[Shuttle Wildcard: ch'Vania surface]
Rhagarokk put the finishing touches on the last suit. The Erie'riov had taken much longer than usual to complete the specially designed anit-possession uniforms due to the reports he had gotten from theWildstrike. He looked up from the suit to read them through again.
REPORT
From Erien tr'Jholan, Chief Science Officer
Scans indicate that there is a cloning facility on the surface. From what we've been able to put together, the facilities are being used to produce "vessels" for the entering XDs. The XDs can apparantly only attach themselves to those whose own brain activities have ceased- either mindless clones or dead bodies. We've had the History department working on the various creatures you've been describing as being on the surface, and they've come up with quite a bit. Apparantly rifts to the alternate, lower energy plane have opened up many times before in our galaxy. Folklore of dozens of worlds includes incredibly similar descriptions of these various sorts of creatures. However, from what we can tell, these rifts can only connect the two planes for a time before the rift closes up. The scans of the rift seem to validate this, and we think we have a way to accelerate this process. In addition, Tactical suggests that we fire Singularity Torpedoes at the cloning facility. We await ninte orders on both these courses of action. Attached is what History has been able to tell us about the creatures.
Rhagarokk scanned through the readouts- from Zombies to Vampires to Werewolves. He picked up on what folklore had to say what the weakness of each of these creatures was, and also that Vampires and Werewolves seem to have a long standing feud. Tapping a short message back, he stated an Affirmitive on both the orders. He knew that the Cloning Facility was one of the Agency's, but that it had been bent to purposes definatly not approved by the Tal'Shiar. As he issued the orders, and stood up to find the others, he turned just in time to see the last of his drop team fall unconsious to the ground.
"Ah, Azrael... we meet again."
"Jolan tru erie`Riov," the deep baratone voice speeks through Artimis' body. "I was in the area, and could not help but see au." The cold poorly synced voice trails off as he looks around.
"...Can I help au?" The professor looks rather intently at the XD before him.
"I was only recently returned to this plane in this vessel the last time we met," the zombie seems hesitant to note. "And was more under the body's control, than my own. Now though, I remember who au are." He pauses again, again seemingly hesitant. "I have come to say that the wounds au opened will not so readily heal. We will return to au, for vengance's sake, and I will have my way with au..."
"So au is na powerful enough, or stable enough to take me?" The erie`Riov chuckles. It is a rare acurance when a competant warrior will not rush fool heartedly at him. But before he can get anymore amusement, the air is filled with the unmistakable sound of rifle fire, and the zombie drops to the ground.
"Clear!" The lead shock trooper shouts, as he runs up from the brush. A handful of agents in field gear and trench coats quickly follow up behind him. One, apparantly the leader, steps up to Rhagarokk while the rest empty a few more rounds into the fallen body.
"Jolan tru Leih," she bows formaly. "I have been looking for au."
"More Agents..." The Leih frowns. "What is ninte buisness with me Enarrain."
"I am ninte new political officer, Enarrain Aemhig t`Shibae." She says calmly. Stepping forward to stand eye to ey with the commander, she continues. "I am here to do what others have failed to do. I am here to ensure ninte ship runs smoothly, efficiantly, and safely for the better interests of the Republic. Now, I have been appraised by ninte crew in orbit ::casual glance at the dropped Galae officers:: when ninte personnel are awakened, we shall put an end to this madness."
Rhagarokk cocks an eyebrow. "Wonderful. Well, from what little I've seen of this entity's power, " Rhagarokk steps over to kick Azrael's smoking body for good measure. "My crew here won't be up without some strong medical attention, so I'm sending them back up to the ship. However, I do have some... supplemental crew nearby. We'll regroup with them and make our move from there." With that, Rhagarokk motioned to the Tal'Shiar team and headed off towards the cabin. For once, he was actually glad to be surrounded by Tal'Shiar agents with guns.
[Ch'Vania Surface: Bhy'hie's cabin]
The cabin designed for one wasn't meant to hold as many people as it was currently holding. Bhy'hie the Vampire, Slayer of "supernatural" creatures, was sitting in a corner quietly, contemplating the turn of events. On the other side of the room, eyeing said Vampire is Llunih, seemingly incurable Werewolf. Standing by the door looking bored is a trained Tal'Shiar commando team. And in the center of it all is the intrepid future officerial crew of the SRR Morrhae'vnu. Among them is D'Tarik tr'Rekkohan, Rylan tr'Tuhmek, Vynnd tr'Khaine, Aemhig t'Shibae, and Donalh tr'Rhagarokk. Somewhere nearby, making one of the Tal'Shiar agents nervous, is Sprinkles, 1/2 tribble 8/3 something else unofficial mascot of the ch'Vania band.
