Draconian Wilderness (My first dragon RP!)

[Talmarka]

ooc: Okay, I modified the post, but if if it doesn't work well, 3rd time's the charm!

"Right, the plan..." Jefferson loaded his weapon. Rules are meant to be broken, he thought while thinking of what to say. All of the Dragon Guild team seemed to be on edge about him being here in the fist place, and rifles with lethal rounds being in the vicinity didn't relax them either. And any idiot like me would know that having an individual file on each and everyone of them wouldn't be a great topic to even think.
"I thought you were all briefed, weren't you? we've got everything set up for you, every planned for you, and everything that we could do to make sure your comforts were taken into affect so we took on only what was absolutely necessary to defend you without pushing the envelope. And you didn't go over the plan?!" Jefferson wanted to get this mission under way, and fast.
"Listen, this op is important because this ship could have data regarding technology beyond our wildest dreams, or what is in its core could be information of other planets, systems, galaxies even, and in and on them other species, some of which could have assisted the ship's overall goal of colonization. Maybe even why this AI is acting so protective. If we're lucky, it's guarding survivors. Witnesses to a universe we've never imagined.
"If there are survivors, there is the possibility that the on-board Artificial Intelligence is holding them captive. So rescue mission, infiltration, assault, whatever! It's our job, Wanders, to get our comrades inside and out without any problems." He removed his helmet to replace it with a cap with the "DDA" insignia- a firy globe with a dragon on top, and the very ancient Latin language on the bottom saying "United we stand, divided we changed the world" surrounding the whole thing.
"So, ready to start?"

[Thundertail]

OCC: All that was indicated before, Talmarka. In context, Forrest meant the actual tactics to infiltrate the ship (Lkike a game play in football.), not the mission goal.

IC: The Dragon Riders, I-N-Salat, Algeria.

"I guess you're in charge, Glyph.", Forrest said soft enough so nobody else can hear. "Hook up with our gratious guest, and have the others form with the rest of his men."

"Got 'ya, dad!", Glyph winked; then as Forrest went to take Coffrey and Ikkak into a huddle, he turned to the soldiers. "Ok, humans! You will form up with us. Follow our lead, and engage the target on my mark!..."

"So, you're clear on what we're going to do.", Forrest asked the boys in the mean time.

"I got it!", Coffrey said. "All I do is fly you up over the ship, Ikkak jumps; then he goes through the shield with the P.S.D.S., then the both of you try to get into the ship."

"And don't worry about us getting in, uncle Forrest!", Ikkak smiled toothily, patting a data transmission node he modifyed himself. "I got programs that can get through any lock, and some can even make that AI stand up and dance!"

"Well, we don't want to overdo things!", Forrest told them. "We need that AI intact if we're going to find out what happened to it!"

"Right!", they both said as we turned to look at two of Jefferson's men bringing over something.

It was roughly the size of one of those outdated laptop computers, four sets of cylindrical tubing snaking around the leading edges. At it's center a disk with a large emitter protruded; and several latching mechanisms protruded on the underside. These clasps coincided with the forcefield generator that clasped onto Ikkak's armored suit. Forrest removed that device and all of its' plug-in wiring and stepped away as the soldiers came to insert the device. Once in place the soldiers threaded the control wiring throughout Ikkak's suit, ending in a relay wire that plugged into the half helmet upon Ikkak's dual crested head. As Ikkak studied the new programming scrolling down his side of the faceplate, the soldiers began to test and program the device.

"I know this stuff!", Ikkak commented. "It's like the programming for an ion cannon!", he squinted. "What's 'Anomoly event sequencer'?"

"The disruptor is on a timer.", one of the soldiers said. "It can only stay on for no more than ten seconds."

"Then what happens?", asked Ikkak.

"It blows up!...", the soldier smiled as both backed away to join the rest of the men.

"Oh, great!", Ikkak moaned.

In the mean time, Glyph was over, trying to convince the other dragons and thier riders to work with these soldiers. Actually, the fact of having to work with them was not really the problem. it was the possibility that the dragons might have to actually carry some of the soldiers if anything wrong happened. What was worse was Glyoph was actually trying to convince them to carry the soldiers INTO battle!

"Look, I don't like this any more than you guys do!", Glyph told them. "It's just that, we are going to need them to help run this diversion; and it won't do if they have to take a two mile hike before the battle!"

"But you know the rules: no one may ride a dragon but thier rider!", Calidada said.

"What about carrying persons in trouble?", Oinkyveck returned.

"We're the ones in trouble!", Lupious said. "We can't get through the forcefield."

"And that's why we have to do this!", Glyph said. "I know that all of you can carry more than one rider - heck! I can carry up to four adult humans myself!... So let's do this. For the good of the mission!", reluctantly, they all agreed.

"So, What are you going to change into, Uncle Forrest?", Ikkak asked in the mean time while getting used to the weighty instrument strapped to his waist.

"I was thinking of something along the lines of the decor' of the place...", Forrest thought a moment. "I got it!"

Forrest Wanders' eyes glowed a blinding white a moment, then his whole body became bright luminescence. The ball of energy that was he shrank in midair, sinking to the ground until it was merely a glowing speck in the sand. The glow began to take on another shape, shifting and forming into a creature small and multilegged. The glowing slowly faded, revealing a tiny tan scorpion, bobbing his tail, his pincers and scuttling in place. Ikkak sank to a knee and reached out for this tame little terror.

"Remember, don't sting me!", Ikkak warned as the Forrest scorpion saluted with a pincer and crawled into the lad's hand. Forrest scuttled up the arm, and slipped into a space between Ikkak's armor and his skin. "You can tickle,... but please don't sting!...", Ikkak laughingly winced.

Glyph walked up to leiutenant colonel Jefferson after the dragon riders under his command grudgingly agreed to carry his troops, grunting to gain his attention and staring him in the eye with his unpatched eye. He grabbed the modifyed stunner rifle from his saddle and wielded it like a miniature baton, last move being advancing a round with a jerk.

"Well, Jefferson...", Glyph said gruffly. "Do you want a ride there, or are you partial to a two mile hike?"...

Soon all the other dragons had taken on one to three extra passengers, and strained into the air with thier loads. Those who chose not to fly stalked over to thier portable vehicles and followed the dragons as they flew off. Ikkak mounted Coffrey, let out a whoop and both soared to the sky on thier facet of the mission...

TAG: Korkoa, Zita, Kaida, Jefferson, everyone else!...

_____

[Thundertail]

IC: Coffrey, Ikkak, over the Auri.

As soon as the bedecked Ikkak mounted him and situated himself on the saddle, he took off behind the squadron of other dragons, who were heavily loaded with two or more passengers. Thier flight plan was not the way thier comrades were going, for thier mission was going to be quite a bit different! As the others flew out to the base of the giant starship now looming out of the landscape, Coffrey flew up into the sky ahead of them. He flew ever higher, to a point directly over the spires and buildinglike superstructures; hoping he was high enough to not encounter the impenetrable forcefield. At about three quarters of a mile altitude, Coffrey leveled off and spiraled in a lazy circle, waiting for the outcome of the diversion just now unfolding in the scrubby desert below...

