Talstorin walked down the dreary halls.  The marble tile walls were filthy and black.  His boots made loud footsteps sounds which echoed down the hall.  This was a less inviting place than he had imagined.  Looking down, Talstorin found the floors to be dusty.  "It's like this place hasn't been used for days, jeez," he thought to himself. 

Talstorin at last came to a metal door.  Painted in black were the words "Wraith Squad", barely visible due to scratches.  He struggled for a while to open the door.  It was stuck from lack of usage.  Finally losing his temper, Talstoran backed up and rammed into the door, at last getting unstuck.  He fell with an "umph", the door's creak echoed as it swung open.  Finding himself under his bags, he maneuvered around, trying to slip out.  Though it took a while, Talstoran managed to slip out, grabbing his bags.  "Alright, a rough start, let's see what the rest of the day has in store for me."  With that, Talstorin strolled down the hall, looking around as he walked.

"God, do they even use this building?" he commented to himself as he saw the cobwebs along the walls.  It reminded him of a prison.  Perhaps he was in the wrong building, the possibility had crossed his mind more than once.  It was like no one had been here for years.  "Inactive squad i suppose."  He cleared his throat and kept walking.  The air was rather musty, making his lungs uncomfterble with each breath.  This place was really starting to suck, he had to admit, it was a horrible place.  He reached the end, finding another door. 

This one was automatic, opening quickly as Talstorin came into proximity.  The next part was much more delightful.  It resembled more of a habitable place.  There was holochess and couches and seats laid out.  Still, it was dusty and the room definatly needed some ventilation.  Looking around, Talstorin clumsily tripped over his own bags, falling again.  Sighing, his lips formed a shape which cause the air to blow up his bangs.  He got up lazily, brushing the dust off his clothes.  Looking up, he jumped back, tripping over his bags once again.  This was getting repetitive.  He looked up again, lying on his back.  "What is that thing...?" 

He had never seen the creature that stood before him before.  Standing before him was a vagrant looking man, beer bottle in hand.  "Wh-who are you?"

 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...



TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]

Yillis stopped at the entrance hallway to the Wraith Barracks. Bending down, he looked carefully into the dust. "There's footprints here...Oh My God. Did we get a new recruit?!"

Yillis took off running down the hallway, only slowing down to look at the now damaged doors. "What was this guy doing..."

He finally came to the door reading Wraith Squad, and let himself in. Hearing very loud snores coming from down the hall, he figured at least Snipes was still hiding down here. Going first to his own room, he tossed his bags on the bunk beds, and went to find the new recruit.

Seeing a clean person moving around in the lounge area Yillis hustled down to greet him.

"Hey there chief, Corporal Yillis here, who might you be?"

"PFC Tnepres, how's it going sir?"

"It's going well, as Snipes didn't burn this place down. Gotta love his cleaning ability though." Yillis said with a proud smile on his face. "Anyways, just came to introduce myself,  I'm gonna go back and unpack my stuff, I'll be talking to you."

Yillis went back to his room, and started to unpack all his gear. Storing a few sets of armor in his locker, he put his blasters underneath his pillow.  Blowing dust of his desk, he set up his datapad, and started to get some notes ready for the meeting.

-----------------------
Corporal Yillis
-=Wraith Squad=-  -=ASL=-

ASL/CPL Yillis/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [WM] [GS]
Rep/GameRep Yillis/GameRep: 6/Gaming Division/VET /VE

Just as Yillis walked off to his room, Tnepres stood and thought.  This place is getting really quiet, I wonder who else is going to show up.

A loud bang sounded from the other room as the door to said room fell off its hinges and out tumbled a disheveled looking trooper.

"GODDAMN STUPID FLASHBANGS!"

  Tnepres stared in bewilderment at the new face.  The trooper looked at Tnepres for a moment as a look of realization came over his face.

"Oh, you must be the new guy, my name's Leth.  Welcome to Wraith."

"Hi Leth, I'm Tnepres."

"Enjoy your stay with Wraith Squad Tnepres, we don't get new guys too often, and when we do they usually don't last long.  I guess I'll be seeing you around."

Leth walked back into his room, gathering up his scattered belongings and piling them in the corner.  Now how to go about fixing this. . . thought Leth as he wandered off looking for some duct tape.

 
-----------------------
Private First Class D'har Leth
-=Wraith Squad=-
TRP/PFC D'har/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE/Nar Shaddaa

[Red Dragon Order]
TL/Sgt D`har Leth/Task Force 2/Eta Squad/2nd Platoon/Red Company/1st Battalion/KBcC Helsa/OFF/Army/RDA(O)

    Yoder was walking down the hall when he heard large bang and a flash of light. Yoder turned around in time to avoid it and walked down the hall towards the bang and before he went around the corner he heard D'har yelling "GODDAMN STUPID FLASHBANGS!"

    After a few minutes he went into the room seeing a differnt guy going around to the armory, Hmm must be a new guy. Yoder stepped into the room and said "D'har you really should stop using Flashbangs to scare new recruits, who is he anyway?"

    "I didn't do it on purpose, but the new guys name is Tnepres, private of course. So you want to help me?" D'har informed Yoder. "No, I need to go to the armory and put up some of my new weapons and armor in my locker, see ya."

    Yoder ran out of the room and entered the armory after putting up his weapons and armor he left to the lounge.
 
-----------------------
trp/pfc
-=Wraith Squad=-
Yoder/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/LoR
Master Swordsmen (RL)
Flatter me, and I won't believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I won't forget you.
-Me

Yillis was heading back to his room after being covered with Snipes paint.

"Good Idea Yoder, Lets get him while in the shower, he won't be expecting it, MORON!"

Yillis changed out of his paint covered clothes, and wiped off his face, mumbling about how Yoder has the worst pranks. Grabbing some new clothes, he dressed himself and went out to see where Yoder was.

Checking Yoder's room first, he wasn't in there, so Yillis went down to check if he was in a refresher. Hearing his bad singing coming from one of them, Yillis quickly judged how long Yoder had left in there. Running back to his own room, Yillis grabbed a duffle bag labeled "TOP SECRET", and quickly ran back down to Yoder's room. Locking the door behind him, Yillis started to pull out boxes from the duffle bag. Picking up one of the boxes he read the title "Insta-Jungle!" Yillis had to suppress a giggle. Continuing with reading the box, he read the directions, "It's Easy To Have Your Own Jungle! Just empty box where you want your jungle to be and add water! Instantly you will have yourself a jungle (Actual Process may take five to ten minutes).

Yillis started opening boxes and just throwing the contents everywhere. Moments later, Yoder's entire room was covered in the thick brown dirt-like substance from Insta-Jungle! Yillis mumbled to himself, "Step One Finished."

Opening the door a crack, he checked the hallway, and seeing no one, ran back down to the refreshers. Still hearing Yoder's bad singing, Yillis hooked a hose to the tap, and turned the water on, and ran back to Yoder's room with the other end of the hose. Soaking his entire room with a few sheets of water, Yillis ran back, shut off the water, and started to run to the front door of the barracks, throwing the hose into his own room on the way by.

