"All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are." Principles of War by Karl Von Clausewitz

"Run the tests again." The datapad went flying from his hand and collided with the chest of a startled MedTech. Staff Scientist Jym Nezit was sick. He was sick of living on a platform on the edge of nowhere staring into the heart of a sun. Observation Platform 86-Alpha had been built over forty years ago based on the paper trail he had inherited. During that time it's ownership had changed hands several times. Yet for the life of him Nezit had no idea why anyone would want to spend a day on OP 86-A. The five years, six months, and twelve days he had been assigned to lead Epsilon team had started to seem like a prison sentence rather than a duty station.

Epsilon had been hand picked from the Vast Empire's best scientist, then plopped on OP-86A with an indirect mandate and not even a second glance from High Command.                   

Nezit had joined the science corps to advance technology for the citizens of the Vast Empire that he had grown up in. Instead he found that science in the military was all about weapons, finding new more inventive ways of destroying other people. He had also become a watered down intelligence officer, using technology to break in and gather information from other groups.

He leaned against the large transperiglass viewport in his office and let out a long breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. The Aneif system wasn't known for much. It had no inhabitable planets and gas balls parading around as moons. The one redeeming quality for the middle of no-where place was the yellow dwarf currently taking up the majority of the view before him. The sun looked like any other he had seen, but the readings the platform collected told a different story. The theory was that with the right experimentation, the solar flares could be harnessed and used as a weapon.

The most amusing thing to Nezit was that his specialty was in genetics not space science. He had to rely heavily on his team to create and execute experiments on the giant Aneif sun, while he longed for some species to understand at the deoxyribonucleic acid level.

beep, beep

Nezit frowned. The last incoming message had been high command informing him that they had delayed sending a relief team for the second time. His crew was almost two years overdue in going home, seeing their families, touching solid ground. He could see it in their eyes, the space was getting to them.

He sighed as his finger apathetically pressed the comm button, which caused his screen to instantly erupt in static.

"Nezzzzit, is that what they call you?"

The image was not from high command. Instead it was a man covered in sweat, dark reddish circles surrounded his sunken eyes.

"Yes." His voice reflected the insecurity he had about what he was seeing. "I'm Staff Scientist Jym Nezit, who are you?"

He coughed. "No time, need to...board."

Nezit punched up a display on his datapad. "Yes I see you, come into docking bay Z35 and I'll send a medical team for you and your crew."

---~~~---

"See right here ma'am, we show evidence of a transport vessel with no known markings docking with OP-86A then nothing. The whole platform goes dark and its been like that for six weeks now."

Captain Ayme Katash rubbed her chin as she examined the display. "And three weeks ago we sent in that team to relieve the crew, what was their designation again?"

"Zeta ma'am."

"Right Zeta, and they've not checked in or anything yet?"

The deck officer shook his head. "No ma'am. We did get a garbled message, mostly static but it came from the platform, after that nothing. Its has if the whole platform isn't even there, all the computer systems must be off. There are only a few scenarios that would end up playing out that way, and none of them would be good."

"Why the hell didn't anyone know about this sooner?" Havock started to pace.

"Well Captain, the platform wasn't in a strategic location and its primary mandate had to do with long term research on sun spot activity."

She snorted. "So the lives of a thousand people are insignificant due to their current job posting? Remind me to kick high command in the nuts if they even think about forgetting where they sent even one of my squads." She sighed, getting a grip on her desire to punch people of higher rank that she was. "Send out a call to the squad leaders, I want them at Fort Sexton in two days ready to be briefed and move out."

"Which squads ma'am?"

"All of them."

---~~~---

Getting large transports on short notice was asking for trouble. The beat up sentinel-class shuttle was cramped and smelled of three day old gronk eggs. Havock stood with her arms crossed towards the back of the cockpit.

The squads had not been pleased by their mission, but Havock gave them a few new toys to play with out of the Phoenix armory. Their objective was easy for now. Board the platform and determine what the frack happened to everyone. It sounded so simple, and that fact alone gave the Captain an uneasy feeling.

The shuttle shook as it decelerated out of hyperspace. "There she is Captain."

Havock leaned forward and took in the darkened Observation Platform 86-Alpha which was dwarfed by the massive sun just beyond it. The platform drifted lifelessly in space like a body floating in golden water.

"Get us in the hanger."

She turned and headed back into the crew area. The squads were in various stages of consciousness as they mingled or slept spread out amongst the seats. "Rise and shine asswipes. We will be on the platform in fifteen, get your gear sorted."

---~~~---

Havock jumped off the landing ramp to the hanger. The stillness around her prompted her to release one of her pistols from its holster. Her eyes gazed through her HUD looking desperately for some sign of life and finding none. The whole situation had her feeling like a lost traveler who stumbled into the mouth of a starving but psychopathically patient beast.

The rest of the squads had filed out and broken off into groups to fan out and search the hanger, when suddenly several muted alarms started to go off. Havock grabbed her helmet and yanked it off to stop the annoying beeping. "What the frack?"

"The suits are overheating."

Havock raised an eyebrow at Karash, the RAIDERS medic, then moved past the annoyance she was feeling to truly take in the stiffling heat they were experiencing on the platform. "Why is it so damn hot?"

"Besides me? Oh and that, yanno, giant effing Sun on the doorstep?" Jaenna shook her head and patted Havock's shoulder.

"Funny." She grabbed her comlink since there was no way she would put her helmet back on in the heat being radiated off every surface. "Garryll, Joamer, Skarr, Snipes, get your asses over here."

They all complied, although Snipes seemed to be more pushed in her direction by Brightstar than actually moving towards her of his own volition. "First of all I want to know why the hell its so damn hot."

Skarr shrugged. "Probably an issue with the regulators, those systems should be controlled by the computer systems."

"Well we already knew the computers were fracked so that's a good place to start, Skarr take Eclipse to the air filtration regulators and make sure they aren't furballed. Snipes, take Jester to the computer control room and see if you can get the computer systems back online. Got it?"

They nodded. "Okay move out."

"You two. Joamer you and I are going up to the command center, we need to access the logs and find out if the team leads did their job and kept them up to date. Garryll, I get a really bad feeling so, you'll like this, find the armory and requisition us some back up weapons. Just to be productive also see if you can find some security logs, if things went bad here there should be some note of it there."

