RP: Land of Dreamers [Land of Dreamers Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Hanadi's face went flat at hearing the crude term. Though her countenance came close to twisting into a grimace as the Guard asked her to ask the rude little bastard if they were alright.

"Hey, shit head." she spat while looking at Asher. "He," jabbing a thumb back at Na'Subir. "Wants to know if you and the other xenos are alright."

Granted I wouldn't care less if this midget got tossed to the Wyrms in the desert right now, rude bastard.

~~~~~~

After being yanked along by the small boy towards the hospital, Nova couldn't believe her eyes when she saw more people from species she recognized. It was as if the Great Clockmaker had answered her silent prayers to not be the only person on this strange world that didn't have horns.

"H-Hello... " she managed to stammer out while trying to look a little more presentable. The days events had left her a little worse for wear.

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

"The God be damned Asher! Watch your language! I bet thats the reason why they were all so mad at us when we landed here, you started cussing at them and threatening them!" Harmony lightly kicked the side of Asher's cot before turning to the two newcomers. The front of her robes were covered in blood still from the fight, so it would easily be evident who had done the killing.

"Hello there, thank you for taking care of us and bringing us here if you two were the ones..." Harmony smiled to the two before she looked to Nova.

"You're a Freespacer aren't you? Were you at the party too? I really don't remember that much heh..." Trying to strike up a conversation with the Freespacer, Harmony smiled and rubbed the back of her head as if trying to diffuse any kind of bad tension Asher may have caused in such a short few moments.

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Mikael had followed the Trade-speaking alien to their 'hospital' dutifully. But the murder he had seen happen in front of him still seared brightly at the forefront of his mind. So it came as no surprise when the bodies on the floor, and the blood on -- was that a girl? -- the girl's dress spooked the traumatized teenager.

"What the fuck?!" Mikael said, jumping backwards and out of the room.

His eyes began scanning for any weapons he could use.

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

"Argh!" Asher yelped, gripping his sides when his cot jumped with the light swinging force of Harmony's foot. Even mild vibrations seem to rattle him, and he quickly pulled his hand to his chest to hold back some of the abrupt stinging. "Fucking damn it you bird-brained so--" was Asher could growl as he slowly mumbled off into a slew of curses.

"With the exception of the obvious casualty, all of the Outlanders are fine," said Iyad, the Ivuori Doctor, coming into the scene again after disposing of one of the bodies. Though, before he could make any further declarations, he spotted Mikael leaving the room itself. "Where is he going?"

----

Geruud, upon seeing the bodies, simply looked around, gathering in the scene. Though, upon seeing new people, and new species, he shyly took cover behind Nova's legs.

----

Mikael found himself entering into storeroom, which, to the ever worsening Fate of the survivors and those who were pledging to help them, was filled with possible weapons. On the walls, were several shop objects to perform surgery, including a polished bonesaw. In one section were a box of sanitized needles and three large injectors next to them.

Though, the most dangerous item, was a very old Fael Raig, leaning against the wall, cobwebs of diamond spiders and dust covering it's rusted exterior.

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Laruslan, Maekardan
Iyad's Hospital
Paralov 6th, 936
25:54 Commonwealth Standard Time

The people of Laruslan were very tired by the time the sun started to settle over the horizon. Sura Reesh was still cursing his luck and everything else he could think of as he went over the damages to not only the attenna, but his work place. Nada Rahimah was in similar disposition as she shoo'd people out of her bar, having to close up early to repair the interior after the intense fight. All these problems all seemed to attribute to the existance of one group of people, the survivors of the Silver Sultan.

Iyad himself did his best to hide his frustrations of these newcomers, especially as he was still cleaning up the mess made by Peace and Harmony. Though, if anyone bothered to think about it, it was actually only Asher's fault in the first place that most of what happened, happened. Even if he was already paying for his misdeeds in the excrutiating cross-species treatment, the day would've went better if had only done a few things differently. Na'Subir noted this especially, and was planning on keeping his eye the miniature man for the remainder of the day. Everyone else, however, was likely better off with the exception of how grim the future seemed.

The room itself was still a little bloodied, scattered each and every way by footprints and the commotion of the beds sliding across the floor. There were a few bullet holes in the wall, scattered containers(some of which were broke), and a particular Abwehran flask leaking alcohol from it's position in the corner. All the windows were closed, save for one of which Shiki had escaped through and Oskar had hurled out of. The room's natural light was soon replaced by the yellow electrical lamps which hung from the ceilings, casting the shadows of the buildings occupants every which way.

"Will someone explain why that Outlander just ran into my storage closet? He best not touch my Fael Raig." said Iyad, heaving another body over to the door to be taken outside, staining his usually pristine attire with blood and dirt. Hasheeda, his assistant, was doing her utmost best to try and bear the amount of blood still around her, though her bright robes were working as a grim reminder of everything that had transpired.

Mikael had backed himself up into the storage closet, and set about the task of looking for a weapon. On one end of the closet was the bone-saw, and on the other sat a paddle-like object. His shaking hands went for the bone-saw first, testing the weight. He needed a weapon he could use.

Fortunately for the others, Mikael felt the bone-saw was too heavy to wield effectively. He moved to the paddle -- tripping over his own feet along the way and falling face-first onto the floor before picking himself up again -- and siezed it.

After getting over his moping over the difficulties of getting back home, Oskar found his thoughts drifting to a more important matter. The fact that his whiskey was seeping upon the Xeno's floor. "Nein Nein Nein," he muttered as he quickly crawled over to the flask and picked it up. He tipped the hole over his mouth to try and and get what was left. One...Two Drops. Tears started to stream down from underneath the Abwehran's goggles. "NEIN!!!!" he shouted as he got down on his hands and knees to try and lick what he could from the floor, trying to avoid the dangers of glass and other sharp implements that would mess his tongue up.

"What? That rusty second rate fael raig in the back?" Hanadi teased at the doctor's expense. At least something decent could come from the situation, even if it were at the poor man's pride in the weapon.

----

Meanwhile, outside the open window...

Shiki was rather happy to be wearing clothing again, even if it was weird-looking local fare. Even then, it wasn't all that different, since robes were about a step away from a kimono, or a dress in Nepleslian parlance. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled rather awkwardly to the frightening... and adorably emotive rider of... whatever sort of demon snake was behind her, and chuckled a little. "Well, I should thank you somehow for the robes, but I'm not exactly sure if hugs are acceptable in your culture."

He tentatively spread his arms out, not exactly sure how to go about offering a hug without saying anything, or looking like some sort of pervert, attempting to nod his thanks to her. "Th-thank y-y-you!"

"Ah..." Zahrah tilted her head, spreading out her own arms and nodding, mimicking the gesture, believing it was some sort of courtesy. The strange outlander had taken his time in getting dressed, but she figured that was also some sort of strange custom. She only hoped that such a thing wouldn't end awkwardly.

"What nice people you all are!" He smiled happily, assuming that she had caught the gist of his gesture. He took a tentative step forward, and once he was certain that the atmosphere wasn't the least bit tense, took several up to Zahrah. His arms wrapped around her, and he hugged her gently. Polite to a fault, he made sure to not hug awkwardly or in the same manner as a lover returning from a great distance... until he remembered that he was basically naked beneath a single layer of linen.

"..." Normally, Shiki would try to play it cool, but he'd been through enough that day... and pulled away. At least, he would have, but realized how incredibly impolite that would have been! Instead, he resolved to tough the embarassment out. Without thinking,he tightened his grip and pressed the girl tighter and closer against himself, hoping that his unabashed and unashamed expression would make this situation unawkward by making it seem as if he wasn't embarassed. Because that made perfect sense... right!?

