Divided Paths - IC || Biome - Act II

Ruthless Galaxy                  
               Divided Paths*


The United Fleets of Independent Artificial Intelligences were a vast, powerful empire of machine beings. However, the UFIAI were brought to the brink of destruction by a decisive attack from their former enemies, the Confederate Nations of Ravena. With their leading intelligence permanently shattered, the UFIAI lost connections to many of their worlds. One such world, an artificial planet housing multiple biomes, has suffered severely from this loss of control.

The defunct UFIAI planet still retains its gravity well, which once served to pull foreign vessels into the atmosphere and detain them there. The gravity well has malfunctioned, and now brings any ships that wander too close crashing down to the surface. Our story takes place here, in the biomes, as each character whose ship has been caught in the well tries to survive long enough to escape.

*This IC is a continuation of the original Divided Paths IC thread. The original DP IC can be found in the Inactive RPs section of the forum.

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After having peeled of about four feets of polymer coating from the thick cable, Gardener started to form a complicated coil of the strands of conductors that were inside. After some ten minutes of careful setting and coiling Gardener retreated from the hanging cable. Soon the coiled conductors started to glow, first red and then turning through blue to white. Soon the coil radiated both with intense heat and pale white light.

"There is the heat source. I advise strongly against touching it, as it is both hot and strongly electrified. Actually, one should keep a safe distance of at least five feet," it said in its cheery tone. It slowly walked across the floor, its feet making a quick clacking sound on the hard surface. Once in the middle of the junction it lied down, resting on its "stomach", all six legs pulled close to its body. Thanks to its multiple eyes it had a clear vision to all of the three other corridors leading from the junction, and to all of the "creatures" accompanying it. "You should now rest, perhaps sleep if that is necessary to your species. In addition, you can ask questions that I will answer best I am able. I have deemed this beneficial for our success, both by preparing you to the coming challenges and forming a trust to me", Gardener stated quite confidently.

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Although there was the golden opportunity to obtain any information that they wanted, most of the members of Ravage’s party were completely silent. With a heat source and only three corridors for the warmth to escape, it would make sense if the exhaustion from the day’s events finally started to sink in. Despite this, however, nobody could completely shake their anxiety. Two Chimerosu and a Werean would normally be considered a strong combination of strength, but even so, many of the creatures on the Garden World strongly outmatched them. Querois and Rune were juveniles, not yet in their prime, and the strongest fighter was suffering from a broken arm.

After a long, uneasy pause, Querois became the first individual to speak, “I have only a single question for you,” He asked. “How did the Nylggzora, the creatures in the black classification you mentioned, escape? Was it accidental, or did it seem…deliberate?” His eyes glinted cunningly, amusement in his voice. “Do you know? I feel that this is quite important,” He pressed. The leering expression on his face was perfect, flawless, as though the entire situation were simply a passing bad dream.

“Why exactly does it matter if their escape resulted from intentional actions, Querois?” Rune asked. He had moved over and coiled himself tightly on the floor, nearer to Ravage. Although he clearly possessed emotions, his large yellow eyes were cold and listless; they seemed dead, with their unwavering stare. “They have escaped, and they pose a serious threat to all of us. Are you insisting on playing mind games, engaging in a battle of wits with whoever did it?”

Querois fell silent, his façade breaking momentarily as he looked over at Rune, before he once more plastered a cheeky expression across his features, “Would you like to know, eh, detective?” He asked teasingly, “Does it bother you that much, that a nuisance holds this much power over your fate, and all due to knowledge that you do not yet possess?” His face suddenly contorted into a very dark, alarming expression. “You jenggui idiot…do you think I’m always playing a game, that every time you try to contradict or argue with me, that I’ll overlook it?” He slithered over to where Rune was, suddenly moving very fast, and rose up so that he was balancing on his tail, pointing an accusing tentacle at the Maozhuian, so that the tip was practically touching his face.

“Perhaps you have never dealt with someone like me, but I will tell you how this works. I have always been serious, from the very first moment when we met, until even now.” The Werean’s face became a disturbingly violent snarl, “I refuse to change for your sake, or even for hers,” He jerked his head in Ravage’s direction. “I am happy the way I am, and everything that I have ever jenggui faced made me the individual that I am today. You can call it ‘mind games’, but for me, this was how I lived my life. My enemies were bigger than me, faster, and I could never grow any stronger, the way they never let me rest, the way they never permitted me to even remotely become a threat.”

