Mel, Ro and the boys had shot out of Director Ogilvie's office as soon as the man had uttered his order. There was some sort of rioting at the unloading bay. They'd glimpsed fire and heard gun shots.

"Group up!" Mel ordered once they exited the administration building and ran towards the space port. "Identify hostiles, subdue and restrain. No lethal force!" The boys and Ro nodded. Jack and BB separated and the two groups approached the landing bay in a flanking motion. The boys on the right and Mel and Vokeera on the left.

People were rioting alright. A mob had formed. People were pushing and pulling, fighting, shouting and screaming. Parts of the landing bay were burning. A Veroxian was shouldering his way within the crowd trying to get to someone. The hostiles?

"BB, try to get injured people to cover, tend to their wounds." Mel instructed the Lance Corporal.

"Roger that, Searg." BB acknowledged and set about to follow the order.

"I shall do the same." Vokeera stated near Mel as the other one in the group with medic training. The Noxaara crouched low and was about the leave cover when Mel pulled her forcefully back.

"Don't push!" She stated simply, her eyes burning hot, her hand clutching Vokeera's wrist.

"Roger." Ro acknowledged curtly and crawled away.

"Jack, try to reach Chief Nero and see about a plan of action. We're sitting ducks with that sniper!"

Ro heard Mel instruct over the comms while advancing towards a woman who's legs appeared shredded by the exploding Molotov. The Noxaara reached the woman who appeared to be unconscious. The Protector checked her vital sighs. The pulse was weak and thready, but present. Vokeera clasped her gently beneath the armpits and started pulling her carefully towards cover.

"There's not much I can do for her. " Ro stated, positioning the injured woman behind their crate.

On the other side of the landing bay Jack crawled low on the ground to where Chief Miranda Nero was also crouching, she appeared to be reporting the situation. To Ogilvie probably. Jack thought.

The Chief than rushed over to the marine closest to her.

Jack followed carefully.

“We have backup on its way, but I don’t think they can get here before they...” the chief motioned toward the human mass in front of them, “...tear us apart. If we lock ourselves inside the ship, it would give the rapid response more time to react, maybe the riot would even lose its momentum.”

Jack recoiled as a glass object landed about a meter behind them, shattering on impact. Fortunately, there was no fireball. “Unless you have a better idea. In that case, speak quickly.” The Chief was telling the marine.

Jach decided this was the moment to interject and quickly introduced himself to the Chief as well as their group, mentioning they had the Director's blessing to help.

"So what's the plan, Chief?" He'd left his comms open for Ro, BB and Mel to hear the conversation.

@Starlance

(NPC mini post)

"I-I don't know what to do!" Carsons stammered at the moons security chief, "The gunny is dead and our second in command is who-knows-where so just do whatever the hell needs to be done!"

Carsons had never seen combat before and it was nothing like he was trained for. He couldn't even tell where the shots were coming from, the gunny was dead, and there was a sea of fighting people slowly approaching the Scythian. He felt a sturdy hand pull him around, "Get your head out of your ass and go help the loading crew that's still trapped in that sea of moon monkeys!"

Carsons surveyed the the area looking for anyone that could use his assistance. He heard a loud crack as a bullet flew right past his head, he jumped off of the loading ramp and went prone. When he looked up he saw a young woman all curled up in a ball slightly rocking back and forth. By the looks of it she was part of the loading crew. 'The fuck is wrong with her?' Carsons thought to himself. He picked himself up and ran over to her and scooped her up and headed up the ramp. As he ran he noticed that every time there was a gunshot she would flinch and curl up tighter. Once he got her up into the Scythian's loading bay he brought her to the back and put her down. He took a knee next to her, "Are you okay?"

@Starlance@Silver Carrot

@Starlance@Elevation

Dalry heard Miranda's warning to hide, but she couldn't move. She couldn't will her legs to get up. She might be able to open her eyes, but she didn't want to. She couldn't cope with this. With being thrown back into the chaos and gunfire. If she shut it out for long enough, it might die down, or put her out of her misery. She din't know which one she'd prefer, but she'd prefer both to having to face the chaos again.

She felt herself getting lifted up, and gasped in relief, grabbing a tight hold of the soldier who'd just rescued her. When she was put down, she dared to open her eyes, and as soon as she saw it was safe, she sprang to her feet with poise and grace that nobody possessing should be fearing this situation that much, and she backed herself against the wall furthest from the entrance before nodding. She was breathing heavily, but less in a 'physically exerted herself' way and more in a 'panic attack' way.

"I'm okay now. Just...that chaos and gunfire...I'm Dalry Soumers. Ex-UWLA. Corporal. I'm a First Contact survivor."

She didn't need to elaborate what she'd had first contact with, or why that explained how she behaved the way she did. Any soldier who knew about the Nomad would understand.

"Sir! You need to calm down! Firing on the crowds will do us more harm than goods!"

Said the weapon officer on board the bridge of the Scythian, to the rash Nelson, who, still in his enraged fury, just ordered the crews to open fire.

"I don't need to know that! They aren't civilians! They are our enemies! They killed our men!" Nelson shouted back to him, but was suddenly grabbed in the shoulder by him himself.

"Sir! If you fire on the crowd you risk losing your entire career right here, right now! And your killer will still be there, sitting with his ass above his crossed feet peacefully! You will not get yourself a revenge like this! Wake up!"

