forum OxO with @Davadio

Started January 25, 2023 by @Emmrii

tune

Valiel kept her voice soft. She wasn't arguing Connor shouldn't have strong feelings about this.
"How do you know there will be women and children? It's a military supply ship, shouldn't there only be military employees onboard?"
She didn't respond to his concern about being ordered to kill. They were pirates after all…

………………..

Ronnie quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'll bring you some food. We can eat together."
He nodded when she mentioned malfunctions. "We should be ok. The drone swarm is ready for us to move the larger shipping containers of stuff, and the bay doors are set for one way entry."

“No. It’s not a military ship, at least not according to what I’ve read.” Conner pressed his lips together in a firm line before he continued. “It’s a ship used to transport families to Alethia.”

Alethia is what they had named one of the planets that their enemy had conquered. While it wasn’t a very big planet, it served as the headquarters for most of the military activity, and many of the families on the ship they would be attacking were likely headed there to be with their loved ones on the new planet.

“Why do you think we’re being ordered to do this?” he asked. “Is it to send some some sort of message?”

Arriss let out a sigh, her eyes going to the floor. Well, she was hungry, but she had so much to do. So much to get done before the raid. But, at the same times, she couldn’t just starve herself until she finished. Everyone knew it was easier to get things done on a full stomach.

“Fine. But make it quick,” she said. “I still have work I need to get done.”

She watched Ronnie leave to get food, a slight frown on her face. She hated how she would sometimes push him away, even act slightly cold towards him. She truly cared about him, yes, but there was so much a stake right now.

When he finally returned, she was sitting in a chair near the ship’s controls. She got up when he came into the room, pulling a chair out beside hers and beckoning him to sit down.

Valiel shook her head gently. "That's what they want you to believe. It's a military supply ship, but carrying a few families means they can call it a transport ship and get away with it. It's a ploy to get at your feelings, and the feelings of other military assets." She shifted, her body language open. Connor was throwing off all the signals of needing a hug.
"As for why? Connor, this is war. This isn't anything special…" she said quietly. "Our enemies were the ones that declared a state of total war. It means they're going to come after us with everything they have, and they're going to go after everyone, 'innocent' or not. So we play by the same rules."
…………………………

Ronnie nodded and headed down to the kitchen area, prepping a couple of the nutritious but bland meals and hitting them with what few spices they had. He headed back up to the cockpit and plopped down in the co-pilot's chair, before handing Arriss her food.
"Eat up." He flashed her a small smile.

“Still, it doesn’t feel right.” He let out a sigh. “I don’t know… maybe what I’m saying is stupid.”

Conner didn’t know why he felt so bad about all this. After all, this was a war. A war that the other side had started, and besides, Conner was just following orders. But something felt so wrong about it. What was this war even for? It wasn’t like they were fighting against some evil tyrant. This whole thing was just over a land dispute.

“But, you know, gotta follow orders, I guess. Hopefully this will all be over soon.”

Arriss ate mostly in silence, running through a list of all the tasks she needed to get done. There was so much to do, so little time. However, part of her found this whole ordeal somewhat ironic. She was sitting here, focusing on her work and what she needed to accomplish, when she had just been complaining not long before that Ronnie was too professional with her. But, she was his captain, after all. Having any sort of relationship would just make things difficult.

“How have you been holding up?”

A part of her wanted to reach over and place her hand on his, but she ignored the urge. Even if it was just for comfort, she felt like it was probably innaproriate.

Valiel nodded slowly at him. "Humans have different ideas about morality… I'm not saying it should feel right, and what you're saying isn't stupid." She reached up to touch his shoulder. "You're allowed to have strong feelings about this. It's good! You've got a heart in there and right now, it doesn't like the situation it's in. Hopefully it will be over soon, and you can leave it behind, but for now…" She slid her hand down his arm, before letting go. "You just focus on the cargo. Get the resources. Don't stress about the people."
………….

Ronnie finished his meal and sat, watching Arriss think. She was clearly deep in thought about a million things, so the question caught him off-guard. "I'm fine. Holding up ok, other than worrying about you." He watched her expression. "Why, do I seem off?"

He blushed faintly as her hand slipped down his arm. At first, he thought she was trying to hold his hand, but he couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed when she let go.

“Easy for you to say. You’re an alien,” he teased. “How does your species feel about this kinda stuff?”