Querois touched the tip of his tentacle to Rune’s face, “I love this galaxy and everything that is in it, and nothing delights me more than toying with others, but if there is one thing that I absolutely, positively, jenggui hate, it is when those around me refuse to take my actions seriously.” The skin along his gills flashed a brilliant shade of crimson, lightly dotted with shades of blue. “Don’t take me lightly, Rune, because while I don’t care if you think I’m annoying, or a nuisance, I still calculate everything that I am doing.” He pulled his tentacle away, and his skin faded back to the same deep, shadowy black that it had been before. His harsh expression softened, slightly, “We are brothers, now, so I will make sure that this strange, motley family survives.” Once again, steel crept into his voice, “Don’t misread me, like you did just now. It is unbecoming of you.”

With this finishing remark, he slithered over to a distant corner of the chamber and crept up the wall, before clinging to it, so that he was suspended upside-down. He tightly wrapped his tentacles around his body, and moved no more. He did not visibly fall asleep, due to his lack of eyelids, but something about his face, the way it relaxed, provided some sort of indication that he was less aware.

One could only wonder, was that outburst normal, or was it because of stress and exhaustion? He had fallen asleep almost instantly. Quite incredible that someone could rest after becoming enraged so abruptly.

Rune, who had remained frozen throughout Querois’ entire rant, murmured under his breath, when he was sure the Werean would not acknowledge anyone else, “I had hoped to understand his psychology, but it seems that I regret trying to analyze him, as I have done with others, now that I have seen such a reaction.” He sighed quietly, “He is unstable, at best, but that was the worst outburst that I have seen from him, thus far.”

Ravage covered her face with her good hand, shaking her head slowly, “Rune, you cannot turn him into another psychological study, like what you might have done on your home planet. He is not actively trying to hurt anyone; he has been keeping us safe using everything at his disposal. The very fact that you could not see that he is truly concerned only reminds me that you are still young, and do not fully understand the ways of this galaxy.” She fixed her eyes on Rune, the reactive elliptical pupils scolding, “No matter how different the two of you may be, you are perhaps the closest thing to a real friend or family member that he has. You hurt his feelings very badly, just now.”

Rune’s expression became a scowl, “That does not excuse the bizarre phenomenon of his unpredictable mood-swings. They appear to be growing worse. Secondly, we did not meet that long ago, and he taunts me constantly.”

Ravage tilted her head, “Taunting is a means of receiving attention. That is his way of showing that he values your existence. Additionally, you are used to being the most intelligent person who knows what will happen next. You are accustomed to reading people and knowing what they’re thinking, and how they will react. You can’t predict Querois, and that upsets you; that much has been clear to everyone in the room.” She blinked slowly, feeling exhausted, “That child wears his heart on his sleeve. He wants people to like him the way that he is. He doesn’t want to change, and I will not try to force him.”

She slowly fell asleep, “Neither should you…It’s something that only the person…can decide…” She sighed, and then she moved no more.

Now, Rune was the only member of the group of three that was awake, save for Xenos, who slowly lumbered over to the Maozhuian, before ruffling his muzzle through the feathers on his head. Rune absently reached up and patted the side of the spiromander’s face, noting that the creature’s head was heavy. Xenos was balanced as a creature so much that it was easy to forget his presence, as large as he was. He was a silent figure that only appeared when needed, seemingly vanishing when not addressed. “You think I did something wrong, too, don’t you?” He asked, although Xenos could not voice a reply.

Rune lightly pushed Xenos away, and turned to the Gardner, “Please ignore that outburst; Querois would never physically try to harm us, although his words sting quite badly.” He said.

He tilted his head, “Since everyone has forgotten the question in the heat of the moment, what is the answer to what Querois asked you? I am unlikely to fall asleep, as things are. I am prone to a touch of insomnia, you see, and seeing as this is a situation where as many people need it as possible, I have no desire to disturb anyone’s rest.”

