Welcome to Gaia! ::

As the lighting of the entire station descended into a bloody red, Yotruyan stood there in manacles, bathed in it's light. The Military Policemen were a little uneasy, and looking upon the skinned, headless corpse, it was easy to see why. "Perhaps. I should not have used those chemicals." he said. No response. The march back to the detention area was silent, despite the fluttering of the station and the sound of feet against the grated floors. The red world slowly became fuzzy to Yotruyan, and gravity seemed to pull him in all different directions. A marine cried out words he could not understand.

****

"One. Two. Three!" Cibo and Marcus spoke in unison, tossing a bound and gagged Dart into a cell. Bathed in the red light, Dart would have blended in easily and perhaps escaped. But fortune did not smile, as the lights did not come on soon enough. Then again, he would have blended in easily if he were naked. Dart wasn't. Cibo sat down, kicked her legs up onto a table. She toyed around with Darts belongings with care, finally spoke,
"One lizard down." she grinned devilishly. "Now. Where's that other one? That one that lost to Fred?" Marcus looked away from her wicked smile, and suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"Killy!"

****

"Ahh! Get him off me!" the small woman cried out.
"One. Two.Three! HEAVE!" They quickly pulled him off of her, helping the woman to stand. "What the hell just happened? Did he pass out?"
"Gkk. Ghhehh...Yes." Yotruyan said. As each breath passed by, his body begun to shake, and quickly devolved into something like Parkinson's. "Please. Help me up. I. Can not walk. Withdrawal..." A pair of Police quickly tried to lift him up from under each arm, but couldn't due to the manacles binding him. They decided to drag him like a bloody corpse.

****

Cibo turned towards the entrance at that, and saw the thing being brought back in. What a mess. She thought. "So, look at what the cat dragged back in. You look like crap. What? They beat you up?" Marcus quickly rushed over to help the MPs drag the shaking and incapacitated Ottyo into a cell, lying him on a bed. He gave a glance at the blood on his hand, and then wiped it on Cibo's chest.
"Small as ever. And that's not his blood." Over her strangled exclamations, he strode back over to Killy's cell. "What happened?" The Ottyo merely wheezed in response. One of the MP's quickly spoke up, disgust in his voice.
"He killed them sir. Every one he could get his hands on. Even when it begged him for mercy, he tore the head off and skinned it."
"s**t."

Damnit, Siberia swore silently to himself. He wanted desperately to lead his men back to Saratar to ensure those Drathonians burned, but there was no chance for that. Some four dozen enemy craft were still buzzing about, ready to impede long-distance travel. So the Reds continued their seemingly impossible struggle. As could be expected, intense combat ensued (not that it had ever really stopped to begin with.) Slowly, the Reds were making progress in their encounters, but it was unlikely they'd be able to keep that pace with their ships as it were. Mongolia spoke up, "Siberia, Shouldn't we jump back? They'll be needing our hel-" Mongolia was interrupted by the demolition of his craft. The first casualty in the history of the Great Fox's Red Squadron had just been incurred. Everyone was immediately enraged, but no one said anything. It simply showed in their maneuvers that they were more determined than ever to survive and destroy the opposition.

Thirteen now, an unlucky number. Kai would have Swore out loud if he was in the habit of doing so. Instead, He called to two. "Keep your eyes open. Use your lasers as much as you can, only use the missiles when you have a sure multi-target hit. What we have here is called a target-rich environment. Last time I checked Terrans are the best marksmen in the Galaxy. Don't miss!" The young blond dove his way into battle, with two following on his wing. Kai sweated under his helmet as the constantly firing lasers radiated heat into the capsule that was keeping him alive. Still, he'd rather be uncomfortable and seeing fewer lizards than dead and having more lizards.


The lizards themselves continued to fight at their previous level, though the destruction of a Terran ship had obviously bolstered them. They changed tactics, the Rex fighters being more daring, distracting the Terrans while the Scourge fighters hung back and took potshots at the Scimitars.

Siberia was unconvinced. "Don't get carried away with those little whelps," he told his team. "Aim for the Scourges; take the Rexes if you've got the shot, and try to conserve the missiles if you still have them." Several blips of acknowledgement, but it was one short. It would forever be one short as of today. "For Dmetri Putrechnya." "For Dmetri!" came the unanimous response.

