[Makes-Eternal-Everlasting]

0900 hours; Fijitian Standard Time
Fijitia Core Worlds
Ronika System

The Fijitians had been fighting off the enemy forces for nearly a week. The battle was a stalemate on the planet, but in space it was an entirely different story. Countless fighters of both the enemy craft and the Fijitian craft traded shots. For every lost Fijitian, {who was later picked up} the enmy lost twenty of their own craft. The Fijitia Claw Wings had been charged with escorting supply ships, and then that changed to pure dogfight demolition derby on the enemy craft. Then they were charged on the last leg of the battle with escorting of evac craft.

There was however one Claw Wing, the very secreitive Fijitia Claws that had seen the most battle with the most successes over losses that were charged to destroy all the enemy craft at any cost. So that was were Makes-Eternal-Everlasting and her wing of the Fijitian equals to black ops teams came in. Skimming along the surface of a massive Fijitian battlecruiser the six fighter wing kept careful formation as they moved through the void of space. Above them the stars beaconed in their everliving silence. But below them....

Fire fights were everywhere in the orbit of Ronika Prime. This was just not looking very good for the enemy. the Swarm was not to be taken lightly, the countless fighters fell as the black ops fighters slammed into them as they joined in the battle from above. Shearing hot plasma fire ripped into the swarm fightercraft. The larger blattcruisers hammered larger bolts of plasma hairfire, and in some cases plasma torpedos directly into the Swarm craft. An unkillable enemy the Swarm were.

Makes keyed her radio. "Fijitia Claws this is Alpha, Form up, break into pairs and pick your targets. We have only one shot at breaking this battle to our favor, so lets not waste it." Five lights winked green on her holographic screen. Four broke off formation into pairs of two. The fifth stayed with her. a few units behind, enough to provide cover. The fighters, paired off in twos, easily cut the main force of the Swarm in two. Allowing the larger battlecruisers to split their shots and take the larger craft out easier.

"I got one on my tail, I can't shake it!" screamed on her headset. Makes took a look, crap.

"I got it" Came the calm reply of Bornestellar. The massive Battlecruiser under his command took one shot with a point defense laser and sheared the Swarm craft into a min sun that died within a heartbeat. It took a good minute or two before the battle was over for the Wing when Bornestellar put out the call for them to come back to hangar.

All of them but Makes. She had a different order. She made for deep space, then hit the translight drive.

It was in that instant when a single Swarm fighter chose its time to show itself. And fired one shot at her stern. With her shields offlined for the Translight activation and with only the radiation shields active to protect her from the translight effects allowed the shot to get through. Her ship tumbled into the translight rend in space and disappeared.

*~*~*

1544 hours; SGC local time
Sol System
Orbit of Mars

A massive blueringed black hole in space appeared and a single tiny craft exploded from it before it closed behind it. It floated in space, dead apparently, only the life support and basic systems were running. its shields were drained, and her enegines were offlined. A large purpleblack mark was on the inside of the kleerplas windscreen. The sole ocuphant within the tiny craft laid slumped in her seat. Her forehead was stained with purpleblack blood where she hit the windscreen before blacking out. The massive snowleopard wore a solid black, inert nonreflective skin tight battle robe of sorts. A thin black belt of some form. And a few tools on that belt.

Now however she drifted in space unknown, engines dead.

If she was lucky, someone noticed her arrival.

Hopefully they were nice.

[Deleted]

1544 hours
GC local time
Sol System
Orbit of Mars


Fiala set there lisen to what Donald was saying and did that ever bore her to the point of wanting to jump out the nearest airlock . He was around fourty five and fancied Fiala ever since she joined . She had tried to do her best to avoid him, but no luck and no chance . Everytime she has tried to leave has resulted with him finding a way to keep her to stay .

" ..... so you see that is why.." stu[ffing his mouth in between words and speaking with his mouth full "... I believe the project could never work ," she sat there eatting her food trying to make her mind to drift away to were Zoja was . It was the only thing that was keeping her sane and maybe if this guy could shut up for a second . Marah was going to have to pay a price for this, leaving her alone . She looked to face the knew and lipped for her to save her, but with there been only one set of seats left and at her table made her turn just as fast .

