Relics

[Dipper]

Sleek appearance aside, Tararui was undoubtedly the slowest ship in the fleet. Her ShockDrive jittered, her engines spat more than they ran, and most of her engineering crew left for the Valor the moment they had the chance. She was, for all intents and purposes, a last resort ship, sent to low-value sites that were unlikely to contain anything worth bringing back to the colonies. Truly a sad little thing.

Jonathan Drake O'Malley, or JD as he so often preferred, thought she was a fine ship. His father captained her in his prime, back when she was ferrying colonists from planet to planet. Now she was little more than a glorified goose-chaser, but he loved her all the same.

JD currently sat in the ship's small galley, sipping salty broth while his friend chattered incessantly in his ear.

"... and real, untapped iron. Can you imagine a haul like that? Three months off in compensation… Hey, you get that note from engineering?"

Verlaine leaned back against the slate-grey wall behind them. His name was Jean, but JD had never called him that. Verlaine seemed more fitting.

"Uh… about the drive?"

"Tararui's not moving 'till they get her drive up and running, and Command's gettin' real serious about this mission. JD..."

JD grumbled through a mouthful of salt.

"Think Cass'll come along?"

"Who?" JD nearly choked. Where had all this salt come from? "The blonde? I don't know. She's head of security, so… I think so. Why?" He set the broth aside, appetite gone and tongue positively burning. "She's got a pulse rifle, Jean. All the time. If you want to look down its barrel, be my guest, but I've got an obligation to try to convince you not to."

Verlaine shrugged. "I know. But--"

"Leave her alone, Verlaine."

"O'Malley?"

JD leaned forward as the staticky voice of the Captain came through. "What's up, Captain Morely?"

"We're heading planetside in an hour. Grab Verlaine and head down to the dock and get the Virgo ready. Morley out."

JD ran a hand through his hair, feeling a mixture of anticipation and worry well within him. He'd flown plenty of missions, most of them planetside scouting operations to ascertain whether staying in orbit was worth the returns. Tararui's luck was wearing thin with the amount of rock and outdated tech they'd found in the past two years, and with the ship failing despite every attempt at repairs, he wouldn't be surprised if she were to return to a decommissioning. For now, this was their last chance to prove they could find something of value

He didn't have high hopes, but he put on an air of confidence for Verlaine's sake. The poor man was looking for his big break. With the way things were going, they'd all end up transferred to the Farragut, or maybe Lonesome. Both were magnetically attracted to useful scraps, nothing impressive. Nothing that could lead to the break Verlaine was waiting for.

Shoving Verlaine's shoulder, JD stood and tossed his tin into the bin before gathering his gear and heading to the tram. Verlaine followed close behind.

Ten minutes later and they were standing in the hangar, where the Virgo sat in its dock. It was almost as old as Tararui, but never once failed and didn't look close to it, either. A reliable, if ugly, ship. It was his, and he was damn good at flying it.

Captain Kurt Morely walked over to them and greeted them with a nod. "Rest of the crew has been notified. We'll try to keep this one brief-- in and out, as fast as we can. If you spot anything, we can take a look, but otherwise, we're on a tight schedule."

"Sure thing," JD said. "Full security?"

"Half," Morley set his hands on his hips. "Try to go easy on them. They're new transfers, and Tararui doesn't need the bad rap."

Verlaine passed by them, snatching JD's gear from his shoulder with a smirk. "I'll stow our gear and get Virgo warmed up. You're better with the new kids anyways."

JD didn't bother retorting. He got along just fine with transfers, especially the cocky ones. They liked pilots, saw them as unassuming and harmless. JD didn't mind. The shock of how boring these expeditions could sometimes be would break them in, and after that, they'd be much easier to work with.

He leaned his shoulder against the side of the ship and waited.

 

[Dipper]

Crazy. She called him crazy. He scoffed at that. Drunk, maybe, but he liked to think he would know if he were crazy.

"Verlaine'll be happy to hear she's still kicking." Verlaine, who was now snoozing on the bunk with a half-opened tin of fruit in his hand, would be ecstatic to know that Cass was doing alright. Then again, JD wasn't entirely sure how much Verlaine was even aware of, and whether he knew that their situation was growing less and less stable by the minute. JD found that he envied his friend's obliviousness - what he would give for a break from the stress, just for a little while.

She had a point about the Virgo, though he couldn't think of anything else. He just wanted off, away, somewhere safe to hunker down until things got sorted out.

"Not sure if I can sleep now," he said, resting back against the wall. He seemed to be taking this position rather often, now. "But it wouldn't hurt to try. As long as you do, too."

Verlaine should be cleared of the drugs by the time he awoke, and then... maybe they could find the hangar. He kept reminding himself that it was just until things cleared up, no way would it be permanent. Things couldn't get that bad. JD wasn't sure about the miners or what their plan here was though, since they had plenty of food and space and clearly wanted for nothing and, from what he could see now, were actually quite pleased with the turn of events. No hard labor, no one on the bridge ordering them to do menial tasks...

He dozed off to empty thoughts and didn't dream at all.

-

It was the shouting that woke him up. JD rose groggily, pretty sure he'd slept but feeling like he didn't, with his head in his hand and his knees drawn up tight. Through bleary eyes he could see the miners running toward one of the sealed entrances that led to the cargo lifts, pushing boxes of tools against it in a hurry.

"They don't know," Verlaine muttered to his right. "They really don't know..."

"Know what?"

"It's the... I think..."

He couldn't finish before something in the ceiling above them let out an unholy, broken wail. All around them, the miners were panicking as they grabbed heavy mining tools from their stations and ran to the doors. They shouted back and forth with orders but no one was listening. Where was Morley? Had these men not even figured out a leader amongst themselves?

Panic set in between his ribs, hot and lancing. Those things would get in with those scythes of theirs, gurgling and wailing with the face of a dead man. How many, he wasn't sure, but the extent of the activity in the room told him there were more than what Morley claimed before. Many more. Hissing and screeching came from all directions, bone grinding on metal as they tried fruitlessly to get in through the miner's defenses. But they wouldn't give up there - they throw their bodies at the walls until they gave, because that was what these creatures did, wasn't it? Mindless yet somehow calculated, one body wasted so that another can finish the job.

"Verlaine, where's the captain?" JD asked, dragging Verlaine back to the wall so he wouldn't stand in the way. "Where'd he go?"

"Why would I know? He didn't even... I didn't even see him!"

"He wouldn't just run off!" Except that he would. Morley's behavior made sense. He didn't care about anyone here so long as they kept him safe, then he was off. The moment they began to fall, he'd flee. He'd never liked Verlaine much anyway, and JD was a coworker and nothing more. They weren't friends. Why would he--

"We're leaving!"

Morley. JD jumped to conclusions. Of course he did.

Or maybe he was losing it, too.

Morley shoved a heavy line gun into JD's hands - he sunk with the unexpected weight, then stood, hefting it awkwardly. He wasn't a miner, but he knew how to use it. Kind of.

"Virgo's just sitting there, waiting for us," he said. "These men aren't going to last.We may as well get as far as we can before all hell breaks loose."

"Wait, we're just leaving?" JD lowered the line gun and stepped forward, scowling deeply. "Captain we can't just abandon them like that. Verlaine? We can't take their gear and just do that."

"Don't look at me," Verlaine grumbled, folding his arms around himself.

"There's plenty more where this came from, O'Malley." Morley leaned in close, close enough that JD could see a spark of fury in his eyes. "We. Are. Leaving."

 

[Megasis]

"I bet that he will." Her tired eyes glanced in the man's direction, seeing him comfortably sleeping away as if they weren't in the middle of some horrible nightmare. He wasn't even able to fully open the tin of fruit before he had zonked out. A soft chuckle came from her and she shook her head slightly, allowing herself to be amused at the little things. Perhaps she was the one going crazy… she felt relatively stable except for her eyes feeling as though they were going to droop out of their sockets from exhaustion. Certainly no sane person could remain composed in a hellish situation like this…

She eased herself back into the scratchy blankets of the bunk, maneuvering herself on her front and crossing her arms atop the pillow so her chin could rest above them. Her eyes remained on JD, lingering, taking in his words and offering a small grin that didn't seem to quite reach her eyes.

"I will," she promised, yet her eyes remained open, just watching him for the moment. It dawned on her that she knew nothing about the man, yet from the short time they'd known each other she thought she'd gained a decent perspective of who he was. It all boiled down to the fact that she thought he had a good heart, caring about others, especially the ones he was close to. Verlaine was all the evidence she needed. Amidst the chaos, he had come for his friend and she found that to be very admirable. JD was someone she could trust and that seemed to bring her comfort.

"Rest easy," she said softly before pulling the band out of her hair to slip onto her wrist and turning onto her side. The sheets of the bed smelled a little musty and her nose wrinkled at the fact, but with her breathing, going in and out, repeat, she soon grew accustomed enough that the fog in her head enveloped her consciousness, allowing her to fall into a light sleep.
_______

Not safe…. not safe….

The chant grew in her mind as the sounds of scuffling and panicked voices flowed into her ears, yet her body remained unmoving, the fog too heavy to draw herself out of immediately.

Not safe… not safe… not safe…

A scream, not familiar to be from any standard human throat, ripped through the fog of her head and made it dissipate, her head lurching upward in a rush. Her head ached and she clenched her teeth as it appeared her body wished for more sleep… probably would have been content to simply slumber until all of this righted itself. But not such luck as it became quite apparent form the panicked yells of the miners that something was very wrong.

It was no longer safe here.

In a flurry of tussled hair, her eyes whipped to the side, seeing JD rising sluggishly and Verlaine sitting up in his bed. She felt her heart squeeze uncomfortably and a stuttered gasp left her lips as she slowly identified the muffled screeches that were coming from the other room. The creatures… they had found them.

"Shit… shit!" She half tumbled to the ground as her feet decided not to work, yet her hands reached out, trying to find her bag to heft over her shoulder, wincing when she forgot about her stitching and had to maneuver the strap to the other side instead. Her heart began to race… she could feel it pounding like thunder beneath her rib cage. She felt like a trapped animal… frightened, panicked, wishing to run, but not knowing where to run to. Only knowing that her body was telling her that now was not the time to fight.

Morley.

The voice in her head sneered his name. Her mind was jumping to the same conclusions JD's had. Was their life suddenly not worth anything to the Captain as well. She shouldn't have been surprised…

Yet his voice rang through the racket from the next room, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Verlaine… your legs working now??" Something told her that in the next few moments they were going to need to be functioning because surely JD could not run with the dead weight of a man over his shoulder.

Had he… gone out scouting by himself?? Was the guy absolutely nuts!? The situation was moving too fast for her mind to cope with as soon Morley was speaking as if they were just going to leave these men behind…

Wait… that's exactly what he was doing!!

"With all due respect Captain… what the fuck!?" She was appalled, her eyes wide in shock at what he was insinuating although once again she should have not been surprised by the way he had been talking before their rest. He would do what he needed to do in order to survive and that wild look that was continuously growing in his eyes began to scare her.

