Hair of the Wolf: Open for Business

Posted: September 6, 2007, 10:25 pm

I smiled at the roars of laughter. The naked ladies always did it. And why not? The very image of naked women in that particular predicament would make a cadaver smile.

We were all there again. All but one. The thought sobered me up. But just as the thought began to meld into a question a fury of activity snapped me to.

The woman had collapsed, keening that pain I knew so well. My first reaction was I know that pain as it brought me back to that filthy crapper in Manhattan what seemed a lifetime ago. Next, more in wonderment, But here? how odd...

Zeb had righted the lady who had recovered most of her senses. With attention focused on her no one noticed the ragged trader entered, looking desperately around, then quickly zero in on our table.

"Zeb. Zeb! ZEB!" he finally shouted above the din to get the attention he seemed to urgently need. All heads turned.

"Antonio!" Zeb smiled. "Great to see you, lad! Join us for a..."

But the trader interrupted. "I'm afraid I have bad news for ya, mate. Can we talk alone?"

Zeb's smile faded. He looked around at his friends then back to Antonio. "I've nothing to hide from my friends, Tony. Whatever it is you have for me is for them as well."

Antonio shuffled his feet, looking uncertain. The cloud that hovered over him was heavy and bleak, and weighed on everyone. Something was definitely wrong, that much was certain.

"I got a message for you, my friend, and I fear it's not a pleasant one..."

"Alright then. Let's have it."

"I happened across a distress buoy a couple days ago. I fetched it in and got a message from the grave."

You could have heard a plasma grenade pin drop, now the entire room was still.

Zeb glanced around the table, than back at his friend. "Go on...

"It's a little jumbled, but here it is." Then he placed a comm tablet on the table and pressed a tab. A voice sprang to life.

"Not sure how much longer I'm going to hold out," it began. The voice was familiar but obviously muffled within a vacuum helmet. "My ship’s in pieces, the hull must be breached in a dozen places. O2 is running low. I’m going to have to set the buoy to auto launch and hold the release as long as I can. If you’re hearing this, I let go and odds are I’m dead. And I have no idea what that’s gonna be like, I get this feeling this isn’t going to be your ordinary die-and-wake-up kinda death. It just feels different… "

Eyes widened. It was that last part that did it. Everyone knew of the Respawning. No one ever talked about it. It was like discussing a case of hemorrhoids. It just wasn't discussed, it was simply acknowledged as that dirty little thing everyone had in common. But everyone knew... you always wake up.

The voice hadn't waited for the shock to pass. it continued in it's own lonely way. When I heard my name it brought me back with a slap.

..." Wolf or … what the heck’s his name, that other guy. In the bar. Nice guy. Always liked him. Called me Big Guy. Tell ‘em I did what I could. Took ‘em off Wolf’s trail. Gave him a decent chance. Wolf, buddy, I done my best. Now get the bastards. Get ‘em… don’t let… let, oh crap. Uh… Take my Vengeance out on ‘em, k? make it… make it wor..w… w…”

Vengeance? Yes, the voice had seemed right, now that it was said. All eyes turned toward my friend.

Vengeance looked around the table. He tried a laugh but it came out more hysterical than humorous. "Well obviously here I am..."

We continued to stare. We'd all been through it. But we'd always known what was going on. Sure, most of the time it was over in a ball of flame but there was always that once in a lifetime (deathtime?) chance when it was slow. It was scary as anything, being forced to let loose your grip and slide into that darkness, even knowing that wasn't the end. But no matter the circumstances we always knew what came next.

"Aye, here you are..." Zeb said in a quiet tone.

I nodded. "So then, what was all that?"

"I don't remember any of it,Wolfie. I musta been delirious. Yeah, that has to be it. I swear I don't remember anything like that."

"Well then just what exactly do you remember?" Carnival.

"The fight. The Nomads. The Jumphole. The Cannon fire and the purple bolts, then the fires and the pain. Oh yeah I remember the pain alright..."

"So everything was normal?" I probed?

"Normal!" cried Patricia. "Don't gimme that crap! It's never normal..."

"Well, ok. You know what I mean."

"No. What do you mean? Vengeance squinted at me. I could see he was offended. I decided it was time to let it go.

"OK, OK, it's been a wild day. Let's forget it, OK?" I motioned toward the bar. "Another one for everyone. Everyone in the house!" I proclaimed. The place returned to its normal ruckus as suddenly as it had fallen quiet.

But Vengeance continued to search my face. Our eyes locked as I stared into those deep red eyes. That familiar cold thing crept up my spine and curled around my throat. It took several more ales to force it to loosen its grip.

1st Lieutenant Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 32

The recording had set every hair on my head and everywhere else standing straight up. It was eerie enough hearing your own voice, but saying these things?

I had no recollection ever saying those words. I remember the battle alright. And the decision to draw the Nomads away from Wolf. I remember thinking it was important to get him outta there.

But why?

Suddenly it made no sense. Desperately I tried to remember. Why would it be so important if Wolf would always be back? Why? Death wasn't the end...

Are you certain of that? came the reply, small and subtle in my head.

I shook my head. But it got me to thinking. The question popped into my head, "Why do we always die in space? Why was that? What would happen if we died anyplace else? In any other way? "

...Yes. What indeed...

Wolf and I locked eyes for what seemed an eternity. What's he thinking? I asked myself. And somehow I know the answer. He was asking himself the same question.

Recruit Joined: Aug 03, 2007 Posts: 8

The figure slid across the stone floor to stand before the ebony pedestal. Across its chest gleamed the crescent of honor and terror, known throughout all the hives: Eclipse.

It is done, my Queen.The metamorphosis is complete.

