SGA Plot Aberrant: StarGate Atlantis - S1: E4: The Storm/The Eye

[Bannon]

Dok Tor Ban On stared at her with his cold green eyes, but Inoae had been glared at by Wraiths, and even Bannon couldn't compare to inhuman life-drinking predators for sheer malice. Close, but not in the same league. He firmly removed his hand from hers, handsome mouth set in a thin line. He'd ascertained the water as drinkable, provided people used the standard-issue water purifying tablets. Some would complain about the ensuing chemical taste, but that wasn't his problem. Besides, he'd thought to pack numerous sachets of Gatorade powder specifically to mask that taste.

No, of course he hadn't suggested that helpful tip to others. Don't be silly.

"Kindly do not paw at me... And thank you for telling me about the flower." he told her, the cool gratitude softening the harsh rebuke somewhat. He reached for his leather bag and opened it, causing Inoae to momentarily forget Bates's orders as she watched the white-haired male carefully slip the flower into a wide clear-plastic vial, then write something on the blank label on one side. While he was engrossed, the fey girl surreptitiously peered into the open bag, seeing lots more clear containers filled with strange powders, granules, and liquids. There were also samples of dirt in bags, and more bags of something that looked like seeds-

Bannon slipped the vial into the bag and snapped it shut pointedly, locking the clasps before standing and dusting off his pants. Removing his gloves, he tucked them into his pocket with a sigh, then hefted his small knapsack, slipping it over one shoulder.

"Very well. Let's go and check to make sure what you've found isn't going to kill half the camp." he told Inoae.

"No kill. Is all good food." she assured him, taking the lead.

"Marvellous." Bannon muttered sourly as he followed. "I can have that for my epitaph."

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

Inoue frowned. "Cap Tan Bates said only food. I can mark the killing and sick making plants but Cap Tan Bates not said to. I find six plants I do not know but all others, seen before. I memorize for Darkness-" She cut her self off with a gulp. Surely she would be in trouble for talking about her old hive. She had been told to with the "shrink", but being told to with that female could mean that she wasn't supposed to with others. Especially males that had no part in war with other hives. What good to her new hive would it do for those males to know?

Her eyes trailed to the bag while she led him around, telling him the name and properties of the edible plants she had found. She wanted to ask about the paw, too; she was pretty certain that she did not have a paw, but he'd also said it in a way that didn't sound like he meant an animal part. But she'd said too much already that wasn't finding food and bringing Dok Tor Ban On to them like she had been ordered, so she ignored her curiosity and simply recited the information she'd been told by Darkness about each plant as they came to it. Or just naming it again when they found another group of one they'd already covered once.

Finally, she made a decision: he might put more of the plants in his bag like the flower if they were like the flower, so when they reached the last of the edible plants, she took a risk. Her heart was beating madly and her face was flushed, but her voice was the same light, slightly vacant tone she'd used all during their walk. "That is all of plants to eat. Do you want to be show the plants that kill or make ill or make mind different? There are not the same number as eating plants, less, but some. I show if-if you want."

[Curtis Shane]

The majority of the soldiers not directly assigned to other duties were generally appointed to... well, make camp. Curtis was among them, unpacking gear and setting tents up. As far as Curtis was concerned, when Captain Evana's request to ease off on the civilians came through, he decided to simply not deal with them if he could help it. The smell of clear, fresh, tree-scented air soothed him, compared to the agoraphobic trap he'd unconsciously felt within the city.

[Dawn OOC]

"Not a problem, Captain." Tanner's voice was as cool and professional as always, his voice slipping into everyone's ear like a precision machine. "The civilians are in good hands."

"Especially since Moreau is up in a tree," one of the xenobiologists muttered, but so softly that only his neighbor heard him.

"Ten bucks says she gets Rivets up there and snogs him silly before the watch is through," the chemist shot back, offering a hand to shake.

"You're on," the xenobiologist replied and shook on it.

Bannon and Inoue found several of the edible plants; Bates watched with an approving eye. He was pleased at how the camp and - if one dared to use the word on this group - team were coming together. The tents were going up; people were getting out food. A rather loud group of civvies were arguing about the best place to put a fire, and Bates left them to it. It'd keep them busy and he'd make sure that the final position was a good one, regardless of their choices. But letting them think they'd figured it out on their own was good for moral. The wildlife was a soft hum of noise in the background, but the area was still a hundred times quieter than the bazaar. Everyone was less tense. This was a much better idea than staying in the bazaar, he thought, smiling a bit. That didn't mean it was safe or they could let their guard down; only that for now, he was pleased.

"Shane?" Curtis turned to see Althena Walton, one of the botonists. She gave him an unsure smile as she said, "Did I remember that you have some military training? Would you know anything about fires? Because I say that putting it over there would be too close to that tree. Could you weigh in?" By which, she meant 'can you support my position?'

Moreau and Rivets settled into their posts, watching the area. Birds of some sort flittered around them while insects buzzed and pestered. Both of the soldiers fell silent as a small herd of herbivores wandered into the grassy area to the north, looking like a mix between a wildebeest and a sheep.

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis had to inwardly suppress a sigh. Apparently he had to deal with the squints as well. It was an odd thing, to think that, seeing as he was closer in duties and nature to the civilian scientists and other experts aiding in the Atlantis expedition. But when it came down to it, he acknowledged that if nothing else, he'd spent a tour of duty in Afghanistan, with genuine and regular combat experience (the fact that combat made him shiver greatly down his spine notwithstanding).

There indeed was a true divide between those who practiced the art of war, and those who watched about it on their TVs, protested and questioned or boasted about supporting, but never had any need or want to involve themselves directly.

Of course, with Dr. Walton looking for an answer from him, he sighed. "Sergeant Shane, Doctor. I'll help resolve your little quibble." The translation being, 'I AM military, squint, and you're asking me for help not the other way around. Don't expect a rubber stamp.'

She looked a little annoyed, picking up on the subtext, but led him over to the bunched civilians, pursing her lips as Curtis was brought into the discussion. Apparently, Walton's minority opinion held that the firepit in question was too close to the nearby trees and they would catch fire in wind picked up. The majority of would-be survivalists insisted that was hogwash.

Curtis, after a minute of listening and observing the surrounding area, concluded that none of them had any idea what they were doing, seeing as a basic rule was going completely more unknown than Kim Kardashian to someone living under a rock. "Enough. Look down. What do you see? I'm calling on the geologists especially."

The geologists in question looked bewildered, as one of them pointed out. "But there's no rocks-"

"Presto!" Curtis knew Captain Evana's request, but given the clear lack of knowledge by the squints, he had to do this job right. Even if it was rubbed in their faces. "You do not start fires on burnable surfaces. Now, who knows where there is a good stretch of bare rock?"

There was a good outcropping closer to the river, so there was water in case of extinguishing, no dry grass or brush or trees around, and there Curtis declared them eligible to start a fire. That phrase made them even more sour, but Curtis reflected as he left that it was the military's job to protect the civilians... from themselves if necessary.

OOC

Int + Survival:

Jeremy *rolls* 6d10: 5+10+1+2+7+7

4 sux

[Bannon]

Bannon followed Inoae from plant to plant, his brain taking in all the data she reeled off, obviously rote-learned, but no less helpful and informative for all that. He took small samples of everything, storing them in his knapsack rather than his doctor's bag. He called over several civilians and set them to work gathering the plants Inoae had singled out, making sure they understood the identifying features of each one.

Finally, she made a decision: he might put more of the plants in his bag like the flower if they were like the flower, so when they reached the last of the edible plants, she took a risk. Her heart was beating madly and her face was flushed, but her voice was the same light, slightly vacant tone she'd used all during their walk. "That is all of plants to eat. Do you want to be show the plants that kill or make ill or make mind different? There are not the same number as eating plants, less, but some. I show if-if you want."

"You know about the other types of plants too?" Bannon blinked, looking at Inoae with both curiousity... and a hint of reappraisal. Inoae's flush deepened slightly at the interest the male was expressing, and she nodded.

"Most yes. Was made to remember." she replied earnestly. "Dok Tor Ban On likes plants, so will show him more if he wants."

Inoae joined the ranks of the few and the priviledged then, as Bannon's lips curved up in a slight - very slight, but definitely genuine - smile. It was a fact that Bannon never smiled genuinely. The nearest he came was a wry, cynical smirk, or a predatory grin that was better suited to a shark.

"That would be... I mean, that is very kind of you." he told Inoae, the smile fading away as he glanced around. "I don't see any further need for me here, so yes. I would like that very much." He made a polite, courteous gesture to Inoae. "Please, lead on."

