Scene 30: The Deceiver

The Atlas engine room.

ZAYD-NEIL:  You speak of Samael.

And how is my master?

He is well, I trust?

ERIMENTHA:  Samael is no master

He will never be.

ZAYD-NEIL:  I recognize no other.

ERIMENTHA:  Then you have confirmed 

the evidence all around us.  That you are

a thief and murderer... and alone.

ZAYD-NEIL:  What makes you think

I am alone?  I have you.

Drones march out from just beyond
the shadow of darkness against the walls.

ZAYD-NEIL:  And my companions, of course, also.

ERIMENTHA:  More abominations.

Machines fueled by murdering

the Chosen.

ZAYD-NEIL:  What shall you do, if it is so?

Do you have the strength to stand against me?
Did your Masters gift you with enough?
Is your faith in them secure?
Do be careful to not waste
the blood. And beware
whose you spill.

ERIMENTHA:  Why don't I know you?

ZAYD-NEIL:  That, Perdeus, is the right question.

To which I doubt you will live to find or
understand the answer.  Unless...

ERIMETNHA:  How do you know me?

ZAYD-NEIL:  I am very near to you.
And always have been all the days
of your life in the Order.
In a manner of speaking,
I am responsible for watching
over you more than any other.

AARON:  Are you going to
give a straight answer?

ZAYD-NEIL:  I do not answer to

a mere Touched.  However...

leave me that Untouchable 

and the Shadow's Heart.

And you may go.

He points at Esben.

AARON:  I don't think we'll be giving him to you.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Everything that this ship touches

is already in my possession.  I am Zayd-Neil.

AARON:  Well that's a name, at least.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Corruption of the blood, this one.

ERIMETNHA:  How did you get passed
the Republic's blockade?

ZAYD-NEIL:  I permit their presence.

Do not make too much of them.

I prevent the coming and going

of Janriel.  And I saw you.

RUNE:  We could have flown

right passed you if it wasn't

for our guardian angel here.

ZAYD-NEIL:  You should not show such

insolence to a servant of the Order.

She knew the danger in coming here.

Though, she lacks the wisdom for it.

ERIMENTHA:  How have you

escaped our notice?

ZAYD-NEIL:  Samael created me in 

defiance of the Order.

He sent me here to

wait for you.

ERIMENTHA:  Me?

ZAYD-NEIL:  You are no ordinary, Chosen.

Perdeus, you have the line of the Masters.  

Your blood is your own.  And finally,

you are Samael's child.

ERIMENTHA:  I don't believe you.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Why would I lie?

NICODEMUS:  Ha!  Why wouldn't you?

A Master is someone to farm out

to equip other Chosen for cannon fodder.

ERIMENTHA:  This is not the time for your sacrilege.

NICODEMUS:  There might be a lot of ritual around it
but that's what you do.  And don't let your pride be a way
for him to get in your head. The other Masters would have
never let you come here alone if you were one of them.
Stay focused on the mission.

ZAYD-NEIL:  What mission?  You came looking

for Samael.  And he is not here.
You and I might find him together.
Abandon these violent vagrants.

Everyone has circled up and watch all around themselves, but each mind now drifts to Erimentha's apparent contemplation as silence falls.  And each must resist the urge to look and examine her face for themselves lest an attack should rain down.  

Their muscles tense, the butts of rifles press into shoulders, and Nicodemus prepares to shift his weight at a moment's notice to train his weapon on a new enemy.  She sighs her resolution, which causes the rests' hearts to stop rather than bring relief.

ERIMENTHA:  I am a Chosen.  My family is the Order.
And I might not be alive if it weren't for my friends.
These proofs of courageousness outside the Order.
I do not believe in you.  I am no child of Samael.
But if he has taken a disciple then you must be
stopped from carrying on his teachings.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Come.  And stop me, then.

Aaron blasts the catwalk with one powerful
shot and ejects the spent cartridge from his pistol.

AARON:  Thought you'd never ask.

The black blood surges from the ship's power core, flowing over their heads to where the catwalk was destroyed, and Zayd-Neil rides the energized sludge down in a crashing torrent.  Aaron takes up the long rifle, but amidst the explosions Zayd-Neil disappears into the void as he must have done before.

Everyone is thrown off their feet by the flood and crash into the walls on all sides to end up ensnared in the ink-covered surface.  The floor vanishes beneath the dark shallow sea.  Half-submerged, some lie on their backs or else stand against the wall with only their faces above the surface.  Zaid-Neil looms over Aaron, himself.

ZAYD-NEIL:  You're more trouble 

than you're worth, Touched.

AARON:  Ms. Perdeus?

ERIMENTHA:  Still here.

AARON:  You feeling recovered, yet?

She tries to pull an arm

free and fails to do so.

ERIMENTHA:  Never better.

AARON:  Mr. Clemence.

NICODEMUS:  Yeah?

AARON:  You said we might experience 

some enhanced regeneration?

NICODEMUS:  I said don't find out.

AARON:  We're about to.

Aaron fires the long rifle, which clings to his leg but he had managed to keep a hand around the trigger.  The shot rips his right calf, but also flies on into Zayd-Neil's shins.  The mysterious masked man collapses to his hands and knees.

Nicodemus and Esben begin to successfully strain against and stretch the black blood.  Erimentha envelops herself in a soft glow, which continues to push and contract embattling Zayd-Neil's will.

TULIA:  It's loosening up!

AARON:  Aaaagh!  That's it?

ERIMENTHA:  Do it again!

AARON:  No thanks.  

It's someone else's turn.

The chamber deafens with an incomprehensible sound.  Esben's roar is garbled from his face nearly being covered over.  As much as it tries, the black blood cannot grab him.  But it still can violent push Esben and so has required the most focus from Zayd-Neil to keep up the constant pressure to pin the creature down.

TULIA:  You're the only one with a shot, soldier boy.

Aaron lifts his head and fires again in the midst of tendrils wrestling for the weapon.  Zayd-Neil has the presence of mind to brace with a shield barrier, but meanwhile Esben's nose breaks the surface like in a placid pool.

Esben falls forward and is free and releases his sword from the wall with a slice.  He proceeds to slash at the ground and the black blood retreats before him.  However, the dark matter goes into the various silent sentinels standing watch in the chamber.  External motors spool up to cause local black blood to swirl around them and enter their mechanisms.

