Tainted Dark Matter of Star Death!

[B]

Page nodded to what Aeiel said. "It isn't like normal missions... but let's not dwell on that yet." She wanted people to have a good time right now. If most were like her, they'd be thinking non-stop about the mission and not have any sort of good time. She was trying, luckily at least one of them came over to talk to her. Her nose twitched as the smoke grew towards her direction. She felt the urge so she reached her hand back in her pocket and pulled out the pack of gum. She took out a piece and put it gently into her mouth. "We can cure cancer, bullets, and space disease... but curing habits is a bitch." She mumbled with a small chuckle. Page brought up her arm and looked at her watch. "I'll give them an hour. Then like good little ducks, we'll go to the ship." She looked up and smiled. "Ducks are a type of bird on our planet." Thankfully the word bird carried to most species as it normally meant a flying creature, even though the duck spends most its time swimming. "Uh.." She thought about things to talk about and caught a topic. "So.. Tell me about your family."

[D]

Aeiel crossed his arms. He didn't exactly have time for fun and the fun he liked having was a bit different than other's way of fun. He pulled the cigarette out and then looked at it. "I'll need another one..." He shook his head and then put it out in a tray. "We can cure cancer, bullets, and space disease...but curing habits is a bitch." He heard her say and he nodded his head. "Of course...but it makes us normal..." There was a pause and then the woman talked about the time. "I'll give them an hour. Then like good little ducks, we'll go to the ship." She paused and then he turned to her. "Ducks are a type of bird on our planet."

He smiled at her and nodded. "So..Tell me about your family..." Aeiel scratched his ear and then began. "My mother was forced into slavery and became a prostitute. She was a Nileef and she fell in love with a man who always visited her. My father was a wealthy business man, he also loved her. He bought her out and they married illegally. I was born soon after." He paused and yawned. It was quite a boring story to him. "I have no siblings. The second was a stillbirth and the other was a miscarriage. Whatever happened to the two are unknown. I had studied and joined the military away from them. I can easily say that I have no parents. We do not talk." He smiled at the Commander. "It doesn't bother me..." And it really didn't.

[B]

Page listened to him talk about his parents and when he finished she opened her mouth to speak about hers but she stopped and let out a chuckle. "Okay... Sounds like you've had it rough with them. I guess the past doesn't matter. Right?" She smiled and stood up. It was a half an hour earlier than she had originally said but it seemed like a convenient time. "Alright, guys. Time to head to the ship." They looked at her and some nodded. They stood up and followed behind Page. Minutes later and they were at a private hangar. They stepped into the large elevator and waited, one person was whistling. Finally it halted and they left it. A ship, smaller than a freighter but larger than a private express, was an ship shaped into an arrow. It had two extending wings in the front with their engines, and one gigantic engine in the back, which extended out further than the wings. A Korin diplomat was standing beside Ambassader Palin. When they noticed the crew the Korin came forward. "Hello Paradigms! The council presents your first gift, the Vigilante." Palin stepped up. "She's fast, well armored and stocked, and silent. Some of your crew have seen it, feel free to ask any questions about the ship. I'll let you to it, now. The council will inform you if anything comes to their ears, good luck commander." Both politicians left and Page turned to the crew. "Well... Lets go." She entered and there was a large three-dimensional holographic map in the middle of where the commander sits. In front of that is the cockpick and wing controls. You could see past where the commander stays and see many different seats with computers in front of it. They were probably maintenance and guns. A very small mess hall was placed after that, then a door. Probably to the main engine control room. The ship was big but smaller than any ship Page had been on. "Well... Those who are part of maintenance and control staff, you know your positions, ground party, take your seats around the map." She ordered and everyone went to their designated area. The only Korin seemed to take the pilot's seat.

Page went to her spot in the middle and looked at the controls in front of her. Most were for the galaxy map but it didn't take her long to find the intercom. She switched it on and leaned forward. "I guess you all want to know our mission now. A few weeks ago a Human settlement on Planet Xolium was attacked by an unknown species. The council fears that this may be an act of open war, we are to investigate this claim. If it is an act of war, we will have to act without a fleet unless deemed necessary by the council. Moving a fleet can trigger a war with more than just that one species." She paused and looked at the map, their location was blinking in the middle of Council Space. "This wont be easy." She continued. "We don't know what to expect. We don't know the race and we don't know the weapons. Let us show we can work together as one to defeat this menace. First stop, Xolium."

[D]

"Rough? Hm?" Aeiel cocked his eyebrow and crossed his arms. The past really didn't matter to him and he didn't care much for it because the past and the present were a lot different from another. "...Should be time?" He asked and then the human stood up and announced that it was time to go to the ship. She led the way out and the crew followed behind her.

