Survivors of Ship IX [IC]

[Skaldia]

Unknown Habitable Planet
Ship IX Crash Site A
March, 2957
Dawn

The wreckage covered hundreds of square kilometers, some pieces as big as old cargo haulers than had trawled the seas of Earth when Earth could still boast having oceans. Some were no bigger than that of a thumb nail. Some had caused massive craters in the landscape, setting the foliage around them on fire while others had exploded in great bursts before raining down on the ground in millions of particulars and body parts.

Ship IX had left the dockyards of Luna with a crew of 103,921 personnel, a vast majority of those in the Imperial Army on their way to the frontier to fight the vicious T'Ghal. It had been assumed by those who built her that she was just as space-worthy as the Eight Ships that had come before her, that she was a wonder of technology built in the darkest times of Mankind and that she would continue to serve admirably, able to ship massive amounts of personnel and supplies from the very center of the Empire to the borders of that Empire in a matter of moments, her FTL technology having been perfected. She was shaped like a massive disk, enabling her to disembark her gargantuan crew by designating the ship into several Holds.

They would not know that, just as they watched her Shift into Slipstream, that it would be the last time anyone ever saw Ship IX again.

Hold C had survived re-entry into atmosphere while the other Holds had vented and become death traps. Unfortunately, Hold C was not meant to land. She had come down like the proverbial brick, skipping like a stone several times before gouging a mile-long furrow into the ground before coming to a grinding halt as she smashed into a hill which was mostly made of granite. The G-Straps designed to keep the thousand souls of Hold C survive any possible G's exerted on them as they left the Slipstream and Shifted outside of Tartarus, the Imperial staging point for all military operations against the T'Ghal, were not designed to keep them alive in cases of crashing. Ship IX had been built to never enter atmosphere and had been built to survive cosmic dangers such as asteroids and radiation.

Those G-Straps failed, some snapping and flinging their occupants around the Hold to be slammed against other people or against the Bulkhead, their bodies turned to pulp. Some disappeared as the Hold fractured as it skipped across the surface of the planet, not having the time to scream. Likewise, some were brutally dismembered as pieces of the Bulkhead folded and snapped, removing arms, legs, and torsos in fountains of blood and gore.

By the time the Hold came to rest against the Hill, of the thousand souls aboard Hold C, very few were alive...

[Sempans]

Serenity's eyes blasted up and she took a ragged gasp, staring up at the slowly dawning sky. Around her, she could he what sounded like fire burning, as well as the moans of death that people gave as they died. She forced herself into a rigid sitting position, and looked around. What she saw made her blood run cold.

All around her she saw wreckage. The wreckage of the ship she was on. Metal plates surrounded her, small shards and massive metal scraps. Around her were trees, a lot with the top branches burning. She could feel the heat coming from them. It was then that she noticed the bodies around her. Not just any bodies, her bodies.

They littered the ground around her, some with shrapnel in them, others that were burned to a crisp, others that look like the very impact shattered their bones. All the clones of this type were required to stand in one area, which is why they were all together now. Except they were all dead. Except for one."I'm the only one.'' she says to herself quietly, the idea foreign.

She forces herself up, in which she grinds her teeth in pain. She looks down at her knees and sees that there is a piece of metal piercing her flesh. She groans, rips a piece of cloth from her shirt. Then the puts wrings the cloth, and clamps down on it, as she pulls the piece out. It was deep, but not too bad. She wrapped the cloth around her leg, then began to walk her hulking body around, trying to get a sense of place in her new hell...

[The Halseyist Faction]

The first thing Andrew Dent discovered on returning to a state he could only tentatively identify as concious was Pain. A lot of it too, if he was to be any judge coming from all over the place. The second thing was a deeply unpleasant smell, reminding him of a mixture of burning meet and burning buildings. His eyes did not seem particularly better off either, their opening greeting him with a somewhat slanted view of a black burning tomb, lit by gently smouldering fires and great spears of unwelcome sunlight.

The first course of action seemed to be to do what any sane man would in his circumstances.
He shut his eyes again.

