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RP: LSDF Akahar [Chapter 3.0] - To Tear Free

LSDF Akahar, Utilities Team

Ny'za began to panic at hearing the thumps come from the hatch. She could only wait for it to open, something in the back of her head telling her not to fire before the hatch opened. That very same hatch gave way and flew across the room hitting Bes'linn. It took a moment to process, things were going good, but suddenly they were in the worst possible situation. It was only a matter of time before the beast leaped out at them and tried to attack while they were confined int the room.

Seeing Glacier drag Bes'linn out brought Pitch to her senses and she rushed over to Jiji who was working at the computer and grabbed her just as she had opened all the utilities door and pulled her out of the room. "We need to get moving fast." She then turned her attention to the Pratima's standing in the room and spoke a sentence that could barely be called trade, but it was the best she could manage in her rush, and she was sure she said something in the wrong order, but she wasn't sure what.

"Run, or your chicken heads will come off."
 
LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Command & Medical Team

From her vantage point, Aran'ya could feel the entire atmosphere changing to a frantic pace very quickly. Her WIND suit displayed the vitals of the whole connected team in real time, and the readouts showed the accelerating heartbeats of fear as the shadowy threat of the Beast became much more real, the sheer power she displayed beating down the hatch down and pinning Bes'linn with it. Fortunately, Glacier was able to extricate her from the pinning door and the Utilities room before she could be further injured.

This prompted Aran'ya to rush forward to cover the engineer whom she had patched up only a short while before and relieve her from Glacier's care, in order to free the combat soldier up to use his firepower and mobility to get the rest of them out safely. Aran'ya kneeled down in the hallway and quickly checked over Bes'linn for any blunt force trauma and to make sure she was able to stand after the impact to her suit, keenly aware of the fact she had just patched her up in surgery not long before and some wounds might be reopened by the stress.

The Medic kept her own Silva rifle at the ready in her off hand to defend their retreat if necessary, though when she heard the grinding of the Utilities Door unlocked by Jiji's command suddenly she knew that things were about to get a lot more difficult containing Merril and stopping her from injuring others in her rampage.
 
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LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Utilities Room
As things were moving along, the pace blurred and things begun to sprint together in the heat of deep pursuit. The extended doors around the Utilities Room which were only supposed to open in the advent of a large item being transported slowly raised upwards and folded into the ceiling. Aran'ya could see Keib's body language freaking out. "Wait wait why is that happening-" he could be heard muttering over the communications before looking behind at all of the other alive Akahar staff who were following him. "Everyone, move back into the corridor - Merril's here and the doors are open!"

In the heat of the moment, making an about face and going back the way they came was proving to be harder than anticipated. All the momentum of Keib and company moving in - especially that of the trolley Vithr was carrying with Yar'mak in it. The Bridge Bunnies were trying to help Vithr make the about face, pulling the cart along with him to get it facing the right direction before moving.

Thank goodness they were still at the back so they could make a quick getaway, and had - well, frankly - meat shields between them and the patients. The only one separated from them was Aran'ya. Bes'linn was bruised more than anything by the impact of the hatch door. They could walk it off. Their Silva Rifle, however was broken.

The one advantage to this was that the Freespacers were able to run through the now enlarged passageway. Or. They would have. They had other ideas as Jiji's tomfoolery opened the arena. "Listen! I'll try buying us time!" The ebony skinned freespacer stood up, and stumbled towards the hole in the maintenance hatch.
"What? You can't!" The metal Freespacer said, trying to hold them.
The ebony skinned one wrestled out of his grip and ran for the hatch. "It'll be better like this for the Akahar, GO!"

As they were about to disappear into the Maintenance Hatch's gloom, suddenly they were gunned down by ... something that wasn't quite bullets, and bullets. Ivory white shards of bone were being launched from an unseen means. The Freespacer's body was spalled apart and they fell to the floor. The bony bullets were able to hit some of the escorted Akahar staff. There were minor injuries all around for the group, they could've likened the experience to being shot with something like an intermediate rifle round. Some people in the group never knew that experience. There was a first for everything.

