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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 16:29:09 GMT -5
OOC: Kaz already got himself out of his own situation, he's currently inside of the station. Unable to respond to your hail, due to the fact that he's nowhere near his ship's communications systems.
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 11, 2007 17:27:02 GMT -5
"This day just keeps getting more and more exciting..." Ethan mumbled. First the Martian attack. Then the Earth forces attacking either this Aidan guy or the Belter colony. Now the Andalites. He turned towards Aidan.
"Don't worry too much about it. The higher ups can have some... weird... ideas at times."
The doctor made his way back to the bar to see if the television had a view of what was going on outside. Indeed it did, though the monstrous alien ship took up pretty much the entire screen. Ethan stared in awe for a moment.
* * *
Lexi had been on Luna during the Martian attack. Not wanting to get embroiled in any conflicts, she had hopped in Astraea and made for the Belt as soon as the Earth forces engaged the Martians.
Lexi was staring out the cockpit window while Astraea flew. Astraea's tail engine was in full burn because they wanted to get away from the conflict as soon as possible. As the rocks in the Belt started growing larger, Lexi commanded Astraea to slow down. The AI's hologram materialized in the copilot's chair.
"Aye aye," the ship said. Lexi was vaguely aware of the dampened roar of the tail engine dying down to a less audible hum. There were various other hums and vibrations as Astraea unfolded and extended her wings, moving them gracefully through the ether.
"Hey, you see that big ship hovering by the asteroid?"
"No..." Lexi replied.
"Oh, right. Human eyesight is crap." If Astraea's avatar had eyes, they would've rolled. The AI brought up a close up of the Andalite ship. Lexi's eyes widened.
"Ooooh... shiny..." she mumbled. "Okay, I wanna check that thing out."
Astraea nodded. The ship continued its course towards the Andalite ship when Lexi noticed something else in the view screen.
"Is that... the Nostrils of God?" she wondered aloud. Astraea snorted at the name that her captain seemed to hold in high regard. Lexi didn't notice. "One of Ethan Losego's greatest inventions..." The girl was now completely torn over which ship she wanted to go to first. The aliens' or her idol's. It was a tough choice.
Astraea flapped once to stop the ship a healthy distance from the two ships, letting her captain think for a bit.
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Post by kazkame on Feb 11, 2007 17:42:08 GMT -5
Aidan decided it was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and get back to what he knew best, helping people. He walked behind Dr. Ethan and began to watch the television screen. In his life he had never seen a ship so big. “Excuse me doctor, what is that?” he asked.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Feb 11, 2007 18:10:20 GMT -5
OOC:"Aidan decided it was time to stop felling sorry for him and get back to what he new best helping people. He walked behind Doctor Ethan and began to watch the television screen. In his life he had never seen a shit so big. “Excuse me doctor, what is that?” he asked. "
Prime's shit in the head just got PWNED!
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 11, 2007 18:19:15 GMT -5
Shejirili led Hex down several hallways, going out of her way to keep the human from seeing any more of the ship than he had to. While she led him on their journey through the ship, Shejirili spoke. <Andalites trade with species who have achieved a level of technology equal or superior to our own. We call this law Seerow's Kindness. We’ve learned that when you give something to species that are not ready for it, you will often have to clean up their mess.>
Finally they found themselves on the bridge. This was really just a large glass dome at the front of the ship. If one looked to the back of the ship they could see the larger section, explaining why it was called a "dome ship". A gigantic glass dome took over the rest of the ship, towering high into space. Inside there were different types of greenery; grass of all different colors, trees which seemed to grow in strange curves, stalks that stood out of the ground ten feet and ended in large husked bulbs, and towards the center was a small mountain with what appeared to be a functioning waterfall.
The bridge itself was rather bare. There were several Andalites standing at floating metallic balls each the size of a basketball. The Andalites held their hands on either side of the ball without touching them. Tendrils of light blue energy wafted between the balls and their hands, as if sending messages back and forth.
<War-Prince Sly,> Shejirili addressed her commanding officer as they walked up the ramp to the Command Deck. <I introduce you to our guest, Hex.>
Sly stood in the center of the platform, surrounded by several floating monitors. His eyes looked all around, taking in each screen before moving on to the next. He looked at Shejirili and then Hex. Sly flicked his tail and Shejirili nodded and left the command platform. Sly continued to study the monitors before finally addressing Hex.
<I had wondered why there was a telepathic transmission originating from my ship being sent to that fine vessel outside. Rather interesting. I’ve never known a ship's command prompt to be tied directly into a being's neural matrix. Tell me, does it respond to everything you think, or did it attach probes to the hull of my ship on its own?>
Sly noticed Hex studying the floating monitors behind him. <I’m sure that you’re capable of sending those images in your head to your ship to be translated; by all means go ahead. All the systems being viewed on those monitors are within what is ‘defined’ as a human level of technology. In honesty, if you ask me, the ruling Andalites don’t give you humans enough credit. But let's keep that between us.>
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Post by prime on Feb 11, 2007 18:36:14 GMT -5
Hex gave the Andalite a small smile. <My ship responds to everything I think, sir Andalite. However, sadly I need to be physically present within the ship for it to truly perform wonders. The probes, however, were derived from a form of mild contempt after your second decided to refer to me as an inferior species. I found that somewhat irksome, and had intended to disassemble and effectively make off with one of your shield generators. But it seems the machines are incapable of finding a way inside of this ship without cutting a hole in its fine hull, and I'm loathe to damage this ship; I'd rather not start an incident that could be interpreted as an act of war by my species.> He noted the Andalite's look of surprise, and tapped the crystal on his forehead.
