SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

TWENTY-SIX

Barnabus hopped down from his position by the window and hurried over to Pantha as she finished the comm call to the ship. “Lights are coming up the road,” he told her in alarm a she directed him behind the counter.

“Do a weapons check, love,” she told him. “See if there’s anything like a shotgun under the counter. She rolled her eyes as Shandy came back from her little shopping trip with a pair of scissors and a small pocket utility knife she’d found on sale for twenty credits. She’d obviously decided this was a good time to add to her theft badge application and broken the plastic covering to get the little blade out. “Not bad, Shandy,” she said appreciatively, feeling her rib cast her into pain as she breathed. “What’s the time?”

“Uh,” Hastur put in, checking her comm, “about oh six thirty,” she said, being a little imprecise despite looking at the exact time.

“Right,” Pantha nodded as the car outside audibly slowed towards a stop. “Bit early for the shop manager then. Doesn’t open for another two hours,” she told Barnabus as he looked up from his search in confusion.

“Shandy,” Hastur said quickly, “give me a hand with this?” She indicated a fridge that she’d unplugged. “We need to cover the back door.”

Shandy’s ears twitched and flattened to the side of her head as her jaw dropped. “You gotta be kiddin’,” she exclaimed, but put what strength she had towards shifting it, with the Dober pulling the reluctant machine. Sodas and sandwiches smashed at random in the container and out of the fallen open door as it moved very slowly towards the gap. “Sisters… strength… supreme…” the Raitchian gasped, referring to a favourite vidshow catchphrase but not really believing it right now.

Cherry sighed. “I’ll help,” she offered, adding her physicality to the move. Her leg throbbed from the cut Hastur had given her, which was helping to deflect from the pain of the fractured muzzle Gallen and Pantha might well have given her with all the head hits. “Sister strength… is better with a friend?”

“You’re… not a friend…” Hastur gasped as the container drew trails in the floor as the trio dragged and pushed. “But a… potential ally.”

“I’ll…” Cherry gritted her teeth as she pushed with all her strength as the wounded Gallen did his best to help, “...take it. You’re… really big,” she told the Celican who’d cast her into shadow. She could smell his blood and the medications that had attempted to help.


Outside the shop, the engine idled as three figures dressed in suits got out, a fact Pantha relayed to the others inside. As she added that one was straining to fit into the suit and was, clearly, a Rottian, the figures started to move closer to the front door, which they’d find stll had the shutters down. Just a pity the windows behind the counter were clear enough, despite having the lights out. Pantha figured they were lucky, in this early morning gloom, that there wasn’t a Feline amongst them. They’d not quite made her out with the sun still behind her. She crouched down as Barnabus laid hands on a small pistol under the counter and put himself on his back under there to get it free. “It’s a low power gun,” he volunteered, taking the slim weapon in hand. “A Gapri,” I think.

“You got that from the name on the handle,” Hastur asked, stepping over quickly as soon as she’d laid the fridge down across the rear door. She took the weapon and gave it a cursory check to make sure it didn’t have palm ident. “Two charges,” she estimated. “When set to kill.” She checked the scope on the weapon, even though she dared not fire it. “Ten on stun. Probably don’t want the assistant going mad.” She shushed Barnabus and hid him behind her as one of the incomers, a thin Celican, looked in through the tinted window. Someone pushed at the shutters, making them rattle. Gallen kept a hand across Shandy’s mouth, applying no pressure but making sure her sounds were muffled. Pantha had the captive by the rear wall, claws next to her throat to ensure her silence. Hastur flinched as a tight energy beam cut its way through the window and impacted the counter top a few inches from her head. As the glass seared itself, the Celican sniffed at the hole. “I can smell you in there, people,” he warned.

Hastur put a hand over Barnabus’ mouth as she realised he was about to call out with something devastatingly witty that would confirm they were there. They needed every second of doubt they could get right now. “We’re coming to get you,” the Celican called, using a sing-song tone.


“Why’ve they not opened the front door shutters,” Shandy whispered to Gallen, moving his hand so she could talk.

He replied, keeping his voice absolutely as quiet as he could. “The back door’s the way in,” he told her. “Front door shutter lock’s inside.”

“Oh,” she said, a little ashamed she hadn’t worked that out as someone tried to move the fridge.


Ignoring the worried Feline who was trying to stop her, Muta strode onto the bridge as though she owned the place and turned to the unwanted escort. “I’m here, you’ve registered your disapproval, now shove off or I’ll break some of your bones, cat!”

At that, Savra launched himself from his chair and around to put her face to face with him as his electro whip flicked and sparked by his side. “You do NOT threaten my people on my ship, Wolf!” He gave her a low growl. “Why are you inflicting yourself on my bridge right now?”

She gave no intimation of being intimidated as her ‘follower’ slunk off whilst no attention was on him. “I’m a little out of contact right now? If I’m to find out who – other than you – is responsible for what’s happened to my brother and is in need of killing, I’d be better off helping you from the surface, wouldn’t you think?”

“I would not,” Savra scowled. “As it stands, we have a suspect for at least part of this.”

She nodded. “I know,” she confirmed, “the Dewless Clan. I have contacts. I can find out where they might be operating from but NOT if I’m cooped up on this old… ship,” she finished, recalling, just in time, that it wasn’t done to insult a Captain’s ship to the Captain’s face. “You need me down on the planet.”

“It’s out of the question right now,” Savra told her, half turning away but ready to defend himself if he needed to. “The shuttle’s headed down to get our other team. They’re being chased.” He stopped and turned towards her to judge her reaction as he said the next few words. “By Chula.”

Reassuringly, her face sagged and her hands clenched in surprise as she took the words in. “Chula,” she asked. “I heard he was dead.”

“Apparently not,” Savra snapped, storming back towards her whilst holding a finger out in front of him. “Apparently he’s been operating on YOUR turf for months, under your noses and under the Daklia clans noses as well! We could be dealing with three cl…”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Merran put in, knowing it had to be good to save her fur right now as Savra glared at her. “Clan Captain Zill of the Kaleb reports he just encountered a Dewless clan cruiser. She’s heading this way at top velocity. She’ll be with us in three hours.”
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Hope that her fur will be managed to be saved after informing him. You do NOT want to tick off someone like Savra. :shock:
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

TWENTY-SEVEN

“I know people are in there,” Chula called out, his voice carrying through the damaged window as someone tried to open the door to the rear without much success. “If you come out now, I promise retribution will be simple and only involve one of you”

Gallen looked over to Hastur, who rolled her eyes.”Not the most tempting of offers, Chula.” she called, knowing he wouldn’t know her voice. “Not when the Police will be responding to the break in here.”

Chula actually belly laughed at that. “What break in? You people seem to have been effective at stopping the alarms being raised. Not even a blue light flashing in the box out here. There’s not likely to be anyone here for half an hour at least, girl. Then it’ll only be an employee. If you know who I am, you know what’ll happen to them. Mind you, I don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

“Why,” Hastur asked.

“Hadda ask,” Barnabus whispered harshly as another vehicle joined Chula’s out front, disgorging two more heavies.

“Because I now have a remote activator,” he warned, taking a piece of equipment from one of the new arrivals.

“Great,” Hastur grumbled, not having seen the handover due to being under the service counter. “that’ll be able to open the shutters in just a few minutes.”

“How long until Janus and the shuttle gets here?”

“A few minutes,” She readied the gun he’d found. “When he gets here, we’ll need to make a dash for it. We’ll need to fight. Well,” she added, looking him directly in the eye, “I will have to fight. You get to that shuttle with Shandy. Clear?”

“But I..?”

“Clear,” Hastur repeated, making it obvious only a ‘yes, ma’am’ would do.”

“Yes, Hastur,” Barnabus said. Hastur supposed that was good enough.


“Ready to run,” Shandy asked Cherry as the hid behind one of the aisles.

The Mican looked at the girl, who was watching the front door through one of the shelves. “So you believe me, then,” she said hopefully. “That I’m on your side?”

“Nope,” Shandy said, using a slightly sing-song tone. She thumbed towards Gallen and Hastur. “I trust them in that you know he’ll kill you rather than rescue you. We’re your best hope.” She shrugged as she corrected herself. “Your only hope, really.”