The nearest drone casts a pillar of energy, which Esben sidesteps and chops down on.  He waists no time slicing at the wall around Nicodemus.  And though the black blood still tries to keep hold of him, Nicodemus rips free.  Just as Mr. Clemence lands on solid ground Esben is thrown back with a solid hit.  Caught off guard, he drops the sword.

The hairy creature rolls to his hands and knees and roars pitifully at the folly.  Several streams of small tendrils flow toward the blade.  Nicodemus steps on the sword to deny it to them and blisters the drone with a hail of fire.  He then kicks back the weapon so that it skitters and skates across the floor to sail into Esben's fingers.

Nicodemus then turns on Zayd-Neil who encases himself in a thin opaque shell, but flashes a luminous view of the interior with each concussion.  The Prestmoor relentlessly marches forward.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Defend me!

NICODEMUS:  Go for him!

Esben roars, preoccupied with
releasing Tulia, Ross and Rune.

NICODEMUS:  I'm too exposed here!

He flinches at an incoming strike to his
right from one of the drones, but the
attack is stopped by a white barrier.

ERIMENTHA:  I am with you.

She wraps herself in light and times
each barrier to foil a strike on Nicodemus.

As the others are freed they attack the drones
with impunity, largely ignored in favor of
Nicodemus, apart from occasionally
being swatted away.

Tulia dodges a number of such strikes in
drawing attention while she heads for Aaron.

She blazes around him with laser fire
and as the black blood retreats he
cries out in agony.  She sees the leg.

TULIA:  I'll get pressure on it.

AARON:  Just put it back.

Bring the blood back.

TULIA:  You're delirious.

One of Ross's grenades explode on the opposite
side of the room.  A small wave ripples along
the wall and washes over Aaron's face.
She shoots around him to no affect and is caught
by it when she attempts to rip it away with her hands.

TULIA:  Esben!

Her shriek breaks Erimentha's concentration
and Nicodemus receives a small slice to the
shoulder and back.  Esben destroys one of the
last drones and rushes to stab into Zayd-Neil's
besieged dome barrier and hold it there.

TULIA:  I think we're losing him.

Esben shakes his head at himself with a sniff.

Erimentha places her phosphorus fingers
on the dome, standing next to Esben.

ERIMENTHA:  Go help him.

She presses her hands further up to the elbow.
Her arms create two columns of light penetrating
the membrane, but are still held at bay by a great
deal of resistance from the black blood.

Esben carves Aaron from the wall as the blood will not
retreat as it once did before.  Tulia's hands are freed,
but the blood dies and solidifies around Aaron.

He chips away at the stone, but Esben discovers that
the blade does not cut like it once did when the blood
was alive.  He glances at Tulia who shares his concern.
Esben then rises and points the sword straight down.
He stabs and only penetrates with the tip of the blade.

Tulia, Rune and Ross join Esben in grabbing the hilt
and press down.  The sword slips an inch and the rock
cracks along the spine.  They clear away the debris.

They uncover Aaron's face and his eyes are fixed.

TULIA:  Damn it.

RUNE:  Tulia, your hurt.

He takes her hand and shows her a gash on the palm
that she got from the blade when the sword slipped.

TULIA:  We're too late.  

Aaron's dead.

ROSS:  No he's not.

What are you talking about?

To her left she sees Sweets' face.

SWEETS:  (distant voice) Look again.

She glances down to see Aaron's
eyes closed, but still breathing.

TULIA:  But I thought...

RUNE:  We have to get out of here.

Overhead, the core delivers another pillar of black blood to Zayd-Neil.  Erimentha removes one hand from the dome and raises her own barrier to block Zayd-Neil's replenishment.  The driving force of holding the core's power aloft pushes her shoulder deep into the dome barrier.  In a flash, Zayd-Neil reaches up and pulls her the rest of the way in.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Witness a truth.

He places a hand over her eyes and Erimentha sees visions of her training as a child in the Order.
She stands among rows of others on a circle of grass in a walled courtyard performing martial exercises.  Several Masters stand all around so that they might create cascades of light over them.  She giggles at one ribbon that dances around her hands and across her fingers.  Looking into the light she sees a vision of a butterfly at rest gently flapping its wings.

In this way they were anointed as Touched.

MASTER:  Your hands have been blessed.

You are destined to do many good works.

The child smiles up at her teacher.
She looks passed him and sees
Zayd-Neil leaning against the wall.
He claps enthusiastically for her.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Good job!  

Way to go, Ms. Perdeus!

She frowns.

ERIMENTHA:  You don't belong her.

ZAYD-NEIL:  How could I miss your

graduation in the Order?  From here

you will go on to adulthood.

You are a young woman now.

She smiles despite herself.

NICODEMUS:  Ha!

Nicodemus marches from the yard archway and causes
the other children in his path to scatter before him.

NICODEMUS:  Adult?  You're nothing but a child.

ERIMENTHA:  You were never here.

NICODEMUS:  Neither was he.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Remember me, my dear.  

I remember you.  You are special to me.

I never missed one of your celebrations.

NICODEMUS:  He's right.  You should remember.

Every exercise they ever gave you that was supposed 

to make you someone special just made you one of many.  

Fodder for the Order is what you are.  Fodder you will 

become unless you can choose to change course.

ZAYD-NEIL:  I have always been with you.

ERIMENTHA:  His presence is familiar.

You don't believe in me?  Who are you?

NICODEMUS:  You are a child of the Order.  And you have always 

known it thanks to me.  I am your doubt that the Order could never fill.  

You know you have not grown as you should.  That is why you hate me.  

I represent knowledge outside the Order.  I was forbidden to you by 

the walls, but there was always an open gate you.  You chose to stay in.  

Because the Masters promised you power.  And look at what your 

arrogance has wrought.  Erimentha Perdaus, you have led the only 

friends you ever had to their deaths!  Look and see.

ERIMENTHA:  No, it's not true.

Aaron appears slumped at Zayd-Neil's feet.

ZAYD-NEIL:  The Order promised that you would go on 

to do great things.  Join me.  Defeat me.  It doesn't matter.  

I will still love you no matter what you decide.

NICODEMUS:  Is that your sign of greatness?

She looks at Aaron, again.

NICODEMUS:  He believed the most in you.

ZAYD-NEIL:  I believe in you, Erimentha.

Show me your power.

NICODEMUS:  When did he ask for power?

Her child eyes become 

hard at Zayd-Neil.

ERIMENTHA:  I have been a child.

I followed the Masters blindly.

Her child self grows into her true form.

