Andromeda Burning (SciFi Char RP|IC, Open)

[Bingellia]

The Defiance Halls-Cazryn and Mihal
Cowriten by Demencia and Bingellia

A quiet conversation...

---

The Gollar appointed XO's quarters wasn't particularly difficult to find, and Mihal had found it easy to adjust to his healing leg, but it still didn't mean he could necessarily keep up to the relatively unharmed members of the crew.

"Hey," Mihal called as he caught a glance at the Erloi as he turned the corner. "I need to talk to you about the mission."

Cazryn stopped when the Kiel called out to her. It was the first time someone on the ship had actively sought her out, if you discounted the very first meeting with Carter which wasn't exactly a willful choice on his part. His face still bore numerous smaller wounds, and an eyepatch hid the most grievous of his injuries. "Of course." she said, placing her arms behind her back. "In the middle of the hall is a bit inconvenient, perhaps in the mess hall? Unless you prefer something more secluded, that is."

Admittedly, she was curious about what Mihal could want. The Erloi wasn't exactly popular with most if not all of the crew, so this was mildly surprising. Her surprise showed through subtly as the markings on her skin grew a little brighter and lighter in hue, though it was unlikely that any non-Erloi would pick up the nonverbal cue.

"We're fine here, unless you'd prefer an office." Mihal answered. For a moment, he glanced further down the hall, noting the camera. Though it wasn't as though he was planning a mutiny, yet.

"I'm curious what you think of the fiasco with the shuttle," Mihal returned his focus to the Erloi. "Don't get me wrong, we've pulled off bold, arguably suicidal plans before, but not one quite so stupid. Needless to say, doesn't exactly inspire confidence in his command, especially if he doesn't learn from his mistake."
Caz tilted her head back a little, wondering where Mihal was going with this. So far no one had expressed any interest in her opinions of anything, though the results of the disastrous side mission might be changing that. "What could i think of it?" she asked. "I was against it from the beginning, as were others." The yourself being the first was implicit. "And everything that was predicted happened, at the expense of lives and injuries." Her gaze didn't drift towards the injured eye, but it was an elephant in the room. "He ignored the advice of almost everyone except for some of the more... inexperienced... who backed such a foolish diversion. The morale has taken a serious hit, and it remains to be seen what, if anything, Carter could salvage of it."

Mihal seemed absolutely unfazed by the answer. It was the obvious one to the question, though he still took a second to contemplate his thoughts.

"There's a collective thought in the Command that the failing of an individual reflects on their superior regardless of field. Carter was elected at first, which, in a way, means all of the crew is his superior."

He signed for a moment, unsure how to continue. He didn't want to make a coup, and certainly not one forced by the Gollar. "The humans are new to this," he flatly admitted. "But they need to learn. So, Thanica, the Dhasath pilot aboard, and I are going to try to check him, but we may need support."

"Being new to the galaxy is hardly an excuse. There is not that much time difference between humans and my people." Cazryn said. "Though it is a reason to be more cautious about putting them in such important positions." Even the Erloi were rarely placed in high positions both out of personal preference and known limitations.

The last thing Mihal said did not do much to instill confidence in the Major. "I am familiar with Thanica, yes. We had an... interesting introduction. Followed of course by the Captain informing as politely as he could that he had no plans to respect my advice or position because he would defer all of that to her because she was his equal." She shook her head a little. "And we both saw how that ended up. He ignored her just the same as he did you and me. So you'll pardon my skepticism that either you or her have much chance of, how you put it... 'checking him when his refusal to be checked by you is the reason we're having this conversation."

She straightened up her posture a little. "It is a good ideal, but I fear it may be just that: an ideal. I prefer absolutes to uncertainties. You might very well be able to enact some form of change, but do be advised you might be working against the clock as well as against Carter. Do not think High Command will not have noticed Carter's immediate deviations, both in the mission and in his command structure." She obviously was not going to mention that they would definitely have noticed it because of her reports, let alone about her recommendations that Carter be replaced.

"You are undeniably right," Mihal very quickly conceded to the major. "But Than- Lieutenant Vari is competent. I can vouch for that, and the crew who was aboard the Zeracata when we raided it will as well. If your high command hasn't briefed you on that, it was an impressive feat that's a bit much to go into in a private discussion in a hallway."

"She's..." Mihal groaned as he leaned against the wall to take pressure off the leg, "she's not the most self-confident among us and stepped down when made Captain first, but she’s what unites us, arguably more so than Carter."

Cazryn crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Based on what I have seen, that does not seem like a difficult task." she said dryly. "Unless you consider putting half the crew in the medbay to be uniting. Although I suppose turning people against you is technically uniting."

She waited a few moments, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she looked the Kiel up and down. "Both the captain and the crew had already formed their opinions of me before I ever set foot on this ship, so now it is my turn to be curious. Why come to me about this? There are many who would think you are working to undermine Carter even by talking to me, let alone with such questions. People are liable to suspect you of working for the Confederacy now, more than you were with the impressment."

"The lieutenant had actually wanted me to speak to you for her," he answered confidently. "She guessed, and I'm assuming correctly, that you wouldn't hold her in the highest of regards at the moment because her and Carter are... in a complicated situation. It isn't uncommon in the Command, though it's expected that professional duty comes first."

He paused for a moment, if to drag himself back onto the topic, "And I think you don't want to make your job harder by having a ship you can't oversee without a company of marines. If Carter will be replaced, it needs to be one of us who replaces him."

Cazryn held her gaze firm. "Ms. Vari doesn't know a thing about me, and neither do you. I would not be so quick to make assumptions as to what I might like or want." It seemed that this was just a continuation of the entire ship's distrust or dislike of the assassin. "The main thing I don't want is to be on this ship at all, but there's little room for wants or preferences in the army. Erloi are given a lot of leeway when it comes to how we do things, but even that has its limits. I'm stuck aboard a ship with a crew that sees me as the personification of everything they don't like about their assignment, under a captain who refuses both advice and orders."

"I honestly personally don't care what happens to Carter or if anyone replaces him. If High Command deems his actions unacceptable, they will do as they please, they won't ask me what I want. And I will have no choice but to go along with it, just the same as the rest of you. My only, sincerest hope is that if they do replace him is that it's someone other than me."


"I'm not unsympathetic to your position, Major," Mihal replied with a sigh. "It wasn't that long ago where all I wanted to do was to go home, and yet here I am. We don't need to like one another, but it's in everyone's best interest if we form a working relationship, and Thanica and I are your shot at that right now."

"I've one job on this ship: to protect the Confederacy's interest in it." Caz reiterated, "I would much prefer to not involve a company of marines, but if it came down to it there's little I could do about it." Although a company of marines would likely mean a marine officer would take over as 2iC and that the Erloi would be reassigned to something more appropriate to her skillset. It wasn't the worst outcome of them all. "As it stands, that means that Carter is the captain. Unless High Command changes that, I am obligated to assist him."

"I would expect nothing less," Mihal answered. "Neither of us are plotting a mutiny, but it goes without saying that we'd prefer to not go on a one way shuttle ride again."

He took to his feet again. This discussion, he thought was almost over. "You are our life-line to funding, and I'm merely offering a hand to help better integrate you with this weird group of ours because, as little as you like it and a little as we like it, you're likely here to stay."

For a moment, he thought about leaving it there, but decided against it as he offered his hand. "I doubt the others would offer you the same courtesy and I'm not a hard man to find if you would like to chat, Major... Cazryn?" It was an open offer, even if the Erloi wouldn't consider it

Something about Mihal's statement was amusing to Cazryn, judging by the slight chuckle under her breath. "No one is difficult to find, if you know how to look." she said. "The others have not extended any courtesy. You are the first to speak to me outside of an official capacity." She glanced down at his extended hand with a slightly quizzical look to her face. The gesture wasn't one that was native to her culture, and it took a few moments of searching her brain for the different things the Gollar had taught Erloi that would be in contact with other races for her to remember the appropriate response. She reached out her own hand, though not with any sort of practiced confidence.

Mihal found it difficult not to chuckle at his own foolishness as Cazryn awkwardly reached her own hand out, but he managed to contain it. Of course there was no guarantee she'd understand what a handshake was, not that it stopped him from carrying through.

"Let me not be the last," Mihal added as he took the outreached hand and gave the well practiced gesture.

"Time will tell." Cazryn said before pulling her hand back after the strange gesture. "Curious." she commented. "The galaxy is a strange place."

She moved to turn away from the man. "Should you have need of me again, find there darkest spot where everyone else is not." she added.

It’s a good thing we kiels have excellent low-light vision, Mihal thought to himself as he noted the rather cryptic hint about the erloi’s quarter as Caz continued on her rounds.

[Europa Undivided]

Ka

Then he pressed the button to send it to Kaleso and Karesan (with a little note saying 'please don't be offended, and do tell me if the art is bad')

Kaleso had been reclining on one of the chairs in the bridge when the message from Alex came in. He was right there, smoking blue narcotic crystals as always, reading a book over a cup of alien coffee all at once. The book was a novel about a pair of star crossed voyagers, a king and a vagabond, finding each other under a starry night. Or so the tale goes.

"Oh, by the Pantheon." The birdman looked over the digital art, sipping on his cup as he went. "This is quite sweet of that human."

A sigh. "But this is an impossible dream. We will all sooner die than this come into fruition."

---

“I wasn’t meant to come to this galaxy either Karessan, so I reckon the Universe is full of subversions."

"I suppose so." The bird man gave a wink. "Normally my kind would have been a nugget by now."

[Dyelli Beybi]

Chapter Three: Prisoners in Paradise

Everything seemed to be getting back to normal with people falling into the familiar rhythms of the ship as the fleet slowly limped back towards Beachhead station. The raid on Kazshurn had failed to achieve it's main objective of destroying the supply yard and, from the accounts coming through from couriers when the ships paused to let the skrim drives cool down, the battle of Kassan had turned into a blood stalemate. The Gollar's attempt to open up a new front had not gone according to plan, though the Ragons (presumably) had been forced to divert forces away from Command space, giving the Kiellar some breathing room.

Thanica was slowly recovering, occasionally waking up and talking to people, though mostly sleeping. Amlai had done an exceptionally good job at putting the dhasath back together again, though her injuries were severe. Had she been on earth the odds of survival would have been slim, the odds of making a full recovery virtually zero. She wasn't on earth though, and it looked like Thanica would make a full recovery, given enough time though it would, in all likelihood, result in here being left behind at Beachhead station during the next mission. She wouldn't like that.

Tava, meanwhile, had recovered quickly and was now back to her usual self; she seemed to be processing the battle they had been in by smoking large quantities of mind altering substances and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. She had also seemingly discovered a perfect musical accompaniment in 'that half-decent human music this ship is loaded with'. Apparently it made a nice break from what she had brought along with her and when she was in her room, 'the Doors' and 'Jefferson Airplane' seemed to be getting played a lot.

Rabaech, meanwhile, remained uneasy. Apparently the skrim drive had been damaged during the retreat and they needed a replacement part. It would be available on Beachhead, though not out here. Despite his hand-wringing concern though, the bespectacled kiel managed to keep the ship running. He even managed to repair the hull breach so that Engineering held atmosphere again, though that came with another warning that it wasn't a permanent fix. Everything seemed to hold together, until, one day, completely out of the blue, there was a sudden bang from engineering.

The ship had been travelling through hyperspace, though it lurched into real space instantly. Rabaech appeared on the bridge a moment later, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose as he hurried over to a console, "Oh dear," he remarked. A bead of sweat appeared on his brow and he scurried across to the navigation console, "Oh... that's something at least."

He waited for the appearance of Carter or another senior officer on the bridge before announcing what he had been looking up, "Ah... so the bad new first? We don't have a skrim drive. According to the sensors there's a big hole in the side of the hull where it should be. I checked the charts and it looks like we're about fifty light years from the nearest habitable system. That would take us... three? maybe four? centuries to get to without a skrim drive. I haven't done the maths yet. The rest of the fleet won't know exactly where we fell out and it could take months to find us... if they don't write us off as lost. On the plus side, we did drop out on the edges of a solar system rather than in deep space or in the middle of a sun, a black hole or something else that would have killed us instantly. One of the planets even looks quite nice; fourth one from the sun. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, reasonable gravity and even looks like it has plants and animals."

They might be lost in space forever, but at least they were somewhere nice...

[Arengin Union]

Captain Nathan Taylor Carte
The Bridge

---

Though things had settled now that the fleet was on its way back to Beachhead the ship itself had a less than a cheery atmosphere. Though they had completed their intended mission back in Kazshurn the team had seen casualties, losses, and friction within the crew, much of the blame laid on Carter himself and he knew it. Adding the fact that the main battle had gone awry for the alliance the Human fully expected to be received with either a firing squad or perhaps more rationally a court-martial, and then a firing squad.

Knowing how the Gollar operates, I don’t expect anything less… Carter thought to himself as he exited the medbay after another visit to the wounded. He had recovered well, though he could still feel a pinching on his shoulder and a sizzling sensation on his gut the human was in better shape than before all thanks to Amlai, he owed her his life more than once, a lot of the crew did as many seemed to be on their way to a full recovery, most especially Thanica.

Regardless of the state of the hurt, Carter had opted to keep near invisible to most of the rest of the crew, he knew that many of them were on edge and probably had many words of mouth to tell him. Rather than feed on those feelings, Carter had busied himself with medbay affairs, writing reports, and manning the bridge, and monitoring the ship’s advance back to the Beachhead. In his visit to the medbay he hadn’t expect much to happen but as he exited the room he could feel a sudden shake followed by the viewscreens around the ship switching their scenery from the intrepid and fast mixtures of blues and greens into the dark void of natural space.

Ah shit, what now!? Came to Carter’s mind as he began making haste to the bridge, his steps were slower than usual as he was still getting used to his wounds. Despite it all the Human made it to the bridge in due time, greeted by Rabaech who seemed to be in a state of worry. The Kiel engineer, whom the ship itself and crew by extension owed much to, didn’t waste time as he began explaining their situation immediately.

"Ah... so the bad new first? We don't have a skrim drive. According to the sensors there's a big hole in the side of the hull where it should be. I checked the charts and it looks like we're about fifty light years from the nearest habitable system. That would take us... three? maybe four? centuries to get to without a skrim drive. I haven't done the maths yet. The rest of the fleet won't know exactly where we fell out and it could take months to find us... if they don't write us off as lost.”

Great, just what we need… Carter thought as he was about to ask if there was any good news.

On the plus side, we did drop out on the edges of a solar system rather than in deep space or in the middle of a sun, a black hole or something else that would have killed us instantly. One of the planets even looks quite nice; fourth one from the sun. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, reasonable gravity and even looks like it has plants and animals."

“Well I guess it’s good to look at the bright side in everything huh?” Carter said with sly sarcasm as he approached the console, reviewing the planet’s geographic makeup alongside Rabaech. Looking over to the rest of the bridge Carter began thinking over the possible solutions.

“Do we have any communications?” Carter asked as he continued to log into the console. He promptly switched to the intercom system.

Attention, all available officers report to the bridge. Carter's voice rang out through the ship.

[Europa Undivided]

The Beach Episode (Soon)

Kaleso had been in his quarters when the ship broke out hyperspace, alternating between reading the rather lengthy book that he was yet to complete and looking over the status updates of the sections of the Defiance that had been damaged in the fight in Kazshurn earlier. What just happened, anyway? They weren't supposed to drop out of hyperspace yet; the Defiance was supposedly going to restock in Beachhead Station for their next mission, as well as pick up any new crew members that had applied to join their group of disparate people that had nothing in common. However, judging from the sound from the engineering section, he supposed it had something to do with their engines malfunctioning. Ah, yes. Of course it was...

He did not wait for any commands to go the bridge, as he was an officer, and it won't be long before Carter calls all of them into the bridge to discuss the problem at hand. Kaleso arrived in the bridge just as Rabaech began detailing the damage to their vessel.

One thing was for sure; they're stuck here.

"Ah... so the bad new first? We don't have a skrim drive. According to the sensors there's a big hole in the side of the hull where it should be. I checked the charts and it looks like we're about fifty light years from the nearest habitable system. That would take us... three? maybe four? centuries to get to without a skrim drive. I haven't done the maths yet. The rest of the fleet won't know exactly where we fell out and it could take months to find us... if they don't write us off as lost.”

"No skrim drive... what could be worse than that." Kaleso grumbled lowly as the engineer continued.

"On the plus side, we did drop out on the edges of a solar system rather than in deep space or in the middle of a sun, a black hole or something else that would have killed us instantly. One of the planets even looks quite nice; fourth one from the sun. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, reasonable gravity and even looks like it has plants and animals."

“Well I guess it’s good to look at the bright side in everything huh?” Carter said with sly sarcasm as he approached the console, reviewing the planet’s geographic makeup alongside Rabaech. Looking over to the rest of the bridge Carter began thinking over the possible solutions.

“Do we have any communications?” Carter asked as he continued to log into the console. He promptly switched to the intercom system.

Attention, all available officers report to the bridge. Carter's voice rang out through the ship.

"I'm right here." Kaleso looked over the same panel that Carter was looking at. The planet seemed to be a good place, though there could be dangerous fauna and flora like the ones they encountered in Lustriea. But again, at least this one wasn't bathed in eternal twilight, so now the humans and others with less gifted eyesight could actually see while on it.

"I suggest we land on the planet." Kaleso said, looking over the console that displayed the world on it. "It's the closest thing we can go to where we can do something about the ship... but... as far as I can see, we're stuck here. No one comes to this system, not even the corsairs when on the run. Unless if we somehow procure a Skrim Drive in an uncivilized planet, we'll be here for the rest of our lives."

