During Arc IV: From the Ashes of the Phoenix, a swamp serpent escapes from a zoo on Castor, and is believed to have found its way to Citadel Base near Earth. Adrikan, a Castori zookeeper, travels to Citadel to hunt for the snake...
Promenade <SCB Citadel>
This circular Promenade houses the many shops on the outside of its hub. People stroll in and out of them as they go about their shopping. A large neon sign points to the Lamplighter, the premiere cantina of the station.
The swirling portal opens and spits out Adrikan.
Adrikan blinks sleepily as he emerges from the swirling portal, and glances around, re-orienting himself to his surroundings.
Facing away from the portal, Fimkin continues to look up to the woman in uniform.
Adrikan sees the other Castori, and his eyes widen and he straightens his otherwise slothful-looking posture. He clears his throat *harumphingly*, squares his rounded shoulders as much as he can, then waddles toward his comrade. He squeaks out: "Ubercast?"
Deering looks to Fimkin and says, "Well, maybe I can help you. You're in the Vanguard Citadel."
At the sound of a familiar voice, Fimkin straightens, throwing his shoulders back and taking on a rather lordly manner. "I am here, Zookeeper Adrikan. I...I was just showing this young woman around." The Ubercast winces slightly as the young officer blows his cool.
Deering smiles more, "Is....there somewheres you wanted to be?", looking at the two with a playfull questioning.
Adrikan tilts his head quirkily to the side, glancing from Fimkin to the officer, then back to Fimkin again. "As you wish, Ubercast. I wanted to let you know that we still have yet to secure the swamp serpent, but the search continues."
Fimkin opens his mouth noiselessly, then wrinkles his nose in an obvious gesture of embarassment. He again looks up to the young woman. "What my associate means is that... well, nevermind what he meant. I am Ubercast Fimkin of Castor. I came to tour the facility after our recent rejoining with the Consortium."
Deering ahhhs and nods. "Well then...is your arrival expected? I don't see a welcoming party for you.", looking to the both of them now with some amusement.
Adrikan continues stepping closer to the Ubercast, placing a fuzzy hand upon the elder Castori's shoulder. "Ubercast, it is possible that a vandal absconded with the serpent. Although - some pet gigalig birds have been vanishing in Ursiniru. Rather a delicacy for the swamp serpent. Of course, they also like Castori cubs." He winces at the mere thought.
Fimkin motions for the zookeeper to hush. "Yes, yes, dear young lady. We..er.. I thought an incognito visit might give me a better idea of the facilities.
Adrikan tilts his head the other way at the Ubercast's curious, urgent motion, and then whispers, squeakily: "I'd put my money on Idilrito. He's a shirker and a miscreant, and it would be just his way to make off with a swamp serpent and smuggle it through a teleportal in a DNA-shielded crate. He's done that sort of mischief before. And the last known destination in the portal back home was here, Ubercast."
Deering ahhhs. "Well then, Ubercast, if you'll allow me, I can take you on a tour of the areas to which I have permission. I'm afraid the General is a bit busy right now."
Fimkin sighs loudly, rubbing his brown eyes with his fuzzy hands. "Not NOW, zookeeper."
Adrikan puffs his fat cheeks out in frustration, then sighs and puts his stubby hands on his hips. "But, Ubercast, the swamp serpent is violently poisonous to offworlders - and it prefers to swallow its prey whole! Slowly! Why, can you imagine the chaos it would cause somewhere like this?" He gestures around him.
Deering hears Adrikan and glances to him, her smile fading a little as she turns her eyes back to Fimkin. She waits patiently for him, but is becoming suspect.
Fimkin looks ceilingward at the zookeeper's rant, then looks lamely up at the young woman. "I...you see, my companion becomes...overrought. The danger is only slight, you see." The Ubercast then puts a finger to his mouth as if in thought.
Deering watches Fimkin.....for awhile. She doesnt say anything, just watches him with her hands on her hips.
