A bit lonely here without kove or duckah... -v-...


I claim the fifth page.

you always get them ...
Sorry about the wait. I wasn't allowed on Internet.
Falcon, try the search option. I'd get the link for you, but I don't know how I'm sorry. Last I heard, they screwed up and it's listed as being started by Kiku. Weird.

Coppertop leaned back in her seat with a sigh of relief. They had barely made it through the corridor, and now the Assassin sat on the icy surface of Keenrei, fully shielded and cloaked. Vortex Crawler and Moonblaze sat, ready for battle, just beyond her ship, barely visible through the blowing snow. As she watched the veiwports, Jassiv's ship [/i]Starblown[/i] set down a short distance off. The informant would lead them through the sewers (which, he assured her were no longer in use). He admitted that they could be in danger - rumors said that Beren's pet Kronans patrolled any way in or out - but assured them that he knew a "safe" way in. Copper didn't ask any questions; at least they were better prepared now than they had been in the assault on Kroys. And they had the element of surprise.
Zanzibar was hiding something. Everything he did hinted at another motive. She had expected him to jump at any chance to hurt the killer of his love, Vorsyelvo, but instead he was being oddly cautious, almost timid. She would have to find out why - maybe Phoebe could unravel the mystery for her. The pair were close friends.
Jassiv was waiting. The blue rabbit sparked something in Copper's memory, but she couldn't place him, or his accent. He was probably both a native Keenrein and a wanderer - none of which mattered right then. What did matter was the fact that Wild Angel trusted him, and he was willing to help them.
"Come on," he said, and they followed him to where two flat-bottomed cargo skimmers lay, half-buried in snow. He started them up and the rose off the ground, shedding snow and ice. Copper was glad she had brought her cloak; the wind was something else, penetrating to the bone. She'd never noticed how warm Carrotus was, or any other world for that matter.
With her piloting one ship and Jassiv the other, they shot over the frozen ground. She could not begin to imagine their destination.
After what seemed like an eternity, a dark shape appeared on the icefield before them like an inkblot on a sheet of white paper. As they drew nearer, penetrating the concealing veils of snow, it resolved into a delapidated building, crumbling and eroded by years of exposure to the punishing winds, frosts and icestorms of this hostile climate. This, Copper deduced, was the entrance into the sewers.
The skimmers shuddered to a halt, spilling passengers and snow. Of all her team, Kaz seemed the least affected by the cold and Zanzibar the most. She supposed it was because of Firen's hot temperatures.
There were no guards here. Jassiv explained that although the soldiers were prepared for the cold, reptiles like lizards and turtles were still affected, and Kronans were too stupid to stand guard in this place, haunted as it was by the eerie song of the Fluters. The concealing snow lent an aura of mystery, and it would be easy for a dimwitted, half awake guard to think he saw something and set off a false alarm. False alarms took time, resources and a great deal of patience to deal with, all of which were in short supply.
"Getting in is the easy part. Getting out isn't. Getting through is the difficult part," Jassiv said.
"Trust me."

The sewers, unlike the frigid, howling surface, were heated. Just aboce freezing, all the same there was a vast difference in temperature that Coppertop noticed immediately. The fact that there was no wind helped immensely. There were guards down here, but they mostly patrolled the service shafts, not the actual sewer tunnels. A fine layer of moss and algae coated the walls and floors, muffling all sound, and the air was stale and fetid. Everybody complained. Nobody did anything else.
Coppertop was not entirely sure about Jassiv. Wild Angel trusted him and she had to rely on that, but the mercenary would much rather have established her own kind of trust first. However, the faith of Wild Angel would have to do.
They followed Jassiv in single file, silent and grim, hoping to survive and praying to avoid any patrols.
They were nearly there when the alarm sounded.

Jassiv looked around, not quite frantic. This could be a false alarm, but he doubted it. It was too timely. He could hear distant shouts as the guards who patrolled this sector came alert. Before those guards could react he turned back to the grey-furred rabbit who strode alongside him, coolly assessing their situation. He admired her calm, especially when compared to his reaction.
Coppertop eyed him doubtfully. He knew what she was thinking - had he led them into a trap? He hoped not. They were almost there - why couldn't the alarm have stayed quiet? But even as he panicked, the icy calm that had settled on him since Iceshadow's death fell again.
"This way," he said. "Hurry! The time for silence is over." Copper nodded calmly and glanced back at a black rabbit near the back of the group. Although she did not speak the rabbit nodded and turned to say somehting to a young purple rabbit beside him, who was armed to the teeth. Jassiv turned his attention back to the tunnel ahead. Dimly he could hear a horde of soldiers thundering towards them, shaking the floor slightly. Clearly they knew nothing of stealth. His team had just enough time -
But what he saw when he rounded the corner stopped him dead, making him slump briefly in defeat before straightening.
The way out was blocked by two reptilian guards. They'd run out of time.

