It's been only a few days since the battles over Haven. While the numbers of Chirr'T'Thar killed in the fighting with the unknown invaders, for a race of only a couple million, the losses are keenly felt. Haven was relatively untouched, though many craters at the periphery attest to the lost weapons posts. And fighting continues in the more distant regions of Nexus a the Chirr'T'Thar work on removing the ground troops that made it to the surface.
Copernicus sighs to himself as he runs through the total cost of the battle, then wanders out of the shuttle to stretch his legs. He shakes his mane out along with his wings.
Chimera waves to Copernicus from near the edge of the clearing.
Jenora is lying on top of the shuttle, just relaxing and taking in what sunlight she can get.
Copernicus waves tiredly to Chimera and looks at Jenora too, "So how is everyone?"
Chimera blinks, "I don't know everyone."
Copernicus chuckles softly, "Thank you Chimera. I needed that. How are things in town Chimera?"
Jenora rolls onto her side to look down at Copernicus. "Well, the shock is mostly over, things are settling down into the cleanup phase of the operation."
Chimera says, "Nobody in Haven will talk to me now."
Copernicus nods, "They're not overly fond of 'spacers' right now. Can't blame them. Only thing keeping them from kicking us out are our previous agreements, and the fact we fought to defend them. Small compensation I guess. They've never had anything like this happen for the 1,000 or so years they've been here."
Chimera says, "Well, what if you can't defend them, and they suffer more because of their association with you as a result?"
Jenora sighs. "Well, at least there's one good thing about this... we get a better look at what the enemies are actually like."
Chimera says, "Enemy?"
Copernicus hmmms, "Andromeda is up at the station helping repair ships, and up the mining activities. I don't know Chimera. This enemy doesn't seem to care about things like that. They attack everyone and everything. It's possible our presence here speeded things up, but if we hadn't been here, Haven would be a smoking crater."
Chimera blinks three times. "Why do you consider them to be enemies?"
Copernicus purrs, "They attack ships without warning. Kill thousands of people. Hundreds of my own. That qualifies as an enemy to me."
Chimera says, "You describe a force of nature. If they have nothing personal against you, how can they be your enemy?"
Copernicus purrs, "They are sapient, or at the very least controlled by sapient beings. They choose to attack. A force of nature has no such ability."
Copernicus purrs, "Jenora, you up to doing a bit of exploring locally? Make sure things are ok?"
Jenora says, "Sure, I could..."
Chimera says, "Locusts seem to behave that way as well. Are they enemies, or are they just acting out their natures?"
Copernicus purrs, "I really don't want to deal with the Haven council right now, and I need to get some wing time. Want to come along Chimera?"
Chimera says, "Alright."
Chastity comes from behind the tree, one hand against it to hold her steady against her unsure footing along the roots. One of her feet slip out form under her and she falls against the trunk of the tree, muttering something softly.
As if on cue, a yelp and some crashing is heard through the underbrush, followed by some deep mutterings about thorn bushes and the lack of them on the sea.
Copernicus's large ears rotate and he hmms, "Wonder who that is? Hope it's not Andromeda chasing that weird deer again."
A heavy lupine shape approaches the shuttle from the the direction of Haven, a limp armored form tossed over his shoulders. As he comes out of the woods he looks around expressionlessly, ears and then feet turning toward the sound of voices.
Copernicus purrs, "Or vice versa."
Jenora sits up quickly, looking out towards the source of the noise from atop the shuttle.
Chimera blinks at Copernicus, knowing that Andromeda is back in orbit..
Tylen continues muttering as he half-falls into the encampment, battling with a thorn bush over domain of his seaman's jacket.
Meanwhile, the grey fox that came form around the tree pushes herself to an upright stance, straightening her tunic, looking a little disgusted with herself. She's about to walk forward again when she stops short, seeing other people present.
Copernicus pulls out his combat harness from the shuttle, straps the power pack across his back and the two short bore energy cannons on either flank then goes out to check.
Jenora looks back and forth between the two new arrivals. "What is this, new introductions day?"
Tylen frees his jacket with a mighty tug, then peering disgustedly at the thorns embedded in it.
Copernicus hmms as he recognizes Tylen, "Joy. Well, I know Tylen. I don't recognize the other vulpine though."
Sensors in the shuttle pick up an odd anomaly on infrared and gravity detectors. Due to a lack of sound response, the computers do a diagnostic before running up the alert.
Copernicus hmms, "Jenora, want to check on our guest with Chimera while I talk to Tylen?"
Tylen lays the jacket on the ground and looks around the encampment for someone to speak to.
Chimera walks towards the fox.
Jenora says, "Sure."
Jenora hops off the shuttle, landing casually on the ground, then starts walking towards the fox.
