Tasha was up bright and early the next morning, with plenty of time to clean up and see to breakfast before heading over to Dr. Zerachiel's room. The door swung open when she knocked, having not been properly latched, and she was greeted by an odd scene; machines and power packs hummed and blinked, clustered around a desk. Several displays cast their colored light across Eli's face, but his eyes were closed and his chin drooped as he sat in his chair.

Tasha pauses in the doorway, knocking hand still hovering in the air as she sees the doctor hunched over at his desk. Her head shakes, and she smiles. "Rise and shine, Doctor," she calls out in an insistent, but low, voice as she walks over and rests a hand on his arm. She can't help but think of Gabriel and how he'd do just the same thing when he was deep in his paper; the memory makes her smile all the more.

"Mmuffr, jus' a li'l kiss for luck, Griz… " the Karnor mutters before blinking awake. "What? Tasha?" He looks down, sees that he's still dressed in yesterday's clothes, and says, "I guess I fell asleep… "

"You certainly did. Don't worry, we all seem to do this sooner or later." She pats the man's shoulder, then leans over to look him in the face. "Do you feel awake for a material review of the scan data? Or, should I come back in a bit?"

"I'll be fine in a minute," the wolf says, stretching in his chair. "Just need some coffee and bacon… not together though," he notes.

"I'll just go get you some coffee." Smiling, Tasha leans back and pushes herself up, then walks for the door. "Don't fall asleep again," she calls out, before vanishing around the corner.

Roughly ten minutes later, Tasha returns smelling like the cafeteria and most importantly, like coffee. A steaming mug is in her hand, which she offers to the man. "Here you go. I forgot to mention we've also been approved for our tour of the Winged Citadel tomorrow." The mug in her other hand smells a lot like mint tea.

"Ah, wonderful!" Eli says, whether for the coffee or the tour or both isn't clear. He has pulled another chair up before the desk in the meantime, and gestures for Tasha to take a seat.

The young woman sits as indicated, sipping – yes, sipping – at her tea. "Isn't it? Ambassador Smith is very nice. I think you'll like her."

"Is she near my age… biologically speaking, that is?" Eli asks with a waggle of his eyebrows as he starts bringing up the processed data. In the central screen is a topographic map of the Pit, while the side displays are broken up into false-color overlays showing mineral deposits.

"She may be a bit younger, but that's no reason not to try. It worked for Gabriel, after all," she says with a wink that reflects in the monitor. She takes another sip before she eyes the display, tea cradled in her lap. "You'll have to interpret these readings for me; I didn't 'inherit' Nora's geological knowledge."

"Well, we're looking at several distinct mineral scans," Eli notes, gesturing with his mug. "On their own they don't tell us much, but when you combine them properly… " He uses a finger to drag a few overlays onto the main map, which show bright colors where they overlap. "These bright areas are deposits that form in the presence of water. Then we adjust for depth," he notes, moving a slider until most of the spots vanish. "And here we see the most likely places for underground water."

The young woman's head bobs. "That's very useful. The Council will be pleased we've already begun to locate potential water drilling points. Anything else?" She takes another sip.

"Very low metal deposits, until we hit this depth, which I think is an indicator of the lower edge of the Pit before Abaddonian rock takes over. And of course we have garbled readings from the crystal deposits." He manipulates the images to highlight the 'garbled' areas, showing a map of the crystal network.

"Well, it's good to know the extent of the network and the depth of the Sinaian layers, at least. I've been informed there may be First One artifact sites nearby, and that we should keep our eyes peeled for those, as well." Another sip, then Tasha gestures at the screen. "Anything unusual?"

"Well, lots of unusual… " Eli starts to say, only to be interrupted by some frantic knocking at the door. "I wonder who that it?" Zerachiel says. "Come in?"

Tasha blinks, twisting her head towards the door as she lowers her mug. There was nothing drastic schedule on their itinerary … An emergency?

The door opens, and a frazzled Lapi blinks in surprise. "Ah! You are here!" Aaron says, pointing at Tasha. "I need your help! Are you… uh… busy?"