Seeing Snipes and Tnepres having themselves a chat in the lounge area, he just threw a nod at them and ran to the door. There was a truck waiting outside, with a delivery for Yillis Walbrew. After signing a few papers, the driver opened the back of the truck to a huge roar. Yillis smiled at the driver, and said "Excellent." Yillis hopped in the back of the truck and helped the driver get the cage holding the gurrcat out onto a hovercart, thanked the driver, and started inside with his prank. As Yillis was going by Snipes and Tnepres again, they both dropped their jaws.

"Man! That's a gurrcat!, who you pranking." Snipes said.

"You'll love it, gimme about two more minutes and watch the magic."

Yillis continued down the hall and put the entrance of the cage at the entrance of Yoder's old room, now a jungle of vines and weeds. Opening the cage, the gurrcat wandered into Yoder's jungle, and Yillis quickly shut the door to Yoder's room.

Running back out to where Snipes and Tnepres were still wondering about why a gurrcat was in the Wraith barracks, Yillis had a huge smirk on his face, "Yoder's taking a awfully long time in the shower don't you think."

 
-----------------------
Corporal Yillis
-=Wraith Squad=-  -=ASL=-

ASL/CPL Yillis/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [WM] [GS]
Rep/GameRep Yillis/GameRep: 6/Gaming Division/VET /VE

The meeting room was quiet, Arnaut decided as he approached it. Too quiet. Arnaut opened the door and was greeted by a not too surprising sight. The room was empty. Arnaut sighed. I guess it's too much to ask for a Wraith to be on time. He trudged into the room, taking a seat at the extremely dusty table positioned in the center of the room and began to wait. And wait. And wait.

Finally they came in, solemn faced. Well, all save Yoder. It was another ten minutes before he arrived, looking just a tad bit happier than the rest of the squad, DC-15 strapped to his belt. Arnaut could only guess at what had happened. With everyone here, though, there was no time to speculate. They had a mission to begin.

Arnaut clicked a button on the desk, dimming the lights, and bringing a  hologram of an asteroid into view on the center of the table. The little murmuring there was in the room died down and finally ceased completely.

"This is the last shot taken by a scout ship sent out to investigate this asteroid a little over a month ago," Arnaut began in a grim tone. "The ship lost radio contact shortly after reaching the asteroid, and it hasn't returned. This was the second ship to go investigate, and the second not to return." The squad members' eyes stayed hard, never even flinching. They were trained well.

"Now this wasn't very odd, at first. Scouts have gone missing before," Arnaut continued, "but then Intel noticed this." The picture of the asteroid zoomed in revealing an immense structure attached to the side of it. It looked like a small city, with spires stretching both up and down, both sides of the asteroid, with buildings cloistered around the base of the spires, and narrow walkways dangling like threads between those buildings.

This time the squad did gasp, eyes widening as they leaned forward in their seats for a better view. The structure took about half the asteroid and if the asteroid was as big as Intelligence made it out to be...Unconsciously, Arnaut whistled. This was going to be a very interesting mission.

"The other two ships are unaccounted for; no one has seen them since they lost radio contact. It's going to be our job to get out there and find out what happened. Very likely we will be without communications, so be prepared well; we could be out in the field, without support, for the better part of two weeks. We don't know what this structure is, or what happened to the other two ships, so we must be cautious.

"This mission will no doubt be dangerous. We're going into unknown territory with only a few holopics to guide us. This mission should be carried out professionally and with precision. We can't afford mistakes; there's no telling if we'll be able to make it back. We leave in two hours, so get your gear prepared quickly. Any questions?"

They stared at him a second before shaking their heads quitely, already starting to shuffle out. And that was it. Not a word. Wow. No questions at all! What's wrong with them today?

Arnaut was still wondering when he walked out of the room and heard roaring from the barracks' lounge.

"It's alive! It's alive! It was only wounded! We can still save it!" Someone yelled excitedly.

Before he knew what had hit him, four eagerly running squad members blazed past, all wearing grins, and whooping at the top of their lungs. One of them was yelling something about how 'the gun turrets in the barracks were horribly weak and couldn't kill a fly', or some nonsense like that.

What in the name of the Emperor was that!? Arnaut thought wonderingly as they rushed into the lounge. Better if he didn't know Arnaut decided as he walked away.


-----------------------
Lance Corporal Arnaut
-=Wraith Squad=--=SL=-
SL/LCP Arnaut/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

  Yoder walked out of the meeting room bored from it and heading to his room wanting to clean it up before the mission. By the time Yoder reached his door Yillis came up from behind took his gun hooked it on his belt and put Yoder in a shoulder lock. Arghhh I knew should have suspected Yillis to go and pull a prank before a mission, oh well I guess I'll get him during the mission.

  Maybe I should put Yillis into a bad situation, maybe a firefight with him fighting on his own or something. After some time D'har somehow got in and got stuck on top of the dresser like an idiot scared of a little gurrcat, Snipes entered the room however and started a little speech.

    "Well, it looks like Yoders secret is out," Snipes smiled sadistically as Yoders face lost color, "he only has training blasters on that thing." The members roared with laughter, Yillis even dropped Yoder to double over laughing. "Alright now people, this room isn't big enough for such a ..." by then Yoder was out of the room DC-15 in hand.   

  At least they think they hurt my pride, hmpf pride is for fool's its completely useless it's only for making a person easier to be destroyed on the inside. Yoder ran down the hall to the armory to get his gear, the moment Yoder reached the armory he reached his locker put on his katarn armor, this should help me. Then went to his weapons locker pulled out his C-22 Frag, DC-17, flashbang, EMP, Ryyk blade, and his tracker utility vest.

    After getting his things together he left through the halls and reached the ship, Queen Tetra's Revenge. It seemed Yoder was the first one to arrive since he sneaked away from everyone else earlier. Yoder leaned inside in the hallway, Maybe I should get my DC-15 and 17 out. Yoder holstered his guns, but held his held his Ryyk blade loosely at his side, but ready to whip out and slash anything close by.

    I'm too much on the nerve good thing im facing the ramp from the inside; if anyone or that gurrcat comes near they might lose a leg, arm or head. To bad I've been practicing with this for awhile now at least I'll hit what im aiming for, but bad for them again that my nerves are failing for the moment.

-----------------------
trp/pfc
-=Wraith Squad=-
Yoder/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/LoR
Master Swordsmen (RL)
Flatter me, and I won't believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I won't forget you.
-Me

Yillis was heading back to his room with names to give the gurrcat going through his head. Once he got into his room, he grabbed his pitch-black ARC amour out of the locker, and started suiting up...

Clipping his belt together, he went back to his locker and grabbed his DC-15 Blaster Rifle, and slung it over his shoulder. Reaching in for the last time into his locker, he grabbed twin Kylan-3 Heavy Blaster Pistols and holstered one per leg. Walking over to the mirror on his wall he looked at it, and said to himself, "Damn, you look fine," and quickly pulled a pistol from a holster and aimed it at himself in the mirror, said "You're lucky you're hot," and put the gun back.

Looking around the room for anything he may have missed, he didn't see anything, so he put his helmet on and started towards the briefing room. Hearing growls from inside the room, Yillis decided to look around for the cage he brought the Gurrcat in on. Finding it, Yillis grabbed some of Yoder's rations and placed the food at the far end of the cage. Opening the door to briefing room, and putting the cage at the entrance, he just waited for the Gurrcat to smell out the food and walk into the cage. It took a few minutes but the cat eventually found its way in. Closing the cage on it, Yillis started to take the cat out of the barracks and towards the hanger.

