Ed-Jupiter's surface

Ed did not speak as she came around the corner, and simply bowed his head when the name was mentioned. He humorously watched Rann in difficulty, the boy who always seemed to be so sure fo himself was now falling apart in front of this elderly woman. But these thoughts he did not express, except for a small smile on his face that he had failed to supress

Irma, Her Dome

"A favor? After what you did to my Lily?" she asked incredulously.

Rann, Irma's Dome

"I didn't do anything to Li- Miss Lily!" He protested, and soon realized his mistake.

"I'm sorry, Miss, Miss uh, Miss Irma. I didn't mean for Miss Lily to uh, you know."

Irma

Irma seemed to accept the apology, but still rapped Rann hard on the head with that cane.

She ignored Rann's surprised yelp and turned to Ed.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked, looking Ed over from top to bottom.

Ed-Irma's home

Megil turned his gaze from Rann to Irma,

"Can I not be humored by my friends discomfort miss Irma?"

Irma

Irma smiled at Ed. "Normally, no. But if it's this particular friend, yes." She said, taking the smile off of her face long enough to glare at Rann.

"Depending on the favor, you may be here awhile, so I'll have Lily show you both to your rooms in a little bit. We have to discuss some things first. Like this favor and how Rann is going to pay for his crimes."

She put her arm around Ed and pushed him forward to walk with him. "So why are you with him anyway?" she asked, nodding towards Rann.

Rann

Rann walked along the opposite wall giving Ed an icy stare.

Damn smart asses. Next they'll be drinking damned cocktails and sending robots after me to have good laugh. he thought bitterly.

OOC: g'night.

Ed-Irma's house

"I must thank you for your hospitality miss Irma for taking us in under no notice," he said as he walked with her. He shrugged at her question,

"I am not sure, a willing hostage you could say, as he has something of mine I wish to have back. But he didn't force me, perhaps his capricious nature so contrary to my own made me want to come along, you see I have spent the past 6 years at the University of Mars before I came with Rann, while I was left to do as I wished the university quickly became a methodic and ritual place so wanting to get away Rann presented the excellent vessel. Though perhaps it was an inopportune time given the research I am currently doing."

Kiva

Kiva frowned. "Fool," he said before firing the pistol at Arthur.

Cpl. Ian Vanada "Zero"
Intercepter, Escape Pods

"BRIDGE!! PERMISSION TO RELEASE HOLDING CLAPS!!" The dock coporal screamed into the com system. In return all that was sent was a jumbled mess of screams and moans. The Rykians had made it to the bridge.

"hamster it!" The coporal punched the emergency release console, "Everyone get your hamster cave asses in a seat or else it'll be raining blood and bodies soon!"

Elements of the 97th scrambled to the various seats scattered around the wall of the pod. Ian swore under his breath as he searched for a seat, but in due time he found one and strapped himself in, two other men, however, weren't as lucky. Ian made himself close his eyes, for fear of seeing the soon to be dead soldiers expressions as they shot towards the planet at bone-breaking speeds.

"Hold on to your boat.. and pray." Those were the last words Ian heard before he lost counciousness in the gut wretching descent.

Irma, Her Dome

During Ed's eloquent speech, Iram did two things; she nodded her approval of Ed's thanks, and shot a glare at Rann when she heard that he had something of his.

"What kind of research are you involved in?" She finally asked.

Rann, Irma's house

Rann pulled out a small watch and looked at the time with a sigh; it had already been far too long. He had thought about asking about Lily, but he figured that would be a bad idea, and this dome wasn't the biggest thing in the world; she would show up sooner or later.

I just need you to rewrite the damn code, old woman, and then we can leave, and hopefully never see each other again.

Ed-Irma's house

Ed realized he may have said too much, but really who was this old woman going to tell.
clearing his throat,

"Military research. weaponry and defense mainly." he said nervously, Methodically pulling off his glasses and cleaning them.

"If i may so inquire, who is this miss Lily both you spoke of," Ed said trying to change the subject.

Mark's ship was badly damaged. Mars' gravitational pull was too strong, if he didn't find somewhere to land... Well he wasn't going to make it down to the planet in his condition. The four surviving ships all had mechanical trouble and were split off from eachother...

There... A research station...

It identified on his display as RS 413. He opened a comlink with the station and began "Research Station 413," hearing his own voice, Mark realized how exhausted he was. He had been cramped in the pilot seat for atleast 24 hours, and had a mere pastry to eat. the computer shorted out and he was having to fly manually for the past few hours.

