Changing of the Guard, Part Two

[Patches]

Patches's voice--"Previously, on Plunder's Heart"

"Europa. Here's where we claim our prize." Captain Hart's voice, superimposed over the Plunder flying low over a frozen landscape towards the half-buried alien ship.

Cassi, standing with Jo and Morgan, "I'm not a kid anymore, I can fight."

Jo's reply, "Alright, Princess."

TK, standing in front of thre scientists on the Alien Ship, his talking then being superimposed over him getting a massive information feedback from the computer. “OK kiddies, I'm about to offer you the deal of a lifetime. We're taking this ship. There's no arguing about that."

Tech's voice, "The...the AI is in charge of most of the ship but it...it's insane. The last time it was activated, it nearly killed everyone on the ship." , over the sight of the AI's blue-white core firing to life.

Then shots of all of the mages suddenly normal. "Lockdown Complete." superimposed over them.

"Morgan, you sonofabitch." Andi's voice said. "You're pregnant Cassi. You'll have to get married now."

"Oh my God. Clara." Jo's voice superimposed over pictures of a Crusader male and female. "I know who the source has."

The AI regarded her with interest. "You know the whereabouts of the Source? Can you take me to them? Perhaps help me contain her once again?"

"Not so fast, sparky." Jo's reply. "I want to make a deal. We'll help you not only end this once and for all, and get rid of the Source, but also find a way to stop the Source from controling mages and find out why it's not spreading to everyone else. But only on one condition."

"And that is?" The AI asked.

"You are my ship. I am your Captain. I'm not asking for slavery, though. You're a machine, but you're intelligent. I'm asking you join my crew. We'll take care of you, help you in your mission, and, in turn, help us out. Deal?" The fire haired female offered.

"...I do not suppose I have a choice. In order to complete my holy mission, I will need help. Very well. Captain." The AI paused. "Oh, this is going to hurt."

The fire-haired woman looked questioningly at her for a moment before a bright blue-white light shot from under her eyepatch, sending her reeling back and crying out in pain.

"We are now bonded in mind. That eye is my link to your mind. In this respect, Captain and Ship, we are now One." Patches' voice, superimposed over the blinding blue-white light.

"This alien vessel is now officially my ship. It will, thusly, have my name. Plunder's Heart." Hart's voice to the assembled crew.

"Jo, we've got Mamba Warships inbound, about a dozen." Cassi's vision of Morgan ordering Stouton to fire. "I'm not sure how long I can...."

Jane, interfacing with the ship, thinking, "This is so cool."

Emerald Tree Boa, saying, "Send the signal to Taipan's guests. Hail the Heart Breaker. Time to say hello to my dear older brother."

Superimposed over Miller falling over and bleeding, then being taken to the Med Bay. "I can stall the nanomachines, but we will be completely defenseless."

-------

Changing of the Guard, Part Two

All over the ship, power began to flicker and fail.

"Patches." Admiral Hart said from the bridge. "What's going on?"

"Saving Miller's life, Captain." The AI replied. "Believe me, this is not my first choice."

***

In the med bay, a slightly shimmering field surrounded Miller, then faded. Patches's hologram flickered. "All non-essential power is being routed to keeping Mr. Miller alive. Do not waste the opportinity. And hurry." The hologram faded.

[T.K.]

T.K., Angel, and Shiyounin were working as quickly as they could to prep the engines, and make sure nothing unexpected would occur when the tried to blast off this rock.

He had to give the Crusader's some credit. These engines were something else. Parts were missing, no doubt swiped by the EU scientists, but it wasn't seriously hampering things. While highly complicated, the systems were slowly becoming familiar to T.K., probably at a rate that should have been frightening to him, but they didn't have time for him to start freaking out. That could wait until AFTER they got away from the snakes.

He was reaching for some parts he had set aside, when the lights started to flicker, then fail.

<Well, that doesn't bode well.>

Thinking quickly, he grabbed his tablet, and quickly typed out a message, before showing it to Shiyounin.

