OOC: PMG. I just HAVE to take part in this. ^_^ Despite the Kirov being a powerful ship, IT IS NOT INVINCIBLE. Remember, all ships have limitations, and no ship is invincible. : D

IC:

United Earth Navy, 83rd Expeditionary Force flagship, UENS Kirov

Ray looked around the bridge. It was the most powerful ship in the entire UEN arsenal, second only to the Crusader, which had been lost a long time ago.

Several officers worked at their consoles, each manning their respective stations.

The Kirov... The most powerful ship. Until the Crusader arrived, it had been the most famous of all. With so many laser batteries, missile, gun and energy turrets and torpedo tubes, as well as the most powerful reactor Earth produced, it was the best ship that the UEN had to offer. However, now it was just floating around in space, idly waiting for orders.

Yes, indeed it was a powerful ship, meant to be invincible... However, it was not. Several times, its shields had been breached and its hull damaged, but it held fast. Under Ray's command, the Kirov's survival was more or less guaranteed. He was one of the most capable officers ever produced at the UEN academy, after all.

He wore a black officers' suit made of cloth and cotton, which was absolutely outdated, but it was standard dress for all officers of the UEN. Black peaked cap with the UEN crest, black coat, white buttoned shirt and black belt and trousers, as well as black boots. Medals were worn on the coat as well, but he preferred not to wear any, as it seemed unnatural to him. Ane besides that, medals were for showoffs and parades, in his own opinion. He couldn't care less about them in a battle.

He sighed as he lay back in his chair. He lifted the thin plastic cover of his right armrest with his right index finger. It opened like a door, except vertically. He tapped a button once, and a holographic image was displayed just in front of the armrest.

"Hmm? What's this? A new assignment?" he said to himself as he opened the message and took a closer look. "Hmm. This could get interesting..."

He tapped his chin slightly, contemplating how he should go about doing this assignment. He glanced at the display directly in front of him, which showed the overall status of his own ship and his two escorts, both cruisers. They were in perfect condition.

"All right. Everyone, we have a new assignment."

"But Sir, we are too far from Earth as it is! We should not leave the Solar System!"

"That is no matter. We're supposed to be dead! Mister Hans, set course for the following co-ordinates. Comms Officers, inform the escort ships of our course change. If they refuse to follow us, leave them behind."

"... Yes.... Yes, Sir," the Comms Officers replied, hurriedly contacting the escorts.

It doesn't really matter if I leave the Solar System anyway... I was intending to do this a long time ago. thought Ray as he lay back in his chair.

"Sir, both escort ships refuse to follow us any further," reported the first Comms Officer.

"No problem. We shall leave immediately. Go. Now."

3 down the table on Captain Slayde's right, stood a 12-foot tall plus humanoid machine. Though the most advanced technologies were used, the body was deliberately clockwork in design, complete with steam vents (the steam effect was disabled, even if it was harmless). Every aspect of this robot screamed 'huge!', yet it was very capable of fine manipulation via tiny hands that could exit out of the huge fingers.

The machine spoke, with a thick, masculine, and well controlled voice. "Ivalice, reporting. Communications officer, Navigation officer, Strategist. My three specialist teams are prepared at any time for action."

Slayde remembered his teams. One team in particular was kinda trippy, always having portable virtual reality units following them, and while on board the ship they were locked in a VR room Ivalice had designed. They always had to work together, not usually splitting up by any means. Ivalice had never explained the reasons, but it worked.

A second team was of trained 'marines', criminals who had been brainwashed and trained for group tactics, loaded with behavioral controlling implants.

His third team, much like the first minus VR, was a small group of very unique individuals. This group could easily split off from each other, some doing much better solo.

All were at Ivalice's disposal. Ivalice himself was quite formidable, having the room for some of the most powerful devices in existance, but he preferred to stay in the roles he had stated, letting his minions do the dirty work.

Thankfully, Ivalice's costs were small, considering how many people he had. Slayde had always wondered about that, but he respected Ivalice's methods because they worked.

OOC: This looks really fun I'm in

IC:
"Amber Kerash, pilot, reporting for duty sir." The female semi human smiled, revealing her sharp canines, her bushy red fox tale flicked behind her, it was to scale with her body, so it was rather large. Her long red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, giving a clear view of her bright green eyes, eyes that could change from human to cat at will, giving her night vision. The tips of her pointy ears showed through her mane of red hair.
Beside her her friend called out,
"Leon Beraeto, technician." He was tall and well built, and a normal human, dark brown eyes and short black hair matched with lightly tanned skin. He didn't really look much like a technician.
As an after thought he added,
"Also reporting for duty."

(OOC: Looking good all^^ To avoid anyone getting bored I'll move the story along a little, but there's still room for more if anyone wants to join^^ Just say you came in late to the meeting or something )

IC:

Slayed nodded slowly, looking around. "Okay, here's the deal. We have a new mission, and the orders come direct from Earth Gov itself! They're offering a sizable reward with it...shared out equally between us all it works out at no less than five-million-credits-each!" he paused between each word, to add emphasis to the sentance. A collective gasp ran around the table, and many eyebrows went up.

"The catch," continued Slayed after a pause, "is that the mission will delve into the unknown, and is potentially very dangerous." He glanced around the room again. "Needless to say I can't force anyone to go on this mission. If anybody wants to leave, now's the time to speak up. We'd drop you at one of the outer colonies and pick you up afterwards." He paused again, waiting for response.

There was silence for a moment, then Leon spoke up. "With all due respect sir, at five million apiece...try and stop us going!"

Slayed grinned and nodded. "Okay, here's the deal. Three days ago a monitering station in Sector 22 picked up an automated distress signal from the Dead Zone. The message was garbled, and they've had no response to their attempts to make contact."

"The black holes in that area will make navigation hazardus," commented Ivalice thoughtfully, "but if it's just a rescue mission, it should be relatively easy."

Slayed shook his head. "That's the point, it isn't "just" a rescue mission. The ship that the call came from has been identified...as none other than the Cruisader."

A profound silence dropped on the room like a heavy curtain. "Good grief...!" muttered Leon quietly. "How long has it been???"

"Over twenty-two years sir." commented Zaeda Six, accessing his memory banks. "The greatest Earth space travel disaster in history, and the biggest mystery."

"What happened on that ship, and where it's been for the past 22 years, is completely unknown." continued Slayed in a hushed tone. "Goodness knows what we may find there. Our orders are to proceed to the Sector 22 monitering station and rendevouz with an ex Millitery ship...at least I think they're ex...I don't know the details. From there, we head into the Dead Zone together."

Slowly he sat down in the chair at the head of the long table, allowing everything to sink in. "We'll depart immeadeately," he said after the pause, "but before we go, any questions?"

Suddenly, a tall figure wearing a long leather coat and hat ambled slowly through the door and sat down at the far end of the table. "Bernard Horschfeld, Captain of the Scout Fighter Mephistopheles, reporting for duty, Sir."
"You're late, Horschfeld" The Captain replied.
"Are you going to tell me something I don't know, Captain, or are you going to get on with the meeting?"

Ivalice raised a huge hand. "I do have a question."

"Yes, what is it?"

The rust-red robot checked a mini-computer he was holding. "Just at a glance at the possibilities of what may have happened to the Crusader, I estimate that we have anywhere between a 100% chance of success to a 0.023% chance of succes, without casualties. Are those odds too much of a gamble for us?" Ivalice glanced at the faces of the others. "Oh, never mind. The fact that most of you are biologicals answers my question for me. Greed isn't a trait exclusive to humans, and the payoff would incite even myself to attempt this, even if there was only a 0.000...well, a very tiny number % chance of success."

Slayed looked around at the others, waiting for any more questions, but none were coming. "Okay, let's get underway then!" he said, standing up and moving towards the door.

The Quasar was nearly a mile long, a large, long, square construction, devided into compatments. The bridge was at the front, large windows adorning the walls and giving the occupants a full 180 degree view of space at the front of the ship. Behind that was the long corridor, with other rooms leading off it at intervals on both sides: Canteen, Medical bay, crew quarets, engineering, everything the crew would need. At the very back were the cargo bays, holding all the ships supplies, and the massive subspace impulse drive.

As Slayde stepped onto the bridge, the others close behind him, a large figure stepped up to him and saluted smartly. He was massive, almost ten feet tall, and had huge square shoulders and gigantic, powerful hands. His face was very angular, desplaying an unusually square bone structure to his skull: his forehead was flat, curving sharply at either end, and then becoming flat again as it ran down the sides of his head! He had no hair, and his brow was low and thick, making his face appear to be constantly frowning. His eyes were yellow, and his jaw was thick-set and angular.

"Zoran reporting sir." he said in an incredibly deep, rumbling voice.

"So this is where you were hiding!" grinned Slayde. "How come you weren't at the meeting Zoran?"

"It was not nessecary Captain." replied the huge figure. "Any mission you think is suitable for this ship and this crew is suitable for me." Even though his voice was deep and his figure imposing, Zoran's speech was slow, and incredibly precise. It was difficult for his alien vocal chords to master Human speech, so he had to take his time over it and pronnounce every word carefully.

Slayde smiled, nodding. He had met Zoran some time ago when his ship had crash landed on a planet in an unexplorred area of space. The planet had an exceptionally strong gravity field, and Slayde had found it difficult to move, but the natives of the planet had adapted to it long ago, their bones becoming stronger, their muscles growing. Zoran had seen Slayde's plight and looked after him, keeping him alive until help arrived. He had been fascinated by Slayde's stories of space, and had opted to go with him when he was rescued.

Now in a much lighter gravity, his adaptations gave him a strength and power far greater than any race Slayde had encountered, and he made an excellent Security Officer! He also had a very strong loyalty to Slayde, accepting anything he said or did.

"Okay then." he grinned. "Positions people! Set course for Sector 22...best speed!"

The crew dived into their seats, the ships mighty engines fired, and the Quasar roared off into the stars, making for it's destination...

"How far until Sector 22?" asked Ray.

"Fifteen seconds, Captain," replied the Navigations Officer. "We will arrive shortly. The... Quasar, as they call it, should be there as well."

"Acknowledged. Stay on course."

"Yes, Sir."

Ray lay back in his chair for the next fifteen seconds, spending that time contemplating his next moves, and thinking about what the captain of the Quasar would be like. He would soon find out.

As the Kirov arrived in Sector 22, it slowed down greatly, and Ray saw on his tactical display the Quasar, as it seemed to be.

