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Kristoph was anxious. They'd been prepared for the coming assault at the break of dawn, and all this waiting around wasn't making him any less excited for the attack.

He'd gotten word late last night that they would be moving in to attack a nearby human village. One this was completed, they would have full control over the ravine they were currently stationed at. He heard a shout from over the next hill: "Troops, MARCH!!!"

Now, he relayed the same to his battalion, and strode dutifully with his army over the hill. There was the village. Soon it would be burnt, charred, blackened, destroyed.... he could go on and on with this thought in his mind, but he reluctantly settled it away. Oh, what a joy it would be to see this place laid to waste, what a joy!! He took out a plasma grenade and pulled the pin, quickly tossing it down into the square in the center of the village. It exploded, sending a human's arm blasting into magnificent crimson chunks.


After the battle, the troops sat in the center of town, admiring their handiwork. They sketched out a plan in the dirt as to where they would station troops, equipment, and things like infirmary's, armory's, and other buildings. Now all they had to do was wait for the enemy to come to them. It would be that, or they would come to the enemy.

Before the strange human female could answer he falt an itch in his head that was a very old spell being triggered, the spell only did that when a dwarf ship was in grave danger. "Looks like it's your luck day, woman." he said, "You may go free, but I'll remember you and be back to question you." He moved his eyes to Odin, A Dwarf warship is in grave danger, how fast can you get here? he sent an image of the place the spell showed him, You know very well I can get there in twelve minutes, fifteen seconds. Odin replied. I was just making sure. Now let's go! With that he ran to Odin and climbed quickly to his seat and took out his armor, "Off we go!" he said. Odin unfurled his massive wings as Kregan started putting the armor on, and in the blink of an eye and a huge gust they were gone.

Dorin gripped the arms of his command chair. The tugs had repositioned themselves and the Dorum's Hold had slowed in preparation for the backup plan.

"Deep Leader! Now!" He commanded. "Frad, get ready down there!"

"Activate repulsors!" the tug commander shouted over the comm.

The repulsor was one of the more reliable gnomish inventions which Dorin had insisted being installed on his tugs. They were essentially reverse tractor beams. The Vulture started moving back toward the aperture, but not back toward the center. Instead, it began careening with increasing speed toward the rim of the wormhole's opening.

Dorin watched as the enemy ship got closer and closer. Both ships were desperately exchanging fire. Most of the Hold's forward shields were down and the hull was sustaining heavy damage. The dwarven ship unleashed another huge salvo of rockets. The blast against the hull of the orc ship was all the push it needed. The lower wing grazed the rim of the aperture, and the whole ship was drawn into it, being vaporised in a violent repositioning of it's molecules.

"Captain! We can't keep the wormhole open with that kind of strain on it!" the science officer shouted in alarm.

"Frad! I need ya ta put all she's got into the engines!" Dorin called into the comm, then shouted to the helmsman, "Maximum acceleration!"

The Dorum's Hold shot forward, narrowly missing a collision with the enemy battle cruiser in its death throes. Two seconds later, the wormhole collapsed in on itself. The Hold decelerated and came to a halt. She hung there quietly in space, her fighter and tug crews returning to her like lost children.

Dorin let out a long sigh of relief. "Well done... Lieutenant Buldan." The bridge erupted into wild cheering.

Navan ran into the shadows. She started to run away from that place. The dragon rider dwarf was quite irritating. This was going to be a very long day. Navan just kept running, she didn't notice that she was breathing hard or anything, she was frightened. Why did she have a big mouth , and why was she so curious? Those questions kept running through her head as she ran. Maybe if she wasn't curious she wouldn't have just nearly gotten crushed by a dragon.
She stopped suddenly, she hadn't realized where she was. This wasn't good, she had gotten really far off track. Navan took a few deep breaths, she'd never bee. here before. She took off running, trying to get back to the SA place so she could get her report and decide if she really did want to join the Shining Alliance, but she couldn't find her way. There were several dead ends, this place was a a total maze. Running around in circles, that she was.

