Futuristic Transsolar

[Dragongal]

"I'll talk to Doc when I get the chance. In the meantime, I don't think you're going to allowed to leave this bed any time soon, and we don't have a hammock, and there's space for two on this bed, so I think a nap would be nice for both of us." Adira laid back, then cuddled up to Vince. She was careful to avoid touching any of his wounds. As for privacy, Doc would surely keep them safe and hidden. Well, Doc probably didn't even know that Adira had arrived, but she could figure it out pretty quickly. "One of these days we can go to Mars though. Maybe Earth." It would be nice to meet his family, especially since she didn't have one, but last they had spoken about it, Vince had seemed a bit uncomfortable with the thought of seeing his family, so Adira didn't mention it. That could be left for later, now was for now. Adira smiled slightly and reached up to brush Vince's hair back. He really did look tired. Perhaps she shouldn't have invited him to dinner? Then he would have felt betrayed. Ah, the intricacies of courting. Adira decided to switch to an easier topic, one she needed to talk to him about anyway. "I was going to give the crew a bit of a break before we warp again. We need time to secure everything, anyway."

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince didn't have to move much thanks to Adira moving around him, much to his appreciation. Moving caused pain, everywhere, so anything he could do to avoid it was much appreciated. "They'll need to be monitored." Vince said as he leaned against Adira. "Can't have any drunken brawls. I'll get Marshall to keep an eye on things. Whether I want to admit it or not I'm starting to trust him, not that he has proven himself at least somewhat capable of being trusted."

 

[Dragongal]

"I doubt there'll be any drunken brawls. And he did get everyone out of the caverns, remember? I think that earned some trust. I told you making him sober up would help." Adira smiled and nuzzled up to Vince, then gently took his hand in hers. At that moment, she just wanted both of them to be comfortable, and for him to get better. If that meant she had to stay with him the whole time he was recovering, then she would happily do it. They were all getting some down time, right? Adira moved a bit so she could look him in the eyes. "Vince... do you remember what happened after you were cut off from me? When the fighting started?"

 

[BookWyrm]

"I found another way out and I used it." Vince locked eyes with Adira and held it. He could only remember bits and pieces of what happened in the tunnel, and none of it was clear enough to even remotely explain it. Besides, even if all was clear, he wasn't about to tell anyone about what he had seen. "I just want to sleep. We can schedule a debrief if you want more details." It was a pass, and a very blatant one, but he wasn't in the mood to talk about it. Even after he understood all that had happened in that tunnel he probably wouldn't want to talk about it anyway.

 

[Anaxial]

When the rest of the expeditionary team had made it to the evacuation zone, Marshall led a head count to ensure all that came with him were still here. With a good count, the Mercenary breathed a sigh of relief and set up a watch zone a few meters away from the pit of hell they delved into. There Marshall and the remaining able bodies mounted up with what weapons they had... Until the rescue arrived. When all was said or done, Marshall stood stoically with his arms crossed as he watched the wounded Saami and Woods be carried off into the evacuation ship. He helped when asked or saw something that obviously needed to be done with another person in tow but he was visibly disgruntled, even with his face covered his body language spoke louder than anything.


His sour mood was only met with meaningless phrases,


"I'm fine" he would say, his voice low as he turned away from whomever would ask. His anger was not unwarranted, aimed specifically at the upper chain of command he finally found the courage within himself to confront them. Sometime had passed and he figured now was better than to let this feeling boil up inside him. He returned to own tent and disarmed himself, hanging up that gruesome mercenary armor in exchange for a pair of stained jeans and an old red plaid shirt. He didn't want to be accused of anything so the man brushed his teeth and combed his hair, almost looking respectable before he made his way to the medical tent where a staunch few now rested. No doctor would hold him back as he forced his way through to the in-patient ward of the medical tent and promptly began searching for the Captain.


Going door to door, Marshall knocked and announced his presence until he found her.


"Captain, good to see you're not hurt..." He eyes Woods for but a moment, seemingly on edge or anxious. His eyes returned to Adira. "When you have a moment... I'd like to talk to you about something."

 

[Dragongal]

"No, there's no need for that," Adira quietly said to Vince. "I won't ask you again. Just get some rest." Adira gave him a kiss on the cheek and had just settled down next to him when Marshall knocked. His knocking and saying his name had given her just enough time to sit up and pull out her tablet before he walked in. Really, really close call. Adira looked up at Marshall and nodded. After telling Vince that she would be right back, she walked outside with Marshall, into the open medbay. So... what is this about? "What's up?"

 

[Tarmagon]

Rae paused the playback loop, freezing an image of one of the nascent bugs in the center of her screen.


"Newly hatched creatures displayed nothing but naked aggression to anything not of their own species. Whether this is hardwired into their brains, or a side effect of their long term biological stasis is unclear. Without information as to the actual stasis mechanism, this line of speculation serves no purpose and will be terminated."


Restarting the playback, Rae let it run all the way until its end. After the mad ascent to the upper cavern, there wasn't anything really noteworthy, but she let the playback run anyway. Only when the recording showed the inside of her own tent before dissolving into static did she shut down the playback system.