>>If this was the Plunder, I could easily do this in the dark. These systems however, I need to see. Hate to do this Shiyou, but I'm going to have to turn you off temporarily. I need to modify your PHI to generate more light. It should only take a few minutes.<<

Shiyou sighed, getting ready to switch off, before suddenly spinning to fix him with a dirty look.

“You're going to turn me into a glorified flashlight!”

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

"Katy, get that transfusion machine up! I need a full array of type A negative! Patches, do you have anything in here that can act as a powerful magnet?"

Andromeda was already working a mile a minute, checking Miller's vitals and administering what medication she could to try and stabilize him as best she could. Katy was already doing her best to set up for the blood transfusion. It was the best idea Andromeda could come up with. Fasten a powerful magnet to the transfusion machine and draw out the nanos while his blood was being filtered.

In moments, with Patches' help, they had the somewhat complicated alien technology hooked up and operational. Andromeda watched Miller's vitals and the progress of the treatment like a hawk, barely moving. Slowly, somewhat agonizingly so, the nanos began filtering out of his body.

And then Patches' hologram suddenly stiffened.

"There are several avatar-mecha inbound, ETA fifteen minutes. I'm defenseless in this current state. I need some sort of protection or this is going to be a complete waste of time."

A moment later, Josetta's voice rang out across the ship. "Willie, Jane, Ulysses, Dane, Dagger, I need you outside keeping those mechas busy. Draw them away from the ship."

In the medbay, Willie hesitated. Clearly torn. Before Andromeda had a chance to order her out, however, the curvy pilot shot to her feet and started for the door.

"If I come back and he's dead, I'm takin' it out on somebody else," she pronounced gruffly just before she cleared the portal. While Katy's eyes went wide, Andromeda barely acknowledged the threat, recognizing it for what it was. Instead she focused on her patient, largely ignoring anything else.

[Admiral Hart]

The flickering hologram of Patches floated in front of the Admiral's face.

"Captain. I am afraid this will not be enough. I need permission to disobey my programming." The AI said in her british voice.

"Make it so." Hart replied.

"Do you not want to know what it is?" The AI asked.

"Patches, right now I have an emergency to lead. As long is it doesn't make us even more screwed, you have my permission to do it." Hart said as, in the air, data went streaming by her face.

"Very well. With the drain, it will take time." The AI winked off at about the same time the hangar doors slid open, their pilots and vehicles now in place.

Bearing down on them were several full squads of Avatars, the top-of-the-line mecha assigned to Mamba aces, as well as many high-tech, never-before-seen starfighters, all moving in formation with grace and mathematical tactical percision.

[Ulysses Grante]

Ulysses did his best to keep a lid tamped down on his riot of emotions as he followed the others into the hangar. Stark terror was mixing oddly with giddy anticipation, nervous agitation with cold determination. He was confident in his abilities, but this would be the first time he would fly something other than his parents' shuttle. Not to mention the fact that this would be the first time he would do so against hostiles so openly. Normally he went out of his way to take his enemies by surprise, not do battle head-on, out in the open. Still, he couldn't very well voice such concerns. Ulysses very much wanted to prove himself a worthy member of this crew, and the last thing he wanted was to let the Admiral down.

Therefore he ran forward as surefooted as the others and then began climbing up into the cockpit of what looked to be an ancient fighter--yet still in pristine condition. After plopping down into the seat, he reached over and began firing up the engines and going through a hurried pre-flight check while the cockpit closed around him. As the thrusters fired up and the hatch began to open beyond, the gray-skinned mage grabbed his goggles and pulled them down over his eyes, cracked his knuckles and then took hold of the controls.

“Alright, it’s show time.”

There was a pause, then, “Uly, are you sure you know how to fly that thing?” came Willie’s pained mutter through his headset. The Mage glanced to his right, where the curvy woman was already seated, strapped in and preparing to take off in her own personal Rapier class fighter. He gave her a wounded look.

“Of course I know how to fly this! It’s a piece of cake!”

In theory, he added to himself somewhat guiltily.

