OPEN SIGNUPS The Phoenix Nebula

[Verran]

The Ą̵̧̫̥̗͉̪̙̱̩̙̺͖͉̘͉͉̪͕̹̣̖͙͂̀̀̇̈́̑͊̔́͒̊̇͒̐̇͆̓̑̚͜͠͝͝͠Ç̴̢̛̛͕̥̥̪̠̜̘̿̑́̌͌̐̅͆͒͋̀̅̃͒̆̏̐͘͘͝͝L̸̢̤͎͓̖̤̖̯͚̭̦̞̩͚̦͙͇̓̉̓͌̑̾̅̈́̈̍͋̊̿̔͜͜ͅJ̶̡̧͈̻̗̣̖̦̥̙̺͓̩͎̱̲͎͔͖͖̩̏́͋͛̈́͛̽̄̇͊̕̕͘͝K̸̡̪͈̲̝̭̦̣̭͖̯̣͙̤̘̘̲͂̀̾͜ͅË̸̡̨̡̛̜̹̣̭͇̯̜̤̥̣͍͕̫͍̖̝́͗̇̉̋͐̉̀̈́̋́̃̅̀͝ͅD̶̛̤̀͘L̶̢̡̨̧̟̲͚͕̪͍̹̲̭͈͈̹̱̳̞̞̥̺͖̻͎̹̩͚̮̏̀͂̐͑́͗̔̊̆̃̒̈̆̋̃͂̾̍͒̓͘͜͠͠ͅK̶̨̛̫̳̖̥̫̟͓̠̣̘̠̱̪̰̣̥͍͙͇̓͊͆̒̌̍̊͆̉͑̓͗̎̂̾͆̔̈́̓̄̍̾͘̚͘͘̕͜͠͠͝ Meets an Engineer (Collab with @Pigiron )​

The incessant pinging began twenty seconds ago. Eve, knowing full well that the machine could keep up with it, was attempting to hail the suit with absolutely critical information exactly one hundred times a second. Aiko, then, was forced with the choice of either listening to a long, drawn out, and irritating tone as she lay upon her metal bed of pain. Or drawing out the agony by increasing her cognitive perception processing speed but slowing down the rate of pings. Forced with such an impossible choice, Aiko took the obvious alternative.

She forced herself to her feet. The knees wobbled. Threatening to buckle. Silently, the command pulsed from the young woman to the suit. Silver veins flowed from the bed and bloodlessly pierced her skin. Oiling into pores while spreading as thin tendrils within her body. With a sense beyond touch, she felt them. Wrapping around bones, threading through muscles. Aiko cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. She stamped her feet. The pain was still there. A coursing ache that demanded rest. That wouldn't come yet. There was still a job to do. But she could move properly until her body caught up. As intricate as her weave was, it was still crude. Horrendously crude. Born of an intelligent analysis of an alien examining another alien. Thorough. Yet lacking in true understanding.

The doctor, or the ship's medical files on humanity, was needed. An issue to be dealt with. Could she simply take them? Yes, yes she could. Without detection? Doubtful. Her hardware and software, for all their prowess, was as compatible with the Cotopaxi's systems as Aiko was to most sentient species in the known galaxy. No, she'd needed to do it in a…Aiko checked herself. This was getting too far ahead. Avoiding today was no longer an option. The dustridden dream bird had certainly shown her that.

She flicked out the compact mirror. The black eyes stared back. Voids. With a deep, centering breath that suppressed out the continual pings, Aiko let the stars bloom within them. A soft smirk teased its way up her face. Coal black hair, sticking out at obnoxious nightmare angles, was tamed to a simple dream bed-head through tendrils blooming briefly out of her skull. There she was. The girl of taunts and teases. Of japes and jokes. Perfect.

With a fluid motion, Aiko lounged down at her computer terminal and accepted the nagging Eve message with a flourish. "Eve, darling!" she said at mortal speed, "why are you so noisy?"

"Ms. Takeda. Message from the captain."

Aiko leisurely took her time reading the pop-up thinking, two teams? Really goody Gabi? Why must you sunder us so? Afraid I''ll spoil the site for you? Paranoid paranoid. You should be. Giving me the Doctor as a medical watchdog and Blaster as a boom boom watchdog. Someone to be decided shortly. And this Ms. Kin and Mr. Galatea…no idea who they are in person.

She had, of course, met Blaster. The adorable creature was a firework and absolutely disappointed when Aiko had said, quite honestly for once, that she could not blow up an Imperial Cruiser from a standard light year. Well, not as she was currently, anyway. Possible later? No clue. Might need a bigger base sphere though.

"Aiko," Eve chimed.

"Takeda, Eve, when you want a terminal chat," she said while deciding it was high time to pay the Chief Engineer a visit.

"Aiko," Eve insisted, "I'm worried about you."

Aiko very nearly almost but not quite froze. She laughed, "worried? About me?! Eve, you know I'm the most durable piece of hardware inside your innards."

"But when you spoke in that lang…" Eve started.

"Ugh, Eve, darling. What would Imperial hardliners say if they saw an AI going sentimental? 'First it's soft and sweet, but then it'll jack us all to the hardware to compute pi for all eternity! Burn the witch!' Leave it. Trust me." Though Eve's words did bring something home to her. She was speaking Imperial again! Thank goodness, she'd forgotten about that.

"I don't trust you as far as I could throw you!" Eve, growing a bit annoyed, replied.

However, Aiko had entertained this breach in gaming etiquette enough. "Thank you for the message Eve, good day," she said and closed the transmission. Immediately, the ping returned. As did a new one on their personal transmitter. Aiko rolled her eyes and strolled to the entrance of her room. As she went, she extracted the transmitter from the folds of silver. Casually, she displayed it to where she knew one of the hallway cameras was. With a smile, she crushed it between her pointer and thumb. Immediately, the pinging from her terminal stopped. Ah, sweet silence.

One thought ran off to wonder if Eve was going to tell anyone about the exchange. The rest turned away with a huff. If the AI was going to act like a nagging, worried child, Aiko would treat her as such. The day was already shaping up to be horrible as it was. Then, she turned her mind fully to the game of getting to know Perseus.

Aiko elected on her favored way of travel. Undetectable by service crawl-spaces. Whippingly fluidly down the tunnels, she arrived sufficiently above and looking down upon the golden boy from the ceiling just as another engineer was heading off. He looked wonderfully distracted and delectably deep in thought. Positioning herself just right, Aiko oozed out of her camouflaged core. With a silent pop, she plummeted head first with a glittering grin plastered upon her face as she shot past Mr. Galatea on his catwalk as close to his face as the space allowed.

For the brief instant he was in view, Aiko was pleased to see his pensive face suddenly contort into shock with the taste of fear before he whipped out of view. It was followed by a sudden shout of alarm and the sounds of feet stumbling on metal grates. Her suit had no intention of letting her slam into the belly of the Cotopaxi, head first or not, and used the catwalk as the fulcrum of a silent swing that deposited Aiko gracefully onto her feet behind the still reeling engineer. "Hello!" she chimed.

"Crash!" came the cry, Perseus went from reeling away from the sudden movement to reeling into the figure. There was a moment of frantic contortion as Perseus twisted away from the figure before pausing, looking her up and down, and calming down with a sigh.
"That was… Surprising. Judging from the suit, I'm assuming you're the former cryocicle?" Perseus took a moment, before seeming to come to a conclusion. He turned, and began walking over to a break room off of the main engine room, turning slightly to say "Are you a tea person or a coffee person?"

"The one and only Takeda Aiko," she said, "and I'm a tea person. Green tea. So hospitable and polite. Do you greet everybody this way or am I a special case Monsignor? Though I haven't been properly introduced to you. Has someone been hiding you from me? I suppose it has been rather busy."

She examined Perseus with only a thinly veiled critical eye as she followed along. Backed by the footage that her suit continuously took, her portfolio of the man expanded greatly.

Perseus was very clearly comfortable in the suit, (Lustrian general purpose engineering hardsuit model LSC-302, Aiko was helpfully provided,) and moved in the bulky equipment with practiced ease. When he reached the break room in short order, crossing the small abandoned dining area to a set of mag-locked cupboards. Reaching in, Perseus took out a pair of cups as if he wasn't wearing the heavy vac-rated gloves, and placed them into the food-grade matter printer without any of the ham-handedness one would usually expect to see.

"Sure. Green tea for you, Gatofruit juice for me." Perseus stated cheerfully, seemingly a little more comfortable now that Aiko was done being non-Newtonian. The two drinks were quickly prepared, and soon enough the blocky Lustrian had pulled out a chair for Aiko, placed her tea on a mag-coaster on the table, and eased himself into the chair across from her with an "Aah." Perseus took a sip, leaned back, and asked "So, you're interesting. Real interesting, if you don't mind me saying. You've clearly got a lot going on. So why're you down here? What could a space-hero need from a washed-up shipcutter?" It was clear Perseus was kidding about the last part, grinning as he said it. There was self-deprecation there, but the message was clear. Tell me what you need. I want to help.