This wasn't a system that got any visits. Not even in the days of the old Republic. They're effectively henceforth forever stranded in this place, in a former prison ship on a system with a paradise planet in it. Rabaech was absolutely right, though. There was always a silver lining...

[The Imarian Monarchy]

Cowritten by Gren and Imaria

Prior to arriving at the tropical world

---

The rest of the battle was a total blur to Phoenix, and she wasn't sure how to process it. The ground team had completed its mission, albeit with heavy casualties. Apparently, the sky team had utterly failed, with severe casualties. After the Defiance successfully made its escape, she spent the time pacing up and down the corridors. The medbay was full of the worst casualties, including Carter and Thanica, and she knew Yev and Amlai wouldn't appreciate any unnecessary space-takers in there, disturbing the recovery of their patients.

On her most recent pass by some of the crew quarters, she heard an unfamiliar song emanating from one of the rooms. "Its Phoenix, may I come in?" she asked as she knocked against the door.

Having put the instrument down. Vesia got up and walked to the door. After opening the door a little, Vesia replied, "Sure Ma'am, come in. Is there anything you needed to tell me?" "Not at all." she replied, as she stepped inside. "I heard the music, and got curious. Plus, I wanted to check on how you're doing." Vesia sat back down and gave a sigh. Musing over whether to be honest with Phe, before giving any straight answer to the question, Vesia asked her visitor;
"You were on the ground team right?"
Phe was puzzled by her question, and by the fact that something was bothering her. Did Vesia not remember Phe giving her the order to join up with her? In spite of this, she simply answered the question. "I was."

Vesia nooded with the yes. "Ok, then you we're there, we beat them." On the brink of sobbing from the host of emotions she was feeling "Since the mission, I am reconsidering some things... This war I felt it was inevitable, I spent the last 6 months avoiding it in the name of maintaining the start chart as well as maintaining the information network, I did it to hide and find somewhere to hide. Before this the Ragon were unbeatable to me, they rolled over the Dhasath league in the span of 5 years and stalemated the KC in the first war. I spent 7 years of my life finding somewhere for me and other Dhasath to hide, it was from my duty to the species. The territory within the former League was worthless to us, there was no way for us to get it back while the Ragon were perceived to be unbeatable."
"I see..." was all Phe could think to respond with. More of an acknowledgement than anything else.
"Anyway Ma'am..." Vesia pausing before continuing, "Do you know what this means for my species, we can get our home back!" We might still be subjects of the KC, but we're be back on Doona'tay, using their support we can rebuild and not be on the brink of extinction!..." Vesia's excitement peaking in a euphoric glee before rapidly descending. "As.. a... subject."

Phoenix was silent for several seconds, unsure as to whether or not to break the young woman's naivete. Ultimately, she decided it was better for her to have more realistic perceptions of how the war was going. "I wouldn't break out the champagne just yet, Vesia. We fulfilled one objective, during a wider operation that otherwise seems to have been a strategic failure. Just look at the medbay. Over half the crew is incapacitated, including the captain and first officer, and quite a few fatalities. And compared to the Gollar, we almost certainly were lucky. And even if everything had gone perfectly according to plan, it would simply have been one planet out of countless ones. We have a long way to go before we can hope to claim victory. By all means, celebrate that we achieved our primary objective. More importantly, celebrate that you lived to tell the tale. But don't lull yourself into a false sense of security, or you may tempt fate, and not live to see the end of the war."

With her glee diminished from her own realization, that her people's would still be doomed to servitude. Phoenix's reasoning got through her. "Fair enough Phoenix, would you like to celebrate that we made it?" Vesia asked. "Yeah. You wouldn't happen to know any other songs, would you?"Phe replied, "I do, it was one of the way's I kept myself entertained while exploring, would you like to gather some others for our little party?" Vesia asked Phoenix.

After a pause, Phe continued. "And, if you'd like, I can check your wounds. Would be the least I can do, considering I have you the order that inflicted them."
She had to admit, she felt a bit guilty, even though the order was necessary, and ultimately, the enemy was to blame for Vesia's injury, however minor it seemed to be.
It wasn't like she hadn't given similar orders before, but that never made it any easier

"Yes you may, they're mostly shrapnel wounds on my face, arms and back, they aren't super deep, I stayed low the whole time, it's from shards of rocks being kicked up by their powerful rifles hitting the cave floor and walls." Vesia replied starting to remove her facial bandages. "I see...", Phe said, as she examined Vesia. "Yev did a good job of patching you up. But he always does, so that's not a surprise."
"So Phoenix, may I see your wounds since you wanted to check mine, and who patched you up down there?" Vesia replied."I actually didn't get any wounds." she responded, still feeling a bit guilty that she walked away without a scratch while some of her closest friends were barely hanging on for dear life in the medbay.

"That's quite lucky Phoenix." Vesia replied. "On a lighter note was there any particular theme to the song you wanted me to play. Also I've got some wine in the foot locker if you want some alcohol."I'm not familiar with Dhasath music, or art in general, to be honest, so feel free to play whatever you'd like. As for the wine, I don't want to impose, but if you're going to be drinking some anyways, I'll join you." Phe said. "Next time will be on me." "Miss, I'm sure there has to be songs with common themes, relief, joy, morning, love, and other common factors of life." Vesia responded pulling the cork out of the bottle sitting it the on a desk with two glasses.

"I know, but I want you to surprise me." Phoenix replied, Picking up her stringed instrument.Vesia paused for a moment before playing, thinking to her self about what to play. Oh what should I play, I don't think a sad or morning song is appropriate. I should show her thanks for checking on me, she checked in on me... But what should it be, I know, a song of firsts Getting up and playing a cord and leading into the song, Vesia started singing a song of a pair of lovers reminiscing about their first date. Upon completing the song, Vesia blushed, thinking to her self, Oh, Maker, why did I do that, she's a woman
Upon putting the instrument down, She asked, "Hey, what did you think. Phoenix pondered for a second before replying"I thought it was nice. Nothing like a good love song to remind you the world still has at least some redeeming qualities."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Vesia replied, "So...uh, Phoenix, back on you're home, did you have someone special? I didn't, no one really met my eye." "Well-" she started, before stammering, trying to figure out the best way to talk about it. Phe took a deep breath and sighed. It was such a seemingly simple question, but such a complicated answer, especially when the other person didn't have the same cultural reference points. "Its kind of a long story. I can tell you if you want."
Pondering for a moment Vesia thought about if there was any trauma behind Phe's response, "If it won't make you relive trauma, I'd say tell the story miss. I don't think there is much we can talk about at the moment besides ourselves." Vesia replied.

"Don't worry, there's no trauma. Its just complicated to explain, even if I was talking to someone from back home. And you can call me Phe, at least when we're off-duty." she responded, before continuing. "It probably helps if I ask if you know what a transgender person is." Phe hoped that there was at least something along those lines in the Dhasath experience, since that would be one less thing she'd have to explain.
"Ok Phe, I'm heard of them, the KC has legal protection under expression. but it is frowned upon in both Dhasath enclaves because of the religious and societal pressures for fertility, the enclave I grew up on was a more religious one."Pausing to remember her childhood for a moment, muttering some names under her breath, before Vesia continued, "So I don't recall going up with any transgender people. I'm sure if they did encounter trouble, the Keillar run institutions would stop any sort of bias, the Kiels love their self expression. On the plus side, the wine we're drinking of a traditional fruit made in a temple."

"I see..." she said, somewhat disappointed that the same sorts of biases existed even in another galaxy, with only the protections afforded by an autocratic state and some admittedly decent wine to comfort her. "Well, for the record, I'm transgender. Sadly, things on Earth don't seem to be much different from Dhasath enclaves. Anyways, until I started my transition, I never had any serious desire to be with anyone. I joined my country's military, partly to get an education, partly to continue a family tradition, and partly to repress myself or die trying. The military also used to have this backwards rule where you couldn't transition without being discharged. That got repealed part of the way through my service, but it took Captain Carter's help for me to realize I needed to do it."

Phe paused to catch her breath, and then continued, "I still didn't really look for anyone. I was still in a dangerous profession, and shortly after that, I was tapped to join the first crewed mission to one of the neighboring planets. I knew it would take at least a year before I came back home, and I knew that would be inconvenient at best, so I just decided to wait until I got back from the mission. Funny part is, we never made it there. Our ship somehow blindly stumbled into the wormhole, and shortly after that, we were intercepted by the KC and taken prisoner on this very ship."

"Ah..." Vesia replied pondering whether to share her own story with her profession, ultimately deciding against it.
Phe could tell Vesia had something on her mind, and decided to press it. "So that's my story. What about yours?"
"Ah, well, I was born on a the enclave, my home was a coastal town. As soon as I could I left the planet by joining the information service. I spent about 7 years in it keeping the information system running and expanding the registered star map. There wasn't a lot of danger in the job, just a lot of time alone in a cockpit." Vesia replied. "Sounds like a lonely life." Phoenix said, "It was lonely, it was just me, my music and a games until I found Zaru. She was the reason why I joined your crew. I needed someone else to front the food bill." Vesia chuckled before resuming, "When I signed I was wasn't expecting the conscription notice." "I don't think any of us truly were expecting that. I sure as hell wasn't. But I'm glad you found someone who kept you from being alone." Phoenix said.

"Yeah, it is good I rescued her, I feel like it was far better for my health."Vesia paused before resuming, "She was so frightened when I found her on that damned Ragon station I stumbled upon, I was fortunate it was abandoned." "So is she." Phe added. "Speaking of eating, though, I'm getting kind of hungry, and I'm sure you want to get back to your music. So, I'm going to head to the mess. I'll see you around." she said, with a smile. "Ok, I'll see you around." Vesia replied while waving getting up to pick the bottle of wine off the desk. Upon Phoenix leaving the room, Vesia thought to herself for a moment, That was nice of her, and it was a good conversation. I wonder when she'd like to chat again?

[Grenartia]

Phoenix, Defiance Bridge

Attention, all available officers report to the bridge. Carter's voice rang out through the ship.

Carter did not have to give that order twice. She had already been wandering the hallways of the ship, as was her new routine, and had began making her way to the bridge as soon as she heard he bang and felt the ship drop out of hyperspace. As she stepped onto the bridge, she noticed Carter and Kaleso already conversing.

"I suggest we land on the planet." Kaleso said, looking over the console that displayed the world on it. "It's the closest thing we can go to where we can do something about the ship... but... as far as I can see, we're stuck here. No one comes to this system, not even the corsairs when on the run. Unless if we somehow procure a Skrim Drive in an uncivilized planet, we'll be here for the rest of our lives."

Though she entered mid-discussion, she was able to piece together a vague understanding of the situation, and two distinct possibilities entered her mind. "I assume the ship isn't in any immediate danger, considering we would likely already be dead otherwise. Do we have any escape pods capable of emergency FTL? Barring that, what is the likelihood that we could manufacture or jerry-rig one of our own?" she asked. Her mind filled with recollections of Apollo 13 and the MacGyvering its crew did to solve more than one critical issue during the flight. She figured the ship had several scientists and engineering staff on board, some of whom were certainly well-versed in the finer details of Skrim Drive operating principles and their repair and maintenance.

[Lessoni]

Attention, all available officers report to the bridge. Carter's voice rang out through the ship.

Raoul

Raoul’s wounds had him limping for a day, after he’d been patched up, but he’d gotten over them quick. He’d lost limbs before, a few gunshots right with a proper medbay was nothing. He’d stayed sequestered in his little bit of the cargo bay, resting, which must’ve helped, and now he almost felt like new. Of course, the news that they’d found a literal paradise must’ve helped in putting the pep in his step.

Carter’s calls for the officers didn’t go unnoticed, though Raoul took a moment to get up from his little pile of blankets. Finally he did, taking off for the bridge at a leisurely trot, staying silent as he arrived. He was curious how Carter wanted the situation handled, but he didn’t quite care enough to ask. He had his own plans, Carter be damned.

“So eager to evacuate paradise, Phe? I suggest we find at least a little of our new situation before we return to our old one, especially considering Carter’s predicament with the Gollar.”

[Nachfolgia]

Ra'rannir


Ra'rannir was once again out of bed, despite Amalai's wishes. She was still recovering and was supposed to be bed ridden for a little longer. Ra, being who she is, wasn't going to listen. She was much too antsy for her own good. The tribal was a creature of movement and action, always one to explore by nature. It was in fact nearly impossible for her to sit still. Alas, she was as the Night Mother made her to be.

Ra heard Carter make the announcement over the intercom to meet the officers on the bridge, startling her. For the months she had been in ship, Ra was still not used to the communications system. Perhaps she never will get used to the disembodied voices in the intercom. Ra still did not know what " officers" actually were. She likened them to Prime Hunters, important member of the tribe that lead hunting parties when the Chief doesn't. Of course, this meant that Ra thought that she was supposed to be at these meetings despite constant scorn from the others. And so Ra'rannir snuck out of the med bay towards the bridge.

Thanks to the creatures living in the vents, Ra had been able to sneak around the Defiance with ease. She knew many of the ships nooks and crannies to let her get around unnoticed. Since it seemed she was unwelcomed at the officer meetings, this was another perfect opportunity to go stealthy. The Lustriean huntress slowly skulked her way towards the bridge, avoiding everyone as she kept to the shadows.

Once outside the bridge, Ra climbed up to the vents and crawled inside, making sure no one saw her. The vents in the area were just large enough to fit her body in, but she'd have to stench her arms forward to allow her to move. She slowly crawled her way through the vent until she was inside the bridge.

From her vantage point, Ra eavesdropped on the meeting. Naturally, Ra didn't understand most of the words that Carter and the others spoke. Her understanding was that the Defiance had suddenly stopped moving really fast and now stuff had to be repaired. What excited Ra the most was that they were near another planet or as she referred to then as " Mother". Ecstatic by the news, Ra opened the vent grate and pokes her head out, grabbing the sides to keep her from falling to the floor.

" We near a Mother? What her name? She beautiful?" Ra said, obviously happy by the news.

[Arengin Union]

A Course of Action I

Co-write by Arengin Union, Dyelli Beybi, Nachfolgia, Greenatia, Lessoni, Europa Undivided.

---

The Bridge was slowly crowded by the multiple officers of the ship, each giving their own takes on the matter and each expressing distinct course of actions to follow. Carter for his part continued to handle the communication terminals trying to get any type of signal. Despite him still learning the ropes of how Andromedan tech worked he had become adept enough to handled some of it. Despite the human's best attempts It became clear very quickly that there was no nearby signals, the range of the ship wasn't strong enough and even then as Rabaech had said the nearest inhabited planet was beyond their reach.

Welp, I guess that's that. Carter thought as he finished his futile attempts at getting a signal. He looked over to Rabaech with raised eyebrows before turning back to the crew.

"Seems we're stranded in this system and we got no Skirm drive, so I guess our only options are setting a distress beacon and hope someone catches it." The Captain crossed his arms as he rested against one of the pilot seats.

"The way I see it, we can head on down to the planet over there as Raoul said, and at the very least get a relaxing tan while we consider our options. Or we can risk it here and wait until the entire ship collapses and we're sucked into the vacuum. Which one seems more appealing?" He waited for responses.

"We should at the very least do an investigation to be sure there aren't any toxins in the planet's environment, or this will be an extremely short stay in paradise." Phe replied.

"A distress beacon, yes I can set out up, though nobody will get it unless they happen through the system," Rabaech pointed out, "The ship isn't going to fall apart. I think. But it would be easier to repair the hole in the hull when we are on the ground. We could also try to explore to see if there are any parts from other ships in the system. The basics of Skrim drive travel have been the same since people started taking to the stars so there might be a salvageable wreck out there somewhere. Probably not on the world we are going... you're more likely to find that kind of stuff somewhere where it won't rust."

“Phoenix’s idea is most likely the prudent one. Though, I dislike being on a ship we can’t be certain won’t make a crash landing. Still, I’m never fully certain it won’t, considering our activities.”

He took a look out the window, the planet below spread out before them. It was appealing, but there may be hidden dangers they could not ignore.

"I think we should prioritize salvage operations first. Especially for fuel and Skrim components. But if we can't find any Skrim components, we should take what we can. Might be useful for making our own replacement components anyways. And if there are any hard to obtain chemicals with medical applications, I'm sure the good doctors would appreciate those as well."

Phe knew that the difference between a pleasant camping trip and a harrowing struggle to survive is always a matter of supplies.

"Speaking of salvage... we should also look into the possibility of finding or making a new shuttle", she added as an afterthought.

"We'll have to look on the barren planets and moons in the system, if we're looking for a place where metal will not rust." Kaleso answered in regards to the salvaging of shipwrecks. "But, I do think that anyone that has crash landed here before would have chosen to go down on the paradise planet before any of the others, as it presents the greatest chances of survival." A pause. "Check the planet for toxins, and then look around for wrecks on the other planets and the moons."

Wrecks, salvage, moons, everyone so eager to get back to the universe they knew. Raoul knew that was the responsible thing, but it was also the foolish thing, to him.

“Though, we should also plan for the long haul. Food, drinking water, hostile life forms, those should be first priority, not repairs utilizing wrecks that more likely than not don’t exist.”

Nodding in agreement, Carter looked out through the nain windowscreen and into the vast blue planet. It seemed so much like Earth yet any kind of land seemed to be scarcer. Though perhaps it was smart to check out the surrounding moons and planets of the system in look for any wreckages Raouls words made sense. Perhaps there was none, perhaps it was all in the immediate planet below, no one could know for certain and the Human was not about to make a brash decision like before.