----

In the hospital...

"What about a Fael Raig?" Na'Subir looked at Hanadi, speaking in Sal Saari, as he had no grasp of the common trade the doctor, scoundrel, and survivors were speaking. "Are you telling me that distressed looking Xeno is getting his hands on a Fael Raig?"

"Wel--" Iyad began in Sal Saari.

"Silence, you, I will discuss the matter of you having such a weapon in your possession in a moment." snapped Na'Subir emotionlessly. While most people in the commonwealth were free to carry their own weapons, Fael Raigs, no matter their age, were not permitted to be kept by civilians.

No matter what people would say afterward, Mikael came out swinging. The 'paddle' was raised above his head with both hands as he charged at an angle toward the door. Along with the frantic rush came a roar that sprung unexpectedly from the boy's throat.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Oskar's face whipped around quickly towards the sound of the noise. Seeing a crazed Nepleslian with some weapon, the young Abwehran did the only thing he could think of. "HE'S GOING TO KILL US ALL," he screeched and rushed shoulder first into the wall in a panic. This not only caused the entire building to vibrate, but also created an Oskar sized imprint deep in the materials before falling back upon his behind and scrambling around in a circle.

"Yeah, the doctor has an o--." cut off mid-sentence, Hanadi saw the young man come out swinging just the rusty blade being discussed. The 'Spacer was yanked out of the way with a yelp of surprise, Geruud with her as Hanadi used her superior reach to do so.

"For the love of the Saints, someone get that damned thing away from the idiot before he finds the 'on' button!" shouting as she ushered the pair further back and away from the screaming Nepleslian.

----

As the chaos ensued inside, the chaos seemed to boil up outside. Zahrah had not expected to recieve a hug from the outlander. Though, it was nice, she liked this culture which openly gave hugs. For the few awkward seconds, she comtemplated the ramifications of being seen hugging an outlander, but she didn't mind. He... He was starting to hug tighter.

"Oh saints, Oh saints, Oh saints.", Zahrah began to inwardly panicked, her face was starting to glow red. "Relax," she comforted herself with her thougths, "It's... custom... right?" For a few more seconds, that settled her, until she recalled what exactly this sort hugging meant in her culture. So, suddenly she yelped, panicking, flailing, and squirming her way away from the Xeno. She pulled up her flying scarf, hiding her glowing red face, and put her goggles over her eyes. All the while, she babbled rapid Sal Saari at him that even an Iroma would have trouble following. Her Jarin Wyrm bent down as she approached, and almost started to panick himself as she fell off the side of the beast in her hasty and unorganized attempt to mount and fly away.

"Gack! I didn't mean it that way... I was embarassed and didn't know what to do and-" Shiki spurted out in a chain of jumbled words that Zahrah probably wouldn't understand, attempting to disarm the situation. Sure, she wasn't going to kill him, but she thought he was some kind of pervert, and that was horrible enough all on its own! He ran up to the girl as she fell off her mount, moving in a round to try to keep out of its field of vision until he was beside her, hoping that he could resolve the situation before she left with the wrong idea.

"I'm uh... sorry!" He put out a shaky hand to help her up, his smile shaky and a little fake. He *was* nervous. "I really don't want to give the wrong idea..."

---

Na'Subir sighed as he stepped forth, right in Mikael's path. He gave the boy an icy-cold stare, not all too different from the usual visage, but this time with his head leaning forward in preparation in case the outlander took his swing. Though, the Temple Guard made no threat, and unlike the rest of the room, including Iyad and Hasheeda, did not become apparently upset by his means to escape.

Mikael, to his credit, didn't take the swing. Instead he leapt for the doorway, hoping to slide his way out of the room and away from the butcherers.

"Outta the way!" He said before hitting the ground.

The Freespacer in question had been surprised by both the screaming Nepleslian with what looked like a rusty metal paddle, and now being yanked along by the tall brown-skinned woman with horns.Though it looked as if she meant no harm having been pulled out of the way. Although instinctually she'd grabbed hold of Geruud tightly like the little boy were some sort of security blanket. Judging by the expression on the boys face, he did not mind being used as such.

"What in the name of all that is holy are you doing?!" Hanadi shouted after Mikael having made sure the two were safe. The woman was quite simply at a loss. One minute he was fine, quiet, cooperative. And the other he was a screaming lunatic with a faulty weapon!

"Hey, Stone-Face," she called to Na'Subir. "One of us has'ta get that idiot before he stirs up trouble again. Or hurts himself."

Oskar began to calm down as the crazy boy left the room. Or at least as calm as he could being curled up into a fetal position and trembling like mad. "I'm going to die...I'm going to die on this planet. This planet will kill me before I get home."

----

Zahrah could only think of the only common language insult one of the old Sund Wakir elders taught her as the boy offered his hand.

"IDIOT!" screamed Zahrah, and screamed it repeatedly as she stumbled, avoiding Shiki's hand like a leper's and quickly ascended the side of her Jarin Wyrm, nearly falling again if not for the beasts assistance. As soon as she settled herself in, the Wyrm fired off into the sky with one beat of it's mighty wings, sending enough of a backdraft to send a normal Yamataian stumbling and/or flying.

"But you forgot these clo-" Shiki was prevented from speaking any more as he was knocked onto his back by the blast of wind. As he coughed and sneezed from the dust and sand kicked up, he realized there wasn't much point in continuing his little apologetic tirade. He'd just end up getting yelled at some more, or look strange in front of the locals.

"Geez..." He sighed, patting himself down. "This planet is going to be a pain in the ass. I know it."

----

Hasheeda took notice of the trembling Abwehr on the floor, as Mikael attempting to baseball slide on out of the hospital. She stepped over and knelt next to him, placing her hands each of his left arms.

"You... kay?" she mumbled, almost as if she was asking if she said it right, rather than asking out of kindness.

Mikael, however, would not find his dive all to successful as he hit the sand covered ground, sliding only enough to get his upper body out of the door, with a mouthful of sand to accompany that. A little Iromakuanhe girl saw him land, and nearly fell off her feet at the sight. Though, the girl blanched and near screamed when she saw the Nepleslian dragged back into the mysterious Iyad's hospital. Certainly she would carry that image with her for a while as she ran home, screaming.

As Na'Subir, drug the fleeing Nepleslian in by his ankle, he barked an order over to Hanadi, "Istislah, tell him to stop acting up."

Oskar was so frightened right then that his epathic senses weren't even working properly as he felt someone touch him. Yelping in panic again, the Abwehran bolted from the woman and rammed into the wall once more. Yet another vibration went through the building with the result being yet another imprint into the wall as he cowered in the corner staring at Hasheeda with his frightened eyes hidden behind those pitch, black goggles.

What likely did not help, was the fact that Hasheeda still had blood spattered on her face, and near half her robes were drenched in the life-sustaining substance.

----

Shiki would notice the building behind shake one good time, despite it's sturdy structure. Sand rolled off the side of it's roof and a small wind carried off to huts near-by.

"... was that a bomb?" Shiki turned around in surprise, running back to the windowsill to get a good glance inside. If the others had gotten hurt, he'd be in trouble! He'd be... truly alone, in a world of unknown aliens... as an alien! He braced against the underside of the window, and warily peeked up to glance into the room where the others had been. He had to see...

----

Hanadi, with a decidedly grumpy look on her face stalked over to Na'Subir, and Mikael, staring down at the boy with fists on hips. "Hey, you stop playing the fool. We ain't tryin' to hurt anybody!" she huffed then pointed to the blood, and bodies. "They're bandits, like the ones we saved your ass from. Except these were killed by other aliens like you." adding to that, she put a boot on the faelraig's blade to halt it from being swung or moved, and Mikael was effectively disarmed for the moment.

