RPG Silver One: Civil War

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"Do you have clearance to be down here?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva stopped and looked at the approaching man. [I]Who the hell is this?[/I] [I]I thought security knew I have clearance.[/I][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"I have the Commander's express permission," Kiva said. "And who might be asking?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"I am Greydon Kreid, Head of Security on board this ship. I will need you to stay here until I can be certain that Landers allowed you to be here."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b][I]The new head of security? And he doesn't know I have clearance? Either that, or more likely, he's just the bullying type. Well, I'll play his game, then.[/I][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"Ah yes, the new Head of Security. Such a shame what happened to Alexander, wasn't it?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"Indeed," Kreid said. "Now, if you'll stay there for just a moment, I'll call through to the Commander."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"I really don't have time for this, Mr...Kreid, was it?" Classic strategy. The bullying types got pissed off if you acted like they weren't important. Kiva started past Kreid, but he grabbed her by the wrist.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"You will stay here until I can talk to the [/COLOR][COLOR=darkslateblue]Commander," Kreid said.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"Fine. I shall wait, but you should know you're getting in the way of important business."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"I think you'll find nothing is more important than the safety of this ship." Kreid released Kiva's arm and went for his comm. [I]Hmm... maybe I was wrong,[/I] Kiva thought. [I]No aggression, no anger, just a man doing his job. I guess someone just screwed up and he wasn'r informed of my clearance.[/I][/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"My apologies," Kreid said as he put his comm away. "It seems you do indeed have clearance."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Yes," Kiva said. "Now, let's start over, shall we? I'm Kiva Salqarian."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"That name sounds familiar."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Not surprising. I used to be undercover within the Empire. I was involved with the takeover of sector 13, and later with events leading to the current situation."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Yes, you're the one who captured that most-wanted pair, aren't you? Jason and Celestia, I believe."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva nodded. "Not one of my favorite accomphishments, but my willingness to to things like that is one reason I was so successful undercover. In fact, I'd still be undercover if I hadn't ended up capturing Daniel. He knew I was undercover, so when it was time to turn him over to Stevens and Jared, I had no choice but to make a run for it."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"I see. Well, then, it's good to have someone with your skills on our side."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"So you're head of security, Kreid?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kreid nodded. "Yes, since Alexander died."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"In that case, I do have things to discuss with you. I'm not pleased with Daniel's security arrangements. First of all, I disagree with his decision to include those not fully cleared in his personal security force. I assume you're cleared, of course."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Um..."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"You've been informed you're cleared, right?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Uh, no."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"What?" Kiva said. "So you're not cleared?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"I'm assuming I have been," Kreid said. "I didn't think I'be be head of security otherwise."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"If you've been cleared. you would've been told. What the hell is Daniel thinking?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"So I haven't been cleared?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Doesn't sound like it," Kiva said. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to continue this conversation some other time. I can't discuss security arrangements with someone who hasn't been cleared."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"You think I'm a spy?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"No, but another reason I was so successful undercover is because I take as few risks as possible. So although ods are you're fine, that's not a risk I'm willing to take. So, goodbye for now."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b][I]What the hell is Daniel thinking?[/I] Kiva wondered as she left the brig. [I]I know even full clearance isn't a garuntee of loyalty, but the closer we can get, the better. Daniel's got to get him fully cleared as soon as possible, and if he won't order it done, I'll just have to do the investigation myself.[/I][/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]One of the things that had made Valencia so successful over the years was her practice of always checking out the layout of any place she was due to visit. It helped that she had an excellent memory for maps as well as always keeping the small communicator that was fashioned into an elegant earring that she always wore with her at all times, keeping her in contact with her ships computer Cassandra. Acquiring the program for her was another story altogether, but even if the two were cut off, Cassandra would act on her own to retrieve Valencia from a messy situation and so far it had always succeeded.

She smiled at some of Cassandra?s sarcastic remarks about the Gallana space forces and their demands to inspect the ship which of course were point blank denied. Even if she didn?t have the cargo for Commander Daniel Landers, Valencia had quite a bit of modified equipment on her ship that was considered illegal for any Versilan other than the military to have. Her engines, defenses and stealth systems were only one step short of being as good as what was on a Messenger ship. Giving her the necessary time to simply make a run for it whenever she was pressed.

And to be blunt, other than a few Elite Specialists, many of them weren?t that hard to outsmart, it was part of why she kept track of those who served. Since they were the only ones truly capable of stopping her, she made a point of acquiring the information as to who was doing what, to help avoid them in the first place. If not for having business with the New Alliance, she would have never openly come to Gallana. Whoever was commanding the [I]Catalyst[/I] would only have to scan her ship to realize she had equipment she should not. And if it was still being commanded by Kiva Salqarian, she was on her list of Elite Specialists to avoid, even if she was working for the New Alliance now.

?[B]Cassandra,[/B]? Valencia said sharply startling a number of merchants in the Espalo Marketplace. ?[B]Have you gotten me lost again? You?re supposed to be directing me to the closest bar, not sending me on a tour of the capitol city Espalo![/B]?

[B][I]-I wish you?d learn patience Valencia, the establishment, The Broken Spear should be in the middle of the next block over.-[/I][/B]

?[B]I certainly hope so, it?s hot and dusty and I hate getting a nice outfit dirty.[/B]? She grinned when Cassandra groaned, it never ceased to amaze her at how much she sounded like her mother. Well if she had one that is, Valencia?s mother had passed on when she was quite young. The grin vanished when she walked around the corner and spied the establishment where Cassandra said it would be.

It had clearly seen better days what with the worn metal walls that looked like a stiff breeze could bring the place down and the shabby lights that lit the outside, the name The Broken Spear clearly lit in gaudy bright colors. She ignored the odd looks as she moved to enter and then concentrated on letting her eyes adjust to the dim lighting inside. For a rundown place the smell wasn?t too bad though it reeked of cheap alcohol and cigar smoke hung in the air.

?[B]I thought you said this was a good place to pick up information Cassandra, I doubt these people even know how to find a lost dog.[/B]? She mocked as she moved across the floor and through the tables towards the bar up against the far wall.

[B][I]-It is. It?s a slave world remember? They don?t bother with prettying things up. More importantly, I wish you?d take my warning more seriously, my data banks indicate that there have been numerous reports of cases of people vanishing.-[/I][/B]

?[B]Let me guess you?re talking about either Dr. Mikhail Phantaxian or one of his numerous copycats. Cassandra, you worry too much.[/B]? Valencia said as she finally approached the bartender, an older Versilan with slightly graying hair.

?[B]Are you sure you?re in the right place miss?[/B]? He glanced at her clothing which was obviously far better than what anyone there was wearing, even if it was on the revealing side. ?[B]There?s a much nicer bar closer to the main capitol building and the security is much higher.[/B]?

?[B]I didn?t come here for security, I came here to get a drink.[/B]? She tossed a handful of credits on the counter. ?[B]Give me your best wine and the rest should cover any security needs.[/B]?

?[B]I don?t have any security miss, that?s what I?m trying to tell you.[/B]?

?[B]You don?t understand,[/B]? Valencia laughed, ?[B]That?s to pay for the damage I?ll cause when I take care of it myself.[/B]?

The man shook his head and turned to get her a bottle of wine and a glass and then shrugged when she took it and moved to find one of the few tables up against a wall that was not occupied. Ignoring the suggestions for some of the seedy men there to join them. A moment later she was sitting down with her feet up and taking sips straight from the bottle.

Another aspect of the communicator that was built into her earring was the ability to zero in on other conversations, something she did as she lazily waited for Cassandra to contact her with news from Commander Daniel Landers. She figured that by the end of the day she?d hear from him, after all, they needed her cargo.

?[B]By the way Cassandra,[/B]? She said calmly as she turned down yet another offer from one of the patrons of the bar to join them. ?[B]Be sure to tell Daniel Landers to simply come here once he finally gets around to contacting you.[/B]?

[B][I]-In an unsecured location like that? What are you thinking?-[/I][/B]

Valencia frowned a bit. ?[B]It?s more secure than the[I] Liberator[/I] and I have a few questions for him that can?t be overheard.[/B]?

[B][I]-I see, very well then Valencia, but what if he doesn?t call before the day is over?-[/I][/B]

?[B]He will.[/B]? She said confidently as she went back to listening in to the various conversations going on.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

It was clear that Stevens wasn't going to tell him what was going on with Kerstin, just as it was clear he wasn't going to let him talk to anyone before he left. Darren did the only thing he could, he went to his quarters, gathered some regular clothing along with the uniforms for his position, stuffed them in a bag and then headed for the nearest transport room. He was still furious over being toyed with by Stevens. Even if he needed him to go to sector four there was no reason why he couldn't let him in on what was going on.

It bothered him since it made him worry that something had happened to Kerstin, something that Stevens was not telling him. And what had he meant by his ship being modified? Or by his cryptic statement that personnel would be going with them? Knowing Stevens, it meant that he was sending along security to make sure he didn't contact anyone. [I]Damn stupid...[/I] He muttered under his breath as he finally made it to the closest transport room.

"[B]Sir,[/B]" The technician nodded upon him entering the room. "[B]Where did you need to go?[/B]"

"[B]Apparently I need to be transported over to the [I]Wilkey[/I].[/B]" Darren explained in a cold tone of voice, leaving it at that, ignoring the technician's startled expression over his tone of voice.

"[B]Right away sir.[/B]"

Darren waited patiently while he contacted the ship and then a few minutes later the door was open and he stepped through to a sight that had him scowling inside his head. Mike along with four fully armed security personnel were waiting for him in the transport room. Making his first time to be on board his own ship since the mess started a bitter disappointment.

There was something different about the four and it took him a moment to realize that it was because they were members of the Elite Task Forces instead of regular military or security personnel. [I]What is going on here? Just what did the researcher send that got scrambled to require this level of personnel?[/I] Elite Task Forces only answered to the High Council and it was rare to assign them to work with someone like Darren, even if he was the Shipping Expert.

"[B]Ah... Darren.[/B]" Mike said nervously. "[B]It's good to see you again.[/B]"

Darren started to reply but was cut off by one of the men waiting for them. "[B]This way Mr. Anderson, we need to get going.[/B]" They started to direct him towards the bridge but Darren shook the hand of the nearest one off.

"[B]I don't need your help to find the bridge of my own ship.[/B]" He hissed at the man, moving to go around them and head for the bridge, but not before taking a moment to toss his bag into his quarters.

He ignored them and took the command seat of the [I]Wilkey[/I] and then hesitated upon taking a look at the readouts. [i]What in the world has Stevens done to my ship?[/i] He looked up to see the members of the Elite Task Forces watching him.

"[B]You'll need the password in order to operate this ship. My orders are that I am to take you to the destination as well as see to your security sir.[/B]"

"[B]Since when did I need clearance for my own ship?[/B]" Darren questioned.

"[B]I'm just following orders sir.[/B]"

"[B]And just what are those orders?[/B]"

"[B]I'm sorry sir, but you don't have the clearance for me to tell you that. All you need to do is sit back and let us take you to where you need to go.[/B]"

Darren looked down at the console, absolutely nothing was open for him to access, even his own personal files were locked down. He resisted the urge to smash his fists on the panel as the man simply turned and sat down at the main navigation terminal and entered something to access the ship and then get them going. A few minutes later, once they were far enough from the fleet, the ship made the jump to hyperspace.

"[B]I don't suppose you can tell me when we are going to actually arrive?[/B]" He asked sarcastically, not expecting an answer.

"[B]Less than three weeks.[/B]" The man responded.

[i]Three weeks? What the hell?[/i] Darren was stunned.[I] How is that even possible? Even the Messenger ships can't travel that quickly.[/I] He turned to Mike who was equally as surprised, shrugging when Darren gave him an astonished look.

"[B]Beats me Darren,[/B]" he shrugged at the unspoken question in Darren's eyes. "[B]A few weeks ago these guys showed up and kicked me out in Sector One while something was done to the ship. Other than my own quarters and the mess hall along with the recreation room, I haven't been in the rest of the ship since they did whatever they did.[/B]"

Mike sighed. "[B]I don't have access to anything anymore, I'm not even sure why I'm here since these goons do everything.[/B]" He indicated the four men who merely ignored his comments.

"[B]You and me both Mike,[/B]" Darren finally said. "[B]For the most part Stevens doesn't tell me a damn thing.[/B]" He looked around and then finally stood up.

