Into Hell and Back

[crawford'n'co]

"For fourteen centuries the Great War was waged, the United Earth Colonies slowly being pushed back towards their last major bastion. Terra itself. The Overwatch fleet, the elite of the elite, was sent forth from the defensive guns of Earth towards the massive Skrall fleet. The sleek Overwatch cruisers stood no chance against the angled Skrall Battleships. With the defeat of the Overwatch, Earth stood no chance. Massive firestorms consumed the sky of Earth as the deadly Inferno Bombs claimed yet another planet. Trillions of lives were lost. But all was not over.

The most magnificent ship ever built, the Heavenly Soul, had survived. Onboard were thousands of people, and the resources to begin again. As the Skrall gloated over the fallen planet, the Heavenly Soul escaped, its Flux Drive sending it towards a new galaxy, and a new beginning.

We stand here now because of the trillions of lives that were spent to protect us! Our pride was lost when it dissapeared during entrence to the Flux! We have nothing to fear in this galaxy, so, should we be merry? Or should we retrieve that which brought us here and drive the Skrall out of our native galaxy!"

-Commander of the Navy Jericho, After Transit 3412, March 17th.

The Heavenly Soul, the only ship know to be capable of Flux Transit, was lost 1800 years ago when it was sent to the other side of the galaxy to search for another world to settle on. Scans showed that the Flux Reactor overcharged and shut down immediately after entrence into the flux. As the Terran Empire slowly grew in its new home, reports came back of a ghost ship exactly the same as the Heavenly Soul, roaming the area. Since the first report 426 years ago, ships have been searching for the Heavenly Soul. Finally, it's location has been tracked, and an elite team of scientists, soldiers, marines, and sailors has been assembled to recover the ship.
This team has been tasked with recovering the Flux Reactor and all available data, and if able, the ship. The only problem is that we dont know what to expect when they get onboard. We have no idea of the effects of long term Flux exposure, and can not give any idea as to what the team will find.

Boardwar

You are part of the team that is sent to the Heavenly Soul to retrieve the Flux Reactor and data. There is no briefing data other than plans to the ship. This is an all-out mission.

Theres a couple of options for this boardwar, if it gets going:
1. Once the mission has been accomplished, pull the same thing again, and have the players be the same team getting stuck in Flux and having to get out before its too late.
2. Continue with the Terran Empire Fleet led by the Heavanly Soul return to the Milky Way and wage a war against the Skrall.
3. Add a sequel.
Scientists are scientists
Soldiers are boarding parties and regular soldiers
Marines are pilots, elite boarding crews, and officers
Sailors are Capital Ship crewman

Name:
Gender:
Age:
Task (Marine, Sailor, Soldier, Scientist):
Specialisation (Bio-Engineer, Sniper, Helm, Fighter Pilot):
Rank:
Description:

Rules: Everything that normally applies.


Name: Jericho Scorn
Gender: Male
Age (Earth Standard to New Earth =~3:4): 32 E.S. - 43 N.E.
Task: Sailor / Soldier
Specialisation: Strategy and Adaptaion
Rank: Commander of the Navy [Commanding Officer]
Description/backround: Jericho Scorn lived a life filled with fear, shouts, and constant fighting. He was one of the select few to be conscripted into the Navy at an extremely young age. During his training, he was constantly beaten, and forced over and over again to do the exact same task, even if he'd already passed. Every day he'd be faced with an older marine as an bully and would have to survive to go on. In time, he became so used to this training, that he could expect which marine would come after him, on what day, at what time, and how he'd attempt to murder him. Finally at his graduation, he was free from this hell of a life, and after 14 years of tactical strategising and leading, he took the position he is in now.

Height: 6'6
Weight: 225 Lbs
Strength: Benches 250 Lbs

[VladimirNikolai]

Name: Miranda Brayer
Gender: Female
Age: 24 E.S. - 32 N.E.
Task: Marine
Specialisation: Pilot/Boarding/Anti-boarding
Rank: Chief Petty Officer

Description/Background: Born on a Navy vessel, Miranda has been raised into a Navy life. When it became time to enlist, the only career that her mother would let her do was a Navy pilot. Miranda grudgingly agreed, and became a fighter pilot, and a damn good one at that. After her mother was decomissioned, due to old age, Miranda underwent a training course to become a specialist in boarding and anti-boarding. Her primary role in the Navy is as a fighter pilot, but she can be called upon in certain circumstances to serve in a boarding or anti-boarding party.

Height: 5'7"
Weight: 122lbs
Strength: Benches 125Lbs (uses tactics, not strength)

[Raver]

Name: Michael Satis
Gender: Male
Age: 37
Task: Marine
Specialisation: Pilot
Rank: Chief Petty Officer

Description/Background: Born on a small colony vessel, He is more comfortable in space than on a Planet. He grew up flying all sorts of vessels and quickly became a pro. Michael joined a mining company and spent much of the time shooting throguh asteroid fields finding anything worth mining. After a while he grew bored of his job and joined the Navy, he has been piloting every ship he has set foot on and now pilots the 'Teams' vessel.

Height: 6'8"
Weight: 240lbs
Strength: Benches 320

[VladimirNikolai]

Rabid, you so should have called your character Foley.

[Raver]

Heh.

[Angelofthenight]

Name: James Cross

Gender: Male

Task: Marine

Specalisation: Sniper & Fighter pilot

Age: 21

Rank: Private

History: James was born on A Space colony and when he was ten he Borrowed a light transport and went for a very fun ride when he got back he had only scrached the hull but he still got a dressing down but the colony reccomended him for the navy and he flew through the ranks chossing sniping and he didn't need fighter training he was so good he evventually got recommended for the mission

[crawford'n'co]

Just a note so people dont get scared, this is not a Non-Combat BW. there will be lots of bloody battles and stuff going on, but you'll get weapons later.

[Psymon]

Ok, can I be a scientist and still be involved in said battles? Cos sitting in a lab gets a bit dull when everyone else is off pillaging and such.

[crawford'n'co]

yes, scientists get to have fun, and they just wont be as highly trained as the marines, sailors, and soldiers in combat.

Exactly my point!

[WalkerK19]

scientist in a desperate situation always gets a weapon... :p

[Psymon]

Right. I'll join tomorrow when I have less homework and more sleep.

Name: Verity Sinclair
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Task: Scientist
Specialisation: A physicist specialising in Flux Space theory. She is also a passionate biologist with a decent medical grounding.
Rank: Science Officer
Description: Wears her hair shoulder length. As preparation for a potentially very dangerous mission, Verity has had basic training in weapon handling, but she isn't as good a shot as the military professionals. Can fly a freighter or shuttle, but would have no idea what to do in a dogfight or behind the controls of a fighter.

[Raver]

Five people...one or maybe two more and we can get this going?

[crawford'n'co]

Yep.

