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[S31-Zero-Order]

I stand on a platform extending from the entrance of the reception area which overlooks the docking bay where a slave freighter had just docked, watching with my reflective visor over my face in my combat helmet, as the slaves are offloaded and then herded into a corner by the security team. Commander Dom strides toward what seems to be the captain of the vessel as he exits his ship through a hatch. They get into what seems to be a heated argument and the security team lowers their weapons, taking aim at the crew exiting the ship. Dom then seems to give them an invisible order to stand down. A possible agreement had been made perhaps? Not sure. They must have an explaination as to why they docked aboard our vessel and not at either Shemjaza's mooring fixture or Tchatcha for offloading...

Dom parts with the captain, keeping a portion of his security team with him, and walks up the stairs to meet me. "What's their story, Commander?" I ask curiously. "Their captain says that they were having some engine failures and were not able to maintain full speed. They're wantin' some parts to fix their ship. I agreed to give it to them... for a price ten times higher than what they're worth," he replies with a chuckle. "I think I can have the slaves sent to Shemjaza Mooring for processing. That won't be a problem." "I understand. Anything suspicious you find?" I ask, hoping for an inkling as to why there was an unmanned Hunter moving through the system. It didn't look to have surveilance equipment, so why else could it be here in this system? Something still didn't add up... "I'll head down to the slaves and see what I can find." I turn and proceed down the stairs, activating a bio-scanner which glowed a dim blue color around my wrist and lower arm. Hopefully, I'll be able to match up whoever is here with what's already in our data banks. Usually, I can only get basic identification data from those scanned unless they've had a history with us.

I stride over to the slave zone, actively scanning and moving my right arm slowly in front of me, pointing at each individual slave. Their basic information and rotating three-dimensional medical diagram appears on my HUD. Nothing seems out of place. No red flags. No skin-deep electronic tags or branding of any kind from us. No explosives either. They just seem like typical slaves. I turn and proceed back to the staircase to continue my observing. I look to Commander Dom as I slowly proceed up, taking notice of the maintenance crew which was scuttling from the freighter to the engine sections. Repair crew, probably. "Commander, count the crew and slaves. If even one disappears from this area, I want to know. Immediately." I deactivate the scanner and eye the movement within the bay. "If you are here, spy, I'll find you. When I do, you'll be on the first AI-controlled drop shuttle to the prison in which we orbit," I think to myself. I tap the left of my helmet and increase the view range to "2x" normal range, closely watching the crews below.

[Fleainator]

"YEOWCH!!! SON OF A SMUGGLER!" It was the third time in ten minutes that he'd been zapped by the faulty main engine circuit. It was badly damaged but was live enough to hurt, even through his insulated gloves. The crewman next to him nearly fell off the hull laughing. In just five hours, he'd already become acquainted with all of the crew's engineering officers, if you could even call them that. They were a gruff, crass group of men who just happened to be able to work together by chance, since there was no hierarchy of command aside from the Captain's rank and a few junior officers aboard the ship. Despite that, the did their work well, and in those five hours since they'd started, they had already removed most of the engine components. And not a single break from watchful eyes. He'd developed a slight fondness for the crew, but his mission here remained at the forefront of his mind.

Flea had noticed how heavily they were being monitored. There were guards everywhere, and while he'd been inside of one of the thrusters extracting bad parts, the slaves had apparently been screened by an APOC officer. He'd known that there would be few opportunities for sneaking around once aboard. For all of their brutal, and sometimes reckless ways, the Children of the Apocalypse were quite thorough with security protocol. However, he wasn't here to sabotage their ship or to kill any key officers. Such grandiose operations were always performed in groups. He was but one man acting alone. Bravery here would quickly turn to stupidity.

So he took his time, glancing around the bay with every brief break, and slowly reassembling his handgun whenever he was hidden inside of an engine tube. Not being an ion or directed energy-based weapon, it would remain undetected so long as he kept it in his bag among his tools. He'd brought a few other things in his bag, namely a small assortment of gadgets that would prove useful for any person in his line of work. There were also a few things that were a little more... dangerous, but he didn't so much as touch them.

Flea looked up at the nearby crewman and said "That's just about it for the useless parts. Now where are we supposed to get the new ones?" The only answer was a shrug. "Right... I'll go ask the Captain." To his surprise, the captain was already on his way out. "Ah, you. Come with me. Davis said that the irreparable parts have all been removed. I'm going to go ask the commanding officer down here what we need to do to get the parts. The codes for the credit transfer are here in this datapad.

Flea simply nodded and followed. Heh, maybe things will get a little more interesting now.

[S31-Zero-Order]

I watched from the catwalk as Dom recieved a datapad from the transport's captain. He looks over the screen, then placed it in his datapad holster on his brown belt. He then turns, calling for multiple crew members from the transport to follow him to the storage bay. A small security team forms up behind him as he and a few random engineers and crewmen from the transport follow him down the hallway to the storage area. I continue to stand on the catwalk and observe. "I'm leading them to the storage bay for their replacement parts," I hear Commander Dom relay over his comm unit. "Acknowledged," I reply. "Do not, under any circumstances, hesitate to contact me if something happens. If there is an infiltrator here, I want to be the one to capture him." I resume watching over the bay as the transport crew continues to mill about their ship, the security squads eyeing them closely. "If someone tries to pull something in here, it'd be suicide," I think to myself as I observe from my post. I roam down the stairs and into the corridor leading to storage bay. I engage my camoflage systems and stealthily move behind the group about 10 meters away.

[Fleainator]

ooc: Sorry I took so long to continue this. My internet situation at home and now my summer job training has left NO time for anything aside from eating, training and sleeping, up until now.

The hairs on the back of Flea's neck stood up. Something isn't right here... As he continued to walk with the captain and the commanding APOC officer to the storage bay where the parts were held, the feeling didn't go away. He pulled out a datapad and began mulling over info, only half-faking interest in what was on the screen. The APOC officer eyed him with a little suspicion, but continued walking. He knew that any attempts to hack this frigate's network would easily be stopped and traced by the firewall and security systems, so he took the time to review a number of satellite and shipping logs that had been stored on the local public networks he'd recently been in.