Kregan, in full armor now, and Odin materialized a little off the starboard bow of the Dorum's Hold a moment after it escaped it's battle. It didn't look very good. Damn it all! Kregan thought to himself and Odin, We're too late to help. Maybe we can provide some assistance and escort them to their destination. Odin grunted approval, so Kregan used his suit's transmitter to hail them, "This is Kregan Thrick, Dragon Rider of the SA. Do you need assistance?"

Amid the cheering and celebration on the bridge, the comm officer, came up to Dorin .

"Captain, we've got an incoming transmission. It appears to be friendly."

"I'll take it here." he said, walking over to the comm station.

"This is Kregan Thrick, Dragon Rider of the SA. Do you need assistance?"

"This is Captain Dorin Hammerfist of the Dorum's Hold. Thanks for the offer, but we don't need ya so much now." he said with a chuckle. "We really coulda used ya about ten minutes ago. Right now we just need to rest and repair. We're here because we heard about a battle involving an elven convoy. If you'd like you can scout around and look for survivors while we're repairing."

Kregan cursed to himself when he heard he'd been too late, "I'll scout around. But you guys look like you need some repairs, I'll help when I'm done. Out." With that, he and Odin flew through deep space. After a few minutes of scouting, they came upon a large field of wreckage. Those elves didn't stand a chance. he thought to Odin, It looked like an Ork attack force..maybe two or three capships and around a dozen smaller ships. He shook his head in disgust, Let's look for survivors.

They carefully sifted through the wreckage, finding nothing for almost a half hour until...Kregan! A life pod, over there! He sent an image of what he saw, then flew to it. Kregan hailed it, "Attention. This is a friendly, repeat. I am a dwarf, a Rider in fact. I and my dragon are here to help." There was no response for so long, Kregan thoght with a sinking feeling that the raft was empty..or worse, then came the weak response, "T-Take me to wherever there's help." That was all Kregan needed, Odin, take the pod in one of your forepaws and fly it to the Dorum's Hold. I was going to, anyway. Came the sarcastic response, and Kregan smiled despite himself, Odin and him shared a special bond, a gift, that was rare and glorious. And so they went.

Gix gave great work to his goblin bombs, making sure every niche was sealed tight.He walked out of his operating room. One of the few places kept clean in his workshop, else the goblins would be prone to affection and be useless in bombings. He wiped the sweat and blood off his brow lusening his sholders.

Dengu walked up to him "Tran'ch-smisshion Masha gixss."

"Well then Dengu," taking in a breathe Gix roared, "put it on da bloody screen!"

Limping over to a small receiver ,Dengu, pulled a large lever. Descending from the ceiling came a large screen so much so it was like a wall blocking off half the compound. pressing a few buttons a large black figure covered the screen with only light from the eyes beaming out.

"Gix" spoke the figure in a wispy voice.
Gix recognized it this was the Warcheif's second. A sneaky goblin, leader of the assassins and the engineering guild, self proclaimed leader of goblins Hob'Grem.(translating loosely into Big Boss goblin)

"Gix i require Gobbie bombs and they must be delivered quickly as possible to these coordinates. " The coordinates flashed at the bottom of the screen."The generals name is Kristoph, warcheif deems them needed to his platoon. Charge him full price and do not allow him to refuse."

"yes yess Masta Hob-" the transmission ended."Dengu, go round up da flight crew!"

Out side the compound stood a medium sized Orcish trade ship though it was outfitted with more advanced weaponry . "Da Runna " was printed in big letters on the side. Gix loaded up the GAB's and took to its helm.

"Alright boys lets get this bird off the ground." swiftly the Da Runna Lifted its self off the ground and took flight. Gix spouted off the coordinates. The J drives powered in an instant they where at there Desired coordinates. They circled the planet trying to receive a orcish army signal.

"This is Masta Engineer Gix, We Have been sent ordas by Hob'Grem, we happen ta have someten you might be very interested in."

Odin reached the dwarf ship after a few minutes, stopping next to what looked like a fighter hatch, Kregan opened a transmission, "Hey, this is Kregan. We're here with the survivor, he doesn't seem to be doing well so open up, please."

