Difference between revisions of "Falling into the Theraxians Trap"

Cavalier pushed open the door to the UNTIL HQ building, quickly crossing the lobby area with Kr'anri meeting up with D.A.W.N. as she cut out her jets, landing on the floor; “You guys took your time.” smirked D.A.W.N. “Considering we can’t fly at all, we’re just in time.” Cavalier winked The trio cleared security and stepped into the turbo lift, the glass doors sealed slowly. A low humming noise sounded in the background as the lift powered past an almost innumerable amount of floors; Kr'anri watched in awe as the lights from each floor flew by, flashing only for a moment before vanishing. The lift slowed down as it reached its final destination; the glass doors slid open accompanied by a pneumatic hiss as the turbo lift touched down at the top level in the UNTIL HQ in Millennium City. Stepping out from behind the thin veil of smoke from the lift doors, Cavalier quickly made his way down the stairs towards security. He stood still as the security drone scanned him quickly identifying him and allowing him access. He carried onwards through several sets of doors towards a group of power armored guards. D.A.W.N. and Kr'anri followed suit, quickly catching up to Cavalier who was already speaking to the guards;

“Evening Agent Henderson, glad to hear you managed to capture those super villains earlier. Here’s hoping they stay locked up this time. Agent Mitchell here is new on the job, still getting used to the power armor. Isn’t that right Mitchell?” smirked Agent Anderson

Agent Anderson pointed towards the fumbling UNTIL agent beside him, who had somehow managed to get his arm wedged in a wall and was desperately attempting to remove his arm before anyone else found him.

“Y-Yeah, god this thing can be a pain…” mumbled Agent Mitchell

“No time for small talk this time around guys. We’re needed at UNITY level immediately, if you could just let us through that would be great, time really isn’t on our side.” Cavalier replied

“You need access to UNITY? I’m certain you need a certain level of security clearance to be allowed access to UNITY, I’ll have to check the system first…” sighed Agent Anderson

“Look, we really don’t have the time for this; we need to get there right now.” D.A.W.N. urged

“Relax, it won’t take a moment, you could help Mitchell whilst you wait? It’ll only take a second I promise.” assured Agent Anderson

---

A pneumatic hiss sounded throughout the fairly empty lobby signalling the arrival of another person, as the turbo lift made its second journey from street level into the UNTIL HQ; Mentella stepped out of the turbo lift, waving away the copious amounts of steam from the lift doors and made her way over towards the group, her heels clicking against the metal flooring. She turned the corner, descending the steps as the turbo lift hissed open as Vitality walked out of the lift, making his way down the stairs; he hardly noticed Mentella as he walked past her almost as if in a daze. Her left eyebrow arched as she eyed him. A number of raised voices to her right stopped her musing, she turned to see Cavalier, D.A.W.N. and Kr'anri conversing with the guards, they seemed to be discussing something with the security detail, she turned descended the steps in time to pick up the guard mid-sentence;

“…but I’m sorry, all personnel need security checks before I can let you through. The system’s through 58% of the security check; just show some patience.”

“I was contacted by Bryan Master himself requesting Delta’s presence immediately.” Cavalier replied growing irritated with the guards as the seconds flew by.

“Bryan Master? Oh, I’m terribly sorry, you should’ve said, I-I-uh…please go right though.” stammered Agent Anderson.

He cancelled the security check and quickly entered a passcode into his armored gauntlet, the wall panels in front of them suddenly fractured into five panels which slowly broke apart, drawing away from the center of the fracture and into the floor and parts of the ceiling. The next room systematically lit up as they made their way to the elevator at the end, each step activating the floor lighting for the next. Kr'anri’s eyes widened slightly at this;

“Kr'anri wants to know, where are we going to?” she asked looking at D.A.W.N.

“To UNITY, it’s a sub-division of sorts; it deals with higher level threats.” D.A.W.N. replied

Kr'anri nodded at this as they were escorted towards the secondary turbo lift by the UNTIL Security Guards. They stepped onto a platform as it descended down through a relatively dark passage way, brief flashes of light from different levels of UNTIL cutting through the darkness of the elevator shaft intermittently. After a few minutes of travel the platform slowed down, revealing the final destination point, UNITY HQ. A tall, slim man wearing a white lab coat with the UNITY insignia above the chest came into view; he stood waiting with a small smile on his face. Cavalier nodded as he greeted his friend;

“Bryan, it’s definitely been a while, it’s good to see you. What’s the situation? We heard it was urgent.”

“I wish we were meeting under better circumstances Danny, but it is still good to see you. As for the situation; at twenty two hundred hours, Project Stargazer’s “Early warning system” alerted us to a vessel. As you can imagine we weren’t too happy to discover that this sudden guest seemed to have somehow bypassed our early warning system and had already been in Earth’s orbit for quite a while. That’s all I’m aware of at this point in time; Project Stargazer’s outer space location does undoubtedly provide them with a better position in which to deal with this potential threat. They’ve requested that you and your team meet with them immediately.” he explained

“We are grateful for the information Agent Master, how will we be getting to Stargazer’s outpost?” asked D.A.W.N.

