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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 2649629" data-attributes="member: 6294">&quot;Venusian Christmas Carol&quot; - Part 3The office is large and luxuriously furnished with the most modern chrome and orange-upholstered chairs.&nbsp; A wide metal desk dominates one side of the room.&nbsp; Hung on the wall above the desk is a huge Space Force shield, emblazoned with the words 'Venusian Expeditionary Force'.Commander John Fury flicks through the sheaf of papers on the desk in front of him.&nbsp; The Commander's black and silver uniform shines in the office's fluorescent lights, the epaulettes of his insignia gleaming with the bright sheen of the compulsively polished.A device on the Commander's desk lets out a warbling tone, and Fury looks up from the papers he has been inspecting.&quot;Enter.&quot; Fury closes the report.&nbsp; Before he does, we catch a glimpse of what lies within the folder.&nbsp; The page is headed Prisoner 08924-A T'Celle.&nbsp; The name is not familiar to the viewer, but the face in the photo below is instantly recognizable: Princess S'Ondra.A door slides open and two soldiers escort in Gustav and Larathra.&quot;Fury!&quot; Gustav exclaims in pleasure, &quot;At last!&nbsp; Tell zese people zat I vas not doing anyzing wrong!&quot;&quot;Silence, prisoner.&quot; Commander Fury ignores the old man's ravings and turns to his men, &quot;Report, Sergeant.&quot;&quot;Sah!&nbsp; We found these two at the battle site, tampering with one of the R-CHI units.&nbsp; Saboteurs I expect, sah.&nbsp; Nusi sympathisers, sah.&quot;&quot;Captain Fury!&quot; Gustav protests, &quot;You must listen to mmmmmph.&quot; A meaty soldier's hand covers his mouth.&nbsp; Fury nods his approval of the man's actions.&quot;We found them using these items on the robot, sah.&quot; The Sergeant produces Larathra's RIDE and Omnitool devices and shows them to the Commander. &quot;This one seems to be damaged, sah, but it may be a weapon.&nbsp; The other is possibly a grenade or other explosive.&quot;&quot;Take both items to Q Branch for analysis and secure the prisoners in the cell block.&quot; He instructs.&quot;Sah.&quot; The Sergeant salutes, and Larathra and the (still mmmmmphing) Doctor Gustav are unceremoniously removed from the room.Fury stands silently for a moment, staring after the departing group.&nbsp; Then he makes his way back to the desk, takes a seat, and re-opens the file.&nbsp; Slowly, he reaches out and traces his hand over S'Ondra's picture.&quot;What is it about you?&quot; he asks himself.The camera switches to a darkened room with plain concrete walls.&nbsp; The only illumination comes from a small, barred opening in the door.The woman who calls herself T'Celle sits on one of the four bunk beds in the room, her back against the wall.&nbsp; There are smudges of smoke on her face, and her familiar figure is swathed in a shapeless grey prison uniform, but the stubborn jaw and the fierce eyes are all S'Ondra.Translucent images overlay the screen: scenes of Venusians running and fighting.&nbsp; An explosion.&nbsp; S'Ondra knocked to the ground.&nbsp; Cruel, laughing Space Force soldiers.&nbsp; Then Commander Fury, a look of compassion on his face.S'Ondra scowls and clenches a fist in the air.&nbsp; The image shatters.&quot;Fool.&quot; She mutters to herself.&nbsp; Then her head jerks up at the sound of footsteps nearing her cell.The door swings open and Gustav and Larathra are unceremoniously pushed inside.&quot;Enjoy yer time with yer Nusi friends, traitor.&quot; A voice sneers from offscreen, before the door slams shut once more.&quot;Ach, mein knee.&quot; Gustav mutters, rubbing his leg where it has struck one of the cast iron bed frames.&nbsp; Then he glances up, and his expression transforms into a beam of pleasure. &quot;Leibchen!&nbsp; Vhat are you doing here?&nbsp; Vhat's going on?&nbsp; Vhy is Fury so militaristic?&quot;S'Ondra gives the human a suspicious glare, her eyes flicking from him to his bizarre companion.&quot;Who are you?&quot; she demands, suspiciously.&nbsp; &quot;Keep away from me, human!&quot;&quot;But S'Ondra ... leibchen -&quot;&quot;My name is T'Celle!