"[B]If I'm not allowed to access my own ship then I see no point in even sticking around.[/B]" He turned to head to his quarters and then paused and clenched his fists tightly when one of the men moved to follow.

"[B]If you think you're going to keep me company in my own quarters...[/B]" He started to say angrily.

"[B]Not at all sir, my orders are merely to make sure you don't wander into the other areas of the ship at this time.[/B]"

[I]Calm,[/I] Darren told himself. [I]Just let it go, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. [/I]But damn if he didn't want to turn around and head back so he could beat the hell out of Stevens. Even if he was finally off of the [I]Conqueror[/I], he was still a virtual prisoner on his own ship no less. At that moment, he actually found himself wishing that the New Alliance would win, if only to ensure that he'd never have to deal with Stevens ever again.

[Aaryanna_Mom]

Daniel had sent off Valencia's request to Williams, but when he got the reply, he couldn't help but groan a bit. Williams was going to authorize him to give her the other thing that she wanted, something that he wasn't sure he agreed with. Though at the same time, he wasn't going to argue either since Williams had time and time again been ahead of the High Council, proving he wasn't a fool. But still... He reached over and opened a communication to Valencia's ship the [I]Stykera[/I] which to his surprise answered immediately.

[B][I]-So she was right, you did call before the day is over. I hate how she does that.-
[/I][/B]
"[B]Excuse me?[/B]"

[B][I]-Right, sorry about that, you want to talk to Valencia right? It's simple she says you're to meet her at The Broken Spear, I'll send you the coordinates so you can transport right to the door of the place. I'm sure you won't want to get your nice military uniform dusty or dirty either.- [/I][/B]

"[B]Who am I talking to?[/B]" Daniel was a bit perplexed, Valencia had told him to contact her ship, referring to the computer by the name Cassandra, but this sounded more like a real person than a computer. [I]Does she have a crew member I don't know about?[/I]

[B][I]-You're not to observant.-[/I][/B] The voice said even as he got a chime indicating that the data for Valencia's location had arrived. [B][I]-Valencia told you who I am, I'm Cassandra, now if I were you, I'd get going. Valencia isn't exactly the most patient person.-[/I][/B]

Daniel would have said more but the computer terminated the communication. [I]Valencia isn't the only one who's impatient,[/I] he thought as he got up after transferring the coordinates to his hand held computer and motioned for the two current security personnel to follow along. With so many personnel on leave on Gallana there wasn't a need for more extensive security. And having some of them do a quick check of the area showed that there was nothing he needed to worry about.

He shot off a brief message to Kreid to inform him of his whereabouts and then headed for the nearest transport room. Stopping only briefly to make sure his disruptor was fully charged. He did not bother to change out of his uniform, if Valencia was going to make an issue out of meeting at a place like that, then she was going to have to deal with the fuss that would occur with him showing up.

It helped that the area of the market she was in though a bit rough was still ill equipped to give anyone with any really military training an issue. If anything she was more likely to be given grief than he ever would. Especially if she was still wearing that outfit of hers. [I]What is that little fool thinking? [/I]He wondered as he stepped through the door along with the two security personnel after briefing them on the situation.

After raising an eyebrow at the seedy appearance of the place he pushed the doors open and entered, pausing while his eyes adapted to the dim lighting and then spotting her over in one of the corners he moved to join her. He almost laughed as a number of the patrons at the bar upon realizing who he was, took off, exiting the bar hastily. By the time he got to where she was, a huge space had opened up around where she was.

He motioned for the security to hang back and then walked the rest of the way over, noting the illegal equipment she had. Daniel shook his head as he leaned over and helped himself to one of her earrings, earning an amused smile from her. Daniel took a moment and toggled her equipment off and then offered it back.

"[B]Turn off the other one please,[/B]" He frowned at her while she merely smirked and turned the other one off after taking the one he had and putting it back on.

"[B]You're no fun at all Commander. It's not like I was going to do anything with our conversation.[/B]" She smiled broadly as he finally sat down. "[B]I just have a poor memory.[/B]"

"[B]Don't play stupid Miss Sabina. Now why in the world did you insist on meeting here? You could have simply come to the[I] Liberator[/I] after all.[/B]"

"[B]And risk having your mole overhear what I have to say to you? Don't be silly.[/B]" She surprised Daniel by suddenly turning all serious on him, even her carefree manner had been dropped, reminding him a bit of how Kiva looked when she was working on an assignment.

Daniel couldn't hide his surprise at that statement, nor at her sudden change in demeanor.[I] How does she know about that?[/I] He was working out a response to that when she spoke up again.

"[B]Come now Commander, you don't think I've managed to work so long as a pirate without getting caught by being stupid do you?[/B]" She leaned forward a bit. "[B]Now lets get down to business, I'm assuming that you were authorized to give me what I want or else you wouldn't have bothered to come down here at my request.[/B]"

Valencia paused, looking past him as someone approached the table they were at, causing the security to move to intercept the stranger. There was something familiar about them and it took Daniel a moment to realize what it was. [I]What the hell?[/I]

[Blayze]

[SIZE=1]Kreid shrugged off his encounter with Kiva relatively easy, although he couldn't shake the feeling that she would spell trouble for him later. Although, saying that, she did have the only ship which was worth making his escape on, and that could come in very handy eventually.

He headed back to the security room, where he had a few mundane tasks to organise, replacing members of the security team killed in the previous attack on the ship, clearing a few other members of the general crew. Sort of ironic, when he, the Head of Security, hadn't been checked at all. As soon as he reached the room, it was abuzz with activity, people rushing around handing documents to each other; others tapping furiously away at their computers, and reams of paper where shooting out of the many printers around the room.

[B]"What's going on here?" [/B]shouted Kreid over the noise, his clear, deep voice booming above all the ruckus, and everyone immediately fell silent.

[B]"We're getting reports of a number of crew members going missing planetside. There are some on planet leave who are scheduled to return now who haven't checked in," [/B]replied one of the team members, clutching a stack of documents in his arms.

[B]"So they've probably just gotten themselves caught up gambling, or whatever it is people do planetside."

"That's what we thought initially, sir, but they've been gone too long for that explanation to be of any serious weight."

"Alright, then," [/B]sighed Kreid, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, [B]"I'll assign a team to go down to the planet and investigate. Send all the relevant documentation to my screen, please."

[/B]Kreid walked slowly but purposefully through the mess of the security room to his own personal, almost-unused office. He sat down in the leather swivel chair that sat behind the clear glass desk and lifted his computer screen up. Already somebody had sent the documents he needed to send a team down to the planet, and it was a simple matter of filling in a few details and adding his own digital seal to it, and sending it to the bridge. The system for authorisation was automatic, and didn't need anyone to man it, so the results came back momentarily.

[B]Permission has been granted for you to send a team to the planet, Mr Kreid.

[/B]He closed the documents and hailed his most trusted man on the comm system.

[B]"Yes, sir? What can I do for you?" [/B]came the gruff voice of Kreid's former teammate.

[B]"Hirtius," [/B]he said, [B]"It's good to hear your voice again, my friend. I need you to assemble a team to go down to the planet. A number of crew members have been going missing down there, and I need full reports. It's probably nothing, but I need to be sure - we've had too many close calls recently."

"Yes, sir! It's an absolute pleasure," [/B]replied Hirtius.

[B]"Good man. Stay in radio contact at all times, do you understand me?"

"One hundred per cent."

"Excellent. We have to go for a drink sometime, Hirtius - I feel like we only talk through red tape since I got this position."

"That would be a pleasure, sir. I will contact you when we are planetside. Over and out."

"Good luck. Over and out." [/B]Kreid shut off the comm system, and settled back in his chair for a moment.

[I]It'll be a shame to leave Hirtius with these Alliance dogs. He's a good fighter. But he was the one who picked the losing side, I suppose.
[/I][/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][I]What is that idiot doing down here?[/I] Daniel was more than a little surprised, not that Williams had found him, but rather that he had actually come to such an open location, disguise or not, it seemed foolish to him. With a sigh he motioned for the security to let him through, waiting until he sat down before saying anything.

“[B]With all respect sir, what the hell are you doing here?[/B]”

Williams just laughed, “[B]You do remember that I said I was coming don’t you? It seemed appropriate to simply join you here since I have business with Miss Sabina as well.[/B]”

“[B]Honestly Will,[/B]” Valencia spoke up, sounding slightly irritated. “[B]I wish you’d quit changing your appearance every time I meet you. One of these days I’m going to shoot first and ask questions later.[/B]” She folded her arms on the table and looked at him through narrowed eyes.

“[B]You know each other?[/B]” The two of them turned to look at him and he sighed. “[B]Never mind, of course you do. Anyway, shall we get down to business?[/B]”

“[B]Only if it means you’re going to give me what I want.[/B]” Valencia smiled.

“[B]Yes, we are going to give you what you want.[/B]” Daniel replied. “[B]It will require someone from the[I] Liberator[/I] to install the program but I’m sure that’s not…[/B]”

“[B]That won’t be necessary, Cassandra is more than capable of doing that herself.[/B]”

“[B]You don’t understand Miss Sabina,[/B]” Daniel explained further. “[B]The program goes against what you or Cassandra would consider logical or even possible. If you look at it, you will notice that based on our science, it shouldn’t work. If you make any corrections to what you perceive as mistakes, it won’t work.[/B]”

“[B]Yeah, yeah,[/B]” Valencia waved her hand dismissively, “[B]It was written by Celestia right? I already know that she does things that don’t make sense and yet still work. I won’t alter it and neither will Cassandra.[/B]” She smiled sweetly.

“[B]No offense dear but I’ve no interest in letting you or anyone else get a look at my ship. Unless you want to trade it for the [I]Transcendence[/I], I’d prefer the [I]Catalyst[/I], but I doubt that Kiva would want to give that up.[/B]”

Daniel didn’t get a chance to respond as Williams just laughed out loud once again. “[B]And you’re still as greedy as ever Valencia. Seriously though the [I]Catalyst[/I] is currently being commanded by Kiva and the [I]Transcendence[/I] as you already know is securely locked down on the[I] Liberator[/I]. Since both of them are the only ships using the perfect crystal system, only Kiva, Daniel and myself have access to them.[/B]”

“[B]Sir! No offense, but what the hell are you doing?[/B]” Daniel was aghast, why in the world was William speaking so openly about the newest Messenger Ships?

“[B]You haven’t told him have you?[/B]” Valencia just sighed, “[B]It seems your still as secretive as ever Will.[/B]” She turned to face Daniel. “[B]To anyone with a bit of observation skills, when the [I]Transcendence[/I] was in sector one, it wasn’t long before the news spread about a new Messenger Ship and a new crystal system for powering it.[/B]” She paused, looking to Williams who merely nodded.

“[B]I have a pretty extensive network for gathering information so it didn’t take long for me to learn about it and just who was piloting it, after all, Elite Specialists are the only ones with ships fast enough to catch me so it’s in my best interests to always know who is where. And it‘s highly profitable to turn around and sell the information to the Resistance or rather the New Alliance.[/B]”

“[B]Or steal things to sell for a profit,[/B]” Daniel added, even though he knew it was the only way for her to have gotten her cargo for them, it still didn’t change the fact that she was a pirate and he didn’t like working with someone like that.

“[B]Yes, there’s that too.[/B]” Valencia shrugged. “[B]But I’m not interested in discussing that, what I am interested in is my business with Will here since you and I are done.[/B]”

“[B]Ah yes, before you head back Daniel,[/B]” William handed him a data chip. “[B]Kiva’s next assignment is on that, once I finish with Valencia here I’ll contact you so we can go over the other things I need to discuss with you.[/B]”

“[B]Are you sure it’s safe to stay here without any security? I mean,[/B]” Daniel indicated the bar which was not empty. “[B]You have been seen with both of us so it’s bound to draw a lot of unwanted attention.[/B]”

“[B]Don’t worry Daniel, I assure you I’m not alone.[/B]”

“[B]Very well sir.[/B]” Daniel stood up turning to face Valencia. “[B]Just contact the [I]Liberator[/I] when you’re ready to transfer the cargo.[/B]”

He resisted the urge to bow and simply turned and left, the security falling in step with him as he exited the bar. It didn’t take long to call the [I]Liberator[/I] and request a transport door at his location. Once on board he made for the bridge so he could contact Kiva and send her the information for her next assignment. He couldn't help but wonder just how Williams and Valencia knew one another though. Not that he’d tell anyone about that since it would only draw unwanted attention to Valencia.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="1"]It had been just over a week since they had stopped at the border between sector seven and eight, spending a day to receive orders and confer with the High Council back in sector one. Plans had been made, orders issued and people sent on their way. By now Dr. Crystal Matheson and Sub-Commander Vallon Drace would be at the main world in sector eight. Unless they ran into trouble in the Tarak Asteroid fields, they would have arrived earlier that morning. There was no way for them to find out since most of Stevens? agents on that world had been eliminated.

