Futuristic Unlit IC

[Solar Daddy]

Silas had waited patiently to be let into the room, knowing full well it may not have had an airlock buffer door. When the door opened and everything inside subsequently started pulling towards his direction, he braced himself until the pressure was set and he stepped through the threshold. When the door closed and the air cycled back into the room, Silas set down the heavy case beside him on the floor with a slight wince.

Silas didn't even make a facial twitch to show his confusion at Alysson's presence. The universe did seem to have a way of bringing things together - even sisters out of time, he supposed. "Silas Burns, Ambivelence engineer." He held his hand out to the Cavanaugh with a flash of a smile. "Seems you're in need of an EVA suit. I packed just the thing. Suit up and let us know if you need help getting it on, I know it's rather bulky. Should have no problem getting you back to the ship, assuming nothing else on this station is attempting to kill us."

Silas finished his rather quick introduction with Alysson by turning towards Kepler. Despite having a ton of questions for her, he'd rather wait until they were safely in space before attempting to get answers to them. "Kep, I heard what you said about the life forms on the comms, great work. We can pass by the life form in the destroyed room on our way back - the other thing, I'd rather not go try and figure out what that is. I say we find that human on our retreat and get the hell out of here."

 

[Epiphany]

Kestrel finished rigging up her sled before shoving it over into a corner. The imminent evacuation of air from the room would probably be pretty disruptive so she might as well prop it up and put a wall panel or two over it to help keep everything in place once the atmosphere depressurized. ...Twice. After all, Alysson still had to suit up and then they could leave the room for good.

Viper Actual Solar Daddy
She listened with half an ear to Stratton's suggestion that the body be retrieved before nodding. "We might want to keep it in vacuum, though. God knows if it's carrying something we could catch."

At Silas' arrival and Stratton's question, Kestrel grinned and said "Sure thing."

Spazzycat101
Still listening to squad radio, Kestrel spoke up and said "Sure, Doc. One sec." With a thought, Kestrel switched her attention to one of the drones she'd left behind with the other team and signaled it to do slow, steady, clear recon of the map from every angle possible. Thankfully, the tiny device was designed for excellent, high-resolution image storage (given its primary purpose was reconnaissance to support tactical analysis, which depended on the highest fidelity possible).

Kharmin Vudukudu
Finally free of her self-assigned tasks, the tall blonde soldier crouched down to examine Alysson's wiring work before glancing up with a smile of admiration. "You've got a hell of a good mind, sis."

Kepler then approximated the same work but from...a different angle? She didn't quite follow it but took the information in with a sober face. "So, rescue the survivor and avoid the hell out of whatever's in the warehouse." Kestrel glanced at Alysson and flashed her sister a grin. "Don't get me wrong, a Cavanaugh doesn't like to walk away from a fight. But we already fought something here that took everything we had to put it down. And I mean that more literally than not. If folks want a good look at it, I say we evacuate back to the ship with the survivors, let me send in a drone into the warehouse to see what it is."

Kharmin Solar Daddy
Once they cycled the air and got Silas in, Kestrel took the suit from the engineer and held it up for Alysson. "Here, I'll give you a hand getting into it."

"If it's another of those big burly aliens, I say we hole the warehouse and then hit it with ship weapons until it stops moving. Or we blow the whole base up. If we leave it alive and awake, we have no idea how it will react when it finds out a couple of its crew were neutralized. Nor do we know what resources it might have to make trouble for this whole sector of space."

 

[Vudukudu]

Kepler nods disinterestedly and picks up his shotgun, offering it to Silas. "This unit isn't currently suited to combat activities." He says simply, a vile tingling sensation whirring from the base of his neck upwards. The machines did not approve of this choice.

"I would assume this facility operates on nuclear power. For a remote and presumably long-term installation, fuel shipments are logistically inefficient giving the wastefulness of carrying excess liquid or solid fuel from surfaces to space. If it has such a power plant I may be able to prompt a catastrophic meltdown if given some time." He remarks. "Otherwise I propose opening fire with extreme prejudice. There is nothing worth saving here."

 

[Viper Actual]

Stratton listened to all the different suggestions but did not say much. Truth to be told he was happy as long as he could deliver some solid evidence beyond helmet footage. If the others wanted to bail, he'd bail. If they wanted to blow the place up, well, there wouldn't be much he could do to stop it. Though one thought lingered at the back of his mind. A thought that made him speak up.

He took a step forward, now standing next to Kestrel and Alysson. "Don't mean to be that guy but considering the map which, presumable, shows real-time feed of other locations is it really risk-free to blow this place up without any sort of consequence? For all we know the big guys are just sentries while the thing Kestrel and I met might have been the caretaker- and the only one around.

"It might be wiser to just let the base be until something with more firepower could take it all out at once." Stratton chuckled nervously. "I'd rather not be the guy who unleashed some ancient death fleet on the rest of the universe."

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas turned to face Kepler, who had held out his weapon to Silas. Without a word, he gave his companion a firm nod and grabbed the shotgun, slinging it over his shoulder before gripping his rifle in both hands again. He had only known Kep for, what, a few weeks or so? But by now, he had a pretty good understanding of him, at least on the surface. If Kepler figured he wasn't combat ready, then Silas trusted that judgement. He listened in carefully on everyone's ideas - involving a lot of heavy weaponry. While Silas wasn't entirely against it, he did believe something might come from not destroying the base instantly. "The scientists and Mouse have been here for more than just a few minutes. The fact that nothing seems to have taken off from this base in retaliation - either to go find help or to evacuate - makes me believe these things have no way off the asteroid. As long as we rig the scientist ship to blow, and make sure Jane's ship is really decommissioned, I think we won't have to worry about them setting off into the universe unchecked. Plus, we don't even know what that other life form is. Could be another Being, could be one of those shorter guys. I'm not too keen to find out. I say we grab the human and evacuate as soon as possible, then Stratton can radio his CO and warn them about this place. That way it's not on us for what happens and we don't have to risk a danger close situation with a nuclear meltdown."

