| abstract
| - Prison Cell Not set up for comfort, this cell is made of hewn stone and consists of a room with three walls of stone and the front 'wall' being made of heavy steel bars, with a door fashioned out of some of the bars with a heavy lock. An oddity among the medieval setting of the cell is a pair of flourescent lights that are set into alcoves cut in the stone, protected by thick steel cages. The room has six sets of bunk beds and a bucket in one corner for toilet facilities. Tharsis currently stands in the corner, arms crossed, carefully counting the cracks in the floor. "4,241.. 4,242..." And then Tamila seems to wake up for a dozing off for a few minutes. "Meh, stupid Kamir," she utters. She carefully props herself from behind Bri, blinking a little bit towards Tharsis. "You alright?" she asks as she looks towards the avatar. You say, "4,275.. hmm? Oh.." Tharsis says as he snaps out of his daze. "Yeah... I guess so. Still feel kinda like I got us into this mess. If I'd just been a bit further out..."" "I feel the same," Tamila admits with a sigh. "If I'd moved the recommended safety distance out, we wouldn't be here in the first place." She then scoffs. "I call myself a professional." She shakes her head. "We're dealing with what-ifs and maybes." The door from the upper level opens and a guard steps in with the sack containing the group's confiscated equipment. He sets it inside a large cabinet near the guard desk before walking over towards the cell. Afterwards, he steps over to the cell door and looks at the occupants within. Tharsis looks up as the guard appears, frowning a bit. "Oh boy.. what now.." he mutters. Tamila watches the guard from behind Bri, her brown eyes following his every movement. "I don't know," she mutters, as she turns her head towards Tharsis. Then those eyes shift back towards the guard. "Hi," she says in a friendly manner. "How are you today?" The guard points towards Tamila. "You.." he says. "His Highness has ordered that you are to be questioned in regards to plans and devices discovered on board your vessel. You will come with me." Tharsis widens his eyes a bit as the guard makes his demand, and looks with concern towards Tamila.. Tamila carefully picks her way over Bri, her eyes still not leaving the guard. "Certainly sir," she replies with that same easy smile. The former Syndicate Operative appears somewhat calm. She offers a glance towards Tharsis and nods. "Tell Bri I love her if I don't return," she mouths towards Tharsis, before approaching the bars, but she does stop short. "I am more than happy to comply with His Highness' requests and demands and I'll attempt to be as much help as possible." The guard unslings his rifle and gets it ready as he punches in the code to open the door. It slides open, and he motions for her to step out. "Cooperation is good, it gets you back here in one piece." he says. "Let's go." Tamila steps out of the cell, keeping her hands in plain sight. She doesn't make any sudden movements either. "Only have to ask the question, and I'll answer, sir," she replies. "If I can ask you a strange question - What year is it?" Tharsis watches as Tamila is led out, moving closer to watch, the concern in his expression evident, but he keeps silent so as not to perturb the guard. The guard punches the code to close the door which slides shut with a clang. "The year?" he says, his tone indicating he finds it a strange question. "2650," he says, "according to the ancient calendar." He motions towards the stairwell with the end of his rifle. "The minister of science is waiting." Tamila blinks and then slowly nods. "Most unusual occurances indeed," she remarks. "Thank you my friend, and I look forward to meeting your minister of science." The TKer then starts towards the stairwell, making sure she doesn't get ahead of the guard and keeps the same rate. She offers a calm enough wave back towards Tharsis. "Hopefully we can get this misunderstanding cleared up." Tharsis nods, returning the wave. "So do I.." he mutters as he watches her led off... The guard gets into step behind Tamila, the rifle kept at the ready as they make their way upstairs and out of sight. Tamila doesn't do anything that might warrant getting shot, stabbed, beaten. She heads up the stairs like a trooper. Several hours later... Night has fallen upon the castle, and the lights in the cell have dimmed accordingly. Beyond the cell door the guard station can be seen, a sleepy guard yawning periodically as he takes the nightshift. Beside him in a partially open cabinet can be seen the bag of equipment liberated from the group. All is silent. Varal paces around the cell, probably something that is at least a little bit annoying. Tharsis is standing in the corner, passing the time by counting the cracks in the