No hope - they were trapped. Jassiv felt the sharp stab of panic overwhelmed by that strange peace.
Two large, hissing lizards, one dark brown, the other a dirty yellow, stood blocking the tunnel. One carried in one hand a linneral, a Keenrein weapon that spat serrated, circular, spinning blades rapidly; the other hand held a translucent, humming reflector shield. Reflector shields sent projectiles back towards their point of origin.
The yellow lizard carried a high-powered blaster with a rapid-fire charge attatched, and another reflector shield. Jammed in his belt was a long knife with a pale blue jewel in the end of the pommel, framed by two silver wings. With a shock of grief-fueled anger that lasted as long as the panic had, Jassiv recognized it as the gift he had given to Iceshadow, long ago, before Kroys.
Turning to Coppertop, who stood poised beside him, torchlight glinting on her naked blade, he smiled sadly. He knew what he had to do.
"The way out is right behind them, mercenary. Up the ladder, then follow the tunnel up. I'll buy you time. You kill those two, and I'll take care of the rest." He gestured towards the two advancing lizards. He would have turned away, but she caught his wrist and held his eyes with her own shadowy ones, reading his intent clearly. She nodded slightly and released him, glancing over at the silent Claw.
Claw's powerful Protec blaster was in his hand with blurring speed and he fired two shots in rapid succession. One hit the yellow lizard's reflector shield, but had barely struck before the second shot hit the first, creating a small soundless explosion. The yellow lizard's shield shattered.
Coppertop was less decorous. Closing in on the darker reptile, she simply sliced his shield in half, and then cold-bloodedly slew them both. Jassiv turned towards the main host, which would by now be pounding towards them.
As he did, he caught Wild Angel looking at him, disbelief and fear in her eyes. He smiled at her, then remembered something. Bending over the dead lizard, he yanked Iceshadow's blade from its' belt and took the dark lizard's linneral. Thus armed, he turned away from Angel's uncomprehending look. He didn't have time to answer questions.
"Go," he told Copper. "Your pilot friend should be waiting for you. Run!" Wild Angel tried again to catch his eyes, but he forced himself to ignore her despairing look. He had a job to do.
The miniature army was almost to the corner, to judge by the sound he was making. He paused and found a small alcove that could shield him from all but the worst attacks. When the last of Copper's friends had passed him and gone up the ladder, he began to fire on the soldiers.
Serrated, spinning blades were spat out by the linneral with a low metallic hum. They cut a swath through the unsuspecting soldiers, causing an abrupt halt while they milled, confused. Then they apparently came to a discision, and once more the enemy advanced.
Then they were upon him, and he discarded the linneral. Drawing Iceshadow's knife, he threw himself into the main body of his enemy without a backwards glance.
The last thing he saw before they surrounded him was Wild Angel's beautiful, haunted, terrified eyes. Then she was gone, and there was nothing but the enemy, their blades, and blood and pain and, oddly, joy ...
And then there was nothing.

That's all I have for now. Sadness

And starting off with a new page... unintended betrayal and deaths.

OMG that is awesomeness right there. Keep it coming.

You guys must think I've abandoned you. I'm so sorry ... the internet on my computer doesn't work right now, we'll have to sign up with something other than AOL. That may take a while yet. In the meantime, don't lose hope! There will be more - I don't intend to abandon this story!

Geh. AOL ish 3vil and bad.

Still a rux story tho. Can't wait for more of this crazy insane psycho extra-crunchy literary g00tness.

Thanks, 4I Falcon. It may be a while yet. Sorry.

More sadness and deaths coming up to some of my favorite characters, but I need to downsize my cast ;P
*evil laugh*
You'll see soon.

Yay, I can type some more, but unfortunately not much as I'm not on my computer. Here goes.

Wild Angel watched, horrified, as Jassiv attacked the soldiers with wild abandon. They parted before him and surrounded him, and he looked up at her with unreadable, shadowy eyes.
Then he was lost from her sight, and she turned and fled up the rusted ladder, tears that would remain unshed blurring her vision.

Coppertop dashed away from Jassiv with the heartrending knowledge that what she was about to do broke her first and primary rule in her personal code. She was abandoning a friend, someone who had helped her. She was leaving him to die alone.
Jassiv had chosen his fate; had offered to sacrifice himself so that they could escape. Still she could not reconcile what she had just done.
Some of her inner turmoil must have showed, for Kovu moved up beside her. His sword, unlike hers, was sheathed, and his booted feet made no sound on the scum-covered ground.
"It bothers you," he stated, "leaving Jassiv back there to die." She nodded shortly. "He knew what he was doing," Kovu went on. "It's not as though you could have saved him. Well, maybe you could've, but not even you can destroy an entire army - even if I haven't seen all you're capable of. He bought us enough time to find this Shonar."

ME LIKES!

You are a very talented writer, CT, in case I haven't mentioned that already. I, myself, look up to you in terms of skill.

Good job.

I always get my pages... )=7

You're probably the inverse of the creativeness I had in writing this post... and I only got the little creativity that went into this post from you.

We have a new server, so I am back for good (or at least until this one goes wonky, too).
*cries* I can't believe it! On my last post, I edited it and had so much written ... and then, instead of hitting the "Save Changes", I hit the "Reset Message" button ... *hits head*
I have nothing today, check back later. But I am back!

Wow, this story is awesome!

I read 'Conquerer' and 'Conquests' (Although I'm a quite fast reader that took some time) and I like both storys very much (And yes, I'm a Noob in the JCF, although I play JJ2 since 1998) ...

And I forgot to say, that my native language is Swiss German / German, so my English sometimes has got some mistakes in it, so don't kill me if I write something that sounds a bit strange

Just thought I might mention, CT, since you've become a bit of a celebrity and all, what with your story coming into an RPG and stuff, that this story- like, everything- it all rux0rs beyond words.

Just so you know cause i don't get much time to post on here anymore.

DUCKSTER!!!!!!!

YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE HERE! I'm so HAPPY!!!! You're ALIVE!!!