Rune looked at Jaci, and then at Krevozs, “I know that everyone wants to be safe. Knowing is safety.” He said. He had altered his language slightly, trying to make sure that Jaci would understand what he said. Taking into account the recent events, he realized that the native on this Garden World probably knew very little Loccalian, and that he probably did not understand much of the conversation that was being used. It was clear, now, that he was trying to make it easy for Jaci to recognize what he was saying.

Rune looked at the Gardener, “Use simple words in basic Loccalian for your explanation. The more of us that know what is happening, the better. Jaci speaks little of the language we are using currently.”
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Jaci lay in a crouched position. He had started and tensed at Querois' outburst, not understanding what it was all about. He carefully watched the Werean as he took his place of repose, eyeing him like a mouse might a sleeping cat. He started a little when Rune addressed him, and cocked his head. He understood what Rune meant, but couldn't understand the context. Had it had something to do with Querois' outburst? But that didn't make any sense. He say that Rune was speaking to the Gardener now, and turned his gaze to their robotic guide, looking at him questioningly.

673 watched as the figures fled down towards a glowing area that had opened up beneath them. The last of the energy field's effects leaving his senses the Hithe scrambled to his feet to go after them, dashing back towards the glowing dome shoulder first as if to break down a door.

A ton of synthetic flesh met the energy barrier, the lack of initial shock allowing 673 to resist the repelling force that had knocked him over before. The Hithe pushed himself through, ignoring the pain and smell of cooking flesh as he inched forward until eventually he collapsed on the other side, steaming and breathing heavily. Fighting off the urge to rest, he picked himself up and spitefully kicked over a metal object that lay next to his feet. With one of the emitters compromised, the energy field quickly collapsed, letting in the growing blizzard and the howls of distant terrors.

A brief search in the general area revealed the escape ramp the shapes had fled through, the now inactive energy dome having prevented it from being obscured too quickly. Hunkering down, 673 brushed away the falling snow that now tried to recover the metal surface until he found an edge to the structure that he could curl his fingers underneath.

Despite the ramp being designed to lower, 673 pulled upwards with vigor. Ramp hydraulics took on Hithe muscle in a battle of supremacy, the latter's biceps bunching up as he grunted through the strain. So far his efforts only bent the lip outwards a fraction, but that was enough for 673 to dig his fingers further into the underlying lattice and pull harder.

With a surge of adrenaline and a final wrench the ancient mechanism finally gave way, the Hithe tearing the ramp clean from its hydraulics and tossing it aside. The blizzard was now in full force, snow and shards of ice beating down on 673's back as he jumped into the newly opened tunnel, landing on all fours almost gracefully. Setting himself a runner's start 673 took off down the passage, his heavy hand-and-footfalls echoing out before him and icy breath streaming behind.

As Survivor moved further and further on his Exoskeleton got stiffer and stiffer causing him to move slower and slower. He knew if he didn’t find some heat soon he would die. That is until he comes across some…. Entrance? He stood there staring at it for a bit. It looked like a collapsed ramp into some facility. As much as he wanted to sit there and wonder why it was here. He would rather get warm as he jumps down and enters a dark corridor and looks around as he walks.

“Well at least I’m out of that snow…. Now if I could only get warm…. And dry.” He thought to himself as he looked at the walls and panels for anything he could use.

Gardener was still and silent for a while, almost like asleep itself. Eventually it answered: ”I do not know. All connections are so tangled that I got to know about the Nylggzora escape through global alarm. I only learned what escaped from you. In truth it seems that Querois knows more about them than I do, possibly more than UFIAI knows.” Gardener spoke more slowly and quiet than usually, probably trying to not disturb the ones sleeping. It also seemed to concentrate considerably on what it was saying.

”I can make hypothesis, I mean good guesses about the escape from what I know about the security systems though. Nylggzora were behind black security system. That is the most secure, same we use to contain the extremely viral and violent Khartla. That system is autonomous, capable to operate at 93% capacity-, I mean, it has a very small chance to fail, ever. And even if it would fail, there is multiple dead-man's switches, self-destruction devices that would clean the area at sub-atomic level, kill everything.