Havock checked her DT-57 pistols. "Alright lets go."

OOC:

Eclipse:

This is the same post on all threads, no you're not seeing quadruple. Your specific objective is

Quote:"Skarr take Eclipse to the air filtration regulators and make sure they aren't furballed."

You may encounter members of the crew, they were all human and/or common VE species (check the academy boards if you need a refresher on what species that would be) but we shall say mostly human. You will NOT find more than 9 (and I would recommend the fewer and more developed the better). Everyone you find will seem ill and confused, but remember we are all in a sweatbox so this won't seem THAT out of place to you at first.

For questions about the story PLEASE use this topic:http://comnet.imperialnetwork.com/topic/15333/ I love you all but I don't want to promise that I'll read everyones squad topic searching for questions. So please all questions there.

Specialized weapons claimed:

• FC1 Flechette Rifle  (Ion)
• BLR-06 Hadra MRL (Multiple Rocket Launcher)  (Skarr)

As always let SL's or ASL's post first please, Carry on.

‘Silence is golden, Ignorance bliss - better off not asking what you would rather forget.’ That sentence was something that his parents taught him growing up. That sentence ran through his head as he walked down the corridor. Rawr thought about it as he gazed around the room – not looking where he was going. Industrial and dark, the hallway made his very cautious. Every few meters sat a slightly functional lighting fixture. It looked as if someone had taken a bat to the lights and smashed them all to hell.

Blaster rifle in hand, Rawr walked down the hall. He was nervous due to the lack on intelligence on the mission. All he knew was the direct objective ahead of them. Eclipse was to head to Engineering, which was all Rawr had heard. This station made him uneasy; he was not paying too much attention to the chatter of the Imperial personnel. 

“This sucks,” Zippy had just said, for the second time. The words actually seemed humorous the second time Rawr heard them.

The Squad kept walking down the corridor. Some of the areas had dimmed, or damaged, lighting. It had an eerie feeling.

“This place is entirely too hot.” Kaynine stated.

“The humidity is what’s bugging me. That damp feeling is horrible.” Rawr replied, thinking back to his days in Selke – a place of rather high humidity.

“How could they work here, the heat would make me sick.” Ion said, looking around the room.

On his belt, Rawr carried equipment for Computer systems. His field slicing kit had arrived just prior to deployment. While it made a great addition to his SCOPE gear, his Specialty specific gear did not seem to sit right over his standard gear. Specifically, his grenades did not sit right. The rattling noise they made on the belt annoyed the hell out of him. Four of them total, two of each type. The EMP and Frag grenades were smacking on his armor, that sound has the capability to drive him nuts.

“Anyone have any Duct tape? These things are pissing me off.”

“I hear they stop rattling if you pull the pin.” Zippy joked; the squad got a nice laugh out of it.

The squad came to a four-way intersection of the corridor. Straight would take them towards Engineering. Left or right would take them down darker corridors. They stopped for a moment to see if anything was down the hallways. More importantly, they looked to see if there were any people down those ways. Down the left corridor, there was a single sound. The only sound in the entire area of the Platform they had gone through so far. A hissing sound coming from a series of pipes, or at least that was what it appeared from a distance.

“Coolant leak.” Rawr said.

“Pardon?” Skarr asked and confused as to what Rawr was talking about.

“The hissing sound made me think of it. What if the Platform’s Climate Control isn’t functional due to a coolant leak?”

“Then it’d be best not to breathe it in, I hear that shit can screw with you. It can do anything from make you dizzy, or mess with your heart.”

“What are the chance that’s all that is wrong - a leaky pipe?” KayNine asked.

“Well, if we get any readings of toxins in the air make sure to switch on your air filters. “ Skarr stated as he looked down the right corridor.

“All this place is missing is some creepy music.” Balac whispered.

Whoever said or even thought that the Army was a means to travel around the galaxy and see all sorts of exotic worlds and such was nothing but one humongous idiot. That is the traveling part was true enough for the most part. The exotic worlds also occurred every now and then, though most often than not they were dangerous as all hell - as if possessing a will of their own and just waiting to kill anyone who tried setting foot on their surface. Stupid worlds...

But that wasn't all though. Not only pretty much all Army destinations were dangerous, but the means used to travel to those destinations - now those were enough to make most civilized species cry. Small, cramped up spaces. Strange and often enough quite offensive smells and odors thanks either to the other passengers or the ships themselves. Many times the ships in question also turned out to be nothing more than flying deathtraps with rusty parts and ominous rattling coming from gods only knows where.

This particular ride wasn't very much different either and as such Kyra couldn't help but absolutely and one hundred percent hate every single minute she was forced to spend there. Thankfully the lull of the hyperdrive engines as well as the monotonous chatter around managed to almost put her to sleep. That is she wasn't fully asleep but she was no longer fully awake either. It was the best sensation ever, leaving reality behind and just staying in the nice limbo state her mind created just for her.

"Rise and shine asswipes", the female in charge suddenly hollered causing the chatter to end and Kyra and a few others to wake. The Onderonian female already didn't like the bitch pulling everyone else's strings. What was wrong with a proper wake up call such as "Wacky, wacky everyone"? Riiiight, maybe not that mushy after all. Still, a neutral "Rise and shine" would still have sufficed. No need to add any useless elements afterward. She needs to get laid, the woman concluded as she slowly began rubbing her stiff neck.

And to think I was this freakin' close to miss out on this great adventure, Kyra sarcastically thought as a deep - very deep - sigh escaped her lips. Indeed, she was in fact waiting for a transport in one of Tadath's spaceports, her destination someplace nice and relaxing... But did she catch that transport? Did she end up traveling in style? Did she end up checking in one of the nicest hotels? Did she enjoy eating, drinking and shopping awesome new things? The answer to all those questions was of course the same: no, no, no and again freaking NO! And why? Because just as she was about to board her own ride the bastard at the counter notified her that she was in fact being called back.

Of all the rotten luck, she cursed as she prepared to at least leave the damn shuttle behind her. But that didn't really make her any happier either. She was only on that station in the middle of nowhere for two or so minutes and already she wanted to leave that too as soon as possible. The whole place was just one big sauna... without any of the actual luxuries usually associated with such a place. I must've really screwed over some nasty deity, the woman again concluded and seriously tried to remember if she did anything bad lately that would warrant such terrible karma.

