The Galactic War: Rogue Element ~The Beginning

[Terenia]

Terenia doesn't look satisfied by Mike's response, or Daniel's request for her to stay. She looks about ready to bolt off and pose her question to anyone in earshot, but when Daniel grabs her she pauses. Her eyes water and she takes a few shuddery breaths, but in the end she nods, staying near Daniel.

Terenia forgotten, Chris watches Tara's expression, his heart thudding frantically in his chest and hand tightening around Tess'. "Oh, hell," he whispers, shaking his head. Abruptly he turns away, trying to push back the surge of emotion that is trying to fight its way out.

"Yeah...you're right," he says to Tess, his voice shaking as he blinks back tears. "Let's...let's help. He'll turn up. He has to turn up." He rubs angrily at his eyes with his free hand, then begins joining the queue to load up on protein packages.

A few feet away, Dom shakes his head, his face pale. "No, I--I haven't," he says in a lightly accented voice, licking his lips and stooping to help Niko pick up the packets he dropped. His hands are shaking.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

"Good, now follow me.  Carefully."  He speaks to the hosts.  "The longer we stay, the greater the chance for hostile Andalites to engage us.  We will exit right, turn left at the wall, and follow the hallway around to a ramp-well.  We will descend to the bottom of the ramp-well and regroup there."  He says all in Galard.

<<Enorryma, I'll take point.  Please carry up the rear-guard.  This is one of the most sensitive portions of the mission.  I pray that our luck will hold.  Try to keep them from running off, but don't chase any if they do.  We don't have the time to run after strays.>>

"Stay together.  If anyone runs off...well, those who are silly enough to run off are on their own.  Keep silent...if there are any guards out in the halls, we don't want to gain their attention."  He activates his compression pack and stows it before peeking out the door into the north-south hallway.  He moves out, ASAR holstered as he turns north and proceeds to the wall.  Again, he checks the crossing hallway before proceeding into it and turning left.  He keeps quiet as he proceeds to the corner and turns left again, heading all the way to the ramp-well.  He descends to the Maintenance level and checks carefully again...still no guards.  He steps out into the hallway and pulls the repressor emitter from his pack.  He sets it up to cover the ramp-well ingress and waits for the hosts and Enorryma to funnel through.

~

Ehvrin finishes with his lockers and follows Claxter back down the ramp-well all the way to the Maintenance levels where Aurellia and Esarvit are waiting.  <<We're clear.>>  He follows Claxter to join him near the first floor-breacher.  <<Sir...those guards that shot you...>> He glances at Claxter, <<...they're dead...I...we...tha t is, Aurellia and I...we killed them.>>

~

Aurellia nods to Claxter and Esarvit, respect plain even on her Hork-Bajir face as Claxter makes his way by.  To have made it through those injuries without demorphing must've taken extreme mental fortitude.  She arms the repressor field that shuts off the ramp-well's maintenance level access and continues after Claxter and Ehvrin.  She takes up a station near the first floor-breacher, awaiting the arrival of her Prince and TO...and a bunch of hosts if things went according to plan.

[Shenmue654]

Joanne watches the milieu of hosts waver past her, each going to pick up a protein package. She hears most of one of the Hork-Bajir's Yeerkish comments, too. Terse little bugger, ain't he? Probably doesn't how to say much of the language right in that body and has to work with what he's got. Joanne smirks lightly, following this one with her eyes as she follows the group along. This will not only irritate him, but it reminds her that not everyone in the group is as super-competent as Leader Guy seems to be. Some of the team are like her.

Although...his awkward phrasing doesn't exactly make figuring out what's happening easy. Why does this group want to free them, anyway? Maybe Leader Guy said something more, but he looks to be just giving instructions. Joanne then takes up part of the line dutifully. Like Hell she's going to disobey when there's even a small chance they're earnest about this.

Joanne looks toward Myitt reuniting tearfully with another fellow rebel, and the same happening across the ground. She paws with her foot at the ground slightly. .....depressing, this. Without Keshin, she didn't have anyone to go back to and hug. All her ties were cut long ago.  It was worth giving them up to save her life, but this was a sad reminder of the loneliness her profession demands.

