The Explorator was ready. Months of checks and rechecks, followed by even further checks to ensure things go smoothly for this bout of Exploration has been conducted, and the Captain, confident in the ship and her crew's abilities to ensure nothing goes wrong, is preparing her ship for launch.

This is their fifth exploration ever since Almira was assigned the Thucydides as her Explorator. A ship that she has grown quite attached, and very familiar towards. Resting comfortably in the ship's bridge. She greeted all the crew and without missing a beat. Brought out a tablet and started doing final checks.

"Artificial Gravity?"

"Check"

"Engines?"

"Check"

"Supplies?"

"Botanicals Check, Fridge Check."

"FTL?"

"...Check"

She noticed the sudden hesitation from the crew-member, not a person that would shrug off even the smallest of details. She looked at the person, and opened her mouth once more.

"Can you check with the FTL Engineer that the FTL is working?"

"Yes ma'am."

It took a solid 10 minutes, but the crew finally managed to confirm that the FTL is indeed working. Sighing, and finally able to rest easy. The rest of the checklist process took off without a hitch. Just a veritable series of utterances and checks from herself and the various crew-members in the Ship's bridge.

"Alright then, helmsman, prepare to take this ship off of dock and let's get to it!"

The Explorator, a veritable space elephant compared to the small outer colony space dock, de-clamps it's docking gears and started moving out of the Space dock. It's maneuvering thrusters working in full capacity to ensure that the ship didn't collide with any of the traders that are busy docking and undocking in the port. This is perhaps the last known port of call for the Thucydides, anything after this is veritable wild space, uncharted territory for the Commonwealth of Humanity.

And her crew is ready, she has been extensively briefing them for months at this point. Just like any expedition, nothing is being left to chance as far as Almira's concerned. It is a taxing job, but the 2 years of vacation time after every expedition is more than worth it for her, and anyone's concerned at this point.

"Alright then, set course to the solar system and punch when ready." She ordered the Helmsman, and within a few seconds. The blank darkness filled with circles of light evolved into a flurry of moving lights, all of them whizzing past the Thucydides.

Almira decided that since the journey to the star system would take a couple of days, that she would take some time off for now and monitor the rest of the ship, do some normal captain duties for a while during the ship's travels. She visited the mess hall, sleeping bunks, the botanical gardens, and several other rooms where the ship's various weaponry were being stored.

She was busy walking back to the bridge when it happened. She heard a loud boom, very unnatural and very much bad news for an experienced Captain such as her, hurrying back to the ship. She saw veritable chaos as the ship's speed slowly returned back to it's normal, pre-FTL velocity and the crew-members were scrambling to get things back in order.

"What happened?" Almira asked. Her tone calm and collected, but not hiding her concern.

"Subsystems are down ma'am. The ship's unstable, we are going to impact that planet in roughly 10 minutes!"

"Use those maneuvering thrusters NOW!!! MOVE!!" She screamed, immediately jamming her finger into a big red button on her Captain's chair, signaling an immediate emergency and for all crew to get into their quarters immediately.

Unfortunately, it was of no use. The ship's already set on a course to hit the planet, and all she can do is to make sure the ship lands in a relatively secure area.

Much to her discomfort, the area where they are landing seems to be somewhere around a mountain range, adding even more complexity into an already complex situation. She did manage to find a plateau, and the ship was then able to land, impacting the snow covered dirt in a very violent crash.

It took a couple of minutes for everything to settle down, the fires to be put out, and the ship put into some functional order. But as the reports from the various sections of the ships fill in. Almira's face soured.

Maneuvering thrusters shot through hell, FTL drive damaged and need extensive repairs, botanical gardens trashed but still recoverable, 30 crew-people were injured and being treated, life support systems shot and needing extensive repairs as well, and the exterior of the ship badly beaten up, with a high probability of unstable atmospheric flight characteristics should she try and fly the Thucydides once again.

The two good things in the report was that no-one was dead, some form of miracle if she were to see one, and the weapon systems of the ship are still fully functional, missile launchers, lasers, and railguns alike.

"Crap. You there!" She mentioned a crew member. "Contact the head of ship security, I need a perimeter set around the ship and with guards posted 24/7, I don't care how long it'll take to repair this ship, but we will guard this damn thing until we can send a distress signal and a Commonwealth task force is sent."

She is fortunate that the atmospheric reports from the ship's many, many sensors indicate a breathable atmosphere, but she has no idea where in the world her ship landed, and what sorts of dangers this planet may possess. Her crew didn't even have enough time to conduct a full scale survey of the planet. So she didn't even know what the topography and world map of this planet looks like.

In short, a situation where everything did go wrong, did. No matter, her first priority is to ensure the safety of her crew, create a safe zone around the Thucydides, and then...

One at a time Almira, one at a time.

---

Hear ye Hear ye!

Adventurers needed, brave, strong, of noble quality, and capable of speaking Draconic.

Come to the Royal Palace in the Capital City should you possess these qualities. His/ Her Majesty requires the services of Brave Adventurers of the land.

Are you brave enough to go on a long, arduous adventure? Go to the Royal palace and prove your worth!

Money, Gold, Property, all sorts of rewards await those who succeed!!

Posters with similar meaning were posted in all major cities in Friestan the moment that meteor was sighted, a shock for most mages and sages since nobody expected a sudden meteor strike to occur, but once the chaos subsided, the various kings and queens of the realms of Friestan knew what had to be done.

Considering that this is the Dragonspine Mountains, people who spoke Draconic was also needed, a necessity considering the sheer amount of Dragons that inhabit the mountain range.

But, as with all things involving the lesser species, sufficient determination and effort does yield results eventually, and a group of adventurers, hailing from different parts of the world. Was summoned and will depart from the city of Cendana in Pataliputra. Who these adventurers are, and whether or not they will travel as a group or separately, we will see as a certain Ksatria Naga waits in this inland city. A hub for the Tropical Wood Trade and the largest inland city in Pataliputra.

“I need a report guys, come on! Give me the bad news.”

The engine decks of the Thucydides were abuzz with activity as soon as Sumiye and her crew were given clearance to leave their quarters and get back to their stations and their work, which at the moment meant assessing the damage to the ships primary means of sub-lightspeed propulsion and finding out what was what. The senior engineer read through the periodic updates from her team on a portable terminal as she walked through the halls, stopping to check on a system every now and then as she made her way towards the main engine room herself to check it in person.

Her engineers down there were reporting no major damage to the engines themselves, which was good; they were operational and more importantly showed no signs of energy leaks or surges. She’d ordered them shut down anyway, just to be on the safe side; the last thing they needed was for the damn things to overload and finish the job that the FTL had started by blowing up the whole ship. It had turned out to the correct decision when some of her other engineers found out that a bunch of pipes had burst a few decks down, pissing coolant at an alarming rate and simultaneous flooding and freezing the rear lower decks. Despite the leaks making entire sections of the ship uninhabitable, the lack of coolant also meant that it the engines weren’t shut down they would eventually overheat.

They’d stopped the flow for now and were already making plans to patch the pipes and restore flow to the engines. She just hoped they could salvage some of the lost coolant or else they might not have enough to run the engines at full power.

Aside from the main engines, the manoeuvring thrusters were about 60% operational; a few of them had burned themselves out trying to steer the runaway ship away from the planet and then directing it towards the chosen landing site once that wasn’t an option. That accounted for about 5 to 10% of the losses, with the remainder being lost to the crash itself. Therein lay the problem. 60% would be enough to control the ship, if just barely, were it not for the fact that most of the working thrusters were location on top of and at the back of the ship; the damaged ones were mostly located on the underside, as anything down there that wasn’t very sturdy was basically crushed under the not inconsiderable weight of the ship itself when it touched down.

Sumiye let out a sigh.

At least the hull hadn’t been breached, as far as she could tell. They’d probably have to head outside and check that themselves at some point though, just to be safe. Probably the biggest task they had ahead of them was just going to be manually checking all of the things that the sensors around the ship were currently telling them, since they couldn’t be sure that they hadn’t been damaged in the crash as well.

“Has anyone heard from the Chief? He should have gotten in touch with me by now.”

A few second passed before a response came in, Sumiye stopping in her tracks as the first line of text appeared.

[Chief Gottfried injured in crash.]

[Currently in medbay.]

[Unconscious and non-responsive.]

[You’re in charge now.]

“Shit.”

