Captain Aorrann led Black Cat and the rest into the area of the room that had been screened off from casual viewing. It was a tiered space with three levels and they all stepped down and spread out, some of the Fexao moving directly to "stations" set up on the three levels (See Map). Once through the partitions the attitude of the Fexao around them changed subtly. They were "on duty," most of them finding seats in front of consoles that blinked into life as they sat.

To anyone who grew up reading or watching space opera, it was most certainly the bridge of some kind of space ship -- or at least, a model or mock-up of one. Curved against the corner was a smooth white panel -- the "viewscreen" no doubt, though at this moment it was blank.

Most of the conversation of the next few minutes was in Fexao, with Kitsune getting a scrolled translation inside her helmet. The captain said "Report" and one by one the other Fexao supplied pieces of data with well-rehearsed precision. The reports were all negative, the armored Asian girl noted, but they were all given with the kind of terseness which assumes that can change at any moment.

Once the final reports were in, Aorrann nodded and turned to their guests, her manner crisply professional while retaining a kind of relaxed sensuality that was enviable. "I'm going to ask the crew to bring up the last encounter we had with the shraaorch. Consider this a briefing, gentlemen -- save your questions for the end."

She turned back to her crew and took her seat, obviously the "captain's chair" on the bottom tier, snarling a star date in command Fexao (which Kitsune notes is tagged as "estimated"). Soft acknowledgements are given, switches and sliders are adjusted, then something began flickering on the viewscreen.

As the picture cleared and resolved itself to the Hall of Mirrors, Dylan could feel a kind of odd pressure in the room, not physical but mental. Unfortunately, maintaining an "open mental switchboard" for his companions made it almost impossible to discern more than this.

On the screen, the Fexao spread out along the hall in defensive positions. Those on the floor sported wicked looking clawed gloves and what looked like blaster pistols on a utility belt. The ones above carried large rifles attached to backpacks. There seemed to be twice as many Fex in the screen as were then present. Directing them was a male Fex, his white fur mottled with light grey across his shoulders. The black and white figure of Aorrann listened to him carefully then led a handful of Fex down the hall past the catwalk where they remained off the viewscreen.

"This was Captain Zhethi," Aaorran told them quietly. "I was his first officer." All the Fex around them were motionless, their large eyes fixed upon the screen.

At Zhethi's command one of the Fex (a big grey, possibly the one Blitz and Aodh had been speaking with earlier) jumped on the floor tiles just in front of a door -- it was the normal-sized door across from the large double doors that had let them into the Hall of Mirrors (The map of the hall is here). The Fex leapt upward and somersaulted back toward his shipmates as the door slid open. Shiny metallic things, round like wheels began rolling through the doors two at a time. Zhethi gave the command and the Fex opened fire, attempting to pick off these strange contraptions before they could get through the door.

"Shraaorch," Aaorran said, for the group's benefit. The reason for the name became apparent when the first device made it through the door, damaged but operable. It seemed to unlink or uncurl from around itself, three long insect-like legs extending to the floor and two more emerging with what had to be weapons from a series of intricate cross-beams near the top (Picture can be found here.), turning itself into a robot with astonishing quickness. It then opened fire on the Fex, taking down one marksman in short order, then threw up some kind of defensive shield, which deflected most of the damage the Fex pisols could do.

But not the blaster rifles from above. The female Fex who'd been on Tapestry's arm took aim with one and fired, blasting the thing into component parts that acted like shrapnel, shattering some of the tiny mirrors on the walls.

The shraaorch just kept pouring through the door, plowing through and over the husks and assorted parts of the others in order to get into open space to engage with the Fex. Perhaps one in ten made it through to open up and open fire, at first. But then there were two. And then three, and then more and it was obvious the Fex weren't going to carry the day. Zheti was obviously ordering them to their fall-back positions -- those on the catwalk retreated through one of the doors in an ordered withdrawal while those on the ground floor faded into doors while some few stood to guard those who were carrying the wounded and dead.