Dorin gave the order, and the fighter hatch closed.

"If'n he wasn't a dwarf, I'd be suspicious of him." Dorin said under his breath, then gave the order to send down a medical team. When that was done, he gave the helmsman command of the bridge and went down to Deck 12, where the Medical Bay was to wait for the new arrival.

The elf arrived on a stretcher, and he looked like he was in bad shape. With him arrived a team of medical staff and one unfamiliar dwarf in Rider's armor.

"Ah, you must be Kreegan. I'm Captain Dorin Hammerfist. Pleased to meet ya."

Kregan took him helmet off and smiled, "Well met, Dorin. It's good to see fellow dwarves for once instead of this endless stream of elves and humans." he looked around, "I've certainly been on bigger and better equipped ships, but this ship seems one of the best I've seen." then he felt Odin's presence, "Oh, I almost forgot. May my dragon land on the ship? He won't fit inside."

As they landed on the planet, the Dwarf tossed Eso a radio.
“Call us when you need picked up. I am needed to mend #&%$ engines,”
the dwarf lied and swore.

I definitely need to find a different ship to travel with, Eso
thought. One with fewer liars and profanity.

“I will call you when I need picked up,” He replied. “bah tech.”
He felt alive again. There was a life crystal nearby. He started
searching for it. After ten minutes he found it in a back alley
magic shop. He entered the shop and saw that it was run by a faun.
In the corner was a huge troll and gnome was wandering the shop.
He looked around the store and found many of the things he was
looking for.

“Hey it is a genuine elven mind orb. Would I cheat you?” The Faun's
bartering broke Eso’s concentration.

After the gnome costumer left Eso picked up navigation crystals,
a power crystal and a frequency amplifier then walked to the
counter.

“I will pay you 350 credits for this stuff,” Eso said.

“Are you trying to CHEAT me!!?” The faun screamed.

“You would say that even if I offered you a good deal,” Eso
said. “Look I am in a hurry; I’ll triple my prior offer.”

“Deal,” The faun agreed.

“Also I would like to buy your ‘Elven Mind orb’ I’ll pay 3000
credits,” Eso added. “And this is not for negotiation.”

“You still think you can cheat?” The faun asked.

“This is four times what you tried to sell it to that gnome.
I am not deaf,” Eso explained.

The faun nodded then spoke, “throw him out.”

Dorin glowed with pride at the mention of his ship's quality. He liked Kregan already, despite his earlier misgivings.

"So long as he doesn'a do any damage to her, your dragon may land on my ship. As for you, thanks for the help finding this survivor."

Dorin motioned to a nearby dwarf. "Lieutenant Bregum, please see that Kregan here is made comfortable during his stay." Then he said, turning to Kregan, "Be sure to drop by the bar on Deck 7. We've got some real Batterburr Ale on board, and the cook, Pandin, makes the best Strabba Ribs this side of the Maralay cluster. I'll come and join ya after a bit, once I've seen to the repairs and talked to your friend." Dorin motioned to the unconscious elf.

A doctor and a number of nurses were clustered around, taking vital signs, assessing wounds, and logging their findings on handheld computers. Dorin heard one of the doctors call out, "Get an elven life crystal up here, stat!"

Kregan put his hand in his pack and, after a moment of shifting it around, pulled out an elven life crystal. He carried it over to the doctor, "I carry 'em on me just in case." he gave it to the doctor then looked at the lieutenant, "You may show me around as you please, good sir." he said, then followed him out, he couldn't wait to try out the bar, he hadn't had Batterburr Ale or Strabba Ribs for months and had forgotten to eat breakfast.

Eso turned and saw the Troll that had prior to this point been
standing in the corner was moving toward him. He drew a sword and
pointed it at the troll’s neck.

“You may be a troll but I am pretty sure that regenerating
your head would be difficult to say in the least,” Eso said while
holding the sword to the troll’s neck. “I told you, you would try
to extort more money from me even if I offered a proper sum. My
bank account is running low. I believe you would prefer to be paid
correct?”

