Charon's Curse (Doom-Inspired RP, FT, IC)

[Ponyi Meridia]

Founded by a man of mysterious intent,
But seemingly breaking from damnation.
A revolution breaking apart chains of greed,
The rebels of Aether form the Federation.

Led by empty promises of prosperity,
The foolish mortals dare march into the Rift.
The Hayden Federation aims to find power,
But instead their people are lost in the drift.

Time flies by, and hopes of return seem lost,
But the vessel of the lost comrades come back.
A rescue team is sent to establish contact,
and instead they find a plague worse than black.

The vessel wanders along an unknown path,
and the Federation relays words of great gloom.
They warn not to approach the ship of demons,
But the greed of people attracts them to doom.

It's no secret Hayden was after great power,
After all, from the Rift arose the Golden Hand.
Even with demons among the derelict ship,
People from all walks of life plan to expand.

It's like a whisper among the horrific screaming.
Yes, a whisper calls out to the curious factions.
Whatever the power hidden within the ship is,
Armies plot to steal this power for their legions.

The factions dare not march in with full force,
For rumors have it others have dared to try.
Soldiers will approach from distance in squads,
Lest the entire armies and their hopes will die.

The journey into the zombie ship won't be fun,
And the likelihood of teamwork is rather slim.
The sake of the mission is a rather delicate one,
And the risk of betrayal is both high and grim.

The squads will be consisting of the best elites,
Men and women seemingly born for this danger.
It is certain that by the time everyone is done here,
The few remaining heroes will be rife with anger.

The invaders of this ship anticipate these warriors,
For their ultimate plans contradict their survival.
The demons watch them arrive and smile with glee,
None of the trespassers will even get to see revival.

Unlike the Biblical tales that everyone hears of Hell,
Where the damned die and come back for more pain,
There are no second chances when dealing with Satan,
Meaning there will be plenty of death and little gain.

However the Devil likes to see mortals working together.
To make things interesting he is willing to accept sacrifice.
For those who offer their own lives for Saint Lucifer's mercy,
He will let another live for a time, as the martyr will suffice.

The sacrificial lambs must excercise extra caution,
For the overall squads entering the ship are quite small.
If too many of their people succumb to the wrath of Hell,
Then their efforts are for nothing, and the mission will fall.

Worst of all the demon-possessed ship is heavily damaged,
And fragments of the beast are not even within this reality.
To reach the missing sections, portals to Hell are required,
But as the troops press on, they will surely slip into insanity.

OOC Thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=381513
Demonic Entities List: http://www.nationstates.net/nation=pony ... /id=659901

The flagship of Charon is now dangerously close to the Meso System, and numerous reports within the Ponyi galaxy claim it may only be a week before this monstrosity reaches a planet. Warning messages have already been sent all over the galaxy, with a few of them even spreading out to nations beyond Ponyi. The words of destruction have even spread to governments of nations such as the Novayan States, Spindle and the Irenton Alliance (Eodor). Many of the Meso governments are currently at civil war, and are more interested in fighting each other than addressing the oncoming threat. Rumor has it some of these governments are also gambling on the chance that Charon's flagship crashes into a planet belonging to their enemies!

Meridia, a nation formerly a part of the Meso System until the aliens and non-Meridese humans forced them out, is not welcome in the Meso System. That demonic vessel has resources of interest to the Meridese however, including the rumored demonic artifact said to be within the bridge of the damned ship. Such an adventure will be highly risky. Numerous sections of the ship have been broken off and only accessible via the demonic portals leading to Hell itself. One of these sections include the bridge, where Charon and this evil relic are no doubt located. Small vessel, a Meridese blockade runner, dares to approach the ship. Of the five women on board, only one will be returning. The other four are forced to remain on the ride of Hell until their objectives are complete.

Meridese Pilot: Well ladies, this is your stop. Try not to die.

Omega: Not going to stay with us. What's the matter? Afraid you'll burn in Hell?

Meridese Pilot: I may not believe in God, but I'm not stupid neither! My butt is going somewhere safe!

The four elite troops step out of their boarding ship. The pilot leaves the group and flies off to the closest arrow cruiser. The four amazons stand alone in the derelict hangar, just one of many that happen to still be intact.

Bass Dropper: A shame that pilot had to leave us; I would've definitely kept that butt safe!

Chase: Bass: Enough with the lesbian jokes! Omega: Where are we suppose to go right now?

Omega: The doors to our left lead to another hangar. The doors in front of us should lead directly to the prison section.

Mann: What about that stairway to the right?

Omega: That just leads to the observatory. Nothing really there unless we plan on closing the doors to this hangar; No point in visiting this area.

Mann: Shouldn't we check that spot for survivors first?

Chase: I hope we're not going to be searching every little room on this bloody ship. We only have a week to get this job done!

Mann: I'm sorry Miss Chase, but as a doctor it is imperative that I seek and heal anyone I can.

Chase: Fine, but we better make it quick, and there better be something of value when we get up there!

Mann: If we don't, then I promise to keep my mouth shut and follow your lead.

Chase: That's a wise promise to make, Doctor Mann. Bass Dropper, lead the way.

Bass Dropper: Wait, me? Why me?

Chase: I want to make sure you're following my orders... And not being distracted staring at our asses!

Bass Dropper: *Chuckling.* Okay, okay Commander. Just trying to have some fun here.

Bass Dropper leads the group up the stairway. When reaching the room, they find only a corpse covered in hideous insects. Carly Omega quickly takes a picture of it with her viral phone.

Chase: What are you doing, Omega?

Omega: I'm taking a picture so I can obtain information on what these creatures are. And done: These are creeper insects. They feast upon other animals, including living people. From the looks of it this guy got swarmed by them and didn't have the chance to escape.

Mann: That poor fella. What can we do about these monsters?

Omega: The camera on this phone will allow me to obtain images for some. Once they are scanned, we will have access to the creatures' strengths and weaknesses. This will make killing or avoiding them much easier. This phone might not work against all of our enemies though, so keep that in mind.

Bass Dropper: Sounds awesome. So what do we know about these "creepers."

Omega: The creepers are incredibly weak, and a simple stomp is enough to kill them. Creepers are only a real threat in numbers, where guys like him can't kill them easily. Their ooze is sticky, like a spider's web. If someone gets covered in it, they will surely be stuck. These bugs don't seem to enjoy the light, which is why we're able to stand over here and not get attacked. I bet a fire could clean them out easy.

Chase: Now you're speaking my language... Chase points one of her pistols at the corpse. When the bullet hits, the body lights up. The creepers try to escape, but the very ooze they leave behind may as well be spilled gasoline. The whole observation room sets on fire, killing off this nest of creepers.

Chase: Alright, now that we've seen enough of this room, let's get to that prison section. Who knows, Doctor; maybe there are survivors in that area?

Mann: The prison sector would be the best place to search for them.

[Eodor]

VSS Skirmisher, Paladin Class Cruiser, Hangar bay A-1, 2 AU from Charon's Flagship
The ship was a hive of activity. Crewmen were running up and down the hangar, making repairs and adjustments to the Hawk Dropship that would fly to Charon's flagship. Just as the Crewmen began to finish up, the Captain of the mission James Green marched up to them. "Is the ship ready? I want to get this mission going ASAP."
A crewman stood up from working on the engines and saluted. "The Dropship will be ready in 10 mikes sir."
James nodded and said "Keep going. I want to get out of here."
The crewman nodded, saluted and continued with his work.

Modified Hawk Dropship, 12 Miles from Charon's Flagship (Visible to pretty much everything on the ship)
The team was ready. They had not trained for this moment, nothing like it had been experienced before.
James looked over at his team "You lot ready?"
Lieutenant Caroline looked back "You bet we're ready."
"Alright you lot. We are coming up on the ship. Don't have too much fun without me." The pilot shouted.
"We'll try not to." James shouted back just as the dropship's door opened. The four elite soldiers jump out of the craft.

James: Keep tight. There could be anything around here.
Sarge: If I see anything. SHOTGUN!
Ryan: Alright Sarge calm down. Don't just shoot everything.
Caroline: Will you boys shut up. I think I found something.
James: Like what?
Caroline: A sort of insect. It's disgusting. I think, it's, eaten a person. Wait, there are hundreds of them!
James: Oh shit. Are they coming for you?
Caroline: Why don't you come look for yourself!?
Ryan: *whispering to Sarge* Is this classed as flirting?
James: I can here you Corporal.
Ryan: What did I say?
Caroline: When we are out of this, Ryan you are dead.
Ryan: Terribly sorry... Ma'am.
James: Oh my gods. What the hell are these things. Better send back intel to command.
Caroline: There's a sort of, slime on him.
Without any warning Sarge runs up to the body and blasts it with his high powered shotgun. The body bursts into flames and makes both James and Caroline jump back.
James: WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!
Sarge: SHOTGUN!!! *Laughs*
Caroline: I'm going to kill both you and Ryan now.
Ryan: Why me?
James: Ok ok ok. Calm down people. This slime seems to catch fire. That's always useful. Come on. Let's go find the other teams.

[Novaya Equestria]

Novayan Dropship Thunder 2-1

Thunder 2-1, the name of a Novayan Forces Quantradyne-33 dropship, has already left the NFS Aquila, a Novayan Sovereign-class battleship from the 5th Fleet, as it was heading towards Charon's Flagship. "Alright, guys. Listen up. We've been deployed to head towards that derelict warship. Your squad's objectives is to find any data pertaining to this warship and the events that occurred before, during, and after what happened in that ship, and then find the object that is valuable. Your squad were also ordered to cooperate with anyone who came to search for that object. If the ones your squad cooperates with has the object, let them have it and return to the battleship Aquila. Just....don't get killed, alright?" Thunder 2-1 said as the dropship lands on one of the derelict hangars. "Alright, this is your stop." Thunder 2-1 said as the squad exits Thunder 2-1. "And before I forget, if you guys might happen to escape from any monsters in that derelict warship, retreat back to this hangar and call the Aquila so that I can get you guys outta here." He said.

