GESB: Operation Time-Cops

[Chad32]

<Sorry about that too. We could have been out of here five minutes ago otherwise and not had to bother with bugfighters.>

"Maybe we won't die quite yet Zorish." Sukohn said, though Zorish's host was still unconscious.

[Myitt]

"Well, we have an attack formation of Bug fighters, looks like they made a little detour to a small town called Roswell, New Mexico, and now they're heading in our direction," Myitt calls back distractedly as she checks a second screen.  Her hands are still gripped tight around the bare white manual controls at the weapons station, and she takes them away, wiping the sweat from her palms onto her black jacket.  "Not to mention if we weren't getting any attention earlier, turning the woods into Swiss cheese, I'm sure that little explosion probably set off a few alarms.  An Andalite pulse mine?  That should alert every Imperial tech readout for a hundred miles around."

[Terenia]

Tamora's body remains fully unconscious as Alic carries it back to the Mirage and dumps it on the floor. Internally, Zorish winces, knowing that his host will wake up to more than a few bruises. Not that it matters, Zorish thinks to himself, I imagine they will destroy me for sure, now. Probably Tamora as well. He clamped down mentally on that thought, pushing it far from the forefront of his mind and concentrating, instead, on waking his host.

------

The three Bug Fighters had begun to hesitate, fanning out to search a larger area, when a sudden blaze of energy lights up their screens. Aboard one of the vessels a Taxxon analyzes the data quickly, realizing immediately that it must be alien, and non-Yeerk, technology. He hisses his deduction to the Hork-Bajir beside him who, in turn, opens ship-to-ship communications, and relays the Taxxon's message to the other two Bugs.

As one, the three Bug Fighters close rank, adjusting their course to the location of the energy spike.

[Myitt]

"Speak of the Devil," Myitt murmurs, watching the screens.  "Oh, they most definitely paid attention to us, now.  Unless you want the Empire to gain two more Andalite-Controllers and a nice pile of traitors and ranking hostages, we need to breach atmo and get into z-space, maximum burn.  Now.  Right now!"

[Alic]

Alic groaned. "Aww, bug fighters? Really? This sucks. This is not getting better." She glared at Sukohn. "They get US, I'm blasting you to pieces first. I promise you that."
She then decided to ignore the hostages for now. Alic was in a horrible mood and didn't feel like taking it out on anyone yet.
Alic walked to where Myitt stood and watched the screen. " Yeah let's get the hell out of here before they set the forest on fire trying to get us."

[Myitt]

"I wouldn't think they'd want any more attention drawn to them," Myitt says, tension constricting her throat.  She glances at one of the main viewscreens, showing the ground far below.  "As it stands they'll be cloaked, but who knows how many humans heard all our noise down there?" 

[Chad32]

"Hey, uh, Claxter. why don't you put me back in my host before this girl gets trigger happy? If I'm gonna die, I might as well give this guy a chance to live."

<And who's to say I won't crush you in my palm once you're out?>

"Nothing."

<Why do you care either way, if you're going to die?>

"Unlike the Andalite girl, I don't take any of this personally. So I don't get angry or spiteful or anything like that."

After a few hesitant moments, claxter approached Sukohn's bed, where he exited his current host, and Claxter placed him into Cody who did little more than roll his eyes at the prospect of Sukohn being returned to him.

The unnamed Human lay there in a kind of shock, not knowing what to do.

<The involuntary has been freed. Shall I let him out, my Prince?>

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

((Sorry guys, was at work.))

Ossanlin closes his mind against the onslaught between Claxter and Alic.  He thought he might love Aliciania but this little interchange showed how immature she could be.  Hitting Claxter wouldn't solve anything.  Right after Myitt speaks of human "children", Ossanlin speaks up.  <STOP!  The both of you stop, this is not productive in any way.  Claxter made a mistake, it's in the past and hitting him won't make any difference.  Can we not just be happy that we have accomplished our objectives?  Aliciania, Claxter, please take your conversation off the flight deck, Myitt and I are not in need of pointless or witless distractions, understood?!>  Ossanlin's thought is firm and brooks no nonsense.  <Off the bridge, both of you...now!>

Ossanlin seals off the flight deck after the two leave.  He sends a private thought-speech to Myitt.  <<When exactly did this turn from a calculated mission with battle-ready warriors to a family trip with us having to discipline the children?>>  Ossanlin shakes his head as he engages the thrusters to maximum, throwing off waves of heat.  <<I suppose there's no point in hiding when they know we're already here...I think you may have to sanitize our tail blade Myitt.>>

The sleek sting-ray like ship glides up through the atmosphere, visible only to infrared scanners as the cloak continues to bend light around its surface.  Ossanlin commands the attitude thrusters to adjust their angle and begins plotting their z-space jump with the nav-com.  <<Altitude at 35,000 human feet.  Three signatures registering behind us...they might catch us before the z-space jump is plotted...So far I show a clear scope to the front.>>

[Myitt]

((No worries, Luke...heh...you could probably tell that I wasn't.  By August I'll be back to the grindstone, though I'm really kinda ready for the change of pace, y'know?))