<Within me is the device that drives my ship. It expands my thoughtforms, allowing me to think along lines that a normal human is incapable of pursuing. It also has the side effect of making me mildly telepathic,> he said contentedly, and looked around at the other Andalites on the bridge.
<Also, I've no need for a translation matrix. Your language is made up of a seventy-two-symbol alphabet designed for fluid thoughtforms. Somewhat hack and slash when it comes to view screens, but I don't doubt your more important systems are tied into thought processors. Just standing on this bridge, I've learned quite a lot. Though it has to be said, there's a striking similarity between my ship's systems and your own,> he added thoughtfully. <I believe a more thorough scan of my ship would yield results that your council would be quite surprised at. What have you been able to note from your preliminary scan, before I turned my ship's sensor shields back on?>
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Post by kazkame on Feb 11, 2007 21:21:48 GMT -5
OOC: im sorry, I typed too fast
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 12, 2007 1:31:19 GMT -5
<Sir!> Shejirili had returned. <The transport is prepped and ready. You will be able to visit the Belter Station as per their request.>
Sly nodded. <Very well.> He turned and looked over the broken railing at one of the Andalites below. <Rogerai! You will be in command of the ship while I’m on the station. I will take a comm device with me, so if there’s a problem do not hesitate to contact me.>
<Yes, my Prince.> Rogerai stepped away from the large floating metallic ball he had been stationed at. A hole opened in the floor, the ball dropped down into it, and the hole resealed itself. Sly noticed the disheartened look on his second-in-command's face. <Shejirili, you will be accompanying me to the station. As your Prince, it is my job to train you to one day be able to command a dome ship. I believe this will be a good learning experience.>
Shejirili’s demeanor lightened when she found she would be going to the station, where there were many more humans to observe. She bowed and allowed Sly and Hex to go ahead of her. Sly turned a stalk eye toward Hex.
<Now where were we?> Sly began. <Ah yes, your ship. Our scans revealed some very interesting facts. The first thing that caught my attention was the heartbeat. I’ve only ever encountered one ship that had a heartbeat, but unlike yours it was a fully organic creature. The captain was, in my opinion, the most advanced life form ever to be encountered. Far superior to my own species. He told me of how his people programmed blank organic cells and then grew these ships. Quite amazing really. I took several notes on the nature of his ship, and since it was not of Andalite design I have no qualms with forwarding the notes on to you when I have the chance. I believe there was a part in the notes about how the ship shielded itself, which we noticed your ship was slightly in need of. It also classified the threat level you ship poses to our own. I believe it was Destructive-class, capable of causing heavy damage to the Tsunami before your ship was inevitably destroyed. I believe that is also the highest any human ship has ever ranked on our scan.>
The three of them arrived on the flight deck, where several pilots had gathered to see the human. <Look at it; its body has no fur.> <How does it keep from falling with only two legs?> <I heard they breathe fire when they're cornered!>
Sly’s tail was a blur as it flicked through the air and stopped just short of the nearest pilot's throat with a whiplike crack. His tail-blade pushed lightly against the pilot’s throat as Sly addressed the group.
<Never have I been so sickened to call myself an Andalite. You are Andalite warriors! Do not act like a group of gossiping aristh! Prince Knijui will be very displeased to find that his warriors behaved in such an inferior way, not only in front of a being from another species but in front of the very War-Prince who is in comand of this dome ship.>
Sly took his tail-blade from the pilot's throat and used the blunt side to force the Andalite to stare him in the face with his main eyes. <Now all of you return to your duties and if you ever do such a thing again I will cut your tails off myself.>
Sly pulled back his tail and allowed the pilots to go without another word. Sly stood there for a moment before turning to Hex. <I lived among humans for several years, long before they finally began colonizing outside their own planet. I hold an understanding of humans that no other Andalite has. I fear that it’s my peoples ignorance of humans that causes them to behave as they do. And as long as they struggle to hold their arogance, so will they hold their ignorance.>
The three silently entered the transport. It was a long oval with two short stubby wings, one on each side and an engine in the back. The ship's main cannon came up out of the back and curved to face forward, much resembling an Andalite's tail. The entire ship was a strange hue of blue that reflected light, much like a puddle of oil casting a rainbow gloss over the surface when viewed at the right angle. The inside was rather spacious, but there were no chairs. On one side hung the mechanical suit that Hex had worn when he'd entered the ship.