"Well, this is rather homey", Skarr announced causing Kyra's eyebrow to twitch... repeatedly. Here she was dragging her feat and roasting in the damn armor, yet her squad leader was in the mood for jokes? Well sure, why not, she could play along for the time being. Not like she had anything better to do. "Yes, I really miss hell right about now. The heat, the dryness... Only need some tar baths and I'll feel complete."

"This sucks", Zippy finally realized as well and KayNine barely stopped herself from uttering a sarcastic You think? Seriously? The fellow wasn't to blame for the shitty situation they were in though. No point as such in taking out on him. Then again stay in the damn station-turned-oven long enough and Kyra wondered whether her self control would remain as intact... Probably not.

"I hear they stop rattling if you pull the pin", Zippy joked once again and everyone laughed... except KayNine. It wasn't that she didn't think it was funny. No, she agreed it was rather humorous as a matter of fact. The reason she kept silent however was because she was seriously considering using some grenades to blow the damn station up. Well, obviously hand held grenades wouldn't be enough for the job but the idea itself wasn't that bad though.

If the station would be just about ready to blow up then everyone would have no choice but to get the hell out, cutting the mission short and allowing everyone to get back to what they originally planned. For the Onderonian bitch that was a pretty beach on some planet, with lots and lots of drinks coming around. And to think the only thing standing in her way was this damn station... Her eyes narrowed as she started thinking of what she could use to turn it into rust floating through space...

"Heh. That'd be true. Could be worse right? Could be like getting surrounded like some of our other missions huh?" KayNine once more took notice of the squad chatter around her. Why the blazes was Zippy trying to find a silver lining in their current situation anyway? And why the hell was he trying to also present an example of how things could get worse? That was the same as inviting trouble to come, as Skarr also pointed out shortly afterward. Sheeesh, these people needed to be more mindful of millennia old superstitions. There was a reason folks kept bringing them up again and again and again even as years, decades and centuries passed by...

"Then it’d be best not to breathe it in, I hear that shit can screw with you. It can do anything from make you dizzy, or mess with your heart", Skarr informed the rest of the squad. Dizzy? The thing could make them dizzy? Well she was already dizzy... sort of anyway. She figured it was the damn heat but what if it wasn't though? What if she just breathed some weird crap that was now inside her system, wreaking havoc? Also, mess with the heart? How exactly? Would it be treatable afterward?

These were all questions the trooper thought about asking but that she kept silent about in the end. Instead she just turned on her filters just to be on the safe side. Maybe it wasn't too late for her after all. And if it was then by all the gods, demons and other entities across the galaxy she would have her vengeance! On the squad, the Army, the station... on anything and anyone involved with her being there.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet now? How 'bout now? Are we there now? These were some of the questions running through Kyra's head as she kept on walking. All she did since she left that shuttle was walk. Walk, walk and hey wouldn't you know it walk some more after that. It wasn't that the distance itself was that big but in that heat and silence it sure felt like they've walked for a few hours already. Granted, KayNine knew better but still she couldn't help but feel that way. So she parted her lips and asked the question that most bugged her right now. Hopefully someone else would know just how much longer till those filtration regulator thingies.

“So, umm, I seen a holohorror like this recently. They didn’t make it,” Ion remarked. Skarr looked back at him, astounded. He was not sure if the Lance Corporal was joking or dead serious. How could he think to make a joke like that at this time. Sure, they were all in the joking mood, except for KayNine, of course. But whatever way Ion meant it...

“Gahdammit, what are you thinking?” KayNine blurted out. She was obviously not pleased with the jokes, which Skarr found a little confusing. The obvious way to deal with a tense situation was humor, wasn’t it? It was how Skarr dealt and from what he knew of most of the rest of the squad, they did not mind putting up with it. But KayNine continued to be a mystery to him. The squad leader could not decide whether to hate her or like her. He felt like Eclipse was his family, but what about her? He decided to figure that out later, he had to address Ion’s comment one way or another.

“For that one, Lance Corporal, you can go to the back of the group and watch our six. It’s always the person in the back that goes first,” Skarr ordered tersely. The joke did scare him a bit though. It was the damn station. And Ion’s comment had brought to mind many different holohorrors, especially Xenomorphs. A station goes dark and who did the owners of the station send? A squad of marines, that was who. Once there, they found absolutely nothing until the things started crawling out of the damn walls. Barely any of the soldiers made it out alive.

It was then that Zippy decided a new joke, “Or they get attacked from the front. Some monsters swarm the smaller group.” The squad groaned a bit, and Skarr could have sworn he seen Anival back up a little from his position at the front. This was getting too much. The enemy they faced now was their own fear, when they should have only an ally, determination. This would not do. The worst enemy to face was oneself, but then again, there were no other enemies on the station. At least that they knew of.

“New tactic, Zippy and Ion, shut the frak up. We’re going silent now. Time to face our own demons.” Skarr said. He did not know why he said the last part. Maybe there was more to this station and scary atmosphere than he knew. The station had shown signs of abuse and destruction. Broken light panels, burned out activation studs, and doors welded shut or barricaded. Skarr could not decide the significance of this, but he knew one thing, whatever had happened, it was bad.

When they reached the stairs they found the door jammed open, there was a thick durasteel pipe wedged into the opening.

“Easily now,” Skarr cautioned as Anival bent down first and scanned the stairwell.

“Clear,” the Senior Sergeant called back. The squad squeezed their way into the stairwell one at a time. Skarr looked around for a brief moment and caught site of something he considered most interesting. There was carbon scoring all over the walls in here. A fight had occurred here. A nasty one too, it seemed from all the scoring. But there were no signs of blood, bodies, or anything else. How very strange indeed. Skarr could tell that Eclipse had noticed as well, but keeping true to orders, they did remark on this. The young man took a deep breath before motioning Anival to keep going. He sent Jamasis down the stairwell next, the two of the could handle whatever came their way. Skarr had read both of their service records, they had served together multiple times.