Smooth, she idly thought as he moved about before sitting down. She didn't bother taking the proffered seat but elected to kneel upon a platform she formed to about the same height he was. "Percy Percy Perseus Galatea, one of the progeny of the previous precocious engineer chief, you move too fast! I drop in and the first thing after you pour the tea is to ask me to spill it. No comments about the weather, which is poor; the agricultural prospects, which are blooming; nor the romantic chances, which seem as high on this vessel as my previous birth. I may need to invest in some noise canceling headphones. You'd think that people would wait until after they survive a harrowing trip into storms before deciding who to wed. But, then again, biology wills."

As she spoke, Aiko traced a circle on the table. Leaving a stream of silver flowing in its wake that spread into the center. Bolts of lightening erupted up from it before they branched into blooming flowers. In turn, their petals turned into the seat of a feminine form that, with each passing second, drifted decidedly more and more familiar.

And there it was, like waves crashing against the shore. Aiko's cloak of chaos. Aiko's third path. Aiko's coping mechanism.
Perseus cradled his cup of juice and smiled a far off smile as he listened to the woman. "I only know what I've heard, and I hear that you're A: dealing with a lot of additional hardware and software, and B: most of the people on this ship want to crack you open to see how you tick." Perseus took a sip "Like you said, my dad was Orion Galatea. Being the apple falling from that tree was… Well, it was a recipe for impossible standards. If I was lucky, people looked at me like I was the future's promise made manifest. If I was unlucky, they saw me as a resource to exploit for their own gain."
Perseus put his cup aside and tried to meet Aiko's gaze. Steady, like. Level.
"Aiko, do you see what I'm-" And it was at this point that Perseus looked down, and saw… A very interesting rendition of a familiar figure. Perseus blinked, looking up at Aiko a little too quickly. "Ah, uh… As for improper affection… How on earth did you figure that one out- Look, I think I have it all under control. I've been up front with Ga-the captain. We're going to sit down and discuss it all after the away mission. She'll set me straight, I'm sure."

Aiko was, of course, seeing exactly what he was saying. And she was going to have nothing of it if she could help it. So, electing not to answer what she already knew, she plunged deeper into the attack. "My, my, so open about your family life. One would almost think you had nothing to hide. But improper? Who said anything about it being improper? Unless, no…Perseus what have you been dreaming about?!"

She let out a cackle. But it wasn't her usual laughter. Which almost seemed to mock as it creaked a disparity of joy. No, here it was a pure bell of mirthful, though teasing, delight. It was also painful, though that didn't come through, as the aches from last sleep's mysteries still coursed through her body. "No wait," she finally choked out, "don't tell me, don't tell me yet. Have you been designing parts of the ship so you two would have the excuse to be close? Oh please say it's so!"

Perseus averted his gaze, for the first time during the conversation, "there's nothing untoward about ensuring the chief engineer is close at hand, in case the captain needs them." He muttered, a slightly brownish hue overtaking his golden cheeks.

She raked the room with eyes anew. Searching for the little hints across the space that softly screamed, 'this is Gabi's and Percy's sacred place. No touchy!' "Of course, of course," she waved, "nothing untoward at all if all it required was a simple lean to reach and kiss her…Dahahahaha! No! No! Is it really that close? On the bridge too? You are an open book, aren't you!"

Perseus broke into a slightly exasperated grin, "yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I am who I am. No point trying to pretend otherwise." Perseus narrowed his eyes; "though, I didn't make any such changes to this area. It's the engineer's break room, Aiko, there's not a snowball's chance in a smeltery that the captain would ever come down here."

Aiko too, quieted down and leaned forward as her laughter died into a small smile. It might have been coy. Or hungry. Might even be craving. "Be careful of your nightmares, Perseus. They come true out here. Mine do."

And, for a moment, long enough for Perseus to see but not long enough for the person who raced towards the room to catch a glimpse, the veil of stars drew back from Aiko's eyes. Revealing the black maws beneath. Sheer depths that drew in all light. That whispered…something. Was it the call to jump? Or to fall into them, forever? But something was down there. Something that… "Careful Percy," Aiko whispered again and the veils snapped shut, "don't get lost in another woman's eyes. She won't like it."

 

[muffinphobia]

all the king's horses, all the king's men couldn't put me together again

the archer

It was nearly pitch black in the captain's quarters as Gabi stepped inside, locked the sliding door via keypad, and slid down to sit on the ground. She pressed her palms to her eye sockets, causing stars to burst, and forced her thoughts of Perseus into a dark corner of her mind. It would be the height of irresponsibility to not use this time to look ahead.

"Eve, lights, please," she said, and a few lamps flickered to life, though they remained on a dim setting. The quarters had taken on an entirely new appearance since passing into her hands. When her uncle had resided here, every surface imaginable had been home to clothes, books, papers, forgotten cups of caf, toys that she and her brother had left behind, parts to various weapons and technology…in short, it had been something of a minefield (one time literally) to navigate. Now, it was extraordinarily tidy, if not too much so - it almost appeared as if nobody occupied the space. The only indications that someone did were the few photographs she had displayed on her desk, as well as her mother's old shawl draped over the back of the couch in the small living area and BD-13's charging station in the corner. He had awoken upon hearing her voice and now hopped over to her, beeping excitedly about their upcoming adventure. She rested a hand on his domed head and tried to smile. "Of course you can come." His answering high-pitched whistle helped soothe her aching spirit somewhat.

She walked through the living area/office combination into the bedroom (more of the same - her only personal effects were her clothes, folded neatly in a drawer) and opened the door to the bathroom. It was lucky that her quarters had one of the few tubs on the ship - it was easiest to focus on the visions when completely submerged. The sensory deprivation did wonders, though she knew someday she'd have to learn not to rely on it. She reached over to the tap and turned the water on, then unceremoniously stripped off her uniform and threw it into the corner. On the counter sat a small mouthpiece attached to two canisters of oxygen, one on either side. It would allow her to breathe underwater for up to two hours, and she slipped it into her mouth before carefully stepping into the tub, taking a deep breath, and submerging herself entirely. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing until it was deep and even. Emptying her mind of thought was a much more difficult task, but eventually the only thing echoing in her mind was the steady cadence of breath. The trance was coming on - she could feel it. Carefully, she reached into her mind and extracted an image of the digitized map of Farsin. Anything. Please.

Images floated to the surface of her mind, dreamlike, but in a jumble that took her a few minutes to sort through. The jungle was predominant, of course. She could feel the humidity against her skin, hear the calls of strange and exotic animals that she'd yet to see. A loud crash sounded in the trees next to her, and she turned her head in time to see suited individuals running from some manner of terrible beast, but when she tried to grasp the image and see who she felt the ground fall out from under her feet.

Now, she stood in front of the skeleton of a ship. The green overgrowth suggested it had been there for quite some time. Fascinating…though the model was troubling. It reminded her of nightmares from the Paranoia War best left forgotten. She turned her gaze from it to an ancient stone building, and she could feel the inexorable pull of something in there…

But then her ears began to ring as if something had screeched directly into them, so high in pitch that she gasped, took a step forward, and lost her balance. As she fell to her knees, the landscape around her went dark. When she looked up, it was into two enormous, black, blazing eyes whose depths seemed endless…

And then she was back in the bathtub. She surfaced with a graceless splash, ripped the mouthpiece from her lips, and tossed it aside, breathing heavily. "What in the hell…" she muttered, becoming aware of how badly she was shaking, followed in quick succession by the fact that someone was speaking to her.

"Captain? Are you all right?" Eve asked gently.

"I-I'm fine." She most certainly was not. It felt like her mind was being pulled apart at the seams, making it nearly impossible to process what she'd just witnessed. That had never happened to her before. Never. "How long have I been under for?"

"About forty minutes. You have several voice memos waiting. One from the hangar bay, two from the bridge, and one from Chief Engineer Galatea's personal comm."

Hearing his name pierced through the fog that was threatening to invade her consciousness. "Play Perseus's first," she said as she climbed out of the tub, legs still shaking, and reached for a towel. As she listened to the memo, her heart sank and continued to do so until it had fallen through the floor. The pain in his voice was palpable as he spoke about being fine with Reginald being first officer and that he wouldn't cause trouble on the mission. Good gods. They were supposed to be best friends, and here she was making him miserable. Did he truly think that she didn't trust him? After everything they'd been through together? That needed clearing up immediately. The thought of what he wanted to talk about post-mission made her anxious - Had he somehow figured out her feelings and wanted to let her down gently? - but regardless, she needed to find him and speak to him in private before they left. She dressed quickly, threw on her hardsuit over it, and grabbed her backpack and flew out the door, forgetting the other messages entirely. BD-13 hopped happily along in her wake.

"Eve, locate our chief engineer for me, please," she said as she strode in the general direction of the hangar.

"He's in the engine room, captain, but I must insist you listen to the message from the hangar bay. There's a problem with one of the shuttles and it won't be ready in time-"

"That's all right. We can all squeeze onto one. Communicate as much to the crew." She had arrived at her destination and went inside. A quick survey of the busy room didn't immediately reveal his whereabouts, so she headed in the direction of the break room. As she stepped inside the smaller, less crowded area, her eyes fell on him speaking to Takeda, of all bloody people. She couldn't say she was particularly thrilled, but it was…fine, considering what she and Reginald had spoken about yesterday. She felt a stab of guilt. You were going to use him. Some friend you are. She approached the pair and, after a brief nod to Takeda, looked at Perseus. "Can I talk to you in private for a minute, please?" she asked quietly as BD-13 nearly lost his cybertronic mind due to the joy of seeing his friend again.

