The cold was slightly more bearable after Mr. Erin reengaged the ship's residual power. It didn't have much, most of the lighting fixtures being too damaged to function and many doors inoperable, but that was nothing their gravity skills and some commpad flashlights couldn't fix. Sasha ran her hand against the remains of the wall, the cold metal giving her not a single vision. If only she could figure out how the stupid skill worked.

"You think it's because of her, GT? The Goddess, I mean."

The staff chimed in her head. "It's hard to say, Ms. Sasha. Your skills are all gravity-based. I don't see this as comparable."

"But she's a Goddess, right? Or a really strong spirit. Maybe she gave me vision powers."

"Does she seem the sort?"

"I- Oh. Right. Sorry. I guess that was mean to ask."

"I take no offense, Ms. Sasha. We are a team, as you said."

"Yeah, well...this teammate doesn't wanna be a jerk, okay."

The staff disappeared, Sasha looking over as Mr. Erin waved for her. He'd found one of the few working doors leading to the remains of the crew quarters. It didn't rise completely, the two having to duck under the small opening, but it was better than having to waste energy blasting through. They both knew GT needed to conserve as much energy as possible to be useful.

Sasha winced at the state of the rooms. Some had been obliterated by the wreck, chunks of snow keeping them sealed out from the rest of the world. Others were so trashed with fallen beds and cabinets that she knew they must have been ransacked post-crash. But none drew her attention quite like the room at the far end of the hall. That was the room she found jagged marks embedded into the wall.

"Huh?"

She touched the spot, images flashing in front of her immediately.

She saw a sword dragging across metal, thin blade doing little but scrapping the surface. Though she could hear no sound, the wielder was panting. Shaking their head in frustration. They doubled back, sword raising before them as a bright glow illuminated their fur. They didn't move an inch, sword cutting through the air as the wall caved in behind Sasha. The jagged cuts burned into the metal.

The wielder smiled, the glow dissipating, though their bright white fur still shined in Sasha's eyes. The image faded just as quickly as it came.

“Iris," she said. "This was Iris's room.”

She pulled away, scanning about. When she focused, she could feel the signals lingering around her. On the bed. Over the walls. On the floor. She didn't see any weird graphs or charts lying around, but there was no question it was Iris's den. And her training room if the many other cuts she saw were any indication. Just knowing she'd been around made Sasha giddy.

“She was here,” Sasha said. “This was her room. Mr. Erin! I found it! I found her room!”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The weasel peaked through the doorframe.

"Hmm? Oh. So this is where she stayed? Are you sure this wasn't a spare training room?"

"Well, Iris was a really good fighter, unlike a certain crazy fox I know."

She felt her commpad vibrate. An angry message from Cici flashed before her. How does she always do that? She shoved the device back in her pocket.

"The signals are a bit stale," Mr. Erin said, moving around the den. "I'd wager your friend left some time ago. Perhaps a few weeks. It's hard to say how long, but it doesn't look like we'll find her here. It's probably best we keep searching elsewhere."

“Wait, we can't go yet. We gotta see if Iris left anything...behind.”

Her ears twitched, both she and Mr. Xan standing at attention as they heard clanking metal nearby. They both pulled out their weapons. A frostumite? Mr. Erin motioned towards the sound, Sasha nodding and following after her liaison. As they crept out of the room, the noise seemed to grow louder, echoing from beyond the crew quarters. Towards the command deck.

The clanking grew louder.

“Berrin do this. Berrin do that. What do I look like, the scrap golem?”

Erin raised a hand, both stopping before rounding the corner. The clattering was directly in front of them. Along with an unfamiliar voice.

“Crap. Crap. Mega crap. What the heck kinda junkers lived here?”

Sasha felt around, but she could only sense the everyday signals of Frostum life. Whoever it was, it was no legionnaire. Or a graduate. Must be a local. Mr. Erin slowly crept forward, Sasha following his lead. Behind the arrangement of broken consoles, Sasha could hear the voice of their target.

Items were flying out from the other side, Sasha peaking over to see a figure clad in a thick brown coat and hunched over. They weren't particularly large, no bigger than she or Cici, in fact, but her gaze narrowed on the blaster on the stranger's hip. She slinked back into her hiding spot, Mr. Erin raising his fingers and slowly counting down. Three. Two. One.

His wand glowed, a barrier surrounding the section of broken consoles. Sasha leapt out, jumping over to point her staff right at the stranger.

“Hands where we can see them!” the panther demanded.

The stranger kept digging, the items flying right through the barrier.

“Crap. Crap. All I ever get is crap.”

Sasha stared at the pile of items sitting outside the barrier. Even as another piece was thrown, the pile didn't get any bigger. In fact, the piece disappeared. Sasha tensed, immediately whirling as the signals shot up around her. The ground rose under her feet.

“Sweet whiskers."

GT pulled her back in a flash, the field locking in place nearly clipping her nose off. She slid to a halt, touching her face with relief. That was, until she noticed the second barrier standing in front of her. Or her liaison trapped in the middle.

"Crap."

She looked back at the pile of scraps, which had begun to flicker along with the digger.

"Holograms." Mr. Erin cursed. "Oldest trick in the cosmos."

A loud howl sounded over the broken walls of the command deck. As it did, figures began to emerge from the darkness.

They moved in tandem, one appearing after the other. All draped in thick coats and jackets with their weapons at the ready. Sasha growled, GT held in front of her despite the clear numbers disadvantage. As they all moved around her, she noticed one of the group had the same thick brown coat as the hologram. His face was obscured by goggles, but he was unmistakably human, his furless skin a clear giveaway of that. He wrapped his hand against the first barrier, the same voice she'd heard coming out of his throat.

“Welcome to Bison Land, baby,” the stranger said, smiling with a toothy grin.