Before we begin, I want to thank flowers of heaven for pointing out that Tecna is spelled T-e-c-n-a, not T-e-c-h-n-a, so thanks again. Here we go…

Last time, our brave explorers were separated after being attacked by a hostel group of aliens. Bloom, along with Musa, Layla, Brandon, Timmy and Elise had managed to escape the planet, but were forced to land aboard the Colonial Battlestar Thermopyle. But we'll get to them in just a moment. Meanwhile, Stella, along with Flora, Tecna, Helia, Riven, Carmen and Morgan, were imprisoned by the nefarious Irken Empire. While in a holding cell, they met Lt. Aiden Cain. They also met their captor, Fleet Master Zim, and his insane robot Gir (It's not insane, it's advanced). Flora was taken away for torture, but was immune to it. With less than a day before the second wormhole opens, how are our explorers going to get out of this? On with the show!

Chapter 4: Questions and Answers

16:32:09

"How many times do I have to tell you?" asked Bloom. She was in a metal room with a desk in it. In one of the corners of the room was a security camera, and Bloom knew it was recording everything she said. "My friends and I are not from this part of the universe. We're explorers." "That remains to be determined." Said Major Samson. For the past nine hours, Bloom and her friends had been barraged with endless questions. And after nine hours, Bloom was losing her temper.

"Lets go over again where you come from." "No!" exclaimed Bloom, "I don't have time for this! I want to speak to whoever's in charge here!" "As far as you're concerned," said Major Samson, "I'm in charge." "Then I demand I be allowed to speak to your superior." Said Bloom. "I'm afraid you're in no position to demand anything, young lady."

"Oh really?" asked Bloom. She stood up, and activated her fire aura. Major Samson and the guards backed away from here. "What the frak are you?" exclaimed Samson. "I told you," said Bloom, "My friends and I are from the other side of the universe." Her aura faded, and she turned to look up at the camera. "Whoever's watching, the other half of my party is still on that planet. Those aliens I told you about, they have my friends. Now let me go so I can go help them!"

"Are you quite finished?" asked Samson. "Not until I talk to someone who knows what they're doing." Said Bloom. Just then, there was a ringing from the wall. One of the guards picked up on a wall-mounted phone. "Major Samson?" asked the guard, "The Commander wants to talk with you." Samson then went to the phone.

"Yes Commander Vega," said Samson, "Yes sir, I have here right now…yes, we've got it all recorded… Sir I think that's a bad idea… Because all I need is one more hour with them and we'll get some answers… No Sir, I'm not trying to go against your orders… Very well, I'll do as you ordered, Sir." He hung up and turned to Bloom. "Take her back to the others."

Bloom was then escorted to a holding cell, where Sky and the others were waiting. "What happened?" asked Sky. "I kind of lost my temper." Said Bloom. "You didn't hurt anyone, did you?" asked Layla. "No, I just scared them." Elise then checked her watch. "We've go sixteen hours and twenty five minutes before the second wormhole opens," she said, "If we're going to break out, it better be soon." "You got to admit," said Brandon, "This is some ship they got here." "I'll second that," said Timmy.

"What amazes me," said Elise, "Is that they look almost exactly like humans from our part of the universe." "So?" asked Musa. "So," said Elise, "The chances of two groups of the same species evolving in different parts of the universe are astronomical." "How do we know they're the same as us?" asked Layla. "We don't," said Timmy, "Until we get further information." "I'd kill someone for a close look at their DNA." Said Elise. "Just don't kill me." Said Musa.

"There's something else," said Bloom. "What's that?" asked Sky. "The name of this ship," said Bloom, "Thermopylae, I feel as if I've heard that name before. I just can't remember where." "Could it be something you remember from Sparks?" asked Layla. "No," said Bloom, "I think it's something I heard on Earth. It's probably nothing." "That Major Samson," said Timmy, "He's such a creep." "There's something wrong about him," said Bloom, "I don't know what, but there's something not quite right about him."

Just then, several guards came into the holding cell. "The Commander wishes to speak to you." Bloom and the others were then escorted to a large room. The room had a long desk with several comfortable chairs. "Nice," said Brandon, "Really nice." "Glad you like it," said a man who just entered the room from the other side, "I just had the room redecorated." He was of medium height, with short brown hair. "I'm Vincent Vega," he said, holding out his hand to shake, "Commander of the Thermopylae." Bloom shook his hand. "I apologize for the way you've been treated, but in this time of war, you can't take chances."