Nova whipped her head around at the loud thump, seeing a four-armed Abwehran seemingly trying to bring the wall down. The 'Spacer inched her way over to the terrified man, still clutching the boy before letting him go so she could kneel down. "H-Hello, Grounder," a word used by some 'Spacers as slang for those who lived planetside. She outstretched a hand slowly towards Oskar. "My name is Nova Seventy Seven, I-I don't think you have to be afraid... of these people I mean." trying to sound calm, although she was not exactly the best at this sort of thing. Put her in a lab, and she could field strip a nuke, put it back together and make it several orders of magnitude more powerful. Outside of a lab and she was a socially awkward young woman, even for her own kind.

Oskar's eyes darted between the two women. One covered in blood and trying to calm him down while the other seemed to be one of those Freespacers he had heard about...given the term she had used. His old man had spoken of those strange humanoids and some of the trading he had done with them. Pausing to look between the women one more time, he decided reaching for the woman that didn't look like a mass murderer would be the best choice and practically latched onto the Freespacer's waist with a whimper.

"I wake up, and people shoot --" Mikael choked with the thought.

"They shot my friend. How the hell am I supposed to react? Stand by and let myself be murdered too?"

Mikael shut his eyes and loosened his grip on the paddle. It was his moment of truth -- if they were going to kill him, they'd do it now. Or they'd let him up. But under his dark lids lights began to play. A green ship was being pointed out to him, by who?

"It was a green ship. Shit."

Under Oskar came a very dissatisfed, tiny-voiced grunt. In the Abwehran's attempt to find sanctity in the chaos, he had neglected that a child was between him and his comfort. Two little hands pushed against the steel bone-framed chest. Though, little success came of that, so he wormed his way up inbetween Oskar and Nova, only to get his head stuck, and now became unable to move. So, he did what any reasonable Sund Wakir boy would've done. He bit Oskars ear.

Na'Subir, meanwhile, lifted his foot off Mikael's back, stepping away from the boy, seeing as he had discarded his weapon. Still, he needed a translation, "Hana--..."

"Damnation!" yelped Iyad, heading for the storage room, his face wearing the expression of clarity. This sudden interuption pulled off Na'Subir's attention, but he quickly recovered,

"Istislah, what did he say?" asked the Knight.

Hanadi squatted in front of Mikael, looking him in the eyes. With a small nod she got to her feet. "He's talkin' about a green ship, I don't know anything about a green ship." shrugging as she spoke.

Nova had let out a small 'Oh!' at being bowled over almost by the now suddenly clingy Abwehran. The girl, glasses askew, just looked down at him and around helplessly while also feeling Geruud squirming around. Feeling both uncomfortable and now rather awkward, Nova patted the larger Abwehran on the back several times in an almost comforting manner.

Shiki peeked up from the windowsill, gingerly pulling himself over the side of the building to get back inside. He struggled to hold on a little, feeling a little too weak to push his allegedly 'superior' (albeit obsolete) engineered body too far, and spent several seconds just trying to gather the energy to lift himself back in. By the time he was done, he'd probably made a rather strange display of himself to the people inside and outside. He landed with a thud, hitting on his left shoulder and side, and rolled a bit as he hit the ground again.

The Geshrin winced a little and stood himself up, glancing around nervously. "H-hey. So the fighting o-over now... right?"

A scream erupted from Oskar's lips as the small Iroma boy began biting his ear. "AH, I'M SORRY...I'M SORRY...PLEASE STOP!!!" he cried as he let go of Nova and tried to pull away.

"Hmph." Geruud spat, sitting on the floor with a rather unsatisfied look on his face.

And with that, Oskar was back to cowering in the corner. "Even children are evil on this rock," he whimpered in Abwehran as he held his head with all four hands.

Meanwhile, out came Iyad, with a syringe filled with a dark liquid. Before anyone could ask him exactly what he had in his hands, the doctor had alread kneeled down and stabbed Mikael in the arm in one flourishing movement. Of course, it wasn't a painless procedure for the Nepleslian, but the medicine inside was to ensure that the 'Green Boat' didn't tell him to start attacking people. "The anti-hallucenogenic that we were assigned to use on the Freespacers, I have plenty on hand if you feel like dragging any more of these in." said Iyad bitterly, as he injected the entirety of the needle's content in Mikael's arm. He then removed the needle and cleaned the injection spot. "So, will you two kindly get all this trouble out of my hospital? I've already got to keep one of your Xenos friends."

Mikael, by that point was far too out of it to truly act for himself, however the combination of the drug and the hallucinogenic gave him a short-lived high.

"All the great guns are gone, I am -so- sad..." Mikael sang, "I can't blow the obstacles out of my way."

And with that, fell asleep like a child.

"..." Hanadi said nothing but looked at Na'Subir. "You want that translated?"

Nearly jumping at the scream, Nova was surprised to see Oskar recoil and now clutching at his head with all four hands. She then noticed the little bundle in her lap, putting what the Abwehran had said together with what sat there. Apparently the little boy had done something to Oskar, of which she had no idea. So instead of saying anything stern she just put a hand on the turban he wore on his head with a sigh.

By now, Oskar was starting to rock back and forth on his heels. "I'm going to die...even the children are evil...the planet will surely be the end of me." he continuously whimpered. "I need booze...anything with alcohol. My only chance of survival lies not in sobriety but in being three-sheets to the wind"

As things began to wind down, the room calmed steadily, until Shiki made his way all through the window, and settled himself down on the floor. Though, before anyone could answer the Geshrin, Na'Subir had already turned, his Solaani SMG drawn and pointed in Shiki's direction. In the dark and the tampered light of the room, Shiki looked like a bandit in a set of ragged rider robes. Though the rest of the room might've recognized him and paid him no mind, the doctor and the attending asisstants fell silent.

It was then, that Asher, generally oblivious to the unnatural situation, began to whistle a rather idle tune. As bad as this looks, I think I'm gunna' like bein' around here. thought the wounded Malifarian.

"I-it's me! Don't shoot!" Shiki waved his arms above his head, drawing clear attention to a very definite lack of horns.

"Istislah... Should I shoot? He looks nothing like the other survivors." said Na'Subir, his SMG trained tightly on the boy.

The rusty old faelraig in hand, Hanadi heard the plea of 'Don't shoot!', vaguely remembering the voice. With a squint of her eyes she also made out the lack of horns and made a decision based on a gut feeling.

"Nah, don't shoot'em. Probably that other alien that tried to scare me off with a pocket knife before he went nuts due to the Expanse particles. Hey, Iyad, you give all of the aliens the shot for this sort of thing, or not?"

"Of course, Hanadi, what sort of doctor do you take me for? He's had his shots, though I'm not all that sure if he's infectious." piped Iyad, "But such talk is pointless." The Doctor waved his hand out to all the people to the room, "I suppose you're here to pick them up, yes? Well get them out of here, I almost died twice today, and though I may lie from time to time, I do in fact love my life." Jabahlah threw his other finger in the direction of the door.

Hasheeda took that as a signal to start shufflng people out. So, the nurse started with Oskar, and tried to pull on his arm, "You, go." she said in her struggling trade, pointing to the door.

Whimpering loudly, Oskar seemed to do the opposite and cower more into the corner. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" he shouted in more fluent Trade and attempted to shove Hasheeda away.

Unfortunately, Oskar didn't realize that Hasheeda was actually fairly thin under all those robes. As a result, she stumbled and hit her head on one of the cabinents, knocking her silly for a while. Iyad, of course, noticed this, and turned to Hanadi with a more strained expression.

