Voyages in Andromeda (FT Char RP|IC, Open)

[Theyra]

Vak'ol Vum
Defiance Bridge

This is bad, Vak'ol thought as he gripped tightly to the nearest piece of metal as the ship sudden drove downward. He has never been in a situation like this before and it was quite scary and the fact he can do nothing about it annoyed him. The only thing he can do is just watch Yare-Lokem drive the ship and hold on for dear life as she did her best to evade Kiellar Command ships. Hopefully, they can get to the ground team and find a way to get out of this mess. Either that or well the other options and not appealing.

Novo Vohru Andai
Somewhere on the ship

Novo was barely at the stairs that led to engineering when he heard Yare-Lokem over the comm. "What? Was all he said before the ship took a sudden turn downward. He quickly grabbed the nearest sturdy thing he could find which was the stair's railing. He held on tight as he did not want to get throw around the ship again like when they crashed on the blue alien's world. What in the gods' name is wrong to take sudden moves? Novo thought as he unaware of the impending danger that the Defiance was in, did Command find them or is it something else. Though Novo was in no position to find an answer lest risk getting toss around during the Defiance's sudden turns. So he will keep holding on until the ship is safe or if the ship crashed once again.

[Harbertia]

Sshalah
Sshalah held onto the pilots chair Yare was occupying using her tail as she moved towards Vak'ol near the intercom and pressed the button to activate it; "THis is the bridge, all hands prepare for turbulence!" she said, though it was rather unnecessary. Novo in Engineering was feeling the turns already, but turbulence meant atmosphere. She moved back to the pilot chair and resume a grasp upon it. Her mind was too focused to give notice to Raoul, she continued to look forward. It would be a surprise if the chair held up.

[Bentus]

Aarla - Unit 067
The Ruins

---

“It’s a bloody fake!”

The sound of the ZPG crashing into the cave’s wall echoed through the chamber, and caused Aarla to nearly jump in surprise. Bristling at the sudden commotion, she instinctively braced herself for a fight and whipped her head around towards the furious voice. Shifting her narrowed gaze between the different figures in the room with her, the girl quickly scanned her surroundings with a trained eye: exits, weapons, threats, anything that could be useful as she tried to identify...Dana?

Blinking in surprise as recognition and memories flooded back into her vacant thoughts, Aarla’s stance softened. We’re in the ruins on the moon. These are all current crew members of the Defiance, a former Command prison ship that went rogue in the aftermath of a successful mutiny. Frowning in confusion, Aarla felt like she had been violently torn awake from a vivid dream that was even now fading into the fog of her memory.

“Yeah, real smart,” It was the not-a-psyker, the unmistakable venom in her tone being directed towards their Gollar liaison, “we could have used that! Mind sitting on your hands and letting the adults handle things now?”

While the rest of the crew were preoccupied with the ZPG and the prospect of an ambush to pay the confused psyker any mind, Aarla turned back towards the stretch of wall that she had been staring at. Tilting her head quizzically, the girl lifted an eyebrow curiously as she carefully scanned the intricate carvings and glyphs that adorned the ancient chamber. It had felt like she had gazed into the carvings for an eternity, although she had already forgotten what had pulled her towards them in the first place, and yet none of them were like what she remembered. The wall was adorned with simple scenes with indistinct humanoids chiselled into stone, stick-figures likely meant to serve as a visual accompaniment to the indecipherable text that was too old even for her translator microbes to comprehend. They were all just lines and grooves cut into rock. Lifeless remnants from a dead people on a sterile rock, as frozen and motionless as they had been for countless millennia and as unchanging as the stone upon which they were carved.

Aarla’s frown only deepened. That didn’t make any sense. That wasn’t what she had seen. Narrowing her gaze further as if she could force the silent carvings to spill their truths simply through sheer determination, Aarla squinted as she tried to see what she was missing. Concentrating, she felt her vision slip ever-so-slightly out of focus so that she couldn’t really make out the carvings at all. It was at that point that maybe, if she just tilted her head in just the right way, the slowly flickering shadows cast by the dim lights in the chamber began to pull themselves to the fore. Waving steadily back and forth as the artificial lights pulsed with the alternating current coursing through their wires, the harsh shadows shifted along the wall. They moved with an ancient patience behind each step as they closed in around her, with an imaginative mind perhaps picking out shapes from within the shadows: an arm, a leg, a torso, a head. And a pair of empty eyes above a grinning mouth.

“This is Captain Carter, Crichton has a back up plan but need to hold out for an hour or so.”

The Captain’s voice broke the spell, wrenching Aarla once again from the vision and firmly into the present. Immediately, she scowled at her own distractedness. Stay focused. You can figure things out later, after you make it out of here alive. Listening to the not-Dhasath’s commands, the girl pushed her thoughts and concerns from her mind as she forced herself to concentrate on the coming fight. Setting her mouth into a line, Aarla offered Carter a simple nod of acknowledgement as she moved into position.

“Understood.” Meanwhile, the carvings behind her looked once again like nothing more than lines chiseled into stone.

[Europa Undivided]

“Tinman,” Hikari addressed Ilyak using the callsign she knew for the group’s mechanical member, “how long for that cannon of yours to melt us a way out? Would it risk overheating?”

At this point, there was no love lost between the Oni and Dana, but Hikari knew relying on only one plan of action was suicidal if it failed. In fact, she was of the opinion coming down here without five back ups was the height of stupidity.

“Though not a glacier,” she continued, “ice shifts. We should try aiming for any nearby crevasses and collapse as much as possible behind us so they can’t track us down as easily.”