What Valiel thought about certain ideas was something Conner had always been curious about. After all, even though Valiel could look human, she wasn’t human at all. She had come an entirely different culture from him, and he found it interesting how her views on the world differed from his.

“Why worry about me? I’m doing fine.” She smiled faintly, pulling her curls over her shoulder. “Just… you know preparing for tomorrow.”

Her fingers brushed lightly against his, but instead of reaching out to hold his hand, she simply linked her pinky with his. She loved being with Ronnie, but their relationship just felt so… strange at times. She had never experienced anything like it.

“And no, you don’t seem off. It’s just… you’re always asking how everybody else is doing, but no one ever asks you the same question.” She shrugged. “So I thought I would.”

Valiel gave him a gentle look. "I think that your response is a perfectly normal and acceptable one. Humans only recently learned there were other people out there, and to you all, most of your greatest enemies are your own kind. So that makes your sense of unity and wanting to pull that kind together much stronger. You want to see the good, see the humanity in all people." She looked at her hands, flexing them for just a moment, the unnatural rippling of her muscles under her skin reminding Connor she wasn't human. "For the Charad-ti… well, we grew up sharing a planet with another sentient species, and our kind unified quickly. So when we say killing our enemies, we always mean some other kind of person. I have no personal issue with that. But I think it's completely reasonable for you to have a problem killing the enemy, when your kind heart wants to see them as human… as the same as you." She looked back up at him. "Does that make sense?"
……………………

Ronnie didn't pull his hand away, though he did glance down at the contact, staring at her hand for a long time.
"…I'm ok." He looked up at her, a small smile crossing his features. "Thanks for asking, Cap." He held eye contact, not flinching like he usually would have.

(( Haha, welcome back! xD))

“I think I do,” Conner replied, staring off into the distance. “So, would you have a problem with having to kill your own kind?”

Part of Conner regretted asking the question after it left his lips, but the other part of him wanted to know the answer. He knew it was kind of personal, and he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable with all his questions, but aliens had always intrigued him. They were so… different from him. Their culture and beliefs were something he wanted to learn more about, especially if learning about them brought him closer to Valiel.

“Sorry. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to…”

How curious. Ronnie seemed to be getting the slightest bit more confident now. Many of the interactions they had had been… interesting, to the say the least. Yes, Ronnie was the closest to her out of everyone on the crew, and she loved being with him. But they also get flustered and shy if either one got too close to the other. This felt different.

After a few moments of silence, Arriss opened her mouth to speak. “Ronnie, I—“

Suddenly, a beeping sound coming from the control panel interrupted her, and she grew flustered once again as she pulled her hand away from his.

“I… should probably see what that’s all about.”

Valiel shook her head gently at him. "Don't apologize. Though you may find my logic off-putting." She shifted her shape in front of him again, turning into a small, leathery-skinned creature with viciously pointed teeth and no body fat, all bones and grey skin. She shifted from there to a creature that looked for all the world like a massive cat, but far shaggier and more ferocious, before shifting back to her familiar human form.
"As easily as we Skin-change, we also believe a person's… personhood to be malleable. So… well. If a person is worthy of killing, they're no longer one of our people. So any situation where I would need to kill a Charad-ti… to me, to us, it's the same as killing something else, because they've Skin-changed and person-changed so much, they're no longer truly a Charad-ti." It made sense to their culture, but explaining how if a person's soul stayed beast too long, it would just become beast could be difficult to those who didn't understand.
"In short, no."

………….

Ronnie nodded and slid forward in the co-pilot's chair, checking over ship vitals and the gauges his eyes were naturally drawn to as the engineer.
He'd slipped, just a little, but her genuine concern for him as a person always made him a bit mushy. The professionalism slid back into place like a comfortable mask.
"Engines optimal, power reserves full, capacitors cool… stuff looks good on my end." He hadn't bothered to check if it was a comms signal or an alarm, but sudden beeping typically wasn't good.

Conner winced at the sight of the creature, even though he had tried not to. He wanted to Valiel that he was comfortable around her. That he wasn’t scared of the aliens she was able to turn into. But, no matter how hard he tried, aliens were new to him, and he couldn’t help but be both freaked out and amazed by them.

“I think that makes sense,” he said. “You’re kind of… distancing yourself from the person you’re about to kill, in some way.”

Arriss went through the rest of the control panel and the alarm system, looking for any clue about where the beeping was coming from. When she finally found the location of the noise, her eyes widened. She stood up, let out an exasperated sigh.