Being a noob isn't that bad, Eval. Everyone gets to be one sometime. Even me

Did y'all see that some efil topic revivificator revivified Conquerer? Is it just me, or does it say that the thread was started by Kiku? Can anyone explain that? Why am I asking so many questions? Where's Kovu?

Oh, I'm so glad you're back, Duckah I'm sorry but I haven't got any more right now ... I'm so bad, I should really get to it.

I'm a celebrity? Oh, no, why me? *faints*

I also recognized the wrong thread starter name... That MySQL database seems to be a bit damaged, if you ask me

and pleeaaase continue your story

Eval

If my memory serves me correctly, she was the one who quoted your story and put it on the JCF when the JMMB died... or something... can't remember><.

No, I did that. I had to ask Quisty how, if you remember (if you were there).

I have finally gotten more of the story onto the computer, so here you go. Kaz, no rude comments
The first part I have posted before, suffer with me.


Wild Angel watched, horrified, as Jassiv attacked the soldiers with wild abandon. They parted before him and surrounded him, and he looked up at her with unreadable, shadowy eyes.
Then he was lost from her sight, and she turned and fled up the rusted ladder, tears that would remain unshed blurring her vision.

Coppertop dashed away from Jassiv with the heartrending knowledge that what she was about to do broke her first and primary rule in her personal code. She was abandoning a friend, someone who had helped her. She was leaving him to die alone.
Jassiv had chosen his fate; had offered to sacrifice himself so that they could escape. Still she could not reconcile what she had just done.
Some of her inner turmoil must have showed, for Kovu moved up beside her. His sword, unlike hers, was sheathed, and his booted feet made no sound on the scum-covered ground.
"It bothers you," he stated, "leaving Jassiv back there to die." She nodded shortly. "He knew what he was doing," Kovu went on. "It's not as though you could have saved him. Well, maybe you could've, but not even you can destroy an entire army - even if I haven't seen all you're capable of. He bought us enough time to find this Shonar."
"He bought it with his life," Copper said bitterly. "No one should have to pay that."
"He knew what he was doing," Kovu repeated. "He would have done it with or without your cooperation."
Claw moved up silently behind her. Strange, how much she had come to trust him - as much as she had ever trusted anyone. They were as much of a team as two loners could make. They understood each other. Yet underlying that veneer of friendship was the lurking knowledge that, five years ago, they had been bitter enemies, waiting for an excuse to slay the other.
"I take it that Jassiv's choice bothers you," he commented quietly. Two, maybe three years ago, he would have seen that as a weakness to be exploited. Now it was a wound to be healed. Kovu wisely fell behind; they had inexplicably slowed to a walk. She glanced at her fellow pilot.
"Yeah."
"He had nothing left to live for," Claw explained offhand. "Iceshadow's death took all of the reasons he had left. There was no reason he couldn't die too. I think he couldn't have died in a way that would have pleased him more."
She scowled, her eyes hardening. "I could have saved him. I could've, blast you!"
"Really." He left it at that, deftly changing the subject. "Can Shonar help us?"
Glad to be steered away from the painful subject of Jassiv, she responded, "I don't know. Shonar may be a pilot and a mercenary, but he's the absolute best at his chosen professions. Plus, he makes a point of studying things like security, weaknesses in vessels, establishments, codes and protective programming and the like. He's a law unto himself, and he'll do what he wants, not what I tell him. If anyone knows how to get into the Venomstrike without getting killed, it's Shonar."
"How well do you know him?" was Claw's next question.
"Well enough to know he's as trustworthy as they get. He won't turn on us or sell us out. Frankly, I was surprised that he served Kroys. He's not that type ... he's very much a loner."
"Like us," he said dryly. Then, quietly, "watch your back. Darkfist as impressed me, but Saturn I am not so sre about. She may decide that a knife in the back would greatly improve your temper, or mine."
"I know what you mean," Copper said. "She's neither hot nor cold nor in the middle. She's all three."
"Yes. Something about her bothers me ... I cannot place it."
"I agree. I - " she stopped, then abruptly called back, "they're still coming! Let's go!" She broke into a run and Claw paced her effortlessly.
The tunnel sloped upwards making progress on the slimy ground difficult. Copper dropped back towards the end of the group, where Grath seemed to be having a bit of trouble. He slipped and she helped him up. The black rabbit supported himself on his staff, and said breathlessly, "don't worry about me - I can warp out if I need to ... "
"I know, but if you do we risk detection. Come on!"
They slipped and stumbled on the slimy, uneven ground, following the main group. Suddenly Grath fell again, this time with a short, ragged gasp of pain. Copper whirled, drawing her sword, but there were no enemies. What had happened was worse.
Grath hd slipped and fallen on both his staff and his leg. His weight and the awkward angle of his fall had snapped them both. He could not walk, and his staff was useless. With it went his warping focus.
Behind them the enraged guards could be heard. They (being used to the moist conditions) were having no trouble on the slick surfaces. Copper glanced ahead to see the last of her friends disappear, leaving her and Grath alone.
Shale might heal him, but not in time, and they could be detected by Beren, who had no idea that they were the intruders. She could not carry him and still stay ahead of the enemy. But even as she sought and answer other than the one presented, Grath made it for her.
"Leave me here," he rasped, voice ragged with supressed pain. "Angel can get Kovu there and mask her powers. You cannot .. jeapordize your life or the mission by trying to save me."
"No," she said flatly. "That's not even an option."
Already they had lost Jassiv. Beren would not claim this as a victory.
"You must," he insisted. We've come too far .. to give up now."
"What have I started?" she whispered. "How many would die for my ideals?"
"Jassiv was ... already dead inside," Grath said. "I'm not afraid ... to die. Death is better than Beren's rule ... any day. Darn it," and he roused enough anger to make her straighten, "you started this, Coppertop, and you're blasted well going to finish it! Get out of here. I can still think clearly enough to manipulate them, make them think that I'm the only intruder."
"They saw Wild Angel -"
"They saw a black rabbit running. I'm a black rabbit. Gotta do it, Copper. Tell Kaz he doesn't owe me any more."
"I will," she said. She rose from where she had been kneeling beside him. The guards had almost gotten to the corner behind them. She had to go now or be seen. She looked down at him, yet another friend she had to leave behind, abandoning him to death. She took the broken staff that he handed to her, and closed her eyes briefly.
"Forgive me," she whispered, and then she fled.