The Queen of the Nomads looked upon her servant and would have smiled, if that were possible. Her face contorted into a terrible form. Yet, no matter who or what else might have been in that dim room with these two, the maddening beauty of that moment would have captivated any heart. Such was the allure of her presence. As beautiful as the velvet darkness... as beautiful as the cold void of space... as beautiful as crimson blood flowing from a perfectly slit throat... as beautiful as the ball of flame that consumed your enemy in battle. Beautiful, tempting, irresistible as death itself. Even the final death all would know one day. And some, even now.

Her smile widened at the thought. Even now...

You have done well, Erebus. Well indeed. And set free?

Yes, my queen. And returned.

Excellent! came the hiss. the only sound that might have been heard, had anyone been there to hear it.

-----------------------------------------------------@oOo@-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excellent! the whisper echoed across the stone hall.

Pressed against the cold stone, he'd heard it clearly.

The word almost caused him to lose his tight control over his thoughts. He clamped down with renewed determination. Silence... complete silence...

Slowly the shadow eased itself back along the way it had followed. Around the corner, it padded back into the dark chamber, lay back on the slab, and waited.

Posted: September 7, 2007, 2:19 am

Given that Carnival was back from the dead and seemed to be making the most of his time with Electra, who herself had just respawned, life as the Voidians knew it seemed to be continuing as always. Death and rebirth. All except one. His smile looked slightly jaded and he looked a bit out of sorts to say the least. Vengeance was bothered. Zeb knew something had changed for him. Hearing yourself say such things is enough to drive you crazy. The party went on. Some drunken Gibbons were putting on a floor show that consisted of grabbing items from the crowd and juggling them, passing them back with a flourish once done.

In the commotion Zeb took Wolf to one side. Wolf seemed a little distant.

"Watchwolf, do you trust Vengeance?" asked Zeb.

Through the beer, Wolf replied. "What kind of a dumb question is that Zeb? Of course I trust him. He just.... Well, he just seems a little different. I know we've been through a lot recently and there are some dangerous and serious things needing a closer look, I just dont want one of them being Vengeance."

Zeb looked up. Vengeance was in conversation with Bomber and Hellboy and on the surface at least, all appeared well.

Zeb sighed. "Mate, I had to ask. What with Carnival opening up on me and all, it just is all a bit unsettling. I hate all this suspicion. Gimme a straight fight any day."
This made Wolf smile, "Yeah and you would loose no doubt...!" They both laughed.

"Wolf, what do you know about the glove that Seraphear was wearing? All I know is that if that were ever amplified and used as a mounted gun with a focused core, God only knows what it would be capable of." Wolf had glanced round at Vengeance and the crowd. "There are rumours..." started Watchwolf, "Rumours that the new weapons are deadly."

Zeb frowned. "Yeah I know that, we always...." Watchwolf motioned him to silence.
"Look, that is just it. We respawn. Except my concern is that there is only a finite number of ways that we can do this. We might actualy just die and not come back..."

The two friends stared at each other, hardly daring to speak. A weapon of such capablities in the hands of the Nomads. In unison they both downed the large schooners of port and went back to join the party........

2nd Lieutenant Joined: Aug 30, 2007 Posts: 16

"Perhaps I can explain." I sat myself down at the table, and felt strangely delighted at the shocked looks I got. I hadn't even used the gauntlet to distract anyone, they were truly off their gaurd at the moment.

"Who's this?" Watchwolf asked, staring curiously at me. "And why are you wearing a helemt in doors? You look like your ready to bolt."

"This is Seraphear, Wolf. The guy I was telling you about." Zeb watched me cautiously. "And, this time, Seraphear, would you mind actually showing me your face?"

"Of course. I apologise for keeping my visor on last time we me." I smiled slightly. "Security, and all that."

I lifted the helmet off, shaking out my hair. I stared at Zeb, almost daring him to comment.

"Nice locks, man." Watchwolf said, shaking his head. "Very... light."

I wondered once again what the fascination with physical features was in humanity. Surely, it is the clarity of ones actions that should judge the man, not the colour of his hair. I tilted my head to one side, my white hair floating gently, not quite keeping up with my movements. I winked, just for effect. It never has quite the right effect when you have only one eye.

"Yes, yes. I am quite the archetypal villain, aren't I?" I sighed heavily. "I've had this ridiculous white hair since I was born, and I lost my eye in an accident. Not even an exciting one. Just a crash landing."

"Hey, people have gotten worse for crash landings," said Zebulon. "A guy I know lost a leg... although he did get it replaced."

I smiled to myself. Zebulon was clearly more at ease in my presence now. I wondered briefly if he would have been so worried earlier, if he had known that my 3 seconds of control over him nearly killed me.

"The gauntlet." The one called Vengeance spoke out. "Explain."

I looked up, and felt a shock of recognition. He was... he was dead! In the Death Visions, he had been present. But he wasn't dead, and he wasn't alive. Strangely, I felt the gauntlet quiver as I stared at him. I forced myself to turn away.

"The Nomads have a method of mind control. They integrate themselves into a mans body, allowing them to take control." I held up my arm, showing everyone the gauntlet. "To be able to control them fully, they need to be able to read and direct their minds... so a new subcast of Nomad was created. It is housed in a protective material, and called out to probe the minds and conciousness' of others."

I flexed my hand, and closed my eyes. I didn't focus on any specific, but allowed the gauntlet to probe the area around me. I got the surface thoughts of everyone in the bar, but was unable to distinguish between them. To my faint amusement, I caught one female voice as I shut myself off again. She seemed to be admiring a rogue like man who was chatting her up at the bar.

When I opened my eyes, the guys around the table we're staring at the gauntlet. It began reshaping the patterns on its surface again, back to its standard state.

"And there you have it. Don't ask me how the Nomads do it. I have no idea. The only way to get hold of one of these is catch a Nomad wearing one and take it from him." I looked round, smiling. "But I'm sure thats no problem to you."

