Bugs itch? Scratch 'em.

[Tassatul]

*Tassatul wakes up a short while later, feeling groggy. He check for any injuries and notices hes completely deviod of any weapon*

'No warp blades, no acid spitters, no lightning rifle, shield disabled. rrrrr. . .'

*Tassatul's normally green eyes change to red in anger for the second time in just a few hours. His captors chose this moment to enter the room. One of the walls opened as if some kind of fluid, and an android walks in*

'I have no need for weapons' Tassatul mumbles under his breath.

*He lunged at the android, and bashed it's main AI terminal on it forehead before it could react. It dropped to the floor, and Tassatul rolled through the opening in the wall just before it closed*

'Now, to find my weapons, and whoever captured me'

[Cobra5]

Palla said:

Palla looks at Cobra for a minute, trying not to show fear but shrinking back a little.

"I..." Palla looks at Cobra's face and sees little anger there, possibly mere frustration. "Trust just gets you, or the people you care about, killed." Palla turns her gaze away from Cobra, not wanting to reveal any of her painful past to a stranger.

*Cobra calms down after he notices that palla got his point*

"Tch, I know the feeling. Being a merc, people are threatening me and everyone I know all the time...*sigh*... But you can't let it get to you. If you refuse to place trust in anyone, you become.... 'less' then human...

[palla]

Palla smirks at Cobra's 'less than human' comment.

"I don't think that would have any affect on me, considering."

She smiles slightly, trying to show she's not as cold hearted or pathetic as she might seem.

"Let's continue on, shall we?"

I hope the guy stews for a while over what I meant., Palla laughs in her mind. Could be interesting, come to think of it...

[copyKatt]

(ooc: if you guys ever make it to wherever your going (at the rate you guys talk, that'll be aroung next year or something) Vale is going to be sitting there, i/she cant start talking or anything because you guys arent there yet... )

[palla]

(occ: wait, how is she there? I thought we left her back...somewhere...)

Palla walks into the area and sees Sierra and Jax leaning against the wall, eyeing the guards with slight contempt, but much more amusement.

"Guys!" Palla screeched, running across the room and jumping at Jax, giving him a hug. "What's taken you guys so long?"

Jax smiles at the greeting. "We had to find you first, didn't we? And then these guys held us here, waiting for you to come along. Where've you been, anyway?" He looks up and sees Cobra standing a few feet off. "Who's this guy?"

"I kinda snuck on the ship, got in a whole lot of trouble, so they assigned him to watch me," Palla giggled nervously. "Sierra, how're you?"

There is no reply, as Sierra is sitting on the floor, playing with Naraz.

"Sorry, what?"

"Never mind." Palla looks up now, and finally notices Vale over in the corner. "What...what the heck are you doing here? I thought you were back at the HQ. And, weren't you...like, a long way behind us...?"

[Cobra5]

"..."

*Cobra does indeed think about what Palla told him...*

"Not entirely human?", he thinks to himself, "What could that mean...
S-she can't be...a Tzu? No...she wouldn't have just told me...but what else is there? ...better be safe..."

*Cobra fixes his stare on Palla, and slowly reaches for his AR-115*

"Palla...don't make any sudden movements..." he says, cautiosly. By now, he has his gun out and leveled on Palla

[copyKatt]

Vale: How did i get here before you guys? its this new thing called walking. geez you guys are so slow... and cobra! whats with the hostility? put that pea shooter down before you take an eye out! your gonna get that thing confiscated before you know it!
ugh, but anyway, i guess i have a messege of sorts for you guys. as you all know were kinda in the middle of a battle, and Katts really busy right now, so she couldnt come in person. she says she has a deal for you, Palla. if you and your crew shoot down at least 30 ships, or bugs, or whatevers out there, she'll grant you a citizens access to the Apocalypse. that gives you access to civialian starports, and anything you can find in the city, but bars you from the military section without an escort. this is to pay for all of the trouble you caused, and maybe to show us a little of what your made of. sound fair?

[Tassatul]

*Tassatul finds himself in a long hallway. The ceiling is rounded, and there are no sharp edges, giving the entire area the look of a liquid just poured. no exit is in sight*

'Must be some special way to activate a door around here'

*CLANK CLANK*

*Directly across from Tassatul, the wall slides away into an opening. Another android walks in*

'What are you doing out of your cell? Please follow me'

Tassatul thinks to himself:'These androids are remarkably pacafistic. Any other captor would've already shot or stunned me'

*As the simian andriod makes his way back towards the cell, Tassatul gets an idea*

*He leaps and grabs the android from behind, but does not disable him. Instead, he begins interrogations*

'How do you get through doorways around here?'

'The radeon emmiter on all CX-2280's palms allows for easy acces thro-'

'Excellent'

*Tassatul raises a clawed hand and begins sliceing through the android's hand. Eventually, the emmiter is extracted. Tassatul then pinches a cord on the android's neck, and it falls to the ground, paralysed*

'By the way, who do you work for?'

