Update 32

It ain't much.

“Well, you’re more than welcome to stay here for a while.  We’ll get a ship up and ready soon enough and go find your crew.”  Alexander stated, which was enough to snap Nathan back into reality, causing him to make his choice immediately.  Never having been one to go back on his word, the Captain walked forward placing his hand onto Alexander’s shoulder in a gesture of thankfulness.  As he finished, he let a short sigh escape before he changed his mind and began to regret his decision; a promise was a promise though and Alexander was too much of a liability to let roam uninhibited.   As the doppleganger went to turn toward Nathan, he’d feel pressure being applied to his throat before the other hand came up over his mouth.  Not understanding at first, the Supervisor gasped for air only to find it cut off from him.  Realizing that it was Nathan whom was choking him at the moment, he growled in fury, struggling against the hold and attempting to shake his duplicates grasp.  Strength began to ebb away as Alexander’s lack of oxygen began to starve his muscles, gritting his teeth, he knew what he had to do.

Everything happened so fast afterwards, Nathan didn’t have time to prepare, nor did he even realize it was happening until it was almost over.  All he could do was watch as his world completely flipped over; his head pushing itself upward before it hit the ground.  Alexander was a fighter, that much was sure now as Nathan pieced together the events that led to his current situation.  His look-a-like had pushed his leg right behind the Captain’s, twisted his hip and in an instant gripped his coat and hammered into him.  Only the instant thought of, I’m falling, remained in Nathan’s mind as the action sent him off balance and hurtling to the ground.  Almost catching himself, the sudden halt of momentum gave his doppleganger enough time to sling his arm back around and send the Captain crashing to the ground.  Coughing in a sputtering manner from the surprise, while Alexander did the same in order to get air back into his lungs, the two men stared at each other for only a brief moment before they went back at it. 

Leaping to his feet, Nathan was soon surprised by the speed that Alexander could muster.  The Scottish version of himself overtaking him with in an instant of rising to his feet and forcing him to the defensive.  Adopting the defensive boxing stance that he had taught himself as a child, it was all he could do to weather the furious blows that came sailing his way.  A string of jab combinations and then a haymaker or two had pushed Nathan back into a wall before a left hook to his kidney sent a pain roaring down his side.   That dull ache righted itself almost immediately; however, the male wasn’t about to take being treated like a rag doll lying down.  Leaping forward, to Alexander’s surprise, Nathan went into what boxers’ called a ‘Super-man punch’  Jolting his entire body forward while throwing his momentum into his right fist, the Captain swung heavily into the supervisor’s face.  Feeling the skin ripple around his blow as the man’s cheeks contorted around his knuckles, Nathan took in a grim feeling of satisfaction.  At least, he did until Alexander countered with another thunderous right hook directly to the Captain’s jaw. 

Pain laced through both of their faces, but neither one backed down as they staggered, then quickly righted themselves again.  Spitting to the side, the supervisor expelled a small stream of spittle mixed with his blood before wiping his mouth off.  Cracking his knuckles, the male had lost all interest in talking to Nathan and was now contemplating different ways of smearing him across the floor.  The Captain meanwhile was staring straight ahead at his opponent, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing him shaken in any manner.   As he moved in closer towards Alexander, the two men seemed about ready to jump down each other’s throat; however, it was at this point that the supervisor remembered something, the realization evident before his hand descended immediately and began to pull up a pistol of some sort.  That was all the cue that the former janitor needed, he charged him, gripping his wrist and forcing it upwards before the two went into a brutal exchange of blows. 

Alexander got in the first strike, slamming his knee into Nathan’s gut as he continued to hold up his wrist, refusing to allow the supervisor to shoot him.  Grunting once, the former farm-boy reached around to the back of his look-a-like’s head.  Taking control of the situation, he began to send his knees up toward Alexander’s gut and hips; as soon as one made contact, he would send the next and kept this chain going in rapid succession.  Caught off-guard and feeling every blow, the mine employee started to back up, trying to break away, but Nathan’s grip on his head and his wrist were much tighter this time around.  Sustaining this, the Captain didn’t stop ramming his knees into Alexander suddenly gasped for breath and dropped the weapon.  As it clattered to the floor, Nathan swept his foot backwards, kicking it beneath benches surrounding the lockers as they continued to wrestle.  No longer needing to worry about the gun, Nathan released his wrist, pounding into the side of Alexander’s face and forcing it backwards into the locker.  As every blow pelted downward into his skull, the supervisors body began to go limp, the life draining from his eyes as he could feel himself losing consciousness.  Lids of his eyes fluttering, the Scottish look-a-like decided to try one last gambit. 

