Terraforming Process Beta

[yosticaltari]

“The original terraforming process of planet Daleth, proved unsuccessful, but with the technology I have brought into reality, I can assure you that the problems we have with planet Daleth are a thing of the past…”

Underneath a large computer screen, the council member Tarquin, sat with his feet up on his desk. He was fiddling with a logic puzzle. Shadowed images of other people moved on the screen, until one of them spoke.

“How can you prove this is going to work? Recent estimates say it will take five years to terraform planet Daleth with your technology! We cannot invest any more funds in this project if you deny us access to your results. This is what we get for letting a hybrid control system security…”

Tarquin laughed, with many of the other council members, although his laugh wasn’t as heartfelt.

“By dusk tonight, I shall have viable evidence to support my strategies. I am only using one tempest-class capital ship. Planet Daleth has ten tempest-class capital ships per planet quadrant. Our men aboard those vessels are working day in, day out, with very little breaks.” Tarquin was interrupted just as he was about to continue.

“What about this so called evidence? What does it entail exactly?”

“I have collected various test subjects. Over the six months they have lived within the walls of Sinta City. The tempest-class vessel has been active in the area for all of that time. Today is the final day of the test. Today is their apocalypse. Now if you don’t mind. I have a project to run.”

The screen switched off and the darkened areas of the room lit up. Tarquin got to his feet and then walked to the window, just as the blinds opened. In the sky above them sat a vessel, which was one of latest ships the government had created. The tempest-class capital ship was built like a two pronged fork, with the shiniest metal built on the insides of the two ‘prongs’. Tarquin smirked as the metal in the prongs began to light up. Lightning shot off the metal and connected with the other and soon the electrical currents passed between the two points. The sky got darker and darker as clouds moved towards the ship. As time went on, the ship disappeared into the clouds, and suddenly actual thunder shook the base they were in.

As the base was built on the peak of a small mountain, it over looked a bowl surrounded by mountains. At the centre of the bowl, sat Sinta City, which was a city for weapons testing. Now it was to test the biggest weapon of all, the soon-to-be feared Tempest class capital ship...

[Rastzar]

Every once in a while a subtle click could be heard from somewhere in the dark.
The light from the monitor didn't reach this corner of the room, and Alister was quite fine with that. Skillfully his fingers fiddled with the knife again, slinging the handle around, revealing the blade, then just as fast slinging it the other way, concealing the weapon.
This was pretty much routine for Alister, the knife was his plaything when the Boss-man was busy, and Alister preferred to stay out of sight when he spoke to the council.
That however, was just about the only thing routine about this situation.

"I really oughta question my morality sometimes..." the Mivra thought to himself, considering what he was currently overhearing.
"Boss-man seems thrilled though... might as well hope it lasts" With that thought in mind Alister dropped the knife gently into his pocket and stretched as much as the suit would allow him.
The suit was new and Alister already hated it. It felt restricting and made it hard to move, aside from that it didn't feel good against his fur at all.
Lifting his arm Alister looked at the elegant stitching that held the fabric together. It would be oh so simple to just slid a claw i and rip open a hole so that he could move around more, actually the idea was tempting, but the Mivra seemed to recall that his dress-code prohibited gaping holes in his suits.

The boss finally removed himself from the screen and the room lit up again. Alister didn't really like this room, especially because of the windows. Any sniper worth his pay could kill the boss-man through them, and it was Alister's job to stop that from happening.
For that reason the Mivra began moving for the first time since the conversation had started.
With silent Paw-steps he made it across the room and positioned himself next to the Boss-man.
His amber eyes scouted the area, but he was quickly distracted by the big weird lightning-fork that was just outside of the window.

"Prolly going off to fry somebody... i really shouldn't think so casually about that... but at least boss-man seems happy, i wonder where we're off to next" Alister thought to himself as the weird fork lifted itself into the sky. Maybe if he had paid more attention he would've known what it was called, but he was bored, way too bored to eavesdrop.
The mivra opened his mouth to ask where they were going now, but decided against it. The boss-man would tell him anyways, there was no need to waste words.