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

Though she scanned their surroundings with a professional regard from her vantage point. Yseult's eyes keep turning back to the milling Wildesheep, their shaggy, woolly pelts thick around their necks and forequarters, thinning at their hindquarters, a dusty brown and grey. Herbivores, pawing at the ground with split hooves and their horns. The bull of the herd was a mean-looking fucker, the tip of one horn broken, but some of the younger males to the rear looked promising - healthy, not so large she couldn't manage one by herself down the hill.

Yseult tapped her earpiece, keying to Inoae - who had been provided with one, just in case someone in the field had questions about the flora and fauna. "Inoae, you're hearing me? Good. I got a question - are the wildesheep edible?"

"Why-uld-ship" the Lantean sounded out uncertainly, sucking on a lip, beginning to get distressed at failing her Sar Gent Ys-uelt Morrow after her success with Dok-tor Ban-non. "I do not know this word."

Yseult described the herbivores in quick but accurate detail, enough that anyone familiar with them would know what she was referring to. The brawny soldier frowned at the odd cadence to Inoae's voice, as if she was reading from a book, then rolled her eyes and nodded impatiently at the overly technical and detailed information she was receiving.

"Mmm-hmm, uh-huh, right. Oh? Got it. We can eat them." Yseult was about to switch channels, but added a grudging 'thanks,' before contacting Bates. "Captain, we have a heard of wildesheep here. Spoke to Inoae, she cleared them for eating. Want me to add some meat to the MREs and stretch out our rations some." She snorted. "The bio-squints can squabble over the bones too, if they want."

Bates debated for only a moment before giving the go ahead. Extra rations never went amiss, especially if they didn't come wrapped in foil. "Go for it, Moreau. But wait until I get someone up there to relieve you."

Bates detailed another private to relieve Moreau, then warned the camp about the potential sound of gunfire in the near future. Another pair, with several volunteering scientists began work on a spit and clearing an area to drain the blood and butcher the carcass near the stream. Quarter of an hour later, Yseult saw the private cresting the hill and swiftly descended the tree, landing on the ground right in front of him.

"There's a good fork three quarters of the way up Private, kept warm and everything," she informed him, switching her P90 to single shot. "Keep a sharp eye out."

With that, Yseult began circling around the valley she had seen the wildesheep in, moving in a smooth, low glide, looking for a good, concealed vantage point, out of the way of a possible stampede. Twenty minutes later, she found her spot, a slender gap among a tumble of boulders. Stretched out on her front, she braced the stock against her broad shoulder, sighted through the scope, and held her breath as she waited for the perfect moment.

The young male, healthy and vigorous, lifted his head from grazing, turning to look directly in her direction. She settled the cross-hairs right between his eyes and caressed the trigger, releasing her breath. The animal giving a jerk then falling on its side before even registering the sharp retort of gunfire. The rest of the herd flinched, the was still for a long moment, before stampeding out of the far end of the valley.

Yseult rolled over and flipped to her feet, then stalked down into the valley, keeping her firearm and switched to burst fire, in case of any predators or uppity wildesheep coming to contest her kill. None did, the unfamiliar sound of gunfire scaring them off. She looked down at the beast, a smirk on her lips as she lit a cigarette. A small, neat hole punched through the animals forehead, a trickle of blood leaking down its snout and mouth. She arched a brow at the sight of the back of the head. The skull had obvious cracked and buckled, but the bullet hadn't punched all the way through. Thick skulls on these fuckers...

The amazonic woman finished her cig and stamped it out, then limbered up her arms before heaving up the wildesheep and slinging it across her shoulders with a grunt, planting her feet to steady her balance. Merde! It was a bit heavier than she thought, closer to two-fifty than two-hundred, but she'd manage it. The fine dirt cascading for its curly hair made her sneeze.

Near an hour later, Yseult made it back to camp, breathing hard and her colour high, but otherwise in fine shape. She tossed the beast down by the fire-pit with a loud slap and stretched her shoulders and back, vertebrae popping audibly. She gave the squints a broad, friendly - or so she thought - grin.

"I made the kill and hauled it back to camp. Someone else has to bleed it, skin it, and butcher it. Thems the rules if we want... lamb, I guess, tonight."

Inoae's Knowledge Roll

[Malachite] 8:59 pm: Roll(6d10)+0:

2,3,3,5,8,10,+0

Total:31

3 successes

[Dawn OOC]

The place for the fire was selected; though a little close to the water, Bates let it stand. There were about a thousand worse places it could have gone, and he hadn’t missed the fact that they had consulted the military to complete their decision. Typical, he thought, eyeing the camp – his camp, if only in that he was responsible for every man and woman here.

Mentally, he ran down the checklist. Inoae was occupied and therefore out of trouble – occupying someone was Bates’ way of making sure they weren’t causing trouble. With that in mind, he checked on the other troublemakers in the group, namely Dr. Kavanagh and Dr. Jenings-Izumi. The former because he was the kind of man who liked to make trouble and the latter because she was not supposed to be here. So that was his triumvirate of trouble.

Dr. Kavanagh was right now in the middle of ‘helping’ start the fire. He was suggesting a chemical igniter, which meant he had chemicals with him. Bates sighed through his nose and wondered if he meant a lighter – scientists often ‘uptalked’ themselves to sound better. If he meant something more volatile than that, someone would have the intelligence to warn Bates so he could stop it. He drifted just a little closer, just to be safe.

The final point on the triumvirate of trouble was busy, too, helping set up tents. She actually seemed to have half a clue about how tents worked, which was fortunate. Enough people around here were absolutely clueless. A single gunshot rang out and Bates smiled after hearing it was solitary. He trusted Moreau to be a good soldier and the more he saw of her, the more his trust was rewarded.

Bannon and Inoae were having the time of their life – or rather he was, which made him far more pleasant company than he was normally. Cataloging the most dangerous of plants was the doctor’s idea of a good time, and Inoae was happy enough making Kap Tain Bates happy by helping. If her descriptions could be trusted, Bannon acquired several more medicinal plants, including a sedative, a hallucinogenic and four more poisons of various toxicities. He’d have to test them more fully to get a full accounting of their abilities, of course. It was still a great find.

Groans rose at Yseult’s announcement, but Bates simply nodded. “Shane, round up able-bodied folks and teach them how to prepare dinner,” he said, managing to keep the mean smirk off his face as he said it. This way, if any civilians got their hands dirty, it’d be Curtis’ fault, not his. The look on the sergeant’s face was worth it though, as was the groans from the civvies he selected. “Moreau, you’re off-duty now. Enjoy it.” Let them see that proactive actions that bettered their situation led to reward.

By the time full dark fell, their camp was set. Pieces of the wildesheep were cooking over the fire and lanterns lit the area around the tents. Bates didn’t like how open and lit it was, but he knew he’d never get the civilians to agree to cold camp. At least the sentries were concealed, and he’d put four more out there. That meant he was stretching the soldiers, but they’d be fine for a day or two. If things weren’t resolved on Atlantis by then, they’d have to find other habitation anyway.

There was nothing else he could do and he took a seat against a tree. Sighing, Bates sat down his weapon and let his body relax for the first time today. Soon he’d get a couple of hours of sleep, then be back up to keep an eye on things.

A sudden thought had him sit back up and dig out his cards. He flicked on his light and checked the order of the cards again, his eyes thoughtful. He glanced across the camp to where the girl who’d arranged them hovered near Yseult. “Inoae,” he called, “come here.” After a glance at Moreau, she approached him and he indicated for her to sit in front of him before she knelt or something. “I’m going to teach you poker,” he told her, shuffling the cards and watching for her reactions. “Alright, these cards are Kings…” As he went through the cards, they gathered an audience of curious on-lookers, wondering what the Captain was up to now.

OOC: The next update probably starts the main thrust of the plot. Please post any role-play and fluff you want to accomplish before then by next Sunday.

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

Inoue shook her head, speaking more forcefully than anyone had ever heard from her again. "No. It makes no understanding. Male cannot be above female."

Bates eyes flashed in annoyance. "Kings rank above Queens in poker. That's the rules."

"But...cards are war game. Queen is more important than all males." She waved over the cards spread out between them. "No male is ever more important, higher rank, than queen."

"It's a game, Inoue." Bates snapped. "Those are the rules."

"War game is practice. No male is more important than queen in war. Not even warleader," the blonde insisted.