"Information on the larger creature is limited to a single carving, noted at marker 5. No images have been made available from the security streams at this time. Note, petition the captain for access to all video not recorded by own equipment. Carved image of guardian class (temporary id assignment) suggests these creatures did have a highly developed sense of self at one point in their evolution. Current state of this, nebulous. Likely they are devolving due to biological stasis. Species seems analogous to a combination of terran insect and amphibian life. Terran insectile hive construction techniques, combined with amphibian biological stasis systems, allowing long survival periods without ideal conditions. Currently no way of knowing upper limit, or duration of species stasis capabilities. Recommend remote monitoring and careful biological study once current activity period has passed."


Rae closed her viewer and stood with a sigh. Grimacing, she moved to her bunk and pulled on the lighter, shipboard armor her higher body temperature forced her to wear in order to properly regulate her internal temperature. While it was little bulkier than standard shipboard wear, it was another reminder of the differences between herself and the other crew members. Chuckling dryly, she shook off the dissatisfaction she was feeling and headed out. Perhaps Mr. Marshall would be in the mess. His knowledge had surprised her greatly, and she was hoping he would agree to review her notes.

 

[SSgt Goodrich]

After given his task to pump air into Saami's lungs, Jericho had fallen into a dream-like state. In the after effects of trauma and stress, his body had become fully automated, and every order, every command, every movement was spent in a mentally catatonic state. He realized that he was not qualified for anything more than operating grunt work, so he stuck with that as best as he could, fighting the spastic and malfunctioning arm. It was only once he got back to the main camp that he split from the rest of the group, and retreated to the confines of the engineering department, nailing his arm to the workbench to work on the mess of wires and metal.


As bound and strapped up as his mind and arm was, his skill at the bench was matched by few, and even against the oppressive nature of shock, he managed to organize the sparking and damaged limb. With riveting, soldering, and a few minor mistakes, Jericho got his arm back into a usable state, and only then removed the nail that held down the arm. He figured he could buff out the scratches and the hole left by it.


Both arms now functioning, it was inevitable that he would begin to fumble around the workshop's storage, looking for replacement parts for the arm he got destroyed down in the cavern. He had shrugged off the shock by then, due to a healthy realization that he had work to do, and when he had to work, he could not dwell on the present feelings. It was better to have a clear mind when working with metals for superstition has it that metal can detect when its wielder is tainted, like the ore it came from, and would become brittle and ill serviceable at the hands of said wielder. Void of worry, anger, sadness, and worse yet, empathy, he could fully dedicate his being to the craft he mastered.


His craft was physical. It is engineering. It is keeping the machines of the crew operational—He had to remember that before embarrassing himself again, especially before the captain of the very crew he chose to work for. His work was in machines, and amidst peculiar company, it is better to conform than to stand out. It made him wonder when he would become a machine himself.

 

[Hellkite]

Halley held the rock between white-gloved thumb and forefinger, turning it slightly to better catch the light through the magnifier. As samples went, this one wasn't half bad. She studied it for a moment, breathing a small sigh before filling out the classification paperwork beside her in an awkward, left-handed scrawl.


Additional note: indigenous life forced ground team to withdraw before full sampling could be conducted, however extensive subterranean structures reported. Bookmark for further study.





Halley marked the full-stop with a satisfied stab of the pen, placing the sample into its box and crossing the lab to the specimen storage. Her lab coat hung loose and unbuttoned, flapping around her knees as she walked. Halley opened the fridge, briefly running her eyes over the growing stack of boxed rocks before placing the newest addition at the front. She took a moment to rearrange the others around it, making her new prize stand in pride of place. Smiling to herself, she closed the fridge and pulled the white coat off, unconsciously turning it inside out as she did so. Halley tossed the garment onto the workbench and started tugging off her rubber gloves. Tomorrow she planned to start analyzing the samples in more detail, perhaps begin working on a report too. But for now, it was time for a break. Halley dropped the gloves in the bin and flicked the lights out as she left.


She made straight for the mess. Coffee was pure ambrosia after hours of labwork, although as she passed the medbay Halley made a mental note not to complain about her day to the rest of the crew. She may have wrestled with classifying lumps of alien rock, but the ground team had wrestled with dangerous creepy-crawlies, and not all them had made it in one piece. Halley entered the mess and started making herself a drink with the machine, only looking up when she heard the doors open again.


"Rae, hi." Halley gave her a small wave. "I was just making some coffee. Want some?"





Halley withdrew her own mug from the machine and took a sip, grimacing as she burned her tongue on the hot drink.





"I gather that the expedition was a little more exciting than we might have liked. Are you okay? How is everyone?"

 

[InsanEleven]

Nadanya

​

Finally back on the ship, unlike the others who had immediately been evacuated, her perils weren't over just by reaching safety. She had had to help disassemble the camp, then secure all the crates full of detracted and folded tents and fences. Though somehow the work did distract her from the weight of the situation, simply keeping her mind on doing this job right. Easy enough, and easy enough to get lost in.


