trans_9 | Game Over, Man [Part 2]

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Game Over, Man [Part 2]

In the complex, deeper into it near the core, several of the away team were all strung up near each other, around a clutch of disgusting looking eggs. Two appeared to have already been hatched. The rest were waiting. They were bound to the walls by slime and ick, some sort of substance spit up by the creatures that may as well have been quick-dry cement.

Outside the complex, the rest of the away team had made it to the ship--only to find it damaged. Acid spit up by one of the creature had burned through part of the hull and into important inner workings. They would need someone mechanically inclined, that understood electrical work, to fix it like Jamie--uh oh.

Well, that was a problem wasn't it.

It was time for the one group to try to survive, and the other group to figure out what to do about their missing comrades.

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"I agree with Rose," Scarlet replied immediately, turning her head away from Jamie to look at Reimi. "If you can destroy them, the sooner the better. Better they're dead than they break out before we all have the chance to get free." Not that running had helped so much the first time around, and now they were mostly without weapons, but Scarlet would rather have at least a semblance of a fighting chance.

"I think--I think our first priority should just be getting free," said Hiccup. "So whatever it is you want to do, it had better not be loud."

If they got loose, all they had on their side was surprise.

"Almost there, Jamie, you're doing great."

And once his hands were free, he'd find it much easier to free himself.

Biting his tongue in concentration, Jamie had worked doggedly, frantically and silently as the others watched and discussed. Though most of his brain had been focussed on one thought and one alone - get free get free get free get free - little snippets of their conversation had found their way into his consciousness, so that by the time he'd worked himself free he had some vague plan of action.

"Let's just get everyone in a position to run before we try destroying anything," he suggested in clipped tones as he started prying at Hiccup's bindings. "We don't know what effect any attacks are gonna have on those eggs, it might just make things worse." It was taking a risk, maybe - as Scarlet had said, there was a chance the things could hatch before they'd gotten free - but being killed in some kind of magic explosion didn't sound any more appealing than being torn apart by ravenous newly-hatched monsters.

As soon as Hiccup was freed, he realized he had a major problem. Some of the acid had dripped onto his automail. There were now holes in it and something wrong with the mechanics on the inside. That was going to make it hard to run, but he could still limp along at least.

And limp he did, right over to Reimi, pulling chunks of gunk away from the wall bodily, to free her, while Jamie worked on one of the others.

Reimi slid down and touched down on unsteady legs. "Thanks," she groaned, rubbing her wrists.

She looked around and then noticed a white object lodged into the wall. Running over, she tore at the gunk and grinned. "My bow! Hah, it's not destroyed."

Unfolding it with a mechanical whir, she nodded and replaced her weapon onto her back before turning to Rose and started to pull.

Once Reimi got most of the goop off, Rose was able to pull the rest of her limbs free. “I’ve got it, ta.” She brushed off any remaining goo.

Since Jamie was working on freeing Scarlet, Rose started poking around the room, looking for exits or something useful. “So… assets? Reimi’s got her bow, but I lost my gun when I got grabbed.”

"I've got some tools with me. Wrenches, screwdrivers, soldering iron. Dunno how much good any of those'd be in a fight," Jamie threw over his shoulder as he finished off the gunk pinning Scarlet.

Once Scarlet was free, she smiled briefly at Jamie in thanks, before checking to see what she still had on her. She was moderately relieved to find her med pack still attached to her hip, though she was wishing she'd stored an extra gun within it.

"I've still got my med kit, but I dropped my gun." She sighed, rolling her eyes a little. "So unless these things are allergic to antiseptic, I won't be much help on offense."

Edited 2010-08-28 05:10 (UTC)

"We need to find weapons then. This is part mining colony, right? Picks, shovels--or whatever future versions of them that they'd have in this kind of place--maybe things that are even better. We need to find them. But the first thing we have to do is move, before we're caught."

He nodded his head towards the hallway.

So are they running, or what?

"I'll take point then," said Reimi as she nocked an arrow. "I have some close in stuff."

Where she got the arrow was a mystery.

Rose stared at the pile of half-dried alien saliva marking where she had been trapped.

She really should take it back to Stacy for analysis--there was no telling what it had done—but she wanted her hands free for whatever makeshift weapons they might come across. She turned away with a regretful sigh.

“I’ll take rear.” Sure, she was tied for least-equipped member of this lot, but somehow Rose was the only ‘bodyguard’ here and dammit she was going to do her job. "After you."

Needing no further encouragement, Jamie hurried after Reimi, eyes flicking restlessly around the surrounding area. He was still clutching the screwdriver, not necessarily because he thought it would actually do any good if they ran into trouble, but having something to hold onto made him feel marginally more secure than being empty-handed.

Scarlet fell in in front of Rose, because she was used to flanking when on duty, and while this was hardly the same thing, she also felt better being able to see all the kids at once. She kept silent, not really wanting to add any extra noise to their procession, though she was alert, scanning their surroundings, in case any of those creatures popped up.

They got a good while away from that horrible place, and found another room. Hiccup stopped running and froze, in a spot that wouldn't trip the others up, staring up at something on a wall.

It was a woman, and a little girl. Their bodies were both cemented there with alien puke. Something had ripped out their chests and left gaping holes where vital organs were supposed to be.

Their hands were still clasped together, even in death.

At the feet of the little girl was a doll's head filthy, with raggedy hair that had been brushed over and over.

He wasn't quite sure what possessed him, but he bent down and picked it up in a shaking hand.

Reimi gasped at the sight, stopping short just behind Hiccup. "How horrible," she murmured, her voice not daring to get louder.

Despite her fear, she leaned in and examined the remains, trying to ignore the hideous appearance of the desecrated bodies. "It looks like... something... erupted out from inside them. Look, the way the hole was made was from the... inside... out..."

A terrible feeling of dread overwhelmed Reimi. Wait, wasn't there something about this in old Earth history? The details were fuzzy but...

Rose stopped along with the others, glancing over to see what was going on. She shoved down the resulting wave of nausea ruthlessly.

Was that what was going to happen?

She turned her gaze back the way they came. “There’s nothing we can do for them now.” Her voice was steady, but her horror still managed to seep in. “C’mon; we need to get weapons and get back to the others.”

Jamie felt his gorge rise as he stared at the eviscerated bodies. The panic that he'd managed to push to the back of his mind for the past few minutes was starting to creep back, making his stomach churn and his body feel cold all over.

He nodded mutely at Rose's words and tore his eyes away from the corpses, all too happy to comply with her suggestion.

She was still as she stared at the bodies, keeping her distance, but her medically trained eyes were able to pick out the vital bits, anyway. Her mind drifted to the research that Luis had done before coming to the ship. She knew that the parasite he'd worked with had grown in the same general vicinity as where the holes were, and while she doubted this was precisely the same thing, there was still the laser removal system, back on the ship. It was only a mildly comforting thought, if they themselves had been infected, somehow.

"The sooner we get back, the better," she murmured quietly, pulling her gaze from the bodies.

Hiccup tucked the doll head in the inner pocket of his snot-covered vest, moving along. He wasn't sure why he'd taken it, but, maybe once he got out of this place (if he did) he could make a little memorial for the people who died here, since they'd never get a proper burial.

It was a big if, though.

They heard unearthly screeches, coming from the hallways they'd come from.

"Move move move," he hissed, as they all trundled along.

If only they had weapons of some kind. Wait a moment. What was through that door? (http://community.livejournal.com/trans_9/490373.html?thread=35739013#t35739013)

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Game Over, Man [Part 2]

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