\| Divided Paths |/ - Chapt. 3 - Resolute - Biome (IC)

The night preceding the day of his execution, Netheun had a dream. Ryun do not often dream, and when they do, it is a profound and vivid experience. Within his dream, Netheun found himself standing among the enormous trees and undergrowth of the Ieegan jungle. The trees reached for what would normally have been a bright sun, but had instead been eclipsed by the moon of Ienar, an event impossible given the orbit of Ieegar's satellites. The desolate surface of Ienar had become a raging inferno, as if the surface had been torn apart and all that remained was the molten interior of the planet. Netheun had been staring at this with morbid curiosity when he looked forward to see that all of the flora in front of him had begun to disintegrate, revealing a flat, barren plain. In the distance, he could see two enormous armies clashing, but he could not hear the sounds of war. He slowly walked forward, cautious, but neither force noticed him. He was eventually able to discern what they were - To his right were insurgent Wreae, and to his right Ryun troops, in what appeared to be a scene from the Metan War. The numbers of neither group got smaller as the fighting continued, and those fallen were replaced immediately. Netheun reached for his sword upon being within ten feet of the commotion, and drew it. Rather than its normal black, the blade glowed with white light, greatly illuminating his surroundings. Instinctively, he plunged the blade, tip first, into the ground, and everything around him immediately erupted in fire. The armies and forest were engulfed completely by the flames, and as Netheun observed this in horror, his shadow rose up out of the ground behind him. He turned only to see his own silhouette prepare to strike him down with a dark, shadowy version of his own sword.

It was then that Netheun awoke to the sound of marching, a sound he could hear purely due to his enhanced senses. The Alkisuns had placed him under maximum security, so secure that even a supersoldier would not be able to escape. As he sat up from his lying down sleep position, the multiple layered door of his cell opened to reveal a fully armored Relthar with eight Alkisun soldiers, also heavily fortified, behind him. On Relthar's back was Netheun's sword, held there by a magnetized sheath.

"It's time, Netheun," Relthar announced as he stepped forward into the cell, a smug grin on his face. He turned to look at his fellow Alkisuns. "Bind his hands, then we're leaving." Two of the soldiers stepped forward and secured the Ryun's hands with a device similar to a handcuff, made of a special reinforced metal alloy to prevent someone with even super strength from breaking it. The soldiers forced him up, and they began to walk. Netheun didn't pay attention to his surroundings as they marched on towards the place of execution - He simply held his head down and closed his eyes, his mind devoid of thought.

In time, they stopped, and Netheun opened his eyes to see that he was atop an enormous mountain. The peak and those around were covered in snow, and the chilling wind howled, a deathly scream. In the distance, Netheun could see a spaceport, swarming with Alkisun vessels. He took a quick note of that, but paid more attention to Relthar as he stepped forward from behind, taking out a small spherical device from his armor. He threw it, and it stopped a couple feet away, levitating in mid-air. A hologram projector within it activated to reveal Silus.

"This is it, Netheun," He declared, a crooked smile upon his face. "This is slightly cliche, but... Do you have any last words?"

Netheun turned towards Silus, looking him directly in the eyes. "I hope the Confederacy sends all of you to Yvarkag... to hell." He looked forward once more.

Silus' grin got slightly wider. "It's amusing to hear a Ryun use a religious threat... Ah, well." He watched silently as Relthar forced Netheun to his knees, and began to draw the sword of his enemy. "Your father would be saddened that this is the way to go."

Netheun continued to stare forward, seemingly unfazed. "My father?"

Silus' smile faded for a moment, but he then erupted into laughter. "Oh, how grand!" He cried. "He never told you? That is so typical of Vasorin. Yes, Netheun. Is it truly that much of a surprise?"

Netheun's emotionless acceptance quickly turned to seething rage. His senses, rather than being dulled, sharpened highly, and his mind was clouded with thoughts. He could hear his own sword cutting downwards through the air towards him, and as it was about to make an impact, quickly tightened the chain of his hand restraints and raised it above his head, knowing from using the sword so often that it wouldn't be able to cut initially. He launched himself to the side so the slash would ultimately miss, and used Relthar's pressing strength with the weapon to break the chains. He turned and rushed towards and stunned Relthar, grabbing at the hilt of the sword and forcing it from the Krathunian. He re-positioned the blade before thrusting it forward through Relthar's chest, and pulling it back immediately after. The pain that Relthar felt was massive and he fell backwards, blood pouring out of the wound. Netheun acted quickly, dashing towards the remaining Alkisuns with incredibly agility and quickly taking all of them out. He came back to Relthar, who was still alive but unconscious, and took his pistol and cloak.

Netheun raised the pistol to the hologram projector, displaying a still watching Silus, and placed a shot perfectly within it, destroying it. He put the cloak on over his armor, and looked towards the docking station in the distance.

Netheun was coming home.

Field Commander Marrith needed a smoke. The space suit was cramped and stuffy, while the magnetic clamps that prevented her from drifting off into space made walking a chore. Ahead of her the team she had been assigned to trudged ahead across Great Glutton's hull, herding a couple of Stalker drones towards the airlock somewhere in the vicinity.

A Stalker stopped to weld a small crack in the metal plating before being shooed on by an Engineer. The machines were pretty dumb, resorting to base programming from the Central Drone Control Hub whenever they got distracted. In a way, they were like meat produce creatures, incredibly useful but a pain for those that dealt with them everyday.

Marrith pressed her comms gauntlet against the glass of her suits faceplate, the vibrations of her voice transferring to the device. "Kralg, how's our headway?".

The lead engineer turned before raising his own gauntlet. "Almost there Field Commander, it should be another 20 mete-". He stopped, looking out across the hull to his left.

Apparently something had caught Kralg's eye. Following his gaze Marrith could just make out an odd protusion. "What is it Kralg? Do we have a problem?".

The engineer started towards it. "There's no exterior fuel canisters, turrets or generators in this part of the West Wing. Something's not right about that".

At that point the entire team had diverted their course, leaving the Stalkers to try and unbend a wonky exhaust vent. Kralg reached the anomaly first.

"It's a ship. Small, single person I reckon. Unknown make, pretty much a box with wings. It appears to have drilled through the hull and attached itself, which mea-".

Marrith cut him off. "It means I'm alerting the ship. Full broadcast over all lines, code Pyro 1. We've got an intruder".

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Jelx was understandably indecisive. On one hand not answering would get him killed by the invader, while if he did and Ifka found out, she'd probably execute him. And she always knew.

The trooper almost opened his mouth when the ship erupted in alarm. Lights flashed and sirens wailed, all the while a synthesized voice was heard over the dim: "REMAIN CALM. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL HANDS TO STATIONS. INTRUDER. INTRUDER. INTRUDER."

Jelx took that opportunity, skittered to his feet and tried to make a run for it.

Part 1: The Royal Parade
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As Straus stepped out into the registration room, he had already made his way past dozens of kils, all of which were waiting to get a number for their seat to view the Royal Parade. He had to sidestep the bustling, noisy crowds gathered behind him, those which had been let in after a security scan, and keep making his way forward towards the registration kiosks. The kiosks were rectangular but rounded at the corners, and arranged next to each other in a straight line against the back of the far wall. To the left of this was the entrance to the trams; these carried passengers to a large hub, and from here they had to travel to the actual building carrying the entrance to the massive seating arrangements. Straus approached one of desks, and held up his ID to a metallic slat, and allowed the kiosk to scan it. Immediately his name, home world, and military service record, as well as some other details, were scanned and recorded. The kiosk let Straus know this as the rectangular screen in the middle alerted him, and in response Straus entered a currency card; a small plastic rectangle holding bank account information and the ability to pay up to what he had saved. The appropriate amount of credit was transferred from this, and Straus was given a plastic ticket with the seat number on the front. Quickly he shuffled out of the way as another kil approached the same kiosk. From here, he moved towards the entrance to the tramways as quickly as he could. A she-kil and her daughter were trying to sift the crowds with some difficulty, and Straus felt obliged to let them pass him as they came near. The she-kil gave a small smile and nod of her head, though her daughter took no notice.

