Spring RTS Engine

I just realised something...

Earlier, when they first arived on Darkfall for the first time, I prophesised that the person chasing them was Peter. You said that I couldnt be more wrong. Turns out that it WAS Peter, along with a few thousand others. Ha.

Yeah well i made sure to not tell you you were right untill the LAST second

And if you think S-02 got out of the lab...well...your wrong. Compleatly and utterly wrong.

Ten minutes ago and The Stranger walked into the lobby of the Scientific branch of the government. He walked, with a purposefully and strong stride, into the bathroom. There was a camera, but it would only see him from the outside of the bathroom stall. He walked into the stall and closed the door. He crouched down so the camera could not see him. Then he pulled out a long tube and held it in his hands, judging the weight of the thing.

Then he pulled out a stock and snapped the barrel to that. Then he folded out a hilt, snapped the trigger into place and slapped a clip into the gun. He kicked the stall door open, popping it off the hinges as it was made to open inwards. Then with a single shot he blasted the camera into shards. Then he walked into the lobby.

The crowd looked at him and reacted slowly to the gun. He fired three shots into a nearby woman, chosen for maximum demoralizing effect. She died rather messily, as was the Strangers intent, blood splattering onto a man standing nearby. People screamed, but the Stranger shouted over them ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right, put your hands on your heads and your face's in the ground!├óÔé¼┬Ø. The crowd started to comply. ├óÔé¼┼ôNOW NOW NOW!├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôI am a deadly man when upset!├óÔé¼┬Ø.

Two other men in the crowd did not go down, but rather pulled out their own barrels, stocks and clips. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow these are my associates├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger said ├óÔé¼┼ôOne of them will stay here and make sure you don't get out of hand├óÔé¼┬Ø. He gestured to one of his men ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø he grabbed a old janitor off the floor ├óÔé¼┼ôYou know where the vault is├óÔé¼┬Ø he pressed the gun against the man's throat.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat vault?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, rather stubbornly. ├óÔé¼┼ôListen, old man├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger said ├óÔé¼┼ôYou better tell me were the S-02 is stored or i will give you an instant tracheotomy, understand├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôS-02...is that some kind of disinfectant?├óÔé¼┬Ø The old man said, still being stubborn. The Stranger pulled his trigger and the man's throat suddenly had a largish hole in his throat. The Stranger threw him to the ground and pointed his now bloody gun barrel at a man cowering on the floor. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôTake me to the vault├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôLIZ!├óÔé¼┬Ø LIZ!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted Killigan. Liz turned around and saw her second running down the corridor at her. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø She asked ├óÔé¼┼ôI need to debrief our section abo-├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThere is a problem├óÔé¼┬Ø Killigan said. Liz swore multiple times, leaning over their console and staring through the video consoles, looking into the Science buildings. ├óÔé¼┼ôCut the lights and send some squads├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd get some hostage negotiator over there├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe don't have a hostage negotiator. We don't have fucking terrorists!├óÔé¼┬Ø Killigan snapped.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe never fucking trained one?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo damn it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Killigan snapped ├óÔé¼┼ôWe don't have terrorists!├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThats impossible├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôTerrorism is like love and war. Its always been there├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah but this colony has never had any of war├óÔé¼┬Ø Killigan. ├óÔé¼┼ôFuck this├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz snapped ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm going there├óÔé¼┬Ø she opened her desk's door and pulled out her old laser pistol. ├óÔé¼┼ôTake this├óÔé¼┬Ø Killigan said, handing her a com link. Liz snapped it into her ear and grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôSend me two squads, but don't send them into the building itself├óÔé¼┬Ø. Killigan snapped off a salute and turned back to the computer consoles.

The Stranger forced his hostage down the hall, flanked by two of his men. He counted the doors. ├óÔé¼┼ôOne more hall way and your at an elevator├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said ├óÔé¼┼ôThen you go to floor thirteen├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôRight├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger said then shot him in the head. Prime heard the shot and slid her door open. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the fuck is going on!├óÔé¼┬Ø She shouted. The Stranger looked at her and she flinched. The Stranger leveled his gun at her ├óÔé¼┼ôGet back into your room├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôOr I will put you down├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôDo it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel hissed to Prime. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho is that behind you?├óÔé¼┬Ø the Stranger asked, walking up to Prime. He jerked her out of the way. ├óÔé¼┼ôDaniel Colby├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger said ├óÔé¼┼ôYou and your pretty friend are coming with me├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere to?├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel snapped. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to the Vault├óÔé¼┬Ø the Stranger said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd your going to open it├óÔé¼┬Ø. Daniel walked slowly down the corridor with Prime, guns trained on both of them.

The man holding the forty seven hostages stood stalk still, his eye slowly scanning around the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat do you want?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz shouted through the door. The man was still silent, scanning the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan we take him out in a shot?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked one of the squad members. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe glass is bullet prof├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd if we open the doors he can blast us or the hostages├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôFuck├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz muttered. Then she remembered her laser pistol.

She pulled it out and aimed at the man's head. He looked straight at her and grinned, as if thinking You can't touch me. ├óÔé¼┼ôThink again fuck head├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz muttered and pulled the trigger. The glass was certainly not laser prof, and the laser beam cut through the man's skull like butter. His brain literally exploded, forced apart by the sudden vaporisation of brain liquids and matters. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow police those hostages├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôSecond squad with me├óÔé¼┬Ø. She pushed the door open, grinning at the still hot hole bored right through the glass.

Daniel was shoved into the Vault anti-chamber. Three other people were in the room, all lab assistants assigned to watch the vault door. They looked very panicked in the blood red lights of the back up chamber. But the Vault door had a secondary reactor, so it will always be able to open and close no matter what happened. So the Stranger grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôLooks like we have an audience├óÔé¼┬Ø he turned to Daniel ├óÔé¼┼ôYou are the second to the head of this branch, no?├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, still grinning.

├óÔé¼┼ôW-What is going on?├óÔé¼┬Ø A woman asked. The Stranger shot her in the leg ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't ask questions├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, Daniel open the vault├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel said. Prime was shoved into the room, pressed against a wall. She stared at the scene, Daniel standing in front of the door, hands still raised, the Stranger, with his evil grinning face, pointing a gun at him.

├óÔé¼┼ôI will only ask twice├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger said, aiming his gun straight at Daniels head ├óÔé¼┼ôOpen the Vault├óÔé¼┬Ø. Daniel stood slightly straighter ├óÔé¼┼ôOver my dead body├óÔé¼┬Ø he said slowly, his voice only catching slightly. Prime could sense the fear pouring off of him, and the emptiness in the Strangers head. She knew, however, that the Stranger would do what he said. The Stranger cocked his head slightly and tightened his finger slightly on the trigger.

├óÔé¼┼ôNO!├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime shouted, jumping in front of Daniel. The Stranger was a good enough shot to not fire the gun, but it was close. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'll open it├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger asked ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't have a record of you in this building├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt doest matter├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut I...I'll open the Vault├óÔé¼┬Ø she slowly walked to the thumb print scanner. ├óÔé¼┼ôPrime├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel said softly ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime looked at him ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, a single tear running down her cheek.

She pressed her thumb into the scanner and reformatted her finger print to match Daniels. The scanner bleeped softly and Prime plucked the code out of Daniel's mind. She then typed into the key code. ├óÔé¼┼ôUhh├óÔé¼┬Ø she coughed, altering her voice ├óÔé¼┼ôColby, Daniel├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, Daniel's voice coming out of her throat ├óÔé¼┼ôOpen Vault Door├óÔé¼┬Ø. The computer bleeped slightly and the Vault door began to slowly grind open. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow we are back on track├óÔé¼┬Ø The Stranger said, holstering his gun.

Then a bullet whammed into his chest. He stopped, looking slightly surprised, then looked at the elevator door where three police officers. Liz lowered her low caliber attack pistol, not wanting to waste any battery's. The Stranger looked at the blood spreading over his shirt and sighed, pulling out his gun ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll need more then that to stop me├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe's nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said, looking at Liz, suppressing a shiver that she always got when she looked at her.

├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked, raising her pistol again. The two men the Strangers had had their guns leveled at the police officers. The hostages were standing still, looking at the deadly show down. ├óÔé¼┼ôI am Malcolm├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd we├óÔé¼┬Ø he gestured to the soldiers behind him ├óÔé¼┼ôAre from Homeworld├óÔé¼┬Ø. Liz looked at him ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we have...satellites and-├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôIts a cloaked ship, moron├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm snapped ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are a single squad from 401st Interstellar Infantry Platoon, sent here by Homeworld to retake Darkside for the Terran Empire. We've been monitoring the colony for a month now├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd it was decided to raid your supply of S-02├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy!├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz snapped. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts worth billions in the biological weapons department├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôIf we bring it back the entire platoon will become billionaires!├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôBut you can just get it in space! The damn spices is everywhere!├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy come here!├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôFighting humans, fighting on the ground. That is stuff we are good at├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd grabbing S-02 in a vacuum is harder then you think. So if we get your supples we can just leave├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell your not leaving this planet with any part of S-02├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôIf you've been anywhere in this crappy universe then you'll have run into it! You'd know what it can do├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôYes we do├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd that is why we want to bring it back├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôTake me├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel asked. They all looked at Prime. Prime stepped close to Malcolm ├óÔé¼┼ôTake me├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôI am S-02├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat!├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said again. Prime stepped right next to him. Then jammed her forearm blade into his stomach. Malcolm shouted, more from surprise then actual pain, but then Prime slid her second blade into his throat. Then she kicked him off her arms and ran at one of his compatriots.