Copernicus nods to Jenora, "Thank you, and keep Chimera from confusing her too badly. She may be a refugee from the battle." He then pads over to Tylen, "Council member Tylen. I didn't expect to see you so soon."
Zilvar comes around the edge of the shuttle and looks around, sizing up the people standing around.
The vulpinoid blinks, looking a little startled as she's suddenly noticed. She glances quickly behind her, then bites her lip, and walks forward -- cautiously, leaning heavily on her cane.
Tylen clears his throat, "Yes, well, circumstances have changed somewhat. This is a business meeting, of course.
Chimera waves to Chastity, not seeing Zilvar. "Hello there. Are you here to kill us?"
Jenora nudges Chimera with her elbow. Hard.
Copernicus is of course, still wearing a set of energy cannons on his flanks, which by default face the same way he does. He purrs, "Is something more amiss Tylen? We're still dealing with disposing of our own dead. And why only you and not the full council?"
Jenora clears her throat. "Sorry about that. Hello."
Chimera nearly loses his balance from the nudge.
Zilvar responds to Chimera, "Not today."
Chastity stops short. "Kill you? Good Lord, no! AH... hello...."
Tylen replies, eyeing the guns, "That would be for two reasons. First, this is my duty alone, and second, the council disagrees firmly with my decision."
Jenora blinks at the new voice from the side, and turns to look towards Zilvar.
Copernicus nods, "Oh really? Well, fire away. I am tired of apologizing though. We took the brunt of the damage, and without us, Haven would have been destroyed. "
Zilvar simply stands still, no trace of humor in eyes or stance.
Chimera stops before the vixen, "I am Chimera, and this is Jenora.."
Chastity smiles a little bit, nodding. "H-hello. I'm... Chastity, Chastity DeLameter. Er...." She looks around, not able to see many of the others clearly, for a brief moment confusion flickering in her eyes. "Where am I?"
Jenora bows to both the vixen and to Zilvar. "Jenora Feur."
Jenora says, "You're not far from the city of Nexus, at a small encampment of some spacers."
Tylen raises an eyebrow and looks at Copernicus a little petulantly. "If you are tired, I understand. Don't be so hasty to ready your cannons...er, so to speak...until I've said why I've come. I may decide to agree with the rest of the council.
Chimera asks the vixen, "Are you from Haven?"
Copernicus blinks and ohs, removing the guns, "Precautions. The ground troops are rather nasty, and don't wait to fire. Certainly, speak away."
Zilvar throws down his burden with a heavy *crash* and flexes his shoulders. When stretched on the ground, the armored form can be seen to have once been one of the invaders. The helmet has been removed, exposing the nearly hairless lupine face with its blank eyes. Cause of death is easy to determine...there is a fist sized hole directly in the center of the chest, the edges thick with dried green blood.
Chastity frowns slightly, and lowers her eyes, her lips moving silently as she thinks almost aloud. "Nexus," she finally murmurs. "Toam bel'chara thol... er...." She shakes her head and looks up. "I'm.. afraid I don't know a city by that name. What county is it in?"
Chastity shakes her head slowly, looking at Chimera. "Haven... no, I'm from Sanctu--" She breaks off, and her frown deepens. "Sanctuary."
Tylen clears his throat again. "Well to be short, I figured this place here was of less than prime choice for fortifications. In light of recent events, I have a better option for you.
Copernicus hmmms? "What do you have in mind Tylen?"
Jenora hmmms to Zilvar. "Impressive."
Copernicus's ears flick at the sound of the crash, he looks over and notes Chimera and Jenora seem ok, and turns back, not seeing Zilvar yet.
Chimera tilts his head to one side. "Is that a city, nation, or planet?"
Zilvar points to the creature on the ground, "Who is responsible for these things?"
Tylen reaches into a tube hanging from his belt and draws out a piece of parchment, unrolling it on the ground, its a map, although a crude one, of the seas of Haven's hemisphere.
Jenora smiles to Chastity. "Would you excuse us for a moment?"
Chastity's ears perk at the crash, and she looks around a little agitatedly. "A... planet. But if this isn't Sanctuary...."
Chastity nods to Jenora. "Of.. of course, I didn't mean to interrupt anything...
Jenora turns back to Zilvar. "They are responsible for themselves. They attacked from out in space not long ago. We managed to stop most of them, but a few got through."
Copernicus looks over the map, "Thing is, if those invaders come back, they'll still attack Haven, even if we aren't nearby."
Chimera remains with the shaken vixen. "Would you like to sit down? Are you hungry or thirsty?"
Zilvar looks down, "That is apparent. Do you know how many reached the surface?"
Chastity shakes her head to Chimera. "No, but thank you...." She smiles quietly. "What is your name?"
Jenora frowns. "Copernicus, how many did we track to the surface?"
Chimera smiles, and bows slightly, "I am Chimera of Lothrhyn, at your service."