Having no trouble on the way down to the hanger, Yillis thought he wouldn't have any awkward questions about why he has a Gurrcat, or something like that. But of course as he entered the hanger, he saw a familiar shape walking around his ship in the hanger.

"Well hello there Fury, nice to see ya, sir."

Fury spoke, "Yillis. I've notice you have yourself a gurrcat there. Before you can try to explain yourself, I'm going to let you know I have no desire to know why, good luck on your mission."

Yillis had to suppress laughter, but he managed to get out a "Thank you, sir". As Fury was walking away he heard him mumbling to himself, with the distinct word "wraiths" made Yillis laugh out loud.

Yillis just made his way up the ramp and into the ship. Seeing Snipes already waiting for him, Snipes took him to one of the crew's cabins, and they let out the gurrcat in it.

"These are some pretty nice quarters you got on here, he should love it," Yillis said to Snipes.

"Did you think of any good names for it? I hate just calling it it"

"Haha, no. Oh wait, what about Fury. I just ran into him right outside, all he could say was "I don't want to know why you have a gurrcat."

"The honor! The pride! The confusion! I love it."

"Haha, awesome."


-----------------------
Corporal Yillis
-=Wraith Squad=-  -=ASL=-

ASL/CPL Yillis/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [WM] [GS]
Rep/GameRep Yillis/GameRep: 6/Gaming Division/VET /VE

Slipping a knife into his belt, he picked up two identical knives and placed them in his sleeves. You can never have too many knives. Smuggling had brought him many helpful tips, but that was one he had glazed over until recently. He had started tossing them around one day and found out how useful they actually were. They couldn't stand up to a blaster, but they sure had their uses. Flipping another into the air, he caught it between his middle and index fingers by the blade. He placed that knife in a sheath attached to his boot. Slinging his pack over his shoulder and grabbing his rifle, he set off toward the ship. He just hoped he had everything; a trip this long could really wear down on supplies. As he walked, he started whistling the tune to an old song he remembered from his smuggling days. A somber tune, but it fit his mood.

The hangar had an air of activity about it. Workers frantically rushed to refuel ships, pilots wandered aimlessly as their ships were prepared, crews were constantly coming in and out with things to ship and things being brought away from ships. The Daemons Hold-- or rather the Queen Tetra's Revenge by the new name Snipes had given it--sat lonely in the back, neglected except by one lonesome worker and the squad. The real surprise was the gurrcat prowling about outside the ship, a leash connecting it's thick neck to Snipes' wrist. Where it came from, Arnaut had no clue.

"Well, that's interesting. Lemme guess...he's coming along too?" Arnaut inquired, casting a sidelong glance at the giant feline. Snipes' face broke out in a grin.

"Why of course? Don't you know the practicalities of having a gurrcat on a dangerous mission?" Arnaut's flat stare told him he though not, but Snipes continued. "We named him Fury. Go ahead, he responds to it pretty well by now." If you can't beat them, join them.

"Alright, but you should know, me and cats don't get along very well. Hey Fury! Here...girl? Boy?" Snipes nodded. "Here boy! Come here. Come here, Fury!"

Suddenly the Grand General Fury was at his side, casting him a disapproving frown. Arnaut hadn't even known he was in the hangar at all. The gurrcat was still where it was when Arnaut had begun calling.

"You called, trooper?" Fury inquired, still frowning. Before Arnaut could respond Snipes interjected.

"Not you; we named the cat Fury," he said with a mischievous grin. Fury fixed Snipes with a disapproving stare before chuckling softly to himself and walking off. Arnaut thought he could hear some muttering too; once or twice he heard snatches of 'wraiths' or 'fools'.

"Well, are we all here yet?" Arnaut inquired after Fury had walked off. Taking a short head count, he decided they all were, and led them onto the ship. Fury, the gurrcat, was placed in his room and the squad moved into the lounge to await the long trip.

Moving into the cockpit with Yillis and Snipes, the ship was prepared to leave. Their departure was waiting on Arnaut's signal.

"Alright, Snipes, let's get this show on the road." Snipes nodded and with a shudder, the ship's engines came to life. Fifteen minutes later, they were staring at the vastness of space as they prepared to leave the Sian system. With the flick of a switch, the stars outside the window contorted and blurred as the ship entered hyperspace.

Arnaut left the cockpit to move to his cabin. They had a long trip ahead of them and he wanted to make the most of it.

Pulling out the holograms again from his pack, Arnaut studied the asteroid. It was an immense facility. Where they would begin, Arnaut had no idea. As he sat staring at it, he started to formulate a plan.

Roughly three hours later, Arnaut was shaken from his uneasy sleep. Apparently he had dozed off; the hologram still hovered on the bed before him. Wiping a little drool off his chin and switching the hologram off, Arnaut stood up to go see what had happened.

As stepped out into the hallway, Kanderin came rushing up to greet him.

"We've arrived. You have to see this."

Arnaut let himself be lead along by Kanderin until they reached the cockpit. Arnaut went inside to take a look for himself. The structure now loomed in their vision casting an ominous shadow over the ship.

"Comms are dead, sir. We have no radio contact," Yillis said as soon as he arrived. No surprise there.

"There seems to be power in only limited sections of the structure, the most concentrated right about...there" Yillis pointed at a small spire sticking up out of the mess of buildings that twinkled with lights. "The other two missing scout ships are docked there as well. It might do us well to check it out."

"Okay take us in," Arnaut said calmly, trying not to let his nervousness show. Well, here goes nothing.


-----------------------
Lance Corporal Arnaut
-=Wraith Squad=--=SL=-
SL/LCP Arnaut/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

"Please, don't touch anything," Arnaut warned. The hallway they had stepped into stretched on and on, into the depths of the asteroid, and all along the sides mechanical devices lay scattered, as if dropped randomly in a hurry. Tnepres backed away from a table muttering to himself under his breath. What did he find? It didn't matter much; Tnepres wasn't hurt. Arnaut raised his A280 rifle up ready to squeeze off a shot if need be. His black special operations stormtrooper armor gleemed dully in the unatural light given off by orbs attached to the wall down the length of the hall.

"Fan out, and be prepared. We have no idea what's in here." Slowly the squad spread out the width of the hall, which was about three meters long. And so they proceeded down the dusty hallway. When they came to a crossroads between two hallways, Arnaut bent down to examine the thick layer of dust on the ground. There were footprints, and relatively fresh.

"It looks like our missing crew went that-a-way," Arnaut said, pointing down the hallway to their right. "We need to get back to their ship and see what we can find out." Yillis and Snipes came over to inspect the footprints, nodding in turn. The squad marched on. If Arnaut was correct in where he assumed the other two ships were parked, then the dock should be just around the next...

The squad stepped around a corner and was greeted with carnage. What the... Blaster marks scorched the walls, seemingly at random judging from the fact they could be seen well up to the top of the wall and the ceiling. Bodies were strewn everywhere, hanging off railings, slumped against walls, giant blackened holes where torsos, faces, and limbs should have been. Cautiously the squad walked to the far end of the hall where a giant blast door stood, averting their eyes from the dead. The computer toward the side of the door--miraculously untouched--said that the dock was on the other side. Arnaut pressed the button and the doors slid open.