"Mister Graham, hail the Quasar." The first Comms Officer nodded, and opened a hailing frequency for the Quasar...

"Vessel coming out of hyperspace Captain." said Amber, looking down at the display on her console. Slayde stood up and stepped forward, looking out the large window at the front of the bridge.

"That'll be them."

There was a large flash as the Kirov dropped out of lightspeed and appeared in front of them. The massive cruiser slowly drifted forward, silluhetted against the light of a nearby star. She was an impressive ship!

"Incoming transmission." said Ivalice as an alert bleeped on her console.

Slayde turned and moved back to his seat, the various flashing lights of the consoles flickering on his face in the dull grey of the bridge. He sat down and nodded to Ivalice to open a channel. "Captain," he started, looking out at the massive cruiser in front of them. "This is Caspian Slayde. Good to meet you."

"Greetings, Mister Slayde. I see you have arrived ahead of schedule. That is, of course, a good thing... Oh, yes. On to business."

"Yeah. As stated in the message, a signal from this sector has been detected, and the signature has been identified as the Crusader's."

"The Crusader..." muttered Ray as he thought about the loss in popularity of the Kirov. The entire United Earth Navy had diverted nearly all its resources towards developing the Crusader further, improving all its systems. Despite his dislike for it, he shook the feeling off. "I see. And our job is to investigate it, yes?"

"Yes."

Ray nodded, his eyes on the smaller ship in front of his. Small but manoeuvrable, and definitely powerful. He smiled, thinking of how well they would fight together in a battle.

"Are there any others we must rendezvous with?" Ray asked, drumming his left fingers on the left armrest while awaiting the answer.

"No this is us." Slayde glanced across at Ivalice. "Our Navigator has been working on a course into the center of the Dead Zone. Those black holes could be dangerous, we'll need to be prepared. We're sending you the data now."

Ivalice pressed a button on her console. "We're recieving." replied Ray's voice over the com.

"You may have to adjust some of the variables to compensate for the larger mass of your ship." continued Slayde. "I sugest you let us take point...with a smaller ship we'll be able to manuver quicker and work out a safe route for you to follow us."

"Yes, maybe." replied Ray, his voice clearly displaying some reservations. He probably figured the Millitery ship was much better equipped and should be the one to lead, but it was true that the Quasar was more manuverable, a useful trait when considering the gravitational shear caused by the singularities. "We'll stay close though. Hopefully if anything should happen we'll be able to pull you out."

"Agreed." replied Slayde. "Well...the sooner we start, the sooner we finish..."

It took less than 30 minutes for the two ships to reach the edge of the Dead Zone.

Slayde looked out at the pannorama through narrowed eyes. It was beutiful...swirls of light and color everywhere as nebule and starlight were sucked into the millions of invisible vortexes peppered around the area like sand grains on a beach. Ion lightning flashed and flickered across the space between the nebulas, cascading particles of superheated plasma from one gas cloud to another.

"A minefield..." muttered Slayde, more to himself than anyone else. He stepped forward, standing behind Amber at the helm. "You think you can pilot that?"

Amber raised an eyebrow. "It's gonna be rough." she replied, a little uncertanty in her voice.

Slayde nodded. "Just take it slow." he said reassuringly. He stepped backward to his seat, sitting down and swiveling it to face the security console at the back of the bridge, where Zoran, Eternity and Zaeda Six were sat. "Better buckle up. This could get painful." he muttered. Flicking a switch on the arm of his chair, he spoke into the air. "Bridge to Thrust Decks. Mister Baraeto, stand by for contolled thrusts."

"Understood Captain. Ready when you are." came the reply from Leon.

Slayde turned to face Ivalice. "Signal the Kirov..." he said, then paused. Slowly he turned the chair back to face the large windows at the front of the bridge. "...we're going in!"

The Quasar's mighty thrusters fired and she began to nose forward into the Dead Zone, the Kirov close behind. Tremmors started to rock the ship as the gravitational distortions began to take effect...

(OOC: Hope this isn't moving to fast for everyone^^ I've been accused of running my RPs too slowly in the past, so I'm making sure the same doesn't happen again here lol. Let me know if anyone wants me to slow down. )

(Ignore this...sorry)

IC:
"I wonder if you count as a member?" Eternity muttered, eyeing Zaeda six,
"I do not know, but I'm sure it is possible for me to extract the data from personel."
"I'm sure that won't be necessary."
"But if you want to find the answer-"
"Oh shush."
"Though I must say that the course we have set seems to lead us through a large area of spacial hazards and if we are to miscalculate by a few degrees this entire ship and all its contents could be crushed to the size of atoms."
"You know I hate it when you confirm stuff I already know."
"Yes but that is merely the way you designed me it is not my fault that my programming seems to iritate you in some manner."
"There's a reason why you're Zaeda six you know."
"Yes my memory banks state that on several occasions you have had to disassemble me due to a surge in your emotions causing the urge to destroy me."
"Guess what I'm experiencing dejavou, so I'd be quiet if I were a floating hunk of tin in your position."
Zaeda six seemed to consider this then floated a safe distance away from Eternity.
"Really, humaanoid lifeforms can be so irrational sometimes."
"Don't make me come over there," she muttered, smiling to herself. Sure he was a pain sometimes but it was amusing to argue with him.

IC:
Amber bit her lip, a thing she did when she was thinking and worried at the same time.
"Ah well here goes." She muttered, easing the ship in, narrowly avoidning a bolt of plasma lightning.
She winced and looked out for the next obstacle...

The tremmors rattled through the ship as though some giant had grabbed it and was shaking it like a toy! Slayde gritted his teeth.

"Thrust Room to Bridge, thruster temprature is rising. Some of these gravity wells are nasty!"

"Understood." replied Slayde into the comm. "Distance to target?"

"5000 clicks." replied Ivalice looking down at his console.

Suddenly the ship rocked as a plasma charge struck it. Slayde was nearly thrown from his seat!

An alarm sounded on Zoran's station. "There is a fire in cargo bay three!" he said looking down at his controls. "Automatic fire control is offline!"

(OOC: Sorry about that post I made earlier...had to delete it)

Ruby gritted her teeth, swiveling her large fox ears back and forth. The Grotesnian woman glanced over the controls she was seated in front of, and a second later her fingers were flying over the keys. They flashed and clicked and bleeped in recognition of her touch, and a green holographic screen came up in front of the panels. Her eyes scanned the writing, and soon she was manning the controls at her station once again.

Slayde called out to her, "Sosnoekay! Report!"

"I'm setting up our shield, captain. It's not much, but it's better than nothing," She replied, risking a glance at the man. He nodded briefly, before turning to give directions to the others.

Ruby was very familiar with the Quasar, seeing as she had been made a permanent member of the crew about five years ago. It hadn't taken her long to get used the the atmosphere of the ship. She was about nine feet tall, almost ten, and her body was covered with vibrant red fur. Her head had a foxish appearance, including her large ears and her sligtly slanted eyes. She had purple hair that had been tied into a long, fat braid, and her bangs fell over her right eye; she did not, however, have any difficulty seeing. Ruby's silver eyes sometimes had a chilling affect on newer recruits, especially when she glared.

She wore a light blue tank-top and a black jacket and choker, and black pants that stuck to her legs so that the excess material would not be snagged on anything. She wore dark blue boots as well, preferring to be more comfortable than anything else.

Now of course, being of a different race, (Grotesnian) she had quite a few physical differences about her. Ruby had only six fingers total, three on heach hand, and a long, thick tail that tapered to a point. Her thighs were extremely thick as well, mainly muscle, which allowed her to jump about 25 to 30 feet. (Think of Mew-Two *shot*) The rest of her legs were slightly more skinny, since the main strength lay in her thighs. She had only two toes on each foot.

Now Ruby bit her lip as the ship was jarred once again, the shield holding itself up valiantly against another plasma charge. She smiled slightly to herself, hoping they'd be able to get out without much damage.

An alarm sounded on Zoran's station. "There is a fire in cargo bay three!" he said looking down at his controls. "Automatic fire control is offline!"

Oh no...

Being a computer had its advantages. Ivalice had been able to put his full human-like concentration on his task on the bridge, and still be able to communicate with his other selves.

Other selves? Yes, Ivalice had designed remote units for specific purposes, that had his same intelligence, and all three of them worked together.

Ivalice2 was modeled after Captain Caspian Slayde for proportions, and was in charge of the VR room that Team 1 was inside.

Ivalice3 was a small, very flexible wire-frame machine, designed to help the crew in the engineering section.

They all shared the same knowledge, and were all constantly linked. At the mention of the fire, Ivalice2 immediately reported via silent electronic link, 'Team 1 is near that cargo bay! I'll get one of them on it right away!'

Ivalice reported aloud, "One of my teams is near Cargo Bay 3, they'll take care of it. Focus upon the task at hand! We must be diligent."

Judge: "There's a fire that's started in the forest! Stoic, go deal with it!"

Stoic: "Roger that."

Tinker Toy (abbreviated TT): "Judge, we got our hands full here! How many of these guys are there?!"

Judge: "Enough, that's how many! Now stay focused!"

Morpheus: "Watch your back!"

Nova Star: "Woah! Machines are dangerous! Uh, no offense intended, Tinker Toy."

TT: "None taken. They keep getting more advanced every time we fight them!"

Judge: "Keep it up! We've got to buy Stoic the time he needs!"

A humanoid figure in a cloak exited the VR Room. Three mobile VR generators hovered around him, but he didn't notice. He was floating, and flew through the air rapidly to the door of Cargo Bay 3. The door was locked, due to the emergency systems, preventing the fire from spreading. The figure's eyes flashed with dark energy, and the door slid open. The fire was getting pretty bad. Entering the room, Stoic (who, of course, is this figure) closed the door behind him, and sent a wave of dark energy through the room! Crates and such things were knocked over, but the fire was put out. With a second flash of dark energy, the crates were stacked neatly back in place. "Mission accomplished."

Stoic left the room, and immediately headed back to the VR room, just as some of Ivalice's Team 2 members arrived. The Space Marines of Team 2 entered Cargo Bay 3 to assess the damage and do what they could to repair.

Ivalice stated with some pride in his voice, "The situation in Cargo Bay 3 has been dealt with, and a full damage report will be given to you if you wish, Captain."

OOC: Yo, I will go into more detail of the other characters, when they become more prudent. Questions? Bring 'em on.

Just under the hull of the ship...

