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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:30:15 GMT -6
Holodoc Holodoc watched the readings as the device scanned Stargazor's hands. She was having a little trouble keeping up with some of the reading since they were going by quickly, but she would have time once the scan was complete to look over the scan completely. She just hoped that she would be able to figure out what had happened with Stargzor when the creature landed on his hand & see if it may have been linked to what was going on with him currently in the seizure like spells he was having every so often. When the scan had completed, Holodoc removed the device from Stargazor's hands & placed it aside.
Holodoc looked down when she felt movement around her feet & notices BrieCORA walking around. She kneels down & gently picks up the kitten & holds her in her hands. "Stargazor," Holodoc says, "I have completed the scan & will examine the dated received. If you want to talk for awhile longer I can stay for as long as you want & we can chat. I know the information collected by the scan will take me a little while to figure out happened recently, but I don't want to just leave you here alone if you want to talk about a few things." Holodoc waited to see what Stargazor would say before continuing further. * * * Stargazor I wish i knew who the woman in my dreams is ,she ‘s always there when these attacks start. Like if she is watching over me. Then there is this voice talking to me, telling me i still have a lot to do. While Stargazor told Holodoc what was going on when he is out she looked over some of the reading she took. Her eye came across some strange readings, while he still had the aspects of a human , his body was changing. She could see his need for air was becoming less then normal. He was becoming twice as strong and fast as a normal person. But what concerned her most was the energy reading she got from his body. They wore way above normal and not stable, if they would raise higher he could burn up. Then she looked over to Stargazor who was looking at his hands while he talked about the strange things he’d seen while he was out. He opened his right hand and concentrated on it . Suddenly a ball of light formed in his hand. Holodoc was seeing this event and was puzzled , she could see him control this ball of light with ease. Then Stargazor said to Holodoc “Place you’re hand above the ball of light”! Holodoc was afraid but Stargazor said “There’s no need to fear me”! Holodoc “How do you know this”!
Stargazor “I just do”!
Holodoc raised her hand and placed it above the light ball. When she did she felt this bright flash inside her , then she was like inside Stargazor’s mind. She could see what he sees she could feel his feelings, and more. Then he showed her the horror he had seen in the attack. She was becoming more tense so Stargazor stopped the connections as she regained to herself she felt tired but had a glimps of what was going on inside of Stargazor. She looked at these sad eyes of Stargazor, and said “Now i know, what ever is going on whit you i know you would never hurt any of us, I felt what you felt , i saw what you saw”! * * * Lucian Reports of the strange, spinning crawl-ons were being received from around the Battlestar. Various methods of killing them were being reported, and word of Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis’ report of the halon-boroton being an effective killer of the little disc crawl-ons soon spread through the ship. Not long afterward, using captured specimens, the researchers in the Science Lab discovered the creatures’ special ‘vacuum sealing’ ability.
“To all personnel, this is Commander Sheba. We are in the process of eliminating the disc crawl-ons that have somehow invaded our ship. In the meantime, be vigilant, and be aware that the methods broadcast a few centons ago may not, repeat may NOT be effective against the creatures in their dormant state. Additional information is being placed on inner ship net. Remember to be careful with these things. There is no antidote, and the Science Lab is telling us that it may be sectons, or even sectars, if ever, before an antidote can be formulated from their poison.” * * * Amy Charybdis was carrying me down the hall when I began coughing. I raised my head off of his shoulder and started to shift my weight like I wanted to be put down. He stopped walking and set me down on my feet, holding me up as I bent over, clearing my throat and taking in some deep breaths.
"Thank you" I said breathily, "again." I stood up straight. "I'm okay. Let me get my breath." I looked down at my skirt. "Fracking thing's ruined" I muttered as I tried to brush the feldgercarb off of it.
I stood again, and looked Charybdis in the eyes. It's been awhile since I had done that. A lot can be said just by the look people can give each other. I smiled. "Honest I'm okay. I didn't get bit. Lord knows why I didn't, but I didn't."
I looked both ways, up and down the hall. I tried to keep my hobble down to a minimum, since my injured leg was still trouble, but I went down the hall a ways and unhooked a boraton extinguisher from the wall. It matched one Charybdis had with him. Boraton wasn't 100% effective, but it was a good start in battling these multi-legged invaders.
"I can fight" I said, and gave him a look that I hoped would remind him that I could. "I promise I'll go to medlab after these fracking bugs are taken care of." * * * Lucian "Do you have any idea where they came from?" asked Commander Sheba.
Major CureMode had just come from the Science Lab where he had been working with Solon and Fallel on samples of the creatures that had been brought in from various parts of the ship. He replied, "Our best guess, considering that the Security Officer died a couple of sectars after we were there, is Garrano. It was the only habitable planet that we had visited for quite some time, and the landing party reported numerous creatures spotted while they were there. Of course, it's possible that it came from Shonada Delta, but based on the atmosphere Cain and his crew encountered there, it would be hard to imagine that such a creature could have evolved there at all, but if it did, it's not likely that it would be able to survive in our atmosphere here aboard the Callisto."
"How could there be so many of them?" asked Sheba. "They would need food to multiply and grow, and there aren't too many sources of that aboard the Callisto other than us."
"It's possible, though unlikely, that they can get nutrition from other sources. The missing ensign, Eirikhr, could have even fallen victim to them in some remote corner of the ship. So far, we just don't know."
"What about the poison? How soon will we have an antidote," Sheba asked.
"As we found when Lolly died, it's quite unlike anything we've ever seen. We took numerous blood and tissue samples and even went so far as to preserve his body to allow more research when we return to the fleet," continued the Major. "The poison acts as a catalyst to break down cells to the basest organic compounds at the local level, while also acting as a sort of neutrino bomb to the individual bitten."
"What do you mean," asked Lieutenant Aegina.
CureMode replied, "Imagine an acid that will eat through its volume of flesh. Since it appears that they inject only a tiny amount, it should affect only the cells in that immediate area; however, there is also a ripple effect that, despite the fact we haven't found the cause, sends a shock wave through the body that stops the heart and lungs in microns. Lack of blood and oxygen, the body dies in three to five centons."
"So theoretically, a victim could be placed on a heart/lung machine and be kept alive," said Doc BKJ. "Does the poison affect the brain as well?"
"Most likely," said CureMode, "but so far, we haven't even come close to verifying that. Those killed so far died so quickly that there was no time for their brains to be affected."
"So what you're telling us is that the best advice is to kill these little bastards before they can take a chunk out of more of us," said Major Lucian, still damp from his recent encounter with the beasts. "Believe me, I'm all for it!" * * * Charybdis Amy was clutching at a halon-boraton container ready to do battle with more of the little crawlons.
"Amy, put that thing down!" I told her. "You need to get to Med lab right now. After what you have been through, not to mention that you just got back from the mission. You probably inhaled that halon mixture and the doctors need to check you out. Please, Amy, let's go" I motioned for her to follow me as I stretched out my hand to her... * * * Amy Charybdis had his hand out, either to take my hand or to take away my boraton extinguisher. I tried to suppress a cough that was building inside me, but I couldn't and had myself a small wheezing fit. Yeah, I probably did inhale some of that feldgercarb. And yeah, I hate it sometimes when Charybdis is right when I don't want him to be. And yet...
I stood my ground, standing as straight as I could. "Charybdis, I took the Warrior's oath because there wasn't a safe place in the entire fleet. Now there might not be a safe place on this entire ship. While we stand here and debate someone somewhere could be in the same shape you found me in. So let's go!"
Okay, maybe it was a little strong coming from a junior officer. But we were more than that to each other. ARE more than that. Were, are, all I knew was right now it felt more like 'are'. I didn't know if it would wear off once the gratitude of his rescuing me wasn't so fresh, but right now I felt my heart swinging wide open, even if at the same time I wanted to whack him for being so protective. Just a great time to be confused!
It was my turn now to wait for his response...
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:30:53 GMT -6
Charybdis Amy stood her ground. After all she had been through, she wanted to go after more of those little fracking crawlons!
She almost looked funny, if she was not so serious. There she was, caked with wet goupy crawlon webbing around her lower legs, mixed in with white liquid halon-boraton, her hear had stringy beads in it and her dress was totally ruined, but here she was wanting more of it...
What was it with this chick? I had heard about the legendary Starbuck and his conquests with women, including Commander Apollo's sister, Athena, but I couldn't even get Amy to go to Med Lab with me!!!!!
It was that fire in her. Oh well, what the frack. As if she was ever going to listen to me.
"Alright. Let me get a canister and we're off. BUT, we head to the bridge first to report what we've seen." * * * Amy It only took me a moment to flash through the events that would unfold if I stepped foot on the bridge. For one, having been missing for so long the last thing I wanted was to see the Commander looking like I do right now. It would take her half a micron to have me taken to medlab, under security escort if necessary.
"Uh-uh" I replied, shaking my head at Charybdis's proposal. "If I step foot on the bridge I'm confined for sure." I was right up to him, close. "That won't do us any good. I'm already up to speed on these things. Don't make me sit this one out."
I flashed the old pouty face, the one that always seemed to help me get my way. I threw in the sad daggit-eyes for good measure. It's not like any of it was phony- I knew I was of better use not being confined. Besides, I was okay. I choked back another coughing fit I could feel building.
"Compromise" I said. "Call the bridge on the nearest vid-com. Besides, time is wasting. We can't afford a trip to the bridge." My expression melted into a smile. After a long enough pause to make him wonder, I added "If I may suggest so, sir." It might have been unfair to resort to the old ways when we haven't been like that for so long, but I'd just have to sort that all out later.
