Everflame 2 (FINISHED)

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie quickly put a paw to the nearest kitchen appliance and then, when that started to move and rattle with the rest of the ship, switched her paw to the wall instead. She braced her legs against the sudden shaking of the floor and grinned back to Tina "That or we've flown into a supernova..."


The ship rocked and juddered, buffeted side to side as arcs of energy crawled across its metal skin. Everything shook and threatened to come apart under its own crazy momentum. And then with a flash the ship stopped dead. It dropped out of hyperspace like a fish leaping gratefully back into water, the universe re-appearing around it in a brief moment of bloated swelling and then a lull as the ship settled into reality.

Normally the radio would have buzzed with the chatter of a thousand ships, sensors and scanners flashing madly. Instead a hazy silence fell over the ship permeated only by hissing static.

Gutted and charred ships floated everywhere, still spewing occasional sparks. Around them swam the remains of the crew members, bloodied and torn, drifting lifelessly. In amongst the pressing silence and mangled metal a single encrypted signal flashed over and over.





Tess pulled back the tarpaulin and ran her paw over the sleek blue mag-bike. Dented, scratched and defiant its engine purred briefly into life at her touch. She sighed and took the hand away "He loves this bike Yuri... I love this bike..."

The young bob-tailed lynx ran his fingers through his hair and grimaced "Yeah. But Blaze also loves his mum... He'd do it, if he was conscious." Tess nodded, as if the gesture settled the matter "Fine, hand me your datapad-" Yuri held it up and tapped the screen "Already sold, five-thousand credits transfered to your account now." Tess merely nodded again and reached for her own datapad, eyes casting one last look over Blaze's pride and joy as she connected to the main network.

[tangletail]

“Well, only a few reasons that... might help.” Leo stammered as he recalled what happened in the past. He rose a single finger as he began to speak,  “The first being an obvious possible military outpost, or a haven for things you want kept a secret.” The feline rose a second finger as he started to walk back to the front of the ship “The next, we had a small...er large accident on the research station that used to orbit here, and completely pressurizing it and sending it into the planet. There were a lot of people who didn't quite make it out, so there are some still operational ships inside in case anything happens to this one, once they figure us out.” He then slid into his seat and re-strapped himself back into the chair “The final one is the atmosphere is pretty dense so it should limit vision to only a few feet, and disorientate any forms of radar, and sounds...” he trailed off as he checked behind himself as if to see if the creatures were still following or not. "Someone always told me "Plan ahead, or you just might lose your head" I just didn't think it would be literal till now."

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin felt bullets digging into his armor, and was rather thankful that his running managed to make a head-shot almost impossible to pull off. He was halfway across the field as the security bot turned around, and he came up with a quick method of entry as he formed another explosive sphere and lobbed it at the door of the compound. Vuranin watched as her son, not using a single ounce of his other half to assist in the entry, was already making his way into the compound before even five minutes had passed. She couldn't help but feel a spark of passion when she kept thinking on how different, and seemingly better, her son was in comparison to her deceased husband Chrono.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Tina stepped into the cockpit, moving behind the little mouse, leaning on her chair. She took in the sight, and put her hand over the eyes of the girl.
"Tiz, get up, go to your room."
"What?" The mouse girl protested and pushed at Tina's arm. The cat spun the chair to face her, stared into Tiz's eyes.
"Do what I say, okay? We'll deal with this," she said. Tiz huffed then complied by pushing up off the chair and heading back through the cockpit, passing Annie by to head to her room at the centre of the ship. Tina sat in the chair and faced forward. Her hands flew over the controls, flicking navigation screens around, checking and double checking.
"Tina," Lantz said. "There's a signal." He pointed to the central panel that flashed in distress. Tina brushed the suggestion away.
"Forget it, we're going home."




The general smirked at Leo.
"I don't think these guys use radar or traditional vision, but good thinking anyway." She leaned on his chair and ruffled his hair. "We'll be there soon so lets hope your idea works." She turned about and headed back through the ship, into the kitchen to pick up a snack, returning minutes later with it wedged in her mouth. "Fink It'w work?"




