Junction Left 4 Scrap | [FO] Empty Hex NW of Dosuun + [NIO] Acherin Hex

[Ariel Yvarro]

​

Quietly the Grand Moff turned and returned the King's graceful introduction respectfully. The sound of battle around them only brought to mind her days with Trajan Kurze, however; Ariel's focus was Enil and the Sovereign Imperator. She listened to them both and turned to face them, her back to the viewport as the battle continued on around them. When the two were finished the Grand Moff carefully chose her words, as a reminder crept into her mindset; she was the First Order right here and now. It was the King's words just, war was hardly ever just. War was war, hell was hell and just played no part in either, and of the two - war was worse for innocents were often caught in the crossfire.​

​

"You are correct, Sovereign Imperator, there is no doubt that by strengthening our relationship with you that there will be ramifications from other galactic powers," began the Grand Moff, ramifications that she would face head-on, "however in order to secure peace in this galaxy decisions must be made."​

​

Ariel turned to the King and continued, "you asked me if I believe your war with the Sith was just."​

​

"I will preface my response with this; I do not care for Sith, Sith are not to be trusted they are quite often after their own coat and are quick to use whoever and whatever to obtain what they desire," and so she paused, there was nothing said or to be heard but the rewashed air being pushed through the ventilation system. "Just is a strong word, for anything can be just if we make it so." A reminder.​

​

The dialogue continued, her tone held even as she went on, "however, as it stands, the Sith will devour themselves for as we speak other states have grown around the weakened Sith Eternals," and so to the point, she went, "but then I am reminded of every single Imperial life that the Sith Eternal has bled from this galaxy to every person they have coerced into believing that they were gods, and led them to their deaths time and time again, and I am reminded that they too felt their work was just." So the answer, "so the answer to your question King Enlil, is, yes your war is just if only by doing so - frees these systems from the yoke of the Sith Empire's tyranny. For I must wonder; where are their gods now?"​

​

It reminded Ariel much of the old First Order when people were wrapped around Sieger's hands.​

​

"You asked before if I believed there were those who 'ought not be allowed to rule'." She dotted the words in the air, and she recalled Trajan's murmurings on various people, places, and how things should be. Ariel thought on Natasi's words after the long nights going through the list of casualties. Ariel was reminded of how the old Galactic Alliance treated them, "because I wonder if there are those who would ask the same but of us? So I suppose the answer to that is yes." For she was sure, somewhere, there were those who felt that the First Order should not have returned and believed that they should not be allowed to rule. A thought that Ariel knew fluttered about the minds of any who served as leaders to their nations. ​

​

As to the defensive pact, "and yes, Sovereign Imperator we had briefly spoken of it at the summit but nothing more transpired."​

​

"However, the New Imperial Order supported our efforts on Hoth, and here we are working on a hyperspace lane, and I believe that our nations share more than just ideologies but values as well," her attention now on Irveric Tavlar. "If other galactic powers wish to flap their jaws at the idea of our two nations working more closely, then let them."​

​

​

Enlil | Irveric Tavlar ​

 

[Fevris Derzelas]

Location: Star Destroyer, Leaving Medbay.
Wearing: FIMS Uniform.
Tagging: Elisea Korrado ~ Karisa ~ Nylea Apollodor ~ Dresden Verbrennung ~ Drexel Quinn ~ Caio ~ Matt the Radar Tech

The Doctor listened to Captain Thorne's suggestion, giving his words the consideration they deserved even if they were pressed for time. To put it lightly.

Everything in her mind was like an equation. Every thought a variable that would find its place and in the end, unravel an answer to whatever doubts clouded her. It was fast, detached thinking. Objective. Her dark blue gaze glided across the warzone that was the medbay. Death, injured, creatures that had proven themselves capable if ripping through the very hull of an Imperial star destroyer, making quick work of its inner walls and shieldings as well, and soldiers emptying full magazines to bring just one of the dreaded beasts down, only one of the swarm that was coming for them. How could they possibly fortify the medbay? What would be the price to pay if that failed?

The bridge was on lockdown, and the very same reason why Captain Thorne thought it unwise to move towards it was the one that had led the Doctor to choose it as the only destination that still had hope of holding against the onslaught of these nightmarish enemies. Time seemed to be slowed down for her, eyes settling for a moment on Elisea Apollodor and Nylea Apollodor , on the soldiers and the knights that were holding the line against the husks to try and buy them time, on how probable it was that they would manage to truly stop the creatures that so far had pressed their advance deep into the vessel with seemingly no effort.