She swallowed down any further words to accuse him as his eyes fired in her direction, feeling herself take a single step back. She'd never seen such hostile intent in his eyes… yet it kept going through her head: people do crazy things when they're desperate. If she refused, she half expected Morley to raise the weapon he had in his hands and pull the trigger in her direction if he thought it would get the others to go with him.

Yet, they would be unable to argue about it further as the screeches became more prominent, and upon looking over her shoulder, she could see why. Her eyes widened in horror and she had to stifle the urge to scream. One of those creatures had begun breaking open a hole in the barricade, the dead white orbs glinting through the darkness as it let out another ear-piercing shriek before one of the miners blew its head away. Yet, the body continued moving as if unaffected and shot it's long sharp appendage through the opening to pierce through the miners head.

"Oh God-!!" She cried and automatically felt her hands grab for JD's back, giving him a nudge. "W-we have to go!!" She didn't want to leave them… despite having been uncomfortable around the men earlier. Every fiber of decency in her body was telling her they couldn't abandon them, yet the logically side of her was saying that if they stayed they were going to die… just like them. There were simply too many.

And yet, it would appear that their luck would continue to go to shit. A hollow whine and all of a sudden the lights began to go out, one by one, as if someone had powered down the room. None of them had their suits on either, so the only glow of light they received was the one from the Captain's and JD's weapons. Fuck… fuck!!! What else could go wrong?!

"Verlaine!" Her hands were still on JD, and one would remain there as her fingers curled about the fabric of his shirt, her other reaching for where Verlaine had been and grabbing onto his arm. In the sheer darkness, she couldn't see a damn thing, not until her eyes adjusted, and she did not want them to get separated. "Stick close…" she gasped and tugged Verlaine near. JD was the only one besides Morley with a weapon at the moment… she just hoped that thing did as much damaged as it looked like it would do.

"Around back… passed the bunks there were vents…" Her voice was shaky as the screeches behind them became louder. They were going to break through any moment… they needed to leave. Right now. She didn't know how she remembered that, but she did. She had taken in the room when they first entered… just by instinct perhaps? It was probably her mind trying to sub-consciously think of escape plans if their hideout was breached. How strange it was that the human brain could just switch into survival mode when it was given the chance.

Surely enough, as they inched their way around despite wanting to move faster, they came upon the vents in the back, and luckily they were big enough that they could crawl through, single file. Yet, they wouldn't exactly know where they led… but it was these or wait to be skewered by the monsters on the outside of these walls.

"I… be careful…" She didn't need to say it. Who knew what was within the depths of those vents? They'd heard scratching around in one earlier… maybe it was just another survivor like themselves trying to flee… yet her mind knew the potential of what it actually was. Her foot smacked into something and sent it skittering, the glow of one of the weapons revealing it to be some sort of tool… she was no mechanic and had no idea how the thing operated, yet she reached down and scooped it up quickly. When she had a moment, she would check it out to see what it could do, but for now at least it was something she could bash into a creatures head if it had an idea of getting too close.

 

[Dipper]

We have to go.

The miners had his sympathies. Those sympathies were not, however, strong enough to keep him here while monsters tore down their door.

Verlaine pressed in close as they made their way to the vents Kaiya spoke of, and JD found himself quickly brushing Morley aside to get a look into the passages which would likely lead them to the next sector. Truth be told, he'd take a mezzanine overlooking the room if it were his only option; anything to get him away from those creatures, at any safe distance, was viable to him.

He wished the miners luck, but that was it. He wasted no time in crawling into the vent with the line gun held up front, twisting uncomfortably in order to accommodate it. JD had to maneuver carefully to avoid getting snagged on the piping running through the vent, then turned about to alert them that the passageway was safe.

Verlaine nudged Kaiya forward, then followed in afterwards without consulting Morley - the Captain, miffed, grumbled the whole way, but what could he say? They were leaving, just like he wanted.

As nervous as JD was, he had to maintain some integrity, and he'd be lying if he said taking point didn't boost his confidence some. Powerful line gun in hand, a couple of allies at his back, he could take on the ship if he wanted to. In his head, anyway. He knew full well it was nothing but wistful imagining, no matter how that imagining improved his mood. He couldn't let himself get carried away by it, and so he moved onward through the vent, casting quick glances behind him to make sure the others were following close by.

The vent terminated at a junction between an upward climb and a slatted exit panel that slid open to his touch. JD poked his head out first, then pulled the rest of his body through.

On the other side was storage. That meant hydroponics ought to be just above them, and further along would be the hangar. There was nothing here for them but old clothes and the mementos of possibly-dead men.

JD returned to the vent. "Hydroponics is just above us. What do you say?"

"Could use the fresh air," Verlaine said, pressing against the vent's side paneling.

"Storage?" Morley asked. "Is that storage, O'Malley? You go on ahead. I've got some things to find." He nudged past the other two and climbed out beside JD, patting his shoulder roughly before digging into the items scattered about.

It looked like grave robbing. Shuddering at the implications, JD crawled right back into the vent and moved toward the upward climb. The small space would make it relatively easy, provided Verlaine was stable enough to follow them. JD pulled the line gun close to his chest and started climbing, finding footholds in old piping. At the top was another panel for him to drag himself through. He felt an awful lot like a rat in a maze, crawling around like this with no actual plan in mind. Just the next safe zone, the next pocket where he could curl up and take a breather.

Fresh air. Something must have cut the power to the Tararui's air purifiers if the only real good air was in hydroponics. JD pulled himself up and over the vent's exit and into the hydroponics control center, where an array of terminals lined a glass wall separating them from a hanging garden of hybridized fruits and vegetables.

"Imagine eating those every morning." JD pointed to the rather unappetizing looking plants, their rainbow of colors making them out to be anything but vegetables. He presumed they were designed more for nutrient value than anything else.

Verlaine faked a gag. "Smell good, so... fine by me."

JD snickered. "You feeling alright?"

"No. Feel like shit, actually. Otherwise, 'm standing. No complaints here."

"Right, well," JD slid the door to hydroponics open, "if you feel off, let us know."

Verlaine huffed irritably. "How many times are you gonna tell me that?"

JD thought it best not to respond. Verlaine always had a temper hidden by a laid back, playful personality. He didn't look the type to start fights, either. That temper had gotten substantially closer to the surface since this all started, clear as day in the pinch of his brow and the annoyed sharpness in his words. JD would never tread carefully around his friend just on principle, but he supposed Verlaine needed his space.

Fine by JD. They'd get him in one piece to the Virgo regardless. "Just saying. We need to find a way out."

Hydroponics on the Tararui was smaller than the other ships. She had her own air purifiers, allowing for a compact and food-focused construction. It was crowded with ladders, thin walkways, and long, spindly structures holding a variety of strangely colored plants. Straight ahead, hidden among the plants, was a quietly sobbing mass of flesh that stopped JD short. It writhed between bouts of wheezing, completely unaware of their presence.

"Holy hell, that's disgusting." Verlaine rested his shoulder against one of the plant holders, his face twisted into a grimace. "What do you think it is?"

JD clutched his line gun tight. "You want an honest answer? I don't really give a fuck what it is, and I'd rather not think too hard about it."

"I think it's--"

JD jammed his elbow into Verlaine's side to shut him up.

"Sheesh, okay. There's a lift right next to it, by the way."

Fantastic.

 

[Megasis]

It became very apparent to the doctor that she needed to get out more as she could barely keep up with what they were saying about their current location and where they were going! The only place she was familiar with was the medical bay which she sure as hell hoped they were not going back to any time soon. She had a terrible feeling that med bay had to be invested with those things by now…

As far as she knew, she'd never been claustrophobic before, but heading into the small vent that was barely big enough for them to shoulder into and crawl on hands and knees was making her body break out in a light sheen of nervous perspiration. Yet, she continued moving her body, almost robotically, to keep it moving forward, following suit after JD.

Squeezing her body as far to the side as she could so Morley could wriggle past, he still had to half climb over herself and Verlaine to get to the opening that would lead to storage and she wrinkled her nose slightly in a dissatisfied manner. It seemed wrong… going through the dead's possessions… but she would not allow herself to dwell on it for fear of it clouding her brain when she had other things she needed to focus on. Like their survival.

With a soft sigh, she followed after JD once more, although the trek was about to get more challenging as the vent angled upward. "Well, shit…" she muttered under her breath and tried to peer through the darkness in order to scope out the footholds JD was using to climb upward. She couldn't help but think how lucky they had been with Verlaine gaining functionality of his body… they would have had a hell of a time dragging him through this mess if he hadn't.

They finally emerged into hydroponics, and once out of the vent, Kaiya felt like she could finally gain a fresh breath of air. "Oh that's much better…" She gasped and allowed herself a moment to breathe, reaching up to wipe the glittering sweat from her brow as she sat on the floor outside the vent, waiting for Verlaine to follow. After a moment, she glanced about, checking out the unfamiliar area. How odd… she didn't even know they had such a place. Although naive of her, she simply did not have the time to ponder when she was endlessly working within her own section of the Tararui.

Standing to walk with them, she gave Verlaine a gentle pat on the shoulder in reassurance. "Merely a few hours ago you could barely walk, Verlaine. We just want to make sure you're doing okay." His state of being has been rather unpredictable and so it was only natural for her to want to keep checking in on his condition as well.

She removed her hand and stopped in her tracks as she heard the sound of what vaguely sounded like human cries against the far wall. In a moment, the source of the noise would be pointed out, and she found herself recoiling at the pulsing mass of flesh that seemed to be growing out of the wall. "I've never seen anything like it…" besides the fact that it somewhat resembled those creatures down below in the way that they both seemed to be made of organic material… of which she still didn't exactly want to think about what it had to be.

"I… feel very uncomfortable about getting anywhere near that thing-"

Yet, even as she spoke, the lift seemed to move of it's own accord and she slowly took a couple steps back, her eyes widening slowly. Oh, come on… what now?! Yet, as the lift screeched its way back upward, her eyes would meet with a pair that were somewhat familiar.

"Gryffon???"

Equally startled eyes would stare back at them from within the lift, looking panicked, yet seeming still relatively stable. The larger man took a hesitant step forward as if he were afraid of the trip standing before him.

"Doc..? O'Malley… Verlaine!"

He suddenly seemed nearly ecstatic to see their presence before them. "Shit, am I glad to see you guys…!"

Then, he made the mistake of stepping out of the lift and the mass of flesh began to wriggle and then let out a rather human screech, as though it were a tortured soul upon the wall. A cavity within its chest opened up and revealed a long tendril with a sharp looking claw on the end and it reached out to swipe at the man that was unfortunate enough to wander so close.

"FUCKING HELL!" A quick step back into the lift, just barely missing the swipe of the dangerous appendage, his body pressing against the side of the grating to stay out of harms way. "A little help, please?!"

Another vicious screech and the cavity opened further to launch a glob of flesh in the trios direction as apparently it was now alerted of their presence as well. A startled cry from Kaiya as she sidestepped with Verlaine, just barely missed being pelted by the anomaly as it flew passed and smacked with a slick splat into the ground behind them.

"JD, shoot that thing!!" her voice rang out as she stared in horror, her own hands fumbling for the weapon she had picked up down below but had no how to use.

"Doc!! Behind you!!!"