All she could do was hope someone could save her or the ship to go on alert . "Someone save me ." Fiala taught to her self .

<<tag all>>

[Deleted]

1544 hours
GC local time
Sol System
Orbit of Mars

Fee was passing through the Helm area on her way to the cafeteria to get some tea. She was ignoring the crew on duty-Koren wasn't there, and neither was Fiala, so she didn't have anyone to talk to, anyway. She had night watch herself-she didn't mind. She never slept anyway, and the night watch was mostly quiet, givng her some personal time if she wanted it. She could see the comms and read at the same time. Or type emails to her da. Or play paper football-anything, really. 

Someone save me The voice came over the comm system, and Fee, on autopilot, went to her station, and pressed a few buttons, putting on her headset. After getting her "booster" seat-a couple of taped-together phone books, Fee brought the beacon up on the main screen. 

Sir, clocking in...I have a 20 on the signal. It's coming from...MARS?! What? That was the opposite galaxy from them. With a few keystrokes, she figured out that the becon came from somewhere near one of Mar's moons. She raised her head. 

I am attempting contact. Yes, she had just taken over the comms station from whomever was on duty. But they were in the loo or wherever, so she was in now.

Tag: All

[Makes-Eternal-Everlasting]

1544 hours
SGC Local Time
Orbit of Mars

//Space.....

It is infinite.

Never ending.

Eternal blackness.

Waiting.//

The only 'awake' and alert ocupant of the single fighter that drifted through space was not a living breathing person. But something else. Something, more.... lifeless. The signal sent out by Madromas repeated itself. Unseen eyes cast their gaze on the sole being within the lifeless fighter.

//Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board.//

/I was created 128 years ago. Created from the mind of a dying feline. Two days after creation I was put into service. My memories of who I was I can never forget, nor access. I am an Ancilla, Madromas. Fates-Eternal-Stars gave birth to me...../

/I need to think/

/Thinking is what is killing you/

//Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board.//

The lifeless craft picked up a strange signal. /Running trace sequence. Locked/ It was then that the Ancilla saw it as the craft turned in its never ending spiral.

Eyrde-Tyrene

Earth.

/Where are we ?/

The transmission continued.

//Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine, Survivors on board//

[Deleted]

1544 hours
SGC Local Time
Orbit of Mars

Fiala heard the alert for all crew to take there station, this was Fiala's rescue away to freedom as the room became empty along with her jumping out of her seat with Donald begging from them to meet later, Fiala just waved and kept on moving on .
Clearly the problem at hand had to be of some importance for everyone to be called to there station,Fiala was not a member of the crew she was just here for the ride, that is all she knew and boredom was all she had . Normal she would be required to remain in her quarters, but there was no change that was going to happen and miss the fun by staying in her quarters . The corridors were tight but they did the job and if anything of the way traffic worked . With in a minute Fiala had reached the bridge to find Fiona had already beating her there . She remained quite and moved towards Fiona to find out what was happening and if she could help . Fiona seemed focused on her task, not wanting to distract her she place a hand on her shoulder and whispered ,
[d]" What's happening, I taught we were heading back to Earth ."

<<tag all>>

[Aear Charter]

2844 Meowtian Standard Time
1544 hours SGC Local Time
Orbit of Mars

After the recent raid on the Meowtian colony of Tamura, The Bobtail and several other patrol cruisers had been sent out to scour every habitable system in the Milky Sea in the hope of catching the Kitsune fleet responsible. Back when the Bobtail had been launched she had been on the cutting edge of Meowtian design and technology, that was 50 years ago now, 100 by local standards. Standard Meowtian practice, the older ships were moved first into support roles and then into patrol duties away from the frontlines. The frontlines needed the muscle of the newer ships after all. Though Aear had managed to get her a brand new squad of fighters for his next assignment. The next system for them to check had a world with a fledgling race. They called their homeworld: Earth.

The Meowtians had been watching Earth for some time now and whist most of his higher ups saw them as just another violent, fractured and warlike people, Aear held a reserved optimism however, and it was not a view that he held alone. However convincing the Empress to allow diplomatic contact to begin was proving difficult. Maybe he would he would have to consider tatics that were a little more... Forward.

"Meowman, Bobtail actual. Is your squad ready?" Aear's thoughts were interupted by the ships CO, Captain Nemo over the chima space comms.

