Ensign Rakka waved them on ahead, the rose haired young woman studying the group casually until her eyes fell on Catty. "You...!" she blurted out, suddenly trying to bring her sidearm up to aim at the purple haired young woman. "Hold it," Lieutenant Danielle moved fast, the black haired tactical officer restraining the other woman as she asked, "what's going on?" Rakka struggled in Danielle's grip, clearly trying to get to the calmly watching Catty. "You have one of those things with you," she snarled. "I don't know what you're talking about," Lieutenant-Commander Karin used her command voice as the black haired woman continued, "could you please explain?" She met Karin's eyes then slumped slightly. "You'd have to see it to believe," Rakka finally sighed, "come on, I'll bring you to see the commander." She shot a glare at Catty as she added, "And keep an eye on her, please." "What's going on?" Jame asked plaintively, pushing her green hair back tiredly. "Damned if I know," Davies answered. The sandy haired engineering officer studied the halls they passed through and noted, "The place has taken a beating." The walls were bent and warped in places as they went down into the planet, cracks showing through layers of armor plating. Vital conduits were patched and repaired roughly, electrical panels left open due to frequent repair. The shelter looked like it was on it's last legs. "How much farther?" Danielle asked, keeping a wary eye on Rakka. The bent down to get under a sagging section of ceiling and came up to a door, another lock beside it. "We're here," Rakka said, waving the others to a halt. "May I warn my commander we're coming in?" she asked Karin pointedly. "All right," Karin nodded, keeping Catty behind her just in case. Rakka activated a wall mounted communication unit and said, "I'm confirming that it's a Solenoid party that's accessing the base." She paused for a moment before adding, "But they have a Catty along with them." The voice sounded scratchy through the battered speaker, "Did you tell them?" "Not yet," Rakka answered, "I thought it might be more convincing to show them." "Understood," the lock's light went green as the voice continued, "come on in, but we'll keep an close eye on Catty." "They really don't like her," Karin murmured with a frown. Rakka grabbed a handle and tugged, swinging the heavy door towards them. "Welcome to the command center," she said, gesturing for them to go into the room first. The lights were actually a bit better than in the halls, a large chamber that had been converted for multiple uses. One side was still a command bridge, screens showing distorted images of space and tracking objects in the solar system. A section had been partitioned off into rough sleeping quarters and a small kitchen was set up. A small group of women watched them enter cautiously then a golden haired woman stepped forward. She wore the bars of a lieutenant-commander and carried the air of command, as well as a palatable aura of exhaustion. "Sara," she named herself then continued, "did you pick up a signal from our emergency beacon?" "Not quite," Danielle said, "we were coming here as part of another mission." Prudently she decided to save complicated explanations for later. "At least you're here," Sara smiled tiredly. She gestured to the women standing beside her, "these are ensigns Rei, Hari, Pat, Lea, Toki, Janni, Fay and Susan." "Nice to meet you," Karin nodded slightly then fixed Sara with as glance, "now would you please explain why your officer tried to shoot Catty?" "It's complicated to explain," Sara said to her calmly, "so I'd better just show you." With that she turned to lead them to a side door which she opened with a gesture. "Meet Catty," she said dryly. Danielle froze as she entered, as did most of those in the group. The woman dangling from the wall looked just like their Catty, at least from the waist up. From her navel down there was dangling wires and cables, leading into the body to connect to more machinery within her. She looked like a doll, not at all like a living thing. "Catty?" Danielle turned to the purple haired girl in their midst, her hand unconsciously resting on her sidearm. Catty met her eyes quite calmly. "Yes, I am an android," she answered her crisply, "it seems pointless to try and deny it with the evidence before us." Sara studied her carefully, "So why did this Catty try to let the Paranoid into our base? I still don't understand why she would do that." "Is that when...?" Jame asked hesitantly, nodding to the wrecked body. "We had to shoot her to stop her," Sara confirmed, not looking away from Catty. "She was following commands input by the Solenoid High Command," Catty answered the question, "however I am not currently following those directives." There was a long moment of silence as everyone digested that. "Never mind that now," Karin shook her head before continuing firmly, "we came down here to try to recover any usable supplies and rescue the survivors." "Got it," Sara said, "we've got a mothballed shuttle here, one that we can use to get the people out. Supplies wise we're well equipped with power cores, food supplies and parts, this was meant as an emergency supply base." "Then let's get to it," Karin grinned before barking, "Davies! "Yo!" the sandy haired engineer popped up, a smile on Davies' face. "Get the other shuttle ready," Karin ordered, "we'll need to start getting supplies out of here as soon as possible." She tossed a look at Sara, "Is there still a Paranoid presence in this system?" Sara shook her head no, "Not that we know of but our sensor suite is fairly limited since we lost the high-orbital satellites." "Then let's get to it as fast as possible," Karin said crisply. On the Lady Grace's bridge Captain Gail watched the screens intently as they waited. The young redhead tried to maintain a calm poise, but the mix of good and bad news was rattling her just a bit. Beside her Commander Allaine looked cool and ready, the dark brown haired woman's uniform it's usual perfect self. "How do you manage that?" Gail murmured, rubbing at tired eyes. She probably should have gone off shift a while ago but she didn't want to leave the bridge until they were done. "I have no idea what you mean," Allaine answered, a slight smile on her face. "I'm glad to hear that there are survivors down there," Gail pitched her voice low so that the bridge crew couldn't hear, "but I wonder what we're going to do about what they've told us." "Catty," Allaine nodded slightly. "We're going to have to have a little talk with her once she gets back aboard," she said. Gail nodded seriously. "What's the status of the shuttles?" she raised her voice to ask the temporary tactical officer. Max's short pink hair fell into her eyes as she nervously bent her head over the controls. "The first loaded shuttle is aboard," she reported, "two others are currently inbound." Lieutenant-Commander Meris spoke up from the emergency services station, "Do we know the status of the survivors?" The tall blonde doctor continued, "I'd like to know if we should divert any of them to the medical bays." The slim blonde at communication's checked her board. Tara nodded slightly, "I'll pass the initial reports over to your station, ma'am." "Thanks," Meris smiled to the girl gently. The sudden beeping of an alarm cut across the sounds on the bridge. Max jumped to work, her voice strained as she said, "Drive signatures at the edge of the system, three of them." "Looks like they've caught up with us at last," Allaine murmured. "You're probably right," Gail softly answered. Loudly she continued, "Get the shuttles up here as fast as possible, please." She looked grim, "Get the fighters ready, we may need cover flights when we withdrawal from the system."
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