Skarr decided to go down the stairs behind the two troopers, motioning Balac and KayNine down after him. Next came, Rawr and Zippy, with Ion taking the rear as told. “Take it easy squad, we’ve got a long way to go, don’t tire yourselves out.” They all confirmed with a click of their comms.

A few minutes passed, and Anival called out, “I found something!”

OOC:

Decided to throw some CD in there about Skarr's thoughts on KayNine. Threw in a reference to Aliens, because it's one of my favorite movies, some further stuff on the story, and a cliffhanger. The item can be what you want, so long as it can trace back to a member of Zeta Squad. A piece of armor or a blaster maybe. The order for silence stands, unless the characters really need something to say. I want to see more description and CD than dialogue right now.

That damned hissing sound; the corridors were silent enough that that hiss could be heard all across the corridors. In isolation that sound would be enough to drive someone insane. All that this station needed was puddles of water, flickering lights, and maybe a faulty heating unit to make some ambient sound.

Scratch that last one, we already got it. Rawr thought to himself.

The more that Eclipse went down the hallway, the more miserable it got. It never seemed to end, unbearable heat and humidity. However, his thoughts should not have been focused on the heat; there were many more important things to worry about – like getting the climate control systems back online.

Where are all the people? He continued to think. This station was supposed to have an adequate staffing, and yet no one could be seen here whatsoever. It was strange, very strange - it puzzled him.

“I saw a holohorror like this recently. They didn’t make it.” Ion stated, it seemed like a joke.

The squad reacted strangely to that remark. KayNine especially did not like it, to Rawr she seemed touchy, and her attitude seemed to have the ability to change at any moment. In the end, that did not really matter to him much. She seemed like someone who would do her job. Rawr had grown to trust the members of Eclipse; they had been though a lot together.

The squad approached the stairwell, and after a witty comment from their Leader, it was time to go down. Many groups of two was how the squad proceeded downward. Down a spiraling industrial staircase, it scared the hell out of Rawr.

“Heights again, great.” Rawr called out, the squad thought it was a joke. Skarr knew it was not – heights scared the shit out of Rawr. He never could handle them well, and it seemed more and more that the missions he went on dealt with heights.

He had forgotten to take his medication, heights made him nauseous. It was not in a way that he may vomit or anything, but the dizziness reached havoc on his ability to function. The galaxy had everything, but not a way to ensure that people took their medication in a timely manner. If there had been brighter lights, the squad would be able to see all the way to the top and bottom of the stairwell. Of course, that would have made things a lot worse for Rawr, seeing and knowing of heights are two parts of a bad combination.

“I found something!” A trooper in the front of the line yelled out.

This day was only getting more interesting every minute.

"What happened to rule number five?" Ion remarked, pointing out how mad things always happen to people alone.

“... we’re not in a holohorror ...” the members of Eclipse continued to discuss. Even if they were nervous, or scared, their spirit was still high - they could laugh and joke with each other. The squad made a strong team.

Though at the same time bad things happen to groups too. The random hell spawn can jump out of the darkness and tear a group apart - picking the weakest person off.

Rawr's thoughts, however, were not even on the idea of splitting up in a dark, moist, hot environment - it had now shifted to his stomach. On the trip to the platform, some of the Troopers munched on small pieces of their rations. Rawr did not, and he should have.

Instead, Rawr had spent time catching up with a Trooper he had previously met. The two of them had been involved in a training operation. A battlefield always brings people together, even if the enemy is firing stun-weapons. Memories like that Rawr would never forget.

The hunger was not unbearable, but it was a distraction. His eyes began to wander away from searching around for the regulators, or whatever was stopping the climate control systems from working. Instead, his eyes looked for possibly a lunch, or mid-shift snack that the crew of the station may have left behind.

Who knows, maybe their food will provide a clue as to where they went. Rawr thought to himself, trying to justify his search.

He looked up and down the walls, and even under some shelves - there was nothing clear in sight.

Just as he began to give up hope, he saw something knocked over against a bulkhead. It was metal, and looked to be a container of sorts. The object was an Engineering worker’s lunchbox. Rawr casually wandered over to it, and gently kicked it with his foot. It moved, but not as much as it would if it was empty - there was something inside. He bent down, and lifted the lunchbox up.

Please be a hoagie. Rawr thought, hoping on its contents.

He set the lunchbox on a crate, and undid the latch. Opening the container, he saw its contents. More specifically, he smelt the contents - rancid food. The immense heat in Engineering had ruined the - whatever it was, Rawr really could not tell. The smell alone made it perfectly clear that Rawr was not going to eat it, that smell almost made him vomit.

Slamming shut the lunchbox, and tossing it back where he found it, Rawr continued on the search for the flaw in the cooling system ... and possibly for a quick bite to eat, but that was second.

OOC:

Written on a Cell phone in Google Docs. So I apologize if there is a few grammar mistakes, Google Docs lacks grammar checking. *Sad Panda Face*

Oh yeah, if I could choose between an assignment in this dump and one in the deepest depths of hell I would most definitely choose the latter. Eleven times out of ten even, Kyra thought as the heat grew even more annoying. Of course it wasn't just because of the heat either. The darkness and general eerie feeling - they all contributed equally.

"Need to get out of here. Need to get out!!!" KayNine turned in the direction she thought the voice came from but saw nothing there. Just shadows hiding the same creepy scenery that was present everywhere else. The hell? the woman asked herself as she waited for any further signs of other life forms. When none came however the trooper finally figured it out - the voice she heard earlier wasn't real. It belonged to neither another member of the squad nor some mysterious inhabitant of the station. The voice was hers and hers alone, screaming and screeching inside her very skull.

Damn place is getting to me. Maybe it got to the others as well, Kyra realized as she considered the various possibilities. The private could already imagine the original crew banging their heads against terminals and walls all the while humming unintelligible mantras. Or forming one huge circle in some remote room doing nothing but drooling and staring at one another. Or running around naked, wearing their underwear on their heads rather than their bottoms all the while trying to eat their own shoes.

As creepy and deranged that last bit was, right about now Kyra wouldn't have really been surprised by such a turn of events. Nah, most likely the trooper would've just blinked, got out of the way and just stared as the lunatics would pass her by - maybe admiring their naked tooshies as they went. That was after all one of the few things that were actually good about the military - most of its personnel was in fit condition.

