Macross Ultra-Delux (Lady Raven Please)

Waking up to the sound of Alarms and Flashing emergency lights, Jasper quickly sat up. He still hadnt recovered from the last battle that had taken place, but this was not looking good. Jasper got off the bed and tried to stand on the floor but noticed that the antigravity systems where offline. Looking around while saying,"damn," floating in mid-air from the lack of gravity He then pushed off the bed with his foot and harm and floated towards the closet in front of him and quickly opened it and grabbing his combat suit. There was no time for Explinations, he had to act fast. Quickly putting on the suit he rushed out the room while holding the helmet in his hand and a specially designed pistol thats not based off the tradtitional design like normal.

Trying to be cautious, Jasper puts the helmet on and a active HUD comes up for him to see and starts giving him alerts that he isnt able to pay attention to. Suddenly Jasper hears,"EMERGENCY VENTING IN SECTION 32! T MINUS 5." Looking around Jasper saw the numbers 32 right beside him in black thats 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide, upon seeing this jasper yelled,"FUCK!" There was a loud beep and there was a loud sucking sound from the vacuum of space as it sucks out the air and pulls Jasper with it. Slamming into a wall to break his fall from possible death into the depths of space, he coughs some and cocks the pistol and hears it whine up and says outloud,"Air Burst Rounds!" The pistol changes size and gets larger but just slightly, the suit begins supplying Jasper Oxygen but before doing anything else Jasper checks his Oxygen supply by looking at the digital heads up display inside the helmet and was happy to find out that the air was full but that only brought him slight relief knowing that the air tanks only last for about 4-6 hours depending on breating rate.

He moved his wrist closer to him and said,"Aura, where is Exia!" a female voice replied,"20 clicks north of you." Groaning in annoyance and discomfort He pushes himself off the wall and begins floating. every time he would get a click closer a small ping sound would go off in the helmet but it was very faint.

five clicks out he noticed that there wasnt someting that should be. He turns on the magnetic clasps in the feet and steps on the ground, making his own gravity. Walking slowly with the pistol in hand, he looks around the area knowing that something, someone was out there. getting on edge Jasper begins aiming down where he is looking with his arms full length, one holding the pistol while the other guarded it in his hand so someone couldnt take it from him. He turned the light on the gun on and a bright beam began shining and he said,"Look, I know your out here." He silently turns off the mag locks and floats again and pushes hard and flies around the corner while aiming down the sights but doesnt fire and uses the air jets to stop dead still as he notices a woman in a suit, clearly afraid and unaware of the situation just like him. Lowering his advanced pistol he reaches out to her with his hand saying,"My name is Jasper, Im a fighter of the SMS Skull Squadron. If you come with me I can get us safe."

They didnt have forever to wait, he wasnt gonna wait forever on this woman. He understood that she may be afraid but they had to hurry before something else bad happens. Jasper retracts his hand and touches the helmet with his finger and says softly,"shhh.... we must go now!" His suit turned jet black and he whispered,"Aura, online Exia now. I need a emergency Evac, Authrise one passenger." Aura hearing how Jasper had begun to talk, Aura simply sent a pulse glow in the headset that he was wearing.

((gonna use Serenity for this one, if that's ok hun))

The Jezebel hadn't come across a ship like this in a long time and the crew were eager to see if it was inhabited or not.  At first glance, it seemed not, but the Captain wasn't so sure.  Instead, she ordered that they follow the ship for a while.  After some time, it was clear that it moved with purpose and direction and that made for several loud arguments between the Captain and rest of the Jezebel's crew.  Money was becoming an issue and the ship desperately needed an overhaul.  A decision had to be made.

After several days, several more arguments and a near miss incident in Jezebel's engine room, the decision was finally made to board the ship and strip whatever they could.  Previous bio scans revealed only three life forms aboard and with such a large ship, the Captain decided it would be easy to avoid any conflict.  The Jezebel was connected quietly and the Captain and her first mate boarded in silence on level 32.  Only, they hadn't banked on the state of the ship inside and it's connection with the Jezebel.  No sooner had the airlock opened, everything went wrong.  The Jezebel's docking arm had caused a breech and before the Captain knew what was happening, the entire deck had become depressurised.  The resulting shift and loss of gravity caused the Captain to become separated from her first mate and was thrown into the bowels of that level.  And then there was another.

Shouting to someone called Aura and Exia, the Captain assumed these were the other two souls aboard, a man arrived in her view.  He knew the ship was under attack.  Well, it was under attack of sorts, but not as intended.  The Captain turned her head to the man with fear in her eyes as he reached out and introduced himself.  His name was Jasper.  The Captain, for the moment, kept her mouth shut.  Further towards the air lock, the Captain heard her first mate battling to try and get back to her, which seemed to agitate Jasper and she shook her head before tapping her comms to her first mate.  "Kai."  She said quietly, "Stay where you are.  You're pissing him off and he's got a bigger gun than you.  Back off."
"Aye Captain."  The first mate replied just as quietly and started back to the air lock.

The Captain stayed with Jasper a little longer and when he turned away to speak into his own comms, his suit turning stealth black in the process, the Captain swallowed hard and made a break for it.  Pushing hard against the side wall, she propelled herself down the corridor towards the breeched airlock, "Chief, uncouple the docking arms!"  She called into her comms as she reached for a block on the wall.  She grabbed it and used it to propel her faster along the corridor.  "We need to go!"  She looked back over her shoulder to see what the man named Jasper was doing.  She really didn't fancy being on the business end of that weapon.....

Jasper, believing the ship was under attack made him feel and act so aggressively. But unknowing to him, he was put in a cyro genic stasis due to his injuries. In his absence he had recovered but the ship grew old and was beginning to fall apart in space. He held the front part of the helmet some as he felt light headed but once he saw the girl running from him he shouted,"what are you doing?" She didnt hesitate to stop and they didnt have time for this, if another air lock broke they all could be killed or sucked out to the depths of space.

Pushing off the wall himself, he glided into the loading bay and found his Exia. Happy and smiling he touched the helmet on the ear and said,"Aura, open Exia's front entrance hatch." Exia flashed its lights quickly as the hatch opened. Jasper floating into the ejtrance, he quickly sat down in the seat. Aura, Exia's Artifical Intelligence program came to physical view before him saying,"sir, there are things you need to know first." Waving his hand he replied,"not now, we dont have the time. Fulllly online Exia please, make weapon batteries fully operational.."

The A.I. made Exia turn over and become fully operational. A ship came up on the radar besides the one they where already in, jasper instantly believing this was the reason for the ships condition immediately said,"Aura, give me full combat controls." Slamming the throttle to full the engines moved the fighter craft forward like a bolt of lightning and accelerated down the launch tube, once out of the ship he immediately turned directly around and began flying towards the space craft.

Jasper knew the enemy ship would have sensed him already but theybwouldnt have much time to donanything about it. Jaspers fighter craft turned from a jet like appearance to suddenly a person looking appearance thats heavily armored and armed. Using the wing which doubled as a cartridgeless blaster, he aimed it at the ship while maintaining his own speed and began firing at the ship with his all.

Even tho its just him, it would take him a while tonactually destroy there ship. They even seemed to have armor plates that made him feel that this is not the first time this has happened to thwm before.

Finally back on her ship, the Captain ran for the bridge as the couplings were disengaged and the Jezebel moved away very quickly.  All around, she could hear danger alarms and she shook her head as she ran through the small ship.  This was turning out to be a worse day than she thought as she heard her first officer over the main comms.  "Captain, the unknown occupant has emerged from the ship in a fighter craft.  He's heading straight for us and has morphed."
"Fuck sake!"  The Captain shouted as she turned the corner at the bulkhead below the bridge and shot up the stairs.  "Shields!"  She yelled, "All power to the forward plates!"
"Yes Captain!"  The first officer said quickly. 
"Arm all laser banks!"  The Captain shouted to her weapons officer behind her first officer.
"Yes Captain!"  The second man said.
"Take out his weapons and shields!"  She ordered firmly.  She began to feel the Jezebel jar slightly from the impacts of the unknown fighter's weapons and shook her head, "Anytime today will do!"  She yelled.

After several volleys of laser fire, the secondary battery finally hit the fighter craft, making the aft side explode.  "That's it!"  The Captain said with very near joy.  "Again!"  Another shot was fired, hitting the target again.  She didn't know how much it would take to render the ship helpless, probably more than usual, but at least her first officer was moving the Jezebel too quickly for any real damage shots.  Still, she knew her chief engineer would be highly pissed at the damage done already.  Eventually, the Captain saw enough damage to the fighter that she opened a link to it.  "This is Captain Serenity Diamond of the Jezebel."  She said clearly, "You will return to your ship and power down, or I will destroy you."
"Captain, are you sure about this?"  The first officer asked cautiously.
"Absolutely."  She replied, "Anymore fire from that thing and we'll be in serious trouble."
"But so will he."
The Captain nodded, "I know, but he doesn't." She said and then hit the link button again, "This is your first, last and only warning, fighter craft.  Return to your ship and power down."

