(A/N) Alright, shout outs to my reviewer Ninjafoxshadow...thanks for mentioning how wonderfully disturbing that chapter was...And also to Fuerstoss whow ill be reviewing quite soon I am sure. This one is a hum dinger, and nine pages no less. Bastards are finally on the ground, in the city of whatever planet i've put them on (have to come up with a name...) ready to kick ass and take names. Of course with busted ships that could be a problem. But I'm quite sure that there will be plenty I can come up with to keep them busy and on thier toes. See ya, and enjoy. And dammit, you'd better enjoy this, cause it's 12:24 in the F-ing morning in DC...Jeeze.

Cascade

Cascade: An event on a starship or in a computer system which causes the entire system to shut down due to errors or faults. Often referred to as a 'cascading system failure" Usually caused by one small problem causing lots of other 'small' problems. These problems often build upon each other, and it is well-known small problem exhibit flocking behavior. And thus the snowball effect is exhibited… Mercenaries Flight Handbook, Glossary.

"Clarissa?"

The vixen looked up from the flight controls to see Shiva's tense features over the monitoring screens. "Yes, what is it?"

"Does your Jenny always handle like a wet sack of potatoes?"

Her response was unnecessarily curt. "No…those damages…-shit…" Another alarm went off as the power levels dipped alarmingly between the two remaining nacelles.

Both had been kept busy during the entire, descent shunting power between one engine and then the other, attempting to keep both at a balanced level. Whatever had happened to the ship on it's ascent had put the auto-configure segment of the ship's OS into a tailspin, so the remaining engines wouldn't remain on a balanced power plan

This meant a lot of grunting, and swearing and glancing at the altimeter between the both of them. Clarissa twitched the stick upwards and gunned the engine slightly, putting the ship on a more level descent course. "No, actually, she handles like a sack of wet potatoes in a tutu and with ballerina shoes. "

The bat laughed in response and flicked a strand of hair out of her face, adjusting her goggles in the same motion. "I get what you mean…she's a joy when she's running green, but when things get really bad…it gets ugly."

Clarissa nodded agreement and patted the armrest lovingly. "And anyway, even if she does handle like a sack of potatoes, she's my sack dammit." Another burst of laughter.

Silence reigned for a few moments, then:

"Clarissa?"

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"Zachary…I don't know what's going on between you two, but whatever it is, it's done him a world of good. "

Impossibly Clarissa's heart jumped at the mention of his name. "How, exactly?"

"He…looks happier. And the way he looks at you…I wish I'd had someone dhow me that much attention. What did you two do in that conference room anyway…after we left?"

Clarissa felt a blush flooding over her cheeks. "I…I kissed him."

Shiva smiled. "Is that all? He looked as if you'd ridden him bareback."

Clarissa couldn't help laughing and quipped, "Wow…what is subtlety your middle name?"

Shiva smiled in a pained sort of fashion and then sighed. "Subtlety…I hate it…."

Clarissa blinked as she pulled back slightly on the left front's throttle. "Wait…that, can't be your actual middle name, no way!" Shiva laughed. "No…sorry, bad grammar. What I meant was…the bat colonies are a big bunch of philosophers. Brilliant people. Good with tech. Only problem is they talk in shades of meaning. That, and they think that they are the bee's knees in regards to everything. You wouldn't notice it at first. But most look down on outsiders their customs and their strange ways.

The clothing is different…simple robes and garments with muted colors. Lights are usually kept to a minimum to allow full use of our echolocation. Because we fly our living arrangements can be…difficult to utilize. Very cave-like."

My family has great influence within the colony. They were the ones who gave me the ship. They were one of the few who would have given me the privilege of leaving and expanding. But I am always watched." She smiled ruefully and placed a hand against the glass as she gazed out the window. "The Vampyrum Spectrae always takes care of it's own-even if they've left the fold temporarily.

Shiva refocused on the horizon and continued. " Funny thing is that I'm the smartest of our bloodline-and the most divergent.…but I guess that's why I branch out more, why I hang out with you lot. They speak in riddles, the entire bunch…and it makes simple conversation hard. Which explains why I know my parents but I don't know them in the way a daughter would normally. Sometimes you just have to be direct. Oh, I can turn it off if I need to…the slightly free-burning nature. But now that I'm around friends…" she gently poked Clarissa, "I can be free."

Clarissa was genuinely touched. "So you consider me to be a friend?" Shiva shrugged. "At your core you're not a bad person. At least not completely. You've done some things to taint your soul…you've killed – well actually all of us have. You've used…persuasive means do pull information…you may have done things out of vengeance. But you are a good person. No matter how much you attempt to deny it."

