Ivera Clue Rixy's Story

With everything figured out, and a plan put in place, Nagala offered a slight nod, but the disagreement played across her face. She didn't support this plan of action in the slightest.

"Your briefing with Director Angel will be at 0700, the shuttle back to Origin will depart at 1030." Nagala said as she slowly stood up.

Kathryn followed Nagala's action, moving to her feet, but Nagala hadn't finished speaking. "The two of you can stay in Guest Quarters C." Nagala said with a nod. "I'll make arrangements for clothing and accessories." Turning to Kathryn, Nagala spoke up. "If you would." She said, gesturing towards the door, before she started out the door, leaving Marlene to her thoughts as she carefully studied the blurry hologram of the casino.

Kathryn offered a smile to Demor, and Ivera, gesturing for them to follow her, then she started out the door, expecting them to follow.

She led them into a large open hallway, lined on either side with Aschen officers, and crew personnel who were diligently carrying out their duties. Kathryn even managed to step over a technician splicing in some communications lines. A strange viscous gel like liquid leaking from one of the conduits he was repairing, with a distinctly electrical smell.

Kathryn moved through the hallway with a hurried pace, and it seemed like they were walking down this long corridor for almost twenty minutes, a glimpse into the sheer size of the Aschen carrier.

Kathryn then promptly rounded a corner and approached a set of large blast doors, which opened with an audible hiss. These doors opened up and exposed a tram station of some kind, roughly the size of a large train station, with long maglev trains coming, and going along their tracks.

"It's a twenty minute ride to the crew section of the ship, where you will be allowed to explore freely. There's a full suite of entertainment, and restaurants inside." Kathryn explained. "I'm staying in a different section of the ship, but I'll help you guys get settled in." She added, raising her voice slightly over the din of the crowded tram station. "Any questions before we proceed?"

As everyone began to stand, Demor did so as well. They'd be sleeping on the ship? That meant he wouldn't be able to wear something he knew would fit him and his tail comfortably. His mouth contorted, a small bit of disgruntled annoyance spreading across it before catching Kathryn's smile, and then nodded, following her quickly, his cloak fluttering around him, and flaring out for his tail to flick out and maintain his balance.

As they passed the technician working on the electrical conduits, Demor sniffed the air, leaning back and staring in at what the man was working on as that electrical smell filled his nose. If anyone payed attention to the Games, one would know that Demor was capable of safely eating most forms of electricity, including pure lightning. After dwelling for a moment, he was back following Kathryn closely before anyone could blink, a small rush of air gushing past as he stopped to her left and slightly behind the woman.

Demor's eyes couldn't help but widen when they entered the tram-station. The ship was this big?! He had no clue, and in a way, it scared him. When asked if he had any questions, he blinked and looked back to Kathryn. "I got one, actually." he cleared his throat, raising his voice likewise to be heard easily over the drone of the station.

"What was that electrical smelling stuff that guy back there was working on? It smells tasty."

Ivera didn't say much at this point, mostly because he did not feel the need to say anything at this time. In the mean time, Ivera was looking at just about everything around him while he followed Kathryn, looking, analyzing, memorizing. There was not really a point to it, he had no plans for the information. But, he had a habit of picking up, collecting, processing, and storing any and all information around him.

As they got to the tram, it seemed that she would be accepting questions. Ivera had to admit, he had a few questions himself he was curious about, one of them involving the safety of the tram.

"I also have a few. If this tram operates on mag lev, then wouldn't any form of high speed movement threaten to dislodge it while in motion? Does it stay secured during those moments, or is there some method that keeps it secure?" Ivera asked. He really hoped there would be no danger to riding in it if the ship suddenly had to move.

"Also, what forms of entertainment are there? What should be looked out for. And if a sports game is playing, what is absolutely the sports team that you should not root for on this ship, assuming there is some favorite the crew might have?"

Kathryn nodded and quietly stepped into the tram that was labeled "Crew Barracks, Guest Barracks, Main Engineering, Auxiliary Fire Control."

Inside a map of the tram-line could be seen on the ceiling of the tram, with their line highlighted in blue, they would be traveling through the entire length of the ship, from the bow section where they were located, along the main hangar sections, to the rear section of the ship, just before the engines, and what could be described as main engineering.

There was a pleasant chime, and an automated voice that played over the loudspeaker in the tram car that described where they would be going.