Gryffon's voice rang out, unable to see the thing attacking him, but he was able to see the projectile fired in their direction and watched in horror as the sac began to wriggle and then burst grotesquely to reveal a wavering tentacle that flickered in the air like an agitated cat's tail. He also fumbled for the weapon at his side, hands obviously shaking even from this distance.

Whirling around, Kaiya's eyes gawked for but a moment at the creature behind them as well, little sickening gurgles coming from the thing as its tentacle reared back as if posing to attack. Yet, without anything else to do, she pointed and squeezed the trigger, a buzz of energy and a flash of light, and the little sac on the ground hissed and squealed as she had mostly missed, but just grazed the main body of the tiny monster. However, it bought her enough time to adjust and squeeze the trigger again, this time, hitting the target of the tendril which made it squeal once more before it flailed, sputtered some pus looking liquid on the metal flooring, and then going silent.

 

[Dipper]

JD heaved a sigh of relief when a familiar face presented itself - only for that sigh to catch in his throat as a choke when the thing spewed a wad of flesh at them, angry and wriggling. He ducked and moved to the side, out of Kaiya's way, so that he could get a lock on the monstrosity plastered to the wall.

The line gun was simpler a tool than it looked. A single shot sent a thin line of energy straight toward the creature, slicing a few of its tentacles down the middle, but the beam wasn't wide enough nor angled properly to catch them all. He adjusted his grip to tilt the gun so that its next shot slanted and severed two more. The creature let out an agonized wail and its remaining tendrils flailed about, and from its gaping chest cavity came another of those wads of flesh burst forth and splattered on the ground with a gurgle.

Another shot speared the tendril as it emerged. The line gun's readout alerted him to his ammo count, flashing orange. Two shots left. One spare rack was already taped to the side of the gun, but that was all he had. Until he found more ammunition, he reckoned he had about seven shots in total.

He'd make this one count.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think the creature wore itself out with its lashing. It stilled with its tendrils latched onto the wall beside it and let out a gurgling, otherworldly whine, its useless head flopping about. Its dislocated jaw - or what he hoped was its jaw - fought to work. These things didn't speak, but perhaps whatever remained of the human body instinctively thought that it could. They shrieked well enough. Why not the plaintive whimpers of a dying man?

JD's last shot landed in its center, not quite severing the tendrils but doing enough damage that they hung by a few scraps of flesh and, eventually, dropped to the ground in a messy pile. The creature screamed while its insides spewed outward, then let its head drop.

He fired off one more shot just in case. It was dead.

"Shit, man. Shit." Verlaine collapsed backwards. "What the hell."

JD went ahead and stepped around the gooey remains. He slotted a new rack into the line gun and tossed the old. "We're fine. We're all fine, it's dead. Get up, Verlaine."

Verlaine's face turned green as he stood and sidled past the body. "Think it's on my boots..." He shook his leg erratically to dislodge a chunk of pallid flesh stuck to the sole of his boot.

Even the lift had gotten coated in putrid slime, not to mention the faint traces of flesh-like growth along the railing and up the wall just above the dead creature itself. Creatures like this... it wouldn't surprise JD if they were turning the bodies into biomass for some insidious purpose, though what that purpose was didn't interest him in the least. He didn't want to know. None of it concerned him, a simple pilot, anyway.

He wished it didn't smell so bad.

JD hopped aboard the lift and turned to Gryffon. "Nice to see a familiar face. Where were you headed?"

"We're going..." Verlaine froze, expression turning sour. "JD, where're we going?"

"Hangar," JD said.

Verlaine's expression soured further. He hung his head and began to mutter. Verlaine had taken up these bouts of gibberish as a habit since leaving the medbay, and they didn't bother JD too much as long as he kept them quiet. None of them needed the man's inane, bizarre, and frankly unsettling stray thoughts on their minds while they were trying to survive. He'd give the man a full check up once they had some respite aboard the Virgo, if they were all in one piece.

Didn't matter for now. He was probably still messed up inside from... everything. JD couldn't blame him, no matter how odd his weakening constitution really was.

"We should get moving if the lift's still working..."

"Sometimes these hydroponics guys keep emergency kits on 'em. Maybe we could..." Verlaine gestured vaguely to the creature.

"We're not..." JD shook his head. "Stay on the lift, Verlaine. We're heading up."

 

[Megasis]

"It spat babies…!" Kaiya spouted in disgust and reached up to hastily brush back a flyaway out of her eyes as she gawked at the flopped over mound of flesh that had attacked them. Curiosity killed the cat… yet she couldn't help as her eyes took in what looked to be dead and decomposing yet it had been moving and attacked them…

"The tentacles you shot… are they a weak spot?" She was just… thinking out loud and found herself wanting to remember the first creature they had come across… a thought she never figured she would have. She didn't remember any tentacles on that thing… just appendages… yet she clearly saw one of the miners shoot off the head of one and it seemed unfazed… maybe even more frenzied if that was possible. These things were one big mystery… yet she had a feeling they were going to need to figure out something if they were going to survive the night.

Or perhaps, they could fly off in the Virgo like JD hoped and come back when it was safe.

Either way… it seemed that JD's weapon and her own did some damage against these things. That was good enough for her. She was half expecting these things to be immune to physical damage… as it already seemed as though they weren't exactly living.

Kaiya herself had to hold back a gag at the wet splotch of their footsteps on the gooey tissue as it was unavoidable if they wanted to get into the lift.

"Seems like… you guys are having the same luck as me," Gryffon muttered and swallowed hard, looking as though he himself was also trying to stay composed. He held his pulse rifle close to his side, hands gripping it tightly enough that his knuckles were turning white. The flash of a cross glittered out from his simple buttoned shirt. He was in casuals too so it would appear he was taken by surprise with this whole event just like everyone else.

"You have no fucking idea, O'Malley," Gryffon said and clapped the man on the shoulder "Actually I… I was heading to med bay." Before JD could push any buttons on the lift, the man's broad arm came across to block his hand and his eyes turned to Kaiya, gaze settling upon her. "Doc, you have any supplies with you? We could really use your help."

Her heart lurched and she began to feel unsettled by the desperate look in the man's eyes. "I.. yeah, actually. We came from the medical bay and… well.. you might not want to go back there." Yet, if he went there, it would probably be things that he'd seen already…unless things had gotten worse in their absence. Her eyes flickered to Verlaine and JD hesitantly as she knew they had a mission… Morley expected to see them at the Virgo. If Gryffon was about to ask what she thought he was… she didn't know if Morley would be happy with the idea of a detour. "Gryffon, what do you need?"

"Did you guys hear it? On your comms? About the mess in engineering." His eyes grew grim and Kaiya felt an uncomfortable apprehension growing within. It appeared her eyes would give him the confirmation that he needed. "I was with the security team that went down there. It's bad… we didn't know what we were heading into either. I think that made it worse." He paused and grimaced, giving a quick shake of his head. "My team is still down there. Good people… but they're trapped. A few are wounded and we didn't want to leave them behind… I volunteered to go find medical personnel to bring down to them."

Shit…

"I don't mean to put pressure on you, but if you don't come with me…they'll die." If they hadn't already… "The rest of them stayed down there to fend off any threats. Odds are they're still hanging on, but I worry for Cassandra. She was hurt pretty bad…"

Kaiya's brows bent inward and she raised a hand to her temple as she thought. If she… figured this right… engineering was down below. They would be going in the opposite direction of where they wanted to be. Not to mention they may not be coming back up if they went down there.

"I could use the extra fire power as well," Gryffon insinuated as he looked to JD and Verlaine.

Kaiya looked hesitant, more so because she didn't want to be the reason they all went down there to get killed… yet… if they wanted to split ways they could. Nothing was holding them back from doing that. Did she want to though…? Her eyes flickered to JD and she swallowed hard.

No, she really didn't…

"I have to try…" she said quietly as her heart pounded in her chest. Could this be the decision that would end up killing her..? Very possibly… but she didn't feel like she had a choice. Her fingers tightened around the weapon in her fingers. She didn't want to say it… but she couldn't make them come with. They had options… and although Verlaine was doing better she was still worried about his well-being. "…but that doesn't mean you both have to come too."

They had a plan… it was a good plan to possibly keep them safe. She wanted them to go… if it meant they could survive this. "You should go. To the Virgo, I mean. Morley will be waiting for you."

 

[Dipper]

"Seems like it. I'll keep that in mind."

Except JD didn't want to keep any of it in mind. Knowledge of weaknesses were all well and good, had he not already been stressed out of his mind and too hyped up on adrenaline to really care where he shot, compounded by the fact that his headache from before was roaring back to life in the back of his skull.

"Cassandra?" Stumbling forward, Verlaine grabbed a hold of Gryffon. "She's alive though, right? JD, we gotta help her."

They weren't giving JD much of a choice. Between Gryffon's subtle request and Verlaine's eagerness to help, JD figured he'd come across as a real ass if he turned either of them down, which itself was nothing compared to potentially losing the only company he had in this hell. Other than Morley, that is. JD wasn't exactly jumping at the chance to launch the Virgo with him alone.

The slight twitch of his shoulders was the only answer he gave. Safety in numbers was the obvious driving force in his decision making more than his desire to help.

Verlaine thumped him on the back cheerfully all the same. "Alright then, good! Good..." He shuffled back against the railing. "We've got firepower. We... that thing's loaded, right?"

"Five shots," JD said. "Just have to be careful."

JD reached around Gryffon to hit the button to get them moving back down into the darkened shaft below, as was no need for them to discuss it further. He wasn't interested in discussing the chances of his death either. At least this way he'd die in some friendly company, rather than off alone in an attempt to reach the Virgo. That, he supposed, was fine.

Deep red growths crawled along the wall of the shaft, fading the farther they descended, then reappearing again and catching on the lift's track. He could only barely make it out through the light mounted on the line gun, and he could have sworn it was moving. More biomass, then. The creature above must have been growing into the shaft, or the shaft was growing into the creature, it was hard to tell in the dark. Either way, he found himself praying it would disappear when they arrived in the lower levels.

He didn't need another horror show opening up before his very eyes. The past few hours were enough.

JD did his best to clear away the silence. "Engineering's where the Tararui shows her age, from what I heard. A whole bunch of specialized service tunnels run right underneath the main hub-- that's where all the engines get their work done."

And they were loud, too loud to hear one another at two feet apart. No way could anyone hear those things creep up on them. They were probably taken by surprise, holed up somewhere secure, and waited for security to arrive. There wasn't anything they could do to save themselves in that environment. Knowing Cass, she'd sequester them somewhere safe and deal with the problem herself, and in so doing would lose a good amount of manpower.

He hoped those security guys were as good as they claimed they were. And if not... He had a line gun that could sever limbs with a single shot. He'd just hate to do it alone.

Their lift scraped against the track on the last few meters, then hit the bottom hard enough to stagger them. Engineers, how typical. They liked to repair everything but their own damn gear.

"Cass?" Verlaine opened a comm., voice quiet yet also startlingly loud after the lift ride. "Cass, you there?"

"Hey, who is this?" A woman's voice, but not Cass. "Security? S-security, that you? Dear god, I don't need this, I really don't need this. What's taking you so long?"

Verlaine stared, bewildered, at his comm. "No, we're... What are we...? We're survivors. Miss?"