"Thanks, and are there any others?" Jean asked. "Well, try talking to any teams that went to find that object. But if you guys never returned or a week has passed or others/something/I dunno, the Novayan government will send the 5th and 7th Fleets to destroy this ship. Make sure you guys come back alive, alright?" Thunder 2-1 told them. "Yeah, we will." Jean replied. "Good luck out there!" Thunder 2-1 responded as the dropship has left the hangar. "Alright. Let's start moving. I'm taking lead." Jean said as he leads his squad towards three doors, then taking a right, which leads to the laboratory. "'Ey, what's that?" Elizabeth points at a dead corpse that has a Creeper Insect munching on it for no reason. "Not a that, but there's more of them."Charles said, pointing at a hundred of them insects munching the corpse for still no reason. "There's some kind of goo on that poor guy. I'm gonna light them up. You guys cover me." Michael then pulls out a lighter and lit the ooze on fire, burnin' the insects and also the laboratory on fire. "Wow. Okay, let's continue. Watch our backs while yer at it, Michael. We gotta get all the loot." Jean said before trying to hack into the computer. Unfortunately, this laboratory is one of seven other laboratories. Ain't a walk in the park, eh?

[Spindle]

Passenger Compartment
Boarding Pod
HMSS Intangible

There was silence from the four passengers of the pod as a low hum and a continual juddering told them that they were being loaded into the launching tubes. Four helmed heads shook slightly, in a straight line somewhat reminiscent of a bobsleigh. A final tremble of the crew and a series of loud clangs told them that they were locked into the tube. A series of hatches split open, revealing the metal tube they were sitting in, and the air roared out of the small pod, leaving an absolute silence, save for the few vibrations conveyed through the skin of the pod and through the acceleration chairs.

And then the tube simply disappeared. There was no indication of any form of acceleration: one moment they were surrounded by a metal tube and the next they were simply in the midst of a black void stretching out as far as the eyes could see: the result of the full Spectre field around the pod. The four passengers sat back in their chairs, waiting for whatever happened next. In their IRDs, they could see the eleven decoys of the boarding salvo ahead of them as small, blue blips and the Staff of Charon as a red blip, crawling minutely closer every minute.

"Alright everyone!" Juliet's voice resonated inside their heads, "Here's the mission plan."

A series of floor plans flashed up in the four figures' IRDs, alongside the representation of the fifteen light-second distance they were still closing.

"This is what we can guess about the internal layout of the ship. You can thank the Network that it's as accurate as it is." Juliet continued, "Our objective is to destroy or disable the Staff of Charon. That means taking out engines, computer banks CIC, atmosphere rejuvenation plant and power plant. If we can do it in that order, so much the better."

A round of chuckles erupted from the group.

"We enter into this corridor here: three sectors away from the Engines. We make out way along to the engines and Selene lays a set of charges. We bug out before detonating and head across into the core of the ship, where the computer banks are. We fry them and head up to the bridge, laying down explosives once we're there. That's the part which is going to be the most difficult: the Network thinks that the Meridese are going to be here and that there's something up there. That's why we're doing it as late as we can afford to. The Meridese can clear out any resistance and then leave and we'll waltz in and blow the place to kingdom come. Once that's done, we head out to the atmospheric plant, take it out, and move on to the power plant. We lay charges with a sixteen minute timer and we head out back to the pod and disengage. The Intangible will pick us up as soon as it's safe to do so. Any questions?"

"Why aren't we just busting into the engines direct?" Jason asked, "It would be quicker and easier, right?"

"Right." Juliet agreed, "But if they gun the engines, we get caught up in the plasma backblast. And I do not want to die because we got too cocky."

"So why send us in?" Arabella asked, head tilting quizzically, "This could be done ever so cheaply with MASERs from one light-second."

"Because of the Meridese." Juliet replied slowly, voice leaden, "If we just nuke it, we declare war on them. Given how volatile the situation over there is, we're not stirring anything else up. There's no telling what happens if anyone gets an advantage and no-one wants to risk proper involvement until we've started picking their factions apart back at BuInt."

There were no more questions.

The ride continued onwards for eternal minutes, which dragged on into an hour and then another and another. At any moment, the four passengers half-expected a sudden flash of light as the pod exploded with the impact of point defences, but nothing came. The twelve blue blips slowly converged on the red one and the four figures became more and more restless. Slowly, excruciatingly, the blips converged on each other.

And then there was a whirl of movement as the four figures were ejected from the pod, a cloud of chaff spreading around them as they floated freely in space. Cold-jet packs activated and prevented them from drifting away from the pod and the cloud of chaff. They were now crossing the final light-second, forty-six minutes to go before they hit the ship ahead of them.

And then the Spectre field around them flickered away to reveal the warped hull of a voidcraft stretching away to all sides in front of them. Engines flickered to their left, a spill of ruddy crimson light fading into the velvet night behind it. To their right, the ship narrowed down to a point hundreds of meters away, a sheer wall of metal bristling with weaponry.

The four hit the side of the ship and their gravitics activated, pulling them towards the ships hull and allowing them to stand on it as if it were the floor. Forming a rough square, the four watched the pod in their centre as it flowed apart. As it did so, it sank into the hull, a small ridge of metal flowing up around the circumference of the pod as its nanites moved the metal out of the way and dug their way through the armour.

Finally, it was ready. An airlock, blended seamlessly into the hull of the ship as if it had always been there. The only indication that it wasn't a built-in part of the ship was the difference in construction materials. The ship itself was composed of drab, grey dumb-metal, while the new airlock was a sleek, matt nanny-metal.

"You know the drill, people." Juliet said, "Mosquitoes down first, then Rex, then people. Go!"

Fourteen Mosquitoes detached from their host suits, counter-gravity propelling them silently into the airlock. Seal closed behind them, the atmosphere cycled and the drones dropped into the ship proper. MASER apertures swept the narrow corridor briefly before giving the all-clear. The Rex was the next down, the canine's single eye glaring this way and that as it double-checked the smaller drones findings.

"Ceraon!" Juliet barked, "Take point!"

"On it!"

One by one, the group headed through the airlock into the ship, weapons up and scanning. In less than a minute, the entire group was inside the ship. Low, emergency lighting illuminated their forms for a moment, before Spectre fields went up and group hazed into half-seen blurs. Following the floor plan in his IRD, Thomas advanced cautiously into the dimly-lit corridors of the ship, Rex probing ahead of him to check for any unwanted intruders. But the ship seemed as quiet as the grave.

Not a metaphor I'm happiest using. Artemis thought to herself, But one which fits here all too well.

Switching to IR, she scanned the nearby area, trying to discern the locations of any potential hostiles. The members of her group were barely visible, faint outlines where their suits had adjusted external radiation, and the drones were solid blue blocks with molten orange cores. But, most interestingly, there were dozens of small heat sources up ahead, moving with eerie purpose as Thomas entered into line of sight of...whatever they were.

The soft hiss-cracks of MASER fire warned her of the contact up ahead and Juliet ducked back, expecting some return fire. Instead, a continuous popping and crackling began to rise and she tapped into the Rex's feed, curious as to what was happening. The room ahead of them seemed to be filled with some form of flammable liquid, or perhaps a semi-solid, which the MASERs had ignited and was now burning brightly and fiercely. High-pitched, chittering screams came from the room, like dozens of things were in there. Shivering, Juliet keyed into the comms.

"Keep pushing on. We've got work to do."

[Ponyi Meridia]

Novaya: From Starboard Hangar 2, to Starboard Hangar 1, and now Laboratory 6.

When the Novayans entered the hangars, they entered from starboard hangar 2, and moved upward to starboard hangar 1. They could've sworn there was a vessel in there. The reason the Novayans didn't use that hangar is because they didn't want to risk an ambush. Whoever it was, they weren't part of the Hayden Federation. Before leaving the hangars, they noticed an observation room for the hangar on fire. Inspecting, they found nothing at all, save for a charred corpse. No telling what started this fire, but it's definitely recent. Perhaps the Novayans are not alone? They enter the corridors, but they see three directions they could take. Going on the safe side, and to reach the bridge quicker, they entered the laboratory sections. If the maps are not mistaken, these labs should be within one general location, though taking up a lot of space of course. The first one they entered is "Laboratory 6." It is incredibly dark in one half of the room, but the other side remains lit thanks to emergency lights.

It is within this room the Novayans discover the creeper insects. Making the mistake of shooting them BEFORE switching on their flashlights, they light the whole darker section on fire thanks to the flammable slime the creepers were leaving behind. While one of these Novayan soldiers hacks into a console away from the flames, the light reveals a massive heart attached to the ceiling and hanging down, just above a pentagram drawn in blood on the floor. Even if the Novayans had threat detection scanners, they wouldn't have picked up on the heart because it's apparently "not a threat." Life scanners wouldn't have really picked up on this thing either due to the creeper insects crawling all over it. When the heart catches fire, it explodes. Thankfully, the blood is not acidic or anything like that. Unfortunately, that heart was there for a reason...

Automated PSA: Warning, demonic threat detected in Laboratory 6. This room is now under lockdown until the threat is purged.

The doors lock the Novayans in and the emergency lights suddenly switch off. The entirety of Lab 6 is lit up by the usual lights after the fires are out. The soldiers all hear a loud scream followed by various portals opening up, from which zombies are pouring out! The Novayans all raise their weapons to fight the threat confronting them. Thankfully not only are these zombies slow, but they aren't even armed. Some of them do appeared to be armored. A few of them are wearing the conventional body armor of modern times, but some of the others are in freaking medieval sets! No doubt this particular gang of undead is coming from Hell itself.

The Novayans aren't quite sure how many of the zombies will have to die before the public service announcement gives the all clear, but one thing is certain: It's killing time!

RIP AND TEAR!

---

Eodor: From Port Hangar 3, to Barracks 2.

