The Birth of a Dream

Veed Chamber

As the chamber empties after the Congress a Voinian leads forward to the Empress of the Confederacy. “Honorable leader. We must discuss the issue I attempted to raise.”

Yilta can hardly keep her disgust from filling the room, “I’Kshatok is your name, correct?” I’Kshatok begins to ‘speak’ affirmatively but Yilta begins first, “There is no need for formality in our little trading organization Kshatok, any more than you are an exile here. A slight feeling conveys all I need. You also may refer to me as Yilta.” I’Kshatok begins to reply but Yilta overrides him again, “We must get to a private chamber, touch my hand.” The puzzling emotion I’Kshatok gives her conveys novels but as a Voinian he obeys orders and reaches his surprisingly delicately shaped hand into contact with hers.

The room flashes and opens to a grassland

I’Kshatok shows only mild surprise at the location, he has achieved substantial mastery over the Veed system. “O’Yilta, as you likely know many of the slave races in our space, in Voinian space, wish to escape. The ” He stops as he sees a brightly colored woman walk out from a spot of tall grass. Yilta feels Jenna enter and dismisses I’Kshatok’s worry with a thought, I’Kshatok takes the feeling as an order and continues, “Many of our supply vessels were destroyed and more captains were killed. We of the I’Fedrate tribe have experienced the pain of these crews and the slaves manning them, When I have traded in my, Voinian territory, since The Blasted Day” the tinker spreads an expression of mirth and I’Kshatok emnity, “trading comrades, enemies and even present military members have asked to join my crew. So I bring you the proposal that you would not let me send forward in Congress, I want any member of the Confederacy to be able to take refugee’s to recruit into I’Fedrate, these people will likely not be able to ask twice and their freedom would greatly aid Us.”

Yilta ponders while Jenna puts out impatience and I’Kshatok passion than she responds. “I see a flaw in your plan, if we were to do this the Voinian government would certainly be upset so far we have only been allowed to take in the tribeless of your nation. The rebels and slaves are either to be put to death or continue working. If we were to betray the trust we would never be allowed to trade in Voinian territory again.”

I’Kshatok has calmed and is now in control of his thoughts and as he speaks no emotion emanates. “O’Yilta the trading that is going on in Voinian space will never be allowed. Every human vessel that enters space regardless of our treat has been fired upon. All Strand vessels are scanned and escorted and all I’Fedrate are ignored. It will continue this way, the Voinian government does not forget.”

Yilta feels to Jenna, “Why don’t you play what you planned? I’m sure Kshatok would not mind a break in our debate.”

Jenna pushes a feeling and music seems to flow throughout all three inhabitants. The piece is under a minute in length with an intense feeling of sadness and the room mirrors it the ‘scene’ changes to one of death and I’K****ok sees a dying human coughing up blood, he feels that it is his mother and emotionally collapses. Jenna ignores him, “Yilta tha’ wa’ the nex’ Weberin piece in the series, cri’cisms?

Yilta shoots and intimate feeling of pity toward I’Kshatok and he brushes it off, she then turns to Jenna. “The feeling of a dying mother is beautiful but a little intense, why don’t you make it a pet or something.”

The vehemence Jenna sends Yilta practically staggers her. “Are you insane! That was a beautiful work by Anton Weberin, you would trivialize it with a ‘pet’. I’ do better to as’ the Voinian.” By this time I’Kshatok had recomposed himself but there was a sense of awe directed toward Jenna and he seemed oblivious the comment directed toward him. “Wa’e up Voinian what did you think of the work.”

“How? I had heard some music you humans composed but that came from me. I felt it. How?”

“The instant Veed master doesn’t seem to understand the capabilities of my system. Figure it out I wrote the designs and the system was based upon my art, I continue writing art to go with music whi’ I can only hear, but I ma’e it better.”

“The music is amazing and the picture fits it beautifully. a’Jenna your art is astounding, but I can offer a criticism, the music comes from inside but the emotion is almost esternal. Would it be possible to have my soul feel the pain instead of watching it?”

Jenna looks at the Voinian with deeper respect. “May’ yo’ Voinians ain’ as dumb as I though’. I’ll see wha’ I ca’ do. If you won’ mind I like to hav’ you look at som’ my other stuff in a few kilo-minutes.”

