The Great Escape

[Allot]

***To the tune of Any Dream Will Do***
Hey look, a bird!
No wait, it's Cora!
What the hell?!
What is this fora?

How the hell did I get here? Leo's gonna die...

***End Musical Number***

As they alighted in Yardistan, Isabelle hit the ground rolling and lay there, staring at the sky. Leo strode towards the group, concerned.

As Leo neared, Isabelle spoke.

"I will kill you," it said, calmly. "Just give me a minute to collect the brains that your bird squeezed from my head, and then I'm going to tear your lungs out with a garden fork."

She stood up, shakily, and brushed off her dress that was by now ruined. She glared at Leo.
"Why do you always have to ruin everything?" she yelled, sounding like a angry child that has had his toy taken away. "Stand still so I can behead you..." she said, advancing towards him, still wobbling a bit.

Cora and Tyen rushed forwards to protect Leo, but Isabelle stopped and raised her hand.

"Fine. I won't kill him yet. First I'll let him explain why he ruined my plot-given opportunity to save the world. Then I'm going to kill him. Preferably with a blunt spade.' She shuddered. "Who knew I could be so violent? Oh my god.."

"What? What is it?"

"I'm starting to act like him..."

"Who? Who?!"

"Ardashir..." whispered Isabelle, and fainted.

[Leo Fenrir]

"Good of you to join us again Isabelle." Leo spoke with genuine concern. Something that was completely lost on her.

"Five seconds Leo." she said ominously.

"Well you may or may not be aware of this but the Khan wants you for experiments on your narativity."

"And since when do you care."

"Well I had a lunch time meeting with Percy and-"

"Ah so he came through for me."

"Yes well you and I are taking a short trip soon. I don't want to be anywhere near the Khan when he realizes that your gone, and that I am too..."

"Are we going to Kildare?"

"Further..."

"Uh Ocia?"

"I hope your joking but no, furthur..."

"I swear if I have to guess one more time I will end your life right here and now."

"Now, now Isabelle all in good fun I assure you. Anyways, we are going to the MINERVA. Our shuttle is being prepped right now."

"Oh..."

[Allot]

((Watch it, pretty boy.))

"We're going into space," said Isabelle, more of a statement than a question. Leo nodded anyway.

"So let me get this straight...when a county in Elwynn is attacked by evil bugs from hell, the Dukke of Elwynn's plan is to fly to space where the government can't get him? Or are you going to tell me that you're doing this for me? Don't even try to lie, I can see the fear in your eyes. You'd be just as happy if Agnesia was devoured and no one ever saw it again, as long as you could go back to living in your stupid sheep castle. Well, unfortunately, your Grace," she said, shooting metaphoric acid, "I do care what happens to your Duchy, even if you don't. So let me go or I will kill you."

She stared at Leo for a few seconds, then stepped forward, and was about to speak when she stopped, and cocked her head to the side. So did everyone else. A faint noise was heard, growing louder.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

They all looked up.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOSHEEOSHEEOSHEEOSHEEOSHEE

Isabelle jumped out of the way just as a mini-rocketship crashed into the ground, smoking. A minute later, a small hatch opened and Ian jumped out. Isabelle stepped forward and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Ian! Aren't you supposed to be with...you know...him?"
"Percy is there, my lady, I had to come... to tell you..." said Ian, struggling.
"Tell me what?" demanded Isabelle.

Ian looked around, and his forehead creased in puzzlement.
"Oh," he said. "I must have read the wrong probability graph. I had come to warn you that the stupid bug kings had followed you here to exterminate you and your flamboyant friend, but it appears they have not. I do hope they don't suddenly spring out of the ground like an intrusive subplot. Oh well."

Isabelle placed him back on the ground. "I want you to take me back to Elwynn," she said.

Ian looked at her in horror. "But...my lady...surely you are safer here, or in the space station. Why not let...him deal with the them? Surely he has sufficient firepower?"

"Because the last time we left things to him he blew up a city. And it's not going to work this time."
"And how do you know?"
"I...I just know, alright?"
Ian shook his head. "Insufficient empirical evidence to justify such a valuable knowledge claim. You will remain here," he said, turning to Leo.
"You have acted correctly," he said. "On behalf of the IBO, I am authorized to grant you one eighteenth of a bonus point in recognition of your services. Also, take this mug. Please ensure that the Lady Allot does not leave the island, except in the vertical direction. Thank you."

With that, Ian went poof.

((Why is it that they need to enter dramatically, but they can disappear fine?))

[Cho'Gall]

(DID SOMEBODY SAY, INTRUSIVE SUBPLOT!)

At that moment, the earth began to rumble. A fallen king rose from the earth, hellbent on dispatching all of the humans he could see. It gave a echoing roar and turned it's attention to Isabelle. It shrieked and began to charge towards her. Several shots rang out pinging of the shell of the fallen king. It turned it's massive head towards Tyen just as his barrel clicked empty. The beast rushed forward and flung him across the ground. The beast charged once again for Isabelle, but just as all hope seemed lost, and all would be doomed to mop Isabelle off the ground, another flash of light appeared. As it faded, Maigrenox charged out and intercepted the fallen king just before it struck her. Roger and Cho'gall climbed off the back of Maigrenox, clearly in a daze.