Straus kept pushing through the crowd for what should have been a brief moment, but was somewhat of a struggle with the throngs of kils in the relatively small room. Rectangular, cobalt-colored doors awaited him at the end. As he stepped through one of the doors, an invisible field scanned him for weapons. It found none, though it left Straus with a small shiver. He stepped into the tram, which was shaped similarly to a parallelogram slanted forwards, and held onto one of the inside railings. There was no space for him to take a seat, as the tram had already been packed full of kils when he got on. He looked out of the window of the tram on the left side, and saw dozens of other trams travelling along automated routes, carrying passengers to the hub. On the underside of each tram were two blades, located in the center but slanted at a right angle from each other, and between these blades was an electric blue suspension field, used to keep the trams aloft. Straus knew from his military service that if you stepped between those blades when the suspension field was active, you would get a nasty shock. Fortunately, back on Ekest there was generally little else to do than track down and arrest stupid criminals. Their antics were even at times amusing. However, Straus wanted to leave that behind for now. He had taken leave to go visit Irooscin, the Jorro'kil Free Absolute's capital, to see the Royal Parade. For his part in helping eliminate the Purist threat on Ekest, he was much more readily accepted than some of his peers. Little else other than busy roadways and massive, silvery skyscrapers could be seen from the tram window, and though to some it might seem breathtaking, it was little preparation for the sight that was to come. Many of the buildings in the distance appeared to have faint, geometric inscriptions on them. This was little more than a modern style that the Jorro'kil had recently adopted, however.

Quickly and quietly the tram travelled along, until it met a docking station about a kilometer away from where it had started. Straus and the other passengers heard a notable hiss as hydraulic machinery finalized the attachment to the docking port, and the doors opened to let the passengers out. It was only then that Straus noticed the same she-kil and her daughter had been onboard. However, Straus had little time to consider this, as a soft female voice urged him to exit the tram. The rest of the passengers had moved out to quickly that he was now left alone inside. Swiftly he then complied with the automated voice, and found himself on one of many layers of bridges inside of a massive dome-like structure. Elevators were scattered around dome. Straus was almost certain it would be a challenge to find one that was even half-empty, but as he stepped forward in front of one of them, the tall rectangular doors opened to meet him with an empty interior. Shocked, he readily stepped inside and waited for a few more passengers. Some kils walked by but none entered. Even more surprised, Straus watched as the doors closed and he was sent down to the ground floor. He could hear the hum of the suspension field above and beneath the small chamber as it moved. He inhaled with his nares, and a bright light, the light of Irooscin's sun Sev shining through transparent doorways, met him as the elevator doors opened and he stepped off. It was very refreshing, and even more so as he left the pure, artificial dome to meet the cool air outside. Unfortunately, he had little time to revel in the light, as he knew if he wanted to reach his seat in time he had to get going. Sifting through yet more throngs of kils, he found his way on some raised walkways outside towards the building which held the true entrance to where he needed to go. He walked swiftly, and his step was that of a trained soldier, and just as swiftly he entered a massive, silvery building, also inscribed with geometric patterns on the surface, with a slanted roof and no windows. From here, he was ushered on by employees inside the building to the correct corridors. He noted their uniforms, and the badges that were attached to their chests. Trams, surrounded by swiftly moving wind. They were obviously affiliated with the tram company, and perhaps repurposed temporarily for this job of ushering kils to their seats. Then again, the Tram company likely had several subsidiaries. He had heard of their large enterprise on Irooscin and the surrounding core worlds during his service on Ekest. The fringe world Ekest was stuck with Free Absolute tram services, and while these were certainly not bad, Ekest's location meant it was a lower priority for trained workers to be sent to, and this resulted in trams of much lesser quality than the ones Straus had just taken. In fact, Straus had earlier noted their extreme cleanliness. It was refreshing, and perhaps saddening, as he would eventually have to leave Irooscin.

Choosing not to focus on this, Straus kept striding onward, until he reached a pair of massive sliding doors. These too had geometric shapes and inscriptions, an extension of the favored style. He was walking now with a group of other kils, all of which were clearly eager to find their seats and view the parade. All of these were civilians, whereas it was clear that Straus, in his onyx-black uniform, was one of exceptional military service. The silver highlights on his uniform further emphasized this, and some of the younger kils walking the group glanced at him with quiet admiration. As they passed through the doors, Straus felt another invisible field scan him for any weapons and devices, passed through unhindered, and again felt a mild shiver.  As they exited, the Sev again shone upon Straus, now from the left, and the brisk air felt glorious on his feathers and beak. Now was to be seen a precursor of more breathtaking sights to come: Massive rows of seats, each reached via a large elevator, arranged one on top of the other, spanning several kilometers across many large, squat buildings. Behind these were yet more rows of seats, attached to skyscrapers at about the middle length. These had balconies for kils to stand on and view the parade. This was, however, perhaps less eye-catching than the enormous electric blue bubble spanning the sky as far as anyone could see. This was not only a magnificent sight, but also protection from any aerial attack. It curved very gently to create a convex surface, and stretched outward across the city of Nexarz to each of the four emitter points, found at military checkpoints on the fringes of the city. It must have recently activated, for Straus hadn't noticed it during the tram ride. Straus moved as briskly as the air felt to find an elevator, and he had no less trouble than earlier to find one amidst the crowds. Finally he did find one three quarters full, and squeezed inside as the elevator went up. These were 'smart' elevators and required each kil riding in them to scan their seating card, so it could either suggest a transfer to another elevator, or let each passenger off at the correct row. Straus scanned his card, and waited for his elevator to reach the specific row. His seat was number 191, and this meant it would be lower and connected to one of the squat buildings. He stepped off with two other kils, and hurried to find his seat. The rows were very neat, the asphalt-grey floors were clean, and the seats looked very comfortable. They were slim as all Jorro'kil were slim, and for this reason a crowd of Jorro'kil is much larger in quantity than a crowd of many other species.

He took his seat, and waited for the parade to start. As he was waiting, a casual glance brought him a small surprise: The she-kil and her daughter were only a few seats away from him. Very odd, Straus thought. He could hear the she-kil counselling her daughter not to go near the slanted railings, for the drop down was a dozen feet or more. She was only five feet tall yet, very short for a Jorro'kil. Straus gussed she couldn't be more than eight. Her smooth, tightly-woven feathers were of a much lighter blue than that of an adult Jorro'kil, and her beak was not fully matured, being much shorter than an adult kil's. Her hair, the excess keratin produced in she-kils during the formation of the beak, was loosely scattered around her head and beak. It looked unruly, but perhaps she liked it that way. Straus heard the she-kil call her Resa.

Turning his head and giving it no more thought, Straus heard a murmuring coming from the crowd round about him. Some of the kils even stood up to go look from the railing. The parade was starting. Straus could see below him on the main road, where all vehicles had been barred from travelling, a battalion of Strike Troopers marching. They carried the traditional Ballistic rifle, and carried these by holding the stock upwards, with the dual barrels of the weapon resting upon their shoulder. Their marching echoed throughout the vicinity, and many cheered. Straus, being a Strike Trooper himself, felt a kinship with them. Main Battle Tanks followed them, clad in cobalt and silver armor, but they were not the grandest sight to come. No, not even close. That was reserved for the Emperor on his parade float. More like a parade monster, as Straus had heard from soldiers who had been to parades long past.