“The honor would be graciously accepted a’Jenna.”

As the two begin to discuss the work and future plans more deeply Yilta slipped out. She had more important things to deal with than musician’s fancies and musician’s art.

The Trushalo Odj flew into dock, Tshaya had only needed a modest fee to grease the landing control officer’s hands. After getting the vessel unloaded and collecting a fee only slightly greater than the bribe she had paid to land, she went in search of the dock-master for the station. The only person who would know every vessel that had landed in the outlaw station. He was sure to have heavy security around him so she had scheduled an appointment in the interest of selling a vessel to him. With the prospect of money on the line the seedy man soon showed up with a small retinue of security guards to escort her to the vessel for sale. The escort was a heavily upgraded Arada that probably would have sold in Azdgari space for over a million credits. She was offered only 600,000 in DSN-6107, but after haggling Tshaya was able to get the price up to 1.3 million, a fairly respectable price. After they had agreed on the vessels price they walked out and the vessel’s core exploded killing the bodyguards behind them and tossing the dock-master several feet. Tshaya grabbed the dock-master and fled into a ventilation grate previously prepared for just this occasion.

------------------
"What if to reach the highest place you had to fall?"
Peter Mayer

(This message has been edited by Paranoid (edited 11-23-2003).)

(This message has been edited by Paranoid (edited 11-23-2003).)

Tova Ayemah
Page thought for a moment, puffing his cigarette.
"That name sounds so farmiliar," he said finally to Ta-vora.
"how so?"
Page looked back in the depths of his memory and he saw a room, completely white with a large crystal inside.
"Is there a white room inside this ship?"
Ta-vora nodded and explained that it was one of the Kanuth regeneration chambers.
Page looked deeper
Flashback
Page sat up and opened his eyes. He scanned the perfectly shaped white walls and then turned over to see he was floating above a jagged crystal.
He stood up in mid air and walked down a staircase of air.
His arm began to hurt once his foot touched the ground. A white light shone from the crystal, and the Vellosian was swallowed up in the light. when it dissappeared he found himself inside a primitive looking shuttlecraft.

"Ta-vora," Page said shaking out of his flashback, "I know where your ship is."

------------------
"WE ARE THE POPES OF THE PYROS!!" "WE ARE THE CRUSADERS OF CAPELLA!!" "THE FRIARS OF FIRE!!" "THE BAPTISTS OF BORAL 1!!!!" "THE CATHOLIC KILLERS OF NEW CALCUTTA!!!!!!" "WE ARE THE GOOD!! no.. no... THE BAD!!! yeah.. thats it.. THE BAD CATHOLICS!!!"

"Great!" Demon exclaimed happily. "Let's go!........Where is it?"

Larra grinned and rolled her eyes, though she agreed down to the exact word with
what the black wolf had just said.
"If we're going on your ship, do you have a fighter bay I can dump my ship in?" she asked Ta-vora.
"I can deal if you don't, but it would be way easier."

Edit: Made new lines in my post so it doesn't stretch across the screen...and so it looks longer.
------------------
Life is a game, and it's to short to sit on the sidelines.

(This message has been edited by Larra (edited 11-26-2003).)

OOC: Why is this site suddenly so wide?

“Sorry, but the Azula doesn't have a hangar.” Ta-vora says to Larra, “But we could take it in
tractor tow, as long as it doesn't weight more than 75 tons.”
Ta-vora presses a button on his wristcom.
“Ta-vora to Azula. Deactivate cloaking device and come back here at once. And should these
UE soldiers come back, just ignore them. They won't dare to mess with us.”
“Ayie, Kre'Merah.”
He turns to Page.
“Where is the Tova Ayemah? And how do you know where it is?”

------------------
The lie is a truth, too. The truth of the one that
believes it.

(This message has been edited by Ta-vora (edited 11-27-2003).)

ooc: the page width is from that guy that posted trhose 15 or so lines of binary code i think.

------------------
Hope is an edulgance I don't have time for - matrix

Page downed the last of the champagne and lit another cigarette.
"When I got sent here i was drifting in space, half dead, and then next thing i knew i was inside the ship."
"Well, do you know where it is?"
Page looked deeper into his memory.
"I know its in a UE system," he said puffing his new cigarette much to the dislike of a rather hairy patron two tables over.