"All fish report in." said Aear listening as his squad came back to him. "Strike group ready to sail." he said in response to his CO.

"Alright we're about to drop out of chima space. You know the drill. I want those fish in the sea as soon as we're back in the black sea." said Nemo as the Bobtail dropped out of chima space just outside of Mars' orbit. The 12km ship would be imediatly obvious both to the Earthican cruiser and the systems on the Make's strike craft. They had been hoping to avoid contact, but there was every chance the Kitsune had fled to this backwater system, they had to take the chance. "Get those fish in the sea Sergeant! Buji kokai."

"Yokai. Callsign Meowman, hassha!" radioed Aear as he launched his craft, his squad following suit. "Get those scanners going boys and girls, we've got some raiders to find." ordered Aear as they started their sweep. They had only just started when Aear noticed Make's strike craft. "Bobtail, Meowman. I've got a strike craft signature. Moving in for a closer look."

"Understood Meowman. Engage only if neccisary."

Aear moved towards Make's strike craft. It was only once he was closer did he see it was damaged. It wasn't a craft he'd seen before but who knows what kind of craft the Kitsune had stolen. "Bobtail, Meowman. The craft is heavily damaged but intact. One life sign." said Aear he was about to ask for further orders when his system started blaring at him reporting the Earthican cruiser. "Bobtail we've got another contact! Frigate size. Unknown design. Possibly local."

It looked like the locals had found them.

[Koren Telion]

Koren was laying in his bed, resting his eyes from a long day of being on 110% of the time. Koren was seriously sleep deprived and he knew it, but it seemed like nothing would put him to sleep. He tried Camomile tea, watching tv, finally Nyquil, but nothing would do the trick. Koren finally decided to will himself to sleep, so he shut off the lights to his corridors and lay back in his bunk, putting his radio in ear. The sounds of the team patrolling and making check ups helped put him at ease, just knowing everything was ok. It also gave him comfort whenever he heard Fee's voice over the comm sounding calm, relaxed and confident; he knew how big of a deal it was for her to feel like she belonged somewhere and every transmission reminded Koren that SGV was helping her feel like she was a crucial part of the team.

And that wasn't just something he'd said to make her feel better; she'd already saved their lives a couple of times that day and had deciphered the alien computer system and found work-arounds in almost no time at all. She was a crucial asset to the mission, a well liked member of the team, and someone Koren felt very strongly was meant to be there. Koren smiled to himself as his wandering, half-asleep mind fell upon an imaginary moment where he told her all of that and she just looked at him and then gave him a big hug. The image faded as Koren began to slip into sleep...

"Someone save me" Koren's eyes snapped open and he held his breath. The voice sounded familiar but different from anything he'd ever heard before. He waited for it to speak again. Instead, Fee's voice came over the comm.

"Sir, clocking in...I have a 20 on the signal. It's coming from...MARS?!" Koren sat bolt upright in bed, his mind turning, thinking back through 8 years of mission reports, 8 years of experience, 8 years of chaos, trying to think of what could possibly amplify a signal from Mars to Vedas. Fee's voice came through again. "I am attempting contact."

"Fee, it's Koren," He said, getting up and throwing on some pants; he grabbed a shirt in his hand and hurried out the door, "See if you can amplify the signal. If you make contact, hold off until I get there."

Koren jogged down the hallway, shirt still in his hand. Rounding the corner he saw Fee staring intently at the computer screen. Koren rounded the console, absentmindedly putting his hand on her upper back so they could both look closely at the display. "Show me," He said, looking intently at the read-out on the screen, blinking his eyes rapidly to try and bring the screen into focus. He really was more tired than he thought.

<TAG Fee>

Koren stepped back from the console and removed his headset. "That's Mars, alright," He said, throwing his shirt on and replacing his headset. "Broadcast my comm across the ship."

"All hands, All hands to your stations." Koren said into the now broadcasting comm system, "This is not a drill," He added, not knowing if it was necessary, but it was good to be safe.

Koren signaled Fee to cut the broadcast then spoke to her again, "How are they amplifying the signal that far? Is it being mirrored by anything? Comm buoys maybe?" Koren had no idea how radio signals worked, but he assumed it was something like that. He put on his headset as Fiala rounded the corner and approached Fee.

