Log:The True War

A strike team comes to Sana's rescue.

OOC Date: January 2, 2023
Location: Deep Space
Participants: Clan Kora, Faath Kora, Kirana Ryder, Kohnner, Valeska Kora, Nerys Greystorm, Ban Iskender, Hadrix Kora, Narsai Ordo, Sana Ryder NPC, Cadera NPC, Sumi Kora

The Bloody Resolve arrived in real space with a sudden flash of light, her sublights coming to life shortly after. <<"Red Wolf, this is Resolve. Come in, over.">>

<<"Red Wolf, send it.">>

<<"We saw your beacon.. here with help. What do you want us to do?">>

<<"Pull up along side her and jump across. I am trapped in the bridge with no viable way to get out. Blast plates block the view ports, and I've had to weld all ventilation shafts closed. With the entity outside the ship, too, we cannot risk it coming aboard through an umbilical. Find a way in, destroy the black death outside the bridge, we can bug out from there.. I have what I need. How copy?">>

<<"Understood. We're prepping the team now. Stay alive.">>

Sana clicked the comms to acknowledge the order, but it wasn't clear what sort of situation she had found herself in.

Down below, in one of the cruiser's empty hangars which had been depressurized to allow for a lateral jump, a strike team made its final preparations. Sumi Kora, who was wearing a behemoth set of Siege armor, walked with heavy steps thanks to magnetized boots. <<"Everyone have Comms up?">> -- <<"Some of you have come face to face with this parasite before. Make no mistake, what we face here tonight is every bit as deadly as the tales Sana has shared, if not worse. Do NOT remove your helmet at any time, and do not allow this parasite to stay on you or touch you for more than necessary. It takes one DROP to get on your skin to kill you. The things on this vessel are likely to be husks.. shells of a former person reduced to a mindless soldier capable of great feats of strength. Eliminate them with fire, lightsabers, incendiary.. or use melee weapons to remove their means of movement.. legs or arms. Burn --everything--.">>

<<"No one gets left behind. Everybody ready? -- Follow me..">> The two vessels were now parallel. From their hangar bay, they could see the other ship dominating their view making it seem like it was just a simple matter to jump across the open void and reach the other side. Team members were likely paired with Mandos who had flight capabilities, but a good jump across was easy enough to manage in a 0g environment. To prove that point, Sumi jumped ahead of the others after leveraging herself against the lip of the open hangar bay. One good grunt, and push, and she launched herself into the open space. She had hot-miced for a moment, her heart rate picking up with the sound of her breathing. It bordered discomfort, nervousness, and a touch of fear. Space was.. a humbling experience as of late.

Raised by Sana, Kirana had heard of the nightmarish black death all her life. Even encountered them once, to her sheer and utter terror. Even indirectly, the black death (as Sana would call it) has affected herlife in dramatic ways - as well as those of the rest of clan Ryder. It's not an enemy that Kirana would choose to fight by any casual circumstance. Should Sana ask for her aide, she would oblige.

And Sana did ask, a short while back. Having gone to scout ahead (against Kira's personal advisement), Sana would need backup as soon as she could get it and Kirana Ryder would be there to help.

She'd encountered them before. It's a serious foe, one with which you can't risk any exposure. An amateur armorsmith, Kira had sealed the extremities of her suit to ensure an air-tight fight and rather hastily attached an O2 tank equipped for several hours of oxygen at a normal breathing rate. Getting the oxygen hose to be air-tight on short notice was some work, but the tools and equipment provided by the new mobile Kora armory was ready for the task. Her suit was complete, weapons were prepared and Kira awaited the deployment.

Trained by Sana, Kirana excelled more in melee combat, a hands-on style with some kind of practical weapon aided by kicks and throws. But the black death scared her enough that she'd prefer to fight at a range this time. Easier to avoid exposure that way. Within a bantha-hide holster attached to her left hit rested her mother's DL-44 pistol, and, in case she needed it, her preferred telescopic staff could be accessed from the hardpoint behind her shoulder. Though she'd have to be careful not to rupture her modified O2 tubing.

<<"Ready,">> she confirms, toggling a modification she'd installed into her O2 tank, the air that comes in to her suit starts to become heated by an admittedly dangerous chemical reaction she'd rigged to occur for just this occasion. It'll burn through her oxygen, five minutes of heating equating to a half hour of oxygen supply, but it'll keep her warm, if albeit temporarily. Heating it for too long would also result in a rupture. But she only needs it to last long enough for the jump.

And it does, thankfully, Kirana landing on one knee as she jumps inside from across the void, coming to her feet and drawing the blaster from her thigh holster. She thumbs the safety switch to 'kill' and reaches a thumb up to activate the light amplification of her visor, then toggles to lessen the heat from her O2 tank, diverting to primarily the use of the unheated O2. Her visor fogs some as it condenses, but another helmet switch clears that up in a single moment.

Somwhere in the group was CHON KOHNNER, the Klatooinian War Dag whom was probably well known by now is the hired gun circuit. Except, he never once used a gun. Quiet and brooding, he was encompassed by his usual VOID armor, tattered and scant off white hooded cloak hiding the deadly wears of his trade. A simple visored glance to Sumi before stepping up into position and readying himself.

The Space Ronin had only fought something similar to the Mggnal Mggnal once before, in the depths of an imperial testing facility and under the employ of one fat and extraordinarily trustworthy smuggler: Zhu Yan. Even then he wasn't sure if that monster was the same. It almost killed him and he was lucky to be alive.

A solid glance ahead and the Klatooinian readies himself, shifting the weight on his rebotic leg some. He was silent but clearly ready, itching for a fight and a challange. Sweet Maker, not these again.

Valeska has doffed her personal armour for something far more airtight and secure. As awkward as she feels outside of her crimson-painted shell, she /has/ faced these entities before and the nightmares she had for nights afterwards was enough for her to pray to a god she doesn't believe in to never see one again. Yet here she is. The woman is pensive and tense. Facing the conscious living who only want to kill you? That's easy.

That is not at all what these things are. It is a fate worse than death in her mind and Valeska is making sure she has her frags ready, her rifle clip full, and the air seal of her suit unerring. Sumi nearly becoming a permanent popcicle over Shili is also a terrible thing to behold. A fate she is not eager to share.

She is inching closer to Hadrix. The one who yanked her away from that horrible end the first time. <<"If one gets me, vod, do me right, yeah? Right between the eyes.">> She isn't joking.

