Breakdown

[MrSandman]

"...And it's with all that in mind that I recommend the use of the Dorian Gun on the planet of Lestchester. As it is known to the galactic council, Lestchester has become a danger to every other planet in the galaxy, being a cesspool filled with thieves and rotten scum using it as their 'headquarters'. This must not go on. Every planet around it is already being ransacked by those savages. I suggest that the Dorian Gun should be used immediately", Delegate Uriel said.

That day, the galactic council was full, every single one of the delegates there to discuss the "Lestchester situation". It was almost an unanimous decision. Almost. Delegate Cardigan didn't agreed with any of that nonsense. He was well aware of the possible effects of the Dorian Gun. Getting up, he raised his voice and asked for silence.

"May I remind this council what happened the first time the Dorian Gun was used? Because it surely seems like you all have forgotten about it. The last time it was used New Earth, destroying half the planet and cracking the core of it. That was okay with you gentlemen, right? You gave a 48 hour warning so that some people could save themselves by surrendering to justice, and the ones that died didn't matter, for they were scum. But afterwards, y'all know what happened. The whole quadrant 48 was breaking down, as a crack in reality was happening. We saw creatures possibly from other dimensions, things we've never seen before, crazy things. The Dorian Gun shouldn't be used again, we could be jeopardizing the whole universe".

"Bullshit! These are only rumors!", Uriel said, while frowning at Cardigan. "All that we have to support these claims are the stories of a bunch of drunks who couldn't even see where they were stepping!"

"I was there!", Cardigan replied.

"I know, I was talking about you too! Everyone on this council knows about your love for the booze!"

"Don't you dare talk about my habits!"

"Order! Order!", yelled the session master. "Let's get this done already! Those who we agree that we should fire the Dorian Gun at Lestchester, raise thy hands!". Except for Cardigan, every single one of the delegates raised their hands. "Who agrees that we should shoot without giving them a warning, raise thy hands!". 'This is insanity!', 'what?! no wait!', were some of the things being said at the moment, but they came from a minority. Most of the council raised their hands once more.

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"All right, whatcha got there?"

"How 'bout an ace, you wanna an ace?"

"Hmm... 'kay, it'll do".

Jack and his brother Phil were playing cards at Junk Boat, one of the best bars in the underground city of Olimpia. There wasn't much to do there except for the smuggling, but it was a good place to live considering the circumstances of the planet. It was a quite peaceful day there, not a single bar fight so far. Over the planet, the Dorian Gun was finally charged and pointed at the surface of Lestchester. A blue light covered the skies before the ray went down, the destruction it was causing slowly increasing while the ground shook all around the planet. Jack and Phil fell down. The ray hit a few hundred miles at north, but they could hear the destruction very well.

"Fuck! What's happening?!", Jack shouted.

"I don't know, but we ain't stayin'round here to find out!", Phil said, pulling the brother by the arm and running away from the bar. The underground was cracking up, the streets falling to pieces and down an even bigger hole on the earth. The brothers had to jump across many holes that suddenly appeared on the ground while they made their run. "Where do we go?", Jack asked, scared by the situation.

Phil tried to catch his breath while running to answer his brother. "South, towards the mines! They're sturdy as shit, nothing can bring them down! Weird as it may be, it's the safest place underground during an earthquake!". Sunlight was starting to leak through holes in the underground ceiling. The surface of the planet was breaking over the underground inhabitants. A hole opened in the ground, swallowing Phil. Jack kept on running, looking back to see that the figure of his older brother had disappeared. "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!".

Jack jumped inside the large round hole on the city's wall, the one that indicated the entrance to the mines. The ground was still shaking, but there it wasn't breaking. He felt a little bit safer, but quickly remembered why not many people went inside the mines. They were full of beasts and mutated sick miners. Luckily he had his pistol and his bow, and with a bit more luck, he would find more people in there. There were other entrances to the mines around the city.

Jack could only hope that he would bump into someone else who was escaping the city.

Jack Tanner
Age: 28​

 

[Anglkate]

Arabella rolled over, her hair a mess per usual, as the covers slipped over her slender frame, a content smile on her lips as she looked toward Scott. He reflected the grin as he rest his head back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling of their room. They were staying in an inn on Lestchester after finishing a delivery to a client in the Black Lagoons of Astoria, a water planet in quadrant 17. "Well, that was fun, but I don't know if I got the full extent of it. Maybe we should do it again?" Scott said jokingly as he felt the bed shift and Arabella slipped from the covers. His eyes couldn't help but turn to stare at the back of her naked figure, silhouetted by the light from the window. God he was a lucky man.

