F first, upgrade the Sparrow's shields a little bit to try and make them stronger so they could take a hit or two, and then listen to either or both of the black boxes, makes no matter to me. Then E, scan the planet. If nothing intriguing is found on the planet, then B head to planet number 3 on the map and explore it, which is a very good map by the way Hali.
Only the first vote will be counted for this one, and unless otherwise stated, that's probably the way I'll do it. =)
Also, credit where credit is due, I want to give the YouTube personality MarkiplierGAME credit for his work. This guy runs a YouTube channel in which he plays mostly horror games, and his reactions are always pretty funny. He has a lot of goals for Charity, and I encourage you all to check out his channel, and maybe even subscribe! It really helps him out. Do enjoy!
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As the Dignitas pulled away from the Scudo, Kar'rak shrugged, musing to himself, "Impressive that those women could accomplish such a feat." He let out a grunt and opened a com to the Sparrow.
"Our prey is defeated, but now may be our only chance to go to the planet, we should search for supplies, and identify why this planet is quarantined."
Scarlet turned to him, a smile on her face. *You got it, Scudo will lead the way, follow in behind Kar'rak.* She said with a nod. The Scudo's thrusters ignited, quickly followed by the Sparrow. The two ships blew past the Dignitas, moving to the planet.
Inside the Scudo, Mark sat against the wall, his head in his hands. Yumi knelt down in front of him, looking at him with a soft smile. "Lets get you to the med bay, and see if you're alright." She said, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder.
Mark looked up at her, tears welling in his eyes, "Alright? Do I look a-alright?" He asked through gritted teeth, "Do you know what its like, to fight your way through something you built, while the people who helped you build it are trying to kill you? A-a-and then to get away and go for help."
Yumi's smile faded... She folded her arms and looked away, "Funny story actually."
He jumps to his feet, putting his hands to his head, beginning to stomp around the room, "And the people who are supposed to help, murder everyone on a civilian ship." He stalked to a wall, slamming his fists into the wall. "Dammit, they can't just do this to people." He drew in a haggard breath, his body seethed with rage from each breath.
"Please," Yumi said, approaching him from behind, and putting an arm on his shoulder again, "We kinda just told them that we had orders from the emperor to take you, and unfortunately, that's not entirely truthful. We wanted to help, but we're not gonna make it far unless we work together."
Mark Iplier stood, whipping his nose with a gloved fist. With a sniff he nodded, "Alright, lets do this." He said, motioning for her to lead the way. Yumi and Jeana took him to the med lab as the Scudo began to move.
The Imperial destroyer, which had been slowly drifting away, took their movement as a signal that it was free to go. It quickly turned around, its course set for the other side of the planet. The two frigates slipped down into the atmosphere, moving closer to the planet. The Scudo listed to the side Scarlet looked out the window to see the planet.
The Sparrow had a benefit the Scudo did not. As they moved into the atmosphere, Lawrence launched a drone. It buzzed around the ship a few times before sliding lower towards the planet, providing a view for Lawrence in the drone room. Both ships watched as the planet's surface came into view through the thick sulfuric clouds in the planet's atmosphere.
Fissures in the surface where the molten mantel showed the planet's jigsaw-like appearance. Then they saw something strange... "Kar'rak, what does that look like to you?" She asked, her eyes narrowing as she peered out the side of the ship.
Kar'rak's voice came over the coms, "It looks like crops, but its not." Kar'rak's gravely voice boomed through the radio. "Circles of grey film, they don't cover the entire planet, just patches." Kar'rak pointed out.
"It looks like there's something over there. A cluster of something." Scarlet shifted in her seat, opening a Nav point for Kar'rak. "Send the drone in, get a few shots for us, alrighty?"
"You will receive the images when I have examined them." He glared at Scarlet, "What is the status of the prisoner?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes, "Whatever el capitan. And he's not a prisoner, he's another member of the crew, just like the others. Just get the damn pictures."
Kar'rak looked to the screen, watching the feed as the drone zipped in, closer to the surface. What it came back with was most disturbing...
SCUDO DRONE FEED: Anti-Ship Drone #1
Kar'rak's eyes narrowed, he pressed the ship to ship coms, "Private, are you seeing this?"