They arrived in the storage bin without much trouble. They were being eyed by a number of guards, so Flea knew better than to try any funny business. At least... nothing noticeable. The APOC officer stopped and pointed to a number of crates stacked near the door they had entered. "Here are your parts. You can get them yourselves."

The smuggler captain looked at Flea and they both heaved a heavy sigh. "Well son, let's hop to it." Flea closed the folder and punched in another command with a single tap of the screen on his datapad, then set it down on a crate beside the stack of engine part crates they needed to move, all without showing any interest or concern for where he set it down. The screen briefly showed the file deletion status, then it just barely hissed, suggesting that a few memory chips had just been fried. No one heard it at all. Flea then set about setting repulsors from his pack on the corners of the crates to make them easier to move.

Once they were in place, both he and the captain set about shoving them towards the door. As they moved, one of the repulsors skipped a cycle, and the stack scraped across the floor on one corner, tripping Flea up badly enough that he fell off to the side. As he fell, he felt a slight brush against his back, but when he got back up, there was only the crate stack nearby. What the...? I must be losing my mind. He got back up and continued moving the stack of crates with the captain back towards the docking bay. He felt around in his bag just to make sure that his datapad was still there.

[S31-Zero-Order]

The trolley lifter skips as it rolls over my foot. A careless happening on my part! I was busy watching as they pulled the crates together, ignoring the trolley of parts looming ever closer, and me stupidly standing in the middle of the doorway. I check my timer on my stealth field - one minute left... Just as one of the engineers was passing, I take a precious second or two to try to take a peek inside his bag. I only noticed what looked to be a datapad, a couple of wrenches, various repair tools, welding torch, and various other tools. Nothing out of the ordinary. As I was observing the group from the doorway, the workers were busy lifting and packing the needed crates. Reviewing my auto-visual recordings, I skim through it at "2x" speed. The engineer whose bag I searched was reviewing and working with a datapad while loading the boxes. "A list, perhaps?" I think to myself as I review the recording. Nothing out of the ordinary. As I turn to leave, following the group, I notice the datapad resting on the top of a stack of boxes about waist-level. I pick it up and try to activate it. Nothing. No flicker. No lights from the sides of the pad. No anything.

Maybe I was missing something? Not much anyone can do within a couple minutes on a datapad with any noticeable effects. "Pre-prepared attack? It's what I'd do. Maybe..." I mumble to myself as I access ship data logs with my remote uplink system. The most recent actions were listed in descending order with the newest at the top. The top recent action read "Files Copied" with today's date labeled to the side. I access the files copied, only to be stopped by security encryption. I access it with my key, deactivating the firewalls and protections. The files that I see accessed, to my dismay, are tech files. How I hate them so... I skim them over, trying to make heads or tails of the information, only to get nowhere, quickly. The title of the files, however, is something that I'm familiar with: "GIR Virus Override System." Apparently, the files give us the ability to pass through hostile space unnoticed with a "neutral" or "friendly" labeled IFF. "Looks like I got a winner!" I laugh inside my helmet. Someone had been quick and quiet about the copying, but had left much to be desired in the way of covering it up. The access hacks used looked to be of WLB origin. Just like the ones we'd encountered in the past. Looks like this one's an older one, though. It's not designed for an all-out attack on system firewalls or defenses. It's just used for quick access, possibly why it didn't set off alarms... "Quick access..." I think to myself. "That's it!"

I remember spotting a datapad in the bag the same engineer was using. It takes two to tango - one to copy and transmit and one to recieve data. I punch the activation button on the side of my rifle, causing it to unfold, flip up the crosshair sight, and display the ammo counter. I dash down the hallway to catch up to the group as my active camoflage deactivates. I slow to a walk behind the group, next to the two rear guards, and activate my scanner, enveloping my arm in a blue light, and reach out to scan the group in front as the bluish hue splays across the walls and floor. The first up is the captain...

[Fleainator]

Someone's coming. Flea hears a man running in the hallway behind him, but doesn't turn to look. Instead, he continues on with the load of supplies, towards the hangar. If they think there's a saboteur aboard, it'll be best to not behave suspiciously at all. His handgun was still concealed in his bag, and there was no way anyone working the ship's network security would pick up on the tap until the timer on the program he'd uploaded activated the attached file he'd uploaded with the program.

Then why am I being more closely followed? Flea began to glance around, looking for any reflective surface that might give him a glimpse of his new escort.

[S31-Zero-Order]

I reach out and hold my hand on the captain's shoulder to stop him in his place. He turns about and looks at me, then notices the bio-scanner on my arm. His face goes ghost-white as he realizes what's taking place. The others stop in place as the rear guard stops to watch. My scanner goes off as it brings up data on the subject. The information was surprising to me as he'd actually had the balls to come aboard this ship, let alone in APOC space. Jason An-Suko, captain of a previous squad of APOC pilots, was considered AWOL. After a skirmish, we had 5 disarmed and disabled Liberty Navy fighter awaiting their fate. I had ordered Captain An-Suko to destroy the remaining survivors to send a message to the LSF. He refused, saying that he wouldn't kill unarmed pilots in this situation. Refusing a direct order from a commanding officer is a death sentence in our fleet. I'd asked again to give him another chance, yet he refused again, knowing the price to be paid. He fled as I'd commanded my squad to eliminate him. His wingmen tried to hold them off, succeeding in doing so, but at the cost of their lives. Their loyalty was commemorable, but their display was foolish. An-Suko evaded our interceptors and all further attempts to stop him failed. Until now.

"Why, captain!" I exclaim as I retract my helmet's reflective coating. "It's so good to see you again!" "I wish I could say the same," he responds with a wry smile. "Looks like the docs did pretty well on ya. You look a good bit different than you used to," I remark, noting the missing scar across his right cheek, the differing facial structure, and the new eye color. "Sucks that you're here with us again. You really had us going there for the longest time." "The brave might live for a short while, but the cowardly don't live at all," he responds, standing a little straighter, prouder. "Ya know," I begin, "that's what I missed most about you. You had a way with words, showed no fear in combat. Very good skills. Ya know what this ship is for?" "Oh yes," he responds briefly. The smile suddenly disappears from his face. I draw a pair of magnetic cuffs and attach them to his wrists. His wrists bind together immediately. "Never thought that I'd be wearing a set of these," he says somberly. "Shouldn't have crossed me. Now you can begin explaining why you're here," I say as I stand back and cross my arms. "Trying to steal information?" "Information? The hell are you talking about?" He gains a quizzical look on his face. "Search him," I command. The guards don't hesitate and begin picking through his belongings. No datapad was retrieved. Looks like the infiltrator's still here. I turn to the one with the bag and upon looking over my shoulder, find him digging through it for something while the guards are still searching the good captain...