floor, walls and ceiling. "562,142...562,143...562,144..." Plumpaw lies quiet on her bunk, ears a-twitter as she listens to the goings on. "Mm," she muses, and slides off her bunk as quietly as a cat can. "Like a lightswitch." She says in regard to the sleepy guard, and pockets her paws. Norran lays sideways across his bunk, set in a position where it appears he's 'sitting' cross-legged against the wall. His head dangles off the other side of his bed so that he's upside-down, arms folded across his chest as he follows Varal's pacing to keep himself amused. In one corner of the room is Bri, curled up by herself. The petite Sivadian shivers and opens her eyes, looking around for a moment, confused, her eyes trying to focus. It takes a moment before it hits her, "Where's Tam?" she asks, looking around again to make sure she's correct in this, even counting heads at this point. Tharsis looks up. "They took her to be questioned by their minister of Science... apparently they searched me and found the mines and plans." Subhan is laying upon her bunk, the one above Norran's in fact, on her side and semi-curled up. One arm rests beneath her head, the other draped languidly over her side. She too seems to be watching Varal's pacing, though with the sleepiness of boredom. Suddenly, the silence of the night is broken with the sound of many approaching footsteps. From the stairwell a group of 6 black-clothed Lothans appear, each wearing streaks of black face paint to further blend into the shadows, burst into the dungeon with weapons at the ready, all equipped with silencers. The night guard is veritably surprised as he sees them appear, and leaps up to reach for his weapon. "What in the blazes!?" is all he manages to get out before the lead member puts a bullet between his eyes. The guard is instantly silenced as he falls backwards onto the hard floor. Each member of the team sweeps left to right with their weapons poised, and then each reports "Clear." in sequence. One approaches the bars, while the rest take up defensive positions. "Hold on tight folks. We're a SEAL team, we're here to get you out." he says, prying off the keypad near the cell door to hook up a small device to the circuit inside. Varal stops pacing, looks at the SEALs, looks at Norran, then back at the SEALs. "And what in the name of the Light is a SEAL team?" He pauses a moment, then looks back at Norran. "I have a bad feeling things are going to get interesting." "They sent /mail couriers/ after us?" Norran notes with a distinct frown, though he takes the chance of the movement to swiftly roll himself out of the bed to take a crouching position, carefully watching everything through the bars. "Well! This is certainly preferrable. Good timing, friend!" he cheerfully greets the liberators, walking to carefully approach. Tharsis snaps his own head up to look, his eyes widening. "Talk about the Marines landing..." he says, moving closer to watch the action. Plumpaw drops back six paces at the commotion, moving to cover Bri with a frown that pulls her whiskers down. "Seel team?" Plumpaw asks flatly, her exceptionally brushy tail swishing back and forth unhappily. She looks down at Bri and offers a paw. "Yea, Tam's around somewhere," she answers the little Sividan, "And it looks like somebody jes' opened the doors fer us. Les'go." Bri nods to to Tharsis, staying in her little corner as the SEALs infiltrate and neutralize. "Nice," she says softly as she's covered by Plum. When that paw's offered she takes it, "They have to find Tam too. I'm not leaving without her," she states. With a few manipulations of the controls on the device, the SEAL is able to pop the lock and the cell door slides aside. As it does, he keys his radio. "Lexington, this is Bad Day. Objective secured. Team 2, report your status." The radio crackles back softly with, "Roger lead, objective secured. On schedule, meet you at primary rendezvous point." Satisfied, he then looks to those inside the cell, as another of the team grabs the bag of equipment from the cabinet nearby, setting it inside the cell for the owners to retrieve their gear. "This is the easy part... phase 2 is getting all of you back to your ship and we'll be using it for dust off. We'll rendezvous with the Lexington in orbit and proceed out of the kingdom. If you've got a weapon in there, now's the time to put it to use." he says, checking and reloading his own weapon as the team takes point at the stairwell, waiting for the group to gear up and join them. Varal walks nonchalantly towards the cabinet, and pulls out his sword and baldric. He kisses the leather and intones a brief prayer before putting it on. He then moves to search the body of the deceased guard for anything useful. Or a trophy. "This is all very confusing, but I suppose that's