The pilot was waiting for them inside. He placed his hands on a metallic ball similar to the ones on the bridge. Energy passed between his hands and the ball as the entrance closed behind them and the ship lifted into the air. It passed through the force shield and headed for the Belter Station.
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 12, 2007 1:51:50 GMT -5
Lexi had been barraging the alien ship with a variety of different hails on many different channels. She had decided that she wanted to talk to the aliens first. None had worked so far, and she was becoming disheartened with each failed attempt. Just as she was about to give up, Astraea pointed out the oval pod launching from the behemoth of a ship.
With excitement again, Lexi took manual control of her Dragonfly. Astraea's glowing blue wings moved this way and that, pushing the cargo ship closer to the aliens. As they got closer, the human thought the organic wings melded into the mechanical structure might throw the aliens off a bit, so she folded them back in, switching to the rotating combustion engines. She eased up right next to the alien pod and tried hailing it.
"Hello?"
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Post by prime on Feb 12, 2007 2:14:41 GMT -5
Hex nodded, ignoring the Andalites examining him. <Yes, yes I would be grateful for any information you could provide,> he said, stepping into the transport. He spotted his VS against one wall, and went over to it. He started tinkering with the insides, adapting its tranceiver system to the method used by his neural spike. "There we go," he said aloud. After interfacing with the VS, he climbed inside the cockpit. He moved the arms, then the legs experimentally, and they moved as though they were his own. "Good."
He stopped, looking at his comm panel. "I believe we're being hailed," he said to Sly.
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 12, 2007 2:26:48 GMT -5
Sly had been rummaging through one of the supply containers when Hex announced the hail. He abandoned what he was doing and looked over at the panel. Sure enough they were receiving a hail. <Pilot, why did you not inform me that someone was trying to contact us?>
<War-Prince Salon, it was just a low class ship. I didn’t think you would wish to be bothered with something trivial,> the pilot said.
Sly took a deep breath in from the vertical slit in the center of his face. If he had teeth he would have been grinding them. He reached over to the console and flipped a switch. <This is Sly, War-Prince of the Tsunami. We are currently en route to the Belter Station. Do you require assistance?>
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 12, 2007 2:56:40 GMT -5
"Eep!" Lexi yelped in surprise as the voice entered her head. She had never experienced telepathy before. The most brain-to-brain interaction she'd had was in controlling Astraea's many moving parts, but actual words were never exchanged.
She hoped she hadn't had the comm link open when she'd yelped. She pushed the button down and spoke up, her voice coming out confidently again. After all, she was a Belter. Belters weren't afraid of anything.
"Greetings, War-Prince Salon. I am Alexandra LeGrande, captain of the Astraea, a Dragonfly-class cargo ship. Thank you for your concern over my affairs, but fortunately, I'm fine. I was just kinda curious about your species and their technology. From the looks of your..." she thought, having forgotten what the magnificent ship's name was for a moment, "Tsunami, your technology is amazing."
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 12, 2007 3:59:55 GMT -5
Sly thought for a moment to himself. Something was beginning to formulate in the back of his head. He flipped the switch again. <Well Captain Alexandra, if you follow us to the Belter Station you may very well get your chance to learn about us.> Sly left the console and went back to rummaging in the supply container. Shejirili looked at him in shock.
<Sir, you did not just tell that human what I think you did, did you?> She stamped her hoof impatiently.
Sly continued rummaging, <That’s why I choose you as my second. You’re not afraid to question me. Aha!> Sly pulled out three vials filled with a crimson liquid. <Our people have been sitting on their pedestals for too long. We made one mistake in giving the Yeerks technology. We corrected that mistake. I lived with humans for nearly twenty-three years and they were ready for our technology then. This is my ship and I will decide what happens in it.>
<But Sir, the Electorate, they’ll strip you of your rank and your ship. What will you do then?> Shejirili argued.
<Whatever it takes to liberate our people from their own ignorance. Now then, absorb a sample of blood from each one of those vials. I trust you’ve practiced the Frolis maneuver; you will use it to combine the samples into an original human female morph. We will be able to maneuver their hallways better and will stand out less.>
Sly handed her the vials and backed away. His chest began to contort as his bones shifted under his skin. Most of his bones were condensing and merging together. The deerlike portion of his body merged into a single pair of legs. He kept the clothing simple and morphed a pair of leather boots and a jumpsuit that said War-Prince across the back. It was tacky but would have to do. When he was finished he looked about like an average human male. He stood not quite six feet tall and had short brown hair and green eyes. Sly looked at Shejirili. “Your turn.”
Shejirili had acquired the DNA while Sly was morphing. She concentrated and her body started to change. The first thing was her fur and skin, the color faded to a creamy tan and the fur melted into her body. Her spine straightened, causing her to rear up on her back legs as her front legs melted into her shrinking body. She, like Sly, morphed a jumpsuit with the word Second on the back. Her bald head exploded into golden locks of long flowing hair. When she had finished she stood perhaps six inches shorter than Sly. Her eyes were just as green as his and her hair reached down to her waist. It took a moment for her to get used to balancing, but she adjusted and began to test the muscles of the mouth, opening and closing several times. “Interesting…” she mumbled.