[Fleainator]

Cripes! Flea's mind raced as he heard the familiar voice. It raced even faster when Zero confronted this "smuggler" captain. He was... APOC! How?! I didn't pick up on any of this when I checked his records! And now this!

What do I do?

It was clear that the killer didn't recognize him. Even if it only bought him a minute or a second, he could use that to his advantage. He simply froze and stared back, with the look of terror and confusion on his face only being half-faked. I have two minutes to stall. He waited a few moments, placed his bag on the crates, and produced the datapad. "I-I was ju-just following orders, sir. Here's the pad with everything I was t-told to download."

He offered the datapad to one of the guard escorts, who snatched it out of his hand and gave it to Zero. Zero only glances down at the pad for a moment, but that moment is all Flea needs. In a single flowing movement, Flea draws his concealed blade and handgun, leveling the blade at the guard's throat, and the gun at Zero's head.

"Congrats. You found me."

[S31-Zero-Order]

"I've got to say that I'm impressed," I remark after my hidden target draws his weapons. "I'm surprised that you'd stayed hidden for this long. I'm even more impressed that you brought a weapon as old as that pistol along for the ride. Just tell me this - before you do anything - how exactly do you expect to get out of here alive? Your cover's blown and I highly doubt that you have enough bullets in that primative weapon to kill us all. As for you..." I begin as I address the captain, "You're here to help the WLB? Well now, it seems like I'm gonna have to take back what I said earlier. This is the dumbest thing you've ever done." "I'm not with them! I s-swear!" he replies, completely panic-stricken and shaking his head violently. "Right, right - and I'm married," I respond in turn. "You lost your chance with me when you disobeyed my orders. That wasn't the greatest of career moves..." Just as I was about to begin talking to Flea again, Commander Dom draws his pistol and quickly aims it at the intruder.

"Drop your weapons!" he cries out. "No one needs to die here, today!"

[Fleainator]

Thirty seconds...

"Drop your weapons! No one needs to die here, today!"

Flea begins to ckuckle. "Yeah. No one but you, Zero."

Zero and the guards eye him with a strange look. Ten seconds... Flea lowers his handgun and his blade. "You want to know how I plan to get out of here alive...? Watch." Zero.

The ship lurches underneath their feet, and as they all fall Flea raises his handgun and fires at Zero. The round only clips his ear before exploding violently against the wall behind him. Flea hit the floor with a grunt. I missed. Oh well. No time. He strikes at the captain's bonds with his blade, severing the connection between the cuffs.

Lights flickered and alarms blared as the massive ship continued to shudder. Knowing that he has his data drive in his pocket, Flea and the captain took off down the hallway. I've done all I can here, and maybe I'll be able to use the data from their network to figure out how to stop the GIR virus. A smile found its way to his face, even as rounds and laser bolts flew past them. The unstable floor made running harder, but it also made it harder for his pursuers to get a good shot off. As they continued to run, Flea pushed some buttons on his wrist-comm. Reports from observation stations outside of the ship showed that the ship's orbit had been destabilized. If nothing was done, it would enter Shemjaza's atmosphere. Flea couldn't help but smile even more. The virus he'd uploaded had been made using data from the GIR virus, allowing it to slip right through all by the toughest defenses.

He then pressed a few more buttons and somewhere in the shadow of the nearby planet Shemjaza, engines roared to life, revealing a hidden ship.

[S31-Zero-Order]

The alarms were blaring as I got back up to my feet. My shielding had deflected the round. He only narrowly missed my face... The ship's position in orbit was crumbling. I could feel it from the lurching and creaking of the hall. I chase after Flea as my boots magnetically attach to the floor, allowing me to run down the hall. "Zero!" I hear over my comm, "The ship's orbit is destabalizing!" "I know, I know!" I reply. "Tila, you'll need to work with the ship's crew. Get the main reactor online. The secondary reactor will be enough to slow us and reorient the ship, but it won't be able to keep us out for very long! If you can't get the reactor working, meet me at the ship. We'll have to evacuate."

I chase Captain An-Suko and the infiltrator into the hangar bay. Just as I'm taking aim, the docking bay blast doors begin to open. Before watching to see what was close to entering, I fire, the rifle barrels spinning as heavy rounds leave the chambers. One round catches Captain An-Suko in the back of his right leg, just above the knee joint, and causes him to drop to the ground in a tumble, shrieking in pain. The infiltrator turns to look for a moment back, but decides it best to keep running. The docking bay doors have finished opening and a Hunter fighter, more than likely the same seen earlier, begins to enter the bay. "Not this time. Not again!" I call out as I remove a wad of my adhesive explosive from my belt container.

The Hunter is a fighter of an older make. Although it's very well armed and heavily armored, it's not exceptionally fast. The engines require a substantial amount of fuel to keep it going continuously. To compensate for it, the Liberty Navy had installed a pair of ramscoop systems in each model to enable it to gather gasses from nebulae and open space to convert into energy to power the engines. Two large external vents next to the cockpit of the ship constantly intake anything to use in the ramscoop. In my opinion, that is a fatal flaw. I throw my explosive charge at the Hunter as it begins its descent. Just as I'd hoped, the charge is sucked into the right ramscoop and explodes, shearing off the right wing and sending it tumbling in a scorching heap to the deck floor. My target turns around, mouth wide open in shock. I slap a small blue button on the side of my rifle and it changes its ammunition to energy-based stun rounds. He quickly draws his pistol and fires at me. The shots hit, but bounce off the outermost barrier. Old school cumbustion and ballistic small arms weapons are deadly, but do not carry the energy casings that most weapons do these days, rendering them useless against shields. The pistol's ammo becomes depleted quickly, then he throws it aside and charges at me with his sword. Just as I was hoping he would. I line him up as he closes quickly. Thump-thump! I hear as my rifle fires. The two shots hit, but he still persists in his attack. "Determination. I like that," I think to myself as he swings his sword at my head. I quickly drop down to avoid the blade. He brings it upward and swings it down, bringing it into the floor with a clang as I roll to the right. I swing around and kick his feet out from underneath him. As he drops to the floor, I quicklystand, level my weapon, and fire into him another three to four times. It knocks him unconcious as he's electrocuted neurally. I slap magnetic bond cuffs on his wrists as the rest of the guards catch up. Captain An-Suko is taken in cuffs to the medbay to be patched up, still crying in pain. I scan the one I tazed, shocked at finding who it was I had. Flea. A known WLB infiltrator.

