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"Soulless"
(Previous Post was Dawn's "The Long Night")
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Stardate: 63072.1250

Captain Rikar watched with interest as Ensign Thomas and Lt. Cmdr. Maya worked their magic to establish a communication's link between the USS ANUBIS and the USS LANCELOT.  The Chief Science Officer's earlier suggestion, as long winded as it might have been, had been exactly what they had needed.  The GUMBARA Nebula had wreck havoc with many of the ship's systems, and the pounding that they had suffered at the hands of the alien vessel had left the SCARAB-Class Intel ship weakened and humbled.

Although affected by the unique properties of the nebula, the IGC's highly specialized sensors had been able to give a picture of the LANCELOT's condition… as bleak as it may have been.  This had only served to stress the urgency in establishing a communications link and getting the transporter operational as fast as possible.

The redheaded woman's throat suddenly tightened as her eyes fell upon the life readings onboard the LANCELOT.  Although intermittent, the ANUBIS' sensors were able to get a general reading as to the number of people still onboard the crippled vessel.  The most current scan had revealed that only 90 or so of the original 300 crew had survived and left to ward off the second wave of the attack against them.

"Maya," the Commanding Officer began as he eyes narrowed and her finger moved to touch the small screen at the Science Station.  "Can you focus the IGC's sensors on that boarding pod?"

"Problem Captain?" Ensign Thomas inquired while the Chief Science Officer complied with the request.

"It just strikes me as odd that the pod would have landed on one of the decks open to space," the redheaded woman explained with puzzlement.  "I just have a bad feeling about this…"

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Setting: USS LANCELOT, Deck 15, Aft Section
Stardate: 63072.1300

As cold as the vacuum of space that surrounded them, the soulless Imperian machines made their way through the corridors in search of their sole reason for being… life… to be exterminated.  Heavy metal footsteps connected with the broken deck beneath them with an inaudible magnetic click while a single red light where eyes should have been tirelessly scanned the area.  An unforgiving grip held onto the blaster, the hand-held weapon ready to be discharged the moment a target would be identified.

The fact that their instruments had failed, due to the interference of the nebula, to take them to an area of the LANCELOT where life could have actually been found had been irrelevant.  The fact that their mother ship had been destroyed and that all onboard had ceased to function had also been irrelevant.  Only their prime directive mattered… to see the eradication of all biological infestations throughout the galaxy.
 
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Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501

"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the Darkness and the Light"
-Entilza Delenn, Babylon 5