Bates grabbed Inoue's wrist to get her attention; he took a deep breath. "It's a game, Inoue. Not war. I'm just telling you the rules."

Inoue didn't seem to notice the grip. "War game-"

"Just a game, Inoue." Bates ground out.

Inoue blinked in confusion. "Just game?"

[Moira Fitzgerald]

"Yes, Inoue.. just a game. For fun."

Moira stepped up next to Bates and the Lantean, hands on her hips and a shrewd look on her face. Her interactions so far with the pretty young alien had been limited, but fascinating, and Moira was anxious to expand on them. She'd had the opportunity to talk to some of the others regarding their experiences in the bazaar, quizzing one of the younger scientists about her encounter with a man who had been interested in breeding her with someone from his line, and talking to Evana a bit about her trip into town. She had done her share of preparation without complaint, because she loathed people who whined about being made to do something that 'wasn't their responsibility'. But now, she was intrigued by the blonde-haired alien's interaction with Bates, and curious as to whether Inoae could grasp the concept of fun, or a game that was based on different societal preconceptions than the one she was used to.. and if so, how. For in a way, Inoae was right - poker might not be a 'war' game in the same way that, say, chess was. But it was loosely based on war-like symbolism, and she wanted to see if Inoae could overcome that.

"Do you understand 'fun', Inoae?"

"This one.. this one does not."

"Fun means that you can choose to say 'no'. You do not have to say yes, if you aren't interested in learning poker."

"Damn, Fitzgerald - why do you have to make this more difficult than it is? What is it with you shrinks and scientists anyway? I just want to teach the girl poker."

"Captain, if you want Inoae to understand our society, you have to treat her like a person, not a pet. She needs to understand the difference between voluntary and involuntary. Small examples like this will help her with that.. eventually. May I join you?"

"You wanna play poker, Fitzgerald?"

She ignored the incredulous look he gave her, and waved a hand dismissively at his surprise.

"Sure. Do you mind?"

"Go right ahead."

Moira nodded, and turned her attention to Inoae.

"See? There's no reason I need to play cards, but it sounds like something I would like to do - it sounds like 'fun'. Do you want Captain Bates to teach you poker, Inoae?"

She waited, curious as to whether the Lantean would try to understand, or whether she would flip out at the concept of being given a choice. Personally, she wasn't too concerned one way or another, but she did find herself hoping the Lantean would be able to adapt.. if not, she was going to prove useful as an information source, but little more.

[Dawn OOC]

Bates stared with narrowed, unfriendly eyes at Moira, but when she sat down he didn’t object. Inoae didn’t object either, and he sighed in irritation as he turned to look at her. “Look, Kings are higher than Queens.”

“No, they-”

“That’s an order, Inoae!” The barked command shut her mouth and her eyes dropped to the ground but not before Bates saw a flare of rebellion. She hadn’t been completely broken but she still accepted his order without further comment. “Alright, here’s the rules…”

The game lasted until Bates called it a night. Inoae had a decent tactical mind, and by the time he took back all his cards, she had a pretty decent grasp on the rules. They’d had another three people join and Bates was glad that there were not bets on the table; he would have lost his shirt. “Glad that wasn’t strip poker,” he said as the last hand closed with him getting spanked by a petite engineer who didn’t speak English but had a wicked poker face.

“Strip poke her?” Inoae asked, curious.

“Oh god. Someone else explain please,” Bates groaned.

“No, Captain, you started this,” Moira told him with a smile.

“Alright…” Bates sighed and then tried to explain the concept of stripping as a wager, which lead to a discussion of wagers. He was almost enjoying the explanation of it. There was something satisfying about teaching someone about your games and culture. It was painful and repetitive, but when she comprehended, he enjoyed it.

Inoae’s comment killed his enjoyment. “If someone higher in Hive says to take off clothes, you take off clothes. And if they are lower than you, then a game can’t make them take off clothes.”

“God!” Irritated, he got to his feet, saying, “Inoae, when you get the concept of ‘fun’ come talk to me then.” Disgruntled, he moved away, making a final circuit of the camp before settling in for the night. For a long time, he lay in his sleeping bag, waiting for sleep to come. He was nervous and part of him wanted to be up and patrolling the site. But he needed to rest, or he’d be useless later. So he forced himself to relax.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

They came after dark. The First of them was Allywn, and he walked into their camp as they slept. The two guards didn’t see him first and he snapped their necks with an effort of Will. He heard the anger from the Others but ignored it. There were plenty to go around and two of the warriors wouldn’t be missed. Everyone would have their hands full training the new one. Warriors were always so stubborn anyway, so hard to break properly.

He stopped in the center of their encampment; the Others joined him, the seven of them forming a loose circle facing outwards. Together, they reached out and wrapped their Will around the tents that the intruders huddled in and, when they were sure that each one had been grasped, they pulled upwards as one.

The tents stretched then ripped, rapidly exposing their residents to the night air. Cries of alarm rose in the camp as Allwyn stroked the fire to life, causing it to dramatically flare. Then, as One, they prepared for the hue and cry as the newly claimed beings tried to fight back.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

It had been a good evening. Off-duty, fresh meat - which had been quite decent, tasted a good deal like venison - and Inoae was mostly out of her hair, learning to play Poker with Bates... whom she'd never have suspected would have the patience for it. Cards had never been much her thing - she went to Vegas to blow her wages and blow off some steam; gambling with life and death was her vocation, and the thrill was much more intense than any monetary pot size.

Being off-duty, the others, especially the civilians found her much more pleasant. Okay, somewhat more pleasant. She was still a bitch, but seemed to take less delight in it and was less cruel about it, and was even helpful on occasion. In the confines of her tent, Yseult covertly read several chapters of a trashy romance novel, imagining herself pinning the long-locked male against the ship-railings and riding him to exhaustion, then ripping open the bodice of the heroine, setting her heaving bosom free. It was a pleasant fantasy.

I am going to need a body in my bed to ride, if we are being for long, me, Yseult pondered, satisfying herself as she turned in early. She may have had the evening off the duty-roster, but it meant she had the early shift on guard. There wasn't enough military for Bates to give out more off-time.

When she heard her tent rustle, Yseult's eyes slitted open, thinking she might be getting company after all. She knew she was an attractive woman, if a heavily built one. Despite the comments and whispers about what she did or did not take and what she had or had not been born with between her legs. there were those who liked powerful and direct women. And even if it was Inoae, well, she wasn't feeling too inclined to kicking her out of bed this time either.

Her tent stretched, then ripped apart, and Yseult instantly slammed awake, seeing the intruders in the middle of their camp. Her focus narrowed on the seven of them, shutting out extraneous details, keeping her eyes narrowed to preserve night vision in the face of the flaring flames. Why the flames flared like that and why the tents were ripped open and hanging in the air didn't matter. There were intruders and they hadn't gottent any warning - the guards posted were either incapacitated or dead, and silently too.

These guys were dangerous, but so were they. Without hesitation, Yseult slipped the strap of her P90 over her shoulder, but left it hanging, instead pulled her K-bar free of the sheath on the belt laying next to her bedroll - with the intruders in their midst, gunfire would be as much a hazard to the rest of the camp as to them.

Besides, they didn't appear to be armed with any ranged weapons or even melee weapons that would provide them with extra reach. Regardless of how deadly in hand-to-hand they were, her knife gave her an advantage. Unless these fuckers are as strong as the Wraith, or can suck out our lives with their hands, or... Doesn't matter! There can be any number of things and you don't have the information - dwelling on it will just lead to freezing and then dead.

As shouts and cries of surprise and distress began to rise throughout the camp. Yseult rolled smoothly and sprang for the figure on the left side of their circle, facing her, instead of the one in front, better for making passing attack and less predictable. Pale blue eyes hard and cold, she was silent, lips in a tight, fierce grin as she attacked. Fuck diplomacy!

She slashed low, trying to sever a hamstring, continued through and around, coming down to piece a kidney through the ribs. There was a vague concern niggling at her as the man made no move to defend himself, a more contemptuous and condescending expression on his face than anything Bannon could muster, but she didn't let it slow her movements...

Her teeth ground audibly and grunted as she sprang back to give herself a bit of distance, feeling the reverberation stinging up her arm. It had felt like hitting a piece of hardwood or maybe stone... and all of effective. She didn't see a mark on the fucker, and he didn't move an inch, not so much as a flinch. Cunt is tougher than a Wraith...