The tower rocked with the explosion, vibrations rippling along its walls as it took the assault. The captain turned to the guards around him.
"Get these scientists out of here to the holds," he said. The guards, covered in sinuous armour nodded and guided the red panda and his associates back through the tower. The rest of the guards headed downstairs. A squad was already prepared as the explosion hit. Rock burst into the cavernous base, and they opened fire, spewing energy like a flood of muted green projectiles.

[tangletail]

Leo shrugged "I am not worried about radar. I am worried about them being able to detect that stupid stone's energy spectrum." he sighed as he turned his head to the back again, watching the general. When he was questioned he began to think about the plan. He contemplated over it before his lips curled up some revealing to her a soft smile shaking his head "Nope, odds are they will just inhale the planet, or rip open a worm hole. But grab a suit. I have a feeling we are going to need it." he sighed.

"Never trust a monster."

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie stepped aside when Tiz walked through, glancing at the young mouse curiously as she walked into the cockpit. Her hand went to the wall, steadying herself as a twisted and charred ship listed in front of the view screen, crates of cargo trailing out from a wound in its armored side "Wheres the carrier? It wasn't due a jump for two months..." Annie finally let go of the wall and clenching her fist as another gutted ship vented oxygen in a violent decompression "These are merchant ships. Civilians, none of them where built for fighting... Who would do this?"

Glancing to where Lantz pointed Annie stepped stepped forward until stood just behind the seat "Its automated... Whichever ship is sending it out will be Mechanicus. The signal should contain the jump co-ordinates of the carrier, standard automated procedure by the company. I disabled it in my own ship of course-" The brief smile barely made it to her lips before it slipped away again...




The datapad beeped in conformation, causing Yuri to look up from his touch-screen "Done then?"
Tess nodded, leaned back against the mag-bike and huffed a deep sigh "Yup, we need to go fetch him from the detention block... Coming?"
"Cant. Duty in five minutes, I skipped lunch break to come here" Yuri shrugged and clapped Tess on the shoulder "We did the right thing, I'm sure Blaze will understand..."


Tess stepped out of the elevator, patting herself down as she walked up to the desk opposite. An uninterested guard looked up from his computer and raised an eyebrow "Prisoner pickup? Tess nodded and handed over her datapad, glancing down the rows of steel corridors beyond the desk.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

General Caisen smirked and turned to the wardrobe full of space suits. "Good," she said as she pulled one out, comparing it against herself. "For a second I thought you'd started thinking we'd survive this." She gave him a grin and stepped into the suit, feeling it curl around her, though it sagged in places. "These things are always too big." She sighed and pulled at it. "Stupid one size fits all emergency crap." A light blared on the ships console. The navigation screen flared up, showing their arrival as imminent. The general held to the wall and the ship shook and lurched as it fell out of the jump, smoothing into a slow decelleration to orbit the planet.



Behind them, Nero, his ship, and the monstrous passenger approached. Their stop was immediate. The beast shifted about inside.
"Have we arrived?" it asked. Its voice made the craft shiver.





Tina glanced back at Annie with a frown.
"I said we ignore the signal and go home. We're not heading off into a potential firefight." She set in the coordinates back to the base on Mngeya. "We did this as a favour to you, favour's over. Lantz, engage the jump." The chameleon nodded and started setting up the jump sequence.




The guard looked down at Tess, glancing from the datapad and back to her.
"This one? Really? What's he your dad or something, a guy like that just seems like trouble."

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin went to the side of the new entrance, waiting for the robot to get close enough before diving back into the opening and also firing an explosive sphere that only had enough energy to kick up the dust like an improvised smoke grenade. As he felt the robot smash into the wall, he used the din it created to get up to the closest guard and pick him up and toss him at the other guards. The ones that got up quickly, he had knocked them out with a back-swing of his fist.