Once he noticed that the enemy ship's weapon platforms where beginning to online themselves, Jasper began taking heavy evasive action to try and avoid the incoming fire but something seemed weird. These incoming attacks look new, the weapons look new, and even the damage output is new. Noticing that he is in a very bad spot, he switches ammo in the rifle but as soon as he finished loading it The enemy had disabled the rifle with a blast from there batteries.

Groaning in annoyance, they had came to attack his ship, they even boarded it but even before that he tried to help a woman to get to safety but she wouldnt take his help. THe thought alone angered him.

In the middle of his thoughts, he wasnt paying as much attention to the field as he should have been and one of the sides of Exia exploded from one of the enemy batteries and Exia began loosing speed and its ability to turn evasively. Beginning to look like a sitting duck, Jasper pressed a lot of buttons on the dash in front of him and said,"Aura! Online the missile bays, activate graviton warheads." "Such rounds are highly illegial, do you wish to proceed?" Aura asked almost questioning his forth coming action. "activate the fucking graviton warheads like I told you dammnit!" Jasper snapped back. Hearing a beep from Aura, Jasper knew that she took the order but wasnt gonna reply. Even though she was a A.I. System, she was very smart and has learned to adapt a ghost and seem like a real person.

Jasper lowered the throttle and faced Exia towards the middle of the enemy ship to prepare for his retaliation for them hitting his beloved Exia. The missles that he had Aura activate where highly illegial because when they hit there target, they dont explode like a traditional missile. Instead they emit a massive burst of gravity that pushes out ward then sucks in even harder. Rendering Armor, and shields useless, the damage output is so massive that it has been rendered illegial.

Having his own batteries ready, Jasper had his hand on the trigger before suddenly a link opened up. It was a woman, and the voice sounded familiar... it was... this was the woman that was with him in the ship that he tried to help but she wouldnt let him. But now she was telling him to surrender or she would kill him? Who the hell does this bitch think she is, Jasper thought to himself in a massively rushed manner. Jasper enabled the link to reply and said to the Enemy Vessel,"Captain Serenity Diamond of the Jezebel, This is Exia speaking. Star date March 23rd 2400, Power down your batteries or I will be forced to employ Illegial maneuvers." while the link was still active he felt a sudden burst of pain in his head, it was the effects of the cyrogenic sleep that he had been in. When he was waking up they where supposed to have injected him with a cocktail of meds to help restore him to full condition but since he didnt get the shot he is now suffering. Groaning some and forgetting the link is open the enemy ship could hear anything that was said or done, and it was obvious that he was in pain, let alone doesnt know he is not in the time that he once thought he was in. It was the year 2400 when he was put into cyro sleep, but unknowing to him currently this was actually the month and year November 3823.

With the link still active, and in a massive amount of pain. Jasper heard them giving him a forced order to return to his ship or they would destroy him, instead he replied,"I will not return to the ship thats falling apart, Currently I have 500 missiles with Graviton warheads at my disposale, lower your defense batteries..." before able to finish the words that he was trying to say immediately he says,"fuck," and begins holding his head in the massive pain spike. Aura the A.I. speaks out even though the link is live, and says,"Enemy ship Jezebel, im offlining all defensive batteries on both your ship and ours. In return we seek immunity and medical care from you and your crew." Aura disables the controls so that Jasper cant use them and launches 5 tow cables onto the ship before them and disables all weapon batteries on both sides by using a micro electro magnetic burst and begins pulling the Exia to the ship Jezebel.

Aura not wanting to let Jasper suffer, she took actions into her own hands. She began monitoring his health remotely as the vitals werent looking good. In a matter of minutes he had passed out but by then Aura had placed Exia in the ships Forward docking bay. Exia was the largest vehicle in the whole hanger, while there was several smaller ships. Aura showing that she meant no further harm than what has already taken place, she opens the cockpit where Jasper is but shielded the cockpit by using an emergency shield and said on the Jazebel comms by using her A.I. to hack the ships comms,"Were in the Forward Hanger, weapon batteries are down. Please help my love." The blue eyes on exia flashed some showing she was in charge now and controlling Exia. Now it all relied on what the crew of the Jezebel would actually do.

Serenity Diamond had gone from highly pissed, to highly scared as she got a reply she had never dreamt in her worst nightmares. The Exia had graviton missiles. Her bridge crew looked just as scared as she did when the pilot not only made mention of them, but had also activated them and was ready to fire. The Captain had a hard choice to make, for she knew the true devastation of such weapons. Graviton missiles were illegal for many reasons, least of all the power of them. One hit from them, even a glancing blow would create something very close to a black hole and suck in everything, crushing it. It was indiscriminate and uncontrollable once set off. It was for this primarily that the Planetary Council had banned the use of them more than a thousand years ago. Serenity had seen the many empty spaces in the galaxy that had been left from these weapons that could still not be fully explored even after a millennia. And then, something else caught her attention.

The pilot, as he had powered up his illegal weapons, had stated a star date that just couldn't be possible. She turned to look at her first commander with wide eyes. "He's not joking, is he?" She asked.
The commander, a handsome human male named Kai Lomas, shook his head, "I'm afraid not, Captain." He said, "It tallies with the last known power spark from the larger ship. This guy has been in cryo for over a thousand years."
"Oh boy!" The Captain said.

It all made sense now. The ancient look of the ship when they had found it, the illegal weapons, the strange way he had acted when he'd first seen her on his ship. No wonder he'd thought she was in trouble, to him, her suit would have looked little more than a regular outfit with a simple breather used for extreme atmospherics. Serenity turned back to the screen just in time to see and hear the ship make it's own contact. It attached itself and manoeuvred into the foreword hanger. Such old tech, they had no protection against the hacking and Serenity could do little more than watch on the screen.

Rushing from the bridge, the Captain, the first commander and her security and weapons officer, a hybrid human/feline male called Slyder, made it into the hanger just in time to see the cockpit open and a shield engaged. She heard the plea from the ship and all three stared at the Exia now up close, with awe. Beyond an expensive museum, they had never seen anything like it! Serenity, with her weapon drawn just in case, approached the ship carefully and stared at the blue glowing eyes. "Computer, you will identify yourself." She demanded, "And you will identify your pilot." She moved up an adjacent stair to be level with the eyes and the cockpit. She looked in carefully at the man. He had been in cryo for a long time, so it was safe to assume his physicals would be highly distorted. She remembered from stories told to her about the old cryogenics and how they could kill a person if not treated properly on waking. Thankfully, another form of technology that had been rendered into history with the development of ion technology. "I repeat." She said, "Identify yourself and your pilot." Serenity was taking no chances just yet and already had much explaining to do to her crew.....

Aura, now controlling Exia, watched as multiple unknown signatures entered the Forward hanger that she had latched into. The blue eyes moved some as Aura was looking through the eyes of Exia to see what was going on. Annoyed that they where beginning to refer to Aura as a computer, she raised the left arm of Exia and the hand dislocated partially and moved up, revealing a 105mm chain gun and Aura said,"Never call me computer!"

Suddenly a projection of Aura appeared in the front of Exia as she was showing her true form. A hollogram basically of a young and very beautiful woman with long hair that was blonde but tinted slightly blue from the hollogram projection. She was partially dressed, just enough to cover her private areas. She turned some and walked around the hanger some in the hollogram form and looked around as this was the first time she has been able to come out of Exia for nearly a thousand years.

Hearing again that they wanted to know their Identities, she sighed some and said,"My name is Aura, Im the artifical Intelligence among Exia which if you havent figured out is the craft before you. The pilot is Jasper, or better known back in his time as Lieutenant Jasper "Tank" Lestat." Hearing Jasper groan some in pain, she turned to look at him and said,"He was a fighter pilot for a black ops military group that operated in secrecy to defend and protect given tasks. The ship suffered a massive energy loss and suffered damage, so warp was impossible, we could barely handle sub light speed. Jasper at the time also got into a accident and had to have emergency maneuvers done to stabilize him. With supplies limited and power running out, I diverted half of the power from Exia to keep the cryo unit alive while the rest of the ship was dead. When your ship latched onto ours, you destroyed the mag seals and vented the whole ship, that oxigen supply may have been stale and old, but it was still good, atleast untill you vented it."

She took the other hand that was available from Exia and gently lifted Jasper from the shielded cockpit and said,"he needs medical attention." She then lowered him from the cockpit to the ground and kept the 105mm gatlin gun armed saying,"harm him, and I destroy everything in sight. I love him way more than you know." The hollogram projection suddenly dissapeared and all that remained was Exia and Jasper.