_

IC: Glyph, the Dragon Riders and soldiers, northwest of I-N-Salat.

Glyph couldn't stand the joker now on his back as he flew, but knew dumping him off was not an option! Suprisingly, they needed leiutenant colonel Jefferson and his troop of soldiers to get inside the Auri and see what could be done for her. All he knew is if Jefferson tried playing with the contriols of the saddle he sat in, he'd dump him to the ground - orders or no! Glyph landed just outside the forcefield, right in line with the bow of the citylike ship.

"Get off!", Glyph ordered; then saw the many dragons landing near by, dislodging thier riders and passengers. "Ok everyone! Fan out and find strategic places to attack from!...", he looked at Jefferson. "Would that be advisible for your men?"

He didn't wait for a reply. Instead ha flew off about seven hundred yards starboard and grabbed the grenade launching stunner rifle, poising it for battle. "Once in position, commence firing - and keep it up!", this he radioed to the Dragon Riders, and any of Jefferson's troops that were smart enough to be on the same frequency. "Coffrey! You may begin phase two!", this he said on another frequency.

Once enough confirmations came through his earslit receiver, Glyph let go with his first salvo, punctuating the blast with a burst of his fire. All down the line, in a crescent around the bow of the gargantuan ship, halos of fire pummeled against the invisible forcefield; sending out auras of energy that made each area opaque. Glyph kept on pummeling the spot he chose with grenades, switching to full-force stunner fire after his ammo ran out; and kept on blasting the spot with fire until his esophagus was all but scorched! In the mean time, with his efforts and those of his cohorts; this activity did not go unnoticed by the entity aboard the Auri.

The AI saw that it was happening again! The creatures outside this unknown world ran away before; but it seemed they were not permanently deterred! It recalled all the sentinel drones it put on watch, and reactivated all the ones it recalled to their maintence bay. Many more not posessing flight were summarilly dispatched, thier spindly legs clacking on the metallic accessways throughout the ship; and marching down hidden hatchways into the desolate waste beyond. It gave the electronic word, and presently the tiny army of miniature juggernauts spread out to engage the enemy.

Moments after the assault began, hundreds of sentinel drones swarmed out of the great ship; engaging the humans, humanoids and dragons firing every sort of weapon at the forcefield. The drones saw that many of them were smart enough to shoot from cover, or engage them out in the open using force shields of thier own. All up and down the line dragons fired every natural and manufactured weapon at the shield; switching positions as the energy dissapated into the increasingly opaque field, rendering the drones beyond invisible to them and increasing thier risk of being hit. The human soldiers and Dragon Riders were employing the same strategy, drawing the drones' fire in an attempt to spread thier number thinner. The drones had too many targets to deal with at the moment to notice the flying creature far above in the clouds...

_

IC: Coffrey, Ikkak, over the Auri.

Coffrey heard Glyph's words over his radio, and so did Ikkak.

"Here we go, buddy!", Coffrey yelled as he flew into the correct position.

"Just don't land me on my head...", Ikkak braced himself.

"It'd improve your looks!", Coffrey chuckled. "Here goes!"

In one single motion Coffrey flipped over in flight, and Ikkak let go! The wind rushed past swiftly as he fell, and Ikkak gimballed the jets from his jetpack to get into the correct trajectory, feathering his stumpy mechanical wings that unfurled from his armored suit to stabilize himself. The preprogrammed P.S.D.S. device ticked off the altitude, and would activate when Ikkak was seconds from impact of the shield. The device was to activate at the shield membrane, forming a vortex that would emerge on the other side of the shield; and that would be the hole that Ikkak would fall through.

Seconds ticked by, and suddenly the P.S.D.S. emitted an aura of sparks before emitting a purplish aurora that shot toward the shield. The aurora stopped at the designated distance and formed a bluish vortex just as Ikkak fell into it. The transfer was instantaneous as Ikkak emerged on the other side, speed suddenly ten times his previous fall rate. Ikkak had to turn his thrusters full power to slow enough to unfurl his metal wings unless they be ripped from the suit! He jockeyed and gimballed the thrusters, bobbing in midair as he tried to controll his fall; and soon he was slow enough to fully unfurl his wings, paragliding the rest of the way to the ground beside the hulking ship. It was then that Ikkak noticed that the P.S.D.S. was smoldering, so he stripped it from his chest as fast as he could - he could feel the heat it was emitting, even through the suit!

Fearing the device would explode, Ikkak ran for the nearest cover; a stand of rocks positioned so a tiny cave of sorts was produced. He slithered under it just as one of the drones detected his fall, and went to investigate. The drone radioed some ofits' multilegged counterparts, and they all converged on the still smoldering P.S.D.S. unit. The comma-shaped drone floated over the device while four of the 'bugs', which looked like those old fahioned underwater robot subs, surrounded it and began examining it. Ikkak took out his stunner and fired on the P.S.D.S.; and the extra energy made the device made it overload! The explosion was formidable, and as the pieces of probes and devices rained down on the area, Ikkak pressed deeper into the depression he was in.

"Looks like it's time for reinfiorcements!", Ikkak said to himself as he pulled open the spot in his armor where the Forrest Wanders scorpion had hidden. "You're up, uncle Forrest!"

The scorpion trundled out of hiding, walked down onto the stony ground beside Ikkak and began to glow. A moment later Forrest Wanders was crouched in the cramped space between the boulders. "Where did you learn to fly?", he said as soon as he could.

"From Coffrey, where else?", Ikkak replied, smiling.

"That explains it!", Forrest said. "Now, where are we?". he poked his head outside, and pulled it back in again as he saw another sentinel drone float by.

"I guess we're about two hundred yards from the ship...", Ikkak laughed as he watched the humanoid mutant back into cover. "Now what?"

"Let me think...", said Forrest.

TAG: Everyone!

[Talmarka]

ooc: i know, i just wanted some character in well... my character(ok that was really lame :

[Algeria/I-N Salat/0320 hours/code: Zulu]


"Sarge is down!" a young soldier screamed. The Junior Sargent of the squad had failed to activate his energy deflecting armor in time, and paid for it in second degree burns. Sentinels had swarmed from the crash-site for the past few minutes, and the Alliance troops had been unprepared for such mass numbers. However, their armor hadn't been selected for heavy combat, but for the infiltration mission. Equipped with with stealth fields, detection jammers, and stamina enhancers, but at the cost of minor shield, good enough for a few shots small arms fire. However, the Colonel watched in horror as his medic was tossed violently in his effort to rescue the Sgt. His comm-disk pinged; despite the sound of lasers on both sides. "What?!" he asked, still in the action
"Team 1 successfully inside, sir!" Jefferson's recon had spotted Ikkak breach the shield.
"What's their status? And-" his rockets had just been shot exploded right in front of him, so he took cover " where how far are they from the entry point?"
"Contact's been temporarily lost. But the landed within 1000 meters of theAuri."
Good. the Lt. thought. Looks like we're getting out of this mess. He radioed the strike team over the comm. "Alright boys, we're going to be flanking. Mock retreat. Make sure the equipment's set up by the time I'm there. They might have more drones. Get there fast, and get out faster. And Pete's sake keep on trying to raise those kids and Forrest. Get me in contact with Glyph if you can so he knows I'm leaving. Jefferson out."