"I was just reviewing the scan data … " Tasha says as she begins to stand. Putting her mug aside, she stretches to her full height and tilts her head as she looks down at the Lapi. "Has something happened?"

"Yes! Well, maybe!" Aaron babbles, then closes the door behind himself and looks around nervously. "There's nobody else here right?"

"That depends on how many people you think I am," Tasha replies, folding her arms and sounding a little exasperated. "Now," she reaches over, resting her hands on Aaron's shoulders and forcing him to look at her, "… please calm down and explain the situation, and if we can't address the issue, I'll contact the proper authorities."

"We can't trust the authorities!" Aaron claims in a whisper. "They could be in on the conspiracy! But I need to check out a place in the wastelands, and… uh… you've got your big gun-shield thing with you, right?" the Lapi asks.

"I'm afraid that wasn't completed by the time I needed to depart. I can probably requisition a sidearm, or even a Knights Templar escort, if this is something you feel needs immediate and non-governmental attention. I should note, however," and here Tasha gives the Lapi a man a lopsided grin, "I am one of the 'authorities' these days."

"Damn, you don't have a weapon?" Aaron asks. "Requisitioning one won't raise any suspicion will it? The fewer people who know about this the better. And I'm not being paranoid," he claims.

"Small arms would have difficulty penetrating even my current armor; are you expecting heavy weapons? Vehicles? Titans?" Tasha exchanges a worried look with Eli, then unfolds her hands and admits, "I can't prepare properly without a accurate overview. But if this needs immediate attention, and you don't want to involve anyone else, I can leave immediately and get a weapon as we go."

"The wastelands… well, they used to be the farmlands outside the city," Aaron explains quickly. "The river would flood every year, renew the soil, and so on, so… it's a floodplain. And when the Boomer relocated here, it really got flooded from the canal, and a lot of the critters may still be 'dug in' there. Nobody bothers with it much because the ground is contaminated, except for hunters out to bag a monster. So… like… a big gun would be best."

"I'll see what I can do. Aaron, I suggest you describe the area to Doctor Zerachiel so I can download a topographical map, in case we don't return and a search party needs to locate us. Whatever it is, I can't completely sever myself from being located – there's too much at stake. Anyway," she she pats the Lapi's shoulder, then nods to the door, "I'm going to requisition a larger weapon under the purview that I am engaging in combat drills and weapon testing with my suit, in reaction to the attack I suffered during my first flight. That should be enough to put aside suspicion from anyone who isn't watching closely. Unfortunately, there may be a lot of people who are."

"So you will help me then?" Aaron asks, looking relieved. "It means a lot to me, Tasha. It's… family stuff."

"Of course I'll help you. I just need to juggle my obligations, that's all." The young woman smiles, then nudges Aaron towards Eli. "You two discuss things, then I want you to meet outside the hangar complex. The guards will question why you're there; tell them Tasha has requested your presence so she can use your auditory abilities to help in some field practice. They should be briefed that you're one of a few people that can approach the hangar when I'm on site. Hokay?"

"Okay, sure," Aaron says, looking more relieved as he takes the seat Tasha recently vacated, and stares at the map.

Tasha excuses herself, and then is off. It's a short jog and several stories before she reaches the roof, but soon she's off winging her way across Elamoore. Now, where am I going to get weapons? And heavy weapons, at that. She decides to get her armor first, then inquire from there.

The hangar is active, even at this hour. One of the Lawbringers is being prepped for patrol, which involves carrying a Titan-sized sword of all things. Commanding-Hand is supervising things. He's always on duty it seems – he's been there no matter what the hour in Tasha's experience.

Tasha doesn't get in the way of the operation immediately, instead she simply signs to the operators she's doing some armor field tests and proceeds to suit up. Once that's out of the way, she makes her way over to Commanding-Hand, whom experience has told her to be a man who knows where to find things. "Commanding-Hand," she greets him, inclining her head. "I hate you interrupt your work, but I'm not sure who else to ask, and I don't want to return to the city armored, or depart it unarmed. You see, I am looking for  a weapon suitable to dealing with monsters while armored and on foot."