All she wanted to do now was to go get her very needed coffee break, then contemplate on what she'd ask as a reward for her actions. At least someone up in the chain would have to cough up credits for her heroics, perhaps a bonus for having to haul a man's ass back through a mile of bug infested jungle. In her mind she was already counting on newfound riches, ones she'd demand of course. Of course he'd have to throw some totems later to see how much she could demand, see if The Fortunates were in her vicinity.


Still half daydreaming about a status as hero, she made her way into the mesh hall. Finding the coffee machine taken by Mrs Scruffy and Bubbles, as she had so wonderfully nicknamed this screw. Mrs Scruffy had been Snakelady before, but seeing her get along with the man was a big surprise. She'd never thought anyone could've stand to actually genuinely enjoy that man's company, but Snakelady had miraculously pulled it off. Unless she too had ulterior motives, like the ones Nadanya herself had: entertainment and getting in the good graces with security.


Getting in line for her coffee she nodded at the two women, not failing to overhear they conversation.


"Halley, Rae, and everyone's alive enough. Woods got turned into a needle stack and our lead chemist is a bag of potatoes. Weighed about as heavy too, actually. Not to speak of our pilot who's a bag of potatoes on life support by now. Gotta give it to the men for getting their asses kicked."

 

[Tarmagon]

Rae was both surprised and pleased with the congenial greeting when she entered the mess, though she suppressed both ruthlessly. Oddly, the pang of disappointment at not seeing Marshall was harder to force down.


"Yes, thank you," she replied, trying to frame her response to the rest of the geologists questions. Before she did, the question of how to answer was taken from her hands by the engineers voice behind them.


"Engineer Nadanya's summary is correct, though I do not understand the 'potato' reference. " she said, collecting her own cup and stepping aside for the engineer. "And while it disturbs me that there are injuries, is it not their jobs to 'get their asses kicked' so that ours do not? "

 

[Anaxial]

"No, there's no need for that," Adira quietly said to Vince. "I won't ask you again. Just get some rest." Adira gave him a kiss on the cheek and had just settled down next to him when Marshall knocked. His knocking and saying his name had given her just enough time to sit up and pull out her tablet before he walked in. Really, really close call. Adira looked up at Marshall and nodded. After telling Vince that she would be right back, she walked outside with Marshall, into the open medbay. So... what is this about? "What's up?"

Escorting the Captain out, Marshall closed the door and immediately peered around to ensure no one was watching or listening nearby. When he turned to the captain, he crossed his arms and shook his head, taking a deep breath before speaking.


"What kind of game are you playing here? With these people's lives?" He asked rather abruptly. He didn't give a chance to answer. "You just... fucking run after the giant centipede from hell like it's some sort of fucking John Wayne movie and you're here to save the day! You risked your life, Woods almost DIED, and I don't know if you give a shit." Marshall lowered his arms jammed a finger into Adira's shoulder. "You put the ENTIRE upper chain of command at risk for a fucking INANES- you know what? No, it doesn't matter that it was the INANES, it could've been anyone, even me, your job as Captain isn't to rush in and save lives! Your job is to lead these people and if you and Woods had died then what?! Now we've lost our Captain, our XO, AND the fucking Security chain. You need to think about this shit before you rush in gung-ho because you're trying to save someone's life." Though he was certainly speaking firmly, this wasn't his usual form of rhetoric which involves yelling and being red in the face with anger. While he definitely expressed frustration in his tone and body language, it was easy to tell it took a lot to keep himself calm. Marshall gripped the bridge of his nose and sighed once again, silent now to give the Captain a chance to defend herself.

 

[Dragongal]

Who the hell was John Wayne, first off? Adira had to guess he was some kind of hero or something, based off what Marshall was saying. Secondly, who did he think he was to poke her shoulder like that? Rude. But he was seeming to hold his temper to some extent. Adira looked at him for a few seconds, then said, "I didn't ask Woods to follow me. I told you to get everyone out and have some faith in your Captain. I ran after Saami because I knew I could kill it and get out with him, because I've done crazy shit like that before. I didn't anticipate a cave-in. We need our head pilot, he's the only one who can fly the Lullaby at warp with such accuracy - the fact that a minute mistake could end with all of us dead or completely off-target needs to be considered. And, also, my job when not leading is to delegate to whomever I think can handle it, and to get everyone home alive, even if that means putting myself at risk. Is that how most Captains work? No. But I'm not having someone die when there was something I could have done. I told you to get everyone out, because I thought you could, and you did." Marshall ought to have figured out by now that her techniques were rather unorthodox. She'd gotten the job done in the end, though, right? And why did he think that that thing would have stopped at Saami? It certainly would have followed them, and seeing as how they had to wait to go up the lines, well, the fatality count would definitely not have been just Saami. But what actually upset her a bit was his comment about her not caring that Woods was hurt. How shallow did he think she was? She mayn't hold her life to the highest value, but she did for others. "And as for you not knowing if I care that Woods is hurt, I do. I very, very much do."

 

[Hellkite]

Halley glanced between Rae and Nadanya as they spoke, mouth curling into a grin.


"This is true," Halley replied "Although for preference I'd like to see more ass kicking and less asses kicked. But setting our men's asses aside entirely for a moment, interesting though they are..."