[Thundertail]

IC: Forrest, Ikkak, beside the Auri.

Forrest sat back, considering thier options. He and Ikkak was pinned down under some boulders, neraly two hundred yards from thier goal, the looming shape of the Auri high above them as well as spanning out in both directions for miles; and several drones patrolling around meant that they would be detected the moment they neared the ship. He looked out and saw there was indiginous life out there: bugs and scorpions, lizards and the like. These probes seemed to ignore these creatures for the most part, giving them a cursorary scan before moving on. That was when he got an idea!

"Ikkak, you stay here.", Forrest Wanders said. "I'll go out and get to the ship."

"You can't go out there!", Ikkak said. "You'll get fried before you go three steps!"

"Relax! I'll go as one of the natives!", he replied.

"What are you going to turn into this time?", asked the Dilophosaur.

"A bat...", he said.

"Bats aren't found here!", Ikkak protested.

"THEY don't know that!", Forrest chuckled before glowing and forming his bat shape as he clung to the underside of the boulder.

Chittering in ultrasound, Forrest dropped and swooped out of the space; and Ikkak watched his progress through the opening. Forrest flapped and bobbed between rock outcroppings and palmtrees, using his sonar to navigate, even tghough it was painfully bright enough for his bat eyes to see. Soon a floating probe detected the movement and homed in after him, but Forrest detected it behind him and dodged and wove even faster! As the probe got within feet of his leathery wings, Forrest flopped up and clung to the bole of a palm, hanging upside down. The probe scanned Forrest a moment, and then, finding nothing threatening; left the area to be off where Forrest saw his comrades doing battle with the other probes.

Forrest waited a full minute before taking off again, and made it the rest of the way to a tiny hatch. It was huge to Forrest's batlike size, but it was only big enough to allow human access. He flapped over, slammed against the doorframe before grasping it with his feet. Looking to see if his presence was detected remotely, and finding no apparent visual monitor devices; he dropped from the frame, changing into his humaniod mutant form as he fell. Forrest crouched in the doorways' shadow and pulled out his communication disk.

"Forrest to Ikkak.", he said. "I'm here, but there are two problems. One is how am I to open the door? The lock looks tough."

"I can get in!", Ikkak told him.

"Not with those probes out there!", Forrest said. "That was the second problem!"

"Oh...", Ikkak sighed.

"Wait! I got another idea.", Forrest said.

Forrest had many other talents, and he probed the lock with his mind. He had Machine Sense, and though the lock was too tough for his talents, he found a power conduit close to those controls. Prying open the panel, he found it was not connected to the locking mechanism, but part of the ships' outside sensors. From there he probed further with his mind, through miles of wiring and electronics; and located the main defense computer - or actually, a maintenence terminal in a security tower high above.

All this happened in an instant!

From there he scanned the programming for the ships' defense grid, and found that he could not turn off the forcefield from there; but he could reprogram the sentinel drones! He placed a top priotity subroutine to all drones outside the ship. To return immediately to the maintenence facility for repair, and to stay there until further notice, to be overriden by his thought patterns only. Forrest initiated the order with his mind and quickly withdrew his thoughts back into his body. The shock of such a sudden thing reeled him back on his heels with a terrible headache!

"What's that, uncle Forrest?", Ikkak asked.

"Never mind.", Forrest told him. "Watch the sky."

"Hey! The drones are going back to the ship!", Ikkak exclaimed after a few moments of viewing. "What happened?"

"I gave the drones an oilcan break!", Forrest chuckled. "You can come on over now..."

"Roger that!", Ikkak trotted the distance in a minute, and immediately got to work on the door locking mechanism...

_

IC: Glyph, the dragon Riders, 2mi. n.w. of I-N-Salat.

Glyph could not believe his eyes! The soldiers with them were getting slaughtered out there! He turned up his saddle shields, and an opaque energy field formed before becoming transparent. He redioed the others to do the same, and told them to try and protect the soldiers near them. How could thier generals equip them with the most sophisticated equipment; and then forget a simple thing like adequate body armor?!

"Jefferson! Where are you?!", Glyph roared as he tried to make sense of the chaos. "I knew I should've kept him on a leash!", this he mumbled to himself as he flew up and scanned the area below.

The scene below looked worse than the battle scene at Alice Springs during the Austrailian civil war! Many injured soldiers lay about, burned and bleeding; and dragons and thier riders were helping thier medics move the wounded to more protected places. Everyone ran around at a crouch as laserfire caromed off dragon forcefields, or found thier marks in human flesh or very close by.

"Uncle Glyph!", Coffrey Rex radioed in. "Ikkak and Forrest are inside the shield. Can I join the fight?"

"Absolutely NO!", Glyph told him, stronger than he had intended. "You are to stay in position and monitor them. Make sure they get inside safely."

"I saw them take cover, then I lost them in the boulders.", Coffrey reported. "I had to fly higher to get away from the drones. Now I can't find them!"

"Get back into position, use your tracker software and infa-red.", Glyph instructed. "They got to be down there somewhere!"

"Roger that, uncle Glyph.", Coffrey radioed, already flying back into position. "Out..."

Glyph returned his attention to the battle at hand. Since he had used up all the ammo that came with the modifyed stunner rifle, all he had left was his fire and ice; but that was no match for the forcefield that protected the ship - and those little mechanical pipsqueaks in the other side of it. THEY were doing fine: laserfire shot right through the field to pepper the area around where Jungtik Tiger and Mordaza crouched; them peppering back uselessly as they shielded another of Lt. Jefferson's wounded men.

It was almost imperceptable at first, but the fire strafing the area slowly began to lessen. Several of the combatants looked around, and they saw that the population of drones attacking them were thinning out one by one. This perplexed them as they knew they weren't destroying them; but soon Lupious figured out what was happening.

"Hey! Looky!", Lupious shouted. "They're leaving!", he chuckled, laserbolt sizzling off his shield. "They must think we're too much for them!"

"No, Lupious.", Glyph radioed back. "Something else is happening.", Glyph swooped down beside him. "It's GOT to be Forrest!...", he said at last. "Good ol' him and his Machine Sense!"

"What?", Lupious turned.

"He probably told them to go home!", Glyph said as he watched the cloud fo drones thin to a mere handfull, and the swarm of crawling drones turn and regroup; then they filed out of the area like a line of army ants. "Now all we got to do is wait for the forcefield...", he turned. "And someone go find leiutenant Jefferson!"...

TAG: Everyone...

[Talmarka]

ooc: i'd like to experiment with a new type of post. tell me if its terrible

[Dracinia Defense Alliance Communication Monitor Program/African Terminal Station 46/Records of (DATE NOT SPECIFIED) 0400 Hours/Confidential Military Report]

"This is Recon 12 reporting to Lt Col. Drone hostiles are leaving skirmish zone. Repeat, Tangos retreating, over."

"What?! Where are they heading?"

"Unknown, Sir."

"(pause) Understood. What about Wanders?"

"Recon 4 spotted them heading to EZ."

Very well. Patch me into Glyph. Try to evac the casualties."

[Records Ended on Channel]

[Thundertail]

OCC: Great effort with the new font! maybe that could be used like radio transmission or something...

