"Cal, Xeno on our six! I'd never thought we run into so many Xenos in Kepler." A moment passed with no one saying anything. Caledon seemed to be unaware of what Ashley had said to him until now. "Oh my god! Hull integrity is failing! Try to shake them off in that cloud!" Warning lights began to flash as their Upholder entered the cloud.
Due to the low hull integrity a loud alarm sound started to fill the of silence in the cockpit. "Pull up Cal! Pull up! Asteroi--"
Ashley didn't have time to finish her sentence before the ship impacted.
Their Xeno attackers ignored them as soon as they had crashed into the asteroid leaving them to die a painful death to whatever lies deeper within that cloud. Both of the young Police Officers hadn't even thought about their "adventure" when they started their patrol in New York and followed a smuggler into Kepler. After a while Caledon woke up in and tried to talk to his sister who was still unconscious. Rousing her they checked the damage on to the ship.
It didn't take long for them to determine that they were lucky the ships hull was still holding. Weapons, lifesupport, shields were all offline. Luckily the thruster was still working if barely, so that they were able to change their course slightly. "Cal, what happened?" Pain can be heard in Ashleys voice as she turned towards her brother."Looks like something was jamming our systems, and I lost control of the ship. I tried Ash, but we hit an asteroid a while back.""What happened after we.. we... drifted..." She slowed down talking as she saw something that might save them in the window. "That is a, argh," coughing due to the pain she tried to continue, "a Battlecruiser. What the hell is it doing in here?" "I don't know about any Navy forces dispatched out here... Has to be the LSF." Caledon carefully told his sister. "The only logical choice to save us would be to dock on the ship. Hopefully the LSF will help us. I'll initiate a manual docking sequence. You bring us in. And remember we only got the thruster to maneuver. ""We're almost out of fuel for that as well, its been leaking. But I'm not sure its the best idea... We're in the middle of nowhere, and that ship shouldn't be here." "I know, I don't like it either. But it's our only chance of survival. Bring us in, please, slowly and steady. The ship is barely holding up."
The upholder started to thrust towards the Battlecruiser until it arrived at the docking bay. Ashley sent the docking request but no response came back. "They don't answer. I'll try again." Again she sends the request. Although this time the hangar doors opened. "We did it, we survived." The ship got picked up by the logistics arms in the hangar and was brought to a landing pad. A few robots marched towards the damaged ship and started to repair it. With the beginning of the repairs they opened the cockpit and slowly left the ship, helping each other to get out. "Where are the mechanics? Are there only the robots, where's the personnel?" Ashley paused for a moment, scratching her head. "Anyways, let us not worry and go to the infirmary before we pass out again." "Maybe they're running a skeleton crew, testing out an automated ship, I don't know. Right now, all I care about is getting you to the medbay, you're hurt bad."Caledon said as he supported his sisters weight
Both of them walked through the empty halls towards the infirmary. "My sixth sense is going crazy. There's no way we docked without anyone noticing us. Somethings wrong here Ash.""I know. It's also a bit creepy, why is there no one around?" They stopped talking for a while and slowly continued to walk, constantly supporting each other.
The halls were cold, Ashley started to shiver and suddenly stops. "I, ... I can't *cough* continue." Ashley said with heavy breathing. As she started to tumble a hand grabbed her and prevented her from falling on the ground. "The infirmary is just ahead. We're going to take care of you.""Thank you. I already thought *coughs* it's the end. We thought it's *coughs* a ghost ship.""No, this isn't a ghost ship. Actually we're a small crew and most of them are on patrol. Tell me, how did you two found this Battlecruiser? Our position is not listed anywhere and there aren't any patrols scheduled to arrive in the next days."
The man looked like a LSF agent but something wasn't quite right about him. He had a slight grin on his face while he talked to the siblings. "We got attacked by some Xenos and they left us drifting into the cloud. The last thing I can remember before I saw the ship was that we hit an asteroid. I'm willing to tell you more, though *coughs* I don't feel good at them moment. Can we please go to the infirmary, before I collapse again?""Sure, I don't want you to die on me." Caledon seemed to be able to walk without support of the agent whereas Ashley was in dire need of the supporting stability of the agent.