Gardener seemed to struggle a bit at trying to keep the phrases as simple as possible. ”Even under this catastrophe I would say the chance of spontaneous failure- , Nylggzora escaping by themselves, would be very small. Around 2 to 7%.” Gardener kept a short pause before continuing: ”However, someone to release them from outside is even more unlikely, at least according to my knowledge. Admitted, my knowledge is currently rather limit-”

Suddenly Gardener shut in the middle of a word and jumped up from the lying position. It stood still a second or two, almost like listening, before releasing a horrible howling sound from its speakers. The sound went quickly and violently through the sound-spectrum, irritating the primal parts of brain and evoking feeling of fear discomfort. ”Everyone wake up! The ramp has been breached, and something is closing through the tunnel! We must escape!”

Jaci jumped at the sound the Gardener made, and drew his sword. He clearly expected the machine to attack. However, the sound of footsteps echoing down the way they had come made him pause and cock his head, listening and sniffing. He gave a gasp, his face taking on a look of recognition, coupled with fear and hate. "Beast!" he cried, looking quite ready to run.

673's nose caught onto several scents as he careened down the ice-slicked tunnel. Most were unfamiliar, although he vaguely remembered one of the more pungent ones from the footprints in the forest. However this was quickly dismissed from his mind as he latched onto a smell far more recognisable and picked up his pace, skidding into a wall and rebounding without losing speed.

"I SMELL YOU MEAT! YOU CAN'T RUN!"

Ravage screeched upon awakening, immediately turning in the direction of the intruder as she rose to her feet. The movement was so precise, one could only wonder if she had not been interrupted several times before by a hostile force. Her beak closed tightly, forming a firm, hard line, before she turned in the direction of the three other tunnels, raising her hand in a gesture to Querois and Rune. As soon as the alert had been sounded, everyone was ready to leave. “Xenos!” Ravage snapped her fingers, and the spiromander rose to his paws, turning aside and allowing everyone to climb onto the mount.

“Everyone capable of fitting on the saddle, get on, now!” She growled, flying up and alighting on the front where the steering-straps were. Rune and Querois obliged, for once, not bothering to bicker with each other. The voice of the creature that was rapidly approaching sounded ferocious. Jaci also apparently knew what it was. Ravage had the sinking feeling in her chest that it was the same creature that had been stuck behind the barrier previously.

Querois cackled, “Not a moment’s rest! Not a moment’s rest!” He screeched painfully.

Krevozs was alert, but showed no signs of panic. He relaxed slightly when he heard the thing speak in a basic Loccalian dialect.

"It isn't some mindless monster. It must be whatever was outside the energy dome." The mercenary lamented the loss of such useful equipment. His thoughts quickly shifted to preventing their oncoming adversary from following the group any longer.

"Go," He said to Ravage and the caretaker, "I will follow after I deal with this pest." His combat blade jutted out to its full length and crackled with electricity.

With that, he started down the hallway from which the group had come, going to meet his enemy. In mere moments he was in position to see 673's shadow as clearly as he could hear its loud footsteps.

Survivor continued to wander the halls of the strange facility. He didn’t know what to think of it but he did not like it. He wandered till he heard echoing voices down a hall way. He stood his ground and pulled out his sniper as he took aim down the hall. If anything bad was coming he was ready for it. Or at least he thought he was ready. Hard to tell though

Ravage, despite being fully-aware that Krevozs probably had every intention of trying to kill her once the temporary truce was over, was unable to hide her concern as he decided to face the creature that had breached the tunnels. Normally, she would have attempted to argue; she was usually the most adept at fighting without any warning. Despite this, however, her arm was broken, and therefore, she was probably only a hindrance against a stronger foe. Choosing to err on the side of caution, she merely nodded at the Jorro’kil, and leaned over to look at the Gardener, “Climb on, quickly!” She told it. She had no idea how well the machine would be able to hold onto the saddle, but with few options, she chose to ensure that nobody would be left behind.

She turned and looked at Jaci, “Jaci, you come?” She asked. She needed to briefly ensure that he was not planning on fighting this creature, before leaving. It seemed like some sort of rivalry.

Xenos, meanwhile, with his eyesight, noticed something down the hallway, being the first to spot the lifeform that was facing their group suspiciously. The spiromander would have seen most creatures long before anyone else. Not positive if this was a friend or foe, a deep rumble rose in the beast’s throat.