“Ron,” she said, “I believe we have visitors. Enemy visitors.”

She rushed through the cockpit, sending the alarm to Valiel and Conner as well as making sure that the guns and weapons were prepared. Once she finished, she headed towards the door, only to stop when the lights flickered and yet another alarm went off somewhere in the ship. She turned to look at Ronnie, her eyes wide.

“This- this can’t be right…”

Valiel nodded. "Though, really, by the time they have to be killed, it's because they've chosen to distance themselves from us. Pretty sad, honestly-"
She froze as something skittered across the hull overhead. She could barely hear it, her hearing sharp enough to catch the noise over the typical ship noises.
"Connor-" An alarm went off, and red lights began blinking, and Valiel immediately grabbed Connor's wrist and took off running towards the armory.

…………

Ronnie was watching Arriss, waiting for a signal, and he got it. He hated being called 'Ron' and if the Captain was forgetting that, this was serious. He turned and grabbed the sidearm mounted in the wall holster, charged the weapon and moved to the door, immediately pushing Arriss behind him. "It's not right, Cap, but it's happening." He moved into the hallway, clearing the corners. "Check for hull breaches, if it was done in purpose and carefully, the ship won't alert you until you run a check." He stayed posted up at the door, his emotions immediately locked down.

Conner followed Valiel, but it still took him a few seconds to finally process what was going on; they had gotten an alert from the Captain that their ship was being invaded. But that didn’t make sense. Their ship had the best security out of all the ships Conner had ever worked on, and the doors into the ship were hard— if not impossible— to breach. How did the enemy get inside?

Conner pulled a gun from the wall and stole an anxious glance at Valiel. He had never seen her fight, so hopefully she knew what she was doing.

Arriss took the other gun, and after she made sure it was loaded, she followed Ronnie out in the hall. It was strange to see him so cold and serious; he was always gentle when he was around her.

“Be careful, Ronnie,” she said, glancing at him. “I don’t know what kind of enemy we’re dealing with.”

Arriss was about to turn to go back into the cockpit when, out of nowhere, she heard fast, light footsteps approach the door on the other side of the hallway, and something began hammering on the other side of the door.

Valiel kept running. She heard a thud from somewhere across the ship, the noise too big to be any normal person.
No, no no no, please no…
In general, aliens had stayed out of the massive conflict humanity was embroiled in. A few had joined sides with the cause they aligned with, or with their economic allies. And a few were simply mercenaries, soldiers willing to fight for the highest bidder. Those were the worst.
The thud happened again, but this time from up ahead of them, and Valiel put on a burst of speed, yanking Conner off his feet. And just in time, as a section of the ceiling fell in with a loud crash, and a hulking creature dropped through. The intruder stood up, his head brushing where the ceiling was intact. 8' tall, rippling with muscles and covered in greenish- brown fur, he looked like the result from a threesome between a yeti, a sasquatch, and a Wookie.
He charged them, and Valiel kept moving, till they got to the armory. She shoved Conner in and yelped "Grab a bigger weapon!" before turning to face the charging mountain of muscle and claws. Her skin rippled and she shifted, immediately matching the intruder, except her fur was the same auburn red color as her hair. She snarled, and they locked arms, grappling in the hall.
…………………………………

Ronnie nodded at her. "I'm always careful." He was about to suggest she run that hull check quickly, when the footsteps and knocking caught his attention. He whipped around and positioned himself in front of Arriss, before nudging her back towards the cockpit. "They're going to storm the cockpit to try to take control, make sure they can't get in there." He kept his feet planted, as the sliding door suddenly blew off its track and men in body armor stepped through. They charged down the hall, but it was a confined space, and Ronnie didn't miss. Intruders began dropping, even as shots buzzed past Ronnie like lethal bees.

Conner’s eyes widened at the sight of the creature, but he tried his best to keep from freezing up. They were about to have a full fledged battle with these aliens; now wasn’t the time for a panic attack.

As Valiel fought off their attacker, Conner searched the armory for a new weapon capable of killing the creature. They mostly had average sized guns. After all, it wasn’t often that they had an alien ship attack them. However, in the back of their armory, Conner managed to find a weapon much bigger than the rest. That was when he heard more footsteps coming down the hall.

“Valiel, I’m coming!”

Arriss rushed back into the cockpit, preforming the proper procedures for an alien attack. Her hands were trembling as she did so, and she kept looking back at the cockpit door to make sure no one was getting inside. However, after she finished the first scan for breaches, the aliens rushed the cockpit, a few of them managed to make it into the room.