The fallen king skidded across the ground. Maigrenox continued to run forward and swung his claws at the fallen king, tearing a piece of the shell off. The two colossal creatures slammed into each other pushed with all their might. Finally Maigrenox thrashed upwards with his neck, thrusting the fallen king backwards. Maigrenox then drove his claws into the chest of the beast. It writhed in pain, and once again the black tentacles attempted to resurrect the fallen king, a swift roar from Maigrenox lit them aflame. Maigrenox then turned to Isabelle once again. "I have much to speak to you about."

[Leo Fenrir]

(No they didn't...)

Leo looked from the dead bug to the other bug and back. "How intrusive... Any way Mr... Ma-grin-ox? I'm sure you have much to talk about with this lovely lady here, but the way you keep stopping after saying so makes it sound less like Dramatic Suspense and more like you have Alzheimers." Leo extended his hand to beckon for Isabelle. "Come Isabelle the shuttle is ready."

[Allot]

UNNESSECARY

Isabelle looked from Leo to Maigrenox, and back. Internal conflict raged. She knew that Elwynn needed her help. But then again, the Khan was freaking scary. Was it time to be selfless? Or selfish? And then... A REVELATION OCCURED.

"Did you not here me the first time?!" screamed Isabelle. Andrew Allot looked shocked.
"But... I... Why?"
"Because you are not that interesting! I don't know you! You were just-"
"I know," said Andrew Allot, cutting Isabelle off, for once. "Just a silly young man who got sick and died. I really didn't do anything important."
"Well... yes... no, that's not true, dad..." Isabelle stopped. For a brief moment there was a sentimental father/daughter moment. John Williams raised his baton, and the violinists raised their bows. Isabelle shook herself and stepped back.
"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to help me or not?"
Andrew Allot looked surprised. "Do you want my help?" he said.
"Yes. Just for this," said Isabelle said quickly, "then you go back to your tree of life or wherever you came from. OK?"
Andrew Allot smiled, but his smile faded quickly. "I'm sorry Isabelle," he said.
"What? Why?" said Isabelle.
Andrew Allot turned away and began to walk away. "I'm sorry to leave you with such a cheesy line, but I really can't help you with this. Look inside...your heart..." There was a flash, and he shattered like a mirror just as Yoyo Ma finished his concerto.

"Isabelle!" said Leo. "Let's go!"
"Isabelle, please," said Maigrenox, "I must speak with you."

"OK," she said to the king.

[Leo Fenrir]

Leo shook his head. Women and their sentimentality... *Grumble*

[Cho'Gall]

Maigrenox walked forward towards Isabelle. He brought his massive head down to her level. "Isabelle," Maigrenox said, "You are the one that will bring truth and justice anew as the prophecy dictates. Simply, this means that I cannot appear in the psychical world without you. Unfortunately, if I am to stay within this realm, you will have to undergo another one of the trials of strength."

"Trials of strength?" Isabelle asked.

"Yes Isabelle," replied Maigrenox, "You have already passed the first. Adun Turidas was the trial of Water."

Isabelle thought back to the vision from under the sea attempting to rescue the image of Leo.

"The next one would be the trial of Flames, or Odun Turidas," Maigrenox continued, "Then the trial of Life, Edun Turidas. After that would be the trial of Wind, or Ydun Turidas, and finally Udun Turidas, or the trial of Light. I cannot tell you further of what each of those trials will involve, but expect images of friends and foes to appear. A precursor to each of the trials will begin with a splitting headache, followed by a flash of light. If you succeed, then you will have rewarded us with more time. But if you should fail than the world as you know it will be torn asunder."

Isabelle gave a nod.

"Lastly," Maigrenox said, "I must give you this." Hanging from his claw was a small red gem attached to a necklace chain. He moved his claw forward as to allow Isabelle to take this new pendant. "This is Amulet of Truth's Blood," said Maigrenox, "As long as you wear it you will be able to speak with me, and Vice versa. Do NOT, allow anyone else to touch it."

Maigrenox turned away from Isabelle. "If we are successful I shall see you once more," Maigrenox said, "If not..." And with that the light flashed once more, and once it had cleared, Maigrenox, Cho'gall and Roger were gone once again.

[Käthbad jënRöijanin]

((forgive my intrusion, but this is now starting to sound a lot like a Dungeons & Dragons campaign i was in, what with the trials of different elements and all ))

[Leo Fenrir]

((Just now? I invite you to read his previous posts. ))

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Fort Foley

"You requested my presence Lord Khan?" A nervous looking man bowed, demonstrating for all to see, his acute hair loss.