“Heads up, children,” Dagger suddenly called through the intercom, bringing everyone’s attention back to the slowly widening opening. A whole mess of enemy fighters and avatars were on a somewhat speedy intercept.

“Alright,” Dane called from inside Elsa, taking charge as he was technically the senior officer, “do your best to scatter them, keep them out of tight formation. Keep ‘em flustered, keep ‘em busy. And most of all keep ‘em away from the damned ship. Willie, Jane, head aft-side. Dagger, Uly to port. I’ll head up the middle.”

A moment later all five craft were shooting out of the hanger bay as if they’d been loosed from cannons. Ulysses grimaced slightly with the amount of thrust, not quite expecting to be thrown back quite so hard into his seat because of it, but managed to recover well enough. The controls were very similar to his shuttle, enough so that the gray-skinned Mage was soon pulling the fighter into a series of complex—rather impressive—maneuvers that forced the wing of avatars he’d just flown through to do some hasty corrections to avoid colliding into one another.

A moment later, narrowly dodging a stream of retaliatory firepower, Ulysses maneuvered his fighter up right behind a duo of them.

Forgetting himself he crowed aloud. “Hah! Alright, I’m behind ‘em! Okay . . . now which one of these buttons is for firing the guns . . . .”

“Oh you gotta be shitting me,” came Willie’s angry growl through the com.

“Did he just say what I think he said?” Jane was quick to follow.

Ulysses mashed his first choice, and a satisfying volley of missiles came flying out of his ship, smashing into the hull of the mechas in front of him. “Never mind, I found it!”

[Jason Thornvaald]

"Tell me Lyra, why in the hell did I agree to this damned fool idea again?" The tall female opened her mouth to reply, but Jason continued before she could. "No, don't tell me," he snapped irritably. "It'll just piss me off more. Hand me that cutter."

Lyra turned and snatched up the small laser cutter and handed it to her Captain, sighing slightly when the pale-haired man began sawing away at the excess from the scrap they'd just secured over a hull breach. He continued to grumble under his breath while he did so.

"Mutinied. Damned ship blown to smithereens. And what brilliant idea do I get afterward? Go and swear fealty to the craziest crackpot flying the skies. We'll secure the Alien Ship, she says. I can pull it off, she says. Somehow I doubt psychotic alien AIs and getting pinned down by an entire strike-force of Mamba avatars quite fit into your plans there, Hart!" he snapped to no one in particular.

Lyra sighed a little, rolling her eyes heavenward, then shook her head slightly. After trying three times to help and Jason maneuvering around her--completing the task before she could start--Lyra sighed again. "I'll just be down the hall, helping Cooper's crew," she pronounced blandly. Jason barely twitched, continuing to rattle on a litany of complaints and blustering while he worked.

Now alone--though he hardly noticed--the massive Pirate lifted a section of scrap that most couldn't hope to budge on their own. With a slight growl, a thick coat of ice appeared across the surface and effectively glued the plate stationary long enough for him to snatch the welder off of his belt and then start fusing it permenantly in place.

[Patches]

Patches sighed at the personnel records. She seriously could not believe her luck, and not in the good way that most people meant that phrse, either.

"Attention crew. I require T. K. and Ensign Cook immediately. That is all."

While waiting for the fleshsacks, she began to prepare. On one screen, the AI--who was already very busy as it was--translated Crusader phonetically. On the other, she provided a long stream of characters in native Crusader.

"You may wish to bring a snack." She said again over the speaker. "And a bottle of water. You will be here for a while."

-------

On another part of the ship, the strike-force of Magi appeared and, right after, Gloria collapsed to the ground, grimacing heavily and holding her chest in pain. Blood leaked profusely from her nose, and her breaths were rapid and gasping.

"Out...out of mana." She said in a whimper. They had been lucky, getting here this far. Gloria had looked up trade and route schedules, and had skipped from ship to ship in rapid succession, halfway across the solar system. She had to stop for a break twice, which was fine, as it allowed the team to recover from disorienting teleportation--and, on both occasions, whett their appetite for the blood of normals.