"There are wheels along the body of the tram that prevent derailment." Kathryn answered, as the tram began to move, slowly picking up speed. "We're traveling roughly ten kilometers along the dorsal structure of the ship, to the crew sections." She explained, resting her hand on a metal pole, and glancing briefly out the window. Occasionally the tube would also have windowed sections, allowing them to gaze into one of the massive hangar bays as they passed over it, below them thousands of men and women were working, moving around like ants almost a kilometer below them.

As far as the eye could see was equipment, trucks, tanks, aircraft, everything that indicated that this ship was preparing for invasion. As quickly as the view came, it flitted away as they passed into another armored tunnel.

"To answer your inquiry, Demor. It's a superconducting gel, the lifeblood of this ship. The zero-resistance conduit conducts up to thirty gigawatts of power at any given time." Kathryn answered, and then turned to Ivera.

"Pyramid is the most popular, you have people from all across the Empire on this ship, so you have to be careful who you root for, and who you trash talk. You have cantinas, restaurants, Holodecks, Simulation lounges, firing ranges, and recreational rooms, like Gyms, saunas, and what have you." Kathryn added as the tram came to a stop at a much smaller station.

"We're here." Kathryn said, stepping out of the tram as the door slid open.

Another pleasant chime, and Kathryn was moving through the tram station and into a large hallway.

The trio would first pass a large door that chimed as an Aschen soldier passed them, a towel folded across his arm, but otherwise the man was completely without clothing.

He opened the hatch and stepped inside, Kathryn didn't give him so much as a second glance, but inside the room, if Demor or Ivera bothered to look was full of men, and women showering, changing clothes, and even chatting among themselves in their native tongues.

The trio passed another room on the left, the hatch was open and a dozen men, and women could be seen working out, the clink of weights filling the hallway.

They passed an intersection, a topless, but muscular Aschen soldier was cleaning his disruptor rifle, etching the carbon from the muzzle with a tool that resembled a dental pick. He was perched on a small stack of crates, as Kathryn stepped around another half dressed soldier brushing his teeth. He smelled peculiarly like olive oil and peppermint.

Passing another open hatch, this room smelled of alcohol, it was a crew barracks of some kind, and a group of Aschen were drinking, and playing cards, once more talking in their native tongue.

Walking several more moments, they reached a much quieter section of the crew barracks, where two fully uniformed security officers were standing quietly at parade rest. The door chimed, and revealed a two bedroom suite with a large living area, which included a fifty inch holographic telescreen that bore the still image of Big Brother.

"Kathryn gestured into the room, before she spoke. "Get some rest, briefing is at 0700, which means you will have to be up by 0600." She explained. "Telescreen is voice activated, and is connected to the datastream. Just down the hall is the secondary food court, which closes at 2500." Kathryn explained, gesturing to her right.

"If you need me, you can contact me through the Telescreen. These guards will escort you wherever you need to go, do not try to lose them, if you trigger a security alert there could be repercussions."

Demor nodded in response to Kathryn's answer to his question, and then thought for a second. "Any way I can get my hands on some and eat it?" he asked in complete seriousness. "And do you think it'll strengthen my magic?" he asked, offering a few small bolts of lightning around his neck as if it were a necklace as his example.

While he waited for his answer, the smell of tobacco assaulted his sensitive nose, and he scrunched up his face in disgust, exhaling sharply through his nose. The smell, for Demor at least, was strong enough to almost distract him from the numerous women walking around, but like his nose, his vision was sharp, and he saw everything he wanted to see.

Back to the horrendous smell of Tobacco, however, Demor lifted the collar of his shirt, and stuffed his nose into it, trying his best to block out the smell. Once in their room, he took a look around and noted the two beds and large telescreen, the ominous visage of Big Brother watching their movements. Demor rolled his shoulder rather uncomfortably, but did nothing about it.

Not that he could.

"Got it wake up at 0600... food closes at 2500? What.. how long is a day? What time is it now?" Demor was now confused. He understood that the military used a different time system, but he was used to 24 hour days, or at least, his circadian rhythm was anyway.

Ivera took note and continued to study everything and anything, and also absorbed a variety of sights, smells, and sounds. Ivera was also slowly but surely learning the Aschen language. By observing their conversations, what words they used when they refered to an object, and then the conjunctions and exclamations they used with those words. By compiling all this information, he was mapping it out, building a good reference, and now had a rough understanding of it.