"Ah Darsam! So good of you to drop in for a change." The Khan smiled at the acting head of Section A in the Directorate of Anomalous Affairs as though he were butchering a carcass only to discover that it was still alive, that is to say pitched somewhere between distaste and amusement.

"Lord Khan, seismic readings from ISI Ground Zero Facility in Yardistan have been analysed by Section A and are deemed consistent with bug king tunnelling."

"And demonstrating their blatant disregard for causality they will have already found her." By her the Khan meant of course Isabelle Allot, Lady Araxion.

"Our analysts suggest that the flight of Duke Leo and the target to an ISI Facility raises the possibility that they are attempting to escape off world, to the MINERVA Station. We could have a team ready in twelve hours..."

"By which time they would already have long fired themselves into orbit. No, have a team examine the site, but there is no hurry. Everything is proceeding as I have anticipated. The key component might well be out of reach but she will be going nowhere. This presents opportunities in other areas."

"I could recall al-Umra..."

"No. Lusyya's Seasoned Kapsrang remains your number one priority."

"As your Lordship wishes."

[Leo Fenrir]

Outside ISI Ground Zero, Yardistan

"If not... If not what?! My god that man/bug/thing need to start finishing his sentences!" Exclaimed Leo. It was then that three armored vans made their appearance. Before any of them had a chance to react the vans came to an unceremonious stop around them and four heavily armed soldiers emerged from two. The third began to hum menacingly and Cora, Tyen, and Fido were thrown back several meters. Cora and Tyen cried out in rage and both began beating on the invisible barrier.

"Don't you dare touch him!" roared Tyen.

"Wait Tyen! They ar-" Leo spoke frantically trying to finish quickly before one of them did something stupid. He saw a flash of light and realized the Fido was going to try to teleport within the field. He wheeled on the soldiers. "Turn the damn thing off you fools!" But it was too late.

A speck of blue light appeared next to Leo. It was like watching something trying to force itself through a hole, except that the hole was fighting back. Time seemed to slow down as space warped around the Wraith that was desperately trying to force itself to exist out of sheer will power. Then an explosion of silence sent a shock wave through the surrounding group knocking Leo over.

He found himself staring at the sky. The moans of discomfort of the surrounding men and women seemed too echo as loud as an orchestra after those few seconds of absolute silence. The soldiers were the first to recover and moved to help Leo and Isabelle. He put his hand to the side of his head and it came back red. Suddenly time sped up again, as if making up for slaking earlier. On of the soldiers moved to help him up and noticing the wound, inspected it.

"Its nothing serious CEO Dine. You should be find to stand." The put out his hand and pulled him to his feet. The scene was a curious one. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the quietly smoking van which had been humming vigorously earlier.

"What about Isabelle?"

"She's fine. She wasn't even in the blast radius."

"Wait what about-" Leo turned and gasped, "Fido!" Except lying on the ground in front of him, out cold, was not a wraith but boy who couldn't be older then sixteen. "What in the- Who- How-" Lost for words he sank to his knees. Two shadows fell on him and the boy. Without looking he knew that Cora and Tyen had joined him.

"He's... Human." Tyen spoke the words, almost as if he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Fido..." Cora's voice was no more then a whisper.

--------

ISI Ground Zero Facility, Yardistan

"What the hell were you thinking!" Leo roared. Lucard Wrend seemed to shrink visibly under the auditory assault.

"It was precautionary measures Lord Dine!"

"When the hell did the ISI even conscript troopers! I didn't even authorized their enlistment!"

"It was deemed unworthy of your time Lord Dine."

"Unworthy of my time!" He shook visibly. "I swear on all that is woolly Lucard if I ever hear those words again I will use you to reload the Kinetic Weapon Platforms ammunition. And that still doesn't tell me why there is now a 16 year old boy in a coma in our hospital quarters."

"We detected the presence of a bug king and wished to ensure your safety."

"By using an untested technology!?"

"My research was flawless!"

"I don't give a damn about your research. Did you predict that this could happen to Fido?"

"Well obviously not but I'm sure it will prove to be a fascinating case to study."

"You disgust me Lucard."

"It what you pay me for my Lord."

It was then that Isabelle entered the room. She looked between the two men and addressed Leo. "One of the engineers told me to fetch you Leo. The shuttle is ready."

"Thank you Isabelle... As for you Lucard. I want a full report of all the projects that were deemed unworthy of my time. Understood?"

"Yes Lord Dine."

--------

ISI Ground Zero Shuttle Launch Bay, Yardistan

Leo and Isabelle had been sitting in the inclined chairs for almost twenty minutes now and Leo really had to pee. A multitude of screens were displaying symbols and equations as the systems were booting. Unfortunately it was becoming increasingly difficult to pretend the he knew what they actually meant which in turn meant he would have to actually speak with Isabelle.

"So... How bout them bugs?" he ventured.

"Is that seriously the best you can do?"

"Uh..."

Mercifully the computer announced the beginning of the lunch sequence and the two settled back into the chairs and prepared for the trip to the station.

