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[EinhanderZwei]

===Post 31===

- You sonuva... - John's Defender jumped out of the holster and rushed right towards Akrn's face. Sigurbelle gave out a loud shriek before trying to shield him with her subtle body.
- Captain, hold off the teleportation. - Rydia whispered before turning her private comm channel to John. - Don't go hotheaded brother, there's something wrong here.
- You bet your iron ass. - instead of answering her via the neuro link, John squeezed this line through his teeth clenched in rage. The next one was targeted at Akrn, much like the menacing barrel of the Defender. - Now YOU, get the f'k up and elaborate on what we heard earlier.
- Don't harm him, can't you see he's helpless! - Sigurbelle was going to do anything but move away, and somehow both John and Rydia knew that.
- Look girl, there won't be any trouble if nobody becomes stupid all of a sudden.
- John, you are the one who's stupid now. - Rydia sighed.
Akrn, Bren and Bayonetta were all dead silent. Akrn still wasn't sure what to reply without having a chance of John blowing his silicon brains off, Bren could surely take John's side, but not before Akrn explains the reasons, and Bayonetta got just plain scared at the visage of John's merciless eyes. One thing is slow mumbling zombies, but this killer machine with red eyes and otherworldly looking power armor was just too much.
- Your laptop. Show me the interface. - he said, still pointing the gun at Akrn.
- S-sure, here it is... - Sigurbelle picked up the device with her trembling hands and handed it to John. To his frustration, he did see what he was expecting - that blue striped diamond-shaped bad omen.
- Tri-fucking-Optimum... They've sent you to kill me for the Citadel, right? Or was it for Von Braun?
- Listen man, I don't know shit! - Akrn suddenly gathered enough strength to say something. - Do they need to explain to the device why its firmware is being uploaded?! All I know is that I'm supposed to kill you - but I don't have a slightest idea why!
- John, you're making things way more complicated than they should be. - said Rydia.
- You're right. - John finally lowered his sidearm. - All of you, grab your asses and run to the nearest shuttles, whichever are available. I'll catch up on you.
- Are you crazy?! - Bren's eyebrow jumped up. - What the hell are you going to do?
- What I've already done two times. - John turned around and stepped towards the door. - Blow some proprietary shit up to get rid of her.

He didn't care if the rest of his team will be able to make it to the shuttles. He didn't even care about possible casualties, including himself. But he knew that Captain Trenz will not abandon him. A cloud of light wrapped around John's fist, and after a short blaze, he was carrying the Deliverator assault rifle. Captain Trenz will never abandon him.
- John, you must get all the ship systems offline - if you'll be unable to destroy SHODAN this way, you can at least confine her. - Captain's voice was echoing throughout the wires covering John's brain.
- To Hell with that. - he said. - It all will end right here, right now.
- You don't mean doing what I think you're going to do?
- I will do exactly that. - said John and blasted another random zombie head off, spray painting the nearby wall in gore. - Now back off!
He was damn lucky this time, as the engineering mainframe room door stood right before him. They did have a decent security setup, but pierced by the Deliverator's gunfire, it was like toilet paper.
The next person to contact him was none other that SHODAN herself.
- You will never do it, meat puppet. Everybody onboard is assimilated now - anyone but you.
There were two things possible - either she got his unfortunate teammates, or they have escaped successfully. Remembering the story behind Rydia taking care of that hideous Abaddon AI, John didn't even bother believing in the first option.
- Why are you holding it off then? - he chuckled. - I'm all alone, so you have plenty of chances to destroy me now.
- I have a much worse fate planned for you, you bastard... You will suffer for all my previous defeats!
John walked up to the nearest engineering terminal and started punching the buttons. When the external security camera image popped up, he saw two shuttles departing rapidly towards the Naju surface. Just as planned.
- They can run, but they won't hide!
- Why don't you just halt pissing out your pathos and finally do something? - John screamed. - I am here! I mean, what is preventing you now?!
- You...
A few more button clicks, and the core manipulations security access password window popped up. John raised his hand, and a solid wire slided from inside of his wrist. That was pretty much literally his ace-in-a-sleeve for such situations - the ThunderSpectrum connection interface. Once John plugged it up, his monthership's central computer instantly started cracking all the necessary codes one by one.
- Why're you silent all of a sudden? Huh, SHODAN? - he grinned.
- Go to Hell!
Suddenly, a pack of zombies slowly stepped into the doorway. Their crew uniforms were torn to shreds hanging from their mutilated augmented bodies, and their red eyes were focused on him, and him only. John slowly raised the Deliverator with his free hand.
- SHODAN? You said that you won't kill me.
- I will keep my word. You will be subjected to the same fate as that idiot Miria.
Miria! John knew this name. It belonged to the legendary Guardian Fighter, the first of its kind, who once was able to save the Earth from crashing with a gigantic moving alien planet. When this planet's course stopped, no more signals were received from the Guardian. Despite the original unit being declared MIA, Miria's concept was greenlighted though, and thus the Guardian Fighters corps have been established, and the dead alien world was put to quarantine for 100 or something years, only to receive a terraforming assignment few months ago...
There was no time for history lessons. John had to breach the Compile's warp core to bitchslap SHODAN again. But first, the Deliverator sliced the torsos, heads and necks of the stomping biomechanical freakshow closing in on him.
- I'm opening the door to the reactor core, SHODAN.
- You wouldn't dare. - by emphasizing each word in the sentence, she beautifully gave away her fear. She knew she was about to be f'ked, she just didn't believe it.
- I will proceed through the gateway and fire at the plasma pipes, SHODAN. You'd better kill me instantly, now. Upload a virus into my brain or something. Kill me, SHODAN.
She had no mouth, but she could scream. A terrible paralyzing headache fell on John's head, hurting him so hard that he nearly fell to the ground. He wasn't dead, however.
- I am still alive, you bitch. Try harder. - he pulled the interface out of the terminal socket and started walking away to the giant metallic door labaled 'REACTOR CORE !!! DANGER !!! DO NOT ENTER'.
- Meat puppet... You will not dare!
- Kill me, or I will destroy the reactor! - masochistic grin has distorted John's face.
- You...
- I said kill me! Kill me! KILL ME!
- You..!