"What's happening, I taught we were heading back to Earth ."

"Change of plans it looks like," Koren said, listening in as the crew started to report standing by and waiting for Fee and Fi to finish their conversation. When they finished, Koren turned to Fiona, "What course of action are you considering, Sir?" He said, holding himself upright on the chair in the center of the room, ready to relay Fiona's Order to the rest of the ship. He made a mental note to go to Doc Roger for some sleep meds after this was over.

<TAG: @ckitchens, Lequana Ka'ti of Partho ; ALL>

[Makes-Eternal-Everlasting]

1545 hours
SGC Local Time
Orbit of Mars

The signal sent out by Madromas repeated itself; //Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board// The beacon itself was not amplified, it was the standard comm system for a Fijitian craft.

The fighter it came from drifted lifeless. Its lifesupport was the only thing operational aside from Madromas itself. The ancilla had no way as yet to project itself. As there was no holocommunications network intgrated into the clawcraft proper. The fighter spun lazily in the void of space.

Madromas picked up movement. fighter craft coming closer. The ancilla identified the craft coming closer and then focused on the cruiser apparently of Erde-Tyrene make. The damage the pilot of the Meowtian fighter saw was to its engine area. Insofar as to kill the engine connection at the same time causing the wormhole to transport the fighter to the Earth solar system. Madromas could not restart the engines due to the severed connection. Normally the ion engines went offline when the translight drive was put into gear to avoid burnout, standard operation. But even with the translight driver offline, the engines could not be brought online.

The signal repeated. //Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board//

Madromas focused on the Earth Ship, scanned it briefly with a brief look at it. And then the signal went completely silent.

Help had come ?

[Deleted]

Fee was, by now, on high alert. She wanted to know if this beacon was friend or foe. She needed to know-she needed to maintain safety of her station at all times. And if her system had picked up a beacon several light years away, that was not good. That meant there was a hole somewhere. And she needed to find it. FAST. Her last system update, run just a few hours before, should be fine...their close proximity to Earth let her beam it to NASA's satellites, and she'd been given accolades for her work. Somehow, word had gotten back that their last few missions were successful, and that she had finally found her niche. She just hoped that NASA didn't know WHY-that she woke up every morning, ready to go on not for mission, or God, or some duty to her country, but instead for PEOPLE. For the rest of the people she worked with. At any rate, if there was a hole in the code, it hadn't come from her end. Fiona didn't make coding errors. She wasn't perfect, but she knew the code like she knew her face, and a simple error was not one she'd make. In fact, quite the opposite would be so-she would fail spectacularly. 

Her gaze moved to the CO-who either hadn't noticed her yet, or else didn't care-because Fee was both out of line and out of uniform. SHe was currently clad in sweats and her MIT t-shirt, hair left to flow as it would, and her feet were encased in cat-shaped slippers. In short, if she were military, she would be fodder for the brig. As it was, she was forced to wear a disgusting, too large uniform anyway-apparently, the supply people on board hadn't figured in a tiny woman on the team. THe rest of the females were normal to above-average in height and weight. But Fee wasn't-try as she might, she couldn't put on any more weight. She ate enough-that wasnt her problem. Her mother had had poor nutrition in pregnancy, and Fee had been underweight and premature. SHe'd never caught up to her peers. 

Finally, a voice responded to hers, but it wasn't the Captain's. 

Fee, it's Koren...See if you can amplify the signal. If you make contact, hold off until I get there. She opened her mouth to protest-Koren NEEDED to sleep, at least to rest. She knew that he took his job as her "protector" very seriously, but even superheroes needed a break, right?! And try as she might, there was no Guinness in space, so they were stuck with good old-fashioned shut-eye. In a flash, people started pouring into the bridge, as she amplified the signal. The voice was metallic and robotic. 

/Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board.// Survivors. Fee wanted to pound her machine...scream...anything. If she had any skill at it, she'd take a cruiser out herself. She should ask Koren and Aear to teach her to fly. But another day. That was why Fee was better behind a machine-she reacted too quickly. She had her girly moments when her emotions overrode her logic. Like now. 