beside the point. Come then, everyone. No dawdling!" Norran calls to the cell, making his way out to take his turn at the bag and withdraw his dagger, which he places back into the sheath at his side, and his falchion. "I feel far better, now, you've held up well. Now come, perhaps we'll get to see how well you've fared," he muses, apparently to his sword, as he takes it in hand and stands by the cell to ensure everyone's on their way. Tharsis steps out. "Thank heavens... I can only fear what they've ended up doing to me... the sensations I've been getting have not been pleasant. All systems are reporting go, however." Being unarmed, he merely gets in line with everyone else. Subhan had, of course shrieked in startlement at the gunshots and what-have-you, the Baroness bolting upright on her bunk and pressing her back to the wall. She stares at the SEALS, confused, unsettled and rather helpless seeming, remaining still up on her bunk. "We won't leave Tam behind, Bri." Plumpaw promises, and pats the little Sividian's hand, before she moves to collect her knives. She stows them carefully in the back of her vest again, with a pleased sigh and a pat. She gives Bri the 'look.' The kind of look that a mom gives a child just before scooping them up and running. "Come now, Cousin!" Norran insists, making his way back into the cell to offer a hand to Subhan with a quick grin. "I'd carry you out, but I may need to fight. Time is of the essence, take my hand and stay close, and there'll be nothing to fear. Let us abscond!" "Uhm..." Snowmist mumbles as she brings up the rear, retrieving her own knives and tucking them safely away as she trails after the others, "has anyone asked *why* they're doing this for us?" Bri hurries with Plum to the cabinet and grabs Tam's sword, "Alright," she says, and if Plum does scoop her up to run she doesn't protest. The leader catches Snow's comment. "The reason is simple. Our undercover operative in the castle informed us of your arrival, as well as the Wrr'Gotan'Togat's plan to have you all executed at dawn for what he considers a hostile act. So unless you want to have your heads separated from your bodies, I don't think you have a hell of a lot of choice at the moment. Let's just say you're far better off with us than with these jokers. So, let's move out. Keep as quiet as possible until we get to the castle gates." With that, he takes up a position in front and the team begins to ascend the stairs. Subhan hesitates but a moment longer, and while still shakey, takes her Cousin's hand and slips off the edge of the bunk. She stumbles a little bit on the landing, but manages to stay upright, a stiff, nervous nod offered to Norran. Varal straightens up, removing a sheathed knife from the deceased guard and putting it in the waist of his pants. He also has the guard's firearm, and it's pretty obvious he doesn't know the first thing about how to use it. Or carry it safely. "Yes, yes. This is far better than execution. No complaints, tally-ho and all that," Norran agrees, and with Subhan secured he makes for a dash off toward the exit. "Oh, Mistress Bri! I remember being told about Mistress Tamila's sword having some sort of power. Is it in line with your blacksmithing advancements, or do you think someone with mere knowledge of swordsmanship could handle the power effectively? It may be useful in this situation." "Oh, not that 'm not complainin' - much - 'bout a timely rescue," Snowmist demurs before flattening her whiskers wryly. "But s'not like I haven't been set up before. Lead on," she gives a negligent wave of a hand, indicating that she will follow as she keeps her ears backswept to listen for potential trouble from behind. As she is falling into line, however, her eyes catch upon Varal - in particular, his nervous handling of the weapon. Wincing, she reaches out to tap him on the shoulder. "Uh, if you don' know what t'do with that...maybe y'should hand it off t'someone else 'fore you shoot one of us by mistake? Or your own foot, for that matter." Tharsis slips in line behind the group, not offering much at this point, just happy that rescue is at hand. Bri looks at the sword, then to Norran, "I'm to understand that anybody can use it as a normal sword. I've no skill, but if somebody wishes to use it..long as it's returned..." she says as she makes her way to follow along, keeping close to Plum as she does so. Subhan runs along with Norran! One hand tries to keep her skirts raised enough so she won't trip along the way, too! As the group arrives in the main hall from the dungeon, it's apparent that the group's handiwork has already been well underway. Dead guards lie slumped on the floor at their posts, as if they were struck hard and fast. The lead SEAL motions towards the entryway beyond, and the team starts