The Gnosara shook its head. “I could, in theory, melt a way out through the ice, but it will take time. My cannon can also overheat if I use a constant beam for too long, and I would rather not have that happen, as no engineer within a hundred light yes knows how to repair me or any part of me.”

Looking towards the direction of the cave entrance, Ilyak continued. “Objectively, however, a better choice for melting a whole through the ice would be Kaleso and his twin blades of plasma. If those could slice through armor with barely any effort while having no risk of overheating due to the lack of a barrel that would overheat in the event of constant usage, it would be better if we had him carve a way out.”

[Lessoni]

Raoul

Raoul watched Yare fly, but he didn't really see it. Currently, he was deep in his own head, playing out the scenarios in his head. On one hand, they get shot down, they all die. He knew that one was likely. On another hand, the ground crew gets killed in the pickup. Definitely likely. Or this works, and everything turns out alright. That was the one he wanted, and he knew it was the one that was least likely to happen. In any case, he braced himself for impact, and held onto his hope.

[Kylantha]

---

Sho'chavuk | Anja

---

Sho stood on the counter awaiting an answer, but didn't get one. Instead, the kitchen critter leapt up onto the counter in front of Sho and amidst comments about his existence on the vessel, offered his paw for a shake. Sho recoiled in surprise, frowning slightly as he sized the feline up. The fact that they were just about the same height disturbed him immensely, but decided that he was going to be cordial for now. Narrowing his eyes, Sho took Khana's paw and gripped it firmly, but shook weakly.

At that moment, Anja jumped nimbly onto the counter just behind Sho and peeked out at Khana. She didn't seem as intimidated by him as she'd been by the other aliens on the Defiance. Both she and Sho listened in silence as Khana pretty much offered them a choice of a meal and asked how they'd be paying for it. The two Tz'aths glanced at each other then looked back at Khana. Sho was the first to speak.

"Actually, we were sent here to retrieve somebody's meal." he began, holding up his index finger in the air.

"Zinc, sodium, and mercury with spices." Anja said to Sho specifically, but her voice was loud enough for Khana to hear.

"Ah, yes. The things that the little one enumerated. We're tasked to retrieve something that smells like them." Sho nodded, his finger still stuck in the air. He acknowledged Khana's offer as well, thinking that a meal would be nice. But he wasn't that hungry at the moment. "I am at this time, full... Perhaps later I shall eat. But not right now, as I've a mission."

But then Anja's voice then rang out, albeit timidly. "U-uh.. I'm.. Hungry. Yeah..."

"Oh." Sho paused. Just then, the ship rumbled violently, causing Anja to crumple into a ball while Sho wobbled off the counter and fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

"By the sands! What is going on!?" Sho yelled incredulously, managing to stick to the floor as the ship turned toward the surface. Anja rolled off the counter and started bouncing around, colliding with things.

[Bingellia]

Mihal, Pheonix and Thanica-Defiance Halls (Cowritten by Bingellia, Dyelli Beybi, and Grenartia)

---

Phoenix could feel the ship jolting as it was taking fire, and spiralling out of control. Amidst the commotion and the warnings from the bridge, one phrase went through her mind. Falling elevator. Immediately, she knew what to do.

"Mihal, help me get her down on the deck. We all need to lay flat, heads near the wall, arms and legs locked together, with her in the middle." It wasn't a surefire solution, but getting to the Captain's room and under the bed in time wasn't very likely. At least this way, the force of the impact could be spread across their bodies, and by linking their limbs, they minimized the risk of flying around the corridor like ragdolls.

Even with the extra weight, Mihal had little difficultly keeping himself stable during the the initial set of shakes and jolts that rocked the Defiance. Fear, however, did start to set in once Mihal registered what was going on as the floor below him vibrated.

He wasn't panicking yet, and Pheonix's rather quick thinking settled the Kiel's mind. "Right," he replied as he refocused himself. Following the human's lead, the group moved closer to the wall and started lowering themselves. "I'd feel a lot better if we had a bar to grab onto," Mihal mumbled to himself as he linked to the Dhasath.

Phoenix shook her head. "No, that'd just be more dangerous. More likely to hit the bar or each other than anything else. Ideally, we'd be strapped into chairs, but we don't have that option. We can use our arms to stop anything bonking our heads if we have to." she responded, mostly trying to comfort herself with the last sentence.

Thanica wasn't helping, mostly because she seemed to be finding everything very funny. She giggled, "Do you think Carter would approve of this?" She asked, not getting any further before dissolving into laughter. At least the drugs were keeping her from panicking... "Hey, do you think the scalpel in my pocket is potentially dangerous?"

"Yes, but keep it there anyways. Not like there's anywhere safer for it." Phoenix said, shaking her head. That girl ain't right.

Gods, don't let me get stabbed here, Mihal sighed to himself.

[Bentus]

Unit 085
Kiel Landing Force

---

Emeach glanced down towards the shorter Lieutenant, offering the armoured trooper a curt nod as he adjusted the thermal gloves at the end of his own uniform. “I appreciate the operational leeway. I promise that the Navy will get their man, for whatever it is that you want him for. But I have orders from my own superiors, too. And I have to take their word as gospel, even more so than the Commodore’s.” With that, the Commissar turned to look towards the pair of figures that exited from the dropship just behind him. “Unit Six-Two, where is she?”

Much like the Lieutenant, the two psykers also appeared to be shorter than the soldiers around them - the fact betraying their relative youth despite the insulated armor they wore. Eight-Five calmly scanned the icy wastes that opened out before them, content to allow her partner to answer their Handler’s request himself. She’d been bombarded with images and holovids of the landing zone from the moment the mission was planned, but she still enjoyed taking a moment to breathe in the air of a new world when she was really there. Even if, in this case, the frigid atmosphere was being heavily filtered by her suit’s mask.

