Dead Space (FWC Halloween Thread)

[Derrick Veltraa]

[member="Laira Vereen"] [member="Farnis13"] [member="Vaena Askari"] [member="Chekīta Kaie"]

Blinking at the woman as she spoke, seemingly unphased by everything that had happened around her, the Rendili man could only laugh once she was through giving her introduction as he reached up to shake Chekita's hand. "Well handle yourself fine or no I suppose you aim to get out of here right? Sergeant Bor here can escort you and the kid toward the hangar where our other squad is setup. They're checking if any shuttles are working and if not they're fortifying the place as a safe zone so we can evacuate people in groups with the transport we came in on. We came to look for survivors and get them to safety so we intend to keep looking just a while longer. I suppose we could also upload our map to you if you have something we can send it to if you'd rather not have the Sergeant's escort."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Once the two eldorai were through the opened door, Laira put on the speed blazing towards the doorway in a full Force enhanced sprint. She didn't mind pulling up the rear of the group, but she'd be damned if she lollygagged alone in the back against monsters she didn't really understand or want to get to know.

Still leaking acidic pus, the Houk was only a few steps away, seconds from engaging the golden armored Knight holding the doors open for the party with her back turned. "I'm through, get out of there." Laira called as she came sliding to a stop, her boots squelching against the metal floor as she came to a stop facing backwards.

The knight in response, dropped an incendiary grenade and jumped through the door. The blast doors slid closed without the resistance Dimeria had been providing to keep the heavy slabs of metal separated, catching the red colored fur-topped cloak she wore on her shoulders. Sulkily, she pouted, her purple colored eyes turning a shade of indigo. "My cape..." Golden plated fingers unclipped the fabric from lion shaped besagews on her chest. A second later there was a very loud pop on the other side of the door as the firebomb detonated. "He doesn't even get a proper funeral, my cape." Reddish eyes turned towards Laira, "You... he's coming out of YOUR pay."

"Fine, I'll buy you a new cape if we live." She brushed bright red hair from her face and sighed. "We need to be quieter and keep moving. I still got dibs on Dragon Girl in the back with me." Laira grinned at Karina cheekily, following it up with a wink.

"Good, I don't wanna be near a dirty cape murderer anyway." The dark haired woman regarded the other voluptuous space elf as she walked away from the now smoking cape, eyes shifting between purple and a pinkish hue. "Dame Dimeria Nykerian, but you can call me Di." Her voice was much less saddened or stoic now that the immediate danger had passed and she was getting a proper inspection of her travelling companions.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Boom. Maybe the zombie monster had been misunderstood. Maybe it had not lusted for the flesh of the four ladies. Maybe it had only desired Dimeria's beautiful cape. Regardless, it had been locked inside the other corridor and been cooked by a firebomb. Alas, the cape had died as well. Its sacrifice would be honoured.

Karina glowered at Laira. If looks could kill, the redhead might have combusted. However, things did not work that way. A certain empath would have been very unhappy otherwise. "Keep your eyes on the monsters. I have no interest in aliens or lowborn. Unlike some Eldorai, I refuse to soil myself," she declared pompously.

"So I was just hallucinating when I saw a Togruta strut out of your room, dear?" Vaena asked innocently. She linked up with the dark haired knight, whose eyes seemed to alternate between purple and pink. It was quite exotic, which was probably an appropriate term for the woman in general. "Dimeria, is it? Nice name. Vaena...Cadalthor," she almost slipped and said Askari instead. She was still unused to referring to herself by the name of her biological family. "But Vaena suffices."

"The 20th Duchess of House Cadalthor," Karina interjected. "You should introduce yourself properly to aliens."

"You should be less noisy. The abominations have ears."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Dimeria having taken the lead with Askari decided to move a little quieter, doing her best to walk without a significant thud with each footfall. This of course caused her to be forced to walk on the balls of her feet, practically tiptoeing through the infested ship. "A duchess," her pink-purple eyes scanned the Eldorai noblewoman from head to foot and then back up again. "Well, forgive me if I'm not impressed with the title. I prefer actions to titles when judging someone." She stuck her chin up, continuing her slow gait forward. "But, that's not to say you haven't piqued my interest."