There were so many risks to both of their plans, and there would be no hints as to which one was the better option. And yet, a decision needed to be made now. The lives of the people they were sworn to protect depended on it.

"If the bay doesn't hold we die." Her voice was firm, stating a fact she knew to be true. If the creatures breached there would be no stopping them, that was a certainty. If it held, then they'd have to pray to whatever force would hear that help was on its way, or otherwise holing themselves in would just prolong the same inevitable fate. Leaving the medbay was just as much of a gamble, movement provided more options and perhaps the chance of encountering that help earlier - but if they did not they could be left out in the open.

The Doctor made her decision, a steadfast gaze meeting the chiss's own. "So let's hope it holds, Captain Thorne."

For the sake of all of them. Fevris then looked at Karisa and nodded once, changing her course to reposition those who still had any chance of surviving through this on the farthest end of the medbay, away from the attack of the cybernetic monsters, where she would continue to tend to them. She hoped her trust in the Captain was not misplaced.

 

[Dresden Verbrennung]

The idea of leaving the medbay never entered Dresden's mind. He wasn't the sort to change his mind when he committed to a course of action without a really good reason, and as far as he was concerned, this was where he needed to be. This was a vital area that needed to be held, and if the medics and doctors evacuated, it would still need to be held. Whatever else happened, if the wounded and soon to be wounded were to stand any chance of survival, they'd need supplies and equipment. Supplies and equipment that couldn't be saved, couldn't be used.

The calculus was simple: if they stayed here, they might die. If they didn't stay here, everyone might die. Plus, it wasn't likely they were going to make it into the bridge anyway. That place was locked up tighter than a wookiee's nerf herder. There was nowhere else to go.

If he was going to say, the agent figured he might as well make himself comfortable. His idea of comfortable involved being surrounded by lots and lots of directional mines. These little beauties were designed for use on a ship. Rather than steel or tungsten pellets, they used ultradense polymer that could blow through flesh without much trouble, but would shatter on contact with hull plating. They were dead useless within the medbay itself; they had enough oomph to not only kill all the equipment, but the defenders, doctors, and wounded as well. Since that would be kinda pointless, he seeded them liberally in the corridors surrounding the medbay from the direction that the cyborg zombies had come from.

The mines were clever little things, too. They could be set up to detonate when they detected motion, or heartbeats, or any number of other parameters. It stood to reason that the cyborg zombies would have abnormal heartrates. Probably on the fast side, too. In order to prevent friendly fire, he set the mines to explode when they detected heartbeats above 300 beats per minute. There wasn't anything living on the ship that could comfortably get above 200 or so without suffering a heart attack, so it seemed like a safe bet.

That job done, he grabbed a chair set it behind an empty gurney, and propped his gun up on the bed, pointed at the hole. When the monsters came again, he'd be ready.

Elisea Apollodor | Karisa | Nylea Apollodor | Drexel Quinn | Caio | Matt the Radar Tech | Fevris Derzelas​

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

Star Destroyer;
Medbay

​

Not one to interfere when a professional was doing their job, Mitth'orn'eruod remained out of Brask'ari'sabosen's way, but returned her smile and nodded at her words. He, too, was glad to see she remained unharmed, albeit very busy with a lot of medical assistance required. In turn, Mitth'orn'eruod went out to find injured in the hallway beyond the medbay door. He noticed the unknown soldier with the heavy blaster from earlier was also beyond the medbay proper, as the man placed what appeared to be explosives throughout the corridor at various intervals. Mitth'orn'eruod found a wounded trooper and carefully checked the man for the worst injuries, and determining it was acceptable to move him, helped the young woman to her feet as she held her stomach from several large slashes.

"Stand strong, we will have you treated shortly," Mitth'orn'eruod said in a low voice, as he nodded to the wounded sentient. "There is much appreciation to you, for helping to keep this medbay secure. Well done."

