ʜᴏᴡ ꜰᴀʀ ᴡɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ? | ᴀ ʀɪᴍᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴏᴅʏꜱꜱᴇʏ

[Tenzai]

"I pity the hubris of your mistake. Shame that you and your ilk had mistakenly stumbled upon your grave."

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ᴄᴏᴀʟᴇꜱᴄᴇɴᴄᴇ | ᴄʜʀɪꜱ ᴄʜʀɪꜱᴛᴏᴅᴏᴜʟᴏᴜ
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺​

"Such a waste of flesh and souls." Surrounded by the dead and dying, a being that defied the will of the gods of creation had aimed its massive blade towards the bleeding captain of the ship as alarms blared and sirens roared. The damage inflicted on the vessel was far too extreme for it to remain in orbit for much longer. Without the power in its thrusters to withstand the gravitational pull of the very world it orbited around, there was nothing that could prevent its descent through the atmosphere onto the alien planet. A crash landing was imminent and those onboard who lacked an escape pod to send themselves through would soon join the names of the slain and the lost.

"My crew are among some of the best... This galaxy will ever know..." Covering his chest to endure his soul's call for escape just a little longer, against the odds, the captain had kept the ship steady as it plummeted, ensuring that those onboard could be given enough time to reach the escape pods. "Don't assume that they would all succumb to your malice... Providence..." The massive saber impaled through the captain, though despite the light in his eyes fading and his breath running shallow, even then did his hand not leave the manual control for the ship. "... They will survive... Your world... They will survive... You..." Gripping the controls with all the strength he had left, his corpse refused to give its murderer the satisfaction of its surrender.

"How typical. Your stubborn kind never knows when to die a proper death." Withdrawing his blade from the body, Providence swiftly removed the arm of the captain before slamming the brunt of his weapons against the controls. Feeling the ship tilt at an odd angle, as the other bodies that lay atop the navigation bay of the ship spilled towards the bow, the eldritch being cut open a rift back to his throne room. "It is not good to lie, captain. Not when your species is known to disappoint."

[ATTENTION, ALL STAFF! WITHDRAW TO THE ESCAPE PODS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL STAFF! WITHDRAW TO THE ESCAPE PODS!] A loud, looping announcement had blared through the ship's speakers as Fortuna ran towards one of the different sections of the ship that housed the escape pods. Growls of monsters aboard that had seemingly come from nowhere had interrupted the sound of screams and combat. Something happened while she was on guard duty, an intrusion of an unknown origin. The blood that now stained her blade was far from what she expected from this world: Galatina's Edge was tainted with the chill of the eldritch.

The peace she had once known as a guardian of the RSS Charon had come to a swift end. Her future living in an ordinary life after participating in imperial wars had been stripped from her, each body she passed of both her ally and enemy were sobering reminders that this was far from a dream. This was reality. Scratches had coated her body after spending her time fighting against the first wave of the alien intruders that drew themselves from rifts aboard the ship, though despite how many she could cut through, there seemed to be three more laying in wait.

"Tch." Fortuna clicked her tongue as she searched through the vessel while running for signs of her brother only to find bodies of the people she was destined to protect as an imperial guardian. Escape didn't feel appropriate as an option without securing her brother, Ethos, first. However, one look at the vacant escape pods in her section had made her realize there was a chance he might have escaped before she did. Unlike her, he wasn't the type to disobey orders without good reason. With the amount of faith he held in her and his loyalty to the captain that took them both in, it was likely that he would be among the first to escape once commanded, expecting that she too was soon to follow the same. Uttering a short prayer to her god, Gideon, for the safety of herself and her only family, as she entered the confines of the small pod, she heard the sound of growling coming towards her from inside the ship. She was running out of time. Remaining here would be nothing more than a death sentence.

"I'll find you again, Ethos. I promise." Her weapon glowed as though it heard her prayer; With nothing left binding her to the ship, she engaged the commands to fire her pod towards the planet below. If they had to take chances, they would suffer better odds in making landfall and dealing with the planet itself than fighting over the remains of a dying ship. Closing her eyes as the exterior of the pod burned upon friction from contact with the particles in the atmosphere, Fortuna hoped that if her god had fated for this day to be her last, that he would make it end quickly. However, after a few minutes of falling from the sky, the sudden thud of the impact rocking against her body had shook that fear away quickly. Whoever listened to her prayers had yet something more in store for the space paladin.

[Jugust 1st, 5500 | Night | Clear | Boreal Forest]​

As the escape pod opened, the outside revealed a meteor shower of artificial origin. Space debris as well as the light of other pods flying through the atmosphere had caught her attention. Never did such a beautiful sight bring such sadness to her heart. The flicker of each streak of light raining down was just another sign that the life that she had fought so hard to obtain had come to an end. Her sacrifice did not matter in the grand scheme of it all. Feeling herself first to do a checkup on her body, she sighed in relief upon finding nothing more than surface level wounds, though she had room to assume that those she might come across might not be so lucky. Escape pods weren't always guaranteed to remain in one piece, especially if it landed in a place much more hostile than her own.

[WIS=12] Climbing out of her pod after grabbing the emergency ration inside, Fortuna inspected the landscape around her, noticing a chill in the air. The trees were much taller here and the plant life had seemed a bit more sporadic than she expected. "Hmm... Must be a forest near the snow." She recalled the similar scene from the prior battles of the different biomes she encountered. Likely, if they were around a place like this, it would've meant that out of the few animals they would encounter, if they were brave enough to approach, they would either be in packs if they didn't have the mass to treat them as prey to begin with.

Clutching her weapon close, Fortuna uttered a short prayer before moving through the forest, letting the light of the shooting stars and moons above guide her way to the other pods. Even if they lacked a surviving body on the inside, at the least, there might be something to scavenge from their remains. Hopefully, her brother would have landed somewhere nearby too. Eventually approaching one that landed nearby, as she walked to its entrance, she heard the sound of the airlock open, causing her to grip her weapon in case one of those monsters had ended up dropping from the sky as well. "Halt! Who goes there?!"

 

[Anarchia]

The heart of her final patient flat-lined. His body spasmed a final time before it fell still against the metallic plate of the operating table​

The medbay was illuminated in crimson lighting, the hunched form of Nyxia, the ship's last medical officer alive was barely visible in the darkness as she tore her bloodied gloves from her hands and tossed them aside to the floor, they landed in a puddle to rejoin the rest of the crewman's blood. There was no real chance to save any of those who had been brought to her medbay in the past manic hour; all of them had grievous wounds, limbs torn from their sockets, massive gashes lashed across their skin… Extreme blood loss, but even still, Nyxia had stayed until the last one slipped away from her grasp.