The Scourge fighters withered under the fire, breaking and scattering to avoid being hit, although this just allowed them to be ganged up on The Rex fighters, angry to be ignored, began mimicking the Terran tactics, and trying to split up the wing pairs and destroy them. Mongolia's partner was the first one to be pounced at, as he was already alone. The Rexes did, however, have the advantage of a two to one ratio to the Terrans, that wasn't even counting the currently fleeing Scourge fighters.

"Two, on my wing as close as you can, whatever you do, stay there. Let's go and help out Slovakia!" The Alpha squadron pilot pressed forward on the controls, boosting his fighter to a high fraction of c to catch up with the red fighter, signaling him to join the two, at least for a moment. In the meantime, Kai and Alpha two tried their hardest to pry the nimble Rex fighters off the tail of their ally.

Slovakia was more than grateful to accept the help of the two pilots, and quickly fell into formation once the attackers had been shaken. The Reds continued to sweep through, giving chase to the Scourges when possible, and assaulting the Rexes when the former were out of reach. It was a constantly tug-of-war, and while the pilots could feel time wearing on them, they refused to surrender their family had been torn, and they were going to have vengeance.

Unfortunately, Vengeance and anger were not what the Reds needed in this situation. Outnumbered, what they needed was Skill and levelheadedness. While anger could be useful, it was starting to degrade their abilities a little bit, which became obvious as a couple Rex fighters coordinated with some Scourges, sneaking up behind the Terran fighters and getting Ruze's shields reduced to nothing in a single pass.

Kai, Alpha two, and Slovakia, being three, were faring much better than the pairs, as they had more people to watch one another's backs. "Red squadron, I suggest using a Delta formation, it seems to be working better!" Kai squawked to Red leader, snap rolling and flipping his fighter around to fire on a Rex to his rear while flying backwards.

Kai was right. "Switch it up, Red Squad!" was all Siberia said, and everyone reoriented themselves in a matter of seconds. "Now, time for a Red Squadron Special: Delta Shuffle, boys!" Again, they initiated the movement in mere seconds and fell into a very steady rhythm. Every 10-20 seconds, the lead man of each trio would drop back to be replaced by one of his teammates keeping the dynamics ever-changing and leaving the Drathonians at a loss as to just who was leading who. "Keep 'em bewildered, Reds. Don't show them anything."

It worked. Though it effectively split the amount of targets the fighters could take on, it made them that much easier to destroy. Here they were, thirteen fighters without support, and they had taken one hundred enemies down to less than thirty, in a matter of twenty minutes. With only three casualties, it was an amazing exercise of Terrans fighting ability. However, those losses were still losses, and it was becoming painfully obvious that the Scimitar fighters were not built for a prolonged fight. Wear and tear began to show on the Scimitars, The few with active Shielding active were having to use it creatively, and those without were having to juke and move the fighter in such a way that it was disorienting to the pilot. Only a couple had a useful amount of missiles left, and none of the larger missiles were attached to their hard points any longer. On top of that, the battlefield was strewn with wreckages and bits of metal that had to be accounted for and avoided. The clock was ticking for the Terrans, and it wouldn't be long until they ran out of time.

Siberia was very much aware of this, and spoke up on the broad channel. "We need a new plan of action. I'm open to suggestions from anyone." Silence emanated from the Reds who were still intent on the conflict at hand, and none had any brilliant ideas beyond, "Go home and get support," so none of them spoke up.

"Why don't we move closer to the Planetoid? Have us some cover?" Alpha two suggested, grunting a bit as he whipped his fighter sideways to fend off a scourge that was getting a bit Nippy. Kai whipped around likewise, finishing off the fighter for his wingmate. "I agree. We know we have an advantage over the Lizards because our computers can account for large objects such as that. Let's get a move on!" The Lieutenant turned his ship towards the planetoid, and the other two in his flight did likewise, punching their main engines to boost them towards the heavenly body at top speed.