The soldier blasted his gun at her, but Prime ignored it. Black grit flew off her body but she slashed her blade arm through his neck. Blood gouted from the odd hole in his neck, part metal and part flesh. Prime spun around and pressed her blade into the third man's neck. His gun was pressed against her head. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you live without your head?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime asked. They both stood stalk still.

Then the man lowered his weapon. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow we have two hostages├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, stepping into the room and kicking Malcolm in the gut. The Transcendi would live, even with the hole in his neck, but the decapitated man was quite, quite quite dead. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôtell us the whole truth, nothing BUT the truth or i start to blow off your fingers├óÔé¼┬Ø. The hostage closed his eyes then slumped down, dead. ├óÔé¼┼ôShit├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz muttered, looking at Malcolm. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not dieing├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, his voice still sounding normal because he used a sub vocal projector, like Jason and Liz and every other Transcendi did.

├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said as two police members pulled out combat bandages and strapping them to the wounds in Malcolm ├óÔé¼┼ôTell use the truth. I don't buy this bull crap about the Interstellar Infantry and any Terran Empire├óÔé¼┬Ø. Malcolm groaned, his mouth flopping out of sync with his actual voice ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm from the Bio-War Cooperation, and we were sent to get some weapons out here. Homeworld received one garbled message from the Alexander so our Corp payed out a huge amount of money to get a smallish light hugger with cryotanks on board. We all were fitted with Transcendi implants, and my subordinates were fitted with kill caps├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôSo your Corp hounds?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôI thought the Corps were going out of business├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôTimes change├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôThe Transcend Corp made trillions with there mind core tech. The corp lobbyists uncorrupted out government, put the people back in power and started to make hand over fist├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo the Overseers and Black Ops are...?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôGone├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôKilled each other off├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôSo why the story?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt was calculated that you would have a seven point three percent chance of differing to a militarily leader├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôI want you to send a message to your ship├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôThat they are leaving this system without S-02├óÔé¼┬Ø. Malcolm laughed ├óÔé¼┼ôDo you think we are stupid, Elizabeth Montoya?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôYour fucking around with the wrong species├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôMy car is parked in the middle of the park, with four matter/antimatter bombs in the trunk├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm pulled out a small detonator ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôIf this detector stops getting my life singes, then those bombs will blow├óÔé¼┬Ø.

Errr.... Anti matter bombs are not good. Certainly not in the middle of a city. This guy sounds quite evil.

This is reading like Aliens and Area 7 (where several similar, and very powerful, bombs will explode if a certain guy dies)

what life signals? if he's not got a brain and he's been disembowelled and is still standing...surely there's not much in there that could produce life signs...other than mechanical/artificial ones?

Depends on what life signals there looking for. Maybe there bodies just fake them so not everyone knows there not totally human.
But since they still got a stomach there is some need for transportation of fluids and such so they need a pump.
OMG I just gave em a heartbeat.

unpossible wrote:what life signals? if he's not got a brain and he's been disembowelled and is still standing...surely there's not much in there that could produce life signs...other than mechanical/artificial ones?

Will any of the main charicters think of this?

(Actually yes, he dose not have NORMAL life singes, like heart beats and such. Trancendi have pretty much half or so of their organs removed and replaced with better more efficent things, so they can survive a LOT of punishment and keep ticking. Mostly because most wounds wount kill you out right, but many many wounds WILL knock you out due to shock. A Trancendi can't get knocked out, like a humain, and wont go out because of blood loss, like a humain. Also they aren't affected by pyscic powers, as Prime has learned to her discomfort. They are also stronger, thanks to enchanced mucles and reinforced skelitons. And yes, it is a very very expensive operation. And from what Malcom had said a corperation has 'invented' <Wink Wink> the procidure, so they are very very rich. Also are the Black Ops and the Overseers really gone? Or have they just hidden themselves behind the corperations? Where is Amber in the orginization of the colony? Has she just retired, saying enough is enough and screw all these adventures? All these questions AND more will be answered...eventually.

207 pages! Rings only had, in the end, 165. ITEOTWAWKIBIFF had about 74. So Rings and ITEOTWAWKIBIFF combined have: 239. Now if i can make Darkside LONGER then the two storys combined I will feel very happy. Not that Im not already happy.

Then Liz did something Malcolm did not expect. She punched him in the face. Her fist, augmented by the same implants that made his body super human, sent him flying upwards, driven almost to the celling by the uppercut. His head smashed against the metal floor, and, much to his surprise, knocked him out. The Transcendi, of course, did not have human brains and any of the drawbacks that came with the fragile things. They also had armor surrounding the innards of their skull, keeping the brain safe from bullets, spikes and other nasty things.

However, just as a bike helmet wont absorb a bullet, a bulletproof helmet wont do anything for a bike crash. Just so a hardened armor plating will not stop a brain, even a cybernetic one, from smashing around in the brain case. So when part of the brain crumpled slightly, the electronic shock and feedback loops caused by what amounted to a rewiring of part of Malcolm's brain, albeit temporarily, shut his brain down for however long it took for the biological repair systems started to work on the 'crumple'.

So Malcolm's left foot twitched and he laid still. Liz waited for a few seconds. Then she relaxed ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôHis life singes are stable. Or there are no bombs and he lied├óÔé¼┬Ø. She turned her com link on ├óÔé¼┼ôKillian, have you been getting all of this?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø her second replied ├óÔé¼┼ôI've already got a bomb squad searching the park├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôGood├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut if they find the bomb don't have them touch it. And get me a tech squad with some biofeedback equipment├óÔé¼┬Ø. She looked at the unconscious Transcendi, and the detonator that had rolled to a stop next to Daniel feet. The young man's hands were still raised and he was looking at the bloody bandages in Malcolm's stomach and throat. Liz looked at Daniel and caught his eyes. ├óÔé¼┼ôDumb bastard should have used a dead man switch├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, wringing her fist and wincing at the smarting knuckles.

├óÔé¼┼ôPrime├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, walking over to the woman, who was looking at Daniel with a mixture of relief and...regret. Prime looked at Liz, flinching slightly. Liz knew she could unnerve the alien just by being in the same room, and that knowledge always made her feel just a little bit better, ├óÔé¼┼ôPrime├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôThat was impulsive, stupid and incredibly heroic├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime balanced ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou took down three men singlehandedly, in close quarters without taking a scratch├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut you also endangered the life of all these hostages. What if Malcolm or one of his friends shoot someone? What if that someone died?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz's frowning eyes bored into Prime ├óÔé¼┼ôIf your going to take risks, do it alone├óÔé¼┬Ø.

Prime nodded ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôI think I might need you for a job├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime cocked her head ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked. Usually Liz displayed nothing but distrust for Prime. ├óÔé¼┼ôBut first I need to check some facts├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz grinned viciously as the elevator dinged and some blue clad technicians walked in, carrying a clunky device. They set it down next to Malcolm ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, go see to your boyfriend├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, slapping Prime on her shoulder. Prime nodded and walked over to Daniel before she realized what the other woman had said.

├óÔé¼┼ôMalcolm├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm heard a voice drifting through the blackness. He knew in the back of his mind that he needed to repair a few more subroutines before he could operate like a normal human being and more. Then the last repair was completed and everything slammed into place, the blackness disappearing with a sudden snap. He was sitting upright in a chair, looking at his detonator. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôGoing to let me kill myself?├óÔé¼┬Ø he looked around the white room ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you willing to let thousands of people die, just to keep S-02 out of my hands├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The door opened and Liz walked into the room, carrying a sandwich on a platter. ├óÔé¼┼ôMmm├óÔé¼┬Ø she muttered, swallowing one of the slice's of bread in two bites ├óÔé¼┼ôYou've been out for a day now├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, sitting down ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø she put her half eaten sandwich down on the table ├óÔé¼┼ôEnjoy your nap?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôGet me the S-02├óÔé¼┬Ø Malcolm said ├óÔé¼┼ôOr I will trigger my death capsule├óÔé¼┬Ø he grinned. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou mean├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôthis?├óÔé¼┬Ø she pulled out a small bit of plastic and glass and waggled it in the air.

Malcolm sighed ├óÔé¼┼ôI can still just disrupt my life singes enough so the bombs think I'm no longer fitting the parameters required├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, licking the last bit of the sandwich of her fingers ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm afraid we've been mimicking your bio-singes on a biofeedback device├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôSee when you become a clockwork man, its just that much easier to replicate anything about you├óÔé¼┬Ø. Malcolm sat stalk still, the grin frozen on his lips. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz pulled out an old fashioned revolver, chosen more for its intimidating make then anything else, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou tell me were your ship is or I├óÔé¼┬Ø she leveled the gun at his hand ├óÔé¼┼ôStart blowing fingers off├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôI don't want you to go├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel said, talking to Prime. She eyed the camera in her rooms ├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôIts something Liz trusts me with. Thats something I have to hold onto. If she trusts me and takes me up a rung from security threat to potential friend ├óÔé¼┼ô Prime trailed off ├óÔé¼┼ôIts something I...we need├óÔé¼┬Ø. Daniel closed his eyes ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm worried about you├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôWorried about what could happen...├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime kissed him softly. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe camera├óÔé¼┬Ø Daniel said. ├óÔé¼┼ôFuck them├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said, remembering Liz's words. She leaned in and kissed Daniel again. Daniel backed away. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not leaving this planet a virgin├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said, grabbing Daniel and pulling him back onto the chair, her hands clenching on his shirt.

