RP: Die Screaming [Die Screaming] I Shall Not Die From The Cold.

Redhawk sat with his back against the bulkhead, feeling the vibrations of the shuttles take-off sequence. He took in the conversations around him and munched on some generic nutrient bar from his pocket as he mulled over the situation on the planet. It sounded like a real shit show, and for some reason he felt like they were about to put on latrine duty.......

Lupin's hands felt the edges of the cloak Tobias had gifted him, it was something the lad was grateful for and he was already coming up with ideas to attach pelts from the planet's various carnivores to them, further reinforcing the already fairly adequate garments. But more than that he was excited, excited at the possibility he'd see one of the planet's colossal Elephantidae, of all the hunting and stalking he'd done with his father not once had he come across the chance to bare witness to such a magnificent creature.

But that was something to be considered a few days from now once they had seen the situation first-hand, for now Lupin cast his gaze between the family and the detachment of marines taking up the cabin. His hair was cropped short enough for a few scars to be visible on the side of his head as Lupin gave Redhawk a quick once-over, before returning to the family of elves. While Lupin had some elf in him, as evidenced by the sharp cheekbones and one ear bearing a slight tip, he'd never actually met an elf. While he wasn't gawking, the young man found himself quite enthralled by it all.

"Milo cie poznac Borok, and your wonderful family too," Lupin finally piped up, broad shoulders and muscular hips pressing against whoever was sitting on either side of him as the young man adjusted his position slightly. Maybe these folks natively spoke a different dialect of Kuz, but there was likely enough cross-over for his greeting to make sense, though it wouldn't be surprising if there was confusion from such perfect pronunciation coming from a marine that looked more Hanyan than Kuz...

"What are the origins of the Black Snakes and how did you find yourself leading them, if I may ask," Lupin inquired, if he was to be spending time around these folks he may as well try to do a little digging into their past.

Shuttle, but cooler
Hey, these cabins have basically just as much room as the liner's did for how many people are inside, but at least it's a bit more social now.

Tobias's light toss of the jacket planted it on Quilly's face in a frankly hilarious way, the undersized bird switching the jacket around to get it off her face as the crowd had started to push. After the first two rooms in the shuttle, she mounted the jacket to her wings in a half-vague attempt to not draw too much attention - it was about as ineffective as she expected it to be. Eh, worth a shot.

Tobias was asking for some heating elements. "Okay so I can get ya some powerful stuff, but it'll smell like a freshly-washed hundred-year-old gym floor. Don't ask."

Of course, messing with any chemicals in a low-g environment combined with an orbital reentry and not in a dedicated lab is basically asking for someone to die or at the least, get some pretty nasty chemical burns. Probably a bad idea. Besides, Molo brought food!

"How'd you manage to keep this well the whole time, Molo? Or didjya get an arrangement and make it fresh in the past couple days? Thought you smelled delicious but I also thought that was, well, the lack of smoke from all these rooms..." Quilly made a face of disgust.
"Don't got any pants that'll fit, unfortunately. Maybe steal Lupin's, that'd be pretty funny to be honest - but asside from that I got nothin' really. Oversized jackets are great but oversized pants are the WORST thing imaginable!" She added with a chuckle. The big man with the big family was talking about history and stuff by now, and Quilly only half-paid attention. She figured that being on station like this was probably going to end up getting everyone stuck in some shitty, boring situation where someone's gonna provoke someone and probably start shooting like a gang.

Real war? Not likely. But gang violence interacting with Small Death? Yeah that's probably guaranteed to be honest. Especially if word got out about them being these badass repatriated criminals.... Or, dear hells, the news about The Kiss of Spring.

PVT. Redhawk sat with his back against the shuttle bulk head. Hurry up and wait, that seemed to always be the case with any military operation. Out of boredom and deliberate inattention to the conversations happening around him, he pulled his Datajockey from its pocket on his rucksack and began to sift through the various advertisements and other messages he had received.

BIGGUNS GUN MART - BLOW OUT EXTRAVAGANZA!
Deidre's Huge Rack of Guns - CLEARANCE
Davey Boone Outdoor Solutions - Bring the comforts of Home with you to the Field!
Godfrey & Morrison Clothing Company -YEAR END SAVINGS!
Zen Armaments - Center yourself in the New Year WITH GUNS
NSMC PERSCOM- Get BONE'd with a new Furry Friend!