"Vid-com is just down the hall" I offered, jerking a thumb over my shoulder. "But I'll stay out of camera sight" I added, pulling a bit of sticky stuff off the side of my skirt. * * * Charybdis My ploy didn't work. I could see that she would never go to the bridge. No one, and I mean, NO ONE would ever be so bold with me, except Amy. She knew me as well as anyone ever could, at least my very intimate side. We had been lovers. I had asked her to be sealed and she had said yes, but what was going through her mind, I couldn't tell.
She was very determined. But, in the end, she did have a point. They would confine her to med lab immediately. Not that that wouldn't be a bad thing. I was still worried sick over her physical condition. Who knows what those creatures did to her back on the planet. And now, who knows what the effects of having those fracking crawlons all over her would do to her?
"Amy, we can't comb this ship looking for every single one of those things!" I tried to reason with her. "There must be hundreds or thousands, for all we know. I tell you what. Come with me to my quarters and let's get you cleaned up properly. We can talk and make sure you're alright. OK?"
She seemed a bit pensive, as if she was seriously considering it. I kept on, "Amy, please. I'll notify the bridge from my quarters and I won't take you there. But, please, listen to me. You don't know what I've been going through when I thought you were..." I stopped in mid-sentence. She knew what I was trying to say. I had been going through my own personal Hades as well.
I put my hand up to caress her face. Her beautiful sweet face. I stared into her eyes. The same beautiful eyes I had always stared into when we would sneak away to be lost in our lover's embrace if only for a centar or so.
I waited to see what she would do... * * * Amy As long as it didn’t involve going to the bridge I couldn’t see a problem with Charybdis’s compromise. He was as concerned about me as he was about the crawlons, and by stopping off at his quarters I guess he could tend to both in a way. I wasn’t the only one who’d been through a lot lately. I could see that in his eyes, in the expression on his face, and in the tone of his voice. I nodded agreement, dropping my arm and letting the extinguisher hang low from my hand. He took it from me as we started on the short trip to his quarters.
I hadn’t been in there for quite some time yet it also seemed like I had just been there. An odd sensation came over me as he keyed the code and we entered. I sat down heavily at his desk as he went to the bathroom for some stuff to clean me off with. I stretched out my bad leg. It honestly felt good to get off it for a moment.
“I suppose I could file my report while we’re here,” I said. “The commander will be asking for it. Better have it ready I guess.”
I sat with my hand on the com record button, trying to put my memories of Axces Gamma in order. As Charybdis came over I asked, “See what you can do with those fracking beads in my hair. I was going to ask Brie for help but I haven’t seen her since medlab.”
“You know, there are going to be some big gaps in this report,” I said. “Commander won’t like that I’m sure. I remember heading toward the planet with Najinn, and then I really don’t remember much of anything until I was captured by the reptile creatures. The rest is real fuzzy. I can’t explain how my hair got dyed or these beads got- OW!” I stopped talking as Charybdis yanked my hair while working on one of the beads. I grew conscious off his hands working through my hair, and it took a moment to get back my train of thought.
“A lot of what I think I remember feels more like a dream. Like I was on plant vapors or something. Like this room for instance. I look around here and I think cold. It’s just there in my head. I feel like everything I touch in here is going to turn cold. Weird, huh?”
“I do remember those lizard things though.” I stopped talking again at the thought of what I went through as their prisoner. Being stripped naked, menaced, beaten, I could still feel the lizard blood spattering me as I killed the one who had me pinned to the floor. I just sat in thought, and didn’t even react when Charybdis accidently pulled my hair again. Maybe that’s why I wanted to keep moving, so I wouldn’t have time to think about things.
“Maybe my report can wait. I guess you should file yours about the crawlons?” * * * Charybdis I was trying to get those beads out of her hair. They seemed sort of like made out of stone or some type of granite. They were actually kind of pretty. Amy's hair was nice and clean, well, it had been before I shot it full of the halon, but with her hair braided and tipped with the beads, she sort of looked exotic, actually, quite different but still very pretty. Not something a Warrior would be wearing, that's for sure.
I noticed that she was having a hard time remembering. I didn't blame her. She needed rest most of all.
I moved Amy over to the couch and let her sit and rest while I filed my report. "you can take a turboshower in here if you want" I told her. I still happened to have some of her civilian clothes in my drawers. Left over from the time when we...
I felt good. All the while I filed my report, I looked over at Amy. It was nice to have her in my quarters all alone. She was safe. I planned to keep it that way as much as i could. She ran her fingers through her hair thinking about something as she seemed lost in thought.
I smiled and wished that she would always be with me here in my quarters...as my wife. * * * Amy I took Charybdis up on his offer of using his turboshower. He opened a drawer and I picked out some clothes that I had left way back. I had wondered where they had gone to. With so much moving around lately rooming with Brie, I'd lost track of a number of things. Figures I wouldn't find a uniform here, just skirts and tops. I guess I'd be battling crawlons in civilian clothes again.
I ran the shower and again got spooked by the foggy mirror. This really bugged me as I drew lines in the steam. It memeory seemed so vivid yet just out of reach. What did it mean? I felt like I had done this very thing, but couldn't remember when. Weird. I shook off the thoughts and got cleaned up.
The beads were still in my hair though Charybdis had made some progress. I dried off and pulled back my hair. Why these beads annoyed me so much was easy to say. I can't remember how the fracking things got in there! I looked forward to reading the reports from the others that were on Axces Gamma. Maybe they could fill in some of my missing gaps in what happened to me before I got captured by the reptiles.
I emerged from the bathroom, cleaned up and ready to go. "I know I'm not exactly in uniform, but I'm ready", I said. I shuddered a little at the thought of those crawlons, and what they might be doing to someone at this very moment. I went over and picked up my extinguisher. "You coming?" I asked.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:31:21 GMT -6
Charybdis "Amy, we can't possibly go after every single one of these things. We don't know how many there are." Once again, I tried to reason with her.
Apparently, she had turned into a one person vigilante against these things. I couldn't blame her. I would want to kill every last one if they had done to me what they had done to Amy. You can't forget a thing like that very easily.
I moved over to her and took her face in my hands. I stared into her eyes. "Amy, we'll get them. we'll get them all. But we need to know what we're dealing with." Just then, a buzzer sounded on my comm unit on my desk.
I quickly punched the button. It was from Commander Sheba and she was summoning me to the bridge -- ASAP!
"Frack!" I muttered out loud. The last thing I wanted to do was to leave Amy by herself. Of course she could come with me.
"Amy, I have to go. You can come with me and we can see what the latest is on these things. Dr. Curemode and Solon have been working with the samples."
I waited to see if she would come to the bridge with me afterall... * * * Amy I began to feel the protective wing of Charybdis wrapping itself around me. Smothering me. It's not that I didn't appreciate his protectiveness- there had been times when I longed for and sought out the security of his company and his caring. And with the line so throughly blurred I had a tough time separating that protectiveness from merely the orders of a superior officer. It was all part of the mess that is my life here on the Callisto.
I shook my head. "I can't afford to go to the bridge. If I can save just one person from the fate I almost suffered at the mercy of those creepy fracking crawlon things..." I left the door and went to Charybdis's desk, picking up an extra comlink. I clipped it onto the waistband of my skirt. "You go, find out if there's anything new, and call me. I've got to get out there."
A trip to the bridge was still not in my best interests. Not that I was putting my personal situation ahead of the fleet's, but if I went up there, even though I was cleaned up, I'd still be just a junior officer, subject to the orders of the commander, who might just dump me back in medlab anyway. I couldn't afford the chance. My feelings were that this ship would need every able crewman to fight these things, and I could fight them! Better that I stay on the commander's back burner right now.
I was probably mixing things up further by doing so, but I popped up and kissed Charybdis quickly on the cheek. I ran a hand along the side of his face, then set out into the corridor, gripping the extinguisher with both hands. * * * Charybdis Amy kissed me quickly on the cheek and left. I followed her out into the corridor and as she turned the corner she took one quick look at me and disappeared around the bend.
"No wonder she gets herself into all this trouble. She won't listen to anyone." I muttered to myself in disgust with Amy's actions. "What good's it going to do if she gets herself killed?" Although no one could hear me, I felt a bit strange talking to myself out in the corridor.
I grabbed the small commlink and paged Brie. "Brie, Amy's on the loose again. I tried to get her to Med Lab and the bridge but she wouldn't go. I think you'd better watch her closely. SHe's out to try and kill every last one of these fracking crawlons on the ship. Charybdis, out."
Well, I figured I'd better save what was left of MY career. At least I was in control of that. I headed off toward the bridge to meet with the Commander. * * * Lucian Two young techs walked in to the Viper Simulation Room. They had recieved order to repair one of the simulators that had been damaged.
"What in the name of Kobol happened here?" said the bewildered tech,"these warriors think they can just destroy equipment like this. I hope he is put on report for this. Pass me my hammer."
The other tech looked for the hammer with no success. "I am going back to the workstation to get a hammer. I will be back in five centons.
When the second tech left, the small disc-crawlons made there way over to the tech leaning into simulator. He didn't notice as the hundreds of small spots made their way up his leg. It wasn't until he went to get something out of his tool box that he noticed what was on his leg. Before he could shout out for help, hundreds of tiny needles injected the lethal poison into his body.