OOC: I forgot most of the systems in EVO, just pick one of the starting systems in UE space.

------------------
"WE ARE THE POPES OF THE PYROS!!" "WE ARE THE CRUSADERS OF CAPELLA!!" "THE FRIARS OF FIRE!!" "THE BAPTISTS OF BORAL 1!!!!" "THE CATHOLIC KILLERS OF NEW CALCUTTA!!!!!!" "WE ARE THE GOOD!! no.. no... THE BAD!!! yeah.. thats it.. THE BAD CATHOLICS!!!"

"Not far, then," Larra said thoughtfully. "Probably not going to be all that dangerous either."
She looked a little put out by that thought.

Finally deciding to get off the table, Demon retreated under it where Page's cigarette smoke
didn't smell so bad. He watched cheerfully as a new arrival walked up to the bar,
ordered a Saalian brandy, took a drink, and immediately spit it all over the floor, looking
extremely sick. Demon snickered and stretched out on his stomach, putting his head on his paws.
"Demon one, bartender zero."

"About the tow," Larra announced, remembering Ta-vora's earlier offer.
" Kamikaze's definetely light enough, but towing makes me nervous. I've got plan B anyways, so I'll still go on you're ship. I've never been on a Karee ship before."

------------------
Life is a game, and it's to short to sit on the sidelines.

Notes:

Just a note: my current relative inactivity will remain. I'll only be able to manage one post a week, if that. But I seem to get the feeling that this isn't a problem, so I'm not going to think about it anymore.

--------------

Voina

"So you believe it is time to put the designs to the test." It was not a question. With this individual, it was never a question.

"I do."

"You believe the plans drawn up in Isled are worthy of resource allocation."

"I do."

"In that case," intoned the Emperor of the Voinian Grand Empire, "you may proceed."

------------------

Industrial Sector Worlds, southwestern Voinian Territory

Across the region of systems that made up the Industrial Sector of the Empire, fleets of supply ships poured in. Each carried a full cargo of ship materials: metal for hull plating and weapons; electronics for onboard systems and guidance; reactors for power generation. It was a testament of the organizational power of the totally centralized and authoritarian structure of government the Empire subscribed to. The fleets entered, disembarked their cargo, and returned to their regular shipping duties in the course of one galactic standard week. Only 2% of regular revenue for that week was lost in the operation.

Grand Admiral Zathe Voltok thought it well worth the cost. The resources the supply fleets had brought in would be put to the rebuilding of Voinian glory.

And that glory would have a new addition to it.

Dreadnaughts.

None of the supply ship captains had been informed of what their supplies would be put to use for. All assumed their cargoes would go to making frigates, destroyers, heavy fighters, and interceptors. None knew of or even suspected the construction of the giant warships; only the Emperor, Admiral Voltok, the Isled research teams, and the Industrial World governors had access to all the information. No leaks would go out regarding the construction until the Empire deemed it prudent.

With that issue settled, the Admiral turned his thoughts to the mystery of the attack on Voina. It suggested a level of organization he hadn’t believed possible from the UE leadership at this point in time. Not one to question his own judgment often, Voltok thus wondered if it had indeed been orchestrated by the UE.

Nonsense. They must have been involved in it, if there were that many UE fleet ships in on the attack.

But what about the information Shek and Somm had? That the Blue Hand’s influence stretched all the way up to the top levels of UE leadership, that the UE was in fact run by renegade collaborators. Could that bear in on the issue at hand?

He didn’t know. Shek and Somm needed to find out more.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

The Teiresias left port at Svass Station and set course for Sol. They’d have to fly in on cloak, but the Dur’achi swordmasters were confident in their chances of success.

Like Somm had said: 47% seemed like good odds in times like these.

------------------
All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.
—J. R. R. Tolkien
(url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/search.cgi?action=intro&default;=26")The Search Feature(/url)

OOC: Blast, I don't know how to right short posts. If anyone has problems reading with the messed up format of the page just ask and I'll e-mail you my posts. Though it may be easier just to copy and paste.

Strandless Pirate Station

"You've slept long enough. Wake up!" A slight groan comes from a darkened board where a member of the strand race lies. " Mr. Port Master I have a few questions to ask you." The strand member attempts to jerk its head toward the sound but its head is securely tied down.