Aaorran and one other had picked up Zheti's body. A trail of red blood was left behind them.

The screen went blank again, and the Fex around them shook themselves as if coming out of a trance. They were much sobered by reliving those memories. None of them were talking much.

"So, my new friends, you have now seen the shraaorch." It was Aorrann's voice, quiet but still professional. "Battle robots. Soul-less machines which are only marginally intelligent on their own, but become moreso in groups. Captain Zheti suspected they were controlled by a central intelligence somewhere behind that door, but we've never been able to get any of our people in there to see. Richard doesn't know. And if Sainte Isobelle knows, she isn't telling."

Aaorrann stood and turned to them, particularly Black Cat. "Any questions?"

"Quite a few, actually," Kitsune murmured softly. The armored figure had been quietly listening and reading the translations as quickly as she could. Right now, she wished for a back scroll. That couldn't have really been a Droideka, could it? If it was, she thought, she was going to have to walk over to Skywalker Ranch when she got back to Oakland and see about having a word with Mister Lucas.

Kitsune mused almost to herself, her voice soft and obviously feminine to those familiar with human tones. "The shraaorch do not appear overly armored themselves, but project a sort of energy shield, right? I'm going to guess that you haven't been able to dissect one, unfortunately."

Aaorran nodded. "Correct on all counts."

Vincenzo was stunned. These people looked like cats, which made it easy to trreat them like something other than real and serious. They fought like champions, brave in the face of overpowering odds, and as a result he held them in an entirely new light. "Do you know how many of them there are?"

"We saw fifty-three come through that door before we retreated," Aaorran replied. "As far as we know, more were coming. Or that could have been it. We have no way to know."

"Do you still have working rifles?"

"Yes we do, all of them on the last of the spare batteries we brought with us. At this point ship's protocol requires us to save them for defense. Which is why we have not since attempted another assault."

The Black Cat turned to the rest of the humans. "I can draw fire, and tangle them up, but I wouldn't want to rely on my meager abilities alone. Do you have sufficient firepower to eliminate those machines?" He pointed with his eyes at Kitsune and Blitz, but he asked the question of everyone.

"Probably, Neko-san, probably. I don't know how much damage their shields can absorb, but if prepared, I can do a lot of damage. I could tear apart a tank, back home, given time and the use of a sufficient can-opener."

Kitsune turned from Neko-san and regarded the captain, "How powerful are your weapons, Captain Aorrann-sama? I am unfamiliar with them, of course, but I would like to understand how much damage they can do, so I can try to figure out how much damage the shraaorch can absorb and how much needs to be inflicted in order to break them." The sense of a hard smile seemed to rise from the woman, "And see how much damage I would have to absorb in order to get to one."

The question caused Aaorran to hesitate. "Do we have a common measure by which to discuss it? Tyra in particular knows the specifications of each of our weapons but I am uncertain how to translate."

Kitsune hummed to herself thoughtfully, "While I don't know enough about the specifics to help. I mean, I know how long a foot is, and how much a pound weighs, but I'm not sure how a foot-pound works. Hugh-sensei or one of the other gentlemen here might be able to translate figures."

Kitsune raised her head and regarded the captain. "You wouldn't happen to have any familiarity with... how to put this? Chemically propelled projectile weapons? What we refer to as 'firearms'. I know that I can easily handle small arms fire, and I suspect I can handle things like..." Kitsune struggled for some appropriate terms, "explosive rounds like rockets or grenades designed to damage lightly armored vehicles. They cause me pain, but they do not truly harm me."

She sighed, "The only other way I could think of would be for one of your people to take a rifle and shoot me with it, but that would disturb a lot of people, and it would probably hurt." She smiled behind her armor, "Plus it would be wasteful, since you only have so many shots, right?"

Dylan was amazed at what he had seen. He knew he wouldn't be able to affect the machines. Hmm....I wonder if an AI is truly aware enough so that it has a mind. Now there's a question I would love to ask Annah. He turned to the others and spoke aloud for the first time since they encountered the Fex.

