The message ticked in on what looked like a receipt printer sitting on a peeling old card table next to an Enola computer, bound by a single thick khaki-colored wire. It was a robust little machine that worked like a dream in Star's End, away from the worst of the shifts and the brownouts. Given enough time to work with the thing without any outages, Peter Oliend had put together an audio program in the last ten days and now bobbed his head to the hyperactive chick-punk of the Black Daisies, the bulky studio phones covering ears that came to a distinctive half-point. He was a "halfie," elven on his father's side, human on his mother's, and had found work in House DeMuer at the end of the summer as an analyst, usually toiling over intell for gods knew what purpose in the back of S.P.I.

He was getting time and a half for boarding and working in the makeshift Star's End field office, and he was pretty happy about it. Soon he'd have enough for that magick-engine synthesizer... make some of his own music again...

"Pete," Ulysses snapped before he stepped out for a cigarette, and it was long enough to draw the half-elf's attention to the intercept. He tugged one 'phone off his ear and tapped out a couple commands, bringing up the intercepted message on-screen. "Boss!" he hollered across the room, head half turned. The analyst was notoriously lazy, but good at what he did.

Alain had been staring out the window that faced downhill; technically it faced the sea but he could only catch a sliver of it. His hands were clasped behind his back, letting him quietly massage the right in the left while he thought about Lisa, selling Rigelian chocolate, and following Ulysses outside for a cigarette. "Intercept?" he asked Peter when he turned that way, and then picked across the room to him.

The field office was cramped and smelled musty, still filled with boxes of corporate papers that the people upstairs felt no need to remove, and even less need to secure; the House had gone through a couble back-channels and rented a two-level half-basement occupying one corner of the massive building above them. The ceiling tiles were almost all water-damaged, and climate control only worked well enough to keep the computers from freezing.

"Yeah," Peter said and ripped off the paper for the detective. His bright blue eyes alighted on the words 'vanguard' and 'six.' Just the people his friend was looking for... but why would someone else be looking for them...?

"Contact the Admiral through the usual channels." Alain grinned, humor shining in his gaze. "Ask him how he feels about burgers and fries."

Tori's Diner was a small restaurant on the waterfront, a little one-story brick place famous for its good coffee and cherry pie, and where Alain held many of his meetings in secret before the formation of House DeMuer. Out of some feeling of nostalgia, he arranged the meeting with Wolvinator within this establishment.

Tori came out to see Alain as soon as he came in - they hadn't been in touch for months - and when Wolvinator entered, he would find the younger man seated, and Tori cradling his arm and hand, inspecting a long scar while he told the story behind it. She looked to be in her early thirties, still very pretty in her own cool, severe way, and flirted with an almost masculine kind of confidence.

The detective's feelings on this turn of events were clearly mixed, his eyes and his body language communicating different things... But one had to maintain appearances, or at least try.

There was a bell chime as Wolvinator entered from the cold winter air. He was dressed in his usual attire, which he still believed to be the best choice to conceal his identity and ?fit in? with the local population; a thick brown robe with an oversized hood. One of the waitresses approached him just as he spotted the person he was supposed to meet, with a woman clearly intertwined at his side as they sat. Wolvie chose to go at it alone, which gave him more of a loner vibe, a trait that he wanted to portray.

The waitress asked him if he?d like a seat and even offering him a menu, however he gracefully declined and pointed at the table that he wanted to sit at, directly opposite of Alain DeMuer. Nodding, she immediately escorted him to the table and placed a menu down on top of the place setting.

?Didn?t realize this was a double date.? He spoke in a gruff and sarcastic tone to the man. ?Otherwise, I woulda brought my vampire along.? A smirk appearing on his face now as he looked at the detective.

Tori granted Wolvinator a rather chilly smile, though a warmer one for Alain as she left the table, who just chuckled and shook his head. ?You've just got a way with words... Have a seat.? he added with a gesture, and dipped his head to light a cigarillo. He was dressed in a red button-up shirt and jeans, with his coat piled into the corner of the booth.

"How's things with Aly, anyway?" The waitress waited for a break in the conversation, took Alain's order of coffee, then looked to Wolvinator. The Admiral ordered a tea as he opened his robe and moved to take the seat that was offered to him. The smug smirk remained on his face, pondering on Alain?s opening remark. A way with words, he rather enjoyed being referred to in that manner.

?Things with Aly. Well, that?s a conversation within itself Alain. It?s been a real roller coaster lately, up, down, and then really? really down. But we still have our little civil arrangement, although things might not be the same ever again.?

He gave the detective an upnod then.

?How?s everything on your end??

Alain twisted his lips hearing the news about Aly, but had nothing to offer, at least just yet.

?Clean slate,? he said, ?and I hope to keep it that way... but that's ground we've already been over. Anyway.? He made himself focus on the man across from him more than the cigarillo resting between his fingers.
?The Star's End field office intercepted a coded message recently.?

The detective spoke freely about sensitive information - he had cased the place thoroughly, and Tori had in place some of her own protections here...

?Think it's your old friends. Six of them. I just gotta wonder who's casing them other than us.? He retrieved a piece of paper from his coat and slid it across, which contained the extent of the message, a timestamp handwritten in Elvish shorthand, and translated into English in Alain's handwriting.

The coffee and tea were brought by the waitress, and Alain declined to have anything to eat. Taking the tea in his hand Wolvinator also decided not to order food. It looked like burgers and fries weren?t going to be eaten tonight after all. The Admiral studied the message much longer then he should have, in fact he read and reread it at least three times before turning his attention back to DeMuer. Old friends. In their short time in being partners there were few things the two discussed in regards to Wolvie?s time before Rhy?Din.

?The Neo?s?? His face scrunched a bit as he leaned back and shook his head, almost in disbelief. ?Nah. Can?t be.?

?Our Intel circle's too tight for a false plant on this to even be possible.? Alain said confidently, intense blue eyes resting directly on those of the man across from him. ?If anyone wants to go to RhyDin, it's only a matter of time until they get there - especially in small numbers. I'd bet good money that Intel?s solid.?

?How in the hell did they even make it past the buoy?? Wolvie asked, speaking about it as if the two of them had discussed it before.

?I would have gotten a reading on sensors if anything passed through. They don?t even have the technology to navigate through the Nebula safely.?

He wasn?t doubting Alain?s intelligence per say, he was wondering that if he was in fact correct, how did they possibly slip through and make it down to the planets surface. If they made it through, it could certainly open up an entirely new can of worms for the Admiral.

?Where?d you get this Intel from exactly??

He had to know. Wolvie had quite a few things wrapped up and under surveillance, if he missed something he needed to know how. Then again, Alain was a part of this security network, so in turn, the information hadn?t made it too far passed his first level of detection.

?Hack job out of our Star's End field office, from our very best.? Alain said, and pushed the cigarillo and ashtray aside to enjoy his coffee. ?Put taps in a few landlines the underground's crazy about, decrypted coded messages and raked through them with a few key words. This is our first positive hit. We've been at it for a while now.?

He itched at his jaw and frowned slightly. ?My guess... team of six? Either they got themselves smuggled in on a cargo vessel or something, or they found another, smaller door into RhyDin. RhyDin's all full of little doors, though nothing so big as the gates and beacons Star's End deals with.?

?Vanguard.? He pointed out the word on the paper, as he was clearly fixated on it, trying to find some sort of clues within the message. ?Definitely sounds like some sort of Neosapien operation. I?ll need to do a bilateral scan of all subspace communications, see if I can notice anything tangible. A carrier wave, anything.?

Then he paused, looking straight back at the Detective with deep blue eyes.

?Do we know the source of the Communication, or a Destination? I don?t wanna get all up in arms looking for these guys, if they?re really here, it?ll raise suspicion. We?d have to do things? casually.?

Wolvinator was quite possibly the foremost expert on Neosapien physiology, behavior and history. He was put in charge of a number of fleets and task forces during the last Neosapien conflict, something that help propel him to Admiralty. He knew that if they were on the planet, in small numbers, they were no doubt taking appropriate measures to conceal their presence.

?I'd start snooping around the West End... but snoop quietly,? he said. ?If the Neo's are as paranoid as you say, and stick out like sore thumbs just like you say, the West End's their only chance of disappearing. Check old buildings, places squatters'd like - and I bet they've either put their building back 'on the grid,' or they're using a generator of some kind. Sure you've got equipment to check for that kind of thing.?

Alain itched at his jaw again. ?I say we split this thing. You start looking for the Neo's in the West End, and I'll see if I can't find who's tailing them and why.?

?They don?t necessarily need light to see,? Wolvie commented, stroking his beard slightly with his thumb and index finger. ?They were bred for mining, low light would be a place that they?d easily disappear in. But they?d need power if they themselves if they wanted to generate any form of transmission.?

?It?s my bet that they?re going to try to reach out to Neosapien Prime, probably telling them that they made it, and to probably request backup. I?m going to send the Xavier to find any leads they can near the buoy and if need be, the Lylat system.?

The Admiral slid the message back over to his partner, tapping on it gently with his index finger.

?If this? someone is after them, it could turn out very bad for all parties, all around. I think what you suggested is the best bet, splitting up can cover more ground.?

Alain grinned, then. ?And besides... my feeling is, these guys, whoever they are, are using freelance spies and informants... and it just so happens shaking down informants is a favorite hobby of mine. Keep the message - we have copies.? He slurped down the rest of the coffee and left a couple bills on the counter to cover them.

Wolvinator on the other hand hadn?t even touched his tea, having it there was more for pleasantries then anything else. His hand moved out once more to retrieve the message and place it within the serenity of his robe.

?I appreciate the heads up Detective. There?s somethin? more goin? on here, ?specially if these clowns are slipping underneath our noses. Let?s do our best to keep one another in the loop from here on out; compare notes and such.?

Reaching into his pocket he pulled a few pieces of coinage out and dropped them on the table as he stood, covering his extent of the tab as well as what DeMuer had already done.

?I'll send a messenger with each development, if I can't be there myself...? He snagged his coat and slipped into it, and as he left the table, cast a last grin back at Wolvinator.

?And hey - try not to get killed out there.?

Wolvie smirked again, pausing and then nodding to the man.

?I heal up pretty fast.? He rebutted, fastening his robe around his frame. ?But I?ll do my best. You do the same out there bub, alright??

?I hear you.?

Shakedown

It was a complicated trail, and Alain had pulled five of his best - three "field officers" and a pair of analysts - to cover more ground. It was a matter of finding out the callsigns the team tracking "Vanguard" was using, finding their sources, and casing those areas, typically net-cafes, arcade bars, and other dives in and out of the Star's End that tapped into the spaceport's extensive satellite coverage.

They'd hit up six places so far while Alain worked on other research, and each time, for whatever reason, the owners and bartenders seemed to "forget" who might've been using their networks at the time the mystery team was sending out its transmissions. Alain knew their only advantage was that this team, whoever they were, had to remain undercover, but that could change rapidly, and take from them their only possible lead... Nearly three weeks into the case with not enough progress for the time invested (though there was plenty of Federation money to back it all up, filed by the Admiral under 'miscellaneous expenses'), the detective took it upon himself, putting his field officers on other beats.

A string of bells jingled as Alain pushed through the half-basement door of "The Bunker," a smelly, smoky, seedy arcade bar deep in the West End, in a neighborhood that looked like the 1980's American punk scene had thrown up all over. It had been his beat once before... It had even been his style. Now the detective looked out of place in his neo-noir and shoulder holster, though he felt completely in his element. His face held the perfect attitude, cool reservation over a quick, violent temper.

Pac-Man and Galaga beeped and buzzed along the far wall. The bartender was too touchy - "What do you want?" He had three lip rings and numerous studs. A skinhead, too. He looked past Alain every so often.

Alain picked slowly past sour-looking clove-smoking patrons and slouched into the counter. It hadn't been cleaned well in months, or longer. "A drink... conversation... Got network in there?" He nodded down the bar towards a doorway - through it was the distinct hum and whir of a dozen computers.

The bartender looked that way and screwed up his face. He wasn't as tough as he made himself out to be. He was afraid, but clearly not of Alain. "So?" Intimidating him wouldn't get him what he wanted.

"Get me a beer," Alain said. The bartender didn't budge until he laid out the cash, three old bills, and then he set out a smudged pint-glass and poured in beer from a bottle. It was almost too dirty to work, but it still did the trick. Alain nodded, told him, "It looks like sh**," and walked to the restroom. The bartender screwed his face up again as he hocked a loogie and spit in his drink.

The bathroom door never swung shut. It reeked of piss, and Alain imagined it covered most of the floor. The narcotic cologne was subtle, where in "nicer" bars he might pick out every vice smoked and snorted in that room in the last forty-eight hours. Someone big, with huge hands, impossibly wide shoulders, and a squat neck, caught the door and rounded on Alain, who rounded on him first.

He slugged the big guy in the gut twice, who groaned and cuffed him one on the lip; but the detective hit him in the middle of his chest with his pistol and put it to his chin while he doubled over wheezing. "You know, if you wanted to talk, big guy, you should've bought me a drink first..." He pulled the hammer back, and the man whimpered, and Alain said, "Talk to me, Carl. You know what they've got on you. You know they won't care if I paste your brain to the ceiling."

"Low-lives," Carl managed, beady eyes trying to fixate on the pistol. He wanted to struggle, Alain could tell from his body language, but he didn't dare. "Don't dress well, but they pay up front in local stuff. Paid me to talk to the bartender, make him keep quiet."

"Just you?" Alain said and jammed the barrel against his throat.

"N-n-no!" Carl sputtered. "Jamie and Ule and Finn, too. Might be others, I'unno, but they got us in net dives keepin' people from talkin'."

"Where'd they find you, Carl?" Alain asked, and the man moved for the pistol in the back of his pants. Alain cuffed him to the ground with the butt of his gun, dropped the clip onto the bathroom floor, tossed the rest into a stall to rattle into a toilet, and aimed the gun down at him. "God I'd love to blow out your kneecaps. Convince me not to."

Carl pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He knew Alain was serious - he remembered what had happened with his cousin back in June, when the detective still did all his own dirty work... "It's two guys. Think they're just couriers - local - and I heard them say somethin' about a priest. They walk around the Redstones a lot, find contracts like me out there... And that's all I got, I swear to God, and I mean it this time." The man began shaking his head as he begged.

"Thanks, Carl," Alain said, and threw cash onto the floor by him. "Go buy yourself a nice girl." He stepped right by him, nearly stepped on his hand, and pushed his way out. As soon as he was gone, Carl was peeling the bills out of the small puddle on the floor.

This whole thing's being done by proxy, played real safe, Alain thought as he left. God knows who the real players are.

The "Redstones" Carl referred to were simply that, red stone buildings, standing out from the brick among them with their lack of white mortar, peppering a neighborhood just inside the Old Temple district near the West End. There was a bazaar that had suffered in recent years, overrun by pimps, prostitutes, and every variety of two-bit thug that slunk across from the other side of the Wall. It was a dangerous place at best, but also an easy place to pick up cheap contract work.

Peter Oliend was not cut out for this kind of work, he didn't think, though Alain insisted the young halfie had what he called "field potential." There was a bonus tucked into his last paycheck and the one coming up, sure, but he hadn't volunteered for this either. When he agreed to be on a special investigation team, he was damned sure he'd spend the duration behind his favorite Enola... but this fieldwork here, the detective insisted, required a hacker's touch.

Gods-damn the detective, Oliend thought sourly to himself from behind a Russian newspaper, sitting on a bench at the end of the bazaar that smelled aggressively like cat pee. One of the agents had roughed him up a little the day before and stolen his headphones, said he couldn't wear those in the field, on assignment, leaving the half-elf hacker bored as could be. Then he lowered his newspaper, as he'd been instructed to (every three minutes), and found some excitement. Bingo.

It was a priestly-looking dude, sure, that wasn't too unusual for this part of town, but he didn't look like any of the local faces the team had become used to while casing the area; he was also talking to a couple of fellows the detective had identified as Carl's friends.

They started to look at him. Gods-damnit! He'd been staring over that newspaper too long, losing himself in thought, and now the priest was backing off with a suspicious look on his face, and the two big guys were headed his way. They were twice his size, easily, one of them part-troll, and they drummed clubs against their thighs. "Here pointy-pointy-pointy!" one of them jeered, and the other one laughed.

Oliend stood, dropping the newspaper, and rubbed at the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. "Hey listen guys, I don't want no trouble, I just got paid by some guy to do... this." The last word was a second too late for the thugs as he hurled what looked like a pop-rock at the ground in front of them. It let off an awful bang and a nauseating whiff of sulfur as it shot a cloud of some kind of smoke or gas right up into their faces. The crowd in the bazaar screamed and scattered, the two big guys clutched their eyes and coughed, and Oliend buried his face in his scarf and shot right between them, running full tilt after that priest.

A Company K Watch whistle trilled behind him but he ignored it. Vendors shouted at him angrily as he passed them down a twisted alleyway, and he ignored them too except to leap over their wares when he could, with his quarry slipping in and out of sight. Finally he skidded out into a street right across from one of his favorite net-bars, Sheena's, and he heard a pop and something whistled by him. It took him two seconds to figure out a bullet had just whizzed by, about the same time he saw the shooter behind some trashcans in front of the bar (with the priest racing in through the door). Shit! He ducked back into the alleyway and listened to the shooter take another shot for good measure, then run off with a couple other people. He ducked his head around and saw the priest-looking guy, two men with revolvers, and an unarmed woman...

* * *

"What the hell are you up to, anyway, Pete?" Sheena sounded exasperated as she set a pint in front of the analyst. She'd spent an hour and a half dealing with the Watch, who had just left; Oliend had spent that time sitting in a smelly alleyway getting squawked at by his superiors through his earpiece. He had a wicked headache now and a lot of explaining to do to the rest of his team...

"Ah, nothin', you know. That guy stiffed me on a few things, and," he quirked his mouth to one side with a little cluck, "not a good idea tailin' him." He put cash on the bar.

Sheena fixed him with a skeptical look. "H-uh. Stiffed you." She sighed, shook her head, took the cash and shuffled off down the bar. "The woman there... She looked tense. Not happy, like something was... I don't know. Not right. Same way Genna gets when her ex comes by."

"Yeah?" Oliend wasn't paying much attention. He'd just started on drowning his sorrows, and was toying with the idea of skipping the realm with as much cash as he could carry...

"Wanted to finish her work before she left. Kept banging on the keys even when the guns started going off, until she got pushed out the door."

Oliend stopped then. "...Yeah. Huh. Hey listen, Sheena, mind if I use the net for just a mo' or two?" He left the bar and went to one of the computer tables, the only place with glasses and napkins around it - the place the woman'd been at, probably.

"What's up, Pete?" She peered after him, but he didn't answer. He booted the computer up, switched it over to command mode, and started typing. It was just a matter of --

"Bingo."

pls help
*tigris
3155.t-zx.1141.096
javelin

There Wolvie stood.

Face to face with a Neosapien, through a communications view screen. He hadn?t left the estate yet, and as he was making his way out of the front door he was forced to pause by an incoming communication. The two of them stared at one another, as if each were waiting for the other to say something. He looked like most Neosapiens, blue skin, completely devoid of hair, and a unique brood mark on his brow. This marking was almost shaped like the letter ?W?, however upon closer inspection it was nothing more that three multi colored diagonal slash marks.

?Greetings Admiral.? The Neosapien spoke. His voice was mostly monotone, and it had the accompaniment of a faint British accent.

?Commander Wootuay. I trust you received my transmission??

?Indeed we did Admiral.?

?Understood number one, report.?

Number one.

It was Starfleet slang, not to mention a nickname that Wolvinator still had for him. The First Officer, the second in command of a Starfleet vessel, was sometimes called ?Number One? by the commanding officer. Commander Wootuay technically fit that description. Admiral Wolvinator had held the rank of Captain for quite sometime, and his post was the USS Xavier, Starfleet registry number NCC-11702-A. His executive officer was Wootuay, a Neosapien who had originally served as the Xavier?s tactical officer. When Wolvinator?s first Officer, Commander Faseout, was given command of his own ship, Wolvie promoted Wootuay to fill the position.

Once Wolvinator was promoted to Admiral, he accepted the advancement under the conditions that he could still command the Xavier as his flagship, and Wootuay was frequently left as the Commanding Officer during the Admiral?s absence. The two of them had formed a bond and partnership throughout the years, and Wolvie knew that his ship was in good hands when he wasn?t aboard.

?We are currently two days out from Rhy?Din using standard Warp. We?ve used long range sensors to scan the sector and we haven?t been able to detect any Neosapien signatures. It?s quite possible that if they traveled through the region some time ago, and avoiding detection, their warp signature would have faded.?

Neosapien.

Wootuay spoke the word without even thinking twice about it. Despite him being a Neosapien himself, his path in life was much different then his Neo brothers. He was from the same ?brood? as two other historic Neosapiens, Phaeton and Marsala. However, when the Great Neosapien War began he chose to remain completely neutral, and not join in the conflict. The Commander felt that it was the wrong method to resolve their difference, and that peaceful negotiations with humans would have ultimately been the best for each side. When the Neosapien Exodus occurred after the war, he chose the path of many Neosapien civilians who remained behind and decided to become a Federation Citizen, eventually leading to his enrollment in Starfleet.

These Neosapiens, Phaetons Neosapiens, weren?t his brothers. They were the enemy. Heartless aggressors that chose to immerse themselves in the barbaric tactics of war rather then the peaceful resolve of diplomacy.

His diplomatic mindset didn?t prevent him from engaging the enemy in combat however.

?Number One,? Wolvinator began. ?I want you to patrol the Nebula and immediately investigate anything out of the ordinary. Don?t hesitate to pass through the nebula, and patrol the other side of it as well. I have a bad feeling that this little situation that we uncovered may, in fact, end up spiraling out of control unless we get a handle on it immediately.?

?Understood Admiral, we?ll begin our investigation-? He stopped then, turning back to look at his Tactical officer whom had garnered his attention.

?Captain,? It was formal to call any Commanding officer of a vessel by the title of Captain ?We?ve detecting a slight distortion within the communication, originating from the source.?

He had been monitoring the communication, as it was a part of his duties. Commander Kli?tar was the USS Xavier?s Tactical Officer, as well as the head of security. It was a common practice amongst most Federation ships. However, unlike most vessels, this Tactical Officer was a Klingon.

?What is it?? The Admiral and the Commander seemed to ask in unison.

?It?s unclear sir, it?s almost as if there were two communication streams being relayed from the planets surface. It?s unknown whether something is imbedded, or if it is a duplicate carrier wave.?

He tapped away at the console for a moment, and then looked at it in surprise.

?It has ceased sir.?

?Run a full diagnostic analysis.? Wootuay ordered. ?See if the computer can analyze exactly what that anomaly was.?

?Aye sir.?

?Woo,? Wolvie started as the Commanding Officer turning back towards him. ?Something isn?t right. Just? be careful, alright??

Through the view screen the Commander nodded, he understood that the Admiral was genuinely caring for his safety with his last request.

?I will do sir. You do the same, and we?ll keep you informed of our progress.?

?I will.? He replied with a hint of a smile. ?Admiral Wolvinator out.?

* * *

The sun hung low in the sky as night was vastly approaching. The Rhy?Din sun mimicked Earth?s as it became a deep orange as it came closer to the horizon. Dusk didn?t hamper the activities of the city?s West End inhabitants, and in fact there would be those that were just beginning their day. Vampires, whom were affected by sunlight, would begin to emerge from their homes, as well as other creatures of the night.

On a rooftop adjacent to an old abandoned warehouse, Wolvinator knelt down on one knee. He was positioned behind a brick ledge that rose up two feet from the deck of the roof, giving him enough cover to ensure his low visibility. His Tricorder was set open in front of him, running a constant scan, while he looked through a pair of binoculars towards the warehouse across the street.

These binoculars he was using did more than magnify his vision, they could scan through various bands of light as well as heat signatures, allowing the user to practically view through solid structures to see what lay beyond them. Wolvinator had been on the roof for quite a few hours monitoring the faint heat signatures that made the abandoned warehouse not so abandoned.

There were five heat signatures through his binoculars, and six readings on his Tricorder. Five of them were located on the first level of the warehouse, while one was positioned on the roof. That one served as a lookout, and he was different from the rest. He was anatomically different, a completely different breed of Neosapien.