Serenity, Slyder and Kai all lifted their weapons as the computer seemed to take the Captain's name as an insult. As it began to explain things, Serenity lowered her weapon and returned to the ground floor of the hanger, but she kept it drawn just in case. "Fair enough, Aura." She said carefully as she watched the hologram move and in turn, the Exia ship. Serenity nodded to Kai and Slyder and they too lowered their weapons, but neither holstered them just yet. Serenity moved forward carefully and regarded Aura with suspicion and curiosity. "Alright Aura, let's get a few things straight ok?" She said, but the AI started reeling off the damage that the Jezebel had done in attaching to the larger ship. "Look." She said quickly, "I scanned that ship a dozen times before we latched on and I never once saw any lifesigns, so if you don't mind, the damage to your ship wasn't intentional." She pointed her gun hand at Jasper, "And as for him, you guys drew your weapons first. Had we known you guys were alive and conscious over there, I wouldn't have touched you." Well, that wasn't strictly true, she had every intention to salvage the ship with or without anyone alive on board, but to admit the truth right now would be foolish. The Exia was more than capable right now of completely destroying the Jezebel and her crew in one shot.

Serenity stepped back as the Exia's free arm removed Jasper from the cockpit, but she was keenly aware of the warning and the very big gun still pointed at her. She finally put hers away. "As you wish, Aura." She said carefully and nodded her head to Kai. The man came forward and then went to the wall for a stretcher. "Welcome aboard the Jezebel." She said to the hologram, "I am Captain Serenity Diamond and these are some of my Diamond Dogs. The man taking Jasper is Kai Lomas, my first officer. My second in command here is Slyder Toulas, my weapons and security officer. The rest of my crew, you will meet in time. I've no intention of killing your beloved pilot, so you can put that gun away now, ok?" She turned her head to Kai, who had secured Jasper to the stretcher. "Take him up to the med bay and have him set up on a unit. I'll be there in a sec."
"Yes Captain." Kai replied and left with the unconscious pilot.
Serenity turned her head back to Aura, "Ok, so now you have my promise I won't kill him, I think it's time you and I have a little chat about things. Do you have a mobile projector so you can move independently of the Exia? We can chat then on the way to the med bay."....

"You saw now life signs because the Cryo Unit was shielded, and the only thing that had power was the cryo unit. The life beacon was disabled for lack of power." She had paused for a moment before responding and saying,"given from the comms through the helmet, you had ordered your man to stand down because Jasper's Gun was bigger than his. Jasper offered you support and you bolted away. With the ship being in such distress and high damage, he was reacting accordingly. With him hearing that there was someone else with a gun, he instinctively turned hostile."

Aura heard that she was asking about a mobile unit, she looked around and said,"I do, there highly experimental. Well they where back in the day, still prototypes." A small hatch opens and a black mist forms and begins growing, but if looked closer the mist is actually nanobots that will project her. Suddenly the Nanobots speed off and begin roaming the whole entire ship and latching onto the ceiling every so on so act as a transciever.

Aura steps out the ship by using the projection and says,"dont think that with my presence out of Exia that I cant sense and still control Exia." Standing beside the Captian of the unknown ship, she lowers the weapon that she had Exia using and said,"there, an act of a truce."

Serenity lifted an eyebrow at Aura and worked her jaw. What the AI had said was indeed true, but her response was also true. "Well, what did you expect?" She asked the hologram. "I entered what I was led to believe was an abandoned vessel floating aimlessly in space. In the blink of an eye, not only was I accosted by your pilot, but he was armed as well. So of course, I bolted. It's called a primal reaction, Aura. Out of the fight or flight response, I chose flight. It was your pilot that chased after me, not the other way around and I only fired when fired upon. Perhaps you should have intervened sooner before he decided to announce he had illegal, dangerous weapons that have been banned for more than a millennia." She shook her head and turned away as the nanotech emerged from the Exia and spread throughout the Jezebel. At this point, she moved to the wall and hit the comms pad. "Rat." She said quickly, gaining the attention of her lowest ranking officer.
"Captain?" The young man replied, "Is it true? We have an Exia on board? Can I have it?"
"Yes, yes and no." Serenity said, "Look, the on-board AI, Aura, had spread out some nanotech holographic emitters through Jez so she can move about independently."
"Uh, ok?" Rat responded carefully.
"So I want you to monitor them." Serenity told him with some sarcasm. "Make sure they're not interfered with and they don't interfere with anything else."
"Nanotech?" Rat asked.
"Yes Rat, nano-robotic technology." Serenity said with a groan. One day, that boy would have to catch up with the past tech. "Aura needs it to move her image around until something more permanent can be sorted out for their stay." She spoke slowly to make sure the bilge rat got the gist of it. "Can you sort that out please and make sure the tech isn't messing with anything it shouldn't?"
"Uh, sure." Rat replied, "Um, can I play with it?"
"No." Serenity said, "Just monitor it."
"Ok." Rat said.

Turning back to Aura, Serenity took a deep breath, "Right." She said, "That sorted, I'll take you to the med bay and I'll explain a few rules of your stay." She offered a half smile and began walking. "Rule one, I'm boss, understand? If I say jump, you say how high. I don't have time to be explaining myself to guests aboard my own ship. Rule two, no messing with my baby. I know every micro-inch of the Jezebel, how she moves, what her quirks are, so don't think for a second I won't know if you're trying to hack her again. In which case, I have no problem ejecting you both with extreme prejudice, understand?" Serenity kept walking, "Rule three, no messing with my dogs either. We may not seem like much to you, but we're a family and we don't like being hurt or fucked with. Rule four, keep your weapons off. There's a damned good reason why they were banned by the Planetary Council, not least for the empty gaps in space we still can't travel through. You can explain these rules to your Lieutenant when he wakes up. And it may be of note to you to update your systems as well. The date your pilot gave us puts you about 1400 years behind. The year is 3823 and it's November, or it was last time I checked. You've both got a lot of catching up to do."

Arriving at the med bay, Kai had already set Jasper up on a unit and was scanning him through a much more advanced holographic imaging system. Every inch of his body was separated into its component parts from skin to bone to the enamel on his teeth and Kai was steadily working his way through the images to find what was wrong with him. By the time Serenity and Aura arrived there, he'd just about figured it out. "Ren." He said, using the more familial term now, "His whole body is out of sync. He should have been given the balancing agents the moment he woke. We must have either interrupted the process, or our link destroyed the protocols and woke him accidentally."
"That would be the latter." Serenity replied with some guilt.
"Well, it's easy enough to sort out, I just need to give him a shot of Malium and Thaline and he'll be just fine." These were drugs that had never existed until the very end of cryogenic technology, but were widely used now to treat base infections from deep space and tremors in miners.
"Ok, give him the shots and put him on some pure O2. The air in his old unit was really old according to Aura and was probably on the verge of turning toxic on its own." Serenity told him.
"On it." Kai said and quickly prepared the shots. He also lowered a small mask onto Jasper's face to give him the O2 and help him come round easier. He injected the drugs and began checking for any other injuries.
"As promised, not a hair harmed on his head." Serenity said to Aura. "He should come round in a few seconds and you can tell him all the good news, ok?" She stepped back as she saw him begin to move, "When you're ready, you can join me in my quarters and I'll fill you in on what's been going on the last thousand or so years. Kai will show you the way." And she turned then, leaving Aura and Jasper alone. Kai also made his exit and walked up to the bridge with Serenity.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Kai asked his captain, "He nearly left us dead in space."
"I know." Serenity said, "But it's clear he wasn't with it when he did those things, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."
"I still say you should have just left him." Kai said, "Ejected the Exia and him and the AI along with it."
"We may be pirates, Kai, but we're not monsters." Serenity said, "And there might still be some coin in it for the old ship. It's dead and now there's no-one aboard, it's free game. It's obvious, he wasn't the captain and Aura kept only him alive."
"And she might do it again with us, Ren." Kai said, "It's AI like her that they were terminated to begin with. When they gain that much connection with a human, it's dangerous."
"So we play nice." Serenity said, "Drop them off somewhere safe and leave them there to make their own way. Then, Jasper Lestat and his little invented lover can do as they please."
"You're playing a dangerous game, Ren." Kai warned.
"I've been playing it dangerous from the moment I first set foot on this ship, Kai, remember that." Serenity returned carefully.

Nothing more was said after that. The old ship was anchored to the tail end of Jezebel and it began to move towards the nearest space port frequented by the pirate nations. Serenity remained in her quarters for the trip, waiting for Aura and Jasper to arrive, and considering very carefully her next move.....