"I am not going going to be much help with those, but I would love to know who the mind is behind them."

"Please," said the Bostonian, absentmindedly patting the wrist of the Fex security officer on his arm like one might pat a child on the head, or a student to draw their attention, otherwise barely noticing her proximity, "can I see that again? Are other angles and orientations possible? Is it purely visual?" He focused his radio and radar perceptions toward the viewscreen, speculating that Amber technology worked by more Idealized precepts than those of conventional physics, trying to spy on the shraaorch transmissions. His hands gestured pointing toward the screen to indicate his areas of interest, while he asked for, "explain how you operate this device? And your own devices, also? Don't hesitate to be as detailed as possible. Of course, if you had parts from one of the shraaorch to study, that would be ideal."

Aaorrann blinked at this barrage, but recovered quickly. "The battle can be viewed again, certainly. There is an angle for each crewmember who fought in it and is still living, of course. The viewscreen is simply a receptor for our memories."

She said this as if it were the most common thing imagineable.

{Fascinating. Catherine appears adept at what Richard calls sorcery, yet her own tools seem very much more mechanistic than the Magen. Which means we're in for several levels of complexity when it comes to disengaging the Gate. She'll be sophisticated, and have contingencies, I'd guess. Look at the ways those are built, like circles or wheels, which reflects Plato's ideal beings. I wonder if that symbolism gives them an edge in exploiting this Space? I hope I get a chance to reverse engineer the things. The key seems to be getting past them fast to their control nexus.. How exactly does a Fastball Special work?}

{I'm not so sure,} the Black Cat thought back. {It could be that just as we and our furry friends were summoned here, so were the robots. Rival teams shanghaied for warring purposes. The sorcery seems like it might be limited to manipulating time - accelerating it, stopping it, moving through it. Our leonine host across the hall would have been in his prime when he disappeared, which means he should be approaching fifty by now. Did he look fifty to you?}

Blitz winced and turned to Hugh. "Could you pleaze be quiet for a moment...kxsc", he asked a little abruptly. He was tapping his head indicating their mental communication channel. "I'm trying to think".

The mind-chatter seemed to die down and Blitz nodded his satisfaction. He turned and looked at the now empty screens. A crackling smile appeared on his face.

"Robotzz", he stated. "The zhraaorch are robotz. Machinez"

He turned to his companions and moved away from the captain and the Fex. Keeping his voice low, he spoke to the others.

"I have some control over electricity...xcxvx", Blitz muttered. "Assuming the robotz are like normal machinez and not some xort of sorzery, I can dampen their power. But it requirez concentration. I can also increaze the power of the Fex's weaponz az well, but only for a short time. Of course, I can juzt blast the thingz with an ol' faithful lightning bolt"

That brightened Aaorrann's eyes. "If you can serve as a power dampener, it would be much easier to destroy them. Their defensive shields are formidable. Can you do this for more than one at a time?"

Blitz turned to Aaorrann, a little surprised that the Fex had heard him. Not that it mattered.

"More than one at a time, yez" he answered. "But more than fifty...?". His eyes widened and he shook his head. "No. I can only affect one at a time...xkscx. Each time requirez concentration. Affecting three or so would be okay but fifty? It would take too long, too much concentration and too much energy. And I wouldn't be able to fight back".

Blitz shrugged.

"It would be better if I juzt enhanced a couple of your weaponz and then fired at the robotz with lightning boltz", Blitz said.

He then thought for a moment and added.

"I can alzo ride inside one of the robotz if I can get close enough to it. If it'z allowed to return into the room, I can see what's inside. It's... erm... complicated"

"You must be careful," Aaorrann warned. "They do possess intelligence individually. And the more there are, the smarter they fight. If there is a central intelligence behind them, as our late Captain suspected, it could be organic, or machine, or some hybrid. Whatever it is, it is dangerous."