IC: Ikkak, Forrest, inside the Auri.

"C' mon, kid!", Forrest beckoned. "Hurry up!"

Ikkak scrambled the dozens of yards to the ship, not really knowing what Forrest did; but not really trusting that the drones would stay away. He hopped up onto the door sill and looked until he found the door controls. He smiled and pulled out one of his personally modifyed data nodes, fiddling with the controls until a holographic fog formed over the device. The fog turned into a holographic rat that hopped off and flowed into the control box.

"You and your holograms!", Forrest chuckled.

"Wait until you see what it does!", Ikkak said as all the indicators on the panel began to strobe in all four of its' colors: red, blue, green and amber. "The rat will work its' way into all the locks, and..."

Instantly the door scrolled up, revealing a mansize airlock. The door on the other side of this chamber also blinked and strobed, and this door opened too. Looking beyond that, Forrest saw that all the doors within sight were opening as well! He stood there with his mouth agape while Ikkak stood back and smirked!

"You don't have to overdo it, you know!", he scolded.

"What can I say? I like to be thourough!", said the lad. "Let's go!..."

They both ran inside and down the corridor that opened to them, pausing at an intersection and a much larger bisecting passage. There were corridors that could accomodate humanoid species as well as ones much larger for dragons and large creatures of the like. They turned right, heading aft, and came out to yet another intersection; but this one had a lobby of sorts. Six elevator doors stood blankly on the far end of the hangarlike space, three humanoid size and three dragon size; and along both sidewalls of the place stood twin kiosks designed for dragons and humanoids that had stations for security, fire control and the like. Both knew that if they didn't get a map of the layout of the ship, they would soon become hopelessly lost!

Ikkak scooted around a human sized kiosk and began unpacking his data nodes; and choosing one, placed it into a recepticle next to the keyboard console. He pushed the button on the node, and instead of a hologram; all seven holographic screens lit up and promptly displayed another one of his avatars! This one was a many headed snake, and all the heads seemed to fan out throughout the screens until one returned with a boxlike image. The snake opened the box, and text mixed with diagrams filled one of the screens to his left. Taking out another node, Ikkak downloaded the data into it; the node automatically deciphering it and translating it into a three-dimensional interior layout of ther Auri. Right after that two red dots formed in a lower space of interconnecting passageways.

"We are here...", Ikkak pointed.

"Where's the bridge?", Forrest asked.

"Glad you asked!", Ikkak said as he manipulated the controls on the node. A green space was revealed many stories up, but still within the superstructure of the hull. "There it is!", he pointed again.

"Now, how do we get there...", Forrest considered.

"Like this!", Ikkak pushed one more button, and a labrynthine pathway was revealed; snaking its' way through the ship, up and down many decks and through many elevators. "Follow along the path marked in blue!"

Just then the snake avatars hissed and leapt into thier data node, a test pattern of sorts replacing them. An instant later a squealing rose from a speaker and the rat hologram fled into the data node as well! The node began to hum, and Ikkak pulled it out of the recepticle as fast as his burning forelimbs could pry it. He threw it on the floor because he couldn't hold the extremely hot object and watched it sizzle.

"Oh, crud!", he cursed.

"Looks like our cover's blown!", Forrest said. "Where to now?"

"Nowhere for now!", Ikkak said. "Look!"

Both watched as all the hatches Ikkak had opened began slamming shut one by one...

TAG: Korkoa, Tiaselle and Braveheart, Talmarka... and anybody else!

[Talmarka]

[Algeria/I-N Salat/0430 hours/code:Kilo]

The Alliance troops had begun to set up the breaching equipment on the other side of the forcefield. The Colonel was attempting to contact the Dragon Riders. Ever since Wanders has gotten inside, the comms started acting up, and after for trying to raise Glyph for half an hour, he was barely putting any effort into filtering the frequencies.
I haven't tried Wi-Dv yet he thought. Noticing there was another five minutes before the breacher was assembled, Jefferson gave it a shot. The comm disk pinged an ascending tune. Got ya. "Lt Col to Glyph. Respond. Come on, I know your there." Then he remembered something. "Hey, why haven't we heard from Recon 12? it's been half an hour."

[Algeria/I-N Salat/0415 hours/Reconnaissance team 12]

"Man, I don't like this," said the young Corporal. He swore he saw movement in the bridge, but nobody believed him.
"Listen, you've been on Spotter for how long?" replied his CO. "Plus we're in the middle of the friggin' desert. We're all as hot as-" the Sgt shot him a glance, alot of them had very big religious beliefs. "Heck, okay? Heck. Jeez you guys." It was probably logical to conclude that the AI's avatar had been on the bridge.
That's what they had concluded.
Just as the Commanding Officer was about to scold his squad, he saw several figures through his electric binoculars, SEVERAL figures loomed on the bridge of the Auri. He motioned for the radio, but transmissions were jammed from Forrest's and Ikkak's wandering about. They never found out the comms were jammed, because they all felt sharp pains in their fore heads before being knocked unconscious.

[Thundertail]

OCC: Interesting... I'm confused! The layout of the Auri allows for no windows to speak of because it uses arrays of monitoring devices to monitor the exterior.The bridge is located well inside the ship, so no one can see if anyone is on the bridge from the outside.

Glyph, Outside the Auri.

"So, you're telling me that Jefferson's men are bugging out?", Glyph said to the air as he listened to the many dragon riders in his earslit radio. "Talk about the worlds' finest!...", he looked around at some of the other dragons and thier riders as they pulled the casualties to the safety of cover, toward waiting medics. "I don't care how long you've been looking, Oinkyveck! Keep looking!"

"Uncle Glyph!...", Coffrey's voice was next. "I spotted Ikkak and forrest! They made it to the ship, but then I lost them again!"

"Keep looking...", then as an added thought. "Could you try spotting any other openiongs in the hull? Any hatches or other points of entry?"

"I'll try...", Coffrey cut out.

His earpiece pinged before static took over. "Yeah, what is it?", he barked, listened to the response. " Oh, there you are!... Well, a fine thing! Letting your men get wasted and fly the coop!...", another static burst. "Glyph to Mistress Kaida; could you do something about our communicators?... We're getting crazy static!"...

_

IC: Forrest, Ikkak, inside the Auri.

Directly behind them, floating out a hatch in the ceiling of the security center, a metallic form lowered itself and leveled a blaster device at the pair. Hearing the sounds it made, both humanoid and dinosaur turned to face the monstrosity. It resembled a human as it had apparent arms, legs and head, but from there any other resemblance stopped; and the reddish optics surrounding its' head glowed in an accusing stare. It floated forward a foot, and both retreated to the nearest wall; and through years of training, knew enough to turn around and surrender! The robotic guard did not shoot or move; for it was considering this gesture, and sending the data to the AI. A moment passed and Forrest turned his head.

"We mean no harm!", Forrest spoke, hoping it understood English. "We are from the Dragon Riders Guild, from planet Draconia...!"

"NAMES? SPECIES? PURPOSE?", said the robot in monotone.

"My name is Forrest Wanders...", he said.

"My name is Ikkak.", said he.