"Research Station 413," he began again, this time his voice louder, although still hoarse and clearly fatigued, "This is Mark..." he couldn't remember his last name, "Eh, Mark of the 501st HDF squadron. Requesting..." he paused to regain his breath (his O2 supply was obviously deteriating) "Requesting coordinates for an emergency landing..."

Downtown District of Bodisa Prime
General La-Iparra

Steam rose into the air from the landing pad, partly because of the subzero tempatures and partly becuase of the heat from the numerous landing and departing ships. The tempatures had fallen because of the distruction of one of Marcellous' moons several years ago. Scientists and researchers claimed that the moon had a direct influence on the controlled weather patterns of the world.

The General shuffled in his cloak, while meager, it provided much warmth and was status signal. A personal gift from the emperor. La-Iparra hadn't a need for it however, at least for the status meaning, he was by far the largerst Rykian present and therefor the eldest as well. That is were humans and Rykians differ even more then from just their physical appearences, the fact that as a Rykain ages the more powerful he gets.

All were minor details to the General at the moment however, within moments he would be briefed on the situation, and would simply order the mass extermination of the human defenders. For every one soldier the HDF had, the Rykain combined force numbered four times as many. Initially it was thought that food was to be a problem for such a large force, however the Rykians had developed a.. taste.. for human blood.

"Where is my staff?" The General huffed.

Zark Bodisa Prime

"Here's your damned staff, Old One." Zark said tossing the General the staff. He had taken to calling the General Old One about a week ago; something he didn't think was appreciated.

Thank the Emperor for technicalities.

"You know we can't be out here long; coldblooded beings don't go well with these temperatures, I don't care how enormous you are, Old One." Zark said, smiling after saying 'Old One' again. Wow that never got old.

OOC: you know that blankets, coats and the like only work on us because it traps our body heat, right? well these guys have no heat to trap...

Satyana
RS413

Satyana screamed as Kiva fired the gun......mostly of fear but she was also satisfied of the rapid and determined actions of this man.....then she heard the communication-device sound.......



Satyana

"Reserach Station 413, responding, Satyana Viann speaking, I´ll have to ask you to identify yourself before I can give you any information"

Irma, her home

"My great-granddaughter." she replied, and at the same time, heard Rann reply with, "Her great-granddaughter."

It was apparent that nothing more was going to be said for the time being.

La-Iparra growled back, "If you weren't of the emperor's blood, you would learn your place Zark."

He leaned forward in a threatening manner, "It sounds as if your not up to the hunt, perhaps we can a more willing Rykar?" If a Rykar could smile, the General would have quite a devilish smile.

Syke, RS 413

"Satyana; He already identified himself; He's with the HDF. Here, Rann showed me how to track his transmission to see if it's really who he says he is." Syke said, moving over to the computer.

"Everything checks out." he told her, trying to ignore the man lying on the ground.

Zark, Bodisa Prime

"Listen, Eildfa Arshala," Zark began. "Give the Kahg those same belts you give your squad, and we'll show you who is better at the hunt."

It was becoming an effort for him to move; the cold was making his movements slower. If he was outside for much longer, he might not live.

Mark -- Space

"Eh... Mark Ringwalt. Ringwalt that's right. I'm uh a fighter pilot for the HDF... Please, my ship is badly damaged and I need a plce to rest."

Edward-Irma's house

"I see,"

seeing that nothing else was going to be said, Ed roamed through the biodome, curious as to it's secrets.

Satyana
RS413

"Ahhhh ok Syke, good then please take him down here, we must give him help I think"


"We will take you down here, my brother will guide you through it"



Satyana felt sick seeing the lifeless body on the floor.......

"I still wonder......" she thought

Arthur, Research Station 413


Arthur groaned, and curled up. The blood from his chest was soaking through his clothing.

In his mind ran thoughts of his home planet, the pictures he had seen in books of it's past beauty . .

Rann, Irma's Dome

When Ed left, Rann found himself alone with Irma. Fearing it would be rude to leave, he just stood there awkwardly for a second.

"Why are, you here, Rann? I still haven't gotten an answer." Irma said, staring at him intently.

"I need a new transponder code." Rann replied. "Uh, Miss Irma."

"What have you and Syke done now?" she asked. Her facial expression turned to curiosity when she noticed something. "Where is Syke?"

"He's at the station. but me and Ed...ran into some trouble."