In the back, Laira's partner wasn't so welcoming or polite. The Eldorai seemed to dislike the redhead from the start, and Laira's unprofessionalism hadn't improved their relationship as of yet. The princess wasn't all that worried, she wasn't after a midnight rendezvous or anything, but it made travelling through the blood-strewn corridors a little more awkward than need be. She stepped over a partially eaten corpse, giggling to herself when the other Eldorai decided to put down a little gossip about Karina, "Don't worry your highness, your secret's safe with me," she whispered. Her grey eyes flicked around looking at each shadowy alcove carefully, keeping her senses peering for any sign of ghouls. "Well, that's not true. I'm really good at keeping my friends' secrets, but you haven't been all that friendly. Maybe if you were a tad nicer, more pleasant company." Laira glanced back at the woman to see how she was reacting to the not so subtle bit of blackmail.

Ahead of them a single ghoul turned a corner, sniffing at scraps left behind by another one of the infected. It seemed a rather large group had been this way already, having found and chased after their meals during the earliest parts of the ship being overrun. Nonetheless, this particular one didn't seem to notice the four ladies for several seconds. Dimeria drew her blade, a long curved blade of atrisian design, "I've got it." The creature looked up at the sound of her melodious voice, growling and snarling as it started to run on all fours towards her and Askari until it was bisected by a deft strike from shoulder to hip by the blade. "How about you? Impressed at all?" She asked her traveling companion, sheathing the weapon.

As they had witnessed there had been at least two types of the infected thus far, the main horde of mindless scavengers and the bloated acid spewing creature. A third, much more cunning variant lurked in the shadows away from the group, waiting and watching. These were less mindless, more like intelligent predators that waited for the perfect moment to strike.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Two could play at this game. "Hmmph. It's a step in the right direction...but not much yet, I'm afraid. Those creatures are pretty mindless. Keep it up, and I may become curious." Despite the light-hearted, mildly flirtatious banter, she kept her hand on her blade. The Sarix was the emblematic weapon of the Force order she'd once belonged to. In many ways, she missed her time with the Angelii. She was probably romanticising those years, but they had been a true sisterhood. They were a family to her in ways House Cadalthot could never be. Like her robes, the sword was stained with the blood of zombies.


"It is beneath me to lower myself to the level of peasants. This conversation is over," Karina spoke in her most pompous, sulky tone. The exchange between Dimeria and Vaena made her look a bit disgusted. Despite her intense annoyance, she stuck close to the three women who, unlike her, were properly equipped with weapons and could actually use them. The sight of the dead bodies caused her to pale. She winced when she stepped into a pool of blood, and muttered a quiet prayer to the Goddess Ashira.


Vaena ignored her whiny half-sibling's remarks as she passed the remains of the dead. So far the zombies had been easily dispatched, but she could not help the impression that there was something out there, just waiting for the right moment to devour them. She strained her sensitive hearing, but it was too quiet, even for her elf ears. The corridor was dark and shadows danced around them, but even the glow of her blade provided little illumination that could bring some light to the darkness. Then the zombie predators struck.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The princess almost sneered, suddenly finding herself imagining all the ways she could either teach the woman a lesson in manners or perhaps break her wrist with minimal risk to herself. Grey eyes squinted into the darkness, angry but not bothering to stare daggers at the very racist, very rude Karina. She would get hers if Laira had anything to say about. Perhaps stomping on those manicured fingers as they were boarding an escape craft until they broke. Dimeria was instead having a great time, face mask concealing her smile while her eyes shifted bright pink while she conversed with Vaena. "Well, who knows. Perhaps you'll be given a chance to prove yourself worth my curiosity while I'm wracking up a kill count."

Laira, being a Vereen was unable to use telekinesis. Her father had struggled and attempted to power through the mental block and had failed miserably. When she was young, he had hoped that his offspring had not taken after his apparent mental ineptitude, but was disappointed to learn that she had. Perhaps the family shared a genetic mutation similar to the Horn family, perhaps it was just bad teaching that caused it, but regardless, the most common manifestation of the Force was unavailable to the redhead. What she did excel at was enhancing her speed and reflexes.

When the 'Hunter Ghouls' struck, they sprung from the shadows at immense speed, faster than Laira had seen most humans capable of, but they were few in number. Only five attacked, but instantly ringing the dinner bell for any of the normal ghouls by screaming as they pounced at the four ladies. Laira jumped backwards away from her attacker as she jabbed with her weapon, cutting into the flesh of the creature as it continued its rapid advance. Lacking claws, the mutated ghoul slashed at her with the exposed bones of its fingers, tearing into her vest before she could smack the creature again with the weighted butt of the spear in its shortened form, gaining some seperation between them, just enough to dump bolts from her Renegade into its chest and head, not stopping until it was a smoking headless corpse.