Halley paused to sip at her drink, moving to lean against the wall before glancing at the other women.





"I've got another question for you two, while you're here." Her eyes became shifty. "Say that I wanted to tag along next time the Captain takes a team planetside... how can I convince her to let me come with? I don't want to be stuck here on the ship again while you lot are out exploring, and the samples I've been getting back are..."





Halley made an apologetic sort noise.





"Less than ideal."

 

[Anaxial]

Who the hell was John Wayne, first off? Adira had to guess he was some kind of hero or something, based off what Marshall was saying. Secondly, who did he think he was to poke her shoulder like that? Rude. But he was seeming to hold his temper to some extent. Adira looked at him for a few seconds, then said, "I didn't ask Woods to follow me. I told you to get everyone out and have some faith in your Captain. I ran after Saami because I knew I could kill it and get out with him, because I've done crazy shit like that before. I didn't anticipate a cave-in. We need our head pilot, he's the only one who can fly the Lullaby at warp with such accuracy - the fact that a minute mistake could end with all of us dead or completely off-target needs to be considered. And, also, my job when not leading is to delegate to whomever I think can handle it, and to get everyone home alive, even if that means putting myself at risk. Is that how most Captains work? No. But I'm not having someone die when there was something I could have done. I told you to get everyone out, because I thought you could, and you did." Marshall ought to have figured out by now that her techniques were rather unorthodox. She'd gotten the job done in the end, though, right? And why did he think that that thing would have stopped at Saami? It certainly would have followed them, and seeing as how they had to wait to go up the lines, well, the fatality count would definitely not have been just Saami. But what actually upset her a bit was his comment about her not caring that Woods was hurt. How shallow did he think she was? She mayn't hold her life to the highest value, but she did for others. "And as for you not knowing if I care that Woods is hurt, I do. I very, very much do."

All he could do was shake his head, clearly in disagreement in what she saw as a reasonable decision. In his eyes, leadership came from the top down and her risking her life put the entire command in danger, not just herself. But still perhaps he made a mistake voicing his frustration of her leadership and instead should of held his tongue. Marshall eventually just glared at the woman for a few seconds, a hollow laugh escaping his lips.


"Everyone doesn't get out, Adira. They never do, and you needlessly putting your life..." He paused, he was just speaking in circles, they'd never find a comprise here and he knew it. "You know what? Forget it. Let me just tell you; if your mantra as Captain was; "Everyone gets out"... You've already failed. Next time let me do my damn job and don't put me on escort detail." Marshall walked by the Captain and rubbed the top of his head as he let out a frustrated sigh. He stopped just before he rounded the corner and shouted back at her; "I owe you for taking me off the sauce... You gotta help me help you, Captain."


This last bit was said with a surprising amount of sincerity, it was almost suspicious coming from the Mercenary. Especially just after his outburst perhaps he knew they would never see eye-to-eye and was actually acting mature in just trying to look past it. A riddle for the ages, surely.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira watched Marshall as he walked away. The whole conversation brought her back to the caves, when Rea had died and Marshall had wanted to rush back in after her. What had he said...? "If we open the tunnel a little bit more, I'll fuckin' roast the creepy crawlies. Are we really gonna stand by here and say we took our first casualties and then ran like dogs with our tails between our legs? Fuck that."


Then there had been her response.... "If there's anybody who knows about bending and breaking rules, it's me. I once rushed after a crewman I knew was gone. I knew we should have pulled out. We were outnumbered, outgunned, and he was already gone. I have a scar across my stomach to prove it. I'm not making that mistake again, not with the life of anyone under my command." Well, she had held to that. She wasn't putting the risk of those under her command at risk. Only her own life. "My mantra is 'get as many as possible home'. Not everyone." She wanted to get everyone home. She didn't have a home. So her life didn't really matter as much to her. In her mind, though, when she had rushed ahead, she hadn't been risking her life. It had just been an innate sense that she could get Saami out without injury. The last bit Marshall had said definitely struck her, though. It meant he was trying. She called after him, "Later I'm making dinner for the people who went into the caverns. You're invited." He was already walking away anyway. Adira sighed and went back into the room with Vince. After the whole mess of a day, she was just... tired. Really, really tired. "Everything's fine, he just wanted to talk," she said to Vince as she crawled into the bed next to him and took his hand. They couldn't rest for long, but Vince needed any rest he could get, and Adira honestly just wanted a break, even if only for a few minutes.

 

[BookWyrm]

As Adira dealt with Marshall Vince couldn't help but overhear some of the conversation. In truth, despite his feelings for the Captain, Vince had to side with Marshall. You didn't pay for your actions. I did. That knowledge had been eating away at Vince ever since he'd been confined to the bed. But all of his thinking suddenly came to a stop when the irritation began. Since he was stabilized he'd been given a morphine drip as well standard IV fluids. By now his skin was twitching and his muscles were tense. Hyper sensitivity, an irritating side affect of the morphine wearing off. And now, with Adira climbing into the bed next to him, there was a whole wave of covers and clothing brushing against his skin, not to mention the feeling of her hand in his own. He felt his temper flair and had to bite his tongue. "Adira..... just...... don't touch me."