Then he saw it. The tip of it, gliding onwards down the road. It was enormous and spectacular, and vaguely menacing, like some great beast, albeit tamed. The front of it was curved inwards, and three great prongs, similar to talons with their pointed edges, stood out. Between these were sheets of armor, almost like webbing. The prongs or talons themselves were gold, and the metal webbing was a deep purple, the color of royalty in the Jorro'kil Free Absolute. The hull of it looked similar to the lower hull of a sea vessel, and it slanted downwards on either side to form a linear, extended peak on the bottom. It was colored silver, with streaks of gold and deep purple. Few kils could see all of it yet, as it was slow moving, and for good reason. As this 'monster' glided slowly onward, it became apparent that there were figures on the top, on a deck of sorts, waving to the crowds in the rows of seats. Many of the kils had brought magnification goggles, which were little more than one-trick HUD frames. Straus activated his, and saw standing on the deck of the enormous parade float three figures. Two of them were clad in chrome silver armor of the most luxurious kind, with deep purple highlights to accentuate their importance. Wide, flat blades of chrome extended from the shoulder plating and hip plating, and they wore magnificent chrome and purple helmets with silver talons extending over the top of the beak and around the eyes. These were the Zealots, Xej Therus and Zjer K'leires, the most royal and elite soldiers in the empire. A little further back, and sitting a throne of gold and deep purple on the large deck (which itself was covered in a deep purple carpet) was the Emperor. The crowds cheered all the more, and waved with sudden vigor, at the sight of their emperor, Xonoc. He stood from his royal throne on the gliding palace of a parade float, and bowed to the crowds. A symbol of humility, and proof of his worthiness as their emperor, that his position had not clouded his mind with superiority. Straus had thought it would not be possible for them to cheer any louder, but they did.

Then, something happened which had not been planned. From the other side of the street, on the opposite rows of seating which were connected to medium-sized buildings, a shot rang out. It was a clearly visible plasmatic beam, and it whizzed past the Emperor's beak, so close that if it were to stay still he could feel the heat, and it raced across to the other side, to hit the daughter of the she-kil sitting so close to Straus. He heard and saw a small blood spatter on the floor of aisle, and a small shrill scream of fear and pain. Xej and Zjer were now by the Emperor, ready to protect him with their very bodies, and the deck they were on was already descending into the depths of the parade palace, into safety in its huge hull. Panic broke out at this sudden terror.

But it was only just the beginning.

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In an instant, Krevozs was upon him. It took him only one great leap to catch Jelx. One of his hands closed around the Xenoqqi's face, and his great black claws held fast to what little skin was upon the ovoid skull of the trooper. He turned his prey around to face him with swift movement of his arm, almost as if the creature were a ragdoll. He showed not his true face, but a helmet. Curved around the edges, with platelets of metal interlocking to form a roughly circular shape at the back, and shifted to cover Krevozs's beak with a vaguely oblong, triangular arrangement of platelets. Glowing green slats on either side of the helmet enabled Krevozs to see, and accentuating his own facial quills were sections similar almost to the fins of a shark. One reached from above the beak to far over the top of the helmet, and the other jutted out from below the portion of the helmet covering the lower mandible.

"Bad choice." And with that, he snapped the trooper's neck, searched his body for any useful items, and found a holographic map of the Forge Hulk ship. Now he had to move very quickly, with time turned against him. He strode off towards the bridge through empty corridors, and he fought hard against the temptation to anticipate the violence to come.

Ifka was confused. How had someone snuck in? What did they want? Typical of her, the confusion fueled her temper.

A pilot raised his voice over the din of the alarm. "We haven't pinpointed the intruder's location yet, but we are certain he is in the West Wing as he hasn't shown up in any other surveillance feeds. Orders Captain?".

"Get the team that found the intruder's ship to remove it to Hangar Bay 15 and dismantle it. Any available troops not stationed at key posts are to head to the West Wing and try to box him in". She turned to the 3d map of Great Glutton, noticing the close proximity of Power Generator 7 to the location of the vessel's discovery.

"Keep in mind that Generator 7 is to be our top priority. Gorth?".

"Yes, most heroic of Captains?".

"You will be leading the squad protecting Generator 7. Feel free to choose your armament as you see fit".

The elder smiled as he turned and exited the bridge control room. He knew exactly what he needed.

Krevozs had started to sprint through the corridors of the Forge Hulk. They seemed endless and confining to him, and he was beginning to get very frustrated. Normally he would have been able to deal with it, but the stress of his ship being found, and his having to execute the Xenoqqi creature had riled up him. It would be time soon for another dose of the drugs which he used to calm himself down.. but he didn't want to have to take the dose during combat. This needed to be quick and efficient.

He checked the holographic map while he was sprinting, and realized he had just passed the correct doorway to take. It had already cost him precious time to take various out-of-the-way and cramped passages, and he needed that holographic recording. In the end, it would only increase his satisfaction in capturing this "Survivor" which he had decided to hunt. (Tell me if I need to change this, Random) Fortunately, the Forge Hulk seemed to use ramps, some steep and some gentle, instead of elevators, in most places. He backtracked several feet, turned right, and found a shut metal door. He had been hunching continually to allow his large frame to fit inside the hallways of the Forge Hulk, and hoped the deckhead inside the bridge would be smaller. Unfortunately, a guard of Xenoqqi were posted outside the door.

From one of the mechanical implants connected to a gauntlet on Krevozs's right forearm, a large, sharp blade jutted outwards.

"Step aside or I kill you all." he said. (You could definitely have Gorth show up to flank Krevozs or something)

The troopers instinctively raised their Carbines. They were nervous, but determined to not let the intruder into the room containing Generator 7 (is Krevozs going this way because its the quickest, or does he want the machine destroyed?).

The squad leader spoke back gruffly. "Surrender now or we'll shoot. Think about this, we're armed with Plasma rounds. One shot and your flaming brains will by decorating the wa-".

CLUNK. CLUNK. CLUNK.

The leader's speech broke off to the sounds of heavy metallic footsteps. Looking past Krevozs, he saw the source of the noise. Barely fitting the corridor with its bulky frame, the Thresher Battlesuit loped forward, its lengthy arms and whip-like tail dragging behind it. Crowning the heavily armoured shoulders nestled a tiny, camera studded headmod, providing its pilot a full 360-degree view of his surroundings.

Stopping just ahead, the synthesized voice of Gorth rang out from the speakers embedded in the Battlesuit: "I'd do what he says mister, or I'm afraid things will get..."

Bladed talons erupted from the hands of the Thresher. Gorth sneered in the ruddy light of the battlesuits cockpit.

"...messy".

( Whoster, Xenoqqi use Stalkers and other legged drones to carry them from level to level over long distances. The ramps work with that, although they can climb up walls as well. Also, a cyborg assassin vs a mech? We Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance now)

Survivor hovered above the unknown planet. After the ships scan he determined that the planet isn't good enough for him to bunker down. He moved his fingers then to speak to his ships AI.

"Find another planet. One that is hostile. One where survival is the only option. Like the hell hole known as Xion."

The ship beeped a few times and went off. Meanwhile Survivor went to his med bay and had the vial scanned. When the scan was done Survivor punched and dented the wall.

