The good thing was that the breathing tube was gone. He didn't need it anymore. He was hooked up to a myriad of tubes and devices, but at least that was one less.

Hiccup still hadn't woken up, however. His eyes had opened and closed a few times, but other than those fleeting moment of half consciousness, he hadn't woken up.

Now the doses of the painkillers had been lessened and he was stirring more.

It was sudden, and alarming, when it happened. His eyes flitted open, and he sat up, screaming in a hoarse voice.

"Aaaugh aaaugh! What--where--get it off get it off!"

He tugged blindly at all the strange tubes and things clinging to him, and patted frantically at his stomach, as if expecting something else to pop out of it.

Hiccup didn't want things touching him, there were things attached--he didn't want anything attached.

"Where'd it go?! Where'd it go?!"

The last thing he remembered was, well, dying, as far as he knew.

There were a few times his eyes had nearly flitted open, a few times his father's voice came to him in his drugged sleep, but otherwise, he slept a deep sleep.

And he dreamed. He dreamed things that hadn't happened and things that had. Mostly things that had, mostly his mind sorted backwards through memory, perusing events, major and minor, with clarity he didn't usually have.

Not that he'd remember any of it when he woke up.

If he woke up.

It was as if part of his brain was searching for some sense in it all, some reason why he'd had such a miserable time of things, had things get better, and then had it all taken away again. There had to be some sense somewhere, right, some reason for why it all had worked out the way it had.

He couldn't just be that monumentally unlucky, could he?

His subconscious didn't think so.

So he dreamed, and even though it all blended together senselessly, he remembered.

Time blurred for Stoick as he sat vigilantly by Hiccup's bedside in the medbay. The passing of time he hardly notice as he waited for any sign of improvement in his son's condition. The doctor's uninspiring comment that it was possible Hiccup might be lost to Valhalla was what kept Stoick from leaving.

And perhaps it was his own stubborn nature that kept him there: knowing that Hiccup was strong enough to recover; now if only he would. There hadn't been much, if any, sign of change and while Hiccup was still alive for the most part, even that could change quickly. It was not easy for Stoick, who in addition to this, was wrestling with his own demons of guilt and sorrow.

He rose to gently squeeze his son's hand before stepping outside for a few minutes. He needed to stretch his legs, and grab a breath of fresh air.

It was one exhausted, tired, alien puke-covered, acid blood-burnt group of people that trundled out of the hangar and into the ship proper. Their mission? Had sucked. Their intel had been wrong. Their lives had nearly been forfeit.

But they had survived, mainly by watching each other's backs and shooting or slashed or flamethrowing at every damn thing that moved.

Now it was off to Medbay to tend to their injuries, but after that, maybe they'd finally catch a break.

They had no idea of what had just conspired, other than what they'd learned from Stacy's messages--there had been a traitor, and that traitor had been taken care of.

They had sneaked into the facility and out of the nest. They had gathered whatever equipment they could use as weapons. Now it was time for the rescuers to fight their way in, and the rescuees to fight their way free.

There was only a whole horde of xenomorphs in the way, after all.

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.

They had all been Chosen. The usual story when it came to Stacy. They'd had no say over who went on the mission, but fortunately a group of competent individuals had been chosen, with Kang, an Away Team leader there to act as mission leader.

The mission: to repair some of the mining mechanisms that had run down in an abandoned terraforming colony, to gather some rare ore with minerals and other substances vital to Stacy's functions. One small chunk would last her for ages.

The planet: LV-428 was a very hostile world, a dead rock with a very weak atmosphere that was comprised largely of Nitrogen, Argon, and Neon. Terraforming efforts had introduced enough oxygen for it to support human life, but only just barely. Due to the violent nature of terraforming on the climate, raging electromagnetic storms often occurred, cutting off all communications.

The intel: Due to a war on Earth, the members of the colony had been recalled back home. The entire place was abandoned, but thought to be safe.

The Mission Personnel: Jamie Hemeros, Kang, Sokka, and Hiccup were on to handle the mechanics ends of the mission. Scarlet Levy was to be their medic, just in case of injuries. Reimi was their pilot. And on the security detail were Tobias, Hap Suriz, Rose Tyler, Setsuna, Kettch, and Stoick. Kang doubled as their away team leader.

Surely this group could handle anything thrown their way. For something as simple as an empty colony, they were almost over-equipped.

...Right?

[ooc: Don't post until I have subthreads set up]

Stoick blinked and then muttered an oath. "Odin, that's a big dragon." The massive wooden dragon above the Drunken Dragon Tavern was eye-catching and more than a little impressive to him.

It spoke well for the tavern at least, to boast something so grand. So with another glance at the wooden statue, he entered and was immediately confronted by familiar-looking scenery. Painted walls depicting a story, or series of stories, stretched as far as he could see into the tavern. The tavern itself wasn't very large, by viking standards, but it was close enough.

He took his time ambling forward, his eyes absorbing the story the mural told.

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a green-skinned alien and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | Instructions: Post your character with one post establishing them as being podpopped. Tag each other in groups of 2's, 3's, and 4's, to get some interaction to start with. If a thread doesn't already have 2 or 3 people tagged in, tag it with your character's podpop popping near the other people, rather than making a new subthread. If you would like to play out them talking to the AI, please send an email to the mods making the request--we do this only by request. Then move onto the big Newbie Meeting. Once your character has gotten the rundown from the old crew, you may start posting entrance posts and freely tagging.]


||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounds out to all the podmates through the ship.

In the Pod Caverns, there are the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There is condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slide out onto the floors, covered in slime.

--

( There was nothing... )