Siberia thought it a great idea. "Go go go!" The remainder of Red Squadron followed Kai's lead, spiraling away from the Drathonians and toward the dwarfen rock. "Four through nine, punch it at full speed and use the planetoid's gravity to slingshot around and take out the immediate followers before coming back 'round. Give 'em something to think about while they make their advance don’t get cocky, just give 'em a taste of Terran firepower." Six blips confirmed the order, and did just as commanded. After Kai and his co-pilots, these six Reds were the first ones around the rocky sphere.

"Okay, Two, Slovakia, let's reverse thrust as soon as we're behind the planetoid and turn around to take potshots from behind the planetoid. We have a few seconds before they catch up, so make them count!" Kai called, passing the large rock and firing his nose thrusters, before spinning the Scimitar around and bumping it around to fire on the Enemies following him, while the six Reds made their way around the Planetoid.

Needless to say, the following fighters were caught off guard and easily broken up, resulting in a few kills and even more damaged fighters. They broke off their attack and regrouped, milling about while thinking up a plan amongst themselves to attack the Terrans.

As confirmed kills rolled in via rather non-descript blips, Siberia smiled. "Good work Reds! Beautiful! Regroup on the dark side and form up around the horizon. We'll help make those potshots. If we can keep them disorganized, we'll have this fight in no time." "Good, because I have a date when we get back," Ruze replied. "Another night out with the right hand?" jibed Slovakia as he moved into position "north" of Kai. "No sir: with a very lovely nurse. Beautiful brunette atop a sexy pair of legs-" That’s when the Corporal stepped in with, "Hey! No time for the sweet-talk, boys. Get your position and lay down the lasers." Everyone confirmed the order.

For once in the battle, it wasn't just pure stress. Kai laughed for a moment, before his sensors beeped a warning. There was a Warp signature approaching, immensely quickly. In fact, it was right on top of them before the Lieutenant could pinpoint its direction. Suddenly, The Hymn appeared behind the bunch of Drathonian fighters or... Was it the Hymn? There was something different about this ship, and then, as the Terra II class battlecruiser before them launched its fighters, the Terrans from Saratar were Hailed.

"This is Admiral Adamsk of the UTR Endeavour. We are on our Way to Saratar but noticed something strange on the scanners. It can be assumed that you needed assistance?" the man said, looking concerned. The image of his face displayed showed something odd. Kai could swear he recognized the vibrant blue eyes, the brown hair, and the facial features. And then it hit him. This was another man-made admiral.

Siberia, having not yet encountered Evelyn, was undisturbed by the man's face. "Well I'll be damned, it's the cavalry! Yes sir, support is grandly appreciated. Red Squadron, keep up the fire, the friendlies are here!" Slovakia and Poland gave loud woots of excitement. "********' right!" exclaimed Red Germany. "About damn time," muttered Uzbekistan "A shame you couldn't make it sooner, sir," Ruze added. "We just lost our freighter full of goodies about a half hour ago, and morale back on the Hymn isn't going to be much the better for its loss."

As a sudden swarm of several hundred fighters flew like bees from the Endeavour's hangars, the tiny group of Drathonian fighters quickly withered into nothing. "Just get us on board and take us to Saratar." Kai requested, staring straight into the Admiral's eyes, which seemed to stare directly back. "It will be done." he answered. "Admiral, I have another request... May I see you in person?" the blond Lieutenant asked, wanting to confirm his suspicions. Was command trying to replace the Terran soldiers with androids? "Of course. Once you are aboard, I will meet you in the hangar." the transmission ended, suddenly switching to the Endeavour's traffic control, guiding the thirteen beleaguered fighters to a place where they could rest.

"Beautiful. We're flying into safe arms, Red Squadron. Play it safe, skirt the combat, and let's park these sick puppies." They all did as asked and arrived safely in the hangar of the UTR Endeavour. Once in the hangar and the excitement of survival dwindled down to a simmering ember, Red Squadron all had a simultaneous realization: they'd come home one man short their expressions became sullen, and the squadron huddled up in a circle. They laced their arms around each other's shoulders and bowed their heads. Many closed their eyes as Siberia spoke. "We lost a brother in space today. Dmetri Petruchnya will be remembered and we will continue to fight in his honor." A series of 'Amens' were mumbled around the circle. Germany spoke next "Dmitri... He'll keep fighting. I'll put his emblem on my ship. His medals will be soldered to my hull, and I'll hang his patches in my cockpit. He may be down, but he isn't out." Ruze was next. "Let me paint the emblem: I'll put it on all our ships. Can't very well let you carry his a** around alone, can we?" He offered a weak smile and the other Reds reflected it. "Good," said Siberia, “But for now we rest."