The Irenton forces managed to download a map from the observation room for Port Hangar 3. They take a doorway leading directly into "Barracks 2." The "barracks" are set up a little more like private motel rooms, complete with their own restrooms and showers. In addition to seeing a few of the creepers from before, though more scattered than before, there are also a few zombies shambling around. Most of them are unarmed, but a few of them are carrying Hayden magnum pistols. Thankfully the magnum pistols themselves are designed for power rather than accuracy, and the frail bodies poorly attempting to aim don't help the enemy's accuracy. As they search the rooms and purge the undead threat within Barracks 2, they don't see anything too out of the ordinary. The Irentons go ahead and collect any health items and ammunition they can. It's not like the Hayden Federation will do anything with them... Right?

The barracks seem to have multiple exits. The Irentons consider their options:

1: Lounge 2 (Southwest)
2: Communications Center (Southeast)
3: Port Hangar 2 (Northwest)
4: Cafeteria (North)
5: General Corridors (Two entrances: One to the Northwest, and one to the Northeast. Grants general access to most sectors, including the laboratories.)
6: Return to Port Hangar 3 (Southwest)

---

Meridia: From Starboard Hangar 1, to Southern Corridors, to Lounge 3.

The Meridese are walking down the corridor path and taking left, just after leaving starboard hangar 3. The Novayans just missed the Meridese, not only being late, but also choosing to go right where the laboratories are. The Meridese would've taken this path, but Doctor Mann insists on checking around the prisons, Infirmary 2 and Barracks 3 for survivors. It's around here the Meridian spies last reported their positions.

Chase: Damn, the armory AND security room are locked?

Mann: What concerns me more is almost all of these doors are airlocks, and they take a while to wait on them opening.

Omega: Sorry girls. This phone is excellent at hacking, but these doors take just as long to break open with this tech! Why the fuck is this ship designed so awkwardly? It's as if Hayden WANTED their people to die!

Bass Dropper: Whoa shit! What the fuck is that!?

The Meridese watch as something is pushing its way through the hull of the flagship and poking into the corridor. The Meridese don't know it, but those are the Spindleans making their entry. Thankfully, there's no air escaping the ship itself. The Meridese panic at the sight of this unknown oddity they've never seen before.

Chase: Fuck the security room! We're going into this lounge section. Omega, use that phone to try and lock the doors shut!

The Meridese all dash into "Lounge 3" and hack the doors to shut in case the threat follows them or worse, air escapes from the corridor they were just in.

Bass Dropper: Well, shit. This sets us further away from the bridge unless we find a back route through the port side.

Omega: Oh for fuck sake!

Chase: What is it now, Omega?

Omega:Not only are the doors to the bedrooms jammed shut, but the showers are heavily locked and this phone can't hack them open!

Mann: Who seriously blocks off access to the showers? And with airlocks at that?

Bass Dropper: How the fuck did this flagship pass Hayden protocols? This place doesn't even have automated defenses; inside or outside!

Chase: What about this door here?

Omega: According to my map, that's a water closet.

Chase: Why would a restroom have an airlock.

Omega: Why does ANYTHING have an airlock? Literally, this ship sucks!

Bass Dropper: I thinking you should hack this restroom open.

Chase: Are you serious right now?

Bass Dropper: Even if it's just a restroom, I get the feeling we'll be in this lounge for a while. It would at least be nice to have a restroom. Who knows? Maybe there's a medical cabinet in there. Fucked up as this flagship is, it's still a military vessel. Surely this place has to follow some kind of protocol.

Chase: You seem to know an awful lot about protocols. According to the records I've read, you're just a trooper with a lot of survival skills. You don't look like much of one either; you're scrawny. Hell, you may as well be anorexic!

Bass Dropper: You're also forgetting my skills with advanced weaponry, such as this wub rifle I'm carrying. The reason high command wants me on this mission is to test out the wub rifle on board an enemy vessel. Just trust me; we should get these restroom doors open.

Chase: Hmm... What about you two? Think we should open this?

Mann: If there are medical supplies in there, maybe they will be of use to us.

Omega: *Sigh.* It's this or open those corridor doors and face whatever's out there. There better not be a dead body on that crapper though!

---

Spindle: From Southern Corridors, To Barracks 3.

Similar to Barracks 2, Barracks 3 is designed to have rooms similar to motels. Just like Barracks 2, there are zombies along with a few creepers around. A few of the creepers are crawling around on the zombies, eating their innards as they shamble around clueless. When the Spindleans enter, the zombies try reaching them, but are instantly mowed down by the soldiers. After the zombies are dead, the Spindleans assess the damages to this place. Oddly enough, at the end of the walkway is a large heart hanging from the ceiling. There is a pentagram drawn into the floor space just under it. What is this heart for? In a small path to the right is two doors. To the left is locked access to the "Tech Center." To the right is a jammed airlock with muffled voices coming from the other end. According to the sign, this is "Lounge 3."

The large heart is in the way of the path the Spindleans need to reach main engineering, which will lead to the engines sector. There is an alternate path through starboard hangar 3, and then going South to the fourth starboard hangar, which is reserved for cargo and emergency vessels. The soldiers may have to take the hangars anyway, unless they're willing to destroy that massive organ at the end of the barracks.

[Novaya Equestria]

Laboratory 6

"OOOOORAH!" Jean yells as the squad open fire on the zombies. "FOR THE EMPIRE!" Charles yells as he used his War Hammer to smash and crush the zombies. Michael Dark himself deployed his portable turret, which began to kill the zombies, before engaging the zombiesafter. Elizabeth, whose shotguns were loaded with incendiary rounds, began to blast away the zombies that were lit on fire by the incendiary rounds. The fight continued until all the zombies were killed as the group searched and killed every last zombies in the lab. "Alright. Cover me while I'm at it." Said Jean as he continue hacking. It took less than 3 minutes to finish hacking with Jean saying, "Yes! I hacked them! And I'm downloading the data into the USD device I bought to gather all the data. Now to deposit it to Thunder 2-1." Said Jean as he leads the squad back to Starboard Hangar 2.

Starboard Hangar 2

"Thunder 2-1, we have acquired the data. We'll be going deeper into Charon's Flagship to acquire at least three more datas." Said Jean. "Roger that. Moving to get the data." Said Thunder 2-1 as his dropship docks at Hangar 2. Jean went into it and gives the USB device to Thunder 2-1. Once outside the dropship, Thunder 2-1 then left. "Alright. Let's go back to where we came from, guys." Said Jean as he and his squad went back to Laboratory 6, this time with their flashlights on.

[Spindle]

Corridors
Staff of Charon
En Route to the Meso System

Damn these corridors. Damn these airlocks. Damn this ship.

Their progress through the ship's interior had been painfully slow, courtesy of the need to strip down every airlock panel they met and wind the datawire around all of the important pieces of circuitry. Juliet was seriously considering simply ramming one of her dataspikes into the next access panel and waiting for the spike to do its work. It would probably work and it would certainly be a hell of a lot faster than the slow, laborious advance they were currently limited to. Of course, it would also make the airlock unusable to anyone without explosives, but no plan was perfect.

Twisting the last strand of datawire into place around another wire, Juliet pulled herself in to one side, letting Thomas take point as she glanced at the symbology floating in her IRD. Besides the deep orange glows of the bugs, an array of options floated before her, allowing her to do whatever she wanted with the airlock. Which basically boiled down to opening and closing the two doors and cycling it. Since it was reporting pressure on the other side, Juliet went right ahead and opened both doors at once before yanking her datawire back and jamming it into a belt pouch.

Thomas stepped partially into the airlock and the phth-splat of flechettes ripping through flesh told her that he'd opened fire. A few seconds later, the noise died down and the squad piled into the room, sweeping the corners with clockwork efficiency. The last one in, Juliet powered down Velancy as her eyes took in the room. Spread across the floor were bodies in varying states of decay with fresh flechette wounds gaping. A number of the bugs were spread throughout, dead or dying, and, at one end of the room, an enormous heart hung above a pentagram scrawled on the floor. It was, naturally blocking their fastest route to the engines.

And then there was noise coming from the other side of an airlock to their right, helpfully labelled as 'lounge 3'. As the others spread throughout the room, Juliet ripped the front off of the access panel and began to twine datawire around the wires in a now well-practiced motion as the rest of the squad prepared for whatever might be on the other side. After several attempts to open it, Juliet hissed through her teeth in frustration. The door on their side was jammed. The one on the other side was fine and she'd opened it, but the one on this side most definitely wasn't.

Brandishing Velancy with a small grimace at the thought of what she was about to do, Juliet jammed it into the panel around the sides of the airlock and used the blade to lever it away, where it clattered noisily to the floor. Glancing over the systems, Juliet's eyes searched the mechanism before Valency came up again. It's tip seemed to glow as a small sheathe of plasma capped it, and then she drove it into one of the canisters providing the pressure to the door. The point slid through like butter before the plasma extended to cover the first half of the blade as Juliet ripped sideways. A fine spray of water was blasted out and the right door slid open. Stalking over to the other side, Juliet repeated the process and then glanced through the newly-opened airlock.

On the other side was a spacious relaxation area, presumably used by the grunts the ship had carried around before its ill-fated expedition. The room was open and luxurious enough, especially when compared to the barracks, but it wasn't exactly a five-star hotel either. However, none of that crossed Juliet's brain consciously. What did cross her mind was the four women, three in tight-fitting bodysuits and the other in clothes Juliet would have expected to find in a cafe frequented by newly-instated Nobles. What also crossed her mind was the weapons they were wielding and the fact that they didn't feel like civvies, or even survivors. If there were any of them. Which meant, judging by their gender ratio, they were probably Meridese.

Allowing the plasma to fizzle out around Velancy, Juliet brought the EM field up to full umbrella settings as the Avalon's helmet retracted to reveal sharp, emerald eyes and raven hair which now cascaded down her back like a miniature waterfall. The Spectre field dropped and, at the signal, the three others behind her also dropped their stealthing. Weapon muzzles were pointed at the ground and the drones dispersed to keep weapons trained on the pulsating heart and the two other corridors. The sole exception to that was Rex, who paced up to Juliet and required a brief head-rub and a flick of her fingers to get his MASER pointed down the way they'd come.

"Well...this is an unexpected pleasure." Juliet said smoothly after a moment, deciding to risk powering down Velancy's EM field and sheathe it before stepping forward, hand outstretched, "Lady Juliet Adrasteia, Baroness of Hylonome, at your service."