to head slowly through the darkened hall. As they do, another team appears from another direction, leading a familar face towards the group. The silent communication between the two teams is exchanged, and they all head towards the entrance, weapons raised and eyes alert. Varal quietly hands the weapon to Snowmist with a slight shrug. "All yours," he mutters quietly, looking around. Norran gives a shake of his head to Bri, moving carefully as he totes Subhan along in one hand and holds his falchion in the other. He peers toward the other time, but remains quiet as he follows along. The devastation wrought doesn't appear to imprint on him very much. Snowmist nods relievedly. "Good man," she flashes Varal a quick grin as she takes the energy pistol. She takes a moment to give it a cursory examination, familiarizing herself with the most obvious points before once again concentrating on their surroundings and path. Subhan, on the other hand finds the destruction wrought to be quite disturbing indeed, small, choked off noises made every so often, and her grip upon Norran's hand redoubling. Luckily enough, though she stumbles a few times, she does manage to stay on her feet and keep up. Bri just keeps close to Plum for now, clinging to Tam's sword, even as the team brings her to join them. A smile comes to her lips, but she continues forward, no time for reunions just now. Plumpaw follows the directions with long strides, slow enough for Bri to keep up of course, and flicks a look at each of the guards. "Whoever this is is well trained and funded," Plumpaw muses to Bri quietly with a dim nod, "but just as ruthless. I hope this is an upgrade." It isn't long before the courtyard is reached, and the teams move out and crouch down in the shadows, apparently to wait for something. They don't wait long when a troop carrier, driven by another SEAL, pulls to a halt in front of the castle doors. "Ok, everyone aboard, and keep your eyes peeled. Last thing we want is to start shooting but if any get in our way, we'll have to plown them down." With that, they start to hop aboard, taking up positions to cover all directions from the open troop area on the rear of the carrier. Varal looks with some trepidation at the interior of the vehicle. After a moment's hesitation, and seeing no better options, he clambers aboard. "Hells, this's the smoothest operation I've ever seen. Makes all my hair stand on end - somethin's bound t'go spectacularly wrong at the end," Snowmist mutters beneath her breath...the tail that is lashing behind her indeed looking at least half again its usual size. "It's terrifying, idn't it? For the moment I'm grateful I'm not all bloody," Plumpaw agrees with Snowmist amiably enough, offering a paw to help boost people in to the troop carrier. "A horseless carriage of some sort? How interesting," Norran says in passing, as it's the only thing that really takes his interest at this juncture. He moves as swiftly ahead as he can to pile in after Varal, pulling Subhan inside after him and taking his seat. Bri takes the helping paw from Plum watching behind her to make sure that Tam makes it in, the sword still craddled close to her as she tries to make herself very small in one part of the vehicle. Subhan is pulled inside, the Baroness trembling quite a bit by now, and somewhat breathless from the lfeeing. She sits beside Norran of course, quietly peering at their 'saviours'. The troop carrier takes off, heading through the gates that have been left wide open, and begins to head through town. The streets are mostly deserted as it is the dead of night, with nothing but the street lights and a few lit windows to pierce the darkness. The troop carrier heads through the spaceport gate and onto the tarmac, banking around to head towards Tharsis. As it gets nearer, however, it can be seen that he was not left unguarded. A group of guards numbering about 8 stand near the ramp. "Frag." curses the lead SEAL. "This is going to get messy. We're going hot." he says, keying his radio. "Sling this sucker at a sideways angle to give us maximum spread of firepower." The team crouches down below the wall of the troop area, weapons ready. "Let's make this short and sweet." he says, flipping his rifle to full auto. Varal clears his throat. "If you give me a minute or two, I can probably get the jump on them. Make a distraction for you gentlemen and take one or two with me." He slowly begins to remove his sword from its baldric, being careful due to the theoretical jostling of the vehicle. Norran arches a brow at the situation, leaning somewhat over to Varal. "I may be insane, however, I don't think we're quite close enough to engage in this sort of charge. An open field with no cover, I imagine we'd be quite dead before we got half-way there." "Oooh," Plumpaw