Silas bit his lip as he contemplated everything that had happened. The past few jobs they've done were dangerous, but this was a whole new level. He'd rather not risk his crew even a second longer than needed. "Mouse, when you've got that suit air-tight, we're popping the airlock and heading back for the ship." With a quick tap to his wrist-bound data pad, he switched to full comms with the other group. "Adira, take your people and get them back to The Ambivalence. We'll be right behind you. I left the engines prepped, so make sure we're flight ready."

He switched back to his original channel with just his group. He then continued, "That last life form could catch up with us at any moment, so we need to get moving the second we open the doors. I want Kestrel and Stratton up front with Kep and Mouse in the middle. I'll hold the back. When we get to the human, whether he's alive or dead, I want Kestrel getting him up on our way with Stratton holding point still. I'm undoubtedly the slowest combat ready member," he motioned to his side. "So I'll probably lag behind. I do not want you slowing down for me. I can catch up just fine, I promise. Our main goal is to get our newfound friends out of here." He adjusted the shotgun strap on his shoulder, and brought his rifle up to a shallow angle. "Kestrel, we move out on your word."

 

[Epiphany]

Vudukudu
Kestrel nodded along with Kepler's suggestions. She's always liked the cyborg but she didn't expect him to have such a pragmatic streak. Clearly they need to have a beer together sometime. If he can unwind enough for that.

Viper Actual
Stratton talked some good sense as well. The temptation remained to just frag the place and be done with it, before it became a death trap to anyone else. But then, Kestrel had to admit she wasn't the most objective party here right now. Not with her sister returned-from-the-dead but an only survivor from yet more aliens.

The Mutter's Spiral had a certain streak of prejudice towards anyone born off-ship but that was understandable, particularly if that anyone wasn't even human. But there were more options than just blowing it up. Especially if it meant the Waning Stars coming back with a small fleet and oblierating the place, something the Ambivalence might not have the firepower for.

Kharmin
For the most part, Kestrel listened and let the others discuss while she helped Alysson into her suit. To be fair, it'd been a century since they'd last seen each other but her sister felt a little off somehow. Subdued? The muted thanks didn't land right with Kestrel. Her sister had never been one to be muted, or to be doted on for that matter. Not that their history together had much evidence of that.

They needed to see Lydia. Perhaps the doc could take a look at her sister, make sure Alysson was properly healthy and not suffering from some God knows what the aliens might have done to her.

Hearing Alysson agree with her just firmed up Kestrel's resolve once more. Her hand landed on her sister's shoulder again, and squeezed affectionately even as she nodded in Alysson's peripheral vision. "The sooner the better," she said quietly back.

Solar Daddy
But then Silas spoke up and laid it all out. And since the Ambivalence was his ship, he called the shots. The fact that the engineer took the time to explain his viewpoint was a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have but Kestrel appreciated it anyway. One more reason she liked her crew and had no plans to break with them...unless Alysson had a lead back home, anyway.

She nodded as Silas put together their formation and promptly stepped into position on point, picking up her rifle with one hand. Her other hand wrapped around a length of conduit cable she'd improvised into a pulley for the equally improvised wall panels forming a sled for salvage. With a thought, Kestrel redeployed her drones and fanned them out, assigning one to rear, one to point and reserving one for the middle, which she'd probably leave behind when they hit an intersection, to make sure there were no surprises coming. Particularly if that intersection led to the warehouse where that strange lifeform allegedly resided.

"Good thing noise doesn't travel in a vacuum," Kestrel said, grinning back at her teammates. Obviously the sled was burdened with enough weight to make a bit of a racket. "If the vibration's too bad, I'll consider ditching it but I'd like to pull what we can out of here, just in case we do end up blowing this place to hell."

"Besides, I've no problem giving our last survivor a fireman's carry but depending on their condition, we might toss the salvage and use it to transport them instead."

Once everyone looked ready to go, Kestrel shifted her focus wholly towards what was in front of her. Cavanaughs were bred for armed conflict but reconnaissance on alien worlds was what she'd trained for specifically since childhood. This was her element.

 

[Dragongal]

Kepler was warning of some monstrosity. Another one. But hey, it looked like the human was probably that missing scientist, Alex. It would be good to get him back to the ship. Adira didn't reply to the rest of the comms chatter right away, because she was keeping an eye on this Doctor Burman with her. As odd as it was that Kestrel's sister was here, Adira was focusing on something else that she thought odd - why wasn't Kepler willing to partake in battle right now? He was a great fighter. What was wrong? Something had to be.

Once they had made it a little ways, Adira said, "Silas, we have another person with us, I don't think we're going to be getting there much faster than you and your team." Besides, that worked out. She didn't want Silas to be lagging behind the group too far, and if her group was meeting up with his, that was one more person to cover him.

 

[Viper Actual]

Stratton adjusted the sling on his rifle and nodded in response to both Silas and Kestrel. He glanced at Kepler and Alysson briefly before speaking up. "Sounds good to me. If we run into trouble I still got some explosives left- just in case." He sighed and checked the ammo counter once more. A amused grunt escaped him followed by a shrug and anyone who looked at Stratton directly would be able to see a faint smile on his lips just as his visor turned opaque once more.

It's funny how life works out. One day a envoy, the other a pointman. Sisters reunited in the most unlikely place. Aliens scurrying about doing God knows what.