The blows stopped raining down onto Alexander; Nathan stepped back, panting slowly as he saw blood trickling down the side of the supervisors face where he had cut him.  Chest heaving up and down, there was little else that needed to be down aside from switching clothes with Alexander and then make sure the man wasn’t going to be a further nuisance.  Turning his back to find some rope, he noticed a few zip ties and a roll of good old fashioned duck-tape sitting in the locker in front of.  Thanking his luck and reaching in to grab it; he nearly shrieked in pain when Alexander revealed himself to be conscious and fully capable of cognitive thought.  Before Nathan had a chance to react, his arm was wedged into the locker and being slammed repeatedly against the two edges.  Feeling soon dissipated from the appendage as he fought in vain to free his arm, being unable to stop Alexander’s assault because of the awkward situation.  When he felt his arm become completely numb, Nathan swore at himself, only to find his head being slammed into the side of the locker, then put in his arm’s place.

Everything turned red after that as he slumped down, feeling the sensation of the steel trying to slice his skull in half.  Twitching with every blow that he took, Nathan tried to think of a way out of it.  Kept trying to think, but all he got was the agony of the brain telling him that he was dying.  As blood began to drip down the side of his body; he stopped moving at all, almost resigning himself to fate before he realized that Alexander was getting ready to finish him off.  The locker door was now wide open, but Alexander had moved behind him, getting a better angle to slam the door on him; before he could finish his preparation, Nathan’s foot bolted backwards.  Feeling his boot connect with something soft and relatively small, he understood that he had just smashed his foot into Alexander’s groin.  Getting up with his entire world in a haze, he could see the supervisor, wide eyed and obviously in pain.  Righting himself, though his vision still blurry from the obvious concussion that he had sustained during the fight, the farmer’s son twisted at his hip snapping a kick to the side of Alexander’s head hurtling against the cast iron of the benches.  Nathan knew it didn’t matter though, the man was out cold before he had collided with the metal, it had only added insult to injury. 

Groaning in pain as he moved closer to Alexander, Nathan went through the arduous task of undressing the male with just one arm.  Knowing that his arm was broken now pissed him off more than anything; however, he’d have to make due until he could find a doctor.  Blood still ran down his face, making him look suspicious; however, his likeness to the supervisor made it possible to pass off as an accident in the field, at least that is what he believed.  Stripping the other male down as quickly as he could, he made sure to get the jacket off of him, realizing that no one could see his under clothes anyway, left him with his under shirt and underwear intact.  Switching into them, he stared irritated that he couldn’t wear his hat any longer or he’d give himself away.  Shaking his head, he stuffed it into the nearby locker before tearing a piece of duck-tape off between his teeth and slapped it over Alexander’s mouth.  What came next was likely the hardest part of the entire process though.

“Fucking Zip ties.”  Nathan grumbled to himself, constantly fiddling with one around the supervisor’s legs and attempting to get it through the loop with just one hand.  Having already failed at least twenty times, he finally pulled it back as far as could, then repeated the process with Alexander’s wrists.  As painfully easy as the process was with two hands, it was borderline impossible with only one; finally, he managed to slip the white band around his wrists and tighten it into a pair of make-shift handcuffs.  Happy with his accomplishment and shoving him into the open locker; he sighed and wrestled with yet another zip-tie through the lock and finally got it sealed.  Shuffling his feet and leaning against the wall as blood dripped from his skull; the male dizzily made it to the water fountain.  Using his body to activate the water, he began to splash his face and clean up the blood there to lessen the injures that had appeared.  Already, he could visibly see where some swelling was going to occur and several brushes were beginning to appear over his body.  “Well, fucking hell, don’t I look like someone just shit a load of bricks on me.”  The captain stated viciously at his own reflection in the chrome.  Fishing around in the supervisors pockets and jacket, he came across his wallet and found a good seven hundred credits inside of it, along with his key card.