"Where the blasted inferno am I!" The voice coming from the strand sounds very irritated but with very little fear.

"Feisty little pirate aren't we." Chuckles, "You're in the cargo hold of a very unhappy customer. I found the residual radiation of a small group of Igazras parked in your bay. Tell me where you got them and who you delivered them to and you will walk out without any memory of our meeting."

"You aren't going to get away with this you lovemaking whore!"

Tshaya begins to laugh more hardily now, "I love these translators, they give away redundancies in any language. But back on topic it doesn't matter if I get away with anything, you don't give me what I ask for you won't enjoy it, even if I do."

A little fear has entered the eyes of the Port Master but he is scarcely intimidated. "Ooh, the little human woman is going to hurt me, I'm so scared." Suddenly his eyes snap widely open and do not close again when he attempts to close them.

"Feisty indeed, I have here a chemical compound which has to atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen in every molecule. It has been heated to the maximum liquid temperature on this planet." She turns around and produces an eye dropper. "I have here what we humans call an eye dropper, it's function should be easy to guess. I've heavily studied strand anatomy in the recent years and I know that exceptionally dense nerves cause extreme pain with any contact to your eyes."

The pirate shudders. "Some of my boys salvaged the damaged ships after a conflict with the Igadzra, no crime here we just fighting against the oppressors."

"Who did you sell them to?"

"That's confidential information, if I gave out buyers info to every kidnapper I'd lose my rep."

"Well if your rep. is more valuable than your eyes..."she fills the eyedropper and turns back to her prisoner," you'll just have to live without the eyes to keep your rep." Tshaya carefully places the eyedropper over his still open eyes, the electro magnets she installed were torturing him already and his eyes would probably only last another minute without liquid anyway. "Drip, drip."

The scream was practically indistinguishable from that of a human to Tshaya, she'd heard dozens on vessels attempting to save the lives of those killed in the "Blasted Day" as the Voinians in the Confederacy had taken to calling it.

"Let me close my eyes for a bit and I'll talk." Tshaya turns of the electromagnets on his eyelids. "I sold the weapons to some of the human renegades further north. Don't ask me what they're going to do with them I don't know."

"Give me every name, the exact sum and the station as well as your computer passcodes to verify from your system." In short order Tshaya had all the information needed to advance her investigation. She then inserted metal shards in the Port Masters body and erased his short term memory of the events and stole 18 million credits from his personal databank.

In orbit around Emalgha
"We the Emalghan people graciously thank the aid of both the Confederacy and the forces of United Earth equally. The Confederacy has provided us with strand technology, improved engines, shields and tactical knowledge. The UE has spent monetary fortunes rebuilding our fleet with the aforementioned enhancements and adding their own in missile technology and armor. Every one of our fighters has been modified to be superior to their Voinian counterparts. I Grimoli Emalgha as Admiral of the Emalghan Extra-orbital Navy would like to say that both forces have our utmost support and gratitude. We may not have the strength to repay you but we will do our best to fight our common foe."

After the speech Grimoli walked down the halls with John, the representative for the Confederacy. "We've replaced the majority of our fighters with vessels similar to the UE Fighters but with your upgrades. Our old warships have had 'proper' turrets fixed on them and both them and our turrets have a longer range and more force related damage. All our vessels have increased top speed, acceleration, shield power and shield regeneration rates. I still can't help but wonder what you all are getting out of it."

John laughs easily. "Admiral, I personally would be earning 4 million a macrominute and the Confederacy probably over a billion." If the Admiral had been human his jaw would have been hanging on the floor. "However my friend, we are presently investing it back in your system for improved trade in the future and protection against Voinian invasion. The UE is thinking more that any damage you do means saving their resources."

The Emalgha laughs fairly easily. "So your species is no more altruistic than ours. You help us to profit from our expansion which I understand and would do in your place but you might want to be careful the Voinians seem to think we're very stubborn." Both military men laugh and begin to chat about previous campaigns against their common foe.