"Ah, as I thought. We've seen this before. Keep your eyes open. We're going to need them." That, Nerys spoke only to herself, or perhaps to the two droids who had been firmly attached to her backpack, one on her usual maglock, one in a tight harness. <"Comms up. We'll move with you, Alor Kora."> Nerys, moving to the edge of the bay from which they were falling/jumping/escaping/screaming into the void, made one final check of her equipment before she pushed off, moving with the sort of ease that came from more years that she cared to admit moving in a gravity free environment. She had aimed for the opening of the other ship when she jumped, and her body sailed across, using what momentum she had been able to push into the movement from one ship to the other.

Ban Iskender is known to some among the Mandalorian clan. To the others, he is simply an erudite gentleman with the manner of a professional officer, clad in well kept antique heavy armor, and bearing no blaster. Instead, worn over the armor is a swordbelt supporting a weapon with an intricate swept-hilt. He heard out Sumi's summary with gauntleted hands clasped at the small of his back. He gives a short nod, voicing only, "Understood," before joining the short jump.

<<"Comms live. On your six.">>

'Here we go again.'

Spacewalks were not a new thing for Hadrix, but were no less reviled by the big man. Sumi, now, had experienced the source of his own terror at the idea of vacuum exposure and so his suit seals were likewise tended. A Siege Suit, much like Alor'Koras, painted the rich dark purple he favored but edged in obsidian that reflected like volcanic stone when the light struck it.

'Remember Kalarba?'

Weightless, floating at speed from the kick off of the ship with the powerful inbuilt jets of his suit adjusting his flight path via telemetry his aug-reality reads. The massive RB-407 in hand lacking its usual bulk and reading fully charged in its cryopack. The direction of the barrel a jostling point on his heads up display and a distance count tumbling downward as the other ship drew nearer.

'We remember Kalarba... we saved them all. Because I was out.'

'Stop.'

'We almost lost family to this thing, several times.'

'Not now.'

Rotating in transit to angle his feet towards the others ship and maglocks showed green on his displays to indicate they'd give a solid lock once he touched down. Another check to his rifle. Away from the vastness surrounding them. The empty nothing.

'Here we are again... let me out.'

'No.'

'Let me out, Hadrix.'

<<"No.">> Hot mic'd, speaking aloud and not realizing it, his words mixing with the clatter of his boots locking down on contact, audible through contact, almost an echo in his beskar plated armor.

Narsai herself was wrapped in her armor, another check over and over. Whatever discussions they might have had prior to being here? The Ordo Alor was silent behind her T-Visor as she checked her own weaponry and rolled her shoulders. She'd fallen into step behind the Kora advance, a nod to Sumi given as she readied her own beskar-forged weapon and checked the charge of her flamethrower gauntlet. Just another mission, another nightmare to walk into and out of...as long as they kept on fighting and kept moving forward.

That outburst from Hadrix? There was no questioning or words, just a simple press of her hand to his shoulder as the petite redhead leader of the Revivers stood close.

Faath Kora listens to Sumi and frowns. She pulls a few empty vials and puts them in her medpac. Samples for... science. Her t-visor turns to Sumi as she listens to the rest of the instructions. She hears all the words people say to each other and the tips and hints others are giving. She checks her suit and the air tightness of it before sliding her medical bag onto her hip, bringing her gun up. She watches Sumi leap towards the ship and then others are testing their comms so she does too. <<Grunt>> No words. Just a grunt.

The mini mando walks forward, bends her knees and pushes off towards the other ship. Her gun is happily a lot lighter in space and she holds it out ready to shoot if anything shows it's face where they are heading. Her eyes scanning the ship they are heading towards as she keeps tabs of where her family and friends are. Some new faces being added to her friends list. For the moment. She slowly lands beside Hadrix on the side Narsai isn't on. She lightly pats his arm and moves in front of him, moving a little forward gun ready.

The jump is far more daunting than any may have presumed. For those more accustomed to gravity, looking down was as frightening as realizing the true distance of the jump and trusting that space wasn't going to suddenly flip the switch and make you fall forever. Fortunately, all of them make it to the other side, either by comically colliding with the ship's hull, or by rotating to allow magnetized boots to take root and lock them in place. Sumi was first to the other side, and she had opted to collide with hull instead of gracefully tucking and allowing her legs to come first. She may have had other things on her mind, but the effort to plant her feet followed and she righted herself.

As the others landed, the connection came soundlessly, as there was no sound in space! Sumi pointed ahead at an exposed gash in the hull, but crawling out from it came the armored hand of a husk, followed by another, and another, and another. Soon the entire gash was alive with entities coming to join the fray. Unlike the strike team, they were not tethered through magnetized boots, so they simply launched themselves at the boarding party, hoping to latch on and carry them off the ship and into deep space.

<<"The way in is where they are exiting. Do not allow them to grab you, strike if you must.">> To set the example in this effort, Sumi activated the electrum hilt she had pulled free from her belt, its violet blade illuminating her location and casting her in a hue of purple. <"Stay close!">

Before she had landed, Kira had heard the command that they'd come out of the gap in the ship, and sure enough - the swarm did just that. Drawing her weapon even before she gets inside, she fires a shot off at one husk, the withery creature's float trajectory halting from the recoil. As she lands, Kira spins around on one knee, bringing the DL-44 up in both hands and squeezes off another shot, connecting with its spine, sure to put it down.

It doesn't, to her dismay, though as the first shot had halted its forward trajectory, the second shot, from the opposite angle, propelled it forward once more and at an angle away from either ship. The husk would likely float helplessly for decades - dead one way or the other. She hopes.

When the command came to jump, Kohnner did so without question. He leaps across the not so great distance between ships, his cloak seemingly locked in its previous wavy form as he enters complete zero g's. He's able to grab hold of something, stopping him as he came long the gap and his mag-locking boots could anchor in.

Coming upon the hord, the Klatooinian drew his sword and slashed one of the husks. Black ooze sprayed out, the once alive being now reeling back and eventually off into the vacuum of space. He continued forwards, attempting to make a path.

Valeska hasn't had the fear of space drilled into her yet. Respect for it? Sure. But not to the point where she knows what it feels like to nearly be killed by it. This frees her up to be wholly and undistractedly terrified at the sight of those husks again. Floating with the others towards the ship, she draws up her tracker with trepidation. 'Not again, not again.... rekk me sideways, why this again?' The internal groaning on repeat in her mind is /not/ helping with her nerves.

<<"The blood is an issue. Don't want to think what will happen if it even soaks in somehow.">> The vocoder does little to mask the shakiness in her voice but the zero gravity does excellently as making her rifle look steady and controlled. As does the twinned shots that propel two of the hapless husks into a no-stops flight to nothingness.

Nerys hit the ground, as it were, running, maglocks latching on to give her some traction. She used the weight to her advantage, as she charged into the coming fray, the plasma core of her rapier flooding crimson along her armor as she drove into the bodies. Alas, but she hit none, and only put herself in a poor position for attack. Well, one did sometimes find oneself in such situations.

