A Return to Normalcy

[TweedPawn]

There would be nothing in the cockpit. It sat empty, its dials flashed their warnings in vain. The asteroids kept striking the ship, a planet's atmosphere was in view. Impact was soon. The ship shuddered as gravity took a grasp onto the vessel. There was little time. A deadly crash could be avoided, but the ship had no chance of surviving intact. There were escape pods ready. One of the pods could easily survive the crash, it was designed for such a crash. It could also hold the current passengers.

But action would need to be taken quickly.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Empty.

Daiyu swore under his breath as he set his rifle aside and settled into the pilot's seat. Armored fingers danced across the console as he pulled up navigational information and data on the ship's hull integrity. Alarms chimed and rattled incessantly as the vessel began to skim the atmosphere of some alien world. A quick sensor sweep indicated that it was habitable by humans, and that there were settlements of some kind. Abandoned or inhabited he couldn't tell - he only paid the scan a brief moment of attention. It guaranteed a little survival time once they crashed, and that was all he was interested in.

The ship was crippled. A few gentle tugs on the control yoke and an experimental tap on the thruster controls showed that the main drives had been knocked off-line. An asteroid impact had crumpled in the hull behind a ceiling bulkhead near the stern of the vessel, which had in turn severed a power conduit. That left the sublight and hyperspace drives offline. The reactor had suffered an overload when the conduit was severed, and several major power linkages were burned out when the reactor attempted to shunt that overload away from itself. Shields were offline. Weapons and communications as well. The long-range sensors were shot as well, leaving him no way of readily discerning their location.

"Kriff me," he swore. He needed to delay atmospheric entry. There was too much damage to prevent the vessel's descent, but he could slow it down. Daiyu activated the ship's distress beacon before going to work on the rest. First he tended to their course; they were over an inhabited world, there was a risk the craft could smash down in a city and cause severe damage. A quick check of their projected impact site showed that the vessel was going to touch down within a few kilometers of a small settlement; Dai nudged the port thrusters and altered that 'few kilometers' to nearly a hundred and fifty kilometers. The ship's target would be a patch of relatively open land, though whether or not it hit was another matter entirely.

With that done, he began to write a new protocol into the ship's navigational computer. The frantic tapping of armored fingertips against a virtual keyboard filled the cockpit. A minute ticked by, then two; finished. He uploaded the emergency landing protocol. The vessel's retrothrusters fired and the entire craft groaned and shuddered as it tried to decelerate. If he was lucky, very lucky, it'd be intact enough to salvage. There was only one thing left to do.

He pulled a datapad from his armor's pouch and plugged it into the navicomputer, then downloaded the vessel's flight logs and the computer's calculations for its last six hyperspace jumps - assuming the data hadn't been scrambled or deleted, of course. It only took a few moments to complete, then he stowed it and bolted from the cockpit. Once again he scanned the corridors at rifle-point, but he was much faster than before. They were living on borrowed time and he knew it.

"Erica! Erica, it's Dai! Out of the closet, we're getting off this ship! Fyston, we need to go! Get to an escape pod!" he shouted as he leaped over 62's still-smoking corpse, and made for Della. There was no time to try to pick her cuffs or find a key. He slung his Lawbreaker rifle onto his back and seized one of her cuffs between his fingers. "Glad you're asleep. This'd scare the piss outta you," he muttered lowly. Daiyu was strong - fantastically strong. He wasn't just Kushari, he was augmented. He pulled on the cuff and watched the metal stretch and warp under his digits. It gave out with a loud shriek, and clattered to the floor. He repeated the process on the other cuff, leaving Della free of any bindings. He pulled her up and threw her over his shoulder, then made sure Erica was with him.

"Stay close, kiddo, we don't have much time."

The ship groaned again, and he gritted his teeth. If his guess was correct, they had another minute to safely leave via escape pod - and that was if they were very lucky. He moved from the room as quickly as he dared, for he didn't want to lose Erica, and made for the escape pods. Fortunately the pods weren't far off, and weren't secured. One hissed open when it detected the little group's arrival.