Lightly shaking her head in order to remove all the images of naked men and women running around aimlessly, Kyra realized she was still on the engineering level of the blasted station. Her squad mates appeared to be stumbling about, either trying to actually find something or otherwise just pretending to do that instead. The latter wouldn't have surprised KayNine in the least. They were after all soldiers and it was quite unlikely for them to have all received special tech training.

Might as well pretend I'm doing something as well, the woman decided as she pulled over a chair and ungraciously dropped on it with a heavy thump due to the armor's weight. She twirled around a couple of times all the while her lips formed a silent wheeeeeeee! but then approached the controls so as not to attract too much unwanted attention.

Eeny, meeny, miny... moe! and just like that Kyra randomly pushed one of the bigger buttons she could see. Nothing happened though. At least nothing visible anyway. Who knew, maybe somewhere on the other side of the station a whole section was now being vacuumed into space. It was very, very, very unlikely but not completely impossible however. The trooper pushed a few more buttons, pulled a couple of levers and also watched as some lights appeared and disappeared as a consequence of her meddling. It was all rather fun and everything but nothing positive seemed to happen as a result however. Well, it wasn't that surprising truth be told. They needed a proper geek, a bonified egghead or even some third rate mad scientist to help them out. Alas, no such specimens were around to be exploited. Tsk!

"Will you shut that orifice you call a mouth?"

Huh? KayNine heard the shout and turned around to see what was going on. She was just about to press a few more random buttons too so who knew - maybe, just maybe Anival had unknowingly managed to save them all from blowing up or some equally nasty fate.

"And stop with all the damn commentary, we all know it, we all think it, stop pouring it out, please?! We have other important matters to focus on than your pointless ramblings."

What's gotten into him? Kyra asked herself but otherwise remained seated and calm - hardly alarmed of the fact that one of her squadmates was now acting so strange. She was never the type to step in a lovers quarrel and by the gods she wasn't going to start now either. Besides, having a trooper suddenly go postal might actually cut the whole mission short so why would she possibly stand in the way of that happening?

"Yup, told ya, space madness", Zippy replied and Kyra watched as the other fellow snapped and went berserk. Ooh this is nice... Punch him, punch him! To the left!! Kick him where it hurts, kick him where it... oh, guess that's a good place too. Again! Again!! Again!!! Huh, this isn't so bad after all... If only I had some snacks available as well, the female trooper realized as she turned her head around, searching for any signs of small food containers. Chances were she wouldn't find any all the way down on Engineering level... especially considering this was a military base so chances were everyone ate in a mess hall and all. Eww, yucky military food...

"What the hell is going on here?" Skarr hollered and Kyra simply knew he would next play the role of party pooper. Tsk! And just when things were starting to get good too... The Onderonian trooper stealthily turned around whilst the others were arguing, pretending to be busy figuring out those controls. Hmm, so if the fellow screws up one more time he gets shot, huh? the woman took notice and decided to keep that in mind... just in case.

When Skarr had finished his lecture Kyra noticed Anival move away. He was wandering off all alone into the dark. Chance? the woman wondered and got up to follow. She managed to remain stealthy enough, not attracting her target's attention as he wandered further in the new location. She slowly raised her blaster but immediately lowered it once more as two things happened. One: an unbearable smell hit her nostrils, making the woman cringe. Second: footsteps barely echoing behind her, meaning someone else had followed behind. This must be karma, Kyra thought as she struggled not to breathe.

"Denot, you guys scared the crap out of me", Anival finally noticed the company he was having. "Yup, we can tell. Trust me we can tell. Good lord man, couldn't you have just held it in?" The female trooper struggled with her helmet, trying to put it back on. With air filters on the smell would at least go away. Meanwhile Ion stepped forward, moving a little closer to Anival. Wonder if he's planing on taking revenge for his wounded boyfriend, the private thought as she glanced to her side just in case.

"Anyways, I'll leave you deal with this by yourselves", Kyra said as she turned around and prepared to leave, having no inclination whatsoever to explore the crappy surroundings. Creepy was bad enough, but now this as well? Hell, the Army wasn't paying her nearly enough for this. She was about to step out of the room when the door before her suddenly swished closed. The woman's eyebrow twitched a few times, even as the rest of her body remained perfectly motionless.

By the time she turned around to ask just what the frak happened Kyra could see Anival lying on his ass, a filthy strange fellow that hell only knew where he popped out from, and Ion pointing his blaster at the latter. Seriously? I turn away for one freakin' second and this is what happens? Upon noticing how the strange fellow also happened to have a blaster, Kyra slowly raised her own gun and pointed it in his direction. At the same time a different thought crossed her mind - what would happen if this fellow would unfortunately kill her companions, himself of course dying by her head immediately after? Need to think this through, the woman realized as she began analyzing the pros, cons and risks of such a plan.

"Hello, we are members of Eclipse, we are here to help."

As if that guy would know just who the hell we are... If I were him I'd shoot everyone, promise of help or no.

"You aren’t here to help!" the other guy replied and Kyra almost chuckled hearing his response. Hell, maybe he wasn't that stupid after all. And maybe he could actually be used in some evil master plan she had yet to cook up... Oh, there were so many possibilities, so many possibilities indeed. And all of them came crushing down around KayNine's ears when she realized the other guy was going to be fooled so unbelievably easily. Clearly she had overestimated his remaining intellect. Maybe now was a good time to make a sudden move, force the other guy to react and using that as a pretext put him down like a rabid kath hound...

Curiosity got the better of her however and instead of going along with that plan Kyra just stepped out of the way and like Ion continued to point her blaster at the man as Anival led him back to the rest of the squad. At least this way I'll get some answers. She looked at the man again and sighed deeply. Then again maybe not...

The squad leader watched as the squad split up again to look for what was wrong. That left him alone with the survivor. He was a battered and thin person, and his eyes kept darting around like the very shadows would attack him. Skarr watched him silently from behind his helmet. The survivor kept muttering to himself and visibly cringed at everything he looked at. Maybe he’s seeing something I’m not, Skarr thought. The squad leader mulled over that for a moment or two then discarded it, there was no such thing as the supernatural. Except Jedi, but Skarr never wanted to go up against one again, and the survivor did not much look like one of the mythical Knights.