Tylen points to a dot near the center of Haven's wide sea. "Here...To be honest, its of no use to any seaman. Its desolate, and nothing grows or lives there. I guessed for your purposes, it would be a good choice: A view of Haven and a wide view of the sky. Its only covered in rocks, but I hear you can make food from air anyway. And its a decent size, and has virtually no shores, good for docking ships to. Well, water ships.
Tylen smiles a little, "The rest of the council thought it a mistake to give you land, especially in view of what's happened. Me, I thought it could be the least we could do, in view of what's happened. Gotta have somewhere to repair ships, after all." He smirks and performs some kind of causal salute.
Copernicus is a distance from Jenora, and is getting rather annoyed at being treated like pariahs by the people his race helped defend, so doesn't hear her as he purrs, "For a permanent base, I guess it might be a good idea. This was never meant to be a base per se, just a place to land outside of town. And no, we can't make food out of air. Does this mean the council intends to ban Chirr'T'Thar from Haven entirely?"
Zilvar flicks an ear at the mention of Copernicus.
Chastity smiles softly to Chimera and nods. "Pleased to meet you." She takes in a deep breath and looks around. "Why do I have the feeling I've walked into something...? You both seem a bit.. tense...
Tylen makes a peculiar face, "No, but I'm sure some would like to. I figured this would be a good choice in between; Let you use land that's farther away, but still in view. It would keep the curious citizens away from you, and calm everyone too, not having ships coming and going from their backyards. And we can't use that land anyway."
Chimera apologizes to Chastity for the apparent tension among the others, explaining that this planet, Nexus, is sort of being invaded..
Jenora frowns. "It never rains but it pours... everything has to happen at once. Anyhow, I'd say about 20 of their transports made it to the surface... not sure how many are in each one, but judging from the size of the crafts, I'd guess a total number of them in the high hundreds, probably less than a thousand."
Chastity looks like she's been slapped. "In.. invaded...?" She asks in a tiny voice, her gaze seeming to become suddenly very, very distant.
Zilvar looks down, then nods. "Scratch 28 from the list. They don't seem to be very clever individuals, though they have a good grasp of unit tactics."
Jenora nods. "We'd gathered that much from the fighting in space."
Copernicus nods to Tylen, "That sounds reasonable enough. I'll also recommend that the number of my race visiting Haven at any one time be kept small. You do realize that Haven is a small part of this planet. So if folks decide to hunt on other continents, I don't expect that to be of concern to people in Haven. We'll work on moving our base there soon."
Zilvar shrugs, "I know nothing about that, I am afraid."
Chimera takes a moment to watch the other two groups. "Eventually, someone will be able to see to you properly. I don't suppose you know the hypospace coordinates for Sanctuary?"
Jenora says, "Well, nor did we until quite recently. We still have no idea what they want, aside from the general spoils of war."
Chastity shakes her head, still looking stunned. "Not hyperspace... jumpspace, and need a starship to get there since there's... no... gate...." She frowns, and looks at Chimera, a very worried look in her eyes. "What.. what sector is this world in?"
Tylen smiles and nods. "Great. I'm sure the council will agree with our agreement soon enough." The gleam in his eye hints at the realization that his ships are the only way for goods and non-flying personnel to get on or off that island.
Chimera says, "I don't know. There is a Gate in orbit however."
Zilvar pushes the body with his foot. "Do you have any need of this?"
Jenora hmmms. "Well, we could see if we can figure out what makes them tick. I really dislike the idea of biological weaponry, but we may have to look at it."
Chastity seems to let out a breath. "Oh, good. I might still be in the same jumpgate network." Her expression relaxes some, and she asks, "Do you know who built it?"
Copernicus, coming from a trading background, isn't totally naive. He purrs, "Of course, if you want to prevent all ships from landing near Haven, we'll have to work out an agreement to have the few raw supplies we need transported to the island. But we can use the shuttles to gather most of what we need on other continents. I assume we can work out details later Tylen?"
Chimera points across the clearing to the winged felitaur talking with Tylen, "He did. Copernicus Skygazer."
Zilvar nods. "Shall I leave it here, then?"
Tylen nods, "I think the less ships of any kind landing near Haven, the better.
Jenora says, "That's all right."
Jenora bends over, grasps the form, and one-handed sort of tosses it up into a fireman's carry across her shoulders.
Tylen picks up his jacket and proceeds to pick the thorns out of it.
Chastity peeks over Chimera' shoulder, and her smile drops, her expression clearly showing she's never seen someone like him before. "I think," she says in a tiny voice, "that I'm most assuredly not in the same jumpgate network."
Copernicus nods, "Then I assume we can work out a bargain with your sea vessels. I'll see you later Tylen. I need to go check on my friends and our visitor."
