The Galactic War: Rogue Element ~The Beginning

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin taps a few touch-panels on his console to survey the situation as Z-Space calms down.  <We shouldn't be alive...good job Enorryma...good job everyone.>

Leskel does show a bit of discomfit at handing over any part of the ship to a controller, but the expression smooths quickly as he allows Keslin to access the panels.

Ossanlin nods in acquiescence to Enorryma's request, and then glances over at Keslin.  <You say you've spent a lot of time in Z-Space...do you have experience re-calculating Z-Space trajectories?>  Ossanlin begins pulling up the appropriate information regarding origin, destination, and deviation.

[Estelore]

Enorryma stepped away from the main console and moved toward the edge of the room, giving a clear path for anybody who needed to pass into the bridge. She disliked the idea of a Yeerk having anything to do with the ship's controls, but she trusted that nothing underhanded could get past the notice of Leskel, Esarvit, and Ossanlin.

She found Niko near the entrance of the bridge. <If you are interested in sharing map information with those in charge of navigation, they are currently plotting a revision to our course.>

[Terenia]

When Leskel hands over control, Keslin releases it, letting Chris follow his instructions. As soon as the human is in control of his body the trembling in his hands ceases and his fingers fly over the holoscreen deftly as Chris listens to Keslin's commands.

When the turbulence finally slows, Chris sighs with relief, stepping back. Keslin resumes control, glancing over at Ossanlin and nodding. "Some more successful than others," he says, "but I got pretty good at it over the years." He looks at the holoscreen, and the Andalite script that accompanies the images. "Is there a way to translate this into Galard?" he asks.


Almost the moment Lanath releases control to Aya the ship begins to lurch, so she is prevented from responding for a good couple of minutes, tottering over to a wall and leaning against it heavily. <<Damn Z-Space shifts,>> she breathes. <<I hate these.>>

She is silent for the duration of the turbulence. When it finally seems to slow, she hesitates, making sure that she has her balance, before turning back to Claxter. "I don't know Efaen well. She was in quarantine when I arrived on the base, and shortly afterwards her memory was wiped. I've never spoken to her, personally. Terliss never had any interest in working with Andalites, no matter what the state of their memories."

Aya hesitates, not particularly happy to talk about Terliss, or Terenia. Her discomfort shows in her expression. "Terenia was...is..." She sighs. "I wouldn't worry about her being dangerous. She's been through a lot, and the only person she seems to pose a threat to these days is herself." She bites her lip, guilt shooting through her. "I didn't count Mike or Corliss among the survivors, which is probably how Efaen got away with her ruse so long. If they're dead, I'm not sure what to expect from Terenia, honestly. I think they were the only ones holding her together."


Terenia spares Keshin and Joanne a glance. Her shoulders lift in a dull shrug. "What do you care if I live or die?" she asks the turelek. She doesn't seem to be expecting an answer.


Efaen finishes demorphing just as the ship ceases its rocking. On four legs once more, she looks around with her stalk eyes, taking better stock of her surroundings with four eyes than two. As soon as she is done with her initial sweep of the area, though, her stalk eyes move to face forward, following the same direction as her main eyes.

Opting to stay off from the bridge, she nevertheless inches towards the entrance, curious. For the time being, she remains in Andalite form, too tired to remorph immediately. She does keep her tail tucked close to her back, however, in a clearly submissive stance. It is obvious from the way she moves that she is uncomfortable with her own anatomy. She steps back when Enorryma passes, looking away.

[Chad32]

Claxter was still plenty nervous about what was going on, and hoped they's drop out of Z-Space as soon as possible. His conversation with Aya and Lanath was helping him focus on other things, though.