Ban Iskender lands boots first on the hull of the stricken cruiser, rising smoothly from a slight crouch and drawing his saber hilt clear of the scabbard. Igniting the emerald blade he considers the wave of oncoming husks and draws his empty right hand from the deck, up toward the system's star with a dramatic gesture.

He pauses a moment when nothing happens. "Hmm," is noted tersely, off comms. To anyone else, it looks like he waved a hand around, thinking he was some kind of Jedi or something. "The old fashioned way it is, then," he mutters, bringing the blade forward to greet the attackers.

'Right between the eyes.'

Val's words and the feeling of touches against him. Behind the visor of his helm, the big man's face was set grim and his nod was almost imperceptible. But it was there and a smaller tick of the heavy helm towards each before Faath gets in front of him,

<<"Never block my path, Nix...">> the voice is Hadrix's, but in the same it's not. He's there, wrapped in something that makes the voice a growl and a whisper in one. An attempt is made to juke around the smaller form, resulting in the big man disconnecting from the hull of the ship, floating away, forcing him to twist and simply open fire on the oncoming husks. A weapon known to knock strong human adults off their feet becoming and impromptu propulsion system that carries him further back and ripping apart one of the entities caught in the wave of fire he is stitching along the hull, drawing a black blooded line through the mass gathered up by Ban.

'You're losing it.'

The vastness around him was sending rivulets of moisture down his temples, the line of his back. He was still firing and being pushed out further when he thinks to squeeze down in one hand. Those behind might see the flashbulb flare from the jet nozzles. Silent as proper graves. Within his armor he feels the jolt of the misfires.

'You're going to get them killed... what are you? Too stubborn to fail?'

'Stop.'

'Too stubborn to succeed.'

<<"I said stop.">> foam on his lips, the old 'friend', the old anger was there and it was blooming in his chest like a furnace relit after lifetimes spent cold, in the dark. Before his eyes *** THRUST ERROR *** reads on his hud, <<"I KNOW">> the voice is different, suddenly so. Primeval and with the lit coals a well of something that consumes Light roils in the very core of the man. Fury. Hate.

Rage.

An activation of her own beskar-forged hilt springs a violet beam of plasma into being, but without atmosphere the harmonic humming was absent. Still, spotting Ban's tactic and seeming to get a sense of what he was doing the Mandalorian woman nods and exhales a breath heard over coms, a slow closing of her fingers sending the flailing creatures clumping together in one silently snarling mess, bodies squeezed together uncomfortably before she makes a sweaping gesture to float their foes fowards the void itself.

<<They're not avoiding anything now, light them up!>> she calls to the team. After all, she'd rather see them burn, but at least they couldn't -attack- anymore.

The small doctor turns to stare at Hadrix and her eyes narrow slowly. She feels a little odd about the comment and watches those with abilities try to cluster the husks together and she lifts up her gun and aims to take a lot out but when she fires her gun, it's kick back is different in space so she stares at the gun and shakes it. The floating husks make the doctor uncomfortable. She turns and glances to see what the others want as their plan to continue.

Sumi activates her vambrace shield, the blue energy expanding in front of her to act as a tower shield. She observes the actions of the others by the result of their attacks. What gives her pause is when all of the husks are lifted from the hull of the ship and cast out and away from their path. It was not enough to cause her to lower her shield, but an appreciative nod follows and she makes it to the gash in the hull to peer down and inside. <<"There's a way in here.">>

Sumi deactivates the shield and lightsaber to launch herself feet first into the hole to land below. When the rest of the team make it there, she switches comm channels. <<"Sana.. this is Sumi. Can you activate a containment field on that gash in the hull? We need it repressurized to get inside.">>

<<"Yeah, let me see if this old girl still has some juice. Stand by.">>

In the moments that followed, a blue containment field appeared where the opening to space was. A second later, environmental controls began to filter in much warmer air, and the weight of gear and armor began to impose upon the group as artificial gravity was achieved.

Ahead of the group was a large door, and Sumi stepped up to it and turned back to look at the others. <"This way.. we'll need to fight our way to the bridge, then clear it so Sana can get out.">

Sumi struck the panel to open the door and.. nothing happened. So, she struck it MUCH harder, cracking its touch screen and creating a spark that arced out briefly. The door began to open, and waiting for them on the other side was a large corridor, and standing like statues, were some twenty or so husked entities. They are all saying things at random with disembodied voices. One screams, "Heeeeeeelp, it hurrrrrts!" While another is just bloody murder. All of them are in anguish, pain, like whatever was causing the latent memory to produce the voice came from the victims the parasite had taken over. Sumi activates her shield and lightsaber, taking the front. <"Carve a path through them. Burn.. everything!"> She moves into this large corridor to make room for the others to join and begin clearing out the infestation.

While Sumi gets the door opened, Kirana's attention is on Hadrix. The blasting and force use going on around her is largely unnoticed by the young Morellian, her concern with her Al'Verde. He's speaking at random and for a second she wonders if the mods she performed in haste to her suit this afternoon mistakenly diminished her comms in some way. She'd heard everyone else fine. Was there a comm signal that wasn't coming through?

The door opens and the husks stand beyond. One of them screams, like a woman being murdered. Kirana doesn't hesitate - her concern with Hadrix is put on hold: he's still standing, he shouldn't be an immediate threat just this moment. Had he been bitten already?

PYOOH! PYOOH!

Two shots are sent downrange at the husk that was screaming bloody murder. The leg is shattered and it falls to the floor, continuing its forward motion with its arm and remaining leg. The second shot had missed due to the falling she hadn't expected. She'd forgotten how frail these things were.

Heartrate: 135

Kohnner is a bit more than relieved at the prospect of getting out of vacuum. The weightlessness made his swings slow and sluggish, like swimming in water. Despite being stronger than your average human, it certainly didn't help.

As the door opens Chon readies his blade once again. His Augmented Reality System capturing and counting all the broken bodies before him. He looks to Kirana as she blasts one, the remainder of the body crawling towards the group. Khonner steps ahead and impales it with his blade. It stops. A low growl emanates fro his vocorder, the shucking sound of his blade being removed from a dead husk, and then his boots across the deck plating towards more of the horde. He slices across, halving on. The upper part of the body drops and starts to crawl towards him. He reels back slightly, chopping up wards, severing the right arm. It can only then go around and around in circles. Until it bled out of the black ooze and died. Like a snake eating its own tail.

Frozen. Valeska is absolutely frozen in fear. Those nightmares rush back like a tornado. No, worse. Not the nightmares, but the reality of what had happened that day. The screams of the animated dead: blasphemous wails mimicing the cries of life. She remembers one grabbing her leg, falling, then they swarmed her. Hadrix grabbing her from above and yanking her out before she became one of them.

