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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 12:50 pm
Koko walked briskly through the ship, soon entering an absolutely emormous room, filled with cryostasis pods. Although a lot of these pods seemed to have a been broken out of - but not broken in to. Strange chattering, clicking & growling noises could be heard in the chamber but the mercenary took no notice once again. There was a lack of light within the ship so nothing could be seen unless it was with a foot or so of each working cryo pod.
As she reached the centre of the chamber, Koko suddenly came to her senses & looked round in shock. The blips on her motion tracker began to get louder so she tore herself out of her spacesuit & drew her rifle, spinning round as she heard the strange sounds around her. She began to spot movement in her peripheral vision & swivelled; just as a human appeared out of the darkness. She exhaled & lowered her gun slightly, raising her voice so that the man would hear her, "Oh god... you guys are alive? What is going on?" The man didn't respond & he walked towards her with his head down. A chill ran down her spine so Koko raised her gun again, as more humans began to emerge all around her. There was something weird about them though &, as they got closer, Koko could see something strange attached to the backs of their necks...
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:04 pm
Zed floated near a door and hit a large red button beside it, causing a large metal door to close off Zed's entry point and air to fill the corridor. After a few more seconds the door slid open, revealing a large dark room full of cryo pods.
He heared Koko and headed toward her, flicking on a flashlight he'd taped to his railgun.
"Koko!?"
Zed spotted the dried up husk of a human crawling across the floor and several more of them walking. He fired his railgun, lighting up the vast room with it's muzzleflash.
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:06 pm
Thane looked up at the sleeper ship. He had gotten everything he needed for his trip, and he had told Syuzanna that if he wanted to come he would have to meet him at the entrance. Thane began wandering towards the entrance, at the very least he might be able to scrounge some things to sell in town.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:36 pm
At the sound of gunfire the chattering sounds turned to high pitched screams & snarls. The 'humans' approaching Koko stopped for a moment & looked behind her, where flashes of light could be seen. The mercenary half-turned towards the sound, spotting several creatures on the walls near to the pilot. She began running & yelled out. "ZED! They're everywhere! Look out!" Just as she began shooting, something caught her leg & she tripped, loosing the rifle. She shrieked as she was dragged across the floor by something. Feeling her legs pulled into an abyss, she scambled for a hand-hold - swearing loudly in her terror. Managing to grip the edge of the hole, she managed to holler "ZED!" before being hauled over the edge & into a series of ventilation shafts.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:46 pm
Zed kicked one of the human husks out of the way and sprinted to where Koko had yelled for him, unfortunately not seeing the hole, Zed ran straight over the edge and fell down the large ventilation shaft, grabbing onto something that was fairly squishy and pulsing slightly.
"This is why we use the robot for exploring!"
Remembering the fact that he was wearing his jetpack, he let go of the object and followed down the vents that Koko had been dragged through.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:06 pm
Thane climbed into the "lower entrance". It wasn't really a proper entrance just a hole the locals used to venture short distances to retrieve bits and pieces that might be of use. He took out a flashlight from his back and set off. It was quite eeire as the darkness played tricks on your eyes, making you see things. The children that lived closer to this entrance say that the souls of the people that were trapped inside still haunt it.
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:20 pm
Having been knocked out when she hit the metal of the shaft, Koko didn't get a chance to see the creature that was dragging her further into the ship. They travelled at a very fast pace seemingly effortlessly. It was only when she was near the centre of the hive that Koko came round (of course she wouldn't know she was in a hive yet). Feeling herself being pulled along by something, the mercenary reacted instantly; reaching down to her left leg she drew her handgun & fired off a load of rounds towards her attacker, using the muzzle flash to identify the shape. There were a few screams from the creature before it slumped in mid-turn & fell silent.
The woman lay panting in the shaft for a few seconds, her gun raised in front of her, shaking slightly. Then she kicked out a little with one foot, dislodging it from her. Fumbling around she located her flashlight & clicked it on, noticing that she was now covered in a thick, bluish liquid. As the beam travelled further along the shaft she found the creature that had attacked her & froze, a shiver running the length of her body.
Covered in a dark, scaly hide, the thing had spikes along it's spine & jutting from where she assumed the elbows, knees & other joints were located. It had a long tail, also covered in spikes along one side & harbored a large barb/spike right at the tip that looked as though it could be retracted. All the spikes seemed to be transparent, looking a bit like glass. It had 6 visible limbs, the back 2 being much more muscled than the other four. On it's back legs the creature had 3 'toes' with 2 facing forwards & one facing backwards, each toe sporting a massive, sharp claw - these were clear like the spikes. The same could be said for the front legs, or arms, except there were 3 clawed 'fingers' facing forwards instead of 2 with one still facing backwards. As Koko moved the flashlight up to the creature's head, she could see more spikes running up to the back of the skull, before fanning out across the head & under the neck. It's jaws were slightly open to show backwards facing teeth & a slightly reptilian head, but with two huge pincers/mandibles at the front. It had no visible eyes but rather a smooth section on the head where eyes should have been.
