Hi folks! Here's the results of some more fun we had on Wednesday night
on the #fflive channel on IRC. Next session is Saturday night at 9pm EDT
(1am GMT) for the Sci-fi thriller "Janus V". Connect to the server
anime.terratron.com and /join #fflive channel. Hope to see ya there :)

Genre: Science Fiction
"Plight of the Purple Dragon"

Session Start: Wed Apr 17 1996

Writers: Windlily, Panda, Stryker, Kergma, Robma, Bentley
Firehawke, Furryous, Mike, Calesta

Cast:
Trisha Foxford: Captain
Jason: Navigations
Ce-Ce: Communications
Bentley: First Officer
John Rogers: Ship's Medical Officer
Gene: Ship's Engineer
D'nan: Crewhand

Part 1: The Shadow

<Windlily>O.k. Background...we are on our own little ship, have 
interecepted a 'secured' transmission about a huge derilict ship just 
discovered at the edge of known space.

<Panda> "Communications; can you clean up the signal a bit?" The comm
station operator looked back at the Captain with uncertainty. "I'll try 
Ma'am". Captain Trisha Foxford listened to the audio signal, trying to discern 
anything that sounded like a voice.

<Windlily> Jason looked up from Nav, recognized the Emperial Emergency 
Code. "Um, Captian, that's an automated distress call on a 'secured' 
Emperial frequency. Something big went down bad. Ce-Ce, can you 
triangulate a position?

<Robma> Ce-ce looks over the instruments..., "Give me a second....  There!!  
I have it!!  I'm sending it to you now...."

<Panda> Ce-Ce looked at his instruments as the signal became clear. 
The captain stepped down from her command chair to stand next to Ce-Ce.
"Let' hear it then."

<Windlily> Jason listened with just a small part of his attention as he input 
Ce-Ce's coords. The voice sounded shocked and tired, and in pain. "Help. I 
couldn't get them out. Whole squad...the rooms, by the Brightness, the 
rooms..." Then it dissipated in a hair raising crackle that most on the bridge
recognized as the sound of a ship dying.

<Robma> The rest of the crew looked around to each other and their eyes 
stopped at the Captain.  Jason finally asked the question they were all 
wondering, "What now, Captain?" The Captain stood up and walked a bit...
then looked at the screen, "Follow that signal."

<Panda> "I'm calibrating the nav-computer now. We should arrive in 15 
quadrans at our present velocity." Trisha nodded. "Okay. Bentley?" Bentley 
turned. "Yes Captain?" The captain walked up the ramp from the bridge area.
"I want a team assembled to EVA in 13 quadrans ready to heck out this ship.
Got it?"

<Bentley> Bentley nodded. "Affirm," he turned and grabbed a crew roster from
someone and started to run down names.

<Kergma> At one of the side consoles, a small light felt that it wasn't getting 
enough attention and started *bleep* *bleep* ing rather insistently.

<Robma> The blinking light blinked insistently... until someone from 
engineering put his coat over it...  Gene looked up at the Captain, "Sir?  I 
didn't hear which system we were headed for.  Should I go check the 
engines again?"

<Panda> Trisha glared at Gene with a stern look. "Alright. Check the
engines and report back to me. That signal seemed urgent and we don't have
time for delays." Gene nodded and ducked out of the cavernous bridge area
into the Lev and vanished downwards towards the bowels of the ship.

<Bentley> Bentley eyed the list, pulled on a com set and cleared his throat.
"May I have your attention please." His voice echoed through out the 
ship. "Following officers report to prep room for assignments. The entire 
crew crossed their fingers as Bentley made them sweat." Jaskon, Nikano, 
Scott and Roberts, report to prep asap. That is all." He signed off and made 
eye contact with the Captain who nodded her approval.

<Robma> Gene looked over the engines and checked the panels.  "That's
not right..."  He recalibrated the signals and the monitors lit up.  "That's
better, but this part is still offline..."  He finally got it fixed.