"Currently, the SRR Wildstrike is poised in geosynchrinus orbit above the cloning facilities located on the South of this continent. In approximately four hours, it will fire a spread of Singularity Torpedoes to obliterate the facility and the surrounding area. The science department has already launched a probe array to seal the rift, and it should be completely sealed in a little over four hours, taking with it a number of the XDs on the planet. However, from what I've heard from the students here, there exist certain powerful XDs that will probably na go that easily. That is why all of us in this cabin will be hitting a castle approximately five kilometers from this location. The Daeus is believed to be there with his own private army. The 'cultists' will have to be dealt with, as will any other hostiles we encounter on the way. While the Agency's people deals with them, Rylan, D'Tarik, Vynnd, Ms. t'Shibae and I will make our way into the castle to try to find the Daeus and eliminate him. Once this is done, it should be about time for all the elements to come together. We'll then get everyone off of this infernal planet. Any questions?"
"Suit up and then let's get moving. We have a little less than four hours."
[In the Forest of ch'Vania....]
The Senator, the Agency members, and the future crew of the Morrhae'vnu stand in the woods, near the looming Daeus's Castle. It's pouring rain, and the forboding castle is occasionally illuminated by the unfriendly blue-white streaks of lightning. t'Shibae stands at
attention next to the agency shock troops, the picture of a perfect soldier -- dripping rain not withstanding. Rylan eyes the woman for a moment, then nudges Vynnd by his side and whispers, "There au go..." he nods his head towards the female Agent, and grins, "She's perfect for au Vynnd. She's even from ninte own branch."
tr'Rhagarokk has his custom multicorder out and is scanning the area. "Ms. t'Shibae... the situation is that there is one main entrance and one back entrance. The main entrance is heavily guarded by cultists and zombies, where as the back is more lightly guarded. Suggestions on a plan of attack?"
"Go under the front entrance." she advises after stepping up to check the multicorder he held in his hands. "Both entrances would be fakes....a standard agency procedure for entrapping enemy units." She studies the screen of the multicorder a bit more, "If we can tunnel under the
facade, and get into this hall below the sub-basement," she points to the area on the screen, "we should be able to reach the center of the compound more readily."
The Senator frowns slightly and hits his multicorder after she finishes, "Alright, but I don't want both guard units coming in once we're discovered... and I have the feeling we'll be discovered fairly quickly."
As Rhagarokk speaks, the Agent gestures to the shock troops behind her. One comes forward at her signal, and holds something out to her. Taking the offered device, she turns back to face the erie`Riov once more. "This will do the digging for us...and silently. I can not guarentee our stealth inside the building though -- it is undoubtedly well scanned." she pauses for only a moment, "I would suggest that we split off from the shock troops and let them draw the main element away," again she points to the ideal area on the multicorder's screen, "in this long wandering path's direction. It should buy us time."
"Agreed." the Senator nods, then turns his attention to the younger crew, "Rylan, I want au to be communications with the shock team... and how proficient are au with a scanner?
"Ie rekkhai..." he answers simply then adds with a slight shrug, "Fairly proficent."
"Good. I want au to keep track of where the enemies forces are while I am scanning for... other things."
"Ie...will do rekkhai." the boy nods and pulls out a scanner.
t'Shibae drops back as the erie'Riov addresses the other members of the party, to give the shock troops specific directions and deployment patterns. She is faintly surprised yet again by the seemingly young crew's extreme proficiancy as they already have their plan laid out.
"Vynnd," Rhagarokk addresses the Eredh, "Au are on security duty. Keep a watch out for anything that might pop out at us, and shoot it....many times. D'Tarik, I'm going to need au on..." he visibly shudders slightly, then finishes "...Med duty. Bhy'hie and Llunih...." he turns, and faces the two girls who stood slightly away from the others. Both females seeming to keep a careful eye on the other, "Au two know the area best and what this planet has to offer. I'll need both of au to help there. Ms. t'Shibae..." he turns away from the younger crew, and addresses the Agent once more, "Au will be handling the military side of things, in addition to keeping me updated on anything I need to know about the Agency's works here."
t'Shibae frowns through the rain on her face, " I will do my best rekkhai."
tr'Rhagarokk looks over the assembled masses a moment, then clasps his hands together, 'Right! For the Republic!"
t'Shibae gives a slight nod and whispers, "For the Agency."
There is a chorus of enthusiastic "Ie!"s as t'Shibae uses the digging device- a small cylindrical device that fires a sphere around itself and then proceeds to sink into the ground about three meters. Aemhig waits for the charge to dissipate, then is the first to drop soundlessly over the
edge. The teams follow her lead, moving into the freshly dug, albeit slightly muddy tunnel and move underground towards the targeted castle. As they near the point were the team is to split off, t'Shibae silently nods to the lead Trooper, and waits as the shock troop runs off in the diversionary direction.
As the last of the troopers runs off, Rylan diligently keeps one ear open to the com line, and one eye on the scanner he held in front of him. He wasn't picking up any readings yet, but anytime now...
Rhagarokk nods over to t'Shibae, who ruffles her coat to shake some of the water off, as the troopers dispersed down the other tunnel, then he signals the others to move on. The Senator whispers over to the boy staring at the scanner, "Nervous?"
