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Kai, Garrett, Sehene, Jack

The Drathonians were ready for Jack, Every single one firing into the narrow choking hallway at once. What they weren't ready for was his speed, and by the time they had pulled their triggers, the madman had dived to the floor and begun a high-speed roll to get himself farther into their ranks. He really was an idiot, but that was his job to deal with. Donnel called the rest of the group back after Jack had disappeared, knowing the destructiveness of the Antimatter charges. He didn't want anyone more dieing. By then, Kai, Garret, and Sehene had reached the building, clambering into the room from the window. It was from here that they would start their attack.

Jack had a mound of angry plasma writhing through his belly, but he still had enough consciousness left in his head to think 'throw.' As he barreled into the middle of their group, he lobbed the charges over their heads and into the doorway with a long-distance arc. In the seconds it would take it to hit the ground and detonate, Jack grabbed one of the slightly more surprised Drathonians by the throat and dragged him down over him, using him as a 'human' shield.

The charges Arced through the air, spinning slightly, almost like a football. It was a glorious thow, even if Jack Gallagher didn't get to see it. It flew right into the wall, smashing the timer unit, and stopping the countdown. The bomb clattered to the floor, useless. But it had done something as it flew, surprising a small, dog-sized Drathonian whom had been carrying a stringer of bouncer grenades, which it dropped, the explosive animals detonating on impact with the floor, turning the room into a raging inferno in seconds. the fire burned, scattering lizards who weren't hurt, and flinging those close to the explosion about, achieving Jack's intended effect without destroying the building.

Once inside, Garrett checked his gun a second time before heading toward all the ruckus. It sounded like the damn Apocalypse was getting its start in a Drathonian prison camp's basement. He was still smiling as he made his through the various rooms. The drugs were really taking a hold because Garrett's care-free nature was definitely in force ten fold. He would never have strolled so confidently down an occupied stairwell or marched across a room with bullets whizzing if it weren't for those drugs. He knelt next to Donnel and asked, "So, what just happened? Please tell me I didn't miss the party."

As the group reunited, Kai asked Donnel, "Where's Gallagher?" Donnel answered with a simple point to the blasted-out hallway, and the glow of dieing flames from down a set of stairs. A flaming Drathonian ran out, and was subsequently shot by Ruth, but it was clear jack had done something stupid. Kai's palm connected with the faceplate of his helmet before he shook it and said "Alright, we have to move that direction anyway. Hopefully Jack is still alive, and we can get to our objective from there. Move out, people!" Kai called, checking his Sugar before rushing into the hallway. he was met with a few pulses from a wounded Drathonian's pistol, which were off-course and quickly silenced as kai sent a sniper round into the lizard's skull. Plunging down the stairs, the group was met with much less resistance than jack had faced, most of the Lizards having retreated down a far hallway. Over the nearly dead flames, a few stragglers flung potshots at the squad, and kai ordered them to take cover behind the bodies strewn about the room.

Sehene merely raised her eyebrow at what seemed to be the end of that conversation, and turned to the events at hand. She made her way into the building, trying not to create any problems with hurting herself while climbing through the window, although it was a tad slower than the others, due to her height. She made it through and nodded at Kai's orders, "Yes sir." She made her way through the hallway and down, and made herself 'at home' behind a slightly oozing corpse.

A muffled noise was heard from the corpses at their feet, and a Drathonian that had appeared dead began rising up for a second go at them.....

Garrett made his way after his team, moving slowly, calmly, and carrying a huge grin on his face, like some teenager about to score later that night. In a sense, he was about to score. He was looking forward to putting some bullets in a lizard. Maybe some hand-to-hand combat. He wasn't sure, but the thoughts kept him occupied as he sat down cross-legged, pulled a Brawler over his lap, and took his time firing at any idiot that so much as thought of looking in his direction. His hand was steady and his fire was true, but few and far between. And each accompanied with a small chuckle as he watched the lizard fall. And then a shuffling sound. He turned away from his sighting to look around. Just a few feet to his right, and just behind Sehene, a Drathonian was slowly rising to his feet. Those drugs were REALLY messing with the Lieutenant, because in his haste to respond to the threat, he dropped his gun. "Oh s**t," was all he could think as he scrabbled for his knife and lunged at the beast with loud shout.