Zilvar reaches behind his cape and unlimbers a heavy-looking rifle. "I'm keeping this."
Chimera says, "This system has odd properties regarding jumpgates."
Tylen flicks an ear and puts on the jacket. "I'll let the rest of the council know of these proceeds." He promptly makes for the forest in the direction of Haven and disappears into it.
Chimera says, "I think we can see Copernicus now.. if we hurry."
Chimera holds out a hand to Chastity.
Copernicus turns around and pads towards Jenora and Chimera, very tired, and carrying the heavy weapons across his back. He blinks as he notes the caped figure and tries to place it, purring, "Hello, how is everyone? And...where did one of those...monsters..come from?" as he looks at the dead invader.
Chastity glances at Chimera, tearing her gaze away from Copernicus, thinking, << A winged feline 'taur? No, I must be still addled from... from... from whatever it was.... >> "Properties..>?"
Jenora frowms, looking at Zilvar. "You look... familiar."
Zilvar hides the rifle under his cape again and shrugs, "You may well know me. I know you."
Chimera says, "This region of space can act as a sort of sinkhole for gate-transport."
Jenora blinkblinks, looking you over again. "Zilvar?"
Chastity manages a soft chuckle. "I'm familiar with those," she says softly, and sighs. "Same jumpgate network? Iblith, I'll be lucky if I'm in the same reality...."
Copernicus finishes looking at the corpse and blinks as Jenora says a familiar name, "Zilvar? Where?" and turns his torso around to look at the caped stranger with the feral expression.
Zilvar relaxes his posture, his whole appearance shifting slightly. A smile almost touches the side of his mouth, "The one and only...I hope, anyway."
Chimera smiles reassuringly to Chastity, "A quantum field analysis may be able to determine that for you."
Jenora points to the wolf standing in front of her. "Right there."
Copernicus has been dealing with the death of friends, an intractable enemy and lack of sleep. Upon recognizing a friend he thought long lost, his defenses drop and he leaps at Zilvar to give him a hug, "Zilvar! It IS you!"
Chastity's ears perk sharply at the sound of the name. "What, who...?" She shakes her head, frowning as if almost -- but not quite -- imagining a memory. "A, a what-analysis? I'm sorry, that's way beyond me.
Chimera says, "I think they're in a better mood now. would you like to meet them?"
Zilvar's hands rise, and for an instant the tips of his claws are visible before he wraps Coper up in a hug and thumps his back soundly. "It is...last I checked."
Chastity smiles quietly, mostly recovered from what appears to be some unpleasant shocks. "Yes, please...."
Jenora smiles, then looks around for somewhere to put this literally dead weight.
Copernicus head rubs and actually lifts Zilvar off the ground a centimeter for a second, despite the large wolf weighing about the same as the apparently larger felitaur. "You are ok. I...it's good to see you again."
Chimera smiles and leads the vixen over to the group.
Jenora walks over towards the shuttle and dumps the dead body closer to their before wiping herself off and heading back to the gathering group.
Zilvar chuckles and nods, "It is good to see you Coper. It's been a while."
Chastity follows Chimera, leaning heavily on her cane with a noticeable limp.
Copernicus nods, "A long while. A lot has happened since I left. I see you ran into some of our enemy. Lucky for us, unlucky for them. We're still trying to get rid of the last of those landing pods and troops."
Chimera raises a hand, "Hail, Lord Zilvar of the Golden Hills. Copernicus, this is Chastity, of the world Sanctuary. She's lost."
Zilvar's smile freezes on his face. "The Golden Hills no longer exist."
Copernicus blinks, "Sanctuary? I'm not familiar with that world, so I'd say she is indeed lost. She's limping. Are you hurt m'lady?"
Jenora shakes her head. "A lot of us are lost..."
Chimera looks over towards the body Jenora dumped near the shuttle.
Zilvar's posture indicates that he is staring to get tense again.
Chastity blinks at Copernicus, getting a closer look at him and looking, well, stunned. "Ah... no, I'm not.. I mean.. yes, but it's an old wound, can't be fixed..."
Copernicus blinks a bit at Zilvar, but doesn't ask. He nods to Chastity, "Well, you're welcome to stay here at this temporary camp till we get a chance to see where you came from. I am Copernicus Skygazer Talorn, of the Chirr'T'Thar. These are my friends, Jenora, Zilvar, and you've met Chimera. ;)"
Zilvar nods to Chastity.
Chastity nods politely. "Chastity DeLameter, Comman--" She blinks. "No, that's not right. Chastity DeLameter, uhm... Just that." She looks around, frowning in confusion a bit. "From Sanctuary, Kappa Cygni I...."
Jenora frowns, looking at Chastity. "You sound like you're trying to remember multiple lives at once."