A Neo Lord.

They were considered to be the superiority of Neosapien scientific technology, genetically engineered beyond any previous physical and intellectual limitations. The Neo Lords were the result of splicing the DNA of Earth?s most ruthless predators with the superior genes of Alpha Neosapien soldiers. They possessed the tactical acumen, analytical ability and communications skills of Neo soldiers, the supposed strength of ten rhinos, the deadly talons of a fierce hawk, and the circum-maneuverable flight winds of a wasp ? all encased in a nearly impenetrable organic armor shell. The Neo Lord?s innate night vision was immeasurable in comparison to humans, and the ability to control their own body temperature made them an adaptable and nearly invincible warrior able to evade infrared sensors.

These warriors weren?t part of the average crew compliment, and Wolvinator knew that quite well, which was all the more reason for him to remain undetected. His fears had, in fact, become quite clear. Somehow, some way, Neosapiens had made it through the Nebula, or the Nexus, and were now present on Rhy?Din. They were one of the greatest threats to the Federation, as they were very aggressive and quite unpredictable. Admiral Wolvinator, along with Admiral Gairu, was the foremost authority on Neosapien behavior, military tactics, and strategy. If they were concealing their identities, they would most certainly move in the shroud of night. Neosapiens didn?t need to sleep, and they needed very little sustenance, so while the City slept they could make their moves.

And Wolvie was waiting to make his.

Watching the four heat signatures in the warehouse, he kept an eye on the Tricorder, until there was one signature that began breaking from the group and moving towards the front of the building.

This was his chance.

In a dash he closed up the Tricorder, placed the binoculars in the depths of his thick brown robe, and started descending down the blindside of the building, ensuring that he was out of site from their own rooftop surveillance. Using a repel line, that he had setup earlier in the day, he secured it around his waist and took to his descent. Leaning his back over the ledge, he used his legs to push off and allowed his grip of the rope to loosen so that he could travel down toward the ground. His feet slammed into the brickwork every dozen feet, forcing him to tighten his grasp for the moment, stabilizing him, before pushing off again. After repeating the action three times he was on the deck.

Removing the repel line, he instantly flipped the oversized hood from his robe over his face, shoved his hands in his deep pockets and began walking out of the alleyway and into the street. As he turned the corner of the building, the door to the abandoned warehouse was already slid open with another cloaked figure emerging from the entrance, easily two feet larger then the disguised Admiral.

The Neosapien turned around to secure the large sliding door behind him, paying no immediate attention to the apparent local whom was in the street along with him. After closing the opening and ensuring to lock the entrance he turned around.

* THUD! *

?Eh, oh? oh my.? A guise British accent came from Wolvinator as he had bumped into the other man, rather hard. ?I?m so sorry sir, I seem to have lost my footing.?

He was holding onto the much larger individual, steadying himself for support. Then a shove came, pushing the Admiral back and knocking him down on his rear end.

?Watch where you?re walking!? The Neosapien operative responded in a much gruffer tone, towering over the man that was now on the ground. Grunts of dismay and pain emerged from Wolvie now, while his hood still concealed his face.

?Ow, eh? I?m? I?m so sorry. It won?t happen again sir, I swear, I swear.?

The cloaked figure didn?t respond now, obviously staring down the man before him through the serenity of his hood. There was an awkward silence, neither individual moving away from one another, but the Admiral was rubbing his arm, giving the facade of being in pain. Finally, the Neosapien officer shook his head, and turned around, heading down the street.

Wolvinator turned around himself, scampering to his feet and trying his best to gather his composure. Keeping up with the fa?ade, he brushed himself off in a very speedy and almost fidgety manner, playing up his worried behavior. Glancing around a few more times, he shoved his hands back in his pockets and walked in the opposite direction from the individual he bumped into a moment prior. Keeping with his pace, he continued walking. Two blocks, three blocks, his danger sense hadn?t alerted him. Reaching into his pocket, he quietly opened his Tricorder and began a scan. The Quantum signatures weren?t following him. There were five still at the warehouse, and one strong reading heading opposite of him.

If he weren?t wearing a hood, his grin would be showing from ear to ear. The little ?bump? went off without a hitch, now it was time to see what they were really up to.

In Space? all warriors are cold warriors.

Deep in space, beyond the planet of Rhy?Din and the Rhy?Din Solar system itself, is a large gaseous Nebula that, at least from a one-hundred and eighty degree angle, is completely invisible to the naked eye. Many space farers are completely unaware of its existence, despite the fact that it is almost a light-year wide in diameter. The Nebula, adequately named the Rhy?Din Nebula, is directly tied to the Nexus, a naturally occurring cosmic force which transcends both space and time throughout the multiverse. The realm and space of Rhy?Din lies within a cosmic juncture inside of the Nexus itself, allowing it to be accessed by countless realms of the Multiverse.

There were two stationary buoys positioned on each side of the nebula. These buoys served a dual purpose, navigation and communication. They were linked through a trans-dimensional navigational array that guided Starfleet vessels as they traversed the nebula, ensuring that the ship wouldn?t be pulled off course and could make a safe transit from one dimension to the other. A communications array also worked in conjunction with the inter-dimensional signal, passing subspace message traffic to and from both Universes. However, these buoys were encrypted and encoded with the most sophisticated Starfleet algorithms and security to ensure they wouldn?t be compromised.

The last thing the Federation needed was to have an enemy race attempt a hostile invasion of the Rhy?Din system.

On the opposite side of the Nebula, perhaps one of countless alternate realities, was the universe designated as Earth-357. On this end the Nebula was a clear as any other cosmic entity. It was large in stature, with deep orange and pink hues splashed with paintbrush-like strokes of reds and purples. The immense cloud looked quite hazardous and unstable, with random flashes of bright white light that flickered violently, and sporatically, throughout its entire mass. Surely any attempt in travel through the entity would surely meet a fatal end, unless of course, the navigational buoy could be accessed.

Smaller ships had an easier time making it through. A Starfleet Spacewing, a hybrid of space-fighter and utility vehicle that was piloted by Admiral Wolvinator, was one of the first craft to make it through to the other side of the Nebula. The buoy was then placed on the other side, to assist Science vessels and other Starships in safe passing, which also made it easier for smaller transports and shuttles to navigate through expeditiously.

The United Federation of Planets wasn?t the only galactic body interested in the Nebula. The Neosapiens had taken their own interest in it as well.

The Neosapien Empire was a decent distance away from the Rhy?Din Nebula, as well as its neighboring star system ? The Lylat System. However, a Neosapien incursion was successfully repelled over a year ago by a stealthy fleet of Federation Starships, which were responding to a report of attacks in the system. Since that time, the Federation hadn?t encountered any further insurgencies by the Neosapien?s since their initial attempt, but that didn?t mean that the Empire had given up their efforts.

Light years from the Lylat system, just beyond long-range sensors, was a small fleet of Neosapien warships. Four vessels flew in conservative formation, remaining on low power and limited communications to avoid detection. The contingent consisted of a frigate, a light cruiser, a battle cruiser, and a Capital ship. An expeditionary fleet wasn?t all that unusual, but the presence of a Capital ship would make any Federation intelligence officer investigate immediately.

Especially, the Capital Ship Valles Marineris.

Each of Phaeton?s Generals were given command of a Capital Ship, while Phaeton himself chose to command the only Super Capital Ship in the fleet, the Olympus Mons. The Valles Marineris was a large vessel, over sixteen-hundred meters in length and one-hundred and fifty meters in height, easily dwarfing most enemy vessels it encountered. Unlike its sister ships, commanded by the other Generals, and aside from the Olympus Mons, this warship was considered to be the most feared in all of the Neosapien Armada. All due to its Commander?

General Shiva.

Shiva was the first Commanding General of Earth Occupation during the great Neosapien War, and was the most feared and hated Neosapien of all time, with the exception of Phaeton himself. He was known for his cruelty and ruthlessness, placing victory and efficiency above any moral concerns. He was one of the first Neosapiens to be genetically enhanced with both intelligence and strength, giving Shiva had the upper hand in combat, and hence was the reason behind Phaeton giving him command over Earth, the cradle of the mankind. He was widely considered the best of the Neosapien Generals, although he always lacked spontaneity and unpredictability in battle which may be why he, despite false accusations, had never betrayed Phaeton. This made the general the most dangerous and highly decorated commander in the Fleet.

He was slightly larger in stature then an average Neosapien, muscularly conditioned to be in peak physical shape at all times. Standing with his hands behind his back he gazed out of the large transparent viewing windows, which showed the vastness of space and twilight. There weren?t any planets or celestial objects in close enough proximity for viewing, just the splash of a billion stars smeared throughout the cosmos.

Shiva?s uniform had been the same he wore for the last eight decades. It was mostly an orange uniform, which included shoulder pads and chest plates, along with a light green secondary armor which also covered his chest, stomach, and thighs for added protection. His brood mark was a orange crown-like symbol, while it was surrounded by two green crescent shapes that appeared to mimic encompassing brackets.

The bridge he commanded had been silent, besides the usual beeps and notifications from the ships computer systems. None of his subordinates dared to approach him with any information that wasn?t mission essential. They were waiting out there, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for any sign that one of their objectives had been completed. Patience, for once, wasn?t a problem. They?d wait while slowly cruising along throughout the great vacuum, until they either heard something or they were detected.

Then a communications blip sounded, despite the fact that the vessels in formation were running radio silence. The General turned around instantly, retrieving himself from his thoughts so that he could order the helm accordingly.

?What is that?? he asked, with a definitive sting in his voice. It wasn?t a question to what the sound was, as much as it was a question of whom. The tone of his voice certainly suggested that if it was anyone breaking the communications silence, that wasn?t supposed to, they?d surely meet an unfortunate end.

?It?s a signal sir, definitely garbled and unidentifiable.?

?On main viewer.?

The screen flickered on with a large blurry and digitized blue shape, while the sounds of incoherent and choppy audio played through the speaker system.

?Bring the main communications array out of standby and boost auxiliary power immediately!? Shiva barked.

?Yes sir.?

As the helmsman carried out the order, the dashboard under his large blue hands illuminated with electronic life. The view screen slowly stabilized itself, as the pixels of distortion faded, and the audio stabilized.?

? zZzz ?ome? in? MMmmmmMzzzz Vanguard? zhdszles Marinerizzzzz?rrrrrrzzzzepeat this is Commander Belorus to Valles Marineris, please respond.?

The Neosapien Commander had appeared on the screen, still a bit fuzzy with distortion and the audio only slightly breaking up, however it was enough to establish communications.

?Commander Belorus, this is General Shiva. We are reading you, but barely, report.?

There was a pause for a moment, as there was evidently some delay in communication relay.

?General Shiva, this is Commander Belorus. We?ve arrived on a class M planet, home to a variety of races and cultures that inhabit the planets surface. No sign of Starfleet presence on the planet as of late, yet we are remaining covert.?

?What is the status on sending more vessels??

?Multiple vessel transportation: still hazardous. Vanguard is in the process of hacking navigational buoy for passage of Cruiser Destiny??

The transmission began to breakup then, as the signals piggyback started to fade.

?Hang onto them!? Shiva commanded. ?Don?t let them go.?

?I?m trying sir, I?m trying.?

?Zzzzz Vanguuuuuuuuard?.?

*Blip!*

*Screech!*

?Wait? for? zzzMMMmmZzzz signal??

The communication blinked out.

?Communication terminated at source General.?

Shiva stared at the now blank view screen, analyzing the event that had just taken place. He didn?t bother to grow angry, with the helmsman or the communication, in fact the news he heard was rather pleasing. Vanguard had made it through the Nebula, to the other side. Despite them losing a handful of officers and transports on previous attempts, this one had survived and made it through to a habitable planet, one that could be used as a platform to further the operation.

?Helm, contact the fleet. Prepare second phase of the operation Vanguard, ready the invasion force and brooding center on the Cruiser Destiny.?

?Sir, yes sir.?

Walking back over to the window he stared out into space once more, planning his next course of action. The general, this cold space warrior, was getting ready for his next objective.

?Now, we wait for this? signal.?

The prelude to invasion.

"Hey Helen, patch me through to Wolvinator, all-right?"

Alain DeMuer was leaving a message as he walked briskly towards the West End waterfront, unaware that, as he spoke, the entire operation was spiraling rapidly out of control...

"Wolvinator, hey - give me a ring as soon as you get this - the team tracking vanguard? They've kidnapped a hacker, and I think they're after the RNN satellite. We've figured out where they're keeping her, and my team's moving in as we speak... Peter took a look at the satellite transmissions, and... well, we don't really know yet, but something's changed about it. Worth checking out."

He tapped the little orb tucked into his left ear twice with his fingertip, effectively hanging up, and at once got another buzz. He was closer now, and thought he heard gunfire in the distance. He jogged a few paces, and once he was sure it was coming from where he was headed, broke into a run, switching frequencies between Oliend and Harazid as he scrambled around corners and vaulted over crates and vendors, oblivious to the cries of protest that it drew.

I can't see a goddamn thing down here - smoke everywhere - think they set off a grenade... I can hear Faara, she doesn't sound so good...!

Gods-damned Harazid! There must be at least three gunmen, one automatic, and... I don't know, something big, can't really see with the smoke. I've got Faara - she's bleeding, but she'll be all-right... but we need back-up, now!

Clusterf***, Alain thought as he climbed up a fire escape and reached the roof; from there he could see the smoke and the occasional flash of gunfire. Manuevering to the edge, the whole of the battle was revealed --

Oliend and Faara were crouched at the corner of a warehouse, and Oliend was firing his Beretta at three gunmen... two now, as one of them got dropped by a lucky shot from the half-elf, and then another fell from a gut wound that drew the detective's gaze to Harazid, crouched behind some crates on a small dock. The last of the gunmen withdrew inside, and a heavy clanking announced the presence of...

Sweet Mary, Mother of God...

A "clockwork" armored suit, powered by some hybrid of dwarven and gnome technology, with a dozen pipes pouring vapor out its shoulderblades, marched out of the warehouse. The shots from Oliend and Harazid richocheted off harmlessly, and the thing - the robot - leveled one of its glistening arms at Harazid's cover and fired some kind of heavy caliber weapon, turning the crates into little more than matchsticks. Harazid wisely dove off the dock into the water, and the robot turned towards Faara. Shakily the half-elf stepped out in front of her, placing himself in harm's way, and then the thing looked down as something clinked on the road, rolling to a stop in front of it. The great green orb that served as an eye whirred as it focused in on the object, a smoky marble with a little red spark dancing within.

Fwoosh! The robot was engulfed in a pillar of flame for three seconds, and when Oliend could look again, it was falling apart, no longer a threat. Alain and two Aurkindar rushed onto the scene, one Aurk breaking off to help Harazid out of the water, the other seeing to Faara and Oliend, who did not realize he had also been wounded.

The warehouse had two wide garage doors, both now shut, and a flimsy, rotten wooden frame supporting the whole structure. Alain slipped the shotgun down from his shoulder, clutched in both hands, and manuevered towards the small side door, and a Harazid who now smelled strongly of sewer water backed him up. He kicked the door in, revealing a short hallway and a man with a revolver holding a printed note up to his face.

The situation didn't merit questions. Alain knew now they had something big planned that had to be stopped. He aimed low, blowing a whole in the man's stomach with a blast from his shotgun, and he barely had time to crumple before the note was grabbed from his hands. No time to read it yet. He checked the office on his left, containing the smoking remains of three computers, and Harazid checked the empty storage room on his right, then advanced to the door at the end of the short hallway.

The two looked at each other, shared a nod back and forth, and when Harazid kicked the door in, both were hit with an oppressive heat wave and a deafening rumble, and both, without even having to think, scrambled their way out of the warehouse. It took a dozen blinks for Alain's eyes to moisten enough to see again, and he saw Oliend, Faara, and both Aurks getting clear of the warehouse waterfront.

The rumble intensified and the entire front of the warehouse splintered apart, toppling into the water as a small freighter, heavily rusted and dotted with numerous, very broken sensor arrays and blinking lights (many more were burnt out), roared out of the warehouse. It skimmed over the water, creating a wide wake below it, and nearly toppled over a little single-mast boat as it angled in a steady arc up into the sky, burners intensifying as it became a speck.

The Watch was on the scene. Alain could hear them arguing with Oliend and approaching Harazid, and saw one of the Watchmen looking right at him, and he knew he didn't have time for this. "Stall them," Alain said low in Harazid's ear as he passed by. He then stepped briskly back into the warehouse, now filled with smoke, and covered his mouth as he picked his way through its remains, making out a faint light on the other side through all the haze. It would be enough to throw the Watch off his trail, and give him time to read the note.

Once he reached the other side he found himself facing a long, narrow alleyway with several twists and turns and took it at a jog. Close to the other end he stopped, leaned on a wall to give his thumping heart a moment to recover, and read:

Alain,
They're taking me up into space! Vanguard, whoever they are, hacked the RNN satellite I was supposed to hack from the ground. They're taking me up for a manual override! They're sending up another shuttle after this, something to do with a ritual for Javar? Zavar? You HAVE to stop it, and you HAVE to get me out of this! Please help!
-Tammy

"Son of a..." Alain looked left and right, and found a woman picking listlessly at a garbage heap. "Excuse me," he said to her, and she looked up, startled that she spoke to him. "You see anyone run through here -- anyone in a big hurry?"

Her eyes widened, and she bobbed her head. "Yessadid, righ' thiss way," she said, giving his arm a tug as she jogged over to the end of the alleyway, where it opened up into a broad street. She pointed at a man seated on a bench catching his breath, a man with a sunken face and a star-shaped scar on his left cheek... a perfect match for the surveillance pictures. He saw the point, though, and with wide eyes, he was all too quick to run away.

"Keep the change," Alain muttered, dumping coins out of his wallet, not really sure how many. He didn't really register the woman's delighted cry as he picked and pushed his way through the crowd, broke out into open space, and ran after his mark.

* * *

Wolv... chasing a mark out of the West End...! The kidnappers, they took off in a shuttle... going to manually override the satellite...! Second shuttle going up to do the ritual of Zhavar -- talked to Silas... he said Zhavar is an Elder Angel, a... some kind of living cosmic weapon! Think they're gonna use the satellite as a ley node and summon it... I've got to go. Get your ass up to the satellite as soon as possible!

It had been a very clever excuse that the House lawyers fed to the Watch at the waterfront warehouse where the first freighter had lifted off. They had managed to link it to a fugitive case the Watch had hired S.P.I. for months ago, and with the fugitive supposedly offworld in that freighter now, the Watch wouldn't be asking any more questions.

At least, not unless another gunfight broke out.

Alain had followed the man that matched the surveillance pictures to the edge of town, where Roland had left one of the old Polish motorcycles for him, and now it rumbled away from the city where he had lost the man's trail. A mile outside of RhyDin City, backup was struggling in traffic, the other bikes and the trucks were getting those new engines put in, and the detective's last resort for aid was the Security Division. He stopped the bike at the abrupt end of the dirt road at the top of a ridge, and he could make out through the dense trees a warehouse attached to an old, abandoned saw mill. The river had run dry years ago, and it was too far out for the squatters - Alain had been out here once and found little of use, but now it seemed to bustle with activity.

Quickly he killed his engine and climbed off the bike. He tugged binoculars out of the military surplus backpack Roland had handed off to him and squinted as various men in medieval dress spoke over high-tech comm devices, paced, and directed several steel constructs in loading crates into the warehouse. Soon enough he spotted his mark, doubled over to catch his breath, while one of his comrades awaited explanation. Alain didn't have much time. He began creeping downhill, shotgun clutched in his right hand, pressing one finger to his left ear.

"Hey Helen, patch me through to the Division armory... Frank? It's Alain. I need back-up, and fast."

"How much backup?" Frank hauled himself out from inside the engine compartment of a rather mean-looking tank. The fact that it was rather beat-up and poorly maintained did nothing to detract from its overall badass factor, and as a piece of machinery Frank could love and cherish? He hadn't eaten properly since dinner yesterday- or was that the day before? Frank bit into a sandwich handily left for him by his crew. "And how fast?", he managed around the lump of sandwich in his cheek.

"Get this thing back together!" he shouted, already gathering mechanics to get the old warhorse running. "Find me Lt. Grey! Now!" He set about placing the firing pin back in the 20mm autocannon- his weapon of choice attached to the flatbed in his Jeep.

"However fast you can drive whatever you've got," Alain said. "As far as... oh shit." Radio silence ensued.

The cause for the silence on the other end of the line was simple - Alain had rapidly made his way down to the old mill, where he hid behind an old shack and a thick cluster of trees. A crate had been placed nearby, and Alain cracked it open... revealing a strange red material much like gelatin, often ritually burnt for major summonings. Silas' tips were adding up... They were going to use the satellite's position to bring some kind of sentient bioweapon through a makeshift gate, and God only knew, Alain thought to himself, to what end. He paid dearly, though, for creeping out from his cover...

One of the constructs spotted him. Its optical device, a little black orb, lit up red and let out a shrill warning to the others. Each rolled out from their loading arms three heavy-caliber barrels to each arm, and the closest one started firing, three rounds each second, then a moment's respite, and a salvo from the other arm. The shack and the trees rattled with each impact, dust flying into the detective's vision as he hunkered down with his shotgun, and at last he got another call out to Frank.

"I've got, uh... APC's, sorta! Four small APC's advancing on my position! I'm at the old saw mill to the south - you'll find me easy enough!" A shot richocheted right by his ear, audibly. "I'm the one they're shooting at!"

Frank resisted the urge to call frantically over the radio like some green rookie during the silence. Alain would speak again, if and when he was able. He instead directed his attention to the controlled chaos in the cellar.

"APC's?" He queried nobody in particular before grabbing a scrambling rookie by the collar as he tried to bolt by. "Find Grey. Tell him to bring the WarHorse to the old mill."

"S-sir?"

Frank's eye twitched...

"Yessir! Right away!" The rookie scrambled even more frantically away. Frank took a moment to grin to himself, before starting the jeep and revving the engine. The new turbo hissed eagerly. He looked around and yelled at the first 'marine' he saw, "Wildcat! You and yours on this jeep. Load heavy. You've got thirty."

Calls out to the freighters the House used for space shipping were useless, as all were currently off doing their jobs, shipping things through space. This was removed quickly from Alain's mind, though, as one of the constructs clanked and whirred its way right around the corner into his cover. He fired off one blast from his shotgun, then another, both puncturing the 'head' of the machine with a burst of superhot flame - the 'flare slugs' proved very handy in certain situations. He poked his head around the corner as the construct toppled backwards, and the rattle of gunfire had him ducking again.

With the constructs all occupied, the men had opened the wide doors of the warehouse to better move the crates into the old freighter they'd evidently slipped in or pieced together there in secret the past few months. It would buy Alain and his people some time, but not very much. He got another call out to Frank, sounding far less frantic than before, though the gunfire was still very loud and very close. His cold professionalism had quickly settled in, and hopefully would save him yet again.

"Okay, Frank, here's the lowdown... There's a satellite up in space one team of bad guys hacked from the ground, and their rivals went up there in a freighter for a manual override with a captive hacker. Now they're loading up another freighter to go up there and summon something..." He was quiet for a moment as he leaned around the corner to fire off a blast from his shotgun, as one of the constructs got too close. "...Something bad, very bad. Anyway, we've got to secure the freighter so I can go up if Wolvinator can't get up there himself. We've got four, no, three constructs of some kind, sorta like armored robots, each with hand-cannons, and at least ten human hostiles with assorted small arms."

The jeep slipped roughly into first as the last of the small team of marines climbed on board, armed to the teeth with high explosives, rifles carrying- if the soldiers were smart- magically enhanced HE rounds- and Souchi looked to have picked herself up one of the panzers lying in storage. Smart girl. She clung happily to the rear-mounted 20mm as the jeep spun around the last corner and out the city gates. "What? Summoning 'something'? Like demon 'something'? From Space?" Why couldn't evil masterminds be more predictable and sensible?

