The Galactic War: The Rebel Base

[Terenia]

Here is the Earth.  A small, blue-and-green dot in the middle of emptiness. 

It becomes smaller and smaller as you move further away from it.  You pass the moon.

Mars zips by, Deimos and Phobos.  You're moving so fast it's impossible to believe you aren't going to hit every one of those asteroids in the Kuiper Belt.

By the time you reach Saturn, Earth is a little tiny dot.  Past Pluto and Charon and into deep space, and Earth is a white speck among millions of others.

The Solar System whizzes away at hyperspeed, and you are looking at the Earth's arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Up and up, farther and farther away.  To the opposite side of the galaxy, on a mirror image of Earth's spiral arm. 

Zooming inward, blazing past solar systems, Red Giants, and black holes.

Into a binary system with two stars, one that burns yellow and another, larger star that burns a bright orange. 

Around these stars rotate five planets.  The first three are burning wastes, and the fourth and fifth, much farther out, are gas giants.

The fourth planet is a big red swirling mass, ringed with seven moons.

The second largest of these moons is a gray and tan craggy mess, with a thin atmosphere through which float wisps of gray, noxious clouds.

At ludicrous speeds you fall into the moon's orbit, then down through the atmosphere, onto a broad gray desert filled with stands of broken rock. 

The surface is featureless besides the wind eroded crags...until a perfectly round hole opens in the middle of the rock floor.

Red light beams briefly through it, and up cruises an invisible Bug fighter--cloaked except for the red takeoff lights.  In a moment these, too, vanish with the rest of the ship.

Down into the black cylinder, a tunnel interspersed with periodic flashes of white lights that ring its sides.  Dark, then light.  Over and over, deep into the earth.

The tunnel emerges into the ceiling of a great, big underground docking bay. 

The room is ringed with smaller ship bays, carved out of the metal. Glowing holoscreens hover above computer consoles near swinging double doors that lead to the base beyond.

It is alive.  Humans, Hork-Bajir and a handful of Taxxons scurry around the metal tiled surface of the bay, as busy as any Imperial space port. It is the home of the Yeerk Rebellion.

[Terenia]

Terenia pushes open the double doors to the base's mess hall. It is as cacophonous as ever, and she winces against the sound of dozens of conversations mingling together. Running a hand through her tangled blonde hair, her eyes scan the crowd briefly before she goes over to the line and grabs a tray.

Pushing the plastic tray down the standard, cafeteria-style line, she glances up at the workers, grateful she isn't on the oft-reviled 'cabbage duty'. A female Hork-Bajir hands her a plate of steaming cabbage and tomato sauce and she puts it on her tray with a grimace, hurrying off towards the drink table, where she grabs a ceramic mug of recycled water.

"Great," she mutters to herself, looking around. It is definitely lunch hour. There isn't an empty table in the place. Terenia scowls and takes an unoccupied corner of a long table, glancing down at the other occupants briefly before pulling out her comm link and typing a quick message.

Hey Corliss, just got a breather for lunch. Care to join or are you too busy saving the galaxy? She smirks a little, pockets her link, and sets about consuming her cabbage.

[Chad32]

Derrel sat at a table with his food, enjoying every bite. Eating time was fun time.

<I realize you've been malnourished all your life, Derrel, but eventually you're going to have to ease off.> Xevec said as he watched his host eat. Though he tried to do things like call his host friendly things like partner or friend, he was still getting used to the idea of treating non Yeerks as equals. The difference between the Empire and the rebellion was dramatic, but in some ways pleasant. <You're going to get fat. Unhealthy.>

<Eating too much is such a foreign concept to me.>

<Yes, we've both had big changes in our lives.> He turned Derrel's head towards the door, which he was sitting near. The people around him didn't look like they were about to jump on him or anything.

<Will you stop turning my head? No one is going to attack us. You have no reason to believe they would.>

<That doesn't mean they won't.>

[Myitt]

It is a few long moments before Corliss' reply pops up on Terenia's holoscreen.

Yeah, something equally important, I'm sure. Give me a minute, I'll see if I can break away.

While Terenia waits, the loud and hungry milieu settles down only a little. The shifts on base had eased a bit after their hourly schedule had reverted back to a 24-hour day from the despised--and often ignored--37-hour one.

Someone nearby clears his throat. "Hey, uh. Terenia. Is this seat taken?" Niko Yorgiadis asks with a lopsided grin, holding a black tray of the exact same soggy vegetable dish that Terenia is poking at. "It's packed in here. Besides, I uh, never talk to strangers."

[Terenia]

Terenia looks up from Corliss' response, a little surprised at being addressed by Gene's partner. "Niko, hey," she says cautiously. "Um...sure, have a seat. Unless this is, like, some secret plot to get payback for me shooting you that one time." She gives him a small smile to show that she is kidding. Mostly.

As she slides aside to allow room for Niko her gaze briefly catches Derrel's. She gives him a curt nod, recognizing him as the host she met Illim in at the Space Bar, then looks away.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Firin hums ladders of major scales in Rythil's somewhat harsh voice as his scaled fingers run their way over the old-style physical computer keyboard.  Some of the more-advanced systems have holo-interfaces...but the cabbage irrigation system, while important, isn't particularly demanding.