"Merde!" She flicked her knife into the ground and rolled back, crouching down on a knee, as she swung her P90 to bear, angling up so stray fire would go over the camp instead of through it, and thumbed it to burst fire. "Stay low! Incoming gunfire!" Yseult shouted to the rest of the camp, her eyes never leaving those of her target. "Try resisting this, asshole!"

Yseult pulled down on the trigger, arm and shoulder rock steady, and the sound of gunfire tore through the trees.

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis was less anal after the work was done- content with the roasted meat for dinner with its delicious texture. It seemed as if a peaceful setting had really calmed him down eventually. Less to be sure you did the proper job in his book, so eventually he was resting in his tent, chewing a piece of the wildesheep jerky he'd prepared from a slab of their meat for long-term use. Hey, it paid to be prepared.

When the tents ripped open and the fire boomed to life, Curtis rolled up, discarding the jerky in his haste, and snatched up the P90 from where it was an arm's length away. As he moved out and took in the perpetrators, his throat felt too dry at the prospect of battle. He'd seen enough men he knew and respected or liked killed and left horrible messes-- Enough! He mastered himself. These bastards, alien bastards had to kill the sentries to get in. Those guys were all right. Stop these convention clones, OR more people die. They're right out there, easy targets.

A couple of squints were nearby and panicking in shock, "Down!" Curtis ordered, and they complied immediately, as Moreau warned that she was going to shoot. An excellent idea. He went down to a knee, and being a more average shot, carefully centered his aim to target the heads of the aliens.

*Bam!* Nothing? He couldn't have missed? Another pull of the trigger, and then it became clear to him. The shots hadn't missed. They'd bounced off the alien's head like small superballs. "Fuck!" Curtis hissed, even as he re-aimed for the eyes.

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

Inoae had put up a tent as she'd been told to by Kap Tan Bates, but she'd taken the cloth they'd given her for the night and set it next to her Yseult Moreau's tent. When the invaders ripped up the tents, she scrambled out of the cloth and behind her Yseult Moreau. They were being attacked, she understood that, but her mind whirled as she tried to think of something to do to help her Yseult Moreau. She realized with an odd mix of panic and confusion that she didn't want to leave her new hive. Such thoughts had never occurred to her before. The hive was the hive and she was owned by the hive.

But even as the weapons of her new hive bounced and never touched the intruding warriors of another hive of humans, something stirred in her that her original captors had thought they had long beaten out of her. She didn't know what it was, but it made her want to hurt the invading warriors. To kill them for disturbing her hive and keep them from taking her from her Yseult Moreau. The loud weapons of her hive were doing nothing and she was not allowed to touch the weapons that had been taken from her original hive. The fire in the center of the camp had flared when the tents had been ripped upwards, and it was the only weapon she could see and get to quickly.

She circled behind her Ysuelt Moreau, scooping up the largest bowl-plate from her Ysuelt Moreau's mess kit as her Ysuelt Moreau and others set their weapons to fire many of the metal rounds as quickly as possible, and made her way to the fire with sure and silent strides. Ignoring the heat of the fire and then from the metal, she dug into the hot coals with the plate as swiftly as she could and stepped close enough the intruders to ensure that the embers would fall on them as she flung the forward. Even if the embers did not touch the invaders, they might start fires around them and fill the air around them with smoke to make them choke and be unable to see. She didn't wait to see if the embers had any effect but instead crouched down by the fire to find a half-burned branch she could pull from the flames to follow up with.

[Bannon]

Bannon was still awake, studying and cataloguing some of the beetles he'd found around the roots of one of the plants Inoae had shown him, when his tent was roughly torn up and into the air, scattering his carefully arranged specimens everywhere.

"Fucking bastards!" he swore, jumping to his feet, his eyes snapping green fire. Whether this was a squint or jarhead's idea of a joke, Bannon was mad enough to make those responsible sorry they were ever born. He was already running through the compounds he could administer that would provide maximum misery for the perpetrators (one that made them lose bowel control for 24 hours was currently uppermost in his mind) when he realised that the camp was, in fact, under some kind of unusual attack.

Moreau, naturally, tried to stab, kick or, for all he knew, noogie the perpetrators, but from what Bannon could see she wasn't having much success. Then the gunfire started as he crouched and began rifling through his bag, digging out couple of aerosol dispensers and pocketing them before locking the case shut again.

He wasn't going to try guns or grit against these people. Whatever abilities or science they possessed, it was evidently more than a match for brawn, and even were it not, Bannon didn't possess an abundance of that trait. What he did possess, however, was guile. And so he waited, keeping low and watching the scene unfold.

[Dawn OOC]

Bates was out of his tent quickly, taking in the situation in seconds and shouting, “Get the civvies under cover! Take those guys out, now!”

“Trying!” Moreau shouted back as her P90 proved useless. Curtis cursed again as eye-shots did nothing.

One woman was putting up quite a fight; Allywn was impressed by the mettle of these new pets. They were quite scrappy, but it was ultimately useless. The bullets and weapons and hot brands bounced off of their shields, formed by their Will. Another male was firing at them, along with the woman, and that was the focus of Allywn’s attention now.

Then another male took center stage; he was calling orders, rallying people and trying to formulate a resistance. Allywn let him try a few moments, seeing them as the first and most obvious object lessons. A surge of Will jerked the two men and the woman to him; as he slammed them to their knees before him, Morrian stripped their weapons out of their hands.

The civilians were scared, but none of them really panicked until Bates, Moreau and Curtis were all yanked off their feet to land in front of attackers. When the three were forced to their knees, the civvies really freaked out. Some tried to run, only to bounce off invisible barriers and come stumbling back to the group that was forming in the middle of camp.

“Stop fighting,” the leader of the attackers told the three. “You are making this more painful. Tell your people to surrender, or we start to kill.”

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

Moreau snarled as what felt like a giant, invisible pillow struck her in the back, throwing her forward. Her face flushed red as she struggled futilely to remain on her feet - her knees hit the dirt hard, a sharp twinge running the length of her leg as one knee landed on a rock. Stubbornly, she forced her arms up, trying to aim her P90, but it was ripped unceremoniously and contemptuously from her hands by... nothing. Icy blue eyes widened in surprise, but her hand automatically darted for her knife, but she was disarmed again with equal ease.

When the leader made his demand, Yseult ceased her struggles, stilling to a poised tension, bidding her time for another chance. Her eyes flicked around carefully, considering other options. Focused, kinetic attacks and fire seemed to be ineffectual, perhaps blunt trauma or strangulation would harm them. I will drown the fuckers in a puddle if I must - must grapple with them, try to prevent them from throwing me around - MerdeFuckPutaindeSalope!

Yseult locked down the gibbering voice in her head in a small corner of her head. Hidden snipers in the Afghani hills or improvised bombs by the roadside were things she could deal with. Despite reading reports once she was brought onto the Atlantis, she was no less shocked and stupefied by the seeming super-powers of the aliens, things she had no way of fighting or resisting, even if it was just by mere observation and a gut feeling.

She'd let herself hear that voice later. For now, she carefully kept from glancing at Bates to give away any hint of her intent, glaring at their captors under lowered brows, waiting for the unseen pressure to relent so she could get one more shot in.

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

The pull and subjugation of her hive-mates, of herYseult Moreau, snapped that small bit of solidity she'd build up in mind as visions of her life before her new - especially the times with Pain and Void - flooded through her. She grabbed up one of the burning logs, ignoring the lances of pain and the smell of burning flesh as she shot towards the invaders; the intent of murder filling her entire being. I will not be taken away again. The memories flashed farther back, hazy and indistinct but filled with the same fear thudding through her and now overlaid with the rage she was allowed to feel then. I will not be taken again!

She felt the push of their Will, the invisible barrier that had kept them safe from bullets and embers; the log tumbled down her arms and smack against her chest, leaving angry red welts and growing blisters along her skin. She grabbed it again and held it ready, the skin of her right hand beginning to char, and beat against the invisible wall with her left. She battered at it, the log burning through her hand, and then something inside her both snapped and expanded. She stumbled through the now-empty air. Allwyn stared at the slip of a girl, eyes going wide as she thrust the burning log at his face and screamed, "NON ITERUM!"

The two tumbled to the ground, the log trying to roll away in the confusion. He managed to get the insane woman pinned underneath him, but she snatched the log back up before it rolled out of reach and hooked her arms around his neck from beneath him. The log blazed against the back of his neck, setting his hair on fire and sending a new wave of screams into the night.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

Restrained on her knees, Yseult caught the sight of Inoae going apeshit like a fucking mini- Hulk in her peripheral vison. Whether it was because she was tiny, pale, and female instead of huge, green, and male, or just sheer arrogance, the alien assholes hadn't bothered with binding her with their magic mojo. Ducking her head slighty, Yseult hid a fierce grin, even as her nose wrinkled at the smell of burning flesh. You don't underestimate crazy.