The medic's thin, frail form stepped out into the corridor, her breath condensing in the air to form a white cloud from the biting cold; at some point, the ship's life support systems must have failed, and now heat was radiating out into the void of space. The emergency lighting intermittently lit her pale face crimson as she glanced to her left in the direction of the escape pods before moving off, shifting the grip of the snub-nosed plasma pistol in one hand while the other lifted the strap of her medical bag and hung it over her shoulder and across her chest. Turn after turn, body after body, she made her way towards the escape pods, only for her path to be blocked by one of the monstrous creatures that had boarded the ship hours earlier… she froze in the corridor before shoving herself into one of the cracks in the bulkhead, a tiny maintenance shaft that was just large enough to obscure much of her form in the darkness.

The creature was crouched over one of its fallen brothers, desperately trying to seal a wound… In the dark, it was hard to tell what species they were, which infuriated Nyxia's scientific curiosity to no end. In the chaos of the boarding action, Nyxia hadn't left her medbay, hadn't seen their attackers until the ship's fusion reactor had finally spluttered out and died before auxiliary power had taken over, quite literally leaving her in the dark… After a few moments stretched to their extremes, she slowly stood, her footsteps silent as she kept her body pressed against the opposite side of the corridor to the creature crouching over his comrade… Her hand raised her pistol to aim its barrel point blank at the back of the creature's centre mass before she squeezed its trigger.

The first blast sent the creature crashing forward with a scream of rage and fury.

The second took that scream and twisted it towards agony.

The third, fourth and fifth were panicked shots from Nyxia, and left the creature a pink mist from the waist up…​

His comrade, the one on the floor, looked up at her and growled out in a spiteful, suffering tone… "You would shoot an enemy in the back…" Nyxia stared at the corpse at his side before she turned the weapon onto its wounded fellow. "Well... its the safest way, isn't it?" she snapped back, her voice a calm whisper in comparison to the blaring alarms before her finger squeezed the trigger a final time, the plasma bolt that followed smeared the contents of the creatures skull against the wall before she tossed the weapon aside moments after it caught fire as it's hydrogen charge overheated.

​

Before long Nyxia found herself in her escape pod, her medical bag tucked under her legs as she watched her pod fall away from the ship; an inferno blazing in the void of space, from a distance it was almost beautiful, and she wondered how she had ever made it off the s hip before the flames of re-entry blocked her vision, followed by the turbulence as the planets atmosphere jostled it's newest arrival… her hands gripped the straps across her chest with white knuckles before her eyes finally fluttered shut, only to reopen when her pod met the approaching ground with a terrible, earth shattering crash.

It took Nyxia a moment to bring her breathing under control and to compose herself enough to let her eyes flutter open before the door to the escape pod sprung open. At some point, her escape pod had been caught off balance and buried itself into the dirt on its side so that she was lying underneath the night sky. For now, she stayed seated, staring up at the night sky as the shower of debris burned up in the planet's atmosphere, taking in deep breaths before exhaling them in white clouds… The first breaths of air in months that hadn't been recycled a thousand times... After a moment of stargazing, she slowly rose, awkwardly clambering to her feet, standing on the back rest of the escape pod before she scrambled up the side of the crater it had formed in the soft clay of Tartarus XIII

As soon as she reached the craters edge she heard a voice, a commanding, booming voice. "Halt! Who goes there?!" Nyxia froze there in the dirt, her head turning upwards to face the source of the command. "I… Nyxia… Dufaux? Medical officer… I-I" she paused and looked down to the dirt as she slowly scrambled up to her knees and rose her hands up beside her head… She couldn't quite see in the dark who was standing a few feet away, her eyes squinted before she continued… "I was on the Charon… Medical... Science team. I-I'm with the science team." She slowly rose to her feet and let her hands fall to her sides. At this point, if someone was going to stab her, it would probably be preferable to whatever future Tartarus held for her…

She brushed some loose hair behind her ears before she straightened her dress out and took a step towards the stranger in the darkness, although as soon as she managed to catch the glimpse of the spear within Fortuna's hand and the armour of the zealot, she instantly seemed to shrink in on herself.. "I… You can have whatever you want but… I-I just brought medical supplies…" her voice had shrunk to a soft, timid whisper, assuming she was been robbed by one of the natives as she edged herself backwards to retreat from the figure before she backed up to the edge of the crater she had just crawled out of.

 

[Tenzai]

Preparing for the worst that the ship they left behind had to offer, the soldier drew her weapon upon hearing the sound of Nyx's body hit the floor on the opposite end of the pod. However, upon turning past the frame of the escape pod, instead of meeting eyes with one of the monsters on board the ship, she found someone a bit more familiar instead: A human dressed in blue, covered from neck to toe. "I… Nyxia… Dufaux? Medical officer… I-I" Aiming her Galatina's edge skyward instead of towards the fellow crew member, Fortuna's glare had eased as she gave off a sigh of relief. "I was on the Charon… Medical... Science team. I'm with the science team. I… You can have whatever you want but… I-I just brought medical supplies…"

Fortuna shook her head, allowing the stranger to approach her without raising her guard. "There's no need, Nyx. Its good to see that I'm not the only survivor." Wincing for a moment, she held her arm, aware of the wounds she sustained onboard. She was far from the best in terms of fighting condition, though she'd wager that she wouldn't go down without a fight. "Ach..." Using her spear to keep her balance, the zealot brushed her gloves against her shoulder only to find blood staining her gauntlets.

"Medical huh? I suppose there is something you could do for me. Can you treat my wound? I'd appreciate it." Sitting on the ground beside the medic's escape pod, she undid the shoulder plate of her light armor to reveal a gash underneath. While it wasn't dangerously deep, it was more than enough to leave her dominant arm throbbing. "Name's Fortuna... Fortuna Arturia, but you could call me Fortune. I used to work security back on the Charon. Got hurt on the way to the pods."



Looking up at the skies above, Fortuna watched as the meteor shower had come to a swift end, only to have her attention be drawn to the remains of their falling ship immediately after. The light that had erupted from their ship burning through the clouds had eclipsed even that of the luminosity of the world's moons. "To think, that massive ship would meet its end so quickly. To fall from enemy boarding in a single day. The gods must've been angry at us." Muttering a short prayer for grace to those who fell from the heavens, the blonde woman turned her head back towards Nyx.

Noticing how close she was, to avoid disturbing her work, Fortuna tilted her head to the side to expose more of her shoulder. While she was used to pain, the feeling of placing pressure on an open wound had never stopped feeling uncomfortable. "Say Nyx, has anyone else you've known made it out too?" Hoping that her brother would potentially be among the list of others should she have managed to escape with many more, she kept her faith strong. A doctor wouldn't have made it out of that attack without someone's help, right? "Maybe we could find others around here who survived the attack."