Not too long ago, the Brahman of the Kingdom of Pataliputra saw a shooting star... but unlike most shooting stars, this one actually fell from the heavens and struck down the earth with all the fury of the gods, landing in the middle of the Dragonspine Mountains, just off the northern border of the kingdom. Close to home, far too close for comfort in fact. While no doubt people of other nations saw the fallen star as well, it was Pataliputra who was concerned the most due to its proximity, therefore its sovereign immediately sent envoys to spread word that she was hiring brave adventurers to venture into the mountains and investigate the site, in return for very handsome rewards of course for Queen Maharani was no fool, she knew it'd be a perilous journey where even the best of adventurers would find themselves challenged.

One of the adventurers who answered the call was none other than Srikandi Nagasari the Ksatria Naga. She returned home as soon as she could to answer the summons.

However, behind the scenes, there was something more, something that the public missives didn't disclose. Srikandi was specifically summoned by Her Majesty Queen Maharani Darmawi herself to lead Pataliputra's expedition into the Dragonspine Mountains. The reasons might be obvious at first glance, the white-haired warrior was an experienced adventurer, came from a family with draconic heritage, and last but not least, could speak Draconic, she was the obvious choice if they were going to have any decent chance of success, she was called Ksatria Naga - Dragon Knight - for a good reason after all.

Yet, there was another thing, a little secret task whispered to her in hushed tones. As Srikandi was a Pataliputran native, the Queen implored her to assess whether the fallen shooting star would be a threat to the kingdom's safety or not, and if the former, she was obligated to ensure it wouldn't be so for the sake of her own people, including her own family, many who lived in the nation's capital. Obviously, the honorable warrior had no reasons to argue as there was no conflict of interest here, both queen and adventurer wanted the best for their people.

Now here she was, settled in one of the private rooms of Cendana's Adventurers Guild, waiting if anyone else would go along with her to the dragon-ruled mountains. While she didn't expect too many applicants given how dangerous the task was, there should be at least one or two brave souls capable enough to join. However, given the personal stakes she had over this duty, she'd go by her lonesome if it came down to it.

---

Clack, clack, clack

The sound of light metal flicking open repeatedly in the quiet office. A single person sitting in the cold space.

Clack, clack, clack.

Zoe sat curled up in the mildly uncomfortable chair, a ball of nerves. She wasn't quite sure why takeoff always made her anxious; it didn't make sense by any means. She was raised on a colony; the idea of space was home to her. She trusted space travel as much as she trusted the ground beneath her feet. She had done it a million times throughout her life, and she'd do it many more in the future. But leaving for a long mission always put her in this state.

Clack, clack, clack.

The lighter was a memento from her father. Something he handed down to her when they went camping. He still has a matching one now, but it's got less character Zoe thinks.

As she flicks it open and closed, she wonders about why this is the habit, rather than actually lighting the thing.

Aside from using up it's fuel, she still has the habit of not lighting fires onboard any ship. She remembers learning in history class about how nothing that produced fire was ever allowed aboard the ships of old. How even pencils needed to be replaced with zero gravity designed pens, because the graphite that came loose could clog filters and cause problems. Spooked her right good.

She took a deep breath and stopped fidgeting with it.

"No need to worry. Worrying can just manifest troubles. If we don't worry, we're less likely to experience anything bad!"

As if on cue the ship shuddered like a cave ready to collapse, and a deep rumbling passed through the floor.

She stopped dead in her tracks; standing now. Hands planted on the tabled edge.

"I didn't..."

Then the room began to pitch, and the sirens turned on. Blaring the orders for safety. Her captain's voice telling her only enough to know something very not right is happening.

It took her only a moment of processing to start running towards her bunk. Through garden 3, past the fruit trees and fungi; then suddenly the ship went wrong-ways. Tumbling into the loam, she let out a shuddering "haaah" sound as the crew on helm got the thrusters under control. The ship of course, was still heading downwards; because there was now a downwards. The forces of gravity once again conspiring against the whims of people.

When the thick metal exterior of the Thucydides struck the surface like a red spearhead, Zoe was just getting into her room, launched off her feet by the impact and against the wall next to her bed. When things settled she had her back on the floor, a leg in the air and one on her pillow. She sat still long enough for a blessed silence to settle in, then blew some hair from her face.

"And that's why we stay calm."

---

After recollecting herself, Zoe marched back to the office; a few new colorful band-aids plastered on her. Ready to meet up with the other botanists, landscapers and caretakers of the ships green features. She took stock, took orders, and took no breaks getting some things back into order. Grow beds spilled halfway across the hall, plants uprooted, seed banks compromised, water supplies leaking. It was going to be a long day.

Her B-Bots were on survey duty at first, then collection duty next. Consolidating mess to be better cleaned. Making automated logs and reports to save on time. Zoe had heard that this planet had breathable air. That was good; that meant life. Life could make this easier. Even as she became entrenched in her work; she wondered.

What would she get to see out there?

“So how about you?”

”Me?” Q-T blinked a few times, clearly having not been paying attention, before shifting her face to ‘look’ over at the source of the voice

“Yeah you, Q-T” Neilsy, one of her team members said with laughter in her tone “weren't you listening?”

Her face mimicked blushing while the Ai admitted ”Sorry. I was just messaging people goodbye while we set off”

“Ah right fair fair. I mean kinda rude to be messaging at the table like that,” Neilsy made a face of false contempt and flipped a hand across said table, which was set up in one of the public areas where her EVA crew were hanging out, who, after doing their external checks and getting inside the ship well ahead of the actual launch, had promptly put their feet up to get some rest during the jump itself. Around them were a few other groups who didn’t have anything prestigious to be doing while the ship was doing its first trip through hyperspace and together they were having a very low key launch party for the start of the new mission, which mostly involved trading stories about what they’d been up to over their extended holiday.

“Soooooo, meet some fun people while you were on holiday?” Neilsy asked, leaning in with an ear for gossip.

”While I was working” Q-T corrected her ”But yeah! I did.”

“Damn girl, and I thought you were kidding when you said you where going to do that rather than take the time off” Neilsy replied, receiving a shake of Q-T’s head, or rather a side to side shuffle of her virtual face on her dome.

“And that’s why she’s closer to reaching team lead after one of these missions than you are after three Neilsy” Riley, who was their team lead, pointed out.

“More like because you wouldn’t know what you’d do without my steadying hand” fired back at Riley with practiced ease, which got her an eye roll before all heads turned back to Q-T with implicit insistence that she elaborate.

”Welllll. Ok, so. First gig I got after this was a prospecting job. You ever done one of those?” she asked

Riley nodded while Neilsy replied “Nope. sounded boring as watching paint dry,” which also got a nod from Riley.

”Yeah for real it is” Q-T agreed ”Buuut while I was on it I met this super cute bore drill technician and, well, there's a looooot of waiting around on that kind of job, you know, so there was plenty of time for-”

Sadly the saucy details were prevented from being spilled because that was when it happened. First the loud boom cut off all chatter for a moment as people looked around, trying to work out if it had been something nearby (which, due to them being in a common area far from the ftl drive, there wasn’t really anything to be seen straight away) then murmurings of speculation bubbled up before the lighting suddenly went red and an automated voice blared out, telling everyone to confine themselves to quarters and brace for impact.

“Alright people, get your butts back to your rooms, but orderly like, you hear?” Riley stood and called out to the off duty crew, a call echoed by a number of other level heads to forestall any kind of panic.

“This has got to be a drill. Right? We just set out so they're doing a test. right?” Neilsy whispered worriedly, as they all pushed themselves out of their seats and started moving for the exit.

”I don’t think they cause big bangs to set off practice drills?” Q-T replied

---

Ten minutes later and there was now no doubting the dire state of affairs as Q-T let go of the wall she had pinned her two colleagues against while acting as an emergency brace/seat belt during the impact, the trio having been much too far from their cabins to make it back in time with the shaking going on.

Some of the others hadn’t been too lucky to have a friend shaped seat-belt at hand, and so the trio of Astronauts spent the first few minutes of the crash on damage control, hauling the wounded to med bay, doing impromptu fire fighting and generally doing whatever was needed, with Q-T doing much of the heavy lifting. She pulled aside debris, hauled humans over her short shoulders and quad wielded fire extinguishers till the situation was stabilized.

At that point they found themselves exhausted, the two humans leaning against the wall while Q-T leached off of some of the remaining emergency power to top up her batteries.