“Ain’t that about the truth,” Cherry muttered disconsolately. “Not even a rolling pin to use…” she continued as the roller shutter began to roll up.


Gallen shifted himself. He’d rested enough, it seemed. He needed to be ready now. Even if he wasn’t. Especially if he wasn’t. He loved Pantha with every sinew in his body and beat of his heart but she still flinched before dealing a killing blow and Chula would probably win any direct fight and they had guns too. He needed to be upright and he got up stiffly as the shutter rolled up. “Are we ready,” he asked the others, his voice carrying. “Hastur, the first one through the door gets shot in the face. Might… make them think twice. Barnabus? Move over to Shandy now. The three of you run when we engage the others.” He hunkered down again as the shutter rolled up past halfway.

“I know that voice,” Chula commented with amusement. “No, don’t tell me; it’ll come to me… Well, I’ll come to you!” The door shutter was halfway now and the figure stepped in to work on the lock with a laser probe.

Pantha readied the scissors Shandy had found. The girl still had the knife as her boy moved across the back of the shop, keeping low. He wasn’t afraid, she noted. Goddesses, she was proud of him. She readied herself as the door was pushed open.


The first hoodlum came in and Hastur reckoned they couldn’t have heard Gallens instructions to her clearly as she got a free shot on the first intruder, taking a Celicans head clean off with her shot. Energy blasted at the counter around her as the others applied deadly force against the area the shot had come from as the body of their associate fell backwards into the parking lot. The Dober kept her head down, making herself as small a target as she could as the energy sliced along her back, ruining her jacket and her natural coat. One shot left at that power. She’d been right, they were wearing body armour. It’d need to be full power if she didn’t hit their heads. She moved across towards the entryway to draw their attention and let the kits escape. It wasn’t going to work, she reckoned. Still, they had to try.


The others were coming in more hesitantly now, unsure who’d survived their fusillade. Pantha held the scissors like a dagger and thrust them into the first chest available. The Canine looked down at the blades that were sticking into his combat armour and smirked at the feline before lashing out, catching her to the side of the head with his gun butt. Her vision swam and her knees almost buckled but she’d taken hits like that before, especially over the last few months, so it didn’t have her reeling like it would once have. She pulled the blades back and swung again, landing them in his neck this time. Lifeblood spilled from him and from her as a shot struck through the shelving, lancing through her side, just missing her lower abdomen, as Gallen moved to intercept Chula himself.


Janus wished he’d known exactly where the endangered team was as he came in through the atmosphere. He was relying on local mapping systems to locate them correctly as they’d not been on their comms when they’d made the call and he doubted the location was entirely accurate. So he was coming in over the road, staying high enough so none of the early morning traffic got an eyeball on him. Even flying blind, he was nearly on them. Probably.


“Gallen,” Chula said, almost happily, as the Celican grappled with him. He drew his head back and headbutted the Celican’s nose, exploding recently stopped blood from the nostrils. “And wounded too!” He flinched as Gallen stabbed his claws into the side of his mighty body and he punched Gallen directly on one of his wounds. “Is Savra here too, or just you,” he asked, bringing his knee up into Gallen’s gut.


Gallen rode the blow as best he could and tried to twist the Rottian’s arm behind his back. At full strength, he might have managed it but, right now, he could barely stand…


Hastur appeared behind the Rottian and threw him against the nearest car. Gallen took a second to work out the gun must be out as his associate continued her surprise assault on the enforcer. She had a moment, he reckoned, but only that. He’d recover from the shock quickly. She put a fist straight into Chula’s face as Pantha was seen fighting two in the doorway.


Shandy spun around as she figured there was someone behind them. One of the intruders had gotten in through the back. “Ah,” she said as she realised he was holding a weapon on her. “Oh,” she added as Cherry hit him from behind with a hand held fire extinguisher. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

“Get his gun,” Cherry advised and Barnabus took the hint, even if it was genelocked so he couldn’t use it. If he had it, the killer didn’t.

“Shuttle’s coming,” Pantha called desperately. “Get to it, kids!”

The trio ran.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Hopefully they can run fast enough. It seems important that they get to the shuttle. Nice chapter!
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

And now... gratuitous violence! (And a bit of name silliness.)

TWENTY-EIGHT

“Stop them,” Chula gasped, fighting to speak correctly as Gallen pushed his muzzle upwards with a bloodied hand. He thrust Gallen to his knees and swung wildly for Hastur as the last of his people came back around the corner of the shop. He took aim at the three figures running for the landing shuttle and fired, the shot whizzing past Cherry’s head and continuing down the road as Janus came in for landing on the road. Pantha called out in frustration before abandoning restraint and putting her claws through the lower jaw of one of her attackers, pulling back hard to kill the target by pure shock before gripping his jawbone from inside and twisting him to put his body between the shooter and the children, allowing the other to put a blade into her wounded side.


Hastur gripped Chula by his back and thrust him, face first, into his car before heading over to confront the final assailant as Barnabus tripped and fell to his knees. He didn’t have time to pick himself back up as Cherry picked him up and carried his protesting form as best she could until he regained his footing. The door opened in the side of the shuttle as Hastur barrelled into her target, knocking him against the building before he could readjust to target her. He took his head in one hand and smacked it against the wall whilst he put a kick to her knee, the two actions counteracting each other somewhat. His next shot seared her stomach, ripping through the flesh and fur in a way that was going to leave a deep scar if not treated quickly. The bolt then continued on its way into the side of the second vehicle, travelling through it, out the other side and impacting one side of the shuttle. The shuttle was, however, largely undamaged due to its armour. Hastur took him by the gun arm and twisted him around so his arm was between her legs and pointing upwards. She twisted the limb until it broke with a cry of pain from the Celican. With him on the ground, Hastur stamped on his face with enough power to shatter his teeth.


“Who’s this,” Janus asked as Cherry and the children boarded the shuttle and strapped themselves in.

Cherry unbuckled and offered a hand, which Janus took happily because she was cute. “Cherry Braemar,” she said as introduction. “Trainee Junior Doctor and captive.”

“Oh,” he said cheerfully. “Nice to meet you, Captive Cherry,” he continued, thinking of jokes including ‘Popping Cherries’ but choosing not to say them. “I’m Janus. Just Janus.”

“Sometimes called ‘Horndog’ for some reason,” Barnabus ventured, wondering where his mother was. And the others.


“Break off,” Gallen called as the struggle continued, Chula wrenching his arm behind his back before Pantha threw the other Canine at the attacker. Gallen forced himself upright as the wounded Feline put her arm around him and staggered towards the shuttle. Hastur, for her part, found she had some damage to her ankle that was troubling her as she ran, making her drag her left leg behind her. Chula was still fighting his way out from under his unconscious subordinate as she went past and she kicked the gun he was reaching for away from his hand. She joined the others, being pulled aboard by Shandy, Barnabus and, absurdly, their own captive before Janus shut the door, almost catching her stubby tail as the light shut out, leaving them with just the artificial light from the strips in the ceiling and what was coming in from the front screen. Janus started the lift off procedures as he saw the Rottian shout into his comm. The shuttle lifted off the ground on impellers that the young Celican wished put out a blast of air to knock the ugly looking Canine off his feet again as Cherry grabbed the first aid pack from behind his seat and began treating the others. He shook his head in amusement. “You are the weirdest captive I’ve ever picked up,” he enthused.

“Thanks,” she replied as Pantha watched her intently whilst she treated the Felines wounds.

“What about that Lappinean on Cora III,” Hastur asked, glancing at the front whilst doing her best to bandage her own wounds with Shandy’s assistance as Barnabus applied ointments to his mothers wounds.

“Oh, she was a bit mad,” Janus agreed. “But she kept trying to escape, not save the lives of her captors.”

“First do no harm,” Cherry told him, running the sonic sealer over the reopened wounds.

“Hoo,” Janus called, “you really need to meet our Doctor then. She…”

“JANUS,” Hastur snapped, making everyone jump.

“Yeah, yeah,” he breezed, “I was just going to say VERA wouldn’t appreciate the help that much.”

“Why not,” Cherry asked, curiosity burning in her voice.