Vince looked over at his side and finally pushed a button to alert some of the medical staff. "Please, just, sit, not lay, next to me." He was starting to hurt, and a couple of wounds were weepings slightly, and on top of the pain and the knowledge that he could have died because Adira had decided to play hero, the hyper sensitivity wasn't helping his mood. When the nurse finally arrived Vince motioned towards the IV. "Pain killers are low."

 

[InsanEleven]

Nadanya

​

"You should just ask Cappy, unless there's a specific reason you can't go on planet, it should be fine if you volunteer. Sometimes if you don't volunteer too." That last part was added with a slight bitterness, knowing she would need many crystals and dreamcatchers to deal with the upcoming nightmares involving bugs. "I just hope the next planet isn't made entirely out of things that want to kill us. Just something nice and quiet, like a tropical island. Preferably with some nice, fresh coffee and unlimited mojitos. Definitely with the more handsome part of the crew in swimming trunks." Her thoughts weren't exactly what one would call collected and focused, but she needed some well meant distraction. It was soon after she had fulfilled at least one part of that dream, by grabbing a large cup of coffee.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira had immediately sat up. Just moments ago he'd been saying that he'd wanted to rest, and wanted a comfortable bed or a hammock for the two of them, had he changed his mind that quickly? Then it struck her to the core. It wasn't that he suddenly didn't want her around, it was so much worse... she'd hurt him. She hadn't meant to, but just trying to relax and rest, she'd hurt him. "I'm so sorry, Vince, I...." Adira had pulled out her tablet when the nurse walked in just then. She was just there for paperwork or whatever. Whatever wasn't seeing Vince because they were a couple and she loved him and was concerned for him. Whatever wasn't trying to be close and hurting him instead, in more ways than one. Adira watched silently as the nurse refilled the painkillers. After the nurse left, she quietly said, "I have to go finish up some paperwork," before leaving. Well, it was true that she needed to do paperwork, but also a dodge. Maybe it was immature to leave, but so far all she'd done was hurt him, and he didn't seem to want her company anymore anyway. He needed to rest, and so far, her being there hadn't helped any. If he wanted her company, he could message her.


When she got to the hallway and halfway to her room, Marshall's words came back to her and struck a cord. "Why did you go after him?" There was the pain of sutures being stitched on her stomach. "He wasn't dead, not yet, so I went after him." "Well then you should have seen that getting him back was impossible." "I didn't realize it until I was halfway there, then I pulled back. I wasn't going to leave him, not when I thought he had a decent chance for survival." There was some relief as she was given a shot of painkillers. "That's admirable. But he didn't have a chance." "I didn't realize until it was too late." "Adira, you've been a Captain for almost a year, and you haven't lost any of your crew until now. It's okay that he died. Someone had to eventually, statistically." "I don't think it's okay for anyone to just be left to die, not if there's a way to save them. That's not how humanity works. Not how it should work, anyway. I just hadn't realized that there wasn't a way to save Marris. Nobody's fault, really. Except for me going after him, that was my fault. But it was only me I put at risk, so I didn't think as much about it as if there were others. Thanks for the stitches, Doc. And the chat."





Adira shook her head and ran her hand over her stomach, where an old scar was causing a dull ache. That hadn't been a flashback, but it had felt close, to be certain. Definitely too close for comfort. When she got to her room, she sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed. Now was time for reflection. What had her options been? Leaving Saami and running - in which case, it certainly would have followed them, and at that speed... Saami wouldn't have been the only dead one. Or go after Saami, and kill it, especially since she had been certain she could get out unharmed. And Vince and herself would have if not for a cave-in. In which case, had she been on the other side, she'd have used a grenade of some kind, or blown up another of Saami's guns, thus clearing the rubble. But Vince hadn't had that much equipment. Had he? And Marshall was wrong, it wasn't heroics, heroics would have been doing it to be a hero, she had done it because she knew she could, she didn't think anyone else on the team could, she didnt want to risk anyone else on the team, and because it had been an impulse to jump while she had the chance to - before it was truly too late. In the end, Adira was still rather certain that she had made the right call. But if she had, why was she sobbing? Probably because Vince was hurt and he seemed a bit miffed at her. And maybe it was understandable. She didn't regret what she did, only that he had gotten hurt. This just felt like a good example of why she was an idiot to have gotten close to him at all. But if her guess was right, everyone just needed some time to calm down, then everything would be back to normal. At least, normal-ish.

 

[SSgt Goodrich]

Though his realization that his efforts were best put into machinery than humanities, Jericho still could not shake off the fact that Saami had been so close to death. He did not know how the kid was now, but given the last moment that he saw of him was of a collapsed upcoming cadaver, Jericho left the workshop to wander. His arm had been put into a temporary shutdown, considering that the chitin spike caused more extensive damage than initially thought, and he would need to work much longer into the night to be operational in the morning. But against his better thinking, he decided to take a break from his craft and visit the very boy that brought him to question his humanity in the first place.