"Take this one to the brig!" I call as the guards move towards him. The lights come back on and the creaking begins to stop as I hear the engines roar to life. "Looks like everything will continue as planned..." I mumbled to myself as I sift through Flea's belongings. I find his second datapad and find his stolen information. "Information on the virus cannot be released," I think to myself. I snap the datapad in half, making sure that the memory chips couldn't be used. "Now, Flea," I begin as I look at him. His eyes are partially opening, confirming semi-conciousness. "I hope you know how to fight with a team." I level my weapon and fire into him a couple more times, sending him back into unconciousness.

[Fleainator]

Even in the mad chaos around him, Flea's mind raced with a calculating calm. Only half the data's been transmitted! Why won't this stupid thing hurry- NO! The Captain, who was running beside him suddenly collapsed from a hit to the knee. I... can't save him. He hesitates only for a moment before he continues running, and sees his old ship entering the hangar. So close! The fighter begins to descend, but then its right engine erupts in flames, and the whole ship crashes to the floor.

Suddenly, everything has come to a grinding halt. Flea quickly keys something into his wristband, and stops to face his pursuer.

There's nowhere to go. No one to save, nowhere to hide. Only one thing becomes Flea's focus in this moment.

Zero.

Flea turns and begins shooting with his handgun. Each thump of recoil is answered with a deflection away from Zero's head. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven kill shots, and those bloody shields ruin everything! He tosses the gun aside and charges with his last weapon, a gift from a dear friend in Kusari space. He charges, letting his training and muscle memory take over. He feels two jolts, but continues without missing a single step. With the distance closed, he unleashes a series of furious, precise slashes, all of which Zero parries or blocks.

As he begins a downward cut, he feels his left calf cramp up. Of all the times- The thought is interrupted with a leg sweep that knocks Flea to the floor. Beaten by kid with fancy toys... He feels more jolts, far more painful than the ones before, and then fades out of consciousness.

[S31-Zero-Order]

I sit in the brig at a lounge table adjacent from Cell A, Flea's temporary home. His possessions sit on the table before me while he lies unconcious in his cell. Simple things, such as the sword he'd used previously were among the objects. I lift the pistol from its place on the table and remove the clip from the bottom. No bullets. From the looks of it, it's an Earth-era military survival pistol. All parts are very basic for easy assembly. "That must have been how it was taken aboard the ship," I think to myself. The size of the clip itself was small, allowing for about twelve or so rounds. Next was a metal wrist band. It bears a stop-watch on the top for timing or recording. That was probably how he'd kept up with how soon the virus would react. "I hate that damn virus," I mumble to myself. "Why can't we just use replicated IFFs anymore? This thing has caused more problems than I think it's worth." I fumble with the buttons on the side, try to get it to turn on. Instead, one of them popped the watch open. A small black square microchip with an inactive light on the top was set in the middle. "A transmitter?!" I think to myself. "There's the hole in our defense." I remove the chip and crush it against the corrogated metal table, then swept the bits away to the floor. I wanted to try something more interesting. I put it back together and picked up the sword. It was very light - lighter than any other hand-held blade I've used (with the exception of a knife, of course.) I try to bend it against my knee, carefully avoiding the blade itself, but it doesn't fold. Not even a small dent. "Incredible!" I exclaim as I swing it about.

"Wha--?! Huh!" Flea suddenly jumps back to life on his bunk, startled by the noise. He looks about for a moment, then spots me with the blade. "Hey! Drop it!" He calls out, pointing his finger and alight with anger at seeing me with it. "Relax, relax!" I call out as I place it back on the table. "Chill. I'm just here to talk for a bit," I respond while I take my seat across from his cell. "Oh? That's not like you. Shockingly, I don't believe you," Flea responds coldly. "Well, I was gonna give you a chance at leaving, but if you're not interested, I'll save my breath," I say as I stand to leave. I walk towards the door and I hear "Okay! Okay... What do you want?" from behind. A satisfied smile appears on my face as I turn to sit again, plopping down on top of the table. "I don't want anything from you, actually. I'm just here to offer you a way out." "Oh?" he responds suspiciously. "And what would I have to do?" "Well, it's simple, I think. The planet below us -- Shemjaza -- you know about it, yes?" "Of course I do! Elohim's on the SNN station most of the time. It's your main base." I nod in agreement. "I'm impressed. You at least do your homework, unlike those other people we keep in here. Anyhow, here's the deal. We're currently in low orbit above a small prison colony, housing people from all over Serius. You have Outcasts, Corsairs, Liberty navy, BMM workers, Kusari police, various hunters -- the list goes on. Each has their own group that they usually stick with to keep each other out of harm's way and safe from the others. Usually, there's a group of 3 or 4 at any time from each faction that we house here," I explain. "You almost killed them all down there by knocking out our engines. You'd have robbed their chance at freedom from them." Flea stares at me blankly, without saying a word. "Anyhow, as I was saying, we house a small group from everywhere. All kinds of people. We teach them the value of settling their differences. They're surprisingly stubborn, even though we keep them so close together. We try to let them work it out and-" "Get to the point already!" he says as he interrupts. "You've got a bad habit of talking my ear off." "Before I was rudely interrupted," I begin again, slightly annoyed, "we teach them a few other lessons, such as feeling no fear in any conflict. That's a hard one to teach them." "And how does this apply to what I have to do?" Flea asks.

