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Chapter 4

(KC, Southern Knights Attaché) SKCPT Blake Mural

Location: Alta-IV Section, Sub Section Delta-G5, Alta System; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front; TRV Legatus

National Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1718

Race: Genetically Engineered Human

Voidic Mage: Y/N

Mage Variant: N/A

Age: 36

Sex: Female

Gender: Female

Captain Mural was circling the two Traitors, blade at the ready, when the ship suddenly jolted violently. The two Traitors took that as an opportunity to strike, rushing forward. Captain Mural blocked both strikes, but was unable to block the third, which was one of the daggers. She felt it plunge into her side, but she took that moment to apply pressure, quickly bringing her blade across the Traitor, and then into, as she grabbed his wrist. As the Traitor falls to the ground, she could feel rounds begin hitting her shielding. She ignored the attacks, as she began to focus on the second Traitor, uncaring about the dagger in her.

She moves towards the final Traitor, jabbing forward. He backpedals, while knocking her blade away. He slashes up towards her head, causing her to sidestep and counter with another jab. He quickly pivots, and smacks the blade away. As the battle continues, she realizes her shielding will soon break, and then she would die from the amount of bullets being fired at her. She had to finish quickly, so she took a risk. Throwing her blade towards the Traitor, he just barely dodges, startled and baffled for a second. Blake rushes forward, yanking the dagger out of her side, and getting close before stabbing the Traitor in the sternum, and yanking down, ripping bones out of place and a massive gash in place of the man’s sternum. He slumps to the ground, clutching this new hole, while bleeding out. The Captain quickly took cover out of the door, knowing her shield was just about to crumble. As she did, Corporal Randal rushed into the room, having just arrived with the rest of the boarding party. As the sound of combat ends, she hears a voice, it was Hanline’s, “All units, brace for impact! The ship’s going down!”

Captain Mural saw a medic rush over to her, and begin urging her to sit down. Doing so, he begins tending to her while the Lieutenant Colonel begins roughly estimating how long it will take to crashland. “Ten minutes! The Magi is going down too!” That was all she would get to hear as she began to feel faint, and passed out.

Bird’s Eye View

Location: Sector Victor1-5, Sub Sector Delta-3, Alta-IV “Zion”; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front

Local Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1747

National Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1720

The two ships barreled into the atmosphere, their bows igniting in fire-like plasma, while their guns continued firing at each other. The Magi begins to enter a controlled descent, while the Legatus falls further and further down in its uncontrolled descent, large chunks of metal ripping off and burning up on descent with the ship. As the two ships continue to fall into the planet, their guns cease firing, and the Legatus begins releasing several lifepods. The Legatus begins to become a fireball, almost all of its being was consumed with flame, as it began ripping even further apart. The Legatus’ four different sections fall to the ground, slamming into it with extreme force. One explodes on impacting a mountain, having housed the engines. This causes a massive landslide on both sides of the mountain, crushing a trenchline, and destroying a large swath of forest. The other three impact the ground, destroying hundreds of trees. One held no survivors, one held only a handful of Rebels who could not evacuate in time, and the last held a small holdout force and the boarding party.

The Magi on the other hand was no longer burning in the atmosphere, as Magus manages to keep the ship on a semi-reasonable descent. As the Magi comes down, metal flies off of it, and the starboard bow’s armor breaks off, falling to the ground suddenly. Magus quickly has to readjust the descent, as if she had not, the ship would have tilted and slammed into the ground at a dangerous angle. Impacting the forest, the Magi slides to a stop, displacing several metric tons of dirt, and uprooting thousands of trees. Coming to a stop, the world around it was full of material floating back down and obscuring vision. It was over. The Magi had landed, with minimal fatalities, and low casualties from the crash.

(KC, Southern Knights Attaché) SKCPL Andy Randal

Location: Sector Victor1-5, Sub Sector Delta-1, Alta-IV “Zion”; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front; portion of the TRV Legatus

National Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1736

Race: Dracan

Voidic Mage: Y/N

Mage Variant: N/A

Age: 19

Sex: Male

Gender: Male

Corporal Randal shook off the shock of the impact, and called out, “Everyone okay!?” He heard a response from one of the troopers, “The Colonel’s hit! Need a medic!” One of the troopers near the Corporal shakes himself back to reality, and begins sprinting over to the call, the red cross on his arm signaling his position in his team. Randal took a second to check on his Captain who had some metal debris land on her. He moves the debris so he can check her status, finding her completely limp, though her chest was rising and falling slowly. She was still alive, and he began looking at the patched up injuries, only to see how quickly the bandages had stained red and come loose.

He looked down to where his small pouch of emergency medical supplies was, and noticed the wound he had suffered in the crash. Ignoring the less endangered, he pulls out gauze, and begins putting it into the Captain’s stab wound. Once it was in, he began to pack it down until the bleeding was properly controlled. At which point, he began wrapping the wound. She was not awake, so he refrained from injecting her with ketamine, leaving that decision for when she wakes up. He then looks down to his leg, seeing the small bloody piece of metal. He grabs it, and yanks it out, applying gauze to his own wound, and then wrapping it with bandages.