ERIMENTHA:  I will play your game, no longer.

I will save my friends.  I will seek the truth.

Her vision self blasts Zayd-Neil in
the chest with a powerful beam of light.

She approaches him to discover an
exposed chest of damaged mechanism.

ERIMENTHA:  You are only a machine?

ZAYD-NEIL:  I am the way of the universe.

I am inevitable and relentless.  

I promise an age of peace.

ERIMENTHA:  Promise what you like.

And I will not remain ignorant of you.

Her eyes glow beneath Zayd-Neil's fingers.  He holds them there though they begin to burn.
Whereas Erimentha's powers before would manifest in white, now there is a yellow tinge
reminiscent of the sun.  This alteration starts in low, but the chamber stands frozen.

Nicodemus's bullets hang suspended in the air.  The crew are caught in the midst of picking up Aaron to carry.  The white flares of light permeate the dome barrier, but the yellow pierces and causes the black blood to crack.  The silence shatters as if the dome were glass and the yellow light overwhelms the chamber for the briefest moment and recedes to the engine room door where Erimentha stands.

She is flanked by the crew and the black blood
cascades down on Zayd-Neil's unsuspecting head.

ERIMENTHA:  Now's our chance to escape.

NICODEMUS:  What are you thinking?

We almost had him!

ERIMENTHA:  With all the drones gone, even if 

you had destroyed the core, where do you think 

all that power would go?  We have to leave.

RUNE:  Why the change of heart?

ERIMENTHA:  Nothing is how

I thought it would be.

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Scene 29: There Is Another

The cargo bay door slides open.  Sweets tilts his head in.  His eyes slide from one side of his head to the other.  He takes a probing step into the hall.  And then walking a little further he turns to go on to the common area.  He pulls out a couple drawers from the round hologram table.  He lingers at the cupboards in the corner leading to the cockpit.

When Sweets has disappeared up the hallway that leads to the cockpit, Valory lifts the grating from the floor where she lies between the cargo hold and common area.  She replaces the floor grating and skulks after Sweets.

She peers into the hallway and he is almost to the cockpit.  Valory removes her overriding disk from her sleeve and inserts it in the console on her end.  She punches a command and the door closes in front of Sweets.  He turns and sees her.

SWEETS:  There you are, Valory.

He takes his time walking back towards her.  She punches in several more commands, first sealing the door next to him, which would have led to the crew quarters.  He ignores this apart from walking toward her a little faster.  Valory's commands conclude with sealing the door directly in front of her.

She presses one key for a panel to uncover a window.
Sweets already stands there, staring.
She presses an intercom.

VALORY:  What do you want?

SWEETS:  Is that any way to welcome back an old friend?

VALORY:  You're no friend of mine.

What have you done with Sweets?

SWEETS:  Sweeetssss.  Yes... that was his name.

What a shame you had to lose such a loyal friend.

You will encounter none better.

She thinks a moment.

VALORY:  Can you bring him back?

SWEETS:  Is that what you want?

Can you put a price on such a thing?

Is there anything that you wouldn't do?

VALORY:  I won't let you hurt the others.

SWEETS:  (demonic echo) Naturally.

VALORY:  No... I won't make any deals with you.

I can't trust you.  You won't keep your promises.

SWEETS:  Worse.  I will hold you to

any deal that you make with me.

VALORY:  If it's all the same to you,

we'll just wait here until the 

others get back.

SWEETS:  It's not... all the same to me.

You should be asking yourself, young Valory,

how I got through the cargo hold hatch.

He bites and clenches his teeth on the last word.
When Sweets opens his mouth again the black blood
blasts the glass.  Valory leaps back in terror, but amidst
the intruder's laughter finds that the window has held.

She leaps on the control console again,
closes the window, and yanks the disk.

Silence.

Next she hears turning of gears in the door
and Valory only has time to retreat behind
the table before Sweets emerges.

His body is surrounded by a black cloud that concentrated on his skin is like water refusing to drip.
On command, gaseous tendrils float toward her and she responds with a gun in hand.
The black blood hesitates and retreats into Sweets' form, who wears a beguiled face.

SWEETS:  That won't do anything.

VALORY:  Then it doesn't matter that I 

have it, other than we're still 

having this conversation.

SWEETS:  Your friends already tried it.

And now look where they are.

They have abandoned you.

VALORY:  Esben would never leave me.

SWEETS:  What do you know about

that hirsute enigma?  

She inches toward the cargo hold side

while holding her weapon with both hands.

VALORY:  I know Sweets trusted him.

SWEETS:  Trust?  No, no, no.  Trust never

comes from a Noclysis.  Admirable creatures.

They work, trade, fight.  Simple.  No pretense.

We share much in common.

VALORY:  You're trying to pass 

yourself off as my friend.
But you're not really him.

SWEETS:  We each assume the forms we must,
you and I, both.  I notice you hide your hair.
Ashamed to be human, are we?

VALORY:  Orelius wasn't clean.
It's hard to find anywhere good to wash.

SWEETS:  But it's no scarf.  You could
pretend you're an alien with that.
It's just like a second skin.

VALORY:  So what of it?

SWEETS:  So I think you can empathize
that I want another skin, too.
In answer to your original question.
I would hate to miss out on inhabiting
a single one of your crew.

Valory fires.  Sweets' chin drops to the hole in his shirt and the black blood emanates from there.  Then it pours from the mouth, turning to gas beyond the chin.  Finally, the whole of the apparition flows out from beneath his scales and Sweets drops like a discarded puppet.

She gets one step for the exit before the cloud flies to block her escape.  Turning on her heels, Valory surrenders her jacket, a boot, and the hair sock to the amorphous being grabbing for her.  Valory runs across the holographic table and through the open door on the crew quarters-side before sealing it behind her.  The black blood begins to pursue around the table, but recedes at the closed door to flow back into Sweets who rises once again.

Valory lingers at another interface when the gears in the door start turning.  Some of the freed hair falls across her face.  She completes an anti-lock-cracking command that displays a graphic of the gears spinning without attempting to find the combination that releases the seal.

VALORY:  That ought to keep you preoccupied.

She heads for engineering
after removing her last boot.

The crew hear Valory over the coms, but there is too much interference.

TULIA:  She must be in trouble.

NICODEMUS:  We got too much of 

our own to do anything about it.

Esben starts to turn back
and bumps Erimentha.

NICODEMUS:  Hey, hey, hey!  You break her concentration 

then you and I will have a problem.  She is the only thing 

protecting you.  You won't make it ten feet.  