Survivors made it all so grim, though JD couldn't find it in himself to disagree.

"Oh, a-alright. You're not engineering? O-or security? Why're you here? No one's talking to me."

"Ask her where she's holed up," JD said.

Verlaine did. There was a scuffle on the other side, followed by some chatter in the background. "It's just me and two others. We're in the engine room-- the damn AI shut the vents, but... but it's getting hard to breathe. Where's security?"

JD stepped out of the lift slowly, line gun held front and center. When the saw the path was clear, he stepped back toward the lift and turned to face them. "The systems AI must be aware of the threat. Sounds like it couldn't reconcile safety with health. There's just no compromise with AI, they always go one way or the other."

Just what they needed. A potentially dangerous AI so wrapped up in helping that it ended up harming. He really should've laid off the horror stories years ago.

 

[Megasis]

Gryffon rose a brow slightly as the pilot being worried about the head of security was almost more confusing to him than the situation they were in. Almost. "Yeah… she's alive. Injured, but still breathing," he confirmed and glanced around at all of them, waiting for an answer. If the doctor didn't agree to come with, he didn't have a choice. He wasn't going to give up. Med bay would be his best option despite what Kaiya had said and that is where he would go to search for another doctor… if one was left alive. If he remembered right, he heard on comms that a medical team would be going down to engineering as well… they hadn't seen head or tail of any medical personnel down in those metal corridors.

Looking unenthused, JD seemed to agree to go down with the others although it made Kaiya feel a little guilty. Despite having said what she did, once Cassandra's name was dropped, she should have known Verlaine would want to get involved. It seemed as though they didn't have much of a choice from the start. JD reached to push the button then and the lift began its screeching descent. Hopefully that didn't alert more creatures to their presence…

"I've got a full clip and a half," Gryffon stated, giving the look over at his own weapon before looking to the one in Kaiya's hand. "What do you have there, doc?"

"Hell if I know…" she said and handed it to him. Worked like a pistol, but shot out multiple lasers, kind of like JD's weapon except a smaller version.

"Plasma cutter… you know, for repair work and such. You said… you guys were in med bay?" He said as he handed the tool back to her.

"Med bay and then headed to mining…" Where shit seemed to hit the fan despite it supposedly being a safe place. "Don't go there either if you can help it." Or just… anywhere. Seemed there was danger lurking around every corner. How did it get so bad in a matter of hours? They couldn't have been sleeping that long in mining… couple hours tops. It should not have been long enough for things to go to shit this badly.

Silence… until JD broke it, which Kaiya was thankful for. If she was sitting in silence too long, she felt as though her mind rudely conjured up images of things she would rather push to the wayside.

Too bad none of them were engineers. Seemed as though they were going to be scuffling about blind, besides maybe Gryffon who had apparently been wandering the corridors to find his way to med bay.

"That's about right. Much different from topside. I guess… to command it's more important to keep appearances up there rather than down under." Which was just… ludicrous. If the ship wasn't worth a damn as far as their internals were, how long did they think she could keep running? I guess she really was in need of the tune up that JD kept mentioning before.

As the lift continued it's downward descent, the hum of the engines only became louder. That could work in their favor… or work against them depending on the situation. At least they wouldn't be so easily heard walking about, but it would equally be hard for them to hear any creepy crawlies that decided to skulk after them.

With a jolt, the lift stopped, and Kaiya reached out to steady herself against the railing of the lift only to come in contact with the goop that had exploded everywhere from the wailing creature above. "Ugh… disgusting…" She murmured and hastily wiped her hand against her jeans. At the sound of a voice crackling through the comm, her insides prickled and she furrowed her brows slightly. Who was that…? One of the engineers?

She listened to the conversation, only it didn't sound great the longer it went on. Seemed as though there were going to be no way to get out via air vents this time around, which meant they were stuck to taking the main passageways. Hopefully they just stayed clear… that would be great.

"The engine room… if only we fucking knew where that was," Gryffon muttered and reached up to rub the back of his neck, looking rather stressed with the situation. He needed to get back to his team… but they couldn't ignore a distress call either. "The noise of the engines should lead us there. We pick them up and then they come with us to where the team is at." He sounded rather confident that this shouldn't take long, but Kaiya had her doubts with how vast this place was… seemed like a maze down here. "Never did trust those AI systems…" Seemed like he was rather wary of the systems as well that always seemed too smart for their own good…and even more impossible to reason with when things like this happened.

"Ma'am, I'm a member of the security team," he said into his own comm after making sure he was on the same frequency Verlaine was using. "Remain calm and stay where you are. We're making our way to you." Then after that, maybe these three engineers would be able to help them navigate these endless tunnels.

Gryffon had been thinking about asking if they could split up, but that didn't seem like a great idea either… not with two pilots, a doctor, and a single member from security, armed or not… no matter how desperate he was to get to his team, he didn't think that was the smartest idea. "Let's get a move on. We got shit to do," Gryffon said and shouldered his weapon, keeping it at the ready. No way in hell was he about to let those things get the best of him when he'd had the luck to run into his former crew.

It was hard to breathe down here… the engineers were right. If any of them knew how this shit worked, it would have been nice to reset breakers in an attempt to turn the air filtration back on. Taking a deep breath, or trying to, Kaiya let it out slowly in an attempt to calm her racing heart. They maybe should have made it a priority to grab their suits so they at least would be able to function with recycled air in their helmets…The fact that it was black as all hell down here didn't help matters.

Then, another voice came through the comm, one that was not being drowned out by the nearby rumble of the engines. "Shit… I must be really be losing it if I'm hearing your voice, Jean." Tired and sounding a little husky as though she had just woken up from a nap. It was Cass.

Gryffon didn't waste a second. "Berk! How you holding up down there?"

"Gryffon… glad to hear your voice. We were getting worried about you. We're doing okay. What's your status? Also… you know Verlaine is not a doctor, right?"

A little laugh and he shook his head a bit. "I've the pilot with the addition of another that looks like he might need to be transferred to security as well as a doctor, Berk. We'll be heading your way shortly."

"Be careful… we can still hear them."

Them…

Well that certainly made a deep shiver run through Kaiya's spine.

 

[Dipper]

"Oh, thank god. Thank you."

At least the Virgo could recycle its own air supply. Without vents, those engineers were in a very precarious position. Especially with an AI. How were they going to get past that? Come to think of it, how had it even managed to lock them in without air? There were laws in place intended to keep such a thing from happening as a safeguard against negligence, yet, somehow, it had overridden those and done it anyway. Monsters were bad enough, but an AI on a power trip?

The next few hours were about to be the most tiring of his life.

"I'll be damned," Verlaine said, face breaking out in a grin. "S'nice to hear your voice, Cass. Real nice. You just hang in there, we'll catch you soon enough!"

"She can handle herself," JD said, amused. "Follow the loud humming noises. Heh, right, that narrows it down plenty. Looks like this way is our best bet."

Engineering's corridors were wider than most, barely corridors at all and more like a series of rectangular rooms connected in a row with large bulkheads in between. Running adjacent to the ship's life support and other important systems, each room appeared to be dedicated to one part of the ship's internals, with the last being the engine room they were looking for. At least, that's what he managed to glean from an unlit map of the area, marked in engineering technobabble he couldn't parse.

There's the humming. JD felt it echo through the room and rise up from the soles of his boots to his shoulders, thrumming as the ship chugged along. It drowned out the quieter noises on the ship, which inevitably left JD feeling watched. Could those things even watch them consciously, planning their attacks? It didn't seem likely, but then, this entire situation seemed unlikely.

Verlaine peered into the next room "Wonder what the captain's up to."

"Not being dead, I hope. He's… shit, he's probably already at the Virgo, wondering where we are." JD fumbled for his comm.

"I wouldn't worry 'bout it. Morley can't fly."

He could try, and if he did they'd be left without a functioning ship. JD hoped Morley was smarter than that and wise enough to wait a bit longer. Come to think of it, he hadn't contacted any of them since they parted ways just before hydroponics. JD expected him to want to keep tabs, yet he hadn't so much as gotten a message. Nothing. He shouldn't have, but he felt glad the man was off their backs, if just for a little while.

"You! Stop right there!"

JD nearly choked on his own spit. He swung about on his heel but his fingers were stiff and getting one around the trigger of his line gun wasn't happening. Had they walked any further, they wouldn't have noticed the two men perched atop a mezzanine against the wall to their right, clad in black security suits with their helmets obscuring their faces. They shined flashlights mounted on heavy pulse rifles on them.

"If you're looking for a safe place, this ain't it. You'd better-- Gryffon? That you?" The one on the left lowered his rifle. "Your team's a ways away. That damned AI keeps trying to jam our comms and shut down sectors. Any luck on your end? Hey, Anderson, relax."

Oh. Them knowing at least one of their quartet did ease the tension somewhat. JD let his grip on the line gun loosen. But the mention of the AI once again gave rise to trepidation. He wondered, briefly, if the engineer they'd spoken to was even still alive.

"It only listens to its engineer pals." The man, whom JD assumed was Anderson, lowered his pulse rifle to his side. "All the doors between here and the engine room? Locked up tight."

"What about the bulkheads," JD asked. "The rest of engineering?"

"No, that's good. Just the engine room. For now." Anderson leaned against the railing. "I'm Anderson, that's Parker. You guys come from mining?"

"Mining's… overrun."

"Damn," Parker said. "First engineering, then hydroponics, now mining. Shit's not right."

"H-hello? Are you still we… not enou… ello…?"

Verlaine yelped when the comm on his wrist sparked and blew with a burst of static. He threw it to the ground, kicked it away in a panic, then, tenderly, held his newly burned wrist close to his chest with a pained scowl.

"That damn AI again. Shut your comms down, that's my advice." Parker moved away from the railing with a chuckle. "Anyways, you'd best get moving. Whatever's in these halls won't be too happy to see you guys wandering about."

"W-what? What's wandering? What do you mean?" Verlaine's eyes darted to the bulkhead on the far side of the room.

Parker shrugged. "Can't say for sure. Only saw it once, but it's big, and quiet, wherever it is."

He didn't need to hear that. JD could have walked right into this thing's grasp and he'd be perfectly fine, because at least then it would have been over quickly. With the warning, he could only imagine what else was lurking on this ship, and his fear spiked tenfold. And if he was freaking out, Verlaine would be beside himself.

JD gave Kaiya a once over as if to ascertain how she was doing. They hadn't had much time to talk since the miners… He wondered if she was holding up as poorly as he was, and just so happened to be fairly good at hiding it.

Like he was.

 

[Megasis]

"I'm no engineer, O'Malley. Your guess is as good as mine," Gryffon said as they began their trek down the metal corridors. He suddenly wished they had something to go off of… to make their way back or make marks on the metal to tell where they've been. They moved silently besides the light clip clop of their footsteps upon the metal grating… that is until Verlaine began speaking.

"I have a bad feeling he's going to be real pissed by the time we get there," Kaiya said softly, although a hint bitter, as she could hear his voice now: you let a few lives compromise our mission! The mission to keep Morley alive and well… sure. Sounded like a pretty personal mission though… yet she kept these bitter thoughts to herself.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the voices boomed through the air, which one, she thought was not smart on their part, but two, that they were actually human! Seemed as though they were running across survivors left and right… which bumped up the positivity within her just a bit.