Choices

Nyx:
- If you want to tend to Fortuna without using medicine, it would be a medicine check. Given her skill at medicine [+7], all you need to do is get a 3 or higher on from rolling a d20.
- If you want to tend to Fortuna with medicine, you don't have to roll. It will auto-succeed and use a single charge of your doctor bag. [3/3 uses left today]
- You can also leave her wounded if you so choose.

 

[Twilight Genesis]

[𝔸𝕋𝕋𝔼ℕ𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ, 𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝕊𝕋𝔸𝔽𝔽! 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝔻ℝ𝔸𝕎 𝕋𝕆 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼 ℙ𝕆𝔻𝕊! 𝕋ℍ𝕀𝕊 𝕀𝕊 ℕ𝕆𝕋 𝔸 𝔻ℝ𝕀𝕃𝕃! 𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝕊𝕋𝔸𝔽𝔽! 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝔻ℝ𝔸𝕎 𝕋𝕆 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔼𝕊ℂ𝔸ℙ𝔼 ℙ𝕆𝔻𝕊!]

The intercom had blared out and with it the alarms too. Watching a crew mate get devoured from some otherworldly creature wasn't on her to-do list of the day. Locked in her lab with her coworkers and nowhere to run, she snatched a bag and began to fill it with whatever she deemed necessary. The monsters clawing at her door didn't give her that chance as they shredded through the durasteel panels like it was paper. She dropped what she was packing and had run to the far back of her lab where the saplings were kept. Many of her small dryads stood at attention, shivering in fear. "Hey, hey, it's going to be ok. Everything will be ok." Dahlia cooed as she scooped up the smaller ones. She knew they weren't going to make it out of this alive if the Gauranlen tree got destroyed, but she wasn't going to leave them, not even for a moment.

Dahlia stuffed the pint sized creatures into the deep pockets of her lab coat. In her arms, she held Gauranlen pods, tools that would grow the next generation of dryads. There weren't many choices right now, the auto doors had been cleaved open, the scientists were hardly armed, hell, the dryads were the most dangerous thing in the lab, but they weren't fully grown. Dahlia backed up as one of the malformed creatures took a swing at her. The closest heavy object was a heavy microscope, and so she started swinging as hard as she could. A couple of clawed dryads had escaped her pockets, Dahlia like a few of the other scientists had been connected to the trees that allowed them to create and commune with the dryads. Others were long dead or still fighting for as long as they could for their fallen master. They weren't the best fighters, but still tough to get rid of in numbers. Her own dryads had sensed her fear, and so they acted, and fought. The last thing Dahlia wanted was to leave them, but there was no choice. It was clear that her plantlike companions were telling her one thing.

R u n .

There wasn't anywhere to go without having to run out into the enemy infested halls, but she knew the vents had led to many places on this ship. A quick look at the floor plan, and she was ripping the vent cover off with every ounce of strength she had, then grabbed the Gaurenlan pods. Dahlia practically dove into the vents as she scrambled down to the escape pods. Her dryads were chittering and were just as panicked as she was about being hunted. Or perhaps they were concerned about the blood she was trailing across the metal, she'd been struck by a creature. It had flayed her skin, but she didn't even notice.

Dahlia threw herself into one of the few remaining escape pods. Strapping in and shutting the door, she took a moment to process everything. She was in pain, a lot of pain. Sticky red blood had seeped into her clothes, and as her drop pod fell into the vastness of space, she felt her few dryads starting to whither. "It's going to be ok." She whispered as she closed her eyes. There was no reason to put a strong front on for the little ones, they knew she was afraid. If anything, she was staying strong for herself rather than the withering creatures. The pain and shock was too much, she passed out not long after, the last thing she heard was flesh coming apart.

When Dahlia woke up again, all was still. Her pod had also found itself partially buried in the soil below. She gasped for air as she fully came to, looking around then at her feet. Her dryads were gone, reduced to nothing but speckled orange and gold leaves. Dahlia held her tears and broke free from the metal coffin, fresh air filled her lungs for the first time as she fell out and onto her hands and knees. She puked up whatever she'd eaten previously, along with a strange green fluid. "F-Fuck me... this is awful..." She groaned and got to her feet with some struggle. Dahlia had rarely breathed fresh air, it was nice, even if it had her coughing most days. She placed her hand on her abdomen, noting the lack of pain. Perhaps the fried nerve endings provided relief from feeling an open wound, but looking further, there was no more blood running down her clothes, and she was left feeling for a wound that wasn't there. It was impossible, it's not like it was all in her head. There was still dried blood on her lab coat, even her blouse was sliced open from the slash, but right now she just lacked the capacity to think too hard on it.

She was still in possession of one of the Gauranlen pods. Sure, it wasn't her life's work which had fallen with the ship, but with at least one intact pod she could plant another tree, and pick up where she left off.

The sound of voices caught her off guard and her head snapped in attention. People. People that didn't look hostile. Well... Ok, One of them didn't look hostile. The other looked ready to cleave anyone down at a moment's notice, but they weren't like the monsters that invaded her lab. "Hello...?" She called out rather meekly, approaching the women cautiously, her legs shaking and her clothes bloody and in ruins. "Are you both from the Charon?" Well of-fucking-course they were, it was dead obvious they were, and yet she still asked. Was there anyone left? They couldn't be. Right? More pods would rain from the sky, people she knew, they had to be ok.

At least that's what she told herself to lessen the shock.​

 

[Zephyra]

ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ᴄʀᴀsʜ sɪᴛᴇ
ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ(s): ᴀʟɪᴇɴ

​

When chaos erupted aboard the whirring decks of the RSS Charon, the vessel's resident merchant Desinya Devintyre had been far from the conflict, cooped up in the ship's supply hold as she took long, calming puffs from her hand pipe. She was checking her stock, as well as ensuring the current rations they had weren't diminishing too quickly. Blessed with a mind for inventory and organization, the captain had made her the ship's supplier and ambassador. When they reached the next checkpoint, she was supposed to negotiate and trade for more supplies, ensuring that the crew would be covered for the entire duration of their long voyage across the stars.

At least, that was the plan. But few things in life ever went according to plan.

Even from her insulated position, she'd felt the tremors of the vessel as an attack commenced, distant screams and blaring alarms assaulting her senses. For a moment, she froze, straining her ears harder to make sure that what she was hearing wasn't just a hallucination. So it was until a static-y voice over the intercom sounded, its message assuring her that their impending fate was every bit as real as it felt.

[ATTENTION, ALL STAFF! WITHDRAW TO THE ESCAPE PODS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL STAFF! WITHDRAW TO THE ESCAPE PODS!]

​

Shit. She was nowhere near the damned escape pods. At least she'd memorized the layout of the ship by now, the path to the closest bay illustrated in her mind's eye. All she needed to do now was survive on the way there.