The only thing they could be certain of was that no ships had left the area since there were forces in place to report such an occurrence. And in three days, they would have their answer anyway since the fleet would arrive, unless they had somehow managed to sneak in more ships, it would be a slaughter if the New Alliance did not surrender. Considering how they had refused to do so in sector seven, Jared had, along with Sandra and Stevens, prepared for battle and for taking the world by force.

?[B]I wonder if Crystal and Drace arrived on time?[/B]? Jared muttered to himself. He was sitting in his chair on the bridge, close to Sandra though he wasn?t really addressing her.

?[B]We?ll find out soon enough.[/B]? Sandra answered him, her eyes meeting his when he turned to look at her.

?[B]True. It?s a pity that I am here though.[/B]?

?[B]Are you still thinking about that Jared?[/B]? Sandra sounded slightly annoyed. ?[B]It?s not like you to dwell on decisions you do not care for.[/B]?

?[B]You may not be so forward about who you care about but I have always made it clear that I care about what happens to Crystal.[/B]? He leaned forward a bit. ?[B]I understand the decision, much in the same way you understand Darren?s assignment. And like you, I don?t like it.[/B]?

Uncomfortable with where the conversation had suddenly headed, Sandra looked away. ?[B]We are often at odds with what our duty requires of us.[/B]? She finally said softly. ?[B]Anyone who achieves a certain level of authority has to come to grips with accepting assignments they abhor, as well as issuing them as well.[/B]?

Jared just turned back to his own terminal since he still needed to finish arranging the troop deployments should they be necessary for battle. If they were lucky they wouldn?t need to take the world by force. There were a lot of people on the world who though they supported the New Alliance, they were in his opinion, merely misguided and it would be a shame to lose good men to fools like that.

?[B]Speaking of assignments, are the strikes that were prepared in sector seven ready for deployment against the New Alliance?[/B]?

?[B]Not quite, Stevens wants to wait until the data in sector four is recovered first. It?s a given that the New Alliance is going to release what was in the third research project and it is imperative that we know what is in that data so we can be prepared when it happens.[/B]?

Jared snorted, ?[B]In other words we need to know if there is any propaganda or information added that was not in the original research project.[/B]? He turned to look at her again. ?[B]Even if we have that information, it?s still going to create quite a stir when it becomes public. To tell the truth I?m surprised that they haven?t released the information already.[/B]?

?[B]I don?t know why they are waiting.[/B]? Sandra shrugged a bit. ?[B]It doesn?t matter though. In the interest of expediting matters Stevens had the original prototype engine for the Messenger Ships installed in Darren?s ship since there aren?t any Elite Specialists who are free to see to the matter.[/B]?

?[B]That?s surprising, considering that we lost both ships that use the perfect crystal system. I would have thought he?d rather put that into a Messenger Ship.[/B]? Jared couldn?t hide his reaction to the news, it was startling. But then Stevens often did things that surprised everyone.

?[B]Even if we lost the [I]Catalyst[/I] and the [I]Transcendence[/I], we still have the research data and several consignments of the perfect crystals needed. Instead of wasting time on the older engine, Stevens has a group working on setting things up so we can simply upgrade the Messenger ships like the [I]Catalyst[/I] was. Why else would he have pulled our original Sub-Commander from active duty?[/B]?

Jared laughed a bit. ?[B]Well that explains a lot. I wondered what project could be so important that they?d shift him out of active duty at a time like this.[/B]?

?[B]Exactly, and since our military is thinly spread in some areas it was better to simply upgrade his ship since it was available. Darren had the best you could get for a civilian ship so it was the best option.[/B]? She sighed a bit. ?[B]Even if I don?t agree with it on a personal level.[/B]?

Jared just offered her a lopsided smile before turning back to finishing the preparations for taking back sector eight. The sooner they got there and picked up Crystal, the better.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Shy]

[size=1][indent]Colin and Bright Eyes? time in Dr. Phantaxian?s offices had been some of the best they had seen in ages; every morning they were properly fed, bathed, and still had plenty of time to play. It was everything the young boy had every wanted, save for the ominous presence of Nurse Sola hovering over his every move. He only hoped that his time there would be brief, and that Mikhail would fulfill his promise of finding him and Bright Eyes a new time.

Nurse Sola spoke only in whispers, pulling the other children away from their beds in the middle of the night mysteriously. Colin had pretended that he was asleep as she did this, and the others knew well enough to do the same. Hours later they would be returned to their beds unconscious, with no memory of what had happened to them while they were away. However, some were pulled away and never returned. Nobody seemed to know what was going on, and nobody was brave enough to ask.

Mikhail also seemed different than when he had first met Colin. The carefree smile across his face had disappeared, instead replaced with a dark, sinister scowl. It was obvious that something was troubling the doctor, but what could it be? He, nor anyone had left the building in days. It almost seemed as if they were hiding from something.

Colin, Tandy and Bright Eyes snuck out of the main room to speak with Mikhail themselves. Tandy carried a small plate of food as they entered his office, where the doctor was burying himself in front of a video monitor.

?[b]Have they found what they?re looking for yet?[/b]? Mikhail asked as he stared into the screen, ?[b]I?m getting anxious.[/b]?

?[b]I know you?ve been careful, but these are some of the best security experts in the galaxy. They haven?t left planetside, which means they are still looking for you.[/b]?

?[b]They won?t find me alive, I won?t let them?.[/b]?

There was a moment of silence, and Mikhail?s eyes turned toward the children standing in the hallway.

?[b]I-- I need to sign out,[/b]? he said as he entered a few random buttons on his keypad, ?[b]Thank you for your assistance?[/b]?

The video screen blacked out, and Dr. Phantaxian stepped out of his seat to approach the children. Tandy took a step back as the man approached, his silver eyes focused intensely on them.

?[b]Well?[/b]? he asked impatiently, ?[b]What is it?[/b]?

Colin grabbed the plate of food from Tandy?s unsteady hands and gave it to the doctor, ?[b]We thought you might be hungry?[/b]?

?[b]Oh? thank you.[/b]?

Suddenly a smile crept across Dr. Phantaxian?s face, ?[b]Come, boy. Why don?t we eat together?[/b]?

He grabbed Colin by the wrist and pulled him towards a nearby chair, Bright Eyes following closely behind. Tandy took another step back into the hallway, and Mikhail turned his attention towards the doorway. He leaned in to the small girl, and whispered as he spoke.

?[b]I don?t know how much you heard, girl, but it?s best you forget it. You don?t want to end up like your brother.[/b]?

And with that Dr. Phantaxian closed the door, locking it shut before turning his attention towards the boy.[/size][/indent]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]When Daniel contacted Kiva, she answered immediately. "Daniel, what the hell are you thinking, putting Kreid in charge of security? You do know he hasn't been fully cleared, right?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Daniel sighed. "Yes, Kiva, I know. But we just don't have enough cleared people to be able to put them everywhere we should."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"I'm aware of that, Daniel, but your safety needs to be at the top of the list. You and Williams have to be at the top of the Empire's list of targets, and losing either of you would be very bad for the New Alliance, especially if either of you is taken alive, and I won't be there to get you out. You can't take that kind of risk, Daniel."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Look, I don't like it either," Daniel said. "The decision to use non-cleared people came from the Alliance's Representatives."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"I see," Kiva said. "Well, at the very least, we should get Kreid cleared as soon as possible. Get someone investigating him as soon as you can, all right? I'd prefer to do it myself, if that's possible."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Well, Williams gave me new orders for you, but feel free to investigate whenever you have the time."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Well, have someone else investigate him, then. I don't like taking this kind of risk. But enough about that. What orders do you have for me?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"I'm sending them to you now," Daniel said. "Williams didn't tell me what you'll be doing, but I'm assuming it's important."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"I'll get started as soon as possible, then. Kiva out."[/COLOR]


[COLOR=#483d8b][I]Well, [/I]Kiva thought, [I]this should be interesting.[/I][/COLOR]
[I][/I]
[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva contacted the [I]Liberator[/I] and arranged for the two Council members to be transferred, then set a course for the sector 4 relay station. Williams had received information indicating that Darren Anderson had been assigned to retrieve data sent through the shipping protocalls during the attack on sector 14. The transmission had been scrambled, and made it no further than the relay station. Since the data was scrambled and mixed in with not only the current shipping protocols but the older ones, Darren, who was responsible for both sets of protocol, was being sent instead of an Elite Specialist, presumably because the war had to have them spread thin. The data was thought to be related to the third of the research projects that had been taking place in sector 14.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva had two tasks. She was to retrieve the transmission and equipment from the relay station, and she was also to capture Darren. It sounded easy enough, but it wouldn't be so simple. The station's automated security would be easy to deal with, but relay stations had a permanent staff of six, four for maintainance and two for security. Kiva knew she could hack into and disable the automated defenses without the crew knowing, since they were designed to deter civillians, not millitary ships and certainly not messenger ships. Two security men with standard armament wouldn'tbe a problem for someone in Specialist combat armor, and the four others wouldn't even be armed at all. The problem was Darren, or more specifically the security detail that would undoubtably accompany him aboard his ship.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva was to take Darren alive. The problem was getting him in the first place. He and his security would undoubtably expect to be contacted upon arrival, but Kiva would have to take out all six of them. She could contact Darren herself, but there was no doubt she;d be recognized if she did so, in which case Darren would get the hell out of there, and taking him alive would be nearly impossible. She did, however, have a solution. The first step would be taking control of the station. After that, she'd have about a week before Darren's arrival, more than enough time to get things ready.[/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]If Crystal had thought working on the same ship with Vallon Drace was an irritation, it was nothing compared to being in close proximity on a tiny little freighter ship. On the[I] Creator[/I], she had the comfort of so much space that it was easy to go days without ever seeing him once. But on the tiny little ship, it just wasn?t possible. The week long trip to the capitol in sector eight had felt like an eternity. For the most part they ignored one another, after all she was still quite busy reviewing the notes for Elania Ceris, it would be important for her to be familiar with her area of genetics should any questions come up.

It helped that she herself was an expert in genetics so reading up on the studies for various cures that Elania had been working for was pleasant and interesting to read. What wasn?t pleasant was Drace?s thinly veiled contempt for the concept of wasting one?s time on curing the weak. Making her wish she could clobber him just to wipe that look off of his face. Even without his uniform, he still carried himself in a manner that was sure of himself and his own abilities.[I] They?re never going to believe he?s just a civilian.[/I] She thought. [I]What in the world was Sandra thinking?[/I]

But then they had finally arrived and after being cleared by the security, they had been directed towards one of the docking stations for the capitol. A group was waiting for them once Pheonia had docked the ship. She, unlike Drace, had been almost silent the entire trip, withdrawing into herself. Other than the brief time when they had gone over everything before arriving, to be clear on what each person was suppose to be doing.

Crystal stepped out of the ship with Drace right behind her, before the detail to greet them could say anything she turned and told Pheonia to stay put and keep an eye on their ship. Unless Sandra and Stevens had messed up, the remaining member of the team that had been with Kerstin, would be contacting her, but to do that, Pheonia needed to stay put.

?[B]This way Dr. Ceris.[/B]? One of the three said.

?[B]Thank you,[/B]? Crystal replied. ?[B]I was beginning to worry that we wouldn?t get clear of the disaster in sector seven.[/B]? She ignored the slight grunt from Drace and instead paid attention to those who were taking her to meet with one of the representatives there. With the civil war going on, the main sectors were locking down on all medical advances and information, making Ceris?s work extremely important to the New Alliance. As they finally entered the small meeting room where a representative was waiting, it was obvious that he was only too please to see them.

?[B]Dr. Ceris! I can?t tell you how please we are to see that you and your assistant managed to get out of sector seven![/B]? He stood up from where he had been sitting and moved to shake first her hand and then Drace?s.