Despite what they usually show in action movies, the landing was soft and smooth. The first to leave the claustrophobic cockpit was Bayonetta. Once she stepped on the metal paving of the Naju Central Airport, a strike of pain ran through the wound on her midriff.
- Horaculous, Bren, help her. - said Rydia. - Sigurbelle, you stay here with Akrn.
- No... - Bayonetta moaned. - I need to see John.
- Are you crazy? If it takes too long, you will bleed to death or catch an infection! - Rydia gave her an angry look.
- Sweet Jesus. - Akrn pointed at the sky. - Look!
- John? Are you okay? - Rydia connected to him instatnly via the special channel. No response was received.
- What the..?! - Bren went bug-eyed when he saw what the others were already mesmerized with.
It was the ridicuolously colossal hull of the Compile falling towards the surface, catching fire from the atmospheric friction and falling apart in one great, literally earth-shattering explosion. Nodoby ever witnessed such a sight in real life, with the possible exceptions of Bren and Rydia, but still a giant terraforming cruiser falling towards the planet was most definitely not something you can see everyday.
Majority of the parts have flown towards the horizon, meaning that at least there'll be little to no seismic disasters in the Central area, which always was a good sign. Only a gigantic cylindrical chunk of burning metal was rushing almost towards the Airport.
- Call the GFs! - Akrn screamed before squinting his eyes in pain. - It should be stopped somehow!
- Too late... - theatrically whispered Bayonetta, still entranced by the falling ship section. - Look, it is going to crash nearby.
Rydia ran towards the hoverbike parking area to borrow one. There were still no signs of life from John, even the ThunderSpectrum didn't pick anything. So, even if they were unable to trace him, this could mean that John Targa has finally got his ticket to the Moon. Or hadn't he?

And then there was the mother of all crashes. The thunder was so loud that even Akrn gave out a loud scream of pain, despite all the metallic parts that he consisted of. A small earthquake followed, making most of the Airport's visitors fall to the ground, and some glass windows got instatnly shredded to pieces, flying fast enough to injure the people inside the buildings.

After the sandstorm passed by, screams of pain and injuries started popping up here and there. Thankfully, John's comrades were not so unlucky, as just moments before the crash their gears have made enough turns to make them hide back in the shuttles and seal the cockits as tight as possible. Only Rydia was sitting on a parked hoverbike with one foot on the ground. Out of all them, she needed to know the most.
As the bike ran closer to the crash site, she resumed her attempts to contact John. The debris were lying around scattered in a circular pattern, with giant steaming cylindric part in the center. Rydia recognized this section - it was the main reactor core, the mothership's heart. It looked like the large part of its colossal length had sunk into the soil, leaving only a relatively small part above the surface.
- John... - Rydia's face saddened slowly. Despite her completely artificial origin, she loved her brother. Him and her were both like a cogs into the large mechanism occupying the ThunderSpectrum, but still it was <i>him</i>, who always was the most important person onboard to her. This reckless, blunt, sometimes silly person.
As she was just about to burst into tears, two shuttles landed nearby on two largest chunks of debris. Slowly, others stepped out to witness the wreck. Rydia was trembling in frustration - there still were no lifesigns from him.
The gigantic door on the side of the section started opening with a painful loud screech. Everybody was silent. The door kept moving.
John stood there, holding on to the doorway edge, and smiled. His left leg and right arm were torn out, his left eye was burnt out of the socket, and the wounds were covered in waterfalls of blood, but he was still alive.
And he smiled.
- John... - Rydia sighed and pushed the pedal to race towards him.
- My God. - Akrn was beyond confused. - But how? Who are you, John Targa?
Everybody was shocked, but Rydia was smiling now. She surely knew what her brother was.