The cheetah turns and inspects Tasha's armor in silence for a few moments, before signing, "Your armor has no mounting points for a cannon. What weapons are you proficient with?"

"Well, I have some hand-to-hand experience, I've been receiving initial training with the hybrid sword/shield weapon of my Titan, and I've been educated in the use of small arms, as well as a Gauss rifle," the young woman replies.

Commanding-Hand gestures for Tasha to follow him, and heads towards the rear of the hangar, where the 'smaller' Silent-Ones armored suits wait. Some of them do indeed have small cannons mounted on their shoulders, but the hangar chief, goes instead to a rack of strange weapons behind them. They look like broadswords, but… their edges are oddly toothed. "Can you pick one up using your suit?" Commanding-Hand signs.

Tasha follows along, taking a moment to look over the weapons as she goes, before being lead to the peculiar rack of serrated blades. "We will find out," she signs. Stepping up to the oversized weapon, the half-Vartan spends a moment figuring out just where to grab the thing, and then … hefts it in to the air!

"Well, how about that," she says, given her hands are full. Looking up and down the weapon a moment, she then gives Commanding-Hand a 'what do you think' look, ears perking. "Is it me?"

Commanding-Hand steps back nearly ten feet to be outside the arc of the sword. "There is a slide switch on the cross-guard; push it to the right," he signs.

Tasha settles the weapon on to her left shoulder, so that only her left hand is needed to steady the weapon and keep it up. Her right hand then reaches for the hilt, feeling around with her glove that, for once, feels too small for what she's doing. After a moment of searching, she finds the indicated switch and slides it.

The triangular teeth that protrude from one side of the sort begin to move, as a powerful motor in the handle spins up. The sword makes a lot of noise as the teeth buzz back and forth, two close rows moving opposite one another so that each edge forms a scissoring blade.

"Ah! A chainsaw! Now that's clever," the young woman remarks as the teeth buzz and gnash. She can't help but laugh at what it all must look like; her in her vaguely sinister armor carrying a gigantic chainsaw-sword. "It's perfect. May I borrow this?" As she looks over, she switches the cutting edge off to conserve power.

"I will sign it out to you," Commanding-Hand notes. "However, I cannot issue you a ranged weapon. I suggest you acquire a Vartan Spitter Rifle from the Confederates, if you have an appropriate contact with them."

Now that she has a free hand, Tasha signs, "I will, thank you Commanding-Hand. You and all your men are as good as anyone could hope for in a support staff and I've shared my high opinion with your people. Now," Tasha glances at the sword, head shaking. "I guess I'll go get a Vartan Spitter Rifle. I hope I can fly with this thing."

With a few adjustments, Commanding-Hand attached a magnetic harness so Tasha can keep the sword on her back, between her wings (although it isn't exactly a good position for drawing it quickly).

While not speedy, it does free her hands and save her from having to carry the weapon trailing beneath her as she flies, which would have caused a great deal of imbalance. After fetching her helmet, Tasha dons it during flight. I'm sure they get well armed Vartans through all the time, she assures herself as she steps inside the Confederate Embassy.

A guard appears out of nowhere, holding a pistol. "Who are you and what are your demands!" he asks nervously, being an Eeee.

Inwardly, Tasha curses her poor hearing and equally limited vision while wearing a helmet. She does raises her hands in to the 'don't shoot' position, even if she doubts the Eeee's weapon could actually harm her. "I'm Cadet Tasha of the Joint Expeditionary Force," she explains in slow, friendly words as she reaches to remove her helmet. "I'm here to requisition a weapon for testing, but I didn't know who else to ask except Colonel Rapatia. I apologize for the awkward arrival, but I'm about to do a field defense test and was informed I needed approval after I had all this equipped."

"Approval for a ranged weapon; a Confederate ranged weapon was recommended," Tasha adds as her helmet slides off, revealing an equally Karnor face to match the helmet.

