RPG Silver One

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[color=#483d8b]Of the five people who were left after the initial investigation, Selna Trekel and Seok Lemese were ruled out rather quickly. That left three people who might be the agent: Velane Menekos, on research team one; Kleos Telmes, another from team one and also Director Edwards' assistant; and Jomo Trelmesk, a team three researcher and personal assistant to Telo Kemelesk, team three's head.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Okay, so we've got these three left," Kiva said to Daego. "We'll need to do a complete analysis on each one, but that'll take some time, so we want to pick the best one to do first."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah," Daego said, "but which one? Which one of these three is most likely to be the agent?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Well, at this point we know quite a lot about them, so let's go over that. We'll start with Velane, from team one."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"She might be a good bet. You saw how much of a suck-up she is."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "Yeah, that's for sure. I don't think she can see an ass without imediately kissing it. Which is actually a mark in favor of her not being the agent."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Really? I'd think that an agent would want to gain as much favor with higher-ups as possible."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "Yes, that's the general assumption, which is why no good agents act that way. You see, the worst thing an agent can possibly do is act like people would expect an agent to act. I think you can understand why that's bad."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, now that you mention it. So you don't think Velane's the agent?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Her ass-kissing would seem to indicate that she's not, but there is evidence that she's the one. Remember, we did find security footage showing her making an unauthorized transmission."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, I remember," Daego said. "You don't think she would've done anything about the security cameras?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Of course she would have. Any competent agent knows to deal with security cameras. But everyone makes mistakes, even the best. An agent can only catch as many as possible, and hope that the ones he/she doesn't catch don't cause problems. Still, forgetting to deal with security cameras is a pretty big mistake, and not one a skilled agent is likely to make.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Now, if you look at Kleos, there are a couple inconsistencies with him, but nothing big. His are the kind of mistake an agent is more likely to make."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, and as the Director's assistant, he probably has an easier time accessing information he doesn't need as a team one researcher."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"True," Kiva said, "which is actually a reason not to suspect him. After all, if classified information is leaked, suspicion will naturally fall on people who are allowed access to that information. It's much safer for an agent to find ways to access information he or she isn't supposed to have. That way, the agent avoids suspicion. However, some of the leaked information isn't stuff Kleos would be likely to have access to even in his role as Director Edwards' assistant. So he might just be our man. I certainly consider him a more likely candidate than Velane."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"What about Jomo?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"What's there to say about him, really? He's pretty unremarkable, realy. Sure, he's certainly one hell of a smart man, or else he wouldn't be at this facility at all, but for this place, he's very average. There's really not much to say about him."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Sounds like a good candidate to me," Daego said. "Someone like him is unlikely to draw much attention."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Again, that kind of person's a bit to obvious. A lot of people assume that if an agent isn't a suck-up, he or she will seem pretty unremarkable. And as I said, the last thing an agent wants to do is act like people would expect an agent to act. So I don't think it's Jomo. No, of these three, I think Kleos is the most likely candidate. We'll check him first. If he checks out, I think we should check Velalne next, and save Jomo for last."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Sounds good to me."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"All rght, then," Kiva said. "Let's get started."[/color]

[Rachmaninoff]

He had heard that Crystal was known for being blunt and forward, but until a few days ago Darren hadn?t realized just how frank she really was. If it wasn?t for the impression he got that she genuinely cared about people?s welfare, that whole deal on the roof of the new medical building as well as the detailed questioning back in sickbay would have really annoyed him. And at the time it had, the last thing Darren had ever wanted was to discuss Jared with anyone, from the teasing to when he had interrogated him in regards to the earth woman Sara. Crystal insisted on knowing absolutely everything. Making it clear that he would not be leaving until he answered things to her satisfaction.

And in the end, even though she had dressed him down a bit for not talking to the doctor over at the Creator about how frustrated he had been feeling, it had resulted in Crystal ordering some modifications to his quarters. It had taken a couple of days but now he had a small section with the same exercise equipment he had on his own ship. And judging from the way his workouts left him a little sore; it was obvious that he was slightly out of shape. Still it was nice to have the option available again. He had missed being able to workout. The simple stretches he had been doing just weren't the same.

Darren turned his attention back to the reports Sandra had sent him in regards to the US. She had been working with the liaison and she wanted him to go with her in about a week when a meeting to address the lack of cooperation in regards to the shipping of that area was held. They kept telling her that what she expected wasn?t possible and she wanted him to determine if it really was a lack of cooperation as she suspected. And to that effect she had sent him all the information she had. Darren had yet to look everything over yet, but so far everything did point to them being misleading. Provided he understood their shipping methods properly.

Then he closed those reports after a while and pulled up two messages that were waiting for him, one was from Mike, briefly explaining how the military still had him running between sectors four and one. The next one was from his sister Kerstin, who not only had arrived in sector one but also was settled into her new living accommodations. She would be starting classes in about a week. He couldn?t help but smile at how excited she sounded. And the pictures she sent showing the view from her room were as she said, quite beautiful. He sent off a brief reply thanking her for the pictures and then made a note to later check into the art she had published.

Darren turned the workstation off and got up to get prepared to head down to Earth. The day was far from over and he needed to oversee some of the work being done. And then once that was done he still had a meeting with those he had finally chosen to work in his office in sector one. He stifled a yawn as he left his quarters to head for the nearest transport room. [I]Maybe I should ask Crystal for a day off when I have my follow up appointment, [/I]he thought. [I]I could certainly use a break. [/I]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Once he had arrived in sector seven William had sent out the recognition signal indicating that he had arrived and was awaiting further instructions. It had been answered immediately with a set of coordinates for him to transport to on one of the outer planets. The instructions had been quite specific, he was to come alone, something that surprised him, as the mysterious person had never asked him to transport to a location to get the information they had for him. [I]What in the world is going on? [/I]He thought as he gave the technician the information for opening the transport door. [I]I guess I?ll find out[/I] he thought as he stepped through.

It took a moment for William?s eyes to adjust since the location had turned out to be an underground facility of some type and the lighting was far more subdued than how it was on the ship. Once they did and he could see who was waiting for him his eyes widened in surprise and instinctively his hand went for his disruptor. [I]How the hell did they find out? [/I]

?[B]There?s no need for that William,[/B]? the woman said. ?[B]This is not a trap.[/B]?

William paused, but he did not let go of his disruptor, keeping it aimed at the woman in front of him, not sure what to say. A quick glance at the room they were in seemed to indicate that they were indeed alone. But what of the other rooms since there were several doors leading to other areas?

The woman held her arms out to the side a bit, ?[B]As you can see I am unarmed. And if you check the area with the scanner built into your hand held computer you will see that we are alone.[/B]?

Quickly William pulled it out with his other hand and did as she suggested, and unless there was better equipment maintaining a stealth shield, they were alone and the only thing she had on her was some data chips and her own hand held computer. Cautiously William put his disruptor back in its holster. After all if it was a trap, it was already too late.

?[B]If this isn?t a trap, then what the hell is it?[/B]? He finally asked her.

?[B]The answer to something that you?ve been curious about for quite some time. As well as a briefing for a strike against one of the worlds here in sector seven, one that will be my last order as the leader of the resistance.[/B]?

?[B]Your last? Why?[/B]? William started to ask more but she motioned for silence.

?[B]Please, save your questions until after I have explained.[/B]? She tossed him one of the data chips she had on her. ?[B]In there you will find the codes needed to bypass the security to transport explosives directly to the processing facilities for parts on the third world, once you?ve done so you will destroy the facilities there. The explosives are waiting here in another room for you to transport them up once we are done.[/B]?

?[B]I can?t do that! What about the slaves? Millions of innocent people would die![/B]?

?[B]William, let me finish please.[/B]? She reprimanded him. ?[B]On that chip you will also find the exact time that the slaves you are worried about killing are to be temporarily transported to the moon while a highly sensitive project is completed. The third planet as you know is a highly active volcano. And to avoid losing the facilities altogether, a science team is going to be setting off underground explosives to stabilize things since currently there is an unacceptable amount of volcanic activity underneath the facilities. They hope that by diverting the pressure it will avoid the need to rebuild the facilities elsewhere. I?m sure I don?t have to remind you that it has been done successfully before in the past.[/B]?

William took a look at the data on the chip, ?[B]I still can?t do this. This could expose you. There?s a good chance that the High Council will realize who gave me this information.[/B]?

She smiled, ?[B]Not likely, I am not so foolish as to use my position to gain access to information I should not have. An agent who hacked into their systems and retrieved it obtained that.[/B]? She tossed him the other data chip that she was holding.

?[B]That has the list of every single contact and agent in the resistance, those you are aware of and those who have worked directly for me all this time. As well as other information that will probably answer most of your questions about the resistance. Once you have committed it to memory I suggest you destroy it.[/B]?

William looked down at the chip, ?[B]I don?t understand, why give this to me? What about you?[/B]?

?[B]It?s simple,[/B]? she said with a sad smile, ?[B]My time is limited and I need someone to take over once this mission is completed. I need someone to take my place.[/B]?

?[B]I still don?t understand. Why you would leave the resistance?[/B]?

?[B]I don?t have a choice William. It has not been announced or made public?but I?m dying.[/B]?

Startled William looked back up from the chip he was holding to see if she was serious. He looked closer and saw what the poor lighting had hid. He could see the lines of pain around her eyes and her mouth and even in the way she held herself.

?[B]How long do you have?[/B]? He finally asked her.

?[B]A year at most.[/B]?

?[B]I?m sorry.[/B]? William said. Not knowing what else to say. Hell, he had wanted to know who was behind the mysterious voice, but not like this!

?[B]Don?t be,[/B]? she replied. ?[B]There?s no cure for getting old you know. Or for some of the diseases that even we cannot cure yet. Now if you?ll come with me I?ll take you to the explosives. My time here is limited as well and even if this is my last order for you, I still have a few other things to take care of.[/B]?

William just nodded and followed her. There were so many things he wanted to ask! But at the pace she was going, it seemed like there would not be time for any questions. Carefully he pocketed the data chips she had given him. She said that she had included information about the resistance on them as well. So perhaps most of his questions would be answered then. If not, then like Nathan, she too would take her secrets to the grave. And then they arrived at where the explosives were stashed, even he couldn?t help but be awed by what she had done. [I]Damn! [/I]He thought. [I]That?s going to interesting when those go off.[/I] [/COLOR]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

It was finally time, it had taken him much longer than he expected to get things ready, to split the resistance members from the UK evenly among the rest of the members. A tactic that was necessary since their accent would make them stick out. So placing them with a group that was from the US had been essential. But now that all of them had been placed and Sara and Glen as well as several other top agents had made sure to visit each and every safe house to make sure things were running smoothly, something that was extremely important as hiding effectively would be paramount after tomorrow's strike. Daniel had issued the weapons to each group in the past week along with specific instructions as to what he expected.