Aries picked up her gun and began to shoot at the men. Some of them went down fairly easily while others seemed almost invincible. One grabbed her by the wrist, tackling her to the ground and stealing her gun.

Valiel grappled with the Zas'Kyet for what felt like an hour. His strength was immense, and she could only match it for a short while before he would be able to overpower her easily.
She managed to get behind him and wrap her arms around his middle, before suplexing him into the deck, his thick skull leaving a large dent in the metal flooring. Conner yelled something at her, and she glanced up to see him running towards her with a massive energy rifle in his arms. SHe whipped her head around as more people came running in from the floor above them. Men in combat gear, and another massive Zas'Kyet. The one she'd body slammed didn't move, so she stood up and backed up to the door of the armory, snarling loudly before scrambling inside amidst a hail of gunfire. The door slammed shut as she slapped the lock.
"Good find… we just… need to put…. some armor on…" she panted, her muscles aching as she shifted back to her usual human form.
…………………

Everything was fine, until one of the shots hit Ronnie's shoulder. It knocked him backwards like a ragdoll, his head connecting with the wall with waaay too much force. There was a bzzt sound, and his muscles locked as whatever he'd been hit with shocked him. It completely bypassed the armor he was wearing, and the only thing he could think over the searing pain was huh, alien tech. Greaaat.
It ended, and he was aware of men rushing the cockpit. Arriss's energy weapon fired several times, and then stopped, and alarms went off in Ronnie's hazy head.
He gritted his teeth and started to get up, only to have a boot clamp his wrist to the deck.
"Don't move, boy." An imposing man, nearly 7' tall, was standing on his arm. "Cockpit secured, fellas? Leave the girl alive, please."
The soldiers currently taking control of the ship followed orders.
"Who's the Captain of this ship?"

The door screeched in agony as the aliens and men outside pounded against it, using their creatures to try to get inside. However, the door to the armory was thicker than any of the other entryways on the ship, meaning it would take longer for the aliens to get inside. They didn’t have much time, but Conner hoped it was enough to find the armor and more weapons.

He scrambled towards the back of the armory and began to gather all of the armor he could. “You okay, Valiel?” he huffed. “Those creatures… they were huge.”

Arriss was losing the struggle at first. The man who had attacked her was much bigger than her, and he had managed to get ahold of her gun. But, when she saw Ronnie get thrown back against the wall, a new surge of energy coursed through her, and she managed to get out from under the man. She took back her gun and pointed it at the man near Ronnie.

“Hurt him and I’ll kill you,” she hissed. “Don’t test me.”

While the men may not have wanted to touch Arriss because of the gun she had pointed at their leader, she still understood that she was out numbered. She didn’t want to answer the man’s questions, but she was afraid of the consequences if she refused.

“I am,” she replied. “I am the captain of this ship.”

Charad-ti metabolism meant that Valiel could become huge creatures with huge strength, but it would take a toll on her. She didn't have the energy reserves those big creatures would have, though she was expending the same amount of energy.

So when she got to her feet, nodding that she was ok, she was clearly not ok. She was shaky as she stumbled to her locker and pulled on her vac-suit and armor. "I-I'll be ok, Conner… if they make it thr-through that door, shoot the biggest ones first." She picked up her two energy weapons, smaller sidearms that packed a condensed punch. Conner seemed to be managing his own armor just fine, and the concerned look on his face would have made her heart soften at any other time.
……………..

The men moved around Arriss, content with taking control of the ship while her attention was on their leader. They shut off the auto-pilot, and brought the ship out of hyperspeed with a lurch.
The big man leaned his weight on Ronnie's wrist, and the bones cracked loudly. Ronnie only managed to keep from yelping by biting his tongue.
"Drop the weapon, Captain, or the next thing I break will be his neck…"
Ronnie looked at Arriss and shook his head. He started to mouth don't do it when the man backhanded him across the face. It felt like being slapped with a sledgehammer, and he was immediately woozy.
"Controls secured, boss." one of the men in the cockpit grunted, though they still weren't going after Arriss. The huge man nodded, before speaking again.
"Captain. Your ship is taken. Your crew is outnumbered. I believe them to all be alive, but they will not continue that way if you insist on playing hero." He pointed to several burn marks on his armor, where Ronnie's shots had hit him earlier and done nothing. "Besides, you can't hurt me anyway. So. For your crew's sake, if not for yours… Put. It. Down."