Everything is numb as terror grasps her deep in the chest. She... she can't breathe. Everythings is tightening up and she wants nothing more than to rip her helmet off and just.... try... to breathe. Sense is still with her enough to know /not/ to do that, but her heart is racing, she's go a cold sweat, lightheaded. Forcing herself to keep moving, her gait is unsteady. Her labored breathing triggering her mic then clipping out again.

Focus. Focus. Survive.

Powering off her rifle, she flings it back to rest under her half cape. A crack of energy activates her shield vambrace with one motion and with another, she brings out her stun baton from under her kama. A SNAP brings it to electrified life.

'Bring fire! Bring fire!' She only NOW remembers Sana yelling that fateful day. And here she is with no fire.

Nerys, moving through the hole that had been cleared for the team (Thank the Force), kept the rapier in one hand as she reached into one of the pockets of her backpack, Bitty helping to pass a sling into her hand. The crisp blue plasma that was held in its thin membrane contrasted the red of her weapon. Rather than charging ahead, she swung the weapon swinging it in a whipping circle before she let it fly, the plasma flying across the distance, though the arc was not a useful one and it exploded against one of the walls of the corridor. No joy.

Ban Iskender turns his head slightly to regard Hadrix sidelong for a moment at the second non sequiter from the heavy trooper, but he says nothing just yet, instead focused on navigating the awkward transition from horizontal to vertical steps as he moves through the rent hull and into the artificial gravity of the interior. It was briefly disorienting, but when faced with the corridor, the swordsman has a very clear point upon which to focus: the animate dead. Steeled against the horrors in a way that is only possible with facing them more than once before, one, two, and then three are struck by fluid passes of the glowing sword, each disintegrating into rapidly dying embers.

Was it Rishi the last time he was out? It was some hole. Some sweaty, wet, sun soaked rock. The Umbarans had attacked. Had tried to kill them and if it hadn't been for him she would be dead. Hadn't been for him they wouldn't have had the proper message for that pompous stuffshirt that Hadrix got to kill. Got to take His glory. Now he was going to try his fancy footwork and use his blasted toys and get them killed? Get more killed?

Blink route alternate fuel line, access directional thrusters, line of sight target the landing point.

"We fly now... how can you let -space- muss up how we fly?" a jut of his chin had tabbed off his mic and the feeling of the beard was alien as the sensation of the hairs being pressed against his skin, "We don't shave anymore? Is our hair shaggy? Do we have a gut now? We'd best not. You've really let us go." rasping gravel over grit and ice grinding them together between the blocks of glaciers. Jet thrusters flaring and pushing him hard, sending him through the opening indicated by Sumi, to land hard enough that maglocks almost fail to keep him attached when he starts forward again.

<<"As Sumi stated, wedge formation and carve a path - heavy weapons and fire center, split them. Flanking edges clear them. Show this thing it cannot instill fear. Show it oblivion.">> back on the comms, 904's voice is the snarling whisper growl of the creatures that lurk in the dark beneath a child's bed, daring them to go to get that drink of water. One foot on the floor. All it needed to take them and drag them shrieking beneath with crimson lines of their broken fingernails to mark their passage.

The repeater in his hands bucks but nimble dead able to see his movements from multiple angles allows the hailstorm of plasma to pass around or between, but undaunted he storms forward. The flanks can do their job against the ones that evade. Split them, divide them. Head lowered, shoulders hunched and the massive rifle is braced against his hip - one hand moving to grab the foregrip under the barrel, repositioning to combat the recoil.

Narsai's saber slashes, slices and glances...but even with them pulled into the snarling wall of angry, getting in to land a meaningful strike without getting grabbed and pulled down was...suprisingly difficult!

Faath Kora gets into the ship and quickly glances around with a frown. She really doesn't like this enemy. She doesn't want to shoot and cause an explosion of goo but she also doesn't want her family to be overwhelmed. She moves forward and lifts her rifle up and shoots one of the husk's and her eyes narrow slowly. She doesn't like this!

The attack began, then the swarm followed. The group holding a wedge formation quickly found itself swarmed by the entities. With enough space to move between them, Sumi calls out in her usual raspy tone, hardened by a century of battle. <"Do not let them stutter your step. Our path is forward.. and they are in our way! FIGHT THROUGH IT!"> Sumi tries three times to swing her weapon, but has to switch to her shield to avoid being grappled.

Her third swing renders one of the dead into ember and ashes, obliterating its shell and innards all at once. Unfortunately, the group was swarmed now, and it came down to grit and skill to make it out of this chaos alive. Sumi ushered her shield in place, ready to charge through, and the KACHOOK sound of her mag lock boots meant she intended to give no ground.

Everywhere they looked, an entity husk was trying to grab them! All the while, they screamed in anguish and agony, one going, "MOOOOM, HELP ME!" Another, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

Taking a left flanking position in the middle of Hadrix's wedge, Kira raises her blaster to fire at the next--

Thwomp!

Kira's <"gah!"> can be heard if you're in close proximity to her, even through the air sealing she'd hastily applied to her armor a few hours ago. It wasn't said over comms, but it was loud and sudden. It had bashed into her to try and get to skin, though the armor of her gauntlet protected from such. Concerned she'd been bitten, she raises her blaster to repel the husk but finds that her arm isn't quite cooperating! Shoving at it with her shoulder, she switches the blaster to her right hand and squeezes off a pair of shots in rapid succession at the husk that had reached her.

PYOOH! PYOOH!

Her shots were off, though one put a whole in the husk, she hadn't had the time to register if she hit it or not. Her glance was down at her arm, checking for a puncuture. For blood. They were on her, and she was terrified.

Barely holding herself together, and losing some of her peripheral awareness (unaware that Valeska was panicking, or that Hadrix had seemingly composed herself), she borders a panic attack of her own while it's all she can do to keep the husk off of her.

Heartrate: 150

No stuttering.

Easier said than done in a horde like this. Kohnner waved through lifeless husks, reanimated by the Mggnal Mggnal to grab and attempt to capture him. To turn him and the tram into one of their own. Too bad, Kohnner wasn't no group think sheep! He was a Space Ronin, War Dog, master to none and indiscriminate killer of all sentient and non-sentient beings. But the moaning. The moaning. The shouting, the whining. It was getting on his nerves. He howled, "SHUT UP!" before striking down where one was, but wasn't any more. His blade clanked against hull platting.

Chon steadied himself, watching Kirana blast a hole through one, yet not putting it down. Even after being injured. He growled and pushed forwards, plowing through right towards the wounded Husk. He lobs on arm of and then... Bifurcated the body, the ooze desperately trying to keep the body together before it finally gave way and the two pieces fall onto the floor like an undone juju-butter sandwich from Biscuit Baron.