Stop snickering, Kaz, or I'll kill you off

*Wants moooooooore*

CT is god


... and you can't kill me because I'm not in the story ...

lol, I'm not God ... but I suppose if it makes you feel better ...

When she rejoined the group, the bleak look in her shadowy eyes was all they needed to see to know Grath's fate. One door stood between them and Shonar, and Zazz Darkfist's arm-mounted rocket launchers took care of that obstacle.
Then they were free, and the Lessaria lay ahead of them, behind a chainlink fence and gates, locked with an old-fashioned padlock.
Nightshade pushed her way silently to the front of the group and held out her hand imperiously. Copper smirked and handed her a skeleton key. Now the Assassin would earn her keep. She bent over the lock, working silently. Sensibly, she had changed into working garments, changing her silky dress for less feminine clothing. After a moment, she stood back and the gate swung open. Copper grinned at her cousin, and then gestured for the Assassin to take the lead. With grave dignity, Nightshade stepped into the compound, ready to cut and run should any danger present itself. But no enemies fired and no alarms went off, and Nightshade made it to the Lessaria with no trouble.
When they had all made it to the small ship (it was a little squished), Shinyso and Omega offered to stand guard. Copper allowed Shinyso, but told Omega that he could not afford to miss this. Because he was telepathic, Shinyso could still hear theconversation.
Shonar began, sitting in the pilot's seat of his small, modified Protector. In his hand he held a small data chip.
"Right. I can't send the program to the Sarav because the Soldier of Fortune might intercept it. However, I understand that the presence of a certain Fader is distracting Beren and his people enough that a bit of teleporting won't be noticed - as you should know, Faders are one of the only things that can destroy these guys. So while this Fader is covering for you, Wild Angel here can do a bit of long-range teleporting." He paused, and Zazz Darkfist piped up.
"My ship Star Falkon is on Carrotus. I'd have brought it, but they impounded it because of some odd modification. I can help you if you need."
Nightshade added, "Nebular Web is on Drant."
"So's Omega's ship, the Jendara," Alpha added. "If you've got copies of that program ... "
Shonar gave her a quick grin. "Don't need it. Angel here gets you aboard your ships and here, and I can send your vessels the program via a special comm channel. However, during the time it takes to load the program on, install it and get it running, your systems will be very vulnerable to any virus contacted. So I recommend that you shut everything possible down. I'll broadcast the thing on that channel, shortrange, so be ready to recieve it. Got that?"
"Yeah," Copper confirmed. "Right. Here's what we're gonna do - Zazz and Nightshade, you pilot your own ships. Kovu, you're the only one Claw's letting pilot the Vortex Crawler, so Saturn'll take the Moonblaze because her ship was destroyed by Beren. Omega, can you pilot Jassiv's Starblown?" At his not she continued, "good. Kaz, Blackie, I hate to say it but you'll be in charge of the Assassin, and of course Shonar'll have the Lessaria. Phoebe, you can take Wild Angel's Webmaster. So, that cuts our intrusion team down to Claw, Ducky, Wild Angel, Zanzibar, Shinyso and me."
Alpha grinned. "You forgot me and the Jendara."
Copper smacked her head with the heel of her hand. "I knew I'd forgotten someone. Too much to remember. Thanks, Alpha. Angel, can you handle all that?"
"Sure can, but I don't know how."
"Maybe this'll help," the mercenary said, handing the magician the broken halves of Grath's staff. "I don't know - I'm not a magic-user."
"No, that'll be useful," ANgel said, brightening. "So. Who's first?"
"I'll go," Zazz said. "Star Falkon's all prepped and waiting for me to pay the fine."
"Right. Take this," Wild Angel instructed, passing the bounty hunter the bottom half of the staff. Holding the top half, she pulled the location of the ship from Zazz's mind and worked an intricate bit of magic, both pulling the Star Falkon towards her and pushing Zazz into it. The result was a sleek ship with four engines arranged like a plus sign or a cross, with an engine at the end of each arm. It looked fast and deadly.
Repeating the process with each pilot, in short order the Lessaria was a lot emptier, and the air around it full of hovering ships. Bending and picking up the bottom half of the staff (which, incidentally, had not gone with them), Angel banished all the ships to where the Sarav waited. Shonar flashed a tense grin at Copper.
"Progran transfer done. Get up here, will you, and pilot this piece of junk. Angel, you've got about twenty seconds before that Fader hides her presence again. Get us up past the Soldier and we're home free."
"Done," she said, and their surroundings altered as she slammed her shields up, also shielding the staff and Copper's sword. Something about Zanzibar's talisman made her shield that too, and Ducky. Then she abruply sat down and closed her eyes.
Copper started the engines on this unfamiliar craft, and throttled up. Shonar slid a data chip into a slot on the console and pressed a button. The scanners flared to life, showing every Sarav that had come to help. Even now they were recieving the program from Kovu, who had the original data chip. Copper recognized Emerald Dragon's green fighter, the Dragonfire, as well as Scimitar's crescent-shaped ship that bristled with lasers, the Razor's Slash, and Ferran's needle-like Edge of Infinity. Even as she watched the scanners, the ships were duplicated over and over until they reached the size of a small army. Quite a few non-Sarav, members of other gangs, had come along, swelling their numbers. Their swift maneuvering and intricate attacks lent the impression of even more fighters than there really were.
"Right. Kovu, Vortex Crawler has the torps we need. Follow me, line up on the nose of the Venomstrike, fire. Then go after the Soldier. After we're inside, forget us, just don't kill Venom!"
"Got it. Crawler out."