Esben roars pitifully.

NICODEMUS:  We don't save your friend by going back.

This attack is controlled at the source.  It is the only

vulnerability we can exploit.  We can't 

realistically fight the blood.

Esben holds up the sword.

NICODEMUS:  I don't know anything about that.

ERIMENTHA:  The weapon is foreign to me as well.

TULIA:  Sweets knew it was important, at least to Esben.

AARON:  It could mean we've got something to fight

Samael with if we find him.

RUNE:  I vote we keep moving.

ERIMENTHA:  Seconded.  The pressure is

building against the barrier.

She winces first and then Ross follows.

ERIMENTHA:  Another psychic attack.  

He's pinpointing us.  Move!  Move!

They round a corner and the gravity hits them wrong.
It becomes like trying to walk up a steep incline,
but they are confronted with a smooth surface.

NICODEMUS:  This is what the suits are for.  

Engage your boots and avoid leaning 

all the way forward.

ERIMENTHA:  Will mine still work?

AARON:  You're good.  

But Esben already lost his.

Esben proceeds to climb hand over hand with ease
while making use of opening storage compartments
in the hall and grasping hand rails.

AARON:  Never mind.

Ross leads the way finding himself the lightest.
He opens a door at his feet and probes with his hand.

ROSS:  This way isn't fighting against us.

The black blood pools at what for now might as well be considered the bottom of a shaft.  Esben and Aaron work together to lift Erimentha up for a speedy retreat through their escape route.  Nicodemus, Rune and Desdine lay down fire to delay it.  Ross drops a grenade into the pool.

Erimentha hugs Aaron and envelopes a momentary personal shield.  As the explosion passes, Desdine joins Esben in lifting the both of them up.  With everyone but Desdine through the door, Ross drops a second grenade.  Desdine follows through with the explosion close behind him.

DESDINE:  Proposal… if assassination is the desired end, 

perhaps I should be allowed to cut you loose.

ROSS:  Can we afford to do without it?

RUNE:  I don't see how it could hurt.

It wouldn't be a loss to us.

TULIA:  We don't know where he 

came from to begin with.

Sending Desdine out there

alone could be asking for it.

AARON:  Then having him with us

would be equally dangerous.

But Desdine did save us once.

Go ahead.

DESDINE:  Acknowledged.

Desdine about-faces and marches up the corridor and turns a corner out of sight.  Smoke begins to come around where he disappeared.  The crew hear distant laser fire.  Further, there is an explosion and sizzling wires.  The black cloud crackles like ice and falls to the floor, solid.

Then there is a click, click and stomp.  Click, click, stomp.
With frozen gears, Desdine emerges from around the
corner once again.  He drags behind him a trophy.

DESDINE:  Report.  I believe I already encountered 

one of the heathen.  Is this one of the blasphemous 

drones that have been troubling you, master?

AARON:  Yes.  It is.  Good work, Desdine.

DESDINE:  Black blood neutralized upon 

elimination of this unit.  Larger body is retreating.

ROSS:  Samael's power must 

have a limited range.

ERIMENTHA:  But this technique is unheard of.

To be augmented by machines?

AARON:  Maybe you don't know as much

about Samael as you think you do.

NICODEMUS:  In any case, these nodes are another weakness 

to exploit now that we know what they are.

TULIA:  How do we exploit them?

You see what it did to Desdine.

ERIMENTHA:  The mist merely froze in his gears

when it died.  If we can stay at a distance while

destroying these machines I think we'll be alright.

NICODEMUS:  Sounds like a plan to me.

AARON:  What do we do about Desdine?

ROSS:  We don't really have time 

to clean him out.

RUNE:  What about your powers?

ERIMENTHA:  Blood cannot be resuscitated

once good and dead.

More of the cloud appears.

AARON:  Cover our retreat and, if you still can, 

make your way back to help Valory.

DESDINE:  Acknowledged.

Desdine fires blindly into the smoke
and is engulfed by the darkness.

Valory is working in engineering when a tool box falls, spilling everything.  She leaps from where she had been crouched and wrench in hand rounds the engine's core.  On the other side, Valory is confronted with Safe cowering in the corner.

VALORY:  Safe?  Darn it, you scared me!

He rolls to leave.

VALORY:  Oh, no you don't.  I need your help here.

The console to the sealed common area flashes green.  Sweets steps out and scans right to left.
He spies the abandoned boot on the floor leading to the left and follows that sign.  Engineering comes into view with Valory working at the mouth of the door.  He wastes no time running straight at her and she seals the door in his face, which he slams both fists against.

SWEETS:  No where to run from here.

He stretches out one hand, which disappears in the black cloud.  It penetrates the door and begins to work the gears.  Then Sweets is electrified through his contact with the blood.

On the inside, Valory has removed some power cables from the floor and wired the door.  While she can still hear Sweets being electrocuted she cradles Safe close to her for comfort.

Outside, the blood crackles and becomes stone and Sweets falls over like a statue.  She hears the thud and curious, puts Safe aside.  She goes to the door console and brings up a camera.  There, Sweets lies with a partially outstretched hand.

VALORY:  Now we got to tell the others.

The crew come to a six-way intersection, which darkness appears at the end of each hallway they are about to turn to.  Trapped, everyone circles up.  Esben roars to raise his ire and Nicodemus spins up his minigun for flourish.  Ross shares some grenades with Tulia and Rune.

Aaron takes Erimentha's hand and pulls her from the circle.

AARON:  You can do this.

ERIMENTHA:  What are you doing?

AARON:  You have to pick one and face it head on.

ERIMENTHA:  That's suicide.  I can't push

against that the whole way.

AARON:  You're the only one here who can.

I'll be right here with you.

He holds up her own hand.

AARON:  I'm not going anywhere.

NICODEMUS:  Get back in formation!

ERIMENTHA:  Form up on us!

We'll clear a path.

They run.

Erimentha is blasted through the barrier she projects ahead of her and the black blood has taken the form of flood waters at their backs in pursuit.  The pressure from the volume ahead of her become too much to push against and she slows.  The flood water is gaining.

Grenades slow the flood, but to no lasting purpose and will soon be expended.  Erimentha strains and begins to glow white over her body.  This is accompanied with the early signs of danger by way of a bloody nose.  She turns one eye to Aaron who is watching her.

VOICE:  Ask.

AARON:  Give some to me.