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Post by prime on Feb 12, 2007 4:14:47 GMT -5
Hex raised an eyebrow sharply, glancing between the two. "I'd forgotten about your morphing tech," he said, carefully avoiding looking at the massively delicious blonde who had once been a rather blue and very naked creature. He shook his head to clear it, then looked around as the piloting Andalite spoke. <Sir, we're approaching the Belter Station. I'm bringing the transport in to dock.>
The transport suddenly swung around, firing reverse thrusters, and slowly brought itself down into the dock pad. A Belter physical force screen closed off the vacuum of space, and the dock was quickly filled with oxygen. The hatch slowly opened.
"All right!" Hex said enthusiastically, as the cockpit closed around him. He had to make the large VS crawl out of the transport, due to its size. He finally managed to free it from the Andalite ship, and walked over to the near exit. It was actually large enough for the VS, but Hex refrained from passing through. Instead, he parked it in the kneeling position, and opened the cockpit. Several delegates had been sent out to meet the Andalite entourage, but Hex completely ignored them. Instead he sought out the dockmaster, and began talking adamantly with him, ordering parts and ammunition.
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 12, 2007 4:48:31 GMT -5
OOC- I'm gonna wait and see if someone actualy has a char among the deligates... lol
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 12, 2007 21:57:08 GMT -5
The entrance to the dock was blocked off by the local authorities. Obviously, the media was the first group of people trying to push their cameras and microphones into the small passageway, but the guards kept them out.
Ethan was behind the group of reporters, among the 'normal' people who were curious about the aliens. He wasn't pushing, but rather, stood next to the wall. He couldn't help but think of the conflicts that could arise, because he remembered that from his studies, an unknown group of aliens had attacked and nearly wiped out Mars. Of course, Mars still existed today because of their massive army, which had been created in almost one day.
Lexi, on the other hand, had hopped out of Astraea and was walking around the Andalite transport ship, her hand trailing its smooth hull and her eyes looking in wonder like a kid in a candy store. She really wanted to tinker with its insides, but she knew that would be rude.
Suddenly, the artificial gravity went wonky, tossing people in random directions, and the lights flickered. The asteroid's comm systems opened up and a brief burst of static came through before a voice filled the entire station.
"Belters, this is Martian Admiral Kelzen. As the inherent ruler of the Asteroid Colonies, the Martians will execute law and destroy the alien menace. This asteroid is hereby placed under martial law for the time being. Thank you for your cooperation."
Lexi gasped when she heard the Martian say they were retaking the Belt. At his last words, she indignantly cried, "Those xenophobic motherfuckers. Cooperate this, you whores! Astraea, fire up your engines." With that, she ran back up the loading ramp and to the cockpit to ready the controls.
Similar cries of outrage erupted from the Belters throughout the station. The guards, too, had abandoned their posts to rush to their ships, allowing the locals to rush into the dock. Any ship capable of firing a weapon, including the most basic cargo ships, had their pilots in them, ready to kick Martian ass.
Lexi and Astraea were one of the first ships to leave the hangar. Outside, they saw an incredible sight. Ten Scarabs in a very staggered formation were slowing down and charging up their anti-matter plasma claws. All of them were pointed at the Tsunami.
She wasn't so concerned with the cruisers. However, she was worried by the swarm of heavy fighters, their intimidating spikes and scales reflecting sunlight, and Gong-da fighters, their exceptionally powerful main engines roaring, as were the 3 Martian heavy cargo ships, filled with clones ready to take over the station.
"Overkill, much?" Astraea said as her form appeared in the copilot's chair.
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 13, 2007 2:44:37 GMT -5
Sly and Shejirili both stepped off the transport, though Shejirili was having a difficult time mastering the two-leg walking style. <All I’m asking is permission to morph a tail. Something to help keep balance, sir,> Shejirili pleaded using private thought-speak so only Sly would hear.
<I’m afraid I am going to have to say no, again.> Sly said privately back to her. He began shaking hands and introducing himself. He was in the middle of explaining that they were in a ‘morphed’ form when the ship's gravity lurched. The delegates were thrown everywhere and Sly had to grab hold of Shejirili and keep her from slamming back against the transport. The transmission played and Sly realized the truth of what was going on: they had been dropped smack dab in the middle of a war.
<Demorph now!> Sly said, not bothering to keep the message private. Before the message had finished Sly had already begun to demorph. The delegates who had not fled stared in awe as Sly's body twisted, reshaped, and expanded back to its original form.
Shejirili demorphed as she entered the transport and the door slid closed behind her. The transport ship's sub-light engines launched the ship out of the bay and up alongside the Astraea. Belter ships were pulling up behind them in a large group, but the Astraea and the Andalite transport had the lead.