With no time to grab all of her supplies, she flicked the ashes from her pipe and stashed it into her coat pocket, her robes fluttering up behind her as she ran from the cargo hold. Quick on her feet, she narrowly evaded tripping over toppled crates and their spilled contents as the ground began to shift. Gotta get out of here...!

The rogue darted into the corridor, thankfully finding it empty. For now. As the sounds of battle raged above her, she took the first flight of stairs up to the main floor, her boots pounding against the solid ground. It was only when she came to the next hallway that she heard the sounds of other people and creatures getting closer, the gunshots nearly deafening. She had no idea who or what they were up against, or why anyone would want to mount an assault against a modest survey vessel like the Charon... but she didn't have time to ponder such things. This wasn't the first life or death situation she'd been in, and she refused to let herself be swept away in a confused panic. Sticking around any longer would only ensure her demise.

Electricity crackled as the wiring of the ship hung from the ceiling ahead, sparks flickering around her. One of the beasts had ripped it out, creating a dangerous jungle of electrified vines to traverse through. She winced as she watched another passenger thrown into it by gravity, his dying screams cut short as thousands of volts sent him into cardiac arrest. Now she had a choice - look for a safer route, or press on ahead. Considering that she was running out of time by the second, she decided to take the gamble, confident that she could make it through.

She dropped to her hands and knees, clinging tightly to the textured floors as she crawled underneath the exposed circuits. The ship's angle was getting steeper, but her will was stronger.

As soon as she emerged on the other side, Desi stood and ran the rest of the way, the sight of blood splattered all over the walls and floors nearly making her sick. Her chest tightened with terror, more afraid of the red substance than what had caused it. Two pairs of footsteps came up behind her as she realized she was now being chased, but she couldn't look back to see who it was. Hyperventilating by now, she squeezed herself through the opening of the first room on her left, able to just barely fit between the panels thanks to her size. All of the automatic doors had malfunctioned, with some stuck shut and others busted down by enemies and allies alike in a desperate bid to escape. It was indeed lucky for her that the gap in this one was just narrow enough that she could fit— but her pursuers could not.

The escape pod was within reach. She could hear the doors being slowly pried open by some inhuman force, the high screeching of the metal enough to make her left ear bleed as her cochlear implant absorbed and intensified the noise. Her fingers smashed against the controls to open the pod, and as she climbed inside she faced the creatures trying to get in, unsheathing her daggers from her hips and throwing them right into their faces. It bought her enough time for the protective screen to finally shut like an impenetrable cocoon, a blissful silence enveloping her at last. Though the aliens threw themselves at her shell and tried to claw it apart in their dying moments, they were unable to make a dent, and soon she found herself weightless as she plummeted into the strange lands below.

Against all odds, she'd made it out alive. She could only hope that she wouldn't be the sole survivor when all was said and done.

╔•════════════════════════•༺۝༻•════════════════════════•╗

╚•════════════════════════•༺۝༻•════════════════════════•╝

​

Crashing onto the surface of Tartarus XIII was as unpleasant as she'd anticipated. Thanks to the efforts of her assailants, her pod was weakened to the point that it cracked and partially broke when it hit the ground. After rolling a few times, she was thrown out of the shattered opening and into the underbrush. Cuts, scrapes, and bruises were a given, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

With a groan, Desi pushed herself into a sitting position, her sapphire eyes taking some time to adjust to her new surroundings. It was a forest, of sorts, though she wasn't educated enough to know any specifics beyond that. Still, trees were good — the bounty of the wilderness held resources aplenty, albeit ones she'd likely never encountered before. If it weren't for the gentle light of the pod spilling over her, she likely wouldn't have been able to see more than shadowy outlines and the ground beneath her feet. Squinting, she rose with a bit of difficulty, cupping her injured ear and recoiling when she felt warm blood stick to her fingers. She'd suffered a bit of damage, but she could still hear.

There was one major problem with her predicament, however. She was alone and helpless, left to fend for herself without her weapons on an unfamiliar planet.

"Please tell me the others survived. Ah, where could they be...?" Muttering to herself, she twirled around to look for any signs of life, pausing when she heard the rustling of leaves beside her. She turned towards the source, identifying the silhouette of what looked to be a person approaching her. "Oh, thank goodness! You don't know how relieved I am to—"

She was wrong. That was no human. Her heart pounded as it came into the light, revealing itself to be one of the aliens from the ship. It was wounded, but that didn't stop it from lumbering towards her, the growl rumbling from its throat undeniably aggressive.

Intuition told her that she wasn't going to win this fight, no matter how injured it was. Luckily, she had a bit of experience talking her way out of sticky situations before. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Desi took a step back and held her hands up in the air, signaling that she intended to surrender. "You're one of the humans from that ship... a little thin, but enough for me to recover my strength. I'll make this quick."

"H-how about a truce?" She said, clearing her throat as she smiled apprehensively, hoping it wouldn't see how unnerved she was by its reptilian visage as it towered above her. "Listen, we're both stranded, our friends are probably all dead... if we work together, maybe we can salvage some supplies and get out of this forest before something else comes along to eat us. Put aside our differences for

survival. Yeah?"

[CHA=26] The creature's slitted gaze narrowed down at her, considering her offer. It spoke in a raspy, strained voice as it reluctantly obliged, seemingly convinced by her argument. "Fine. You're hardly more than a snack as it is. But know that this agreement is temporary, human. I'm no friend of your kind." It hissed, clutching its injured side where blood seeped through its armor. Desi looked away, thankful for the low visibility. "Lead on."

Can't believe that actually worked... she thought, deciding to make the best of the situation as she began to move through the trees with a slight limp in her gait, the alien trailing behind her with its weapon pointed at her back. Think it sees me as its prisoner now... damn, where is everybody?

 

[Carpe Diem]

"Always prepare for the worst-case scenario."
​

Perhaps he'd grown too comfortable after living in the relative peace of the RSS Charon, where his only concern had become to check whether the sketchy passengers coming and going from the mess hall had tried to sneak out an extra snack after curfew. As he pulled back his knife from the eye socket of some incomprehensible creature, he thought back on the mantras that his organization had ingrained into him, carving them into his mind and soul as he methodically and rationally snuffed the life out of that which threatened his life. But how was he supposed to prepare for something like this? Even the Black Beasts had never dared to make their forage into the fringes of space, where only wild, unkind rimworlds existed. Even his rigorous training could not have prepared him to contend with creatures as bloodthirsty as this.