'cause all of my enemies started out friends. help me hold onto you.

Code by Jenamos

 

[Teryn180]

Trion Nixarn, Head Scientist​

Trion slid himself into an empty seat with a panel he could pull up the sensor readings on. That was about the most he could do on a technical level, and he had practice figuring out what readings meant in a practical sense. He was very glad he had plenty of warning for the wormhole jump since it gave him plenty of time to lock down sensory enhancements and mentally prepare. Even with that, it felt about an eternity too long and he hoped no one noticed he was having to try not to gag. The other two biological people he'd brought didn't get hit so hard, but the feeling always made him want to lose his lunch.
He took a moment to compose himself before looking at the sensor feed. "I see the stone structures and they're…old, probably at least centuries. They're too weathered to be very recent at least. I'd need to get to one to give more definite numbers." He told the others before switching to see what Harli was saying about engine discharge. He studied the sensor readings before looking over at Harli. "Particle physics or engine discharge aren't exactly my specialty, but wouldn't the signs of these particles have decayed into undetectability after more than a couple of decades? Certainly not long enough ago to be related to the stone buildings." It wasn't a whole lot to go on, but it would mean that whatever ship came here, it wasn't any longer ago than the Paranoia War. Pleasant thought, that, but the Troubador discovery was from around then, so it was promising. His personal interest was in those buildings though. 'Aurora, we need a camera drone and portable lab. As well as the usual jungle list.' Trion almost missed her telling him that he would be on a team with her and that the other team would need a scientist. 'And tell Zee that she needs to gear up for a scouting mission.' He added to his AI whole nodding to the captain. "I can send Z-er, Ms. Vlare. She's gone on almost as many excavations as I have." They tended to be a lot more casual among themselves, it didn't help that Zee was actually his cousin and they had grown up together, along with Mikael.
Once effectively dismissed by Gabi leaving the bridge, Trion left to go get the things he would need, and meet with his team. Meeting with his team was barely a thing since the four (and their limited-AI assistants) were used to being in constant contact and sharing information already he could start updating them even before he got to them. Still, he could take the time to make sure they were all getting settled in, and get their files uploaded to Eve. He had to make sure that he tagged their medical files as requiring non-standard treatment since none of the three humans were particularly close to being baseline humans anymore in actuality. The four of them weren't too happy about splitting the team, but they were too interested in seeing what was down there and getting to make discoveries to let it cause problems. It took them a bit of time to find all their packed gear, but Trion and Zeetha were both down in the hangar and ready with plenty of time to spare. As was common, they were killing time bouncing theories between the four of them on their personal network. The two were wearing almost identical light armored suits with their helmets hanging on their belts and had similarly almost identical rifles slung over their shoulders. Apparently, their branch of the Resistance had put some effort into making sure their expedition teams had good equipment since both pieces looked advanced and fairly new. The hard-sided backpacks sitting on the floor next to them with their other gear looked new as well. They may have said they were from the middle of nowhere, but they didn't seem to be hurting for funding.

 

[muffinphobia]

(Co-written with Pigiron!)

Perseus looked to Aiko and back at Gabi when the captain walked into the room "That is uncanny." he muttered. "Hi, captain, everything alright?"

"Yes. Well, no, actually, but that's what I want to speak to you about," she said, resolving in that moment to be as honest as possible with him from now on. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along out of the break room, through the engine room, and through the maze of corridors until she'd found one that was relatively unoccupied. After a glance around to ensure they were alone, Gabi released Perseus's hand and turned around to face him.
Perseus' eyes were a little wide, standing there. He clearly hadn't expected his voicemail to have had this kind of effect. She wanted to hug him and assure him everything was fine, but she also didn't want to shock him even further. Instead, she took a step back and said, "I just…I wanted to apologize to you in person. I haven't been open with you about why I made certain decisions. My intention was never to hurt you. The opposite, actually. I asked Reginald to be first officer instead of you because, well…" I'm madly in love with you and I want to protect you to the best of my ability. I'd have left you at the safety of the base if I thought it wouldn't upset you, but it would have and besides, I'm selfish and want to see you every day. She wanted to say it so badly, but not now. It wasn't the right time or the right place. Finally, she decided on a half-truth and said, "Engineers tend to live longer than command officers. I'd be upset if something happened to Reginald, of course, but if something ever happens to you…I don't think I'd recover. Ever." She looked away. "I should have given you a heads up before I asked him, and I'm truly sorry. It was a selfish decision. Just…please don't ever think I don't trust you. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Perseus frowned, "I told you, I get it. You don't have to worry about me, I-" Perseus paused, sighed, and leaned back against the silver-grey wall of the corridor, his helmet letting out a little clunk as it impacted on the hull. A flash of frustration flickered over his features, and he reached up and disengaged the helmet, popping it off and couching it under his arm.

During the motion Perseus seemed to have rallied his thoughts, and began to talk a little more assuredly "Alright, maybe I was a little hurt, surprised, even, but Gabi… It was never the right role for me anyway. The only reason I might have wanted it…" He swallowed dryly, but soldiered on; "The only reason why I would ever want to be a first officer, would be to be your first officer. I want to do everything in my power to help, Gabi. And, well, if that means being the Chief Engineer over the XO, then that's fine, honest."
Perseus pushed himself off the wall and reached out, gently taking Gabi's hand. It was funny, the gesture was gentle, despite them both being in suits and wearing gloves rated for the harshness of space. He gently held it, and, after setting down his helmet, patted it with the other heavy mitt. Looking up from the hand to Gabi's face, Perseus smiled reassuringly. "You've got this, boss. You're going to head down to whatever weirdness is down on that planet, and you're going to have a solid, experienced XO and a damn fine pair of engineers watching your back." Perseus took a deep breath, clearly trying to remain calm. Suddenly, their eyes met, fiercely. His expression all at once firm, reassuring and silently passionate. "I'd follow you anywhere, even if you busted me down to janitor. Together, remember?"

Gabi smiled faintly, relief washing over her. "Right," she said quietly. Her helmet was tucked under the arm not being held by Perseus, so she leaned over to set it on the ground and pull him into a hug. "Thank you." The two words couldn't possibly express how she felt, which was that she could live to a very old age and spend all that time doing good deeds, but ultimately still not deserve his loyalty and friendship. Even if she wished it was more than friendship.

And maybe it was wishful thinking, but as she pulled back slightly to look at his face she could have sworn she saw a sort of hesitancy about him, a… wishfulness, mirroring her own feelings. It was only for a moment, but for a split second something passed between them, silent, but certain. Slowly, she moved her face closer to his, so that he'd have enough time to pull back if he wanted to. When he didn't, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his, her heart ready to burst from her chest from how quickly it was beating. His arms had already been around her from the hug, but suddenly his hold felt so gentle, as if he were afraid she would disappear if held too tightly.

She didn't know how to tell him that was on the very bottom of the list of possibilities - that she'd been waiting for this for such a long time. What she did know for certain was that kissing him was both wonderful and terrifying. His mouth felt like a brand on her, searing through every defense she'd ever built. Her hands found his hips and dragged him closer, the kiss turning from something gentle and exploratory to frantic, almost desperate. How in the hells was she going to stay objective about anything now?

As if on cue, the overhead comms system beeped to life once rather obnoxiously, and Eve was requesting her presence in the hangar. She broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his, trying to get her breathing under control. After a moment she gave him a small smile. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that," she murmured, "Wow" came the quiet reply, "Glad you had the guts to do it."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before regretfully releasing him and leaning over to pick up their helmets. As Perseus took a few steps away from the wall she'd had him pressed up against, her blood ran cold. There, directly behind where his heart had been, was a mark that almost resembled graffiti. It was small and shiny - the vibrancy of the purplish-pink hues made it seem like it would jump off the wall at any moment. But what made her want to scream was the fact that two eyes appeared in the center of it, shaped precisely like the ones from her vision not fifteen minutes ago. They watched her no matter how many steps she took from it, and she backed up into Perseus by mistake. Her hand, which had turned to ice beneath her glove, reached for his and squeezed it so tightly it probably hurt him, though she was far too terrified to give it much thought. "Perseus," she said, her voice pitched higher than normal. "What is that?"
Perseus, still a little absent turned around, looking at the wall "What am I suppose to be seeing?"

"That," she said, taking a few steps toward it and pointing, though nothing in the galaxy could have persuaded her to actually touch the thing. "That mark." Her heart was racing again, but this time decidedly not in a good way. "It's right there!" She sounded almost hysterical.
"Gabi," he said. "I don't see anything." His tone was gentle, and he was looking at her with concern.

At that moment, Blaster appeared at the end of the hallway, clad in the smallest hardsuit available on this side of the galaxy. He called out, "What are you numbskulls doing? We got places to be, plant-buildings to blow up-"

"Blaster, come here, please," she said, and her tone made him obey almost at once. Once he had come down to where they were standing, she asked him the same thing. "Please tell me you can see that graffiti on the wall."

Blaster frowned at where she was pointing. "This is a weird joke, captain. Ain't real funny."

"It isn't a joke! Do you really not see anything!?" Dimly, she was aware of how panicked she sounded.