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"That is the end of this de-briefing," Nat said. Turning to Ensign Artus he said, "Ensign, theres the matter of damage to one of my simulators I want to talk about." As we were about leave the de-briefing room a message came over the ship wide comm.
“To all personnel, this is Commander Sheba. We are in the process of eliminating the disc crawl-ons that have somehow invaded our ship. In the meantime, be vigilant, and be aware that the methods broadcast a few centons ago may not, repeat may NOT be effective against the creatures in their dormant state. Additional information is being placed on inner ship net. Remember to be careful with these things. There is no antidote, and the Science Lab is telling us that it may be sectons, or even sectars, if ever, before an antidote can be formulated from their poison.”
We left the room only to see someone laying next to a simulator. Lieutenant Teri went over to have a look. As she turned him over, she gasped, "He's dead. He has also got some kind of purplish welts over his body." * * * Artus Oh boy, Artus thought, now I'm really going to get it. Now how do I explain that what I was doing was my own way of finding a solution to the problems with the cylon ships with shields. Just at that moment a message came over the ship wide comm; “To all personnel, this is Commander Sheba. We are in the process of eliminating the disc crawl-ons.......
Artus tried to concentrate on what the commander had to say, but all he could do was think to himself: this is real, this is it! No more training, no more simulation. This is it. It's real and it's right on my doorstep.
As we left the room Artus saw with the others that there was somebody was lying next to the simulator he had just left. Lieutenant Teri went over to have a look. As she turned him over, she gasped, "He's dead. He has also got some kind of purplish welts over his body."
Artus drew his weapon, not that he thought that it would do him much good, but he just felt that would be the right thing for a colonial warrior to do at this time. This was real all right. But it was no fun. People were turning up dead...
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:31:59 GMT -6
Lucian Two queens sat on the chessboard that was the Callisto, commanding their forces. In this battle, kings were irrelevant.
* * *
By human standards, one might describe her as “one mean-looking lady,” IF that is, one was generous enough to use the term “lady” with this monster.
The life drink she had consumed over time had helped her grow, physically and mentally, and she had shared small amounts with her many children before dispatching them on their ways. She had grown from having a body approximately one centimeter across to having a diameter of more than fifteen centimeters, not counting her 24 legs, which stretched another 15 centimeters or so on each side. She was no longer able to perform the seal maneuver that had allowed her to hitch a ride to the Callisto in the first place, but in return, her body shell had grown many times stronger, with the overlapping and interlocking plates clearly visible to anyone who might examine her up close. Her body, while still thin, had taken on a permanent dome shape, making the ring of eyes around her perimeter visible as individual but connected units rather one continuous organ. Because of her curvature, the eyes now bulged out slightly, giving her, from the human perspective, an even more evil look. Her legs were multi-jointed, and nearly as strong as durasteel, allowing her incredible dexterity. Fortunately for anyone who might view her, part of the horror that she represented was lessened by the fact that her “mouth” and its probe were centered below her body, out of sight.
Strangely, she was now somewhat hesitant in her actions, but not because of instinct as in the past. Now, it was pure, raw, untrained intellect that drove her. Her mind, while alien by human standards, allowed her to learn and reason far beyond the capacity of any of her kind. In addition, she could now communicate in an entirely alien way. She was by no means telepathic, but rather, empathic. She could not really communicate with her children, but recently, she had become aware of their emotions, if they could be called that, and she could project her own emotions to them to influence their actions. With her newfound intelligence, she suspected that it was this prey that had changed her, helping her evolve into far more than any previous member of her race.
Once again, waves of emotion rushed over her. Hurt. Death. Destruction. Some more of her children had been killed. Enough of this, she thought. She moved to the end of her long time home, and looked at the small crack that her children had enlarged with their venom. She positioned her probe and dripped a single drop of her poison on the seal material. The hole was still too small for her, but shortly….
* * *
Commander Sheba read Charybdis’ report and wondered at the gaps. She was sure that they would be filled eventually, but for now, there were other matters that were more pressing. She called for a senior staff meeting to be held as soon as Charybdis returned to the bridge and CureMode and the Science staff arrived. There had to be a way to kill those little bugs without damaging the ship.
“Commander, here is the updated jump information you requested. You were correct that we should be able to make that jump, though it will be much longer than our usual jumps. By saving us two or three jumps at intermediate points, it should save us time in the long run.”
“Thank you, Ensign,” said Sheba. She looked over the report, hoping that the Callisto’s foodstocks would be restocked shortly and that they would be able to take advantage of the course. She turned to see CureMode, Solon, and the Frodian Outlander, Fallel, coming toward her. Solon was waving a paper in his hand, and appeared to be ready to use the gold-knobbed cane as a club to gain attention if necessary. Major Lucian, now dry and in a tan Warrior’s uniform since his blues were still wet, approached to join the meeting.
Charybdis approached as well, just as Solon launched into a report. “They’ve all got a common chemical in their system! It’s such a small amount that we didn’t find it earlier, but it’s there in every single one we’ve checked. Formaldehyde!”
Sheba looked at the elderly scientist and said, “My chemistry is rusty, but isn’t that embalming fluid?”
“Yes! We don’t use much on the Callisto since most bodies are buried in space; however, there was one body that was preserved a while back due to the strange circumstances of the death. Security Officer Lolly was embalmed and placed in a storage cell in the morgue so we could run additional tests to determine more about the cause of death when we return to the fleet. He died of that same unknown poison that killed the CQ man!”
Sheba turned to look at Charybdis.
* * *
The slot was large enough. The disc crawl-on queen didn’t look back at the now desiccated body that had provided her and her brood nourishment for so long. She slipped through the hole and dropped to the floor of the morgue. After expending so much fluid enlarging the hole, she was quite hungry. * * * Charybdis "Formaldehyde?" was the question of the cycle.
I asked the obvious question, "Is there a way of making some sort of poison or antidote from the formaldehyde?"
Curemode interrupted, "The fact is, we don't have to make it, it's in its pure form. Usually, we manufacture some of those elements, but these creatures seem to synthesize it all on their own. My guess is that they use the proteins and fluids in our bodies to make the poison."
"Can we use it against them?" came the next questin.
Solon took this one. "We believe that if we can soak them in a stronger formaldehyde solution, it will kill them. THe old adage 'too much of a good thing', eh?" he smiled wryly.
The old man had seen and done a lot in his yahrens, including protect me during my tribunal. I admired and respected Solon a lot.
"Can we get halon canisters filled with the liquid and distributed throughout the ship?" I asked.
"Soon enough" came the reply.
Commander Sheba listened intently. "Round up all halon canisters. ANy creatures are to be destroyed immediately. Dr. Curemode, enact the plan. Now!" * * * Lucian She was extremely quiet. She saw the biped creature's heat signature and on many silent feet, she slipped toward him. When she was about 1.5 meters away, she crouched on her backside legs and extending the frontside legs slightly, which cocked her body at an angle, giving her a full field of vision from a slightly higher standpoint. Seeing nothing else around, she sprang, landing on the Tech's back. He spun in surprise, thinking that someone had thrown something at him, but a moment later, he felt her powerful legs grasp the sides of his neck, and her probe penetrate his back. He attempted to scream as he fell, but the noise he made was anything but coherent. As his brain struggled to stay awake, he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe....
A couple of centons later, she was refreshed. Unfortunately, this biped tasted little like her old host, not having the same lifefluid, but still, it was better than nothing. She sent out a signal to her brood, letting them feel that food was here if they were close enough to get it.
She moved to the door. Due to her size, the sensor opened it automatically for her, and she slipped into the corridor. * * * Charybdis All comm units buzzed with the news of how to eradicate the crawlons. Warriors, security personnel, some of the civilians began to be ever vigilant...and some went seeking trouble.
Amy had been out there for a little while and I had not heard anything. What troubled me most was that I had not heard anything from Brie. I had left a message for her to catch up with Amy, but nothing yet.
Being alone under these conditions was not a good idea. I put out a call to the squadrons for whoever sees Lt. Amy or whoever is out there alone, find someone else that they can walk with or work with. No one is to be alone if they can help it. These crawlons kill instantly and then disappear just as fast.
Which made me wonder why they had not killed Amy. They tried to wrap her up instead. Strange.
With permission from Sheba, I left the bridge to find Amy and spread the word. I also wanted to speak with someone who I had recently met and had not had any extra time with...Arien.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:32:30 GMT -6
Amy I had left Charybdis without really much of a plan of action. I just figured I head through the corridors until I stumbled onto some crawlons and people in trouble. I opened doors where I could, checking inside to see if there was any sign of the multi-legged freaks.
I was jumpy, and my bad leg wasn't helping me any either. When I'd think I'd seen something and tried to react, my leg made my reaction time a lot slower. Plus I was swinging a fracking fire extinguisher of all things, not the easiest of weapons to be carting around. I was on my second corridor when I found what I was looking for.
I hit the door, and froze for the briefest of moments when I looked in. Crawlons were everywhere, moving toward several people that I couldn't identify at the moment. "Cover your eyes!" I yelled out, and a micron later I opened fire with the extinguisher, spraying it out in all directions. This started a wave of new motion among the crawlons, who started to scatter everywhere as the boraton made contact.