"I'd say we should touch down to the closest planet, which happens to be blue boy down there," Carter gestured, he looked over to Phoenix before saying anything else, "We'll make sure to scan the atmospheric makeup before landing though."

"But I want to know if everyone else agrees beforehand," The Human added.

"All I'm saying is, we've got enough supplies to last us the short while it will take to scan the uninhabitable planets. It can't hurt to simply look. If we find nothing, we've lost nothing, and we can still land on the planet after making sure the atmosphere and wildlife aren't toxic. If we do find something, we can put the critical materials on board, land on the planet, and start repair work." Phe replied. It almost seemed like Raoul wanted to live on this planet forever. Which would be understandable, considering the way the war seemed to be going and what his people would likely do to him.

Suddenly and to the surprise of almost everyone the bending and cracking noise of the vebts increased until it was none other than Ra'rannir poking her head right out of one of the ventilation grates. Carter for his part looked at the scene with mild confusion, he didnt know what the other's reactions were at that moment.

" We near a Mother? What her name? She beautiful?" Ra said, obviously happy by the news.

The Lustreans words caused a slight smille to flicker onto the human's face. Such bizzare shenanigans by quite the bizzare being. Soon enough the human figured most wouldn't find Ra'rannir eavesdropping on the conversation as equally funny, so his pose and mood changed rapidly.

"Well, well, well, being a bit too curious huh huntress?" Carter said while setting his arms around his waist like a parent catching thier child with their hands inside the cookie jar.

"Bloody hell, what did I say about crawling in the vents again?" Kaleso grumbled as Ra came out of a ventilation grate... again. "Why don't you just use the front door like a normal... person." Right. She was far from a normal person that knew how things around here worked. Ra came from a jungle planet, and only knew how to hunt. And some other stuff. "Right, right, sorry." Kaleso shook his head, mentally cursing at himself for being harsh. "Should we... do something about that?" He asked Carter, scratching his head while doing so. It was a sure sign of embarassment... at least if one is well versed in the ways of the bird people.

Raoul sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, or at least the Ragon equivalent. Ra certainly had a way of popping up in inconvenient places. He stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder and beginning to steer her out.

“Come, Ra. This is not a meeting you’ve a place in.”

"Now Raoul wait a minute," Carters voice intervened as the Ragon led rhe Lustrean out, or at least attempted to.

"She already overhead everything so she mine as well stay." Carter stated with a shrugging pose, he then looked once more to Ra'rannir and nodded.

"Yes, Ra. We've come across another Mother, made up of large water and islands. We're trying to figure out how to repair our..." the concept was difficult to explain for someone like Ra'rannir. "Our guide, what allows us to travel to other mothers far away."

"Oh boy, here we go again," Kaleso said to himself, looking over as Carter tried very hard to explain what a hyperdrive engine was to Ra'rannir. It would be funny if they weren't all stuck in this system potentially for life.

Kaleso rolled his eyes, and then continued. "Let's call it the Mother Seeker."

“Is it really the time to be entertaining the primitive? When we’re planning as to what we’ll be doing when we touch down? Because if you all think it is, I’ll be in the cargo bay,” said Raoul, annoyance seeping into his voice.

Ra'rannir climbed down from the vent and moved her way into Carter's personal space. " Water and islands? This Mother beautiful. Hope we hunt prey. I show you how hunt like Kil'Ankri." Ra exclaimed, crouching low for emphasis.

Chuckling for a moment, Carter focused back to the original matter and more so to the exasperated Raoul. He realized they were wasting time but Ra'rannir for all her ignorance, was one of them.

"Remember that I and my fellow humans were e also primitives to an extend Raoul. But you are correct, we have to act quick now" he turned to face Rabaech, "what other planets are around in the system, we could scan them for salvage and hopefully gather some material and repair in the beach planet down there."

"The preliminary scans show that, apart from this one, there are another five planets, one is a gas giant which we aren't going to salvage anything from. There are a further five sizeable moons, which isn't all that many though there are probably a few more objects in the shadow of the planets. To do a thorough scan it could take... a month or two? Captain, maybe we could do the two activities in the opposite order?" Rabaech suggested, "It would be easier to assess exactly what kind of salvage we need if we can put down on the surface somewhere."

"It's decided then. We'll land onto blue planet down there and assess the damages and what we'll need to repair it, with any luck a passing ship will stumble on and maybe catch our beacon, for all we know there could be some traders coming up now and there," Carter said as he then moved to check over the scans.

"Make sure to scan the planet's atmospheric levels, don't wanna asphyxiate before even touching down," Carter said as he approached one of the pilot seats.

"Alright everyone, we'll commence descent as soon as we're cleared that the planet's relatively safe, get your gear ready and pass the voice around to the crew," that said Carter looked at Rabaech once more.

"Let's get this big boy down there, I'll see about getting Olorosia set up a landing," Carter sat down onto one of the pilot seats.

[Bingellia]

Mihal's quarters-Alexander Nevets and Mihal of Obe
Cowritten by Dragos Bee and Bingellia

---

Alexander Nevets walked to Mihal's quarters, looking for the Kiel, prepared to ask a relatively unimportant question. He had been wondering about Aarla, the mysterious psyker-commando lady they had rescued on that jungle planet - She just won't leave his mind, even though she wasn't a large presence within it. More to the point, he needed to enlarge his knowledge of the crew - He barely knew anyone except Carter and Thanica, Olo and the Jokari.

This cannot stand, he thought. Not if I am to achieve my dream of saving my country.

Mihal had been relaxing in his quarters, waiting for word from the bridge about the situation with the ship. By now, most of the minor wounds from the crash had healed and his eye had been replaced, so only the use of glasses served as a reminder of the injuries. He had preferred to wear his normal clothes since the failure of the operation, and the vivid turquoise shirt he was wearing proved far more comfortable than Gollar fatigues.

The sudden sound of a knock at the door, breaking the utter boredom of enforced sobriety when there was little for him to do in a semi-official capacity besides count inventory over and over again.

"Come in," Mihal called from his desk. "The door's not locked, but try not to let too much light in."


"Thanks!" Alexander said as he entered. "Hello,” he added, “how are you, Mr. Mihal? Either way, I wanted to ask... Does Ms. Aarla like Art? And if so, what sort would she like?"

"I'm fine," Mihal answered as turned to face the boy as Alex came into the room.

The kiel looked puzzled at the question. Mihal found it naive, though couldn't exactly blame the boy for his curiosity. Aarla herself was an oddity among the crew and Mihal speculated it hadn't hurt that the psyker was reasonably around Alex's age, but neither of that would change the reality. She was a slave soldier from the very beginning, and had the heavy scarring on her back to prove it, who was raised to be a tool.

"That's an interesting question, Alex," he began, despite the struggle to phrase things. "She probably never thought about it, she would almost certainly never be told to think about it by her handlers, and she certainly hasn't opened up to me about her past, but I think she enjoys the stars."

Alexander smiled at that and said, "A starscape, then. It's hard to reflect the splendor of the stars with any piece of art - Heavens know I've tried to back when I was even younger, but I could try."

Alex paused, "I'm not trying to indicate any unwanted interest with her, by the way - I know she's too 'high' even for me. No, I just... I heard about how she was suffering and I thought that perhaps art would help her - We humans use it to let trauma victims express themselves and regain some measure of happiness."

The boy sighed, "Not that I'm offering to teach, either - I'm not close enough to her to put forth more than suggestions."

"Alex," Mihal sighed as well, "I've seen the scars on her back, and trust me when I say that some of them are very old I'm also sure she's been branded somewhere though I've never seen it."

For a moment Mihal paused, pulled open one of the little drawers on the desk, and grabbed the detonator. "This is for detonating that collar around her neck," Mihal said as held it so that Alexander could see it. "It's a necessary evil and I hate having it, but I made a promise to be better for her when I first took it when Saesa surrendered to us."

Alexander gaped in shock, then turned away involuntarily, before turning to Mihal once more to say, "I see. I'm sorry for talking about things beyond my current understanding, then."

Alexander dejectedly sighed once more, "I just... I'm overwhelmed by all this. I thought I'd be savvier, but instead, I just keep blundering over and over, unable to overcome my culture shock. Even when I rekindled my own interests in art, I keep being reminded that the universe is much bigger than I thought it was, if that makes any sense."

Then he paused briefly before continuing, "And it seems others' torments are larger than my petty ones, that I have no right to call myself anything but 'privileged'."

"The galaxy can be exceptionally cruel, and the gods who guide it can be as vindictive as any mortal," Mihal responded as he placed the detonator back in the drawer and closed it. "But you are young and optimistic, and I was once that naive fool thinking that I could change the universe myself so I understand how you feel."

Mihal’s mind wandered back to the recruiter and his school counselor, pressuring him to join a cadet program and find glory, and power, and pride in the name of the state. The chance to change things from within was alluring, but then the garrison brutalized those Kiel slaves.

"Focus on what you can do practically," Mihal advised. "I'm not a soldier, I'm not in command, but I can try to give her a semblance of a normal life."

"The gods know I'm certainly trying," he looked away from Alexander as he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Thank you, for listening to me. I wish I can help," Alexander said with a faint smile.

"I'll talk to her when I can, and I might see what Saesa has to say," Mihal returned his gaze to the boy. He mentally conceded that perhaps art would be a good way to provide relief and, ideally, better understand the psyker.

"I'll take my leave, then," Alexander said with a nod before turning to the door.

Mihal remained silent as the boy stepped out of the room. He found it hard to like the boy. There was a line between idealism and naivety, and the boy seemed to fall into the latter camp. Though Mihal also thought that, perhaps, a naive fool was what this crew needed.

[Arengin Union]

[

A Course of Action II

Co-write by Arengin Union, Dyelli Beybi, Nachfolgia, Greenatia, Lessoni, Europa Undivided, Dementia.

---

"Alright, engine at full capacity, beacon set, scans up to date. Alright I guess we're set," Carter spoke to no one in particular as finished reviewing the diagnostics. He overlooked the planet below for a brief second, nothing but vast blue and small patches of what seemed to be islands adorned the planets surface. It seemes so familiar and yet he knew it wasn't.

"Okay, Rabaech are we good for entrance, the hull will resist?" Carter asked towards the Kiel engineer.

"Yes," Rabaech replied confidently, "Provided the shields hold. If they don't it will be very messy. But there's no reason they shouldn't."

"Right," Carter said with some hesitation in his voice as he activated the thrusters and began steering the ship ahead, "will take your word for it."

Soon enough [/i]The Defiance began to soar ahead. Slowly the ship began to head onto the planet. Carter guided the controls with care as best as he could, though he'd practice piloting the ship multiple times before this was rhe first time he was in full control of it. Despite his experience as a pilot on Earth, this was something he felt was beyond him. Despite those feelings rhe Human kept the ship stable as it headed towards the planet's surface.

"Alright I'll switch controls to Olorisa for landing once we push through the mesosphere," the Captain spoke up as he switched to the intercom.

Attention all crew, we're entering the atmosphere and descending. Will make land in T minus 15 minutes.

Without haste Carter continued to steer the ship. With Rabaech at his side he felt somewhat confident yet there was still lingering nervousness as he held the controls.

"Olorisa, prepare to connect with controls, analyze the layout and find a good landing spot. Preferably one with sufficient land mass," Carter said with jest on the last comment.

"I am already connected, Captain. Additionally, I have already selected a decent landing area, at least as far as the ship's sensors can show. I have indicated the appropriate trajectory on your display." Olorisa said. The heading she indicated led to an area on the coast of one of the planet's larger landmasses, theoretically allowing access to multiple sources of food and other resources.

"Got it Olorisa," Carter acknowledged the AIs words quickly as he continued to pilot the ship into the planet's atmosphere.

“When we get down there, we should split into parties. One will find water, one will see if there’s a source of food, another will take soil samples, just in case we’re here long enough for it to matter,” said Raoul, holding tight to one of the consoles. He didn’t love the idea of being sent flying.

"I suppose I'll take the soil team." Phoenix replied to Raoul. "That was part of my research assignment before I became an unwitting intergalactic mercenary."

“Funny, if we’re mercenaries I thought the pay might be better. I’ll take lead on finding food. Sshalah should take water, that way we have something big and scary on both exploration teams,” suggested Raoul.

"We need to secure the landing perimeter first of all, I'll join in with the water search. With all luck we'll find enough subsistence to keep us goin for a while if we so need to." Carter commented as he fiddled with the switches and continued to guide the ship down. They began to pierce the layers quickly and soon enough turbulence began to set in.

"Alright no worries, no worries," Carter murmured to himself as the ship continued to descend.

[I]Just as she taught you Nate, just as she showed you...


Though feeling a cold shiver down his spine and holding in his breath for what seemed to be hours Carter managed to get the ship through the mesosphere and soon after that The Defiance found itself piercing through the stratosphere of the giant blue planet. Turbulence continued for several minutes all through the ship and Carter kept a tight grip of the controls through it all and never let his face show just how truly nervous he was to be piloting such a piece of complex alien machinery.

"Like a piece of cake!" He'd say to Rabaech with a quirky smile despite his brow being dripped in sweat and his foot constantly ticking onto the floor. Olorisa took control of the ship's navigation which guided the Captain's steering to the landing zone that the AI had found. The ship descended down towards the large ocean quickly and within minutes one could witness the vast and vivid colors of this world, the water below was a mix of blue, red, and green tones and the sun itself was a vibrant one, the shinning light bright and the sky above pinkish. The whole visage made Carter lightly smile, perhaps this world wasn't so bad if they had to spend the rest of their lives here.

It didn't take long for the ship to arrive at the landing area, from over the horizon a large landmass could be seen, a strange topography adorned the incoming landmass as the coastline was adorned by what seemed to be large monolith-like structures of no greater width than an atoll all along with the surrounding shore. Whatever they were they seemed to be formed in differing molds and shapes with vegetation crawling all over them, most likely meant they were mere natural formations rather than anything shaped by some local civilization. Carter wasn't sure what to make of the landing area itself, as far as one could tell the mainland was a continent of sorts, much of which seemed to be a jungle of orange color schemes and further area meadows of violet, open field with large stony structures that stood out from within just like the shore monoliths. Regardless, they had arrived and the ship slowed down until reaching a small peninsula, space large enough for the ship to fit.

"Alright, activate landing thrusters and descend..." Carter said as he still had his hands on the controls but allowed Olorisa to guide his every move. The ship descended slowly and surely as Rabaech took the liberty to deactivate the shileds and within seconds the ship landed onto the beachside.

"Quite a good landing If I say so myself," Carter commented as he finally left go of the controls. Activating the intercom system once more, Carter's voice rang through the ship.

Alright everyone, we've landed. Preliminary scans detect no toxicity in the air so we're good to exit out but stay cautious. With that said, Carter stood up from the piloting seat.

"Raoul, Phe, let's head on out and see what we're up against."

Yare-Lokem had been one of the first to exit the craft, lifting off from the ramp when it had touched the ground. The space dragon had recuperated from the injuries that she had sustained during the disastrous operation on Kazshurn through the wonders of Amlai's medical mastery, and was now circling around the Defiance, looking down on everyone that came out after her. "Nothing out of the ordinary here, really," she said simply to the others through an open channel as she soon landed upon the sands of the beach. "It looks like a tourist attraction, if anything."

"If we're lucky the local microorganisms won't be able to infect us," Rabaech announced jovially as he stepped off the craft, "If we're unlucky we'll get some plague. Gebeth will probably be fine though."

"Speaking of which," Yev said, as he joined the rest of the crew at the ramp "don't ingest ANYTHING you find on this planet until its approved by myself or Dr. Amlai. We have plenty of food and water stores to last us in the meantime, so you have no reason to try and barbecue the local fauna before then."

Cazryn was already kneeling by the ramp, suited up. Had the crew not seen plenty of evidence otherwise, one might think she lived in that suit based on how quickly she had kitted up. "If there is anything alive down there..." she said, her eyes closed tightly as smoke from a small burning wad of herbs wafted up towards her face. "Then I will find it." She opened her eyes, a slight glaze now over them as she tilted her head back with an almost rapturous smile. She clutched her own rifle to her chest, glad to have it back over the temporary one issued to kill Ragon. "I live for the hunt." the Erloi said, though she hadn't actually looked at anyone directly and her gaze seemed to pass right through anyone in front of her so it wasn't entirely clear who she was speaking to specifically.

She stood up slowly, the last embers of the incense burning out. Her eyelids closed once more, and after a few moments reopened, and any trace of the effect she had been under was gone.

Great. I’m stuck with the Gollar, thought Raoul as he turned to the assembled crew.

“Careful out there. Looks pretty, but we don’t know what surprises this planet may hold. Don’t wander off on your own, and if you’re attacked by something you don’t think you can kill, no shame in running. Common sense out of the way, I’ll be leading a party to find any sources of food, flora or fauna. Yev’s already said everything that needs said about sampling what you find. Carter will be leading a party to find water, if you don’t feel like hunting, go with him,” he advised as he stepped onto the beach.

“Cazyrn, I assume you’ll want to be on the foraging team. I hope you’re done with that herb,” Raoul said dryly to the Erloi

"We have different standards of pretty." Cazryn said to the Ragon. "Personally, this place looks horrible and every moment spent here is excruciating." She pulled down something resembling a visor or a pair of sunglasses over her eyes after wincing at the bright sunlight of the beach. "Someone more tolerant can worry about the plant life. It will all be poisonous to me, independent of its effect on the rest of the crew."

She slung her rifle over her back and knelt down on the beach. She placed one gloved hand in the sand to get a feel for its composition before the entire outside of her suit changed not only color, but texture to match the ground beneath her.