"I am a humanoid mutant.", Wanders said.

"I am a Dilophosaur.", Ikkak told it.

"Ours is a mission of recovery and peace.", Forrest told it. "We were sent to seek you out, to help you and this ship. Our actions outside the ship was purely accidental..."

"We could not find a way through your forcefield.", added Ikkak.

"TURN.", it said after a moment, and both knew to comply. "RELAYED DATA COMPUTED.... OUTCOME INCONGRUENT.", it paused, motionless for a full minute while its' optics glowed in private conference. "FOLLOW ME.", it finally said.

The lower torso of the robot pivoted in the other direction, but gun and eyes never left them as they followed it across the foyer of the security area to a hatch that slid up. Through this portal stood a monorail car large enough to accomodate up to four dragons, enclosed like a rounded elevator car; and its' hatch slid open as well to reveal a cavernous space made mostly for transportation, not comfort. The robot took the controls, and Ikkak and Forrest sat in the few seats thier size; and glad they did for the G-forces they were now experiencing! The car traveled nearly the length of the ship, in interconnecting tubes designed for it; and as it traveled in all three axes to reach its' destination, Forrest tried to tell the robot the history of Draconia.

OCC: History of Draconia is on the first page of this thread.

Finally the robot had had enough of Forrest's talking, and turreted its' head around to glare at him; raising the weapon as well. "SILENCE."

Forrest complied, and though Ikkak smiled, he made no other sound that would anger this metallic monster. A moment later the car stopped, the door slid open and they were met with two other such metallic bohemoths; only these posessed no weapons. Their robot escort forced them out of the car, and the other two flanked them; first robot receiving orders and re-entering the car to be whisked away.

"SENTRY UNIT 342 REPORT INTRUDERS.", the robot on the right said.

"INTRUDERS TELL WORLD HISTORY.", the other said. "HISTORY CONGRUENT WITH 'AURI' MEMORY."

"LOGICAL CONCLUSION: INTRUDERS FROM 'AURI' HOME WORLD.", the first said. "EXTRAPOLATION: PLANET NOW ON IS 'AURI' HOME WORLD."

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!", Forrest said.

"We are only trying to help,", Ikkak said. "But you won't let us!"

"COME.", the robot on the right said and turned.

"WE TAKE YOU TO 'AURI'.", the other said and precisely mimicked the others' turn.

TAG: Everybody!...

[Talmarka]

ooc: oops... forgot to elaborate. They had picked up signals from inside the ship via thermal and motion sensors in the binoculars. Apparently they didn't match the signals of the drones. If you still don't understand IDK what to tell you

[Algeria/I-N Salat/0437 hours/code:Delta]

"3, 2, 1, GO!" The small section of the forcefield gave way and fifteen troops log rolled into the space inside. "Engage stealth fields, don't put your guard down!" Jefferson instructed over the comms. Images of the surrounding environment then projected onto their armor. and jumpsuits below. "Be advised, we're about to enter the jamming zone so for n- r--ort to -and si--- only! Rre--- Hand Signals Only!" Visuals Displays of the Lt Col"s Armor Display systems began to fade and break up; the transmission monitors went dead. As soon as he got inside, he'd try contacting Glyph and then Wanders. While he was thinking of how to find the controls to the force field, all of a sudden he was getting transmissions!
"-recovery mission-" Was that Wanders' voice?
" -Auri's home world-" Who was that?
Jefferson didn't like what he was picking up, because his recognition software could only recognize one voice: Forrest Wanders. If he managed to get inside, he could be in for a conflict.

[Thundertail]

OCC: Ready for a long one, folks?...

IC: Ikkak, Forrest, inside the Auri.

The twin riobots led Forrest wanders and Ikkak Dilophosaur deeper into the ship. Down many corridors and turning at many intersections only confused the pair as they walked. Ikkak wanted to use his holographic map he had just acquired, but was afraid these much more massive machines would detect it; so he just walked along, keeping the steady pace Frick and Frack was keeping. Forrest wished they would slow down some, for his hundred and forty three year old body wasn't getting any younger!

At last another tram terminal came into dim view as they passed from a well lit section to one on emergency lighting. The dimness didn't bother the robots optics or Ikkak's nocturnal eyes, but Forrest had to squint to see anything clearly. It relieved both captives when the robots opened the only tram there and activated its' controls, but upset them as they were roughly shoved inside. The pod shot from the terminal and immediately raced upward, gluing them to thier hard seats for many moments. As it slowed and the robots cycled the door open, they saw they were in another cathedral-like space; and many consoles and seating stood around the perimeter of the space. It looked like just any other control room on any vessel; but many of these console posts were huge and designed for dragon usage.

" TIE-IN: 'AURI' CONTROL ACTIVATE...", Frick droned.

"Understood...", came a metallic yet femenine voice. "You have brought the intruders?"

"AFFIRMATIVE.", Frack said.

"Activating scanner.", she said. "Do not be afraid, creatures. I am Auri, artificial intellegence of this ship."

"Greetings, Auri.", Forrest said. "I am Forrest Wanders, commander of the Dragon Riders. Welcome back to Draconia."

"Hello, ma'am.", Ikkak said to the air. "I am Ikkak Dilophosaur, Dragon Rider."

"I see...", Auri said, harmless laser light scanning across them both. "It has been such a long time, and creatures like you were not in existence when I was launched.", she seemed amused. "So, a human and a Dilophosaur...! I see that all get along now! You have come a long way!"

"We have come a long way for another reason.", Forrest said. "We have come to repair and recover you. To see where you have been and what you have done. It has been a thousand years since you were lost!"

"Unfortunately, I can not recall all of my wanderings.", Auri said. "My memory banks have been damaged, and there are many voids that I can not recall the events. Navigation memory was destroyed in a strange anomoly, and I can not tell where I am."

"Don't worry about that, ma'am!", Ikkak said. "I am an expert in computers and thier repair. I can get to work right away and begin rebuilding your memory!"

"But first, could I request that your forcefield be deactivated?", Forrest asked. "There are many others outside that have been called to help repair you. I have your navigational codes in the memory system of my suit, and the others have similar codes to other systems in thiers."

"FORCEFIELD DEACTIVATION UNADVISABLE AT THIS TIME.", Frack said.

"OUTSIDE SCAN DETECTS FURTHER ATTACKS.", Frick droned. "AUTOMATIC DEFENSES ACTIVATED."

"Auri, may I use your communication system?", Forrest asked. "I will tell them to stand down."

"Why are they still attacking, uncle Forrest?", Ikkak whispered.

"I don't know...", whispered Forrest. "Jefferson's probably causing trouble again and Glyph can't keep them in line! I'll settle this..."

"Human named Forrest. What do you discuss?", auri asked.

"We are wondering why the others are still attacking.", he replied. "If I can use your communication equipment, I can find out why and stop it."

"Very well...", Auri said as a chair on a gimballed arm hove out from the far wall and slid in place near Forrest. "Communication array activated. Please sit.", Forrest complied.