He was also catching on to the various grammar and syntax, corrolating the different dialects and accents, and identifying commonalities that would indicate the root, the origin, of all the variations.

"I see, interesting. In that case, can we know not just the total hours in a day on the ship, but also the current time? Also, how do we go about showering and freshening up?" Ivera asked. After all, he was not sure about Demor, but he had not brought a change of clothes with him. Of course, he could easily wear the same clothes constantly for at least a week with relative comfort, but he thought he would ask.

"Also, in terms of alcohol, will any drinks be compatible? And how drunk can they get someone?" Ivera asked, though he was thinking about Demor when he said that. With his Adaptability, Ivera wouldn't really be at risk for any form of alcohol poisoning. "And got it, avoid taking sides in Pyramid. Do you have actual sports fields on the ship though, or just holodecks and simulation decks for that?"

Ivera did have another question, but he decided he could be reasonably certain that no one would hit on him here, and that they would probably be safe. So long as they didn't cause trouble anyways, though he did wonder if the guards would follow them into the showers as well.

"Oh, and does the datastream include the Aschen dictionary?" Ivera asked, determined to complete his mental notes about Aschen language.

"It would probably just taste nasty. It's a conductant, not a power source, and without any electricity flowing through it, it's completely inert." Kathryn answered, checking her watch. "It's 14:30 local ship time, right now. Our clocks are pegged to Langara's twenty-five hour periods of rotational period." Kathryn said.

The origins of the Aschen language were extremely ancient, and those ancient connotations showed within their speech patterns, the words they used, and how the words rolled of their tongues.

To further expound on their answer, Kathryn walked towards a small door near the corner of the room, and waved her hand over the sensor panel, the door slid open with an audible hiss, and full restroom facilities, including a bathtub shower combination revealed itself. There were towels hanging from a towel rack, as well as a bottle of an amber colored liquid resting on the shelf in the shower.

The label read "Victory Soap" And was a castille soap made from olive oil, infused with peppermint and other herbs. It was standard issue among the Aschen Military.

On a nightstand was a small package that contained victory gin, victory cigarettes, and other 'Victory' branded goods.




Big brother's Visage was printed on just about everything.

"You can enjoy your victory gin here, or if you want a variety you can check out one of the bars, they have drinks from all over the Empire." Kathryn explained.

"There are full workout and recreational facilities down the hall, including a regulation Pyramid court, and sparring ring." Kathryn said as she moved towards a dresser, pulling out the drawers. "There is a dress-code on this ship" She said, pulling up a pair of dark blue BDU pants, and a shirt. "these should fit you both reasonably well, we've included small, through extra-large in the dresser. There's laundry facilities in the Cantina."

Kathryn then turned to the Telescreen. "EVE."

The Telescreen warped from Big Brother's ominous visage, to a bust of a young woman.



"Welcome to the Reverence II, A Psalm Every Day, I am EVE. I am an artificial intelligence. My systems are designed to assist you. You can trust me implicitly; always." Her voice was soothing, calm, and somewhat formal.

"You can ask EVE for anything that would be considered public information through this telescreen, and she will gladly tell you. Alternatively..." Kathryn said, moving towards a Dataslate with Big Brother's visage. "You can use this dataslate, but all your communications will be monitored."

A Dress Code? That'd be annoying. Frowning, Demor walked over to a dresser, claiming the left side of the room as his and opened the drawers, sorting through the BDU's for something that would fit. The Pants wouldn't be an issue, but with his tail, none of the shirts or blouses would fit properly enough to be considered "Within Regs", Demor assumed. Sighing, he undid his cloak, letting it drop to the ground quietly, once more revealing his more toned body to the world briefly while he grabbed what looked like closest to his size, and tried on the shirt. As he expected, his tail prevented a perfect fit, but it was close enough. Taking the shirt off again, leaving it on the dresser as he entered the bathroom, and looked around, his tail twitching gently as it hung low and close to his body.

He picked up the Victory Gin, tilting his head before opening the bottle, and catching a whiff. It didn't smell all that bad... but upon taking a swig, he shook his head, closed the bottle, and set it back down. "Think I'll stick with Rum and Tequila. Get some wild nights out of that." he mumbled to himself.