It didn't take long to arrive to the ship and when they arrived, Aeiel stopped, took one look, and then looked away. "Helo Paradigms! The council presents your first gift, the Vigilante." A Korin started. Then a human went on to talking more about the ship, but clearly, Aeiel was unamused and uninterested. But the talk ended soon enough and the Commander led the crew in.

"Well... Those who are apart of maintenance and control staff, you know your positions, ground party, take your seats around the map." "Alright..." Aeiel took a seat around the map and then quietly stuck another smoke between his lips, but this time he didn't light it. He sat there and watched around him, waiting for someone to happen, and without having to wait for too long, announcements from his new leader came. "I guess you all want to know our mission..."

Once she finished, a small chuckle escaped from Aeiel. "...So we're going to fight off an unknown race who attacked a whole Human settlement. This should be amusing. I can't wait to see what these things are...Really...I can't." He leaned back against the chair and looked up the bridge's ceiling.

[B]

The Korin started the engines and the ship began to pull out of their docking bay. Soon enough they were soaring high speeds into space. Soon enough they came to a large contraption shaped like a rail gun. It was about a fourth of the size of Mars. A blue light surrounded the middle of the gun and when the Vigilante got close it propelled the ship at such speeds that is nearly impossible to measure, soon enough, they were in a different solar system. It would probably take a day to reach Xolium. After Page came to the conclusion she noticed there were no crew quarters on the ship. She decided to check the engine room which in fact turned out to be an elevator. She went down and ended up in a hangar. The hanger held a rover vehicle, two gattling cannons on the sides and a cannon on top, most likely used from technology inside the vehicle. Putting the vehicle aside, Page went through a sliding door to notice the engine room, she saw the gigantic drive core, it was amazing. A few of the engineers greeted her, most were human. She turned and went through a door on the opposite side of the hangar. Inside this room was the crews quarters. Well, 20 stasis pods sitting side by side for the crew to sleep, past the pods was a table and what seemed to be a freezer for food. Past the table and two more doors with tags. "Medical Bay" on the right, and "Captain's Quarters" on the left. She went into her quarters and there was a stasis pod just for her, nice and private... As well as a computer with the crew documentation. She read through it and learned quite a bit about her crew's army history. (Send a pm if there's anything she should know about Aeiel.)

An Earth day past and four people stood in the hanger: Commander Page, Aeiel, An Atheed named Voltor, and a Wobba named Krap. This made up the ground party for this mission. Page wanted to go in small, nearby vessels said that the invading force had left the planet but there may be stragglers, or worse, a trap. The rover's door opened and the four entered. The hangar door then opened and the rover drove out into the atmosphere. They started to fall until the boosters were applied and they landed with quite the thud but nothing was harmed. The rover drove into a town, there were bodies everywhere, none of which seemed to be unhuman. The rover's door opened and Page stepped out. "Aeiel, you're with me. Krap and Voltor, stay in the rover and cover us as we investigate." She ordered. The two understood and the door closed. Page turned to Aeiel. "Split up but stay in sight of the rover. See if you can find a body of the invaders, or any clue that would give us a hint as to what they are." With that, she turned to check a small hut.

[D]

Boredom. Boredom and more boredom. That was all that was on his mind. Aeiel didn't feel like introducing himself to the other men and well the woman, or woman look alikes, didn't seem as fun as the Commander. It seemed that the Commander was his closest 'partner' for now, but the woman had wandered off the bridge. He would have followed the woman, but he knew that she was now his leader and on Earth, following people like that meant stalking...And stalking was creepy.

Aeiel leaned against his chair and sighed. Maybe he was creepy in some ways, but when it came to romantics, he preferred not to play the role of the creepy stalker cat. Nileef's had it bad enough and he thought that it was better to not make it worst.

Oh, but still, his uninterested and bored attitude continued. It couldn't be helped though because everyone seemed to be busy doing things and the ground force annoyed him. Well...He wasn't really annoyed with them. He was just annoyed with the fact that their brains absorbed their stupid set of beliefs. Holy artifacts, my ass, he thought.

Of course, this continued on for a little bit, but it ended when stood up because he could no longer stand it. He got up from his seat and went to explore what could be explored. Aeiel found an elevator that led to a hanger, which then led to the actual engine room and also the stasis pods. At the stasis pod room, he frowned and sighed. "Where are the beds?!" He asked and sighed again. Apparently the council made this ship strictly for business and there was no room for any dirty business..."Well..unless we fit two to a pod..."