“Funny you should ask actually, we’ve got a prototype teleportation device actually, it’s a fairly recent addition and it has a direct link to Stargazer’s outpost as well as a few other locations on Earth. If you’d all follow me, we can prep you and begin the teleportation sequence. It’s got quite a high energy cost, so we’ll be sending you as a group.” Bryan replied

“Aside from what you’ve already told us, Stargazer hasn’t provided you with any additional information at all? Such as if this ‘guest’ was armed?” asked Mentella

“Sadly not, they sounded pretty anxious though.”

“I see.”

As she made her way to the teleport along with the others, a sudden wave of muffled sounds streamed in from a psychic link. Opening up the link, Mentella was quickly inundated with her youngest sister’s voice.

< I’msorryIdidn’tcontactyousoonerbutIgotsidetrackedel’saithisisreallyinterestingactuallyand… > ~ Techna Ology

< J’asira! Slow down, what are you talking about? > ~ Mentella

< Sorry…anyway, I’ve been tracking a vessel from deep space for some time now using my probes and noticed this one was set on a course for Earth. Its shielding and cloaking technology allowed it to completely bypass Project Stargazer’s early warning system. > ~ Techna Ology

< I see. I’m assuming you had something to do with why they picked it up fifteen minutes ago? > ~ Mentella

Techna Ology sent a devious mental grin in response to her sister’s question;

< What can you tell me about it? > ~ Mentella

< Well…it’s still shielded from terrestrial scanners and military satellites in terms of defensive measures but it sticks out like the large ominous vessel orbiting the Earth at 50,000km in geostationary orbit that it is. For an old looking vessel, it’s packing some decent technology, most security protocols are protected by walls of encryptions. I’ve only managed so far to turn its cloaking system offline. I’m picking up teleportation dampeners as well as shield generators amongst other things. Its shielding is making it a pain to properly scan it; I’ll be trying to get that offline as soon as I can. > ~ Techna Ology

< Try and extrapolate as much data as you can and shut it down; it is highly unlikely this vessel is benevolent. I’ll be passing this information onto Stargazer once I reach their outpost with Delta. > ~ Mentella

< Delta? As in Cavalier is with you?! Can you wait for me to join you?! I'll be-- > ~ Techna Ology

< Focus on the task at hand. I’m sure you'll be able to speak to him later. > ~ Mentella

She closed the psychic link as she stepped onto the teleport pad; the floor panelling below them lit up and the outer panels lit up one by one as the teleportation device powered up. Bryan manned the controls as the digital display rose towards the one hundred percent mark; he typed away furiously as the panels along the outside of the teleport pad shone brilliantly. An alarm sounded in the room as the screen flashed; Bryan’s gloved hand hovered above the green button as he looked up towards the heroes;

“Be sure to contact us when you get to Project Stargazer’s outpost.” Bryan called before pushing down on the ‘TELEPORT’ button on the control panel.

The electronics in the room seemed to fluctuate slightly as the teleportation device fired; a blinding light rose from the teleport pad, simultaneously encompassing and partially blinding the group of heroes as they vanished from sight. Bryan removed his forearm from over his eyes and turned back towards the teleportation pad which had started to smoke slightly; he waved away the smell of heated circuits.

“Well, at least it worked…” he mumbled.

---

Some 50,000km above Earth, Draydeon’s eyes burned a fiery golden yellow as he waited patiently for word of his plan; he walked around the room before making his way to the prisoner holding block aboard the vessel. He spotted Adonia carrying a bronze helmet, before setting it down on a nearby ledge;

“Adonia, tell me, did the sabotage work?” asked Draydeon

“As planned, we have almost completed the preparations for their arrival, the technological sabotage did not fail, and the teleportation device is bringing them here as we speak.” she answered

A wicked grin quickly spread across Draydeon’s face as he relished the news he’d received. He looked up at the monstrous hybrid guards clad in their bronze armor; Adonia placed the helmet on the final guard’s head, sealing it as tight as possible. The guard straightened out to his full height of twenty feet and looked down at the two Theraxians. Adonia flew up facing the guard; it looked back up at her and nodded. Adonia pulled her arms back as her fists burned brightly; she unleashed a beam of energy, aggressively forcing bright gold energy into the helmet causing it to glow. She flew back as the guard grunted as its pale skin cracked open, thick lines of golden energy filling the cracks. Draydeon smiled as he witnessed the assimilation of yet another hybrid;

“Good work Adonia. The sight of them and their…power alone makes me wish they could be of use against the heroes. If they were able to our escape restraints without killing themselves that is…” laughed Draydeon

Draydeon turned towards Zultaer who was fitting collars on a group of shorter, more muscular guards; the collars activated at the press of a button and the guards growled as their eyes bulged out, their veins pulsing with a sickly combination of green and yellow energy. Gidrean hovered into the room, android duplicates of himself and the other Theraxians in tow;