Redhawk opened the Davey Boone message to read about the Hawk Guide Craft, it sounded like a neat vehicle that would be great for hunting on R&R. Closing that message he scrolled to the bottom of the list and shook his head. Some private at Personnel Command must have been drunk or lost a bet.

-----

Do you like Gunhunds? Are you an animal lover? Want to take your pet to work with you?
We are seeking enlisted marines and crew to take part in the trials for a brand new MOS - Military Working Animal Handler!
If you are interested in this historic opportunity, speak with your NCOIC or OIC now!

SFC JOE SNUFFY
NSMC PERSCOM

-----

Redhawk arched an eye brow, that might be worth looking into....

Old Habits Die Hard

Tobias surveyed the inside of the shuttle as Quilly awkwardly tried to don the cloak she'd been given, the ill-fittingness of which he apologized for with a shrug and an offhand "Even if it doesn't fit it looks pretty good, I suppose there's something to the Yamataian obsession with oversized clothes. As for the heating stuff, I'd rather complain about the smell than complain about frostbite. In return, I can see about bartering for something that might be a bit... better suited to those wings of yours."

He was doing his best to gauge the family of this Borok, as well as his Black Snakes. The 309th was there, in spirit, to help keep the peace, or at least enough peace around the forges and docks to ensure that shipments didn't flag. In reality, there was only the team of marines and the vague threat of retribution from the NSMC should its personnel be hurt. In all actuality, he and the rest of the marines were stuck between a rock and a hard place, or rather between a senator and his mercenaries on one side and Bors, Igor, Borok, and other Kuz on the other.

It was an unenviable situation. The former IPG operative found himself running predictions in his head, old habits died hard, he supposed. Especially ones drilled into your head as a child. Tobias had no doubt that should the marines of the 309th end up aiding the current governor, Borok's "Leech", that the Black Snakes would have no trouble finding a convenient accident out in the cold that would get himself and the rest out of their hair.

Conversely, should the governor notice their actions too greatly, he knew that this squad was disposable. The NSMC and 309th could easily disavow their actions, leaving them out to dry. Things were going to get noisy with the Kuz on their crusade, and the safest option was to work with them for the time being. But they would need to go unnoticed by the governor. The marines of the 309th would need to walk, talk, and fight like Kuznyetski, at least when at risk of being seen by the governor's men.

In the meantime, before the fighting started, it was a good time to get the measure of their current hosts. Borok was loud and boisterous, but Tobias held little doubt in his mind that behind the bear of a man's genial exterior was a sharp and ruthless mind. The daughters, Yana and Iki, seemed like they'd already seen combat, and considerably more than their younger brother. They weren't to be underestimated. despite their ages, he'd wager that any of the children would be a match for him in a knife fight.

Kirill still seemed to have a boyishness about him, judging by the way he was eyeing up the female members of the marine squad. Perhaps his trust could be gained. Finally, there was Borok's mother, Trilliana. She was an enigma so far, playing away on her little stringed instrument. She, he suspected, was likely to be the most dangerous of any of them.

Likely a few of Borok's family had noticed him sizing them up by this point, being outsiders as they were made it hard for him to blend into the background. He listened in somewhat on Lupin's conversation, managing to pick it out over the chatter of the shuttle with his aural implants. He slipped one hand into a pocket, producing several of the high-quality cigars he'd brought with him.

He approached the Kuz family, the children first, hoping that his own young appearance due to who-knows-how-long spent in cryogenic storage would help him appear relatable to them. "Hello," He said, directing his words first to Kirill, "I noticed you eyeing us up, I hope you're not planning on using that fancy-looking knife on us?" He asked. The boy seemed fond of the blade, so getting him talking about it could be interesting.

Shuttle. "HA!"

Borok gaked a laugh at Lupin and slapped a knee in amusement at the hanyan before wordlessly with a grin fidgeting with his belt. It was a concerning thought when he unbuckled it and reached groin-deep in his trousers while locking eyes with lupin before he untucked his shirt and lifted it half way up his chest. For those with recent memories of Ukk or their training they were clearly puckered with pock marks of Mishhu tentacle spines.

On one side of his stomach, down the belt line, and then back up the ribs and being obscured somewhere towards his right armpit was a mass of warped flesh that looked like chewed and twisted bubblegum under the skin and around several clear puncture marks that still looked semi-enflamed.