Aeiel walked over to the bod and grinned. "No privacy but I'm sure two can fit." He tapped the glass and then quickly turned around. He saw that the stasis pod room lead to the "Captain's Quarters" and to the "Medical Bay." Finding the Captain's Quarters made his grin wider, but from his guesses, he decided to go into the medical Bay instead. There he saw the normal things that one would usually see in the Medical Bay and sighed. "Nothing interesting..." He said as he leaned against a wall.

After his look around, he returned to the bridge and found out that it was now ok for him to get some 'sleep' in the stasis pods. A frown came across his face and he growled. "No beds... Fucking brilliant..." Without saying much more or interacting with the rest of the crew, he headed to his stasis pod and went to get some shut eye.

The day arrived when they would look around the planet and Aeiel found himself face to face with an Atheed, a Wobba, and of course, his Commander. They had readied themselves and soon they headed down to the surface of the planet with the help of a rover. The rover landed with a thud and then drove into town. As soon as they stepped off, the Commander gave her orders. "Aeiel, you're with me. Krap and Voltor, stay in the rover and cover us as we investigate." The door closed behind them and Aeiel smiled behind his mask. "A lot of dead humans. Their stench is horrible." "Split up, but stay in sight of the rover. See if you can find a body of the invaders, or any clue that would give us a hint as to what they are." "Yes ma'am!" He nodded and then headed toward another direction.

[B]

The commander left the hut. There was blood everywhere but no bodies. She looked in the direction where Aeiel went. There seemed to be a large stone erection in that direction. Maybe a chapel of some sort. Maybe he'll find something there. Meanwhile Page decided to check some more huts. This colony seemed so back in the technology. Most new colonies set up underground stations which they bring inside colonizing ships. An already made building that's drilled into the ground, it doesn't seem they did that here. If this is all this colony had, why attack it? Page shook her head and mumbled facts to herself, her radio was on so they could hear her, but she didn't real care. "They're not here to colonize... They didn't come for resources... nothing is missing from the huts so they didn't come to pillage... Why target this planet of all planets?"Just then she noticed something on a hunk of stone. It was purple and seemed to be coagulated. She bent down and continued to converse with herself. "Purple, sticky residue... She took out a swab and swabbed the liquid and put it in a plastic air-tight container. Their medical expert might be able to identify the substance. It was uncommon as this was the only spot that had it. 'I hope Aeiel found something..' She thought.

If Aeiel were to enter the chapel, the first thing he'd notice is the continuous "Splat, splat, splat" noise. Upon entering the main atrium he'd notice a puddle of blood in the middle, drops of blood splattered into the puddle. Upon looking up he'd notice a large emblem. It was circular with an inscription written at the sides, the language was unknown. The inscription then proceeds to tunnel in a swirl in the middle of the circle. In the corner of the chapel was mutilated bodies that might have been missed at first from the altar.

[D]

"They're not here to colonize...They didn't come for resources...nothing is missing from the huts so they didn't come to pillage...Why target this planet of all planets?" The woman asked herself and Aeiel seemed to answer. "I personally think that it was because this planet was in their way. If we don't know what they are...and they've done nothing here except kill... then it's because the human annoy them or are simply just in the way..." He yawned and continued to look, but then he stopped at what seemed to be a chapel.

Aeiel decided that it looked interesting and so he took a step in. Underneath his boots, he heard a continuous splat and when he looked down, he noticed a lot of blood. "No wonder why. Their blood is everywhere." He covered where his nose would have been if he wasn't wearing a mask and then continued his look around. Above him, he saw a large emblem with an unknown language scribled around it. He followed the strange letterings until it turned into a tunnel and finished in a swirl in the middle.

"Look at these images... I'm turning on my camera..." He pressed a button and continued looking. "Streaming?" When he received a confirmation, he noticed continued to walk around. "... Oh brilliant... They even mutilated the humans. So violent these things are... Really..."

[B]

Page stood up from her crouch in front of the purple substance. She listened to Aeiel's theory then listened to him talk about blood. "Look at these images..." She heard him say. "You find something?" "I'm turning on my camera..." Page lifted her left arm which held a gadget attached to her wrist. These items were some of the handiest technology in the universe. Nearly everyone had one. Only, the military issued gadgets had a few extra gismos, such as a backup squad radio, other radio frequencies in case a close-range distress comes, and the ability to tap into each others files. On a personal note these gadgets also held the icon of being personal banks. They hold credits and their security systems are almost impossible to get through with the owner alive and conscious. They were called Digital Multipurpose Devices, though commonly called DMD's. The screen popped up. "Streaming.." She said after he did. Suddenly the images appeared that he flashed. "This is... Rather disturbing." She grunted. "I'm going to save the file into my DMD." She pushed some of the touch pad buttons and it beeped, confirming the images into its memory banks.