Though he feels the pain course through him as he finishes tending his wound, he remains quiet, knowing he needs to be calm and ready. He is a Knight, it is his duty to protect the injured to the best of his abilities. To do that, he needs to remain calm. He mentally thanks the gods for the bullshit that is Dracan culture, before he starts to stand again, his leg beginning to pulse with pain. He calls out again, “Knights, sound off!” He heard only one response, that of Staff Sergeant Lindsey, “Lindsey, minimal injuries!” He called back to her on noticing that Lance Corporal Grant had not responded, “I’ll keep an eye on the Captain, look for Grant!” The Staff Sergeant, though outranking the Corporal, agrees with his words, and can be seen moving around, looking for the Lance Corporal.

The Corporal glances down at the Captain, then at the nearby Troopers, who were all shaking off the crash still. A few had already taken defensive positions, and the medics were already working away at tending to the injured. Randal began to move the Captain into the bridge, where she would be safe from any attacks by Rebels trying to reach the bridge. Randal then moved to look at where the Legatus’ Captain had been, finding a large plate of metal had killed the man on impact. The other Rebels on the bridge were dead as well, leaving only the injured and living loyalists. Looking around, Randal took note of the amount of Troopers that remained. Out of the sixteen that had boarded, only nine remained, including the injured. Excluding the injured they only had five Troopers, two of whom were medics and were tied up with the injured four. Including the Knights, it seemed that there were only five combat effective personnel. Roughly twenty-five percent of their boarding force was not enough to gather up the injured and dead, and bring them back to the Magi. They would have to leave the dead, though it would pain them.

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The Corporal called out, “Alright, listen up Troopers! Knights are taking command. Follow the Staff Sergeant’s orders and we’ll get out of this with no more casualties. We’ll need to leave the dead, we’re only twenty-five percent. The three non-injured Troopers, you’ll be pulling security until we have the injured able to move. Medics, keep tending to the injured. I’ll be pulling security as well. Keep eyes up, we’re in hostile territory.” The Troopers were already moving into positions, with one of the injured not caring about medical, and joining security. The Corporal moved to where the Troopers were holding security. The Corporal drew his blade again, and stood still, waiting for any Rebels to arrive. A few minutes passed, and a medic called out, “We’re even less now, leave the bodies, help up the injured who can still fight, and carry the unconscious injured. That’s the Lieutenant Colonel and Captain.

Staff Sergeant Lindsey stepped up beside the Corporal, four new blades strapped to herself, indicating that she had recovered the Traitors’ blades and that Lance Corporal Grant had passed. Randal spoke, “Need me to carry some of them, Sergeant?” Lindsey began to pass Grant’s blade to Randal, who took it with care. As the sword is strapped to his back, he glances back to see several injured on their feet and moving. One Trooper was missing a shoulder, and had the Lieutenant Colonel over his other shoulder. The man was rather large, and there was no blood, indicating he was either a golem-like Galian or synthetic Nexil. He would be no problem in their movements back to the Magi. The other two were being helped by the medics. Randal pointed to one of the Troopers on security, and spoke, “Go pick up the Captain, I’ll take your position in security.” The Trooper immediately begins moving, going to pick up the unconscious Knight.

Lindsey spoke, while glancing at the two Troopers that were left, “Let's get ready to move. We need to get out of here immediately.” The final two Troopers get up, and prepare to move. As the group gathers, Lindsey speaks again, “We will need to go slow, so that the injured remain with us. Do not get separated, and keep eyes on your surroundings. We’ll be moving north, as the Magi went down in that direction. Randal and I will take point until we exit the ship. When we exit the ship, injured will move to the center of the formation, Randal will take the back, and I will remain point. Combatants will move to the sides and keep security there. Understood?” The response was quiet, but they were all ready, and understood their roles. With that, Randal and Lindsey took point, moving silently through the wreck, blades at the ready for anything that could happen.

They manage to exit the ship with barely any problems, aside from a group of Rebels running past their location without noticing them. As they exit the ship, they move into their positions, and begin their long march through enemy territory. Weapons remained ready at all times, aimed at bushes and trees. The two Knights watched their surroundings silently, while keeping on the move. The group moved from cover to cover, silent as mice. Whenever Lindsey seemed to notice something potentially dangerous, she brought up her fist, causing the whole formation to do the same, freezing in their positions and raising their own fist, to signal down the line to halt. Soon they found a river, and began to quickly move up and through it. Though it was loud, if there was a Tracker following them, it would be slightly harder to keep their trail.

Whenever Lindsey found an animal trail, they would follow it, attempting to keep low profiles and stay out of sight. As they kept going, they soon froze again, and Randal began to watch the area more closely. This was the third time in this one small area, something was near, and it was hiding as well. Randal began to try smelling if something is different, only to find nothing. He listened for anything of consequence, and found nothing. He tried one final thing, his simple intuition. Glancing up at the trees, he saw nothing. At least for a bit. Once the formation moved again, he saw movement in the trees. Something was following them. As the Trooper ahead of him looks back to signal to stop, Randal points up, which causes the Trooper to look while repeating the signal down the line.