Helping support his sisters weight, Cal was lost in this thoughts, something about the situation just not feeling right to him. Shaking his head as if to clear his mind, he helped the stranger get Ash to the medbay as fast as possible. He could feel her body tense with each step she took, even with their help in moving her. Thinking back to the crash, he couldn't help but remember shouting instructions at her, all of which had not been followed, seemingly unheard.
They were nearing the medbay now, and the silence of the ship weighed down heavily on them. There should of been more noises, more activity for a ship this size, even if it was only a skeleton crew. As it was, it didn't feel like there were few people on-board, it felt... oppressively empty. The sound of their steps echoing down the hall as they approached the door to the medbay, he felt a strange chill run down his spine as he looked at the door. Despite knowing his sisters survival depended on them getting inside, he suddenly knew it was a bad idea.
"Ash... Something feels wrong about this. I... I don't think we should go in there. Cal says as he eyes the LSF agent carefully. The silence was more than oppressive now, the chill that had run down his spine long passed, yet the hair on his neck was standing, and he had that primal feeling of being watched. Slowly turning to look up and down the corridor, he missed the medbay door opening, although the sound of movement quickly drew his attention back.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself, taking a step forward into the room before stopping. If things had felt wrong outside in the corridor, here he could practically smell the wrongness permeating the air. Trying to backpedal out of the room he was stopped by the hand of the LSF agent who effortlessly pushed the weakened siblings inside, before the door slid closed.
Through the closed door, they could hear the LSF agent speak, loud enough that it almost seemed to be coming from their minds. "I'd advise you to get comfortable. There is much we have to discuss. His sixth sense still warning him of danger, Cal desperately looked for a way out the medbay and finding none, began to hammer on the door, willing it to budge. "Cal, that's not helping." Ashley said, her hand clasped to her side, barely holding on through the pain.
"Cal, help me get to one of the tables there. I need to rest." Shaking due to her weak and hurt body she waited for Caledon to help her out. Together they moved to one of the tables while they heard the agent saying somethings. "I suppose your name is Cal. Go help your sister Cal, there are first aid supplies in on of the lockers. I doubt she's going to pull through this with out them." Caledon turned his head around, searching for said locker. As soon as they reached the table, Ashley climbed on top of it and laid down. "I'll get you these supplies. Stay right here." With a slightly weakened tread. Caledon moved towards the locker, constantly turning towards his sister. As soon as he reached the locker he grabbed all supplies he could. Painkillers, bandages and the likes. "There is plenty of stuff in here. Should be enough to take care of both our wounds.""That's a *cough* relief."
As soon as Caledon reached the table again, he started to bandage Ashley's wounds, stabilizing her broken arm and giving her some painkillers. Ashley started to smile, probably a side effect of the painkillers that started to kick in. "Thank you Cal. I feel way better now. Still, I'm not able to patch you up, I'm still weakened. Now, what do you think is going to happen to us?""Well Ash, we're trapped in a ship that doesn't exist, by a man who claims to be LSF. I've been thinking." Scratching his head he turned towards the closed door. "And why do you think so?""Those Xenos gave up pretty quickly when they saw us headed for the cloud. One of them had us in his sights and just broke off. I think theres more going on out here than we thought.""I suppose you're right something is fishy about the whole situation. I hope we get through this.""Yeah, we'll get through this together, we're a team after all.""You're always the optimist. Now, how about we try to find a way..."Before Ashley was able to finish they heard a familiar voice again."Out of here? That won't happen, I'm sorry. We can't let you go, not yet. First I'd like to know a bit more about you two. You do have a name Miss and your brother might have a full name too." From the cracking noise in the background both of them knew they're being watched. Watched like prisoners in a cell, talked to via a speaker.