Tomorrow morning they would be striking facilities all over the US as well as a few in the UK and in Australia. He had pretty much emptied the storehouse beneath the base in the US in order to equip everyone with an array of weapons. Some of them still experimental. Though those had gone to Versilan members who were better trained at using them. It was a pity that he didn't have more to give them and even more so that Daniel had been forced into playing his hand so soon. Though they would still continue to thwart the military at every chance, this would be the last time the strike would be this devastating. They would be back to fairly basic weapons other than some of the more powerful disruptor weapons they still had.

Still Celestia and Jason had been working on modifying the basic weapons on earth with crystals. Increasing the potential damage they could do. And even if that was all they had it would still work. Daniel sighed. [I]All this work and in only three months two of the bases were destroyed. If Kiva had not been called elsewhere, its possible that even this base would have already been found...So much for holding out for years and causing trouble. [/I] Something that he and William had thought was possible.

Daniel pulled up a few more reports in regards to the targets for tomorrow. Pretty much all of it was shipping facilities and troop facilities. Medical facilities were to be left alone. The one exception was here in the US. To make a statement against the remains of the US government since those who were still in power and working with the military had done little to see to the welfare of the regular people. The previous president of the US had spent the entire time trying to curry favor for those who had once enjoyed being in charge, a tactic that had alienated quite a few of the citizens since it had resulted in shipping delays as well as delays in the medical treatment for the population.

So in addition to the other targets, where they held meetings was also going to be destroyed. Daniel knew there was a good chance that those who were still in power would end up dead and though he disliked such tactics, he approved the strike when it was requested by those working for the resistance in that area. In many ways he couldn't blame them. It was hard enough for them to deal with their world being ruthlessly taken over, but to be betrayed on such a deep level by ones they had trusted to run their country was equally as hard to deal with. And if the resistance supported assassinations he would have had the former president dealt with. But they did not support assassinations so he had left him alone.

Daniel made one alteration to the teams, placing a couple of his best agents in charge of the strike against the former capitol of the US. They would need someone more calm and collected to keep things under control. It was one thing for someone to be caught in a blast and yet another for them to be shot at point blank range. He gave them specific orders to do what was needed to keep things from getting out of hand. Then he turned his workstation off. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, especially since to the best of his knowledge, nothing had been leaked to the military. Stevens and the others would be taken completely by surprise.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[color=darkslateblue]It had taken a while, but Kiva'd finally figured out just how Kleos had been doing it. She and Daego had already confirmed that he was the agent, but they hadn't figured out how he'd been getting access to information he wasn't supposed to have. There was no evidence of hacking, and he didn't seem to be using anyone else's access codes. But that turned out to be exactly what he was doing.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Somehow, Kleos had gotten Director Edwards' access codes. He'd been using them to gain access, but thanks to some very clever work, he'd made it look like Edwars was the one using the codes. the changes had been very well done and very well-hidden, but no change was invisible. Kiva had eventually found a couple minor inconsistancies, and by going from there, she was able to discover the changes Kleos had made. What she didn't know was how he'd gotten Edwards's access codes. So she asked Edwards about it.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, Kleos knows some of my access codes," Michael Edwards said. "I told him what they were. As my assistant, he needs access a lot, and I didn't want him to have to come to me every single time he needs it. He doesn't have my highest-level codes, but he has most of the others."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"That was dumb," Kiva said. "Never give out your access codes. You should know that."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yeah, but I've known Kleos for a long time. I know he's trustworthy."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"You're wrong on that one," Daego said. "We've determined that Kleos Telmes is a Resistance agent."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Edwards was clearly shocked by this, but he did his best to hide it. "It's Kleos? You're certain?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "Of course. He covered his tracks well, but everyone makes mistakes, and I found one of his. From there, it was pretty easy to identify him as the agent."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"I see. Have you contacted the High council yet?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"No. We wanted to figure out how he got your access codes first. Now that we know, we will be contacting the High Council."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"...and Edwards confirmed that he had given Kleos the access codes," Kiva said. She and Daego were back on the [i]Transcendence[/i], and they were speaking with the High Council. Kiva'd just finished detailing the investigation and her identification of Kleos as the agent. "After that, we returned here to contact you."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"I see," one of the Councilmen said. "Well done. Have you destroyed the relay stations?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Not yet. There was always the chance that the agent would attempt a transmission, and I wanted to use the relay stations against him if he did. We'll take out the relay stations as we leave the sector."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Good. Depart as soon as you can. Once you've finished with the relay stations, return to sector 14 and resume your previous assignment. We'll have Kleos taken care of. And I suppose we'll have to do something about Edwards, too. Even if he didn't have any reason to suspect Kleos, giving Kleos his access codes can only be seen as a display of incompetence. At the very least, he will be releaved of his rank and position. Anyways, you have your orders. Carry them out."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Understood," Daego said. "I would like to add one thing, though. I must formerly protest the goals of research project two. Minor mental modifications are one thing, but the extent to which this project is taking it is another matter entirely. There's a reason that kind of research is forbidden. I find it unacceptable."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Your protest is noted," the Councilman said. "However, the project is already underway and will not be cancelled."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"I cannot ask for anything more than that my protest be noted."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Good. Is there anything else?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"No," Kiva said. "We'll be on our way."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Good luck, Kiva. Out." The transmission was terminated.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Well, we know what we need to do," Kiva said to Daego. "Let's get to it."[/color]

[Horendithas]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]Sandra smiled inwardly at Darren who was fussing with his uniform while they waited for the transport door to head down to Earth. She could tell that he was trying to hide how nervous he was about going down to confront those responsible for creating delays in the shipping in the US. It was on some level a bit entertaining to watch as it reminded her of how she had felt the first time she had been required to address the High Council. Even though she had since learned to hide it, she still felt a bit nervous at times.

?[B]You know Darren, I do believe that your uniform is just fine the way it is.[/B]? She teased him, smiling as he looked at her his expression one of annoyance that she had noticed how nervous he was.

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck in yet another nervous gesture. ?[B]Yeah, I know.[/B]?

?[B]If it makes you feel any better when I first got into politics I was every bit as nervous as you were.[/B]?

Darren sighed, ?[B]It certainly doesn?t show.[/B]? He carefully held his arms and hands to his side. ?[B]I keep telling myself that their dishonesty is hurting others and yet a small part of me still wishes I didn?t have to deal with them.[/B]?

?[B]Same here,[/B]? Sandra paused at Darren?s look of disbelief. ?[B]I dislike dealing with fools as much as anyone else. However, in this case it?s unavoidable.[/B]?

?[B]I don?t understand, if they really are fools why haven?t you replaced them with someone more competent?[/B]?

?[B]Because just as you were chosen for being competent and honest, they were chosen for being foolish and stupid.[/B]?

?[B]You?ve lost me.[/B]? Darren said, clearly confused.

?[B]It?s simple Darren,[/B]? Sandra said as they stepped though the door that had finally been opened, continuing once they had stepped through and headed towards the meeting, flanked by the security that had been waiting for them. ?[B]When taking over a world, you want someone who is not smart, someone who is only interested in themselves and their friends who use to be in power. By the time the regular people get fed up enough to request that they be replaced, our rule is established.

Where allowing someone who is smart to be the liaison, especially when the world is newly conquered has resulted in resistance factions being formed, making the take over even more costly and time consuming.[/B]?

?[B]I hadn?t thought of that,[/B]? Darren replied as they entered the room taking the seats reserved for them. And then the meeting began.

Sandra just took her own seat, stifling a yawn as she always did. It may have been required, but she still found the meetings boring and almost pointless. It got old dealing with the remnants of the US government and sometimes she would rather jettison some of them into space without any protection instead of talking to them and putting up with their stupidity. Once the world was terra formed and all the changes made most of what they were squabbling over wouldn?t even matter anymore.

She watched as Darren, who once the meeting had progressed to the part about the shipping, brought up his own points showing how they had been lying to Sandra about the requirements for the shipping. Something that was not received very well and would have resulted in even more pointless arguments if their security was not there to maintain order. They hadn?t needed to stun anyone for weeks, but it would not surprise her if someone lost it in this meeting. It never failed to amaze her at the lengths people would go to over a lie.

Sandra was fighting the urge to fall asleep when the chime indicating a priority transmission sounded, startling her. [I]What the hell? [/I]She thought. But as she moved to open her hand held computer and answer it all hell broke loose as explosions rocked the building they were in. She barely had time to even register that the ceiling was collapsing or to even attempt to move out of the way when something struck her and she fell into darkness.
[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[CENTER]--------------------------------------------[/CENTER]

[B]OOC:[/B] All right Rachmaninoff. You know what to do. ;)

[Rachmaninoff]

Like any time he had been required to deal with dishonest merchants, dealing with those who were part of the former government for the US was equally as distasteful. Especially since a number of them were close to behaving like small children caught stealing when they knew better. Now Darren understood just why there were fully armed security squads present for the meeting. [I]What a bunch of fools. [/I]He thought. [I]I don?t know how Sandra manages to put up with them. [/I]

He didn?t get much further when he heard the chime from Sandra?s hand held indicating she had a priority transmission. Startled, he turned to look at her only to be thrown sideways as explosions rocked the building and seconds later the ceiling collapsed. Darren managed to get partially under the table, but not in time to keep parts of the ceiling from hitting him on his back and his legs, knocking him flat. And the loud clutter on the sturdy table as pieces from the roof fell was deafening. Then it was over.

With a grimace of pain since it felt like something had been broken on his right side since he had been partially turned when the stuff hit him. He pulled free of the debris grabbing the table for support. One side of the building was completely gone and outside was a disaster. There were several groups of individuals fully armed, tossing what appeared to be a type of explosive at the troops rushing to the area as well as several groups heading towards the building he was in. One of them had a type of disruptor rife he had never seen before and was firing at the building, knocking huge holes in the remaining walls. [I]We need to get out of here.[/I] He thought.

Darren turned, ignoring the crushed bodies of both the security personal as well as the members of the US government, only to swear at the sight of Sandra who was partially buried. As quickly as he could he moved over to her position and removed the pieces of the ceiling that were lying on her. She appeared to be breathing and though her head was bleeding profusely from where she had been struck, a quick scan with his hand held computer confirmed that she was okay. Though she was bruised all over pretty bad as well as suffering from a severe concussion.