While they were there they finally got an update as to what exactly was going on from a passing trooper heading for the outside world.

“Well at least the air’s breathable out there. Not that that would be an issue for you. But I guess they won't be needing us to go out suited up” Neilsy said.

”They might still need us. Could you imagine some of the tacticians climbing up the outside of the ship on their own? I’m getting jitters just thinking about it” Q-T mentioned, her mind helpfully supplying her images of techs falling off of the broken exterior of the ship because they forgot to moor themselves to it properly.

“Mmmh” Riley agreed, tapping away at a little communicator before informing them that “Looks like Chief Gottfried’s down for the count”

”Yeah we saw him in med bay” Q-T pointed out helpful which got a “We did?” from Neilsy and a cough from Riley to get their focus back to her. “So it looks like Sumiye King is in charge now. I’ve left her a note to let her know we’re available for any external repair work that needs done. Which means we need to go get ready to gear up. And find out what’s left in the EVA bay if anything”

”Left?” Q-T asked, before getting it and worrying about the various atmospheric exploration vehicles that their vessel had onboard. The crash wasn't too bad, all things considered, but you never knew. It wasn't exactly the most reinforced part of the ship compared with, say, all the crew corridors and cabins where the only hurt people had been. ”How bad will it be?”

“We’ll just have to find out. Come on ladies, let’s move” Riley instructed, pushing off of the wall and being joined by the other two, with Neilsy muttering “It is going to be such a pain if everything's all busted,” as they headed for the ship’s main primary EVA bay.

Zavim was walking back to his homestead. Having spent the day out looking for a wolf that had been plaguing his flock for a few weeks. A wand strapped to the outside of his thigh. Wiping some sweat from his brow, he hadn’t found the wolf. He would have to try again. After a meal and rest.
His careful gait carried him through the woods back to his humble estate. A small paddock and half a dozen sheep. He thought about the meal Josephine would have prepared for him. He hoped it was something hearty. Something that would help fuel him up. His wife was always a good cook. Almost instinctively sniffing the air, almost as if trying to discern what his wife was cooking in the distance. His nostrils filled with a familiar stench. His stomach dropped. His mind went from food and rest to worry. While he was expecting to smell the woodlands, instead he smelled smoke. His pace quickened. His breathing laboured as he pushed himself to return to his wife.

Bursting through the tree line, he saw his homestead up in flames. A group of guards standing out front bearing his wife. Trying to interrogate her. He felt rage fill his heart.

---

(Present Day)
He started awake. His dream all to real. He had trouble sleeping. Partly because he lay in a cold metal cage. Partly because in the space of a few days his whole life had been uprooted. His hand started to his outer thigh, instinctively searching for a wand. Still groggy, he was still getting his bearings.
As his heart rate began to slow again, it all came rushing back. The guards arriving at his homestead, beating his wife. The fight that ensued. Getting captured and imprisoned. Being scheduled for execution. A fluke falling star being mistaken for an omen. The church vying for exemption. The law vying for his death.
So, here he sat, in a prisoner transport, heading to Cendana. Where he would be forced to join an expedition to investigate the fallen object.

---

It was finally the day. Since the mysterious celestial body fell from the sky and crashed unto the world in the Dragonspine Mountains, everyone from the humblest of peasants to the highest of lords had their curiosity piqued with the sudden and unusual event. For most people, it was an interesting but ultimately entirely ignorable event that doesn't really affect their daily lives. For the intellectual or the powerful however, the event was very much significant, with concerns ranging from the promise of discovery to the possibility of dangers all being valid.

Emperor Tiberius Oberon, and the Empire of Oberia under his rule and guidance, happened to be filled with those that are both intellectuals and powerful such as the emperor himself. Indeed, it simply will not do for Oberia to just let the event pass without getting involved in investigating it directly. Add to that the fact that the Kingdom of Pataliputra was an important economic and academic partner of the empire, and the perquisite and reasoning were all there for Oberia to involve itself. It was then only a matter of who Oberia were going to send as the investigator that shall brave the potential dangers in the name of discovery. Such situations would normally warrant sending one of Oberia's fabled Royal Arcane Knights of the Knightly Order of Titania or a Royal Alchemist of the Adeptus Alkemia, highly capable individuals hand picked by the emperor himself to be Oberia's royal agents in affairs both domestic and foreign.

This time however, things had turned out differently.

All in the empire, and even many of those beyond its borders, knew of the twin princesses of Oberia. Adopted daughters of the empire himself, even just the circumstances of their miraculous "birth" had attracted the curiosity of the world similar to how the meteor had done now. Those who knew their names tended to also knew of their unusual upbringings, of their quite literally unnatural beauty, and of their great potentials despite their significant youth. However, not many among these people were also aware of how flawed the twins were. Miraculous their existences might be, they were after all still people. Flawed, with faults and weaknesses of their own, most glaringly being their general inexperience unsurprising due to their yet few years of lives.

And it were these flaws and these imperfections that made the emperor worry to no end when the younger of the twin, the 2nd princess Khaltesh Anki, had insisted that she be the one to go and investigate the meteor. On one end, Oberon was reluctant to allow Anki to go due to the reasons previously stated. On the other end, Oberon also knew that it's also simply wrong to refuse his young daughter's wish and deny her the chance to finally see the world outside of Oberia's borders. There's wisdom in giving her the chance; such endeavor might prove to be what Anki needed to significantly grew further as a person. Not to mention that Oberon, pioneer of revolutionary civil rights and advancement in racial harmony, would be akin to a hypocrite if he were to deny Anki's request.

Oberon, whom miraculous research had brought upon the advent of the sentient constructs to the world. Oberon, who had quickly adapted the laws and traditions of the empire to accommodate the constructs' existence and gave them rights as individuals and persons just like all other sentient beings. People would then be right to argue that it would be hypocrisy for him to deny Anki's wishes, seeing as how this beloved daughter of his was one of those very sentient constructs.

In the end, it was only after significant ruminations and discussions with many people including Anki herself and Anki's sister Spenta Armaiti that Oberon finally relented and allowed Anki to go with his blessings. On one condition. She were not to go on this expedition alone. Instead, she was to join up with other highly capable individuals who were also sent to investigate the crash by other countries allied with the Empire. One such individuals in particular being the famed Ksatria Naga, Pataliputra's very own Srikandi Nagasari. Talks supported by Oberia's own revolutionary Long Range Arcane Communication Aperture had already been done to finalize it. Regardless of how many other individuals might be joining the expedition, Anki shall be companion to Srikandi for this expedition.

All preparations for the mission were already done. She had also already said her goodbyes to her father, her sister, her mentors, her friends and many others significant to her. There shall be no fanfare, celebration, or other formalities. It was to be her first adventure after all, and she will return home all the better for it. Of this, Anki was very confident.

And so off she went. It was finally the day, for the young fledgling's first flight to the wide majestic world, out of the safety and comfort of her silver cage.

---

She could have gotten her own private lodgings, it was after all part of the arrangements due to her status as a princess of Oberia. It would have been way more lavish and extravagant than a private room in Cendana's Adventurers Guild for sure. Instead, she had decided to change that part of the arrangement. Anki was not here for vacation, nor did she believed that she was here in her capacity as a princess. No, in her mind, she's here on a mission as an agent of the empire. She had no need for extravagant comfort, though then again she never were one for such things anyhow. That was why she was completely fine with her involvement being something of a mutually beneficial thing for the empire and the Pataliputra both instead of something that will exclusively benefit herself. The rewards that were promised by the kingdom to those adventurers that joined the expedition and made it a success will not be applicable to her; neither she nor the empire had need for it anyhow. The strengthening of the bond between the empire and the kingdom, along with the experiences Anki shall doubtlessly accumulate, will be rewards enough.

So there she was with her trusty magical specter Ur Terra, one of the two fabled "doll princesses" of Oberia, walking out of her own private room within the guild to go to another room where her supposed companion should be located in. Curious gazes followed her from what bystanders there were along the way; she was not bothered by it at all, mostly because she didn't even really noticed that she were observed. Regardless, soon enough she arrived to her destination. Standing in front of the door, she paused for a few moments seemingly absently gazing at the wooden partition, in reality confirming that this door indeed will lead to the right room. Then she raised her free right hand to knock on the door exactly thrice, each time with exactly the same amount of strength put into it to cause three solid thuds to sound out from the wood.

Then she spoke, simply. "Ms. Srikandi Nagasari? Are you inside?"