-------

MINERVA Station

Leo floated by Isabelle in the docking bay of the station, making a silly face as he passed by. Isabelled frowned at him.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Up for a game of hearts?"

[Allot]

"Queen of spades, bitch," said Isabelle.
"God damnit!" said Leo, throwing down his cards. Isabelle checked the scrap of paper on the table and made a little mark."
"So that's four points for me, and..." she counted on her fingers. "Twenty one for you!"
Leo glowered at her silently.

"Oh come on, how old are you?" said Isabelle.
"Thirty five," said Leo.
"Wait...but if you're thirty five... and I'm seventeen...then how old was Allot (the other one)?!"
"Err... the same as me?"
"So he had me when he was eighteen?"
"Wait, what?"
"How old is the Khan?"
"OH MY GOD."

[Allot]

"Sorry for asking, but isn't Elwynn currently being invaded by evil bugs from hell?"
"Yes."
"And we're in space."
"Correct."
"Remind me why?"
"The Khan wants to vivisect you."
"Ah. Good point. But what about the evil bugs from hell?"
"I assume ISI technology will solve everything, as usual. Or, you know, we could wait for another one of your splitting headaches and have a random marine-oriented vision in which no conclusive premise is derived. Either/or."
"Hmmm. I should go find Leo. Who am I talking to again?"
"Yourself."
"Oh yeah. Right."

[Leo Fenrir]

Leo popped his head around the corner of the room Isabelle had just left and sighed.

"Well that was disrespectful. Forcing a Lady to double post?" said the convenient out of body voice who's sole purpose seemed to be too act as a useful plot device to develop character, albite with the slight undertone of insanity. (Hurray for run on sentences.)
"Oh stop pestering me. She's not human anyway. No one can win hearts 68 times in a row..."
"Or maybe you just suck-"
"Hey! Well I suppose that I've now established that I overheard Isabelle's dialogue that I should react."
"That is usually what comes next."
"Well I suppose she did have a point about the whole war thing... But seriously how seriously can I take the comment of a girl who is having a quasi-intelligent conversation with herself?"
"I blame it on the hormones."
"So true. I do think that humans have now evolved to the point where blood has been replaced by refined Angst."
"So what are you going to do Leo?"
"Me? Nothing! As long as I'm up here the Khan can't touch me."
"What about Elwynn?"
"Elwynn's been through worse. And plus if over 2 billion Newtons of concentrated energy couldn't stop that damn thing there isn't much more I can do..."
"Lame."
"Oh come on I deserve some sla-"
"LAME."
"Shut u-"
"LAMELAMELAME."

Isabelle's voice drifted down the corridor calling his name. Leo immediately panicked and dove for the nearest food storage compartment.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

(Solaris was never like this, but now I know what it must have been like for the crazy Cosmonaut who spent all that time stranded on Mir)

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Fort Foley

'Gentlemen, I want you to meet my son Shapur.' The Khan nodded his head towards the grim faced youth who was as pale as a Babki can reasonably be expected to get. The Khan noted that his son was unarmed and then continued.
'I say my son but to be quite honest his sister has more balls than he has. Did I tell you about the time he nearly failed to kill an Ohl'Tar? Oh? I have then? Well no matter. Now come here son. Tell me, how was your rest cure? Are you still being spoken to by garden gnomes?'
There was a barely suppressed titter of derisive laughter that flitted around the control room. Shapur wished that the reinforced concrete ceiling of the command centre would come crashing down on his head, and perhaps take a few of the Khan's smirking sycophants with him in the process.
'I am well enough father.' replied Shapur, trying to face Ardashir down, failing, his eyes shifted their focus towards the floor.
'Good then. I want you to meet a new friend of ours.'
And out from a crowd of officers and scientists stepped one Lucard Wrend.
'A pleasure excellency.' Lucard extended his hand out to Shapur who briefly and formally shook it in acknowledgement.
'I thought you worked for Leo's mob?' was Shapur's way of a greeting.
'Oh indeed excellency but I also do commission work for the Khan. In return he provides access to Imperial weapons stores and security contractors for the defence of ISI facilities. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, one that does not merit the CEO's attention if you follow my meaning.'
'The meaning is plain enough. You are betraying your boss in return for the Khan's gold.'
'Pah, what is gold compared to the opportunity to tinker with the core levitation device of a gravship.'
'Gentlemen' the Khan interjected. 'Much as I am enjoying your display of flirting we must get a move on. Lucas, tell my son why you are here.'
'It's Lucard, Sire,' replied the rogue ISI scientist under his breath before continuing. 'I have been able to devise a more efficient method for extracting narrativity from a biological sample. Where formerly a full scale "Mos Teutonicus" would have been required to breakdown the multi-cellular structures of the subject to release the narrativity, it can now be isolated in a significantly smaller sample of bodily fluid, blood for instance, and spun out utilising a specially patented centrifuge based on some antique pieces I have been collecting. Of course the Discontinuity Bomb requires only a minute amount of narrativity to trigger the cascade reaction...'
'So how much of Lady Araxion's blood are we talking about?'
'Oh, about a pint really.'
'Father, is this true?'
'Of course it's true. I'd have cut his tongue out by now if the silly bastard had been lying. Now then you are to join Mr Dravot, Panopticon Gasthörer Kalends and a contingent of Kopfjaeger aboard the IRS Jayatar which should be arriving from Echo City this very hour. I want you then to proceed into a low Micras orbit and thence to the Minerva station. Kindly prevail upon Miss Allot to make a donation to the war effort.'
'Me? Why me?'
'Because you're a naive sap. She'll probably take pity on you. I expect to hear back from you in two days.'