36 pairs of eyes lit up, and what appeared to be large, chittering millipedes, exept somewhat cute in a small chittering way, swarmed out of a hive-shaped metal container. They located a a hatch leading to the outside of the ship, and crawled through. Unlike most of the crew, these small, 36 members were able to breathe in space, and had another ability that had saved the mercenary ship in quite a few situations. they formed a grid along the ship, and at the same time, all jumped. Just when it seemed they would drift into the gravitations distortions, what seemed to be and electric feild connected them all. This feild held them together, and more importantly, close to the ship. the feild they created warped due to each distortion, and stopped a tiny percentage of the gravitational pull to the ship. To one of the crew, that tiny percentage wouldn't matter, but when you steer the ship, just that much can be the difference between life and death.

One of the bugs chittered again.

This is A reporting, Alpha team has been deployed.

This was heared in the bridge, sent from The Bug who had chittered, via a small defice, and turned into a radio signal. the device could also turn his chittering into a Omega-wave message, that would allow it to be heard in any launguage chosen if there was no nearby radio receiver.

Units R through Z reporting, Our half of the ship is holding, and not too much sheild warping.

Good, keep position until I signal. Then remember to wait until you touch the hull before retracting sheilds this time. I don't want to have to convince the crew to send out a search team again.

(OOC: wow some really interesting ideas here! Keepy uppy people^^

Shadow Lady: Welcome to the RP, and no worries about the post earlier. I though it looked ok, but if you weren't happy with it then np.

Silver: Welcome to the RP, thanx for joining^^)

IC:

"The situation in Cargo Bay 3 has been dealt with, and a full damage report will be given to you if you wish, Captain."

"In time Ivalice." replied Slayde

This is A reporting, Alpha team has been deployed. He raised his head as he heard the message. The bugs were doing their work...good. Maybe they'd make it through this after all!

He stood up and stepped forward, standing next to Amber. "Keep it up." he muttered. "Can't be long now."

Ruby was looking at her console. "Captain these Ion storms are intensifying. Much more and they could tear us appart!"

As if to punctuate the remark, a plasma bolt suddenly blasted out of a nearby nebula, punching straight through the ships shields and the shields of the bugs, and impacting on the hull!

The ship rocked and Slayde was thrown clean across the room!Several power lines ruptured, sending showers of sparks flickering around the room like little fireflies. Electricity spikes could be seen flickering across the bulkheads.

With a loud grinding noise, one of the massive girders at the back of the bridge broke free and began to fall towards Zoran and Eternity!

Zoran reacted instantly, jumping up and reaching up with his massive hands. The two-ton girdir crashed down...and stopped!

Zoran was breathing heavily, but slowly he began to push the girder upward, back towards the wall. Once he had it at sufficient height, he pushed it forwards, over the top of the console. It landed with a CRASH on the floor in front of the console, harmlessly denting the floor slightly.

Slayde had picked himself up and placed himself back in his seat. "We've got no choice." he muttered, rubbing his shoulder where he had hit the wall. "We have to close the blast doors."

"Sir I wouldn't recommend going instruments only in here!" replied Amber, her eyes glued to the window. "It'd lower manuverabillity!"

"At this rate their won't be a ship left to manuver!" retorted Slayde. Amber nodded and flicked a switch on her console, and massive thick shutters rumbled down over the bridge windows, locking into place with a powerful BOOM.

"Distance?"

"900 clicks. We're almost on top of it!"

Slayde pressed a button on the arm of his chair. "Slayde to Kirov, how are you holding up Captain?"

"Slayde to Kirov. How are you holding up, Captain?" came a voice in the bridge as the Comms Officer patched the direct transmission through.

Ray glanced at his Combat Information Display, just to the left of his central holo display. His ship's shielding was still holding up, but they'd had to run the reactor on 107% power, which was the safe limit. They also had to redirect power from the massive laser batteries in order to keep the shields going.

"I'm fine. This ship's shields and hull are the best there is; we've been through worse storms than these."

"All right. We've sustained some damage, but we're holding together."

Precisely what happens with small ships that have less shielding... thought Ray to himself. The shields were showing all green, but they would be in trouble if they reached yellow. "How much further to the targeted co-ordinates?"

"Not far. 900 klicks."

"Very well. We will remain on course," Ray responded as a plasma bolt smashed into the starboard shielding. The ship rocked, and the holo display showed a momentary drop in shield strength, several moments after which the shields were restored to their previous strength.

Slayde nodded. It made sence that the Millitery ship would be holding up better than the Quasar. "Okay everyone, let's..."

Suddenly, as though someone had flicked a switch, the shaking stopped and the rumbling noice cut off.

Slayde looked around in shock. "All stop! Report?"

"We seem to have reached the center of the Dead Zone Captain." replied Ivalice, adjusting his scanners. "Something is disrupting the gravitational fields in this area of space...everything's dead calm out there!"

Slayde raised an eyebrow. "Eye of the storm..." he muttered to himself. "Okay, blast shields down. I want a full damage report. Amber, hold our posithion here. I'm going to see how the thrusters held up." He turned and set off towards the large doors of the bridge, but a call from Amber stopped him in his tracks.

"Sir...look!"

He turned back, looking out the windows of the bridge as the heavy blast shutters slowly lifted back into their slots. He caught his breath in shock...

There, silluhetted against the nebulae, was a ship. It was huge...over five miles long, and looked tough and powerful. It's long, tubular frame was surrounded by four large pannels, with massive power conduits running along their length. The Quantum Field Emmitors!

Further towards the front, the body thinned, almost like a neck, before widening again for the crew qarters and other rooms. Because of the experimental nature of the Quantum Field Drive, the engineering section had been seperated from the rest of the ship, in case anything should go wrong. The massive size of the ship dwarfed even the Kirov!

The ship was hanging motionless in space, no lights shining from it's dull, blackened hull, but the massive letters emblazened on the side in blue were cleraly visable:

UNES Cruisader

There was complete silence on the bridge, as everyone stared in disbelief at the massive shadow. "It's true...!" muttered Ruby, wide eyed. "It was all true...!"

"Full scan." muttered Slayde quietly. It seemed like a sin to disrupt the silence of the moment...the atmosphere of quiet reflection...

...the atmosphere of a tomb...?

"Lifesigns, power readings, damage?" he continued.

"Lifesign sensors are experiencing heavy interference." replied Ivalice. "I can't be certain, but I don't think I'm detecting anything."

"The main reactor is showing a power level right off the scale," reported Ruby, "but all systems are offline, including gravity and life support." Her brow dipped in a frown. "I'm reading high levels of radiation coming from the engeneering section. Looks like the radiation filters are offline too."

"Dangerous?" asked Slayde quickly.

"No, not from this distance. We could go into the rest of the ship too, but we'd have to activate the radiation filters and wait a good few hours before crossing to the engineering hull."

"There are no visable signs of hull damage." called Zoran from the back of the bridge. "Apart from some slight wear consistant with time spent in space, the ship is intact."

Slayde nodded slowly. "Okay, get in touch with the Kirov. Ask Ray to suit up and come over here. We need to hold a meeting." He turned and left the room. "Canteen in half an hour everyone. There's something you should all hear." he called over his shoulder.

She couldn't believe it. It seemed impossible to Ruby. How could the Cruisader have held on that long? Shaking her head, the alien woman pressed a few keys on her console, lowering the intensity of the shield a little bit. It wouldn't be good at all if they kept up their full power for too long, in case they ran out of energy. The Quasar would be left vulnerable if that happened. Instead, to conserve energy, Ruby adjusted the strength of the Quasar's shields.

The Grotesnian then sat there in her seat for a moment, staring out the windows at the massive ship that drifted randomly. She sat studying it for a few minutes, before tearing her eyes away. With a few cracks she flexed her fingers and flicked her tail. Then Ruby began to wonder what exactly Slayde meant when he said: "There's something you should all hear."

OOC: Okay, I'm going to put down a description of my characters here, to make it easier to understand what's going on when I post. You don't have to read all of this, just use it as a reference point for later. I'll also have an IC section right at the end, so keep an eye out for that.

Ivalice: described in the text. Is a giant, intelligent, humanoid robot, with high technology in its making. Designed to appear like a Clockwork Titan from sci-fi history, though the steam vents are currently disabled, as they serve no function. A rust-red coloration covers its body. Prefers to be known as a 'He', for simplicities sake. Is linked to Ivalice2 and Ivalice3, and technically, they are all the same unit.

Ivalice2: Designed to be a robot replica of Captain Caspian Slayde. He wears a black and metal bodysuit, with a red and metal mask, covering his mechanical body so he resembles a human. If you didn't know he was a machine, you would easily be fooled. Oversees Team 1's VR world.

Ivalice3: A small, thin humanoid wireframe design. Designed as an assistant to the Engineering section. Is capable of going to places anyone else would have difficulty going. Has many inbuilt tools for a wide variety of situations.

Team 2, Space Marines: Criminals who have been brainwashed and had many neural implants installed. They are controlled by Ivalice, and function almost as effectively as any Space Marine squad. There are thirteen of them, and they are all male humans. They wear Space Marine style combat armor, which is both able to survive in space and provide good defense, all while being very flexible. Black is their color. They all have a 12mm pulse rifles, plus grenades, and other devices and weapons.

Team 1, Defenders of Nexus City: This team has five members, and they all exist in Virtual Reality. Ivalice2 is very good at keeping them convinced that what they see is real, and had been able to send them on missions while still maintaining the illusion of their lives as superheroes.

Judge: The leader of the Defenders, he can easily keep a cool head, and has a keen mind. He is a human, and dresses much like a Catholic priest, with the exception of wearing a trench-style coat. His brown hair is well-kept and neatly-combed. He uses no weapons, but instead uses his supernatural powers, like his entire team. Judge is capable of altering the course of any force, within his limits. From someone walking down the street to lazer beams, he can force them to change direction, as long as they move. He usually uses this power defensively, and tries not to use it directly on other people.

Stoic: A four-armed humanoid hyena, with grey fur. He wears a black one-piece form-fitting body suit, and a dark cloak over that to obscure his face from sight. He holds power over negative energy, which can be used in a multitude of ways, usually as telekinesis. His powers are centered on his emotions, so he practices meditation to help keep them under control. The more emotion he feels and shows, the more powerful and uncontrollable his powers become.