He lowered the shirt back down to tuck it back into his trousers. "During the heights of the third war for the heavens, my father, Nolok of the Kuznyetski, and fifteen of my kin; All of the grand army, came to the clan on the moon of Kharnekan and made the call for all true men and women of the Kuz to take up arms for the honor of the Kuz against that of the celestial empire. He took my mother as his wife and they had ME!" He laughed heartily at the last part, thumping his chest as the elf quietly strumming the balalaika paused briefly to side-eye Borok before starting again on the same chord.

"When I was born but after the Elysians killed Nolok my kin did what was right and returned my mother to our clan to be taken care of and raise me with the Kuz. When I was three, a black sewer snake swallowed me whole before the kin cut me out of it and the name 'The black snake' has fell ever since on me!"

Borok never once seemed to show so much as a hint of animosity towards Quilly in the statement that his father, and likely others of his clan had been killed durring the third elysian war. And instead seemed to have the same extroverted compassion as all the Kuznyetski towards her and everyone else present.

"Oh! But if you mean our unit?" He suddenly remembered the actual question and the random flashing of his scar. "I fought in the last war against the Mishhu on tange with the Fourth AASP during the evacuation. All of the snakes were once men of the corps and even the once-star army before the separation. When the moon lords make call for sanctioned operations such as this those of us who served come together again and form the black companies. Every member of the Snakes are veterans of combat and you could consider your comrades in arms!"

"Well, most all of us." He added quietly but not shamefully that the context to that statement was obviously his family.

"What? This?" Kirill startled up at Tobias before giving the knife a quick flourish and carefully sliding it into a hard plastique sheath on his belt. "Not you all, no sir."

The boy, quite possibly in his late teens did not sound too thick in the thick broguish accent of the Kuz and instead sounded clear with a full grasp of trade much like a rehearsed senator and obviously had some form of extravehicular schooling. In fact for his size and set Kirill likely had a non-kuznyetski mother as well and took closer after her than Borok. with a wirey frame to his father's massive super-Y enhanced bulk, he had clearly hit some rare genetics that superseded the SOL genes of his father even being likely a quarter or less SOL himself.

"No, sir, I'm here to watch and observe. Strictly support like gran-" He stopped short, the elf giving and almost imperceptible glance his way and convening some meaning in the act.

"Like lady Trilliana, my job is to support the Snakes from our base of operations was tactical support."

"He maintains our suits while Naunnie Trill handles the deployment oversight." One of the girls, Iki, chimed in, her hawkish eyes burning a hole in Tobias' head through sheer intensity of personality unlike some of the latest that seemed to be death-glares in the past. The referral to the elf in some kind of unfavorable manner got Iki a soft glare as well but seemed to glide completely off the girl. Clearly older than Kirill Iki and Yana seemed the same age in their mid twenties, though their description of nieces seemed to be not in a reflationary sense Tobias could easily gleam from the one hand in Yanas' not holding a datapad was intertwined with Iki's between them.

With such a massive culture and family units the size of some small towns, it is more common than not in Kuz communities to intermingle within as much as with other communities. While the two girls were likely raised together and shared the same name as the rest of their people and clan there was a considerable chance that they were only distantly related several generations back and weren't too-adventurous sisters.

Yana, seemingly feeling the attention on her and her partner looked up and past Tobias.

"Uncle?... Uncle?... Bors!" she tried several times before hissing loud enough for even her grandmother to pause and see what the commotion was.

Even with a gesture, it was pointless as the shuttle shook briefly and reflected light shone through a porthole near by.

It was unclear if the Pilots of the shuttle had been paid to do so, thought they might like to see it, or simply wanted a closer look for themselves; But the shuttle flew within several hundred meters of an icon of war.

The marines present already knew about the Hard Charles from their briefing packets. But to see it up close when normally such a vessel was always distant even on a berth was near breathtaking. At almost a kilomiter and a quarter long, and a third as broad the PunkBuster battlecruiser was one of the largest classes of Sub-capital grade starships of the Star Military. Its three massive dual Svarog mass drivers some of the largest starship weapons ever mounted on any of DIoNs ships and its armor belt was thicker than the entire width of the megashuttle they currently traveled in.