==End Post==

[RubyC42]

Post 32
Moment of Reflection - Between the departure of the escape shuttles and the landing back on Naju Surface

             For most of the duration of what appeared to be a long flight back home; Akrn continued to be drowned in endless thoughts about the events that happened just minutes ago back in the Sickbay - all the while Sigurbelle wasted no time to finish fixing Akrn.



On the topic of TriOptimum...

             It was true that Akrn Salthic was different in many respects from the other Guardian Fighters around him - he was visibly physically designed differently to the rest of the team; his internal systems were at least 1 generation ahead of the technologies that the Military used - even with the supplied blue prints the Military's engineers had trouble just to maintain Akrn [Post 04]; his outer shell even used materials not native to Naju; and the one very feature that made the Military water their eyes: his weaponry capacity was greater than what their own locally produced Guardian Fighters could handle.

the story that was passed down through the archives of time described it thus:

             At the time when the Terraforming Projects were just taking shape in the years gone by, the Military that oversaw the progress were all too aware of the dangers it posed - the creatures that the original Guardian Legend, Miria, had banished into the "Below-Surface worlds" remained. It would only be a matter of time, or some drastic carelessness, that they resurface and destroy any future inhabitants of the new world. They needed some sort of new "Guardians" that would protect Naju should such event reoccur - Tetharil Cannin would become the first of the new Guardian Fighters to be made.

             However, the Military realised that the production capacity they had at the time could not satisfy constructing the number of Guardian Fighters in the timely manner required to maintain full Law & Order on Naju. They, against Intergalactic Conventions; offered ludicrous contracts to Mega Corporations that could construct their own Guardian Fighter that was "durable, reliable, adaptable, easily maintainable, and above all, compatible with the Military's own arsenal". A large group of interested parties initially signed up; but very few were actually able to come up with even a workable prototype. It then came as no surprise that, eventually, only three Mega Corporations won the contract: TriOptimum was one of them.

             Using their technological powers, the reputation they had at the time, and countless number of funds, material, workmen, and work hours that was invested into the project; their masterpiece, Guardian Fighter Akrn Salthic, was born.

             It was not without some political consequences, though; eventhough Akrn Salthic was proven to be the most reliable Guardian Fighter that was ever built, even compared to the ones made by other Mega Corporations, the time it had taken, including the numerous delays, and the final bill proved too costly for the Military - the contract was never renewed. This, in turn, led to the conclusion that Akrn Salthic remains the only Guardian Fighter to be constructed by TriOptimum Corporation.

             Still; even then, the impressive reliability of Akrn was among the reason why the Military held back in using Akrn right up until the Terraforming Disaster [Post 03]; not that much time had passed since the initial delivery and the disaster itself anyway. The seriousness of the event that unfolded would turn out to be the biggest gamble that the Military would perform. They didn't have any choice left - the other Guardian Fighters made by other Mega Corporations were either tragically lost, or went MIA; including the one that was very close to Tetharil [Post 30] and lost in controversial circumstances during a mission that the Space Mercenary John Targa was involved with too. The locally produced Guardian Fighters (Amet, Killian, Samuel, Letty, Maiorico and Callisto*) had not been properly trained and tested of their abilities; hence the "Rookie" designation they had thus far [Posts 06, 08, 15, 19, 21, 30].


BUT AKRN DOESN'T KNOW ANY OF THAT.

             He doesn't even know that TriOptimum actually made him in the first place: by the time he was switched on (or at least the earliest timestamp that his internal records would show) he was already within Naju's own Military Laboratories, and since then he had spent his life "training, testing and being tested on" [Post 00].

             Akrn never really bothered with his past anyway - he knew his destiny, it was bred and trained into him since the day he was made. All Akrn knew was that he was made to protect Naju from the inevitable and so long as he carried out his duties faithfully and loyally, nothing else would have mattered to him.

             At least that's how things went until this John Targa mission, and the very person, showed up anyway... Only time will reveal the full story behind all that - he would hope.



near Naju Central Airport - the Crash Site - this is after Tetharil meeting up with the other GFs (described just below), and right after Post 31

             Akrn didn't even have enough time to wonder how the hell John survived all that crash landing when the familiar figure landed a short distance from the group. It would be no one other than Tetharil Cannin himself.

