To Ashes [GUIDE]

[Ereza]

Eve Foundation
ATTN: D.R.O. Larue
Mission: Moddell Sector Zelta
A small GUIDE outpost planet named Ichor on the outskirts of the sector has issued an SOS. Unusual solar radiation has effected the electronics necessary to keep the GUIDE outpost operational. Radioactive levels are critical and GUIDE underground generators are nearly out of fuel. Make several fuel container and life support drops but DO NOT land. You have two weeks before their fuel supply runs out...

...

Mission accepted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At first she wasn't sure exactly what it was she was feeling, but something exceedingly oppressive had suddenly filled the room. Similar to the sensation experienced back in the man's chambers, Imka felt her stomach quake as it grew in intensity.

"I-" her voice caught in her throat, brown eyes widening as she glanced from the Duchess back to the ghastly Overlord. He wasn't moving, wasn't speaking, but just past him beyond the pane of glass the Doctor was struggling to breath, "what-" Imka moved forward to get a better view and noticed finally the man's hand in the air, the telltale gesture of his coiling fist clicking somewhere in her mind.

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

And as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

"I would have assumed that someone of your talents, Doctor Ven, would have been able to work through any challenge for the good of the patient. Are the accolades heaped upon you misplaced, Doctor? I certainly hope not unless you wish to usher yourself into a state of replaceability."

Imka hung at the window, mouth agape and heart hammering in her chest. What had just happened here? Who were these people? Who was this man? A veritable deer in headlights became her expression. There were no words to be said, only shock and the very infantile bloomings of disgust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Larue, Larue wake up!"

Heart in her throat, Imka awoke with a start to the smell of smoke clogging her lungs and the sensation of a tornado surrounding her. A man hovered over her, recognizable in his Eve Foundation uniform despite the plumes filling the cabin.

"What's going on?!"
"Get your breather on, we have a breach in the hull!"
"Where are we?!"
"Larue, gorramnit, put your breather on!"

She felt the plastic of the breather slip over her face, fumbling to create the proper suction as the man yanked her out of her seat. Imka stumbled after him, ducking through sparks and leaning against the pull of a ship spinning through space out of control. The lights flickered once, twice, then died. Weightlessness took them. She spotted the tailings of stars twisting in an arch through a nearby viewport. Now she remembered.

"Gibbs! Gibbs what's happened?!"
"What's happened? I'll tell you what's happened, this whole damn section of the sector is one huge fething asteroid field and radioactive nebula. Whatever the frick these GUIDE people are doing out here is beyond me!"
"Wasn't it marked on the map?" Imka pulled herself along the hall after Gibbs' floating form.
"Feth no! There ain't a proper map of this sector or we'd have gone the long way round."
"And risk missing the deadline-"
"Feth the deadline! We're lucky we're alive!"
"Don't say that! Where's R4?"
"I sent him out to try and repair as much of the hull as he can," Gibbs punched the keypad to open the bridge gate and pulled himself through, "we get hit by another sucker that big and we'll be dead in the stars, Larue."
Imka pulled herself across the chamber by handholds to the control console and began running diagnostics, "The engines are still at 80%. We could make a jump out of the system to..."

Imka blinked, her vision going hazy, "...to...clear the asteroids and plot a new course in."
"Not until R4 finishes making repairs. The ship will never hold."

Hull inegrity: 65%

"Gibbs..." something was wrong. Something was very very wrong in more ways than Imka could possibly describe. She blinked hard.
"Not now, Larue, I'm helping R4. Can you hand me that electro-socket?"
When she opened her eyes again she saw it. She saw it before her eyes even laid upon the image. The massive asteroid had stealthily shadowed their trajectory through the field, having no sensor arrays to avoid during their downtime. Imka spotted it through a back-facing viewport just as she leaned down to rustle through the tool box. It was about a minute away from squashing them against an equally hulky behemoth of a space-rock.