Demor had no intentions of trying to communicate with too much of anything, and while he was curious about the Aschen, he didn't feel comfortable talking to an AI about it. He'd rather figure it out on his own, preferably by weaseling his way into a romantic relationship with one of their fine ladies. But alas, the xenophobia would more than likely prevent him from going anywhere further than saving Montrose. Whatever happens with that. If that plan even succeeds.

Leaning against the door-frame of the bathroom, he continued to listen to Kathryn speak. "Anything else we need to know?" he offered a small smile. "How good's the food? How friendly are the ladies? What the chances I'll get shot if I try anything...weird?" he tried to find the right word, but ultimately landed on that one. Mentally she shrugged. He likely wouldn't try anything, but still, it'd be good information to know.

"I wouldn't try it" Ivera warned Demor with a sigh, while also memorizing the time and the clock hours for future reference. "I dont mean to shut you down or anything, but you are far likely to suffer worse then getting shot if you do anything they dont want. They might be ladies, but they are also military. Rub them the wrong way, and you will probably end up waking in the medical ward, with a headache strong enough to make you wish you had a hangover".

Ivera then looked over at the dresscode as well. He wondered if the clothes were possibly manufactured on their arrival. That, or if the Aschen naturally carried clothes that fit him. Then again, its not like he was that short. He wasn't tall either though.

At the very least, while he was here, he decided to test out the bed, kicking his shoes off in the process and taking off his socks. He was wondering various things, mainly the order of what he should do. Shower first, maybe some practice in a sports field, some stretches, maybe try the booze. Or perhaps he would hole up in the room, learn a whole bunch of things, deduce more from that.

Why Gin though? Why not whiskey? Ivera's favorite was whiskey after all.

He wondered about testing out Eve's abilities though for a moment, seeing how far she was capable of thought and advancement. But, that might not be looked at well, whether he broke her or not.

"It almost makes me wonder if you have a beach or hot springs on the ship as well or something. Do you get all the inter-galactic channels here? I dont suppose you at least have a weather report or something though. It would be nice to know if a storm will be there when we land".

"Fraternizing with this ship's crew is strictly prohibited, and can result in discipline." EVE replied through the telescreen. Her gaze briefly turned towards Ivera, and then back to Demor, as a map of the immediate area flickered into view besides the bust of EVE, and over her shoulder.

Much of the map had been blurred, or blocked out, inaccessable to those without the proper clearances.

"Your attempts to fraternize the crew would lead to your immediate expulsion from this vessel, if your actions were discovered by it's commanding crew." EVE added.

Highlighting a large room that seemed to be not far from their location, albeit several decks down, EVE continued to speak. "There are full recreational, and spa facilities in this section of the ship, including mineral pools, water training facilities, and a full gymnasium."

"The Cafeteria..." EVE said, as another adjacent room was highlighted. "Is located on this deck; the current meal being served is Aerilonian Haggis, with roast potato and beet medley. Additional food can be purchased from the cafeteria at your expense." EVE said, while Kathryn stood in the doorway, nodding in approval. It seemed they were settling in quite well.

"I'll leave you two for now, and I'll see you in the morning for the briefing." The IIA Agent said, as she turned to leave through the door, which slid shut behind her.

"Gin is the state libation of the Imperial Socialist Party, and His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor's favorite drink." EVE said, in response to Demor's comment on the Gin. "Victory Gin is rationed to every citizen of the Aschen Empire at no cost."

"This vessel receives all state approved media channels." EVE answered, the screen shifting to a local origin channel, albeit heavily censored seemingly in real time, anything that was possibly deemed objectionable by the Aschen had been blurred, or obscured. "This vessel also receives all local Imperial Aschen media channels."

The telescreen flickered, displaying an Aschen newscast, the anchor speaking in Anquietas. There was an overtone of propaganda, the anchor was speaking about something unrelated to the Galaxy at large, but there was a definite overtone that the Aschen were being told what to think, even as the anchor droned on in Anquietas, and the strange, alien text scrolled across the screen.

"Analysis, and sensor readings indicate fair weather in Questrios City upon our landing." EVE added, and then turned to Demor. "You will be required to purchase a brass compass prior to mission start, mission success hinges on your gaining access to the New Directions Casino."

The New Directions website suddenly appeared on the dataslate.