"You'll do what's best for you. You'll go planetside to the colony and survive against the odds. The colony itself is made from plascrete and metal to keep the vicious animals out and to keep them from tearing the inmates apart. None of the vegetation is edible and there's very little water to find in pools. Your only chance would be to stay there at the base. After 5 hours and removal of the prison guards, a box will be deployed via drop pod from this ship to the middle of the colony. The box will have weapons and ammunition, basic medical supplies, and simple construction tools, like a welder or blowtorch. An alarm will sound when you have 1 hour left. After that hour, you'll see a few more fireballs coming down from this ship. It's called the Mourning Star for a reason. But, that's a surprise for you to find when the time comes. This is our way of weeding out the weak and unadaptable." "And if I survive, what will happen?" Flea asks, quizically. "You gonna hold up your end or are you just gonna leave me there?" "Flea, you know me. I don't break my word. I do what I say I'm going to do. That scrap heap there in the hangar," I start as I point with my thumb "we'll fix it back up until it's like you just bought it. New ship smell and all. We'll escort you out of the system and from there you're free to go as you please. As for your possessions here," I say as I point to the table, "they'll be waiting for you in your ship." "And if I refuse to play along?" He asks, probably already knowing the answer. "Well, I'll just flush you out an airlock. There's no need to feed a mouth that contributes nothing to the ship." "I see..." he says. "Well, I guess I don't have a choice now, do I?"

"It's settled, then. You and Jason will be escorted onto an unmanned dropship and shipped to the colony. If you mess with the ship and it starts deviating even slightly from its programmed path, you'll be shot down. With predjudice." I slide off the front of the table and deactivate the laser lines for Cell A. "Sounds like fun," Flea responds sarcastically. "I know!, Right?" I retort with a smile. I lead Flea, bounded with magnetic cuffs to the dropship, where Captain An-Suko is waiting, strapped into a chair. "You already spoke to him?" Flea asks. "Yep. He wants us to get off of his tail. I'll let him off of his crimes if he can survive with his wound. And set him free." Jason sits in his chair, watching as Flea is strapped in, still bound by his cuffs. "Your cuffs will be removed when you get planetside. Don't forget to have some fun!" I say as I wave while the dropship doors close and it proceeds on its path to the prison.

[Fleainator]

Flea spits through the doors as they close; just about the only show of defiance he can still muster.

The sudden acceleration leaves Flea's head swimming. Inside of the small cabin, Flea and An-Suko share a long silence as the pod continues its drop. Having nothing to say to this smuggler he almost left behind, Flea's mind wanders elsewhere. Thoughts of his distress signal, the loss of his ship, and Zero's words dominated his attention. Upon entering the atmosphere, the small ship began to shake, and An-Suko broke the silence.

"You would have left me there," he growled. "You should and would have done the same thing," Flea bit back. Left with no rebuttal, An-Suko sighed and slunk into his seat as far as the harness would allow. "He really should have just killed us."

Flea's scowl curled into a smirk. "If I have my way, he'll feel the same."

The sudden deceleration hit them both hard, ending the conversation by knocking the wind from their lungs. As the deceleration began to ease up, Flea glanced out the ship's one viewport, and his eyes grew wide.

For being killers, the APOC knew how to pick a home. The local region, at least, was filled with lush green flora, much as a rainforest would be, but also had several patches of grass and dirt that would have been found in a grassland or steppe type of climate. The combination made for a breathtaking, but strange view, with areas of vibrant plant life being placed directly beside areas of deadened dirt soil. This had clearly been the result of bombing.

They landed with a harsh jerk, and the dropship doors slowly opened...

As silhouetted figures gathered at the door, Flea resolved to maintain his silence. No telling what these guards or inmates knew about him.

[S31-Zero-Order]

I stand next to a window overlooking the prison colony's location from the bridge, continuing to watch even after the dropship had landed. Tila walks up from behind and stands next to me, looking at the same spot. "Nice job getting the ship back in place. How did you manage to do it?" I ask. "The virus that was attacking the systems was being broadcasted and transmitted by our visitor. By blocking the signal, momentarily, we were able to get the ship's systems back online. Once that was out of the way, we purged everything to make sure that it wouldn't come back," she responds proudly. "How much time did we have left before it would have been unfixable?" I wonder aloud. "At max, 5 or so minutes more. At minimum, under a minute. There wasn't any real way of knowing, so we'd assumed the worst." At that, we were both silent, continuing to watch out the window. "Sooo..." she begins. "What exactly's happening now?" "Remember the mechs that we'd made?" I ask. "Yep." "They're going planetside, along with a couple of other squads. We'll be controlling them here." "Sounds like fun," she says with a smile. "When do we start?" I look for a moment on my HUD for the timer I'd set. "I'm showing that we have about four hours before dropping." "Okay, so we have a good bit left," she replies. "Is there a sparring room or something like that here?" she asks. "Probably," I reply. "Why?" "Follow me. I want to see just how good you really are."

We eventually wind up at the room an hour or so later. I remove my survival suit and put on combat fatigues in the changing room and come back out. Tila's already there and waiting in her fatigues on the sparring floor. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask. "I don't want to hurt you." "Now, Zero, you're not treating me like an opponent. Go easy on me if you want, but you won't hurt me either way." "Alright. If you say so..." I reply hesitantly. "Go!" I call as I run towards her. She holds her place. No fighting stance. No hint as to what she's going to do. Just as I reach her position and swing, she puts her right hand on the left side of my hip, ducks my fist, and uses the downward position to use me like a pole. She swings around me, before I can stop her, and puts me in a headlock. I struggle to break free, without avail. "Ready to surrender?" she says with a giggle. "Surrender this," I reply as I leap backwards, her holding on to me, as I drop back-first to the floor. The shock breaks her grip as I spring upwards, rolling back to my feet. She swings around on one hand, knocks my feet out from underneath me, and jumps on my stomach. Tila proceeds to punch me in the face, letting loose a pop in my nose. "Why does everyone keep breaking my nose?!" I call out, angrily grabbing her wrists, pulling her forward, putting my feet in between her stomach and my chest. I push upward quickly with my legs. The force catapults her over my head and she lands on her back behind me. I stand up finally, the blood rushing out of my nose. She quickly stands up, this time glowing a dim purple. Just as I'm about to reach her, the glow reaches her hands. I begin getting slower and slower, until I'm running in place. I swing windly at her as I'm pushed backwards by some unknown force as the purple light is about me, almost like a bubble. I am lifted off the floor, then slung back down on my chest. The light is no longer there and Tila staggers for a moment, trying as if to catch her breath. I push myself back up to my feet, straining hard to bear the pain and continue. Staggering, I make my way over to her, smacking my hand into the side of her head. She reels and falls to the floor. I sieze the moment to jump on her, sitting on her stomach, just like she did to me. I raise my right fist, poised to strike. "Do you give?" I ask. Tila laughs and nods. "I just wanted to hit you with that, she says. That was fun." She reaches up and grabs my nose, then pops everything back into place for my medical implants can fix it correctly. "Ow! Gah!" I cry, cupping my nose in my hands. "You could've warned me," I say as I wipe the blood from my hands onto my pants.