There were three other pods that he saw - maybe more, maybe less, but there were certainly extras. The vessel lurched under his boots as he was setting Della into a seat and he stumbled; he cursed lowly in katari and finished buckling her in. "I'm startin' to really hate this ship," he muttered, as he moved to the pod's pilot seat and took the controls. The design was reasonably aerodynamic, not unlike a very cramped shuttle, and seemed to have all the usual safety features, sublight drives, and communications and survival gear traditionally fitted to pods. "Erica, buckle in. If we leave right now, we can..."

His voice trailed off as a dull thump echoed through the ship's hull, followed by the screech of metal and the howl of thrusters. "Too late. Hold on tight, kid, this is gonna get ugly."

Jettisoning while the ship was entering the atmosphere at high speed was suicide. Damaged parts of the hull were ripping away, there was a tremendous amount of heat, and no small amount of asteroid debris had likely followed them in - they'd have to wait it out. The shuttle would be an impromptu, informal heat shield. The only hard part was guessing when to punch out. Too soon and the pod would be shredded by debris upon exiting. Too late and it'd form a nice crater in someone's yard.

Minutes ticked by. Daiyu's fingers tightly clenched the controls and his eyes monitored the pod's sensors. The hull around them had stopped heating, but it was under severe strain. He gently bit his lower lip and, willing to chance fate, detonated the explosive bolts holding the hatch closed over the pod. It blew away, leaving the pod's cockpit just barely exposed to the superheated air rolling over the upper surface of the ship. "No time like the present," he muttered softly, as he pressed the second set of releases.

The pod lurched out and its engines kicked over; a second later, it was screaming away from the descending fireball. How far it'd get was anyone's guess, though - the little pod's internal alarms were blinking and a klaxon was all but deafening the feline piloting it. One of the atmospheric stabilizers - a little wing, basically - had snapped away, and one of the two drives propelling it was spewing smoke and fire. Then, only a hundred meters above the world's surface, the drive failed entirely. Its mate followed suit and the escape pod went dark, with Daiyu grappling desperately with the controls to attempt to guide the craft to safety with what few thrusters and control surfaces he had left.

Where he landed, though - that was going to be entirely up to fate. He was just trying to make sure the landing didn't kill everyone aboard.

 

[TweedPawn]

Sam and Erica followed Daiyu without question. She was scared. The ship was rattling and shaking violently and Erica wasn't even sure if they would all make it out ok. She could only be glad that Daiyu and Fyston knew what they were doing. The child had little time to question their skill. She had a complete child's trust in their abilities. If they said that Erica needed to do something, should was going to do it.

Still, the child was fearful. She saw the bodies and understood how dire her situation was. She had never seen death before. Yet, it was presented to her as a cold, unfeeling reality. She ran into the escape pod and clung onto Sam after securing herself in. Her heart pounded against her frail skeleton. She never felt so small in her life. Logic would dictate that an Akk Dog would provide only marginal security in an escape pod. Yet, it provided Erica with the emotional stability to keep herself calm.

She buried her face into Sam's scales again as the pod rattled and shook like a roller-coaster. The seatbelts provided the necessary restraints to keep her safe, but Sam only had Erica to keep him secure. Erica screamed as the pod hit the ground of the planet they were in. It tumbled and rolled, shaking the passengers inside.

Then, there was stillness. Erica could smell a faint scent of debris as she shuddered inside her restraints, her tiny arms still holding onto Sam. She whimpered as she looked for Daiyu, her eye stinging with tears as she reached for someone to comfort her.

 

[Jiang Winters]

The pod was on fire.

Daiyu coughed to clear his lungs and helmet of smoke. The filtration system kicked in and provided him with clean air, but Della and Erica wouldn't be quite so lucky. He grappled with his seat restraints and ultimately tore them off. He stumbled out of the pilot's seat and made his way into the rear of the pod, which was rapidly filling with smoke and noxious fumes. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and his rifle on his way back out, and doused what few flames he saw. Once the canister was empty he ditched it, and knelt in front of Della. He tore her harness away and slung her over his shoulder, then grabbed Erica's restraints and removed them as well.