<Pilot, switch the ship to battle protocol.> The pilot's tail flicked up into the air and pressed a switch that was on the ceiling behind him. Four more of the basketball-sized metallic balls ejected from the console at the front, two on either side of the pilot. <Shejirili, you take Shield and Primary Systems. I’ll take Weapons and Communications. The only thing I want the pilot worrying about is flying this ship.>
Shejirili placed her hands in the air over the two balls and began to make the necessary preparations. Sly did the same with the balls to the right of the pilot. They activated the moment Sly’s hands hovered above them. The ship's shredder cannon was beginning prep, but already had enough of a charge for several shots. The communications were alive with activity, transmission going back and forth among the angry Belters. Sly sent a message over to the Astraea: <I’m unfamiliar with these types of ships and their fighting capabilities. Any information you can transfer over on weak points and weapons would be greatly appreciated.>
Sly switched channels when he was finished sending the message and opened a direct comm line to the command deck. <Rogerai, this is War-Prince Sly, Command Protocol Theta 254. I want the ship's defense to switch on battle shields now.>
The dome ship sat for a moment before a brilliant blue gloss covered it. The blank endless night was lit up by the glow of the enormous ship. The whole ship began to turn to face the attackers as the back engines came to life. <Those ten ships that seem to be preparing to attack, target the nearest one with the dome ship shredder cannon and fire,> Sly said, ignoring a look from Shejirili.
<The Tsunami's shredder, sir? The last recoded use of a dome's shredder being fired resulted in a hole being punched through Andal’s second moon.>
<I know what I am doing. It takes thirty minutes for the dome's shredder to reset and charge for another shot. They don’t know that and will assume that we have the capability of firing it again at any time. An advantage of any type is still an advantage,> Sly responded as he sent the order to fire.
The dome's shredder cannon was located on the belly of the dome underneath the bridge. The usual darkness that masked it disappeared as crackling bolts of energy erupted from it and toward the nearest Scarab. They blast ripped the ship to pieces as it tore through it. The nine remaining Scarabs fired their anti-plasma on the dome ship.
The dome gave an unnatural shudder as it was struck, and the shield flashed a brilliant white for a moment where it had been struck. Rogerai’s voice sounded in Sly’s head: <Secondary life support is down on two levels and we have electrical fluctuations in the decks that took the hits directly.>
<Launch fighters and return fire!> Sly gave the order to the Tsunami as the group from the station was about to enter range of the Martian fleet. Andalite fighters were expelled from the fighter bays and grouped in foreign formations as they made way for a frontal attack on the Martians. The Tsunami's ion cannons began alternating fire as the rail guns erupted with energy all around the ship from various places.
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 13, 2007 21:52:53 GMT -5
"Message to all Belter small-ships," came a general transmission. "Me and the Crashdown are gonna offer y'all a place to repair. We'll be givin' ya guys some cover fire, but Crashdown's an old freighter." The Crashdown was apparently a converted bulk freighter. From the outward appearance, one could see that many of the cargo pods had been removed and replaced with an array of rail guns and unguided rocket launchers, as well as a couple fighter docks.
"We can't handle many repairs at a time, but at least we can let y'all raise hell!"
With that, transmission ended, and a barrage of rockets flew at the nearest Martian transport. It made an effort to evade, but its massive bulk couldn't avoid being hit by most of the projectiles. The Crashdown's rail guns also began firing, this time into the cloud of Martian fighters, though not nearly as fast as the Tsunami's.
"Thanks for the offer, captain," Lexi said. She pushed the controls forward and used her IDM to interface directly with the rotating combustion rockets. Astraea's tail was in full glow, as were the tails of the few other Dragonflies participating in the fight. Dragonflies weren't built for war, but every captain knew that all you had to do was tweak a few power settings and remove a couple safeguards to make a formidable opponent.
Distracted by the rail gun fire, the Martian fighters chaotically scrambled in all directions, paying less attention to the Belter small ships. Martian fighters all had front-pointing weaponry, so they couldn't aim any good shots while evading. Lexi took the moment to get into the swarm. Suddenly, Astraea did an odd maneuver: she flipped over, the combustion jets still driving her towards the swarm, but her tail end pointed forward, so she was flying backward. Her wings were spread out and pointed a bit back, sending out streams of ions to help with the flying.
Carefully watching the meters for coolant and power, Lexi flipped open a box, revealing a red button marked with caution tape. She hit it, and Astraea's tail went to 500% power output. The ion stream coming from the tail glowed even brighter and lanced out in a straight line, vaporizing the few fighters that were unfortunate to lie in its path.
As fast as she had turned it on, Lexi released the button because her power level had dropped a good amount, and the tail's heat meter was flashing red. She continued flying backwards, though, the rotating engines and the wings acting in conjunction to quickly evade incoming attacks and fighters.
"Ha, nice flying there. Remind me to buy you a drink when all this is done," said the captain of another Dragonfly. He hadn't flipped the ship over, and nor had the others. They just overloaded the energy output of their wings to slice through the fighters' metal hulls. Lexi could have done the same, but the tail attack gave her better range.
"Sure thing," Lexi laughed through her intercomm.
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Post by Tout-Perd on Feb 13, 2007 22:44:51 GMT -5
"Crap! As if things weren't delicate enough!" Meese brought online the primary missile system, and dozens of ports opened in the hull as sliding panels shifted to free the launchers. "Am I allowed to say 'crap', Rienne?"
