light flashed until they finally burst into the surgery. Pain flared up his right side as the wolves transfered him to a surgery table, all around him surgeons prepped equipment and a mask came down over his face... Respite from the pain finally came as he fell backwards into unconsciousness...


"I'm sorry miss, but you really cant come in here while they are operating-" A nurse held up protesting hands as Tess followed through with the stretcher. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and a steely look of determination flashed in her eyes "Just you try and stop me..."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

"I don't think I ever told you," said the vixen, before taking a bite of some steaming chunk of indeterminate meat. "General Andreya Caisen," she said, spouting food. "The twenty seventh." She flicked a smile at Leo, then continued to eat. She had almost finished half of the food when the light in the kitchen flashed red three times. She glanced up, then over to the console. "Looks like we're meeting them earlier than expected." She pushed the plate aside and headed to the cockpit. The view screen was filled with a beast made of fire.






Tina tilted her head at the notion. "Well I wouldn't want that." she said. "I dont want to be the same as someone I've never met." Her smile cut through her words, and she shook her head, almost in disbelief. "Guess what Annabel, people die. You of all people should know that. I'm just eliminating a threat. Now come on, unless you want to lose your son and that fox you talked about." She turned and followed the chameleon through the corridor. "And anyway, they'll only be killed if we don't get back before a certain time. If we do get back before a certain time, then I'll just interrogate them, and decide what to do after that. Sound good?"





The fox held the lizard's neck.
"I don't have time for this. I dont have the... capacity for this." The words seemed to stumble in his mind before he could blurt them out. "How long does it take for a message to cross eight hundred light years?" The lizard trembled in the fox's grip.
"Two... three weeks, maybe-"
"Three weeks." The fingers tightened around the neck. "I just lost contact with the only person I have left. Do you get that? Do you understand?" He brought the lizard up, closer to his face. "I can't even jump back there because I don't have a ship anymore." The lizard began to choke. "I can't even bury my best friend." The finch shrieked as the lizard went limp. The double doors burst open, a dozen heavy boots beat the ground and electricity shot through Reggie's body.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Vuranin was rather surprised Howl had a similar movement ability, but went back to the task of 'extracting' the location from Chronin's mind. "Um, thanks for making it a bit easier on me; although I probably might have needed the practice since those two still have a lightspeed ship in case they didn't destroy it while attempting to absorb us..."

[tangletail]

Leo took his time to finish eatting before pushing the plate to the side and climbing out of the small booth inside of the ship. He began makeing his way to the cockpit scratching his head before leaning forwards to take a closer look at the screen. He would take a second to adjust his glasses before speaking. "That thing again? I remember him, I think its a he at least, that was the thing that just... grew from an elevator." he spoke calmly placeing his hand on a chair.

[KittKat chunky~]

Again an irrepressible flinch at the use of her christened name, a name only ever used by a mother long since driven from memory and thought. Annie ran a hand across her fringe and her frown deepened "People die all the time, but that does not mean I am prepared to stand by and watch it happen..." She sighed and stepped into the corridor after Tina, tail swishing nervously.


----


The nurse knelt down, the usually placid expression of doctors gone and replaced with one of real sorrow. Blood spattered both her apron and gloved hands, the latter removed with a snap of latex and a soft whoosh from the disposal chute. Tess looked up from where she sat cross-legged, fringe falling over her tear-streaked eyes "How is he?"

 The nurse ran a hand through her hair and sighed "The surgeon says he will live... I'm sorry, but we've been absolutely swamped with injuries from the engineering decks." She proffered a hand to the young vixen "You can come through to see him. I have to warn you though, he's in a bad state..." 

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Howl breathed heavy, and his some flecks of himself drifted loose in space. "I've never teleported more than just myself before, but hey we're away. We know where we're going." His body seemed to float in Vuranin's grasp.




"Well then lets say hello." General Caisen powered the thrusters, pushing them closer, as the beast filled the view screen. What might have been its head, turned, and two blinding lights shone out from the flames. The vixen flicked a switch, then tapped the comms menu open, and set to loudspeaker. "Go ahead."




Tina kept walking, staring ahead down through the corridor, where a light glimmered at the end. "Then we should hurry up and get back in time, then." They approached the light, and a blue sky could be seen, as the corridor lead out to a green fields, catching the glimmer of the sun. Up ahead, the little craft Annie had arrived in sat. There were deep scratches down the side, and one of the landing legs was propped up by a rock. The chameleon walked up to it, knocking twice on the side.
"Open it," he said, and the entranced hissed and opened outward, making stairs down the grass. Inside, a young mouse girl ran back to the cockpit. She looked about twelve.

[tangletail]

Leo smiled placeing his hand on the com units mike t block out what he was about to say. "The large one just may be a bit unstable. If you plan on staying alive, if I somehow insult it. You may want to put on one of the suits in the back." He told the general before removeing his hand and takeing a seat. "Good evening, now upon this lovely day many dramatic events had occured. Followed by the desturction of what we called sphere and what may have been just paper mache and glass under your might. I will not ask why you brought upon such destruction because we already know that you are looking for something, a rock. A simple stone that was according to history worth fighting for, but no longer is as of this melenium. What is it's importance to you?" Leo paused for a minute thinking for a bit before speaking again "Scratch that, why do you want it?"

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie followed out into the sunshine, breathing a faint sigh of relief at the cool air that tugged at wisps of her hair. She glanced over the body of the once sleek ship and couldn't help but think of her own craft, perhaps never picked up by retrieval and still floating in the cold expanses of space. It was with a small shake of her head that she returned to the current situation, ponytail flicking over her shoulder with the movement, and she shot a curious glance to the quickly disappearing mouse.


----


The surgeon, a dark-furred wolf with keen blue eyes, graced Tess with a warming smile. The gesture was rather undermined though by his blood-covered apron and hands "Luckily he was on a full term contract with the Mechanicus. As a 3rd class explorator he was covered for all injuries including loss of limb..."

Tess drew in a sharp breath "You mean-?"

The surgeon nodded "We had to amputate, normally it would have been fine but... Complications arose. As i said, luckily for him loss of limb was covered under his contract. We here in the medical department work closely with EMC... While not the latest model, the standard replacement is superior to many prosthetic on the commercial market." With careful hands the surgeon pulled back the blood-stained sheets covering Blaze.

Chewing her lip apprehensively, Tess' eyes moved slowly across Blaze's right arm. At a point just above the elbow his flesh and bone stopped, replaced with a metal likeness of the original. The arm was skeletal in shape and dark gun-metal grey in colour. She reached out a hand to touch it, only to draw back as the surgeon shook his head "Please, we still need to calibrate it and ensure all is fine. You can see him again when he is awake..."

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Vuranin released Chronin after she gained her information, then spread her arms out and held her palms downwards. "If you're not used to light-speed travel, you should cover your eyes so the sudden influx of light doesn't fry them." Chrono put his arm over her snout, effectively blocking out all light while using his new sense to tell if he was too far away from his mother.