My gaze settled on Vengeance again. Suddenly, I felt my vision greying around the edges, and shapes were superimposed over my eyes.

A slab with a body lying on it. Nomads No, surely they would not... POWER. My eyes widened in horror as the gauntlet fed me more images. So much power! Is this 'E'? No... I can hear?

You have done well, Erebus, very well.

As suddenly as they had come, the visions faded. I stood abruptly, and raised my arm at Vengeance, the blue glow around the gauntlet becoming violent and agitated. I clenched my fist... and nothing happened. I couldn't exert control. There was something blocking me. He was either in possession of a gauntlet himself... or...

"Zebulon, Watchwolf. I will be watching you." I turned and started storming out of the bar, stopping briefly. "And Vengeance... good luck. You will need it. Especially if I catch up with you again."

I walked out, my coat billowing behind me.

Damn. This is not going well....

Posted: September 7, 2007, 10:50 am

If before now I haven`t been convinced it was clear now. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder. First that guy Vengeance showed up. A strange bloke. Big and with those dark red eyes just gave you the chills. Plus I don`t know...there was something about him. Maybe the skin was a little paler than normal, maybe his glance sometimes when no one seemed to be watching. I really don`t know but it just didn`t feel right.

And if I though Vengeance was weird I had a real shock afterwards. While we were sitting down at the table, Carnival came in. The first things you notice about him were the horrific scars that covered him and the blood red eyes. But what was indeed strange came out when you saw the two together. Vengeance and Carnival. They looked so much alike. Almost like they were made out of the same mold. But there was a big difference between the two. Vengeance seemed more human, whilst Carnival seemed to have lost much of his humanity long ago. I could almost see the souls of these two. Both burning bright like fire, but not like mine, but hotter. Years of hard decisions and ruthless actions made these two unlike myself

In fact as I scoped the room, no one of my new companions seemed to be like me. The feeling with which I`ve woken up started to grow. Tired, so tired...and not in a physical way. And lonely. From all the people at this table I stood out as the least sociable. I didn`t have the feeling I fit in. Even Molten Dead and Hood started getting involved in the discussions around the table. But I just sat there. Smoking. And feeling so very lonely. Like all the years I had under my belt and all the decisions I made since so long ago until now were weighting down on my shoulders. After that girl, Electra was it?, respawned(so strangely but... right here) Carnival joined her at the bar. It was so strange. Seeing his eyes you could notice a sudden chill that ran through his body. Almost like the fire inside him stopped burning for a second and he became a mere human again. The party started again, but not for me. I had so much to worry about.

As I looked around the table I wondered why have I been chosen for this? Why me? I didn`t feel that I was good for all of this. Sure I was an excellent pilot and an old Order member. I knew the Nomads and their tech. But this was far too big and to unlike me. I knew everywhere I went in all my life I left behind only destruction and grief. And I just didn`t fit in. My thought were oriented to my interior until the tape started playing the voice of what appeared to be Vengeance. I watched him slowly loosing his grip. He became even more paler and that thing that made me not to feel right when I watched him became more than just an itch. He seemed to be blown away by the tape, and he genuinely didn`t look like he had and recollection about what happened. Maybe he was just delirious, but I don`t know...something just didn`t feel right. After things settled down I just blocked all the world around me completely and started focusing on myself. But then I overheard something that Zeb and the Wolf talked about. Something...disturbing. A weapon...that could bring the real death to us. A chill went up my spine and for a second I was scared. But I didn`t show it. I rarely showed what I really felt."Humans can`t be trusted with eachother`s real feeling" I said to myself, and then I remembered about Zeb and Wolf... "All the more reason I should see Roby right away. Maybe he knows something..."

But as I got ready to leave a guy appeared from the shadows. "Perhaps I can explain." he said and sat down at the table. And then I hit me. The full force of the soul of this...human. The knowledge and the power he possessed. I looked in the only eye he had and saw his soul. Bigger than Vengeance, than Carnival, than me or Wolf. Bigger that anyone in the room or anyone I met in my entire life. That was the way he appeared to me as I glanced as far inside of him as he let me. But he seemed so tired and torn from the inside. This was indeed Seraphear. The key...or maybe just an aid in the battle in front of us. Then he showed us the gauntlet and explained how it worked and how did he get it. It was incredible. Sure, I heard back when I was in the Order of such devices. But they were only prototypes back then and the Nomads couldn`t fully control them, or anyone. But this thing looked far away from a prototype. I looked at Seraphear and for a moment I surprised a glance from him to Vengeance. He seemed intrigued by him, but at the same time worried and horrified, like countless pictures ran through his head. And then it struck me. "It`s time to leave..." I said to myself. A feeling of unease took hold of me. I felt something, in part related to Vengeance, in part to Seraphear, in part to all around me. I wrote a message to Molten on a piece of paper.

"Warn our friends about this whole situation. And prepare the boys for action. I want you and Dead go back to Freeport 9 and get things moving. Don`t send any messages from here to anyone especially messages regarding our little predicament. We wouldn`t want the Nomads or God knows who else to find out how much we know about all of this. I have something to take care of. Get Dead and get things ready at Freeport 9. We will need all the help we can get. Pyro."

I put the piece of paper in front of him and retreated very slowly into the shadows and made my way out the dinning area. As I got out I started running to the starport as fast as I could. My blood started rushing and I felt my soul burning like I did countless times before. This feeling of unease, of terror, started getting a grip on me. "I need to chill.Things are starting to get even deeper than before" I thought as I ran past the big gorilla that was guarding the entrance to the hangar bays. I flashed my pass to him as I ran. I jumped into the cockpit and started the launching sequence. I lighten a cigarette. But I couldn`t get a grip. "I need to hury...I have the feeling that the real troubles are just now about to start. The Nomads have been playing with us until now. But no more... Their plan goes way past the understanding of us humans, monkey and robots. There is a bigger picture that none of us see clearly. But that guy Seraphear...he has some of the answers...I need to hurry..."