“My name is Norith, “Skarr stated, “What about yours?” The Sergeant thought it would be best to start slowly from the beginning. The man looked up at him frightfully, almost as if he had forgotten Skarr was even sitting there. He looked down in thought, gibbering to himself. His eyes flicked here and there, and it looked like he was pulling the memory out of the very depths of his mind. The survivor looked at Skarr again, blinking rapidly.

Skarr almost gave up on getting an answer when the man said, “It’s...it’s...J-j-j-jenkins, sir.” Jenkins twittered on a little more before going back to his distrust of random machinery. It gave Skarr some time to think. This was the only survivor they had encountered so far, he had not heard if any of the other squads had found anyone. In fact, communications with the other squads had been almost non existent. There was no need to, so far. No updates on their objective nor had they completed their set one just yet.

“What do you do here Jenkins?” Skarr asked. Again, the man looked startled at Skarr’s presence. He stood and began pacing, which worried Skarr somewhat. The squad leader was not sure if it was nerves or actual memory loss that made Jenkins hesitate and think about what he said. Either way, it was beginning to unnerve the young man.

Jenkins sat back down, “Pilot, I piloted the ship. Not much of a job, just keep it on course. Come down to engineering for some maintenance work. I’m small, you see. Can fit in small spaces. Was in the crawl spaces when “they” attacked.” He said all of that in a rush making Skarr think something was seriously wrong with Jenkins. Maybe it was trauma, but Skarr suspected something else was at work. He reached behind him casually and slipped his blaster pistol out of its holster. Skarr made sure Jenkins did not see it.

“Jenkins, can you show me where the coolant systems are?”

“Yes, yes. Just over here. Broken. So very broken. Keeps “them” away. The heat. Something about it.”  That statement scared Skarr, but he had his orders.

“They need fixed. Can you do that?”

Jenkins stood up quickly, “NO!” He began running, but Anival was right there, his hand reaching out and grabbing hold Jenkins’s collar. The trooper pulled the frightened trooper over to the coolant systems. The whole time Skarr had not moved.

“Thanks for the assist, Ani,” the squad leader said. “Now let’s get him to work.”

OOC:

Some interaction with Jenkins. Not much back story to him, that he'll tell anyway. So just post that he's doing his job, but you guys are free to explore parts of engineering. Just post some weird ass cliches from horror movies. Such as little noises being made, rats scaring the hell outta you, that stuff.

"Jym...Jym..."

The world slapped him in the face, waking him from his slumber. Nezit's face was wet and his body cold. His naked skin stretched out in an awkward position against the laboratory floor. A shaky hand reached up slowly to brush sweat soaked hair out of his blurry eyes.

He jerked violently backwards like an animal in captivity for too long.

"Shh, Jym its me."

He squinted trying to make out the figure before him. "Anders?"

The figure of a small framed woman half lying on the floor near him came into hazy view. She had an over-sized lab coat wrapped around her equally damp body and secured by her hand not touching his face anymore.

Something was wrong, his memory wasn't clear. He had no clue how he got into the laboratory, what lab he was in, or why in the hell he was naked. The short term wasn't the only thing that was muttled, he found himself struggling with things he should have known, like his mother's name or his sister's for that matter. He wasn't even sure he had a sister or if that was a dream.

"Where...what happened?" He started to sit up then found himself gently being pushed down and given a pair of pants.

"Pants first, then talking."

She got up and staggered over to a stool. She was exhausted. Jym realized he had never seen the woman doing anything but operating beyond barriers. She had been one of the primary lab assistants in the solar research facility. Kim Anders did far more work than any other 'assistant' he had ever known, she practically ran the place. 

He quickly dressed, making sure to turn around. When he turned back he noticed that it wouldn't have mattered, her eyes were closed as she rubbed her forehead.

"You have a headache too?"

She looked at him silently and seemed to gather her composure before responding. "Yes, Jym where is everyone else?"

"Heh." He looked around and swallowed as his heart rate increased. "Wait, we are in the genetics lab. This area should be staffed at all hours...why is it empty?"

Anders looked sadly in his direction. They both were leaning heavily against the nearest tables to their position. "I've been up and down this cooridor, I can't find anyone Jym. I also can't remember a damn thing from the past twelve hours or so." She looked away ashamed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to speak like that in front of you sir."

"Kim, I think we are far beyond standing on ceremony here." He staggered over to a nearby terminal. The screen flickered then proceeded to enter a perpetual state of loading.

"Sith spawned piece of crap." He ran a still shaky hand through his damp hair. "We need to find out what happened."

"Medical, I kinda remember an alarm in medical."

"Okay, that works, we can try to fix the computers from there...maybe...I really was never much of a tech."

She smiled but couldn't bring herself to laugh. "I've got you covered there sir."

---~~~---

Havock flipped through the security files. Standard issues, PR greivences, nothing exciting at all. There was an interesting vid, of some kind of disturbance in medical. She decided to watch it as Joamer  continued to question their interesting survivor.

The command logs had only yielded a reference to a transport that docked shortly before they lost contact. Which she had to agree with Joamer, could not be a coincidence.

"Find anything?" Jaenna's eyes remained on Dr. Issac Montrei, the biological geneticist who was asking several personal questions Havock couldn't believe Joamer was answering.

"No, you?"

She looked annoyed, Jaenna had a particular glint in her eyes after she had punched something, it was there. "Nothing of any use. The station was functioning normally according to logs, hell they were boring, then poof nothing."

Doctor Montrei sat back on a desk chair and started to scratch his neck as he changed the subject to include Joamer's diet.

"I'm glad you're here." Jaenna frowned and raised her eyebrow at Havock. "The computers, I suck at hacking, so I'm glad you're here."

"Sure." Jaenna nodded, by her expression she wanted to say more but chose not to. Her decision was sealed when Havock's com buzzed.

"Gates to Havock."

"Yea, go Garryll. Did you find anything in the security office?"

"We've got a tech and a security officer here, haven't found any other survivors. I sent you basically what we found, another vid showed someone putting a hurting on the mainframes."

Havock nodded to herself. "Well since I'm not sweating like a tauntan on Tatooine I'm going to assume Skarr got the coolant systems going. I haven't heard from Jester though. Let's meet up at the control room with them and regroup."