He started to contact the Creator only to freeze in fear at the sound of what had to be human voices just outside the building. [I] Damn![/I] He thought. [I]We?re too exposed here. [/I]Quickly he put his hand held back in its side pouch and carefully picked Sandra up. Ignoring the pain in his side as he carefully stepped through the rubble heading for the only open doorway. But when he got inside it was only a side conference room with no other exits. He swore softly and then froze again at the sound of the humans entering the other room.

?[B]Did we get all of them??[/B] One of the voices said as Darren moved until he was on the other side of the table, hiding him and Sandra from view since the door was still open.

?[B]Looks like it, still those damn Versilans are like rats, we?d better take a quick look.[/B]? The other one said as Darren carefully placed Sandra down. Resisting the urge to curse.

[I]There?s no way they?ll miss us. [/I] He thought desperately, wishing he dared to contact the Creator directly. Instead he carefully pulled out his hand held to avoid making any noise and activated the distress signal. Then as the group of three came into view he slowly put it back into his pouch. Wishing he had thought to tip some of the chairs over to keep them from being able to see under the table as they approached.

Darren did not bother to get up from his position on his knees between Sandra and the door when they entered the room, their weapons aimed at him. Instead he merely raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

?[B]See? I told you.[/B]? One of them said with disgust. ?[B]Just like rats.[/B]? He looked at Sandra and then back to Darren. ?[B]Why the hell are you trying to protect one of them?[/B]?

It took Darren a moment to realize that he had never removed the treatment to his eyes. [I]They think I?m human. [/I]He thought. Something that surprised him since he would have thought that after being made the shipping expert they would have known just who he was. But obviously they didn't and unlike Sandra he was not wearing a military uniform.

?[B]You?d better hurry if you want to take care of them.?[/B] The third one by the door said. ?[B]The squad leader is coming and you know how he feels about executing them.[/B]?

?[B]Screw the damn squad leader.[/B]? The one closest to Darren said. ?[B]I want to know why this asshole is trying to protect her.[/B]?

?[B]Does it matter? Just kill them already.[/B]?

?[B]Of course it matters! Hell I voted for most of these jackasses who are still here.[/B]?

[I]Lovely,[/I] Darren thought. [I]They?re arguing over whether or not to execute us. [/I]And when the one closest to him turned his attention back to Darren and Sandra, Darren looked down, and stayed silent. Refusing to meet his gaze.

?[B]God damn it![/B]? The one closest snarled in anger as he lashed out with the butt of the disruptor rifle, catching Darren on the right side of his face and knocking him over. ?[B]I asked you a question![/B]?

Darren struggled to get back up on his knees, halting when the man took aim, preparing to fire. He did the only thing he could think of and closed his eyes tightly, turning away a bit.

?[B]Stop![/B]?

Darren opened his eyes to see another squad entering the room.

?[B]You idiot! Don?t you realize who they are?[/B]?

The one who had been about to shoot Darren lowered his disruptor rifle and shook his head.

?[B]That woman is none other than Commodore Sandra of the flag ship Creator and a candidate for the High Council as well as being the daughter of one of the current members of the High Council. And he,[/B]? the man pointed at Darren. ?[B]Is the shipping expert for the entire Versilan Empire.[/B]?

?[B]I?m sorry sir,[/B]? the man mumbled. Not sounding sorry at all as he shot Darren a glance filled with hatred.

?[B]Sorry doesn?t cut it. We?re pulling out since reinforcements are arriving.[/B]?

?[B]But sir,[/B]? he protested, ?[B]Surely we aren?t going to let them go?[/B]?

?[B]Of course not, they?re coming with us. Commander Daniel will want to talk with them.[/B]? He motioned to the men in his own team who came over and seized both Darren and Sandra.

?[B]Now lets get going, I?ll deal with you three later.[/B]?

Darren did his best to not wince when they searched him and took his hand held computer. But he couldn?t help but grunt slightly from the pain in his side as his hands were forced behind his back to be bound nor from the shove to get him moving. [I]Lovely.[/I] He thought as they took him and Sandra, who was still unconscious and being carried back out into the main room.

[Aaryanna_Mom]

Kim had thought that she knew next to nothing, but the longer she was kept in the same cell and interrogated by the same man. The more she began to realize how wrong she had been. Other than to deviate for certain details like the shielding for the bases at Earth or to question her about the former resistance base in sector fourteen, he was methodically going through every tiny procedure as if she was a cadet being tested to see if she remembered how things were run.

He was carefully getting every single detail as to the differences between the resistance and the military since many of their procedures were based off of military tactics. If she had the energy she would have screamed with frustration. But instead she simply sat on the cell bed with her back against the wall, wondering just how long she would be kept there.

Kim ignored the tears that flowed down her face as she always did. Just as she tried to ignore the feelings of despair that she could not seem to shake. At this rate, especially if he also broke down her time with the resistance to find out everything she had done since she joined, she would be here for months if not years. A thought that just made her start to sob hopelessly. Especially when an even darker thought followed the first thought, one that terrified her. That once he was done ?[I]breaking[/I]? her, she would be handed back over to Stevens.
[CENTER]
----------------------------------------[/CENTER]

Daniel was pleased, so far the strikes had gone as planned. Not only had their surprise been complete, but the better weapons had enabled them to disrupt the shielding for the facilities making it child?s play to transport explosives directly into the structures, making destroying them simple. And the high-grade disruption shield they had put up the moment the explosives had been detonated in each area made it impossible for the military to immediately transport reinforcements to each location.

He had been in the main command center overseeing things and other than a few mishaps all was proceeding smoothly. And now that the better supplies were nearly gone, those involved in the strikes were withdrawing, fading back into the communities to hide. It was a pity that he didn?t have more; he could have done follow up strikes on the troop bases that hadn?t been hit once the first wave was finished. Still Daniel was pleased since between shooting down the four transport ships and today?s attacks, he had made this one of the most costly invasions in history.

?[B]Commander Daniel, I need to speak to you privately sir.[/B]? A voice said. He turned to see one of the squad leaders for the strike on the former US capitol.

?[B]Lets take it to the side room then.?[/B] Daniel said even as he turned and headed there himself and then once the door was closed he continued. ?[B]All right, what did you need to speak to me about?[/B]?

?[B]I have two prisoners that I brought back with us. Sandra Luciana and Darren Anderson. Both of them are being taken to sickbay to be treated.[/B]?

Daniel swore, ?[B]I thought I made it clear that you were not to take any prisoners. You had better have a good explanation.[/B]?

The man winced, ?[B]I?m sorry sir, several of the teams got out of control, they deviated from their duty and hunted down any Versilan shooting them on the spot, including those who were unarmed. Instead of arguing with them I told them you would want to speak to them since at that point I felt it was better than confronting them in their angry state of mind.[/B]?

?[B]I see,[/B]? Daniel said with a sigh, ?[B]and what of the teams?[/B]?

?[B]I pulled them out immediately telling them it was time to withdraw. The other squad leader is finishing up at the former US capitol and once we took their weapons from them I had them transported back to the safe houses they were assigned to.?[/B]

Daniel just shook his head, ?[B]Finish wrapping things up and then come back here with a full report as to what happened.[/B]?

?[B]At once sir,?[/B] the man replied. He bowed slightly and then turned to leave.

Once the door shut, Daniel swore. Of all the people to have here in the base, why the hell did it have to be Sandra and the new shipping expert Darren? Quickly he went over to the workstation and contacted sickbay, but other than to reassure him that their injuries were not serious, the doctor brushed him off since they were not finished.

Daniel thanked him and then once he closed that line of communication he opened another one, sending a priority request to William. Even if he immediately released them, the damage had already been done when they had been brought to the base. If kidnapping Commander Crystal had caused problems, kidnapping Sandra and Darren would be even more of a problem due to their position and rank. It wouldn?t matter that they hadn?t really kidnapped them. Or rather that they had not planned on it.

He sighed as he pulled up other screens to keep in contact with those in the Command Center as well as organizing the remaining withdrawal of the teams. Daniel waited patiently for William to respond.[I] I need to see what he wants done,[/I] he thought.[I] Besides, I can?t do anything until the doctor is finished anyway. [/I] He sighed again. [I]This is a problem we don?t need. [/I]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]It was almost time for the strike in sector seven. Everything was in place. In just a short while they would be finished with moving the slaves to the moon while the charges were set off. William was about to head out when he was interrupted by an incoming priority transmission. Puzzled he answered it.

"[B]What is it Daniel? Can it wait? I don't have much time at the moment.[/B]"

"[B]In that case I'll simply send you the report sir. It can wait for now.[/B]" Daniel replied.

"[B]Good,[/B]" William replied. "[B]I'll review it the moment I am done with other business.[/B]" He terminated the transmission once the report had finished loading. Then as he was heading out to the bridge he started reading it, stopping dead in his tracks for a moment. [I]What the hell?[/I] William shook his head. [I]I'll have to deal with this later.[/I]

He continued from his quarters to the bridge, just in time to see that the information indicated that the facilities there were almost empty and that in twenty minutes the procedure for regulating the pressure under them would commence. Quickly William sat down in the command chair and brought up a view of the main facility.

[CENTER][IMG]http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5254/sectorsevenpz0.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE=1]Copyright [URL=http://dylancole.deviantart.com/][COLOR=RoyalBlue][U][B] dylancole @DeviantArt[/B][/U][/COLOR][/URL] [/SIZE][/CENTER]

It still never failed to amaze him how they had managed to take such an active volcanic planet and build a city incorporating the active lava flows for producing parts for ships and other computer equipment. Nor how every so often a science team would carefully transport special explosives below the surface to redirect the flow of lava as needed. It was, in his opinion rather impressive. It was almost a pity that he was going to be destroying it.

"[B]Are we ready with the explosives for transport?[/B]" He asked his second in command.

"[B]Yes sir, I've input all the codes you provided for bypassing the security and every group of explosives is prepped and ready.[/B]" He turned back to look at William. "[B]I still wish I knew how you got your hands on those explosives.[/B]"

William just smiled. "[B]I'm sure you would. Anyway, once the slaves are done being transported I want each set of explosives transported into place in intervals of thirty seconds.[/B]"

"[B]Understood sir.[/B]" Then a few minutes later they began. Each security code working just as the woman had told William that they would.