[Methuselath]

Hmm... Watched Event Horizon (for the third time) a few hours ago and got me interested in this, so I guess I'll be joining you chaps.

Name: Marten Greystoke
Gender: Male
Age: 29 E.S ~ 38 N.E
Task: Officer / Marine
Specialisation: Covert Ops and Boarding Tactics, Non-Coventional Warfare.
Rank: First Lieutenant - New Earth Intelligence Corp.

Description: Born in a rich family as a second son, Marten Greystoke was sent in the place of his brother in the conscription program, after much hand-greasing process from his parents part. He wasn't well loved for his parent, often considered as the family's black sheep, despite being rather urbane and polite, he was known for his dark demeanour and anti social tendencies. For what he worth, he was smart, renowned for his quick thinking and fast reflexes, despite his below-par physique. At the age of 19 he was inducted into the New Earth Intellegence Corp, an was attached to the Naval Sub-division of the group, task for various duties from overseeing various off-planet military operations to and ensuring the loyalty of Senior Commanders and Off Planet Officials, it's members well trained in various facets of combat and command. Attached to the Heavenly Soul Reclaimation Operation a support officer to offer consultation to the High Command and generally oversee the whole operation, Greystoke is easily regarded with suspicion, for being a member of the Intel Corp.

EDIT: Oops, missed that. Damn, but it was late, thanks for pointing that out.

[crawford'n'co]

Aight, tommorow morning (8 hours) ill start this up.

methuselath, looks nice exept for a few things:
1. The Skrall are in a completely different galaxy at the moment.
2. The Heavenly Soul was lost over 500 years ago.

Other than that, were good to go. New Recrutis are welcome at any time.

[crawford'n'co]

OMG, I just spent 30 minutes typing up a post, and when i saved teh changes, it logged me out, and I couldnt retrieve the post. Ill have to do it sometime else. RAWR, This has not died, and will revive soon

[VladimirNikolai]

GawD, come on! (Hehe, excuse the lame pun).

[Angelofthenight]

*THUD* "And that people is the sound of a boardwar falling flat on its face any quesions?"

[crawford'n'co]

Angel you dont pay attention much, do you? Dont worry. If youd pay attention to the idea thingy sticky whatchamacallie that has everything and anything about whats going in the boardwars, youd know I was on vacation. Now, to business:


THERE WILL BE BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IC: Jericho Scorn looked down from the bay of the dropship he was standing in. High Command was a total arse. 157 men to salvage a ship that took 500 to run in the first place. Bull-crap. Better get started.

"If your name is called, your special. Got it? You put together a team of whoever you want, and you all better be organized!"

Running his finger down the list he came to the first person.

"Brayer, Miranda! Military Actions." He looked up and saw the female still standing there. "Get the hell MOVING!"

Next name.

"Cross, James! Weapons support! If High Command didnt send us something thats anything worth fun, someone's going to find a boot up their arse!"

Several scary seconds later. "Greystoke, Marten! Bodyguards! Get those Tactical Assault Suits ready!"

"Satis, Michael! Support pilots. Have fun with the new birds!" He pointed to an open hangar filled with sleek black air superiority fighters.

"Last, and certainly least in my eyes - several laughs - is our scientifically inclined officer by the name of Sinclair, Verity. Your lucky job is recovering the Flux Reactor. With me.
Everybody! Move out!"

[VladimirNikolai]

OOC: Military actions? I'm taking that to mean strategies, as in like where to go and how to get there etc.? Anyway, tell me if I'm wrong.

IC: Miranda pulled a hurried salute and rushed into the combat preparation room of the dropship. She quickly realised that with the amount of men she had to command she would have to call a briefing. She just thoped they would pay attention, the last thing she wanted was a group of unorganised men and women with guns rushing into a ship, into an environment that was completely unpredictable. But that is part of what these men and women were trained to do - listen.

Walking briskly over to a bank of computers, Mirandas fingers danced over the touch screens, bringing up the last known blueprints of the ship, which were over 2000 years old, but saved digitally, were still pristine. Studying them for a few seconds, she keyed the small mic attached to the headset grafted into her ear.

"All military crew, this is CPO Miranda Brayer, current CO of military operations. I need a headcount of our fighters, and a brief account of the resources available to us. An operational meeting is to take place in five minutes, in the main hold." She said, her voice echoing over the ships PA system.

She keyed off her mic, and proceeded to scan over the blueprints of the Heavenly Soul, her brain whirring silently as she spotted choke points, good defensive sites, and offensive lines straight to where the Flux Drive should be located. I hope we don't need these, she thought as she began transferring the files to a slideshow to brief her men.

EDIT: *sigh* one dropship? Fine. Editting

[Psymon]

OOC: You mean we'll actually be ripping the Flux reactor out of the ship? Ok, but it could take some doing. If I've taken this the wrong way, disregard this post and I'll fix it later.

IC: "Hmph." Verity could tell she was going to like this officer already. She called up a schematic of the Soul and focused on the Flux Reactor, she could see the pipes and conduits that ran into it, but the design of the reactor itself wasn't on the diagram, if it was this mission would have been fairly pointless. This was going to be a hell of a job, the reactor was heavily shielded and protected by layers of armour that would not be easy to get through and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that they'd have to figure out how to shut down the reactor before they could even think of removing it. She got up and walked over to Scorn, he seemed deserving of the name if his comments were any indication of his opinion on scientists.

"Sir, I'm having some serious doubts about whether we can actually pull this off, at least, whether we can do it while it'll still be able to help in the war. I don't think removing or retrieving the Flux reactor is viable, we certainly can't do it quickly. We might be able to reverse-engineer the design but there's obviously no guarantee there. To be honest, the only real option we have is to commandeer the Soul ourselves and hope we can fly it out of here."

[Raver]

Michael walked towards one of the sleek blackbird superiority fighters and stood infront of it for a moment, he liked the sleek little fighters the military had, but he much preferred o be piloting something much larger, heavier, he could be more help in the cockpit of the Raptor, the rescue vessel sent to the 'Soul' which he flew, all the way here with all these people , keeping an eye on things, much less in a space superiority fighter, with nothing to shove his superiority onto except for a few rouge asteroids...

He walked back to Scorn and saluted. "Sir, request permission to return to my original post, piloting the Raptor. I will be much more help there, keeping an eye on the vessel as a whole, much less zipping around in a blackbird with nothing to do."

He heard to mans reply, turned around and climbed into one of the blackbirds. Firing up the engined he pulled the helmet on and felt the vessel being clamped into position, before being catapulted into space. After a moment of drifting, he pulled up and aimed for blackbirds nose for the Raptor...

[Mullertime]

Too late to join?
Or is there room for another scientist to enter the melee?

[Raver]

Sure, sign up whenever.