Aura overhearing the captain speaking to a young man by using a comms pannel ahd shook her head some as the young man seemed eager to screw around with her technology. hearing that the captain was asking that she not mess with her baby, Aura looked away and saying,"sorry," she was already hardwired and integrated into their ship and could control just about anything. Her A.I. back in her time was the far most advanced and sophisticated A.I. platform that there ever was, and they made her to learn and adapt and bond with her pilot to enhance the performance of both the fighter and vehicle.

Aura stayed by Jasper's side till the moment that he woke, appearing to no longer be in pain. Aura touched his face saying,"Its ok, rest. Your safe." Anyone else wouldnt be able to feel the touch considering its a hollogram, but he and her where linked so even though she was a projection he could feel anything that she does. Informing him of the rules, he made little to no reaction to anything that she had told him. He only made a reaction when she kissed him on the neck, his eyes trailed from where they where looking at and he looked at her. She looked at his neck some and trailed her fingers on his neck saying,"you must be under the influence, Im gonna go check with the captain."

Getting up, she looks at him once more "I will be back soon my love," she had said as she began walking outside the door. Sparing herslef the time to actually walk, she instantly appeared in the captains quaters with the captain and said,"thank you for helping my love." She sits down in a spare empty chair and says,"there are things you should know about the exia and our mission. Also there are things about Jasper that many never may have known to exist. We are so mixed up from one time to the next, so we need your help but at the same time we dont know what to do."

She looked around some and said,"you should be aware, with these transmitters," she paused for a second before saying,"they transmit all the time, to and from which allows me to move freely. Thus being said, I can overhear conversations like what happened earlier with you and the guy that you had stablize Jasper. If anyone tries hacking Exia or me, I wont allow it." trying to explain the best she could she looked at a picture and said,"Exia was meant to be a covert fighter with the firepower to take down armies meanwhile containing the ability to perform high advanced maneuvering to avoid fire. The gravitron missiles, its true they are illegial even back in my day. But if you check the logs or even the rounds themselves, it was the same goverment who made them illegial that put them on the Exia." A small beacon lights up on her wrist and blinks red and she says,"Jasper is calling for me, you wouldnt happen to have a familiar thats used to donating blood do you?" Looking at the captain as she was hinting something to her that was related to Jasper.

Serenity turned sharply as the image of Aura just appeared in the room. Her eyes flashed with anger and she firmed her jaw. "It may have escaped you, Aura, but as humans, we have some respect for privacy." She said pointedly, "It's called knocking. No more skipping about in your emitters. If you move about the ship, I'd appreciate it if you did like everyone else, understand? Also, no more listening in on private conversations. It's rude." Not that it mattered, the AI seemed intent on exploring the room and then explaining the situation she and Jasper were in. At first, Serenity had every intention of telling her that tis wasn't her problem and to take it elsewhere. She was just there for the salvage, but as Aura spoke more, she decided against it and listened right to the end. The final words were a request for a familiar and Serenity lifted an eyebrow.

"Define familiar." She said carefully, "And then explain why you need one to donate blood." Just at the point, her comms on the wall lit up and she went to it. "Go ahead." She said.
"It's Kai." The reply came, "Jasper is awake." Already known.
"Thanks, Kai. How is he?" She asked.
"Groggy, but he'll get there." Kai said, "The drugs are working fine and he's doing well on the O2. I'm doing some more diagnostics, but so far, it's all looking good. I'm happy to let him go after these last tests."
"Thanks." Serenity said and turned the comms off. She turned back to Aura and then moved across the room to her small kitchenette.

After pouring a large mug of coffee, she put a small foil pack in a hydrator unit and switched it on. A few seconds later, it tinged and Serenity pulled out a hit sandwich. "So." She said, putting the small meal on a plate, "This familiar. I'm waiting to know why you need the blood of one."

Back in the med bay, Kai continued running his diagnostics and looked down at Jasper as he did so. The man was clearly coming round and it all looked good on his scans. He leaned over the table somewhat so Jasper could see him. "Welcome back to the land of the living." He said with a sarcastic smile. "You had your AI freaking out quite a bit. Nearly had the Exia kill us all." He stood right again and went over the scans more time. "Lucky for you, and for us, you're fine. The drugs have cleaned your blood up and balanced you again. You'll be fit to go as soon as I've finished with this."

(((OOC: Every time I reply, I got to listen to this song... nice vid too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8hShKe4jqw )))

Aura had many hundreds of years to develop her own ghost, and she did. Only loyal and faithful to her beloved, she looked at the woman before her saying,"shure, humans have things like that but we both know that im not human." Hinting that she wasnt about to make her self seem human to the rest of them. If she knocked, there wouldnt be any physical sound that would come from her touch. Only her and Jasper could feel each other, the ship was something entirely different.

Sighing as the commander obviously didnt seem to get it, Aura sharply added in saying,"I wasnt intentionally listening to anything. There transmitters and recievers, transending to Exia which allows me to intercept such conversations that where meant to be private."

Hearing that the commander of the ship was interested in the fact that Jasper needed a familiar but she didnt know what this was, Aura postioned herself in the chair to be a bit more comfortable and said,"Jasper, the only pilot who has ever been able to successfully withstand ultra high gravity shifts while suffering no physical harm to his body. Most suffer internal damages, but He doesnt." Placing her hands behind her head in a relaxed motion she continues,"by familiar I mean someone who can give Jasper blood, his kind back in our time where very rare. Only 1 in a million had the rare genitic mutation that renders the person into a vampire like state. Very similiar to stories, movies, and books about vampires. His abilities are heightened with blood, including but not limited to healing." Shurely to have the captains attention now, she sat in the chair more professionally and said,"without a familiar to act as a charge, his abilities and even his mental state of mind goes out of sync."

Aura hearing that Kai wanted to run some tests, Aura quickly spoke up saying,"No tests! you will find out way more than you need to know even by doing basic tests on him. Without my presence to keep Jasper calm, he is subject to going out of sync. Think about this captain, its been over 1400 years since his body has last tasted blood. If you disturb the sleeping monster in him, he will fully wake. "

Jasper looking at the weird figure standing before him, it looked almost alien like. Never seeing such a creature like this before he followed its every movement with his eyes. breathing steadily he began to develop a raging hatrid for the creature that stood before him, feeling as if Kai was resenting the presence of Jasper as he had explained the previous encounter that rendered himself inoperable. Jasper knew this person didnt mean well for him, he was able to tell that the smile was faked. Unaware that the blood in his veins where beginning to run on fumes, Jasper shot up in a rapid manner as he used his abilities even though he was weak.

Defying gravity, even if it was just for a few moments, He lifted himself into the air and slammed his own body into the creature before him. Using his legs to wrap around its waist, twisting his own body causing a spiral slamming motion. Mere seconds Jasper was up again but fell rapidly as he coughed.

His throat felt very dry and sore. All he could do was cough and gasp for air, he had unknowingly used the last of the blood that was in his veins. Without fresh blood he was as useless as a crippled person.

Serenity firmed her jaw when Aura began explaining her ability to listen in on private conversations and stating in no uncertain terms that human rules didn't apply to her, she wasn't human. This angered the Captain, as her privacy was something she took very seriously, especially when it came to certain things. Remaining silent, she continued to listen to the AI, taking in everything said with great care. And then, Aura explained Jasper's unique mutation and his need for blood. Serenity felt a shudder go down her spine and actually ran for the comms again. She hit the pad to the point the entire unit sank into the bulkhead and caused an overload. "Damn it!" Seconds later, an alarm sounded and Serenity glared at Aura. It was coming from the med bay.

Without a word, Serenity swung her door back wide, making it shudder and jump in the runners, and she bolted from the room towards the med bay. Slyder was quick to join her, along with her chief engineer. The chief was elderly compared to the rest of the crew and was often looked upon as the father figure. "What is going on, Ren?" He asked quickly as he cocked his side arm.
"It's that damned pilot, isn't it." Slyder snapped as he cocked his own weapon. His feline eyes glared at Serenity, blaming her for bringing him and that computer aboard.
Serenity said nothing at first as she slid down the steps, swinging her legs over the guard rails and sliding down quicker. Despite her small frame, she moved far quicker than any of her male crewmates and she arrived just in time to see Jasper hit the deck, coughing and gasping for breath.