However, as the moment slowly stretched out into seconds, the silence began to creep on for longer than it should have. Blinking in confusion, she turned to look up at the boy beside her, wondering why he hadn’t yet replied to the Commissar’s question. As it turned out, Emeach was wondering the exact same thing. Frowning, the Handler turned his full attention to the unresponsive psyker. “Six-Two, is everything ok?”

Furrowing his brow as if in concentration, the psyker was pursing his lips behind his helm as he seemed to be pulled back to the present by Emeach’s voice. Stiffening slightly, he responded curtly. “Yes, sir. She is in the cave with the others, moving towards the entrance now. I think they’re trying to set up a perimeter.”

Allowing his gaze to linger on the psyker for a few more moments, Emeach eventually shrugged as he turned back to the Lieutenant. “Digging in for a fight, then. Can’t say I’m surprised after looking at this ‘Carter’s’ file.”

Clearing his throat to pull back his superior’s attention, Six-Two continued. “There’s more. Someone outside of the cave, still alive.” Turning his gaze over towards the rock where Krystyn was hiding, the boy narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on the faint pulsing of the life sign that echoed in the Other Place. Once he was certain, he extended a gloved finger. “Over there.”

“Nicely done, Six-Two. We might have a chance to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed yet.” Emeach replied, gesturing towards a pair of soldiers to advance. “You two, take him alive.”

As the Handler dispatched his orders, communicating with the Navy’s ground commander as they planned out their advance, Eight-Five’s eyes lingered on her partner. He continued to stand where he was, the same concerned expression etched onto his features as he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Leaning over, she elbowed him forcefully as she opened a channel between their helmets.

“Hey, what was that? You left us there for a little bit.” She replied, the joking tone in her voice only slightly betraying a hint of genuine concern. “Are you really ok?”

Cracking a slight smile as he rubbed his arm, the other psyker offered Eight-Five a reassuring grin. “Yeah, yeah - I’m fine.” His voice trailed off slightly, his eyes shifting back towards the cave. “It’s just that, she didn’t feel right. Like she wasn’t really here for a second, not entirely. Or like she wasn’t really her.” He couldn’t hide the confused concern in his tone, but he immediately brushed it aside before the girl beside him read too much into it. “But it was only for a moment. I’m probably just tired from being on a ship for so long.”

Eight-Five snickered, giggling at her partner. “Nah, you’re just getting old. I’m expecting to see grey hairs any day now.” Once again, she elbowed Six-Two playfully in an effort to shake him from his reverie. Truth be told, while she had been eagerly awaiting the mission, she’d noticed her partner’s growing apprehension. “Relax, we’ve got her trapped. She knew that this is what would happen when she betrayed us like that. Bet she thought that she would be an exception, or something.” Anger had begun to creep into Eight-Five’s voice, as she snorted derisively. “Got to say that I’m looking forward to breaking that delusion.”

Hiding his slight frown, Six-Two forced himself to nod in agreement. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” There was a slight hesitation. “I just...hope she comes back around. What she’s doing doesn’t make any sense.”

Rolling her eyes, Eight-Five began to trudge through the snow towards the cave entrance. “Oh come on, don’t you dare try to defend her now. This time she’s really done it. I kept saying she’d push things too far one day, didn’t I? But nobody listened, and look where we are - having to come down here and clean up her mess. She deserves to be punished. Not only for this, but for all the other things she’s done as well.”

Watching his partner push on towards their foe, Six-Two stayed back for a moment. His gaze lingered on the small of Eight-Five’s back. The pair had been inseparable ever since basic training, and he knew that Eight-Five had never been a fan of Six-Seven, but… something still didn’t sit right with him. She wasn’t supposed to be their enemy. And it turned out that she really was, he’d seen her fight. She was strong.

“Hey, slow-poke! Are you coming, or what?”

Pulled from his thoughts, Six-Two rolled his eyes at Eight-Five as he quickly began trudging through the snow after her. “Yeah, yeah. Sheesh, why do you always have to be in such a rush?”

[Bentus]

A Stranded Pole
Krystyn and Emeach
A cowrite with Endem and Benus.

---

Krystyn spit out some blood that accumulated in his mouth, by this point the place he was spitting on was completely dark red, he then heard faint footsteps on the snow. He did not hesitate to grab his weapon and turn around, he saw two Kiellari troops, no he wasn't surprised, it was only a matter of time before they would find him. He got up on his knees, as far as he was able to right now, and pointed his blaster at them "Don't move even a centimeter or I'll blast you two into oblivion!" He shouted, his threat obviously would not impress the Kiellars, but, they did not knew the power of desperation and what it enabled humans to do sometimes.

“Drop the weapon.” One of the soldiers declared sternly, keeping his eyes and rifle fixed firmly on the human. “You’re in no state to put up a fight. Come quietly and you won’t be harmed.” The Keil’s partner slowly began circling aground Krystyn as he spoke. They made no effort to hide the maneuver, but the intention was clear: Krystyn was outgunned and outnumbered, even if by some miracle he took one of them down, the other would be in a position to apprehend him immediately. “Or you can pull that trigger, and we’ll be forced to make the rest of your life a living hell. Your call, human.”

"What will guarantee me that when I'm captured you won't make my life a hell anyway!" Krystyn shouted back still keeping his rifle in his hand and his sight on the soldier.