Over the course of the next several minutes, where prayer, wishful thinking and ignoring the situation had apparently conclusively proved that this nightmare was real, and that while the pain appeared to be slowly subsiding the stench and all prevailing aura of doom that surrounded him only appeared to be expanding, he began to take stock of the situation.

He was dressed still in his service issue uniform. Dressed might be a strong term, a suspicious red stain occupied a significant portion of him the origins of which he was trying desperately hard not to think about, and a number of tears had rendered him anything but parade ground worthy. He had, for reasons the force of the crash had deprived his memory been wearing his helmet when the ship hit ground, this appeared to have saved his skull but battered the object into such a shape it could not easily be removed.

He had two arms and two legs and while aching both of these appeared to be in working order. His eyesight, while obscured by the general awfulness of the surrounding environment appeared to function as well as it had in the past and his mind seemed to be freeing up nicely from the shock that had occupied it for the last several minutes. Indeed, the inescapable sense of terror and panic which had until now been all consuming was only now 'Very Urgent' and he had found the time to cobble together some basic thoughts on the situation.

The ship, it seemed had crashed. That much was apparent by the sunlight creeping through the holes in the hull and the general state of bloody carnage.
It had not crashed in friendly territory. This seemed apparent for in the lengthy minutes he had lain there, no-one had come to see if he was alright. Indeed, no emergency shuttles or crews had entered through the obvious breaches in the outer hull and their were no helpful loudspeaker announcements.
There were very few other people alive. This last point was one he had reluctantly come to terms with after he could no longer find any other explanation for all the blood or the mangled crushed head that leered at him from just a few feet away, eyeball half squeezed from its socket. What was more sickening was he had a sneaking suspicion that the eyeball had a familiar look to it, and that the all consuming smell of cooking meat was unlikely to be from the ships galley.

There were two choices then. Stay here, stay quiet and eventually die of thirst or starvation or possible smoke inhalation and burns - This seemed appealing from a fatalistic perspective but was altogether unpleasant. Or alternately he could get up from the floor and attempt to find... Something. Perhaps a nice cup of tea. He could vaguely remember his favourite Aunt drilling into him the virtues of Tea in dealing with people suffering from shock and it did seem rather unlikely there was going to be a great deal of people demanding the tea before him.

Still with the sound of Aunt Mildreds nagging in the back of his aching skull, Andrew picked himself up from the floor, stepped respectfully over the corpse of Second Officer Dawson and began to make his way to what he hoped was the way to the ships central Nexus, the body that held the great holds together. He reasoned it was both a source of survivors, and hot beverages.

[Firstaria]

System restore activated...

Vital functions........ACTIVE.
Sensorial functions...ACTIVE.
Medical equipment...ACTIVE.
Remote connection....

Remote connection not found, GPS functions and scanner information limited.

Reactivating Mercury unit...

Daniel woke up in the middle of burning wreckage and corpses of people clearly dead even to someone without his medical knowledge. He realized the moment they were crashing thanks to his sensors, but of course he could do absolutely nothing to avoid it or eventual damage. Fortunately, only secondary functions were deactivated, it would have been a problem to not be able to use senses or his semi-mechanical heart.

" Scanning for survivors... " He said in a neutral but human tone, looking around, although the scanner damages were not helping him at all. He rose and started to walk around, looking for anyone who could have possibly survived this mess.

[The Norak Federation]

Lucas opened to his eyes when he could smell the corpses. He wasn't sure why that was the thing he woke up to, when he should have wakened up to so many more obvious, less smelly things, like the pain in his arm, the crushing feeling on his chest, or headache he was developing.

As Lucas opened his eyes, he realized he was underneath something. Something big, metal, and heavy. It was a wonder that some of the other scrap around him was holding it up. Trying to turn, Lucas became aware of the slight pain in his arm, and turned to discover a small piece of shrapnel stuck in it. Without thinking, Lucas pulled it out. It had entered his body, but not deeply. Other than that, he seemed ok. If ok could be a word to describe his situation. He was stuck underneath a piece of metal, most likely a piece of a wall from the ship, he had no idea what was going on or where he was. His brain recalled how the ship had suddenly began to plummet. He was looking at one of the panels of the wall, examining a small short in the wiring and then...his mind went blank there. He reasoned his brain didn't want to remember that part.