Then it all came flooding in.

"Ahhh!" a shaking hand pressed at her temple, Imka grimaced as a flash of pain took her mind. Briefly her eyes flashed a brilliant, icy blue. A disembodied male voice entered her mind.

Esmae...

Somewhere at the other side of the galaxy someone was tampering with the ether.

"We ain't jumpin' to hyperspace, Larue, now give me that gorramn electro-socket and get to the cockpit. Hit thrusters at 80% starboard on my mark."



[member="Cameron Centurion"] [member="Magdalena Lethe"] [member="Isaiah Dashiell"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

Ichor
GUIDE Outpost Zelta 3
Mine Bunker HQ


"...this is GUIDE Outpost Zelta 3, uncharted planet Ichor of the Modell Sector, coordinates 3.25.15.21.23.1, galactic standard time...12 Restora 852..."

"...we came here to research and record data on a heretofore unknown species of plant-like creatures living in the shadow of the planet's sun. Recently Ichor has sustained dangerous levels of solar radiation in the last 64 hours. We suspect the sun is in the beginning stages of collapse. Our surface command systems have been compromised and we are presently relying on underground generators to fuel our life support, however we only have enough fuel to last us two more galactic standard weeks. Our transport has been rendered completely inoperable..."

"...we are stranded..."

Magda stood hunched over the comms stan, face pale and eyes heavy with exhaustion.

"...this is Magdalena Lethe. Acting Commander of this mission and Founder of the GUIDE initiative. I take full responsibility for the lives trapped in this outpost station with me. Many of my crew members are critically poisoned and need medical aid. Please..." blue eyes strained, her voice wavered and threatened to break, "if anyone is receiving this message,"

"Miss Lethe..."

"help us."

"Magda..."

Hand balled into a fist, Magda sunk her head between her arms, elbows leaned against the console, "What is it Atheema?"

"You should rest, I'll take the next shift."

"I should do it."

"You've been at it for five hours straight. You need to rest, you need to eat."

"How are the others?"

She couldn't seen Atheema's face but she could feel the frown forming there. Magda knew the answer to her own question but it helped to ask it anyways. Several of her crew members had been caught out in the radiation flare storm. A few of them were in critical condition.

"As well as they can be," Atheema said gently after a moment, "you should go see them. Let them know you've managed to get the comms unit working. It'll give them hope."

"Hope," Magda slowly straightened herself, roughly wiping the sleeve of the leather jacket she wore at her face. It wasn't her jacket, it had been lent to her.

"That's right," said Atheema, "that's what we need right now."

"...right."


A few minutes later she stepped away from the comms chamber to the sound of Atheema's voice transmitting their SOS to anyone that could hear, if only it would relay through the radiation storm.

She arrived in the sleeping hall not long after and quietly stepped her way through to the middle of two rows of cots. It was dark in the hall - they had to be careful how much juice they used from the generators. Only a few lamps cast a faint illumination of orange, saturating the sleeping faces in a haze. Only one set of eyes were open and they belonged to [member="Isaiah Dashiell"] who lay on his cot staring at the ceiling. Frowning, Magda made her way over and took a seat on the floor next to him.

Sitting in silence for several moments, the GUIDE Founder absently fussed with the sleeve snaps, incapable of bringing herself to look at him, "How are you feeling?"

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

The air felt heavy in the sleeping hall. Many eyes were closed, but he couldn't tell if they were shut from exhaustion or if they were being forced shut as the others attempted to get any sort of rest. It had been a long couple days. The cot groaned slightly under the weight of the young man as he shifted slightly breaking the silence between Mags' question and Izzy's reply. He huffed, blowing some of the hair out of his face before turning over to look at her shoulders. Such a heavy weight she carried on those tiny things. A dream gone awry with so many people's lives in her hands. So many were already sick, from radiation poisoning he wondered if they would even be able to last long enough to worry about not having enough food. The strange plant-like creatures hadn't left them along for more than a few hours at a time leading to more wounded to take care of on top of the sick.