There was silence for a moment, then: "Thank you…I didn't know you had analyzed me that thoroughly."

"I can't help analyzing people. It's in my blood I guess"

Clarissa checked the altimeter again -28,000 feet to go. "Shiva…I wsas wondering…earlier you mentioned your age. Are you really 60 years old?"

The bat grinned broadly, "Let me guess…you thought I was a teenager right?" The vixen nodded.

"That happens a lot. And often times they think I'm stupid, the anthro equivalent of a dumb blonde. But that's what most bats are like till they hit maturity. Free-spirited. Physically we age rather slowly, taking around 3 years to age the equivalent of one of yours. But age, and indeed status, is actually determined by mental maturity. I'm still young, in that regard. Or at least, they think I am, because I'm not like them every second of every day." There was a slight edge in her voice, and Clarissa found herself wondering if she had perhaps had issues with her family, or colony.

"Oh, and one more thing. I might as well say it, because it needs to be said. I think he actually likes you."

"Who?" Clarissa said, focusing her gaze on the cityscape that had begun to come into view over the horizon. In the distance she could see a thin cloud of whct looked like gnats flitting about the various buildings, which in reality were various hovercraft and other civilian craft flying around.

"Don't try to play dumb with me. Zachary… that's who. I saw you two in the cockpit of his ship…sparks were flying." She chuckled gently at the expression of surprise which was plastered over Clarissa's face. "Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me. I'm no loudmouth, and if anyone asks, I'll just play dumb."

Clarissa had been about to shoot back some remark on how she doubted that Shiva could play dumb given her perceptiveness when she noticed a malfunction notice pop up on the HUD. "Shiva, I've got a problem with the SIF (Structural Integrity Field) generators and the shields. Requesting verification."



"Verification….obtained…hold on I'm isolating it." There was the furious tapping of keys then, "It's got some blown relays due to the energy surge when Zachary lifted off. System can't bypass it."

Shit… "What's it doing?" The cabin lights dimmed slightly and then surged along with an accompanying whine from the rear of the craft. "Damn things pulling more juice than the cores can output."

"I thought we disabled it before we undocked." Shiva's eyes locked with hers. "Hardware safeguard kicked in despite your override. Swears that the SIF grid is crucial in case of a crash landing."

Clarissa's brain felt clogged. She was technically gifted but there was an extent when the mumbo jumbo ceased to be understandable. "Condense that statement for me Shiva…what are we looking at?"

The bat leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes for a few seconds. " The ship's power generators are configured to vent energy plumes through the engine louvers to compensate the damaged turbines low output. If the SIF generators keeps pulling energy, the energy core will overload. Then the engines will rev up to keep us in the air…and if we have both those shafts shatter at once…god…"

Clarissa squeezed her eyes shut and slammed her head back against the rest. "We're sitting on a time bomb then."

"Radio Zachary while I try to shut this damn generator down." Shiva nodded and opened a channel. She had only said the German Shepherd's name when the flight stick went limp in her hands. Suddenly all the lights went out exept for the control panels on the armrests and the main screens. The horizon tilted crazily and Clarissa and Shiva saw the ocean miles below them.

Shiva's voice was weak as she said, almost to the air, "Clarissa…I think the Jenny's cascading…"

On the Malarkey things had been going well since the Jenny had left it's docking port. Zachary had watched the ship making measured progress toward the city on the horizon but the craft had left his focus as the annoyance that was haggling for a fair landing zone price commenced. He and Lou tag-teamed it after a fashion, suppressing simmering tempers as they were transferred up and down the switchboards faster than a rally racer could switch gears.

During a lapse Lou remarked, "How much you wanna bet that that ocelot on the other end was flirting with me?"

Zachary leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "That warhorse is at least 60 years old, has bad teeth, probably equally bad breath…and I don't even want to breach the 

subject of her and bedrooms. But if you're feeling rich enough to attempt to bet money on a bet which I'll win quite easily…fine." The leopard frowned slightly and settled back into his chair, his mood deflated somewhat.

He had only been joking of course, neither he nor any male in a ten klick radius would even dare broach the subject of…that. He shuddered. But usually Zachary would play along, and conversations such as these…deep philosophical debates on the stupidity of the pilot in the air-lane to the left of them…on sexual conquests real and imagined (for Lou most were actually true) served to keep them sane. And usually Shiva would keep up with the best of them.