Third gear as the jeep pushed over one of the last rises, nearing the old mill. As Alain predicted, it was hard to miss, leaden as the air was with the repeated cracks of gunfire. The jeep slid to a stop, "Off! Fan out! Find Alain, and extract. Go go go!" As most of the 'marines' piled off, Frank turned back to the radio, "You wanna question any of them?" Frank hoped he could question dead people. "Souchi?"

"Ready, sir!"

Frank readied the Jeep for a hill-side strafing run.

"Question?" Alain sounded a little tense - a piece of shrapnel had buried itself in his arm, and he was still in the process of digging it out. "At this point? I really don't give a damn." Another of the constructs had been damaged, its left arm now a twisted hunk of metal emitting sparks, and one was clambering away to deal with the approaching 'marines' the best it could. As Frank's team closed in, one of the men pressed a button on an auxiliary cargo door of the freighter, and it let out a pressurized hiss as it prepared to open...

"I was kinda hoping you'd say that." An RPG found its way to one of the lumbering constructs, planting a fiery kiss on its cheek. Another stumbled as the Jeep and its gunner poked their heads over the ridge, peppering it with a hail of high-caliber rounds. Wildcat's team slipped closer to Alain's position, punching holes in whatever looked like it was thinking about moving.

"Wildcat, give me eyes on that bay..." Frank spun the Jeep around, strafing back toward Alain's position as the hostiles finally began to return fire. Souchi switched to bearing down another construct. "Suppose you where they found those, sirrah?"

"Who cares? Just make sure they're lost again, private."

"She can do this, yes!"

Wilcat slid to a stop near Alain, "Morning, sir! Nice day for a stroll, eh?" His words were half-drowned by automatic fire and the roar of the Jeep as it drew closer to Alain's relative cover.

"Good to see you, Wildcat," Alain replied, tugging a bandage into a knot around his arm with his teeth. With a little more freedom of movement, Alain peeked out from cover again and this time did not have any shots fired at him - all the hostiles seemed... busy. Several broke into a run towards the freighter as the auxiliary door finally slid open, and out from it emerged...

"Mother of Pearl..."

A mechanical monster on metallic legs as big around as tree tunks took five ominous thudding steps away from the freighter. It had the same heavy-caliber weapons as the other constructs, except more of them, and an ominous-looking short cannon over its head with a great deal of wiring attached to it. Another RPG hissed from the woods towards it, and veered off course as a shield of some kind hummed to life. Then it turned the cannon towards the jeep, hummed again, and fired a blast of brilliant red light that blew the top half off of the shack, showering them all with splintered wood.

Frank, cursing like no pansy-assed sailor ever could, cornered around a rather large fallen piece of timber and brought the jeep to a skidding stop behind Alain's decidedly reduced cover. "ON!" he shouted. Souchi, looking perturbed, was clearly looking for some flaw in the shield that was sending the 20mm rounds flying off at odd angles. "Chain of Death shortens quickly," she observed singsong as the belt feeding the autocannon ammunition dwindled.

"NOW!"

"Tango Alpha Niner Kilo on approach, advise?" Lt. Grey's voice crackled over the radio. Frank grinned. "Looks like we got a tank to catch, boss," turning to the radio, "Tango, clear full foward, approach is five-by-five. Big dog to intercept outside CZ, copy?"

"Copy, Little Dog, over."

"He's gonna meet us over the ridge- GET ON THE DAMN JEEP, PRIVATE!- and if we're still wanting after that, well-" Frank floored it, climbing the ridge as the monster cannon whined to power again and splintered what remained of the little shack they all had the nerve to call cover.

Alain scrambled onto the jeep even before he was told - he'd fire shots at the thing, but he wasn't keen on gaining any more of its ire than strictly necessary. The shack exploded behind them, and as they climbed the ridge, he saw another shot fire from the master cannon... narrowly missing an unmistakeable shape. "Frank!" Alain called, and pointed. "I think Grey got a little lost!"

The Hauberstein Mark IV tank had slipped through a low pass by the ridge, completely missing where it was supposed to meet Frank's jeep, and was now confronted with the walking cannon. It began firing shots from its heavy-caliber gun, and the tank gave its own reply, a round going off on the machine's right and nearly toppling it over. The smoke and dust gave the tank enough cover to motor forward and ram the machine once it got its bearings. The tank and the machine struggled against each other, clanking and grinding, and the cannon fired several feet over the top of the tank, unable to get off a good shot at such close proximity.

And then the freighter's engines began to whine. "Frank, we need to get down to that freighter pronto and keep it grounded."

"Shit." He spun the wheel, nearly throwing one of the soldiers from the back, "Hold on!" he added unnecessarily. They motored passed the two behemoths, like a small lizard scampering by the epic battle between T-Rex and Triceratops. The whole squad took the opportunity to toss gernades at the thing on the way by, perhaps somewhat belying the lizard mentality. "Keep your heads down," Frank mentioned midly as they sped toward the still-open bay that monstrosity had crawled out of.

Rubber skidded across slick metal. The squad quickly dispatched what few guards remained in the bay as they clambered out of the Jeep. "Alain," Frank called, grabbing his shoulder before he could move far. "You know how to stop this thing, right?"

"Yeah," Alain said confidently to Frank, blinking at him. "Kill the pilots and the thing won't take off. Simple."

The freighter was about forty meters long, and the cargo bay had two doors going out of it. One of them led to the engine room, and a woman emerged, getting off one shot from a pistol before catching a bullet in the brain.

"Souchi, stay with the Jeep. Wildcat, take the others and- uh...- disable the engine room." Frank fitted his SCAR-H to the comfortable groove in his shoulder as he quick-stepped to the second door, taking up position to counter whatever other surprises the crew was carrying. He eyed the door, "That's your plan? Kill the pilots?"

The engine room door slammed shut and the 'marines' debated how to go about getting it open again, and Alain stepped up beside Frank with his shotgun held ready, eyeing the door, then him, and nodded. "It's a sound plan. Without pilots, a ship won't fly. Just kill them before they get off the ground and we'll be fine."

The debate likely involved how much RDX was necessary vs. how much RDX was fun. A similar debate raged in Frank's head at that very moment as he began pushing the gooey substance into the voids and hinges around the door. "Alain, just promise me we're not gonna wind up in space. I hate planes." He shoved the fuse-charge into the explosives and primed them. He eyed Alain as he stepped quickly away from the door...

"I promise, Frank - you're not gonna wind up in ****ing space," Alain said, likewise taking a step back from the door. It blew open, and as the smoke cleared, someone shut the engine off, which prompted the others to stop looking for a way into the engine room. "See? Everything's gonna be fine." Alain indicated he would take point and then did so, hurrying down a short hallway into the cockpit.

It had three chairs in it, and only one of them had an occupant, who tapped a command into a screen with a 'beep.' When he turned around to draw a pistol, a report from Alain's shotgun scrambled his face, though the pellets richocheted a few times before rattling to the floor - weird kind of interior shielding. "What'd I tell you?" Alain said with a grin over his shoulder at Frank, and suddenly the engine roared back to life, and they could hear splintering as the freighter rose directly through the warehouse roof. They heard the cargo door shut with a sudden thud, and Alain, wide-eyed, scrambled into a seat to figure out what the hell was going on, typing away furiously.

Frank placed himself calmly in the co-pilot's seat- or whatever it actually was- and watched Alain pour over the controls. He put his feet up on the dash board. It's not like Alain knew what any of the buttons did, anyways. "I'm not going to say 'I told you so', rather, "I hate you Alain DeMeur." Frank watched the splinters slide off the windshield- or whatever it was called in spaceships' as clouds began to pass by and roll away...

"Autopilot's locked me out," Alain grumbled, "otherwise I'd be able to ground this thing..." He tried another command anyway, but all it seemed he could do, with the autopilot engaged and password-protected, was change the display screens, showing very clearly where they were headed - for the RNN satellite, up in space. When he looked up from his work again, there were stars before them, the twin moons of RhyDin off to the right, and very close... a little satellite passing right in front of them, blinking a little red light.

It wasn't their destination, but still. Alain stared at it as it went.

Frank, too, stared. Then lit a cig. He toggled some of the displays via the control on his armrest. "Oh, hey, that one's pretty." A spiderweb of graphs and charts, headed by a countdown that seemed to coincide with their approach to a rather large 'satellite'. "Soooo, what was Wolverine coming up here for again? Looks like we'll be doing his job for him."

Wildcat pushed open the door to the cockpit, "Ah, shit. I ****ing knew it!" Souchi pushed around him, "Blackness and stars!", she gushed, sitting happily in the third pilot's seat.

Alain groaned, leaning forward in his seat and massaging the bridge of his nose. After a few moments to himself reveling in the rapidly mounting stress of this mission, he said,

"Best we can figure, the RNN satellite has a powerful enough conn array to be used as a... beacon, of some kind. Wolvinator's rivals from back home, the Neosapiens, wanted to use it as a guiding point on the other end of a big nebula from them so they could push through an invasion fleet. They took over the satellite with a hacking job from the ground, but the guys we fought already put a team up there to override it manually... so it stands to reason that the Neosapiens already in RhyDin are on their way, with big guns and maybe a big gunship.

"These guys in control right now, they want to take advantage of a shifting alignment intersecting with the satellite to summon an Elder monster from the depths of space, maybe to bring about the End of Days, maybe because they want to use it to their advantage... Who the hell knows. Anyway, they need what's on this ship for their summoning ritual.

"Long story short... all of us now have a one-way ticket to a cluster****."

Apex of the RNN Satellite and Orbital Media Platform

"How much longer until proto-horizon?" Dazarian, Master of the First RhyDin Expedition, stood alone on the glistening steel platform; he stared out the plasma-infused viewing window at the vast cosmos and he felt, for a moment, he might plunge in and find the cryptic depths from which Zhavar came. Zhavar, Hunter of the Stars; Zhavar, Elder Angel; Zhavar, soon to be the foundation for a revolution in bioweapons development.

"Four minutes, forty-five seconds," his aide responded quickly, and Dazarian waved a hand back vaguely to shoo him. He always expressed his distaste so lazily and apathetically, such that his colleagues, his superiors especially, saw him as slothful and unmotivated. It was how he came to be in RhyDin.

But Dazarian was a deeply ambitious man, such that his personal motivations resembled a religion all of their own. It was the everyday annoyances that he waved off; he could be patient with them to see to his long-term goals. His uncle had been in Alastair-Adder Bioweapons Development, and his grandfather, the first Xukeen (humanoids, originally humans, with a somewhat longer lifespan that had meddled in magick long ago to reconfigure their own internal organs) to join Alastair-Adder and certainly responsible for bringing his race into a more enlightened view; he had gone on to initiate Project Hunter, with the goal of integrating ancient magicks and advanced bionics into the perfect supersoldier, a nightmarish being capable of destroying hundreds at a time in combat.

Others had accused the old man of delving too deeply into the occult, that he had lost sight of the pragmatic and become a zealot; it was all a political ploy, really, but the end result remained that Dazarian's grandfather was murdered and the project scrapped. And it was Dazarian's ambitions that, over the course of fifty years, revived that same project.

And he would exploit his thinly-veiled exile to RhyDin as a great boon, one that would place him high in the ranks of Alastair-Adder, in charge of contracting out these bioweapons that would undoubtedly revolutionize cross-realms warfare.

Zhavar, by nature, as a being from the deep cosmos, could create rifts and cross realms willfully; he had no need for oxygen and required few chemicals to metabolize into enormous amounts of energy in a process Dazarian's grandfather had termed "bio-fusion" - more than enough energy to turn the terrible creature into a living weapon, if he was rebuilt properly, or made to breed a new batch.

But there was only one opportunity in centuries to reach fabled Zhavar and call on him as a mercenary in battle, and that opportunity was coming, that horizon was about to dawn. Thrusters had been firing since his arrival on the satellite as soon as the girl, Tammy, had engaged the manual override, to bring the satellite into an intersect point with a shifting ley line. The stability of the line would not hold for long... but long enough to bring Dazarian his weapon.

"Uh... sir? The freighter's approaching, but the crew... I think it's been commandeered... but it's still on autopilot."

Dazarian turned suddenly to stare down at his aide, and smiled cruelly. "Oh really...? How very curious. What an unfortunate circumstance for our foes... but, no matter. As long as the materials on board are still intact, we have what we need."

"They'll be docking soon - shall we prepare to board?"

"Yes," Dazarian said, and then put up a hand, "but be careful. Section IV, Line 46, can be exploited for projectile stasis - that should disable their guns... but don't kill them, either. Bring them here." He chuckled. "I'm putting on quite a show... They should get to see this."

The aide muttered something and rolled his eyes as he descended the ladder into the control center; it was fifty feet below the "crow's nest" that was the Apex, hexagonal in shape and some forty feet wide. All the unnecessary consoles around the room had been switched off, the surface relays disabled to lock out the Neosapien 'Vanguard' hackers, and all over the floor were various arcs and shapes drawn in white chalk, intricate in design... They were almost ready for the summoning.

"Proto-horizon has arrived," someone announced far below. "Initiating pulse!" But Dazarian was not paying attention. He knew what would happen, what was happening - a magickal pulse was sent out into space through the satellite's long-range relays, beginning a reaction with the powerful, volatile ley line that would turn into a portal if they stuck to the procedure laid out for them. He was more interested in the approach of the freighter with Alain and Frank and a handful of Division ?soldiers? on board, floating up to dock with the mammoth satellite. It struck an imposing figure in orbit around RhyDin, a beacon over a hundred meters long, about to unleash a cosmic terror on this world?

The following post contains dialogue and concepts originally done in live RP

It wasn?t like she didn?t have a reason to be there. She had plenty. Maybe she was coming by to fix the holes in the walls. Maybe she was stopping by to wash her blood out of the carpet. Maybe she needed to grab an extra packet of blood from her dwindling supply.

There were plenty of reasons for her to be there, and each one of them was a complete and total lie.

She was there for one reason, and for one reason only. Her comm-badge, the one that Wolvie had given her, the one that had been silent for days, had suddenly chirped at her. The sudden shock of adrenaline that came with the thought that Wolvie was actually reaching out to her had been quickly dulled by the realization that he hadn?t been calling her. When she?d tapped the badge and tentatively asked, ?Wolvie??, it hadn?t been him who responded to her.

Instead, it had been the dull and emotionless voice of the computer that ran the mansion. Wolvinator, it had informed her, had used a security override to gain access to the mansion. She wasn?t really sure why, but that didn?t matter.

What mattered was that he was home. He was there. He?d been gone for days, and her every attempt at ?just happening? to run into him had failed. Now he was back, and she was going to see him. She was going to fix this.

Somehow.

He was in their -- no, his -- bedroom when she arrived. She could feel the pulsing vibrations of the sonic shower. The sensation made her shiver. There had been a time when she would love nothing more than to slip into that shower with him. The way he could make her feel, the way everything seemed to hum when the shower?s vibrations were washing over her, and his hands were...

No. She couldn?t think that way. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. Not unless she fixed this. And she was going to fix it. She wasn?t sure how, but she was going to fix it. She would stand out in the bedroom and wait for him to come out. However he reacted, she would be ready for it. Anger, disappointment, hatred, love, lust, it didn?t matter. She was prepared for anything. She would get him to see that she wasn?t now who she was then. She would get him to see that she would give up anything for him.

She stood in the bedroom doorway for quite a while, bottom lip held tentatively between her teeth, arms crossed, and shoulder against the frame. In her head, the various scenarios of his reactions played out over and over again. Her stomach twisted itself into knots. She had to be ready for anything. She had to be prepared to get him to understand.

By the time the shower shut off, she thought she would scream from the anticipation of it. He had to know she was here. He always knew when she was around. What was he waiting for?

The door slid silently open. Alystrianna?s breath caught in her throat, and she stood up straight as she prepared to greet him. This was it. She could do this. She could fix it.

?Wo--?

His name died on her lips. The figure walking out of the bathroom was bigger than Wolvie. His shoulders were broader, his hair was lighter, and his movements lacked the casual confidence that Wolvinator exuded without thought. This man, while several inches taller and with a build that could easily match Wolvie for strength, did not have Wolvinator?s innately menacing aura.

Which may have been partly due to the very small pink towel that was just barely managing to stay around his waist.

?Oh,? the man said, blinking as he came to a halt. ?Hi.?

?Who?? she sputtered, mind racing. She recognized him, although only his face. His physique was completely foreign to her, and it occurred to her that she?d never seen him in anything other than oversized dock-worker?s clothes. She?d also never smelled him when he wasn?t reeking of alcohol.

Dolus Gairu. Yes. She remembered him now. A drunk. Or, wait? Was that true? Hadn?t Wolvie said he was more than that?

But wait, Dolus wasn?t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be off somewhere. For Wolvie. Something about the desert, but that was well over a year ago.

?Where?? Aly whispered, shaking her head in mild confusion. ?H-how??

He stared back at her, looking vaguely apologetic. Then, with a tight-lipped smile, he shrugged almost comically.

That just about did it for her. She wanted Wolvie, and what she got was him. The image of him taunted her. He was another ghost of the past.

?You,? she hissed, backing up into the wall. Anger roared through her. She had been ready for anything Wolvie could say or do: anything but not be there. Her fingernails dug into the paint on the wall, and when she spoke, it was through gritted teeth. ?Would you put some goddamned clothes on? And then you?ve got thirty seconds to explain how the hell you got in here and what you want, otherwise I?m going to kick your ass back to the desert!?

Sometimes Wolvie would joke with her; tell her that she had anger management problems. She knew she had the tendency to direct her anger in the wrong direction, but right now, she didn?t care. She needed to vent. She needed to scream. He was in the wrong place. The absolute wrong place.

?Whoa,? he said, rearing back in reaction to her vitriolic anger. He lifted both hands in a gesture of innocence, which caused the tiny pink towel to sink dangerously low. Yelping, he grabbed at it, just barely managing to cover up before he gave her too much of a show. With his face turning slightly red, he spoke quickly, backing up while holding the towel over his manhood. ?Uh, it?s just that I don?t actually have any clothes. Well, not on me, anyway. I mean, obviously not on me, cause yeah: more naked than I want to be right now, but I mean I don?t have any clothes with me that aren?t dead-guy-pig-crap clothes, and I kind of threw those out, so...?

He swallowed nervously and then cocked his head to one side. ?You don?t happen to have a robe or anything, do you, uh...? He snapped his fingers a few times as his brow furrowed. Aly felt her anger rising. Finally, when it became clear he didn?t remember her name and even more clear that she wasn?t going to offer it, he finished with a lame, ?Miss??

Aly had to remind herself that he was a friend of Wolvie?s. That alone was what kept her from laying into him. She pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself down. When she glanced at him again, the towel was slipping once more. On another day she would find this whole thing incredibly humorous. Today, every peek at him just made her more angry.

?There?s a robe on the back of the linen closet on the door in the bathroom,? she said, doing her best to stay calm. ?It?s Wolvie?s. And you, sir, know damn well who I am, so you?d better tell me why you?re here.?

In her house. Wolvie?s house. Their house.

Dolus quickly retreated into the bathroom. She closed her eyes as she heard him shuffling around in there. After a moment, his slightly muffled voice called out, ?Uh, you know that I kind of live here, right??

She opened her eyes and sighed. ?No. I wasn?t aware of that.?

?I mean, not for a while,? he called back. ?And even then it wasn?t for very long on account of this whole undercover thing I had going on, but, I mean; I?m sure Wolvie told you that his old pal Dolus might be--?

His words cut off abruptly, making Aly unconsciously curl his fingers into fists. After all, Wolvie had remembered.

What if Dolus Gairu remembered too?

His brow was furrowed as he stepped out of the bathroom. Wolvinator?s robe was much too small on him. It was hardly an improvement over the towel, as he had to keep tugging down at the hem to keep from exposing himself. Wolvie wasn?t a small man, but she was starting to realize that Dolus was much bigger than he?d ever appeared before. It was hard to reconcile the drunken bum she?d remembered with this comical-yet-imposing figure standing in her bedroom.

?You smell like lavender,? he said, like it was the greatest observation in the world. Maybe he was drunk. That would explain a lot. Was this weirdo really one of Wolvie?s old friends? She had a lot of words to describe Wolvinator, but goofy was never one of them, not unless she was gently teasing them when they were alone together. Dolus, however, he just seemed like a weirdo.

Who breaks into their friends house just to use their shower? For the entire time that she had known Dolus, and that only amounted to a few weeks, he had been as smelly and dirty as any man she had ever known. The stench of cheap whiskey and scotch had seemed to follow him around like an aura. And he was going to talk to her about how she smelled?

?Yes,? she replied. ?Lavender. What?s the matter? Too pretty and clean-smelling for you? There?s some fertilizer in the shed, you could go roll around in that if it?d make you feel more at home.?

?No,? he said slowly. ?It?s not-- I didn?t mean anything like that.? His nostrils flared slightly and his eyes glazed over for just a moment. When the moment passed, he looked back to her. ?Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here, uh...Aly?? He punctuated the question with a hopeful expression on his face.

So that was it. He wanted her. Trying to get on her good side. Get himself a nice girl on the rebound, was that it? She was just going to be some conquest for him? What did he think, that she was just going to throw herself at the next guy to cross her path?

?Did Wolvie talk to you?? she demanded, taking an aggressive step forward. ?Did you come back here thinking that I?d be moping around with a broken heart and be desperate enough to repair it with whoever walked through the door? You insult me, you really do. What are you going to do, tell me how pretty I smell and make small talk?? She rolled her eyes to add to the scorn in her voice. ?Lame. And ?wrong foot? wouldn?t exactly be the words I would have chosen.?

Aly crossed her arms and glared at him. ?So. Anything else??

?No no no!? he said quickly. ?I would never say that you were pretty! That?s totally my bad. And uh, no, I haven?t actually talked to Wolvie.? He cleared his throat and added, ?I-is he here, by the way? Could I talk to him??

?What, you don?t think I?m pretty?? Aly asked, glaring at him like a cat that was about to pounce on its prey. She enjoyed the way his face paled at that. Deciding to toy with him some more, she suddenly lurched at him. ?Boo!?

Dolus stumbled back, nearly tripping over his feet. He reached out with one hand to steady himself against the wall.

?Is he here?? Aly asked in an off-handed sort of tone. She ran her tongue along her teeth and then scoffed. ?No, boy genius. He?s not here.?

?What?? Dolus muttered. He was blinking quickly and seemed very confused. Maybe he really was drunk. ?What did you--??

Aly pretended to inspect her nails. ?Do? Nothing. He left me, I think. Went somewhere with one of his boy wonder buddies. I haven?t heard from him since.? She glanced at him and asked with a tone of calculated uncaring, ?Why, is something wrong??

?You did something to him,? Dolus said. He had the palm of his hand against his forehead as he spoke. ?Wh-what did you do to him??

The accusation tore at her. For an instant, she could see Wolvie?s eyes. She could see the accusatory look in them. The last time she had seen them, there had been no trust in those eyes. There had been betrayal. Disappointment.

Hatred?

?I didn?t do anything to him!? she screamed, body tensing as she prepared to lunge at him. ?He left! He left with Alain and he?s alive and well and perfectly goddamn fine as far as I know!? Managing to calm herself slightly, she muttered, ?Why don?t you try your comm-badge. Maybe he?ll answer you.?

?You,? he repeated. Dolus lowered his hand from his head and looked directly at her. His eyes were wide. ?It was always you.?

A few days ago, the look of realization in his eyes would have made her stomach churn. She had lived in constant dread that someday her role in Weapon XII would be revealed. She had lived with the weight of that secret for years, and it had only grown heavier since she?d fallen so completely for Wolvie.

The first (and only) time that Wolvie had introduced her to Dolus, she had been so nervous that she?d hardly even looked at him. It had been only a few months after she and Wolvie had finally gotten together, and she had been terrified that Dolus would remember what Wolvie did not.

Indeed, just the sight of him in the first place had sent a shiver down her spine. His presence only compounded the sins of her past. With Wolvie, she was living a lie. She had been an active participant in the procedure that had, in many ways, ruined his life.

But she?d tried to kill Dolus. She hadn?t even known his name at the time. She?d never seen his face. There had been nothing to make the man she?d tried to kill an actual person in her eyes. It made it easier to do what she?d had to do. It had made it easier to kill a man who was being tormented.