[Ponyi Meridia]

Novayans: Lab 6

The Novayans have returned to Laboratory 6. According to the data they managed to steal, Lab 6 in particular was testing the ability to teleport numerous troops to another vessel. Although it works to a great degree, it cannot teleport forces back to the flagship. Apparently this test is "completed," as an untold number of forces have been sent to "Foreign Cruiser: MB." Details on the "MB" vessel are kept vague, but the last coordinates indicate the teleportations happened twice within the Rift. The Novayans wonder if "MB" is the source of where these demons are coming from, or if it's simply one of numerous derelict ships lost in the Rift, and the Federation chose it for testing experiments. Maybe a few of the other labs will offer more input on the situation? It would be easier just to reach the main computer banks and hack them for better info. Unfortunately, according to the all the currently available maps, the main computer banks are somewhere in Hell.

Inspection of Lab 6 reveals the teleporter is not only not operational now, but the fires created by the Novayans may have destroyed it. Even if it were functional, they probably wouldn't want to use it. They don't know what "MB" is and even if they did, "MB" and the Hayden flagship would have to be within close proximity of each other. Looking around for any other clues, one of the squad members chose to lean up against a wall. This accidentally opened a secret door. Everyone gathers to examine this hidden area. It appears to be a miniature teleporter. Hacking a nearby panel, it apparently leads to Charon's personal hangar, which happens to not be in Hell! A camera of the room reveals there is another demonic heart. The rest of the hangar is empty, and the doors to space are locked. The Novayans consider their options. On the one hand, this teleporter has some clear importance, as does the hangar in question. On the other hand, they'll be teleported far away from the starboard hangars. Then again Charon's hangar is right next door to port hanger 1, so the Novayans could simply rely on them if needed. The closest laboratory to Charon's hangar is Lab 1: "Radiation testing."

To help consider their options, the Novayans peek through the other doors connected to Lab 6. To the starboard side there are plenty of escape pods. Oddly enough, this room is completely devoid of life and it appears none of the pods themselves have been used. Peeking into Lab 5 is the "specimen testing." There happen to be five imp monsters inside, and they can see the Novayans. However, they are all trapped behind some glass which they apparently cannot seem to break. They seem quite excited, and at the same time hungry. Whoever managed to trap them inside hasn't been around to feed them. The Novayans could effortlessly kill them given how weak they currently are. Grossly enough, Lab 5 has two giant hearts inside. The rest of the room is pitch dark, and computers inaccessible until power is restored. The Novayans can restore the power automatically as they did with Lab 6, if they're willing to kill approximately 100 more zombies and who knows what else.

---

Spindle & Meridia: Lounge 3 & Showers

The Spindleans decided to stray a little from their objective route. They don't feel quite ready to destroy the heart in Barracks 3, and there's a reason to be avoiding the hangars. For what reason specifically, remains unknown. Better safe than sorry, right? Besides, there are voices and clear signs of life coming from Lounge 3. Four people, all wearing clothing and carrying weapons well out of place for the Hayden Federation. Considering the Federation rarely allows women in the military, and yet all four of them appear to be females, and they HAVE to be Meridese agents. Juliet can hear the others in Lounge 3 as she tries breaking open the airlock.

Bass Dropper: I just thought of something really, really awkward. According to the map, the showers are intended for the nearby Infirmary and prison section. Why does it have an airlock leading to the lounge?

Mann: Maybe the showers are also shared with the normal Hayden guards?

Omega: Except the barracks are set up similar to motels, complete with their own bathrooms.

Chase: ... Come to think of it, this does seem a bit fucked-up doesn't it?

Omega: And the water closet for this room is open... Not.

Inside the "water closet with an airlock" turns out to be a small, red room with a computer panel and a camera to the showers. The camera itself reveals there are four demonic hearts inside, and a lot of blood oozing from them and into the drains. On the console are a few commands, including "open all doors," "alert security," and "IGNITE?" The first two options don't appear to work.

Mann: What is this room?

Chase: This is giving me shivers, and I would never believe I'd be saying this.

Bass Dropper: Do you think we should "ignite," or...

Juliet manages to open the airlock. Apparently none of the Meridese noticed the door was being tampered with. Then again, they were all checking out the "water closet," located on the other side of the lounge. Of the four, only Bass Dropper seems happy to see her.

Bass Dropper: Why, hello there!

Everyone but Bass Dropper immediately raises their weapons. Gertrude Mann pulls out her healing beam and tries buffing the squad up.

Chase: Raise your damn weapon!

Bass Dropper: They're not enemies; she doesn't have her weapon raised.

Chase: Bullshit; this could be a trap!

Bass Dropper: That armor they're wearing is too advanced for the Hayden Federation.

Omega: Bass... Oddly has a good point. Yet again.

Chase is growing increasingly suspicious of the team's "heavy gunner," who is coming off as being too intelligent for the type of grunt the military documents labeled her. She is said to be a "sole survivor" of numerous missions, but Bass Dropper definitely isn't playing the part. Either way, the squad leader decides she may as well cooperate with the situation. Hopefully their reasons for being here won't contradict Meridia's overall interests with this ship.

Chase: State your business, "Baroness." You're interfering with our operation.

[Spindle]

Lounge 3
Staff of Charon
En Route to the Meridia System

Two of the Meridese raised weapons at her, one of them simply said ‘hi’ and one of them levelled what appeared to be a gun of some kind at her allies. Given that the light spilling out of it didn’t seem to be harming them and no-one was crying: ‘traitor!’, Juliet assumed it was beneficial. If it wasn’t, there was going to be blood everywhere in a few seconds and she’d probably be the next to die, so there was really no point worrying about that scenario.

Getting over the initial shock of her arrival, the Meridese began to argue amongst themselves about what to do in this situation and Juliet rolled her eyes. If they’d been hostile, they’d have swept the room with flechettes instead of talking to the Meridese. Unless they were attempting some form of diabolically intricate plan which would leave the Meridese suspended over an open airlock, of course, but Spindle had a deliberate policy of not being a comic-book villain. If they were going to be the bad guys, they’d at least do it right.

“We’re here to destroy or divert this ship before it can reach a planet we’re worried about, or otherwise kill off the big uglies residing here before they can reach said planet.” She said simply with a small shrug, letting her hand fall back to her side, “That’s all.”

[Eodor]

Charon's Flagship

While Captain Green and Lieutenant Schultz were planning the team's next move, Corporal Hellfis and Sarge were checking the bodies of the zombies they had killed during their entrance into the barracks.

James: Caroline,I think we should head towards the Communication facilities. So we can try and contact whoever owns this ship.
Caroline: The Comms would be a good place, we could also contact the other teams on this ship.
Ryan: Sarge, these things seem really easy to destroy with your shotgun.
Sarge: Shotgun is a good contingency plan.
Caroline: You two. We're going too the Communication facilities.
Ryan: But that's really boring. I'd rather just storm the bridge.
Caroline: Okay then, lead us to the bridge.
Ryan: Okay I'll admit I don't know the way to the bridge.
James: That's why we are going to the Comms room. So we can locate other teams and the bridge.

The team begin to leave the barracks. Moving cautiously towards the Communication facilities. Their suits scanning for there location and destination. Several Creeper insects were spotted in the corridors, they were soon exterminated by Sarge's high powered shotgun.

[Ponyi Meridia]

Spindle & Meridia: Lounge 3 & Showers.

Bass Dropper: See? I told you we can trust them.

Chase: I still sense trickery. They're probably after Charon's artifact.

Bass Dropper: Which may or may not even exist, we're just going off rumors that it does. Are you ALWAYS this paranoid?

Chase: ... Forget it. Listen, "Baroness," You have your objectives, we have ours. Just stay out of our way and we'll both get along fine. Omega, press that "ignite" button. We need to know what it does.

Omega: On it.

The Meridese are making a big mistake. Upon pressing the ignition button, the showers are flooded not with water, but fire instead. The hearts inside cook up and all four of them explode. When the incinerators are off, all the water automatically kicks on to stop the fires. The airlock door between the showers and lounge also opens up.

The exits to Barracks 3 all close, with the exception to the one leading into the lounge. The door has been heavily damaged and cannot close. A loud scream then echoes throughout the ship, with the source coming from the showers. All at once the barracks, lounge and showers have portals opening up. Zombies and imps come crawling out from all over the place. As the Spindleans try retaliating, one of them notices something horribly wrong: Two of the imps are clawing at the heart on the other end of the barracks! It explodes as well, and another scream goes off.

Bass Dropper: This is gonna suck...

Chase: Omega, scan those demons! Gertrude, stay here with the others. I'll help clear out the barracks.

Omega pulls out her phone to take a quick picture of the imps, then hastens to deploy her laptop gun in sentry mode. The turret is mainly aimed at the showers, where the majority of them are flooding from. Thankfully the sentry can aim at the demons despite all the smoke and steam in there. She relies on her sidearm to take head shots on anything else around her.

Victoria Chase enters the barracks and opens fire on all the zombies and imps in the area. Her pistols are dealing heavy damage against the zombies thanks to the incendiary ammunition. She doesn't even need to shoot most of the other zombies crawling towards her since the burning corpses are piling up and serving as obstacles for the undead to trip over and light up on fire. Her guns don't seem to ignite the imps, but the heavy firepower along with her focus on head shots are helping.

Bass Dropper is hesitant to use the wub rifle, instead choosing to go on the safe side with her shotgun. She tries using the double-blast feature to take out the imps quicker, but instead gets herself knocked onto the ground. She decides to switch to single-blast until she is more familiar with the gun's recoil. Thankfully the pellets can puncture deep into the imps and make them flinch in pain, opening them up for another blast. The zombies aren't much of a problem, as Bass Dropper knows well enough how zombies easily die from brain damage.

Gertrude Mann just keeps the healing beam active her teammates, and from time to time even fires it on the Spindleans. It's not even necessary in their case; their armor is too protective for a mere zombie bite or imp fireball. Juliet notices a strange feeling of strength whenever the blue string of energy latches onto her. She feels like she could easily take on the imps by herself with the amount of power she's feeling. It's almost as if Doctor Mann's weapon is... overhealing the team.