“Nothing but my word, and a lack of any better alternatives on your part.” The soldier calmly replied. “If we wanted you dead, it would’ve been easier to shoot you already. Even if you put up a fight, nothing would change: we’d get you with a stun blaster, and you’d wake up in a cold cell with a fair few angry guards.” Pausing, the soldier looked the human up and down. “Do the smart thing, kid. What’s your name?”

[ii]They’re looking for Carter right, maybe if I pose as him I'll save my friends, eh, I'm injured anyway and might not make, I just hope it will help, God please help me[/i]. Krystyn thought to himself "I'm no kid, and my name is Nathaniel, Nathaniel Carter!" Krystyn shouted.

Immediately, the two soldiers exchanged a glance. One of them pressed a finger to the side of his helmet. He didn’t bother making the connection private from the human. “Commissar, you better get down here. The human Unit Six-Two identified is claiming to be a ‘Nathaniel Carter’.” There was a brief silence, clearly due to some kind of response coming back from this ‘Commissar’. Eventually, the soldier replied. “Understood.”

Krystyn cautiously put down the gun and tried to stand up with arms in air, however as soon as he was off his knees he fell to the ground "I can't walk" he said to himself "Here! I put down the gun but, unfortunately for you, I can't get off the ground"

“Not a problem.” The soldier stated as his partner darted forward and kicked the gun further out into the snow, far out of the injured human’s reach. The masked Kiel kept their gun pointed at Krystyn to be safe, but the soldier that had been talking lowered their rifle as they stepped towards Krystyn. Squatting beside him, the alien moved the man’s arm over his shoulders before offering him a glance through his opaque helmet. “I’m going to stand on the count of three, make sure you shift your weight onto my shoulders. One, two, three.” At that, the soldier pulled Krystyn upwards, ignoring any cries of pain from the human as his legs had to bear some of his weight. Looking up, Krystyn would have seen another figure striding towards them. This Kiel appeared different, their armour looking more formal and with different echelons on their lapel.

“Captain Carter, is it?” Emeach stated, extending a hand towards Krystyn for a handshake. “I am Commissar Emeach, of the Dolen Telor. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. For the good of your followers, please tell them to stand down before I’m forced to order a massacre.”

Krystyn shaken reluctantly the Kiel hand and then said "I could order them, but there is a much simpler solution, simply stop pointing your rifles at them, after all, you got what you were looking for isn't it right?" Krystyn replied.

A sigh escaped from Emeach’s lips, but it was quickly replaced by a faint smile. “I had hoped so, but, unfortunately, you're not really Captain Carter, are you?” Explaining, the Kiel continued. “Even if they were tight-lipped on everything else, the Commodore at least gave me access to Carter’s file, and it included a photograph. It was a good attempt, and I applaud your effort to sacrifice yourself for your friends - but we’re not the villains you’ve been told we are, either.” Turning his attention to the soldier holding Krystyn, Emeach spoke quickly. “Bring him close to the cave entrance, close enough for anyone inside to see him and patch me through the speaker system.”

"It was worth a try at least" Krystyn replied and allowed himself to be brought near the entrance, he was feeling proud for even trying, even if he did not succeed.

After a moment, Emeach spoke in a firm tone, with his helmet’s microphone transmitting his voice through a set of speakers that had been set up at the cave’s mouth in order to communicate with those inside. “Attention Captain Carter and associated fugitives. This is Commissar Emeach of the Dolen Telor. Blood doesn’t have to be shed today. We have one of your people in our custody. If you don’t turn yourself in, I will be forced to execute him for treason. Captain, if you surrender, your non-human crew will be allowed to go free. Please, consider their wellbeing when you make your next move.”

Krystyn then managed to somehow activate his comms "Don't give up Captain!" Krystyn shouted into them before once again disconnecting, this time probably for good as he expected the Kiellar to cut them off, somehow "Execute me! I served my purpose! Let God have mercy on my soul!" Krystyn shouted towards all the Kiellar near him.

[Dyelli Beybi]

The Defiance

The Defiance hit the ice sheet better than the crew had hoped, ploughing into the ice at an acute angle, then chewing along the top surface to come to a full stop about half a mile from the wreckage of the shuttle. The vibrations from the crash could be felt in the cave and on the ridge and were heavy enough to cause a few people to lose their footing. Onboard the ship, the inertial dampeners had absorbed the worst of the crash, though there were plenty of red lights flashing on the bridge indicating damage to the lower hull, damage to the weapons systems in the belly and the complete failure of the shields. The comms system was still operational though as within a few seconds Vrondich was in contact with the bridge, "Shields are down. Engines are still operational. If we seal off the lower decks we should be able back into orbit once the shields are back online... which could be a while. Rabaech is looking into it."

In the lift Thanica was flung upwards slightly, landing on her belly again a moment later, "Oww..." she complained, "Hey we're not dead! You guys were so nervous as well..." she disentangled herself from the others, sitting up and producing the scalpel she'd palmed in the infirmary, "And I didn't stab myself either! This crash is going pretty well so far! You guys are so nice; we should have a ship party. Why did we crash? You guys need to focus; we need to deal with the crash situation before we party."

Outside, on the ice sheet, Aethienn had spotted the ship coming down. It really wasn't all that difficult. Apart from the tremors it sent through the ice shelf, there was a great big plume of shattered ice and snow that was visible even in the foul weather they were experiencing. She motioned for the troopers with her to form up and move out, "Follow me, we're moving in on the downed star-ship. There are Ragons amongst the crew so expect a vicious fight. If the target appears to be a Dhasath male, take prisoner, otherwise shoot to kill."