Dimeria had been grinning at her companion, quite distracted by the flirtation when the creatures had struck at them from all sides. With her hands empty and weapons holstered, the human didn't have time to draw them. Instead she only had the time to get her armored fist between her head and her attacker. The creature's teeth gnawed at the gauntlet, claws trying to find purchase against her armor, pushing hard to attempt to knock the knight from her feet. A clicking sound came from the gauntlet just above the wrist, a subtle sound drowned out by the screaming creatures and sounds of combat. The sudden whoosh of a wrist flamer however, was all too audible as it activated, igniting the air between it and the face of the creature. Scorching hot flames covered the hunter's head as they both fell over onto the deck in a crash.

Laira found herself suddenly concerned for Karina's well being, not because she cared about the woman or wanted to gain her respect. It was more a mixture of personal pride and survival instincts, with some benevolence added in for good measure. Pride that she wanted to survive and save everyone she encountered, that would be an honor she could hang her hat on if she was able to; survival was more likely with four people than with three, plus Karina's sister-elf might be distraught or displeased with her death, adding complications Laira could ill afford. Finally, Laira was simply a good person and didn't want any of them to die if she could help it.

The redhead jabbed over Karina's shoulder with her spear, elongating the weapon to its full length in the process. The speartip caught a lunging hunter in the shoulder, stopping its jump short of the elven woman.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Vaena could sympathise with Laira's urge to teach her half-sister some manners. She often felt like that any time she had to attend family gatherings. There was very little good that could be said about most of her family members. They were pompous, bigoted and believed that everyone else was a peon. Alas, you could not pick your family. At least your biological one.


However, any further thought on this matter was cut short by the sudden appearance of fast, intelligent zombies. The Hunter Ghouls sprung from the shadows, moving with immense speed. They reminded Askari of the more intelligent Reavers she'd fought during the Cleansing of Gehenna. They were stronger and more agile than the riff-raff.


"Karina, watch out," even though she really disliked her annoying half-sibling, she did not want her dead, though she would not mind her ego being taken down a peg. However, for the time being she had to protect herself, for a predatory ghoul pounced towards her. Acting quickly, Vaena cartwheeled to get some distance.


It followed her swiftly, and she struck with her Sarix. The beast roared in anger when her glowing blade cut through its hand, removing fingers. However, the mutated ghoul was not dissuaded so easily and so it simply and pragmatically used the stump to to deliver a ferocious punch. Ducking beneath the blow, Vaena removed one hand from her sword's hilt, and stretched her open palm out into the direction of the beast.


Predictably it pounced, eager to sink its teeth into the treat. In this moment, a bright glow emitted from her palm. It was burning light so bright that it was almost scalding. The hunter ghoul cried out in rage and anguish when the flash of light burnt its eyes, blinding it. The zombie flailed about, and before it could find its quarry the former Angelii removed its head from its shoulders. However, the last hunter ghoul had used her distraction to its advantage and tackled her from behind. Grasping the Eldorai warrior with both its hands, it smashed her into the cold floor like a ragdoll, a sickening crunch sounding with the strike.


Ouch. Her head hurt and she spat blood. As the zombie grasped her aching neck and was about to slam her face into the cold floor again, the Eldorai called upon her Sciia and launched herself off the ground, knocking the beast over. Spinning around, she enveloped her fist with a ring of flame and punched the creature in the face. Its screams resounded across the corridor as it was consumed.


Unfortunately, all the noise had attracted an awful lot of the common zombies and so they charged the four ladies. Karina looked alarmed, hearing their approach first, amidst all the commotion. "We must go!" she urged them, raised her blaster pistol and fired, though her hands trembled. Fear and survival instinct overrode her pompous attitude for a change. Some of the blood of the zombie who'd fallen victim to Laira's spear had splattered her.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The ghoul impaled on Laira's spear attempted to haul itself down the haft, pulling the blade through itself in an attempt to get within arm's reach. They were resilient, the redhead had to give them that. She wasn't pleased, but a swift kick to the outside of the knee and a single bolt to the forehead ended the Hunter. "Karina, the vents!" She pointed upward at a small opening covered by a series of metal vents that went into the ship's ventilation shafts. There they would at least be out of the way and out of sight. Perhaps the travel would be slow but there also wouldn't be doors to open and they could go up levels without having to find turbolift shafts.