But it also lay dormant. Slightly astern and out of alignment the ship was nearly dark but for the reflection of light from the systems Sun. Great guns cold and engines dead the great warship was mothballed and near-scuttled in orbit. Tally-marks of pirate, kuvexian, and even a single Mishhu frigate mark on its side were the only legible markings and most of the other honors bellow them were cut off were in the belt of the ship's armor was a great catastrophic hole massing near vertically through it large enough for the shuttle to fly inside if it wanted and passed entirely through the side of the ship and out its belly.

There were few enough weapons in the sector capable of doing such damage to a vessel like the Hard Charles. The telltale melt of an aether weapon almost unspokenly belonging to the Kuvexians telling a story all its own. As they flew by it, close enough that it blocked the view of the planet behind it, they passed a mural painted on its hull over a hundred meters tall and just as much across of a dainty SOL with green boxing gloves of the no-cbl and impressive mustachios embossed on its hull.

Hard Charles himself. He looked ready for another round as if to say that he was just down but not for the count.

"That. Is why we are here." Borok stated at the warship. "The Charles is here to be scuttled and its Nermimum melted down to be recast. The ship is dead and now it is here to be reborn. Joshua Butter, the pretender governor of his senate master makes excuses and seeks to claim it; Its worth already paid to the Kuz of Stenkagorad for the job, to claim for himself and use the gains he steals from our people to gut it and fix it for his own uses. It is illegal, and more expensive than such a vessel is worth. But when the funding comes from our people alone and not his pockets and what such a vessel will be worth if he can do such a thing..."

Borok seemed to want to spit, but held himself back in the interior of the shuttle.

"We don't actually have any proof of that." Kirill mentioned off-hand to Tobias, watching the ship the same as the rest of them. "Its all just hearsay and rumors. And even with the backing of a senator, the Charles would never be allowed to trade hands into the civilian sector; Its against the rules of the Kikyo Charter for such a vessel to fall into any hands but the star military."

"And yet..." Iki commented and droned off as they passed the great vessel and came into a new scene.

Just beyond the Charles was a standoff. Several massive vessels stood off on one side while much smaller, almost indistinct ones made a battle line kilometers away. In the dark of space, they were only noticed by the twinkle and light of the sun as two sides each stood guard against the other over the carcass of Hard Charles.

Upon witnessing this the shuttle pulled just hard enough to feel the Gforces involved. But it was not just due to entering a potential firing line between two forces but as a form passed almost a hundred meters off the side of the shuttle to pull alongside it as one, and then another starfighter carefully paced the ship...

"Your Nepper lads sound like they were up to some right dicey anarchy, but my kin were straight fash'ist at the time..." The ginger tank's smokey blue eyes gave Francis a subtle look of trust, just that little notion at the edge of perception whilst the food was reduced to it's last crumbs. It was kind of obvious that they were testing the waters to see how this ex-morale officer acted when not stuck in a fridge full of psychotic convicts, but their general tone suggested she'd be willing to give them a chance. Even if the other 309ers took a while to come around. "Kinda funny how we all ended up here in the middle. No plan, no stars to guide us, nobody at the helm..."

A distant look. Memories of that entity still lingered.

"Forget it. Mushy stuff. Just seems like a long way to come for us to still be wandering aimlessly, is all. This ice ball better be worth it."

Focus shifted to the resident bird, the other outsider, just in time to watch them finish eating.

"Cooked that stuff on the way. Traded for some bits and used freeze-dried for others. Kind of a life skill for a spacer, never know when you'll be stuck on a shuttle somewhere." Molotra made a kind of non-smile that comprised of just bunching her facial features of tighter, hands crossing over load bearing thighs. "I... c-can't ask Lupin for his pants... we like... swapped another time and it got all w-weird and stuff... Just... tell me if you have any leads and I'll cook for you again, okay?"

Head snapped to the front. The simply titanic battleship outside of the porthole gave them the same feeling of awe as a spacer mothership, but it was mixed in with the distant second-hand dread of whatever had occurred here to kill such a mammoth beast. Without really understanding the situation, she immediately assumed the formation of lights to be either pirates or armed scavengers.

"Land on something expensive, they won't deck us with the big guns..." She didn't expect to be listened to, but the merc in her couldn't hold the advice in, all the same. "Far side, far side..."

Redhawk sat up and watched the immense ship as they flew past it. Taking note of the fighters now shadowing them, he turned to the others, a gleefully excited tone in his voice, "Hey! Look guys! They sent us an honor guard escort!"