Slyder and the chief stopped dead in the doorway, but Serenity was straight in there. She went to Kai and quickly checked him over. "Ren, I'm fine." He said as he coughed and worked his back and ribs. "He just caught me off guard is all. I'm ok, I promise."
"Did he bite you?" Serenity asked quickly.
Kai blinked dumbly and stared at Jasper briefly before returning his eyes to Serenity, "No." He said, "Ren? Why would you ask that?"
"Are you sure?" She asked again.
Kai nodded, "Ren?" He turned slightly and got to his feet.
Serenity helped her commander and nodded to Slyder and the chief, "Secure him." She ordered quickly. The instantly came to him, weapons aimed at him as they hauled him back onto the unit. The chief quickly touched the consol and a shield came over Jasper, securing him to the table. If he tried to break free, the shield would electrify and shock him.
"Ren, what is going on?" Kai asked as he went back to the unit to collect the results of his testing.
Serenity chewed her lip and moved to the unit also. She stood over Jasper and stared down at him. "He's a Reaper." She said. All eyes instantly fell on her and jaws dropped open. "Aura just told me. She was asking for a familiar for him, a donor and she panicked when she heard you were running more tests on him." She then turned to find Aura stood in the doorway. Dropping her chin down, Serenity stared at the AI knowingly.
"Ren." The chief, Mac, said carefully. Her eyes met his briefly and she shook her head. "Ren."
"I said no." She replied sharply and returned her eyes to Aura. "Space port 9 is two days away." She said to the AI, "You and your lover can disembark there. After that, I suggest you put as much space between yourselves and my ship as you can. He can have what he needs until then so he doesn't vamp out on my crew." She then went to another unit and put her hand into a small hole for diagnostics.

To her, it was barely a pinch under her skin, but for most others, it was an immense pain in their wrist and arm and the blood loss from it could be fatal. Serenity kept her eyes fixed on Jasper as the unit began taking her blood. "Kai, set up the transfer to Jasper."
"Ren, don't do this." Mac begged as he moved around the unit to her side. "You don't need to do this. Just put him back in the Exia and eject them both."
Serenity's eyes locked onto Mac as she looked up at him, "You know I can't do that. I let him go now and he's a danger to everything within hop."
"You do this, he's a danger to you, Ren." Mac said, but it was too late now. Her blood began to flow into Jasper and Mac shook his head. "You don't know what you've done, Sweetheart, you really don't."
"I know exactly what I've done." She replied without missing a beat.

On the unit, Serenity's blood began merging with Jasper under the shield. It wouldn't take long for the effects to kick in and Serenity watched closely. 1400 years of cryo would make her blood taste like silk anyway, but Serenity had a secret that meant her blood would not only bring him round and balance him fully, it would keep him going for an entire lifetime. She knew exactly what Jasper was because she knew exactly what she was. It had just taken her a while to understand what Aura had been getting at.

Serenity watched for another moment or so until the unit released her arm and she pulled it free. Any normal human would have been on their knees by now, suffering with severe blood loss and anaemia, but Serenity just stood there. A single droplet of blood fell from her wrist and then it healed over. She looked to Aura again, "You have two days." She said, "Don't make me shorten it." And then, with Mac and Kai and Slyder behind her, she left the med bay to let Jasper come round fully....

Aura watched as the Captain had smashed the comms pannel in some but had to response of her own while watching. Hearing the alarm, Aura turned her head around some saying,"whats the alarm for?" Noticing that the captain was glaring at her, she stood and followed her in a rapid motion but instead of walking or running she simply glided accross the floor from transmitter to transmitter Following the captain. Trying to catch up to speed to find out whats going on, but still remains in the dark as to what had happen.

Aura dissapeared and flashed in the med bay just shortly before the captan arrived and saw Jasper on the floor and Kai not far from him. Woundering how this had happened and she not have heard anything that would have alerted her, but nothing she could do about it now.

Noticing that everyone had there weapons aimed at Jasper, Aura stepped before them all. Even though she was a hollogram, she was ready to defend him. "Please, you dont need those." Aura said calmly while her A.I. Ran at full capacity to see if there was a way that there weapons where networked to see if she could disable them but upon noticing that they wherent she relaxed some as she watched them lift Jasper back onto the table and saw the shield and asked,"Micro shields?"

Even to the A.I. the shield seemed odd, never before had she seen a shield in a med bay but giving the considering that she was from a different time it was understandable. Aura hearing that the captain called Jasper a reaper, Aura could couldnt help but say the word out loud,"Reaper?" She never heard that word before in reference to Jasper. Perhaps this is something that the current times called his kind, back in the day they didnt really have a title so then again maybe they grew to have a title which also made her wounder how many like him where there.

"Why is everyone making a big deal out of my beloved being a Reaper? Besides, whats a Reaper afterall?" Aura said almost in a rushed manner while looking at the faces of everyone, trying to figure out why they all had this awestruck face going around the room except for the captain. THe captain seemed to be the only one who wasnt awestruck, instead she had the look like she feared what she was looking at before them.

Hearing that the space port was two days away, and the captain was giving them only that amount of time to stay there. She had to think of something and soon, before the two days where up. There was no way that they would be able to go and be at a space port. They where in would would be considered very old tech, gear, and clothes. They looked different and in the very least Jasper was a reaper. Something like that wouldnt be right, it could go very wrong very fast. Aura watched as the captain put her hand into a small hole, unaware of what she was doing but at the same time Aura didnt stop her.

Noticing that she was giving him her blood, Aura stood still and just watched. Jasper's skin seemed to come back to life as the new blood entered his veins, essentially revamping his entire body. His lungs where restored to full working condition and he no longer felt pain each time he breathed. His back arched some as the blood transfer felt like wildfire going through him, He wasnt in pain anymore but now he felt very good. Rolling on his side he moaned very faintly and quickly passed out with the thought of the new blood on his mind as all he was able to think about was the silk like taste that kept coming around in his mouth.

His shirt was heavily ripped from earlier, through the holes in the shirt small markings began revealing themselves and as soon as Aura noticed the markings beginning to spread and grow she quickly touched the shield and turned it black to hide him and said to everyone,"Please, let him rest. You dont need to see him like this."

Aura hearing the captain reminding them of the two days, Aura flashed before the captain and upon noticing that she flash stepped she said,"Forgive me and my beloved. I need to speak with you, will you follow me to the Forward hanger of Exia? I know that you and I, and of course Jasper, havent gotten along or gotten off on the right foot. But there is something that you need to see. Come alone so we can talk." She then walked through the captain even though she stood in the door way of the med bay and stopped for a second asking,"Coming?"

Hadn't got off on the right foot? Aura couldn't have hit the mark any clearer if she'd used the Exia's 150 cal blaster! Serenity turned around sharply and glared at the AI. Forgiveness wasn't something she was much familiar with, at least, not for this pair. Staring past Aura for a moment, she looked to the darkened shield and Jasper laid within, healing. She had recognised the markings that had appeared on him and she knew her crew had too. They had seen the marks before, she had seen them before. At her side, Mac put his hand carefully on his captain's shoulder and leaned in slightly. "I'll be in engineering when you need me." He said and then, with a shake of his head at Aura, he left. The others followed him, leaving Serenity alone with the AI.

If Aura had been a real person, it was likely Mac and the others would not have left. Serenity had a temper, a dangerous one if provoked to the extent that Aura had done. There would have been every chance that Serenity would have done Aura some major damage, perhaps even killed her for what she'd done. As it stood, the girl was merely a hologram and Serenity could do little to damage or hurt her. However, that wasn't to say she wouldn't take her temper out on Jasper when he woke up, especially if he pissed her off as badly as his little holographic lover did. That being the case, Serenity moved to Aura and got nose to nose with her.

"There is very little you can say right now to change my mind." She said quietly, but angrily. "Look, I'm sorry I invaded your little love nest and I'm sorry I ever scanned your ship, but that doesn't give you the right to infest my ship and integrate yourselves like you matter. You guys have been asleep for a thousand years, so fair enough, I gave you both some leeway, but you've given me little in return not to regret what I've done. He's a fucking Reaper!"

Shaking her head, Serenity turned away then and began walking, but stopped as she remembered Aura asking what a Reaper was. Obviously, the name wasn't used before they got lost in the universe. Closing her eyes, Serenity calmed her mind and took a deep breath. "The thing is Aura, is that you already know what a Reaper is. You don't understand the name, but you know what it is." She turned back and face Aura. "The scientific community called the mutation the Reaper Gene. It's been around for millions of years, but they only discovered and named it a few centuries ago. The Council tried to control the Gene, making it specific to certain people. The increased strength, resilience and stamina was seen as a weapon they could use. That weapon killed millions, Aura. Billions even. Those who were born naturally with the mutation went into hiding, they had no choice."

She moved back to the AI and regarded the hologram carefully. It was hard to explain something without giving too much away and Serenity was finding it hard to choose her words now. "Out here, Aura, it's a haven for Reapers. The Council don't consider these territories to be of interest. Because of the wars and the experiments, there aren't many of them left. It can be dangerous for regular humans unless they have protection from one, but those who are left roam freely as they choose. If you can stay away from the interior, you and your lover will be fine." She backed up a ways and looked down at her arms. Something was happening and she pulled her sleeves down sharply.