As the pair walked back to the medbay entry, Mitth'orn'eruod looked over to the man planting the explosives. He wondered about the individual, who had yet to share a name or respond at all, but the present moment didn't seem appropriate to concern oneself with such introductions. Time was of the essence, so more wounded needed to be brought inside the medbay, and more preparations were needed to establish a defensive front. Mitth'orn'eruod entered the large room and walked the trooper to a bed, where he eased her down and assisted to make her as comfortable as possible, before he called for another medical team member to assist when able.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the Chief Medical Officer had made a decision. The Captain listened as the Doctor responded and agreed that remaining in place was the chosen option. Granted, it was dangerous, but at least inside the medbay they would not be as exposed or surrounded in passageways from multiple approaches. It was a good choice, and Mitth'orn'eruod was glad he had no need to use his rank. Doctor Derzelas was an intelligent sentient, she had seen the benefit to the logical decision, which the Chiss could respect. That settled it.

Mitth'orn'eruod walked over to Brask'ari'sabosen once again, but did not approach directly. Instead, he placed the CR-2 blaster on a bench nearby and pointed with a nod. "In case you need it," Mitth'orn'eruod said simply. He knew his significant other was also skilled with weaponry and would be more than capable with the rapid-fire blaster. "The recoil is minimal, the energy pack is full."

With a reassuring smile, Mitth'orn'eruod turned to the others in the medbay. There was Major Quinn, the Research Chief Captain Apollodor, and her spouse the Jedi Mrs. Apollodor, as well as a number of troopers - including the one assisted earlier (Caio) - and the unknown heavy weapons specialist who had setup on a gurny to sweep the entry of hostiles. Mitth'orn'eruod looked around with his red eyes, before he saw several options as to what the group could do to increase survivability.

"Before the next wave of enemies approaches, we must do several things quickly and efficiently," The Chiss said, as he pointed out the medbay doors. "There are wounded outside in the hallway, I need assistance in bringing them inside to the medics. We also need all non-essential items in this room to be made into barricades, to give us cover from whatever comes through those doors. And finally, all wounded personnel need to be moved to the rear of the medbay, furthest from the enemy.

"Decide your role, and let us get to task. Also, let us remain out of the medical staff's way."

Without wasting more time, Mitth'orn'eruod went outside again to gather more wounded. For anyone who joined him, he added as he helped lift a soldier:

"Be aware of the explosives set in the hallway with us, and avoid blocking the firing line of that heavy gun as we re-enter."

______________________________

Dresden Verbrennung | Caio | Fevris Derzelas | Karisa | Nylea Apollodor | Elisea Apollodor | Drexel Quinn​

 

[Djorn Bline]

P U N I S H E D _ S N A K E
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
IMPERIAL STATION GIDEON

First contact. The sudden burst from the panel on the wall startled most of the unit, all of them getting comfortable to their pace as their luck ran out in not crossing whatever creatures were reported on the station. Hell, even Djorn was hoping they wouldn’t have to fire a shot at the pace they were at. That was an ideal world.

The cybernetic machine was neutralized in the seconds after it made its violent appearance, but it made a loud scream before being put out of commission.

<“Chit.”>

They all knew what that meant. Before they knew it a wave of cybernetic monsters stormed their position. No use in holding down this position as others would certainly join and overwhelm them. Those machines were no longer simple men that could be put down with one or two shots from a blaster. Wasting time and misusing it only meant a certain chance of death.

<“Dammit move!”>

Firing a few rounds into the torso of a cyborg in his sights, ordering everyone to make a move out from here. Find something where they wouldn’t be overwhelmed from different positions. An EMP grenade was left for the wave of cyborgs to impede their hunt.

<“Living spaces should be nearby! Make a fuckin’ sprint for it and we’ll refresh ourselves.”>

The Major | Kelig Ward​

 

[Caio]

Dresden Verbrennung Matt the Radar Tech Fevris Derzelas Karisa Nylea Apollodor Elisea Apollodor Drexel Quinn

Fighting was easy. Whether it was anger, courage, or fear, he didn't have time to think. It was instinct and training. The quieter lulls, the calms, they were the worst. He had the capacity and time to think again. His mind playing tricks and whispering possibilities in his ear. He didn't want to imagine the half a dozen horrible fates that could be in store for him within the coming hour.

He must have checked his weapon a half dozen times by now. When he wasn't doing that, he was checking his reloads. It was like a ritual. He felt like they disappeared each time the second after he stopped touching them. It was just the thought of them hunkered down here. It felt like being a light luring in moths. Part of him was considering just cutting and running but the thought of being caught by those things in a corridor made him shudder.