A concerned expression similar to Perseus's appeared on his furry face at once, and she wanted to scream again. They didn't need to be worried about her, they needed to help her figure out what it was and why it had appeared right behind the person she -

"Captain, I swear on every grenade I got. I don't see nothin'."
"Try taking a picture of it?" Perseus muttered. Trying to be supportive; "Ah crash, I was leaning against it, is anything on my back?" Perseus turned around.

Gabi's eyes shot to his back at once, and much to her relief, it looked just the same as always. "No. And I don't think it was there before you leaned against the wall, either, but I might be wrong." She took her glasses from the top of her head (her hands shaking), put them on, and snapped a quick picture of the mark. When she displayed the image to Perseus and Blaster a few seconds later via the mini projector, they saw…

"I mean, it's a great wall and all, but I still don't get it," Blaster said after a beat. He shot a worried glance at Perseus when he thought she wasn't looking, and that was enough to make her shut her mouth.

But something was so horribly wrong here. "Never mind," she mumbled as she took her glasses off. "Let's go," she said as she punched in a nonverbal command into the multi-purpose comm on her wrist. It was a request to Eve to shut this corridor down for maintenance. The very last thing she wanted was anyone touching it.

The walk to the hangar was quiet. Whether it be a reaction to the unsettling image, and Gabi's reaction to it, or the coming away mission, it was hard to tell. But by the time the wide open space of the hangar came into view, the atmosphere was tense.

So, Gabi did the only thing she felt she was any good at. She ran away. "I'll talk to you both in a bit," she said quietly before heading in the direction of the officer in charge of the shuttle. She did her best to pay attention to the pre-flight checks and contribute where needed, but true focus was next to impossible.

 

[Presea_cousin]

Jlita grinned as Velshia accepted them into the group and soon ordered some drinks and snacks for her and Sorrin. Sorrin exhaled as at least now he could relax for a bit. He got himself a non-alcoholic drink and some wings and was starting to snack and relax. He took the time to look at Velshia and Elazar, finding the contrast in mood intriguing. Though he supposed he and Jlita were having a similar matchup. Jlita seemed to distract herself with asking some of the other larpers how their work was going so Sorrin was looking forward to just enjoying what he could of his time in the bar. Or that was, until Velshia suddenly cried out that she had a mission for everyone.

Jlita pretty much jumped out of her seat, finding this little turn very exciting. Velshia was practically becoming her idol on how to spark some excitement out of a normally dour crew. "Aye milady! No poor soul will escape the eyes of-" Sorrin suddenly got a bad feeling, but was too late as Jlita grabbed him by the hips and lifted him up onto her shoulders. "Soarin the halfling ranger! Come now my fine squire and tell us of who need aid!"

Sorrin was now really wishing he had just stayed in his room. His boosted height was making a lot of the patrons look at him, some of them fellow crew members, so he hoped that the getup would at least somewhat hide his identity. "P-put me down Jlita! This is dumb-" Then Sorrin noticed one person in the bar wasn't looking at him. A girl instead looking into her glass, tracing the rim. She would've been hard to spot normally because of the larger men at tables between them, but because Jlita lifted him up, it was much easier to see her. Sorrin wouldn't want to encourage Jlita's behavior though. He coughed. "Let me down, I know where they are." Jlita soon set him down back on his seat before Sorrin pointed. "Three tables that way, redhead with-" Jlita already left. Sorrin sighed and grabbed his drink and downed it. Then remembered it wasn't alcoholic in the slightest, so it wasn't going to help him get over this.

Jlita bounded her way around and between tables, bowing and exchanging pleasantries with the various people gathered until she found the girl Sorrin was talking about. Indeed, twas a redhead lass looking solemnly at her drink, barely touched, sitting alone, her uniform suggesting she might work in a local administration building. "Pardon me, kind miss." The redhead looked up and nearly jumped out of her seat. Jlita's barbarian outfit wasn't exactly expected. "But what ails you. Such a glamourous miss shouldn't be sad on such a day."

The redhead sighed and turned back to her drink forlornly. "My boyfriend dumped me." Jlita made a very shocked face. "He lives in another system and said he couldn't take being in a long distance relationship anymore." Her fist hit the table, nearly spilling her drink. "I mean what the heck?! I told him I needed to take this planet transfer for us! For the higher pay! Ughh.." She started to down her drink again.

Jlita put her hands on her hips, taking a proud stance like she was a proper warrior. "Then I say forget about the cur! He does not know what he hath lost! There will surely be another who may sweep you off your feet!" A lightbulb went off in Jlita's head. "Scuse me for one moment-" She darted back to the navy group's table. Sorrin immediately recognized the look on her face and hid under the table. But he wasn't her target anyway. Jlita grabbed Elazar's arm. "Borrowing this!" And without asking for another word, pulled Elazar along before he could protest. She dragged him to the redhead's table before suddenly slipping behind him. "Okay broody, time for you to give those people skills of yours to the test!" She said and then suddenly pushed him to the redhead, who turned to look at him expectedly.

 

[Presea_cousin]

The Chosen Hand
The Messenger of Ink and Blood
The Herald of the Holy, Destined to Sail the Stars~~

"Eeeeee!" Harli could barely contain her squeal as her revered captain took command, gave the order for scouting parties, and immediately listed her in the captain's squad. This was going to make her writing so much easier for her to stay close to the captain. She also listened to Trion's input and nodded to him. It was really what made the whole emissions reading curious. The reports that had pulled were correct, there were no records of ships to this planet. Once Gabi departed, no doubt to steel herself for the excursion down to unexplored territories, Harli began cleaning up her station for her reserve member. She gathered up her scattered pages, tied them into a messy pile, and then made her way off the bridge. Down an elevator and some halls, she came to her personal quarters. On the outside, it was standard. A metal sliding door with her name printed on it. Inside was where it was probably one of the more unique rooms on the ship.

Harli stepped into her room and placed her tied stack of papers on top of another stack of papers next to a writing desk, which had binders and journals stacked atop it. Most of it was drafts for scripture chapters, others were reference books for her navigation and communication duties, and of course there were multiple copies of the original Astra Copax bible. On the other side of the desk was a large, blown up picture of the Cotopaxi, surrounded by a ring of ceremonial candles. A small terrarium was on the other side of the room, growing small ferns and plants that made the berries and seed pods that got grounded into Harli's ink. Hanging from the ceiling in various spots were more entries from the Astra Copax bibles, mostly Harli's favorite passages on hope and vindication. There were some suitcases for her ceremonial robes and other belongings she hadn't gotten to unpacking yet. And of course, a bed.

Harli began to unpack her suitcases for equipment. Her usual attire of red robes was a great statement and display for the cult, but it wasn't suited for exploration. She took out much more a practical jumpsuit, pants, and a harness which had various navigational equipment and tools attached. And finally a smaller red hood cape with similar sacred writings as her robe to drape over everything else. She took out another suitcase, this one opening up to reveal a small cache of handguns. After grabbing two of them and slipping them into her harness, she then opened one more which instead held knives, both energy-based ones and metal ones, some for combat, some were more ceremonial. She picked out a gold handled ceremonial, yet sturdy knife, and finished her outfit. On the way out, she grabbed a travel journal and fresh ink bottles before heading to the hangar.

Harli arrived at the hangar soon afterwards, drafting in her travel journal already for how to phrase the shuttle departure. Already the notification came about being squeezed into one shuttle, which Harli was already interpreting as 'a sign the group would need to be banded together by strings of fate.' Members of the group were already gathering and Harli spotted Gabi separating from the Chief Engineer and…Blaster! Ah right, the furry one who nearly blew up on of the sacred ark's engines or something. Gabi seemed busy, so Harli walked to Perseus and Blaster. "Greetings you two. Have we made all the necessary preparations for exploration?" She asked the two, smiling as she was still dabbling in her journal. "This'll be the reborn Cotopaxi's first exploration foray~ I look forward to chronicling the adventure."

 

[muffinphobia]

elAzAr : weApons mAster

Elazar again considered sneaking out when a diversion in the form of the purple-haired girl hoisting her friend onto her shoulders presented itself. Velshia (and the entire pub) was watching them, and he could always apologize to her later…wait, he didn't need to apologize! This whole farce was ridiculous! The entire crew was wasting their time here while the Resistance was out there doing gods knew what. For all he knew, they could be descending on this planet at any moment, gun down any Navy officers they saw, take the Ophelia from where it was docked and vanish into thin air…it wouldn't be the first time…

He was so deep into his brooding that he failed to notice Sorrin informing the party of who was upset and Jlita going over to speak to her. As he took a deep draft of his drink, he ruminated on the fact that he knew the Cotopaxi's intended destination. If only the Emperor would allow him a more key role, then maybe they could've intercepted it before vanishing into the safety of that thrice-damned ba-

"Borrowing this!" a voice said, and with an impressive display of strength Jlita was hauling him across the room. He blinked, discombobulated, and before he could grasp what was truly happening he was standing beside another booth, this one occupied by a teary-eyed redhead he'd never seen in his life. "Okay broody, time for you to give these people skills of yours to the test!" And then he was being shoved. He must've drank too much too quickly - he lost his balance and plunked gracelessly into the seat across from the woman. He blinked at her owlishly as she stared at him.