“Well…at least I found something useful and a little bonus for my trouble.”  He told himself, before remembering the gun which he had kicked under the benches.  Almost slapping himself for forgetting it, he staggered over to the spot where he had seen it disappear before crouching down to pick it up.  Examining the item, it was obviously designed by the mining company itself, as the logo for the place was built right into the handle.  Keeping his cool, he took a moment to familiarize himself with the name of the company: “Port Langrid” along with their logo of three planets with a starship in the middle.  “Well, that is one bit of information, though I’m not sure if this place is run by Port Langrid or if this is just someone being sponsored by them.  Looking back down at the gun and twisting it up and over around in his hand, he liked the feeling of the Teflon grip and the sleek appearance modeled after a Rossi Cyclops.  Running his eyes down the six inch barrel, he slowly pocketed the weapon before making his way back to the steel double doors.  Swiping the newly found keycard through the scanner before walking through the doors and down a narrow corridor, Nathan wasn’t exactly sure what to think of the place. 

Everything seemed so bland and meek, the floors were simple black and white tiles stretching down almost like a hospital like manner, while the white plaster walls stretched up to an equally white ceiling.  Something about it reminded him too much of a prison or a school, causing a shiver to go down his spine as he wandered past light fixtures and a bathroom.  Finally after walking for about three minutes, he ended up staring a black sign in front of three different paths.  Corresponding with these paths were green arrows, each blinking once every four seconds to draw the eye.  The one to the left stated that it lead to the Armory, the one to the right claiming to lead to the Emergency Medical station.  Nathan’s eyes lit up at the words, medical station but also to at the armory as well.  If a serious fire-fight broke out, he doubted the single ion-pistol that he had on him would be enough to fend off all of the numerous guards that were likely around this place; however, the medical stations could fix up all of his injures and make his disguise that much more convincing.  Finally his eyes caught the last arrow, Front Desk, where he figured there would likely be a secretary or some computer with this places schematics.  Where to go first though?  He knew it was only a matter of time before someone came in looking for him or Alexander and the latter could wake up at any moment.  Now wasn’t the time for indecision, but was at a loss once again.

A.       Proceed to the Medical Station

B.       Proceed to the Armory.

C.       Proceed to the Front Desk.

Update 31 and Repost of Update 14

Alright, so this new update is a bit big.  I spent I think....four hours writing it?  This of course being writing while distracted with music and other people talking to me; I don't know what it is, but I can never sit down to do ANYTHING, without having something else going on as well.   Oh, well...I suppose that is just me.   Anyway, since this update was huge and the next update is going to set a lot of stuff into motion; I might be taking a hiatus after next week.  During that time, I would be possibly training myself to draw, taking care of school work and learning HTML so I could possibly upload some little animations and shit like that.   Any guys, thanks for reading, I wouldn't be anything without you.

What exactly could Nathan do in this situation?  As the snow storm started to rage around him, the former janitor could only stare at the beast in front of him; rubbing his hands together for warmth all Nathan could do was slowly nod his head.  Shivering desperately, the Captain could feel himself starting to freeze before his feet went out from underneath him.  “What the hell?”  He managed to say out-loud before the rush of air around him alerted to him to the fact he was now falling.   Nathan’s immediate shock and surprise to this fact was ended as he collided with the permafrost beneath him, sending a wave of powder flying up into the air.  Head and back repeatedly slamming against the surface as he began to roll rapidly down the slope, Nathan could do little but groan as he stared up at the Vorshilder now sitting in the spot he once head.  “Son of a bitch….”  He thought to himself, but realized the statement was too accurate to be considered and insult and grumbled trying to think of something to use against it.  At least, he would have been if he wasn’t in mind numbing pain from smacking into the ice so many times. 

Rolling to a halt at the bottom of the ridge, he was thankful the ride was over. Grunting and groaning in minor agony as he heard the sounds of rushing boots crunching in the snow; several mens’ voices were reaching his ears, but at this point, he had completely stopped caring.  When the first one got close enough to make out his features, Nathan stood up brushing the snow off himself before noticing the guy was clearly alien.   His cracked almost amphibian skin, the color of swamp mud and lily pads, came rushing over quickly.  Whomever he was, his eyes were nearly the triple the size of a normal humans and his neck seemed to frill outwards like a parrot’s neck when excited.  Groaning and staring at this odd creature, he noticed him bending over to try to help him up.  Nathan slightly stunned went through the motions of pulling himself up and being walked along by the alien, whose race he had never seen before.   After three months aboard the ship, he had thought he had seen damn near everything, but this guy was something he had never expected.