So he forced himself to work. He helped move the wounded. He helped gather up loose weapons and ammunition. Most of all, he tried to not to panic too much. The main reassuring factor was that there plenty of others armed and dangerous around him along with a whole host of other nasty surprises like mines and explosives.

 

[Kelig Ward]

Imperial Station Gideon
Tag: Djorn Bline | The Major

[THEME]​

So far so good...

What a load of skrag, it was said too early as a cybernetic torso breached the panel of the wall, attempting to grab ahold of Ward's partner. Fortunately for him, Ward already had a hold on his pal and gave him a sharp pull away from the arms that reached out for them. The two fall onto the ground due to the sheer speed needed to pull his fellow man away from a horrible fate.

As a swarm of bolts merge themselves into the mass of the cybernetic abomination, it let out quite the ghastly howl. A cry, a damned cry for others to pursue the onslaught it had attempted to initiate. The mixture of an organic scream accompanied with the tech-like pitching brought a shiver to the Agent. He had experienced many things, but this was far from what he expected. And all to add to the dread was the heavy footsteps that grew louder and louder.

The Agent was laid on his back and he unloaded several shots from his '58 to the sound of the footsteps. Before venting the heat and rushing to get his partner on his feet. Bline gave the order to flee, and the Agent fully understood.

"You heard the man! Go go go!" He stated, rushing off. Taking out a smoke grenade as the composition fled, with a priming of the smoke grenade and it being left in an intersection to perhaps confuse the cybernetic beasts. Ward held his wrist up and focused his gaze onto the schematics of the station. He needed to figure out where the barracks were.

"Make a left over on this bulkhead! Second door to the right!" The Agent exclaimed. A quick read on the Agent's end, he was familiar with the pathways of the station. Thank the force he analyzed the layout before deployment.

Once they'd make it to the barracks, the pair went to the door and kept it open for the others, as Ward trained his rifle towards the composition's rear.

"Get in come on!"

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

OBJ 1
Sinestra

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​

The large shuttle came into the hangar steadily. Rotating about to face away from the interior walls and back out to space, the shuttle came down to land on the cold metal of the space station. The ship looked to be able to hold at minimum a dozen troopers, but more likely capable of possessing double that, if not triple. Once the shuttle landed, there seemed to be a hush that came across the already deathly silent hangar before the ramp descended at its rear.

Disembarking from the troop transport, Tavius emerged full on in his light absorbing stygian bulwark.

Rifle slung across his torso and a single hand gripping on the hilt of his vibrosword, Tavius shot a glance over his shoulder at his partner.

"Vacations over, Lettow. Comeon," Tavius sighed, the built in voice modulator scrambling his voice for those that could've been listening in. "But this doesn't seem too bad... Nice and quiet."

 

[Sinestra]

OBJ 1
Tavius Muuaji

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​

It seemed like time at the brothels was just never enough. Just when things started to get good, the damn holopaiger beeps, and off Arno goes to do what the Imperator needs to be done. Many times the thought of quitting had ran through his mind but then he realized the Imperator was the one paying and Arno could barely do anything else than just...murder. A simple man with a taste for Imperialism.

The transport carrying Arno and his comrade Tavius was made to deploy a platoon or so. And it; not the numbers, but the strength. These two were dumb and dumber but they sure as hell got the job done. Speaking of the job...

"Remind me--what exactly were we sent to do here?" Arno's brow furrowed in thought, trying to figure out the answer but it just seemed to escape him.

Place looked empty, dark, and probably did not have a functioning brothel anywhere near.

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

OBJ 1
Sinestra

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---

​

Tavius snorted, shaking his head immediately as Arno spoke. He didn't know why he continued as a Storm Commando.

Especially for the ilk known as COMPNOR. They were worse than the gangs he had grown up working for on Coruscant, and they had used him to continue pushing their spice throughout those lesser known planets. Addiction was rampant on planets that had no superpower for a government closer to the Unknown Regions. Tavius figured that the elements of the Chiss Ascendancy had undoubtedly shut it out entirely but... DEAF had its ways.

Shrugging at Sinestra 's query.

"Same thing as always. Kill schuttas. Hopefully find a place to lie down along the way." Turning his head, the lights were off or dying in the hangar. Tapping the floodlights at the side of his helmet, they triggered, sending scalding right light towards the nearest doorway. And soon enough... The sound of metal dragging across metal could be heard.