Erimentha senses in involuntary impulse of some energy leaving her body.  It flows into Aaron, first his fingers and then causing his hand to glow.  He feels a new warmth travel up his arm and across his collar bone and down to the other hand.

ERIMENTHA:  I can feel it.

I'll show you.

A new shield forms at their back
and the flood water breaks against it.

ERIMENTHA:  Together now.

In step, Aaron and Erimentha slowly advance up the corridor.  Once, Erimentha's foot slips and the barrier ahead falters.  Aaron holds her up by the hand and stares down nearly being speared before Esben chops away the intrusion.  This clears the way ahead just long enough for Erimentha to rejuvenate the shield.  Esben elects to stand alongside in case the barrier should fail again.

Instead, when they come to the end of the hallway at another juncture it causes a gap in the shield where the wall used to be.  Esben slices several times around the side of the shield.  The black blood initially recoiled in pain, but then summons a surge that throws him back.

Hand in hand, Erimentha pushes ahead to mostly plug off the hall to right, but another hallway to the left is clear.  Some of the black blood continues to seep through and flows toward Esben, who lies still.  It begins to flow away from him and as a deceptively gentle pool encroaches upon the other's escape through the open passage.

Esben rises, unharmed.  He slices at the ground, scattering the pool and causing it to retreat.  Questioning faces, the crew rush passed and onto the cleared path.  Esben shakes like a dog to be rid of the last of the troublesome ichor.  Then he joins the rest as Aaron collapses his shield in concert with Erimentha covering their backs as before.  Aaron lets go of her hand.

ERIMENTHA:  Thank you.

RUNE:  Where to next?

ROSS:  This way.

TULIA:  Ross?

He puts a finger to his lips.

ROSS:  We're close.

The black blood recedes out of sight.
Erimentha lowers the shield.
The lights shut off at the sound
of a heavy switch.

AARON:  Well that's just spiteful.

NICODEMUS:  Lights on.

They turn back on the spotlights in their suits.  Erimentha holds a glowing hand over her head.
The golden yellow symbols on Esben's sword continue to shine through.  Nicodemus walks down the center of the hallway at the front of the formation.  Esben does the same for them at the back.  Everyone else hugs the walls.

Rune darts his head out at the next corner and spies a large sealed door ahead.  They continue only a couple steps more when it opens, which results in everyone jumping back a pace.  Nothing happens.  They proceed and find the door opens up to a large chamber.

The center of the instillation consists of a free-floating core of rings connecting to make a sphere.
And through these various rings black blood flows in currents, which is why it is suspended.
There is a receiving bowl in case the core should need to come to rest, such as in the event it were depleted.  Power generators and conduits are built into the walls of the chamber, interconnected by catwalks, to help carry the power to the rest of the Atlas.

ERIMENTHA:  Harnessing the power of blood.  

Just like the Shadow's Heart.

ZAYD-NEIL:  Thank you for delivering it to me.

ERIMENTHA:  Where are you?

ZAYD-NEIL:  All too close, Perdeus.

He manifests eye to eye with her.  She blasts a wide energy beam in his chest, but he turns to smoke.
She falls to her knees, exhausted from fully committing to such an attack.

VALORY: (static) Can you hear me?  

Are you there?

AARON:  Valory?

VALORY: (static) Don't let the darkness

touch you.  I found a way to kill it.  Sweets-

TULIA:  Valory?  Valory, what did you find?

What about Sweets?

ZAYD-NEIL:  Star-crossed.  Doomed souls.

The stranger stands on a catwalk overhead.

ZAYD-NEIL:  I... am... your... salvation.

AARON:  Come on, Erimentha.

He helps her up.

AARON:  What is he talking about?

ERIMENTHA:  I don't know.

I don't know him.

TULIA:  What do you mean?

He's the reason why we're here.

ERIMENTHA:  Masters?

That isn't Samael.

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Scene 28: Run or Kneel

The ramp door slides out of the way instead of folding down.  The airlock occupants are greeted to a cylindrical docking bridge that flexes as they walk across it.  They all wear grey environmental suits.  Valory waves sadly at Esben through the glass of the airlock as he turns away to follow the others.  Aaron turns from the sealed door at the end of the docking bridge and looks at Nicodemus.

AARON:  Do you want a try at the lock?

Nicodemus reaches out and presses a button.
Curiously, the door slides open immediately.

NICODEMUS:  Must be a Prestmoor ship after all.

We invite anyone stupid enough to start trouble with us.

Esben growls.

NICODEMUS:  I said before I don't know your kind.

Had to have been someone else in an Atlas over your world.

Prestmoors don't keep secrets from one another.

ERIMENTHA:  Let's keep going.

NICODEMUS:  Hold on there.  I take point.

Blunt instrument, remember?

ERIMENTHA:  I didn't mean-

NICODEMUS:  You're on notice.  Aside from my excellent hearing 

I am capable of taking offense.  But I'm also a good soldier.  

What about you?  Can you take orders?

ERIMENTHA:  I can.

NICODEMUS:  Then we do this smart.  This is one long EVA.  

So most experienced take the front and back.  I got front.  

We utilize onboard atmosphere as a last resort until 

the ship is secured.  No heroics.

ERIMENTHA:  No heroics.  

Is that your creed?

AARON:  He's right.  Desdine, up front
with Mr. Clemence.

DESDINE:  Acknowledged.

AARON:  I'll take the back.

Don't be terrestrial.
Check the ceilings.

The crew penetrate the darkness, only able to scan with lone beams of light attached to their helmets.  There are no nearby rooms as of yet.  Rather, they have entered a larger chamber, seemingly superfluous to the overall structure.  They can scan the walls to the side, which curve out, but either end of this long passage is too far out for their flashlights to see.

Rune's foot slips, but he recovers himself.  Looking over the edge, everyone discovers that they are standing on a bridge that does not touch the sides.  Scanning a little further, the floor is divided into a long series of sealed hatches.  A glance up reveals more of the same with a corresponding catwalk.

NICODEMUS:  All of the drop ships have been jettisoned.  

This ship's fighting days are long gone.  

We won't find anyone or anything living here.

ERIMENTHA:  I can already feel a presence.

They continue along the bridge.

NICODEMUS:  That's your imagination running

away with you.  I can relate.  The bigger the

derelict the more souls you figured it must

have carried.  Raises the specter that more

took the chance to stick around.  

But no one does.

Just people dwelling on the past.

ERIMENTHA:  I understood you 

to be a believer.

NICODEMUS:  I believe what I saw.