He hadn?t remembered, of course, just like Wolvie hadn?t remembered. There was no way they could tie her to Weapon XII. After all, she had looked like a completely different person, and it was years before either of them would meet Alystrianna. It was a lifetime ago. It was a universe away.

Still, she had lived with that fear. Which would tear at her more? To see Wolvie?s eyes when he realized her far-off betrayal, or to stare into the eyes of the man she had tried to kill?

A week ago she would not have been able to answer that question. Now she knew. The memory of Wolvie?s eyes would never fade from her memory. Nothing could hurt as much as watching the trust drain from his face.

She just couldn?t care about anything else.

?Yes. Me. Ooooh, scary.? She waggled her fingers in a mockery of fright before crossing her arms in exasperated annoyance. ?Any other revelations??

?At the World Warrior Tournament,? he replied, still with that stupid look of realization on his face. He really cared about all of this. He really thought it meant anything. ?Lavender. Always lavender. At the supply camp during the Juranga Jitsu. Lavender. Weapon XII. Lavender. Always lavender. Always you.?

She felt her cheeks color slightly. She hadn?t expected him to know all that. She?d been periodically checking up on Wolvinator in the years after Weapon XII. It had never occurred to her that Dolus might have been there too. After all, he was supposed to be dead.

?You?re from Weapon XII,? he continued. ?You?re one of them.?

?You?re quick,? she spat back. Spreading her arms wide, she raised her chin towards him. ?So? What would you like me to do about that, huh? Are you here to lose a fight with me too? I?d hate to have to incapacitate you just do get you to listen. Whatever you think you know, I can guarantee you that you don?t know enough. I?m not who you think I am.?

?Yeah?? Dolus said. ?Join the club.?

They glared at each other for a moment before Dolus spoke again. ?Does Wolvie know??

Aly scoffed at that. ?Of course he knows. Why do you think he left me??

?Haven?t got a clue. You?re so charming.?

Growling slightly, Aly narrowed her eyes at him. ?Anything else? Or do I need to draw a chart out for you??

?Definitely not done,? Dolus said. He stood up a little straighter. ?I want you out of here, and I want you out of here now.?

?Y--? she began, but he kept going, ignoring her.

?If Wolvie was here -- and don?t think I?m not going to find out if you?re the reason why he?s not -- he?d want you gone too. Members of Weapon XII don?t get to stay in this house.?

Aly laughed at him, a cold, mean, mocking laugh. She hoped it hurt. ?Wolvie? Wolvie?s the one who told me to stay here! He wanted to ?get away? for a while. He knows who I am and even though he doesn?t fully understand everything yet, he?s willing to try and forgive me.?

?Guess what,? Dolus said, pointing directly at his own face. ?Not Wolvinator!?

A smug expression slid onto Aly?s face. ?Well too bad for you. This is Wolvie?s house, and if you don?t like it, you can leave!? With a slightly devilish grin she added, ?Don?t make me remove you myself.?

?Yeah, that?ll be the day,? Dolus muttered. Then he looked up at the ceiling and said, ?Computer, access external comms. Authorization Wolvinator Vlex Two-Three-Seven.?

A light and emotionless voice responded as if from nowhere. Aly felt vaguely uneasy at that. She?d never gotten completely used to how that computer could just talk to you from anywhere in the house.

?External Comms online,? it said.

?Open general frequency to Wolvinator,? Dolus said.

There was the briefest of pauses. Then, ?Admiral Wolvinator cannot be located at this time. Restate query.?

Dolus gave Aly a crooked half-grin along with a sideways glance. ?Well whaddya know. Guess that means I?m in charge around here.?

Something just snapped. That little look of superiority. That smug happiness when all she could feel was horrible remorse, it was too much for her.

?You are not!? she screamed, throwing her hands out to her sides, preparing to lunge for his throat. ?I pulled the plug on you once. I?ll make sure I finish the job this time. Do not cross me.?

He shifted slightly enough that she might not have noticed, had she not been learning from Wolvie for the last year. His weight shifted and he stood up taller. His hands raised just an inch, and his fingers curled slightly. It was a psuedo combat-ready stance. Wolvie had taught it to her for use in situations where stepping into a full combat stance might be seen as aggressive. It was a way to prepare for attack without making the enemy know you were doing it.

It was Wolvie?s move. He was STEALING Wolvie?s move.

?What did you do to Wolvinator?? Dolus asked. There was no genial tone to his voice anymore. ?No more lies.?

?He left me,? Aly said through gritted teeth. She met his dull-eyed stare and surpassed it with a look of fire and fury. ?Do not toy with me, boy. You will lose this fight.?

She hissed at him. In the next instant, she was a spirit of air, flowing from solid form into untouchable mist. In this form, she could cross the distance from here to there in the space of a thought. In this form, she was legend come to life. The others of her clan might be vampires, but only she could become one with the mist.

Alystrianna flowed across the space between them and then materialized inches from his face. With an evil grin on her face, she whispered at him, ?Boo!?

And then his hand closed around her neck. Aly evaporated into mist before he could so much as tighten his fingers, and within another heartbeat she was back across the room.

?You?re fun,? she said, trying to sound like this was making her happier than it was. She was afraid that nothing would make her happy ever again, but she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that. ?Do you really think you stand a chance against me??

The SPOR-man. The failure of the Weapon XII program. She could stand toe-to-toe with Wolvinator himself, and he was no Wolvinator.

Aly flowed across the room again and materialized just in front of him. Before he could react, she slammed her shoulder into his gut, ramming into him with all the strength and fury of a vampiress. Then she was mist again, flowing back across the room and out of his range. She reappeared on the other side of the room, grinning against the pain in her heart.

And, she suddenly realized, the pain in her shoulder. She fought the urge to rub it, and instead looked haughtily at Dolus.

He was looking down at his abdomen. Then he looked up and met her gaze. Cocking his head to one side, he asked in an inquisitive tone, ?Are you flirting with me??

Alystrianna laughed again, as loud and clear as she could manage. He thought he could get her angry? He thought he could make her hurt? He thought she cared at all what he thought about her? He was nobody.

Just the man she?d almost murdered.

Aly backed up a few paces and stepped into her best fighting stance; the one Wolvie had helped her to perfect. Even that made her heart ache. She was supposed to be seeing him. She was supposed to be talking with him. He was supposed to be here so that he could see the absolute remorse in her eyes and look back at her with that special kind of understanding that only he had ever had for her. She was supposed to be here with Wolvinator, the greatest man she had ever known.

And instead, she got him. Dolus Gairu. The idiot.

She kept up the pretense. Kept up the persona of happiness and laughter. It would protect her against the things he could say to her.

?Just figured I?d give you a little peck,? she said, and then blew him a kiss. A wider grin spread on her face as she beckoned him forward. ?Bring it.?

She would finish in anger what she had started in mercy. When he came at her, she wasn?t going to hold back. He wasn?t Wolvie.

?I try not to hit women,? Dolus said, but his psuedo-combat-stance did not change.

She stared at him.

He stared at her.

Her muscles were coiled like springs, ready to strike. Her every sense was prepared for his onslaught. She knew how Wolvie fought. She knew how Weapon XII had wormed its tactics into his mind. She knew how to handle them. She had been hand-chosen to hunt down Wolvinator himself. The only member of Weapon XII to be classified as a failure would be a cakewalk in comparison.

Maybe she?d regret it later. Maybe someday, when Wolvie had fully forgiven her, when his boundless capacity for seeing the good in others meant he could love her again, maybe then she would regret what she was about to do. But not today.

Today she was going to let out her rage, and this unfortunate bastard was going to be the--

?Computer,? Dolus said. ?Containment protocol on all biologics lacking designate: Wolvinator.?

Light flashed in front of her eyes.

***

I?m not Wolvinator. You?d be surprised how often I have to remind people of that. We got a lot in common, sure. Mutants. Weapon XII. Starfleet. We?ve been partners half the time and rivals the other half. Nobody in the world I?d want watching my back more than Wolvinator.

But I?m not him.

Sure, I could have fought her. Maybe I?d win. Maybe I wouldn?t. Just because I could feel the air ionizing around me whenever she did that little steam trick didn?t mean I?d be able to fight her if she was popping up all over the room. I know enough about magic to know that she wasn?t ordinary, even for this crazy place.

Now Wolvie, he would have fought her. The guy?s a gentleman, don?t get me wrong, but he?s got no problem gutting a woman who tries to gut him first. I don?t so much have a problem with it either, truth be told. It?s just that my policy on gutting tends to be: don?t.

So yeah, Wolvie would have fought her. Maybe he?d win. Maybe he wouldn?t. I don?t know, but I know for sure that he?d get his claws into her at least once before he was done, mist or not. Cause that?s just the kind of thing he always manages to do. If he decides to get you, he?s going to get you. It?s just one of those annoying things that he does. If Wolvinator decides to fight you, you?d better believe it?s going to be a fight for your life.

But like I said: I?m not Wolvinator. Not in any way, shape, or form.

Except one.

The computer system that ran all security functions throughout the entire estate. To that, I was Wolvinator. And to that, anything that wasn?t Wolvinator was deemed a class-3 threat, and as such was placed into a level-3 force field with complete harmonic inhibitor spectrum.

See, I?m not Wolvinator.

I?m Spornan.

And believe me when I say that means just as much.

***

?You. Are. Not. Funny!? Aly screamed, lashing out at the invisible wall that surrounded her. Yellow sparkles flashed at the point where she struck it, but her blows were otherwise ineffective. She screamed again and slashed her fingernails against it in heedless anger. ?Let me out! I?ll kill you!?

?Can you see how that wouldn?t be the most persuasive argument?? Dolus asked, raising an eyebrow at her. It only served to infuriate her more.

?Let me out! You bastard! Let me out!?

No.

Alystrianna stopped herself in mid-strike. She lowered her hands to her side and took a deep breath.

No. She was better than this. She was better than him. It didn?t matter if she couldn?t turn into mist or if she didn?t know any of the stupid codes to the stupid computer system with its stupid force fields. She could get out of this. She would get out of this.

Aly closed her eyes and took another deep breath. There had to be a way out. There had to be one of those harmonic inhibitor things that Wolvie always carried, because she couldn?t turn to mist. But what was it that he?d always said?

They weren?t 100% reliable. They didn?t work on everything. Just because she couldn?t turn to mist didn?t mean she was completely powerless. Her mind could be a weapon. All she had to do was turn her focus inward. Find the solution. Find a way out.

Something sparked across her soul, and Aly gasped and dropped to her knees.

?Wolvie?? she whispered.

Images played out in front of her eyes. Sensation and emotion crashed into her mind.

Wolvie in a dark room. Arms and legs strapped down, too secure for even his strength to break. Wolvie surrounded by strange men with rough, blue skin. They only have four fingers on each hand. Anger and fear pollute the air, making it thick and heavy.

He?s in pain. Tremendous pain. It?s enough to make her want to scream, but she knows that he?s forcing himself to remain silent. They?re the ones doing the screaming; demanding answers for questions she cannot really hear.

They will kill him. She can feel that thought: his thought. He knows they will kill him when they?re done, but he stays silent anyway. The pain makes tears sting at her eyes, makes her hands shake, makes her stomach twist and knot itself, but across the distance of her mind, Wolvinator remains silent.

Aly choked back a sob as she clutched at her head. ?Wolvie?? she whispered, hoping he could hear her. ?How did you get here??

He hadn?t been in her mind in days, but there he was. Wolvie. With her. Part of her. Completing her.

The link was disrupted by the mundane sound of Dolus?s voice. ?I thought you didn?t know where he was.?

?Shhh!? she hissed, furious at him for breaking her link. To go from feeling the soul of the man she loved to listening to this idiot?s demands: it made her heart hurt.

Aly redoubled her efforts to concentrate, blocking out Dolus?s unwanted presence and reaching out across the chasms of the soul. He was there, distant and weak, but he was there. Maybe he was trying to block her, but he had never been very good at that. She had never been so thankful of that fact.

When she opened her eyes, it wasn?t their bedroom that she saw. It was the dark nightmare that Wolvie was now in.

?He?s in trouble,? Aly said, hardly even aware of her own voice. She was not hearing with her own ears, nor was she seeing with her own eyes. ?It?s not good. I-I don?t know where he is. I?ve never seen this place before.?

Aly?s eyes darted back and forth as her mind demanded more. The images came fast and furious, blazing by her eyes almost too fast for her to see. Darkness. Pain. Angry faces roaring demands. Blue skin. Four fingers.

?Wootie,? Aly whispered. She had seen only one other man who ever looked like these men. The man who had been Wolvinator?s second-in-command. She had never called him by his real name, only by her affectionate nickname. ?There are men with him. They look like Wootie. Wootie.?

The images faded and she found herself staring at Dolus Gairu.

?Wootie,? she repeated. ?Do you know who I?m talking about??

?Wootie?? Dolus asked, furrowing his brow at her. Then his face paled and he took a step back. ?Wootuay??

?Yes!? she exclaimed, her anger forgotten in the face of Wolvie?s endangerment. She didn?t know much about Dolus Gairu, but she knew what Wolvie had told her. He trusted Dolus.

She didn?t, but she would, if it meant saving Wolvie?s life. Closing her eyes again, she tried desperately to see more. A few brief images flashed in front of her eyes, but nothing that was new. ?Wooties. Everywhere. Lots of them. They?ve got him. They?re hurting him. I-I don?t understand what I?m seeing.?

?Sh*t,? Dolus muttered. ?Computer! Disengage containment protocol! Authorization Moose Five-One-Two!?

The invisible wall that surrounded her suddenly vanished, and Aly tipped forward before she caught herself with one hand. When she looked up, Dolus was already out the door.

?Come on!? his voice called back to her. ?I?m not waiting for you!?

?*sshole,? she said under her breath before she rose to her feet and quickly moved after him. He was already at the end of the hall and pulling open the door to the emergency staircase. Aly followed after him, taking the stairs two at a time in order to keep up with him.

?You don?t have to worry about me keeping up,? she said as she caught up to him. ?You just worry about not slowing me down when we go after him.? Then, as almost an afterthought, she added, ?And I?ll let you know if I see anything more.?

He didn?t look back at her as they descended down into the sub-basement of the estate. Aly scowled quietly to herself as she followed him. It seemed like he knew what these Wootie-men were, and that was the only reason she was following his lead. He?d better know what he was doing.

?Where is it?? Dolus murmured to himself as they exited the stairwell in one of the lower levels. The lower levels were much higher tech than the main floors. The walls resembled stainless steel, and the doors were heavily fortified and highly secure. The entire place was somewhat labyrinthian, and unless she was in the Danger Room with Wolvie, Aly rarely had much use for this section of the estate.

After a few seconds, Dolus seemed to spot what he wanted. He quickly hurried off down the corridor, his bare feet slapping lightly against the glossy floor. For a moment, Aly had to suppress a grin, so ridiculous was the sight of this tall, powerfully built man padding around half-naked in a robe that was several sizes too short for him.

Dolus stopped in front of one of the larger doors. It was magnetically sealed, and she knew that one of those annoying force fields was surrounding the entrance as well. This was the most secure door in the entire estate. It had to be. Not just anyone could be allowed to access the armory. In fact, in all her time living at the estate, she had never seen anyone but Wolvinator open it. No one else had access to it but him. He?d been planning on adding her into the system for some time, but he?d always said that he couldn?t modify the security system on his own. It took two admin-level accesses to add a new admin-level access, and there had never been anyone else in the estate with admin-level access.

She?d always thought that was a little strange, but she?d chalked it up to the incomprehensible design of Starfleet technology. Probably some regulation or another that was hardcoded into the system, and since Wolvie was the only admin-level access user, that meant that he couldn?t add anyone else.

It wasn?t a big deal. He was always there to open it for her.

Except now. Now they needed access to the equipment in that room, but Wolvie wasn?t here to open it for her.

?You can?t get in,? she said when Dolus came to a halt in front of the door and began to tap a sequence on the keypad beside it. ?Wolvie has to o--?

A loud metallic thud resounded through the corridor, and there came a hiss of air as the heavy durasteel door began to slide slowly open. Aly blinked at the sight of it.

?How did you...??

?I?m Wolvinator,? Dolus said.

That made her freeze. ?What? What did you say??

Dolus Gairu turned and grinned at her. He pointed up at the ceiling. ?It thinks I?m Wolvinator. It wouldn?t, not if he?d actually implemented the security updates I sent him, but no no, he doesn?t want to go and add in a rotating spectrum-based cipher system based on the sub-spatial field equality of inter-dimensional, quasi-atomic particle decay. Overboard, he says. I?m being paranoid, he says. Pff! Well look who?s paranoid now, Mr. Dolus-just-broke-into-my-armory. What if I wasn?t me, huh? What if I was some super badguy type? He?d be in trouble then. Left this place wide-open!?

Aly put her hand on her hip. ?Are you done??

?I could?ve-- What? Oh. Uh, yeah. Take what you need,? he said as his eyes scanned the various equipment stockpiled in the very large room. He looked over several of the uniforms and SNEAK suits that were on display. Aly immediately went to her section, where Wolvie had prepared several suits for her, as well as her standard equipment for any operations they engaged in.

As she pulled off her clothes -- this was no time for modesty, and Dolus seemed too distracted to be paying attention to her nudity anyway -- she wondered what Dolus was going to wear. The only other SNEAK suits on display here were Wolvie?s, and Dolus was too tall to fit into him. And, she hated to admit it, he might have had a bigger build to him as well. Wolvie?s suit would be much too small for him.

She was just sliding into her own SNEAK suit when she glanced over to see Dolus grinning down at a somewhat dusty metal crate sitting in the corner of the room. She couldn?t remember it ever being opened. A moment later, when Dolus popped it open, she wished she could still remember what that was like, as the stale stench of old, cheap booze assaulted her senses.

Five minutes later, Alystrianna strapped the last of her chosen weapons to her body and zipped up the front of her SNEAK suit. The suit?s thin, stretchy material hugged every curve of her body. She looked like a woman ready to unleash hell.

Dolus Gairu, on the other hand, looked like a drunken bum.

His muscular physique and towering frame were hidden under a slouched posture and baggy, smelly clothes. He wore a black wool knit cap, an oversized wool sweater, baggy dark-brown cargo pants, and a pair of smudged and battered work boots. He couldn?t entirely hide his height or his build, but instead of looking like a man of intimidating height and powerful muscles, he looked like a slightly overweight blue-collar worker, albeit one who was taller than average.

?Have you ever washed those?? Aly asked with distaste. They absolutely reeked of cheap whiskey.

?Of course not,? Dolus said, rolling his eyes. ?Why would I do that??

?Ugh,? Aly groaned, closing her eyes in disgust. She had to remind herself that he apparently knew something about where Wolvie was. Pinching the bridge of her nose (both to keep some of the smell away and out of an attempt to stop the headache that she felt coming on), Aly said, ?Ready when you are.?

?Just one minute,? Dolus said, and when Aly looked to him he was grabbing various weapons from all over the armory. Knives, guns, phasers, all of them disappeared under the bulky, baggy clothing that he wore. She had to admit to being slightly impressed with how he managed to actually smuggle a pulse rifle along with him. She didn?t even want to know where he could have possibly hidden it.

Finally, when it seemed he?d grabbed half the armory?s equipment for himself, he turned back to the crate.

?Put that away,? Aly said when Dolus pulled out a half-empty bottle of whiskey from the crate. ?Last thing I need is for you to be drunk.?

Dolus snorted as he unscrewed the cap. He shook his head ruefully.

?I?m serious,? Aly said, putting a hand on one of the knives at her hip. ?If we?re going to save him, you?re doing it sober. Do not drink that.?

Tossing the cap over his shoulder, Dolus raised an eyebrow at her as he hefted the bottle in one hand.

?Drink it?? Dolus said. ?Why would I want to drink it??

Then he upended the bottle directly over his head. Cheap whiskey splashed out over her his head, soaking into his clothes. As the last of the whiskey flowed out of the bottle, he tilted his head back and let some of it pour into his mouth, where he swished it around for a few seconds before spitting it onto the floor.

?Blech,? he said, wiping the back of his mouth. The entire armory stunk like a back alley now. ?I hate that stuff.?

?What is wrong with you!?? Aly half-shrieked. ?This is serious!?

?Obviously,? Dolus said. He tossed the now empty bottle into the crate, sniffed once, and then looked up. ?Computer. Initiate site-to-site transport to location Dolus-Seventeen-Alpha. Two to beam up.?

?Wait,? Aly said. ?Where??

?Energize.?

And then they were gone.

The plasma cutters shut off ceasing the sparks and bright light that were prominent a moment prior. They had made a complete incision through the locked loading hatch, in the rear of the spacecraft, in order to gain entry from the outside.

Wolvinator was standing back a decent distance from the entryway. He knew that in a few seconds the door was going to be kicked down and he wanted to be as clear from that as possible. During the seizure of the craft there were quite a few options that ran through his mind in order to get out of the debacle. He figured playing possum wasn?t going to work quite yet; the Neosapiens were going to be furious when they found their fellow comrade lying on the floor expired. The cargo crates were too small for him to hide in, and any thought of him disposing of his weapons or communicator would eventually be found, especially if they scanned the craft initially.

He had already weighed his options.

*WHAM!*

A large object, most likely a Neosapien foot, slammed into the door. The loud bang was followed a second later by another one as the hatch crashed into the deck. Smoke from the seared durasteel clouded the now open passageway, while large Neo officers moved in to secure the area.

?Halt!? one of them yelled, pointing a disruptor rifle at Wolvinator.

?Freeze!? another followed.

This was an all too familiar scene. Within a matter of seconds, Wolvie had roughly ten disruptor rifles pointing at him, the officers nearly begging for him to make a move.

Disruptors were similar to Phasers, as they were energy weapons, however they were much less humane. Disruptors were known for their painful blasts even on lowest stun settings, and the kill setting was said to feel like something eating you from the inside out, keeping the victim alive the entire time throughout the vaporization process. Despite Wolvinator?s healing factor, he knew quite well that the kill setting on the weapon would surely incinerate every ounce of flesh on his body, even if it couldn?t destroy adamantium.

Despite their aggressive and deadly nature, Neosapiens didn?t have half the honor of a Klingon warrior. Klingon?s were extremely reluctant to take prisoners, and if they did they were used in hard labor or internment camps. They would much rather give an enemy an honorable death in battle then anything else. Neos on the other hand, would take prisoners and use them as bartering tools. If they were deemed of no value, then they would be terminated.

A few of the Neosapiens moved to check on the fallen Officer while others moved to retrieve the Phaser and pistol that was left on the deck, which was an attempt at non aggression by Wolvinator. Then, with weapons still pointed at him from multiple directions, three officers approached him. Two of them took him into custody, while the third searched his body for any weapons.

?Did you do this, Terran?? One of the Neosapiens asked while standing over the dead body and motioning to it.

Terran. It was a demonym, a term associated to humans that were from Earth or Terra. Neosapiens were one of the very few races that used that term when referring to Humans, and they chose to use it in a derogatory manner.

Wolvie responded to the individual by shaking his head.

?He?s lying.? The one searching him stated as he pulled the Starfleet communicator from his chest, showing it to the others.

?The Federation?? One of the officers, obviously a superior questioned as he stepped forward to take the communicator from him.

?Well then, who are you??

He didn?t get a response.

?Name, rank, serial number??

Still no response. However this time the Admiral was struck in the head with the rear stock of the rifle. His head jolted to the side and blood splattered from his mouth.

?Care to answer now??

?I will only answer to the Commanding officer of this vessel.? Wolvinator finally replied.

?I am the Commanding officer!?

Wolvinator, who was already looking up at his captor, shifted his gaze over to the man?s chest and looked directly at his rank insignia. A small smirk appeared on his face as he recognized the Lieutenant bars and he shifted his gaze staring directly into the eyes of his adversary.

?Bullsh*t.?

The two large blue men grabbed a hold of Wolvinator tighter as the Officer struck him again, right across the face.

?Tell me Terran, who are you?!?

?That?s enough Alcander, he probably won?t tell you.? A calm voice came from behind the group.

The Neosapiens that still had Wolvie covered from the entranceway parted, allowing the individual access to pass. A taller Neosapien male stepped forth, the Commanders were always a bit taller as those with leadership roles were groomed to be such from the brood. The Lieutenant turned back around and slightly lowered his head in respect as he acknowledged him.