"Out. Now." he said in trade so they'd all understand.

"Tch." A cowardly doctor is what I take you for. Hanadi thought as she pointed to the door. "Geruud, take your Color-sera outside while I get the other aliens out as well. The doctor is being a grump and I have to have words with him to. Plus I have to deal with the four-armed man."

"Four-arms is stupid!" piped Geruud, giving the already scarred Abwehran the evil-eye. He grabbed Nova's arm and tugged her towards the door.

Hanadi made sure there was no leyflar capacitor within the faelraig, taking the one in it out. "Here." she held it out to the boy as he walked by. "I'll let you hold on to this for now to protect your Color-sera while we get everyone out."

The grumpiness on the boys face dissappeared instantly as he was given a weapon. He was already thinking of ways to dispose people with it.

Hanadi had palmed the capacitor, showing it to the Guardsman to ensure he wouldn't say anything as she turned to Iyad. "You know you're not getting that back now, right?"

Nova, feeling her hand being tugged along followed the little boy outside back into the dimming sunlight. The first thought that came to mind was, it was a little cooler, but still hot. She knew that once the sun went down that deserts usually got chilly, and she neither liked the cold nor the heat. The Freespacer had been quite comfortable with the climate controlled nature of her home aboard a ship.

Dressed in ragged desert garb and feeling like he'd been running away from Death for the past two days, Shiki attempted to keep quiet as he followed after the others. It was nothing but trouble! Everything he did and everything he said was getting him closer and closer to being killed, and everyone thought he was some kind of idiot! "Geez... what a crappy day."

Iyad grumbled, as Hanadi once again lived up to her name. You didn't mess with that woman, and the Doctor decided not to question her.

"Well, Istislah." sighed Na'Subir, putting away his SMG. "Should we tell them of their situation, or do you wish to..."

The stone-faced Temple Guard look over at Oskar, "...stablize him?"

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Hanadi rubbed the bridge of her nose. So, deal with the aliens, or deal with the alien. Tough choice.

"Alright," with a sigh she looked over to the cowering Abwehran. "Please compensate the good doctor for his troubles while I grab the cowering sandrat." with that said, the woman weaved her way through the bodies towards Oskar. She squatted with hands on knees in front of the four-armed man and then cleared her throat.

"Hey, Four-A- Oskar," correcting herself. Just how wa she supposed to go about this? 'Oh, yeah, you're stranded on an alien planet which has so little contact with the outside universe people here may dislike you.' Sure, that sounded perfect! If he were rational. Which she didn't think he was being right now.

With a slightly disgruntled sound and deciding to get it off her chest, she spoke.

"Look, you're scared, I get it, but get a hold of yourself already or more of those bad people are going to find you and me, and that man with the gun won't be here to save you." jabbing a finger in the direction of Iyad then she continued.

"He ain't going to protect you, so if you want to live, stop your blubbering, get up, and think. I'm offering you a way out that keeps your hide intact. So, you can get to your feet and come with us, live, or sit there and pray to whatever deities you believe in that no one else comes along that doesn't like the fact you got a set of extra arms." she could have spat on the ground at seeing a grown man acting this way. Instead, Hanadi just got up and held a hand out.

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Oskar's whimpering quieted rather quickly as he listened to Hanadi speak. Peeking up from his cowering, he gave the Iroma woman a look of shock and awe. Mein Gott...she's just like my Mother!!! he thought in horror as he seemed to have a traumatic flashback of what his mother would do to him in this state.

Most of it would be lecturing, which was horrible, but some of it would be much...much worse. "Y--yes ma'am," he replied obediently and stood up quickly. His spine was ramrod straight as he practically marched out the door. Hopefully, he could use one of those hateful xenos as a meat shield if everything went to shit again.

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Harmony watched the events unfold in front of her as the Nepleslian man flipped out and ran out of the room, Oskar having another break down, clinging to the freespacer, then cowering into the corner again. With a smirk she simply took it all in and shook her head.

As Hanadi went over and took care of Oskar, Harmony made her way to the doctor. "Excuse me doctor, I know you've already done so much for us, but do you know where my clothing is? I have seemed to have...dirtied your robes and I can't very well be outside covered in blood after a known fight with other people like them around." Harmony smiled a little as she held out the robes in her fingers from her body.

"I know we have been a very large inconvenience and obviously a large boon to you, but this would be a personal favor to me that I would eagerly repay you for once I am able to."

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Hanadi just made a face, waving a hand at Iyad.

"Sooner you give'em their stuff back, sooner I'm outta your hair. An' the sooner you can get back ta' doin whatever you do in here." she grimaced a little. I ain't going to be coming back to this town for awhile... the archeologist thought. HOW this event was pinned on her (like most things going on in this town when she was around.) she had no idea.

It was as if they thought her a walking bad luck magnet. Even though she helped to get rid of it when she could!

Re: [Chapter One] The Descent Into Chaos

Laruslan, Maekardan
Iyad's Hospital
Paralov 6th, 936
26:32 Commonwealth Standard Time

"Your clothes? We threw them away, the were rather dirtied, and not quite appropriate for the enviroment you're in. If you need another set, there's a few in the closet next to the one your friend screamed his way out of. responded Iyad to Harmony be throwing a restrained glare at Hanadi. "Their things are over there." pointed Iyad, to a smile, neatly arranged row of the various things the survivors had on them before they were stripped and prodded with a big needle. "Now will you please get them out of here?"

"I will have to agree, we need to consolidate everyone in some place less... bloody." suggested Na'Subir, giving an assuming eye to Hanadi, "From what I understand, you have some sort of desert transport at the mechanist's garage, correct?'

"Yeah, I got a Sehaya in the garage. I was having it worked on before all hell broke loose in this place." Hanadi replied gruffly. She had a feeling she'd be the one hefting the antenna off the vehicle.

Harmony smiled and bowed to Lyad, nodding her head to the understanding about the state of her clothing. This was the second set of clothes now in very short time that she had dirtied with blood and honestly, she felt a little bad about that. Heading into the closet that the doctor had pointed to, Harmony began to look around for whatever kind of clothing they had in there.

Of course, faithful as always, Peace followed on Harmony's heels, watching around and wagging his tail this way and that idly as he simply took in the enviroment and licked his lips from the fresh meal he just had.

"Hey, bull bitch, you gunna come back f'me?" asked Asher, out of the blue, almost a little dissapointed that the animal had left him to his own devices, and unsure if he fully wanted to stay behind. "'Cause, y'know, tha' docta sai--...

"That sounds good enough." interrupted Na'Subir, responding Hanadi, and not paying one lick of attention to Asher, mostly since he didn't know what he was saying. "Will your son be alright with all this?"

Hanadi blew off the 'son' comment, instead turning to the Guardsman, jabbing a thumb behind her. "Is it entirely necessary we take the loud mouth with us? Because I want to shoot him."

"Hey, bitch! Biiiiiiitch! Bitch, bitch, bitch ba-bitchy McBitchBitch." went Asher repeatedly waving one weak hand. Since he didn't seem to get a response, he yelled on after Harmony, "Hey, Fangy! Bitch can't hear me! Can you ask her if she's gunna come back f'me?"

"He is a survivor, and a hardy one." replied Na'Subir, giving the unchanging, usual stare at the Yamataian as he seemed to repeat the same Trade word over and over for some reason. "I will not approve of shooting him, but we cannot take him with us. If the alien biology is anything like ours, he isn't fit for the elements or the travel. At the very least, less so than the rest of us. For his own well-being, he will need to stay here." The Knight turned to look back at the seemingly cursed Curdatl, "Is that satisfactory for you?"