[Leo Fenrir]

Minerva Hub

A loud alarm went off in the station's hub, surprising Leo. He guiltily stashed his secret bacon store which was not actually allowed in station. He reached for the ladder on the wall and climbed up towards the center of the station. As he made his way towards the center of the station the sensation of weight gradually faded away until he was no longer climbing but instead floating. He reached the EDEN terminal at about the same time as Isabelle who seemingly had been disturbed in the middle of a shower.

"What's going on?" she demanded, "This must be the first interesting thing thats happened since you ate that entire dehydrated chilly pepper."

"Don't remind me..."

"But seriously what is that?"

"I don't actually know. I think its the general alert signal. EDEN must have picked something up."

"Like what? Asteroid warning?"

"No, if EDEN detects any debris it automatically activates the KE platforms. This must be something else." He tapped the glass screen and a series of pictures sprang to life. One in particular was flashing an alarming red. Leo tapped it and an electronic voice filled the room. Connecting to Shirithian telecommunications network. Communication request triangulated to abandoned military outpost, Agnesia.

"That was the telephone?" said Isabelle in an exasperated voice. "My god I thought the Khan had found us or something."

"I'll have to talk to the technicians about that..." said a slightly shaken Leo who was doing a very poor job of regaining his composure. It also didn't help that he knew Isabelle knew that he knew that she knew that the Khan had been precisely what he had feared as well. "Eden, please connect the call."

Matching signal frequency. Establishing uplink with Ground Zero.

"Why does it have to connect to the surface?"

"Most radio waves get deflected by the ionosphere so calls coming in from lower tech phones have to be routed through the stations-"

"Thats great I'll go finish my shower then." and she promptly left.

Connection established

"Leo?"

"Count Cho'Gall?"

"Leo! Thank god, I have a group of survivors stranded in Agnesia and we need an out. Fast!"

"Is this some kind of joke Count? The last I heard from you was via the means of a black envelope telling me that you were seceding. And now you expect me to do what for you?"

"What are you talking about? I never sent you any letter!"

"That must be the lamest excuse I have ever heard!" (Not that i've used it myself before or anything)

"What the hell are you going on about you heartless bastard! I wont have you forfeiting the lives of these men for some petty quarrel that you have dreamt up."

"I seriously don't have the time to deal with you-" he paused and added under his breath, "But it is a nice change from Isabelle, she actually makes sense when she argues..."

"Then don't do it for me and do it for these men."

"Fine! My god your persistent to the point of insanity! I'll contact Liberty center and see if I can't get the IRS Nereid to make a rescue flight. Is that satisfying?"

"Don't be condescending with me Leo. Don't forget, I know where your sheep live."

"Splendid." he said a canceled the call. Almost immediately the alarm sounded again. This time though the screen displayed the image of Lucard Wrend who was wearing an emotion that was somewhere between giddy excitement and distress.

"Ah Lucard just the man I needed to speak with. Can you speak with the technicians about this ring tone?"

"Thats actually necessary Mr. Dine. If there is an emergency during the night than we have to be sure that we can get the residences' attention. But I was contacting you because we require you to authorize the docking of the maintenance shuttle."

"Oh? I thought that the systems weren't due for maintenance for another month though."

"We detected a malfunction in the air recycling system which we need to address immediately."

"Ok then I will do so immediately... What is wrong with you Lucard. You look like you've just seen the Khan or something."

"Oh no Mr. Dine. I had a close shave with one of the prototype engines earlier thats all. The request to dock should be arriving momentarily." A loud ping resounded in the cabin and a notification appeared on the screen. Tapping a series of commands into the terminal Leo completed the authentication process.

"Done. Oh and Lucard I need you to send the IRS Nereid to the following coordinates to retrieve the Count Cho'Gall." he tapped in the data into the terminal.

"Of course Sir." The screen when blank and an electronic voice announced the remote canceling of the transmission.

Suddenly Isabelle reappeared with a look of fear on her face.

"What is it Isabelle."

"I just saw theIRS Jaytar float by my window. Isn't that one of the MoMA's ships?"

"What! Lucard said that I was approving a maintenance vessel!"

"You mean its docking?"

"I'm afraid so Isabelle. I'm so sorry. It seems Lucard has betrayed both of us."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well we can only wait now." There was a moment of silence and Leo continued. "Game of hearts?"