The Endeavour's own fighters began to stream in as Kai and Alpha tow disembarked from their fighters. A UC-77 made its slow way out of the hangar, going to pick up the bits resulting from the battle. Kai shook his head after removing his helmet, long hair dripping sweat. The Terran felt uncomfortable from all the evaporating sweat as he watched Red squadron hold some small memorial for their fallen member. Kai thought of eleven and twelve, and how they had been lost as well. He hadn't known them, but their loss was still a blow for Terra, as was any loss of Terran life. Kai waited for the Admiral to make is way from the bridge, about three quarters of a mile away, through numerous levels. In a few moments, the UC-77 returned, in its bay the wreckage of two Terran fighters, one grey, one red. Mongolia's remains had been recovered, along with the remains of his fighter. A very miffed looking Terran waited in the crumpled cockpit of his fighter, impatient for someone to get him out, not realizing he was sitting next to what amounted as a casket.

Siberia made his way from the huddle toward Kai, smiling despite the dreary discussion he'd just held. He was a strong leader, stronger than even he knew. He offered his hand to shake. "It was pleasant flying with you, Lieutenant. I look forward to future missions with you." Dilshod and Karl (Red Germany) made their way over to Mongolia's ship. As they made their way over there, an irate engineer grabbed Germany by the sleeve to stop him, saying, "Hey! I gotta work here! You need to step off!" Ruze reacted faster than his friend, grabbing the engineer by the front of his overalls and pushing him against the red hull of Mongolia's ship. "You listen here, King Nimrod. This ship belongs to our brother, and his mangled corpse is in there. We, a mere fifteen men, just fought off fifty ******** lizards, and we're really tired. More importantly, we're not in the mood to deal with some a*****e who thinks his job is more important than the proper care and remembrance of our friend. So, you can back off while we get what we came for. Got a problem with that?" Karl pulled Dil away from the engineer before anything could turn sour and in unison they vaulted onto the ship and reached into the cockpit to take what little remained. Whatever had struck the ship had cut clean through the cockpit and more obviously the pilot. What little remained of Dmetri was fragments and goop strewn across the floor of the interior. His jumpsuit had been torn to tatters, but conveniently for the Reds the upper half with nametag, patches, and all, was still in one piece. Germany collected it, while Ruze snatched the chrome-plated flask from the floor and tucked it away. They gave it a once over, then their eyes locked in silent understanding and agreement (the depth of which is difficult to describe). Finally, they made their way down, simultaneously glaring at the engineer. He tried to meet their stares with a tough guy look of his own, but failed miserably. Germany and Uzbekistan started laughing, slinging arms over each other's shoulders. "Let's get a drink," Karl suggested. "Sure, but a small one," Ruze replied. "I still have that date."

Kai shook hands with Red squadron's commander while he watched the two men go about the macabre task of collecting their fallen member's posessions. He winced a bit, wondering if he would have to do that some day, and hoping he never had to. "I've only seen one squadron fight anywhere near as well as you men do. I think Two and I owe our lives to you guys." Lieutenant Nakamura conceded. "I'm going to recommend you are assigned from Saratar to the Hymn, the Pride of Terran needs the best soldiers Terra has to offer." Suddenly, most of the Hangar hushed, as a Bosun's whistle was blown, signaling that the Admiral was on deck. Kai Nakamura shook Siberia's hand once more, thanking him before walking towards Adamsk. "So you are Lieutenant Nakamura, Commanding officer of Combat Infantry Unit Two Hundred Fifteen, of the Battle Hymn of the Republic." the blue-eyed 'man' said, holding out a hand for the lieutenant to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you." he said, bowing slightly to the bewildered Marine.