And I launched into the blackness of space.

Posted: September 7, 2007, 11:37 am

I was beginning to feel as if I was losing control. Things I had either put in motion or seen to start had changed. Some wildly, some ever so slightly. Yet for me, watching from the inside out, trapped in this frail vessel, while at the same time from the outside in, as if through the eyes of some spirit-self... for me nothing was as it appeared anymore.

My mind drifted back to my encounters with Death himself, back so long ago. It was he who showed me how Death was not to be feared. How Life and Death did not struggle against one another as many believed, but danced the most intricate waltz together. It was then I learned to dance with the Reaper and even play the tune.

Why fear your closest friend, I thought suddenly.

Yes. Why?

There was something about this man. This Seraphear. Something strangely familiar, something familiarly strange. How was it the eye that seemed to see into me also seemed to reflect back to me the vision it saw? Indeed, even the vision I saw myself.

The paradox made me dizzy.

Or was it the beer?

I saw the way he looked at Vengeance. So I wasn't the only one. There was something strange about my friend and I couldn't place my finger on it. Something there, yet something missing.

Yes, definitely too much beer.

I excused myself and made my way to the room I'd been offered by the monkeys. Say what you might about our furry friends, they were most accommodating hosts. And demanding allies. Briefing had been postponed til morning but everyone was expected to be there.

Hangover or not.

I fell into the bed and instantly asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The dream was tantalizing familiar, yet so foreign as to be completely alien. Being everywhere at once.. within and without, oddly one from all perspectives: Through my eyes, through another's, through some detached third person, all at the same time...

Waking up in that nasty barroom latrine... seeing who? walk out... it couldn't have been, I'd thought at the time. But was it? Was it me? The man/spirit did not look back. Then the thought occurred to me... why should it?

...flying with Annie, "I don't think that's a very good idea, Boss..." "I don't care, Annie! Do it! Just DO IT!"

The sign looming filling the viewscreen, then nothing, then someplace... else... this is not home, I now remember thinking. Or dreaming.

Do you dream within a dream? Was that it? If so, that might explain how I might have died while I was dead...

...the grinning face of the Reaper, our game of dice, or battle above Gammu, all impossibly within the span of time it took to pass through that sign.

...the Shadows... the Voices... the Others... hissings quietly heard not with my ears... Yes! Now I remember. Heard that terrible voice though its owner was silent! Nomads, I knew. Simply knew. The images formed within my mind... at once terrible and beautiful... a plan of such magnificent artistry and guile, cunning and bold... and I simply knew!

...I said nothing, but they heard me nonetheless. I fled, but not quickly enough. The torture, the soul-wrenching pain of mind and body... all thought torn from me and my memory with it.

Then opening my eyes on the grass...

...and now, now, was I dreaming still? The silent form drifted toward me. The hand raised. The power of that malice pressed down on me. Hatred. Fury. Vengeance.

I kicked myself across the bed and slapped at the switch. Light erased darkness and the mystery it embraced.

There across the room, sprawled in the chair, snoring quietly, was my friend. Vengeance.

I looked wildly around the room. We were alone.

Was it a dream? I thought, and shook my head.

I removed a blanket from the bed and laid it across my friend. He snorted, took hold of the blanket and curled up in it with a satisfied sigh.

I returned to the bed. I left the light on. Sleep returned reluctantly.

2nd Lieutenant Joined: Aug 30, 2007 Posts: 16

I was only a few hundred kilometres away from Primus when I was filled with agony.

"Ouch." I muttered. "Argh. Dammit, argh, what the hell!"

My head and left arm were filled with pain. It was shooting up and down my body, and my vision was going round the bend.

"Seraphear. This is Pyro." A voice came over the com. "I need to speak to you, and I need to do it now!"

"Argh alright damn you but stop whatever your doing to me!" I cried out. The pain had started to escalate, my body screaming in protest.

"What? I'm not doing anything." The voice sounded puzzled and a little alarmed. "Im about 50 metres behind you."

"Then what-" I started to say, before my world collapsed.

I couldn't see. I was blind, and I was unable to move. I felt the gauntlet on my arm, and tried to use it to see if there were any other people around. As I concentrated, it started to contract. I screamed in agony, but every scream made it crush my arm even harder. I could hear a voice swirling around in the darkness.

"Seraphear... you... screamin... answer... coming..."

"HELP ME!!" I screamed as loud as I possibly could. The gauntlet was still contracting, and I could feel the flesh of my arm rupturing beneath its grasp. My vision returned for a split second... just long enough to see the gauntlet crush down, and then split open. My arm wasn't attached to my shoulder. The ruined bones were on the floor of the cockpit, and the inside of the ship was coated in blood.

I screamed and screamed, until my body finally registered the pain. I blacked out. I woke briefly, and automatically tried to use the gauntlet to alert someone to my condition. As I struggled, Pyro docked and blew the door to the cockpit, grabbing my shoulders and trying desperately to pull me out of my Crusher.

I started to fade again... as I did, I saw a face in my mind.

Zebulon! The gauntlet! I... help me, please help me! The expression on his face grew alarmed, he looked down at my shattered arm, and the bloody wound where it was crushed from my shoulder. Horror suffused his face. If you can see me... please... show me!

He nodded, his eyes wide. His mouthed words that I couldn't hear. I looked down, forcing myself awake again, and saw a blue glow surrounding the broken gauntlet. I closed my eyes again, and Zebulons face began to fade. I blacked out.

As Pryo carried my shattered body from the ship, the blue glow around the gauntlet died....