"I will gladly assist you if required." EVE said once more.

Demor scowled, but got the message. No flirting with the ladies. Or at least, no doing so and getting caught in the process. That was likely easier said than done, not getting caught. It seemed that the Aschen lived in a world of constant surveillance - it would be almost impossible to get anywhere with one of their ladies, assuming he could get past the inherent racism and xenophobia that they all seemed to be raised with. Needless to say, the news of such harsh consequences was disheartening to the Drachini male. Sighing, Demor flopped onto his bed face down, but able to look up at the data screen and at EVE while she projected the maps of the ship, and finally, the New Directions website.

Demor had a disgruntled look his face, but didn't complain. Nodding, he propped himself up on his elbows, and cleared his throat. "Alright then, EVE.... help me get this... Brass Compass, that way I can relax before our little mission tomorrow." he said. His tail twitched lazily, flopping onto the rest of his bed. His body seemed to relax from the warmth of the blankets he was laying on - evident, perhaps, that he was slightly colder blooded than most other humanoids due to his Draconian heritage.

Once the process was complete, he yawned and stood. Not caring if it was Ivera or EVE watching, he began to disrobe, walking towards the dresser to find something that would at least make it look like he tried to fit in. Setting a set on the top, he finished disrobing and walked towards the bathroom to shower. It'd be about ten minutes before he emerged, cleaner, and smelling distinctly of whatever Aschen products they had stocked in the bathroom to clean themselves with. His tail conveniently blocked anyone's view of anything they might not have wanted to see, held in front of him as a sort of buffer between him and the world around him as he rubbed his eyes free of some minor irritation.

Once dressed, Demor had EVE bring up the map of the ship again, and then with only a few minor losses of focus - meaning of course being side tracked by admiring a particularly good looking Aschen female - made his way to the dining facilities, and ate what was served to him without much of a complaint or word. He could feel the eyes of the Aschen on him, even more so than they felt the eyes of their "Big Brother" perhaps, but regardless he felt their eyes on him, and something about it made him dislike the attention.

He didn't want to stay there any longer than he had to. Unless friendly conversation was started, or at least one that he perceived to be friendly was started, he wouldn't say anything, and would hurry out as soon as possible back to his room, where he'd lay back on the bed, and yawn, quickly finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.

Ivera meanwhile just listened at this point, soaking in all the information he could, and taking detailed mental notes. He was vaguely able to understand Eve's primary functions, abilities, and likely her full scope of operation. Although in terms of connections, she appeared to be connected to a lot of systems and hardware, in terms of the AI Classification System he learned, she was on the lower levels for sure.

Either way, once the IIA agent left, Ivera proceeded to take of the rest of his clothing. Given what they were made of, they looked like they were still clean and wearable, but he figured it would be safer to just keep them clean till the next morning. He didn't much care if Demor saw him, though Demor, having seen two of his brothers naked before at the hot springs, would likely notice that Ivera was more mature then them, even if he lacked any real body hair. But the atmosphere he gave off as well, from his personality, his experiences, often made people mistake him for being older then he was as well, so there was that too.

He also ended up using the baths, cleaning himself off as well and not caring if Demor saw anything or not. That was when he finally checked in, as Ivera heard a voice in his head, speaking in a British accent.

"This day has certainly been interesting, hasn't it?"

Chronus...where have you been? You have been silent, and hiding in my Spirit Pocket, all day...

"I cant help it! Even if I am your Spirit Guardian, I am a Dragon! Nevermind the Aschen people who might try to exterminate me if I actually appeared, you are litterally bathing yourself in the same room as someone with Dragon Slayer Magic!"

I am pretty sure he would not eat you...and you could still speak up. This is our private channel after all.

"I am not going to take that risk!"

Haaah....fine. Can you at least tell me why you have finally decided to appear?

"Its pretty simple. The place you, or at least your friends, seem to plan to go to...some spirits in the Spirit World have told me about it. Its got some pretty high level defenses it seems. Being spirits of course, they were annoyingly unclear, but it seems like it is going to be difficult to find anything and anyone if the owner does not want you to".

...is that so?

"Yeah. Honestly speaking, the plan to infiltrate with that compass...you should have a backup. And a backup for that backup, when the first two fail".

...so your saying, finding out and deducing her location if he does not want her found, is something that only a master detective might be able to accomplish?