Hendlow would be greeted with a very un-Drathonian cry. "Grrawwhat?" As he crushed the creature back against the floor, he noticed the arm of a UTR marine sticking out from underneath, giving him a one-finger salute.

Sehene was focusing on taking shots at the few Drathonians who were in her line of fire - without waste - , and was startled by Garrett's shouting. She turned around to find a Drathonian right behind her, and Garrett launching himself on to the creature. She aimed her gun, but couldn't fire; the risk of hitting Garrett was too high. She was extremely panicked for a moment, and then paused...a marine..? She lowered her weapon. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you." She growled at him, and kneeled down so she could shove the body off once Garrett was out of the way.

Garrett paused before the stab, slightly stunned. He knew that voice like he knew his own. Seeing Sehene pause, he pivoted one on foot, kneeling next to the pile of bodies. "Well ******** me sideways and call me Shirley, it's just the man I came to see." He chortled and shook his head. He sheathed the knife and jogged to his gun. Once it was in his hands, the explosives expert looked to Jack and said, "You are the craziest b*****d I have ever met, and I must say I am very glad you haven't up and killed yourself yet."

Jack coughed a bit, some phlemy blood shooting across his chin. "About that...." He forced himself to say. As the body was removed from in front of him, it revealed the gruesome state of his chest.

Emma's HUD flashed her a warning; a massive power surge just aft of her, identified quickly as the detonations of an anti-starship torpedo. She boosted forward, outrunning the explosion as it ripped a section of hull plating out from the inside! suddenly, her HUD downgraded its range, the support from the Hymn was gone. "UHH, Guys, something's horribly wrong here!" she called over the comms, sounding a bit nervous.

Kai, Garrett, Sehene, Ruth & Kwon.

Kai rolled his Eyes at Jack, who looked rather messed up, and Called for Mortego "Mortego, Jack's nearly killed himself again. Get your a** down here and get him stable. the rest of us are going on ahead." A few moments later, the distinctive clomp of Terran marines' boots could be heard, with Mortego followed by the rest of the squad coming down the steps. As they hid behind whatever cover was open, Mortego got to work, and Kai looked over the flames to see that their enemies had completely retreated. "Come on Kids, let's go after 'em. What do you say, Hendlow?"

Hendlow smirked, still feeling a faint buzz from the pseudo-adrenaline drugs. "Right behind you, Lieu-Kai. I still have plenty of handy explosives to clear this slimy Hell-hole. Let's get to work, grunts!" He marched forward, rifle held in a relaxed position as the group proceeded toward the innards of the facility. He glanced over his shoulder briefly at Sehene. "Stick close, little lady. Got a feeling this s**t's gonna get ugly.

"You ready for this man?" Kwon, the younger marine was excited, pumped up and ready to storm the room around the corner. Ruth, on the other hand, was the older, more seasoned veteran; he wasn't in such a hurry. "Plenty out in the halls, sticking their noses out already. Pick them off first. Smarter ones will hide and wait." he replied calmly. This apparently didn't sit too well with the eager Kwon. Just as he opened his mouth to complain, a burst of Dross fire hit their cover, blowing chunks away. Ruth blurred his arm around the corner, blind-firing his Sugar in a fiery spray; a pained gurgle and the sound of a hard landing awarded the Terran. "Told you so."

Sehene left Jack in the hands of the medics, and followed behind Hendlow yet again; she ended up doing a lot of this 'following' him lately didn't she? She shook her head to ease distraction, and began to look for a suitable place for cover, while searching for headshots to make. She fired randomly at a Drathonian that was much farther out than its companions, her bolts whizzing close enough to Hendlow that they would probably make him uncomfortable. “Sorry…” She stated matter-of-factly, with a hint of mirth in her voice, and she managed to shoot out a few more.

Kai came around the corner, patting Kwon before moving into the hallway "You don't move by taking cover, come on babies" he called to the squad, rushing towards one of the nearby rooms and busting the door upen, opening up with his Suagr on full auto, the surprised, weaponless Drathonians inside being taken out quickly by the sheer volume of fire. Kai clicked the button, dropping the battery out of his rifle and switching it for a fresh one. "Let's keep moving guys!"