I stepped cautiously into the room, still spraying in all directions. I forgot to lock the door open, and it slid shut behind me. I'd want a quick exit if it was needed, but it was too late now. I kept advancing, watching in fascination as some of the crawlons stopped fleeing and simply locked themselves down somehow, becoming completely flat to the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Not detecting any motion, I stopped spraying. "It's okay" I called out. "Are you guys alright?" The two people I had saved slowly stood up, brushing off foam from where I had got them with the boraton. I was surprised to recognize the young cadet as he turned to look at me. It was Dolet, the young cadet who I had foolishly invited to Brie's quarters during one of my frequent battles with self-pity. Dolet had turned out to be a bundle of bad news too. Intending to quit the service last I had seen him. He wasn't too resourceful or really much of the warrior type, I had learned. A good drinker though. "You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah" Dolet replied. "Good you came by when you did, Lieutenant."
"Yeah" I replied. "Who's your friend?" I didn't recognize her. She was one of the refugees picked up a while back.
"Anna" she replied, speaking for herself. Wow, I thought, an independent one. Those Gastronovian women weren't exactly known for speaking up for themselves. I took her hand briefly. "Lt. Amy" I said. "Look, we'd better not hang around here. That foam doesn't work when they are sealed up." I pointed to what looked like stains on the wall. "They seal themselves up somehow, and blend in."
We all headed cautiously for the door. I hit the button but nothing happened. I hit it again, and saw some smoke coming out of the door frame. What the..?
"What's the matter?" Dolet asked.
"I don't know" I replied, "but the door isn't working now." Frack, I knew I shouldn't have let it shut in the first place. "Okay, new plan" I said. "What's that door lead to?" I pointed to the far side of the room.
Dolet just shrugged. I looked around. This was basicly a storage area of some sort. I confess I didn't know all areas of the ship that well, but this looked like a room not used much. "What in hades were you two doing in here?" I asked. "Forget it", I quickly added. "I don't want to know."
I reached the door and hit the switch, my extinquisher armed and ready. The door slide open. It looked like another storage area, with another door at the far side. "Okay", I said. "We do some compartment hopping." Dolet and Anna nodded, and I looked behind us to see several of the crawlons unsealing themselves. "Better get moving" I said.
Just then the lights flickered and went out.
"Frack!" I shouted in frustration and fright. That door being stuck was freak thing. I knew the crawlons were behind it. And now the lights. Those freaky crawling things were smart. Great. Just great.
"Come on!" I shouted as my eyes adjusted as best they could to the darkness. I stepped though the doorway, Dolet and Anna right behind me. I hit the switch and shut the door, hearing tiny scratching sounds in the darkness. I hoped the crawlons were on the outside of the door, and not inside with us.
"What do we do now?" asked Dolet, ever the helpless one.
"Find a light" Anna replied.
"And keep moving" I added. I could barely see Anna, but joined her in the search for a light source. Then it struck me- my comlink! "Lt. Amy calling....." Should I call Charybdis? I couldn't jump the chain of command,--he was with the Commander right now! "Amy to security, come in."
"Security",I heard a voice say through the comlink.
Whew. "Security, Lt. Amy here. Look, I'm boxed in by some crawlons, can you send help?"
"Negative, Lieutenant. All our people are deployed. Give me your location, and I'll alert the nearest team."
Great. The one piece of information I didn't have. "Location unsure" I replied. "It's a storage area of some kind, on level 5."
"Level 5's a big place" the voice replied.
"I KNOW IT'S A BIG FRACKIN' PLACE!" I shouted. I shook my head at the outburst, and took a deep breath to calm down.
Through the comlink I heard:"I'll do what I can. Security out."
"Well" I said into the darkness, "That accomplished nothing. Any luck, Anna?" It was a dumb question, since if Anna had found a light I think she would have turned it on by now. I was just on a really great streak of brillance here.
I decided to make for the door on the other side of this compartment. "Here Dolet" I said, handing him the extinquisher. "Be ready to use it." * * * Brie Having received a message from Charybdis, Brie was looking everywhere she could think of for Amy. That girl had such a knack for getting into trouble! She knew that Amy wouldn’t be in any of the “normal” places, the weight room or the med lab wouldn’t be the place to look. Knowing Amy, she was probably in a crawlon-filled closet or someplace, extinguisher in hand.
Carrying an extinguisher of her own, Brie continued to search. No one had seen Amy. After what seemed like yarhens Brie stopped by the Security Main Office, since she was walking by it anyway.
The officer on duty snapped to attention as she entered. “What can I do for you, Ma’am?” he asked.
“I’m looking for Lt. Amy,” Brie explained. “If anyone sees her, please have them contact me.”
“Lt. A-A-Amy?” the officer stammered. “She, um, contacted us a while ago. She said something about a storage area. Level 5 I think it was.”
Brie felt like she was going to explode. “You THINK it was? I need to know for sure!”
“Just a centon,” the officer said quickly. “The call might have been recorded.” He fiddled with a few levers in front of him. “Here it is.”
"Security, Lt. Amy here. Look, I'm boxed in by some crawlons, can you send help?"
"Negative, Lieutenant. All our people are deployed. Give me your location, and I'll alert the nearest team."
"Location unsure. It's a storage area of some kind, on level 5."
"Level 5's a big place.”
"I KNOW IT'S A BIG FRACKIN' PLACE!"
"I'll do what I can. Security out."
Brie paused for a moment. “So did you send the nearest team?”
“Ma’am,” the officer said carefully, “those crawlon things are everywhere. We haven’t had a chance to send anyone anywhere near level 5.”
“I’ll take care of it myself,” Brie said. She headed towards the door. “Next time a warrior contacts you, asking for help, contact their squadron leader immediately. I only hope it’s not too late.” * * * After leaving the Security Office, Brie contacted Skyler. The security officer had been right about one thing, level 5 WAS a big place. “Captain,” Brie said into her comm, “I need to search the storage areas of level 5. I need you help.”
“What are we looking for?” Skyler replied.
“Lt. Amy,” Brie said. “Seems she gotten herself into a little trouble.”
“Again?” Skyler said.
“I know, I know,” Brie said. “It’s these fracking crawlons this time. Meet me in the middle, we’ll then split up and search. Major Brie out.”
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:33:09 GMT -6
Charybdis I had made my way back to the crew quarters/barracks and was telling those who I could about the new orders. Most everyone already knew about the crawlons and were ever vigilant. Most were getting paranoid.
I must admit, I was a bit jumpy myself. Invisible crawlons who could kill you immediately! Just what we needed right now!
As I passed the section where the former Officers Club was, I saw most of the people from the CQ. They had already learned of the danger since one of their own had been killed onboard. I took the chance to see if Arien was in.
Demetra came out looking regal as she could. I had missed the earlier meeting with the leaders of their contingent when I had suddenly left the Callisto to search for Amy, so I was behind on what had happened. Still, I wanted to talk with Arien...and apologize for not escorting her to the meeting as I had promised.
As luck would have it, she was there! Demetra announced me and Arien came to say hello. She looked more at ease, but as if the weight of a world was on her shoulders. These people had gone through so much.
"Arien, good to see you again. I must apologize for missing the meeting with you and the Commander. I was suddenly assigned to a mission off the ship."
She responded, "I know Colonel, I heard some bits and pieces. When you didn't show, they told us where you had gone. I'm glad to see this Lt. Amy is it, back safe and sound."
I brought up the current situation. "As you've seen, we think we've found a way to kill these creatures. Hopefully, we will rid them soon. I would hate to see any more people..." my voice trailed off. I didn't want to say it. What a way to go. After all this, and a little crawlon does you in.
"I agree Colonel. We have come so far, it is a shame to have something like this happen." she said. "Tell me, you said that your name is Charybdis. I have not really heard that name before. From where does it come?"
Her question was intriguing. I had not really noticed that my name was uncommon. After all, my uncle had it and I was named after him. "It is a Caprican name. Family name." I suddenly got that strange feeling again. Something about her. The way she looked. The way she acted and carried herself.
"Caprica?" she seemed puzzled. "Is that where you are from?"
"Yes. I was born and raised there until...the destruction. How about you?" I was getting to the questions I really wanted to ask. What about her past?
"I am from Caprica as well. Most of us onboard the CQ were. I was very young when the destruction came. I think I was around 6 yahrens old. I don't remember that much of it. I'd prefer not to." She turned away and seemed lost in her thoughts. "Tell me, Colonel. How did this ship come to be? In our history scans, we do not recall a Battlestar Callisto."
"That's because it's not in the history scans. Those of us who were with the fleet after the exodus, came across Commander Cain and the Battlestar Pegasus. He went his separate way after a battle with the Cylons, but he was not done for. He captured a Cylon foundry and began construction of the Callisto. When it became operational, it set sail and happened across the fleet some yahrens later. Most of us came from the fleet military. I was elected Captain of Gold squadron when we first came aboard."
"And you are now a Lt. Colonel and second in command of the Callisto? Impressive Colonel. You must have fine military career."
"Thank you. I prefer to think of it as being in the right place at the right time." We smiled at each other.
I wanted to ask her so many more things... * * * Brie Callisto blueprints in hand, Major Brie met Captain Skyler on level 5. She filled him in on fighting the crawlons with the boraton mixture in the fire extinguisher. From Amy's message, Brie knew that Amy was in a storage area. It wouldn't be an area right off the main corridor, it was most likely insdie one of the many, many rooms. Brie and Skyler split up, with plans to contact each other via their comm units every 15 centons. Brie had repeatedly tried to contact Amy on her comm, but didn't get any response. * * * Charybdis Arien was beautiful. She seemed strong, intelligent. I had no trouble seeing why she had survived these many yahrens out amongst the stars.
But something still nagged at me. I had to ask. I pressed on..."Tell me, do you have any family or a husband?"