“She doesn’t… like being seen,” Gallen gasped.

“Oh, um,” Cherry replied, her tail twitching from side to side, “what’s it called? Scophophobia?”

“Easy…” Gallen griped as she picked a piece of Chula’s claw from deep in his flesh so she could seal the wound, “...for you to say.”

“Not really,” she stated, dropping the bone into the collection tray with a tink. “Five years training. Thirty THOUSAND credits of academic debt and two years of psychology. All for nothing.” She sighed.

“Well,” Janus called back as the ship left the atmosphere, “at least you don’t need to pay back that debt any more.”

“That’s a bright side, I suppose,” she allowed.

Hastur leaned in. “He’s trying to pick you up,” she whispered.

“Like I didn’t know that,” she whispered back. “A Doctor might be a good thing for any ship,” she added, moving across to try and deal with the torn muscles in Gallens’ arm. “I’m not going anywhere soon, am I? So I might as well try and get on with people.”

“Right on, girl,” Janus chuckled, looking for signs of the pursuit he’d been fearing since he’d seen Chula on the comm. Speaking of, he got on his own comm. “Janus to base,” he stated brightly.

<”Receiving,”> Merran replied.

“On our way back to the big pigeon. Picked up the eggs. Some cracked. Vera needs to get in gear.” He snickered quietly.

<”Have you hit your head on the control panel,”> Merran replied. <”Translating for the Captain, you’re returning with wounded and need...”>

Half the compliment of the shuttle coughed over the next word.

<”...ready in her suit,”> Merran finished, having referred to Vera.

“Correct,” Janus replied.
Last edited by Welsh Halfwit on Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Gratuitous violence is always the fun type of violence to include! Bonus points if there is some silliness attached to it! ^^
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

TWENTY-NINE

Savra looked on as a suit wearing Virrik dealt with the worst of the wounds to Gallen, Pantha and Hastur with her little helper dealing with the less serious wounds now she had some real medical equipment to deal with. The senior Celican looked down at Barnabus, who’d not taken his eyes off his mother since they’d gotten there. “You’re allowed to blink, boy,” he said in his friendlier deep tone. “Vera’s muffins and cookies crackers but she’s a great Doctor. What’s with this present you’ve brought me, by the way?”

Barnabus blinked as instructed and just about remembered that, when the Captain asked a question, you needed a very good reason not to answer. “Uh,” he said hesitantly, “she was working in the, uh, place? Mum and Uncle Gallen caught her and brought her, um, back… We’re not going to get the deposit back on car or cabin, are we? Uh, turns out she’s a Doctoral Student…”

“Medical student,” Savra corrected.

“Um, right. Turns out she’s a Medical student needing to work for money for, uh, the final year or summat.”

“Medical school,” Savra grumbled, “the biggest money making operation there is. Seems to know what she’s doing. Vera’s not stabbed her with a scalpel yet. Funny she’s so eager to help.”

“She told Janus she figured we’d never let her go as she’s medical so she wants to try and get along with everyone.”

Savra gritted his teeth. “Someone better tell her to nix THAT idea. Even YOU know the people to avoid on this ship. And I’ll still have to chip her.”

Instinctively, Barnabus rubbed his neck, even though it didn’t hurt.


Pallik and Techrat consulted on who to assign for operations now that the ship was about to move out and the Mican finally agreed that Svenson would be the best to scrub the buffers whilst the automated systems were offline and sent the Human to get suited up and take the heavy debris spray system from stores as Dilla watched them from across the engineering deck. She felt an elbow prod her. “Thinking of finishing these calibrations,” the Lappinean engineer Torin chided her.

“Uh, yeah,” she replied, chasing the wool from her brain and turning back to the monitors.

“Good,” the male replied sharply. “I’d hate to have to tell Chief Pantha that you weren’t pulling your weight.” He gave her a side glance as he worked at the neighbouring terminal. “I’d ask if you wanted a bunk up,” he added, making her gasp with surprise, “but I figure you’re spoken for already, hmm?”

“Wh...what,” Dilla squeaked.

Torin chuckled, letting his left ear droop. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “There’s a lot worse than Pallik around. Take Dirok over there,” He nodded to a Raitchian Packer type across the way. “Good engineer. Left his mark on his lovers. Literally.” Dilla could believe it. She’d figured something was up in the first few days with that guy. “Just sayin’,” Torin finished, “that, if you want in anyone’s bed, Pallik’s a good choice.”

“Even if we’re not genetically compatible,” Dilla asked before she realised she’d asked.

Torin smirked. “Who wants a kid on this ship,” he asked whilst tapping away. “Besides, rumour is Captain’s got his hands on something that helps with that. If you really want to risk it.”


“Who’s that,” Barnabus asked as Savra walked him back through the medical bay.

The crossbreed wolf with long ears looked up and grinned, before using his new leg muscles to jump closer, as close as his chain would let him. “I’m a nightmare,” he hissed, the effect offset by the buck teeth as he play swiped at them. Savra looked unimpressed.

“He’s had a life changing experience is all,” Savra told him, this voice tight. “He needs time to recover.” He shooed the boy out before he breathed out and snapped his hand around Mati’s throat. His bonhomie had evaporated now and he carried the crossbreed back across to the wall as Mati struck out at the arm holding him. “I’m still considering killing you, Mati,” Savra growled, pushing his target off his feet and up the wall. “As it stands though, I’ve already ended your life.” He dropped the male, who rubbed his throat. “And there’s worse than you that need to be dealt with. How’s your intelligence? Has the change helped it any?”

Mati poked his tongue out and wished he hadn’t. It was the one part of his body that still shocked him. Kind of pinky black, shorter than it had been and a bit pointier too, somehow. “Ha ha,” he stated, stepping back over to his bed. There was that association again, he thought. ‘His’ bed. ‘His’ body. ‘His’ vegetables to gnaw on to keep ‘his’ teeth in order. Was this gel thing keeping his mood in order? “Yeah. I know a few people. There’s rumours that a Professor in the colony University’s been ‘appropriated’ by the Clan. We had no idea why they’d do something so public and all for a senior research fellowship medic but, now…” He noted his left ear curling over as he put his hand under his chin and he mentally ordered it to stand back up again. After a few seconds, it complied. “Not sure I’ll get used to these ears,” he complained.

“I could always rip them from your skull,” Savra advised, keeping his arms crossed. “I’m in that sort of mood. And,” he relented, “we might know a little of why they might steal a professor.” He nodded across to the wall. “There’s evidence that Dewless have headhunted Chula from the Ultimma clan.”

Mati whistled – or tried to anyway. The sound was a whistle, he supposed, but it was discordant, at least to his ears. He was getting used to their power, although he’d need to work on blotting a few things out. Flatulence down the corridor, for example. And then there was what he knew about this Doctor. But he’d keep that to himself for now. He noted the door sounded and waited as Savra stepped across to answer it.


Muta stepped in to see her brother crouched on the bed, keeping his thick leg muscles ready to go in a sign of alert that only slightly relaxed as he sighted his sister. “You’re looking better,” she said, not meaning it.

“Thanks, even if you don’t really mean it. You smell of Feline.”

She shrugged. “He’s a diversion,” she allowed. “He told you what’s going on?”

Mati nodded and his sister tried not to laugh as the ears fell across his face. He scowled and pushed them back up. “Yeah. Dewless are stepping on Ultimma Clan paws AND Daklian ones. Could result in bad things happening if Chula’s reported to his old clan.”

Muta nodded primly. “Ultimma don’t like people leaving them. They don’t know what secrets will be revealed.”

“Does explain why Dewless has made a few gains from Ultimma these last few months,” Savra added. “Concessions in the drugs business on Kellamar and the carbs racket on Caldera.”

Muta snorted. “Carbs racket?”

Savra stared daggers at her for a moment but remembered she was on his side for now. “Local narcotics are unprofitable due to some local source. The Sheriff and at least one intelligence service are present there too so setting up a base is right out. So they’ve gone into food shipping. High carb items. Everyone wants those. But you two plan your plans. I need to move this ship before the Dewless ships get here.”