Arnaut didn't know how anything could've been worse than the hallway, but the dock was. Frayed was spluttered and sparked everywhere. Coolant tubes, charred metal, more bodies?the floor was covered in debris. The ships at the far end, the scout ships, didn't look spaceworthy. The two Tartan cruisers were almost unidentifiable. Giant holes were to be seen in the sides of both of them, with the innards well open to the stale air of the dock. The cockpit of one of them looked as if it had been blown off in an explosion, and Arnaut wasn't so sure that it hadn't.

"What in the name of the Empire happened here?" Yillis wondered aloud.

Hastily checking weapon charges again, they moved into the first, and less damaged of the two ships.

"Is anyone in here?" Arnaut called out, though he doubted anyone could've survived the devastation outside. They poked through the ship, looking for some clues as to what had happened.

Suddenly, from behind a pile of junk, a human form leaped out at him tackling him to the ground, clawing at his armor with dirty finger nails. Without thinking, a knife appeared in Arnaut's hand and went through the man's gut. He coughed, blood dripping down his lower lip, and crawled off Arnaut to lean against the bulkhead. He started to mutter to himself.

"Sir, you need medical attention, we can help you," Arnaut said slowly, rising off the ground. The muttering continued. Snipes gave Arnaut a tilted look as if to say "Why bother?" but Arnaut persisted.

"Sir," he repeated, "you need med--"

"Kill, kill, kill, must kill them all! They tried to kill me, they did! I killed them!" The man's voice started to rise, he started speaking faster. "I tried to kill them! But I couldn't kill them all. I can hear them! Can you hear!? Do you know what I'm hearing!? They torment me! Every moment, they're in my head, screaming and yelling! I can't take it! THEY'RE KILLING ME!!!"

By the end the man's voice was at a shrill scream, and so fast it made comprehension almost impossible. With one last agonized shriek, he lunged, teeth barred and blood gushing from his wound at Arnaut. Arnaut whipped his rifle to bear and fired. He wasn't the only one. Five other shots connected with the mans torso as Arnaut's bolt ran through his head. Now a smoldering wreck, the man crashed to the ground an inch from Arnaut's boot. Arnaut roughly pushed him over, removing his knife from the man's middle, and wiped off the blood on the man's shirt.

"Well, I don't think we're going to find many survivors here. We'd better find what we can and leave.

"W-what was wrong with him," Tnepres asked in a slightly wavering voice.

"I don't know," Arnaut answered truthfully. "I intend to find out though." They continued their search of the ship, not speaking to each other. What had happened to the man?

"Sir, I think I found something!" Came Snipes' voice down the metallic halls of the ship. Arnaut hurried over to his voice. Snipes was in the cockpit, Kanderin and Tnepres with him. From the sounds of boots, the other squad members weren't far behind. In front of them, a man's face hung, projected in midair talking.

"...arrived at 0820. Our communications were disabled; we have no clue why, but it must be something in the structure. The other ship is in the main hangar, from what we can tell. We're going to go in and check it out." Log files... The next one started.

"The hangar is a mess. The crew doesn't seem to be living; most of the bodies are concentrated in the hangar but just a few made it out. None of them made it past the first few hallways of the 'lab'. Whatever killed them, it killed them fast and when they were grouped together. Our doctor seems to believe the deaths came within just hours of each other. We're still investigating, but Johan keeps insisting we leave now. She doesn't think its safe. Most of the men laughed at her, but I have my doubts. No matter, we should be out soon."

"Johan started feeling sick today. Doc says he doesn't know what's wrong, but she's stable. We almost have the entire lab mapped, and are currently cataloging what we can find. There's some amazing stuff here; whoever created this lab must've been a technological genius. The entire asteroid has it's own hyperdrive system, though it seems to be destroyed for the most part now. Pity...a hyperdrive that big could've been useful. We plan to leave in the next few days so we can get Johan some proper medical care. She still insists we leave now, but so far we've found nothing that seems threatening except for her fever she has. Doc says it's just a fever, probably caused by the unfamiliar environment, and she should be fine soon." The log ended, leaving the wraiths slightly confused, but they continued watching as the next log appeared. The man looked slightly worried now.

"Johan's getting worse. She's ranting about seeing visions and terrible monsters. We have no clue what's wrong with her. Two days ago Haran also said he was feeling slightly ill. We haven't heard from him since. We're leaving tomorrow. Something is wrong. I can feel it now too. We have to get out. Some say there's a monster lurking in the halls. They're convinced it got Haran. Everyone is afraid to leave the hangar by themselves, and in groups only reluctantly. I don't think we have the proper equipment to fight off a creature." The log ended and a new one began. If the man had looked worried in the last one, he was downright panicked in the next.

"The creature! I saw it! It-it killed Jansen. I shot at it and it started bleeding, but it got away. Johan is dead too, along with Haran and two others. Their bodies were recovered this morning. I...I'm afraid. We're staying in the hangar the best we can, but four more men went missing today. Doc was one of them. We hear strange noises at night, see shapes running in the dark. We're all afraid. One of our men cracked under the stress and he...," the man started to whimper and his voice dropped to a whisper, "...he ruined our engines. We can't get out; there's no escape. It's going to come for us, and there's nothing we can do about it!" The squad exchanged uneasy glances as the last recording came on.

"We're dying...all of us. I can hear voices. Voices in my head. I had to kill the Doc today...he tried to kill me, so it wasn't murder, but..." the man trailed off as he looked down at his blood covered hands. "...I killed a man. Doc had been my friend. MY FRIEND! And now...now he's DEAD! He sided with that...that creature. It...it's coming for me. The creature. It lurks in the shadows waiting. There is no one left! I am the last!" The man started to scream. "I am the very last one! The LAST! Well, it shall not take me! IT WON'T! I won't let it kill me, like it killed the others!" Tears rolling down his cheeks, he reached down, pulling something off his belt. Raising a pistol to his head, he yelled one last defiance, unintelligible due to his sobbing, and pulled the trigger. The squad turned away as the vid ended. Apparently not the very last man alive, but close...

The squad sat staring at the empty space for a moment, too shocked to speak. A monster. This was a bit more interesting than Arnaut had first believed. They had fought monsters before, though. And if it could bleed, it could be killed.

"Alright, gather up. We're going monster hunting." Arnaut raised his rifle, and led the way out, the squad following behind.

"You don't seriously mean to hunt that thing, do you?" Tnepres asked, running up next to Arnaut.

"Why, Talstorin, it's what we do best," Arnaut said cheerily, with a grin hidden by his helmet.

"Consider yourself lucky! At least it's only one this time," Snipes called from the rear, resulting in a chuckle from the rest of the squad. Arnaut prayed it was only one.