She paused as further mission parameters were relayed from the ships circling above. A specific target on the ship? How unusual. Aethienn was not one to question orders though.


The Cave

After a moment, Emeach spoke in a firm tone, with his helmet’s microphone transmitting his voice through a set of speakers that had been set up at the cave’s mouth in order to communicate with those inside. “Attention Captain Carter and associated fugitives. This is Commissar Emeach of the Dolen Telor. Blood doesn’t have to be shed today. We have one of your people in our custody. If you don’t turn yourself in, I will be forced to execute him for treason. Captain, if you surrender, your non-human crew will be allowed to go free. Please, consider their wellbeing when you make your next move.”

Krystyn then managed to somehow activate his comms "Don't give up Captain!" Krystyn shouted into them before once again disconnecting, this time probably for good as he expected the Kiellar to cut them off, somehow "Execute me! I served my purpose! Let God have mercy on my soul!" Krystyn shouted towards all the Kiellar near him.

"Shit, no signal in here, this is crap, it's worse than the mobile reception in the valleys back home," Dana grumbled. She paused for a long moment then sighed, "Listen, I'm going to call reinforcements, but to do that I need to get out of the cave so my suit can transmit. I need all of you to stop shooting for a few moments. I'm going to pretend to give myself up. They'll think I'm Carter for a bit so won't open fire immediately. When I'm outside the signal should work... then you'll need to hold out for... an hour or so?"

What she didn't say was that she imagined the KC troopers would kill her without a second thought once they'd figured out she wasn't Carter, which wasn't too hard to do given that she was female. She'd have rather sacrificed someone other than herself, but she was the only one with the transmitter in her suit so it couldn't really be helped. She waited for the shooting to stop, setting her weapon aside. Once it had, she closed her eyes for a moment. "Screw your courage to the sticking place, Dana," she muttered under her breath, then stuck her hands up, stepping out into the open, walking very slowly out into the open, in full view of the KC troopers taking up position around the entrance to the archaeological dig.

[Harbertia]

Sshalah
Sshalah, who had held firmly to the pilot's chair with tail and claw took some determined breaths. She didn't have good vision to notice anything other then the vague form of the destroyed shuttle which she did recognize. Approaching Kiellar on the other hand was not something she noticed. She spoke into the intercom after navigating her way to it; "We'll seal the lower levels once ground team has been recovered. Inform me of Rabaech's findings." She turned to Raoul, "Raoul, you and Mothula search the ship. Start with medical, if someone can't move take them there. Report to me the crew's status." She then moved back to the pilot's chair and leaned down to connect to Carter's com and look at the screen- without orbital data the display was not in the right configuration to be of assistance; "Bravoh Vochstrat, is your team inbound?" They where not at the shuttle, and she silently realized that it was foolish to assume they'd be there quickly. She whispered though not very well to Yare whom she was in a sense leaning close to; "See what you can do with the display." she said.... Sshalah's hands where still too large to effectively handle the controls built for Kiellar. On the inside she wasn't feeling well, and while she had maintained a strong image until this point something in the tone of her whisper showed what some would call weakness.

[Kylantha]

---

Sho'chavuk | Anja

---

On collision, Sho was finally thrown off the counter with great force. He curled up into a ball in mid-air and crashed into the wall, leaving in it a massive indent. Hopefully it didn't cause any internal damage. Anja herself ran into a stool, bending it down the middle, proceeding to roll around a little bit before settling in a corner.

"Oy..." Sho grumbled as he unfurled, looking around at the mess that the mess now was. "We seem to have crashed." he muttered, clambering over piles of metal dishes and whatnot that had gathered by him. "Alright, now.. Little one? Little one!" he called over the mess, cupping a hand over his mouth. A few seconds later the smaller Tz'ath popped up from under a pile of scraps that had been flung into the dining area.

"I'm here." she said, sounding a bit woozy.

Sho clapped his hands together in delight. "Oh, good. Now, let's go and see about getting that meal..."

[New Udonia]

Mothlua of Vubhe

The Bridge

Mothlua had attached her helmet before impact. The crash was a breeze, she had hardly lost her footing after it came to a stop. I forgot the moon was covered in snow....

Sshalah
She turned to Raoul, "Raoul, you and Mothula search the ship. Start with medical, if someone can't move take them there. Report to me the crew's status."

"Yes, ma'am!" she shouted excitedly. A minute ago she thought she was going to be a corpse, she was on a survival high. Before leaving with Raoul, she reopened her communication channel with Cridrac. "Cridrac, we survived! We are currently going to check on the remaining members of the crew."
Cridrac sounded relieved, although it is difficult to judge the personality of any conversation when the individual is out-of-sight. "That's great, stay safe, I'll let everyone know."
Ending her communication with him, she grabbed her sidearm and followed Raoul out the door. From what she knew, the Commander was still resting in the medbay. Unless she ran into the trio on the way, she was in for a rude surprise.

Strike Team Tetra

The Moon

Cridrac had watched the ship disappear over a ridge and suffered the effects of the aftershocks. If he hadn't been expecting the impact, the shocks may have startled him right off the ridge face-down in front of the troops surrounding the team. After the aftershocks ended, he opened a communication line with the bridge. "Mothlua, report." Static. He repeated his question several times, each silent response increasing his state of mind. Not like this. Before his voice could expose his emotions the line alerted him that a receiver had opened. "Cridrac, we survived! We are currently going to check on the remaining members of the crew." Yes! He muted his communications line long enough for him to compose himself, which wasn't even worthy of being called a second. "That's great, stay safe, I'll let everyone know." Good thing I didn't scare them.