Posted: September 7, 2007, 2:54 pm

As soon as I cleared the docking ring I started thinking. "What will be the next move of the Nomads?" "and who`s this "E" Character...?Where does he fit in all of this?" And that Seraphear guy, now he is a strange one. But I don`t feel any peril coming from him. Not directly anyway. But he has some answers...It would be swell to talk to him, and as soon as possible. I need to figure stuff out before I get in a new mess..." Thinking of these things I finished my cigarette and noticed something puzzling. "Am I lucky or what?" There he was. Seraphear going God knows where. But I needed to speak to him, and that I needed to do before I met Roby.

I placed my ship right behind his Titanium Crusher. I opened the comm link and said:

"Serapher. This is Pyro. I need to speak to you, and I need to do it know"

"Argh alright darn you but stop whatever your doing to me!"

"What? I'm not doing anything. I`m about 50 meters behind you." I answered to this unexpected response. He seemed to be in pain or fighting someone...or something.

"Then what..."

Nothing. Just horrific screams. "What the...?" I though.

"Seraphear you screaming mate!" Nothing. "Answer me God damn it!" Nothing just more screams." Sunova...Hold on I`m coming." I launched a cruise disruptor at his engines. The cruise drive stopped. I placed the WA1 in parallel with his ship. "I must be out of my mind!" I dressed as quickly as I could in my space suit and I closed the cockpit door. I depressurized the cargo hold and I opened the emergency bay exit. "Holy crap..." Taking my Plasma RPG Launcher I aimed for the bay door of Seraphear`s ship. The door was blasted wide opened. "I knew this would come in handy..." "Here goes nothing..."

I jumped. My blood was on fire, my eyes ore like two pieces of burning coal and I didn`t know what to expect on the other side. The cockpit door was closed, but even through the pressurized door I could hear Seraphear`s screams. I pressed the emergency depressurization button and a hard piece of titanium alloy colsed on the spot where the old cargo hold door once stood. "Hope he forgives me fot that..." After repressurizating the bay, I pulled out my shotgun and I blasted the cockpit door wide open.

Horror. So much blood. I could feel the suffering rushing through my soul making something echo inside of me. But there was no time to meditate. Seraphear was on the floor. His arm was crushed from the shoulder and the gauntlet had a bluish glow around it. He seemed to be battling the pain but something else too. "DAMN IT! I don`t have time for this...I need to go meet Roby..." I though desperately trying to get Seraphear out of the ship. "But I can`t live him behind...He needs to be taken to a hospital." I placed him in the escape pod and pressed the delayed launch button. I exited the cockpit, blasted the titanium bay door with a WZ - 8 Nuclear charge. I jumped back into my ship and tractored in the escape pod.

"First thing`s first. Let`s get back to Primus." After setting the course back to Primus, I went into the cargo hold and opened the escape pod. Seraphear had passed out. I`ve seen a lot of injuries in my life time and I could plainly see he lost a lot of blood. I didn`t know if I should try and take that thing off his hand. "Nah...I`d better stay out of it. I`m no doctor, and that thing looks broken. It`s never safe to use nomad equipment.".

We approached Primus. I lighten a cigarette. "I smoke to much" I thought while reaching for the m-wave. "Primus? This is FTP Ship Beta 1/1. I have an injured party on board. Request immediate medical units to be present on the landing strip. Also a ship is found at this coordinates. It`s owner is the one injured. Can you please retrieve it for him? Thank you!" "FTP Ship Beta 1/1 all of the required preparations will be made. Please proceed to dock."

The ship steadily stopped. I opened the door. Almost immediately two monkeys came with a stretcher and took Seraphear.

"What the hell happened to him? He`s a mess!" asked one of the primates with an alarming voice.

"I don`t know...I found him like this...will he be ok?"

"We`ll do our best. I can`t say now...he lost a lot of blood. And what is that thing around his arm?"

"You don`t wanna know...Get a technician in there. That`s Nomad tech you`re dealing with"

I stopped and put out my cigarette. "I still have time to go meet Roby...Damn it! Nah...I have to see if Seraphear will be alright...I can`t leave him...not now." And with that I climbed into the ambulance and went to the hospital. In the waiting room it was a complete chaos. Doctors and nurses coming in and out of his room. After a while I stopped one of the doctors I supposed was the lead doctor.

"Will he live?" I asked the chimp that was standing face to face with me with a wise, calm look on his face.

"Yes, I suspect so. We took that thing off his arm. All we can do is wait. We started fixing his arm, but growing bones back is a complicated business and a painful one too. Mind telling me what happened to him?"

"I don`t know...I found him like that in his ship. Can I visit him?"

"Yes, but he`s still unconscious. We gave him something to sleep."

I walked into the room. Seraphear was lying in bead sleeping. He had now calm look on his face. "Good..." I said to myself. I wanted to light a cigarette. "It`s a hospital for God`s sake! Get a grip." a voice in my mind shouted. So I didn`t. Instead, I sat down on a chair in his room. I felt responsible for the life of the man I just saved, that`s why I chose not to go meet Roby. "Maybe this was a mistake...." said a voice in my head. "Maybe this was fate...I was at the right place at the right time...who knows?" replied another. As the sun started to set, I fell asleep. For the first time in years my mind was free of the thoughts that plagued my days. I fell into a deep sleep right there near the man I just saved, in his room. A moment of peace in my burning life.

"No worries for now..."

Posted: September 7, 2007, 6:22 pm

Omicron Gamma. Planet Crete. In the shady motel, Roby was agitated. His once long, brown hair was now grey and unwashed. His once tidy outfit was now a pile of worn-out clothes. His confident look turned into the look of a mad man on the verge of loosing his sanity. And that wasn`t far from the truth.

"10:25 pm...Where is he dammit? He should`ve been here six and a half hours ago!" shouted Roby in the room desperately.