 

[Sinestra]

OBJ 1
Tavius Muuaji

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​

"Ok." He nodded specifically to the 'lie down along the way' part.

The two carried on forward, the lights of their helmets leading the way. Both halted when their HUDs picked up the sound of metal across metal. Both looked at each other, the question 'huh' lingering between them before Arno stepped forward towards the source - a door. Its control panel lying on the ground ripped apart.

"It's coming from behind the door." Arno stated the obvious as he nudged his head at his partner.

"Think someone knocking or?" he asked.

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

OBJ 1
Sinestra

---

---

​

At the sound of the metal on metal screeching Tavius dragged his rifle up to aim down the corridor. Joined by his second hand leaving the hilt of his vibrosword, he shot a glance over to Arno when he heard the sound a second and third time. Closing in, his foot crashed into something, both fleshy and hard. Too hard to be bone, and when he glanced down, he saw a partially cybernetic hand clawing at him and he lurched back.

"Oh feth!" Tavius cried out, the charric rifle aiming down as he clicked once, then twice, then thrice to dump the bolts of kinetic plasma into the skull of the once human Imperial. "This ain't like Shili," Tavius said with a shake of his head. The thumping of his heart died down a few seconds later. He, no, they had faced worse together. In just under two years they had faced Sith Cultists, rebel cells, and dragons. Their resume was... Impressive. No wonder they never got to stay on a break for too long.

"You hear that?"

 

[Sinestra]

OBJ 1
Tavius Muuaji

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---

​

"The hell is that?!" Arno fired at the cybernetic hand clearly not functional anymore just to be sure. He leaned down to inspect it only to finally recall their mission briefing earlier. Partially, at least - something, something, cybernetic creatures. Arno was no bright man and his memory, except for brothel brands, was subpar at best. He struggled to remember further details only for the details to slide down through a maintenance shaft and crash into the two commandos like a tide.

Cyan blue shining through gaping holes gazing at his soul, a menacing smile or what looked like a smile eagerly seeking to find purchase in his armor as its claws furiously tore at him.

"GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" he scuffled with the creature desperately while calling for Tavius' help.

 

[Hans Rennagen]

ALLIES: Firenne Van-Derveld | Matma Bernu | FN-999

As more diagrams and alerts were appearing on his screen, Hans became overwhelmed. He stepped back from the computer, and another one next to him made a pinging noise. He moved closer to look at what it was, guessing it was yet another problem.

The screen showed that a New Imperial shuttle had just landed in the hangar.

"Looks like more of my people are showing up."

He looked back to the first screen, now too dense with warnings about the station's many impending failures should they not flush out those... things.

"I've got nothing else here though. I was born in a castle, so I don't really do... this." Hans was not usually one to bring up his noble birth, but he had little other way to explain his confusion. At least he wasn't the only one confused.

"How do the Chiss do things then?" Hans asked realizing he didn't know much about Matma's people. The only Chiss he'd ever met in passing had been the former leader of the Knights, back when he had joined up with the Empire.

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

OBJ 1
Sinestra

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---

​

In that instant, Tavius had let his guard down. The duo had shot up the hand that he had kicked, and the body it connected to. And when they had been sure it was dead, the Commandos gave pause, allowing them to catch their breath. That is, until the faint sound of something echoing behind the walls in the hall could be heard and then a bang, as it met the end of its route.

The thud echoed through the station, and Tavius lurched away further from the walls, bumping into his partner, Lettow.

Without realizing it, thinking it in response, he heard the scraping as the creature clawed and latched onto Arno. Grabbing him, its strength considerable, more than either of them had been expecting. And as he tugged his rifle out of the way, his vibrosword was dragged off from its place at his waist, and he stepped out from behind Sinestra and swung down at the droids limbs to part them from his 'friend.'

"Shoot it, shoot it!"