It was a mess, to say the least. He felt a mess.

But he wouldn't say that, not to Magda.

"It could be worse, we could be in space with Starweirds." It was his attempt at humor. He wouldn't be surprised if it fell flat. "You're doing the best you can, don't beat yourself up too hard. We'll get through this. I heard you got coms up, maybe Creia will swoop down to the rescue."

It was a possibility that wasn't so crazy that it was unbaleivable. Creia was resourcefull. If there was anyone who could get them out of this jam it was her.
[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

Magda smiled faintly at the starweird comment, making to glance at Izzy from the corner of her eyes, "Don't be ridiculous, starweirds aren't real." How much she believed that even Magda wasn't sure, but for a moment she wasn't thinking about their current predicament. A short moment, but a moment nonetheless.

She pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on her knees. Having Isaiah on her side and even being supportive came as something of a surprise but she was glad for it. It almost felt like they were friends. She didn't have the heart to tell him Creia was presently occupied on a mission in Galactic Alliance space.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, "Comms are up but the transmitter is damaged and there's too much interference while we're on the day side of the planet. We'll have to keep trying until we get a reply, we won't have a clear shot until nightfall. ..." even then, there were no promises anyone would pick up the signal, but at this point it was their only hope. A constant SOS transmission with any chance of getting through was all they could really do. Uncharted systems didn't tend to have a lot of traffic. Brow furrowed, she absently glanced at her wristwatch before remembering it was dead, "just a few hours I think. And then..."

and then the creatures would return. Just like the night prior, and the night before that. Her frown deepened with worry.

[member="Isaiah Dashiell"]

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

"And then..."

Her words trailed off, but he understood. If the radiation wasn't bad enough, every night like clockwork they would come out. But something felt off about the way they went about attacking them, planned, intelligent, but they didn't seem to mourn their fallen, in fact they would use their dead in ways he would prefer not to remember in detail. With a sigh he sat up in his cot and swung his legs over the edge to stand up. His bare feet clapped on the cool floor sending a chill up his spine.

"Here, you sleep, its almost my shift anyways," he paused and looked down at the young, once fearless leader. "Hey, things will work out some kind of way, right? They always do when both of us are involved." More platitudes. He didn't believe half of what he was saying. For all he knew this could be his final night, it could be all of their final nights. Juddy wouldn't be happy to hear that his little cousin got torn to shreds by plant monsters on some uncharted world, but he felt like he wouldn't be surprised to hear it either.

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed as he began to walk towards the door.

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

Platitudes were welcome even if suspected. A kind word in such an hour felt like a grain of sand on a beach, but it was her little grain of sand and she would take it. A frown followed the young man as he stalked off through the darkness.

"Be careful."

