Animorphs: Ressurection

[Gumby]

If Fisher tightened his grip on the gun any more, he'd probably crack the casing. He sighed, ground his teeth together, and tried not to punch something. He hated this. He'd been trained in the various ways of making things dead and keeping important things from becoming dead, not much in the way of fore-thought. All he wanted to do was his job dammit! All his bloody life he'd been dreaming of the day he could blast down Yeerk terrorists and save the day, or something like that. Now he could practically smell the chance of it all, and he was screwed.

So instead they were walking onto a Yeerk ship, quite possibly controlled by a Yeerk, who for all they knew wouldn't be too happy about having Andalite and Co. strutting on board in need of what she possessed. And now they couldn't even simply hog-tie it and drop it in a closet if need be, just hope on the goodwill of a possible Yeerk who had stolen a vessel and fled far off to stay under the radar. Just great.

"I really, really hate this." Fisher sighed as Reli palmed open the airlock. He tensed up, preparing for an onslaught of toxic gas or the whoosh of them being sucked in a vacuum.

Air swept past his ankles from the open airlock. Clean, normal, breathing air. That was something promising at least. Stepping forward lightly, beam pistol still in one hand, he stuck an foot forward out of the escape pod, at least the other ship would be more roomy.

[Estelore]

Reli strode forward beside Fisher, deliberately keeping her posture as unthreatening as possible.

They emerged into Aya's vessel. <We are boarding now; thank you again for your assistance.>

<<Fisher, if we are fired upon, you can use my body for a shield. As long as we do not attack, she will not be shooting to kill. She could just as easily have killed us just now, or while we were still in the pod.>>

[Terenia]

Aya is standing on the other side of the hatchway, a good several dozen feet away to allow the newcomers plenty of room to pass onto her ship. Her Dracon is raised, but she does not shoot, eyes darting from one person to the next as they enter, committing their faces to memory and ensuring that none are familiar.

"Arhareli-Winwall-Ajaht," Aya says to the only visible Andalite, having no trouble recalling or reciting the strange complexities that are often associated with Andalite names. Her lips twitch upward into a small, thin smile. "Welcome aboard my vessel. You'll have to forgive me if I request that all weapons be left here." She gestures to a small storage bin. "I won't keep them, but I prefer not to be shot in the back on my own ship." Her eyebrows raise, as if daring them to contest her, but her expression remains otherwise friendly.

[Underseen]

Dru followed Fisher and Reli and boarded the ship. "I think that having no weapons will be a smart idea." Dru said as he put his dracon beam into the bin. "As long as you have no weapons too. I would never want to die on a spaceship." Dru said raising an eyebrow at Aya, hoping she wouldn't be hiding anything.

[Estelore]

<Considering the fact that an adult Andalite can never be considered truly disarmed, Dru, I think it would be inappropriate for us to make that request of Aya, especially when she is offering us her rescue and hospitality.>

Reli put her Shredder into the storage bin and moved into the ship, giving Aya a wide berth while still staying close enough to her own group that she could bodily shield them at least a little bit if needed.

Sky help us, but that Dru fellow is a diplomatic nightmare.

[Gumby]

The proposal of using a friends body as a living shield repulsed Fisher, but he kept his comments to himself due to a lack of thought-speak. He was repulsed even further by the disarming request, but he regrettably had no choice. He calmly dropped the dracon beam in the container, and took a place beside Reli. Even if she did turn out to be hostile, he wa pretty sure the Andalite's tail would give them an advantage, or at least distract long enough for him to get in close or grab his weapon.

[Terenia]

Aya laughs lightly, flipping her dark ponytail over her shoulder. The hair is held back with an out-of-date, bright green scrunchie, making her look even younger than she is. Her attire shows major signs of wear and tear; the once vibrant yellow long-sleeved shirt has faded to a dull, buttery color, and her jeans are covered in grease stains and tears. Beneath the various rips in the fabric small glints of something more substantial, possibly metallic, can be seen, almost like medieval chain mail, but much more supple.

"Arheli has a good point. Typically I'd request that she morph something a little less worrisome, but I like you." Aya winks at Reli. "You can stay in your natural form, so long as I feel safe and sound. I'm not overly worried about Andalite blades anyways. Especially a female blade."

Moving over to a small computer console, Aya brings up a holoscreen and commands her hatch closed. "I'll hold onto your escape pod for you. Not really the time or place for me to strip it of essentials, so we'll just tow it for the time being. Besides, you might need it again. I'm still not sure if I can help you or not." Turning from the main entryway she gestures for them to follow her out of the narrow docking area. "Come on, it's more comfortable through here. We can all get to know one another a little better."