is easily distracted by their shiny rifles, since she can't aid the fire lilne any. she puts a paw out to steady Bri and Tamila, andsteals a peek at the guard around Tharsis. "Hmm, not much to do from here. I miss my pistol," The Demarian sighs. Snowmist casts Plumpaw a quick grin for the similar response, before settling in for the ride; quiet and pensive. Irises a thin gold rim around pupils widened in the dark, she automatically shifts and tightens her grip upon the borrowed pistol as she eyes the developing situation; one ear flicking to follow the traded conversations within the vehicle. Subhan clings to Norran! You know the drill. The guards around the Tharsis quickly take cover around and underneath him, forming a standoff. The lead SEAL looks to Varal. "I'm not going to turn that down." He looks to two of his team members. "Johnson, Smith, go with him and see if we can't flank these bastards. We'll keep them busy while you get into position." The rest of the team take aim from behind their cover, and start laying down a barrage of suppressing fire towards the Lothan troops. Bri keeps where she is for now, hands covering ears as it gets noisy. Her knees are pulled up as she curls up into a tight little ball, trembling as the fighting breaks out in earnest. "Well then, why don't I join! Subhan, dear, sit tight and I'll be /right/ back," he suggests, hoping using a honeyed voice will make it easier to pry her off of him. This said, he tucks his falchion to his side to cover it from any unfortunate reflections as he makes to hop off and follow after the others, providing he's not stopped. Varal hops out of the vehicle, rolling to easily remove any dangerous momentum. He springs back onto his feet, and moves as quickly as he can towards the Tharsis at a half-crouch. He does his best to hug cover when possible and attempt stealth, but he's booking it. And, with a spot of luck, he manages to avoid notice as he closes in. Snowmist eyes those taking off before she is pushing up from her seat. "Well, since I haven't had time t'dye my fur somethin' other'n shoot-me-now-white...maybe y'won't mind my helpin' with the coverin' fire?" she rumbles, crouched over and moving to join those behind the forward cover if there are no objections. While Varal's attempt obviously demonstrates someone far more used to the act, Norran's is a lot less clever. He keeps a low profile and carefully stalks his way after his companion, proving to be able to silence and hide his movements just enough to be satisfactory as he disappears after Varal. Bri stays where she is, hands still over ears as she trembles, curled up in her little ball. The lead nods to Norran, and then to Snowmist as they continue to lay down a base of fire. "Not going to turn down an extra set of ammo. Fire away." he says with a grin as he slaps another clip into his own weapon. Meanwhile, the troops at Tharsis are currently throwing down their own return fire, but they have not noticed the two SEALS along with Norran and Varal approaching them from behind. "I feel useless," Plumpaw says by way of cheerful apology, and reaches over to pull Bri close to her side and wrap the little Sividian in an arm. "MIKIN AND THE LIGHT!" Varal bellows as he closes the last of the distance. Getting into melee range allows the Palisadian to do what he does best - swing around a giant sword with reckless abandon. Norran saves any battlecries, as he's trying to be sneaky. He decides to let the Mikin with the bastard sword take most of the attention and leap out of the Shadows to attack a man on the other side of the formation than Varal. Swift footsteps are all that leads up to his attack, the Lomasa silently lunging forward to thrust Angurvadal in an attempt to skewer and withdraw. Subhan has been pried free! By Norran brand honey. "If someone's got spare clips on 'em, then, that'd be appreciated," Snowmist notes as she peeks around their makeshift cover, noting the positions of enemy fire, before swinging her arm around the edge - and as Varal's warcry echoes over the field, she cooly squeezes off a pair of shots at those near his position, trying to distract and eliminate the nearest threats. With the base of fire being laid down by the SEALs, two of the guards get riddled and fall to the ground. Two others snap around at the shout from Varal, only for one to have his head removed cleanly by the sword, the expression on his face frozen in a rictus of pure shock as it tumbles off. Meanwhile, the other one receives air conditioning from Norran, but it gets air into places it was never intended and the Lothan quickly falls from the skewering blades. Meanwhile, yet another is distracted by the sudden attack, and Snowmist's shot slams into his chest, and with a yelp of surprise he falls backwards onto