Whatever the aliens fucks were doing, Inoae's berserk attack was distracting them maintaining the effect. Instead of feeling weighed down by a mountain, it merely felt as if she was maxing her bench-press. Not ideal, but it was all the opportunity she was being offered, so she took it. With cold deliberation, despite wanting to go to her nutbar Lantean's aid, the brawny sergeant choose a different target. If getting one of the freaks engaged was lessening the effect subjugating them, incapacitating another should weaken it even more. And even if they killed her - and at this point, she didn't doubt they could - at least, they would have to be wary around the rest of her team, fearing they wouldn't take captivity easy.

One of the bastards - the one ahead and to her right - had turned partially away to take a step towards Inoae and her burning victim. Good enough. Toes of her right boot digging into the groud, Yseult surged up and forward with a powerful bunching of muscle, her growl hidden under the screaming, a hand reaching out.

She didn't got for a direct blow this time, seeing how ineffectual it was. No, just went for the distraction. She hooked the fucker under the arm, other hand grabbing him at the wrist, and pivoted at the hip, slamming him face-first into the dirt with a blindside judo throw. Probably didn't hurt much, if any, either, but he was facing away from her; maybe it would be harder for him to focus his mojo.

But she wasn't willing to leave it at that. She planted a knee in the middle of his back, with all her weight behind it, and snaked an arm around his neck. Bracing her elbow with her free-hand, she leaned back and began to squeeze, a thick vein popping up in sharp relief in her forearms and up over her bulging biceps, as she strained to break the fucker's neck or choke the life from him.

[Dawn OOC]

Allywn screamed as the fire burned. He had no idea how this was happening; the Will of his people was absolute. With a surge of that Will, he swept the woman off of his back, along with the log. He shoved her as far as he could, throwing her into the trees.

Tanner surged forward and struck at one of them, only to find that his blows were slamming into the force field still. Cursing, he tried again, only to be ignored. It was clear that not everyone could do what needed to be done.

Bates pressed against the bonds holding him and started to stand; a wave of force redoubled on him. He looked up at the face of the woman holding him and strained harder; muscles stood out on his arms as he strained against the bonds. She pressed harder – and he rose to one foot, tendons standing out on his neck and body.

Yseult felt something work between her arm and her captive. It forced her arm off his neck and while something tried to shove her off him, she kept her knee in his back. Something battered at her, but she didn't lose her prisoner.

Everyone, update your sheets for Scion goodness. Take another 15 Freebie points, as well as buying any Scion stuff you get as normal. Once you have a Legend score, you’ll be able to at least affect these people.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Curtis Shane]

When Curtis had been yanked off his feet and slammed to the ground, by a force clearly not visible- for a moment his mind ran amok with fear over the thought that they were dealing with super-aliens. This was not the best situation to thrust a comic aficionado in, especially since it very much was life or death. But the threatening words of their leader, and Curtis' training broke the immediate situation back into his head.

Then, the spell of the situation seemed to shatter- when Inoae of all people went Trandoshan Rage on the medieval-dressed attackers, and actually seemed to be breaking through whatever telekinetic shields or invisible force fields these guys could project, causing a chain reaction allowing the quicker others to start resisting.

Curtis realized that distracted, the hostiles couldn't maintain their defenses efficiently, and too made an effort to strike. He wasn't a hand-to-hand expert, or even entertained any hope of being proficient therein. He could shoot well enough, and in the sudden chaos, his P90 was not too far. With the pressure letting up, he crawled on his belly quickly, and his hand grasped the handle smoothly.

The female Other focusing on Bates had been so desperately intent on subduing Bates, that she had not extended her shield to cover an attack from the side. The evidence of her mistake was shown in bullets blasting into her side and belly.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

Yseult's muscles tightened and burned with a new rush of heady, searing adrenaline, time seeming to slow as her senses heightened into hyper-acuteness. By the briefest sight, by sound and scent, she could pinpoint the location of everyone around her. She heard every moment of Tanner's ineffectual attack. She tracked Inoae's path into the woods by the iron tang of her blood blushing the air and promised herself her attacker would need to worry about more than just burns when she got her hands on him. She followed Bates' defiance by the beating of his heart and the shifting of his foot on the ground. And she differentiated each distinct bullet as Curtis peppered the alien bitch, its blood having an acrid note, rather than iron.

The aliens were still fighting, but they were weakening. She could feel the fucker under her twitch in the beginnings of panic, his telekinetic blow sliding off her shoulders instead of hitting squarely., though he had managed to force her arm off from around his throat. Her icy-blue eyes caught a glistening bead of sweat sliding down his neck. On the other hand, in this moment, Yseult felt like she could continue the fight forever, like she could fight them all without even breaking a sweat.

She grinned savagely as she let her arm slip just a bit further, then forced it against the invisible nothing and caught his chin in her hand. Muscle and tendons danced with smooth power beneath the flesh of her forearms as she forced the alien bastard's head back once more, using her other hand to catch the top of it, then began to wrench her hands in opposite directions. As she waited for the tell-tale snap and convulsion leading to limpness, the amazonian sergeant already began coldly planning her next moves to incapacitate or eliminate the rest of the assholes.

Though she wanted to check on Inoae - her bout of berserk crazy had begun the turning of the tide - Yseult knew it was more important to send these alien putains into the grave before more of the expedition got sent there.

[Dawn OOC]

The female Other that Curtis had attacked spun on him. Her hands flashed toward him and he was picked up and bodily hurled away. Curtis rolled into the shredded remains of a tent, fetching against a pole. It didn’t hurt that much, but he still groaned as he rolled back to his feet.

Inoae was pressed up against a tree; invisible forces held her in place against the bark. The frantic young woman strained fruitlessly against the bonds holding her. But the Other focusing on her was focused on her, and the pressures on her were intense. Inoae screamed incoherently as she fought to be allowed to defend her chosen Hive.

Yseult’s grin was grim and vicious as she finally felt that tell-tale snap of the neck – only there weren’t convulsions and limpness. Instead, the damned alien continued to fight, defying the odds and all reason by continuing to put up a fight.

Bates was still kneeling, but he rose to one foot. As if that was the surge he needed, he pushed to his feet and staggered toward the woman holding him. She sidestepped his attack and he kept moving - right into the man Inoae had attacked. It wasn't his target, but Bates wrapped his arms around the man and tackled him willingly. Inoae suddenly found herself able to move.

Evana had been holding back in the shadows near her ripped tent. Beautiful eyes narrowed at the invaders, but she'd bidded her time, letting them focus on Bates. That was his job; to lead them. It was her job to help, and it had been far more helpful for her to hang back and watch. Now, she suspected was the time to act; the other people were still doing something but it seemed that her group could act against them. Bannon was to her right, not too far away, watching the invaders with the same grumpiness that he watched anyone with.

[Dawn OOC]

Bates knelt over the man as he pummeled him with his fists. The commanding officer of this expedition was slightly inhuman in his rage; his face was contorted with rage as he beat on the being under him. The woman who had been holding him grabbed at him again with telekinetic force, only to have Bates whip to his feet, grab the man he was beating and physically throw him at the female Other. The two went down in a tangle of bodies.

The man that Yseult had ‘killed’ was still fighting; she found herself grabbed by telekinesis again and lifted off of him. This time she didn’t let go and the poor man was dragged along with her. She didn’t care; perhaps if breaking a neck wouldn’t do it, then maybe she could suffocate him.

Curtis was on his feet for a moment before another surge of energy knocked him backwards again. “This is getting old,” he snarled as his roll put him back by the rising hill, almost in the trees.

Evana’s moment to wait was gone; one of the Others selected her for an object lesson. Invisible force wrapped her head to foot; Bannon had a ring-side seat to the show as the Other drew Evana closer to him. One of Yseult’s blades rose to hover in the air before the bound woman. It's intent was clear.

[Evana]

She struggled, but the bonds were too tight. Grunting and stressing in a vain attempt to free herself Evana let the face of fear wash over her. Closer and closer and closer she was dragged to the Other, the entire time cursing the bastard for possibly getting stains on one of her favorite pairs designer leather, butt hugger pants (the custom purple color cost her extra too). Mustering what strength she could she gave it all her effort and lunged one foot upward, catching her captor square in the snarglies with the stilettoed heel of her boot.