 

[Elisea Apollodor]

​

They were going to hunker down here and now. Elisea stepped back, side by side with her wife and the good Captain Matt the Radar Tech not too far off. The woman busied herself with getting communications out. A portable holo device not too far from her sight, the dim lights and the stench of death lingered on. Invaded the nostrils and made her feel ill even if she'd been around death and darkness before. "Mayday, mayday this is the Ardennes, requesting evac."​

​

:: Ardennes this is the Pitsenbarger, we're en route to your position with an RR Team, hang tight. ETA 10 Minutes ::​

​

Elisea looked around the medbay and there wasn't a soul in sight that wasn't worse for wear. "Okay, Rapid Response teams are inbound - Pitsenbarger is a corvette. With luck, there will be a medical ship in tow, if not - then we can only take those who will survive." She crossed the med bay and looked for anything until she came across a set of markers. "Doctors Karisa, Derzelas," she handed them the markers knowing that this was the part of FIMS they all hated. Life and death and with the limited room they could only afford to take those who they knew without a doubt could survive their injuries.​

There was no promise that medical ships would be with the Pitsenbarger.​

​

The Ardennes was lost and without a doubt would be scuttled.​

​

And as if the horde had heard that they would soon be rescued, Elisea turned around at the sound of an army and what was before her had been a new batch of husks, cyberpsychos, whatever they were supposed to be. "We've got company!"​

​

Karisa | Matt the Radar Tech | Fevris Derzelas | Caio | Nylea Apollodor | Drexel Quinn | Dresden Verbrennung ​

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

Knowing that rescue was coming gave Nylea hope. Nobody was out of this yet, but there still was a reason to fight. She watched as Elisea got her hands on markers, and it was not difficult to figure out why. She herself had had to make that decision numerous times in the past. It never got any easier. A quiet prayer to the Force was sent up, pleading for mercy on the souls that had been and would be lost today.

While people around her picked their work back up, Nylea needed a moment to recenter herself. Her connection with the Force had been exerted heavily, but she was going to need all the strength she could muster once it was time to get everyone out of the medbay and the vessel entirely. Picking a spot out of everyone's way, the Jedi went through her knees and sat down on the floor. Taking a meditative position, she closed her eyes, resting all of her senses save the one that allowed her to see the Force.

It would warn her on time if danger came knocking. For now, she had to regain her strength. Unfortunately, she wasn't given much time to do so.

Silver eyes shot open right as Elisea called out to everyone within the medbay. Without delay she got back on her feet and took hold of her lightsaber, keeping it unlit for now. They would have to hold them off for one last time, if they were lucky. Hopefully rescue wouldn't run into any delays getting to them.

Elisea Apollodor | Karisa | Matt the Radar Tech | Fevris Derzelas | Caio | Drexel Quinn | Dresden Verbrennung ​

 

[Drexel Quinn]

​

Major Quinn placed his shotgun down, following Thorne out into the hallway. They needed to act quickly before the next wave came, unless they didn't want to survive until evac. He rushed out, helping the Chiss and members of the medical team carry wounded crew inside the medbay, careful to not exacerbate their wounds. Quinn silently wondered to himself what malevolent Force entity he had pissed off that the ship he was on would be boarded by cyborg monsters out of his nightmares as he helped bring the wounded men inside.

Matt the Radar Tech Elisea Apollodor Nylea Apollodor Karisa Fevris Derzelas Caio Dresden Verbrennung ​

 

[Dresden Verbrennung]

As the last of the stragglers filed into the medbay, Dresden too was wondering just what the hell they'd managed to piss off. He'd seen his fair share of strange diseases over the years, everything from Rakghoul to Blackwing to a mutated form of the clap crossbred with a parasitic fungus that caused the infected to climb the the highest point possible, whip their junk out, and stare in awe as giant mushrooms sprouted and spewed spores onto the wind. That last one had been a stone queen to clean up. Mortality rate of near 100%, infection rate in the high 60% range, and each infected could shower an area of several square kilometers with spores if the wind was right. They'd had to raze that particular city to stop the planet from being wiped out, and it was still a quarantine zone. Thank the Force it was a backwater no one had heard of.

But even taking all that into consideration, mecha space zombies was a new breed of strange. The bites didn't seem to be infectious. What scanning equipment they had left in the medbay didn't show any sign of an infectious agent in the blood. No nanites or anything like that. Considering the sheer number of wounded, they were well and truly screwed if there was some infection vector they were missing, but for now it seemed safe. If the Senior Agent was to guess, they relied on subjugating an area, then converting the dead or wounded after the fact, which meant the process wasn't a quick one.

"Thank the Force for small favors," he muttered to himself.

No matter what happened, he was going to have to see to it that they were quarantined and thoroughly examined, each and every one, before they were allowed to rejoin polite society. If it turned out that they were already infected and that they just hadn't been able to detect it, everyone in this room was probably dead, one way or another. Given his druthers, he'd rather pull the trigger himself. But, before they could even get to that point, they would have to survive. And if they were going to survive, that meant killing a whole mess of zombies.