Opening his communications line with Rodu and Vandul he briefed them on the situation: "The Defiance is down, troops are moving in, Mothlua and the bridge crew are safe." Rodu and Vandul had been listening and acknowledged such. They both watched Dana exit the cave, understanding the gravity of their current situation. Rodu contacted Cridrac as she began to exit the tunnel. "Chrichton is leaving, she is planning on posing as the Captain. She needs time to communicate with reinforcements."
Cridrac digested this information as best as he could. "Isn't the Gollar face-plate transparent, how is that going to work?"
Rodu heard his response. She had noticed that also. "Alright, can you keep an eye on her, if she dies we are probably dead." Rodu would then turn to the Captain, communicating with him. "Captain, you should go with her. They want to talk with you, and if they have an image of your face, as they do for all prisoners, they'll realize she's an impersonator long before she's outside." She waited for a minute before continuing, giving him a chance to interrupt her. "I'll go with you, but it has got to be you."

Cridrac had lined up his sight with the entrance, he was going to tag her path. If anyone decided to fire on her, he could always down her by shooting her in a non-lethal location, leaving her attackers to believe that their shot had hit its mark. It was better than nothing.

[Holy Lykos]

The De-orbited Starship Defiance

Khana, about to answer the Tz'ath, instead found himself briefly weightless in the air, before landing back down again. "Odd..." He mumbled, looking down at the floor. "We seem to be crashing." The merom glanced to his side, towards the small mountain of dishes he'd been washing and the knives he'd been sharpening. Not all that good for those to be laying out...

And then the jolt, and before Khana could do anything about it both he, the dishes, and the knives all went scattering through the air. Khana scrambled, flung around like a dog trying to stand in a moving car, trying for purchase on just about everything. The blades did much the same, some stabbing into things with enough force to embed themselves in metal countertops. Sho did find himself surrounded in kitchen debris, after all, and Khana as well. However, the merom seemed to recover easier, and didn't leave a ridiculous dent in one of the walls.

Khana, though, found bits of his fur trimmed off by knives embedded near him. The final jolt sent Khana into the air again, along with the last few loose utensils and knives. The merom scrambled in midair to catch and stow away a surprising number of knives on his person, before somehow landing right in front of Sho, just about face to face, with a caught knife mere milimeters from the other alien's chest.

"...Lucky catch." Khana sighed, single uncovered eye looking over his guest for harm. "No one caught knives with their body, I assume? I see no blood, though I do see my stock has been ruined. Shame, that." The chef sniffed, before taking a surprisingly light step backwards. "I have the meal you were looking for in the walk-in, by the way. I'll need to know Tz'ath dietary needs before I cook for you two as well."

[Lessoni]

Raoul

Raoul took a hard tumble when the ship hit the ground, but he felt mostly alright. Nothing broken that wasn't already, at least. Listening intently, he gave a nod to Sshalah as he walked out the door. He turned to Mothlua as they walked out of the bridge.

"We're not safe yet. Keep that gun ready, and stay close. Let's get to the medbay, then check on the captain," he said as he walked. He doubted they'd be allowed to pick up the ground crew without a fight.

[Endem]

Yp and Tyreh

Tyreh jumped a little when the ship fell, thankfully his four arms managed to soften the landing up so he wouldn't crack his helmet, which would be a death sentence for him. Tyreh then saw a body rushing past him and looking from the miraculously unbroken window at the snow moon and the Kiellari soldiers in the distance. It was the resident madman Yp, Tyreh, meanwhile, got off the ground and slowly approached Yp from behind.

"What are you planning on doing there buddy" Yp turned around looking stoic as ever due to his faceless face, "I know a challenge when I see one" Tyreh jerked his head a little to the side "Challenge? All I see there is snow" Yp then turned around to face the window again "A challenge of my endurance" Tyreh in disbelief looked at Yp "You're going to die there you know?"

"I know about the need for oxygen" Yp replied, to which Tyreh nodded and then replied "I hope you also know about the heating?" Yp turned around yet again and this time started to move towards Tyreh "That is the challenge, to survive without heating" as Yp moved past Tyreh, he said to Yp "Are you actually planning on doing this?"

"Yes" an awkward silence has started which was broken by Tyreh "let's go get you an oxygen mask and some clothes for outdoors" Yp took a step forward "You won't make me" Tyreh chuckled at then followed Yp "I will, do you really want to die before becoming this 'God-Warrior' or something" Yp stood silent for a second "let's go for some clothing" Tyreh chuckled "That's the spirit"

Soon Tyreh and Yp managed to get Yp into heated clothing and stood before the now half buried airlock, Tyreh then activated the comms "Hey, I have a Kel'Resh very eager to go and get some Kiellar heads, when do we get of this ship?" Yp asked "Do we need to wait for permission?" Tyreh replied "Well, do you want to shot as soon as we get out?"

[Theyra]

Vak'ol Vum
Defiance Bridge

Vak'ol got thrown a bit when he lost his grip on the chair he was clinging to. Hitting his head on one of the consoles as the ship jerked and soon came to a halt. Slowly getting up and holding his forehead where the pain was. Vak'ol did not feel blood or anything liquid so no open wound and he has had worse injuries than this. Much worse and he shook his head briefly and the pain started to go away. Turning to face the others, he heard Sshalah give the orders to Raoul and Mothula to search the ship and report the status of the crew's. Thinking about what he should do since the ship has crashed and who knows when Carter and his team are going to get back. He spoke up, "I think I am going to go with Raoul and Mothula and see how wounded the crew is. Bye", he waved Sshalah then Vak'ol turned and went to follow the pair while still holding his forehead.