In particular, Glacier and Gough were close enough to the projectiles to get the brunt of them, bruising them from beneath their armour. If they were wearing anything softer, like that poor Freespacer, they would have been shredded - and worse, possibly infected.

The remaining metal Freespacer tried to run with the rest of the frenzied group. Aiesu could have been trampled, while other, less vertically challenged Members of the Akahar were trying to run.

JiJi had caused a wave of panic, which only escalated when long, thick, sinewy bandage like appendages grabbed the downed Freespacer and dragged them into the darkness, leaving a long smear of blood and coolant fluids on the floor in the gasping Freespacer's wake. So many had been injured. More still got a glimpse of the beast.

Perhaps knowing what it was, was no comfort.
 
LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Utilities Room

After removing Bes'linn from the immediate threat in Utilities, Glacier had chosen to remain near the doorway to provide cover as the remaining people in the room evacuated. Unexpectedly however the larger doors started to open, rising up into the ceiling and negating their cover and tactical aid. Fighting the urge to watch their upward motion with dismay Glacier instead focused on the open Maintenance Passage and readied his Silva prepared to ward off the threat within.

What he had not expected was the use of a projectile weapon from within. The first demonstration was to tear apart the foolish Freespacer before delivering a scattered pain reminiscent of the ball bearings from the improvised rockets the Freespacers had been firing. Clenching his jaw and working through the pain Glacier held his position as the others panicked and fled. Wanting to maintain line of sight on the Maintenance Passage and avoid being jostled and possibly disabled by the fleeing soldiers Glacier maintained his careful vigil.

Once on the tail end of the group Glacier began a careful retreat wanting to ensure that he didn't give Merril, or possibly something else the opportunity to get behind him while he covered the panicked retreat of the others. As he continued his controlled withdrawal Glacier spared what little attention he could to keeping an eye on the floor in hopes of spotting anyone who may have fallen and been dazed or injured in the mad dash to safety remembering similar events during the chaotic experience of the Moonfall evacuations on Lor.
 
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LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Utilities Room

Jiji fucked up, she knew she did the moment she opened that door and the panic started. She grit her teeth lightly and wanted to do more, but she was suddenly grabbed by Ny'za and pulled away from the computer and back towards the exit. She was shivering lightly, the poor girl was legitimately afraid, and the fact that there was panic and screaming does not help, nor does the death of the Freespacer, or the blunt force trauma of the boney like bullets hitting her armor causing her to hiss out in pain as she lightly grabbed onto Ny'za. She, however, steels herself she was not going to die her, she would NOT die here... She had to much to live for, to much of a future. So once she got to the point Ny'za stopped she stood up on her own and prepared her rifle before looking at her and turns to the other side watching her back.

She heard her statement but stays quiet, she was supremely focused now, she didn't want to cause anymore deaths, or panic.
 
LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Utilities Room

Seeing she was still mobile, Aran'ya did her best to get the battered Bes'linn to her feet quickly and get her out of the line of fire back towards Keib and the others before Merril advanced out of the opening now created by the moving doors. However, in doing so she was exposed and only managed to catch a glimpse out of the corner of her arachnid-enhanced vision of the hail of white fragments as they peppered her WIND suit with the force of small arms fire. "Shooting... bones?" she stammered in a mix of disbelief and a momentarily strange sort of scientific curiosity at what sort of anatomical changes had occurred to the Beast to enable such an attack. Instinct told her that it was not wise to try to stay to find out, though, as the Medic's thoughts were replaced with stings of pain that made her wince and hesitate. These calcified projectiles hit more like rifle rounds, and though she had been injured before in her life, it was never quite like this.

There was nothing she could do to save the Freespacer now, dragged as he was into the den of a wild animal to be devoured. It was regrettable, but her duty was first to her assigned crew, and trying to ensure they did not lose their lives either. Seeing Jiji pulled back by Ny'za and the group behind Keib unharmed, she began to execute a controlled retreat with Glacier and the others. She needed to not panic, as it would only make the situation worse. But her heart was starting to beat fast, and her animal urges for action rising within.