Despite how fiercely Nelson protested, the man kept holding on to him, gripping his shoulders tightly, until the Lieutenant calm down. The officer was being unusually calm and patient, as opposed to his impulsive superior. The reason was simple: he was a former subordinate of Nelson. He knew Nelson's rashness, his rage. Although not thorough, but still, he knew it. He saw his eyes. And then he knew that he couldn't afford to be impatient like him. He couldn't waste his entire career, his life to some rash and illogical decisions, nor he could afford to lose the Lieutenant as his superior. The universe would lose a Nelson.

It took around a minute to calm the man down, as his shoulders began to loosen itself. The anger still lingered somewhere within him, but at the least, the man could gave a sigh of temporary relief, as he knew that he had led way for his real self to come out. His genius self.

Nelson sighed as he clinched his forehead, releasing all his anger, trying to vaporize it into thin air, as he said.

"Tell me officer. What are we provided with?"

There it is.

"Not much I'm afraid. We have three CIWS machine guns, and a bundle of navy personals, but almost half are recruits and do not have much experience."

"That's already enough." Nelson turned to address the entire room. "All hands, man your stations. I want all well-trained personals to handle the guns. Watchers and navigators, keep a close eye on the surrounding buildings."

"What are you trying to do sir?" Another officer asked, a middle-aged man.

"I was targetted by a sniper. And as far as I know, there is one lurking out there, trying to fling shots on our butts the moment we stick it out of the ship. And we will not let him accomplish that goal"

Nelson then walked to the observation area, where the situation was slowly unraveling in front of his eyes. He could see several shots coming from two large building not far from there. That was where those snipers were stationed in. Fools. They think that by staying there they will be totally safe? Such arrogance will be their grave mistake.

"There" He pointed at the two buildings. "That abandoned building. In the crack of the chaos, we'll go straight for it."
The line was directed at his officers, who looked at each other.

"You mean taking off?"

"They have given themselves to us already." Nelson said. "By appearing that we are retreating from the area, we can close in on them without them making a single move to counteract them."

He then turned to voice himself into the radio, in a manner different from his original.

"Attention all personals. Return to your station immediately. The ship will be taking off in 10 minutes."

Clara couldn’t see anybody. The voice that had just forced its way into her head sounded organic, without interference or any kind of mechanical synthesis. It was heavily accented, not one that she recognised. But it was UWG Standard almost certainly. It didn’t sound like anyone she knew, but the warmth in its voice sounded like it knew her. She made her way to the bottom of the ramp; there was still a low level tremor reverberating through the soles of her spacesuit.

She looked behind her. Loken and the squad of marines were fanning out into the main dig site area behind her, guns drawn. They weaved in and out of the mining equipment and stacks of rubble as quiet as wraiths. The ground tremor increased again.

“You are like them, yet so different still. You bear the key of my creator, yet i don’t think it belongs to you. Are you looking for your friends? They’re our friends now.”

Clara pushed on, heading towards the rock face which held the door they had been trying to open for the past year. She spotted a data pad resting on top of a supply crate, the screen still on and letting off a faint orange glow. She picked it up and read the notes scrawled on it in short hand.

Comms are down, door is emanating heat, appears to be opening.

Ground is shaking, something is coming.

It's beautiful.

Clara dropped the pad where she stood. The tall archway which had previously been sealed tight was open. The space behind it was a midnight black, with no light penetrating its depths. As the ground tremors increased in ferocity, something stirred within.

“Clara...crrr” came a voice from over her earpiece. She touched the side of her head instinctively, looking at Loken and the marine captain with a motion of her other hand.

“Thebes, is that you? You’re breaking up, some kind of interference.”

“You’ve got...crrrrrrrrr..it’s not…-” the line crackled unnaturally.

“You talk to machines.” The voice in her head hissed, no longer the soothing rumble in her head but a venomous tentacle slithering into her ear. “I’ve seen your past, your future. You were foolish to make us sleep so after we had served you for countless millennia. The machine mind has reaped humankind for all they have.”

The thing in the darkness of the archway moved again. Clara took a step back. Two orange lanterns blinked on. Cracks of incandescent lights appeared on a skullish head that illuminated powerful shoulders. The humanoid figure stepped from the dark. It was tall, standing in a slate grey armour suit which had what looked like small rock fragments orbiting around it. Orange light rippled all around it.



Even in the frozen, petrified state that she was in, Clara couldn’t help being fascinated. She drunk in all the details, trying to memorise them as the...thing studied each of them in turn.

Loken dashed towards the scientist as she stood agawp in front of a creature he had studied during his training, but had no experience with in reality. Flanked by White he placed a hand on Clara’s shoulder and began moving her back, stepping in front of her and raising his rifle to his shoulder. White drew the scientist backwards as Loken took a few short steps forward and flicked the safety off. He shouted for the advancing individual to stay back, but it continued moving towards them gradually. Aiming to the side of the figure’s head he fired a single warning shot.

“Clara, the Sacred Band have arrived at your location. Their comms-relay passed through the interference… oh my.” Clara tore her eyes away from the armoured monstrosity as it appeared to study them. She could see a squadron of wiry droids armed with machine guns jogging down the excavation site’s ramp.

Clara looked back at the thing in front of them. She could see a very sharp jagged edge slowly extending from one of its gauntlets. It tilted its head to one side, and then the other. “I think we should go.” Clara murmured, pushing at Loken who was blocking her path to the exit.

