Riddick: Death Comes Twice (David Merlyn & LadyWolfie)

[LadyWolfie]

The person know as The Grim Reaper was a Soldier, spy, assassin, and now a Criminal. This was the result of the Reaper's side in a System-wide civil was having lost. The actions of this "Reaper" were now considered war crimes but the side that had one, even if it had been the norm for both sides during the war. Everyone knew it was wrong to go after one person for something both sides had done, especially when no one actually knew who this "Grim Reaper" was. Those who did know who she was were either dead, or not saying anything. The Reaper legend was almost as big as Riddick's, yet no one could figure out who the person was.

Ashley Shepard, who on the outside looked like any other ship pilot or contractor, and could even pass as just a simple merc, was on her ship. She was currently working as a pilot of hire. Since no one knew who this "Reaper" was, she was safe to do anything she felt like at any time. Of course her skill set came in handy, and no one asked about them since she passed herself off as a simply Merc, though she didn't really look the part most often. This lead to her current job, she had been hired to take a group of Scientists and their hired security to some planet with mysterious ruins that they planned to excavate.

Though no one knew the actual danger that they would be walking into. But for now they were still in space, with Ashley at the helm of the ship. She had just come out of Cryo sleep as they entered the orbit of the planet. Checking the ships status she went over the last of her check list. Once she was done with this she did a quick scan before waking up her passengers to prepare to enter the planet's atmosphere and land.

 

[David Merlyn]

Riddick shuttle nose dived into the snow. Yanking on the controls the shuttle finally stopped. Just at the edge of a cliff. The power had been drained from the cells and this was the only planet that was close by. Grunting he removed his harness and slipped on his goggles as the light began to shine off the ice blinding him. "Never enough power." He said voice sounding like gravel. Getting up he picked up his vest. Two bone knives dangles from the shoulder holsters and his Uliak blades were at his back. He reached for the exit door but it would not budge. The frost had frozen it shut. A few swift kicks and it broke open.

The wind blew in like a beast, loud and fierce. His boots sunk two inches into the snow. The storm had just begun but temperatures were dropping fast. Richard B Riddick had drifted for days in a trance aboard that shuttle in the blackness of space. His mind focused on Furya his home planet. planet he knew only in small memories when he was a child, a world destroyed by those he had once ruled. Only the strong survive. The problem was they mostly survived alone. There had been one for him, a long time ago...he shook his head and banished the thoughts. Now was the time to let the animal loose and survive. "Time to see what I'm dealing with." He headed out into the storm as the ship finally tipped and went over the cliff.

 

[LadyWolfie]

Ashley's ship was a standard size transport, usually used to carry a small military unit as well as any cargo they would need. This would make landing it much easier them many or the larger shipping class ships. Once all her passengers were awake and ready for landing she began the decent into the planets atmosphere. doing her best to avoid a rather dangerous and large looking storm. Finding the ruins the were hear for she entered the atmosphere as close as she could to the site with plans to land as close as she could without disturbing the site. What most pilots found hard came easy to Ash.

It didn't take long to get through the atmosphere and regain control after the years of practice she had with many different ships. She landed so well that it was barely felt by her passengers. As Ashley started to shut down the ships engines, the scientist and their security went to work on getting their equipment out of storage and began setting up a small base cam a few yards from where the ship landed, while Ashley watched from the ship's entrance ramp.

 

[David Merlyn]

The terrain was rocky underneath the snow. The sky was a simple grey texture against the blinding white of the surroundings. Yet everything stood out in detail for him. Eyeshine. It made everything stand out in detail. Up ahead the mountains seemed like teeth trying to eat that grey sky. Riddick made his way towards them as the wind picked up.

In the distance he thought he heard the whine of an engine, but couldn't see anything. Still he knew to trust his instincts. Fingers gripped the stone of the mountain side and he slowly made his ascent. Rock gave way to his weight in some sports as he climbed but his breathing stayed steady. He didn't even break a sweat. Down below a small mist had settled on the snow as if gas were expelling from the planet. With a final grunt he pulled himself up onto a ledge and crouched down. The entrance was black and no light seemed to pierce this opening. Stepping forward he removed his goggles. Inside the walls were smooth almost as if some race had carved them. On the ceiling however large spikes can down and small ledges were visible.