Chimera hmms at Chastity's responses. "Unstable gate transits can affect memory for a time."
Chastity shakes her head a bit, rubbing her eyes. "No, trying to forget one."
Copernicus hmms and notes the translators seem to be handling her language ok, but doesn't recognize the references at all. "So Zilvar, what have you been up to? Oh, and I'm a father now. ;)"
Chastity sighs. "That's not right, either." She glances at Chimera. "Unstable gate... I've never known a jumpgate to be unstable...."
Zilvar halfsmiles, "Congratulations. For the last 2 days, I have been tracking down one of these assault parties. All of them are dead."
Copernicus nods, rather seriously for him and purrs, "Good. One less to deal with. We've gotten about half of them so far, but that still leaves several hundred most likely."
Jenora says, "He said he got 28 of them."
Chimera says, "Did you interrogate any of them, Zilvar?"
Zilvar frowns, "None in the immediate area. Those were several miles from here."
Zilvar looks at Chimera, "They were not very talkative."
Copernicus lets Jenora and Chimera talk to the newcomer. Chastity seems upset at his appearance. "I meant one of the groups Chimera. Yes, we were able to keep any from landing near Haven at least."
Chastity looks up, and sees to relax a bit as her attention moves from her trying to think of details about herself, to what seems to be news about the invasion mentioned earlier to her.
Jenora sighs, stretching a bit.
Zilvar looks to the sky, "I gathered as much, given the fireworks in the sky."
Chimera says, "Where is the nearest grouping of live invaders?"
Chastity says, "You have... uhm, invading troops on the surface?"
Jenora says, "Unfortunately, yes. They dropped dozens of little transport pods, we didn't get all of them."
Chimera blinks at Chastity, "If we had them, they wouldn't be considered invaders."
Copernicus purrs, "Well, Zilvar may have gotten the last one on this peninsula, so they're a good distance away. That fact, however, does not reassure me. I'll be happier when I know they are all safely destroyed."
Chastity nod, her brow furrowing. "You'll have to find them soon. They'll have already scattered, but given a few days they'll start to learn how to hide in the terrain. After that, even over flights won't be able to rout them out. They'll try to link up with each other as soon as--" She breaks off, and sighs softly, lowing her head for a moment, then looks up with a sheepish expression. "I'm sorry. Don't mind an old lady."
Chimera frowns at Copernicus. "You won't attempt to communicate with them then on a less destructive level?"
Jenora grins to Chastity. "You were saying something about a life you wanted to forget?"
Zilvar looks at Chastity and nods. "Do not be sorry. You are quite correct."
Chastity nods to Jenora, and sighs softly. "Not forgetting it well enough, it seems."
Zilvar looks at Coper. "They will become more of a threat if they learn to operate more autonomously, as well."
Jenora says, "Trust me... as someone who's been through several lives like that; it's never that easy to forget."
Copernicus shakes his head, "We've made numerous attempts Chimera. All they do is kill and destroy. And I agree with Zilvar and Chastity. Don't worry, we're taking them out as fast as we can. We won't let them stay around long enough to get to that point."
Copernicus purrs, "Any help you'd like to offer would be very welcome Zilvar."
Chastity smiles wanly to Jenora. "It's not that I want to forget. But I'm well past that sort of thing. I passed that on to younger folk ten, fifteen years ago." She shakes her head. "I thought I'd gotten away from it...."
Jenora hmmphs. "Some 'younger folk' never respect the wisdom and experience of their elders."
Zilvar looks at Coper. "I will need a shuttle, or some other means of transport."
Copernicus nods to Zilvar, "Certainly. I can send a couple of us with you too, if you want. Or maybe I can go with you. We need to get this cleaned up here. As nasty as this was, it was too easy in many ways. They'll be around again, but I doubt here anytime soon."
Copernicus chuckles at Jenora, "Any wisdom anyone has to offer about this I'll be happy to take. We prefer to celebrate life, not take it, except in defense."
Chastity's ears pinken slightly at the compliment. "Thank you. But even when I was commander, I was never as good as some others."
Zilvar nods. "Fair enough. I probably could not fly the thing on my own anyway."
Jenora smiles, nodding to Chastity. "Few ever are."
Copernicus nods to Zilvar and pads over to Chastity, curious about her, and hoping his appearance won't be too much a hindrance to talk.
Chastity looks up, tilting her head as she looks at Copernicus, not disturbed so much as startled, and over the initial surprise, at his appearance.
Chimera listens quietly. He isn't sure if he should be happy or not that they haven't asked him for help in killing anyone yet.
Copernicus leans over and headrubs the fox and purrs, "Good to meet you Chastity. I'm sorry you came at such a horrible time. And I hope we can find your home for you soon."
Jenora smiles. "Yes, hopefully."
Zilvar pads quietly over to join the group, giving Chastity a penetrating scrutiny.