[Allot]

"Really?" said Isabelle angrily, "Is this REALLY the time for HEARTS? In case you forgot, I am a fugitive. That... man wants to kill me. As in death. I'll be dead. And if what Maigrenox said was true, then you're all screwed if that happens. Which means," she said, displaying a flash of Andrew like cunning, "that it's in your best interests to prevent the Khan from opening my body like a can of cat food. Isn't it?"

Leo stared at her, his tongue imprisoned by the Araxion Freedom of Characters Act.

"Well?" demanded Isabelle. "Say something! Unless of course, you want to explain to Gaelen why Elwynn has been overrun by evil bugs from hell."

There were some whirring noises from afar as the docking mechanisms unlatched. Isabelle's face went white.

"There must be somewhere to hide! Hurry, you moron, where the hell can I hide?" she said, with more than a hint of urgency in her voice."

Docking Procedures Completed. Airlock 003 Camera Activated.

One of the smaller screens flashed and an image appeared. Leo and Isabelle both attempted to look at it at the same time, with the result that their heads ended up connecting and sending them both to the floor in a heap. Once they had recovered, they got a closer look at who was coming off the Ministry's warship.

"Oh goddess, it's that Englishman..." said Isabelle. "That proves this is the Khan's doing!"

"I don't like the look of all those soldiers," said Leo, in direct violation of the AFOCA.

As the men began to file through the airlock out of the camera's range, Isabelle deflated like a balloon.

"Fuck," she said. Then the screen flashed again as Shapur Osmani entered the frame.

"What in the..." said Leo. "Isn't that the Khan's son? Isabelle?"

Isabelle had frozen, staring at the screen, mouth open.

"I can't believe it..." she said. "Thank Elwynn it's him..."

[Daniel Dravot]

Daniel Dravot, Meretricious Kalends, Shapur al-Osmani and twenty Kopfjaeger assault troops waited patiently for the docking arm of the gravship's 'gondola' section to attach itself to the remaining docking bay.

'Space rendezvous completed. Initiating docking procedures.'

"Thank you, Commander Chang" (no relation, insofar as we are aware...) replied Dravot who had in recent times found himself going from being somewhat unfamiliar with helicopters to commanding an orbital strike force. They called it career progression.


Docking Procedures Completed. Airlock 003 Camera Activated.

'Synchronising gravitational fields'

"Right you god-awful little bastards... MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

Quite unnecessarily the lead Kopfjaeger threw a flashbang through the airlock into the station. After the explosion there was merely silence and the scouts moved on ahead ready to machine-gun anything that so much as moved.

"Area Clear." the Kopfjaeger shouted back.

"All right gentlemen. Kalends, take ten men - secure the docking bay. Check the shuttle pod for life signs and then decouple it. I'm sure Chang will appreciate the target practice. Rest of you follow me. Shapur, you're going to bring up the rear. I'm not letting the Khan's bloody son get in the line of fire. Now then, we are going to clear this station section by section. The elfinshi woman is to be taken prisoner and must be kept alive at all costs, at least until the blood is drawn. Anyone else who resists is to be terminated."

"Erm, are you sure violence is necessary?" Shapur - the voice of concerned reason as always.

"Eh? Are you daft lad? Of course its necessary. You don't forge an empire without plunging your bayonet into a few guts."

"But we're not trying to forge an empire, we just want a sample of her blood. Look, if you could just leave the talking to me... to begin with... please?"

"Oh if you insist. But the first sign of her being prissy and we do it my way. Understood?"

[Cho'Gall]

Just then the alarm signaling the telephone went off again.

[Leo Fenrir]

(which was of course completely ignored in and amongst the rest of the clamor)

Leo clamped his hand on Isabelle's mouth as a pair of boots came down inches from their faces. Though the holes in the grating were too small to admit more then just the basic outline, a fine powder of dirt sifted through as the man ground his foot on the spot. I will be charging the Khan for the maintenance bill this time around. Leo grumbled internally.

A warning glare from Isabelle conveyed that she did not need his hand to keep her quite, and a bunch of other things that would probably shocked Leo had they been put in words. Both were as still as the grave as the Kopfjaege seemingly refused to move. A minute or so passed before another man came to join him.

"Any sign of them?" the Kopfjaeger asked.

"Not yet, but they can't have gone too far, there's no escape pod and its not like this is bloody Benacia."

"I'll sweep back the way you came. We'll flush them out eventually." He concluded and the two men left in opposite directions.

"Ok the coast is clear Isabelle." Leo whispered. "Heres the deal. When I lift the grating there is a panel just to our left that will take you into the power line maintenance ducts. Since they obviously haven't thought to bring a set schematics for this place chances are it should be safe to move around in them for a while longer. Use these to find Shapur. In the mean time I'll turn myself over and pull rank. Since I'm still technically in charge of the ElwynnBrigade, if I just order them to stop I can hopefully buy you some time."

Isabelle nodded, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"On the count of three, go."