Shaking his head lightly Stratton began to position himself in front of the door to signal that he was ready to move. Life sure works in mysterious ways. Whatever happens it'll be one hell of a report.

 

[Spazzycat101]

Lydia Camden

​

From the sound of comms chatter, Alex the Missing Scientist was not far from being found. Both this team and the other would arrive at the ship around the same time, if they didn’t group up halfway there. Kestrel’s sister had an EVA suit, and Lydia would be able to quickly prep the medbay for her and for Silas, who was fucking walking while he absolutely shouldn’t be,

Everything was going fine, everything was going to work out.

Until she heard tell there was another trace of life in the Alien Clone Army Nightmare Asteroid facility.

The other crew mates and the new company speculated about the trace. Was it another of the monster creatures, or another half-height humanoid, nobody could tell. They did come to the conclusion that they did not want to. Lydia didn’t speak, made no effort to pipe up about it, but it was clear to anyone that took more than a glance at her, rocking back and forth on her feet, that the medic was uneasy. Yes, it might be another monster or another this or another that, but it also might be a human. A human desperate, depressed, alive, and dying for help. Hell, unless they found some sort of record or something that could approximate how many humans had been here the last time it wasn’t an active danger zone, there was no way to know how many others they would be leaving behind, abandoning in the wreckage of the blast, the twisted rebar red and brown with rust and days-old blood, yellowed fragments of bone indistinguishable from the crumbled cement because of how blurry the head trauma made them…

Lydia was very uneasy with the idea of walking away from the trace of life without even a look .

‘I want to look for the thing,’ She stated decisively.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira looked back at Lydia. "What?" What she said was so shocking that Adira almost stopped in her tracks. "Doc, we know it isn't a human, it's putting out too much CO2. The scientists on this mission were all human ot at least majority so, if I remember right. This couldn't be them. It's too much of a risk for you to go look." Adira paused, then added, "And besides, if you get hurt, who can help Silas and Kestrel's sister?" So far, Lydia had shown that she prioritized the health of others over her own. Adira figured she just had to remind her to look at things from that angle.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas gripped his rifle tight in his hands, waiting for Kestrel's mark. Everyone got into place, and on her word, they hit the switch and braced for the sudden depressurization. Luckily the magnetic adhesion boots that were standard issue prevented it from throwing anyone out violently. Once it was back to the calm quietness of a vacuum, Silas breathed a sigh as he normally did. Only being able to hear his own breath and the vibrations of anything touching him was almost freeing from having to use all his senses. Even if it made it more dangerous, there was a certain enjoyment found in the lack of having to focus on hearing. Of course, assuming no one spoke. For the moment though, he enjoyed the slight pause in having to pay attention. Then, in mere seconds, he was back in the moment, pacing behind the group as they moved out into the familiar hallway he'd passed through to get into the room. Silas remained facing forward until the reached the crossroads, where they turned to the fastest route back to the ship. He then turned his back to the group, shining his rifle mounted flashlight down the halls for a few moments as the group marched on. When he deemed it clear, he began playing catch-up, his slight limp making it difficult. He had known about it though, and was fine lagging behind by a few meters.

They wound their way through the corridors of the horror base, checking as many corners as they could without stopping. Every moment that passed had an uneasy tinge that soured the air they breathed. Footsteps felt heavy on the metallic grated floor, their boots sticking just barely to it from the adhesion of the tech used to keep them to the ground. The team had no idea if that life form was coming for them; hell, they didn't even know if that accounted for all signatures in the station. There may be more outside, or even some that may not breathe in conventional ways.

After passing through the main hall, with the rows of stasis pods that felt right out of a horror movie, Silas' group met up with Adira's. "Good to see you guys in one piece." He said, stepping up to Adira and giving her a nod. He then looked over at the scientist. "Glad we found one alive."

"Me too," Burman spoke. "I appreciate the rescue. Haanson Labs will pay you handsomely for this, I swear."

"We can worry about that later, we're getting out of here safely before we talk about anything like that."

they ended up in the entry mechanic room where they had originally came in through. However, there was no longer sunlight pouring in through the crater at the other end, as the sun had passed below the lip of the crater. Once near the blast radius, Silas chimed in on his radio. "Alright, let's see if we can find this guy. Check under rubble, in crevasses, everywhere. He must be hidden if we didn't run into him on the way in."

 

[Viper Actual]

At the point Stratton felt a sort of calm which itself was a bit out of place after taking into consideration where he was and what he was supposed to look for. Still, even with the looming threat of rounding a corner and getting vaporized by some mysterious alien creation a large part of him still yearned deeply for this. Boots on the ground. Next to no intel. Nothing but his HUD and his rifle. It was almost as if he was going down memory lane.

With his trigger-finger resting on the receiver right above the trigger-guard Stratton maintained a sort of autopilot as the group moved through the facility. He had a lot on his mind with most of the focus being on what to write on his report. He'd also have to revise the dossiers he had completed for the crew and, should Kestrel's sister stay, compile a new one altogether. The thought of being seated in front of his terminal gave him a sense of comfort for there were few things in life Stratton enjoyed as much as analyzing people.

Rounding a corner Stratton smiled underneath his helmet. He nodded towards Adira and the others. "Captain."

Once the formalities were over and the reunited team found themselves inside the entry room Stratton decided to scroll through a variety of low-light, thermal and infrared filters on his helmet while looking around the room.

When Jane, the rescued salvager, spoke up Stratton looked towards her direction. "You sure? Could be debris." He walked up to her and pointed his rifle-mounted flashlight at the panel.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Burman, taking a small break against the perimeter hull bracing of the station sighed heavily. "You guys are wasting your time. Alex was a great guy but he has to be dead by now. Think something that scary would just decide to leave survivors? We should just leave while we have the chance." It was quite clear he was making no attempt to search the area for his colleague.