├óÔé¼┼ôTurn that camera off├óÔé¼┬Ø Killian said. The camera operator looked at him ├óÔé¼┼ôBut Liz said...├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah, but we're not peeping toms├óÔé¼┬Ø Killian said ├óÔé¼┼ôLets give them some privacy├óÔé¼┬Ø he reached over the camera operates shoulder and the two lovers vanished from the screen. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo i guess i lost my bet├óÔé¼┬Ø the camera operator said ├óÔé¼┼ôshe said she was a virgin. I guessed she had lost that weeks ago├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou were taking bets?├óÔé¼┬Ø Killian said ├óÔé¼┼ôI thought we were fighting men, not gossiping housewives├óÔé¼┬Ø. The camera operator shrugged ├óÔé¼┼ôWe bet on everything and anything├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike what?├óÔé¼┬Ø Killian asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike, for example, how long it would take for Liz to screw her job and run into the field, guns blazing├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôDid you win that?├óÔé¼┬Ø Killian asked. The camera operator grinned and pulled out a wad of colonial credits.

├óÔé¼┼ôThere you are, you bastard├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz muttered, looking over the very uncomfortable techs shoulder. The man was slowly focusing one of the fourteen observation satellites that the colony had in orbit to focus on the coordinates a very cooperative Malcolm had told them. The ship was slender, long (measuring about twelve football fields in length) and had no ram scoop, and a large bright white slogan on the black side, spelling out ├óÔé¼┼ôBio-War: We endanger species├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôTrust fucking corps to put a ad on the side of their stealth ships├óÔé¼┬Ø she muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø she looked over her shoulder at the head of the science division ├óÔé¼┼ôDo we have LEO capability?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôSome├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan Prime survive a trip in a LEO craft?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôPrime can survive reentry├óÔé¼┬Ø the man scoffed ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd probably come out the better for it├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôGood├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôGet me Rick O'Toole. We are going to hit back├óÔé¼┬Ø. Rick grumbled about it however, saying ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy am I out of this loop? This happened an hour ago and I'm informed now!├óÔé¼┬Ø. But in the end he agreed.

├óÔé¼┼ôThis is my ride?├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime asked, looking at the multistage rocket. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll live├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôCan you cope with out O2?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said ├óÔé¼┼ôIt would take a bit of modifying in the lungs area├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are sending you up with the A/M bombs from Malcolm's car├óÔé¼┬Ø. She pointed to the ship's nose ├óÔé¼┼ôYou have to place them in the center of the enemy ship then send a signal. We will give you a half hour to get out of the ship and back onto the survace. If your not then you'll have to fend for yourself├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz frowned ├óÔé¼┼ôBe careful├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôI was actually beginning to like you├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThank you mam├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said, grinning. Liz was thoughtful for a moment ├óÔé¼┼ôPrime├óÔé¼┬Ø She said ├óÔé¼┼ôI didn't trust you. In fact I still don't├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime's grin faded. ├óÔé¼┼ôBut now I realize that I don't trust your cells├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz held out her hand ├óÔé¼┼ôBut I do trust you, and that is whats important├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime took Liz's hand and they shook. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow take this├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz slapped something in Prime's hand ├óÔé¼┼ôFor luck├óÔé¼┬Ø.

Liz walked away, and Prime looked down at her hand. She held a dragon. She grinned and slid the pistol into her waste band, then walked to the ship. She climbed into the cargo bay, strapped in and slid a com link in her ear. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis com links only going to work for a while├óÔé¼┬Ø the operators voice said ├óÔé¼┼ôSo its really just for counting down├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôWish me luck├óÔé¼┬Ø she said. The operator just shrugged and started to count down the checklist needed to run the ship.

After a few minuets of nervous fiddling, Prime heard the countdown start and she closed her eyes, readying for the acceleration. Then the world crashed down around her and the rocket shot up. Gee's slammed onto Prime and she gritted her teeth. Then she realized something. What about the Shroud. For about a minute as the clouds shot by the small window she stared through Prime's only thought was she was glad she was not going to die a virgin.

Then she hit purple and everything went white. Prime looked around. ├óÔé¼┼ôodd├óÔé¼┬Ø she heard ├óÔé¼┼ôThis one can hear├óÔé¼┬Ø. Then the instant passed and the rocked screamed into space and silence pressed down around Prime's ears, leaving the vibration of the engines to die off in silence. Then Prime felt something she had never felt before. Zero Gravity. She unlatched and floated, free for the moment. Her clothes flapped in the air, which was hazy, filled with noxious fumes caused by the proximity of the engine and the lack of life support. Prime's lungs stung for a bit, but then she adapted.

Prime enjoyed every moment of the hour long wait to get close to the enemy ship. Everything, from the rumble in her simulated stomach, to the flowing of her hair, Prime loved every bit. She spent quite a while just jumping from wall to wall in the large chamber, making patterns in the smoggy air. After the hour had passed Prime looked out the window and saw the ship, in LEO like she was, start to drift by. She cracked the air lock, letting the air out slowly. She hoped the enemy thought this was another satellite launch. The ship had a satellite on board, a small 'sputnik' rip off that just bleeped softly in several radio bands.

Prime floated out, on the edge of the ship. She felt like a fly on the top of some massive skyscraper, looking over the edge and seeing infinity drift below her. Everything was huge, and her body reacted to the sudden conditions. She almost froze, her simulated skin sloughing off as it died, then new skin forming to protect her body. She looked far uglier, her skin looking scaly rather then the smooth cream she was used too. Prime waited for the enemy ship to be close enough. Then she jumped, pushing off the side of the enemy ship.

For one horrible minute she drifted, the silence pressing around her so completely she wished she could scream. She was so used to breathing, to hearing, that this return to a vacuum felt like returning to the womb. She drifted and drifted, looking as the enemy ship got larger and larger. She realized she had misjudged her angle. She rolled frantically, but she sill struck the ship with her shoulder, rolling along the side until, for one horrific second, she was about to plunge into the abyss of interstellar space.

Then her forearm blade shot out and hooked onto a little, spindly, outcropping. Then Prime swung round, hit the ship and sank her other forearm blade into the hull. Thus anchored she stayed still for a few minuets, savoring the victory. She slowly drew her blades out, glad to see she only clipped the hull armor, no O2 was leaking and any senors would detect the cuts. She flipped out her left arms forearm blade and started to use it to claw along the side of the ship, use its hook like end to grab onto the side and pull. She found a window and she peeked in experimentally, trying to keep as hidden as possible.

It was a shower room. The wall was glass and the water fell down. But the ship was not spinning. Prime made sure to note that to Liz. A woman and a man walked into the room, both nude from the waist up. Prime shrank back slightly as the two of them, chattering animatedly. The woman pulled her pants down as the man turned on the showers. They were both rather unabashed about their nudity. Prime reasoned they just had different attitudes then the colonists. Prime crawled around the window so she could see the room right way up.

The man grinned, looking at the woman. The man had dark skin. Prime had never seen a man with dark skin on the colony. Everyone had either tanned or white skin. The woman had white skin, and purple hair. Prime had never seen anyone with purple hair. The woman laughed at something the man said and slapped his buttocks with her hand. But it was not admonishing, like a mothers spank, but rather something playful. Prime moved on, crawling down or up the ship, as was relative on one's position.

The next window was into a room. A woman wrote in her journal, writing words in the air with her finger. The slate looked more like a sphere then a slate, and it projected a highly advanced hologram. Prime nodded. She didn't really want to kill these people. But, she reasoned, they had killed her people. She had to remember that. Prime kept climbing down till she found an air lock. The air lock had, surprisingly, a wheel. She grabbed the wheel and turned, and the door opened. Prime was shocked. She expected something...harder. She crawled into the airlock and closed the door. ├óÔé¼┼ôForeign material detected in air lock├óÔé¼┬Ø a male voice said, without emotion, so Prime assumed it was a computer.

The message repeated and red lights started to flicker on and off. ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime muttered, sliding her forearm blades out.

If Primes skin sloughed off in space, does that now mean that there is some S-02 floating around in LEO? (And wouldn't LEO actually be LDO? Its not Earth anymore...). Dont mind me to much, im just being picky.

Yes. You are being picky.

Prime went over the skin sloughing off problem with herself while going up in the rocket ship. The final verdict: I'll jush shove it as hard as I can in the direction of deep space. If it falls into the sun, so much the better. Oh wait. If it falls into the sun, so much the worse. So she aimed it away from the sun. Then she thought about chucking it into the shroud. Then that came off as a bad idea. Then she slapped herself for not thinking of this sooner. She just absorbed it back into her body, as she had about a month ago.

Duh.

I'm sorry. This was ment to go here, the Oblivion news was ment to go in an email and i somehow mixed them up. Doh!

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny asked, drying his chest off with a towel. ├óÔé¼┼ôDo I look like I know?├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan snapped ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd get your damn shirt on├óÔé¼┬Ø. A red blip was moving down the projected hologram of the corridor. ├óÔé¼┼ôFuck├óÔé¼┬Ø muttered Ju-Shi, the security's expert. ├óÔé¼┼ôDrop the damn bio-doors├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan snapped. ├óÔé¼┼ôI did!├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi shouted, jabbing his finger at the red blip. It had stopped for a moment at a white line. Then the line blinked out of existence and the blip started to move again.

