Oasis

The Slave processing center of the LDA Immigration office was rather sparse and empty, as a majority of slaves were processed through the Caprica City office, but Miles Hagan had made arrangements to have her processed here in Oasis, where it was a bit more discreet and out of the way.

Shanthi would be lead by a single heavily armed Tech Con mercenary through the hallway until she would be shoved forward in front of a desk, a single well dressed LDA Agent sitting in the sparse, almost hospital like room. The desk was metal, with a single holographic terminal, and the chairs were metal, and bolted to the ground. The lights above buzzed slightly, illuminating white linoleum floors.

The agent looked Shanthi over, and then began to type into the terminal. "Place of purchase." He said boredly, and the Mercenary answered.

"Cryo." The Agent then typed the text in. "Has she been deloused, vaccinated, and cleaned up? Apparently not, She'll need to be decontaminated before we finish processing." He said.

"State your name and home world."

"My name is Shanthi, and I am from Terra," the girl bit back indignantly as she was shoved forward roughly. She was so riled that her thick Volarian accent was leaving her words near unintelligible and her face was flushed red with anger. "I am a free citizen and not some common vāśilā to be bought and sold!" she snapped. "You will release me at once!"

The Agent ignored her for a few moments as she spat at him. "You're not on Terra anymore, nor are you a free citizen." He said, clattering away at the keyboard.

The Agent slowly stood up, and the Mercenary stood back as the Agent checked Shanthi over, putting his hand on her jaw and forcing her mouth open to inspect her teeth.

"You're in the Aschen Empire now, Xeno Slavery is completely legal here. And.. Given our stance with Terra. I doubt you'll go home again." The Agent said as he backed off.

"I'll need a blood, saliva, and hair sample for registration, then we can proceed with immunizations and formal registration."

Shanthi sat herself down on one of the metal chairs as the Agent moved away from her and she folded her arms in front of her, still thoroughly indignant at the whole situation. The severity of her predicament had yet to really edge its way past her anger and humiliation.

"People will come looking for me," she warned vehemently.

The Agent shrugged. "That very well may be." He said, grasping a small blade and approaching once more to cut a lock of hair, and place it into a plastic bag.

"But you're in the Aschen Empire. Untouchable." The Agent said, while he nodded, and a nurse came through the door with a tray, and on that tray were three syringes, and a stapler looking device as well as a metal collar, one syringe with a purple liquid, one with a blue liquid, and the last one was empty.

Two more agents came into the room as the lead one nodded. "Restrain the subject." And they moved in to grab Shanthi.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she demanded as a pair of agents restrained her arms. "Unhand me!"

Unfortunately Shanthi was not a particularly imposing woman, and her efforts to free her arms from the agents would be futile at best. The petite woman was swiftly restrained within the chair.

Her eyes were wide and there was an edge of fear in her as the nurse approached her.

"You can't do this!" she yelled at them.

She had never been treated in such a manner before, and her wrists would no doubt be bruised from the agents' rough grip to keep her in the chair.

The Mercenary scowled. "Try not to damage her, my employer wants her clean and presentable when he sees her." He said flatly as the nurse closed in.

First she drew a blood sample, and then she began the injections with the two liquids. This process was rather painless, though the nanites could be felt moving through the blood. It was a strange tingling sensation. Followed by slightly better muscle response.

The Collar was then securely fitted around her neck, loose enough to be comfortable, but secure enough to prevent removal. The small metal collar came with a metal loop, and several embedded devices.

The Agent nodded. "That completes registration, take her to the decontamination chamber." He said, and the Mercenary nodded, grabbing Shanthi and pulling her out of the room and into the hallway, where they walked several paces before they came across a metal door, which slid open with a hiss.

"Your new Owner will be here soon." He said, escorting her to a large room, and shoving her forward, and then the door slammed shut behind her.

There was a blinding flash of light, a sudden rush of wind, and Shanthi would find herself clean and dry, the door opening up behind her to reveal the Mercenary.

"Let's go." He said, as he started to grab her, and move out of the hall towards the exit.

Shanthi stumbled as the tech con mercenary grabbed her arm roughly once more to all but drag her towards the exit. She was thoroughly humiliated at the whole matter. Avorians were typically born into a life of privilege - especially the females. Shanthi's position among the upper-class of the avorians left this whole ordeal all the more appalling.

For the moment though her objections had been silenced under the weight of her indignation and she was pulled along quietly. Only the red flush of her cheeks betrayed the girl's ire.

After several moments of trying to find the exit, the Mercenary would lead Shanthi to the light of day. The City of Oasis was splayed out before her. Certainly a radical contrast to the crowded Taiyou cities, or the Airy Avorian cities. This one was clean, gleaming even. The Air here was pure, and the skies were littered with stars, and starships.

A black limo had already pulled up, and an older man with a suit and jeweled cane approached.