Just then Forrest was risen from the floor to swing into place in front of a huge console halfway up the wall and near the center of the massive bridge. He gasped at each jerky change of direction, and grunted as the chair stopped. Forrest hit a pulsing button on the console, and suddenly thousands of monitors freckling the exterior of the ship activated. He could now see every human and humanoid below, and every dragon that was at his command. An amber button pulsed and he pushed that one as well; and suddenly a menagerie of voices were heard throughout the bridge. Weeding out the frequencies with the help of the communication array's filters, Forrest zeroed in on the channel Glyph and the Dragon riders were using.

"Forrest to Glyph. Do you read me?", Forrest called. "Forrest to Glyph, come in please."

"Glyph here.", said the dragon after a moment of static and another brief pause by the dragon. "Forrest, is that you?... What are you doing on this frequency?"

"Never mind.", Wanders said. "Look, I'm inside the ship; and both Ikkak and I are OK. We are trying to convince the Auri to lower its' defenses; but it will not unless all hostile actions against it cease. Order all the Dragon Riders to stand down, and tell colonel Jefferson and his men to do the same..."

"Uh, that's going to be a problem...", Glyph said. "See, when the battle started, his men didn't have proper armor or shields. They took bad hits, and we had to tend to the casualties. Jefferson ordered the rest of his men to retreat, and we haven't seen many of them since."

"Then where are the attacks coming from?", asked Wanders.

"I don't know... They must have regrouped and started other attacks on thier own.", the dragon told him. "I KNEW I should have kept an eye on them!"

"That's all past.", Forrest said. "Look, just find them and tell them to stop. The forcefield will go down, and we will be able to fix this ship and finish our mission."

"When I find Jefferson, is it OK if I eat him?", Glyph asked meekly.

"Of course not! You'll get indigestion!", Forrest said, smiling at the thought. "Just find him and his men, corral them and that's it, OK?"

"Roger that.", Glyph said, chuckling too. "Glyph out...", and he switched to other frequencies.

"See, Auri?", Forrest said as the chair swung out of position and deposited him on the floor of the bridge. "Everything will be fine soon."

"It would seem that mankind has not fully evolved after all to still condone war...", Auri surmized. "Perhaps there is a lesson I could teach this planet."

"We're really trying, honest.", Forrest said to the air. "It's just that other people have different ideas on how things should be."

"Wonder why Jefferson would do all that?", Ikkak wondered. "We told them what thier mission was to be..."

"Sometimes some men have other orders.", Forrest told him. "Jefferson is probably working for other factions that want the information on this ship. If they were patient and let the Dragon Guild examine it first, we would surely share it with the rest of the world... I guess most folks can't wait..."

"In the mean time, is it alright if I start fixing your memory banks?", Ikkak asked.

"Certainly, child...", Auri said and ran power to a near by console, and Ikkak got out his electronic reopair kit and data nodes and began.

"I should go back to communications and monitor what's going on.", Forrest suggested. He sat back in the chair.

"A masterful idea...", Auri said and gimballed him back into position...

_

IC: Glyph, the Dragon Riders, outside the Auri.

"Attention! All Dragon Riders and dragons!", Glyph radioed to all thier frequencies. "Rider Forrest Wanders and Rider Ikkak Dilophosaur are inside the ship, and in contact with the AI. New orders are to stand down and wait forcefield termination. Locate and detain all Alliance troops, and make them cease hostilities. Locate colonel Jefferson and detain him as well.", he waited for all the affirmatives before taking wing and scanning the area himself.

Glyph flew over the area, and out over the border of the forcefield still surrounding the giant ship. This whole mission seemed botched up the moment it started - and to have that yahoo Jefferson running about with total disreguard to the mission was just too much! Glyph knew he should have kept better control of things; but with persons already mentioned and omitted lest he get even angrier, it seemed a miracle the mission had gotten this far! With Forrest and Ikkak inside the Auri, he knew they could negotiate with the ship and convince it to let them in; but with this extra headache in the name of the Alliance troops and thier secret agenda they must have, Glyph seriousely wondered at the success of the mission.

He swooped over many a dragon still either tending to the wounded troops or talking with the more able bodied ones and taking thier weapons. "Calidada, Tralfax. Have you seen Jefferson around anywhere?", he radioed as he flew over.

"No sir.", Mistress Calidada radioed back.

"I sensed him on the other side of the ship.", Tralfax told him, psychic powers acting like radar.

He radioed more of the Dragon Riders he saw and asked if they had seen any sign of colonel Jefferson, with negative results. The communication system began its' now familiar static attack soon after that, and he finally got ahold of Kaida. "Mistress Kaida, can you do anything about this static?", he shouted through another wave.

"Not a thing, I'm afraid.", Kaida shouted too. "Most of the interference is coming from the ship; and the transciever aboard it must be really massive to cause such interference."

"I see...", Glyph told her. "Keep trying."

It turned out that only a small group of Alliance troops were accounted for at the end of thier roundup, either as casualties or gathered to be regrouped;and Jefferson was nowhere to be found. Glyph rallied all the dragons and thier riders near the front end of the Auri and called Coffrey back from his reconnisence for a conference. Something had to be done to stop the mission, which was now far out of Glyph's massive paws!

"Well guys, our mission is nearly half over.", Glyph told them all. "The only problem so far is still getting past the forcefield. i told you all that Forrest Wanders is inside, and they can't convince the AI aboard to lower it unless all hostilities stop."

"We're all stopped.", Coffrey observed.

"It's just that Jefferson and his bonehead troops!", Lupious shouted. "They don't belong here!"

"Now, give them credit!", Glyph said. "They helped us get Forrest and Ikkak inside; and they helped with the diversion."

"Yup, but they're still out there, mucking things up!", sir Oinkyveck pointed out.

"That's why we got to find them and stop them!", Glyph said. "I don't know what thier game is, but they must stop it or else the whole mission is shot!"

"Talk about overdoing things!...", Lupious commented.

"Now, I want you all to go out and find Jefferson and his troops.", glyph told them. "Stop them from doing whatever they are doing and get them into one area..."

All of a sudden Glyph's earslit radio crackled; and fearing it was just static, answered it in a huff. He was quite suprised to find leiutenant colonel Jefferson speaking to him...



OCC: Sorry for the godmod, Kaida!

TAG: All!...

[Thundertail]

OCC: Sorry for delay, guys! Waiting for response on all my RP's! RL really demanding lately! Been active on ToP W. my fanfic lately. Readers had ?'s about new situation there, and had to clarify with many chapters!

IC: The Dragon Riders, inside the Auri.

Finally all hostile activity around the Auri ceased, and her sensors went from red alert to green. Forrest told the AI that a truce was now in effect and she could now lower the shield. After confirming this, the Auri deactivated the shield, causing it to become opaque with malestroms of kelidescopic lightning; and the defense mechanism finally shut down.

"Now, let's aproach it cautiousely.", Glyph told the dragons, riders and the many soldiers they had corralled from many points around the ship. "You know what will happen if we make it mad!"

"Wonder why it was so reluctant...", Coffrey asked at his side.

"It's probably broken.", Glyph said. "How would you react to a strange place if you had amnesia?"

"I'm getting something...", Tralfax said as he concentrated. "Forrest is trying to open the main hatches for us..."

"Don't strain yourself too much!...", Coffrey thought to the equally psychic dragon. "You might hurt yourself!..."