He paced the room up and down again, as he did countless times in the past hours. "Was I followed? Did something happen to him? He needs to find out the truth...he needs to learn what I discovered...this...this could mean the end of..."

The rushing tide of his thoughts was stopped by a knock on the door. And another one, more violent. "Maybe that`s him..." As he went to the door he put his right hand on the blaster and with the left one he opened the door. But it wasn`t Pyro. Not by a long shot. Instead two men(at least one of them looked like a man) were sitting there. The lights seemed to have been turned off suspiciously, but Roby could make out the blood red eyes of one of the men.

"Roby 'Cannonball' Lancers?"

"Yes...who are you and what do you want?" asked Roby a bit alarmed.

"You have been subjected for deletion. Prepare to die!" As the human looking man finished his sentence, the red-eyed guy pulled out a nomad gun, or better said pulled out his right hand that had attached to it a nomad gun. In the blink of an eye Roby realized that wasn`t your standard nomad weapon. He knew most of the nomad tech, weapons, devices, and that wasn`t one of them. That was something new. He fired a shot with his blaster. And another. But red eyes didn`t even move. He seemed to be covered in some sort of body armor, or the regular weapons didn`t affect him. Instead he pointed the gun at Roby and shot. Roby was blasted to pieces. What was left was a pile of smoking, carbonized body parts.

The two attackers ran into the night. At the same time Pyro woke up in the hospital room of Seraphear...

Sqdr. Commander Joined: Aug 20, 2005 Posts: 1366

I woke up with a start, my head pounding. I sat up, and winced again as I switched the light on. I looked round and was slightly embarrassed to see the woman who had respawned in the bar lying next to me.

"Thats gona be fun to explain to the guys tomorrow." I muttered to myself. I looked round, and realised that I wasn't even in my room. I scribbled a brief note for the girl and walked out, pulling my faded top on as I left. I wandered towards Wolfs room, positive that he'd love to be woken up at this ungodly hour.

He'll probably go skitz, but hey I need to speak to him.

Whistling under my breath, I walked on....

Posted: September 7, 2007, 9:08 pm

Zeb had taken some stims and had erased the looming headache with some meds that one of the Monkey doctors had given him. He leaned on the railing. The smoke from the Babylonian cigar wreathed round Zebs head. The sky was clear and the stars were bright. There was an occasional glint off the defence network satellites orbiting Primus. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

Zebulon! Help Me!...... Zeb shook his head and shuddered. That had been Seraphears voice in his head. Zeb's arm hurt. Not deeply, but a dull ache that made it difficult to move. Apart from the sounds of the launch pad some distance away and the bustle in the distance laced with the sounds of urgency and warfare, there was little disturbing this night.

The comlink buzzed. "Zeb! Its Pyro! Seraphear has been hurt. Something to do with the gauntlet. The damn thing tore his arm off!" Zeb flexed his muscles and looked at his hand. "Zeb? Zeb, are you there?"

"Yes mate, sorry. A little distracted right now. Is he going to be ok?"

"The Chimps reckon he will be ok. He's off the life support at the moment, I'll get in to see him in a bit."

"What about the gauntlet? Do you have it?" Zeb asked urgently.

There was a pause. "After what I saw, I'm glad the damn thing is gone. I had to blast my way in through Seraphear's airlock. When I saw the mess and him screeming like a demented narzat, I grabbed him, pushed off and rigged his wreck to blow with some nuke grenades. Zeb, I never want to see one of those freekin' things again!"

"I'll be down to the hospital as soon as possible. Keep and eye on him and it might be an idea to get a couple of folk to guard the corridor. Have you heard from Roby yet?"

" No. I cant even raise him on the m-wave. I should have been with him hours ago. I've got a real bad feeling about all of this...."

" I know. Wait there till I get down. Wake Wolf and the others and get them to meet us in the mess hall by the Simian Security Forces Barracks in two hours. I'm coming to the hospital. "

Zeb cleared the call, grabbed his gear, called for his car and headed down to the foyer.

---------------------------------------------------@oOo@-------------------------------------------------------

The "Hair of the Wolf" was quiet. The locals were in, as were a handful of Zoner miners that were celebrating their latest find, having scoured the remains of Colorado for what little silver was left there. Viki sighed and continued to put the glasses back on the shelf. Li'l Liz was polishing the tables and flirting with the miners. Most of the damage from the last fracas had been fixed and business was ticking over. Machiko was in the corner doing her Tai Chi and Rosie the engineer was sitting with her coffee and chatting to two old "Deep Spacers" about engines and long range endurance travel.

Viki caught a glance of them as they entered the bar. Suits. She checked that the shotgun was within reach. The security system scanned them. They were clean. This was the Law or Viki was a cross eyed gibbon. She checked the mirror just in case.
Machiko had moved to their left and Li'l Liz, while still polishing the tables, had stopped chatting and was keeping a side long glance at the party as they approached the bar.

Viki did her best shimmy and beamed them a smile, "Gents, what can I get you?"

The tall dark one flashed a badge. Bretonian Police Special Branch. "Oh crap." thought Viki. "We are looking for Zebulon Antarxes. You any idea where he is?"

Throwing them a puzzled look, Viki replied, "Can't say that I do. He and his buddies left here at least two weeks ago. Headed out Dresden way last I knew." The two behind the tall one exchanged a few words and spoke into their comlinks.

The tall one handed her a commcard. "Ma'am, if you hear from him tell him we called and that we need to speak with him. Its to do with Artifact smuggling."

Viki gulped. If Zeb was convicted of Artifact smuggling they would loose the bar and their livelyhood. It was crazy. The penalties were higher than for smuggling Cardamine! She knew not to call Zeb as it was the first thing they would expect her to do and Viki was not about to give the game away. God! Where were those boys?