Loken noticed with a cursory glance that the advancing figure was slowly beginning to weaponise in response to the warning shot and the appearance of military droids. He fired another round, this time aimed at its centre of mass. Its armour plating deflected the hollow point round and Loken began retreating, keeping his body between the armoured creature and the scientist.
“White, cover the exit!” he shouted, and the agent ran ahead to a position where she could cover their retreat.
“Black, go back to the vehicles and get them started up. Get the marines back!” He looked over at the marines accompanying them and instructed them to fall back in good order.
“Fire as you go!” he shouted. “Keep moving back!” his voice was raising louder and louder over the din of the gunfire, amplified and echoing in the chamber. His ears rang, even after years of exposure of explosions, gunfire and general chaotic audio.

As if encouraged by the sound of battle, another humanoid emerged from the open archway of the excavation. And then another. Each drew blades of dull orange light. They didn’t wait, breaking into a run.
“Oh shit.” Clara yelped, breaking free of Loken’s grasp and running for the ramp. “Thebes, what are they?” She shouted as the Sacred Band reached the bottom of the ramp. They were only basic in terms of construction, made of fabricated struts and with a small head adorned with sensory equipment.
“I don’t know ma’am, but my Sacred Band are their main target, followed by yourselves. Kindly head back to your vehicle, but first take me out of the droid with the golden stripe."

The droids had all open fired on the things, but Clara could not see past their spindly frames to figure out what was happening. She found the one with a gold stripe at the very back. Fumbling with its head unit, she managed to extract a holo-disk which contained Thebes.
“Why did you bring yourself down here you stupid AI?” She shouted at it. “I suspected i wouldn’t be able to reach your comm-bead without being physically present ma’am.” Thebes shot back crisply.

Loken had been stationary, firing at multiple targets in succession to little avail as the marines fell back. Black had left the chamber, and White was picking her targets from the doorway. Rounds flew over head as Loken began bounding towards the door. He glared as he saw the scientist stood still, chatting to some kind of droid. As he ran past he grabbed her arm and dragged her into a jogging pace.
“Keep moving!” he yelled at drill sergeant levels of volume. In a few seconds they had retreated from the building. One marine had been gored through his leg, and two others were carrying him out as he bled profusely, leaving a trail of viscera in his wake. His rifle was being carried by another marine who covered them, firing round after round at the trudging armoured figures, until the marines were eventually free of the chamber. Loken was the last to leave, ushering White out and instructing her to lead the civilian back to the jeeps, with permission to ‘... drag her if she can’t keep up.’ It had taken them a few minutes to walk down to the chamber earlier, but the adrenaline and fear allowed them to bound back to their transports in a quarter of the time. Both Falcon teams were present and began embarking. With everyone aboard, Loken fired a few cautionary shots into the doorway, though didn’t see the attackers advancing out into the open. The engines revved as they were started, and they began their way back to the colony with a casualty aboard in need of immediate help.

"I-I don't know what to do! The gunny is dead and our second in command is who-knows-where so just do whatever the hell needs to be done!"
”Splendid. Just what I was hoping for.” She thought grimly, motioned the man who introduced himself as ‘Jack’ to wait and leaned closer to the marine so they didn’t have to shout. “Well, I hate to burst your bubble of confidence in my abilities, but neither do I. I’m cooking out of water here. Alright. Hold the line, we’ll get the crew and the loading party inside, then it’ll be your turn. My officers and I will go last. No one’s tried to shoot us yet.” She saw a hand drag the marine away and turned to Jack.

“I’m sure you’ll excuse me if I don’t check with the Director or the HR department immediately. But given the state of things, I’m not going to complain about some help. Start moving the loading party into the ship. Once they are stowed away, go back outside and help hold the line. Once the marines are inside, we’ll fall back to the ship, hope the ramp closes fast enough and throw out anyone who tries to climb on board uninvited. Try not to hurt anyone too badly, these people look like they don’t like us too much as it is. Whatever happens after that is up to the crowd control teams. But as I don’t have any training nor experience with riot solutions that don’t include water cannons, shock batons and three platoons of infantrymen, I’m open to other ideas, so speak up if you have some.” Miranda was about to add something, but she was interrupted by the PA from within the ship as she drew her breath.

"Attention all personnel. Return to your stations immediately. The ship will be taking off in 10 minutes."

“And there’s our deadline, so if you have suggestions, make it quick. Otherwise, start herding them inside.” she finished as the ground shook. ”What the…? This isn’t normal, is it?” She didn’t know, but certainly hasn’t felt any tremors since she arrived. But the three years she’s spent on a volcanic planet with daily seismic activity rubbed off on her senses. She opened a channel to Director Ogilvie again. “Did you feel that? What’s with these tremors? Did someone forget to mention a volcano or something when they sent me here?”

@ihinka

Jack was about to answer the Chief when he felt a tremor and Miranda Nero was no longer paying attention to him, but was speaking on her comms with someone. He decided the moment was good enough to speak with his teammates.

"Did you get all that, Searg?" He asked Mel.

"Loud and clear, Jack." Melissa answered over the comms. "Sadly I'm fresh out of ideas as well, so for now we'll go with that plan." She continued.

"Searg..." BB interjected. "There are injured people here. We can't leave them outside with the mob!"

Mel considered. It wasn't her ship and it wasn't her command. Any one of those injured people could be one of the rioters.

"BB's right." Ro spoke out. "We can't leave the injured outside. We check them for weapons. Make sure they are no threat and we move them to the inside of the ship."

"You heard the Protector, boys. Check for weapons, assess threat level and start moving them inside the ship. Don't let anyone suspicious aboard. Use your better judgement!"

"Yes, Searg!" Jack and BB answered in unison.

"Jack, I've got at least five people with minor injuries stowed behind crates and whatnot." BB materialized next to his friend. "Don't know if that damn sniper is still there or not, but he or she seems to have stopped taking pot shots at us for now at least."