Siberia smiled graciously and honestly. "Thank you. We'd gladly accept such a promotion." He noticed his squadmates and their business, but left them to it. The Admiral arrived shortly thereafter. All members of Red Squad moved to attention until told to do otherwise and then went about their business. Germany and Ruze made their way to the dining hall to have themselves a few drinks The majority of the squad went to the bunks to shower and sleep. Poland went to exercise, freshen up, and settle down with a book. Siberia hooked up with Germany and Uzbekistan in the cafeteria for the last two rounds of alcohol. Then Siberia went to bunks as well. Karl went on the prowl, searching for a lady of his own. Dilshod returned to the hangar to get to work on those new paint jobs.

“Welcome, ladies. Finish prepping your fighters, we are three squads back, so it will be another forty-five seconds or so until we launch,” Steven replied to his wingmen. His own preparations almost finished, he flicked the primer switch for the engines, and took a deep breath as he felt the engines rumbles to life. He felt as though his own fire had been ignited with the flick of the switch, as he recalled how only a few hours earlier he was only a stones throw away from death. Never had he been so frightened, and never had he looked so forward to flying again.
“Can't kill me that easily, you lizards. I have survived being outnumbered 20 to 1, I have survived being jetted into space, I have survived crash landings and firefights and bombs, and I have survived a deadly pathogen. You can't kill me, but I sure as Hell can kill you,” Steven mumbled to himself as he stared intently at the shortening line in front of him.

Meanwhile in the scimitar next to Steven's, Fred was finishing up as well. “It'll be good for the Captain to blow off some steam,” the Irishman thought to himself.

The line of scimitars had worked its way down and it was now Green Squadron's turn to launch. “This is Green Leader, everyone is accounted for. Take off on my mark,” Steven said as he flicked three switches that controlled flight sensors for the squad, each switch acknowledging with a soft whistling sound, “Green Squadron taking off.”
With that Steven pushed the ship's throttle to takeoff speed, and his scimitar rushed forward across the deck of the cavernous hangar of the station and out into space with the rest of his squadron in tow.
Once outside, Steven looked with awe at the size of the attacking fleet. “Who's hungry? Because there is plenty to go around. Everyone break into pairs and follow on my six. Engage enemies on my mark,” Steven said as he got back into the swing of things. Ahead, he could see the swarm a enemy fighters mixing with the cloud of friendlies, he found a good entry point to begin fighting and directed his scimitar in its direction; his squadron followed suit. As Green Squadron got closer a group of scourges broke off and moved to intercept them.
“They may just be scourges, but don't let your guard down,” Steven said to his squad, and then counted down from ten. “Okay, break off and engage the enemies. Don't forget to watch each others' backs, alright?”

The three moonies looked at each other as they hovered around the ventilation duct's grate. Dart had given himself up, but the Terrans had not acted accordingly. This was an insult that the newly budding Free State could not ignore. So they had been sent out. The three moonies – one brown, one dark green and the last black – all wore the same stealth suits as Dart; they were part of an elite few, feared by all other moonies and regarded as insane.
They all heard their prey's footsteps stop and then nodding to each other lifted the grate and jumped.


Adrian stopped at the intersection of three corridors, quite lost, he regretted not following the crazed Captain as he had run off. He was placing his duffel on the floor when he heard quiet footsteps followed by the crackle of electricity.
He tried to turn, but three sharp prods to his back followed by electrical discharges brought him to his knees. The black wave of unconsciousness quickly followed.

Adrian's vision was swimming as he woke, a small booted foot kicked him in the small of his back and propelled him forward. As he pushed himself up he saw he was in a small dark room, lit by battered emergency field lamps. All along the walls to either side of him was a line of red-skinned moonies wearing red sweaters or canvas coats.
Directly in front of him was an older moonie, much older. His scales lacked all luster and cracks ran through a few of the dull grey plates. Much more noticeable was the blackened stump where the moonies left shoulder should of started. The old creature stared at Adrian, letting the man appraise him, before offering a disturbingly human smile.
The moonie stood, his nakedness now very evident as his scaled body was fully revealed, gesturing to the moonies around him. “Weclome to the Grand Hall of the Moonie Free State human.” He stated, his voice gravelly and low. “I hope you don't mind the rudeness of my invintation.” The grey moonie said, then Adrian heard movement behind him and three black suited moonies ghosted forward to stand next to their apparent leader. “But, your people have killed quite a few of mine -” The lines of lizards began stir and hiss, but a quick chop of his hand sent them all into still silence. “And you have our most important member.”
Adrian's face was plastered with an extremely confused expression and then the old spy lifted the sniper's data pad. “One last chance at peace. We will have Dart back or this state will go to war,” The moonie paused for a second letting the words sink in before continuing, “And your head will become our first Standard.”