Garrett let off his own salvo as Sehene's barrage flew by his shoulder. As the next room was cleared, his smirk spread to a grin. "This is combat, babe. Don't worry 'bout it." He strode into the next room, reached into his favorite jacket and pulled out a cigarette. He'd found this new brand that didn't need a lighter. Pull-tabs on the end ignited the sticks. Garrett gave one a yank and sure enough, it lit. He took a deep drag then spit it out in a pool of lizard blood. He couldn't go giving away his team's position, could he? He strode up to the next door, drew a grenade from his bag of goodies, and pulled the pin. The door was kicked open, he tossed the explosive underhand toward the center of the cellar, and pressed his back to the wall. Seconds later, he got what he wanted: a big boom, and lizard giblets splattered on all six surfaces of the room.

Ruth chuckled at the indignant expression on Kwon's face as the younger marine spoke, "Aw, come on! You guys are getting all the kills here!" The intrepid duo moved forward, Kai still in the doorway to the room he cleared. Something funny; where was that Dross rifle the lizard dropped earlier? "s**t!" The Dross in question, with new owner in tow stepped out of the next room. No time! Ruth shoved Kwon away from the red bolts and into Kai as he swept his Sugar over the Drathonian. A bolt caught him in the left arm, blowing off the protective plate, knocking him onto his can. Another red figure stooped out of another doorway, trying to pick up the weapon. A short burst cut the arm off. "You're still getting all the kills!" the Terran bawled. "Eh. Lucky Kai broke my fall. You two Ok?" he asked, pulling Kai up from the floor.

Sehene giggled at Garret slightly, continuing on. She kept watch on the hallway, taking shots at any enemy that poked their heads from a door early.

Kai rolled his eyes again, as Ruth helped pull him and Kwon up. "Be more careful guys. Now, pick a room and make sure there aren't any greenies in it before you start firing." With that, the Lieutenant moved on to the next door, repeating the process of the previous room, with the difference that he was shot at this time. A quick duck roll away, and kai called for Garrett "We need something to go boom over here, Hendlow."

Garrett strode nonchalantly to the doorway and squatted near the wall. With eyes closed, he rummaged through his bag with one hand and pulled out a newer and more powerful version of what people in the 21st century knew to be C4. He set the timer for three seconds, initiated the countdown, and gave it a toss. "Step back," he muttered as he shoved his bag away and took a few long steps after it. The boom would arrive shortly.

As Garret's explosive went off, disrupting the building, both Ruth and Kwon could hear something too familiar; crying. "Remember Mr. Armless Lizard you made earlier? Same room." he nonchalantly pointed out. Kwon hadn't exactly done the cleanest of jobs, and now someone was going to pay the price for his mistake. The frustrated marine was standing by the doorway, with Ruth wordlessly ready to back him up, as always. The duo charged in, short bursts spouting from their rifles. A pair of Drathonians dropped to the floor. The third, missing half it's arm, was using a small green girl as a shield, it's claws slowly digging into her neck. What was most likely her family pleaded in their flowing tongue to the lizard; both the girl's eyes and the lizards were dilated in fear and pain. "My fault." Kwon simply spoke. A heartbeat later, the Drathonian's remaining arm dropped to the floor. Little girls didn't make for good shields. "SeFlaurinds! There's something wrong with them!" he desperately cried out. The weakened people were barely responding. "Anyone have a UV bulb?!" Ruth asked, his calm breaking after the close call.

"Why the hell would we have a UV bulb?" Kai yelled back, rushing to the room. "I think we should start bringing them outside if we can. For now, let's keep moving. The hall ends right here to what looks like the main room." Kai stopped at the last door, looking through a window, seeing an artificially lit room filled with posts, Green-skinned people chained to them, hulking, red forms hiding behind a number of them "Yup, this is it." Kai tried the door, finding it locked. "Hendlow! we need a skeleton key!"



"More where that came from." Ruth replied out loud, referring to the earlier incident. The veteran fished out a small makeup mirror he kept on himself. As Kwon opened his mouth, he merely put a finger to his lips. Shut it." The larger Terran used it to safely look into the same window Kai had a moment ago, and then shared the image with everyone else, raising tempers afire. "Think you can stomach that all over again, Kwon?" he asked, not unkindly. "Yeah. Yeah." he replied. The younger marine was tired and worn, Ruth could see that. But if they were lucky, it was all going to be over quick, real soon. "We're ready. And waiting." he quietly spoke to Kai.