"Let's use it then." Jack said and the two of them got busy with their orders.

"What are you thinking?" Mel asked Ro. The Noxaara's face was hidden behind her SEEM so there were no facial expressions to allude to Vokeera's state of mind. But Melissa knew her friend too well. Something was troubling the Protector.

"As soon as the rest of the crowd sees we are moving people inside the ship, they are going to try to storm in." Was the concern Ro voiced out to Mel.

"So we need to be quick." Mel stated. "We slip them past behind the line of marines. And then we help them hold the fort until the ramp closes."

"Okay, let's get this one in and than help with the rioting mob." Ro suggested.

Between Vok and Mel they managed to drag surreptitiously the injured unconscious woman near the entrance of the ship and deposited her inside. "Please, help her." Ro asked one of the sailors hiding within the ship's unloading ramp. Then the Protector turned to Mel. "You go help Jack and BB."

"What are you going to do?" Mel asked a suspicious and oddly protective look on her face. This behavior wasn't all that strange for her. Ever since Ro got hurt getting her, Jack and BB out of the toxic plumes, Mel'd been extremely protective of Vokeera. But after she'd learned the actual toll it had taken Ro, she had become even more fierce in her protectiveness. "I won't push, I promised." The Noxaara assured. "I'm going to help the marines hold the line, since I'm made of sturdier stuff." She tapped her chest shell.

"Just be careful, okay." Mel urged.

"Hey, what is this?" Ro asked gently. "I know we are friends and we care for each other. I don't want to see either one of you three hurt, but you've been extra sensitive about it ever since I told you about me and my new limitations." Vokeera paused. "Don't you trust me to not take excessive risk?"

"It's not that!" Mel defended vehemently, grasping Ro by the wrists. She cursed Ro's SEEM for the first time since she'd known the Noxaara, for not being able to look into Vokeera's eyes. Did she even have eyes? What would they look like? "It's just... I just..." She stuttered unable to finish, to voice... Voice what? Really. Why was she acting like this? Why did she froze in panic each time she thought harm might come to Ro? "I trust you." She mumbled defeated. "Go." She said, releasing Ro's wrists and stepping back.

Vokeera nodded and watched Mel carefully make her way to where Jack and BB were. And then it hit home! Why Mel'd started acting the way she did. But... No... It can't be. I mean, I'm... Ro was brought out of the jumbled thoughts by the shouts and grunts of the mob, pushing and pulling for position on the unloading ramp. The Protector shoved back the bewildering thought and focused on the problem at hand. They had injured people to take into safety, a hungry mob to hold at bay and they had probably less than ten minutes to get their behinds in that ship and wait for the riot to die down.

The Noxaara slowly started approaching the quivering mass of human flesh. The SEEM providing ample protection against jabbing elbows. People pushed against Vokeera fiercely, but to no avail. Ro dissuaded their attempts to jump the line with gentle yet firm movements. The Protector noticed the huge Veroxian staring intently at something or maybe someone within the crowd. A hostile?

"Get ready to pull back, boys." Vok said to the marines and sailors forming a line between the rioting crowd and the inside of the ship. The fierce looking Veroxian was still staring daggers within the crowd. "If you want to help, give us a hand with holding the line." Ro shouted at him.

"Ro, we've moved all the injured people within the ship. There's a doctor there so they'll be taken care of." Mel's voice buzzed in Vok's ear, causing a sudden unexpected pulse increase. "We'll start to move the rest of the loading party inside now. Hold the line till they're all in."

"Roger." Vokeera said, unwilling to analyze at this particular moment the tingle caused by hearing Mel's voice.

@drallinix@Fury Panda

Nippikin didn’t have to wait long for the injured to appear. The first person, a human woman, appeared to be in some form of shock. No obvious signs of physical injury. One of RX Security detail had brought her in and she quickly composed herself. “I’m okay now…I’m a first contact survivor.”

Nippikin was 15 years old at first contact, currently partaking in his Celebration of Age on Ha’Mdama. It was his first time outside of Gauss, living for a time in a non liquidic environment. He was clumsy, and knew little of galactic politics. Holoscreens across the planet focused on one thing, a massacre. A planet called Cornucopia had been destroyed, one of the largest death tolls in recorded history. Some type of mechanical being was moving through space, leaving death and destruction in its wake. Nippikin had tried his hardest not to think about the tragedy and upcoming war. He was on Ha’Mdama to help find his purpose. Yet, he kept having nightmares, feelings that he could do nothing. That his skills wouldn’t suffice and he would have no use.

During a visit to the Ha’Mdama College of Intergalactic Medicine, a professor approached the young Gulin, introducing himself as Cliff Henderson. He seemed to see right through Nippikin, and began to speak about the war, and the importance of medical officials. Not just in the army, but for civilians as well. The exact words were lost in time, but the memory lived on in Nippikin. The moment he knew his purpose.

Nippikin had let himself become lost in thought again. Three humans, not marines by the look of them, were bringing in wounded. The gunfire appeared to be dying down, but it sounded like the populace was still forcing their way onto the ship. Nippikin opened up his kit and began work. Bullet wound, right shoulder entry from posterior, on a male human (likely friendly fire), he would be first priority. Bludgeoning wounds on many others. One woman appeared to have been concussed, possible internal bleeding, she would be second priority. Nippikin started work on the concussed and bullet wounded humans, using two arms for each. A technique Cliff had taught him all those years ago.