[Chad32]

<<You only needed to shoot them once each.>> Claxter said. There was regret in his voice, but not anger. They probably just panicked in their effort to make sure he didn't die. <<what's done is done, I suppose. Maybe this is what the rebels feel like, fighting their own kind. Try not to feel too bad about it, but try not to forget that the opponents on the other side of conflict are people too. We're taught pretty early that Yeerks are unquestionably evil, but that's too extreme to actually be true.>>

<<I hope the others get here soon. I'm not exactly enjoying being vulnerable right now.>>

[Ember Nickel]

Esarvit follows, numbly.

That could have been me, and I'd have been none the wiser. No wonder we're hardly winning this war, if we can barely keep our own affairs in order to say nothing of when the Empire comes along--

Mechanically, he glances down at his ARC, double-checking the time spent in morph.

[Estelore]

Enorryma activated and stowed her compression pack, and on second thought before leaving, she slung a large pack of Hork-Bajir supplement over a bladeless area of her shoulder.
We should have been bringing Hork-Bajir supplement, too. We're masquerading as Hork-Bajir Controllers. It is suspicious if we don't behave opportunistically toward something our 'hosts' would eat.

The food pack was wide enough to stay in place fairly well on its own, leaving her hands mostly free, so she kept one hand near her sidearm and stood against one of the near walls, waiting for the humans to go on ahead of her. She kept a lookout to the rear of the group.

[Terenia]

As soon as Chris is as laden with nutrition packets as he can manage he turns to helping Tess. "Don't take too much," he warns, speaking lowly, glancing at her stomach. The last thing he wants is to put any more unnecessary strain on her. It's a miracle she hasn't gone into labor as it is. The past month or so on base had been a nerve-wracking touch-and-go, and Sam had warned them that with twins an early delivery was almost expected.

Don't think about that, Chris orders himself. Sam is nowhere to be seen and Chris is loathe to imagine what a Hork-Bajir Imperial might know about delivering a baby. The thought makes his stomach churn, and he finds himself holding onto Tess with renewed protectiveness as they begin to move down the hall, following the Hork-Bajir who seems to be in charge.

[KitsuneMarie]

Following Chris's advice, she takes a lighter load than the other humans, unable to do any more than this in her condition. As they walk, she has her first chance to cast her thoughts beyond her frantic desperation to find Chris and her yearning that Keslin and the other Yeerks she holds dear will be rescued as well and reunited with their hosts--if they are even here.

For the first time, she begins analyzing the situation, wondering who these Hork-Bajir are. There had been no substantial answer from the one who had opened her cell, and they had been given nothing more than marching orders by the other.

Her first assumption is that they are Imperial troops--a thought that frightens her more now than it even would have before. As useful as she had been to the Empire when she had been the host of one of their Yeerks, a woman laden with two children would either be seen as a burden, herself, or worse, her babies would be relieved of her. The idea of it makes her grow stiff.

It is impossible to know what or who else these strange Hork-Bajir could be, and she does her best to herself with the internal mantra, Now that Chris is here, everything will be alright.

A few people ahead of Tess, Daniel looks equally troubled, his arms laden with nutrient packets and gaze darting protectively between Terenia and Tara. He keeps swallowing, and from the wrinkles lining his forehead, he appears to be deep in thought.

[Myitt]

Niko takes some of the packets, watching Dom with a sinking sense of disappointment and fear. He nods, murmuring something that Tara cannot quite year, looking over his shoulder and following in line with the escaping hosts.

Tara's gaze drifts to a grudgingly familiar face. Joanne. Her eyes narrow in sudden suspicion, and she has to bite her tongue not to say something scathing to the bounty hunter. Tara had half a mind to think that Joanne might've had something to do with this unholy mess.

She slips a hand into Daniel's own, squeezing hard, desperate to find some answers. Briefly she looks up at Daniel, wishing she could reassure him that they were following friends and not walking toward capture.

In the rush to leave she hasn't even grabbed any supplements--far too concerned with escaping, and with the events of the last few days. The people who were missing, and the people she knew were lost. She is too overwhelmed, too sick with grief and anger to even think of her own needs.