"No."
"Crap!" Meese punched a button. The ship shook momentarilly as dozens of missiles fired from it at once. The missiles arched outward, sweeping back in as they closed on the Martian ranks. There was a series of puffs of white as the missiles did as was intended. They punched through the hulls, continued through the ships, and when they were near punching through the other side, the sensors caused the missiles to explode viciously, tearing dozens of holes in the other side. Such damage could easily cripple most small fighters by wreaking havoc on their lifesupport systems.
So far, the Nostrils of God had been lucky. Mars had expected a defenseless freighter due to the lack of any obvious weaponry. However, now that they had bared their teeth, retaliation would be soon forthcoming.
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Post by prime on Feb 13, 2007 23:20:10 GMT -5
Hex was in his VS before the gravity even stopped shifting, and he had boosted out of the launch bay before most of the delegates could move. He ship swooped in and picked him up as he flew out into space. The hatch closed against the harsh light of the Andalite's shredder firing.
As soon as the bay was repressurized, he opened the cockpit of the VS and ran into the bridge. A glass tube surrounded him, quickly filling with the specialized chemical. Hex's senses quickly expanded as he became his ship, and all the other ships around him became images in his mind. Pure white against the black of night, he shifted the spectrum until they looked normal, then imposed a blue wave of color over his allies. He began broadcasting a telepathic message to the only Andalite ship he could see in the fray.
<War-Prince, I believe now would be the correct time to launch your ship's fighters, They won't do any good in the fighter bays,> he thought, as his ship blew past, leaving the Andalite transport shaking in its ethereal wake.
He quickly overtook even the fighters, heading in a straight line for the Scarabs. There was a flash behind him as the two fighting forces joined. Hex flew the Anubis in and around the Martian fighters. He was ignoring them for the most part, seeing as currently the only two ships powerful enough to take on the Scarabs were his, and the Tsunami. He broke through the fighter wave, and flew past one of the attacking Scarabs. Its point-defense weaponry fired on him; he swung the ship toward the Scarab, and changed the particle emission over the hull, dodging under the plasma fire.
The Scarabs had thick armor, and Hex decided to take that into consideration instead of relying too heavily on his untested weapons. He drifted to the aft of the ship, still darting here and there to avoid the point-defense weapons, and fired his etheric particle banks. A line of white light lanced out and cut off one of the ship's engine tubes. It was useless trying to get the emissions to explode, Hex thought, as the detatched portion of the tube floated off.
But it was extremely effective in re-orienting the Scarab, which was now turning sharply toward one of its companions. He could see the second ship raising its fore sharply, attempting to power its way out of the careening Scarab's path. Hex fired twice more, carving long lines of vaporized metal in the Scarab's hull, venting atmosphere and people with it. He tried to ignore them, but couldn't, overtaken by the loss of human life he'd just caused. The Anubis darted to the side as a missile flew part, then curved through a sharp arc and shot it down.
<It's so silent,> Hex said to the Anubis.
<Yes, during the night it's as though the universe is afraid to make a sound,> the Anubis responded, trying to be reassuring as it spoke.
Hex could see the fighter bays; he flipped the Anubis over, and it powered down to the bays. He vaporized them, one by one, making sure the fighters would have nowhere to return to, even if they won. He couldn't afford to think of the life he was taking with his every decision, it would only get him killed. He flew a straight path under the ship, then moved around it in a backward arc, flipping over and powering toward the ship moving through a sharp incline. His weapons lanced out, even as he dodged a gatling barrage, tearing holes in the side of the Scarab. It wasn't having much of an effect against the oversized ship, so Hex decided to try a different approach.
He found the Scarabs communications tower, then followed it to the command center. He flew right to the front of the command center, the tip of his ship a bare meter from the window glass. He could see horrified looks from the people inside on his sensors. He smiled, and his weapons fired, vaporizing half of the deck.
The Scarab began a somewhat aimless drift, and Hex pulled back sharply. It'd be hard for it to screw with anyone without people to command it. He looked at the remaining Scarabs, trying to decide what to do about them. The stress levels on his ship were getting high; he wasn't sure he could sustain combat much longer without allowing the ship to regenerate its superstructure.
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Post by bulbaboy on Feb 14, 2007 2:19:38 GMT -5
The Andalite fighters pulled up along the Belter fighters. The transport flew over to lead the warriors in battle. Andalite fighters were small and made for maneuvering. Their hull was a long oval just large enough for an Andalite to lie down in. Two short stubby wings graced each side and a long metal tail trailed behind with a shredder affixed to the end. In combat the tails would be controlled by the Andalite pilot.
<You are Andalite warriors.> Sly began a transmission to his people. <These invaders are here because of us, to destroy us. I say we show them who they’re dealing with.>
Sly ended the transmission yet he could still hear the warriors' cries in his head. It was an Andalite war cry. So many telepathic voices going at once would begin to leave imprints, echoes of the voice. They would multiply until it was a drowning mass of telepathic cries that could be heard over miles. It would give the Martians a nice unnerving scare.