"What the hell was that you used on me?" "Oh, that?" she replies, faking ignorance. "It's called "kinesis". It's a modified repulsor using Nomad technology. We already use something like that on ship landing repulsors, but the implant I use is more for personal use. With small objects, like a pen or a pointer, I can lift them and actually propel them fast enough to be lethal. For large objects, like yourself, it takes a lot out of me. I can only sling people and large objects and it's nowhere near enough to be lethal. I can't lift something as big as a spacecraft, either. Tekagi used something like it from what Mr. Trent had submitted in a report of that mission." "I see..." I reply, thinking. "Why don't I have one, as well?" "You were grown to micromanage small things, like turrets, datapads, fighters, small spacecraft, and things like that. I was grown to basically serve as an administrator and as a test subject for various ideas for implants. The kinesis implant you saw was only a test for me. We couldn't find any real practical use for it, except for lethally launching small objects. It's probably why Tekagi was the only one seen using something like it. Nobody suspected him of anything at all. The same went for me when I was working in that hospital. People would try to take advantage of me, not realizing that they're about to be turned into a pincushion by medical equipment. It was more of a personal defense kinda thing."

"Does The Order still make implants like that for agents?" I ask, hoping to maybe get a new addition to my arsenal. "They do, but there are very few of them. Nowadays, it's almost impossible to get one unless you're a Prototype like one of us. Mostly, they focus on ship shields and weapons -- things like that, but they might have something. We'll just have to check at Toledo." "Alright. We'll probably head there next. Vacation will have to wait for later." I say, hopeful that I might be able to find something new.

"We've got about two or three hours left before we need to be there at the bridge. Have you tried out the simulator? That's usually one of my favorites." "I didn't really get the chance. The recruits were busy using their weapons on each other instead of the mission," she replies with a frown. "You should've gunned them down. It's what I usually do whenever they start that crap" I reply. "I did," she responds. "I got them all. Finished it by myself." "Let's try another run. Cruiser Raid is my favorite mission. You'll get a kick out of it," I say, and we proceed down the hallway back to the simulation center of the bridge.

[Fleainator]

The sunlight was incredibly bright here. In the next minute of blindness, Flea stumbled out the door, led by guards to the facility itself. His bonds were secure, and neither guard seemed to have a key. His eyes adjusted as he reached the main gate. Upon entering, his eyes had to adjust once more. As they did, he noticed that the security in place was rather light. Escape here wasn't really a problem for the guards. As if to send the point home, a feral roar rumbled in through the door, and the sentry guards readied their weapons.

As he continued through the small security station, the outer door closed, his cuffs were released, and he was handed a knife by one of the guards, who laughed as he handed off the rusted blade. "You'll need this." Flea hefted the blade in his hand and looked it over. It would fit perfectly in his boot, which is where was quickly stored. He could have used it to kill the man, but he was more curious about this "game" than he would like to have admitted. An-Suko limped behind him, but received nothing.

Both were then hit with stun rounds, and thrown through the door to the prison area itself. It was surprisingly well-kept, and open as well. Most of the cell doors simply sat open, which surprised Flea. There were at least 50 other prisoners here. The ones from the Kusari Navy and and members of the Corsairs were immediately the most recognizable. Flea's own clothing, worn engineering coveralls, gave away nothing about his allegiances, something which quickly drew the attention of a group of nearby Corsairs. The burliest one of the three led the group, and was the one to speak as they drew close.

"Just what do we have here? A crippled captain and his pet wrench monkey? I don't even know where you're from, and I already don't like either of you." The other two Corsairs began to laugh.

Flea was in no mood to be amused or amuse. "That's really cute, but I'm not interested in talking with you, or even being near you, Big Man. Go away." The defiance didn't sit well with Big Man, whose face turned a delicate shade of red, and whose fist was suddenly curled into a ball flying towards Flea's face.

Though not feeling as loose as he would have liked, Flea still danced under the blow, and in one flowing movement, drew the knife, struck Big Man in the face with the handle, and spun away from him as he fell. All other activity inside the building ceased, and the echo of a loud crunching sound found its way to Flea's ear just as it died. Big Man rolled onto his back, his cheekbone and noes looking different from the way they had just seconds ago, and blood starting to pool in his nostrils. Neither of his comrades made a move to help him up.

Flea put the knife back into his boot, and stood up from his crouch. With a look and sound of complete authority, he introduced himself to Big Man and his friends. " You will call me Flea. Do what I say, and you will survive to see the stars again. Don't listen, and I'll kill you myself. I am not to be trifled with."

[S31-Zero-Order]

We plug in to the simulation chambers, fitting the metal control gloves and boots to ourselves. When we're both ready, I activate the Cruiser Raid simulation through the uplink.

As a simulation takes place in a simulator tank, a light blue holographic display pops up around each user, serving a dual purpose as a damage diagram for that person's character in the virtual world. If a hit strikes and damages a section or part of a user, like an arm or a leg, that area will turn red, the color's brightness varying on the amount of damage that that part has taken. For example, if I took a hit to the arm from small arms fire, then that arm would turn to a bright red. If I lost an arm or it became inoperable or unusable for any reason, then the arm would appear as a dark red, almost blackish color. All data and visuals for the current users are actively broadcasted to the main screens in the auditory pit in the middle of the simulation and training center. This allows for others to take notes on what they can improve on, where to shoot at on certain targets, and other things like that. Plus, it also serves as an area to gamble during user versus user fighting.