Max sneered. "Alright. Time to find that bitch and teach her a lesson in manners."

"We complete our mission first." Christian said in a 'don't even fuck with this order' tone.

"What, it's not like you're not going after the fucking Snake." Max countered, not getting the hint either by choice or stupidity. "Why shouldn't I get a piece of..."

And then Max struck a bulkhead. The hot-headed mage snarled, his hands glowing with plasma that quickly faded when Stefan stepped forward.

"Save it for the mission." He replied. "This is already suicide. Don't need you trying to kill us before we can die for the cause."

Christian seemed to ignore that, probably because he was feeling it too. "Stefan, Rascal. Guard Gloria. She's our escape route. The rest of you come with me. We need to find a way to put this ship out of comission for good."

Rascal looked at their surroundings a bit uneasily. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this place."

Truth be told, every mage there felt the same thing. "All the better reason to waste it faster." Stoic Siegfried replied.

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Toby wrung his hands silently as he watched Dr. Andromeda and Katy work to save Mr. Miller's life. A large part of him was confident that Andromeda would succeed--it seemed impossible that she could ever fail, she was so confident and self-assured all the time--yet another part of him was reacting to the tension and stress in the room. His powers were sort of fritzing as a result, sending up intermittent sparks of blue-white light as the forks of energy danced across his pale, lightly scaled skin.

After a while, and especially brilliant discharge caught Andromeda's eye. She winced in sympathy before giving him a tight smile. "I sure could use something to drink, Toby," she murmured softly. "Do you think you could try to scrounge something up for me, hon?"

The twelve year old hesitated only a moment before nodding readily, absently signing his agreement as well before turning on his heel and darting out of the medical bay. The young mage passed by several work crews on the alien ship, silent other than the soft clack of his shoes on the floor. He turned his feet toward the cargo area, where he'd find the old Plunder's Heart and could sneak on board to the galley, and then skid to an abrupt stop.

For a moment, Toby could do nothing but stare in shock and he was likewise stared at by the group of teens he'd just unceremoniously discovered. In the front was the mean Christian, behind him the jerk Stefan and that muscle-bound Seigfried, and beside him pretty Amanda stood, her tiny wings fluttering restlessly. There were a few others he didn't recognize as well. Slowly, his shock started bleeding into horror.

They were Clara's soldiers now. The enemy. And somehow, they were on board the ship. At about the time he finally caught up to that realization, however, Christian suddenly snarled and leapt forward. Before the younger boy even had a chance to comprehend what was going on, the powerful Mamba-trained mage had him grabbed and subdued with ridiculous ease. Toby let out a silent whimper as the larger male's clawed fingers pinched his neck and shoulder in such a way as to cause near excruciating pain.

"Who the hell is this little runt?" one of the ones he didn't recognize spouted in a hissing whisper. Amanda, face stricken, answered.

"Toby."

"Our meal-ticket," Christian announced just afterward. "I'm sure you've figured out your way around here, haven't you kid," he demanded in a deadly growl, turning him around and forcing Toby to look at him. Christian seemed larger than life, his eerie cat-like eyes glaring at him in such a way as to make the smaller boy start to shake with pure terror. "You're gonna take us to the power source of this eerie-ass piece of work."

Though terrified, Toby managed to somehow firm his chin and shake his head. He had to stop as those claws dug a little deeper, and his knees almost buckled with the pain. He let out another near-silent cry.

"You'll do as I say, runt, or I'll rip your throat out and be done with you," he snarled harshly.

Horrifically enough Toby felt the biting stab of tears flood his starburst eyes, but clenched his fists until his claw-like nails started digging painfully into his palms. When he didn't make any other protest, Christian decided that he'd been properly subdued.

"Alright, where the hell is it?"

Toby thought frantically, in no way willing to betray the people who had loved him and taken care of him when no one else would. He suddenly remembered just who he'd passed on the way here and struggled not to show his sudden surge of hope. Instead he put on a good show of pointing back the way he'd come with trembling fingers. Christian glanced down the empty corridor, then growled and shoved him into Stefan's grip.