Tinker Toy: A human female who was critically injured in an accident. Only the direct intervention of an alien surgeon and engineer saved her life. She lost most of her body, but was rebuilt as a cyborg, a robot with some biological components. She has half her original face and a few other parts from her original body, and everything else is machine. White and blue neon are the colors that dominate her body. She has many tools inbuilt to repair herself, and has amazing control and capabilities. Her primary weapons are her machine strength and her sonic blaster. Her right arm transforms into the sonic blaster, and it has amazing power.

Morpheus: An orange humanoid alien, with the innate ability to transform into virtually anything, gaining their characteristics. His default form resembles a human, but with orange skin and orange hair. He usually takes the forms of Earth animals, as he is most familiar with them, having spent most of his life on Earth. Being able to transform virtually instantly between various forms allows him incredible versatility.

Nova Star: A female humanoid alien. It is difficult to tell she is not a human, but her trouble mastering the human language is a give-away. She wears a red blouse, blue jeans, armored boots, and bracelets. Her black hair is kept neatly combed and straight behind her, reaching close to her waist. Her wide array of powers include super strength, flight, and energy blasts, which can also be used as a light source.

Team 3, Sleepers: The third team of Ivalice are kept in Cryo-Stasis, for when they are needed. They have abilities that are at least as effective as Team 1, but Team 1 works much better as a team. Team 3 prefers to work independantly of each other, with one exception.

Major Main: Human, born Earth year 1990. He wears a 2000's model flight suit, and his bright blond hair is cut short. He maintains very good health, and his interactions with biological androids have made him superior to other humans. He achieved the rank of Major in the United States Air Force, and through a series of incidents involving biological androids, he was moved to Black Ops. His abilities with aircraft are legendary, and he can enhance any vehicle above and beyond its normal limits. He was invaluable, because he was the only one who could interact and interface with Beige successfully. Together, they are an unbeatable team.

Beige: Female humanoid biological android. She has the appearance of a human teen, with long blond hair, and a peaceful face. She wears black shorts, and a black long sleeve shirt. Over that, she wears a metallic poncho, both a shield and a weapon. As a biological android, she is much stronger than other machines, and her special capabilities include shapeshifting and machine control. She can directly interface with any machine, and force it to obey her. She usually shapeshifts into an aircraft that Major Main is familiar with, and he then pilots her. Together, they are an unbeatable team.

Madame O: Human female, blue skin and black hair, wearing a pink diving suit. A member of an Earth Special Ops Aqua Team. In an tremendous act of bravery, she saved her team by jumping on top of an enemy grenade. Amazingly, she survived, and during the hospitalization time, she was found to be a perfect host for an alien parasitical experiment. She was rebuilt as a humanoid complete cyborg, and the parasite made her into a being far stronger than any other cyborg. She has super speed and super strength, able to move at a blur and topple buildings. The parasite allows her to regenerate almost instantly from minor weapons fire, and she rapidly heals from major injuries. She is constantly building up energy, and she can launch an explosive blast every hour, using that energy.

Badguy: A humanoid alien life form. He resembles a human, but he lacks ears and a nose. His hair is spiky, and brown in color. He wears a black and red battlesuit. He has a white bandana wrapped around his forehead. His weapon is a technological marvel, a heat sword. His Heat Sword has a handle like a sword, but the rest of it is more a slab of white metal with a red wrapping, with vents, none of it sharp at all. When activated, the blade glows red from heat, steaming, and in this state, it can cut through virtually anything. It is impossible to tell what he thinks or feels. His physical abilities are unimaginably high. Most weapons don't seem to damage him, and he rapidly heals from anything that is powerful enough to faze him. He can survive in a vacuum, not requiring any sort of air. He has a shaded past, and even Ivalice might not know where he got his power from. He is extremely dangerous, and his reasons for working for (or with?) Ivalice are mysterious.

IC:

Tinker Toy sighed as she finished repairing her leg. Judge glanced up from his book. "You should get some rest, that was a tough fight we had earlier today with the Machine Army."

TT nodded. "Yeah, good idea. I'll get a breath of fresh air, first."

TT climbed up the stairs to the roof of their home. Flipping open the hatch at the top, she stepped out under the moonlit sky. Nova Star was sitting near the edge of the roof, curled up. She was looking out over the city. TT walked over, sat down next to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, Star?"

Star didn't look up, but brushed a tear from her face. "I...do not know. I was afraid when we beat the Machine Army and the earthquaking did not stop, but now that it is over, I find myself...empty, inside."

TT looked up at the moon. "Star, I think we all feel that way sometimes." She faced Star again. "What kind of empty do you mean?"

"I fear I may be having the 'homesickness'. I want to see my family, but I cannot. I want to travel and see more of this Earth, but I cannot. And why can I not? Because there are so many bad people trying to take over this city, or destroy it, or whatever of many diabolically evil schemes these bad people have!" She curled up a bit tighter. "I do not want this responsibility, TT, even if it is for a day, I want to be free of it!"

TT was silent for a long time, as she had her arm wrapped comfortingly around Star's shoulders. "...I wish I knew what to say, Star, I really do."

Ivalice looked around the room, and assessed the damage. 'Ivalice2, Ivalice3, report status.'

'Ivalice2 here, VR room still at full functioning. Team 1 and Team 3 are unharmed by the damage, and Team 2 is sorting out the cargo rooms.'

'Ivalice3 here. There is extensive damage all around the ship. I am and will be working constantly on repairs. We won't be leaving the Dead Zone for a while.'

'Ivalice reporting. I will do what I can on the bridge, and then go to the briefing. Ivalice2, I will let you know when we need a team, but I suspect Team 2 will be the first one we send out today. Ivalice3, continue as you are.'

Ivalice scanned the bridge, seeing what damage had been taken and where. He moved to repair some of the more serious damage, his body being able to improvise the tools he needed. "Amber, I must commend you on your piloting skills. You did an excellent job."

Ivalice was currently linked with the Quasar's systems, running ship scans on everything within this 'Eye of the Storm'. He was troubled by the lack of information the scanners were currently able to gather, and began to try various frequencies and methods, hoping to gather new information. His link with the ship was remote, and he was performing the scans while repairing what he could of the bridge.

"Captain, they are requesting that you board their ship as soon as possible for a briefing of some sort," reported Graham.

"Very well. Prepare Shuttle One and one of the ship's sentries. We'll leave immediately."

"Affirmative."

Ray rose from his seat, leaving the Kirov in the hands of his First Officer, Lt. Commander Tupolov. He nodded, and Tupolov immediately sat at the secondary command console to his left, one level below. The bridge was quite large, and it extended forward. The outside could easily be seen, because of cameras on the exterior of the thick, strong hull. They projected images proportionate to the outside, and the displays on the inside were extremely clear.

The sentry, one of dozens of ship security personnel, entered the shuttle after Ray. Each one of them was an expert in ancient martial arts such as Aikido and Taekwondo, and were excellent marksmen even with their submachineguns and energy weapons.

"Let's go. Destination, Quasar," instructed Ray. The shuttle's pilot nodded, and the shuttle blasted out of the shuttle bay and made its way to the Quasar.

Half an hour later...

Slayde had met Ray at the airlock, welcoming him onto the ship. There was a slight tenseness in the atmosphere, as though both Captains felt slightly pressured by the other, but they were amiable with each other.

"I called you over so that we could discuss strategies, etc." explaind Slayde as they walked down the massive central corridor of the Quasar. "The rason I asked you to come over here is unlike a millitery ship, I prefare to have my crew involved in the discussions."

Ray raised an eyebrow...it was difficult to tell if it was an aproving or disaproving gesture...and nodded slowly.

They eventually reached the doorway to the canteen, and Slayde held out his hand, allowing Ray to enter first. The Captain ordered his crew members to wait outside, then stepped through the doors.

Everybody was sat on either side of the long table, chatting to each other about their situation. The talk quietened as the two Captains entered the room.

"Okay first of all let me introduce Captain...I'm sorry I don't know your last name...Captain of the Kirov." Ray nodded, and everyone acknowledged him. He was used to getting salutes...oh well...

Ray took a seat near the head of the table as Caspian walked over to a large screen embedded in the wall. "Okay, we have several mysteries here people." said Slayde, turning to face the assembled group. "Firstly, the Cruisader was a mighty ship, with a crew compliment of a thousand five hundred, but Ivalice is quite certain there are no lifesigns on board."

He paused a moment, letting the information sink in, before continuing. "Second, what is this calm in the middle of the Dead Zone? We've been unable to determine a cause, and it's certainly not natural."

"Third, how did the Cruisader get here? There is no way that the ship could simply have drifted past all the black holes out there...it would have been pulled into one and crushed, which means someone...or someTHING, has piloted it here."

Another pause...somewhat more profound. Slayde turned back to the screen on the wall, pressing a button beside it. "I think you should all hear this." he continued. It's the message that the Monitering Station picked up three days ago. You should all know what we're getting ourselves into."

The speakers in the room crackled into life. The noise was garbled, heavily encrusted in static, but was audible.

Everyone at the table tensed.

It was the noise of chaos. banging and crashing filled the air from causes unseen, sounds of sparking wiring and explosions. Hundreds of voices, Human and Alien alike, rose in a cacofony of noise...screaming...screaming in agony, in terror...

Shouts were audible among the noise...

"...help me! Help me!!!...no...it can't...Release me!...get out of here! I told you to...Release me!...what...Oh god they're coming!...before they notice, then I'll try to...Release me!...Help!!!..."

The message abruptly ended, and only a thin buzz of static remained. Slayde pressed another button on the wall and the noise cut off.

The very first thought that occured to Ray was simply one word: Adnihilo.

The very word itself meant "demon". But was it possible? Could it really be the menace that had plagued the UEN so long ago? No, it couldn't be... Or could it? But the last mission he was on... It was to eradicate them all. He'd completed it, only to find out that he was listed as killed in action, along with the rest of his crew and the entire 83rd Expeditionary Force.

"Captain Slayde... I humbly request your assistance. When more information on the situation is gathered, please organise the data and give it to the research and analysis team on my ship. I have a gut feeling about this..." said Ray as he took his seat.

"A gut feeling? About what?"