With that, he headed up to the bridge.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

The plot thickens.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Wondering what else Savra is gonna come up with soon. This was really a great chapter!
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

THIRTY

Janus yawned after entering the required co-ordinates into the computer and starting the engines but put the yawn away as Savra stepped onto the command deck. He glanced at Garna on the weapons station and hoped Hastur was well enough to take her station back soon. The Corgan Canine wasn’t nearly as attractive as the Dober, had the annoying habit of putting his tongue out at every opportunity and, frankly, put out a low level smell that irritated his sensitive nostrils after a little exposure. He smelled of cheese. Janus turned away to see if that made it better. It didn’t. Well, anyway. The boss had himself sat down now so things were moving.

“You have us heading to Minas Corwan, Janus,” Savra enquired.

“As per your instructions, boss,” the pilot retorted. “Doing our best to look like a rock before we join the horde.”

“Don’t get cocky, Janus.”

Savra pointed a finger at him with such intent that, although he wasn’t facing his Captain, Janus could feel it. Was it a jibe about the ‘cocky’ part? The youth decided he’d better let it slide and thought of his decent sized bank account on Persimma. He had it under an assumed name, of course, set up with the assistance of the clan financial officer, and it was nearing enough to buy a decent hover vehicle and the engineering for the next ten years. He did, sometimes, wonder why he loved being behind the wheel at high speeds when he was forever behind a console, piloting a ship cruising at speeds land and hover vehicles could only dream of in electric dreams. He’d have to ask someone, sometime. No-one here though. Unless they took a psychologist hostage. He wasn’t going to pay for therapy. He didn’t have the credits for THAT yet he thought, amused by the consideration. When was lunch?


<”Not a horrible job,”> Virrik said, judging Cherry’s work from inside her suit. She pushed Hastur back down onto the bed as the weapons officer tried to stand. <”This one might even survive if she doesn’t do anything stupid, Mouse. None of it done as well as I could do it,”> she added, seemingly more for Hastur’s benefit than anyone elses, <”but even I have trouble doing three patients at once.”> She checked around the back of Hastur’s head, turning the Dober’s neck none-too-gently to do so. <”All seems fine. No new head wounds. And I don’t want you here, Hastur. Taking up a bed.”>

“Still not feeling great,” Hastur admitted.

Virrik waved a hand. <”It’s just blood loss, girl. The new stuff’s in. You’ll be fine. If not, just faint right where you are at the time and someone’ll drag you back in! Now, go escort my new junior to a cell or something. Get lost. This pair’ll be after you soon.”>


The door closed behind the pair and locked as Cherry fingered the collar she was having to wear. Hastur gave a gentle pull on the attached leash. “I’ve not set a shock charge, Cherry,” she said. “Don’t want you to pop.”

Cherry rolled her eyes. “I knew one of those puns wouldn’t be far away,” she complained. “Figured it’d be that pilot though.”

“He was thinking them,” Hastur told her, leading the way to the holding cells. “Bomb chips, by the way.”

“Pardon?”

“You were wondering why no-one seems to be being restrained by collars and such. We got ‘em but mainly it’s implanted explosives. Everyone’s got ‘em. With that, we’re free to do whatever we like but the Captain and First can discipline us if we step to far out of line.”

Cherry scowled. “That doesn’t seem a trust thing,”

Hastur shrugged. “It’s not so bad. You’ll learn.” She entered the cell area and pushed Cherry into a cell that had been vacated by the last ransomed hostage. It hadn’t been cleaned since. “Sorry about the smell,” she added, releasing her grip on the leash and shutting the door. She opened the ‘serving hatch’. “I’ll get you something from the canteen,” she stated. “It’s pretty bad but is there anything you’re allergic to?”

“This room,” Cherry said, trying to be humorous. “Uh, Paccaberries and Jilverta.”

Hastur nodded once. “When a room’s free, you’ll have it Cherry. Dunno how long that’ll be.” She showed a faint smile. “Just hang on, eh?”

“Thanks,” Cherry complained to the closed door. At least there was a toilet in here.


Hastur stepped into her room to see Barnabus doing push ups on the floor. He professed to just having done fifty but she could see the setee, as thin as it was, was still reshaping itself to his absence. He squatted to his feet and stretched as he stood up to hug her. She patted his back. “Shandy at work,” she asked.

“Yup,” he replied. “Canteen manager’s overloaded now we’re on the move and all the non engineers aren’t wanted. Or summat. So I figured I’d wait here. Do some push ups.”

“Hmm,” she replied, gently removing herself from him. “At least five, eh? Vera’ll be letting your folks out shortly.” She tapped his nose. “Might be better if you wait there, hmm? Welcome them back, yeah?”

He supposed so. He pulled his shirt on and scampered off.


Rawton looked out of one of the port windows as the Kerbal approached the asteroid belt between the two worlds. He grimaced. The berserker in him – which pretty much covered all of him, really – hated the practice of pretending to be a rock. It went totally against bloodletting and smacked of hiding. Trying to avoid combat. He supposed he understood it. Not everyone lived for splitting brains and skinning people alive like he’d been thrown out of the military for. On this ship he’d found people he could stand and knew how to encourage the ones he couldn’t to avoid him. Still, he’d been resisting the urge for some time now. He’d need to let something out soon. His dalliance with that nearly retired Lappinean nightwalker on the colony – and the fun he’d had in the kidnap - had helped sate him for the moment and he hoped the old girl might enjoy the potential surprise he might have left her with. But potentially making life was nothing like as joyous as certainly ending one. He wanted to fight.


“So,” Savra mused to anyone on the bridge, “what sort of ship is she?”

She’d turned up on long range sensors a moment ago, coming in close enough to the colony that there was no way they didn’t know she was there. Their contacts in star control must be quite high up, he reckoned. And they were directly above the forest where the information station was. This, he thought, is no co-incidence. Kurmak, it seemed, agreed. “She’s a hunter,” he said.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Hope that they have a good game plan then. Unless they want to become the next ones hunted. :?
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

THIRTY-ONE

“By any chance,” Savra mused, knowing Kurmak better be listening, “is that ship headed our way?”

Kurmak moved his hands across the console and considered how best to respond to the question. Mental computations took about five seconds to complete before he opened his mouth. “Telemetery does seem to indicate she’s following out ionic trail, Captain. She must be running top-line systems to have picked them up.”

Savra didn’t turn to look at him as he explained how the bloodhound was tracking them by being a bloodhound. It just wasn’t necessary. They’d simply run across a ship with more ability to trace than they had to hide was all. It also meant they were there for the Kerbal. A direct response to what they’d found in the silo perhaps? What Kurmak and the Wolven ***** had managed to decrypt spoke of the Dewless clans manipulations and crimes and they didn’t know what Savra was going to do with the information. Savra didn’t actually know what he was going to do himself yet. He’d barely worked out what to do with his main problem, the goop and didn’t know how he was to proceed there without the entirety of his crew knowing. This incoming ship didn’t even know of that problem. Its main concern was dealing with him and securing its clan secrets. Savra mentally shook his head. One problem at a time. “If she keeps coming,” he told the bridge, “then power up weapons and prepare to engage with move Savra fourteen.”


Pantha sat carefully on the sofa and felt her injuries as Barnabus hugged her carefully. “It was never quite like this with your father, eh,” she said quietly, kissing her boy on the forehead.

“I miss dad,” Barnabus admitted, wiping his head where Pantha’d licked him. “But Uncle Gallen’s great too,” he added quickly. “And we can protect ourselves better.”

Pantha grinned a tired grin as she noted Gallen heading into the bathroom. “From Pirates, eh,” she asked, pinching Barnabus’ nose between her fingers and wiggling it playfully. “And we’ll see your dad sooner or later,” she added. “Might be able to get him to work with us or something?”

He batted her hand off his nose and sneezed.

“Charming,” Pantha said, wiping down her side.

“You started it, mum,” he replied. “Dad’d probably prefer not to work with Pirates and…”

He stopped as the yellow alert alarm sounded. Pantha glowered at the siren, that sounded three times. She released her boy and stood up. “All hands to the pumps,” she said, tone as emotionless as a rock. “Get to the bridge,” she added as she heard a thump from the other room. “Gallen’ll join you soon as I help him up,” she finished. Barnabus jumped, kissed mum on the lips and bounded off, almost forgetting to let the door open first as Pantha opened the other door and assisted Gallen in getting back to his feet.