She seemed a bit torn by the question, possibly wondering why I was asking something personal. She shook her head, "No. My family was killed during the destruction. I was taken by a neighbor to the spaceport and I never saw them again. Stuck out in space so long...I don't have a husband, needless to say. I've gotten along so far without one, I don't know what I'd do with one!" she smiled and laughed.
Still had a sense of humor. She returned the favor, "Do you, Colonel? I mean, have a wife?"
Amy. My thoughts imediately went to Amy. It was my turn to shake my head. "No. I have never married. However, there is someone who I have asked to be sealed to, but, well, it's not coming together how I'd hoped. Not yet, anyway."
Arien quickly caught on. The sudden mission, she had heard the scuttlebut, she knew about the one they call Lt. Amy. She also wondered why I would come calling so much on her while Amy was still out there on the ship somewhere. It was as if I was wanting to find out something... * * * Lucian Arien was mentally kicking herself for never making it back to a terminal. She had to find out more about him, but so far, he was volunteering little. His record wouldn’t be that hard to find, and it might not even be necessary to hack into the system. If it was, however, she was prepared to do it.
Though she was looking at Charybdis intently, almost as if trying to commit his features to memory, or to pull a memory from within, she suddenly realized that she had missed his latest comment or question entirely. “I apologize, Colonel. It has been a long and trying cycle, and I must be more tired than I thought. Perhaps we can continue this over dinner tonight. I understand that the menu will be expanded to include some of the produce gathered on Axces Gam—”
“Ari’!” Zillian entered the cloth sided quarters abruptly without permission, launching herself into Ari’s arms. Ari’ looked up in surprise at Charybdis as she at first struggled to maintain her balance. The little girl had already launched into an explanation of how the Frodarian boys and she had had a great adventure, wiping out a horde of the creatures that had killed her father only a cycle before. As she gave the little girl a hug, she glanced and nodded at the tank that he had set to the side, and then nodded out. Quietly she said, without Zillian even missing a beat, “Your friend probably could use some help now. Dinner, later?”
* * *
Not wanting to completely exhaust the ship’s supply of fire extinguishing materials, and since much of the available formaldehyde was being pumped into isolated areas, and then pumped out, Major Lucian had armed himself with a tank of readily available and reproducible material: compressed liquid nitrogen. From the report that Solon had submitted, it probably wouldn’t work against the little beasts that sealed themselves to something, but if he caught them out in the open, they’d be instant “crawl-on-sicles.” He involuntarily gagged at the thought.
Lieutenant Finky was moving along behind him, carrying a second tank, but acting a bit nervous. “Maj, ya’ sure we shouldn’t just let ’em come to us?” she whispered. “I’ve never particularly liked crawl-ons, and these things are even worse!”
Instead of a response from Lucian, she heard the blast of the spout, and she whipped around to see him stopping the stream. As he walked forward, motioning her forward, she heard several distinct “tink” sounds that she attributed to frozen crawl-ons being ground underfoot.
“It’s like the Cylons, Lieutenant. We often have to play defense because of our location, our fleet’s condition, our supplies, or our numerical inferiority, but sometimes, when we have to do so, like when we’re backed into a corner, we have to go on the offensive with everything we’ve got. Because they’re on our ship, I’d say we’re in a corner.”
SHUUUFFFF! SHUUUFFFF! Again, he turned off the spray.
“Take that, you creepy little critters," he said with a grin. "Come along, Lieutenant Finky. We have more crawl-ons to kill. Just stay close, and be watchful.” * * * Charybdis The little girl was very affectionate toward Arien. So much so, I wondered.
"You said you had not married. This isn't..." I motioned toward the young girl.
"Oh, no," Arien effused. "She was a part of those people born in space with us during out journey. Her fa..."quickly, Arien caught herself. She didn't want to bring up any bad memories of her father being killed just a short time ago.
"I can see you're busy. I just wanted to stop by and say hello. Dinner, later tonight would be nice. I will come by for you." I excused myself determined to find out more about her.
I grabbed my can of halon and left the O-club. I still had to find Amy. I hadn't hear from Brie yet and it was really starting to worry me... * * * Artus With blaster in hand Artus and the others were searching through the sim-area but without any luck so far. It appeared that the entire area was clear and any Crawlons that might have been there appeared to be gone.
Nervously Artus wondered about what to do. Then it occured to him that it might be a good idea to notify his commanding officer. It also occure to him that maybe he should have done that a long time ago. Nervously he fingered his comm unit.
"This is ensign Artus reporting to major Brie. Ehm, sir, ehm madam Major. The Simulation area appears to be clear. What are our orders to proceed?"
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:33:39 GMT -6
Skyler Skyler eased down the corridor, trying to keep and eye out for the crawlons, and listening/lokking for any signs of Amy. Thinking to himself {Trouble seems to follow that poor girl around, I know I stay in enough of it to know.}
About that time the comm system beeped, and Artus was broke though making his report. Skyler almost answered it since Brie had left him in command of the squadron, but remembering that she was back now stopped himself. He would give her a few centons to reply.
Looking farther down the corridor he saw what looked like a few dead crawlons, maybe he had picked up Amy's trail.… * * * Amy After handing the extinguisher to cadet Dolet, I made my way across the room to the door on that side. After fumbling for the switch, I found it, but nothing happened when I hit it. The door had an older-style hatch release in the form of a big wheel mounted on the center of the door. "Dolet, get over here" I called out. I tried to turn the wheel but couldn't get it to move. Maybe a guy could turn out to be useful here.
Dolet made his way over. "Whatcha got?" he asked.
"Turn this thing" I replied. "I can't get it to move."
Dolet tried to spin the wheel, but couldn't get it to spin either. "Frack" he muttered. "This things on good. Am I spinning it the right way? Yeah, guess I am."
"Try again" I said, lending a hand this time. Even Anna came over, giving up her search for a flashlight, but between the three of us all we accomplished was a lot of grunting and a good sweat. "Frack", it was my turn to mutter as I leaned against the wall. I could still make out the sounds of crawlon scratching somewhere behind or in the walls. It was just a matter of time before they got in here.
Dolet wandered back to where he was sitting, and Anna sat on a box next to him. In the darkness I could see them looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to come up with the next great idea.
"Lt. Amy to security", I said into the comlink. After a moment, I tried again. "Security, come in." Still nothing. Now what was wrong?
"Must be shielded somehow" Dolet offered. I must have looked shocked that he actually was saying something useful, so he went on. "I studied the layout during cadet school. At least when I showed up. I don't know the whole layout, but there are areas where com systems don't penetrate. Something with the metals or the electronic fields generated, or something."
"That must be it then", I said. "It worked fine before."
"They call 'em 'Dead Zones'" Dolet said.
"Oh, that's a great name" Anna said with a nervous laugh. Then to me she asked, "Is there any other way out of here?"
I shrugged and walked toward them. "I don't see one" I said with a sigh. "We have to find a shaft of metal or something we could use as a...." I stopped talking as I made out exactly what Dolet was sitting on. "Dolet you fracking idiot!" I pushed him off the big wheel he was sitting on. "You've been sitting on another hatch!"
Dolet got up, and the three of us gave the wheel a turn. It fought back, but gave in slowly as we put everything into turning it. It spun easier and easier, and soon it was ready to lift up. I took the extinguisher and stood ready as Anna and Dolet popped the seal and lifted the hatch. Light streamed into our compartment, but thankfully no crawlons.
I peeked into the hole in the floor. A metal ladder ran from the hole down to the floor below. "Pretty bright in there. I don't see any crawlons". The room looked like another service or store area, only bigger. I stood up and looked at my two companions. "I guess we go to level 6."
Dolet went first mainly because with my bad leg I couldn't climb down the ladder that easily. He'd be quicker if something happened and speed was required. He got halfway down, then looked up. "No crawlons" he said. "Of course, they might be just herding us in this direction...."
"Shut up and keep moving" I said. But he did have a point. I guess anything was possible. * * * Dolet climbed down the ladder, less than thrilled with having to go first. This guy just didn't have what it took, and at least he wasn't kidding himself by thinking that he did. He got to the bottom, and looked up an Anna and me with a forlorn look. I dropped the extinguisher down to him.
"It looks all clear" Dolet said. "You guys coming?"
I turned to Anna. "You next", I said. Anna just shook her head. "No" she replied. "You are the one with the bad leg. We'll help you down, then I'll follow." I was about to protest, then realized that it wouldn't do any good. Anna was a truly liberated Gastronovian, and it didn't matter that I was the only officer in the group. Maybe my being out of uniform had something to do with it, but I doubted that. Anna was a take charge person, first and foremost. I got the feeling that being a woman in that male dominated culture of hers wasn't a problem for her. I was really getting to like her a lot.
"Okay" I replied at last. I squeezed her on the arm and looked her in the eyes, trying to convey my admiration for her. She just looked stern, but her eyes betrayed her feelings. She knew she had found a kindred spirit in me. I looked forward to introducing her to Brie.
"Just go" she said. I swung my legs over the side, and gingerly probed with my feet for the rungs of the ladder. Keeping as much weight on my good side as possible I slowly worked my way down the ladder. Anna had my arms until I was too far down for her to reach, at which point Dolet could reach me. "That's it. Easy" Anna was saying, incouraging me. Suddenly her voice changed tone. "Amy, hurry up."
I looked up suddenly, and Anna wasn't in view. Then her head popped back into the hole. "They're getting in. Hurry!" I started moving faster. As soon as Dolet had me good I let go of the ladder and slid into his arms. I looked up again. "Anna! Come on!"