Stirring from a short nap in his seat Clayton sat up. "Are we there yet?" he managed to croke out as he rubbed his eyes and looked over to Redhawk. "What are you yelling about boot?"He asked more annoyed than anything else. regretting staying up the night before surfing the internet for new chrome and still being bitter about the lie that there are cybernetic wemon in his area looking to hook up.

Looking around he too spotted the large ship. "Uh are they friendly?"

Shuttle

As to answer Claytons question in part the doors down the way opened and an unassuming Kuz like the hundreds of others in the shuttle skirted past with some haste and past them down the way and to the sealed and reinforced bulkhead that led up to the pilot's cockpit. A panel slid seamlessly open beside the door and the man huddled over it speaking to the occupants on the other side. Borok gave a look over his shoulder but then went back to his banter as the elf Trilliana slid out of her seat to join the man who, with a dismissal, came to Boroks side.

"Theys grillin the pilots but clear they ain't got no boarders, boss." The man gave a cautionary glance to the marines present before continuing. "They not atmospheric so cant follow us in and bout to lose their window and cant do nothin no how so close; By the time they come about we already be hittin atmo even if they wanna try to bluff and get us to turn back."

"They will most certainly try to obstruct us at the planet's starport." A hauntingly melodic voice that was too quiet to have carried over everyone present as the elf casually slid beside the man that looked nothing like her despite claiming to be her son and looking thrice her age. The two shared a knowing glance that even with some clear tension in the air from the show of force didn't seem to diffuse the massive SOLs demeanor.

"I do apologize for the trouble but you should make sure you have your orders ready. We will make sure you disembark first with your belongings so you don-"

The world went black.

Stenkagorad

"Wake up, kid." A distant gravelly voice stirred Tobias Carrick awake as his world turned to burning and pain. His whole body was sore and felt horribly burned on his arms, legs, and face in a strange way that only continued to grow until inaction forced his eyes open and his body to jerk and spasm for breath as air failed to fill his lungs and all he saw was white.

There was a feeling of all-encompassing pressure on his chest and despite inhaling sharply the only thing to go down his throat was cold and semi-malleable.

Space?

His arms refused to move and his head was forced to his shoulder as a horribly cold fluid went into his ear and only added to his thrashing. His legs, were not pinned by whatever and he was able to kick and push until something gave and there was a bright blinding light and enough room that he could breathe and pull himself out of what was clearly snow by the whiteness and way it burned his bare skin.

The first thing to hit him was a strong gust of wind so sharp that the cold hurt him physically as it immediately burned his ears and arms and his already semi-soaked shirt and trousers stuck to his skin almost starched with ice.

The next was that he could not see. The world was blurry and confusing and nothing more than the experience of looking through an ice cube as his brain tried to process where he was and what had happened. The blank spots in his memory immediately sent up warning flags of his experiences as an agent for the ---- -- ----- before it came back to him in pieces.

Shaking, falling, an explosion, the intense G-forces, then...

The shuttle had entered the outer atmosphere and then shortly later a jarring volt slammed him against the wall and he woke up here.

"Nothing quite burns like the cold." A pop in his ears as sound returned like a coming distant tide and he jerked his head to the side as a silhouette stood over him still a blur as it walked just out of his peripheral.

There was another, louder sound now audible above the still-biting wind as something audibly exploded to his side a ways away. Rubbing his eyes until he could see and shielding them from the glare of sun on the snow was a scene of near apocalypse.

The shuttle, all hundred meters of it, was broken apart like the shell of an egg against the ground as what seemed like miles of chunks of shuttle and debris were scattered out on an open frozen plains that went on for near eternity with the exception of some kind of distant forest perhaps a couple miles away. The front third of the shuttle seemed intace but was warped where the nose had smacked the ground and crumpled the cockpit as a tin can eluding to the impossibility that the pilot or his copilot might have survived if the front of the shuttle were not currently on fire.

Tobias had been thrown from a giant hole in the side of where he could guess that his compartment had been and was only a few hundred feet. There was another pop as sparks flew out of a panel and just barely over the cuff of the wind someone was screaming. Another breeze practically shot him onto his aching feet and stumbling forwards as a primal part of him told him that the kind of cold he was experiencing was certain death. Getting closer it seemed as though the shuttle had seemingly landed not poorly almost a mile away but had with such force that it had overtaken whatever landing gear it possessed and had hit belly-down and began to drag across the landscape as it was torn apart.

in the distance were a lot of black shapes unmoving on the ground and so very few moving around or on their feet at other pieces of separated shuttle. The gear and boxes and debris everywhere made it unclear how much of it was corpses...