Clara put her foot down, accelerating away from the darkened science complex and excavation site until it disappeared from her rearview mirror. Instead of going the cliff-side route, she opted for the slightly longer mountaintop highway which allowed her to focus a bit less on her steering. Clara shuddered, her breath escaping in frightened gasps into her spacesuit.

Fumbling with the holo-disk she still held in her left hand, she inserted Thebe’s AI core into the slot at the back of her helmet. “What were those things?” She panted, relaying the comm line on her suit’s external speakers so Loken could listen in. “I don’t know ma’am. I’m looking through UWG structured databases now but can’t find anything that quite matches this description. My droids detected biological lifeforms inside those armoured suits before they all got trashed. It's possible they learned UWG standard from the data pads lying around, but some of the glyphs on their armour look oddly familiar.”

Clara thought of Dr Gao and the rest of her team. They had vanished almost without a trace or sign of struggle. They could still be alive inside the structure, but then she thought of the demented guards. Had they said they’d been asleep for millenia? Who put them there…

She was still on edge when they raced into RX3248. Clara noticed Loken barking orders on multiple comms channels and there was a lot of movement around the spaceport and habitation units. People were all streaming towards the landing pads, toward the Scythian probably. “What's happening?” Clara asked Ogilvie, to no answer. “Director! I need to speak to you!” No answer. Clara set off at a jog, leaving Loken and his marine escort behind at the vehicle pool. She made her way through the chaos to the Col-Ad building and forced her way to the Director’s lift.

---

“Did you feel that? What’s with these tremors? Did someone forget to mention a volcano or something when they sent me here?”

Ogilvie had several different comms channels open and was on his tenth cup of coffee in 24 hours. “I don’t know Miranda, i’ve lost Clara and Thebes. Everyone is fucking about and nobody is telling me shit! I can’t leave my office, these spooks have got me locked down. I can smell the Article 88 up here!” He took a sip of coffee just as Clara burst into his office.

“Where the hell have you been Clara? I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“The dig site. Something has woken up. Dr Gao and my team are gone, James. We've got to get out of here, we all know how this ends.”

“Wait, lets not be hasty. What do you mean something has woken up?” Is that why we’ve been getting these tremors?”

“I don’t know James, it all happened so fast. Thebes bring him up to date." She unplugged the AI from her suit and put the holo-disk into the Director’s desk. Clara walked over to the window and tried Loken. Busy, or her communicator just wasn’t working anymore.

Clara checked RX’s intranet - it was alive with chatter which made it impossible to pin anything down. She was still shaking, she put a hand on the plate glass to steady herself. Something on the outskirts of the colony caught her eye; Clara leaned forward and squinted, trying to bring the flecks of orange into focus...

@starlance

“The head boffin and the AI are ‘gone’? What is that supposed to mean?” she wondered and rushed to help the other officers and marines hold back the mob. Was there another attack somewhere else? Was there an accident at the dig site or wherever she was? And what could have happened to an AI? Did someone sabotage the security system, causing damage to it in the process, be it intentional or not? Or did he mean that he just didn’t know where they were at the time? If so, were they simply out of touch, or did something happen to them? Given what happened at the Scythian less than ten minutes ago, she could have been targeted by a terrorist group, if there was one and this wasn’t just a one-off thing. But what common, albeit disgruntled refugee would take up a rifle and attack the military? And where did he get the rifle in the first place? The Doctor could have been killed or captured. But for what reason? Perhaps whoever did it thought the scientists were getting priority treatment over the refugees and got angry? That could be, but what about the AI? Miranda was reluctant to ask the director, it looked like he didn’t have a lot of time and she didn’t want to waste it.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted when a hand, grasping an aluminium tube, emerged from the crowd and hit her in the side. “Let us in!”, a voice she assumed belonged to the hand yelled. Although the blow was directed at one of the rigid parts of the suit, it was still painful. Miranda turned her head to see how far away from the ship she stood and if the loading party and crew were inside. “Hurry!” she barked over her shoulder and turned back to the mob, trying to hold the line and talk some sense into the closest people. She opened the line with the director again.

“Well, if it helps, we are holding the line-” another blow, this time a fist to her stomach. “Arg, you little arsebastard. We are holding the line and it looks like most of the people we want on the Scythian are already inside. Once that’s done, we’ll...” she paused and spoke more quietly. No need to inform the horde of their desperate tactics. “We’ll fall back to the ship. BEWARE, the Scythian is going to take off in about five minutes, I don’t know what’s their reason for it but it might calm the crowd. That, or it will get them royally pissed off.”

Now came the tough decision. She and the security forces were responsible for these people. Should they retreat onto the ship, or stay on the ground. It would certainly help the retreat, but what would be the consequences? She didn’t think the likelihood of them making it out in one piece was high. They’d likely be trampled or beaten. She couldn’t ask this of her officers, and staying behind alone would be suicide. She already dodged execution once. Enough times for one life. She leaned closer to the person to her right so they could hear her more clearly. “Once everyone is inside, we make a break for the loading ramp, then we hold our ground. Or ship, in this case. Send it to the next guy over.” She then turned around and repeated the same thing to the person on her left.

Dr. Zek looked down at his work, all of the men and woman that had been brought on board were stabilized. He took note of the woman who had been shuttled on board who was standing, appearing to be in deep thought. He wasn't much for conversation, but had learned a lot from Mia in the last few weeks. Being a physical doctor, he had excelled at medicine, but knew little about psychology. He thought of this as a learning opportunity. He approached the woman, making himself as short as possible as to not seem imposing (this was Mia's first tip.) He also allowed his tentacles to fall to his side instead of animating them (Mia's second tip.)