It is Xeolite. Those fools why would they send it with Avlex? Why does the Federation want it so badly? Sigh. This stuff will destroy the Federation but no they are way to stubborn. The Xliveiens need a better government.

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Xernious went back to the ships training deck and did some target practice. He was frustrated with this hunt. Every time he thinks that he is getting close he only gets further away. Why is Survivor so elusive?

Krevozs didn't fear the threats of the armor-clad Xenoqqi. He leapt forward into the group guarding the door, impaled one soldier through the chest with his combat blade, and held the body up to allow it to take several shots from the other Xenoqqi and their carbines. One blew the ovoid head off of it, and with a deft thrust of his arm Krevozs flung the body off of his blade and towards the Xenoqqi soldiers. With this distraction, Krevozs reached for his utility belt down at his waist, found a flashbang grenade, and tossed it around the corner at the approaching battlesuit. He then touched a button on his forearm implants which caused his combat blade to burn brightly, and with this he stabbed into the small space between the two doors to what he thought was the bridge. He cut upwards and then thrust downwards, and then pulled on the two doors with all of his might. It took him only a few seconds to force them open, and he swiftly stepped inside. Unfortunately, he was met only by a very bright light and many pillars lined with wires. (Is this an OK description?)

He had most likely read the map wrong, but now he would pay the price for the mistake. An angry battlesuit awaited him. He reached for his belt to pull out an EMP grenade, but found that he had forgotten to carry them. "Du'rakk," he swore. All of these mistakes were piling up, and they would most likely cause him to become even more stressed and make yet more mistakes. As much as he could, Krevozs cleared his mind, focused on the enemies outside he had to either evade or kill, and readied himself for combat.

The light filters in the cameras protected Gorth from most of the glare, but the grenade was still enough to stun him for a moment.

He turned to the surviving troops as they pushed off the corpse of their comrade. "Alert the Captain! Get as many soldiers and drones down here as quickly as possible. I'll go after this Muck Leech".

With that he bounded after the armoured figure, the Battlesuits large frame destroying the rest of the generator doorway in the process.

In the open space of Generator 7's room, the Thresher's leaping strides easily ate up the distance between Gorth and the fleeing intruder. The handful of engineers stationed at the Generator scattered as Gorth leapt high, bringing the suits talons down in a crushing arc, intent on slicing the enemy in two.

Krevozs looked up just in time to see his opponent's lunge, sidestepped, and detached a plasmatic pistol from its magnetic holster on armor on his right thigh. Turning to face the battle suit, he aimed the plasma pistol and fired several shots into it, dead center. The green bolts of energy had little to no effect, save that they charred the armor that they hit. Quickly shifting tactics, Krevozs reattached the plasma pistol to his thigh armor, and pressed two buttons on the same forearm implant that held his combat blade. In immediate response, the deadly sharp blade elongated to a total length of four and a half feet, and it crackled with electricity. He would wait for the battle suit to charge him again, and stab it in one of the joints, electrocuting it and hopefully disabling it.

He stood in a ready combat stance, legs spaced apart, blade held up across his armored chest. The room that contained Generator 7 allowed Krevozs to stand up to his full height and stature. In the near-blinding light of the room, he appeared as a nine-foot-tall bipedal humanoid (though with clearly digitigrade legs), with every inch of his body covered in a dark, steel-colored segmented armor, as well as a skin-tight, black nanocomposite underarmor, which showed between segments where his joints and neck were. His helmet only added questions to his disguise, being similar in color (save for the glowing emerald eye panels) and style. His forearms, upper arms, thighs and lower legs seemed to be all heavily buffed in thicker armor, or so it appeared. He was a formidable sight, yet slender and graceful.

It was then that Krevozs noticed the reactor core in the room, for that was obviously what it was, had begun to generate tremendous amounts of radiation. A warning in his helmet's HUD alerted him to this as the levels rose dangerously high.

Du'rakk. The engine was either about to fry, or activate. Whichever, Krevozs wasted no more time waiting to tackle his mechanical opponent. He made a dash for the door.

“Ouch. Stop it. How can something with tentacles for appendages, therefore lacking fingers, for that matter, keep on pinching me? You are beginning to irritate me.” Rune was becoming increasingly aggravated with Querois’ presence, yet somehow; his voice remained completely even, showing no signs of his frustration aside from a slightly hoarser quality. At some point, after Querois had seemed to grow bored exploring his surroundings, the Werean juvenile had decided to pester the young Maozhuian. At first, it was with whining for Rune to talk to him, but at some point, Querois had grown bored with this activity, as well, and had taken to physically pinching his new adoptive brother. Rune was not quite certain how he could be pinched when Werean possessed tentacles, yet somehow, Querois managed to do it.

Xenos, after being woken up from a pleasant nap by the commotion the two aliens were making, raised his head, and let out a sharp, reprimanding growl, wondering why it was that he was having to do this at all. Spiromanders did not have a standard of parental care like a majority of alien races, so it was easily seen as strange. Among Xenos’ kind, a female would choose the strongest, most powerful male she could find, and the male would guard the eggs until they hatched. Once the eggs had hatched, the sinuous, legless, water-breathing carnivores were left to their own devices. As far as Xenos could tell, Rune and Querois should have been fully-capable of fending for themselves, but the more he watched the two get on each other’s nerves, and in turn, aggravate him and his master, the more convinced he was that there was something terribly wrong with the whole picture. The ridiculous part was that the trouble did not start until Querois had arrived.

“You two, stop.” Ravage growled, growing frustrated, just as her animal companion was. “This is becoming ridiculous. Querois, I took you in because you needed a family, not because you needed to be constantly entertained. There are going to be rules here, and one of them is that you are to stop causing or inclining to cause physical harm to Rune, me, or to Xenos. Stop pinching him immediately. Entertain yourself for a while; you do not constantly need someone watching you.” She said.

Querois proceeded to respond dramatically, falling across the round table in the main part of the ship, laying on his side and holding his tentacle-fins across his body, moving them as though they were some sort of gorgeous dress, flowing in the wind. As though to emphasize the image, his fins colored to a brilliant pattern of pink and red. He let out a despairing sigh, “You fail to like my sleight of hand, as you would call it? That is such a horrible jenggui shame…” He said, rolling a few tentacles under his chin as though in thought, swearing casually as though he had no idea how inappropriate it was. Perhaps he did, but didn’t care. Not that it offended anyone. Nobody had any idea what it meant, anyway.

Ravage silently noted to never utter any swear words in languages that someone else would understand, for the sake of making sure Querois didn’t provoke someone with his completely flippant attitude towards all forms of authority. She was also determined not to show how disturbing she found his sudden girlish behavior to be. He had been both sassy and extremely cocky when she had first met him, and he still retained those aspects of his personality. The uncomfortable part was that he was being flirtatious, which was in no way appropriate, given the situation. She doubted he was turning into a female, because Werean biology was not dictated by the presence of females or males in a population, but by psychology. Psychology went far deeper than a stereotype, and Werean did not adhere to gender stereotypes such as clothing, either. Querois was doing this deliberately to make the group uneasy. He was more interested in other races, so he knew females of certain races wore long, flowing garments.

Ravage gave him a silent glare, ordering him without words to get off of the table, before turning back to look out of the cockpit window. It seemed that the look appeased the Werean for a time, as there were now no more cries of brief pain from Rune to indicate that he was being pinched again. Ravage noted they had entered a solar system, and were now passing by what looked like a green, lush planet that was currently supporting life. The lack of any reaction on her ship’s panels indicated it was unpopulated, and, noting that they still had a distance to go before reaching the Majesty again, Ravage nodded in approval at this new world.