Coming up to the medical bay, he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath behind his visor, before opening the sterile entrance to walk into the "Zone" as he liked to call it. Doctors and nurses were widely appreciated and held to high regard in his mind but there was still the itching eeriness he felt from them. An occupation dealing solely in death and those near it proved the source of this uneasy feeling. Once inside, he scanned the immediate surroundings, wondering where Saami lie in the blank white room of an infirmary.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince watched Adira leave with a slight sigh of relief. Sure, just a few minutes ago he'd been content to have her around, maybe even had been a bit flirty. Medication does that to people though. Now that things were leveling out and he had time to think about all of it, from their sort of relationship to the whole incident in the caverns, Vince was starting to question many things, Adira chief among them. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I loved her. She has definitely helped start me on the road to recovery, that alone is enough of a reason to love her.


Her "heroics" almost killed you.


Vince felt a cold shiver run down his spine. You have a voice now?


Think about it. Would someone who loved you really put you in that kind of situation?


Vince's stomach would have turned if there had actually been food in it. I know. It was foolish for her to run off after Saami.


She did the same before, why expect her to do something different now? Or again?


It made sense. What did she have to prove? She was the Lullaby's Captain. She was supposed to understand that her crew knowingly signed on with the knowledge that they might die on this cruise. Hell, the crew volunteered for the cruise with that knowledge. Did she think the crew was so dense that they didn't think that they could die at any time?


She ran in to try and be a hero, yet it was you who drug Saami out of that cavern. You risked your life and would have died alongside that INANES if it wasn't for the fact that I stepped in and helped you. So tell me Vince, can you honestly say that you love her now?


She doesn't-


Really, you are going there? After she ran after that bug, knowing you'd follow her, you are going to say that she hasn't been using you?


Vince stared at the curtain that hung around his bed. Slowly, he clenched his hands into fists so tight his knuckles cracked, the muscles in his jaw and neck tensing as veins rose underneath his skin.


She's been playing you from the beginning. She's a manipulative bitch, playing off of your emotions so that you'll become her dog. When she says roll over, she expects you to roll over. She only played your emotions because she knew, in the end, you would come to her defense if something happened. Why would you let someone as deadly and skilled as you become a free agent, a man of his own accord? You wouldn't. She doesn't care. I do. I saved your life in that cavern. I kept you alive. I'm the only one who really cares. If you hadn't of been scared of me you would have known this before now. I'm not here to hurt you Vince. I'm here to keep you and me alive. So what'll it be: Her, or me? Who can you really trust?


Vince felt his body relax, almost like a wave of soothing calm washed over him from head to toe. "You. I can trust you."

 

[Anaxial]

With everything returning to relative normality, Marshall had finished resettling all his equipment back on the Lullaby and took up his position in the Cargo hold. Kicking his feet up onto a supply crate and leaning back in the lackluster fold-out chair that had rested there since his departure. The Tin-Can towered next to him, it's new weapon and fresh paint really gave a reflection to Marshall's dedication to a suit of armor. Queer indeed how a man could show more love to an inanimate suit of armor than to his fellow Man.


Relaxed once more, Marshall took a deep breath in as he smiled contently at his surroundings. Lighting up a cigarette, Marshall instinctively reached for where a bottle of booze would normally lay and retracted his hand in surprise when he grabbed at empty air.


"Shit..." He mumbled, smacking his lips as his throat got increasingly dry. There was a thirst coming on and something would have to quench it. Marshall kicked away from the crate and hoped out of the chair as it clattered to the ground. He shifted his heels and strode off down the ship, he wasn't too far gone yet, but an irritable mode was coming on and he'd rather try to avoid it.

 

[Marianne]

Saundary never said what she had wanted to say to Saami, only because she decided it was best for her not to before they both tended to important matters. She had spent several long, gruesome hours experimenting on her barometer. Her goal was to attempt to duplicate its properties into simplistic tools seeing as the Lullaby consisted of multiple, and she would have to ask an engineer if she could possibly make one for her, but she didn't have the money that she felt like spending on the task. Nor did she want to get in trouble for possibly stealing one if it ever came down to it. Seeing as the Moon itself had a strange way of constructing she was stuck trying to not only understand the meteorology but the demographics; specifically pertaining to it's life form and how the moon itself had functioned.

To her unsatisfiable conclusion she has noticed that the moon itself is still in the process of a proper development, possibly the earliest stages of becoming a planet of a sort - kind of like Pluto. It would not go clockwise, rather counter clockwise, so its days were not only gruesomely peculiar, but they were also longer. "Ah," she yelped. Unintentionally, although they were back on the Lullaby, Saundary had continued to work on the barometer in the safe haven of her room. She had pricked herself on the figure, too busy distracting herself from the fact that she hadn't gone down to where the excitement was. All due to the portable server crashing. Of course, Saundary tried to fix what she could, but she only made it worse and those left over fussed at her for messing with things she didn't understand. Even so, Saundary was just excited to be on the ground, and only wanted to see more than the blanketed snowy rock.