Rylan grins, but doesn't look up from the scanner at all. He whispers back, "Just a tad. Can't wait to see the monsters in here." he sounds less than enthused about that prospect.
"Ie, same here." Rhagarokk answers, 'Although I've personally dealt with my share of monsters already. I hate having to place the fate of the Republic on untrained academy students, but...."
Rylan finally looks up long enough from the scanner to cast a brief glance at the senator "Well...we've survived so far." he shrugs then goes back to his task, "Better than most anyway."
The erie'Riov shrugs in agreement, 'True enough. Au three have really proved ninte-selves on this planet..." he continues as he dusts his hands off, "Shows what those Academy eggheads know."
[Awhile Later....]
t'Shibae pauses as they come into a large gallery, "This is...na quite standard agency construction." she gestures her pistol up at the 'Gothic Cave' ceiling above them, "I wish I knew more about this Major tr`Bati�..." she trails off.
"Ie," Rhagarokk nods in agreement, giveing the ceiling a curious glance,
"Although somehow unsurprising. What's our next move then?"
As the two superior officers talk, Rylan glances at Vynnd a moment then whispers, "Bit odd...we havn't been swarmed on ye...oh!" he interrupts himself to hold his hand up to cover the comlink in his ear, "Nevermind." His voice picks up slightly as he informs the Senator, "The shock-troop's found company, rekkhai." he listens into the report for a moment, "I'm getting
descriptions of zombies....some cultists..." he shrugs slightly, "and a few monsters I haven't met...yet." he listens in a bit more, "shock team's holding up just fine though, rekkhai..." Rylan sounds more like a bored announcer from a sports competion than anything else. "They seem to be getting a bit of help from a few werewolves now....." he glances over to Llunih to throw her a wink at that last bit of news.
As tr'Tuhmek tosses out his play by play of the goings-on of the troopers, t'Shibae looks down at her own ISD and studies the readings, "It....it looks like there are stairs to the left," she points to a large stalagmite/tite, "Carved around that, I suppose." she shrugs slightly and looks up to the erie'Riov. "If this is not a four-dimentional space, they should take us to the main level gallery." she explains, folding the ISD. "Presumably we should be able to find the Daeus around there...." she visibly flinches, "Hopefully."
Rhagarokk crosses his arms as he listens to simultaneous reports from Rylan and t'Shibae. When both seemed finished he nodded, "Up the stairs then. Au and I will take point," he directs to the Agent, "followed by D'Tarik, Llunih, and Bhy'hie, Vynnd and Rylan will take up the rear." t'Shibae nods, then switches her pistol to her guard hand. She moves forward and up the crazy spiral stair case. Rhagarokk draws a very odd looking pistol which is making a low humming noise, and moves his multicorder to his off hand. He begins to ascend the stairs as well. The silent med student, D'Tarik, climbs the stairs with a rather nervious glance back the way they came. The girls comeing along right behind him. Rylan pulls out a pistol, and accends next, followed by Vynnd who craddles his rifle as if it were a child.
After several minutes of staircase climbing, the team comes to the main gallery... which turns out to be an incredibly large and elaborate dining room. Portraits line the walls, and there are several exists scattered around. Vynnd blinks his eyes repeatedly, finally focusing them on each single person in the group. His mind finally halts it's endles wondering of the halls of possibility, and comes back to the present reality. "Hey, Rylan....why're we taking up the rear again?" he whispers.
Rylan casts a curious glance back at him, "Would au rather be in front then?" he nods, "By all means...tell the man." he bobs his head toward the Senator, and grins at Vynnd.
Vynnd rubs his brow, "Yea, right.....and why don't au take turns bathing Sprinkles when we get back?" he retorts. Sprinkles gives off a surprised little protesting, "Squeek!" at that.
Rylan, who had been about to report something to the Senator, suddenly halts and looks back at Vyynd, "What?" he pauses, noticing that Vynnd seemed a little off, "Did au hit ninte head or something?"
"Nah...." the Eredh shrugs, "Just been overwhelmed by thought....."
Ignoring the banter of the boys behind her, t'Shiabe tilts her head and looks down at her ISD once more, "Hrm.... this isnt on the floor plans." She announces quietly.
Rylan shrugs off Vynnd's behavior, and walks closer to Rhagarokk to report quietly, "Rekkhai.... there's something above us," he looks down to the scanner in his hand, "but I can't be sure what or how many.... something's interferring with the scanns."
"Above us?" he whispers back, "I'd say that's our best bet then...." Rhagarokk glances at his own multicorder, then announces his findings, "Large concentraitions of negative energy particles around us." he pauses, then adds jokingly, "Don't any-io die..."
t'Shiabe nods up to the chandellers, "Lots of power flowing up there... maybe a holo-fascad?"
trRhagarokk, squints as he, too, casts a glance to the ceiling, "It's possible... although I can't see the purpose in it."