Dresden was cool with that. Killing things was his happy place.

Speaking of killing...

There was a muted thump from the corridor, followed by an inhuman screech of...not pain, not precisely. To his ear, it sounded like an attempt at communication. The high pitched shriek carried well through the corridors of the starship, and the warbling, modulated nature reminded him of a radio signal displayed on a spectrogram. There were several answering shrieks, too loud and precise to be made by purely organic vocal cords. Acknowledgement? Hey guys, those little sphere thingies explode and hurt like a queen, find a new way around.

The agent turned his gaze upwards towards the hole in the ceiling. There was the sound of something rattling through the ventilation ducts.

"They're coming from above!" he shouted, and raised his blaster.

The first inhuman face peered through the hole, and was met by a flurry of blaster bolts from his repeating blaster. The air sang with musical shrillness as packets of discreet energy singed the air. The clean scent of ozone, pleasant smelling but also kinda hard on the lungs, filled his nostrils as he fired. There was no adrenaline surge this time. Dresden was both prepared and exhausted. His body simply couldn't dump any more spare energy into his bloodstream. On the plus side, that meant that his head was clear and his hands were steady as he played the stream of bolts across the creature's nose and eyes.

The first couple of bolts didn't do much more than startle and surprise the beast, but they were quickly followed by a dozen more. Whatever mechanical augmentation it had, it didn't appear to have a heat sink built into its skull. Steam flew from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as the fluid within flashed to vapor until, finally, the head exploded with a meaty pop. The headless corpse fell to the ground, but there was no time to celebrate. Three more peered over the lip, and as quickly as Dresden killed them, yet more followed. They were in a race now. If the zombies threw enough bodies at the team without giving them a chance to reload and cool their weapons, they were finished. But, there was no choice but to go cyclic. There was no choice but to roll the dice and hope they didn't come up snake eyes.

Despite himself, Dresden grinned. This was the sort of gambling he made his career on. It wasn't fun, exactly, but it would do in a pinch.

Matt the Radar Tech | Elisea Apollodor | Nylea Apollodor | Karisa | Fevris Derzelas | Caio | Drexel Quinn

 

[Fevris Derzelas]

Location: Star Destroyer, Leaving Medbay.
Wearing: FIMS Uniform.
Tagging: Elisea Korrado ~ Karisa ~ Nylea Apollodor ~ Dresden Verbrennung ~ Drexel Quinn ~ Caio ~ Matt the Radar Tech

Elysea's voice was the minuscule spark that brought both hope and anxious expectation into the heart of the doctor. As she tourniqueted a leg and began cauterizing arteries, the Bakuran could feel her own heartbeat in her eardrums as all noises were silenced and her attention directed solely at the holo device.

The message came through, and the spark became a beacon of relief among gore and terror. If only it hadn't been sullied by the unavoidable choices that would follow. Nothing was ever ideal, and regrettably when it came to the medical service ideal stood right above the line between life and death. It was painful enough to simply provide relief to patience she knew were beyond her ability to save and let them go - but having to let go of those that could possibly have been saved had the conditions been different was something that Dr. Derzelas could only describe as a personal kind of hell.

She cursed under her breath, the feeling of anger and helplessness overcoming her usual coldness. Blue eyes flashed a pained look as she gazed down at herself, covered in blood of who knew how many soldiers and shrugging off the exhaustion that had taken over her body, another crach forming in her heart. For all the aloofness she could portray, there was nothing Fevris Derzelas cared for as much as she did for her people. But there was no time for grief, not yet. One deep breath was what it took to steel herself again, giving Elysea one firm nod before taking the markers and then handing some to Karisa. They could only take those with the highest chances of survival.

Moving swiftly, Fevris grabbed a pair of boxes that contained several shots of a substance of her own design. Inzamine. She slid one of the boxes over to Chiss surgeon. "For those that we leave behind, it'll take away the pain." It was the very least they could do for their men and women. In a handful of minutes, the Doctor had marked the patients that were ready to be moved onto the Pitsenbarger, and administered the Nox-1 agent to those who would fall with the imperial vessel, exchanging a look of gratitude and what words of comfort she could provide to the ones who were conscious enough to hear her.

Then they were ready to leave, as soon as evac arrived and the soldiers gave them the go sign.