Everflame 2 (FINISHED)

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The beast shivered flames down its back, then turned to face face little insect of a ship that faced them. It loomed forward, spearing the two bright lights out through the flames, into the cockpit of the ship.
"We know your face." Another shiver sent flares of light bursting out into space. General Caisen covered her eyes, then glanced at the other creature, Nero. It was a darkness in the void. Darker than black.
"Well you got their attention," she said, and gripped the shoulder of his chair.
"The loss of the everflame," said the beast. "Has more shattering consequences than your reality can consider." It stretched even closer. The hull of the ship strained under the heat. "Give it to us, or we will take it."





Tina marched behind the chameleon, and climbed the stairs into the ship.
"Say hello to the Camel." She tapped the door as she entered, and headed to the cockpit. All the dusky brown interior hung by threads, and a look through the corridors to the kitchen saw broken cupboards hanging open. "It looks hideous but it's reliable." She smirked, and leaned against the wall. The cockpit was large for such a small ship, and had space for four. Two pilots, navigation and communications. The young mouse hopped into the pilot's seat with the chameleon beside her. Tina gave a nod to the girl, who nodded back.
"What's the coordinates?" she asked. Her eyes were wide and expectant at Annie.



While Tess talked with the surgeon, a dog in sharp security uniform stepped up beside her.
"Excuse me, I've been told you know a fox named Reginald S. Mongoste"





Howl drifted beside Vuranin's body, but gripped with his hands onto her, willing himself more tangibly solid.

[KittKat chunky~]

With another flick of her ponytail Annie pulled a small data-chip from the inside pocket of her Mechanicus jacket "The co-ordinates for the carrier are on here. Its scheduled to be in that area of space for another three months before the next jump." She smiled and flipped the data-chip open, careful to keep her fingers away from the metal contacts as she held it out to Tina.


---



Tess looked up to the dog, streaks from her tears still running down her cheeks "Yeah, I know a Reggie." She glanced across to the surgeon who gave her a distracted smile before walking away down the rows of beds and equipment.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Vuranin strained herself as she made all three of them take the same path that was originally ment for just her. The result on Chronin's body was much more volatile than both herself and Howl combined. When they arrived at Sierra Draconis, Chronin emptied whatever part of the tiger he had previously eaten beforehand. "How many times before I stop doing this?" "Not enough to make with the amount of time we have left..."

[tangletail]

Leo let out a small erk, greatly surprised by the creatures memory. He glanced down at the hut and frowned seeing the metal plates slowly starting to sucumb to the heating. It took him a few minutes to actualy react to the light before he finaly covered his eyes temporarly blinded by white.
He turned his head to the General, his eyes squinting "Tell me about, he still remembers me." he said just thinking about the many people he questioned and how he could possibly remember all.
"Ok... unfortunately we do not have the Everflame with us. But..." he said trailing off remembering a ferret who succumb to a rather disturbing fate "We were to help you? Under a few conditions."

[Entaru]

Nero, now through with his tantrum, turned to the ship and melded back into his mortal shell.  In an instant he was hovering in front of the cockpit, between the ship and the beast.  WelL...Aren'T WE BravE, AskinG TO HelP US EveN AfteR ThE DamagE WE CauseD.  The hyena-thing smirked, his composure now in one piece again.  TelL ME LeO...HoW ManY PieceS WaS ThaT GirL IN AfteR I ShreddeD HeR....I LosT CounT IN ThE ExcitemenT.  He cackled remembering the event, before waving it away.  BuT That'S BesidE ThE PoinT...TelL US YouR ConditionS SO ThaT WE CaN PretenD TO ConsideR TheM.

[tangletail]

Leo leaned back into the chair thinking for a bit remembering the trigger they had on hand "Well we have something strong enough to tear your molecules down to the smallest basic subparticle in yours and includeing our bodies, so if you dont agree your mission will be destroyed, and non of us will survive. We all shall die, non shall survive~" He sung the last part in a mocking tone. Thats not a condition, just a quick forshadowing that could happen. First condition that little trick you pulled with that corspe, and my friend, and anyother tricks will not happen. Ever. Two, deaths stay at a minimal, that event with the sphere was not even neccisary, if at most you can't even sence it you just made it a lot harder to search for all of you."