"You better not be trying to pull something, runt," he growled threateningly. "Cause if you are, I'll kill you, and then I'll go claw the shit out of that pretty doctor you're so damned enamored with, just for the hell of it."

Cold terror almost forced Toby to stop, but he managed to hold the impulse back. Christian wouldn't be able to hurt Andromeda if his plan worked. And besides, Captain Hart would never let anyone hurt the doctor. Toby tried to comfort himself with this knowledge--as well as ignore the wide-eyed stare Amanda was tossing him or the hold she kept on Seigfried's hand--as the group started down the hall.

They moved stealthily and, indeed, ever closer to the 'engine' room that Patches had called T.K. and Cook to moments before. It was also where the massive, powerful Captain Scarsgaard and a number of other pirates were currently freezing/welding pieces of metal to the swiss-cheese riddled walls, as well. Unfortunately Christian didn't barrel around the corner and reveal his presence like Toby was hoping. The young mage started trembling anew when the feline-like teen whirled from where he'd surruptitiously peeked around the corner.

"Are you playin' with me, kid?" he snapped angrily.

Toby knew he only had a very small window before Christian eviscerated him. Summoning reserves of strength he didn't even know he had, Toby planted his elbow in Stefan's gut--forcing the other teen to release his hold on him with a pained oof--and then ran forward and speared Christian in the middle. The surprise of the maneuver caught the stronger teen off-guard, shoving him backward and then completely onto his back with a loud thump.

Right in the middle of the hallway.

A moment later Toby was flying off of Christian from a near-surgical kick, causing the small boy to fly back into the wall with a thump and then not get back up right away. The damage had been done, however. Toby felt the immediate area around him start to get very, very cold.

"What the fuck," came Captain Scarsgaard's low, dangerous growl.

Somehow Toby managed to push back up to his knees. And as the group of grim-faced mages slowly stepped out to face off with the surprised/confused pirates, Toby himself held his hands out at either side of him. With a scowling grimace of concentration, a painfully brilliant ball of blue-white electricity errupted around them, forking back and forth wildly.

[T.K.]

T.K. had just finished inspecting the main engines, when Patches announcement had come over the Com.

<Now what was that insane A.I. up to? Oh well, better go find out, before it decides to do something worse to me.>

>>OK you two, lets go see what our Glorious Overlord wants now.<<

They gathered up their tools, and T.K. quickly set Shiyou back to normal as they emerged into a section with normal Emergency lighting.

A quick trip to restock some equipment, as well as to gather some food supplies, and they were on their way.

T.K. was happily munching on some of his Pocky, when they rounded the corner, and emerged into a miniature War-zone.

He sighed before unstrapping Shinigami, and bracing her on his shoulder.

>>Lets get through this mess as quickly as possible. No one take any stupid risks. That's why we have Thorn.<<

They carefully navigated their way through the fighting, ducking out of the way of most of the fighters, until T.K. was bumped from behind, and his remaining Pocky was knocked out of his hands.

He watched in horror as it sailed through the air, to be accidentally caught by a Mage he didn't recognize.

"What the Hell is this?"

>>Put down the Pocky kid, and I won't have to permanently maim you.<<

The Mage looked over at T.K., unable to understand what he was saying.

"What sort of freak are you? Why don't you try speaking English. You know, like everyone else."

>>Put the Pocky on the ground, and step away. Not going to warn you again.<<

Angel and Shiyou exchanged nervous glances, as they notice the knuckles turning white on the hand gripping Shinigami.

"T.K., Sir, maybe we should just find an alternate route?"

>>This isn't about the obstacle, it's about the Pocky damn-it.<<

"OK, I've had enough." Max incinerated the Pocky he was holding, oblivious to the death glare T.K. was now giving him. "And don't think I can't see you hiding behind the freak you little Traitor. I already heard all about you from the others." He gathered up plasma in both is hands, ready to obliterate both of them. "Don't worry, you'll soon have plenty of company where I'm about to-"

He was cut off, as T.K. leaped forward, and Shinigami whistled through the air. Angel and Shiyou both winced at the sound of the impact, which nearly separated Max's head from his shoulders.