He lifted three fingers and when the last came down the two pushed up on the grate and emerged into the hall.

[Daniel Dravot]

Daniel Dravot was pacing down the corridor as this figure crawled out of the floor grate and stood tentatively upright.

"Oi! You there! Hands up!" and as a reflex action he drew his revolver.

And then Leo turned to face Dravot, pulling his smug 'don't you know I out rank you' smile which fell away into a look of abject despair and horror as he noticed Dravot's 'I know who you are and I'm going to shoot you anyway' smirk, and more importantly Dravot's revolver aimed squarely at his face and with a round chambered and the hammer snapped back into the firing position.

"I always knew I'd have the pleasure of blowing your brains out, you daft sheep bothering poltroon..." Dravot scowled as he spoke, but even so he was clearly enjoying the moment.

"You wouldn't...shoot... an unarm..." The words trailed away in Leo's mouth as Dravot's finger began to squeeze the trigger and then...

"STOP!"

It was of course Shapur crying out in alarm and consternation, but it had the effect of making Dravot flinch just at the moment he depressed the trigger and the firing hammer snapped home, detonating the bullet cartridge and sending a solid lead round hurtling towards Leo's head... but just wide, hurtling off down the corridor and slamming into the wall at the far end.

"Oh you bloody idiot, look what you made me do... I've missed... damn it I'll have to try again." Dravot began lining up for another shot

"No, wait! Wait! You go round shooting in here you could cause the habitation ring to de-pressurise."

"Pah."

"No, seriously, wait. A bullet wouldn't punch through into the outside. Would it, Leo? Leo? LEO?"

But Leo was just standing there bolt upright, utterly petrified. The reverberations from the firing of the gun and the bullet whistling by still echoing in his ears.

"What's that hissing sound?"

[Leo Fenrir]

[OOC : Sweet I get the Impression you've been waiting to do that. Also as a note, If the ring were actually to depressurize there are airlock systems that isolate the breach. So you just wouldn't want to get stuck behind on the air locks.]

[Allot]

It was only a moment before klaxons began wailing and red lights along the ceiling began flashing alarmingly, like an alarm. The thing that goes WHOOPWHOOPWHOOP did so, loudly. Why Lucard Wrend had found it necessary to have four different alarms was beyond Leo. Along with the one that went WHOOPWHOOPWHOOP, there was also the one that went ERRRRRRN.....ERRRRRRRN........ERRRRRRRN, and the one that went aaaaaaaaaaaaaEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEaaaaaaaaEEEEEEEEEaaaaaaaaa. Leo covered his ears just in time to hear a robotic voice say: Incoming Call From: Nordland, Military Outpost #4221.

Daniel Dravot took aim at one of the flashing lights with his pistol. The bulb shattered in an explosion of glassy-looking plastic, and the phone stopped ringing.

---
Well, this is helpful, thought Isabelle. Shapur is right there, but so is Dravot. There was nothing to do but wait for Leo to get arrested and then come out of hiding. Isabelle sat back to wait inside the cramped vent, when suddenly....

A FLASHBACK OCCURRED.

But not actually. She just had a moment of Andrewish ninja skillz revelation.

---

Dravot took aim at Leo's head again, determined not to miss. Shapur's protests were waved away, and the blood drained from Leo's face as Dravot pulled back the hammer. Suddenly, there was a clang from above Dravot. In one fluid motion he moved the gun from Leo to the ceiling, and had fired four shots into it. A faint cry was heard from the ceiling, and time seemed to stand still. And then the ceiling fell on Dravot.

[Leo Fenrir]

Regaining his composure, Leo's brain raced to catch up with everything that had just happened. He... Shot at me! That bastard! And now... the station... Holy Mother of Sheep! The station! The Khan will be paying the bill for this, and my therapy... It was at about this point that Isabelle crashed out of the upper ventilation shaft directly onto Daniel Dravot. How convenient.

"Isabelle, Shapur, we have to get out of this compartment before the airlocks are activated!" he shouted over the alarms. However it was his flailing arms and anxious expression that actually caught their attention. The three rushed to the door while Daniel struggled to regain his feet. As they passed through the opening Leo spoke out over the noise.

"Eden. Seal maintenance sector D4 airlocks."
Command denied. Leonardo Centre remote controls are currently active.
"That damned Lucard! Is he trying to kill us all?" He looked around desperately trying to think of a solution. "Eden. List current permissions for all on board members."
Automated Airlocks - Overridden
Life Support Systems - Functional
WARNING : Cabin pressure will reach critical low in five minutes.
Science Lab Access - Denied
Terminal Room Access - Denied
Maintenance Access - Operational

"Eden. Stop listing permissions." Leo remembered on the scientists explaining how all locks had an manual override in the maintenance cabin in case of an electronic failure. "Ok you two go and find a safe place, Dravot wont be long in whipping out that damned gun of his and if we keep giving him targets, chances are he'll punch enough holes in this place to ensure our timely deaths. I'm going to see if I can't access the manual controls to activate the air locks. If it seems like I wont make it in time I want you two to try to get onboard the Jaytar."

