Bane and Raven dashed out onto the dock in time to hear the roar. Ghost walked up to them. "Is that what you heard?" he whispered to his female apprentice. She nodded.
He briskly walked past them and down to the Command levels, where he knew that Roland would want a full report. He slapped the elevator button and stepped in.
Raven turned to face Captain Gabriel, who was still breathing heavily and cautiously glancing at the gate. "What happened?"
"Something was out there. We couldn't get a clear shot either… but it was big. That's all I can say." They winced as the distant creature roared again.
Technicians hustled about, using rigs to lift APUs and repairing damaged parts of the Mindbreaker. Raven walked over to where Garth had already started welding a hole in the hull of the ship.
"What's the damage, Garth?"
He turned and smirked at his friend. "This will only take two days to fix. Look at this." He gestured to a long scratch in the side of the ship. "This is an organic mark. We found small chemical deposits in the dents."
Raven frowned. "What does that mean?"
"We're not sure." He flipped his mask down and continued welding for a moment. Bane walked up. "Bloody hell… what could do that?"
"I'm not sure…"
Garth flipped the helmet up. "Well, we sent some samples of the stuff inside the scratch to chem labs. They should have it ready in about five hours."
The three saluted as Roland walked up. "Have any of you seen Captain Gabriel?"
Garth pointed towards the elevator. "I think his crew and him were hitting the showers. We're gonna be working for a long time."
"Excellent." Roland stepped away, but paused for a moment. "Try to work on your English, okay, Garth?"
Garth smirked and flipped the mask down. Roland quickly stepped to the elevator and rode it to the crew quarters. "Well, we're gonna go find Ghost," said Raven. She slapped him on the back.
"Ow!"
Raven stepped away and walked to the elevators. Bane followed her, casting a quick eye on the gate before walking into the lift.
Garth wiped sweat off his brow and continued welding. Sparks flew as technicians began assisting him. He glanced at the elevator and saluted, but Raven and Bane had already dropped out of sight.
All heads snapped up and several welding tools, still on, dropped to the ground as a final deafening roar echoed through the dock.
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Niobe quickly paced in front of Raven's cabin. "Ghost, did you find them?" she asked as her First Mate jogged up from Zion Control.
"No. Maybe they went after Control?"
She shook her head. "I doubt it. He wouldn't be that hard to catch up to." A quick grin flitted across Ghost's face before he nodded and walked away.
"Where are they?"
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Bane pushed the door open to the kitchen. "Why would Ghost be in here?"
Raven frowned at him. "I'm not looking for Ghost right now, I'm looking for that fat waste of carbon."
"Santa?"
The frown grew wider. "I hate you."
Bane laughed. "You know, sometimes I hate me too!" Raven sighed and continued looking for the fat man, who she guessed was probably halfway through a slop tank already.
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Ghost stepped out of the elevator and walked directly to where the technicians were repairing the still aflame ship. "Did the chemical analysis come back yet?" he asked the officer in charge.
"No, not yet. We're just repairing the ship as fast as humanly possible," said Garth. "God, how I love the phrases you people come up with."
The older man frowned. "You don't get to use them. You're new."
"New enough to be in charge of repairs?"
Ghost laughed. "In charge of repairs… wow, you sure have stepped up in the world. Have you seen Raven or Bane?"
"They were looking for you," he said before turning back to his work. Ghost sighed and turned around. "Gonna be a long day…"
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Raven's guess was right on the money. Control's stomach had apparently gone about two hours without food, so he decided to eat as much as he could from Zion's supply.
They found him submerged in a slop tank. He belched loudly, causing Raven to leap back. Bane considered leaving him there when Niobe burst through the kitchen doors.
"Ghost, they're in here!" she shouted. "Bane, Raven, where…GOD!" she shrieked as she saw the bloated body in the tank. Raven stepped back even farther.
"Third time since he's been here… that's it. I'm gonna teach you discipline like the training of hell…" she whispered quickly, and walked out fuming.
Control groaned. Bane turned as the fat man said quietly, "Where's she going?"
"To get the Beater, of course."
Control's eyes bulged. Raven snorted softly, but Ghost broke into laughter.
Niobe walked back in. "There we go." She handed Bane a folder. "He'll start immediately…"
It was Raven's turn to get angry. "No… no, you did not just…" She was interrupted by Bane and Control's shout: "YYYYEEESSSSSS!"
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A/N: If anyone's actually reading this, please review something!