"With whom?"

"HDF." Rann replied before getting whacked again with a cane. "What the he-?"

"Don't curse." Irma ordered, cutting him off. "And you could have led the HDF straight to me! And where would I be then? Where would Lily be?"

"We weren't followed; I'm sure of it." Rann said confidently. "If you could just change it, me and Ed would be out of your hair."

"I don't mind Ed so much as you." Irma said bluntly.

Rann nodded. "So you'll do it for him, then?" he asked, still unsure of what her answer was.

Irma nodded. "Not for either of you. I've been bored. Business is slow. Give me a week and I'll be done."

"Thank you." Rann said, grasping her frail hand and shaking it.

"I'll want a few favors done over the week while I do this." she warned.

"I'll do whatever the he- whatever you want."

Syke, RS 413

"Open the hangar for him, I'll get him to the infirmary." Syke answered, referring to Mark.

"May want to do something with him too." Syke said, hearing a groan come from Arthur.

Edward-Irma's House

Finding the place sealed tight Ed could tell Irma liked to keep things to herself. sticking his hand back in his pockets, he headed back for the mainroom looking for Rann.

"So how long are we going to be stuck here for?" he asked Rann when he found him.

Rann, Irma's Dome

Irma had gone into her workroom to get started, and not a minute later, Ed came back.

"A damned week." Rann said, obviously not happy with the time frame.

Edward, Irma's house

"A week," he said with a sigh.

"What are we going to do for a week. I suppose I could do research, but I am siply not in the mood right now. Besides if we happened to be tracked then we will want to leave in a hurry, best keep the equipment packed up"

Ian Vanada
Bodisa Prime

"Fire sequence alpha! Lock! 1..2..3.. Shot over!"

Six 280mm field artillery pieces opened up in the back ground.

"Zero! Zero! Wake up buddy! Are you ok?!"

Ian slowly made his way up to his feet, he guessed that he must of been dragged to the artillery sight because no signs of a crashed ship were visible.

"compassion dude, I thought we were a gonner.." Pvt. Hendin brushed the snow off of Ians helmet, "I can't hardly hear compassion though, those hamster cave batteries are loud!"




La-Iparra
Bodisa Prime

"Your challange is accepted. You will find the belts in the store house." The General began walking towards the store house and then turned around, "The primatives are firing their artillery at our position, I suggest you find cover."

After La-Iparra stepped into the collapsed building 280mm shells began falling on the staging ground.

(OOC: Not sure if you know this but a 280mm cannon is pretty badass.. currently (or rather in the past) that type of cannon was used to fire nuclear ordanance. However there just firing a HE (High Explosive) shell right now.)

Satyana
RS413

Satyana shrugged...."Want nothing to do with that one" she said and turned away from him

Rann, Irma's Home

"Yeah. And I want my gun back." Rann said, holding out his hand to accept the weapon.

"Our rooms are going to be down that hall and to the right. That's where me and Syke usually stayed."

"No doubt we'll be doing some chore or other in the next hour or so. I would suggest sleep."

Zark, Bodisa Prime

Zark laughed and made his way to the barracks calmly, despite the fire, to get his Kahg ready.

Zark burst in the room. "Our great Eildfa Arshala has challenged us!" he shouted. "Now go get yourselves some belts from the storehouse and get to hunting!"

With spring in his step, he followed the rest of his rag-tag bunch into the storehouse. Getting their belts and strapping them on, the Kahg checked their weapons and were soon on the battlefield.

Zark Pulled out a rapid-firing laser and joined his team in the firing. He had to be careful of the overheating, but he still fired it seemingly without a care.

Syke, RS 413

"I'm sure you don't want him rotting in your research area." Syke said flatly before going to the hangar to see what needed to be done to this Mark fellow.

Edward-Irma's house

"Oh right" Ed said, having forgotten he was carrying the weapon. He handed it to Rann.

"Well then I shall go and rest then. Though I wonder what kind of chore requries so much energy." he said. Collapsing on the bed in the room, Ed was soon soundly asleep.

OOC: going to work. be back later

Slowly the small fighter pulled into the hangar. Half of the right wing was torn of, several holes littered the fuesalage, and a tired man stepped out from it. Mark fell onto one knee, he was exhauted. But he composed himself, stood up and said to the person before him, "Thanks."