The faun nodded. “You’re very blunt for an elf.”

“Yes,” Eso said while he paid for his purchases.
After he was done he took the blade away from the troll’s neck.
Then he walked outside and called up to the ship. “I am going to
teleport to my room.”

Then he executed his previously stated goal. He arrived in his room
completely immobile from magic exertion.

Mirtek groaned and looked up at the Orc, seemingly helpless. The orc snorted down at him, and Mirtek's powerful left leg shot around to catch the Orc in the back of the knee, his precision nearly toppling the beast. The orc screamed, pain obviously shooting through his body as Mirtek rolled away, quickly coming to his feet.

All around him were the angry faces of different races. Tauren, orc, goblin, human, dwarf; even some nameless alien races. Mirtek's eye flicked about, searching for a quick escape. None came to him. Then, just before a large, black Tauren jumped him, the station shook violently. Those who weren't thrown to the ground were holding on to something firm, those that were rubbing their bruised bodies.

The station shook again, this time showering sparks down upon the patrons as the power began to flicker, then fail altogether. This was it! His escape!

Mirtek fled from the crowded pub, his naturally born night-vision allowing him to avoid any obstacles. He was now in the outer corridor: an area that had obviously taken more damage than the rest. All around him hung loose cables and hoses, metal plates from the ceiling laying scattered and the occasional spark shooting from a busted conduit.

Mirtek, after manually pulling open a few doors, finally set foot in the Docking Ring. He easily found his ship: a worthless peice of flying hunk that people didn't even want to look at. He entered his very complex security code and entered. The interior of the ship was much different than the outside. The cockpit was nearly all black and shades of dark greys and blues, save for the small glowing lights that could be programmed to be dark.

He sat down in the comfortable pilots chair and began pressing a button sequence on the control board. To the outside observer, they would see the useless piece of junk slowly start to waver, as though heat waves were rising around it. Then the image faded completely, leaving the true ship to be -not- seen in the darkness of the failing station.

Mirtek activated the power to his ship, hearing the familiar sound of the systems powering up. The sleek, matte black ship rose on it's repulsors, making almost no noise at all, and moved to leave the station. The station didn't use docking doors or hatches, instead it had open booths that were sealed against the vacuum of space by a glowing blue field which ran on a completely seperate emergency supply.

His ship moved through it and away from the station. A blip on his short range scanner showed him that the attackers were still there. He pulled the ship about, his eyes widening as he saw two large Orc military ships releasing their final volley into the station, leaving a bright explosion and a slowly expanding cloud of debris...

Kregan had eaten his fill of ribs and was stumbling a bit from the Batterburr Ale he had consumed, I told you drinking wasn't a good idea, Kregan. Odin chastised him from his resting spot on the ship, You're going to be hurting later for all that. Kregan rested against the corridor wall, I know, I know! Kregan snapped at Odin, not meaning to, I haven't drank this much in years, can't a dwarf have some indulgement when he gets the chance? Odin gave a noncommital mental grunt. Kregan replied aloud with a belch, "'Scuse meself." he said. Then muttered a few words and felt a slight, barely perceptable, drop in energy. He felt dizzy suddenly, then his head hurt like he'd been hit by a club, then he felt normal. "I hate doing that." he said to himself, "But I'm a guest so I mus' be at me best."

He then went to the bridge, immediately noticing Dorin, he saluted, not sure what else to do, then said, "Captain Dorin, those were the best ribs I have had, ever, probably, and the Ale was great. Your lieutenant was also nice enough to give me a tour of the ship, it hold well despite the damage, and I am once again amazed by the quality of your ship. My compliments." he smiled, a friendly smile.

OOC: This post begins before Phidius's last post.

Dorin watched Kregan as he gave the doctor the life stone. He thought it odd that a dwarf would carry such an item, particularly a dragon rider, who by necessity tended to pack light, but, he thought humorously, perhaps he was an Alliance Scout as a young dwarf. They tried to be prepared for anything.