├óÔé¼┼ôShit├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan swore ├óÔé¼┼ôSend out a security force├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny shouted, pulling his shirt on ├óÔé¼┼ôLets get the party started├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat are you so happy about?├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina asked, walking into the room, drying her hair too. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts time for a bug-hunt├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny said, walking out of the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôTell the crew we are going to a bug-hunt├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said to Ju-Shi ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd make sure all twenty noncoms are in a secure bulkhead. And send Johnny to defend the noncoms├óÔé¼┬Ø. Ju-Shi looked at the door in which the colonial marine had left through. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts going to break his heart├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôHe's not going to get any action├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The colonial marines were a state/corp sponsored militia unit. They usually had a die off rate of 78% in the first months of their use, then the die off rate dropped down to 1.2344 % afterwards, as the tough, hard as nails SOB's left usually blew most things to hell and back again before they could bare there teeth. The colonial marines were sent in every time a colony got jumpy and saw something move in the night. Because of the die off rate though, most marines were either crazy, or convicts, and because of the die off rate in the three colony's of humankind, most colonists were either crazy or convicts. The 'colonists' were actually just place holders for the rich people who were going to move out of SOL en mass once the colonies were done.

It was all just a tourist attraction anyway. The planets chosen were chosen not for there resources. Mercury was closer, cheaper and had literally thousands of years of resources contained in it. With careful recycling, SOL could have all the resources it would need. Shipping minerals back was cost prohibitive. Sure 85 % of the human race was now, for all practical intents and purposes, immortal, but still five months ship time, four years SOL time, was a long time to stay couped up on a ship. Sure the original warriors that the government had idiotically thrown into deep space spent four years cooped up on their ships, but those were different days. More barbaric, uncomfortable.

So now the colonial marines were keeping the 'colonists' safe, so the colonists could turn planets situated next to pulsars, black holes and other gloriously beautiful seller phenomena, into paradise hotels. Johnny was of the opinion that if it didn't pay so damn well, getting eviscerated by a four armed tenticaled monstrosity, just to keep over payed janitors working in relative safety, would smack of a godless, pointless universe. Now he had to watch a lode noncoms, all brainjacks who tended to the ship while the marines were in the cryotanks, rather then blow apart some border. And from what they could tell it was brought on board by a rocket launch from the colony on Darkside.

├óÔé¼┼ôThey don't pay me enough for this shit├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny muttered. A brainjack was slowly pressing his head against the wall, trying to open the door. ├óÔé¼┼ôStop that├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny snapped, pulling the brainjack away from the wall. Drool dribbled down the brainjack's other wise pretty face. Johnny shoved the woman back into the throng of brainjacks milling around in the cargo bay. Some still had a little bit of personality and were mumbling softly to the air.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy don't we have camera view in there?├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôGood question├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôBrining up security footage now├óÔé¼┬Ø he 'pulled' a box in the hologram to show the camera view. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell?├óÔé¼┬Ø He muttered. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts a...woman├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôNo weapons├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShould we still shoot to kill?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge asked, joining in over the com ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can't let trespassers on company property├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôRight├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe've got the motion detectors, we've got the goods├óÔé¼┬Ø he slapped his rifle, a 148 model B Assault rifle. ├óÔé¼┼ôRight sir├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina said, turning her motion tracker on. The three men, two women squad was situated at a intersection of hallways. A bulkhead was closed right behind and right in front of them. Sarge didn't like the lack of a retreat option, but a full wave up gun fire from these rifles would shred the bulkhead and everything behind it for about ten feet. So he assumed they would kill pretty much anything, from a mouse to a main battle tank.

Prime stopped, her hand on the door. She had found the lack of resistance to be...annoying. She expected more from the ship. Then she felt minds behind the door. All nervous, tense, waiting to fire there guns. Prime looked around, fairly certain that those guns would kill her, just by plucking the surface thoughts off of the leader of the soldiers. She had to find a better way round. Then she remembered something. She was a shape shifter. She stripped off her clothes quickly, dropping the utilitarian black jumpsuit on the ground. She hopped from one foot to the other, as the ground was cold. Then, remembering the mission at hand, she pressed herself flat against the door, ignoring the chill.

Sarge lit a cigar while they waited. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats taking her so damn long?├óÔé¼┬Ø he muttered, puffing on it some more. ├óÔé¼┼ôSarge, look!├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina said, pointing at the door. A slow trickle of, what looked like, black sand dribbling through the crack in the door. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is that?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge asked over the com. ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't know├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we've lost contact with the woman on the other side of the corridor. She's just dissipated├óÔé¼┬Ø. Sarge swore, aiming his rifle at the increasingly big pile of black grit. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe might need this door open├óÔé¼┬Ø he said.

├óÔé¼┼ôRight├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôOpening door behind you├óÔé¼┬Ø. Sarge heard the comforting sound of the door sliding open. The door slid open and the marines slowly backed up until they were over the threshold. ├óÔé¼┼ôSir!├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôLOO!├óÔé¼┬Ø. They all stopped as something started to rise out of the sand. It was hand. The hand was soft, feminine, and reached up into the air. After a moment the hand started to raise out of the pile, followed by an arm. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you guys getting this?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut its not human, no matter what it looks like├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The arm was followed by a shoulder, then a head and neck. Then another shoulder, arm, chest, breasts, stomach. Thighs, legs and feet. The last of the black grit slid into the now complete woman's foot, leaving her standing in the corridor,holding the pose she had while coming up and out of the black grit. Sarge felt his cigar drop out of his mouth and plop onto the floor, going out as it fell face first. The woman slowly lowered her hand and looked at them.

├óÔé¼┼ôFire!├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge shouted. The squad was a little slow in their reaction, but they still opened fire on the bulkhead. Smoke filled the air as bullet tore through the bulkhead and the woman. Sarge waved his hand to his squad members and they waited to see the shredded corpse of the woman. ├óÔé¼┼ôA damn shame├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller muttered, pushing the bridge of his helmet up ├óÔé¼┼ôA good looker that one├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up Keller├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said. The smoke slowly cleared.

The bulkhead was certainly shredded, only bits of metal and machinery still functional. But there was no corpse, human or other wise. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the fuck?├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina muttered. Then her motion tracker bleeped. She looked up and Prime dropped from the celling. Shine fell back, a slit from forehead to crotch. She flapped slightly open as blood started to well up and out. Sarge caught a cross section of her QuantCon brain before Shina fell. ├óÔé¼┼ôFIRE!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted. But Prime had already jumped back, almost flying down the corridor. She smashed her forearm blade into the corner of the hallway and used her momentum to slid around the corner.

├óÔé¼┼ôShit!├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôWe need faster guns. Every one fall back├óÔé¼┬Ø the squad fell back, some of them looking at Shina's corpse. After a few minutes implants through out her body activated, lighting her body on fire and incinerating her corpse. Helped keep the place clean. ├óÔé¼┼ôDid we get her?├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe transmitted right up till the end├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôGood├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôDo we have a free psych officer ready?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said. ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn it├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôSend...Johnny. He knew Shina, right?├óÔé¼┬Ø

├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut he's guarding the noncoms├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShina is far more important then the noncoms├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said. The lovable little woman had made many friends amongst the crew. In fact only the crabby marine Keller hadn't liked her. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's dead?!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny snapped into his com link ├óÔé¼┼ôHow!├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe was cut from head to crotch├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said and shes going to wake up in a few minutes and she's going to need comfort├óÔé¼┬Ø. Johnny nodded.

Shina's body floated in the tank. Her features were copied exactly in the clone body, and an inactive QuantCon brain rested in its skull. ├óÔé¼┼ôCome on├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôWake up├óÔé¼┬Ø. Shina's body kept floating listlessly. Shina had already died, witch was unusual No one liked dieing and it scared the 'get rich quick' people out of the business after they died for the first time. It was painful, messy and no one wanted it to happen to them on a regular business. Johnny looked up and down the resbay, at the copy's of the men and women he knew. There were three tubes that were empty. Malcolm and his squad of semi-psychotics were not coming back. If they died on the planet they would not be able to broadcast back to the ship, thanks to the weird field around the planet.

But Malcolm was a tweaked one, Johnny thought. He was one of the convicts, as where his three squad mates. So he was pretty damn glad that Malcolm was not coming back. Then Shina's eyes shot open. She screamed, a hard thing to do in the liquid she was superseded in. bubbles shot out of her mouth, clouding her face. Johnny ran over to the tube and flinched as Shina's hands smashed against the side, making a dull clunk.

Johnny pressed the release button on the tube and the liquid was drained away. Shina was sobbing uncontrollably, feeling her face, chest, and stomach, probing an invisible line straight down her body. ├óÔé¼┼ôListen├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny said, shouting to get heard through the glass ├óÔé¼┼ôYou've been dead for three minutes, ten seconds. Thats a long time to be dead├óÔé¼┬Ø. Shina fell forward against the wall of the glass, sobbing uncontrollably. Johnny remembered the first time he had died. It had been less traumatic, as he had died instantly, a six by six girder smashing his skull in. Shina had been half cut in half, and died when her brain failed to reconnect.

Bio-reading devices set in the base of the tube started to flash red. Johnny swore. Shina's brain patterns were unstable. But the tube was designed to open once it was sure that the clone inside it was safe to remove. Some people suffered from PDP, post death psychosis, and the crew had to be sure they could be safely released. So the tube ostentatiously refused to open. Johnny took aim carefully and fired three shots with his side arm through the tempered glass. Then he kicked the tube open and Shina tumbled out, cutting her self on the sharp glass. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm here, Shina!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny said, grabbing her by her shoulders and forcing her to look at his eyes.