[yosticaltari]

The ship soon vanished completely in the clouds as it released steam from every vent. Moments later the steam mixed with the clouds and the clouds got darker, and darker. Thunder hit the city in several places, lighting up the whole area with a flash of light. Rain dropped to the already moist ground. The rain got heavier and heavier, until it was coming down in blankets. The scene was only spurred on with the wind, which was ravaged the bowl in a sort of minor vortex.

By now many the people who had previously been in the streets of the town, had vanished inside. Even from Tarquin’s vantage point, he could see that the town was now almost void of life. There was a sort of smile on Tarquin’s face as time went on, until he noticed Alister next to him. “Hm.” Tarquin looked over at the glass and laughed. He’d obviously picked up on the Mivra’s worry for the dangerous position he was in. “You are over protective. But come on, we have a ship to catch. We need a closer look at the process.”

Tarquin turned and headed towards the door. Tarquin almost seemed to march as he walked, his back was ridged, and his poise, sharp and locked in place almost.

The process would take a while, hours in fact. But Tarquin, for once, had the time to wait. As he reached the corridor, Tarquin started moving faster. It was a small cramped space, something of which Tarquin wasn’t too fond of, but it was a sacrifice one made when working in off world government buildings. Tarquin was sure Al had followed him, so didn’t wait as he went up the stairwell. He was heading up to the roof-mounted landing pad, which sat Tarquin’s personal ship. It was quite large for a personal craft. There was a cockpit built for one or two people. Behind the cockpit was Tarquin’s room. It had a bed for long flights, a desk to work at, and several other things, including a bathroom. Underneath Tarquin’s room, and accessible via a staircase in the ship’s corridor, was the rooms for his bodyguard. The only way into the ship was through the bodyguard’s living area, and then up the stairs, giving a sort of ‘last line of defence’ effect. The outside of the ship was made from a dull grey metal. It wasn’t flashy, and neither did it say it was a council member’s ship. In fact it just looked like the average trader vessel. Two wide wings held the guns on either side of the vessel, armed with an array of missiles hidden inside the thick wings. The engines were built into the highest point of the ship, to the backend, with two large exhaust pipes on the back of the ship.

When he got to the doors to the landing pad, Tarquin stopped and waited to let Alister, check the landing pad for whatever dangers, he thought might be there.

[Rastzar]

The display outside the window was eerie and almost supernatural for Alister to behold, but he hadn't the time to pay it much attention. The fork-contraption had risen into the sky, and with that there would be a free line of fire to where the Boss-Man stood.
Lightning lit up the amber eyes as they quickly but throughoutly scouted the area outside.

The Boss-man began talking, and while Alister certainly listened, he did not avert his gaze, it would be all to ironic if the shot came the moment they chose to leave, but as far as his eyes could see there was nothing to be worried about.
"Oh yes, let's go out into that to have a closer look..." the bodyguard thought to himself, silently cursing the weather that would not only make his fur wet, but would also make the suit he was wearing even more uncomfortable than it already was. Hopefully they could make it to the ship without getting too torn up by the elements.

The Mivra heard his client leave and hurried after. While he wasn't THAT much taller than Alister, the Boss-Man certainly walked faster, especially when he marched off like that.
This of course forced Alister to go down on all four in order to keep up the pace, something his suit just wasn't tailored for.
As they reached the corridor, Alister cursed silently again. He hated how this place was constructed. The corridors were way too cramped, making it impossible to hide anywhere or evade shots, and physical combat would also be hard, though not as difficult. In the end, Alister would have to act as a meat-shield should they encounter any enemies here, something he wasn't very fond of, after all, the longer he stayed alive, the longer he could ensure the Boss-man's safety.
The Boss was walking even faster now, but Alister assumed he would wait before going out onto the landing pad, after all Al needed to check it first.
"Might as well schedule a hair-appointment already" he thought bitterly before letting out a soundless sigh.