(OOC: ATTENTION: We don't see the creature just yet. Please don't mention him in your posts. Please? You'll find out about the creature soon enough)


-----------------------
Lance Corporal Arnaut
-=Wraith Squad=--=SL=-
SL/LCP Arnaut/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

Talstorin followed the rest of the squad.  He was a bit intimidated, he had to admit, but not scared.  Stopping for a bit, he checked his weapons to make sure they were all accounted for.  Grabbing his electrostaff from his back, he activated it, the staff surged with red electricity.  Looking back up to catch up with the rest, he saw no one.  "Oh...you have got to be kidding me...."  He felt nervousness rush through him.  Perhaps it wasn't too late to catch up.  Running quickly forward down the halls, he couldn't find anyone.  Running faster, he tripped over something, falling heavily to the ground.  "Ow..." Talstorin frowned, getting up.  He looked down to see what had tripped him.  A dismembered arm.

Any hope Talstorin had of catching up was gone.  He was lost, alone, in an unfamiliar slaughter house.  "G-g-god..." He cursed heavily, kicking the wall with all his strength.  What was he going to do now?  The lights flickered, then went back to normal.  Talstorin's attention turned to the lights.  They were orbs, simple and yet this was the first time Talstorin noticed they weren't attached to anything.  Gravitating.  Whoever made these things in the lab and the lights must have felt gravitating orbs were important.  He felt his stomach move a bit.  This was bad.  He felt a chill run up his spine.  "What is this, why am i scared?"  Talstorin scolded himself for being such a baby.  He had gone through the worst, why was he scared now? 

Shaking off the fear, Talstorin continued walking.  He regained his calmness, he was no longer afraid.  Truth was, he still was afraid, he was just hiding it really well.  Spinning the electrostaff with his hand as he walked, he noticed the hallway seemed unusually long.  The bodies had stopped already, the corriders were now gore free.  "Heh, well at least i've gone farther than any crew got before." 

Talstorin reached a fork.  On both sides of him there was a door.  Hoping he would pick the same door his squad probably did minutes ago, he ran into the right one.  Little did he know, he couldn't have been more wrong.  It was lucky for him, the two paths would eventually coincide anyway.  Talstorin found himself in the middle of another lab.  This however, was more organized, there were notebooks everywhere.  Walking up to a desk, he flipped open a book and started reading.  It contained a whole bunch of junk he knew nothing about.  "Damn..." he frowned as he shut the book. 

At that moment, something hit Talstorin.  Why hadn't he thought of it before?  He was a comtech after all.  He crouched and took the omninode set from his back.  Making sure the radio frequency was the same with his squad, he then tried to speak through the radio.  He half expected the radios to be dead.  Much to his comfort, it worked.  A slight buzz from the radio greeted Talstorin.

"Arnaut?" he yelled over the comlink.  The radio had heavy static for a few seconds.  Finally, a voice came. 

"Tnepres? Where are you?" was what the familiar voice said.

"Not sure actually, I took a right at the fork after getting lost."

"Erm....We took the left.  We'll wait for you, hurry over.  The last thing we need is for the squad to get seperated."

"Yes,sir."  Talstorin headed for the door.  It was stuck.  "Erm...sir? We have a problem.  The door seems to be locked or stuck.  It isnt moving."

"Uhhh... Find another way out, we will too.  Keep talking every once in a while so we know we haven't lost you."

Talstorin nodded to himself and looked around. 

"Where are you?" asked Arnaut.

"Erm...I can't exactly say.  Looks like another lab, there are notebooks about medicines and anitviruses everywhere.  I'm assuming the lab is for medical purposes.  I mean- Whoa..."  Talstorin stopped talking as he noticed a huge claw on the table.  It was as big as his torsoe, it had talons extending.  It was severed though it still moved a little. 

"Tnepres! Are you still there...?"

"Yes, sir, I just found a big severed claw.  That's all..."

"Alright look, we can hear you from a certain place in the room, which means the rooms must be close.  Take the north door and keep - BUZZ"  He was cut off by heavy static.

"HELLO?" Talstorin yelled into comlink.  It went dead.  He cursed under his breath and continued through the north door.  He frowned.  There was a whole room with the orbs he saw in the lab earlier.  "Great...Just what i need, Sarahs all over the room..."  He looked around, the images were all the same.  He closed his eyes and then opened them, starting to look for a door.  He found one behind all the orbs.  Rushing towards it, he sighed, relieved.  He wasn't going to be alone soon.  Just as he was about to step out, he heard something.  No it couldn't be.  Could it? The orbs couldnt talk.  He pushed the thought aside but the sentence was repeated.

"Talstorin, I love you too..."


 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...



TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]

((OOC: o_o....*is speechless*... >>... wow am i stupid in the post))

Talstorin got up, brushed the dirt off his hands and followed Draken.  He took one last glance at the strange room.  There was evil in that room, he didnt know what it was, but he could sense it.  Something had came over him when he heard Sarah's voice.  There was no way he would've tried to run to that women on his own free will.  Or at least he thought.  Still, something in that room had taken part of his mind.  It was lucky Draken came. 

Talstorin followed Draken brainlessly, his mind still wondering how the orb was able to use Sarah's voice.  You know, for someone who claims he's over that selfish b****, you sure think about her alot.  He frowned at his own thought.  "I'm right... I'll just forget all about it.  Shaking his head, he stopped, almost crashing into Draken who stood in front of him.

"Why'd we stop?" asked Talstorin.  Draken sushed him with his right index finger and then gestured towards another door. 

"You hear that, kid?"

"No, Theres just silence..."

"Exactly, our squad was supposed to be waiting there...Get your weapon ready, in case..."

Talstorin nodded, gripping his electrostaff tightly.  Draken kicked down the door, looking around.  Nothing.  Talstorin looked around.  "Where are they?"  Draken shrugged.  He then pointed at the otherside.  There were blaster marks on the wall, blood had been sprayed all over the floor.  Fresh blood. 

"You think...It got them?"  Draken shook his head.  We wouldve seen their bodies.  My guess is there are more survivors, that or the squad encountered that thing and managed to escape after injuring it.

Talstorin nodded, following Draken as he proceeded.  Suddenly at the back of his head, he heard another voice.  "Talstorin..."  His eyes shot wide open.  Sarahs voice again...?  This place was giving him the creeps now.  It was like they were haunting him.  Talstorin spun around, aiming his blaster at random places.

"What's wrong kid?" Draken inquired.  Talstorin shook his head.

"Nothing..."  He said.  The lights went out.  Stunned for a second, Talstorin soon turned on the night vision on his helmet.  He saw Draken who used the light on his own helmet to see.  "What just happened, Draken?"

Draken shrugged.  "Lets get out quick."  Talstorin began to run but his body soon stopped cold.  Beneath his armor he felt a smooth hand sweep across his hand.  He looked around, panicking.  His legs wouldn't move, nor could his arms.  He felt a pair of lips on his for a breif moment.  Sarah?  No it couldnt be.  I'm wearing armor after all.  I- 

Talstorin fell to the floor, unconcious.  His body felt as cold as ice.



((OOC: if you guys make reference to sarah, i would read my bio first >> to not get details wrong))
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...



TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]

Tnepres grimaced.  "How quaint, they leave the two troopers who are the most injured to fend for themselves."  He sighed and slumped against the wall, waiting for Draken.  It was useless to help as it was obvious that Draken didnt want any.  Draken eventually stopped, his pain had subsided.  Talstorin looked at Draken.  "Hey Draken?"

"Yea..." answered the trooper, a bit pale.