[Gorb]

Okay, I'll take that as my cue:

Name: Aerith Cloudstrife (:D)
Gender: F
Age: 23
Task: Scientist
Specialisation: Nuclear physics and deep-space theories.
Rank: Chief Scientist. Just completed a master's degree in nuclear and ballistic physics.
Description: Rather easy on the eye, Aerith graduated at the top of her year just last year. Born into an upper-class family, she did the opposite of what her parents expected from her and signed a deal with her country's Ministry of Defense. When this mission was sent across the new Terran Empire she enrolled immeadiately mainly because physics was her speciality. That, and it really annoyed her parents.

OOC: And Advent Children rocks, as I finally got round to seeing it the other day. Several times. In a row ;)

[Raver]

Dude, I get so confused between you and GawD...

[Gorb]

Me, why?

[Mullertime]

OOC: Yeah! Advent children! Great film! I love the fact that some of the game's music is also in the film (The music from the final sepiroth fight (Safer Sepiroth) and the Jenova battles). lol. I loved the 'victory' ringtone on one of the baddies!

IC:

Name: 'Nova'
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Task: Scientist
Specialisation: Weapons Expert and Space-Craft Engineer
Rank: Unknown
Descr: Tall of stature and a quiet and often solitary male. Only known as 'Nova', his past is unknown to many. Even his real name has disappeared into history, lost to all. He's a maverick by nature, working in his own style and not one to follow leadership. Despite these seemingly anti-social characteristics, he's a skilled weapons expert with several years experience and knowledge.
However, his reasons for signing up to the mission are as yet unknown...

Striding galantly towards to the team, Nova's hands were calmly in the pockets of his jacket. He had several tools and pieces of equipment in several small pockets and attachments, all hanging off his custom-built wepaons jacket. He had modified the standard army-issue jacket, into a bullet and semi-laser proof jacket, which had saved him through a few skirmishes.
He wandered towards Scorn.
"Hey. You're the ones recovering the reactor?"
Scorn nodded.
"Good. I'm on your team. You're going to have a tough time trying to cut through it with your standard issue tools."
He smiled as he lifted a thin hack saw. The blade was thicker than the saw itself, so it could make deep incisions without any restrictions. The blade glowed with a firey red tinge.
"This, is cutting tool!"

[VladimirNikolai]

OOC: GawD, am I to create my own weapons that are standard issue etc.? Or am I to wait until you inform me of the equipment we have. Also, how many people, dropships, etc do we have to play with? I'll continue when I know this stuff :P.

[crawford'n'co]

157 Men, 1 Drop ship, 15 Fighters.

Equipment will come later.

Yes were ripping the reactor from the ship, or taking the ship whole.

Military actions, is just as its name implies.


IC:
Scorn watched as a new arrival walked up. After having him mouth off like a High Admiral, Scorn responded.

"I don't like insubordinates. As in, people who disobey my commands usually end up in a brig for several days. And I believe my equipment is good enough."

He held up his fist. Hanging off was a double tipped plasma torch.

"If you really want to come, hop onboard, and listen to anybody who has my command, got it?" He flicked down the helmet mic. "Dustoff in five. Get moving!"

**********

The Raptor and its surrounding fighters lifted off the massive airship functioning as their carrier. "Deep Space, you are cleared for Jump Gate c117-Ai, vector 117-19-591. Come back soon!"

The circle that functioned as a Jump Gate lit up in a pool of blue light. Speeding up, the Raptor and fighters slammed into the pool, and were transfered into a shallow level of the Flux. Shadows and light danced around them as they moved.

"ETA, 2 hours and counting."

The sensors officer jumped after staring at his screen for a long while. "Sir, a Blackbird has just dissapeared. They were sucked into a deeper level of the flux. Wait, theres something moving towards us..... What the hell? It just vanished. Sir something is wrong."

Scorn eyed his command panel. Everything read ok, except for that fighter.

"Move on, we'll find out later. ETA in 27 minutes, counting. I want search probes deployed, and teams searching for the Soul as soon as we arrive. YOu have your orders."

"

[VladimirNikolai]

OOC: "Military operations" has gotta be the broadest assignment I have ever heard of :P. Am I the commander of all fighting units? And also, when you say 157 men, that's including the whole lot. What I mean is how many soldiers and marines, the people I have command over. As for equipment... how can we get it later if we've just Fluxed away from our only way to get weapons.

Vlad = Confused.

[Raver]

OOC:Don't overcomplicate things. Just improvise!

Will post IC later...

[VladimirNikolai]

OOC: I suggested improvisation, but GawD obviously has something very specific in mind. And it's his bw.

[Mullertime]

Hearing the commotion behind him, Nova sat up and left his seat, and made his way to the captain.
The news of a missing blackbird seemed odd. The craft they used were pretty efficient, and wouldn't easily fall into the flux.

"Seems like someone doesn't want us here..." Nova smirked.

And with that, before Scorn could say anything, he made his way down towards the cargo room. If someone was trying to tamper with the craft, then any...'welcome packs' would surely be left near the cargo storage bay.
He slid open to the door, and made his way down the steps, into the core of the hold. He was surrounded by huge crates and canisters. All the supplies and air which they needed.
But something didn't look right.
For the ship which might have to carry the flux reactor back, something bothered him... but he couldn't place his finger on it...

[crawford'n'co]

LOL We haVe a huge ass dropship with a huge ass cargo bay, filled with all kinds of stuff. You'll get weapons when the time comes.

[Gorb]

Aerith sat in her seat, unconcerned with the loss of a blackbird. There were much more important things to be thinking about. The Flux Reactor for one, and the percentage of mission success was also indeterminable. She smiled. Trying to predict the success of a mission before it had started was futile anyhow. Still, the mathematician in her had to try. She noticed various male personell ogling her from a distance, but she paid them no attention. They were unimportant. She was important, as without Aerith's presence, the soldier grunts wouldn't have a clue about how to remove the Reactor. That fact gave her no small amount of satisfaction.

[VladimirNikolai]

*sigh* I'm sorry. Just, to me, we're about to pull out of the Flux - you said yourself, 15 minutes of bw time. So, we're about to pull into unknown space, and none of us have guns yet? By the way, I didn't want to actually have them suit up (before, when it was 2 hours away) but wanted to know what I actually had to command (to put into IC her commands etc.). Anyway. Do you at least want to continue with the story then?

[crawford'n'co]

We shall continue, and you shall find out.

[Raver]

Michael was confused. He was about to dock with the main vessel when he got to call to rejoin the dropship. He had just made it when that very dropship and its escort of Blackbirds including his were catapulted into flux space.

He decided he'd just cruise in one of the sleek new birds until he had something else to do so he settled in and almost fell asleep in the cabin when an alarm went off. One of the Blackbirds had disappeared, swallowed into the deeper recesses of the flux. He edged the bird closer to the dropship, not wanting to have a similar fate.