"If you wish to find out, lend me your ears for a few minutes," Ray began as all eyes focused on him. "A few years ago, a group of criminals who dubbed themselves the Yuran Knights sent a ship full of information on the situation in their system to Earth. The ship was recovered, along with Professor Theodore Ensign Sr.'s family. He was the most famous scientist of the time; I'm sure you've heard of him. His son is part of my ship's research and analysis team. Basically, the Yuran Knights encountered a powerful alien race, known as the 'Adnihilo', as named by Professor Ensign Sr.. They were a terrifying and powerful race, and as such, the United Earth Navy gave me command of the Kirov and the 83rd Expeditionary Force, both as a test of my skill as a commander fresh out of the academy, and also a mission to eradicate the Adnihilo. I succeeded in destroying the supreme lifeform governing the activities of all of the Adnihilo, but this is just my conjecture... Perhaps it survived somehow, and now is taking its revenge... Or perhaps it could be that a rogue hive is simply attacking wildly, or it could be an entirely different alien race altogether." After he finished, he looked at the skeptical faces in the room for several tense moments. He decided to give them time to absorb all the information he had just dished out, as it was far too much to understand all in one go.

He looked at Slayde, awaiting his response...

Slayde looked thoughtful. "That's quite a big assumption to make, Captain. We have no information on any alien attacks, or even that an alien race was involved. Don't you think it may be a little early to jump to conclusions?" He leaned back against the wall, folding his arms. "For all we know it could simply be a glitch in the Quantum Field Drive that killed the crew. Anything we think is pure speculation at the moment..."

"Yes, indeed..." replied Ray, nodding. Anything was a possibility at the moment. "It is a big assumption, and I hope to God I'm wrong. The Kirov and two cruisers are all that's left of the 83rd Expeditionary Force. Those creatures are beyond description. They... They consume entire planets; they're like locusts. But until we gather information, everything is purely speculation."

Slayde nodded, still leaning against the wall. He wondered why Ray was making such an assumption; it seemed absolutely ridiculous that an alien race could make it all the way here and out! Ray shrugged and relaxed in his chair, hoping he would not have to fight the Adnihilo again. The casualties the 83rd had suffered numbered in the thousands."Yes, indeed..." replied Ray, nodding. Anything was a possibility at the moment. "It is a big assumption, and I hope to God I'm wrong. The Kirov and two cruisers are all that's left of the 83rd Expeditionary Force. Those creatures are beyond description. They... They consume entire planets; they're like locusts. But until we gather information, everything is purely speculation."

Slayde nodded, still leaning against the wall. He wondered why Ray was making such an assumption; it seemed absolutely ridiculous that an alien race could make it all the way here and out! Ray shrugged and relaxed in his chair, hoping he would not have to fight the Adnihilo again. The casualties the 83rd had suffered numbered in the thousands, and as such, the UEN had assumed Ray himself was dead. He shook his head slightly, trying not to let anyone see him do it.

Ivalice had chosen to stay on the bridge, to finish repairs there, and had sent Ivalice2 to attend the briefing. Much of the crew had not really seen Ivalice2, and were surprised at how similar he appeared and sounded to Captain Slayde!

Ivalice2 held a minicomputer, which displayed the tactical readout that Ivalice had gathered. "Yes, anything we could say now would be pure speculation. Also, 'anything is a possibility', Ivalice says, 'so prepare for any contigency'. However, we should focus upon a course of action. We will need to send an expeditionary group to assess the situation inside. They will, of course, need to have training in the absence of gravity, have self life support systems (which is easily accomplished with any space suit), and at least one technician/engineer is needed. Also, any units who have radiation protection should mention it, as it may be necessary to access the engineering section immediately. Ivalice has radiation shielding, but it will only be enough to last for 5 minutes in that level of intensity, before systems damage is certain. Captain Slayde, will you be seeking volunteers again, or will you be making assignments? Either way, I recommend that my Team 2 accompanies any expedition. They are good for security."

"Agreed, we need to get on board," replied Slayde, "but we've also got to consider effects outside the ship as well, like this area of calm. What is it, and how is it being maintained?"

He stepped forward, leaning over and placing his hands on the table. "I've been working on a plan." he continued, sitting down in the chair. "It's on an assignment basis, but I'm open to imput. Firstly Mister Horschfield..." He looked down the table at the man in the long coat. "...I'd like you to take your fighter out and map the perimeter of this anomaly, see just how big it is, and if there's anything nearby we should know about." His gaze flicked to Ray. "I trust some of the Kirov's fighters could act as backup too?" he asked.

He continued without waiting for a reply. "Meanwhile the Quasar will dock with the Cruisader, while the Kirov covers us. We don't know what could happen when we approach, and it'd be good to have our big guns ready just in case. Once we've docked we'll take it slow, sending in a small recon party to asses the situation on board. Ivalice's second team will be involved, along with myself, Zoran, Leon for technical support, and Eternity for medical. Once we've secured the living quaters and brought the Cruisader's systems back online, everyone else can come over and we can start unraveling this mystery."

He looked around at the various faces in turn. "We'll start immeadeately, unless anyone has any observations or suggestions?"

"That is fine. The Kirov will launch its fighter wings and cover you. Its laser batteries can fire in any direction as well, and have a very long range. So, in the event that anything happens, we'll be backing you up. As for volunteers... I think my ship's marines will do. They are the cream of the crop; they are the best the UEN has to offer."

A, who was present on the ceiling, chirped, and that was automaticly translated. "Sir, I think that my team should be sent in also. First, if the defense systems have somehow gone bezerk, we could go into the electrical systems and disable them, and because even in the heavily radiated areas of the ship, we are protected."

Amber had made sure the ship was stable and wouldn't drift off and had joined the meeting, fiddling around abit with a device on her wrist to alert her if something happened and she was needed back at the cockpit.
She listened feeling a little numb inside, what had happened to the crew? Surely there had been some survivors? She kept her thoughts to herself though and looked to Leon, he was checking equipment he had on him, he smiled when he saw her look and came over sitting in the empty seat next to her.
"I'll be fine, you're just paranoid." He whispered to her looking at her with a friendly expression.
"I'm not paranoid, just cautious."
"Overly cautious then."
"You're not cautious enough, if anything happens, if you see anything weird, any signs of...whatever, get out of there, okay?"
"Look it'll be fine, just think of all the nice things you can buy with the pay we'll recieve once we're done with this alright?"
"But Leon, look at the facts, this is just strange, just...be careful."
"Okay, okay, I'll be careful, don't worry." Before she could add anything else he walked away again, off to get some more equipment for the mission to come...

Eternity held up her hand and then spoke,
"Zaeda six-" but she was interrupted by said machine.
"Captains I am fully equipped to survive in radiation contaminated areas, I would be happy to help you however I can, I also carry asortments of devices that can keep in visual as well as verbal contact, maybe it would be wise to record our findings. I always love a mystery and we may need the clues later." Eternity rolled her eyes, sighing at the interruption. Zaeda continued. "I am also able to travel in many kinds of gravity and can rate radiation levels as I go as well as other chemicals and changes in the atmosphere, I could be a relatively good scout if you so wish it."

Slayde nodded at each comment, looking thoughtful. "A, that's very true, however we may also need your skills back here onboard the Quasar...if the ship was attacked or something your shield could be invaluable. I trust Leon will be able to use his engineering skills to get into the ship's systems."

"I'm also loathed to send in too big of a force all at once...as I said we have no idea what to expect over there, and if anything should happen, it's best that we risk as few as possible until we have more information. At the same time though, I don't want anyone to ba alone until we have more info, so I'm not keen on anyone heading into the engineering section until we can send a big enough team in."

He stood up. "That'll be our main priority...to activate the radiation filters and all the other systems. Everyone that's still on board the Quasar will need to be on alert in case something unexpected happens, so be prepared."

He looked across at Ray. "Captain if you could send a small division of your marines over when you get back to the Kirov, we can begin the mission immeadeately."

There was a pause, as Slayde looked around the room slowly. "Okay everyone...let's solve this riddle. Dismissed."

Ray turned around and headed out the door, his escort close behind. They returned to the Kirov without incident, and immediately, Ray organised two squads of six marines each.

"Head for the Quasar; they will give you further orders. Remember, you are the best of the best of the best. Failure to comply with orders will be met with harsh punishment, regardless of the circumstances."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" the marines replied, saluting and leaving the area for the shuttle bays.

Slayde was on the bridge again.

"Captain, a shuttle from the Kirov is requesting to dock in the bay." called Amber over her shoulder.

"Let them in." replied Slayde disteractedly. He was thinking about the message...the part that had been repeated. Release me! There was something strainge about that...something that worried him.

"Scout Flyer reports all systems green and ready to launch Captain." said Ivalice, checking his instruments.

"Immeadeate launch...and tell him to take care." said Slayde quietly. "I want him to keep in contact at all times, just in case."

"You got it Captain." came Bernard's voice over the comm.

Slayde waited until the Fighter was clear of the ship, then sat forward in his chair. This was what he'd been waiting for.

"Okay all bug units stand by, incase of trouble. Keep weapons on standby. Amber...take us in."

Amber nodded and operated the controls, and the ship slowly began to move forward.

Onboard the Kirov, Ray watched the Quasar's thrusters fire.

"Bring main weapon to bear on the Cruisader." he muttered. "Secondary guns running hot. Let's not be caught off guard..."

Slayde watched as the massive hull of the dead ship filled the bridge windows. It's dark form was imposing...menacing, somehow.

He narrowed his eyes. What's waiting for us inside those walls...?

"A thousand meters." murmured Amber quietly. "Bringing us level with the airlock."

"Extend clamps."

A deep, throbbing rumble echoed through the ship as the airlock clamps began to extend from the side of the ship, reaching out towards the small portal on the side of the Cruisader. There was a loud BOOM as the clamps contacted and locked.

Slayde spun his chair round. "Okay let's do this." he muttered. "Zoran, Eternity, you're with me. Ivalice, have team two meet us at the airlock." He pressed a button on the arm of his chair. "Captain Slayde to thruster room, Leon, meet us at the airlock." Another button, then: "Captain Slayde to Docking Bay, Kirov Marines report to the airlock."

He stood up. "Everyone else stay on standby in case we need help." He turned to Ruby. "Ruby, you're in command until I get back."

He turned and left the bridge, Zoran close behind him.

"Combat Information Centre online and managing data," reported the CIC personnel who were in the Combat Information Centre just one deck below. "No problems so far. Linking to your Combat Information Display now."

"Good," Ray replied, resting his chin on his left thumb, while his left index and middle fingertips absently stroked the stubble on his chin. He looked at the Combat Information Display, which showed information transmitted directly from the marines' suits. It listed everything from ammunition to injuries to blood pressure - practically everything. "Mister Graham-"

"Already done, Sir," the Caucasian interrupted, a grin on his face. He knew what Ray wanted whenever such operations were undertaken - a direct communications link with the marines.