Chastity blinks in surprise at the headrub (she kind of likes it, actually) and smiles quietly to Copernicus. "Thank you. Please, don't let me keep you from this.... These sort of things are.. they are hard on a people."
Copernicus nods, "Especially for a peaceful race like my own. Have you eaten?"
Jenora says, "Tell me about it... especially when we're in the middle of diplomatic negotiations with the natives here..."
Zilvar looks at Copernicus, "Whoever is to hunt with me should be here tomorrow."
Chastity's eyes flicker over to Zilvar, and her ear flicks, a shadow of curiosity and nervousness lighting in her eyes. "Ah... well," she smiles back at Copernicus, "tea was just two hours ago--" She frowns again, and glances up at the sky. "Er... well, for me it was two hours ago...."
Copernicus frowns as Jenora reminds him of that part. He nods to Zilvar, "We'll use this shuttle. I'll see you tomorrow then Zilvar. And it IS good to see you again my friend. You'll have to meet Tycho and Chrissa sometime. In fact, I'm sure Melora will be happy to let you cub sit."
Zilvar sketches a lazy bow to everyone present, looking for all the world like he is merely one step removed from falling flat on his face, before stepping back and turning to the forest. "Good to see you, Coper, Jenora, Chimera. A pleasure, Chastity..I'm sure we will meet again."
Jenora bows back to Zilvar. "Good to see you again as well."
Chimera says, "Let me know if capture one of the invaders alive, Zilvar."
Copernicus purrs, "May the First Mother comfort you in your sleep Zilvar. "
Zilvar stops and looks at Chimera, "Doubtful. They seem to be very persistent."
Chimera blinks at Copernicus, but decides not to ask about what Chirr'T'Thar might do in their sleep.
Chastity nods to Zilvar, fidgeting with the head of her cane. "Like.. likewise, Zilvar...."
Zilvar waves over his shoulder and breaks into an easy run, disappearing into the woods like a ghost.
Copernicus mutters something like 'pathologically psychotic murderers' in response to Zilvar's comment. Then blinks as he disappears.
Jenora sighs, shaking her head. "Is it just me or is he even colder and more remote than he used to be."
Copernicus nods, "I wonder what happened? It could just be the fight with these things."
Chimera says, "He seemed fine to me."
Jenora says, "I doubt it was just that. Given the way he reacted when you mentioned the Golden Hills, I don't think he's gotten over that yet."
Chimera nods.
Chastity looks around from one person to the next, trying to pick up what she can.
Copernicus hmmms, "Well, a couple of my mates are heading down to visit, and a few of our 'troops' will be back shortly to eat and rest up while the next shift heads out. Anyone have any objections to just having a dinner here in the clearing?"
Chimera says, "Will it require a lot of live animals to be provided?"
Chastity tilts her head to the side. "Live animals?"
Copernicus purrs, "Well, a nice fire would help too. Don't worry, we'll have food brought in Chimera. We're predators Chastity. We like our food...rather fresh."
Chastity nods quietly. "Understandable. We used biomass ourselves but--" She breaks off, frowning to herself again, her eyebrows furrowing in thought, Then she shrugs. "We used, er, a substitute."
Chimera says, "Hydrocarbons?"
Jenora nods. "Most sentients I've seen work on one eventually."
Copernicus chuckles, "Substitutes don't work well for our needs, even if we could tolerate them. We'll have cooked meat, breads, cheese and vegetables available also."
Copernicus looks at Jenora, "Well, we're probably going to be an exception to that Jenora."
Chastity smiles to Chimera. "I'm not really sure what it was. They changed the recipe for it at least a dozen times."
Jenora says, "I did say 'most', not all..."
Jenora smirks. "For some, admittedly, it doesn't work. As you were saying. Usually to do with some odd trace materials."
Chastity nods to Copernicus.
A few rumbles roll through the hills, signalling the return of some of the 'troops'. Copernicus nods to Jenora, "True enough. So, want the help gather some firewood while I dig the firepit?"
Chastity blinks at the rumbling, perking her ears and looking around. "What...?"
Chimera says, "The Chirr'T'Thar are very fast flyers, despite their bulk."
Jenora says, "'Fast' in this case means 'can break sound barrier with sufficient preparation'."
Chastity just... blinks. "Oh, my," she says quietly.
Chimera says, "Most of them are skilled in crash landings, also."
Copernicus has started digging a pit using his legs and wings, and just tosses some dirt at Chimera, "So I made a few mistakes when I was younger. ;)"
Jenora snorts, trying to hold in a chuckle.
Chimera dances away from the flying dirt.
Chastity can't help but hide a small smile, sitting on a nearby rock and resting her cane across her lap.