[Entaru]

Nero raised an eyebrow and leaned closer, his smirk now gone.  I ThinK You'rE BluffinG...It'S A DangerouS GamE You'rE PlayinG IF YoU ThinK ThreateninG SomethinG ThaT CoulD SwalloW A ReD GianT IS A GooD IdeA...  Crossing his arms, Nero sighed a bit causing the ship to shudder ever so slightly.  AS FoR ThE SpherE, IT WaS AN UnforseeablE EvenT WhicH I HaD NothinG TO DO WitH....ThougH HoW IT MadE OuR JobS AnY HardeR I FaiL TO SeE

[tangletail]

Leo leaned back in the chair unstartled by the sudden rocking of the ship as he began humming to himself as he brought his hands closer to himself resting them on his lap "Oh, I assure you I am not. You may beable to swallow a red giant but not the equivilent of seven supernovas, a black hole and..." he trailed off for a minute thinking "actualy... its to incredible to accurately compare it."

Once again leaning forwards to get a closer look through the window "I know it wasn't you, and I am surprised it wasn't. But let me illustrate this for you.  Now the sphere. Well, lets see... when you shread a massive station supporting life, you have large masses of well... debris. That rock you want is either dormant or it just no longer emits energy. So you the next time you do that, you can have fun playing wheres evy, by searching through biomass, debriss, defication, glass, and a lot of other fun materias. The Everstone would blend in just well within that, don't you think?"

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin, using what little information he had on Serra Draconis, lead the two to a research facility that seemed to have more automatic security than the 'attachments' he ment to put on the house-bot thats probably in pieces, along with whatever remains of his home. "Please don't follow me until I get past the front door, and only take the path that I've tread."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Tina took the data-chip and sat at the navigation console. It lit up grey and orange, and she inserted the chip in, which sent lights streaking across the console face. A small galacting map burst open and zoomed to the plot of space.
"Alright then, let's get going," she said. The young mouse saluted and turned to Annie.
"You should sit down. THis ship isn't very smooth." Her voice was high and sweet, and she flicked switches at her pilot seat. The ship rumbled deep and heavy. The wall panels rattled and the whole ship shuddered as the roar of the engines brought the Camel up off the ground.




The dog pulled out a datapad and scrolled through it. "Your friend has attempted to murder someone in the morgue. Due to the current situation the carrier finds itself in, we do not have the time for protracted legal issues, nor the space to hold him." He flicked a look at the surgeons, then  back to the tearful Tess. "We are giving you a choice. You can pay for his release, or he will be executed tomorrow morning."




Howl drifted in a disoriented mist, and struggled to hold his form together. They headed down through the atmosphere until the facility came into view, surrounded by triffid who screeched, crawled and flung vines at the sky. They approached close to the tall white towers and stopped. Howl nodded his head and watched Chronin head over to the facility, to the open airdocks midway up the tower.
"Good luck," he said.




The beast dimmed and its light focused inward, and dark orange scabs of fire floated across its body.
"Tell us what you know," it said. The voice was deep, heavy, and crawled through Leo and the General. In the kitchen, a plate cracked. "Though we are willing to take the risk of your weapon."

[tangletail]

Leo’s ears flicked as the plate broke in the kitchen, his gaze slowly moved back to the plate before turning back to the beast looking him dead in the eyes with a very calm look with otter confidence. “Agree to my terms, and I will not just tell but assist you, because obviously you can make a difficult job harder then it has to be.” He said placing his elbows on the consol and resting his maw on his hands. “Do we have an agreement? And one speaks for all.”

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie stayed at her feet for a moment, swaying slightly but upright. She grinned and placed one steadying hand on the back of the co-pilot chair "I pride myself on my space-faring legs-" The ship juddered and groaned. A ceiling panel, its securing rivets shaken from their place, clattered to the floor. Annie quickly sat down in the seat and her grin turned sheepish "Of course, some ships just aren't built for standing..."