Picking up her Silva rifle with both hands now as she jogged backwards, Aran'ya began firing its microwaves in the direction of the Maintenance Hatch -- however instead of aiming directly at the monstrosity she angled the line of fire towards the folding doors that Jiji had actuated seconds before. This was both to try to stop them from completely opening, and perhaps weaken them enough to drop down and enclose Merril with her fresh kill distracting her a bit like a trap and prevent her from firing so blindly on everyone fleeing. She wasn't sure how long such a thing would hold her, but even a few seconds would make all the difference...
 
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LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Utilities Room

Ny'za was in too much of a panic to taken in what was around her, with her back turned to the maintenance hatch, several of the 'bullets' struck her, knocking her off her feet momentarily. The fall knocked some sense into her and by the time she had stood again she was taking in the surroundings, looking bat too see what was going on. The female freespacer was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Everyone else was either retreating or trying to hold back the beast.

Pitch felt she needed to do something herself as well and pulled her rifle from her back giving it a quick glance, it was sturdy enough and did not seem to be damaged from the hail of projectiles. She continued to retreat, but much slower as she took aim at the darkness the first thing she saw was the arm, which she fired at. She did not know if the Freespacer was able to move or if she was even alive, and Pitch had no time to find out, she just wanted to put the beast down as quickly as she could.
 
LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Batshit Crazy

Among Fyunnen, there was an understanding of conflict, of war, of battle, of engagement. An understanding that guided the minds of Fyunnen soldiers, to keep them from entering raw frenzied panic. With the breaching of the utility room door, and the subsequent flurry of activity that culminated with a dead Freespacer, and direct enemy contact. What Ha'reiel saw before him was the chaos of fear, which had gripped the largely Lmanel crew, and had left a considerable gap in their ability to respond effectively.

"Regroup! Move cohesively! Prepare to apply coordinated suppressive fire!" Ha'reiel called out, as spears of bone made their scratches upon the exterior of his Wind power-suit, and tore shreds out of the clothes he wore over the power-suit. There was a scowl behind the mask he wore over his aged features, a scowl of utter disapproval of just how the situation was unfolding around him. Fearful retreat, he had not seen such a thing since watching the fall of the last Helashio stronghold cities in his youth... and it was the Helashio he had seen fleeing in such fear. Though, as he watched the beast's grasp take the corpse of the Freespacer, his resolve became all the greater, as he called out to the group; "This ship, it is tainted. Stop treating it like the nest, and show no fear in bringing it down around us as we leave."

With a clenched fist, Ha'reiel took to watching the rear of their retreat, as the powered gauntlets about his hands crackled to life with energy drawn from power cells worthy of a light armor. Raw radiant energy and heat poured from the nerimium bound about his fists, as he passed the gauntlet over his clothes, causing them to erupt in flames, as he touched upon the impact sites of the bone fragments, purging the organic contaminant from the exterior of his suit as bone became ash. Just as quickly as the gloves gained their raw heated power, they powered down, as Ha'reiel called to the rearmost member of the crew; "Glacier, for your mother's sake, do not bear the ways of your name, move!"

As Ha'reiel spoke his warning, his hand once again came to the grip of his M'cel. There was no time for further warning, no time for consideration, as he leveled the weapon in the direction of the maw of darkness in which the Freespacer had been dragged. "Ours is a quest to become one with the universe." Ha'reiel whispered, quoting a text from a species so different from his own, yet had given rise to a people just as resolved. Resolve enough to make a last moment attempt at atonement, enough to receive the blessings of the Fyunnen chaplain, as he pulled the trigger of his weapon, with every intent to ensure that the Freespacer which had fallen, would not be dragged into a half-dead oblivion.

