Sarah looked up suddenly from the envelope of documents. Her heart dropped suddenly, she sighed loudly and took out the old leather bound journal. She then quickly found her picture of herself, her husband, and her daughter. She slid the open book with the picture in the middle of the page across the table. The picture depicted a handsome man with amber eyes and black hair, herself, and a small child with a darker shade of red hair and hazel eyes. "Yes, I had a family.." her tone was shaky and her heart pounded, she tried not to cry.

But tears did flow, she quickly turned away to hide her sadness. She then turned back "its okay, he was just curious. We all get that way.. All of us" she moved her eyes to the Atrata Federation seal on the envelope.

The journal contained several personal records, it was were Sarah had kept her feelings locked up. Along with several other pictures of her and her husband and daughter, there were several pictures of the Aurora, some being with Sarah and some without.

Barris just sat at the Captain's door, he was strangely at peace. Obviously he had experience some trauma from the 400 year disablement period and on top of that, had sustained some head wounds in his past as a HEPS pilot. Every navy personal were required to know basic controls of the HEPS, but the navy personal such as Barris, were required to use them in combat. He sighed and got up and walked to the medical bay.

Gaea looked at the engineer and then said, "please watch the energy levels, if you run out of power you'll loose the Magnetic clamps and go drifting aimlessly into space. The max time with the HEPS is about an hour to an hour and thirty, but the heavies are about two to two and a half.

Both the Captain and Commodore sat in agreement allowing Sarah to mourn her loss and gave her time to calm down.Then the Commodore spoke.

"My condolences...But let's not delay any further." The Commodore tapped on the table and an holographic contract appeared on Sarah's side.The Captain provided an small metallic pen-like object to sign on the holographic agreement."

"What you see before you would be the agreement to place the Atrata Federation as an protectorate under the Serpentum Imperium.....The agreement is as follows." The Commodore loaded an copy of the contract on his end and began to read through the text.

"By agreement the Atrata Federation will acquire limited protection by the Serpentum Imperium until the party has the means to defend itself...We are aware that the nearby Lucian Kingdom has taken several aggressive methods in acquiring nearby territory.The aim of this contract is to deter any annexation by their forces until the Imperial Court decides whether or not to accept an alliance with your forces....."

The Commodore looked back to Sarah. "Should you deny this contract we will escort you to Asmelia and from there take our leave." The Commodore then placed both his clawed arms on the table as he awaited Sarah's response.

At the medical bay the Varanus medics began rounding up the Aurora crew into an line formation,they deployed small spherical drones which began to scan each crew member then replayed the information back to the doctor's holo-gauntlet as he slowly walked past each member,grinning and nodding with each scanned patient....He then stopped at Barris slightly towering over him,slightly turning his head he looked at him grinning. "Have you any prior issues regarding your health?"

The Engineer piloted the HEPS slowly walking to the edge of the airlock which opened to the vast vacuum of space,carefully the engineer piloted the HEPS to clamber against the hull,slowly making it's way to the rear of the ship.....

The engines had thick layers of ice encasing it,the HEPS carefully began to chip away at the ice using an metallic rod the engineer grabbed prior to reaching the airlock.Within 7 minutes the HEPS thinned the ice enough for the engines to activate and melt the rest.

The engineer piloted the HEPS back to the airlock and turned from the piloting seat back to the AI.

"Alright heat up the engines but don't use any thrusts....We are still attached to the Xe'mak."

Sarah gingerly picked up the pen-like object, and with a sigh began signing her name. Captain Sarah Janelle Trace. Some how, she managed to not mess up which was surprising considering her hand was shaking so badly. Her eyes turned back up to the Commodore and Captain Williams and said, "I, Captain Sarah Janelle Trace, on behalf of the fallen Atrata Federation, here by accept your terms in return for protection and financial aid." She bowed respectfully and sat back down.

Barris looked at the doctor, "a few small bumps here and there, but nothing too serious." He put an unnecessary emphasis on 'too' as to intimidate the doctor some how. Suddenly a dark-skinned female walked up, she was a Senrite, lower ranking to Barris, "Sir, Barris is a HEPS Combat Operative, he has sustained a number of injuries, some to the head."