Myitt winces as Ossanlin's thought speech rings loudly through her head, but she is glad that for now the fighting can be put aside for more important things.

Namely, the Bug fighters in hot pursuit, and the wall of cloaked Yeerkish ships ahead of them.

"Ossanlin," says Myitt casually as they rocket through the atmosphere, "I believe it's safe to say this would be the strangest family trip ever to exist in this galaxy."  She warms up the Mirage's shredder cannon and smiles wryly at the holoscreens.  "Now let's please not have it end in any more torture and death than it has to, alright?  I've also got clear scopes ahead, but remember there's a Pool Ship and a fully armed Blade Ship out there, and this time we don't have the luxury of sneaking around them.  Hope your cloak's as good as mine, my friend."  Once the shredders are primed she peers at the screens.  "What does this say, here?  How do you make it fire behind us?" she asks, urgency creeping into her voice.  "They're gaining on us."

Far too distracted, she doesn't notice her personal comm link when it chirps a few incessant alerts.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

<<There's a rear battery.>>  Ossanlin glances over at the console.  <<That's the proprietary control interface, you don't have to worry about it.  On your display it's asking if you wish to target the ship that the curser is locked onto...more or less.>>


((I'll be heading back to work at 7:00 PM and I'm gonna watch as much of Avatar as I can before I head out so I probably won't check back again until about midnight (central). ))

[Myitt]

Myitt nods quickly, lining up the cursor with the leading of the three Bugs.  She is relieved to find that this part of the controls isn't too different from those on Yeerkish ships, but unfortunately the fighters seem to have noticed their cannon priming for attack.  The two on either side flank away, and the center ship banks downward.  

"Come back here, you bastards," Myitt says, sucking in a breath through her teeth.  She realigns the cursor with the right flanking ship, the angle awkward, and fires the shredder cannon at its engines.  

TSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAA PPP!  TSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAA PPP!  The twin beams collide with the engine, and it sinks out of the sky.  Unable to correct its position or regain power, as the Bug falls to Earth it vaporizes itself, effectively deleting any of its surviving occupants and any remaining evidence.

Far below, it would appear that a sudden, noiseless lightning storm is breaking out.  

"One down, two to go, keep us moving Ossanlin," Myitt calls, just as the center Bug fires its Dracon cannon upward at the underside of the Mirage.  

((No worries Luke, take your time and have fun ^^ Jessi had mentioned I could Yeerk her Bug fighters until she gets back, hope this works for you guys ))

[Terenia]

((looks bueno. Thanks!))

Tamora is quicker to come around this time, not that it does Zorish much good. As soon as his eyes are functional once more he is stuck staring at the same Andalite ceiling as before, the energy ropes binding him in place.

"Wonderful..." he sighs.

---

One of the surviving Bug Fighters jettisons out from underneath the Mirage after taking a shot at its underbelly. The two Bugs separate and then double back, each fighter taking a separate engine and firing their Dracons.

[Chad32]

"Hey there Subvisser." Sukohn  said, though he was speaking from his other host now. "Sukohn again. I'm in my old body now, for what it's worth. Which isn't much. I feel it's kind of odd that they captured you, when I figured they came chasing me because I found out who the Andalite Bandits really are. You know, you remind me of someone, but you'll never believe me if I tell you what place I found."

Claxter stood idly in the medbay, keeping an eye on the prisoners. He didn't want to do anything else without order, so the scared Human still lay on the bed restrained.

[Terenia]

"Stop babbling, you dapsen fool," Zorish mutters, "So. You discovered the identity of the Andalite bandits, did you? And I suppose you were trying to capture them on your own rather than tell Visser Three? Take the glory for yourself? How...quaint."

[Myitt]

((Yay! ^__^ Just going to go ahead and post for the Mirage to move the action a bit, sorry Luke!))

The twin Dracon beams from the first ship impact the shielding under the Mirage, rocking the cabin sickeningly and sounding the alert for a decrease in ventral shielding level.

Myitt is nearly knocked to her feet by the jolt, and until the inertial dampeners can compensate she clings to the shredder cannon manual controls.  The cursor, in response, darts wildly around the aiming holoscreen.  

"No, no, come back!" she snarls, struggling to regain her footing on a ship designed to dampen inertia for the four-legged.  Just as the screen stops hovering side to side in front of her she spies first one Bug, then the other, circling around--the little red blips denoting they've begun cannon priming.  "Ossanlin!  Somebody, evasive maneuvers, they're heating up!"