"How long was I asleep for?"

"Like a day and a half?" answered Draken.  Talstorin eyes widened.

"What?!" exclaimed Talstorin.  Draken chuckled slightly, amused with Tastorin's gullibility.

"Calm down, I was just jokin', a couple of minutes thats all.  Comon, let's find our way out of here." Draken got up and just then, the lights went back on.  Talstorin looked up, a bit surprised though Draken didnt seem fazed.  He simply started walking towards the door, Talstorin dizzily followed, closely behind.

The metal door swung open, again an empty room.  No squad, no objects, no life.  There were just walls.  Talstorin bent down and ran his finger across the floor.  It was obvious this room was just used and yet it was empty.  Talstorin looked at Drakin, as if to say, "What's up with this room?"  Draken seemed to read his mind, answering right after the thought entered Talstorin's mind.

"There are hidden things in this room."  Talstorin mouth opened in a small " o " shape. 

"Oh..." Talstorin looked around.  There was nothing.  He walked up to a wall, kicking it.  Door quickly sprung open as droids poured in.  Cursing under his breath, Talstorin grabbed his pistol, retreating next to Draken.  The two were backed into a corner.  The droid open fired.

________________________________________________________


Talstorin sat down, exhausted.  Draken walked back into the room, patting Talstorin's shoulder.  "We did a good job, trooper.  It was a close one.  For a minute I thought we were goners."  Talstorin simply nodded, his eyes looking around the room.  They had barely survived.  It was only luck that they made it out alive.  Arnaut came back, throwing the two some water. 

"It was lucky we found you two on time," smiled the squad leader.  Talstorin stared at the floor, still shocked from what happened before.  Even worse, he still heard her.  Saying the same thing.  The same thing.  Over and over.  And over.  Over. Over. 
 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...



TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]

Talstorin sat there, restless.  He wasn't sleepy at all.  His turn to stand watch had already passed, and it was Yoder's and Draken's turn.  Perhaps it was a bad idea to wake sleeping people up and have them stand guard, as the pair were obviously sleepy.  At moments, Yoder would sway back and forth then suddenly collapse on the ground, getting up moments later, mumbling "I'm awake."  It was awfully cold in the room, Talstorin wondered why as there was no source of ventilation in the room.  This was going to be a long night.

Bang  Talstorin swung around, looking for the source of the noise.  Yoder turned too, though Draken was slumped against the wall, asleep.  Bang  Talstorin jumped.  Turning on his night vision, he realized what the sound was.  Snipes mumbled in his sleep, slamming the droid arm that was in his hand against the floor.  Talstorin chuckled a bit.  "Violent sleeper, huh?"

Talstorin's mood was lightened up by the event.  He was about to finally go to sleep when another Bang came.  He sighed, he wasn't going to deal with it all night.  Turning on his night vision once again, he realized Snipes hadn't moved at all.  The noise didn't come from him.  He suddenly heard faint scratching and hooting, though it faded away quickly.  "What the..."  He looked at the doorway.  It was then he could've swore he saw the leg of something.  Reaching out for another squad member, he found Yoder.

"Yoder..." he whispered while poking the trooper.  No use, he had fallen asleep too.

"I guess it's our turn up?" said a voice behind him.  He turned, finding Yillis up and awake.  Talstorin nodded. 

"Want me to wake up Snipes?" asked Talstorin.  Yillis shook his head. 

"If you knew Snipes like I did, you would know theres no chance in hell you'll wake him.  Besides, save him for later.  We won't have enough troopers do rotate much more times.  Get some sleep, it seems you'll have to do another nightwatch shift. I can handle this one on my own."

Talstorin frowned at the idea.  He was a bit worried about Yillis though he knew he didn't have to.  Going back to his spot, Talstorin made another attempt to sleep.  It wasn't long till he found himself in a dream.

Talstorin found himself in a small hut.  Fire was burning brightly in the fire place.  He was seated on the floor, which was covered by a lavish rug.  The furniture were rather expensive looking.  Talstorin recognized this place.  Tatooine.  For such a small hut, the furniture didn't seem to match as it was fit for nobles.  Well, at least it was warm.  He shifted closer to the fire place, dressed in only a long coat over peasant like clothing.  He looked for his weapons and realized they weren't with him.  Fearing the worse, he looked around and saw his weapons were laid out on the table. 

Talstorin made an attempt to get up and realized that his left leg numbed with pain as soon as he moved it.  He sat down again.  He had forgotten this was all a dream at the moment.  He sat down and snuggled near the fire place, a bit tired.


Yillis kept a constant watch, nothing escaped his eyes.  At one moment he heard loud scratching sounds but they faded away quickly.  It was lucky Yillis had gotten enough sleep to stay awake.  The attentive assistant squad leader kept his blaster ready, standing perfectly upright.  After the scratching, it was completely quiet.  Aside from the occasionnal banging of the droid arm, there were no noises during Yillis's shift.  Yillis looked at the time.  His shift was halfway done by now and he was doing good. 

  Talstorin quickly rose up to a sitting position when he heard footsteps.  Looking at a small doorway a figure came out.  A girl.  A girl with streaming long hair, clad in a normal modest dress came through the doorway.  She gave him a small sweet smile and sat on her knees in front of him.  Handing him a small bowl of hot soup, she watched him sip it.

"Thanks," he thanked her, returning her smile with a smile of his.  "It's delicious."

She nodded.  "Thanks, it was my grandmother's recipe.  I used to drink it all the time when I was little." 

He smiled and drank a bit more accidently spilling some on his clothes.  "Oh damn.  Got a tissue?"

She nodded, giggling a bit.  Getting up, she walks over to the table, her dress swayed gently with every step.  She returned taking a tissue from the stack in her hand and wiped his shirt.

"I could do it myself, you know..."

She ignored him, and finished wiping up.  She then took the empty bowl from his hand and got up.  "I'll be right back."  She walked back through the door way.  As Talstorin heard the sink started to run, he sighed happily.  She was truly a sight to behold.  This was the night he was going to tell her.  It was too bad it would mean he would have failed his job.  She came back again, smiling.  Again sitting down on, she looked at the fire place.

"Erm...So Sarah, erm...sorry to have troubled you."

She tilted her head slightly.  "What do you mean?"

"You know with my injured leg and everything."

She laughed.  "Oh it was nothing, I had to help.  You're very important to me."

He smiled, feeling good about himself.  His life hadn't been the easiest but lately it's been turning around.  Every moment with Sarah seemed to make living through his miserable life worth it.  She hadn't known yet, but she was the only person he ever opened up to.  She looked at him.  "Why the quietness all of a sudden?"

Yillis laid down back in his spot again.  Closing his eyes, he fell right to sleep.  Leth sighed, looking around.  "Well this was dull," he mumbled to himself.  "Where was that gurrcat anyway?"  BANG BANG BANG CRASH Leth jumped a bit, his eyes dashing around the room.  The squad was still sleeping.  Were they that asleep?  Or was it just him?  "It was just you," Leth reassured himself.  "You're just sleepy.  Shame on the squad for disturbing your beauty sleep."  He suddenly heard a loud growl.  "The hell...?"  The growl grew louder.  "It's just yourself, it's just yourself, it's just yourself."