But ever since the ship had undocked he had sat in his command chair, his entire body radiating impatience, along with a slight tinge of worry. The image of the vixen flickered through the cat's mind again. What had those two done in the briefing room after they had left. Could this be what had thrown him into a snit.

His hands itched to pull up the visual logs and run back the tapes…they would erase this annoying nagging in the back of his mind. But no…that would be sneaking in a way. And he hated to go behind his friend's back unless he had to. After all he did have access to Zachary's personal information, as well as Shiva's and a small buffer file salvaged from Clarissa's ship when it had last docked.

Privacy was a misnomer for mercs…and he needed information in case things got hot. To breach it to any greater degree would beneath him, and indeed beneath them all. "Rather testy today aren't we?"

"Wouldn't know the half of it…"

Lou closed the COM screen on his station's readout. "Any interest in divulging perhaps?"

"It's been a very odd day Lou. Dealing with complex people…and I really don't need a double portion of what's already been heaped on my plate." He thought back to Rose and their disaster…the one that he had caused. "Seems as if I reordered the same damn thing without noticing it."

"In a metaphorical sense, you mean?"

The dog grunted in response. They traveled in silence for a few more moments, then Lou punched a series of commands into his console. "Let's check on how the gruesome twosome is progressing shall we?"

Zachary grunted once more, not trusting himself to be able to hide the relief in his voice upon hearing the cat's decision. Lou's finger was hovering over the transmit button when Shiva's slightly panicked voice crackled over the speakers. "Zachary-" the transmission cut out.



The dog opened a channel immediately. "Sorry, your signal cut out…didn't quite catch…oh hell…" His voice faltered as he saw the Jenny suddenly begin to drop out of the sky falling toward the ocean. A moment later the feed from Shiva's emergency setup streamed in.

Lou we're in a freefall…need –ulgh help. She shut down on us Lou…cascading failure set off by the SIF generator's faulty power-management relays. I need you to guide me…we need to restart this thing-now.

The leopard's brain raced, normally startups took around fifteen minutes or more…could he reduce that time? "Hold on…I'll guide you…just breath okay? We'll get through this."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zachary disengage the autopilot and strap into the pilot's position. "What the hell are you doing ?"

"Descent course…" His voice trailed off as the ship lurched downward into a dive. Lou knew what he was thinking…the towing cables could perhaps be used. That was if they could actually get a lock on the four towing points on the Jenny's fuselage. That was suicide however, from the extent of the damages Clarissa had mentioned a sudden stop would quite probably rip the engines from their pylons and if the ship had explosive bolts allowing for emergency detachment-which he was sure it did that only served to undermine the situation even more.

"Shiva…listen to me… this is what we have to do…"

Shiva's hands frantically flew over the keypads as Lou barked instructions into her ears. "What we're about to do is a tunneling procedure…cuts right through the main OS and lets you operate the ship via command-line interface. You say she's dead right?"

"Yes…very much so."

"Attempt a restart…use 30 percent of core 1 and 10 percent of core 2. Hit control L and X as soon as the thing tries to restart." Shiva did so and lines of code began to scroll across the screen. "What the hell is this?" Shiva cried, fear evident in her voice as the altimeter dropped to 21,000 feet.

"It's clearing the memory buffers…just ignore it. Focus on my voice…okay. Screen should be clear now, Just a cursor with the main drive directory designation behind it right?" Shiva looked and saw that he was predicting it exactly. "Yeah…it's showing that."

"I need you to go through the device command and initialize the main COM lines so I can remote access and help you out. Leave ports one through 40 open. Disengage firewall 

protection…" The jenny's antennae array suddenly sprang to life throwing itself open to all traffic. Lou locked himself in and secured the connection between the computers. "You should see some systems starting to come online…"

Shiva shot a question foreword. "Did you ever shut down that damn generator."

Clarissa replied tersely. "It shut out just when I entered the first letter. So that's a negatori…hopefully it's locked up and won't reinitialize-" She stopped talking as the cabin lights flickered on and their descent began to slow. "I'm pulsing the antigrav generator used in conjunction with the landing thrusters…should slow you a bit."

The cabin fell silent as they watched Lou's handiwork. The Cabin blowers reengaged and Clarissa heard the coughing sound which meant the engines were reengaging. A low whine built up around them and slowly their descent began to slow.