I set my character with powered battle armor with the set encasing my whole body. I benefit from heavy armor and shielding, but my movement speed is annoyingly slow. My right arm is set up with a triple-barreled shotgun-style autocannon known as a basilisk. It also has the ability to cluster ammunition and fire out of a center barrel, making the ammo explode like a grenade. It's a common weapon used for commando boarding parties. My left hand is more of a powered fist, with a collapsable SMG hidden in the wrist for point defense. At the same time, the fist is hydraulic, allowing for deadly power when striking an object... or a person.

Tila suits up in light armor, typically used by a squad tech, arming herself with a close-combat X2 katana, assault rifle, small, typical frag grenades, and a collapseable pistol. Her armor also allows her to access terminals almost instantly, but requires all mental focus to get anything done in a system, leaving her open to damage. She also has light personal shielding and a cloaking device that lasts for about fifteen seconds before running out of power and needing a recharge.

The simulation begins and we appear on a boarding pod, strapped into seats, and headed for a Liberty cruiser, the LNC Minddrive. Yes, Minddrive had made this simulation, if that says anything about what we could be up against. As the pod gets closer, its onboard autopilot dodges point defense fire with the pod's maneuvering thrusters. Just as one round narrowly misses, the pod corkscrews, pointing the cruiser barrel-up. It then mashes down on the acceleration and slams the pod into the side of the ship with a loud thud. The locking arms swing into place, implanting themselves in the side of the ship, and the pod's cutting tools begin sawing a perfectly circular hole through the hull. A boom on the other side of the cutter signals that it'd just eaten into a hallway somewhere in the side of the ship and the circular metal disk of inner and outer hull had hit the floor. I detach from the wall's metal clamps that were holding me in place and Tila unbuckles herself from her seat, pulling her assault rifle from its holster on the wall. I move to the front of the pod, standing just behind the blast door as it begins to open. "You might want to hide for a moment," I say in a metallic voice, readying my basilisk.

The doors creak open, revealing a squad of five security soldiers waiting on us to come out. The closest of them, upon seeing an armored behemoth behind the door, jumps back with a yelp, firing his weapon before the door is fully opened. I jam the basilisk in between the partially-opened door sections and fire, taking a few bullets from his weapon which almost harmlessly bounced off of my shielding. My weapon, however, wasn't quite as merciful, tearing him apart with a single shot. His body disappears in a white light as soon as he hits the ground. The others fire and peg my shielding, causing it to slowly drop under the constant fire. Quickly, I move through the open pod door, firing my weapon. Two more go down and evaporate as the remaining two dart off in different directions down the hall. I quickly draw the SMG and spray a few rounds at the one running behind me and attacking as I approach the soldier in front of me. I miss most of them, but a lucky round catches him in the head, causing him to drop to the floor. The remaining soldier is now backed up against the wall, firing, trying to get lower and lower to the floor as I approach. I punch him in the head with my fist after the SMG retracts, giving off a satisfying snap confirming a broken neck. The remaining bodies evaporate as Tila decloaks next to me. "Was that really necessary?" she asks, staring at the spot where he was lying. "Probably not, but the most fun comes from overly excessive force," I laugh. She giggles as we proceed down the hall. "You know where we're headed, right?" Tila asks. "Oh yeah. I've done this a bunch of times," I respond.

Liberty starships are all generally set up in the same way. All hallways from the outer to inner sections of the ship spider into a central hallway marked with various lights. All halls are color coded and classified under a number to determine what area or section of the ship you're currently in. The central corridor, however, doesn't have color or number coordination - it's marked with arrows in Liberty blue, pointing (in this case and in the middle level of the cruiser) to the bridge of the ship. Due to the fact that a large rail gun takes up the front of the ship, the bridge is located in the middle, using external cameras and holographics to coordinate movement, tactics, and firing patterns from the inside.

As we slowly move down the hallway, about to round a corner, I notice a few more footsteps than the stomp of my metal boots and the pitter-patter of Tila's tech suit. "Hold up!" I say, raising my left hand in a fist. She looks at me in her helmet, gives me a wink and calls "My turn!" I nod as best as I can in acknowledgement. She dissapears under active camoflage, letting off the sound of metal sliding on metal as she draws her combat sword from her back. I hear a scream around the corner and prepare to get around it. As I do, a head rolls out to my feet, a blank stare in the eyes of the poor victim. I look around the corner and spot four Liberty marines lying face down and one was missing his head. A marine was still standing, seemingly held by his neck with his head pulled backwards. Upon seeing me, he creaks out a wimpy "Help...! Gaah!" A long invisible object had been jammed through his back and out his ribcage. The camoflage shuts off automatically to recharge, revealing the katana and Tila behind him. She twists the sword and removes it with ease. The last soldier drops to the floor and they all evaporate in the white light. "That was fun! Now what?" she asks, obviously ready for more. "Well, we have one of two options," I begin. "Option A: we knock out this ship's systems and cause it to self-destruct. AKA: the easy way out. Option B: we capture the ship and cruise off into the sunset happily ever after." "Really?" she asks with a giddy expression. "No." I laugh. "You'll have to see what that outcome is like yourself. I won't spoil it for you." "Alright. Well, I want a challenge. This is too easy," Tila says. "Let's take the ship." "As you wish," I say, pleased, and with a smile.

[Fleainator]

In a few hour's time, Flea has managed to acquire the cooperation of most of the lawfuls and a few of the unlawful types within the prison. Within this group of newfound allies, he begins trying to learn what kind of "game" the APOC play with their prisoners in the surrounding area. He's learned little.

An-Suko has been the only reason Flea has even been able to speak with some of the unlawfuls. Aside from the trio of Corsairs he met when he first entered the prison, the killers, pirates, and other corrupted types had been all but uncooperative until An-Suko had spoken with them. Even after doing so, however, he'd only been able to get a few to even speak with Flea, much less agree to work under his leadership. Some had taken to starting fights, which, with the help of some of his new allies, ended quickly.

"I still have no idea what Zero's planning." Flea had retired to a cot in one of the open cells. It smelled of dust and less pleasant things. An-Suko sat on a stool pressed up against the doorway. "Well, as I'm sure you've realized, it should be some sort of attack on the prison itself. Zero mentioned teamwork, which I'm guessing means that whatever they give us won't be enough to go around. Funny what situations do to people. I still don't believe I've helped you so much after you almost left me on that frigate."