"A what? I… " the guard says, startled. "Oh, the Colonel… " He turns to the receptionist, who leans on the appropriate buzzer button to contact the floor secretary. It takes a few minutes to pin down exactly where the Colonel is. "Uh, she's in the firing range," the receptionist finally reports, looking a bit shocked. "Basement level… "

The strange intruder looks equally uncomfortable as she looks between the two startled Eeee and she's quick to point towards the hallway that leads to the interior of the building. "I'll, ummmm, I'll just go find her now," she insists, before just slowly heading that way as she eyes the man with the gun. "I remember where to go. From last time. Umm," her wave is very, very uneasy. "Sorry for the confusion! Have a nice day!"

"Should I follow her?" the guard asks the girl at the desk, who just shrugs. Tasha finds the stairs, only instead of going up it's down this time. The door at the bottom of the stairs is big and heavy and has a big and heavy Vartan attendant. He's got bright blue plumage, with a yellow throat and white patches around his eyes. "Can I help you?" he asks calmly in Vartan.

"I'm here to see the Colonel and requisition a Vartan Spitter Gun at the recommendation of my Titan support leader," Tasha replies in Vartan, glad to hear a voice of reason. And, fully remembering the startled Eeee, she adds, "I may have startled the attendant and guard at the front desk. I don't usually walk around like this."

"There a new way of walkin' I haven't heard about?" the guard asks, ears raised. "Hold on," he says, and buzzes the intercom. "Colonel? Got a crazy Karnor girl here in hybrid armor with a Silent-One's weed-whacker on her back and asking to borrow a Spitter from you."

Tasha can only blink at the description given of her, but she does do her best to smile – even if it is very awkward. As she waits, she wonders if 'walk around like this' is another one of those ancient Terran phrases of Nora's that keep popping up in her memories, like all those references to a moon – the moon as it always happens – and the urge to compare everything to how much like a human it is. She still doesn't know how high an elephant's eye is; What is an elephant, anyway?

No closer to having an idea what an elephant is, Tasha does realizes something else – the man called her a Karnor. Normally she'd be quick to correct that mistake, for personal and political reasons, but today she decides maybe she doesn't want to be associated with 'the crazy Karnor girl' this time.

The intercom crackles, and Rapatia's voice asks, "Is she red-furred and blond, or brown-furred and red-headed?"

"The former," the guard replies. There's a different kind of buzz, and the door makes a loud click as the latching bolts come free. "I guess you can go in then," the guard says, and pulls the door open for Tasha.

"Sshe knows two crazy Karno- … ?" Tasha stops herself before she can fully articulate that sentence and instead smiles all the more in the hopes it will help smooth all of this over. The young woman wastes no time in heading in, departing with a quick, "I'll just do that – thank you!"

Inside the door is a concrete room. Along one wall are various weapons and attendants, while a row of partitioned booths separates the staging area from the firing range itself. Targets on hanging rails hang at different distances. Rapatia isn't the only one there… another big Vartan is at a far booth. The Colonel sets down her oversized handgun and comes over to Tasha. "So, what's this about you wanting a Spitter?" she asks the armored girl.

Tasha runs a hand through her hair, a little too frazzled to remember she took the time to make it look nice. "It's just like it sounds," she admits, gesturing to her armor and already acquired weapon. "I'm going out in to the field to do some armored combat tests and see what I can come up with in terms of self-defense strategies for use in defending myself from the monsters here. I've also got a friend who'd like to see the countryside – something about family matters from before the Pit left Sinai – and I would like to ensure he survives."

"I like your gun, by the way," Tasha adds, sounding extra friendly today.

"Ah, my little Baby," Rapatia says of the five-chambered, 50-caliber revolver sitting on the shelf of her firing booth. "But you want a hunting rifle it sounds like," she says, and gestures to one of the Eeee attendants. "Bring me a Spitter," she requests.

"I really don't make a habit of walking in to buildings like this," Tasha reassures Rapatia, feeling like she'll be repeating that line several more times in the future. I hope your problem is worth all this, Aaron! "I just had it all equipped and the weapon checked out, then my crew chief told me a Spitter's my best bet and I thought of you!"