Tucking her spear away, she readied her hand so the space elf could step on her thigh, then be lifted up and to the grate. Hopefully there would not be the faster more intelligent ghouls in there. Behind the scrambling masses began their charge towards the fresh meat of the four ladies.

Dimeria heaved the charred corpse off of her, rising to her knee with a grunt. "Two and two, duchess." Time to rack up a kill count. Her bolter was hanging at her side, swinging on the strap around her shoulder when she gripped and began squeezing off rounds. Each of the explosive rounds would only attract a few more of the enemies but shred each target, if not killing them it would tear limbs and leave them in pieces. The weapon barked out in rapid succession, one, two, three bolts rippled through the air.

Another group stumbled around a corner and into the corridor the four ladies were attempting to escape, shambling towards them. Things were beginning to look bleak. "Save one round." Dimeria grunted, angrily accepting that a quick death would be far more acceptable than being torn apart by grasping hands.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Vaena cursed herself for not getting proper gear. Firstly, it meant that it was more difficult to keep up with Dimeria. Secondly, it made surviving the horde of zombies more difficult. Another group of the undead shambled towards them, their teeth dripping saliva. Things looked bleak.


She gave Dimeria a curt nod. Her outlook was grim, but appropriate. "I'll save one for you if you do the same for me." A fireball manifested in the palm of her hand, growing larger by the moment. "I'll put in a good word with the Goddess. Eldorai heaven has comely maidens. Or fountains of wine." It depended on the translation.


Fire leapt from her hands, sweeping towards the zombies to cleanse them like a broom. But though the scalding flames would burn several, more zombies came, charging across the charred bodies of their brethren. Soon the three warriors would be surrounded in a sea of teeth, claws and grasping hands.


Karina was on the move. She was frightened, angry and determined not to die. Seeing her sister struggle to hold the wave of zombies at bay, she felt a pang of concern for her. She tried to pull at the covering, but it refused to yield. Getting frustrated, she pulled harder, finally tearing it open. "Come on!" she yelled, then she was attacked herself. She managed to shoot one zombie, but then another forced her to the ground and seized her throat.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Fountains of wine huh? Well at least you got something to look forward to!" She grunted, swiping her arm before her with a jet of fire streaming outwards into the front line of the shambling horde. Her blade carved through the skull of one of the approaching ghouls, bolter in her hand but held low with only two rounds left in the magazine. Dimeria had spent her life very closely associated with death, one could say that death was one of her only friends. It had surrounded her in the slave pits she was born into, the broken families she had been passed around after the occupation ended, and her adult life had been spent watching her friends die. But it never came for her. "For me, this is as good as it gets."

The servos of her glittering golden armor whined, adding power to her swings and blows. Each strike from her fist could shatter permacrete, each sweep of her blade cut through flesh like a hot knife through butter. Blood spattered against her armor, staining her scarlet vestments and laurels that hung from her. Anger coursed through her veins, eyes having turned a deep crimson. She squeezed off a round from her bolter, making a mental note that she only had one for her companion now. For her, she would go down swinging until the very last breath if need be, as much as she was afraid of dying and terrified of being torn to pieces, alive and helpless as their hands pulled at her flesh. If that's what had to happen, then that's the fate the knight would suffer.

Laira heard the command loud and clear, there were not many reasons the Knight would order a retreat, and fewer reasons she would fall back herself. Karina was dragged down, a ghoul going for her throat. Internally, the redhead sighed. She pulsed the Force through her arm and hips, launching the spear like a ballista bolt into the ghoul in hopes of harpooning it and driving the projectile into the opposite wall. "Come on Karina, we gotta move." She held out a hand to the space elf to help her up from the floor.

Then she had a better idea. If they were in the vents, the ghouls or zombies could only come at them one at a time and they had a pyromancer and a flame wielding, phrik armored knight. "Get in the vent Karina." One hand pulled at her spear, straining to remove it form the wall. "Askari, don't let her play hero! Drag her in the bloody vent!" The redhead once again smacked Karina in the rear to get her moving, "Mush dammit!" They needed to get in the vents and get crawling before one or more of them got overrun and torn to pieces.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Vaena was no stranger to death. Before her unexpected ennoblement, she'd been a soldier, one of the many Angelii charged with defending the Star Queen and fighting her wars. She'd seen friends die on blood-soaked battlefields, endured the Eldorai's triumphs and defeats. Official dogma postulated that she fulfilled the will of a compassionate, all-powerful Goddess. Yet said deity had failed them so often. She only needed to look at the destruction of Kaeshana. To say this had been traumatic for her people was a massive understatement. It had made her doubt herself and her faith, even though she found solace in it. But that was one thing. The wave of nihilism emanating from Dimeria was another. To all intents and purposes, the woman was natural.