Shina's eyes darted around as quickly as someone in deep REM sleep, fevered and twitchy. Her face was drawn back with a severity of intense pain. ├óÔé¼┼ôShina├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôDo you understand me?├óÔé¼┬Ø. Shina looked into his eyes, still shivering uncontrollably. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh god├óÔé¼┬Ø she murmured ├óÔé¼┼ôOh god! She was on the celling! CHECK THE FUCKING CELLING!├óÔé¼┬Ø she shouted. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you okay down there?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi asked over Johnny's com link. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny said ├óÔé¼┼ôShina's just having some problems├óÔé¼┬Ø. Shina hugged him tight.

├óÔé¼┼ôI want permission for grenades├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said over the com link. The Captain thought about it for a moment then nodded ├óÔé¼┼ôGo a head├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut keep it low yield. No tacnukes├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes sir├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said, grinning like a madman. He pulled a napalm grande, a small cylinder with a rather large red button. ├óÔé¼┼ôDo we still have motion?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked Dwain, who was scanning the area where Prime had vanished to. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut i have no idea what she doing├óÔé¼┬Ø.

Prime jerked at the pant leg, trying to get the stupid thing on right. First it was too short on one leg, leaving her upper thigh exposed by a slanted waste band. Prime tried pulling the other side up, but that caused the entire thing to just slant in the other direction. Then she got it, barely, to stay above what she had heard was called 'love handles'. After her...night with Daniel she found out what they were for. That thought brought a slight smile to her face.

She grabbed her shirt and started to pull it on. Then she realized that it was inside out. Prime pulled it off. Then the two smallish cylinders clattered around the bend. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh fuck├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime muttered. Then the bombs went off, a wave of liquid fire slamming into her face. Sarge made a little victory gesture, pulling his fist down and grunting rhythmically. ├óÔé¼┼ôTake that bitch!├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller shouted. The fire ball reached the half way point between the marines and Prime, then dissipated. The corridor was scorched clean, still shining. All but the blast area, which was blackened, then slowly faded to gray, then to the pristine white of the corridor. ├óÔé¼┼ôThey build these damn ships tough├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge muttered.

Prime slowly lowered her arms, looking at the circle of perfect white around her. It was the floor and part of the wall that was spotless. Around that was a blackness of scorched hallway. Prime stood slowly and looked at her self. Her clothes were even intact, her shirt still tangled up and inside out. She pulled that shirt off, got it right side out and pulled it back on. The ship was pretty cold.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the hell...├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain muttered ├óÔé¼┼ôI think we still have motion├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime walked around the corner, brushing some bit of fluff of her shirt. Then she looked up and saw the dumbfounded marines. She turned around to back around the corridor. ├óÔé¼┼ôSTOP RIGHT THERE!├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge shouted at his best order giving volume. Prime slowly turned on her heel ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm afraid this has all been a misunderstanding├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, raising her hand.

├óÔé¼┼ôYeah, pull the other one!├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge snapped, raising his rifle ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, hands on the floor. And drop your knives or swords or whatever those were├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't just drop them!├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime snapped. ├óÔé¼┼ôImplants?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôSort of├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said as the soldiers walked over to her. Dwain kicked her in the back, slamming her down to the ground. Prime grunted as he put a boot on her back ├óÔé¼┼ôShe fucking killed Shina├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said ├óÔé¼┼ôLets waste her!├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôWe don't get paid to kill prisoners├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said, nudging Dwain's boot off. ├óÔé¼┼ôListen├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't really want to kill you. Its just I was told to destroy your ship├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said ├óÔé¼┼ôIf Malcolm killed some people then we're sorry, but its only death├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat do you mean?├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime asked ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen you die your dead├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThey're normals down there├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell trust Malcolm to screw up like that. Now he's got the natives restless and we still don't have our fucking bioweapon├óÔé¼┬Ø. Sarge muttered. ├óÔé¼┼ôListen├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sure we can work something out. My boss is really a nice woman once you get to know her├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôSo why don't you just give us the damn shit?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôBecause├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime slowly got to her knees, glaring at Dwain ├óÔé¼┼ôIf we let S-02 out it'll kill everyone in its path├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThats the fucking point. Killadia Corp got there hands on a milligram of that shit and wiped out those bugs on Fergus III. They got trillions form the government for that job├óÔé¼┬Ø Kellen said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd if we can get some for free then all the better├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime kept her hands on her head, but she slowly got to her feet. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said ├óÔé¼┼ôI have a personal stake in keeping S-02 under wraps├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôBecause I am S-02├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd your telling us this why?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy wouldn't I?├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime asked.

OMGOBLIVIONHASBOOBIES!!!!!11


edit:

What the? Where did my episode go?

That did not mean to happen!

I'm sure people are banging their heads against the desk wondering WHO IS THAT VOICE!

And what dose he/she/it/what want?


├óÔé¼┼ôI say we space the fucking bitch!├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe came here to kill us├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôShut the fuck up Keller├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain snapped, cuffing the other man on the back of the head. Keller's tachelm fell forward, its unfastened straps dangling about. Keller jerked the techelm back up and punched Dwain in the stomach. ├óÔé¼┼ôWould you little boys stop fighting?├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi asked, turning around and glaring at them. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'd better listen to the lady├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said. Keller flipped him off.

Prime was under constant watch, pacing back and forth under the glare of three holocameras. Ju-Shi focused the camera's slightly to get a photorealistic, full sized representation of the alien in the bridge. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôNow that you two are don├óÔé¼┬Ø she glanced at Dwain and Keller ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can decided what to actually do├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôI say space her├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said. ├óÔé¼┼ôI say space her├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe killed Shina├óÔé¼┬Ø. Shina herself was in post op, put under by sedatives and the shock of life and death and life again.

Death was not the end, not for Transcendi. But the sudden shock of feeling something that was meant to be felt once, death, and then never to be remembered. But when a Transcendi was killed and caught in a nearby Spiritual Switchboard, then downloaded onto a nearby clone body, they immediately 'resumed' from were they left off. So your first feeling after death is death itself, and the memory of that death. For some people it stayed with them. For others it became them.

For Shina it was clawing at the back of her mind, a black pit of despair that threatened to drag her into insanity. But Shina was a marine, first and foremost. She clung to her training, to the regimental discipline that had been with her the last four years. It helped her live through the nightmare. She woke up in the morning to a new one, as unfortunate as that may seem.

Prime paced back and forth in her cell. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou enjoyed that, didn't you?├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice asked. Prime stopped in mid step, her back straight as the familiar, horrifying voice echoed in her own mind again. She had thought that it was gone, banished, burned away by her passage through the Shroud and the nameless voice she had heard there. But it was back. Enjoyed what? Prime thought, not wanting to tip off the camera's that were tracking her. She resumed her walk. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe killing├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice said.

Prime felt an up rush of sensations. The feel of her forearm blade slicing through metal, bone. Flesh. ├óÔé¼┼ôImagen what her blood tasted like├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice said. Prime looked at her forearms. The blood had already dripped off and was cleaned, gone and sterilized somewhere. She took a moment to imagine what the woman's blood tasted like. Then she shook herself. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis is wrong├óÔé¼┬Ø She muttered, resuming her pacing.

├óÔé¼┼ôThey are planning to kill you├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice said ├óÔé¼┼ôPiece by Piece they'll cart you off and use you as a bioweapon stronger then any in human history├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd you would have failed in your mission├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime closed her eyes, leaning against the hard wall of her cell. Leave me alone she thought I don't care what you say. I don't want to kill these people. ├óÔé¼┼ôBut, Prime dear, think of the fun. You are a shapeshifter. Prime looked up, her eyes snapping open. She suddenly thought of a thousand of thing she could do. The things she could experience.

├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôshe's concentrated S-02?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôFrom what we can tell├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge muttered, puffing his cigar. ├óÔé¼┼ôThen lets dissect her├óÔé¼┬Ø the Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd get her back to Homeworld├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôSounds good├óÔé¼┬Ø was the general consensus. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere did she go?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain asked. Ju-Shi spun her chair around and saw that, in the hologram, Prime had vanished from view. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the fuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø she muttered. Johnny walked into the room ├óÔé¼┼ôI just checked on Shina...what's the problem?├óÔé¼┬Ø he saw the aghast face's around him.

Johnny ran out into the corridor, backed by Dwain and Keller. They ran down the corridor to the detention block, were Prime had vanished. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy can't we track her?├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôBecause our Bio sensors have decided she is no longer a threat, now that she's been around for about an hour and we're still alive├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow do we get her back on the screen?├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'll go and reset the memory crystal back a rack, scramble up the codes├óÔé¼┬Ø Ju-Shi said ├óÔé¼┼ôThat should get her pattern out of the system so we can track it again├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôDo it├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd keep a watch out├óÔé¼┬Ø. Ju-Shi nodded, grabbing her side arm.

Ju-Shi walked down the corridor at a brisk pace. She, like one of the luckless saps who had gone with Malcolm, was not a Transcendi. She had joined up to earn enough money to become Transcendi, unlike the others who were rich kids trying to earn back the money they had blown on becoming Transcendent. So she set off with a great deal more trepidation then her compatriots, peeking around corners, then moving at a run till she hit a corner.