Inhaling sharply, Koko manouvered herself around the creature & began making her way through more ventilation shafts. When her motion tracker began showing movement again she froze & began to shake, wanting to laugh at the sheer hopelessness of her situation.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:39 pm
Zed took his flashlight and examined what he'd managed to get himself tangled in. It appeared to be a tangled mass of some kind of near-trasparant pulsing 'roots' that occasionally twitched. He struggled and got his gun loose as he felt something crawling across his back. He shot the creature off of his back, destroying the net of 'roots' that had supported his weight, he fell down the ventilation shaft and nearly on top of Koko. He landed face down on the floor. "Ow... oh hey there... well this is embarrassing..." He remained face down on the floor for a while. "I'm okay, I think i just bruised my pride thats all..." Zed stood up, dusted himself off and removed his smashed helmet before scratching his head. "Ahem, Yes, now where are we going?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:51 pm
Koko had spun round & nearly shot Zed in the head before she realised who it was. Clenching both her hands round her gun so tight that the knuckles turned white she began to yell at him. "You stupid, stupid a*****e! I nearly shot you, y-you idiot! How the hell can you sound so stupidly calm when there's freakin' aliens crawling around in this whole damn ship!" She was still shaking as she lowered her gun, when more blips appeared on the motion tracker. "We're going to die at this rate.... s**t.... how the hell did I even get here...?" She drew her knees up, burying her head & trying to stop herself shaking. She could hear the strange clacking sounds that the creatures made echoing through the shafts. In an act of displacement she relaoded her gun & started making her way down the shaft again. The tracker began to get louder & she felt like crying, but she just continued on, the gun in her hand remarkably steady now.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:53 pm
Thane travelled down a rather thin corridor, or what seemed like a corridor, swinging his flashlight too and fro. Taking out a gun and a roll of cellotape from his bag. He used the cellotape to attach the flashlight to the gun, and put the roll of cellotape away. Readjusting his bag again he headed towards what seemed to be a little doorway. Slamming into a closed door, he rubbed his nose and reached down to the handle to open it. He flinched slightly as something crawled across his hand as he turned the doorhandle. "Ugh.....that better be just a bug..."
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:05 pm
Zed was losing his cool. "Would it help if i said we were gunna die? No. it would not freaking help." Zed shot down the ventilation shaft behind them several times as the noise got louder. "I'm trying to be calm, but all this talk of dying is making me kinda jumpy!" One of the creatures lept at him from where it'd been hiding on the top of the ventilation shaft, but Zed grabbed it by the neck mid-pounce and pinned it against the wall, shooting it point blank in the head and killing it, spraying blue blood over the wall. He let it fall to the floor as he turned to shoot another of them.
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:16 pm
Koko was acting strangely & didn't seem to be paying any attention to Zed or the gunfire. In fact, the creatures were ignoring her & going for the pilot instead. "There's no point.... there's so many of them.... it's dark, so dark.... so cold...." She dropped her gun & torch, stumbling forwards through the shaft. Eventually she melted into the dark, any sounds she might be making muffled by those of the screaming alien creatures. The mercenary soon reached the end of one ventilation shaft & half stumbled out of a hole ripped out of the mesh at the end & into a fairly large storage room. It was now that she regained her senses again, completely disorientated. Her tearful attitude faded & was replaced by her normal brash personality. "Hey, wait a sec! I coulda sworn I was in a tunnel with one of those dead... things & then Zed fell next to me.... wait, oh god. Zed!" She span back towards the ripped mesh, but was soon hearing a load of blips from her motion tracker. "Ah s**t...." She searched herself & found she only had one handgun & her combat knife left. Mentally screaming at herself for losing her other weapons Koko pressed herself against the wall, trying to spot anything in the darkness.
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:19 pm
As Thane walked through the doorway the floor on the other side gave way and crumbled right underneath him. "AHhhhh!!!" He screamed but managed to grab hold of the ledge with his free hand. "That....is just stupid..." He hung there for a bit and after a little while pulled himself back up. Pointing the flashlight-gun into the hole it was clear he probably would have seriously injured himself if he had fallen. "I hope Sempai is okay....."
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:31 pm
The vent was now absolutely full of the strange creatures, all attempting to attack Zed. Zed repeatedly shot into the swarm that was surrounding him, after a while they were too close to shoot, so he started fighting them off with his bare hands and the back end of his railgun. After a while of intense fighting, Zed was trapped under a huge pile of the dead creatures. A few remaining creatures dragged the bodies of the dead creatures and Zed off back down the vent. He remained conscious but exhausted, attempting to memorize his route through the ventilation system. He noticed the strange root-like objects becoming larger as he got closer to a large and exteremly humid room. After the creatures stopped dragging him, he stood up inside one of the Hydra sleeper ship's massive terraforming units, identicle to those found at the center of oasises on Ares, the only difference being those on Ares arent filled with millions of strange eggs and a huge immobile creture, stuck to the huge central coloumn of the unit. The huge creature had hundreds of thick root-like tentacles that Zed had previously seen spread across the ship's ventilation systems. It hadn't noticed Zed's presence as it's veiw was obstructed buy hundreds of larval-stage creatures.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:49 pm
While Zed had been battling creatures in the ventilation system, Koko had been discovered by more of them. Since she had no source of light, she had to rely more on sound or slashing out at them if they touched her. The room filled with the sounds of screaming & snarling from the creatures as the mercenary cut them down with her knife; she had specially modified it so that it could cut through practically anything. It was a hopeless fight though, there were simply too many of them. Each time she killed one, two or three more would take it's place. Soon they swarmed her & used their front limbs to keep each of her limbs restrained. Still struggling, she was dragged off into the dark...
~~
Koko had been in the large terraforming units for a while before Zed was dragged in. She crossed her arms & coughed slightly, looking down at him - somehow. "Well, it's about time you showed up. The blood's rushin' to my head." Now it was clear why she was able to look down at the pilot. She was hanging upside down on one of the strange root-like tentacles by her foot, which had been bound to the tentacle with similar, smaller ones. Her hair was hanging down, slightly over her face & she looked rather cross. Her knife & remaining handgun were strewn up to her left by more tentacles, just out of reach.
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