“They’re playing our song,” Pallik told Dilla, after grasping the panicking Quokka he’d been helping fix panels in the crawl spaces. He gave her the brightest smile he could. “The Awooga waltz!”

She fidgeted, looking rather like she was going to explode from nerves. “How can you be so calm, Pallik,” she demanded, almost heading for Chipmunk speed in talking. “We could be goingto die in the nextfew minutes and…”

“That’s for the officers and combat types to deal with,” he told her calmly, holding her face towards his so she could concentrate on his voice. “Our job’s to keep the ship going so they can have the time to do their job, Dilla. We need to be calm and collected. As much as possible, anyhow. Can you do th..?” He was lost for words as she jerked forward and kissed him, holding him close for a moment as he, to his own surprise, responded in kind before she broke the lock. “Wh...what was th..that for?”

She blushed. “First, uh, kiss. More terrifying to me than battle.” She breathed out.

“Second after battle,” Pallik told her. “We’d better get to station,” he added, tapping her nose. “Plus these can explode in battle. C’mon!” He led her to the nearest exit and tried not to focus on the strange taste of her mouth.


“I’d better go,” Muta mooted at the sound as Mati yelped and tried to cover his ears as he’d done when he was young. “Sounds like this place is going to get busy. And I need to work on contacting a certain someone who doesn’t like being contacted.” She huffed.

“And our revenge on this Captain,” Mati queried.

“Right now we’re enforced allies,” she reminded him. “And we don’t want warring clans on our land.” She raised her hands and let them fall back to her sides. “Ultimma Clan, Dewless Clan, our local lot…” She snarled. “We could have a three way clan war on our planet. Then the U.S.C. gets involved because the president begs for help…”

Mati nodded. “They’d leave a lot of broken homes and broken people. Easier for us to control in the short term after but no remaining infrastructure. The pirate scum who started this into high velocity might be the only chance of stopping it again. Vengeance has to wait.” He frowned slightly and put his hand up in front of him, flexing his fingers to see if he still had claws. “Perhaps I can get metal ones,” he mooted.

<”Perhaps you can leave,”> Virrik said to Muta as she walked in to check things out. <”Now.”> She regarded the Wolven until the hint was taken, readying a scalpel for use in the few seconds it looked like Muta was going to fight. <”I can sever your jugular before you damage this suit,”> she warned. <”Then there’s only one person on the ship who can save you and I won’t.”>

Muta took the hint and left so Virrik moved around and took control of the leash. <”I need you in the isolation room,”> she stated. <”This room’s for patients needing treatment and I’m about to get some.”>

“Right, right,” Mati replied, knowing from her pre-emptive test earlier that the collar was able to deliver quite a shock if needed. He’d figured it best not to annoy her. He could swear he’d heard her sigh with happiness as she’d blasted his fur straight. “You get some perverse pleasure out of this, don’t you?”

<”No,”> she protested, <”I get A LOT of perverse pleasure out of this. Want to make me happy?”>

“No,” he stated firmly.

<”Good boy! C’mon,”> she goaded, taking the front and almost dragging him behind her as an assistant rushed in to change the sheets.


The guards opened the door to Cherry’s cell and one stood back, ready to engage if the Mican tried to escape. The other stepped forward and applied the collar. “I take it I’m for the medical bay,” she asked with resignation. She yawned. It had been a REALLY long day. And it wasn’t lunchtime yet.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

Well this is awfully exciting.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I have to agree with that and think this is getting good! Nice work Welshy!
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Cherry learns the rules...

THIRTY-TWO

“I’m deep in the crud, aren’t I,” Cherry asked as she looked on the face of her actual senior officer. There were a couple of assistants buzzing around but it was, otherwise, just her and the Brockian in the room.

“Depends if you’re useful and smart, child,” Virrik snapped back. “Captain may get to trust you but, as I see by your face that you recognise me, I’ll make it straight. I don’t care if you live or die; I just need you to make my job easier. I lead. You’re second. Ship decisions come through ME, not you unless I’m occupied. You treat the patient first? Then they’re your patient unless I have to take over. If they’re yours and I tell you to do something? You’re entitled to one argument. But I make the decisions. Now, get dressed properly. We’re about to try to save the lives of the people we know. And there’s one hint for your safety, Berwick.” She pointed a scalpel at her, almost close enough to nick her nose. “NEVER call me by name. Vera is what they use. Apparently someone saw a Human crime program. Lead was old, grouchy and thick set female. The person who mentioned it got Kitrickka for a week soon after. I don’t know how…”

Cherry figured she had an idea. Professor Virrik had just given her the ‘I know five hundred ways to kill you painfully’ speech. She sighed, feeling her confidence plummet. There was no chance of earning her freedom now. Not whilst she knew where this mad female was. It was almost a relief when the ship shook, energy striking the shielding.

Pantha sat at her engineering desk, not feeling like she was able to stand for long periods, she was conducting her forces from her station. TechRat and Killain to personal quarters, Pallik and Dilla to the science section and Rosna and Waller to the bridge as officers ‘on site’ and everyone else ready to run about as she saw fit. She called out as she saw a little figure dart across the doorway to the engineering section. “Shandy!” The girl’s head popped back around the door. “Go to the bridge. We don’t HAVE a safe area on this ship so go be with people you trust!”

Shandy nodded and gripped her little blade as she accompanied the Celican and the Brockian up to the bridge. She was a bit concerned. She didn’t know Rosna really but she’d heard rumours about Waller. Not the sort of rumours that encouraged a positive outlook either. She stayed on the opposite side of the lift to him and breathed out as they got to the bridge level. She let the engineers take the lead out when the ship shook on impact. She leapt out as the door closed automatically, an effect of the impact overloading old safety systems. She hoped Waller didn’t see the blade as he helped her up. It had fallen loose on the floor but she’d stealthily picked it up. Well, probably stealthily.


“What are you doing on my bridge,” Savra demanded as Hastur fired back at the incoming cruiser.

He hadn’t even turned to look at her and there were three newcomers to the bridge but Shandy knew he was talking to her. “Miss Pantha sai…”

“Shut up and sit down, girl,” Savra roared. “Seat near Kurmak.”

She shimmied over as the ship rocked, the vessel in the viewscreen angling to the left. Port side, was it? She saw Mr Janus on the helm tap instructions into his console to attempt to compensate.

“Keep us level, Janus,” Savra instructed as Kurmak advised shielding was running at eighty seven percent and he couldn’t tell the status of their shields. “Don’t bother scanning,” Savra instructed him, “just see if you can find out when their shields are down!” The Captain rolled his eyes. “Oh, for a fighter squadron! Right.”


The ship hadn’t bothered hailing them, Merran had noted, they’d just opened fire as soon as they were within range. It was almost like they were annoyed or something. Like they’d stolen a mass amount of data from an encapment in enemy territory that they weren’t supposed to have. They were squawking now, though, internally at least. She wondered if someone over there was doing what she was doing; listening to the commline calls they were making. “Captain,” she called, “Someone called Calkik is telling someone called…” She paused as the bridge shook like a special effect. “...Dalvey to lead a boarding… party to engineering… soon as the shields are down!”

“Understood, Merran.”


Savra glanced at Gallen as his pale countenanced First held to his seat and knew he couldn’t really rely on the wounded Celican to respond to such a call right now. But his brain was working, wasn’t it? “What you think, Gallen? They playing with us?”

Gallen thought on it. There was a good chance they knew the Kerbal was trying to overhear any signals they sent so they could be issuing fake orders to draw the personnel aboard out of position. “We still need to protect Engineering, sir,” he said, still feeling like crud.

“Of course.” Savra put his chin on his hand for a second before hitting his comm. “Bridge to Rawton,” he stated.

The Lappinean answered in his strangely languid tone that he kept for the comm. <”Rawton here, sir,”>

Savra nodded grimly as he thought on his words. “I’m sending Gallen down to cover engineering. I want you to go assist Pantha at her station to the rear. Over.”


Rawton replied in the affirmative and closed the link.