Ra'rannirwalked down the ramp with her weapons on her back. Traditional for the hunt, all the Lustriean wore was her skull headdress. While it would be smart to wear her armor, this was the way she had always hunted. Besides, her chest piece was still damaged from battle.

She quickly took her place next to Caz, taking in the environment around her. It was truly breathtaking. Ra was ecstatic to be on another Mother much different than her own. She glanced over to Caz as her suit changed a different color than before.

" Sky Demon cloth good for hunt. Prey not see you. I happy to hunt with another hunter." Ra said, touching Caz's suit to examine it.

"To anyone who doesn't want to hunt or find water, you'll be helping me dig up soil samples." Phe announced.

"You heard them everyone," Carter said as he too exited the ramp, contrary to the heavier sets of armor he'd wear before this time his attire was compromised of a steeltech flak vest, his usual visor, and thruster boots. Onto his back, he had his blaster rifle of choice strapped up alongside a backpack carrying basic utilities like food and water and more importantly a fluid scanner. The captain's modest set up wasn't exactly illogical as he was nor expecting to find serious combat in this planet, at least nothing beyond killing an angry giant crab.

"You can either come with me to find water, find food, or scan soil. your choice," Carter said as he took steps out from the ramp and into the beach.

"Alternatively, and this is something we need regardless," the human added as he adjusted his rifles sighting, "stay with the ship and keep any nasties away. Rabaech how long you figure till all damages are accounted for?"

"Impossible to say for sure," Rabaech replied, giving his spectacles a quick wipe down, "But since we are in atmosphere now, I'd guess a couple of hours... I'll be able to tell you how long repairs will take then."

"Right," Carter said while loading up his rifle's power cell. "We'll keep in contact then, anything happens let us know and we'll come back quick. Let's try to cover only a 10-mile radius people!"

With those words said, Carter prepared to head on out, awaiting on anyone who wanted to join in his team, Phe's or Raouls. This world seemed peaceful, perhaps even paradise to some and even Carter had to accept that it was quite the beauty as he looked onto the jungle with curious eyes. Regardless he was not going to be careless, not anymore as who knew what awaited the Defiance Crew in this world, or perhaps what didn't.

[Kylantha]

The Tz'aths (excluding Sho) weren't too pleased about losing the skrim drive mid-jump. Dying all the way out here, and of starvation of all things, was not a pleasant thought. Fortunately though, new developments were good. There was a friendly-looking planet nearby, and it looked like it was their next destination. This new world was in stark contrast to the dire colors and desolate landscape of Kazshurn.

Sho was of course excited by this. His face was glued to the windows from entry all the way up to touch down, which was when he pried himself off the reinforced glass and made for the exit ramp. He was off the ship right after Yare Lokem, rolling about in the sand, feeling the heat of the local star on his bristly furs. The rest of the Tz'aths were in the process of disembarking when Sho started digging, throwing sand into the air like a fountain. He emerged shortly after with a very strange shelled creature, just about to pop it into his mouth when Yevgeny said not to eat the local fauna outright. Khuzme slapped the poor thing out of his hands, knowing he was going to chomp it anyway.

"Pah! You're no fun!" Sho pouted at her as he dusted himself off. "I'll get to eat them sooner or later.." That part was said under his breath.

Khuzme only scoffed. "So? Which teams are we all joining then?"

"I shall be going hunting, of course." Sho said first. "Will anyone be joining me?"

"I'm going." Khuzme shrugged. Narkhi'zesh huffed in a certain way, indicating that he was too. Meanwhile, Anja shyly said she'd prefer to stay by the ship now. She was still a bit uneasy about the previous mission. Uht'las offered to stay with her, and all the grown-ups were okay with that. Lastly, Pel'churul stated that he wanted to stick by the ship too, then at the last moment decided he would be poking around for dirt with Phoenix instead. With that settled, there was just a final chant and barking of orders from Sho, and the Tz'aths were off to do whatever it was they were going to do.

[Dyelli Beybi]

The Medical Bay

"Hey... how are you?"

Aethienn's eyebrows shot up and she gave a short laugh, "Vari... It is me that is supposed to be asking you that."

Thanica grimaced, pushing herself up into a sitting position. She was still clearly in pain, though she was recovering. A generation ago, Thanica would have died, even now she had been lucky that Amlai had a well stocked medical bay. With the miracles of modern Kiellar medicine, the scars would fade away to the point where you would never know the extent of the dhasath's injuries, at least the ones on her skin. Her mind was something else, though Aethienn had no doubt that Thanica would bounce back. Based off the way she had bounced back from previous injuries she seemed to be a remarkably resilient creature, "You broke your arm. I don't have a monopoly on injury," the dhasath pointed out.

"That is true," Aethienn conceded with a slight incline of the head, "And I am much better, though I am still avoiding serious training and I will be getting slow, which is not good for the crew," she said, waving her plastic-cast clad left arm in the other woman's direction. She paused, deciding not to ask Thanica how she was. It was obvious how she was, "Most of the crew have gone to explore the planet. Gebeth is still on the ship, but she is 'baked', as she likes to put it, and listening to some song about 'Riders on a Storm'. Do you want to go for a walk?"

"I..." Thanica trailed off then nodded decisively, "Yes. I can't walk unaided though."

"I know," Aethienn stepped over to where her friend was lying, "That is why I am here. Just don't grab my left arm."

She had a lot of things she wanted to say about Carter and his decision to charge at a fortified AA battery, but she didn't. Thanica wouldn't appreciate it. She stayed quiet instead, letting Thanica lean on her as she led the other woman down the steps to the main cargo hold and the entrance ramp. They could have taken the lift, but Thanica wanted to walk. She was determined to get better and pushed herself. Aethienn wondered if that was Thanica's personality or dhasath instinct; life was hard, short and brutal for them for the most part. An invalid dhasath was even more vulnerable. They stopped on the exit ramp. Thanica looked out at where they had landed, drinking it all in. The ocean, the pristine beach, the plants and flowers. She closed her eyes and turning her face towards the sun, "It's beautiful, Aethienn."

"It is." Aethienn agreed. She glanced around. None of the crew were nearby. This was a good a moment as any. She left a few moments for Thanica to enjoy the sensation of the sun and breeze before asking, quietly, "Do you remember before we went on this mission that I said I'd see if you have options other than staying with the Gollar?"

Thanica opened her eyes again, blinking at Aethienn, surprise registering on her face, "Oh... yes. I'd actually completely forgotten."

Aethienn reached into her pocket, extracting a piece of paper that she pressed into Thanica's hand, "This was transmitted during one of our stops to cool the Skrim drives, using a Command encryption. The others might have picked it up, but they won't have been able to read the contents... and besides, it's not like messages to me are that uncommon. The instruction was to print one copy to give to you. I haven't read it, but I suspect it means you have options." Thanica lifted the letter as if she were about to read it on the spot, though Aethienn pushed her hand down, "Read it somewhere private. I don't know what it says, but if someone from Command is writing to you, you don't want anyone, especially that Gollar tralk, getting the wrong idea and deciding you are a KC spy."

Frell you Carter. Aethienn hadn't read the message, but if the contents helped her friend she was happy. If it screwed him over that was an added bonus.

"Okay," Thanica nodded her assent. She understood. "Though one question; who is Marshal Vilia? That's a dhasath name."

---

Meanwhile, Elsewhere on the Ship...
(Cowritten by Dragos Bee and Dyelli Beybi)

The situation at hand made Alexander Nevets feel all the more useless. Why was he like this? Why was he constantly failing? Failing at making connections, failing at being useful, failing at being anything but another warm body to throw at an enemy? Why wasn't he being useful?

Even his well-intentioned advice to Mihal was grudgingly taken, because Alexander just didn't have the comprehensive knowledge he should have had by now. Yes, that was unrealistic, but he just wanted to be useful, damnit!

He wandered the corridors of the Defiance, looking for the ship's archives - Maybe there'd be something to read there...

"Hey dude!" Tava's cheerful greeting shattered Alexander's self-reflection, though as soon as he turned in her direction her face took on a (marginally) more serious expression, "What's eating at you man?" she asked.

Alexander said, "Well, I'm going to Archives - Trying to increase my knowledge of this galaxy and the political and social situations there." He paused, "Because I am woefully under-equipped for what I want."

"What?" Tava looked confused, "Do we even have archives? That sounds really boring either way," rather than be put off though, she flung an arm around his shoulder, turning Alexander playfully in the direction of the mess hall, though there was surprising strength in the green woman, "You're coming with me first!" she declared, "If you still want to read some musty old tome when we're done, well that's all good, but in my experience it's no way to get out of a gloomy place."

Alexander chuckled and said, "All right, all right, let's go eat." A pause as he walked with her, "I hate to ask, but you've been in gloomy places before?"

Tava was silent for a few moments as they approached the mess hall, motioning for Alex to take a seat, "Kevanyn 667-4," she said after a moment, "It was hell. Things like that raid bring the nightmares back. I only got bitten by a bug this time, but got shot pretty bad on Kevanyn." She tapped the left side of her chest, "Bullet went in here and came out my back, blew a great big chunk out of me, though they did a pretty good job at fixing me up. It left a scar, which kinda sucks, but also makes me look more rugged. I'd show you, but I'd have to take off my shirt and I don't want anyone getting over-excited," she joked before stepping over towards where they kept the liquor, "So, what's your poison?" she asked. Eating, it seemed, was not on Tava's agenda for the day.

Alex sighed and said, "The Galaxy seems to be proving the repressive, regressive, reactionary regime I once opposed on Earth right. From what biased and slanted information I can gain - Mostly from the jokari members here - The kiellar are a slaving military dictatorship, the ragon eat sapient beings, and while you guys are cool and all, Human brains and psyches are not adapted to a collectivist mindset." A pause, "Sorry if I seem to be attacking your culture and everyone else's, by the way - It's just that even before Andromeda, the political philosophy which has scored the most success in reducing and preventing suffering among us has began to stagnate, its material and scientific benefits opposed by people who cry 'culture' and 'tradition' and who want to repress those not like them. Authoritarianism is spreading like a plague in my planet, and all I can do is just... Watch.

"I thought I'd see a solution in the wider galaxy, but the wider galaxy is just as flawed and broken as Earth..."

Tava sniffed at a bottle, picked up two glasses and sat down next to Alex, pouring herself a glass of whatever it was before sliding the bottle and glass to Alex, "Dude, you're stressing out because the Andromeda galaxy is a bit of a crappy place?" raising an eyebrow incredulously, "Good thing we're not from there then, isn't it?"

Alex sipped the alcoholic drink, then took a deep gulp, before saying, "Yes. I'm glad of that. But my own planet is becoming messed up, too."

"I've seen your planet. It's okay for a non-Federation world," she shrugged, "Some parts look pretty excellent in fact, like I heard of this city called 'Amsterdam'. That looks like it will be fun to visit when your people figure out that we don't actually want to steal your stuff and open the borders." She downed her drink, poured another glass, "But seriously, why does this worry you? You're young, maybe even younger than me. It's not like you can make the galaxy better by snapping your fingers. Doesn't stop you being a decent person though."

Alexander smiled at that and said, "Right now, our people are in a state of internal and external fear. So open borders might not happen anytime soon. As for worrying about it... I lost my twin sister to reactionaries and bigots and been faced with prejudice as well. I was an activist early and managed to embarrass the Russian Government enough to be put in prison for a few years. It was nothing compared to what others here have gone through, but it was still abuse." A pause, "I could have been stuck there, labouring forever, if not for a sudden decision to send me to space instead, probably to embarrass the people there with how inept I am at everything. To be honest, they probably are laughing right now about how they successfully got rid of me..."

That got another shrug from Tava, "It always happens sooner or later. It's like those cute little creatures you have on earth with the silly little legs and the shell... ah what are they called? Tortoises! Yeah, new civilisations are like a tortoise. They hide to start with, but sooner or later they figure out they can't get the zoongash unless they stick their head out of their shell. Humans are greedy. It's in your nature. Once you've figured out that the Federation isn't going to bite your head off when you stick your head out you'll set about trying to figure out ways to take some of our stuff. You might attack us. In that case you will lose. We'll blow up your ships and shove you back in your box. You might decide to trade with us in which case you'll get some of our stuff, though you won't get to be masters of the galaxy. Your governments will probably go with the second route since the first is pretty damned stupid, but you never know. There have been plenty of stupid civilisations out there.

"Either way -" she waved the bottle at Alex, motioning for him to drink up, "-You aren't going to change anything from this ship, so why worry? It's not your responsibility. As for being inept... what do you want to do on the ship? Be a pilot? Marine? Engineer? There's plenty of jobs that need people to do them. Pick one and speak to someone to get some training. Like the last time we visited your planet you'd just figured out how that pointy sticks with iron on the end were better than ones with bronze. You not going to come out here and instantly understand everything. Nobody expects that. Figure out what you want to do, then connect with the right people and do it. You aren't crying in a cupboard, hiding in a vent or screaming to be put on solid ground so you aren't doing too badly."

Alex chuckled and said, "I want to do urban infiltration and yes, theft. Problem is that there have been no cities to practice in so far..." A smile on his face as he continued, "Yes, we are greedy. And yes, we do harbor delusions of mastery over the galaxy. However, trade has been big in our civilization since the beginning, so we'd probably pick the second option if we're smart enough." He offered his hand, "Let's be friends."

The comment drew a wry laugh from Tava, "Sure! I'm guessing you mean that as in 'person you enjoy spending time with', since we're on the same crew already," her eyes sparkled, suggesting she found something amusing, though it was apparently a berdikon thing since she didn't vocalise it. She glanced down at Alex's hand, then back up at him, then experimentally mimicked his gesture and sticking her hand out. Apparently she wasn't familiar with the idea of a handshake.

Alex held her hand and shook it, "Shaking hands, one hand with another, is a gesture of trust among humans. Note that context is important, though, as with all gestures of trust."

"Huh okay... so you do this?" she clamped her hand around Alex's fingertips, shaking his hand around like she was mixing a cocktail.

"Something like that," Alex decided not to correct her on the more irrelevant details and instead said, "You know, I'm pretty sure I can try and get you some of the more accessible Human films, if we manage to get back to Beachhead."

"There's quite a few on the ship's database already," Tava announced, "Thanica got heaps of human films and music onto the computers while they were docked. Trying to impress her man, and apparently the dhasath have forgotten their own music, which is sad, but gives them an opportunity to rediscover or make new things. I quite liked 'Pineapple Express'."

Alex smiled at that and said, "That's cool. As for music, well... I prefer Japanese pop music, even when I wasn't able to understand the language, which I do now."

"You have some bands that sound a bit like what I used to listen to with my sisters in the trenches... but I also like alien stuff." she added, then shrugged, "It's a freemartin thing. We're hard-wired to be inquisitive and experimental."

Another nod from Alexander, "So, you were a soldier?"

"Am a soldier," she corrected, "They wanted a veteran to get on this ship to report back to the Fed on what's going on in the other galaxy. We're a peaceful civilisation and we don't have that many. I survived Kevanyn and aren't in a mental hospital or anything like that, so I was a good pick."

"I see," Alex said, "Am I allowed to ask what Kevanyn was?"

"Of course! You can ask anything you like, though it doesn't mean I'll answer," Tava replied with a grin, topping up her glass again, "Kevanyn was a crappy little planet with a big jungle that got admitted to the Federation a few years back. Not all the locals were happy about it, so some of us went in as peace keepers. I thought we were going to play nice and show the locals that we were decent folk, but someone had really worked them up and we ended up fighting a guerilla war in the jungle for a couple of years. We were green. Like metaphorically green. That's what you humans say isn't it? Like new plant shoots or something? Not like the way I'm always green. Anyway... we didn't know what to expect. The insurgents knew the land and really hated aliens on their planet. We took heavy losses. I can't remember how many patrols I led. A lot. Sometimes we got the drop on them, most of the time they got the drop on us. A few months before the whole thing ended they ambushed a patrol I was leading. They must have figured I was the officer in charge, so they dropped me first. Didn't even see it coming, which I suppose is the same for most people who've been shot in an ambush."

"Oh," Alexander said. "Yeah, insurgencies can be like that - Earth has plenty and my nation has been supporting and suppressing them based on its own interests." A frown, "Damn our leadership."

"Well yeah... that is generally why you suppress an insurgency," Tava raised an eyebrow then laughed, "It was in the Federation's interests not to have our new world turn into an anarchic hell-hole, which is why we went to Kevanyn. We didn't go in just for fun. The berdikons and gorialax aren't warlike and we don't sacrifice our people without a pretty good reason. This thing with the ragons will be a lot worse than Kevanyn, but it's the only way our leadership sees to make sure that the Federation doesn't get invaded through that wormhole."

Another nod from Alexander, as he said, "The ragons place no value on culture, on the beautiful things Humans and other Species are able to make. If they invade Earth, we'd be reduced to the level of cattle, our cultures destroyed and our accumulated knowledge cast aside. Rebirth after that will be a crapshoot."

"Pretty much, the Kiellar won't hold back the tide forever and the Confederacy are too small to be a real game changer which means that the Federation have to get involved. It's logically the course of action which is of greatest benefit to the whole," Tava concluded.

Alexander nodded and said, "It is."

A pause, "Our renegade ragon, Raoul and Sshalah... They're definitely cultural deviants against ragon culture. Do you think they might be hope for their species-polity?"

Species-polity, that's actually a good political term.

Tava shrugged, "No idea. I don't know much about the ragons. They're big targets but don't go down easy. That's about all I really need to know."

Another pause, as Alexander says, "I see."

"And that is what I suggest you focus on as well," she added, "Rather than worrying about politics and the fact that you haven't had an opportunity to steal stuff from a city yet, focus on being able to hit a moving ragon between the eyes at 100 yards. That's a useful skill to have."