He still couldn't get their meeting out of his mind. Of all people, William would have never guessed that she was the leader of the resistance, or rather that she had been. He had thought that he was the only one. [I]I wonder if there are others? [/I] Though he doubted it.

"[B]Everything is in place sir.[/B]"

William pulled his attention back to the mission. "[B]All right on my mark set them off. 5 4 3 2 1...Mark![/B]"

William watched the live feed of the city that they were getting, wincing a bit when the explosives went off. Creating a rupture in the ground underneath the remains. Then to his amazement, the remains of the city began to sink, creating a huge crater. Fascinated he watched as the city slowly sank into the lava at the bottom.

"[B]Well,[/B]" William's said. "[B]It's safe to say that they won't be building anything there for quite some time.[/B]" A quick look at the other facilities showed the same thing happening there as well.

"[B]Wow,[/B]" his second in command said his eyes wide. "[B]I knew those explosives were the best, but damn! I didn't realize they could do that![/B]"

"[B]Broadcast the transmission claiming responsibility as well as our stance about not enslaving the other races since we should be protecting them and then get us the hell out of here.[/B]"

"[B]Where to sir?[/B]"

"[B]Ah, yes, sorry, sector twelve.[/B]" He stood up to leave, "[B]Good work everyone.[/B]" Then he headed back to his quarters.[I] I need to contact Daniel [/I]he thought.

William already knew what he was going to have him do. His agent at the military facility had told him that Kiva was done with her investigation and either would be leaving sector fourteen to head for sector thirteen or already had. They were down to the final stand since Daniel had used the special supplies he had for them. He smiled at the thought. Knowing that it would have surprised the hell out of Stevens.

Then, since the damage had already been done, he wrote up instructions for Daniel in regards to Sandra and Darren. They may not have intended to capture them but there was no reason why they couldn't be used. [I]I'll have Daniel place both of them, once they've recovered in separate safe houses.[/I] He was fairly certain that locating them would take priority even over locating the remaining base in the US.

Now if he could only find a reason to get the Transcendence sent elsewhere. He didn't dare try to get close enough to transport Daniel, Jason, Celestia and Sara out of there so long as they were around. Since even with the improvements that Jason and Celestia had suggested, his ship was not fast enough to out run the new messenger ship. William sighed as he entered his quarters.

As for the research project, it was a pity that they had failed to get the information on the third one. Releasing the last bit of information had created quite a stir. Still what he had done today would cause quite a problem. If only it would be enough to gain even more support from the people. Though he doubted it.[/COLOR]

[Horendithas]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]To say that things were a disaster would have been an gross understatement. Since the first report of a troop base being attacked and then shortly blown to pieces to the rush of incoming transmissions of other attacks happening all over the US as well as in a few places in the UK and even in Australia, things had steadily gone down hill. Jared had trouble keeping up with everything that was happening and his initial attempt to contact Sandra had gone unanswered as the the very building she and Darren were in was also attacked.

To make things worse, unlike the previous time when the resistance had used distortions shields to cover the pulse cannons, this time they were using high grade military shields ones that easily covered several miles, forcing the reinforcements and squads to have to fight their way to the different troop bases, shipping facilities and the former capitol of the US, since they could not transport within the distortion field and firing on the resistance members from space was out of the question since they could easily hit their own people.

It was beyond being a disaster when even with the quick response time, they suffered heavy losses as the resistance fighters also had high grade military weapons and explosives, making it difficult to get to the source and take out the disruption shields. Then a few hours later it ended as the resistance members that were left disappeared. But the question foremost on Jared's mind as well as Stevens, was where in the world had they gotten the supplies from? None of the troop bases that they had raided had the stuff they had used. And more importantly, did they have more?

Once again Jared was forced to bring all the troops in from the smaller communities to the bigger cities to restore control as well as organize the team to hunt for Sandra and Darren since their bodies had not been among the rubble of the building that they had been in. There was no question that they had been there since not only had Sandra's hand held computer been found but there was blood from both her and Darren indicating that they had been hurt when the building collapsed.

Exhausted Jared left the Creator to go and meet with Stevens on the Conqueror, it had taken all day to get things back under control and he was still not done. There was no question in his mind as to where Sandra and Darren were, for what ever reason the resistance had taken them. But it didn't make any sense. The resistance just didn't take prisoners, the few exceptions, like Crystal were few and far between. And since they did not use torture or drugs to get information, if that was what they had been after, they would not have left Sandra's hand held behind. They would have taken it in order to hack into her files.

With a sigh Jared entered the side observation room just off the bridge of the Conqueror and quietly took a seat as Stevens was addressing the High Council.

"[B]When did this happen?[/B]" Stevens was saying.

"[B]Shortly after the attacks at Earth began,[/B]" one of them replied.
[I]
What are they talking about?[/I] Jared wondered, that is until the High Council sent a file showing the devastation in sector seven. Something that was hard to believe they had managed to pull off.

"[B]You say the system registered someone using the proper security codes to allow them to open transport doors to the different facilities there? How the hell did they manage to get those codes?[/B]"

"[B]We've already assigned two Elite Specialists from sector one to look into how it happened, but the fact remains that we have no choice but to deny most of your request for reinforcements as they are needed in sector seven. I'm sure you can understand that moving the displaced inferior races who are currently in the moon facility takes precedent.[/B]"

"[B]Yes I understand,[/B]" Stevens said. "[B]And unless you object, since I understand that Kiva is finished with the investigation in sector fourteen I am going to be moving one third of the troops there to Earth as they are no longer needed to maintain a lock down of that sector.[/B]"

"[B]Agreed,[/B]" they replied. "[B]We will contact Kiva and inform her as to what has happened. Once she arrives at Earth she is to recover both Sandra and Darren as well as finding the remaining base and criminals. It is regrettable, but maintaining order on Earth is more important than recovering either one of them at this time.[/B]"

Stevens nodded, "[B]Understood, we'll make due with what we have. Stevens out.[/B]" Stevens turned to face Jared. "[B]I take it that neither Darren nor Sandra was found?[/B]"

"[B]No,[/B]" Jared replied. "[B]The teams did a full sweep, of the area and found nothing.[/B]"

Stevens sat down with a sigh. "[B]I didn't expect them to find anything, but still, it just doesn't make any sense, why bother? Usually when dealing with high ranking military officers or officials the resistance just stuns them and leaves them there since they want to avoid the public fall out.[/B]"

"[B]I don't know, I thought that perhaps since they were most likely hurt as blood was found that perhaps they required immediate medical assistance, but if that were true moving them would have been dangerous, it would have required lowering the disruption shield to transport them.[/B]"

"[B]Something they did not do,[/B]" Stevens observed as he stood up. "[B]We'll have to figure this out later. There's too much to be done, for now our number one priority is to regain control and tend to the wounded. Also I need to issue the order to get the reinforcements sent from sector fourteen.[/B]"

Jared nodded, "[B]Understood, I still have some things to take care of as well.[/B]" He bowed slightly and then left. It was unfortunate, but like the High Council had said, recovering Sandra and Darren would have to wait until Kiva and Daego arrived. Sandra would understand but Darren? Jared sighed as thinking about Darren reminded him that he would need to inform his sister Kerstin about what had happened. Something like this would be all over the news and the last thing he wanted was for her to be left in the dark since the news tended to make things more dramatic than they really were.

He pulled out his hand held computer and checked to see what the time was where she was. In a few hours it would be morning for her. He made a note for his system to remind him in a few hours to contact her. Then he closed it and continued on his way.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Crystal was almost finished putting together her report on the former US building that Sandra and Darren had been in. A report that was made easier by who ever had been in charge when they finally got to the location. They had made sure that other than to retrieve the few people who were still alive to keep everyone off of the rubble and to avoid recovering bodies until they had done an extensive scan first. They had then forwarded the information to Stevens who had then forwarded it to her to use when she finally transported down to make her own assessment of the situation.

She had not expected to find much since once the scans had been done they had moved things to recover the bodies, but still she had been able to partially piece together what might have happened. Based on the genetic material as well as the traces of blood she had at least determined why she believed they had not been instantly crushed like the others. The building was made of a heavy type of marble stone but in the center they had used a much lighter type of marble. And in the center of the room they had been in a type of glass that went up like a dome with metal beams for support had been used.

Sandra's and Darren's position as well as the few survivors were all within the radius of where the lighter building material and glass part of the roof was. Everyone else in the room had died instantly when the roof collapsed. As well as everyone else in the building except for a few rooms that had remained standing.

It looked like Sandra had been buried and Darren had gotten her out as there were traces of his blood on the rubble that had her blood as well. She couldn't be positive, but the pattern of where the blood was indicated that he had moved it and her computer simulations based on it indicated it as well. Then for what ever reason it seemed that they had moved to one of the few rooms that was still standing. A side conference room. And based on the scuff marks in the heavy dust, Sandra was either unconscious or injured as she had been lying down.

Then based on the number of disturbances it looked like at least six other people had been in the room as well. Crystal was not an expert when it came to this type of investigation, but the computer analysis indicated that the marks in the heavy dust had to have been made by someone other than Darren and Sandra, and it also indicated that there had been some type of struggle.

Crystal had then followed the trail of footsteps as they went through the remains of the building and outside, at that point there was nothing left to track. So for what ever reason, they had moved them. She finished up her assessment of what happened and forwarded it to Stevens. Then she pulled up some other medical reports that she needed to forward to Stevens as well.

Someone in the resistance had been shooting Versilan's and former US officials at point blank range. Killing them with a shot to the head with a powerful disruptor rifle, and in some cases the person had been found unarmed and some of them had been injured or unconscious before they were killed. No one had been spared, even some who were obviously not part of the military or the former US government had been shot. Still wearing the uniform of a simple servant.

If she had to guess, Crystal would say that it was likely that the culprit was a human and not a Versilan. For the simple reason that such executions simply were not done by the resistance. People in the military did die as a result of their actions, but they had always been careful to avoid more outright terrorist tactics since those tended to backfire. Resulting in a loss of support among the regular people of the Empire. And on the worlds where resistance cells had formed that included those who were native to the world, they were careful to keep them under control as well.