She had no Sciiac presence. She was simply an empty void. Did this mean she possessed no soul and was a creation of Illyria? Dogma would dictate this...but she looked and acted like a human being and clearly felt emotion as any other human would. Askari had no answer. She would not let her die though.


"There may be more for you than you imagine," she spoke, after her Sarix clove through the skull of an undead before she whirled about to slice off the arms of another and gave it a hard kick in the stomach. Her injuries pained her and she was getting tired, but she fought on. "What manner of being you are I cannot say, but you're not dying here. Now get your arse in gear and move!"


Her had not lost its earlier playfulness. All levity was gone. Now it was authoritative and commanding. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Karina quickly vanish up the ventilation shaft, and so the young duchess grabbed Di by the shoulder to pull her along. Hopefully the knight would come along and not hit her instead because Askari was physically a good deal weaker than her.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira jabbed with her spear, tearing through another ghoul before ducking into the vent after the elven noblewoman. Laira noticed once she was in the vent that she was bleeding for the first time. At some point one of them had slashed or bit her arm and blood was dripping from the wound. That would probably matter in a few minutes but not right now. "Move Princess, move!"

Dimeria hacked away with her blade, her mask concealing her sadistic grin. It was not exactly secret that she felt joy in the act of killing, but it wasn't often broadcasted. Killing was all she knew how to do, sure the knights encouraged taking up the arts or a civil talent of some sort, but Dimeria hadn't had time for that. She sprayed her flamethrower in a wide sweep in front of her once again, charring the blistering skin of several ghouls when she felt a tug on her pauldron. The Knight almost rounded on the being, expecting it to be a ghoul and had fist raised, ready to strike only to see Vaena instead.

Her eyes did not fade from red, however. It took an instant, a moment to realize the woman was shouting orders at her. Dimeria complied with the order, seeing the open grate with ghouls grasping at the vents, hoping to follow the first two women through. The tall woman followed, smashing a zombie against the wall with all her might, feeling its bones break. It didn't die, but it was certainly slowed. However she was not ready to go through the grate, there was unfinished business to attend to.

The dark haired knight snapped her last bolt round into the ghoul at the grate, dropping the bolter to the floor. It was useless without ammunition and the ship wasn't likely to have bolter rounds laying around. Instead her fist found a second incendiary grenade and primed the trigger.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


Askari half-expected the huge, rage-filled woman to strike her and was relieved when she seemed to come to her senses instead. The alternative would have probably been rather painful for the Eldorai. Laira had already vanished inside the events, and so Vaena followed her. Young Cadalthor called upon her Sciia to augment her speed, bolting to evade the sea of grasping hands and claws that sought to acquire purchase on her robes.


When a feral ghoul grabbed ahold of her cloak, she simply pulled it off, leaving the savage creature with a fancy piece of clothing. A fireball swept from her hand in a broad arc, cooking or blistering several undead. Then she ducked into the vent. Turning, she could see that Dimeria had not passed through the grate yet. Instead, she had primed an incendiary grenade.


Hopefully the dark haired knight would follow them. If not, well, there was only so much Vaena could do. She had to think of her own safety as well. She vanished into the ventilation shaft, following Laira and Karina. On the way, she caught sight of bloodstains.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Fire licked at one side of the hallway from the Eldorai duchess, burning a swath of ghouls in the path and probably saving the Knight's life in the process. If not for her assistance the warrior probably would have been dragged down by the swarm, kicking and screaming the whole way. The tall woman roared, jamming the grenade into the mouth of a lunging ghoul that sprang out of the horde. "EAT IT KARKER!" She shoved the growing crowd of flesheaters with all her might, making just enough space get into the grate.

Eyes still burning red she crawled, as quickly as she could, ignoring the few clamouring creatures reaching at her sabatons and trying to pull her to a stop. Click.