No, I can't kill you off, but I could add you in and THEN kill you off. So there.

Coolness

you can't add me because I haven't got any profile anywhere on the JCF (... maybe I'll add it ... *thinking*)

Eval

I don't need a profile, I can just mention your name among the list of the dead ... *evil laugh*


"Evaluator, one of Scimitar's most prized Sarav pilots, went up in a glorious fireball of red and black and gold, which would have been beautiful had it not been fueled by a living being ... "


I'm so mean.

Actually I'm NOT a Sarav...

So I'll have to post my profile, I think:

Name: Evaluator
Age: unknown
Species: None - Normally is invisible, because he dematerializes into program code and spreads through electronic devices
Gender: unknown
Birth date: unknown
Birthplace: unknown
Height: any
Weight: any
Fur: any, depends on mood
Eyes: any, depends on mood
Hair: any
Weapons: can (de-) materialize into/from code, modify programs of electronic devices (ships, weapons, robots, and so on) if the object/person isn't shielded by magic.
Appearance: never the same appearance
Skills: can (de-) materialize or duplicate anywhere if there's any electronic device near which isn't protected by magic
Personality: Calm, doesn't like to kill off people, doesn't make friends easily, distrustful, suspicious
Occupation: none
Ship: none / any (reprogramming the ship)
Likes: music, art and being alone
Dislikes: evil people, too much noise, too many people around
Friends: unknown
Family: unknown
Lives: everywhere, in almost all electronic devices

Actually I don't think that I'll fit into this story... I'm too anormal...

Eval

Maybe I'll add you, maybe not.

The Vortex Crawler's aerodynamic, lethal shape catapulted past the Lessaria, a blue and black streak in the viewport. Kovu's attack was so swift and unexpected that the Venomstrike's jamming systems couldn't come into play in time. Twin ice-blue streaks, faster than even the Vortex Crawler, shot towards the bow of the Venomstrike. A ripple, a distortion, occurred, and then the torpedoes were through the shields and speeding to the Venomstrike's doom. The tip of the triangular ship flared brilliantly, too bright to watch, and a shuddering ripple flowed down the lusterless steel of the mothership, like the shiver of some prehistoric animal. Then, on the heels of the ripple, a change coursed down the length of the Venomstrike, transforming the featurlessly broad expanse of steel into a grey, hangar-studded vessel. Many of those hangars were open, gaping like dark mouths, and waves of fighters were heading towards the attacking Sarav. Crawler pulled away, looping around behind the enemy starships and attacking. Lessaria, covered by Kovu's attack, was aple to slip unnoticed in behind the starfighters.
Shinar finished at the console, and told Copper, "for the moment, we don't exist. We are a large piece of debris, got it? Try to simulate a chunk of garbage. Once you set down in the hangar, I'll take it off. I'm not doing any fighting, got that? I'm your only way off this thing if it blows, and I'm not being paid enough anyway. Shinyso," and he turned to adress the fighter, "here's a locator. You need a lift, get to a hangar and push the blue button. If it's urgent, press it twice. If there's no hope or you've already gotten off, hit the red one, and I'll meet you on Keenrei - if you survive. I'll know if you don't. Got all that?"
Shinyso nodded and took the locator. Copper shook her head slightly. Shonar thought of everything - that was his job, after all.
Copper rolled and spiralled, hoping nobody would think to do a visual check. They were closing with the Venomstrike, close enough that she could see the details of the hangars they passed. A peice of debris would do no damage to the hull if impact did occur. Of course, if Copper had her way, no collision would happen.
They flew dangerously close to the open hangars, and security lasers fired shots to vape them. However, they had shields and space junk did not, and so little was accomplished, except that Shonar's programming kicked in. The Lessaria vanished from all scanners for a few minutes - enough time for him to let them off in the hangar and then to take the controls, microjump to a safe distance away, and trigger the Lessaria's true identity. Then he set his ship into orbit around the smallest moon of the seventh planet in that system, awaiting their call in the desolate loneliness of space.

Gah, I wrote an hour worth of stuff, and then I forgot to save it ... *beats head against wall*

Well you'll have to know whether I fit in or not...

And the story is awesome (I think I said this already...)

Eval

Of course, first I blast my mouth off in the WTRPG thread about how no one posts chapters of anything anymore, and then CT comes back with another truly excellent chapter of one of the best stories in the whole flamin' WT...