?[B]I?m afraid that I had to leave my work behind, but I did manage to transfer my files to my hand held which I have brought with me.[/B]? She looked back at Drace who was remaining silent and looking off to the side a bit, causing her to sigh.

?[B]I would like to take a moment to rest before I get back to work though, the trip was quite stressful. However, I am concerned that the High Council may be using biological agents to aid their cause.[/B]? She moved to take a seat and continued when the others did as well.

?[B]You see, shortly before the attack in sector seven, a fair number of the population fell ill. Nothing serious mind you, but it was quite odd since such an outbreak is rare.[/B]? Crystal watched him closely, wondering if he would believe her since the entire tale was utter nonsense.

?[B]I don?t recall hearing anything about it.[/B]? The representative finally said.

?[B]I?m not surprised, it was nothing threatening, but the nature of the illness when studied, indicated that the pathogen was manufactured. I was about to leave to travel to the main world from my lab to a meeting with the representatives there when the fleet arrived. In the confusion, I was lucky to escape with my life.[/B]?

?[B]I see.[/B]? He replied, looking thoughtful. ?[B]How would they have spread such a thing?[/B]?

?[B]Probably through a live carrier, it?s the simplest method. You infect someone after making them immune so that they are highly contagious, just their presence would be enough since everyone coming in contact would be exposed. The standard security and scanning equipment to detect such threats would ignore a sick individual, especially if that illness was determined to be minor.[/B]?

Crystal watched as he thought about it, weighing in the different factors involved. Now if he would only believe her tale. A moment later, he finally spoke up.

?[B]Would an agent working for the High Council be a carrier?[/B]?

?[B]It is possible, it?s a simple matter to tailor pathogens to not become active until after a set period of time. Why do you ask?[/B]? Though Crystal knew why already. Unless they had moved her while they were traveling there, it was likely that Kerstin was still in the capitol.

?[B]Well we do have someone here, and they were treated for minor medical injuries, but if the pathogen is designed to not activate until later.[/B]? He shook his head. ?[B]Would the pathogen not show up under standard scans?[/B]?

?[B]No, we all carry inactive viruses and unless it?s a known disease or potential danger, the system would ignore it.[/B]?

He stood up, ?[B]In that case, would you be willing to check someone to see if they are carrying it?[/B]?

Crystal and Drace stood up as well. ?[B]Of course, I?d need my pilot to help me with that though.[/B]?

?[B]I?ll make the arrangements, in the mean time, I?ve arranged for quarters for the two of you since I?m sure you?d like to rest a bit after your trip.[/B]?

Crystal nodded, ?[B]Thank you.[/B]? She turned and left the small meeting room and then followed the group that had brought them to meet the representative as they were still waiting just outside the door. [I]At least that fool kept his mouth shut. [/I]She thought as she glanced briefly at Drace.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

Kerstin had been expecting to be shipped off world after what she had overheard upon waking up and finding herself in this place, but now, several weeks later, she was still in the same room they had put her in to begin with. Other than someone seeing to her needs, for the most part she was left alone. During that time she was visited twice by more of the local police for sector eight. One had obviously been a type of commander on account of his uniform.

True to what the doctor had said, nothing had been done, all he had come for was to ask her a series of questions, not pressing when she was silent for some of what he asked her. It was frustrating to be kept locked up in the tiny room and yet at the same time, it wasn?t anywhere as horrible as when she had been kidnapped before. A part of her wondered if the fair treatment would continue or not though. Somehow she couldn?t imagine them not using drugs on her at one point.

[I]I wonder how Darren is doing?[/I] She wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening to admit two people. Instead of the usual group that brought her meals or the local police force, this time it was two dark haired women dressed in civilian clothing that she had never seen before. It was even more puzzling when the security simply told them to let them know when they were done.

?[B]Who are you?[/B]? Kerstin asked once they were standing in front of her bed where she was sitting down. One of them pulled out a medical scanner from a pouch at her side while the taller one spoke up.

?[B]We?re here to check your health Miss Anderson.[/B]?

[I]Check my health? Didn't the doctor already do that?? [/I]

?[B]I don?t understand, I thought I was already checked out by the doctor when I was first brought here.[/B]? She paused for a moment before it finally hit.[I] Are they checking me out to prepare for interrogation?[/I] She tensed without even thinking about it.

?[B]You can relax Miss Anderson,[/B]? the one checking her out said kindly. ?[B]We?re only checking to make sure you weren?t exposed to something. This is not a pre interrogation exam.[/B]?

Her eyes met Kerstin?s and though she did not know the woman, her gaze was clear, indicating that she spoke the truth, at least as far as she knew it. Kerstin looked to the other woman who merely remained expressionless and next to impossible to read. She shivered a bit before turning back to the other woman.

?[B]I don?t suppose you can tell me anything about what?s going on?[/B]? Kerstin knew the answer already, but she couldn?t help herself.

?[B]No I cannot.[/B]? The woman scanning her straightened up and put the scanner away in a pouch on her side. ?[B]I?m sorry to have troubled you.[/B]? She started to turn to leave but Kerstin grabbed her sleeve.

"[B]Wait! You said I might have been exposed to something.[/B]" She looked at her and let go of her sleeve upon realizing that she had grabbed it. "[B]Well, was I? Exposed that is?[/B]"

"[B]It seems that you were not, so there's nothing to worry about.[/B]"

She turned and motioned to the other woman who was with her, nodding briefly and then both of them went to the door, pressing the panel to communicate with the security outside, telling them that they were done. A moment later they were gone and Kerstin was once again alone. [I]What in the world was that about?[/I]

[Blayze]

[B][SIZE=1]"Sir," [/SIZE][/B][SIZE=1]came Hirtius' voice over the comm system, [B]"We've found one of them."

"Who is it? Do you have a name?"

"No, sir, and I'm not sure we're likely to get one," [/B]replied Hirtius queasily, [B]"He's dead, sir. And not just dead - he's been torn apart. There's pieces of him everywhere - I don't think we're going to get a positive identification."

"I've heard about these killings - organ harvesters, or genetic experimentation, something of the sort. There've been a number of murders like this in this sector recently," [/B]said a young security officer standing to Kreid's right.

[B]"Do they have suspects?"

"The most prominent is named Dr Mikhail Phantaxian, but according to all the news scans we've picked up there are a number of copycat killers out there."

"I'll be planetside as soon as I can," [/B]said Kreid, [B]"Stay where you are, Hirtius - I'll be right there."

"Yes, sir."

"Prep the transportation doors. I'll be going planetside in twenty minutes."

"Aren't you taking a team with you, sir?"

"There's enough men down there already. I'll just meet up with them. I just need to go and check some things around the ship, but I'll be back in time for the door."

[/B]Kreid walked out of the security room, and all the while a plan was formulating in his mind. These killers across the planet could come in very handy for dealing with a few loose ends. He headed towards the brig, purposeful in his stride.

The door of the brig hissed open, and Kreid waved his security pass at the guard on the entrance. He nodded to the guard, who came closer to him.

[B]"I've got some business I need to take care of in here, and the Commander doesn't really need to know about it. I need you to turn off all security cameras, and go and take a lunch break. And you're not to tell anyone about this, alright?"

"Absolutely, sir," [/B]the guard said, turning his back on Kreid as he switched off all the camera feeds in the brig. As soon as the cameras were off, Kreid whipped out a pistol and blasted three rounds into the guard's back, dropping him to the floor, dead. Then he took the guard's weapon and placed it into the corpse's hand, curling the index finger around the trigger.

He ran over to the cell which contained Kade Tyrell, the man Kreid himself had locked up so many months ago, and opened the door, stepping in and closing it behind him. Tyrell has long since discarded his jacket, and now sat in the cell wearing his trousers, boots and a dirty white vest. As Kreid came in, he looked up.

[B]"Here to humiliate me some more, are you?" [/B]he asked.

[B]"No, Tyrell," [/B]replied Kreid, [B]"I'm here to let you out."

"What?!"

"You heard me. I'm going to let you out of this cell, on a few conditions. Number one, you never tell anyone I let you out. Number two, if you get caught, I was never involved in this - you escaped yourself, and killed the security guard out there. Number three, you have to go straight to the transportation doors and jump in the nearest one which is going to take you down to the planet below. Do you understand?"

"Why should I trust you? You were the one who locked me up in here in the first place, and now you're letting me out? I'm not buying it."

"Let's just say that you and I...have similar goals. Now, are you going to accept this offer or not?" [/B]Tyrell looked at Kreid, presumably trying to suss out his allegiances, but eventually shrugged and said:

[B]"Alright, I'll do it."

"Good. Now, in thirty seconds I'm going to set this pistol to a high enough power that it will blow the lock out of the door. All you have to do is stand back, then when it is open, just run straight to the doors. Got it?" [/B]Tyrell nodded, and Kreid amped up the power on his pistol, aiming it at the electronic lock on the cell door. He took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.

A lance of bright red light shot from the end of the barrel and blew a huge chunk out of the door, leaving it swinging on its hinges in a cloud of smoke.

[B]"Go," [/B]whispered Kreid, and Tyrell ran. Kreid got up slowly and stepped out of the door. By the time he had reached the guard's desk, Tyrell was long gone, and Kreid holstered his pistol and ran after him.

They reached the room where the transportation doors were being operated, and Kreid got through the door just in time to see Tyrell leap into one of them, and disappear.

[B]"Where was that door opening onto?" [/B]shouted Kreid to the operator, who was standing dumbstruck at the controls, [B]"Where was it opening onto?!"

"The planet...down below," [/B]replied the operator nervously.

[B]"Open another one to the same co-ordinates!" [/B]The operator did as he was told, and Kreid leapt into the door, and, after a brief nauseating sensation, his foot touched down on the solid earth. He looked around, and Tyrell was standing in the mouth of an alleyway a few feet away. Kreid walked over to him, and immediately punched him square in the jaw, flooring him and knocking him unconscious. He dragged the body into the alley and knelt over it. This was almost going too well...
[/SIZE]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="1"]Sandra was not expecting the New Alliance to surrender when they dropped out of hyperspace, even with two flagships coming to bear on the small fleet, so far the New Alliance had not been smart enough to back down even when it was painfully clear that they were outmatched. This time around as she gave the order to open fire she couldn’t help but notice that Crystal was not around, nor was Jared as he was overseeing the deployment of the troops once the time for launching them came.[I] I hope the team was able to complete their objectives.[/I] It would be up to them to get free of the planet or to steer clear of the invasion. If they got into space, Drace would have the necessary code to broadcast that would identify them as a friendly instead of an enemy.

To her utter surprise within a few minutes a signal was received indicating that the fleet along with those on the planet wished to surrender. She ordered a ceasefire, wondering what had happened to change their minds so quickly. Though it could mean that Drace had completed his mission as specified, which would make sense. And yet as she ordered the deployment of the troop transports to head down and take over on the planet, she couldn’t help but feel like something was off a fact that was confirmed when a number of small transport ships departed from the supposedly surrendered New Alliance fleet and made a suicidal run for the troop transports that were passing by.

“[B]Target those transports and take them out![/B]” Sandra ordered, even before the scan came back confirming that they were loaded with explosives. Both flagships opened fire at nearly the same time, but they were too late to stop all of them and a number of the transports were hit dead on, coming apart as the approaching ships exploded upon collision.

“[B]Damn![/B]” Sandra snarled.

“[B]They’ve cut off all communications![/B]” The officer manning the station called out.

“[B]The surrender was nothing more than a trick! The fools.[/B]” Sandra hissed. “[B]Take them out, disable their ships if you can but take no chances.[/B]”

“[B]Sandra,[/B]” Jared’s voice came over the ear piece she was wearing. “[B]I’m going to continue down to the surface, we can’t risk passing the New Alliance fleet again[/B].”

“[B]Understood, I’ll move the [I]Creator[/I] into a position to offer you and the others cover,[/B]” She said even as entered the command at her terminal issuing the order. “[B]And Jared.[/B]”

“[B]Yes?[/B]”

“[B]Be careful.[/B]”

“[B]Understood.[/B]”

[hr=indigo]100[/hr]

[CENTER][IMG]http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/9996/sectoreighteg8.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE="1"]Copyright [URL="http://i-netgrafx.deviantart.com/"][COLOR="Indigo"][U][B]I-NetGraFX@DeviantArt[/B][/U][/COLOR][/URL][/SIZE][/CENTER]
Jared had not been expecting the New Alliance to make such a suicidal move and apparently neither had Sandra or Stevens it seemed. And though he had ordered evasive maneuvers just as quickly as possible upon realizing what they were doing and the flagships had opened fired on the approaching ships, it still had not been enough to save all of the transports from being hit.