"Hello Miss," the tentacled creature spoke, his motive translator echoing in it's robotic manor, "I noticed that you were carried on board. Do you have any injuries I could treat?" He paused for a moment, "Or anything you'd like to talk about?"

The tall, quiet, nervous-looking woman looked up, but if she found anything strange about the Doctor's appearance, she was doing a very good job of not showing it. She was dressed like a civilian, though her anxiety aside, she was standing alert, like a soldier. She shook her head at the questions.

"I wasn't hurt in this incident, and I don't have anything else wrong with me that you can treat. As for things I'd like to talk about..." The woman chuckled, though there was no humour in it. "How long have you got? I'm back on a military ship for the first time in years. In fact, since First Contact. Part of me feels like it was yesterday and I've lost nothing, but at the same time, it feels a lifetime ago since I was discharged. They still don't have a name for what those Nomads did to me, so they just call it 'extremely severe PTSD'"

Nippikin thought about his conversation rules. The main one, find common ground.

"I also have not been on a military vehicle in sometime, although I never faced the Nomads."

He remembered an interesting fact about First Contact, and thought it important to share.

"Also, I have seen evidence that the First Contact survivors have the highest suicide rate of all soldiers....So," Nippikin realized his mistake as it came out of his mouth. Another rule of conversation is to give complements so he ended his sentence,

"You must be very resilient to have continued living. It is very impressive."

The woman looked down at her boots for a few seconds. "I'd never kill myself. I know I'll get better eventually, then maybe I could get a job, or even get back into the military. But....I can see why others would kill themselves.There's little this society trusts me to do now they know how easily an attack can be brought on. Why just today, one of the civilians grabbed my shoulder and I threw them to the ground and was a millisecond away from breaking their arm before I even realised what I was doing, and when the guns started firing, I just crouched and hid my head because I couldn't deal with it in any way. It's...no way to live."

She looked back up, a slight smile on her lips, though her eyes were still far away. "There are good moments, though. My last job was as a nanny, and I love kids."

"Just this morning I helped a human child. They had a Lunarean Infection." he thought about his own thoughts on children, it had been some time. "Where I come from, children are raised communily, and I have not attended a breeding yet. Are you a parent or do you simply have a hormonal reaction?"

"I'm not a parent. Haven't even dated since I was fifteen. It could just be a hormonal reaction. I admit, I'd love to have kids if I thought I could raise them properly."

"I am also not a rearer, I did not have the skills necessary." Nippikin made sure to continue creating common ground.

There was a groan from the corner, the man with a bullet wound appeared to be awake and poking at his bandage. He yelled over at the two.

"Hey you shits. Why did you shoot me, I just wanted some damned food. That's all we bloody wanted!"

Nippikin was speechless and looked over toward his new acquaintance in hopes that she would know what to say.

The woman spared a glance at the Doctor, communicating that she'd be more than happy to be of some use, and walked over to the man. "We didn't fire into the civilian populace. That was the action of several gunmen and snipers who were trying to cause chaos, from what little I've gathered from listening to conversations. I was personally delivering fresh supplies to the food tent when the shooting started."

The man looked up at the woman above him, she seemed like a soldier. Something was familiar.

"Wait, you're that one that broke that guys face. You're a monster. This whole thing probably wouldn't have even started if it wasn't for you!"
The man lifted his arm to point at her, but dropped it due to the pain "Fuck you. The Nomad should have just wiped all you soldiers out before they went to sleep."

Nippikin watched the interaction. He felt an urge to intervene but was reminded of Mia's words "Most human women take offense when someone try's to fix their problems, Nippikin." Nippikin pulled out his pack and got a sedative ready, in case things got violent.

The woman's face changed. Now she really looked like a soldier, with a face that, rather than sporting anger, sported a weary kind of unhappiness at the man's words. "You can blame me for the chaos if it makes you feel any better. I'm used to being reprimanded for chaos, and I'm equally used to being a scapegoat. And maybe the Nomads should have wiped me out. But they didn't. I survived with my body intact if not my mind. And now I'm here....Is there anything I can do to help?"

The man looked down, and closed his eyes, clearly defeated. "No. You can't do anything." He looked down at the ground refusing to continue eye contact.

Nippikin walked up to the man to check his wound, which appeared to have started bleeding again. As he passed the woman, he spoke quietly "For me, this was a good moment. Thank you for the support."

He began to work on the man's wound again, making sure to be just a little rougher than he usually would without causing damage.

He looked back at the human woman with two of his 3 eyes, "My name is Nippikin Zekliaoson, but my friends call me Nippy. You can call me Nippy if you want."

"Dalry Soumers, but you can call me Ry," she answered, gaining no small satisfaction from seeing Nippikin's harsh treatment of the patient. God knows she wanted to hurt him herself if his condition didn't cause her to feel a sympathy and protectiveness.

Ten minutes had passed, and you don't even need to wait for the time to tick to the last second to know to takeoff. Even if the snipers weren't there anymore, there was no reasons for the ship to stay there and get mauled by the angry crowd that the crew could do literally nothing against without specific orders since they were civilians. Nelson had zero patience about asking his captain about the task. He would have to ask his superiors for permission, and while the orders were being considered and transferred, every worst possible scenarios would have already happened. He was just too inactive for this duty.

Nelson had resolved his plan. He was going to fly to the building, send a small portion of soldiers for investigation and, if possible, abstinence of a perhaps potential rebel group against the UWS, while the ship search for a more suitable place to land. A less chaotic place. He knew that the group of marines and some of the Scythian officials were still out there somewhere. They wouldn't want to return to the ship passing through that mob.