"Intelligence? If they possess intelligence, then they are aware. If they are aware, then they should have some level or degree of emotion. It's quite possible that I can a degree of effect on them. I wish there was a way I could test this before going into the chaos. If we are going to do what I think we are, I am going to need a bodyguard while I attempt to contact and control one of their minds. Also, if they are linked together, like a hive mentality, I wonder if I can put a mental "virus", so to speak, into the consciousness of one, and have it spread through their "network".

Blitz smiled. He also thought about the recharge he could get if he touched their power batteries. Robots certainly made things much simpler, he thought.

"Great!" The Black Cat was genuinely pleased. He could keep himself from getting hurt by those robots, but he wasn't sure how he could harm them. An ace in the hole like Blitz could be just the thing. "They knew what they were doing when they summoned you. That's probably true for all of us," he added, considering the lion man and himself in light of the Fex's leaderless position. "Be aware that we are not here by accident. We were chosen specifically."

Dylan looked at those around him and guaged their usefuleness compared to his own. Each of them could hold their own in a fight, and he was more than a little concerned that he was going to be a burden requiring a bodyguard. We are mentalists, Annah had told him many times over. We are not meant to fight alone. What we can do, howevever, is ultimately as powerful as any brick or blaster out there. Her face appeared in his mind and was briefly transmitted to the others before he had a chance to stop it. Let's hope so, Annah. Let's hope so.

"Sorry about that, my friend," Aodh said toward Blitz. He looked down toward the security officer a moment, as if finally fully realizing she were there. "I believe that keenly placed shot of yours may have given us a way to defeat the shraaorch," he added.

"If I could see more details of the parts of that device as it exploded," the scientist asked, "I may be able to advise Blitz on its internals, command structures, protocols, communications and controls. If they're integrated by some sort of radio hivemind, as their behavior indicates, then penetrating and deciphering the processors of one of them could give control over all of them. We might be able to avoid combat entirely."

Aaorran hesitated. "We can slow it down to a degree, Aodh, but there are limits. The records are mental, not mechanical or electronic. Therefore we are limited to what our minds can actually hold."

The Bostonian paused, then added. "Of course, if we can't avoid it, there's nothing I see here that tells me these mechanisms would do me any more lasting damage than rip or scorch my suit. Pity about the mirror breakage. I hope they are not integral to the functioning of anything vital."

"Given a bit of time, Hugh-sensei, the mirrors may be able to repair themselves." Kitsune smiled within her armor. "Otherwise, we probably would have noticed cracks in them, since they've been there in the middle of who knows what abuse over the years. Our friends here have been around for over sixty years, and I doubt they were the first arrivals."

Aaorrann nodded. "The armored-one is correct. We have never seen nor sensed any repair crews here, and yet the mirrors and chandeliers are always fixed somehow."

Kitsune nodded her head at that. "Thought so. And I am sorry for not introducing myself, that was rude of me. I am known as Kitsune, Captain Aaorrann-sama"

Kitsune shifted her thinking so that Nocturne could overhear it and send it out through the link. {Hugh-sensei, Blitz-san, if they are robots as we've seen, do you think you could hear their communications and trace them to their source? It could be that the shraaorch are just as lost and confused as our friends here. We can't rely on that, of course, but the option to parley can't be immediately discarded. Plus, if there is a central intelligence, and it remained hostile, Blitz's abilities could be used to either destroy it, or possibly subvert it.

{Neko-san has it right, we have the tools and talent necessary to prevail, and one of the best tools we have is the mind of Hugh-sensei.} Kitsune's gentle smile could be felt through the link like a ray of sunshine. {You may indulge in flights of fancy at times, but you are also a dispassionate observer. We may need to protect you just as much as any of the rest of us. Tapestry-san may be able to do better at range than Blitz-san, since their shield might only stop weapons like a blaster but be useless against something like bullets or silk hardened to stab or to bind. And who knows? Perhaps they aren't really robots at all, but cyborgs with organic minds? In which case Nocturne's abilities would be something they would be unable to defend against.}

Kitsune laughed in her mind, {And me? Why I can serve as a distraction, of course. If I can get them to focus their attention and their fire on me, well, I can take a bit of that, I'm certain. Besides, as the damsel in distress, I'm sure that would motivate you to come rescue me and sweep me off my feet.} The sense of a gentle blush suffused over the short woman, but her eyes remained hidden behind her mask and her helmet.