----


Tess wiped a sleeve of her overalls across her muzzle, sniffing loudly. Her gaze finally broke away from Blaze "Sorry, what did you-?" The security officer's words finally seemed to have sunk in, prompting a sharp intake of breath, quickly followed by another teary sniff "What-? How much is the fee?"



---


"An impressive display of utter incompetence cadet Yuri!" The officer bellowed, spit flecking the young lynx's helmet visor "How on earth do you intend to pass training with an attitude like that?" Again spit flecked the visor. Yuri resisted the urge to wipe it with the sleeve of his riot-gear, and instead gritted his teeth against the renewed onslaught. This time at least, it was aimed at the group of cadets as a whole "I havent seen such a pathetic display of riot-control in my entire career... You just earned yourselves another lap around the course!" The cadets glanced between themselves, prompting another bellow from the officer "Another lap, go! Go! Go!"

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin slowly made his way to the facility, hiding behind a stone in order to conceal his frame as he checked out the towers. Using the glove would be ideal, but I can't fire off enough blasts to take out all the towers. He picked up a nearby rock, and threw it towards the facility. The rock instantly shattered as a sniper round rang through the air. Great, my clothes can't protect against high-caliber rounds... this is going to be interesting to bypass...

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The little mouse giggled, and Tina and the chameleon smirked at eachother, while the rickety ship tore through the atmosphere, screaming up into the sky. The sound of the engine, like a nuclear monstrosity, roared at their back, and carried up off the planet and away. The blue ripped past, and when they were free from the nitrogen haze, the stars met them with gentle glinting eyes.
"Miss Annie," said the young mouse. "You need to hold on tight!" The girl gripped a lever, and yanked it down. The engine slowed to a dull murmur, and a heavy, bloated silence pressed on them, until the jump drive activated. A high screech rattled their bones, and the galaxy opened up to drag them through to the carrier's coordinates.





The sniper tapped a button on his helmet, and in the heart of the tower, alarms sounded out. Captain Grezz, a german shepherd in military fatigues, marched through the dull grey corridors, to the outer ring of the projection deck. Windows faced in toward the centre of a large open chamber, where a tall chunk of machinery sat, smooth and pale. Cables attached to the walls. A long walkway reached the centre, where three scientists sat with laptops beside an open compartment of the machine. A dull transparent rock was nestled inside, a various contraptions were set up around it, pointing with sensors stuck on spikes. The captain walked to a thick blast door, and tapped at the keypad beside it. The door sighed as it opened, and the scientists looked up from their work.
"Pack your stuff; the watchers picked up unusual readings from the atmosphere, and our troops report intruders." He walked as he talked, and his thick boots banged against the metal catwalk. One of the scientists, Jerime, a red panda in mint green trousers and tie stood up with his laptop.
"Are we under attack?" he asked. His voice eased out calm, but the tension on his face was hard to hide. The other two scientists, a gecko girl called Jenna and an old male squirrel called Deas looked up at the two of them.
"Probably, so pack your crap and get to the personnel hold so we can lock this place down." The dog stood with arms folded. The red panda looked to his colleagues, then nodded to the dog.
"Okay, come on guys let's get out of here." They all saved the files on their laptops and unplugged the sensors and aparatus, before Jerime pulled open a holographic keypad for the gargantuan machine that hung in the centre of the room. He typed in a code while his two workmates walked back along the catwalk with the captain. A clear shield slid around the dull rock, then a thick pale cover crawled over that. The keyboard disappeared under Jerime's fingers, and he turned to face the door. The catwalk shuddered, and carried him along as it slid away from the machine into the wall of the outer ring, where his workmates waited. The captain stood beside them, with a datapad in his hand that displayed a map of the area. Anomalies were marked out by sensors planted all over the area.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin took hold of his plasma rifle, and changed it to the 'compact shot' setting before quickly getting out of cover and firing at one of the openings in the tower. He wasn't sure if he got the sniper, but he imagined if anyone was at the window, they were dead or dying now.