Leo stayed just long enough to see Isabelle and Shapur make eye contact for the very first time. He rushed towards the center of the station where he would be able to access the maintenance hub, every step becoming softer and softer as the simulated gravity slowly fell away. He crossed a hall where three Kopfjaeger were discussing in panicked voices. They had opviously heard the announcement made by Eden and were discussing weather or not to return to the Jaytar. One of them noticed him and called out, but Leo managed to slip into the maintenance chute before they rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

The chute was cramped and slightly uncomfortable to navigate, which was not at all helped by his claustrophobia. As he floated lower into the Minerva's core the clamor from above faded away. He vaguely hear Eden announcing three minutes until critical decompression and sped up his rate of decent. He emerged into a small rectangular room that was riddled with wires, tubes, valves and what looked like a stack of pizzas. Desperately trying to remember the schematics that had been presented to him during the meeting Leo examined the series of giant breakers.

When he found the one entitled "D4 Airlocks" he gave it a sharp twist. A series of metallic clangs resounded through the room and the distant sound of alarms switched off. (All but one that is. Which was the phone that was still ringing.) Leo let out a sigh of relief. Well thats one disaster averted. He thought.

Emerging back out of the tunnel, Leo was met with the sight of two very shiny boots. Looking up he met Daniel Dravot's gaze.

"You have to be kidding me."

"Sorry old chap. This aint no joke."

[Daniel Dravot]

"You have to be kidding me."

"Sorry old chap. This aint no joke. His Imperial Majesty, Kaiser Osman the Provisionally Titled, commands you attend upon him in his presence in Shirekeep."

[Allot]

On the moment that Kaiser Gaelen III abdicated, deep within the Glass Mountain near Geneva, Ian Rutherford keeled over stone dead.

Isabelle was staring at Shapur in a very strange way. Emotionally deprived as she was, it was such a relief to see a face that she had come to associate with freedom that Isabelle shed a tear. No big, B-movie bawling, just a single tear from the corner of her eye, which she wiped away with the back of her hand and a sniffle, disguising it as a sneeze.

"Thank Elwynn," she said, and hugged Shapur. A few seconds passed before a Kopfjaeger struck Isabelle a blow on her head with his cudgel. She dropped to the floor, clutching her head.

"Kneel before His Imperial Highness!" ordered the Kopfjaeger.

Isabelle's moaning stopped.

"WHAT?" she said, rising, still clutching her head.

"The Khan is now Kaiser," said the soldier smugly. "And His Niftiness does not like to be kept waiting, my dear."

Isabelle sighed and kicked the soldier in the shin, hard. He collapsed screaming.
"That's for calling me 'your dear'," said Isabelle. "Now, let's get out of here."

[Leo Fenrir]

"Ok. Now I'm sure that this is some prank. You can come out guys!" Leo wheeled, almost frantically, "Has Lucard installed some hidden cameras?" Daniel watched patiently with a faint scowl on his face. "Bet your getting a good laugh out of this Benacia aren't you?" said Leo, addressing an oblong piece of metal. "The Khan, Kaiser!? O Great Sheep, why must you test us so? Have I not prayed enough to your all fluffy and powe-" He was cut short by Daniel knocking him on the side of the head.

"You quite done?"

"Yes... I know when I'm beaten." He visibly deflated on the spot, nursing his injured temple.

Daniel Dravot escorted Leo down the hall towards the airlock where the Jaytar was currently moored. Out of the corner of his eye Leo saw Isabelle down a hall kicking a Kopfjaeger and making a break for it with Shapur. A smile crept to his lips. This had all been for Isabelle anyway, so as long she was safe nothing had been in vain.

Another sharp knock to the head was dealt. "Oi! None of that smiling business. Don't think you can weasel your way out of this with some cleaver idea."

Leo made a note to ensure that a shuttle came pick up Isabelle and Shapur from the station within the next few days, if nothing else he should be able to send the command to Eden before he had his audience with the Kaiser.

The airlock sealed behind him and he heard the station speakers announce that all Kopfjaeger were to report for immediate departure en rout to Shirekeep.

[Percy Rutherford]

Percy Rutherford screamed with rage and threw his framed Learner Profile against the wall, where it shattered. The face of the Khan stared down at him from the telescreen in his room, which right now was broadcasting a rather annoying bulletin from SNN providing live coverage of the coronation. Percy's eyes were red and bloodshot from a mixture of sweat and tears, and his white beard was tangled and dirty. Along with the ink stains that permanently anointed his hands, there were now also traces of blood from where his fingernails had broken the skin. He had lost his pointy red hat. He sank to the floor, pounding the glass tiles with his fists, and he screamed again. He sat there in silence, while his conscience tormented him with his failures to meet the Learning Outcomes. Shaking, Percy raised his head to gaze into the face of his brother's murderer. That was it, Percy decided. It was time to stop being an Inquirer, and to start being a Risk Taker.