The Blue Dragon Knight was seated on one of gathering hall's chairs, in front of her was a wide oval-shaped table for general uses. Her weapon of choice laid on said table, the longsword's glossy surface shining with a dim azure glow. "Taring" was what she dubbed this beloved blade, requiring the combined expertise of a smith and an alchemist to construct a weapon that was sharper than mundane steel, light as mithril, and sturdy as a diamond. It cost a fortune to commission, but it had proven to be a worthwhile investment as Taring was an unquestioningly loyal companion that saved her hide more times than she could count. Even if the whole world stood against her, Srikandi would never doubt that Taring would always be by her side.

Of course, such an ardent comrade deserved no less than the best so it's only prudent that she treated him like one. Though she didn't have the skills to reproduce such a masterpiece, she always made sure to inspect and maintain the sword routinely, especially before, during, and after a quest. She detected no faults so far in her inspection, the self-repairing enchantment held up pretty well, it made sure that minor chips and cracks would be of no issue. Though said enchantment couldn't do much if Taring was snapped in two, something or someone who could do such a thing would be a worthy foe anyway and likely deserved Srikandi's respect for being so strong.

It was in the middle of this meticulous inspection when she heard thuds of footsteps, heavier than usual more akin to a knight in full plate armor than an inn patron, and said thuds were growing louder with each instance. This prompted the Srikandi to slightly look up from her sword, half-expecting that it'd be a fellow adventurer that answered the quest listing, it was one of those hunches you'd only get through practical experience. Her instincts were proven true when knocks echoed thrice from the wooden door. Now that was quite peculiar as a prospective adventurer would just simply enter, this was a meeting set in a semi-public space for a publicly-posted quest after all. As a seasoned adventurer, she noticed these subtle nuances. This meant the person on the other end was a polite one, a bit overly so in fact. She wondered who it was...

Then the answer came in the form of a elegantly feminine voice, like that of royalty, but fortunately for Srikandi, she needed not to wonder for she recognized the owner of said voice. In fact, she had been informed of her participation beforehand, a little favor for the Emperor of Oberia, "Yes, please come in." She'd expect Anki to do so without delay, what with her literally standing behind the door and all.

"It's been a while, Princess." The silver-haired adventurer would quip to her black-haired counterpart, alluding to their first encounter back when the former was visiting Oberia as her mind immediately began playing memories of those times. She had done a favor for one of the imperial nobles and in addition to payment, the noble invited her to a ball held by the royal household. It was there where she first met the two princesses, Ankia and Spenta, "daughters" of Emperor Tiberius Oberon. Srikandi had to admit that her eyebrow was raised when she heard how they came into being, how it seemed like a dangerous slippery slope for a man to play like gods, but then again, any power could be abused, and what made the gods have the exclusive right to create life anyway? If mankind could develop the means to supplant their power, then so be it.

Besides, the living doll sisters were essentially very sophisticated golems, and so are humans with apes, dragons with lizards, and elves with... hmmm... pointy-eared apes? Anyway, you get the point.

"It's certainly an honor to have you with us," Ksatria Naga gave her a little smile before continuing, "Well, I said 'us' but it's just you and me right now, perhaps it will remain so, but with you by my side, I can't exactly complain." They had sparred before after all, she knew how powerful Anki was for someone so - technically - young. She wondered just what Oberon had been feeding her... wait, did she even need to eat at all? So many mysteries with these golems.

@Medili

---

Indeed, pretty much as soon as Srikandi answered her, Anki promptly opened the door to enter before gently closing it behind her. Her gaze then immediately centered on the highly reputed adventurer without bothering to look around the room first. She curtsied politely at Srikandi before replying, the mechanized joints of her limbs barely making any noise as she did so unlike how it would be for most other constructs if they attempted the same. "Indeed. It has been quite a while, Lady Nagasari." Anki remembered Srikandi quite clearly too. Even though she have had to meet so many people in the royal balls that she had attended since becoming princess, Srikandi had made quite the impression on her. And that was without counting the sparring match that they had before, which were a very unusual thing. It was not a typical occasion that one of the princesses sparred with an adventurer, let alone one of Srikandi's reputation. The Royal Arcane Knights had been quite intrigued and worried in equal measure by it back then.

It was only after answering Srikandi that Anki looked around the room briefly. Satisfied with her observation, she then walked over to one of the chairs before sitting down on it. She made sure that the state of her skirt was proper, putting her hands under it to straighten it as she sat down. Then, she put both of her hands on top of each other atop her skirt. Her scepter was leaned on her left shoulder, the heavy head well above Anki's head now that she was seated. One definitely cannot be faulted to think of Anki as being way too polite and prim considering they were not even currently in a royal court.

Then again, Anki also cannot be faulted for her conduct. She had never really had any experience of being casual outside of her interactions with her father or her sister. Everyone else including her mentors and even her friends weren't exactly casual with her; her friends even more so because they didn't want to seem improper towards one of the empire's princesses even if said princess was a friend.

In any case, she then looked at Srikandi again after she were properly seated, nodding lightly at Srikandi's words before replying with her own. "The honor is all mine, Lady Nagasari." She smiled a polite smile in return. "And so I see. I wonder if anyone else will be joining us... Regardless, I shall do my best not to betray your expectations." She finished her words with another nod, deeper than the last one. That was when her gaze then fell on Srikandi's trusty sword. She remembered it as well as she remembered Srikandi herself; it was a beautiful weapon betraying its deadliness and durability. "And I see that Taring is also in a fine condition. Beautiful as I remembered." She actually smiled wider than before as she observed Taring. This smile was not out of politeness after all, it was more genuine. One might think of Anki as weird for displaying such fondness toward what was basically "just" a weapon. This was not unusual of her, and those who gave it more thought should be able to understand why she acted thus toward unliving objects...

@Izurich

---

The notice that the infamous 'Walking Disaster' Catherine would be the one representing Gremarre to investigate the meteor incident was received with mixed feelings. The academic community of Gremarre could be clearly divided between those who begrudgingly understood the reason behind her being selected for that task, due to how capable she was and those who were outraged by the fact that someone who could as well be branded as a criminal would be the one to represent their proud Gremarre. In the other hand, most of the staff members and at least half of the adventurers that frequented the Adventurer's Guild branch in Gremarre were ecstatic. Even though Catherine herself had been holed up at her bunker-like lab, immersed in her research for the last week, every time she got out, either in search of ingredients or requests to take at the guild, the staff members held their breath with a sense of foreboding. Knowing that such journey wouldn't be a short one, that meant they wouldn't have to deal with her for at least a few months.

Regardless of what the academy, the adventurer's guild or even the population thought of Catherine having been chosen for the task, the royal family knew well how critical and relevant that event could be not only to Gremarre, but to the power balance between the kingdoms of Friestan. While their relationship with the human kingdoms was a somewhat amicable one, the Gremarre royal family was particularly worried about the Holdlands. Should the Dwarves be successful in making any significant magical or technological advance thanks to the meteor, Gremarre would be in a precarious situation should them resolve to use their newfound power to pressure them.

Unsurprisingly though, Catherine didn't give a damn about neither the commotion that the academic society was making nor what the adventurer's guild thought of her. For Catherine it was an unique opportunity of investigating an once-in-a-lifetime event. Catherine herself definitely wouldn't let such chance pass, regardless if she received permission or not, so being able to do so legally and with the blessings of the royal family was definitely one less headache she might have to deal with later.

---

The trip to Cendana in Pataliputra was a rather uneventful one. With most problems that involved documentation or bureaucracy being resolved with a single flash of the bronze badge containing the Gremarre Royal Emblem which identified Catherine as an adventurer working directly for the Gremarre Royal family, the trip was almost a boring one. Fortunately, thanks to the excitement Catherine had as she thought about the meteor and it's possible contents, she didn't have time to think about being bored. From new alloys, metals, minerals and substances inside the meteor's body to even biologic matter, the possibilities were endless and she wanted to be sure she wouldn't miss an opportunity because she wasn't prepared.

Upon arriving at the city of Cendana, even though it was her first time visiting it, Catherine could clearly see that the city was busier than ever. In fact, if it wasn't for the bronze emblem the Gremarre Royalty gave her, she would still be outside, waiting on the queue to enter the city. Upon entering Cendana, the first thing she was met with was the uncountable merchants and traders, offering their wares to the adventurers in the marketplace area. From weapons and armor to food and camping supplies, the amount of merchants and traders that were flooding the city only lost to the amount of adventurers that were roaming the streets.