(ooc: Okay I've got a question for the masses. I was thinking of introducing a new race, but now I'd like do do something different. Maybe these androids could be part of the pop-up armies. The 'scientist' androids are pacifist, but the pop-ups themselves use the technologies they develop to lay waste to infidels. I also like the 'fluid' ships and buildings part. What do you guys think?)

[palla]

Palla glances from Cobra to Vale, considering the situation.

"Vale, that does sound like a fair deal. Tell your commander that I thank her." Turning to Cobra, she holds her hands up in a defensive position. "I understand what you are angry about, but I think you misunderstood what I said. I'll show you what I mean, but I would like to insist that you not shoot me or my people. We've had a problem with that in the past."

Palla lowers her hands slowly, knowing that any quick motions will definitely result in some retaliation. She removes the clip containing the glamour stone on her skirt and places the garmet on the ground. Glancing over her shoulder, she nods to Sierra and Jax.

Sierra unhooks an necklace that was around her neck, set with a stone almost identical to Palla's. Jax holds up his hand and takes off a large ring that, also, has a stone like the womens.

(occ: in case you can't figure this out, those are glamour stones. They are being removed so that what happens next isn't mistaken for a glamour trick.)

"Here we go," Palla mutters under her breath.

A deep shudder begins in the bodies of the three Time's Fabric residents. Their bodies appear to convulse slightly, and under the skin there is movement, like the bones are breaking and rearranging themselves. The sound of bones moving sounds horrible, but Cobra and Vale wait, trying to figure out what is going on.

(occ: Cobra is most likely holding his gun up again at this point, but I can't say that without getting into trouble. Oh well.)

The forms of the trio begin to shrink and reform, human skin disappearing and different colors appearing.

Palla's body has become that of a wolf. Her fur is completely dark, like the midnight sky. There is one white mark, a slight stripe across her left cheek. Her eyes are the same as her human, but now they appear brighter, and more intelligent.

Jax's form is that of a white tiger. His fur is pure white without a hint of black, other than in his eyes. his eyes are a brilliant light blue, the color of the sky.

Sierra has become a black panther. She, like Palla, is completely black. She has no markings, and her eyes are an emerald green. They look particularly mischevous and playful.

The animals stand in a line, looking up at the humans as if waiting for some reaction.

[Cobra5]

"Okay..."
*Cobra says, in an emotionless voice.*
"Well, not something you see every day... but I've seen stranger."

*Cobra levels his gun on Palla again. He glances to vale*
"She hinted that she wasn't human, so I suspected her of being a Tzu..."

...

"Well, you might be shapeshifters, but you don't see too many of them around here... or, you might be andriods, although I've never seen no Tzu do that. They do have a habit of getting new technology..."

[palla]

(occ: I finally see Katt's avatar. Nice!)

The wolf lets out a small yip, like an indignant repsonse one would expect from a human. It dances around on its paws for a moment, then begins to shift again, tiger and panther following suit.

"Well, you could have asked. But, Tzus don't bleed, do they?" Palla questioned. There is no quick response. Sighing, she reaches up and removes a clip from her hair, pressing it against her fingertip. A drop of blood oozes from the small cut.

"If I were a robot, would I bleed?"

[Cobra5]

*Cobra spins his gun around in his finger, then holsters it, like an old fashion cowboy*

"That's enough proof for me. Well, you guys get in some ships and go get to work, you got a lot, after all... Vale, I need to get to engineering, I wanna see how my ship is doing...
*He looks back to Palla*
I'm gonna be leaving you alone for a while, don't go brezerk or anything... and don't get killed."

[BugHunter]

*Meanwhile, the hunters are trying to enjoy their brief time of R&R on the Starport Pub VII. Young-Tusk has been slaving over the Hunting Star along with a couple of hired mechanics. He's about 82% done. BugHunter goes about contacting his mentor and clan leader, Top-Knot*

BugHunter: (to a servant girl) "Hey, where can i get a communications array around here?"

Servant Girl: (pointing to booth) "You can find some over there"

BugHunter: "Thanx"

Servant Girl: "Anytime, good lookin"

*BugHunter enters the booth and patches a link to Top-Knot but gets a busy signal and a static screen*

BugHunter: "A busy signal!? Grr..."

Busy Signal: *Sorry but the occupant of the number you have dialed is busy. Please hold for 5 minutes and we'll try to get you through immediately*

[palla]

Palla nods.

"Thank you. But, do you want us to use your ships, or are we allowed an escort to go back to our own? I don't know how your fighters operate, so it might be easier, not to mention safer, if we use our own."

[Cobra5]

*Cobra is alread walking away, towards the military section. He has his arms folded behind his head. When Palla askes her question, he just points to Vale, and keeps walking*