Juliet also takes note of the Meridese and their "armor." Being made of latex, it's obvious those bodysuits won't be very reliable against fire-based attacks. The Meridese seem to have taken a step above to address that issue, or at least Bass Dropper and Omega have. A fireball strikes at Bass Dropper's body, but it gets blocked off by a shield with a rather large hitbox. The shield is still standing quite strong after that direct hit to her, and it doesn't even appear to have damaged the shield. If it did, the harm is pathetically weak.

For the most part it seems the lounge area is somewhat taken care of. The barracks however are a bit of a problem. The demons are spawning within the private rooms, which pretty much surround the whole place. Chase and the other Spindleans are finding themselves surrounded by undead and oncoming fireballs. Unlike the others, Chase is not wearing a shield. When the fireball hits her, she catches fire and cannot beat it off. She doesn't approach the lounge area either, instead charging down the corridor to the North while still opening fire on the other monsters. She eventually falls over and dies. Or at least that's the impression everyone gets. A few seconds later, thanks to her advanced "checkpoint device," (Check "Meridese Commando" entry for more info on the "checkpoint device.") she respawns back into existence within the lounge. Victoria and her bodysuit look completely unscathed by any signs of a battle, let alone any burns or tears caused by fires.

Chase: Okay, I'm not fucking around now.

Chase pulls out her shotgun and sets it to double blast, then runs back into the barracks to finish the job. The Spindleans are shocked to see Victoria alive and well despite how her corpse is clearly still burning on the other end of the barracks. She definitely doesn't show any signs of being possessed or zombified, or even being a doppelganger.

Chase: Surprised to see me again?

---

Irentons: From Barracks 2, to Communications Center.

The Irentons enter the communications center and are greeted with a room almost completely dark save for the emergency lights. There appear to be two hearts within this room. One right in front of them and the other way down on the starboard side of the room. Everything seems relatively fine, but one of the soldiers notices something hurling towards them at a fast pace. They immediately duck and the fireball impacts the wall in purple flames. There doesn't appear to be anyone in this room though! One of the other troops dare to open fire, just as a warning shot. By pure luck this kills one of the nightmare imps in the room. Damn, not only are there fire-slinging imps aboard the ship, but some of them are invisible! Switching on their flashlights, they discover these imps are only partially invisible, just harder to see in the dark. Knowing where they are now, the soldiers open fire on them and clear the room of these hostiles. Now just a question of what to do about these disgusting hearts within the communications center. They don't appear to be a threat, but at the same time they certainly aren't suppose to be here. Looking around, none of the other doors seem to want to open.

The airlock doors leading to the barracks suddenly shut themselves, and refuse to open up even with hacking capabilities. Well this sucks! Now the only thing they seem able to do is pop the hearts and see what happens....

[Novaya Equestria]

Laboratory 6

Jean then turns on his radio. "Thunder 2-1, it's Jean. Does your dropship have weapons?" Asked Jean. "Yeah, why?" Thunder 2-1 replied. "We're gonna need you and Thunder 2-2 to head towards Port Hangar 1. It's right next door to Charon's personal hangar." He told them. "I'll try to see if Port Hangar 1 is filled with Demons. Don't enter or land at Port Hangar 1 yet." Jean added as he hacks the same panel he hacked to see if Port Hangar 1 has Demons. "Roger that, Jean. Thunder 2-2 and I will be heading towards Port Hangar 1 but will not approach OR enter it." Thunder 2-1 replied.

[Eodor]

Communication Facility

With the Imps dead, the Irenton soldiers began to fire on the hearts. Sarge's high powered shotgun comes in handy to blasting open the first of the hearts. The second, was taken by Captain Green's particle rifle and Lieutenant Schultz's plasma blades. Corporal Hellfis was sitting back on one of the communication desks enjoying the show. "I wonder If there's a PA system" he said.

[Ponyi Meridia]

Irenton: Communications Center

The Irentons destroy the hearts, and one of them is checking to see whether the consoles will come online or not. Sure enough they do, along with all the lights. There is a loud demonic scream and immediately after that, the public service announcer speaks...

PSA: WARNING! Enemy forces detected on board the flagship. Contacting all available forces for assistance. Alert: Terrorists detected in Hangar Zero, the communications center, and Barracks 3. Assuming the entire ship is overrun by hostiles. All automated internal defense systems are now online!

The turrets in multiple rooms of the ship, including the hangars, barracks, and corridors, are now active. Meanwhile the communications center has portals opening all over the place. Zombies are pouring out, later followed by imps and eventually a few pinky demons! The consoles within the room are currently inaccessible, being covered by static or a creepy goat's head followed by otherworldly laughter and crying.

---

Novaya: From Laboratory 6, to Charon's Hangar (via secret teleporter).

The Novayans dare take the teleporter, and contact the dropships to prepare port hangar 1 when the squad is finished clearing that hangar. Upon using the teleporter, all power to it suddenly switches off, preventing the soldiers from returning to Lab 6. This doesn't seem too bad at first... Until they realize the hangar itself only has two other entrances: The airlock leading to the port side corridors, and the hangar doors. The room is completely dark and not even the emergency lights are on, forcing the Novayans to rely on their flashlights. There are a few imps, but they're partially invisible. They're impossible to see in the dark, but thankfully the flashlights make the demons somewhat visible, opening them for an attack.

When these demons are cleared out, the Novayans focus their attention what sounds like a beating heart. Sure enough, they look up and there's a massive organ hanging from the ceiling. Knowing how the last heart opened access to all the other doors it was popped and the demons were slain, it's clear the only exit is by killing off several more demons! The decide to shoot at it, and it bursts open. Another demonic scream goes off and all the lights flick on. Portals are opening up again, only this time there are no zombies. Instead it's all imps and a new demon. The newer monster has a giant mouth and very noticeably pink skin. These demons look incredibly hungry, and eager to taste the flesh of humans. The first one tries charging at them, only to get hit in the back by an imp by accident. Enraged, the pink demon turns around to face the attacker, picks him up by the mouth, and thrashes him everywhere. The legs go flying as the upper portion of the body is getting munched down.

It would appear these gullible freaks are vulnerable to "monster infighting."

Among the fighting, the public service announcer warns everyone on board of the automated defenses coming online. The turrets are active, but they're not firing at the demons; they're trying to kill the squad!

The Novayan Drop Ships.

Meanwhile around port hangar 1, the Novayan dropships arrive. Only one dares to actually enter the hangar, just in case something goes wrong. Besides, the doors to Charon's hangar are still closed. The room seems empty and with only a few lights on. They see crates and shadows moving around, but no one seems to be there. There's little doubt whatever demons are inside here are invisible. The Novayans could try bombing the floor with whatever explosives they have, but that wouldn't be very efficient; the imps would probably see this and try moving to safer locations.

Meanwhile someone is trying to contact the dropships. They assume it must be their people on board. When they answer however, the computers act like there's some sort of virus or hacking going on. Static is all over the screens until they go black. A pentagram with a severed goat's head slowly appears on screen, along with the highly unsettling laughter. Other voices, including crying children and demonic chanting can be heard over the comms. The Novayans try reducing the volume, but to no such luck.

While this is unfolding, the Novayans seefour pods on arrival and closing in on Charon's flagship, specifically port hangar 2. The Novayans cannot contact them, as the creepy goat man is blocking off all communications. They try scanning the ships, but no identifications come up. They try tracing where the pods are coming from, but again no such luck. It would appear the alien forces on arrival are either an unknown sentient species, or humans with very primitive technology. Probably the latter, as the pods all crash-land into port hangar 2. The Novayans observe as the pods open and monster fights unfold in there...

---

Frazetta: Port Hangar 2, and later Barracks 2

The pods crash land inside the hangar and burst open. The room is dark, but this is no problem; these human warriors are used to the darkness, along with all the terrors that lurk within. They all step out; four of them. Of them all, only one of them is wearing any armor, and it just so happens to be biosuit armor from the Hayden Federation. The other three are wearing no armor... Or anything really. These barbarians don't know it, or perhaps they just don't care, but there is a Novayan drop ship just outside watching them as they engage battle with several invisible pinky demons. The Novayans use technology to try and zoom in on the action, without actually participating.

The man in the biosuit armor is punching them with some kind of gauntlet with a built-in saw blade. The woman is electrocuting them with a lightning gun. Not only does the light expose those demons, but it also chain-reacts with the other monsters. The guy with a rocket launcher can be seen either throwing grenades around or actually running up and punching the crap out of the pinkies, insane and suicidal as that sounds. It's almost like he's on some kind of super-steroid.

The fourth man is chopping into the pinkies with an ax. This weapon appears to be a very primitive choice, even when compared to the pugilist next to him, but the guy seems to be enjoying himself. He's got some kind of hunting rifle on his back. Combined with how his skin is much lighter compared to the others and the strange tattoos on his back and right arm, and he doesn't appear to actually be related to any of these people. The other warriors with him, at least the woman and the demolitions expert, are definitely descendants of the Africans way back on Earth. Where these barbarians hail from in particular is completely anonymous to the Novayans.

The savages stand close together and look around. The room appears to be clear of demons now. These four warriors, three with no armor let along rags, cleared out an entire room of demons with some of the most primitive set of weapons ever. Once they are certain, these warriors waste no time in checking the observation room. They manage to start a fire within there using only a single blaster shot; probably shooting at creeper insects. Given how these people are taking on the demons so effectively, one can surmise they have experience on how to combat them.

Even if the Novayans wanted to, they cannot land inside hangar 2 and contact them. They promised to rendezvous in hangar 1. Besides, those guys seem to be in a bit of a rush. They exit the hangars and step into Barracks 2.