Surprisingly enough, the Adventurer's guild wasn't as busy as Catherine had expected, seeing the amount of people that had gathered in the town of Cendana. The very second she stepped inside the guild, she could feel the burning stares of not only the guild staff, but a few of the 'adventurers' inside, which did seem to be suspiciously well behaved and disciplined. Much more than the common adventurers she was used to. Raising an eyebrow, Catherine couldn't help but wonder if the 'warm welcome' was for her or some big-shot that might be present...

Completely unfazed by the stares, Catherine simply walked to the counter, stopping just in front of a nervous-looking young man. The way he looked around, searching for his superiors as Catherine stopped just in front of him, putting the bronze emblem on the counter with a loud clack. Already impatient due to the amount of people she had to push away while coming to the adventurer's guild, Catherine quickly became annoyed not only with the time the young man was taking, but due to how fidgety he was.

"What's the hold up now...? You see the emblem, right? You know just how hard it is to counterfeit these things..." she said, with a heavy, exhausted sigh.

After the nervous staff member pointed to a door in the end of a corridor, Catherine looked at the boy, sighing and shaking her head in disappointment. Just as she began making her way though, another one of the staff members blocked her way, putting his hand in front of her as she pointed towards her overcoat.

"I'm sorry, but you will have to leave the... umm... explosives... here." he said, pointing towards some of the vials that were hanging.

"Oh please, go ahead. Half of these liquids are extremely unstable compounds. Some explode, others burn uncontrollably when in contact with oxygen and a few of them will immediately vaporize into an extremely corrosive gas... The others are incredibly toxic and poisonous..." She said, taking one of the vials, with a dangerous looking, bright green liquid inside, pointing it at him.

"You have around... One in 43 chances of finding the healing potion, SHOULD you open something you shouldn't have or drop something... Considering it won't immediately kill or incapacitate you and the others around." She said with an acid smirk.

"Do you want to try your luck? No? Then GET. OUT. OF. MY. WAY." she said, pushing the staff member away, slamming him into the wall as she passed by

Catherine entered the room without any hesitation, not even considering knocking. The moment she did so, she couldn't believe what she was seeing inside. While one of the adventurers was a well known name, known as Ksatria Naga. The other was no one other than one of the famous 'doll princesses' from Oberia.

"That explains why the staff is so nervous with my arrival..." Catherine said with a chuckle as she entered the room, certain that both of them were able to hear the commotion when she entered the building.

"Ksatria Naga. Your fame precedes you." she said, looking at her with an amused expression before she turned towards Anki.

"And you..." Catherine said, approaching Anki.

"One of Oberia's famous 'doll princesses'... How intriguing..." Catherine said as she walked around Anki, looking at her with the sharp eyes of a brilliant alchemist.

After a brief moment, satisfied after observing Anki, she pulled a chair and sat down, looking at both women that shared the room with her.

"I'm Catherine, an alchemist." she said with a smile in a short and simple introduction, purposefully avoiding mentioning her surname and the 'nickname' that she received as an adventurer, curious to see if any one of them knew who she was.

@King Cosmos@DracoLunaris@deadpixel101

The mountainside is definitely cold, that is for sure. It's been a while since she last visited Tibet and the Himalayan regions, but this definitely matches the frigidity and the coldness of those areas. Nothing but cold mountains for miles on end, perhaps the occasional Yak braving the cold, and the endless snow pouring down from god knows where.

Almira herself was wearing nothing much, just her typical getup, it seems like an impossibility at first, but, as she's keenly aware of it. Almira was genetically modified, and one of the perks of getting military genetic modifications is the fact that you really don't need multiple layers of clothing to stay warm. Her internal body's metabolism is working overdrive to keep her temperature stable, and she really cannot stay here for more than a week at most. But she's not standing outside of the ship to do nothing.

She is working, a binocular on hand, watching the mountain ranges for any signs of... well, anything at this point. She just got news from the hangar that some of the planes and dropships, although damaged, can be repaired relatively easily from the existing stock of spare parts. So until the hangar's back to operational duty, all she wanted to do is to hunker down and make sure the situation didn't spiral out of control like what just happened when they were transiting in FTL.

She sees the security team setting up barricades, metallic walls with energy shielding, some wind turbines in order to get some alternative power source besides the Ship's reactor, and gates and weapon emplacements all over the place. With nothing much to see, she went back into the bulkhead, the same bulkhead she exited herself out of, and went back to the bridge.

"Hey." She gestured at one of the bridge's crew, a communications officer by his rank. "Can you bring in Chief Engineer King, that Brackman unit, and doctor Zoe Theseum to my Quarters? Make sure that they make a report of the current status of their sections, how are the repairs going, how are the botanicals fairing, are the EVA crew okay, that kind of stuff. It doesn't have to be extensive or anything, I just need a sitrep of what's going on."

"Yes Captain." He replied, promptly going to work as Almira exited the Bridge again and went back to her Quarters. She spotted some ridges within those mountains that would made for great points of exit, and perhaps lead a short expedition around the mountain chain should there be a need for such things. But before anything like that can happen, she needed her ship to be as prim and proper as she can be before making such endeavors.

She hopes that the repair logs from King aren't anything too bad, else she would just need to hunker down for the rest of the week at the very least. No hostile creatures by the looks of it though, silver linings in the situation by the looks of it.

It certainly wouldn't be far-fetched to point out that Anki was acting too formal, too... 'royalty'. She wasn't in one of her fancy balls or ceremonies after all, an adventurer's lot was a risky one and this kind of occupation usually wouldn't foster a prim and proper individual, a hungry basilisk cared not if you were a prince or a pauper, meat is meat. However, exceptions to the rule existed everywhere and Srikandi was one of them. Due to the silver-haired swordswoman's propensity for pride, honor, and decorum, she modeled her conduct after knights and most often took jobs from more reputable patrons, often times without consciously realizing it. And since Srikandi was the only other person in the room, no one called Anki out on her fusty bearing for better or worse.

"Well, even though this job is sponsored by the Pataliputran court and the reward is quite handsome, it's still a daunting notion to venture deep into the Dragonspine Mountains so..." The taller woman shrugged slightly, "I don't expect we'll be swarming in applicants, but that's a good thing in hindsight as I don't want any wide-eyed greenhorns to be risking their lives needlessly." She laid it out all bare, this job was one in which the uninitiated might not return from. It might sound harsh, but nowhere as harsh as what awaited them deep in the wilderness.

"Oh? Ahaha, indeed~" The Dragon Knight smirked proudly as she took her azure longsword by its grip then held it straight forward, showcasing its gleaming surface, "It has served me well over the years... and I don't see it changing anytime soon." After all, what were the odds that it'd be broken beyond repair? Sure a particularly powerful dragon may be able to snap it within its jaws, but what sane dragon would consider doing that at the risk of skewering their mouth? It wasn't just Anki who was fond of the sword, but Srikandi's fondness was specific, unlike the living doll's more general fondness toward well-crafted items.

"Did you know that its name means 'Fang' in Pataliputra-" Then just before the warrior could finish her little trivia, a loud thud following an angry rant echoed from beyond the room's walls, specifically in the direction from the entrance. Srikandi was alerted for a brief second, but then blinked twice. Was it just her or did that voice sound uncomfortably familiar? It was like the hissing of a venomous snake, something familiar that'd prompt the fight or flight instinct in you. Yet, they were safe within the walls of Cendana, what could possibly elicit such a profound reaction...?

Then the answer revealed itself as soon as the door swung open.

"..." Oh right, her... it seemed she'd be coming too, huh? In fact, Srikandi had been informed of this, she should have known this, but she had no excuse other than her mind subconsciously blocking that information off, like a trauma victim's selective amnesia in their effort to cope with the ugly truth. She guessed there was no more running away from it now, Catherine 'the Mad' Blackwood would be joining them. What? Did you think that "The Walking Disaster" is the only moniker she has? Oh you sweet summer child.

A far contrast from the petite princess, this latest addition to the group was a statuesque beauty. Srikandi had always considered herself to be quite taller than the average female human, but Catherine towered over her by a whole... few inches, well 'towered' wasn't exactly accurate, but the blonde was taller than her and that's a notable fact.