“Alright, it seems safe enough. How about some fresh air? This planet looks like a good place to gather supplies. There are no toxins in the residual atmosphere I’m currently picking up, and it has multiple different kinds of environments on it, so there should be variety if we gather supplies here.” She supposed everyone needed it. Querois was going to be a hand full. She still wasn’t going to say she regretted taking him away from his own kind, however. She heard frustrated sounds of approval from Xenos and Rune, while Querois continued to balance on his tail, his tentacle-fins shining every color of the rainbow as he gave a nod meant to resemble a wordless royal decree.

Ravage piloted the Stealth Strider close to the planet, when there was a sudden crash and turbulence as they began falling towards it. Everyone had to brace themselves and recover, still struggling to stay upright as the ship rattled through the atmosphere. “What?!” Ravage screeched, as alarm signals went off. “There’s a gravity beam on this planet! Our ship can’t get out of it! We’re going to crash!” She exclaimed, before screaming in anger and shock. Xenos rose on all six limbs, whining and roaring in fear at the instability of the floor below him, and Querois, screaming in a child-like manner, clung tightly to Rune with his tentacles, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.

As they fell towards the planet, everyone was certain they wouldn’t make it, until they reached the stratosphere, and the beam abruptly weakened, allowing Ravage to regain control of it, managing to stop the descent. “What? Oh, thank goodness!” She exclaimed in relief, while everyone regained their balance. There was still a problem, though, as an emergency warning continued to go off, and a red light flashed. Ravage looked at the command panels, and slowly shook her head, her face grim, “Not good. The engines are damaged. They can handle lower layers of an atmosphere, but if we were to leave, we would either get hit with a gravity beam again, or we would fly apart from regular liftoff turbulence. We need to repair the ship immediately.”

She grabbed the controls, picking out the most remote spot in a dense-canopied forest, “I’m going to land us in the most obscure spot possible where we won’t be seen. We don’t know who put that beam there, but we need to work quickly, and get out of here as soon as possible.” She said.

Survivor had fallen asleep in his bed when suddenly the ship started to shake rapidly. Survivor falls out of his bed and raced to the controls. He saw a planet getting closer. He tried to get the ship moving but it was like it was caught. He slammed the controls angrily and went to the scan report and sighed a bit.

"Well at least this place seems like survival is the only option."

Gorth's HUD lit up like a christmas tree. Radiation? He immediately was brought to the conclusion that the engineers (now long gone) had been performing a routine core vent. In the correct procedure any excess radiation would be funneled away, but with no-one to handle the controls, Generator 7's room would fill with irradiated steam.

At least the doors would automatically close to prevent...

Gorth turned back with a sense of dread. What was once a thick, pressure-sealed door was now a gaping jagged hole. A choice number of curse words bubbled up in his mind before the Thresher leapt over to where the control board was left unattended. All thoughts of the intruder were gone as he punched in the comms code to take him directly to the control room.

When the Stealth Strider landed in the densely wooded area, it would have been completely hidden from space, it's cloaking technology still making it fade in and out of visibility like a mirage. Ravage, unsure of what had placed the faulty gravity beam on the planet in the first place, was uncertain of what kind of threat the group was dealing with. The planet had no evidence of an alien population from space, and in most cases, if a gravity beam was employed, it was supposed to completely destroy any spaceships that happened to get caught in it. There did not seem to be any sort of reason for why it would simply trap someone in the areas below the stratosphere. She had half-expected something to attack them when the gravity beam stopped, but the longer they waited in the ship for some sort of foe to appear, the more perplexed she felt about the entire situation.

She turned to look at the two other people on the ship. Querois, still terrified, was clinging tightly to Rune, and his tentacles happened to grip onto his beak so that he could neither see properly, nor say anything in protest. Rune could only make grunting noises in order to complain, and he struggled, even with his sharp talons inherited from the Thundarian side of his family, to pry the young Werean off. Ravage made a frustrated sound, and quickly pulled the two apart with strength that, while decreased from what it had originally been, would still outmatch most. Rune stumbled away, and Querois fell over on his back before getting back onto his tail to balance.

Rune glared at his new adoptive sibling, "Are you insane? We landed minutes ago and I am already certain that you have attempted to suffocate me just now!" He snapped.

Querois shuddered, "My apologies if I offended you, but I really am not made for falling for long distances! I am made to swim and to move on land, perhaps even stick to a wall or ceiling, but that is as far as I will go. I cannot fly like you, and even if I could, I could not do it in this ship!" He exclaimed.

Ravage, deciding to nip the argument in the bud before it started, cut in, "How about we all stick close and go out to investigate the damage to the engines?" She said, making sure to punctuate each word. The two arguing young immediately stopped squabbling.

"Yes ma'am," They both murmured in unison, with Querois uttering a Werean swear word under his breath, though he reluctantly obeyed.

Ravage, her tail swaying back and forth with irritation, opened the ship's hatch and exited, with the two following behind her.

Xenos, who had calmed down, slowly followed everyone out.

Krevozs was running through one of the monotonous, ill-lit corridors when he lost his balance, a very rare thing for him to do. A sudden tremor reverberated throughout the vessel, and a muffled roar followed.  Deeply irritated and slightly disoriented, he saw a pipe lining one of the adjacent walls and grabbed it, squeezing it tightly, and actually bent it out of shape. He grunted angrily, regained his balance, and tried to walk forward. Nausea hit him with each step, forcing him to halt until whatever was happening ceased. Several minutes passed until the rumble and tremors passed. However, there was only a brief respite from this. The slight calm gave way to violent reverberations, and worse, the corridor had actually started to tilt upwards. He was forced to take hold to whatever he could find, which happened to be more pipes lining the wall next to him. The floor behind and in front of him gradually steepened with each passing moment, until the violent movement ceased and the Forge Hulk, Krevozs guessed, must have regained proper balance; the corridor had reversed directionally, to where it was now passable without climbing.

Unfortunately, the incident had sufficiently riled Krevozs that he reached over to one of his forearm implants, found one of the vial-like protrusions on the lower side of it, and pressed on the top of them, injecting their contents into his blood stream. A deep, calming sensation overtook him, and he sat down quietly for several more minutes. After the drugs had worked their way throughout his system, he, with regained focus, stood to his feet, brought up the holographic projector, and found the correct path to one of the hanger bays. It was not possible to avoid the crew of the ship entirely at this point, as they were scurrying around the ship in a panic. Most of them ran when they saw him, or drooped down and covered their faces. Those that did oppose him met swift end, or found that their target had fled before they could shoot him. Eventually, one of the doors opened to allow him entrance into the hanger bay. Inside, at various levels beneath him, he could see Xenoqqi, scattered and buzzing with activity, like a hive of disturbed insects. What the viewscreen at the opposite end of the hanger displayed was of much more interest to him, however.

It was a large, rather lush planet, directly below them and vibrantly visible.

What had happened? Huge vessels like this ship were almost never rated for in-atmosphere deployment. Surely an accident, then.

He would find out soon enough.

Before Gorth could get a word out, alarms rang as Generator 7 began to bulge under the internal forces. Thoughts scattered as instinct drove the elderly Xenoqqi back to the destroyed doorway, intent on getting as far away as possible.

BOOM.

The Thresher was sent hurtling forwards from the blast, the blow ripping the limbs off its frame before he crashed into the opposite corridor. While the cockpit had been padded, Gorth tasted blood. His eyes hazy, he watched as electrical wiring fried and system nodes burst around him before falling unconscious.

____________________________________________________________________

"The intruder's running, Captain. He's heading towards us this time, though we have another squad on his tail and three ahead".