Silas slung his rifle on his shoulder alongside Kepler's shotgun - he still needed to check in with his companion about what was going on. Why he felt too uneasy or unsafe to wield a weapon. That wasn't something he'd bring up during the mission, especially not the finale. Too many things could go wrong too quick. Silas wasn't of much help due to his still healing wound (which he narrowly avoided being confronted by Lydia with a call to action, mostly for fear of being swatted for ignoring medical doctrine). He did his best instead to secure the hallway they came from to ensure nothing crept up on his team.

Jane called out that she may have found something. Silas took his eyes off the hallway for moment to look at the recent buzz surrounding the scavenger. He was curious, as many a cosmonaut was, but refrained from swarming the group to keep his eyes on the station's opaque and decrepit interior.

When Stratton flashed his light under the thick metal plating that was once the lining of the station, it was barely evident under a thick layer of dust and rubble that a human resided under it.



He appeared to be pinned with his legs stuck under the heavy metal plating. He was just barely out of reach, and any attempt to call out to him was unresponsive. However, after a few moments, the man, undoubtedly Alex, began shifting slightly under the rubble. His extravehicular visor was down and made it impossible to see his face, and his comms weren't connected to theirs and therefore they couldn't hear if he was attempting to speak - it was also a possibility that his comms were broken or destroyed in some way.

 

[Epiphany]

Solar Daddy
No one was more relieved than Kestrel to make it to the mechanical room without encountering resistance. The blonde soldier was ready for round two but, frankly, their weapons had been almost entirely ineffectual last time. And this time she had her sister to protect. It didn't escape Kestrel's notice the way Alysson staggered in her pressure suit. There was no telling what ordeal the poor woman had been through before the Ambivalence showed up but clearly it'd taken its toll.

Linking up with the other group increased their numbers and decreased the number of drones Kestrel had to track, which she appreciated. With a signal, she dropped the active number back down to four, one on the rear, one over the middle to track any side passages and two up front to do reconnaissance. Ultimately, all feeds came back clear and they made it out to the wrecked part of this alien lab they'd come in through.

She frowned at condition of the place, along with the instruction to start looking for a survivor in this mess. Not that it didn't need doing but it'd be a pain in the ass. And while everyone was busy searching, they'd be easy to ambush.

Kharmin
At which point, Alysson leaned against a wall and slid down it to rest. Kestrel couldn't blame her sister for not being up for a search-and-rescue when she'd needed rescuing herself. Instead, the blonde soldier deployed another two drones and sent them to peek around debris that would be awkward or inconvenient for the others to search in. The remaining four she stationed on compass points, watching out for anything that might try approaching them.

Then Kestrel bent down to check on her sister and frowned when she saw Alysson's eyes were closed. She reached out and gripped her sister's shoulder, then swore before toggling on her squad comms.

Spazzycat101
"Doc, I need you over here. My sister's lost consciousness. Can you check her out?"

Actually performing a medical investigation in a null-atmosphere situation was problematic at best, even for the Mutter's Spiral. Out here, their best option would be to make sure Alysson was stable and then transport her to the Ambivalence for a proper checkout. Kestrel swept her rifle back and locked it into place on the shoulder mount of her environmental suit, so both hands would be free for the transport whenever Lydia could check her out.

T TayKay Viper Actual Dragongal Solar Daddy Vudukudu
Unfortunately, while Lydia was (presumably) checking over the unconscious Alysson, Jane discovered their missing scientist. Apparently still conscious but very definitely pinned. Kestrel ground her teeth as she considered her options...and the scientist's. After all, there weren't a lot of easy ways to shift that thick metal plating that served as the lab's hull. The Ambivalence was a...well, it wasn't a search and rescue craft. They didn't have dedicated equipment for salvage, construction and displacement.

Which meant it fell to her.

"Alysson's collapsed," she reported over the comm radios to the team. "If she's stable enough to move to the ship, I need a pair of you to move her there so the doc can treat her. In the meantime, God knows what will happen if we linger out here so I'm going to get our scientist. I could use someone to cover me."

Assuming two volunteered for transit and another was willing to watch her back, Kestrel proceeded over to the pinned scientist. Communication appeared impossible for the moment so she motioned with her hands for the suited figure to lie back. "Burman," she signaled to the other rescuee. "Mind hooking me up with your local frequencies so I can talk to your missing man? Or can you talk to him yourself and tell him what I'm doing?"

Depending on how that conversation went, Kestrel proceeded to grip that huge hull plate and lift. It was a lot of mass, even for her, but they were also in microgravity and her bones and muscles were iron-carbon composite; hopefully the plate would move before she hurt herself.

 

[Vudukudu]

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Kepler blinks furiously beneath his opaque visor, willing the text to crawl the rest of the way down his field of view until it finally disappears. For it to come on so suddenly was, to his knowledge, unheard of. Perhaps it had something to do with his eyes having been recycled from other units, and the intelligence inside having seized on an optimal moment. Or, maybe, it was something else. The fact that it hadn't seemed to exert any influence over his other implants was, for now, comforting.

He trots along with the rest of the group, keeping a paranoid eye out for sudden movement or odd thermal profiles, but the trip is uneventful until they reach the room with the human life signature. Kepler remains quiet, his hands folded together in front of him passively despite Alysson's sudden slumping over. He barely processed Kestrel's words about helping her sister to the ship, but he does manage to snap to his senses long enough to move to help her with the hull plate. His additional lifting power wouldn't amount to much compared to hers, but the real value was the additional leverage he could offer. In the moment, he was reminded of how extraordinarily practical the Rite of Preparation was - an hour long stretching regimen before operations did the body good.