Ravage looked down at Xenos, and her eyes narrowed, “Looks like we have some more company!” She growled, suppressing the urge to curse the group’s luck.

Jaci needed no second invitation. He knew he was no match for his old enemy, thopugh he had never had a fight with him directly. Shouldering his weapon, he leaped up, and onto the saddle. Casting a fearful glance in the direction of 673, he looked at Ravage. "Run?" he urged.

673 dashed around another corner, scrabbling to maintain his grip on the icy floor before skidding to a halt when he noticed the armored alien standing in his way. Taking slow strides toward this new foe 673's mind noted down the neutral, yet combat-ready stance the birdman was set in despite how the Hithe towered over him.

673 reached behind and gripped the leatherbound handle of his crude weapon, foremost eyes focused on his new prey while the other two scanned his immediate surroundings. The Hithe grinned, showing his large, blocky teeth as he unsheathed the great jaw blade, confident in the fact his sword was bigger than the birdman's crackling armblade.

673 cocked his head to the side as he stared Krevozs down, "so you wanna be the first to die. Better say night-night then birdy!" He sneered.

Survivor flipped the night vision on his scope on and saw aliens ridding a creature away from some beast. He also saw Krevos staying behind to fight it. Not wanting to be left out Survivor takes aim and the beast attacking Krevos and fires a shot at it. His sniper recoiling back with a force that would probably take the arm off a normal Alien without an dual skeletons. (Though that has not been proven yet.) The bullet misses its target and ricochets down the hall past the beast. Cursing Survivor pulls his sniper down and goes into its long reloading cycle.

673's head snapped towards the disturbance as the bullet zinged by his shoulder. Keeping one eye on Krevozs the Hithe dashed down a branching corridor where an insectoid creature crouched, fiddling with its weapon.

"SO YOU BOTH WANNA PIECE OF ME, AY?!" the Hithe bellowed as he raised his fist to crush the new threat in one blow.

Ravage, despite her tendency to be the first person to resort to violence to solve any problem, hated getting into conflicts that she knew would risk bystanders, or otherwise innocent people. This in mind, even as she saw a strange alien that she had never met before risk his own life to help Krevozs, she knew that she was better off running away. With a broken arm, she was more harmful to allies than useful; she was likely to get herself killed, or cause someone else to get hurt in the process. Despite this, however, this alien that had suddenly decided to attack the group might seriously wound the stranger. It was gigantic, strong, and extremely violent-natured, from what she could tell.

Ravage and her group were too far away to intervene physically, but that did not mean that she could not somehow, at least briefly, find a way to distract the monster as the group fled. She only had a split-second to decide, however, because with his powerful vision, Xenos could see exactly where he was going. They would disappear down the hall, and be far away within moments. With no other option, Ravage gripped tightly onto Xenos’ saddle with her feet, and, as they passed by one, ripped a small piece of jagged metal from one side of the corridor, where it had fallen into disrepair. Looking at where they were fleeing from, using as much strength as she could muster from her good arm, she hurled the sharp projectile towards the attacking creature.

With this projectile being the last thing that the group could do, Ravage and her party disappeared into the depths of the corridors, to be carried far away by Xenos, who was now able to move at top speed, no longer suffering from the numbing effects of the cold.

“Ravage, are you sure that was wise?” Rune asked her, hoping she could hear him over the whistle of the wind rushing past.

“Probably not, but the chances that I even hit that creature are low. If it does, the most it would do is probably cut him a bit, since those edges are somewhat sharp…” She said. She was examining the palm of her hand, which she had returned to gripping the steering-strap of the saddle. A shallow cut ran the length of it. The chances of getting an infection were low, but still, Ravage did not like spilling blood in this place, not when so many creatures were drawn to it.

“Your hand…” Querois said, before falling silent. Being a creature that could exist within the depths of the deepest ocean trenches, his eyes were well-developed, and like Xenos and Ravage, he had little trouble making out the fine details.