Crystal sighed as she finished preparing the report about what had happened down there.[I] I hope those fools who did the killing were taken care of [/I]she thought. [I]There's no excuse for killing innocent people, or for killing those who are unable to defend themselves. [/I][/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[color=darkslateblue]"Proper emergence confirmed," Daego said. "We're back in sector 13."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Almost immediately after the [i]Transcendence[/i]'s arrival, a message was recieved. "A message this soon after we arrived can only mean one thing," Kiva said. "They were waiting for us to show up, and they wanted to get this message to us immediately when we did."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"So something's happened, then," Daego said. "What the hell is it this time?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Let's find out," Kiva said as she opened the message. The message was rather large, and it wasn't long before Kiva and Daego saw why: the message was actually two messages sent as one. One was direct from the High Council, who would have sent it to the [i]Creator[/i] for relay to the [i]Transcendence[/i] as soon as possible. The other had originated from the [i]Creator[/i], and it was that one that Kiva and Daego opened first. It was about the attack in sector 7.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"My God," Daego said. "How the hell did they pull that off. Do you have any idea what kind of explosives they'd need for something like that?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Big ones, I assume," Kiva said.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"That's something of an understatement. Access to that level of explosives is regulated level 1.0.5. How the hell did they get that kind of authorization?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Probably the same way they got the security codes they used. How they did that, I don't know. I can't imagine an undercover operative would make it thought the examination you need to pass to get even our level of clearance, much less 1.0.5 access. How the hell did they pull that off?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]Daego wasn't paying attention. He'd seen the mention that the Resistance had broadcast theiir usual statement, and after learning about the second project in sector 14, that statement got to him even more than it usually did. He didn't hate all of the research being done there-the third project in particular continued to fascinate him, and he's spent a good deal of time durring the trip back going over the Council's provided information on it-but project two disgusted him, and now that project was making him wonder if the Resistance was as wrong as he'd always thought. He was just sitting there, muttering to himself. Kiva ignored him and opened the High Council's message.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Daego, we have updated orders," Kiva said as she read the message. "Sandra and Darren have been taken prisoner by the Resistance."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]That got Darren's attention. "What? Even after security was stepped up as a reaction to Crystal's capture? And why those two? Sandra I get, but why Darren?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Good question," Kiva said. "The only thing he'd know about is the shipping protocalls, and the Resistance has to know that the protocalls will just be changed if we suspect the Resistance knows how to beat them. My guess is, they were there for Sandra. Darren was down there with Sandra, and when the Resistance found him with her, they probably decided to take him, too. Anyways, the reason isn't our concern. [/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Our job, of course, is to find Sandra and Daego. We've got every bit of information availible, including salvaged security recordings. The audio couldn't be salvaged, but the video seems fine. Okay, we'll do this just like we did when looking for Crystal. Daego, take the security recordings and see if Kim recognizes anyone involved in the capture. I'll hack into the Resistance base and see what I can find."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Got it," Daego said. He went to get Kim, and Kiva made her way into the Resistance base's computer network. After starting her programs running as usual, she left a report. This report had the usual information, including Kiva's updated orders. In addition, Kiva included all of the information she had on the three projects in sector 14. She added a clear warning not to release the information, as some was so highly classified that even some members of the High Council didn't have it. Releasing that information could severely compromise Kiva's position.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]With her report planted, Kiva waited for her programs to finish running. When they had, she pulled out of the base's network and began going over the information her programs had gotten. Hopefully, there would be something useful.[/color]

[Rachmaninoff]

Just as Darren had never imagined that he would end up working for the High Council, he would never have guessed that he'd end up a prisoner of the resistance. Locked up in some tiny room, god knows where, since they had moved him from the actual base to this place. There was nothing to do, literally. No windows, no form of workstation to let him at least keep up with what was going on. Nothing. The only difference between this place and the cell he had been in briefly on the Crimson when this whole mess started, was that the bed was actually comfortable.

Which left him thinking about what had happened and what was going to happen. When the other squad had shown up, he had been relived that they had stopped the others from killing him and Sandra. But that had been short lived once they had taken them some distance before opening up a transport door and taking them to what had to be the remaining resistance base. The squad leader had left and the two men with him had taken him and Sandra to their sickbay. And once they had done that, they had taken positions inside the room to guard them. Something that had Darren wanting to laugh since he had no combat training at all.

But what had shocked him the most was when the earth woman Sara had entered the sickbay while the doctor was treating Sandra. Darren had instinctively moved backwards only to fall off the bed and land painfully on his right side where he had been hurt. Leaving him dizzy with pain. One of the squad members guarding them had helped him back into the bed to lie down but the moment he had looked up again, it was to find Sara still there. And when she spoke...Darren winced at the memory. She had changed since he last saw her. Becoming more cold and unforgiving, making him glad the security was there. Regardless, he just kept his mouth shut and had said nothing, relived when she had finally left.

Then later once he had been treated as well, Daniel had finally shown up, but in spite of the squad leader's words saying he would want to talk to them, he had said very little. Only a brief bit to reassure him that other than to detain him and Sandra no harm would come to them and then he had left.

Once he and Sandra had recovered they had been separated. They had brought him to this tiny room and locked him in, checking on him twice a day. He didn't know what they had done with Sandra. Or with his hand held computer either. Darren knew that Jared had seen to putting high level security on it once he had been made the shipping expert. But even if they hacked into it there wasn't much to learn since he had kept most of his information at his workstation in his quarters on board the Creator.

He had been preparing a report with all the information about the fragmented reports in regards to William though. Not that it mattered since the new system prevented that from being a problem. Still it would be a shame for them to be able to confirm that they knew all about where William had been in the past thirty years. That information was suppose to go to the High Council. Darren sighed.

At least Jared would make sure Kerstin was kept up to date. He would have hated for her to find out by seeing it on the news. It pained him to admit it, but it made him feel better knowing that Jared would make sure she was taken care of.

[Horendithas]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]When Sandra first woke up, the first thing she noticed, besides the terrible headache and stiffness that told her she was sore all over, was that she had no clue as to where she was. It was obviously a sickbay even if the set up was quite different than what one would find on a battle ship. Then as she realized that there were two security guards in the room, who were not wearing any type of uniform, it hit her. Somehow she had ended up with the resistance, but other than to realize that the roof was collapsing right after the explosions she had felt and heard, everything else was a blank. How in the world had she ended up here?

She tried to sit up only to give up when the movement made her head feel like it was going to split open. [I]What the hell happened?[/I] She wondered as she reached up to check where it hurt.

"[B]I wouldn't do that if I were you Sandra,[/B]" A voice said.

Startled Sandra turned her head to see who it was. Only to be surprised. Had he been there the whole time and she hadn't noticed that he was there when she woke up? Sandra took a deep breath to steady herself and then spoke.

"[B]Explain yourself Daniel. I always understood that the resistance rarely bothered with prisoners. For what purpose did you bring me here?[/B]"

Daniel sighed a bit, "[B]You're hardly in a position to demand explanations Sandra, in case you've forgotten, I do not answer to you or the High Council anymore. Though I'm sure both you and Darren would like to know why you are here.[/B]"

"[B]Darren?[/B]" Sandra was confused. Until she looked where Daniel indicated. Sure enough Darren was on the other bed sleeping. She turned her head back to look at Daniel who answered her unspoken question.

"[B]He's resting since the doctor gave him something when he was done treating him. When the building the two of you were in collapsed Darren's ribs on his right side were broken and you were buried, resulting in deep bruises all over as well as a fracture in your skull. You'll be sore for a while but the doctor assures me that both of you will be fine in a few days.[/B]"

Sandra gave him a stern glance or at least tried to, it was hard to focus with the pounding in her head. "[B]You still haven't explained why we are here.[/B]"

Daniel shrugged, "[B]I'd tell you that it was unintentional, that both of you got in the way and that we had no intention of capturing you in the first place. But I doubt you would believe me. Especially since you did end up here I have decided to detain both of you for the time being.[/B]"

"[B]I will not assist you.[/B]" Sandra replied.

"[B]I'm sorry Sandra, you have misunderstood my intent. Once you have recovered I will be placing both of you in separate locations. Neither one of you will be questioned, and as you already know we do not use torture or drugs.[/B]"

"[B]Then why detain us?[/B]" Sandra asked, clearly puzzled.

"[B]I would have thought that was obvious, the two of you will make an excellent diversion since you know perfectly well the High Council will make recovering you a top priority. The longer they spend searching for you the better.[/B]" Daniel smiled apologetically, "[B]I'm afraid the accommodations won't be anywhere as nice as those on the Creator, but they'll have to do.[/B]"

And that had been that. Just as Daniel had said a few days later she had been taken somewhere else. Sandra assumed that it was not part of the base as they had taken her via transport door to another location. And the construction was clearly an earth style. The room was terribly tiny with no windows and the simplest of accommodation's. As well as absolutely nothing to do at all. At first she had not cared since even though the doctor told her she was recovered, her head had still hurt. But now that it was better, it was a bit annoying to be stuck with nothing to do. She was far too use to being busy.

Sandra wondered if what Daniel had said about not intending to capture her was really true. After all being a candidate for the High Council meant that she had a lot of very sensitive material on her hand held computer. They had kidnapped Crystal to get to her information and to delay the research in sector fourteen. There was nothing she was doing that someone else couldn't do, so kidnapping her for that reason was pointless, but to get her hand held, that would make sense.

She sighed. The problem with that was she didn't even know if they really had gotten it. And even then why bother with Darren? Or her for that matter? When they could have taken the hand held computer and simply left. Sandra shifted a bit to get more comfortable since sitting on the bed and leaning against the wall wasn't the most agreeable position. But then nothing about being stuck in the tiny room was [I]agreeable[/I]. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Mariskah]

[COLOR=Navy]Sara was still feeling a bit guilty for hurting Darren and for being cold and mean to him when he had been here in the sickbay. She had wanted to kill him. That is until she saw him again. When she had gone to sickbay to get treated for a minor wound she had gotten during the attacks Daniel had them doing...

[INDENT]Sara walked into sickbay. She stopped when she saw Darren laying on one of the beds. [I]This is just great. What is he doing here?[/I] She thought. She turned and noticed the doctor was treating another unconscious Versilan in a military uniform. She resisted the urge to leave. She looked back at Darren;[I] I don?t want to deal with him.[/I] Obviously he was still afraid of her since the idiot backed away from her only to fall off the bed.

Sara walked over to see who the doctor was treating; she was surprised to see that it was Sandra. [I]What the hell is she doing here? We don?t take prisoners. [/I]

?[B]Why don?t I save you the trouble of treating her by snapping her neck for you.[/B]? Sara said. Ignoring the doctor?s annoyed look.

?[B]If you need assistance Sara,[/B]? the doctor said, annoyed, ?[B]my assistant is in the next room over.[/B]?

?[B]I still say we just kill her and toss her through a transport door. Why are we wasting our resources treating her?[/B]?