I heard her panicky voice from above. "I've got to shut the lid!" I could hear her struggle with it, then: "Got it!" She had both feet on the top rung of the ladder when she suddenly screamed out in a way I have never, ever heard before. Her feet slid off the rungs but she held on tight to the handle of the lid, and her weight helped bring it down hard. She dangled there for a moment, and before I could say anything, she fell.
We tried to catch her fall, but she knocked both of us down as she landed. We both scrambled to see how she was. "Anna..." I began.
"Oh dear Lords of Kobol" Dolet said softly, his voice wavering. "She's... she's...."
I looked into the Anna's lifeless eyes. "That's fracking impossible!" I shouted. I scrambled around and started mouth to mouth. I felt Dolet's hand on my shoulder, and after a moment I snapped around to look at him. "WHAT?" I questioned.
Dolet just pointed, and I looked. Anna's hand was covered in the sickest looking purplish welt. It didn't even look like a human hand. In the center the obvious marks of a crawlon bite were in evidence. Dolet started to laugh, a sickly little giggle that turned quickly into out and out sobbing.
I wanted to grab him by the head and scream for him to hold himself together, but I was barely together myself. Death. So much death. It was like we were all just pawns in some sick galactic game, to be done away with and sacrificed without so much as a thought.
I sat back, staring at Anna and listening to Dolet.
Death. So much death.
Maybe this was what my parents were trying to protect me from. They had tried so hard to allow me as normal a life as possible on the agroship. But their precious little girl couldn't wait to chuck it all and find out just what the universe was really all about. All they really wanted was to protect me from the horrors of reality. Protect their little girl. Those days seemed so far away now. Like it wasn't even my life. Now I was staring into the dulled eyes of someone so full of life just a micron ago. Somebody's precious little girl. And all my warrior's aspirations hadn't done her any good at all.
So much death. * * * Charybdis Core Command wishes to announce that Ursiaon has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Colonial Military.
Congratulations! <a chorus of congratulations!> * * * Stadia Stadia reports into Major Brie via communications and asks where she should go to help out. * * * Brie Major Brie is thrilled to hear that Lt. Stadia is available to join in the search. She fills her in on what is going on and tells her to start searching for Amy in the middle of level 5, while she herself was searching left and Captain Skyler was searching right. * * * Randrius Randrius edged around another corner in the corridor. His motion detector spotted a group of five little bugs. A quick spray of formaldihyde seemed to do the trick and he continued on. Randrius heard Brie voice over the comm and realized that his comm had gotten changed over to a Gold squad frequency by accident. Out of curiousity, he listened and realized he was very near her. "Brie, this is Randrius, I'm on level five right now. What can I do to help?" * * * Stadia STadia had turned her comm off and was intensely focusing on the search. She wondered if they had found signs of the queen. She remembered what she had learned in school... that was before she had become a warrior.
She edged around the corner. She eeped as she almost walked into a swarm of the the little buggers. She doused them with the formaldehyde. She walked on thinking maybe she should tell the powers that be that maybe they should go after the queen. That there had to be a queen.
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:34:13 GMT -6
Randrius Randrius cautiously rounded another corner and smacked heads with another person. He leaped back and brought the formaldihyde cannister to bear before realizing who it was. "Frack, Stadia, you scared the piss out of me!" * * * Stadia "I scared you?! What the frack do you think you did to me?" STadia continues looking around for the little buggers.
Randruis moves behind her keeping his eyes open. "How do you suppose these things got a board?"
"I dont know. I just hope they have gone after the queen."
Randruis turns to her and stares at her. "How come you know something like that?"
"I wasnt always a warrior. I was an entomologist before I become a warrior. You could say bugs are a passioon when I can find time." Stadia sprays a couple of crawlons. * * * Randrius "We all used to be something before the attack," Randrius shrugged, "I was a freighter pilot." Randrius pulled out his motion detector again and continued to search out the little bugs. Stadia raised an eyebrow, "That thing won't sense them if they're standing still, y'know." Randrius grinned, "So my system ain't perfect," Randrius paused and blasted a seemingly vacant patch of floor with his cannister. * * * Lucian Lucian stepped into the morgue with his tank of liquid nitrogen at the ready. Tanks were still being filled with formaldehyde and being distributed as they were ready, but almost half the Warriors, most Security Officers, and many Techs were still carrying the halon-boraton or some other chemical that would kill the “active” crawl-ons.
He soon found a body on the deck, lying face down. A large purplish welt on the back of his neck indicated that it was far too late for anything to be done for him. Lucian resisted the urge to blast the body to kill any remaining crawl-ons, but with only a single tank, he held onto his reserve.
Lieutenant Finky, entering after Lucian, searched the console, and then brought up a listing. “He’s in Alpha-One, and it’s the only one occupied,” she told Lucian. She pointed to the storage tube.
Approaching the door to the compartment, Lucian smelled a harsh chemical smell and noted a blackish-purple ooze that had run down the wall over the two doors below and dripped on the floor. As he looked up, he jumped and fired the tank, instantly freezing a small crawl-on that had just emerged from a hole in the seal at the bottom of the door. It fell to the deck and shattered. He motioned to Finky, showing her scratches on the bottom of the door and extending around the bottom edge of the front face. “Whatever scratched that dura-steel is incredibly strong and tough. Let’s see what we’ve got in here. Got your canister?”
She nodded and Lucian opened the door. He stared into the tube at the sickening scene, and released a shot of the gas. He slammed the door and turned to see Finky doubled over, retching violently. She looked up with tears running down her face, either from the scene or from the effort, and Lucian helped her up. He stepped to the nearest comm unit and said, “Good news. We found the nest and attempted to freeze it. Get some formaldehyde down here to blast it in case those blasted eggs are resistant to cold. The bad news: the queen is missing, and from what we can tell, she’s BIG and BAD.” * * * Stadia and Randrius were searching for crawl-ons and Lieutenant Amy. They'd received word that the queen was indeed loose on the Battlestar, but no one knew where. When they turned the next corner, they were both startled to see a boot with part of a human leg sticking out. There was no body visible, and no blood. They saw two burn marks on the deck, where part of the deck had been vaporized, probably by a shot from a laser pistol on low power, and a glob of blackish-purple goo on a wall a short distance away. A couple of meters away, a vent shaft vent cover appeared to be shredded...
* * *
A few centons earlier, Captain Urdea, searching for crawl-ons and Lieutenant Amy, had peeked around the corner only to be surprised by a gigantic crawl-on attached to the wall at about head height. He dropped his extinguisher and threw himself sideways as she launched herself at him, just missing as both hit the deck. He rolled sideways, drawing his laser-pistol and firing. The first shot hit her underside, knocking her back, but at an angle, it riccocheted off and blasted the deck. She recovered and shot a small glob of venom at Urdea, who rolled to the side, just missing the splash and sure death. Urdea shot again, hitting her once more, with a similar result. The crawl-on queen advanced and took a swipe at him with one of her twenty-four legs. The incredibly sharp appendage cut right through his leg, as he scrambled backward and away. As he crawled away at almost a run, he thought, "I've needed a new prosthesis for a while now anyway." He hit his comm to call for help, but found it had been damaged in the fight.
* * *
Randrius looked over the scene and at Stadia. * * * She was in darkness, but with her incredible eyesight, it was as if it was day. Still, the light that suddenly dawned on her was more incredible than anything that she had ever experienced. Throughout the time that her children had been going out, she had been able to feel their primitive emotions, somewhat collectively, but now...power! Something in her enlarged brain, many times larger than that of the largest of her ancestors, or of her offspring, suddenly “clicked,” and she was able to do something incredible. Power, she “reasoned” in her still primitive and entirely alien way, comes from the usage. She began to exercise it.
* * *
Captain Urdea sat with his back to a bulkhead, chest heaving from the strenuous exercise. He looked at the sheared stump of his artificial leg, wondering how that creature’s legs could have sheared it so easily. He suspected that the thinness of the leg in combination with the creature’s strength and speed had allowed it to act like a whip on an agricultural-type rotary trimmer. Knowing that his comm unit was missing, his first priority was to find a stationary unit to contact the Security Office and the Bridge. He was about to get up when he saw a stream of crawl-ons approaching down the corridor. They were on the deck, the walls, and the ceiling above, moving in determined fashion down the corridor. Urdea, knowing that the end had come, sat perfectly still, hoping that they would simply go around him, or at least ignore him, but it was not to be. Several of the crawl-ons approached and begin to crawl on him.
* * *
On the Bridge, Commander Sheba asked, “Is there any word on finding the queen-mother of these things?”
Lieutenant Aegina said, “We know she was in the morgue, and we have reason to believe she may be on level 5 or 6, but there have been no eyewitness reports.”
* * *
Urdea watched as the crawl-on stopped on his arm. It hesitated, as if feeling that this was potential food, but something drew it onward. The others were acting similarly. As the last one left his body and continued on down the corridor with its brothers and sisters, Urdea scampered away on his one good leg, hopping down the corridor to a comm station. Within moments, he had contacted the Bridge and his office, and was giving a report.