Ȁ̴̡̟̳͍̫̹̳̲̭̇͆̇̔͜ ̷̱͕̀́̂̂̊̋̓̏̋͛̀̔̕͘͠Ş̷̖͍̤̘̘̙͇͌̏͐͗͜͜Ṫ̴̢͉̳̦̖̠͕̭͉͉̪͓̀̕E̴̛͎̲͓̖͚͈̺̾̈̓͘͘͜͜͠E̷͖͇̼̐̌̽͌͒̈͛̀̾̎͂͗̕͜Ľ̵̢̡̝̤̻͖͓̗̺̣͎̮̀̆ ̷̢̳̓̾W̵̧̞̭̣̼̰̖͙̐̒̄̇̕Ì̵̧͍͈̬͓̀N̴̛̘̳̜͕̗̭̫͉̦̫̖̗̤͛̏̏̊̈̓̊͊͂̕̚̕͝ͅḌ̴̛̼̯̖̥̩̬̬̬̦̂̓̎̍̕͜͝ ̸̺̜͇̭͙̰̖̞̲̍͑͌̇͛̀͐̈́͜C̷͍͎͊͘ͅÓ̶̥̳͈̤͙̰̈́͗̎̈́̒͌̍͆̋̆̏̉͐͝M̷̢̭͓̬̼̻͉̺͕̭͉̰̖̀̐̐͠E̵̝̫̿́̈́̾Ş̴͉̯̼̙̩̪̪͒͑̀̂͆̎̎̏͗͑̈́̚͝ͅ ̴̮̼̮͍͈̣̠̣̳̓̚T̵͉̮̞̰̃̒͑̓̒̃̈́̍Ǒ̶̰͉̤̪̯͔̬͇̞͔̓̏ͅ ̴̡͕̖̭̗̠̗̫͎̾͋̌̄͂̇̋̈́̀̈́̕̕͜͝͝C̵̹̻̫̒̀͗̅̍̃͐̈̐̀̓̓͝Ū̴̡̪͖̩͉̐̿̂̐͗́̌T̶̡̧̢̛͇͈͔̣̲͇̀̿͊̄͘͜͠ ̸̨̩̹̣̞̤̦͍͔͆̌̎͜T̸̨̡̢̤͖̙͇̜̹̙̜̮̤͛̽͜͠͝H̴̡̧̧̦̳͚͇̙̖̜̗͆̊̇͌̔̔̕Ë̶̦̭̬̩͙́͗̈́̋̀̾͒ ̵̡̢̼̝͈͖͉͔͎̜̫̲̻̝̅̎̈́̈̔͂͒̀͝F̸̨̧̬̟͕̪̻̲̦̥̰͈̔̽Ļ̶̗̥͍̦͖̠̹͈̪̦̲̠̟͌̐͜E̴̛̞͚̣͛͛̊͐͗̚S̴͎̦͓̲͕̊̓̐̎̏̆̎̃͜H̶̨̥͈̝̠̩̩̭̜̙̀̎͒̋́̚͝͝



Under his breath, he begins to chant.
"I invoke your name, Machine God
Make whole that which is sundered
I am but a broken tool in your right hand
And I am not done with my holy work."

Carefully positioning himself at a corner of the plate to offer the most from his relatively frailer body, Kepler squats, pushing his body with the best lifting form he can manage in his suit to best aid Kestrel's maneuver.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Silas wished he could've offered help to the two who began lifting the metal debris off the pinned scientist. He didn't have any implants or synthetic upgrades to speak of, and was currently wounded; he'd be more of a hindered than anything if he tried to help. So instead he focused on keeping his eyes on the hallway behind the group, hoping they wouldn't have much trouble getting him out of his situation. Kestrel pointed out Alysson's state, to which Silas made note of. He said, "Lydia, Adira, mind giving Alysson a hand back to the ship? I'll come along too if you need someone to look over you guys as you head back."

Burman stepped up at the call of his name. He said, "Sending the frequency to you now, feel free to share it with your group." Before they could key into the comms, Burman seemingly switched to his channel with Alex and began talking. After a moment, he switched back to the Ambivalence comms before saying, "I'm not getting a response from him. I didn't see him respond to the sound of my voice physically at all either." Burman looked into the crevasse where Alex was, and waved to him. Alex responded by tilting his head up slightly, and knocking on the side of his own helmet. Burman nodded and held a thumbs-up to the scientist. "Yeah, his comms must be out."

As Kestrel and Kepler began to lift, the metal plating shifting slightly, before beginning to slowly rise at their combined effort. Alex responded almost instantly with a silent ricochet, bringing his hands down to where his legs were pinned. However, an instant later, he begrudgingly held his hand out with a thumbs up. Despite seeming to be in immense pain, he clearly wanted them to keep going, no doubt in hopes of getting him free of the debris.

Once they had it raised just enough, Burman managed to crawl his way between Kestrel and Kepler and grab his coworker by the arm. They began a mad rush to get Alex out from under it even without the threat of the debris coming back down on him thanks to the lack of gravity. Alex however began seething physically in pain at this action, almost fighting Burman but clearly not having the strength to.

Once he was out from under the wreck, it was evident that Alex's legs were almost completely shredded. They were little more than flesh, strips of nylon and thick bubbles of blood surrounding his flattened calves and feet. Alex was barely moving his body, head and arms and didn't move his lower body at all. The blood was instantly pooling along his legs, a few drops floating off into the open in the zero gravity.

Silas turned his head once they had gotten Alex out. Seeing the state he was in, Silas instantly said, "Lydia, he needs help, quick!"