"Well whatever it is...we need to get there...." Rylan shrugs, then glances at the various exits, "So which way is it...?" he muses almost to himself as he goes back to the readings.
t'Shaibe shrugs, not having been able to find what she was looking for, "Erien, I can't detect any stairs going up to the next floor. Can au get anything on the multi?"
"Ie..." he nods immediately in answer as he had been looking for that very thing. "This io looks likely." he adds, walking towards the door.
tr'Rhagarokk suddenly dashes in front of Rylan, "I'll go first." He motion's for Aemhig to get on the other side of the door. The Agent steps to the side of the door and stands with her weapon ready.
"Ahhh...." Rylan adds in to the Senator, as the erie'Riov runs in front of him, "Least it has stairs....but they don't seem to lead anywhere on these readings." he looks up from the scanner with a slight confused expression.
Vynnd, who had slipped into silence for a moment, scratches behind his ear, then turns to Rylan, "....Au hear something?" he turns around, looking for the direction in which the sound came from.
Rylan puts a hand over the comlink to listen better, "Na..." he shakes his head to Vynnd in answer, "I'm not getting any reports...just some fire-power once in a while. Why?"
Vynnd shakes his head, "I heard something...." he explains, slowly takeing a few steps toward the back doors, pulling his rifle up to ready himself. The door Vynnd has targeted suddenly bursts open as several upright, walking, larger-than-human-sized wolf-looking creatures spill forth howling. "Fvadt!!" Vynnd exclaims, jumping back towards the party a bit. t'Shibae turns cleanly and slowly, tilts her head at the monstrocities, and lines up the pistols for some clean head shots.
Llunih is the only party member that doesn't seem the least bit surprised at the sudden entrance, as she slowly turns to look at the new arrivals calmly. The wolves stop in their tracks, sizing up the party. With a few tenative sniffs of the air, a few of them narrow their glowing red eyes, and
Spread out from each other, appearing as though they're getting ready to circle the party of Rihans. Llunih steps forward towards the apparent leader of the wolves, and halts a few steps away.
Rhagarokk stands quite impassively, looking between the wolves to Llunih, as t'Shiabe waits calmly for the drama to unfold itself -- the same way she waited for Phelan to step out of line and require a good head shot. Vynnd raises his brow to one side at Llunih, watching all of the wolves carefully, "What the Areinnye-a going on here?! Llunih...? Rekkhai....?" the Eredh looks puzzled, and more frightened then he should.
The leader growls and snarls at the fearless girl for a while, the other wolves seeming to ephasize a random growl or snarl every so often. Llunih tilts her head appearing not only to listen to the wolves, but understanding what they are saying. After a rather frightening moment for the other members of the party, Llunih steps back, shielding Bhy'hie from the other wolves, and snarls a warning to the leader. She motions her head towards another door within the dinning hall. The leader growls in answer to this, the rest of the fearsome newcomers following suit. Llunih nods once to them, and looks back to the frightened Vynnd. Mouthing the words silently, she tries to explain, 'I'm going with them. I have to.' She purposely left out the fact that the wolves were going to hunt down and destroy the vampires within the castle. No sense in upsetting Bhy'hie.... yet.
Before anyone else in the party could question, or prevent, her from this course of action, Llunih's eyes glow bright red, then suddenly shifts form and stands indistinguishable amoung the other Wolves. The lead-wolf raises it's head slightly in approval, then growls menacingly in Bhy'hie's direction. Suddenly the wolf runs to another door, hitting it with a clawed hand-paw, ripping it from it's hinges and carelessly tossing it to the ground. It runs through the open doorway, howling, as it's pack follows along behind.
Vynnd looks around to the others after the wolves departed, "All--righty.....Is any io else here just a BIT confused......?"
t'Shiabe lowers her pistol slightly and exhales, "Has this happened often?"
trRhagarokk likewise exhales deeply and glances at his chronometer, "We'll sort this all out later... right now, we're quickly running out of time." He throws open the door they believed lead to the stairs, and charges in. t'Shibae is caught off guard by the Leih's move, and hastely dives in after him. She waves her pistol back and forth, trying to cover all angles, even though there are no visible targets. Vynnd slowly regains his pace and peeks though the door as the others filed past. Rylan hung back for a silent moment, starring at the door the wolves had disappeared through. Feeling more than slightly hurt that Llunih left so suddenly without so much as looking in his direction, he shrugs it off, then turns to follow the other members of his party. On his way through the door, Rylan grabs Vynnd by the collar, and pulls him through the door to stand with the others.
Hastily charging behind the erratic Subcommander, the team follows the stairwell. The sensation is of not going up, but oddly sideways, until the staircase finally opens up into a large room reminiscent of an observatory. A large chair holds the Daeus himself, clad in traditional - stereotypical Vampire garb, sitting near a large glowing sphere held up by a wireframe base. t'Shibae glances around, and slips back to stand against the wall of their entrance. She takes in the whole of the room while the rest of the team files in. Rhagarokk stands ready, but still a suitable distance away from the Daeus, against the wall.