The Klatoonian's stomach rumbled.

Wedge formatation. More forward. Pierce through. Orders to follow. Order to focus.

It's close-quarters chaos so Val draws in closer to whoever is around her. Some fancy pants wielding a green saber and someone she is pretty sure is some kind of canine. Somewhere ahead she can hear Hadrix. Somewhere behind she picks out Nix or Kirana. Still lightheaded, still dizzy. Getting her bearings is impossible.

Just keep going forward.

Forward is where these screaming monstrositied are. One leaps out at her, arms flailing and jaw half dislocated. "Please help me! Why won't you help me?!" It bangs and claws and TEARS against the shield generated from her wrist; pushing Valeska backwards and almost toppling over.

She swings wildly, trying to hit the creature without coming from around the safety of her shield. With a shove, Valeska pushes the aberration away and lands a solid strike against the chest, pumping it full of electricity and propelling it backwards.

<<"Keep going, damnit!">> Her voice is a desperate shriek of its own.

As the undead/dead/only mostly dead bodies screamed out their pain, they surged forward and Nerys prepared another sing, Bitty helping her with the load. Who said three fingers in each hand wasn't useful? This time, Nerys stood firm, the rapier held high to guard as she whip flung the core, the plasma, this time, flying across the distance and breaking over one of the bodies, hitting one on impact and another in the splash range, the sheer heat of the plasma reducing the bodies to ashes within seconds.

Ban Iskender steps toward the center of the Kora line when the order for fire to press the team's advance. As the unnerving assault descends upon them, Ban heeds the order to press ahead and seeks to open a gap in the oncoming horde by the point and edge of his saber. Two of the husks which attack him are cut down with destructive parries, while a lunging thrust impales a third before the blade is whipped free and the corpse crumbles to ashes.

A flaming burst was missing when Narsai raised her arm, a little hiss of frustration as she instead reached out to Hadrix's flames to try and direct that headed plasma towards the monsters...but that moment's hesitation and gap in focus meant she couldn't quite summon enough to offer some damage. The Ordo Alor exhales a breath and lifts her weapon defensively, ready to try and parry the creatures leaping at her or her allies.

"I HEAR IT IN MY HEAD"

The hollowed out body was wailing at him, with another close after. More of them, reaching for him and seeking to drag him down, make him part of their collective. Closing in too fast and one is grasping the Four-Oh-Seven's barrel, dragging it to the side. Keeping his left hand on the foregrip, the right releases and shoots forward with the gurgling preamble to the flamer mounted to his armor forearm igniting.

A gout of dragons breath erupting and being turned upwards by hands attempting to wrench his shoulder, twist him off balance, "BE'SAI! BE'SAI! BE'SAI!" the sunken face is howling at the big man's helmet and 904's growl is a rippling liquid sound over comms when he hot mics. His left arm is grabbed onto and rotted teeth snap against plates, broken spikes grind against the reinforced undersuit.

'You need to be calm to fight this thing.'

'You SHUT UP. I'M FREE.'

'You're going to kill us.'

<<"SHUT. UP.">> the bellow loud enough to distort the external speakers of his helm, screamed into a husk's face.

Faath Kora feels the strike of her chest and she stands her ground and all who have comms will hear and unnatural snarl go through their comms. Her movement is quick as she goes back to a knee and slams the butt of the gun against the ground hard, moving the barrel right under the creatures jaw. Silence on the comms as the shot goes off, aiming the blood of the creature up and away from the ground. She stands up and readjusts her gun and moves after the group though she turns to watch Hadrix and lifts her gun again, following after the group.

Sumi is trailing up behind the Green Knight, using her shield to bash through and make an opening. Same as before, when she attempts to swing, an entity lashes out at her. She is finally able to make a swing, moving her shield temporarily to slice the sprinting husk in half as it passed. The momentum carried its ashes forward in a cloud, leaving another space open for the line to move forward.

Five remain of the group they encountered, and they are not SHUTTING UP much to the chagrin of those fighting them. "WON'T SOMEONE HELP?" One screams, and another laments the pain, crying aloud, "IT'S INSIDE MY HEAD, GET IT OUT!"

For those who moved ahead, the path to the bridge door is blocked by another horde led by a large, hulking Houk. The entity possessing the Houk seems to be in command of the rest of the horde, but had diverted its attention to bashing the door to the bridge with great strength. To that point, the blast doors were bent inward, and its thundering blows echoed. It turned to regard the green knight and pointed, signaling the advance of another 20 entities to sprint toward the Alderaanian, and in essence, the rest of the group as they were still contending with five from the previous.

Sumi is still behind Ban, with no visual of what the Captain sees. The others are still with Sumi, but they'll see what's coming in a mom---NOW! HORDE!

Sumi is trailing up behind the Green Knight, using her shield to bash through and make an opening. Same as before, when she attempts to swing, an entity lashes out at her. She is finally able to make a swing, moving her shield temporarily to slice the sprinting husk in half as it passed. The momentum carried its ashes forward in a cloud, leaving another space open for the line to move forward.

Five remain of the group they encountered, and they are not SHUTTING UP much to the chagrin of those fighting them. "WON'T SOMEONE HELP?" One screams, and another laments the pain, crying aloud, "IT'S INSIDE MY HEAD, GET IT OUT!"

For those who moved ahead, the path to the bridge door is blocked by another horde led by a large, hulking Houk. The entity possessing the Houk seems to be in command of the rest of the horde, but had diverted its attention to bashing the door to the bridge with great strength. To that point, the blast doors were bent inward, and its thundering blows echoed. It turned to regard the green knight and pointed, signaling the advance of another 20 entities to sprint toward the Alderaanian, and in essence, the rest of the group as they were still contending with five from the previous.

Sumi is still behind Ban, with no visual of what the Captain sees. The others are still with Sumi, but they'll see what's coming in a mom---NOW! HORDE!

Kirana Ryder, in the middle of the left flank of the formation, disengages her combat stance, stands to her full height and, perhaps curiously, jams her mother's DL-44 back into its holster at her left thigh. She brings her right arm up in front of her, crossing her body diagonally and reaches her left hand out to trigger a switch under her forearm. She triggers it several times, releasing a number of strips of flimsi out from a small, modified compartment she had installed into the gauntlet herself. The white strips of flimsi are made of a very thin cloth and they have a hand-script written vertically down their lengths in black ink. It's a symbolic language, and one that isn't Basic. She spreads them out between both hands like a dozen or more pazaak cards and then closes her eyes.

