Galaxy's Edge Space Bar (archive)

[Chad32]

Fredrick found her running through the trees. She was heading for the last place they fought, which wasn't far from his sanctuary. He and Vogefac had in fact been heading there when he stopped to fight. He wondered if he could try to lure her right to his sanctuary and take her there. He didn't feel like dragging things out. He moved towards the open area at a pace that should get him there right after she did.

[Terenia]

"Yeah..." Trey says, then blushes when he realizes that it sounds as if he is agreeing that Elayne is a terrible pilot. "I mean, I'm pretty rotten at the stuff too. It looks like the other ship has it under control, though. I think." He glances over his shoulder, back out the hatch, to see if Mar has followed. When he is satisfied that the Highest is not near he speaks again, lowering his voice slightly.

"I'm sorry if I made things awkward between you and Mar," he says sincerely, looking a bit abashed. "I don't mean to get between you two or anything..."


Ossanlin's voice rings through Terenia after a slight delay, informing her of his intent. Brain damage? she wonders nervously. The thought is less than encouraging, but she simply cannot become a nothlit for the third freaking time. She is about to assent when a new thought breaks through.

Is he telling the truth?. Ossanlin had so easily delivered Tamora to death, what if he was using her helpless state to destroy her now? It would be simple enough - he had the power. And if he did it this way, using his mental tricks, he could play it off as an accident so much easier than if he used his tail. Fresh fear washes through Terenia.

<<No,>> Terenia replies as clearly as she is able. <<You'll kill me. If anything, you care for my life less than my sister's, and you have reason enough to want to destroy me.>>

Terenia realizes that she does not have much of a choice. If Ossanlin decides to do his thing, she'll be helpless to resist. But as long as he's being a nice murderer and asking permission, she was going to take advantage of the opportunity to refuse.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin sends a bit of frustration through the energy bond with his next thought.  <I do not wish for anyone to die.  I had hoped that your sister...I had hoped you'd decide differently, but that's in the past.  The only risk here is to Efaen.  Unless of course you choose not to disengage if her vitals begin to fade.  I'm sure Temrash has pool equipment.  The only risk you're taking is in losing your host, while she loses her life.  But if you do not wish me to attempt it, there is little I can do.>

Ossanlin does not hear Corliss or anything else in the ship as he focuses intently upon the bond with Terenia.

[Terenia]

<<No,>> Terenia says firmly. <<I won't let you kill me. I'm not stupid, I know how you Andalites are. You promise one thing and then deliver another. I'm not going to be tricked by you too!>>

Her "voice" peaks at the end of her statement, rising in clear terror. Her thoughts bounce between eternity in human morph with Efaen and Ossanlin using his powers to cause her brain to explode. Neither of those thoughts are very encouraging.

<<Efaen,>> Terenia turns her thoughts inward to her host. <<You need to wake up now. That dapsen Andalite you love so much is trying to turn your brain into jelly. Get up!>>

How much time did she have left in morph? Half an hour? The thought made Terenia dizzy with fear.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

<Terenia, this is not the time for your bull-headed paranoia.  If I'd wanted to kill you why in the name of all on the Homeworld would I have gone out of my way to fly all the way to Earth, hatch a rediculously circuitous plan to get your sister away from Visser 3 alive, and then bring her back here?  It would've been much easier to use Myitt's device to starve you from Efaen in a matter of minutes, instead of investing days in a trip to HELP you.  I would like you to remember that you're responsible for two individuals in there.>

[Myitt]

Corliss looks from Ossanlin to Terenia, perplexed.

"Hello?" he cries.  "Bleeding Christ, he can't even hear us..."

<Do you trust him?>

"What?" Corliss says aloud, at a loss.

<Do you trust Ossanlin?> Mike repeats.  <He's got all them Silver Blade powers, yeah, but I doubt he'd deliberately harm them if he could help it.>

"I don't...I reckon I...I don't know," Corliss exhales, watching Ossanlin and biting his lip so hard it nearly starts bleeding.

<Oy, watch it!> Mike cries.  <You don't have to bite me to death, mate.>

[KitsuneMarie]

"Myitt..." Tora's whisper sounds pained. She is worried at what will happen when she reveals her loyalty to the rebellion to Serid's Yeerk, especially considering he could still be perfectly morph-capable, in which case her friend could be in danger. "Please be careful," she murmurs into the empty cabin.


<<Be careful,>> Serid cautions unnecessarily.

Illim places his hands on the tabletop to show that he is not about to pull his own gun. <<This is getting real interesting,>> he remarks to his host, leaning forward in his seat to hear her better. "Poised and listening." He flashes his most disarming smile.


Elayne flushes as well, glancing back towards the still-empty hatch door before she answers the young man. "Well... we had a bit of a, um... a discussion before I caught up with you again, anyway. You didn't do anything, Trey."