&quot; S'Ondra snarls, after a momentary blanch of horror at hearing her true name, &quot;I don't know what your game is, human scum, but you must be some sort of spy trying to get me to betray the Princess!&nbsp; Well forget it!&nbsp; She'll never give up the fight to free Venus, and neither will I!&quot;&quot;Doctor Gustav is not your enemy.&quot; Larathra attempts to soothe the situation, &quot;In fact, in our own reality, he is your good friend.&nbsp; You see, we are travellers from an alternate dimension.&nbsp; Something went wrong with my RIDE, and we seem to be stuck here since those unfortunately aggressive humans took it away from me so I couldn't repair it.&quot;S'Ondra gapes at the crazy alien, then closes her mouth in a sneer.&quot;That's got to be the most ludicrous cover story I ever heard!&quot;&quot;That's what the humans said.&quot; Larathra observes sadly.&nbsp; Then she brightens, &quot;Perhaps if I explained it to them again, they would understand.&nbsp; Do you think diagrams would help?&quot;&quot;The only thing to do with humans is to kill them.&quot; S'Ondra spits the words. &quot;This is war!&nbsp; A war they started!&quot;&quot;Why did zey do zat?&quot; Gustav asks.&nbsp; He shakes his head, &quot;Zere was never any hostility between our peoples in my own dimension.&quot;&quot;You'd have to ask them.&quot; S'Ondra's voice is bitter, &quot;They landed and attacked us.&nbsp; Kelvor lackeys.&quot;&quot;Kelvor?&quot; the Doctor looks thoughtful, &quot;So zey are in power here as well?&quot;&quot;Only because the humans fight for them!&quot;&quot;Perhaps if I could get some paper from the guard.&quot; Larathra muses, &quot;And write a clear, logical explanation of our presence.&nbsp; They would have to understand, then.&quot;S'Ondra laughs bitterly,&quot;The only thing humans understand is violence.&nbsp; All they do is kill.&quot;&quot;It seems ze Venusians are doing zeir share of ze killing, too.&quot; Gustav notes.&quot;We fight to defend our planet!&nbsp; The humans are the invaders here!&quot;&quot;It is a terrible situation.&quot; Gustav notes glumly. &quot;And it is not one ve can correct from inside a prison cell.&nbsp; Larathra, wiz our combined intelligences, zere must be some way ve can escape.&quot;&quot;I am open to suggestions, Doctor, but at the moment I have none of my own.&quot; Larathra confesses.Just then, the cell door explodes off its hinges.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 2649629, member: 6294"] [b]"Venusian Christmas Carol" - Part 3[/b] The office is large and luxuriously furnished with the most modern chrome and orange-upholstered chairs. A wide metal desk dominates one side of the room. Hung on the wall above the desk is a huge Space Force shield, emblazoned with the words 'Venusian Expeditionary Force'. Commander John Fury flicks through the sheaf of papers on the desk in front of him. The Commander's black and silver uniform shines in the office's fluorescent lights, the epaulettes of his insignia gleaming with the bright sheen of the compulsively polished. A device on the Commander's desk lets out a warbling tone, and Fury looks up from the papers he has been inspecting. "Enter." Fury closes the report. Before he does, we catch a glimpse of what lies within the folder. The page is headed [b]Prisoner 08924-A T'Celle[/b]. The name is not familiar to the viewer, but the face in the photo below is instantly recognizable: Princess S'Ondra. A door slides open and two soldiers escort in Gustav and Larathra. "Fury!" Gustav exclaims in pleasure, "At last! Tell zese people zat I vas not doing anyzing wrong!" "Silence, prisoner." Commander Fury ignores the old man's ravings and turns to his men, "Report, Sergeant." "Sah! We found these two at the battle site, tampering with one of the R-CHI units. Saboteurs I expect, sah. Nusi sympathisers, sah." "Captain Fury!" Gustav protests, "You must listen to [i]mmmmmph[/i]." A meaty soldier's hand covers his mouth. Fury nods his approval of the man's actions. "We found them using these items on the robot, sah." The Sergeant produces Larathra's RIDE and Omnitool devices and shows them to the Commander. "This one seems to be damaged, sah, but it may