She stiffened as Barris stared at her with rage. "Thank you Senrite Philadelphia." He said it between clenched teeth, obviously enraged. Philadelphia apologized furiously to the Solrite. But he didn't give her a second glance. Several other crew members whispered until another Captain ranking offical walked up to Barris, "Barris, what is the issue here?"
"Nothing ma'am, just this Senrite gave out classified information about me to this potentially hostile, Captain Heather."
"These good people are not our enemies, now stop being so Xenophobic Solrite, As you were!"
"Y-yes ma'am.." then the second in command walked off.

Gaea heard the commotion outside and sighed and said "I told him so." She then turned to the Engineer, "we will not start the engines, thank you so much for the help, obviously I'm not too much help when it comes to problems like that." Gaea smiled gently.

The Commodore nodded then signed the contract on his end of the table before tapping on the smooth metal of the table causing the holograms to disappear. "Very well then....I must take my leave back to the command of the ship,notify me once you are ready to warp to Asmelia Captain Sarah....Captain Williams escort her back to her ship....Dismissed."

Captain Williams then guided Sarah back towards the Aurora,passing the labyrinth of hallways and rooms marked with strange symbols and Dark Blue banners depicting an stylized image of an burning star.....The symbol of the Imperium.

The Doctor shook his head during the entire conversation between the two humans which sparked an intervention with another Captain.....When the argument ended the doctor neared Barris hunching himself to match his slitted sight with the angry human.Then the doctor breathed deeply and his eyes returned to an rounded shape. "Hrph....According to my scans you have minor fractures alongside the base of your skull...." It might explain the aggressive mood of the human....But he himself was not an expert on human neuroscience. "I will prescribe future treatment for you once we get to an more permanent medical centre....Maybe then you would shed your petty disregard for the kindness the Imperium has shown this vessel." The doctor smirked as he continued to inspect the remaining patients.....

The engineer nodded with an smile. "Glad to have been of service...I shall return to fix some of the wiring back at the rear of the ship."

Sarah walked and then suddenly turned around, her poise now more relaxed. She spoke softly to Captain Williams and said "please, will you come with us, and stay aboard the Aurora?" Sarah pleaded for Captain Williams and the doctor where the only people that she had met so far after the death of her family. She suddenly felt dizzy, and nauseous. She stepped back for a second and fell backwards against the wall of the Xe'mak her medals jingling. She sat there for a moment and put a hand to her forehead.

Barris didn't give the doctor a second glance, he went to work on his APDA, attempting to access the Classified files on the ship database, but to no avail. He cursed out the APDA and quickly turned around and walked to the cockpit. The engineer passed by Barris and he made sure to bump into him. He didn't look back after he did so.

Gaea suddenly appeared next to the Engineer and said "sorry, he's a bit unhinged. I don't understand why, but it may have to do with his injuries." Gaea sighed "might want to look out for him though, he's probably the only crewmember on this ship that would hurt you purposely." Gaea suddenly beeped, "well this isn't good. Sarah's vital signs just spiked... alot.."

Sarah breathed heavily, her heart pounded. "What was it?" She thought to herself. "Stress? No.. Complications from the Cryogenic freeze?" She slipped down and was sitting on the ground now, she had pushed herself too far and was running her body too hard. She breathed shakily her arms trembled. She then looked up at Captain Williams.

As Sarah asked her unusual request....

The Captain turned to his Commodore who nodded at the request. "Go with them as our representative take the head medic with you alongside half of the medical team.....We will return to Imperial space and send an protectorate fleet to Asmelia within four weeks....Dismissed"

The Captain saluted his commander by placing his right hand into an fist against his chest while keeping his other in an fist behind his back. "Sir!" He then helped Sarah out who soon fell against the wall...The Captain rushed towards Sarah gently grabbing her arm..."Hey are you ok?"

She did not respond she started to slip down to the floor but the Captain instead took her into his arms and carried her rushing towards the airlock in pursuit of the doctor aboard the Aurora. "Hey...stay with me come on Sarah!"

The engineer grinned.."We Varanus are used to the attitude it's quite common in our dealings with humans...The people of the Grand Duchy being only an slight exception.I don't fear...." The A.I beeped saying it's captain was in distress. "I'll contract the doctor immediatly" the engineer said as he tapped on his holographic gauntlet.

Captain Williams rushed into the temporary clinic and gently placed Sarah unto one of the cots the medical team laid out on the floor.

"She flared up doc....What is it?"