The Andalite ships broke formation and slammed into the group of Martian fighters It was like a swirling cloud of metal as the ships chased each other in the empty space -- the Martians firing their guns, the Andalites firing their shredders. The Andalite fighters were nimbler and faster, capable of getting behind the Martian fighters and taking them down. But the Andalite shields were meant to withstand energy weapons, and these projectiles were taxing the shields faster and harder than the Andalites were used to.
<Maybe our people will stop referring to humans as primitive when they see what they are really capable of. It’s a harsh lesson… but one that must be learned.>
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Post by kazkame on Feb 14, 2007 16:11:44 GMT -5
Aidan couldn’t hear an answer to his question due to the movement of the Belters and the many explosions from outside. He knew explosions meant that people were dying. He pulled out his red rubber gloves and ran out towards his ship. He couldn’t find it, but he did find a note where it had once been.
Sorry borrowed your ship to defend home Will return soon- a drunkard
Aidan looked up in the sky to find his ship going past with something on its tail. Then the unknown ship launched a missile at his ship. As if in slow motion, the ship exploded, raining down debris over the area. Aidan sighed deeply and continued to help the injured.
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 14, 2007 22:37:45 GMT -5
Lexi, still flying upside down and backwards, weaved through the storm of Martian fighters. She wanted to keep her speed, and since the tail engine was the most powerful of the Dragonfly's five thrusters, she didn't attack with it any more. Instead, she occasionally used Astraea's wings to cut through nearby enemy fighters.
She had fallen behind two other Belters, one modified Dragonfly and one Chameleon. The Dragonfly had its rotating engines replaced with chain gun turrets, so it was relying solely on its wings and tail for thrust.
The Chameleon was a new Belter design. The ship was shaped like a football, and the entire hull was covered in a color-changing organic skin. The skin also generated a magnetic field, lightly protecting the ship from charged weaponry. The back end of the ship had three mechanical engines. At the front of the ship was the main weapon: an array of X-Ray lasers. All three of them focused would cut a hole in something within seconds. And they were invisible. Lexi couldn't help but be amused at the fighters that randomly went dead if they got too close, because some vital component probably got melted by the Chameleon's weapon.
"All right, let's head towards those transports," said the captain of the other Dragonfly. It was the same guy who offered Lexi a drink.
The acknowledgment was implied as the Dragonfly took the lead, and Astraea and the Chameleon followed. "Let's get those bastards before they get a chance to la-" the man continued, but suddenly stopped when they realized what was going on.
The fighters had managed to distract the Belters long enough for the heavy transports to drive right up to the asteroid. The one that was already heavily damaged by the Crashdown was in the lead, ready to ram straight through the Belter station's defenses.
"Attention! Watch the transports!" the Chameleon's captain broadcasted to all the other pilots.
The damaged transport continued its course straight at the station. Suddenly, the front of the ship crunched inward. Martian transports were often modified by the military to have extra armor at the front so they could act as battering rams, but Belter physical shields were made to withstand collisions with other asteroids.
However, the Martian transport still had some tricks up its sleeve. A panel opened at the top of the behemoth and a single shuttle flew out of it. The shuttle was carrying a massive torpedo, presumably an EMP one. It flew straight into the Belter shield and exploded. The shield flickered into the visible spectrum for a moment, then the massive transport was able to fly through. It crashed even harder into the side of the collection of asteroids.
The other two transports, meanwhile, had connected multiple personnel tubes to the back end of the crashed transport. Presumably, troops were now using the ship as a tunnel to invade the station.
"Let's cut 'em off!" Lexi said over her comlink.
As the three ships got closer, more panels in the transports slid open, revealing multiple rocket launchers. They all fired at once. The Chameleon, the least agile of the three, was hit many times by the rockets. The engines kept going, but the ship no longer moved in a controlled fashion, implying that the cockpit had been hit.
The other Dragonfly was desperately trying to weave through the cloud of kinetic slugs, but one managed to take the ship's right wing off. With a now unbalanced set of thrusters, the ship spun in chaotic circles, and two more rockets hit it in the tail.
Lexi cursed. She had flipped her ship back to its normal position, and she pulled back the wings along the ship's body so it would be a smaller target. The rotating engines were firing this way and that, trying to keep Astraea as small a target as possible while still evading. She managed to slip past the first wave and was getting closer to the transports, when one late-fired rocket hit Astraea in one of her rotating engines. It exploded, and the shrapnel cut grooves into the wings and tail.
"We gotta pull out!" Astraea shouted while materializing.
"No. Launch me."
"Say what?"
"You're a computer. You heard me. Just launch me and head over to the Crashdown," Lexi said while fastening her fishbowl helmet. She let Astraea take over the controls and ran out of the cockpit and to the upper deck. As she reached the top air lock, she checked to make sure the magnets in her boots were working.
"...Your death wish," Astraea said mockingly.
Astraea oriented herself so that her top airlock was pointed at the nearest transport. Lexi stepped into the pressure chamber. Since this was a launch, as soon as the inner door closed, the outer door opened, not bothering to slowly let the air out, but rather, letting it all out in one burst, tossing the ship's captain like a rag doll out into space.