<I don't know what is going through Terenia's head. Given that she killed her siblings, whom she liked, I'd say she'd be more than willing to kill someone she doesn't. especially if she's unhinged enough to not care if she's killed soon afterwards. I don't know if she's more or less of a threat, but I think she's ruined Efaen's life quite enough already without making death threats. Was she even made to apologize and make reparations for enslaving Efaen and forcing her to work for Visser Three for Terenia's own self centered agenda?>

<So she decided to kill a bunch of Yeerks with barium soon after getting out of quarantine? Was she just trying to gain enough trust to be let loose so she could destroy the rebels? Why would she do that? She went to the rebellion as a spy, or that was what she told Prince Ossanlin. Surely no order came from him to kill Yeerks. This mystery surrounding her killing rebels and having her memory erased is confusing.>

[Terenia]

Aya sighs, looking exasperated. <<Is this what it is like to talk to all Andalites?>> she asks Lanath.

"I wasn't on base when the barium attack occurred," she says as patiently as she can. "All I know are the details that were put in the public records, and what others have said. From what I understand, Efaen -- the old Efaen -- came to the base with Andalite permission. I'm assuming that permission came from Ossanlin, based on what you've said. It is also my understanding that when Efaen attacked the pool she was acting of her own volition. She received no Andalite orders to do such a thing, or if she did they haven't been uncovered." She shrugs. "Maybe she went to the base under orders, but has it occurred to you that perhaps her true intentions were to cause as much damage as possible on what she perceived to be her enemies? Regardless of orders?"

[Chad32]

<I'm quite sure she had no positive feelings for the rebels, though I'm not sure what she really intended to gain if doing that was her plan the entire time.> He said. Apparently Aya didn't believe Terenia was a threat, despite some evidence to the contrary. <Thank you anyway. Maybe if we're lucky, Terenia will jump out of an airlock on her own or something.>

He straightened up and left Aya to go see Efaen. He wasn't sure if he could find a rebel to help watch Efaen, but he'd try to do what he could.

<Does it look like they have things under control now?> He asked her. He peeked inside, seeing one of the rebels at the controls. He figured whatever increased their chances of living was good enough. <I hope your ally in there knows what he's doing.>

[Terenia]

<<****,>> Aya mutters internally as Claxter moves away. She was no friend to Terenia, but she had more than enough reason to want to prevent further harm from coming to her fellow rebel.


Efaen glances at Claxter, then back to the bridge where Keslin is working on learning the Andalite controls as rapidly as possible.

<From what I understand, he spent a long time living in space. Almost ten years,> she says mildly. <He was the leader of another rebellion, aside from Reven's. More than half the people here answer to him, not Reven.> She lifts her shoulder in a shrug -- a very human gesture. <If nothing else, that amount of time on board a ship means that he became familiar with piloting them, in both Z-Space and normal space.>

[Chad32]

<I'm sure it would be hard to live in space for ten years. I suppose it's quite possible, given the kind of war we're in, and how long it takes to get from place to place. At least Andalite ships have domes, so we bring a little piece of home with us. I hadn't really thought of Z-Space as being very dangerous until today, but apparently it has its dangers as well.> He was grateful that Efaen hadn't brushed him off. Perhaps she was willing to try to open up with him a bit.

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin shakes his head at Keslin.  <This craft was never intended for usage by anyone but Andalites.  It is considered to be my Captain's Yacht...or was.  I made some personal "adjustments" to it.>  He pauses for a moment of thought before continuing.  <It is possible, however, to switch textual and non-visual data into thought-speech output.>  Ossanlin does so, transferring the relevant positional data to the display that Keslin is working at.  <You may run a finger over any text listed on the display and the computer will transmit the information to you via thought-speech.>

[Terenia]

Keslin nods. "Perfect. Thanks." He turns back to the controls, giving Leskel a tentative smile as he familiarizes himself. Anytime he does not understand something, he highlights the text and the translation is sent directly to his mind in the typical Andalite fashion.

<<I must admit, this is the oddest form of translation I have experienced,>> Keslin murmurs to Chris.

<<We should make sure Tess is okay,>> Chris says worriedly, his attention pulled away from the alien technology.