"Closing door now. Prepare for takeoff." A Scythian operator reported.

"We should find a more suitable place to land on. Anybody have any suggestions?" Nelson said, as he glanced at the navigator. He should be having an idea for that

"There are plenty at the moment. But I think we should get as close to the marines as possible. You may want to pick them up."

Indeed he should.

The supplies had been distributed, the mission was accomplished. All the more reasons he should not stay there.

"Ok, set a course. I will contact them." Nelson gave the order to the navigator, as the man saluted and complied.

Nelson began establishing contact with whoever was in charge with those group of soldiers.

"This is Lieutenant Nelson Schor, second-in-command of the Scythian. We have distress at the landing area and are evacuating from the position. Where is your current position? I repeat, where is your current position?"

@Ozymandias

“Time’s almost up! Move back to the ship as planned.” she called out to her colleagues and the marines still holding the line. Half of the officers turned around and rushed to the Scythian, forming a line inside. Once they were ready, the other half still holding the line outside, though with great difficulty, started retreating, still facing the crowd, taking long steps backwards all the way to the second line of officers, pushing people away whenever they tried to rush past. As they did, Miranda sent a short update to the director. “Falling back to the ship. Here’s hoping this plan works as intended.” To her relief, she could see riot teams assembling on the other side of the crowd. Now it was up to them to deal with this problem.

The cargo door closed with a hollow thud, sealing away the crowd’s shouting outside. That sudden silence was music to her ears. Miranda took a few seconds to enjoy the relative peace of the moment and started walking around her men, noting any injuries and counting who and how many were present. While she was doing so, she was also looking for someone who looked like they were in charge of the mess that was the cargo bay. When all nine officers were accounted for, she tried to contact the Director again. “Director, this is Nero. We’re all aboard.” she said with relief clearly evident in her voice, “Can you tell me what’s it like outside, if you have the time? And what was that about Dr. Lascelles and the AI?”

@Catharyn

The UWS Scythian exited RX3248’s atmosphere, just as the moon’s surface cracked open. Solid rock and earth wrinkling back to create rings of gigantic fissures, one of which ran through the middle of the spaceport. A big explosion reached up into the thin atmosphere as the colony’s primary helium-3 power source ruptured under the strain. The whole planetary body seemed to be shifting on various axis, uncovering something underneath.

Clara wasn’t watching the spectacle as it unfolded below the Scythian. She was far too preoccupied to listen to the distracted murmurs of crew men who had access to the ship’s exterior cameras. Two of the ship’s aft cargo bays were full of dead or dying people. She tended to whoever she could with her limited first aid skills, helping more qualified doctors to do their jobs faster.

---

It had all happened so fast. The things at the dig site had followed them back to the base. Dozens of them. Everyone was so fixated on the situation developing by the grounded UWG owned craft that the base was unprepared when an onslaught of those…things charged into colony and began cutting people down. She didn’t think Director Ogilvie make it to the Scythian. In the confusion of people, Clara lost him and was too terrified to stop.

She made it to the Scythian’s landing pad with some of the blade wielding sentinel figures right behind. Its doors were open and everyone was flooding in, colonist or not. Quite of a few of RX’s security detail had gathered around the landing pad, firing at the creatures to allow people time to escape. Lots of them had stayed behind to make a last stand as they took off.

---

Clara took off her space helmet; she’d forgotten the air was breathable now. She looked for people she knew directly. Co-workers, Col-Ad staff. She couldn’t see any. Most of the people in the cargo bay were the ones crushing against the landing ramp to collect food supplies. The miners, refugees, workers.

“Attention, this is your captain speaking.”

Some of the noise abated in the cargo bays, although it was still deafening.

“We have now left the moon’s orbit. The ship, and the population of the colony, appear to have been attacked by an unknown enemy. Additionally, we have sustained some minor damage to the hull which we are looking into. Please remain calm, we are doing everything we can to keep you safe. In the mean time; food, water and medical supplies will be evenly distributed to everyone in need.”

There was nothing Nippikin could do. Their wounds were too severe, and his knowledge of Braparken biology was limited. Their cause of death, multiple slashing/stabbing wounds to the torso, both hearts experiencing massive failure. They weren’t the only one either. Nippikin looked around at the cargo bay full of injured and deceased parties. A handful of military medics were treating the others. The same people that had been attempting to make their way on the ship. They had their wish Nippikin supposed, just not in the way they had hoped. The doctor removed a bead from the Brap’s clothing and put it into his pocket, a reminder that he had to study Braparken anatomy with more vigor in the future. He marked the corpse with a time of death, and covered them with a plastic sheet.

He couldn’t help but think about Mia. Had she made it onto the ship in time? There was rumbling that the moon was unstable, that it was falling apart. He refocused, as he started treating a young human man. The male had lost an arm, separated at the elbow, it had been tied off, and he was currently unconscious. But, he would likely pull through, as he had received treatment only a few moments after separation.

Nippikin noticed the woman from before, she had arrived in a vehicle in front of the make shift medical unit. She was helping one of the medics to treat patients. If she had made it back…maybe that was a sign that Mia had as well. He continued to work, scanning the room occasionally as if she would appear before him at his bequest. This distracted feeling was strange to him, there was work to do, but it was almost as if it didn’t have the same weight. His suit began to fog again, and he felt his tentacles giving way beneath him. The automated doors opened in front of him, and he sat in the hallway overwhelmed. This had never happened twice in one day. There was a noise over the intercom, about the attack, but it seemed distant. He knew his purpose, he knew he was helping, but he was…worried. Worried he would never see his friend again.