Took her a while to move from the floor and by the time she'd made it to the cot his residual warmth was hardly there. She closed her eyes despite knowing that sleep was a fruitless endeavor. Had to try, at the very least.

~~~

"...this is GUIDE Outpost Zelta 3, uncharted planet Ichor of the Modell Sector, coordinates 3.25.15.21.23.1, galactic standard time...12 Restora 852..."

"...we came here to research and record data on a heretofore unknown species of plant-like creatures living in the shadow of the planet's sun. Recently Ichor has sustained dangerous levels of solar radiation in the last 64 hours. We suspect the sun is in the beginning stages of collapse. Our surface command systems have been compromised and we are presently relying on underground generators to fuel our life support, however we only have enough fuel to last us two more galactic standard weeks. Our transport has been rendered completely inoperable..."

"...we are stranded and requesting immediate medical and rescue aide. Reporting 7 injured personnel, 4 with critical radiation poisoning. I repeat, this is GUIDE Outpost Zelta 3, uncharted planet Ichor of the Modell Sector, coodrinates 3.25...."

The loop went on. Atheema only gave pause when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, "Hello Pathfinder Dashiell." The blue-skinned Liran barely glanced his way as she adjusted transmitter settings, "Did you sleep?"

[member="Isaiah Dashiell"]

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

A shrug and a yawn were his response to Atheema's question. Nobody here was actually getting sleep, or so he thought before his thoughts were interrupted by snoring from underneath a jacket in the corner of the room. Some people could sleep anywhere he guessed.

"Gurlanin don't need sleep," he joked, "Mags is in the cots now. Any response to our distress call?" He figured he could guess the answer. He took the seat next to her and pulled a half finished nutrient pack from his utility belt and tossed the cap to the floor before squeezing part of the contents into his mouth. Two weeks is how long the generators would last them, but how long until they were all killed or taken by those monsters? How long before they succumbed to radiation sickness? They needed help sooner than two weeks.

Much sooner.

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

"No, no response," Atheema's voice was flat of emotion, but not uncaring, "we will keep trying. I am glad you are awake. I have managed to fix the comms and record the message so we will not have to continue speaking it every time, but I haven't been able to hold the lock on the transmission frequency."

Atheema looked to him as he ate, noting his haggard appearance. No one really looked great at the moment, but they had need for their strongest to remain strong, elsewise they had no one to protect the weak, injured, and ill from those creatures.

"The frequency must be reset frequently, otherwise we hold no chance of broadcasting out even if the storms clear. I believe I can effect a signal boost and fix this issue, but I must go outside and assess the transmitter in person."

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

"No, way," he spun his chair to face Atheema leaned back into his chair. "I'd rather have us have to reset the frequency every half hour than risk you or anyone else dying from the radiation or getting caught in the storm." He didn't know Atheema well. He didn't know most of these people that well, but they were all part of GUIDE, and to Mags that meant they were important, which meant to him they were important. He wasn't the best when it came to combat and he wasn't even their best Pathfinder, but they were out of commission right now, which left him.

But...

"How often are we talking?" He leaned forward and offered the last of his nutrient pack.

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

"Every few minutes, sometimes longer," Atheema replied, glancing to the gesture of food and nodding a thanks before taking it, "we must remain vigilant of the comms. This light here should be green. When it turns red we've lost the channel frequency. I believe it can be an easy fix and we have time enough before nightfall."

"If I can fix the transmitter, I may even be able to boost the signal, enhancing our likelihood of rescue. I believe this to be worth the risk, Pathfinder Dashiell. The odds of success are good."

~~~

Magda fell into sleep much more quickly than expected, but it was fitful and riddled with visions. Shapes of creatures, like the ones that had been ceaselessly coming after then during the night, moved in and out of her peripheral. Some larger than others, some smaller - a myriad variety that had been impossible to notice during those chaotic hours of darkness. They were as varied as she could imagine and they moved here and there, eyes beady and glowing.

She was walking among their numbers, watching as they scattered away from the ray of light that trailed her steps. They were afraid of the light and that was the only solid defense they'd found, but they were unpredictable. Some had even shown a great sense of intelligence and a willingness for sacrifice. This was what disturbed her the most.

SSSSSSSSSSSSPECH.

The sound came out of nothingness, echoing into a dull roar in the distance. Magda visibly twitched on her cot.

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

He half sighed, half groaned and ran his hand through his hair. She was right, they had time. But how many had they nearly lost to the storms and radiation above? Was it worth it? He cursed under his breath and shot up from his seat. He was wasting time. Luckily, if he missed his window today, as long as they survived the night they could try again tomorrow if the storms weren't too bad.

"Let me go ask Mags." He didn't wait for her reply. He doubted she would be offended, he had a feeling she was the type that was about efficiency above all else, though he did feel bad still for leaving so suddenly. He didn't want to wake Mags either, but this was something she needed to okay. Or was it? What if something happened? She wouldn't forgive herself. He paused in the hallway. He needed to at least tell her. The cots came into view and all was well. A few light snores, a few groans, a sob somewhere in the corner. They were losing hope.