?Yes, Captain Solon.?

The Captain approached the captive, curious to see who they indeed captured. Four blue fingers roughly grabbed Wolvinator?s face, surrounding it and squeezing it while picking it up to have a look at him. The ridge of his hairless brow raised in query as he tried to identify the man.

?So now Terran, you have what you requested, what say you??

?Let me go.? The words fizzled from his fishy-faced lips as he stared at the commanding officer.

?Now now, why would I do that? It looks to me like you?ve killed one of my men.?

?That?ll be the least of your worries bub if you don?t release me.? Solon smirked finding the responses rather amusing.

?Unless you haven?t noticed Terran, you are in a position that is unsuitable to make requests, or demands.?

The Captain released his face with distain, shoving it to one side as he did so, before taking a few steps backward. Out of disgust he brushed his hands against each other, trying to clean them off from any human residue that might have seeped onto his pure Neosapien skin.

?Alcander, bring the fugitive to the containment area for some? persuasion techniques, that should get him to sing like a canary. If he?s someone of importance, we could very well use him as a bartering tool for the Federation, and if he isn?t,? Solon laughed slightly then ?we?ll find the most slow and painful way possible to vaporize him.?

* * *

What would the Admiral do?

It was a question he asked himself every time he stepped into a sketchy situation. Commander Wootuay had served under Wolvinator since the launch of the USS Xavier well over a decade ago, and he served as his executive officer since Wolvinator?s promotion to Admiral, placing him in charge of the Admiral?s personal flagship in his absence.

He was nurtured by the Admiral himself to emulate his deductive reasoning, combat strategy and diplomatic conciseness. Wootuay was a tall and strong leader, which was very apparent by his outward bravado and his own inner discipline, something else that he learned to emulate from his commanding officer, but he couldn?t help but wish that the Admiral was here himself to make the right decisions in case he did not. So again he asked himself:

What would the Admiral do?

And this was his answer:

?Helm, the moment we?re in range I want you to drop us out of warp directly in-between the Neosapien Fleet and that temporal rift.?

?Aye sir.?

?Ops, send out a priority one message to Starfleet Command advising them of our situation and requesting immediate assistance.?

?On it sir.?

?Tactical, lock all weapons onto the closest vessel to the rift and prepare to fire if necessary.?

?Aye sir.?

?Mister Stonn, I want a complete situational analysis on that temporal rift. See if there is any way for us to seal in to prevent any further vessels from passing through it.?

?Yes sir.?

As he spoke his gaze shifted from station to station, handing out orders with the fluidity of a well seasoned Starfleet Captain and the confidence of an expertly trained combat specialist. He did? what the Admiral would do, proving once more why Wolvinator entrusted him with his ?baby? when he wasn?t there to do so himself.

The officers complied as the professionals they were. The subspace message was away in a matter of seconds, while the Vulcan helmsman pinpointed their exit from warp directly in front of the swirling portal in the nebula, setting up a blockade in front of the other vessels.

?Open a channel?

?Channel open.? Kli?tar, the Klingon tactical officer acknowledged.

?Neosapien vessels, this is the Federation Starship Xavier, you are in violation of Federation of Planets treaty with your presence in this system. You are herby requested to return to your own territory.?

?Captain,? Commander Stonn was the first to report as the communications link was muted. He was the Chief Science officer, the third in command to Wolvinator, and also a Vulcan.

?It appears that the rift is remaining open from a source internal to the Nebula. My analysis indicates that if we were to induce a reverse tachyon charge into the opening, it would reverse the polarity and close the portal.?

?Understood Mister Stonn, begin making the necessary alterations to the deflector array, and prepare to seal that anomaly.?

?Yes sir.?

The open channel remained awkwardly silent as they spoke, and the enemy vessels didn?t attempt any aggressive actions towards the new Starfleet arrival. Commander Wootuay waited patiently before speaking over the frequency again.

?I repeat, Neosapien vessels, this is the Federation Starship Xavier, you are in violation of Federation of Planets treaty with your presence in this system. You are herby requested to return to your own territory.?

?Well, well well.? A voice finally responded over the communiqu?. ?If it isn?t the? traitor.?

The main view screen flickered on as communications were connected and staring face to face with Wootuay was General Shiva with a rather amused look on his face. Wootuay, who was already standing, didn?t bother to budge or feel intimidated as he responded to him.

?General Shiva, you?re quite far from Neosapien space, what is your reason for personally being this far from your jurisdiction??

?It?s been a long time Wootuay. Have these Terrans humanized you yet, or are they still using you as their whipping boy??

?General, I am going to have to restate my previous query.?

?Odd,? Shiva said, leaning a bit closer to the view screen, ?is there any Neosapien blood still running through your veins? If there is, I can?t see any. You still look like a Neosapien, but you don?t act like one,? Shiva leaned back then, ?You act like a slave.?

?General, your tactics do not intimidate me. What is the purpose of your presence in this sector?? The Commander asked boldly, his voice unwavering.

?Research.?

?Research??

?Yes? Commander, research. The Neosapien Empire is rather interested as to why cargo ships and Federation vessels disappear into this Nebula for long amounts of time only to emerge days, weeks or months later. We find this to be a possible threat to internal security of the Empire.?

Wootuay crossed his arms, showing Shiva an un-amused look on his face.

?I find that hard to believe General, especially after your regimes? incursion into this sector almost two years ago.?

?Incursion?? Shiva laughed. ?We were ambushed by Federation forces while trying to explore this region of space; after all it is not a Starfleet territory, unless of course the Terrans plan on further galactic conquest by capturing this system.?

It was a mincing of words. Each side had their own perspective on the situation. The Neosapien?s still held obvious grudges with humans and Starfleet in general. Shiva was trying to find any excuse possible to justify his actions in the region, and to place the blame on the United Federation of Planets.

?This is a sovereign system.? Wootuay responded. ?Your presence in this region of space is in direct violation with Lylat?s territory restrictions.?

?Where is your Commander?? Shiva asked, taking the conversation from one segue to another.

?I am the Commander of this vessel.?

?No, you know who I mean.?

?I do??

?Wolvinator. Why is he not standing on the bridge alongside you??

Shiva knew the Admiral quite well, in fact? too well. He considered him to be one of his greatest adversaries, a warrior who championed battle after battle with Neosapien Starships, and a man that Shiva had encountered many times on subspace, and only a handful in battle. Wolvinator was Shiva?s white whale, and it was well passed the point of an obsession. Shiva wanted to kill the Admiral personally and now he was standing face to face with his flagship, which was eerily absent of its commander.

?The Admiral is currently on assignment.?

?He?s in there isn?t he?? Shiva asked, pointing toward the Nebula.

?The Admiral is on assignment, and you are not privy to the knowledge of his location.? Wootuay remained as vigilant as ever.

?So then, what?s to stop me from blowing you out of the stars??

?The fact that you haven?t done so already is more than enough reason not to, or shall I remind you what happened the last time your forces attempted to invade the system??

Shiva?s smile dropped. The last time the Neosapiens were in the system they were surprised and flanked by quite a few Federation Starships, a few of them possessing cloaking (disappearing) devices. The two Neosapien counterparts were studying each other intently with each response, especially regarding the questions of the Admiral?s whereabouts. The General knew it was quite possible that the Xavier wasn?t the only ship in range, and he could be easily outnumbered, especially since the Xavier responded so quickly.

?You?re obviously hiding something Wootuay, so I will grant you this request, if only this one time. But I intend to find out, personally, what the Federations interests are in this Nebula. Be a good slave will you, and send the Admiral my regards.?

?Why don?t you tell him yourself, next time you are in the neighborhood??

?I?ll plan on it.?

The communication ceased as the Neosapien vessels slowly pulled back in reverse. Wootuay immediately turned to his science officer then, giving his next order.

?Mister Stonn, seal the anomaly?

?Sir, in doing so, it may hinder our transport through the Nebula for quite some time, making passage from one side to the other immensely dangerous.?

?We need to do it Mister Stonn, if we can?t pass through then neither can they.?

?Aye sir.?

The deflector array charged up within seconds and emitted a small stream of anti-tachyons directly into the portal. Stonn controlled the beam with surgical precision, sealing up the large circular opening as if it were a wound being sutured shut. The Commander moved to his chair, sitting down in it calmly as he contemplated his previous interaction with the General.

?They have the Admiral.? He said to himself, puffing out a small breath. He had studied the General?s every action, facial expression, twinge and breath very carefully. The questions that he was asking, his queries, and his willingness to peacefully depart solidified that for the Commander.

?We have Wolvinator.? Shiva replied clenching his fists as the small fleet entered warp.

He was sitting on the bridge of the Valles Marineris, angered that he didn?t just destroy the Xavier when he had the chance. His officers had reported to him that the portal was being sealed and at this time it was impossible for the fleet to navigate through safely. His retreat was made in hopes that a third attempt at piercing through the Nebula could be made at a later date, in case Destiny were to fail. Shiva had also received reports of a Starfleet Officer being captured by the Cruiser Destiny, and after receiving the replies from his Starfleet counterpart he knew that was the man they had.

?I'll chase him round the Rhy?Din nebula and round the Ba?ku Briar Patch and round Orion?s belt before I give him up.?

Shiva snapped as he turned to his communications officer.

?Get a message to the Destiny before they finish sealing that hole up! Let them know they have Admiral Wolvinator and they need to kill him immediately! Don?t waste time and kill him instantly, jettison him into space, near a star for all I care, he?s too dangerous to be kept on board!?

?Sir, yes sir.?

?If he?s left alive, our plans will be thwarted and all of our efforts lost. My only regret? is that I can?t kill him? personally.?

* * *

Electrical current shot through Wolvinator?s body at the speed of light. His Adamantium skeleton acted as a lightning rod carrying the impulses through every single part of his body, and for the first time in a while the Adamantium was more of a curse then it was a blessing. A mixture of tears, snot, sweat, and blood careened over his face as he was being held almost completely naked and upside down.

His Neosapien captors had been torturing him since he was taken into custody, trying to get him speak and reveal who he was, something that he had still refused to do. He had already been beaten, vacuum choked, and now he was being electrically shocked. Unfortunately Wolvinator was no stranger to Neosapien torture techniques; it was to his benefit though that he understood the process, and it made him that much more diligent in resistance.

His body had been conditioned to withstand a variety of torture techniques, and even the Neosapiens were impressed with the level of stamina the human possessed, or so they thought he was human. If he indeed revealed his identity to them, or if they found it out, the first page of their databank entry on him would be enough for them to vaporize him alone. Wolvinator was somewhat of a legend amongst the Neosapiens. He was one of two military tacticians with the greatest success rate against the Neosapien Forces in the last two and a half decades; the other person being Dolus Gairu.

And boy, did he need Dolus right now.

After another half hour, his captors removed him from their torture device, and placed him into a cell. They feared that any further torture might in fact kill the feeble human, and instead they?d allow him time to regain his strength before applying further techniques. In twelve hours they?d return for him. Wolvinator remained conscience through the entire process, and despite his situation, he hadn?t considered it a no win scenario.

Or a Kobayashi Maru.

The Kobayashi Maru scenario was an infamous no-win scenario that was part of the curriculum for command-track cadets at Starfleet Academy. It was primarily used to assess a cadet's discipline, character, and command capabilities when facing an impossible situation as there is no one answer to the problem.

In the scenario, a cadet was placed in command of a starship on patrol near the Klingon Neutral Zone. The starship would receive a distress signal from the SS Kobayashi Maru, a civilian freighter that had been disabled in the zone after having struck a gravitic mine. If the cadet chose to enter the neutral zone in violation of treaties, the starship would be confronted by three Klingon K't'inga-class battle cruisers. The test was considered a no-win scenario because it was impossible for the cadet to simultaneously save the Kobayashi Maru, avoid a fight with the Klingons, and escape from the neutral zone with the starship intact. Electing not to enter the neutral zone to rescue the ship is considered a failure. A cadet's choice of how to handle the rescue operation gave great insight into his or her command decision making.

Wolvinator?s answer to the problem was rather unique. He had previous knowledge, from studies, on how the situation would play out. During his examination Wolvinator attempted to use his knowledge of temporal mechanics to his advantage, and attempted to travel back in time with his vessel in an attempt to save the Kobayashi Maru before it was in danger. After doing so, the simulation immediately ended for two reasons. One of them being his failure for not entering the neutral zone; the second, he was lectured by the instructor on the dangers of temporal displacement. Wolvinator proceeded to debate the issue with his instructor, stating that he would have indeed saved the Kobayashi Maru, and that the result of him traveling back in time merely by a few minutes or hours wouldn?t have resulted in a cataclysmic event.

He didn't beat the scenario, but he passed the exam, and was even commended on his temporal theories.

The Admiral didn?t believe in a no-win scenario, even in his current predicament, although he?d never tell any Starfleet cadet that. And as he lay on the deck of his cell, struggling to breathe, Wolvinator knew that they?d return for him in the next twelve hours.

Twelve hours, more than enough time for his healing factor to return his body to tip-top shape. Now he would only have one thing on his mind until they returned for him.

Revenge.

And revenge was a dish best served cold.

The Cruiser Destiny was underway, alone, and drawing in closer towards Rhy?Din. The Captain had hoped the other ships would be able to make it through the portal just as their own had, however, once the gateway had destabilized he knew that they would have to carry out their mission alone. It was something they had planned for since the inception of the mission.

The Communications and Science officers were working on the decryption of a subspace transmission they had received from the Valles Marineris shortly agter they had departed from the Nebula. It had been severely distorted and garbled from the interference generated by the portal?s abrupt closing.

Neosapiens.

They lacked a creative edge. But what creativity they lacked in was gained with hard work, technology, and resourcefulness. With those things on their side, the message they were working so diligently to uncover had fully come to light.

?Captain.? The Science officer spoke up, turning around to look at the Commanding Officer, Captain Solon.

?Yes, Commander??

?We?ve managed to piece together the transmission from the Valles Marineris, alphanumeric only, sir.?

?All right,? the Captain said as he stood and walked over to the communications station. ?Let me see what you have.?

The two officers parted away from the terminal, allowing the Captain access to view the communiqu?, which was directed solely at him.

Solon,

The prisoner you have in your possession is the Starfleet Officer Admiral Wolvinator. He is highly dangerous. Exercise extreme caution and terminate him by tossing him out of an airlock, preferably into a star or the vastness of space. Do so immediately as he is too dangerous to be kept alive. You have your orders Solon. Do not fail me.

-Shiva

?Bring up any information our computer databanks have on Admiral Wolvinator.? Solon asked with sharp alacrity.

?Sir, yes sir.?

The science officer responded quickly, accessing the computer library?s core files on known Federation officers. Coincidentally enough Wolvinator wasn?t hard to find at all. In fact, his file was quite extensive. Solon looked at the picture they had on file. It was a digital photo from several years prior, which showed Admiral Wolvinator speaking with another Neosapien Commander, through a viewing screen, onboard a Neosapien battleship. The picture was an identical match to the prisoner they had interrogated and now lay in the brig unconscious.

?Get a security detail down to the brig; no less then ten fully armed individuals. I want the prisoner taken to cargo bay three and tossed out of an airlock, now!?

?Yes Captain Solon.?

General Shiva must've truly believed this Admiral Wolvinator to be a threat if he would order his assassination without a moment's hesitation. Solon knew full well that Shiva would love nothing more than to be the one to kill Wolvinator himself. That he was giving up that chance spoke of just how dangerous this Starfleet Officer could be. He was aware that Admiral Wolvinator was some sort of extraordinary human -- possibly a mutant -- that couldn?t be killed my normal means. Throwing him out of an airlock was the only viable option.

* * *

Wolvinator lay on the deck in the same position he was left in six hours ago, his clothing was ripped and tattered and he was completely shirtless with metallic dog tags hanging from around his neck. Despite the severe beating and torture he had endured his bruises, cuts and wounds had completely healed; but he still lay there as if he were completely unconscious. Wolvie wasn?t unconscious he was? waiting.

Wolvinator was a man of many hats. He was a S.E.F.F. Special Operations Manager, a Starfleet Admiral, and a member of The X-Men, an organization dedicated to the protection of mutants and the promotion of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants, founded by Professor Charles Xavier. Since his time in the Weapon-XII program. he had devoted much of his time to two things: becoming a better warrior and learning how to curb his anger. As the years progressed his diplomatic talents had grown, moving him from a ?shoot first ask questions later? sort of guy, to a true mediator.

He had managed to walk out of Bonny Corporation Headquarters over a year ago without having to lift a finger, despite the Corporation developing an immunodeficiency virus slated at killing him. In years past, he would have lain waste to the entire building. Instead, he?d convinced them that a peaceful resolution by both sides would be the best measure to end the conflict.

When he was staring down a large Rhy?Dinian Grizzly Bear waiting to feast on Alystrianna?s flesh, Wolvinator had revved the engine of his motorcycle to scare the beast off, rather than pop his claws and dive in headfirst. It had worked, and they'd both gotten out of there without as much as a scratch on them.

And despite being beat for hours on end and tortured relentlessly, he refused to give up any information as to who he was, or what he was doing there.

He was a warrior without a war, and he had learned that it was mind over matter -- resolve without aggression -- which made him a successful leader. Part of him was numb during those situations; his feral aggression yearning to take over and eradicate his opponents, but he had learned to effectively flip that switch in his head, turning it off.

However, that didn't mean he wasn?t completely susceptible to his anger -- his rage -- taking him over. One important thing that he had learned was how to channel and control that ability, making him all the more dangerous.

Wolvinator?s danger sense alerted him suddenly. It was a mutant ability, a precognitive alert system that was built into his physiology. It could be compared to a ?Sixth Sense? which some animals possessed, alerting them when danger was afoot or if they were in a life-threatening situation. Depending on the severity of the threat, his danger sense would intensify. For the moment it was only alerting him that something bad was about to happen.

The electronic shield shut off and the door to the cell opened as ten fully armed Neosapien troops flooded into the room, all with their weapons pointed at Wolvinator who still remained motionless on the floor. He had been laying there boiling, festering and waiting for hours. All of his built up energy and aggression beckoning to be released at a moments notice.

?Grab him.? One of the officers ordered. The two closest officers -- the point men ? lowered their rifles to grab him.

That was a mistake.

His body went from limp passivity to coiled strength as he sprung up to all fours. His teeth were clenched tight, revealing his slightly elongated canines on his upper and lower pallet. Wolvie?s face was scrunched up, his eyebrows were furrowed, and there was the beginning of a growl escaping from his throat.

*SNIKT*

Three twelve-inch blades appeared from just above and in-between Wolvinator's knuckles as the quick sound of metal sliding against metal jolted from his hands. They were sharp; razor sharp, although the comparison itself was almost insulting. Razors were compared to these weapons. By the time the Neo officers realized what happened, it was too late.

He leaped into the air, spinning his claws around to slice through the stocks of the rifles before he tightened his arms in the posture of an uppercut. A bright blue flash of energy jolted outward from his fists sending a shockwave to knock back the other officers, but not before his claws ripped clean through the two point men.

?Shoooooooooooooooryuken!? He yelled as his body rose through the air like a phoenix. It was a Shotokan martial arts technique as old as time itself, and taught to him by a martial arts master a long time ago. It was the perfect representation of anger honed into technique. The other bodies in the room slammed into the floor, causing some of the officers to lose their weapons from the impact. He knew that he wasn?t going to be able to take all ten men out in one shot, but dropping two of them and creating a diversion was all he needed.

Wolvinator?s true began when he landed. He immediately went for the closest man, who was still on the ground and trying to scramble for his weapon. Wolvinator swiped at him with his adamantium claws. Two slashes later and he was already on to the next officer, repeating his previous action. Red liquid sprayed from their bodies as he clawed at them, his built-in weapons ripping through all of their vital organs like a hot knife through butter.

Four down, six to go.

Another officer was on his feet, weaponless, and barreling towards Admiral Wolvinator. His blue arms were flying like a windmill, fist over fist, hoping to strike him as he drew closer. Wolvie rushed forward as well, putting him directly in line to be hammered with large Neosapien fists. However, as each fist came pummeling down on top of him, they were met with the preciseness of his blades. Each arm was instantly sliced off, causing each to fly off in opposite directions. The Neo let out a scream, which was immediately silenced by means of decapitation.

The force was now cut down in half - literally.

Wolvinator heard the sound of an ammunition cartridge being placed back into a Disruptor rifle. His ears were attenuated to the sound. Within a fraction of a second he knew the distance and position of the sound, and then he was honed in on it. Spinning around on the ball of his foot he brought his opposite leg up in a crescent kick, striking the weapon and cleaning it completely out of his adversary?s hand.

Without waiting for the reaction of the enemy combatant, Wolvinator stabbed him directly in his chest with both claws, his fists turned upside down. Then, pulling his hands out to the side, he tore his opponent?s chest cavity wide open, rupturing all of the internal organs and killing him almost instantly.

Disruptor bolts soared past Wolvinator. All of the remaining officers had retrieved their rifles and were sighting in on him. Wolvie knew that the weapons were set to kill. It was then and there that he chose to show off his acrobatic skills. He fluidly sidestepped, dodged, and maneuvered his way through the relentless storm of semi-automatic shots, each action brining him closer and closer to his next opponent.

Finally, he rolled across the floor before he sprang up directly in front of one of the armed men. He retracted his blood wrenched claws and grabbed a firm hold of the rifle. Despite the Neosapien?s superior strength, he was still no match for an enraged Wolvinator who managed to pry the rifle free before ducking behind his opponent to use him as a living shield.

Disruptor blasts struck into the Neosapien?s chest, which instantaneously ate away at his flesh in an agonizing manner as it vaporized him. His fellow officers showed no remorse for their comrade, they had to stop him at whatever cost, even if it meant expending the life of one of their own. Wolvinator, holding the rifle with one hand, fired two blasts while still behind his cover, and vaporized two of the three remaining enemies.

His own ?shield? had vaporized by that point, leaving him completely open for attack. The final adversary let off a barrage of disruptor blasts, trying desperately to dispatch the man who had taken out nine troopers single-handedly. It was uncanny; no human being should ever be able to pull off such a feat against a force of trained Neosapien Officers.

But what they didn?t know as that Wolvinator wasn?t a human.

Wolvinator dashed off to the side, and in an instant his feet left the deck as his body flew through the air. Still holding his Disruptor rifle tightly under one arm, he repeatedly squeezed off round after round at the only remaining enemy. Bolts of phased energy screamed through the air, striking into the enemy?s blue flesh. The final opponent hardly had time to scream as he was vaporized.

Wolvie spun around as he landed; checking to see if there were any aggressors left standing. Blood was splattered everywhere, and he quickly counted six non-breathing bodies. The other four had been completely vaporized, leaving no trace that they had ever been in the room.

His body acted and moved like a well-oiled machine, his daily regiment of exercise and strength conditioning kept him in peak physical condition for encounters such as that one. This? was Wolvinator?s Berserker rage perfected. It was a warrior?s dance, a hybrid of animalistic fury and a surgeon?s precision. It was kill or be killed, survival of the fittest, and now Wolvinator stood in the unlocked room: alone and victorious.

Then, in an extreme twist if fate, the door behind him unlatched again. There was someone on the outside. It was obvious to him; the Neosapiens were aware of what had just transpired. He was caught like a rat in a cage, and the only thing he could think of was to go out like a warrior and fight. He knew that once his initial plan had succeeded he would have had to somehow make it off the ship; however. instead of making a calm and stealthy exit, he was going to have to fight an almost impossible uphill battle.

The time for negotiations and diplomacy had passed long ago; this was a fight to the death and he knew that quite well. Bringing up his Disruptor he took aim at the door, ready to fire at anything that passed through.

Perhaps today was a good day to die.

So here?s the dilemma.

The Neosapiens have somehow found their way to Rhy?Din. I don?t know how they got here and I don?t really care, but I do know that they have at least a mid-class Cruiser floating around up there. I?ve used two sources of information to come to this conclusion.

The first is the very angry, very beautiful, and very wanting-to-bash-my-skull-in woman that was standing beside me. If I remembered right, then she and Wolvie had some kind of mental mumbo jumbo whammy bammmy thank-you-mammy thing going on, which meant that she could read his thoughts. If I remember wrong, then that meant she was a crazy person, and not the fun kind of crazy like me, but the scary single-white-female kind of crazy.