Since she was such a small target compared to a ship, Lexi wasn't fired at. She turned around and watched Astraea spread her wings to fly back to the Crashdown.
It wasn't long before she reached the heavily damaged transport. Lexi didn't bother to activate her boots. There were multiple bumps and rungs that she was able to grab, and she used those to pull her way to the nearest hole. After dropping inside, she then activated her boots and walked to a closed hatch, shut to keep the rest of the atmosphere inside.
She held her right hand back. The fake skin on her upper arm split open in three places as glowing tubes slid out. A hole then opened up in her palm. "Surprise," she mumbled.
Lexi slammed her palm forward and into the door. The tubes went dull as their energy discharged through the arm and out the hole, a blast of pure kinetic energy tearing through the door. The reason the tubes had slid out was to keep them from overheating inside the body.
Atmosphere blasted out of the now open door, threatening to throw Lexi back out. She quickly grabbed the side of the tear and pulled herself in, just before three Martians were forced out. Sealant began oozing from the edges of the hole, and within five minutes, it was covered.
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Post by prime on Feb 17, 2007 4:19:31 GMT -5
Hex swung the Anubis round, and darted back to the Belter station. Its structural stress was exceeding what he could impose on it, and it needed time to regenerate. Add on to that the fact that soldiers were quickly infiltrating the station, and he could do some good on both sides of the coin, helping to drive the soldiers back as well. He brought the Anubis in for docking in the most heavily shielded bay he could find, so it wouldn't get blown to bits while he was away, and headed into the station. The interior was bathed in flames and a strong wind was blowing, switching directions. He guessed that the outer layer of the station had been breached in several places. "Hey you!" someone yelled. Hex twisted sharply, only to find soldiers headed for him. They all had guns, and they were all aimed at him. He managed to dive out of the way just as the shots were let off. He quickly recovered, but he was already too late: the soldiers had surrounded him. One of the soldiers stepped forward, raising his gun, and pulled the trigger. Hex knew only a moment of terror, and then.... nothing happened. He looked up. He actually felt better. The world had a sharper perspective. The soldier was looking at him in pure terror. Hex looked down at the mirrored floor, and found a demon with black skin and glowing blue veins staring back at him. The eyes were dark like pools of nothingness, and his hair was long and silver, flowing down his back. There was a long sheath, made from diamond, at his waist. And the handle of a sword, much resembling a ninja sword, rested in his right hand. He drew the blade; a long crackling sword of blackness, sucking in all the light, emerged. He dashed forward, and the soldiers began to die, pieces of themselves thrown through a gateway into an alternate dimension, through the deadly portal that was the sword's blade. POHATU SEZ: ...sigh
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Post by ch00beh on Feb 19, 2007 14:29:32 GMT -5
OOC: *gives up waiting on Bulbs and/or Lee
Ethan ungracefully fell over as the Martian transport crashed into the side of the station. Few Belters still remained in the station since most had taken their ships out to go flying. The people who stayed behind were mostly dock workers, medics, and the injured.
The dock workers, generally large, burly men and women, picked up their guns as soon as they regained their balance and ran for the breach. Ethan followed close behind, and a few of the other medics joined in, but the rest continued tending to the people who were already injured. Ethan reached into his jacket and pulled out a tranquilizer gun and pulled out a magazine of empty syringes.
"What the hell is that?" said one of the medics, who was only holding a small pistol.
"Tranq gun filled with air bubbles. You know what those can do to a blood vessel."
"Wow. If I didn't know you had a penchant for saving life, I would think you were a psychopath."
Ethan shrugged and smiled, but there was an explosion as presumably Martian troops stormed in. Smoke filled the corridor, then the sound of blaster and machine gun fire. Ethan ducked behind a corner, occasionally peeking out to shoot a nearby Martian. Every person he hit usually didn't feel the pin prick, but within a few seconds fell over dead and twitching from a heart attack or a stroke.
"We got this group down!" one of the dock workers shouted over the moans of the dying. "Let's take that transport off our place!"
With that, the survivors continued down the corridor, a few medics staying behind to tend to the wounded. Ethan followed the assault team.
"Did you hear that?"
"Those screams?"
"Yeah, I think it came from over there!"
The team turned and found what appeared to be a demon relentlessly tearing apart Martian soldiers. Most of the Belters were frozen in shock and amazement of what was happening before their eyes.
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Post by prime on Feb 19, 2007 17:03:30 GMT -5
"Yo!" Hex said cheerfully, sheathing his black dimensional sword. His voice still sounded very much like his own. "Don't worry, I'm human. I'm just, uhh, odd I guess." He flexed his right arm. "So, lets go kill sh*t!" he said enthusiastically, almost overdosing on power.
He ran past the dock workers and medics and started enthusiastically tearing apart more Martian soldiers. The plasma weapons shot at him just reflected off of him with small puffs of vapor before disintegrating. He blatantly gave the gunners the finger, then drew his sword and started killing more people.
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