Harmony came back out to look at Asher, her eyes locked on him in a scowl. Her robe was off, still around her arms and down covering her waist, but her chest was more then in plain veiw, pressed up and together between her biceps because of the way her arms were together, as she spoke up. "The God be damned Asher if you don't watch your mouth talking to other people I promise you I will put you back on a stretcher! You get people to do what you want when your nice to them!"

Upon coming into plain view, Harmony had Asher's full attention. Though, for some odd reason, he shook his head vigorously upon her finishing her piece.

"I'm sorry, did you say somethin'?" asked the Malifarian menace.

Harmony growled, her teeth extending out a little into a fanged expression, staring at Asher.

Hanadi did what anyone with a gun would in her position. She pointed it upward and fired once to grab the quarreling duo's attention.

Harmony jumped at the gunshot, staring wide eyed at Hanadi as her ears laid back against her head. Peace on the otherhand lowered himself down a little. Remembering the last person with a gun that shot around them, he began to get a little defensive of Harmony and a little more aggressive at Hanadi.

Na'Subir stared at Hanadi's weapon, with little of any change in his expression.

"Sheesh, Bitch, iss' that some kinda' culture thing on this planet or somethin'? Or is ya little woman voice to quiet t'get no ones attention." went Asher, seemingly unafraid of getting shot. Again.

The woman snorted at the great cat's posturing before eying the two outlanders. "Hey, shit head" looking right at Asher. "If you don't wanna get left behind an' end up six feet under tha' sand shut tha' fuck up an' lay there." she said hotly, finally answering him before looking at Harmony, giving the Lorath a once over.

"And you, get dressed for the love of the Saints People may take your bein' naked as'a sign of you wantin' somthin'."

"You know, Hanadi, I'm not seeing these people leave any faster." egged on Iyad, adding on another annoyance to the already overloaded woman.

"If I knew where the clothes were maybe I could get changed! All I see in here are medical supplies!" Harmony puffed out her cheeks and scowled a little at Hanadi for taking the tone she did. Of course Harmony knew she was right, didn't mean she liked it. In the back of her head she could hear her mother going on and on...

"When your alone be as naked as you want, the goddess doesn't care! But by the God girl remember to get clothes on when your friends come over! They are gonna think you want something and I don't want to have to beat off more brats!"

"I dunno, I like tha' whole 'No clothes' thing. Been pretty comfortable f'me so far." said Asher as he spread out on the bed.

Hanadi just held a finger up before pointing it at Iyad, lips pursed, a look of aggrivation on her face as she let out a long sigh. "Just... Just show the winged alien to the clothes already for the love of Ahni!" shouting the name of the Saint as her temper flared slightly.

"Part of an antenna fell on my crawler too you know. So if I got to take the thing off it, you're gonna have to watch these guys Mr. Statue." turning her attention back to Na'Subir.

"Fine! But if you're still bickering when I get back... I'll..." threatened Iyad, raising a rather unthreatening finger, "I'll... I'll file a complaint!" went the Doctor, before grabbing Harmony and dragging her off to the appropriate closet that contained the spare robes.

"I have no idea what these people are saying, how am I to watch them?" asked Na'Subir, after Iyad sauntered off, somewhat clueless on inter-species relations. In fact, he wasn't even sure these people interacted the same way they did. He only knew that Hanadi had the impeccable ability to speak with them.

"Think." Hanadi said quietly while looking over towards the entrance. "That redhead knows some Saalsari. Use her to interpret."

"I see, I see. Then, what of him?" Na'Subir pointed at Shiki, who had been silent thus far, "Do you know anything of that quiet one or if that is some sort of sign in their culture?"

Harmony was a little shocked to say the least as she was dragged off by the doctor, but followed none the less.

"It is a miracle they understand the nearly two thousand year old dead language I'm speaking right now." Hanadi said tiredly as she looked dead at Shiki for a moment before glancing back to Na'Subir. "I have no idea. I don't know what culture they are. Clearly it isn't Saal. But if it's bugging you so much, just keep an eye on the kid."

Asher looked inbetween the two aliens eying Shiki, "Hey, you two talkin' about Shitto over there? You ain't gunna' eat him, are ya?"

"No, but I'm thinkin' about feeding your sorry ass to a Jarin Wyrm." The archeologist retorted. "If he gives you any trouble, ask the redhead to translate. Best we can do for right now, yeah?"

"Good, let's take him and the winged one on. It doesn't sound like things are going too quietly outside." suggested Na'Subir, strolling over and putting a hand on Shiki's back to usher him out of the hospital. "Bring the winged one with you when she is done changing."

----

Outside Iyad's Hospital
Paralov 6th, 936
26:32 Commonwealth Standard Time

As Oskar stepped outside, he would be greeted by the curved end of the powerless Faelraig, held by the bold child, Geruud.

"Back!" barked the little boy in Sal'Saari.

A yelp and a quick hop would land the poor Abwehran back first into the clinic's wall as he grimaced at the little kid. "Y..you should be respectful of your elders," he stammered in Trade.

"BACK!" barked the little boy even louder, taking the stammering as some sort of threat, or insult of his heritage.

"MEIN GOTT! Don't they teach you anything!?" he screeches and tries to back up through the wall with obvious failure.

Geruud yelped in turn at the Abwehran's outburst, causing the little boy to lose his composure for but a second. Though, he quickly recovered and held the Fael Raig up at the Nightwalker, giving him no quarter.

Oskar silently stared at the small child as he fought off the urge to run back into the clinic. After all, they had obviously overstayed their welcome there. Instead, he swallowed hard and...continued to stare.

When he believed it safe enough, Geruud shot a glance up to Nova, with a questioning expression on his face, before looking back at Oskar. This silence was killing him, and likely, the Abwehran was probably more dangerous when backed up to a wall, like the many Sand Rats the boy had killed by himself. He needed to break the tension, and he figured he would do it in the same way his older brother, Jaleel, did it, by insulting him. "Four arms is stupid!" spat the little boy.

The Abwehran could still not understand the silly language of these people, but he didn't need to understand the language to get the gist that he was being insulted or something equally disrespectful. But Oskar decided to leave it alone. All he wanted to do was go home. Whimpering slightly, the grown man tried to slide around the boy and get away from the wall.

A small flash of panic spread across Geruud's face, the target was moving! Likely, he was trying to spin around the side to attack, the boy thought, that could be his only intention. So, with a quick shuffle to the side Oskar was slowly inching towards, the boy quickly cut off his means for escape. "Hyah!" yelled Geruud, swinging the flat weapon once for intimidation purposes.

Nova had watched Oskar and Geruud in amazement. When finally the small boy kept on harassing the Abwehran, the Freespacer decided to step in, grabbing lightly at the collar of Geruud's robe. "No more scaring him. He afraid, he afraid." she said in her broken Saalsari, pointing at the Abwehran. "Look, look! See?" she said before looking square up at Oskar and shaking her head, mouthing 'Don't move'.

Oh, Oskar didn't move all right. In fact, he halted all movement as he froze in a rather amusing sneak position that he remembered fondly from his childhood. Too bad he wasn't laughing now.

"But... but Four Arms is..." frowned the little boy, still holding the Fael Raig at the Abwehran. He was hoping that had been looking brave by warding off something so big, in the hopes of appearing and feeling more manly all around. "Four arms..." choked Geruud, suddenly realizing that he had only been picking on a defensely, scared stranger. Suddenly, he felt very bad, and the formerly brave boy began to tear up. "Four Arms is stupid!" sobbed the little Sund Wakir, pawing at one of his crying eyes.

