[No Dachi]

Marcus gulped uncertainly, the image of that sinister apparition still clearly visible in his mind.

"Right...ah...Kyrrick, power up the weapons, there's a good chap..." What on earth was that thing? And they'd apparently completely obliterated the crew of two Clan warships... "Helm, bring us about but get ready to evade their first salvo. Aernus, shift our shield power to the front. Flight Officer," Marcus pressed down on a button set into the arm of his Captain's Chair, and leant forward, speaking into the microphone on the miniature coms unit, "get Nat and Jerich launched immediately. Have them adopt holding positions above and to either side of us."

"Recieved, sir, launching fighters immediately." Replied the Flight Officer over the radio, his voice crackling slightly from static. Marcus needed to get those internal com lines fixed at the next port..."Falcon 1 and Falcon 2 are in the air, sir." He continued, and Marcus nodded to noone in particular before turning to Alanna, the ship's No1, standing smartly with her hands behind her back behind the padded Captain's Chair and to his left. She in turn inclined her head slightly and looked at him expectantly. She looked slightly anxious which, Marcus reflected, made her a woman with steadier wits than much of the bridge crew.

"Sir?"

"Have you ever seen anything like those things before, Alanna?" Asked Marcus, hoping that the ex-Federation Navy warrant officer would have encountered the like of these things before. He was quickly dissapointed.

"No sir," She replied, "I've never seen anything like that thing. But if they took over two Ninjato Classes like that with no external damage whatsoever, we can safely assume they're dangerous." That, he hadn't needed telling. He turned to look right, at Kyrrick and at Aernus.

"Kyrrick? Aernus? Any ideas?" He asked, still hopeful...again, dissapointment.

"No sir," Said Kyrrick, shaking his head, but concentrated on the displays of his weapon console.

"No idea, Marcus," Aernus said apologetically, "it looked like nothing I've ever seen. What did it say? Take our souls? Almost sounds like something out of one of those fantasy novels..." For some reason, something inside of Marcus told him that the words "fantasy novels" were of particular importance in that sentence. But why...he was struck by an idea. Pressing another button down on the armrest of his chair, he spoke again into the half-hidden microphone.

"Colonal? Are you recieving?" He asked, after Tashida Iyoda, the ex-Clan ship's Marine Captain. He'd been looking for the Clan for a long time - this was probably not the reunion he envisioned.

"Sir," Came the reply, Iyoda's voice like granite even over the coms, "I heard reports we are engaging Clan warships! What is the meaning of this?" Marcus did not doubt for a second that, if indeed he had engaged Clan warships crewed by living Clan citizens, Iyoda would be attempting to storm the bridge in short order.

"Calm down, Colonal," He said, trying to keep his words as concise as possible to save time, "we are being attacked by Clan warships, but they're not under Clan control." Marcus turned to Lora, still holding the armrest button down. "Lora, send that return message from the warships down to the Colonal." She nodded, silently acnkowledging the order, and within seconds Marcus heard an odd sound from the other end of the line - somewhere between surprise and cold, dark rage. Resolute, Marcus continued over the top of it. "Iyoda, your people have a better knowledge of legend and myth than do I, and that thing certainly seemed like something out of legend to me. Are there any records of such creaturs that you saw in Clan archives?" He asked. The Clan's origins lay thousands of years before, in the days of magic and battles of good and evil on old Harkun. There was always a chance, the slightest chance, that they'd encountered this creature in those ancient times...

Summary
-Weapons powered up.
-Helm to bring the ship about, ready to attack, but to anticipate initial enemy salvo.
-Fighters launched, ordered to holding positions above and to either side of the Fortuna.
-Tashida Iyoda, the ship's ex-Samurai Marine Corps Colonal, asked if he recalls anything in old Clan legend that sounds like these creatures.