[Novaya Equestria]

Charon's Hangar

"Destroy the turrets. They'll get destroyed easily." Michael said as he and Jean fire at the turrets while Charles and Elizabeth fire their flare guns on the floor so that they can see what the enemies are; the squad evading the gunfire. Charles then mowed down the Imps while Jean and Michael shot the two turrets. With them done, Jean and Michael fired few flare gun rounds, allowing them to see the Imps that were invisible in the darkness. "FIRE!" Jean yells as he and his squad began to fire at the Imps. "Guys! Cover me while I shot a flare gun at that pink blob!" Michael said as he shot a flare gun round into the mouth of the Pinky before continuing firing, this time at the Pinky. Three more flare gun rounds, from the other three squad members were shot at the Pinky's mouth. The squad continued firing at the Imps before firing at the Pinky.

[Spindle]

Lounge 3
Staff of Charon
En Route to the Meridia System

Juliet felt her fingers curl around Valency's hilt as the Meridese continued to debate amongst them selves for several seconds more. Were they really going to be doing this whenever she brought new information up? She suppressed a snort of laughter as she gave in to a small roll of the eyes again. Had bickering become the new Meridese national pastime while she'd been away, or was this group simply particularly quarrelsome?

Still, she'd learned something from this. The Meridese were here for some kind of artefact which Charon had...made? Discovered? The second one seemed more likely, given that it was called an artefact. That implied age. And the fact that the Meridese were willing to send troops onto a ship lost in the Rift to get it spoke volumes about the potential power it contained...she'd have to kill it if at all possible, or at least cycle it out of an airlock. Preferably before anyone else found it, including the Meridese. It wasn't that she didn't trust them to contain it: she'd trust the Meridese over a lot of other options for the "honour". But she didn't want anyone holding onto something so potentially powerful which had been in the Rift for so long.

The overly-paranoid one gave an order to the catsuited one who'd so far managed to stay silent and a low whoomph caught Artemis' attention, followed by a series of wet splats. Opening her mouth to speak, Artemis felt the Avalon suit flowing back up her head and pulling her hair tight into the helmet it had extruded. Already, dozens of hostiles had been identified as they poured out of something her suit didn't want to resolve. Mosquitos were swarming around her, MASERs frying daemons with meticulous fury as they identified targets and fried them one after the other as Valency slashed through the oncoming attackers with blade and plasma.

Jason had disappeared from her sensors, only the outline provided by his own suit to the SquadNet telling her where he was as he knelt in the centre of the lounge and carefully took out any daemons straying close to the others without their noticing. His Mosquito darted like a housefly behind his back, MASER popping as it did the same job as its owner. The only visible part of the duo, the drone would occasionally flicker out to distract a daemon as Jason readied the killing shot.

Adrianna was a ghost-like figure giggling madly into the comms and Juliet had half a mind to shut her off before the woman called out her shot and Juliet just had time to dive out of the way before the pencil-thin beam of searing plasma tore through several of the daemons, leaving little more than ash behind. Her own Mosquito was weaving like a maniac, almost being caught in the superheated air around the plasma several times. Yet it somehow survived every time, so Juliet grit her teeth and bore it.

Thomas was the only visible member of their team, a solid barrier of electric white plasma extending in a small wall in front of him. At each shot, a small hole opened up in the plasma to let the flechettes through and the result was a constantly rippling sea of blue-white stuff undulating gently in front of him. His attentions were far less subtle than Jason's, or even Adrianna's, yet they tore through the daemons like so much wet paper. Turning his weapon towards one of the freshly-opened portals for a moment, a steady flurry of minced parts flew from the anomaly as daemons were pulverised.

Of course, the fight also gave her a chance to observe the Meridese in action. The button-pusher had set up some form of automatic weapon which was currently tearing into a tide of rotting flesh creeping towards them from what looked like the showers. The smart one had some form of impact-activated shield and was fumbling around with a shotgun, apparently unfamiliar with its operation. The oddly-dressed one seemed to be playing her beam over her teammates and it was only when the beam was played over her that Artemis understood as a surge of energy filled her body. It was some kind of metabolic enhancer, perhaps?

Of course the interesting bit was the leader, who was tearing into the daemons like there was no tomorrow. She didn't seem to have one of their shields and when she raced out while on fire, Juliet assumed that she was dead. A few seconds later she returned, apparently unscathed. A glanced showed her body still smouldering on the floor, so Juliet added "potential immortality" to the list of things the Network hadn't told them about. At the very least, they'd figured out mind transfers.

"It was nice of them to warn us when they tried pressing buttons like monkeys, wasn't it?" Adrianna giggled into the comms as the dust settled.

"Knock it off, Selene." Juliet growled, "Keep it to yourself."

"Of course, Baroness." Adrianna giggled mockingly, but now Juliet's helmet was pulling away from her face and she couldn't reply without it being public.

"Surprised is an understatement." She replied to the paranoid one, "Although I'm sure that trick is good for free drinks. Unless you're headed to the engines, this is where we part ways. You'll probably want to brace for impact in about five minutes. Other than that and the occasional other explosions, you need not know we're even here."

[Eodor]

Communication Center
The Irenton soldiers began firing on the zombies who came through the portals. Lieutenant Schultz's plasma blades came in handy against one of the Pinkys that came through. Shots were flying all over the room, with zombies being disintegrated or being blown apart whenever the shots hit their target.

James: What are these pink things?!
Caroline: They seem stupid. Good, I can cut them in half easier.
Sarge: SHOTGUN!!! SHOTGUN! Hahaha.
Ryan: These guys are getting annoying.
Caroline: Don't worry Ryan. I'll have them all gone soon.
Ryan: You aren't my mother. Just hurry up and kill them.
James: You could help Ryan, it would make things a lot faster.
Sarge: Shotgun? They are all dead? Ahh, I was just starting to have fun.
Caroline: Before we leave. I recommend we see if these consoles work. I think the automated defense system is still active.
James: I have a better idea.
James activates his transmission mic. The signal is faint, but eventually he manages to reach the Cruiser that brought them to the ship.

James: Skirmisher. We need you to give us the most direct route to the bridge.
Communications Officer: Sorry Cap. I got nothing. Something is jamming my sensors. Find the source and destroy it and I could give you some answers.
James: Okay. Thanks Skirmisher.

James deactivates his transmission mic and slams his fist on one of the desks. Breaking it apart.

Ryan: *whispering to Caroline* Should we run and hide?
James: *Shouting angrily* I can hear you!
Ryan: Sorry.

[Ponyi Meridia]

Novaya: Charon's Hangar

Once all the demons are cleared out, the airlock doors leading to the rest of the ship open up. The hangar doors themselves remained closed, but it turns out these barriers were never meant to open up, at least not in the conventional sense. Instead massive amounts of Hell energy create a huge portal. The Novayans can see clear as day that Hell itself is on the other side. The pathway is looks clear enough, save for one seemingly ordinary dog.

The mutt on the other side of the portal appears to have a collar with a pentagram tag attached to it. In the dog's mouth is a small, red ball. The dog looks quite excited to see the soldiers, and runs out of the portal to greet them. The squad maintains caution, and for obvious reasons understandable. When one of them dares raise their gun and points it at the dog, he immediately crouches down with his head laying on the floor. Not only does this animal show signs of being tame, but he also understands the dangers of weapons. When the soldiers lower their weapons, the dog gets back up and walks towards them instead. The dog drops his toy at Jean's feet, almost as if he expects the Novayan to play fetch with him. The toy itself appears to be some kind of demon's head. It is red with a single eye and spikes on the sides. When Jean decides to squeeze the toy, the dog wags its tail a bit at the sounds of the red demon's squeaking.

The Novayans check the collar. Sure enough, it's a pentagram tag. The name of this dog is "Cerberus."

The squad hopes the portal will remain open, and if no demons crawl through it, all the better. Right now though the Novayans need to restock on their equipment by completing a rendezvous with the drop ships.

Meanwhile back with the drop ships, the communications finally enter a calm state. Whatever was causing the demonic presence within the vessels is gone, at least for now. If the demons are able to do THIS to their communications alone, what happens if they somehow manage to take possession of the drop ships, or even the pilots? Unless the Novayans want to run even greater risks, the next time drop ships appear should be their last time! Given how hangar 2 just got cleared out, it might be safe to visit. However the people responsible for killing all the demons in there were pretty barbaric in nature. The Novayans could be running a risk by encountering them, regardless of how primitive their weapons may be. Then again hangar 1 is still filled with invisible demons, so they're taking risks either way.

Thankfully the communications are back in the control of Novayans, so they can contact the squad and tell them what they know.

---

Irenton: Communications Center

Once the hearts and demons are cleared out, the room is back to normal, unless we include all the blood and corpses of course. Frankly the squad should be glad the air is still breathable, given the stench of death in the atmosphere! With the hearts destroyed, the Irentons now have access to a number of other rooms, including the following:

Return to Barracks 2.
The main power core.
The armory.
The main security room.
Lounge 2.

The automated defenses cannot be disabled from the communications center, but there's a good chance the security room would feature the command to shut them down. Alternatively they could just bear the challenge and allow the turrets to remain active.

---

Spindle & Meridia: Barracks 3

After all the demons are cleared out, access is now available to the tech center, main engineering's cargo hangar, and starboard hangar 3, at least from the barracks. In the showers, access to the infirmary and prison section are now available. Victoria Chase focuses her attention on Juliet.

Chase: Sounds like you're rushing us. Something I actually like about you. Let's move girls. The sooner we get to that bridge, the better.

Mann: What about the survivors?

Chase: Fuck them. Ship's gonna explode. The sooner we find that artifact, the better.

Mann: But--

Chase: Silence! The ship is overrun with demons, and that little cure-beam can't reverse the damages.

Omega: Sorry, but she's right. We've wasted too much time already here.

Bass Dropper: Agreed. Adrasteia... (Bass Dropper nods at her.) Good luck with the destruction.

Just as the Meridese are exiting the barracks via the main corridors, they hear the PSA warning everyone about automated defenses coming online. The Spindleans notice a panel in the ceiling opening up. A huge turret is poking out and pointing right at the agents. The Spindlean drones immediately react not to this turret in particular, but the three other guns surrounding them.

Of the four Meridese, only Bass Dropper turns her attention around. She panics when she sees the huge gun pointing at her teammates.

Bass Dropper: Turrets! Run!