Flea couldn't help but smile as he sat up. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, An-Suko. Isn't that right?" Both turned to look into the courtyard where some sort of commotion had stirred.

[MINDDRIVE]

*throws fish*

*exit stage left*

*fish explodes showering patrons with juices*

*enter stage right*

BILLY MAYS HERE, HAVE A STAIN THAT WONT GO AWAY? YOU NEED OXYCLEAN! GETS THAT STAIN OUT RIGHT AWAY! LET OXY CLEAN DO THE WORK SO YOU DONT HAVE TO....

*exit stage right*

*turns on television*

[S31-Zero-Order]

"This is so easy! Why do you like this sim so much, Zero?" Tila asks. I remain silent as my metal feet clank on the floor of this deck. I smile behind my thick helmet, waiting on her to say that later once we reach the bridge. "You'll see," I reply cryptically.

House Liberty cruisers are lightly-crewed, generally. Most of the ship is storage for capacitors and the enormous power core required to power everything. They're generally crewed by about twenty to thirty people, if not more, including security and defense teams. The ship is also controlled by a powerful AI, specializing in ship control and resource distribution. In other words, when given the proper equipment, the ship could probably fly itself.

As for the crew, we've already killed ten. At most, I'm guessing that we've got about twenty to thirty left. As we enter the main hallway, we see that the section leading toward the bridge is barricaded. Two makeshift posts have been set up. Each post has a rotary energy cannon in place and manned by one of the crew. Four more people hide behind each post from what I could detect, waiting for the cannons to open up on us as a signal to attack. Ten people in total. Sounds like a party to me.

I'm the first to enter the hallway, immediately drawing the fire of the cannons. The heavy rounds ping against my armor's shields, dropping them steadily. I return fire with my basilisk while Tila uses the hall's end as cover, poking out to take a shot at one of the gunners. The bullets ping off of his shields and the repetitive fire causes them to fail. The final rounds in my basilisk's hold manage to subdue him and knock the cannon off of its tri-pod. With shields now down at 25%, I enter the adjacent hallway from Tila, using it's opening as cover like she does. I bend my right arm in a 90 degree angle in front of me, watching as the ammo feeder wheel behind the barrels pops forward, spins, clicks, cocks the weapon and slides back down into its original place in about five seconds. With ten more shots now ready, I lean around the wall and fire at the remaining cannon. The heavy autocannon rounds hit the gunner's shields in quick succession, causing them to fail. I continue to take fire from the others, lose my shields, and am forced to pull back for them to recharge. From the damage the rounds were doing, I'd say that the other crew are using assault rifles or something like that. Tila draws a pair of her grenades, flipping their switches, presses the primer button and throws them down the hall. They land behind the posts with a clank, causing the defense team to scuttle in different directions to get away. One is retrived by a soldier and he throws it back. He's too late, though. The grenade gets about a half-meter from his face before exploding, sending him flying into the blast door securing the bridge. The other detonates, killing two that didn't notice it in time. At 50% shielding, we take advantage of the confusion. I move down the main hall with Tila following after she reloads. My basilisk removes the final gunner from his post, removing their only chance of hope against us. I take small arms fire from the right and wheel around with my SMG. The small rounds hit enough to drop his shields as well, but I'm forced to reload the gun and finish him off with the basilisk. Two more draw combat katanas and rush at us. The first comes from me, while the other uses the distraction to attack Tila. She blocks the first attack at the last second with her rifle, smacking him across the head with it in response. She pulls the trigger, but nothing happens. The gun jams from a broken feeder caused by the impact of the blade. She throws it at him as he recoils from her hit and draws her blade. As my attacker swings at me, I simply kick him, causing him to draw back, giving me precious seconds to punch him in the head. His head rolls off from the impact and take fire from two sides again. With shields dropping, I launch an ammo grenade at the first, then fire at the second with the SMG, finishing him with the basilisk as the ammo grenade explodes. I take the offensive again with shields almost gone as Tila makes a few quick counterattacks and finishes off her attacker. The bodies of the dead evaporate in white light as I start pounding on the door to the bridge.

Tila stands behind me, watching. My attack does nothing to the door. It's too thick for it. "Maybe I can do something," she says, headed to the door panel. She toys with her suit for a moment before finally finding the upload systems and access devices. I reload as she begins her work, hearing the clanking of boots from the end of the hall we just came from. Four marines rush into the main hall, firing as they run. "Babe, you had better hurry! Not sure how long I can hold these guys." I take cover behind the metal crates where the rotary guns were placed and start shooting, dropping one of the marines as they continue on. "Did you just call me 'babe'?" she asks while she works. "This is not the place for this..." I retort, dropping another marine. The other two were already on us. I leap over the boxes and punch one in the chest. He falls to the ground and I continue on the last one with my wrist SMG. It drops his shields and punctures small-calibre holes in his armor. He fires as he falls, still determined to finish me off. My shields drop and the rounds start hitting my armor, almost penetrating a leg, but doing enough harm to damage a hydraulic system assisting me in walking. I kick his weapon from his hand and stomp on his head. The previous one that I'd hit was still alive and trying to crawl to another rifle. I reload my basilisk, with one final reload left, place my foot on his back to hold him in place, and fire into the back of his head. The fallen squad evaporates and disappears.

The blast door finally opens, revealing the captain and bridge crew behind it. We make short work of them with our heavy weapons and their lack of combat defenses. As they evaporate, I seal the blast door behind us. The AI system sits in the middle of the bridge. We deactivate the ship's weapons and edit the IFF to "friendly" for APOC to confirm a successful capture attempt.

"Looks like we're done here," Tila remarks after everything quiets down. "Now, about what you said..." I could hear her trying to hold back a laugh. "We're not done yet," I say.

Suddenly, a new signal appears on the holographic sensor system. A large circular object then appears in the middle of the engagement zone. It's quite wide, symmetrical, and with two domes - one on the top and bottom. An old-school UFO. It jiggles about for a moment, sputters, then moves in to attack us from the front, firing a small beam weapon. I laugh and look at Tila. She rolls her eyes and says, "You've got to be kidding me..."