* * *
“…AND SHE WAS LAST SEEN ON LEVEL 5. ANY AVAILABLE WARRIORS, MAKE YOUR WAY TO LEVELS 4, 5, AND 6 TO CONTINUE THE SEARCH. WE HAVE CUT OFF PASSAGE TO OTHER LEVELS EXCEPT AT AUTHORIZED ACCESS POINTS. NOTE THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED WORD THAT STREAMS OF THE CREATURES ARE MAKING THEIR WAY IN THAT DIRECTION. TAKE EXTREME CARE…”
* * *
Like a beacon, she was now able to begin sending out an empathic message to her many offspring. Translated into the language of the Two-Legs, it might have been interpreted as “Come to me, my children! Come to me!” * * * Randrius Randrius peeked around another corner cautiously and scanned with his motion detector, there was nothing. Then he spotted Urdea propped against the wall, near a comm. His prosthetic leg had been sheared off by something of incredible power. He moved forward, "Urdea, you OK." Urdea head came up, "Yeah, need another leg, but yeah." Stadia helped Urdea to his feet, or perhaps foot is more appropriate. "Can you still walk," Stadia asked. "Yeah, I'll be fine, go get that damn queen." * * * Brie Major Brie was pretty sure that Randius and Stadia were working together. She had tried to contact Stadia, but discovered that her comm unit was turned off. Skyler was also still searching on Level 5. It was a big place, but one where warriors didn’t usually go so Brie wasn’t as familiar with it as she would have liked. She opened yet another room. Something was different. There had obviously been some crawlons in there. There were some slimy-looking splotches, and the floor was slippery from the boraton mixture. Brie had to catch herself so she wouldn’t fall.
Carefully Brie made her way across the floor. There weren’t any live crawlons that she could see. It dawned on her that she had yet to see any at all, even though they were supposedly everywhere. She approached the storage area on the other side of the room with caution. “Amy?” she called. There was no response. She tried the door, the controls didn’t work. They were covered with a sticky solution of some kind, as was part of the door. Brie pounded on the door. “Amy!” she called, quite a bit louder than before. There was no response. Since there was no way that she could get the door open, Brie decided that she would continue searching for Amy elsewhere on Level 5. She quickly notified maintenance, though, they needed to get that door open. * * * Randrius Randrius suddenly remembered Brie, probably working alone at the moment, and pulled out is hand comm. "Hey Brie, where are you?"
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:34:45 GMT -6
Charybdis I had left the CQ survivors contemplating my upcoming dinner with Arien, as I got beeped on my personal comm unit.
They needed me back on the bridge. With many Warriors out hunting for the crawlons, I needed to get back to actually running the ship.
I quickly turned the corner and headed for the bridge. It was mostly deserted, but I noticed that there were a lot of halon canisters and other things filled up with the formaldehyde mix around the bridge. If any place needed protection from those nasty little things, it was this place.
Sheba was nowhere to be seen, she had probably gone back to her quarters for some much needed rest. I saw that Lt. Aegina was on duty, but Finky and some others were not there.
The last of the food missions was docking at this time, so it wouldn't be too long before we were to finally get the frack out of this system.
It wouldn't be soon enough for me and a lot of other people.
I was still a bit worried about Amy. She had not been found and I still had not heard anything from Brie. * * * Brie Brie continued in her search of level 5. She had been contacted by Lt. Randius of Black Squadron, he and Lt. Stadia had found Captain Urdea. Brie instructed him to continue with the Security Forces leader, she and Skyler would continue looking for Amy. She then contacted Captain Cain, giving him the orders to dispatch the rest of Gold Squadron as he saw fit. Although Brie would have liked to have had every available person searching for Amy, the search for the queen was actually more important. She sent a quick message to Charybdis, saying that she and Skyler were both looking for Amy and they would notify him when they found her. She didn’t mention the overlooked message from the security office, no need to panic him. Ever so carefully, she opened yet another door to search yet another room. * * * Charybdis The message came through to the bridge about Brie and her search for Amy. They still had not found her, but it was a big ship.
At least I was secure in the fact that they were out there searching.
Why is it that I always found myself worrying about Amy?? * * * Lucian Fleet Security Officer Staugier had been born in space a short time after Cylons attacked the homeworlds. As a child, he had thrilled at the adventures of the Warriors as broadcast to the fleet. Like many children of his generation, he had chosen favorites, including Captain Apollo and Lieutenant Zettell. He’d lost his father even before he was born, so his first experience with real loss was when Zettell gave her life in the Arvorous System saving a group of Warriors from a sneak Cylon attack. He saw in her sacrifice a love of humankind, a selflessness of heart, and an extreme bravery that he tried desperately to emulate. When he tested to become a Warrior, he was heartbroken when he found that his reflexes and his intelligence just weren’t as good as were needed to join that elite group. Rather than pity himself, he joined Fleet Security almost at once, and within a couple of yahrens, he’d been transferred to the Callisto. When the trouble started about a yahren before, he was one of those who never understood why a few of the Fleet Security Officers disliked the Warriors with such a passion. To him, being a Blackshirt was not an insult as many took it to be. Rather, to Staugier, it was an opportunity to serve.
He was armed with a spray tank of formaldehyde, a stunner, and a makeshift mallet. He’d heard that there were disc crawl-ons in the area, and he’d already made short work of several. Based on what they’d broadcast around the Callisto, he knew that if he could just find that crawl-on queen, he could kill it and then they’d have a better chance to eliminate the others before a new queen emerged to produce more offspring. He didn’t know much about alien bugs, but the sci-guys felt like the colony-like nature of this group emulated that of some species of ants back on the colonies. “I’m going to get you,” Staugier said aloud in case she was anywhere nearby. If he found that cute Warrior Lieutenant, that would be good, too. He whistled softly to himself.
She was actually much closer than he knew. She’d moved from the ventilation duct positioning herself in a group of overhead pipes. Like an alien general, she had arrayed a large number of her children around her in groups. Many in the groups locked themselves down, but others were ready to drop, or spring, on unsuspecting passersby.
When Staugier came through the opening, something made him look up. He saw the gigantic crawl-on supporting herself off the pipes. She appeared to be about a half meter across, and was hanging from some of her legs. He saw he move a reddish-purple beak-like thing centered on her body, and figuring that it was not something good, he immediately blasted her with the formaldehyde spray. He then grabbed the stunner and shot it directly at her, giving her a good jolt. Expecting her to fall, he pulled his homemade mallet and was prepared to finish her off. He gagged at the smell as he fought to keep from being sick.
Unlike her offspring that had tasted just enough of the embalming fluid to make themselves highly susceptible to the poison, she had sampled if over and over, thereby gaining complete immunity from its harmful effects even as it altered her body. The spray actually felt surprisingly refreshing to her in her alien way. The jolt from the stunner had no effect on her anatomy, so aimed her probe to fire at the approaching Two-Legs. She started to shoot a drop of her toxin at it, but thinking about the ease with which she had cut the other Two-Legs’ limb in half, she tensed her legs and launched her body at it.
Seeing the beast “flying” toward him, Staugier swung the homemade mallet and knocked her for a loop. She flew back away and landed lightly on the wall. Realizing that the blow had not harmed her in the least, she nevertheless called for some of her children to attack the Two-Legs. Several dropped from the ceiling above, and Staugier, seeing them just miss him, blasted away with the formaldehyde spray. He blasted those on the floor until he realized that his tank was almost empty. He started to back away, but it was too late. The distraction had been all it had taken, and this time, her launch was extremely accurate. She impacted his chest knocking him backward, and two of her sharp forward legs swept in a crossing-type pattern. They cut into Staugier at the base of the throat, cutting his arteries. Blood sprayed as he dropped to his knees, his life ebbing away. Feeling a great but indeterminate pain but strangely at peace with himself, Staugier tried to think of Lieutenant Zettell. She would have to kill this thing for him. He knew there was a problem with that, but for the life of him, he couldn’t… * * * Captain Urdea had finally made it to the Med Lab, and Captain Holodoc helped fit him a new prosthesis. Thanking her, marched out of the Med Lab still seething at the monster and her brood. He headed to the Security Office, calling Lieutenant Proteus to meet him there.
* * *
After hearing that the last of the food mission shuttles were secure and that the escort Vipers had returned safely, Commander Sheba gave the order to proceed to the jump point, but hold at that point. The Callisto would enter the long jump only after the crew was back in complete control of the ship. It was proving inordinately difficult to track down the crawl-on queen and the little disc crawl-ons. The Callisto's escort Vipers would be called in just before the jump. Sheba turned to find Lieutenant Colonel Charybdis to get an updated report. So far, new news of the hunt had been limited...
* * *
Since both Major BatGal and Major Brie were out of pocket involved in the search for Lieutenant Amy and the crawl-on queen, Major Lucian had rounded up several Warriors to expand the hunt.
"Warriors, let's do it! Let's find this thing so we can get out of this lousy system," he said. He set his laser pistol to a higher setting. * * * Charybdis Sheba had returned to the darkened bridge after about a centar and ordered the Callisto and the CQ to the jump point.
However, there were still some technical problems in outfitting the CQ with the necessary equipment to make the jump linked to another ship. Several new crews had been shipped aboard the CQ.
Not only that, nothing had been resolved with the naming of the CQ's new crew, nor who would command her while she was with the Callisto.
Everyone was on edge with the possibility of sudden death stalking everywhere. It was not an easy feeling.