However, Lucas didn't think much about before. He was focused on now, like his dad had taught him. Learn from the Past, Live in the Present, Prepare for the Post-Present. Keeping this advice in mind, Lucas crawled from under the wall he was under, and gasped in fright. If such place existed, this was Hell. Everywhere he looked he could see either fire, or dead bodies, or both. The smell hit him full blast again, and he had to resist the urge to vomit. Finally, he stood up and breathed slowly. He looked odd, a white giant of a man trying in an orange engineer's suit to calm down by breathing. His black hair made his skin appear all the more white. If someone looked at him, they might have thought of some creature from a children's story book.

But eventually Lucas gained control of himself. "Prepare for the post present" he said to himself. He then began to look around, seeing if there was anything like his toolbox. He didn't know why, but it seemed to be a good idea. Not only did it have tools, but it had a sandwich also, in case he ever gotten hungry. Food, and something to use for...whatever. He wasn't sure. It just felt like the best thing to do at the moment. Either that, or find someone else, but judging from the bodies, Lucas was doubtful anyone else was alive.

[Dreviros]

"Ah, shit." A voice weakly muttered as a hand accompanied it, rising from under a pile of scrap. Shortly after, the rest of the body followed, cut and bruised from the act of slamming into a planet without due preparation. The man was called Lucian, and he was a survivor.

He looked at his arm and noticed a long slice oozing blood, feeling the adrenaline wear off and the pain turn on. Lucian glanced around, this way and that, searching for a medical officer who may have survived. But all he could see were bodies; once living, but now in no state to patch the man up. Groaning, he stumbled up and started shambling forward, passing the wreckage of both ship and man alike. With the little remaining strength he had, Lucian called forth.

"Hello? HALLO?"

[Sempans]

Serenity moved slowly down the slope she happened to be on. Smoke was filling the sky, making it a smoggy grey. She was making her way down across the wreckage. She knew that the likelihood of her being the only survivor, while high, wasn't entirely intuitive. So she decided to begin searching for anyone who happened to be well, or at least, somewhat conscious.

As she walked, she kept seeing fragments of what had happened. Aboard the ship... she decided to make any supplies part of her search ...standing upon her sisters... she noticed a rather long piece of sharp shrapnel, and, rubbing her 5 'o-clock shadow, picks it up ...unity and determination in the air, except around her, in which everyone stood away, but she didn't care... she thinks she saw movement behind a sheen of smoke, and slowly made her way around ...warnings about to enter slip-space, everyone determined and grim... she made herself around and saw a man ...suddenly things go wrong, a still, almost calm, like right before a storm... a tall man, extremely tall, with pale, almost white skin ...screams as the sudden fall appears, shrapnel shredding off the ship, a sense of death, danger, and adrenaline circulating... she makes her way cautiously to the tall white man who looked familiar ...as things fall, she sees a man, except he is the most individual one she has seen, like no other, and she is caught of guard with a sudden surge of awe and jealousy *black out*...

[The Norak Federation]

As Lucas tore through some of the rubble, looking for his toolbox, he thought he heard something. He stopped for a moment, listening. All he could hear then was the fires from other peices of the wreckage, but he thought he heard a footstep, like someone walking on a piece of metal. However, the noise was gone. Thinking it was his own imagination, Lucas turned back to moving a piece of wreckage. Still no sign of his toolbox. Lucas sighed in disapointment. The albino decided to give up. No doubt it had gotten destroyed.

Lucas stood up fully, brushing himself off. He wasn't sure what to do next. He did find a small hammer, but what good would that do? As Lucas stood fully, he thought briefly about his dad, what he would do in this situation. Then he smirked. He had no idea what his dad would do. His dad was a scientist, not a survivor. He was someone who studied life and death, and came up with ideas to make his life better. His dad always had supplies. He always had things around to work with. Out of anyone, his dad had no idea what it was like to have only a small hammer, wreckage from a ship, and be absolutely alone on a distant planet.