"Right," Kai replied to the older Lieutenant, putting the small brick on the door, setting the timer for ten seconds, pressing the button, and backing away. "CLEAR!" he shouted, waiting the few seconds for the explosive to go off. Once it did, he checked his ammo reserves, and looked at the door "they're all ready for us. We have to be careful not to hit the prisoners. We're just lucky they haven't killed them all yet. now, let's GO!" and with the, Kai kicked the door open and dove in, rolling behind the nearest, thankfully empty pillar , and hid behind it, the sudden withering fire beginning to eat away at his wooden cover. Kai took the time to look around the Pillar and aim high, popping a shot off just quickly enough to avoid decapitation by hiding behind the pillar once more.

"Goddamnit, you fool!" Garrett shouted into the room as he pressed his back against the wall. "Shut your eyes, cover your ears. This'll hurt." He pulled out a small cylindrical device. "Hold back, troop. It's gonna make this job a lot smoother. Flashbang out!" he yanked the pin and tossed it into the room. An unendurable three seconds later, it went off with a blinding flash and a deafening BANG. "Clear the room! FAST!" Garrett made sure he was right behind Ruth and Kwon as the marines filed in to do their work.

Ruth piled in right behind Kwon. The duo literally ran up to the dazed Drathonians, and shot them, execution style. It was quick work, almost comical, if it weren't for the screams and wails of the helpless civilians. Ruth put his Sugar to the side of a Drathonian's head, and pulled the trigger; the head jerked to the side and smeared the wall before disintegrating under the burst. Kwon, however, was outright angry. He ran right up to a Drathonian, and smashed the side of his Sugar into the toothy mouth, sending teeth and bits of his rifle flying. He threw it down, and followed up with several shots into the chest and neck from his sidearm. "I think. I think that's the last of them." Kwon breathlessly replied. Ruth grimly nodded as the pained moans went on and on...

And shots from farther down the room glanced off Kwon's helmet, the force blowing it clean off his head and throwing him to the floor. While The marine was perfectly fine, shaken up would probably be an understatement at this point. Kai got up from his position, and, with Sehene's help, sniped some of the only partially-dazed opponents on the other side of the room. There were still a couple more, but those were gunned down quickly, Leaving only the squad of Terrans and several hundred malnourished, mistreated Seflaurind prisoners in the room. "No, THAT's the last of them." Kai commented, taking his helmet off, and shaking his head, sweat flinging off of his hair. It had been a tough battle, but it was finally over.

Garrett marched into the room, gun at the ready, but they were all dead by the time he got a bead. He tossed the gun down and his gaze fell on the SeFlaurind prisoners, and a hand tore his helmet from his skull. Then it stuck to his forehead like glue. "Aww ********. I screwed that one up real smooth-like. Damnit. Uh... Well, f-- um.... Do we have a translator in the house? Someone to tell these poor sun-lovers I'm sorry? I didn't mean to-- I... You know what? Whatever. Um. Sorry, y'all. That was my bad." He pressed all ten fingers to his chest to emphasize his words. "I'm, I'm really sorry. Forgot you were all sensitive 'n s**t." His hands extended toward them in an apologetic outreach. "I'm really sorry about the, you know." Garrett's hands rose to either side of his face and rotated in a vertical circle, gesturing at his entire face, even though the SeFlaurinds were still too damaged to watch him make a fool of himself. "You know, the whole sight 'n hearing thing. My mistake. Real ********' sorry. Really, I mean it."

He took a deep breath and looked around at his squaddies. "Anyone? Anyone speak plantese? Can someone help me out here? Got a real message to convey here and they're deaf as dead folk and I'm spoutin' Terran like they're omniscient flowers. Damn." Another deep breath. "I could really use a cigarette, some quiet time. I'll... Lieu-Kai, you got this. I'mma go sit in the other room, take a smoke break. You let me know if you need s**t blown up, alright?" And with his piece said (several times) he stepped into the next room and lit up another cigarette and tried to take his mind off all that happened; he needed to slow down, calm down, and get a grip. He had just REALLY screwed up.