"Ugh..." Oskar mumbled as he saw the boy he was scared of starting to cry in front of him. "Oh...ah...it's all right," he stammered quickly as he held up all four hands in a stop motion. "Please...wait...why am I trying to comfort him? He's been tormenting me!?" he muttered to himself, but couldn't help but grimace at the crying child.

Nova just wrapped her arms about the poor child, looking over to Oskar. With one hand she kept waving it up and down. "Relax, relax. The boy's sorry for scaring you. Stop being a lamer." saying before going back to trying to console the child. Really, amongst her kind there weren't children, just teenagers that got old after a few short years. So this was a whole new concept to her.

"Stupid!" went Geruud through his sobbing as he threw the Fael Raig, one handed, with a sort of unnatural strength at Oskar. It flew threw the air with a small hum, at bruising speeds. After that, the boy wrapped his arms around Nova, trying to hide his face from the shame.

"UGK!" was all Oskar could say as the Fael Raig smacked him right in the face and bowled him backwards without another word.

Nova just winced at the continued punishment of the poor Nightsider. "Oohh... shhh... you ok over there?"

Only a moan answered the Freespacer as Oskar continued to not move at all.

The Freespacer, now quite concerned picked Geruud up and trotted over to the downed Abwehran. She nudged him with a foot once or twice, "Hey... Hey?" she then kicked him sharply in the shin after not getting a response.

Outside Sura's Machine Shop
Paralov 6th, 936
26:56 Commonwealth Standard Time

The group, now consolidating and moving once they had finally roused Oskar, clothed Harmony, calmed Geruud, and left Asher behind, approached Sura's Machine Shop. The usually busy garage and home was easily identifiable by it's large antenna before the survivor's crash, but now, it was easily identifiable by it's large broken antenna, hanging over the side of the structure. The large apeture was still being dismantled and worked on by the resident machinist, Sura Reesh. He gave a momentary glance at the approaching group, and just went back to his work.

"Oh... What?" went Sura suddenly, his bandana'd head shooting up to double check what exactly was coming to his shop. He hopped off of the bent steel structure, waving his hands in the air quickly and giving a dignified 'no' expression, "Oh no, oh hell no, quadruple plus hell no. Hanadi, I don't give a damn what you're doing with these Outlanders, but they better start walking the other way."

"What?" Hanadi yelled her arms spread wide. "I'm trying to get the hell outta here with these xenos and outta' your hair." she then lowered her voice slightly. "I got a damned Temple Guard riding my ass here about me getting them all out!" voice low she nodded her head slightly to the side.

"So if I could get my crawler and be on my way, Sura I'd really appreciate it."
she had a few bills out in front of her.

"Didn't you hear me? Hell. No." went Sura, violently waving his hand aside, clearly not in the mood to bargain. "You bring your dash-blanged Sehaya out here, and you put'm in it, and you take them way away from here. Away from my Saints damned radio tower, ya get it!"

Hanadi towered over the mechanic a moment, pondering the notion of just tossing him aside. Today had been a pretty damned bad day and she wasn't in any mood for this shit. Instead of arguing though she pushed him aside, stalking off towards the garage.

"Keep'em there Temple Guard man!" yelling, aggrivated at the continued annoyances. Mumbling all the while as she went, even kicking up sand on occassion.

"Um...what was that all about?" Oskar asked as he held the bump on his forehead with a wince.

"Hm?" went Na'Subir, turning to look at Oskar in a cursory fashion.

"I don't know, but I don't think he likes us very much..." Harmony said to Oskar as she pointed at the mechanic. She shifted her shoulders and wings around a little, her new outfit a little uncomfortable even with the modifications she had made to the shirt she now wore. A almost patchwork skirt she thought was cute, it fell to just above her knees, the shirt she wore a little more then a plain sleeveless shirt, it was to long for her so half of it was tucked into her skirt, the other half hanging over the side. It had come untucked since she had first put the clothing on, and honestly first chance she got, she would try to barter or buy something a little more comfortable for herself.

"Ah..." was the only thing Na'Subir could muster, upon hearing more Trade. He continued to trade glances between the two of them. Though, he seemed to take a fairly heavy interest in the strange features of both. Small wings on one, and an extra set of arms on the other. Though, with such an unflinching stare, it was hard to tell what he was looking at them for.

"And that staring from the other guy is creeping me out." Oskar muttered before frowning. "Oh god...you don't think he's into me like that doctor was, do you?" he asked with dread.

"The doctor was into you? Thats so cute!" Harmony giggled a little looking at Oskar and grinned. It was a moment before she looked over at the temple guard staring at her and Oskar and shook her head. "Nah he isn't in to you, I think he is just watching us since after Asher, we seem to be the biggest trouble makers..." Harmony shrugged a little but looked to Oskar again. "But yea, he is really creeping me out too...I don't think he has blinked yet!"

"That loud lady told him to watch us while she goes to get something... " Nova offered up while craddling Geruud in an arm. "But the Stone-Face isn't a bad guy. He just... uhm... I-I don't know." shaking her head a little. "He's just weird!"

Upon hearing 'Stone-face' in the trade language, he looked at Nova. She had said that when she had looked up at him before back at the bar. The rather unsettling Ovoc Wakir, shook his head 'no', which he hoped they understood. "Na'Subir." he said slowly, patting his chest.

As the Guardsman tried to communicate with the aliens, loud curses, banging and all matter of noise was coming from the garage as Hanadi worked.

Harmony did her best to ignore the commotion, trying to start a working relationship with the guardsman. Smiling a little, she nodded her head to Na'Subir, meaning she understood him, before she pointed to her own chest. "Harmony..." She said slowly, pronouncing the name somewhat slowly before pointing to Peace and doing the same.

"Nasuubeer? Sounds like a good brew more like a name," Oskar commented before clearing his throat and placing his upper left hand upon his chest. "Oskar." he tried to introduce himself.

What rediculous names... thought Na'Subir, their alien callsigns extremely foreign to his heavily vested heritage. Nevertheless, he tried to user on his communication by grabbing his mantle and pointing to the symbol on his chest and spoke the words of his people, "Temple Guard"

Having already been introduced partially to the culture gave Nova a little advantage, but all the same he didn't even know her name yet! And some of his oddspeak was still foreign to her, the software package from Polysentince still only partially completed.

"Nova Seven Seven Dash Six Five Eight Four Dash One Four Two Six." saying it all rather slowly as she pointed to herself.

"Is that a name, or a serial number for a cafe pot?"

"It is my name, and the number of times I have been cloned, and serial ident number!" Nova said testily.

"Color-Sera!" went Geruud, repeating his name for her, for his nil understanding of her real name.

An electric whirring sound came from the direction of the garage, a whine followed suit as dust and sand began to kick up. The sounds of metal scraping metal in utter protest following suit as a large, hovering vehicle with six orb-like pertrusions on the bottom lumbered out causing the antenna to further give way.

"That's...A long name..." Harmony looked at Nova, a touch bewildered, before asking. "Can I just call you Nova?" She had a slightly pleading look to her face, before she looked over to the garage just as the dust picked up. Flapping her wings for a moment it gave her just enough time to cover her eyes.

"Nova, Nova, Seven Seven, take your pick I don't really mind either way." Nova said before making a small sound as dust got in her eyes as the vehicle began to exit the shop. "Wh-What is that thing?" sounding surprised by the alien vehicle now hovering out towards them.

All they could hear from Oskar was coughing as he had accidentally inhaled a cloud full of dust and sand moments earlier.