From Ha'reiel's weapon leaped a plasma slug, packed with enough volatile plasma to easily flood the compartment in which the 'beast' had presented itself from. Without missing a beat, Ha'reiel slid the expended cartridge from his launcher, before moving to reload it with something that had a bit more power, a power that would be familiar to those who stood with him during his first encounter with one of the horrible creatures which had taken to tormenting the crew. "Heavy munitions at the ready, when we leave this deck, we leave nothing behind!"
 
LSDF Akahar, 4th Floor, Corridor

Having maintained a slow retreat while refraining from expending ammunition or in this case his weapon's charge without immediate need, Glacier was glad that for the moment it seemed everyone had managed to pull back in one form or another. In the midst of the hostile situation little aside from the Maintenance Passage caught Glacier's attention however the authoritative voice of the Chaplain calling out provided a comfort that surprised Glacier as he continued his slow covering retreat.

The mention of bringing down the ship around them reminded Glacier of the pair of conventional explosive M'cel shots he had on his person though for the moment he did not feel they were a tactically sound option. Hearing his own name called Glacier couldn't help but grin beneath the helm of his Gust as he took the suggestion to heart skipping backward using the augmented strength and slight gravity manipulation of the suit to rapidly close the distance between himself and the rest of the group in time to hear the familiar thump of an M'cel.

Hitting the ground Glacier turned his eyes closed to avoid being dazzled by the detonation of the grenade and with a few quick steps was amongst his peers ready to once more provide support and an extra set of eyes to ensure their group could move quickly.
 
The footage forcibly invaded their displays this time, as awful as a splinter under the fingernail, at the worst possible moment.

A short Merril, green-eyed from pre-aspectation, looked at herself and the slender man in the mirror, grooming her.

"She is our guiding light. The greatest of us all. The strongest."

An ornate bone comb stroked through her pale hair as Merril was taught, rythmatically engraining teachings into her skull.
Click to expand...

"Blessed be the flesh that gives, for in passing they grant new life.

She couldn't help but hide behind her mother's leg, barely able to look into the piercing, icly gaze of the woman before her.
Click to expand...

"The flesh that becomes us is now our burden to carry, to let them live through us and beyond so that their passing is not in vain."

Much older. A lounge that many would recognize to be an academy rec room. Watching on a screen as a sobbing reporter detailed what had happened, with a picture of an Eagle-class battleship in the background.

The Death of the Xiaah.
Click to expand...

"Let their flesh be our guiding light into our futures. Peace be upon us."

Those words weren't memory.
 
LSDF Akahar, Deck 4, Corridor near
A mad scramble ensued from the retreating team ensued Merril's faux-Religious - maybe - ramblings that were penetrating each of their ears in addition to the Freespacer's screaming. From behind them, a blinding flash of Plasma shone from maintenance hatch, courtesy of the rugged Inquisitor. Keib didn't trade a word, but he was ferrying everyone he could away from the silence that came after the blast wave, which Glacier cleared.

Those who were firing their Silva rifles into the hole got an eyeful of the Plasma detonation, leaving stars in their eyes. A static still remained in the air as their vision started to uncloud. Keib didn't have time to ponder why the static was still hung as he directed everyone: "Down the stairs, go, we're leaving!" The Away team was now accounted for. JiJi had run her routine, and though injuries were spread through the team, he knew that speed was of the utmost importance.

"Yes Sir!" Gough replied, taking Glacier with them and reengaging with the rest of the team in their retreat. The only one left behind was the metal Freespacer, who was unable to be taken along.


LSDF Akahar, Stairwells
Miri, the New Tur'listan bridge bunny was scrambling past Farah and Vathi, moving ahead of the group and down the stairs. Keib directed everyone further and further down the stairs - there was no time to check the other levels and assess for more damage. He had to get out and cut his losses while he still could - most of his team were suffering injuries now.

"Bah, more like peace be thrust upon us, I digress," Keib replied back to nobody in particular over the radio, possibly to Merril as he watched the Bridge Bunnies band together with the medical team to get the trolley containing Yar'mak. "We're all going for the Escape Pods. How are we all doing?"