But most everyone had a small bottle or canister of the solution that would kill those little buggers..if they didn't get you first. * * * brotherjoe My drill instructor told me to never volunteer, but I am ready to start getting into this. So where do I report to and what do I need to bring? * * * Artus Since the Simm area was pretty clear by now, Artus started wondering if his Comm was actually working. So when Major Lucian came looking for volunteers he gladly joined the group. * * * Randrius Randrius heard the sound of a canister being sprayed close by and the sounds of large bodies crashing into bulk-heads. Randrius and Stadi glanced at each other and took off towards the sound. He rounded the corner and skidded to a halt. The crawl-on Queen stood over a mortally wounded Blackshirt and, at is approach rose up to look at him. Randrius grabbed his sprayer and his comm. He let loose wit a blast of formaldihyde. The blast seemed not to slow her as she leaped towards him. "Ohhh...frack!!!" He grabbed his comm, "Queen sighted, level 5, transmitting position!!!" The crawl-on queen flew at both of them. Randrius and Stadia both emptied their cannister on the queen with no apparent affect. Randrius stared at the queen,"Let's leave..." "Good idea." They both took off, Randrius grabbed his comm, "Formaldihyde does not, repeat, does not work on the queen. We could use some help people."
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Post by LucianG on Apr 1, 2007 7:35:31 GMT -6
Charybdis I had heard the initial call from Randrius that he had spotted the queen.
I immediately sent out a backup squad to seal off any corridors and exits that she might take.
"Acknowledged, Major Lucian. Backup is on the way. Be careful," I said although it was really unnecessary.
I also placed a quick call to Commander Sheba to let her know what was going on. * * * Lucian Artus, BrotherJoe, RaycerX, Lucian, and a few others finally tracked down Randrius and Stadia. Randrius told everyone about the queen's resistance to the formaldehyde mixture, so they decided to use their laser pistols on medium power.
"Just remember, everyone, if you miss," said Lucian, "your shot can damage the ship. I know you're all good shots, but this thing sounds like she's as fast as greased lightning, so even the best sharpshooter still has a chance of missing. Just be careful in lining up your shots so that you don't hit power panels, piping, conduits, or other critical components."
"Watch out, because she spits, too," said Randrius. "She's got something like a peashooter that sticks out of the center of her underside, and it shoots those little globs of purplish-black poison. They splatter when they hit like shrapnel, so be careful."
They looked down the ventilation duct where they'd tracked her. Scattered around the opening were the now crunchy carcasses of a number of her children. "There are more where those came from," said Lucian. He pulled out a drawing of the ventilation system for the level. Tracing the interconnected branches, he pointed to three nodes and said, "I don't know how smart this creature is, but if I were in her shoes, I'd take up one of these three positions. These offer the maximum cover and numerous routes of retreat, plus, there are areas here...here...and here...where those little bugs can collect and be used in attacks. These other spots are possibilities as well, but they don't offer all of the advantages of the primary locations; however, she may not know that, so be careful everywhere. Randrius and Stadia, you take this entrance, Artus and BrotherJoe, take this one, and RaycerX and I will go in here. We're going to be crawling most of the way, so be careful. The rest of you, cover the entrances and listen closely in case we need help."
"Let's go get them!" * * * Just before going in, Lucian sent a private signal to the Bridge. Privately, he was worried.
"We're going in to take that thing out, but we could use backup. There are far too many escape routes. If she cuts through one or two of us, she could be anywhere in no time. We're going in so we'll most likely be out of contact. Wish us well. Major Lucian, out." * * * Brie Major Brie continued her search of Level 5 for the missing Lt. Amy. She knew that Amy had ended up in a storage area off of one of the other compartments, but which one? She opened yet another door. The room, although large, was obviously used for storing spare parts. There were bits and pieces of almost anything metal. The room was full of junk. Spying a closet on the other side, Brie decided to make her way over. It wasn’t easy, even the floor was covered. Brie couldn’t help wondering who used this room and what all the spare parts were for.
She reached the closet. It was locked and coded. Being a squadron leader her code should have opened it, but it didn’t. Becoming more and more curious, she put down her fire extinguisher, opened the control panel and fiddled with the wires. After a centon the door sprung open...way too fast. “Frack,” she muttered under her breath as she realized too late that the closet had been booby trapped. More junk and debris covered her as she fell to the ground. The comm unit that she had attached to her belt was knocked off and flew just out of reach. Last to fall out of the closet was a man that Brie had never seen before, purple welts covering his lifeless body.
Lying on the ground, Brie assessed her situation. She wasn’t hurt, except for a few minor aches and pains from the fall. Nothing broken, which was good. She tried to get up, but realized that her leg was pinned down by something. She tried to reach her comm but to no avail. She could hear others, the Queen had been spotted. She saw a couple of shapes moving, it was the first time she had seen one of the crawlons. As one of them crawled onto her stuck leg she thought about what a lousy way it would be to die. She had no fear of death, but she wanted her death to be for a reason, not because a bug got hungry. To her surprise the crawlons paid no attention to her, they sped off, as if going somewhere definite and for a reason. After allowing herself a micron of total amazement, Brie started to work on unpinning her leg. * * * Amy It took a while, but gradually I realized that Dolet and I had to keep moving. Anna was dead, and we couldn't just give up. Her death would only have meaning if Dolet and I survived. Otherwise it was a total waste. I just knew that I'd always feel the guilt of being alive because of her sacrifice, but that guilt would have to vie for space with all the other guilty feelings and insecurities that already clamored for attention in my head. Somehow, I knew Anna's sacrifice would win that battle.
I pulled Dolet up by the arm. "Come on", I said, "we have to keep moving." He nodded and we both turned away from Anna, and made our way across the level 6 storage area. We reached another door, and like the others, it seemed almost glued shut.
"End of the line, sister" Dolet said defeatedly. I whacked him with a backhand on his shoulder before I realised I was doing it. "To hades it is" I said. "And I'm not your sister".
I was regarding the door when I heard a noise behind me. I whipped around, extinguisher ready, but no crawlons were visible. Nothing was visible, including Anna's body. I took a halting step toward where she had layed.
"Where in the..." I mumbled.
"She was dead" Dolet said in a quivering voice. Then he got excited. "Maybe we were wrong!"
My eyes darted around, and then I saw her. She wasn't on the floor. She was on the ceiling! My mouth hung open in shock and horror, and I felt the extinguisher slip from my hands. It fell to the floor with a thud.
"Anna...?" I half-whispered.
"Amy" she moaned in a voice that sounded nothing like her own. "I feel so strange..." She mated that statement with her actions, moving incredibly quick, crawling along the ceiling like it was the floor. She ended her show by dropping silently next to me, landing easily on all fours. She stood up, and I could feel the heat coming from her.
"How is it possible...? Oh Anna, you're burning up!"
"Not.. like the.. others", she mumbled as if thinking of something else entirely. Her head snapped around, and bits of hair flew from her scalp. Her eyes nearly glowed, her face reddening and shiny with fever. "Come", she breathed, "there isn't much time."
She reached the door like she was moving in double speed, and pushed it right off it's hinges. From behind her, I tried to rest a hand on her shoulder. She felt like fire. "Anna" I said, "we must get you to the meds."
"No" she replied, then her face took on a sad look. "Not enough time". She bolted though the door, then turned around, waving to us. "Come! There isn't much time."
I turned to Dolet, who looked as much in shock as I must look. I picked up the extinguisher and followed Anna, or what Anna had become, through the door. * * * Lucian Lucian looked at the small screen, trying to imagine what the crawl-on creature might be seeing. Lucian had distributed the small computer devices to the teams entering the ductwork to allow them to track their progress through the "maze" of intersecting tunnels. The Tech in Engineering had had a fit that a person no longer assigned to Ship Engineering would waltz in and "swipe" the devices, but a very stern look, along with a hand at his side on the grip of his laser pistol, was all it took for Lucian to convince him to let them go.
Now, looking at the display of the ventilation system, Lucian motioned to RaycerX and whispered, "There's an intersection about four meters ahead. A vertical riser above gives a three meter fall. If I were those things...." He used his fist in a squashing-type motion on his open palm. RaycerX nodded, bringing the canister spout up, ready to spray. Lucian readied his laser pistol and the powerful hand-lamp.
They approached the intersection slowly and silently. Since the section was isolated, the air was not moving, and both Warriors were starting to sweat profusely. Lucian slid the lamp forward, flashing it on, and both men looked up at an angle from just outside the vertical shaft. Seeing numerous discolorations in the shaft, Lieutenant RaycerX released a blast of the spray. Moments later, a shower of small carcasses drifted down the shaft. Raycer released another blast up the near face of the shaft, pulling back quickly, and Lucian scrambled to the far side, ready to blast the queen if she happened to be hanging in that location. Nothing! He breathed a quick sigh of relief, and both Warriors began to search the intersecting passages. * * * Several intersections later, the Warrior teams had wiped out a large number of the small creatures, but they still hadn't seen the queen. Eight Warriors had converged to one point in the hunt. Looking at the small screen, Lucian tapped and said, "Unless she's escaped through an opening we don't know about, she's got to be about...there."
Several Warriors were out of the spray, so some new tanks were brought in by mechanical daggits with homing devices.
Randrius said, "Let's go kill this witch and be done with it."
Lucian replied, "Let's do it." * * * Artus Looking over to brotherjoe, Artus was wondering how the two of them had made it this far. Judging from the reports coming through the open channels from the other warriors they had encountered an unusually large number of crawlons, who had put up quite a fight. Their spray cans were almost empty, but fortunately a few new ones had been delivered by daggit-express. As he reloaded his gun, Artus suddenly had a thought. He turned to brotherjoe and started saying:
"You know Brotherjoe, I was thinking..."
Brotherjoe replied with a good natured jibe: "You thinking, that must be a first."
"Hm. Yes well Brotherjoe, theres a firts time for everything. But seriously, we have been thinking this queen will think like an enemy. But isn't it just an animal trying to survive?"
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