"You get the point. By the way....your friend there, Demor, seems pretty lustful. You think if he knew you could manipulate time, he would try to go for one of those Aschen women?"

Whatever. Anyways, I dont want to cause any unneeded problems. We can communicate undetected, but I would rather not causing a stir by having you appear now of all times, so just stay hidden.

"Happy to!"

After finishing that all up, Ivera finished washing himself and grabbed a towel to dry himself. He was not sure about the Aschen products, and the possible chances of them having microtrackers, but if they tried to dose or infect his body with anything, or put micobots in, they would find his immune system to be unusually defensive.

He then got dressed, and went off to go get food. He didn't make much conversation with people, but he was sure as hell listening. Observing body language, learning idioms, understanding concepts. By the time he would be done, he could probably go undercover as an Aschen and not be detected. You know, to people who did not have access to the Aschen databases and networks with all the information and such, like Eve was.

After that though, once he was done eating, which notably he ate way more then one might expect him able to, he went and did some practice, move his body around, and got a glipse of two people practicing hand to hand combat along the way. Once that was done, he headed back to his room, to catch some shuteye.

"I'm sorry." EVE replied. "Unfortunately, I will be unable to acquire this compass for you; you will be required to log onto the website, and acquire it yourself. You will need to have completed this task prior to the briefing tomorrow." The Aschen Artificial Intelligence explained, her emotionless visage flickering on the telescreen.

Inside the shower facilities, which were quite spacious, the soaps would smell distinctly like peppermint, being an olive based castile soap treated with peppermint extract. It was both easy on the skin, cleansing, and cheap to make. There were no microtrackers either. It was a simple soap product that was excellent for washing, the peppermint leaving a cool, tingly sensation which was welcome among the Aschen crew for their sore muscles after a hard day.

As the pair left their quarters, and started down towards the food court. The pair of Marines at the door began to follow them silently, they didn't make any outwardly hostile gestures, rather they simply followed, their footfalls echoing on the metal plates of the floor before them.

---

As the pair approached the cafeteria, they would be greeted by a pair of large doors which chimed an odd crystalline chime, before sliding open into the walls with an audible hiss. The mess hall itself was large, but somewhat austere in design. There were about a hundred tables, with benches bolted into the floor. There were about three or so dozen Aschen eating their food, some were eating what was on the menu for the day, which seemed freshly prepared from the smells that wafted from the galley.

There was a line of about a dozen Aschen forming at the buffet, the clatter of utensils, and plastic trays was drowned out only by the sounds of their conversations, which were predominately spoken in their native languages.

The conversations hushed as Demor, and Ivera entered, though. Muting to whispers mostly, as the eyes of the mess hall fell upon the pair for several moments.

Conversation returned though after a long pause, as the Marines ushered Demor, and Ivera into the line, which moved rather quickly.

As they reached the buffet, several cooks were working swiftly to make sure the meals were ready, one rather heavy set crewman seemed to glare at Demor, and Ivera as they reached his place in line. He reached into a tray with a pair of metal tongs, and withdrew what looked like an animal's stomach of some kind, filled with ground organ meats, seasonings, suet, oats, and all sorts of other things. The Stomach was unceremoniously placed on Ivera, and Demor's tray by the server, before the Marines ushered them to the next station, where a whole boiled potato was placed on their plates, followed by diced beets with other native langaran vegetation.

The people in front of them paid the next person a few cubit banknotes to be poured a single glass of Aerilonian Estates malted scotch over rocks, this individual looked to Demor, and Ivera expecting payment, and if he was paid, would pour them their drinks as well.

They would find difficulty sitting at tables with other Aschen, as they simply got up, took their trays, and left if the pair sat down, leaving them by themselves at the table.

A young Aschen woman was all that was left, dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit of some kind that was trimmed with reflective striping. She didn't speak Common though, and if Demor chose to try and make conversation. She would simply give him a confused look.

"Ego non loqui." She would reply, before returning to her own meal.


Once they were finished, one Marine would follow Demor, while the other followed Ivera, and as the night drew on, a chime would echo over the ship's intercom.

"Attention all hands, it is twenty one thirty, watch change is in three millicentons, night crew report to your stations for watch change."

The night would be uneventful in their section of the ship. There was the occasional call over the Intercom, but the dimmed lights, and the fresh Marines outside the door would signal it was starting to get late.

