I might pop some mindful reflection in at some point. I've been meaning to ask some of the members if they wanted a say in their back stories...
Nevada glared at the retreating form of Arizona for a moment before heading in herself. He was going to die if he wasn't careful. As it was, she was having a hard time not shooting him herself. The only thing keeping her finger from the trigger was the knowledge that it would make this mission, and all following missions, more difficult. For all his faults and arrogance, Arizona was a good soldier. She crept ahead, checking each room as she did so. She stopped at the first security room. Two guards, neither watching the security screens. She activated her speed and killed them both, slicing their throats without a sound. Once both were dead, she hacked into the security system and had all motion sensors shut down and all cameras play a loop. Shutting them down would be too conspicuous. That took care of being noticed.
Oh, happy early birthday to your sister then! ^-^
That's fine 'Casr! Just do your best on your exams. Keeping up to date with the internet is a good way to fail. Trust me, I know these things. See you in a few weeks!
Spoiler: Your impending doom if I ever find one of you in here without permission I live in a basement and I love it. BTW, the proportions are so wrong, it's not even funny.
"Pretty sure this was supposed to be a stealth mission Arizona." Nevada commented drily as she opened the roof access door. She sighed in resignation, knowing that the damage was already done. "We enter through here and descend until we reach the computers."
The Captain has taken a leave of absence, but I can change it in her stead. Damn! Why do I always miss you Captain? I blame exams. That sounds like an awesome dream though.
Awww... Der thread died again. Just wait another thousand posts. That will spark your memory.
Dancing. If you get off, you can join me.
Are you talking about the story? Because you will feature more in the next chapter, don't worry.
Dead thread! Dead thread! *dancing in the thread graveyard*
OHMIGOSH next chapter. As usual, the most wonderful crew of the Saber gets it first! Spoiler “There she is! B17!!!†Loxie, standing in her usual place in the crow's nest, was the first to see the planet, as always. Some things change, but many never do. As the crew let out a cheer below her, a bit of movement portside drew her eye. “Ahoy mates! The Flash be portside!†She grabbed a shroud line and jumped over the side. At the Captain's order, Rienzel fired a non-lethal laser at the Flash, to catch their attention. Sure enough, the Saber's rival ship pulled in close. When the two were close enough, Droid moved himself into position on the far side of his ship. All four legs flying, he leapt across the gap between the ships. He landed squarely in front of Captain Marushi, who was standing in the center of the deck. “Captain Droid.†Captain inclined her head by way of greeting. Droid followed suit, his neck gears whirring, “Captain Marushi. It's lovely to see you in good health.†“The same to you.†She looked towards the approaching planet before continuing, “It seems we have a similar idea concerning this planet.†The lion growled affirmation. “Indeed. So what say ye Marushi? Shall we both plunder, or do we fight it out here and now?†Marushi considered this for a moment, then adjusted her hat, a signal to the crew to put down their weapons, weapons which had been out since Rienzel fired his laser. “I say we both go in. Any disputes over plunder will be settled by coin toss when we're far from this planet, not by fists in a danger zone.†Droid made a noise that was laughter for him but sounded more like a combination between growling and purring to Loxie. “That sounds fair to me Captain. We are in agreement then?†He extended a paw which Marushi shook. “We are.†Marushi looked to her crew, her brave loyal crew which would follow her to this hell and back. “Away to the planet you scalawags! Away to our plunder!†When Loxie's feet hit the ground, it crackled. Excasr hadn't been kidding when he'd said it would be hot; he may have understated it actually. “Hot and humid†sounded more like the Playground Beaches of Vidia rather than this inferno. Her lungs quickly set up a protest to all the water she was inhaling. No matter though; all she had to do was pick things up and put them in her bag. Getting through the Alparnian cordon hadn't been very difficult. Only one ship was close enough to even see them and a few well placed shots had disabled the rudder beyond easy repair. The descent to the planet had been unbearable though. The sudden change from the relative coolness of space to the blistering heat of Betelgeuse 17 had almost given half of the crew heat stroke then and there. Loxie couldn't wait to finish looting and get off the planet. A likely looking piece caught her eye. It was made of Monterran silver and shaped like a Monterran marble. Of course, the Monterran's being a race of giants, this marble was the size of a beach ball. Since she wouldn't be able to pick it up, she simply stretched the mouth of the bag to it limit and pulled it down over the marble and when she picked the bag back up, the marble was gone. That was easy. Let's see what else we can find. Three Nausic sculptures, sixteen Neysid tapestries and a sizable chunk of Logian tritanium later and Loxie's first house was clear. After finishing her third house, she exited to find DarkTraitor and Llave fighting over a Magnian sculpture depicting a naked Wollé woman. It was the standard, “I saw it first†“Well I grabbed it first†argument. Loxie grabbed it with one hand and smacked them both with the other, DT first, Llave right after. “The Captains already decided how to do this. Next time, I throw both of you into the brig and I don't care which ship you're on.†She pulled a tag from her pocket, slipped it over the statuette's neck and threw it into her bag. “Now get back to work. The sooner this is done, the greater chance we have to live.