But we?ll assume my memory was correct, which meant that when she saw Wolvie surrounded by a bunch of Neosapiens, it meant that what she was seeing was the truth, and Wolvie actually was surrounded by a bunch of Neosapiens.

The second source was the thing I hate about Neosapiens more than anything else. What?s this thing I hate about them more than anything else? Is it their stated goal of wiping out the human race? No, although I can?t say that endears me to them overmuch. Is it that they are, on average, smarter, stronger, and healthier than a human being? No, I?m not exactly what you?d call the average human being, so I couldn?t care less about that.

Is it that they all smell vaguely like a newborn baby?

No. It?s maybe the creepiest thing in the universe, but it?s not what I hate about them.

No, what I hate about Neosapiens, what gets my blood boiling more than anything else, what makes my teeth gnash and my head throb...

It?s their starship design.

The goddamn Sapes design starships like they?re Nerf guns. There?s no art to it. There?s no subtlety to it. There?s no ingenuity, effeciency, or beauty to it.

What, you think because they managed to design a ship that looks like a dragon, they must know something about the aesthetic beauty of starship design? Newsflash, buddy: when you?re flying in zero-G and you?ve got interial dampeners negating momentum, the aerodynamics of a ship mean exactly f*ck-all.

The Borg, now they know how to design a starship. Simple, elegant, multiple-redundancies to all systems, and efficient to the point of absurdity. You ever try to track a Borg cube? Well no, of course not, why would you want to do that? You have some kind of death wish?

But let?s say you were trying to track a Borg cube. Too bad! You can?t do it. It?s almost impossible. Those things are so energy neutral that they barely leave a neutrino wake, let alone anything you can actually follow.

Meanwhile, Neosapien ships are so overloaded with nacelles and warp cores, the damn things might as well be miniature suns floating through the cosmos. I could feel the polluted energy signature of one of their transport pods floating all over Stars End. I could track one with my eyes closed.

Literally. With my eyes closed. If you haven?t been paying attention, I can feel energy, and those Neo-designed ships are so piss-poor on energy efficiency, they might as well hang a sign up that says ?Neosapiens Here: No Intelligent Design Allowed.?

That?s Starship Design, not Evolution. Just so we?re clear.

So anyway, back to the dilemma. There?s a Neosapien Cruiser floating around the system. I?ve never known the Neos to ever send just one ship when they could send fifty, but who knows, maybe it?s just the one ship. The point is that I don?t know, and when I don?t know, I have to find out, because getting Wolvie off of that ship is priority number one. Blowing that ship to tiny, poorly-designed pieces is priority number two. Putting some distance between me and angry-Wolvie-Girlfriend-with-guns-and-mist-powers is number three.

Thus, the dilemma. Do I pull out the big guns and hope there?s just a cruiser, or do I play it safe and sneaky?

If you said pull out the big guns, then you really haven?t been paying attention.

One of the first things I did after getting to Rhy?Din was program the Mansion?s transporter systems with one hundred and twenty-eight different safe drop sites around the city. You never know when you might need to get from here to there in an instant, and you definitely don?t want ?there? to be in the middle of a firefight. Location Seventeen-Alpha put me and the aforementioned angry-Wolvie-Girlfriend smack-dab in the middle of Private Hangar Seventeen, one of many private hangar bays in the Stars End spaceport.

This particular hangar happened to be owned by a Mr. Carlito Javier, and had not been opened for well over a year.

?What? What?s going on?? Aly asked. ?Where are we??

?Pivate Hangar Seventeen,? I said. ?This is how we?re going to get off this rock and go find Wolvie.?

Aly frowned and crossed her arms as she gave a skeptical eye to the box-like transport shuttle docked in the middle of the hangar. The hull was a dull brown made even duller by a thick coat of dust. The viewport was dark and oily, and with the entrance ramp up it looked a helluva lot like a giant shoebox.

?In what? This thing??

?Of course,? I said as I stepped up to the keypad by the rear entrance ramp and started inputting the code.

?It doesn?t even have wings.?

?So??

?So how can it fly if it doesn?t have wings??

I raised an eyebrow at her as the entrance ramp began to descend. ?Half the stuff on this planet flies without wings. Are you seriously asking me that??

?Whatever,? she snapped. The moment the ramp was down she stalked up it and into the cabin. ?Let?s just go. We?re wasting time.?

I followed after her. I knew better than to keep angry-Wolvie-girlfriends waiting.

***

Lieutenant Darphonus looked down at his console. A yellow indicator light was flashing steadily, and the screen was already mapping a trajectory for the unidentified object. According to projections, the object was on an intercept course with the Destiny. Its speed and size didn?t mark it as a ballistic attack, but that didn?t matter. They Destiny was running in stealth mode, its energy signature muted by the gravitational fluctuations of the spatial anomaly, and thus should not have been visible to any but the most sophisticated of sensors.

?Captain Solon,? Darphonus said, swiveling his seat around to face the Captain?s chair. ?I?m picking up an unidentified craft on bearing two-one-three mark one-one-one. Direct intercept course.?

?What?? Captain Solon sat up straighter. ?Do we have a visual??

Darphonus turned back to his console and tapped a few keys. ?Bringing it up now, sir.?

The viewscreen shimmered, and a moment later the blackness of space was framing the image of a small boxlike transport vessel.

?A local transport shuttle,? Solon said slowly. ?Used for little else than shuttling goods and passengers between their orbital station and the planet?s surface. What is it doing so far off course??

?Unknown, sir. Transponder indicates it belongs to a Carlito Javier, a local produce transporter.?

?Produce??

Darphonus cleared his throat before responding. ?Lettuce, sir.?

?Bring phasers online,? Solon said. ?We?ll not be taking any chances. Not with a prisoner of this magnitude. Prepare a boarding party at once.?

?Phasers online,? the tactical officer announced from behind Captain Solon.

?Open a hailing frequency.?

Darphonus tapped a few keys. ?Hailing frequencies are open, Captain.?

?Unknown transport shuttle,? Solon said in a loud, clear voice. ?This is Captain Solon of the Neosapien Cruiser Destiny. You are hereby ordered to shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply with these orders will result in hostile action. I repeat. Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded.?

The viewscreen shimmered again and the face of a human male appeared on it.

?Captain Solon of the Neosapien Cruiser Destiny,? the man said. ?Please repeat previous message. I didn?t get any of it.?

Solon blinked and glanced to his comm officer. He was about to repeat the message when his mind caught up to what was said. Hadn?t heard the message? Then how did the pilot know his name?

?Power down your engines immediately! I will not order you again!?

?Captain Solon of the Neosapien Cruiser Destiny, this is General George Washington of the USS Death Star. How about you power down your engines, otherwise I?ll shoot you down with my mega super death ray.?

?What??

?Yeah! See? It?s not so nice, getting threatened like that, is it, Captain Solon of the Neosapien Cruiser Destiny? Maybe next time you?ll think before you--?

?Lock on target and fire all forward phasers!? Solon barked before slapping down on the pad on his chair, ending the communique. The man?s face vanished from the screen, to be replaced by the box-like transport. An instant later, crimson beams of energy flashed out across the bow of the vessel.

?Fire on the target!? Solon snarled. ?No warning shots, destroy the damned thing!?

?I-I?m trying, sir. The computer is having a hard time getting a lock.?

?Fire manually, then. Destroy that vessel!?

?Yes, sir. I--?

***

Dolus Gairu?s fingers were flying over his console, tapping out commands at blinding speeds.

?You really think taunting them is a good idea?? Aly asked. She was eyeing Dolus?s fingers. She?d never seen someone pilot a ship like that before.

?Of course,? Dolus said. ?How else were we going to get them to try to shoot us down??

?Wel--, wait. What!??

Dolus looked over his shoulder at Aly. ?You know what whole mist thing you do? Now would be the time to do it.?

?What? Why??

Dolus pointed to the murky viewscreen. On it, the monstrous image of the Cruiser loomed directly before them. Two points of red light were growing brighter and brighter to either side of the the ship?s forward section.

?Because,? Dolus said, tapping out commands on the keypad even as he spoke. ?We?re about to get blowed up.?

Aly had just enough time to see the red spear of light arc towards them. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and dissolved into mist.

***

?Direct hit! Target has been vaporized, sir.?

Lieutenant Darphonus scrolled through the spectrums on his comm-panel before looking up. ?Confirmed, sir. Target has been destroyed.?

Captain Solon nodded as he sank back down onto his command chair. ?Excellent. Maintain full sensor sweeps of the area. We will not allow anything to deter us in our victory.?

?Aye, sir.?

***

It was a strange sensation, to become one with the mist. She was corporeal, and yet she was not corporeal. She had senses, and yet she could not see. She was, and yet she was not. In most situations, being mist meant she moved slowly and with a kind of languid ease. It meant rolling softly through the air: untouchable.

Not this time. One second she was screaming inwardly as she could ?see? the hull tearing apart all around them. The next instant, her mist form seemed even less corporeal than before. For what felt like an eternity, Alystrianna floated through everything and nothing.

And then she was moving faster than she had ever moved in her entire life. Alystrianna?s mist-form was flung forward with such force that she would have cried out if she had a mouth with which to do so. Instead, she felt her consciousness tumble and twist as the vapor that was herself was compressed against a massive bulkhead. She wasn?t sure how long she rolled and twisted, trying to find the core of herself. It may have been as long as a full minute before she could think again.

Alystrianna slid from mist to flesh, and then blinked as she realized she didn?t know where she was. The disgusting little shoebox shuttle that Dolus had forced her to use was gone. So was Dolus. Where a minute ago she had been standing in the cramped quarters of the shuttle?s cabin, now she was standing in...what?

There were glowing red lights throbbing like heartbeats along one wall. Two other walls were heavy metal bulkheads, and the third housed a door. The floor was humming quietly in that way that only starships ever hummed. There were piles of heavy metal crates stacked all around her, making it feel as though she were in a maze. Where was she?

Something groaned.

?Unnnggghhhh.?

Aly froze for only a brief moment before pulled two stainless steel combat daggers from their sheaths on her SNEAK suit. She gripped them in a readied combat position and carefully inched her way towards the sound.

She moved the way he had taught her to move: silently, efficiently, and with deadly intent. The daggers might not be his claws, but she knew how to use them and could be just as dangerous with them.

The smell came to her first, and as Aly made her way through the makeshift corridors between the metal crates, her mouth began to water at the scent of it. Blood. And not just any blood. It smelled like his. It smelled like Wolvie?s. It smelled like life and strength and power.

She hurried her pace, leaping over the suddenly haphazardly placed crates that seemed strewn about the room, following her nose more than her eyes. She moved swiftly and silently, and before long she found him.

Dolus Gairu. He was flat on his back, and there were several heavily dented crates skewed all around him. There was a large pool of blood beneath him, and it was growing larger with each passing moment.

The scent was intoxicating, but Aly forced herself to remain calm. Still, she swallowed without thinking about it. The sound made Dolus? head loll to one side. Glassy eyes stared at her for a moment before a wide grin spread on his face.

?Heeeeey,? he said. His teeth were stained red with blood. ?Y?made it.?

Aly glared at him for a moment before sighing and kneeling down beside him. Her hand went to his neck and she checked his pulse. It was steadier than she expected.

?What happened to you?? she asked as she checked him for major injuries. ?No, don?t try to sit up!?

He ignored her, propping himself up on his elbows. ?Same thing that happened to you. I got transported up a phaser beam at the speed of light and came out going .999c.?

?What? That?s impossible.?

He shook his head. ?Nope. Just reeeeal painful.? He placed his two index fingers side by side. ?Phaser beam is here. Tracking beam is here. We beamed up the tracking beam and followed it all the way up inside their shields. I think we popped out somewhere around their phaser banks and ammo storage.?

?Popped out? At 99% the speed of light??

?Only for a tetrasecond. Then we got caught by their inertial dampener field and got slowed down. Well, relatively speaking. I think we probably hit the wall going around ninety kilometers a second, give or take. That?s why you had to be mist. I have unbreakable bones and I heal real fast. You?ve got killer abs and oversized canines. I can survive a hit like that, but you couldn?t. Not like this, at least.?

Aly sighed and got to her feet. It seemed clear that he wasn?t about to die anytime soon, and she wanted to get some distance between herself and his blood. It was making her mouth water just being near it.

Dolus grunted and got up as well. There was blood coating half of his clothing, and the smell of it was mixing in with the liquor. With him dressed like a bum and half covered in blood, he didn?t exactly look like he was going on a rescue mission.

Then he reached down and pulled his oversized sweater over his head before tossing it to one side. He had on a tight black shirt beneath it with a tactical rig over that. In an instant, he had gone from drunken bum to imposing commando. With his height and his build, he suddenly looked like a man to be feared.

Except then he grinned at her, half his face covered in his own dried blood, and said, ?Let?s go beat the crap out of some baby-smelling freaks.?

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

***

It wasn?t possible.

Squad Commander Lieutenant Gax screamed wordlessly over the chaos that had erupted all around him. He and his squad were assigned with guarding the corridor leading to the prisoner?s holding cell. It should have been an easy assignment. There were ten of his highly trained brothers in his squad, and each was more than a match for any human soldier. Another squad was guarding the corridor past this one, and there was yet another squad acting out the execution order within the cell. Gax had called it overkill in his head. Why did one human prisoner require thirty Neosapien soldiers to guard and execute?

Now he thought that thirty would not be enough.

It had happened so suddenly. One moment everything had been quiet. In the next moment Squadron Zero had screamed over the comms that they were under attack by unknown assailants. Gax had not been able to comprehend it. Unknown assailants? There were nothing but loyal Neosapien warriors on the ship. Who could be attacking them?

But before he?d had time to think, the attack had come to him. The sound of screams and disruptor fire had drawn his attention away, and he had barely enough time to get his squad into a defensive line before Toph, the leader of Squadron Zero, was sent flying down the corridor, unconscious and barely breathing.

That was when the corridor began to fill with mist. Like something out of a horror vid, a thick and blinding mist rolled down the corridor, blinding them to what was coming next.

?Suppressing fire!? Gax shrieked, and began to fire blindly into the fog. Bolts of green light splashed into the fog and passed harmlessly through it. An instant later, crimson beams of light erupted from the mist, striking two of his men directly in the chest. Both dropped lifelessly to the ground. Gax could not be sure if they were dead or stunned, but his heart told him they must be dead. They must be.

?Die!? Gax roared, and blasted a dozen more shots into the mist. ?Die! Die! Die! D--URK!?

The mist vanished, and Gax grunted as something cold bit into his chest. His trigger finger went limp, and his disruptor rifle fell from his hand. Looking down, his mouth opened in shock.

It was a small Terran woman. She could not be even six feet in height. Indeed, she was reaching up over her head just to hold the dagger.

The dagger which had been plunged directly through his heart.

Gax tried to gasp for his breath, but that attempt sent his lungs spasming. He dropped to his knees. The ludicrousness of the situation was made more biting by the fact that even then, when he was on his knees, he towered over the Terran woman.

?Where is he?? the woman hissed at him. Eerie violet eyes bore into him. Glistening white fangs poked out from between her red lips. ?Where is Wolvinator!??

Gax?s eyes flicked involuntarily to Sergeant Major Dionisys, his second in command, who had just then noticed that his commander was under attack. He swiveled his rifle around to aim directly at the woman?s back.

Red light cut across the corridor and slammed into his chest. Dionisys crumpled to the floor. Gax gasped as he realized that all of his men were down. Only he remained upright, such as it was.

?You?re going to tell me where he is,? the Terran woman said in a low, dangerous voice. She twisted the knife into his heart. ?Otherwise, this is going to hurt. A lot.?

?I?ll tell you nothing,? Gax managed to gasp. ?Nothing!?

Footsteps made him shift his gaze. There was a Terran male coming up behind the female. He was much taller than she was, though still shorter than any Neosapien. He was powerfully built however, with a physique that would rival that of any of his brethren. He held a standard issue Federation phaser rifle in both hands.

Starfleet.

The woman?s nostrils flared, and her pupils dilated as she glared at Gax. ?He?s in there, isn?t he? How do we open this door??

Gax grinned at her. ?Only I have the code. And you?ll never get it from me, human b*tch!?

?Ooh,? the man said, wincing. ?I barely know her and even I can tell you that was a major no-no, baby-breath.?

The woman lifted her free hand. In it was a second shining silver dagger.

?You just had to go and make this fun for me,? she said. The knife plunged down into his side, causing Gax to scream in agony. ?Didn?t you!??

In that same moment, three things happened.

First, shimmering light filled the corridor as a dozen heavily armed Neosapien commandos appeared just behind the large Terran male.

Second, the large Terran male spun on one foot and thrusted out with the other, kicking the closest of Gax?s reinforcements in the chest.

Third, all hell broke loose.

***

?I didn?t think. I just reacted.?

I hear that said a lot, especially by soldiers. They say that when the battle begins, they stop thinking. Their bodies move of their own accord. They react without thought: quickly and decisively. They say that it?s warrior?s instinct.

Well I?m not a warrior. Never have been, and don?t ever want to be. I don?t react without thought. I don?t stop thinking.

God, I never stop thinking.

And as I was kicking into the chest of the leader of the Neosapien reinforcements, I was thinking about just how stupid I?d been for not setting my phaser rifle to a pulse discharge once we?d subdued the other guards. If I had, then the reinforcements would never be able to get the transporter?s annular confinement beam into the corridor.

I was thinking about more than that too. I was thinking about how I had to kick into the leader?s chest with all my strength so that he would topple backwards and into the four men behind him. That would give me the half-second I needed to swing my phaser rifle up and slide my finger down the pre-programmed macro bar I?d set up on all my phaser rifles.

Now I had two seconds before the rifle went off like a small grenade, and I was thinking about how I was going to get that rifle behind at least two of the Neos before it went off, because I did not want that thing blowing up in my face. The last thing I needed was to be tripping balls on several gigajoules worth of pent-up phased energy.

The kick worked, so the leader was falling backwards, his disruptor rifle firing aimlessly into the ceiling, which I sure hoped was shielded against disruptor fire, otherwise we were going to get most of the upper decks falling down around us. His shots provided confusion however, making his comrades stay confused for just a split second longer than they would have otherwise remained.

That gave me enough time to spring at the leader and grab at his collar. I used it as leverage to yank myself up and toss the rifle in a sweet hook-shot over the heads of three of the other commandos. Then, my feet still off the ground and my hand already on the leader?s collar, I used my momentum to swing around the leader?s thick Neosapien neck and yank down on his trachea, causing his knees to buckle and drop him down to his knees. I kept my momentum up and twisted my own body, yanking him all the way around so that I had my arm around his throat and his body facing the commandos in the very same instant that my phaser rifle exploded right in the center of them.

So now I had a body to use as a shield, but I was thinking that that wasn?t the best situation to be in. Not with Neosapiens. There would be no hesitation in blasting their leader into oblivion if it meant getting at the intruders. Plus, in another two seconds I figured they would stop paying attention to the guy attacking them and start paying attention to the girl ?interrogating? one of their guards. That was going to be a problem.

I shoved the leader forward, kicking him in the back as I did so. He was propelled into the chaos of the explosion. I didn?t think it would kill any of them, but it would probably knock them around enough so that I could get this done.

One of the commandos must have been born in a particularly nice vat, because he reacted faster than any of his buddies. Just as their leader was stumbling into the chaos of soldiers being blown back from the explosion, this guy was raising his disruptor rifle to my head.

At the same time, I was thinking that letting him fire a disruptor point-blank at my temple was probably not the best idea. Maybe I could take a blast to the head without vaporizing. My adamantium skull would survive, but even if I managed to absorb the energy, I?d be so out of my gourd that I wouldn?t give good odds on anyone surviving: and I mean anyone.

So I shoved my head towards the disruptor?s barrel. The duranium casing scraped against my forehead, slicing open a gash that would soon have blood dripping into my eyes. At the same moment, I was thinking that I couldn?t count on my healing factor to close the wound before it became blinding, which gave me even less time.

The disruptor rifle fired right beside my ear, and I was momentarily deafened by the discharge. The green bolt of energy splashed against the wall behind me just as I continued my headbutt forward and into the chest of the Neosapien in front of me. I would have preferred to headbutt him in the nose, but I couldn?t exactly reach. I?m taller than most guys, but I?m not taller than a Neosapien. He had at least a foot on me.

Still, an adamantium skull to the solar plexus will knock down even a genetically engineered superman, and this Neo was no exception. He gasped and dropped to his knees, which was exactly what I needed him to do. I wrapped my hands around the back of his head and threw myself around his body, using him as a pole to double-kick two of his buddies in the sides, just as they were recovering from the explosion of my phaser rifle. The tingly sensation I felt in the air all around me told me that no one would be transporting within at least four decks of us for a good hour at least.

Once my feet were back on the ground, I was thinking that I needed to finish this quickly. I swung a hard kick into the face of the Neo whose head I?d just used as a pole, then quickly pressed my palm out towards the closest one who seemed to be recovering. A blast of stored energy erupted from my palm and connected with the side of his head, causing him to crumple to the ground.

Before he was fully collapsed, I was thinking that I was in a pretty good position to get shot in the back, so I dropped to the ground rolled to one side just in time for a disruptor bolt to go sailing over me. I kicked out at the legs of the shooter and then sprang back to my feet. The shooter?s disruptor was arcing through the air, so I grabbed the barrel and used it as a club to knock out three more attackers in quick succession.

It was right around then that I was thinking that Neosapien disruptor rifles weren?t known for their operational durability when used outside normal parameters, and sure enough, little sparks of green energy were beginning to leak out of cracks in the casing.

And just as I noticed that, I was thinking that the Neosapien to my left who was screaming a battlecry about my mother was kind of stupid for letting me know he was there. I was also thinking that I could kill two birds with one stone, so I held the disruptor rifle out at arm?s length and then swung a heavy kick at it to send it careening into the Neosapien?s chest. It was already in the process of spilling out whatever nasty substance the Neo?s charge those things with even before it hit the guy, and judging from his much more panicked screams when it finally did hit him, it wasn?t exactly pleasant.

By then there were only a handful of the reinforcements left, and they were all weak and confused from the phaser rifle explosion. I took them down one by one, striking in key vital spots like the temple, jugular, solar-plexus, and base of the neck. As I did, I was thinking about how strange it was that the guys who?d designed Neosapiens had left all of those vulnerable spots intact. You?d think that if you were designing bigger, better human beings, you?d get rid of all that stuff.

Then again, kicking a Neosapien in the crotch does exactly jack sh*t, so maybe they figured that was enough.

If that?s what they were thinking, then they had thought wrong. Because if my estimations were correct, a good seven seconds after the reinforcements had arrived, they were sprawled across the corridor, unconscious, moaning, and generally being pretty darn vulnerable.

I took one last look over the group. Nobody was moving, but I picked up any disruptors that seemed close enough for a waking Neo to grab. Then I turned back to Aly, who was standing with a hand on one hip and eyeing me with amusement.

?Are you done?? she asked.

?I think so,? I said. ?Thanks for the help, by the way.?

She scoffed at me and lifted a small datastick between two fingers. ?I was getting the code. What, you want me to do everything??

I rolled my eyes and tossed her one of the disruptor rifles. The others I tossed against the wall and then fired a quick palm-blast into, effectively destroying the lot of them.

?Neat trick,? Aly remarked.

?It?s not turning into mist, but it works for me.?

?Whatever,? Aly said, then turned to the datapad beside the large door behind her. She swiped the stick against the pad and then tapped in a few numbers. The heavy latch echoed loudly as it disengaged. I readied my disruptor. Aly readied hers. On the ground, the bleeding guard moaned wordlessly.

The door slid open.

(The following was written in a collaborative effort by the players of Alystrianna D'Vaustaival, Dolus Gairu, and Wolvinator)

The door slid open.

Wolvinator was kneeling down roughly fifteen meters behind the door to the compartment as it opened. He had remained steadfast with his aim, his sights set on the upper-middle part of the door, directly where a Neosapien?s chest would no doubt appear. Despite being an expert marksmen, headshots weren't always the smartest option. His military training had taught him to aim at the largest area on his target, and at the place where even if his shot was just a bit off, he would still be sure to hit enough vital organs to put his opponent down. Just like a human being, nearly all of the vital organs of a Neosapien were located in the exact same place: the chest.