He clicks his tongue as he notices an error further up in the program and starts to rewrite the code.  <You need to account for the beta-line pressure too...>

Firin grimaces at his host's astute observation.  He does a quick mental calculation and makes the correction in the computer's logarithm.  <This is a waste of my mental capacity.>

<It's important, Fir.  Everyone on the base relies on this system.>  Rythil watches through his own eyes as Firin puts the finishing touches on the adjusted program.

<I should be thinking about things like matter conversion, not sprinkler systems.>  Firin continues humming outwardly.  He switches from major to minor scales and starts at the bottom again.

<You're lucky I can follow your train of thought.>  Rythil chuckles internally.  <While I too dream of the day when we can pick up a handful of soil and transmute it into a big, meaty slab of Ktchunga bark, this is more realistic.>

Firin rolls his eyes and executes the new program.  The sprinklers spring back to life in a new, alternating pattern.  The changes would increase irrigation efficiency by ten percent.

<Another great success!>  Rythil grins internally.

Firin uses Rythil's respiratory system to snort in derision.  These rebels...their ideals are good...but their technology and resource...well, they leave something to be desired.

<Speaking of Ktchunga bark...I'm famished.  Let's head upstairs and get me some of that tasteless Poplar bark and I'll pretend it's Ktchunga.>

<Fine.>  Firin turns control back over to Rythil and retreats to his own mental world.

Rythil nods to the individual waiting to work with the cabbage...a human male he doesn't know the name of, even after all this time, and walks his way up to the mess hall.  Such a strange name for such a clean room...

The noise of voices doesn't bother Rythil.  In fact, they're like a warm blanket, enveloping him with comfort.  He makes his way to the specialty line and watches as one of the attendants hands him a tray with a couple of large chunks of Poplar Bark.  He smiles despite his dislike for the cheap, plentiful bark and nods, picking up a large glass of water.  He notices Valerie in the back, trying to manage the rush and waves as she looks up from her task.  She raises an eyebrow and he nods in response...the update had been finished and was working.  She smiles in response before returning to her tasks.

Rythil turns to look over the common area.  There is, indeed, a table built for Hork-Bajir...but most weren't much for conversation.  The humans tend to be more interesting.  He spots Niko and grins as he walks over to sit across from his theoretical physics partner.  "Hey."  He picks up a piece of Poplar and chews a corner off, trying to ignore the bland blah-ness of it.

[Estelore]

"...transfer RNA... analogous to crystal matrix... Z-space folding... hrmn."
<Soren.>
Mmhmmn? "...Hork-Bajir leukocytes in six- no, seven varieties, evolution past quantum virus fallibility..."
<Soren, look at the clock.>
Whaddaboutit? "...analogous to Crocodylus niloticus, but lacking multiply-redundant circulatory system features and hyper-coagulative platelets..."
<Soren, it's time to feed the body. You'll collapse if you don't eat something, for once, and then where will I be? They'll have to shelve us in the med bay again on a saline drip, like last time.>
Soren blinked once, twice, and glanced up at the clock. It did, in fact, read the time Mal had stated. His stomach was, in fact, making plaintive noises... now that he bothered to pay attention to it. He boxed the slides of Hork-Bajir and crocodile blood, turned off his microscope and the other equipment he'd spent the last three hours hunched over, tucked his pen into a protected pocket, and thumped an out-of-date Earth textbook closed, not bothering to mark the page. Each page had its margins densely covered with notes taken in two sets of handwriting, but they wouldn't forget their place. Soren rubbed at his none-too-recently shaven beard, which grew in a puzzling blonde-red against the rest of his brightly blonde hair.
Ah. Right. Okay. All yours, Doc.

Doctor Maliss-274 assumed more direct control of the body he shared with Doctor Soren Hagerty, standing up straighter and stretching their arms over their head, wincing a bit as their spine made decompressive popping noises. He shut the lab closed behind them and slipped into the cafeteria, making a beeline first for the crappy (but black, at least it's hot and black!) coffee. He topped off their "I <3 Protozoa" mug and grabbed a tray, not paying much attention to what was being served. The tables were all packed, so he settled for one with a dense crowd of Hork-Bajir, swinging his legs away from the table and using his lap as a platform to eat. Mal had managed to get chummy enough with a few of them, so they'd freely give blood samples when he asked. (Better than I'd have done.) <Are you kidding? For a member of a social species, you have got to be the most socially inept human I have ever encountered, and that is saying something.> Mal rolled their eyes indulgently, more than willing to forgive his host's social ineptitude, since this  tradeoff came with all the intelligence of an unambiguously brilliant and dedicated xenobiologist.

They ate their lunch quietly and moved to dispose of their tray. The cabbage wasn't spectacular, but it would keep the body running, and that was the whole point of this 'lunch' exercise, right?
They walked back toward the coffee carafe, intent on a refill before heading back to the lab.