He walked over to the head physician. "How long until he'll be stable enough to talk?"

"An hour or so. I'll notify you when I feel its safe to question him." the doctor replied.

Dorin thanked him and left. He took a lift capsule up to deck 2, where the most serious damage to the ship was. When he arrived he saw Frad giving directions to the repairs foreman. The diminutive chief engineer was part gnome, but Dorin didn't hold that against him. Actually, Frad was one of his acts of rebellion against the SA bureaucracy. He smiled as he thought of when his CO had read down the list of crew recommendations Dorin had submitted and come to Frad's name. At the time, Frad was doing time in the stockade for a number of reasons, among them insubordination, racing military equipment, and refusing to wear his uniform according to regulations. Dorin had liked him at once and fought like a maniac to get the engineer into his crew. Now his ship was one of the most efficient and well-built in the galaxy, and much of the credit was due to Dorin's diminutive friend.

"Well, Frad, how go the repairs?" Dorin asked jovially.

"Not bad, Cap'n. We should be done by 0800 hours tomorrow, standard time, but some of the gun emplacements have been damaged and we don't have the parts to fix them. We'll need to either visit a space dock or a trade center so we can pick some up." Frad replied.

"Do you know where the nearest of either is?" Dorin inquired.

"I think it's New Rivendon, sir, though I'd have to check. The jump shouldna take more than a few minutes, once the J-Drive is recharged."

"I'll keep that in mind. Carry on. At 0800 hours tomorrow we'd better be ready ta jump." Dorin said, preparing to leave.

"Aye, Captain. She'll be ready."

Dorin returned to the bridge. He consulted with the navigational officer and found that Frad was correct, New Rivendon was the closest trade world to their position.

Dorin was about to settle into his command chair to wait for the doctor to call him when Kregan burst through the door to the bridge, clearly drunk.Any other captain in the SA would have been offended by this breach of etiquette and protocol. Dorin was amused.

"Captain Dorin, those were the best ribs I have had, ever, probably, and the Ale was great. Your lieutenant was also nice enough to give me a tour of the ship, it hold well despite the damage, and I am once again amazed by the quality of your ship. My compliments."

"When I told you about that ale I didna think ye'd drink all of it!" He joked warmly. "Would ya like me to have a room prepared so ye can sleep it off? That stuff'll give ya a frightful headache." He oddly found himself slipping into his old Dandurrow accent more than usual around this dwarf. He'd have to be careful, or he'd start swearing in front of his crew. Wouldn't the admirals back at headquarters like that?

After about twenty minutes of lying on the floor of his rooms the
dwarf entered the room.
“Well what have we here?” the dwarf asked. “What are you doing
lying on the floor?”

“Magical fatigue,” Eso replied testing his muscles for response.
“Here are the navigation crystals and don’t say a word.”
He lifted the crystals up for the dwarf to take. “Just take the old
ones out and replace them with these. I’ll be up in an hour,” Eso
said.
The dwarf took the crystals and left. After the dwarf left, Eso
crawled to his gear. Don’t take these unless you are completely
drained. They only last for a few hours and have massive withdraw.
Oh well I need to get the beacon working then I can sleep. He
thought, as he searched for the magic booster pills. He took one
and waited for a few minutes. Then he started to assemble the parts
that he retrieved from his wrecked ship. Thirty minutes later He
had assemble the beacon and had gotten it operational. After he
checked to make sure it was broadcasting, which took another ten
minutes he went ask the captain if he could rest. Then the ship’s
J-drive activated.

Kregan smiled good-naturedly. It was a little lopsided, "I didn' drink it all!" he said in his best defensive voice, "I've a'ready been chastised by me dragon any(hic)who." he stumbled over to Dorin, "And yes, I would like a room, if ya could spare'un." he said. You've probably just offended our hosts. Odin broke in. I know, I know. I'll make up for it later by helping with repairs. Kregan responded. Odin then decided to take the initiative and speak directly to Dorin and Kregan, I am terribly sorry if Kregan has insulted you, good sir. You are our host, after all.