“Draydeon, Adonia, the duplicates are ready and so are the restraints, we have mere moments until they arrive.” announced Gidrean

Draydeon nodded and made his way out of the prisoner holding block, as Gidrean summoned the androids forward, positioning them in place. Zultaer activated the army of guards and simultaneously put the automatic prisoner restraints online. The floor panels lit up signalling to the hybrids to approach them; they stood on the panels as they began to lower themselves into the floor, sealing them over. Zultaer tapped away at the panel before him as the solid door began to descend on the prisoner block, the control panel was drawn into the floor and the duplicates positioned themselves at the entrance of each of the four prison cell blocks, each to their respective hallways in expectation of their prisoners. The Theraxians stepped out of the room, Draydeon smirking to himself as the door sealed the block off from the rest of the ship.

Moments later four pulses of bright white light flashed simultaneously in each of the smaller hallways of the prison cell block. Kr'anri shook her head fervently as she tried to shake off the feeling of the horrible transportation, her stomach threatening to remind her of what she’d eaten hours earlier. Her head was pounding and every one of her instincts told her to escape as soon as possible. She opened her eyes, quickly adapting to the very low levels of light in the room, granting her relative night vision allowing her to take in her surroundings; the room she was in was almost pitch black, except for the dim light shining through a slit in the large door of her cell. Her head continued to pound against her skull, as if to warn her of impending danger;

“Kr'anri’s brain wants to leave? Kr'anri says no…” she groaned

The pounding sensation soon abated and Kr'anri quickly realized her movement was greatly restricted as she attempted to move her hands which were confined by two silver bracelets, each with a small circle on them pulsing green. She looked down to see a band of metal around her midsection anchoring her to the wall; Kr'anri struggled, screamed and kicked, accidentally activating her com-link as she attempted to free herself. Her distress filled cries sounding through the ear pieces of her team members as a high pitched whine.

---

Cavalier stirred as Kr’anri’s cries pierced the thick veil of unconsciousness shrouding his mind, quickly scanning his surroundings; the cell seemed to be primarily comprised of bronze and stone with dull metallic looking floors and dim lights which flickered intermittently. He looked down, noting he was suspended at least eight feet off the ground; his restraints binding him at his arms, legs and neck. The cell door looked as if it were almost medieval; however upon closer inspection the bars on the cell crackled with energy, threatening to incinerate any one close enough. Looking out beyond his cell he saw a dimly lit corridor of sorts; he could just make out the opposing cell in the darkness. Turning his attention to the com-link, he started to speak into it;

“Kr'anri calm down, I…” he started

“Kr'anri IS NOT A PET!” she screamed

“I know. Look, I’ll get you out okay?” continued Cavalier

“Kr'anri…is…not a pet…” she sniffed

“I know, I’ll get you out I promise. Just as soon as I’ve worked out how to get out…”

Cavalier began struggling to escape but to no avail, the bonds seemed to be incredibly powerful, he slowed his breathing and focused on generating his energy weapons when a bright column of light shone from the corridor, illuminating the outline of a vaguely familiar person. Zultaer.

“You’ll find it quite impossible to escape; we know the extent of your abilities and have prepared the restraints accordingly. All of your struggling only serves as amusement for my compatriots and I.” Zultaer explained coolly.

“Well, I do always aim to please those who are looking my way. Like what you see?” smirked Cavalier

Zultaer’s smug expression disappeared from his face faster than a dew drop in a desert. He turned on his heel, walking off but not before having the last word:

“I’m going to kill the small one first.” he sneered

His hollow laugh sounded down the corridor as he left Cavalier to contemplate his last statement.

---

Mentella woke up, picking herself up off the cold metal floor. She narrowed her eyes, her head pounding slightly from the earlier impact of being dropped into a room from a height. She carded through her hair, fixing it in place as she dusted herself off. Mentella observed her surroundings noting how bare and empty the room looked. As she attempted to focus herself, five holes in the ceiling opened up; the holes emitted to a loud rushing sound before green and purple gas was injected into the room, filling the room. Mentella looked up and around looking for an exit as the gas continually poured into the room; her eyes widening as she realized exactly what the gas was.

The lack of clean air burned her lungs as she attempted to hold onto the used but safe air she had. Her body screamed for air as she searched for a way out of the room. The burning sensation continued to intensify until she had no other choice but to breathe as the air forced its way out of her; against her will she inhaled the gas promptly dropping to the floor, as the gas infiltrated her body, vision rapidly growing dark as her conscious awareness slipped away. The last thing she saw were the two figures which had appeared in a newly opened doorway.

---

Draydeon sat in the control room with the other members of the Theraxian Vanguard, his hand firmly pushing down on a purple button as he watched the cell fill with a potent Virillian gas, guaranteed to knockout even the most resilient of foes; he smiled as Mentella’s form quickly dropped to the ground as Gidrean and Zultaer’s androids entered the room took her unconscious form to the specialized holding cell.