It was hard for Sarah to breath, and she felt so tired. Her heart beat suddenly dropped, drastically. She looked up to Williams again, her eyes slowly closing. A small noise from Sarah was heard and she then went limp. She was in a coma, Gaea stopped everything and said in a small voice "oh no.. this cannot be good."

Barris suddenly turned around, hearing the Engineer talking to Gaea he quickly ran to the HEPS Armory and grabbed a pistol. Enraged he hastily ran out of the armory and put the gun up to the airlock. One of the Aurora crewmembers saw this and quickly located his APDA. "This is Robertson, Barris has a gun! He's going to shoot the next Varanus to walk through that airlock!" Barris looked at Robertson and took aim, all color drained from his face "n-no please.. don't" BANG!! a gunshot echoed throughout the Aurora.

Robertson sat on the ground, his chest bleeding badly. He reached for his APDA and pressed a button with what looked like a bell on it. A signal was suddenly received by all of the Aurora Crewmembers. Two strong looking crewmembers exited the cargo bay and ran into the corridor. "Barris! Brother! What are you doing?" A deep sounding voice reverberated through the corridor.
"They killed her man! They killed Sarah!"
"What are you talking about? They would have never layed a finger on her! I mean seriously if they wanted to they would have to have dealt with us! Man, we're probably more buff then all these alien mother fuckers." Barris lowered his gun slowly and chuckled a bit "y-ya you're probably right, but why was the A.I, that damn thing.."
"Hey! I heard that!" Gaea always had to get her two bits worth.

"Heh, ya.."
"You're not really in too much trouble by the way. We'll see to it that the Vice-captain doesn't space you, though you'll probably be on janitorial duty for a bit."
"Heh.." finally the two HEPS operators got to where Barris was, he had the gun on his head. "I'll definitely be spaced.." BANG!! Barris took his own life.

The doctor immediately ran to an container marked with strange symbols,he returned with an strange device that contained an fluid.He then used his claws to cut through the sleeve of Sarah's uniform until her pink pale skin was exposed.The doctor then located an vein and injected her with the medicine.

He then called for his assistants who arrived with what one could assume was defibrillators after an brief 5 second charge they placed the defibrillators on Sarah's chest then released the charge......

Then they heard the gunshot....The Orbiters immediately reacted pointing their weapons towards the origin of the echo,several broke off and carefully continued down the Aurora when an second shot caused them to stop. "Arak Mu gir!" one of the Orbiters would command.They reached the scene where one of the humans lie dead and the other badly wounded,the orbiters kept their weapons trained upon both the wounded human and two others present at the scene.Without an word they remained grinning under closed helmets while one walked towards the bleeding human,holstering his weapon that magnetically locked unto the back of his armour he picked up the human throwhing him across his shoulder causing blood to drip unto the Orbiter's silvery armour as he carried the wounded man to the clinic.

The Engineer walked past the scene seeing the now-dead Barris and shook his head....With an grin of disgust he continued walking down back towards the engine room of the ship.

Sarah suddenly awoke, she gasped loudly and grabbed onto the closest pair of hands. it was the doctor's. She breathed heavily her eyes trying to refocus. She looked at the doctor and started to breath normally. Her other hand went straight for her journal. She sighed thankful for the comfort of the doctor and the piece of mind that her private journal was still with her.

Robertson winced and with a weak voice said, "please, he was insane, he wasn't well, don't let this effect the diplomatic relations between us." He was talking to the Oribiter. Although he didn't know exactly who he was talking to but he knows that they are Varanus. A small choked sound escaped Robertson, he then died.

Gaea sighed and then said "another one dead. In the same sol. Dammit.." Gaea beeped, "oh, well at least the Captain is up. Better go there and break the bad news to her." Gaea suddenly transferred into the makeshift medical center and found Sarah. "Captain, I have some bad news."

Sarah looked towards Gaea she then said "What is it Gaea?" Sarah sounded choked up, like she was struggling to talk. Gaea then replied in a depressed voice "Enlisted Robertson is dead as well as Solrite Barris.. Barris took his own life after he shot Robertson. I'm pretty sure that ypu were unconscious when he sent his personal distressed signal."
"I see.."
"Yes, I'm sorry." Sarah then looked up to the doctor with sad eyes..

The doctor looked back with his rounded eyes,carrying both pity and contempt.With nothing but an hiss he turned back towards the remaining patients.....His thoughts flared "How many more will die...This was supposed to be an simple rescue operation."