Kiva, RS 413

Kiva holstered his pistol, turning to Satyana. "Well, just have someone drag him off to the infirmary. Let the medics and doctors or whatever sort 'im out. If he's lucky he might manage to not bleed to death before hand," he said. "Lucky to have lived this long. Most people who take a shot to the chest die fairly fast."

Syke, RS 413

"No problem." Syke replied. "Are you alright? If you need medical attention, I can help you get to the infirmary..."

Edward-Irma's house

Ed rolled out of bed about an hour after he lied down. He found Rann in the same room he was before.

"ALright let's get this chore done and over with," he said enthusiatically.

Mark -- RS413

"Uh," Mark said breathing heavily, "I am really hungry and thirsty, you wouldn't happen to have a gourmet chef on board?" he said sarcastically. He checked over his shoulder and kept watching out of the corner of his eye, after all, he had just been betrayed by his own alliance.

Juac Andrews
Somewhere in the Solar System

"..One-Hundered sixty-seven thousand three hundred and twelve bottles of beer on the dashboardl! One-Hundered sixty-seven thousand three hundred beer! Take one one down, pass it around One-Hundered sixty-seven.. three.. no two.. hamster.."

"I'm not starting over again.." Juac hissed at himself.

"Lt. we have just entered the Sol System, what are your orders?" The computer questioned.

"Bout damn time, set me on course for the nearest HDF base.. Wait, that might not be to smart. Open up my personal communique with Mark, lets see if he made it through this mess without losing his datapad."

"Roger that sir, begin now."

"Mark? Mark are you there? This is Rome, do you copy?"

Rann, Irma's home

Irma had told him his first job while Ed had been sleeping. He knew Ed wouldn't like it.

"We have to go steal some stuff. We're taking Irma's ship since our isn't exactly safe to be driving around right now."



Syke, RS 413

Syke almost died laughing. Gourmet chef. They barely had a store on the station. They ran off of grants from the government and shipments of food.

"How about some burritos? I bought about a thousand of them, and we can't seem to get rid of them." Syke offered.

Mark -- RS413

"Huh? Oh, yeah, burritos are fine, as long as they're edi--" his communicator cut him off. He searched his pockets trying to find the datatpad that he always had trouble finding, "Damnit, where the hell. Ah-ha!" he said as he pulled it out and held it up to his ear.

Mark? Mark are you there? This is Rome, do you copy?

"Rome?" ...Don't know a R--... "ROME! JUAC! Are you really alive?! Oh man this is great! where are you? I thought you got killed!"

Ed-Irma's house

"what kind of stuff are we talking here?" not looking forward to becoming a thief.

Juac Andrews
Solar System

"Alive? My ships running off of half a engine and my computers seems to have thoughts of suicide.. other then going without food for some time I do think I made it through pretty well."

Juac's tone dropped a bit.

"What of the 501st?"

Mark -- RS413

Mark's face darkened. He walked away from the young man who had greeted him and replied quietly, "I don't know... We returned to Triumph and they opened fire on us... Four were left, five including you. We fled to Mars but I lost contact with the other three, all of them were badly damaged.

"I'm sending you my coordinates now, just avoid any HDF ships and you should be okay."

"Damn.." Juac's computer made a faint jarring sound but then gave the signal that it recieved the coordinates.

"Well, we'll discuss this later. Expect me in several hours. Rom..err.. Juac out."

Zark, Bodisa Prime

Zark soon found La-Ippera in the chaos.

"You do realize that they're somehow advancing, right?" he shouted at the General.

"Nine, by the way." he added, referring to the earlier wager.

La-Ippera
Rykian Front Lines

"Let them advance. Let them advance into the furry of my warriors, they shall be cut down like the rest. Their primative weapons and lack of courage make me wonder why they continue fighting."

"Bah, Nine is not worth the ti-" As the general began to argue with Zark, an artillery shell from the HDF forces crashed through the lower left part of the building, leaving the entire store house open on the west side. Not to metion a few dead guards as well.

"General!" La-Ippera's arm-com lit up, "General!"

"What is it?" The elder Rykian growled.

A panicked voice picked up on the comm, "They've broken through our defensive lines! Hundreds! No thousands of humans are up..." The link went dead with the sound of a bullet.

"Perhaps you are right Zark. Now, if you excuse me I have some killing of my own to do."

Ian Vanada
HDF Attack Force

"Nice shot Zero, now lets go!"

"No problem sarge, just doin my job."

Elements of the 97th Rifle company formed up in their makeshift platoons and organized to attack the Rykian line. Neither side had gained any ground in the last few months of conflict in Bodisa Prime.