He finished up his communication with Sandra and moved back to focusing on getting the remaining ships down safely, their goal to land as close to the capital as possible. But first he would need to deal with the planetary defenses which would not be powered down as previously expected. It made him glad they were in military transports, even if their firepower was limited.

"[B]Create a hole here.[/B]" He ordered, indicating a section of the defenses. "[B]We'll slip in here and then head for our intended landing point.[/B]"

"[B]Team alpha,[/B]" Jared contacted the closest battleships to his location. "[B]I need strikes in exactly thirty seconds at these coordinates.[/B]" He sent the data to the team lead for the five battleships.

"[B]Understood sir, will do.[/B]"

Jared waited and then smiled when ships broke off briefly to turn and fire their disruptor's at the same spot in the planetary defenses. Within moments the automated stations and guns were taken out. Jared issued the order to head down immediately, ignoring the shots coming their way as the New Alliance tried to stop the transports before having to turn and deal with the [I]Creator[/I] as it came into range and began to mercilessly attack the ships closest to the transports.

Jared turned and looked at the readout of the capitol, bringing up a closer view on the main screen, zooming in and taking a look. Already he could see that the overhead transport lines were in heavy use as it was obvious that they were still attempting to shift enough troops there to defend the area.

"[B]Take out the transport lines,[/B]" He indicated the massive structures held up by huge metal columns.

"[B]What about the civilians sir?[/B]" The gunner asked, indicating the buildings down below since taking out the transport system would result in it collapsing and crushing those down on the surface.

"[B]They should have thought of that before they deceived us with their false surrender,[/B]" Jared said coldly. "[B]Now is not the time to question my orders, open fire at once.[/B]"

"[B]Of course,[/B]" He stammered, "[B]I'm sorry sir.[/B]" He turned and quickly input the command. Targeting one support and then another. The sound of the missiles launching was deafening as it first headed out and then blazed with disruptor energy right before striking, sending up a huge ball of flames at the base of each support.

One by one, the transports targeted each support until finally the whole system around the capitol collapsed, the huge massive tubes crushing the buildings below as they came down, sending debris and smoke everywhere. A moment later and the transports had landed and the troops began to spill forth, pausing only for the briefest of moments to receive instructions from Jared.

Prepped in combat armor, Jared turned to the group that was closest to him. "[B]Move out![/B]" He ordered, his headset sending the order to everyone there, as well as the other the teams who had been briefed as to which section they were to take. Jared smiled when with a roar the troops swarmed the capitol.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Time was running out, something that Crystal was well aware of as her and Pheonia moved through the capitol building towards where Kerstin Anderson was being held. Even if they had obtained a map to her location by virtue of scanning the area as they were taken to see her, it didn't change the fact that they had to get around the security in the building without being seen.

"[B]Drace is not going to be pleased.[/B]" Crystal sighed a bit as they were forced to hide in yet another side room to avoid the night watch. "[B]I just hope that fool finishes with his part without being caught.[/B]"

"[B]I'm sure he'll get in.[/B]" Pheonia answered her, even though it was clear Crystal wasn't really looking for an answer. "[B]I tested the access code we got from our contact to make sure it works.[/B]"

"[B]That's not the point.[/B]" Crystal looked at her directly, noting how she avoided looking her in the eyes. "[B]Drace has an issue with sticking to what he's suppose to do, after all,[/B]" She said sarcastically. "[B]It was obviously beyond his ability to not kill an unarmed and helpless Representative.[/B]"

Pheonia had no answer for that and upon seeing that the coast was clear she merely motioned for Crystal to follow her as she continued to use her own skill to avoid the security and surveillance in the area, a task that was fairly simple since she merely used her hand held computer to transmit override codes that turned things off just long enough for them to get from place to place.

The faintest hint of dawn was starting to show through the windows overlooking the city as they entered the medical wing and made for where Kerstin was located. Upon reaching the area, Pheonia pulled out the small disruptor she had with her and stunned the two guards who were keeping watch. Swiftly she moved and retrieved the data card off of one of them to open the door.

Crystal didn't hesitate as she entered the room and shook Kerstin's shoulder to wake her. "[B]Relax Kerstin,[/B]" She said when it was apparent that she had alarmed her. "[B]I'm here to get you out of this place.[/B]"

"[B]Who are you?[/B]" Kerstin asked as she sat up in her bed and looked to the door where Pheonia, disruptor in hand was keeping watch.

"[B]Get dressed, we don't have time to talk.[/B]" Crystal ordered her and then explained further when Kerstin hesitated. "[B]We were sent by Stevens, now hurry! We're running behind schedule.[/B]"

Kerstin looked at her and Pheonia and then seemed to make up her mind as she quickly changed out of the night clothing she was in and into the plain gray clothing that she had. She had barely stood up when an alarm went off, it's shrill sound causing everyone to jump.

"[B]Now what?[/B]" Kerstin asked, uncertain as to what was happening. "[B]How will we get past the security now?[/B]"

Both Crystal and Pheonia turned to look at her. "[B]That's not the security, that's the alarm indicating that the city is under attack.[/B]" Crystal explained even as she grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the corridor, running back the way they had come.

A moment later they were at the corridor where windows overlooked the city. A tremor shook the building as not to far in the distance something struck one of the supports for the transportation system that ran above the city. Support after support was hit, something the trio could see as they were running along the corridor until finally the entire structure collapsed with a deafening roar that shook the foundation of the building they were in.

"[B]Oh my hell![/B]" Kerstin exclaimed, horrified. She would have halted to watch if not for the others keeping her from doing so.

Utter chaos descended among those who were civilians in the building and before long people were running all over the place, ignoring the three who were heading towards where their ship was docked. They were halfway there when a cry went out that the Representatives were dead, resulting in even more panic and mayhem.

"[B]There you are.[/B]" A cold voice said as they came around a corner and nearly ran into a tall dark Versilan that Kerstin had never seen before. "[B]Your incompetence is interfering with the mission, you're two hours late.[/B]"

"[B]Perhaps if you had bothered to come and assist us instead of being an ass and assuming we were doing nothing, we might not have been late.[/B]" Crystal shot back as she kept heading towards their ship.

"[B]Like I said, your incompetent. If you need my help to handle something as simple as rescuing a civilian from non-military personnel. Then you shouldn't be here.[/B]" Another loud boom sounded and the building shook again, causing Kerstin to jump a bit and Drace to sneer at her timid reaction.

"[B]Just move it Doctor, before I leave you weaklings to the fate you deserve.[/B]" Drace finished, turning his back on the trio and knocking anyone who got in their way aside forcefully. Crystal just sighed, hoping that they could get to their ship without too much fuss.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]The trip to the relay station had taken a week, and Kiva had made use of the time. She didn't want anyone from the relay station to suspect anything, so she was preventing them from getting a clear enough reading of her ship to identify it. She wasn't using stealth, though. Instead, she was simulating substantial damage, including non-functioning communications systems. This would prevent the station's staff from contacting her, and would get most of them, if not all of them, out to meet her when she landed, just to find out what was going on. They'd have a guess, though; engine damage was among the damage Kiva was simulating, so they'd probably assume they'd been the closest instalation of any kind when the damage occured. But they'd be wrong.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]As the [I]Catalyst[/I] made its final approach to the landing platform, the landing lights blinked in an unmistakable pattern. It meant 'land here', and was used with ships that couldn't be otherwise contacted. The relay station's staff was telling her she was clear to land, and they probably didn't suspect a thing. This was critical; if they saw her coming, they could get a distress message out, and though the millitary would likely not be able to respond within the week remaining before Darren's arrival, they could easily ward Darren, resulting in the failure of Kiva's mission. So she had to take out the relay crew as quickly as possible, and she smiled when she saw all six of them on the platform waiting for her. [I]Good. This'll make things a lot easier.[/I][/COLOR]


[COLOR=#483d8b]"It doesn't look damaged," Security Officer Saneth said.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"It could be purely internal damage," the station head, Kale, replied. "It almost has to be, actually. I'm no expert, but I know what damaged ships look like. But the sensor readings were unambiguous, and no sane person would fake that level of damage, not when it would involve cutting life-support to the bare minimum."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"We'll just have to ask the ship's commander, then," Saneth said, and Kale nodded. Then both of them went down.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva had suited up in full combat armor, but not the normal Specialist armor. She was in the hostile environment version, which was designed for use in environments where survival was otherwise impossible. She'd actually made use of HO armor once before, when attacking one of the resistance bases on Earth. This time, she was using it as part of her deception. Simulating the extent of life-support damage she was pretending to have was extremely dangerous, because it left no safety margin. But because Kiva was in HO armor, that didn't matter, because HO armors had their own ar supplies. It was only enough for a few hours, but since Kiva was making a landing, that was more than she needed. And even a life support failure wouldn't be too bad, because all messenger ships were equipped with backup LS systems. Manual activation was required, but that wouldn't be a problem when planetside, and faking the LS damage would convince the relay crew that the ship was truly damaged, even though it looked fine. Which meant they were totally surprised when Kiva transported outside the ship and opened fire.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Nobody had time to react. All six of them were down in just a couple seconds. Even the two security officers had been taken completely by surprise. Kiva'd shot them at full power, too; if she'd taken them alive, they would have taken up time she didn't have. She couldn't afford any distractions, because she needed to prepare for Darren's arrival. If she wasn't ready by the time Darren showed up, the mission would be a failure.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]-------------------------------------------------[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]OOC: Your turn, Rach.[/COLOR]

[Rachmaninoff]

Kerstin couldn't get the image of the massive transportation system collapsing onto the city below out of her mind. She could still see it crushing the buildings that were unfortunate enough to be underneath it. She felt like she was caught in some nightmare from which she could not escape as she followed along with the odd trio that she was with. It was hard to stay focused as they hurried as fast as possible through the corridors. There was some attempt to restore order but from the sounds that reached them from outside, it was clear that quite a few people were panicking.

[I]How do they expect to escape unharmed?[/I] She wondered as she struggled to keep up with the three she was with. [I]Why am I following them? I don't even know who they are![/I] One of them had said that Stevens sent them, but was it really true? She cringed as yet another explosion went off, shaking the building violently, resulting in her stumbling and only the help of the taller dark haired woman kept her from falling.

"[B]You can't go this way![/B]" A voice called out as they approached what seemed to be a corridor connecting to the spaceport that was next to the capitol center.

"[B]Hey![/B]" The voice called out when they did not stop. "[B]I'm serious! With the Imperial Fleet here it's not safe to take off![/B]"

To Kerstin's utter surprise the taller dark haired Versilan with them merely knocked the man aside, hitting him with enough force that he was sent flying to crash into the nearest wall. He slide down, clearly unconscious from the blow.

"[B]What did you do that for?![/B]" She exclaimed, starting to move to check him before being halted by the taller of the two dark haired women.

"[B]Miss Anderson, we can't afford to be delayed.[/B]" She grabbed her left arm and dragged her along, only letting go when it was apparent that Kerstin had quit trying to help the man that Drace had hit.

[I]What's the matter with these people? There was no need to use force! [/I] Her thoughts scattered as they exited the building only to find people among the ships squabbling and fighting over who got on. Even the ship they were approaching was not immune as people were surrounding it and attempting to force their way in.

She was wondering what they were going to do when the taller man and woman both simply waded into the fray, knocking people aside as if they were nothing. Kerstin choked when she realized that he was not holding back, delivering killing blows to those who fought back or merely stood in his way.

"[B]Oh my...[/B]" She covered her mouth with her hands as she fought the urge to throw up. She couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her cheeks as she tried to avoid looking at those who were dead.

Upon realizing what was happening the others attempting to fight over the ship pulled back and then took off, leaving them alone for the moment as they entered the code to the door and then entered the ship, locking it down once they were inside. [I]I can't believe he killed those people! [/I]

She didn't get a chance to say much else as they made it to the bridge and strapped themselves in as the woman took the pilot's seat and began to prep the ship for take off. Kerstin was too lost in what was going on to really pay attention to what they were saying. And as they took to the sky, she couldn't help but notice the extent of the damage that had been caused by the transport system collapsing.