<Panda> Captain Trisha Foxford turned to Jason. "Hear that lieutenant? Enter
you coordinates and let's get this ship underway!" Jason spun around
in his chair and his fingers flew over the controls. "Yes Ma'am! Engines 
responding. We're enroute. ETA is 15 quadrans." Trisha sighed with relief.

Meanwhile ...

<Bents> Bentley walked down the corridor as he felt the deck plates vibrate, 
and eyed his watch; getting underway early. He slid down the ladder and 
proceeded into the prep room and waited for the four victims to show up.

<Firehawke> Deep within the bowels of the ship, nobody noticed the silent 
figure sneaking among the corridors. This man, a traitor to his people, was 
not about to let this ship get to its destination in one piece. His name was 
Dr. John Rogers, and he held a deeply rooted hatred towards humankind
for the loss of his brother years before.

<Stryker> Bentley was contemplating the death of his fellow crewmates when
the door to the prep room opened, an easy twenty minutes early. Bentley spun
around, his hand reaching for his sidearm. John Rogers stepped 
through the door saying, "I think we might be on the same side."

Back on the bridge ...

<Windlily> "It's right there!" Jason insisted and Ce-Ce frowned at the empty 
screen. "Right where?" Ce-ce snarled back. He didn't see anything, 
sensors didn't pick up anything. Then the light off of the star of this system 
cleared the two gas giants and illuminated a huge strange shaped shadow.
They both gasped. How could something that big not show up on 
sensors. And where was the debris from the ship they had heard explode so 
clearly?

<Robma> The shadow advanced at the ship.  The captain got to her feet, 
"FULL REVERSE!!!  What is that?!" The ship pulled back from the total
darkness. They changed course and the shadow changed course with them, Ce-Ce
responded "Whatever the hell it is, it's gaining on us!"

<Panda> The ship slowed at a painful rate as the bridge crew watched the 
shadow continue to move forward at them. Captain Trisha Foxford frowned 
as she regained her balance. "Ce-Ce! Scan the anomaly for anything! Jason! 
Check our co-ordinates and make sure we haven't drifted from our original
heading!" The crew began to busy themselves at their tasks as the shadow
raced after the fleeing ship.

Back at mid-ship ...

<Bentley> "I told you once already." Bentley turned around and sat against 
the desk. "I'm not joining your little revolution." He felt the deckplates 
shudder. He turned an ear to the open door and heard the clomping of 
rubber soles on the deck. What the hell? He thought. He then looked back 
at John who was still standing there looking at him. "I would suggest you 
get back to your station." He reached for the comm panel when the world 
around him went black.

<Firehawke> John smiled. This was going to be all too easy. All he had to do 
now was implant the brain-controlling chip and Bentley would be on HIS 
side. He carefully pulled the surgical scapel out of his pocket and began 
cutting.

<Stryker> John's hand carefully cut away the skin and bone of Bentley's 
head. So far, John was lucky and didn't cut into brain of his "patient". After 
a careful 2 minutes of surgery, John was preparing to insert the chip.
Outside the ship, the large shadow fired a single ion charge at the 
fleeing ship. The impact of the blast was not enough to damage the ship, 
but John's fingers slipped into Bentley's head, ripping apart the unconcious 
man's gray matter.

<FFurryous> The hemmoraging was instantaneous and blood oozed
out all over John's fingers.  In vain, he tried to stop the bloodflow but 
it was too late to do anything; Bentley fell over with a graceless thud.

The bridge crew was shaken (but not stirred) by the ion fire.  
"Damn shadow ships" The captain decided to go with the manuevers
that no one ever dared to do, that earned her the name "The Furyous
One" amongst her classmates in officer's school.  She took the helm of
the ship, casting aside the navigator who was sweating bullets, but
Foxford was calm and cool.  "Let's rock and roll" she gritted through
her teeth.