"Good. The quicker we catch or kill this trespasser the sooner we get back to fixing this ship. Where's Gorth?"

The pilot's brow plates furrowed. "Still in Generator 7's room. I'll see if-".

BOOM.

Great Glutton shuddered. Various Xenoqqi fell to their feet as Ifka held a hologram brace to keep herself steady. As the others got up, she turned back to the pilot.

"What the Valt'ath was that?"

The pilot was unfazed by the Captain's language. He had heard it before. "Generator 7 is gone, we have higher radiation levels than usual in its general area. Systems are finding it difficult to deal with the drop in power. Generator's 3 through 14 attempting to compensate."

Ifka nodded. This was standard proce-

"Compensation fluctuating, the buildup is too high! We have an excess power surge incoming! We have systems activating everywhere!" The pilot's eyes darted back and forth around his screen, before focusing on one thing. "W-w-w..."

Ifka thumped him around the back of the head, bringing him to his senses. The pilot gulped as around the room others stared at their own screens in shock. "The Warp Drive has activated".

Ifka's voice rose. "Then shut it down!"

The pilot slumped. "I'm afraid it's too late for t-"

Once more light engulfed the room as the Warp Drive reaped asunder the fabric of reality. Engineers and pilots hung on to their stations as Ifka dashed to where Braaj stood in utter confusion, pulling him down to the floor and covering her head in preparation for the jump. Holographic feeds erupted in a kaleidoscope of static as Great Glutton tore another wormhole open. In its current state the Forge Hulk couldn't resist the sucking force of the hole, despite the best efforts of the few pilots that had not already blacked out. As the ship was barreled along, previous repairs were shaken apart again, raining the Xenoqqi in pieces of metal.

It lasted for 8 minutes, unlike the hour-long ordeal of the last jump. Crew members were quickly shaken awake to find they were now in orbit of a small planet filled with what apparently was, according to the miraculously working but scarcely readable scans, vegetation. It was a short breather before the Forge Hulk lurched again, dragged towards the surface by an unseen force.

"Status report!" Ifka shouted over the groaning ship.

Braaj was the first to look back at a screen, brushing away some of the rubble to look at the jumpy readings. "Wwwe g-got caught in some kind of Tract-tor beam, it's ssstopped but we don't-t have enough p-power to break-k the planet's gravvvitat-tional p-p-ull".

The crew members attending looked completely lost as the heard this. Some buried there faces in their hands as they comprehended their almost certain doom.

Ifka, like always just got madder. Standing the centre of the control room she spoke up again. "We aren't dead yet, you hear me?! Activate every Valt'ath reverse thruster and drag flap that still works! If we survive this I'm going to kill that Muck Leech of a Xarl and give every Valt'athing one of you a ticket to the sunny fields of Elysium!".
__________________________________________________________________________________

Great Glutton fell screaming out of the sky. Drag flaps shattered and reverse thrusters exploded in the effort to slow the behemoth down, the hull now glowing red hot as it burned in the planet's atmosphere. Bursting through the clouds, the Forge Hulk began to bank, flattening the treeline in its wake as its engines guttered and died. In what could be described as the slowest, longest crash in the history of cruiser ships, Great Glutton plowed across the planets loamy surface, shedding spires and hull plates as it carved a massive path before coming to rest, a crumpled wreck of its former self...

Control was eventually given back to Survivor as he tries to steer the ship off the planet but it seems the planet has some sorta field that prevents him from leaving not to mention that his ships engine just stalled and fell towards the planet again. Survivor slammed the controls in anger adding more dents to them. He left his chair and ran quickly to the back of the ship where he pull several levers that moved the wings so that he could control the ships decent. He was flying blind back there which he cursed the engineer who though this was a good idea. Luckily he aimed to a dense forest and the ship hit it and slid across the ground. Survivor sat down then and sigh in relief. He went to the airlock and opened it. He walked out and looked at his surroundings.

Dense forest like Xion. Though leaves are all green. Going to be hard to blend in there. Climate is also a lot warmer. Must be either artificially controlled or this planet is closer to its star. Hmm maybe I could use some of the vegetation to hide the ship so I can't be spotted from the sky. Speaking of the sky, what in the name of Xions Night is that?

Survivor looked up just in time to see a massive ship plummet towards the planet. He watches it trajectory and makes a point to remember which direction it fell. He would have to check out the crash later and try to find some supplies.

The abrupt descent sent Krevozs spiraling off of the upper bay platforms, down towards the bay doors. He reached for a railing, and came nigh to grasping one, yet he failed and continued in a freefall. Bracing himself, he hit the bottom of the bay, but was forced to move out of the way just as soon as he landed, as debris and broken machinery began sliding in his direction. He ran to the side of the bay, attempting to avoid the oncoming machinery and let it pass by as harmlessly as possible. The Forge Hulk was already very near the surface of the planet, perhaps now only a hundred feet above it.

Unfortunately, Krevozs's success in avoiding the metal parts that were inadvertently chasing him also proved to be a temporary undoing. As the Forge Hulk crashed to the surface of the world and raced along on its belly, some of the armor along the bay doors, situated near the bottom of the vessel (Is this okay?) began to drag and were violently ripped off in a shedding display. This affected some of the inner layers as well, and a gap was torn into the side of the bay doors very near to Krevozs. He would have run from it, were it not for a large crate speedily approaching him. Vivacious wind speeding through the gap in the door tugged at him, and the crate neared him at such a rate that he was forced to turn around, and to make matters worse, a bold Xenoqqi had regained some of his composure and begun firing at Krevozs. Backpedalling, he found that he had taken one step too far, and fallen through the hole. Moments passed while he fell downward, and managed to turn round to see the ground being ripped up as the Forge Hulk moved forward, and directly below him was a clump of trees. In mere seconds he hit the very tops of the crowns of the trees, and fell through with many a pained grunt. He broke many branches on his way down, before finally hitting the grass-covered ground. He was dizzy and in pain, only barely conscious, and moving slowly and deliberately; yet he was still alive.

As Ravage was perched on top of one of the Stealth Strider's engines, she heard a rumbling sound from above, and her eyes widened with shock, pupils contracting to thin slits as they adjusted to the bright, shining mass of another ship being hurtled towards the planet. She saw it disappear into the forest a distance away, crash-landing, it seemed, rather than stopping. She suspected that it may have been perhaps too heavy or large to overcome gravity before it hit the ground. She resisted the temptation to fly over, as her flight feather, sacrificed during the adoption ceremony for Rune, had not yet fully grown back in, and still needed perhaps a few hours. It seemed that healing wounds took far longer than feather re-growth. She was also worried about the possibility of something or someone spotting her; the most dangerous place for a Chimerosu to be was in the air. It had been useful when melee weapons and physical aspects were all that threatened her kind, but now that guns and other long-distance weapons existed, flight made one an easy target.

Just as she had been prepared to resume checking her engines, an enormous animal, clearly a predator of some sort, charged out of the bushes, roaring madly, having been flushed out of hiding by the crashing spaceship. Enraged by the disturbance, it immediately targeted Querois, whose bright, flickering colors across his black scaly skin attracted so much attention. It charged fur, a massive, furry creature with claws that were long like swords, and thick ivory tusks sprouting from its face, raised a claw to strike the Werean, before Ravage moved as fast as she could to deter it, catching the creature's paw, and getting swiped into a tree, crying in pain as she hit her shoulder, and heard the bone in her upper arm snap. The pain was momentary, though, as adrenaline overwhelmed it.