The Ren Fair Reject doubled over, his concentration breaking momentarily. Everything about Evana, from where Bannon sat, seemed... brighter. Her hair seemed to shimmer a bit lighter, her eyes possessed a eerie ice blue shimmer to them. She seemed more... alive.

Without hesitation she sprang up and tackled the Other to the ground, landing atop and already wailing away on it's jaw. "Do, you..." her right fist slammed it's face.

"Have any idea..." Her left had it's chance to rain ugly all over her assailant.

"How much..." His eye already began to swell from bruising as her right fist struck home again.

"I paid for these pants!" Her left crushed down onto the 'man' cracking a cheek bone, she thought, and possibly knocking out a tooth.

Her rage abated there, he was done, and so was she. With one last right cross she stood up, staggering slightly as the adrenalin had it's way on her balance.

"Asshole..." she mumbled one last time, insisting on getting the last word on someone who hadn't bothered to speak to her.

He's not dead, just dramatic licensing. Didn't know if we were supposed to win, roll, lose, or what. I figure between the adrenaline and the awakening genetic issues, Evana is far from stellar at the moment.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

Moreau snarled as she felt the invisible force grasp at her once more, pissed more than shocked that the piece of shit was barely even inconvenienced by a broken neck, and being choked was doing even less. Her feet skimming above the ground, Yseult almost lost her grip before she managed to clench her hand around the alien's throat, eyes widening at the feeling of vertebrae and cartilage crumpling with surprising ease, though it still didn't stop the fucker's struggles.

"Ça me fait chier!" the powerful looking woman growled, hard, sculpted muscle rippling ominously as she dug the toes of her boots into the ground - surprisingly deep - halting her telekinetic movement, keeping one hand on the his neck, and tangling her other arm with one of his. If the fucker was going to die, it called for a different tactic - namely crippling the fucker enough into uselessness and leaving him until the rest of them have been incapacitated. "Merde de fuck! You magic-shit-aliens are a pain in the ass, no?"

Positioned behind the alien, she lashed out with two stomps on his calves, quicker than lightning, and shattered his shins. She ignored his pained keening as uncannily acute senses tracked the locations and movements of the rest of the hostiles and her team members. Bates was tangling with Inoae's assailant, but his own was coming up from behind him after side-stepping his charge.

Yseult coldly analyzed the distance and figured she could do something about that with the potential missile she had in hand. She tightened her arm and twisted sharply, popping the alien's shoulder from the socket and breaking his elbow, as she pivoted with a loud shout and flipped the asshole over her hip, launching him at the hostile coming up behind Bates...

... And missed. By a lot. Yseult's mouth dropped open as she watched in total shock as the alien sailed over the trees for dozens of yards, like a limp-limbed mannequin thrown by a catapult. Yseult stared down at her hands and arms, at the tendons dancing in her forearms, the bulge of her biceps, noted something different, if not exactly what. "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?"

But she didn't let her surprise paralyze her for more than a split second, subsuming it under icy fury. Moving faster than a galloping horse, Moreau charged the alien bitch seeking to blindside Bates, and planted an iron-hard fist into kidneys, knocking her clear off her feet and into a tree.

The big woman crowed with exhilaration and the feeling of invincibility - she didn't know what was going on, but she liked it. She unsheathed her other combat knife and smiled viciously. "You alien fucks, you are not being so tough now, no?"

[Curtis Shane]

Curtis quickly got up, and then his senses caught up with him, and he realized how broadened they were and how easily he could track each shout seperately, the sights and booms of each combat, comrade or foe as easily as a seperate file, but all at once. Sharper too, all of this, and he found the combat, now that he commited wasn't so frenetic. Or rather, the changes seemed more gradual as if he could check it off casually from a list and adapt. The hell? Exposure to super-powers giving us our own?

A fraction of vision caught Yseult giving an Other the javelin throw, landing now far from his position. I suppose so. The P90 felt so familar and dissected down to the subatomic level in his hands as he charged over to the Other, stamping down the man as he attempted to rise. And Curtis felt so comfortable, he instictively adjusted for recoil, not a hit of worry as he pumped several shots into the alien's head.

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

Inoae edged away from Kap Tan Bates' battle, having learned long ago not to come between a warrior and his prey. Not being that prey was even better, though of course it always did happen at some point or another. Her Yseult Moreau was a female but also a warrior in this hive, so she skirted them as well. Inoae wasn't sure if Kap Tan Evana was also a warrior like her Yseult Moreau, but she seemed disoriented as she stood up over the alien male and didn't notice the bloodied glare from the seemingly defeated foe.

The woman streaked across the battlefield, a blonde blur that launched herself bodily at the prone enemy just as Evana found her center of balance through the haze of adrenaline. She was screaming, screeching in feral fury that this food had dared attack a female of her hive as she scratched and clawed at the man's face, digging rivulets of blood from his flesh until she finally sunk gore-covered fingers into his eyes.

[Dawn OOC]

Evana straightened out and headed for the next fight; there were at least three of the strangers who still appeared to be acting against her people and weren’t engaged with other Atlantians. Behind her, Inoae fell with savage rage on the one she’d just put down, otherwise occupying the Other.

The woman that Yseult had knocked into the tree pulled herself off the tree with a snarl. Yseult felt a return shove, one that pitched her over the fire and into the river. The rapid current drew her toward the falls immediately, leaving Yseult struggling to get back to shore.

The shots did terrible things to the Other’s head; blood, bone and brain went everywhere. Another of the Others lashed out at him, invisible force knocking him between the legs in a desperate gesture. The world went gray around the edges of his vision for Curtis.

Bates pounded on his attacker, trying every dirty trick in the book to bring the man down quickly. But breaking things didn’t slow him down and Bates was getting desperate. How did you kill these things?

In case you are all wondering the same – destroy the brain.

No, they are not zombies, but their power does reside in their gray matter. Feel free to finish putting them down this next week, however you’d like.

[Curtis Shane]

The graying vision for the embattled Curtis slowly increased, with the heaviness of his breathing as he struggled to get up. Almost immediately, he felt a growing pressure on his upper chest, and he realized the Other was trying to collapse his chest cavity and grant him a gruesome death. Mixed in with the hurried efforts to resist, was the question, How?

But Curtis' senses remained strong, compartmentalized by input source yet woven into one whole, and that granted him the sudden clarity of reason. The Other he'd just shot wasn't moving, cut off from life without the animation granted by its invisible strings.... the brain strew about! Of course! No sentient humanoid species could survive the loss of their brain. Curtis, buoyed by his realization, forced a herculean lift of his arms, and the P90 was pointed to blast right through the temple.

Boom, he mouthed, and the military rifle did so. When the Other collapsed, Curtis took a deep breath, then shouted, "Destroy their brains!" Hopefully the others would hear and react accordingly.

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

It would be less disturbing for her hive mates to assume the their resident Lantean heard Curtis's shout and simply followed orders like she always did, but the truth was that she was had already destroyed the eyes of the Other she was straddling, ignoring the growing pressure around her throat that was causing her sight to dim and spark stars in the growing darkness, and simply continued pushing. Her fingers found slick purchase on the rims of his eye sockets and clawed inward.

The Other was screaming in desperation, trying to pry her arms away from him and feeling her flesh bruise and bones creak under his own, only to heal immediately and then pulp again. She ripped what she could from him from the ruins of his eye sockets and the pressure around her throat and her arms abruptly stopped at the man collapsed and his final scream cut off in a death rattle. For a moment longer she continued her assault, adrenaline and centuries of rage masking the finality of her attacks.

Once she understood that the presumptuous food was dead - which she was certain she'd be punished for now since he could no longer be food - she looked up. The rage retreated immediately, hidden under fear and a mind broken repeatedly since childhood, and she sought out her Yseult Moreau to know what to do next. She stood up, unmindful of the blood coating her clothes and the bits of eye and brain dripping from her fingers, and calmly started to pick her way back to her Yseult Moreau's side.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

Yseult hit the river with a heavy flesh. She could feel the chill of water, all the heat lost with the night, yet it didn't affect her, made her neither flinch nor gasp, nor even raise a hint of gooseflesh. She could clearly hear the rushing of the water over the rocks, the hissing roar at the base of the waterfall, and Curtis shouted directions. Merveilleux! Fucking zombies! Telekinetic zombies!

It had been only a moment, yet the swift current of the river had carried her quickly towards the falls, yet the incredible feeling of vitality and power persisted. She slipped the blade of her combat knife in her teeth and smoothly twisted around, not in the least disoriented by the gloom and being underwater. With smooth power and exquisite economy of motion, Yseult arrowed through the current and overwhelmed it, despite still wearing her boots and the sodden weight of her clothing and gear.