T.K. glared down at the unconscious Max a moment, before looking around at some of the other fighters who had paused to stare.

>>No one disses the Pocky.<<

Not waiting for anyone to recover, T.K. started walking again, already holding a fresh packet of Pocky.

[Admiral Hart]

Hart stood on the bridge, trying very hard not to appear as worried as she was about current events.

The Mamba attck, they could handle. The strike force of angry mages, on the other hand, would prove troublesome.

"Teams A and B, follow the trail of lights to Thorn's location. We have unpleasant company." She said into her comm. "Andi, I want you to tell me the minute Miller's on his feet."

-----

Morgan stared at the main screen of the Heart Breaker, the sight of who was on it not quite registering with him for several long seconds.

"What, didn't expect t' see yer old sis, didya?" Emerald Tree Boa, also known as Reagan Halcyon, sneered. "I can expect that, what with ya goin' off the bloody map an' all."

"Rae...what the hell are you fuckin' doin' in a bloody fuckin' Mamba uniform?!" He said at last, once the speechlessness wore off.

"It were the fastest way to get many ta send home. When ye dropped off the face o' tha verse, we dinnae get any more checks from tha big priate. On toppa that, they raised the damn rent. Some'on had ta pick up the slack, brother." Reagan countered.

"Oi. And I thought bringing a Callistoan boyfriend home one year was rough family troubles." Stouton said from her station as she busily engaged all the Heart Breaker's weapons as quickly as she could.

----------

"Good of you to finally arrive." Patches said to T.K., Cook, the mage girl and the inferior AI no doubt made from reverse engineering herself. "I have, in my vaults, a repository of spells, one of which is being displayed on these screens. As you, TK, have been blessed with my creators' language, can read it pristinely, and you, Cook, have a doctorate in language studies," TK and Angel both gave the scanner officer a confused blink, to which he blushed, "You should be able to cast it. I am not alive so, regrtably, I cannot help you other than to stream it. Now, you must be completely in sinc while you chant, or else the spell will not work. Any questions?"

<<Yeah.>> The ingrate engineer said as he munched on some sort of baked confection. <<What're you making us cast?>>

"In short, the spell will give us more time. That is all you need to know and explaining the intricacies of arcane theory will take too long. Just chant and believe you are doing something. Hopefully that will be enough."

[Jason Thornvaald]

Jason wasn't entirely sure just what in the hell was going on, but then, that wasn't necessarily a requirement to him kicking some ass. Grim-faced, he quickly stepped forward to plant himself in between the nervous kid and the furred teen that he'd assaulted.

A flash of faint worry chased itself across the kid's face before it fixed into a dead-scowl of determination and acceptance. Of which set him back just a bit. Whatever the reason for being here, this kid had already accepted the fact that he was going to die trying to do it. Though Jason was well aquainted with the darker side of life, seeing such a cold decision in the eyes of a kid so young made his gut clench with pity and regret.

Of course, not near enough that he didn't immediately raise his sword and fend off the flurry of clawed blows that started raining down around him. Whoever trained this kid, he was pretty damned good. Despite some obvious attempts to break himself of the routine, his moves had the obvious stamp of Mamba training.

Jason hadn't become the second-best pirate in the solar system on charm and wit alone, however. The massive warrior held the kid at bay, all the while using his powers to lower the temperature of the air around him. Slowly, gradually, until icicles began forming in th kid's fur and it became apparent that every move was now excruciatingly painful. Finally, Jason had managed to increase the cold enough to enact one of his more devious abuses of his powers.

The furry kid made to lunge at him, but suddenly came to a jarring halt. Nearly toppling over from his forward momentum, now that his boots had just been flash-frozen to the floor.

"Down, kitty," Jason growled, darting forward and, fending off a somewhat desperate blow, managed to clock the kid across the face with the hilt of his sword. Knocking him out almost instantly.