Zero-four-thirty would come swiftly, to the klaxon of an alarm that blared through the entire ship.

"Reveille, reveille, reveille! The time is Zero-Four-Thirty! All hands Reveille! Breakfast is at zero-five hundred, watch change is at zero-six hundred! All hands this is your first wakeup call!"

A fanfare began to play over the loudspeakers. "You are warned to standby for watch change!"

The commotion of Aschen crewmen moving about outside shortly followed, muffled by the door that was tightly closed. No doubt Kathryn would be waiting for them soon.

Demor for the most part remained silent for the meal. There was a low, almost inaudible growl of annoyance at the unceremonious way the chefs plopped the food onto his tray, but he again did nothing. To do something in the center of a ship full of like-minded people, with escorts whose trigger fingers are likely itching to rid the world of another xeno would probably not be the best idea. Sure, Demor could likely take out a marginally large portion of the ship and its crew before he either ran out of magic, was killed, captured, or any combination of the three, but what's one ship to the Aschen Empire?

Demor also remained unaware of the small dragon that spoke to Ivera, at least, unaware for now. The haggis they served wasn't the most tasty thing Demor had eaten, indeed he didn't seem to particularly care for it. But at the same time, he ate it to accept the thin layer of hospitality the Aschen were showing them. Sighing, once he was finished, he disposed of his tray and utensils as directed and then walked back to his room.

He did note the beauty of the female Aschen soldiers and crew members, eyeing them from a distance, but otherwise doing nothing. He saw the looks they and the other Aschen were giving him, and wanted nothing to do with that. He chuckled to himself - Montrose had given him a similar look when he tried to flirt with her back on Origin, and now he was about to go on a rescue mission for her. Rolling his eyes, he entered his room and flopped himself back on his bed.

Looking to Ivera, he spoke. "Fair warning.... that Haggis ain't sitting right..." he said, patting his stomach as he rolled onto his side and slid under the covers.

The wake up call was loud and obnoxious, and Demor growled under his breath, laying there for an extra minute until the commotion at least became constant enough for his ears to be able to filter some of it out. Getting dressed in his usual attire, Demor yawned. The Aschen BDU's were uncomfortable and not made for a man of his particular build anyway. Sighing as he settled into his clothes, he blinked slowly. Despite getting a healthy amount of sleep, he still looked very tired, at least, until he curled himself up in the blankets of his bed, and began to warm up. He was reptilian, after all, his blood was colder than most others.

Ivera did not take much action himself, seemingly idle and compliant....far more then he usually might be. That said, inside his head, he was still soaking up large amounts of information, learning all he could about the ship and his surroundings.

As for the food, Ivera took whatever he could before eating it. By the time he went back to his room with Demor though, and Demor mentioned it not sitting right, Ivera shrugged. "Its better then most colors of Food Paste..."

That said, by the time morning came, Ivera almost slept through the blaring alarm. Demor could easily notice it seemed to barely bother Ivera, as if he was used to it or such. Either way, after getting up, he quickly got dressed in his attire, and decided to wait it out, noticing Demor's actions. He was still unaware of Demor being cold blooded, but after seeing that, he had a theory that might be the case. That, or it was the haggis.

"...maybe you should special order some thick, warm clothing in the future..." Ivera suggested.

With everything in place; walking back to the briefing would be rather uneventful for Demor, and Ivera. The Marines stationed outside their door would escort them back the way they came to the briefing room.

Inside, Kathryn was going over a three-dimensional holographic projection of Origin, zooming into the planet to reveal a three-dimensional holographic projection of Questrios City.

Shimmering blue lines were displayed all throughout the city projection, landing calculations for the missile deployed drop pods. They had been chosen at random, but close enough together to where everyone could meet.

The Marines ushered the two into the room, while Kathryn was busy looking over the projection, breaking her concentration for just a moment to look up at Ivera. “So you think she was taken to this casino?” The IIA Operative asked, zooming in on the New Directions casino building.

“The nature of this world makes long range scans difficult, so our intelligence is limited, which means we’ll have to go in and scout the place out before we make a move.”

“Demor you’re with me. We’ll be posing as a couple to infiltrate the casino, so I trust you’ll act the part. Once we’ve ascertained positive confirmation that Montrose is being held there, a rescue plan will go into immediate effect.”