*dies sporadically*

lol, get used to it.

Copper hit the floor of the dim hangar from a height, managed to absorb most of the force of her fall with a shoulder, and rolled to her feet. Zanzibar and Claw were already up and alert, while Shinyso was climbing to his feet with a wall's aid and Ducky was still sprawled on the floor, slightly dazed. Of Wild Angel there was no sign, at least not until she picked herself off the floor from behind a crate. Their group was complete, and a lot smaller than usual.
Brilliant laser fire and the deadly blossoms of explosions lit the darkness of space, illuminating the shapes of starfighters spinning and weaving graceful, lethal patterns. Copper would have liked to join them in her warship, but she had another job to do. Time was running out; it would only be a matter of time before Beren grew suspicious, or before the Deathless Ones recognized the Assassin - and the fact that she was not piloting it. She and Kaz had two very distinctive flying styles.
The Venomstrike was eerily silent as they walked through the dimly-lit corridors, wary (and careful to walk sofrly, for the metal rang at a careless footstep) and cautious. Closed doors were ranged along the stark hallways, staring in hostile, silent blankness at the intruders. The absolute silence was unnerving and frightening. The entire ship gave an overall impression of lifelessness and sterility. Finding their way through the ship should not be any trouble - at each intersection, simple and obvious signs were posted for the dimwitted Kronans. Nothing moved in the corridors, and the filtered air was somehow dead (heightening the sense of lifelessness), making the ship seem like a long-dead and forgotten leviathan of the past. But lurking in the shadows was the sense of an ancient evil that did not sleep, waiting to strike. The lingering traces were confusing them - Copper shook her head as though trying to clear it; Wild Angel swayed as her diamond pulsed erratically with a sickly light; Ducky's eyes glazed slightly as she looked wildly around; Shinyso put a hand to his head as his telepathic senses picked up a thread of thought - thought like a whisper; if he listened long enough, hard enough, the words would come clear - but they didn't, and wouldn't; thought with a trace of madness running through it.
Claw, however, did not react negatively to the slightly insane evil that permeated the very air - his already bright eyes began to glow a cruel, bloody red, and he looked slightly sinister. Coppertop knew that only Shale's blocking magic kept her from being affected similarly - for one had to have some capability for evil to kill ...

The madness that affected the rest of them struck a chord similar to it in Claw, triggering and bringing to the surface personality traits that had long lain buried, from an era of insanity and blood that Claw might have caused.
He knew that he had been created - had slain his creators, broken free to stalk a dead world populated by a dying people which he had completely destroyed. He had lived for perhaps millions of years, leaving behind a path of bloodstained deeds, lethal encounters and terrified rumors.
There were entire centuries that he could not remember, when he had been gripped by a killing insanity when he had lived only to kill. After each bloodbath he had woken to reality, during which the murderous impulses lay dormant for a longer time.
They were stirring now, even as he strove to exert some sort of control over them. It partially worked - his eyes blazed scarlet and his dark metal claws extended with the urge to kill - and then the evil was gone. The mist receded from his vision and he saw Zanzibar Sia stalking towards Coppertop, who stood stiffly with wild, unseeing eyes. Making a quick pass with his fist, his hand glowed briefly before Copper broke free of whatever spell held her trapped. Her eyes became her own once more, determined and for once unshadowed, a brilliant green. Claw knew that they would not remain so for long.
Shinyso stood behind Claw, eyes filled with regretful knowing. Wild Angel and Ducky were recovering, none of them asked any questions and Zanzibar offered no explanation. But Claw knew, and Shinyso knew, and Zanzibar had to have known. For what they had just encountered was the trace of Beren Deathwreaker.

Selantrio listened frantically as Beren's orders came through - the Yelantra Sentry and the Nightdweller were to join the battle against the Sarav, to aid the Soldier of Fortune and the crippled Venomstrike. The presence of a Fader had been sensed; reinforcements were demanded.
With a feeling of despair, Selantrio gave the order for his fleet to join Beren's.

Razor's Slash and Edge of Infinity were cut off from the rest of the Sarav, swift enemy fihters swirling agiley around them. Lasers stabbed at them, and Scimitar wrenched and rolled Slash, sending it spinning towards the only ship separating him from Ferran. Twin green lasers, lethal and swift, lanced out and exploded through the shields, destroying it. Scimitar spiralled past, looping away and around the Infinity.
The fox and the wildcat were a seamless team, making impossible shots, rarely missing, protecting each other's backs and miraculously not hitting each other. Scimitar had always known that his second-in-command was a competent flyer, but this exceeded all expectations. Every shot they fired hit the target, but the swarming mass that cut them off from their allies did not thin.
Then Ferran made a mistake - her first and last. Turning the Infinity, she whipped it up around, behind Slash, snapping off a shot at a missile that was coming in, at him or her he couldn't tell. The missile exploded prematurely, but Ferran hadn't counted on the second projectile that hurtled towards her, impacting on the Infinity's underside, triggering explosions that rocked the Razor's Slash violently. The Infinity's tail end swung around, colliding with the Slash, sending Scimitar's craft spinning out of control and finishing the destruction of the Infinity and its' pilot. A final explosion filled Scimitar's rear viewport, washing over the scorched Slash. Scimitar staggered to his feet, clawing his way to the controls of his damaged, outnumbered ship. Fighting to bring the Razor's Slash under control, Scimitar saw the enemy fighter ahead of him too late.
As the wildly spinning craft hit the enemy, Scimitar was once more knocked off his feet and thrown to the floor. As a glorious red-gold fireball filled his viewport, he saw Copper's shadowy form in the explosion, haunted, knowing eyes looking through him, outstretched hand reaching to assist him. he reached to take it, but the flames took her before he could, then the light and fire leapt forward to consume him.
So Scimitar died, consumed by the flame that had fueled his life, secure in the knowledge that he was not alone.