Her words come with force behind them, and confidence, and are meant to project power with each syllable. She doesn't speak over the comm channel, but those nearby her can hear it through her helmet's voice modulator. Whether they can understand her words are something else entirely.

<"ywerhaadif! eafek! ywerhaadif! va! va! aefaaku! al! de! tireselaa!"> Kirana Ryder's brown eyes snap wide open and she takes half the flimsi strips, those in her left hand, tossing them at the husks on her left, then tosses the other half of the flimsi strips from her right hand to those at her right. She tosses them like they were small projectile weapons, like throwing knifes - though they're just flimsi. They don't go very far but a few do connect with the husks that are standing closer to the front.

The final flimsi is held up in front of her in her right hand, pinched between thumb and forefinger. This time her tone of voice comes even more firm, an assured and self-confidence that she hadn't presented since landing in this derelict ship: <"yghiemearhy thiwyfoohoo, naeth egheagaepo awooty!">

The flimsi is thrown down to the ground and with a diagonal cross over her body (since she has to draw with her off-hand), and the assistance of the DL-44's modified lower profile for easy drawing, the pistol is back in her hand and she resumes her combat stance, ready to take on the husks with renewed vigor, and, at least for her: purpose.

Heartrate: 80.

A screaming Husk, flailing and running, evades Kohnner's visual screening and slams him into a bulkhead. His free hand flings back against the metal there and there is a loud snap and a crunch. The Canine Warrior lets out a yelp, then a whimper which turns into a blood curdling roar. Pain, panic, and anger all mixed together. As the entity attempts to finish the war dog, Chon gathers all his strength and pushes the writhing wreath from him. His blade free and in his good hand he slashes out, detaching the wicked beings arm in reprisal.

There is a satisfying growl from the revenge Kohnner has inflicted. With a howl, he rushes forwards, slashing the left leg of the being and separating that appendage as well. Oooze splashes out and the being becomes immobile and prone upon the ground.

Charging yet again into the fresh horde, his blade pierces through one... right in the butt. HE pushes, attemtping to use the wraith as a shield or batterin ram against the onslaught.

The swarm is growing more aggresive, dogpiling on her teammates with ferocity. She looks around as if in a dream. Everything moving in slow motion. Even the screams are like faraway echoes. Her heart is still pounding with no end to it. Her nerves are on fire. Every sinew taut to the point of wanting to splinter and break.

Everywhere she turns, they are being swallowed up.

'Bring them oblivion.'

Valeska punches the nearest wall with a reverberating CLANG-ANG-ANG-ANG! The shock of pain from busted knuckles and cracked joints like a bolt to her brain. She screams and leaps into the air, activating her jetpack and rushing over the throng straight for the Houk. With full momentum, she attacks the hulking husk without hesitation; her stun baton landing solidly into the massive hide and delivering shock after shock. Nowhere near enough to take it down.

With the husks now up close and personal to far too many of the group, the same plasma core that would ash the husks would also ash the living, and so, Nerys passed the sling back to Bitty, who held it at the ready, as she took back up the rapier, moving to carve into the shambling hoarde. She was either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. Or, or, she simply trusted that the shambling ooze that infected the dead could not take over her brain, even if it did manage to take over her body. One went down to a strike, the ashes dusting the air in front of her, the second meeting only air. <"If that's the head of the snake, we need to cut it off.">

Ban Iskender's eloquent insight into their new tactical situation is as follows: "Damnation." He's slightly more useful over the comms: <<"Second wave from ahead: there is a leadership entity among them. I intend to oppose it." The words are precise and professional, even if the voice speaking them is terse with strain. His green eyes go briefly closed as a breath fills his chest, and the Knight's senses slow down within that heartbeat. Eyes open again as Valeska streaks through the air last him on fiery wings to attack the hulk, and Ban's voice is now chill and calm as he states, <<"For the Queen.">>

He starts forward at a dash, slipping between the horde of inhumanly powerful foes to bring his burning sword against the monstrosity hammering through blast doors. One cut takes the dead Houk at the back of a knee, the next across the back as it staggers, a third across one arm as it starts to turn, and a fourth takes the opposite hip, dropping the massive form to the deck in mere instants in concert with Valeska's blasts. Green blade drawn up vertically to offer the Mandalorian a brief salute, before a sudden decompressing micronuclear blast rather firmly distracts him. Green halfcape torn by the torn atmosphere before containment fields are raised.

A hand grips between the plates and wrenches the big man to one side, against a wall hard enough to make the beskar plates ring and sparks fly where they scrape, leading him into a pair of hands that he can knock asunder with the metaled vambrace of his free limb. The heavy repeater hits the deck, bouncing towards the back of the line and more hands grab the big man. Hurling him into the ceiling to bounce at an angle to strike the opposite wall.

<<"ALL units. BACK. NOW.">> a 'minimum safe distance' indicator suddenly broadcasted to HUD's across the crew and a scooping kick hurls 904 straight to paws of a wookie

Hollow sockets glower into the face of the beskar helmet and looking through the eyes of another in his own body, Hadrix sees the world rotating and rushing past him for a split second before he hits another wall. Inertia holding him there before he starts to tumble forward, pole-axed. Turning into a roll that carries him to a kneeling position.

'Have to be calm.'

'NO. I'M. FREE.'

'Killing us.'

His right hand dips behind his back to an ordinance bandolier. Maglock boots seal him in place.

<<"Fire in the hole. Danger close.">> The Boar-Wolf of Ealor, the voice so many more are familiar with. Husky with anger, pain. Even as he stands, Hadrix's hand comes around with a sphere gripped, blinking rapidly and then sailing towards the edges of the Mnngal Mnngal pack bearing down on them, to damage their numbers and minimize risk to allies.

The sphere lets out s 'KLANG' against the bulkhead when it bounces, tumbling and rolling among the feet of the husks, red light and warning tone pulsing faster and faster until visors blacken to save wearers from blindness, temporary or otherwise. Heat pours out and the durasteel of the hull glows golden. Bowing out and then suddenly draws into space like molten sugar. Rapidly depressurizing the corridor and pulling some of their number out into the void. Lights flash alarms that can be felt in vibrations. Audio protection maybe enough to leave ringing in ears if not ruptures and on the bridge an armored hand is slapping an emergency button to erect mag-con nets to stop vacuum from claiming them all.

<"Stupid..."> shaking his head, words slurring and leaning against the wall, Hadrix presses one hand to the side of his helmet.

Sometimes, the simplest option was the best. Narsai's lightsaber raises up and twirls to a deadly arc of slashing, sweeping plasma. The husks clearly could survive without limbs and she'd faced these things before...so the violet-hued death slices upwards, bisecting the creatures and going for maximum damage...yet there were certainly plenty of the horrors still standing.