"Um." Shit. Shit. Shit. Not again. Why was his existence being dominated by awkward encounters with attractive women lately?! "Who are you?" he finally said, but it sounded more like an interrogation demand than an innocent question.

She picked up on his tone and her eyes widened, her posture becoming defensive as her shoulder hunched. "Lilith."

He decided to try taking a friendlier approach and nodded to her drink. This situation was still salvageable. "Lilith, can I get you another drink? Vodka? Rum?"

Her gaze turned into an icy glare. "I'm six months sober." But then her eyes filled with tears. "B-but I guess it doesn't matter now! He was the one who pressured me to stop! I was never a real alcoholic anyway!" She began to sob uncontrollably and buried her face in her hands.

Pure. Mortification. His instinct was to run - everything about this situation was horribly uncomfortable and he was only making it worse, as usual. He kept to himself for a reason, and he hoped everyone in that harebrained cosplay group would realize it after this debacle and keep away from him.

But on the other hand…this woman was clearly mourning the loss of someone important to her. He'd be truly heartless if he felt no sympathy for her at all. Although he'd never experienced relationship problems (or any relationship at all, really) he had certainly lost loved ones in real and permanent ways. But what in the bloody hells was he supposed to say to comfort her?

Finally, he decided on what would be a comfort to him. Maybe it would strike a chord with her, too. "You should blow up his ship. Does he have one?" he asked.

"I - what?" she said, bewildered.

"It would be immensely satisfying. Trust me. X4 works best. When placed at strategic points it can destroy anything. He'd never fly again."

She stared at him for a beat and then offered him a small, watery smile, even if she still appeared somewhat confused. "That would be satisfying."

Encouraged, he leaned forward. "You could also hire an assassin to take care of him. Or, if you do not wish for him to die, permanently maim him. Dinaxian kehnkriks are deadly but easy to capture if you know how. They can pluck out a man's eyeballs and he'd never see it coming." He paused. "Especially…you know…not without eyes."

She snorted with laughter. "You're weird." There was a pause as she considered him thoughtfully and then decided: "I like you."

Perplexed, he started to say it wasn't a joke, but then she began chatting about her entire history with this man and he tried his best to pay attention. Every now and then he glanced at the party to ensure that they hadn't left him with a total stranger, who appeared to be perking up as she discussed her ex's every minute flaw. By the end of their conversation, he discovered three things: first, that she worked in a research facility here run by the Navy; second, that said research focused on tracking capabilities of large ships such as the Ophelia; and third, that she found his work fascinating, too. Her request for his contact information caught him completely off-guard, and he gave it to her hesitantly, suspicious of her motivations. But she said it was "just in case" and departed shortly after, but not before giving him a kiss on the cheek and an impish grin.

He couldn't have been more shocked, not even if the Emperor himself walked into the pub that moment, dropped his pants, and mooned them all. He shook his head and downed the rest of his drink (which had been mostly full) in one go. On the other side of the pub, Lilith was breezing towards the exit as she spoke into a mobile device. "...coming now, I'm sorry! I met this guy. He was a little strange but a great listener. Cute, too!" She giggled.

Elazar, meanwhile, had rejoined his group, still shaking his head in disbelief over what had just happened. This was very quickly turning into one of the strangest nights of his life.

 

[Verran]

The Sleeper​

Velshia breathed a subtle sigh of relief as Elazar successfully completed her request. She had been a tad nervous that he would simply either decide that this was far too stupid and storm out. Or knock the poor girl out. Or something far, far worse. But it seemed that all's well that ends well. And he had even elected to rejoin the court instead of making a bid for freedom. Perfect, absolutely perfect.

Despite her worries, the entire situation from start to finish had her mutely laughing from the over the top antics done by Jlita to Elazar somehow bumbling through a conversation. Which, in spite of his best efforts, had led to a positive resolution. Well, to be fair, he probably didn't intend to try to ruin it. His general demeanor had simply screamed that he did not want to be her. Fortunately, he leaned into being an excellent listener which was exactly what was needed. Her smile glowed brightly across the room as he returned to the fold.

"Wonderfully done!" she commended, "The queen's favor is bestowed upon Jlita, for her quick thinking, Sorrin, for his excellent eyes, and Elazar, for his gallant actions and expert words with the one in distress. Thank you all. Now, tell me what you would do you with your favor? What do you wish from me tonight?"

If she felt like it, Velshia could probably guess what everyone wanted. Or, at least, the general idea of what they all would want with Jlita being most in line with the sport, Sorrin confused but would fumble to something, and Elazar…well, Velshia wasn't entirely sure what he would want. It could just as easily be nothing. Which would be horrendously boring. She would need to push him if that became the case. After all, everyone deserved their just reward.

That last thought struck an odd chord in the corner of her thought. "Their just reward"? she wondered, where was that from? Velshia knew, or felt a confident guess, that it was something that she had read. But what about all this had brought the thought up? She pushed the thought to the side. There would be time enough to figure it out later.

 

[Pigiron]

'Cause I'm seeing things for the first time​

Perseus was in overload.
She felt the same.
She felt the same.
What did that mean?
Were there rules against it?
If so, fuck 'em!
She felt the same.
What was the episode about the graffiti about?
Was Gabi trying to give Blaster a reason why we were alone in the corridor?
Yeah, that had to be it.
If not, he'd work it out later.
She kissed him.
She felt the same.
Stars and golden sky, what was he meant to do now?
She had taken the initiative, which kind of made something masculine and hard-chinned in him unhappy.
But Perseus had expected to be convincing her to let him take her on a date or something, and she just...
She just kissed me! Hahahaha!

Perseus was thankful for his helmet, now carefully in place, visor set to reflective light dispersal, hiding his face from view. It was like wearing sunglasses indoors, but it was that or walk around letting everyone see the big dumb grin on his face. Hopefully everyone would just chalk it up to nerves. The Hangar was fast approaching, and Blaster had clearly forgotten about the whole Graffiti situation, and was excitedly babbling about his plans for the surface. "Man, I can't wait to get down there! This X4 in burnin' a hole through my bag! Maybe we'll get lucky and the atmo'll be reactive to explosives…why'd that damn lady have to destroy all my fireworks!!?!" Perseus chuckled at this, already in high spirits.
In short order, the trio reached the Hangar. On a subvocal comm from Engineer Mangrove came a sigh of relief "Ah good, you're here, boss. You alright? Your visor's set to reflect." Perseus sent her the subvocal equivalent of a thumbs up, not trusting the residual giddiness slip into subvocal comms and make obvious what had happened.
As the Captain and her entourage reached the group, Harli approached Perseus, and in her usual flowery language checked in on his readiness. "We're as ready as we'll ever be. I've got my helmet scanner and I've downloaded some Archeology programs, and Mangrove over there is pretty good at figuring out Archeotech. This should be a really great opportunity. The Phoenix Nebulae has never been closer."

Seeing it, oh, for the first time // Seeing it for the first time // In my life​

 

[muffinphobia]

all the king's horses, all the king's men couldn't put me together again

the archer

The remainder of the special teams were slowly trickling into the hangar as the hour drew near for their departure. Gabi had completed the pre-flight checks with the hangar crew and gave the order for everyone to board the shuttle, trying her best to take part in the buzzing, excited atmosphere. But with the graffiti weighing so heavily on her mind, it was next to impossible. When Dmitri approached her and threw an arm around her shoulders, declaring his intent to obliterate any hostile creature that came across their path, she did her best to smile but ultimately was subdued as she followed him aboard. She chose a seat between Blaster and Perseus, thankful for the fact that Blaster seemed completely oblivious to her state of mind. He chattered incessantly about the explosives he'd brought along throughout takeoff, and it was hard to know what Perseus was thinking since he had his visor set to reflect and wasn't talking much.

At the head of the shuttle, Ana Kin was readying the craft to take off. She instructed everyone to buckle in, and moments later the engines roared to life. The small craft shook slightly as it left the ground, and then the hangar bay, leaving The Cotopaxi behind to hide in the shadow of a moon. The craft made a straight shot for Farsin. Ahead of them, the small green-and-blue waited, growing ever bigger upon their approach. Anxiety sat heavy in Gabi's stomach as she watched in silence.

As the shuttle descended through the atmosphere, the view outside the windows changed from the inky blackness of space to a hazy blue sky. The ship shook slightly as it entered the planet's thicker atmosphere, and then there was a jolt as the landing thrusters fired up, slowing the descent. The comms came alive with excited chatter as the surface drew ever nearer, and Gabi took the opportunity to slip her hand into Perseus's, squeezing his fingers gently. They were all sitting so close together that it was unlikely anyone would notice, and this would probably be her last chance for a while since she'd put him on the other team. She'd barely had time to process the fact that he'd kissed her back, a miracle in itself. The timing was hardly ideal, but she'd been terrified of something happening to him on the mission, which had been the push for her to finally do it. She was so damned tired of her life being ruled by fear and doubt, but at least she had this one good thing to cling to for now. For the briefest of moments, she wished they were alone so she could take that stupid visor off and kiss him again.

The shuttle touched down gently on the soft ground, the landing gear sinking slightly into the soil. The engines shut off with a whine, and for a moment there was only silence as the crew sat in their seats, staring at the unfamiliar landscape outside the windows.