“I know,” Ravage hissed, “I know…” She fell silent for a bit, before speaking again, “Whoever that was, though, they helped us. I hate that I can’t go in and fight myself, but I would just be a burden to them both. I hate this feeling…being helpless. It’s infuriating.” Her injured hand tightened around the steering-strap.

You better come out of this alive, she thought.

Survivor is suddenly punched into a wall by the very beast he was firing at. Annoyed he laugh as he walked forward moving his robotic fingers.

"Oh I want more than just one piece."

He then picked up his gun by the barrel gripping it hard as he smacked the beast with it has hard as he could. He then drops is and jumps up clinging to the ceiling and crawling away from the beast towards Krevos where he drops and stands next to him.

"Friend of yours?"

Gardener hanged from the back of the saddle, not as much riding as hanging from it like a bag. It had barely been able to anchor itself to the saddle with couple of its claws before Xenos had sprinted forward. It gave a quick glance to the battle that was unfolding behind them.

”I think those two, the Jorro'kil and the other, are both the same, hunters. If they survive, and I think at least one of them will, they will come after us again”, Gardener said. ”Besides,” Gardener continued, ”both you and I have more depending on our lives than just our own survival”, Gardener said directly to Ravage.

"No." Krevozs replied. "It has a short attention span, perhaps that is its weakness. Would you agree to a temporary alliance to defeat our foe?" As he was speaking, he kept an eye on 673. Undoubtedly the beast would soon be rapidly approaching. Krevozs looked down the corridor where the others had fled. He took a moment to consider that this time, he was the one who had told Ravage to go. How ironic.

"I need your answer now, survivor." He said. With that, Krevozs pulled out a plasmatic bolt weapon stored in the equipment pack he was carrying, and aimed it at 673. He fired several of the charged particle shots at the bone-clad assailant, hoping to at least stun him.

"Fine." Survivor said as he took a few steps forward unsheathing his black sword and standing in the ready stance. Waiting for 673 to charge at him.

673 was surprised when the insectoid cyborg shrugged off the heavy blow. Usually things that size were paste after getting smashed into a wall, so it was no small wonder that Hithe simply stood there when his new opponent smacked its gun into his face.

Of course it did nothing more than chip a tooth and make him even angrier. Turning slowly, 673 watched the bug scuttle across the ceiling and drop down next to the bird, who didn't seem phased in the slightest.

673 lowered into a ready stance, arms outstretched. "So birdie and you are buddies," he sneered. "Heh, I've been wanting a scrap this good for years!"

The Hithe drew his sword, noting the piece of metal now stuck in his forearm that wasn't there before. Dismissing this odd occurance the Hithe sprinted back towards his foes.

The birdman drew some sort of firearm and quickly fired off several shots. 673 weathered most of them with the flat of his blade, the energy blasts scorching the bone surface. A few however found their mark, leaving more burns on his already torched and scarred skin.

The attack however was enough to slow him down, although the Hithe was now cackling like a maniac as he advanced. "This is gonna be fun!" 673 snarled. "Gonna need more than that to kill me though!"

Most people think that arthropods are ill-suited for cold climates. Those people have not encountered the Galnoran Snow Centipede.

This creature is a large one, being twenty feet in length, and about a foot in cross-section. It is covered entirely with white hair, even on its numerous limbs, some relief coming in the form of light gray marks running the length of the body. Common to centipedes, the Galnoran Snow Centipede has front limbs modified to inject venom; unlike most centipedes, however, it has four, well-developed eyes. One pair is adapted for seeing in the regular spectrum; however, such can be of little use in a blinding blizzard, or in the frequently constant darkness of an arctic winter. This is where the second pair of eyes come into play, being modified to sense heat signatures, rather than visible light. Although this creature is as much adapted to the cold as any can be, it still requires shelter sometimes. So it happened that one particular individual inhabiting the arctic biome of the UFIAI's world had found a place to shelter in the form of a tunnel that was part of a venting system for the underground workings in this area. From here, the centipede had made its way down into the lower service areas, drawn by what little heat was to found, namely on some ceiling wiring that still maintained some functionality among the overall dereliction.

Draped and coiled over around this dying heat source, the centipede was roused by the sounds coming from further up the tunnel. Peering in the direction of the noise, the centipede could make out a few flashes of light. It also saw a large heat signature coming rapidly in its direction. Closer analysis seemed to suggest that it was made of one large creature and several smaller ones.