Dazed, shocked and grieving, Niko and Tara make their way through the ramp-well ingress, Tara stopping only because she trusts that Ossanlin has stopped for a reason.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin nods to Tara as she comes down the ramp-well.  <<Thank you, Tara.  There will be time to pay respects later...right now we need to escape.  After everyone else comes through, we'll activate the repressor field here and go extricate the controllers.  Claxter and Ehvrin should be waiting for you with weapons and personal effects at the rendezvous.>> 

Ossanlin falls silent as he waits for the rest of the hosts.

[Terenia]

Chris' gaze briefly meets Ossanlin's as he passes through the ingress. His eyes narrow a little at the Hork-Bajir, and he moves to make sure that he is bodily between him and Tess, pulling her through as quickly as possible, pulling to a stop behind Tara.

Terenia stays almost as close to Daniel as Tara, but her attention is being consistently diverted. She keeps craning her neck, turning to look every possible direction. She has not grabbed any nutrients either, seeming far too preoccupied to bother.

"He will turn up," the quiet voice of Dom whispers, drawing Chris' attention briefly. He is close enough to Niko to be speaking to the other man, but Chris has a feeling he is reassuring himself more than anything. Chris' grip on Tess' hand tightens.\

As the last few rebels sidle through the ingress a final human hurries into place. He is pale skinned and dark haired, and he is not carrying any supplies. Shoulders hunched, he glances at the Hork-Bajir, then hurries to follow the sad procession, keeping his head down.

[Myitt]

Tara's gaze meet's Ossanlin's reptilian one, and she nods faintly, glancing over her shoulder at the others, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

"I hope you're right," Niko murmurs tremulously to Dom as he passes Tara along the ingress ramp. He doesn't understand much of Ossanlin's Galard instructions, but something tells him it would be wise to keep his voice down. "I...I lost Yarin, Dom." He stops a few feet from the others, his olive complexion pale. The typically well composed man has to juggle the nutrient packets in one arm, and he presses a hand to his mouth, sick with grief and worry.

It is impossible for Tara to avoid spotting the pale, dark-haired young man who slips into the room at the last minute. Her hands drop to her sides as she stares, slack-jawed.

"Mike?" she breathes, incredulous.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin's eyes widen as Mike makes his way past the opening.  He half raises his ASAR.  Mike hadn't been in the cells.  Mike wasn't here.  The only explanation was that an Andalite had morphed him.  But that didn't make any sense either...if Mike wasn't here, he'd never been here.  When had any morph-capable being had any type of access to Mike?

Ossanlin's eyes widen even further.  Ertoran had been the only Andalite he'd known about within the Rebellion...but last he'd heard, she'd been nothlitized.  That left only one possibility...Efaen .  He stares at Efaen's morphed form, but doesn't say anything...he can't afford the drama now.  She'd have to be dealt with later.

He continues to wait for the rest of the rebels and Enorryma to pass through the ingress.

[Estelore]

Enorryma stays half a pace behind the last of the rebels as the group moves forward. In the dim light, she can't see the changes in Ossanlin's expressions in reaction to each of the humans, and the snatches of conversation mean little or nothing to her, so she gives her whole focus to staying with the group and making sure nothing comes up behind them.

[Terenia]

The dark-haired man does not respond to Tara, eyes resolutely on the ground, following the feet of the person in front of him. Terenia, however, does react. "Where?" she demands, eyes scanning the rebels until they land on Mike. With a sharp inhalation she breaks away from Daniel and Tara, pushing past Niko and Chris and anyone else who dares try to get in her way.

"Mike?" Her voice is shrill enough to make Chris wince a little.

Mike appears to balk, eyes widening in surprise when he is nearly bowled over by Terenia. Chris looks away discreetly then, his fingers lacing between Tess'. He gives her a grim smile. As relieving as some of these reunions are, they are still punctuated by grief.

Behind him, Terenia is finding herself pushed away from Mike, who shakes his head. "Come on, we have to hurry," he says in a low voice that makes Terenia's tear-filled eyes widen.

"What?" she asks, staring at him. She begins to tremble. "What did you say?"

"We have to hurry," he repeats, glancing at the Hork-Bajir, then attempting to pull away from Terenia and lose himself in the crowd. Terenia doesn't follow him; she is rooted to the spot, one hand covering her mouth as she stares at his back. "Oh my God," she whispers.