Despite being engineered to be better, Neosapiens didn't have the multiple redundant organs that a race like the Klingons might have. No multiple hearts, no extra stomachs, nor any hard bone casing around the throat and lungs. They were practically human on the inside, just much larger. An expertly aimed blast into the chest would ensure certain death; not to mention vaporization.

He closed his left eye and peered through the sight. His finger, still wet with the blood of his fallen adversaries, tightened around the trigger. He was ready to squeeze off a round the moment his next target was in sight. His breathing was calm and controlled. Air was inhaled through his nose and slowly exhaled through his mouth, helping him to keep his aim steady and his sights on the target.

The seconds ticked away slowly. The simple action of the door opening felt like an hour instead of only a few seconds. He was a focused hunter, and nothing was going to stop him from eliminating whatever walked through that door.

Except... that.

When the door finally opened all the way, he didn?t see a Neosapien chest. He saw something else. He saw the top of a head: a human head. It appeared in his sights as he realized it was attached to a woman. A dark-haired woman. This, and this alone, was the only thing that made Wolvinator hesitate from firing.

"Oh for God's sake Wolvie, would you put the goddamn gun down?"

Rolling her eyes, the woman strolled almost casually into the room, a grin spreading across her face.

Wolvie stared at her in shock. Aly? Aly was here? That wasn't possible. She couldn't be here. It didn't make sense.

Was she working for them? Was she working for the Neosapiens? She'd worked for his enemies before. God. If she was working with the Neos...

As horrible of a thought as it might have been, when he last saw Aly, they hadn't necessarily parted on the best of terms. The two of them had discovered a stunning revelation. With the assistance of her Vampiric psychic abilities she had helped him discover that she had once worked for the Weapon-XII program as both a doctor and as a would-be assassin. This was same program that was responsible for surgically grafting the unbreakable Adamantium alloy to the bone structures of both Dolus and himself in an attempt to turn them into living military weapons. After an enraged Wolvinator had nearly killed her, Alystrianna had managed to bring him to his senses long enough to reconcile temporarily, before he had set out to locate the Neosapien insurgency.

Despite these harsh thoughts, the smell of her lavender and the sight of her gorgeous features placed those thoughts, and his heart, at ease. As always, it didn't seem within him to stay mad at her. It just wasn't a part of him to distrust her for very long.

But was she really here for him? How did she possibly get here? Could he afford to trust her again?

"Well we came to save you, but it looks like you've done a pretty good job of that yourself so far," Aly said. Her fingers combed through her hair in that unconscious gesture she always did when she wanted others to think she was cool, calm, and collected. He had to fight the urge to smile.

"How?" Wolvie stammered. "How did you--?"

A moment later, another head poked its way into the room, this time barely a few inches above the floor. Dolus glanced all around the room before his eyes settled on Wolvie.

"Ah," Dolus said. "There you are. You ready to go, or what?"

It was Dolus. That was how she'd gotten here. Dolus had brought her. It was simple as that. He didn't have to wonder how they'd done it, and he especially didn't have to wonder why. That was because nine times out of ten, when Wolvinator was trapped with his back up against the wall and no where to turn, no hope of escape, no choice but to fight to his certain death: Dolus showed up.

And that's when things got fun

Still, there was no point in letting Dolus know that. Cause that was another kind of fun altogether.

"'Bout time you showed up," Wolvie said as he got to his feet, letting his stolen rifle drop to his side. "How in the hell did you two find me?"

"Psychic powers and the horrors of Neosapien starship design," Dolus said, taking one more survey of the room before he straightened up and stepped inside. His own disruptor rifle swung from corner to corner, checking his perimeter before he looked back to Wolvie. "It was only slightly impossible."

"It's clear." Wolvie said as he watched Dolus check to make sure the room was secure. There was no point in telling Dolus that, of course. The day Dolus Gairu didn't sweep the perimeter upon entering a room was the day Wolvie would know he'd finally lost it.

Aly tapped her head and then pointed to Wolvie.

"You still suck at keeping me out of your head," she said. "Thank God." Smirking, she looked him over and shook her head. "You look like hell, but you're alive. I'd hug you, but you smell like rotten cow stomach mixed with pig sh*t."

"Yeah, I gotta admit, your perfume is definitely makin' the room smell a helluva lot better. And you think I smell bad to you? Try taking a sniff with this old nose," Wolvie said, tapping his nose with the tip of his finger. Aly smiled and looked back at Dolus and then to Wolvie.

"So are we getting the hell out of here or what?"

"Ooh. Getting out of here," Dolus said before sucking air in through his teeth. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah. Getting out of here is going to be something of a problem. Remember how we kind of blew up our ship?"

Wolvie's eyes widened again as his eyebrows went up. "You f*ckin' did what?" He demanded as he stepped towards Dolus, keeping a keen eye on the door to make sure that there weren't any other troops about to come barging in on them.

"We had to pull the ol' Blow-and-Beam just to get onboard," Dolus replied. "Transport's just so many atoms floating off the port side by now. Getting out of here's going to mean some quick thinking." He held up one finger. "We could try and steal one of their shuttles, but they might shoot us down." He held up a second. "We could try to sabotage their targeting systems and then steal a shuttle, but there's three of us and like a bazillion of them." He held up a third finger and added, "Or we could just try to shoot our way to the shield generators and shut those down."

Wolvie thought about his options for a moment as he looked back and forth between Dolus and Aly. Dolus had a point. Several, in fact. The three of them against an entire cruiser full of Neosapiens was not going to work. Not as a head-on attack, anyway. They would have to be smart about this. They needed to use the Neosapien's own ship against them. Turn their strength into a weakness.

"They've gotta have E-Frames onboard." Wolvie mentioned. The robotic exoskeletal battle suits were largely out of service in Starfleet, but the Neosapiens would never go anywhere without at least three squads worth. E-frame's could still be formidable weapons with the right pilots. Even better: they were each loaded with enough power cells to take out a small bunker.

"I'd suggest we split up and go all three," Wolvie continued. "But then again that might just be too dangerous. Might be our best option to get to one of the shuttle bays, jettison a bunch of E-Frames, and steal ourselves a shuttle."

"I'm on board with whatever you two think best. You know starships better than I do." Alystrianna added.

Dolus closed his eyes for a moment. Wolvie said nothing as he watched him. He knew that look. Dolus was probably running schematics through his head at that very moment. If he concentrated, he thought he could almost feel the ambient energies buzzing quietly all around them as Dolus was feeling the layout of the ship. Wolvinator had seen him do this trick before. It would be almost eerie if he didn't know how much time Dolus spent studying starship schematics, or how damned intuitive a person could be when they could feel energy.

"Uh, hello? Guys?" Aly said, brow furrowing as Wolvie and Dolus stood in silence.

"Okay," Dolus said after a long moment. "If I'm right, shield generators are located two decks up, but there are probably redundancy systems on deck sixteen, thirty-two, and probably deck seven, but don't quote me on that last one because that was an old report."

Wolvie frowned. If Dolus thought there were redundant shield generators, then there were redundant shield generators. He'd learned a long time ago to trust Dolus' energy abilities, not to mention his obsession with starships. "That rules out takin' out the shield generators."

Dolus nodded at that. "Yeah. That makes the E-frames our best option."

"We jettison the E-frames in their hangar bays..." Wolvie said, a feral grin coming to his face.

"...And let them all go splat against the shields," Dolus finished for him. "Boom..."

"...Instant overload!"

"...And then I'll pilot us out through the debris," Dolus chirped, grinning broadly.

"You mean I'll pilot us out," Wolvie corrected.

"What? No way, we need the best pilot we've got for a job like this."

"Yeah," Wolvie said. "Me."

"What? I'll fly rings around you, buddy!"

"You couldn't fly rings around a goddamn circus, bub!"

"Boys," Aly said before clearing her throat. "Escaping. Kind of a big priority, remember?"

"Right. Yeah. Sure. Fine. Escaping," Dolus said, eyes darting back and forth as he stalked towards the door. "We'll figure out who flies once we get to that point."

"Yeah," Wolvie said, following after him, a wide grin forming on his face. "Me."

With banter like this, they were going to be un-friggin'-stoppable.


* * *


The body hit the wall with a wet crunching sound before it slid slowly down into a slumped position. The Neosapien soldier's fingers went limp and his disruptor rifle fell away from his hand. Inwardly, Wolvie breathed a sigh of relief. That was the last of the assault team that had been guarding the corridor leading to the hangar bay. He wasn't sure if they could have taken any more reinforcements.

"I'm telling you," Dolus said, panting heavily as he put his hands on his knees. Sweat was dripping down his face as he took a moment to gasp for breath. "These Sapes are getting soft. This batch was probably all a bunch of preemies or something."

"Yeah," Wolvie replied, out of breath as well. It took him a moment to gasp in some air before he added, "Bunch of pansies, I really doubt they had us in mind when they were sendin' this ship through that wormhole." he added in sarcastically.

Wolvinator pulled back the action on the disruptor rifle to reload after he dropped his original -- and empty -- rifle to the ground. Beside him, Aly was doing the same, only she'd commandeered two rifles instead of one. She stood with one in either hand. The sight of her made him stare. There was never anything quite like Aly when she was getting ready to kick some *ss.

"Stare later," she said, winking at him. "You can think about how hot I am after we escape."

Wolvie rolled his eyes as he turned towards the hangar. As he'd suspected, the E-frames were all there, lined up and ready to be deployed. He was pretty sure if he detached the primary couplings for the first line, he could force half a squad's worth out the airlock.

"I'm pretty sure I could think about how hot you are and escape at the same time," Dolus said.

"Not if you want to keep breathing you can't," Aly snapped back at him.

"Children, please," Wolvie said as he knelt down and lifted up one of the fallen Neosapien soldiers in a fireman's carry. "Let's try and focus. Aly, can you watch the door?"

"Yeah," she said, frowning slightly. "But what are you doing?"

"E-Frames are security coded for Neosapien DNA only," Dolus answered for her. "Can't charge up the power cells without proper ID."

"What about shuttles?" Wolvie asked with a grunt as he began shifted the Neosapien to one shoulder. Then he reached down and scooped up a second body, slinging that one over his other shoulder. With an eight-foot tall genetically engineered human on each shoulder, he looked back at Dolus. "Those hardcoded too?"

Dolus shook his head. "Shuttles? Nah. They don't put nearly as much sec--"

"And you're standing around here talkin' to me when you could be hackin' into it...why?"

"Oh," Dolus said. "Right! Good idea."

That was when a disruptor blast sliced past Dolus' head, missing him by mere inches. The blast fizzled into the wall a beside him.

"Incoming!" Aly cried, dropping to one knee and returning fire with both of her stolen disruptors. "Get moving!"

Wolvie didn't hesitate. He began moving at once, carrying both unconscious Neosapiens towards the line of E-frames. He could hear the disruptor fire erupting behind him as he went. Half of him wanted to go back and help Aly. He could hardly stand the thought of leaving her there to fend off the attackers by herself.

The other half of him was smarter than that. Aly knew what she was doing. She was as capable a woman as he'd ever met. He had to trust her. He'd sworn to himself he'd never trust her again, but there was nothing else he could do. They all would have to trust one another, if they wanted to get out of the situation alive. Aly didn't know how to hotwire a Neosapien shuttle or spoof a DNA scan of an E-frame. He and Dolus did, so that left the job of holding off the Neos to her.

But that didn't mean he couldn't haul *ss to get this done as quickly as possible.

As he'd suspected, the primary coupling was easy to slice through. Adamantium claws and torture-borne rage cut through the duranium mechanism like a hot knife through butter. Starting up the power cells was harder, especially since he could hear more and more disruptor blasts fizzling against the walls all around them. If even one of those shots managed to hit Aly...

He couldn't think of that. He had to move quickly. Each Neosapien soldier would only fire up one E-frame, so he was forced to make several trips. It only took him a few seconds to tap in the startup sequences once he'd gotten the DNA-scans completed, but going back for more bodies took longer. It took almost two full minutes for him to charge up the power cells on enough E-frames to theoretically overload the Cruiser's shields upon impact. In any other situation, he would have taken the time to start up at least a half-dozen more E-frames, just to be on the safe side. But with the intensity of the fire that Aly was under, he was not going to spent one extra second.

With the final E-frame charged up, Wolvie sprinted back towards the door, dodging disruptor fire as he went. His danger sense was screaming at him at an almost constant clip, but it still managed to help him duck, slide, jump, and otherwise avoid blasts that could have easily disintegrated most of his flesh. By the time he slid against the wall on the other side of the gap of the door, there was enough fire coming their way to make him think they had two full squads out there.

"Tell me we're retreating!" Aly shouted as she ducked back behind the wall for only a few seconds. Her hands moved quickly as she ejected a power cartridge before loading in a fresh one. Then she was sticking her head out the door again as she fired a volley of blasts at their attackers. "Cause we're not holding this much longer!"

"We're retreating!" Wolvie called back. "I'll cover you. Three. Two. One!"

He leaned around the wall as he shouted the last word, two stolen disruptors set on full auto. Two-hundred rounds of directed energy spat forth from twin barrels as he let out the loudest battle scream he knew of, hoping to instill just a little more apprehension in the Neos. Aly acted with the cool efficiency he expected of her. She moved back towards the shuttle, her guns still drawn in the direction of the door. After a few second she cried out, "Go!"

He went. Wolvie jumped back from the door as this time, Aly covered him. Disruptor blasts zoomed over his head as he retreated back towards Aly. The Neosapien's returned fire quickly, and he was forced to resume firing in order to keep enough of them down. Reinforcements were swarming the corridor beyond the hangar door. Another few seconds and they wouldn't be able to create enough suppressing fire to keep them all down. When that happened...

Aly was screaming as she fired her rifles into the corridor. She was half-crouched, one leg extended to steady her as she continued to spit disruptor blasts at them. Wolvie risked a single glance at her before he looked back at the shuttle. The shuttle's entrance ramp was closed. Pre-flight procedures did not allow it to be extended while the engines were being charged. He just hoped to God that Dolus was paying attention.

The reinforcements continued to pour into the corridor. Aly was taking down as many as she could, but her disruptor's were going to run low on ammo soon. His own blasts were taking down target after target, but it didn't matter. They didn't have enough power to take out an entire Cruiser's worth of soldiers with just four rifles between them.

They were dead.

So Wolvinator did what he always did when his back was against the wall and it seemed like there was no other choice but to fight to his certain death. He trusted that Dolus Gairu was going to save his *ss.

Wolvie threw his rifles to either side and swiveled around. Pushing off against the ground with his right foot, he half-tackled Aly, his arm encircling her waist. She yelped in surprise as her rifles fell from her hands. He ignored her shock and dove towards the sealed-shuttle with all the strength he had left in him.

"What are you doooooiiiinnnnngggg!!???" Aly screamed as the two of them sailed through the air, hit the floor, and slid several feet into the cold and unyielding metal of the closed entrance ramp.

*WHUMP*

*FIZZFIZZFIZZFIZZ*

"Saving our lives," Wolvie said as he looked up at the shimmering field of energy that had extended all around them. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the hundreds of disruptor blasts fizzle harmlessly against the shuttle's deflector shield-bubble. The shield-bubble that the pre-flight procedures demanded be extended no more than six-inches around the hull of the shuttle while still in the hangar. Only a crazy person would ever extend the shield bubble while docked. A crazy person.

"Everybody still here?" a voice said as the entrance ramp slowly extended. Dolus Gairu's head poked out and look around. "Anybody get vaporized?"

Wolvie looked up at him without moving. "Tell me you upped the shields, you crazy bastard."

"I upped the shields, you crazy bastard."

Wolvie grinned and let out the breath he'd been holding for a while. "Goddamn right you did. Goddamn right."

"Will you two stop flirting with each other and get us the hell out of here?" Aly snapped, although Wolvie noticed that she made no attempt to remove herself from his arms.

Dolus looked out at the disruptor fire that was still fizzling harmlessly against the shield. He grinned down at Wolvie and Aly. "Air Dolus is ready to depart. All aboard."


* * *


"Hard to port!" Wolvie shouted.

The shuttle lurched to one side, just in time to avoid the Cruiser's heavy phaser fire. Dolus's fingers were flying over his console while Wolvie watched the sensor readings. It was taken all of his self-restraint to keep from pushing Dolus to one side and taking the helm himself, but he knew from experience that there was no better pilot than Dolus Gairu. Not that he'd ever tell him that.

"You running pattern Epsilon-Four again?" Wolvie asked as he felt the familiar lurching of momentum as the shuttle took evasive action. The Neosapien Cruiser was bearing down on them. Their little trick with the E-frames had worked, allowing the shuttle to escape the bay and get out of the cruiser's shield range, but now they had to contend with one very angry starship full of Neos hunting down a very defenseless little shuttle.

"It's working, isn't it?" Dolus replied, tapping more commands into the console. The stars outside the viewscreen spun in a dizzying fashion, causing Aly to grab onto Wolvie's shoulder. He said nothing. Star travel was hard on a newbie, but evasive action in a shuttle was something else entirely. He wasn't about to make fun of her for getting a little disoriented.

Not yet, anyway. He'd save that little nugget for later.

"Just thought you'd have learned something new by now," Wolvie said. Then he frowned as he read the sensor readings. "They're jamming us."

"Does that matter?" Aly said. "Who's going to help us against that thing?"

"Locust," Dolus replied. "If we can get a message out anyway. I probably shouldn't have put it to sleep."

Aly opened her mouth to reply, then paused and closed it again. She blinked for a few seconds and then said, "You know what? I don't want to know."

"We can get out of this," Wolvie said, eyes glued to the sensor readings. "If we can get a signal out."

"I'm boosting everything we've got, but I can't get out past that jamming," Dolus said, then grunted a second before the entire shuttle lurched to one side. "I can keep them off of us for a little while, but not forever."

"A little while's all we need," Wolvie said. He grinned as he spotted it. "Adjust heading to 213 mark 119."

"Two one...holy sh*t!"

The stars in the viewport swirled again as the shuttle made a drastic swivel to one side. Then, centered in the viewport and hanging quietly in space, was the one thing they needed.


The RNN communications satellite.

(The following was written in a collaborative effort by the players of Dolus Gairu and Wolvinator)

Disruptor bolts streamed across the bow of the Stars End shuttle transport as the craft was rocked from side to side. Alystrianna was still holding on tight, trying her hardest to not look at the view screen, which was showing the vastness of space with a billion stars spinning in constant circles. It was enough to completely disrupt the equilibrium of anyone who wasn?t a formidable space pilot, not to mention a casual space traveler.

There was a hornet?s nest of Neosapien Exo-Frames swarming behind the transport, desperately trying to catch up and adjust to the constant flight pattern changes of the two experienced pilots at the controls.

Their roles had changed for the moment. Wolvinator had control of the ship, while Dolus was working on getting them onto, and into, the RNN satellite.

?How?s it coming?? Wolvie asked, practically shouting over his shoulder at Dolus.

?Hard to say. Anywhere from thirty seconds to two minutes. The damn Neo?s jamming signal keeps dropping the uplink to the satellite.?

The transport jolted again as they took another hard hit to the shields. Wolvie vigorously tapped away at the controls and shouted out their heading.

?Adjusting heading to one-eight-zero mark two.?

Aly?s eyes couldn?t help but be forced open as she watched the screen in front of her. Instead of countless dancing stars in front of them, the planet of Rhy?Din filled the entire viewer.

?Wha-what are you doing?? she asked, watching as the ships heading was directly in line with the planet. ?I thought you said we had to get to that satellite thingy.?

?Hold on??

?Warning,? the computer alarm sounded. ?Shuttle is on a direct course with Rhy?Din. Please alter heading to avoid impact.?

Within a matter of seconds the bow shields lit up with deep oranges and reds as the vessel entered the planet?s atmosphere, giving the effect that the ship itself was on fire, due in no small part to the erratic trajectory that Wolvie had put the vessel on. From any ship traveling in the ocean below, it would appear as if a comet or shooting star was streaming through the sky.

The shuttle?s cabin shook violently while various gauges, sensors and alarms screamed out at Dolus, Aly and Wolvinator.

?How we lookin??? Wolvie asked.

?Almost there,? Dolus answered.

?Alright, I can?t hold this course much longer. I?m going to bring the Warp core online.?

Aly didn?t know all of the logistics involved with space travel. She wasn?t a pilot, or a Starfleet officer, but that didn?t mean she was completely na?ve in regards to space flight.

?You?re gonna do what?? The question screamed out of her. ?We can?t warp into the planet!?

?Fifteen seconds.? Dolus spat out while the ship traveled further and further into the atmosphere. From behind the ship, the large contingent of Neosapien fighters also entered the atmosphere. The two men had managed to put a great deal of distance between themselves and the Cruiser, but the Exo-Frames were vastly approaching.

?Alright?? Dolus said slowly, ?Ready?steady?Now! Punch it!?

Alystrianna squirmed and squeezed onto the back of Wolvinator?s chair. Ducking her head down while sealing her eyes shut. The ship?s heading jerked abruptly as Wolvie once again changed the ship?s heading. This vessel wasn?t a top of the line fighter and the old clunker nearly flew apart at the seams. A few of the deck plates flew loose, slamming into the bulkheads with loud crash. The acceleration completely slowed down as the nose of the shuttle was now facing back towards space, and more importantly the RNN satellite.

?Inertial dampeners online and holding,? Dolus reported, his fingers tapping away at the warp configuration panel even as his eyes scanned over the satellite uplink. He'd routed four separate command-control functions to his console, and was managing to multitask at jobs normally performed by multiple pilots. "Atmospheric warp shell is stable.?

?Roger! Engaging warp one!?

As Wolvinator spoke, the warp nacelles came online with a glowing bright blue light. The ship came to a steady halt in the atmosphere as the warp drive fired up before suddenly propelling the entire ship out of Rhy?Din?s atmosphere and into space. On the main viewer the stars stretched out at them like long strings of rainbow colored light, showing them every color in the visible spectrum.

Warp travel inside of an atmosphere was extremely dangerous. Ships traveled through space at warp speed -- faster than light travel -- which was made possible when the engines and nacelles created a subspace field around the vessel itself, and then projected it through space. However subspace obeyed different laws of physics than the rest of the known universe, and when a subspace field was created within an atmosphere it could become extremely volatile. There were rumors that such an action could potentially ignite the atmosphere, easily destroying the ship and anything around it. No one had ever actually tested it, of course. The Federation prohibited it and most physicists considered it to be a death wish.

But most physicists weren?t Dolus Gairu and Wolvinator.

As the ship accelerated to warp speed the subspace bubble around the ship stretched away from the vessel and formed a cone shape; and as the ship was projected into warp, the atmosphere that was around the bubble collapsed, forcing oxygen particles to accelerate at faster than light speeds and ignite.

The pursuing Exo-Frames were immediately engulfed in a three-mile wide fireball that was left in the wake of the warping shuttle, and exploded almost instantaneously. As for the shuttle, it was hurdling at the RNN satellite at the speed of light, which needless to say, wasn?t a good thing.

This trip was rather short, as Wolvinator killed the engines after only 1.5 seconds of travel. The satellite was in orbit around the planet and it wasn?t light-years away. Exploding warp bubbles and warp speeds to an orbiting satellite, the overall maneuver was completely suicidal.

?Dropping out of warp!? Wolvinator yelled, practically on top of his initial announcement to engage warp one.

Immediately killing the engines the ship jostled and rocked back in forth. The interior collision alarm immediately sounded, as the satellite was instantly a few hundred kilometers in front of them, and closing fast.
?Dolus, hangar doors.?

?I?m working on it! Trying to keep our warp core from overloading at the same time, and maintain our deflectors, and make sure the inertial dampeners don't drop a dead spot on us and suddenly subject us to twenty-six G's, and..oh, you know. The usual piece of cake sort of stuff. Not stressful or heart-attack inducing at all, Wolvie!?

Alystrianna?s eyes remained peeled open, despite the fact that she was still trying keep them closed shut. The banter back and forth between the two men were keeping her attention fixated straight towards the viewer.

?Sweatin? under pressure?? Wolvie asked.