"Take a deep breath, and take stock of what's around you. Think... what is it that I should be doing?" He pulled in a deep, long breath, wiping the xenoblood from his knife. It was worn now, barely holding the blade to the hilt. Whatever these monsters were, they had tough skin. Furthermore, they'd been hit with something that had caused it to start malfunctioning. It crackled with instability, such that Luka hesitated to press the button on the hilt to turn up the heat to cut more cleanly. Instead, he mounted it back onto his rifle, holding the firearm in his arms with extreme familiarity. He checked the chamber, reassured to see the anti-personnel round inside, and turned towards the far end of the hallway he was standing upon. "The captain..." He'd grown deaf of the alarm blaring in his ears, telling him to evacuate as soon and as quickly as possible. If there was someone he had to ensure the life of, it would have to be their captain. As long as they had his leadership, Luka was sure they could pull through.

He didn't hesitate, running contrary of the panicking crew members as he made a beeline to the bridge. He had memorized the ship layout by heart on the first day of his onboarding, leaving no corner of the vessel undiscovered in his patrol. Finding the bridge was easy as cake to him, his pace brisk and calm even as he felt his heart thumping in his chest. He shot through the creatures tearing through the non-combatants, wasting not a single shot as they were distracted with them.

By the time he'd arrived at the bridge, he realized he was too late. The piercing, familiar stench of iron hit his nose before the overwhelming crimson found itself in his eyes. His eyes narrowed, wasting no time to get on his knees and take aiming position when he saw the towering creature over the last survivor; the captain. [WIS=5] "Mierda." He cursed under his own breath, swiftly taking aim at the creature's head. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could still save the captain. He could not see the fatal wounds he was covered from his angle, instead laser-focused on the current threat.

​

"Respira. And..."

Click.

Click.

Click.

"Tch." Jammed. It seemed his gun had taken more damage than he'd originally suspected. Lifting his gaze from the iron sights, Luka watched as he let the creature leave, ripping through space and leaving an empty space where he'd been just a second ago. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and rushed to check on the captain, his face growing grim as he stood over the motionless, mangled, bloody body. Heavens help them all, they were doomed.

[ATTENTION, ALL STAFF! WITHDRAW TO THE ESCAPE PODS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL STAFF! WITHDRAW TO THE ESCAPE PODS!]
​

But maybe there was still a chance. He pulled a cigarette from a pack in his breast pocket, pressing it to his lips and flicking his lighter on as he put it to the tip of the cig. He tossed the burning cigarette onto the lifeless body of his former captain before turning to leave.

There was no time to think, only to act. His combat boots clanked against the metallic flooring as he sprinted through the halls, sneaking past as many enemies as he could and avoiding combat where he was able to as he made his way to the escape pods. Ignoring the death wails of the researchers and other security officers, he made a clean break for the escape pod, punching the display to open one of the unused ones. It hissed as it opened, so slowly it felt like torture. To his piss-poor luck, the sound had attracted one of them.

It jumped right at him, giving him only a split second to retrieve his rifle from his back and thrust the knife at the end of it into the beast's throat. The knife finally gave in, breaking in two as Luka attempted to pull it on. With another frustrated click of his tongue, the soldier delivered a boot onto the writhing beast's throat, driving the blade all the way in for good measure before he jumped into the escape pod and pressed the ejection button.

​

He watched from the tempered glass as the RSS Charon burned in the sky, blazing in the distance until he could no longer see it. He rested his head against the escape pod's cushion, ignoring the ominous way it rocked and shook as it pierced through the atmosphere.

"Just another crashlanding." At least this time he had a seatbelt on. He'd learned from his mistakes in the past. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the imminent impact. Seconds, then minutes passed as he traveled in the air. Deep breath... deep sigh.

His pod crashed into a tree, demolishing the log as it softened the impact of the fall. It tumbled through the brush several feet before stopping dead on the ground. Before stepping out of it, Luka made sure to inspect his rifle, quickly checking the superficial mechanisms to ensure that his rifle wouldn't jam. A quick glance over his gun showed him that pretty much all of his modifications that required electronics had been fried to shit, leaving him only with a handful of rudimentary mods. He took the silencer and slid it onto the barrel, twisting his wrist to fasten it.

Once he was ready, he kicked the console with the sole of his boot, aiming down the sights in case there was a welcoming party waiting for him. Silence... then nothing. He sighed and pushed himself out of the pod, immediately looking around. The smell of burning wood was a familiar one, as was the smell of singed iron. "Not the worst landing I've had..." he muttered to himself, remembering the time he'd landed in an ice sheet, his only source of warmth and food being a small family of seals.

He grabbed a cigarette from his pack and lit it, immediately moving to scout out the area, rifle in hands. Run, stop, get low and look around. For a few more minutes, he repeated this process, looking for any survivors and, in the worst case, any dead he could scavenge from.

Until he heard voices. He turned his head towards the source, recognizing one as the voice of a female human, and another one speaking an unintelligible language. He followed the sound, taking a deep inhale of his cig as he creeped through the brush, making sure not to make any noise as he stalked the owners of the voices.

Whrrr. His bionic eye spun as he zoomed in his vision, looking through the iron sights as he caught sight of red, as well as one of those alien fucker behind her. "Hfff... so it was you, princesa." He whispered through his cig, lining up the shot. This amount of darkness was nothing to him, and they were close enough that he didn't have to worry about wind speed too much. "I'm not letting another one die today. Not a fucking chance, you fuckers."

[SHOOTING=15] "Fuuuu..." One shot, one kill. Fiiiuuu. The bullet whistled through the air, the explosive sound of gunpowder exploding suppressed by the long silencer at the end of the barrel. It was over in an instant, the only mercy granted to the alien being that its brain exploded before it could feel anything, its body flying a few feet in the air as it tried to follow its nonexistent skull. Luka flashed a smirk. "... Heh. Te dolió?" He whispered mockingly as he stood out from the brush, stepping over it as he slung his sniper back over his shoulder and walked towards the redhead.

"I was sure you would've been one of the first to croak, princesa." He spoke, taking a puff from his cig and blowing it in her general direction. "Are you lucky or unlucky? Getting to the pod without getting mauled, then landing safely, only to get caught by one of these xenofuckers, and then being found by me. Remind me to always bet opposite of you."

He spoke dryly, sarcastically and monotonely, paying no mind to the guttered corpse just a few feet from them, the smell of its putrid blood drowned out by the scent of his cigarette. "Captain's dead, by the way. Saw his body with my own two eyes."

 

[Zephyra]

ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: ᴄʀᴀsʜ sɪᴛᴇ
ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ(s): ʟᴜᴋᴀ

​

Despite the grim circumstances, Desi wouldn't let it get her down. She kept her head held high and her eyes on the path ahead, taking extra care not to trip and stumble in the dark. I should have bought that night vision when I had the chance... It was a great deal, too— but then again, she probably would have just had to abandon it on the ship along with all of her other wares. Actually, that was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. This situation was a merchant's worst nightmare.