Conner finished putting his armor on as he watched Valiel. She was trying her hardest to keep fighting, but he could tell that the fight had taken a huge toll on her. He was worried about what would happen if she tried pushing herself any further.

“Valiel, no. If you go back out there, you’ll get injured. Or worse,” he said softly. “You stay in her to rest and shoot anyone who makes it through the door. I’ll stand at the entrance and try to kill as many as I can. Deal?”

Arriss’s hands shook as she slowly lowered and eventually dropped her gun. She knew it was a mistake; the weapon was the only thing keeping her alive. But Ronnie’s life was at stake, and she knew that the man wouldn’t hesitate before snapping his neck.

With no weapons in hand, she pushed through the men and towards Ronnie before anyone could stop her. She dropped down by his side, pulling him away from the man and into her arms.

“What do you want from us?” Arriss questioned, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady. “There are only four of us. We have little weapons or supplies, and no information that would help you.”

(To clarify, did you have a plan for who was boarding them and what was happening? I don't want to derail that)

The Boss didn't stop Arriss as she pulled Ronnie away, lifting his foot to release the nearly unconscious soldier.
"Well, clearly you have weapons, and supplies, enough for 4 people at least. But you're also a pirate ship, which means you likely have cargo that would be valuable to us."
He lifted his hand to the side of his helmet, and muttered something, before turning back to Arriss. With his face obscured by the helmet, his intent was impossible to read, but his voice at least wasn't hostile.
"We have your crew pinned. They seem to be gearing up for a counterattack. If you can, tell them to stand down, and their lives will be spared. If they attack my men, I can't make that same guarantee."

……………

Valiel shook her head. "No, dummy, I'm not sitting here while you go back out there and die. Not happening." She swallowed hard and steeled herself, only for the banging at the armory door to stop suddenly.

She waited, staying close to Conner, waiting for an attack, a breaching charge, something, but… nothing happened for a moment.

What are they waiting on…

(( Nah, I don’t have any plans xD So if you have any ideas, definitely go for them, cuz imma just making this up as we go ))

Arriss held Ronnie close, gently stroking his hair as she thought through the proposition. There were only four of them and more than a dozen enemies. They had no chance of defending themselves, no matter how hard they tried. It was better to protect her crew than to let them fall to a much more powerful ship.

“Give me the radio,” she muttered. “I’ll tell them to stand down as long as you don’t hurt my crew.”

He stepped back towards Valiel, taking her hand in his. He had never seen an attack like this before. Were they waiting on another command from their leader.

He stole a glance back at Valiel. “Where’s Arriss and Ronnie?”

(got it :) )

Valiel squeezed his hand gently, though she didn't hold on, keeping her fingers on the triggers of her weapons.
"They'd be up front, I think Captain was in the cockpit and Ronnie-"
There was a loud ding as the ship's comm came online, and a deep voice spoke.
"To the crew of this ship, a message from your Captain."
…………..

The Boss nodded slowly and stepped into the cockpit, ducking to fit. He flicked the switch for the ship's comm, and heralded her surrender, before handing Arriss the mic. "Go ahead."

Ronnie hadn't moved much, other than to flinch and turn his head a bit when Arriss had stroked his hair. It hurt, but only because his head was a swirling blizzard of haze and pain. The man had clocked him, and he had still been groggy from the shock earlier. His wrist throbbed, his shoulder was bleeding, and his back ached, but none of it even bothered him compared to his head.
However, Arriss was soft, and sweet, and gentle with him, and he didn't havce the willpower just now to pretend to be professional. So he leaned into her, resting against her shoulder, wrapping the arm he could move around her waist.
"It'll be ok, Cap…" he said softly, weakly.

Conner slipped his arm around Valiel as the Captain spoke, pulling her close. He knew he could do little to protect her from the aliens surrounding them, but he felt better with her nearby.

“We have to stand down.” Conner’s eyes went to the floor, unable to register what he was hearing. “She wants us to surrender.”

She leaned her head against his as she closed her eyes, taking in his warmth. She knew it was mistake doing this in front of the alien enemies. It would show them how much Ronnie meant to her. But she couldn’t care less; he had been injured, and she hated seeing him in pain.

After holding Ronnie for a few more moments, she took the comm and began to speak into it. “Valiel, Conner, this is your captain speaking. I need you both to stand down,” she said. “I repeat, drop your weapons and stand down. No more fighting.”