"Ms. Blackwood." The only dark-skinned woman in the room greeted their new arrival, her eyes half-closed, betraying the sheer amount of enthusiasm she had. Srikandi had the (dis)pleasure of working with her during her travels in the Kingdom of Gremarre, just once though, once, that should be telling enough at how fond the draconic swordswoman was of the unhinged alchemist.

"I assume any collateral damages will be fully compensated by the Gremarrian Academic Society, aye?" She went straight for the safety net, not sparing any pleasantries. Make no mistake, a significant part of her was doing this out of her loyalty to her homeland, but she was also an adventurer and adventurers get rewards. If she didn't have this insurance, Catherine would make them return home to receive debts instead. Oh, fifty thousand gold pieces in return for your services... and one million gold piece surcharge for the destruction of property and artifacts, no big deal, no big deal at all!

@Medili @13org

As always, news travelled quickly on a military vessel. There was no method of communication faster than a well-developed grapevine of people with too much spare time on their hands and before she even had time to adjust to the announcement of her new responsibilities herself, anyone and everyone was looking to her for answers.

Answers that she currently did not have.

Sumiye had only just finished a conference call with the other senior engineers, each person calling in from different parts of the ship to relay status updates, inform each other of problems, devise solutions and begin the long and arduous process of putting the Thucydides back together, when the next headache knocked on the door of her quarters/office. She looked up from the screen in her hand, turning away from a typed out message to the EVA team requesting someone who didn’t mind swimming through coolant two hundred degrees below zero to fix a few pipes as she gave the person on the other side of the door permission to enter. The door slid to the side to reveal a woman in military dress, the unfamiliar crewmember snapping off an unnecessary salute before taking exactly one step across the threshold and stopping again. “Chief Engineer.”

“No.”

Confusion flashed across a young face before they were able to school themselves. “Ma’am? E-excuse me?”

“I’m not the chief engineer; that’s still Chief Gottfried. I’m a senior engineer, or acting chief engineer if you prefer.” Looking back to the screen Sumiye pressed send on the EVA request before moving on to the next item of import on her long, long list of things to do today. It wasn’t until a minute or two later that she looked up and realised that the crew member was still standing there. Sighing, she placed the screen down on her desk and turned in her chair to face them fully. Maybe she had been a little too harsh there, but over the past few hours she found more and more people referring to her by a title that wasn’t hers, that she hadn’t earned; some did it jokingly, some more seriously, but either way she had to nip it in the bud before it became a thing.

Sumiye wasn’t the chief; he was still laid out in the infirmary. Alive. Even if he wasn’t that still wouldn’t make her chief; that whole ‘field promotion because your superior officer died’ didn’t apply to civilians and was morbid as hell even it is did. She wanted no part in it, as a joke or otherwise.

No reason to take that out on some random enlisted who didn’t mean any harm though. “What did you need?”

“The captain has requested your presence in her quarters ma’am. She wants your report on the current situation.”

She shouldn’t have asked. Leaning back in her chair Sumiye suppressed a groan, hiding it under the guise of turning away to retrieve her portable screen. “She’s requesting I go there now?” A nod from the crew member had the acting-chief engineer stomping down on another groan as she stood from her chair, tucked her screen into her overalls and moved towards the door.

“Alright, tell her I’m on my way.”

Riley refrained from pushing the mass of inventory data she had been compiling up for the very very busy hanger technicians the spare EVA crew were helping out directly to the captain when the technicians team’s head asked her to send up a report in her stead, and instead started a recording of the primary vehicle bay on her tablet.

”It, hmmm, well it could be worse” she said, over a recording of the bay, which at the moment had a small number of people (mostly EVA crew) trying to tidy up a mass of scrap metal using a combination of futuristic forklifts and old fashioned brooms, (Riley deliberately avoiding recording Neilsy doing a ‘my poor baby’ routine over a slightly dented jetbike sitting in the specialist EVA equipment section of the bay) while the actual staff were hard at work on other, actually salvageable vehicles, before shaking her head and deleting that response.

The captain was busy enough without having that ambiguity coming in on her head.

It really could have been worse and, indeed, it looked worse than it was. One of the vehicles had torn itself from its moorings during the barely controlled descent, and had more or less rolled and tumbled all around the bay for the rest of the crash, scattering bits of itself across the room and impacting several of the others in the process. That was, however, in terms of damages. The free rolling one’s death had just been very messy.

”One vehicle likely irreparably damaged, several others undergoing inspection and repair” she reported with an image of the utterly trashed machine, before adding a sub folder of images of the damages caused by the rolling vehicle and other, nor related, damages that had been caused by the crash landing.

That, plus a touch more details and some tables with accurate accounting of everything the hanger technicians had come across put in another sub-folder, was the report that got sent up to the captain about the dropships and various other vehicles. She was in the midst of carrying spare parts around when she got what initially thought was a simple follow up to that first report she’d sent. Instead it was a personal summons to the captains quarters, relayed from the ships com's officer.

She raised an eyebrow at that and then stepped over to show Neilsy

“What do you want? Can't you see I’m in mourning” the woman, who was currently sprawled over the front of the jetbike, replied in response to her leader’s attempt to get her attention.

“You know that would be incredibly bad taste if anyone was dead,” Riley pointed out

“Well no one is, so I am 100% in good taste”

“Doubtful. Anyway look at this” Riley said, before showing her her tablet

Neilsy sighed and craned her neck up to see and then actually perked up a bit with interest “Oh wow. Personal summons by the captain. Since when were you such a big shot?”

“Not me”

“Huh”

“Look at who it’s addressed too”

“Q-T? Why’s the captain want her. And why are you getting her mail?”

“Because-”

---

The world was a sea of frozen neon blue, and Q-T was a crab, skittering through its depths. Here and there, other denizens of the ocean could be seen, their bodies seized up due to the earth shattering cold, drifting between crumpled furnishings and ironically burnt out machinery. Fortunately none of those denizens were human (or Ai), and instead were they consisted of three dumb remote robots that had been used in the first attempt to fix the coolant leak, a set of sorry looking potted plants and one very unfortunate roomba 9000.

The captain’s forced quartering during the crash had ensured that no one had been in this room when the coolant pipe running through it ruptured, and then emergency shutters had sealed it off before the near absolute zero fluid had managed to flood out into the corridor beyond.

“You should be approaching the pipe now, Miss Brackman” came a voice from just behind her shoulder, which Q-T knew to actually be coolant engineer Jane, who was safely out behind two more blast doors, sending her communications via a data plugged into the back of her head which let her communicate with the coolant expert despite the lack of signal here, within the frigid sea. Accompanying the data cable was a power cable and a simple winch, one to ensure she had all the juices he needed to run in this extreme environment, the other to pull her out in case anything went wrong.

”Picking it up on sonar. Should be in visual in 3. 2.1. There it is” Q-T replied as, sure enough, the gash in the wall out of which the coolant was leaking came into view. ”Huh, it’s smaller than I expected. How’d so much get out”

“It’s at a lower pressure now hun. The stuff you're swimming through is about an eighth of the density of the stuff in the pipes” Jane explained through the line before asking “can you get closer?”

”There’s a bit of a current but yeah, I can” she replied, pushing through the flow of coolant and getting right up against the pipe

“Now then. Let’s see what the issue is” Jane, who was sitting in an office chair staring at a tablet that showed Q-T’s view, said while thoughtfully tapping the device’s side with a pen. The bot thought it was pretty obvious, there was a hole in the pipe they needed to seal, but having an expert on hand proved its worth when Jane’s answer was instead “Valve malfunction. Two, no, three steps up from the ruptured. Jonson get on it before we get any more breaches like this”

She gestured to a subordinate who indeed stroad towards the door to do just that, only to have it flung open in his face by Neilsy, who had been pried off of her bike and forced to do something useful.

“Hey, Q-T. You in here?” she asked, much too loudly for Jane’s taste, the woman giving her a death glare as Jonson rubbed his face and then hurried around the astronaut to go do his job

”Is that Neilsy?” Q-T asked through the feed.

“Yes” Neilsy replied, coming to speak with the tablet, only to be shoved aside by Jane who told the Ai that “It doesn't matter. Miss Brackman, please apply the FLUD unit to the crack”

”Can do Ma’am” Q-T replied, as she reached behind her and hauled the device, that looked a bit like a big suction cup if you were a layman, off of he back, and then began to apply the butt of device over the crack in the wall with mechanical precision while asking ”But what is Neilsy doing here?”

“It-” she began to say before Jane cut her off again with “is it an emergency?”