A pang of hunger struck the centipede's stomach. It had not eaten in a while. Uncoiling itself, the centipede clicked its venomous claws together. Already these spines were beginning to exude agents meant not to kill, but simply to paralyze. Meat was something best eaten fresh and warm. Extending itself downward the centipede struck at the tallest of the group as they passed under.

As Ravage and the rest were running down the passage, something long and white suddenly hung down from the ceiling and latched a pair of talons into Jaci's shoulder, who screamed and scrabbled desperately at the saddle as he was yanked from it.

Ravage had no time to respond to the Gardener, before something large and wooly in appearance suddenly came through the ceiling and snatched Jaci. Snarling, her earlier feelings of fatigue giving way to something approaching an incredible amount of irritation, she glared at the creature, rising to stand on Xenos’ saddle as the spiromander, without needing an order, skidded to a halt. In truth, by this point, Ravage now felt as though this planet…no, the entire galaxy…was mocking her, kicking her while she was down by attacking her friends. Nostril-slits flaring, she rapidly began sizing up this opponent, taking in its scent, its appearance. Perhaps the creature that she had run from was too big and strong to fight, but that did not mean that Ravage was entirely defenseless.

She picked up the smell of venom, and noted that the creature, under the layer of thick fur, had armored, chitin-plated legs. It had grabbed Jaci with sharpened front limbs, forcipules. Centipede, she thought, recalling what she knew about the effects of their natural toxins. It could cause swelling, pain proportional to size, along with many other things that could range all the way to heart failure, if it was severe enough. One this big, so gigantic, had just grabbed Jaci. Her eyes narrowed, a whitish membrane glazing over the pale blue, pupils contracting to thin slits.

She had to make it drop him, she had to somehow wound it, or Jaci would not make it.

Unsheathing the claws on her one good arm, she spread out her wings, prepared to attack. This creature was agile, but even though Ravage had lost some of her strength, her speed was still something that was difficult to track with the naked eye. Hissing, she launched herself off of the saddle, slashing at the forcipules of the centipede with her hand; her bad arm was throwing off her aim, but her claws could cleanly cut through any substance, and this centipede’s armor was no exception to the rule.

All she had to do was hope that her attack would sever both limbs, and the centipede, even if left alive, would be practically harmless.

Ravage's attack took the giant arctic arthropod completely by surprise. The centipede's anguished screech reverberated up and down the passage as both of it's forcipules were severed. No longer held up in the air, Jaci dropped downwards, just grabbing onto the saddle. The forcipules were still embedded in his shoulder, and he was starting to look a little sick. The injured centipede,, meanwhile, quickly retreated to nurse its injuries. It would take several molts before it appendages grew back sufficiently to be any use. Lean times were in store for it, to be sure.

Seeing that the centipede had chosen to retreat, versus continuing to fight, Ravage decided to pay no more attention to it; taking away the creature’s natural means of defending itself or obtaining easy prey was enough punishment. Hissing at its disappearing form, she hoped that the creature was intelligent enough to recognize that certain things were dangerous if regarded as food. She quickly forgot it, however, when she saw that Jaci seemed to be suffering some shock to his system from exposure to the venom. Rushing over to where Xenos had caught him with the saddle, she jumped up and grabbed the forcipules that had remained lodged in his shoulder, and without any regard to whether or not it would be dangerous, gave them a harsh tug. There was a sickening sound as the modified legs pulled out of the wound, clear venom beading along the hollow tips.

Of course, there was blood, but at this point, there was greater risk associated with allowing the venom to continue entering Jaci’s body. She didn’t have an antidote or anything to treat him for what the centipede had already managed to inject. She could only hope that it was not a lethal amount. Grabbing his arm tightly, not paying any mind to whether or not she might cause bruising as a result, she lifted his shoulder so that it was held above his torso; she did not require formal training to know where an alien’s heart was. Her ears were precise enough for this.

“Rune, do you still have that medical kit that Krevozs gave us?” She asked.