Much sadness. I didn't really want to kill Scimitar off, but I needed to clear the way for Emerald Dragon to take over, and for something else that's very important to kill Beren. So I'll have to survive ...

... sad part of the story ...

but: */me LIKES*

Eval

You know, Eval, you could be Shonar's secret weapon that he uses to destroy the Yelantra Sentry and Nightdweller ... seeing as he's a code slicer/programmer and all. I'll have to think about it.

Cool, my char maybe gets into the story

Thanx a lot

Eval

Maybe he does.

Coppertop stiffened as light filled her vision, before the image of Scimitar replaced it. Light flickered across his features and she reached to take his hand. He looked up at her and moved to take it from where he was sprawled on the floor.
Their fingers nearly touched before the fire, voracious and lethally beautiful, washed over him. Before the vision faded, she had a last glimpse of his feral greeen eyes, reflecting the flame, defiant even to death. They were fixed on hers, knowing, forgiving, thankful for her presence, and wide with alarm and determination.
Then the silent firestorm obscured her vision, and the grey walls of the Venomstrike materialized agian, and the sound of her breath (which, she realized, had been the only sound ing hte vision) seemed very loud. She braced herself on the wall, knowing that her companions were wondering, and not caring. An old friend, one of her first, had died, and she blasted well was going to honor his passing.
When the wave of shock and grief had passed, she pushed herself upright. Not offering any explanation, she turned away and began to walk.

Emerald Dragon saw the Infinity collide with the Razor's Slash, and the subsequent destruction, from the controls of the Dragonfire. All around her the melee froze for a second as every Sarav, whether they had been watching or not, became aware of Scimitar's death in the same split second. Frozen with shock and disbelief, Emerald could only think one thing - What is Venomarin going to do?
Time slowed. Snapping out of her immobility, she realized that with the deaths of Scimitar and Ferran she was left in command. Of course that didn't apply here or now - in the heat of battle, the Sarav thought for themselves and fought for themselves. Venomarin had failed to fulfill her life-debt, by allowing Scimitar to die, and might not be able to handle it. That could be beneficial - but probably not. Then the jolting realization that she was in danger made her move.
Time sped ahead as if catapulted from a slingshot as she rolled the Dragonfire to the left before diving and sliding under the enemy ship that had just fired twin concussion missiles - fast, deadly tracking missiles that would stick to her every move. This was the danger she had sensed - taking advantage of her momentary inactivity, the enemy mercenary (none of Beren's ships had missile launchers) had fired.
The concussions would not be shaken - they stuck like glue. She and the mercenary ship - the Shadow Viper - seemed to be the only ones moving, weaving a deadly pattern of flashing lasers, swift ships and the redly glowing trails of the missiles.
The mercenary had realized, probably through a visual check, that although his scanners showed five of her, there was only one. More than once she just saved herself by decelerating and forcing the missiles overshoot their target. Added to that was the problem of the oppertunistic Shadow Viper's wicked blue lasers that lanced out at her at every chance.
Abruptly she changed tactics; with the deadly missiles only a few meters behind, she flew directly at the Viper, dipping at the last moment to scrape under it. Had she been in the Assassin the move would have gutted the Viper, but as it was the missiles came in directly at him. Forced to act, the mercenary fired and destroyed the missiles rather that be hit. Dragon abruptly accelerated and looped around, spinning to come at him head to head, green lasers already firing.
The pilot of the Shadow Viper slammed all shields forward and pushed his craft to full throttle. Their lasers, green and blue, did no real damage to their shields.
At the last moment the Shadow Viper veered and, instead of colliding, forced Dragon to turn and pursue. Her lasers splashed across the Viper's weakened shields, and she pushed the Dragonfire to full speed, determined to destroy Shadow Viper. She prepared to fire a missile.
Suddenly the mercenary decelerated, causing Emerald to overtake and pass him, before speeding up and firing. Emerald knew that she had made a mistake, and so she slowed and released a flare, which acted like a very weak missile and exploded. As it did, Shadow Viper and its pilot vanished into the safety of hyperspace.
The explosion appeared to wake everyone up; the encounter had lasted less than a minute. A second later, the melee raged again around her.

I'll have to think about it.

still a quite sad part of the story, but its awesome!

Eval

Thanx
Last time I didn't kill anyone, I decided to downsize here. Yes, sadness.

Yay! Another person I can bother for a cameo! - some guy on #bobandgeorge, I can't remember what name he goes by

Anyway, another verra excellent chapter by CT. Good job seven times. And then twice.