Taking inventory of his situation, he realized he had no weapons and nothing he could use to defend himself if something went sour in the mining plant.  Sure, they were taking him in now to make sure he was all right and keep him from freezing to death, but the moment he started to wander about and start to fuck with their base of operations?  Knowing well enough that this place shouldn’t even be here, they were sticking their necks out for not capping him the moment he arrived.  Blinking slowly as he shivered and trudged along through the snow while the alien let him lean on him; the pair entered the facility.  What Nathan could gather from the outside as they passed by was that it was growing extremely cold as the snow-storm outside was now raging, there were at least fifteen guards outside wearing thermal jackets and goggles, two workers were doing the same and working in large cranes that were obviously designed with defense in mind and that the compound was much bigger than it looked. 

As he was hurried along into the work locker room, the scent of sweat, something akin to mud and someone’s lunch hit his nose.  The mixture would have been completely foul if not for the warm scent of tomato and cheese soup next to him, the bowl lay there steaming brilliant, causing his stomach to let out a vociferous growl.   Nathan’s face burned a brighter red than the soup with the tumultuous resonance in his stomach fading away, knowing it came from him didn’t excuse the fact that it sounds like a lion had just roared from inside of him.  The alien who was standing next to him looked at him slightly confused for an instant, black lips pursing before it croaked out a slight laugh and pushed the bowl of soap into his lap.  “Fill your stomach with my lunch, I can always buy something from the snack machine.”  Every syllable came out hoarsely between borderline croaks in his breathing, yet to Nathan it was probably the most beautifully sounding person he had ever heard.

Due to his massive appetite and the fact that it was something warm sitting right in front of him, Nathan didn’t hesitate to take up the alien’s offer.  Instantly beginning to slurp the soup greedily by just upturning the bowl against his lips and drinking it as he would water, coughing as he did so as he found the soup to be an almost condensed paste.  The Captain loved it all the more for it as it sated his hunger and circulated warmth through him, using a proper spoon, the human relishing in each bite causing an explosion of gooey-melted cheese and ripened tomatoes to burst in his mouth.  Causing him to almost tear up at the taste sensation that he feared he would never experience again; however, he did find it odd that an alien would happen to be enjoying the same delicacies that humans did.  Staring upward at the back of the alien’s neck though; he knew that if he was to keep his word to the Vorshilder than it would mean he would have to get him out of the way. 

“So what exactly is this place and what are you guys doing here?”  Nathan finally asked leaning back against the cold steel of the dark green lockers.  Feeling the frigid surface against the nape of his neck as his skin slipped into the perforations.  Shivering lightly, he found the alien now looking at him, but could see, even through the alien’s jacket that it had trembled at the question.  Not trying to show that he already knew, he just wanted to see what the reply of this guard was; maybe he was just some hired blood with no information.  That claim was instantly dismissed when the alien simply said.

“It’s classified, the corporation that hired me doesn’t allow us to speak about it or even permit most of the knowledge about this place to be passed along to the lower reaches.  So what I can tell you, I’m not allowed to and everything else is beyond me.”  Nathan could tell the alien was being honest; however, he was slightly irritated by the bureaucratic answer.  Letting a exhalation to pump through his nostrils, the Captain filled his mouth with the last spoonful of soup and stared forward at the alien before him. 

“You’re telling me that. You’ve got no information you can share with me about that his place?  Well…no problem, you’ve given me a warm place and a filled my stomach so I’m in no position to ask for more.”  Saying this with a genial smile before setting the bowl down to the side; looking into it almost mournfully, while his hunger had been assuaged he still wanted more, but had no desire to pressure that on his current savior.  Glancing back up to the bizarre amphibian alien whom was turning to walk outside, surprised that the creature was willing to leave him alone.

“I’ll be right back after my shift.  Don’t go anywhere!”  He called rushing back outside as what appeared to be the sites supervisor signaled him over.  Nodding respectfully to the alien, Nathan sat still watching and waiting for the alien to completely disappear before standing up and stretching out.  Thankful that his legs and face hadn’t been beat up too bad by his recent fall, his gentle smile disappeared as he began to walk around the locker room looking for anything that might be useful.  Casually exploring the rows of green lockers stacked atop each other with benches lined in front, nothing particularly interesting about the place aside from the sheer volume of lockers there were.  Just from a quick glance the locker room itself seemed to take up about two hundred meters, with at least two meters of space between each section of lockers.  Browsing through the area took him a few minutes, but there wasn’t exactly much to see.