A moment later, a strong, familiar hand fell on her left shoulder. She could smell Koren. He smelled a particular way-sort of like Burdock, perhaps. Pleasant. She'd noticed it that night in the pub, and off and on since. A quick glance to her left caused her to blush. He really should put a shirt on. 

Show me....That's Mars, alright. Fee nodded. She looked to her right, where Fiala was standing, looking concerned. Fee was going to have to mention soon that she wasn't sure how they'd wound up off course. Maybe it wasn't her fault-she wasn't DRIVING this thing. Koren went on before Fiala could speak. Broadcast my comm across the ship. She nodded, and did as he asked. She heard his all hands signal coming overhead. All hands, All hands to your stations....This is not a drill. Fiona's heart sank. She felt oddly responsible for this. THe rescue would just save her six. 

How are they amplifying the signal that far? Is it being mirrored by anything? Comm buoys maybe? Fee shook her head. The beacon was coming over a satellite link. 

Satellites. Looks Russian-old school. I can respond easily...on your order. Fiala finall got a word in. 

What's happening, I taught we were heading back to Earth . Fee looked at the woman. 

I am not certain, Fiala. The coordinates are off. Fee said this simply. There  would be time for discussion later. But there's survivors. Orders? She waited. In the meantime, she sent out a reply signal, old school Morse code. 

Another blip came through. THIS one was off of Koren's comms buoys. She made a face, and brought her big brown eyes up to Koren's ice blue ones. Then she turned to Fiala. 

Lt., Porcieuk? I have another beacon...a different one. I can't yet tell if it's friend or foe... She suddenly felt cold. 

//Help coming. American. You are safe.//

Tag:@makes-eternal-everlasting, Koren Telion, Lequana Ka'ti of Partho

[Deleted]

1545 hours

SGC Local Time

Orbit of Mars

She listened to Fiona,

I am not certain, Fiala. The coordinates are off. But there's survivors. Orders?

Fiala was like a fish out of water, she knew very little about space ships and even she was the highest rank at moment that ment nothing her . All she could do was give advice,

" We don't Know who they are or if there really are survivors," Fiala approached Koren and leaned softly on the chair .

" We'd want to be careful and not rush into this . This is your call Koren, but i would suggest until we know the crafts extent of damage and if verifie what there saying is true and do we want to take on an unknown craft that is badly damaged . For all we know, it could be leaking something harmful to us ." Fiala spoke softly than normal making sure it didn't like she was a know it all and making sure that he and the crew knew she was only advising . But she knew all to well sometime you have to be careful of the animal that cried in pain.

<<tag Fiona and Koren >>

[Makes-Eternal-Everlasting]

1545 hours
SGC Local Time
Orbit of Mars

Mardomas picked up the hail and took a human moment to analyse the structure of the hail the Ancilla recieved. After carefully taking it apart she forumalted it into words. Help was indeed coming. The clawcraft turned again, this time the Ancilla could easily see something else, something much much larger then the Erde-Tyrene craft. It was simply massive. Madromas briefly scanned the new craft. Nothing out of the norm of what she was used to, albiet much larger then she was used to for that matter.

The Ancilla then went over the data it collected from the brief scan of the Terran cruiser. Aha! It had what she required. Using a scant bit of the energy required to run just the life support Madromas hailed the Terran craft. This time projecting as best possible a hologram of herself.

Onboard the human craft a pale blueish white and extremely fuzzy hologram of a torso of a woman appeared, almost diamond colored eyes. Again the signal repeated. the hologram was jerky, using so little power in order not to kill her only soldier she was paired with. The hologram flickered and was unstable. The signal merely repeated itself anew

//Mayday mayday mayday. The is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board//

After a full minute of revealing itself as a sort of hologram to the human craft the hologram fizzled out and then faded from view. The source of the hologram soon became apparent as the Terran cruiser got closer. A tiny single man fighter of very unique make. No wings whatsoever were sighted, it looked like a cockpit bolted to a pair of engines. The only source of power coming from the craft was life support.

As Aear got close enough he'd see a large purple black mark on the inside of the windscreen. Someone was inisde the tiny craft, and they were clearly hurt.