?Hardly," Dolus said with a smirk, fingers still flying over the console. He looked back towards Wolvie and asked with a grin, "Wanna trade places??

?Will you two keep focused on what the hell is going-?

Aly couldn?t even finish her sentence as Wolvinator rolled hard to starboard, seeing the double hangar doors open, and realizing that the ship was lined up at the wrong angle to enter the hangar. With one hand on the flight controls, his second hand throttled back as quick as he could. The shuttle?s cockpit and fuselage cleared the opening, but the two nacelles at the sides of the vessel struck the exterior hull doors, slicing them clear off.

The shuttlecraft crashed down into the hangar deck; nose first, before grinding to a complete halt. The port and starboard sides of the craft sparked with electricity where the nacelles were once attached, while the power inside the cabin flickered on and off while the computer tried to compensate for it?s critical systems.

?There we are, safe and sound,? Dolus announced as the hangar to their own craft opened up. "And I'm pretty sure we didn't cause a singularity to suddenly ignite in Rhy'Din orbit, so I consider that bonus points."

Dolus and Wolvie turned to exit the craft as Aly sat in amazement for a moment. Wolvie, giving her a small smile, tapped her on top of her head.

?Everyone off, Miss D?Vaustaival.?

?You guys are out of your friggen? minds,? she said in return as she moved to follow them out of the craft.

?Nope. We?re just getting warmed up,? Dolus replied. Wolvie then looked over at the craft as he exited.

?Eh, that thing won?t be flying ever again.?

?That was the least of our problems,? Dolus began, ?I had to reroute auxiliary power to prevent a coolant leak, the inertial dampeners kept developing microscopic dead spots within our structural integrity field, artificial gravity nearly spiked to quadruple normal power during an energy surge, and the starboard plasma coil was within seconds of rupturing. Oh, and the bussard collectors had completely shut down, which a lot of people think isn't such a big deal, but you'd be surprised how often that can lead to a painful, screaming death.?

?Gee, thanks for the warm and fuzzy Dolus.?

?Anytime.? Walking over to a control panel with a visual display, the three of them stared at it for a moment analyzing both the interior and exterior sensor displays. Dolus?s hand motioned over to one of the tactical displays.

?The cruiser is fifty-five million kilometers and closing, but I don?t have any sign of the pursuing E-Frames.?

?I guess we can thank that to the Gairu maneuver.?

?That? We can't name something that stupid after me. Every time some idiot heroic types like us get themselves and their entire planet blown up when they try it, people'll be blaming me. Let's call it the Travanix maneuver. He'll love it. People getting blown up and dying and whatnot. It's right up his alley.?

?How about we just avoid naming it all together, and never tell anyone about it, that way we can avoid repeating the name you suggested??

?Good call.?

Wolvie motioned at another display screen now as he pointed out a few areas of interest.

?Looks like the main communications array is located just below this area,? his finger circled it then, ?this apex area. If we could get down there we should be able to get a strong enough signal out to break past their jamming.?

?Alright then,? Aly impatiently added in, ?Lets get to this apex and get the hell outta here.?

Dolus glanced back at her then.

?You heard the lady.?

(The Following was a collaborative effort of all characters involved)

The three individuals stood at the Apex for a moment, looking over the carnage that lay before them. Wolvinator was the first to speak up after hearing Alain?s greeting.

?I told ya I?d meet ya up in the stars, and here I am.? Wolvie said as he looked down at his uniform, which was severely ripped, tattered, dirty and splashed with dried bloodstains. Unlike Alain, these stains were unfortunately his own blood.

?I was able to get up here one way or another,? then he turned to motion to Dolus and Aly with a half-cocked smile, ?and I managed to bring backup. But as far as heavy artillery goes, we don?t have anything, at least not yet; and here I was hopin? that you?d be the one to give me the good news.?

He let out a chuckle then.

?Yet?? Seemed Alain was desperate for hope. He brought his hands up to light his cigarette and took a few drags, adding his own smoke to the building haze.

?Good news, huh... Good news is she's locked the bad guys out of the last two escape pods. Afraid --?

Something exploded far below and the deck rattled beneath their feet, which caused the three new arrivals to steady their balance. Alain however merely looked around and then shrugged helplessly at Wolvinator.

?I'm afraid there isn't any more good news than that. Incoming cruiser, and??

?Psst! Hey, Alain!? Tammy spoke up finally. The hacker shot an awkward little smile to Wolvinator, then said, ?I'm back in again. It'll be slow, but I can realign us.?

Good as that news was, something else stuck in Alain's mind...

?Wolvinator... what did you mean by yet??

?The Neosapien cruiser is using a jamming signal. We weren?t able to break any communications through it with the shuttle we had. We were hopin? that by landin? on this commsat, we?d be able to get a signal out to the Locust we have laying in wait.?

The way Wolvie spoke the term Locust it was almost as if they had a giant space bug that was supposed to come in and save the day.

Which wasn?t that far from the truth.

?Otherwise, if we can?t, then it won?t be long till they?re in targeting range of the satellite, and they?ll blow us clean outta the stars. Especially since it seems like these escape pods you mentioned are indisposed.?

?Indisposed until we unlock those doors and kill everyone who gets in our way.? Holding back had by now left Alain's vocabulary. ?Tammy, how's the --?

?Up and running, flyboy!? she interrupted, yet again.

?Flyboy?? Wolvinator asked with a wide grin on his face. ?That?s cute.?

?Flyboy? Alain mouthed with a headshake, before he nodded to Wolvie.

?It's all yours. Let's call in the cavalry.?

While Wolvinator and Alain were busy with their small talk, Dolus had been working swiftly to reroute any and all auxiliary power to the communications array. His eyes scanned back and forth across several monitors while he worked quickly to keep artificial gravity from suddenly inversing as a power surge spiked its way out through the solar collectors.

?Gotta be kidding me with this routing system,? he muttered as the lights dimmed and the hum of the life support generators skipped for a moment. ?No wonder nobody in this system knows what the hell's going on. What kind of joker designs a navsat with only a triple combuffer redundancy??

Across from him, at the other console, Tammy let out a little snort of laughter.

?Triple? I guarantee you this old junker doesn't have more than double!?

Dolus rolled his eyes as he quickly inputted the command to send a signal boost through the pattern aligners. "I'm counting the pattern alignment array as a combuffer, provided I can route enough data through the on-site bus. That makes it triple redundant."

?Fine,? Tammy said. "Two and a half combuffer redundancy, and that's being lenient."

Dolus looked over his shoulder at Alain and Wolvie. ?She drives a hard bargain, this girl. Who is she, again??

Before anyone could answer him, another explosion rocked the apex, although this time it came clear through one of the bulkheads on the far side of their position. Then, after a moment, a half dozen mechanized walker units emerged from the smoke armed with a variety of laser cutters, blowtorches, and large hydraulic claw-like arms.

Wolvie?s eyes widened as he watched the incoming hostiles.

?Lemme guess, weapons, guns and phasers are completely outta the question huh??

Alain grunted as he propped his foot up on the rusted remains of a console - the metal was hot, and he hissed a breath when he touched it with his left hand, and instead grabbed a long, narrow metal piece with his right and wrenched it free.

?Something like that, yeah.?

"Great," Dolus spat before punching his console in frustration. ?That little explosion just tore out the pattern aligners. I'm going to have to pull a manual alignment in the comm room itself.? He turned and looked to the small group before making his way towards the door.

?Don't wait up. I'm sure I'll get someone to pick me up.?

?Aly,? Wolvie said as he watched Dolus go. ?Go with Dolus, Alain and I will keep you two covered.?

?Oh no you don't,? she started. ?I lost you once and I almost lost you twice, there's no way in hell I'm going to lose you now.?

There wasn't any time to argue this through; the Mechs were drawing in closer and the Cruiser would be within range any moment. Wolvie huffed and then gave a look over to the Detective.

Alain gave his makeshift weapon a toss or two, getting a feel for it, then spun it as he fell in beside Wolvinator. He gave him an upnod - "Cheers, old man. I'm going right."

"And I'm going left." Aly growled, pulling two of her signature daggers from her thighs and jaunting off in that direction.

Wolvie glanced back forth as they both departed from him before turning forward to look dead ahead. ?Looks like I'm gonna head up the middle.? He said as he held both of his fists out in front of him.

*SNIKT!*

Both sets of his Adamantium claws popped from his hands as he narrowed his eyes and snarled out a growl.

?Time to teach these rookies about adamantium, the very best there is. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfuc*er in the room, accept no substitutes.?

(The Following was a collaborative effort of all characters involved)

The Mech units split their efforts as they noticed their approaching opposition. Two went right, two left, and two straight ahead, heading directly for Wolvinator.

He was quickly closing in on the most forward Mech, bobbing from side to side as he made his approach. He was both sizing up his opponent and trying to keep him guessing as to his next maneuver.

Each one of the machines was a bipedal utility vehicle complete with arms, tools, and an interior section that held a humanoid pilot inside. However each one of the units was unique in it?s own way. Some of the units were cargo loaders, while others were mining or repair vehicles, and each one of them was equipped with it?s own unique tools to perform their specified job. They were naked of any form of standard weaponry, but that didn?t mean their accompaniments couldn?t be used as such.

The Mech that was closest to Wolvie, which was making a direct path for him, was a basic utility unit. It had a yellow frame with black and yellow hazard stripes running along the sides of its body. It had a rather boxy design with a large transparent aluminum window to give the pilot a wide range of vision. One of its arms was a two-pronged forklift, while the other was sphere shaped grinder used for mining and crushing dense rock.

Wolvinator?s path didn?t change at all.

As he made his approach he studied the movements of his target. He timed the steps, watched its motions and actions, and carefully plotted his attack down to an exact science and to an exact moment. He wasn?t moving at full speed on purpose in hopes that his adversary was sizing him up the exact same way, which was exactly what he wanted.

Time to teach him what Adamantium tastes like...

With roughly twenty yards between himself and his target, Wolvinator?s feet left the ground.

He hurled through the air so fast that the pilot didn?t even have time to react, let alone blink. After a few minor seconds of being airborne, Wolvie?s fist slammed into the cockpit window and halted. His claws however had sliced clean through it.

*SPLAT!*

A soup of pinkish fluid splattered against the window along with brain and bone fragments from the pilot?s skull, completely covering the entire viewing area.

Heh, guess he was allergic to Adamantium. Then again, everyone is allergic when you feed it to them through the brain.

Wolvinator withdrew his claws and the machine fell limp, just as the pilot did, causing the entire unit to fall flat on it?s back with a loud thud. Yet before Wolvie could even right himself the second Mech had snatched him up in the air.

The unit was slightly different from the previous one. It had definitively more armor in the piloting core then it?s predecessor, and with good reason, as it was a repair Mech. It?s claw was holding Wolvie by his hand, roughly ten feet in the air. It?s other arm had a mounted plasma cutter which was quickly drawing closer to his immobilized arm.

?Alright pussy cat,? the pilot spoke over the Mech?s loudspeaker, ?it?s time to get de-clawed.?

Wolvie writhed in the grip of the machine momentarily, desperately trying to free himself, until the plasma cutter made contact.


* * *

Aly tilted her head grinning at the Mechs headed her way. Sure, most people would be alarmed, most would be on red alert, and most would run. Time seemed to stop as Aly calculated the distance between herself and her opponents. There were many ways she could fight them off and destroy them. It wasn?t necessarily a matter of would she kill them, but how.

Brushing a piece of hair from her face, she looked towards Wolvie who was already in battle, and then back to the two Mechs, who had already closed the gap between them and herself. As any good warrior would do, Aly bowed to her opponents before screaming loudly and charging forward. She was tired of fighting and tired of people getting in her way of her reunion with Wolvie.

It was time to end this.

Her guttural scream echoed as she phased into nothingness and changed herself into the mist form to teleport herself. Disappearing into thin air seemed to confuse the Mechs as they paused momentarily.

A high-pitched scream was heard before one of the Mechs toppled over backwards and the window wasn?t merely sprayed with, but it was completely covered in blood. A hand streaked down through the blood, however this hand defiantly did not belong to the Pilot, as he had been completely pulverized, and now mostly resembled a pile of raw meatloaf in the cockpit of the Mech.

There was a barbaric growl that came from the machine. Aly had mostly been able to control her hunger and the demon within herself. But transporting oneself into someone else?s body and then materializing, thus ripping the person apart from the inside out, that tended to make the beast within a little excited.

The sound of wetness slopping was heard as Aly materialized, covered head to toe in blood. She hissed loudly, her tongue snaking out to lick over her lips and her fangs baring themselves. Reaching up she pulled what looked to be a piece of intestine from her hair and cursed.

?Mother f*cking parasite! Look at my hair!? Her hands fell to her sides and she flexed her fingers cracking them as she leaned forward and stared at the other Mech. She rocked back and forth on her feet, swaying before the Metal Warrior. She looked completely possessed and the only visible part of her was her gleaming white teeth that had blood now seeping between them. A spray of blood shot from her mouth as she hissed, hitting the window of her last opponent and then she was gone again.

She had more fun with the second Pilot as her feeding frenzy had begun and anger controlled her now. She appeared inside the cockpit with him. It was a tight squeeze but she managed.

?It?s a little crowded in here don?t you think??

And then the pilot?s head was smashed into the window repeatedly until the glass shattered and she threw herself, along with the pilot, out of the Mech. The Pilot was a fighter and despite his face being smashed in, he tried his best to fight her off. At least that?s what Aly assumed his flailing arm and twitching leg were trying to do. One eye was open and staring at her in horror, the other was dangling on his cheek.

She was ruthless, and at this moment, Aly had no compassion.

She plucked the hanging eyeball from its socket, ripping it from the fragments of tissue that tried to cling to it and shoved it into the mans mouth when he opened it to scream and then she slammed her fist into his Adam?s apple, causing him to inhale and start to choke.

Grinning at the man, she straddled his body and leaned down, purring in his ear almost tenderly as she watched his skin that wasn?t covered in blood turn blue. She grabbed his wagging tongue and yanked hard on it.

?What?s wrong?? She tilted her head, studying him a moment. ? Vamp got your tongue??

Laughing to herself, she let him see her fangs with his one good eye and then leaned down biting into the front of his throat, tearing his Adam?s apple right from his neck. She spit out, blood running down her chin. The man was nearly dead by then, her keen hearing could hear that his heartbeat was slow and weak.

?Oh well you weren?t very fun!? Grabbing his head in her hands, she twisted his neck angrily until she heard the sound of bones popping and the man flat lined. She let his head fall from her hands with a thud and stood up.


* * *

The flesh from his arm was immediately seared off with a sizzling sound and the smell of charred beef. His skin, tendons and muscles almost liquefied on contact as he screamed out in pain. And as the cutter sliced down and into the bone, it stopped, as it couldn?t go any further.

Adamantium.

Plasma cutters could slice through steel, durasteel and duranium, but even the post powerful Plasma cutters couldn?t cut through the strongest metal in the known Universe.

?What in the-? The pilot scowled, clearly angry that his tool had stopped cutting through; and as he retracted his hand disaster struck. Wolvinator?s free hand swung up, with his claws still protracted, and sliced clear through the Mech?s forearm.

After a ten-foot drop, Wolvie was back on the ground, completely free of his mechanical grasp. His adamantium forearm was completely exposed and partially covered with his own blood.

I don?t have time to bleed.

He lunged back towards the Mech, screaming out animal-like growls and roars, while swiping furiously at its legs. The sharp adamantium blades cut through the titanium body like ginsu knives cut through tomatoes. One flung off, then the other, and the torso of the entire unit came down with a giant crash.

The pilot was so terrified that he didn?t even have the strength to scream.

He jumped on top of the frame, alternating pummels with his claws deep into the chest cavity of the unit. Exploding circuitry, and the sounds of flesh and metal being cleaved out of the mid section quickly overtook the hatred-infused screams of Wolvinator.

Metal shards and wires mixed with both hydraulic and bodily fluids sprayed outward from the attack.

?Wolvie?? he heard a voice behind him.

?Wolvie?? it was a female voice, one that he knew quite well.

?Stop babe, please??

He snarled and looked up from the corpse that was now exposed, and horribly filleted into a million tiny shred.

Alystrianna?s lithe body was covered still in blood and she looked like the bride of the devil as she stalked around like a bull making sure there was no one else to have fun with. Licking her lips, she put her hands on her hips and sighed.

?I think ya got ?em babe, I? think ya had ?em? for a while.?

?Alright,? Wolvie huffed out. ?Alright, sorry.?

He exhaled then, nodding to her and then taking a moment to himself before he retracted his claws. Glancing over to Alain and then back to Aly, he waited for the three of them to be within earshot of one another.

?I? just hope Dolus can cover our as*es, or we?re just gonna end up bein? a space cloud orbiting the planet.?

And you'll cover our tracks, right Al?

Like we were never here, 'Admiral.'

Alain knew that was his jurisdiction in the end - clean-up. His intervention in affairs that weren't his business (according to some arguments) was par for the course; the wrong evidence going into the wrong hands could have disastrous effects for Wolvinator's career and the integrity of his base of operations in RhyDin.

"Jesus, Alain, you saved my life," Tammy said, while Alain stretched his arms out over a still-functional console, staring into the screen. "I mean... whoa. Just like in the movies, y'know? I owe you, big-time." Wolvinator and Alystrianna shimmered then, and the hacker blinked in confusion. "Hey, wait! They -- !"

Alain cut her off. He looked her in the eyes and said, "You owe me."

She blinked again. "Well, yeah, I mean..."

"I'm calling it in, right now. I need you to crash this satellite into the upper atmosphere. You, me, and my friends... We were never here." She stared at him for a long time, and he added, with a slow nod, "Understand?"

"Copy that," Tammy said. She hip-bumped him away from the console and went to work, code flurrying across the flickering screen quicker than even cyberpunk-raised Alain could wrap his mind around. The satellite was still rumbling and groaning in protest to all its abuse, and there was always the chance it would break up before it even hit the atmosphere. Tammy was thinking the same thing. "...Okay, once we fire up the thrusters, this baby might not last. We gotta book it, 'kay chief?"

"Yeah," Alain breathed. He was looking around the Apex, running through a mental checklist. Bad guys dead? Check. Evidence cleared? Check. Escape pod available? Check. There was just that one thing left to do...

"Boom," she said, and entered the commands. New klaxons blared, as she overrode various safeties preventing this kind of thing from happening, slamming the satellite into the nearest available celestial body. The satellite's frame shuddered as the engines fired once more, and when Tammy stumbled, Alain seized her hand and ran.

WARNING - IMPACT IN EIGHT MINUTES. WARNING...

The overtaxed anti-gravity systems struggled to compensate for the erratic shifts, and the pair thudded into walls as they struggled down corridors, over debris and under live wires and past the occasional body, following arrows to the sealed door into the last escape pod. There was a paling blonde man waiting with a gun, and he had only a moment to stammer a demand and attempt to raise his weapon. Alain struck him very hard in the teeth, the gun clattered, the man crumpled, and Tammy unlocked the door.

WARNING - CRITICAL BREACH ON DECKS II and V.

Tammy sealed the door behind them and crawled into the seat beside Alain, whose gaze danced over the complex controls before them. "Ever used anything like this?"

Whatever he was looking for, he figured it out. He wrapped his hand around a lever with a black button on the end, much like a handbrake, and said, "That's never stopped me before." He threw the switch, and with a groan, a clunk, and an excited squeak from his co-pilot, they were launched free. The body of the satellite, space, and the planet RhyDin spun all around them when the thrusters fired, and when a yellow light started to flash, Alain punched another button with a complex label.

Shields. With a hum they crackled to life around the escape pod, protecting them from the atmosphere. They had only one glimpse of the crippled satellite breaking apart, stray chunks already flaring up, before they got a flare of their own.

The shields were engulfed in a bright red haze as they plummeted towards an isolated stretch of RhyDinian ocean.

Sometimes things come full circle. Sometimes things return to where they all began. This time was one of those times.

Twenty-four hours, two rescues at sea, three debriefings, and one night of rest and recuperation later, Alain was in the corner of a booth at Tori's Diner. The smell of cherry pie filled the establishment. A few fresh pies were going to be ready any moment for the late day rush. It was 3pm, broad daylight; although the sun had begun it?s decent into the late day sky. There were two empty mugs and a steaming pot of coffee on the bar, and six cigarettes smoking in a dusty old ashtray. The Baron rolled a seventh and snicked a match off of his palm. It flared to life immediately.

Wolvinator had been the one to arrive early this time. There was a half a cup of Joe still in his mug, which Tori had already refilled once, however despite their obvious time sitting together, there wasn?t much to be said; so much for a debriefing.

The Admiral was back into his usual Rhy?Dinian attire, a long brown robe that seemed to cover almost every inch of his body. He had the chance to shower, shave, and change clothes already, but the mental drain definitely played heavy on his facial features. Sleep was a much-needed commodity at this time, but it was a luxury that he couldn?t enjoy just yet.

Alain?s wounds hadn?t healed, but there were no outward signs of them. As it was at the end of every adventure, Alain carried clues in his face. He was content but ever thoughtful, smiling in a small way while his eyes ticked and roved ceaselessly.

Tori knew that look, and besides bringing him coffee, she left him alone.

?Of all the sh*t you?ve survived,? Wolvinator started with an up nod to acknowledge the cigarette that Alain was puffing on, ?those?ll be the things that finally do ya in DeMuer.?

A smile appeared on his face now as his hand left his coffee cup and he moved to rest his back against the seat in the booth.

"Only if I'm lucky," he said with a wink, making a point of popping a little grey pill. Cigarettes still stood a chance of killing him, but if he kept up his 'prescription' thanks to RhyDin's talented healers, it would take a very, very long time...

?Glad to see ya made it outta there alive. Everyone got home in one piece??

"Oh yeah. Just dropped Tammy off after her debriefing." He punctuated those words with a sip of his newly-arrived coffee and a topic change away from Tammy that was rather telling. "Our friends over at Shade won't be a problem anymore."

He smiled at the word ?debriefing?. Wolvinator knew exactly what the detective meant by those words, and for the moment he would have to live vicariously through him. His fingers scaled over his coffee mug as he retrieved it and brought it to his lips for a long, drawn out sip of his liquid.

?That?s good to know.? Wolvie said as he commented on Shade?s developments. ?Looks like we took care of our big blue friends as well. All scans of the system shows up negative. We?ll be doing some house cleaning in the West End shortly, which should completely take care of my end of things.?

"Need any backup?" Alain asked, thinking at once of the Security Division, even though it was still very much like a recently disturbed hornets' nest.

?Depends. You gonna show me what that little stunt on the satellite was all about?? he asked with a clever smirk. ?I didn?t know you fancied a sword Alain.?

He smiled. It was a moment of question, of opportunity, and he tactfully chose his words.

"I'll trade you,? the detective began, ?my 'true name' for yours." Reaching casually into his pants pocked he removed a pen. Clicking the end of it, and set it on the table between them.

An Anti-surveillance device.

Wolvie paused for a moment. His blue eyes carefully eyed the pen as he watched the detectives? every move now. There was still a smile on his face, a hint of play. The question had been poised, and the ball was in his court.

A question for a question.

An answer for an answer.

Taking a small breath he leaned closer to his partner as his voice dropped a few decibels.

?Ya know what they say DeMuer, sometimes ya gotta play things pretty close to the chest?? He rapped his knuckles against the wood counter top twice as he continued his sentence, lowering to a whisper now. ?This is one of those things. If that really isn?t good enough for ya, then ya don?t hafta bother answerin? my question at all.?

"No name today?" Alain whispered back. Every man had their secrets -- even he had a few he would likely never share with Wolvinator.

?Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday.? He paused for a long moment as he took a sip of his coffee. Swallowing a large mouthful he finally finished his sentence as he stared at the coffee cup in his hand. ?Today, we have coffee. Just coffee. For a job well done.?

Alain smiled then. It wasn?t the answer he had hoped for, but it was an answer that would do him just fine. The time would come, and when it did, he?d listen for it.

"Xaven's Travels of the Agent. It's a good book. You should check it out sometime." He replied as he took his coffee up once more.

?I look forward to reading it.?

?I know you will. But like you said Wolvinator, job well done, today? let?s enjoy our coffee.?