Doesn't mean I have to believe

everything that you tell me.

TULIA:  What are you two

talking about?

NICODEMUS:  She figures her powers

are a gift from the afterlife.

ERIMENTHA:  The Ancestors.  

The Masters' family lines.

NICODEMUS:  The way I heard it, the Order's followers

believe that they get it direct from the source.

Purity of the blood makes you a receiver.

ERIMENTHA:  The theology is complicated.

There is no purity.  There are descendants.

And they can anoint the Chosen like myself.

We draw on the Masters.  But the Masters are born.

NICDOEMUS:  There's something hereditary to it.

I'll give you that.  My kids won't have any

glowing hands or eyes.  You ever wonder 

how they first got those powers?

ROSS:  You did call them angels.

NICODEMUS:  That's the word I know for it.

But angels don't promise anything for the

rest of us.  Just a power I want to be on

the right side of.  But I also know a 

neophyte when I see one.  I think

you're more likely to get us all killed.

Rune observes a section of wall darken
where his flashlight came to rest.

RUNE:  Do you see that?

TULIA:  What?

She comes alongside to observe and Rune
scans the wall with the flashlight, but
the light only finds darkness.

TULIA:  Maybe you need a stronger head lamp.

RUNE:  I could see the wall just a second ago.

Rune feels something flow down his face, but of course
can't feel through the helmet.  He turns to Tulia
while turning on his internal helmet lamp.

RUNE:  Check me.

TULIA:  Rune, you're bleeding.

Aaron turns away from them to look back
once again at the way they came.  The light
from the airlock fades with an invisible fog.

AARON:  We've been cut off.

Erimentha and Nicodemus both seize up in their
chests and glance back at the impenetrable void.

NICODEMUS:  Run!

Esben roars into his coms.

Valory leaps to seal the outer airlock door.  As the ramp door slides closed she hears the whining metal of the docking bridge under strain.  With barely a gap in the door, darkness enters like a black fog.  And the outer door inside the airlock begins to disappear before her eyes, though, she can still see much of the airlock interior.  When the door closes all the way the fog dissipates in the airlock.

She purges the chamber.  The keypad reports a vacuum, but the thought occurs to her that she still ought not open the inner door.  As such, it becomes a nagging sensation to open the door and her hand remains poised and hover over the keys.

Her reflection in the glass blinks
when she hasn't does so herself.

Esben spins on his heels and charges the invisible barrier pursuing them.  Aaron, vainly, attempts to block him to hold Esben back from running headlong into the void, but is bowled over.  Esben stops a couple paces beyond Aaron and blasts the darkness with his long gun.  The resulting flashes reveal a viscous material contorting and absorbing each explosion.

Esben turns back and picks up Aaron on his way,
throwing him over his shoulder.

As far as Aaron can see the violently pursuing darkness
is eerily calm, like being dead on with a freight train.

This staring into infinity is disrupted by the crew laying down fire from an open side door.  The tracer and lasers flare against the impenetrable wall.  Aaron can only hear muted explosions through his helmet.  The crew, on the other hand, come in loud and clear insisting on their best chance for escape.

The base of the void surges forward in a low-lying tsunami that grabs up Esben's  legs and in falling sends Aaron tumbling ahead of him.  Aaron rolls, rises to his feet and turns to see Esben helplessly caught prone, disappearing into the darkness.  His pleas ring directly into Aaron's ear through the helmet.  The others continue to fire at the larger wall, but Aaron takes his pistols and blasts away all around where Esben must be.  Only the tiniest amount of what he hits retreats and Esben remains largely ensnared.

Then Aaron's eyes fall on the hilt of the sword.

VOICE:  Use it.

Aaron obeys.  He marches ahead into the pool, which sucks his feet down like mud.  Esben reaches desperately up to him to be freed, but finds Aaron grasping the hilt of the sword.  Esben frees his other hand in time to grab the blade where it still rests on his back, not willing to give it up to Aaron.

The darkness reclaims Esben's arm and Aaron pulls the sword free.  He tries a slash at the pool around him and draws up the dark substance adhering to his blade.  It threatens to flow toward the hilt and Aaron thinks to drop it all-together.

Then the engravings along the blade begin to glow.  The substance first becomes rigid and then in one fluid motion conforms to the shape of the blade with the gold glowing symbols penetrating the darkness beneath.

Aaron takes another swipe of the sword into the pool and a greater swath of darkness retreats, revealing the deck of the ship they stand on.  He proceeds to target more strikes around where Esben lies and in short order he is free.  Then, also, Aaron's feet are freed.

A couple drops of blood from his nose
are the only warning for the searing
pain that enflames Aaron's mind.

The enraged wall releases a guttural roar belonging to a thunderstorm.  Whereas the previous surge was from below, now a tidal wave will soon crash down from above.  Aaron does his best to drag Esben to his feet and they both limp to the side door where everyone folds inside and seal the door.  As the door closes, Erimentha erects a thin barrier of white light around the doorframe, which is tested and she struggles to maintain.  The hallway lights come on when the door finally closes.

She sits with the rest in quiet exhaustion.

ERIMENTHA:  Still think this is all my imagination?

NICODEMUS:  I knew what that was just as well as you.

AARON:  I sure didn't.  

ERIMENTHA:  Black blood.  What is stolen always turns.  

And traitors must turn their blood so that they have power 

over it without interference from the Masters.  It is despicable.

NICODEMUS:  I've seen it on the field.

Whenever their angels are going against orders the

blood turns black.  Actually, I only ever saw the one.

That was a good day.  He saved a lot of Prestmoors.

ERIMENTHA:  There is only one.  

It was Samael that you saw.

NICODEMUS:  If it is one and the same be 

careful you don't tell me too much.

I might decide I approve of this Samael.

I remember him for saving my whole company.

Erimentha's hands glow between her fingers
and she begins to lunge for Nicodemus.

AARON:  Erimentha… your hands.

She looks down to see that she
has torn her gloves to shreds.

TULIA:  Your suit is compromised.

ERIMENTHA:  I stopped thinking about the suit.

I guess the blood wouldn't pass through.

ROSS:  But you protected us while

the door was closing.

ERIMENTHA:  Yes.  

She falls silent, contemplating
what this means for her fate.

Esben offers a small bark.  His suit
was shredded in several places.

They follow Esben's eyeline to the
sword in Aaron's hand.

RUNE:  What is that?

Esben proceeds to report a series of clearly
conversational growls in explanation.