“What’s that about,” one of his team asked. Rawton glared at him. “I mean, uh, sir,” the Raitchian added. “Why would he want two teams on Pantha in Engineering.”

Rawton snickered as he thought of answers to that. “We’re facing another lot of us, boys and girls,” he taunted in his usual tone of voice. “They might have someone listening likes we do. Gallen ain’t shifting from the bridge. Heard he got banged up in the bad way last night so ain’t in combat form. Wants us in Engineering, don’t he?” The Lappinean turned and bounded down the hallway. “First one there don’t get maimed by me in the bunks later,” he called back.

His team chose to follow as quickly as they could.
Last edited by Welsh Halfwit on Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

That definitely is an incentive to move as fast as they can. Not getting mauled by somebody in what will be an obviously painful way.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

Well that’s not good.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

It is good to someone I'm sure. :P
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Rawton the... rescuer? Hold on!

THIRTY-THREE


The ship shuddered again as Savra watched Hasturs’ fire shave the enemy vessels’ shields. The protective field lit as the energy beam, coloured by the frequency it was fired at for the simple expediency of actually being able to see it, sparked and sliced along, drawing power from every shield generator it encountered before scorching out into space where it would dissipate over range. He’d rather she’d scored a direct hit but understood the principle of her intent. She was testing for weakened or badly repaired generators. Holes in the net. Or she’d just missed.

Hastur fired again, keeping her silence on the unanswered question as to accuracy. This time she was more direct, targetting a section on the starboard side of the incoming ship and hitting some little way behind her target as the ship moved and fired towards the Kerbal’s engines. The ship shuddered as their own shields took damage.

To her side, Janus wasn’t making bad jokes for once. The youngest of the bridge’s three permanent Celicans was too busy trying to stop his teeth from rattling whilst he tried to keep the ship away from the asteroids that were far too close to their rear and out of the firing line of the ship that was in front of them. It would be no problem, the youngster thought, if the other ship wasn’t able to move and keep out of direct line of sight. He rather fancied the Dewless clan had a driver like him piloting the ship and wondered if he’d spot any iconic moves he’d be able to identify. He doubted it. Good drivers were ten-a-credit. Besides, this guy wasn’t his equal. He guessed that as they caught a flash of the rear of the ship.

Hastur fired and scored a hit as the ship in front of them thrust into an artificial gravity defying tight upward loop to come in above them. Her shots scrammed the surface at the rear of the ship as it pulled sharply upwards.

“A titan turn,” Janus grumbled, knowing the danger they were in. He slapped the main comm. “Hard twist to starboard coming up,” he called, “Hold on!” So saying, he employed the emergency rockets under one side of the Kerbal’s fuselage to twist the ship around its centre, narrowing the area exposed to the main weapons of the enemy and letting the lighter side weapons get a chance to fire. If Hastur could stay on station as the artificial gravity was pushed to its limits and beyond.


Pantha had barely three seconds to comply with the instruction and grabbed hold of her desk as the others grabbed onto rails and consoles and she wondered if the ones in the conduits felt safer as things started falling off the wall towards her. She was quite happy that she didn’t store heavy tools in here but knew things were going to get worse quite quickly as everything shuddered and shook under cannon impact. A glance out into the main engineering section told of falling people and item impalement across the room, including one Mican who’d never work again thanks to a dousing of valve sealant across the face. She couldn’t help him. It’d seal in a minute if… Wait, she asked herself, was that Rawton leaping onto the wall? What was he..?


The Lappinean had seen the accident and decided to show he wasn’t all insane. He just liked violence, was all. He found a hollow metal tube he’d used before for trimming his teeth and other reasons and jabbed it through the thickly congealing paste, blowing down the tube to clear the end of paste. The sealant… sealed around the tube, allowing the trapped Mican to at least breathe until someone could safely remove the stuff after. Couldn’t do anything for the eye, of course. Maybe he’d had it closed? “Stick around,” he added, leaping to hold onto a railing as the turn continued so that everything was upside down. And he could feel his feet beginning to dangle towards the front of the ship too.


Janus was thankful he was strapped down as he felt the seatbelt cut into his lap and shoulder. It was hard enough to concentrate at ninety degrees. At one hundred and eighty it was nearly impossible. He could see, from the corner of his eye, that Kurmak had one hand high above/below his head, holding on to a Raitchian girl who obviously hadn’t figured out how to put her seatbelt on. He had a grip on the bottom half of her coveralls and it was an obvious strain to hold her away from the ceiling. Two of the bridge runners, unspecified ensigns who could take over any console if the occupant was wounded, hadn’t been so lucky and were spread eagle on the ceiling in uncomfortable, broken, positions. To get them back on the enemy trail, Janus engaged the rear side thrusters to push the nose down after the ship that had done sixty percent damage to the side shields and engaged the positioning thrusters to slow the axis spin.

Kurmak strained as the weight of the continually apologising Raitchian shifted again, pulling his arm with her. Stabilizers were running over their maximum and he didn’t want to think of the mess made in rooms with pointy things or in the passageways as he told the Captain that they were, apparently, doing damage to the enemy. Their shields had fractured in places, meaning he could start to scan inside the ship.

“I’m not interested in how many are in there, Kurmak,” Savra snapped, as Kurmak’s arm twisted behind his back, only relaxing it when Shandy grabbed hold of his chair back. “Just tell Hastur where to shoot!”

“Shield failure in on deck three,” the Feline called. “Close to engineering!”

“Want me down there,” Gallen asked.

“If I wanted you down there,” Savra stated directly, “then I wouldn’t have sent Rawton and his team.”


The ship finally pulled itself into a position where artificial gravity systems were able to compensate as Rawton got the call that his squad had incoming and he patted the trapped Mican on the shoulder, then drew his knife to take anything on. He rejoined his team, recovering in the hallway just outside the complex. “Cap’n says we got intruders, boys.” He grinned a lopsided grin. “Game faces on. Let’s go say ‘hi!’ and get Vera some spare parts!” He sniffed the air. “Got ‘em,” he stated, the gleam of lust in his eye as one of his people held up an obviously broken wrist. “Come on,” the Lappinean called, moving fast, “I can’t kill ‘em all can I? Where’d the teamwork be?”
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Maybe not as much as a rescuer as someone that likes chopping others up. XD That is what I got from the end of this chapter.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Oh, he does like killing people. Figured it'd be a change to have him save one for once.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

Welsh Halfwit wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:35 am Janus was busy trying to stop his teeth from rattling whilst he tried to keep the ship away from the asteroids that were far too close to their rear and out of the firing line of the ship that was in front of them.
Well, that’s an amusing image.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Personally I was kind of amused by the idea of Kurmak holding Shandy above/below his head like she was a balloon...
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

Welsh Halfwit wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 3:56 pm Personally I was kind of amused by the idea of Kurmak holding Shandy above/below his head like she was a balloon...
When they said space was weightless, Shandy took it a bit literally.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I don't think that she will end up making that mistake again. :geek:
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

THIRTY-FOUR

They came in just around the corner, a five pack of raiders who started firing as soon as they saw anybody. A Collian crumpled for the last time, caught in the neck by a bolt of energy as Rawton bounded around the corner towards them, keeping himself compacted and moving fast. He bounced off the wall as fire straddled him, throwing himself forward as more of them turned their weapons on him. He laughed as a shot shredded the skin on his leg. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered now. He sprang from the other wall with his knives ready as his own people steamed in behind him, their guns useless in close quarters.

His knife cut deep into the arm of the Celican threat, spraying red across the wall, Rawton and another attacker as a second tried to use his weapon as a club, smacking hard to the side of Rawton’s head before a boot came in to his chest, driving some wind out. He jabbed with his blades, impacting the heart of the first Celican as the fellow tried to grapple with him. The puncture ceased his fight near immediately and Rawton cursed as the driven wind altered the slice of his second knife, dragging it across the chest of a Canine rather than digging it in. And his first knife had gotten stuck in the Celicans’ ribcage. He gave up on the first knife as another Celican punched him in the shoulder. At least none of them were going for range, he thought happily, bloodying his teeth with a vicious bite to someone else’s wrist. He cut the artery by jerking his head backwards and felt the bath on his face as one of his own people punched the attacker in the face. One of his was down – Parraby, he thought dimly. But that was irrelevant to him right now and he’d died fighting. He took revenge by pulling a Canine female’s head forward and plunging his knife into her throat.