At seeing the Daeus sitting as regally as any noble, Rylan sighs and mutters, "Great! Another io."
"Aefvadh! Aefvadh!" the Daeus spreads his arms and calls out cheerfully enough to the visitors, pausing in his words, he seems to stare at Bhy'hie, "Come in. I hope au were na hassled by my doormen." he shrugs as a slight smile comes over his features, but doesn't take his eyes off the silent blond girl.
t'Shaibe pauses as the rest step in, noticing a few 'pannled doors' which are mostly obscured by wall molding; she keeps an eye on them. Rhagarokk states simply, "I think my Agency friends have dealt with ninte dootmen...and we're here to stop au." he steps forward a few steps, t'Shibae following suit, as she deceptively appears to not be paying attention to her surroundings. Vynnd stumbles in behind the two superior officers, holding his rifle as steady as he can.
Rylan whispers to the Senator as the man steps forward, "Watch it rekkhai...I met that one's type before. They're na as friendly as they let on."
tr'Rhagarokk whispers back "Understood... every io be ready." He gives them the signal to fire behind his back.
The Daeus continues sitting in the chair, smiling and still looking at Bhy'hie. Watching the rest in his peripheral vision, the Daeus says "Don't be expecting help from the puppies... they operate entirely on scent and so can be so easily trapped and destroyed." The Count's grin widens. "Including your lit..."
Losing his cool head momentarily and calculating that the Daeus would expect to be shot at once he was done talking Rhagarokk suddenly yells out "FIRE!!"
That command snaps Vynnd out of what ever state he's in, allowing the boy to regain his composure as he let's loose with his rifle aimed directly at the Daeus. Rylan, also raises his pistol and pulls the trigger, t'Shibae pumps the trigger of her pistol hard, while little Sprink -- in his customary perchon D'Tarik's shoulder -- fires his laser at the targeted Daeus.
The volley of shots flies at the Daeus, but with supernatural speed he dives backwards in the chair letting it absorb some of the fire as he rolls out of the way. The shots do succeed at breaking the back window to reveal rows of green specimin tanks with Rihannsu floating in them.
The Daeus laughs and begins to fly about the room at an unnatural speed. Unseen, the Daeus's eyes glow blood red as he concentrates on Bhy'hie. Soemthing stirs within the very cells of Bhy'hie as her own mind collapses under the the control of the Vampire Count. The blond's eyes also glow red as she bares her fangs and rushes straight for the leader of the intruders: tr'Rhagarokk.The crew's attention is focused on shooting down the fluttering Daeus, and only one person sees the transformation: D'Tarik.
D'Tarik attempted to stammer out something asking what was wrong, but realized that he only had a second to react. Reaching into his coat, D'Tarik pulls out a wooden stake he had taken earlier. Knowing that he didn't have anything to incapacitate her, he goes for the quickest death. He tosses the stake with a better accuracy than even he expected, and soon, the blond girl drops to the ground in a pile of dust. Rhagarokk turns slightly to look behind him but is just slightly confused at the scene behind him.
Despite the barrage of weapon's fire, the Daeus has not yet been taken out. He flies about the room avoiding the shots, prepareing himself to go into a dive. t'Shibae just stands stationary, waiting for a clear shot at the flying Daeus, not wanting to waste what ammo she has left. The Daeus notices this, and dives straight for the Agent with a speed so fast he cannot be seen with the naked eye. He slams straight into her, flattening her against the wall.
A short man, by Rihannsu standards, walks in through one of the side doors calmly. If he wasnt wearing a Tal`shiar uniform t`Shibae would have shot himon site. "Hold Daeus..." the man commands with the unmistakable air of authority, "That is enough." The Vampire Daeus immediately drops t'Shibae and floats back to the man
As t'Shibae falls to the floor unconsious, Rhagarokk motions to the others to hold their fire, "And au are?" He glances briefly to the three boys to make sure they're all uninjured.
"Aendah Lucian tr`Bati�," the new commer states blandly, with an air of superiority, "Regional coordinator of the Advancement project." He bows slightly, more out of proper form than any real respect, "Aefvadh to my labs."
While the Senator and the new commer exchange words, Vynnd drops the clip from his rifle, and notices he doesn't have any more, "Elements!" he whispers a little desperately, and starts shuffling through his jacket for his pistols as he slings the rifle. D'Tarik moves towards t'Shibae to try and help her, apparently not the least concerned with the new situation within the
room. Rylan tosses a glance between the Aendah and D'Tarik, then follows the boy to provide cover-fire if need be as they get closer towards t'Shibae. Rylan keeps the pistol level at the new arrival while D'Tarik goes to work.
tr'Rhagarokk glances over at Vynnd, "Advancement project?" he looks back over to the Aendah, "What is the advancement project...if I'm cleared to know."