BB was helping the doctor with the more severe injuries, while every other pair of hands was occupied with the lesser ones. Mel was bandaging the arm of a woman while Ro was compressing a puncture wound on a one of the soldiers until the doctor or BB could get their hands free to tend to him.

The Protector looked about the chaos surrounding them. It came close to what they had witnessed during the war with the Nomad. People running hysterically for their lives, chased by a force so overwhelming, survival on all cost became paramount. The Protector flashed back on what had transpired just a few short minutes ago.

They had enacted their plan to stow away the wounded civilians within the ship and lift off to allow for the riot to subside. Vokeera, together with the remainder of the soldiers had formed a line and were holding the pushing crowds from swarming the ramp and entering the ship. They were managing fine. Even at the cost of some bruises here and there. A fist in the face. An elbow in the ribs. But the line was holding. And just when they were about to close the ship's loading bay doors, all hell had broken loose.

The mob suddenly swayed and rushed the line like a river powered by the sudden influx of melting glacial waters. Vokeera'd managed to keep upright, though some of the soldiers had fallen on the ground and were being crushed under the stampede of the crowd. Ro pushed people about, helping the fallen soldiers on their feet, before they could be more severely injured and then turned around to see what had spooked the mob so much so that it had rushed their line with an intensity it lacked before. If it wasn't food they were after, that left only one other choice. Primal fear!

The things she glimpsed chasing the humans were like nothing Vok had ever seen and still, somehow, on some level, familiar.

"Oh my god! What are those things!?" Mel whispered somewhere behind her. She was pushing people about as well. Since the stream of people now running for their lives could no longer be stopped, they tried their best to direct the flow in a more efficient way, uprighting people when they got knocked on the ground, helping those who were slower on their feet.

Ro spotted a nurse or a doctor carrying a child that were about to be overtaken by those things and she rushed forward without even thinking.

"Ro...!" Melissa yelled alarmed and sprinted after the Noxaara.

The Protector had already reached the woman and the child and took a stance between them and the unknown entities.

"Get them inside the ship." She yelled for Mel, not doubting she would be right on her heals to help.

Melissa took the kid from the nurse and watched in horror as one of those things attacked Ro with what seemed like a blade. She didn't have time to stay and watch however. She needed to trust her friend and so she ran with the child in her arms towards the ship. "Hurry!" She yelled for the woman beside her.

"Your friend...?" The woman asked, running at full tilt next to Melissa.

"... is a professional!" Melissa assured, but internally prayed. Please, be safe, you valiant fool!

She was depositing the child on the floor of the ship's loading bay when something rushed her and the doors of the ship began closing slowly. She turned to yell for them to wait, because Vokeera was still out there when she saw what had rushed her.

Ro was splayed on the ground. Breathing heavily, the SEEM covered in deep gouges that thankfully didn't seem to bleed.

"Ro!" She yelled horrified as the ship began to rise from the ground. She kneeled beside the Protector and placed her hand gently on one of the deeper gouges. "Damn it! I told you not take stupid risks."

"I'm fine." The Noxaara assured her, placing a calming hand on Mel's. "And it wasn't a stupid risk. It was well calculated. I knew the SEEM could handle a couple of slashing wounds."

Melissa just squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Her hand balled into a fist on Vokeera's abdomen. This time Ro was almost sure about the emotion behind Mel's tightly shut eyes. The trembling fist on her abdomen, the gentle shaking of Mel's shoulders. Vokeera'd seen Melissa like this only when she would show her grief for her fallen partner.

"Are you sure you don't need those looked over?" Mel's voice brought Vokeera to the present.

"I'm fine." Assured the Noxaara. "See..." Vokeera extended an arm to demonstrate how one of the shallower cuts was already starting to close.

Ro looked around the ship's cargo bay and noticed the woman she'd helped approaching the doctor.

"What were those things!?!" Mel asked, scooting over to Ro, drawing the Noxaara's attention to her.

"I don't know." Ro answered bewildered, looking at Mel. "They seemed vaguely..."

"Familiar!" Melissa and Ro finished simultaneously.

"I'm glad you made it Nippy." a voice vibrated through Nippikin's suit.

He looked up to see Mia standing above him, seemingly no worse for ware. Although she herself was also perspiring heavily. Nippikin shot up on his tentacles, leaning over the young nurse.

"I am happy that you did not die!" he said, as sincerely as his vocalizer allowed.

"It was a close one," she admitted "I would have been dust if not for that Noxarra."

Nippikin remembered seeing a Noxarra and some humans earlier in the day, it must not have been a coincidence. He made a note to himself to thank the Noxarra himself when next he saw them.

Mia continued talking "I've been helping in cargo bay 3, was coming to see if any other's needed help, but I see these folks are in your hands."

"Thanks for checking, I will not worry about bay 3 than either." Nippikin said, turning back to re-enter the bay.

"You still owe me lunch by the way," she said, Nippikin stopped dead in his tracks, he did owe her lunch, and he wasn't one to go against his word.

"Soon it shall be dinner time," the Gulin muttered to himself, deep in thought over how he could remedy the terrible situation he had found himself in.

"Than we shall have dinner together," Mia responded as she turned to leave. "Come hell or high water."

Nippikin wasn't sure what this phrase meant, but in context he assumed it meant "No matter what". Indeed, he would see her again, that was good.