Terry, running towards the group: Akrn! You're alright! And Horaculous too!
Akrn: Of all the things that's happening right now; and you're concerned about that?!
Horaculous: Hey! Don't forget Sigurbelle as well! *Points to her helping out Bay nearby*
Terry: I've already summoned the other GFs to help out; last thing we want at the moment is mass panic among the inhabitants... - so what happened exactly?? *surveying the area* A Terraforming Cruiser fell out of the sky and crashed here, huh?
Horaculous: pretty much, and considering we're lucky that we made it out alive.
Terry: Any survivors of the crew?
Rydia, helping John off: Unfortunately not - that eBitch SHODAN assimilated every crew member into zombies, so John had no choice but to activate the "panic button"...
Terry: Uh huh *then somehow, recognising that voice, turns to Rydia* w... wait a minute here... *tries to remember her name* Rydia?!




Naju Surface, Area 1: South Coasts

             Saving the fisherman from becoming part the hungry whale-like creature's appetite was more in Samuel's mind than feeding the very same creature with his rockets and arsenals, and it was apparent that despite his weaponry having effects of tasty candy inside its mouth - no amount of his ammo will ever be enough to satisfy its hunger. He needed a Plan B and he needs it fast.

             It was then he got a message in his systems - an "Urgent" rated message sent from Tetharil. At first Samuel wanted to ignore it because of the importance of the event at hand, but after a short while (or maybe because of the annoying notification), Samuel bought a bit of time and decided to answer the message: "Return to Naju Central at once, massive disaster occurred, require assistance from other Guardian Fighters" it read. Although it was meant to be a confidential message read only by the Guardian Fighters, his closeness to the fisherman nevertheless allowed him to have a peek at it as well. He then thought of an idea and whispered it to Samuel.

Samuel, looking at the fisherman: You sure about this?

             A firm nod was all he needed from the fisherman; and just before the creature swallowed the boat, Samuel shifted into a fighter plane and, while carrying the fisherman, flew away from its massive jaws.

             Later on the shore; the pair appeared relieved that it was all over; though the fisherman appeared visibly upset about the loss of possibly his livelihood. Samuel wanted to apologise to him but was stopped before he could even speak - instead he got in return a thanks from the fisherman for saving his life - and said that he should return to Naju Central at once.

Agreeing, Samuel bid him farewell and flew off into the skies.


Naju Central Airport

             Being nearest to Naju Central, it was no surprise that Samuel would be the first to arrive back to the Airport. So quick that he needed to wait for further instructions from Tetharil regarding this "Urgent Message" that was sent to the other Guardian Fighters. But it provided him with valuable time to circle around the place, observe and capture the extent of the damage caused by the crash of USF Compile.

             A short time later the instruction came from Tetharil that requested Samuel to land nearby the hangar, where he, the officers, and all the emergency responders were coordinating the relief work and all the media relations.

Samuel, as he is handling the images of the crash site to the Military officers: What the hell happened?!
Terry: No idea; appears that one of the Terraforming Cruisers went out of control and crashed just short of the Airport. Still; it caused massive damage to the nearby areas and we're just planning on evacuating the area as safety precautions...
Samuel: Anything you need us to do?
Terry, handing Samuel a small slip of paper: I need you to hand over these instructions to the other Guardian Fighters when they return; as well as also help out with any injuries within the airport!
Samuel, saluting: You got it! What about you though?
Terry: I'll be heading over to the crash site to see if there are any survivors; as well as to know whether Akrn survived or not...
Samuel: Akrn? Is he on that ship?!
Terry: ...he is, and so are Sigurbelle and Horaculous, too.
Samuel: I'll help find them!
Terry, stopping Samuel: No! I need you to stay and help the other GFs; that is more important right now! I will be fine on my own.
Samuel: ...oh ok. You stay safe ok??

[[ How dare a rookie tell his superior what to do! ]]



Naju Surface, Area 3: Dense Viridiplanta Forests

             With exception of odd robotic enemies here and there; nothing seemed exceptionally out of order in the Forest. At least that was how the scouting mission Letty and Maiorico seemed to have come to, at least. Maiorico had at least expected some sort of swarm of robots for him to slaughter - he had always liked killing sprees, very much like the former GF that was close to Tetharil in the days gone by. On the other hand, he had Letty that he needed to protect, so the apparent lack of enemies would have, in itself, served as a blessing for the mission at hand.

             Letty was mesmerised, though, at a sight of a mushroom that seemed to have followed alongside the pair, every step they took it would follow them by the same distance - as  if it was carefully observing the pair... wait a minute, a moving mushroom?? The only "moving" mushroom that Letty ever knew of was the one that appeared in the video game Super Mario Bros., never before did Letty actually thought she's see a real one out in the open. Maiorico, though, appeared not be to as enthusiastic as Letty.