Novo Vohru Andai
Somewhere on the ship

Novo held on tight as the ship crashed and unlike last time, he was not thrown around the cabin. Holding firmly in place and closing his eyes as the ship came to a stop. He opened his eyes slowly and found that he was still intact. Novo made small prayer to the gods after slowly releasing the railing that he held on to. Breathing deeply, he looked around, Rabaech was not with him. Novo guessed he made it to engineering and he hoped that he was okay. Still, he needed to get to engineering since there is bound to be damage to the ship after that crash and went as fast as he could there. Entering Novo saw Vrondich at work and approached him, "What is damaged and what can I do to help?

[New Udonia]

Mothlua of Vubhe

The Medbay

Raoul

"We're not safe yet. Keep that gun ready, and stay close. Let's get to the medbay, then check on the captain," he said as he walked.

"Sounds good." I hope the Commander is alright. She noticed that their pair had a third join their mission, always welcome when the potential of danger was looming. They reached the medbay, but before they could enter she was interrupted by a communication.

Yp and Tyreh
Tyreh then activated the comms "Hey, I have a Kel'Resh very eager to go and get some Kiellar heads, when do we get of this ship?" Yp asked "Do we need to wait for permission?"

Mothlua paused in-front of the medbay and opened the communications channel. "Do not exit the ship, we aren't sure whether or not we are going to be under attack yet." A few seconds later she continued. "Once the ship is secure we are going to attempt to contact the Captain, it's probably best that we direct our energies where it can help our people out there the most." She wasn't sure if that would work, but she hoped.

Turning back toward the medbay doors, she entered inside. She saw only two figures alone inside of the room: the doctor and the prisoner. "Are you both alright? Dr. Amlai, where is the Commander?" If she decided to take a walk....

[Dyelli Beybi]

Outside the Defiance, the snow was beginning to whip up a blizzard that mostly obscured the shape of the KC attack squad as they moved into position around the ship. Aethienn looked at the shape of the ship, comparing it to her HUD. The ship had managed to drive itself some way into the ice, which was helpful as they could make a breach closer to the target area. They had also had word that Carter was amongst the enemy forces trapped in the cave which made life a bit easier. There would be no need to go searching the ship for him.

"There!" she motioned at a point in the hull, watching as a trooper with an explosive charge ran to where she had motioned, "If we breach there, we will be a few yards from the target area. Enter, eliminate the target and exit again. If anyone intervenes, kill them."

"Understood..." came the voice of the Sergeant who was acting as her 2iC on the mission, "Do you need me to nominate who will be first through the breach?"

"No need." Aethienn shrugged her shoulders, looking a bit like she was limbering up in expectation of taking part in an acrobatics competition, "I'll enter first. Follow behind and offer fire support where necessary."

"Very good Ma'am." the Sergeant replied, motioning for everyone to take cover.

The explosion that followed came in a surprising place, tearing a hole in the side of the galley and sending anyone close to it flying. Within a split second Aethienn was through the gap. She was a bit small for a typical Kiellar trooper, with lighter looking black armour. In each hand she held a three foot long energy blade that glowed an uneasy purple colour as she scanned the room for targets. She also had a blaster, though it was folded across her back. Her movement were confident, lithe and graceful, "Come out children," she called, twirling the blade in her left hand in a colourful circle, her voice high and melodious, "I am looking forward to meeting you, oh so much."

[Lessoni]

Raoul

Raoul heard the blast, and before anyone had said he word he was dashing to the area he thought it had come from. His suspicions proved correct. They were under attack. They had breached the galley, from what he could tell, though he hadn't quite reached it. He simply heard the woman's challenge, a challenge he was glad to meet. Smashing down the door to the galley, he saw the T'zath and the chef on the ground from the blast. Stepping in to meet the woman's challenge, he hoped someone with a gun would be there to back him up soon.

"I'm going to turn you all into mincemeat," he said with a voice brimming with rage before he threw himself into the fray, diving towards the one who seemed in charge. He saw the swords, but he barely registered them as his instincts kicked in.

[Endem]

Tyreh and Yp

It was a peculiar scene, Tyreh managed to hold Yp off somehow, Yp was telepathically screaming curses and death threats to Tyreh while Tyreh tried to calm him down, damn that woman's challenge, "Okay, Yp, calm the f*ck down right now, before we go in chopping lets at least see who are we fighting with!" Yp screamed back "Who cares! She gave us a challenge! It would be dishonor to not take fulfill it!" Thus the scene continued, Tyreh wishing Yp would calm down before any Kiellar soldiers came here, and simultaneously prayed to the Cestrenti Gods, thought he usually was not a religious person at all, for Yp to not start telepathically communicating with the Kiellar to attract them to their position

[Bingellia]

Groaning from his own fall onto his stomach, Mihal lifted himself onto his feet. Nothing felt broken as the Kiel once again reoriented himself to the now slightly lopsided floor he stood on.

In the lift Thanica was flung upwards slightly, landing on her belly again a moment later, "Oww..." she complained, "Hey we're not dead! You guys were so nervous as well..." she disentangled herself from the others, sitting up and producing the scalpel she'd palmed in the infirmary, "And I didn't stab myself either! This crash is going pretty well so far! You guys are so nice; we should have a ship party. Why did we crash? You guys need to focus; we need to deal with the crash situation before we party."

Seeing Thanica pull out the thankfully bloodless scalpel forced a sigh of relief out of Mihal. Nobody had been stabbed or cut through sheer bad luck involving a paranoid Dhasath's blades. "Yeah," Mihal offer the Dhasath an arm to pull herself up with, "I think that's a good idea, but you should probably lay down somewhere."

