thedman

The Zea of Worlds

DSS Audie Murphy

---

As the group looked over the crashed ship, they were interrupted by what Carver immediately recognized as a sonic boom. Looking up, he could see the dust from the crash get carried off, and he saw what looked like aircraft contrails, organized in a tight formation, quickly flying out of view. It looked almost like...

"Fighter craft." Carver said, as the rest of the group stared up at the apparent aircraft. Turning around, he began to run towards the ship. "Get inside, quick!" The other Marines needed no instruction, following Carver. Running up to the doors of the vehicle bay, Carver send a command over the radio, and the doors began to open. Stepping inside, they closed after the last member of the group made it through. As the Marines took off their visors, the engineers in the vehicle bay stopped to look at them, wondering what had caused them to run inside so quickly. Carver was about to address them, but was interrupted as the Adjutant patched in.

He stayed silent as the Adjutant relayed the information to him. The information about the unknown energy in the air concerned him, but at least it didn't seem harmful to humans. He was more interested in the information about the two sources in the air, as well as the seismic activity underground. He didn't know what the energy was, or why the apparent aircraft were giving it off, but he assumed it must have been something that had to do with the planet. What scared him was that the Adjutant had detected seismic activity, as well as sonic disturbances. Seismic activity was usually an indicator that there were burrowed Zerg nearby, and the fact that the sonic disturbances were similar to insects buzzing didn't help dispel his fears. Slowly, he connected to the PA system, and began to speak to the crew.

"Everyone, listen up. We've detected what appears to be aircraft of some sort nearby. In addition, we've gotten reports of seismic activity underground. Now, I know what you're thinking. I don't know if it's Zerg, but I don't want to take any risks just yet. We're gonna bunker up for a bit. I want those carbines handed out to as many people as possible, and I want our Goliath pilots to report to the vehicle bay, along with all our Marines. We need to be ready for anything. Carver out."

After that, he disconnected from the PA system, and sent Specialist Lee a call. He picked up almost instantly. "What do you need, Carver?"

"How's the status of the guns? They online?"

Lee paused, evidently looking through a terminal. "The four topside Gauss turrets are online. The other four are on the bottom of the ship, and the laser batteries wouldn't be able to hit anything in this case."

"Good enough. Keep them on, just in case. We might get into a fight, so I want to be ready. Tell the engineers to prioritize getting the Dropship online when they can. Also, tell the Adjutant to track these aircraft. I'd like to know what's up with them."

"Alright, can do. Let's hope they're peaceful, right?"

"Yeah. Let's hope."

The Zea of Worlds

I'm not sure if we need a discord, but it couldn't hurt. We could share ideas and stuff like that.

The Zea of Worlds

DSS Audie Murphy

---

The vehicle bay was a tall, large room, containing all the ship's vehicles, as well as the equipment needed to repair and maintain them. The entire crew of the ship had gathered there, some wearing Marine armor, while others wore the dark blue uniforms of the UED navy. Carver, back in his familiar suit, stood on top of a large metal crate, facing the crowd. There was an anxious mood among the crew. The loss of half their number, as well as the death of the Captain, had hit them hard, and the fact that they were stranded on an unknown world only made it worse. Carver had gathered them here for two reasons- to brief them on what the Adjutant had found, and to reassure their faith in him as their new leader. Something told him that would be easier said than done.

Clearing his throat, he began to speak, his voice carried by the ship's PA system. "Men and women of the Murphy. I have gathered you here to speak to you, as a fellow soldier."

"I don't need to brief you on what's happened so far. We've crashed on an unknown planet, and half our crew, including our Captain, lay dead. We've all lost friends and comrades today. But, we need to keep moving forward."

"I don't know how long we're going to be stuck here, but it's likely we'll be stuck here a while. We need to prepare ourselves, mentally and physically, for the challenges we are going to face. And, with the information recently uncovered, the situation here has gotten more complicated." He paused, as the crew chatted amongst themselves, wondering what he was referring to. "We have reason to believe that we are not the only ones here. At least one other ship has crash-landed here with us, and there may be more."

"I do not know who these others are, or what intentions they have. We can hope they are peaceful, but we must be prepared for the possibility of conflict. For this reason, I will be leading an expedition to explore the surrounding area, and to- hopefully- make peaceful contact with these people, whoever they may be."

"Whatever happens, we must stay strong. We must never forget our mission- to protect humanity. All other objectives are secondary to this. Together, we shall ensure that the deaths of our comrades were not in vain. Thank you." And, with that, he stepped down from the crate, to a cheer from the crew.

---

Carver didn't think of himself as a good public speaker. He was mostly going off of what he remembered from the Captain's speeches and various propaganda broadcasts, but it seemed to work. He had selected four Marines to accompany him on his expedition. They had considered bringing along a Goliath, but had decided that it would be unnecessary. Standing in front of the vehicle bay doors, they watched as they opened with a hiss, and the forest outside became clear to them. Taking a few steps outside, they observed the ship. It was in one piece, but there were several large pieces broken off, scattered around the crash site. It would take a while to fix, that was certain.

