With This Ring...

The atmosphere at Penumbra is filled with excitement as the event of the year draws close. Finally, the auspicious day dawns, and friends and family gather in a flower-bedecked dome to witness Lady Etaski's and Lady Brianna’s wedding.

The guests begin to arrive and settle amidst the blossoms. The airt fills with happy chatter, and the soothing lull of the water feature and the soft classical music provide a gentle, relaxing background.

Resplendent in her fitted white gown and red corsage, Lady Etaski waits beneath the bridal bower with officiant Lady Saazerac, a vision in gold.

At last, it is time! The guests watch in delight as Lady Brianna is escorted down the aisle by Miss Adele. Exquisite in her flowing veil, white lace gown, armbinder and flower gag, Lady Brianna takes her place at the bower next to her love.

The unique ceremony, designed and written by Lady Saazerac, is deeply emotional. The brides wrote their own touchingly heartfelt vows, the depth of their love for each other evident in every word. Lady Saazerac guides them, assisted by her girl Kaneha, as Lady Etaski accepts Lady Brianna's ring and then prepares her bride to accept hers in turn.

The ceremony takes on a true Penumbra flavour as Lady Etaski pierces her bride's clit and attaches her ring, their blood mingling symbolically in a bowl of the petals from Lady Brianna's gag.

The ceremony concludes and the new wives process down the aisle to riotous applause, waiting beneath the trees to greet their guests. Kaneha, encased in golden body chains, guides each row of guests as they wait for their opportunity to offer their congratulations. Once more, the dome is filled with happy voices as hugs and tender words of love and affection are shared.

One by one, the guests make their way through the portal to the champagne reception, the brides, Lady Saazerac and Kaneha the last to leave. Now it is time for relaxation and the sharing of treasured memories, as the brides look forward to the rest of their lives together, their happy union a blessing for the entire Penumbra family.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!

The wedding photos are also in a separate Gallery, which you can see here.

Thanks to Miss Adele, First Officer Tari and Officer Minou for their photos.

The Ion Storm: Finale

The power went out, everything went dark. Soft crackling was heard from Penumbra’s corridors.

Panic took over quickly, as the crew saw the ghostly bugs, no longer obstructed by the shields, slither inside the station.

The bugs overwhelmed the station within minutes.

There was nowhere one could go without bumping into them.

When the bugs caught someone, they would render them unconscious and stayed latched to them, until seemingly satisfied - and then they disappeared.

What precisely those bugs did to their victims, or what the consequences or long-term effects will be is currently still unknown, and will probably lead to tests and examinations during the next days and weeks.

Some residents tried to head for the generator in the dark. Doors were locked shut without power, but thanks to the safety levers, they could be opened with a bit of effort, the crew constantly watching their backs for more of those bugs.

The crew found out the station was out of antimatter fuel. The dense ion storm prevented any rescue mission from coming to the station, and prevented the use of the emergency solar panels.

And the bugs were everywhere.

In a desperate mood the crew retreated into the science lab to discuss their options.

Reports seem to have shown that those luminous beings are shy of or do not like bright lights.

So the crew of Penumbra came up with a plan... “A-Team” style.

The idea was to use the small shuttle from the side hangar, and the “worker bee” (a small repair craft, currently at the main hangar) to create a big light explosion outside the station. The former would eject some warp plasma around the station, while the latter ignited it with its welding laser.

The aim: to drive off those bugs with a huge flashbang.

Equipped with shoulder lights and a barely functioning intercom, the crew headed out to fight for their Penumbra.

Phase One:

Phase one of the plan was to get every Penumbrian safely corralled in the science lab and acquire all the necessary tools and preparations.

Nurse Doza was extricated by Officer Valferia.

At the same time Mistress Aleeri, Officer Miyuki and Officer Leyre were headed out to get their hands on the EVA suit. This was necessary, because both hangars had their shields down and therefore were without atmosphere. Only one suit could be found, so it was given to Mistress Aleeri, who needed to reach the Worker Bee, which was sitting without atmosphere in the main hangar.

This forced the group to change plans a bit, having to close the doors of the side hangar behind them so that the station’s atmosphere wasn’t lost, while Miyuki and Leyre were inside the shuttle. At the same time Miyuki rigged the shuttle’s nacelles so that they could vent their warp plasma on demand.

The crew met in the science lab again, where the nurse checked the crew and made them combat ready.

Phase Two:

The nurse stayed back to prepare in case anyone needed medical attention after the daring attempt.

The crew separated into two teams, each to get one of the hangars. Aleeri was accompanied by Velvet as their bug-bait while Valferia was Miyuki and Leyre’s.

Leyre, Miyuki and Valferia were to take the shuttle in the side hangar.

The problem with the task was, to shut the airlock doors again, to prevent the air from totally escaping.

Opening the door was not big of an issue, due to the emergency bulkheads.

After some fights with doors and bugs, Miyuki and Leyre successfully boarded the shuttle and prepared themselves for Phase Three, while Valferia made sure the doors were properly closed.

Mistress Aleeri boarded the Worker Bee in the main hangar, after sending Velvet back to the science lab. As the other team was still unable to close the doors, she landed the Bee on top of the side hangar and used the battery of her suit to power the door long enough to close it.

Phase Three:

The shuttle orbited above the dome/conservatory and let out a stream of warp plasma. Once enough was released, Miyuki and Leyre went to take cover behind one of the big Penumbrian towers. Once they were safely covered, Mistress Aleeri used the welding laser of the Worker Bee to ignite the plasma. This resulted in a bright flash of light above Penumbra. The bugs disappeared, and to our surprise, the particles of ion storm that had Penumbra in its clutches for the past 4 weeks seems to have been dispersed by the explosion at the same time.

Aftermath:

All of the crew gathered around the science lab to await Mistress and celebrate the successful mission.

But she did not come... the crew waited tensely... no response from Mistress...

Panic and chaos started to cloud the crew’s judgement and efficiency in the search of Mistress. In an effort to assist the search, Miyuki boarded the shuttle they had used earlier and checked the hangar for Mistress and her Worker Bee. Still nothing could be seen. She then started to search the space around the station and eventually came across the motionless form of the Worker Bee. At the same time the crew on the station spotted the Bee and prepared to attend with medical assistance if necessary. The Bee’s canopy was blown open by the explosion but thankfully Mistress was secure and her space suit was intact. Miyuki used the shuttle’s tractor beam to pull the damaged Worker Bee into the main hangar where the crew were able to assist.

Mistress Aleeri was still unconscious at first, but after a few minutes and after removing her helmet, she slowly and weakly came to herself again.

The crew helped her into her room, prepared a bath and cup of tea and rested with her after the tension of the recent events...

The storm was over.