After a moment, Gabi spoke up. "All right. Team Alpha will head into the jungle. Team Prime will explore that patch of marshland due east before also heading into the jungle, though in a different direction from Team Alpha. Communicate with your team and do not take any unnecessary risks. We're looking for an abandoned ship. Whichever team that finds it first will alert the other, and we'll all go in together."

The teams began to gather their gear. As they prepared to exit the ship, they could feel the heat and humidity of the jungle pressing in on them, even through the walls of the vessel. Moments later, when they stepped outside, the air was thick with the sound of chirping insects and the calls of exotic birds. The ground was covered in a dense tangle of vines and underbrush, and towering trees soared up into the sky, their branches heavy with leaves. There were strange, colorful flowers and the rustling of unseen creatures in the brush. The shuttle had landed in a small clearing; trees pressed in on all sides, and in the distance the marshland Gabi had spoken of waited.

'cause all of my enemies started out friends. help me hold onto you.

Code by Jenamos

 

[Verran]

The Good Doctor
(With contributions from @Pigiron )​

The environment, the whole situation almost, took Reginald back. And not in a good way. He recalled a time wearing a hazmat suit. Sitting in a shuttle with other scientists and soldiers. The planet was similar. Heat, bugs, humidity, trees, a world awash with life. It once had a small colony. Rebels, technically, who refused to submit to imperial rule. The reality was that they were simple people living simple lives that saw no need to pay the demanded taxes. Out of the way and isolated, the planet had, at the time, little value. And minimal reason to send enforcers who had far better things to do. Maybe it gained more later. Dr. Meadows didn't know. What he did know was that the people were dead. The hazmat suits were a formality. The virus had already burned out. For some reason, Reginald felt that he was approaching something similar here.

Looking out across the landscape, as far as he could at least, Reginald felt the lack of his knowledge weigh down upon him. Having never held any sort of military command nor truly partook in any form of expedition. Unless one included short hikes and camping trips he took with his family a lifetime ago. Not that he didn't have faith in his leadership skills. Far more that he was simply out of his element here. Still, he would just have to do his best. "Roger that," he replied to Gabi, "keep safe out there Team One."

Perseus watched Gabi's team disappear into the undergrowth with a knot in his stomach. He didn't like being separated from the captain, especially now. Regardless, showtime. His jaw set and he turned towards Reginald. "What kind of formation do you want?" Perseus scanned the surrounding area with his helmet, the computer aided display rendering the local radar ping in wireframe outlines. "If we try to travel single file that marsh is going to eat us for breakfast. Flying V formation?"

"Excellent point, Mr. Galatea. We will take the V. Ms. Takeda, if you would do us the kindness of being on point?" Beyond the fact that keeping Aiko in the front of the group made it the easiest to keep an eye on her, she had the absolute best chance of surviving anything remotely hostile on this planet. She may even have the best chance of detecting the ship in question. However, Reginald wasn't about to push her on that point. Getting her to actually keep in relative line would be challenge enough. Especially when paired with Blaster. Still, Reginald recognized that he would need to lean on each and every member of his team's experience to successfully pull through. Even when it came to the relatively simple matter of moving through the swamp. He just wished her face wasn't covered in silver as she gave him the thumb's up with half a shrug.

The Ą̵̧̫̥̗͉̪̙̱̩̙̺͖͉̘͉͉̪͕̹̣̖͙͂̀̀̇̈́̑͊̔́͒̊̇͒̐̇͆̓̑̚͜͠͝͝͠Ç̴̢̛̛͕̥̥̪̠̜̘̿̑́̌͌̐̅͆͒͋̀̅̃͒̆̏̐͘͘͝͝L̸̢̤͎͓̖̤̖̯͚̭̦̞̩͚̦͙͇̓̉̓͌̑̾̅̈́̈̍͋̊̿̔͜͜ͅJ̶̡̧͈̻̗̣̖̦̥̙̺͓̩͎̱̲͎͔͖͖̩̏́͋͛̈́͛̽̄̇͊̕̕͘͝K̸̡̪͈̲̝̭̦̣̭͖̯̣͙̤̘̘̲͂̀̾͜ͅË̸̡̨̡̛̜̹̣̭͇̯̜̤̥̣͍͕̫͍̖̝́͗̇̉̋͐̉̀̈́̋́̃̅̀͝ͅD̶̛̤̀͘L̶̢̡̨̧̟̲͚͕̪͍̹̲̭͈͈̹̱̳̞̞̥̺͖̻͎̹̩͚̮̏̀͂̐͑́͗̔̊̆̃̒̈̆̋̃͂̾̍͒̓͘͜͠͠ͅK̶̨̛̫̳̖̥̫̟͓̠̣̘̠̱̪̰̣̥͍͙͇̓͊͆̒̌̍̊͆̉͑̓͗̎̂̾͆̔̈́̓̄̍̾͘̚͘͘̕͜͠͠͝


​

Aiko was, currently, trying to suppress a lot. Her thoughts going haywire. Shivers. A roiling stomach that threatened to vomit. And the distinct feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong. Ironically to everyone who notice, Aiko had not spoken the entire way down. Even now, she was silent while responding to the doc's request. It was better to play nice for now. For a minute, as the team began to wade into the mire, she wondered what was striking her as off. Observing all around her, Aiko couldn't place her finger on it.

The Marsh was thick. Every laborious step through the thick algae-infused silt-water was an effort, thankfully Perseus's hardsuit has some minor servos to assist with movement, though the extra work was taxing the suit's coolant systems. Everyone without such gear was having an even worse time with Blaster, who would have refused to be carried if anyone even dared to offer, borderline swimming through it. Aiko, however, had no troubles cutting through it. She was aware of the power of the marish, but it held no effect on her. However, it did her to slow her pace for anyone struggling to keep up.

Aiko wasn't particularly interested in the ship. Gabi's mission was utterly tangential to her. The ex-miner's efforts, though she didn't dare begin exerting them all for risk of detection, were directed towards finding a way down. Finding the towers and seeking the way below. Her mind wandered back to the dream and, for once, she didn't try and direct it away. Pulling out every detail she could recall after breaching the surface. The being had approached. She was terrified. Sound, no, something more had floated through the air all the while. It was then that she realized what was missing: song. For all the noise and discourse of life about them, the songs of the avian creatures in her dream were absent. And that was wrong.

 

[Teryn180]

Trion Nixarn, Head Scientist​

Trion and Zee did a quick gear check as other team members gathered in the hangar, then followed the rest of the gathered crew into the shuttle, sitting down and strapping into their seats next to each other. Looking at them next to each other, there was a clear family resemblance if someone looked close. Trion looked at the door closing and his face tensed with anxiety. Zeetha saw this and punched him in the shoulder, earning her an annoyed look from Trion, which just got him another punch in the arm. He shook his head then leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and bouncing his leg as they flew. You wouldn't think that someone who grew up on a space station would have issues with heights, but Trion still hated the feeling of falling, in a shuttle or not. It was good that he wasn't an engineer, because no one would catch him doing EVAs. He finally relaxed once they made it to the ground. The two scientists looked around at the jungle as they disembarked the shuttle. "Not the easiest to navigate place I've ever worked, but it should be fine…glad I packed a machete though." Trion said cheerfully, extracting a multipurpose scanner and a short blade from his pack, and passing the scanner over a few of the plants. "Well, the good news is that the air is a pretty standard nitrogen-oxygen-CO2 mix, and the plants at least are carbon-based. I still wouldn't try eating anything. The bad news is that there's a high particle count in the air, but it's a jungle so it's probably 90-plus percent pollen, and I'm not picking up anything particularly unusual yet point us in the right direction." He said, looking at the readings on the scanner. "I'd say we should start for the nearest of the structures, but I might be a little biased…" He shrugged and grinned. He was probably too excited to get a look at what was down here, it definitely wasn't all that 'professional' but this was the sort of thing all his training had been for it was hard not to get excited.

 

[muffinphobia]

Team Prime: Ana & Blaster​

Two members of Team Prime were decidedly not affected by Aiko's leak: Blaster and Ana. When Reginald had given the order to shape up in a V formation, they'd both taken swift and not-so-subtle action: Blaster had retreated to the far right corner in order to better sneak off unnoticed, and Ana had taken up a position beside Perseus, completely oblivious to the fact that he was oblivious to her presence.

Ana barely clocked in at five feet tall - to do so she had to wear shoes with incredibly thick soles. Her eyes were dark and her skin was tan and olive-toned, typical of Zharians. On days when hard suits and helmets weren't required, her hair hung in a black, glossy curtain halfway down her back, but today it was tied into a neat bun atop her head as she scanned for movement amongst their surroundings. And maybe she was scanning, uh…other things, too, judging from the way her eyes kept wandering south. She collected herself, put on her most winning smile that had charmed many a male back on base, and nudged Perseus playfully. "You must be something really special, you know. You've been here for like, a month? And the captain already picked you for a mission," she said with a wink, as if they were casually chatting in a bar instead of ankle-deep in muck.