"Keep Sam close," he ordered quietly, before making for the pod's rear doors. They swung open with a bit of effort, and he stumbled outside into the smoking furrow the pod had carved into the soil. They were in gently rolling plains of some sort; overhead, the fireball that was their ship was still hurtling down. He carried Della a little ways off and laid her in the grass, then made sure Erica and Sam were alright. Once he was satisfied that both were safe, he unslung his rifle and checked his duffel bag, which he'd grabbed on his way off. "Keep this duffel close," he murmured as he handed her a small comms unit, "and use this to contact me if you see anything. I'm gonna get to the top of that little hill," he pointed out a low rise, "And figure out where we are."

 

[TweedPawn]

The grasses were excellent for concealing Erica, Della, and Sam. Erica had no idea where she was, so she remained perfectly still in the grass. Sam, also looking shaken from the escape pod's landing, seemed to also accept the idea of laying on firm ground. It was warm, and smelled sweet from the long grass. Erica had never been in a place before. Daiyu mentioned a settlement of some sort. Hopefully, it would be friendly.

-------

The grasses also hid other secrets. The flaming ball in the sky had not gone unnoticed. It was the Rangers that first saw it, then the scouts. Both were part of a group that shared the same motivation, but different goals. The Rangers were the men of the wilds. They were the best at frontier survival and horsemanship. Even now, they were congregating in a hurry to discuss the next course of action. They needed the Scouts.

The Scouts were the ones who had become fighters for a revolt. They were alert for any signs of the Darkness that they were starting to sense more and more. They trusted no one but other frontiersmen. The city of Skagrit declared the Plainsfolk to be resentful enemies to progress. The Scouts proved them wrong. They were silent and cunning. It was easy for them to weave through the grasses.

It wasn't long before two Scouts were sneaking through the grasses with rifles. They made bird calls. One enormous freak of nature, one woman, one child, a four legged monster. They were invaders. Possibly allies of the Sorcerers that took over Skagrit. The Scouts were ood at gathering information, but not rugged fighting. They made another bird call.

Two Rangers on horseback quickly rode to where Erica was. Sam barked and stood over Della at the men as they circled he trio. They did not raise their rifles, but seemed curious. Erica gasped and froze perfectly still. The three toed horses neighed and chewed at their bits.

"< Easy there. We are just trying to get some thing accounted for. What's your name?>" one of the rangers asked gently. He was an older fellow, experienced with owning a family. Erica stared blankly. She never heard this language before. It sounded vaguely similar to the random words Della would use. She was motionless. What did these men want?

"<She's terrified. She's not going to talk.>" the other Ranger said.

"<Makes sense. Look at her clothes. They're strange. It looks like Skagrit's weird fashion, but there are Drepland patterns. Child are you from around here?>"

"<We got that freak over there.>" the second Ranger interrupted.

"<I know. He looks like he belongs to a science experiment. The scouts should keep it distracted while we deal with this group.>"


----

"< You see it?>" asked a scout. He was lowered in the grass, his bright green eyes staring like a rabbit.

"<Oh yes. He looks like a cat. Claude, is this a trick? A trap? What are your instincts saying?>"

"<I...don't sense any danger, per se. He could be dangerous, but I don't think he is searching for someone to harm, Geoffrey.>" Claude replied.

"<So, now what?>" asked Geoffrey, his muscled clenched.

"<I honestly don't know. I'd rather leave him be. If we're lucky, he won't notice the Rangers. >" Claude imitated the growl of a predator loudly, using the wind to carry his voice towards the stranger.

"<that should work. Now move out of the way before he finds us.>"

 

[Jiang Winters]

Daiyu tugged his helmet off as he reached the top of the hill. He slung his rifle over his back and cradled the helm in his armor-clad paws as he sniffed at the air. The world's scent was strange. The grass had a sweetness to it, and there was the unmistakable musk of some sort of animal. It was faint, perhaps distant; he was likely downwind of some far-off beast. He dismissed it as his ice blue eyes flicked across the grasslands. Animals weren't much concern yet - he was still within earshot of Erica, and she had the comms. If something happened, he was confident that he could reach her.