Lucian chuckles lightly, as if not really aware of whats going on, "Na, na.... I think my days with the Agency have long since been spent." He pauses in a happy moment and focuses on Rhagarokk with the eyes of pure evil, "To answer that, I have a question for au." he pauses to cast a rather cold, and chilling smile.
tr'Rhagarokk glances between his chronometer, torn between getting the mission over with by destroying the Daeus, and gaining more knowledge, "Ie..?" he places his hand in a casual manner on his kaleh.
"Have au ever wondered why the East accepted the fleeing Imperial Senate and their pupeteer queen?" He questions in a smooth and almost quietly taunting voice, "Why -- when they were equaly oppressed -- that they played na part at all in the civil wars?"
The Senator frowns at this, taken off guard, "The East has always been much more traditional and conservative in its ways..." he answers, tapping something on his multicorder.
Lucian smiles like he's stroking a cat, "But why is that?" he pauses to raise an inquisitive brow, "Ever been the slightest bit curious?"
Rhagarokk glances out of the corner of his eye at the downed t'Shibae as he answers, "I do na know..." he shrugs in apparent indifference, "Sociology has na been io of the sciences I studied." And on the heels of that, he silently thought, *It also wasn't an issue where I came from...*
Rylan shrugs his shoulders, the whole converstation seeming highly unnecessary to him, "They were never allowed to think any other way. What the Empire said was law. Au weren't supposed to question it."
Lucian sighs as his eyes move to bear on the younger man, "That's what they are told." he explained with a tone that pronounced his belief that the general education system was saddly lacking, "In all truth, the government was less than a third of its size and power in the East -- any io who broke the law, was more likely to get away with it there, than in the federation." Lucian pauses to flash a smile in that odd friendly way, "Yet they had no breaking of law, as we all know." the odd smile dies, his contempt for the boy showing clearly on his face, as he dismisses him with, "Au would na understand fully, as au are all of obvious ch`Rihann birth. What can it
Be like to live there?" he muses, "Total freedom, and na will to do anything?"
The scientist part of Rhagarokk's brain -- well, most of it - starts kicking in. The Senator continues to focus on the babbling man, "Ie, this is all true..." he agrees as he begins to ponder Lucian's words.
Lucian slowly turns back to the older man, and again flashes that brief, seemingly friendly, smile, "Au show a working scientists mind," he steps over to the Daeus' desk and activates something, "Tell me; what do au make of this?" A big screen showing the X-ray scan of a Rihannsu brain pops up. A lable of east and west follows shortly after as well as a second scan to accompany the first for comparison.
"Hmm..." Rhagarokk studies the two scans, "I'm na a biologist but....it would appear the two are wired differently."
Rylan wispers to D'Tarik and motions toward the screen with a wave of his pistol, "This is more ninte department, I think." D'Tarik glances up briefly from working on Shibae.
Lucian first frowns then explains to the Senator, "The brains are obviously differant -- in fact," he points to the brain-scan in question, "The Eastern io seems to be both missing some small sections as well as showing complex bio-organic manipulations, as well as obvious copy degredations." Lucian nods as he turns his eyes back to the others, "I know this, because I worked on this very project, as many still do today, for some forty years."
"Copy degredations?" the erie'Riov looks cockeyed, "Cloning?"
"This is true all throughout the East." Lucian nods again, "For 1/4 the Republic's populus, 90% of the East are cloned." he chuckles, as if he found some great humor in that admission, "And they have a limiter installed as well. All to keep them happily in line with the old RSE's ways." Lucian chuckles louder, as he took in the shocked look of the Senator's features. "Safety is safest when au know that ninte people can na betray au by the very fabric of their DNA."
tr'Rhagarokk stammered, for once in his life totally taken aback, "Cloned? For what purpose? Simply to keep them thinking correctly?"
The Aendah sits on the edge of the desk and settles down. "Initialy I would imagine so." he nods, thoughtfully, than adds proudly, "But my works here have gone much farther -- we go to make the Rihannsu more powerful through Xeno-hybridage and more loyal through DNA resyncing." he crosses his arms, his tone lowering to a more serious tone, "And i know I'm na alone. The Colonel here admitted to being in charge of many of these facilities before the war." he frowns and grumbles, "Fvadt Westerner..."
Rhagarokk growls and grips his kalen tighter, "So this is what all these facilities were for... but something went wrong at this facilities?"
Rylan shakes head in discust and whispers to the Senator, "Na...I don't think it went wrong at all, I think he planned it." he bobs his head in Lucian's direction, "That io saw the rift, and descided to do some hybreeding."
Rhagarokk looks between Rylan and Lucian but says nothing. Out of the corner of his eye, he casts a glance at the chronometer. Time was indeed growing short....