After looking down each row, he finally came to the back of the room where two doors stood next to each other in a symmetrical pattern with a water fountain between them.  Walking over to the humble half-dome of silver colored material, Nathan bent over flipping the switch at the top of it and began to drink slowly.  Refreshing liquid passed over his lips, allowing him to slurp at it quickly and wash down the after taste of his earlier charity.  As he drank, his mind slowly mulled over what he was doing in the place; the vorshilder had requested help in taking it down, but was that really proper?  The mine was supplying jobs to people that likely wouldn’t have one otherwise, it was probably stimulating the economy on other planets and the only things that would benefit from his actions were creatures that would likely be dad in a few years anyway.  Cursing under his breath as he realized his actions were essentially dooming hundreds of people to a life of poverty and despair, he wished he could just leave.  Yet, something in his head told him that he had to go through with it.

Huffing in exasperation once, the Captain fiddled with his coat buttons before glancing over the rows of lockers again, it was far too clean.  No signs of any snow being tracked in, no wear and tear, the place reeked of being white washed so many times that the scent of bleach continually hit his noise.  Yet, nothing really implicated them of doing some massive wrong; the planet was doomed to die in the first place due to another corrupt practice, so why should anyone care that someone was mining it?  As these thoughts swirled around in his head, Nathan sat down on the bench letting his arms rest between his knees as he contemplated what the hell he was actually doing out here.  Sure, the animal outside had dragged him out this far, but what had made him agree to do this in the first place?  These people were likely his only hope of getting off this planet alive, but his word was pretty much the only honorable thing he had left in his life.  Slamming his fist down into the stone he was sitting on.  The Captain found himself looking up, no idea what to do, no idea how to get through the two doors in front of them as they required a key card to get through and no idea why the hell he even agreed to do this fool’s errand.

Brushing himself off, he figured he would just walk back explain how he had crash landed and that his crew was waiting outside in the snowstorm.  Figuring that was the best course of action, Nathan began to move towards the front of the locker room again, placing his hands into his pockets.  Walking about five meters away from where he was standing, the sudden click of the door behind him resounded in his ears.   Turning his head slowly, he could have sworn he was staring into a mirror.  The man who had just walked out could have been his twin; while his eyes were green to his hazel-yellow, their facial construction and body type was basically the same.  As the pair stared at each other, the mine worker stared at him for a moment, whipping his bare hands against each other as chalk dust went flying off them.  “Now, what’ve we got here?  Ain’t never seen anyone look more like lost draxel than you do son, so what can I do for ya?  Ya obviously dun work here, so I should be asking what you’re doing in my locker room.”  Nathan, stunned by the resemblance between them hadn’t exactly gained his balance yet, but the guy in front of him seemed to care less and rubbed his stubble covered face without so much as a sign of being stunned.

“Well, you see I crash landed on the planet and ended up finding these place on accident.  If it wasn’t for the generosity of one of the workers here, I probably would have frozen and starved to death.  I’m not sure what else to say aside from that, he went back to work and let me in here to warm up.  I was just exploring and moving around to speed up the process, you know curiosity and boredom getting to me.”  Nathan’s docile, but sheepish smile making him seem more like a kid who got caught doing something wrong rather than an adult who had just been rescued.  As the look alike blinked a few times, he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, plopping it into his mouth.  Reaching into his coat pocket and yanking out a sophisticated lighter with what looked like a coat of arms on it, he lit up his cigarette before speaking between drafts.

“Hmm, well if you crashed we’ll be more d’in happy ta get’cha and your cru back ta Roshire.  What’s your name stranger?  Mine is Alexander Esquire, dun ask about it, I got no idea where it came from.  Any who, I’m one of the supervisors around here.”  Nodding sagely a few times as his Irish accent continually broke through bouts of normal speech along with streams of cigarette smoke.  Stepping to the side, he looked out towards the space leading outside before turning back to Nathan expectantly.

“My name is Nathan Blackholm, I’m the captain of small crew that are waiting for my back in the wastes.  We’ve been out there for about two days and finally I decided I had better leave the ship and try to find help.  They’re currently waiting out there for me to come back.”  As Nathan lied, he saw the perfect opportunity unfolding before his eyes, this guy looked exactly like him, he could easily pass off as him and get in deeper through the complex that was the mine.  All he had to do was get his security card and clothing and he was golden; however, this guy could also be his key to getting off Waquil safely.  All he had to do was wait, then he and his men would take him back to his crew and they would simply fly him off to Roshire; however, what did that mean for the creature that he had just shared his mind with.  Blinking several times while Alexander had his back to him, he realized there was no way to save everyone, both the miners and the animal outsider were strangers to him.  While he had some attachment to the beast outside from their brief encounters, what could it offer him?  Gulping slowly, he knew he had to make a decision.  Alexander seemed more than willing to help, but to go with Alexander would be going against his word to the creature.