The grenade popped, liquid flame sprouting in the corridor and into the vent, over Dimeria somewhat. Fire licked at her legs and the heat caused pain to erupt in her legs. She really hoped her skin wasn't melted in her armor, that would ruin an otherwise attractive set of legs she had worked hard to keep whole and in tact. In truth she was still very angry, not at the ghouls, but at the eldorai. At herself as well.

Part of the knight wanted to die and be done with the constant loss and fighting, she had a desire to be done serving the throne. Pride and honor kept her fighting her hardest, a sense of duty drove her forward. Sometimes friendship like the comaraderie she shared with Laira kept her grounded, but in her heart Dimeria wanted to be done. And that opportunity had been wasted, not only that, she had been made to look like a common cur and given orders by a foreigner that held as much authority over the Knight as a man had over a god. It chewed at her pride, even if it made no logical sense, to be so offended by a mere authoritative tone.

Ahead of them, Laira followed Karina closely, bumping the Eldorai often. At least the view was nice in the dark vent even if they were being led by the only one of them who wasn't a warrior. Maybe they would be lucky and Karina knew where she was heading. "We need to go up a floor."

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


The view was indeed quite nice for Laira, for Karina had a lovely, tight butt. The type you could bounce a nickle off. It was probably a shame that her personality was so off-putting, but that was par for the course for Eldorai aristos. Regardless, the aristo pressed on. Apparently they needed to go up one floor.


She totally knew the way to go. Hopefully. She was grumpy, stained with zombie blood and in a bad mood in general. Furthermore, her feet hurt since she had been doing a lot of running. Contrary to what certain holomovies might imply, running in high heels was a stupid idea. It had looked way easier in that holofilm about giant reptiles in a theme park. Still, she pressed on, and tried to suppress her irritation about the fact that the redhaired human peon kept bumping into her. She was certain that this was not by accident, but deliberate. It was deeply humiliating to be dependent on peasants. Especially human peasants.


Vaena likewise pressed on. Her feet were aching less than Karina's because she'd stuck to practical footwear. She could feel the wave of anger emanating from Dimeria but made no comment. Part of her had the impression that the dark haired knight would explode sooner or later, since her aura resembled that of a steam engine ready to combust. Hopefully she would wait with that until they were off the zombie infested luxury ship.

 

[Chekīta Kaie]

Chetika could not help but chuckle herself when the man shook her hand, apparently this Derrick Veltraa had a good sense of humour, despite the whole infection and huge amount of death surrounding the area, stank too, rotting bodies where not really known for being nice in the nose side of things."Perhaps mister knife weilder here would like to get out alive, so your sergent can escort him, but me, I want to help where I can, sooo I'll probably not be following Mr Bor to the hanger bay, though I am sure you have a nice welcome mat set out for us survivors".

She finished the last drag in her cigar, throwing it to the grown and stamping out the but, "I know you have an obligation or what not to look for survivors and passengers, but kark me if I am missing out on somthing like this, I'm coming with and you can't say no". Dripping the mag out of her rifle she loaded another one it cocking its bolt back, the gun making the definite click sound as a new slug was loaded. "Though I will take you up on your offer to have a map, though I memorised several floors and some of the layout, having a better view of things ain't bad".

[member="Derrick Veltraa"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira crawled behind Karina, certain that the Eldorai noble was upset or at the very least disgruntled. The redhead couldn't really blame her, but she had hoped that they would be able to link up with more survivors quickly. So far they were the only ones that either group had come across. That bit of information was quite disconcerting. They knew nothing about how the ghouls originated, whether it was communicable or not, or whether the wound on her arm would kill her. Which was troubling as she had not told any of her companions of the wound.

In truth the red haired princess didn't remember how she had come by the injury or whether it was a series of scratches or a bite. Either could carry the agent to trigger the mutation in all honesty, but for some reason the Princess really hoped that neither transferred the condition.

Dimeria stopped every few feet to spray flames down the corridor to catch any ghouls crawling around after them in the vents. Luckily, it seemed they had fallen back and left the four ladies be, the hunters having taken over the pursuit. She whispered hoarsely to the Eldorai duchess, "Thanks." A simple, single utterance of acceptance that the Eldorai had not intended to bersmirch her honor and pulled the woman out of the battle fury she had fallen into. Her eyes were no longer bright crimson, the natural purple leaking back into her irises.

Before Karina a junction appeared, with tubes leading up down and to either side. A ladder cut into the vent allowed it to be used as a jefferies tube should the crew need to make repairs within the vents. Darkness enveloped each tube's next juncture, and so they would have to go on hope.