On the other side of the formation, Blaster was trudging along on high alert, scanning the area for any valuable resources or forgotten technology to salvage. As he pushed aside a thick reed, he quite literally stumbled upon a small, ancient-looking door hidden in the murky water. He probably wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been so close to the ground. Immediately he froze and waited just long enough for the formation to continue on by several hundred feet. Once he was sure he'd be able to get in a little tinkering without interference, he pushed more reeds back and examined the…trap door?...closely. He noticed a small, intricate mechanism on the side and, in that moment, simply couldn't resist. Without a single thought in his head except the satisfaction of watching something so delicately crafted go Kaboom!, he reached into his bag for the stash of X4 he'd brought along. He wouldn't need much for a door this size…

In record time, he'd attached the explosives to the door and took juuust enough steps back to protect his fur from being singed off. Unfortunately for him, though, he heard a faint rumbling coming from deep within the marsh just as he was about to hit his favorite button. Suddenly, the door creaked open and a gust of musty air rushed out, but mere seconds later the opening was engulfed in a blaze. The explosion itself had been relatively muted by a shriek of pain and anguish. Blaster's eyes widened. Oh, crap. "Uhhh…guys?" he said. "I mighta screwed up."

 

[Presea_cousin]

Once Jlita had successfully forced Elazar into a possible nightmare, she quickly retreated back to the table, kneeling up on the seat to peer over heads to see how he was doing. Even Sorrin was craning to get a look, his own curiosity now peaked. It helped that he wasn't the one Jlita threw into this situation. Jlita had a huge grin as she watched the proceedings, reaching over Sorrin's head to grab some snacks to munch on to watch the soap drama she orchestrated. It started out just as she expected, some awkwardness, though she applauded that both were willing to give it a shot and not just immediately throw drinks at each other. Then it got interesting as Elazar seemed to charm her with the idea of blowing stuff up. Classic pick up line. Jlita and Sorrin were pretty much glued to watching as Elazar not only made the girl feel better, but even got a kiss on the cheek. Jlita was trying to catch Elazar's eyes and just give him two thumbs up. The two sat back down once Elazar returned to the table.

"You go tiger! Is love about to bloom from the dark, brooding depths?" Jlita smiled. "I must be a cupid whiz. Think I should try to find Angstrom a boyfriend next?" She mused, though Sorrin (and undoubtedly some of the others) thought she was now sputtering absolute crazy. Jlita clapped as Velshia said they would get a favor. "Oh goodie, in that case…hmm.." Jlita entertained the thought of trying to get Velshia to kiss Elazar, but decided she was done torturing the poor weapon master enough for one night. Instead she held out her hand. "Can I wear your crown?"

Sorrin admitted he was a bit surprised Elazar decided to rejoin the group and not just immediately deck Jlita in the face for the situation she thrust him into. Maybe Jlita was on a roll with good ideas tonight? Sorrin blinked as Velshia offered them all favors. He was a bit unsure of what to ask for. What were the limits? Was it constrained to just this little pretend group session they were having? Maybe he should just play it off as nothing or ask for assistance with something more business related. He snapped out of his thinking as Jlita was already asking for something, going the more silly route of just asking to borrow Velshia's dress up crown. Sorrin sighed as he couldn't think of anything better, so simply asked. "Pay for tonight's tab?" He asked, the most basic reward possible like this was a work lunch.

 

[muffinphobia]

elAzAr : weApons mAster

How odd. There was the strangest sensation in his stomach as Velshia beamed at him and told him he'd been…what? Gallant? Hardly. He still wasn't sure what the hell had just happened with that girl. But the offer of a favor was intriguing, and the possibilities seemed endless as the walls of the pub began to blur and float ever so slightly. It felt like he was sitting on a soft, comfortable cloud instead of a cheaply made booth cushion, and suddenly a thought struck him: he'd like to make Velshia smile like that again someday.

…Wait, what the hells? Where had that come from!? Focus! Favor! A valuable opportunity!

He squeezed his eyes shut, willing his muddled mind to focus. As he considered what his request should be, he leaned back against the cushions of the booth and took a sip of his whiskey, which was probably inadvisable at this point. As he did so, Jlita said, "You go tiger! Is love about to bloom from the dark, brooding depths?" He promptly choked, and for a few moments he was overtaken by coughing and wheezing, his cheeks turning red for a variety of reasons he didn't care to examine. Gods.

"That girl was weeping about another man. That's not…love-growing conditions," he finally mumbled, avoiding making eye contact with anyone and everyone as he said it, his eyes firmly glued to the grainy wooden table they all sat around. He was extraordinarily thankful for the fact that the conversation moved away from him then, and instead towards Jlita and Sorrin as they made their requests of Velshia. Relatively normal requests. Reasonable. He supposed he could ask for something similar, perhaps another drink…but it wasn't what he wanted, not really. Two perfect things had finally come to mind.

"Well, if the offer extends beyond tonight…I need your informatics expertise. If it doesn't…then I'd take ten minutes of alone time with you," he said and actually smirked. In his mind, the Elazar who had been locked in a cage with bars made of whiskey bottles was positively flabbergasted. He hadn't had the confidence to say something so blindingly stupid since, well, ever. The small part of him that still clung to the identity of Hyde Burnett - the part that he could ignore, muffle, try to suffocate on days when his inhibitions weren't this low - might have, once upon a time. But not the capable, brutal, and impersonal Elazar. There was a surprised pause in the conversations happening at the table.

 

[Pigiron]

Creep and crawl until you fall into that old dark room // Where you left your sins and all of your friends​

The silt-water of the Marsh was thick, yielding. Even beneath the vacc-rated hardsuit Perseus felt grimy. Every step was an effort, but thankfully the Lustrian hardsuit was more than up to the task, designed to assist Perseus in moving heavy salvage.
Perseus had taken up a position beside Reginald, with the shuttle pilot wading through the knee-high silt-water off to his left. The place was thick with mist; 100% humidity, surely. Perseus extended an arm, and a spider-like drone scuttled up it, depositing an atmospheric scanner in his hand before scuttling back to his pack.
As he began sifting through the atmospheric readings, the pilot, (Ana, was it?) started chatting good-naturedly. Perseus didn't want to seem rude, so responded with a cheerful but a little absent-minded "Heh, true." as he squinted at the data being fed through to his helmet.
"Yup. 100% humidity. Wait-huh... That's strange." Perseus paused, checking the readings again. "I'm getting some kind of interference on my atmo scanner." Perseus made a few subvocal commands, cycling through his helmet's scanner modes as a drone scuttled down and up his arm to retrieve the scanner, instead looking around with his helmet's built in scanners. "Nothing on the Gravimetric scanner, no gravitational anomalies. Spectrometer's saying there's an anomalous amount of ferrous material in the area..." Perseus frowned, his mind beginning to run through possibilities. "Science officer Vlare, anything?"

As the group travelled down the designated route, large trees loomed through the mist, part mangrove tree, part weeping willow analogue. Thick deltas of roots, like the bars of a prison, held lumpy trunks above the water line, that rose to great knotted peaks, like the fists of angry giants. From the peak of the trees, thin vine like branchlets cascaded out and down, forming a large silhouette that, through the mist, put in mind the idea of creatures, thrice the height of any man, rising from the marsh.

Ms. Vlare finished her scans, and looked up, confused, concerned. "These readings are... Wow. The magnetic fields in and around this place are like a fractal set. There's a large magnetic field that's centred somewhere in the jungle, and it seems to have been sufficiently powerful to concentrate a large amount of ferrous material in the surrounding area. This marsh... I think a substantial percentage of the silt in this area is oxidized iron grit." Vlare's eyes opened wide slightly "A-and there are more, much smaller fields all around us. Doctor Meadows, they're moving. I think we should warn-"
BOOM
To the north, just past the treeline of the jungle, a gout of fire and smoke sent a warm glow through the mist, as a shockwave travelled through the siltwater around the team, disturbing hundreds of small minnow like fish that scattered in a panic around the team's legs.
"What the-"
"Uhhh…guys? I mighta screwed up."
"Blaster? BLASTER!? WHAT DID YOU DO!?"
And as if in answer, from the treeline to the north came a terrified, slightly wet, slightly singed fox-person running for it's life, flanked and followed by innumerable creatures, black and rust brown, diving into the marsh, cutting through it like torpedoes.

"CONTACT NORTH, CONTACT NORTH!"

Staring back the old man's lies as he watched you drown // You get up and you just splash around​

 

[Presea_cousin]

The Chosen Hand
The Messenger of Ink and Blood
The Herald of the Holy, Destined to Sail the Stars~~

"That's good to hear. A great archeological discovery will surely spread the Cotopaxi's name even farther!!" Harli smiled as Perseus explained their equipment. She was hoping to press him for some more words about what they hoped to find, but the rest of the exploration teams were finally ready and they all boarded the shuttle. She continued to make notes even as the shuttle took off. Stuff like who was on the shuttle, how the seating was arranged, anything that might end up weaving into something interesting. 'And so, as the chosen foray to the mysterious jungle, they leave the safety of the holy ark' she wrote as she watched the Cotopaxi disappear from the windows.