"Very funny!...", Tralfax thought back.

As the large group came near the bow of the gigantic ship, many tiny looking hatches scrolled down and formed ramps to the sandy desert floor below. Each one of these hatches were, in reality, larger than any modern day aircraft hangar door; but from this distance, they were made tiny. After a ten minute walk, the group stood mere feet from the ship, dwarfed to the size of ants by the great ships' bulk. The dragons ascended the nearest ramp first, followed by thier riders and lastly by the flabberghasted soldiers. All gasped in awe at the size of this yawning metallic chasm that was merely an airlock of sorts. Nobody was there to greet them as they all entered the space, but the outer door began scrolling back into place once the last of them were inside.

Another, much smaller doorway scrolled up at the far wall of the space; and this one was merely large enough to allow access to the largest of dragons. Lights came on beyond the door, and it took no genious to figure out to follow the lighting as they came on down the hallway beyond. As the group continued on, the lights came on, to be extinguished as they passed; and this continued on through many an intersection and turn until they came upon a central area sporting corridors going off in many directions and drasgon sized hatches leading to unknown areas. As the group gathered together in a knot, four tubes with optic sensors snaked down from the ceiling of the space, giving everyone there an electronic scrutiny and frightening everyone in the process!

"SCAN COMPLETE,", droned a voice from the walls.

Suddenly a pair of dragon size doors slid aside, revealing a large elevator car beyond; and as the lights went on in there, everyone knew they were expected to enter. The doors whisked closed as the last of them boarded; and the humans gasped at the speed the car accellerated. the elevator did more than carry them up. It slid to the side for many hundreds of yards at points, sending them diagonal and switching directions unexpectedly until it came to a stop somewhere in the great ship. the doors opened once again, letting out the uneffected dragons and the nauseated non-dragons; and all of them took in where they were this time.

The foyer they were in now looked no different than the one they were in; except for the color on the walls and the fact that the hallways that spanned out in all directions were configured differently. Lights flickered on down a seemingly short hallway, and ended at another set of large doors. These slid open to reveal a cavernous space lined with consoles and seating built to acomodate both dragon and humanoid. Inside the multicolored controls glittered like constellations, and the multi-pitched humming everything was making let everyone know this must be the bridge! Something metasllic dropped to the floor from high above, and a tiny voice up there cursed in Dilophosaur. A stanchion gimballed around to reveal a humanform seat and its' occupant. Forrest Wanders hopped down from it and rushed to give Glyph a colossal hug.

"Ok everyone!", Forrest said when he was done. "There's a lot of work to do here. The ship is low on power, and most of the systems are shorted out."

"I have rigged all the systems to be monitored through the communication console and the helm.", Ikkak daid as he floated down from the helm with his rocket pack. "Now, these repairs are just a temporery arrangement, so don't do anything too drastic!"

"We won't.", Glyph said.

"What are we supposed to do?", Lupious asked.

"Consult your battle helmet data.", Forrest said. "The data already downloaded by the Dragon Guild has all the information you'll need."

All the dragons and thier riders went to check, and colonel Jefferson and his men just stood around. Glyph got security, Forrest got the helm, Ikkak got ship function and computer access, Coffrey got command, Oinkyveck got the galley and supplies, Kaida got cryogenics along with Stubin and Maripitome. Zita got communications, Hammalgar, Harbid, Atutaki and Malachi got general repairs while Mordaza, Afilados, Lupious and Librosteur got engine repair. Many of the humanoid riders got general repair as well while most of the rest of the dragons got structural repair. The only exceptions were Jungtik and Sanchez, who got medical; and anybody else were assigned various tasks as needed.

"What about us?", asked one of colonel Jefferson's men.

"You'll do whatever else needs to be done.", Glyph told her.

"What if we refuse?", she asked.

"I'm in security now...", the dragon replied. "I guess you'll go in the brig!..."

TAG: All you guys!...

[Thundertail]

OCC: I know it's been a long time since this RP was posted, so here goes! It's going to be a long one!

IC: The Dragon Riders, inside the Auri.

As the many dragons and thier riders took thier posts within the bridge, the rest exited the bridge to thier posts within the great ship. Ikkak worked furiousely with a few of the others to get the control consoles online, him shouting instructions to them as he activated system after system. Even the soldiers under the command of colonel Jefferson helped out somewhat, even if that meant simply staying out of the way. As soon as the security console was fixed, something very strange began taking place within the logic circuits of the bridge.

"Auri defense systems standing down...", the console voiced at last. "TRANSFERRING ALL CONTROLS TO COMMAND SECTOR...", this was heard throughout the ship.

"Uh, oh! What did I do?", Ikkak asked no one from where he was.

"Something's happening, that's for sure!", Coffrey stated as he saw a dragonform chair gimball out of the ceiling and hover next to him.

"Welcome aboard, captain.", the chair chirped.

"Now that's what I call service!", Coffrey sat, and was immediately whisked to a station high above.

The console there produced an orb with twin hand symbols on either side, glowing to indicate he should place his hands there. He did so, and the orb glowed almost blindingly as it rose and disapeared into a hatch above his head. Then the controls and indicators went on one by one, showing a scene of directly outside the Auri via a holographic screen.

"I think it likes me!", Coffrey yelled down to the rest.

"Orders?", the screen scrolled.

"None so far.", he replied by keyboard.

"Sensors detect auxiliary control still occupied.", the screen said. "Life form: one."

"Can you tell the nature of the life form?", he typed, then yelled down. "Hey! I think there's someone in auxiliary control. Want to check it out?"

"Yes, commander.", Glyph said, and consulted a map.

"Funny. Why hadn't that been detected before?...", Ikkak got to work on the problem, and found it instantly. "Oh, I see! Whoever is in there has shielded the auxiliary control room!"

"Life signs indicate subject is near death.", the computer scrolled. "Perameters say subject is dragon in nature."

"Open auxiliary control.", Coffrey ordered.

"Computer is locked out of system.", came back the words. "Suggest opening manually. Commander DNA code required."

"Show me where auxiliary control is.", Coffrey typed.

"It's over here!", Glyph said, pointing to a closed portal at the rear of the bridge that looked like a strange section of bulkhead. "I tried all my security codes..."

"Here, let me...", Coffrey said as the chair stopped near said portal.

Coffrey pushed a red indicator on a small panel next to the door, and it slid open to reveal a clear pad. He placed his palm onto it, and it tingled for a second as the sensors within identified him. The panel slid shut, nearly pinching his hand, and the door slid into the ceiling; and revealed a nearly completely dark space. Within was the putrid smell of lingering sickness and the rasp of something far larger than anyone on the bridge. Coffrey ordered the lights within on, and it revealed a form that Coffrey first thought was his queen: Queen Grimoire...

But it was not!

TAG: Anyone!...

[Thundertail]

IC: The Dragon Riders, inside the Auri.

The creature laying before Coffrey seemed to fill the slightly cramped auxiliary bridge, tubes, wires and hoses snaking from every natural orifice and piercing the scaly skin, shards of which flaking away, denoting the creatures' immense age. The four eyes, shut yet seen roving around the sockets as if scanning the room, stopped at the doorway; yet still the massive dragon did not move. The noises of many machines filled the room with buzzes and twittering, and the sounds of mechanically forced breathing predominated all the rest.