"F-Fine, Keib." Miri replied.
"Good for now." Farah.
"I'm alright, thanks for asking." Vathi.

"Bit clipped, but I think I can make it." Bes'linn, who was clean for injuries - bones were embedded into her armour and had bruised her severely, limiting her movement. Aran'ya's assistance seemed to be what was keeping her afloat.
"All good." Sparks replied.
"Fine..." Marker answered, a little shaken.
Wire Head raised their hand.

"Yeah, yeah," Vithr said, with the trolley. "Patient's got an hour, tops."
"I-I'm fine." Aiesu said meekly.
"Here, Mr. Keib..." Four Six phoned in.
Greg jumped up and down by Keib's side.

"We're here." Gough gave Glacier a bump on the shoulder.
"Yep. Not dying on you is always a joy, you know?" Al'ris added. "And don't forget Null Null either." She spoke for the timid Freespacer.

And that was everyone accounted for, save for the dead. "Escape pods are across the corridor and at the end of this hallway. JiJi, you've still got a connection with the ship, sever it once we're off." Keib then paused for a moment. "I've got the codes to detonate this ship ready. I'll put them into action as soon as we're all clear, and that'll give us a minute before the fireworks-"

Scrambling through the vents still, frenzied, roaring, scowling. F-For fuck's sake is she still alive?! Keib wondered, almost out loud, nearly bleeding into the radio. "Okay, we'll wonder how she survived that later - let's get out of here, nice and orderly!" He moved ahead, the Bridge Bunnies being the first to follow, with the medical team trying to move forward with the patient. The scramble had continued again, but at least the goal was clear and there were six places to go. "Vithr, you and the patient, a pod to yourself. Take one of the soldiers "

Each of the escape pods was meant to fit eight people in combat gear. There was more than enough space, and the pods were currently aiming away from the Mok'ro, thank God. Still, something was alive, pushing an urgency upon the team to get out alive and lock the doors.
 
LSDF Akahar - Inter-Deck Passage

"Should have done this for most of your crew while it was easier." Ha'reiel's words rang out into Keib's comm-link. "Right now, you have a hostile infestation on two ships, and a potential assailant working against us as well, who could be lurking in wait for you and your crew to do exactly what you are doing now." As those words flowed from Ha'reiel, there was something very distinctive in which the Inquisitor was not doing... he was not following the team, instead, he was ascending.

"Detonation of the ship's core would prove insufficient to entirely dispose of your armored assets, armored assets in which I fear the infection could reside. Worse, your escape pods will be defenseless, and lack the capacity to move clear of this area to avoid potential harassment by any lingering infected life-forms." As the inquisitor spoke, he bound between decks, unencumbered by the wounded, or the frightened which hindered the rest of the escaping Akahar crew. "I require that one of your 'Bridge Bunnies' disable the lockouts on deck one, and perhaps, if possible, use the automated preparation systems to place a Whirlwind on the launch catapult, armed with an antimatter and plasma missile loaded repeating launcher, and L-Mark-Two. This will allow me to dispose of any remaining fragments of the Akahar which could potentially pose a threat in the future, and would also provide me the means to defend your escape pods in the event of 'unfriendly company'."

As the inquisitor made his request, he ascended to a dead-end... the inter-deck passage of deck four, opening onto deck three, and ground-zero of his last antimatter shell usage. "I will meet the vehicle lift on deck four, and will ascend with it to the flight deck." As he spoke those words, Ha'reiel entered the override code for the blast door sealing the deck, before pumping the handle for the door, and before the third pump which would open the thick nerimium shutter, the Fyunnen grasped his plasma saber, igniting the weapon as he soon bounded onto the deck, and made a dash for the vehicle lift access hatch.
 