Letty, pointing to that Mushroom: So, what do you think about it?
Maiorico: Sei matta?? What if it is just waiting for a moment to pounce on us?? We need to treat anything around here as suspicious until we're fully sure they're harmless.
Letty, pouting: Psh, talk about a killjoy.
Maiorico: ...I'll ask someone back at Naju Central to make a bambola Mushroom for you instead?
Letty: ...it's alright.

             It wouldn't have mattered for long, anyway; a short time later the pair got an emergency message from Tetharil, requesting him to return at once back to Naju Central.

Maiorico, reading the message: Well, I suppose we spent too long on our scouting mission, non?
Letty, reading her message too: Nah, it appears that something big has happened back home, let's go!

The pair shifted into fighter planes and made their way back to Naju Central. The Mushroom that had been following them seemed to be "saddened" by the departure of the two Guardian Fighters, and went on its own way back into the Forest.


Naju Central Airport

             When Letty arrived at the Airport she was almost brought to tears at the sight of the number of injured travellers and the disproportionally low number of medical workers helping out the injured. he almost had to fight with Samuel to permit her, and Maiorico, to assist the medics (eventhough it was what Tetharil wanted her to do anyway, just Samuel couldn't relay the message to her without her incessant shouting and pleading half way through).

             Grabbed whatever medical supplies she and Maiorico would get their hands on, they made their way back into the Terminal. While the sight of Letty arriving to aid the injured brought relief and cheers from everyone who saw them, it would be short-lived as Maiorico, of all the people, tripped on some loose rubble and fell flat on the ground - throwing the medical supplies everywhere.

Letty, facepalming: GODDAMN IT RICO! Couldn't you just not be clumsy for just one minute?!
Maiorico: Well, scusami! Let's leave the fighting, shall we? We have lots of people to help around here!
Letty, helping the nearest injured: Right!



Naju Surface, Area 5: Eastern Highlands

             Killian was to be seen treating himself to some delicious barbecue thousands of metres up the hills of the Easter Highlands - it had been a rather long battle between himself and that Zibzub such that when it ended he was pretty hungry. He didn't even need to test whether the Zibzub that he just defeated was edible or not, after all, he is 100% mechanical, so his internal systems would just burn up whatever he ate and use the precious energy to fly back to Naju Central.

Though his gourmet lunch would be cut short when he got an emergency message from Tetharil, requesting him to return at once back to Naju Central.

Killian: *reading the message* Well, I wonder what's up back home *finishes one last bite*

             Making sure the surrounding areas were now free from any visible hostility, as well as the volcanic activities had been stabilised; Killian shifted into a fighter plane and made his way back to Naju Central.


Naju Central Airport

             Like the other Guardian Fighters; Killian was visibly shocked to see the Terraforming Cruiser crashing a short distance from the Airport. When he landed on the tarmac he found himself beside the Shuttles that the surviving members had used in their escape from Compile, along with Horaculous's Skygrasper parked nearby.

Sigurbelle, seeing Killian: Wait, is that... *waves* Killian!
Killian, seeing Sigurbelle: Sigurbelle! The hell's going on around here?! Where's Akrn?!
Sigurbelle: don't mind about that! *carrying Bay* Can you give us a hand?
Killian: S-sure! *goes over to help Sigurbelle carry Bay to the airport's infirmary* who?s this girl anyway?


===End Post===

* - only if UserK would want to use him, he may even be made by one of the other Mega Corporations and thus have different features than the other Guardian Fighters.

Also note: Tetharil and the GFs have not been aware that they have lost contact with Amet.

[EinhanderZwei]

===Post 32===

John was sitting on a bench placed at the sidewalk of Naju Central's artificial greenhouse garden. They told him that he was unconscious for a few hours or so, and the amount of work required to fix his eye and limbs was beyond anything that the local medics and engineers have encountered before.
Trenz picked his signal right after awakening. He was extremely worried, and seeing John still alive visibly enlightened his old grim face.
- Did we win? - he asked John.
- I doubt so. These artificial intelligence entities are too elusive to rely on physical destruction.
- Yes, that's right. This concept was originally pioneered by the legendary Durandal, back then...
- Captain, please. - John closed his eyes. The less he was reminded of the Marathon catastrophe, the happier he was.
- Yeah, that's right. Anything else I can help you with? And where's Rydia?
- Oh, she met that guy... You know, her knight in a shining armor.
- Don't you mean <i>the</i> knight?! - Trenz raised his eyebrow.
- Exactly, sir. Tetharil Cannin himself. As ridiculously confident as he ever was.
- Oh boy, I need to talk to him! Thank you for noting it!
- It's nothing, Captain. - John smiled. - Man, I'm hungry.
- OK, will not disturb you then. Talk to you later, John.
- See you, Captain.