Their inspection of the ship done, Carver and his squad turned around, looking at the column of smoke in the distance. Other than that, there were reports of a structure nearby. It was up to Carver to decide which site the squad would investigate first.

The Zea of Worlds

Anyways, I'll probably post later tonight.

The Zea of Worlds

Hm, should I try posting something? I have an idea, but I feel like I should wait for something to happen.

@WanderingDragon

I say you should go post something.

The Zea of Worlds

@Rune_Alchemist Well, given that my ship appears to be the closest to yours, you might run into a UED scouting party.

The Zea of Worlds

DSS Audie Murphy

---

Carver's vision was blurry as he woke up. His ears were ringing, and he could feel something pressing down on his side. He could hear footsteps and several voices, coming closer. As the voices approached him, he felt the weight lift off his sides, followed by a loud clank as a piece of debris hit the floor. A gloved hand reached out to him, and started to pull him up. As Michael stood up, his vision cleared, and he saw the face of a familiar young Korean man looking at him. "Specialist Lee. You're alive."

Lee gave him a slight smile. "And, by some miracle, you are alive as well. Mostly unscathed, too, I might add. Others were not so lucky." At that, Michael looked around the room. The bridge was in disarray, with many of the consoles damaged, and piles of debris littering the floor. Several of the bridge crew were nursing various wounds, while others were crumpled up, dead. He saw the Captain lying on the floor a few feet next to him, blood staining his formerly pristine uniform. Lee was looking at him, a frown on his face. "Unfortunately, the good Captain didn't make it. Neither did a good deal of the crew."

Carver had known Captain Ramirez for a long time, and his death was sure to lower the morale of the crew. And with the Captain dead... he turned to face Lee. "This means I'm in charge, doesn't it?"

"Given you were his second in command, yes, this means you are in charge, now. So, Captain, what are your orders?" Lee asked, trying not to smirk.

"Well, first off, don't call me Captain. Second off, I'm making you my second in command. If I die, you're next in line. Third off, get me a damage report." He looked around the bridge. "And...get some body bags if we have them. I'd like to give the dead a proper funeral, if we can."

---

As it turned out, they had body bags. The surviving crew had all been accounted for, and the bodies of those killed in the crash were put in body bags and moved out of the way. In total, twenty-eight crew members had been killed in the crash. A few were heavily wounded, but in stable condition, and there was a slew of minor injuries. Their equipment hadn't faired much better, a good portion of it being destroyed. Half the Goliaths were wrecked, but the surviving two were in good shape. The dropship was somewhat damaged, but could be repaired in a short while. One of the siege tanks was destroyed, and the other had moderate damage, which would leave it out of action for a while. They only lost a few SCV's, and Carver was ecstatic to learn that his personal Marine suit had survived. While they had lost a great deal, it could have been much, much worse.

Watching over the bridge, Carver and the surviving bridge crew waited as the engineers attempted to get the power core back online. The fusion reactor powering the ship had a large store of fuel left, and would last them for a long time. He pressed on his radio headset. "Any progress?"

"We're almost done, Sergeant. Almost...there!" There was a pause, then a large amount of noise as the computers on the bridge all booted up at the same time. The lights turned on soon after, and the Adjutant's mainframe began to boot up as well. Across the ship, the crew paused to clap and cheer, and Carver couldn't help but smile. Well, that's that. With the power back on, they could use the ship's systems to their advantage. Michael walked over to the Adjutant, as the machine finished booting up. He always found the humanoid "body" of the machine a little creepy, but he couldn't deny its usefulness.

As he walked into view, the machine's head stared down at him. "Greetings, Sergeant. Where is Captain Ramirez?"

He cringed. "Captain Ramirez is dead. I'm in charge now."

It kept staring at him. "Understood. Activating succession protocols." It beeped, then continued, in its synthetic female voice. "I have been able to gather a variety of useful information on the planet we have crashed upon, Sergeant."

"Well, tell me."

"Of course." Beep. "This planet matches no known systems in the Koprulu Sector. We may have stumbled upon a previously unknown system." Beep. "We appear to have landed in a mountainous region, near the edge of a large forest. The planet is surprisingly Earth-like, and is capable of supporting human life." Beep. "Our sensors have detected a large amount of smoke emanating from deeper within the forest. It is likely that we are not the only ones to have crashed here."

"Not the only ones, huh? This might complicate things..." He paused for a moment. "I'm going to get my suit and head down to the vehicle bay. Tell everyone to meet down there. I'll brief them on the situation."

"Understood, Sergeant."

And with that, he was off. Let's see what we're dealing with here.

XCOM: Retaliation

@Zoey White Alright, no problem.

The Zea of Worlds

<Snipped quote by thedman>

Alright, I guess I'll try to be around where the other pony characters are?

@Jaredthefox92

Somewhere around there, yeah. You can come up with reasons for why you're there and all that.

The Zea of Worlds

Oh crap, it's started. Um, where should I start off?

@Jaredthefox92

Well, everyone is getting their intro posts done, so you could probably do something similar, like introducing your character.