the tarmac. With 5 of their number quickly decimated, the remaining three choose survival over orders and scramble out from underneath Tharsis to retreat across the tarmac as fast as their feet can carry them. The lead SEAL raises up. "Just like a Lothan... hit them hard, and they fold like a house of cards. "Let's get aboard folks and get the hell off this planet. The Lexington is waiting and we need to break orbit fast before they get word to their fleet." With that, he hops over the edge to the tarmac and starts heading towards Tharsis. Meanwhile, the rest of the team follows suit, as does Tharsis. The group reboards Tharsis... Bridge The bridge is arranged to permit operation by a single person, but additional stations are available to delegate ship's functions if needed. A main operations console is situated underneath the forward window, with a single seat. On either side of the primary console are two secondary consoles, each with a universal design so that they can accept operations transferred to them from the primary console. Each is equipped with a single seat. Behind the forward section, the bridge is arranged to be comfortable for those who are not involved with flying the ship. A pair of comfortably padded couches line the walls, and the floor has a rectangular area that can raise up to provide a small table if needed. The aft hatchway is situated on the rear wall, between a pair of light fixtures that provide soft lighting for the sitting area. Varal spits to the side, an obvious sign of condescension, as he cleans off his sword on the corpse. He looks around lazily as he slides the weapon into the baldric. If there's a patch on the Lothan's uniform, he rips it off before heading on to the ship. "Amateurs," he grunts. Norran detaches himself from the melee once its clear his target doesn't have anything else left, giving a merry whistle as he withdraws some already slightly bloody oilcloth from his pocket and dutifully cleans off his blade, making his way over to board the ship with the others. Plumpaw picks up Bri and runs, simple as that. Once the Demarian has set the Sividian saftely to the side of the airlock, she doubles back to make sure the others get through. Snowmist's weapon remains trained on the fleeing figures until the all clear rings out. Standing, she looks back first at the transport, mentally counting those who emerge before, assured that they are all heading toward the Tharsis, she too lopes with the last of them aboard the ship. Bri holds tightly to Plum as she's carried along, her eyes opening then to look around as it seems a lot more quiet at this point. "Thank you," she replies softly, as she's set down, hopefully either Tam has taken her sword by now, or the sword is still in her lap, not lost during the transfer to ship. Tharsis rushes inside to the bridge, quickly stowing his emitter as his image 'sits' in the pilot seat. "Bringing reactor online... initializing engines." he says as his controls begin to shift into the proper positions. "It's time to blow this taco stand!" he says, as the SEAL team takes their own positions on board. "Head for these coordinates." the leader says, offering a small scrap of paper to Tharsis. Varal scratches the side of his face, finding a seat while moving around his baldric so it doesn't dig into his back. He seems more interested in his stolen badge and knife than anything else at the moment. Once Angurvadal is clean, Norran returns it to his sheath and takes his seat once on the bridge, crossing his arms and watching. "Shew," Plumpaw sighs, slumping against a bulkhead and smoothing out her unnaturally bottle-brush tail self-consciously. "That went pretty good. Least it's all or nuthin' now." She says with a broad sharp-toothed smile. Tharsis' engines roar to life and he lifts off from the pad, pushing his engines as much as he can without sending them into overload to get into orbit. As he breaks through the atmosphere of the planet, he spots a large vessel ahead. It is obviously a carrier class vessel, but the markings are different than those on the other ships. A large flag is emblazoned along one side. 13 alternating red and white stripes arranged horizontally, with a square blue field in the top left corner. In this field are 100 bright white stars. Beside it in Terran Standard is the ship's name: "USS LEXINGTON CV-16". Tharsis heads towards the expansive hangar deck, which has guiding lights activated to indicate the flight path. Snowmist only relaxes once the hatch is closed, stalking fore until she finds a spot with a view of the displays before dropping into it. Idly checking the energy readings on the pistol, she absently stows it at her waist while watching the viewscreens intently. Varal frowns as he looks around. "So. When does someone tell us