[I]Why?[/I] She wondered as the ship steadily climbed towards space. [I]Why couldn't we find a way to avoid this? All those people...[/I] She choked on the thought of how many must have died when the structure had collapsed. Finally she could stand it no more and closed her eyes as she looked away.

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]William couldn't help but smile over how things had gone with Valencia, even if she was a pirate, she was still a valuable source of not only information but for obtaining hard to get merchandise. After all, where else could he have gone to acquire the crystals needed for powering a flagship? Such a thing was heavily guarded and next to impossible to get on the black market. For one thing, they were too damn expensive for most if not all of the population. And why bother when often one could get the cheaper crystals and simply set things up to accommodate that?

Flagships were the exception, the sheer stress involved in maintaining power under normal conditions as well as battle made having the more pure crystals a necessity. It was part of why Daniel had probably been so upset, he of all people would understand just how difficult replacing the crystals would have been. If not for Valencia, it might not have happened and the[I] Liberator[/I] would have been left in the position of being forced to stay at a lower running capacity. In the end, handing over the program Valencia wanted was a small price to pay.

Now as William headed for sector nine with the two High Council members on board, he wondered how Kiva's mission was coming along. By now it was likely that she had seized the relay station in sector four and was finishing her preparations to capture Darren Anderson. He had no doubt that she would succeed, few agents were as reliable as Kiva was. The only problem was going to be getting Darren to cooperate since William doubted he would willingly do as asked, to sort the data so they could get their hands on what was sent. Especially if he realized that he was the one who had hacked his clearance shortly before Earth had been invaded, putting him in a restricted sector and thus in the position of being forced to work for the military or be executed. No he was certain that Darren was unlikely to even give him the time of day let alone cooperate.

He had been planning on using the offer of giving both Darren and his sister sanctuary from the High Council since he was aware of how much Darren wished to be free of being required to work for them. But the ship he had sent to pick Kerstin up had run into trouble and he had not been able to find another one to get there before the fleet would arrive. With all contact in sector eight lost it was likely that she had been freed by the Imperial fleet that had been heading there. Williams sighed just a tiny bit at what he suspected he was going to have to do. He didn't like it, but he'd do it just the same. They couldn't afford to lose the war, there was too much riding on it.

Williams preferred to avoid using the same methods that the High Council was willing to use and for the most part he was able to keep to that. But if the truth drugs did not work, he would have no choice. Even though things were going well enough, the balance of power was still on the side of the High Council. Even his demonstration that he could do more by disabling the shipyards had been dismissed. The promise by the government in the area to break free if he did so was ignored. It still disrupted the Empire, but it was suppose to end with that sector breaking off and it was a bitter disappointment that it had not happened.

Still, the war was far from over and no matter how things looked, William would never give up. They had come too far for that. After all, he had not expected to see things progress to this point in his life time. He turned his attention back to the report he had been reading in regards to their next move once the [I]Liberator[/I] was repaired.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Aaryanna_Mom]

Daniel would have loved to have known how Valencia managed to get her hands on the crystals needed for powering a flagship. He knew just how next to impossible such a feat really was. Though now, thanks to that it wouldn't be long before the repairs were finished, bringing the [I]Liberator[/I] back to full capacity. And with the extra crystals that she had obtained for them as well, it would make any future repairs much easier, at least for a while that is.

What was more important at the moment was talking to the newest personnel assigned to the [I]Liberator[/I] who would be answering only to him instead of their head of security Greydon Kreid. It was something that Williams had put his foot down on with the Representatives for the New Alliance, insisting that Daniel be assigned someone who was not only fully cleared but well versed in doing investigations. If anything it would please Kiva to know that someone had been assigned to do a complete and totally check of Greydon Kreid.

Not that Daniel was worried himself, but he wasn't about to turn down the agent who had been sent to the [I]Liberator[/I]. Oddly the message he had gotten from Special Investigations Agent Tarika Zaidin had clearly specified that he was to inform no one of her primary assignment besides tending to Daniel's personal security. She had insisted that other than the official story that she had been assigned to see to his safety by the New Alliance, there was no need for anyone to know what else she would be up to.

And as Daniel looked at the young security officer sitting across from him at his desk in the observation lounge, he found him self wondering just how skilled she really was. She didn't look all that imposing with her small slender frame, jet black hair and silver eyes that missed nothing as she surveyed the room. Her movements gave her away ever so slightly as it was clear that she was no pampered civilian, moving with the sureness of one who was trained.

"[B]So how long have you been an investigator Miss Zaidin?[/B]" Daniel was asking her as they wrapped up the initial interview.

"[B]Twenty years sir.[/B]"

"[B]And you're sure it's best to keep quiet about what you're really here for? I find it hard to believe that Kreid won't know why you were assigned to me.[/B]"

"[B]Suspecting and actually knowing aren't the same sir, I'm not really expecting to find anything, but if there is anything to be found. It's best they don't know that they are being looked into.[/B]"

Daniel stood up, bringing the meeting to a close. "[B]Very well then, I'll have the quarters master make the necessary arrangements.[/B]"

Tarika stood up as well, "[B]Understood sir, as soon as I'm settled in I'll inform Kreid that I've been assigned by the New Alliance to see to your safety and that I am to be your primary escort whenever possible.[/B]"

"[B]He will put you though a complete and total exam, both in terms of procedures as well as a physical test of your abilities. Are you sure that won't be a problem?[/B]" Even though Daniel knew that unlike Earthlings where size often did indicate a lack of strength... Among Versilans appearances were deceiving, and yet he still found it hard to believe that she was capable since even for a Versilan she was on the small side.

"[B]Not at all, before I moved into special investigations I worked for the Internal security forces in sector two sir. It won't be a problem.[/B]"

"[B]You're dismissed then.[/B]" He watched as she saluted and then turned and left to head for the office of the quarters master so she could settle into the quarters directly across the hall from where his were located.

Once she was gone he sat back down and pulled up the plans for their next move since it would be one of their biggest moves yet. One that would hopefully make up for the ground lost when both sectors seven and eight were reclaimed by the High Council. Then he moved to review the reports of the crew on leave and the ones from sub-commander Spencer showing that the re-supply was nearly finished. There was a flag indicating that Kreid was dealing with some security issues planet side, but Daniel was sure he would be finished before it was time for them to head out.

[Rachmaninoff]

Three weeks. Three weeks that on some level had felt like an eternity to Darren as they made their way for the relay station in sector four. The four members of the Elite Task Forces had made Darren almost feel like he was under siege as no matter what he did, everything was scrutinized or rather it was obvious that they were keeping a close eye on him. Making him wonder just what the hell was in the the data from sector fourteen.

Part of the trip had been pleasant, catching up with Mike had been enjoyable since he hadn't really gotten to spend any time with him since the whole mess started shortly before the High Council had taken over Earth. Even though it hadn't really been all that long, to him it felt like an eternity and the two of them had spent most of the trip hiding out in their quarters catching up. Darren was sure that their quarters were most likely being monitored but he didn't care, so long as he had the illusion of privacy that was all that mattered at the moment.

"[B]I swear Mike,[/B]" Darren said for the hundredth time. "[B]More than anything I wish I could go back to simply being a merchant.[/B]"

"[B]That will never happen, not after being made the Shipping Expert. Even if the High Council let you retire, everyone knows who you are now.[/B]" Mike shifted in his position on the sofa in Darren's quarters, putting his feet up as he comfortably faced where Darren was sitting.

"[B]I know.[/B]" Darren sighed a bit as the chime for his computer terminal in his quarters sounded, indicating that they would be arriving soon. He stood up, straightening his uniform since unlike the rest of the trip today he knew he would be required to wear it.

Mike got up and followed along as Darren headed to the bridge of the [I]Wilkey[/I], arriving just in time to see the viewer indicating that they had dropped out of hyperspace. With an inward sigh he sat down at the command chair while Mike took one of the remaining spots that was free.

"[B]You know what to do sir.[/B]" The one leading the others spoke up without turning around to face Darren.

"[B]You've only told me repeatedly through out this trip.[/B]" Darren rolled his eyes. "[B]I'm already aware that I am authorized to request full access to the relay station. That comes with my position and doesn't even require Stevens to authorize it. Besides,[/B]" He said shortly, irritation creeping into his voice.

"[B]It's not like they aren't expecting us, it isn't often that a relay station is ordered to take part of the system off line and simply wait for someone to come and literally take the equipment.[/B]"

"[B]Right.[/B]" The man said even as he opened a channel to the relay station. "[B]Just remember that we need to actually land since it's better to avoid attracting unwanted attention by orbiting the station. It shouldn't take more than a day or two to retrieve the equipment, but it's better to simply play it safe.[/B]"

Darren just ignored him in favor of waiting for the staff at the relay station to answer their hail. Wishing to retrieve the equipment and head back so he could finally press Stevens as to how Kerstin was doing. If he was lucky, he would have the data sorted by the time they got back to the [I]Conqueror[/I].

A moment later the viewer came to life as a Versilan wearing the uniform of a security officer answered their hail. "[B]State your business please.[/B]" He requested.

"[B]I'm here to retrieve the equipment that you were ordered to keep off line.[/B]" Darren replied. "[B]By my authority as Shipping Expert for the High Council.[/B]"

"[B]Understood, please transmit your authorization code sir.[/B]"

Darren had been expecting the request and already had the code ready for the security on his ship to send over, a moment later the man at the station, after checking it nodded once and then looked back up.

"[B]Authorization code confirmed, did you wish to simply transport down to the staton or to use the main landing pad?[/B]"

"[B]We'll be bringing the ship down.[/B]" Darren answered.

"[B]Understood, I'll send you the coordinates immediately.[/B]" He looked down for a moment and then back up. "[B]I'll send someone to greet you there, anything else sir?[/B]"

"[B]No."[/B] A moment later a chime sounded as the data with the coordinates arrived and then the transmission was over with as the view changed back to one of the relay station as the ship headed for the landing pad. Darren could only watch as the security brought the ship in and made a landing.

Once they were safely landed and the ship shut down he got up. "[B]Lets get this over with.[/B]" He motioned to Mike who got up to come along only to halt when one of the men stopped him.

"[B]He stays here.[/B]"

"[B]What? Whatever for?[/B]" Darren exclaimed.

"[B]I have my orders sir.[/B]" He motioned to two of the men who escorted Mike off the bridge against Darren's protests.

"[B]Where the hell are you taking him?[/B]" He snarled when the remaining two blocked his path.

"[B]Relax sir, he's only being detained in his own quarters until the cargo is secured on the ship.[/B]" He motioned towards the where the hatch would be when the two men returned after locking Mike in his quarters.

"[B]You're so full of it.[/B]" Darren snapped. "[B]There's no reason why he can't see the data, after all the crew of the relay station did.[/B]"

"[B]The crew of the relay station weren't your shipping partner when the first protocols were written.[/B]"

That left Darren speechless. Did Stevens think that Mike had helped him write the original protocols? He sighed out loud. It was too late to set Stevens straight on that assumption. Mike had been working with him when he did it, but he had never told Mike about it let alone got help from him to do so.

"[B]Fine.[/B]" Darren finally said as he followed the four to leave the ship. Even now they were still wearing full security gear, something he found a bit laughable considering where they were going. He turned towards the main hatch to the ship as the locks released and the door opened.

-------------------------------------------

[B]OOC:[/B] And now it's your turn GuyYouMetOnline

[GuyYouMetOnline]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]Kiva'd had just enough time to get everything ready. The equopment was aboard the [I]Catalyst[/I], and now it was time for her second objective, the capture of Darren. Kiva'd been busy over the week since she'd taken control of the relay station, and she was ready when Darren's ship, the [I]Wilkey[/I], arrived.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]Before long, the [I]Wilkey [/I]hailed the relay station. Kiva activated a program of hers and answered the call. Kiva'd already had the basic program ready, but to work right, it required information Kiva could only get from the relay station. What the program required was recordings of a specified individual. It needed sufficient data to reconstruct the person's appearance and accurately simulate the person's voice. In effect, it was a disguise program. Although there was a visual link between the station and the [I]Wilkey[/I], nobody on the [I]Wilkey[/I] actually saw or heard Kiva. Instead, they saw and heard [/COLOR][COLOR=darkslateblue]one of the relay crew.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]"State your business, please," Kiva said. The program delivered what she'd said, but did so with the relay crewman's appearance and voice. Nobody on the [I]Wilkey[COLOR=darkslateblue][/I][/COLOR]would suspect a thing.