Caught and noticed, the creature slowly lowers itself into view, and stares at them. The massive spider had been stalking them, and Randal wasn’t liking that. The group continued moving, attempting to exit the Spider’s gaze, which was rather easy, as it had not moved from its new position. It was odd to see creatures not run from humanoids, but it happened enough times that it wasn’t seen as unnatural. The Spider was likely curious about them and what they were doing near where it was making its home. The formation continued onwards, finding no threats for a while.

(Unknown Civilian) Ryk

Location: Sector Victor1-5, Sub Sector Bravo-3, Alta-IV “Zion”; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front; AMEV Immortal Magi

Federate Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1736

Race: Freeborne

Voidic Mage: Y/N

Mage Variant: Evoker (Terra)

Age: 58

Sex: Female

Gender: Female

Coming to her senses, Ryk shook her head, and pushed on the floor. Sitting up, she looked around, knowing the ship had crashed. She tried to stand, only to feel a sharp pain erupt in her left wing, and two dull pains to jolt from her left leg. Falling back down, she begins to crawl towards the exit, knowing she needs medical attention. She moved slowly, unable to walk or fly. She kept crawling, until she heard metallic footfalls approaching. Glancing behind herself, she saw the Nexil from earlier sprinting at her. Fearing she would be trampled, she covered her head, only to feel herself yanked up and over the Nexil’s shoulder. She finds herself being carried quickly to the sickbay, where she’s unceremoniously dumped onto the same medical bed she had been in originally. The medic who had checked on her originally called out, “Thanks, Magus!” She sees the medic approach her, and ask, “So, what happened? I’m assuming you got injured during the crash?”

Ryk nods in response, as she says, “My left leg and wing.” The medic pulls out a small tablet-like object, as she looks over the wounds, “Nothing visible on the leg, however the wing is bent at an odd angle.” Ryk frowns at that as she says, “Yeah, I could tell. Hurts like hell.” The Medic smiles softly, as she then says, “Would you like painkillers?” Ryk nods in response, as she says, “I would rather not take supplies, but it would help.” Ryk sees the medic pull out an injector of some kind, before stating, “It will sting, but you’ll feel less pain while I fix you up.” Ryk begins to become nervous as the injector is swiftly stabbed into her. The pain slowly begins to subside, and she sees the medic move the tablet over her leg. The medic speaks as she does this, “How are you feeling?” Ryk smiles as she’s about to speak, but the smile fades quickly, replaced by a small bit of anxiety, “The pain’s going away, but I’m feeling a little numb. Is that normal?”

The Medic nods in response, as she states, “Yes, that is a normal side effect of ketamine. The dosage isn’t enough to make you unable to feel pain, so this will sting as well, but you are fine. I am just resetting the bone in your wing. She sets the tablet down as she reaches to grab the wing, causing Ryk to shiver with worry and panic. She closes her eyes, fear beginning to well up, as the Medic sets the bone back into place, and Ryk feels a sting on her back. With a jolt and yelp, she feels the Medic release, and then hears the Medic speak, “See? You’re fine. Just don’t use the wing for a while, and let it rest, okay?” Ryk looks at the Medic, then her wing, finding it to have been put back to normal. Her anxiety and fear begins to subside, as the Medic then says, “Your leg is also fine. You just have a large bruise near your ankle and one near your knee. You should be able to walk soon, since that injector was more than just ketamine. Some small nanomachines are currently helping heal your wounds. It should only take four hours with how minor it all was. So get some rest, okay?”

Ryk was now worried that the nanomachines would malfunction, or stick in her body and kill her, but she would try to not think about it while resting. She knew the Andromedans wouldn’t hurt her intentionally, but she couldn’t help but feel out of place and in a dangerous area. Then again, they did just crashland on a planet engulfed in war. It was reasonable for a civilian to be terrified of the area around her.

(FC, Senior Officer, Frigate Escort Fleet Commander) CAPT Hannah Tummel

Location: Sector Victor1-5, Sub Sector Bravo-3, Alta-IV “Zion”; Andromedan-Tamwyhn Front; AMEV Immortal Magi

National Date & Time: January 21st, 181 After Colonization, 1736

Race: Human

Voidic Mage: Y/N

Mage Variant: N/A

Age: 30

Sex: Female

Gender: Female

Standing up from her braced position, Captain Tummel called out to the bridge crew, “Is everyone alright!?” The response was almost unanimous, aside from a few unconscious individuals who had hit their heads a little too hard. “Get those three to medical! I need someone to go check engineering, someone else go check the hangars, and two others check the guns. I need a status report of the whole ship, and with our main screen out we can’t get that here. Double time!” Four of the bridge crew were already sprinting, while five others were helping the unconscious personnel. The next few weeks or months were going to suck.