Jason turned then with a brilliant flash of light assaulted his eyes and the smell of burning ozone hit his nostrils. He watched as one of the bigger Mages suddenly flew through the air and struck a wall, hitting his knees afterward and looking dazed. Jason eyed Toby with an amused smirk.

"Heh, not bad kid. It's always the quiet ones."

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Andromeda barely stirred from her concentration long enough to acknowledge Jo's order. She was still doggedly focused on the task at hand. They were close, just a few more minutes and the nanos would be filtered out completely.

Eventually Katy suddenly straightened from where she'd been monitoring their progress, pretty face breaking into a tentative smile. "Exchange is complete, Dr. Reyes." The android glanced back at the readouts in front of her. "Diagnostics show 0% infection remains."

Almost before she'd finished speaking, Miller's eyes suddenly snapped open. He blinked a few times, then frowned. "What . . ."

"Easy, Mr. Miller," Andromeda called, in her brisk and no-nonsense doctor-tone. She came forward, doing a few quick tests of his motor-skills and cognizance, assuring herself that he was making a full recovery.

"Captain, this is Dr. Reyes," she called into her comm. afterward. "Mr. Miller is awake, and his blood is free of nanos. He's as safe and well as I can make him."

At that moment there was an explosion somewhere without, and Miller's eyes widened. "We're still under attack?" He made to get to his feet, obviously still woozy and out of it. Thus Andromeda was able to rather easily restrain him and push him back prone.

"Not so fast, Mr. Miller. You might be out of immediate danger, but you're in no way cleared to return to combat."

[Patches]

Suddenly, in the middle of the fight, a white hologram hovered amidst everyone. A few of the mages were dragging Christian to his feet, and the lion-like teen was already starting to come to.

"Now that I have my power back, let's end this annoying little fight, shall we?" Patches said calmly. "Now, you have ten seconds to back down, get back to your teleporter, and off me."

"Why the hell should we listen to a pint-sized hologram?" Nathan sneered. Patches rolled her eyes.

"Alright then. Unknown viral mages identified as minions of the Source. Commencing Lockdown."

There was a brief glow, and then, every Revultionary mage, save for Gloria, was stripped of their powers and mage features.

[Christian Monroe]

All around him his 'forces' let out pained yelps and yells, as their powers were somehow stripped from them. Christian's voice would've probably joined them were he any less disciplined. Because the pain was excrutiating. As it was he hit one knee, already weak from the blow he'd taken to the head, staring down at his arms in shock as the golden fur that had always covered him melted away--leaving pale bare skin in its wake. His nails became blunt, normal, and the fangs receeded in his mouth to a regular human incisor.

Though he had no mirror to see, others took note of the fact that his ears became shell-shaped and his eerie cat-like eyes became a humanoid and of a clear, crystal green shade--the exact same as Alexandria Wright. As he doubled over and panted for breath, fighting for lucidity through the pain, his hair hung down in silky tendrils--no longer the thick, multi-colored shock of a mane as it had been before--of an ordinary light brown color.

Christian very slowly straightened, thin brackets around his mouth and the paleness of his face revealing the discomfort he continued to suffer. And had anyone who was currently in the room known the man, they would've been somewhat shocked at just how much he now resembled the other half of the donation of DNA that had created him. Almost eerily so.

Christian stared at the now-smug AI in front of them, feeling his gut twist with resignation. Here then was what Clara feared, and rightly so. This ship had the ability to make them all powerless. Without their magic, most of them were completely helpless. He himself was now stripped of his enhanced senses, reflexes and strength.

The only thing he had left was the training that had been beaten into him from the time he could comprehend spoken word. As well as the utter lack of fear, or the natural response of self-preservation. Only the cold, relentless drive to succeed. Any sane individual would back down at these insurmountable odds. Christian was mentally incapable of giving up. That option had been removed from his psyche long, long ago.

Instead his gaze covertly scanned the room, memorizing the layout in an instant, identifying any possible escape routes as well as assessing the current threats. Picking out where and how the easiest weapon would be obtained, and how best to use it once he got a hold of it. In the end, despite his own personal feelings on the matter, when it came down to it, Christian Monroe was as much a member of Mamba as the two famous individuals who had inadvertantly spawned him.