*Y-Yes, yes'ir, it appears to be a biological reconstruction of components that once composed other living organisms.* The Asura mumbled.
"What? Speak in ways I can understand."
*Uh, its-uh um, its bodies. Well, lots of bodies, melted down to make something new.* The man attempted to explain from the drone room.
"Corporal O'Connor, I'm sending you images of the planet's surface now." Kar'rak mumbled, the spines on the back of his head quivering.
Scarlet looked, shivers ran down her spine in turn, "Holy shit. What is that?" She asked, an open com in front of her. Lawrence spoke up again.
*It appears to be a biological reconstruction of components that once composed other living organisms.*
"You're saying its bodies?" Scarlet asked in disbelief.
*Y-yes! Exactly that!* the Private seemed elated to speak to someone who understood him.
CHOICES
A- Search the Mining Facility, thar be gold in them thar hills!
B- Get back to orbit, this place is fucked.
C- Systematically eliminate the organic structures.
D- Get a good look around.
E- Other
C from orbit, then B. This place is a bust. We're 100% sure that all others are dead, we've got no idea what their strength is, and I doubt we can salvage much useful equipment.
I suspect that there are numerous more profitable options on other planets(non-creepy corpse-filled ones preferably) that do not end up giving our crews a bad case of dead.
A - (2)
B - 1(2)
C - 1(2)
D - 4
E -
-Get a good look around-
Votes after your first vote will be put in parenthesis and added for in character consideration and used to break ties I suppose. STILL NEW AT THIS!
"Before we do anything, we should survey the area." Kar'rak responded. "Any proper operation should begin with reconnaissance. Sparrow will lead." He said with an air of command to this voice.
Scarlet raised her eyebrow, a slight sneer on her face, "Yeah, whatever you say. We'll make sure nothing comes up behind you and rips your engines off." Scarlet groaned.
The two ships pushed their simple engines as they continued their journey over the broken planet's surface. The patches of grey film seemed to become less dense as they traveled away from the mines. "There seems to be less overlap here, most are just individual circles." Scarlet noted as the texture on the surface changed.
As the planet passed below them, Lawrence's eyes focused on the drone read out. "What is..." He grumbled to himself. Slowly his eyes began to widen, he pressed his com switch, "Kar'rak! There's movement behind us, something coming out of the mines, its coming right for us! Thirty seconds to weapons range!"
Quickly the pilot of the Sparrow reacted, "O'Connor, move to intercept possible hostile from the rear, Sparrow will support."
"Kar'rak, the hardened shields don't recharge until a subspace jump, we aren't as defensible as we were against the Dignitas!"
"Hostiles inbound, within visual range!" Private Lawrence sent his feed to both ships.
SCUDO DRONE FEED: Anti-Ship Drone #1
A stinging realization pierced Uyard Lawrence's mind. "We never fixed the shields!" He screamed, sprinting out of the rooms on his little legs, scrambling back in the ship, through the door controls and into the spinal bridge. The first door on the right! The Shield's room! "T-the circuit is blown!" he gasped, running to the fuse box on the wall and flinging it open, sparks flying into his face.
Kar'rak twisted the ship's course to move ahead of the Scudo, Lawrence stumbled back, but grabbed the cover to the fuse box, managing to stay on his feet. He steadied and his hands dove into the machine, "Over-under-around-and-down." Lawrence said, repeating his mnemonic device as he pulled the fuses out, rearanging them, letting the used fuse drop to the floor. He flicked the breaker, and the sound of power flowing through the systems warmed his heart. With a deep breath he ran back to the drone room.
Yumi was typing on the keyboard in the medical room, reading the diagnostic readout on their new engineer, "It looks like you're fine, there's a couple more-" The ship shuddered, Yumi and Mark looked to the nearest screen, where Scarlet's face appeared.
"One unknown hostile inbound, Yumi, Jeana, I need you in your stations! Is Mark in good shape?" She asked, peering at them through the monitor, biting her lip nervously.
"We're not done yet, but uh, it looks fine from what I can see." Yumi shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, we can finish later." Yumi said, her eyes running over the monitor.