Veed Chamber

With very little patience I’Kshatok waited for A'Jenna to arrive. He had enough important matters to deal with but that wasn't the primary reason, he wanted to hear and see the full beauty of the new work the Ak'risa was working on. When A'Jenna arrived I'Kshatok almost lost his dignity by skittering towards her. He refrained himself, albeit barely. "I'K****ok, I believe you and I have and intriguing system of audio-visual stimulants to overview." I'Kshatok winced, not that a human would notice, he realized now that he had over-programmed the Veed in order to understand her slang. The Veed had retaliated and was making a perfectly formal Voinian speech which did not match A'Jenna's personality whatsoever. "Our next outstanding artistic musical work will be the Berlioz requiem as I informed you earlier. Did you manage to review the work before our meeting?" I'Kshatok nodded and A'Jenna continued formally. "Excellent, we will start then, I must warn you that this work is extensive and will seem to take hours but in reality only seconds will pass. The truth is also that I have very little of what I will eventually complete prepared to show you, only the emotions will register not the visual spectacle." With that A'Jenna began the presentation.

The following hour was impossible for I'Kshatok to describe, or even understand. The barrage of sound, the pain of death, the encompassing love of the person who had died, (Had anyone died? What was real in the midst of this bitter magnificence) all rushed. Voinians do not have tear ducts like the strand species and humans but when the work completed in the Veed his eyes were damp. Again and again as he attempted to regain control he broke down. Eventually the Ak'risal comforted him with a light-hearted piece and he was able to recover his composure. " Ak'risal the beauty of that was indescribable, how can you hope to match it with mere visuality?"

The Ak'risal laughed heartily and when she spoke the mirth was still in her voice, confusing greatly I'Kshatok. "I know I have an impressive appearance but even I wouldn't call me a Goddess."

I'Kshatok was shocked by the mistranslation, he had never heard, or heard of the Veed making a mistake in translation but even with the mistranslation he used the honorary title. " Ak'risal , the title does not mean Goddess but female of power over the mind. I do not understand the mistake I've never heard the translator make a mistake."

"It did not, humorous I'Kshatok, the Veed uses your outward thought and puts it into thoughts for the other person. I'Kshatok thought in that moment of A'Jenna as a Goddess." A'Jenna chuckles a little more than with a slight reminder from I'Kshatok continues to answer his question. "I was going to put a war scene with all the pain of death from the war in France about this time. I think a requiem should be reminiscence so I would make it after the war burying the dead with flashbacks to the chaos and death before."

Ak'risal I understood the words, blessings to this system, and I believe your idea is genius but I have one that might work more universally. Use a war, yes, but not from the time of composition. Write on the deaths of the Blasted Day from multiple perspectives and make it into a protest. Your work may not have converted me to the Confederacy but after the pain expressed in your early work I could not harm anyone. I beg you to consider the benefits this might bring to the movement you lead."

"Perhaps." A'Jenna turned and vanished from the Veed. I'Kshatok wakes up again, every dream for the past three nights he has had have been of that work. That Beautifully Painful day.

------------------
"What if to reach the highest place you had to fall?"
Peter Mayer

that 1010101 post is responsible for the messed format, im sure! perhaps anyone should delete that 1010101 post!
it says

"I was near some Igadzra ports, when I saw them towing in that ship, actually. The owner was being tortured. I couldn't bear to see it, and I knew if I didn't get out of here, I'd be next, so I jumped out. On my way back here, the wormhole formed, and the rest you already know."

and now the 1010101 is not needed anymore!

OOC:wait... did everyone die or something?

------------------
"WE ARE THE POPES OF THE PYROS!!" "WE ARE THE CRUSADERS OF CAPELLA!!" "THE FRIARS OF FIRE!!" "THE BAPTISTS OF BORAL 1!!!!" "THE CATHOLIC KILLERS OF NEW CALCUTTA!!!!!!" "WE ARE THE GOOD!! no.. no... THE BAD!!! yeah.. thats it.. THE BAD CATHOLICS!!!"

OOC: Not dead yet but it's finals week so don't expect much.

------------------
Life, Death. What's the difference?

Quote

Originally posted by Valence:
**OOC:wait... did everyone die or something?

**

Felt like I did.

Ta-vora, we're ready. Lets go!

------------------
Life is a game, and it's to short to sit on the sidelines.

OOC: Sorry that I didn't post for that long. I lost the URL had to rediscover it (bookmarked it now). I wanted to write more but I'm in a hurry now. Spent too much time in the EV Gallery.
Okay, a UE-system Ta-vora just comes from the renegade infected east let's assume Page said Dogovor.