'Greenery and calls of wildlife greet the Captain and her company as they take their first steps to tracking the mystery of Farsin.' Harli stepped off the shuttle onto terra firma and shifted from writer to her navigator role. She began sending pings up to the Cotopaxi and checking if her communicators and navigational equipment were still properly connecting to the Cotopaxi, ensuring that they wouldn't lose contact with it. "Communications are good. Looks like we're not getting too much interference here." She reported as Gabi gave directions and the two squads began to split up. Harli took out her journal again and began to sketch some of the nearby flowers she hadn't seen before, wondering if it would be overstepping to grab some of them now. No, got to keep on task. Need to chronicle the adventure of Captain Gabi. She looked up to Trion and Gabi, figuring one of them would take the lead on exploration, pen poised to write about whichever started.

 

[Verran]

The Good Doctor and The...The...​

Reginald scooped up bit of the marsh water in the age-old standard test tube. For a moment, he examined it with the naked eye before depositing it into a scanner in the pack slung over his shoulder. Sorting through and analyzing the contents while sending the results to the cybernetics hardwired into his brain. Strange, by the fact that they were unknown, lifeforms began pouring into his head and, for a minute, he was able to shrug off the feeling of decay. For nothing about this swamp suggested it. It was teeming with life!

Algae and fungi seemed to be almost visibly growing as his suit took readings. Only on fabled resort worlds did plants grow this quickly. Even then, unnaturally. Yet, as far as the system could so far process, this was all natural biology. It defied reason but here it was. How was this place so vibrant? Could there be, as of yet, untapped resources to advance the medical field? Just like that, his mind was snagged back down. It would be easy for the Imperials to turn this place into a machine shop of despair. They'd tear this place apart. Exploring each magnetic field until…wait, he thought, why would this planet have such strong fields? Nothing in the original scans indicated that this would be the case.

Reginald opened his mouth to chime in but…

All throughout the trek, Aiko was struggling to accept the obvious. She knew the planetary readings had indicated that this settlement would be in ruins. She knew that, yet…yet. Where is that burned out song! She swore in her mind. It should be here. It sang for an age on end. There's no reason why it wouldn't be here!

The others were discussing magnetic readings with random materials. It hardly mattered to her now. You would have once, a deep recess of her mind whispered, iron was once a part of your bread and butter. It would have meant the beginning of a haul and something beyond the endless rock you cut through.

Great, she replied to her seeming monologue, just what I needed on this dust-ridden world. More voices.

You used to sing while on the job too.

Wha-

How did it go again?

Shut. It.

The explosion tore through the air. Causing Reginald to whirl it its direction while Aiko snapped her neck towards it then let the suit rotate her body to face the threat.

Reginald immediately keyed up the comms in his calm, yet annoyed as ever when things went wrong, manner. "Team Alpha. We have numerous contacts. Seemingly hostile wildlife. Be wary of magnetic fields. Help request…"

"That won't be necessary," came a machine voice. It came from the form of Aiko. Silver flowed from the sphere on her back. Bubbling up and around her like some deranged wax figure that, instead of melting in the heat, was growing. "But call if you want."

She moved with a predator's ease between the eggheads and the approaching horde that Blaster still spearheaded. Aiko had no clue what was going on, truthfully. The creature, she couldn't remember its name, should be docile enough when under the song. Or, at least, not aggressive to…to… Aiko resisted the urge to clap a hand to her head. The missing song. Her tower in her dreams. Holes in her head. Aiko's stomach growled. She was still moving towards the beasts. The suit was demanding more power. Wound up like a coiled spring. Fooling around with the Imperials. A miner's appetite. Or was it tricking with the Resistance? Her head pounded. Screams of the dying. The muted soundtrack. Her best friend, blown out the hull. The suit whined for energy. When had she last eaten? People wanting answers. Voices in her head. Imperials trying to do surgery. The suit wouldn't allow it. Needed medical…Her memory so shoddy…Gabi said to protect…Perseus couldn't tell a lie…Meadows knew she was blowing up…Eve couldn't beat her at Go…Blaster wanted her to blow up the universe…Mavers thought she'd save them all. She could only ever save herself. The monster of antimatter was raring to open up its maws and Aiko was so. Damn. Hungry. Blaster flashed past her.

Reginald watched as Blaster made it behind the silver monstrosity of Aiko Takeda. She had walked out towards the oncoming swarm but, like a wind-up toy losing steam, Aiko had come to a halt. There was no resistance when the beasts erupted from the water and fixed their jaws around every inch of Aiko they could grab onto and dragged her below the surface of the swamp. Reginald cursed, "Team Alpha, looks like we're going to need that back up! Blaster, Perseus, Ana, we need to get out of the water. Do any of you have something that can generate a strong electrical current safely underwater?"

 

[Verran]

The Sleeper​

Velshia lounged as she replied to the first two requests. Relaxing back into the queenly state. "Of course you may wear me crown, Jlita. For the night. I shall need it back afterward. After all, what is a queen without her crown? What is a ruler without authority? Our great and glorious Emperor understands this and, as such, reigns. Take good care of the symbol, my good barbarian."

She looped the crown off her head and presented it with due care to the sky-surfer. "As to you, good Soarin, of course, I shall pay tab. What is a sovereign without generosity? What is one without justice? A tyrant to be thrown down. Our wondrous and glorious Emperor knows this and, as such, reigns. Enjoy to your heart's content, my good scout."

With Elazar's request, she paused for only a second as her mind ran through all the possibilities as to why he would make such a bold second request. Keenly looking over the rim of her wine goblet. "Hmmm," she purred with interest, "the offer does extend beyond tonight. Though it is singular. So, you'll need to decide between the two. I must ask, however. What would you do with ten minutes alone with me? I must warn you, if you are thinking of anything so, ah, untoward to your queen. I will have to express my…displeasure. Choose then!"

 

[Pigiron]

Now the world is gone, I'm just one // Oh, God, help me​

Perseus tempered his panic down. "Alright, it's alright. Aiko you got this, right?" Perseus unhooked his plasma cutter and hurriedly switched off the overcharge safeties.
"Aiko?" Perseus spared a galnce over to Aiko as the creatures approached team Prime's position. She was... metamorphosing. Growing. She had taken a step forward, but was... Slowing?
"AIKO? Y-you got this, right? Nanotech goddess, right?" The creatures seemed to be at home in the marsh as they had been in the jungle, weaving like seals through the siltwater. It seemed to glitter as the creatures swam. Almost as if the creatures were swimming through untainted water... Perseus squinted, his suit performing a picture-in picture zoom in at the motion and... yes, that was it. The silt was pushed aside as the creatures swam through it. it all formed a... a pattern, like...

Orion bounced Perseus on his knee as the young boy giggled. "Here kiddo, look at this" Orion said, scattering iron filings onto the paper "with these iron filings, you can see the magnetic field of the magnet! Isn't it beautiful!"

Perseus stuttered out an "O-oh, m-magnetic-" and started shooting haphazardly, as Blaster ducked in amongst his squadmates.
The plasma bolts worked perfectly, missed shots causing water to flash into vapour then plasma momentarily, with the silt held in said water burn-melting, made immediately white hot by the thrown starstuff.
Problem was, not a single shot wasn't missing. Even shots that totally should have been hitting!
Perseus' eyes went wide as he, belatedly, realised his error; It was plasma he was firing, at creatures that seemed to have limited control of magnetism. They were able to push aside the slow moving projectiles made up of globs of charged particles from his jury-rigged weapon with naught but slight discomfort from the heat.
Panic overcame Perseus as he screamed. The majority of the creatures were clawing and biting at the silver-suited Aiko, but one, the one he had mildly inconvenienced with his oh-so-clever weapon, was making a beeline straight for him.
"-Blaster, Perseus, Ana, we need to get out of the water. Do any of you have something that can generate a strong electrical current safely underwater?"

It jumped, letting out a gurgling snarl.
"OH SHI-"
Perseus threw up his hands and the world became a blur-
He saw the black fur of the creature hitting his chest with it's claws, tearing at his hardsuit and forcing all the air out of his lungs as he tumbled backward into the mud.
He saw the inside of the creature's mouth as it tried to bite at his helmet, unable to pierce the visor.
Perseus struggled with it, punching, grabbing, screaming, unable to kick in the mud.
Nothing was working. The creature was covered in a layer of iron shavings, in amongst the fur.
It was armoured, for all its appearance as a furry creature.
He was underwater now, under the silty tide, pressed down, being shaken like a chewtoy, until-
Perseus found something in his hand. A drone had crawled up his arm, obeying some absent-minded subvocalisation.
Perseus gripped onto it as a desperate idea formed in his mind.
He couldn't control all of his drones, not in this mental state. But one? One was wilco.
Got metal on you huh? Perseus stopped trying to fight the creature steadily chewing through his suit, and instead jerked upward, bear hugging it "I EAT METAL FOR BREAKFAST" Perseus screamed deliriously, as his drone crawled from his hand and cut a perfect two inch hole in one side of the creature's head.
Or at least, it would have, had the creature had hull made of plasteel, three inches thick.
(The creature did not have hull made of plasteel, three inches thick.)
Instead of a "neat hole" there was instead a hiccoughing squeal and a cloud of burnt meat as the high power miniaturised cutting laser bore a bullet-hole through the hammerhead panther-thing's head just above one ear and out the other side.

Trying and failing to catch his breath, Perseus burst from the silt-water, arms flailing, only vaguely aware he was screaming "THIS SUIT'S INSULATED, HIT IT, HIT IT, HIT IT!"

Hold my breath as I wish for death // Oh, please, God, help me​