Light. Kwon saw light. Was that the stupid tunnel everyone commented on? No. A pair of something's moved over the harsh light, followed by a third, larger thing. Drip. Drip. Drip. Needless to say, something hot and warm was dripping onto his face! His eyes shot open, and before he could make sense of what it was, Ruth's head got in the way. "Still alive? I have to admit, it's a pretty novel way of waking you up. Her crying on you and all." Kwon genuinely looked confused, but before he could comment, Ruth drew back, revealing the source of the earlier shadows. He had landed right in front of a post where a SeFlaurind was tied to. The young woman had apparently leaned over him despite the ropes binding her, and woke him up by letting her tears from the flash-bang drip on him. She giggled a little, though slightly pained. "Hi. Uh. Thanks." he sheepishly replied. "Lover-boy! You going to untie her or not?" Ruth scolded. "I'm on it, I'm on it!" he replied, embarrassed. He hastily scurried to his feet, and begun to free the girl. He had to admit, he could easily get around the whole being green thing...

After that, The Marine squad got around to untying, and in some cases, unchanining, all the prisoners, whom were all brought outside. By now, it was nearly sunup; and the Seflaurinds saw natural light for the first time in weeks, months, or even years. It was a good day for Perrenia, and a helpful day to the Terrans. Perhaps they would have some allies in this fight soon.

~~END CHAPTER~~

Chapter 8: A Waiting Game. BEGIN!

The Hymn's personnel and Squadrons were reassigned to garrison on the Saratar station, to provide protection from the constant raids. While Terran presence prevented the Lizards from warping in with their ships, constant raiding parties of fighters kept the Pilots on their toes, As well as made the station crew divide their time between repairing the shipyards and the ships themselves.

At the moment, Green squadron found itself on standby in the cafe nearest their assigned hangar, waiting for the inevitable raid alarm, where they would eb called to action again. It had been more than three months since the Ovid debacle and the daring raid on Perrenia, a planet which was finally declaring its independence from Drathonian control. Despite the UTR's decisive role in acquiring this status, the Perrenian council was wary of making any alliances, wishing rather to rebuild their home.

The Hymn, still in drydocks, had finally had the last bit of wreckage removed, the final casuality being found and pulled out, so the brave soldier could be given a proper burial. Several redesigns were in the works, but the most likely one came from an upstart firm known as Terran Combat Works, Incorporated, which wanted to Narrow the Terra class's job profile down to a pure fleet combatant. It was likely going to be the adopted design.

****

Lieutennant Nakamura sat in the Cafe near the hangar, having been assigned temporarily to Alpha squadron due to his piloting skills, drinking a soda and having a light lunch. He leaned back in his chair, watching a viewscreen displaying the news, wondering how SS 215 was doing, assigned to picket duty around the station. He was secretly glad for being selected as a temporary pilot, feeling very bad for his soldiers' ill luck, but that was military life. His eyes strayed for a moment to Green squadron, filled with a couple of (from this distance) lovely ladies, a young girl, and a bunch of stuck-up fighter jocks. then there was their leader. A good guy; Kai had actually flown with him once, and had to admit that he was a much better pilot than the Marine Lieutenant.

(( I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry. But it's been so long. I know we had that JP, but still! Well, if you don't feel like reading all of this, send me a PM, and I'll send a very brief summary your way. 3nodding ))

We lost. Cibo had this thought going through her head the entire three months as her ribs healed up. They were still not quite finished, but they were plenty good enough for her to go back on duty. Funny thing though, that she was now either directing the flow of supplies and substances like a traffic cop, or helping with flight control, having fighters shoo away the pesky Drathonian monsters. The whole time, Evelyn was mostly silent. Well, at least I'm not the only one pouting about loosing. the intelligence officer thought. Day in, day out, things were pretty much the same. Direct incoming and outgoing people and stuffs here and there. Next, tell pilots to kill this Scourge here, and that Rex there. "It's about lunchtime. If you don't mind, I'll be off. You take care while I'm away, ok?" she spoke kindly to her Boss-Admiral-Gynoid-Girl. "And don't let it get to you. If you think about it, good things can't happen all the time. But by that same string, bad things definitely don't happen all the time too!" Cibo added in a genuine looking wink before heading off. As soon as she was out of sight, her face became much more serious. "Now, it's about time I greeted our latest guest." An ominous pause followed her spoken words.