[Deleted]

1545 hours

SGC Local Time

Roger's quarters
 
Lucy danced across the sand, a smile on her face, singing the Beatle's "Here Comes the Sun" a little off-key. He was holding Minnie, bouncing her gently on his hip as her sandy curls danced in the wind. They were picnicking at Kensington Gardens. He'd hoped to play with Minnie on the play area, but Lucy said it was too cold. Bloody American, he teased her. She'd married a Brit, and she'd chosen to live in DC, which got colder than London. He was about to stand and join Lucy... 

All hands. All hands to your stations. This is NOT a drill. His eyes opened. He glanced around...he was in his new room on the spaceship. Lucy had been a dream. He wanted to ignore the comm, to go back to sleep and dream of his ladies, but he knew he could not. With a sigh, he popped up, and grabbed some slacks from his drawer. He fished a button down out of what passed for a closet, and stepped into his Converse sneakers after slipping on some socks. In a sleepy daze, he made his way to the door, and opened it to chaos. 

Another voice came over the comms, overhead. This one was tinny. 

//Mayday mayday mayday. The is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board/ Shyte. Survivors meant his skills would be needed. Bleary eyed, he stumbled for the infirmary. He needed some coffee. Maybe a hug. They were headed for Earth, and he most definitely needed Lucy. It would be nice to see her again. ONce inside his exam room, he picked up his radio. 

This is Dr. Harrison, the infirmary is ready. His voice was hoarse from sleep. He cleared his throat, and spoke again. 

Do I need to prepare a triage kit? 

Tag: all

[Koren Telion]

Koren was utterly waylaid with radio calls so much that he had to pull his earpiece from his ear before he could turn the volume down. Koren hit the comm override, which was normally only used in emergency situations, "Command requests the proper chain-of-command and communication protocols be followed, so please, one at a time!"

"/Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board.//"

Koren lost his patience; it seemed like everyone but Fee, Fi and himself had lost their cool at the call to stations. "Fee," He called over the chaos, his jaw setting, "Can you cut the distress call out of the comms?"

Koren heard Fee respond to a question from Fiala, "I am not certain, Fiala." She said in regards to the transmission origin, "The coordinates are off. But there's survivors. Orders?" Koren turned back to Fiala, mentally blocking out the crazed radio.

"It's coming from a wide orbit of Mars. I'm sure of it. We did some 302 training up there and the coordinates are only a few clicks off."

Another voice ripped through his ear, but this time civilian, "This is Dr. Harrison, the infirmary is ready. Do I need to prepare a triage kit."

Koren sighed heavily; the lack of sleep was not helping his patience for the unnecessary chaos, "Negative, Doctor. Hold position and await further orders, and keep the comms clear." The doctors question was unnecessary; if they needed the doctor's help, they'd call for it.

He turned and was surprised to see Fiala making direct eye contact with him, leaning on the command chair as well. "We'd want to be careful and not rush into this," She said softly to him "This is your call Koren, but i would suggest until we know the crafts extent of damage and if verify what they're saying is true and do we want to take on an unknown craft that is badly damaged . For all we know, it could be leaking something harmful to us ."

Just then, Fee spoke up from the comm, "Lt., Porcieuk?" She called, "I have another beacon...a different one. I can't yet tell if it's friend or foe..."

Suddenly it came across the comms; Fee must have queued it up, "//Help coming. American. You are safe.//" Koren's blood ran cold. He'd heard the stories of the NID and IOA trying to intercept stellar objects, and he knew that this was nobodies jurisdiction. It was first come first serve. And if these were aliens, which they had to be, lacking any earthly callsign, then they'd immediately be experiments or worse if discovered by the NID or IOA. Koren looked up at Fiala, the look of battle on his face.

"Noted, Sir, but I think our decision has been made for us." Koren turned to the chair once more and paused. It was a revered and holy place to him; this was where decisions were made that impacted entire missions, that led to the death of many of the men he knew. And unless command showed up in the next 10 seconds, he was about to inherit that responsibility. Koren sighed and spoke to Fiala, still staring at the chair, "You're sure the Captain won't make it here in time?"