Adrikan blinks rapidly in startlement at the Ubercast's characterization. "Ubercast, I take three hours simply to be prepared for the possibility of considering the idea of arising from bed each day! I am far from what one would normally consider...excitable. But if a swamp serpent is loose...well, that would be a terribly bad thing. But, if you wish, Ubercast, I will return to Castor and see to my duties at the habitat, and continue my investigation into this matter once your...tour...is complete." He drops his hand from Fimkin's shoulder then bows a bit, and turns and strides toward the portal machine.
Fimkin sighs heavily and waddles after the zookeeper, walking stick clacking with each step. "Now, now Adrikan, don't feel that way." He then leans close to the other Castori and whispers in his ear.
Adrikan has just placed his fuzzy palm upon the teleportal console, the scanner gleaming, as the Ubercast reaches him. He sighs, then drops the hand away from the console and speaks quietly in squeaky whispers with the Ubercast.
Deering watches as shes the two talk, going to at ease stance with her hands folded behind her back and just watches the two. A quick glance around her shows no signs of a Castori Swamp Serpent....thank goodness.
Adrikan mutters squeakily to the Ubercast: "If it is all the same, Ubercast, I will escort you on the tour. I must go back to the zoo to retrieve the stunstick...but you may proceed. I will join momentarily, and seek this thing as we go."
Fimkin grumbles for a moment, then nods and shoos the zookeeper on his way. He then waddles back toward the young woman, arms outstretched in a gesture of jovial good nature. "I would love to see your fine station if the offer still stands."
Adrikan leaves, teleports back to Castor, and returns a short time later, armed with a stunstick...
The swirling portal opens and spits out Adrikan.
Deering thinks about that for a moment, standing with Fimkin. She licks her lips, "Well Ubercast, we..", noting Cubana as she comes by.
Fimkin swallows hard, eyeing the heavily armed pair as they enter.
Deering whispers to Cubana.
Adrikan returns through the portal, a metallic black stick in his right hand, glancing around with half-closed eyes.
Cubana glances towards the others collected and walks towards them nodding towards everyone, "may i ask whats going on"
Deering smiles more, "Ahhh, General. Ubercast Fimkin here has dropped by for an inspection of the base it seems."
Fimkin straightens himself to his full height. "More of a visit than an inspection, but yes. That is so."
Adrikan waddles forth from the portal, stick in hand, gazing from the Ubercast to the rather tall humanoids.
Deering continues, "He wants to see where we 'work', ma'am."
Stephen follows quietly, remaining quite silent..
Deering whispers to Cubana.
Fimkin blinks up at the General, brown eyes curious.
Cubana nods slighlty, "I see. And has he recieved a tour of our base yet?"
Adrikan waddles over toward Stephen, ducks down and scooches between his legs, glancing around - stick held ready
Deering shakes her head. "No ma'am. We were just about to embark."
Deering licks her lips when she sees Adrikan and takes a breath in, "Ahhh....ma'am....if I could have a word with you, in private?"
Cubana nods to Deering and turns slowly to spot Adrikan, "may i ask why the sticks?"
Stephen opens his mouth to say something, but is quickly silenced by the actions of Adrikan, "Uhm..sir??"
Adrikan peers around from behind Stephen's right knee. He whispers squeakily: "Swamp serpent. Can't be too careful. Might be anywhere."
Fimkin drops his face into his furry hands.
Fimkin says, "General, I apologize for my associate. He is...overtired."
Stephen nods slowly, "Right..swamp serpent. I'll watch out.." He murmers carefully..
Adrikan hears what the Ubercast says, stands *almost* straight up before he remembers at the last minute something he learned a while back about humanoid biology and reproductive systems. Still slightly crouched, he huffs, backs out of the fork of Stephen's legs, and then waddles around to regard the Ubercast. "All right, all right. I'll quit being so paranoid."
Deering takes a few steps over towards the noise of the lamplighter, waiting for Cubana to come over.
Stephen has partially disconnected.