be a weapon. The other is possibly a grenade or other explosive." "Take both items to Q Branch for analysis and secure the prisoners in the cell block." He instructs. "Sah." The Sergeant salutes, and Larathra and the (still [i]mmmmmphing[/i]) Doctor Gustav are unceremoniously removed from the room. Fury stands silently for a moment, staring after the departing group. Then he makes his way back to the desk, takes a seat, and re-opens the file. Slowly, he reaches out and traces his hand over S'Ondra's picture. "What is it about you?" he asks himself. The camera switches to a darkened room with plain concrete walls. The only illumination comes from a small, barred opening in the door. The woman who calls herself T'Celle sits on one of the four bunk beds in the room, her back against the wall. There are smudges of smoke on her face, and her familiar figure is swathed in a shapeless grey prison uniform, but the stubborn jaw and the fierce eyes are all S'Ondra. Translucent images overlay the screen: scenes of Venusians running and fighting. An explosion. S'Ondra knocked to the ground. Cruel, laughing Space Force soldiers. Then Commander Fury, a look of compassion on his face. S'Ondra scowls and clenches a fist in the air. The image shatters. "Fool." She mutters to herself. Then her head jerks up at the sound of footsteps nearing her cell. The door swings open and Gustav and Larathra are unceremoniously pushed inside. "Enjoy yer time with yer Nusi friends, traitor." A voice sneers from offscreen, before the door slams shut once more. "Ach, [i]mein[/i] knee." Gustav mutters, rubbing his leg where it has struck one of the cast iron bed frames. Then he glances up, and his expression transforms into a beam of pleasure. "[i]Leibchen![/i] Vhat are you doing here? Vhat's going on? Vhy is Fury so militaristic?" S'Ondra gives the human a suspicious glare, her eyes flicking from him to his bizarre companion. "Who are you?" she demands, suspiciously. "Keep away from me, human!" "But S'Ondra ... [i]leibchen[/i] -" "My name is T'Celle!" S'Ondra snarls, after a momentary blanch of horror at hearing her true name, "I don't know what your game is, human scum, but you must be some sort of spy trying to get me to betray the Princess! Well forget it! She'll never give up the fight to free Venus, and neither will I!" "Doctor Gustav is not your enemy." Larathra attempts to soothe the situation, "In fact, in our own reality, he is your good friend. You see, we are travellers from an alternate dimension. Something went wrong with my RIDE, and we seem to be stuck here since those unfortunately aggressive humans took it away from me so I couldn't repair it." S'Ondra gapes at the crazy alien, then closes her mouth in a sneer. "That's got to be the most ludicrous cover story I ever heard!" "That's what the humans said." Larathra observes sadly. Then she brightens, "Perhaps if I explained it to them again, they would understand. Do you think diagrams would help?" "The only thing to do with humans is to [i]kill[/i] them." S'Ondra spits the words. "This is war! A war [i]they[/i] started!" "Why did zey do zat?" Gustav asks. He shakes his head, "Zere was never any hostility between our peoples in my own dimension." "You'd have to ask [i]them[/i]." S'Ondra's voice is bitter, "They landed and attacked us. Kelvor lackeys." "Kelvor?" the Doctor looks thoughtful, "So zey are in power here as well?" "Only because the humans fight for them!" "Perhaps if I could get some paper from the guard." Larathra muses, "And write a clear, logical explanation of our presence. They would have to understand, then." S'Ondra laughs bitterly, "The only thing humans understand is violence. All they do is kill." "It seems ze Venusians are doing zeir share of ze killing, too." Gustav notes. "We fight to defend our planet! The humans are the invaders here!" "It is a terrible situation." Gustav notes glumly. "And it is not one ve can correct from inside a prison cell. Larathra, wiz our combined intelligences, zere must be some way ve can escape." "I am open to suggestions, Doctor, but at the moment I have none of my own." Larathra confesses. Just then, the cell door explodes off its hinges. [/QUOTE]

Verification