"Commander Vega," said Bloom. "Call me Vincent." Said Vincent. "Well, Vincent," said Bloom, "Just what is going on here?" "It's a long story," said Vincent, "So please sit down." The sat down and Vincent spoke: "Up until 14 months ago, my people, The Twelve Colonies, were at war with a race of robots, The Cylons. We humans originally created the Cylons. They got smart, and they rebelled. The machines killed thousands without mercy, but we were able to hold our own.

"Three years ago, the Cylons attempted to destroy the Colonies from the inside. They created a race of genetic cyborgs. These cyborgs were nearly impossible to distinguish from a normal human." "How close to a ream human were they?" asked Elise, her interest perked up. "Only a detailed DNA scan could tell the difference." Said Vincent.

"The cyborgs were as perfect as you could get. They were too perfect, because the Cylons made the cyborgs with the ability to feel emotions. Another flaw occurred in a rare few, an independent identity. One such cyborg, a female, fell in love with one of our top scientists, Gaius Baltar. He convinced the cyborg to help humanity. As a result, a disaster of epic proportions was averted. The Colonies was spared from a massive nuclear attack.

"After that, more and more cyborgs with independent minds came forward to help. The problem was that for every cyborg with a free mind, there were at least 500 still loyal to the Cylons. With Baltar's help, we were able to free the remaining cyborgs. With their help, the Cylons were finally defeated. After the war, some of the cyborgs intergrated themselves into colonial society. The rest boarded their own starship, and left for parts unknown."

"That still doesn't explain what's going on with those aliens on the planet." Said Layla. "I'm getting to that," said Vincent, "Don't rush me. Anyway, about four months ago, one of our exploration ships ran into this race of insect-like aliens, the Irken Empire. We attempted to communicate, but the aliens destroyed the ship. Since then, the bugs have tried to invade the Colonies. So far, our defenses have held. This is the first opportunity we've had to go on the offensive. The Thermopyle is here to determine the enemy's forces and wait for the rest of the fleet to get here."

"But what about our friends on the planet?" asked Brandon. "There's nothing we can do at this time." Said Vincent. "All we can do is wait for the rest of the fleet to arrive. They should be here in about seventeen hours." "We don't have seventeen hours!" exclaimed Elise. "Why's that?" asked Vincent. Elise hesitated before Bloom said, "Tell him, he should know." "Very well," said Elise, "Because in just over sixteen hours, my friends and I will lose our window to get back to our side of the universe."

"I'm sorry for that," said Vincent, "But my ship is in no position to make an all out attack on the Irken positions. We've already lost several Viper pilots to the bugs on this mission, including the Admiral's nephew." He sighed, "Look, I'll do what I can to help you. Right now, the best thing you can do is to get some rest."

Before Bloom left with the others, she asked, "Why are you trusting us?" "Because my instincts tell me that you can be trusted." Said Vincent. "My instincts have never failed me before." Bloom and the others were then showed to guest quarters, which were much nicer than that holding cell. Bloom fell onto her bead and instantly fell asleep.

Meanwhile…

13:43:19

While waiting for Tecna to come back from her turn at mild torture, Stella and the others were telling Aiden about their part of the universe. "It must be wonderful where you come from," said Aiden, "Unlike where I come from." "Well your home can't be that bad," said Stella. "To tell the truth," said Aiden, "My home planet, Caprica, is awe inspiring. What I meant was that it must be wonderful to grow up in a time of peace. My people have known nothing but war since before I was born."

"I fell for you, man." Said Riven. He stood up and went to he cell's bathroom. "At least the bugs are civilized enough to give us a bathroom," Said Stella. "That's the limit of their being civilized." Said Aiden. "Earlier," said Carmen, "When you talked about your Aunt Nelena, she must be pretty important to send a whole fleet to rescue you." Aiden laughed before saying, "Nelina Cain is the Admiral of the 2nd fleet of the Colonies. It's not me she's coming to rescue. This mission is the first chance we've had to strike back at the bugs. My Viper patrol was scouting this system when we were attacked. I was lucky to eject from my Viper. Everyone else in my squad was killed."