Hastur fired again, keeping her intent on puncturing an area on the starboard of the target where Kurmak had advised the shielding seemed to be weaker.

Savra knew the answer to his question but he asked it anyway. “Kurmak! How did they beam a team through our shields?”

“They, uh, didn’t sir,” the Feline advised. “When we fire, the shields have to go down for a second or so. I think they gave us a couple of free shots so they could use them.”

Savra mulled it and didn’t like it. “So the hole in their shields?”

“Might have been a trap, sir. Yes.” He held to his console for a moment. “Ours won’t be. Twenty seven percent power left in them, Captain.”

Savra hoped Rawton would have that boarding party sewn up quickly. If they got the word out then the Dewless would try it again. If they didn’t, they might not. “Can we do likewise?”

Kurmak threw his hands up. “It’s extraordinarily hit and miss, Captain. If you’re not there before the shields go back up you’re not getting there. I wouldn’t try it.”

“Makes me wonder why they did…” He stopped for half a second. “How many came aboard?”

“A five person team near Engineering,” the Feline said, peering at his console. “And one near the storage areas!”

Savra was already out of his chair and headed for the passage.


The Canine crept through the cargo hold as Pallik kept a hand over Dilla’s mouth in the shadows. The Rottian was armed and they weren’t. The Rottian was a physical brickhouse and they weren’t. The Rottian was, apparently, enjoying himself and they weren’t. “I can smell you, you know,” the figure growled. “I want the chemical. If I have to find it, I’ll find you and kill you. I’m not in the mood for play.”

“Stay here,” Pallik hissed before releasing her mouth. He stood up and shuffled into the light as she looked after him with fear in her eyes. Great, he told himself, all of a sudden I have someone to be brave for. I’m gonna die. He put his hands up as the Rottian gave him an evil grin from beyond the muzzle of his weapon.

“An Engineer,” the Rottian sneered. “And a cowardly one at that. I’ll make it simple. Lead me to what was taken…” He clubbed Pallik in the shoulder before hoiking him against a wall, “and I’ll let you live.” He glanced around quickly. “You’re alone in here?”

“Ab..absolutely,” Pallik stammered. “Left… left my girlfriend in engineering.” The Rottian creased his face and Pallik got the idea he didn’t believe him. His arm was hurting. Was it broken? It was hard to think straight with a powerful bully holding him to a wall. “What… what is it you’re, uh, look...looking for?”

The face closed in on him and stank of Sardines and mint. “What you took from the medical ship less than a week ago,” it snarled.

Pallik was a bit confused now. Weren’t they standing amongst the strapped down proceeds of that raid right now? “I don’t… Can you let me… breathe?” The Rottian dropped him and Pallik fell to his his knees, picking himself up. The Rottian looked ready to chase him and was tensed to take a shoulder charge that Pallik was seriously considering anyway. “They… they moved it to… to bay two,” he gasped, hoping to get him away from Dilla. Where was she, anyway?

“If I know where it is,” the Rottian said, kicking him in the groin to drop him to the floor, “what do I need you for?” He raised his weapon.

“No,” Dilla called out, throwing a tin of paint from stores as best she could. The Rottian laughed as his arm deflected the incoming missile. He fired at the new attacker, almost scoring a direct hit on her but hitting the paint next to her, making it explode. She fell back with a cry as he took aim at Pallik again. Pallik tried the shouldercharge this time and actually knocked him back a few feet before he punched down onto Palliks’ back, sending him to the floor face first. “Shouldn’t have lied to me,” he said before an energy whip slashed his wrist, making him drop the gun. Biting down the pain, he took hold of the crackling line and pulled it free of the handle it was attached to. “Hello, Savra,” he said, turning to face the Captain as Savra charged into the combat.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Sardines and mint does NOT sound like a pleasant combination. I can only imagine how awful it is. But great chapter!
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Have I missed something? Sardines and mint?
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I was referring to this line right here. That is why I commented on it.
The face closed in on him and stank of Sardines and mint. “What you took from the medical ship less than a week ago,” it snarled.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

Knew I'd written it somewhere but, on rereading, my eye kept sliding over the line.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Oh don't worry too much about it. I showed you and you found it! I end up accidentally skipping over lines also.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

I am impressed by how much you are able to get away with here. I tried similar things in my old stories but edited them quickly, scared that the mods would come after me.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

I admit I do push it but, in cases of 'encounters', I tend to go with the start or just after the end, not the act itself. The violence is also very much borderline (especially if Rawron's involved) but I find I have a freer hand with the Kerbal crew because they're bad guys who aren't trying to be good.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

THIRTY-FIVE

Savra impacted Chula, pushing him back as the Rottian braced himself so he didn’t fall. Pallik was almost tripped over as the Collian remained on his hands and knees but had the idea he needed to clear out before someone recalled he was there. The combatants tussled as he pulled himself upright and almost ran out the door. He stopped after half a step and, feeling the pain of several blows to the groin, hurried back to grab Dilla and pull her trembling form towards the door with him.

“S...shouldn’t we h...help,” Dilla asked, deliberately kicking Chula’s weapon ahead of them as they went.

“Trust me,” Pallik said as something crashed behind them, “Captain doesn’t want any help!” He stooped to pick the weapon up. Just in case he had a need to use it.


Savra winced as canine claws cut straight his muzzle, ripping into one of his more prominent scars before he threw Chula through several of the barrels he was hoping to offload and followed him through as the Rottian tumbled to his feet and palm struck Savra under the jaw. Savra tasted his own blood as his head jerked back. Chula spun on his left foot and hit Savra’s arm with his right boot. Savra felt the arm go numb as Chula made contact with a nerve cluster. Savra brought his foot into communion with Chula’s standing leg, knocking it out from under him just as the other leg tried to land and he toppled to one knee. Savra took the opportunity to grip the Rottian’s head with his working arm and slam it into his raised knee. His stunned arm moved reluctantly, allowing the hand to be drawn into claws and nearly effectively ripping across the opponents nose. Thin red trails appeared as Chula put in a punch to the kidneys and threw Savra over his shoulder, into the shelving units that crashed to the ground.


Two of his people were corpses, Rawton reasoned. It was a good job he’d ensured the scum paid for every life at a three to one ratio. He pulled his blade from a Raitchian and gave him a curious look of interest as the light of life faded from his remaining eye before he let him drop to the floor. “Anyone else not dead,” he asked contemptuously, glancing around at the surroundings.

“Think they’re all dead, Karl,” the Canine called Waven replied, clearing her head with a shake.

“It’s Rawton,” the Lappinean reminded her tightly. “And I was referring to you lot.” He turned to look at her. “Survived another battle,” he said, enjoying the look of shock on her face at the state of his face, “well done. Might make a fighter out of you yet, Waven.”

“Hope so,” she remarked, “as the alternative is death.”

“It’s always death,” he replied.


“Stay put,” Cherry ordered her latest patient, an engineer who’d broken bones in the spin manoeuvre and was trying to get up after she’d set the bone and applied painkillers and rapid heal ointments. “Your leg’s still busted. You’re not going anywhere.”

“Yes, he is,” Virrik snapped from where she was carrying out a similar procedure on a Micans chest. “Get him off there,” she added, instructing an orderly before mollifying her order a bit. “Put him in a chair.” She kept her nose close to the wound as she worked out Cherry was about to protest. “We’re not doing surgical work here, girl. We do that later. This is meatball. Get ‘em on the table, patch them up and get them OFF the table so you can save the next. Ever had one die on you?”

“N..no,” Cherry stammered. “Well… simulations.”

“Congrats,” she told her as she started to stitch the Mican up, “you’ll probably break that duck today.”

Cherry swallowed as an attendant put a Canine on the bed, leaking blood over the table from a rupture in her side. She applied the local anaesthetic they were using and got to work, looking to put the duck breaking off as long as she could.


Pallik stopped running as he found Rawton’s troop and swallowed, gathering his thoughts and courage. “Where ya running to with your Chickadee,” the Lappinean asked coyly. “An’ with such a fine gun?”