****

"What can you tell me about it?" the intelligence officer asked. There were guards outside, but she easily went by thanks to her job, and the fact that they were bored anyways. The doctor on duty hastily pushed her away, and towards what was hopefully out of hearing distance. Cibo could only catch a glimpse of it's silhouette behind the screens; it looked as though it were lying on it's belly, with several IV drips feeding into it's body.
"Keep it down. It, I mean, he, gets a little touchy if you refer to it like..." The doctor paused in her speech to swear. "F***. I mean, refer to him like that. His name is Yotruyan Clrikii. The first part is easy enough to say, but don't ask me about the second part. The SeFlaurinds revered him as a hero, believe it or not." The good doctor shook her head in disapproval before going on, "Get this, they called him 'Killy' and it's a matter of fact. As you already know, they had us take him with us, saying he could hit the Drathonians harder if he rode with us. I bet they just wanted to get rid of him. And he hasn't even taken off that damned helmet yet; he could be an extra messed up, damned Drathonian under that getup for all we know."
"Is that so? I could, well..." Cibo paused for a long moment, "...find out for you." she replied, flipping out her balisong knife, a long thin grin on her pretty face.
"Eh. Sadly, that's a no. It'll only come off only when speaking to the 'Shipmaster' he said. Heh. 'Shipmaster' Funny word, and as if we'd let that happen."
"Sounds all good, but you going to let me in and see...ahem, him?" The doctor looked over Cibo for a moment, briefly lingering on her rank, but finally her intelligence symbol. If it worked out, the good doctor would just think she was sent to interrogate it. It did work out; the doctor brushed the screen aside, and let Cibo step in. She had to stifle a gasp at what she saw though. Good thing it was asleep. Still, she had to make sure her eyes were seeing things right. Cibo pointed to the medical file, to which the doctor nodded. She flipped through the pages. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I think I know why you said, uh, 'extra-m'. And none of this has gone down to the data-banks yet? None of it?"
"Not a word. Intel want's to keep Evelyn nice and happy, especially after what happened. She doesn't need to know so much about this." Cibo merely nodded, and begun to read. Ever since the bridge accident, Cibo started to wear her own Eidolon under her uniform. She didn't want to get hurt like that again on duty. As luck would have it, it came with a throat mike linked to her PDA. She subvocalized every word she came across, and secretly recorded said sub-vocalizations into her PDA. She'd need to send this right away to Evelyn. She didn't care about the consequences. At this rate, I can't tell what's worse. My own department, or Evelyn.

****

RECORD: START

A series of wet smacks, flowing air and breathing could be heard over the throat-mike, but any person worth a damned would be able to figure out it was speech, minus the air necessary to fully articulate the words. With the proper software, the noises that sounded fresh from a stethoscope could be easily turned into words.

"It's me, Cibo. I don't care what happens to me after this. But I think I might just be scared; the first time in a long while to be honest. The others. They don't want you to know. But I think you need to know what we have here. Or. Maybe they already did tell you. Again. I don't care. If this thing's a threat, and it's species hostile, sided with the Draths, well, we might loose some more battles." Cibo's sub-vocal speech paused for a moment, replaced by breathing, albeit fast, excited. Her calm, steady voice went on, "It's not some higher ranking Drathonian like you might have been told. It's worse. This right here? I think this is first contact with this species. It's not on record from before the war; I knew every sentient species on record, and even a few that aren't. It's genetic info is way too different for it to be anything close to a Drathonian. And then there's it's body. Oh Eve." Cibo's breath begun to speed up a bit, and the sound of a hand rubbing against her back could be heard.

"The records indicate that this thing had several fist sized chunks blasted out of it by laser fire. But now those are all healed up, and it's suit is repairing itself somehow too. The medical personnel had only given it intravenous drips containing vitamins and minerals at it's request. Nothing else. No calories whatsoever. You get what I'm saying? It's getting it's energy somewhere else. And the engineers that were invited in to look at it, and they say the spinal cord." Cibo could be heard gulping. "Well, the doctors all said it had two, and the engineers looked at it's back. The outer spine. It's a fusion reactor ma'am. It gives off small amounts of Hadrons, giving it a nice red glow at these small spots. Black and red. A real nice armor color scheme. Somehow, it's deriving metabolic energy from the reaction." The squeaking of a wheel could be heard, and another voice cut in. Surprisingly, it sounded like a rather well meaning Terran.
"Hello. You're new. Nice to meet you."