<TAG Fiala>

"Well," Koren said more to himself than to anyone, "I guess it's up to us then." Koren turned his head, making eye contact with Fee. She looked scared; for the first time since he'd met her, genuinely scared. The cogs in Koren's military mind that had been in control since he got out of bed froze and his heart began in it's place. For a moment, Koren wished he could say no, wished he could just let the NID or IOA have it so long as nobody here, especially Fee, got hurt. Koren's military mind began to take over again, and Koren's heart spoke through his eyes one final 'I'm sorry' Before he keyed his comm and, with strength and determination in his voice, proclaimed calmly, "All hands; battlestations!"

Koren quickly made his way up the steps to his seat and removed his headset; the seat resided within a specific place on the bridge which, due to the architecture and speaker technology, was beamed the sound directly to the chair, making the headset unnecessary. Koren keyed the Comm on the command chair, "Skala; get me an origin on the American transmission. Maccafferty, I want to know everything about the distressed craft. Make, model, serial number, armaments; hell, if you can tell me the color, I'll take it. Whatever you can get." Koren knew this was serious now, and he wasn't going to take any chances, not with those he cared about. Hell, if the NID or IOA wanted a fight, they wouldn't be disappointed. His primary concern was getting everyone to safety as soon as possible; those survivors, his crew and himself.

Just then, a blue, flickering image began to materialize in the middle of the bridge. The crew went silent, watching as what appeared to be a hologram spoke straight at Koren, overriding the comms and projecting through the intercomm as well. "/Mayday mayday mayday. This is FCW 101 delta-seven-niner-omega-Alpha-zero-six-nine. Survivors on board.//"

"I can get the beacon stronger now. Something is pushing it closer to us...that hologram? I think it's the survivor. Koren, you NEED to call Dr. Harrison. THat's all I can get for now. I am expanding my parameters, but it's going to be a few moments."

Koren was baffled. He'd never run into something like this before...

"Fee. Talk to me. What am I seeing?"

<TAG @ckitchens , Lequana Ka'ti of Partho , @roger >

[Deleted]

Fee had screwed up. Utterly, epically. She had failed. She had proceeded without orders, and possibly put them in danger. And Koren seemed a little unreasonable at the moment. He wasn't scaring her, but he WAS annoying her. They needed a leader who could keep their cool, and Fee was annoyed enough at the moment that she WOULD releive him of command and take over herself. Fiala would help her. She'd call that Marine if she had to. She realized that they could be in danger, but didn't the life out there MATTER?! 

She couldn't inquire, because Koren was barking orders. 

Command requests the proper chain-of-command and communication protocols be followed, so please, one at a time! He touched her machine. He overrode the system. She knew he was overwhelmed, so she stopped herself from slapping his hand away. He took his headset off. She gave him a LOOK, telling him she wasn't one of his soldiers and she wasn't going to respond to him without his head on straight. Fee...Can you cut the distress call out of the comms? She did as he asked, but she wasn't happy about it. Stil, her point was made, she knew. She knew it wasn't really time to pick on him, even if she felt she was right. And she did and she WAS. All the guns were going to do was tick people off again. Koren spoke again, taking over the command seat. 

It's coming from a wide orbit of Mars. I'm sure of it. We did some 302 training up there and the coordinates are only a few clicks off. Fee nodded. She was, at this point, trying to figure out where the other signal was coming from. A GIANT space cruiser was out there. She glanced sideways. Koren was in no mood. She looked at Fiala, and signaled to the woman quietly. She turned off her feed so Koren couldn't hear her words. 

Fiala, the second signal is coming from the other side of the SOS beacon. The ship is sending it's own. And it's LARGE. Like, 18 or 20 feet, and a few thousands tons. Fee didn't exactly know what that might mean, but it didn't sound GOOD. She sighed. Fiala spoke to Koren.

We'd want to be careful and not rush into this," She said softly to him "This is your call Koren, but i would suggest until we know the crafts extent of damage and if verify what they're saying is true and do we want to take on an unknown craft that is badly damaged . For all we know, it could be leaking something harmful to us . Fe sighed. 

Noted, ma'am, but I think our decision has been made for us....You're sure the Captain won't make it here in time? Well, I guess it's up to us, then.[/b] Fee set her jaw. He needed to calm down, and soon, because the rest of the team would just feed off of his anxiety. ANd Fee was plumb out of sea shanties to raise morale. 