He began to drift off again until he ended up slapping himself several times, waking up. Something began to beep and red letters scrolled down the glass of the cabin:

++Target Reached - Disengaging from Flux drive++

The Blackbird began to shake and the outlines of the other vessels outside began to blur and in a brilliant flash it entered normal space again. A few kilometres ahead were several other bright flashes and the dropship along with its escort appeared. Michael swore, flux was getting ever more unreliable these days, at least he didn't end up in a star or something stupid.

"Falcon 1, this is Satis. My bird disengaged early and I'm catching up now. Stand by." He gunned the engines and the Blackbird shot forward, its engines shooting massive flames out behind it. In a matter of seconds he had caught up with the rest of the squadron and began to circle the dropship lazily.

"Satis we read you. Watch out you're coming a little close to the port antenna array there. Oh, we're approaching what must be the soul now. Stand by for further orders in a moment." The pilot in the dropship was a friend of his but they didn't talk as much as he wished they did. She was an awesome girl and was probably feeling pretty safe in the armored cockpit of the massive dropship.

He kept his eyes on the sensors and he saw it, a massive contact which blacked out everything behind it on the sensors. He tapped in a couple of commands and his radio channels changed,
"Scorn, Miranda, whoever the hell is commanding this Op. Do you want me to scout ahead? Make sure nothing is hiding on the other side of the vessel before we bring the dropship in?"

[VladimirNikolai]

The voice of a pilot broke through the silence, directly into Miranda's ear. He was asking whether he should scout ahead, check out the Soul. He sounded a bit older than she, but he also sounded a bit cocky. She keyed her mic and responded.

"Pilot, this is Miranda. Please identify yourself." The reply came a few seconds later.

"Excuse me ma'am, this is CPO Michael Satis. Requesting permission to scout the Soul out?"

"Thank you CPO Satis, I heard you the first time. Stand by for orders." Miranda replied, keying off her mic and looking over to Scorn. He seemed a bit preoccupied with other things, as they had just identified the Soul. Miranda took it upon herself to give him the green light. She could see no harm in finding out what the hell this ship had instore for them. Pressing the button, she replied.

"CPO, affirmative. You may scout out the vessel, take a second bird with you. You can pick who. Make sure you don't close within 100 meters of the ship, we don't know what she can, and will, do. She could even be highly unstable. I believe we are running some tests back here, but a visual sweep can't hurt. Brayer out."

Clicking off the button, she returned to looking over the blueprints. There were several docking stations, and it seemed that they were most likely to dock at station 25. It was closest to the core, where the Flux drive should be located. She really hoped that her CO, this Scorn character, would tell her what she had available to her, weapons wise. For some reason he didn't want to tell her, which was extremely unprofessional. She knew that she would be reporting this when they returned. The meeting she had held with the armed wing of the crew had yeilded not much more information. None of them really knew what was going on either, and all she had got out of it was a headcount of 107 combat ready troops, various marines and soldiers. She had briefly told them where the most likely routes would be to the Flux drive, and had pointed out some waypoints and key defensive points.

Glaring over at Scorn, she continued to scan the prints, incase there was something she had missed.

[Raver]

Satis clicked off the radio, signaled to one of the other pilots and together, the two blackbirds shot off towards the massive looming shape in the distance.

He knew it wouldn't count for much but the powerful lights on the front of the blackbirds were switched on, along with a camera placed on his birds nose, which relayed back to the dropship. They reached the outer hull of the vessel and split up, one going under and one going over. Satis nudged the controls and rolled the blackbird over to get a view of the Souls' hull. It was a steely gray with rust and dents and scraping all along it, whatever happened to the ship, it had taken a beating.

The bird flew over the edge and he gasped. A massive gash was torn in the side of the vessel, the edges were blackened and the metal bent outwards meaning something inside has exploded. He killed the engines and let the bird drift down and around, he hit the lights the the massive hole was illuminated. Everything inside was blackened and wrecked but it was only a small section of the massive vessel that was the Soul.

"Brayer, you getting this?"

[Mullertime]

The exit from the flux had thrown Nova off his feet and into some of the crates.

"Son of a bitch!" He cried, rubbing the back of his head in pain.
The vessel started to move slower. He guessed that they'd be running tests of the ship now. He sighed. Nothing to do but wander. It would take ages for the ship to be scanned. He sat himself down, leaning his back against one of the huge crates, quietly waiting for an update or even an order. He reached inside one of his pockets, fetching a chocolate bar he had taken with him. He snapped a segment off and chewed on it delicately. It had been ages since he felt the sultry taste of chocoate, he smiled as he felt the familiar taste. He pocketed the rest for the journey home, and quietly sat, chewing as he looked around for anything interesting. He was still bored out of his head...
He stood up and walked towards the foot of the stairs, and listened up them, to hear if there were any noises. There were a few bleeps form the scanner, and the odd muffled voice, but no one seemed to be around.
With a wry smile on his face, Nova quietly made his way over to one of the crates. No way would a journey to another ship require this much fuel and food. He thought something looked odd. The cargo hold way packed out with crates!
He looked for any interesting crates. Secure locking system, no way of viewing the inside, even a warning sign or 2 would help him.
He managed to stumble upon a set of metal crates, reinforced with extra padlocks.

"Now this is what I'm talking about..." He grinned quietly

He hurried over to them, making sure he didn't make a sound. He looked around when he reached the box. No sign of a camera. He was alone
Reaching into a side pocket, he pulled out a small staff. Standing back, he pressed a button, as a thin blade shot out of it. The blade had a small compartment on th eend of it. It was a special make of crowbar. A small explosive devise loaded into the end, would slide under the 2 surfaces, and give off a small, silent explosion, which would emit a force on both faces, in the same way a jack for a car extend and push the side of the car up. He was exceptionally pleased with this trinket. It took several years to perfect a super-thin explosive device.
He jammed it into the side, slowly trying to ease it under the lid. It took a lot of effort, as the lid was firmly shut, and it required him to try and push it up slightly, just to make enough of a gap. The lid was exceptionally heavy, and he had to put all his effort in for the lid to move slightly. Just enough room... he quickly slid the bar under it, and left it there.
He picked out the lockpicks from another set of pockets, and started work on the padlocks. It took him several minutes to complete all of them. Luckily, the ship was still coasting along, probably still scanning.
Once the locks were finally off, he took the handle of the crowbar, and pushed a red button built into the side. The small device exploded, forcing the crowbar into the lid, unleashing a huge force upon it. The lid shook and opened slightly, as the internal seal was broken, but just barely. Unfortunately, Nova didn't have enough time to catch or grab the lid, as it clanged back onto its case.
The clash of metal on metal emitted a loud bang throughout the cargo bay. Nova looked around, and quickly sped off into a corner. He hoisted himself up next to a few crates, and peeked through the gap inbetween them. He watched the stairs, almost breathless, waiting for someone to walk down a it. A few minutes passed, no one showed up. He breathed a sign of relief, and leapt down from the crates, back to the one he had opened.
He eased open the lid, and pulling himself up onto the crate, managed to push it all the way, into its upright position, nestling against the wall.