They were forced to remove the remnants of his armor in order to gain access to the organic parts. Thankfully, Rydia was there to collect the pieces and return to ThunderSpectrum to recycle the junk and replicate the original product. Until then, John was wearing his good old dark gray muscle shirt and green army pants. He was on top of the world.
And then there was Tetharil. He was the last one they were expecting here, and the irony was beyond stunning. John clearly remembered the story of Rydia and how she was stranded on that cursed desert planet, cannibalizing on her killed crewmates and driven near crazy when Terry's platoon just happened to stumble upon her. John was the scout on that mission, and his first meeting with Rydia was pretty funny, as she jumped on his chest, thinking that he's a mirage of food and bit off a good chunk of flesh from his neck. Thanks to Terry's taser, she went to sleep pretty soon. They did a damn fine job at curing her and restoring her healthy mentality, but it was John who became different instead. Badly different...
- Hello, merc boy! - Bayonetta's voice distracted him from the gory flashbacks.
He looked up and saw her alive and well, clad in a tight medical outfit.
- Oh my. Hi there! - he smiled and took a cigarette from his pocket. - Why would a doctor take a walk in the smokers' zone?
- Let's say the doctor is pretty interested in meeting one of those smokers. - she sat on his bench next to him. - How do we feel, John?
- Like a million dollar baby. - he grinned. - How 'bout you?
- Been worse. - she smiled in return. - What have you done to bring such a massive vessel down to earth as if it was an asteroid?
- Oh, it's nothing. Let it be my dirty little secret. - John smiled. - Are you hungry?
- Yep! I feel as I can eat a wagon of sandwiches now.
- Goody.

==End Post 32==

[CamKrist]

I decided to give a hand and sent a post into social bookmarks. I hope the popularity will rise in.

[RubyC42]

I decided to give a hand and sent a post into social bookmarks. I hope the popularity will rise in.

Cheers, mate. If you want to you can also join in 

Quick note to UserK: this would be a good time for Earl and Leona to probably mingle in with the GFs during the helpout at the Airport, too.

[UserK]

Post 33
Green Hell Zone.
Timeline: a few hours after post 28 (therefore after Compile crashed as the whole thing took tens of minutes, if not a couple of hours AFAIK).

They say knowing your enemy is half the battle.
Over the years spent scouting Naju, Rey realized overly complicated tactics were far from useful. The enemy was made of waves of critters, aggressive feral creatures, diseases, uncomfortable weather and unfavorable grounds. Knowing the enemy wasn't then much of a great deal. Execution was key to staying alive, keeping eyes and ears open. And mouth shut.

Location, location, location. They also used to say, years ago, in his early days of training in the self-defense forces. They weren't quite telling the whole story and the whole story was that location, timeframe and conditions were key. Get there, get there when needed. Get there without fucking up.
In this case, something must have gone wrong. Very wrong. Headed towards an unknown position, probably hours late, unprepared, to attempt a rescue mission on an unknown, possibly hostile subject. Luckly Rey long forgone being completely rational. Rationally, nobody would ever land to an hostile, unidentified planet with no extraction plan just to pull out some data about its ecosystems. But they did.

Rey knew they were successful a couple of years ago, when the sky were suddendly filled with fireworks. Somebody came down to lay death on this forsaken planet and hopefully bring them back to home. Then, earthquakes seemed to almost tear the planet apart. Not once, not twice but 10 times, with increasing force.
And then. Nothing. For years. Until something apparently started messing up with topography, near the horizon, near the high mountains separating from the other hemisphere. The radio went live and an aircraft made its way to the surface. It was hope, it was...

Smell is an often neglected sense. But here in the dense woods were line of sights are nothing other than a futile concept and ears cannot pinpoint the location of every small animal and critter in the dense shadows, it was possibly even more important. Welcome to Naju, where even the environment can kill you. Learn to sidestep the "death trees", hear the centipedes, outrun the giant enemy crabs, you can still get killed and love every second of it.

They dubbed it "pinneapple octopus". It finds a spot where the shade is less thick and stays there until the sun sets. The more sun it takes, the more it spreads its lovely juices. They must taste delicious for the creatures, attracted by the smell. It attracts humans too. No matter what it is, when it reaches the origin, the smell and the light make the rest. It must be a piece of paradise.

Shit!

Rey quickly backtracks. How long has been breathing this? He didn't even notice it just started to rain. He stumbles on a wet root and while he tries to recover, he falls down a small basin, vanely trying to get a stable hold. Something just went wrong. He's struck on a rock by sheer speed. Grabbing a log covered in ivy, he falls in the void.
The jump is only a few meters in height. A pond of brown water greets the unfortunate explorer with a warm splash.