Its attention turned to her, the animal ignored Rune and Querois, and Xenos moved in front to protect them, growling ferociously at the animal, and stomping down hard on its tail, cracking a bone in its tip, although there was no signs to tell it had happened aside from a loud cracking sound. The animal cried out, but before it could turn to attack the Spiromander, Ravage ran up, and with her one good arm, left a deep, gouging cut down the animal's side, so clean that it was signature of her cat-like retractable claws. The predator practically screamed, now, and instead of retaliating, with blood pouring from its side, fled, charging back in the direction that it had come from.

Delirious from pain, the animal attacker was not aware that it was fleeing towards an equally-dangerous threat.

Ravage stared after the animal, breathing hard, cuts running down her broken arm from the beast's claws, the blood already beginning to clot, but the wound still likely to open and bleed out at any given moment. Rune's eyes widened, "Ravage, your arm..." He said, his voice so quiet it was hard to hear. Ravage did not appear to hear him, as though she did not yet realize a limb was broken. Perhaps she didn't. "Ravage! Your arm! It's broken!" He said, louder this time.

Ravage blinked twice, and looked at her arm, before clutching it, her face contorting with pain, as she collapsed to her knees on the ground. She drew air harshly through a small opening made by her beak, "What...is...this?" She asked.

It was then Querois and Rune exchanged looks, upon realizing that Ravage did not understand that she herself was suffering from a broken bone. "Querois, can you keep an eye on her? I'm getting the first aid kit in the ship", Rune said, before hurriedly running back into the Stealth Strider. Querois, not sure of what else to do, went over to Ravage and gently made her lie down, trying simply to keep her sitting still.

Treating her for shock.

Krevozs lay prostrate on the damp foliage for roughly fifteen minutes. Afterwards, his strength gradually returned, until he was able to rise and more fully recover from what he had just accomplished. He looked around, and saw no immediate threat to himself. Then, taking stock of his injuries, found no significant damage to his cybernetic implants, but several great tears in his combat suit, and some bloody purple gashes underneath. Dealing with this, he opened a slot on one of his forearm implants withdrew a pad and a small flask-like container of liquid medicine, and went to work patching his wounds. He opened the flask, and poured a few droplets of the medicine on each injury. It stung, and Krevozs grimaced but made no sound. Then, he took the padding, which itself was segmented, and tore off a pad for each of his wounds, and laid them on the bloody spots. These were no ordinary bandages, as nanobots were present within them. Immediately, the microscopic machines set to work assisting the cells in Krevozs's body to repair themselves. With this done, he then attempted to open his helmet's HUD. The view stuttered and a wave of static washed over his vision from within the helmet. He then realized that the fall must have damaged his helmet. Not surprising, but certainly an annoyance.

Now to set about the next important tasks; he would have to return to the Forge Hulk at some point for supplies if he found himself unable to procure any other resources. Deciding that first he would clear the patch of trees in which he had landed, he set off at a light jog, and within minutes reached a clearing. This, unfortunately, only led towards yet another bulk of trees. Krevozs chose to investigate further, having encountered no threat as of yet. He went through still denser, green foliage, and his pace slackened to a brisk walk. He saw the trees becoming sparser as he continued, and the light of an alien sun shone through more clearly as he approached what he was sure to be another clearing. However, just as he passed into an open patch of grass, a bloody-looking beast. It became aware of him at the same moment he was aware of it, and adopted a clearly defensive stance. It, furry, fierce and stained with its own blood, growled at Krevozs. He stood unmoving, and from his position at the edge of the clearing, brought his right forearm up to his chest, and a long, slender blade, 'unsheathed' as it were, extended outwards to its full length of over four feet, and waited for his (unwanted) opponent to make a move. The animal moved back and forth in front of him, growling threateningly. Then, as if deciding Krevozs were some lesser prey, the beast moved forward with a roar. Krevozs also lunged, and with his combat blade ran the beast through. His weapon penetrated its neck, severed the spinal cord and killed it instantly. Then, he pulled his weapon out of he beast's lifeless carcass, plunged it into the ground, and when he took it from the ground, it was clean of any blood. Satisfied, he moved on, but heard troubled voices ahead. Now he sprinted to find them.

"I thought you were aware of the fact that you would not recover from your injuries instantly. You even claimed that you would use more caution, but you did not, in this case. Your metabolism is permanently slowed by the aftereffects of the disease you contracted on Maozhu. Your arm is broken now, and though the blood clots quickly, it can still open up until it properly seals. You could still potentially bleed out, if you are not more careful, the next time we encounter an enraged animal." Rune said, after having bandaged the gash in her arm left by the predator's claws, and put her arm in a rough cast and sling to keep the broken bone immobilized.

Despite the overall calmness of his tone, Rune could not help but speak faster, and it was clear that he was actually very upset. The sight of a Chimerosu's blood scared him; it was a gruesome reminder of things in the past that he was unwilling to re-live a second time. It was also because Ravage had risked her life without thinking, and even when her bone was shattered, it seemed as though she had never learned to identify her own injury. The world of a mortal thing that could feel pain or become wounded had been lost to her a long time ago, and suddenly, she had been brought back into it. Now, she was struggling to remember what it meant to care about avoiding personal injury or pain.

Querois, viewed the situation differently. He, too, was upset, but the pale grey hue that his skin had changed to was one of hysterical joy, rather than sorrow, though it was clear he was experiencing a lot of feelings that likely conflicted. "Y-you are the most w-wonderful c-caretaker I have ever m-met!" He exclaimed, "You saved my life!" He cried, before his body turned to pure black, once more, "How could you risk your life like that?! Why didn't you tell me that you couldn't recover from injuries! I would have been happy to die, knowing that it was surrounded by people that wanted me there!" He then began to cry abruptly, tears of sadness, before stifling his sobs, and holding Ravage's good hand with one tentacle, "You're okay, though. You're okay...we can fix the ship...please don't worry..."

The final things Querois said were more likely meant to comfort himself, rather than Ravage. As a Werean, he could do many things, ranging from camouflaging the colors of his skin and shimmering bright colors, to grabbing things with strength and force that only the power of many suction-cups and scale-like treads could do on his tentacles, but in the end, Querois, despite the overall physical strength of his species, still regarded himself as very weak. He was male because he had been weaker than all the others. He had hatched male, and had been as such ever sense. He was not aggressive, or dominant, or even strong, as a Werean. His mind was brilliant past those around him, but his body, overall, was weak. He was not at ease in saying that he was afraid of being attacked again, especially when things such as whether a person was male or female was not considered changeable among most races. Ravage was born and would remain female, just as Rune was born male and would remain as such. Querois claiming that he wished he was female would make sense among the Werean, who became female based on dominance, but it would seem strange and bizarre to anything else. In the end, Querois could not say what was on his mind, that he wished he were stronger, and therefore, as strength was embodied in gender, a female.

Ravage shook her head, wincing at the throbbing in her arm, "Querois, my hand is going numb, loosen your grip, a little." She said, and Querois did so, but he refused to let go, even when she stood up to begin walking again. Ravage gritted her sharp teeth in her beak, as she looked after where the predator had gone in the trees, "Querois, do you know what kind of animal that was that attacked you?" She asked, her nostril-slits flaring as she detected the scent of its blood, highly appealing to her standards of what was regarded as food.

Querois looked in the same direction, before looking back at her, "It was an apex predator called a Ghreiven, it's normally found in plains, but it's not exceedingly rare for certain subspecies to hide in forests. This doesn't look like their planet, though. The trees aren't the right color. Their species is poached a lot, though, for their furs, claws, and tusks, and sometimes just for a trophy, because they're usually very hard to kill. That one wasn't acting normal. It was acting confused, but I'm not sure if it was because it's in the wrong environment, or if it was because it was enraged by the ships suddenly crashing. Animals tend to attack when they're scared, but behavior like that is still really aggressive. It looked like it saw us as a threat the moment it laid eyes on us."