"What the he--... Damn it! You're wrecking tha--.." started Sura, in another fit of rage, stomping angerily into the sand. Though, it didn't take much to notice that there was much more to what was forcing it's way out from under the wreckage of the antenna. "I've alread-- ARGH! And th--... My trailer!" yelled Sura fanatically, pointing as hard as he could at the large structure hitched to the back of the large hovercraft.

"You, Temple Guard!" shrilled Sura, who was answered by a simple glance from the stoic individual. "She's stealing my trailer!"

"Doubtful." was all Na'Subir answered.

"But it's my trailer!." went Sura, stomping on the sand evermore.

"That has been established." replied Na'Subir, which nearly sent Sura into a seizure from the intensity of his displeasure.

"Look! Color-Sera! A Sehaya!" said Geruud, pointing at the rampaging craft. He seemed to put a strange, and exotic emphasis on 'Sehaya'.

"It looks...like a brick with vents." Oskar mumbled as he scratched the back of his head. "Then again, most vehicles look like bricks." he muttered again before sighing. "I need booze."

"Some Lorath vehicles do, but not all..." Harmony looked over the vehicle from the distance, tilting her head a little as she looked it over. Very little Lorath land vehicle technology was the hovering style, so this was a little strange for her.

The vehicle came to a halt a short ways off, Hanadi stuck her head out one of the large windows making beckoning gestures. "C'mon already! Use the side hatch!" she pointed towards a small man-sized indent in the hull of the vehicle which dislodged itself, steps coming out from the bottom to allow access to the interior of the craft.

"A what?" Nova just said as she saw the horned woman yelling at them while pointing to the hatch. Well, she didn't need to be told twice! Anything to get out of this thrice damned sun and exposure to the elements! The Freespacer then tore off at a trot with Geruud in her arms towards the Sehaya.

"I hope it has environmental control," Oskar sighed as he followed Nova.

Harmony's ears perked up a little at the idea of getting into the machine but followed after Nova. If any of the group were familiar with Lorath habbits, the twitching wings of Harmony would be a easy indication at her uncertainty, and even agitation at her situation of having to get into the machine. Frankly her last trip in any vehicle landed her under a heap of dead bodies after all...

Peace was quickly to follow after Harmony.

Na'Subir made a short nod as he made his way to the door, stopping by it to make sure all the survivors boarded. Though the blasting air conditioning was an extreme temptation, the Temple Guard resisted charging in before he needed to.

"He-Hey Hey Hey!" yelled Sura, becoming literally enraged at this point. Before Nova herself could enter the safe haven, the imbalanced mechanist stepped in front of the door way. His demented expression showed that he was not going to allow all this to go on. "You break my antenna, you trash my garage, and now you all run off with my trailer!? I'm not going to stand for this!" Before much of a reaction could be had, he pulled out his wrench and pointed it at the first person in line. "None of you ain't gettin' past me without a fuckin' bruise, ya get it?"

Nova had let out a sqawk of surprise as the mechanic ran past her. Instinctively she clutched the boy closer to her chest as he was now brandishing a wrench at the people inside. The Freespacer had krept close enough now though to take a glimpse inside, Geruud in hand as well. Though she'd been surprised to see who was just by the door.

Harmony growled and stepped forward, teeth growing out, claws extending from her nails, her eyes taking on a feral look and her hair looking more like a mane then hair now, she stepped up in front of Sura, moving Nova out of the way, her eyes locked on his. Her muscles were taught as she watched him with a ready expression to act. Peace came up beside her, a low throaty growl reverberating out of his throat.

"I don't want to hurt anyone else, but I want in there, and I won't hesitate to act..." There were still flecks of blood in her hair from her earlier escapades as she simply watched and waited for Sura to act now.

Hanadi, whom had been seated by the door and as Sura began his tangent listened until he pulled out that wrench of his. The paddle-like impliment on her lap was now balanced on its pommel, quite close to him in fact for she'd been so quiet. The edges of the Faelraig hissed and crackled as the laser-edged weapon came to life.

The woman just stared the man down from her seat, caring not a wit for that demented look in his eye as she tossed a small papery bundle up and down with one hand, holding the lit Faelraig with the other.

"I know you're not bringing that business on my crawler, Reesh." using his last name. "You know I don't like that on my crawler."

"Th-...This isn't fair! This isn't fair and you know it." said Sura shakily, he had not expected one of the survivors to become so... 'hostile' looking, especially with the large cat. Fearing for his life, the man was torn between panicking and just breaking down. He knew Hanadi meant business, and he had heard that some of the survivors had already killed a few people down at the clinic.

Na'Subir shook his head gently, before stepping forth. Luckily, Sura hadn't paid much mind to keep the Temple Guard in his line of sight so the Knight could easily stroll up and touch the man on the shoulder. As expected, Sura whipped around looking to swing before suddenly losing the twisted expression. Upon looking at the unmoving visage of Na'Subir, and the contact, Sura visibly calmed, by an extreme degree, in fact. While none of the survivors would likely notice what exactly happened at that contact, what was reasonable to descern was that the threat had transpired.

"Let us speak inside." suggested Na'Subir, pointing at Sura's wrecked shop.

"Y-...Yes..." nodded Sura, agreeing in kind, but still keeping an a shifting eye between Harmony, Peace, and Hanadi.

Na'Subir looked back, and made a waving gesture towards the Sehaya, before stepping off quietly into the building.

Harmony relaxed a little, the nails going away and her hair again taking on a more flowing look to it, as her teeth again took on a more rounded and normal look to them. It was a moment more before her eyes returned to normal and she stepped onto the sehaya, though she didn't seem to calm down one bit. Peace on the other hand seemed to calm instantly, climbing up after Harmony with little problem.

Nova just slinked aboard quietly, little boy in tow as the tall Curdatl was now shouldering the broad-bladed Faelraig, turned off of course.

"C'mon in I guess. Make yourselves comfortable. Just uh... don't touch anything that looks dangerous in the piles strewn around here." she muttered to the aliens waving a finger at the ground. "Saints damn me I didn't even clean up and now got a bunch'a aliens runnin' around in my goods!" in Saalsari now she cursed while going over to what appeared to be a circular kitchen table, a long fluted bottle soon adorning the top and a small drinking glass along side it.

Hanadi had taken out a small packet of what looked like cigarettes from a coat pocket, oddly enough those would be familiar except the paper was brown, not white. And so now the foul-mouthed, aggrivated woman was pouring a glass of some dark amber liquid into the glass, and pulling one of the brown sticks out to light.

With the danger past, Oskar quietly entered the hovercraft. Though the sound of liquid pouring into glass drew his attention a bit. "Is that...alcoholic?" he asked with a bit of a plea in his tone.

"Three hundred and two year old brandy, well over one hundred proof." Hanadi said, taking the glass down in one gulp, a hiss escaping her lips at the burn. "Why? You want some or somethin' there... uh, Oskar?

This would probably be the first time ever that Oskar's expression would be one of pure unadulterated joy. "Oh yes! Don't mind if I do." he replied.

Hanadi went to retrieve a glass, sizing Oskar up, she decided on something a little larger then the glass she had been using.

"Well here." putting the large drinking glass on the table across from her, bottle inbetween the two. "Pour your own." an utter invitation for the Abwehran to have at it to his heart's content it would seem.

The Abwehran was practically as giddy as a school boy during recess as he pour himself what had to be the most powerful alcohol nearby. Setting the bottle down, Oskar tipped the glass to his lips and sipped the beverage to test it. "This...is the best thing I've ever had," he mumbled as he felt a tear come to his eye. "Most of the stuff on that cruise liner was just weak crap. This...this is almost like Lehrer's Grand Reserve...it's glorious!"