<<I know,>> Keslin responds. <<We will in just a moment. For the time being, though, it is important that we establish ourselves as valuable. As of now we are little more than cargo to most of the Andalites here.>>


<A piece of your home, perhaps,> Efaen says sullenly, the bulk of her attention still on the bridge. <I have no home, and if I did it is certainly not your homeworld. The only thing I have been met with there is persecution.>

[Chad32]

<I am sorry for what you've been through. Just think of it as trees, grass, and water then. Just a place to stretch your legs, and look at something besides gray walls or the expanse of space. I am sure that if we survive this war, we can find a place to call home. Just please try to keep an open and optimistic mind. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway.>

<You seem to have a preference for your Human form. Why pick Human, if I may ask?>

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Ossanlin addresses the ship at large with open thought.  <Everyone, I apologize for the turbulence...we flew through the middle of a rather active Z-Space shift.  We have cleared the phenomenon and are recalculating our trajectory.  It is safe to move around the common again.>

He begins poring over the wealth of sensor information provided by flying through the middle of the maelstrom.  Ships tended to avoid these phenomena like the plague, and they're almost impossible to project or predict.  No ship in Ossanlin's memory has ever accomplished such a feat and survived.  Perhaps it had been a happy accident...what could a skilled theoretical physicist tease out of this information?  He nods.  Perhaps things would start going right for a change...

[Terenia]

Efaen considers Claxter's question, her main eyes still on the bridge, rather than him. She remembers Ossanlin's words regarding the warrior, and is determined to show that she is not merely blindly writing off the Andalite's. Even if they have given me no reason to love them, she thinks bitterly.

<They are one of the only species I have any memory of kindness from,> she settles on at last. <In addition, the occupants of the rebel base were uncomfortable seeing me in my natural form, given what I did to them. It became...comfortabl e.>

[Chad32]

<I'm glad that's over.> Claxter said, sighing with relief.

<That sounds reasonable. I'm met both good and bad Humans. Like other sentient creatures, they are capable of different personalities. I went to Earth once, and the plants were very green. The planet itsself is mostly water. I think I have a Human morph, but I forget what it looks like.>

[Myitt]

Niko shakily climbs to his feet, bracing against the wall for support.

He stares blankly at Enorryma for a moment, blinking, until his addled mind can make the switch back to Galard from English. That strange way the Andalites had of simply conveying what they meant, almost beyond words, dragged Niko even more fully into the realm of comprehension.

"Um," he says, clearing his throat and running a hand through his unkempt, greasy black hair. "Yes, I'd be glad to help. Illim should be here shortly as well, he will have a better grasp of the star charts, though I can provide assistance with the evacuation protocol and the possible meeting sites." He exhales, the exertion of shifting both z-space and language making his head throb. "Show me where I can search, please, Enorryma. The sooner we have a set path, the better."


A sharp pang of irritation runs through Lanath at the mention of the bounty hunter named Terliss, and again regret at the sound of Corliss and Mike's names from Aya's lips, but he says nothing at first and makes no move to seize control.

<<Andalites, it would seem,>> says Lanath quietly as Claxter moves off, <<truly never change.>>


Myitt shakily pulls herself to her feet at Ossanlin's all-clear sign.

"I think I need to lie down," she whispers to Daniel and Illim, but she makes no move to do so, snagging his hand and wordlessly walking along the short distance to the increasingly crowded bridge.

Somehow the sight of Chris and Keslin at the controls gives her comfort, and she smiles at his back. She slips her hand out of Illim's and keeps a wide berth around Efaen, coming to a stop next to one of the Andalite tacticians--a male standing near a broad-range z-space scan display.
Loudly, a little abrasively, she clears her throat.

<<If I'm supposed to lead our people, I may as well start now,>> she tells Tara, mentally steeling herself.

"Excuse me, I don't know your name," she tells the sensors officer. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance in determining our trajectory, once we reach the Tyrennian."

Niko pipes up nearby. "I'm going to be helping with that nasty hairball on this end, too, Myitt," he tells her in English from Enorryma's side, before wincing and making a mental note to stick with Galard. The last thing he needed was for their purposes to be called into question because of a faulty translator chip and a penchant for languages-other-than-trade.