"Right. Let's see what we have here."

He frowned.
Weaponry?
The crate was full to the brim of cases of weapons and ammunition. He eased himself down onto the cases, and started picking them up and examining them. Surely they wouldn't need this many weapons? However, he understood that the mission could be dangerous, so he wasn't too worried. But he was interested why there were so many crates. I mean, just over 100 soldiers, wouldn't need lots of crates of weaponry. He continued to look through the cases, and started placing them outside the crate, as he went further and further into the huge metal box.
All standard weaponry. Nothing too odd there.
But after he got about halfway, he was an odd neon green emerge from behind one of the crates. He quickly moved it aside, revealing a huge scoripion green canister.
He moved the other crases, resting on top of it, revealing the huge green and purple pipe-like object.

"That's impossible..." He breathed.

He picked up the huge object with both hands, and looked at the side.

"PD-MKIII"

"But these weapons were taken out of commission years ago..."

The object he was holding was infact an experimental weapon.
It was a 'Partical Destroyer', the 3rd design used for these experimental and very rare weapons.
Held like a bazooka, the large tube would unleash a deadly ray, which would literally rip apart its targets, bit by bit, splitting apart every single cell and molecule.
They had been banned and destroyed, due to their immense power, and he could have sworn that all of them were collected, dismantled and all instructions and designs destroyed.
The Partical Destroyer was a weapon only used for huge-scale assaults. A single blast would be able to rip a hole through a large mothership with ease. It was never used for infantry warfare.
He could understand that there might be some fighting with stray enemies or foes on the ship, but why the hell would they bring this of all weapons?

"I don't know where they're going to send us...but I already don't like it..."

[Psymon]

Verity could feel anger rising out of her chest, but she did her best to remain civil, "I'm not trying to be insubordinate sir, and I'd appreciate it if I wasn't thrown in the brig. I was merely expressing my concerns and I'm sorry if I caused offence." Sucking in a breath she continued, "However, if the Soul is beyond repair and we can't get her going, I will do my best to salvage the reactor as planned. Sir. I'll go and prep a team of engineers."

She turned and walked away, it would have been more dignified if the exit from Flux Space hadn't knocked her off her feet. She got up and kept walking, getting around a corner before she let Scorn see her nurse the bruised chin and cut lip she'd ended up with. "Why the hell did I join the military?" she muttered, Because they were all that was left, her brain answered, Because now that Earth is just another ball of blackened glass, this is the only place you can help. God, I hate it when I'm right...

[crawford'n'co]

Scorn watched as the scans continued.

"Somethings wrong." He whispered. Several crew looked at him. A klaxon sounded and emergency lighting turned on. "CONTACTS CLOSING IN ALL SIDES! PREPARE FOR IMPACT! ALL WEAPONS HOT!" The Sensors hud turned completely red. "Flux entries on all sides! SHIT!" Quad Chaingun Turrets went online, their gunners slamming down the trigger. Tracers ripped through space as the creaters began swarming the Raptor and the Blackbirds. The creatures took the shots as though they were not there, their ethereal forms shifting constantly.

"Sir, Massive flux anomaly ahead! The Soul is entering flux!"

Outside the Soul dissapeared in a flash, the creatures continued swarming the small taskforce.

"Armour is being removed via flux transportation! Well only be able to last for another 30 minutes at this rate."

Scorn pushed the marine out of the chair. He whipped the keyboard up and punched in a password. A red switch reavealed itself on the wall next to him. Grabbing it, he slammed it down. Power went out. A AI voice said "Flux Magnetic Pulse Shockwave Activated." There was a brilliant flash and all power died, even watchs and other devices. Reality wavered for a moment before returning to normal.

Several hours later of waiting in the dark, power finally began to return.

"Main CPU Online - Status Report - Hull Status: 91% - Power - 31 % - Engines: 41% - Life Support: 62%. All systems returning to full function."

Scorn looked around. Finding a stable officer he said, "Remind me never to do that again."

[Mullertime]

Nova was suddenly shocked to see all the power cut out in the ship.
He leapt back with the shock and hit the side of the crate, causing the lid to slam down on top of him.

"Bugger..." He moaned, rubbing his head. It was now pitch black in the cargo hold, and he was trapped in a metal box. Just his luck...

He tried to open the lid. It was difficult trying to push something open if you couldn't see where your footing was.
He eased up the great sheet of metal, and as he walked forward, missed his fotting inbetween a few cases, as the lid slammed back down, sending another loud clang throughout the hold
"Dammit!" he cursed "Now everyone will know I'm here. Frickin' crate..."

Placing a few cases to form an even floor, he tried again, and managed to ease himself out of the crate. He climbed out and eased the lid back down on top of its case. he slumped at the side and breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea where everything was, and was in no mood to try and put everything back in in the pitch black. So he decided to sit and wait for power to be restored. As he sat back, he took another few bites of his chocolate. "Mmm..." He crooned.

Finally, after several hours, and a few naps, the power suddenly shot back on, bringing a smile back to Nova's face.
"Finally!" he grinned.
Before anyone could come down and check the hold, he quickly gathered up all the cases, and once again opened up the lid of the crate. He climbed back in and put everything back in it's place. It was a bit haphazard, but it was close enough. he then leapt out of the box, and once again lowered the lid back into place. He picked up the chains and reattached the locks to them.

He saw all he needed to see

He didn't care if there was an alarm, others attacking the vessel or a long scan. He was now more interested in the PD gun. He wanted answers... and as sure as hell he was going to find them...

[VladimirNikolai]

As soon as she could see where she was, Miranda walked briskly towards Scorn. As she got near, she started talking, the rage barely contained.

"Right, that's it. You give me and my men weapons, now! We've evidently got hostiles here, and if those ships had managed to board, we would all be dead right now."

She slowed, breathing in deep breaths.

"Sir," she finished, turning back to her station. She would leave the recovery of the other downed vessels to the ship-security team she had set up. Just before the power went out, Miranda had recieved a comms burst from the Blackbird she had sent out to scout out the Soul. She brought up the feed, which luckily hadn't been corrupted by the sudden power outage while it was still being recieved. As the camera sidled around the side of the ship, she gasped.

"Sir! Scorn! You need to see this!"

[Mullertime]

Nova nochalantly walked into the control room where Miranda was sitting, staring at a monitor. The other crew were busy looking at their own monitors and reacting to the high pitched little 'blips' from the radars and scanners, trying to work out what had just attacked them, and also what had happened to the balckbird, back in the flux.

Pent up with the juicy details, Nova couldn't help but spill a few beans, just to make things interesting...