The Eeee attendant brings over a rifle that is half gleaming metal, and half drug induced nightmare. The barrel and stock are metal, but the main body is something like a lizard crossed with a beetle. It has two mouths, one atop the other, facing back towards the stock, and two eyes that form a sort of target scope above the head. Vestigial arms and legs clasp onto the stock and barrel, and other bits protrude through the metal to form a chitinous trigger. The attendant produces a brown stick that smells like jerky, and thumbs open the lower mouth to feed the thing.

"I … I really wasn't prepared for … " Tasha simply waves a hand at the horrific bio-weapon, unable to quite articulate her opinion of what she's seeing.

"Best hunting rifle in the world," Rapatia says, taking the Spitter from the attendant, and stroking the frills on its back. The weapon actually makes a pleasing trilling sound, and various bits wiggle and wheeze. "Single shot, but it will take down anything."

The trilling sound makes Tasha's ears flick. "I'll take your word on that, Colonel." Easing forward, Tasha leans in to examine the gun a bit more carefully, and even sniffs at it. "This is my first experience with Confederate biotechnology. Now that I get a better look at it, it seems to be a living organism engineered such that it's biological functions provide all the same utility as a standard weapon. I'm curious, how do you repair something like this? And it fires … jerky?"

"It's self-repairing and cleaning," Rapatia says, then laughs at the jerky comment. She pulls a slide on the stock, and out pops something that looks like a slightly oversized Gauss-rifle needle, but instead of being smooth it is covered in a spiraling groove. She thumbs open the upper mouth of the gun, and feeds in the needle half way, until the Spitter does the rest and swallows it. Then she gestures for Tasha to follow her to the shooting area.

"That's very interesting … about the self cleaning and repairing … " Tasha sounds distracted as she walks after the other Vartan, still eying the weapon. Time seems to be adapting the young woman to the weapon's unsightly appearance and unusual nature, as she's actively examining it now, much like one would an interesting and unusual artifact.

The creature is built backwards… unless the barrel is connected to its ass-end. But there are 'petals' on the forward-facing part that might be nostrils. The eye that looks that way is bigger than the one that looks back towards the stock. And it clearly breaths, and no doubt performs other natural bodily functions. No telling what the stiff-looking trigger is modified from, though. Rapatia goes all the way to the last booth, which faces not the regular firing range, but a long unlit tunnel. She flips a switch on the wall, but nothing obvious happens. "Okay, stand here and hold the Spitter," she tells Tasha, holding out the weapon.

It takes Tasha a moment to accept the weapon, because she seems a little uncertain just where to place her hands. Once she's got it, she holds it a distance apart from herself, and keeps her fingers well clear of the trigger. "This is by far the strangest set of weaponry I have ever held," she admits as she shifts her gaze between the tunnel and the weapon, apparently not willing to let the bio-weapon remain out of sight too long.

"You hold it like any rifle," Rapatia says, pushing Tasha's arm up so that she can look into the thing's 'face' – it has two smaller, beady black eyes below the central targeting eye. There's something in the eye – an image of a glowing circle. No, nested circles – a bullseye. But even Tasha can't see through the darkened tunnel… whatever the gun is seeing, it's invisible to her.

"Oh, is it … seeing in to a non-visible spectrum?" Now that she knows the weapon handles like something she knows, the young woman settles in to bracing it against her shoulder and lifting it so that she's peering in to the eye – one of them, anyway. "I have to admit, it may look strange, but I think I'm starting to like it."

"It sees body-heat," Rapatia explains. "The target is electrically heated to simulate that. So go ahead and take your shot… the target is 100 yards away."

"Alright … Here goes." Breathing as Gabriel taught her, Tasha steadies her aim, aligns the sights dead center, and … pulls the trigger!

There's no kick, just a 'puff' sound followed by a distant crack and a thin cloud of steam. Rapatia flips a switch, and the chain drive starts to reel in the target.