A smile this time, as Alexander said, "Yeah, I can do that! Thanks, Tava."

"And, last thing," she added, "If you want a partner to train with, just knock on my door... or Aethienn's if you're more into the 'tough love' kind of training. Not my thing personally, but it does it for some people."(edited)

"All right," said the young man, "Goodbye!"

[Khasinkonia]

Dr. Amlai, Dr. Saesa, and Aarla
Cowritten by Khasinkonia and Bentus

"Now look up and to the left."

Aarla did as she was asked, unblinkingly moving her eyes without any complaint despite the bright light being shone into her features. The doctor's lack of bedside-manners didn't phase the girl as she silently went through the motions of the check-up. Diagnostic scanners were usually pretty thorough when it came to identifying any lingering injuries, but Amlai had insisted upon giving the psyker a physical look-over before signing off on her discharge. Even though she looked slightly irritated at the extra-attention, Aarla otherwise didn't offer any resistance during the process.

The medbay itself had largely emptied out by this point, with most of the team's walking injured having been patched up and sent on their way even before Aarla had awoken. After the chaos that had filled the room in the immediate aftermath of the battle, with medical staff and the injured filling the space with shouts and activity, the room's quiet calm felt almost surreal. Watching Amlai run her final tests on Aarla, Saesa stood a few paces behind her, a look of concern etched onto her features.
The scientist herself looked like a mess. Her hair was disheveled from a lack of attention, while her coat's sleeves were messily rolled up to her elbows, with one side clearly having been rolled up higher than the other. Beneath her eyes, two solid black bags showcased her fatigue. But Saesa made no indication that she had any intention of leaving the medbay to seek the comfort of her own bed. She spoke up as Amlai switched off the flashlight in her hands.

"Is everything alright, Doctor?"

Amlai tapped her clipboard with her pen, and then put a cap on it. Her tentacles shifted from a warm white with pink undertones to a pale peach colour. As if on a pivot, she turned towards Saesa and stated, "Aarla looks to have recovered enough that I would have no concerns if she were simply a normal Kiel."

Amlai paused for a moment

"Bearing in mind her circumstances, however, I want to keep a closer eye on her and recommend that we increase her dosage for her inhibitors."

Looking back to Aarla, Amlai continued, "And Aarla, I would strongly recommend you avoid using any of your psychic abilities for the time being. Even though your recovery has proceeded well thus far, I would not rule out the potential for you to relapse should you become too eager."

The psyker remained largely impassive as Amlai offered her report, with her eyes drifting lazily about the room as she appeared to half-listen to the two women checking up on her. However, a brief scowl flashed across the girl's face as she was told to avoid using her abilities. Catching herself quickly, Aarla buried her initial response with an indifferent shrug.

"Okay, sure." For a moment, it looked like she would offer up a complaint about the continued concerns being directed towards her, but then thought better of it. "Is that everything, then?"

"Nearly." Saesa spoke up, drawing the irritated glare of the patient. "You know that any information that you could give us might be helpful. Can you remember anything else that you haven't told us already? This was a severe response for a personal barrier, even considering your prior episode. Could you have applied your psionics to something else without realising, or maybe by accident?"

"No." Aarla replied sternly, her scowl deepening with frustration at the scientist's unending line of questioning. "I already told you: there were small arms inside the cabin, so I put up a barrier to protect against any stray rounds. I've done it a hundred times, so I didn't even think before doing it. There must have been some heavy caliber round that caught me by surprise, okay?"
Glancing towards Amlai, Saesa bit her lip as the psyker's words didn't appear to alleviate much of her concern. "Are you sure? According to the Gollar, it didn't look like any large rounds penetrated the -"

"Yes, I'm sure." Aarla snapped back. "But fine. If there weren't any heavy rounds, I guess it means that you were right and I just pushed myself a bit too hard after last time. I shouldn't have stopped taking my inhibitors and now I'm paying the price. Is that what you want to hear?" Saesa was caught off guard by the harsh response, finding herself unprepared for the genuinely frustrated tone coming from the girl. Sighing at the lack of a response, Aarla rolled her eyes. "I'll make sure to stick to the increased dose if it matters so much, alright?"
Offering Amlai a glance to make sure that the doctor didn't have any final words of her own, Saesa frowned as she nodded towards Aarla. "Well...if that's all, then you are free to go."

Not hesitating even for a moment once the offer was extended, Aarla didn't meet either of the other women's eyes as she pushed herself to her feet and nearly stormed from the room. Watching the girl's back disappear behind the medbay's door, Saesa waited for a few seconds before allowing for a sigh to escape from her own lips. Rubbing her temples as she felt her own fatigue weighing down her shoulders, she turned towards Amlai.

"Amlai, have you had any luck with trying to synthesize more of her medicine?" Saesa asked, even though she almost certainly already knew the answer. "I know why you're recommending it, but doubling her dosage is going to really start to eat into her supplies."

Amlai’s tentacles had turned a shade of light yellow as Aarla and Saesa went back and forth. She shook her head and reviewed her notes quietly as they continued on. She looked up once Saesa asked about medicine synthesis.

“Thus far, I’ve been able to isolate several of the active compounds, but I haven’t had the time to completely map out how the polymers arrange and then figure out how to replicate that even after I figure out how to synthesise the entire base polymers given what we have on board. I might be able to accelerate the process of perfecting it if we can get Aarla to occasionally take a lower dose of my latest attempt, understanding the risks that would entail.”

Saesa frowned at the expected bad news. Despite the time that they'd both already sunk into it, trying to decipher the chemistry of the psyker's inhibitors was proving to be as challenging as she'd feared. And even once Amlai could eventually figure out the tablets' composition, Saesa wasn't even certain that it would even be possible to synthesize a replacement with the equipment they had onboard.

They were making far better progress than might have been expected, which was hardly a surprise in Saesa's mind considering her own expeertise. But this was a task meant for whole team of specialists ranging from synthetic biologists, to psionic researchers - and they were just a physicist and a doctor, with only what passed as basic triage equipment at their disposal. Amlai was right though, performing tests with a live subject would greatly accelerate their progress. And yet...

"No, we can't risk it. " Saesa replied, glancing towards the door that Aarla had just left through. "She's already been through a lot, and who knows what kind of an effect a trial like that would have." Maybe it was the fatigue speaking, but Saesa was caught off-guard by her own lack of scientific reasoning. Scowling, she quickly spoke to correct herself. "I mean, there could be negative consequences for the ship and crew. There's always a risk of negative feedback with any new trial, and Mihal might not be willing to act as a fail safe."
Pausing for a moment, Saesa changed the subject as she continued. "Actually, Amlai - I wanted to ask you for your opinion on something." She hesitated as she tried to think of the best way to ask her question of the normally cold doctor. "Might it be useful for you to have an assistant in the medbay, for times when your capacity is stretched? I found it...nice, to help out during the last mission." Saesa admitted. "Normally during these operations I've felt fairly helpless. It felt good to be able to actually do something,. I wouldn't want to intrude on your time, though. But maybe it could be helpful if you trained me in some of the basics?"

Amlai shrugged as Saesa vetoed her idea on live testing, and listened intently to Saesa's followup questions. She was silent for a moment, and tapped her foot on the floor.

Rather suddenly, she responded, "Are you willing to put in time for extensive training? If you are to assist around here, I'm going to be certain that you know exactly what you're doing."

"I will." Saesa replied, nodding with a firm certainty. She knew that she was leaping blindly into a sizable commitment, but she was sick of standing around and doing nothing instead. "I promise that you won't regret it, Amlai. If there's any initial material that you think that I should study, I would love to get started as soon as I can."

Amlai was quick to respond to Saesa, saying “How familiar are you with Kiellar, Dhasath, and other Kieloid biologies?”

"Well enough." Saesa replied, although she hastily added. "From a theoretical standpoint, I mean. My first degree was in physics but my research, and working with the Dolen Telor, forced me to branch out. Neuroscience and biochemistry, primarily." The scientists eyes glanced briefly towards the door, recalling the psyker that had recently left from the room. "Although neither was ever from a clinical standpoint."

Brushing aside the slight unease in her stomach, Saesa hastily continued as she turned back towards the doctor. "But subjects like anatomy? I suppose that I haven't touched them since school."

“I wouldn’t expect you to have proper experience, but before I train you, I’m going to send you some recommended reading, including the Kiellari medical files I have on you and Aarla for practice referencing them. Once you feel you’re comfortable, I’ll quiz you on a few things and we’ll move on from there,” Amlai replied matter-of-factly, “I’ll have them ready for you in less than a week.”

[Europa Undivided]

Reptilian Girls' Beach Escapade

Co-write between Europa Undivided and Harbertia

The hot summer sun blazed overhead, casting its rays upon the baked beach sand. This planet's equivalent of palm trees swayed at the behest of the ocean breeze; and on the shore, Sshalah could be seen on the waters, being who knows what.

At the same time, Yare-Lokem had been circling overhead for the last few minutes. She nearly swallowed an alien bird in the process, though the Sarufi managed to duck out of the gull's path before anything terrible happened.

With absolutely nothing better to do, she dove in towards the beach, landing rather haphazardly as she kicked up sand and dust as she skidded into a stop. Spotting Sshalah doing... something, she walked up to the larger reptilian.

"Hey.", Yare began, splashing unto the salty water. "How is... uh... life?"

Sshalah was holding some clear container at her side as she waded through the salt water. She smiled at the sight of Yare-Lokem, "Better here. This is the closest I've gotten to be being home and I'd like to add some diversity to the tank on board; the um, arrival here wasn't very friendly to our fish." she said. If it hadn't been for having taken a bath with Novo she would have inquired about the Sarufi's cybernetics- but experience was experience.

"That's a good idea, to get more fish for the tank for you two big ones to eat." She pointed at Sshalah's container. "That's where you're putting them in?"

Sshalah nodded, "Once I catch some. It's easy enough catching them with my mouth but, I'm afraid I'd get too carried away with the memories of home and I'd just start eating them. So I'm trying to catch them with my hands which is why I'm currently wading here." she looked down in the salty water of this alien world still not knowing anything for certain about the wildlife though she did have her aquaculture training to fall back on.

"Good for you...", the dragon replied, wading on the waters along with Sshalah. "Home... ah, how we all miss that. Granted, my home is in a massive floating arkship within extrasolar space, but it's still good enough."

A pause. "Once this is all over, what are your plans?"

Sshalah sighed, "To be honest, I'm not sure why we can't just stay here." she said moving her prehensile tail under the water to feel around where her eyes where not looking.

"We will definitely stay here if the salvage mission does not find a wreck with a working Skrim Drive.", Yare answered, digging a clam out of the sand with her front paw. "But the war still rages. The captain does not wish to sit it out..."

The dragon sighed. "I feel we should see the damn thing through."

Sshalah knelt down to reach for something in the sand below the waves, "That's, easy for you. You've got Kaleso," she dug around get a hand of clams, "the whole Jokari deal going on. I don't get anything out of this."

"Oh no, I think you do.", Yare took out what looked like to be a crab. "You've been with us since the beginning, racial differences be damned. The Empire might despise the two of you, but..."

She then looked at the faint insignia of the Migrant Fleets on her clawed foreleg. "We are very rewarding. I mean, it's cold comfort, but do you really, truly want to stay on this planet for the rest of your life? You won't meet anyone new here."

A pause. "Unless if more people crash land here."

Sshalah was silent for a bit as she put the clams into the container standing back up. She didn't look at Yare but commented "They'd probably not be friendly. I'd just be the big scary monster preying upon the shore." she stopped and looked at Yare, "I, really want a mate. Sure I... I have one but we haven't seen each other in what feels like years and he's off fighting this war." she dug her feet into the wet sand and swallowed the moisture in her mouth.(edited)

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." The dragon quietly sighed, lying down on the salty water to cool herself. "But my people did not have the same amount of bad experience with Ragons like the Jokari and Dhasath, as we are just so elusive. In practice, anyone could enter our society, if they prove their worth. Or if they have friends in high places."

Sshalah looked at Yare and started to sit in the water, letting the container float near by. Her expression was sad and contemplative. Her mind going through what she actually knew about Sarufi. She brought her tail over to the container and held to it with her tail. "Do, you," she started slowly opening up to the subject, "remember the Devourer?"

"Yes, who could ever forget that guy. Dangerous and more machine than flesh.", Yare answered, seemingly a little discomforted by the new subject. "And with a craving for sentient flesh."

They were not so different, it seems.

Sshalah chuckled softly, despite her reptilian face she seemed happy somehow. "I, bit into his neck before Carter blasted him. I, I felt like a hero then. It's one of my fond memories, that feeling when the battle was over." she giggled, "I wasn't wearing anything either. So a bit more like you, you don't wear anything- or at least very little. If Raoul hadn't joined us I probably would as well."

"I distinctly remember Sho laughing at you when he noticed that you didn't have anything on.", Yare chuckled. "Ah, that feels like a lifetime ago. The Devourer was a madman that the rest of us considered a pariah. His end was a good thing."

Yare paused. "The offer stands, Sshalah. If we see this through."

Sshalah put her hand into the sand and lifted it up letting it flow out of her hand and cascade into the water, "What would my life be like though?" she looked at Yare's cybernetics, "Would, I have to get those?"

"If you want to.", Yare answered. "These have their benefits, but it would be understandable if you want to keep all your fleshy bits on."

Sshalah huffed a stunted chuckle, "Well I certainly would, what about your society- what would I be?"

"Let's see... honorary member, cook, aquaculturist, and a friend. How's that?"

Sshalah looked amiably "A little vague, you know there is more to a society than what I am now. What would be expected of me, what wouldn't I be able to do, and where would I live?"

"Well, I assume you know that you can't eat anybody in there." Yare snickered. "You just have to earn your own keep, be helpful, and be nice. You'll live in a... place made just for you. A cozy one, perhaps within the forests of the ark. The neighbours will be a little noisy at the 'morning', but in general it will be a comfortable life to have."

Sshalah actually seemed to smile sitting in the salty water with Yare, "And what about polygamy? What if I brought two or more Ragon with me and we started a family on your little arkship?"

"It happens all the time in there.", Yare replied. "As long as they don't look at us with hungry eyes... it will be fine."

Sshalah shook her head, "We Ragon take a long time to mature, I can't make promises about our little ones."

"You'll figure it out.", Yare said, digging to take out a clam very rigorously. "Every parent does. Just," she then put the clam on the container, looking up at Sshalah. "Don't worry about it, we're experienced with children."

"I'll, keep your offer in mind." Sshalah said taking a closer look at the clams in the container, still looking like she's smiling, "I do my best to keep my word and in this case I can't accept your offer right now. I have, made too many promises I've yet to keep nor been freed of."

"Okay then.", Yare answered.. "I'll be waiting."

[Bingellia]

Dr. Saesa of Anac and Mihal of Obe
Cowritten by Bentus and Bingellia
Outside the Defiance

---

Leaning against one of the ship’s landing legs, Saesa sat on the warm sand and allowed herself to enjoy the sound of the waves lapping against the shore. She had been quick to assign herself to watching the ship, considering that someone’s incompetence had likely left them all but stranded and waiting for rescue. Hunting and foraging for food, or trudging her way through the wilderness in search of water hardly sounded appealing, and even Saesa had to admit that she’d be more likely to slow down any search party that she tried to tag along with. Although with all of that being said, it didn’t hurt that her chosen task allowed her to soak in the sunlight.

After being cramped within the confines of the spacecraft for weeks, and with the stress from the mission still fresh in her mind, Saesa practically jumped at the opportunity to stretch her legs and bask in the alien beachfront that they’d found themselves in. She was sure that their absence from the fleet would be noticed soon enough, and then a rescue party would get dispatched to pick them up, leaving her free of worry and able to enjoy her moment of respite. But even in a scenic paradise like this, Saesa wasn’t one to allow herself to stay completely idle.

Sitting just outside of the Defiance’s cargo hold such that the looming vessel cast enough of a shadow to keep her comfortably cool by the seaside, the scientist was staring at her tablet as she steadily scrolled through one of the medical texts that Amlai had sent her. Narrowing her gaze as she re-read a particularly convoluted line, Saesa made a quick note with her stylus and bookmarked the relevant page for future reference. She was no stranger to studying a new topic, and she had thrown herself at her self-assigned task with a stubborn determination that her old professors would’ve recognized in an instant. For the scientist, pouring over texts and trying to memorize the obscure pieces of alien anatomy among the crew were a welcome distraction from the chaotic mess that her life had become. She’d always loved learning, and even in the grimmest of circumstances, education provided a way for her to calm herself and escape.

Mihal likewise couldn’t resist the call of the environment the ship had landed on. Though, unlike Saesa, he was driven by a mixture of curiosity and a desire to relax as he made his way down the cargo ramp. The first thing that struck him was the heat as he covered his recovering eye. It was pleasant even for him given the faint breeze coming off the water and the shade from the ship. He still rolled his sleeves up for a bit of relief, though the thought of freeing his chest to the warmth of sun was tempting. The sand was an interesting feeling as well, and he found it odd to walk on the beach barefooted as he took his first steps off the cargo ramp.

The sound of the waves seemed to take a weight off the man’s shoulders, and there was a certain child-like amusement as his eyes followed the peaks and crashes over and over again. A minute or passed before he turned his attention to the doctor still close to the vessel. He took a seat near her, and tried to steal a peek of what she was reading as he approached. “Quite the view,” Mihal said to simply break the silence as he smirked. “I think I can see the appeal of these beaches now.”.

“Hmm.” Saesa replied, her attention still focused on her tablet. “I suppose so. Although this place is no resort, either.”