"Miss..." he whispered to Miranda, gently tapping her shoulder.
She whirled round, shocked to see him.
"Don't say anything." Nova quickly hissed, keeping an eye on Scorn and the others, who still hadn't noticed anything. Nova smirked.
"Would it interest you to know that we have illegal weaponry on board. Nothing too special. Just Class A banned weaponry. Just thought you'd be interested..."

[crawford'n'co]

Scorn reached to his belt slowly. Nothing to attract attention. He leaned over a little bit further so that he could see where he was pointing. He drew his pistol and pointed it at the rouge's head. "I'd suggest you keep that information to yourself from now on. I hear a lot more than I lead others to believe, and if you'd like to keep your head, you'll take myself and Miss Miranda down to the hold and show us where you found this, and exactly what youre talking about."

Scorn turned around, waved his hand dismissivly at the other crew and lowered his hand. He smiled, a gruesome smile at that, and beckoned for the man to lead them on.

[Mullertime]

Nova smirked

"You mean you don't know? Please...there's no way that a captain will be so ignorant as to let several crates of illegal weaponry get loaded on board."

Scorn still held the pistol to his head, unwavered by the comment. Nova shrugged.

"Follow me then."

He casuallly led them down the stairs to the hold, he kep his hands out of his pockets and in open view of Scorn, just to prove he was not trying anything suspicious. He continued to walk forward towards the crate, feeling the steely stare of Scorn in the back of his neck. He had a sneaking suspision that the gun's sight and barrel was also aimed there.

He led them over to the huge crate he had previosuly unlocked, and nodded in its direction.

"There you have it. I thought it looked suspicious. Why would we have so much weaponry for the recovery of a flux generator? Go on. Take a look."

Scorn pointed his gun towards the crate, and focussed it back at Nova.

"Oh, you want me to do it. Think I'll try something funny, eh?"

He shrugged again and walked over to the crate. He flicked out his lock-pick set and unfastened each lock. He removed the chains and flipped open the lid. He hoisted himself up on the side, and reached inside. he pulled out each weapon box, and placed it outside of the crate, making his way down to the bottom, with the PD-Mk3. He looked behind him and still saw the gun trained on him.

"Will you please stop aiming that thing at me? It's makin' me nervous."

Once again, Scorn stood defiantly.

Nova nodded and continued to work. He eventually got the bottom of the crate.

"Oh....shit..." He stammered

Scorn smirked
"What's the matter? Nothing there?"

Nova nodded.

"Ha! I knew it." Scorn laughed. "Trying to start a mutiny eh? Well, its' to the brig for you then!"

"Sir...I woudln't that if I were you..." Nova stammered.

He sounded afraid, Scorn hesistated slightly, seeing the worried look on Nova's face. No...this must be a trick of his...

"Sir..." Nova breathed "I'd really take a look at this..."

Nova moved to one side, and pointed for Scorn and Miranda to look. They both went to the edge of the box and looked in.

Indeed, the PD Mk3 had disappeared. However, at the side of the crate, was burnt a huge hole. The metal had basically melted into a huge pothole. Something had broken into the box and stolen the weaponry.

"Oh...shit..." Scorn muttered

[crawford'n'co]

"Son, somethings up, and even if you doubt me, I had no clue what High Command gave me. If youre talking Illegal Weaponry, give me some details."

Nove nodded, "Partical Destroyer."

Scorn jumped a little. "Holy.... Shit."

[Mullertime]

Nova saw that Scorn's reaction was pretty natural. No way could he have faked that effectively. He realised that in this situation, he would have to trust Scorn, despite his seemingly high disciplinarian ways, he was innocent. Nova couldn't pin anything on him.

He nodded to Scorn

"Mark 3, to be exact. If I recall, the Mark 3 were the most advanced forms, so they're pretty dangerous. But something tells me you already know that... The question now is what do we do about it..."

[crawford'n'co]

"First off, we need to run a full search on this ship to find that weapon. Then, we find out who made this hole in my nice fu**ing new shiny impenetrable CRATE, DAMNIT!" He screamed

[Raver]

Satis struggled to regain control of the Blackbird. It spun and whirled crazily in space, knocked away from the massive shockwave caused by the Soul jumping away.

Finally the bird slowed in its crazy spinning and eventually slowed to a stop. Satis looked at the control panel, it was covered in red lights. "Shit." He sword out loud as he shut down the whole shit then slowly brought all its systems back online again. The comms came online. " - appening with you Satis? We lost contact for a bit. Respond Satis." A voice of one of the techies back on the dropship.

"Yeah I'm here. My bird got pretty knocked about by the Flux shockwave and I had to shut it down and heat it up again. Everything seems to be working well. I'm coming back to the dropship for repairs just incase."

The bird back-flipped and shot back in the direction of the dropship, a tiny white dot in the distance. It slowed down as it neared the vessel and Satis saw the damage, entire sections of the ships hull were missing and its engines were stuttering slightly. He brought the ship around and slowed it as he flew into the hangar.

He climbed out and patted himself off. Turning around he looked at the bird and noticed the hull was ever so slightly buckled.

[Gorb]

Aerith looked up.

"We've got a what? A Particle Destroyer? Mark III? Oh, excellent." She jumped up, and whipped out a pen and some paper, and then started scribbling furiously. The other members of the mission stared at her, obviously a bit dumbfounded, possibly for a few reasons.

1. That a master of physics could be a young woman.

2. That the aforementioned master of physics found a missing weapon "excellent".

3. That she wasn't at all worried about the situation at hand, with the Soul having disappeared and all.

Aerith looked up at the bemused crew.

"Oh, sorry. I can track it, if you wish. I did a project back on these back at high school. They were fun! Not that my parents ever knew, of course."

She appeared to alternate between the serious demeanor of a nuclear physicist, and the exuberant nature of a little girl. It was a little disconcerting. One of the men gave a slight cough.

"Er, madame, are you sure you know what a Particle Destroyer is?" Aerith ignored him, as she was busy writing in her notebook.

[Psymon]

"Well, there you have it." Verity said to the assembled engineers, many of whom had looks of disbelief on their faces, "I think it sounds just as crazy as you do, but we have to cut a hole in the side of the ship large enough to get the Flux Reactor out and then slice out the reactor. And apparently, pointing out any flaws in this plan is insubordination and gets you some time in the brig. So, here's the plan:"

She called up a holographic blueprint of the Soul, "We go in here, just in front of the engines, the armour is thin to allow cooling and its pretty close to the Reactor." A section of the ship's outer hull turned red, "We'll need to send a second team to the main power supply to cut the artificial gravity, assuming the Soul's is still functioning," A second red blip appeared on the holo. "After that, we have to cut along here," the red section of the hull extended inwards as a cylinder before angling sharply upwards, "up two decks and into engineering. Now everyone will need to wear a suit as we'll be working in hard vacuum, cumbersome though they are, it's better than having your brain sucked out through your nose. And before we start, I want to have a good look at the Flux Reactor myself, we don't know how it will react to having gravity and power cut. This isn't going to be fast or easy, but it's probably possible. Ok, go get ready, I'll call when we're going in."