"I'm here," Darren said, "to retrieve the equipment that you were ordered to keep offline, by my authority as Shipping Expert for the High Council."

"Understood. Please transmit your authorization code, sir."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkslateblue]Darren's code came quickly. "Authorization code confirmed," Kiva said. "Did you wish to simply transport down to the staton or to use the main landing pad?"

"We'll be bringing the ship down," Darren said.

"Understood, I'll send you the coordinates immediately." Kiva sent the coordinates, than said, "I'll send someone to greet you there. Anything else, sir?"

"No," Darren said, and Kiva ended the transmission.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva was waiting in full combat armor. She knew Darren's security would be armed and armored, so it was likely stunning them wouldn't be an option. However, despite their status, Kiva expected the security personell to be caught completely off-guard. After all, nobody was expecting trouble. Kiva suspected that the security wasn't there to protect Darren, but that Darren was essentially a prisoner aboard his own ship.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]The ship's hatch opened, and the security men stepped out, all wearing full armor. Kiva's preferred gun wasn't worth much against armored targets, so she'd made sure to grab something more appropriate. Her weapon was designed for armor penetration, and since it was Specialist issue, it would be enough to get through even the armor worn by these four.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva didn't give the men time to react. As they exited the ship, she shot all four in quick succession, hitting each right in the head and taking all of them down. Behind them was Darren, who had absolutely no idea what was going on. Kiva switched her weapon to stun and pointed it at Darren. "Well, hello there, Darren."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"What the- Kiva?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva laughed. "Indeed. And I have to say I find this rather amusing. I rescued you from the Resistance on Earth, and now I'm capturing you. Quite ironic, isn't it?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]Kiva shot Darren in the chest, and he went down, but since Kiva's weapon was on stun, he was still alive. Kiva took out her handhelt and accessed the [I]Catalyst[/I]. The ship caught Darren in a transportation door, putting him in a cell on board. Kiva then had the ship perform a scan of the [I]Wilkey[/I]. There was one life sign detected; Darren's old merchant partner, presumably. He wouldn't be as valuable a prisoner as Darren, but still, he might have his uses. Kiva stepped into the [I]Wilkey[/I].[/COLOR]


[COLOR=#483d8b]Mike stood up as the door to his quarters opened and found a gun pointed right at him. "Now what do you-" He cut off as he saw that it wasn't one of the security men he was looking at. "Who the hell are you?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"My name's Kiva. You may have heard of me."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Kiva? That rouge Specialist?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=#483d8b]"Everyone just assumes I turned traitor," Kiva said. "No respect at all for my undercover ability. Always dissapoints me." She shot Mike on stun, then had the [I]Catalyst[/I] transport him to a cell of his own.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=#483d8b]The equipment was loaded, Darren and Mike were on board, and the [I]Catalyst[/I] had taken off. But there was still one more thing to take care of. Before leaving the sector, Kiva [/COLOR][COLOR=darkslateblue]targeted missiles at the [I]Wilkey[/I] and blew Darren's old ship up. Doing so probably wasn't necessary, but Kiva didn't like taking chances. With the [I]Wilkey [/I]destroyed, Kiva set a course for sector 9, where she was to deliver Darren and the recovered equipment. Before long, the [I]Catalyst [/I]was under way.[/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Cassandra was impatient to get going, even though Kiva Salqarian had left the area just over two weeks ago, meaning that there was no one around that she needed to worry about. Something that when Valencia had gotten up and headed planet side, she had pointed out again, reminding her that they had another assignment or rather request from Williams to attend to. Especially since they had already transfered the cargo to the [I]Liberator[/I] and received and installed the program she had requested, something that had Cassandra making snide remarks about how someone must have had wax in her ears when she was being educated, that is until they had tested it and it had worked.

Even now, as she stepped onto the surface of Gallana, heading towards one of the nicer bars, closer to the capitol... Cassandra's reaction to the program working still made Valencia smile. It wasn't often that something flabbergasted her, which was odd considering that she was suppose to be nothing more than a program. It had finally ended with Cassandra muttering something about understanding why the High Council had put such a high bounty on Celestia and Jason and then to even Valencia's surprise she had shut up and dropped the subject.

[I][B]-I still think we should get going.- [/B][/I]Cassandra said, sounding miffed. [B][I]-There's still the matter of that horrible Dr Mikhail Phantaxian and those copycat killers about. The last time I checked, even crew from the Liberator has gone missing.-[/I][/B]

"[B]You're such a worrywart Cassandra.[/B]" Valencia laughed. "[B]Besides, I'm not so sure that Dr Mikhail Phantaxian is responsible for all of the crew that has turned up dead.[/B]"

[B][I]-Why do you say that?-[/I][/B]

"[B]I would have thought it was obvious, they still have that mole and though Williams was too secretive to be bothered to explain why the Representatives sent someone from Special Investigations to see to Commander Lander's security, I think it's clear that her job is to ferret out just who the mole is.[/B]"

[I][B]-What has that got to do with some of the crew turning up dead?-[/B][/I]

"[B]Oh come now Cassandra![/B]" Valencia laughed out loud. "[B]What better way to get rid of someone who knows a little more than they should? It would be a simple matter to deal with them and leave them here, letting the authorities think it was someone local.[/B]" Valencia shrugged.

"[B]It's something I would do after all, let someone else take the blame for something, I've certainly done it plenty of times in the past.[/B]"

-[B][I]I've noticed.- [/I][/B]Cassandra remarked dryly. [B][I]-One of these days someone's going to come after you in retaliation for the chaos you've caused over the years.-[/I][/B]

Valencia just smiled as she paused and opened the door to the establishment she had been heading for, taking a moment to coldly shove aside the few soldiers on leave who got in her way. She was in no mood to engage in idle chat with fools who would have only one thing on their minds. One of them seemed to take offense and then thought the better of it when he realized that she had her right hand on the hilt of her disruptor pistol.

With a sigh she rolled her eyes and made her way to the table she had been using every day, looking up briefly as one of the servers brought over the same drink she had been having before. Valencia tossed a credit in his direction and winked when he caught it and moved on.
[B][I]
-I still think we should get going.- [/I][/B]Cassandra grumbled

Valencia just enjoyed her drink and said nothing. There was just one more bit of information that she needed and then she would be on her way. After all, Williams wasn't the only person she was working with, though he was the more patient of the two.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="1"]Jared was feeling rather pleased with how things had gone. The New Alliance's attempt to resist had in the end proven to be futile. It was a shame really, that they had insisted on attempting to stop the fleet, so many had died when it had been unnecessary, and yet at the same time he didn't feel sorry for the fools who had mistakenly backed them in the first place.

The last couple of weeks had been spent not only reestablishing Versilan rule, but dealing with all of the work associated with identifying those who had died. Something that had made Crystal short tempered as it often did. Though Jared was more inclined to believe that it was her most recent assignment with Drace than anything else.

Drace on the other hand had simply continued with his usual duties, only commenting a few times to indicate how useless Crystal had been and how dealing with the Representatives was beneath a true warrior. Something that though Jared understood the need to have them eliminated, he could relate to. After all, he had done the same when Earth had been taken over. Had those who were considered [I]problematic[/I] dealt with. It was hardly a true test of one's skills.

"[B]That fool![/B]" Sandra exclaimed, causing Jared to turn and see just what had upset her, along with half of the crew on the bridge since she had spoken louder than usual.

"[B]What is it Sandra?[/B]" Though her angry expression told him more than anything that it was likely connected to Stevens, no one else seemed to manage to annoy her as much as he did.

"[B]Take a look.[/B]" She sent a file to his terminal for him to read. "[B]Ill be in my quarters if you need anything.[/B]"

Jared was wondering what in the world had her so angry, that is until he read what was in the update from Stevens. It was an update on Darren's assignment in sector four. When the Elite Task Forces assigned to go with him did not check in like they were suppose to and no one answered when he attempted to contact the relay station, Stevens had sent someone from the military in the area to check it out.

Not only was the crew of the relay station dead, but they had found the remains of what was believed to be Darren's ship the [I]Wilkey[/I]. There were signs that the Elite Task Forces were dead as well. The equipment they had been sent to retrieve was gone and there was no sign of Darren or his crew Mike. Though with the ship being destroyed it was possible that both of them were dead as well.

[I]No wonder she's angry.[/I] Jared thought as he closed the report. The fact that the mission had been interrupted like that could only mean one of two things. Either one of the researchers from the facility in sector fourteen had told the New Alliance about the transmission or they had a spy in either sector one or in the fleet. Since it was unlikely that the researcher's would have realized that the message got halted in sector four, it was more likely that they had a spy. Though that did not surprise Jared. The only thing they would need to do is determine if it was a leak in sector one or in the fleet.

Jared was wondering just which one was more likely when he got an incoming transmission. It was Stevens. "[B]I take it that you have read the report Jared?[/B]"

"[B]Yes, did you want me to start an investigation? After all for something like that to have happened, someone had to have passed on the information about his assignment to the New Alliance. There's no other way that they could have known about it.[/B]"

"[B]Quite, and yes, I do want you to start looking into it. It could have been leaked from sector one but I'm more inclined to believe that it came from the fleet.[/B]" Stevens looked annoyed. "[B]I have no proof of that, just a feeling really, and I'm rarely wrong on these things.[/B]"

"[B]I'll get started on it immediately. Have you informed Kerstin yet?[/B]"

"[B]No, I was wondering if you would do that. You've been working with her all this time and she's still out of sorts after what happened in sector eight.[/B]"

Jared grimaced at the thought of being the one to tell her, she would not be happy. "[B]I can take care of that[/B]." He finally replied.

"[B]Just make sure to stress the fact that his whereabouts is unknown. I find it unlikely that they would simply kill him. After all the ship had actually landed at the relay station, if they wanted him dead, whoever did it would have simply destroyed his ship immediately.[/B]" Stevens sighed slightly. "[B]Plus if the information was leaked, they would have known that he's really the only one who would be able to sort the data. Anyway...[/B]"

"[B]Once you've talked to her we need to go over the strikes that we've prepared. If they really have captured him, we can't afford to wait for the right moment since he would know how to counter the attack.[/B]" Stevens frowned. "[B]If we wait too long, even though the timing is not the best, we'll lose the ability to even launch it.[/B]"

Jared nodded. "[B]I'll get started immediately then and contact you as soon as I'm done.[/B]" He ended the transmission and got up to head for the transport room to head over to the [I]Conqueror[/I]. He'd take care of Kerstin first, he paused only long enough to check and make sure that she was indeed in her quarters there before he left Drace in charge while he was gone.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Celestia had thought that Sub-Commander Drace was ruthless in battle, based on what she had learned in regards to his behavior in battle in sector seven. But even that paled to what Jared had done in sector eight. At first she had thought that what she was hearing was incorrect, how could he be responsible for ordering the deaths of millions of civilians? It wasn't until later that she learned it was as a result of him ordering the destruction of a transport system that ran above the cities.

It was done to stop the movement of troops in the area, but the structure had crushed millions on the surface when it had collapsed. Though if what she had heard was correct, even though they were outnumbered, the New Alliance had used tactics to take out a number of the transports heading for the surface, prompting the retaliation. In the end, she just didn't understand it, why they hadn't surrendered when it was clear they could not win.

It was pointless to think about it, after all, they had resisted the invasion on Earth, even though that too had been pointless, or so it had seemed. After all, the resistance had never given up and now the Versilan Empire was at war with itself. Something that though it pained her since the death toll was incomprehensible, she silently approved of the attempt to restore personal liberty to the oppressed races.

"[B]Still worrying over what happened?[/B]" Jason asked her out of nowhere, startling her out of her line of thinking, she looked over to see him watching her.

"[B]Yes. As much as I want the New Alliance to win, I can't help but think it's not worth the cost.[/B]" She looked back at her terminal and all the programs that were open since her and Jason were finishing with installing the newly written update system for the fleet.

"[B]Well so long as you don't give anyone grief like you did last time...[/B]"

Celestia just smiled sadly in return. There was no danger of that. It was one thing to deal with Drace, but to have to deal with Jared? Just seeing him a few weeks ago had been more than enough to silence her more verbal objections. That brief meeting had only served to remind her of just how unpleasant things had been when they had first been captured by the Versilans. Even now, just the thought of having to deal with Jared...