Taking a few more seconds to reach the end of her current page, and scribbling down a few more notes for future revision, the scientist closed her display and looked up to follow the other kiel’s gaze out towards the ocean. Taking a deep breath of the seaside air, she allowed herself the slightest of smiles. “But beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.”

Glancing towards Mihal, she offered the man a quizzical look as she studied his almost child-like expression. After a while, Saesa began to suspect why he appeared to be so enraptured by the scenery. “Your homeworld was an ice planet, wasn’t it?” She asked, amusement creeping into her tone. “This must be a pretty novel experience for you, huh?”

“It wasn’t cold enough to fully be an ice planet,” Mihal answered, continuing to watch the waves. “But the time you could enjoy beaches outside of the tropics was relatively short.” For a moment, he dug his foot into the sand, laughing as the warm grains filled any gaps, “Maybe we should bring Aarla out of the ship,” he added as he looked over to the doctor. “She could probably use the change in scenery.”

“No need.” Saesa said. Smiling, she gestured with a nod further down the beach.

Turning to follow her gaze, Mihal saw Aarla sitting in the distance. She’d positioned herself a fair way from the ship, although she was still probably in earshot if they were to yell. While he and Saesa had stuck close to the Defiance, Aarla had walked right up to the water. The girl was staring out into the ocean, apparently lost within her own thoughts as the waves lapped right up to where her bare feet touched the sand.

There was a sense of satisfaction as a smile grew on Mihal’s face as he looked at the girl, though a slight quiver betrayed a bitter undercurrent he found in the serenity of the moment. He wanted to have this; A family, peace, beautiful moments, and reality offered him this twisted parody of them all. At least, he thought to himself, Aarla seemed at ease.

“I think the fresh air’s going to be good for her. Good for all of us, I guess.” Saesa said with a shrug, smiling at the look that Mihal was giving the girl that he’d all but taken under his care. “Did you know that she can’t swim?” She added, nearly chuckling at the incredulity of the factoid. “I didn’t think much of it at first, but it seems crazy in hindsight. With everything that the Dolen trained her to do, you’d think they’d have had the foresight to dedicate some time to it, right?” The scientist shook her head. “Although I suppose they must’ve considered it a low priority for the missions they sent her on.”

“Maybe she can walk on her barriers like she’s a daughter of the gods,” Mihal chuckled in turn. “Wouldn’t that be a sight, Saesa?” Yet, the longer he watched Aarla, the more a sense of uncertainty grew. That calm was unlike her, and it was different when he lulled her to sleep with stories of home after the raid on the Zeracata. With a quick shake of his head, he turned his attention back to the Doctor. “I wonder what she’s thinking,” he thought aloud.

Saesa frowned slightly, considering Mihal’s words for a moment. She’d been studying psykers and psionics in some way for decades at this point, and yet she realized that she’d spent scarcely more than a few moments thinking about questions like that. “After a mission that went as poorly as the one we were just on? I suppose she might be evaluating her performance. The Dolen would emphasize the importance of learning from failure, with the goal being to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again.” The scientist cracked a smile. “Or, she could just be enjoying the view. She’s a teenage girl, Mihal. Speaking as a woman of science, I don’t think that you’re going to unravel that mystery anytime soon.”

“No, I don’t think I am,” Mihal answered earnestly. “But I think that’s part of the experience.”

[Bentus]

Dr. Saesa of Anac and Mihal of Obe
Cowritten by Bentus and Bingellia
Outside the Defiance

---

Part 1

Soon after, Saesa shifted her posture slightly. Turning her eyes back out towards the ocean, she spoke in a more serious tone. “I hate bringing this up in a place like this, but we also need to talk about her inhibitors.” Saesa could feel Mihal tense up beside her at the mention of Aarla’s medication. It was hardly an enjoyable topic, and she had silently considered leaving this conversation for another time. But she had to broach it with him at some point. “Amlai and I have been running into trouble. We’re making slower progress than I’d hoped, and this detour - as nice as the scenery is - certainly isn’t going to help things.” Saesa sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “And I’ve also just remembered that we’re in this position because the Skrim drive cut out. That alone is going to mean that we’ll need to increase her dose for a few days, which reduces our supply that little bit more.”

Mihal sighed in turn as he moved to lean against the ship. “Right,” he murmured to himself as he felt his jaw tighten, “I’m not surprised.” The urge to lash out was intense at first, especially since it now meant that the inhibitor question hung over whenever he’d speak to Aarla next. After a few deep breaths and a few more mental reminders that the Defiance had limited manpower, the immediate anger was, at the least, controlled. “Does she know,” he bluntly asked, “and what are our damned options?”

Saesa smiled wryly. “I’m certain that she does. She made the decision to cut her own doses earlier, trying to drag her supply out for as long as she could. Although I wish she’d told us, since it would’ve given us more time to come up with a more permanent solution.” Mihal’s second question was more complicated to answer, and she hesitated before responding with a sigh. “Amlai and I are going to keep working on synthesising an alternative formulation. We’re close to figuring out the chemistry, but we might need some more equipment in order to make something that she can use reliably. We can do it, but it’s going to take time.”

“Saesa,” anger turned to venom in his tone as concern rapidly turned from a frown then into a glare, “I greatly appreciate the work you and Amlai are doing, but we need an immediate solution, even if it’s a stop gap. The alternative of an underdosed psyker is completely unacceptable at the best of times, let alone when she’s recovering from a coma and a skrim-drive failure.”

He glanced over to Aarla briefly, and reddened slightly before adding “What can we do? Now!”

Saesa bristled at Mihal’s tone, returning his glare. “And you think that I don’t know that?” She replied in frustration. “It’s not like we’ve got a manual that we’re trying to follow here. We’re having to figure this all out as we go, and unfortunately that takes time.”

After snapping back at the man, Saesa immediately regretted it. She knew that he was just lashing out due to his concern for the psyker, but why did he have to direct that anger towards her? Gods, why did she even allow herself to become so invested in this? Six-Two had been adamant about killing her not all that long ago. And yet…

Sighing, Saesa rubbed the back of her head. “My recommendation is to carry on as normal for now. At some point though, we might have to look at ways to make our current supply last longer. Rationing doses is one option, gradually reducing both the quantity and frequency at which she -”

Mihal’s brow furrowed. “I thought we’d established that reducing her dose was not an option? You said so yourself.”

“Well, yes. Under normal circumstances.” Saesa replied. “But there are ways that we could manage the risks. She didn’t know what she was doing, while we could afford to be more scientific with our approach. We could also keep her on a mild sedative at the same time, which would reduce the damage that she could cause.” Before continuing, the scientist hesitated.

“I need to know all of the options, Saesa,” he interjected, seeming to calm ever so slightly “Risky or not, I wa- need to be informed. She’s not capable of deciding herself, we both know that!”

Biting her lip, Saesa genuinely considered not even bringing the next option up to the kiel. “There is a way that we could speed things up.” She said, pushing past her hesitation. “So far, we’ve been doing all of our tests in simulations and using lab equipment. But it’s hard to predict how Aarla will actually react without some rather thorough tests. If we were to trial new formulations on her directly - at low doses - we could monitor her responses and find something that works more easily.” If she were back at the Institute, Saesa would have taken that approach from the start. She wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment if it meant that they could get better results. So why did she recoil from the thought now? “It’s just...there could be side effects to anything we try. We could get lucky early on, or we could end up making things worse before they get better. My personal opinion is that we’re not at a point where we need to try something so radical. Not yet.”

A minute slowly passed while Mihal weighed the options as he once again turned to watch Aarla. With a shake of his head, he rumbled out a cross between a sigh and a low grumble. “We’ll keep her minorly sedated,” he finally spoke. “We don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here, and we need all the time we can get.”

Saesa shifted uneasily. “I’m...not sure if that’s the best course of action right now.”

Wasn’t it, though? If she thought about the problem logically, then Mihal’s points all made sense. And even if they did get off of this planet, who knew what other unforeseen circumstance might befall them next. The most prudent course of action would be to start limiting Aarla’s doses as soon as possible, ensuring that their finite supply of inhibitors would last for as long as it could. But something caused Saesa’s stomach to twist with uncertainty at the plan, and seeing Mihal come out so readily in favour of it only caused the strange sensation to tighten further.

“Even without rationing, we have enough inhibitors to keep her going for weeks. If we’re lucky, Amlai and I might find what we need at Beachhead and all this will end up being a moot point.” Saesa paused, her lip pursing itself into a line. “But more than that, I feel like Aarla’s not going to be happy about the idea. No matter how we present it to her. With everything going on, maybe it’d be best to let her be? At least until we get back to the station and re-evaluate our position.”

“You’re right,” Mihal admitted with a sigh. The tightness of his jaw, the rigidness of his posture, and the guarded crossing of his arms made it clear he still wasn’t comfortable with the idea, but he relented to the more experienced of the two. “How long have you worked with her,” he asked after a moment of silence.

Saesa felt a brief sense of relief at Mihal’s response, although she still felt her own lingering doubts about pushing back against his initial idea. “I’m not sure.” She replied, taking her mind off of the uncomfortable thought by trying to recall the first time she’d encountered the psyker. “I’m not even sure I’d say that I ever really ‘worked’ with her before the Defiance, if I’m honest.” She sheepishly admitted. “My research tended to lean more towards theoretical and applied physics, rather than direct involvement with live subjects. Other teams tended to work more directly with the Units. Although there were times that I’d put in a proposal for a specific test to be run that was related to my work. The curious thing about psionics is how it lets us probe hyperspace in a way that even our best electronic sensors still can’t. From an empirical science point of view, they’re a crucial resource.”

Saesa couldn’t help but smile as she thought back to her research, but she quickly realised that she might’ve started to ramble. Glancing towards Mihal, she also figured that he probably wasn’t asking to find out about her work specifically. But rather to learn more about Aarla.

“I do remember seeing Aarla around more often than her peers. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at first, but after a while you see a few Unit numbers repeating in the reports - and hers came up regularly.”

At first, the man merely nodded through as the women spoke. “I suppose that’s typical of anything involving her, or your work in the program. ” Mihal answered with a sigh after she finished. His gaze went to the sand as he added, “One question makes so many more.”

Saesa studied Mihal’s expression as he frowned into the sand, his own thoughts clearly having turned inwards. She wondered what questions were bouncing around inside his head, having no doubts about the conflicting emotions he must have been feeling about the psyker. A slight frown inched onto her own features as she felt a stab of empathy for the man, imagining how frustrated he must have felt at his own lack of knowledge about the girl’s nature and past. Aarla herself was hardly the most open about it.

“Hey, what kind of drinks do you have hidden away, exactly?” Saesa eventually said, forcing herself to speak in a happier tone as she broke the silence between them. She offered Mihal a mischievous smile, trying to distract him from the darker thoughts swirling around in his head. “If we’re going to be treating this as some well-earned rest and relaxation, then we better turn it into a proper beachside getaway, no?” Pushing herself to her feet, the scientist dusted away some of the sand that had become stuck to her pants. “I learned how to make some amazing tropical cocktails during family vacations. My mother’s staff would always ensure that our holiday homes were well-stocked.”

“Just two bottles of rum and a sweet berry wine,” Mihal answered as the corners of his mouth rose slightly into a smirk of his own. “But I happen to be aware of what the mess may be stocked with,” he added as he rose to his feet. “So it shouldn’t be hard to find something more dry if that’s your taste and convince our head chef to part with it.”

[Kylantha]

The hunt was on.. Sho and Khuzme walked close to each other while Narkhi'zesh was several feet ahead. He was on all fours, nose up in the air. It wasn't long before he was deeper into the foliage, caught up in the sights and smells. This place was somewhat reminiscent of their Tz'athi homeworld. That made him feel good. So he didn't stop venturing deeper into the jungle, even as Khuzme called after him. He heard her, yes.. But he wasn't willing to listen. It was probably a bad idea to wander off so early, but he assumed there'd be very few non-sentient creatures that could square up with him and survive. With that and the prospect of a good hunt in mind, he carried on.

Just behind, Sho and Khuzme were talking about this strange new world. It seems they too saw the similarities between it and native Ter'nokah. First they were making observations about what they saw, then they started comparing. Soon they were reminiscing. Sho'chavuk was thinking mostly about what creatures he could find and how they would taste when cooked. Khuzme was sighing inwardly about Sho'chavuk's ravings whilst feeling forlorn and homesick. Yes, she was a warrior and had been for many years.. But when she was faced with sights such as these, all the glory and loot seemed like old news.. There was also the urge that she had. The urge she'd been fighting for the sake of her own survival and the future of what said urge could lead to. As she listened to Sho, she felt jealous of him. He was so out of it, it seemed that he didn't worry about the things that he did. She wondered if maybe he was willfully suppressing them or if he was really just an idiot.

---

Back at the Defiance, the youngest of the Tz'aths lingered around the ship like they said they would. Anja had dropped her armor and expressed her intent to go for a dip, and it freaked Uht'las out. That didn't stop the albino Tz'ath however, as she was soon waist-deep in the waves, enjoying the feel of the warm water and the soft sand between her toes. Unlike most Tz'aths, she wasn't afraid of water. In fact, she loved it. It was dangerous to her, but she knew that as long as she was careful, it wouldn't be a problem. Right now for example, she wanted to go in a little deeper. But for fear of things lurking in the shallows, she decided to stay closer to the shore. Uht'las just about gnawed all his claws off watching her, frustrated that Anja refused to listen to him. Deep down however, he was curious. He himself had never seen large bodies of water before, having been born on Afewag. All the stories he'd heard about such things contained horror and death, but Anja looked as though she was enjoying herself.

It took a while, but eventually Uht'las gathered up the courage to meet the waves creeping up the beach. Anja was quick to notice, and a smile began to form across her snout as she watched him take one wary step after the other until the water was swirling around his knobbly knees. Her smile now a full fledged one, Anja made her way to him.

"Not so bad is it?"

Uht'las looked up, his telescopic eyes almost all the way back in their sockets as he tried to hide his shivering. "Not so bad." he echoed her words.

"Why don't you go ahead and sit?" Anja then suggested, then demonstrated, falling backwards into the water so that it was just below her chin.

Cautiously, Uht'las looked in a circle around himself before slowly settling his bum in the water. The feeling of being inundated chilled him to the bone at first, but he got used to it quickly. Suddenly, it was almost like a massage as the water pushed him back and forth. He let out a loud sigh as he finally relaxed, sinking further into the waves. This time though, he didn't seem to care, and Anja laughed triumphantly before quickly returning to her own fun.

---

In another direction, there was Pel'churul, sniffing about where the sand ended and grass and foliage started. He kept his snout low to the ground, and his antennae pointed forward. This job was perfect for him and any Tz'ath, because they were excellent at sensing what was hidden underground. He was confident that he'd find some water sooner or later. After that.. He'd probably have a smoke and tinker for the rest of their time stranded on this rock..

[Grenartia]

Phoenix, just outside the Defiance, with the soil sample team

Phe watched as Pel'churul sniffed around where the foliage ended and the beach began. "Hey, Pel'churul!" she called out. "How good are you at digging?" She figured the team could make decent progress without a natural digger, but someone with that skill set would be valuable. Truth be told, she wasn't sure if the soil team needed to go as far as the 10 mile limit Carter mentioned, but it couldn't hurt to cover as much ground as possible.

[Arengin Union]

A Short Stroll

Co-Write by Arengin Union and Europa Undivided

---

With everyone set on their respective teams or in none at all and just preferring to spend some time in leisure, it was only Carter and Kaleso who went off into the beach in the search for water. Carter's carbine slung over his back the human kept a slow and relaxed walk as the sand under his boots trembled down and the sun sizzled against his skin. It was an all in all nice feeling as he continued to walk down the beach, he looked around curiously in the search for any kind of river flow or stream or some kind of marsh, he remembered having seen something similar to a wetland when the ship was landing but his memory was not serving him very well at this moment.

His mind found itself lost, wandering aimlessly in all kinds of beliefs as he thought back to Thanica, though he had seen her before having landed the ship he regretted himself for having left without waiting for her to exit the ship, or even say goodbye. Part of him felt she wanted little to do with him since the crash as did most of the crew and though he had not paid much attention to who was with him in this search he was certain that many of the crew did not wish to be near him at that moment.

"Quite the vacation spot," Carter spoke to himself as he kept his pace, looking down onto the sand he spotted several small creatures similar to crabs wandering about, over on the horizon he saw the vast ocean. This planet was better than most.

"This is the most pleasant planet I've been to.", Kaleso said to Carter as he walked alongside the human. "I come from the night side of a tidally locked world, and the only other planets I've stepped on before this one are that ice moon, Gadawei, and Kazshurn."

That's true. Corsairs, and the Jokari at large, almost never set foot on actual planets. If they do, they're probably outcasts. "And this is the hottest one too..."

The birdman wasn't used to heat, apparently.

"I'd half expect you had been to more planets than I would've Birdman," Carter said with a half coy expression as he fiddled with his wrist pad. The heat was indeed scorching but the only offset was the breeze that came from the west, a tidal wave of cool air that could comfort the naked skin well.

Carter was truly surprised by the Jokaris statemen however, beach heat withstanding. The more time he'd spent with the crew the more he believed he had come to know them and yet there was still so much to learn. What bothered him more, however, was the crew's perception of him since Kazshurn, not because popularity was a priority, but he truly did feel that he had failed them like never before and had lost most of their trust. He didn't want to make it obvious to anybody but part of him felt like being lost in this system, with no way out was perhaps the universe punishing him, making it so that he'd never be able to redeem himself to the crew.

"How's Yare holding out?" The human asked suddenly.