†She smacked them both again for good measure then started looting her fourth house. “Alright,†Eleven houses later, she threw her last bit of loot into the bag, “that should be the last of it, provided the rest of the crew did their work.†Sure enough, just as she was leaving, a radio call came in from Excasr who was keeping an eye on the ship. “The hold is full to bursting. Everyone get back on board. We've still got a half an hour until the planet explodes. No reason to not hurry though.†Loxie checked each of the houses before she left, making sure that everyone had heard the message. In the last house, the one furthest from the ship, she ran into NemesisPrime, one of the original crew who had taken a few months off to nurse an injury. He had come back with his leg in perfect condition and his greedy pirate's heart ready for loot. “Optimus,†Loxie called out to him using the nickname she had decided on spontaneously, “hurry up! The ship's full and we can't wait for much longer!†“As soon as I get this,†he called back, trying to pull a edge-sword off of the wall. Edge-swords ran a current of electrons along the edge of the blade, causing it to heat up and burn enemies as it cut. “This one is in much better condition than the one I have at home!†Loxie sighed. “Fine,†she said, staring at the brace holding the sword against the wall, “Stand back then.†She pulled her rifle and shot four charges, one at each of the bolts. Each one sublimed into gas as the charge hit it, allowing the brace to fall off and the sword to drop into Nemesis's hands. “Now get back onto the ship before this planet explodes.†Almost as if taking it;s cue, the floor suddenly split in half, Loxie and the door on one side, Nemesis on the other. As the chasm grew wider, Loxie saw hot magma running near the bottom, but getting closer with each passing second. “Optimus!!! Jump now!†She held out her hand to him as he started running towards her, gaining momentum. He jumped and although he landed a good foot away from the chasm, he still needed Loxie's hand to steady himself. After taking a few more reassuring steps away from the chasm, Prime turned to Loxie. “Shall we run?†Loxie rolled her eyes. “Let's shall.†She had been taught at an early age the appropriate response to that question and it was a difficult habit to break, even in this situation. “Now go!†She hadn't thought the planet's surface could have gotten any hotter but it did. The cracks in the heat spewed heat and noxious gases like a dragon's maw. Betelgeuse 17 was breaking down early; Loxie and Prime were lucky to get this much of a warning. The ground was opening up left and right, expunging more gases, more of the blistering heat that seared the skin of the last two of the INVSP still on the surface. Nemesis was a bit faster than Loxie; though she was only a few steps behind, when the chasm opened, Nemesis was well out of the danger zone. Loxie was not. Instinctively, she threw her hands up, looking for a purchase, an outcropping to grab and save her from a fiery death. Her hands found nothing, nothing to grab. Her stomach flew into her throat, her eyes filled. She had imagined dying in a glorious space battle, not on this Godforsaken backwater planet. A slight pressure on her wrist brought her attention back to the immediate present, away from the immediate future which would surely be hers. It would be hers, except for the pressure on her wrist which became a vice-like grip. “Hold on Loxare!â€Nemesis's voice drifted from above her, “The ship is dropping a rope. Just hold on.†Loxie twisted her hand so she could grab Nemesis's forearm. A moment later she was back onto flat, if unstable, ground. They grabbed the rope and watched as the ground below them receded. The crews of the Saber and the Flash, having put a couple of systems between them and Betelgeuse, had extended a number of gangplanks across the gap between the two ships, creating a mostly-solid floor of neutral ground, the advantage going to neither ship. They pulled all of the tagged items from the hold and separated them so that both sides had the same value, relatively. Neither DT nor Llave were willing to give up the statue of the Wollé woman and had flip a coin, Llave calling tails, DT heads. Llave won, to DT's disappointment. Business concluded, Droid turned to Marushi, “It was good fighting you for the meanwhile Captain Marushi. Are the rumors true then?†The Captain started in surprise, then nodded. “Aye. They are. Where did ye hear?†She had only told Loxie and knew her first mate wouldn't disobey orders and tell of her plans. Captain Droid laughed. “I can see the signs Marushi.†He looked back at his crew as they started letting down sail, preparing to leave. “I'll see you when we port then.†Captain Marushi smiled, “Of course.†With a wave over her shoulder, she turned back to her crew. A subtle signal to Loxie had the first mate bellowing at the crew. “Get these planks packed away and set to go! We're heading back to Vidia so get your backsides in gear or I'll have my whip get them in gear for you! Lower sail, start the jets, and- DT! IF I EVER SEE YOU LEAVE A ROPE UNCOILED EVER AGAIN, I'LL SERVE YOUR LIVER TO DROID!†As Loxie bellowed on, the Captain entered her cabin smiling. Her crew would be in good hands. Spoiler For the record, the coin flip was done IRL. Luck of the flip DT. Sorry.
Close enough I suppose.
I see. I'll see what I can do!
I have pumpkin cookies all the time. I've had the muffins once and I've only heard of the cake.
Pumpkin cookies. Cookies made with the awe-inspiring flavour of pumpkin! Like pumpkin cake or pumpkin muffins, but cookie-er.
I didn't know those counted, but welcome back one-year-ago you!
Hot chocolae is good. And so is pumpkin cookies.
I see. So what's a lemon?
Very true. Oh, I've been meaning to ask your opinion on my theme. What say thee?