"Anderson? Parker!" Relief washed across his face at seeing more familiar faces. Perhaps they were beginning to get a handle on this whole situation. "Yeah, it's me… shit your kidding." He frowned at the mention of the AI. This was beginning to be a real problem. "I could use some better news than that, guys."

All eyes turned to Verlaine as he yelped and Gryffon nearly aimed the barrel of his pulse rifle at the man, searching for the enemy, but it was merely the electronic and he felt his teeth clench. Well… that certainly was not great for them. "Of all things to go wrong…" He should just be glad more important things weren't crashing and burning… although he wondered how long it would be before all that happened. "Stay safe, fellas," he said in departing although his mind wandered to the creature of which they spoke.

How could there… be so many? In quantity and quality?

The question was constantly bothering Kaiya yet she thought even if she knew the truth that she would be unable to wrap her fragile mind about it. It was just… the things they had seen to this point were… fictional monsters! They shouldn't exist… it felt like they were all trapped within a nightmare… and it only seemed to be getting worse. She couldn't dwell too much on the matter, fearing it would drive her to insanity… then she wouldn't be able to help anyone. People often… reacted badly to things that their minds could simply not comprehend.

Fingers shaking of their own accord on her weapon, she moved with the group, although when she felt eyes on her, her own flickered about before arriving on JD, meeting his gaze for but a moment before trying a grin that she assumed did not look too genuine…

It seemed quiet for far too long.

Rounding another corridor, this one seemed to open up to several branching paths of which none of them knew where they led. A couple paths also opened up into a more open space, like a room, except with nothing but piping and terminals lighting up the smokey darkness.
Gryffon would let out a frustrated sigh… they needed more tactic behind this! They didn't have time to wander and enjoy a tour of engineering at this moment! "Well shit…" He didn't have to ask as he knew that nobody had the answer…. but where the fuck were they supposed to go now?

Yet, he wouldn't get a chance to ponder when Kaiya froze, her eyes widening as her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. She felt… trapped… like an animal being stalked by a predator… is this what it felt like…? "I heard something." It could have been her mind playing tricks on her… but no… she was certain. She whipped her head about, trying to find the source of the noise. It was… like a little chirp… then a clicking… soft but there she was sure!

They stopped… listened… yet nothing. Gryffon looked to the doctor and put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "We gotta keep moving, doc… it's nothing."

"No, there-!" She choked out and pointed around a bend, although by the time Gryffon looked to where she was pointing, the thing had dove back, naught to be seen. Brows furrowed slightly in concern on the man's face as he looked to the doctor… was she starting to crack?

"Doc… nothings there," he said slowly as if it would help her comprehend the fact, yet she shook her head and wrenched her shoulder from his grip, aiming the plasma cutter in her hands at the spot she had seen… well she didn't know what it was… but it was there!

"Theres something. fucking. there," she retorted firmly.

Then a piercing scream, almost animalistic, yet it didn't come around the bend she had been aiming at! The shriek had come from behind them, a grotesque form barreling at them with quickened speed on two legs with claws stretching out toward them.

 

[Dipper]

The two seemed happy to get back to work, bidding them farewell with a wish of good luck and a warning. There was something stalking the halls, they'd said, but its identity remained a mystery and neither of them seemed interested in finding out. They, meanwhile, were quite content to stay where they were and keep watch worked on getting through to the AI. There could be another way to get to those engineers if they continued along through engineering, so Anderson asked them to keep an eye out.

JD just walked. Whatever it was, the sooner they found Gryffon's team the safer they would be. And the faster they got out of these halls... He didn't want to know what stalked them, either. His nerves were already on fire with every step they took. The idea that something was watching them wouldn't be any help to his mental state.

Verlaine lagged behind, rubbing absently at his wrist. He'd descended into muttering again; he seemed to take up that habit when injured or too afraid to do anything else.

As long as it keeps him calm, JD thought, guiltily. Verlaine panicking, or any kind of elevated emotion, wouldn't do them any good. At least the knowledge that Cass was close by - and happy to hear from him, surprisingly - was enough to lighten the mood. Still, those mutterings had only gotten stranger since his time in the medbay, less nonsensical and more... disturbing. Mentions of unity and yearning, and something akin to a great hunger that didn't seem like it'd come from Verlaine at all. That he'd quickly go from Verlaine to a mumbling mess never ceased to unsettle JD.

"Could've sworn I heard something too," JD said. "Maybe that's just the engines? We're on an old ship..."

He leaned around the corner, but there was nothing but another room full of monitoring equipment and spare zero-g suits lining the wall behind the monitors.

Then the shriek came. JD wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to match that noise, but what he saw once he turned around was not it. A horrifically mutilated body greeted them, with a grimacing skull-like head unlike that of any human's and a loping, bipedal gait on inhuman legs that gave off the impression of an emaciated animal. JD pulled off one poorly-aimed shot that only clipped it in the shoulder, drawing an enraged squeal but not stopping its charge.

He'd never been hit so hard in his life. With all the force of a wrecking ball, it blew right through them, its ridged skull like a battering ram that bowled them straight over - or just JD, but he secretly hoped he wasn't the only one thoroughly flattened by that creature like a pathetic rag doll. And then it sprinted right past them, into the adjoining corridor, only to disappear behind the rows of computer towers and monitors an instant later.

And it was quiet. The only evidence of it being there at all was JD now lying flat, stunned, with his line gun discarded beside him. He blinked dumbly up at the ceiling.

"Beautiful..." Verlaine groaned and shook his head, kneeling beside JD. "Hey, you alright?"

"Uh..."

"Hope that's not your blood."

He felt bruised. He checked quickly for broken bones and found only bruises, no lacerations despite the blood cooling on his shirt. One shot landed, didn't it? It must be the creature's blood.

"I'm good," he said. "What was that?"

Verlaine helped him to his feet. "It's still here. R-right in the next room. Ran right past us, an' didn't even... What if there are more?"

"If there are more," he retrieved his line gun from where it was lying on the floor, "then we're screwed. That thing was fast."

Their first experience was with the relatively slow human looking ones. They were dangerous when close, but from afar, JD was confident he could stop them in their tracks. On the other hand, there were these, who charged them at full speed, faster than he could properly react. In close quarters, they could be devastating.

Steadying himself against the wall, JD leaned once more around the corner. The monitors were still in place, the lights dim, and no creature to be found. He could have sworn... It's not like it had anywhere to go, with the doors closed. Which meant the creepy bastard was hiding in there, it had to be-- those claws were too long to climb with, and it didn't look particularly agile, just fast. The vents above were closed. JD sank his teeth into his lower lip before taking the plunge, stepping out into the next room with his line gun ready.

Verlaine pointed. "I see it! Look, look-- behind the computer, see?"

Sure enough, a pair of beady eyes stared out at them, set deep within a morphed face of bone and slimy tissue. The patter of bony feet sounded behind them.

 

[Megasis]

The scream that came from none of them seemed to startle all the beings in the corridor, leaving even Gryffon shocked to the point that he didn't have time to pull up his weapon. Instead, he instinctively pushed the doctor to get her out of the way, only to slow his own reaction to the thing of which clipped the right side of his shoulder, sending him toppling. A loud swear sounded, yet he would catch himself upon the side of the corridor with only an aching throb in his arm. However, he vastly preferred that to leaking red all over the place.

"Shit… everyone good??" He called as he attempted to get his bearings. That thing had come out of nowhere!!

With the amount of force Gryffon had shoved her, he sent her stumbling into the opposite wall, and although thankful, her back smacked against the hard ridged metal, a flash of searing pain making a startled cry come from her lips. Fuck-! That had been right in the stitches-!

Gritting teeth and bearing the intense throb, she tightened her hand into a fist and could only hope that the stitching held as she hurried over to JD on the ground, concern in her eyes. "JD…you okay?" She gasped although she had gotten on the tail end of the conversation, seeing the blood on his shirt and wishing to check over him herself, but he assured it was not his. Seemed as though this thing was different with the rest, with no sharp appendages like the ones seen so far. Instead, the thing was built like a blunt object, meant to break bones and burst organs with sheer force.

Sounds like they didn't have much time to waste anyhow as Verlaine said the creature was still close. Swallowing hard against dry throat, her eyes flicked to the corridor Verlaine was motioning to. She was still confused though… her mind not letting go of the thought that she had seen something around a different corner. The hair raised upon her arms.

Gryffon stepped in behind JD, sweeping to the right to give the guy some back up. He really wasn't kidding when he had joked about JD needing to transfer to security. If the guy was scared, he really wasn't showing it and only continued to barrel through obstacles that set Gryffon's own heart pounding. Making eye contact with the beast, Gryffon growled and raised his pulse rifle. "Die you slimy bastard-!!" but would only get a few rounds off before Kaiya let a yell of surprise as another one of those things came running at them from around another corner.

Swinging around, Gryffon began firing pulse rounds even though the target was not necessarily between the cross hairs, teeth clenched tightly. He heard the shrill of the creature in the dark, managing to once again veer off course, but not down the creature. So there were multiple-

Then his body was sent pitching forward as the one behind the computer screens dashed toward him with a grandiose shriek. A cry of pain, and he was tumbling on the ground as the creature made an attempt to scramble out of the room and surely it had the upper hand as any sane person would be throwing their bodies out of the way of its barreling path.

"Gryffon!!" Kaiya let off a few rounds of the plasma cutter, but with the damn thing operating extremely different from the pistol she was used it, she missed and swore under her breath before hurrying to Gryffon to drag his ass off the floor. "We can't mess around with these things! They're going to deplete our ammo," she said worriedly as even though JD and Gryffon managed to land hits, they did not down any of them thus far… and if there were two, who knew how many there were??

With sweat trickling from brow, Gryffon rested a hand against his aching back where the creature had smacked into it full force. He was lucky the thing hadn't busted his spine. As much as it worried him that they were only going to be followed the full way to his team, it seemed like the best option until they had more resources to work with… of which he team was just that. A resource.

"Let's get a move on then… hurry! Just pick a corridor!" They didn't have time to think about it any longer. They needed to move. Once he was able, with a slight pinch to his breath, Gryffon scrambled to his feet, having to use the wall to help himself along when his feet stumbled from the hitch in his side. He didn't know if he was just paranoid, but he thought that besides the pounding of their feet on the metal grating that he could hear the clicking of the creatures gnarled feet behind them. That only encouraged his feet to move faster-

Until he turned a sharp corner and smacked into something hard.

Falling on his ass for the second time in minutes, he swore and raised his gun only to meet an equally startled face staring back at him. "Fuck, Vega…! Get the hell up, where did you come from?!" Another of his squad that he remembered leaving back with Cass.

"Thought you might need back up! We could hear your sissy yelling from all the way down the corridor!" He gasped, although his friendly jab seemed not too convincing as he also looked nearly ready to shit himself. "Hurry, down this way and to the left, we're held up in one of the monitor rooms…" And he really didn't know how much longer they could stay there. They barricaded the door, but had heard many a strange noises coming from out in the hallway… if they were found, there was no doubt that it wouldn't be long before those things found a way inside.