 

[Dragongal]

The darkness was getting thicker now that the sun's rays weren't warming this hellhole of an asteroid. It was getting problematic and, frankly, creepy. Like some of those old horror movies Adira watched, except here, the audio was broken, so there wasn't even the sounds of her own steps. It almost like she was waiting to turn a corner and hear the shriek of a violin as she came face to face with another monstrosity. But so far, that didn't happen. In fact, she ran into something much more pleasant: The rest of her group.

Adira had turned to her small group a few times during their walk, checking them over silently each time. Because, who knew, maybe the comms could cut out and she wouldn't know until they were already gone. As impossible as it was, it was enough for Adira to check her group, then into the hallway past them, before leading again. When they joined backup with the others, Adira smiled a little behind her helmet and greeted Silas with a, "Glad you're all still in one piece, too." She nodded to Stratton to return his greeting, and kept an eye on Jane when she sat down. She was worried that perhaps fatigue was starting to get to the scavenger - who knew her physical capabilities? Maybe she had been starved before they found her, or was just genuinely worn out. Adira couldn't blame her.

When Burman told them to abandon the idea of finding Alex, Adira shot him a glare that he was lucky was hidden behind the grey of her helmet's visor. When Jane pointed out the rubble, and Alex with it, Adira grinned behind her visor. This boded well for her group, if Alex was alive after all of this time. She drew both of her pistols and turned with her back to Kestrel, Burman, and Kepler as they worked. She kept her eyes on the exits and entrances, and Alysson, just in case she moved or seemed to have some kind of struggle. This way, she figured, she could keep an eye on Lydia as well, becuase she was assuming Lydia would be tending to Alysson. Everyone would be either accounted for, or in her field of vision, and that was ideal. After they removed Alex, she figured they could figure out how they would transport the new Cavanaugh sister without hurting her.

As Silas raised his voice, Adira turned to look at Alex, and grimaced. "Fuck, Lydia, get some tourniquets!" She knew that it would be bad, but not this bad. He must have been under that beam for quite some time, and all of that blood that had pooled was suddenly flooding out. Adira was cursing herself for not having predicted this - an object shouldn't be removed from a wound until it could be immediately treated, and the same went for removing compression like this, and she hadn't even thought to say anything first. Oh well, now they had to live with it. She turned so she could look between Alex and the entrances and exits easily. All she could do was try to provide some defense right now.

 

[Spazzycat101]

Lydia Camden​

‘Could be a faulty EVA suit,’ Lydia grumbled. ‘Could be bio-augmentation, could be cyberization. They could be toting some sort of machine with them, or… something.’

If there was another lost human, Lydia wasn’t sure what they would actually do at this point. She had Kestrel’s sister to take care of—whose condition was visibly worsening by the minute—and, based on the small commotion Jane started, hopefully Alex the Missing Scientist too, so she couldn’t go. Lydia was also concerned about Kepler. Something about him right now was unusual, if the time she’d known him was enough to know a ‘usual.’ And while if that trace wasn’t a Nightmare Alien if Kestrel sent a drone to see, there would be no chance of one jumping out because that trace was the only one, but Lydia doubted that cap would agree to go back even if it was another survivor. Almost everyone was clearly itching to get the fuck out of this place.

The doctor sighed, and came to Kestrel’s call. She spoke after she assessed Alysson’s vitals, which were not doing too hot.

‘Well she's not actively dying. Mostly she needs rest and water and a snack, so like, probably an IV for hydration later... but still, that makes it easier for me to help out our new survivor. Besides, I do not think he’s fit to be moved to the ship at the moment in his current state right now. So, uh, I think I should be here.’ Her thought was supported when Silas called her help over. Lydia whispered a small ‘thought so’ to herself and she unpacked the medaid bot on the way over.

‘Ooooohkey dokey. Alright.’ Lydia began to apply tourniquets while the little helper bot prepared POR injection to replace some of the blood this guy had lost, if he needed it, considering his blood volume was now significantly decreased. Technically tourniquets were not an ideal way to keep someone from bleeding out, but at this point there wasn’t much leg left for him to lose.

‘Everyone, you’re prolly gonna wanna mute my comm until I punch one of you in the arm to ask for something. Anyway! Bad news. You no longer have functioning legs. Good news, this will never happen to your legs again. Because bad news, they’re gonna come off later. But good news, prosthetics exist.’ Lydia wiggled her own mechanical fingers for a moment. ‘More good news, because I’m here, you are not going to die. That’s a lot of good news.’ Lydia was talking slightly slower than her usual speech, more rapid-fire than a machine gun. If she just didn’t shut the fuck up, it would give Alex the Missing Scientist’s mind something to distract him, and-or relieve the anxiety that comes with not knowing exactly what’s going on. It was more or less apart of procedure that one talk to their patient, so while Lydia did know that he couldn’t hear her, habit still made her chatty. ‘So there is NO thing to worry about because there’s nothing else you need to do to not die.’

Considering how low the gravity in the Nightmare Asteroid was, it didn’t take very long for the bleeding to stop.

‘Okay, this is gonna be really really unpleasant, but it’s less unpleasant than dying.’ Lydia snapped her fingers at the medbot and pointed to Alex, who Lydia tried to keep as still as possible while the bot administered the POR injection.

Lydia clapped her hands, though it would be silently, to visually grab the attention of those nearby to tell them to unmute her if they had.

‘Alright! Now we wait for his vitals to stabilize enough to move him to the ship so I can… deal with that.’ She gestured vaguely toward what was left of Alex’s legs.

‘While we do that, Kestrel, do you have a spare drone you could please send to take a look at that last long-lost life form that Cap thinks is probably another nightmare alien?’