Then the noise of a person stepping on metal came again. Lucas turned on a dime, and nearly fell over as a result. What he saw, through some smoke, was a human. Lucas sighed in relief. He wasn't alone. Lucas stepped forward, trying to get a better look. The person was shorter than himself, but that was no shock to him. He still had to meet someone naturally taller than himself. He did have a thought where he actually might scare the person away, being in an orange suit, being a huge albino man in an orange suit. However, his desire for some company defeated this momentarily thought, and he called out, "You ok?"

[Sempans]

Serenity watched the man carefully. She remembered him being on the ship, so he shouldn't be a threat. Also, with all the dead bodies around and the ship being as it is, they were probably the only ones left. A feeling of envy rose out of her actually, seeing this man, so very different from everybody else, something she had craved for her whole life.

She shook her head and walked slowly towards the guy, hand still holding the metal shrapnel, though in a relaxed position. "Yes," Serenity says in her husky voice, nodding. "I am fine. What of you? Are you injured or hurt physically?"

[The Norak Federation]

Lucas nodded. "I'm all right, nothing more than bits and scratches." As Lucas said this, his headache came back slightly less painful. Lucas rubbed his head. While outside he was trying to act normal, the huskiness of the woman's voice did frighten him slightly. He also had a feeling of seeing her before, but he couldn't quiet place it where. On the ship of course, but who was she? Lucas was sure he saw her somewhere on the ship.

Lucas looked around, seeing if there was anyone else with the woman. He was disapointed to find none, though he tried not to show it. "Erm, any idea where we are?" Lucas decided to ask, though the question was probably pointless.

[Sempans]

Lucas nodded. "I'm all right, nothing more than bits and scratches." As Lucas said this, his headache came back slightly less painful. Lucas rubbed his head. While outside he was trying to act normal, the huskiness of the woman's voice did frighten him slightly. He also had a feeling of seeing her before, but he couldn't quiet place it where. On the ship of course, but who was she? Lucas was sure he saw her somewhere on the ship.

Lucas looked around, seeing if there was anyone else with the woman. He was disapointed to find none, though he tried not to show it. "Erm, any idea where we are?" Lucas decided to ask, though the question was probably pointless.

Serenity shrugs, "Unfortunately no. We are on a planet, as far as we are concerned. As to what quadrant, system...galaxy even, or if it is inhabited by humans, T'Ghal, others, or no one...," she stares down dejectedly, annoyed at the lack of knowledge she was giving. She then looked over the man again, taking in his blue eyes, his black hair. She detected a hint of accent, but she couldn't place it, though it sounded European. He also stood well over her.

"Well, in any case, I'm V7-"she stopped herself, realizing that she was no longer that of a clone, but herself "Serenity...I'm Serenity..."

[The Norak Federation]

Serenity shrugs, "Unfortunately no. We are on a planet, as far as we are concerned. As to what quadrant, system...galaxy even, or if it is inhabited by humans, T'Ghal, others, or no one...," she stares down dejectedly, annoyed at the lack of knowledge she was giving. She then looked over the man again, taking in his blue eyes, his black hair. She detected a hint of accent, but she couldn't place it, though it sounded European. He also stood well over her.

"Well, in any case, I'm V7-"she stopped herself, realizing that she was no longer that of a clone, but herself "Serenity...I'm Serenity..."

Lucas nodded, not surprised. He didn't really think she would know, but it was worth a shot. That's when he noticed her eyeing him. He wasn't sure why, but it did feel uncomfortable. This was odd, since he was normally used to it, but that was with crowds of people, and he could easily ignore them. For the moment, it was just them, and Lucas could not ignore it so easily.

When she introduced herself, Lucas suddenly had a revelation why she had seemed so familiar. It wasn't that he seen her personlly a lot, but he had seen her face a lot. She was a clone. He had to do some work around the ship repairing things and whatnot, and she, or the clones, were usually around somewhere. When she gave the second name, this puzzled him. Why would a clone take up such an odd name?

"Name's Lucas" Lucas introduced himself. He wouldn't bother himself with asking such odd questions at a time like this. "Any idea if someone else is alive?" Lucas looked about as he said this. He wasn't hopeful, but it was something he could do. He then proceeded to step toward some other wreckage, seeing if he could eye a living body.