Rey walks out the pond on his knees. Bends and start pushing his head on the ground. Then he raises it and the whole forest appears to be filled with his screams.

Then silence.

It is pleased.

There are two ways through the forest. The first is going by a river. The toxic, hallucinogic fumes prevent unprotected humans to stay near the flow long but doesn't appear to be particularly dangerous to the native inhabitants. Taken in the clear, everything is an easy prey. Better to let this not happen.
The second is to go through the woods. Of course there are hundreds of ways to be killed there but with limited visibility, at least humans can stand a chance in combat. Unless something goes wrong, as it just happenened.

Rey is standing still. His eyes are open, filled with blood as he tries to figure out his position.

Better to move out. Fast. Everything must have heard me. Better to try than just to get my ass bitten off by some lionworm!

At full power, the steel feet of the two augmentations jump from a stone to the other covering inhumane distances. Rey soon reaches the other side of the basin and begins to follow the flow.

Something jumps out of the shade and tries to attack the explorer. He dodges with a somersault. As the creature lands, Rey shoots. It's a miss. Sparks are scattered as the laser would bounce on the rock hit. The wheel-like creature propels itself towards Rey again. Easily predicting this, he avoids a direct hit again, as the creature smashes a large rock nearby.

Leave me alone!

A laser trail shows in the air as Rey sweeps between himself and the creature. Immediately, explosions burst out one after the other filling the air with an almost solid wall of light. Rey turns away, jumps on a large rock and crouches as if he's charging a a spring. From the top, he can see hundreds of feral eyes glittering in the dark. Everything would be better than this.

No problem. I needed a recon anyway.
Let's just hope for the landing!

The rock explodes in a burst of debris as he jumps towards the air. The eyes blur away, the river basin appears to become thinner and thinner. In a moment he's over the green and brown surface that is the forest. He can see the ruins in the distance as he searches for something to help him locate a crash site. At the topmost point of the parabola, he raises a punch to the air. Landing is going to be difficult, but Rey is going down with a smile.

[RubyC42]

Post 35

Naju (backside)
Crash site within the Dense Forest


[[ Some happenings surrounding the crash of Amet will be included later.

For the most part, Amet would simply be trying to piece together about what the hell happened that led to the crash, and trying to locate himself and identify the surroundings he is in. Amet would try and send some signals to other GFs or anything only to find that his communication systems have been busted. So he had to use other methods. ]]



Naju (frontside)
Naju Central Airport

             To say the last few hours had been chaotic around the crash site would be an understatement itself; though despite that, with the assistance of the Guardian Fighters and the emergency responders among others, aided by the marvels of Naju technology, they were able to quickly clear up the place and get the Airport running again in less than an hour. Still; many flights in and out of Naju Central had to be grounded, diverted or delayed due to the damaged runway as well as the injured travellers needing treatment before they can leave.

             While the number of injured travellers inside the airport as the spaceship impacted had been immense; the combined work from the medical team ensured that most of the lightly injured people were quickly patched up on-site and the more heavier injured travellers, John Targa and Bayonetta included, bought to the limited capacity infirmary. Still, after just a few further hours most of them have already been discharged and went on their ways.

             By the time things appeared to be returning to normal the sun had already set and darkness was quickly covering the surface. The recovery of the wreckage had to be postponed until the following day because of the lack of lighting; giving all passing travellers an otherwise grim view of the ruined spaceship protruding ominously up from the ground.

             Once all the "major" works was completed and the rest of the reconstruction work could be passed over to the civilian contractors. Akrn called for the Guardian Fighters to assemble back at the hangar. Due to the emergency of the crash of USF compile; the GFs haven't had the chance to pass over the reports of their earlier scouting mission that Tetharil dispatched them for earlier in the day [Post 21].

Samuel, looking at the group that assembled: Where's Terry??
Akrn: He went off with the Mercenary Girl that survived the crash back to the Military Centre; probably to answer some 'questions' surrounding the whole thing, or something related...
Killian: and Sigurbelle? I remember helping her carry another survivor to the infirmary, but... *looks around* she doesn't look like to have come out of it yet.
Akrn: Should still be in the infirmary; there are still other people that need overnight treatment. The people at the Control Tower [Earl and Leona] are there too.
Letty: Isn't it great when everyone could get together and help out when something like this happens?
Samuel: Well, given how things are going I don't think we'll be relying on that for much longer... it's going to massively dent the image of Naju for a long time...
Maiorico: How the hell did that whole ship just come down and crash anyway? From what I heard from witnesses they said that the ship just "fell out of the sky" and *gesturing* BOOM!
Akrn: That will be up to the Military and the Investigators to decide.
Killian: So, what was it that you wanted us here for??
Akrn: Oh yeah, back to that. *takes out a sheet of paper* Since Tetharil is not here to boss you guys around; i'll be the one to look over you guys for next few tasks or something. but first, I need to gather up on the reports of your recent scouting mission.