"Kirov Marines, this is your captain speaking. You will be going into unknown areas, and I thus expect you to be leading the way through as always."

"Yes, Sir!" they replied in unison, running to the airlock as ordered.

Two groups of seven reported to the airlock. Three riflemen, one automatic weapon gunner, one demolitions specialist, one medic cross-trained in weapons, and one engineer. That was the standard setup of a squad of marines.

They stood and awaited orders at the airlock, weapons in hand. They were ready for the operation, and were most certainly capable of carrying it out. Even if it were a suicide mission, they were bound by duty to accomplish it. Such was their resolve as UEN Marines.

Ivalice loomed over the console in front of him. The lack of scanner capability left him feeling..blind. 'What sort of disturbance caused this calm? What is interfering with the sensors?' The unanswered mystery lay there, waiting, even taunting. This situation was not ideal for Team 1, and he hoped the situation would not escalate.

"Ivalice to Kirov."

"Kirov here."

"Requesting access to your sensor net. It may require the power of both our ships to be able to properly scan this region."

Both the Kirov Marines and Team 2 Space Marines arrived. When compared to the Kirov Marines, Team 2 was a very disorderly lot. They didn't stand at attention, they were carrying on rude conversations with each other, and they showed no social manners. Yet, they were loyal, the brain chips installed in them giving them total submission to Ivalice's will.

Ivalice2 arrived at the Airlock as well. "Captain Slayde, Ivalice asked me to disperse these among the expedition force."

Ivalice2 held up a handful of computer chips, add-ons to their communication systems. "What are they?"

Ivalice2 handed them over. "Special chips Ivalice just put together. They should allow you to communicate with the Quasar, despite the interference. They are linked directly with Ivalice, and he will be working with Zaeda Six to make a map of the ship, comparing it with the Crusader's blueprints. Oh, and remember that the closer you get to radiation, the more interference there will be."

Ivalice2 turned to his Team 2. "Ben, Ryo, Giron, Kaze, you four will protect the airlock, to ensure that Captain Slayde and his expeditionary force will have a clear escape route, should they need it. The rest of you, protect the Captain and his expeditionary force, at any cost."

Various grunts of acknowledgement came from the criminals.

"I do wish you the best of luck." Having said that, Ivalice2 began to make his way back to the decks that held Team 1 and Team 3.

(OOC: Slayde, Zoran, and Eternity = Captain Kirk, Mister Spock, and Doctor McCoy! XD)

(OOC: LOL I hadn't planned it like that Way, but I suppose it could be looked at that way, yeah lol.)

IC:

Slayde implanted the small chip in the communicator of his suit. "Hm...useful." he muttered. He leaned over and pressed a button on the wall. "Okay everyone, thanks to Ivalice's inventions we should be able to talk to the ships, so I want an open com channel at all times. Camera feeds are hardwired, so we shouldn't have any interference with them."

He pressed another button on the wall and the door into the airlock hissed open. Slowly all the figures stepped inside, a little crammed in the small space. The door hissed closed again.

"Helmets everyone." called slayde, and all the crewmembers in the airlock quickly sealed their space suits. After checking eveyone was ready, Slayde hit the control pannel and activated the de-pressurisation sequence.

A moment later, the outer door slid open, and the massive hull of the Cruisader came into view.

Slayde stared in awe at the mighty metal obelisk above them as the group slowly filtered out of the airlock and onto the gantry between the two ships. The massive wall of metal towered high above them, and plumeted far below, streaching out on either side like a gigantic metal moon! Far in the distance down the length of the ship, the engeneering section was just visable in the darkness, and behind them, above the hull of the Quasar, light glinted of a small shape far away in he distance...the Kirov.

Slayde never tired of space walks. The atmosphere was so beutiful...so quiet and peaceful.

"Impressive ship!" Eternity's voice interrupted his thoughts on the radio. He turned to see her standing staring down the Cruisader's length, much as he was doing.

"Human engineering at it's best!" exclaimed Leon, not without a hint of pride. "What I wouldn't give to have worked on this baby!"

Slayde grinned. "You may get your chance yet." he replied, looking into the window of the engineer's space suit. "Come on, let's do this."

Carefully the team stepped along the gantry towards the airlock door on the Cruisader. The Kirov Marines took point, standing ready with their guns as one of them stepped forward and activated the controls.

The door slid open.

Beond, was darkness...inpenetrable...invisable darkness.

Slaowly the marines stepped forward, covering each other methodically. There was a pause, then one of them spoke. "Airlock is clear sir."

Slayde and the others followed them into the room, closing the door behind them. There was a moment while the room pressurised, then the inner door hissed open too.

It was a chilling sight.

Almost all the lights were off, dipping the room into an almost sinister twilight and casting dark shadows around the walls that seemed to jump and move as the team's torches cut into the blackness. All around the room, objects hung suspended in mid air, unmoving...fire sprinklers, engineering tools, oxygen canisters...all floating in the lack of gravity, hanging in the air like they were on strings.

The Marines stepped forward again, their magnetic boots keeping them down on the floor as they surveyed the room and the floating debris.

Eternity was checking the atmospheric scanner she had brought with her. "Air putifyer systems must be inactive." she murmured. "High levels of Carbon Dioxide. We'll have to activate the system before we can take our helmets off."

Slayde looked around the dark room, an invoulentry shiver running down his spine. "Okay...me, Eternity and Ivalice's team will head to the bridge and try to get this baby working again. "Leon, take Zoran and the Kirov marines and head to the computer core...see if you can get us a damage report and maybe start any repairs."

He glanced down at the camera fixed to the front of his suit. "Slayde to Quasar and Kirov, how's the feed?"

"Coming through fine Captain." came Ray's reply from the Kirov. "We can see and hear you perfectly."

"Same here sir." replied Ruby's voice. "No problems at all."

Slayde nodded. "Okay, stay alert everyone, and let's not let our imaginations run away with us."

Slaoly he stepped forward into the large, circular room, heading for the latdder up to the gantry and the door into the rest of the ship...

On board the Quasar, the rest of the crew were on the bridge, crowded round the screens in the pilot console, watching the progress of the boarding party. Even Ivalice had left his post at the scanners to watch.

So engrossed in the atmosphere, no one noticed the flicker of energy shimmering across the life form scanner...

OOC: If anything here requires changes, please, let me know. I don't want to mess up your plans for this RP. ^^

IC:
Ray turned to his science officer, who was frowning and furiously pressing buttons at his console. "Lieutenant Chekov-"

"Sir! Life-forms detected on the Crusader! Unknown type, unknown number! The amount of biomass crammed in that zone is incomprehensible!"

"What did you say?!" exclaimed Ray, his back shooting up ramrod straight.

"They are... The mass of life-forms is gone!"

"Might be a sensor malfunction," the assistant science officer suggested.

"Impossible! I checked recalibrated the sensors only five hours ago!"

"Hmm... I don't know. Could be the interference from the ship's radiation leaks from its reactor."

"Now, now, let us make no assumptions... But we must be cautious. Captain Ray to boarding party!"

"Yes, Captain?" replied Slayde as he continued walking through the dark corridors with his team towards the bridge of the Crusader.

"Our sensors just detected a large area of biomass on board the Crusader, but they suddenly vanished."

Slayde stopped in his tracks, raising his left hand to signal the rest of the team to stop.

"Are you sure?"

"Affirmative."

"Where did they vanish?"

Ray looked towards Chekov, who checked the logs. "Radiation in the area was very high, sir."

"It was probably in an area with major radiation leaks. Either that interfered with the scanners and caused them to vanish, or the scanners were malfunctioning," replied Ray.

"All right, we'll be on the lookout. Inform us of anything else you might see that we can't."

"Very well, Captain."

Ray sat back down in his chair, his head now full of thoughts about the possibilities. The Adnihilo were known to attack in swarms, and could have easily stowed away somehow and automatically reproduced themselves, after which they could wreak havoc upon the ship.

"Captain Halter!" a familiar voice called out.

"What is it?"

"It's... You should... see for yourself, Sir." As the lead marine said this, he adjusted the light on his left shoulder and shone it on the wall, which had a message scrawled in blood. Most of it was unintelligible, but Ray could still make out some words.

At...ked by m......s. Sur...sed, could not r..ct in time. All crew m..be.s doomed. If you ... t..s, ..... im.edi...ly.

"Attacked by... What? The blood's congealed and I can't see the word... Sur...sed? Surprised... Could not react in time. All crew members doomed? If you... What? Damn, I can't make it out. I can't understand the last line," Ray said to himself, a little too loud and forgetting that Slayde could hear him over the this channel. "Boarding party, exercise extreme caution. This is no accident..."

Eternity looked at the blood in shock and read through the message as best she could. Frowning she brought out a compact visual transmission device, taking a picture and sending it back to Zaeda six on the sip.
She brought up her com link for Zaeda six as well.
"See if you can decifer it, or atleast guess, tell me of your findings."
"Will do...oh my."
"Already?!?!?"
"Well its fairly simple when you look at it, I'd better keep this one to this link only, it may startle the rest of the crew, don't let anyone else here this, if I'm incorrect in some way then I may cause unwarranted panic."
Zaeda six lowered his volume and read out the translated message.
If she could have been any whiter she would have been.
"You sure?" She said after a while, moving in closer to the others but stil managing to keep her voice down,
"Pretty much but I could still be in error."
"Alright, thanks Zaeda."
"No problem."
Eternity put it away and looked back at the writing, suddenly feeling a sense of paranoia wash over her, she wished she was back on the ship.
"Hold it together Eternity there's no signs that theres somethign here yet, what ever came here may be dead too."
But some part of her doubted strongly and looked out of the corners of her eyes at every shadow they passed...

(OOC: Dagnabit...had a good post, but I pressed the wrong key and lost it.........*grumbles*

Oh and uh..you guys tell me if I'm getting a little ahead of myself and I'll edit this)

Ruby heard. Heard Ray's word of caution. Why hadn't the Quasar's scanners picked up that reading? With a start, she realized that nobody was posted close to the monitor of the scanner. They were all gathered around the pilot console, watching the screen with wary eyes. Oh. Well, that answers that.

"Officer Moore." She called the attention of a young black-haired man who was right next to her.

"Ma'am?"