Lucian closes his eyes slowly, ignoring the boy, "Na-thing has changed here. The facility continues to do what it was ordered to do before. Only the Leih has changed." he shrugs slightly, his eyes still closed, "Na longer will this only be an operation of the West." His eyes slowly begin to open, revealing strange orange orbs "I will na alow 'my' people to be ninte pupits any longer." his voice took on a more meanacing, obviously threatening tone, "We may na longer be Rihannsu -- and na longer destined to rule the galaxy -- but by the Torhai and the great seeding, we will make our *own* place!" Lucian's body starts to wildly vibrate and contort, 'We... Will... Get...REVENGE!!!!" Lucian shreiks that last as his body seems to grow
larger, contorting it's Rihan form into a large, green, reptillian creature. The thing charges for Rhagarokk. Desperately afraid by the sudden appearance of the monstrosity, Rylan pulls the trigger rapidly on his pistol out of sheer reflex. t'Shibae draws her weapon and fires from her barely lucid position on the floor. The shots only bounce harmlessly off a PSD as the creature attemps a deadly swipe at Rhagarokk with a taloned hand.
Rhagarokk had drawn his Kaleh when the creature first lunged at him, and blocks the taloned claw that made a grab for him. "Rylan!!" he yells over his shoulder as he fights off the former Agent, "Contact the Wildstrike and tell them 'NOW'!!!!!"
Rylan had the comline open before the Senator had completely finished his sentence, "Hnah!!" he yelled into it, "Do it *Hnah*!!!" As Rhagarokk blocks another strike, the entire team is encased in a transporter beam right before the castle is hit with a Singularity Torpedo fired from orbit. A Super huge black spherical explosion ensues....
[Morrhae'vnu... on the Oria...]
Rhagarokk, still holding the kaleh, suddenly materializes and shouts, "Status!" t`Shibae lowers her gun and spits a bit of blood onto the floor of the Oria.
"Cloning facilities destroyed," one of the Oria crew answers, "rift sealed, castle destroyed, reading near complete reversion." the crew-member looks up from his console, "Mission accomplished, rekkhai."
"I wish it were all that simple." Rhagarokk shakes his head, "There's a new wrinkle to all of this. Get General tr'Ronga on the com line NOW!"
After a while, EnRiov tr`Ronga comes up on the main viewer. Looking a bit more haggled then usual, the leader of the Romulan people sits at his desk.
As the image came up, Rhagarokk sits down at his command throne, the three boys standing quietly beside him on one side, t`Shaibae on the other. "Au may want to be sitting down for this io, EnRiov...." Rhagarokk begins.
tr`Ronga seems puzzled by that statement, and looks down at himself, "I appear to be sitting down, Erie`Riov." he says dryly. "What is it that au want so urgently?"
Rhagarokk, balling his hand into a fist and shaking it in the air dramatically informs the EnRiov "Au may already know about this, but then again, au may na! But if it were to be released, it would shake the Republic to it's very core!" Rylan - who had looked confused as usual up to this point - shifted his eyes from the image of the Leader of the Republic to the excited Leih and back again; wisely deciding now was not the time to crack a smirk.
If it hadn't been for the fact that he had delt with the dramatic Senator before, Ronga would've rolled his eyes. As it was, he managed not to. This time. "Well?"
"Are au familiar with a Tal`Shiar project..." the Leih began, "Apparently begun in Imperial Days, continued by the Republic, known as the Advancement Project?"
Ronga nods slightly, "Ie. I *was* the Director of the Agency for time..." he trails off, then adds in an annoyed tone, "What have au got to do with an Agency Project, Erie`Riov? It is classified material."
*....that didn't sound good....* Rylan thought to himself, passing a hand over his weary eyes with a slight sigh.
Rhagarokk waves his hand dismissively, "Apparently either I'm the victim of coincidence, or someone in Galae command wanted me to stumble across io of the cloning facilities involved. I just got finished with the planet ch`Vania, where I rescued a few Academy students, including the erie`Arrain here..." he nods to Rylan.
Ry looks up startled and bows his head respectively at the image of tr`Ronga, adding the customary, "Rekkhai..." as he had been unexpectedly introduced.
tr`Ronga only looks more impatient, still not quite seeing the problem here, or why he would be bothered about such trivialities in the first place. Ignoring the boy he prompt the Senator, "...AND?"
Realizing at once why he and the General have never gotten along, Rhagarokk continues, "...AND...well, something went wrong, and io of the Agency's top people made a deal with some powerful etradimensional creatures and then turned into a lizard thing after explaining everything to me."
tr`Ronga sighs and leans back into his chair, "I see..." he paused slightly then added, "This has happened in the past." He leans forward as he continues, "Au do realize this information is *classified*? I may have turned the other way the last time au brought information forward, but if au do so now, in an act against the Republic, the Agency's reply *will* be swift, and efficient."
"But EnRiov..." Rhagarokk presses on, 'Me and my entire crew now know that 90% of the Republic was na born, but *made*, and are all programmed to obey the former Empress! How am I supposed to keep this information to myself? *Especially* in my report to the Science Fleet and the Galae?"