[Chad32]

At a separate table sat a black seventeen year old, picking through his lunch for the best looking parts. His name was Steven, and he had been Xevec's slave before the rebellion. He was actually happy there was a group of Yeerks that didn't treat hosts like property. Too bad they weren't the ones who ran the Sharing. Then after he joined to do some good in the world, he wouldn't have had to watch helplessly as his family was taken. The worst thing Xevec did was ignore him, and he was pretty much giving the Yeerk the silent treatment. He hadn't volunteered to take a different Yeerk, and they hadn't forced one in him, so all things considered this was an improvement.

[Terenia]

Terenia looks up in surprise when Rythil joins them. Then she quickly looks down again, busying herself with eating. The Hork-Bajir, like most Hork-Bajir, makes her uncomfortable, for reasons she cannot quite pinpoint. She considers excusing herself, but abruptly finds herself out of control of the decision.

<<No, I don't want to make friends,>> Terenia complains as Esreth wrenches control away from her.

<<You can't limit yourself to speaking with Corliss and Illim for the rest of your life,>> the Yeerk chides, raising Terenia's head and smiling brightly at Rythil. "Hey, how are you?" she asks cheerfully, popping a piece of cabbage in her mouth and chewing slowly.


Soren's mission for coffee is somewhat delayed by the fourteen-year-old girl standing at the table, pouring a mug for herself. She seems intent on pouring just the right amount, dark eyes squinting as she increases the volume drop by drop.

[Estelore]

Soren cleared his throat once in polite impatience.
How long does she plan to take? I want to get back to the lab!
<Take it easy, it's just a kid, and your slides aren't going anywhere.>
You wouldn't be saying 'take it easy' if we needed to get back to med bay for a patient.
<If I had a patient waiting on me, I wouldn't be worrying about coffee.>

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Rythil turns his gaze on the human woman sitting at the same table as she speaks and he smiles back...not a particularly comforting expression on a Hork-Bajir, but no less-genuine for it.  "Hi...Terenia and Esreth right?"  He thanks Firin's eidetic memory for that one...though he'd seen the human girl any number of times, they'd never really spoken much.  Usually the girl left the room before any conversation could be had.

He shrugs.  "As good as can be expected I suppose, eating this tasteless paper-bark."  Rythil grimaces at the tray, but smiles again as he reestablishes eye contact with the woman.  "The cabbage irrigation overhaul worked...ten percent increase in usage efficiency.  Not much else going on at the moment really."  He chuckles briefly.

Firin sighs internally at the comment about the irrigation efficiency, wanting to shake Rythil's head dejectedly, but refrains.

"You?"  He takes another bite of Poplar, careful not to grimace over it.

[Terenia]

The young woman looks up in surprise, apparently having been so focused on her task that she did not notice Soren's approach.

"Oh, hi!" she says with a surprising amount of exuberance. Placing the carafe on the table, she steps aside, coffee mug clutched in one hand. Her other makes its way through her long, dark spiral curls as she eyes Soren curiously, brows furrowing a little.

"I know who you are," she says, tilting her head. Her manner of speaking is a little hyperactive, the words tumbling from her mouth so quickly that they tend to run together. "Doug told me about you. You're the one who works in the med bay but never actually comes out of your room, right? You're a pirate, yeah? Doug just took on a new Yeerk recently who was one of the pirates. Thenak? He's a biologist, so Doug was transferred into the med bay to help with some stuff. He's basically a nurse, but I think it's kind of cute. So what's your name, anyway?"

She finally halts the barrage of comments and questions, pausing to take a deep breath.


"Esreth right now," she says with a smile. "We're doing well, though Terenia is being grouchy. You know, I hear Dom is working on improving the food selection for the humans on base. Maybe you should talk to him and see if anything can be done for the bark as well. I don't know if that's something he could do or not, but I definitely feel for you on the bland food front." She takes a big bite of cabbage to prove her point, sighing a little.

[Chad32]

<You want to go talk to that Terenia girl? She needs more friends.> Xevec said.

<I don't make a habit of making friends with people who don't want to make friends with me. That whole Efaen thing was a big turn off anyway. I don't want to talk to Terenia anymore than you want to talk to Steven. It's just awkward for both parties.>

[Estelore]

Upon being addressed, Soren froze, staring blankly at the girl talking to him.
What do I-
<Coffee. You're here for coffee. Relax; I've got this one.>

Mal took over and reached for the carafe, talking as he poured. "I'm Maliss two-seven-four, physician, and my host here is Doctor Soren Hagerty, xenobiologist. It's nice meeting you; I can't say I recognize you, so you must not be one of the pirates. What's your name?"
He finished pouring the coffee and set the carafe back on the buffet table, turning back toward the girl but not really making eye contact. He stepped clear of the coffee line so that others could get to it.

[KitsuneMarie]

"Making a new friend, Edith?" comes Illim's lazy and perpetually amused-sounding voice from behind Soren and Mal. He gives a congenial grin to the taller man and then a wink to Edith. Despite his host's former life as a professor, Illim keeps Daniel in a relaxed slouch, making his already not-impressive height of five feet and four inches look all the shorter. "Tell me where you're sitting and I'll snag us a spot. I wanna catch up on base gossip. Ya know, so long as it doesn't involve me."