Her nerves jangled with every step. The ship was quiet at the best of times, brainjacks slowly moving from station to station to fix up the ship when it broke. Now it was positively eerie, the entire ship being so quiet. Every foot fall echoed. Ju-Shi reached another corner and rested for a moment, looking around. Then she heard a rustle behind her, and spun around. Ju-Shi stared at herself, but with a bizarre flip on what she was used to seeing. Then she remembered that mirrors flipped your reflection. Then she also remembered that Prime was a shapeshifter. Ju-Shi aimed her pistol at her own face.

Prime shoved her forearm blade into Ju-Shi's stomach then ripped up. Ju-Shi fell with a weltering of blood and gore falling out of her stomach. Prime noted she went down easier then the mindless ones. She also managed to rip some of Ju-Shi's memory's from her before she died. Prime stood over the corpse and breathed slowly, looking at her forearm blade, witch was streaked with blood and a small bit of entrails. The voice had been right. That had been fun. Prime slowly raised the blade to her face, looking at the red. She reached her tong out and slowly, enjoying every moment of it, licked the blood of her blade. It tasted fresh, tangy. Like a fine wine she had enjoyed with Daniel.

Prime knelt down to Ju-Shi, who was still alive and gasping uselessly at the air, trying to draw air through shredded lungs. Blood dribbled down the side of her lips as Ju-Shi backed away from herself. Prime slowly licked blood off Ju-Shi's face, savoring that as well, started to unbutton Ju-Shi's shirt. The woman had been wearing a shirt, overcoat and pants. The pants were fine, but the shirt had a bloody hole in it. The coat was mostly fine, and Prime was sure she could cover the hole and the blood with a fastened coat.

Prime looked at herself and at the half naked corpse on the ground. She was sure she looked convincingly like her. ├óÔé¼┼ôEnjoying your self?├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice asked. Prime grinned, licking the blood of her lips ├óÔé¼┼ôYes, actually├óÔé¼┬Ø she murmured. Then Prime set off down the corridor with a spring in herself. She followed the path Ju-Shi had gone down, using the memory's she had ripped, and arrived at the bridge easily enough.

├óÔé¼┼ôJu-Shi?├óÔé¼┬Ø The Capitan asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour back early├óÔé¼┬Ø. Prime had run in early, breathing hard and telling her body to sweat ├óÔé¼┼ôI was ambushed├óÔé¼┬Ø She said ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn Alien jumped me├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Captain walked over. ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you okay?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime said, slamming her forearm blade into the Capitan's throat ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm fine├óÔé¼┬Ø. The Capitan gagged, feeling at the sudden hole in her throat. Prime had been sure to impale her Adams apple, and destroy the sub-vocal transmitter that all Transcendi had.

Prime caught the Capitan as she fell backwards, blood pouring out of her. Prime grinned savagely. ├óÔé¼┼ôEnjoy the slaughter├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice urged her. Prime moved her mouth to the hole in the Capitan's throat. ├óÔé¼┼ôEnjoy it├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice said. Prime hesitated, seeing the panic in the Capitan's eyes. The revulsion. ├óÔé¼┼ôENJOY IT! the voice urged, becoming louder in Prime's mind. But Prime closed her mouth and slowly let the Capitan down to the ground. She let her form slowly slip back into its normal shape. Prime was staring at her hands, the blood on them. A while ago she had thought it was simply tasty. Just red liquid. She backed against the wall and slid slowly to the ground, staring at her hands. The Capitan, holding a hand to her neck and gagging for the air.

She slapped her hand down on the computer console to signal the alarm. The hallways flashed red and a klaxon sounded. The Capitan fell slowly down, glad she didn't really need breath to run her brain. Unfortunately not breathing still had bad effects. She was slowing down, her muscles not moving as fast without oxygenated blood. The Capitan fell to the ground, her hand smearing blood on the console as she thumped to the ground.

├óÔé¼┼ôEvery crime can be forgiven, every crime made up for. All but taking a life. Without a live there can be no forgiveness. No 'taking back'.. Daniel had said that long, long ago, near the beginning of Prime's life. He was trying to explain, to an innocent and unknowing entity that didn't understand what was wrong. Now Prime was still innocent, still unknowing. But she did know what was wrong. She looked at the blood on her hands and tried to bring up the reasons. Why did she do this?

Why was a woman, a entity as unique as she, dead. Why? The voice had told her to enjoy herself, and Prime did. Prime's hand shook ├óÔé¼┼ôI've got to get out of here├óÔé¼┬Ø she said softly. Three pairs of boots pounded in the hall ways, guns rattling as they jerked in moving hands. Prime looked up, her bloody hands dropping. Three colonial marines, mad as hell, were running down the corridor straight for Prime. Prime slid her forearm blades out and readied herself for.

For what? For more killing? For more crimes? Prime looked at her still bloody blades and realized that if she didn't stop now, she would never stop. She loved it. The preparation, the waiting, then the frenzied activity and the feel of sliding into the enemy. The taste of their blood, the sight of the enemy's eyes fading slowly away as they bled to death. Prime enjoyed it, just as the voice said. She slid her forearm blades back into her arms and stood slowly up. The three marines scrambled to a stop, seeing her approach.

It all seemed to move in slow motion. The black skinned man, Johnny, raised his weapon first, sights trained on Prime's forehead. And Prime knew that with his gun, he would destroy her brain and kill her forever. She braced herself for oblivion. ├óÔé¼┼ôDIE!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny shouted. Prime raised her arm to cover her face, knowing it was futile. The gun roared.

Prime slowly cracked her eyes open. A bullet hole in the wall next to her smoked slightly, the exploding bullet rending it apart quite effectively. Prime slowly lowered her arm. Johnny fired again. Prime felt her mind flex reflexively and the bullet exploded in the celling, showering the area with bits and piece's. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the fuck├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny muttered. Dwain walked forward and, rather then aiming, just let lose with a hail of bullets, his gun flashing brightly, even in the white light of the corridor.

Prime brought her hand up and the bullets bent around her, sliding over an invisible sphere. They slammed behind her, around her, above her. Dwain heard his gun click, but he kept pulling the trigger with a futility matched only by firing the gun in the first place. ├óÔé¼┼ôWHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain shouted, his eyes bugging. ├óÔé¼┼ôShit!├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said, running forward. He slammed into Prime, barrel shoved into her gut. Prime was taken completely off guard by the sudden charge, and was bowled over. They ended in a pile, and Prime found herself on the bottom, with Keller's rifle pressed into her right breast. Keller moved it slightly to the side.

├óÔé¼┼ôGET OFF!├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime shouted, flashing out with her mind. The corridor...warped, its wall's bending out in a sphere as Keller was thrown back. He slammed into Johnny and Dwain, sending them sprawling to the ground. The corridors, after holding the perfect sphere shape for a moment, cracked and filled with smoke. Prime stepped over the knocked over men and started looking for a way out.

She just gets more dangerous as the episodes go on doesnt she?

Thats just what S-02 dose. Gets bigger and more deadly and more bigger and deadlier...

Sweet powers she has growing there...
She does seem to have forgotten something about dropping off some am bombs, not that she won't be able to tear the ship apart with her mind soon anyway.

And I didn't once wonder what that voice was. I just assumed it came from those stray S-02 cells she picked up.

Or did it come from somewhere...else...

I would like to send out a special message tonight:

This will be the second to last Darkside Episode. Ever.

Thats right. We are almost done, finished. Gone! DONE! So any and all speculations and wild guesses and gibbering, sobbing attempts to get me to keep writing the show should go now. Its been fun guys, now lets see how its ends. Keep a stiff upper lip. Its going to get much...much worse...

Dwain slapped a new magazine into his rifle, grabbing his com link. ├óÔé¼┼ôCapitan├óÔé¼┬Ø He said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe want through our rounds like they were butter├óÔé¼┬Ø. There was no response. ├óÔé¼┼ôCapitan?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain snapped. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh fuck├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said, getting to his feet. Johnny got there first. The Capitan lay on the floor, her body in shut down mode due to blood loss. ├óÔé¼┼ôShit├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's alive, but we need to get her to the medical bay├óÔé¼┬Ø.

Two of the marines dragged the Capitan down the hall way, a bandage slapped over her neck. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe need to get her a new voice box├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said 'And could someone please find the fucking sarge!├óÔé¼┬Ø. Sarge was actually marshaling the brainjacks to repair the damage caused by the grenades. He was totally out of the loop, and it made him very mad when he learned of Ju-Shi's permanent death. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis alien bitch├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôHas just fucked with the wrong marine corp├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat do you suggest we do, sarge?├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller snapped ├óÔé¼┼ôShe walked THROUGH out fucking bullets├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôAnti-matter├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said. ├óÔé¼┼ôGrab an an anti-matter bomb and slap enough on a rocket and smash it into the bitch! Nothing can stop that├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat would destroy the ship├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said. ├óÔé¼┼ôThe shuttle├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny said ├óÔé¼┼ôwe could lure the thing onto a shuttle, put half our antimatter reserves and blast it when the bitch is in space├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow thats something I can get behind├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm for it├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge muttered, pulling out a third cigar. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou do know your lungs are metal, right Sarge?├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôShut the fuck up Keller├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said.

The marines advanced, a sealed med lab behind them. Shina was sleeping, if not soundly then at least quietly. The Capitan was already getting the surgical bot to fill in her neck. She waited patiently, disengaging pain for the moment. Many people would wonder why pain was not always off, but those people never went through a day without pain then noticed half a dozen small injury's, and if they were unlucky, large ones. And if they were in combat, life threatening ones. So the Capitan only removed her pain when she was in surgery.