Ta-vora looks at Page.
“Dogovor, you say? That's not very far, just a few jumps to the west.”
He takes his wristcom and calls the Azula.
“Send the recall signal.”
“Ayie, Kre'Merah. I have to inform you that the officials are back again. They may prevent the crew from entering the ship.”
“Already? They were fast this time. If they do hold back the crew, tell them that they have no right to do this. The crew is allowed to use defensive measures should they really refuse to let them in. And just to be sure, activate the structural shields.”
“Ayie, Kre'Merah.”
Ta-vora deactivates his wristcom.
“They become more and more insistent. Why would they need the technology of my ship so desperately. Are they truly unable to develop their own stuff?”
He then turns to Larra.
“So you and your dog want to come aboard my ship? I hope that dog is house-broken. Page, uhm what about you? I heared stories about Vell-os creating their own ships only with their mental powers. But I don't know if this is true or just a tall's tale. Strauss and Mina, I suppose you prefer going by your own ship.”
Suddenly a red light on Ta-vora's wristcom starts to flash.
“That's just the recall signal,” he explains, “it signals the crew on shore leave to return to the ship.”

------------------
The lie is a truth, too. The truth of the one that believes it.

(This message has been edited by Ta-vora (edited 12-12-2003).)

Larra looked cheerful, her usual cocky grin in place. It had been a long time since she had flown on a ship other than her Kamikaze.
The last time she had spent the entire ride dwelling on how slow the other ship was.
This would be fun. She'd try not to complain.

"Demon," she called in a sing song voice, kicking the sleeping wolf under the table.
He stirred and mumbled something. "Ta-vora just asked if you were house-broken."

Grinning, the wolf sat up, "Oh, don't worry, I am. But I could leave a few surprises around the ship if you like."

"It's all right, you don't have too," Ta-vora assured him.
Demon snickered, his laugh escalating into hysterics when a crash and a yell sounded from the general direction of the bar.

"Demon: four, bartender: zero."

------------------
Life is a game, and it's to short to sit on the sidelines.

Page snickered.
It was nice being around people that didnt know what he was capable of. In other words Page could show off on many occasions.
"Yes, Vell-os can create their own ships, but it does take some mental discipline, unfortunately i cant control a mental ship unless i'm ****in smashed, and that aint pretty."
Ta-vora got to his feet and motioned for th others to get up.
While heading towards the Azula , Ta-vora managed to get beside Page and ask a few questions.
"From what I've heard even the strongest Vell-os strengths could not reach levels of power you do, why is that?"
Page held out his palm and a sword of blue weaves appears, then solidifies and becomes Antaries.
"This sword is the last living energy from a great diety, only known in my language as Antaries. The blade itself was forged from powerful weaves, or psychic force, whichever you preffer, and so far it is only matched in strength by the powerful wanderers, The noble Paladins, and Antaries' brother and sister, Kergoth and Ungar."
"Wanderers? The name sounds vaugly farmiliar.."
"The wanderers area powerful clan of dimensional travelers. They each possess a pure heart, and massive amounts of power at their disposal."
"What about the Paladins?"
"The Paladins are universal protectors, whom also posess a large amount of power."
"what about these other two swords?"
Page lowered his head, and flicked back his thick black hair with a weave.
"Antaries was the god of protection, his brother Kergoth was god of destruction and keeper of the dead, and his elder sister Ungar was the god of creation. I also Posess Ungar, but i cant draw it out unless-"
Page stopped himself and closed his open eye.
"Unless what?" Larra asked from behind.
"I'd preffer not to talk about it," Page replied, slipping his left arm under his cloak.
"And what about Kergoth?"
Page was forced to stop in the center of the corridor. He looked up and stared deeply into Ta-vora's purple eyes. Page's single open eye expressed far more depth than any eyes Ta-vora had ever stared into.
"Kergoth fell into the wrong hands many years ago, and was split into nine clones. One of the clones was weilded by a man named Jasan Reed. Eventually all of the other offending swordbearers fell to Jasan who weilded the strongest and purest Kergoth clone. He and i had a close relationship, and I needed to.." Page trailed off for a moment.
"You needed to what?"
"I killed him."
Ta-vora stopped alongside Page and waited for the warrior to begin moving again.
"I plunged my sword through his heart, and won the deul to the death, but i never did see him die, not that i could have, because in my moment of pride his sword lashed out with the rest of its power,and erased my mind, and sent me to this dimension."
Larra looked almost shocked, she hadnt been aware of the events that Page had told, and she merely stood blankly at Page.
"You had left to see the Adzgari before this, and just so happened to find me in the bar soon after."
Ta-vora looked at Page's closed eye.
"Why dont you open that eye aswell?"
Page didnt reply and began walking again.