Whatever her expression might be, it was still hidden by the T-visor of that same suit that had offered her protection from the void and the infective monsters that tried to overwhelm them. Still, the noise of disgust...then the sudden explosion had her maglocks seizing the deck, only a gentle tug to her balance rather than pulling her out into the void.

Containment fields shot up after a blinding flash cast out a massive concussion wave that pushed all within the vicinity to the floor. What would have been a deafening after-sound was washed away by the sudden WHOOOSH of vacuum as a depressurized hull claimed five entities immediately, sucking them painfully through the gash and transforming their body into gore and black ooze that was lost to the void. When the field came up, air returned to normal, and artificial gravity was restored.

The horde, still surrounding the group, was still attacking, rising up inhumanly fast to latch on, tear, punch, and claw as best they could into the remaining strike teams.

With the door way cleared of immediate danger, Sana Ryder and the Mandalorian Cadera open the damaged hatch to slip out and join the fray. Sana uses a single beskad, cutting an entities legs right of from under them, before impaling another to carry it right off its feet to lay on the ground. She pulls her weapon back, waving for Ban, Cadera, and Valeska to join in pincering the remaining horde against the rest of the strike group.

Cadera is not so successful in causing harm. Using a glaive, he stabs, keeping his distance but finds that his foe is quick to bat the weapon away, using their armor and strength to guide it. It puts him to retreat a few steps before stepping forward again, committed to the assault.

Sumi cuts through two with her lightsaber, then raises her shield to the blast. By the time Sana and Cadera join the fight, she can't hear a rekking thing. 14 remain with one injured.

Kira didn't have time to register the thermal detonator that blew her flimsi sheets all over (and incinerated some). It could be said that she should have expected it, as Hadrix DID warn, but she had been too focused in her ritual at the time. She was taken with the sudden sound of the blast, and though it didn't last long, the shock was enough to spring her in to action as Sana and Cadera arrive, the rest of the group having finally caught up with them.

When Sana and Kirana fought together, you would think they were Lorrdians - as though they were communicating with some kind of unspoken language. They weren't. They had just trained together so extensively as to read the other's movements and react to them often times even before the next movement would come. While that wasn't the case here, in a rare show, Kirana was fighting at range, the younger of the Morellians (maybe of ALL Morellians) must have caught Sana's attack in her peripheral vision, because as Sana slices away a husk's legs, so too does Kira blast another's husk's legs. The husk falls to the ground, very briefly propping itself up on the stump of a leg, but that unstable stump shatters under its weight and the rest of the husk topples over.

Chon shoves the wicked creature off his blade and digs his heel into the deck. He howls at the Mggnal Mggnal, a primal angry challenge that might be more primitive to his species. He stands there, sword in one hand, his other arm hanging loosely, deformed and clearly broken inside the thermal suit.

True to his canine nature, blinking light distract him. Those colorful lifeday sparkles instead happen to come from Hadrix's Thermal Detonator. What might have been a sign of delirium for the War Dog, turns into a moment of sheer terror. He wanted to warn the large mandalorian, but he knew deep down it was fruitless. So he turned away as the flashing ball flew through the air and detonated. His entire being shook. He felt it in his chest and while his armor protected him from the blast and his mag locks kept him from flying out in the momentary decompression, he still felt the heat through his armor.

He hyped himself up, growling and smacking his helmet with his good hand, the hilt of his blade clanking against the plasteel protection. Then, he pushes hard into what's left of the horde, slashing one in two, then another all with just one arm.

shhhh....... FOOOOM!

The thermal is enough to either knock the sense OUT of Valeska or back in. She lands after her aerial assault, ears ringings so loudly they could wake up the dead. Touching back down to the ground, Valeska leans against a wall and tries to get her senses. Adrenaline has her on the verge of darkness and if it weren't for the glowing lights of her stun baton and Ban's saber, she might have decided to take a little nap.

She sees the salute from the fancy man and lifts her baton up in answering. Her form, let's be honest, is atrocious. <<"Thanks... uh...">> She glances to the saber. <<"You know a guy named Jax by any chance?">>

Whoop! Enough socializing. Valeska leaps in after Sana, joining in the pincher. All she can really do is push against them with her shield as her swings from the baton are not at all practiced or graceful when dealing with the new barrier.

Nerys turned her head, as she caught sight of the Thermal Detonator, saving her vision for better things than watching a big kaboom. Like actually seeing afterwards. But as soon as the space recompressed, she moved ahead, noting that, alas, despite the death of the snake's head, the body was still moving. Adjusting her position to be slightly ahead and to the right of the Klatoonian, she struck a good blow, ashing one, but failing on the backswing. Well, there was always the next time.

Ban Iskender can hear nothing, but Sana's emergence and gesturing are clear enough. The dragoon joins the coordinated push, cutting down one husk that had been menacing another, while evading a further trio of assailants. One more of these is cut down as the green lightsaber strikes off the arm that was swing at him at the shoulder. Belatedly, aside to Valeska, he names himself, "Sir Ban Iskender, of Her Majesty's Lir Dragoons."

A gout of fire erupts again from Hadrix's position, the line of it waving like a water-toy with his staggering forward steps. Head shaking, trying to clear his vision from the concussion of the explosion and his repeated impacts against the hull prior to that. The arc of burning fuel washing across the chest of one husk and setting it stumbling backward, slapping at its own body that rapidly immolates, tumbling to the deck and writhing to ash.

One lurching swing of his leg carrying Hadrix towards the middle of the corridor with his arm outstretched. The flames claim another husk, wreathing it in a flaring nimbus while the big man takes a halting step and then another, passing the dying creature howling out for its loved ones until the body dissolves to the floor.

<"Stupid."> still slurring, growling to himself and throwing his arm outward, to charge for his next blast - sending fuel to the pressurizing chamber.

Surging creatures tackle Narsai, mag-boots and practice allowing her to keep her footing as the blows are taken against the most solid parts of her armor and soft grunts of impact are brought forth from her lips to be swallowed by the shroud of her helmet. More whirling plasma and the flailing horrors are cut down, crumbling to ash with each decisive hit that lands until few remain and she brings her weapon up defensively. Over her shoulder there's a light look of concern to her muttering fellow Mandalorian, but it's only a moment before she moves forwards, weapon at the ready.

As long as they were upright, the mission could be completed and they could worry about it afterwards.

The remaining Mnggal Mnggal are finding true foes in the Mandalorian/allies strike team. Instead of being crippled by fear, the group is lashing out, cutting down, and ending the threat they pose. With but four left, and Sumi exhausted from taking such a battering with her shield up, she motions for the group to follow. <"WE HAVE WHAT WE CAME FOR, LET US ADVANCE BACK TO OUR SHIP!"> Annoyed sounding, she casts off a husk, smacking it with the shield but obviously doing no damage beyond moving it out of her path. <"Rekking things.. MOVE!"> Grumbling, she begins to jiggy-jog, huffing.