Fortunately, she wasn't left alone with nothing but her thoughts and a giant lizardman for long. The bullet that killed her warden was so silent that she never even heard it, but she did hear the sound of a thud from behind her. The alien's tough, scaly body struck the ground, its weapon clattering to the dirt beside it. Desi turned around slowly, seeing nothing where its hulking silhouette had once been. She began to lower her gaze before thinking better of it, gauging where it was just based on the noise it had made when it collapsed. She stood still where she was, a cold breeze rustling her scarlet strands as another figure stepped into view. This one was shorter and undeniably human. Of course, she couldn't be sure of their identity until they spoke, since the moonlight wasn't exactly helping much.

"Ah! It's Owl!" She cried, recognizing his nickname for her instantly. Her eyes lit up, and she could've swept him into a hug right then and there.

Well, there was still the issue of his impertinence, but it was hardly a problem for the rogue. "You should have more faith in me, you know? I had it under control." She answered smoothly, placing her hands on her hips and beaming before she was forced to readjust with a wince, accidentally putting pressure on a bruise. "I'm grateful for the help, though. I knew you'd come to rescue me!"

Though, her smile faltered when Luka delivered the grave news. The Captain should have been the first to escape before the rest of his crew, he even had his very own pod— if he hadn't survived, something must have gotten to him first. She looked down, paying her respects to his memory. He was a good man, a stalwart type that knew how to find and bring out the potential in others. She couldn't have imagined anybody else leading the RSS Charon. At least it was an honorable way to go out, defending his ship until the last breath.

"A shame, that... rest his soul. We ought to find his remains and give him a proper burial. Before that, though, we should search for other survivors. I'm sure we're not the only ones who made it out alive; we can't be." Desi shook her head, refusing to let go of hope. Even if aliens hijacked some of the escape pods, there must have been at least a few other members who were able to claim their own. "Regrouping with the others should be our priority, but we'll look for any supplies along the way. Ah- and one more thing."

Of course, she couldn't just let an opportunity to strike it rich go to waste. The dead alien's corpse could still prove useful. She'd avoided looking at it until now, but she'd need to put aside those reservations for just a moment. Sucking in a breath, she crouched beside the headless body and felt around for anything of use.

[WIS=2] It was pointless. The creature was barren except for its bloodied pauldron, but even that was nothing more than simple stonemasonry. Its weapon, however... With shaking fingers, she grabbed the dagger that was stuck into the earth next to it, its short blade reflecting the moon's rays. It was far from spectacular, but it would do.

[WIS=7] In the faint light, she caught sight of the blood still trickling from its maimed neck. Her heart palpitated as she quickly scrambled back to put distance between herself and the carcass, her stomach doing flips. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Gripping the dagger in one hand, Desi grasped onto Luka's sleeve with the other, her face paling. "Nn... th-this isn't good. I'll... need you to take the lead for a bit..." It made more sense that way, anyhow. His golden eye allowed him to see more easily in the dark, a covetable trait at times like these. Having to hang onto him wasn't exactly desirable, but it was that or lose her balance and faceplant, so she chose the obvious option. Besides, she could use the comfort right now, any comfort. Deep breaths. Got to keep moving...

 

[Anarchia]

Location: Crash Site
Interactions: @Tenzai @Twilight Genesis

"There's no need, Nyx. Its good to see that I'm not the only survivor.​

Shuffling in place awkwardly after realizing that she indeed wasn't been robbed, Nyxia nodded as she spoke in response, her voice settling back into its practiced, monotone pitch that seemed to betray nothing of how she was feeling. "Mm… I think most of the others got out… Hopefully, a rescue ship will be sent soon. I don't think the gods had anything to do with it." she paused as she ran her hands down the front her dress, pressing out some of the larger creases that had formed after fleeing the medbay, strangely enough she barely had any blood or grime on her from her escape, most of the blood from the medbay had stained the apron she was wearing at the time, now discarded and she wasn't particularly keen on crawling through dusty passageways during her escape, out of all the corpses and survivors littering the forest, she might have looked the most put together…

Nyxia's attention shot back to Fortuna as her ears perked at the familiar sound of pained whines and complaints escaping the paladin. She was already stepping over to her before she asked for Nyxia's help, kneeling beside the warrior while her pale hands moved to grip at her upper arm, her touch was surprisingly warm, one hand moved to the back of her shoulder, her palm flat against it while the other tugged her slightly closer so she could examine it in the dim moonlight and flashing lights of the escape pod. The cut itself was quite deep, not deep enough to pose any life-threatening risks, at least not in the short term… The medic took a moment to glance over to the rest of the pods before she rose again.. "Wait here… I'm just going to grab a bandage quickly. Your wound isn't too bad, and I'd rather not use any of my supplies until we know the condition of other survivors."

Sliding down the edge of the crater, Nyxia slowly climbed back into her escape pod, rummaging around inside its cramped compartment with an annoyed huff. The pod itself wasn't made for anyone of her height, and she found herself bumping her head as she straightened herself upawrds after grabbing a bottle of water and tearing a bundle of cloth from the emergency blanket included with the escape pod, a decision she may regret when it came time to sleep in a few hours; making her way back up the slope to Fortuna before settling herself beside her fellow survivor. letting her legs dangle on the edge of the newly formed crater, she went to work, her eyes narrowing as she struggled to see the wound in the darkness.

"Say Nyx, has anyone else you've known made it out too?" ​

Nyx perked up at the question as she poured some of the water over a particularly ragged part of the blanket she had torn away from the rest before gently brushing it against the wound, cleaning it of blood and grime as she replied… "I… The medical team didn't speak to me much… I usually do surgeries alone, a patient comes in and goes out... and the rest of the team didn't…" she trailed off with a sigh as she let her hands fall into her lap for a moment, her eyes were straining in the dark and she suddenly realized how cold she was becoming as another breeze seemed to steal more of her capacity to think clearly, the energy in her body seemed to be sapped away with the warmth with each passing second. "They never talked to me… I don't blame them… I'm not very good at small talk… I struggle." She brought cloth back up and continued cleaning before she suddenly jumped at a new voice behind her back.

"Hello...?"