The four of them try to take cover behind the airlock doors. Victoria Chase manages to get hit pretty badly. Taking careful aim and poking in and out of cover, Omega manages to blow up the turret with a few carefully placed bullets from her classic Meridese pistol. Gertrude Mann focuses her healing beam on Victoria, healing her wounds. The only sign she was even harmed now are the two tears in her suit where the bullets punctured through.

Bass Dropper: Huh, looks like that little "cure-beam" can reverse damages!

Chase: Not a good time, Bass! (Victoria gets up and ready to move out once more.) The sooner we finish the mission, the less death traps we have to worry about.

Mann: (Gertrude looks over her shoulder to see the Spindleans fighting the automated defenses in the barracks.) Think they need help?

Chase: If they live, great; they'll blow up the ship. If they don't, tough luck. We're looking after our own here. Now let's stop wasting time and get moving soldiers!

[Spindle]

Barracks 3
Staff of Charon
En Route to the Meridia System

As the Meridese continued to bicker among themselves, Juliet felt her Avalon sealing around her face once more. A curt nod to their leader and the smart one was the only reply they would get as Juliet turned and stalked off to the airlock where the heart had been. Kneeling in the puddle of scattered gore and blood, she tore the panel away from the pad and pulled out strands of datawire, winding them around the important wires to get it open as soon as possible.

The announcement over the shipwide communication system sent her bolting to her feet, whipping Valency out as she looked around for whatever automated defences were going up as she faded out of sight. A moment later, four turrets swung out of internal compartments and began to open fire with cold precision. In seconds, Juliet was skidding behind a thin, metal table which she upended to duck behind. A moment later, she twisted away from it and pulled out her Stilleto out of it holster and sent rounds hurtling towards one of the turrets.

Adrianna jumped up towards one of the turrets and slapped something against it, rolling as she hit the floor before sprinting to one of the walls, her plasgun blazing away and turning one of the turrets into molten slag which spilled out onto the floor where it cooled steadily. Moments later, the nanny-grenade detonated and consumed the turret in a cloud of nanites. A throaty phet indicated the Rhongomiant had fired in single-shot mode, the neutronium-fuelled flechette tearing into the last remaining turret before detonating and sending it clattering back to the ground in a shower of white-hot sparks.

"Sound off! Adrasteia, clear!"

"Zelos, clear."

"Selene, I'm fine."

"Ceraon, clear."

The airlock cycled open and Juliet glared at the datawire as she stormed back over to the airlock and fired a few Stilleto shots into the next room before bending down to remove the datawire. Thomas took point, but a small shiver in the air would indicate to the astute observer that someone was in front of him as Jason slid in ahead. Giggling softly into the squad comms, Adrianna followed and Juliet covered the rear with both Valency's EM field and four of her drones as she brought up the rear.

[Novaya Equestria]

"What the heck....how did a dog survived in Hell....?" Asked Elizabeth asked. "Don't know, but I'd think it survived long enough. Although...this dog's name..." Michael answered as Jean contacted the dropships and ask Thunder 2 1 if he saw anything out of the ordinary.

[Ponyi Meridia]

Novaya: Charon's Hangar

The Novayan drop ship pilots report of four pods crashing into port hangar 2 specifically, with people stepping out of them. One of them wearing armor seemingly belonging to the Hayden Federation. The other three were bare naked save for a few pieces of clothing such as hats or boots. Despite looking primitive and unprepared, they cleared that entire hangar of demons. They then went deeper into the flagship.

During this report however, the Novayan pilots see something both disturbing and unusual: Over to the starboard comes another Hayden Federation cruiser. The squad still on board the flagship hear alarming news from the PSA...

PSA: ATTENTION: Reinforcements have arrived.

The Hayden Federation wouldn't be coming back to this ship considering all the time that has passed since it was initially taken over. The most likely reason is the communications center must have sent a message to the federals; a word must have piqued their interests. Whatever business the Novayan drop ships need to take care of, they should do it quickly. If that cruiser sticks around, which it likely will, they might not appreciate foreign units around their property. It would be best for them to land in port hangar 2, since it's already clear of monsters. The Novayan squad will have to enter the corridors and enter barracks 2. Given the brutality of the pod folk, the demons along the way will likely be few or dead. The worst scenario is if the Novayans have a deadly encounter with those people, but who knows if they'll actually meet up with them?

The squad looks back at Cerberus; maybe he has an opinion? The dog seems happy to stick with the group, although for some reason he won't let Michael pet him; It's hard to determine why. One thing is certain though: Whenever the Novayans seem to be making a step too close to the portal in Charon's hangar, Cerberus will bark at them. He doesn't seem to want anyone entering there. Understandable, given the fact IT IS HELL. And Cerberus just arrived from there, so it would make sense if he knows what's back there and doesn't want anyone getting hurt.

---

Spindle: From Barracks 3 to the Cargo Hangar.

According to their map, the cargo hangar has an airlock corridor that leads straight to the main engineering section, which also holds the main engine systems. They enter this room and clear it of what few invisible demons were lying in wait. Their infra-red scanners allowed them to pick all of them off before they could get too close. Inside this room is nothing more than a giant demon heart and an open airlock leading to the engines. The hangar doors are open, and are the only source of light for this area.

To no surprise the path to main engineering is destroyed; the Spindleans could tell that section of the ship was missing before they breached the hull. The end of the tunnel is some disgusting flesh and organs, and arguably the only obstacle preventing air from escaping this hangar. Electricity seems to be coming from this... thing. If the Spindleans had to guess: This is a portal to Hell, and likely the main engineering section. If this is true, as well as these hearts opening connected doors after they're destroyed, then maybe popping this one will grant mortals (such as humans) access to Hell?

PSA: ATTENTION: Reinforcements have arrived.

The Spindleans can clearly see a Hayden Federation cruiser outside of this hangar. The communications center must have sent a message back to them, for there would be no other reason the Federation would return to this wicked flagship. There are drop ships entering the other three hangars. There's no question those soldiers will be gunning down trespassers, especially those deemed "aliens." The Meridese, due to their strange biology, unfortunately classify as an alien species to the Hayden Federation.

[Spindle]

Barracks 3
Staff of Charon
En Route to the Meridia System

More throaty coughs and wet splats told Juliet that Jason and Thomas were clearing the room. Two of her Mosquitoes slipped in alongside the two, MASERs sending daemons reeling as flesh exploded outwards with enough force to cave in ribs and splinter bone. After a few seconds of savage, bloody violence the room was cleared, corpses strewn around them like discarded litter and Juliet stepped over a daemon with a few ropey strands of flesh where its head had been to head for the next airlock before sighing as she saw the mass of organic tissue which blocked it up.

"Alright, Selene." She snapped into the comms, "We're going to have to secure this area, but when those hearts burst they...spawn the uglies. Take it out."

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am."

The soft thoom of a plasgun firing saw the Heart burst open, catching fire briefly before shriveling up into dozens of small chunks of flesh on the floor. Juliet's fingers slid along Valency's hilt, opening up the EM field and ramping up plasma discharge. A few moments later she was moving, Stiletto coughing as Daemons fell to the floor, neatly-drilled holes in their heads indicating where the bullet had impacted. Plasma flared out of Valency's tip, engulfing a daemon and sending it tumbling backwards. The blade whipped up and the EM field caught a daemon's claw and pushed it away, the blade swinging down with a sheathe of plasma surrounding it to slice through infernal skin with contemptuous ease. The Daemon staggered back with a bellow before a Stiletto shot silenced it.

Jason was pivoting madly as he held everyone's back, Excalibur shots causing any daemons which managed to close without one of the other members of the group noticing to go flying backwards, gaping wounds punched into their bodies. Thomas was walking his fire along one side of the cargo bay, ichor running in tributaries and rivers across the floor where his attentions were turned. Adrianna was in amongst the daemons, giggling madly as her plasgun spewed death again and again. Sighing to herself, Artemis fired her Stiletto four times as a group of daemons moved to encircle her, four bodies slumping to the floor as she slid a new clip into the sidearm.

And then the last of the daemons fell and she felt her adrenaline rush peak. She'd feel horrible in a moment, but that was something she could worry about later. Right now, she was checking the vitals of her team, a wave of relief spreading over her. These ones had been stronger than before, although there had been less of them. Still, if that trend continued, she didn't want to kill too many more of those hearts. As she indicated to Adrianna to go and clear the blockage up ahead, her Avalon brought something up in her vision.

A ship. It was close, too: easily within visual rage. She could have shot it from here, and hit it too. After a few seconds of searching visual matches put it tentatively as a Hayden ship: the resolution and observed size put it in the Cruiser tonnage range. Which meant that it was, in all probability, an Interdictor Cruiser. That meant they were going to have hostile company soon. Not something she was particularly pleased with, but it would help keep the Daemons occupied, she guessed. Her suspicions were confirmed as the PA system announced that reinforcements were on their way.

"Alright, people." she called into the comm, "Move! We'll be getting company soon, so let's mission-kill this ship before they find us!"

[Novaya Equestria]

"Oh, fuck. QUICK! Into the barracks!" Said Jean as he leads the squad and the dog to Barracks 2. "We'll be safe here as long as we head towards Port Hangar 2." Jean said as he and the squad looked around. With that, the squad took a right that would lead them to Port Hangar 2. Once they arrived, they saw the four pods Thunder 2-1 and Thunder 2-2 spotted. Both dropships then gave them the weapons, munitions, explosives, climbing tools, and other stuffs. The Novayan squad began to replace their magazines with hollow point and armor piercing rounds. Charles and Elizabeth grabbed proximity bombs while Michael and Jean grab remote remote trap bombs. The squad also started stocking up flame resistant protection outfits so that they won't get burnt.

Elizabeth then grabs a Sudnik VP rocket launcher so as to blast away clusters of small baddies or blast large assholes that are willing enough to swallow a rocket launched from the Sudnik VP. Michael also grabbed a Mitchell AV 18 rocket/missile launcher so that any stuff can be blown up. Even my own toilet. While stocking up hollow point and armor piercing munitions, the squad grabbed bacta guns, which will allow them to heal their own wounds. They also grabbed Medkits, which gives people small blood but can regenerate over time, in case they ran out of bacta. Then, the squad donned four differentprotective joint service general purpose masks so as not to breathe the atmosphere of Hell. They also stocked up gas mask filters so they won't die. Elizabeth then grabbed a healing-gun for quick healing.