Ravage shook her head, "We can perhaps think about the strangeness of what it was doing here later. Do you think it will come back?" She asked.

Querois slapped his tail on the ground, "No, that's really doubtful. If it even survived, considering that it was losing too much blood far too quickly for it to clot in time."

Ravage glared after the Ghreiven's path, "I said I would be more careful with my own safety, but that doesn't mean I'll hold back in protecting you two." She clenched her good hand into a fist, "I don't care if it's the last of its kind. If it tries to kill you, I would exterminate it in the most brutal fashion possible. Broken bones don't matter, as long as you're safe."

Xenos, meanwhile, stared into the trees, before giving a harsh growl to get attention, and with one claw, drawing a single line in the dirt, and doing several false-steps with his middle pair of legs. He snorted, and looked at Ravage, who had learned that a Spiromander was, while still being regarded as an animal, intelligent enough to learn a certain degree of communication with people, similar to many creatures that possessed tool-using capabilities. He now used his talents for communication to notify of things coming from long distances, given that he had enough time to react. Ravage's eyes widened, "A person's coming." She said. She looked up at her spaceship, and hissed something in Krylonian, causing it to lock up, unless given the command again. She then spread her wings, and hurriedly put them over Querois and Rune, using her own natural camouflage ability to refract light, turning them invisible, at least to the naked eye, but not to scanners or other anti-cloaking systems.

"Come, we need to leave the clearing quickly." She whispered, "Stay under my wings, or you won't be hidden." She said. She then began leading them to the opposing edge of the clearing, "Xenos, follow, but if you are spotted, pretend we aren't here." She said. "Pretend you don't even see the person, don't attack unless they attack you or the ship."

Krevozs trampled through the foliage quickly, breathing hard and ready in his mind to face whatever he might come upon; however, he would not be unwilling to accept a break in the stream of trials.

Soon, he came upon a small opening in the dense forest, and saw to his surprise a large, six-legged beast walking on further into the center of the small recession of the canopy of trees. The animal was already many feet away from Krevozs now. This was clearly not just some wild animal, for its back had a saddle over it. From this indication, Krevozs immediately stepped backwards, and looked all around him for some presence of other persons. He looked near to the spiromander, and squinted. Even his keen eyes were strained to see the faint shimmer in the air, like a haze in the heat of the day. Swiftly Krevozs attempted to activate his thermal sensors, but just as the other components of his helmet had been damaged, this too failed; it only picked out the body heat of Xenos, before automatically deactivating due to loss of power.

It was then that Krevozs, being unsure of whether to approach the beast and its riders, of whose numbers he was also unsure, spoke out in a loud voice, "I can see you."

Upon the strange Jorro'kil stating that he could see the group, a stirring sound came from the faint shimmer in the air, and a high-pitched, male-sounding voice uttered something in a strange, unknown language that was more than likely some sort of curse. It sounded as though he were young, though, whoever he was. "Well, we're in quite a jenggui bad mess now..." He muttered, before giggling in a disturbing manner, "I spent a lot of time reading about the galaxy, did you know? I know all the animals and plants we've seen on this planet, but it isn't in the right place. They're different things mixed up on the wrong hunk of matter." The words were punctuated by another unnerving bout of laughter.

Xenos tensed up, and the spiromander began to viciously growl, deep in his throat, walking closer to where his three companions were, wanting to keep as much distance as possible between the Jorro'kil and his master. "Xenos!" A familiar female voice cut through the pressure-filled silence. The gigantic predator stopped growling, and walked around behind the shimmering air, which hastily moved up onto his back, while a few limbs of the creature's riders just briefly came into view. A pure black tentacle, a pale-grey feathered wing with gold-colored tips.

The spiromander's tail lashed, as he began growling at the Jorro'kil again. On his back, three figures appeared, none appearing to be from the same species. The one who was in the very front of the saddle, however, was someone that Krevozs was unlikely to ever forget. She opened her beak slightly, baring her teeth as her wings spread to reveal the brilliant, butterfly-like pattern on their undersides, something that Krevozs had not seen on them, previously. The patterns were new, as were the swirling, organic-looking patterns in her beautifully re-forged armor. Her wings had many places that resembled indifferent eyes, looking coldly at him. In truth, however, they were spread to hide the other two passengers on the mount from view. Krevozs only saw a glimpse of her two companions, which was her intention. It was clear from her gaze that she remembered the Jorro'kil, just as much as he likely remembered her.

They probably were not very fond of each other.

Krevozs did indeed recognize the mounted Krylonian. Her form was more elegant, and her appearance more ornate than it was when he had known her, but she was still unmistakably Ravage. He simply stared at her for a few uncomfortable seconds. He was certain she had no idea of his ulterior motives, as he was now presented with a remarkable opportunity. He glanced at her arm, and noticed it was in a sling. She must have caught his gaze, as she jerked backed slightly to cover her injury.

There was no doubt that she could recognize him. His stature and height were unique to him in this age*, and his voice she would certainly remember. Gently then, he brought up his large claws to take away his malfunctioning helmet. As he unstrapped and demagnetized the latches and brought it away, his glare was not removed from Ravage for a moment.

His beak was a light tan, and his eyes a creamy green. Unusual for a Jorro'kil. The quills of his upper mandible were long, sharp and slender, and it appeared as if his lower mandible had a very small, inconspicuous quill. Perhaps the result of a genetic mutation. The rest of his body was covered in combat wear, matte black and silver.

"I never expected to see you so.. soon. What are you doing here?" He finally asked. Krevozs had, as of yet, given no thought as to why the Forge Hulk had crashed, or what had caused it. Recent events had, to say the least, occupied his time.

How am I not dead?

This was the first thing that came to mind as Braaj helped Ifka pull another pilot out into the bright sunlight.

Great Glutton had come to rest on the outskirts of one of the planet's many dense forests, its giant frame listing to one side. From what Braaj could see the metal-strewn path of destruction had not effected the surrounding foliage much, many plants visibly secreting mucus to put out their own burning branches.

While violent, Great Glutton's demise had not been proven fatal to some of its occupants. Other Xenoqqi could be seen leaving the stricken Forge Hulk now, some arriving by themselves, others supporting injured comrades. Most quickly made for the clearing where Braaj and Ifka pointed them towards, as the returning sounds of the forest spooked them. There was a brief period of mixed emotions during the reunion as shock, grief and rejoice overtook the small crowd.

"A small number. less than a tenth of our original".

Braaj could hear the sadness in his sister's voice. In times of trouble Ifka's stalwart demeanor and simmering temper had always been almost comforting. Seeing her like this felt wrong, like the galaxy had broken in some way.

As he pointed the dusty and shaken pilot off to the group, he looked back to the Captain. "What-t do we do n-n-now?"

Ifka headed off after the pilot, Braaj in tow. "We take a roster of those that survived and are physically able then we head back in. We locate and retrieve anyone who was injured or trapped and procure as much rations, weaponry and vehicles as possible. After that, we try to survive."

Braaj was silent as he mentally worked over this. Contemplating the time and manpower needed to complete the task before possible nightfall kept him from noticing the smaller Xenoqqi stopping just ahead. He nearly walked into her mid-thought.

Ifka turned back again, staring down at her feet. "And Braaj?"

"Y-yes sister?"

Her stern expression softened as she looked back up. "I'm just glad you're okay".