"I'm fine Captain, where do you need me?" Mark stood, cracking his neck and looking her dead in the eyes.
"I need you on the Engines, but, just call me Scarlet from now on." She said with a smirk, "Brace yourselves for combat maneuvers." Scarlet turned off the screen and the Scudo listed to the side.
CHOICES
A- Engage the Thrine Hunter
B- Retreat from the Thrine Hunter
C- Attempt to communicate with Thrine Hunter
D- Move back into orbit and attempt to escape.
E- Other
A -
B -
C - 1
D - 5
E -
-Get the hell out of here!-
Judging by my usual numbers, nothing is gonna beat D.
"Judging by its appearance, the creature is likely made of light weight biological components, I would need further testing to determine the effectiveness of our weapons, I recommend retreat until we can gain an understanding of our opponents." Private Lawrence announced his scientific opinion.
Kar'rak, he's right, we should get back to orbit and get out of here. Scarlet said, watching the winged beast close in on them, the Scudo's reverse thrusters carrying it away, buying only moments.
"No, we stand and fight, the prey comes to us. We outnumber it, it is puny in comparison to us."
"Kar'rak, we are leaving, now you lead the way or I will!" Scarlet shouted, the Scudo doing a 180 degree turn, flipping around in a smooth motion, its engines igniting pushing out into the atmosphere.
Growling, Kar'rak obliged, the chances for victory severely decreased without the second ship. "I will follow for now, but a conversation needs to occur regarding the true leader of this operation."
Scarlet scoffed and shut off the coms, cutting her communications to the Sparrow as they moved away from the planet. "Bastard."
"That bitch needs to learn who is the proper leader." Kar'rak glared at the empty communication screen.
Meanwhile, the image of Jack was idly kicking at the ground, a holographic tin can at his feet. The red image was incredibly detailed, his dreadlocks swayed, and his three pointed hat sat crooked on his brow, You know mate, there are easier ways to deal with the far'a sex. He spoke, looking up at the Tutarin with a glimmer in his electronically rendered eye.
"Reading anomalous bio-signatures on the orbital platforms outside the station." Lawrence reported.
"You sound scared, short one." The Hunter smirked, the ship rumbling as it broke atmosphere, "Show me the eyes of your drone."
SCUDO DRONE FEED: Anti-Ship Drone #1
"It seems like whatever is on the planet has seen fit to move out to the orbitals as well. Ha-haa!" Kar'rak laughed, "We might have a hunt on our hands yet."
Lawrence shuddered, hearing his pilot's growl over the radio... "Uh-um, Corporal O'Connor, I'm sending this to you as well, it seems that whatever was on the planet is also on the orbital platform. It seems like its spreading where ever there is biomass."
Scarlet looked at the picture as she lead the Frigates into space. Her eyes scanned the view of the seemingly living structures, "Gah, my Goddess." Scarlet drew in a sharp breath. She closed her eyes for a moment before tightening her hands around the controls and forwarding the image back to the engine room. "Mark, have you ever seen anything like this?"
His voice came through the radio clear as day, "Yes! Yes that is the same sh-tuff that was covering the deep mines when we were trying to get away! That's bad news Corporal Crimson-"
"Scarlet-"
"Whatever! Gyah!" Mark Iplier shouted, "It is my professional opinion as an engineer that we should either avoid them, or destroy them."
"Um, just to let everyone know, we may have put some distance between us and them, but it seems like the thing that was chasing us is still there," Lawrence groaned, "We have five minutes before it breaks atmosphere. Ah-I-I don't know what happens then. It might die, or... Well, there's other stuff ahead of us that's not dead."
"Well, we could either try to kill whats on the platform, or the platform itself." Scarlet said as the Scudo began to approach the platform, "It looks like there are four reactors, keeping the station in orbit."
"Oooor," Mark groaned from the engine room, "We could keep GOING!" He finished his sentance with an air of sarcasm.
CHOICES
A- Attempt to destroy the orbital
B- Attempt to get past the orbital and move towards the edge of the gravity well.
C- Turn and wipe out the thing behind us.
D- Wait and see if it can make it into space
E- Other