Following Vega's direction, they all hastily made their way down the hall to where the room was. Hurrying inside, Vega began to once more barricade the door with a large shelving unit, grunting with the effort, but eventually scraping it across the floor to cover the door. In the end, he really didn't know how much good it would do…

"Shit… you guys actually made it…" Cass, laying in a corner, the beginnings of a puddle forming of her blood on the floor beside her. One of the men was pressing a soaked red bundle of fabric to a wound in her middle.

"C- Berk," Gryffon looked like he wanted to go to her, but when there was a rattling at the door, his insides jumped and he turned swiftly, aiming his weapon at the door. "Doc, we'll give you as much time as we can. But please hurry," he practically pleaded. The others of security, looking to be about five others besides Cass, rose and went to the door as well, looking pale and frightened with the thought of what was pounding against the door.

She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news… but with the severity of the wound she could clearly see from afar… she did not think the head of security should be moving about any time soon. Yet, it appeared that they wouldn't have the luxury of time. She would do what she could… and hopefully it would be enough. She hurried to her side and pulled off her bag, dumping out supplies. "I thought there were more of you… more injured. What happened??" She asked and the man holding the bloodied rag against the wound with trembling fingers shook his head.

"Those things found us… we needed to relocate and… and…" He closed his eyes tight and swore. He didn't have to say anything further. They had to leave them behind.

She swallowed hard and bit the inside of her lip, grabbing a bundle of new rags and stuffing them against the wound. She couldn't think about it. They did what they had to…

 

[Dipper]

The next few minutes were a blur to JD. Just pick a corridor. Reasonable, if he could make his brain think straight for longer than a few seconds. The terror of the experience, which he kept hidden behind a well-wrought mask of stoicism and confidence, was wearing him down. A budding ache in his ribs didn't help matters, as the simple act of holding onto his line gun was taxing.

Another friendly face. He couldn't enjoy the relief because only moments later they were off again to where the rest of Gryffon's team was holed up, JD too rattled to care and Verlaine so tightly wound after the encounter that JD worried he'd clammed up again. Once they were out of harm's way, JD found a place apart from the rest where he sat, tossed his line gun at his feet, and leaned back until his head struck the steel wall. His heart pounded away inside his chest, a veritable jackhammer against his already aching ribs. His fingers fluttered across his chest, grazing new bruises and what might be a cracked rib or two.

No wonder every gulp of air hurt like hell.

"Cass?!"

Verlaine was by her side in an instant, relief washing over his features at the sight of her. The reality of her injuries seemed to dawn on him a moment later, hands drawn tight to his chest as if he were uncertain whether to touch her, help, or back off.

"Shit, you're not looking too good..."

"I think she knows that." JD scoffed. He closed his eyes and tried to shut it all out.

Verlaine ignored him and sat close by in a half-sitting half-crouched position, arms across his knees. "There's gotta be dozens of 'em! How the... how the fuck are we supposed to get out of here?"

JD felt his headache spike. His whole ribcage stung and burned like a bitch with every breath. With a quiet groan, he threw one arm over his eyes and spoke only as loud as necessary. "Can't we just... wait? I mean... they've got to move on... eventually..."

"Or they'll crawl through the vents and kill us that way," Verlaine snapped, eyes narrowed. "The hell? You alright over there?"

"Think I cracked a, uh, a rib. Or two. Bruised to hell too-- don't worry about me."

And so Verlaine didn't. Triage, and all that. Cass looked like she'd been gored and battered at the same time, but JD didn't want to venture a guess when those things that did it were probably still out there. Any of them could end up just as hurt. He'd rather not tempt fate, ridiculous as the concept was. No, he was fine right here, pretending the world outside this little room didn't exist, and he didn't mind be able to close his eyes a moment and let the mask slip.

He was tired, he hurt, and terror had sunk its icy claws deep into his brain, so firmly rooted that it was as if it'd always been there. He stretched out his legs and kicked the line gun away. He didn't want to think about it.

"You just hang in there, Cass," Verlaine murmured to her, leaning in close. His respect for personal space was vented long ago. "This doc's a good one. She'll get you all fixed up and kicking ass again, don't worry."

With that, Verlaine sat back to give them all some space. Like JD, he looked ready and willing to take a good hour or two of shut eye, but was far too wired to actually gain anything from it. Both of them were worn thin. So rather than take up space at Cass's side, Verlaine backed up and scooted away, still within range should they need his help but far enough that his gangly form wouldn't inhibit the doctor's work. Poor bastard just got attached; JD warned him he'd end up crushed, but Verlaine never listened. If Cass didn't make it out - and JD had the niggling suspicion that she may not have long - then Verlaine would shut down all over again, or worse.

Which would leave him with only Kaiya. His list of people to trust was short on names. If Morley was still alive... he was reliable, at the very least. He'd never lied before, odd behavior notwithstanding. If JD was in desperate need of an ally then he could probably do worse... Really, all of this had to be his paranoia talking again. Damn ship was crawling into his skull and planting crazy shit there just to screw with him. Verlaine knew it, he knew it. The Tararui had gone to hell and they all could feel it. The creatures alone couldn't be the cause. Nothing was that simple.

Pushing himself onto his knees, JD shuffled forward to get a look at the head of security, a little more balanced than he had been when they arrived. No less achy, just as tired.

"How's she doing, Kaiya? Need anything? They probably have more medical supplies lying around somewhere..." He jumped when a heavy, wet thud bounced off of the door and reverberated throughout the room. "... Maybe they've got loose furniture around here..."

That worked. He rolled onto his hand sand knees and rose steadily to his feet. There were cabinets on the far side of the room that these people likely already went through, so he figured he'd go through them again just to be sure. To keep his mind off of things. Nothing stood out to him other than a roll of tape, gloves, boxes of magnetic tool attachments, and a poor engineer's guide to jury rigging - paper edition. He pulled on the gloves and shut the drawer.

The monitors showed static. Their corresponding terminals were still hooked in and powered, but without an engineer's permissions they were useless.

That AI was still loose, judging by the hushed, repeating message streaming consistently through the PA system, so quiet he couldn't make it out. An emotionless computer warning. Breaches and oxygen levels, shutdowns and 'this area is off limits, please leave immediately'. But from here, nothing could touch them. At least they had that on their side if the AI decided to get rebellious.

JD returned to the others, one hand rubbing tenderly at his side. "Engineers get all the pockets. That, or someone scavenged this place before we arrived."

 

[Megasis]

"Jean…" Cass's eyes, hardened with the pain of her injuries, glanced over to Verlaine, feeling her brows furrow just slightly with the strain as the doctor began prodding at her wound. She let out a raspy chuckle, one that didn't seem to actually hold any mirth as her eyes wondered back to the ceiling, closing occasionally as she bared Kaiya's healing hands. "Here I was hoping I looked better than I felt," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Having to cut away at the fabric of the officer's suit to get a clear view of the wound… it did not look great, definitely not as clean of a cut as her own had been, and it the bleeding was to stop she was definitely going to have to stitch it. Yet, all the jagged and rough edges would prove it to be a harder job than she wished it to be.

Before Kaiya had a chance to even say it, Cass did first and winced deeply as Kaiya injected medication into her body. "D-don't think I'll be moving anytime soon…" Of which Kaiya already knew… but was slightly relieved she would not have to attempt to convince the officer of this.

She hadn't even noticed JD was in such a condition… having been a little preoccupied with the woman who was quickly bleeding out. Turning her head to look over at JD who was in obvious pain, her eyes widened slightly and her heart began pounding that much harder. Swearing under her breath, flashes of concern appeared on her features as she worked on Cass diligently for now she did have another patient that she needed to attend to.

Although she couldn't do much about fractured ribs without heading back to the medical bay…

"JD please just rest… I'll take a look at you when I'm finished over here." Verlaine might not have continued worrying, but Kaiya certainly did as her fingers worked skillfully at trying to stitch together the jagged pieces of skin surrounding the open gash in her side. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but she would end up asking the question anyway. "Cass, what did this to you?" She asked softly of which Case smirked in what looked like delirium, giving another one of those mirthless chuckles.

"Tiny little fuckers… didn't think they would be able to do as much damage as they did. Traveled in a group like cockroaches and began leaping up onto our bodies and tearing through anything they could. Had enough on me they broke through my armor and did.. well.. this…"

Yet another enemy type and once again Kaiya was thrown into confusion at how this had happened so quickly…

For once, Cass didn't recoil back from the man that she knew was infatuated with her. Whether because she physically couldn't or because she was sick of trying to push him away… she would probably convince herself that it was the first. She wouldn't say anything, but she would let her head bob to the side, which placed her temple against Verlaine's knee as she continuously winced at the sharp pains of the doctor stitching her up, until he decided to move away.

Finishing the first round of stitches, Kaiya sat back for a moment, thinking the woman needed a break by the strain on her face and the sweat beginning to trick along the sides of her face. With all of them in this tiny room it was beginning to get warm, not to mention they were all panicked with higher heart rates than normal. She reached up and passed her wrist over her own slick brow, easing hands atop thighs as she let out a soft sigh. "She's hanging in there… could use some additional rags or anything of the sort if you can find any-" but stopped herself and looked to him with a furrowed brow as her brain caught up with the fact that he was up and moving. "JD you shouldn't be moving if you don't have to," she instructed, but it was futile as he rose to check out the cabinets anyway.

She turned her attention to the security team for but a moment. "How's the door holding up?" Her voice sounded just as another firm metallic thud against the door, making everyone nearly jump in their spots.

"Holding. Surprisingly," Gryffon called back. His mind was racing as he didn't know their next course of action. If they wanted to get out of here… they would have to open up the door and fight their way through these things which honestly felt like suicide. Perhaps it was all in their best interest to stay put just as JD had said. But for now… that is what they had to do anyway until Kaiya finished up her work.

"I'm almost finished, but I don't know how much we should be moving her," Kaiya warned, just as a heads up. She needed rest… just like the rest of them. She felt like they were all barely holding on. With her hands busying themselves, she had to make a final pass of stitching along the woman's torso before finishing it off with bandages. She looked pale, having lost a lot of blood and she wasn't out of the woods yet even though Kaiya had successfully stopped the bleeding. Internal hemorrhaging could still occur with things going on inside that she couldn't see, or infection from those things… it was just too up in the air. Yet, she had done all she could.

"Rest… try not to move if you can," Kaiya said softly after finishing up her bandaging. Bloodies fingers wiped themselves as best they could on the front of her jeans before rising to her feet and coming to JD, curling her fingers about his arm. "While we have the time, I'd like to take a look at you," she said as her eyes passed over the spot he had been rubbing a moment ago. She wouldn't take no for an answer and would guide him back to the corner where he had been a moment ago, urging him to lay down.