?[B]Sara, please leave.[/B]?

Instead Sara turned and walked over to where Darren was. [I]Aw, so he?s still afraid of me?Good.[/I] She thought.

?[B]I thought I made it clear that if I was going to kill you?you?d already be dead.[/B]?

As usual Darren said nothing. She would have been surprised if she had gotten a response.

?[B]Got nothing to say? How about that promotion? How?s it going for you?[/B]? She moved closer. ?[B]I understand that your promotion comes with a lot of privileges or so I?m told. Seems to me that being forced into this mess ended up working to your advantage.[/B]?

Sara paused noticing that the longer she was there the more nervous he became. ?[B]Darren you really need to relax, I?m not in charge so you?re fine.[/B]? She smiled coldly. ?[B]Because if it was up to me?[/B]?

?[B]Sara![/B]? The doctor said, ?[B]I told you to leave![/B]?

Sara rolled her eyes, ?[B]Fine, see you later Darren. We should chat like this more often.[/B]? [/INDENT]
Sara was glad that they had been moved from the base. [I]Perhaps I should talk to Daniel about it.[/I] She had thought that the feelings of guilt would have been gone by now. [I]I should have just left the sickbay and said nothing.[/I] Now she felt even worse about it. Even if she didn't understand why it bothered her so much.[/COLOR]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Celestia had seen the news about the attack in sector seven. Even though William had waited until no one was in the facilities, it still pained her to see the level of destruction that had been done. Compared to the other attacks, it was unbelievable. Being able to cause such devastation was a bit frightening. Even if the Versilan Empire was taking over, it made her realize how easily Earth could have been facing a more hostile force, one bent on their destruction instead of one to enslave them. Just thinking about it was enough to make her shudder.

As for the attacks Daniel had organized, she had done her best to simply ignore what was happening. Taking her hand held computer and retiring to her quarters to work. Jason had followed her without a word. It had been horrible, worrying about Sara as well as the other resistance members who had died. She didn't want to think about the number of Versilan's who had died that day. More than anything she wished the High Council would stop enslaving the other races, or would at least admit they were wrong and start changing things so they were not considered property. But she knew that would not happen, at least not without some outside influence.

She sighed as her and Jason prepared to hack into the next level of yet another hand held computer. This time Daniel had told them it belonged to Darren Anderson, the newest shipping expert for the High Council. Celestia knew who he was, she had seen the broadcast of the monthly meeting where he had accepted the position. Even she could see that this Darren was concerned about making things better for not only the High Council and Military, but the general population as well. The newest shipping protocols were clearly designed to catch illegal shipping. And the arrest and high profile trial of three of the most powerful shipping companies who were engaged in profiteering indicated that he was not the type to look the other way just because someone was powerful.

Daniel had explained to her and Jason what had happened and why they had ended up being taken prisoner. Both Sandra and Darren. Celestia had no interest in seeing either one of them, especially Sandra. She had no desire to see or talk to the one who had initially captured, tortured and interrogated her. And when Daniel had told her that they had been moved to safe houses designed to hold them she had breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't care if she ran into Darren, but Sandra? Celestia shuddered, if she never saw her again, it wouldn't bother her one bit.

Celestia finished preparing the next hacking routine and setting up the link to Jason's terminal in the Command Center. So far the first couple of levels of security had been fairly easy to get into. But now they were moving into the same area that had resulted in the information being deleted when they had hacked into Crystal's hand held computer. This time Celestia had prepared a special copying program for snatching the information before it could be deleted.

"[B]All right, you ready Jason?[/B]" She asked.

"[B]All set.[/B]"

"[B]I'm starting the sequence. Now.[/B]" She watched as it bypassed the security and immediately began copying the information. A few seconds later the security activated and began to delete the remaining information. "[B]Come on, just a little more...[/B]"

"[B]Got it![/B]" Jason said, seconds before the data was completely erased. "[B]All the files were transfered.[/B]"

Celestia smiled in triumph. "[B]I knew we could beat it! Lets finish compiling the data and then get it to Daniel.[/B]"

"[B]Maybe this time we'll get something useful. The last couple of levels were pretty basic stuff, nothing we didn't already know.[/B]"

"[B]Besides the personal stuff you mean, those messages from his sister Kerstin were pretty interesting. Even if it does make me feel strange watching someone else's personal communications.[/B]"

"[B]Oh I don't know,[/B]" Jason said. "[B]They seemed kind of sweet to me. Obviously he cares about her or he wouldn't have bothered to save a copy of it on his hand held computer.[/B]"

"[B]And we just triggered the program that erased everything.[/B]" Celestia said, grimacing. "[B]I wonder if Daniel would let us give Darren a chip with a copy of the transmissions between him and Kerstin.[/B]"

"[B]Softy,[/B]" Jason teased.

Celestia ignored Jason's attempt to tease her and started reading through the remaining files, one of them catching her eye. She opened it, her eyes widening in surprise as she read it. "[B]Oh my, take a look at this![/B]"

Jason moved over a bit and took a look. "[B]Damn! I wonder if William knows about this.[/B]"

Celestia copied it onto a data chip. "[B]Daniel will want this immediately.[/B]" She got up. "[B]I'll be back, you keep working on the other files.[/B]"

"[B]Gotcha,[/B]" Jason replied. He turned back to his own work station and began to sort though the other files they had gotten.[/COLOR]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

Daniel was working in the side conference room when a chime sounded, indicating there was new information for him. He pulled it up and then sighed. The Transcendence was back in orbit around Earth. He had hoped that they would have been sent elsewhere, but he knew better. After the attack in sector seven, the attacks on Earth and capturing both Sandra and Darren, he would have been surprised if they had not been sent back to Earth. Daniel put his elbows on the edge of the workstation built into the table, lowering his head and holding it between his hands as he closed his eyes. Feeling as if he was far older than the fifty three years he was. With all that had happened it seemed as if he should be at least two hundred years old.

At least he had everyone settled back into safe houses and both Darren and Sandra were safely tucked away in separate safe houses. And with the building they had been in virtually destroyed, there was a good chance the military wouldn't have much in the way of security footage or audio to help them in attempting to determine who had done it or where they might be. Though he couldn't count on it. Still, neither one of them were being held anywhere near where the incident had happened and the US was a large place. Hopefully it would take them quite some time to figure out where they were.

Daniel opened his eyes at the sound of another chime, one indicating that he had yet another message. He straightened back up and pulled up the message. This time it was an update from Kiva. One that included all of the information she had gotten on the three projects in sector fourteen. Kiva also included a clear warning for the resistance to not release the information, that some of it was so highly classified that even some members of the High Council didn't know about it.

Daniel could understand the warning, after all releasing information that sensitive could compromise Kiva's position. Curious Daniel skipped the update information she had sent and went straight to the three projects, curious as to what could be so sensitive that even some of the High Council did not know about it. The first and second project he only skimmed since those were the two they had exposed, but the third...[I]My God![/I] He thought. Shocked by what he was reading. [I]Can they really do that? [/I] Daniel continued to read what was contained in the third research project. He tried to be objective since on some level it was fascinating, but at the same time it sickened him. Almost as much as the second project did.

Finally he went back to the rest of the report, then once he was done he carefully transfered the information to his hand held computer and then removed all traces of it from the main system. Then he began to break up the information into segments to be sent to William. Usually he broke things apart in segments, but this time he broke them down even further making sure that if part of the message was intercepted they would not realize what the information referred to.

Then he began to prepare the information that Celestia and Jason had gotten from hacking into Darren's hand held computer. Darren had been working on a report to hand over to the High Council. Not only had he figured out what William had been doing by hacking the shipping system to hide his presence, he had tracked down all of the 'fragmented' reports that had occurred as a result, creating a time line of where William had been active for the past thirty years. It was a good thing William had switched to using fake identification. With this knowledge, the next time a fragmented report showed up, something that would have happened before they had even finished loading William's ship, the military would have arrested him on the spot.

Daniel started sending the information to William, there was so much to be sent that it would take a couple of days to send all the fragments of each report separately. Then once he had sent what he intended to for the moment, he pulled up other reports as to what was going on in the US. They may have used up the better supplies, but that didn't mean they couldn't continue making things difficult for the military.

[Horendithas]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkRed]Jared had been handling not only his own duties but Sandra?s as well since the resistance had captured her. Leaving him exhausted at the end of each day, as there just weren?t enough hours to take care of everything. He had moved a good portion of the troops to the main cities in the US but as a result they had lost control of the more remote areas. And it just wasn?t going to be possible to change that until the reinforcements came from sector fourteen. And the High Council?Jared winced... they were far from happy with how things had gone lately. Making him glad that he was not in charge.

Stevens, however, seemed to enjoy being in command of the space forces, in spite of how unhappy the High Council was over the recent events. In the last meeting things had started getting ugly until Stevens reminded them that he had told them that the resistance was a serious threat and they had not believed him. And even still a few of them were trying to pin some of the blame on Stevens, a tactic that had not worked since he had turned around and presented evidence from the recent attacks on Earth indicating that the weapons and explosives as well as the high grade disruption shields had come from sector one. Something that should never had happened.

In the end, they had made it crystal clear that they wanted the base in the US dealt with and the criminals hiding there caught. And they wanted it done now. But it wasn?t that simple, Jared had been trying to get agents into the resistance forces from the very beginning, but he had lost contact with the last two operatives that had managed to get into the base. Leaving him with no choice but to start over, [I]again[/I]. The Elite Specialist Kiva and her crew Daego were back, but she had been assigned to recovering Sandra and Darren. Hopefully that would also lead to locating the remaining base since Jared did not have time to even consider searching for it. And when things had been calm, the searching he had done had not produced any results. Jared stifled a yawn, wishing he could call it a day.

?[B]Ready to be done?[/B]? Stevens asked from the vantage point of looking over Jared?s shoulder at the reports he was working on.

Jared stopped what he was doing and turned to face Stevens, he hadn?t even heard him enter the bridge. ?[B]If only. There?s just too much to be taken care of in Sandra?s absence.[/B]?

?[B]True,[/B]? Stevens agreed, ?[B]But that?s not why I?m here. Come join me in the observation room immediately.[/B]?

Puzzled, Jared watched Stevens turn and walk to the observation room just off the bridge. Once the doors closed behind him, Jared turned back to what he was doing and closed everything before shutting the workstation down. [I]I wonder what he wants?[/I]

Jared didn?t waste any time and the moment the doors to the observation room closed behind him Stevens tossed him a data chip and instructed him to take a look. He pulled out his hand held computer and did so immediately, his eyes widening in surprise at what he read.