[INT: 2]

A soft, surprised squeak escaped the medic as her muscles tensed. Flinching where she sat before her fingernails pressed against Fortuna's wound for a few moments, long enough to aggravate it and cause a splurt of crimson blood to spray down Fortuna's arm.. "I-I'm sorry!" Nyxia stuttered out before she looked over her shoulder at the newcomer with daggers in her eyes. Her shoulders were up now, her muscles tensed as the hairs on the back of her neck prickled in the cold wind. How could I make such a stupid mistake? She glanced at the wound again, which was now oozing more blood than it was before. It wasn't the newcomer's fault; it was her own, and her anxiety, she knew that. She stayed silent, eerily staring over at Dahlia in the darkness before she turned her attention back to Fortuna and finished her work, cleaning the new spurt of blood from her patient's arm before she wrapped what remained of the improvised bandage around the wound, tied it off, and stood.. "Uh... You'll be fine... just come see me in the morning so I can see if it's infected..." she took a few steps away from the two other surviving crewmembers, keeping herself at an arm's length. After a moment of composing herself, Nyxia finally parted her lips to try and force some words out.

​

"We are… I'm Nyx… Medical." Her voice was blunt now; she could have been described as tense with Fortuna moments earlier, but now, with Dahlia's arrival, she was closed off completely, her eyes turning from the two to scan over the woods as though she was looking for an escape from the interaction. Her eyes lingered on a distant fire for a moment before a sigh escaped her lips and her feet took a baby step back towards the two, knowing it was the best choice for her own survival, and theirs... crossing her arms over her chest as she stared to the floor, despite being several heads taller then the other two, she seemed remarkably stiff, one thought she might have been slightly happier to meet another surviving member of the Charon… At least relieved, but now her eyes darted away from any attempt to make contact, and she hung her head so low, as though trying to make herself appear smaller in the dim light of the moon. The only time she moved in the passing moments was to lean down and grab her bag, a massive duffel bag with a red cross emblazoned on it's edge, she lifted it over her head and let the strap press against her shoulder before she froze in place, her eyes staring off into a distant part of the forest.

Eyes narrowed, a tiny bead of cold sweat formed on the woman's neck before she spoke again. That monotone, cold edge to her voice had softened slightly at the arrival of Dahlia… "Did you hear that… It sounded like a gunshot… silenced…" It wasn't the first time the medic had heard the crack of a bullet leaving a silencer, at this distance it was hard to seperate the crack of the gunshot from the crackling of fires blazing close by and the whirring of her escape pod in the crator, but her paranoia wouldn't let it pass unnoticed. Suddenly seeming very aware of her tall stature, Nyxia shrunk once more, crouching down beside Fortuna while her eyes never left the direction of where she had perceived the gunshot. Her heart quickened in her chest as she spoke again. "Do you think they followed us…?"

 

[Tenzai]

Level 1 Space Knight | HP: 4/13 | Mood: Disappointed​

Interaction: @Twilight Genesis @Anarchia "I… The medical team didn't speak to me much… I usually do surgeries alone, a patient comes in and goes out... and the rest of the team didn't…" Despite the water causing the space knight a bit of discomfort upon feeling it spill against her shoulder wound, she didn't display much in terms of facial expression in response. Given her ordinary proximity to combat, her body had grown resilient against the psychological effects that pain had to offer. She had to be tough to deal with the dangers of the galaxy. To run away from risk was to bring about death and defeat to her allies and the people she had promised to protect with her very life. "Unfortunate. I'm truly sorry to hear that, Nyx." In part, she felt responsible for the calamity onboard the ship. Even now, she was still far from strong enough to make a difference in the lives of most that passed her. However, that didn't mean all lives were lost. Nyx herself was another soul she could protect. Until death would her duty end. "Once we find safety, then we'll properly mourn the fallen. Only the gods know how many there are." Despite the exhaustion in the doctor's eyes, the zealous knight had chosen to put her faith in her. "They didn't talk to me much… I don't blame them… I'm not very good at small talk… I struggle." Placing a hand on Nyx's own as she looked away for a moment, Fortuna offered her some words of encouragement. [CHA=17] "Have faith in yourself. The divines wouldn't have breathed life in you if they didn't have a purpose." Her eyes were sympathetic to her nerves. "Everyone has a weakness. Perhaps talking is yours, but that doesn't make you any less of a person." Taking a deep breath to resist the throbbing soreness that irradiated from her muscles, the blonde had given Nyx her best smile. "If there's no else for you to practice on, the least I could offer is for you to practice on me." For a moment, the knight had nearly forgotten about their predicament on this strange world. Acting as someone who embodied the conviction of her people, whenever she saw someone she was destined to protect in need, she was too stubborn to leave them be. Though, before she could continue, a sound had called her to attention. Footsteps. Whatever was making the noise seemed to have been approaching their position. The stench of blood that wasn't her own was in the air. Taking her spear and holding it close, as she aimed in the direction of the sound, prepared to protect herself and the doctor, her eyes were met with someone else instead, someone else from the ship. "Hello...? Are you both from the Charon?" 'A researcher?' Raising her eyebrow and lowering her guard, upon seeing no weapons on her person, she sighed in relief. Upon hearing the title of her ship come from her mouth. "Mhmm. We are. We're-ACH!" A sudden surge of pain beyond that of which the paladin was expecting had caused her to growl before punching a dent in the escape pod behind her. Blood had shot from her open wound as it was torn further open, rendering her arm weaker than it already was. Was this divine punishment? Was this how her god sought penance for her failure against her enemy? "I-I'm sorry!" Try as she might to search for a reason as to what caused the doctor's expertise to lead to this. However, as she searched through the eyes of the woman she placed her faith on, she found no sign of intention. "Uh... You'll be fine... just come see me in the morning so I can see if it's infected..." "Tch... Worry not... Nyx... My god must have deemed this my punishment for failing to secure the ship." Fortuna nodded her head. She was not angry at Nyx's mistake but rather disappointed in herself for even getting wounded in the first place. She was meant to be stronger than this, to be a resolute obstacle on the battlefield that few enemies could cross without meeting their own demise, yet here she was bleeding from a wound dealt by one of those things on a planet that she was never meant for her to set foot upon. "Perhaps, I must be losing his blessing. Maybe my faith wasn't as strong as it used to be." Holding onto her arm tightly, instead of receiving any more help, the paladin had chosen to stand up on her own two feet, stumbling as she placed her weight on her spear to greet the researcher confidently. If they were to fall to fear or despair now, she doubted they would be able to make it for long. "We are… I'm Nyx… Medical." "And I, Fortuna... Once a part of security. You are?" Turning the topic of conversation back towards her to act within control, as Dahlia was about to speak, the sound of a silent crack in the near distance had caused her weapon to glow faintly. "Did you hear that… It sounded like a gunshot… silenced… Do you think they followed us…?" Fortuna shook her head. If they were the target, she was sure that the round would have flew closer to their position. "Unlikely. Sounds far enough to make me believe that we're not the target. Stay low and stay close to me, you two, okay?" Turning towards the two girls, the knight refused to let them end up hurting the same way she did. If one of those enemies had come down, using the weapons of the dead against other survivors, she believed they would stand the best chance together versus making an escape on their own. "This way," She waved, gesturing them out of the clearing. "We should be safe in the brush." Walking through a part of the boreal forest where the trees grew tightly together, Fortuna's voice was brought down to a whisper as she dimmed the light of her weapon down even further to avoid attracting additional attention. [Dex=17] Able to keep hidden away from whoever fired the round, the paladin muttered a quiet prayer while they approached the shooter's position for the girls behind her in the hopes that they'd be able to do the same. While none of their invaders had used firearms, there was never a guarantee that whoever was using it would consider them non-hostile as well. Eventually, she made herself prone, bleeding on the ground beneath her as she peeked through the holes in the brush. "Two of them next to one of the dead of the invaders. One with an outfit like my own and the other... I do not recognize. Do any of you know either of these two? Nyx? Eden?"