<Windlily> It didn't work. They felt the soft tingle of the tractor beam in
every part of thier bodies as they were reeled in. "Captain." Gene's one word
warning from Engineering was all she needed.
"Cut the Engines."
The ship feel silent as it let the Shadow pull it in.
"Well, Captain, do we board?" Jason asked.
"Do we have a choice? Was there any signs at all of that ship that 
sent the distrss message?"
"No, Mam. Ce-ce answered with a frown.
The iris opening looked little until they got close to it. Gods, the 
bloody thing could swallow a heavy battle cruiser!

<Panda> Trisha watched the crew as shutdown operations were completed. 
Then it occured to her that Bentley had not reported back to her about his
assembled crew. "Ce-Ce?" Ce-Ce turned to face the captain, her voice
sounding concerned to his sensitive Vorlak ears. "Yes captain?" Trisha
leaned on the barrier rail. "Has Bentley sent his final EVA team list to
you?" Ce-Ce scanned his communications console's logs. "No ma'am.
This is curious ... " Trisha leaned a little further over the rail, her
communications officer's last statement making her uneasy. "Yes?"
Ce-Ce turned in his chair slowly to face her. "It appears that we are no
longer getting vital signs from the first officer." Trisha blinked. "What?"

<Stryker> "Someone go find him!" Trisha was too pissed to be overly 
considerate to her crewmembers. She turned towards the Shadow ship and 
watched it coming closer and closer. Within minutes, they would be inside 
the Shadow ship's massive bulk. And no one's ever returned from being 
captured by those ships.

<FFurryous> D'nan hated it when the captain picked on him.  She made him 
do the most menial tasks like taking out the laundry to the laundry part of 
the ship (what *do* you call it?), he cooked her meals especially for her, he 
never *ever* got to be with his girlfriend anymore. So it was no surprise
when D'nan was chosen to look for the missing first officer while the other
crew members got to prepare for the boarding and handle the weapons and
do the cool things.  He went out to where Ce-Ce said that Bentley was
last seen.

<Mike> D'nan didn't much like the idea of roaming the ship in search of a 
missing officer, especially when it seemed they were all about to be killed or 
crushed or worse by this Shadow ship. But he was a loyal crewman, so he 
set out down the corridors calling out Bentley's name. Rounding the corner
nearing the med bay, D'nan noticed John standing just outside the door,
looking a little ragged. D'nan was just about to call out to the doctor when
he noticed out the corner of his eye the dead body of Bentley. Fortuantely,
D'nan was carrying his sidearm.

<Calesta> John looked up at D'nan, a little supurised. But then he schooled 
his faced to a calm, serene look. "Yes. What's wrong?" D'nan jumped back 
and pointed his phaser at John. "What have you done? Did you... did you 
kill Bent?" John stared at him like he'd turned into clown,"Of course not!" 
"Then what are you doing here with Bent's body?" D'nan asked skeptically, 
weapon in hand, still on guard.

<Windlily> The bridge was silent as they watched the iris open like a lazy 
flower, silent as they passed ships moored to the walls by things that 
reminded Trish of umbilical cords. Was something like that going to latch 
onto them? "What?" Ce-ce hissed in a sharp breath, his fingers flying over
his board. "Report." Trish started the word in one place as her whole body 
was taken apart piece by piece and put back together somewhere else. It
didn't really hurt, but she fought a wave of nausea anyway. Ce-ce hit the
floor on his rear as he re-formed with no chair beneath him, Jason letting
out a 'uff' as he repeated his partners performance. Trish spun in a tight
circle as a soft voice in an unknown language questioned...something.
They were in a barren room with one door, where was everyone else?

<Panda> As D'nan and John vanished in a storm of swirling molecules from the
hallway, Bentley's finger begin to twitch. The twitch was followed by a 
shudder as the cyborg fought to repair the damage to his neural network.
Bentley awkwardkly pushed his erraticly responding body up off the 
floor until he had assumed a standing position. Inside his brain, tiny nanites 
went to work, re-connecting lost pathways. Bentley scanned the hallway
for life signs and found none. As his neural net began to function more
smoothly, he set off down the corridor to the bridge. The captain would
have to be warned.

To be continued... 
---------------

Panda

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