Cubana raises an eyebrow slightly and walks towards Deering, "If you'll excuse me amoment." she tells the others.
Deering waits until Cubana comes over and leans in to whisper to her, keeping a passive face on.
Fimkin turns his attention to the officer who is left standing there, elbowing the zookeeper in the ribs. "You see, while there very will *may* be such a creature, we really have no way of verifying that. It would be...premature to worry."
Adrikan oofs, winces and grunts. "Yes, Ubercast."
Stephen nods slowly, "Ah..understood." He smiles slightly, "But have no fear..If I find one you shall be the first person I call..'
Deering whispers to Cubana.
Adrikan peers up at Stephen through half-closed eyes, gripping the stick tightly. "Be wary of mocking Adrikan, Zookeeper of Ursiniru! Do you know how long it would take for the Castori swamp serpent to devour a human of your size and weight?"
Fimkin groans softly
Cubana raises her eyebrows, frowning a moment.
Cubana turns walking towards the others her eyes on Fimkin, "may i ask what is going on?"
Adrikan tilts his head toward Deering. "Threaten? *I* did not threaten to devour him." He glances back at Stephen, looking him up and down. "Although, he could feed my family well for a few days..."
Stephen holds up his hands, "Wait..hold on..I wasn't mocking you at all.." He pauses for a few moments, "And you probably wouldn't want me..too tough.."
Cubana looks over towards Stephen, "Silence." she says sternly.
Fimkin steps between the officers and the Castori zookeeper. "Perhaps our visit was ill-timed, no? I will take my associate home. Some rest and a nice bunch of berries will make him good as new."
Adrikan shakes his head, huffing, gripping the stick. "I am not tired, Ubercast. I will rest easier later if I have searched this station from top to bottom for...interesting things."
Stephen frowns and glances at Cubana. Any other words he would have said die on his lips as he falls silent..
Deering just stands beside Cubana, letting her handle the situation, standing nearby for anything that might be requested of her.
Cubana shakes her head, "I'm sorry Ubercast..but i must know whats happening on my station."
Cubana corrects herself, "or what your friend here may THINK is happening."
Deering iterates, "The Citadel is in a state of high alert, Ubercast. We're quite on the lookout for suspicious activity, and this may conern the station greatly."
Adrikan raises a fuzzy hand. "If I may - perhaps I have wrongly raised alarm - but it is within the realm of possibility that a Castori vandal made off with a Castori swamp serpent from my zoo and brought it to this station in a DNA shielded case. Now, it may be nothing. He might have gone to Demaria - a fine thing that - or the serpent might have gotten loose on Ursiniru and we just haven't found the bloke yet. But...I will leave no stone or station unturned."
Deering glances sidelong to Cubana at this.
Fimkin gestures expansively, an odd pairing with his diminuitive stature. "As I have said. Nothing to raise alarm."
Adrikan gestures with his left hand to the stick in his right. "I will join the tour, and bring this stunstick along, to subdue the creature if it turns up."
Cubana says, "What size is this creature we're talking about.."
Adrikan holds his arms out wide, about three feet, and then says: "Four...five...Castori arm spans."
Deering murmurs quietly, "Hard to miss..."
Fimkin shrugs sheepishly and looks at the floor.
Adrikan nods enthusiastically. "Yes, terribly hard to miss - although it can crawl quite effectively anywhere and loves to lurk among heating pipes."
Cubana blinks slighlty.
Cubana says, "And...how dangerous is this animal?"
Deering turns to Cubana and whispers again.
Deering whispers to Cubana.
Adrikan sticks his lower lip out, scratching his head. "Well, it is virtually non-poisonous to Castori - but its venom will drop a human in seconds flat - and leave em comatose. Then, you see, they start swallowing - feet first, usually."
Cubana takes a deep breath but doesn't seem to exhale, "I appreciate your concern. I will put our security team and maintenace team on the alert..." her eyes move towards Deering, "Wouldyou mind givin our guests a guided tour?"