LSDF - Stairwell

Jiji heard the order that Keib stated. "Yes Sir..." She then heard the frantic clawing, and movement in the airvents. "...Damnit." She uses her connection to the ship's servers to begin locking down the Airvents to slow down the beast that she was so frantically trying to get away from. "I'm sealing portions of the ventilation system to slow her down and allow us more time to get to the Escape Pods, Keib. DOLL-3 use the data in the ships systems to pinpoint abnormalities in the vents." Doll-3 began working on that while Jiji uses her ears to seal by sound.
 
LSDF Akahar, Stairwells

Aran'ya tried to keep her bearings when the flash of plasma and static charge occurred, along with Merril's ominous transmission. Whatever religious tones she had were twisted far beyond the Goddess ways, and likely were serving to justify the very real desire to gather up organic flesh in any way she could. Any person she killed now was only going to be making her stronger, and could be allowing another metamorphosis to grow in size and lethality. Widow gave up trying to apply Silva rifle fire, as it seemed to have little effect now on The Beast. Perhaps they had begun to evolve past that limitation, moving as they were with near impunity under the hail of microwaves and plasma...

The Medic instead focused now on steadying the injured Bes'linn and aiding her retreat to the escape pods as quickly as possible. Since she was moving together with her, it also afforded the perfect opportunity to apply an IV line into the engineer's WIND emergency port system quickly to give her some additional pain management for the trip there. "Here's some lubrication for you, Gears. Try not to lock up on the way to the pods..." she added with a bit of dry humor, trying to not concentrate on how dour their situation was becoming.

Then something dawned on her as Ha'reiel headed to the upper decks instead of lower on his own holy mission. She transmitted her thoughts over the neural link. "Captain! Are the cryonic storage pods on deck five secure? The loading system there is the only other way into the escape pod launch area. If the Beast decides to head there through the ventilation ducts that keep it iced, she could do a lot more than try to grab some frozen fast food... she'll also have a way to cut us off."
 
LSDF - Stairwell

Ny'za was startled by the flash of light from the plasma grenade, having been too distracted by her terror to notice, fortunately her armor automatically tinted the display to keep it to levels so her eyes would not receive permanent damage. Expecting such a weapon to kill the beat or at least severely wound it, Ny'za was able to focus more on escaping. However that was quickly interrupted by another feed from Merril's thoughts, she wasn't dead, and the shambling in the ventilation that soon followed proved she was not that injured either.

While following the others Ha'reiel's departure from the group took Na'za by surprise, but after briefly listening to his words she took off after him. "A single Whirlwind can only do so much. I'd like to assist while operating a second unit to clear everything." Ny'za was not the type to want confrontation, she would normally be running eagerly into an escape pod, but the Inquisitor was right, they were not armed, and a Winter or Whirlwind would be much safer.

She caught up with Ha'reiel as he was putting in the override codes and when she noticed him drawing his weapon at the door she leveled her Silva towards the hatch ready for anything that came out. She continued to follow him though as he headed for the vehicle lift. "Allow me to assist Chaplin. I'd me much more useful in a frame than I am on foot."
 
LSDF Akahar, Deck 6 Corridor

All that came to Glacier's mind as the visions came was a quiet thought amounting to, You didn't deserve this. Forcing himself to focus on moving with the group to keep them covered should any threat present itself as they made their way down to the lower escape pods, Glacier worked to shake off the remaining feelings of uneasiness that came with the latest of the looks into Merril's past.

There was a small sadness as the Chaplain left on the task that they'd assigned themself, soon followed by Pitch leaving their small group divided and harder pressed to sufficiently defend itself. Steeling his resolve as he continued to pull rear guard to the small group Glacier found himself once again facing down the skittering in the vents of the maintenance hatch knowing that they were only a few meters from their goal, but that everything could be lost now.

Working quickly Glacier retrieved his stowed Ek'yra and slipped one of the explosive 40mm grenades into the under-slung M'cel before settling it into his off hand hoping that the blast would at the very least slow down Merril should it come to it. Taking a deep breath to steady himself Glacier sent a short message over their tactical net, "Gough you cover the others, I'll stick with Vithr and Yar'mak and make sure they get out of here." His decision made to stick with the doctor and the infected crew member made he turned his full attention to monitoring the hall ready for whatever may come.
 