[member="Vaena Askari"]

 

[Derrick Veltraa]

[member="Laira Vereen"] [member="Farnis13"] [member="Vaena Askari"] [member="Chekīta Kaie"]

Derrick simply chuckled at the mention of a welcome mat, his grin growing more as the bodyguard's boldness took him by surprise. Most people seemed to become bleak under the circumstances as they were he supposed. "I mean I could always try to pick you up and carry you back myself if necessary, but you look like you could flip me on my back if I tried that sooo let's not go that route eh? The welcome mat, complete with a repeating blaster setup watching over some lovely traps, barricades, and another squad packing the spare ammo on the transport to blow through while they wait, will have to wait for the fine lady I guess. Sergeant Bor, lead the young man here to the hangar safely. Keep it quiet and nothing should go wrong right?"

Clapping the sergeant on his shoulder while giving the order, the Rendili Captain beamed feeling full of energy. Finding some survivors actually made the mission feel worthwhile despite the setback at the start. Now to find the rest, though that posed a problem at least Veltraa thought so as he moved to make a copy of his map to send to Chekita. "We're actually going to try and make our way to the ship's bridge or wherever we can get a line to their sensor suite. We'll run the system to try and locate where the survivors are instead of running blind. With so many terminals down because of the power failure though we haven't had much luck slicing into anything to get results on that front though. Aside from that, we can try to use internal comms to inform everyone about the evacuation from the hangar on this side of the ship, but the sound might cause any ghouls by the comm units to become riled and endanger the survivors around them."

Watching Bor head off with the lad in tow, Veltraa checked his own rifle after hearing Chekita's weapon clack. Their ammunition wasn't infinite, and even if they had been trying to be conservative it took a bit to put down the infected passengers shy of a headshot. The possibility of a cure for those whose bodies weren't too badly damaged weighed on his mind as he bit his lip before laughing. "You wouldn't happen to know of any working terminals nearby or a way to restore the power without going too far would you miss Kaie?"

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Laira Vereen"]


The ventilation shaft was uncomfortable. As a matter of fact it was rather claustophobic inside it, especially with four people in it. One of them happened to be a Sister of Battle dressed in imposing power armour. Still, it was better than being eaten by a horde of hungry zombies, so Vaena would not complain.


The ghouls seemed to have given up pursuing them. However, Askari still tossed a fireball just in case some tried to crawl after them. She was taken aback when Dimeria suddenly spoke to her. She did not sound happy, but accepting. This was good, because the young duchess did not fancy the idea of being punched or strangled. "You're welcome," she said quietly, then pressed on.


Karina was in front of them and not doing too badly playing ventilation shaft tour guide. Alas, it was very dark, so the gang of four could not appreciate the wonderful sights of the aforementioned ventilation shaft. "There is a ladder. Come on." Swiftly, Karina made her way over to the ladder and began to ascend. Alas, it was dark...and she happened to slip...

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira's arm was beginning to burn, and not like a normal wound. The pain was getting to the point that the young redhead was clenching her jaw in an attempt to remain quiet each time she had to put her weight on the limb crawling through the vent shaft. She had hoped that her necklace would have aided, but it seemed to only been making the injury take longer to fester and take effect. If something wasn't done about it soon, it might wind up being too late.

The redhead was in fact considering bringing the wound to Dimeria's attention. The Knight had calmed down after her near death experience and both the women behind her kept burning vent shafts they encountered in an attempt to flush out any waiting ghouls. That is when Karina slipped from the ladder.

In a flash Laira grabbed the woman's arm without bracing herself or anything, her wounded hand gripping Karina's wrist. Karina wasn't heavy by any means, if anything she was slender and graceful in appearance. But even fifty kilograms was a lot to snatch and hold with one hand. It was actually excruciatingly painful for Laira. She let out a scream of pain as the wounded limb gripped the Eldorai and pulled her part way down the shaft. The redhead ended up with her entire upper body hanging out into space. With a ship as large as the Queen, it could be a hundred or more meters down if they fell.

Practically in tears, Laira opened her eyes. Karina would certainly notice the warm visceral liquid leaking from the redhead's arm and onto her, and she would likely smell the faint odor from the already infected injury. "Honey, I'm gonna need you to get your balance real quick." Laira said through painful gasps.

[member="Vaena Askari"]