"Moniter that. We can't be caught off guard. And we most certainly can't have the Kirov doing all the work." She jerked a 'thumb' toward the life form scanner.

"Yes ma'am." And with that, the young officer separated himself from the group and went to seat himself at the separate console. Every now and then, Ruby caught him glancing at the screen, watching Slayde and co. She had no problem with that.

Knowing that Moore would alert her if there happened to be another detection, she turned her attention back the the screen. She had to suppress a shiver at the thought of the disturbing message the Kirov marine had found. The message written in blood. Ruby recalled hearing some mutterings and musings from Ray's end, and figured that the captain of the Kirov had been mulling over the missing fragments. She found herself doing the same, working at the strange riddle that had presented itself in such a strange way...

Obviously, they were attacked by something...but what? She chewed her lip, a habit that indicated she was puzzled about something and was deep in thought about it. Begins with 'm'...ends with 's'....monsters? Yes, perhaps that's it.

Surprised, could not...react in time. All crew..members doomed. If you...if you what? If you..... And then it dawned on Ruby. She had figured it out. And it was even more alarming than it first was. She activated the comm device that was strapped around her head like a michrophone and spoke.

"Captain Ray of the Kirov...Captain Slayde, I do believe I've figured out what that message says....and it's not very reasuring."

Ruby waited for a response from either man, wondering if any of them had figured it out as well. She could see, from the look on some of the crew's faces that they had.

"Yes... So have we," replied Ray. "It is most... unsettling."

Ruby nodded in response, looking at the faces of the other crew members.

"Attacked by monsters. Surprised, could not react in time. All crew members doomed," started Ray. He swallowed his saliva as he continued his messageg. "The last part was written rather violently... If you see this, FLEE IMMEDIATELY! Evidently, whoever was attacked did not want anyone to suffer the same fate..."

It was as if a massive tidal wave of shock had smashed straight into them. The crew of the Quasar immediately found themselves snapping their heads left and right looking at the frowns on each other's faces for confirmation that they had really heard what Ray said.

When all eyes focused on her, she relucatantly nodded, her eyes closed. Shocking as it were, the message was already there, and already deciphered. At least now, they had some idea as to what had happened.

"This is disturbing, to say the least," commented Ray. "Boarding party, if you wish to leave the Crusader alone, now is the time. If what happened was the work of the Adnihilo, the chances of your survival are... minimal."

"No, Sir. We came to do this, and we'll finish this mission!" came the response from one of the marines.

"Understood. Marines, double your vigilance. Guard the crew of the Quasar with your lives."

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

(OOC: Sorry for not posting yesterday...had a lot on ><

Looking good all...keep it up!^^ A little note for the next few posts...after the initial detection, scanners will remain quiet for a while now. Also, feel free to notice one or two more of the crew as you move through the ship, but please note that this will be very rare. Most of the crew are not simply dead, but have actually physically dissapeared!

Also, not all the bodies will be the same as the one described below...some will be found with injuries from weapons (guns, axes, blunt instruments, etc), and a very very few of them will have no eyeballs, but the residue of them, as though their eyes have melted!

The plot thickens...)

IC:

Slayde had been staring at the message in silence, Suddenly he turned round, shining his torch down the long corridor, flicking it across the walls as if looking for something. Apparently unsatisfied, he turned round, looking the other way down the long corridor. His torch flicked round...

Everyone in the boarding party stiffened, some of them letting out gasps of shock. Slayde narrowed his eyes, taking a step toward the object slowly.

"The author, I presume." he muttered, his voice quiet, weighed down with discust and pain.

The body bridged the corridor, hanging unnaturally in mid air in the lack of gravity. Small red spheres hung motionless around the corpse, glinting with ice in the torchlight. Slaowly Slayde reached forward, picking one of the larger spheres out of the air and examining it. "Blood," he remarked, "frozen solid by the cold when the heaters went down."

The body itself was barely recognisable! The face had been smashed beond recognition, long strands of bloodstained hair reaching from the back of the head the only giveaway that the body was female. The torso had been torn open like a christmas present, the insides of the rubs clearly visable where they had been peeled back. The internal organs were missing, and the torchlight picked out the regular pattern of spine through the hole in the chest.

The body's limbs were bent at grotesquely horriffic angles, and one arm was missing altogether from the elbow down. The severed limb was picked out a moment later in the torchlight, floating some way down the corridor behind the body. The whole figure gleamed slightly as the light passed over it, it's surface shining with the cold ice of space's chill.

"It...it looks like she's...been torn apart by a wild animal!" exclaimed Leon, staring at the body wide-eyed.

On board the Kirov Ray stared at the visual feed, taking a deep breath. It wasn't pretty!

"Captain Slayde I recommend you pull all your crew out of there and let us take responsibillity here. This situation is obviously dangerous."

"Negative Captain. There's no guarentee that whatever did this is still on board, besides, we're mercinaries. We're uced to danger."

"Captain, with all due respect, you are a civillian, and..."

"You heard me Ray...we're alright. I appreciate your concern, but we can handle things."

Slayde reached out, gently taking hold of the body with his hand and pushing it over to the side of the corridor. His stomach was ravolting at the action, but it had to be done...the body was blocking the way. As it moved the body nudged against some of the small frozen spheres of blood, sending them skittering off in all directions, many of them hitting the walls and shattering like glass.

Slayde made sure the body was far enough out of the way, then he turned back to the boarding party. "Okay, we have more information than before, but it's still not enough. We all need to be extra vigilant, but we'll carry on with the origional plan to get the ship up and running again. Leon, Zoran, Kerov Marines, to the Computer Core. Me, Eternity and Ivallice Marines to the Bridge. Stay alert anyone, and report absolutely anything you find...anything at all."

Some of the group looked a little uncertain, but they all nodded and split into the groups, moving off down the corridor in different directions.

"Slayde to Quasar and Kirov, keep an eye on those energy readings, and let me know immeadeately of any changes."

Ray's stomach had begun churning at the grotesque sight of the body. Now, he felt as if his dinner from yesterday was going to come out the wrong way as well. Indeed, years of not seeing such bodies caused him to lose his ability to control his gut.

"Affirmative, Captain Slayde," replied Ray. "Mister Chekov, keep your eyes glues to that scanner! We're not going to lose them..."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Thank you, Captain," said Slayde as he and his team marched down the corridors. Evidently, that body was not the only one there. The visual feeds of the leaders of both teams showed numerous other bodies whose owners had been killed in similar manners, all of them bloody messes. There were also bodies killed in different ways, whose wounds seemed to be from man-made weapons.

This particular body floating in the middle of the corridor was extremely disgusting. It seemed like every joint in the body had been broken and twisted in the opposite way it was meant to bend, and a pool of frozen, congealed blood on the floor showed much had been done to the poor fellow. Slayde grabbed the body with his free hand and turned it to see what wounds had been made.

It was something he and the crews of both ships wished he hadn't done. The body had numerous slash marks over its upper torso, and holes were torn in the uniform it wore. The body was unidentifiable now; the only way to determine if it was male or female had been eliminated in a most improper way.

"These holes... They're projectile wounds. The entry holes are too small to be any other kind of wound," Slayde stated as he turned the body around. "Yeah, definitely projectile wounds. The exit holes are quite large."

"Most disturbing..." muttered Ray as Slayde pushed the body aside. It seemed that as they went down the corridors, there were more and more frozen blood globes floating around, or other floating weapons and miscellaneous personal effects. Perhaps, it was a trail leading to where all this first started...

(OOC: Just a small point Vic...just me being picky really, but it's to keep continuity to some degree...that may be too many bodies on the ship. Each team would see an absolute maximum of 2 or 3 on their way to their destinations, and probably less than that. The key is not really that the crew have been massichered (although some have) but that 99% of them are no longer on board the ship, and their remains are nowhere to be seen.

Other than that, looks ok...keep it up all.)

Eternity looked on in horror at the floating remains of some of the crew, she kept count of those spotted and after walking further with the others frowned.
"Strange, there should be more people, the crew would have to be far larger than this to look after a ship this size, where could the other bodies have gone..." She looked again at the inflicted wounds and peered closer, whatever had caused them, she didn't want to meet...

OOC: VERY long post ahead!

IC:

At his command chair in the bridge, Ray decided to review Professor Ensign's data logs. The evidence on the ship was quite reminiscent of the long-ago battles he once went through. He sighed as he opened the data logs, and began reading through them. First was the basic of all basic Adnihilo, the Larva or Spinecrawler as it was affectionately named.

Adnihilo Larva AKA Spinecrawler

These creatures are the basic form of the Adnihilo race. It is assumed that this is their original look, size and shape, and their behaviour has not changed for innumerable aeons. My extensive studies have shown that these creatures are able to somehow manipulate their hosts by finding their central nervous system through their extraordinary sensory ability to detect electrical impulses. They identify friend or foe through such nervous impulses, and they can hence find the central nervous system.

How many men died because they were shot by their comrades who could not control their bodies? Too many to count... He sighed and shook his head as he remembered how a scout party killed each other because of the Spincrwalers. They simply burst out from beneath the scouts' feet, ripped through their suits and attached themselves to their hosts' backs and shot at each other.

Dissecting many Larva carcasses by cutting apart their soft underbellies has proven to be informative; strange appendages can be seen underneath their soft lower carapace after dissection. It appears that these appendages can produce electrical impulses as well, and studying the small brains of the Larvae with the newly developed analysis systems has revealed astounding information.

The Larvae are able to hatch into any form of the Adnihilo race except Broodmasters, as they address themselves, and the higher caste. Apart from that, they can carry out metamorphosis, and transform into anything from an Underling to a Propono. If required, they can become Larvae again, by regenerating their Larva form inside their host body, then shedding the body to become a Larva.

Nature at its best, Ray sarcastically said to himself. This was the most amazing race he had ever come across, but also the race he hated most. Efficient killers, wiping planets clean of life and resources in days, like the extinct locusts of Earth.

While small, the Larvae are extremely dangerous. Their ultra-tough carapace has proven difficult to cut open, and their speedy movement can quickly render any soldier helpless. Larvae are hidden underground, near the surface. When enemies are detected overhead, they instantly bolt up the leg, ripping through the armour and attaching themselves to the victims back by biting into it. They then insert their appendages into the body, sending electrical impulses to and fro. This can result in chaos, as an entire squad of men charging straight into a nest of Larva will quickly find themselves helpless, and then devoured by the hive minions.