"NO!" Doctor Montrei jumped up from his chair with an agility she would have never assumed for a man of his age or physical appearance. He grabbed at Havock's ear pieces trying to rip it off her head. 

"Good God, what's wrong with you?"

The major pushed him off of her sending him rolling into a crouch position with his head down. He was a fragile old man, who now was raising his eyes to her like a wild cat about to attack its prey.

"You may not go to the command center."

"I 'may' not? Tell you what, you 'may' stand there while this squad points their guns at you."

The doctor growled like an animal. It was off putting enough to even make Havock take a step back. Then before any of them could even react he ran on all fours knocking Dusk off his feet as he barreled through the doors.

"Okay...well that was strange."

Karash made a 'pfft' sound. "Like anything with this squad is ever normal."

"Joamer, what in the hell were you two talking about?"

Her comm buzzed. "Yea."

"...LaMont....effing insa..." The static was interrupted by blaster fire.

"Gates?"

"Shit something is wrong with our survivors. They just went friggin nuts on us and took off."

"I think they are heading for the command center, keep trying to raise Jester on the comms. I'll contact Eclipse and lets get our asses to that command center to see what the hell is so important there."

OOC:

whew finally ya? Okay so Jester you are just about to get a shit ton of company. Everyone else head towards the command center (you should pass a rather nasty barricade before you get there with bodies attached to it, see the Jester thread if you need more detail). You will find more "survivors" but they shouldn't be named just more humans acting like dogs, no transformation yet, but you know where this is going I think. Once you are all in the command center SL's will send me a PM and we shall meet Dr. Nezit

That's odd, Kyra thought as she stopped in her tracks. Could've sworn I heard screaming just now... She waited for a bit but no further distant sounds could be heard. And so things keep getting weirder and weirder still. This really, really, really bloody hell blows. The woman sighed as she began walking once more, getting closer and closer to the rest of her squad. Assuming they were still alive and everything - at this point the alternative would've hardly surprised KayNine.

"The fuck?" the trooper asked as she finally got back to the main room where Skarr and a few other squad members were located. What the woman saw when she stepped in sort of caught her off guard - Anival standing still, his hands wide open, Skarr leisurely lying on the floor and the nutter trying to make a run for it on all fours. As far as Kyra was concerned there was something pretty damn wrong with this picture.

She figured she had no option but to do that which experience had taught her many times in the past - if one plus one do not equal two then either run the frak away or just shoot everyone in sight. Yup, shoot first, run later - that was the sort of motto one could never go wrong with. Kyra's next actions would as such come as little surprise, the woman merely raising her blaster and then squeezing the trigger, putting an end to the loon's weird behavior. Given the fact he was already on all fours at the time of his demise one could even say the brave trooper managed to put him out of his misery - a fate that should await all rabid dogs.

"Hold your fire, dammit!" The private raised an eyebrow but complied nevertheless. Her target was already a smoking mess lying on the floor so continuing firing would've been useless anyway. Skarr's decision seemed strange though - here they were in the middle of space, weirdness all around them and the fellow was planning to side with the crazy dude? If he starts barking or rubbing his head with his foot then I'm so putting him down next...

"Okay Eclipse! Pack up!" Skarr ordered next after briefly communicating with Havock. The squad was positively ecstatic to just brave the darkness and the now confirmed other crazies merely to find the cause of it all. Then again upon closer examination that didn't seem to be quite true after all. Why are people this bloody stupid anyway? They know damn well a shitstorm is about to strike yet instead of running away and taking care of it from a safe distance they instead want to go deeper only to see whatever the fuck's at the center of it all? First chance I get I'm turning off my comm unit and making my way back to the shuttle...

"Hold fire!" Skarr ordered some other trooper at the front. Huh? Kyra wondered and barely managed to see a four legged shadow running away somewhere ahead. Just keeps getting better... the trooper thought as she raised her blaster a little higher, preparing to shoot anything that came too damn close regardless of orders. If Skarr wanted to protect the madmen he was free to do so. If he wanted to act as their human shield he was again free to do that too. KayNine however had a whole different agenda...

Zippy and the squad continued to push onward to the command center. As much as they would of liked to just leave the dreaded space station, they knew they had to keep moving. Zippy kept to himself for the most part. Uttering a small joke here and there to keep the tension down a bit as best he could. There was no good thought going on in Zippy's mind. Were they going to find out who or what did this to the crew of this station? Why did this happen? There were so many questions that he could ask, but it wouldn't matter right now. He needed to stay focused on the mission. This was not the time to get distracted.

"Hey Zippy, Skarr said. There is a side entrance to, what looks to be, an armory. go check it out. Ion, why don't you go with Zipp to cover him."

"I'm on it boss, Zippy said, motioning to Ion to follow. Alright Ion. Let's go see what's in there and I really hope it's nothing that's going to make me regret saying that I'd do this."

This is sketchy Zipp, Ion said, looking around for a light switch with his blaster raised. Not a single warning to the VE about what had happened here. Its like all the communications just died all at once. Talk about a bad day."

"I hear ya Ion. There has got to be an explanation for this some how. Communications couldn't of just died like that. Especially without any warning at all. Someone would of had to have noticed something out of the ordinary going on with station when the Coms died. Although, with all the strange events going on here, I wouldn't be surprised if no one was able to contact the VE in time."

"So what are you thinking about this Zipp? Are you worried we may be facing something that we are not able to fight back? I'm not one to get worried very often, but, this is isn't exactly a relaxing vaca to Naboo or something. This is more the, going to Tatooine to fight a rancor alone with a stick and a rock."

"I really hope that it's not the case. This foe must have some weakness. Whatever it is. I wonder if the extreme heat had something to do with all this? Maybe the heat was in place for a reason. Whatever the reason is, we need to make sure we regroup safely with the other squads." Zippy said.

Zippy and Ion eventually found a switch to the lights in the armory. It was vast looking, with many different weapon stack, armor, etc. However, there was something out of the ordinary. Not one gun had been moved from its rack. Nothing had been changed or moved. This was very strange. Zippy thought that clearly something non-human had done what ever had gone here. He figured it must of been just some alien race that had gone mad or something and nothing more.