Deering looks to her and gives a cursory smile, "Of course not, ma'am."
Deering whispers to Cubana.
Denick arrives from Corridor.
Denick strides in, his limp almost gone.
Cubana is standing in the middle of the group, she nod, "Excellent, thankyou Lt." she turns and spots Deering, "And why doesn't Lt. Deering help you with our guests" she quickly adds.
Deering takes a step towards the Castorians and smiles more, "If you'll follow me please, we'll start at the lower levels."
Adrikan nods sleepily, gripping his stunstick readily.
Fimkin nods quickly to the General, then moves to follow the young woman.
Deering looks to Denick as he comes in, "Lt....care to assist me in showing these two Castori around the Citadel?"
Denick nods, "Not at all."
Cubana looks towards Stephen and nods towards the stairwell leading down.
Cubana turns to the others, "If you'll excuse me."
Stephen nods and follows
Cubana turns, heading for the hatch leading down.
Cubana heads into Corridor.
Stephen heads into Corridor.
Deering looks behind her to the Castori and smiles, "This way to the lift..", motioning to them as she heads in that direction.
Adrikan waddles toward the lift
Deering gets inside the lift and awaits the rest of the group.
Adrikan pauses before entering the lift. He grips the stick. He glances inside, looking both ways, then grumbles, nods and waddles inside.
Command Center
This large Circular room is a hectic place. people scurry along the outer walls, avoiding the supports keeping the staiton together. It is not well lit, as the lights from various monitors and desplays light the bridge with an eiry blue glow. The most pronounced thing about this room is the deep pit containing the commander's chair. The chair swivels, to allow the person sitting in it to examine any number of monitors that are on the inside of the pit wall. A local intercom system connects all the different stations of the bridge.
Adrikan waddles into the chamber, gazing around. He works his way over to the command chair. His eyes come to about the level of the armrest. He scratches his head, then steps on his tiptoes to peer up and over into the seat.
Deering smiles to them all as she walks inside, "This is the Comand center. Its where the weapons are controlled, and the status sytems are held."
Fimkin paces importantly around, running his hands along the consoles. "Your Command Center is very...hard. No softness or comfort?"
Adrikan mutters. "No serpents either. So far." He waddles toward the mass driver console.
Deering shakes her head. "No sir. It's rare that we use it extensively, only in times of combat. Luckily, that is relatively little amount of time."
Fimkin wrinkles his nose, but seems to accept that explaination.
Deering continues to walk further inside, "I'd also ask that you not touch any of the consoles, for fear of starting an intergalactic war.", smiling a bit more at this.
Adrikan kneels next to the weapon console, glancing into the alcove where the users tuck their feet. He jabs his stick into the shadowy opening.
Something leaps out of the alcove! Not a snake, but something brown and furry and fast...
Fimkin jerks his hand back fromt he console
Deering blinks as something goes running away, reaching quickly for her pistol, but not in any time to shoot anything.
Adrikan zaps the creature with the stunstick with remarkable reflexes. Then leans over the twitching, stunned creature, narrowing his eyes. "Rodent. Common rat." He glances over at Deering. "Sanitation leaves something to be desired." He picks the creature up by the tail. "I will bring it. Bait."
Fimkin coughs in distaste.
Deering finally breathes after about ten seconds of heartpounding and swallows, moving back to take a seat as she holds her pistol in one hand, her chest with the other.
Adrikan waddles toward the door, waving the still-twitching rat and making curious *tsk-tsk* noises.
Deering breaths in quickly and tries to regain her composure, getting back to standing. She swallows and slips her pistol back into her holster and says, "Well....i'll have to get at the cleaning crews about that."
Fimkin shakes his head slowly. "You stop this hunt. We are on a tour, not an expedition."
Adrikan twists his mouth disapprovingly, then looks at the rat dangling by the tail between two fingers, and then looks at Fimkin. "Are you sure? Not even a slight hunt?"
Deering straightens her uniform and sighs a little, "If you're both done here, I suggest we continue to the next floor?"