Coffrey's empathic senses told him that she would not last much longer, and the machines monitoring her vital signs lining the left bulkhead confirmed this. Coffrey rushed over to this dragons' massive muzzle and placed his pawed hands upon it, wincing at the psychic contact with her myriad of foriegn memories and thoughts. Coffrey looked up at the several dragons and riders just now entering the auxiliary control bridge, seeing for the first time the huge dragon that could be thier queens' twin; yet this one was infinitely older than she.

"...and what is life but living..." , Coffrey got. "...planetfall at 09:23. 37 and counting..., ...ones' greatness is marked by humble deeds..., ...sol system egress enabled..."

"Excuse me, ma'am..." , Coffrey directed his thoughts into her brain. "Are you all right?..."

"Contact is made..., " , came the voice in his head. "...You speak to me...? ...Who are you?..."

"I am Sir Coffrey Rex, from the Dragon Guild." , Coffrey thought. "We are here to rescue you."

"...Where is here?..." , she asked in his head. "...Kesta was our last destination...?"

"You are on Earth..., I mean Draconia." , Coffrey told her. "Please, try to stay calm. We will help..."

"Coffrey, how is she?", Forrest Wanders asked, monitoring her breathing.

"Not much longer...", Coffrey replied, then called out psychicly to the other equally empathic dragon. "Tralfax!... Come to the auxiliary control room!... Hurry!..."

"Tracking..." , Tralfax responded in kind. "What is the nature of the emergency?..."

"See for yourself..." , Coffrey opened his mind, and Tralfax saw the ancient dragon that Coffrey was sustaining.

"Why didn't you say so?", Tralfax spoke, for he had just arrived in the chamber. "What can I do?"

"I want you to contact her mind so I can begin healing her.", Coffrey said. "Can't do both things at once...", he returned to his meld with the ancient dragon.

Coffrey probed deep within the dragon before him, switching from her facial area to a spot near her neck. There he tapped into her nerve center and soothed the ravages of age; like the pain of arthritis in her ancient bones, clearing pressure points along arteries, stabiliaing her heart rate and other such procedures that might be a help. Soon the machines monitoring her vital signs indicated that she was as stable as possible, and her mental stirrings became more coherent; and her four slitted eyes peered open just a crack with conciousenness.

Tralfax probed deep into her mind, seeing past the dimentia that her age procured. He saw a life of immense length, spanning millennia instead of centuries. He saw that she was not only a clone of the original dragon before him, but the last iteration of said dragon - her DNA was too tainted to be used to clone again; and once she was dead, she could not be reborn again. Her name was Shetskafti, dragon commander of the Auri; and her humanoid second in command was long dead. She had taken control of the auxiliary bridge at his last clones' demise; which was nearly a thousand years ago!

"I see your mind, noble dragon..." , Tralfax droned. "You see things more clearly, and can now speak..." , Tralfax had the psychic talent to induce such things.

"I see your mind, little one..." , Shetskafti droned in his mind, and he involuntarilly spoke it. "All is cloudy,... unsure..."

"We are of the Dragon Guild." , Tralfax thought. "We have come to rescue you."

"I remember being told that I am on Earth,... or was it Draconia?..." , she thought. "The other said so...?"

"That is correct. You are home, and all is well." , Tralfax spoke and thought at the same time.

"That is well!... And it means our mission is complete..." , Shetskafti thought, shifting slightly. "I am tired..."

"What was your mission, if I may ask?" , Tralfax knew the others would want to know. "We are very curious..."

"Ours was a mission of exploration and colonization..." , Shetskafti said. "But it became much more than that..."

"How so?..." , Tralfax asked.

"I can not think of details,..." , she replied. "However, our ship has all the answers..." , again a stirring. "The access codes are as follows:... Compartment section one is aj479c3k81446*A... Section two is bj087d4m13347*B..." , she rattled off seven more codes, and Glyph's data node recorded them. "Details of our mission are stored within..."

"Thank you, great dragon." , Tralfax felt that she was fading fast. "Please, rest now..."

"I am tired..." , Shetskafti repeated. "I am hungry...", she slumped. "Ohhhh!..."

"O darn...!", Coffrey gasped. "I'm losing her...!", he redoubled his healing efforts.

"Seek the enlightenment of the ages..." , Shetskafti murmured, and Tralfax voiced the words. "All that you seek is there..." , she let out a raspy breath and breathed no more.

"Uhhhh...! ...She's gone...", Coffrey slumped.

Tralfax was beyond words. "Her last thought indicated that she knew she was dead...", Tralfax said at last.

All of a sudden the body the two dragons were near began to glow. It radiated a myriad of colors before collapsing into sparkling dust. Coffrey fell into the pile, and Tralfax coughed as the dust rose all around them; penetrating eyes and lungs, and cascading throughout the auxiliary control room. A sudden wind bagan to pick up in there, though nobody could locate the source; and this kicked the glowing, multicolored dust into a malestrom that grew into a miniature tornado!

The glowing dust swirled around the room, intensifying in brightness until it was nearly blinding. All of a sudden Coffrey was caught up in the unstopable wind, followed by Tralfax and any other dragon within the room; even though the humans and humanoids were not effected. Suddenly the glow from the dust enveloped the whole room, and sent the dragons flying against the bulkheads; afterglow still clinging to thier bodies. With that the whole room went dark except for the rooms' normal lighting, and every dragon scrambled to thier feet; dazed yet feeling giddily rejuvinated. They all looked themselves over, and began wondering what just happened.

"Woah!...", Lupious exclaimed.

"That was strange...", Glyph said. "What in the world was that?"

"That was called 'transmutation'...", sir Oinkyveck said, who came into the room to see what happened. "My friend in the Dragon Wars said it happened when she killed Procreas the Evil. You'll find that your dragon powers will be increased after another dragon dies as a piece of thier power goes to you.", he smiled. "I got a piece of it,too!"

"No wonder I feel like I could rip this whole ship apart!", Lupious said.

"Yeah, but the poor dragon!...", Coffrey said. "She is dead..."

"At least we got the codes to the memory systems.", Glyph said. "Now we can find out what really happened..."

"Better give them to Ikkak.", Forrest wanders said. "Maybe he can make some sense of them..."

TAG: Any and all...!
_____

[Thundertail]

OCC..., A Long one!

Since it has been many months since anybody played this RP, I was thinking that I have many options on what to do here. I don't blame any of the previous players, mind you. I've seen in the other RP areas I visit, things have been really slow there too!...

Perhaps it's been my fault for discouraging all you guys, saying one thing should happen while you think something else should happen (Your RP as well as mine!). I've also been hogging the dialogue. I see that I have way too many characters playing that I have to make up dialogue for. (I've been hogging the RP!) I've been criticising all you guys when the things you write doesn't coincide with my take on the story (It should be freestyle writing and plot...) Basically, I been running this thing like some kind of jerk, and I'm sorry. I'll do better next time (Only my first RP!)...

The choice is yours on what I can do here. I can call it quits, reboot and start over or we can start off where the RP left off. LMK what U want me to do here and we'll do it...