"Look." She continued, "Whatever happened in the past isn't my business and I don't care to know. The only things I care about are my crew and my ship, in that order. You and Jasper don't make it to the list and once you've been dropped off, I have absolutely no intention of giving either of you a second thought. If I had my way, I'd have you both gone long before he wakes up. Despite what you might think, I like my life and I really don't fancy going toe to toe with you and losing it when he realises." She laughed sadly, "And there's the main reason too why we don't use AI anymore. You'll understand when he does wake up and by that point, I really hope you're both gone." She turned around again and started walking back to her quarters. "Two days, Aura. That's all you get."

Back in her quarters, Serenity shut the door tight and locked it. Those two days would be hell and then some and she could already feel Jasper picking his way into her. Stripping down to her underwear, she stared at the growing marks beginning to snake their way around her body. Every Reaper was different in that sense. Some had marks that looked like writing, others that looked like tribal tattoos. And the length of time it happened was also different from person to person. Some last only a few hours, others for days. For Serenity, it was like watching thorny vines growing all over her. It hadn't happened for a while, more than a while really, but giving her blood to Jasper had kick started the reaction. And worse for her, she was one that kept the marks for days, sometimes, upwards of a whole week. She decided at that moment that she would leave the hand over to Kai and Mac. The further away from Jasper she was, the better it would be for her.

On the upside though, at least he wouldn't need blood now for a very long time and they'd have a fighting chance of actually surviving somewhere far away. Serenity didn't know why she cared exactly, but something inside told her she needed to. Besides, a rogue Reaper, feeding indiscriminately would put a spotlight on them all and that meant only more trouble. At least this way, she was safe a little longer.....

As the captain chewed out Aura, she began flickering like a candle in the wind. Noticing that she was flickering like this, she raised her hand and looked at it. She knew that this wasnt good, she was beginning to realise that the life support was failing and the Exia's capacitor was beginning to die. It had kept Jasper alive in that cryo unit for many decades, but never once had a chance to recharge or replace the capacitor. Aura looked up as the captain had said Jasper was a reaper, that word was new to her but weird at the same time. She knew now what the captain was meaning by the word reaper but before explaining it the word just seemed very awkward. Aura knew what Jasper could do and is capable of but hearing that he has a title and everyone feared them made her worry for him.

Still flickering but listening, hearing that there current location was a haven for Reapers she immediately interrupted the captain by saying,"if this area is such a haven, why put your crew at harms way?" when the captain left, the flickering grew a little worse but the captain made the decison to leave rather than to come like Aura had asked which annoyed her some as she was running out of time. The life support was beginning to fail and the capacitor was running low. Aura went to Jasper and touched the shield once everyone had left, she lowered the black fog like material so she could see him and said,"your markings have grown for the first time in 1400 years," she rubbed the shield with her hand before putting it back like she found it. He was sleeping soundly, happy that he was relaxed, she put the fog all the way back up and the hollogram of her dissapeared completely.

She turned off all of the transmitters that she was using to project her form but they remained in there respective places. The cockpit of Exia vented a blue like mist and hissed very loudly before dislocating some and moving forward. Underneath the cockpit held a hiden compartment. Several hoses connected to a suit that was heavily armored.

It was true that Aura was Exia's A.I. but the truth really was Aura was actually a person. Aura was born with a extreme sense of hyper intelligence and was drift compatable. Fully able to bond with Exia, she was the prime canidate of the time for Exia and Jasper piloted Exia but Aura maintained most of the controls to insure there safety.

Opening her eyes for the first time in decades, she took her first breath and coughed some. The neural link to exia was still engaged so exia moved like Aura did, atleast till Aura turned off the link.

Opening the face mask that he had on her face, she breathed the oxigen that the ship she was in and got out of the Exia with the use of the armored suit that she was wearing. It was a prototype suit with external movement supports that could in turn make it so that she can move faster, longer. Carry heavier loads easier. essentially it was a Exoskeliton that made every day life easier but for her it was used to negate the side effects of the drift for when she comes out of it.

She tried jumping but merely fell out of the hidden compartment of Exia and said softly,"now to go to that bitch of a captain," coughing some as her lungs where beginning to readjust to the oxigen. For many years her body was in a sub light sleep, similiar to cyo sleep but with her mind melded towards Exia. Her body was always asleep but she was always aware of what was happening, but during this time her body was being fed all kinds of nutrients to keep her body strong and operating.

It took everything that she had to stand, even with the help of the exo-suit. Slowly walking, more like staggering as she walked, she made her way towards the captain's room. She remembered everything when she used the hollogram transmitters so she knew her way around the ship, or atleast the parts of the ships that she had been to while in the hollogram form.

Once she got to the door for the captains room, she tried knocking but the knock turned into a punch by mistake and accidently caused the door to fly open. Stepping in the room, out of breath she looked around before seeing the captain. She immediately saw the marks on her body that looked very similar to Jasper's markings. She immediately closed the door once she made shure she was in all the way and turned slowly untill she faced the captain from a distance saying,"you may not recognize me, but I asked that you come for a reason but im even more alarmed that you rather throw out your own kind rather than offering him shelter." She stepped towards the captain some before stopping and said,"furthermore, I cant believe that you hide what you are from your crew. I told you that I needed to talk to you, you wouldnt listen. So now that im here, maybe you will listen to me or I'll spend these 2 days before we get to the hub that you speak of beating your carcass around. So which is it? Talk or beating?" She was out of breath and very weak but she would give it her all to protect Jasper. She loved him once very intimately, but wouldnt know if Jasper still loved her the same as she did him.

Standing there waiting for the captain to reply, Aura took off the face and head gear to reveal her long hair like in the hollogram and said,"come on, my suit doesnt have much power left." She coughed some as her lungs wherent ready to have her standing and walking yet, she needed to spend time recovering but instead she was forcing he rbody to work the hardest that she could possibly.

At first, Serenity couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. It was like some kind of weird dream. However, it only lasted a few seconds when she realised that no, she wasn't dreaming this and yes, Aura in person was really there. So much for her just being a collection of circuits! Stepping back, she reached for a long shirt and pulled it on, hiding most of the black vines growing under her skin. And of course, as expected, Aura began her tirade almost the instant she closed the door. Serenity groaned as the shutting did almost as much damage as the opening had done and she turned away from Aura, ignoring pretty much every visual thing about her.

Serenity waited until the entire tirade was done with and slowly moved to her favourite chair to sit down. "You couldn't beat my carcass around if you tried." She said, "Whatever power was left in your Exia has gone and I can tell just by looking that your exo-suit is just about out of juice too. You wouldn't last ten minutes in a fight with me right now, let alone two days. Personally, I prefer a fair fight anyway, so you may as well drop the tantrum and sit the hell down before you fall down and do even more damage than you've done already." She didn't look at Aura while she said this, not feeling the need to, but eventually, her eyes lifted and she smoothed her hair back over her shoulders, revealing the extent of the vines up her neck and onto her face. On any other person, this may have looked like a world class tattoo, something Serenity had traded on more than once in her years.

After some time in thought, she continued, "Look, before you go judging me for what I am and what I do, let me tell you something. My crew all know about me, they have done from the beginning. We just choose not to advertise it to all and sundry that comes aboard this ship, so you can drop that right now." She leaned forward in her chair and stared at Aura. She looked in desperate need of medical attention, but that could wait a minute. "As for your beloved pilot, you can be alarmed all you like, but he is not my kind, understand? Jasper is just another freak in a verse full of freaks, so don't think for a single second Aura, that he's important in the grand scheme of things. And furthermore, just to use your own quip, I don't have to listen to anything you say. I didn't go with you because I didn't need to, nor did I want to. You've been here less than one day and you think asking questions without a single hint of an answer in return. That gets you absolutely nothing with me, my crew or this ship. If you needed help Aura, you simply had to ask for it. It's called Please. Just one little word, but no, you expect me to simply follow you on the off chance that I might help you." She sighed and sat back again in her chair.

"As it happens, I will help you, but only because I don't want to be responsible for your death." She continued, "And then you and your little reaper lover can disappear somewhere very far from here and from me, ok? And just for the record, my crew were never in danger from other reapers. I explained it to you clearly the first time around, so before you think to judge me further, keep that in mind." She shook her head.

"Whatever happens from this point forward, is up to you, Aura." She said finally. "I'll give you and Jasper what you need until we reach port 9, I've already said I would, but beyond that, I owe you nothing. Now, the next two days can either be very easy for all of us, or very difficult for you two. I don't mind either. You stay upfront and above board with me from now on, and I'll do you the same favour. Beyond that, you are passengers on my ship and you'll be treated as such. We are not friends and we are not family. In payment for your transport, I'm claiming salvage rights to the ship I found you on. You can keep your ancient Exia, I don't give a shit about that. All I want is what I worked for, ok?" She leaned forward again and cleared her face of all emotion. "Do we have a deal, Aura?"....