Chimera smiles to Chastity, "Since people learn from their mistakes, Copernicus is considered a genius by the other Chirr'T'Thar. :}"
A contrail can be seen in the evening sky, signalling another shuttle coming in to land as a group of felitaur become visible as they decelerate rapidly. Copernicus growls playfully at Chimera.
Jenora smiles over to Chastity. "Anyhow, things seem to be settling down for now..."
Chastity smiles to Jenora. "Good! It's been a rather busy day, for all of us, I imagine...."
Jenora says, "Oh, yes... by the way, about how far from here did you arrive?"
Chimera looks back to the forest where Chastity appeared, and guesses not much more than half a kilometer..
Chastity opens her mouth to respond, then stops, blinking for a moment as she slowly frowns, trying to remember. Her mouth closes slowly. "I'm not really sure, dear," she says quietly. It couldn't have been too far." She winces, as she stretches out her right leg, rubbing the knee. "I can't walk terribly far."
Copernicus climbs out of the pit to greet the group of felitaurs as they come to graceful landings. He let's them know about the 'party' and they go off to help gather wood. He pads back over and watches the shuttle approach and purrs, "This planet is known to be unstable as far as dimensional space is concerned. Part of why it got the name "Nexus" I guess."
Jenora says, "True, especially not with terrain like that."
Chastity smiles quietly, massaging her knee. "A dimensional nexus, hmn? I imagine that means all sorts of people appear here and there."
Jenora says, "Oh, yes, you could say that..."
Chimera says, "Yes, we've found evidence that this world has been used by spacefarers for a very long time."
It gets hard to hear momentarily as the shuttle makes final approach to the field, then kicks in it's repulsors, landing neatly at the far side of the field.
Chastity winces and shies away from the sharp, harsh sounds of the shuttle's repulsors, then looks back up. "So it's instability makes it an attractive spot?"
Jenora says, "No, its instability means that connections tend to form here at random."
Chastity frowns slightly. "At random...."
Chimera says, "The large Gate might be able to detect the residue of the event that brought you here though."
Jenora nods. "Pretty much. It's more likely to grab from other unstable locations, or poorly terminated gates."
Copernicus pads over to the shuttle, and gets bowled over by a white and a black ball of fur and wings. Ceres and Aurora have arrived, and are reminding their mate of his proper place by tickling him.
Jenora chuckles at the commotion.
Chastity is about to say something to Jenora, when she gets distracted by the uproar by the shuttle.
Chimera smiles to Chastity, "My grandmother was sucked right out of a spacecraft by Copernicus' Gate." :}
Chastity blinks at Chimera, her hand reaching up to hold the pendant around her throat. "By his gate? Why, how...?
Chimera shrugs. "He was testing it. It happens to my grandmother a lot."
Jenora says, "That was one of the early test firings of the gate. Kainudy had been too close to it before, and still had some residue... when the gate was turned on, it activated the residue, and she popped out."
Copernicus finally staggers to his feet and leads the two female felitaurs over to the group. Ceres bounces over to give Jenora a hug and a headrub. Aurora is a bit more reserved in her black fur and white chest ruff. Copernicus purrs, "Chastity, meet my mates, Ceres and Aurora. ;)
Jenora eefs, and hugs Ceres back.
Chimera smiles and nods to the two BFFBs.
(Editors Note: BFFB is Bodacious Fuzzy Felitaur Babes, an in joke ;)
Chastity stands, a little shakily on her leg and smiles, nodding. "Pleased to meet you both....."
Ceres bounces over and hugs Chastity, "Nice to meet you. I'm Ceres. ;) Oh, c'mon, let's unload the food from the shuttle."
Aurora leans over and headrubs Chastity quietly, "It's good to meet you. Has our mate been treating you well?"
The rest of the felitaurs have returned with plenty of wood, and are getting a nice roaring blaze going in the pit, while others have returned with game already.
Jenora sits close to the fire, enjoying it.
Chastity blinks in surprise at the hug and headrub, and returns it with her free hand. "Uhm.. yes, yes, he is...."
Ceres drags Copernicus off, "C'mon. Let's get the food out." Aurora just shakes her head, "Good to hear. Now if we could just calm Ceres down. Shall we get ready to eat?"
Chimera suggests adding liquid helium to Cere's drink to help her calm down.
Chastity chuckles softly, and sits back down, stretching her leg out again.
Jenora chortles, shaking her head. "Don't worry, the chaos here will seem perfectly normal soon enough."
Aurora smirks a bit at that and sniffs the cooking meat on the fire. She seems awfully quiet, even for her. She nods softly to Jenora.
Chimera sits down near the fire to watch people eat.
Chastity says softly, "I can get used to chaos. At least, I used to be able to." she adds wryly, "An old lady like myself can't handle -too- much excitement, now...."