As the sudden rumble of an explosive charge detonating close by once again rattled the ship, Mihal lost all color in his face with a sudden gulp. "That was fast," The Kiel spoke. His eyes, wide with fear, betrayed Mihal's otherwise calm demeanor. Was the bridge doors still secure?
"Pheonix," He looked over to the human, "can you get her to the bridge? Someone should get arms from the armory."

[New Udonia]

Mothlua of Vubhe

The Galley

The explosion interrupted them before they could get a straight answer on Thanica's location. Raoul had already sped off for the location before Mothlua could get a signal on where it came from. They breached the galley. Motioning for the two in her nearby vicinity to wait a hypothetical minute as she considered her location. They were on the third deck, the utility deck to be exact, which contained: the gym, the rec-rooms, the medbay, and the main armory. We need to prevent them from reaching any other floors.

"Dr. Amlai. Escort Saessa to the bridge, immediately." Once the two had left she focused on delegating.
She reopened the communications channel with Tyreh and Yp. "Get to the main armory asap, I need you guys to secure it."
Opening communication with the second deck's intercom, she instructed those in engineering on the situation and recommended that they head for the armory on the third deck.
Finally, she opened a communication with the top-deck, where most of the ship's inhabitants currently resided. "We have a breach on the third floor, galley. All personnel on the top-floor head for the secondary armory and secure the bridge."

Having communicated the situation to everyone but those remaining on the third floor, which in this case were the individuals inside of the galley, she decided to head there for support. I almost forgot he was there. "Vak'ol, get to the main armory, get armed. Once the armory is secure, get all personnel to prepare for a fight. We have to keep them on the third-deck, at all costs!"

Her sidearm would have to suffice. She rushed for the galley, taking a back route through the storage units and pantry, flinging herself at the kitchen door. She noticed Raoul engaging with the main force, with separate units beginning to splinter off and work their ways toward the exits. Gesturing toward her nearby comrades, she addressed the chef. "Khana get to the main armory, you to Sho." Oh, no, I don't know her name yet... "Go with Sho, then take the stairs to the bridge, you will be safe there."

She should run, but that would mean leaving Raoul alone. She didn't particularly like Ragon, but he had never mistreated her personally. She had risked her own safety shielding unarmed hostiles, there was no point in changing now. Lay some cover fire, get us both out of here, lead them to the armory, we win. Grabbing for the local galley intercom, usually handled by the chef, she did the best she could. "Raoul, let's go!" To accent her plan, she leaped across the counter, firing several shots in the vicinity of Raoul's nearest enemies as her body barrelled toward a table. None of her shots did anything, other than temporarily interrupt the invaders. She flipped a nearby table, using it for cover. She would return fire when safe to do so, waiting for Raoul. C'mon, let's go.

[Europa Undivided]

Yare-Lokem
The Defiance

As Aethienn taunted whoever was inside the Defiance to come out of hiding, Yare-Lokem had moved away from the consoles on the bridge, and broke into a run towards her own quarters, were she had two Saiten Iabatows, the super heated chainswords used by Sarufi machine soldiers as their main melee weapon. Taking them with her mind, she was soon headed towards the third deck. However, as Mothlua hid behind a table for cover, two heated chainswords came in screaming from the darkened hallway adjacent to the galley, briefly clashing with Aethienn’s blade before returning to their owner in an act of sophisticated bladework. These swords would find themselves hovering just inches above Yare-Lokem’s silver white wings, the teeth of the chainswords glowing with the energy that they held within their metal forms. The Sarufi herself had eyes glowing with telekinetic energy. Should the Kiel open fire with their blasters, the Sarufi intercept them first by identifying their trajectory with her machine eye, and then blocking them with the superheated swords, which had 1 inch thick blades as wide as a man’s leg.

However, even as the swords returned to Yare, several bolts of plasma came flying towards Aethienn into the direction of the hole through which she entered, resulting is explosions outside. “I’ve been wondering when the local harlot would arrive.”, Yare snorted as she finished her barrage. As she finished, she launched another sword strike, this time impaling one of the Kiellar troopers and pinning him on the wall as the heated chainsword melted his insides. The other sword went for Aethienn...

[Kylantha]

---

Sho'chavuk | Anja

---

"Oh!" Sho looked pleasantly surprised as he realised Khana had caught a knife that would have hit him with considerable force. "Aha! I didn't see you there! How fortunate!" he said before marching off towards what he thought was the walk-in, but wasn't. While walking he continued to list a large number of "dietary needs" that Anja scoffed at as she cleaned some food off her fur, when they all heard some kind of noise from outside the ship. It was faint, but enough that all the alien ears could pick up on it. The Tz'aths paused and turned their heads towards the source, but before they could do so fully, the galley wall seemed to bulge out and then explode. Anja jumped backwards in her startlement, immediately dashing out of the mess hall into the corridor outside. That was where she stopped, clutching her quickly rising and falling chest.

"Tsk. By the GODS!" Sho said with a severely annoyed tone. He was just getting up, having been thrown to the floor once again. He dusted himself off and faced Aethienn right afterward, one hand on his hip and the other pointed at her. "You don't interrupt someone like that when they're talki-- Oh. Hello."

Just then one of the Ragons came barreling through, sending Anja scrambling back into the mess in a flurry of screaming and clawing. She flew straight into Sho, knocking him off balance. Having been knocked to the ground for a third time, Sho grumbled loudly while dragging Anja off of his head. Realising at this point that the newcomer was hostile, he huffed to himself and nodded. Here we go again!