Entering a trench carved out almost twenty meters in width and half again as deep that traveled the length of the crash he was at least shielded from the wind but was now shivering uncontrollably as he was able to stumble towards a form close to the shuttle.


One of the kuz girls was huddled over an unmoving form and was violently spasming and shaking as she screamed at her partner until no sound came out and then would intake a sharp breath and continue to wail as if it would wake the corpse. It was unclear as to which of the girls was which with one having an indentation large enough to cave in half her skull and the other having a slush of frozen blood covering half her face and side that had already frozen what looked quite painfully but seemed unnoticed as the girl was likely in shock.

"Over here!" Someone shouted from inside the back of the megashuttle that was currently leaning back enough to act almost like a ramp as someone fireman carried a kuznyetski mercenary out and deposited him at the base of the ramp where two more mercenaries came out from underneath it to pull the injured man underneath the shelter of the shuttle. Francis Euphoria looked to have gotten it a lot less worse than himself. Her blouse was torn at the back and on one side to reveal a deep laceration of deep red that was partially obscured by a makeshift bandage of what looked like a bundled-up shirt and a too-tight belt holding it in place.

She stared at him half in a daze herself before someone else dragged out another mercenary as Kirill handed him off to one of his comrades.

"Sir!" He greeted Tobias with more clarity than Francis seemed to have; Who seemed to shake her head to focus and then jogged back into the shuttle.

"Most of your comrades are still inside but I think they're ok." He gestured where the mercenary he had just dragged out had been taken. "If you're hurt we're setting up triage under the shuttle; But if you're of sound mind or at least body we need help evacuating the front of the vessel before the fire spreads."

Without another word he went after Francis as another mercenary staggered out with someone but this time went past Tobias and laid the man out beside the dead kuz girl and her grieving lover and a line of dozens of others. Unmoving lifeless eyes stared into the sky from the dead man as the one who deposited him too ran back inside.

Out on the plains a half mile away, a segment of the shuttle separated from them visibly exploded like a can of beans in a fire.

Shuttle Interior
It was dark as hands shook them awake before passing by and trying others. Caffran, Quilly, Lupin, Clayton, Vai, Carina and others woke sorer than they had ever been in a dark only penetrated by a few portholes bleeding in sparse rays of white light. It was a miracle that nothing was broken on any of them, but Quilly could feel it in one of her wings from a spike of pain that something was fractured or at least sprained at hurt to move her wings.

"If you can move get up, if you're hurt call out." A familiar voice urged as Francis passed. "Start grabbing bodies or salvage whatever you can; The shuttles burning up!"

Shuttle Exterior.

Tanya had missed the other marines as they passed but was made aware of them by her fellows after the fact. Being amongst her kinsmen again had been too distracting to have noticed them when they passed upon boarding the shuttle before. The friendliness of her people, the smell of gun oil and pyapth had been a reminder of home and had lost her in her own little world even as a whole cabin full of her people had integrated her back into them like she was a part of their clan and not a single curious or mistrustful eye had landed on her and assumed she did not belong amongst them.

But then the shuttle had crashed and split, and half her cabin that had not been buckled in when they had hit atmo had simply fallen out as the pressure ripped them from the vessel and scattered them away never to be seen again.

She had not been on of them. But somehow had ended up outside the exterior of the shuttle half in a daze and was only just coming too. There were people running about around her dragging boxes and plastique crates out from a giant rent in the shuttle's belly and towards the now back of the much shorter shuttle where they would dissapear back under it. There was no clear direction until one of them stopped and seemed to notice her for the first time.

"Cousin get inside the ship." He ordered and still dazed she was gently guided into the hole in the vessel and sat down amongst the debris before he too was gone. Others came in from time to time to grab items or search through what they could open until the dark was broken by the discovery of a large, arm-thick glow rod that was thrown in the middle of the floor.

There was clothing, personal effects, bags and boxes, and military crates. A few of them even seemed familiar with the SMDIoN military markings on them that belonged to the marines. The Kuz did not approach those, but it seemed obvious by a glowing pannel on one of them that at least one had tried but did not have the owner's clearance to gain entry to its contents...