[tangletail]

Leo turned back around  humming questionably "Hm? Oh there is a simple fix!" He would hold up his arm and point to a band that was tied tightly on his arms to keep the sleeves at a manageable size "Just tie it together with some random string." he chuckled as he turned back to the console flicking on the microphone and connecting the com link to the ship behind them "This is it. The station that it was on experienced some technical issues with an asteroid and several tons of testing materials... so its not in the best condition. In fact the sector that was supposed to contain it fell within the atmosphere of the planet ahead of us."

[Entaru]

((What the?  The forum ate my last post! ))

Nero was about to respond to the creature when the transmisson came through.  "You mean to tell me its on THAT thing?" Nero sneered at the thought of searching the whole thing.  Then an idea dawned on him and a smirk came over his face.  "Alright, we'll look."  Nero switched off the comms and turned to the creature.  GO DowN TO ThE PlaneT AnD IgnitE ThE GasseS...IF ItS TherE, We'lL BE AblE TO SensE IT AfteR ThE GaS IS GonE...I'lL BE KeepinG OuR 'FriendS' FroM LeavinG IF IT Isn'T.  Nero opened the hatch to the outside and launched himself at the other ship, cloaked in black to appear as another part of space.  Stopping about 30 feet from the hull, he focused on the space around the ship.  Soon invisibles waves of energy pulsed around it as he encapsulated it inside a gravity well.  IF ThiS IS TreacherY...YoU WilL SuffeR InfinitelY MorE ThaN ThE GirL...LeO

[tangletail]

Leo grinned as he leaned to the side so he could rest an elbow on the chair. “And so do I know that. What reason do I have to lie to you?” he chirped as he examined the field around them “Hm... so while we are here. Lets take some time to get to know each other, shall we? Where did you come from my dear stranger,” he had asked in curious tone as began to type on the console in-front of him.

Within a few seconds the screen changed to dark matter scan of the environment even scanning for abnormalities in the area around them.

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie reached into her jacket and found the inner pocket to be empty. She remembered, too late, that Tina still had the pistol after her imprisonment. With a sigh that barely masked the growl beneath it Annie clenched the back of the pilot seat "Tina... You asked whether I had anyone I loved, who I cared about. I don't know about you, but I still love them and I don't intend to leave them behind."

Her grip on the seat tightened, claws digging into the plastic and soft padding "Even though I never thought I would be the motherly type, or one to settle down, I have a son now." She released the seat with more force than was necessary and continued "I promised his father that I would care for him as best I could, putting my own safety before his."

With a deep sigh she turned and leaned against the wall, watching Tina closely "I cannot force that same promise on you or your crew however..."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

As chronin headed up the tower, three soldiers met his way. They clung to the walls in sleek sinuous armour that clung to their skin and enhanced their bodies, letting out a soft hum. Little bursts of light tingled from their palms against the wall.
"Captain, the intruder has been spotted, moving to engage." They darted across the walls in a flash of light, surrounding chronin in an instant, with arms outstretched and palms facing. Globes of energy emerged and crackled. They snapped the air around it, and with a finger twitch, launched at the dragon.




General Caisen took some tape from the cupboard and wrapped it about herself. "I guess this works," she said. She glanced out the viewscreen and saw beast slip from the void of black that was Nero's craft. The creature burned and shone upon the planet like a sun. Its gasses churned and sparked, glowing as the beast slipped out entirely and slid through space down into the mists. On the surface, little explosions burst under the concentrated heat, sparking and burning, brewing storms among the clouds. The general leaned close over Leo's shoulder and whispered into his ear. "They're igniting the planet."