“Draydeon, I’m switching the other androids online in the next five seconds. It will allow us to focus on our other assignments and report back to Therax-Prime.” Zultaer informed.

Draydeon nodded and turned his attention to the next screen, looking on with pure delight as his android duplicate approached Vitality’s holding cell; he activated the androids communications system. The screen filled with Vitality’s form, his arms, neck, midsection and legs locked in the restraints in the most painful way Draydeon could imagine, as per his instructions. He watched as the android spoke to Vitality, its voice dripping with sarcasm;

“Comfortable? I do hope so; I arranged this cell especially for you. Now YOU get to feel how it is to be behind bars. Fun isn’t it?” Draydeon spat.

Vitality did not reply and just looked straight at Draydeon; despite his disorientation, his eyes conveyed a mixture of anger and the promise of immense pain to Draydeon.

“ANSWER ME HUMAN!!” Draydeon roared

Vitality stayed silent. The android drew back and smirked; it looked at Vitality with its hands hovering around the small panel by the side of the cell.

“You won’t grace me with an answer, human? As you wish. Did you know that by pressing a button here, I can cause the restraints to have a variety of effects on you? Such as…THIS!”

The android turned a dial and pressed the button on the nearby control panel; 950 volts of electricity coursed through the restraints crackling over Vitality’s body as he writhed in pain, the light from the sparks briefly illuminating the cell. The electrical current abated and Draydeon watched Vitality as he breathed heavily, attempting to regain his composure as best he could.

“Well, that was a wonderful light show.” The android leaned in closer, almost on the same level as Vitality’s as he looked up semi-wearily, “…If only Anlea could see you now…she’d see how much of a disappointment you are, not to mention how WEAK you look. Your weakness corrupted her and sealed her fate. Remember THAT human.”

“You KILLED her, YOU did. Not me. Don’t you dare blame me, don’t even MENTION her name!” Vitality shouted with barely controlled rage.

“So, you do feel something for her, oh wait, wrong tense, you DID feel something for her. Well at least that was cut short and didn’t progress any further. Well, I’d love to stay and chat with you some more, but I have to invade your world and get it ready for my people, but not before getting rid of your team and that…Xenian. You’ll be able to enjoy the evening entertainment from the screen provided.”

Draydeon turned off the voice control and ordered the android to walk away from Vitality's holding cell. Vitality looked up and as if on cue a small screen protruded from the wall, inches from his face, it flickered into life, showing an image of rotating “VoT” sign on a black background, ignoring it Vitality tilted his head, managing to force his com-link to touch his shoulder, activating it.

---

In the opposing cell block, Cavalier was still attempting to focus to generate his energy weapons at the right strength to slice through the restraints, a task proving quite troublesome thanks to the suppressant effect exerted by his restraints. He jerked his head to the right, looking up at his strange restraints, when Vitality’s voice came through the com-link;

“Cav? Dawn? Kr'anri? You guys okay?” Vitality asked.

“Yeah, I hear ya, where are you? I’m in some sort of cell, I just saw that Zultaer dude from Westside Prison.”

“Yeah, I saw just Draydeon a few moments ago. Are you alright? Have you heard from Dawn? Anyone heard from Mentella?”

“I’m fine, I’m pretty much in a similar situation to you, I’ve only just come back online, so to speak, and something was interfering with my system, just a minor glitch. And no I haven’t.” D.A.W.N. responded.

“I haven’t heard from her at all, not even a whisper.” Cavalier replied

“Kr'anri does not like this. Kr'anri is NOT a pet!” Kr'anri growled

Vitality tugged against his restraints, which seemed to be firmly in place and attached to the walls of the cell itself.

“Kr'anri wants to know, where is this?”

“From my preliminary scans we seem to be on some sort of vessel, definitely not Project Stargazer’s outer space headquarters. There’s some sort of technology at work blocking my scan, I can’t seem to get past it, but I have enough knowledge to form a map of where we are at least. All of us are either across from each other or relatively nearby, there’s a…clearing of sorts at the end connecting our corridors. I’m picking up a number of strange life forms roaming around though.” D.A.W.N. explained

“Kr'anri knows some of these words…”

“Alright, work on getting yourselves out of your restraints, take down anything that gets in your way. We haven’t got much time until they do something drastic.” Vitality instructed

D.A.W.N. flexed her hands, quickly transforming them into small scale cannons and proceeded to melt through the restraints, the restraints quickly grew lax as the increasing heat from her cannons, slowly but surely melted the metal restraints, quickly turning it into a molten mess which dripped onto the floor. She activated her propulsion systems, at full power, the heat from the jets burning through the restraints until they too joined her previous restraints as a puddle of quickly cooling molten metal on the floor.