They had reached their destination, and the Boss-man had waited so that Al could check out things up top.
As he passed the boss-man he let out a short grunt that meant something along the lines of "Wait here" and "I'll check it out", at least to Alsiter.
His paws fiddled a bit with the door before he got it opened and got outside, closing the heavy door behind him.
Once he was outside and the door was closed shut Alister let out a real sigh before he began looking around. Aside from behind the Vehicle there wasn't many places where one could hide, but of course he'd also have to check the Vehicle itself.

As he ran around the pad, checking for suspicious people, Alister cursed the weather. He could already feel his mane going heavy with water and the clothes he wore were even more restricting and clung to his body.
"I'll have to change out of these clothes... into another damned suit.." he thought as he reached the Vehicle itself.
This inspection took a little longer, as Alister had to make absolutely certain not a single soul was on board something he did somewhat gleefully, knowing he dripped everywhere he went.
"I wonder what Boss-man would say if i rolled around in his bed... would prolly be mad" Al decided not to follow that notion and instead he deemed the vessel secure though slightly wetter than before he entered.
As he left the ship, backing up to the door so that no one could sneak in while he looked away, Al praised his boss for not wanting a big pompous ship, those were always prone to attacks. A Ship like this was pleasently anomynous and unless you knew who was in it there was no reason to attack it really.

Al opened the door and stuck in his head, nodding to his boss.
"I prolly look like a drowned cub" he thought to himself as he waited for his client to get moving.

[yosticaltari]

Whilst he was waiting, Tarquin had opened a nearby storage locker. There he pulled out an umbrella. As he stepped out onto the landing platform, he put up the umbrella and walked out. As he walked across the platform, he stopped, and turned on his heels to look at Alister. A smirk tugged at the very edges of Tarquin’s lips. There was something rather amusing to see a feline creature in a suit, and completely soaked.

Tarquin turned his attention to the storm. He almost felt like God. He was just standing there, dictating the weather, dictating the lives of those below. It was almost enough to send chills running down his spine. He looked very, very pleased with himself. He spent a few minutes just standing, staring up at the clouds. He basked in the accomplishment.

He then turned back to Al, and then headed towards the ship. Rain poured from the tops of the umbrella, but somehow none of the water got onto his clothes. By now the droplets were so big each individual raindrop could be seen, if focused upon.

Once inside the ship, Tarquin collapsed the umbrella and placed it inside a door side cabinet. Tarquin headed off towards the staircase, not really talking the time to look around Al’s living area. “Get changed before you get in the driver’s seat. Dry that hair too.” Tarquin commanded. “I supoose you can dress down, for now. We’re not going to be seeing anyone for a while. And I have a report to write as we go.” It was the only thing that Tarquin said before he ascended the stairs. Immediately Tarquin went into his room and picked up a pad and a pen, whilst checking around the room. There were drips everywhere. Tarquin cursed Al silently, but it meant very little, and with the heating on, it wouldn’t take too long to dry. Tarquin turned and walked out, immediately heading into the cockpit. He sat in the co-pilots chair; after all, Alister was a bodyguard. Tarquin’s life was in his hands. Tarquin could fly, he just chose not to. He set the pen and the pad, to the side, whilst using the co-pilot’s console to activate the ships systems. One by one the systems turned on, first the lights, then the air conditioning, then the heating. The sun shield was withdrawn and the windshield window was revealed, giving Tarquin a view of the storm and a limited view of the ground below. As the sensors came on, the ship appeared to have some difficult with the amount of static in the air. With some basic recalibrating techniques Tarquin had picked up over the years, the sensors became active, picking up the large tempest ship in the distance. It also notified of several other ships less than a hundred miles away, clearly the ship had a wide sensor range. Tarquin switched on the outside lights, and then the ships windscreen wipers. The rain was restricting visual range, but with the sensors on, they could see anything blocking their way on another screen.

Tarquin awaited Alister to arrive. It would take the quadruped to change out of the wet suit. He knew it would be a while before he was dry too. Tarquin in the meantime, just fiddled with the ships controls, checking over the ships electronics, and also examining the details he could get of any ship in the area.