She handed the radio back to the man and looked down at Ronnie’s ignoring the man’s gaze. It was hard for Arriss to hate anyone, but she knew that if she had a gun, she would not hesitate to shoot this commander.

Valiel nodded slowly and put her weapons down. "Discretion is the better part of valor, Conner. This way, hopefully, we're at least alive to fight again another day." She gently pried the weapon from his hand, setting the energy javelin on the ground, before moving them so their backs were against an armor rack.
"Door, verbal unlock, authorization Victor-Alpha-Lima." The door to the armory hissed as the locks disengaged, and it flew open. Valiel had her hands out, visible, obviously unarmed, though she kept a grip on Conner's hand the whole time.
Soldiers streamed through the door, and the last thing she registered was a large boot approaching her face. The blackness took her quickly.
Once she'd crumpled to the ground, unconscious, the soldiers turned to Conner. "Keep your hands where we can see them."
……………………….

Ronnie tried to sit up, to not be so weak and useless and helpless and vulnerable in this situation. Now, of all times, he needed his strength.
He heard the command go out, and hoped the other two had gotten it in time to surrender. The alternative was… not pleasant.

The Boss nodded at Arriss, watching her refocus on Ronnie. "Smart move, Captain. Now. We should discuss your plight somewhere more comfortable." He turned and headed back down the hallway, and the soldiers swarmed her. A few of them pulled Ronnie away, firmly but without cruelty. His head lolled back as they picked him up, unnecessary cuffs locked his wrists loosely in place, and his consciousness fled as the pain became too much. They carried him after the boss.
The remaining soldiers held Arriss back from him, mostly with shoves, though the gun muzzles oriented her direction helped dissuade any serious protest. They herded her down the hall and towards a large hole in the hull. Through that hole, a boarding dock had been shoved, and it was onto this dock and across to his own ship that the Boss lead her.

Conner caught Valiel before her head hit the ground, and he sat down before pulling her towards him. Part of him wanted to disobey the orders, show some sort of power over the men that had invaded them, but he knew that would end up in either him or Valiel being killed. He couldn’t have that.

So, when they asked him to raise his hands in surrender, he did so without a fight but he still stayed close to Valiel. Anyone who came near her knew simply by his expression not to touch her.

“Did you seriously have to knock her out?” he hissed. “She had no weapons! We’ve surrendered.”

Arriss fought against the men at first, but she forced to give up when the men brought out their guns. Instead, she tried her best to keep her eye on Ronnie’s unconscious body as they made their way through her ship and towards the enemy one.

As they crossed the boarding dock, Arriss noticed something interesting. The ship wasn’t an enemy ship at all; it was one of the ships on her side. In fact, it was one of their main bases. They must’ve taken it over, which is likely why her ship security system never processed that an enemy was near until it was too late.

The men brought her aboard the ship and to one of the spare rooms where they forced her to sit down. It wasn’t long before the commander entered, and Arriss immediately began trying to speak with him.

“Don’t injure my friend anymore than you already have. Please,” she insisted. “He was
just trying to defend our ship…”

The man who'd kicked her narrowed his eyes at Conner. "She's a skin-thief, you idiot. She doesn't need weapons to be dangerous." The common slur for Skin-changers cracked like a whip out of the man's mouth, and he was almost spitting his words. "Now get on your feet and let's go, or I'll clock you too." Two of the other men picked up Valiel, and one put a mask of some kind over her face. It looked like an oxygen mask, but whatever it was made her body go even more limp. They headed out of the armory and down the hall towards where they'd breached the hull.
Out in the hall, the Zas'Kyet Valiel had slammed was finally waking up, after all this time. It shook it's head and looked at the two men carrying her, with something between grudging respect and loathing on its face.
………………………..
The Boss glanced at Valiel, and noted the recognition on her face. He left for a bit, leaving his mean to guide her to one of the meeting spaces the base had. They sat her in a fairly comfortable chair at a long table.
Eventually, he came in, but this time without his armor. He was still tall, around 6'5", and muscular, but not hulking and bulky like he had been.
He was also not human. His skin was a grey color, almost the color of stone, and his teeth were serrated. His eyes blazed a bright red.
He waved a hand at Arriss's plea on Ronnie's behalf.
"We're not going to hurt him worse, unless you give us reason to, Captain. Please, relax. Sit back." He gave her a smile that could curdle milk. "I believe you've recognized your own military's symbols on my ship, correct?"