[Dreviros]

Serenity shrugs, "Unfortunately no. We are on a planet, as far as we are concerned. As to what quadrant, system...galaxy even, or if it is inhabited by humans, T'Ghal, others, or no one...," she stares down dejectedly, annoyed at the lack of knowledge she was giving. She then looked over the man again, taking in his blue eyes, his black hair. She detected a hint of accent, but she couldn't place it, though it sounded European. He also stood well over her.

"Well, in any case, I'm V7-"she stopped herself, realizing that she was no longer that of a clone, but herself "Serenity...I'm Serenity..."

Lucas nodded, not surprised. He didn't really think she would know, but it was worth a shot. That's when he noticed her eyeing him. He wasn't sure why, but it did feel uncomfortable. This was odd, since he was normally used to it, but that was with crowds of people, and he could easily ignore them. For the moment, it was just them, and Lucas could not ignore it so easily.

When she introduced herself, Lucas suddenly had a revelation why she had seemed so familiar. It wasn't that he seen her personlly a lot, but he had seen her face a lot. She was a clone. He had to do some work around the ship repairing things and whatnot, and she, or the clones, were usually around somewhere. When she gave the second name, this puzzled him. Why would a clone take up such an odd name?

"Name's Lucas" Lucas introduced himself. He wouldn't bother himself with asking such odd questions at a time like this. "Any idea if someone else is alive?" Lucas looked about as he said this. He wasn't hopeful, but it was something he could do. He then proceeded to step toward some other wreckage, seeing if he could eye a living body.

Lucian limped forward, spotting some movement up ahead of him. The blazing fires of the wreckage was already taking it's toll on him, dehydrating Lucian and making him feel even worse than he looked. Which, quite frankly, was like shit.

"H-Hey! Over here!" The man coughed as he waved his hands. His uniform was cut and torn but still half-way recognizable as military personnel, something he hoped would distinguish him as a friend to whomever stood in front of him. He didn't recognize either of them from the ship, and still didn't know if they were actually on it in the first place, from how they looked unfrazzled from the crash. Considering the condition of his own body, he didn't even think these people were real.

"Special Operations Unit Bravo, Private Ravenwood of Ship IX!" He shouted his identification that he had been taught onboard. It was brief, informative, and he sure as hell hoped it would be enough.

[Sempans]

Serenity began following Lucas. "He really doesn't look like any other person,'' she thought,"I wonder how he got this way."She was just about to ask this when she heard movement to her left, and, turning spots a man.

He was limping, like she was, and looked extremely haggard. His silvery hair was completely disorganized, and his clothes almost shambles."Special Operations Unit Bravo, Private Ravenwood of Ship IX!'' He managed out, his voice horse. Serenity quickly began running over to him, and managed out she said. " Clone Unit Venus, number V7-"she stopped herself, finally reaching the man,"Serenity Winters of Ship IX!" She said proudly at being able to refer to herself as she pleased, but then dampered by her surroundings."At least...of what used to be Ship IX..."

[The Halseyist Faction]

Andrew didn't seem to have had much luck finding tea. He'd not really had much luck finding anything. Well, aside from blackness and smoke and dead things. He had found the galley, mind. Or at least what he'd assumed came closed to the galley, but it seemed entire devoid of foodstuffs and came with complimentary fire and death. He'd given it a miss.

There had also been a promising exit to the remains of the rest of the ship. If promising meant blocked with strands of twisted melted wreckage. Retracing his steps he'd then resumed his wanderings, a destination seeming somewhat elusive now. Another exit perhaps?

Frequent coughs wracked his progress probably a sign of excessive smoke inhalation. If it wasn't for the inexplicable holes in the roof the stuff would have likely killed him already, but at least as the sunlight vented in the smoke vented out.

It was as he began considering the virtues of just sitting down until it all went away that he caught the sound of far too exited voices. Living voices and not his own either which he'd heard rambling about tea and the dangers of deep space travel - but real people voices. Or hallucinations, anyway.

Waving his hands above his head in a highly agitated fashion he did a little hop.