“Yes, right away….” Rune said, somehow shocked by the sudden turn of violence. He had seen people fight before, but at this time, it had been without warning. There had not been any suspicion that something was about to attack, like the aliens that had appeared on Maozhu. A gigantic creature had almost killed one of the people with the group, and Ravage had been the only one to respond accordingly. Somehow numb, Rune hastily began opening the kit, but his fingers fumbled, sharp claws catching on the latches.

“Not fast enough!” Ravage growled, ripping it away from his hands using her front pair of legs, balancing with her wings. Using her good hand, she opened it and took out the bandages. She used one of her feet to pin an end of the bandage roll to Jaci’s side, before using her good arm to wrap it tightly around the two deep punctures, not finished until the stains of blood stopped soaking through. She then used one deft motion to slice the bandage with the sharp hook of her beak. She then pulled a clip from the kit, using it to hold the bindings in place.

Talons hooking deep into the shiny black spider silk of Xenos’ saddle, Ravage suppressed the urge to snarl as she closed up the kit, shoving it back into Rune’s hands with her one good arm. “Rune, now is not the time to lose your nerve.” She hissed, glaring at her adoptive son. “A mistake can cost people their lives in this place.”

Her eyes were still white behind the protective membranes, and a feral light had crept into them that had not been there before. She was breathing hard, and she had gotten blood on the glove of her good hand from treating Jaci’s injury. Rune could not help but think, looking at her this way, that she actually seemed frightening. He had always dismissed what she had said previously, about being a murderer, about killing without hesitation. He had even seen her execute alien beings with her claws as though it were nothing.

Despite this, however, Ravage’s behavior when fighting the Lirliith was not the same as what he saw now. Something far more dangerous was in the wild light that danced in her eyes. Even as she moved to help Jaci, to bind his injury so that he would not bleed out, something ugly had emerged. Rune suspected that it was this part of her that she had always told people not to trust. It was the part of her that became brutal and vicious, to the point of regressing to the mentality of a beast that she had loathed.

Ravage, though, seemed to notice this change in herself, and shook her head, blinking her regular, solid eyelids several times, before covering her eyes with her upper arm, craning her neck to hide her face behind her shoulder. She gritted her teeth, the muscles in her wings tensing to the point that it seemed as though they would snap open with enough violence as to cause injury. She seemed to be battling with something. Her harsh, ragged breathing slowly calmed down until it was deep, steady, and even. Finally, she took her head away from her shoulder, the secondary membranes gone, her eyes clear again, as though she had managed to stave off whatever fit had attempted to seize her.

Without saying anything to Rune, she turned to the Gardener, “Can you tell if he’ll live?” She asked, looking at Jaci.

Gardener had noticed the the centipede emerge from among the pipes and cables hanging from the roof about the same time it had noticed them. A Galnoran Snow Centipede? Nesting inside the maintenance tunnels? The erosion of the facilities must be magnitudes higher than I have estimated. I need to re-calculate all my predictions. Immersed in its findings and conclusions it watched the centipede to reach down and sink its forcipules to the shoulder of the seemingly oblivious Lirliith-made mutant, snatching him from the saddle.

Ah, I probably should have warned them, Gardener though. But then, before Gardener had chance to think more, Ravage moved. The movement was so fast that it caught even Gardener by surprise, and it had to review the action from its memory to analyze it fully. The speed and ease of the attack would have been a feat for a healthy beast, but for a creature with a broken limb it was nothing sort of an miracle.

Gardener observed Ravage from its place, hanging from the side of the saddle,  as she tended Jaci's wounds. It scanned Ravage with its optical instruments, detecting an abnormally high body temperature and hyperactive circulation with massive oxygen consumption. The protective membranes were also still closed over her eyes. Gardener was at the same time fascinated with Ravage's obviously transformed physiology, and concerned with her mental stability. The latter because Ravage seemed  to not have full control over her said physiology.

I seems I read her body-language correctly, Gardener thought. It woke from its analyses when Ravage asked about the condition of Jaci. ”Oh, that was a Galnoran Snow Centipede. He received a  paralyzer, nothing lethal,” Gardener responded, more laconically than normally. ”I'll moitor he's heart and respiratory in case the paralyzer reaches them. Lets just secure him on the saddle for now. More importantly, are you in control of yourself?”