Commonwealth [Inactive]

Mark went into his room, reclined in his chair, then pulled a picture out of his drawer. It was of Sarah. She had a fair face and long flowing blond hair. She was smiling. It was the time he had taken her to the beaches of Antoras. Mark threw the picture back into the drawer and unbuttoned his leather coat from his uniform. Then, in his tank top, he stomped over to the rec room. He violently dragged out a punching bag and started whaling on it.
 
"Hm... Well, judging by his reaction I'm guessing it was pretty bad. PTSD, maybe? What did the creature look like?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the sound of a punching bag getting beaten. "Damn, he's really pissed off... Whatever it was, it was serious."


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The eggs that Nullisar had placed soon began to hatch. Long, sharp legs would pierce the leathery skin of the eggs, a spider-like creature emerging from each one. They were only about the size of a half dollar each, the same dull black as the J'sarri. Nullisar chuckled lightly, watching as they crawled onto him, chittering in his ears. He said something in his native language, and the spiders would disperse, skittering through the air vents. The J'sarri had a telepathic connection to them, and he would be able to see the ship through their eyes from the safety of his crawlspace.
 
Lilly peeked into the rec room. The captain looked pretty angry, part of her told her to go inside and talk to him, the other part told her not to get involved. The part that wanted to calm him down won and she stepped inside the room. "Captain, are you all right?"
 
"It looked like a thing, big, black, and ugly. Like a walking talking shadow. You know, the kind of thing that gives you the sudden urge to empty a clip into it."
 
Vex paused for a moment, tilting his head a bit. "About nine or ten feet tall would you say? What did it's voice sound like?" he asked, a very concerned tone in his voice. He had heard bout a creature like that, but as far as the Commonwealth reports said, they were extinct. "Any other details? Response to injury, preference for melee or ranged combat?" He sounded extremely worried.
 
Thomas continued in the same casual tone he had been speaking in before, despite of the urgency that Vex was questioning him with, "He fought with these rusty old knives, and he seemed to enjoy the hollow-points I put in his chest."
 
Vex growled under his breath. "Okay, first, the Captain needs to get those cuts cleaned out -now-. Those blades were probably poisoned. What you're describing is a creature called a J'sarri. The Commonwealth hired me to help with the cleanup when they eradicated the race. They normally fight with knives, and use their own blood to poison the blades they use. Before I looked like this, I ended up losing my arm to what I thought was just a minor scratch from one of those things." He glanced over his shoulder. "Post your men at each entrance to the ship. Give them incendiary rounds and tell them to shoot at anything that looks like what you described." he said, growling under his breath.
 
Thomas tapped the comm unit on his shoulder, "Post men around the Rogue Prudence, take it in shifts, standard patrol pattern. Incendiary rounds, shoot at anything dark and scary." An affirmative buzzed over the comm.
 
Vex nodded. "Good. At least someone around here has their shit straight." he said, looking over his shoulder. "Fuller, get those wounds cleaned out. J'sarri tend to poison their blades." he said over his comms. "I really hope you guys weren't followed." he said, sighing. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with a J'sarri.
 
Vex sighed, not hearing a response from the Captain. "Whatever, it's his arms. If he doesn't get that taken care of, they're going to go necrotic before the ship's able to take off."
 
Mark looked up to her with obvious pain in his eyes. "She depended on me! Out of all the responsibilities I could mess up on, I let her down! And then I just went back to work. I went to her funeral in GC uniform. I was so worried about losing my job that I couldn't even acknowledge our relationship afterward! Explain to me, how that makes it alright?"
 
Lilly was at a loss for words, she just looked back at him, her eyes making it clear that she wanted to help.
 
Vex turned, making his way towards the rec room. "Fuller, I'm not joking. If that thing was a J'sarri, I can guarantee he poisoned his blades. So unless you want to lose your damn arms, come with me. I'll take care of it." he offered, leaning against the door. He could tell the Captain was under considerable distress, but there were more pressing matters right now.
 
"What… what am I supposed to do? Live on? Be the fearless leader? Abandon all feeling for the one I loved!" Then Vex came in and told Mark to come with him. Mark stood for a second, surprised.
 
"Bounty hunter, remember? I've had to fight the J'sarri before. I was hired by the GC to help clean up that little skirmish you had with them. I lost my arm to necrosis, and it wasn't pleasant. C'mon." he said, turning to head to the medbay. "Unless, of course, you want me to amputate them both."
 
"Sarah would want you to live on, but she wouldn't want you to forget about her either. Come on captain, we have to take care of that poison."
 
Mark wiped his eyes, then followed them, rubbing his temples at the same time. "Vex, please get the ship's androids up and running again."
 
"Look at those wounds. We don't have time to wait for them to boot up. I'll handle it. I've done my bionics myself, I'm pretty sure I can clean out and stitch up a few cuts." he said, making his way to the medbay. "So, wanna tell me why you were having a nervous breakdown in the middle of the rec room?"
 
"I know how to treat these wounds Vex! Just go and find one of the androids and bring them to me! My nervous breakdowns are my own problem."
 
"Your nervous breakdowns are everyone's problem if you want to call yourself Captain of this ship! You're not the only one on this ship who's lost someone in conflict, and if you have even the slightest hope of being a decent Captain you either need to keep that shit to yourself, or confide in your f*cking crew!" he said sharply, spinning around to face him. "The only reason I'm here right now is because I thought you might be a strong man to follow and put my trust in. Was I mistaken?"
 
Lilly put her hand on Vex's shoulder and gave him a sad look, "Maybe we should just leave him alone while he deals with this."
 
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