Chapter 4: Borderline

[Kauria]

"Hey," Rucha said again, less indignantly. She pushed herself out of the chair and came to stand by where Ariaka lay. She was tempted to put her hand on the android in reassurance, but the Ceretai instead stared out the window, her brown eyes searching the stars. On the right side of her vision, the specks of light melted into faint smears against the darkness.
"You're still here. We're all still here. I'm sorry that I put anyone in danger, but if we'd never taken the chance, one of our own would have certainly died anyway." She gave the android a sideways glance. "I might not seem to pay much mind to it," Rucha rapped on her plated skull with one fist, giving a brief smile, "but I of all people know that no one's invincible." She paused, trying to find the words she'd known a moment before.
Finally caving, Rucha got to her knees and placed a hesitant arm around Ariaka's form. "You say what we do next, okay? No more running into the fire for at least a month, I promise. If I do, don't risk yourself to haul this amnesiac out again." Suddenly steely, Rucha's voice softened once more. "Can you stand?"

[Nohiki]

Ariaka took a few seconds to pull herself together. Standing up again, she said: "Heh, not for ever, i can guarantee that. We can't run forever. It's time to end this, one way or the other. I dunno how yet, but i'll figure that out. However, until i say so, no more planetside trips-" she said, but a beeping sound interrupted her. She displayed the message in front of them and read it out loud. "Commander, yada yada yada, rebel shuttle, strangely with no human, da da da da da, wait WHAT? Strangely similar to... The ruling council? DNA test... Confirms that..." she said, turning her head towards Rucha. "Something i should know?"

OOC: Too much?

[Kauria]

Rucha splayed her hands in a helpless shrug. "What makes you think I know anything more than you do?"

[Nohiki]

"I am more interested in the fact that you let their doctors at you? They are the guys that tried to destroy us..." she said and would be raising an eyebrow if she had any. "Hey i don't like the idea of dying but you don't either, OK? And it would be nice if you didn't leave me alone with an ancient monster and a guy who is never to be found on a ghost ship. That wasn't scary at all." she complained. "Wait... Same DNA as ruling council? But how? Could you be? no no no... They wouldn't fire on us. That leaves... Of course. And that also confirms my theory about how i work... No wonder none of us has any memories..." she thought out loud.

[Zetherus]

It was all silent in the deepest part of the Croatoan as Tal'set worked on his armour alone in the sector. Only able to use one hand to repair his broken chest plate, he used various advanced tools from his fighter that mended the metal together with some type of kinetic energy. It was a fast fifteen when he finished working on his armour and detailed it like it was before the attack, but much cleaner and newer. The mercenary assembled the parts of his armour back in order on to his body then hooked all the electronics back to his armour's mainframe activating his re-breather and sensor modules bringing his E.V.A systems (almost) back online. "Well if I didn't use my Arc Cores on that creature then I wouldn't be struggling on this would I!" He said in frustration as he looked at his broken arm.

As the seven foot tall humanoid sat on the bench thinking, the doors behind him slid open and a huge shadow stood in the doorway. Tal'set looked behind him then stood up alarmed turning to the door as he hovered his hand over his handgun ready for the creature's next move. "It looks to me that you haven't had enough yet huh! I'll kill you this time I swear by my ancestor's name!" Yelled the merc as he was about to pull out his gun and start shooting. Keilumtol walked through the door and into the light so he could be seen. The giant was carrying the device that Tal'set lacked on his armour in his right hand. "Before you do something foolish, here is you device you used to imprison me! I'm not seeking for any type of unnecessary measures to our flaw in the past so just forget about it and accept my forgiveness for now!" Spoke the ancient commando as he underhand threw the device at the merc and set his rifle and knife on the metal floor then left silently through the door. The Anero'nolmi caught the device with his right hand after dropping his gun then looked up to see the giant disappear through the door not saying nothing else. He saw his rifle and dagger on the floor also making him confused about this current situation. "Alright, so now he wants me to believe that were allies! I'm not buying it but I guess that I should thank him for fixing the last piece of my armour at least!" He said to himself as he set he device on the workbench and picked his gun up off the ground. He holstered his pistol then retrieved his rifle and dagger and did the same to them. "Awe back to my original self, sort of!" He thought as he grabbed his left gauntlet and made his way to the bridge.

[Awesomoman]

Lance emerged from the shuttle as everyone else left.
with a sigh of relief that they had made it out, he grabbed the weapons bag and headed to the armory to recheck and restock them. On his way, he noticed Something was flashing on his HUD.
> Damage Critical. Administering medical attention.
> User stabilized. Beginning repairs.
> Repairs completed.
When did that happen? He knew they were being shot at as they left but he didn't think he was hit. And his power armor only gave medical attention in emergencies, meaning it was serious. He walked up to see his reflection in a nearby mirror, His right shoulder and half of his helmet were completely covered in blood, it looked like one of the guards had shot him with a high calibur bullet strong enough to get through a weak spot in his armor. Staring at his wound, he began to laugh. He should be dead. But instead he felt nothing. He kept laughing as he continued to the armory. It would take more than that to kill this marine or his spirit.

[Nohiki]

The ship suddenly shook. "What was that?" Ariaka growled, limping back to the control chair. "Nothing on scope!" she reported, "No residual signature from warp-" another explosion. "Damnit! They must be stealth planes! They're trying to hit our engines! Rucha! Reset the weapons for optical targeting, I'll try to intercept the bombs! Drones launched. Assuming escort position. Diverting power to shield. Star drive charged 72-" the android went to her usual subconscious mumbling when she was connected to the ship.

[Zetherus]

Tal'set was walking down the corridor silently until he almost went face first into an emergency switch on the wall. "Uh, what the hell was that?" He yelled as he started running to the bridge. He ran through the door leading to the bridge then yelled out to who ever was listening, "Were being attacked if you don't notice! Give me clearance to...?" He stopped as he looked at his left arm, "damn it all, I cant fly my ship with one hand!" He complained as he began to look at the surrounding terminals seeing if he could get at least one of the Croaoatn's defense turrets online.

[Kauria]

Relieved to be put under a completely different kind of pressure, Rucha moved to follow Ariaka's orders. Whatever revelation she'd had would have to wait.
The Ceretai made a noise of frustration at Tal'set's sudden entrance, his shouting disrupting her concentration. "YES, we noticed the attack, and if there's something you know you can do to help, do it, and if you're not sure, then don't say a word and don't. touch. anything."

[Awesomoman]

At the first sign of attack Lance quickly jumped on the coms. "What are my orders?" He tossed the bag of weapons in a near by room and began to make his way to the bridge figuring they would need him there unless told otherwise.

[Nohiki]

"Hold on to something and try to stay alive. If you believe in anything, now's the time to pray. Crash jump in 5, 4, 3 ..." The ship vanished, emerging... Who knows where. Power surge went through the ship, disabling several systems as it went along. Stuff on the bridge sparked and the android went flying out of the control chair, landing two meters away. Lights went out, as did artificial gravity. "Don't worry, that was just EMP. We'll be fine once the auto-repair kicks in..." Ariaka said, aimlessly floating around, "I'm gonna stop talking now..." she said and ceased to move.

OOC: dibs on the next chapter.