Cadera is thankful for Valeska's interference with one of the foes, but he isn't of the frame of mind to say so. He swings his glaive twice more, finding no purchase. Growling through the helmet's audio, the Bloodfields native trudges reluctantly after the Alor'Kora to 'advance' back to their ship. He can at least appreciate the Chief did not use the word retreat.

Sana smacks the back of Cadera's helmet with the pommel of her weapon. <"Stop trying to hit something, and bloody hit something. You didn't come along to sight see.">

<"Yes ma'am!"> Cadera said back, red in his cheeks hidden by the helmet at least. Sana brings up the rear of the group, her six foot tall frame granting ample vantage to see the others and keep track.

'Advance back to our ship!' Kirana will hear the command and fire off a couple of covering shots before turning to pound the duracrete. The stasis field. The realization slows Kira's run for a brief moment, but she's back at full speed, rounding the corner from whence they came. <"I'll get the field down. Safer to just blast this ship to pieces from the safety of our own!"> Kira jams the DL-44 back into her thigh holster and throws her arm out to catch onto a dataterminal at the end of the hall, using the terminal as a sudden barrier to slide to a halt.

She leans forward and types away, but the terminal is operating sluggishly. Taking a quick step back to look at it, she growls. <"Blasted goo all over it. Someone find another one!"> She kicks the terminal's base out of frustration.

Then an alert starts going off in her helmet. O2 levels were at fifteen percent.

Heartrate: 107

It was time to turn around and not a moment to soon. The initial pain in his arm had numbed out as his body went into shock and his adrenaline kicked in, painting his vision a nice coat of metaphorical red. Now though, as he spent his energy cutting into these unyielding husks of chaos and violence, that burst of energy was now wearing off.

His arm started to throb and his movements slowed as fatigue started to wage a war of attrition upon Pup the Space Ronin.

He manages one last strike, cutting down a wraith by slicing them in twain. Yet two more slashes, while skillful and on point, were slow enough for the Mggnal Mggnal to dodge out of the way. He continued on their escape, his robotic leg's servos whining and his gait limping ever so slightly.

A curious tilt of her helmet signals that Valeska might be in her right mind again. A little. <<"That's a fancy title you got there, yeah? Which Queen?">> It's time to make a tactical advancement in the opposite direction and you don't gotta tell Valeska twice. Shield still out, she is swinging as she goes and whiffing every single one of them. She's rattled. No, not just rattled. She's scared and not ashamed of it. These things are absolutely horrifying. <<"Hadrix, warm up my bunk tonight. Bringin' Colo and staying over for a few days. Definitely.">> If Hadrix is even still nearby. She's lost track of everyone except for Sana, Cadera, and her new friend Sir Ban.

Nerys, clearly sensing the same problem as Kirana, moved to join her at the terminal, <"Let me help."> She did not nudge the woman aside, but waited, not impatiently, for the terminal to be free, Bitty swiveling around to reach her hands out to help, if she needed to interface. Numpty, true to form, tried to help too, but in trying to free himself from his harness only succeeded in kicking Nerys in the back of the helmet. "Quit that." The words came only across her internal comms as Nerys' fingers flashed across the panel, the shimmering field snapping out, in time to the shuddering of the ship, <"The ships destabilizing, we need to go now, or we'll miss the eject window for the ship we came in on. None of you want to have to be tractored beamed into the cargo bay. Trust."> And then Nerys was running for the blackness of space, to kick off and make it to the other side. Which would have looked utterly epic, if she hadn't had a BD droid dangling from her backpack, one left waving in the breeze.

<<"Copy, exfil.">> head snapping towards Valeska at her comment, No words for that, but his head tips and his hand balls into a fist to loose his flamer charge. Immolating the last of the husks coming for them after Ban's display of swordsmanship creates a sandstorm of disintegrating bodies that turns into a conflagration cloud with the final of their assailants going up.

<<"Up and out.">> headed towards the re-opened patch of hull with his jets igniting again to carry him clear and on a path for the Bloody Resolve.

<<"Up and out.">>

'You nearly killed us.'

'Shut up.'

'You were out of control.'

'Shut. Up.'

Bearing down, teeth gritted, pushing that diminishing spark of rage and madness deep where the chains wait to be wrapped around it. That dark spot in the back of thoughts, gnashing at its restraints.

'I hate you.'

'I. Hate. You.'

Silence. Blessed silence and his mic is tabbed off, thankfully, when Hadrix catches himself speaking aloud, "You're a curse..." drifting through the eternal night, feeling cold bunch up his guts and he squeezes his eyes shut to close off the emptiness and the memory that wants to flood back. Of his body freezing and his blood starting to boil.

Back home. To where he can see if he has courage yet left to look in the mirror of his quarters.

The return to the ship was smooth and purposeful, the Knight and the Mandalorian both cutting or burning down the last in their way before finally they were clear. With her own weapon deactivated and returned to its holster, the red-armored figure actually exhales a soft breath of relief and lets her head fall back, eyes behind her visor staring back up at the ceiling before she finally lowers back to look over each of the companions and their states of injury.

Nothing too serious, easily attended by the Kora doctor or left to heal on its own. Except...

Wordlessly she moves up behind the man caught in his silent fuming and self-rage. No questions, no interuptions, just a hand placed on Hadrix's back as a reminder of her presence.

They make it back the way they came, and Sumi is quick to deactivate her weapon and clip it to her belt. <"Be ready,"> She warns before spartan kicking the console. The doors open...

All sound is lost at that point, and the vacuum of space sucked them out the door way all at once, jettisoning them into space and toward the large presence of the Bloody Resolve.

For those with flight capabilities, it was easy to negotiate the sudden force by adjusting their direction using the thrusters on their pack. The entire team was able to redirect and fly back toward the open hangar bay, landing just as the hangar repressurized and brought back sound, weight, and everything. Sumi counted heads, giving a thumbs up as if to say they were all there. Sana radioed up to the bridge.

<<"Resolve Actual, Red Wolf.">>

<<"Send it, Red Wolf.">>

<<"Destroy that vessel.">>

<<"Understood.">>

Within a few moments, the heavy cannons and turbo lasers began to fire from the side of the cruiser. Heavy impacts tore at the exterior hull of the frigate, and after several minutes of sustained fire, the vessel ruptured and combusted, exploding suddenly, violently, and in a flash. The nightmare was over, and they'd all made it back home.

Sumi pulled off her helm, plopped down with her back to the wall, and lit a smoke. "Good rekking gun fight; goddamn."