Fimkin raps his walking stick on the floor once. "No."
Fimkin follows Deering.
Adrikan shrugs, then nods. "As you wish, Ubercast." He slings the rat in a graceful but twitchy arc over his shoulder.
The rat lands, just in time to regain consciousness, on Deering's right shoulder.
Deering walks towards the lift as the rat lands on her shoulder. She quickly swats both her hands at the rat, ducking and hurrying away, shivering at the touch of it......and recent memeories.
Adrikan sighs, slides the stunstick into a loop dangling at his side, then moves toward the lift.
Deering almost growls, "Would you be *careful* where you throw those things?", shaking her head and hurries for the lift, watching the ground for more furries.
Adrikan blinks lazily. "Hmm...? Oh, yes."
Deering shakes her head and starts the lift up.
Security Checkpoint
All the doors and hatches in this section of the station are well reinforced, to prevent intruders from moving onward. Brighter than anywhere else in the station, lights shine into every shadow of cold grey steel supports and deck platform. Security Guards are constantly on station, and watch you with a careful eye.
Fimkin nods seriously. "There is much secureness on this station."
Adrikan glances up at the pipes and supports. "Many places to hide," he murmurs. Then hushes himself.
Deering nods to the security guard on the way by, whispering something to him breifly about the rat problem in command. She continues on and shows them the rest of the hallway, "These two floors are very important to the Citadel. We were just in Command, and this is the weapons armory, and the brig."
Fimkin nods again. "Much secureness, but again I see no comfort in the design."
Deering smiles a little more, the shock of the earlier moments waning. "There is little comfort in the military, Ubercast...though what we do have, is in the middle floors."
Adrikan twitches his mouth nervously. "I grow hungry. Perhaps, in my haste, I was wrong to discard the rodent."
Fimkin taps his walking stick again. "I would like to see some of that, please. My belly also grows empty."
Deering turns and replies, "Then perhaps we should cut short the visit to the armory and head to the next floors. The cantina and the mess hall are up another two and three decks."
Fimkin begins walking toward the lift. "A facility this large must have wondrous berries."
Adrikan waddles after the Ubercast.
Deering steps back into the lift, "Berries, sir?", waiting for her guests to get in before heading up another floor.
Promenade <SCB Citadel>
This circular Promenade houses the many shops on the outside of its hub. People stroll in and out of them as they go about their shopping. A large neon sign points to the Lamplighter, the premiere cantina of the station.
Deering stops the lift on the floor, "The Lamplighter down the hallway is our cantina...much in the ways of drink, but im not sure about food. Would you care to stop herem or the mess hall on the next floor?"
Adrikan rubs his stomach absently. "Food. Yes, food."
Fimkin nods in agreement. "Food"
Deering starts the lift once more, "To the mess hall..."
Corridor <Citadel>
Crowded and noisy, this corridor allows entrance to the Crew Facilities of the station. Pictograms are placed above the doors showing their destionation. Officers scurry back and fourth throughout the corridor, making their way to their destination. Several pipes and conduits are bolted to the ceiling, stenciled with their contents, and valves are marked with black and yellow safety striping.
Fimkin rubs his belly. "Ahh, yes. This is exactly what I would like to see."
Adrikan waddles toward the smell of food, his nostrils flaring. Then he stops short, glancing toward the conduits and pipes. He shakes his head. "Food. Definitely food."
Deering stops the lift at the floor and steps out. "This is our leisure area....our recreation center is down the hallway, are Education centre just beyond that....and here.....we have the messhall.", as they walk up to it.
The Ubercast's nose twitches as he makes his way to the cafeteria.
Adrikan nods, then looks toward Deering. "We do not wish to intrude upon your other duties, Lieutenant. We will dine and seek you out again, should the need arise."
Deering nods to Adrikan, "As you wish....I should most likely be on the Promenade..the floor with the lamplighter. Enjoy."
Adrikan waddles into the cafeteria.