------------------
"WE ARE THE POPES OF THE PYROS!!" "WE ARE THE CRUSADERS OF CAPELLA!!" "THE FRIARS OF FIRE!!" "THE BAPTISTS OF BORAL 1!!!!" "THE CATHOLIC KILLERS OF NEW CALCUTTA!!!!!!" "WE ARE THE GOOD!! no.. no... THE BAD!!! yeah.. thats it.. THE BAD CATHOLICS!!!"

the Azula
Ta-vora does not continue asking Page questions as he know too well that there are stories noone wants to share with others.

He leads his passengers to the landing pad where the Azula thrones. The huge ship stands on several short, thick legs that keep its lowest parts about five meters above the ground. Some officers had placed a blockade around the ship and are in the last states of placing a shield barrier around it. One of them approaches the group.
“I'm sorry, gentlemen, you are not allowed to approach the ship. It is being quarantined.” he says.
“If that would be so, I would know about it. I'm the captain of this ship and there is no reason for quarantine.”
“The captain? That is good. Would you please come with me. We have a few ”
“No.”
“You have to come with me. It is important that ”
“What part of NO did you not understand. Now get off my orbit and let us through. I warn you not to mess with me, human!”
The officer stands aside, slightly scared, although Ta-vora had always kept a polite, almost friendly voice.
As they entered the shadow, cast by the ship, he pushes a button on his wristcom and a cleft appears on the ship's underside. Soon a ramp extends almost silently. The three humanoids and the wolf climb up the ramp and disappear inside the ship. Seconds later, the ramp closes again, not leaving a trace of its existance on the underside.

While the outside of the Azula is beautiful, the inside is more orientated to function. Everything is plain and functional, no signs of decoration.
“We have enough quarters aboard the ship. You can also use the regeneration chambers but be careful not to get lost in the matrixes in there. This can happen to people who are not used to them.”

(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/starlight_dev/.Pictures/azula_bridge_layout.gif")(Bridge layout. Spares me the description of where the stations are located.)(/url)

They then walk along the corridors until they reach the bridge. The cramped room features no windows or viewscreens outside, what puzzles the visitor for a short time. Five more crewmembers are in this room, sitting at five seperate stations. Ta-vora sits down at the sixth station, which is located just in front of the door in that aft part of the bridge. He pushes a button and the screens on his console flicker alive. One shows a status screen that shows a wireframe of the ship.
“This is the command station, short CMD. It allows me to monitor all other stations and the entire ship.”
He then pushes a button and another screen shows the view of a rotating camera, observing what is going on outside.
“Have we clearance for take-off?” he asked.
The crewman at the COM shakes his head.
“No, they request us to stay where we are. We're supposed to be quarantined.”
“That's what they told me. That's what I call audacity. Lift off!”
The crewman at the NAV acknowledges. There is a strange color pattern on the room's walls and suddenly they vanish and are replaced by the planet's sky.
“Holographic display.” Ta-vora mentioned in passing.
“Kre, the port authorities are threaten us to land immediately or they will open fire.”
“Activate atmospheric shields and cloak.”
“Ayie.”
“Leaving atmosphere in thirty seconds.”
“As soon as we are at save distance, set course to Dogovor and go to hyperspace.”
“Ayie, we'll arrive in three days.”
“ Three days! ” Larra groans.
Ta-vora turns around to face her.
“I'm sorry, but our flux core was damaged when we passed the wormhole. It would have cut the time down to one day, but this technology is very advanced, so we are unable to get any spare parts. Besides, you still had the chance to take your Kamikaze.”