“Uh, away… away from the stock rooms,” Pallik stammered. “Captain’s fighting some massive Rottian there…”

He didn’t get further as Rawton joined the list of people slamming him up against bulkheads today. “AND YOU JUST LEFT HIM,” Rawton roared into his face, slathering it in saliva before he threw Pallik away. “Time to run,” he told himself, tearing off towards the stock rooms.

“You probably did right,” Waven consoled the pair. “Captain hates people getting involved in his fights. Unless invited.” The ship shuddered and something crashed. The lights went out in the area. “Good job two engineers are here, eh,” she added.


“I knew you’d taken it,” Chula goaded, spitting out a tooth. “Soon as we got word of the ‘big Celican’ who led the raid, I knew it was you or Gallen.”

Savra growled through the wounds. “Haven’t hit you in the head enough, obviously.”

“We’ll never let up while you have it, Savra,” Chula threatened. “Make it eas…” He never finished as the Captain slashed across his stubbed face with his fingerclaws. “Fair enough,” he said instead, shoving Savra back and into the barrels of fertility lengthening chemicals. “We’ll just have to deal with this another way. To the pity of your clan and the places you call home. He threw a container at Savra to keep him back and spoke to his comm. “Seems we have company,” he added after relaying his instructions. “Shame I must be going,” he added a few seconds before Rawton’s blade entered the fray, tearing through the space just after Chula left it in a cloud of sparkles.


“You ‘Kay, boss,” Rawton said, slipping in the spilled chemicals and only just keeping his footing as he offered to help Savra up.

The Captain batted his hand away. “NEVER interfere in my fights, Rawton!”

“Weren’t looking to,” the Lappinean mooted as the ship shook again. “Plus it ain’t done yet, is it?”

“No,” Savra growled. So, now he knew WHY...
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Well if the SHAKING ship didn't give you an indication that this wasn't over yet I'm not sure what will. I do know it will all pan out well though.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

You’re really good at keeping the geography and sense of your fight scenes understandable, I always struggled with that.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Probably would be something that I would end up struggling with also. Good thing I probably will never try. :oops:
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Welsh Halfwit »

THIRTY-SIX

Savra hurried back towards the bridge as things shuddered and shook around him and he put his whip back together. Obviously the Dewless had gained some sort of advanced teleport system, enabling people to halve the time in teleport or something, judging by how Chula had gotten in and out. He tried not to think how much of an advantage that could give them in battle. That way led to fear and fear didn’t help him. He pushed away the Feline attempting to stem the bleeding from his face after she’d dealt with the important one over his eye. The rest could wait, that one could have gotten into his eyes. A conduit blew out, distracting the cat with several more wounded to deal with. He stepped over one of the fallen forms. Nothing he could do for them. He wasn’t a medic. Someone was breathing heavy. Another field type was running a scanner over them.

“Lung’s going,” he heard the Lappinean state. “I can’t… I haven’t…”

He put his hand on the Rabbit’s shoulder. “This one going to live,” he asked.

The Lappinean looked up at him. “I doubt it, sir. Lung’s too badly gone. Internal organs are shutting down and the leg’s broken. He has maybe twenty minutes.”

“Go deal with the others,” Savra said, pushing him away before he knelt by the Canine, slumped by the wall and panting hard. “I can speed that up,” he stated simply, waiting for the faint nod from the crewman before he brought his hands up to the throat and squeezed hard.


He stepped back onto the bridge as something exploded well behind him. “They’re targetting the engines now,” Gallen stated, “Kurmak, break that nose!” Savra looked to the science station and wondered why… the girl was manning the science station? Kurmak was at port side dispersal weapons, targetting the lighter weapons on the enemy craft. He had to say he agreed with the idea, removing the weapons from automatic and putting them in the hands of a dedicated operator who just might surprise… Another shot.

“Our shields at ten, uh, percent,” Shandy called.

“I’ll deal with it,” Savra told them, making half of them jump as he leaned over the girl to enter several commands. He knew how to reroute power to shielding and how to manipulate the generators to weaken some and strengthen others. “Move, kid,” he stated, dripping blood on the girl.

“Of… Of course, sir,” she stated, moving back to her seat.

This, Savra told himself, was why he’d watched Kurmak do this hundreds of times. He was no scientist but he’d made a point to gain at least a working knowledge of all bridge systems and consoles and he’d consulted with Gallen on what this meant. It meant that, for now, HE was the science Officer and Gallen gave the commands. After the emergency, when others were available… “Their shields have fallen in quadrant seven,” he snapped. “Hastur..,” he began to order, before remembering he wasn’t in command.

“Target it, Hastur,” Gallen commanded. The Dober complied, lashing fire from the cannons – which Savra could see were operating at seventy percent power right now - across the distance, punching beautifully through the hull and blasting a section into free space. Savra watched the fountain of debris and bodies spill out for a few seconds before turning back to his screen.

“Manoeuvrings going sluggish,” Janus chipped in.

Savra ran a few checks he’d often ordered Kurmak to do. “Looks like they’ve done some damage to the engines,” he reported.

“Thank you, sir,” Gallen said in a clipped tone, “but I think Pantha should confirm that. Bridge to Pantha.”


Pantha paused to answer, her mind a bit confused by the fact Hubby was calling, not the boss. She hit her comm and kept working, diverting power flows around damaged systems so her team could carry out repairs. “Bit busy here, Love,” she said, “the engine’s on fire. We’re keeping it more or less stable but only by limiting the power through it! How’s it going up there?”


Gallen frowned at the screen. “We’re holding the enemy,” he told her. “What’s their shield status, sir,” he ‘commanded’, turning to Savra.

“She’s strengthening aft shields,” Savra said, wondering if he was reading the details correct as Hastur almost confirmed the fact by punching through towards the front. The blast ripped through the side of the ship as it was turning and aided its spin as it carried through the ship and out through the top of the hull, missing what might be the bridge by a mere hundred yards. Before she could take another shot, the strongest shields were facing them and… What..? the Dewless Clan ship… was leaving? She’d powered up her still working engines and was making space away from the failing Kerbal. Savra grunted. He supposed it was about right. “Time to switch, Gallen,” he stated, standing up as Janus tried and failed to keep pace with the ship. “Merran,” he stated, “Long range comms working?”

The Mican indicated the Engineer working under her console. “Long range is out, sir. Ship to ship is operational.”

“Soon as it’s up, contact Clan central. Put them through to me. You still earwigging, Pantha?”

<”I am. We’ll have the engines back close to full power in two hour…”>

“You have thirty minutes…”

<”I don’t fudge my times, Captain.”> Pantha interrupted angrily, <”If I SAY two hours, I MEAN two hours! Things are barely functioning down here. In thirty I MIGHT be able to get you velocity two but three and higher is right out!”>

Savra held his temper just under the surface. He knew the boy, the girl and his first were listening. His face hurt, his body hurt. Everything hurt. He gripped his fists tightly and ground his teeth. “Velocity two,” he said venomously. “Half an hour.” He indicated for Gallen to cut the line and the first complied. “Gallen,” he said darkly, “whilst we’re waiting on your mate, you’re getting a suit on and taking a shuttle out into that lot.” He indicated the screen. “Pick up anything important. And I’m including bodies in that. Perhaps Vera can harvest some organs. Are you still here,” he demanded. Gallen had the idea to leave.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Harry Johnathan »

Welsh Halfwit wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:36 pm “Go deal with the others,” Savra said, pushing him away before he knelt by the Canine, slumped by the wall and panting hard. “I can speed that up,” he stated simply, waiting for the faint nod from the crewman before he brought his hands up to the throat and squeezed hard.
Wasn’t expecting to cry while reading this story but here we are.
Welsh Halfwit wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:36 pm “Pick up anything important. And I’m including bodies in that. Perhaps Vera can harvest some organs. Are you still here,” he demanded. Gallen had the idea to leave.
The comedic sociopathy of the entire ship never fails to amuse me.
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Re: SAVRA - CHANGE MACHINE

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Kind of a dark chapter but it worked well with the story! Looking forward to the next installment!
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