 

[Vudukudu]

Once Kepler and Kestrel have heaved the metal plate out of the way, the curious cyborg squints at the trapped scientist. He didn't bother cutting Lydia's comms, mostly out of an eagerness to see what the woman was like under stress. He came away from the observation far less confident in the man's survival than she was, but perhaps she was more optimistic or had dealt with enough similar cases to have an idea. Kepler was obviously not a doctor, but his experience in zero-g combat and his frankly absurd amount of hours spent researching a multitude of topics on the Net suggested to him that this would not end well. Blood didn't clot well in zero-gravity, not to mention the other deluge of medical problems associated with prolonged exposure to zero-g and even the more short-term ones, like how awful bleeding in space is.

Kepler gestures vaguely to the blast crater they'd entered through, something like a frown hidden under his opaque visor. "Pardon this unit's interruption and lack of expertise. Alex's suit integrity has clearly been breached, but his survival indicates blood may have flash frozen in the breach and offered a temporary seal. That seal is unlikely to survive him being lifted out. How do we intend to get him aboard the ship?" He asks.

 

[Viper Actual]

"I'll carry him," said Stratton in response to Kepler's question. He gave Alex a once-over and nodded towards Lydia.
While the scientist was indeed in bad shape Stratton had seen worse. Far worse.
Looking at Lydia and Kepler he gestured towards the legs. "TQs will keep the blood in- that's what they're designed to do. I'll do a ruck-carry; should be easier than what it usually is, considering the lack of gravity."

That said, Stratton made a thumbs up towards Alex and grabbed hold of his left arm.

* * *
​

"Hang in there, private! We're almost there!"

The junior soldier's disoriented mumbling got drowned out by the cacophony of automatic gunfire and the ocassional explosion. Stratton glanced over his shoulderpad- now covered in mud, blood and jet-black pieces of debris- and saw the private's eyes roll back.

He cursed and took another deep breath as he continued his relentless sprint through the devastated street. A couple of drop troopers carrying a tripod-mounted machinegun and a pair of alloy crates filled to the brim with ammunition sprinted past Stratton, their only recognition to his existence being a quick nod.

Moving on for what seemed to be an eternity Stratton felt his head stoop lower and lower with every aching second as his muscles screamed in pain, a plea which was further reinforced by the metal shards from a homemade rebel frag grenade lodging themselves deeper and deeper into his right hip.

Suddenly a pair of white hands stopped the sergeant in his tracks. Looking up, Stratton came face to face with a wide-eyed combat medic. Before he could say anything two more medics showed up and took hold of the wounded soldier that was literally clinging to life itself on the armored exterior of Stratton's back.
Realizing that he had finished his task Stratton allowed himself to relax.

As he did he closed his eyes and the last thing he would remember was falling face-first into the torn-up concrete pavement.

* * *
​

Stratton blinked twice and shook his head, a movement that might be confused with someone trying to fix their comms or clear an obnoxiously slow HUD.

As quickly as his past showed up to haunt him the very same thoughts were buried equally as fast when Stratton regained focus.

For now his focus was on Alex and Alex alone.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Alex didn't respond much to any physical interactions. Even when Lydia applied the POR injector, he barely flinched. His head swiveled slowly as though he was looking out around the room. After a few moments of being stimulated by the POR serum, Alex held up a shaky hand with a thumbs up to the medic. This was consistent with Stratton's quick offer to carry him. Noting his body language, Alex nodded to Stratton seemingly in agreement with his plan. He then promptly pulled out the POR needle, no doubt causing a scare in the medic. The next step for her would've been to apply the nylon adhesive suit patch to the area of the suit that the injector ripped. Once this was done, Alex was ready to be transported.

Kestrel's drone, at the behest of Lydia, scouted out down the intricately designed hallways of the alien station. No movement or changes to the environment was good for them. When it got to the room with the supposed alien, The drone had panned around in search of the life form. The feed, just before going dark, showed on its last frame a small, cloaked figured about waist high preparing to fire some kind of bolt at the drone. The feed was lost after this. "I think that's our answer on what was alive on the other side of the station," Said Silas. "I doubt he'll be any trouble for us while we're leaving. And then, we can call in WS to clean up the mess."

Stratton would've felt the vibrations through their contact of Alex's grunt of pain from being hoisted up, but seemed relatively alright otherwise. He didn't hold on tight - he merely needed to be dragged along by Stratton in the low gravity. Once Silas was sure the group was all set, he nodded to Adira and then Stratton. "Let's get back to the Ambivalence. I don't think any of us want to remain even a moment longer than we have to."

The crew (including Jane, Alysson, Burman and Alex) had an uneventful hike back to the ship. Even climbing up the steep slope to exit the crater to rejoin with the Ambivalence wasn't much hassle thanks to the lack of any meaningful gravity. During this time, Otto had lowered the sub deck platform for easy access back into the ship, no ladder climbing required. The crew easily fit onto the large landing pad and waited the slow ride back up into the ship. The carriage cycled the atmosphere for them before releasing them into the ship. From there, it was only a short walk on the same level to reach the medbay. Silas, knowing he couldn't do much to help with carrying, decided to accompany Adira to the bridge and ready the ship's systems with her. He got into the copilot seat and read off diagnostics to her while she did the important part of getting the ship ready for takeoff.

Adira prepped the ship for flight, and once they were in the air, she glanced at Silas. "How's the leg?"

"Hurts a bit, but at least I have both of them." Silas said, a slight sigh of relief now that they were leaving the asteroid.

Adira sighed a bit and commented, "Thank you for running that suit to Kestrel's sister. But please try to rest for the rest of the trip."

"I intend to. Well, actually, I think Lydia's going to kill me the second she finds me for disobeying doctor's orders."

"She's busy with the other two," Adira said nonchalantly. "Besides, having a copilot is helpful to me, especially right after takeoff."