The tension was scaring her. The fact that she might have majorly screwed up scared her. For once in a long time, she felt a twinge of fear so deep that it almost hurt. She looked at Koren, reading the apology in his eyes. She just nodded, and turned her head, deciding what to do. She thought hard for a few moments. SHe needed to tell him that it was SHE who sent the reply becon. BUT...

Something flashed in the helm. Fee wouldn't have noticed it except that her screen flickered. And it didn't help her fear anymore, either. 

Holy Mother of Jesus.... She didn't say more. She was too stunned. Koren's voice cut through her momentarly-immobilizing fear. 

Skala; get me an origin on the American transmission. Maccafferty, I want to know everything about the distressed craft. Make, model, serial number, armaments; hell, if you can tell me the color, I'll take it. Whatever you can get. Fee just nodded. Her refuge was right here, behind her machine. She worked as fast as she could, running scripts, and calling out things as she saw them. 

I can get the beacon stronger now. Something is pushing it closer to us...that hologram? I think it's the survivor. Koren, you NEED to call Dr. Harrison. THat's all I can get for now. I am expanding my parameters, but it's going to be a few moments. She sighed. She wished she had some sort of thing that would give her extra hands and eyes when she needed them. She could use an assistant....or three. 

Koren spoke to her once more, his voice calm, but exhausted. 

Fee. Talk to me. What am I seeing? She sighed. She pulled her earpiece out, and left her station. She took a seat next to Koren, where the XO usually sat. 

It was a hologram. She's still ALIVE, Koren. She needs someone to save her.That beacon, that signal that it was an American..that was...me. I am sorry...but I thought I was helping. Giving her hope.... Fiona looked at him. Maybe he'd at least forgive her since she'd taken responsiblity. She felt horrible enough. She dropped her voice lower. My resignation will be on your desk by the end of the day tomorrow...I know when I've messed up. Can I at least finish this out? 

[Koren Telion]

Koren watched in dazed disbelief as Fee removed her earpiece and made her way up to him, sitting in the XO's chair. Koren looked ahead to where the holigram had vanished.

"It was a hologram." Fee said, her intensity gone suddenly as she spoke to him as you would a friend when relaying to them that their parent is in the hospital. "She's still ALIVE, Koren. She needs someone to save her.That beacon, that signal that it was an American..." Fee hesitated, "That was...me. I am sorry...but I thought I was helping. Giving her hope...." Koren turned and looked Fee directly in the eyes, his mind suddenly empty, suddenly peaceful. He reached out with his mind and grasped the peace of the moment and held onto it as Fee continued, dropping her voice lower. "My resignation will be on your desk by the end of the day tomorrow...I know when I've messed up. Can I at least finish this out?"

Koren just looked at her for a moment. Without even knowing it, she'd just given him exactly what he needed. She'd taken a moment out of the chaos, out of her job, to ground him. Koren's mind just a few minutes ago was in a thousand places, but now there were three thoughts left in his mind, and he took a careful hold of the first one, examining it closely, turning it over and over in his mind, assessing every angle, and finally said to her, eyes still locked on hers, "I asked you to make contact; that's what you were trying to do. Where you slipped up was in the fact that we are not all Americans. In the future, address any unknown transmissions as 'the Taur'i' . But Your biggest slip-up was assuming that what you did will get you fired. We need you on that station, Fee. Koren looked down for a moment, "And I need you to help keep me grounded." He held her gaze for a moment, trying to impart that he knew what he was doing just as little as she did. "Now go."

Koren watched as she headed back to her post, then called after her, "Fee." He came down the stairs to where she was standing, "We all mess up. A lot. It's the nature of what we do. It'll happen again. Just keep following your instincts;" He looked her in the eye again, pushing the point across the open bridge between them, "They tend to be right."

Koren climbed to the command chair again, placing that first item in his mind down and handling the second. This item was quite clearly labled, and Fee had shown him where the on-switch was, so, quite simply, he pressed it. "Doctor, I need you on the bridge immediately. Helmsman, Full power. Plot a course to the beacon. We're going to get her out of there, no matter who she is. Maccafferty, Skala, Threat assessment as soon as you can."

The third thought Koren simply put in a drawer in his mind; it would have to wait for another time, another place, maybe even another life

<TAG @ckitchens , @roger , Lequana Ka'ti of Partho >