"If you actually fractured a rib, there won't be much I can do…" She said softly, worry creasing her brow as she lifted his shirt to his neck and carefully began her examination. Her eyes picked up a lot of dark bruising already beginning along his body, which she could have imagined from the blow he had taken from that creature. Fingers gently prodded and pressed, taking note of when his body tensed or his features scrunched up from pain. They traced the line of each rib… and would find them all in tact which made her breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, there were spots she was particularly worried about, like where she could see he was in obvious pain and had dark bruising around and would come to conclusion. "No full breaks, but you could have definitely cracked a couple…" Her eyes moved to his with clear concern etched into her own as her hand lingered upon his chest. "I can give you something for the pain, but you have to take it easy… if you fully break a rib, it could pierce an important organ."

 

[Dipper]

"Yeah... Hey, thanks." His pain was manageable so long as he stayed still. He found that he didn't want to move at all-- not because it hurt, or because he was tired, but that having her close was... rather nice, actually. Not quite soothing, if he was honest. He still had too much to worry about. She was a nice person to be around, though, easy on the eyes and not the least bit incompetent. Really, he was thankful she'd joined him and Verlaine. His friend would be dead, and him? He'd curled up in a corner somewhere in agony.

JD let his posture slip, let himself relax into the pain rather than attempting to shunt it entirely. Acknowledging that it was there and very, very real, somehow made it hurt less. He curled one arm around his middle and squeezed his eyes shut, riding out the wave in exhausted silence.

Before she even thought to move away, he took her hand and squeezed. "Really. Jean would be dead for sure. Not that I couldn't have gotten him out eventually, but... having someone keep an eye on him helps. I'd hate to go this alone."

Then he let her go and went back to cradling his still aching ribs, wishing he were anywhere else. He ran a hand through his hair to clean it up and let his gaze wander to Verlaine, who was still seated by Cass. Cass normally never gave him the time of day, but her injuries seemed to have worn her down in the past few hours, rendering any kind of comfort, even from Verlaine, acceptable. Verlaine, meanwhile, looked like he'd very much appreciate the chance to touch her, but refrained from doing so.

No big surprise. He used to brag that he'd get her eventually. Now that she was so close, he'd clammed up and kept his hands to himself.

"Looks like none of us are going anywhere."

He let his eyes drift shut again. He tried his best to ignore the scraping and wheezing on the other side of the door.

Verlaine sat back on his heels. "This is fucked."

"Sure is," JD muttered.

And that was all he could think to say. He wouldn't lie-- nothing was going well, not with Cass's injury, his ribs, or their dwindling numbers. Not with those things outside, still hissing. They'd gone quiet for now, but how long did they have before the noise and attempts to breach their only escape started up again?

"Not like we're going anywhere," JD said. "I don't think those things can get in. Can they?"

"Uh..." Verlaine twisted around toward the door. Outside, things had gotten quiet. With a nervous swallow, Verlaine turned his attention back on Cass. "No."

"Then I think I'll just... lie here a bit."

"Yeah..."

Verlaine shifted and eased himself onto his back beside Cass, with enough space between them as to not look clingy. JD hummed with lazy, amused laughter at his friend's antics.

"Hey, Ver, remember that movie with the, er, plant-people on the garden world?"

A snort. "Botanist's Bane: Rise of the Brain-Eating Flytrap."

"Remember the spores that turned people into goo...?"

"... I don't really wanna remember that, JD...."

"No, I get that, but think about it. What if?"

JD scraped the heel of his boot along the floor, where it caught on a ribbed hatch with no apparent latch. In fact, he probably wouldn't have noticed it at all had he not been stretched out like he was. Maybe it was a passage under engineering, or a panic room for some paranoid engineer. He reached out with one hand and pried at the edge. No dice. Sealed, or maybe locked from the other side. The AI, branching out beyond its assigned section? Speaking of the AI.... Those engineers were completely quiet. Even with their comms jammed, something always got through.

Ah, well, nothing for him to do now. He couldn't force it open even if he tried, not with his ribs stinging like broken glass under his skin. Shit, it hurt. They weren't even broken.

"Still with us, Cass?" Verlaine folded his hands behind his head. "No one's goin' anywhere, don't worry. You just rest up."

 

[Megasis]

Her fingers left his torso in order to go back to her bag to rummage for some medication that could ease his pain, but before she could do so, she felt his fingers curl around her own and she blinked in surprise as the tender gesture. It came out of nowhere and she was honestly a little stunned for words at his sudden seriousness, but in the end she felt the corner of her lips tilt upward in a small grin and found her fingers return the act of pressure about his fingers. "You… really don't need to be thanking me. I'm glad I was there. I… well… I wouldn't want to do this alone either, so… thanks for coming back for Verlaine."

Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to her? She probably would have ended up going with the team down to engineering and been one of the ones left behind after the attack.

A newfound bold streak within her, she reached forward to gently pass fingers against his jaw, almost nonchalantly as if it were the most casual action to do in the world before she pulled back, her fingers slipping out of his own. "Here let me just... see what I have," she said before reaching for her bag and digging through it to pull out a syringe that held pain relievers. She took his arm, cradling the base of his elbow before injecting the medication into his forearm. "Toradel, just a simple NSAID. It'll ease your pain and bring down any swelling around your ribs." It also might make him a little drowsy… but as stated before they really couldn't go anywhere at the moment. Not while those creatures blocked the door. They would either have to wait for it to quiet down out there or sit around until they found a way in and tore them all to shreds…

"Looks like…" Gryffon said with a sigh and lowered his gun after it was apparent that none of those things would be getting past those doors anytime soon… yet he wasn't stupid enough to let the door go unguarded. "I'll take first watch. Everyone else, be smart of you to get some rest if you can. First sign of things going to shit… well… isn't like this room is huge." Sure enough everyone would know if something was wrong… but a yell or the sound of his gun going off.

Kaiya sighed softly and ran a hand over her face wearily, feeling the fatigue hit now that she had gotten off of her feet and was sitting on the floor beside JD. She felt as though she really could just pass out, no matter the fear and adrenaline running through her body just moments ago. "Agreed…" she affirmed softly at Verlaine's comment.

"If they do, we won't be going down without a fight," Gryffon assure of which the other officers gave a small nod although not looking the most convinced. They looked scared shitless… ready to just end it if it came down to it. That wasn't a very happy thought either though…

So that confirmed their situation… to wait around until things calmed down outside their door. Seemed as though those engineers would simply have to wait until they could get to them… yet with the AI in the way, there really was no way to get to them.

"Here… JD," Kaiya brushed her bag aside after everything was packed up within once more just in case they had to make a quick getaway, then scooted herself up against the wall, for her back to lean up against, then gave a little inviting pat upon her thigh. "C'mon, don't make this weird," she said with the smallest smirk upon her lips as she guided him to lay back, resting his head upon her lap so that he could stretch out and hopefully not agitate his ribs any further. "Just rest… you'll need it. And the rest of us will now try not to have nightmares of plant zombies… thanks for that image," she said teasingly although the grin didn't exactly meet her eyes for she was looking just as worn out as the rest of them. Some shut eye, even for a few minutes… that sounded nice.

"Tryin'…" Cass murmured although her skin seemed to lighten by two shades already with dark circles beginning more prominent beneath her eyes. She had weirdly felt his presence shift closer again and turned her head sluggishly to look at the man who she always found to be such an annoyance… such a… bumbling but somehow charming fool. Verlaine… he just never knew when to give up. Although i these moments she could feel herself appreciate this aspect of him. Her eyes blinked open, fingers gently perched upon her bandaged torso. She didn't dare move for she was worried about the bouts of pain that would jolt through her at merely reaching to itch her nose! "Thanks, Jean…" she said softly and would hold his gaze for but a moment before closing them again. She was ready for a long rest…

 

[Dipper]

"Yeah, no problem," Verlaine said, wriggling until he was comfortable.

If JD didn't know any better, he'd expect Verlaine to squeeze in just a little bit closer. But he didn't. Obsessive as he could be, he wasn't the type to push too hard.

"... Okay, I guess." JD was aware that, deep down, he shouldn't feel this tired at all, and that he'd slept several hours ago so he didn't need the rest, but the hard floor was starting to look rather inviting, and he'd be a fool not to take the chance. Awkwardness of the position aside, her offer wasn't too bad. He did as asked, stiffly trying to find a comfortable position and when he did, he settled in quite nicely. "It's a good movie, by the way," he said before closing his eyes for the final time. "We can watch it when this is all over..."

Gryffon was trustworthy. If he said he'd take watch, then take watch he would. JD was quite content in letting his worries drain away, if only for an hour, and when the time came, he'd happily take over the job, if only to think.

JD let his mind wander. The Virgo, in its cradle. The engineers, dead or alive. The scratching at the walls, imagined because he was sure he was chipping away at his own sanity. With the painkillers taking effect, JD found himself dozing off within a matter of minutes. He dreamed of long hallways and horror flicks and growling, twelve foot plant people.

Not bad.

-

For the first time it what felt like weeks, JD eased into awareness slowly. He'd been... dreaming, hadn't he? They were in engineering with the security team. Monsters that charged them like battering rams.

He stretched his arms out stiffly. Only then did he notice Verlaine, peering down into the opened hatch JD noticed earlier.

"What're you doing?"

"Noises," Verlaine said, voice wobbling.

That woke him up. "Yeah?"

"Voices."

"I don't hear any voices," JD murmured, throwing an arm across his eyes. "Go back to sleep, Ver. How'd you open that anyway?"

It was closed tight the last time he checked, so he'd ruled it out as a potential escape route. But since Verlaine got it open, then maybe he ought to revise that. Still, he was too tired to do much beyond lie about, as he'd gotten quite comfortable in his position and could use another hour or so of sleep. Maybe he wouldn't wake up here at all and all of this would turn out to be one big nightmare after too many bad movies and shit food. It wouldn't be the first time.

That apparently didn't do it for Verlaine, who shot to his feet and kicked the hatch all the way open. "Don't ignore this! I can hear it!"

"Sit down!" JD's voice was a hoarse whisper, but at this point keeping their quarrel quiet wasn't going to happen. "There's nothing there, just sit down. People are sleeping."

"... I'm gonna see what's down there..."

JD didn't have a chance to reply before Verlaine jumped down into the hatch, tall enough for his boots to reach the bottom while the crown of his head peaked out, hair flatted with sweat.

"You're just going to leave Cass?" JD hissed. There was nothing for him to do, however. Verlaine's mind was set, and with JD aching fiercely and far too tired, getting up to pull him back would cause more trouble than it was worth. At least Verlaine didn't have the wild eyes of a man gone insane, he was just... scared. Scared of whatever was outside, he reasoned. The hatch was probably nothing. A safe room.

"No," came Verlaine's shaky voice, echoing and thin. "She's asleep, I'll be right back."

And then he disappeared, boots thudding dully against the floor. JD looked back up at the ceiling and squeezed his eyes shut, willing for a few more minutes of true sleep, but now he was wide awake and wasn't sure he'd accomplish such a task. Not with Verlaine's erratic behavior to worry about.

Give him a few minutes, he thought. Then I'll go.

 

[Megasis]

Placing hands casually upon her torso, folding her fingers together as if to secure them there for it was not like she was used to the action of males laying upon her lap. Still… his presence was rather comforting with the heat coming from his head upon the resting spot of her thigh. Easing her head back against the wall and letting her eyes droop, she could feel her fatigue settle in quite quickly.