ROSS:  We should have brought Valory.

AARON:  It's his.

Aaron hands across the sword, hilt first.
And wary of simply placing it on his back
in the state it's in, Esben temporarily
trades Aaron the long gun in turn.

AARON:  Thanks for the hint about the sword.

ERIMENTHA:  I didn't say anything.

Esben rises and shuffles off the rags and helmet.
Erimentha removes her own helmet and smiles
at the tall hairy creature before her.
He tousles her hair slightly with a short laugh.

Darkness falls at the end
of an adjoining hallway.

RUNE:  Figures that wouldn't be the only door.

AARON:  No sudden moves.

NICODEMUS:  I have to disagree.

TULIA:  I'm with Nick.

ERIMENTHA:  I'll make sure 

that he doesn't overtake us.

NICODEMUS:  Find where he's

projecting from.

As soon as Erimentha's hands glow the wall rushes
them with a vengeance.  Her barrier conforms to the
shape of the hall and retreats with her as she
follows behind the rest of the crew.

Valory stands alone in the Shadow's Heart.  Her reflection moves away without her and glides along the glass to look out the side of the airlock to a long crate.  The reflection collapses onto a single point and the glass begins to crack in a circle.  A couple more cracks and by a sliver of a break the seal is breached.

The venting atmosphere throws Valory to the floor, but then the breach seals itself and the cracks disappear without a trace.  Faint black smoke flutters over to the crate and penetrates it.  The contents then begin to rattle inside and it opens.  Sweets emerges, dead to the world, and the sight sends Valory retreating to the cargo hold hatch.

She nocks several items over in her panic and this draws Sweets' attention to her.  He is right at the door when it closes.  Panting, she hears nocking from the other side of the door.  She decides to retreat further into the ship.  The only question that remains is where to hide.








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Scene 27: Let Ghost Ships Lie

Erimentha lies on her bunk
and the door is open.

NICODEMUS:  Chosen of the Order?

She rises to stand next to the bunks

while Nicodemus stays in the doorway.

ERIMENTHA:  Mr. Clemence, is it?

NICODMEUS:  Yes, Chosen.

ERIMENTHA:  Miss Perdeus, to you.

NICODEMUS:  Yes, ma'am.

ERIMENTHA:  Hmm, a Prestmoor.  I thought your

kind were disbanded when the Empire dissolved.

NICODMEUS:  A man has to go somewhere,

Chosen of the Order.

ERIMENTHA:  Perdeus.  Leave us, Prestmoor.

NICODEMUS:  At once.

He bows and leaves.

Tulia walks into frame
of the doorway.

TULIA:  How do I get him to do that?

ERIMENTHA:  The old hierarchy is drilled into

blunt instruments like him, I'm afraid.

I am surprised to encounter one again.

TULIA:  You don't look like you have

very much to unpack.

ERIMENTHA:  No.  I really don't have

very much at all.  I'm sorry...

am I in the wrong quarters?

Mr. Ross said-

TULIA:  You'll be bunking here with me.

ERIMENTHA:  I see.

TULIA:  So what does Nick mean by

this chosen one business?  I don't 

understand everything, but I'm starting

to grasp that you don't have full control

of your powers, whatever they are.

ERIMENTHA:  Because they're not mine.  The blood belongs 

to the Masters.  I was trained, you understand; but narrowly.  

And I did try to go against the Masters to help you.

TULIA:  I appreciate that, now.

And this blood comes from...

ERIMENTHA:  An infusion from the Masters.

They have the distinction of being

born with such abilities and are

the wisest among the Order.  Most are only

touched with their power, if that much.

I have been chosen for the purpose

to locate the fallen Samael.

TULIA:  A former Master?

ERIMENTHA:  A Master cannot fall.

TULIA:  Very well.  And one final thing.

That attack that nearly killed us when

we arrived on the asteroid...

ERIMENTHA:  A self-defense technique given to

me as a meditation for when I am in danger.

It is potent against the Touched.

I had thought Samael sent you.

TULIA:  You'll be wanting to teach

that meditation to Ross and Aaron and 

maybe Rune now that they've been

touched.  Right?

ERIMENTHA:  Of course.

TULIA:  Good.

Tulia leaves.

She comes back.

TULIA:  Never mind turning down the bunk.  

We need you in the cockpit, Miss Perdeus.

ERIMENTHA:  Erimentha, if you please.

Tulia leaves again and Erimentha follows her.

Rune is sitting at the controls.

TULIA:  You should still be resting?

RUNE:  Don't you start with me, too.

ERIMENTHA:  Am I responsible for this?

She crouches down next to him and
stretches out a hand to probe his face.
Rune briskly slaps it away.

RUNE:  That's Nick's handiwork.

Rising.

ERIMENTHA:  That makes sense.

RUNE:  Who is she?

AARON:  The answer to a lot of questions.

And here's another.  Do you know why

we can't stay on course?

ERIMENTHA:  What do you mean?

RUNE:  The ship has got a mind of its own

about what course we take.  It lets me turn

away and then corrects itself.

Always back to the same heading.

ERIMENTHA:  I don't see how I could know.

She looks pleadingly at Tulia.

TULIA:  Is there something that you

can try?  We're all pretty new at this.

RUNE:  And the ship flew fine

before we went and got you.

Erimentha glances around at the various faces watching her.  She elects to sit down in the middle of the cockpit.  The others, apart from Rune, crouch down to examine her closely.  With closed eyes she sees them.  They fade out of sight.  And then the ship falls away.  She sits alone in the void of space.  Small wisps of gas swirl by and the distant stars begin to move.  She is moving faster.

Perdeus arrives and comes to a sudden stop at a debris field.  There are no large hulks.  Every scrap of metal has been reduced to at least the size of a car.  Within the debris field there is a space devoid of stars.  The void moves.  And a handless arm reaches out for her from the void.  She is engulfed in darkness.  Then, Erimentha sits once more alone in the Shadow's Heart bathed in red light and shadow and opens her panicked eyes, gasping.

AARON:  What happened?

ERIMENTHA:  I am being drawn toward something.

There is a terrible darkness.  A graveyard of ships.

That must be where I will find Samael.

ROSS:  What about the ship?

ERIMENTHA:  The ship?  

I didn't see any ship still intact.

TULIA:  (gentle) This ship.

ERIMENTHA:  Oh... that's when I turned away.

I felt something.  I think... I reached 

back out to the darkness.