"Cold weather on me!" A kuz mercenary shouted not too far away from her as jackets and trousers, boots, gloves, scarves, and other items of thick winter-weather gear was haphazardly thrown under the light.

"Anyone find meds yet!?" another shouted. "Find one of the marines, they can get us into the milspec they should have meds!"

If you have ever been in a high speed vehicle crash, you may understand. When there’s a high-speed impact ligaments, tendons, and muscles can all be stretched too far or in unnatural ways. Organs such as the heart and lungs can be bruised or swollen. Many people feel fine in the minutes following a wreck. They’re not in pain. They’re responsive. They’re sharp cognitively, able to make quick decisions. They’re physically capable of helping themselves and others involved in the accident get to safety.

Redhawk, he was not one of these people. Everything hurt. There was something frozen on his face, his head felt like someone had used it as a blacksmiths anvil for an extended period of time. The constant high pitched ring of tinnitus seemed to pierce his skull in a variety of new and creative ways. That was all before he opened his eyes. His eye lids seemed to open of their own accord. A long and rather ingenious string of explicit phrases attempted to escape his mouth.

The vomit got there first. The chunky liquid sprayed out into a cone in the darkened interior cabin, cramps and spasms gripped Wallers abdomen as it forcibly emptied itself in response to the physical trauma and pain the rest of his body had endured. As it subsided, he managed to weekly open his eyes. The cabin was almost wholly dark, it was blisteringly cold. He managed to pull the DataJockey from his pocket and turn on the flash light. Glancing around he saw the bodies of most of the marines he thought. As he looked at the trail of vomit it led straight to ......Pai. Her torso was covered in his regurgitated lunch. He drug himself over to where she lay, the puke rapidly starting freeze to her uniform. "Pai, wake the frak up!"

Clayton would wake up as things seem to be going to shit around them his head was ringing and the smoke filling his lungs lucky for him he had a augmentation that filtered out toxins from the air. "Alright im up, I'll stay in the ship and look for meds I have a lung augmentation that filters out toxins from the air so the smoke isn't that much of a pain in the ass for me sir." Clayton shouted as he got up from his seat. and made his way to the ships cargo hold his goal was to get the meds and his gear because if his gear caught fire out here in the snow it was going to be a short as hell trip if 5000 pataisum spikes started flying and granades started cooking off.

Tanya had woken up outside and had not just been dazed, but also winded. It was only after she had been brought inside that she was able to properly breath again and shook herself into full cognizance. Needless for anyone who knew for to say, she was pissed.
"If I find the bastards who caused this I'm going to slit their tendons, cover them with honey and then drop them into a Hellfire Ant Colony." She muttered before standing up, taking stock of herself. Nodding after checking herself over and finding nothing in need of attention, she went over to the marine crates, looking over them for medical supplies if there was any.

Shuttle Interior
One moment Lupin was patting his treetrunk thigh and about to offer Molotra one of his spare sets of pants once they got planetside, the next he was waking up planetside with the taste of blood in his mouth and a horrible headache. A groggy hand against his face coming away with flakes of dried blood confirmed the sniper's theory, something he decided to worry about later as the lad crawled to his feet.

"Did those bastards scuttle themselves into us? the... the fuck happened? Is everyone alright?" Lupin spluttered, try as they might, the nanomachines in his veins could only filter out so much of the building smoke. It didn't help that some of them had leaked through the gash on his head and caked themselves to the side of his face. What might've been darkness for others was slowly growing brighter for the secret prince's celestial peepers, heat from various fires beginning to bleed into metal walls surrounding them, before too long it'd get too hot to touch~

Lupin checked that his holster was still occupied and began ripping one sleeve off his uniform, wetting it with his new and shiny self-filtering canteen before wrapping it around his face. Preparing for what would be filtering into their cabin before too long, but he also offered the new guy a hand, helping Redhawk to his feet.

"Depending on how they hit us the vents might lead out, but I'm not sure if we'd all fit through..." Lupin thought out loud, grabbing his duffle-bag and taking a few careful steps towards the door that used to lead out into the hallway. Whether or not that was still the case was yet to be seen.