Shina woke up, sitting slowly up. The room was dark, the door shut and the lights out to discourage Prime from entering the room out of curiosity. ├óÔé¼┼ôCapitan?├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina asked, blinking away the nightmares. The Capitan disengaged the bot and turned around. Shina screamed, her heat pounding in her chest as she saw the metal nub sticking out of the Capitan's neck, the slightly slack jaw that still had blood red teeth. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour dead!├óÔé¼┬Ø Shina shouted, throwing a blanket over her head ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm still asleep and your alive, and everything is fine├óÔé¼┬Ø she kept up that mantra. The Capitan sighed, not wanting to comfort Shina looking like this. So she turned back to the bot and tried to get the surgery over so she could look normal.

Prime looked into the air vent, and was for the moment, completely frustrated. She had always though she could just sneak through the air vents and get out scott free. She hadn't thought that mabey, just mabey, the air vent would be too small to fit her. Hell, it was too small to fit even a child. It was filled with pipes, tubes and a single fan. Prime let her self drop back to the corridor, her ears scanning the entire area for the sound of marine boots. Then she realized that she had done three very stupid things.

The first was the very simple fact she was lost. She was caught in a maze of corridors, winding, twisting and complex. The second mistake was not bringing the A/M bombs. That would have made the entire thing painless, detached and easy. Just roll the bombs on board and get out. No blood, no in your face, feel their breath on your face as they died fighting. But, damn it all, she was curious and wanted to see these strangers from beyond her solar system. So she had left the bombs on board.

The third, and last mistake, had been listening to that damn voice. It had been a constant thorn in her side, distracting her, distressing her and barbing her. She must have gone temporarily insane to listen to that voice. ├óÔé¼┼ôOr mabey, for one in your life, you were sane├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice whispered in her mind. ├óÔé¼┼ôSHUT THE FUCK UP!├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime screamed, slamming her fist into the wall. She slowly jerked her arm out, the screeching slightly as it was jerked out of the wall.

The voice did not return, but Prime heard some foot steps running at her. She turn and ran, taking random turns and desperately hoping that she would find something, anything. She turned again and ran into a door. Prime kicked the door, hearing the marines shouting and whooping behind her. Then she saw the nameplate on the door. Shuttle Bay. Prime snapped out her forearm blades and forced them between the door. The marines ran around the corner as she jerked on the door for the first time. It did next to nothing, the door slowly opening a crack.

The marines raised the guns, leisurely. Taking there time. ├óÔé¼┼ôScrew this├óÔé¼┬Ø Prime muttered, focusing her mind at the door. It caved inwards. She pushed harder and the door smashed inwards, flying off the hinges. Prime ran in as the marines got of their asses, firing some bullets. They bounced off the walls and floor. Prime got to the shuttle, the door opening for her. The shuttle was shaped like a bullet, with deployable wings and a single laser weapon pod. Prime ran into the cockpit of the shuttle, strapping in automatically. The shuttle bay doors didn't open, so Prime found the weapon controls, and after some fiddling got it to fire. A laser burned their way through the door and Prime throttled forward, away from the enemy ship.

├óÔé¼┼ôBurn in hell bitch!├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain shouted into the air lock that had dropped down to cover Prime's get away. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe is five hundred meters away├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said, reading off some data off a small hand scanner he had linked into the ships main scanning array. ├óÔé¼┼ôBlow it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said. ├óÔé¼┼ôDo you really WANT gamma rays in the face?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge asked, his question half snap half actual question ├óÔé¼┼ôThat shuttle is going off with a big boom├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts two thousand meters away now├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller said, looking over Sarge's shoulder. ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't fucking do that├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge snapped, elbowing the marine lightly. Keller bent over, clutching his stomach as Sarge fingered a detonator they had jury rigged up.

The small red blip that represented the shuttle bloomed slightly then vanished. ├óÔé¼┼ôEnjoy hell!├óÔé¼┬Ø Dwain said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah yeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said, frowning ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn shame about Ju-Shi, though├óÔé¼┬Ø. Johnny looked only slightly less unhappy. He was still thinking about Shina. He was interrupted from thinking about her any more when one of the shuttle bay doors was forced inwards. Air was blown outwards, shooting through the door. Then a hand reached in from the small crack in the door and grabbed onto something. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the fuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø Keller shouted over the gale. The marines were holding onto the walls to prevent from being shoved into space.

Then Prime pulled her in through the impossibly small hole and pulled herself in. The door unbent, her mind forcing it back into its original shape, and the squeal of air rushing out stopped. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy wont you die!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny shouted, raising his rifle to shoot Prime, who was panting in the new atmosphere, her hand clutching her knees to her chest. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo!├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said, smashing into Johnny's gun arm, forcing the gun down ├óÔé¼┼ôYou hit her, and breach the hull! We don't have a fucking bulkhead anymore!├óÔé¼┬Ø he jabbed a finger at the two remnants of the door. Prime's lungs adjusted to the air in the ship again, and she looked at the tattered, black stump of her left arm. She focused, forcing her cells into over drive to make up for the huge chunks of her body that had been hit by equal amounts of anti matter.

Prime was bone tired. First she had to adjust to a new environment, outer space, while recovering from a large A/M explosion practically next to her, and the complete destruction of thirty three percent of her body's cells. It would have killed her, if she hadn't been able to control her powers in such a fashion. She had kept most of the anti-matter away from her, smashing the partials into the side of her ship, then diverting the explosion into open space and away from her. She looked at her hand, the undamaged one, and felt it go out of focus.

A little dribble of black grit seeped out of her finger tips. Prime clutched her hand shut and forced her 'field' to keep her body together. It didn't work. Half of her fingers vaporised in an instant, her cells self destructing under the strain of keeping her form together. Then, suddenly, something in her mind ballooned.

It felt as if her perceptions were expanding. She could feel the heartbeats, the mechanical ticking and the electrical whirring of the four men near by. She could feel the dull, hurting pain of the brain jacks. She could hear everything on the ship. Prime closed her eyes, trying to shove whatever was happening away, feeling afraid of the new power. She was already terrified of what had been granted to her, and this was too much. Then everything snapped back like a rubber band, and the air around Prime shimmered with a pale silver light.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhat the fuck?├óÔé¼┬Ø one of the marines muttered. Prime slowly stood, her body healed in full. She felt as if the perception had been concentrated into one place, her. She touched the wall and felt electrical impulses running along the wall, in the wall and behind the wall, flow into her finger tips. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said, half to himself. Prime looked at him directly and said the only thing she could think of to say. ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't know├óÔé¼┬Ø She frowned, the silver light remaining despite her best efforts.

Johnny raised his gun. Prime acted, moving in a blur faster then normal, unaltered humans could see. Her blade snapped out and suddenly Johnny's gun fell in half, its edge mirrored by the fine cut. Prime snapped her blade back into her hand ├óÔé¼┼ôI will go├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't want to kill anyone├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôThey why did you!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny shouted. Prime had no answer, no way to explain away her shame. She turned around. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou can't just walk out!├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnny shouted after her . He moved to run after her. Sarge grabbed his shoulder and shook his head softly ├óÔé¼┼ôI think that we are in over our head├óÔé¼┬Ø he said.

Prime put her hand on the wall and slipped through, feeling her body compressed a thousand ways. Then she was on the outside, an invisibly thin sheen around her, protecting her body from the vacuum. Johnny gaped. The alien had...stepped through the wall. She had simply melted into it and was now on the out side of the ship. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are seriously in over our heads├óÔé¼┬Ø Sarge said.

├óÔé¼┼ôTwo years├óÔé¼┬Ø The man said, looking at the computer screen and sighing. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman asked, looking up from her console and looking at her partner. ├óÔé¼┼ôTwo years├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd they still haven't promoted me├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou really didn't do anything noteworthy├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman said. ├óÔé¼┼ôI saw the Thaw starting!├óÔé¼┬Ø The man snapped, gesturing to his console ├óÔé¼┼ôI saw the ten degree jump! I was there, from the beginning, to see this new age dawn├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo was I├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman said ├óÔé¼┼ôThey didn't promote me. And I found the damn fire ax├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The man sighed ├óÔé¼┼ôWell at least we get to look through telescope satellites├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen the Shroud lets us├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman added. Her screen fizzed out momentarily then came back in as the Shroud 'decided' to let the transmission go through. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe don't even get a new office├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said ├óÔé¼┼ôThis is a carbon copy of the old office├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy now, though?├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman asked ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy are you complaining now!├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said ├óÔé¼┼ôBecause this is my...fifteenth year working for this colony and the tenth year were every day I look at you├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman stood up as her console fizzed out again ├óÔé¼┼ôYou think that I am a set back?├óÔé¼┬Ø she stalked over to his side of the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes, actually├óÔé¼┬Ø The man snapped ├óÔé¼┼ôEvery day in day out its you you you! I see nothing but YOU!├óÔé¼┬Ø. The woman grabbed him by the lapels and kissed him. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe've waited to long for this├óÔé¼┬Ø She murmured in his ear. The man, however, saw something in her console as the static cleared. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh god!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôI haven't ever started yet├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman said, fingering the zipper. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo!├óÔé¼┬Ø the man pointed ├óÔé¼┼ôLook at that!├óÔé¼┬Ø.