Leth frowned as he saw wings go past the doorway.  He moved back.  "What the hell???"  Leth took a deep breath.  "THAT WAS DEFINATLY JUST YOU..."  he mumbled to himself.  The growl came back then faded.  "Oy, you're kidding me right?  How long do i have to stand here for?"


He held her hands in his.  They were so soft, angel-like almost.  Then again, she was an angel to him.  She was his savior.  Being near her made all his troubles go away. 

"Sarah, there's something I've been meaning to tell you..."

She listened intently.  "What is it? Is something wrong..?"

"No, no it's nothing of that sort," he reassured her.  "It's just....I..."

She tilted her head.  "Go on..."

He continued.  "I've been assigned to kill you all this time..."

She shrinked back, though her hand was still in his.  "What...?"  She looked fearful.  "Well...if it's your job, I won't get in the way, I know how much you need the money."  She edged closer to him, as if offering herself.

He shook his head.  "But I won't do it... You're just too special to me.  To kill such a beautiful being would be a bigger crime that anyone could commit."

She blushed, though she still retained her fearful look.

"No...I won't don't worry.  But because I can't, I'll have to leave this town to avoid getting caught."

She frowned.  "Just kill me, it would be easier..."

"NO...I would never.  I'll leave by sunset, I can use the money i earned to start a business or something.  What matters is that your safe."

"Well, you'll need supplies.  Here let me get you some."

"But...I wan't you to come with me"

She looked at him, confused.  "What?"

"We can run away, just the two of us.  We'll live in a big city with lots of friendly people.  That way, I'll never have to leave you."

She looked at him, even more confused.  And yet at the same time, she looked like she was starting to realize.  "What are you saying...?"

"I guess, I'm just trying to say...  I-I love you..."  He had such trouble gathering up the courage to say it, but once it had started, it came out of his mouth gracefully.  Confidently.

She frowned.  There was a long silence after that, leaving Talstorin confused.  She then quickly yanked her hands out of his hold, opened the door and ran out.  Confused, and broken, Talstorin just sat there, mostly cause his leg didn't allow him to, but somewhat because his spirit wouldn't allow him to.

Leth sighed with relief as he sat down, getting ready to go back to sleep.  Snipes yawned, walking to the front.  He stood up, humming.  Leth closed his eyes and lied down.  Snipes hummed the tune of "99 bottles of beer."  He had liked that song and sometimes, he would be a bit jealous, wishing he had that many bottles of beer. It was too bad they didn't let him carry alchohol to missions.  He never saw the reason.  A few bottles of liquor would obviously not have affected the preformance of the great Sniping 101.  They should've made a new rule to just let specifically him, bring alchohol to missions.  It would've made the night pass faster.  Such an uneventfull night.  Such a boring mission.  So what if some creature was killing people, Snipes was sure he could take it.  Though sometimes, he felt a bit of sympathy for the creature.  Murderous animals had feelings too.



Talstorin sat there for what seemed to be many hours.  His legged stopped hurting, though something inside still felt pain.  There was knock on the door. 

"Hello, Yalmic, you in there?"

Talstorin cursed under his breath.  It was his employer.  Sarah had told him where Talstorin was.  Getting up, he quickly ran for the back door.

"I can hear you, there's no use in running, open up." 

Talstorin looked around.  "Where was that f***ing door????!!!"  He heard the door open.  Sarah had opened it.  Talstorin found the back entrance and ran out.  His legs wouldnt carry him far though.  He found himself hiding on the roof of the house as mercenaries poured through the house.  Sarah stood outside, looking a bit distraught.  The burly man nudged Sarah.  "If we don't find him, I'm keeping you as a consalation prize."  He chuckled. 

She backed away but the man held her arm tightly.  Talstorin frowned.  He had to help her.  Even if she just betrayed him, it wasn't that easy to wipe away feelings for her.  He jumped down behind the man, bringing a knife to his gut.  The man yelled out in pain, the bounty hunters all turned towards Talstorin.  Pushing Sarah into the shadows to hide her, he then hid behind the man.  Keeping him as a shield.  It was a good shield.  Not only was the man several times bigger than Talstorin was, the bounty hunters were afraid to kill their employer.  He had this won.  Well, he would have.  Talstorin felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.  He fell forward, onto the sand.  Behind him, Sarah sadly looked at him, a club in her hand.

Snipes hummed, seated on the floor, tracing shapes on the floor with his finger.  A sound suddenly came to his ears.  It was strange, like a woman crying.  The sound grew louder, though Snipes didn't seem intimidated.  "Quiet down willya?  Can't a guy kill time with peace???" He yelled out.  The squad still slept.  Snipes shook his head.  Creatures these days, they were all selfish.  Snipes yawned and smiled as he thought about his gurrcat.  Fury was a nice name.  Yeah.  Another cry came.  Snipes didn't mind though.



Talstorin sighed sadly, looking at the sunset.  It was the next morning.  He was ready to start a new life.  Sarah had betrayed him, but he still had himself.  Never again would he trust someone so much.  Never again would he hold someone close so dear.  He was the next level of a murderer now.  When he had awoke, he managed to escape, killing his employer and six others in the process.  He frowned, for once he felt guilty for killing.  It was ironic, as he used to kill people had never knew.  And yet he felt most guilty for killing someone who had done wrong to him.  But then again, his employer never really did do Talstorin wrong.  "It was all me& It was all my fault." He convinced himself.  None of it was Sarah's.  No.  It was his own actions that lead to this.  He just kept repeating that in his head.  Sarah was still an angel to him.  How pathetic he was.



Snipes yawned.  His shift was over.  Time for his beauty sleep.  Snipes tapped Arnaut on the shoulder.  Arnaut awoke with a mumble and then nodded, realizing it was his shift again.  Arnaut went to get Tnepres.  "Hm&?  That's strange," he said to himself.  Tnepres wasn't where he was before.  Arnaut looked around the room.  He found Tnepres curled up in the back of the room, as if having a nightmare.  He shook his head.  "New recruits these days.  Arnaut walked up to Tnepres, and tapped him.  "Wake up sleepy head."




Talstorin looked at big ship.  It was the next one to leave, and it was his ticket off this horrible planet.  He took a step forward, closing his eyes as he did.  This had all been a bad experience to him.  A bad, bad, bad experience.  He couldn't wait to get off this planet.  Then, he would be able to start a new life.  Maybe there he would someone he could trust.  No.  There was no one.  The world was full of people waiting to do you wrong.  No.  There was still hope, he shouldn't been so grim.  Talstorin was utterly confused.  He was arguing with himself again.  He took another step.

"Will you be alright?" asked a meek voice behind him. 

Without turning back, he answered.  "Not that you would care, but yes.  I'll be fine.  Don't worry, I've gone through a lot.  Don't worry about me.  It's you I'm worried about."

"Hmph, I can take care of myself too ya'know."  The voice sounded a bit fustrated.  "You know, you don't have to be so mean to your friends."

"I didn't know we were still friends," he said in a low voice.  He took another step, but he heard footsteps behind him.  "One question& why do you tail me?  No matter what's happening, even when I tell you not to, you're always there."