Rumours had come into the bar via the usual traveling sources. The AoF boys always dropped in when the passed to make sure all was well with the girls. Not that they couldn't take care of themselves.

She looked back up and tall man was still there, staring at her. She flinched. He spoke.

"We would like to check the office at the back." This was not a request. Viki knew better than to argue. Whilst they could have taken these guys down, the ensuing trouble would have been impossible to deal with and the thought of running out on Zeb and Wolf did not sit well with Viki. "Sure." she responded. A nod to Machiko and a wink to Liz settled everything down. She led the way to the office at the back. They climbed the stairs and entered the mezzanine office.

They were careful in their search and put it all back as it was, but they were thorough. Some forensic bags were brought in and samples of who knows what, taken away.

When they were done, Tall Man handed Viki an e-pad and asked her to sign the document and as quickly as they had arrived, they left. "Darn it Zeb! Where the hell are you?"

2nd Lieutenant Joined: Aug 30, 2007 Posts: 16

I swam slowly into conciousness, gazing round the white room, taking in the instruments and displays everywhere. I looked to my right and saw a huge number of drips and feeds leading into my right arm. I couldn't remember anything, really. I know I had undocked, so something must have hit me in space. I turned slowly to look to my left...

And yelled in shock.

"My arm!! Where the hell is my arm!" I began breathing rapidly, quickly going into shock. "Help me! Someone help!"

A strong voice shouted across me, and I felt arms holding me down against the bed, trying to stop me from thrashing and disconnecting the drips.

"You're fine, you're fine, stop struggling man, stop it!" Pyro shouted at me, desperately holding me down. "You have to calm down! Calm down, now!"

I slowly stopped thrashing and straining, looking at my ruined shoulder in shock. I couldn't believe it.

"Wait, where is the gauntlet?" I stared at Pyro, fear lighting up in my eyes. "Where is it?!"

"It's gone, Seraphear." Pyro shook his head in sadness. "I caught up with you outside Primus. You were screaming murder down the com, so I force docked with your Crusher and broke in. The gauntlet had shrunk, and shattered your arm. By the time I got there, it had removed it completely, and by the time we got back here... it had destroyed itself."

I stared at him, horror and disbelief warring in my head. How could this happen? I had control of the gauntlet! I had mastered it, I was the one who wielded it! And now... I had nothing.

"I have nothing." My eyes brimmed with tears as I spoke my thoughts out loud. "I'm useless. The gauntlet was the only thing that could have helped us. Now, I can't even take the fight to them without it! I CAN'T EVEN FIGHT!"

The words echoed round in my head, and I sank back into the pillow, tears of hot rage flowing down my cheeks. For years I had struggled to find out the Nomads secrets, fought for information, and all so I could help the chosen few when the time came. I'd found the gauntlet, and become a being of supreme power and knowledge. Now, what was I? A guy with one eye, and one arm. No power. No knowledge. Not even a ship to my name. I wouldn't be able to fly it anyway.

"Stop it." The voice was hard and cold, and took me completely by surprise. Pyro was standing next to me with a disgusted expression on his face. "This is pathetic. You came to us with power, with information, and with the heart to help with the biggest threat we've ever known. Now, you're lying on your back crying about a lost piece of hardware."

I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off before I even had chance.

"I thought I saw someone of worth in you, Seraphear." Pyro stared at me with a hard, unflinching gaze. "But obviously I was wrong. You're right. You can't fight. You are weak, and you are not worth the effort it would take to protect."

He turned his back on me, and started walking towards the door.

"Zebulon is coming to see you shortly. Frankly, I don't know why he's bothering." Pyro gave a mocking salute as he went to exit the room. "Goodbye, crybaby."

He didn't even get to the activation panel. With a roar of fury and pain, I hurled myself across the room and cannoned into the back of him. Blood sprayed from my ruined shoulder as I barged him into the wall, pummeling him in the face with my remaining arm. I screamed in his face as I struck, each blow accompanied by a word.

"To hell with you!! I've been fighting my entire life, and you judge me by this?!" I stood up and grabbed his throat. "I will NOT be called weak, I will NOT give up, and I will NOT be belittled by the likes of YOU!"

Summoning all my strength, I hurled him across the room. He stood up quickly, and I began to advance on him... when I noticed he was laughing.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" I spat.

"Seraphear... at last. I was worried you'd lost yourself when you started weeping, my friend." Pyro grinned at me as he dusted himself off. "I didn't expect you to react so violently, but at least you know you're not worthless now."

Pyro walked over to me and took my hand. He shook it, and led me back to the bed. I wondered briefly how I had been so easily manipulated, and how quickly I had reacted. Hell, I'd only had enough time to speak before Pyro had got on my case. I felt exhausted by my outburst, and wanted so badly to go back to sleep... Pryo's taunting had done the job though. I felt alive again, as though I once more had a purpose.

"When you wake up, the Monkeys are going to start growing you a new arm."

"No." I stated flatly.

"What?" Pyro stared at me, faintly amused. "You can't pilot a ship with one arm."

"I know." I looked up at him, and smiled. "I don't want a replacement arm. I want a better arm. I will sit down with the Robots tomorrow, and they can help me design a mechanical replacement. If theres one thing I've learned, its that flesh is weak."

Pyro gave me an appraising glance, and nodded.

"Very well. I'll inform the Monkeys. And I'll get onto the Robots." He turned round and sat back down. He went to say something, but stopped, a smile crossing his face.

I was already asleep.

Posted: September 7, 2007, 11:50 pm

I woke up covered in the all so familiar cold sweat covering my body. But without the memory of the all so familiar dream. Instead I remembered pictures in my mind. New ones. A shady room, a man pacing it and looking worried. I couldn`t see his face. Then blood and carbonized flesh all around the room. And two men. And those eyes. Blood red eyes. Unforgettable eyes. "Something`s not right..." I thought while I started to come back to my usual self. I stood up and looked at the bed. Seraphear was still sleeping. He looked ok.