She turns back to the screen and speakers, listening in on the girl's slightly less panicked-sounding call. "Sounds like she's getting more help from them than I could offer." She knows now is not the time to clarify her whereabouts above a space bar; that could come later... over a stiff one, never mind the poor girl's age.

[Cobra (Gymn)]

"Let's see. 'Landing thrusters?' That would be......'§`ü•>  îç^~».'"  Kevlin finishes with a nod.

[Chad32]

"Did you hear that, Human girl? Look for something labeled §`ü•>  îç^~». That would be the landing thrusters. Do whatever you can what the item labeled that, and it should slow the descent. I already have the front pulled up, but we'll need the landing thrusters on to keep the ship from possibly breaking apart." He said, explaining what the symbols looked like. Hopefully she'd be able to find it in time.

[Myitt]

"Excellent," Myitt replies, trying to remain cool despite the fact that Tara's heart is hammering away in her throat.  "Now, listen to me.  I am exiled from the Empire.  Do you know what that means?"

[KitsuneMarie]

Illim feels his expression change minutely, though he can't pinpoint exactly how. All he knows is that he is now all ears.

"Yeah," he responds quietly, still leaning forward. "Kandrona's limited for those who are, as I understand it. Which means that you've probably allied yourself with the infamous Yeerk rebellion I keep hearing about. That, or something a bit more self-serving."

<<Is this good news?>> he wonders to his host, who, uncharacteristicall y, remains totally silent.

[RAFrukh]

"Sir, we have the other life-signs on sensors."

"On screen."

Anathema. It was terrifying. It was like he was staring into my eyes. But he didn't know I was there. I was terrified. And angry. And...confused.

He stood looking into the forest. He knew! He knew Artemis was coming! Not surprising. He probably had some kind of tendrils left over in her mind like on me.

Still...she wanted to take him herself. Knowng she was coming took away the element of surprise, but not much else. She was a fierce warrior. She could succeed. That didn't mean she would. But the chances were 90%. And she had drive, and Vogefac's energy. She would succeed...

She had to.

[Terenia]

"Oh, right," Trey says. "I didn't mean...anyways, um...maybe we should make sure that the girl gets down okay? We can't help now, but she might be upset when she lands, and there are enough creatures with blades here to make anyone nervous. It might be good for her to see people who look human."

Trey gives Elayne a shaky smile, hoping to have successfully diverted the topic away from something that is clearly equally embarrassing for both of them.


<<No!>> Terenia cries. She wishes that she could see Ossanlin, but Efaen's eyes will not respond to her command for them to open. His voice is much more intimidating without the muscled Andalite body attached to it, for some reason. Another wave of panic rolls through her as Efaen's consciousness fails to rise.
 I cannot be stuck like this, Terenia thinks frantically. She isn't entirely sure why the idea is so adverse to her - after all, the human morph looks exactly as her own body would have looked if she had aged properly as a human, instead of being trapped in an Andalite morph so young. She wonders if it is simply the idea of never escaping Efaen's mind that is frightening her, but that isn't it. Terenia is used to Efaen's spiteful words. It's because this morph is hers, Terenia realizes. Can you really spend the rest of your life stuck in the body of the sister you murdered?

That particular thought stops Terenia in her tracks. The idea of it would have made her physically ill, if she were in any way able to control Efaen's funcitons. It was horrifying. More horrifying, even, than accepting Ossanlin's help.

<<Alright,>> Terenia agrees, resigning. <<Do what you need to do. Just get me out of here.>>

[Myitt]

"Very good," Myitt says approvingly.  "I've been with the rebellion for quite a few Generations, and for that reason I'm forced to be exceedingly careful about what I say, and to whom.  Now before I lower this weapon, I need you to convince me that you didn't just call your commander on this hellhole, and that you won't shoot me if I do lower it."

The bartender stands next to the table, watching the two talk in muted tones.  He sets the coffee down on the table's edge, pauses a moment, and walks away.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin tightens his grip a bit upon Terenia's face.  <Very well...be prepared.>

Ossanlin delves deeper, past Terenia and into Efaen's brain.  Confused images, feelings of darkness and hatred.  Efaen was past propaganda, her hatred for the Yeerks had become personal.  Images of childhood flashed through her mind, of the war and what it had done to her and her family.  <She blames the Yeerks for all of her pain...>

Ossanlin pushes deeper into the frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes of Efaen's brain, accessing long-term sensory memories.  The control for morphing was involved with "remembering" what one wanted to become.  He also pushed down to the Cerebellum where the true trigger for morphing lay.  It involved invoking a particular physical "movement" though it moved nothing in the body as any other physical command would.  It was a special movement command that was used only to trigger a morph.  In Efaen's outer lobes, Ossanlin attempts to stimulate Efaen's memories of her own appearance, scent, and "feel".  While attempting to stimulate these memories, Ossanlin interfaces with Efaen's Cerebellum and attempts to instigate the "movement" command that would trigger the morphing process.  He continues to interface, sensing Efaen's body as his own, hoping to feel the changes of demorphing beginning.