"Mags?" He kneeled by the cot he had been in only a few minutes ago. Something was wrong, why was she twitching? "Mags," he called again, this time not a question.

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSPEEK.

The creatures were stirring, beginning to run in every which direction. Frenzied, chaotic, there was no semblance of order here. In her dream Magda lifted her arms to shield her face and eyes, feet still slowly carrying her forward. She tried calling out but no words came from her, only a strange snarling hiss.

...Mags?...

In the blackness before her the creatures fled the sudden flare of two large red eyes, a dark mass curled around what appeared to be the glow of a giant crystal. Glow intensifying until she was nearly blinded from the rays, it shattered into a thousand red shards, one of which came flying directly at her.

SPEAK.

Mags.

Magda awoke, eyes blinking to adjust to a familiar orange haze with a scruffy face looming by. She felt sweaty, feverish. How long had she been asleep?

"I'm-I'm up..." she wiped blearily at her forehead and eyes, "is it my shift?"

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

"No, no. It's not your shift...Are you feeling okay? You look pale." He looked from side to side, as if he was about to tell her something he didn't want anyone else to hear. He hoped she wasn't getting sick from the radiation too, they couldn't afford to have Mags out of commission. Not now. All the more reason he needed to get that transmitter up and running.

"I'm going up there with Atheema. She thinks she can fix the transmitter so that our SOS can actually get out of the system." He paused, "And before you try to talk me out of it, I've already tried to talk myself out of it, and I can't leave you all here without a way to get a signal out. That's all I came to tell you. Now get some water and get back to bed, it'll be your shift soon enough." He grunted and started to stand and walk away.

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

"I'm just..." a blink, Magda cleared her throat, "a little warm."

Really it wasn't an unusual thing. The planet had the temperature and humidity of the tropics during the day, cooling to a balmy summer eve on Naboo in the evening. It was a warm place, so far as they'd experienced.

Hazey blues blinked at his hurried words, brow knitting in concern for what she thought he was saying. Go. Up there.

"Outside?" that was the tone that typically begged the very stubborn answer of absolutely not, "Isaiah, wait-" her hand shot up and somehow managed to catch his wrist with a cold, clammy grasp. She took a moment to think it over with a frown and the hopelessness of their situation if the current state of things didn't change sunk in.

"Please be careful," Izzy was their strongest team mate left and they couldn't afford to lose that. Magda couldn't afford to lose anyone on her team, but especially not the mildly terrifying, scruffy he-wolf. She reluctantly let him go.

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

Her touch startled him. He couldn't feel her hands through his suit, but he could feel the uneasiness coming off in waves. He locked eyes with her for a moment and nodded before making his way back to Atheema. He stared at his wrist and wondered if that was the last time he was going to see Mags or the rest of GUIDE. He sighed and clicked his helmet into place over his head and entered through sliding doors.

"Are you ready Atheema?" Something still didn't sit right with him, but he had to trust in Atheema's abilities. He had to.

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

"Ready," the Liran set her rebreather mask into place and picked up a case of tools, following the Pathfinder down the narrow hall to the access ladder that lead up to the surface.

She climbed up the ladder after him, hooking herself on a side rung to get a radiation reading while he checked that the zone was clear. GUIDE operatives weren't often dispatched to dangerous areas, so weaponry was limited - though modern and useful.

"Levels are low, we must be on the tail end of a storm," Atheema looked around as she pulled herself up out of the opening, climbing to her feet beside him. A glance around showed no creatures, as much as she suspected. There was still enough daylight peeking through the aura to keep them at bay, "we have a little less than an hour before we fall shadow side. We should move quickly."

If she could get the transmitter fixed before another storm rolled in then just maybe they could get a good window of clear transmission. Atheema nodded to the man and followed him to the tower some several dozen yards away, "How did you become involved with Guide, Pathfinder Dashiell?"