Staring at the supervisor’s neck, he knew that it was now or never.  He had to do something in the next few moments or else he wasn’t going to have another chance like this. 

A.       Nathan keeps his word to the Vorshilder and snaps Alexander’s neck.

B.      Nathan keeps his word to the Vorshilder and renders Alexander unconscious.

C.      Nathan breaks his promise to the Vorshilder and leaves with Alexander to pick up his crew.

Update 30 and Page 13 repost.

I haven't had a hell of a lot of inspiration or drive to do much of anything lately.   School just got back in and the constant disappointment with the human race is driving me into a slump.   Hopefully this funk will end relatively soon.

Staring down at the pair of women who were still utterly submissive to him at the moment, Nathan contemplated his next move.  Tesla was a real kink and it was her turn; knowing her though, she would be turned on by anything that he did.  Numerous erotic thoughts filled the Captain’s mind, constantly pounding away in a vibrant frenzy as he reached down.  Grasping the Yor’zvin by her wrist, he pulled her up to her feet, causing her to glance expectantly at her lover.  Tesla moaned gingerly as Nathan’s hands crept up the front of her body; she just couldn’t get enough of the rough, calloused fingers grasping her well-endowed figure.  Biting her lip, the red head could feel the head of Nathan’s manhood pressing against her anus.  Every second that passed made her heart beat that much faster, the sound becoming explosive in her ears.

Each thump signaled her excitement, making her body tense up in anticipation of being penetrated through the backdoor.  Yet, something was wrong, why wasn’t Nathan going in?  Why wasn’t he fucking Tesla yet?  As she calmed down, the Yor’zvin realized that the thumping sound she heard wasn’t actually her heart, but something else outside of the ship.  Panicking slightly, as the red head didn’t want her pleasure ending so quickly, Tesla attempted to distract Nathan from the noise. “Nathan, come on why don’t you push it in already?  Are you waiting for a written invitation?”  Before she had even finished, she could tell that her statement had fallen on deaf ears;  Lily had realized it before she had and was already redressing. 

When the Captain pulled his body away from hers, an overwhelming sense of cold invaded the Yor’zvin’s body.  Despising the lack of connection with him, she stood there, listening to the repeated knocking sound dinging against the escape craft’s hull.  Every few seconds, a new resonance would echo through the tight chambers making it sound like it was coming from all directions.  Cracking his neck twice, Nathan was clearly irritated by this new occurrence and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that someone was going to pay for it.  Now wiping himself off with the edge of one of the bed sheets, Nathan swiftly redressed in order to rectify the situation.  If it was a rescue party great, but why couldn’t have showed up before they had started or after they had finished?  Would it be too much to ask for such convenience in life?

Pulling his underwear up over his still stiff manhood, Tesla looked at him half-heartedly; she had gotten off once, but the Yor’zvin had wanted so much more.   Pulling her legs up to her chest, she buried her face into her knees in order to avoid screaming in pure frustration.  This entire planet and situation seemed like nothing, but disappointment after disappoint, every time things started to look up they went sour.  Huffing once, she figured it might be someone trying to save them, so that was a plus; realizing there was no point being upset at this point, she just stood and kissed Nathan’s cheek gently before stroking his chin.  As she took in the rough feeling of his stubble, a soft smile growing on her features.  “Go do what you have to do, we can catch up on our body’s desires some other time.  Now go see who it is, I’ll let Garrus out of his ‘cage’.”

Laughing at Tesla’s comment, he nodded, feeling his mood uplifting slowly; however, it was nowhere near the cathartic level that a good session of sex would have delivered.  Just as he was pulling on his shirt, he felt Lily’s arms wrap around his neck.  The blonde’s slender arms resting against his broad shoulder’s as she buried her face into the small of his back; while it stung from the injuries he had sustained, Nathan would admit it felt nice.  As the sensation of her hot breath passed through the thin fabric of his under shirt; the Captain’s eyes smoldered.  All annoyance passed away as the utter adorableness of Lily’s action caught him off-guard in a pleasant way.   “Lily, nothing bad is going to happen to me…I promise…don’t worry.”  Nathan whispered softly as one hand cusped both of hers around his neck.  Finding himself oddly at peace for once, he turned around in her embrace; dropping his own arms around her before showing his affection for her.  As their lips met, he stared into her eyes, then playfully tussled Lily’s short locks before pulling away from her. 