Gesturing to the door on the opposite side of the room, which chimed, and slid open to reveal three new faces. Kathryn waited for them to enter before introducing them.

The first one was a woman, raven black hair, and a stark complexion, dressed in a black great coat. Slowly she moved to take a seat at the briefing table. The second was a man, easily six hundred pounds of solid muscle, and almost eight feet tall. His footfalls made an audible thunk as he walked across the room, a lit cigar perched between his lips as he sneered at Demor, and Ivera. Moving towards one of the chairs, he sat down. The chair creaked, and groaned in protest, but held fast as the man slammed a meaty fist on the table, ashing his cigar onto the console.

The third man Demor would recognize as the agent that was working with Kathryn in the beginning, when they confronted him in his apartment.

Gesturing to them, Kathryn spoke up. “This is Special Agent Erin Solis, She’ll be working support, EOD, and will provide counter sniper, marksman , and augmented support through a combat skin in case we run into any trouble. She is very good at what she does, and will provide valuable assistance.”

She gestured to the second man, and continued her introduction. “This is Khaine, an adept of war. He’ll be providing heavy weapons support.”

She then gestured to Michael. “This is Special Agent Samuelle, he’ll be providing tactical support, and will be in charge of Team Beta, who will move in and extract us if we run into any trouble.

“If we get a confirmed ID, we’ll book a room in the hotel with a balcony, where additional supplies will be dropped in via UAV, I’ll suit up in a combat skin, and we’ll do a smash and grab hopefully get out before the authorities know we’re here.”

Focusing her attention on Demor, and Ivera, Kathryn continued. “Once we’ve extracted safely, you two will be compensated for your assistance, and released from service, and hopefully we can leave this gods forsaken star system.”

“Any questions?” Kathryn asked.

When it came time for the mission briefing, Demor sat in a chair around the table and waited for everything to begin. Once the briefing started, he listened with interest, raising his eyebrows when Kathryn noted that he and her were to be posing as a couple to gain entry into the Casino. He tilted his head, looking at her with inquisitive eyes from that point forward. Three others who walked into the room looked to Demor with varying looks on their faces. The woman looked serious and interesting. The first man looked a bit intimidating, but also didn't look like anything Demor couldn't handle if things got out of hand between them - he saw that look of displeasure - and this man seemed like the kind of person to act upon it without hesitation. The third man, Michael, made Demor smirk. They'd met before, albeit under less formal circumstances.

At the question as to whether or not there were any questions, Demor opened his mouth before closing it, pouting for a second before speaking. "I have one for you in private after this..." he said to Kathryn.

Once given the opportunity, Demor would be off to the side, waiting for Kathryn, once she found him, he'd ask his question. "I know you said to act the part... but just how into it are you willing to reciprocate without killing me?" he asked. "Or better yet, how far is too far before other Aschen step in to kill me after this mission is over?" he asked. He wasn't denying his part in the plan or even the execution of it, but he was far from stupid. A slip up could mean the Aschen killing him or at the least hurting him beyond a point he could heal.

Put plain, their innate xenophobia had him worried.

"Based on the clues gathered, and the evidence, yes. She was taken here without a doubt" he said, confident in his answer given the amount of double checks he did. Plus, he had asked some people to watch the front of the casino before they left, so if anything had changed, he would be notified quickly. However...

From what he saw on first glance, he felt the security seemed strange. He doubted this place was some normal criminal group or so on, especially given some of the stories he heard.

That said, he wondered how estimated these scans actually were, given that it still seemed too detailed for long range scanning and such.

Still, he didn't want to say anything too much further, not until he was on the ground and could collect more information and make more deductions. Too much was an unknown from this point out.

After all, anything could happen.

"Based on the clues gathered, and the evidence, yes. She was taken here without a doubt" he said, confident in his answer given the amount of double checks he did. Plus, he had asked some people to watch the front of the casino before they left, so if anything had changed, he would be notified quickly. However...

From what he saw on first glance, he felt the security seemed strange. He doubted this place was some normal criminal group or so on, especially given some of the stories he heard.

That said, he wondered how estimated these scans actually were, given that it still seemed too detailed for long range scanning and such.

Still, he didn't want to say anything too much further, not until he was on the ground and could collect more information and make more deductions. Too much was an unknown from this point out.

After all, anything could happen.