trans_9 | Queries and Quibbles--mind your Q's

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Queries and Quibbles--mind your Q's

[ooc: Read this bit.]

Something happens outside the ship. There's a concussive noise like something docking, and then the doors to Obs open again, to reveal a mostly intact, but somewhat bedraggled away team. One of them is injured, and part of the group works to get her down to MedBay, some of the others look stoic and a touch upset with what they've learned.

Some look pissed off that their various morphers and power suits have been stolen away from them again by Stacy's tentacles or dampened.

Something happens INSIDE the ship. A handful of individuals are released from their pods after quite some time of running imaginary mazes.

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"There's stasis, and also Brainy had come close to building a portable kandrona generator for any that surrendered last time. It's just...none did, and he didn't quite have it made in time. Maybe we could make some kinda...slug tank. Thing. Second option," Jaime chimes in, and...

Suits up. Wait a second, why is the business face on?

"As for the whole killing him option--" Yes, he referred to it as 'him,' rather than 'it.' "--I know this is going to make everyone hate me, but if he surrenders, rather than starves, I'm sorry, but killing thing is not going to happen. I don't even mean we shouldn't do it, like I'm just suggesting it--I mean I won't let you kill a sentient being giving themselves up as prisoner, even if that's what the group decides. I don't want to, but I'll do what I have to do to keep someone from being murdered, even if they've committed a horrible crime."

Please, guys, don't make him try to fight you, 'cause it's in his code, man. He's fought the freakin' Spectre to save Death Row inmates, and tried to save the alien that nearly blew up his family. Jaime Reyes' code of honor is a somewhat extreme kinda thing, when it comes to mercy.

"Between myself, my counterpart and the rest of the engineering team, we could indeed build a stasis unit or complete a small kandrona habitat, yes. I was quite close to completing the generator when the last Yeerk died. As for the other option..."

Of all people to echo Jaime's sentiment, Brainiac 5 sighs, and adds:

"Unfortunately," seriously, guys, he would rather let the little bastard starve, after what the Yeeks did to him, "I must echo Blue Beetle's sentiment. As a Legionnaire, I am sworn to protect sentient life--all sentient life. This has extended in the past even to prisoners and criminals, and does not exclude lifeforms just because they're parasitic in nature, or because they've exerted control over someone's mind. That was why I'd been endeavoring to save the life of my own Yeerk and started building what I hoped would be an appropriate prison habitat in the first place."

In his universe, there are criminal telepaths, after all, that control people. They go to prison and everything, pretty much forever, but people can't just up and kill them.

"Inaction on my part would, unfortunately, be just as unacceptable as participating, regardless of my...personal feelings on the matter."

Which are that every Yeerk ever can shrivel up and die. He was relieved when his did before he'd finished the kandrona generator.

Brainiac snaps his omnicom shut with a very decisive little snap and puts it away. He just seriously doesn't look happy about it--he hates these tricky moral situations with sentient rights.

"You don't know what those things did to me. What they did to all of us. What they made us do," Sam retorts, his jaw flexing in rage as he narrows his aim on Tony's head--right where the slug should be--ready to shoot if it tried anything.

"I nearly drowned Brainy. I tried to bash Nathan's head through building. I had to listen to Paco and Xander and Tim and all the others screaming while that thing made me hold them down and put those slugs back in their heads. That thing could have helped us. It could have let us go when our Yeerks were feeding. It could have told someone what was going on. But it didn't. It helped them.

"Now, it's either coming out on its own, or we starve it out but either way, it's going to die and I'm not letting it take Tony or anyone else with it. If you don't like it and you wanna get morally superior, Reyes, then I suggest you get out of the way...or you kill me. But that thing is not staying."

< There are those who know the Yeerks better than you, > Elfangor said, looking at Sam. < Aximli and I are from the same universe as the Yeerks. We know what horrors they have wrought. I assure you, I hold no love for Yeerks. And I know it's dangerous to let one live. > Oh, he knew. He knew what sparing Yeerks could mean. He also knew what not sparing Yeerks could mean.

< However, he has no chance to survive if he chose to fight us, > Elfangor said. < If he is willing to surrender, it would not be honorable to kill him. > And honor is very, very, very important than Andalites. < If we become merciless, then we would be getting dangerously close to how Yeerks act. Kill for only hate is a step closer to killing parts of an innocent race to kill them and another step closer to taking advantage of another race because we think it's better for them, and then simply because we think we deserve too. The excuses merely build up until one becomes as bad as their enemy. If he chooses to take mercy, then it would be wrong to deny him. > Something Elfangor reminded himself could happen if Andalites became too desperate. Which is why he always made sure to act with honor. < Of course, if he refuses to leave his host, then he gives us no choice, but to starve him out. But that is his own fault. >

< I would advise putting something in the kandrona ray that would make it blow up in case it is taken if he manages to obtain a host somehow. > Elfangor said. Because, really, giving the Yeerk a viable option to be FREE and LIVE was something he was not comfortable with. < Though I still believe stasis would be better. He would want to stay in there to survive and would not cause us trouble. >

"Sam, listen to me. I know how you feel right now, a hell of a lot better than you think. We have something similar to the Yeerks on my world, and I've had the displeasure of crossing paths with it."

He had his hand near Sam's gun, but not on it.

"You've got every right to be pissed over what happened, but getting revenge isn't the priority. Saving Tony is the priority. He's still innocent in all of this. The fate of the Yeerk is still a distant second; we'll cross that bridge later."