“well uh-”

“then it can wait. Please continue Miss Brackman, this should only take a few moments once Jonson has-” she glanced down at a notification coming up on her tablet and smiled “-ah good, the valve issue is already sorted. You may activate the device when ready Miss Brackman”

”Rodger!”

---

A few moments later and the device had clamped the hole shut, the binding had been thoroughly tested for stability and then the Ai had been towed out of the coolant and released from the emergency fluid lock set up around to let her in and out without letting the coolant itself escape. Said fluid lock would now be used to slowly drain the room now that the flow had been stopped and the risk of sealing one hole causing another had been prevented.

She stepped out of the door, frost crackling on her frigid metal body and gave a wave to Neilsy ”Hello! So what are you doing here>”

“I wouldn't be here if you could read your emails” she replied

Q-T ‘s face showed a ? for a moment before she got it ”Oh right, I set work emails to be forwarded to Riley while I was in there. Why what’s the matter?” she asked, and then went to check her emails and found the one about her being summoned.

”The captain wants me?” she asked with rhetorical surprise.

“Yup” Neilsy replied, looking smugly at Jane for a reaction to that and not getting the one she wanted.

“I’m sure the captain will understand a delay is the price for not having her ship flooded with coolant” she replied to the look with an unconcerned shrug “which we have you to thank for, Miss Brackman. That frame of yours really is something”

”Mmm hmmm. I commissioned it to be able to handle, well, basically everything” she replied absent mindedly while rereading the summons, still a bit taken aback.

“Looks like it paid off. Guess Riley was right about that promotion huh?” Neilsy said clapping the Ai on the back and then hissing and shaking her hand at how cold her metal body still was.

”I don't know about that... Oh? She’s asking for a report too? I’ll need to get on that too” Q-T worried, but fortunately she had been covered on that front.

“Riley already handled it already. James got scratched up, the idiot, but that's it. Some of our gears got bagged up a bit though, which is why I’m on runner deputy and not outside crawling over the ship. Or dangling from a dropship rappelling cable.” Neilsy said, wandering off of and then getting back on topic “anyway you should get going”

”Right right. Thanks Neilsy. Good luck with the coolant drain Ma’am” she said, before hurrying out getting a wave from her friend and a nod from Jane as she raced to not be later than she already was.

---

Anki turned her attention away from Taring back to Srikandi, listening intently as Srikandi talked, mentioning how the task at hand was an especially dangerous one. In truth, while Anki had read enough regarding the Dragonspine Mountains through many writings from story books to hands-on account by various adventurers to know that it was a dangerous place, she doesn't yet have a clear vision of how dangerous it truly was. Her father and mentor had of course also gave her warnings and advice, telling her to be as careful as can be and that was indeed what she was intending to do, but regardless one can argue that she was a part of those that are "uninitiated" for the dangers ahead.

One can only wonder whether her capabilities will be able to make up for her lack of experience, and whether she will be more of an asset or a burden for Srikandi and the others that might join them on the task.

Then, just as Srikandi was explaining about the meaning of Taring's name to Anki, the conversation was interrupted by a noise from the outside. Anki didn't show much reactions to it; only that her eyes had strayed from Srikandi to the direction from where the noise came from. She wondered briefly about what the noise were all about and who had caused it when said cause then revealed itself soon enough as the door to the room was swung open.

In entered Catherine Blackwood, the "Walking Disaster" and apparent bane of the academics of Gremarre. Of the three now in the room, the alchemist were the tallest; slightly more than Srikandi and significantly more than Anki. The woman muttered something about the staff being nervous about her arrival before regarding Srikandi, and Srikandi's own response to her appearance revealed that they already knew each other. Anki observed the two quietly, completely missing the enmity Srikandi displayed towards Catherine. That is, she had noticed the peculiar expression on Srikandi's face due to her being naturally very observant, but she failed to realize what the expression itself represented. Regardless, the alchemist's attention then switched towards Anki herself. She returned the alchemist's gaze directly, her eyes following the alchemist as she muttered about how intriguing Anki was. Even as Catherine walked around her to observe her, Anki's head and gaze followed her the whole time.

Followed her very literally, that is. Her body didn't shift a millimeter. Instead, as Catherine walked around to her back, Anki's head rotated around a full 180 degrees. She kept her gaze entirely toward the alchemist, observing her in return as she observed Anki, taking in everything from her physical characteristics to what she wore to the flasks of liquid on her coat.

The rotation of Anki's head was almost completely silent, just like her joints when she curtsied to Srikandi earlier. The typical person would probably be freaked out as the doll princess' rotating head reminded them that she was indeed a living sentient doll. By the end of it, Anki's head had rotated a full 360 degree and then some as Catherine finally took a seat.

And even after all that, Anki had no idea who this woman was. She only introduced herself as "Catherine, an alchemist", and while Srikandi had called her "Ms. Blackwood", Anki had no further information than that. To be fair, even if Anki had somehow recognized Catherine from hearsay or rumors, she still wouldn't have had much reactions aside from defaulting to a polite response; she still never met Catherine in person in the end.

So defaulted she did indeed. She bowed her head politely toward Catherine after the alchemist introduced herself and returned Catherine's smile with a polite smile of her own. "I am Khaltesh Anki du Oberia. A pleasant to make your acquaintance, Ms. Blackwood." And that was all she said, a simple response to a simple introduction.

@Izurich@13org

@Kumbaris

---

"We'll have to shut off the water for this area."

A wave of groans passed over the huddle of crew; sheltered in together in a sea of mess. It wasn't an entirely surprising diagnosis, but it meant the inconveniences they feared were soon a reality. Worse yet: It could spell for a bigger problem.

The area was an abstract painting of soil, broken glass and cold water high enough to make anyone regret wearing slippers. While many people such as lab technicians, sanitary workers, horticulturists and gardeners busied themselves with things such as setting desks upright, piling bags of fertilizer, cleaning glass and collecting uprooted specimen, some of the department heads were surrounding one corporal Bridge as he spoke.

"Is it a threat to the ship's water supply?" Asked a calm and concerned voice. One belonging to Dr. Andiya Zahib; chief of Onboard Agriculture. A dark skinned woman born and raised on good old mother earth. She always smelt like tea; what kind Zoe could never place.

"Luckily not. The only parts that need to be patched up are some pipes and a pump or two; which is the worst of it here. The water features here and here are the ones that..." The middle aged man from the engineering department went on and on, detailing where the impact bent features enough to build pressure; and which pumps couldn't handle it. Zoe watched him like a hawk, one of her drones on her shoulder making a recording of it all for later, her eyes unblinking as she took it in.

They'd have to set up temporary rubber pipes connecting all the way from another sector; far enough that it isn't within the radius of shut off valves. Zoe was stopped in the middle of a wide, clinically-cold corridor taking a long enough breather to wipe the sweat from her brow, when her communicator went off. She sucked at her teeth after reading the summons and sighed, slinging the heavy rubber tube back over her shoulder. The pair of robotic bees carrying another beside her hovered a pace behind. All the way mutterings peppered the air.

"I've hardly ever spoken with the captain and I'm going to show up either late or covered in dirt...sweaty...."

After dropping off her share of the pipes and delegating the storage of some seed banks, she was throwing a coat over her arms and dictating an informal report to the one B-Bot she'd be bringing with her. All the while applying deodorant and ineffectually cleaning her person. The undeterred and quick clomping of her prosthetics echoing ever towards her superiors quarters.

---

"Just take a deep breath. She isn't expecting you to smell like roses...Unless she is, because we're one of the botanists. No that's silly. And the boss isn't silly. Not entirely. I mean she likes to make jokes, especially about her young looks. But calling her silly doesn't seem fair. WE'RE the one being silly. We're standing in front of her door panicking. She's just your boss, she just wants information, you aren't interviewing. You've already gotten the gig. Why are we still doing this? Holy shit woman open the door. No! Knock first. Were you raised in barn?"

Zoe's thoughts sputtered in staccato. Her train of thought zig-zagging with the days ordeals. Of course it was just the beginning, but that was a thought to let fester later.

With a solid few raps on the door, she promptly entered.

"Ma'am. Zoe Theseum reporting."

She let her eyes scan the room, in a manner she hoped wasn't too obvious. It would be reasonable to assume all she was looking for were other crew members, but something about seeing the captains quarters was itself exciting; even considering the fact they're possibly stranded on an alien planet.