D.A.W.N. flew close to her cell door, watching as golden energy crackled along the metal bars, her scan’s indicating an untimely demise from touching the energy laced metal bars. She conducted a brief scan before activating her com-link.

---

Vitality eyed his restraints; he concentrated his strength in his right hand, balled up his fists and pushed out against the restraint, the restraint soon began to groan before yielding, the metal restraint tore in two, releasing Vitality’s right hand. He proceeded to continue to free himself when his com-link flashed.

He clicked in his com-link as he continued freeing himself; the com-link itself was barely holding up after the electrical discharge it had endured.

“…vid? Ar……ou…kay? Dav…d?”

A garbled voice came through on his end; he flicked the com-link, which seemed to jolt something back into place. A much smoother voice came through.

“David? Are you there? David?” asked D.A.W.N.

“Yeah…I’m fine. I’m almost out of here, just about to tackle the cell door.”

“I wouldn’t touch the metal bars in front of you, they’re fully charged with enough energy to fry even you David. It’s similar to the energy the Theraxians use, only on a much higher level.” D.A.W.N. warned

Vitality pressed his index finger and thumb into his forehead as he sighed deeply. Activating his com-link he spoke;

“Cav? You there?”

“Yup, I’m here, still breaking out, almost done. Heard what Dawn said though, metal bars are a massive no no.” replied Cavalier

“Good. Can you teleport past it?” asked Vitality

A quick slicing sound could be heard across the com-link as Cavalier’s bonds dropped to the floor. He dropped down and dusted himself off and picked up his mask which had fallen to the floor. He focused on the corridor past the bars and teleported; in a pale red flash he appeared intact on the other side, completely unscathed.

“Apparently I can. I’m going to Kr'anri, she’s been radio silent for too long. I’ll be as quick as I can, hold on guys.” he whispered.

Cavalier peered around the corner into the lengthy corridor before him; three brutish looking guards stood between him and getting across to the other prison hall where Kr'anri was held. He pulled down his mask, his eyes glowing as the energy around his fists coalesced, and out of the swirling mass of energy, two claws materialized as he headed towards the guards.

---

Unbeknownst to Cavalier, Kr'anri was working on freeing herself from her current predicament, her anger mixed with her fierce determination made for a deadly combination. Through continuous twisting of her right handed restraint; soon enough her hand was loose enough for her to tug it free, however her ear piece shook loose, she watched helplessly as her ear piece fell to the floor, just out of her reach as she managed to free her arm. She sighed and focused on the second restraint on her. She reached down, poking and prodding the device around her midsection.

Her anger seemed to flare once she realized her countless prods were having minimal effect. A small screen lowered itself from the ceiling of her cell, illuminating her dark cell briefly:

“We are going to keep you as our little pet! But we are going to kill your friends first…so sit tight!” laughed Adonia

“Kr'anri does not like this…” she mumbled to herself as she fiddled with the device looking up at the face which filled the screen.

“Aww, poor you! Close your mouth you filthy little pet, be glad that we are not killing you too. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t hesitate!” hissed Adonia

“KR'ANRI IS NOT A PET! KR'ANRI DOES NOT LIKE THIS!!” she roared, shaking in her remaining restraints.

Adonia burst into a maniacal fit of laughter as the video feed cut off, leaving nothing but static. In her rage her had fist slammed down on a hidden release catch on the restraint; it beeped three times before dropping to the floor. Kr'anri made a strange contented sound as she began to swing forwards and backwards, like a pendulum until she was able to bring her feet to the wall behind with ease. The light from the screen enabled Kr'anri to look at her surroundings in better detail. She looked down noting that she was more than a few inches off the ground. Her remaining restraint seemed to be connected to thin air;

“Kr'anri does not want to fall…” she frowned as she looked around.

She looked towards the small screen which still hung from the ceiling and bit her lip. She narrowed her eyes judging the distance and leapt forwards, her claws digging into the monitor. Now stretched between both the monitor and the restraint Kr'anri expertly bent her left leg upwards and nimbly hit the release panel freeing her left arm. She pushed off the monitor, gripping onto the opposing wall, carving a pattern into the wall with her claws as she descended. The large cell door was the only obstacle in her way between being free; Kr'anri attacked the door with her claws, assaulting the offending object with a series of rapid strikes which seemed to do little more than spark slightly. Jumping back at the sight of such bright orange sparks, Kr'anri growled angrily hoping Cavalier would arrive very soon.

---

Cavalier dissipated his energy claws as the second brute in front of him fell to the bronze floor, it groaned slightly and the energy inside its helmet flickered soon dying out. Cavalier reached up to adjust his mask before turning to beckon the final guard.