His head jerked to the side as he heard movement, and a growl. Quickly making his way to an upper ledge a little further in the cave Riddick started down a spike inches from his head and drew his blades. "What do we got here?" He whispered to himself.

 

[LadyWolfie]

Ashley watched the scientist and mercs set up a base camp outside of her ship. She found it rather amusing since they could have just used her ship, but they seemed to like doing things there own way. Once she became bored of watching this the went back into her ship and to her private quarters. Her she put together her survival gear and a large, heavy white winter coat. Then she took her weapons and put them on her belt or into her coat somewhere. Once she was prepared to face the elements she glanced towards a mirror in her room and smile. Then she walked out of the ship, "I'm going to scout the area, if you need me I have a radio set to the same frequency you're using." she said calmly.

with that she left the base camp and she glanced up towards a mountain range. She noticed the storm was on the other side of the mountain and wondered if the storm would reach them. Though she pushed the thought from her mind as she moved away from the base camp and over a small rise. She had landed expertly on a spot that over looked the ruins the team was planing to investigate. With a small smirk Samantha walked towards the ruins, she was on her guard for any threat she might find on her way.

 

[David Merlyn]

Grunting sounds filled the small spaces. ledges and small outreaching of rock made the ceiling look like a spiders web from above. The beast sniffed the air, it knew someone was here. Riddick sensed the storm getting stronger. This animals fur would do well. He dropped silently from above knives pointed down. They impaled the creatures neck with all weight behind them driving the beast to the ground. Blood oozing from it's fatal wound the animal didn't realize it had already lost . Stumbling to it's feet a huge claw came at Riddick's face, but he easily dodged it and another, before closing the gap and burying the blades deep into the animals head. With a grunt it fell.

Hours later the animals white fur was draped over Riddick's shoulders and two new knives were made from it's claws. Though only small they would make great as throwing knives instead of actual combat weapons. There was nothing to make a fire so he continued down the walls. No other animals came at him, but the opening was up ahead. He could barley see through the thick sheet of snow and ice that had started to fall. Leaning against the wall he hunkered down and looked in the distance. A dark shape was out there and he suspected it was the ship heard awhile ago.

 

[LadyWolfie]

Ashley grumbled as she storm began to make it's way over the mountains and pulled out her radio, "I suggest you make sure everything is secured soon, a big storm is headed our way." she said calmly into the mic. "Understood." came the answer as the scientist and mercs began to set up a bit faster then they already had been. As for Samantha she would continue her scouting until she had no choice but to head back. Pulling on the hood of her cloak over her head and pulling on a mask she sighed and prepared for the storm to hit. She scouted as long as she could, pulling out a weapon that she had under her coat that extended into a staff. It had another form to the weapon but she didn't extend it to that form yes, as they weapon would give away her real identity. As she scouted she did come across some strange tracks, but was unable to investigate farther as the storm hit. With a sigh she made her way back to the ship. If she wasn't a good tracker she could easily have lost her way, but she didn't and made it back to the base camp which was now complete. It was made from instant buildings and some storage crates. Samantha opted to stay on her ship since it was more sturdy then the buildings the scientist were using.

 

[David Merlyn]

Hours later the storm had calmed and moved towards the ship he thought he saw. Using it as cover to block his heat signature and physical approach Riddick left the cave and followed the storm. The howling winds covered any sounds he made and as he approached he saw it was a ship. "My ticket outta here." A few building were hastily standing by the ship. Some soft of expedition, he thought. Some sort of stones stood in the distance, but he paid them no mind.

There were a few windows and Riddick crouched down pressing his shoulder to the building. Glancing in he spotted 11 people huddled inside. Scientist in lab coats chatting near computers. A few men staying at a table chatting playing cards with drinks. No one was paying attention to what was going on outside. There didn't seem to be anyone giving orders and none of them looked like a pilot. "Some one is missing." He made his way to the back of the ship away from the cockpit and out of sight.