At the moment, it was just her and the captain.

She wasn't sure if that made it more or less scary.

The prison cart pulled up out front of the Adventures Guildhall. Zavim could feel the gaze of those on the street, and those looking out from their windows. A guard unlocked the cage, and tossed a bundle of clothes at the Half Orc. Zavim caught it and looked at the guard. A fire behind his eyes betrayed his anger. Was he really going to get changed, here in the middle of the street? Was that really what they expected of him? To treat him like an animal.
As Zavim begun to undress two of the guards smirked at each other. Seemingly glad they had reduced this man to little more than a beast.
When filled dressed, a guard grabbed Zavim and pulled him from the cage, before pushing his face into the dirt. Zavim didn’t even try to fight back. Knowing full well that any attempt would make his situation worse. A mage wearing the Royal insignia exited the Prison Cart’s cabin. They pressed a brand onto the back of Zavim’s neck, leaving a sizzling sigil branded onto his skin. The guards continued to man handle Zavim as they lifted him up and rolled up one of his sleeves. The mage placed a different brand on his left forearm. “These will make sure you serve term, and not break any more laws.” The mage explained before opening a case to reveal two wands. “These will be returned to you for the duration of your mission. Nod if you understand.” Zavim nodded. The mage continued his briefing. “You will answer to SRIKANDI NAGASARI. Nod if you understand.” Zavim nodded again. The mage smiled and handed him the case. Accepting the case, he turned to face the building as the guards and mage filed back into the Prison Cart.
So this was the start of his adventure…

---

It took some time to navigate the guildhall. He noticed people were less inclined to help a conscript than a volunteer. Though after a few minutes of searching, and a couple more to make sure he was well presented, and had his wands stowed in their respective holsters, he knocked on the door of the meeting room, and tentatively pushed it open.

@King Cosmos@DracoLunaris@deadpixel101

---

Almira wasn't sure what to make of the first arrival to her office. Obviously she is far, far too dirty and sweaty to be present in a meeting at any level. But then again, Almira is certain that Doctor Zoe has been busting her ass off trying to save the botanical gardens from dying off. So she's not much in a punishment mood right now, considering all the circumstances that has befallen her ship and her crew.

Just as she was about to greet Zoe though, out comes that Brackman unit and Engineer King. Both of them seemingly opening the door at the same time. Q-T leaking coolant fluid and Sumiye King not looking that much better, with grease and black stains covering all over her clothes and face. Darn, is the situation down in Engineering that bad? Well, hopefully she'll get a better idea of what's going on once Engineer King starts talking.

"Darn. You all look like you need a shower or something." Almira commented. "Do clean yourself after all this BS is over alright? You look like you need it. Captain's Orders."

"Aaaanyway. Why don't Acting Chief Engineer Sumiye King start off today's meeting, can I get an assessment of damages please? How long till the ship can be floated again? Is there a potential reactor malfunction? Should we mount more Wind Turbines as alternative power sources? I want everything. Then we can move onto Dr Zoe and how the botanical garden's functioning, and finally, to Q-T and how the EVA crew's doing? That alright for you?"

"I'll be honest. I kinda want to mount an expedition across the mountains, find out the surrounding area, that kind of stuff. But I need to know if our 'base' is secure enough for us to mount such a thing. So please, give me everything I need to know, nooks and crannies and all."

---

"Perfect. It will save a lot of time on explanations." Catherine said with a satisfied smile as she looked to Srikandi, after she mentioned her surname.

It seems the famous 'Ksatria Naga' knew exactly who she was. While she did vaguely remember working with Srikandi in Gremarre once, it was just a single time and Catherine didn't care to remember about it. When Srikandi asked about the Gremarrian Academic Society, inquiring if they would pay for any collateral damage, Catherine couldn't help but let out an amused laugh.

"The Gremarrian Academic Society? Hah! Those decrepit, envious old men would rather see me hanged instead of lifting a single finger to help me." Catherine said in an amused tone.

"The ones I'm working for are just a bit more powerful and influential than the Academic Society... People who have a lot more at stake with the meteor, given it's potential to shift the power balance between the kingdoms of Friestan than a bunch of scholars, worried only about their own names, their fame and their pride." Catherine said with a mischievous smirk. While she didn't really say who she was working for, it wouldn't be that hard for Srikandi to figure it out if she thought a bit about it. It was almost as if Catherine only didn't say it out loud in order to make her think.

Turning her attention towards Anki, Catherine got surprised seeing her greetings and introductions being made with such politeness and a pure smile, without any malice. Catherine couldn't decide if she thought of Anki as naive or someone who refused to judge others solely based on rumors, but it was refreshing meeting someone like that for a change. Catherine was tired of meeting people who were either too envious, proud or were unable to hide their fake smiles and their ulterior motives. Honest people were very hard to come by, especially for someone with Catherine's talents.

"The pleasure is all mine, Anki. You can call me just Catherine." She said with a small bow towards Anki.

Just as she finished greeting Anki, Catherine heard the knocks on the door before it opened, revealing the fourth member of their team. Standing at over six feet tall, the half orc had a strong presence, which only became stronger thanks to the tattoos and piercings, gaving him a wild and tough appearance.

"It seems one more member has arrived to our little 'party'." Catherine said, nodding to the half-orc as he entered the room.

It's fortunate that Srikandi was rather familiar with Anki and her... quirks, including her ability to turn her head like an owl, wait, surpassing an owl as she's sure that owls could only turn their head 180 degrees before having to rotate the other way around, a full 360 degrees spin was beyond them. That was the only reason that Anki's head spin didn't cause a reaction in the dragon knight, but Catherine hadn't met the artificial human before, yet... she so casually brushed off that impossible - for the common man - feat of contortion. "Eh, that's because she's crazy." Srikandi told herself with a shrug, the blonde had likely seen far more bizarre horrors in that lab of hers, something as 'simple' as a sentient construct was merely a passing curiosity.

Now what did manage to elicit a reaction from the tanned swordswoman was the alchemist's nonchalant attitude at the matter of her inquiry, even as the taller woman spoke, Srikandi was already thinking of demanding Catherine to sign an oath that all collateral damage compensation would be her responsibility alone. In the end, she decided against it as Catherine practically revealed that the Gremarrian Royal Court was her sponsor, right, that made sense. In hindsight, it seemed obvious as those academics hated her guts and they'd have sent someone else to investigate this meteor so the fact that Catherine was here meant she was either independent or sponsored by someone else.

"I presume that you're speaking about Gremarre's royal family." Though a supposedly obvious conclusion, Srikandi felt behooved to speak it out, she couldn't spare any caution when dealing with this madwoman, "If you lie, on your head be the consequences." The dragon knight decreed curtly, nary a modicum of jest in her tone.

Speaking of consequences, the door opened to herald the arrival of the only person here who's forced to adventure, Zavim Remington a.k.a Sleeve McDichael a.k.a Mr. Fuentes a.k.a Freddy Melon, and who knew how many other aliases he had over the decades of his scummy history. He gained a bit of infamy among sailors and as such, Srikandi heard his tale from the ship crews during her travels across the seas of Friestan. Well well well, it looked like he couldn't escape his dues after all, this is why crime never pays, children. One way or another, your debts would demand something from you.

"Welcome aboard, pirate, make yourself useful, and maybe I'll put on a good word to the queen for you." The silver-haired adventurer snickered, looking down at the half-orc as if he was scum, well, he is scum as far as she was concerned, a criminal who had roamed free for far too long, a blight upon civilized men everywhere. She was sure that the ex-pirate had robbed one of her family's merchant vessel, stealing a small fortune's worth of spices. Make no mistake, Srikandi had no reservations of allowing Zavim to join them, in fact, she welcomed it, a pack mule and sacrificial lamb in one neat green-skinned package. If a dragon should demand a live tribute to pass their territory, she'd gladly offer up Zavim.

"Right, now that we're all here. Let us be on our way." Without further ado, Srikandi sheathed Taring before taking the initiative to leave the meeting hall, expecting the princess, the mad genius, and the pirate scum to follow her. She had already prepared essential supplies for the trip, but if anyone needed something extra, she'd allow them to purchase whatever they need first as there'd be no shops deep in the mountains. From there, they'd board a passenger ship that'd take them upstream toward the Dragonspine Mountains, the aquatic vehicle powered by Magitek to enable it to sail against the river currents.

@Medili @13org @Sanity43217