Turning his face slightly away from the screen, casting a glance to Vyynd and D`Tarik, Rylan mutters, "Ie...good question...."
Rhagarokk heard that, and cast a glance of his own over at the boys, worried that the three young ones would be 'wasted' just for having the misfortune of being plopped down on the wrong planet.
tr`Ronga seemed unconcerned by the Senator's speech, and he slides an ISD closer to himself from off screen, and then shifts his eyes back to the erie`Riov. "I have recieved ninte report, Erie`Riov." he raises the ISD he held, showing the Senator a very un-Rhagarokk report on it. "There is nothing that the West and North will be concerned about. It contains na material that the Science Fleet will find particularly interesting either." He tosses the report aside. "Now... in respect with ninte net mission..." he pauses, waiting to see if he had the man's attention.
Rhagarokk chooses not to ask anything further about 'his report', especially with the Tal'Shiar agents in the room. "Ie?"
Typing a few things on the pannel before him, tr`Ronga replies, "Sending au the specifics now... but as au can see, it I both vital to the RSR and inside ninte field."
Rhagarokk waits a moment, then reads the panel in the arm of his command throne. "The Empress?" he asks, looking back to the image on the screen. tr`Ronga only nods in reply. Rhagarokk sits back thoughtfully and continues, "I thought she died or something during ninte revolution?" he pauses to read a bit more of the mission orders, "Well, well... at least she's
clever..." The Senator looks back to the screen again and asks, "Any specific orders regarding this mission, or just investigate the intel on her weapon?"
tr`Ronga frowns, passing a look to the boys that stood themselves in the room before he replies, "Au are issued orders to work with the Agency vessel, presently orbiting 400 kms away from au. Find the target, determine if it is a threat, and eliminate it if so. The mission procedure is at ninte, and the Agency Commander's discretion."
"Understood." the Senator replies, "Rhagarokk out." As the image switches back once more to the empty space, he stands, "Gonaiih, set course for the Eastern Republic border, hailing the Agency vessel on the way." He clears his throat and announces to Oira in general, "Our next mission is as follows... and boy, is it an important io. Intelligence reports that the former Rihannsu Empress t`Kazon is currently consolidating her power in the Eastern capital... for reasons we now know. Apparently, her forces are building a Temperal Weapon of some sort, designed to re-write the timeline in order to prevent the New Republic Revolution. We, along with the Agency vessel, are to investigate and deal with this 'Time Cannon' as is necessary."
Vyynd and DT give a look to each other, Vyynd shrugging slightly over the announcement. Ry himself sighs and mutters quietly, "Wonderful..." t`Shibae nods, reading over her own data on the screen of the station she was now standing at, confirming that the Leih had the orders right.
"Now," the Senator continues, "For assignments, since I have new crew." He smiles slightly, "Enarrain t'Shibae will be heading up the Tal'Shiar Temporal Assessment Group detachment, with Vynnd tr'Khaine being second in command of that. Vyynd - au are to be our Daise`Dheno as well." he nods at the boy, then continues, "D'Tarik tr'Rekkohan is assigned as Daise Biologist and Daise Medical Officer." he nods at the boy, then pauses, shifting his eyes to Rylan.
The pause seemed uncomfortably long, and not to just Rylan either, as he had caught the other two boys looking questioningly between the Senator and him. Smiling a little sheepishly, Ry silently wonders if he'll get ops or maybe engineering. Or if - Elements help him - he was to be shipped off somewhere else entirely.
"As for au, Rylan tr`Tuhmek..." the Senator says dryly, 'I thought long and hard about where to assign au." he pauses again, casting a glance at the Oira around him, "My crew is running a little low at the moment, and I need someone capable of performing a variety of tasks. And au..." he looked back to the boy again, "Well, au will be my Executive officer."
Rylan's jaw drops at that and he stammers an answer out, "Ah..er.. hann`yyo? Rekkhai." then grins suddenly, feeling the other two stare with dumfounded expressions at him, "I'll do my best."
"I expect na less." Rhagarokk nods, then looks over towards t`Shibae, "Com, tell the Agency vessel to drop in line. Engage cloak, and engage Transwarp drive factor-io." he pauses, looking down to his feet before he takes the command throne again as t`Shibae sends confirmation and falls inline, under cloak; "And for Element's sake, get the name of that fvadt vessel so I don't have to keep calling it 'The Agency Vessel."
[SRR Hydra, Ullo'Isha class frigate]
Meanwhile, on the Agency vessel....as Rhagarokk had nodded and dismissed himself, tr`Ronga nodded back and shut off the com. Leaning back into his chair, the man slides out of the synthesized skin-mask and whispered quietly to someone else within the room, "That went as well as expected. Status?"
One of the crewman answers, "The Morrhae`Vnu will have na way of telling that the message was na directed to the Rhei`Khreishiv. Githic spliced the comline of their ship, himself."
The man nod and dismisses her, "Ie. Have com play along with them, and set course for the East." The crewman bows in respect and leaves.
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