The muscular woman reached the point she entered the river, then past it. She swam down to the bottom, planting her feet against the rocks, then launched herself up with a surge of impossible strength. She broke the surface of the river, sailing more than thirty feet up into the air, water streaming from her black hair and powerful figure. In the same motion, she drew the knife from her teeth and flicked underhand at the female Other.

The combat knife flew through the air in a straight-lined blur, piercing the Other's forehead with a crunching thunk, bone and brain splattering as the blade sunk into the trunk of the up to the hilt before Yseult even hit the ground. Her feet left deep gouges as she landed in an easy crouch, aware what she was doing was superhuman, but shoving the need to marvel at it until the fight was over.

She smelled Inoae approaching from her right and slightly to the rear, and glanced over her shoulder, seeing the blank and unaware look in her intense hazel eyes. It was a bit eerie, a striking, young woman, barely a woman, spattered in blood and brain, with that empty look in her eyes. Yseult hid a frown behind a tight, vicious smile.

"Bon! Good job, Inoae," Yseult said, a new, faint timbre or resonant to her low voice. "Follow me, there is one being thrown into the woods, who we are not wanting to get away." Without turning around, Yseult pointed directly at the last Other standing, holding off the rest of their team. "Curtis, whoever else has their hostile down, take down that one. I am getting the last."

Yseult focused, tuned her sense of hearing in a way that was new, yet instinctive, hearing the sound of the one that had gone for an unexpected flight trying to drag itself away; a sniff informed her that it was indeed the last Other. "This way, Inoae."

Yseult stalked through the clearing and into the woods-covered slope of the hills like a primeval predator, some sort of great cat. After several strides, she slowed down so Inoae could keep up, if barely, her steps soundless. Despite her exertions and the dunking in the river, she was perfectly comfortable - she wasn't even breathing hard, nor was her heart-rate elevated. She might as well have woken up from long sleep.

Sound, scent, and sight led her and Inoae unerringly to their target; a cold smirk graced Yseult's lips and the Other knew fear.

[Bannon]

It was all so apparent to him suddenly.

He wasn't sure how, but the already-genius doctor suddenly experienced utter clarity. It was similar to the feeling he got in the lab when making a breakthrough - when the universe resolved itself into a simple equation that he wondered how he could have overlooked - only this feeling wasn't a single moment. It went on, and on. Everything he looked at made more sense than it had before. Living things, everywhere, were puzzles that resolved themselves into simple words on a page. He saw the Others, even as the rest of the Atlantis team began making their own successes, and he knew how to kill them.

"Irritants won't work." he muttered to himself as he knelt and dived into his black leather bag, discarding the two aerosols dismissively into it's depths before rummaging. He glanced up at the Other that was holding the other soldiers and civilians at bay, her attention divided between those putting up a fight and those beyond her invisible barrier. "Brain activity is the source of their power - need Tetrodotoxin... Aha." He grabbed a vial and attached it to a spray device of his own making, one that mixed the chemical with a solution of Dimethylsulphide... thus making it absorbable through the skin. He snapped his case closed and stood, moving away from it and towards the female Other, walking with an unhurried pace. She was looking every which way except at the slim pale form picking his way slowly towards her.

To his left, he heard the bark of a gun and Curtis shouting about the brains. To his right, he saw Inoae rise covered in blood from her kill like a tigress and race off after Yseult. But Bannon remained focused on his target, and reaching her side he tapped her once on the shoulder. The woman turned, only to jerk back as he lifted his weapon and sprayed a stream of something into her eyes from a foot away. She sputtered, a flick of her power sending Bannon sprawling before he felt a great weight start to crush him into the ground. He looked up at the Other and smiled.

She blinked again, feeling strange, dizzy, weak. The white man was getting to his feet again, even though she was trying to keep him down. The Other felt her muscles start to twitch and spasm uncontrollably and fell to her knees, legs not obeying the commands of her formidable brain anymore. Nothing was listening to her brain anymore - she felt the sparks and pops of signals dying, lights of neural activity winking out all over her body... and it hurt. She retched, nausea causing her to vomit.

"This came from a fish." Bannon said conversationally. "A lot of fish, actually. It's very concentrated." He squatted at eye level with the Other and looked her in the eye. "Normally it'd take half an hour to kill you, though paralysis would be a matter of minutes. This particular compound's effects are somewhat faster. I give you five minutes to live, though you'll be unable to do anything except feel pain about thirty seconds from now. You won't even be able to scream, or hear, or see. Eventually you won't even be able to breath, and your heart will stop." He reached out and gently shoved the Other female over onto her back, where she flopped like a dead fish as he stood up again, looking around. "Excuse me. My companions might need a doctor." he told her as he walked purposefully away.

His green eyes glittered like ice crystals and his pale-blond hair seemed a luminous white shade now as he surveyed the battlefield, moving to assist Bates. The doctor seemed more daunting than usual, more self-possessed, and his quiet air of cold malice seemed somehow colder yet as he made his way to the struggling officer.

[Dawn OOC]

Curtis’s shout seemed one of desperation, but Bates was getting desperate himself. Nothing he tried got the strange alien to stop; all of his breaks, jams and holds did little more than inconvenience the alien. Then Bannon was next to him, murmuring, “Allow me.” The doctor was holding some sort of sprayer and Bates moved back. “Don’t let it touch your skin,” the doctor instructed and Bates moved back further, doing the minimum to maintain a hold on the monster.

Bannon sprayed his face with something before leaning down to murmur something. Bates couldn’t hear it over the sounds of combat, but he knew it made the man twitch and try to scream. “He’ll be no further bother.” Bannon’s statement was all the more chilling given the dispassionate way which it was delivered.

Bates released the man cautious; he made no effort to rise or get away. Satisified, the leader of this motley group of Atlantians rose to his feet and glanced around. He was pleased by the carnage he saw in the area. My people did this, he thought, feeling pride swell in his chest. “Sound off! Who’s hurt? Who’s missing? C’mon, let’s restore some order here!”

He felt powerful and commanding, in a way he hadn’t before. Bates wasn’t sure what had just happened to him, but he thought he liked it.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

"Moreau and Amara are five-by-five!" Yseult called out confidently, her strong voice faint with the distance of several dozen yards through the trees. Despite the distance, she could hear Bates' voice easily.

She glowered down at the Other laying broken at her feet. She wanted to take it prisoner, yet even with all four limbs broken, plus its neck, and more, the fucker still fought. Its telekinetic thumps had grown weaker, barely raising bruises - which were quick in fading - but then it began strangling Inoae, the bitchy sergeant had enough. She finished it with a heel-stomp to the forehead, crushing its head like a rotten melon, the scent of blood blooming strong in the air. It was incredibly satisfying. "Hostile eliminated! Returning to camp!" Yseult nodded at Inoae and picked up the corpse of the Other. "Allons-y, Inoae."

Shorts moments later, Yseult and Inoae entered the clearing they had chosen for their camp, the muscular woman carrying the limp form of the Other by its waistband with one hand. The expedition had seen the woman bring back a wildesheep back to camp on her shoulders, leaving her breathing hard and her face red, yet the Other, massing nearly as much, she supported with amazing ease, using a single hand. It was almost frightening how effortlessly she tossed the Other half way across the camp, to land with a thump next to the prone forms of the Others Bannon had incapacitated.

Yseult's smirk was unmistakable. She looked the same, only more so. Her pantherish grace had been heightened to something inhumanly predatory, promising immense, coiled strength. She didn't really look bigger, but every muscle seemed taut, harder and denser, even when relaxed and at rest.

She had no better idea than Bates what was happening to her - to them, she amended, glancing at covertly at even more radiant Inoae and Evana, noticing the more potent presence of Bates, asshole that he was - but unlike him, she didn't merely think she liked the changes, she knew she did.

"Inoae, go clean off the blood and grey matter in the river, d'accord?" Yseult suggested, seeing Inoae was still sort of lost inside her head, and even with all the strangeness and terror surrounding the arrival of the Others, many of the expedition were looking at the brains, blood, and vitreous humors drying on the slender blonde's hands and forearms. Her lips twisted wryly. "It stinks and who knows what these fuckers are infected with, eh?"