“Come on, short stuff time to join your friends.” he smirked

The guard roared firing a blast of white hot energy in Cavalier’s direction. He bent over backwards allowing the blast to narrowly miss his body; he pushed himself back up and looked squarely at the guard;

“Really? That was your best? That’s a shame, I’m not going to lie, and that just wasn’t good enough buddy!” grinned Cavalier

He ran towards the slightly taller guard, continually teleporting as he drew closer to the guard. It roared, lashing out with energy whips and its armored fists, completely missing Cavalier as he dodged and teleported away from the attacks, spheres of fading pale red appeared around the guard, disorientating it. Cavalier looked up, noting the ceiling above the guard and teleported just as a golden energy tendril slashed through the sphere of red left behind as he teleported.

The guard quickly backed up, noticing its enemy’s disappearance; Cavalier crouched down, perched above a small structure jutting out of the ceiling as the guard continued to back up towards it. Seizing the opportunity, Cavalier jumped down onto the guard, plunging a pale red energy claw on his right hand into the spine of the guard, its muscles locked as the paralyzing effect of his energy claw took hold of its latest victim.

“Daniel? Kr'anri is being held directly opposite you, there are no discernible life forms in her cell corridor, but there’s a rather thick door blocking you from accessing her corridor and another in front of her cell.” D.A.W.N. helpfully supplied.

“Thanks Dawn.” Cavalier replied.

Cavalier pushed the guard to the ground before moving on, he continued running to the end of the corridor, suddenly stopping and ducking behind a pillar as five near giant sized guards slowly walked past, the energy in their helmets flickering and pulsating. Cavalier looked into the main room, noting the high number of guards in the room, alongside the four Theraxians, Draydeon, Zultaer, Adonia and Gidrean;

“Vit, Dawn, I’m at a stopping point, I hate to say it, these guys look different and there are loads of them, not to mention those guys from the prison.” Cavalier whispered into his com-link

“Different?” asked Vitality

“Different as in, they’ll turn me into paste if I go against them alone. Gonna need a distraction or something before I can get to Kr'anri.”

“Daniel, is there any way for you to get to us without alerting the guards?” asked D.A.W.N.

“Not that I can see.”

“Vitality and I can’t physically escape the cage; this energy field on the bar is dangerous. I’ll see what I can do though; I may be able to hack their on-board systems. Lay low for now.”

Cavalier sighed and crouched behind the pillar, making sure he was completely concealed by the shadow of it. He quietly observed the aliens patrolling the main room as he waited for D.A.W.N.’s signal

---

Mentella’s eyes snapped open as she finally came around, with the Virillian gas’s effects having been diminished relatively quickly thanks to her alien physiology. She began to take in her new environment, and she looked around noting the complete darkness and her extremely limited mobility. Her neck was held in place by a cold metal collar, which flashed red intermittently. Deciding she needed a better look she extracted herself from her physical body; a magenta astral projection left Mentella’s body, quickly taking the shape of her physical form. Her astral self, stepped back and noted the various restraints on her physical body and the room she was in. Inspecting her restraints she saw her wrists were bound in place by metal restraints as were her feet and midsection, the chair-like device she was restrained in seemed to be some sort of strong magnetic device locking her restraints in place with powerful magnetic fields.

She looked up towards her head noting the large and particularly dense cuboid containment restraint completely encapsulating her head. She turned around, observing the red semi-circular security field surrounding her body Mentella sighed to herself realizing she was locked in a Psychic Suppression Chamber. Despite this fact she was clearly able to sense the familiar thought patterns of Cavalier, Vitality, D.A.W.N. and Kr'anri. Her astral form turned and walked through the security field surrounding her body. She continued walking until she passed through the multiple interlocking doors ‘securing’ her; she peered out of through the doors before merging with her physical body once more.

< Techna, have you discovered anything more about this vessel, or where I am located? > ~ Mentella

< Um, yes I have, it’s a Virillian Class 6 G. A Prisoner vessel, I’m assuming they ‘commandeered’ it, there’s not anything in the Galactic Alliance database saying they purchased it. It’s got around twenty five prisoners on board and around thirty guard life forms from the same sector as the Virillians, they seem to be Matter-Energy beings? Yeah, they’re Matter-Energy beings. Now, as for where you are… you’re in the…wait…that cannot be right…it says you’re in a Psychic Suppression Chamber inside the Prisoner Holding Block? Then how are you..? Never mind. It’s going to take a few minutes before I can shut down the auxiliary power sources; there are a surprising amount of encryptions guarding it. The shielding is offline and you seriously need to get out of that place, you know how bad suppression is for us, even IF the effect is negligible. > ~ Techna

< Fantastic work as always J’asira, and yes, I am very much aware of the effects it’s having. Are you able to hack into the Cell Block controls? > ~ Mentella

< Not yours, it seems to be on a separate system. I can see Dawn already working on the system; she’s found a cool backdoor in the database. Buuuut it’s going to be slow going with her trapped in a cell. I’ll just see if I can speed things along and get the nasty energy cages offline. > ~ Techna

< Alright, let me know when you’ve-- > ~ Mentella

< Done! I’ve also disabled the alarms system and Dawn overrode the surveillance system, putting the cameras in a loop, which is why the place isn’t going crazy. That should be enough for now, until you all escape that is. > ~ Techna