As she lowers the weapon, Tasha admits, "I wasn't expecting the lack of kick. This weapon seem somewhat comparable to Expedition-era Gauss rifles, but the utilities and methods of propelling the projectile are completely different." She eyes the weapon a moment then, after a shrug that rattles her chainsword, reaches over and strikes the top of the bioweapon.

The Spitter churrs happily. "It uses high pressure steam," Rapatia notes. "And coats the dart with its venom, which is a powerful neurotoxin that works incredible fast." The target comes into view – it looks like chitin-armored wood, but the chitin may very well be from one of the metal-scaled local monsters. The dart is embedded near the center, smoking slightly.

"It looses it's effectiveness quickly in air though," Rapatia adds, as she yanks the dart free. "You need to recover the darts. They're made of tungsten-iridium alloy, and cannot be replaced."

"A biological weapon from a biological weapon; I should have guessed that," Tasha murmurs as she peers at the point of impact. "Well, count me impressed! So," she looks back, up and over the rifle, "Can I borrow?" Her tail even wags!

"It is only for hunting the native monsters," Rapatia notes. "To use it on any other living thing is a severe treaty violation. Do you understand this?"

"I understand. I hadn't anticipated being attacked by anything else, sentient or not, but now that I'm aware of its restrictions I will not employ it against anything but monsters, even in self defense," the red woman swears. "As for the darts, I'll put my eyes to work in locating it. If I lose any, I will make an effort to see a replacement is fabricated."

There are more instructions on the proper care and feeding of the Spitter before Tasha is finally allowed to leave with the weapon. Once back at the hangar, she finds Aaron surrounded by a cluster of curious cheetahs.

Looking like she's prepared for a battlefield, Tasha's approach is heralded by the sound of clinking hooves, a rattling sword bigger than most people and three times as heavy, and what looks like the product of a Forbidden Zone that decided to nest on the end of a stock. The black helmet don't make her look any friendlier, either! "I'm back," she says rather than signs, give her hands are now busy carrying the exotic rifle. "Sorry it took so long. Making friends?"

"Tasha!" Aaron says, breaking free of the kitty cluster. He's clutching a printed map in one hand, and looks like he's going to hug the Vartan… until he gets close enough to see how scary she looks. "You're here! And more of my suspicions have been confirmed… "

"Oh?" The woman looks down at the map, then exclaims, "And look! I made a friend, too." She removes a hand from under the center of the rifle, petting it.

Aaron's ears go back at the sight of the purring weapon. "I should hope it was friendly," he mutters. Then he shakes his head to clear his mind, and says, "The Silent-Ones here have never seen a live Lapi before. None of the Abaddonians in the Pit have! But there were over a thousand living in and around Elamoore when the Boomer hit… but there were no survivors by the time the locals got to the Pit. None! But at least half of them had to have been inside the city walls."

Past the gilded visor, Tasha's expression sobers. "I see. Let's take a walk." She waves to the onlooking technicians, then wraps an arm around Aaron's shoulders as she shifts the gun to rest in the crook of her right arm. "From what I've been informed, there were very few survivors after the canal monsters poured in to this region. To be honest, I haven't met a single survivor yet. And, given you've brought me out this far, am I safe in assuming that you believe more than monsters were responsible for the eradication of the Lapi population here?"

"Most of the survivors returned to Sinai, but there are still a few in the city who stayed on," Aaron notes. "Nobody outside the city walls made it, supposedly. But there's someplace I want to check. My aunt Aegis had a farm in the floodplain, and she was tough. A witch. Not the magical kind, but… a witch all the same. I want to find out what happened to her."

As the two head out, Tasha explains, "Keep in mind this rifle I'm carrying is not to be used against anything other than monsters. If you should find yourself in possession of it in a crisis do not used it against anything else, even if my life is in danger. I can't tell you how to live yours, but it would be a major problem if it was used that way. The sword, well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." She then pats the man's shoulder. "It's my turn to help you by pulling strings and risking my life. Lead on, I'll follow."