The feline tucked his helmet into the crook of his left arm and fished around for his datapad. He produced it in his off hand, and navigated through the touchscreen device's menus until he found his suit diagnostics. He ran a quick check, and smiled thinly. The suit was visually identical to Templar armor - in every way, shape, and form, it could pass for the IAR20K rig used by the Kushari military. His was a bit special, though. It was an AF25E1 Assault Frame. The suit was fully-fledged power armor, complete with its own flight system and a myriad of special functions. He simply hadn't activated any of them yet. He hadn't needed to.

The crash changed that.

He flicked open the system, and shivered briefly as he felt the suit's onboard computers interface with his nervous system.

"Hello beautiful," he rumbled lowly, as he began to 'see' a heads-up display in his field of vision - projected into his mind by the suit's systems. A growl stole his attention before he could fully appreciate the wealth of information provided. The feline's ears pricked towards the source of the noise and located its general direction. He hurriedly pulled his helmet on, and unslung his rifle. He pointed the directed energy weapon towards the source of the noise, but hovered his finger just off the trigger. Instead, he released his off hand and went for the M88 Automag holstered on his chest. He drew the weapon, flicked off the safety, and pointed it into the sky.

A terrific thunderclap shook the hillside as he fired the weapon a single time. He didn't know much about animals, but he doubted any would be brave enough to stick around after hearing such a ferociously loud report - the Kushari pistol was far louder than most slugthrowers, thanks to the excess of gunpowder used in its projectiles! He grinned behind his reflective faceplate and shoved the weapon back into its holster after turning the safety on.

The cat had his fill of the country view; now fully armored in his red-trimmed hardsuit, he turned about and started to make his way back to the escape pod. Due to a small fold in the terrain, he couldn't quite see where he'd left Erica and Della. He huffed in frustration and tapped into his hardsuit's systems. His memories around the suit's use were still faint; the suit itself was actually a little oversized, as if he was meant to be taller and broader to properly use it. Seemed he still had a little growing up - and a lot of remembering - to do. He briefly searched the suit's systems for a sensor module, but came up dry. There was something, but he couldn't access it. Dai set it aside and searched again. This time he found the A25's flight systems.

He grinned wickedly and crouched. "This is gonna be fun."

The armor panels on the on the back of his calves and shoulders folded open, exposing a hellish white thruster panel that let off a fierce glow. It howled and 'exploded' in a pulse of energy, creating a ring of dust and debris around his position... And propelling him forward all of a foot before dying out. The system chirped and an alarm message showed in his HUD. "Aw, man..."

Disappointed, the tiger-like alien rose to his full height and made for the bottom of the hill at a dead run. The ground thundered and shook beneath his feet, as if he were a creature many times larger than he was, and his boots churned up dust and clumps of soil and grass. He kept his rifle tucked into his shoulder but pointed the muzzle down and left; he could bring it to bear in the blink of an eye if need be, but he was expecting to run into an angry dog at most.

He took advantage of the world's low gravity - compared to Kushaa'vo's 2 g's - to leap over the little fold at the base of the hill. He sailed quite a few meters, landed on his shoulder, and shifted his momentum so that he rolled to his feet and returned to a ready stance - to his immense surprise, that stance ended up being more or less between Erica and a pair of mounted scouts.

He swallowed nervously and took a half-step back as his fingers tightened on his rifle. The blood red trim of his armor and the crossed swords, skull, and shield emblem on his helmet certainly wouldn't help make his stance any less threatening. "...This, uh, this is awkward."

 

[TweedPawn]

"<Whoa!>" Geoffrey yelped as he and Claude felt the ground shake. The two men gasped and ducked flat onto the grasses. Their eyes and ears scanned their surroundings. Geoffrey growled.