Jean then gently carries Cerberus to Thunder 2-1's dropship. "Hey, I'd suggest that you bring this dog to the NFS Aquila. Also, if anything happens in the Aquila, have the fleet ready to deploy heavily armed, heavily equipped, and heavily armored troops so as to take care of the situation. Also, tell the fleet to deploy those troops in case that dog might do something bad. Make sure a few group of people is to keep an eye on that dog. And Cerberus? Please don't cause any trouble." Jean told Thunder 2-1 and Cerberus before joining back to the group. The squad also grabbed climbing tools so as to access to areas unaccessible while also not to fall to their doom.They then grabbed some grenades that can be a pain to the Demons' ass. With that, the squad went back to Charon's personal hangar. With that, they then walked into the portal, weapons ready.

[Ponyi Meridia]

Spindle: From the cargo hangar, to Hell, to main engineering.

After destroying the heart and purging all demons in the way, the Spindleans are forced to quickly push their way into Hell. This isn't just because they need to destroy the engines quickly as possible, but also because the Hayden Federation is suddenly taking an interest in their lost flagship. The Spindleans are determined to complete their mission, no matter the costs. If the Federals don't like it, well that's their loss. Their people will just have to abandon ship. The alternative is risking a victory for the demons, and the loss of trillions of lives in the Meso System.

They enter through the gates of Hell and are of course greeted by every ancient zombie, imp and pinky on the surface. Along the way they also encounter a new monster: The Cerberus. These beasts are dogs of various breeds, but they all have one strange trait: Three heads, complete with three brains and three sets of teeth ready to bite down on any mortal trespassing. The mutts prove themselves surprisingly intelligent; when they see a grenade kill a few demons, the Cerberus-breeds take note of this and run away from the area whenever a grenade is thrown down. They also try lunging towards the guns of the squad in order to steal them away. Worst of all a few of their heads get destroyed, but it appears they won't die unless all three of the brains are destroyed.

Thankfully one of the Spindleans have a history of hunting animals. They know that when hunting animals similar to say, deer, it is actually better to aim for the chest than their heads. This is because the majority of organs are there and damaging any of them would be much easier than shooting the brain. The chest is a significantly larger target than the head. Combined with the fact those animals don't wear armor, and there's no reason not to attack those parts of the body. None of these Cerberus-breeds are wearing armor either, so the squad goes ahead and fires at their ribs. The dogs drop down much quicker, since they clearly do not have the same number of lung pairs or hearts compared to their skulls.

With all the monsters in their way slain, they reach the main engineering section. The location itself sits atop a canyon, with what appears to be the tech center and oxygen plant located at the bottom of this massive trench. Sadly the front door appears to be open, which means there will be plenty more monsters inside. Upon entering, they are greeted to more of the same monsters along with creepers and a new monster apparently called the "cacodemon." These strange, flying heads that clearly defy the laws of physics are firing balls of electricity that burst upon impact. The squad dares not approach them just in case the heads try to take a big bite into someone. The entire trip to the engine systems is a massive bloodbath of insanity.

By the time they reach the engines, their bodies are all drenched in the guts of their conquered victims. They examine the section and realize there are three ways of going about this: They can replace the fuel cell with one of the power coolants and then re-activate the engines. Doing so will cause the fuel pipes to over-freeze and burst, rendering the entire system inoperable. An alternative is to just open fire on the fuel injectors and let the whole room overheat. Doing this will definitely blow up the engines, but it may go too far and cause the whole facility to detonate. The upside is this will definitely destroy the tech center and oxygen plant down below. The downside is the Spindleans will have to find an immediate exit unless they believe they can survive a nuke-sized explosion with a temperature not even their suits are capable of surviving. The last option is to actually place a fuel cell into the power system where the coolant is suppose to go. There's no telling what this will do.

Novaya & Frazetta: From port hangar 2, to Charon's hangar, to Hell.

Cerberus is now in Novayan hands as they have him board one of the drop ships. Cerberus is very resistant of the idea, even barking at the crew aboard. The eventually force him in, but he is very upset now. The Novayans happen to have a cage for him, but Cerberus won't stop growling even when they're not even within his field of view. They escort him to the Aquila, where they will keep an eye on him until then. Just like the drop ship's crew, everyone on the Aquila feels uneasy around Cerberus. He won't stop growling at people. It's worse when the light is shining in his eyes at times, as this combined with his fangs will make him appear all too much like a mutt from Hell. The Novayans know one thing for sure; it's better to keep him in the cage where he won't try and rip someone's face off!

Meanwhile the Novayans around Charon's hangar all enter through the portal in Charon's hangar while it's still open. Upon entering, they come across a deceased squad of Hayden soldiers. One of the bodies however appears to be stripped down to nothing more than the underwear. There are two guys standing in the middle of these bodies. One of them is wearing a Hayden biosuit, and it's impossible to actually see what he looks like under it. The other guy is a caucasian man, and it looks like he's putting on combat armor! The armor in question has bullet holes in the chest already and has trails of blood along them. Did these guys murder the squad?

Richard: Uh, they were all like this when I got here!

Quarter: Calm down Texas, these guys aren't Hayden. Nice to meet you folks. I'm Captain Quarter. Richard and I here are Frazettans. We come to this place seeking demon relics. Not sure who you are or why you're here, but I get the feeling our chances of survival are higher if we work together.

(Quarter looks over his shoulder.) Come on out you two; these guys appear friendly.

The Novayans are a bit shocked to see two naked people stepping out into the open with their weapons. Both of them are dark-skinned, similar to Africans. Unlike Richard as well, they also appear to have a lot more muscle than him. They may not look like wrestlers, but the Novayans bet the would easily lose to them in a fist-fight.

Quarter: My other friends here are Frazettans as well; Sergeant Flak and Penny Harpy. Flak is a mute, so don't mind him if he doesn't talk much. (Flak simply gives off a friendly wave and a smile. Aside from his nudity, the Novayans take note of all the explosive munitions on him.)

Penny: I'm not normally one for trusting people so quickly, but Quarter usually has a good feeling about people. I'm the scout of the team; I can easily spot treasures that other people overlook. (The Novayans look at her equipment. Her weapons are crude in design, but they also appear to be energy weapons.) In case you're wondering: We Frazettans follow a religion that dictates we cannot wear clothing, including armor, unless it comes from the remains of our enemies. None of these Hayden outfits are designed for women, so I won't bother. Flak is a nudist through and through, even with his explosives. He likes to prove his muscles are enough. (Flak, trying to fit in with the conversation, flexes his body. Everyone's pretty sure he's the last guy they'd want to pick a fight with. At least he's got a friendly attitude.)

Richard: I'm Richard Texas. I'm not an actual Frazettan. I used to live on Demeter, Aether until I chose to join the Frazettan religion. I had to kill my way into and out of prison before I could join. I don't regret anything I've done. Anyway, nice to meet you!

Richard offers his hand for a shake. The Novayans notice his hand is covered in blood; the palm of a true murderer. Farming boy, or Frazettan warrior, it's clear he doesn't understand the need for cleanliness. Speaking of which, the others have the stench of death, body sweat, and deities-know what else on them. Does anyone here understand how hygiene works?

[Spindle]

Cargo Hangar
Staff of Charon
En Route to the Meridia System

"Adrasteia, be advised. At least one Hayden Federation ship has found its way around the Staff. We're pulling out."

The voice crackled in Juliet's earpiece as she rested against the wall as Adrianna poked around the workings of the engine to try and figure out how best to break it. With a deep sigh, she nodded to herself, placing her weapon back down onto the gore-slicked floor before preparing her reply. That would be the Cruiser she'd seen earlier. The Feds really were interested in getting this ship back, weren't they? She'd have to be careful now: there would be no reinforcements. Nothing to back her up in case anything went wrong.

Which was why the engines would have to be taken out with as much collateral as possible.

"Copy that, Remorseful." She replied, "We'll be done in a few days, objective. Pick us up then."

"Got it." The voice replied, "Good hunting in there."

The voice died away and Juliet picked up her weapon again, running her hands over it to scrape out the worst of the blood and flesh off of it. Her suit was already beginning to absorb the worst of the blood which coated it in a slick sheen and the natural, matte black was creeping back into view. Glancing across at the two other members of her team, she saw both of them doing the same, their drones alert and making sure that the entrances were all properly covered.

"How did you know where to shoot?"

The question dropped from her lips too fast for her to take it back and Jason looked up, eyes dark.

"I spent time on Mictlan."

And there was no more reply forthcoming.

Juliet shuddered a little. Mictlan had been settled by a small colony around a hundred years back. It had gone perfectly well until some of the peculiarities of the fauna and flora equivalents had been discovered. The physiology of every living thing on that planet was absolutely insane - aluminium and other heavy metals laced into their chemical structure, distributed nervous systems, a continually-looping virus and metabolic rates which couldn't possibly exist created fauna which was near-impossible to kill. Or megafauna which was near-impossible to kill, in some cases.

The settlement had rapidly transformed into something more akin to a military base and had grown into a multi-million colony...but over a third of the people there only managed to survive by being infected by the Mictlan-XI strain themselves. The thought of it made Juliet want to vomit. It was just...wrong. Wrong that it even existed, let alone that it could somehow infect humans. And its complexity meant that it never left its hosts unchanged...

"Well, my Lady, I'm done."

The scathing voice cut through Juliet's thoughts like a flaming sword and she looked up to see Adrianna standing in front of her, face covered by her helmet.

"Good." She said with a small nod, "It's ready to blow?"

"Of course." Adrianna said with a small nod, "We've got just over four minutes to get away before this goes off and starts spraying plasma everywhere."

"You started the timer?" Juliet shrieked, bolting to her feet and snatching up her weapon, "Ceraon, Zelos! We're moving! Go, go, go!"