Yseult stalked over to the Other she had pinned to a tree via knife-through-face, a face frozen in surprise. Wrapping a hand around the hilt of her KA-Bar, she ripped it free of the hardwood trunk, then scowled at the sight of the hopelessly twisted blade. She had thrown it and yanked it free too hard. Frowning, she got a grip on the blade, bracing it with her thumbs and pressed and the tempered steel yielded under the force she exerted. Still, the KA-Bar was hopelessly fucked.

She folded the blade in half and hooked it on a strap of her combat-vest, added the female Other to the pile, then went to the river herself to scrub herself clean of blood and bio-detritus clinging to her knuckles.

"So, is there being anyone who is knowing what is happening to us?" Moreau asked, her French-Canadian accent stronger than usual.

[Bannon]

"There are a dozen injured." Bannon asserted as he stepped up next to Bates. He glanced around at the mixture of civilians and soldiers. "Some are serious, though I don't believe any are life-threatening."

"I didn't see you examine them, Doc." Bates said warily, though in truth he was as much curious as wary. He'd known Bannon was a cold bastard, but something in the way he'd dealt painful death with a little spray was even more chilling. On the upside, at least he was on their side... Mostly, Bates amended as a pair of glittering green-ice eyes regarded him. There was something noticeably different now about the young scientist: he seemed, if you looked out the corner of your eye at him, to be limned with a faint frost-like radiance.

"I did not need to." Bannon answered firmly in a low voice, though his expression was a study in curiousity. "I just knew. Sergeant Coburn over there has a broken arm... and is allergic to shellfish. Doctor Osbourne may want to start a course of antibiotics for the low-level infection developing in his blood right now, though his own immune system should be enough." The dauntingly handsome white-haired man looked back at Bates. "I see these things, just as I saw how our attackers were vulnerable to a neurotoxin."

"So like the Sergeant asked - you got any idea what's going on?" Bates asked. Bannon shrugged.

"Not as yet. But I'll be working on that. My guess-" and his nose wrinkled at the word "-if you want it, is that the attack triggered something in those of us that possess the ATA genome. I wonder if these were Ancients, or some foe of theirs...?" he mused aloud, looking around at the bodies. "That might explain some kind of genetic defensive reaction. Moreau, for instance, has gained approximately 25% more body mass, mostly muscle fiber and bone density. The others have also undergone some changes." He declined to comment on Evana's enhanced... attractiveness. Or indeed anyones, but especially Evana's.

"We should see to the injured and wrap a couple of the bodies." he advised Bates. "When we get back to Atlantis, I can do a more detailed investigation." Having said his piece and leaving the officer to make the decision, he collected his bag and moved unerringly over to the most wounded man, an Airman with broken shoulder and collarbone who had, more dangerously, suffered some internal injuries, though that was apparent only to Bannon. Kneeling down the pale figure of the doctor, with surprising gentleness of manner, began to treat the injury.

[Teagan Shae Ammer]

Inoae nodded to her Keeper - Yseult Moreau! - and made her way to the river. She waded as far as she could before the current became too strong, then scrubbed down her hands and arms until only pale, perfect skin remained. Once that was done she dunked herself completely in the water and worked the blood and gore out of her hair. Her Keeper Yseult Moreau came over to the edge of the river while she was untangling her hair to wash her own hands; Inoae moved quietly closer to the dark-haired soldier, but stopped when the other woman moved off to ask her hive-mates about what had happened during the attack.

Her arms and hair taken care of, Inoae stripped off her clothes and did her best to work out the stains from the cloth; there was nothing she could do for the rips and holes while in the water. She shivered as she worked, but discomfort was ignored in the face of direct orders. She worked diligently to follow those orders, checking herself over a second time to ensure that her body no longer harbored the offensive materials that she had been ordered to remove. The clothes were still stained, so when she stepped out of the river she simply wrung them out one last time and folded them up so that she could easily carry them while only touching unstained portions; she'd been told once that her clothes were hers and she'd not been told to destroy them, so she kept them with her until she was told if they were to be worn again or destroyed.

She walked back to her Yseult Moreau Keeper's side, silently taking up her place a pace behind and to the side to wait patiently for directions for herself and hopefully about the clothes held gingerly in her hands.

[Bannon]

"This will help with the discomfort, but not eliminate it entirely." Bannon cautioned the Airman who, pale-faced, was resting on a makeshift litter. Two of his fellows were nearby, watching in quiet amazement as Doctor Jason Bannon, widely considered to be a monster with blood of liquid nitrogen, was almost gentle with the wounded man. A sharp sting of the hypodermic was quickly followed by relief, and the doctor proceeded to set the shoulder efficiently, causing the wounded man to wince, but not cry out.

As he worked to strap the shoulder in place, Bannon noticed that his patient was staring at something past him. Turning, he saw the naked Inoae walking through the camp, glistening wet and holding her clothes in her arms. For a moment he stared, hands frozen mid-motion as the deeply hidden aesthetic part of his soul joined with the equally hidden carnal part to give a unanimous vote of approval. Then his lips tightened as though in anger, and he turned back to his work.

"Sergeant Moreau!" his cold voice rose above the bustle of the camp as people started setting things to rights. "Perhaps you can find your camp follower some clothes?" The question was as much rhetorical as in earnest, with a side order of biting irony.

[Sgt. Yseult Moreau]

"Fuck off, Bannon."

Yseult would have shot Bannon a scathing glare if she wasn't stifling an urge to facepalm herself. She really should have expected the damned literal interpretation from Inoae. Glancing over a shoulder at the svelte blonde, Yseult kept her gaze level as she took in the nude sight. Inoae was looking damn fine, hotter than ever, despite the blank expression from her fugue-like state. Had Inoae looked this good when she had first tried crawling into her bed, Yse would've found it harder to kick her out.

The imposing woman's jaw tightened, lips pressing into a tight line as she resisted the thought. After the experiences with her father and one of her gymnastic coaches, she'd never take advantage of someone in her charge, male or female, especially someone already so abused she'd come to her bed willingly. Besides, she lesbian phase had come during her gymnastic phase - she preferred girls with tone and muscle, and more athletic figures. Although... with her willingness and diligence, I bet I could whip her into shape easy enough...

Yseult ruthlessly suppressed dwelling on the idea, looking forward and striding towards the wreckage of her and Inoae's tents. Merde! But I need a fuck! The superhuman vitality and strength was making her horny, or at least it seemed that way. Inoae, Evana with those tits and legs in leather, Bates had a certain presence despite being - or because he was - an asshole. Even shitfuck Bannon was looking good to her, and she'd break the squint in half, and that was before whatever the fuck happened to them had happened.

"Bastard's right, Inoae. You can't be wandering around in your skin, yes?" Yseult didn't even have to look around to tell Inoae was shivering from being wet in the pre-dawn chill. Yseult dug around in the remains of Inoae's tent, pulling out her pack, and digging out a second set of BDUs. She balled them up and tossed them to the blonde. "Get dressed in those."

Yseult watched her getting dressed with cool, considering eyes, yet the rest of her senses kept her keenly aware of everyone else, where they were and what they were doing. Musingly, she picked up a rock, then slowly tightened her fingers. With a snapping crack, she crushed it into powder, with barely any effort. And that was with her off-hand - it felt every bit as strong as her dominant one.

"Inoae, do you feel different? Notices any changes like some of the others," she nodded at Bannon and Bates, then raised her hand and let the crushed powder fall from her fingers, "or like me?"

[Evana]

"Excuse me Sergeant, did I just hear that correctly?" Evana said as she passed by Bannon with purpose to her stride. "Sergeant, we all know your charge isn't stupid, so if all she's going to be is a distraction then damnit find her a shady spot and sit her down. You have duties of your own to perform and this woman is currently keeping you from them. Last I checked you are part of this military and last I checked that girl is not standard issue. The adults are having crisis here and we don't have time to baby sit." She knew Inoae had a few issues, but Sergeant Moreau had duties of her own to perform and it was times like this where, frankly, the girl was just dead weight. She turned swiftly, pointing at Bannon as she passed him. "Bannon, do you need anything?"

"I have all I need." He said casually, never looking up from his work.

"If you do, let me know, I'll see that you have it." She continued on. It was times like these that, despite how much they seemed to hate one another, they put their petty squabbling aside for the greater good. She approached the Sergeant just moments after she'd delivered her speech to Inoae. "Sergeant," She said softly. "Do something with her and do it fast, if any of our boys out there go without help because you were over here patting her on the ass, I'll see you held responsible. Now, move." It was one of the very rare times Evana had lost her air of pleasantness about her and she spoke to Sergeant Moreau with that 'do not test me tonight' tone.