"Commander." The Korin pilot called. "What is it, Al-Tsien." "There's a cargo ship headed your way. The crew isn't responding and they're breaking through the atmosphere at an alarming speed." Page drew her head up to the sky. A spec came into view. "I see it." "The engines appear to be badly damaged, I think it was attacked." "Pirates, maybe." "That's what I thought but there were no ships scanned anywhere near here except this cargo ship and a Korin patrol which is about 2 LY away." Suddenly the spec grew bigger and bigger and Page began to assume its destination. "Well..." She started to back up. "This may be... Problematic... Aeiel get out of the chapel, things just got interesting!" The ship was heading straight for them. It was still hard to tell if the ship could land further from their position, but to anyone who was facing it, it would seem that it was going straight for them. "Krap, get the rover out of the way." There wouldn't be enough time to get in the rover then get out of the way. Page and Aeiel will just have to hope. The ship was going at a weird angle. Almost as if the pilot was trying to evade before he got into the atmosphere. It wasn't a large cargo ship. probably medical supplies, those ships were normally small and fast. It was close now, really close. Page did what anyone would do about now, she dove to the dirt and covered her head. The ship went over head and fell straight into the chapel, demolishing it completely then skidded for about a half mile before becoming lifeless in unattended crops. Page picked up her head and stood up to look around, she didn't see Aeiel. "Aeiel, report." She commanded.

[D]

"And it's saved, I'm guessing." Aeiel continued to look around at the chapel and then stopped to look at the alter. It didn't seem very interesting, but when looking for clues it seemed that a clue could be anywhere and anything. He dusted off an area with his glove and looked at it. Yep, still not interesting. So Aeiel turned and looked at the walls and according to him, they were just as bad as the alter. A sigh escaped the man's lips and then he walked over to the mutilated bodies. From his belt, he pulled out a rod and pressed a button. From the button press, the rod got longer and he used it to poke and move the body pieces. There had to be something. Maybe he could even steal something.

As he searched, he heard chatter in his earpiece, but then the Commander finally called his name. "...Aeiel get out of the chapel, things just got interesting!" "Wha--?" He turned to look out the door and his cat-like eyes widened. Without much hesitation, he attempted to run out, but the ship was coming in too fast. "Shit!" A crash was heard and the sound of metal scraping and bending filled the ears of all who were near enough to hear. And then silence came.

"Aeiel, report." Kzzzt...krrrtt...

Static came.

Kzzzt...krrrrrtzzz...

Then suddenly the sound of something powering down and the sound of something getting picked up came. In the distance a rubble pile from the now demolished chapel moved and soon enough, the Nileef crawled out of it. "Meow, bitches..." Aeiel muttered as he shook his head tried cleaning up his hair. He sat on a piece of debris and then looked back at his tail before putting his earpiece back on. "Managed to go to the side away from the ship and then I put a shield. That thing took me by surprise." He scratched his ear and then turned his head to look at the crashed ship. "...Bad drivers..."

[B]

Page stood quietly for a few, waiting for a reply. Static, that was it. Her eyes was focused on some of the rubble and sure enough, the rocks began to move and reveal a humanoid in the distance. Page nodded. The figure bent down then touched his head. "Managed to go to the side away from the ship and then I put a shield. That thing took me by surprise." Page laughed. "You're lucky your shields were even able to hold out. Get over here." She beckoned the figure and heard him mumble something about the ship. "Krap, get over here, we need a lift to that ship." Soon enough, both Page and Aeiel were on their way to the ship. Page couldn't help notice the dirt and dust all over Aeiel. "You look like crap." "Uh?" Krap grunted. "Nothing, Krap." The Wobba held a confused expression but decided to let it go. Soon enough they got close. There were no more flames, it was quiet. "Too quiet.." Page concluded. There was a gaping hole on the side of the ship but something was odd about it. It was caving out, not in, almost as if something busted out of the ship. Page didn't believe in coincidences. Someone wanted her and her group dead. They send someone to try to kamikaze them and if that fails then use whatever specimen they have on board. Now that she notices, the cargo ship looked Korin-made. The ground started to shake a little. "Never a good sign..."

[D]

"You're lucky the shield were even able to hold out." Aeiel grinned. "Get over here." He looked up and then walked towards his Commander. Soon enough, his Commander and him were headed to the crashed ship. While in the rover, he felt someone's eyes on him, so he turned to the Commander and heard her say, "You look like crap." Of course, Krap, with a k, answered and Aeiel chuckled. "Do the stasis pods clean us up while we sleep or something?" When the woman was about to answer, they were already at their destination.