She doesn't wait to see if they are following or not, passing through into one of the larger rooms on the ship, relatively bare except for a long, bolted down table and similarly bolted chairs.

[Estelore]

Reli let the insult slide. Even female blades can stun, and that armor does not keep her skull plate protected, but the point is moot for now. All the better if Aya does not recognize me from my competition days, or she may have pressed the issue. Disarming beam weapons for courtesy is one thing, but I will not risk being trapped in an helpless morph.

Reli followed Aya, her stalk-eyes taking in the spaces around them, memorizing details, control panel locations.

<What brings a lone voyager to this corner of Known Space? We escaped in the pod where you found us, but your vessel appears to be truly self-sufficient beyond general fuel needs.>

[Underseen]

I am liking this more and more Dru thought as he followed Reli to the room. He looked around and then sat at one of the chairs.

[Cobra (Gymn)]

Chris dropped his Dracon in the bin with the rest and found a seat. He sat down but didn't recline. He was pretty tense.

[Terenia]

Aya moves to the head of the table, standing behind the chair there rather than taking a seat herself. "It is self-sufficient," she says to Reli, not without some pride. "We've been living on this vessel for the past five years or so. Hard to tell, what with being in space and all. Everyone has a different way of keeping track of time." She flashes Reli a bright smile. "As for the why of it, which I'm sure is your next question, my line of business with my partner, Terliss, and, ah, the somewhat politically sensitive nature of our relationship isn't too welcome in the inner areas of the galaxy."

She leans on the back of the chair, watching the group cautiously. "And you? What brought you to be in an escape pod this far out, hm?"

[Estelore]

So far, things were going as diplomatically and well as Reli could have hoped, but she was still hesitant to volunteer too much information. Even so, this near the border of Kelbrid Space...

<With the exception of Dru, who is an incidental and recent member of our party, we were members of an exploratory expedition into the near side of Kelbrid Space, attempting to retrieve some information sensitive to at least two planetary governments. We were attacked several times, and highly essential crew members became separated from our group, until only we four remain, and now Dru is with us as well. The escape vessel is what it appears to be: a last effort to get what is left of our crew home safely, before we lose more people. I would not even know where to begin looking for the rest of our group, and I cannot express how it pains me that this has occurred: I was brought onto the team to be personally responsible for the safety of others in the team, and now they are beyond my ability to help them. By all accounts, the mission has been a failure. Right now we are simply trying to get home and cut our losses, with what spare information we have managed to collect for those who hired us.>

Reli didn't have to falsify the look of exhaustion, grief, and self-disgust that covered her face and posture... but she also knew that looking so downtrodden would probably make her seem less dangerous to Aya than if she appeared desperate.

[Underseen]

Wow 5 years. I can barely last a day. Dru thought. "Do you ever get lonely all the way out here?" Dru asked.

[Terenia]

Aya grins at Dru. "I have company," she says simply.

To Reli she nods. "I'm sorry for your losses," she murmurs, her fingers tapping out a pattern on the back of the chair. "Though you should consider yourself lucky. Not many Andalites slip into Kelbrid space and live to tell about it. There's a reason it's restricted, after all..." She trails off, her eyes blanking ever so slightly for a brief moment.

"Of course," she says, as if in response to someone, blinking her eyes back into focus. "You must be hungry. I have protein bars and the like. For you, Andalite, I'm afraid I only have liquefied grass, and not much of it. But you are welcome to what I have, while we discuss terms."

She strides over to a wall panel, sliding it open and beginning to rummage through the contents.

[Gumby]

She'd been hiding for years, in a Yeerkish ship, avoiding contact in space. That, and the references to "we" just made Fisher itch in his seat more. He was dead-positive she was a controller, and if she'd been hiding, he wondered what sort of crime she'd committed to want to flee.

"Right now we are simply trying to get home and cut our losses, Fisher glowered inwardly at the mention, remembering the bloody audacity of the Kelbrid. He personally thought Reli was taking too much of the blame -they sure had been expecting to be suddenly transported across the galaxy from a prison- but he said nothing, just kept a calm of a face as he could. UN and the Electorate will blast them them to blazes when they get word of this. He thought. Especially the UN, who -as all mighty human armies had- had been looking for a good fight ever since the end of the Yeerk War.

:"You must be hungry. I have protein bars and the like. The offer made him suspicious of course. Poisoned probably. He wouldn't touch the stuff, despite barely being able to sleep on account of his rumbling gut. He just sat there, quietly, watching as this all went down, and hoping he wouldn't get a knife in his back at a moments notice.