"The Jokari have been a voidborne race for a long time.", Kaleso replied as Carter wondered why he hasn't gone to a lot of planets. "Life within the sea of stars is the one that we have grown accustomed to."

When Carter asked how Yare was doing, the birdman shrugged. "She has recovered and is back to her old self. Though I think she has begun intaking intoxicating substances in a disturbingly large amount."

"You know many civilizations on my planet were like that, nomads in search for a home or perhaps no home at all," Carter commented in light of Kalesos's poetic speech describing the galactic struggles of his species.

As the Human continued to browse his pad, awaiting for any oxygen readings he thought back to not only Yare, but Thanica, Mihal, Sho, and so many others who had fallen victim to his idiocy. It didn't seem fair that so many of them had seen so much pain and suffering and he had gotten away nearly unscathed, though even that had was debatable.

"I just hope the crew doesn't all succumb to that just because we're lost in paradise," Carter said with a serious tone, "We still have a war to fight."

"I should say that staying here is becoming more tempting every moment I think about it.", Kaleso replied, hunching over an alien crab that was carrying a shell is definitely borrowed from another creature while thinking thoughts of roasting it. "You heard Raoul earlier. It sounded like he wanted to stay here. As for me, though, I have a home to return to."

A pause. "Any luck on those water readings?"

"Only getting mild oxidane readings, pure ones at least. For what I can tell the ocean is made up of a weird mix of water, fluoride, and other chemical compounds... none that are especially deadly upon touch but it's not water we'll like to drink..." Carter answered as he looked over the jungle line and coast with curiosity. So similar and yet different just like everything else.

Kaleso's words on Raouls stance didn't glimpse over Carter's head as he suddenly made a turn towards the inland, away from the beach. Expecting Kaleso and others to still follow him he spoke.

"We'll have to head inland to find a clean source. I spotted what looked like marshes when I landed the ship, maybe they could lead to a riverway," he said as he continued to walk into the mysterious mix of light jungle and sandy shores.

"Makes total sense.", Kaleso simply said in reply. "We should be prepared for any critters. Last thing we need is someone getting bitten by a venomous insect."

Carter's response was simple as he took a hold of his blaster carbine and activated it, "Can't be too careful, especially since Lustrea."

With that said the pair pressed onto the jungle and into an ocean of bright pinks palm-like trees, large purple, and bluish canopy trees, and foliage of orange tints. The entire combination of vivid colors was quite the spectacle and seemed rather peaceful and unassuming unlike the inhospitable Gadaview moon, the savage Lustrea, or the barren Kazshurn. This truly seemed like a paradise and as far as one could hopefully guess there was truly no danger, but Carter was no longer in the guessing game as he was careful in his steps.

The group continued to head inland for a few yards until Carter looked over his pad compass and began moving Northwest. He remembered the wetland sight from before and was certain they were close by.

"I don't think Raoul is alone in the sentiment to stay here, I wouldn't be surprised if a fair share of the crew wants to do exactly that," Carter spoke with a neutral tone, not exactly looking down on the idea but not glamouring it either.

"Especially since what happened back in Kazshurn."

"It gets more and more tempting with every passing minute in this pleasant paradise." Kaleso opened a flask that he carried in his breast pocket before drinking its contents. "If the salvage mission does not find a working Skrim Drive, we're stuck here for good..."

Was that even a bad thing? Maybe. But they have to see the damn war through. The fate of the galaxy is not something anyone should simply ignore while resting upon a sandy beach...

"Perhaps we could settle a colony, me and Vari would have lots of Dhasath-Humans running around..." Carter said jokingly, though that very thought did not sound unpleasant at all either. The more he thought about it the more the planet seemed like quite the tempting option compared to going back to a wider galaxy embroiled by war and suffering.

"But for now we can't exactly contemplate that if we have no potable water, so perhaps we can find some," and it was after that, walking less than a mile in that the group finally stumbled onto a riverway which led down towards rhe beach, further out the riverway turned into an actual river.

"Bingo," Carter said with a smile as he got out a tube from his vest and scooped some water on it.

"This should take a few seconds, thank god for this Andromedan tech..." Carter said as he slipped in the tube into his gaunlet analyzer. The analyzer began to shine bright yellow lights for a few seconds. Carter remembered fondly to Earth for a few moments .

"back on Earth this would've taken an entire lab," he thought back. And ding, the results came in as Carter observed and expanded the holofeed so everyone could see it.

"Alkaline levels are good, no deadly bacteria, water's purer than that on Earth..." he chuckled, he didn't like to speak badly of his homeplanet but it was hard not to. With a few clicks, Carter made sure to highlight the location on the holo-map and with that he was now sure that there was clear potable water in this planet, so that was one worry off their shoulders for now.

"Let's get going," The Human said to the Jokari as the two began to head back towards the beach.

"I wonder how the other's been doing..." Carter asked with a bit of a chuckle as he already imagine most of the crew having their fair vacation time right about now. For his luck and Kaleso's at least they had not encountered anything particularly dangerous.

Maybe this place isn't so bad...

[Bingellia]

Dr. Saesa of Anac and Mihal of Obe
Outside the Defiance
Cowritten by Bentus, Bingellia, Arengin Union, and Europa Undivided

---

“No way, you did not!”

Saesa was nearly crying with laughter as Mihal’s words crafted a mental image in her mind’s eye. Holding a mostly-empty glass in her hand, the scientist shook her head in disbelief as she tried to picture a younger and more foolish version of the well-kept man before her.

“I’m not joking, Saesa.” Mihal continued, a wide grin adorned his features as he chuckled lightly at the memory. “I couldn’t tell you how fast we ran to get out of there before the barkeep noticed what we’d done. I don’t think I’ve run that fast in my life - not even an angry Ragon has lit quite as much of a fire beneath my feet.”

Wiping away a tear, Saesa had pulled her knees up to her chest as she’d listened to Mihal’s story. Knocking back what remained of the alcohol in her glass before offering the other kiel an amused smirk.

“Considering how much of his liquor you and your friends must have spoiled, I can understand why you’d be so quick to turn tail.” Saesa shook her head once more as she continued. “And all that for a pretty girl. Honestly, Mihal - I thought you’d be better than that! Did you ever hear anything more about her? Or the barkeep for that matter?”

Pulling a wine bottle from the sand beside him, Mihal reached over to offer it towards the woman. He shrugged as Saesa took the offered beverage and lazily began to refill her glass. “What? The war was over, and things were finally coming back to normal. There’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of fun! But no, I never did try to hear from her. We all graduated that month and went our separate ways, I guess.”

Keeping the fresh bottle of wine between them, Saesa nodded in understanding as took a sip. “That makes sense. I couldn’t even say where half of my classmates ended up at this point.”

Mihal didn’t respond, simply nodding in agreement and allowing for a satisfying silence to descend upon the duo. The pair had been on the shore for a few hours before the assorted teams started to trickle back to the ship, exchanging stories and engaging in conversations lubricated by the comfort of their drinks. By now, the sun was starting to set for the evening, turning the horizon a picturesque blend of orange and reds.

"As nice as this is," Mihal spoke to Saesa, breaking the silence after a sip of the sweet wine he had brought out, "the vista from a mountain slope or even a high-rise just puts sunsets into a different class of its own. Gods, I miss it so much sometimes."

Having directed her own gaze towards the picturesque view, Saesa had leaned back onto her elbows to make herself comfortable in the sand. Stretching her bare feet out towards the ocean, she turned her head as Mihal ended the brief moment of quiet between them. A soft smile set itself on her features as she sighed at the sight.

“This is pretty, though.” She admitted, watching how the light was being scattered by the gentle waves. For a moment, she felt a painful feeling grip her chest as she remembered the beaches by her family’s holiday homes back in Command. She could remember sitting on those beaches as a child to watch the sunset, relishing the feeling of the sand between her toes just as she was doing now. “And yeah, I know what you mean.”

Feeling slightly irritated at the unwanted feelings messing with the moment, Saesa quickly took another long swig from her glass in an effort to chase them away from her thoughts. Turning towards Mihal, she offered the man a smirk. “You know, I do think that we picked the best job for the day. Could you imagine slogging through that jungle right now?” Saesa laughed at the thought. “The Captain and the others have no idea what they’re missing.”

"We did," Mihal smugly answered. The smirk forming on the corners of his mouth made it slightly more difficult to not spill the wine as he stifled a chuckle as he sipped from the glass. "And they don't, but I think a little relaxation was in order. The away teams can enjoy this later."

Whether it be an act of fate or mere coincidence it was then that from the bushes amidst a mess of vegetation being cut down and twigs breaking the sight of the aforementioned Carter and his Jokari companion, Kaleso, appeared. The two had been in the jungle for a while and though they had gone in armed and ready they had surprisingly faced little, that is if space critters and monkey like creatures swinging up above are something to note. The captain had a machete-like blade on his right gauntlet while his carbine was strapped to his back once more, he stepped out of the jungle and gave a deep breath as he smelled the refreshing blaze of the sea. First thing he spotted was Mihal and Saessa merely relaxing on the beach.

"Well, well, well, having fun yet?" The human said jokingly while stretching his entire body and taking a few steps into the beach.

"Not as much fun as I wanted to have," Mihal replied as Carter approached them, "but Doctor's orders means I can't get drunk." He took a sip of his wine before staring back out to the shore. "And how was your outing, captain?"

"Welp," Carter said with a pause as he continued to stretch up and take his time to answer. In reality he had come to expect another venture in an uncharted land but really this all had been rather tame.

"Good news is we have accessible water, fresh and clean one at that. But I still think we'll need to develop some kind of filtration system... shouldn't be too hard." Looking to the ocean horizon with the sun behind him now, Carter had his hands on his sides as he then looked back to Mihal.
"You holding up well," he gestured at his own eye, "with what happened?"

"The eye works," Mihal answered with a slight frown. "It's very sensitive to the light, but I've been told that will get better as everything heals. It probably won't completely go away given the damage, but headaches are better than missing an eye. I'll just have an eye-patch with me."

Carter didn't say anything, he gave a nod as his eyes looked down upon the sands and turned back to face the marina. It was a beautiful sight, a grand sight. He had come to truly consider things, that perhaps Raoul was right. This seemed like a good place to get away from it all, settle away from the war and maybe grow old with Thanica. Perhaps it was just the deep regret he felt, the guilt over what had happened days ago but the desire was there, lingering.

"You know, this place doesn't seem to bad. Better than Lustrea I'd say..." he chuckled.

"I was there for six months, Carter," Mihal forced a chuckle. "I know this is better than that jungle hell."

When the Captain and Kaleso emerged from the treeline, Saesa's relaxed smile descended into a frown. Turning away from the approaching men she gazed back out towards the ocean as she continued to sip on her glass. It felt like the pair were intruding upon the brief moment of peace that she had somehow managed to imagine amidst all the chaos of the past few months, and she felt a bitterness rising in her chest as Mihal and Carter casually engaged in conversation. Glancing over her shoulder, she offered the Captain an undisguised scowl.

"Well, it would have been even better if half the crew weren't still recovering from life-threatening injuries." She stated, her accusatory tone making it clear who she blamed for disastrous consequences of their last mission. "Although I guess that a good view is enough to make us all forget about that."

Kaleso didn't need to see Saessa scowling to know that she wasn't pleased with Carter's presence, or that of his own, to say the least. She had always disliked the both of them... and her tone made it as clear as day that Saessa's day was ruined by their intrusion into her sunbathing. Who could blame her for being annoyed at Carter, though? The epic failure of a mission that they had the day before was kind of his fault, even if he hadn't been able to foresee just how disastrous it would all be.

And it would be better if she's staring daggers at one person instead of two at a time.

"I should go." Kaleso turned towards the general direction of the ship, which was still resting on the ground with no Skrim drive. "Excuse me." He'd soon be gone from their sight, telling Thanica and whoever was still chilling in the ship about their water situation.

For Carter's part, there really was no answer he could give, none at all as Kaleso left and now he was left standing by himself as he stared over to the endless horizon of the green and blue sea. He had opted long before to let people say their piece on what had happened, mostly because he had no words to retort, no phrase to say, no bark, nothing. He was lost at what to say because they were right.

"It's gonna take more than that," he finally said as he began to walk back towards the ship, passing by the pair slowly, he took deep steps into the sand, with no real motivation to argue on.

"That's a little harsh, Saesa," Mihal lowly hissed as his head snapped in her direction. "You're not wrong, but you weren't there either." He looked towards Carter, watching the human walk towards the ship, and the frown softened slightly. "He made a terrible mistake and he knows it."’

"I may not have been there, but I did help put you all back together, remember." Saesa shot back. Inwardly, she did feel a nugget of guilt as she the pained expression that her words caused on Carter's face. She was surprised that Mihal was so quick to leap to the other man's defense, and she immediately felt irritated at his chastising tone. "And why are you suddenly so quick to let him off of the hook, just like that? You didn't defend him with the rest of the crew called him out for his stupidity." With the alcohol loosening her tongue, Saesa's scowl deepened. "Oh, I get it. It's because you'd always choose to stand by your flawless band of criminals rather than anyone tied to Command, right?" The scientist scoffed as she took another swig from her glass. "Typical macho attitude, closing ranks at the slightest provocation."

Mihal's frown contorted as he glared at Saesa. "You think I'm not furious that I almost died because he was too prideful to admit his plan was wrong? I thought you'd be more intelligent than that, Doctor!" For a moment, Mihal was silent, and he felt his jaw tighten. "His guilt is far more painful than any insult I could shout at him," he added as the wine and emotions loosened his own tongue, "but I don't think you'd understand that."

Turning away from Mihal, Saesa hid the slight look of hurt that she felt at his response. He'd dodged the hidden question behind her words, choosing to ignore her comments about how he'd so readily chosen to stand by the rest of the crew rather than take her side even this once. It left a bitter feeling in her gut, but she wasn't about to let it show. "Oh, I understand plenty." Typical. "But even if that's true, telling him off still makes me feel better." She added, not caring about how petty she must have sounded.

"You're wrong."

Saesa blinked in surprise at the unexpected voice. Turning to look back down the beach, she saw Aarla standing barefoot on the sand beside them. She was holding her shoes in her hand, and was looking down on the two seated kiel with a completely neutral expression. The girl had spent the whole day by herself on the beach, and having been lost in her own conversation Saesa hadn't even noticed the soft footfalls of her approach. Caught off guard by the psyker's deadpan comment, the scientist frowned as her slightly inebriated mind tried to make sense of her words. "What? What do you mean that he's -"

"I mean that he made the right decision during the mission." Aarla said, interrupting Saesa before she could finish. Shifting her gaze between the pair of confused kiels, the psyker sighed. "Even if it was unlikely to succeed, the potential reward made it worthwhile. If we'd been able to take out the guns, then the Gollar could have salvaged the whole invasion and resupplied their forces. From a tactical perspective, it was a risk worth taking." Pausing for a moment, Aarla seemed to scowl as she glanced back out to the ocean. "The only thing to criticize is how stupid he is for feeling guilty about it."

The psyker's arrival caught Mihal by surprise, and her words stunned him in to silence. The frown etched into his face softened slightly, though not out of any concessions that either of the women were correct.

"That's unlike her," Mihal thought to himself. ""The expression, the tone, and even the idea of loyalty to anything other than her own life. She's not usually as pensive as she's been either. He sighed yet he didn't speak a word as he watched the psyker walk towards the ship. "I need to talk with her later."

Frowning, Saesa offered Mihal a sideways glance as she tried to make sense of the girl's sudden interjection. "What do you think that was about?" She muttered, breaking the surprised silence that had descended on the duo. Thinking it over, Saesa shook her head and took a finishing sip from her glass. "You know what, I don't even care right now." Lying down into the sand with a sigh, she raised her empty glass up towards the other kiel before shaking it slightly in front of him. "Seeing as you're not going to finish the bottle, and that you've contributed to my night being completely ruined, the least you could do is pour me a refill."

Grabbing the bottle from the sand, Mihal stared as the woman. He moved the bottle over to Saesa's glass and let wine slowly trickle into the glass. Instead of letting it fill the glass, he quickly leveled the bottle before bringing it to his own lips. He leaned back, gulping down the last few mouthfuls.

"That made me feel better," he snidely said as he rose to his feet, watching the woman's brow deepen in frustration. He couldn't help but smirk slightly in response.

Scowling at Mihal, Saesa bit back her initial anger at his insulting actions and attempt to rile her up. Tossing aside the few drops of wine from her glass into the sand, she sighed as she planted her glass upside down beside her. Turning so that she was looking up to the night sky, she didn't even look towards Mihal as she replied with bitterness in her tone.

"That's real mature of you, Mihal." She stated, trying to suppress the pained anger rising in her chest. Sighing, she continued. "Well, I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself, at least." Saesa had actually been having a good time, she realized. Amidst everything, and despite the odds, she'd been enjoying herself. But that facade had quickly fallen flat. "If that'd be all, try to drink some water before you go to bed. Amlai would kill me if she found out that I let you drink yourself silly. I'm going to try and sober up here for a bit, if you don't mind."

"I'm not drunk," Mihal replied, taking a more neutral tone because of the woman's concern "I am only a little tipsy, Saesa. Nor do I have any plans to drink more, so don't worry about the doctor snapping at either of us because you let me drink.”

"Besides, I'll be fine," Mihal added as he started to move towards the ship. "I know how to prevent a hang-over, but I appreciate the concern."

Still looking up at the stars, Saesa waved Mihal away with a dismissive hand. “Fine, but don’t expect me to come to your defense if Amlai finds out that it messed with your medication.” She didn’t even offer Mihal a glance as she spoke, giving the impression that she was done with their conversation. The other kiel seemed to get the message, and Saesa simply heard him sigh before the soft footsteps of his feet on the sand faded into the distance. After a few minutes of silence, she was convinced that she was alone on this section of the beach.