She shuddered slightly at the thought and then turned back to her work after Jason took her hand in his briefly as if to reassure her before letting go and turning back to his share of the work. At this rate they would be done before the fleet was finished with reestablishing Versilan rule in sector eight. Something that Kenath had been pleased with.

It was a good thing that she had quit being distracted by news of what had happened since at that moment footsteps behind her told her that someone was coming her way. And Kenath was never amused when he found her essentially spacing instead of working.

"[B]How close are you to being finished?[/B]" It was, as she expected it to be, Kenath.

"[B]We're doing the final checks now sir.[/B]" She turned to look up at him. "[B]Unless we run into some glitches, it should be done within the next day or two.[/B]"

"[B]Good, once you're done I want you to start on the program I've sent to your terminal. You're to analyze it and see if there is a means to improve what it does.[/B]"

Puzzled, Celestia turned back to her terminal and checked the messages and then upon locating it she opened up the program, her eyes going wide when she realized what it was.[I] He can't possibly expect...? I can't do this![/I] She felt herself start to tremble slightly, something that Jason was quick to notice as he had leaned over to take a look.

"[B]You want us to help you do that?[/B]" He said with disbelief.

"[B]I don't see a problem. It's your job to work on whatever assignment is given to you.[/B]" Kenath fixed both of them with a glare. "[B]It is not your place to question the work given to you.[/B]"

"[B]Of course not.[/B]" Celestia said bitterly. "[B]We're suppose to just be good little mindless slaves and keep helping you maintain our enslavement.[/B]"

"[B]Celestia![/B]" Jason tried to warn her, to get her to back down, even though he agreed with her. He didn't want to improve a program that was obviously designed to catch a spy in the fleet. Something that he and Celestia had kept to themselves since they already knew about it in the form of the hack to the system Celestia had discovered a while ago.

"[B]And here I thought the two of you were finally going to settle down and behave.[/B]" Kenath said icily only to be interrupted by Jason.

"[B]Of course we are sir,[/B]" He said quickly. "[B]We'll be ready to start on it as soon as we finish the fleet update system.[/B]"

"[B]You had better.[/B]" Kenath gave him a measuring glance before he turned and went back to his own terminal, though his look told Jason that he wasn't going to forget what Celestia had just said.

"[B]I can't do it Jason[/B]," Celestia said once Kenath was out of hearing range. "[B]I can't help them catch a member of the New Alliance.[/B]"

Jason just sighed and grasped her hand in his, "[B]I know, just let me take care of it okay?[/B]" He ignored her pained expression and turned back to his work. After all, like he had said before, he knew what would happen if he didn't and besides, even if he improved the program for Kenath, there was no guarantee that it would actually work or find the exploit they were aware of. He certainly wasn't going to program it to look for something like that.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Shy]

[size=1][indent] “[b]It was very kind of you, to bring me something to eat,[/b]” Dr. Phantaxian said as he reached into his desk, secretly withdrawing a small syringe, “[b]Would you like to share it with me? Are you hungry?[/b]”

The doctor extended his hand towards the child, and Bright Eyes began to growl.

“[b]Bright Eyes, what’s wrong?[/b]” Colin asked. The dog continued to growl, focused on Mikhail.

“[b]I didn’t mean to startle your… [I]animal[/I]. Perhaps you should have it play with the other children while we eat.[/b]”

“[b]Bright Eyes would never leave me. I’m sorry that she‘s being mean.[/b]”

Mikhail smiled, “[b]Don’t be, Colin. [I]Anger[/I] is a powerful emotion. It is said that it comes from fear, but it is also a sign of strength. After all, a man can be driven to do certain things in a fit of passion that they might not otherwise, wouldn‘t you agree?[/b]”

The boy shook his head, “[b]I… I don’t know…[/b]”

“[b]Consider yourself lucky that you don’t have any parents, Colin. They can be cruel at times, wicked at others. All adults can… perhaps that‘s why I have found myself so fond of you.[/b]”

There was a knock at the door, and Nurse Sola began to speak from the other side.

“[b]It’s time, doctor.[/b]”

Dr. Phantaxian nodded, “[b]Very well. I apologize Colin for not telling you sooner, but we have a very important meeting that we simply cannot afford to miss.[/b]”

The Nurse opened the door a crack, just enough to reveal large stains of blood across her white uniform, “[b]I’ve put the other children to bed.[/b]”

“[b]Thank you. Was there much struggle?[/b]”

“[b]Not at all, doctor,[/b]” she replied emotionless as she entered, “[b]I tucked each of them in, as you requested. Should I dispose of the research as well before we leave?[/b]”

“[b]Of course not, Sola. My work is my art. Perhaps someday they will be able to appreciate it.[/b]”

“[b]We can escape through the corridors whenever you‘re ready.[/b]”

Mikhail ran his fingers alongside the nurse‘s face. She stared into his eyes longingly as he spoke, “[b]You’ve been so invaluable, Sola. Prepare the boy’s things and let’s go.[/b]”

“[b]You’re bringing the child?[/b]”

Colin‘s eyes widened, “[b]Are we going somewhere?[/b]”

“[b]We’re going to be traveling very soon, to meet with some of my associates. They have tools that we do not, and can better help to locate your family.[/b]”

“[b]This is foolish![/b]” Nurse Sola snapped, “[b]Our contact only guaranteed us passage for two. He’ll raise suspicion![/b]”

“[b]Wait for me in the hallway, Colin. The nurse and I need to speak privately.[/b]”

There was an awkward pause as the doctor narrowed his eyes. He grabbed Colin’s shoulder, and forcefully pushed him and Bright Eyes through the doorway, closing it behind him.

“[b]Doctor, please. I apologize, I didn’t mean to question--[/b]”

Suddenly Colin heard a loud crash from the other side of the door, and some kind of a struggle. Bright Eyes began to bark wildly, and ran towards the building’s entrance through a poorly lit hallway.

“[b]Bright Eyes![/b]” Colin shouted as he ran behind her, trying to keep up.

The two ran past the rows of beds, each filled with what appeared to be a sleeping child. Colin tried to call for help, but none of them were waking up. It was then that he heard a terrible scream echo from the hallway. The boy desperately attempted to open the door, but it was locked. He struggled with it for a moment, hoping to somehow break free until he felt a familiar grip on his shoulder, and a pin prink along his neck.

“[b]Ouch! What are you doing?[/b]”

“[b]It’s just some medicine, Colin. We won’t be using that door,[/b]” Dr. Phantaxian said, “[b]Come with me. We’ll exit through the back.[/b]”

“[b]What about Nurse Sola? Why isn‘t anyone waking up?[/b]”

“[b]I’ve decided that I’m going to leave her to care for the other children. They were having trouble sleeping….[/b]”

It was at that moment that Colin felt the room spin around him. He turned towards Bright Eyes, and suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

Mikhail wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, and picked the child up from the floor, “[b]Come with me.[/b]”

---

The trio had spent little over an hour traveling through the streets of Gallana when they finally reached their destination. It was a dank, dark bar, filled with Versillans and Humans alike. Everyone turned their attention to the door as Mihkail, carrying Colin in his arms as Bright Eyes reluctantly followed behind.

“[b]No children allowed,[/b]” one of the patrons said in between gulps of his enormous drink.

“[b]It will only be brief,[/b]” Dr. Phantaxian replied with a nod, staring out at the crowd, “[b]I’m looking for a woman…[/b]”

It was at that moment a slender Versilan woman approach the group. She held a sly grin on her face as she eyed the trio.

“[b]My name is Valencia. Are you here for business or pleasure?[/b]”

“[b]Transport.[/b]”

“[b]Even better,[/b]” she replied as she led them towards the corner of the bar.

“[b]My name is Mik--[/b]”

“[b]I don't need your name, I only need to know if you can pay.[/b]”

“[b]I assure you that won’t be a problem.[/b]”

The doctor set the boy down and reached into his medical bag to withdraw a small sack containing precious stones and jewels. The small grin on Valencia’s face grew into a full smile as she stared at them.

“[b]I will pay you half now,[/b]” he said, “[b]And half when we leave the sector. Twice that if we can leave tonight.[/b]”

“[b]And what of the child?[/b]”

“[b]He and the dog stay with me. I have taken up a… personal interest in them both. They won't be leaving my side for quite a while.[/b]”[/size][/indent]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Valencia had already obtained her first assignment from Williams and then a bit later the second item she was to deliver from someone else. She had been considering going ahead and leaving when she was approached to arrange passage out of sector eleven for a couple of individuals. Passage that was of course illegal since the person requesting it made it clear that there would be no official papers or clearance granted. Which was fine by Valencia, she cared little for following procedure and since she was heading to sector one anyway, there was no reason why she couldn?t make a little extra on the side.

She had been surprised when the group turned out to be an adult carrying a small slave child along with a dog no less. She had been expecting one of the two people to be the woman who had first approached her. Not that she cared as she lead the way out of the bar with the trio closely behind her, smirking as she simply had Cassandra open up a transport door right in front of the bar. She caught a glimpse of the man?s startled expression at such an obvious disregard for procedure since one was suppose to go through the space port instead of transporting directly to one?s ship.

[B][I]-It?s about time.- [/I][/B]Cassandra said sharply when the group stepped through the door and onto the bridge of the [I]Stykera[/I]. The door had barely closed behind the group when an urgent beeping sounded, indicating that the Gallana space port was attempting to contact her.

[B][I]-Honestly.-[/I][/B] Cassandra griped. [B][I]-You'd think by now they'd realize that you aren't going follow their stupid little procedures and get authorization to open a transport door to the surface. Are they stupid or something?-[/I][/B]

"[B]I would imagine they are interested in finding out just who I brought on board actually.[/B]" Valencia smiled in amusement as she had no intention of talking to them, even if her transport and cargo was legal.

"[B]Disengage from the space dock and set a course for sector one, maximum speed. Once we're clear of this area engage all stealth systems.[/B]" She turned to see her passenger watching closely, the boy still sound asleep. "[B]I'll be back once I get these three settled in.[/B]"

[B][I]-Understood.-[/I][/B]

Valencia watched for a moment and then once it was clear that Cassandra was in the process of leaving sector eleven she motioned for the tall Versilan to follow her. Something he did without question, even the dog kept close. It didn't take long for her to take them to the guest quarters on her ship. She choose the one with dual beds inside, figuring that the pair would likely want to stay together. She could always give them separate quarters later if they wished it. She waited patiently for him to take a moment to set the child in the closet bed and turn to face her once the dog had jumped up on the bed to settle next to the boy.

"[B]I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but sadly, people often get the wrong idea about being alone on the same ship with me.[/B]" Valencia's eyes turned hard and cold as she looked him directly in the eyes.

"[B]I've got a good idea as to who you really are and I don't give a damn really. I deal in providing a service and so long as you pay for that we'll get along just fine. However,[/B]" She paused as she rested her right hand on the hilt of her disruptor pistol. "[B]Some fools get the idea that it would be simpler to take my ship for themselves and pay the price for that stupidity.[/B]"

She didn't get an answer and that was fine since she didn't really expect one. "[B]The biggest problem you'll run into is my ship itself. Cassandra is more than a simple computer program and if she sees you moving to attack, she'll open a transport door right in your face and you'll find yourself in space instead of managing to stick a knife in my back.[/B]"

Valencia watched as several thoughts clearly went through his mind, his expression guarded, but not completely. He finally replied. "[B]My only interest is in getting to my destination.[/B]"

"[B]And finding work I would imagine.[/B]" Valencia smiled a bit. "[B]Depending on what you're willing to pay, I can even set someone like you up, after all, the High Council isn't as pure and untainted as they would like everyone to believe.[/B]"

"[B]That would depend on the cost.[/B]" He answered her guardedly. "[B]As well as the work in question.[/B]"

Valencia just laughed. "[B]Oh it's more simple than you think. There are some who would even pay just to have you work for them.[/B]" She shrugged. "[B]We can go over that on the way there. It will take us close to three weeks to get there anyway, for now, get some rest. There's a holographic recreation center further down the corridor as well as a replicator in the mess hall. Feel free to help yourself to both.[/B]"

She turned to leave and halted as if remembering something. "[B]Oh and if you need me or anything, just give a shout, Cassandra can answer most of your questions or direct you to me if you need anything.[/B]" A moment later and she had stepped back into the corridor, the door to the guest quarters closing behind her. With another smile she headed to the bridge to check on Cassandra's progress in taking them out of the system.[/FONT][/COLOR]