The first thing Dart could hear was bickering. Humans did that constantly, and became quite annoying when you were used to the rigid (and respectful) hierarchy of fear that existed among the moonies. Coming to alertness quickly, he glanced around the now familiar goal. The girl and that wretched man-slave of hers currently occupied their time with the aforementioned bickering and the crazed bird-beast of an alien was in the cell next to him.
All-in-all things could be better. But, his suit was still on and they would probably feed him soon – his train of thought was broken off as the station violently vibrated. Yes, there was the matter of the Drathonian fleet to attend to, he remembered pointedly. Looking to get the humans back on a more productive path he decided to ask them some questions. Taking a deep breath he collecting his thoughts before speaking.
“How's the weather?” He asked eagerly.
As soon as the words left his mouth he realized they weren't really what he had intended to say, so he tried again. “What I really wanted to ask was; how soon intill the Drathonian Fleet blast us all into smithereens?"
Dart sighed, that one would have to do.

Cibo's back was turned to Dart when he asked about the weather. She was so...enthralled by the thought of weather that she didn't even notice the other thing he asked about. The intelligence officer slowly turned around, and revealed her face to Dart. Here eyes were wide open and perturbed, a massive, toothy smile on her face. "Oh? Weather? It's very nice weather out there deary." she sang sweetly. "The forecast for today is a nice rain of plasma fire, along with some clouds of red and silver derbies from all the fighters blowing up like popcorn." Cibo picked up a monomolecular edged scalpel from the table, and started to twirl it like a leek. "A few larger clouds of red and silver rest on the horizon, but will most likely break soon. And did I mention you killed mommy?" The intelligence officer slowly stepped towards Dart, twirling scalpel in one hand, EV-47 on stun in the other. "Mommy screamed reeaaaaallll good before she died!" she squealed in delight "And to imagine we even invited you over for dinner once! This will be simple. Tell me where the others are, and I'll only remove your lungs. It will be a quick death." A loud smack echoed. Cibo's cheek had a red hand print on it. She stared at him in surprise. Next, Marcus fell to the floor clutching himself between the legs.
"You can't kill him like that! We're better than this!" Marcus choked out.
"Lll...lissssten. To him...." Killy hissed and wheezed from the floor. He had dragged himself off the cot and to the bars of the cell. "Duh. Don't."
"Oh?" she asked sarcastically. "And why not? Especially if I get some good information from him before he dies? Besides, you're the one that practically took them apart with your bare hands. Who are you. To tell ME. What to do?"
"Becaussse, Cibo. You will regret it."
"Oh? And do you regret having all that fun? Huh? The feel of warm blood blossoming over you? That feeling of life fleeing from their bodies?" Killy, his armor scorched and dented from the earlier encounter, propped himself up with an arm, and seemed to open his mouth to speak from behind his helmet. And right then, the announcement came through.
"What. The F*ck." Marcus lamented. 'And I almost had her cross the line too.'

"I? I am no ruffian." Marcus replied with a bold voice, his back straightening up with vigor. It pretty much sounded like something one would expect to hear from a hero of the republic. Except he was no hero; any idiot who could read his thoughts would immediately know. 'Damn this...One-arm. She almost went ahead and tried to...no. Be patient. I'm sure there's a way.' Cibo looked between the speakers, the razor edge of the scalpel and Dart. By now, she merely looked...tired.
"Yeah. Yeah. Just between us. Stay out of this." she spoke, her voice slightly dry.
"Cibo! In the name of the Republic, stop what you're doing!" We will await further orders, and when the time comes, we... She cut him off.
"Is that an order?" Marcus merely stared back at her, but gave no answer. "Good." She stepped towards Dart again, and raised her gun.