"Of course, one of the ironies is that these machines are preventing the very rescue of their creator, Catherine. Or possibly she merely caused them to be summoned. The two concepts here may be interchangeable for some applications. She is either way indeed hoist on her own petard," Aodh remarked. "If we succeed, she will be freed."

The scientist turned and studied the viewscreen. "I wonder if I can help wed your technologies with Blitz's powers? Recharging your weapons, I believe possible.. but I'm reluctant to suggest tampering without first studying them. If only I had some proper tools. A lab.. and a paperclip."

"One moment, please, Hugh-sensei." Kitsune held up her hand and regarded the huge scientist. "You may be jumping to conclusions. The shraaorch may be just as we are, after all. Like the Fex, they may have been pulled in and aren't necessarily associated with any of the Ambers directly. We need more information, I think. They guard a key, but do we, or even they, know why they guard it? The key may have some use the shraaorch have discovered that is separate from what we would use it for, as one possibility. We need hard facts. Which means we will have to see to them as well as to see about getting a scroll of our own."

"And for that," Aaorrann added, "you will need to see Jean-Louis, when you are ready." She glanced over at Tapestry. "He will wish to wager you something for that hat. Be forewarned."

With a dramatic snap of his fingers, Tapestry's broad brimmed, plumed hat turned into an opera-worthy formal top hat, only purple. "I Imagine we can come to some accommodation." Sure, that Carrey could do impressions, that talentless ham-fisted hack, but he had nothing in his repertoire like this.

Kitsune chuckled softly at that, then shifted as a thought came to her. "Captain Aaorrann-sama, I have a question about your 'viewscreen'. It projects what you and your crew remember. I presume it is attuned to you, but is it capable of being attuned to others? Could I, for instance, show my memories on its display, or is that not possible?"

A thought sent its way to the group at large, {And another question would be, could someone with Nocturne's gifts influence it?} A soft chuckle rolled through the link. {You may not be as useless as you fear, Nocturne-san. You may be just as vital as any of us, if not moreso. I may just be here because I'm 'nigh-invulnerable', and that's it for me, but you may have a higher calling.}

The thought did not disturb the woman in the slightest. This was where she found herself, and to bemoan her fate went against her nature. True, she didn't care for this place in the slightest, but that didn't help in dealing with it. So, she set ego aside and worked at the problems and keeping everyone else on task.

Blitz chimed in. {Of course, this viewscreen may only show what the Fex think they remember happening. the robots may only be illusions created in their minds. still, I guess we're best assuming they're real}

Blitz sighed. "Fifty-three of 'em" he muttered as he shook his head again.

"Fifty three, or fifty thousand, they appear to be identical, which means they could follow identical protocols and commands. With a powerful enough transmitter, and the proper application of programming principles," the scientist eyed the viewscreen as he spoke, actually squatting low to look at its bottom, and beginning to circle it, "Blitz could go viral through them all."

"Kitsune is right to want to further explore the nature of these machines. They could tell us much about the repairs to be done, regardless of their source," Aodh explained. "Please, Captain, this memory interface, I think, may give us what we need. You see, all viewscreens have the capacity to be made into transmitters, with some tweaking. It's called the Tempest Effect. If you could tell me more of its engineering principles, I may be able to come up with something? Though.. I do want to meet this librarian."

Blitz looked at Hugh. "I don't think I can 'go viral', az you put it", explained Blitz. "I can enter an electrical syzztem but I can't dizrupt it from the inside. As for reducing the electrical power, I can only do thiz from outside and only one robot at a time".