Indeed, the most frightening race he had ever come across were the Adnihilo. Hive mentality, brutal tactics and a numbers advantage. An unconceivable advantage at that. He had managed to overcome the Adnihilo and defeat them where they were known to exist, but at a great cost. All but the Kirov and two cruisers was left of the once glorious 83rd Expeditionary Force, made up of more than 50 ships of different kinds and purposes, ranging from frigates to carriers to colony ships.

Perhaps, he mused, he had overlooked a few planets where the Adnihilo could have hidden. But then again, there were so few bodies on the ship! Surely, if the Adnihilo did do it, they would have killed every single person and taken no prisoners!

Adnihilo Worker AKA Underling

The Worker caste creatures are easily the most numerous, apart from the Larvae. They are no larger than the average housedog. These creatures are supervised directly by the Hivemaster, who directs them to forage and occasionally sacrifices them to feed the Larvae. These creatures have tough head carapaces, but are extremely vulnerable elsewhere. Though they are not strong when it comes to defence, they are unbelievably agile and strong, being known to cut rock formations and dig deep into the ground for resources and food. The resources and minerals serve to make the bodies of the Adnihilo stronger, and are usually stored in a separate structure from the hive.

When the Hivemaster receives orders from the Broodmaster, it directs the Workers to begin construction. If resources are not close at hand, they may consume the flesh of other Workers, creating a mess of bones and flesh. They will then construct the structure from there, fusing the bones together with a special chemical spray that only Workers can naturally produce. Remaining flesh and bones will be fused with the structure using the same spray, and Workers may morph to become parts of the structure.

Sick, disgusting creatures, he said to himself. The sight of the inside of any Adnihilo building was one to behold. Every single part of the structure was alive! The structure itself was one being, created by hundreds of their kind!

Workers are also the first caste to be called into battle, immediately stopping work and launching themselves forward to defend their hive. They are combat-ready at all times, and if they are in large groups, are great threats. It is best to utilise flamethrowers and use other dispersal techniques to spread them out, or kill them while they are in large groups.

Large groups. Hah, Ray laughed mentally. Large was an understatement. They came in the thousands! It was even more terrifying than facing a few million angry Russians with one division of machinegunners in the 20th century!

Adnihilo Warrior AKA Lizard

The Warrior caste of the Adnihilo possesses unparalleled agility and utilises both melee and ranged attacks. Their limbs extend into a foot and four scythe-like claws, sharp enough to tear through even tank armour. It is also no longer than the average man is tall.

Warriors have been known to use stealth tactics in groups, hiding and camouflaging with the terrain before pouncing on unsuspecting patrols and expeditionary forces. Their carapace proves to be something to contend with, but it is not as strong as the Larvas.

Ambushes. Yes, ambushes. He had personally experienced them before, and they were no pretty sights. Instantly, the man standing next to him could disappear in a spray of powerful acid. Perfection of form indeed, Ray said to himself.

Having studied the Adnihilo Warrior castes carcasses for many times, I have discovered that they store a strong acid in their bodies, and spray that acid when required. One look at the victim will tell you that the acid is extremely potent. One victims remains were barely even discernable when they were found. Even the surgical instrument I used to cut open the acid sac was destroyed when it fell inside the sac.

The Lizard, as it is called, has the shape of an extinct creature from centuries before, and is hence called thus. It also moves like one, and can temporarily stay attached to a smooth surface, and spend an even longer time on a rough one.

In summary, the Adnihilo Warrior caste is a force to be reckoned with, and should be tackled from a long range if possible. They are dangerous when within spitting range, and lethal when up close. Their fangs are also strong enough to bite through the standard armour, and can very easily remove an entire forearm.

When he read the word "forearm", he looked at his First Officer's right forearm. It was a cybernetic one, as he had fought a Warrior that was attacking Ray. He lowered his head slightly for a few moments, then lifted it back up and continued reading through the log.

Adnihilo Controller AKA Propono

These rather large yet swift creatures are the critical for control and transport in battle. Their psychic ability can reach out to large groups of Adnihilos kilometres away, and they can even transport other Adnihilo types. Their legs are extremely powerful, and hence they have great speed. They can carry up to 30 Workers, or 10 Warriors at any point of time. More may be squeezed in, but it will serve to reduce the travelling speed of the Propono.

Other Proponos can also relay their psychic signals, in case the minions are too far away.

Proponos also serve the purpose of a siege weapon, or a tool for crossing vertical obstacles. They can launch their passengers by turning and pointing their passenger compartment at their target, then increasing the pressure inside it. Once the pressure is high enough, the compartments end quickly shoots open and the resulting change in pressure sucks the passengers out, hurling them over the obstacle. This has been a brutal but effective tactic, allowing for the destruction of a base from the inside.

Siege weapons. Those were the most terrifying of all functions the Proponos possessed! Bases could be completely overrun in an instant because of the Adnihilos' tactics! Even a base with walls the height of ten men would be of no use against the Adnihilo, who simply piled bodies and scaled the mountain of bones, flesh and blood as they assaulted bases.

Secondly, they can serve as a stepping-stone to reduce the distance between the minions and the top of the obstacle. If it is insufficient, they can support one more Propono on top, and the minions can then climb on top and assault any fortification.

Proponos are practically defenceless. Their carapace is thin and only strong enough to hold itself together and another Propono on top. While they are vulnerable to attack, their passengers will assault their assailants, having lost their controller. Until another Propono comes to take over, they will randomly assault anything in sight.

This was, of course, a good thing. Once a Propono was killed, the group it was controlling would go berserk and started slashing away at anything and everything they could. Yes, indeed, this was one way they could control the Adnihilo.

Suicide Adnihilo AKA Hellspawn

Not very much is known about this species of Adnihilo. However, it has been discovered that it carries within itself large sacs of highly flammable and reactive gases at high pressure. When killed, the gases explode, causing explosions depending on the quantity and pressure of the gas. They are known to attack in large groups, and have the ability to fly and exist in a vacuum. (All other castes can also exist in a vacuum.) This is potentially dangerous, as they can assault fleets and destroy ships with their large, swarming numbers.

Ray shuddered at the mere thought of the Hellspawn. Several hundreds of them charging at a ship could easily rip open a hole in its shields and hull for other Adnihilo to enter and conquer the ship from the inside out.

Adnihilo Subterranean Warrior AKA Spiker

This is the subterranean version of the Warrior caste, only recently discovered. It seems that the way they attack is by burrowing underground, like the Larvae, then using the same method of detection. They then lie in wait in their burrow, and once their victim is within range, they launch a powerful spike through the ground to attack him or her. When the victim is downed, they dig until they are underneath, then drag the victim down, whether dead or alive. They then slowly devour the victim, regardless of whether he or she is alive at that point of time.

Horrifying was the only word Ray could find to describe this. They killed mercilessly, ruthlessly, taking their time to devour live victims bit by bit. His gut contracted as he read on, remembering all the scenes he had witnessed.

It has proven useless to attack it while it is hidden; the burrows are usually quite deep, providing protection for the Warrior. These burrows may be used for defence in the event of a battle, and allow for quick transportation. An elaborate network of tunnels was once discovered after blasting a hive with a nuclear missile. Inside were several Underlings and Warriors, not including the Subterranean Warriors.

The Spiker possesses the same acid sac as that of the Warrior, and it is of the same corrosiveness. What is known is that it coats the spike it shoots with the acid, and also uses the acid to corrode its victim to make it easier to consume. Its carapace is not too tough or too weak; it doesnt need to be tough. Its burrows can easily provide the necessary protection.

Oh, how he wished that he did not have to stay on the ship while his men and women went down onto the surface to fight and be killed. He clenched his left fist, angry at both himself and the Adnihilo. They had caused him too much pain to forget - he had lost so many men that he could not explain it to the UEN headquarters. Even then, they had already classified him as Killed In Action.

Adnihilo Flying Worker-Warrior AKA Hornet

This flying monstrosity serves multiple purposes. So far, it has been found that it performs the roles of reconnaissance, aerial patrols, air raids, transporting units through space, and can work like an Underling.

Its main method of attack is by spraying corrosive acid similar to that of the Warrior caste, but it can do so over a longer range and with larger quantities. It can also carry several Hellspawns or Underlings, and two of them can carry one Propono. This can both be used for besieging a base and for migration to another planet. It can also use its claws and teeth, but they are not so effective.

The Hornet is not a tough enemy, as it needs to have a light body. Hence, its carapace is weaker than the Warriors, but it is rather agile. There may be difficulty in trying to destroy them, as they are not easy to hit.

One of the least frightening Adnihilo, but still a powerful weapon. Anyone caught within its claws was doomed for sure. However, it was used more often as a siege weapon and transport method, shooting their acid over long ranges like airborne artillery and dropping entire Proponos into bases.

Adnihilo Warships&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp

These colossal objects are, in reality, living ships. Every part of them is made from live organisms, and each of these large ships the size of a battlecruiser often carries almost a thousand of the Adnihilos, and launches them at enemies. Some types can carry smaller ships, which carry some Proponos and Adnihilos to assault space-faring ships. The tactics involved are often brutal, if not suicidal. Ships with weak shielding and weak hulls are prone to being overrun by such tactics, as it is not uncommon to see hundreds of such small ships coming in a swarm.

Some warships contain humongous amounts of gaseous matter at high pressure, and crash into other ships to destroy them. Others use corrosive acid sprays, or hurl balls of highly destructive plasma torpedoes at ships.

These were by far the most frightening ships he had ever fought. Out in space, the 83rd EF stood the best chance of winning a battle, as it had the technology advantage. They could easily destroy several ships before the Adnihilo fleets ever got close enough, but those organic ships were somehow also very large in numbers, and some of their ships had carapaces so thick that it took special weapons like the Kirov's Auger Beam Cannon to punch a hole through it, keeping to its namesake.

Ray drummed his fingers once again, a habit acquired from the past when he had no idea what to do. He thought of sending the logs to the Quasar, but wondered if it would be a breach of trust. Professor Ensign Sr. had said that his documents were for the UEN and government research teams only, as the people of the Earth were not to know anything about the Adnihilo. The news had been censored and information about the Adnihilo was prohibited from being broadcasted. But now, what was there to stop him?

"Captain Slayde?" Ray suddenly said, much to Slayde's surprise.

"Yes?" came the reply.

"If you wish to find out more about the Adnihilo race, I have Professor Ensign Senior's data logs. I can send them to the Quasar so you can refer to them later."