?[B]Are they sure about this?[/B]? Jared finally asked.

?[B]Not yet, the specialist in sector one and the one in sector seven have not been able to confirm it or to narrow down the list of possibilities.[/B]?

?[B]Damn![/B]? Jared swore. ?[B]If they are right about this, then that means the person who got the security codes for sector seven as well as the authorization to get the explosives is someone very high up and possibly even connected to the High Council.[/B]? Jared whistled in amazement. ?[B]I do have one question though, why tell me?[/B]?

?[B]At the end of the report there?s a list of suspects who you worked with personally at one time. The specialist in sector one has requested that you send them any information you have on the people you know.[/B]?

?[B]I?ll see to that immediately. Anything else?[/B]?

Stevens shook his head negatively, ?[B]unfortunately?no.[/B]?

Jared bowed slightly, ?[B]Then I?ll get started on this immediately.[/B]? He turned and left, forgoing the bridge in favor of his quarters. If it leaked out that they had a traitor at that level... he shook his head. It would definitely make the High Council look bad.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[color=darkslateblue]"Well, Kim didn't know anything," Daego said as he entered the bridge. "You have any luck?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Not much," Kiva said, "but I did find something unusual. Here, take a look at this. These are medical reports I found in the remaining base's computer network. Most of the reporst identify the patient and describe the condition and treatment, but as you can see, these two don't name the patient. Also, look at the described conditions. They seem to match what Sandra and Darren looked like on the security recording."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"You think they're at the base?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"No. I think they were there initially for medical treatment, but they were likely moved when treatment was complete."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"If they were treated, why don't the reports have their names?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Simple," Kiva said. "Those reports are usually done automatically. The program matches the patient's information with his or her identity. The identity is determined by searching through a personell database for a match. If no identity can be determined, the name is usually left blank, though the program can be set to take a different action. My guess it that Sandra and SDarren were treated, but they, of course, aren't in the Resistance's personell database, so the program was simply unable to identify them."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"I see. Was that all you found?"[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Unfortunately, yes." As before, there hadn't been much of any useful information. Not even having the names of the Resistance personell helped, since they all went by false names. So Kiva and Daego would have to do things the hard way."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"We'll start with safe houses," Kiva said. "We have a couple locations we haven't hit yet. We'll do this just like we did when looking for Crystal. We hit the locations we know, and hopefully learn of new locations. Eventually, we'll find Sandra an Darren."[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Well, it worked before," Daego said.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
[color=#483d8b]"Yes, which is why we're doing it again. Okay, let's get started."[/color]

[Rachmaninoff]

Even if he was bored out of his mind and a bit anxious as to just how long he would be kept locked up in the tiny room. Darren was glad to know that it was unlikely he would be mistreated by the resistance. Well other than the first squad who had intended to kill both him and Sandra. Since he had been brought to the new location, those who checked up on him had been nothing like the three who had first found him in the rubble of the US building. Even the humans, who he would have thought hated him, were polite. And as far as he could tell there was no outright hatred directed towards him.

It was a bit puzzling actually, since the first group had been so hostile. Especially since the doctor had removed the treatment from his eyes since it had been damaged by the fine dust that had gotten into them when the building collapsed. So there was no mistaking him for a human with his silver eyes. In the end he honestly didn't know what to think. There were so many rumors about the resistance that he didn't know what, if any of it, was true. Darren didn't know which made him more nervous, the humans who due to what happened to their world had a good reason to hate his people, or the other Versilans who had joined the resistance and were fighting against his people and all that they had been raised to believe in.

They were, in his opinion, just as confusing as the military and the High Council. Though he had no doubts as to what the military would have done to him if the position had been reversed. They had no reservations about using torture or drugs to get the information they wanted. Though he couldn't say the resistance didn't either. After all they had separated him from Sandra and unlike him she knew quite a lot of sensitive information. Daniel had said that no harm would come to either one of them, but he had no way of knowing if he told the truth or not.[I] I certainly hope they haven't done anything to her.[/I] He thought. Just because so far nothing had been done to him didn't mean they wouldn't.

Darren sat down on the tiny bed and leaned back against the wall. He had no illusions, if they did, he already knew from that one session with Jared that he lacked the ability to resist the drugs that were used for interrogations. It had been extremely embarrassing and uncomfortable since some of them had side effects that he had heard about but never experienced. Even now, the thought of Jared exploiting a reaction like that was still enough to make him feel sick inside.

[I]Gods,[/I] he thought.[I] I need something to take my mind off of this. If only they'd let me have something to do, anything! Even poorly written romance stories would do! [/I] Darren took a deep breath and then let it out with a sigh. Every time they checked on him they asked if there was anything, within reason, that they could do for him. But he had remained silent, saying nothing. [I]I should ask for something to read when they come this time. [/I]Though he doubted they would let him have a simple electronic reader. Even he knew how to alter one to do other things with it. He sighed again, knowing that in the end, when they asked if he needed anything he would not respond.

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Crystal was still not done with putting together the reports for those who had died when the attacks mounted by the resistance had occurred. Unlike the transports, far more troops had been killed, it was part of why high grade explosives were strictly regulated. They were dangerous in the hands of the untrained and that had proven all to true as she found traces of genetic material from those who had used them and miscalculated, blowing themselves up as well.

On top of that she was also required to help with finding a replacement for Michael Edwards for the research facility. She still found it hard to believe that he had been so foolish as to trust someone with the codes to his notes. And at the same time it was a bit of a problem since though he was a little to trusting, he was still one of the best. But now he had been arrested and sent to sector one, though unlike the resistance member who had been caught, he would only lose his position. Though it was unlikely he would ever be allowed to hold a position that required that level of security clearance again.

At least her report as far as Darren and Sandra went was considered complete. Data from the security cameras had been recovered and though there was no audio, they had confirmed her findings. And now that the Specialist was back it was no longer her concern. Though she at least hoped that the resistance had treated their injuries. She was fairly certain they did. At least she was fairly certain Daniel would not leave them untreated.

Crystal turned her attention back to the candidates she was considering to replace Michael, she had narrowed it down to two. Tessa Landers and Henry Kerns. Both of them were ideal since they had similar experience like Michael had in running projects as well as a solid background in working with genetics. But most importantly, the checks she had requested on their background had come back clean. A couple of the others she had considered had not.

Henry Kerns, had more experience but also had a reputation of being a bit pig headed, which was why he was good at running projects. He was good at getting things done on time. Tessa Landers however, though less experienced was more open and tended to work better with other people, which was also a good thing since projects like the genetics required being open to unexpected changes. In the end, in Crystal's opinion, Tessa would be the better choice. Working with projects like the second and the third one had no room for someone being too stubborn to listen to the researchers assigned to the project.

Her mind made up, Crystal finished up her recommendation and sent it off to the High Council. Then she turned her attention back to the death reports. Even though she didn't disagree with the resistance as much as the High Council and military did, she still hoped that they were dealt with soon. If only to stop the pointless killing. If she never filled out another death certificate it would be too soon in her opinion. [/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[color=darkslateblue]"Okay, I've got a signal here," Daego said. The [i]Transcendence[/i] was above yet another safe house. Kiva and Daego'd been going from safe house to safe house as planned, but they hadn't found either Darren or Sandra. However, it seemed that one of them was at this safe house.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]All high-level officers and other important individuals were given tracking beacons that could be zeroed in on by pretty much any sensor equipment, provided the beacon's frequency was known. Sandra and Daego both had beacons, though Darren had only recently gotten his, and Kiva and Daego had the frequencies for both beacons. The beacons were intended to allow precise location of necessary individuals at any time, and were very nice to have in case someone important went missing. The beacons were actually injected into the skin, a simple operation to perform which made the beacons almost impossible to remove. However, any kind of sensor shielding rendered the beacons practically useless. Even the [i]Transcendence[/i] had to be basically right above the beacon to detect it through the safe house's shielding. But it was, and a beacon had been detected.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Okay, this one has Darren's frequency," Daego said.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"All right, so we've found Darren. Do we have a clear shot, or is he in the way?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"We've got a clear shot, all right," Daego said. "I'm taking it."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]When Kiva and Daego had been searching for Crystal, they'd still had the [i]Catalyst[/i], and advanced though it was, not even that ship had been able to pick up a locator beacon through even what shielding the safe houses had. For that reason, they hadn't known where in the safe house Crystal was. Because of this, they hadn't been able to risk doing anything from the ship, because there was always a chance that Crystal would be in the way. But with the [i]Transcendence[/i], they could get Darren's beacon, so they knew he wasn't in their intended line of fire.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]At this close range, it was easy to pinpoint the location of the shield generator. That was the target, and the [i]Transcendence[/i] fired a perfectly aimed shot. The generator wasn't designed to withstand heavy fire, so only a couple shots were necessary to destroy it. And with the shilding down, transport doors could be freely opened within the safe house. There was no need to go in on the ground this time; Kiva and Daego just grabbed Darren with a transport door. Using a relay, they sent him right to the bridge. They both got a kick out of Darren's bewildered expression.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Hello, Darren," Kiva said. "I am Elite Specialist Kiva Salqarian, and this is Daego Kelse. We've been assigned to retrieve you and Sandra. I don's suppose you know where she is?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Uh... n-no, I don't," Darren said.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"I thought so."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Um, so this is your ship, then?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "It is. I assume you're aware of the beacon you have?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]Darren nodded. "Yes, I am. I didn't want it, but now I suppose I'm somewhat glad to have it."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Why didn't you want it?" Daego asked.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Because it felt like an invasion of privacy. I don't like the idea of anyone being able to know my exact location at any time. I thought they didn't work through shielding, though."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"This ship could find it," Kiva said, "but only when we were right over the safe house you were in. And don't worry. The beacons are for use in emergencies only. It's not exactly easy to get the frequency for one. I got the frequencies to aid in your retrieval, but normally only a very few people have the frequencies. That information is regulated by the High Council directly, simply because of the potential for abuse."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"I see," Darren said.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Good. Daego, is the [i]Creator[/i] ready?"[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"They're standing by to receive," Daego said. "Opening transport door."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Okay, time for you to get back to the [i]Creator[/i]," Kiva said as a transport door appeared in front of Darren. "They're expecting you."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]Darren nodded. "Thanks," he said as we walked through the door, which closed behind him.[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Proper transmission confirmed," Daego said. "[i]Creator[/i] reports proper reception. Darren's on the [i]Creator[/i]."[/color]

[color=#483d8b]"Good," Kiva said. "Let's hit the next safe house. Now we've just got Sandra to find." And hopefully, finding her wouldn't take too long.[/color]
[color=#483d8b][/color]
---------------------------------------------------

OOC: I hope the whole beacon thing is okay.