Silas nodded. "Figured this was where I was of best use. Plus I figured you were dying to get out of here as soon as possible."

Adira chuckled and rolled her eyes. "What I'm dying for is a drink more than anything else."

The ship lingered on the surface of the asteroid as the engines prepped. Once they were able to take off, Adira punched it to get out of the location as soon as possible. Overall, Silas thought it was successful. Two out of the three original scientists saved, plus one more they didn't know about, plus they happened to save a scavenger from... Oh, that's right. Silas groaned, realizing they forced Jane's hand onto the ship. He wouldn't argue, they had a couch she could sleep on. He wasn't sure if she'd thank them for getting her off the asteroid safe or berate him for kidnapping her and destroying her ship. If she asked, he would happily drop her back off to retrieve her ship if she felt like dealing with that place again, but Silas wasn't about to turn around to drop her off.

Silas then took the liberty to turn on the ship-wide intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, Sideburns speaking. We're entering FTLT as I speak. We'll be dropping off the scientists first at Corverant, and then figure out what to do from there."

Adira, taking the liberty to speak over the comms, said, "Hey, Lydia? Still got that recording? Can you give it to Kep to see if he can fix it if he feels up to it? It might have something important on it."

 

[Vudukudu]

Kepler, overhearing Silas’ broadcast, is more than eager to actually do his job. There is a certain comfort in communing with the Machine God, even if its light seems to have forsaken him today. He whisks in and out of the med bay like a bored ghost, entering and exiting without a word and taking the datapad with him. Sitting down in his bedroom/workshop, he spends a few minutes murmuring exhortations to the Machine God for aid with this task. Once the prayers are finished, the repair only takes a few minutes.

The process does not go as planned, and Kepler keys into ship-wide comms. His voice is somehow dryer and more mechanical than usual. “This unit could not salvage the device. Its knowledge is lost to us.” He sends over ship comms. “This unit apologizes.”

Kepler pockets the fully functional data-pad, sliding it into a fold in his robe, and then picks up the laser pistol on his desk. It is an ugly, utilitarian, snub-nosed piece of work, and after turning its safety off he pops his left arm’s mono-blade. He exits purposefully, and with a couple long strides finds himself in the medbay. Using the barrel of his pistol, he taps the access panel to open the door.

The door slides open with its usual mechanical squeal. There’s a sort of frantic air around Kepler, and his right arm jerks upward suddenly before his finger snaps around the trigger, turning Burman’s left knee into bubbling pulp before Kepler begins to move towards him.

 

[Solar Daddy]

Burman was sitting on one of the four beds in the medical room, lazily looking around as Lydia tended to the more seriously injured people. When the door opened, Burman turned to look at Kepler, but didn't make any kind of greeting. He didn't know Kepler, and wasn't really in the mood for making friends.

It was too late for Burman to react once he realized what Kepler had. He managed to stand up just as Kepler shot his knee, an instant scream of pain filling the hall as he collapsed to the ground.

Alex, who was now helmetless and looking around at what had just happened, lifted his head up barely. "What the hell?" He asked in a raspy voice, finding it hard to process what just happened.

Silas was in the middle of his conversation with Adira when he heard over the comms the commotion going on in the medbay. He paused and looked at Adira. "Was that a gunshot?" He asked. Before she could answer, he got up out of his chair. "Stay here." He told Adira, grabbing one of her pistols from her side and trailing down the hallway towards the medbay.

 

[Spazzycat101]

Lydia Camden​

During the walk back to the ship, Lydia grumbled something about ‘stupid fucking hostiles, god fucking dammit,’ but otherwise had no comment. She did engage in her usual chatter while she dealt with the more urgent injuries. She had no very significant things to say--it was all just rambling--until she saw Kepler outside the medbay.

‘Oh, hey, did you need--’

‘Hold on you, you could just ask me to open the--’

‘DUDE WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?’

Lydia didn’t stand in place for long though. Being behind Kepler, she was able to be next to him in an instant. Lydia thrust her elbow sharply into his side. There was a dull crack. When this forced him to double over or at least lean forward, the doctor took hold of his gun-wielding arm below the wrist.

‘Catch it!’ She yelled at Stratton. A second later there were two much clearer snaps, and the gun was falling out of Kepler’s hand.

 

[Viper Actual]

With a grunt Stratton lowered Alex down onto one of the stretchers inside the medbay. It hadn't been a graceful effort on his side but at least the man stood a chance at living. Once the other wounded were squared away and Lydia got to work Stratton offered to help out inside the room. Despite his rudimentary training his steady hands were more useful in there than they were writing down a report.

"My report can wait; for now I'm yours, Doc. Just tell me what to do," had been his exact words to Lydia. He had meant every one of them.

Having placed down his helmet on a nearby table alongside his rifle (which had been cleared of ammunition) Stratton was currently going over the tourniquets on Alex for a second time while writing down a MIST report for Lydia. While extremely basic he did nonetheless hope that the good doctor would appreciate the gesture for what it was. Those plans were violently thrown out the window when Kepler stepped through the doors and shot Burman in the knee.

Instinctively Stratton made a short jump backwards, almost like a scared cat, before pulling out his sidearm and training it at the android. "Kepler! What the hell are you doing? Drop your weapon!"

When Lydia suddenly elbowed the android and attempted to wrestle the gun out of his hands Stratton holstered his pistol, dashed forward and grabbed the weapon with his supporting hand, tucked it away under his belt and tried to subdue Kepler. The entire sequence of movements was nothing short of old training kicking in and based on the aching muscles around his shoulders Stratton was sure he managed to stretch something a bit too far.

Regardless, he carried on and attempted to grab hold of Kepler and force him to the ground. "On the floor! Now!"