I left the room and went outside in the hospital`s yard and lit a cigarette. "Roby...I need to find out what he knows..." As I smoked, I reached for the m-wave. "You have: 25 missed calls and 1 new message." the robot informed me. "Where the hell are you? You should`ve been here 6 hours ago! Listen...I`m afraid...I`m afraid something will happen to me....and to you...you need to know what I`ve found out. It might be your last hope. But I can`t tell you over the m-wave. Come here as soon as possible. I`m at the Stonebook Motel." I recognized Roby`s voice.

"Hello is this the Stonbook Motel?"

"Yes. How may I help you?"

"I want to talk to a mister Roby Lancers please. Can you put me through?"

"Umm...I`m sorry...but Mister Lancers died..."

"WHAT?!"

"Yes...later this evening two men came to his room. We heard shots fired. By the time we got there all that was left of him were carbonized body parts."

"DAMMIT!" Ok thanks"

"What to do...I need to find out more...This can`t be happening...sunova..." I thought while I was feeding the machine a new number.

"Hey Huan. Yeah it`s me Pyro. Listen I heard that a certain Roby Lancers died. I had some...business with him. Can you give me any details on the matter?"

"Sure thing mate. A red eyed man and another guy were seen leaving the scene of the crime. We found there what was left of a memory card. We`re trying to see if anything can be retrieved from it. Anyway we got one of the guys. The other one got away...the red eyed one. And here`s the weird part. We shot him 8 times. He should`ve joined his friend down at the morgue."

"You mean to tell me the other guy`s dead?"

"Well yeah...we weren`t about to wait for him to try to make us little new holes in our foreheads now were we?"

"Anything you can tell me about him?"

"Yeah...something weird. He was Order!" (No surprise there...)

"Can ya give me his id code?I`d like to check him with some of my contacts."

"Sure mate. I`ll m-wave it to ya as soon as we finish talking. Anything else?"

"Aye. If you retrieve anything off that memory card I want to find out what. Don`t forget you owe me for that job in Alpha two years back..."

"No problem mate. Don`t worry...you`ll be the first to know."

"Ok. There goes my interesting development. One life saved for the price of another. I don`t think he`ll respawn after this one. It didn`t feel like your ordinary die-and-wake-up kinda death in the dream. It felt different...And what is truly an interesting development is that I dreamed the whole scene..." As I was thinking I remembered I didn`t call Zeb. "Curses! I knew I forgot something!"

After filing Zeb in I called Wolf and the others and told them to meet in the mess hall by the Simian Security Forces Barracks in two hours. Then I walked back to Seraphear`s room. As I stared at him he woke up.

---------------------------------------------------@oOo@-------------------------------------------------------

At last he went to sleep. "Dammit that was a close call. He started losing it back there...We can`t afford to lose this guy, gauntlet or no gauntlet." I felt a bond to Seraphear. I don`t know what kind of a bond, but not your ordinary "we`re friends let`s have a laugh and a beer sometimes" bond. No...something more than that. Like our souls were in a way connected now. As I thought about this Zeb came in. I looked at my watch and noticed a half an hour passed by. "Darn, time does really fly fast when you`re not paying attention..."

"How is he?" Zeb asked a little worried when he say his left hand missing.

"He`s fine. Hey Seraphear! Look who popped his ugly face around and came to see ya?"

Seraphear woke up and looked at Zeb. It took him a couple of seconds to realize who the man in front of him was.

"Zebulon...We need to talk....."

Posted: September 8, 2007, 3:41 am

Albemarle Dixon had been in the service of the Bretonian Police for over fifteen years and had risen to the position of Special Branch Detective Inspector with courage and guile. Criminals feared this man. They seldom escaped his attentions.

The gravcar moved off in the direction of Police Headquarters. He was unhappy at the way his superiors had bowed to the military on this case. Smuggling artifacts was a police matter, but on this occasion there were implications for the mllitary. They would tell him nothing more other than they needed to speak with Zebulon Antarxes.

The comlink buzzed. It was a message. His men had picked up Alphonse da Silva outside the BMM Headquarters. There had been a message from the Order asking to know of this mans whereabouts. The police had been curtly told that it was an "internal matter".

Dixon thought for a moment. "Don't alert the Order that we have him. Bring him to HQ and I will speak with him there. Bring in Andrew Anderson also, but dont let them see each other. I want to know what it was they were talking about."

It was not Dixon's first brush with BMM or the AoF for that matter. The relationship of Zebulon Antarxes to the Anderson Brothers was well known to him. During the boom years of the diamond smuggling rings from Dresden, Dixon, as a young narc, had brushed with AoF several times. There were eight traders serving ten year stretches for the tax racket they had pulled. None of it had come back to the President of AoF.

To himself, as he looked out the car window, he said, "What the devil are you up to Antarxes?" This had all been brought to Dixon's attention due to a gunfight at the "Hair of the Wolf" several weeks ago. Intelligence reports were coming in from all over that there was a problem within the Order, but no one was talking. Then this fight and a pile of Order operatives were left in a bloody mess outside the bar, along with an "Eyes Only" Top Secret report on the forensics that also showed Nomad signature DNA at the crime scene. There had never been that much trouble at The Hair of the Wolf, unlike some other places, so this was quite unique.

The car pulled up in the vehicle quadrant in the Police HQ yard. Dixon made his way in to the desk sergeant.

"Good evening, sir"

" Anderson and da Silva. Where have you got them right now?" asked Dixon.

"Andrew Anderson is waiting in your office and we've got da Silva and three of his security guards under lock and key out the back."

This was going to take a while but Dixon was going to get to the bottom of all of this.....