< Perfect, I’ll let you know if we need any extra assistance. > ~ Mentella

---

Vitality paced his cell, looking for a possible escape route; he pushed his index and middle finger onto his com-link, activating it;

“Dawn, are you SURE it’s an entire cage?” He asked

“Yes, David, I can say with 99.999% accuracy that is the case.” D.A.W.N. sighed

A slight pressure on his sinus became apparent to Vitality causing him to wince slightly;

< My apologies, for contacting you so late, I’ve only recently woken. > ~ Mentella

< Mentella! Where are you? > ~ Vitality

< Currently in a ‘specialized’ holding cell, Techna is in the process of breaching the vessels protocols and other systems. She’s taken the energy cage offline, so you can escape. > ~ Mentella

< Okay, thanks. Are you able to escape at all? How can we get to you? > ~ Vitality

< Physically I cannot escape and there are a few obstacles in the way however, an attempt to stop me from being freed no doubt. I’m in the final cell area opposite the exit point of the main room I assume. I’d advise you to focus on dealing with the large amount of hostiles before turning your attention to my whereabouts. > ~ Mentella

< Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. > ~ Vitality

< David…your mind is a storm of aggressive thought at the moment, focus is important. I am aware of what has happened…and I am truly sorry for your loss. I would encourage you to do your best to not allow it to cloud your judgment. > ~ Mentella

< Look, I…I can’t talk about that now…I… > ~ Vitality

< I understand. Word of caution, Kr'anri is not feeling herself; she’s undergoing a few issues, so she may act differently. > ~ Mentella

Vitality nodded, he felt Mentella’s voice resonate in his mind slowly fading away as he turned to the metal bars in front of him. Narrowing his eyes he kicked at the cell door, it flew off its hinges, smashing into the opposing wall; Vitality’s foot print left a clear dent in the bars that were still intact.

“Dawn? The energy cage is offline, let’s get going.” Vitality informed.

He stepped out of the cell, looking around briefly; powerful thuds increased in volume as a twenty foot tall guard turned the corner, it looked at Vitality and roared before running towards him as fast as it was able. Vitality looked past the guard at the main room behind him and then focused on the approaching guard; he ran towards the guard, building up speed as he continued, almost like a locomotive.

Vitality collided with the guard, the guard flew back with phenomenal speed, grabbing onto Vitality as it hurtled through the air. He twisted mid-air and grabbed hold of the bronze shoulder plate quickly, making an instant transition to flight as he forced the guard through the air in addition to the impact of their collision, the main room quickly came into view as Vitality flew through the air, he spun round releasing the guard, sending the roaring guard into the one of the nearby structural pillars. The resultant shockwave from the impact expanded outwards, alerting the other guards and the Theraxians in the room. Vitality readied himself for a tough fight and faced the room a look of anger and determination dominating his facial features.

Just as he was about to fly forward an small shower of spheres attached themselves to the guard in the center of the group, it staggered back in surprise as the spheres began to beep rapidly before exploding violently, the explosive force pushing against Vitality as he shielded his eyes from the intensity of the explosion. Waving the smoke away he saw Dawn flying though the wall of black smoke, firing off a plethora of tactical missiles, her hand cannons unleashing beams of searing plasma energy slicing though anything in their way, causing the affected guards to roar in pain.

---

Cavalier looked up from behind the pillar at the sound of the explosions in the next room; he adjusted his mask, jumping forward into the room just as a stray golden energy blast disintegrated the pillar behind him. Cavalier looked on towards Vitality who struggled against a guard, who had pinned his body to a wall;

“Get Kr’anri we’ve got this!” shouted Vitality

As if to put meaning behind his words, Vitality pushed back against the guards bronze plated gauntlet, taking a firm grip on it before yanking it towards him and slamming his fist into its chest, the guard staggered back, clearly winded from the impact. Draydeon fired a volley of golden energy blasts at Vitality; Vitality crossed his arms over his face as the blasts collided with him. Cavalier focused his attention on the other side of the room, arriving in front of the opposing metal door in a flash of pale red energy. He claws manifested themselves as solid constructs of energy as he started carving his way through the door.

A guard’s attention was drawn to him and it began to make its way over, it broke into a run as it jumped and lunged towards Cavalier, sensing the impending danger he spun round to see the giant guard in mid-air, he readied himself for battle as the target drew closer. A titanic beam of orange energy from D.A.W.N. forcefully caused the giant alien to change direction, sending it careering into the nearby pillar.

“Thanks!” Cavalier nodded as he continued carving through the door.

Moments later, a roughly square shaped hole in the door with red energy marks around it had been carved into the door. Cavalier kicked in the shape, stepping through the cut out shape and into the lengthy corridor before him. The corridor, much like his own had multiple cells; each one of these however seemed to be occupied with some manner of aggressive creature.