"Enemy contact! Four riky's to the left! Hose em!" Half of the platoon opened up on the unsuspecting bipedal lizards, instantly cutting one in half, while putting several holes in the other three. "There dead! Move on!"

Before being able to reach the Rykian storehouse, the Humans had to traverse through an open terrain devoid of buildings from years of shelling from both sides. The losses exected by the HDF High Command were rather high, almost into the 3,000 range, just to capture one building.

"Get your asses moving guys! Get to that trench up the-" The platoon took a laser shot, caving in his chest, and causing him to collapse among the charging soldiers.

"What do we do now!? compassion!" A soldier starting screaming, even has he was blindly charging into the Rykian lines, "Do what he said and hurry the hamster up, I aint gonna die today!"

Along various points, over 10,000 HDF soldiers were coliding into the Rykian lines.

Rann, Irma's House

"It's not too bad." he replied. "We're stealing from theives, so it's not like they have any more right to the stuff than we do."

Rann held out his pistol for Ed to take. Again. This guy needed a gun. "You may need this." he said, not saying how annoying it was to give it to him all the time.

He would just have to steal an extra gun too.

"Come on, they're on Jupiter, so it'll take a few hours to land the ship in a docking area, and then travel from there to wherever we're going."

Rann walked out of the common area and down a series of hallways, until he found the door he needed. He pressed a button, and when the door opened, a hangar was revealed.

The ship was a litle bit smaller than Rann's, and obviously meant for a small number passengers, not cargo.

Rann walked to the boarding ramp and punched in the temporary code Irma had given to him.

Zark, Bodisa Prime

After the gerneral left, Zark had his own business to attend.

Zark ordered his team to come together, and he had a brief discussion with them before the final decision was made.

One of the Kahg's most promising members, a Rykar by the name of Mazrim, made his way with Zark back to the building that served as headquarters to retrieve some explosives.

"So you understand the plan?" Zark verified.

Mazrim nodded.

"While you set up the explosives, I'll be right beside you, and the rest of the Kahg will be covering you from afar." he continued. "It's about time our human was cooked." he said with a flash of his teeth.

Mazrim let out a small chuckle as they left headquarters.

Ed-Irma's house

Ed groaned, and reluctantly took the gun. he then followed Rann into the ship.

Upon departing Ed sat in one of the chairs and began examining the gun he ahd been handing. not because he had intentions of using it, he was simply curious as to its design.

"leave it to man to design such a crude weapon."

Rann, Irma's Ship

"Ungrateful boat, I hope you meant to say, 'Leave it to Rann to design such an ingenious tool.'"

Ed-Irma's ship

despite the humor in the statement Ed didn't smile or laugh. He had spent the last day or so thinking about what he was doing, none of it made much sense. And trough the thoguht process as often occurs with Ed the questions turned to much bigger issues, dwarfing his own individual problems and puting him in a depressed state. During these episodes in which Ed felt as though his entire life were a facade, his behavior became irregular and unpredictable.

feigning a smile, Ed brought the gun to his head, and he looked at Rann,

"What would you do if I were to pull the trigger?"

Rann, Irma's ship

Okay, I'm not getting a gun for this guy. Rann decided, not sure if he was kidding or not.

Rann decided to act as if it were a joke. "I would probably find myself with Irma standing over me, making me clean off what's left of your brain from her nice leather seats."

If it wasn't a joke, he would still probably end up doing just that.

Ed-Irma's Ship

"Yes that would be most humiliating wouldn't it, but you would make a killing in the end from the goods on your ship. So in the long run it would be only a minor inconvenience."

bringing the gun down Ed looked away from Rann and stared at the floor,

"I am too much of a coward to pull the trigger," he said in a low voice.

Rann, Irma's ship

"And thank God you are." Rann replied, taking the opportunity to pluck his gun from Ed's hand. "Look, no rithum is worth someone dying over. Damn, if me stealing that crystal made you want to kill yourself, you can have the damned thing!"

"If you can hold off on the suicide for a little bit, we can get some food or something on Jupiter." Rann continued, walking to the cockpit to start the engine.

Ed-Irma's Ship

Ed gave Rann a puzzled look,

"Rithum? What's Rithum got to do with anything? I really could care less whether or not you stole some or not. It is not like anything I do with it will be of any benefit anyways, it will just be used to take more lives. Anyways I'm not hungry."