They both looked at the console. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh my god!├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman said ├óÔé¼┼ôthats impossible├óÔé¼┬Ø. The man jerked his zipper back up, grabbing a phone ├óÔé¼┼ôGet some more people up here!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôSomething very odd is going on around the enemy ship!├óÔé¼┬Ø. Liz got the call after three other people in the chain of command, and swore very loudly, wondering why no one had told her earlier. ├óÔé¼┼ôGet me a live feed now!├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz snapped. She listened for a bit ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't care if its a sixty odd resolution gap, just get it to my viewer damn it!├óÔé¼┬Ø.

She listened again ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat do you mean? Its wireless!├óÔé¼┬Ø. A slight pause. ├óÔé¼┼ôLearn your equipment before complaining to me├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said then hung up the phone. ├óÔé¼┼ôIdiots again?├óÔé¼┬Ø The secretary asked, typing reports and logs into her typewriter. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo, just a jerk├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, picking up her pen. She pointed it at her viewer and clicked it twice. The screen turned on. ├óÔé¼┼ôEnjoying your new toy?├óÔé¼┬Ø the secretary asked, still typing. ├óÔé¼┼ôVery much├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, picking up the phone ├óÔé¼┼ôget me Daniel├óÔé¼┬Ø she said ├óÔé¼┼ôHe's going to want to see this├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The screen flickered on and Liz could immediately spot the odd thing next to the ship. It was a shape, humanoid. But it had no space suit. So that must mean it was Prime. ├óÔé¼┼ôThat ship had better explode soon├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz muttered.

├óÔé¼┼ôIdiot child!├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice snapped. Prime looked around, still trying to find out how to move in space. She was stuck still, unmoving, with the ship too far away to push off of. What! she thought ├óÔé¼┼ôYour going to hit the Threshold soon. You have to get on this planet if you want to live the next hour. You have to come to me!├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice said, urgency laced through it. An urgency that Prime had never heard before.

No! Prime thought I'm not going anywhere near you. ├óÔé¼┼ôIf you do not come to me, you will die!├óÔé¼┬Ø the voice said. Prime waited for a while, but it was gone. She thought about what it had said. Then her entire mind seemed to split down the middle, come back together and solidifies. Her power reached out wards again, and the silver light around her shone as bright as the sun. ├óÔé¼┼ôNO!├óÔé¼┬Ø She shouted, her voice sounding in her own mind if no where else.

Her power dimmed, but did not vanish. The silver light, however, snapped off. Prime let her self go. She let go of the shield, her form, her mind and just wanted to feel something familiar. She started to fall to the planet, plunging into the Shroud after a few moments. Prime closed her eye's and let herself hit the Shroud.

Your back something said. There was nothing but whiteness around Prime, just like last time. I don't want to know Prime said, her voice not actually sounding in the white space. I know exactly what you are feeling the voice. It was different from the other voice. Lighter, more friendly. More like a elderly grandfather then a overbearing father. And how exactly am I feeling? Prime snapped I just want to get back home, mabey see Daniel again. The voice laughed sadly You feel like everything is falling down around you. You like killing, and it scares you. Your good at killing, and that makes you even more afraid. You have new ability's, and that makes you uncertain.

Prime realized she could see her own hands and feet now, but they were fuzzy and incoherent. Prime saw something in the corner of her eye, and she turned to face it. Who are you? Prime asked, seeing the pale outline of a woman. I am the alpha and omega the figure said I am you and I am those who came here before. I am everyone who has passed through me. I know everything about them. I know everything about you...and your brother.

Prime fell through the Shroud, hearing the wind roar as she plummeted. ├óÔé¼┼ôBROTHER!├óÔé¼┬Ø she shouted over the wind ├óÔé¼┼ôWHAT BROTHER!├óÔé¼┬Ø. But the Shroud was beyond her hearing. Prime twisted and turned and saw an unfamiliar jungle shoot up to her. Prime twisted some more and had her legs under her. She closed her eyes, feeling more capable and alive then ever. Going through the Shroud had actually made her feel much much better.

She struck the ground at the terminal velocity of a normal human. Her legs bent completely at the knee and hips, but they did not break or even get damaged. Prime slowly stood back up. She was standing on a shattered rock, the kinetic energy from her fall transferred to the rock. Prime shook herself and looked around. She was standing, from what she could intuit from the terrain she had seen from a few miles up, at the edge of the continent of the Colony, near the South Pole.

Prime looked around, needing to get to the top of somewhere high again. Tree's surrounded her and many of them were very very tall, so Prime slid her blades out and started to climb up the tree. She got to the upper branches. She could see over most trees and saw the massive green sea that spanned the entire horizon. Then she saw something that no one had ever seen. The Shroud swept up and over her and then came down to the horizon. But it was not just an optical trick. A tendril of the purple material, making a cone in the material itself, and touched down on a large mountain in the distance. The mountain was over the very small gap between the continent and the pole of the world.

Prime dropped back to the floor of the ground and looked around. She was in a strange land, with civilization very far off. So she did the only thing she could do. She walked towards the pole, towards the touchdown point of the Shroud. If she could get in contact with whatever was in the Shroud, then mabey it could help her. Prime didn't know that her commander had been watching her decent down to the planets surface.

Liz chewed her fingernails. ├óÔé¼┼ôIs she dead?├óÔé¼┬Ø The head of the Science Division of the government asked, his voice piped in over the phone. Liz had yet to leave her office. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe'll pull her self together if the fall broke her up├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn├óÔé¼┬Ø The head of the Science Division said. ├óÔé¼┼ôRight, monitor the enemy ship├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, hanging up the phone and waiting for the operator to pick up. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes?├óÔé¼┬Ø The operator asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôI need a direct hook up to Rick O'Toole├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said. ├óÔé¼┼ôJust a moment├óÔé¼┬Ø the operator said and there was a click.

├óÔé¼┼ôHave you been watching this?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYes, damn it├óÔé¼┬Ø Rick said ├óÔé¼┼ôBased off orbital telemetry, not that its worth much with The Shroud, we can guess she landed somewhere near the middle of the Southern Continent├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôDamn it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said, reading a report. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Rick asked ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can send a helo to pick her up├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo its just├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôI had already sent a Helo to the area Prime would have landed in├óÔé¼┬Ø she looked at the map ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd they detected her field falling much much closer to the South Pole├óÔé¼┬Ø.

├óÔé¼┼ôThats...impossible├óÔé¼┬Ø Rick said ├óÔé¼┼ôShe was falling through the god damned atmosphere. How could she moved about a hundred miles?├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't know├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut I'm going to bring that Helo back and bring three squads or so out to the Pole. We need to bring Prime back├óÔé¼┬Ø. Rick was silent for a moment longer, his breathing ragged in the phone ├óÔé¼┼ôGood, fine├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut be careful, Liz. I-We can't lose you right now├óÔé¼┬Ø. Liz covered a grin with her hand, glancing at the secretary, who was still typing quickly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho said i was going?├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz asked ├óÔé¼┼ôBut yes, I will be careful├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The helos were a new invention and an old invention at the same time. The first was made by a small mining corporation that was trying to get a head of the game by scouting out really juicy mining sites months before ground vehicles could get there. The mining corp had grown to moderate size when Liz had shown up and she had a very quick deal with the manager of the corporation.

├óÔé¼┼ôI would like ten Helos├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz had said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe have one├óÔé¼┬Ø the C.E.O said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd we need to mine three sites. That will take our entire resource stores and will bring in thirty million C.C├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'll pay sixty million C.C├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôFor Ten Helos and I will be glad to make you our first aeronautical contractor├óÔé¼┬Ø. The C.E.O gaped for a moment at the sum of Colonial Credits being offered, but then he firmed up a bit ├óÔé¼┼ôAeronautics is not a profitable venture├óÔé¼┬Ø He said ├óÔé¼┼ôIts not the future├óÔé¼┬Ø. Liz stood slowly ├óÔé¼┼ôLook up├óÔé¼┬Ø she had said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd if there was no Shroud, you could see the profits in aeronautics. I'm going to need a lot of jets, helos, and a lot of space craft├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôBecause I believe in coming prepared├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôSeventy million├óÔé¼┬Ø The C.E.O said. ├óÔé¼┼ôSixty├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said. ├óÔé¼┼ôSixty five├óÔé¼┬Ø the C.E.O said. ├óÔé¼┼ôDone├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz grinned and took his hand, shaking it vigorously.

So now they had eleven Helos. And ten of them were in the shop, permanently. The main reason was because they were not very good Helos. The mining corp that made them, now the Union Aerospace Corporation, was a shoddy manufacturer. The C.E.O had run off with fifty of the sixty five million C.C's, and the new one was a blithering incompetent. Liz sighed as she waited around for the Helo to come back, assuming its not crashing as she sat there, and started listing the things she hated about Corporations.

The Helo arrived after a few hours, and Liz stood with the fifteen men that she had chosen. ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right├óÔé¼┬Ø She said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going in to save Prime. We don't know what has happened, if anyone has followed her or what the enemy ship is doing. So if we meet some of those extraterrestrial fuckheads, shot to kill├óÔé¼┬Ø. Her soldiers grinned at that. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow there might be something worse out there├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd keep those carbines set to explosive├óÔé¼┬Ø.

The helo lifted off, four rotary blades pushing it up and forward as they shot out of the capital city. They passed the smaller suburbs that had sprung up, then into the mostly uncharted jungles. ├óÔé¼┼ôAll right├óÔé¼┬Ø Liz said softly ├óÔé¼┼ôHere be dragons├óÔé¼┬Ø.