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

Two hours, that's how long his suit could last out here without any extra tanks. They only actually had a little less than an hour before darkness fell on the planet and a little longer after that until the next storm rocked the surface of this dying world. As he climbed the ladder up to the surface he made mental notes.

He exited the tunneled ladder and set several alarms on his arm mounted datapad, before taking a few quick steps to fall in beside Atheema before taking the lead out of habit.

Why had he joined GUIDE? He had been a young teen when he stumbled on the add and conned his way into becoming a Pathfinder. He hadn't entirely lied about his background, he had at least gone to the Levantine Academy, though he dropped out and ran off with the armor he still wore and a shuttle. He assumed the only reason there hadn't been a warrant out for him in Levantine Space was his cousin, not that it mattered anymore with Levantine Space all but vacated by the Silver Jedi.

"I just needed work," he said simply after pondering the question for a while. "I needed work and I needed to show my cousin that I wasn't going to fall down the same path as my brother," he paused, "even if it was more fun." he winked at the blue humanoid. "I fell in love with the stars and here I am, about to wither away or get eaten by plant monsters on this uncharted world." He winced at that. It was meant as a joke, but it wasn't really something to be joked about. Time to deflect.

"What about you? What brought you to this illustrious group of cartographers and explorers?"

[member="Magdalena Lethe"]

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

Atheema had no clue who his brother was or what path the man walked, but she gathered the man likely had an interesting career. Troublesome, maybe. She waxed intrigued at the wink, faint smile following the gesture.

"I am a Companion of the Oiran Guild House," she replied with no hint of shame, "and I am part of the Guild's sponsorship to GUIDE. Miss Lethe bartered for ... an extended use of my skills to further the mission of the organization. In my past life, before I became a Companion in this life, I was a highly awarded and acclaimed Scientist that researched and developed new technology for a large corporation. My career there ended abruptly when they were found to be using human specimens for experimentation."

"Miss Lethe was working with the Guild House for one of her projects and found my advice to be sound and useful. She personally requested that I join the team, but my contract with the Oiran Guild House is binding, so the Sponsorship of my time here was the only way. I also have a love for the stars and a desire to explore, build, and learn; the arrangement works out well for both parties."

 

[Isaiah Dashiell]

He'd heard of the Companions, his brother had visited them a few times so he had always assumed they were just...prostitutes despite Zeke always trying to play them up to a young and curious young man. It looked like Zeke was right. He looked her up and down with his eyes behind a darkened visor. Why was he only just now taking note of her? He tended to lean towards the vibrantly colored humanoids when it came to his tastes and Atheema definitely wasn't just average. Maybe it was her vibe, she just seemed to not have many passions so it was comforting to hear that she did.

Also comforting that she was experienced.

He kicked himself mentally for that.

Not here, maybe when they got back to camp and they had survived the plant horde. After all it could be their last night alive, might as well spend it-

He kicked himself again. Later.

His boots crunched over dried bones. They crumbled to dust under his weight and he had half a mind to take a sample for Mags to analyze to keep her up during her shift. They were nearly at the transmitter.

"So do you provide your....services for Mags?"

 

[Magdalena Lethe]

This next question afforded him a curious, knowing smile, "I am providing my services to her as we speak."

"Companions provide more than just pleasures of the body," reaching the base of the transmission tower she slipped the shoulderstrap of her tool case over her head and took to the ladder for the long climb up.

"Many of us have particular skillsets or knowledge that make us useful to certain clients. Although, I will say that this contract is unorthodox in Companion terms, but I have found Miss Lethe to work and think in very unorthodox ways. She sees a person or a component for all its attributes and uses them to their strengths in the places where they will have the greatest positive effect on the mission."

"To answer your question more directly; no, I have not provided her with the services you are alluding to because she has not requested them, but I would if she did."