Arabella began to slip back into her clothing as she brushed her red hair from her face and looked over her shoulder at her partner, "You just never give up" she smirked as she bent forward and picked up his clothing from the floor, tossing it at him for his comment with a chuckle. "Come on, it's time to wake up lazy head. The crew is going to wonder where we went off to"

"Oh I'm sure they know where we are. They know better than to interrupt us" Scott replied with a smirk, a pillow soon after flying in his face. As he recovered from laughing, Arabella stood once more fully dressed, pulling her messy red hair back into a pony out of her face. Scott followed her example and finally got out of bed as he pulled on his clothing, "Oh come on, live a little. We just finished a successful delivery and deserve a little R&R, the crew can take care of themselves and mostly stay out of trouble" He said coming behind her and wrapping his arms around her as he nuzzled her neck. Arabella tried to push him away but as she did there was a pounding on their door, "Now what is it?" she said with a heavy sigh as she moved across the room to open the door. One of the crew members stood with a worried glance. No words needed to be exchanged from that look as Scott and Arabella both made their way quickly from the room to see what was the matter.

No sooner had they gotten outside to see what was going on that the ground beneath them trembled and far off in the distance a ray of light was seen like none before. It was hard to say just how far away it had hit, but it was enough to tell Arabella and Scott they needed to get the hell out of there. "Move it! Back to the ship!" she commanded as the crew gathered their things and were quickly headed off. The ground was crumbling beneath their feet though as they ran, "We aren't going to make it!" said one of her crew mates seconds before the ground disappeared beneath him and he vanished into a dark abyss. The place was literally crumbling around them by the second. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, what the hell was going on?

The other crew members were headed toward the mines as Scott grabbed a glider for him and Arabella to escape on. "Come on, we need to get going. We'll go to the mines," he urged as they made their way forward. It was a dangerous ride as they avoided the crumbling buildings and rocks from above. The entrance to the mine shaft was up ahead, but as the world crumbled around them a piece of the mountain nearby had broken off as a large mass came down at them. They were going to slow and wouldn't make it at this rate. They were to heavy together. Determined to at least get Arabella to safety Scott made a hasty decision. "I love you Arabella, be safe," he whispered into her ear as he suddenly cuffed her to the glider, pushed the throttle all the way down into hyper drive and tied the steering wheel forward toward the entrance to the mines.

"Hey what are you doing Scott?!" She demanded but before she could process he'd already finished cuffing her and putting the glider into full throttle as he jumped off the side of the glider, "Scott!" she shouted trying to undo the cuffs. The glider whizzed forward just under the mass of rocks as she crashed through the entrance of the mine. Seconds later the falling rocks would hit the ground blocking the way. She managed to just get free of the cuffs and jump off the glider before it crashed into the opposite wall. "Fuck..." she grumbled as she assessed herself for any damage instinctively.

Spoiler

Sorry it's a bit rough...

 

[Die$el]

"Pull!" Tony shouted, holding up the electric panel that controlled the shocks delivered to the bulky and mutated men to his side with his left arm as his right one leaned back on the rock attached with a metal frame that looked like a deformed car.

"Again!" he said as the four of them, without breaking a sweat, fell on their backs, bringing down an avalanche of rock before them, revealing a dark and uncharted path through the bedrock.

"Good!" he cried, getting up and patting the other mutated miners on the back, one by one, throwing their "shock leash" on the ground to symbolize that their job was done. His HUD started to show some boxes in green along with the usual dialogue that displayed the conditions they were in, the strain on their bodies, and whether their mutant parts, in his case his disgusting arm, wrapped in bandages to that the raw muscle and blood didn't show, were in jeopardy of breaking beyond anything the limited medicine available to the miners and foremen could fix.

"A message from the owners, it loo-" Tony thought aloud before the entire cavern rocked. Just as he got up on his feet, tony was smacked in the head by a falling stalagmite, and raised his arms, causing his bandages to rip open and bleed, to protect himself from the others.

"Foreman!" Ryker called out from his left. The big-armed, muscular mutant growing horns out of his temples rushed forward and swatted rocks away from Tony's head.

"i'm fine Ryker!" Tony called back, taking the challenge and standing up tall.

"He's not" the muscular man said, scowling as he pointed to the corpse of the new guy, straight out of the hospital after the mutation of his genes, lie there, dead. There were three of them, and they knew what to do by instinct.

"Mine collapse!" Tony shouted, sprinting as fast as his genetically enhanced legs would let him, racing in front of his two other men before stopping in front of a metal valve whose wheel-like knob slowly turned, signalling action from the inside. He waited for the other two to step inside before himself rushing in and sealing the outside.


"Thanks, Victor" he said to a pretty looking black haired guy, no older than eighteen, in a suit, who was a full two feet shorter than the mutants. He was a white collar worker, their manager, who didn't have to go through the risks with them, from the homeworld. Stepping into the elevator, the group of four ascended.

"What was that, boss?" Ryker asked, looking at his foreman, even if his words should have been directed at Victor.

"I... I don't know" the kid responded, shaking as another wave of rocked the inside of the mine and caused the lights to flicker on and off. At this depth, it was over a minute before they ascended to the top. As the doors opened, the sounds of screams became audible.

"Fuck..." Tony muttered. A wave of people were rushing towards the entrance from that cesspool city. There was... was even a glider coming their way.