“Nathan, just be sure that if there is any danger, you’ll come back in immediately alright?  We need to be careful, especially with Faulkner’s group still out there; we don’t know if they followed us down here.   So please, just be careful.”  Lily’s conviction and worry far outstripped the pleasant qualities of her voice at the moment, since the blush on her face still indicated her arousal.   Biting her lip, the blonde sat down the bed that she had nursed Nathan back to health from and slowly leaned back waiting to hear whatever news he had to bring. 

“Yeah, I’ll be careful Lily, I was being careful last time, but things happen.”  Stating this with a shrug and a smile; Nathan promptly put on his flat cap, pushing the brim down low to hide his now flushed features.  Adopting a casual stride, he pushed forward towards the air lock doors.  A few more knocks caused him to pause for a second over the keyboard as he input the code; with a hiss the doors sprang open leaving him staring dumbfounded at the creature from earlier now only two feet away from his face.  Gulping, Nathan started to take a step backwards, but his feet were frozen in place.  Quivering for a moment, he wondered if it was the same one or something different; however, those thoughts were cut short when it extended its  jaws and wrapped them around his waist. 

The Captain didn’t even have a chance to scream.  Suddenly being torn from the cabin and rushed away; he was carried off and could see the shuttle disappearing in the distance as three figures ran out after them.  Yet, none of them were anywhere near fast enough to catch up with the Vorshidler’s impressive pace; all Nathan could do was clutch onto its side and pray that he wasn’t about to be the beast’s snack.  Lily, Tesla and Garrus stood in shocked amazement and horror as they watched the beast run away with their leader into the white world of Waquil.  Lily’s knees buckled beneath, sending her crashing into the snow as tears rolled down her cheeks freely; suddenly, the implication hit her and she began to wail.  “NATHAN!  NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”  She had to hide her face, clutching her fingers against the skin that was quickly becoming raw. 

As her heart tore itself to shreds, all the exuberance she had experienced moments before was now gone.  Only an empty and grim reality was left in its wake, causing her to cringe lightly when Tesla fell beside her.  Glaring at the red head, she begrudgingly allowed herself to be comforted by the Yor’zvin.  Lily felt Tesla’s arms wrap around her, the warm sheet of her embrace feeling like a kiss of death for her, it was a worthless sentiment of compassion right now.  Nathan was gone and she was grieving over having finally found a man she could love; she had so many plans that would never come into fruition now.  Clutching the snow with her bare finger tips and feeling them slowly beginning to lose heat; she pushed away from Tesla, heading back into the ship still sobbing wildly.  “Stay away from me…just stay away from me.”  She whimpered before fleeing into the bathroom and slumping down beside the shower. 

Garrus stood staring outward with his jaw still dangling from its hinges; a single tear running down the pilot’s cheek as he tried to remain calm and contemplate what to do.  As much as he was loathe to admit it, the Swabbie was the only thing keeping everyone here together; now that he was gone….they needed him back now.  Not only that, but Nathan was his friend….he was the only friend he had left now; even if he was slightly cruel to him at times…..Nathan was always there watching his back.  Keeping that emotion bottled up, he swiftly turned around and walked back into the ship; searching through the cabinets and drawers for something, anything that could be used to help him find the Captain.  Shifting through the medical supplies, the utilities, he found nothing, finally in a frustrated rage, he tossed the manual to the ship across the room.  Shaking as the agony of the moment set in, he plowed his way back outside and grasped Tesla about the shoulders as she stood watching in the Vorshidler disappear into the distance.

“I already know what you are going to say Garrus.”  Tesla stated quietly before he even spoke, having started the moment she touched his shoulders.  “You want me to go after him and I will soon enough; I was just reading the weather to make sure it was safe prior, there will be a storm soon enough, but it should be relatively small.  Nothing I can’t handle with an extra layer of clothing; still, you and Lily should stay put in the ship, especially since Nathan has the only pair of gravity-boots.  So get back to the ship, I’ll return as soon as I find out what happened to our dear Captain.”  Pausing for a moment, she looked back into Garrus’s eyes, gripping his chin gently and waving it back and forth.  “You should show this side of yourself more often pilot, it makes you much more endearing than the other side of your personality that tries so hard to be a badass.  Yet, I’ll give you a quick warning….if you dare try to touch Lily in anyway while I’m gone…I will carve your balls off and make you swallow them whole.”