exactly what is going on here?" Norran doesn't really get any of the symbolism here, just seeing yet another foreign vessel-thingy. "I suppose we'll find out eventually. Do you think their dungeons will be more or less accomodating?" Bri actually stands moving to get a look out Tharsis viewscreen, "Oh bloody hell," she says in awe as she takes note of the ship, "Like some history lesson gone wrong..." she mutters. Tharsis guides himself in for a landing inside the hangar deck, bouncing slightly as his landing struts make contact. The lead SEAL turns around to the curious passengers. "What I can tell you is that you can consider yourselves guests of the United Systems of Tristifar. Once we're secured we'll be setting course for New Washington, the President is very eager to meet with you and discuss the current situation. The Wrr'Gotan'Togat thinks he rules the entire Expanse, but in fact he only has about half of it. We're not as big, but what we lack in territory we make up in spunk." he says with a grin. "We'll be happy to provide any supplies you might need. Food, drink. The mess hall makes a mean cup of coffee." "Such strange names for leaders, I can only assume. "Wrr'Gotan'Togat", "President". And what kind of commodity is this 'spunk'?" Norran asks to no-one in particular, reaching a hand to scratch at the back of his head as he rises to his feet. "As long as you're not throwing us in a cell, friend, I have little to complain about." Snowmist grins right back at the man - even as she asks cheerfully, "Hey, we're all highly appreciative an' all, an' I don't want you t'get the wrong idea that I'd rather be anywhere else right now than here - well, 'cept maybe back with my kits on Comorro, but - anyway, what's all in this for you? Y'risked resources an' your lives t'bust us out. What does your Mr. President want from some lost tourists?" Subhan is being uhm, Subhan. Aka, sitting on a couch and looking somewhat pale and faint. "Coffee?" Plum perks her ears instatnly. "That does sound good," she walks over to shake Bri gently outof her trance. "Thank you, thank you, by the way. The last t'ing I think anyone wanted was to be cut t'ribbons at leisure." Plumpaw adds with a whiskery grimace that tilts her ears askew. "At the very heart of the matter, we didn't want to see innocents get their heads lopped off by that paranoid ego-maniac." the lead SEAL says. "It was plain to us from the reports coming back from our operatives that you were, to put it simply, from way out of town. Once it came back that you guys have some possible ties to Earth, then it became clear we had to bust you out and fast. If anything, the President would like to hear how things are on Earth now, because your simple presence means things didn't go to hell in a handbasket as we previously thought." Snowmist's muzzle dips consideringly as she eyes the Lothan, and then she leans back with a soft huff. "Well, I s'pose that's as good as any other excuse," she muses with a wry quirk of one side's whiskers. "As for the rest...well, make it a long dinner, then, an' the actual humans 'round here can tell ya while I stuff my face," she concludes with a quick grin before she is standing and heading aft. "Scuse me...quick bio break." Bri looks up at Plum, "Sorry," she says softly before nodding, "Aye, coffee sounds good to me too," she admits with a smile. "Please." She looks over to the man doing the explaining then, "Um...but we're not exactly from Earth...per se..." she says with furrowed brow. "You'd have to ask them. Most of the humans here, myself, my cousin and Lord Varal, are from an entirely different realm. Before we met these people here, we've never heard of 'Earth'," explains Norran, giving a bow of his head to make his way to depart, offering Subhan a grin. "Come, we're out of that mess. I'm certain you're hungry. Let us depart." Tamila makes her way in from down aft, holding her right arm in front of herself and looking a bit uncomfortable with her shoulder. "Cheapskate scummer lovin', nut-lickin' arseholes," she mutters, most likely at the end of a rant she's been having in private. "Too cheap to even by a girl lunch 'fore they try to work her over." She offers a nod to Snowmist in passing. The lead SEAL nods. "Even if it's as distant as hell, it's news from the old home town, you know what I mean?" he says. "At any rate, relax and enjoy the trip." he says as he rises and heads aft. "Strange how one feels hungry most of all after such an ordeal as that." Subhan notes quietly, resting a moment more before she pushes herself to her feet. Wearily, the Baroness trails after her Cousin. "Everyone here seems all in love with this Earth place," Varal says with a shrug, then nods to Norran. "Must be a great place."
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