"Hey Ion! Come over here for a second. You see this door panel right here? Its been fried for some reason."

"Yeah I see that, Ion stated. Doesn't this door lead to a shorter route to the command center?"

"I believe so, but why would it be fired and ripped out of the wall? Unless something doesn't want us there." Zippy said with a worried tone.

"We need to get back to Skarr and tell the rest of the squad what we found. We need to keep on high alert now now Ion. This is no time to get distracted."

Zippy and Ion made their way back to the squad. Walking by the shelves of armor and weapons that were untouched just felt weird. Like the survivors didn't even want to fight back. It was so strange that Zippy got a sharp shiver down his spine. It was beyond eerie this time. It was terrifying. The feeling of worry had been gone and now it was the feeling of fear. Zippy checked over his rifle and grabbed a few ammo packs and explosives from the shelves before leaving.

"You just never know when you're going to need explosives. They have always saved my ass in difficult times. This time, I have a feeling it's going to do it again." Zippy said boldly.

They made it... They didn't make it... They made it... They didn't make it... They were of course the members of the other squads, and what Kyra was considering now was whether those fellows were still in the land of the sane and living or whether the station's freakiness already claimed them. Maybe their corpses were already decorating some obscure room. Maybe the surviving members were now naked and running around, embracing their inner animal. Maybe the crew was at that very moment ripping them apart, chewing their limbs and feasting on their intestines.

As far as KayNine was concerned all that could be happening at that very moment and neither she nor her squadmates would know any better. Who was to say that the annoying howling wasn't in fact masking cries for help or screams of agony? Who could guarantee that the crew gone mad was only running around on all fours and not also dragging things along? Things like body parts or weapons?

The female trooper wasn't particularly affected or impressed when Ion and Zippy returned. For one she didn't particularly care about the two and whatever exact relationship was between them. Heck, she didn't even want to know the details for that matter. Besides, if the two hadn't returned then that would've been a clear indication that the whole damn station was dangerous and should as such be considered hostile. Not just by her that is, but by the other cynics as well. Then maybe everyone would make the sensible choice - turn around, board the transport and get the fuck out without giving the whole matter another second thought.

Instead the two other troopers returned and Skarr proposed that they all go check out the discovered armory. That wasn't a particularly bad plan either - more firepower would ensure the way back to the transport would be easier. Let all the other fools arm themselves for their charge towards the command center... the Onderonian private had plans of her own however.

"If you find something you like, take it", Skarr announced a little too late as far as Kyra was concerned. The female trooper had already palmed a couple of thermal detonators even without being told it was okay. Now that the squad leader was giving his okay however the woman quickly reached over to grab a couple more. And a few more power cells too as she didn't want to run out of ammo in that loony bin. She thought about taking another rifle or maybe a couple of extra sidearms just in case but in the end she decided against it. One rifle and one sidearm was enough for her. Besides, she didn't want to carry too much and get tired because of this.

"But not as much as I hate KayNine", the woman heard her squad leader mutter to someone else and she just raised her head and retorted with an adorable "fuck you" remark. Now to think of a plan to lose these guys and get back to the hangar. The trooper was already considering such possibilities when she suddenly stopped realizing another rather nasty possibility - what if the hangar had been overrun with these things? What if upon getting there she'd only find the pilot ripped to shreds and a whole pack of crewmen just waiting to shove their filthy teeth in her great skin next? I'll need to think this one through after all...

Eclipse was armed and ready. After the small looting of the armory, they were ready to go. Each of them had grabbed what they wanted. That amounted to guns and ammo or just ammo. Either way, the squad was now better equipped physically to deal with the threat that lay in the station. But Skarr feared for their mental capacity to deal. Each scream put them more and more on edge. As they walked down the halls, they could see the survivors running from room to room on all four limbs.

None of the survivors would get close to them. Almost as if they were more afraid of Eclipse than Eclipse was of them. Norith kept a close eye on KayNine. He knew she would shoot. The squad leader could not quite figure her out. Her motivations were well kept in her mind, he knew and she would not simply state them. The young woman had a problem with orders and any kind of order it seemed. Her tastes seemed ever changing as well. She would prefer to run at one point and to fight at another point. Skarr knew he couldn’t trust her as much as he wanted to.

Eclipse just was not the family he thought they were. At least two of his troopers were not feeling the love, so to speak. Skarr knew for sure that Anival felt disjointed. His responses were never more than was functional. He would answer with a short affirmative or a short negative anytime anyone asked him a yes or no question. The problem was that Anival had not served with anyone on the squad very closely. And the departure of Jamasis affected him greatly. He was one of the last Wraiths in Phoenix.

Skarr thought of all of this as he walked through the hall between his squad mates. He knew he should have been better focused, but the squad seemed alert enough. It gave him time to think. Better to think now than in battle when his full focus would be needed. His mind shifted gears and he began to think of the mission.

It was strange that the whole station had gone dark. Sure, the crew had gone stark raving mad and were running around like dogs, but that could not account for both the station going dark and the rescue squad’s disappearance. The claw marks too. There was certainly something more sinister going on here. What it was, was perhaps beyond Skarr’s imagination, but he hoped it was something Eclipse could handle. Why couldn’t it be bunnies? Skarr would prefer that their enemy to be bunnies, but surely any bunny that could rip gouges in durasteel like that would surely make Skarr piss himself in terror. Okay, maybe not bunnies.

His mind was about to take him somewhere else when reality snapped back. Eclipse stood in front of a rather nasty looking barricade. It consisted of durasteel sheets that had been cobbled together hastily. Random pieces of furniture had also been welded together to the barricade. But it was not the barricade that worried him. Chained across the barricade was a dead body. His face was the picture of agony. When he died, he died in pain. His midsection was ripped open, his intestines stringing out from them. And on the floor were...chunks, was probably the only word to describe them.

There was already a way broken through the barrier, so Skarr ushered them through. The command center was just ahead. He never took a second look at the body to see Zeta squad’s insignia on his shoulder.

OOC:

So I know, we're not exactly at the command center yet, but I'm sending the PM that we are anyway. That gives you some leeway to post on your character's thoughts as they're walking and the walk to the command center. We won't run into anymore detours, we're just going on a straight shot to the command center.