Copernicus, complaining about being used for a pack mule, quickly helps Ceres and a few other felitaurs to unload the low bench like tables, and plenty of food. Several of the tired and wounded felitaurs lay down next to each other and start eating and chatting. Copernicus finally pads over to his friends and purrs, "May I escort you ladies to dinner?"
Michael seems to materialize out of the evening air, looking over Coper's shoulder.
Jenora smirks. "Given how well you've taken things already, I suspect you can handle a lot more excitement than most people."
Copernicus blinks, "Michael? You're as bad as Zilvar with your quiet arrivals."
Jenora smiles to Copernicus. "Certainly."
Michael says, "I have that tendency, especially when hunting."
Michael smiles smugly.
Chastity smiles quietly to Copernicus, and pulls herself upright, standing.
Jenora stands, and walks along with Copernicus.
Copernicus offers an arm to Chastity, and one to Jenora, and curls his tail with Aurora's. "Well, join us for some dinner then Michael. You're welcome to join us."
Chimera waves to Michael.
Michael cocks his head to see the stranger to the group, but recognizes the rest.
Michael says, "With all this noise, there's not much to hunt nearby anyway."
Michael chuckles.
Chastity hesitates a bit before taking Copernicus's arm, deciding that her pride can very well take a back seat to being polite -- and it never hurts to be able to walk with someone's help and not use that blasted cane...
Jenora says, "True..."
Michael gets closer to the fire, and it can be seen that his once pristine black robe is now riddled with holes and tears, the scaly armor underneath gleaming gold.
Copernicus leads the group over to an open section by a table, and curls up next to Aurora. He offers his taur back as a seat to Chastity and Jenora, and blinks at Michael.
Chastity glances at Michael when he looks her way, and smiles and nods a little to him.
Michael smiles back at Chastity. "Hello! You are new..."
Jenora hops onto Copernicus' back, and holds a hand out to help Chastity up.
Chastity blinks in surprise at Jenora, then hesitantly reaches up to take her hand, inadvertently using Copernicus's fur as handholds.
Chastity settles onto the taur's back, fidgeting a little, not used at all to the position. She looks over to Michael and nods quietly. "Yes, so I've.. gathered. Your name is Michael...?"
Copernicus makes sure Chastity and Jenora are seated, and grins as Ceres sits on his other side. He offers a plate of cheese, bread and vegetables to his friends, "Eat up. It's been a long week."
Jenora says, "And it looks to be getting longer."
Michael smiles and replies, "Yes it is. What is your name?" He peruses the food laid out.
Chimera joins the others, and sits on Ceres.
Ceres hmmfs, "Maybe so, but we need to unwind from time to time. Can't let things destroy our spirit. Oh. Hello Chimera. ;)"
Chastity perks her ears, accepting the plate, and sighs softly. "I can only hope it doesn't go like some invasions do...."
Chastity smiles to Michael. "Chastity... Chastity DeLameter. How do you do?"
Chimera smiles and rubs Cere's upper back while she eats.
Michael finds some various pieces and starts assembling something. "How do I do what?"
The noise isn't horrible, though that many large felines purring and growling does make a racket. Many are laughing and joking as they eat, though several wander a short distance from the fire in pairs, or the occasional set of three. It has been a long day.
Chastity chuckles softly. "Sorry. An old greeting. How are you doing?"
Michael thinks.
Aurora remains quiet against her mates side, Ceres however is giggling, and flirting with Coper, and Jenora a little, even though Jenora seems oblivious. Copernicus eyes Michael's damaged clothes with no surprise, having gotten the reports from what was left of the invaders that landed by the human settlement.
Michael decides, "I'm making some dinner."
Michael tosses the construction into the fire and glances back at Copernicus, furtively.
Chastity smiles softly, and just shakes her head quietly.
Copernicus blinks, "I guess you like it very well done. After dinner I need to talk to you about the fighting near your village. But later. For now, we enjoy ourselves. We've all earned it."
Michael takes a sharpened stick he had with him, and stabs into the fire, pulling out a wrapped bundle. He sets it aside to cool off. Calmly, almost too much so, he nods.
Chastity sets her plate off to the side, and sighs softly, looking up into the sky, and then sits, leaning on her arm, looking into the fire. Very shortly, she inadvertently, she falls asleep.
Chimera leans back against Ceres' back and watches the stars.
Ceres teases, "I see you still have that special way with the ladies Copernicus" as she points to the sleeping vixen on his back. The group chuckles softly, and Aurora gives him a snug.
The night rounds off with felitaurs splitting off into various groups. Most to sleep, but from the various yowls, not all are interested in sleeping. Copernicus carefully tucks Chastity away on a spare cot under an awning, then goes off to spend some time with his mates. Michael pops up into his normal sleeping position in a tree. And all is quiet for now, despite the worry of having invaders somehwhere "out there".