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]"[B]Why so sad?[/B]" Jason asked Celestia as they finished getting ready for bed in their quarters. She had been depressed ever since she had talked to Daniel about giving Darren the chip with the transmissions between him and his sister. The ones that they had accidentally erased when hacking into his hand held computer.

Celestia sat down on the sofa next to Jason, pulling her feet up and leaning into him. "[B]I wanted to give the chip to Darren, but Daniel said no.[/B]" She shook her head, "[B]I insisted and he finally told me that it wasn't possible. They found the safe house where he was being kept earlier today and rescued. him.[/B]"

"[B]Then why are you so sad?[/B]" Jason put his right arm around her. "[B]Weren't you telling me that you wished Daniel would let him go?[/B]"

"[B]That's not why I'm sad.[/B]" She searched for the words to express what she was feeling. "[B]It's just that those transmissions were important to him. I feel as if I destroyed something that was precious and irreplaceable.[/B]"

"[B]You really are a softy.[/B]" Jason teased her.

Celestia pulled away a bit, slightly offended. "[B]Jason, I'm serious![/B]"

"[B]I know. I know. Did you ask Daniel if we could just send the information to him? It wouldn't be that hard to simply use the update system to create an update just for Darren that had the transmissions in it.[/B]"

Celestia frowned a bit and then with a sigh moved back so that she was leaning into Jason again. "[B]I already suggested that to Daniel and he said no to that too.[/B]" She said, a hint of real annoyance in her voice.

"[B]Then I say we do it anyway.[/B]"

Celestia pulled away again, searching his face to see if he was serious. "[B]You really mean that?[/B]"

Jason nodded, "[B]If it were my sister I would want someone to make sure stuff like that was given back to her. Or to me for that matter.[/B]"

"[B]Thank you Jason![/B]" Celestia said as she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. A hug that soon changed into something far more intimate.

[CENTER]------------------------------------------------------------------[/CENTER]

William was in his quarters going over the information that Daniel had sent him. He had read it a dozen times already and each time he still found it hard to believe. The contents of the third research project were absolutely shocking. He had thought the second one was bad, but this? It was fascinating but it left open some very unpleasant and troubling ethical questions that couldn't be answered. How in the world had they gotten it into their minds to even try to do something like that? It really was a pity that due to the level of classification he would not be able to release it any time soon. It was not worth risking Kiva's position over revealing something that may or may not be enough to turn the people against the High Council.

Finally he set it aside, going back to the other report that Celestia and Jason had gotten from Darren's hand held computer. The one where he had tracked down the fragmented reports. William had been lucky to get away with that tactic for so long. He had used it for over thirty years to stay hidden in the system. But just as he had exposed the three major shipping companies, this Darren had exposed what he, as a resistance member, was doing as well. He had mixed feelings about it. It was good for the citizens of the empire that someone like him had been chosen. And at the same time it was a pain for him since he too needed to hide, though for a far different reason than those who did it for profit and to cheat others.

It really was a pity more higher ranking officials weren't like Darren. If they were, the resistance wouldn't be needed. But they were not and even he could see that the High Council was merely smart enough to throw in a few people who were more ethical and honest to keep those who were not in check. And from what he had seen of how security was done in regards to this Darren, the High Council had made it clear that he was considered under their protection. Which was a bit surprising, often they let them squabble among themselves a bit. Letting them eliminate each other to weed out those who weren't quite up to the task. He wondered if Darren had realized this. Though he doubted it.

Finally William shut down that report as well. Other than to confirm his suspicion that they were on to him, it wasn't all that useful. And soon they would be arriving in sector twelve. Once they did he would have lots of work to do. It would be a long time before anything like the three attacks could be done again. So he would need to get started on seeing just what he could do. Then since he was tired. He started getting ready for bed.[/COLOR]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

It really was sweet, Daniel had to admit it, even though he had denied Celestia's request to give Darren the chip with the transmissions as well as sending it via the update system to him. It had been hard to say no, Celestia reminded him so much of her mother. She had been the same way. Kind and caring. If she were still alive Daniel was sure that like Celestia she too would have been bothered by anyone being hurt, regardless of what race they were from. She would have given Darren the chip. She had been that way when he knew her. Caring about all of those who were on Earth, regardless of what country they were from. It was part of what he had liked about her.

But it didn't change the fact that even if Darren had already been found, sending the transmissions via the update system would confirm the fact that they had successfully hacked into Darren's hand held computer. It may have not had much in the way of useful information, since even though they got the report he had been preparing for the High Council, William had already suspected that they were doing that. So it wasn't anything new. Celestia had not been happy about it, but it was necessary. Even if the information was simple, it was better to leave the military wondering. Because if she sent it, they would know that she was capable of bypassing Grade Alpha security.

Daniel turned his attention back to the report of the damage to the safe house that Darren had been confined to. It was a bit alarming and indicated that the Transcendence had been able to detect the tracking beacon that all high-level officers and other important individuals were given. In spite of the shielding on the house. How else could they have known that the shot to take out the shield generator would not have hit Darren? Somehow he couldn't imagine Kiva taking such a risk. Especially since they had used a frontal assault when rescuing Crystal.

About the only good thing was that the damage indicated that the Transcendence had been very close, which meant they probably had to be right over the safe house in question to detect the beacon through the shielding. Knowing that Daniel had sent orders to where Sandra was being held to install another shield generator, but that would take a couple of days. If they found her before then, it was possible that they would be able to detect her beacon as well. And even with tighter shielding it was possible that it would still show up.

He sighed with frustration. William would be in sector twelve soon, but so long as the Transcendence was there, they were trapped. He couldn't attempt to retrieve them. And using Darren as a decoy had bought them so little time. Daniel had already began making the arrangements for those who were part of the resistance to operate independent of the actual base. Though it was on some level pointless. They were almost finished here and he knew it. It didn't mean they couldn't cause trouble in the future, but the pressure to find them here was to intensive. And if it wasn't for William being unable to retrieve them, he would have already sent everyone important off world.

Daniel finished his report indicating that Darren had been found, then he went on to include his own estimation that before long he expected the base to be found as well. It really was only a matter of time. And so long as Celestia, Jason, Sara and himself were on Earth, the hunt would continue. The question was, how long could they stay hidden? The resistance members who were from Earth didn't understand. They were use to having criminals who hid for years or were never found, but they didn't have the technology or the resources that those of the Versilan Empire did. It was why resistance members ran when they were discovered. If you didn't flee to another sector, once they were on your trail, they always found you.

[Rachmaninoff]

When Darren heard and felt the building shudder from what had to be an attack, he immediately stood up only to be caught by a transport door. [I]What the hell?[/I] He had little time to wonder as to what had happened when he found himself on what had to be the bridge of a ship. But it was unlike anything he had ever seen. From what little he could see it was the most advanced setup he had ever seen. Even more so than the Creator, which was rather impressive.

He was relieved when the woman explained that she was the Elite Specialist Kiva Salqarian. She also mentioned that the other person with her was Daego Kelse. Darren was so surprised that it took him a moment to realize that she had asked him if he knew where Sandra was. But he did not and told her so. Then his curiosity got the better of him and he asked her if this was her ship.

Darren resisted the urge to look around more when she confirmed that it was. He couldn?t help it. All citizens knew that Elite Specialists had the most advanced ships in the entire Empire and like anyone else he was curious to take a look. He stayed put though and answered her questions until finally they opened a transport door to the Creator. He thanked them and stepped through. Finding himself in the main transport room.

?[B]Welcome back sir.[/B]? The technician said. ?[B]Your presence is requested in the observation room just off the main bridge. Stevens will be over in about twenty minutes so you have enough time to get cleaned up and properly dressed.[/B]?

Darren looked at what he was wearing, a simple set of plain brown pants and a shirt. The resistance had taken his uniform when he had been treated. Not that he had cared since it had been torn and damaged when the building he had been in collapsed. Even if they had cleaned it, he doubted it had been wearable.

?[B]Thank you,[/B]? Darren told him. ?[B]I?ll do just that.[/B]?

He left and immediately headed to his quarters. It took very little time to take a quick shower and get dressed. And even though he hated the uniform, it was at least better than being stuck in that tiny room. He left and headed for the bridge. Still thinking about what had just happened. It seemed rather unreal. He had honestly expected to be stuck there much longer.

But what surprised him the most was what Kiva had said. That she had been assigned to recover both him and Sandra. Darren could understand Sandra but him? Why would they assign an Elite Specialist to recover him? The shipping protocols were already in place. If something happened to him it would change nothing. [I]I need to stop thinking so poorly of the High Council,[/I] he thought to himself. Even he knew that Elite Specialists only answered to them. Still part of him found it surprising.

?[B]Ah, welcome back Darren,[/B]? Jared said from his position on the main bridge as he entered. ?[B]Stevens is already waiting for you.[/B]?

?[B]I see. Thank you.[/B]? Darren said as he turned to head for the observation room.

Sure enough Stevens was already waiting, sitting behind the huge desk situated in the room. He took a seat when Stevens motioned for him to do so.

?[B]I?ll get straight to the point Darren, I want you to start from the beginning and tell me everything that happened.[/B]?

Darren nodded and did so. It took him very little time to go over everything, from the moment the building collapsed, to when the first squad found him and Sandra and how the second one stopped them from killing them. Explaining his brief encounter with Sara and Daniel as well as the brief time he had spent in the sickbay at the resistance base until they separated him from Sandra and placed him in the tiny room that Kiva had rescued him from.

?[B]I?m afraid there isn?t much else to tell, sir. Other than they never gave me back my hand held computer.[/B]? Darren finished. ?[B]Though other than the report for the High Council there was nothing else on it, other than some personal communications between me and my sister.[/B]?

?[B]Nothing else?[/B]? Stevens asked.

?[B]Nothing else that you wouldn't find on any system sir.[/B]?

?[B]Very well, I want you to go and get checked by the doctor and then for the next twenty four hours you are off duty. I want you to get some rest before you get back to work. [/B]?

Darren stood back up. ?[B]Yes sir.[/B]? He said bowing slightly to Stevens before turning to leave. He immediately headed for the sickbay; once he was done he would contact Kerstin to let her know he was all right.