"Close the gates! Hold down the fort!" Victor screamed, rushing to the panel as over a dozen mutated minors, some of them sick and squatting on the ground as they coughed, looked on with apathy. Tony's heart skipped a bet as he lurched forward and grabbed Victor.

"No! The planet's under attack! We let them in!" he shouted.

"I'm the manager! This is mining company protocol! We'll all be shut down!" the black haired male shouted back. The mutant foreman just smirked.

"So we say we didn't close it in time, because a glider crashed into the mine" he said, pointing to the skies, where smoke was rising from the city.

"Listen to me! I pay you already five hundred thousand galactic credits a year! Miners make only a couple thousand!" Victor shouted. "And that's not to mention the smuggling I let you do through the mines!"

Tony looked at his men, whose eyebrows were raised like they were waiting for the outcome of a fight scene in a movie, for who would prove the bigger man: he who felt pain besides them, or he who directed them into the pain because he controlled their purses.

"Victor," Tony started.

"You've already taken my arm, my good looks, and thirty years off my lifespan, and normal miners don't find ways to make everything more efficient and sell your junk for you and your dad."

Spinning around, he pointed to the kid.

"And this idiot thinks we're letting these people in so we can help them!" he said, with the miners all leaning forward and smirking.

"Noooo noooo nooo. These businessmen need to learn real business. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to sell hundreds into slavery! Who knows the elevator codes? We do! Who doesn't? Them! Boys, we're gonna make a killing!" Tony called out, to cheers from the crowd, except for Ryker, his smuggling partner, who just grinned.

"Now let's go out and help these people" he said to laughs and claps.

inside, however, he was doubtful . They didn't even know what was in most levels of the mines, how could they possibly prevent these people from escaping? And what if this attack was something else?

Just then, his train of thought was slashed to an end by the lightning crash of a glider through the entrance. Rocks fell through the ceiling. Tony pushed htourhg the blob of miners and rushed over, hearing a woman cry out a man's name a couple times. Concealing his disgusting mutilated arm, he touched the grown and knelt down with his left arm.

"Is anyone alive!? Are you okay!?" he shouted.

Tony Cealy
24​

 

[Anglkate]

She was bruised and cut up, but it didn't seem like anything serious. There were footsteps coming quickly towards her as she turned, still on the ground, and drew her energy gun at whomever was coming in self defense. These mine's weren't exactly known for their hospitality. To her relief it was three of her crew members: Orson (the pilot), Jinx (weapons specialist), and Lyandra (medic). She sighed heavily as she lowered her gun. "Arabella!" Orson said happily as he ran forward toward their second in command. They looked around as Jinx helped Arabella to her feet. She winced in pain as she tried to put weight on her right ankle. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's Scott?" Jinx asked trying to steady her.

Arabella frowned as she cursed slightly each time she put weight on the foot, "The idiot handcuffed me to the glider and sent me on a one way trip here. Nearly killed me the bastard!" She was trying to remain strong but her voice caught some. Knowing glances shifted between the three as they moved to tend to her wound. "Set her down" Lyandra said firmly as Jinx did as told and Lyandra moved forward to examine the ankle. Lyandra was a slender and by any means attractive female with light green skin, angular features, and long silver hair; a race of elf-like heritage with superb medical abilities. As a bonus for Arabella and her crew, Lyandra was a hell of a fighter too.

She gently took hold of Arabella's ankle and did a quick scan of it with her hands, which sent a warm tingle through her body. As she scanned Arabella gave orders, "Since Scott isn't here with us, we have to move on. It's what he wanted, us to find safety. Have you found anyone else from the crew? Or an exit?" she demanded firmly trying to stay calm. Lyandra suddenly gripped her ankle and manipulated it one way then another sending shooting pain through her leg as she grimaced and nearly fell backwards. After that, Lyandra made quick work to set the ankle again.

"Hopefully nothing more than a fracture, but unless I get a true scan it will be hard to tell. My hardware was left behind, all I have are the basics, Ma'am" she said as she splinted the ankle and looked around. Going to the glider she yanked off a large piece of wood that would work for a makeshift crutch, wrapping cloth over the top to provide padding and handing it to Arabella. Arabella thanked her and stood as she looked to Jinx and Orson again, "Well?"

"We were lucky to get here, ma'am. We didn't see and still haven't seen anyone until you. We thought you and the captain had both perished" Jinx elbowed Orson in the gut as he lowered his head, "sorry ma'am" he added quickly. Arabella kept a stern face as she balanced herself with the crutch, "This isn't the time. We need to find food and water or we'll starve to death. These mines are death mazes if I recall...so we best stick together. Take what is salvageable and we'll get going. I--"

She paused as suddenly from above there was a loud shout asking if anyone was alive and okay. She looked around, "Hey! Who are you?!" she demanded firmly, "We're trapped and need help!" she called. Her crew-mates turned toward her but she only put a finger to her mouth to quiet them. That's all they needed, they kept their weapons close just in case. Arabella called out again, "where are you?!"