"Thank god that's over…" Shiva's sigh of relief was broken by a panicked cry from Clarissa as the ship suddenly began to rise faster and faster. "The SIF generator is overtaxing the cores…and the engines are trying to compensate… oh we are SO dead…"

"Emergency kill…NOW!" Lou snapped, initiating the command. "Entire system's locked when it's in crash mode…it won't respond to any of our inputs." The bat moaned tonelessly. There was a shattering crash and Clarissa looked to her right to see smoke and flames belch from the nacelle' cooling vents. Shrapnel had slammed into the canopy and cracked the armored glass before Shiva managed to engage the telescoping armored plating. In seconds they were in darkness. A crackle of energy lashed across the forward console, searing Clarissa's palms and retinas. Then the ship was plunged into darkness.

Above them Zachary shifted into position and primed the tow cables. "Lifeline one…acquiring lock…locked. Lou, confirm."

"Confirmed."

"Fire!" From the malarkey's frontal torpedo tubes a black cable as thick as a man's arm shot out, it's energy binders seeking the contact points on the engine mounts. It connected and the other three followed suit. Zachary pulled upward prematurely however.

The occupants of the Jenny were suddenly slammed against their seats as one of the dead engines was ripped completely off of it's mounting pylon. The ship was spinning like a top as it fell and Clarissa felt a surge from her stomach as vertigo hit. Shiva's hand snaked forward through the gap and grasped hers, perhaps to avoid loneliness and avoid succumbing to terror as the ground neared. 7000 feet.

Zachary's fists slammed against the console in frustration as he pulled out of the dive. "Shit! What else…tractor beams?" Lou's voice was hoarse. "They'll shred it like tissue 

paper at this speed and with the amount of kinetic energy it's built up…in space it might work but.."

"Then there's nothing we can do." Zachary turned away from the viewports and instructed Lou to pull the ship out of the dive. Neither wanted to see the end when it came.

"Clarissa…I don't want to die…not like this."

Her hand was painfully tight but Clarissa didn't have the heart to remove it..not now when the end was nigh for them both.

"I'm scared…I didn't meet my mate…didn't settle down. I've wasted my life…"

Clarissa found tears trailing down her cheeks at the bat's admission. "I'm scared too." she said, and brought her own hand up to cover Shiva's shaking fingers. And as she sat there… imagining the sea coming up to meet them despite the efforts of Zachary and Lou above them she envisioned the bat's glittering black eyes in the canopy's reflection and reflection and realized something. I may be afraid…I may be near death. But I am not powerless…we are not powerless. Not me not Zachary…not Lou. None. She turned her head backwards and felt the heat from the bat's trembling breath on her face. I can't let her die…

And Clarissa knew what she had to do.

The Malarkey had only risen a few hundred feet when Zachary felt a slight shock transmitted through the floor. "Was that the aftershock from the explosion…?" his throat was thick. A flash of blue blinded him as he turned round and Lou's mouth dropped as he focused the exterior cameras on the sight below him. Clarissa's ship was wreathed in blue energy, plumes of it, yards long were venting from the two remaining engines and the landing thrusters. "Are you getting this Lou?"

"Oh, hell yes!"

"My god…" Zachary breathed. "She's doing it…she's the generator…" He smiled in spite of himself.

Clarissa's voice came over the COM lines, she was panting for breath. "Get underneath us Lou…I don't know how much longer I can hold her."

"Clarissa, bring her up about fifteen hundred feet and I'll slip her underneath." Lou said as he began retracting the turrets, missile pods and antennae projecting from the communications array.



"I…I can't. Zachary…unghh." She grunted heavily and the ship dropped a foot. Zachary felt his heart skip. "Come on Clarissa…you can do this…just push yourself. You know what it can do, what you can do. Focus on my voice…focus on me…push upwards." He saw the ship jerk upward slightly and then begin to rise. "Good girl…keep going..don't stop, you've cheated death thus far and you can keep doing it."

"Maxing SIF generators…shield output at full..." Lou's hands flew over the panels as he prepped for the Jenny's rather unconventional landing. Above the pair Clarissa struggled with the overwhelming pull on her reserves that the task of keeping the ship aloft required. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest and her breath was hoarse as she attempted to suck in air through her open mouth.

"Clarissa…it's Zachary…you can stop now. We're underneath." Clarissa removed her hands from the power control console and gazed at her smoking fingers. As the sheer exhaustion from that act fell upon her shoulders she felt the world dim around her, awakening briefly to feel Zachary's cool fingers against her forehead, then her cheek.

"We're almost there…just hang on for a bit…please."

Her eyelids were heavy due to the pain in her head and her sudden overpowering need for sleep. "I'll…try..Zach.." Her face pressed reassuringly into his hand for an instant before she passed out and entered the void of unconsciousness.