Captain Williams stepped forward looking out to the crowd as the remaining orbiters brought the two other men from the scene.The atmosphere was tense between the Orbiters and the crew as Williams quickly thought of an solution to defuse the situation.

"From this moment forward...All crew of the Aurora must hand over their weaponry and will be restricted from using any weaponry until we reach Asmelia.This is for your own safety rather then ours....Please co-operate so we can continue on our way." The Captain did well to hide the fact that his statement was not an plea for co-operation but rather an order.These men and women have been in stasis for 400 years.....They are lost in time,suffer mental disorders and haven't set foot outside this ship since that time.

The Captain turned to Sarah....."Captain Jane Sarah will however keep whatever weapon she sees fit....To put it bluntly I do not trust any of you with an weapon at this stage.....Doctor...

The Doctor turned to Captain Williams who called for his attention. "You and half of the medical team will accompany me and the Aurora crew to Asmelia....The Xe'mak will return to Imperial Space to deliver their report and the status of the recon drones.I advise you and your team head to the Xe'mak to retrieve extra supplies and personal items before we leave."

"Any questions?" The Captain asked his hands behind his back as he stood on attention.

The medical team left to gather their belongings and gear from the Xe'mak laeving only the Aurora crew,the orbiters and Captain in the clinic.

Most of the engineers returned to the Xe'mak while the head engineer and an select team where ordered to remain with the Aurora until the protectorate fleet arrives on Asmelia.

Sarah looked to Captain Williams and said with dry lips, "we accept.." She then turns to the Vice captain and she nods back to Sarah. The vice captain then reaches into her pocket, her hand lingering inside the pocket for a moment. She then takes out a small card with the Aurora seal on it. She then hands it to Captain Williams "this is the key to the Armory, we accept your terms and we will do a thorough shake down of our crew members to remove any personal weapons."

Protest was heard but it soon died out, the crew understood that the Serpentum Imperium was the only hope of rebuilding their civilization, the only hope for the Atrata Federation. Gaea was in the cargo bay standing in her human form taking in all the information that was given, she then locked the armory, and she set up a remote unlock for the key that the Vice captain had given Williams.

Most of the crew members came forward unloading their guns and setting them down on the ground in front of Captain Williams. One crew member, a enlisted first class looked up to the Captain after putting his weapon down and said "I will do anything to rebuild the once great Atrata Federation. Even something as rash as this." He then walked away.

An assault HEPS without its weapon came walking up to the Captain, it then passed him and continued walking until it reached a container in the cargo bay, it picked it up with some struggle, but was able to lift it. The HEPS then walked back over to Captain Williams and set the container down, on closer inspection, the container was that of assault rifles ment for the HEPS. The assault HEPS then walked back over and grabbed a large container. Larger then the one with assault rifles. It struggled to pick this one up, and instead had to drag it. It was an ammunition box with a 50 caliber machine gun in it with several high caliber rounds. It then saluted and walked away.

Captain Williams motioned to the squad of 4 orbiters that would remain at his side. "Take these to their armoury and await my arrival to unlock the door." The orbiters saluted two picked up the container of rifles and with effort began to carry it to the armoury.Only to return an few minutes later to retrieve the ammo box with the help of the entire squad.

Captain Williams inspected the pletora of weapons that laid before him. "Rather well armed for an colonization force....And I can respect your willingness to rebuild your home.I myself am quite familiar with the feeling....Well."

He turned to Sarah showing an slight smile...."You are all resilient I'd give you that much.Within an hour we will make for Asmelia.He then tapped on his arm activating the holo-gaunthlet which then showed an detailed map of the sector of the galaxy. "Gaea update your navigational maps to this current version.....And prepare the FTL drives for Warp-jump to Asmelia within an hour."

The medical team then returned after 20 minutes and began setting up in the clinic.

The Commodore then signalled the Captain. "We will disembark and take our leave now...Good luck Williams and my the Five guide you."

The Captain smiled... "Godspeed Sir..See you on Farnin once this is all over."

The plum-scaled doctor then introduced himself. "I am Rid'z Ardavan of the Serpentum Medical Corps,head medical officer of the Xe'mak...If you are wounded or feel sick you come to me....Despite my unsettling appearance to some of you...I promise not to bring harm.I have an job to do and that job is to keep this crew alive."