"We do have names. Though I'm not sure I want to tell you my name.""Ash, I take it, why are you hostile towards me? Have I ever done harm to you or your brother? So what's the reason you refuse to talk? We want to know our guests.""We're trapped in a medbay. And all of the sudden we're now your 'guests'? But fine. Ashley and Caledon Grey, officers of the Liberty Police. ""See, wasn't that hard was it? And yes, you are 'trapped' in a medbay. But let me explain why you are 'trapped' in here. But first guess why.""Secret operations, unkwon location, you can't let us go with the stuff we saw and so on. Right? I think that nailed it. Now can you tell us more, I suppose we have to keep our mouths shut nonetheless." Seemingly angered Ashley responded to the man behind the speaker. "Smart girl. *chuckles* I already had thought you know what's happening. But still, I won't tell you more. At least not more than you already know. So, we're here monitoring that cloud and keeping an eye out for Kusari. With the civil war and the Gallics in Kusari it is vital that we know what happens there. And here's the problem with you two. How do we know you don't work for the Kusarians? Or even for the Gallics. I think you know we can't take this risk.""Hmpf. I understand. And how long are we supposed to be in here? ""Until I get a hand from one of my colleagues. We'll bring you to quarters for further questions. I hope that will lower your tense attitude. One more thing, the more willing you are to cooperate, the faster we're done and you can return to your normal life." A loud click indicates that the speakers are turned of. Both of them realized that they had to wait until the colleague arrives. After a quick look around, Caledon went to the table right next to his sister and made himself comfortable. Both of them knew they had to wait quite a while and eventually Ashley fell asleep while she rested on top of the table.
Getting woken by the sound of an unlocking door, Ashley rose up and looked towards the door. Two men, armed, entered the room and grabbed both of them, forcing them out of the room. As soon as they left the room they marched through the silent corridors not talking at all. The humming one can hear had a calming touch and helped Ashley not to freak out in this situation. She always liked to hear the humming when she walked through bigger ships. Suddenly the four stopped in front of a door. "Here we are. This should be more comfortable than the medbay. Rest, we continue tomorrow. I suspected you are hungry so I had some food prepared for you." As soon as the door opened they were pushed into the room. It was a small room with a window and two beds. On a table in the center of the room stood a fresh meal as well as something to drink. After the two tired siblings ate without they went to bed, listening to the humming of the ship. Caledon seemed to have fallen asleep rather quickly this time whereas Ashley looked outside the window, following the floating rocks with her eyes. Suddenly she saw a single ship while passing by. Seemed it headed for the docking bay. Though the ship was not the standard Libertonian model, it was a civilian ship. Without paying much attention to the ship Ashley laid down and fell asleep too.
Unwilling to let their guard down completely, Ash and Cal took turns keeping watch throughout the night, just in case something unexpected happened. The quiet hum of the ship left Cal feeling uneasy, and despite the lack of events during the night, he was relieved when the morning came and someone came banging on their door.
"No point in wasting time banging on the door," Cal calls out as he shakes Ash awake, "We can't open it after you locked us in here, trust me I've tried". The banging stops, and after a moment a new voice can be heard, one that sends a chill down Cal's spine when he hears it. "I was just checking to see if you were alive still. Breakfast will be served soon." Cal contemplates throwing something at the door, and decides that he might as well, as he heaves a chair across the room into the door, the sound of the impact echoing.
Feeling Ashley's eyes on him, he takes a few deep breaths before sitting down again, looking at her. "Don't worry Ash, we'll get out of this. They'll make a mistake and then we'll make a run for it." He could feel despair setting in, the effects of knowing you're not going to be found by anyone thats looking, and far beyond friendly space. The idea that they were being held as traitors to Liberty made his blood boil, for all the good it did them here in a glorified cell.
Still, he refused to let his doubt show in front of his sister and giving her a smile, made sure to check on her wounds. "How you doing today? Still holding together? I guess this means you'll be scolding me now." He says, watching her slowly smile at his words.
"I'm fine again, don't worry Cal. And yes, I'll be scolding you." Seemingly relaxed and smiling Ashley turned towards the window. "Not much though. Just calm down a little. The last thing we need now is a conflict. They got us locked in here for a reason. As stupid as it might sound though, I understand it. Therefore it might be best if we just stay calm until this is all over and we can return to our normal life and forget about that incident." Caledon considers her words for a moment, before letting out a breath and nodding. "Alright Ash, I'll follow your lead, you always where the calm one." Ashley lets out a small chuckle and turns towards Caledon again. "You know what they say about me, 'she's always calm and takes the right decisions, even in difficult situations.' *chuckles* I suggest we just wait until the breakfast is delivered. I'm already starving. Also, they're hopefully telling us what they have planned next." Caledon silently nodded and went towards the bed and sat on it, waiting for the breakfast.