"<That hulk is armed!>" he cursed. Claude only nodded in response. They darted low towards where they left the Rangers, their forms kept below the line of the tall grasses. Their eyes darted back to where they left the armored were-cat thing and discovered that it was already sailing through the sky in a fantastic leap.

"<Divines have mercy. If that thing spots us or the Rangers, we're all dead men.>" Geoffrey cursed. He brought out a pistol, ready to fire. He could hear the horses neighing in protest, they stomped their three-toed hooves. Geoffrey could hear their riders try to keep their beasts calm.

The Rangers were quick to spot the armored newcomer in their mists and instantly pointed their rifles at him. They began to bark in their language towards Daiyu with their guns pointed straight at him. They did not carry worried fear in their eyes, as many Snamreg did. The Rangers were known for being foolhardy. They prided themselves on being true men of the wild.

There was a moment of confusion and chaos as the Rangers kept trying to order the were-cat. The Scouts kept their distance, as they always did. They were not fighters. Yet, Claude seemingly possessed by a contrary nature stepped out into the open.

"<Della?>" He said. His confusion on his face apparent. The Rangers stopped and looked at Claude. Geoffrey, a man that was more bulky than the rest, followed his close friend. He kept his gun aimed at the armored freak. Claude seemed more frail and timid, even when compared to Della. He looked more like a mouse than a rabbit as she stepped through the grasses to get a better look.

"< It's…Her, Geoffrey.>" said Claude. Geoffrey's face went pale, as if he was seeing a ghost. He rushed to Della's body and crouched over it. Erica backed away while Sam growled protectively.

"<How…I…What is the meaning of this?>" he growled at Daiyu, his eyes and expression harsh like a boar.

"<You mean this is Frey's kid? I thought she was dead.>" said the older Ranger.

"<No…not dead. Just lost.>" Claude has a distant look in his eyes, like seeing something that wasn't there. His gaze seemed vacant, and then the glitter of awareness returned to them. He approached the were-cat.

"<They won't understand us. They can't. They're from the stars.>" Claude said. The other Snamreg looked around nervously. It was like being told there was a spy amongst them. Their horses shifted nervously as well, picking up on their rider's uneasy feelings.

"<Well, she looks plenty dead now. A lot of good that'll do us. Why isn't she waking up?>" Geoffrey growled.

"< I don't know. She doesn't look injured. No head trauma.>" Claude studied Della's body. He looked at Erica, his rabbit gaze studying her. Sam growled and Claude instantly retreated back warily. The Rangers pointed their rifles at the Akk Dog.

Erica ran to Daiyu and hid behind him.

"Who are these people? Why are they crowding around Della?" Erica asked Daiyu.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Daiyu didn't particularly like having guns pointed at him. He especially disliked being shouted at in languages he didn't understand. Individually, those peeves were annoying. Combined, they were downright frustrating. The Kushari growled under his breath and lightly rested his finger on his rifle's trigger. It was tempting to preemptively open fire, but he'd watched enough movies to know that was a terrible idea. In every first contact flick ever, the locals were usually just as scared of the aliens as the aliens were of the locals.

He took his off hand away from the rifle and held it up, as if to say 'hold your fire.' With his gun hand, he lifted the rifle and slowly slung it onto his back. "I don't know, Erica," he muttered softly, "I can't understand a word they're saying."

The cat took a half-step towards one of the horses as he spoke, and reached out with the Force to touch the animal. He tried his best to calm it, to assure it that he didn't mean it any harm. It seemed to have the desired affect, as the equine didn't shift about nervously anymore. In fact, it seemed a bit curious. "Yeah. Good girl - I'm not so bad, see?" He stretched a hand out. The armor panels covering the underside of his fingers retracted and the fabric seemed to retract along with it, exposing the leathery pads of his fingers and the soft white fur of his digits. He lightly stroked the horse's cheek and under its jaw. "Never seen one of you up close before. You're big, huh?"