 

[LadyWolfie]

Ashley sighed as she did a system check on her ship. She needed to be sure the storm wasn't effecting the ship in any way. After all she didn't want to have to make repairs and not be able to leave when she wanted too. So she ran a few systems scans as she moved around the bridge of the ship as she watched the storm outside before closing the heat shield. The beeping of the motion sensor brought her attention to the console once more. Frowning she wondered who would be moving around in this storm. As she checked the sensors she realized sensors that were going off were near the back of the ship. "And who would be back there...." she thought out loud. Grabbing her gun, and the staff weapon from under her jacket she moved to the nearest door to the sensor and waited. "If it's one of the scientist or guards I'll apologize.... but I don't trust anyone who sneaks around my ship." she muttered as she moved to ambush anyone trying to enter the ship. She kept a portable display so she could see if any other sensors went off, telling her if the target was moving.

 

[David Merlyn]

Riddick heard the beeping in the ship and knew he tripped a motion sensor. So someone was inside. And they were ready. He knew he couldn't take everyone at one time and any struggle out here would alert those inside. Though he was standing in a blizzard and the wind did howl, it wasn't deafening. What to do. He drew his largest knife as he knew sensors would go off based on size. He hurled it hard making sure the tip grazed the windshield just slightly on the side. If it was timed right it would sound like someone had brushed the side and headed east. He however took the same moment to move out of the range by backing up and taking shelter near a building. There he waited to see if the mystery person would come out and investigate. She couldn't stay in there forever. He decided that if she wanted to continue cat and mouse he would simply knock out or kill her men if need be. Granted the pilot could simply take off but he was sure that whoever it was, was here for a payload. Simply leaving wasn't likely.

 

[LadyWolfie]

Ashley glanced up as she heard something hit the windshield and looked at the motion sensor. Noting that there was no movement where she heard the sound, "Hmm that must have been some hail or something." she said as there was no movement. While who or whatever had tripped the sensor seemed to move away from the ship. With a sigh she picked up her radio, "Hey, heads up guys something is moving around out there so don't go outside until the storm clears. Don't need anyone getting eaten or something so be alert." she said calmly. She didn't like the mercs much, but the "Lab-coats" were paying her a lot of money to be a chauffeur. Though now she would me much more alert with the motion sensors having gone off. She would have to set up a few more around the perimeter of the base camp once the storm was cleared.

 

[David Merlyn]

When no one came out Riddick back off and headed towards the ruins. He figured that would be their place of interest so he'd wait there and scout their position. The snow would cover his traces well enough as he headed out. Upon reaching the clearing the storm had passed but the air was still in a thick and windy. Looking up huge rocks and a few statues of figures in alien shapes graced the sky, most were broken but a few intact. Some species that had long since left the planet of died off. "So this is what they are here for?" Stepping forward the ground gave way a bit. Riddick stepped back as he heard the snow covered ice crack underneath. Keeping in mind the area for an ambush he moved up near some rocks for a vantage point and waited to see what the others were up to.

 

[LadyWolfie]

Once the storm died down without any farther incidents Ashley relaxed a bit before gathering her things. Opening the door to her ship once more she stepped off the ship as she watched the mercs and scientist set about working once more. While Ashley herself went to the window port that had been hit by something and scanned the area. She likely would have missed the small knife if she wasn't as skilled as she was, or if she hadn't stepped right on it. Looking down at it she knelt and pick it up, the Merc probably never would have noticed it under the fresh snow. Examining the knife she put it away as she heard someone approaching her. "We're gonna head into the ruins now.... everything alright ma'am?" it was the youngest of the Mercs, and the only one polite enough to call her "ma'am" to the rest she was just a pilot or rank. Getting up Ashley looked at the boy, he couldn't be much older then 17 and couldn't have any blood on his hands yet, "Everything is fine, I'll go too." she answered calmly with a small smile. She actually liked the kid, too bad he was working with Mercs. Ruffling his hair as she walked by, it was to tease him a bit, and she enjoyed the annoyed and flustered look he'd get afterward. Locking her ship since no one she trusted would be left to guard it she went with two of the scientists, the boy and three other mercs. The Scientist began to look around while the Merc set up to protect them, and Ashley moved ahead on onto a higher bit of ruins to get a better look. She knew that knife had to come from somewhere, and she was on alert now for anything.

 

[David Merlyn]

Riddick watched a small band of mercs approach. A small base camp was set at the foot of the ruins. No one thought to check the ruins to make sure no one lay inside. Now they were trapped inside with him. And there she was, the pilot. The one who was in the ship. "So that's you." He hopped off the rock he was on and headed towards the camp hiding between rocks and statues to stay out of sight.