LSDF Akahar, Stairs to the Flight Deck
Over the radio, Ha'reiel could hear a reply from one of the Bridge Bunnies, Miri. "The locks have been remotely disengaged. Work quickly because once you're-" She was interrupted by Ny'za's movement. "Pardon. You're both in there, I'm locking it behind you both. The only way out will be Space. Godspeed."

In addition, as the both of them traipsed up the stairs, they were being patched through the security recording of the Flight Deck they were approaching. In the hangar where the quarantine was supposed to happen, everything seemed more or less the same on a cursory glance, except Vathr'dral, the shuttle pilot for the away team was lying face down on the floor not far from the Away Team's shuttle, spasming gently as the thing that was suberting the Akahar was invading his mind.

Fortunately, the deck reserved for mechs seemed to be a much prettier picture, but at the edges of both decks where the ramps met space it almost looked like the paint on the Akahar was peeling away like it'd been left in the sun for too long. Meanwhile, the safe storage for the Akahar's compliment of Whirlwinds and the Lazarus Supplied pair of WINTER II Prototypes were slowly unlocking, the previously sterile environments now exposed for Ha'reiel and Ny'za's exploitation. They just had to get there first.


LSDF Akahar, Deck 6, Escape Pods
Keib wasn't pushing ahead so he could be the first man in.

He was pushing ahead to make sure the coast was clear for everyone else to get in first. It was still a romantic notion for the captain to go down with the ship that Keib wasn't subscribing to, but the safety of his crew mattered first. With Vithr and Yar'mak being covered by Glacier. They could hear the sound of something scrambling in the vents still, but it sounded confused, frequently double backing and bumping into walls with echoes that could be heard all throughout the vent system.

"Of course they are. There's not much in there anyway, Aran'ya - Akahar's always ran a skeleton crew." Keib replied. It wasn't hard for Glacier to keep his eye on it, and with JiJi spotting for it and cutting it off. "I doubt Merril will be sucking on ice cubes, though. No nutrients." He added. Soon, whatever was scampering through the vents became very easy to isolate.

"Focus fire," Keib ordered as the medical team and Command team, and the other staff of the Akahar started entering escape pods. Vithr, Yar'mak and Mars' head were in one pod with the subject matter expert Aiesu, so if the infection got out of control, the pod could be destroyed by the Frames.

The technical staff, consisting of Bes'linn (with Aran'ya's assistance), Sparks, Marker and Wire Head piled into another. There was room for five more in that pod. The three Bridge Bunnies piled into another pod with other staff including Four Six, Veronica, Kerrik and Null-Null. There was room for one more in that pod.

Keib, Aran'ya, Glacier, Al'ris and Gough were still outside the pods, ready to let it rip on Merril. There was about an hour until Lazarus was expected to show up - it seemed strange that time had distorted so much. Perhaps adrenaline and tension had warped everyone's perception of time.
 
LSDF Akahar, Deck 6, Escape Pods

As most of the crew made their way into the Escape Pods and prepared to launch to relative safety Glacier continued his slow retreat eventually falling in beside the Acting Captain as he kept his attention focused on the source of the noise in the ceiling.

With the order to focus fire made, Glacier whispered a quiet apology before firing the Silva upward at whatever lay beyond, hoping to wound their pursuer and earn the crew that remained time to pile into one of the remaining pods and escape into the relative safety of space.
 
LSDF Akahar - En Route to Launch Bay

"Pilot, glad to have your company, though I warn you; I can not protect you from what is ahead. To give pause, would be to kill us both... Time for us to go." There was no sympathy behind that warning, no compassion, just raw truth as Ha'reiel delivered the final pump to the blast door, then took to a hard sprint, aided by the Wind power-suit which held his body within its grasp, easily granting him the agility of one of the imperialist Nekovalkryja, or even one of the Imperium's ID-SOL. It was a hard sprint through the fourth deck of the Akahar, before he came to his destination which was the vehicle lift access hatch... which he promptly disposed of with a swipe of his plasma saber. "Get in." Ha'reiel spoke ever so briefly to the pilot he hoped was keeping up.