His helmet unsealed from his armored collar with a sharp hiss, and he pulled it free with his off hand. The cat had to hope that the locals wouldn't be too panicked by his features - his kind had evolved from predatory felines, and he had the fangs and senses to show it. The cat's jaw held intimidating, razor-sharp fangs, and plenty of teeth perfect for tearing and cutting meat. While the rear of his jaws held molars perfectly suited to grinding and chewing things like vegetables and fruits, only the crests of his fangs and incisors would be readily visible. He kept that in mind and tried to keep his lips sealed as he leaned a bit closer to the horse...

...And received a looooong liiiick for his troubles. The animal's lengthy tongue flopped out and dragged wetly across his chin, up his nose, and right along to his forehead. It left his richly colored fur soaked with drool and matted. Daiyu recoiled and made a 'bleck' noise as he instinctively stuck his tongue out to clean off his lips, only to get the taste of horse saliva in his mouth. "Ew. Ew. Ew," he mumbled around his long and broad kitty tongue, which he left lolled out of his muzzle as he tried to scrape it off with his fingertips.

"Note to self - never kiss a horse."

 

[TweedPawn]

The men gasped then stared rudely in complete confusion. The Scouts has suspected a were-cat but to see its face was another matter entirely. The armor was also another startling point. It moved from the were-cat's feature like water from a horse's hide. The scouts would have to figure out that one. The men looked at each other and seemed to snort and breathe at each other like the beasts they rode on.

The horses seemed curious about the were-cat and were sniffing it and mouthing its armor. They gave their own snorts at the cat and one of them licked at Daiyu's face. The older Ranger smirked and patted the neck of his horse.

"<These people seem harmless. If they're not, it'll be better to wait until the were-cat is off guard if we want to get rid of him. Claude and the horses seem calm enough. Not sure what to make of that giant lizard. Scoop your friend, if it really is her, unto my horse.>" the ranger said. Geoffrey reached over and scooped Della up. His brown eyes glared at Sam and Erica. He seemed to be studying them, trying to gauge for himself what their intentions were.

"Hey! What are you-" Erica went to stop Geoffrey as he slung Della over the back of one of the horses. Geoffrey snorted and lowered his head to show his aggression and dominance towards Erica. The child stopped. Erica did not seem fearful, but confused. Didn't Della do that as well? What if..? It couldn't be...

"gat netug?" Erica said, she recalled a handful of words Della tried to teach her. The men all turned to look at her.

"Eis nehcerps namreg?" the oldest ranger asked.

"hommich hua Erica." Erica only knew greetings and a few stray words. The men looked at eachother again. Claude approached Erica.

"Erica? Hommich hua Claude. Geoffrey. Feldith dnu Roiche." he said to the girl. Erica nodded. She pointed at Daiyu and Della. "Daiyu. Della frey."

The men now looked very concerned.

"<It IS her. How else would they speak such broken namreg?>" said Claude to the other men.

"<The question is: How did they get here?>" replied Geoffrey.

"<We should leave. The fields feel unsafe.>" said the younger ranger. Geoffrey made a curt snort at Daiyu and Erica, ordering them to follow.

Erica seemed dumbfounded.

"Daiyu...We found Della's people."

 

[Jiang Winters]

Daiyu very nearly came unglued when he realized that one of the aliens were hauling Della up. The cat had pulled his helmet back on and sealed it tight in a heartbeat and had been in the process of reaching over his shoulder for his rifle when Erica intervened. He blinked in surprise as she began to speak to them in a language they seemed to understand. The Kushari drew his rifle and kept it pointed low in a defensive stance.

His ears flicked inside the cramped confines of his helmet as the men spoke amongst themselves. The cat's digits drummed against the foregrip of his rifle and he glanced between the armed men as if searching for a threat, searching for a reason to strike out. He found none, though he did answer a rude-sounding snort with a harsh growl. The cat glanced to Erica, and briefly lowered his hand from the rifle to squeeze her shoulder.

"Yeah. Not very friendly, are they?" he muttered lowly, as he fell into step behind the Snamreg scouts.