A few minutes later, the Azula reaches save distance. Without transition, the ship accelerates to ridiculous speeds. A flash of light, a thunderclash and the ship has vanished from existence in the Einstein continuum.

------------------
The lie is a truth, too. The truth of the one that
believes it.

(This message has been edited by Ta-vora (edited 12-14-2003).)

Larra busied herself watching the holographic display for awhile. Finally she bored of it, and leaned against a wall.
"Voinians," she said thoughtfully to herself. "You know, I don't think I've gotten in trouble with them yet. It's fun when they don't know you."
"We might not have to start a fight," Ta-vora reminded her.
Larra frowned and closed her eyes. "True. But it still could happen."

Demon trotted over, after unsuccessfully trying to start a staring contest with the Azula's pilot.
"Ta-vora," he asked slyly, "Can you see everywhere in the ship from your CMD?"
"Of course," he replied, then added, "Why?" because it was plain the prankster might be planning something.
"No reason. Just so you can send someone to find me when I get lost. I'm going exploring."
Happily he trotted off, almost tripping a crew member in the process of reaching the door.

"Sa kia," Larra exclaimed out of the clear blue. The others turned to her wondering what she had said, and why, but Larra offered no explanation, simply grinning and shaking her head as if someone had told her a stupid joke.
After awhile she lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

------------------
Life is a game, and it's to short to sit on the sidelines.

Ta-vora turned to Larra once more.
“I hope your dog isn't going to cause some irreparable damage. We can't get spare parts in this less advanced part of the galaxy. And Karee technology is known for being not very compatible with alien tech. You can't imagine how much work it took to get that Phanteon plaser emitter to work.”

------------------
The lie is a truth, too. The truth of the one that
believes it.

In the depths of the universe, in a stark, dim room, seemingly suspended in the vastness of space, a man in a tall, comfy swivel chair behind a desk turns away from a wide-screen TV — a Sony wide-screen TV — displaying in multiple windows the great happenings and events of the universe.
"So," he addresses the men on the other side of the desk, one tall and broad of shoulders, in a long red coat with a pair of bronze skulls at each side of the collar and a pistol holstered at each hip, the other even taller, in a plain blue shirt and leather vest; not quite so broad in the shoulder, he more than made up for it with his heavy chest and arms, which were as big as most men's legs. "Lord Jeroch, Lord Kyrich. What do you think of these things?"
The red-coated man spoke immediately. "Strange, to say the least. I haven't even paid much attention, yet...Vell-os, in an EVO bar? And these...Karee. Strange."
"I agree. Bars these days are certainly not what they used to be. Why, I can still remember the old Burning Bar...those were the days, eh Jeroch?" the big man said. He and the other man, Jeroch, shared a chuckle.
"Yes, well, those days are long gone," the man in the chair said irritably. "Now bars turn into the next thing to a full-blown webstory. Gaah! I suppose there's little if anything we can do, though. It is long since IT was defeated, thankfully, and we have no hint of there being any more ITs. And speaking of which..." All three of the men's faces were concealed in the room's dimness, but the man in the chair leaned forward, showing something of his mouth and chin, "Why did you two give up so suddenly on that last bar, in the EVN forum? That was where the struggle against IT took place." The other two's faces were still hidden, but they seemed somewhat uncomfortable.
"I was...er...sidetracked," the man called Jeroch muttered. His companion's mutters were mostly inaudible, but the words 'urgent call' and 'had to go' could be distinguished. "And I didn't see you trying to help us," he said in a louder voice.
"Now, now. You know that isn't my job. I collect the information, you two act on it; those were the agreed precepts. Well, at least for now you can have a little rest. I doubt these new-fangled bar-stories interest either of you much anyway, hmm?" The other two shook their heads. "Well, gentlemen, this meeting is concluded. I'll see you both in a while." The room had no apparent door, but Jeroch and Kyrich didn't seem to need any. They both simple seemed to...flicker...and were gone.
The man in the chair turned back to the wide-screen TV — the Sony wide-screen TV — leaning back and sighing. He had no interest in these new bars either, but it was his job to watch, and truth be told, he hadn't been watching much, recently. Perhaps it was time to consider retiring. Slowly, the room began to fade, leaving only the endless stars.

------------------
—ESPilot
"Hey...don't touch my drink, or I'll bore a hole into your skull with my thumb!"