Pushing herself up so that she was sitting on the sand, Saesa pulled her knees into her chest to ward off against the cold breeze coming in along the coast. She concentrated on staring out into the waves, waiting as the sun finally moved to disappear beneath the horizon and plunge her into darkness. Before her eyes had entirely adjusted to the encroaching night, Saesa could only see the beach and ocean out in front of her. Aside from the sound of the waves crashing along the shore, she couldn’t hear another soul.

The constant, rhythmic pounding of the ocean and the tessellating sight of the water out to the horizon meant that - if she just forced herself to try and pretend - she could imagine that she was back home. She could imagine that she was sitting by herself on the beach by one of her family’s estates, rather than in the midst of an alien world that she knew nothing about. Her family weren’t really waiting for her, just a short walk away. Instead she was surrounded by what may as well have been strangers, and with the wine still in her system, she’d never felt so painfully alone.

Clutching her knees closer, Saesa felt the first tears running slowly down her face. For the first few seconds, they fell in silence. But as she buried her face into her knees and thought of a home that she was barred from returning to, the more her quiet cries devolved into muffled sobs.

[Arengin Union]

Peace of Mind

Co-Written by Arengin Union and Dyelli Beybi

---

Leaving behind the scene of enjoyment at the beach, Carter entered through the cargo ramp of the Defiance. The bay was much more spacious than before, many crates of supplies laid out in the beachside with equipment such as a high frequency nav scanner and the beacon which had already been set. Entering through the ramp Carter set his carbine onto one of the wall racks as he started to take off his protective armor chest piece.

Aint getting younger, He thought while removing the plate and setting it onto one of the crates. His steps were slow and heavy as he began to approach the doors out of the bay. All he wanted to do for a few minutes was see Thanica and relax, close his eyes for at least a while.

Though, with a certain degree of inevitability, there was a ship-related interruption. This time, it was Rabaech coming down the ramp from the bay as Carter was coming up it, his nose burried in a data pad and apparently completely unaware of Carter's presence until the last second, when he jumped, shook his head, "Oh... Captain... you wanted the report on how long it will take to fix engineering?" he asked, then launched right into the report without asking for confirmation, "The short answer is nine standard days working at a normal rate and assuming nobody can help me. Most of that will be spent welding and riveting the exterior of the hull, but at the end of that we will be in a position where we will not need to worry about a part of the hull falling off, exposing Engineering to the void of space. I'll also use the time to repair the inner wall as well and tidy up parts of the bay. Damage to other systems is relatively light, so as long as we find something to salvage on one of the rocks, we can have you and the ship back in action relatively quickly, provided the components don't require too much work to get them interfacing with the current system on the ship."

Carter's mind tried to keep up with the words coming from the Kiel, the major things he got out of it all was that the ship was repairable. With the help of Raoul, Kaleso, and a few others they'd be able to put it all back together much faster than anticipated. There was still the matter of the Skrim drive, which Carter had hoped would not need to have parts for it gathered from the other planets but alas it would not be so simple. Rubbing his eyes before speaking Carter let out an exalted breath as he then looked over to Rabaech's pad, it was all a bunch of doodles to him but he tried to act like he understood it.

"Well that's some good news at least, now provided we find the necessary components, how long till the drive is stable enough to get us out of here?" He asked with his arms still on hips, now ready to keep up with Rabaech's next barrage of words.

"Without components, it won't be," Rabaech frowned at Carter, then the pad, then looked back up and nodded, "Like I said, the ship will fly once we've done the hull repairs, but it won't be capable of FTL. If you mean once we've located some components. Provided there is a wreck out there that hasn't been exposed to an atmosphere and provided it has a salvageable drive. A day? Maybe. Depends whose ship it was. If we find old Kiellar parts, probably an hour or two. A League ship might take a bit longer."

"Aight then," Carter was quick to react as he nodded, pursing his lips in thought before then looking back to Rabaech.

"Gather any hands you need and we'll get started with the ship's repairs. I'll go check on the bridge and see if there's any readings from the scanner for any remaining signals," Carter said as he openend up his own pad onto his left gauntlet.

Putting the pad aside he nodded once more, "We probably haven't been the only ones to be stranded in this system, at least I hope so. Anways, is there anything else of note Rabaech?"

"Gather up hands..." Rabaech didn't look hopeful at that. He was, for the most part, a one-man band in engineering, "No... nothing else of note."

"Alright then, I'll be in the ship if you need me then," Carter said as he began to walk up the stairs and into the hallways of the ship but not before turning once more to Rabaech, "Shortwave comms still work, so just give me a holler there!"

With that out of the way the Human continued to make his way deeper into the ship, past various fallen pieces of the wall or leaking pipes. Even though the ship's interior had seen some damage it was not as bad as when they had crashed in Gadawei IV. And I landed it this time around. The human made his way past the rec room, quarters, and finally arrived to the medical bay, pressing on the padlock the slide door opened up and the first thing that came to the Captains sight was Thanica, she was still on her bed as before.

"Hey," he said while entering the room, careful not to make too much noise.

"Hi!" Thanica seemed to be in good spirits, sitting up in bed. She smiled as Carter entered, "How's the ship?"

"Welp, good news is..." Carter said as he stepped into the room, taking hold of a nearby chair and setting it right to the side of Thanica's bed.

"Ship's gonna be ready for space ventures in about 9 days," Carter took a seat against the chair backrail, he let out a tired sigh. He hadn't seen Thanica much in the whole day, busy with this whole mess and then some. So it was quite a relief to be able to sit down for at least a few seconds.

Thanica wrinkled up her nose, "Only nine days? How dull! You've picked a lovely spot to put the ship down. I shall have to focus on getting walking on my own so I can at least appreciate it a bit." Someone had evidently helped her out already if she had managed to get a look at their landing spot. A few moments later she added, "But I suppose there is a war on."

"Yeah," Carter said with wandering eyes, reflecting on all which he had thought of during his venture out in the jungle. He let out a chuff of air as he then looked over to Thanica.

"Maybe if we can't fix the drive we'll have to consider settling down, I can build us a house made from palms, and we can enjoy a daily sight to the marina," He said with a smile, part of him was joking but another felt a wish that perhaps that could really be case.

"That would actually be nice," Thanica smile, holding out a hand to Carter, "Though I think that would work better if you didn't fix the drive. If people knew about this place then they'd come here and bring all the garbage from the rest of the galaxy... not that that is really an option, I imagine the Gollar will come looking for their investment sooner or later."

Carter took a hold of Thanica's hand, he was soft with it, careful not to hold it too tight as he continued to look at her he nodded. "Yeah, that's what i've noticed. Many places are virtually untouched by the war, even when it ends they might continue to be or maybe not. We've only seen the first of it so far, it makes me worry..." It was a worrysome thought, to think that this planet could be consumed by fire and ash, the horror of war, it made a part of him shiver as he then thought back to the crash, and the blood, and the fire. His eyes looked off to no particular direction as Carter stared into nothingness.

Thanica looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head, "Actually... I don't think it will drag too much longer. If Tava is right about the size of the Federation war machine then the KC's lines will be shorn up within a month or two and there will still be massive reserves building up. I think they'll planet hop to Ysier - ignore the outlying Ragon worlds and go with a stab to the heart of the Empire," she gave a small shrug, "But I'm just the pilot! I'm no great strategist."

For a few seconds Carter continued to stare off, his mind not processing all of Thanica's words as he continued to think back to the crash, the Zerataca, the wormhole, and so much more. It was then that he managed to pull himself back, looking straight at Thanica with a confused expression which turned into a focused one.

"Yeah, yeah, the Federation... Its so strange how they just showed up after the wormhole, they might've known about Earth long before and only made their presence known after the portal. There's still much I dont know about the Command, or the Gollar, and now much less from the Federation. The world is not the same the more time passes..." His grip on Thanica's hand tightened now, he looked right at her eyes.

"You're more than just a pilot, I know I haven't showed it much recently with all that's happened... But you're more than that." He chuckled, "and it's thanks to your fine training that I managed to land the ship in one piece!"

Thanica smiled, then stuck her tongue out playfully. She was in a good mood today, "Yes... I'm a physically injured pilot. I'm also a reasonably attractive pilot, or will be again, when my stomach doesn't look like someone was doing artwork on it with a razor. What do you humans say? A femme fatale? No... that's not quite right."

Carter chuckled, his tired eyes opening up as he carried a smile on him that hadn't been seen for quite a while.

"That's not quite how'd I put it," he laughed, "You're more of a diamond in the rough," Carter said as he gave a light kiss onto Thanica's hand.

Thanica reached down the grab Carter's collar, pulling him towards her for a proper kiss, "You know I'm not completely broken," she said, her smile bright, before wrapping her arms around his neck. She let the kiss linger for a moment, before snuggling her head into Carter's shoulder, "Do you remember when this first started?" she asked, "I was so nervous the crew would think I was some brazen tralk who was taking advantage of the naive human... of course I'm pretty sure the Gollar still think that. Frell them," she said, with unexpected heat.

Setting his arm around Thanica's waist over her Bed and not resisting her pull at all Carter closed his eyes for a second as half of his body was onto Thanica's bed and the other half stuck out to the chair. He listened to her words with care, he knew that the Gollar higher ups didn't think fondly of her, some of the crew didn't either, but he didn't care. It was not all because of favoritism, at least in his mindset, it was more than that.

"You dont have to worry about that, you're dependable and the crew trusts you... it trust you much more than me at the moment," Carter said as he gave Thanica another soft kiss, this time onto her lips, it was more passionate than before and all his senses tingled every time he was closer and closer to her. It was a strange but rather sweet fixation.

"When this whole thing started I'd never thought I'd be the first human captain in this Gollar privateer, but God all mighty has funny ways," He finally let himself up onto Thanica's bed, fitting just barely he held onto her tightly.

"You dont worry about them alright, let's just rest for a bit..." With that, Carter closed his eyes as he and Thanica rested in the soft bedding of the med-bay, a proper and peaceful rest for the two of them.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Six days later...

Thanica and Mihal
(Cowritten by Dyelli Beybi and Bingellia)

---

Where Thanica and Mihal express their continued fondness for Kiellar Command and dislike of the Gollar.

---

It was one of Thanica's first expeditions off the ship on her own and it felt good to be moving without someone to lean on. She hated feeling helpless: there was a small animal part of her brain that said if she couldn't run away, she was as good as dead if an enemy showed up and while she had managed to go through life without picking up too many, there were plenty of creatures in the galaxy who saw a dhasath as either a meal or a pay cheque. She paused on the ramp down onto the beach, closing her eyes and breathing in the sea air, focusing on the calming sound of the waves on the sea shore.

She had decided to wear one of the dhasath-style tunics and sandals out today. It wasn't what she usually wore on the ship but it felt more appropriate for this climate. She took her tie descending the ramp, still not completely steady on her feet, feeling the odd twinge of pain shoot through her stomach, eventually letting her sandals sink into the sand, enjoying the simple pleasure of the warm grains as they slipped between her toes.

Of course, walking in the stuff was something of a chore, especially when you were recovering from major surgery, but Thanica focused on the positives of her situation; they were on a picturesque planet with food, water and, ostensibly, not that much wildlife that wanted to kill them. After about 50 yards she found a tree and, after having checked up the trunk to make sure there were no fruit, giant nuts or hideous arachnids that were about to fall on her, she eased herself down with a sigh, propping her back up against the tree. She reached down, grunting as she reached for her feet, sending a shiver of pain through her stomach as she undid the laces from her sandals before kicking them off in the sand, leaning back against the tree.

A few minutes later, Mihal stepped down the Defiance's ramp himself. The Kiel was dressed to swim, but walked along the beach for a few yards. The sight of the shore had not quite worn out it's beauty as he watched the waves crack as before taking the first adventurous steps out into the water.

Thanica caught sight of Mihal. She felt a slight twinge of envy at him getting to go into the water. She'd seen other crew members doing it and it looked like fun though she still wasn't in good enough shape for that... not that she could swim anyway, but she was a reasonably quick learner and as long as someone else was with her it should be fine. She crossed her legs, leaning back against the tree again, deciding to let him enjoy himself while they still had the chance. There was plenty of time to speak to him when he wasn't trying to go swimming; these opportunities to escape the unpleasant realities of the galaxy didn't come along that often.

Uninterrupted, the Kiel swam for about half an hour before a large wave sent him tumbling towards the the shore. Mihal scrambled to his feet and laughed once he was settled on the the shore. Glancing around to gather himself, he spotted Thanica resting and ran his hands through his dripping hair to fix it now that he knew he was possibly being watched.

Catching sight of the self-conscious gesture, Thanica waved Mihal, hoping he took the cue to come in her direction. She didn't particularly want to move from where she was. That still hurt. She also didn't want to yell. That also hurt.

The kiel casually waved back before starting to walk towards the dhasath's resting spot. "Hey," he said once he was close enough to be heard, "How's the rest treating you?"

"Better than it would have if I was stuck on the ship," Thanica replied, with a slight smile, "There's a pretty big part of me that wishes I didn't need to return to the real world... but that is life. Either Carter and Rabaech find a wreck to salvage or the Gollar come and find us," she shrugged.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want this to last a bit longer," Mihal said with a smile. "I've missed peace like this. It's good to be able to forget about things for a while. To not have to look over our shoulders and worry about keeping ourselves fed."

Thanica smiled. She didn't laugh. That was another thing that hurt at the moment, "I don't think you need to worry about that too much. The Gollar will keep feeding us... until we all get ourselves killed in their war," she shook her head, "When I first mutinied it certainly wasn't so that we could end up stuck in another conflict." Thanica shook her head, "Being here... I feel like we squandered our shot at freedom. I hope you don't mind me asking, but if things were different, would you take the opportunity to go back to your old life in Command?"

Mihal's smile quickly faded as Thanica spoke. For a moment, the silence hung over the pair as Mihal gathered this thoughts. He broke the silence with a sigh. "That's a difficult question to answer, Thanica." Once again, a silence fell briefly before he continued, "I think I would, if I could. The ship is my home now, the crew, or some of them at least, are the closest thing I have to family now, but I had all of that. And I was safe there. I miss it all, by the gods do I miss it, but I've accepted I can't change things."

Thanica nodded before adding, "I know exactly what you mean.. When I was an auxiliary I knew I was the bottom of society and the odds of getting killed or maimed during my service were pretty high, but I also knew I was reaching for something. I've possibly said this before but being drafted by the Gollar really makes me angry. They pressed our vessel in a neutral system and it seems their only justification was the fact that they'd helped upgrade our ship... which was nice, but better wiring and some cannons is not worth mine, or anyone else on the crew's life. Some of the crew might have wanted to join them, but we didn't get a choice. As for me though, with the Gollar I'm still likely to die, my life doesn't get any better and I'm expected to be enthusiastic because they're fighting for some nebulous set of lofty ideals I don't even really understand. I'm not saying I regret anything I did; all of you are very dear to me and I've got Nathaniel now but, if there was a route back in with the KC, I'd be tempted just to get away from our current charming grey skinned overlords."

Mihal listened before deciding to sit down. The pair were equals, he shouldn't need to look down at her. "If I had to enlist to go back, I may still go back if I had the option," he said with a sigh. "At least I wouldn't be a godsdamned pathetic, contemptible conscript in the service of a foreign state. If the gods must make me fight in this damned war, let me keep my honor by letting me fight for my people. Whether that's for us or for the Command, it's better than this situation."

Thanica looked slightly surprised at Mihal's response. She hadn't realised quite how similarly they felt about the situation... which was her fault for not asking, "You know, I don't even hate the Ragons. How can I after I've seen what they can be like?" she paused for a long moment, unsure as to whether she should continue or not, though eventually she decided to take the risk. "Aethienn has been making some noises," she said cryptically, "Once we are off this planet, which I imagine in inevitable sooner or later, and once we are on Beachhead, I will tell you, and Carter, what this is all about, once I know more. It is good to know I'm not the only one feeling this way though."

"The Commodore's woman?" Mihal said in surprise. "It wasn't that long ago she was trying to kill us, Thanica. Are you sure she can be trusted?"

"I think she's a professional," Thanica said, not quite answering the question, "If the Commodore told her to kill us, she'll try to kill us, if he told her to help us, she'll help us. And, if you ask her, she'll always tell you, to your face, what her opinion is without any attempt to make it more palatable."

"That doesn't exactly relieve my concerns, Thanica." Mihal said as he shook his head faintly. "But if you trust it, I'll put my faith in it for now."

Thanica gave a slight shrug, "I think she is, essentially, a decent person but, if I'm wrong, it's not like they're going to shoot me in the middle of Beachhead Station. I think it should be safe, neutral territory."

[Harbertia]

Sshalah, Cargo Hold
"Clams"

Sshalah sighed as she stood over the fish tank in cargo. Six days had past on the planet and those six days hadn't been terrible. They had been rather relaxing compared to the situation prior and that relaxation had allowed her mind to contemplate other matters. Her sigh today involved a question on her mind regarding the fish tank. Over those six days she had repaired it, restocked it, and with life on the ship - on this planet- becoming more normal she wondered why she even bothered doing that. Some of her best moments planetside have been fishing and having no stock in the tank would have given her more time doing so. Though rationality won out in her consideration and she smiled, as stocking and mending the tank had been vital. Her fascination as of late have been the clams she collected, even while the days had past she hadn't brought her self to taste one yet- she felt like keeping them in the tank as souvenirs. They moved around on two tongues and she giggled watching them crawl along the tank floor as she leaned over the water.