"Still, I am a pretty good electrician", he added, smiling. "So if you need any help rewiring the robotzz or rejigging the firmware on those thingz... well, I'm your man! So, are we going to get these reject transformerz or what?"

"I think we feel fairly confident that if need be we can take out the shraorch," the Black Cat said, slightly mangling the Fexao tongue. "Hugh, if you like we could probably capture one so you could have a closer look at it. It would be fun to play with one. It would certainly be easier to be rid of them all at once rather than a protracted battle with possibly hundreds of these strange machines."

He turned to the captain of the Fex. "Aaorran, we should probably get that scroll from Jean-Louis now. I feel like it would be best if we assumed our time was short."

Surrounded by cat people, Vincenzo felt almost at home, but not really. It was the flip side of the rest of his life - too much cat in him to feel at home with humans, too much man in him to feel at home with cats. He was feeling and thinking a bit more catlike with every moment with this crowd of felinoid aliens, and it was starting to give him the creeps. Why would it be fun to play with a killer robot?

"Nocturne, about that bodyguard, I may as well carry my weight somehow around here. Of course, and this is assuming that they don't stream too quickly out, and that there's someway to close the door from our side, maybe I could work my way past them and cut off their numbers some what? After all, peaceful means or violent, the less tin cans we have running around, the better."

Apparently I am not the only one having concerns about being valuable, Dylan thought. "My biggest concern would be my increased vulnerability depending on how much I have to concentrate to try and get inside the mind of one of those machines. I have to assume they are going to know it's me and what I am attempting, at least initially. It would be great if they didn't, but I have never even contemplated trying to penetrate the artificial intelligence. I don't even know whether it's possible or what the repurcussions could be. I am, however, more than willing to try."

Kitsune raised her hand again to gain the attention of everyone present. "Captain Aaorrann-sama, I just realized something. Have the shraaorch ever been seen to have opened a door on their own?" The young woman tooked to her companions. "I just realized that they don't have hands, only weapons. Another question would be, 'How resistant to damage are the doors?' We might be able to lure one out, disarm it, and let Blitz-san, Hugh-sensei, and Nocturne-san examine it while we keep the others away. That does depend on various factors, of course, but... I do find it appealing."

And not just because I'll be able to rip something's arms off, either, although I will admit that it is a small part of it.... at least. Again, that sense of a feral smile rose above the armored girl.

{Nocturne, I don't mean to be ignoring the importance of the role you will play, but like the Grinning Shadow, I'm trying to keep you safe,} thought Aodh. {Blitz' very nature means I cannot make him more of a target by whatever I say aloud. I'm trying to be more subtle about how much I'm counting on you, too.}

{Hugh, I appreciate that you want to keep me safe. I am going to be counting on it,} Dylan sent back. I am also guessing Anna would appreciate that from you as well, he thought to himself. He looked around at the number of heroes he was standing amidst. {I am not used to working with this many people. I have only worked with one other hero before. She was rather adamant about me not working alone. If I seem reluctant to speak up, it is because I am not sure how I fit into such a large scheme or tactics. She and I had a system we used, and that won't work here.}

{That's good, because it's going to take a psychic to achieve the effects I've described in Real Time.} thought the scientist. {If we can dismantle one unit so its processing structure is revealed, I can provide a bit of guidance on what to look for in the coded artificial intelligence -- algorithms, encryption protection and communication protocols -- but even with tools, that's too slow as a manual process for me to do alone. Once Nocturne penetrates one unit, if I understand the way Blitz' power works, he can amplify its transmitters to override all the others. That will put Nocturne in charge of the whole hive. Meantime, Kitsune, are you feeling especially reckless? We could really use someone inside that room early in the encounter, and that Fastball special you mentioned seems our best bet, if you're up for it?. Black Cat, Grinning Shadow, you two seem experienced in combat, can we make all this work?}

OOC: Just cleaning up formatting tags here. I'll start the next file so we don't bump into any upper limits before we're through. Also, see the new forum board "TR: Tactics" to further nail down your plans for the coming encounter.