'Hello!? I say, hello there?! You! ... Over there!'

[The Norak Federation]

Lucas was more than surprised to hear the man calling out. Following the clone Serenity, Lucas reached the the private at the same time. As she introduced herself, Lucas bent to help the man, placing an arm under the private. It was easily noticble that the man was limping from a pain in his leg.

"Lucas Wallstone." He introduced himself as he helped the private. Then, Lucas heard the other person crying out. Glancing in the direction where it came from, Lucas thought he could see another individual, barely. It was difficult to tell, although the man was hopping around.

"Serenity" Lucas said, and then pointed towards the other survivor. He hoped she would get the message of "go help that poor man"

[Sempans]

Serenity looked to where Lucas was pointing, towards another man, hopping, seemingly in what was the rest of the ship, as she could see him from an opening, he looked extremely pale and dusty, and probably from all that smoke. She began to make her way to him, reaching the opening that she saw him in. He looked bad, with cut and blood stains everywhere, and soot from the smoke all over him. She managed to get him out through the opening, bringing him to the light.

"Hello, I am...am Serenity Winters, from a group aboard the ship...and you?" She began taking the clothes off the area with the most blood, no time for modesty when this man could be extremely injured...

[Firstaria]

Walking around in the charred remains, Daniel's systems finally recognized some alive people at a discreet distance from him, and he quickly approached them without any caution, recognizing by the archives some of the ships survivors.

" Hello, someone need medical attention? " He quickly screamed, trying to ascertain first if all of them were fine enough to survive for now.

[Dreviros]

Lucas was more than surprised to hear the man calling out. Following the clone Serenity, Lucas reached the the private at the same time. As she introduced herself, Lucas bent to help the man, placing an arm under the private. It was easily noticble that the man was limping from a pain in his leg.

"Lucas Wallstone." He introduced himself as he helped the private. Then, Lucas heard the other person crying out. Glancing in the direction where it came from, Lucas thought he could see another individual, barely. It was difficult to tell, although the man was hopping around.

"Serenity" Lucas said, and then pointed towards the other survivor. He hoped she would get the message of "go help that poor man"

Lucian accepted the help of the man who threw his arm under Lucian's.

"Thanks, pal. You found any medics yet? Did we even have a medic in the wing? Goddamnit, I've got pains in places I didn't know existed... Shit..." Lucian moved over to a pile of stable-looking scrap and sat himself down, hoping to recover a little from the excitement of the crash and the wounds that came with it. He had worse, in a car crash back home, but that was on Earth; where at the press of three buttons you'd have help on the way. This was... Well, he honestly had no fucking idea where he was. Lucian had never been to this planet in his life.

"And say, you happen to know where we are, Luke? By the way, you can call me Woody or Rave if that makes things easier."

[The Norak Federation]

Lucas assisted the private into a sitting position. After this was done, Lucas listed for a bit, and sadly, shook his head at the last question. It seemed like nobody knew where the ship was going so far.

Then Lucas heard the calling out of a medic. Since this was exactly what Woody had asked for, Lucas turned and yelled, "Over here! I need a medic here!"

[Firstaria]

Lucas assisted the private into a sitting position. After this was done, Lucas listed for a bit, and sadly, shook his head at the last question. It seemed like nobody knew where the ship was going so far.

Then Lucas heard the calling out of a medic. Since this was exactly what Woody had asked for, Lucas turned and yelled, "Over here! I need a medic here!"

Hearing the request of a medic, Daniel ran to the group and quickly noticed with his sensor the problem on his leg. Looking at Lucas, the one who called him, he said " You all seems to have minor damage due to the ship crashing, and your friend seems to have some problem at the leg. Please let me examine it. "

He then sat near Lucian, scanning the leg to ascertain a more professional analysis of the damage. " My sensor have been slighly damaged by the crash, but fortunately it doesn't seems the bone is broken. a simple remedy to block the leg and some days of recovering. I've some morphine for injection, but protocol demands that the higher rank survived authorizes use of any kind of medicine in this situation to ration them. Who is the commander of this group? " he asked to Lucas in the end, waiting for permission.