Tina glared back at Annie looking almost insulted at her. "Don't call me Tina, right now I'm Krade, okay?"  She turned to Lantz. "Get us out of here." The chameleon was watching her, and the ship didn't move. The engines hummed, ready to jump but the order didn't arrive.
"She did do the same for you," he said. Tina stared in disbelief.
"What did you say?" She swivelled the chair and shot a look straight into his eyes. "You don't get to say that. You haven't got the right to tell me that." She leaned forward, hand gripped on the console. "Do you understand?" Lantz sighed and dropped his gaze.
"I get it, but--"
"Right, you get it. I'm keeping us safe, now take us home," she said. The chameleon shook his head.
"What if Tiz was out there," he said. "Would you go to save her?" Tina growled under her breath, but didn't say a word. Lantz looked over at Annie. "She has loved ones who need to be saved. We can do that, we have just enough time." Tina's growl grew louder, and she pushed herself up off her chair. Her paws were clenched into fists and her fur stood on end. Lantz looked up into her eyes, placid and honest. She turned to Annie, her body stiff and wracked with frustration as she stared at the vixen.
"Get out of my way," she snarled and marched through the cockpit. She pushed past Annie and headed through the ship to Tiz's room. Lantz watched her leave, then as she moved out sight, he slumped back into his chair, breathing hard in relief.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin judged the height of the attacks, noticing a duck would be less than suitable means of avoiding contact. So, he did one of his unnatural leaps, sailing over a globe and landing on the guard that had fired that orb. As he got back up, the other two guards rushed in from different angles. Chronin kept one foot on the guard under him, using it as a pivot point as he back-kicked the first guard and then spun into a round-house at the next guard. He noticed he really wasn't holding back as they were knocked off their feet and onto the wall. "Okay, that was new..." he murmured, tearing off a piece of the armor that belonged the guard he stood on before continuing his ascent to the hangar.

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie was pushed aside into the wall of the cockpit; slumped wearily against the steel she huffed a small and bitter laugh. She rubbed her eyes with one hand and then glanced around to Lantz and said "Who?" Her hand dropped to her side and she rubbed her knee as she elaborated "Who do you need to save?"




Tess leaned close against the desk, one hand stuffed into the pocket at her hip "Yeah him." She frowned and blew her fringe out of her eyes with a huff of breath "You think that maniac is my father? Boy am I glad that 'aint true. No, I'm just getting him out of this mess for a third party." At her feet RUST-E gave a small beep and nudged her leg with a whir. Tess shooed him away with a flick of her wrist and looked back up to the guard with a grin.




"Sir, the station is not responding to our docking requests..." The finch looked up from his computer screen, an air of desperation edging its way into his voice.
Vladiik looked over and frowned "You've tried all wavelengths?"
The finch nodded desperately, tapping away at his screen before throwing his hands up in desperation "Nothing! Just static and silence."

Frown deepening Vladiik walked across the bridge until he stood beside the Finch, his own feather ruffling. Suddenly he stopped and looked up to the shielded view-screen that  ran around the bridge. The Mechanicus space station was closer now, long arms stretching out to embrace the sides of the Carrier, but the windows and view-screens across its steel bulk all lay dark and unlit.

Vladiik glared back to the finch and spoke hurriedly, his normally calm resolve gone "Ready the crew. Have every Mechanicus Explorator available suited up and into the main hangar bays." He turned back to the view screen, eyes searching "Get the internal police geared up as well, we need authority restored for this to work..."





Blaze woke slowly, light piercing the darkness that clouded his vision. Vague shapes moved about him that slowly came into sharp focus. Pain rippled up his right arm, but it was pain numbed and suppressed until it felt detached and barely pain at all. Blaze shifted where he lay and tried to sit up. A surgeon pushed him back down and shook his head, words hidden behind the white mask that failed to permeate the ringing that filled his ears.

He woke again, realizing that he had fallen unconscious at some point inbetween. Vision came quickly and sound with it as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. The medical bay was silent, with the usual plethora of nurses and surgeons gone and Blaze's bed being the only one occupied. With a deep grunt of effort he pushed the cover back and swung his legs out bed. It was then that he noticed his arm, gunmetal steel from just below his shoulder to his knuckles and fingers. He flexed, watching as the robotic hand and wrist complied, fist clenching and then relaxing with a soft whir.