The Xe'mak then detached itself from the Aurora,powering their FTL drive which made the engines hum with blue energy then the Imperial Cruiser shot into hyperspace leaving the Aurora behind.

Sarah nodded to Rid'z Ardavan, he looked somewhat bizarre with his plum scales but other than that he looked like a normal Varanus doctor. She then got up slowly, being careful not to get up to quickly. Her uniform wrinkled as she got up, somewhat muting the jingle of medals. Soon the Vice-Captain came up to Sarah. "Where to?" She asked softly
"Cockpit, I need to activate the FTL drive.."
"I apologize ma'am, but you are in no condition to fly a vessel. I will pilot Rocinante for now."
"Very well.."
"Thank you ma'am, I'll bring you too your quarters."
"Thank you.."

Gaea was full of glee despite the recent happenings. "Oh goody! A new version of the map!" She hastily downloaded the map. "woah! That's alot of dominions." She scanned through the map, her long range scanners plotting a course and confirming the different territories aswell as marking potentially hostile territories. Soon a plotted course showed up on the holographic map in the corridors.

Sarah and Heather reached the captain's quarters, several miscellaneous items were strewn about the warmly decorated room. Including several pictures, some including the Artemis-10, Sarah's other vessel. Sarah found her bed and slowly layed down. Almost immediately Sarah removed her uncomfortable uniform and didn't bother putting anything else on. She fell asleep quickly.

Heather looked at the peacefully sleeping Captain and couldn't help admiring everything that the Captain was. She was strong and fearless, and a wonderful leader. Heather sighed and soon walked out of the room closing the room behind her.

She then made her way to the cockpit. When she got to the cockpit, she opened the door and quickly sat in the pilot's seat. Her flight suit, much like Sarah's, was a simple, but tight garment. Most of the suit was grey flexible fiber mesh, it stretched like rubber but was made of a breathable tightly woven mesh. It was incredibly comfortable and surprisingly breathable. Other then the grey fiber, there were blue thicker rubber pieces that covered vital organs and a lot of muscle mass. But it left the joins somewhat exposed.

Captain Williams left towards the Armoury arriving to see the Orbiters awaiting him to unlock the automated door.

Behind a wall of bulletproof glass and steel stood the armoury,familiar yet strange human weaponry lied against the racks hanging against the walls.

With little effort Captain Williams placed the keycard against the pad causing it to flickered green.The doors would silently slide open as the orbiters began the menial task of storing the Aurora crew's arms and ammo.Afterwards Captain Williams ordered the rest of the orbiters to patrol the ship.Leaving one to remain on guard at the Armoury door.

He entered the Cockpit taking the nearest open seat near the pilot.He wanted to ask about Sarah but felt it might be in bad taste considering the crew's mixed opinion about the Imperials.

"Prepare to warp to Asmelia whenever you're ready pilot." Williams would say as formally as possible.

Heather looked over to the Captain, she nodded to him. She then began fiddling with the controls a bit, she said to the Captain "you may want to hold onto something." She then pressed a button on the HUD. With a clear tone she said into the hud "attention all hands, prepare to make the jump to warp space." She then pressed the same button and pressed another. Suddenly the interior lights dimmed, from a gentle white to a dim dark blue.

Gaea disappeared, she had shut down for the jump. A constant humming was heard through the Aurora. Then Heather pressed one more button, an alarm blared suddenly, and CAT's voice was heard "Attention, preparing to jump, reinforcing all doors. Suddenly a large clanking was heard outside the cockpit, an extra layer of protection in case something went wrong. "Initiating separate oxygen supply. Rationing oxygen, rerouting oxygen to four areas, Armory" for the Oribiter guarding it. "Cockpit," for the two of the captains. "Captain's quarters," for Sarah "and Cargo bay." For the rest of the crew.

Heather then said "initiating jump in 3.." all the Aurora crewmembers held their breath. "2.." Sarah slept silently, having no idea about the jump. "1.. jumping.." Suddenly the two captains were thrown back, Heather being trained for this simply kept focused on the dials of the Aurora. She then looked to Williams "don't worry, the internal inertial dampers will kick in soon!" She had to yell over the sound of the Aurora. CAT then said. "Internal Inertial Dampers engaged. Gravity control lowering." The streak of the several stars passed by them, some planets even.

Soon they receded out of hyper drive. Asmelia shone in the distance, its variety of life and abundance showing already. 300 years, and the Aurora was finally home.

[End of Thread]