Upon bounding into the lift shaft, he grasped onto the nearby ladder, until the vehicle lift he had requested came up from the decks below, and with it, he made his ascent to the launch bay.

LSDF Akahar - Launch Bay

Upon the arrival of the lift, Ha'reiel stepped out onto the deck, quickly ascertaining the situation, as he looked upon the dying shuttle pilot, and knew full well that the whole of the Akahar was contaminated, and what only served to make that all the clearer was the sight of the ship's hull beyond the open launch bay doors. Goddess, mercy. He thought, and began to soon inwardly pray, as he took to surveying the launch bay in a quick glance-around, to confirm that their foe was not present. "Pilot, get to your machine."

After the initial survey, Ha'reiel strode to the fallen pilot, who was apparently on the verge of becoming the very foe that the Fyunnen had deemed his enemy in that moment. A brief prayer was uttered from the Chaplain's lips, before a sweep of his plasma saber disposed of the fallen pilot, who had simply found himself at the wrong place, at the wrong time. What was beyond the pilot though, was the key focus of the Inquisitor. Flowing energy from the plasma saber in his hand soon came to a halt, as he worked a dial on the weapon before tossing it into the vulnerable interior of the shuttle. Walking away from the shuttle, a countdown started in Ha'reiel's mind, as he opened a connection to the shuttle's communication system.

Holding the collar of his Wind, pressing the vocal sensor against his throat, Ha'reiel sounded over the communication line, one sound, it was all that was needed to promise the survivors their escape from the ship at the very least; a low rumble left the Inquisitor, a rumble of a growl, a sound shaped by aggression and age, and through that baritone rumble, the Inquisitor issued his challenge, a challenge that he hoped would speak to the primal impulse that so clearly shaped the madness that had taken its hold upon one of the daughters of the Matriarchy.

Soon, the hilt of Ha'reiel's sword was in hand, as the grip of his M'cel rested in the other. It was all he could do as the Whirlwind he was to pilot was moved onto the launch catapult by the automated loading system, since he was not about to trust walking the machine out, not with the apparent signs of the decay which had taken hold of the structol-laced hull.
 
LSDF Akahar, Deck 6, Escape Pods

Aran'ya made sure that her charge, the chief engineer Bes'linn, was safely strapped into the escape pod first, before then checking on the medical group in the other pod was situated. She gave Vithr and Aiesu a grim nod, from one medical professional to another, realizing they were taking on a serious and risky task sticking with Yar'mak and the remains of Mars. "Stay alive, Doc. You too, Aiesu. Keep Yar'mak on ice as long as you can, the cavalry's coming soon."

Emerging unencumbered now, with her Silva rifle ready to try one more time to suppress their unnatural pursuer, she fell into line at Keib's side. He had assuaged her fears at least with the fact that cryo-storage held no bodies for Merril to engorge herself upon, but it also pointed out the truth about the unlucky ship he ran in the process. She nodded to the New Tur'lista first officer once. "I guess it doesn't surprise me... the desperation in your transmission was no lie. Lucky for you there was still a few of us tormented souls out there with little left to lose in life to take this assignment..." She then wrapped a gloved hand around the weapon's trigger, as a dark smile crept across her lips and a shift of color in her eyes. "Whatever happens next, Captain, at least we didn't face our fears alone. Then we'd really be nothing but bones."

Aran'ya put on a brave face with her words as the welts from Merril's bone bullets still stung in several places, and fired the microwave weapon again with Glacier and the rest at the location Merril was apparently caught inside of, like a insect in one of her old lab containment cages. She wasn't strong enough to save Tian'vir long ago, but seeing Keib's white lab coat fluttering as he fought to save his motley crew, she knew this time was going to be different.
 
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