Aura watched as Serenity put a long shirt on but hadnt paid too much to her body but aura knowing Jasper, she knew he would be staring her down and craving her. Then again with her blood in his system, its not like he will be able to control himself around her. Afterall he is bound to desire her, even if its merely for the taste of her blood.

Aura looked away slightly as Serenity spoke boldly towards her, what she was saying was true. Even if Serenity was even a human, she wouldnt have a chance against her. Aura's body is in a weakened state, and the suit is almost out of power. With breathing being an issue as well, she knew she was in no condition to do anything rash.

She collapsed in the chair that she had once sat in while in the hollogram form, she remembered it being alot larger but that was before the exo suit. "They know about it, and they dont fear you?" Aura said feeling confused slightly saying,"why dont they fear you? I mean everyone Feared and hunted Jasper. BUt besides that, you seem to have far more control than he does." The exo suit made a loud beep and then immediately after the beep came a flashing red bar on the wrist showing imminent power failure.

Aura looked up when Serenity mentioned that Jasper wasnt her kind, almost as if it was enough to make her forget about the exo suit's lack of power,"You say he isnt your kind, but you and him are the same. You can teach him what you know, help him contain what he is. If you are able to be around others and they not kill you for it, why cant you make him do that as well? Shure it may be hard but its possible." She quickly spat out as Jasper was a very sore subject for her, she cared about him greatly and any attack no matter if it was merely verbal or even physical Aura felt like she had to defend him.

Hearing that Serenity's crew was never in danger from the other reapers, Aura looked at her oddly asking,"never in danger? why?" SHe was lost and didnt know why the captain would be saying such a thing if reapers where so horrible like she makes them out to be.

"Yes, we have a deal." Aura paused for a moment then said,"I know it may not be much, but thank you." Aura then raised her hand to her chest and turned a small knob and pushes it in. The exo suit hisses and for the most part seperates from her body and then Aura says,"The only thing that I ask is that, if you decide to salvage the ship. Allow me to retrieve a few things from a certain area of the ship, if it still exists that is." Aura didnt want her to know what she needed to get but she needed it.

She looked up some and asked,"what do we do about Jasper? I mean he is in such a distraught state, I dont know if I can get him to calm down like I used to. Its been so long since he last went off..." Aura began thinking about how she touched his face when she was in the hollogram form and woundered if he would even remember her. Looking up at Serenity, Aura's hair fell over her eyes some before asking,"if something happens to me, will you look after him?" under the exo suit she laid there exposed in her skin tight suit thats supposed to help her blood flow and things like that, but her body has been slowly aging unlike the cryo sleep. She hadnt aged much, just a couple of years at the most but her body was in horrible conditions due to the drift mode that she was in for the last 1400 years.

Serenity stared at Aura and felt like shaking her head. Why this girl expected her to explain herself was beyond her, even with the uber long sleep they had been in. Taking a deep breath, Serenity regarded her again and slowly got to her feet. "They don't fear me because I asked them not to." She said as she moved over to Aura and began checking the suit. Indeed, the power was dangerously low now and she began looking it over for a conduit or interface so I could literally plug her in and power her up again. "Look, this crew and me have been together a lot of years and they trust that I won't turn on them and I trust that they won't turn on me. we are a family, Aura, something that clearly, you don't quite understand." She wasn't being mean about it, she was simply stating the truth as she saw it. "And to be honest, this thing is a double edged blade for me. My markings aren't like others we come across and it allows me to pass it off as ink at a distance. Other reapers know what I am, but they leave me alone and I leave them alone."

Finally, she found something that looked to be a power exchange and popped open the covering to have a closer look. "Before you panic, I'm not about to turn you off. I'm looking for your plug socket. You've got one, but it's that old now, I'm likely to blow you up if I plug you in. You're gonna have to heal the old fashioned way in the med bay." She thanked her and began asking about Jasper. Serenity shook her head again. "No Aura, me and him are not the same. We are entirely different in every way. The only thing that makes us even remotely similar is the reaper gene an every reaper is unique. They're like DNA, never two the same. As for anything that I could teach him to control it, that isn't down to me, or to you. Any learning is down to him and him alone and I've made it clear already that I want nothing to do with him. Out here, you won't be hunted, like I said. The council aren't interested in anything out this way. Fear? Well, that's down to his own behaviour. It's nothing to do with me." With a sigh, Serenity felt there was nothing for it but to pick Aura up, suit and all and carry her to the med bay. She moved back and pulled on a pair of tight leggings.

The trip there was short, but highly undignified for Aura. Serenity hoisted the girl and suit up and simply slung her over her shoulder. The aptly named Rat saw them in the corridor and laughed openly before carrying on with his duties and the chief gave Aura much the same treatment as he passed, going between the bridge and engineering. Eventually, they reached their destination and Serenity carefully put Aura down on the unit next to Jasper. She spotted that the shield was still up and clouded over, but made no forward attention to it. Helping Aura out of the suit, she connected the girl to the unit and started running the diagnostics. Clearly, the girl needed her entire body cleaning out of toxins and she needed some serious nourishment. Shaking her head again, Serenity wired Aura up to the needed lines and set the timers and flow going. "Now, this may take a few hours." She said, "It's gonna help you, so don't fight it. And Jasper should be awake soon and no doubt he'll keep you company." She looked down at Aura then and shook her head, "You will be just fine, so you can look after him yourself, ok?"

Leaving Aura in the med bay with Jasper, Serenity went back to her quarters, but on the way, she heard the comms going and stopped at the bulkhead separating the corridors. "What's going on?" She asked quickly.
"Something fun." Came Kai's voice in reply. "We're passing the Siem Probe and it's transmitting."
Serenity couldn't help but smile, "Excellent!" She said, "Pipe it through and let's see what we get."
"Already working on it." Kai said and then suddenly, the whole ship filled with music.
"Nice." Serenity said into the comms, "Forward hanger guys, it's funtime."

Within minutes, the entire crew were in the forward hanger, setting up for some downtime. Rat had been brewing some of his special booze for weeks and this was the perfect time to test it out. Kai and Slyder had cleared the floor for some dancing and Mac was eagerly pouring out the first of the brew. Serenity arrived to a cheer and Slyder was instantly sliding up to her for a dance. "Come on Boss." He said, grabbing for her, "Let's show these old dogs how it's done."
"Hey!" Mac called back, "Less of the old, pup!"
They all began to laugh and Serenity began to move to the music. It was sensual and happy with a good beat and a bounce to it. The booze was flowing, the music was playing and all were having a good time. For the moment, everything that had happened over the last day was forgotten and the crew of the Jezebel were relaxed. Only one problem.

Back in the med bay, the music being piped through went into there too. Aura could hear it and so did Jasper. Under the shield, he began to stir. His eyes snapped open.

His eyes shot open in a very rapid manner as the music played, his fangs where at there full length and the markings on his body where everywhere. He sat up and saw someone in a unit just like him and put his own feet on the floor. He couldnt remember how he got here, or where here was for that matter. He held his stomach some as he was hungry, even though he had blood in him. His body wasnt used to the blood yet, and till then he would need more. It was true that her blood would sustain him indefinately, but that was before the extensive amount of repairs that had to take place to his body.

His shirt was riddled with holes, each revealing a small amount of the markings that formed up and made tribal markings. He got off the bed and walked to the person in the other unit. He didnt recognize her, but something seemed odd about her, as if he knew her but by looking at her there was nothing that rang a bell.

He turned around and faced the only exit to the room that there was and began walking, woundering around the ship. The oxigen was rich enough to sustain life but seemed a little stale, which told him the Oxigen was artificial instead of using plants. The music kept him on edge, for this was the very same music that was played right before he was put into cryo sleep. It made him feel uneasy back then, and that feeling became worse now.

Taking a half hour or so he finally found a group of people dancing, drinking and having a good time. But the odd thing was that Exia was just standing there not doing anything, but at a closer look once he stepped a bit closer. He noticed that the cockpit of exia was dislocated. Immediately his eyes became extremely wide as rage took over. Yelling very loudly, his voice formed a very deep growl like sound and then began running towards the group before him.

The forward hanger was very large, he knew they heard him and he wanted them to. They where several hundred yards away from him but that didnt matter, for he has the one with the tattoos in his sights. Each step he took, his legs felt heavier and heavier and the breathing became increasingly difficult with each step. He stopped about 20 yards shy of the group panting heavily, his lungs healed with the blood that was given to him but it couldnt heal everything completely due to the extensive damage. Essentially his body ran out of blood to repair his body.