 

[Twilight Genesis]

Interaction: @Tenzai @Anarchia Health: 11/12

Well, she hadn't been shot or stabbed on sight, which was a good sign, she figured. Dahlia just sighed in relief, approaching the two as she cradled her Gauranlen pod. "Thank the stars, I was worried no one else made it, I—" She gasped and promptly shut her mouth following the loud crunch of metal under the space paladin's knuckles. Not to mention the sharp scream of pain, as well. Dahlia took a step back when she felt the icy cold gaze of the doctor that was patching her up. "My apologies..." She spoke softly and chewed her lower lip. She hadn't meant to cause the other woman to lose her focus. Dahlia was just so relieved to see people again, especially since they were from the same ship.

She turned her head away, only looking back to glance at Fortuna now and again when she was speaking. The concept of 'Divine Punishment' for her incompetence sounded absolutely silly to her, but for the sake of trying to get along, she held her tongue.

She seemed to perk up when the women introduced themselves. "Ah! I'm Dahlia, Dahlia Briar, I worked in the biolab. Plants, Project New Eden, and stuff like that, basically the unit I worked with was responsible for all the fresh food and what not!" She was over-explaining herself. It wasn't like she meant to, she was just nervous. "It's uhh, nice to meet you guys." She had practically whispered and scratched the back of her head while kicking some dirt around.

The crack of the gunshot had her jumping. "Oh gosh, those things followed us?? Oh, this is bad, this is really bad." Dahlia was already stressing out, and what was worse? The knight wanted to INVESTIGATE?! Well, it made sense. But why drag a doctor and a scientist along??? "A-Are you sure we should come with you? What if they're armed? What if they're stronger? You're already so injured, so—" Dahlia's concerns had clearly gone unheard, or a minimum in one ear and out of the other. Fortuna was already pressing on, and she didn't dare look at Nyx, lest she stare into that same frosted gaze.

So she hugged her arms together and quickly caught up to Fortuna.

{Dex=22} If there was anything Dahlia was fairly good at, it was making herself as small as possible so she could hide from her problems. Even her steps were silent, avoiding dead leaves and twigs to keep from alerting the mysterious fellows that were just in the clearing beyond. Now it was her turn to half listen to the woman next to her. She was admittedly caught up in the bushes they were hiding in, both literally and figuratively. While Fortuna went on about the matching uniform and dead invaders.

{Plants=18} Dahlia started searching the bushes for anything, be it useful material or something edible. Instead, she heard the sound of a crack, and by the time she looked up into the tree she stood under a long smooth branch had snapped off and clipped her over the forehead, her then panic sending her crashing to the soil. "Ow, ow, owww..." Dahlia hissed and rubbed her forehead. The long stick had landed on the grass before her, and she picked it up. "Oh neat, hey Fortuna look." Dahlia seemed abnormally happy about the neat stick. She picked it up and weighed it in her hands, then twirling it. "I suppose I could bludgeon a person with this." She hummed to herself and started to pluck strands of dead or dying grass and leaves. Just small things of the sort that she could potentially weave into something helpful.

She had entirely forgot about the two figures in the distance. Her attention was fully sunk into the stick. It was a nice stick. A neat stick if you will.

​

 

[Carpe Diem]

​

"You should have more faith in me, you know? I had it under control." "If being xeno food is your idea of 'under control', then yes, I suppose you did have it under control." Luka muttered dryly, thoroughly unimpressed by the merchant's painfully obvious bluff. She'd done well to buy herself some time, at least, until he came to the rescue, as she so aptly put it. He wouldn't question how she knew he'd rescue her specifically, rather than some other survivor. Most of the security staff had been dead by the time Luka had gotten to the pod, so he may as well have been the only one left.

He didn't say anything in response to her comments on the captain, simply taking another whiff from his cigarette while she allowed herself to briefly grieve for the man that had brought them all together. He flicked the ash from the tip, snuffing the cinders with his boot to avoid any unwanted fires from spreading. Even if the taiga was a wetter environment, all it took was a single spark for hundreds of trees to burn in an unlucky day. And Luka was no stranger to unlucky days and plans going awry. In fact, it had been his job for the last seven years to prepare for things going badly.

"Others. You sure are optimistic, princesa. They're all probably either dead or being cooked by those xeno fuckers, Just my luck to have a speaker box as my only companion." He was honestly debating whether he'd have an easier time going it on his own. Frankly, he would have to look over his shoulder a lot less without someone lagging behind him. But would she make it on her own? Though he wanted to think about it pragmatically, one look at the red-haired girl was all it took for him to discard that idea.

He waited for a second, looking around while Desinya went about doing what it was she wanted to do, slowly smoking his cigarette while he waited. He'd have to start rationing them out if he wanted them to last, as much as he hated to.

"Nn... th-this isn't good. I'll... need you to take the lead for a bit..." "That was the idea already-- hey, what's the matter?" Unsure of what had happened in the moments between her kneeling down over the dead body and getting up, Luka's brows tightened as he took one look at Desinya and could tell from a glance that she was a shade paler. "Keep it together--"

[INT=10] Snap. "Oh neat, hey Fortuna look." His expression hardened instantly, making a snap decision in that moment as he put himself between Desinya and the brush from which a woman's voice came from. Was it those aliens that had attacked the ship? Highly unlikely -- he'd not heard a single one of them speak anything approaching a human language he knew. But was it a human? He couldn't safely make that assumption either; after all, he'd dealt with enough aliens in his time to know the tricks these creatures could pull just to get a meal. An alien that could emulate their last victim's voice to lure out other members of its species? It would be far from the first time he'd dealt with something that uncanny.

"If you're human, come out slowly with your hands up. I will not hesitate to blow your brains out if you try anything funny, so don't even think about it." Supporting his rifle against his shoulder, he aimed at the general direction of the voice's source, his finger to the trigger, ready to instantly pull the trigger.

"If you're an alien, I invite you to try me. I've got a bone or two to pick with you after what you did to our ship. Please do try your luck."