“This may take a while…” he mumbled to himself

A distinct growl and the rapid succession of scraping claws against a bronze door were instant clues for Cavalier as he made his way towards Kr’anri’s cell.

“Kr’anri? Kr’anri? It’s okay I’m here!” he hissed

He sliced through the bronze metal and a slightly darker, sonorous voice replied;

“Kr’anri is…is not…here…”

Cavalier hesitated, stopping for a moment;

“Kr’anri?” he asked

“Kr’anri is here! Kr’anri is NOT a pet!!” she replied in her usual voice.

Cavalier pulled away the carved bronze, revealing a dark cell; he looked around the cell, holding up his right hand, using the light from his claws as a light source. He scanned the room before laying eyes on a small figure in the corner of the cell curled up and vibrating intermittently. He approached Kr’anri with an air of caution;

“Kr’anri…are you okay?” asked Cavalier

“Kr’anri is not okay…Kr’anri is not a pet… Kr’…” she started

The darker, more sonorous voice returned and Kr’anri’s entire body was enveloped by a bright blue psychic fire, she stood up and turned around her eyes burned a bright blue, the center of them almost white as she faced Cavalier, causing him to back up slightly out of surprise;

“Kr’anri is NOT a pet. Kr’anri will make them SUFFER!” she roared

She leapt past a stunned Cavalier, through the exit he created and continued running on all fours towards the next exit, Cavalier shook off his surprise and followed Kr’anri out to through the corridor entrance and into the main room.

---

Gidrean dodged a pair of incoming missiles and fired a series of energy blasts at D.A.W.N.; D.A.W.N.’s shielding protocols instantly activated, protecting her from the various impacts. The orange energy matrix surrounding her pulsated as the energy blasts continued to slowly drain the matrix integrity. Noting that the shield matrix would soon be temporarily exhausted, she flew back until she was up against the wall, stray energy blasts from Gidrean struck the wall behind her causing plumes of smoke as the wall burnt, shrouding D.A.W.N. with a screen of red and brown smoke.

She flew out of the smoke screen and Gidrean latched onto her arm, spinning her around mid-air, forcing her into the pillar behind him. She pushed back against him, gripping onto his shoulders whilst he pinned her to the pillar. Gidrean increased the pressure he exerted on D.A.W.N. and she could feel herself slowly losing the battle.

“What’s the matter hero? Feeling the pressure?” Gidrean sneered.

With no other viable options she fired a blast of focused orange plasma energy out through her eyes and into Gidrean’s face. D.A.W.N. shut off her eye beams as a strange flesh-like substance dripped onto her right arm, she looked up to see an entirely silver head with tiny mechanical pieces whirring slowly as the fleshly mask dripped away from the face. The Gidrean robot looked up at her; it’s frowning discernible from the flesh which still remained across the right side of its face. Before it could react, D.A.W.N. fired her eye beams again with increased intensity at its forehead, the beams cut through the robot’s metal skull until it passed straight through to the other side.

D.A.W.N. looked at the surprised face of the android as it froze in place and fell out of the air. She scanned it, confirming to herself that the android was offline. Looking out towards the room she scanned the Theraxians, each one seemed to be engaged with a Delta member, she noted that they were all androids, not one of them showed up as being organic or having any organic components;

“They’re not the real Theraxians! Take them down!” she shouted.

Kr’anri dashed from pillar to pillar as Adonia’s energy blasts left scorch marks on the sides of the pillars, her blasts missing her mark every time. Adonia screamed and flew up, angrily unleashing a random chain of energy blasts, Kr’anri dodged as best as she could until a stray blast hit her left arm, knocking her grip on the pillar loose; Kr’anri screamed in pain as she plummeted towards the ground. Cavalier spun round kicking away an approaching guard, it staggered back, out of the corner of his eye, and Cavalier saw Kr’anri fall from the pillar and focused to teleport quickly but was quickly dragged back into a fight by the guard, it grabbed hold of him and launched him in the opposite direction to Kr’anri and began stomping towards him.

Cavalier teleported himself as he hurtled through the air, into the space behind the guard, impacting the guard with his momentum; the guard crashed into the floor, it’s powerful frame slid across the floor simultaneously managing to knock its bronze helmeted head into several pillars, as it came to a stop, Cavalier quickly materialized his energy claw, plunging it into the guard, knocking it out and paralyzing it. He flipped off the guards back as a series of golden energy blasts peppered the guards back, a smell of freshly burnt flesh filling the immediate area. Zultaer hovered above the area and spotted Cavalier, who promptly vanished, only to re-appear above Zultaer on the ceiling ledge.

He jumped down in a controlled descent, unleashing both his solid energy claws, slicing through the android in one swift manoeuvre. Zultaer’s android fell to the ground in pieces, part of the machinery instantly combusting. Cavalier rolled along the floor and away from the minor explosion, looking up to see he had rolled towards the feet of a recently summoned guard. It looked down at him, the energy in its helmet flaring as it did and engaged him in combat.

Read on in Part 2