Finishing her statement, Tesla turned back around, breathing outward before she felt a little extra weight on her shoulders.  Feeling it, she found Garrus’s coat around her shoulders, covering the basic clothing she had been wearing moments prior.   When she turned to thank him, he was already running back towards the escape vessel; rubbing himself for warmth in a blur of red and light grey.  Laughing at the sight and allowing herself that brief moment of joy, before setting out, she righted herself and slowly turned stoic as her huntress instincts kicked in and she began running after the Vorshidler and Nathan.

Some distance away, Nathan could feel himself getting sick from the constant jostling.  His body felt sore and weak, though remarkably, the creature’s sharp teeth were placed in such a way as to not penetrate his flesh.  Groaning weakly as he bounced off the beast’s ivories once more; she suddenly felt himself being shifted around and being carried by the scruff of his neck.  While there was some minor pain involved, it would seem the Vorshidler was no longer concerned about their rate of speed.  As it slowed, it gradually continued its movement, pressing its paws down and starting to get lower towards the ground.  Nathan wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the ship had completely disappeared from view, likely meaning that they had traveled several miles in a few minutes.  Gradually rolling his shoulders in his new found freedom, he had to wonder what the creature had in store for him just before he was deposited by the side of a cliff.

“Wait..what are you?”  Nathan questioned as stiff by the edge of slanted slope; he could see that the fall would be a more of a roll if he went over, yet he could also see some sort of facility down at the bottom.   Long lines of green paint rolled across a black surface, while a few men wandered around the compounds grounds, one or two sipping steaming cups of what appeared to be tea or coffee.  Another one worked a crane of some sort, moving massive power cells from a pile to a machine; getting them into place before repeating the process.  Unable to really discern what was going on below him, Nathan turned back towards the Vorshidler before seeing the creature’s mournful eyes.  “What….is it that you want me to do?  Why did you bring me here?”  He asked, not really expecting much of an answer before the beast let its forehead rest against the Captain’s through his hat.  A soft vibration ran through the vorshilder’s throat before Nathan’s eyes suddenly opened wide.  Information that he shouldn’t have was pumping through his brain rapidly, he could see the Waquil as it was before Roshire existed. 

“There…there is no way you could be that old!  Roshire was built over five-hundred years ago!”  Nathan stammered as he looked at the animal with fright, awe and shock from the gesture it had just presented, but he continued to watch as time passed.   A large pack of Vorshidlers were wandering the wastes of a snow covered land, even when Waquil was mostly a lush paradise; game was plentiful and it was like a new Eden.  Gulping, he watched the births of new pups and the memories began to speed up, eight generations later, he could see himself standing before the Vorshidler, only this time, he was staring through the beast’s eyes.  Feeling a new sort of connection with the animal, he brought up one hand towards its head and stroked it slowly.  “Why….why are you showing me all of this?”

"Know....me.....”  A voice inside of his mind echoed back to him, it was rough, guttural and seemed to growl with every other word.  Somehow, he knew that it was the creature in front of him speaking to him; however, the sudden shock of it nearly caused him to topple backwards over the slope and down towards the compound.  Glancing up, the beast slowly nodded before continuing to speak to him mentally.  “Talk...short.....pain.”  The voice was desperate now, growling as it painfully forced out each syllable in an increasingly contrived manner.  What little communication that the beast was capable of presenting to him was evaporating rapidly, leaving Nathan to only guess at what it wanted.  Suddenly, though the former Swabbie’s eye sight changed; no longer looking through his own eyes, but through the Vorshidler’s, everything had gone into infrared. 

Heat blossomed off the human bodies down below and the entire building seemed to be a flare against a near white background.  Gulping once, the view suddenly changed into that of a more electro-magnetic frequency; the walls suddenly vanishing as he could see networks of electronics running through the facility and continuing downward further and further.  It seemed to run down to the core of the planet, which is when Nathan realized what exactly was going on.  “They are mining out your entire planet….”

“Yes…”  Came a pained reply inside of his mind, before flashes of the oasis that was Waquil prior flashed in his head.  A sorrowful moan escaped the beast’s lips before it pulled back and covered its head with its forepaws; pain seemed to be lancing through it repeatedly, giving it very little chance to think properly.  Everything that had been the presence inside of Nathan’s mind faded leaving him to only stare at the creature, that wished for nothing but to have his home returned to the state that its ancestors saw it in.

A.        Agree to help the Vorshidler

B.        Refuse to help the Vorshidler