He followed after the woman and from a safe enough distance, they looked at the ship. "Hmm... That... doesn't look good. Wonder what we're up against?" The worry that should have been in his voice was replaced with a sort of excitement. Now this was a whole lot better than being on that damned ship with those equally as damned believers. Finally, something that would interest him.

"So Commander.." He began but he never finished. The ground began to shake and the half Nileef heard the commander speak. "Never a good sign..." "Of course not..." He dusted himself off a bit and then grinned. Now, what would he use to fend off this threat? What would be best?

[B]

Things were quiet for a few. "We need to get back in the rover..." Page said as she slowly a few steps back. Krap and Voltor were still inside it like always, but Page began to feel naked... VERY naked. Another tremor, but this one brought a nice visual. A large claw protruded from the ground. It was only a second glance before it began cutting through the ground like butter and making its way towards Page, Aeiel, and the rover behind them. Page shoved Aeiel the right and leaped to the left. Krap was quick enough to turn on the rover's boosters and go airborn for a few seconds before falling to the ground. The claw disappeared into the ground and the cracks in the surface that it made instantly caved in and it didn't even seem like anything was there at all. Page looked up to where the rover was, it was further now and she knew Krap couldn't risk moving to pick them up. Suddenly the ground vibrated stronger and another breaking of the surface, this time the beast showed its full self. Two razor-sharp claws protruded out of its body like arms. A gaping hole where the mouth is with thousands of small, sharp teeth could be seen. Two gigantic yellow eyes that showed no pupils. Around the neck and where the arms were, were many small tentacles with small claws on them. All over the creature was needle-like hair. It stood nearly 60 feet just sticking out of the ground, who knew how much it had below. Out of its mouth came a gaping screech. "Sarnacyme!" Page shouted. She stood up quickly and took the assault rifle, that she had taken with her, from her back and began firing. They didn't have the weapons for this with them. The cannon on the rover should be sufficient. Krap and Voltor caught on a blast came on the worm-like creature. Now all Page and Aeiel had to do was try to stay alive while the rover pummeled it with the cannon. The two machine guns on the rover would be useful as well, but they would never be able to get to it. The Sarnacyme swept its right claw. Page ducked and it missed, but it wasn't aiming for her, the claw hit the rover and sent it flying quite a few feet away upside down. A small whoosh and the rover was back on its feet. Page fired her assault rifle, aiming for the eyes. The Sarnacyme didn't know which one it wanted, the rover or the two fresh meat on the ground.

[D]

Aeiel was pushed back and being part cat, he had to land on his feet. He did a nice flip and actually did land rather nicely, but the another tremor caused him to come to his knees. "Uh....This is troublesome..." As he slowly got up, his eyes moved up to see an extremely large creature. "Sarnacyme!" He heard the woman shout. The name brought fear to him, but he couldn't let it show, so he grinned and pulled out his own assault rifle. "Acrobatics won't work..." He chuckled. "Let's go with a blast then."

Behind him, he heard the rover's cannons blasting, but he kept his eyes on the beast. Aeiel didn't wait for long for another attack. The monstrosity swept its claw and he copied his commander. He ducked and it missed, but the sound of its claw's impact on the rover told Aeiel that it had indeed hit something. "..." Aeiel raised his weapon and fired.

Time to become a distraction, he thought, I'd be annoyed if I were getting blasted in the eyes.

[B]

The Sarnacyme let out a large roar as it felt pain in its eyes. It could still see but it was taking heavy damage. "It's getting pissed..." Page mumbled. Another roar and it began flailing its bladed arms wildly. A horizontal sweep and Page had to drop down, it was too low to duck. Then a vertical sweep aiming straight for her. She used her arms as leverage then threw her legs over her and flipped to her feet for a quick jump back and the blade missed, she bent down to pick up the assault rifle she had dropped. The other arm was concentrating on Aeiel. Another cannon blast which hit the torso of the beast. It screeched and dove underground. Page stood quiet, the assault rifle up and at the ready. She wasn't really watching, but rather feeling. All it takes is a tremor to warn her. Soon enough that tremor came and one of the blades swiped from underneath her, she dodged it with a roll. A second tremor only this one for Aeiel. Two more times for each then a ferocious tremor, nothing popped from the surface, though. Instead a slight tremor and both blades were closing in on the rover which jetted away. Then the beast showed itself again. There was quite a distance from the Sarnacyme and Page and Aeiel. Their shots would be inaccurate at this range and would only cause their guns to overheat. "We have to move closer." She began at a run towards the monster. How strange it would come to normal ears of her suggesting to move TOWARD the gigantic worm instead of AWAY.