Bringing the now bleeding tip of her index finger to her mouth, Saundary tucked it in between her lips as she sucked on the blood until it no longer bothered her. Thinking as she wondered why those that could fix the portable server for her didn't do so in the first place. She had asked a couple of them, and she had done so in a very mature manner, but they still had not responded to her. It offended her, to feel as though she was intentionally being ignored. Now, they're back on the Lullaby due to a couple of casualties and she couldn't be there. Albeit, what could she do anyways? With a gentle huff, Saundary stood up abruptly, walked to the kitchen sink of her quarters, washed her hands and dapped her finger dry, before she signed herself out of her room. The hallway bustled quietly and she jumped straight into its current. She wounded up in the Navigations Transport, but the person she had wanted to apologize to had not been there.

Puzzled, for Saami was always at work, she cupped the shoulder of a familiar face from a woman from camp and questioned them, "Where's our Co-Captain?" Her voice was firm yet laced with massive confusion; the woman shrugged carelessly before saying, "The infirmary."

"The infirmary? Why is he there?" Saundary had already begun walking, but the woman called after her, informing her that he had gotten hurt. Of course, Saundary wanted to pause and she had wanted to wait and process the information, but she didn't believe that nonsense. Saami was an INANES, he could fend for himself and he had seemed to be doing a pretty good job also. But what did Saundary know? The entire walk she had told herself that it was impossible, physically, mentally, and verbally offensive to whomever decided to boast such a ransom lie. Once Saundary made it to the infirmary, however, she noticed the petite rooms and how they secluded their patients from other busy bodies of the ship. Checking the digital names on the tags beside the door, Saundary spotted his name in bold lettering. Shocked, she laughed it off lightly because there was no possible way. Yet, when she had opened the door, the door shutting behind her quietly, she remained silent. Saami looked like he was dying and she was frustrated with herself for seeming so selfish through out her entirety being here. She pulled the stool beside his bedside close to herself and sat down as she prepped herself to be ready to smile at Saami in a very kind and welcoming manner. "You've dealt with quite a lot." His hair was damp on his forehead, and she instinctively pushed his hair away from his face before pulling away and resting her hands about her lap.

"I wonder who did this," she whispered.​

 

[SSgt Goodrich]

Weaving throughout the cities of his Metropolitan home, Jericho had picked up the odd skill of anonymity. In the subways, rather than presenting yourself as a target for beggars, pickpockets, and low-lifes, it was much easier to become a face in a crowd. A face that everyone recognized but failed to remember. A smile and a pair of eyes that reminded every citizen that they are indeed at the heart of mankind, but they are still only a sole soul in a sea of bodies, adding to the churning waves of the masses.


He reminisced on the past, like glass over his eyes, and a scene began to set its stage.


Like curtains over the oak-wood of a grand theatre, the flanks were shrouded in a mess of fabric. Like him, the people to the sides of his younger self had mastered the art of anonymity, and had faded to mere clothing in his memory. In the subway, with all strings attached, he clung to the metal pole that rattled with the base of the train car, and silently counted the seconds until his stop. He was still consciously upset at this time, haven been in the prime of his ability, and have been now reduced to simple labor worker after the accident that left him limbless. Jericho had spent ten years in isolation, away from the world, and he was about to get the full taste of reality.


Donning attire that clashed with the fashion of the day, given that he had not bought clothes during his ten year self-exile, Jericho had done the one thing he had always learned to not do; he had made himself a target. The train-car, almost as old as the person riding it, screamed to a halt in an unnamed station located beneath the busy ground level of Earth, and the distinguishable man—draped in a long coat and a hat that had clearly not been used—exited its metal jaws. It wasn't long before this man, Jericho, had set off and up the stairs leading to the ground level, but unbeknownst to him, several more malicious, immoral miscreants followed suit.


On the surface, his plan to visit an new employer were about to meet an untimely end, for as he wandered down the crowded sidewalks of the metropolitan, the miscreants took to nudging him into the confines of an alley. Assuming the best, and figuring it was only coincidence, Jericho turned to confront the group and apologize but as fate has it, when his lips opened to speak, they were met with a fist. And then another. And a few more before he stumbled back against a garbage bin.


The local street rabble that populated the alleys had learned to avoid the trouble that happened on the street, some of which even just stand and watch the confrontation out of pure human curiosity.


It was at this time that his hat and long coat had been stripped from his body by the thieves, who had clear intent to sell them to the very rabble that witnessed the attack, but instead of leaving the beaten man to wallow in his new reality... They stopped to lift up his arms.


Beneath the ragged, obsolete wool coat hid the prosthetic limbs that Jericho had every intent of hiding from his new employers. Still shiny enough to see in the dim light coming in from street lamps, his arms were tried and proven metal. The early droids, as they were called, had become an emerging workforce that began to replace the cheap labor associated with the lower-class of society. Not bound by traditional needs for breaks and extra luxuries such as "insurance" or "benefits", the massive corporations of Earth slowly phased out the human workforce in favor of the more business savvy androids. Easily distinguishable by their robotic, flat personalities, and their obvious synthetic body parts, it was at this moment that young Jericho knew his troubles have just begun. These fellows probably turned to crime because they had been made obsolete.


"A fucking droid?! Shite, lads, we fished ourselves a bot!"