After an hour of waiting the door opened and a man entered the room, carrying two trays. "Your meals.", those were the only words the man said and left the room again. "Thanks. May I ask you something?" The man stopped for a second. Without turning towards Ashley, he answered in an annoyed tone. "No." With a loud click the door was closed and locked behind the man. "Hell, this one was grumpy. At least we got our food. What do you think? How long are they gonna keep us here? It feels like I haven't seen mom in ages. I wonder if she's alright. Dad's sudden death was hard for her.""It was hard for us all. Suddenly getting the information that he passed was hard. Don't you remember? We were on patrol when we got called back.""I remember. We never thought his disease would kill him that quickly though, that way it was a shock for all of us.""Let us not start with that topic. It's really not the time to talk about this.""Yes, you're right. I just try to think of something else. The situation isn't that comforting as you might know." Without an answer Caledon and Ashley started to eat, waiting for something to happen.
The door opened again, this time though there were several people. Two men entered the room and forced the twins outside. As a result of that, both of them were surrounded by the LSF agents. "Now, we're finally ready. I have to excuse myself for not being able to prepare this earlier. We didn't expect someone to arrive out of nowhere. Now, follow me, I don't want to let you wait any longer. And one thing, don't try to resist, it might not end the way you like it." Ashley sighs while she looks around."Fine, we're following and we won't resist." Turning towards Caledon she grabbed his shoulder. "Please Cal, don't do anything stupid.""Now, if you are done calming your brother, we can move on." Both of them are being pushed through the silent corridors, the only sound was the humming of the ship and the steps of the group.
Suddenly the whole groups stops in front of a door. After the door opened they saw what lay beyond, an interrogation room. Inside the room were a few chairs and tables with straps attached, used to hold the questioned in place. On the other side of the room they saw two of such tables, angled ones. Ashley grew uneasy and started to shout. "What is this supposed to be? Are we being hold hostage? Are you really going to strap us to those tables? What is going on here?" A quick look over to Caledon showed her that they somehow made him unable to move, though he was fully aware of the situation. "What have you done to my brother? Tell me! Now!""Quiet! Or we have to paralyze you as well.""How am I supposed to be quiet? My brother is paralyzed! And you are going to strap us onto those... those things?""Fine. Give her a small dose as well, she's starting to resist quite a bit." As soon as they brought a syringe close to her she was able to hit it and throw it onto the ground. As a result of that, the syringe broke and the content was lost. "Oh my, quite the impulsive one. Strap her to the table. She's the first one." A second man came and grabbed Ashley, pushing her towards the table, forcing her onto the table and tighten the straps. "How is it? I hope it's comfortable. This might take a while, especially if you continue to resist."
"Now, where to start." The man said and turned around. "You might have figured out by now, that we are no normal LSF agents, Junior Officer. And yes, we found your LPI records. Seems like they declared you missing." Grabbing a datapad from the table he turned around and showed it Ashley. "Here, looks like your file, and here's the one from your brother. A shame that they are going to vanish like the rest of your records." Seemingly angry, Ashley started to shout again. "Who the hell are you?""Oh my, still not sure? Let me show you." The man started to smile as his eyes began to glow in a purple light. "Now, is it clear now?" Ashley was frightened and started to stutter. "I... We... never thought that... that...""Oh stop it, I suppose you know what happens next." Ashley grew pale and started to shake. A cold shiver ran down her spine and she was unable to speak. "Are you frightened? There's no need to. It is a gift, not a curse. And I will share this gift with you." As the man brought his head closer to Ashley, she began to scream. "No! NO! Stop it!""Don't resist dear, we're nearly done." The man forced open Ashley's mouth and something that looked like a tentacle went into her mouth. Ashley had to choke as soon as the strange tentacle retracted from her mouth again. Something was forced out by that thing that made it's way into her stomach. "It wasn't that hard, was it? Now, make yourself comfortable and watch what happens to your brother." Ashley started to cry as she looked over to her brother, saliva dripping out of her mouth. "Ash... we're in this together." Caledon was barely able to speak though he smiled at his sister while tears started to roll down his face.