Looking at the woman with the tribal tattoo's, he noticed they looked similar to his own markings. The music was beginning to annoy him further than he was already. Holding his chest while doubled over he spoke, but with his fangs out and to there full length some of the words didnt come out properly,"Vhere iz my A.I. Aura!" He stood up straight as he was focusing on breathing and pointed at exia's dislocated cockpit where the central A.I. housing should be.

He was very angry, and starving. Each time he looked at the woman, he wanted her blood but not the others. He couldnt figure out why he wanted hers and not the others. He lifted his body up onto his tip toes, his heals leaving the floor as he crouched down some. His body wasnt fully healed, but he would be able to manage a few things before giving out.

So annoyed, he couldnt wait for an answer. They wherent moving fast enough for him. He wanted to know now, mere seconds felt like hours to him. Suddenly he found himself flash stepping to the woman, getting behind her and wrapping his arms around her and wrapped his own legs around her. Putting her into a snake hold as they fell from the offset of his weight, knowing he wouldnt have much time before they realised what happen and come to her aid, he quickly bit into her neck using his fangs and drank rapidly. He felt as if he was starving and couldnt help it. Normally he drank slowly so not to hurt the person he was feeding from and to make it so they could enjoy it but he felt like a starving caged animal, and he was desperate.

His eyes glowed red as he fed, the glowing red eyes stared at her crew. He couldnt do anything to them without abandoning her, his meal. But as he fed from her, he could see her memories. Suddenly he let go of her and released his bite. He learned what had happened with the A.I., learned what happened to him, and learned just about everything that had happened since they came while he was sleeping.

His eyes continued to glow red even though he wasnt feeding anymore. He kept the woman close to him, thinking if he had to use her as a hostage to protect himself he would. They now knew that he was a reaper, but he didnt know that they already knew t hat he was a reaper.

He quickly grabbed her again and pulled her very close and said,"Im sorry, I didnt know." He was out of breath still, he needed more blood but didnt want to take it under the wrong cirumstances like earlier. His body began healing again as he spoke again,"ask your men and women, to stand down." Even though he was healing, he had a strong hold on her. But the thing he couldnt stop thinking about was how she smelled so good to him and he felt like he had this blood before. He couldnt place why he thought this blood was so familiar, but the one thing that he could tell and did know was that he craved this very woman that he was holding and would do anything to have her as his own.

Things had been going so well and for the first time in a while, Serenity had been enjoying herself. Around the point Jasper had staggered into the hanger, but before he'd roared and came at them, the music had changed to a much more sensual feel and Slyder had left the floor. Sure, he did the whole sexy thing, but Kai was the sensual one. He took serenity into his arms and began to move with her as the others hooted and whistled. It was all in jest though and in good fun. Serenity and Kai were not an item. Serenity was single and had been for pretty much their entire relationship together. They danced together and Serenity relaxed into Kai, letting him take the lead and moving her body in such a way to make her friends whistle louder at her. And then Jasper roared.

Stopping dead, everyone turned to the coming man and they all knew it was Jasper. For a second or two, they wondered how he'd gotten out of the shield, but then Serenity remembered. She had diverted some power to Aura's unit to give her an extra boost of energy. Jasper had made it most of the way before it was clear he was faltering again. Serenity moved away from the rest of her crew slightly, anticipating what was about to happen. "Easy now." She said, holding her hands out to Jasper. She then looked back at the Exia and nodded. "Aura's ok." She said, "She's in the med bay recovering. Your AI is a real person, Lieutenant and she needed help. Her power levels were too low so she had to detach from the Exia. She's in the unit next to the one you were in." It didn't help and Serenity yelped as he ran at her and took her hostage.

To blink and she would have missed it. Serenity felt his arms around her from behind and seconds later, his fangs in her neck and shoulder. She gripped his forearms tightly and held on. Kai, Mac and Slyder were instantly reaching for their weapons, but none would get a clean shot at him without hitting their captain. They had no choice but to let Jasper take her. Serenity gritted her teeth as she felt him draw her blood out quickly and any normal human, within those few seconds would have felt the impact of it and lost consciousness. Not Serenity. And unlike him also, her eyes didn't change colour. Instead, they deepened in colour, becoming almost gemlike in their blue lustre. And then something else changed. He let go his bite and Serenity took a deep breath and relaxed her grip somewhat on his arms. He began apologising.

With a small nod, Serenity carefully tapped his arms, "It's ok." She said quietly, taking a mental note to personally rip his throat out later. "We're all friends here, so you can let me go." As the only woman there, she found it odd that he'd asked both men and women to back off, but she could let that slide for now. Obviously, the music had woken him prematurely and without a familiar face to greet him and keep him calm, he'd panicked and attacked. Serenity understood that, as would anyone. She nodded to her crew, "Put your weapons down." She ordered, "Just chill." They did as ordered and backed up a few steps. Serenity adjusted her stance a little against Jasper. "Ok, now your turn." She said, "Let me go and we'll talk about what's happened to you, ok? I promise I won't kill you...." She wanted to finish that sentence differently, but didn't want to risk another assault just yet......

Hearing that aura was a real person and she was in the med bay, he looked at them oddly. He never knew aura was ever a real person, he always thought she was really an A.I. that formed a ghost. Then hearing about the power levels being too low that she had to eject from exia baffled him, to find out the ai was really a person and they where running out of power was just a bit much.

His eyes rapidly watched everyone as there weapons where drawn, he kept them in his sights at all times even when he wasnt feeding. If he messed up, they wouldnt kill him easily but it would hurt like hell. After apologizing, he had expected Serenity to get angry and attack him but she acceped his apology and didnt attack him. He let her go once she told her men to stand down and they lowered her weapons. He thought it was kinda funny she mentioned killing him. Trying not to sound cocky or instigative he replied,"im a military combat pilot, wheres your combat training?" Trying to point out that he has had combat training and trying to point out she more than likely doesnt.

He got up and wiped his mouth with his shirt by lifting up the shirt and showing the markings on his chest and belly as he wiped his face and when he was done with his face he let go of the shirt and said,"sorry about the flash step, but I need blood still." He looked at her crew as he was lwarning them by there builds and faces. Learning the people around him was something he had always done as a pilot. Learn the enemy and you know how to handle and beat them. He looked back to Serenity and said,"can we be alone? Please? I would in the very least like to speak to you about things, sspecially things I dont know about in tbis day in age."

Comparing them only served to remind Serenity how much she had wanted to be away from this guy before he woke up and she shook her head as he all but goaded her. "Combat training doesn't get you shit way out here." She told him flatly, "But so long as you don't try and hurt my crew or mess with me, we can talk privately." She nodded to Ki and Slyder and then backed up some more, putting their weapons away proper and Serenity moved to stand and block Jasper's view of them. She stared at him carefully, noting the way he moved and the markings that surprisingly, were quite close to her own. No wonder then why Aura had mistaken them for being so alike. She made no motion to hide her own marks and held her arms out carefully. "Ok, so now they've dropped theirs, you drop yours." She told him, meaning his eyes and his fangs.

After another moment, Serenity began to move towards the Exia. It was as private a place as any, but still close enough to call on her crew should she need them. Motioning for Jasper to join her, she nodded to her crew and they went about enjoying the rest of their time with the music from the probe. After checking they were alone, Serenity turned to face Jasper and firmed her jaw. "Look, I know you've been asleep for a very long time, Lieutenant, but before I start giving you a history lesson, the next time you decide to jump and feed, make damned sure it ain't me, understand? Or my crew. If you need to feed, you damned well use the simulator like I do, got it?" She took a deep breath and sighed it back out again. "Right, pleasantries done, what do you want to know?".....

He smiled as she was correct, combat training was only as good in space as you where at piloting your ship. Afterall no enemy is gonna board your ship so that you can have a little fist fight with them, unless they where stupid enough to do so and even then coming or going doesnt always mean you will get back to your ship, such an event is often met with some kind of weapon to the head and the rapid discharge of ammunition to the head of who ever was stupid enough to enter the enemy ship anyways.

He pulled his fangs back, it wasnt easy bit it was manageably done. He looked at her as she blocked his view of her crew, then again he rather look at her. She was very beautiful... Atleast to him. Looking over her body he agreed to not harm her crew by saying,"i wont harm them." He followed her to exias as she gave him the motion to follow her.

He let her speak her mind and said in return,"what do you mean a simulator? Hollograms wont give me blood tjat i need." When she asked what je wanted to know he replied,"well obviously i been out the game for nearly 2k years. What i miss, whats going on, we in any wars? I mean i need to be updated. And also is it possible for me and aura to assimilate into your crew, i mean we obviously wont be able to make it alone out there."