Harmony simply watched the two over at the table with a odd look before shaking her head. Finding herself somewhere to sit, she simply sat down and relaxed, one leg crossing over the other as it twitched, her wings twitching in time as she seemed obviously aggrivated...

Nova however had put Geruud down the moment she'd seen technology laying around. The girl was now in the process of digging through all the piles of junk on the floor as she pulled tidbits up and out. Hanadi, having seen this gave her a look, but shrugged. If she hurt herself, that was her business, she'd been warned.

"Well..." came Na'Subir's voice from the doorway as he stepped in. The Temple Guard stopped as he found everyone already becoming comfortable. "While you readied the drinks, I convinced your beriddly raged friend that what we're doing is the good of the Commonwealth." explained the Knight as he removed his robe and mantle, settling them aside. For a second, he stood there, taking in the wonderful cool air of the vehicle. Cold, delicious air. He breathed in and then out, very deeply, enjoying nearly every particle of low temperature that entered his lungs. "He tells me that if we move our vehicle to the edge of the settlement, he will have no issue with us. Thus, we can park there and rest for the evening."

With that, the Temple Guard stepped forth, presuming that glasses were free and took his own to poor his own cup of alcohol. "I do hope we all get decent rest this evening, for tommorow is only the beginning of all of this."

"Well kid, have at it. I got another three bottles of that in the cupboard, three cases of stout and mead. And some millenia old rotgut and moss wine that's as rare as they come and as deadly to every other Iroma without implants like mine because of the alcohol content." Hanadi was just saying to the Abwehran as he reveled in the Mazrit Brandy while Na'Subir walked in, seemingly enjoying the cool air.

The woman had pulled in a lungful of barra leaf smoke, exhaling through her nose as the Ovoc Wakir spoke on and on, with her just sitting there listening.

"Screw that, I ain't staying another minute in this town. You all can rest. That's what the couches and beds are for. And that trailer I have attached to the cargo hold. Just give me a direction."

"Well you've never seen an Abwehran drink then, lady," Oskar stated with a grin as he sipped his Brandy again. "I wish I still had my stash so I could share...wait, I can't share any Abwehran liquor with others...too much metal," he mumbled with a grimace.

Hanadi looked back over to Oskar. "Pshaw. I could prolly drink whatever you got. Thanks to my organs I don't get drunk, ever. I just like the taste of all that drink."

"Hey wait, what about Asher? We aren't leaving him behind are we?" Harmony got up now, watching Hanadi. "We can't just leave him behind..."

Nova looked up from her junk pile. "But! The stone face man said he couldn't be moved because he was so bad off." she nodded towards Na'Subir.

Na'Subir glanced in mid-drink as the strange Trade nickname was mentioned again.

"The redhead is right." Hanadi added to Nova's testimony.

"Nein nein nein, you don't get it. Abwehr, my homeworld, is a heavy gravity world. Thus, everything my people eat is full of minerals at a content that are poisonous to others. Unless you have a system meant to handle it...or filter it out, it'd make you really sick." Oskar explained before sipping more of the Brandy.

"What about your trailer, can't we put him in there? Or fix up one of the beds. We can't just leave him, in a town full of people that hate him..." Harmony closed the distance between herself and Hanadi.

Hanadi just leaned back in her seat, barra leaf stick between her lips as she spoke to the pair of aliens.

"First off boy, I've drank things that'd kill three of my people over. My body can process a lotta' weird crap. Was even shot through the chest once and all it did was piss me off, ended up digesting that bullet didn't even get lead poisoning or from the copper. As for you, 'Kitten'." remembering the cat, Peace seeming to belong to Harmony, and not even knowing her name yet. "He'd die if he was moved. It's a miracle of the Saints that foul-mouthed little midget is even still alive. Iyad'll keep'em alive and safe until he's well. That doctor talks big, but he's a pussy. And he knows that our stone faced friend there." she pointed to Na'Subir.

"Was wanting to keep him safe. You piss a Temple Guard off, and it could be the death sentance for you, and whoever else tried to fuck him and his charges over. He don't even NEED to be there for that threat to hang."

What in the Saints is everyone talking about? And why do they keep calling me stone-face!? thought Na'Subir, finding himself being referred to again. Really, thus far, Na'Subir was more unsettling than he was threatening, seeing how hadn't exactly done much 'Temple Guard'esque things in front of the survivors. Whatever Hanadi was saying about him, he hoped it was something flattering, he was having enough trouble communicating as is.

All Oskar could do was sip upon his Brandy after being thoroughly chastised by someone who acted so much like his own mother. That was just down right scary.

"So he is gonna stay here and watch over Asher? As he sits here in the ship? And just how do expect him to catch up to us, much less even know where we are going..." Harmony stood in front of Hanadi now, hands on her hips as she watched the woman.

Hanadi just continued to be at ease in response. "Look, he'll be fine. Temple Guard carry a lot of weight in my society. We do not so much as snub one due to the respect they garner. If any bandits come through town, notice your 'little friend' is there they won't touch him. All because word would'a gotten around that there was one of his kind that been through there not too long ago, and on top of that, your alien comrade is under his protection." she shrugged, just not sure how to put the winged woman at ease.

" 'sides, caravans come through all the time this time of the year. He could hitch a ride and find us easily enough. I may not look it, but I pretty damned well known out here in the desert. 'Sides. We move him, he dies. What you want to do? Him die 'cause you wanna move him? Or leave him, let'em get better an' find us?"

"We can't stay here for a night, maybe see if he gets well enough in the morning to move him?" Harmony questioned now, pleading almost.

"Istislah? What's going on?" asked Na'Subir, setting down his glass. "You keep gesturing to me."

"The winged girl here is wanting us to move that little pissant on to the crawler. But he isn't in any condition to be moved. I tried telling her that just the mention of a Guardsman having been through Laruslan and one who gave protection to said pissant would be more then enough. But she's being stubborn." Hanadi blew a puff of smoke out of her mouth as she spoke while rubbing out the 'cigarette'.

"So I have an idea. We get the redhead to translate for you, since she's one of them, and you just tell her what to say to put her at ease. Because everything I've said ain't working."

"Acceptable." replied Na'Subir, turning his gray gaze on Nova. "Nova? Would this be alright with you?"

The Freespacer looked up again, having taken apart some sort of burntout device. Though she'd been half listening, Nova nodded absently to it. "Yes.

"Ah, then let her know that I left my subordinate with him to make sure he recovers well enough." stated Na'Subir, looking at Harmony with that same unsettling stare, "I have already arranged transport for him, should he recover. Let her know that she no longer has anything to worry about, and is in good care."

Nova grunted as she got up, nodding to the Temple Guardsman before going over, and tugging at the taller Lorath girl's sleeve. "Uhm... Stone-Face told me to tell you... h-he left his apprentice with Asher. And that he got transport arranged for him already. Plus that he, or we are now in good care. I believe him, he and that bald woman helped me before and saved me. So I trust them."

"If what the redhead here is saying is correct, sounds to me like all your worries are out the door. Iyad's a good doctor, fixed everyone up alright. So don't worry so much." Hanadi added. Sheesh.

Harmony ran her fingers back through her hair, pacing a little and breathing deeply before she looked over to Hanadi again. "Do you have another smoke?" It seemed she was a little hesitant to ask this of Hanadi.

Hanadi just held out the small pack from which she'd gotten her's from. "Have at it."

Harmony grabbed a cigarette from the pack, and a match before putting it in her mouth and lighting it. Taking a bit of a long drag, she coughed a little and grumbled.

It was her first cigarette after all...