He mentioned something of the movie… the plant movie? Her eyes drifted shut and she felt the corner of her lips upturn just the slightest. "That sounds… nice…" she said softly as the moment her lids rested over her weary eyes, the fog that was sleep would begin to creep into her mind.

Then, darkness, for as tired as she was, the ability for the crazy to seep in and taint her rest would not be there for her mind was even too tire to dream. Sometime during her sleep, her head would bob to the side and limp hands would slide down her torso until the backs of fingers on one of her hands came to rest against the softness of JD's hair.

It would surely not feel long enough when the urgent whispering of voices began to drag her lazy mind out from slumber. First, a twitch of fingers, then, a hitch of breath as she came to and her breathing became deeper and conscious instead of the slow rhythmic rise and fall of sleep state. Brows were furrow just slightly as fingers reached up to rub at an aching neck from having slept in the way that she did, but still, her mind felt… clearer, even if she thought she could have used more sleep.

With a deep inhale, she reached upward and arched her back slightly, feeling bones crack as she stretched… and then once more feeling the presence of warmth about her lap, looking down with a hazy gaze and realizing JD had stayed where she left him. She must have awoken just as Verlaine decided to go check on the noises as she did not see him of which then she grew confused.

"JD…" she whispered softly, slightly rough from sleep as she reached up to brush her shortened hair behind her ear while the other reached down to brush his hair back and away from his eyes. It could have… been misread as affectionate… but if she was being honest with herself, the physical contact felt nice, as if it was reassurance that he was actually there instead of just a trick of her mind.

"Where… where did Verlaine go..?" She asked softly as she looked about, seeming concerned for no one should really be going around by themselves… right? She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and looked around, wondering how long they had been asleep for as it seemed relatively quiet on the outside and when she glanced over, she saw Gryffon was still the one standing watch. Although…

Her brows furrowed slightly as the man that was awake in the corner seemed to be shaking, gripping the pistol in hand and muttering to himself… much like a Verlaine episode. That wiped the sleepy fog from her mind quite quickly. She swallowed hard and her hand went from JD's hair to his shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze before her voice sounded a little louder.

"Hey… Gryffon, you doing alright…?" she asked softly of which the man's nearly twitchy gaze moved to her, clearly unstable… her heart quickened in her chest.

"They're coming… Th-they'll kill us all… want to k-kill… ascendance… w-we shall be f-f-free…"

He was sweating, hands shaking as they clasped tightly upon the pistol, eyes large and form shivering. All things Verlaine had experience with his first episode which meant he could easily become violent.

Her hand shook JD's shoulder if he was not yet rousing from rest to further grab his attention.

"We're safe," she spoke softly, yet firmly, and reached a hand out as if to show she meant the man no harm even though clearly she was not within arms reach of the man. Yet the way he looked at her, she could have been holding a dagger to his throat. "Just… put the gun down. Do not be afraid. We are safe," she tried again, but if anything it only seemed to agitate the man.

"Th-they want u-us…. de-dead…. d-d-dead… to… to… to… m-make us w-whole…"

Gibberish… things that didn't make sense. Her stomach twirled uneasily yet she continued for it was the only thing she could think of to do. She called to him again sternly, "Gryffon… Gryffon snap out of it.." Her voice was laced with fright, but was not a shout for she was afraid of agitating the male security officer who's mind seemed to be unraveling.

"…m-make us whole…m-make us… yes… I will… I-I must… I… we are g-going to die…"

A broken laugh of someone with a broken mind, as he raised himself to his knees and began to drag himself with an almost crazed look upon his features. He smiled, awkward as though he didn't know how to do so, looked straight into Kaiya's own frightened gaze and pointed the gun at her.

"…it wants me to… t-to make us whole… we must… we must… we must… die…"

 

[Dipper]

JD didn't even remember falling asleep a second time. He was up quickly at Kaiya's urging, rolling onto his side and drawing a hiss through his teeth at the sharp pull of his ribs. At least they felt less like they'd shatter with every breath. He could work with that. With one arm wrapped around his middle, he sat up fully and surveyed the room.

"What's going on?" he asked blearily. He swiped a hand across his eyes. "Ver went to check the... There's a hatch around here, somewhere..." He spread his hands out on the floor, probing for the hatch.

There. The door was still popped open just enough to get a hand through. He crawled over and pushed it open all the way and was greeted by the same empty, dark pit Verlaine disappeared into earlier. He wondered what his friend found down there, if anything at all. The fact that he hadn't come back up was curious, but not concerning.

Verlaine would be fine. They'd have heard him if he wasn't.

JD scooted toward it to keep watch, because that's what Verlaine would do in this situation. If he came running, JD would be waiting to pull him out and they'd slam the thing shut. And after that... well, things were quiet outside. Those things wouldn't wait forever when there were others roaming this ship. Far easier, more numerous prey for them. His thoughts were horrible, gut-wrenchingly selfish, but JD didn't much care. He wanted to live.

He really wanted to live.

So when Gryffon started talking, JD felt dread spike within him unlike ever before. Not even Verlaine's ramblings had drawn such a reaction. Verlaine's nonsense unsettled him, but it was just that.

Gryffon's muttering wormed its way into his mind and curled there like an oily, malicious mass behind his eyes. There was an enticing aspect to those words, drawing him in yet also stirring up a nauseous sensation in his gut. JD sat back on his heels, face pale and clammy. Whatever it was, whatever it meant, his own mind rejected it harshly, and it showed in the fine shaking in his arms.

When Gryffon pulled the gun on Kaiya, JD's mind went into overdrive. Torn between grabbing his line gun and knocking Gryffon's out of his hand, he instead stumbled forward, rising to his feet, and stopped.

But it wasn't JD who got there in the end. Verlaine crawled from the darkened depths of the hatch and flung himself like an animal at Gryffon, rabid and wild-eyed. He shouted profanities all the way, fists flying about haphazardly in the hopes that he could land a hit. That's what it looked like he was doing, anyway. JD struggled to actually understand what he was seeing.

Verlaine's movements were too erratic to make sense of. Every nonsensical word he shouted sounded like it came from a torn throat. His fingernails were torn.

What the hell happened?

"Cheater, liar, selfish bastard! You fucker!" he screamed between labored breaths. "M-make... Make us whole, he says! Y-you saw it, you saw it, I saw it! Take me first, I'm first! M-m-my turn! You damned-- aaagh!"

None of it made sense to JD, who'd frozen on his knees and had yet to rise. There was nothing for him to do, lest he get himself shot or pummeled by a stray fist.

"I saaaw their... their... faces." He kept trying to make grabs for Gryffon's throat. "You didn't! I go first!"

"Verlaine!"

"No! No, no, no! They said I could go first! So I go first!"

JD backed up toward his line gun. "He's lost it," he breathed, choking on the words. "I thought... I didn't think he'd actually..." He checked the ammo counter on his line gun, deciding, desperately, that one of them was going to end up killed, and he'd rather it not be him. If Verlaine weren't swinging his fists about like a madman, going for the throat, JD would pull him off and keep Gryffon in his sights, but getting in there would only worsen his own condition. He couldn't fight with bruised ribs.

All the while, Verlaine screamed. Tears welled up in his eyes and streaked down his cheeks, but the fury on his face was undeniable. And under the hate was the faintest trace of desperate, saddened longing.

 

[Megasis]

"I.. I dont't know…I was hoping you did," her voice was soft, as a quick glance around the room would show that nearly everyone around them were surprisingly soundly sleeping and she did not wish to wake anyone when they were finally getting some shut eye. "A hatch?" she questioned as she had not noticed such a thing before. Yet, she was still stuck on the fact that Verlaine had ventured away from where they were by himself.

"How long ago was that??" Kaiya asked, suddenly concerned, but her eyes would catch that of the deteriorating Gryffon and then any thought of Verlaine went out the door. To be clear of one threat, only to be presented with another…

Time seemed to slow and her body prickled at the words that escaped Gryffons mouth, her eyes staring in disbelief, for not long ago he had seemed… perfectly well composed! What happened?! Frustrated tears welled up within her eyes as mental instability was not as easy of a thing to cure as flesh wounds were. She felt powerless in these situations when the mind seemed to be breaking apart.

And then he pulled the gun on her. She found it to be just as unnerving as staring down one of those creatures skulking in the hallways, for she knew from the dark depths of the pistol would be her demise if Gryffon chose it. She raised hands up slowly, like moving through molasses, her moist hazel eyes widening with the horror of it all for she figured she was as good as dead because Gryffon was gone. His eyes resembled that of the man who had willingly stuck a pen into his eye, wishing for death.

Gryffon wished for her death, his death… everyone's death.

"G-Gryffon… please…" she gasped, hands shaking as they suspended themselves in the air as if it would help her in this situation. Her eyes flickered to that of the silver glinting cross that laid upon his chest and felt herself nearly laugh brokenly at the irony of it all.

Then, another surprise, although not exactly a good one as Verlaine, like a feral creature, flew from the darkness of the hatch and at Gryffon, fists flying, although it was more so the erratic flurry of movement than landing any hits that would draw Gryffon's attention.

If anyone hadn't been stirring from sleep at this point, they now certainly were, voices of slurred horror yelling at the men to stop fighting, yet none made moves toward the duo as though they knew it would mean their demise as well. Frightened cowards, all of them… for how could they not be?

"You go… first." Gryffon repeated, arm outstretched, as he was a bigger man compared to Verlaine and would very easily overpower such an adversary. Yet, with his own mind clearly lost, Verlaine's broken fingernails would swipe and tear at skin, the smell of metallic once again invading the air as fresh blood was spilt…. and to make matters worse, the pounding at the front door began once again. The commotion no doubt would draw attention and now the movements were more desperate than ever, slamming into the metal door.

It was chaos… utter chaos… and Kaiya's heart could barely take it, and for a singular moment she had almost wished that Gryffon had pulled the trigger, to just end it, before those things came in and ripped them all to shreds anyway. At least it would have been done quickly and efficiently. Retracting herself, she became as small as she could, drawing knees to chest and staring in horror as her shaking hands reached up to cup her ears as the tears trickled down her cheeks.

Then, a gunshot, and Kaiya let out a broken scream as blood painted the floor, dripping from the smaller body of which fists no longer traveled through air but hung at sides before the pilot's body crumpled to the floor.

"Verlaine… Verlaine…." Only muttered whispered from Kaiya as she stared at his body on the ground as if this was just one abhorrent nightmare.

And then another shot, although from the opposite end of the room, and eyes would turn to see that Gryffon's pistol did not fire again, but did drop from fingers as a gashing hole had appeared on his forehead, smack in the middle, and then the larger body fell as well, folded in on itself and toppled next to Verlaine's with an very displaced smile upon his lips, nearly peaceful looking as the light faded from the man's eyes.

"Jean…"

Cass' voice, quiet and nearly a croak, tears having trickled down her own cheeks, seeming unaffected by the fact that the door was near to breaking down for her eyes could only stare at the two men in front of her, one of which she had shot herself and the other for whom she held a deep sort of regret for in her eyes. "Fuck…" she gasped and dropped her pistol only to bring her hands to her face as the tears poured of which such emotion has probably never been seen from the head of security. For someone who always looked so strong in the roughest situations now looked just as broken as the rest of them.