AARON:  Try turning the 

Shadow's Heart

away again.

ERIMENTHA:  What did you call it?

AARON:  Do you know something

about this ship?

Erimentha reaches a hand to the floor.
She closes her eyes with a tear down
her cheek.  She moans and leans into Tulia.
Valory huddles around them as well.

VALORY:  What's wrong?

Nicodemus arrives for the first time
and discovers the state Erimentha is in.

NICODEMUS:  What did you do to her?

ERIMENTHA:  (fighting tears)
I do not want you here, Mr. Clemence.

He tightens a fist.

NICODEMUS:  I will be when you do.

He leaves.

Tulia lifts her face up to make Erimentha
look her in the eye.

ERIMENTHA:  Too much show of weakness and I suspect 

he'll turn.  The Prestmoors were originally disbanded because 

the Order didn't trust them to stay loyal.

TULIA:  All well and good.
But what did you see?

ERIMENTHA:  This ship is an abomination.  It is one 

of Samael's crimes.  It is powered by the power of the blood 

that was stolen from the Masters.  Many Chosen must have died 

at his hand to make such a monstrosity.  I only heard it as a rumor.  

Masters, it's true!

She begins to weep.
Erimentha speaks, muffled by
Tulia and Valory.

ERIMENTHA:  I did not sense any darkness.  

I must have subconsciously connected with the ship.  

I am the reason we are headed toward the graveyard.  

Have I fallen so soon?

Everyone else stands around shocked at the display.
Tulia shrugs at Aaron, both out of their depths.

AARON:  Maybe now that you are conscious of it...

The tears stop.

ERIMENTHA:  If Samael is there then that's where I must go.  

This anathema will deliver me to his destruction.

Erimentha Perdeus' eyes become fixed and she rises to stand and stare out the view port.
Rune sits uncomfortably on the opposite side in the pilot seat.

RUNE:  Umm... do you need me any more?

ERIMENTHA:  (matter-of-factly) I'll take it from here.

The Shadow's Heart accelerates
though she hasn't moved.

ERIMENTHA:  You can fly when I'm not here.

Rune turns his chair and is the first out of the cockpit.
In the oppressive silence, the rest soon follow.

The crew pass the time equipping themselves in the cargo hold.  Nicodemus has disassembled his minigun to clean it.  Rune examines the sights on his rifle.  Ross opens a crate to discover grenades.  Esben admires his new rifle and has fashioned a strap to carry the sword on his back.  Desdine has been banished to his closet.  Valory watches solemnly as Tulia buckles two holsters to her and stands limply as the belt is tightened.

TULIA:  You never play with these.  You will be 

giving them back when we're done.  And you're going to be

staying on the ship the whole time.  You do not pull them out 

unless you intend to use them.  And you do not hesitate to use 

them if you even suspect that someone is trying to kill you.  

Do you understand me?

Valory nods meekly.

TULIA:  Good.  Now... do you want to take 

the time to try a little more target practice?

She nods again.

TULIA:  Alright then.

RUNE:  So I probably missed something that makes 

this a stupid question, but why don't we just kill her?  

Not that it's my first choice or anything.  But, I mean, 

am I wrong or isn't she the only reason we're all 

sailing straight off to our deaths here?

NICODEMUS:  I wouldn't recommend it.

RUNE:  You said to me about your angels, sure.  

But didn't she say she's still in training?  

Maybe we can take her.

ROSS:  Shut up, Rune.

RUNE:  You too?

TULIA:  Him and Aaron, both.  They want to see this through.  

I still haven't figured out if they just feel they owe it 

to her or if she can cast some kind of spell.

NICODEMUS:  So if you turn a gun on her 

you won't just have me to deal with.

She's my ticket to an audience.

RUNE:  Four against one, hu?  That seems fair.

VALORY:  If this Samael guy is as bad as

she says he is I sure don't want to go,

but maybe it's for the best.  

You know?  The greater good?

AARON:  To Rune's point about her still

being in training, she sure seems convinced

that she can beat Samael.  Maybe we shouldn't be.

NICODEMUS:  Leave that to me.

ROSS:  What makes you special?

NICODEMUS:  I've seen'em die before, too.

The coms squeak.

ERIMENTHA:  Would everyone please report to the cockpit?

The debris field is right outside the window as the crew files in.  The micro fragments clear the way by being drawn in by the environmental force field, which allows the pieces to pass near the hull and jettisons them behind.  This creates a plume of shards in the ship's wake.

Ahead, there is a massive derelict that crescents into a bit of light from Janriel's star before dipping back into being obscured by shadow.  Rune and Ross both assume control stations.

ROSS:  A ship that big should have been 

able to see us long before we can see them.

RUNE:  I'm not seeing any change in trajectory.

ROSS:  No heat readings.  It looks dead in space.

ERIMENTHA:  The power cores must be shielded.

The Prestmoor can tell you all you need

to know about that ship.

NICODEMUS:  It's an Atlas Class troop carrier.  As in, just one 

of these is big enough to house and deploy an army for a 

planet-wide campaign.  These saw heavy use by the 

Prestmoors.  Usually is escorted by a supporting naval 

contingent to secure orbital superiority.  

AARON:  They aren't ship killers.

Which doesn't explain the debris field.

Everyone turns their heads.

AARON:  Would you rather pretend that I don't

know the first thing about Imperial assets?

Why wasn't this mopped up by the blockade?

ERIMENTHA:  Maybe that's your debris field.

The blockade cut off all escape and now

Samael is hiding where they already

looked for him.

NICODEMUS:  Assuming you're right about someone

being over there, they could have easily made

a run for it by now.  The Atlas Class is built

to be tough.  Prestmoors were responsible

for dealing out the damage.

VALORY:  So someone has some 

unfinished business here.  

Everyone falls silent
with contemplation.

Esben steps forward and makes
a long series of meaningful growls
that no one interrupts and immediately
look to Valory for translation when finished.

VALORY:  Esben says one of these came to his home.

No other ships because their enemy didn't

respect his people's ability to resist.

He says, he wants to go over there.

That many brave warriors died in the

final battle and he wasn't with them.

ERIMENTHA:  I hope your friend can control his need 

for revenge until we find the one responsible for all this.  

The blockade, the Shadow's Heart, everything.

VALORY:  He won't let you down.

Esben grunts his approval.

AARON:  Mr. Starling, look for an open

docking port on that Atlas troop carrier.

RUNE:  Aye... ay, yi, yi, yi.

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