Jamie, Brainy, that last bit may have been directed at you.

"Sam? I need you to put the gun down..."

Sam is breathing heavily, his chest heaving, and it's clear that it is taking all his will power not to shoot the thing right then and there. The only thing stopping him was, of course, the fact that doing so would possibly kill Tony. Tony was innocent in all of this, just like Leon said. Just like Sam had been. And Connor. And Murphy. And Xander. And Paco. And Tim. And Kate. And Leela. And everyone else that he had helped to infest.

After several intense moments, Sam finally relented and lowered his Beretta. "It's not staying," he said again, then turned and stormed--as best he could anyway--out of the observation deck.

Sam was pissed. Furious. If anyone questioned whether he had any issues left over from infestation, they wouldn't now.

Cassie shrank in response, not back to normal size but she went back down to seven feet. "I don't know exactly what all is going on but I'm not letting you kill whatever it is either. I know how tempting it might be but it's not right."

Leon let out a sigh, and shook his head a bit. At least no shots were fired.

After a moment, he addressed everyone else. "I'll take Tony to the medlab, or to whatever passes for a secure holding area around here. Keeping him out here while he's infected is only asking for more trouble.

"You," meaning Brainy "if you have the time, finish the stasis or habitat for the Yeerk in case we need it. Getting us access to other parts of the ship is still a higher priority right now, though."

Yes, Brainy, Leon was giving you orders. He's kind of bossy like that.

"The rest of you kids just... go, relax, blow off some steam. You're wound entirely too tight for a bunch of teenagers."

"Med Bay is the most secure location, yes. The bed restraints were what we used for the other hosts."

Surprisingly--or perhaps unsurprisingly, for those that know him--Brainy follows Leon's orders without complaint. They make sense.

"I'll report in as soon as the stasis unit or kandrona habitat is completed," says Brainiac, taking out his omnicom again to pull up the plans and floating off. "We'll have to decide which can be constructed the most quickly and factor in which will waste the least valuable resources, as we have relative shortage of useful components that are needed for other more vital engineering endeavors."

Like the stuff they're building to crack the rest of the ship.

With that, he floats off to grab some other engineers.

But he needs to go find Paco and all anyway...

< I will help keep an eye on him. He will more than likely keep in line with an Andalite around. > Elfangor said. No matter what anyone said, he was NOT leaving a Yeerk unattended. And it was true. Usually Yeerks were wary of Andalites. < Aximili, if you wish to help with dealing with him, you may. > He added, stalk eyes turning to his brother. It was both trust in his brother...and curiosity to see how he did handle the Yeerks.

If his brother was being too tense around the Yeerk, he would send him away as well, but for now, he wanted to see what he was like.

There's a quick search to make sure he has no Dracon beam on him--nope, clean--and he's cuffed. She still has those.

"Start walking, Schmuz. Slow, no sudden movements."

What, Dick? You're still here? Tim slowly lowered his staff, compressing it down to its storage size before tucking it into his belt again. Privately, he agreed with Sam, but he couldn't make the argument, because the part of him that knew better agreed with Jaime.

Damn it.

He folded his arms across his chest, scowling.

There was no point in fighting or arguing the point. Schmuz was surrounded. Plans had simply gone awry. This was the closest thing to a trial he was going to get. Any smartass comments would probably get him the dealth penalty.

"Huh. Stasis or a slow death by starvation? Which one do you think I'd pick?" Sarcasm aside, it was the only logical way to go. Though others had chimed in. They fact that they had been planning on building a tank surprised him. How.. compassionate.

"Look, I'm not going to do anything to this guy. He's been a pretty amusing host. I'd really, really just not like to die." Chickenshit, indeed. He wasn't above a little pleading. "So, uh, I know my vote doesn't count for much, but.."

What a miracle. They didn't let Sam tear his Tony's head open to get at the parasite inside, and for a brief moment he offered a thin smile. Then he was, well, getting cuffed. There was no resistance offered.

"I swear, someday, I'll pay you back. It'll be worth it." Nah. It wouldn't be, probably.

Ax relaxed a hair or two, and he withdrew his tail from the host's throat once his hands were confined. He remained ready though, in case the Controller tried to run or attack. Ax had gotten very good at striking with the flat of his blade.

< I will do as you order, Prince Elfangor, > he said formally. Showing mercy to Yeerks that had surrendered wasn't unknown to Ax. Aftran, for one. Prince Jake had refused to give orders either way, other than that they should all decide for themselves whether to destroy or spare here. They had all chosen to spare her.

Ax wondered if they would make the same decision now.

Aximili relaxed and showed no obvious signs of questioning the decision to spare the Yeerk that Elfangor could see. Which meant more than likely he wasn't outraged by the notion.

That was good. Elfangor was definitely happy to see that. It told him Aximili would more than likely stay honorable.

< As long as you do not try anything. > Elfangor said, still keeping a very close eye on Tony. < Stasis or imprisonment is your best choice. If you try to cause trouble, it's not likely you'll get a second chance with how angry some of the crew are. Even with a promise of 'paying back' our kindness. > He didn't believe he'd return the favor. And he wasn't going to let the Yeerk think if he tried to do damage now he'd have the same compassion again.

He could show compassion for Yeerks. That didn't mean he trusted them or cared about them in anyway.

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Queries and Quibbles--mind your Q's

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