"I'm going to look for an emergency release for the door! else maybe we can pry it open, but we need to get going soon," he offered as one possible course of action, gingerly feeling around for any rivets, screws or other signs of a hidden panel. Surely such a vessel had contingencies for this type of thing, right?

Lupin hissed and recoiled as the wall bit back, if the heat on this side was bad enough to give him a few blisters then the hallway was...

"Maybe we should revisit the vent idea~"

Redhawk gratefully took Lupins hand, climbing to his feet. His head was slowly clearing. Puking on Pai seemed to have helped. Redhawk dug into his duffle bag, withdrawing a Cold Climate Suit he had picked up at Davey Boones before leaving Nepleslia. As they said at Davey Boones, Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Redhawk keyed the suit warmers to maximum and refastened his pistol belt with his revolver over the suit. As soon as this was done he followed Lupin, while he was concerned with the welfare of the other marines, he needed to see if the area was secure before doing triage.

Shuttle Innards

A few moments after Lupin had moved past them- Molotra suddenly just bolted right up, straight to their feet- standing with their arms curled forwards like a crudely operated string puppet.... Then just stayed there, swaying around with a groggy expression. Sea green hydraulic limbs hissed and clacked chaotically. A sub processor, trying to do all the work of getting them mobile, whilst the brain it was connected to remained punch-drunk behind the wheel...

"Bhr phe thew na.... ag... frrhh..."

Low, drawling tones escaped their limps. No clear words could be found.

Inside the head, a mad ball of crushing static and looping black bars, crashing menus.

Had the ship's oxygen recycling control panel up. Kept keying '9' and wondering why it wasn't working.

"...The... The fire... It..." A pause, wheels feebly moving behind Redhawk, followed by her butting her metal wrist into him awkwardly. "... The... The... The... engine... remass... not flammable... These high winds... life support still going... It's oxygen... you... you gotta... t-t-"

Nothing behind the eyes. Legs went rigid. Hands seized, then convulsed. Pain.

Official manuals called it percussive maintenance. When all other troubleshooting had failed. or you just needed something to work RIGHT NOW. Hit it. Hard, with a wrench, a hammer, steel toed boot. Something, hit it with something until it worked. Waller looked at the Molotra and decided he needed to skip to that step. He opened his palm and slapped her. Hard, Across the face. "WAKE UP DAMNIT. WHAT. DO. I. NEED. TO. DO."

This caused the girl's legs to automatically snap into a pseudo-tank mode whilst they fell backwards, and then roll away in a seated position, several feet, clutching her face. It actually hurt the six foot soldier's hand way more than it should have, too...

"F-f-find... a... environment control panel that works... Just... just p-put... whole thing in... ESDR mode..." They spoke through clasping hands, as if not able to open their eyes and concentrate at the same time. "The bottles t-themselves... shouldn't be leaking... they would h-have b-blown.... blown up al-... already..."

One hand moved outwards, reaching for a portable fire extinguisher. It was too far away by several feet.

making his way back to the group He began using his enhanced strength on his cybernetic arms to help Lupin pry the door open. "So I hate to be the bearer of bad news guys but I'm going to try to find my pack because the amount of explosive ordinance in it might make this a very short trip if they go off in this fire that includes the potassium spike grenades out here in the snow." he said as his arms hummed as he attempted to pry the door open.

This is why I hate flying. Sgt Canterbury
Caffran eyes opened but couldn't make anything out. It took him a moment to realize everything was upside down. He was still secured in his harness but was dangling from it. His whole body ached from... whatever had happened. Caff had always hated flying. Even after years of experience he hated flying and it was situations like this that made him despise flying with his whole being.

Carefully he pulled his Straight Silver blade and cut the straps. Instantly he fell unceremoniously to the floor. Cutting his arm on some debris. He quickly got back to his feet and took stock of the situation. They had been shot down. They needed to get out of the shuttle right away. He moved forward and helped Clayton get the door open. "Lets get everyone out of here." Caffran said as they were able to get the door open. Freezing cold air came rushing in.

Caffran grabbed his bag and through it out the door before moving over to Pai. The woman seemed to still be unconscious. Caffran through her over his shoulder and fireman carried her outside. He saw where the Kuz had set up a makeshift triage and set Pai down there. He took a moment to look around. It was cold. Bitter cold. His mind was racing. They needed to get everyone accounted for and armed ASAP. If they had been shot down, and Caffran believed they had, some one would probably be coming to make sure there were no survivors.