Cibo's stifled scream was cut short as the message was sent to Evelyn through a channel she heavily encrypted herself.

RECORD: END

****

She slapped it. She actually slapped it, right across that got forsaken skull helmet it wore. "That's not nice." it spoke. Cibo didn't know what was more scary. The fact that this...thing was speaking to her, that it sneaked up on both her and the doctor, or that it wasn't trying to kill them. Yet.
"Yeah? Well, sneaking up on us isn't nice either!" she snapped back. The doctor was outright horrified, and was on the verge of calling in the guards. She locked eyes at Cibo who shook her head back and forward ever so slightly. She backed down, away from the hidden switch that was recently installed. The thing was taller than Cibo by about a foot. Yotruyan, was it? The black feathers coming out of the rear of his helmet moved about a bit, showing some enigmatic emotion.
"I guess so. Sorry." It moved back to it's hospital bed, lying belly down. Cibo cast away all her surprise for the moment.
"And what? You think being nice is going to help you lizard? Speak again. You're with the Drathonians aren't you?" It's black feathers fanned out, quivering. Did she hit a nerve? Cibo smiled behind it's back. It's voice was still well kept, kind and human however. It unnerved Cibo again. It must have been like a parrot at one point, but better. she thought, trying to calm herself down by degrading it.
"No. But would you rather me be mean? I wouldn't get what I want if I were, you know." Cibo gritted her teeth in anger at it's obvious insolence. What nerve!
"And what would that be?" she asked with a temper. Cibo swore to herself; if it tried to toy with her again, she was going to stab it until the guards pulled her away. No. He decided to surprise her.
"I want to commit Xenocide you see. It appears you and me both have the same objective. You know who I mean. I begin to tire. I hope you come back again some time. Your facial expressions are most priceless compared to the others." It could see her from behind it's back?! Cibo quickly shut her mouth; despite being interrogated, it was very direct. Frank. Shockingly so. What was it's game? Was it just saying what she wanted to hear? Or was it honest? But what if it was allied with the Drathonians from before the war? That would explain why it and it's kind would be still alive so far. But wasn't it killing Drathonians? The file reported it came onto the Hymn carrying a small stasis cooler containing what was best described as 'war trophies' from the Drathonians. But what if...Her thoughts went on, and her head started to spin.
"Excuse me, It's lunchtime."

****

Cibo sat down a seat away from a Lieutenant by the name of 'Kai Nakamura". From the Cafe, she had with her a sandwich, chips, along with a large Long Island Tea. Extra long, with actual tea instead of Coke. It didn't make sense to have something called a tea without actually having said tea in it; how could anyone not be bothered by this? She quickly downed half of it before hastily biting into her sandwich, trying to drown out her frustrations and fear in food. It was frustratingly different from any Drathonian she had ever met. Even including the 'Moonies' she occasionally talked to as a child when brought to her mother's workplace. Too different. She casually spun a lock of hair around a finger; now that she thought of it, her hair was getting long, and now fell to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Was it time to cut herself again?

"Informally, sir," Arcadia began, as a sort of forewarning to the sarcasm ahead by use of a paradoxical greeting, "On the downward spiral to piloting Hell. If it isn't defending against countless raids-- and making zero progress-- it's waiting for one of the engineers to halt their oh-so-important business, and make repairs that I'd rather learn to make myself. Frustrating is the word of the month."

"Really? will have to get something nice for you on your birthday then. Hm, perhaps a new flight jacket. One of those nice civvie ones, not one of those bland military issue ones." Steven said, chuckling slightly. He pulled out his handkerchief and covered a cough. He took another sip of coffee. Chuckling a bit more he thought about birthdays and how one does not really think about things like that when in war. How long was it until his birthday?
”What month is it again? Oh yeah, that is right. About two months I think.” he thought to himself as he downed the remainder of his coffee.
”Well put, Miss Langdon. I know just how you feel. It is just too bad that there isn’t jack s**t we can do about it.” Steven said, returning to a bleak tone.