****

Yotruyan was desperate to stop the black and silver haired Terran. She was going to make a mistake even bigger than the ones he made moments ago; he watched as the industrial looking weapon in her hand was raised again at the red little gremlin. Her finger gently stroked the trigger...Ploop. A loaf of bread Yotruyan squirreled away landed at Cibo's feet; it was silly, yes, but she could already tell he tried to knock the pistol from her hand. With a loaf of bread. She turned towards him.
"Oh? Is this little lizard trying to help his buddy?"
"Don't Cibo. It. Is wrong." he laboriously spoke, finally stamping out the extra 's' in his speech. She walked over to him, swaying her hips just a bit; it would have had a better psychological impact on a Terran, but the Ottyo mistook it for her relaxing a little. So it hurt him even more so when she reached down and threw his head against the bars.
"And why do you get all the fun, huh?"
"The...the Admiral disapproves. Of these actions."

****

She knew right away who he was talking about. Her mind recalled several things regarding Evelyn. The expression on the Gynoid's face when she tried the Kombu Cibo gave her. The jealousy she had for the Admiral. But then, the insightful remarks Evelyn sometimes made always kept her edge sharp. The occasional laugh. Almost like...It was into this mixed bag of emotions that Killy spoke.
"Are the hearts within your. Your chest so small Cibo? At the least..." Killy stopped as he realized the scalpel had pierced his hand, pinning his hand to the floor. Apparently, all Cibo could hear was the word 'small' and 'chest' when he spoke. She throttled him.
"DID YOU JUST SAY I'M SMALL?!" she yelled.
"Buhh, but..."
"s**t! Now I've seen everything! A perv lizard!"

****

'Well, that's it. She's not going anywhere near that thought again. I guess I can't push her over this time. I'll have to wait for another opportunity to ruin her. Later.'

Siberia had left the room already, Ruze's question gone unheard. Ukraine walked over and sat down next to the late-comer. “Talk is flying about that a bigger force has gotten a bit rough with the Saratar boys.” He rapped his knuckles on the table in front of him. “Apparently this old girl, the Endeavour I think was her name, is doing a little search mission before heading off to that wondrous firefight.” Eremenko fished his goggles from his kit and situated them on his forehead. Then, he leaned back in his chair and looked at his fellow pilot. “It will be good to send some fun and blood Mongolia's way again, won't it?”

–
Dart made a mental note to never say the words “small” and “chest” around any Terran woman; ever. He sighed, a depressing little, quiet sound after the explosiveness of the girl's actions. He was not sure what to do with his fellow prisoner, though he doubt the alien would appreciate that train of thought, and anything involving Cibo would become very awkward. But, captivity was always boring and his slightly boggled mind needed an outlet for entertainment right now.
Looking at Marcus again and thinking of his haughty denial to the being called a “ruffian” Dart grinned. The spy slowly got to his feet and made a show of brushing off his immaculately clean suit. Then, looking up he stared straight at Marcus, the spy's face was somber and he seemed to have an air of seriousness about him. “Ruffian?” He paused slightly, as if reconsidering his earlier statement. “Yes, I do believe your right. No, ruffians can at least be useful at times. Your not though, your just a wretch.”

The elites looked to each other as all around them moonies fell to the floor. The bronze-scaled spy quickly nodded to his fellows and ran to pick up One-arm. The other two knocked out the Terran sniper and held him between them. As the bronze moonie slung the old spy over his shoulder he pulled out his data pad and quickly tapped out a message.
The MFS finds these terms unfavourable. We, the Elites under command of Operative Adderman, regret having to intercede for the State's Commander, but as he is indisposed we are duty-bound to make this report. Your Marine will stay in our possession until the battle has ended. Moonie Free State forces will launch three squadrons of Delta Daggers under our personal command and we will end this battle. Your cooperation is not requested, we greatly anticipate your proposed meeting.
Sending the message to the Saratar Command center the Elite followed his brothers out of the room and began to call for the Squadrons to change from stand-by to active. They would partake in the battle no matter what happened.

–
Siberia met Kai along his way to the hangar. Nodding to the man, he pulled out his data pad and commed Red Squadron. “Times up, get down to the hangar men.” Then, tucking the pad back into his kit he looked to Kai. “Any additional orders, Sir?” The pilot asked.