"Yeeeh, figures! This boy 'ere seemed too stiff for one of us 'smooth-skins' am I right, tough guy!?"


Another punch to the jaw rattled Jericho's core. Discrimination brought it to a dead-freeze.


"STICK'EM!"


A flash opening of his eyes revealed another shiny object, just like his arms, though this one lay flat in the palm of one of the two thieves, and will prove to be more tool than limb.


There was a jab and a sharp pain near his clavicle, and when the knife was withdrawn from its human sheath, it revealed to the villains that they had indeed stumbled upon one of their kin. Blood poured from the wound.


"Ayye! Shitte!!"


It was then that they realized the severity of their mistake, given that a DNA test on any loose pieces of steel could trace the police straight to them, they decided to bolt with the clothing and abandon Jericho to bleed out his thoughts. Defeated, robbed, and harshly reintroduced into reality, his former self began to cry in the alleyway; only lifting his body from the gravel when the local rabble began to spit and berate him for his augments or "appeasement" as the beggars called it.


Shuffling down the street again, being shoved around by the waves of faceless mass, he could feel the eyes settle on his limbs and blood. Two contrasting personalities. Stone cold steel of a mechanical being on the surface; stained by the crying eyes of a man. Which was he?


The glass of his past began to fog up on his visor, fresh tears to compliment his previous ones, and Jericho noticed that he had been rubbing his unworking left arm silently as the lady moved the hair from Saami's face.


He had been standing in the corner of Saami's infirmary room, a silhouette against the white tile, though still unseen due to this unnatural skill. He watched the young lady move the hair from Saami's face, and said nothing initially, but upon inspection of her clothing, realized that she is indeed not a doctor. Not even support staff for the infirmary. His presence was announced initially by a heavy footstep from his metal boots, and immediately followed by a heavy hand placed firmly on her shoulder for reassurance of said presence. He cleared his voice, making sure to not choke on his words, and spoke softly to the new visitor, though the crackling nature of his helmet speakers betrayed the softness.


"Let the kid rest for now. Save the questions for his recovery."

 

[Dragongal]

Sitting alone in her dark room, Adira kept her head in her hands. In the short time she'd been in her room, she'd already been sick twice, and she was still shaking. Funny how she could kill certain people without issue, but just remembering how badly Vince was hurt.... Though the very idea of bug spikes didn't help much, that was just plain disgusting, now that she really had time to calm down and think about it. Adrenaline made everything seem fine, but once it was gone, reality tended to sink in. Normally Adira just made herself deal with things in a hurry before the adrenaline could run out, but she hadn't even realized that there had been so much adrenaline in her system. Running, running, running, that's what she had been doing since... most of the day, really. And with what was in her blood... high adrenaline output had some side-effects when she finally calmed down. Now that she was starting to recover, though, things were getting better and it seemed easier to think straight, which reminded her of something. She sent a message to Doc, "Please, check in on Woods. He wasn't doing well when I left."


A blip came from her tablet as the screen lit up her room for a few seconds in a cool, yet annoying, light. She didn't want light. She wanted dark. Peaceful, quiet dark.... Adira closed her eyes until the light turned off, then reached over and picked up the thin metal device. A few taps and swipes later, and she found it to be another update on her legal issue. She read over it for a few seconds in complete silence, then stood up and threw her tablet against the far wall. "Annoying, useless bastards sitting in a court room, can't leave me alone!" It reminded her too much of her mistakes, and at the moment, she didn't need anything to remind her. Even if she didn't think they were mistakes, they definitely were having negative repercussions. But so did most things. If she hadn't fucked up in the very first place, if she had had some self-control, she wouldn't have gotten into legal trouble, and she probably wouldn't have been assigned on the Lullaby... or, maybe she would have. She just didn't know, and that was another thing that ticked her off; she wanted to know what could have happened.


With the shattering sound that the tablet had made still ringing in her mind, Adira slowly walked over to the wall. Her tablet was laying on the ground, or what was left of it, anyway. Preventive maintenance, if she didn't clean it then, somebody would hurt later. Preventive maintenance, really? If you practiced that more, a whole lot of things would be better. A whole lot better. "Dammit!" One of the glass shards had cut rather deeply into her palm when she hadn't been paying attention. She quietly growled, then went back to work and finished cleaning her mess up, barely controlling her frustration as her hands shook. A fucking giant centipede bitch didn't hurt me, but a tiny piece of glass does?! "Why not me?!" Adira hadn't expected that outburst, but it felt good, and honest. That wasn't something she often felt, even when she was being honest - her life was too steeped in lies and darkness for honest - sometimes she couldn't tell what was a lie. Buther outburst had caught her attention... even if it was her in Saami's place, or Woods'... why not her? She deserved it more than either of them did... and not because she had rushed in. Once she had cleaned up her hand and bandaged it, she went back to sit on her bed and check her comm. Nothing new, not yet, at least....


It took a bit to calm herself down, but once she had, Adira left her room to head to the science office for a bit, to check on how the samples were coming along. Even the sample of slime she had been covered in after the death of the giant centipede (after which she had been very grateful to be allowed to clean up) had been collected. Perhaps they had found something useful, as Jack had at one point....