There was a long silence before the answer came.  "Because it's fun&"

Talstorin felt his heart sank again.  "I see& well take care.  I'll be leaving now.  Have a nice life."  He walked towards the ship, seemingly emotionless.  He heard a few footsteps behind him again.  He stopped, a bit irritated.  "What&?"

There was a small tap on his back.  He turned around, and looked down.  She spoke.  "That was a lousy goodbye."

He sighed.  "Deal with it, life has a lot of lousy things."  He glared at her.  She looked down sadly, as if ashamed.  Then, she got up on her toes and pecked his lips.  He sighed, already feeling his coldness melt away.  He turned around.  "Have a nice life&

Princess."



"WAKE UP! GEEZ"
Talstorin jumped up, eyes wide open, his armor feeling uncomfterble after the dream.  Arnaut shook his head.  "It's our shift again.  It's almost day, come on.  You've had enough sleep."  Talstorin got up and walked to the front.  He looked around.  He had forgotten his dream already. 

Arnaut seemed a bit tired still, yet he was as attentive as ever.  Talstorin, for once, was alert as well.  His mind was clearer now.  Suddenly a loud clang came.  It sounded like a fusion cutter though the pair knew it wasn't. 

"Stick by me," said Arnaut as he looked further into the darkness.  Talstorin turned on his night vision.  Nothing.  "Perhaps it was just the echo&" said Arnaut.  Calming back down.  Another sound came.  A loud snore.  Arnaut chuckled.  Looks like Snipes happy in his sleep. 

Daylight came soon, the squad woke up.  After stretching and chatting a bit, the squad was ready to go again.  "Come on, we have a beast to hunt.'  Arnaut grinned as he talked, gesturing with his hand.  The squad followed him with pride.  It had been a tough night but they made it through.



 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...



TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]

Arnaut backed away, his hands tense on his rifle. What the... Whatever--whoever--that had been was dead now. Slowly, ever so slowly, Arnaut released his grip on his rifle.

"You okay, Kanderin?" Arnaut asked tiredly. He nodded and started pushing himself shakily back to his feet, leaning on the wall for support. Snipes was still silently fuming, but not quite as much as before.

The squad moved on down the hall, at a slightly slower speed now. No more mistakes. They wandered for what seemed to be hours down the hallways. Arnaut began to grow weary. Throughout the trek, he though he caught glimpses of things out of the corner. Only when he turned, there was nothing there, exactly like the night before. His legs grew leaden, his arms dragging, his eyelids heavy. Finally, when he could take no more, he ordered a rest break.

Arnaut searched through his pack, pulling out a ration pack, and started to munch on it thoughtfully. The rest of the squad was either doing the same or inspecting the small gear that was, like in every other corridor, spread randomly across the floor. The people who made this place sure had a lot of extra gear to have just thrown it on the ground. Something's not right. Arnaut looked around. Something wasn't right and yet...he couldn't put his finger on it. He stood studying when suddenly...

"Where's Yillis!?" Snipes cried, jumping up from where he had been lounging on the wall. Arnaut jumped up, not a second after, already shouting commands. Where was Yillis?

The squad was in frenzy as items were roughly tossed back into packs, rifles were armed, and helmets secured. In a matter of moments, the lounging squad was up on its feet and prepared. Seconds later, the hallway sat stiller than death.

Arnaut and the squad hurried back through the catacombs of hallways. Unlike when Tnepres became lost, Yillis could've been gone for hours. And none of the squad had even noticed. Not for the first time Arnaut cursed his own stupidity. How could he have let Yillis slip off like that?

Fifteen minutes later the squad, breathing heavily, finally stumbled upon Yillis not too far back from where they had started. As they entered the room he was occupying, he looked up at them quizzically.

"It's about time you guys showed up," he said coolly, dropping the component he had been studying back onto the desk. It appeared to be a canister of sorts, made of gray metal. Arnaut pushed it from his head.

"What have you been doing in here!?" He roared, his own ferocity surprising even himself. He didn't let that stop him though. "You could've been killed! Or worse, taken by the monster! You didn't even think tell us that you were staying behind?"

"You were the one that didn't even notice me until probably just a few minutes ago! You were the ones who left me behind, lost and not knowing where to go! Don't blame this on me," Yillis said, equally as mad. Arnaut simply glared, hidden behind his helmet. Yillis was right. Or at least, mostly right. Arnaut sagged, suddenly realizing what he had been doing. How did I let myself get so angry? I'm never that angry! He looked back at Yillis, who was similarly deep in thought, staring at the desk in front of him. How did we both get that angry?

"Well...at least you're alive," Arnaut said, suddenly feeling bone-weary. Yillis simply nodded, still staring at the desk.

"C'mon, let's move out. We have ground to cover today."

The squad moved out, no one staring at Arnaut or Yillis for more than a second. Arnaut was still wondering to himself as they strode through the deserted halls. None of the squad noticed the pair of eyes following them at a distance.

***

Arnaut was still awake. The squad had already gone to sleep, with the exception of Tnepres and Yoder on guard duty, all except Arnaut. He could hear them. He wasn't quite sure who 'them' was, but he was sure they were out there. Waiting. Always waiting. In spite of himself, he chuckled. He was supposed to be the fearless leader of the prestigious Wraith squad, but all he could think of were random jumbled thoughts and things he couldn't see. Wrapping the sleeping bag around him tighter, he laughed again. Fearless indeed...

Something started scratching, out in the shadows beyond the dim light of their glowlamps.. The one thing Arnaut hated about this place the most was the way the lights went out at 'night'. Stuff like this happened, with no proper lighting. Things would make odd noises, just out of range of their meager light. It irked Arnaut to no end. Picking up a small piece of metal scrap lying next to him, he let it fly. The scratching momentarily stopped, only to continue a few feet from where it had started. Tnepres let out a groan from where he sat on an overturned crate.

"Will it never cease?" He called out to no one in particular.

"You can hear it too, Talstorin?" Arnaut asked, sitting up. This was the first time any two people had heard the same noise at the same time.

"Yeah, so wha..." Tnepres stopped as slow realization dawned on is face. They both turned back to the edge of the light, where a faint shape could be seen moving. Both raised their rifles at once, followed shortly thereafter by Yoder who had moved over to help them. Something pale and bony stretched out into the arc of light. A hand, Arnaut realized. Grips tensed on rifles.  The hand was followed shortly by an arm, and then a torso, revealing a man equally as bony as the hand. As he moved into the light, he winced as if the light hurt his eyes. Arnaut wasn't so sure that it didn't.

The man was a wreck, as could be seen from his torn up flight suit and disheveled hair. His cheeks were sunken in making his cheekbones seem higher. He looked as if he hadn't eaten in days. His hands were gnarled, his boots worn through. The only thing that actually seemed alive about him were his eyes which twinkled maliciously in the light

"Who are you? How'd you get here?" Arnaut asked gruffly. If the man seemed surprised by the group, he didn't show it.

"My name is Davrim Tharn," he replied simply. "I was a spacer, wanted to see the stars. And then I got lost on this forsaken asteroid." He indicated toward the ominous walls of the hallway that rose up on both sides of them. " I know this place quite well, now, though. You seem to be my onlt hope out of this place. I wish to travel with you."


-----------------------
Lance Corporal Arnaut
-=Wraith Squad=--=SL=-
SL/LCP Arnaut/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"