"Pulchrius est, quam putabamus.." He said, planting the cane into the ground, and observing the woman before him, wrapping his hand around her jaw, and inspecting her.

"Yes... So she is an Avorian..." He said, moving her head to get a better look.

"What do you know about technology?" Hagan asked.

Under different circumstances Shanthi might have found the Aschen City stunning. The girl had always had an adventurous streak to her, and a desire to see the world beyond Terra. Unfortunately the circumstances under which she had found herself here marred any enjoyment she might have otherwise taken from the spectacle.

She glared daggers at Miles as he inspected her face.

The question he asked next was a rather subjective one, and she was't entirely sure how to answer him. She was well versed enough in Volarian tech for day to day use, but had little experience with Aschen tech.

"What technology," she finally asked him before trying to pull her chin away from his hand.

"Computers, Telephones, Can you write? Read?" He said, looking over her. "Cook, Clean? I'm in need of a personal assistant." Hagan said, looking at the Collar. "It's a life of prestige and luxury." He said, before he checked the engraved nameplate on her collar.

"Interesting... Is vultus amo captis mulier jimmies sol crepuit super terram et homines." He said in Anquietas to his Mercenary.

The Mercenary nodded, and Hagan spoke up. "You come from Volaria, tell me, what did you do there?"

"I am fluent in Volarian, Losenyu, Terran English and Taiyou," she bit back.

His further line of questioning into her skills was too much for her pride and she clammed up on the matter lest she start spewing insults and profanities that would likely do her little good at the moment. She had often served as a personal assistant to Avantia, but cooking and cleaning were well beneath her.

"I am an ambassador," she told him. "I was taken while in Aslund on a diplomatic mission. The Matriarch will not stand for this," she warned.

Hagan nodded.

"Good, I'm in need of an interpreter." He said, checking her over. "How quickly can you acquire languages?" He said, probing even further. "I can pay Taurons to clean and cook, I need someone who knows their way around a Computron and a schedule." He said, nodding.

"You serve me well, you might just be able to earn your freedom, since I'm aware people are looking for you." He said, dangling the prospect in front of her.

"But those people cannot help you, since you're my property, and they'd be looking at an international incident."

Shanthi opened her mouth to throw back another retort before thinking better of it and closing it again. She looked away with a huff.

"I was an assistant for three years," she finally said.

She knew her way around scheduling well enough.

"I was raised bi-lingual," she added.

Hagan nodded. "Good..." He said, as he started towards the limousine.

"You'll need some different clothes, I'll buy you a new wardrobe." He said, climbing into the back of the limousine. "I need you to pencil me in for a meeting with Dr. Graystone for tomorrow at three, Purchasing more U-87s for Tech Con..."

The city of Oasis was a place of mixed extremes, the chief of which was the divergence between affluence and abject poverty. Cruel slave barons lorded over their throngs of filthy manpower, and their gleaming silver towers soared high above the filth-caked streets and pens below.

But there were some districts that were filthier than others, namely, the Slave warehouses. Abominable places packed full of pitiable wretches like so much cattle for sale. This was because, ultimately, they were. And this was very convenient for the dark forces that turned their attention there on this day.

Inside one of the larger warehouses, a rend in space-time tore itself open. It's stark white brilliance blinded the shuffling masses within for a moment, a cool wind billowing out of the aperture. The fleeting moment of beauty passed quickly, however, when a flock of dark, glassy, prism like objects came screaming out of the opening. Initially cubed in shape, they unfolded mid-air into humanoid forms with sharp, angular appendages. Forty or so of these burst out into the now chaotic crowds of slave-stock, their blank faces swiveling noiselessly as they picked out targets.

Now, obviously, being a valuable commodity, the slaves were guarded. But not so much by elite Aschen Marines as by indentured thugs with guns. As the black, crystalline men began to jab their needle-like arms into the skulls of scurrying slaves, some of the guards ran. Others opened fire at the raiders, their stray shots mowing down thrashing slaves. Blood burst from every direction like a grisly fireworks display, especially as the alien attackers returned fire. With slow, jerky movements, they pointed their sharpened arms at the guards and fired small shards of their bodies at the panicking gunmen, the crystalline flechettes exploding on impact, sending limbs flying.

Doubtless there would be Aschen defense present within five minutes, but that would be more than enough time to absorb the minds of at least fifty victims. A good haul...

As the portal from Variatech tried to open in the Oasis city warehouse, the passive Aschen defenses, which included apparatuses in which were designed to block unauthorized teleportation would prove invaluable as the portal would be prevented from opening up; before it could even open.

Even more was the Province of Caprica outlawed things such as Slave pens, and most had to acquire their slaves offworld, and they were required to keep them in approved living conditions. Thus the warehouse in which the portal was prevented from opening contained little more than scrap metal, iron ingots, and other manufacturing supplies.

Because the Planck devices remained active, nothing was able to get through in this manner.