[Mullertime]

Nova looked over at Verity's plan. He bit his lip.

Of course, they still had the reactor to fish out.

He nervously looked at scorn.

"Sir. We're in a fix. We need to get that reactor, you know? But something out there has our weapon, which might i add Aerith, could rip you and that notepad of yours apart into tiny atoms in a nano-second. The problem is that this might simply be a distraction. If we run abotu chasing after this...this...'thing', we might have the flux take out from right under the very noses. But if we charge in and just get the flux, then what's to say we won't be attacked?"

[crawford'n'co]

Scorn sat back down in his chair. He pulled up the monitor and keyed in a sensor sweep of the ship. Right below the reactor there was an unidentified red blip squirming around.

"There's our culprit. Nove, come with me, time for our PD to return."

Scorn walked back to the cargo back and kicked the crate open again. Pulling out a locked case, he opened it up and pulled out the Pulse Rifle inside. He tossed it to Nova, then opened a second case and loaded it. He signaled to move. He and Nova moved closer and closer to the area of the creature. There was a hissing and a squid like creature dove out of the shadows at them. It flung itself upon Scorn, driving him to the ground and tried to eat into his flesh with a mouth full of teeth.

"Ge'off'meh damnit!"

[Raver]

Satis sat on the nose of his Blackbird reading when he heard some commotion and what sounded like Scorn's voice yell out. Jumping off, he tossed the book aside and sprinted down the service corridor at the side of the large hangar.

Rounding a few corners he found Scorn and Nova struggling with some...creature, it was on Scorn who was holding its snapping jaws just clear of his face, Nova was holding up his rifle at the Creature but couldn't get a clear shot.

Over to his left, Satis saw pipe, it was conveniently about the size of a baseball bat. Satis picked it, held it on both his hands and calmly waled around the Creature and Scorn on the floor until he was standing infront of its head. Bringing up the pipe behind him, he swung as hard and fast as he could. It smashed into the Creatures face and the force threw it cleanly off Scorn and it slammed into a the wall.

Satis wandered over, watching at the Creature struggle to regain its feet but Satis struck again, and again and again until its head was a mess of broken bones and flesh. Satis, the wall and the pipe was all covered in a thick viscous blood. Turning around He extended a hand to Scorn. "Looks like you could have used a hand."

[Mullertime]

Nova continued to hold up the pulse rifle at the creature, just incase it decided to move again.
Of course, the top half of it was now scattered in a bloody mess around the immediate vicinity, looking like a pot of jam had exploded all over Satis, but you could never be sure.

Eventually, as the creature slumped into a small heap, and didn't move, Nova fired one bolt into it, just to be sure.
He turned to Scorn.

"What the hell was that? And more importantly, what's it done with the PD?"

[Gorb]

"Hmm. Unidentified scavenger animal, tend to hunt in packs. I can't think how this one got on board, unless another brought it on board or it was tranported in the cargo."

Aerith was still writing in her notepad, then she paused and look up.

"And yes, I know a PD, especially a MK III, can tear me up and possibly anyone else in the immeadiate vicinity. Now shut up, I'm trying to figure out a way to disrupt the PD's circuitry in case something decides to fire it at us."

She turned away from Scorn and started fiddling with some elcetrical equipment she had in her pocket.

"Oh, and I'll need access to a physics lab, and some electrical equipment. Of course, you could just ignore me, but don't come crying back to me when that fancy gun of yours blasts you back into your constituent elements."

[Raver]

OOC: Is it just me, or did the story just fall off the plot?

[Gorb]

OOC: Well, someone introduced a *lost* Particle Destroyer . . . I'm just going with the flow. Think of it as a subplot, although I hope there aren't too many subplots.

[crawford'n'co]

Scorn ignored the scientist for the moment. THen came back,
"No, not a scavenger animal. Flux Creature. This thing was one of those creatures that attacked us, and it came onboard. Lovely." Just as he began a new sentence, time warped, and returned. An officer ran down from the bridge.

"Sir, weve just been sucked into the Flux. Everyone'll want to see this. Get up here quick."

When they arrived, they looked out the window. Ahead of them was a fully repaired Heavenly Soul, no dents, marks or anything. Lights functioning, Flux Field perfectly intact.

"Someone's hailing us. It's a distress call. Feed it through!"

/Save us! We have been waiting for an eternity! Do not let us suffer any longer./

In the backround a screeching and wailing could be heard.

"Flux anomaly. Were dropping back into reality." The Soul vanished, and the Raptor dropped into reality again to find a damaged and decaying Soul dead ahead of them.

"Combat teams to the hold, were arming and getting ready for boarding. Science teams, move to your designated hatch to await your body guards. Lets move!"

Marines rushed down towards the armour lockers. As they opened, Full assault armour stood ready for them. Scorn enlisted the help of several nearby men and started throwing pulse rifles and experimental plasma weaponry to ready men.

"All targets not designated human are to be killed immediately! No questions! We move in, and we move out. Each team has their objective. We have 6 hours once I punch the button to get this ship secured. And we better be doing it in 3. Brace for boarding. Impact in 10..... 9...... 8...... 7......6......5......4....3.......2......1." The Raptor bounced into the side of the Soul, docking clamps attaching themselves wherever they could. Marines rushed through the boarding tubes and secured the area. It was now a race against time.

[Gorb]

OOC: And so the Particle Destroyer is just, left loose on our ship?

[crawford'n'co]

Yep X|

[Raver]

OOC: I assume it will be poking back up later in the story, until then, lets get this going again.

IC:


Satris didn't bother with his Blackbird this time, now he was decked out in full military gear and hefted a pulse rifle in his left hand. He had sprinted in on the first wave of boarders and now was crouched, his rifle aimed down one of the massive dark corridors of the Soul, its torchlight becoming lost in the darkness. He clicked on his radio on his shoulder, "Team 1, boarding zone secured, we're making our way to the bridge now, stand by."

Satis and his accompanying team sprinted down the extensive corridor, torchlights flashing wildly, they followed the red lines leading them to the bridge on their HUD, rounded corners, climbed stairs and sprinted down more corridors, all in the darkness until they finally reached the bridge. A massive bulkhead blocked their path. Walking up the the keypad, Satis tapped it a couple of times but nothing happen.

"Command this is Team one, we've reached the bridge but its locked down tight, we wont be able to get in without power. Tell whichever team is going to engineering to hit the power."