With no other option left to survive, it seemed he would now be forced to put that training to good use.

[Beau Altair]

Beau slipped through the halls of the alien ship on silent feet, his rifle primed but currently pointed downward. The sniper followed the directions he'd gleaned from a somewhat startled Cassi only moments before.

"The Mages are on the ship," he'd announced urgently.

"I know, I heard," she had responded, looking slightly haunted and more than a little distressed.

"There's only one way they could've gotten here," he'd continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Gloria has to be with them." When Cassi nodded, biting her lip, Beau felt his heart start to kick against his ribs in anticipation. "Tell me where she's at."

Cassi had given him an odd look, obviously surprised. "You want to go off and find her? Alone? That's dangerous, Beau. She's their escape route, she'll be be protected, Christian would never leave her alone--,"

"I don't have time to argue about this!" he'd snapped somewhat roughly. "Please, Cassi," he continued after a moment of her stunned silence. "I have to find her."

She'd stared at him a moment longer before a softening came to her face, then she nodded. Her metallic eyes began to swirl only for a moment before she'd told him where the girl was hiding and how to get there. "Be careful, Beau," she'd cautioned again as he turned to immediately pelt in that direction. "Stefan and Rascal are guarding her."

Beau didn't give a damn who was guarding her, however. Nothing else mattered but getting the chance to see her again, to try and convince her how much she meant to him, to try and make her stay. These last few weeks, there'd not been a whole lot of time to do much of anything but stew in his own thoughts. Remembering all of the times they'd spoken months ago, every small gesture and consideration she'd given him. Realizing just how much she'd cared about him when he'd been too blind to see it, and the knowledge of that fueled his own heart.

Beau neared her current location and slowed to a more cautious speed, flattening himself against the wall before inching toward the corner of the hall and then taking a quick peek. Stefan and Rascal were currently engrossed in being really uncomfortable, apparently, for whatever reason, and weren't paying attention to the hallway or their pretty charge sitting behind them. Gloria looked up and saw him, however, and after a slight gasp and a flare of her eyes, she suddenly disappeared.

Only to reappear right next to him.

"Glor--," She cut off his whisper by smacking a hand over his mouth. In another breath, he was suddenly standing in the dark somewhere, the space small and crowded with objects, he wasn't entirely sure just what due to not being able to see.

While blind, however, Beau could still feel perfectly fine. He groaned as Gloria pressed herself to his front as soon as they reappeared, her soft curves flattening against his harder contour, before her arms curled around his neck and she was pulling him down for a kiss. This one was even more wild than the ones they'd had before, tinged with desperation. And fear.

She was kissing him like this would be the very last chance she'd ever have to do so.

Beau kissed her back, a soft growl rolling out of his chest at the thought of losing her, his fists curling around her hips as if he thought to physically hold her to him somehow. It was several moments before they eased apart, both breathing heavily from lack of air.

"Gloria," he heaved. The blue-haired girl shook her head.

"No, don't."

"Yes," he growled back, his arms curling around her waist. "You started this, dammit."

"I don't want to waste time talking," she hissed. His hold was tight enough that he could feel the way she was shivering slightly, and something told Beau it wasn't entirely from desire. The hoarseness of her voice betrayed her fatigue. "I don't have a lot of time."

"You have plenty of time," he shot back, cuddling her closer. "The Captain took Cassi back, I'm sure she'd let you back."

"I can't," she whispered then, tone even more rough. This time with pained regret.

"Yes you can," he insisted fiercely, his own heart in his throat. "Please, Gloria. Baby. Stay with me."

He felt the wetness on his chest before he heard her breath hitch in a sob. "I'm sorry, Beau. I can't."

And then, before he could say or do anything else, she was gone again. The sniper stood in silence for a heartbeat or two before growling loud and suddenly planting his fist into the wall beside him with a loud, satisfying thud.