I've been meaning to ask if one of my (hastily created) characters may have a part in the story. I hesitated because I didn't want to possibly risk making the story sound contrived, but, I think it's gotten past all hope of ever becoming contrived. (Go CT! )

Name: Crystal Summer
Nickname: Crystal or Cryss
Age: unknown, probably between 17-22
Species: lagomorph
Gender: female (I haven't made a female character in too long)
Appearance: light blue, well groomed fur; bright green, sparkling eyes; long, darker-blue hair; usually wears a black bodysuit, with a crystalline C symbol on the front, and metal shoulder guards; modestly well-built stature; not quite as tall as most rabbits, but she takes pride in the fact that she's the exact same height as the famous Jazz Jackrabbit
Personality: It all depends. When she's around friends, she's one of the most chummy people in the group. And when she's around friends is a lot of the time, as she seems to have an innate capability to make friends and alliances at the drop of a hat.
Excepting when around the enemy, of course, which is where it all changes. While reserved most of the time, she will spare no mercy around the enemy. She will use any kind of weapon with relative ease, but she prefers long-range weapons over melée weapons.
Weaponry: Always carries a short, cyan blaster pistol in a small holster/pocket on her waist. A small sniper scope, which attaches to the pistol, is usually somewhere on hand as well. Other than that, she uses whatever is supplied to her.
Skills: all kinds of fighting and gunplay, especially sniping. While she does not rival Jazz Jackrabbit in speed, she does in endurance, being able to run full bore for almost a day straight. Having also been trained in ship controls, she can master just about any station in any ship in twenty minutes.
Friends: Just about everyone she comes in contact with.
Enemies: Anyone that threatens her or her friends. This includes all lizards, rats, and all turtles but one, Wayreth, who she befriended, and eventually took under her wing, after finding him stranded on a cold planet.
Family: Her father, Nickolai, was killed by a lizard/rat army, when she was about fifteen years old. She now lives with her mother, Alyson, and Wayreth the turtle.
Symbol: Crystalline, blue, sharp-looking letter C

OK, scratch the hastily-made idea, she took half an hour to come up with.

Even a small cameo, one line, would be exceedingly wonderful; but please, CT, only kill Crystal off if you must. I actually have half a mind now to use her in one of my stories.

blast, not even a last thwap on the head for him ><.. oh well.

Juicy, I should be doing my biography project that I haven't worked on and it's due tommorow, but I couldn't resist when I saw this had new posts =7.

So many high profiles with no weaknesses o.o...

I can't express how happy I am to be myself once more. No more Nightshade for me!
I don't have much to give you now, but hey, it's better than nothing.

Claw knew that Coppertop had experienced something important rather than the aftereffects of Beren's magic, as the others assumed. She looked shaken, and shadows had begun to fall again. Claw had never seen her so rattled, so he surmised that what she had seen was not good.
She led the way with apparent unconcern, face closed and eyes unreadable. Her seldom-used blaster was in her hand, and it clearly wasn't set to stun. Everyone got shot, droids included. Evidently her blaster had a useful ion blast setting, which she used to great effect. No alarms went off, and Beren remained unaware of their presence, or so they hoped.
He wasn't likely to be in the control rooms, assuming that he learned from past mistakes. Kroys hadn't, but from all evidence Beren was more intelligent, and a quick learner to boot. So, seeing as all other paths led to places such as the mess, the armory and the crew's quarters, they followed a sign with an odd black pentagon on it. This seemed to be right, for now and then they picked up Beren's trace, although it never affected them so strongly, which could have been due to Zanzibar's protection.
They had no idea how the space battle was going outside.

Kaz, isn't it better to do it first thing than leave it for last?
Sounds good in theory, but to put it in practice, I know ...

CT is herself again
Small but excellent chapter

Eval

Has anyone seen Kovu for an age?

Forever in your debt, CT. I love it.

I haven't seen him, but I know he's been on recently. Maybe he has my problem and couldn't post. Who knows?

Kovu winced involuntarily as the Vortex Crawler shuddered violently from laser impact on the shields. The sleek craft fought towards the looming Soldier of Fortune, two of the remaining four enchanted torpedoes ready. When he was within range, he fired.
Once more the shivery effect took place, but Kovu ignored it. To be distracted now was to die.
Then the swarm of ships protecting the Soldier were around him - assorted and unusual mercenary ships, the remaining Protectors from Kroys' time, vessels bearing the symbols and arms of a dozen conquered worlds. Many of them were clumsy, accidentally hitting those on their own side, missing often and awkwardly maneuvering when they did at all. But those who were proficient made up for the klutzes, being as economical and precise in movement as they were in placing shots. Most had missiles but didn't use them; in such close quarters they were not guaranteed to hit the right target. Flares were used at rare intervals. Many of the mercenary pilots were not of the caliber that the Shadow Viper was, but the few who were became a great danger.
Kovu spun the Vortex Crawler up and to the left, streaking by the slower craft to reach the Star Falkon in time. Firing four, precise shots, he destroyed the Protector that had been doggedly tailing Darkfist's craft, before coming to Kaz and Blacksheep's rescue. They flew the Assassin like maniacs, making unpredictable and crazy manuevers, avoiding collisions by a hair. Coppertop, he thought, would have a fit if she could see what they were doing.
The Vortex Crawler's superior speed served Kovu well. When the sense he had developed over the years for danger warned, he listened. It had preserved his life too many times to ignore it - the unexplainable knowledge that something was not right surfaced now, and he gunned for the outside edge of the fight.
He had just reached it when the Yelantra Sentry appeared out of magically-induced hyperspace, the Nightdweller a second behind.
It took two torpedoes to destroy a Jakka. Kovu had a problem.
He only HAD two torpedoes.

He'd better appear soon though, since he plays a crucial part in this. And Evaluator, I've decided to add you in. I'm not so sure about 4I Falcon, though.

Yeah, thanx!
And don't forget that somebody has to shield me from that magic thingy in the Jakka ships...

Eval