[Mullertime]

OOC: I'm afraid the Particle Destroyer thing was my fault :) I introduced it as an odd sub-plot twist to appear later in the story. Unfortunately, this thread fell silent for a week or so, so in a bid to get it up and running again, I threw in that weird sub-plot :p

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

IC:
Nova shouldered his pulse rifle, as he viewed the scans of the ship from the monitors back on The Raptor.
He was analysing what parts he could, in a bid to work out where everyone needed to go. He was a scientist more than a fighter, and would be wasted running in the front lines. He quietly sat back, looking for an alternate entrance or route to a power supply. He slowly scrolled over the ship, looking for an entrance and sign of power.

He eventually saw a few canisters. Huge canisters with spiralled wires protruding out of the top. The image was quite poor, as the sensors had trouble penetrating the ship's hull. However, the distorted image was no doubt a small power grid. A huge set of batteries, presumably the back-up power supply. He knew where they had to go, but how would they get there?
He scrolled the outside of the ship for any ports or hull, when he saw a rusting hatch.
he quickly bleeped up the comms system, hoping that someone important was on board or nearby, ready to here this.

"I've found a way to the power system....I think. Just a bit right of where the ship is docked, is a rusty hatch. It looks like an air lock. No doubt, it must be where some ships could enter and exit. It's too small for the Raptor, but some small craft could get through it if we blast the entrance. I don't know where it leads, currently scanning now, but the back-up power grid is nearby. If we can get there, we can fire up the ship and get enough power to activate the doors and get that flux out of there..."

[Raver]

Satis was listening to Nova over the radio, all the whole one of his eyebrows slowly raised. ".....Oooor we could just send one of the teams down to that level and activate it manually...just a thought, that way we don't waste ammo and don't...you know...depressurise the ship, which would kinda make everyone, incluidng the several teams of marines currently in it...will...well...die."

Satis wasn't usually a smartass, but he really didn't care about
scientists who thought blowing everything uo was the way to go. He clicked on his radio again, "Team 4, this is Satris from team one. We need to you get to the backup power grids-" He glanced at the tiny holographic display of the the vessel, tiny green dots representing the several teams and a yellow dot representing the backup power.

"-Three levels down, service corridor 7b, then it should be a red-painted door, do in there and activate the power grids, the door isn't strong, a small mine should do the job. Get back to me once the doors open."

[crawford'n'co]

Scorn watched on his holo-map. "Red's closing in on team one. Prepare for contacts."

***
Ahead of team one in the corridor, there was a slimy crawling sound. They all trained their lights, and a head of them, was a group of the squid creatures. One of them lunged, only to be hit by several pulse rounds. The rest melted through the walls and begans swarming around.


OOC: Pulse weapons are like a rifle sive version of the BFG 9K. They are energy weapons, but the shot is fired instantly, and it travels a lot faster.

[Mullertime]

Nova continued to observe the ship from the control room, trying to find out as much as he could about getting towards the power generators. He slowly moved about each passageway, as if it were a maze, and he was looking for a way to link it back to one of the teams. He buzzed up the radio again.

"Okay guys, listen up. The Back-up generators aren't really easy to get to. In order to protect the ship, they were placed off corridors with reinforced doors to prevent unknown access or explosion damage. The problem here is that the doors require a security code to open, but more importantly, power, which we don't have.
However, I've been flicking about the place, and there is a way there. 3 levels down, on the right of the stairs, there should be an armoury. A small ventilation duct is located somewhere in that room. If you take it, you will be able to get to gain access to service corridor 7b. From there, you should find a door which has actually broken somewhat, presumably from the impact and damage to the ship. Walk through this and a bit further, and you're there. Luckily, once the power grid is kicked back up, the huge security doors can be opened with either the password, or electronically opened from the inside. However, this will use up power, and I'd hazard a guess we'll only have 1 hour of power before the back-up runs dry. But be careful, the generator area hasn't been touched in years, and it'll more than likely have some of those creatures from before, maybe even in a larger number. Unfortunately, we cannot find any signs of them. No heat signals have been traced to the area, but we have found one or 2 signs, but they're pretty vague at the moment. Let me know if you need any help down there."
He signed off.

he then leant forward, and tried to gain scans of any lifeforms in the area.

[Raver]

Satis was growing impatient, there was always one thing after another, and those strange aliens had been reported showing up every now and again.

One of the teams had been dispatched to turn on the reactors but he hadn't heard back from them in a while and was growing ever more concerned. He was about to radio them when suddenly a red glow filled the hallways, every few metres red emergency lights flared to life. "Finally, okay people let's get these door's open."

The team gathered around, around ten of them. Their guns were pointed at the massive bulkhead while Satis walked over to the control pad and his the 'open' button. A low, loud groan echoed from the door as the ancient machinery whirred to life and the doors slowly parted. Every member of the team gasped.

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

The light from the teams torch's bounced off the red blood crystals suspended in the zero gravity, casting ghastly shapes and colours across the rest of the bridge.

It was a largish room with three rows of seats with consoles, all of which would have been manned by an officer. In the middle was the command seat and infront of that, were the massive windows.

It was all covered in blood, but not just that, pieces of...what could only be describes as Human tissue was everywhere, splattered across the windows in horrible patterns, draped over the consoles and the command chair...Satis raised his eyes to the ceiling and almost yelped.

Hundreds of bodies, all frozen, crystallized and cracked were floating at the roof, none of them moved, drifted or tumbled, they just hung there, ghastly images of the poor crew men and women of the 'Soul'.

He clicked on the radio on his shoulder, "Raptor...you're getting this right?" He tapped the little video camera mounted on his other shoulder to make sure it was on...

[Mullertime]

"Bloody hell...." Nova breathed, as he saw the carnage on the screen. He leant forward and viewed it closely.

The bodies, drifting around the ceiling, all shocked and horrified...

Nova flipped a few controls and zoomed in on the bodies, trying to make sense of what had happened. He viewed each cut, gash, laceration and torn off limbs, trying to make sense of what had caused all this. As the team slowly examined the room, Nova started viewing the pieces of tissue, and winced as he saw frayed veins and blood vessels. They were too ragged to have been a clean cut.

"Shit guys..." Nova stammered. "Those people have been torn apart. Literally. Grabbed and ripped apart. Their entrails seem to have been engulfed. Satis, shine that torch on the woman closest to you..."

Satis raised the torch at the woman. Nova zoomed in.

"Right... her insides are well and truly eaten. The marks around her remains show some sort of acidic compound. Probably something those aliens used to digest or 'soften up their food'. But the teeth marks...most are small and tiny, but a couple are too big to be anything we've encountered so far..."

He slumped back in his chair and stroked his chin. Damn, if he knew he'd be going up against these weird creatures, he would have stayed at home...
His brain was buzzing with a solutions to the problem, after a few minutes, he buzzed back to the team.

"Right, that's it, I'm coming down there to try and get a specimin. If we can work out what the hell they are, we might be able to find some sorta counter to them. A gas or compound which will destroy them quickly, particularly if we're going against a much larger version of them."

He shut off the radio and started arming himself for the small excursion.