There was a moment's silence before Morgan said, "I think my powers are coming back." "How so?" asked Riven as he sat down to a loud raspberry sound. Morgan burst into laughter. "I'm sorry," she said between giggles, "I couldn't resist." "Another invisible whoopee cushion," said Riven who, despite himself, cracked a smile. "Are you alright Stella?" asked Flora. Indeed, Stella had a strange look on her face. "You're not going to believe this," said Stella, "But I think I just had and idea."

11:25:56

"You human teenagers are stronger than you look," said Zim, "I'll give you that." Techan was being escorted back to the cell. "Even if your methods of extracting information were more sever," said Tecna, "the chances of your defeating my mental defenses are not in your favor." "Fool!" exclaimed Zim, "We have ways of breaking mental barriers!" "Well why didn't you?" asked Tecna. "You're right," said a shocked Zim, "Why didn't we? Gir!" "Yes master?" said the robot. "Why didn't you help in the extraction of information? Did I not just install a new interrogation chip in your metal head before we left home?"

"Oh, I left that on Irk." Said Gir. "Left what on Irk?" asked a concerned Zim. "The interrogation chippy thingy." Responded Gir. Zim growled in rage, "Why would you do that?" Gir opened the top part of its head to pull out, "To make room for the cupcake!" and then ate said cupcake. "You stupid little robot!" exclaimed Zim, "Why do I even put up with you!" At this, Gir looked profoundly hurt. "Oh I can't stay mad at you," said Zim, "I'm sure my superior intellect will think of something to extract the information form the humans." Behind Zim, Gir sighed and said, "I miss you, cupcake."

They stood outside the cell. "If you won't talk," said Zim, "Then perhaps the female with the yellow hair shall be more cooperative." The door opened and as Tecna was pushed in, "What! Where did they go!" Indeed, Stella, Flora, Carmen, Morgan, Helia, Riven and Aiden were gone. "How could they have escaped form the cell!" exclaimed Zim. "Maybe they went for tacos." Said Gir. "There are no Taco stands on this planet, Gir." Said Zim. "Well I want some Tacos!" pouted Gir.

Suddenly, the guards were hit and thrown by forces unseen. "What is this!" exclaimed Zim just before he was struck from behind by Tecna. Gir the robot suddenly went into serious mode as its eyes turned red. It jumped in front of Tecna, while several hi-powered weapons reveled themselves from various access ports on the robot's body. "None shall harm the master!" exclaimed the robot, before it collapsed, its eyes fading to black.

Just then, Stella and the others appeared. "I see it," said Riven, "But I still don't believe it." He, Helia and Aiden were picking up the guards weapons, ignoring the shock poles and going for their side arms. "Your idea worked Stella!" exclaimed Flora. "What idea?" asked Tecna. Stella had an idea? She thought. "Well, Morgan's powers were coming back," said Stella, "and I asked her if she could make all of us invisible, and she did."

Aiden meanwhile, was pointing his newly acquired blaster at the unconscious form of Zim. "What are you doing?" asked Helia. "If we kill it," said Aiden, referring to Zim, "These bugs will be useless. The bugs won't do anything without an authority figure. Besides, he's one of the best leaders the enemy has. Take it out, and this entire sector falls." "Be as that may," said Helia, "It's not the right thing to kill a helpless enemy." "This is war!" exclaimed Aiden, "In war it's kill or be killed!"

"That's how they do things," said Flora, referring to the bugs, "Prove that you're better then them. Prove than you can show mercy to even a sworn enemy." Aiden hesitated for a moment, and then he lowered his blaster. "Okay then, we'll do things your way, for now." "Great," said Stella, "Can we get out of here now?" As they left the room, Tecna asked, "Who disabled the robot?" "I did." Said Aiden. "How did you do it?" asked Tecna. "I just hit the off switch." Answered Aiden.

As they ran down the corridor, Morgan asked, "So what's the plan? Do we even have a plan?" "The plan is," said Aiden, "We head to the communications room. There, I'll try to contact the Thermopylae, let them I'm still alive." "An then?" asked Riven. "Then," said Aiden, "If the Thermopylae is still here in this system, we hold out until they come get us."

The end of chapter 4. Next chapter, the rescue mission is planned. See you next time!