The Guardian Fighters then gave the report of their scouting mission one by one for Akrn to process because the author of this post was too lazy and/or writer blocked to type out all the details that doesn't add anything to the plotline

             While Akrn was processing all the reports for the Military's records, Killian noticed that Letty was clutching a plush of the Mushroom they met in Area 3: Dense Viridiplanta Forests, Samuel appeared to have noticed it himself too and couldn't help but let out a number of rough giggling.

Killian, pointing to the plush: Where did you get that??
Letty, hugging the plush tighter: Rico got it for me back at the airport. Cute, isn't it? 
Maiorico: I am surprised that they even had a matching plush at the Naju giftshop...
Samuel: A "matching" plush??
Letty: We saw some real, living versions of this Mushroom at the area we scouted earlier. [Post 30] Still don't know what it is though...
Maiorico: Letty was even trying to take one for herself as one animaletto domestico or something.
Letty: WAS NOT!
Killian & Samuel, while they both try to take in what the pair just said: ...ha?

A short while later Akrn the looked at the sheet again, noticed something odd on it, looked up at the group of Guardian Fighters, and made sure that there were four of them assembled.

Akrn: ...where's Amet?

A flash of realisation then lit up the Guardian Fighters assembled; they instinctively looked at each other, then fully around them to try locating Amet. He was nowhere to be seen.

Killian: Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it, I don't think I have actually seen him.
Samuel: Did he actually come when Terry summoned us back after the crash of USF Compile had happened??
Maiorico: Maybe that sfaccendato came late or decide to ignore orders and go on a holiday or what?
Letty, in the fashion of Sybil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers: RICO!
Maiorico, jumps a bit in surprise: ...che?!
Letty: You know yourself that Amet would never kip especially in a situation like this!
Maiorico, trying to calm her down: Hey! Maybe he is already here but just hid himself with his Cloaking Device of his! *yells around* Yoo-hoo Amet! If you're out there please raise your hand!

...silence.

Maiorico, now starting to get worried: ...uhh.
Killian, to Akrn: Can you try locating him on your radar?

Akrn closed down the visor on his helmet, loaded some data on its screen, and read and output displayed on it.

Akrn: ...nope. No signal of him within the range of my radar. [* - Eventhough Amet's Cloaking Device has the ability to jam the enemy's radar systems as to make him invisible, the radar systems of the Military's and Akrn's use different signalling system and will pick him up even with the Device activated]

The Guardian Fighters looked at each other again, now they are clearly worried.

Samuel: I'll go find him!
Akrn: Hold it, Samuel!
Samuel: ...but-
Akrn: We don't even know where to start if we can't pinpoint where he was originally supposed to go! *to the other GFs* Which Area was Amet originally ordered to scout, anyone know?

All GFs shook their heads.

Maiorico: All we know is that it can't be Areas 1, 3 or 5. Those areas we scouted already.
Akrn, noting them all down: So, Area 7 or 9?
Killian: Why would they send Amet to Area 9 if we have already been there? [Posts 06 & 08]
Akrn, striking the "9" off: So, you positive then that it's Area 7?
Letty: Couldn't you ask Tetharil or something? He was the one that gave the scou- *looks around* And where's Terry himself??
Killian: He went off with that Mercenary Girl he met at the Compile crash site. We just said that earlier.
Letty, realising, and facepalming: Goddamn it!

The Guardian Fighters looked at each other again, as if trying to gather some ideas to use in the search for Amet.

Akrn, sighing: At this rate I guess we're on our own. Samuel! Killian!
Samuel & Killian: Sir!
Akrn: Get your early dinner and stock up yourselves; you two are coming with me!
Killian: You got it!
Maiorico, protesting: Ehi! What about us? We want to help out too!
Akrn: You and Letty stay here; there's still much work needing done with the reconstruction so I will need you both stay behind and help out.
Letty, pouting: ...fine.


Naju Central Airport - Food Court within the Departure Gates
Time: late evening/early night

             While to your typical travellers going to and coming back from their holidays, the airport's food would not be particularly "gourmet" or cheap by any standards, especially with the kitchens operating with reduced capacity due to the reconstruction works; for the Guardian Fighters they nonetheless provided the needed getaway from the monotonous "Chips" they were served at the Military establishment. It would be a dining experience that they would want to savour at least for the upcoming mission.

             With all things Italian, Maiorico ordered nothing other than the true icon of Italian culture and cuisine: Spaghetti Bolognese. Letty herself ordered a serving of tasty Udon; although with the thought of Amet constantly in her head, it was obvious that she was in no appetite to eat it. Samuel; well known inside the barracks for having massive appetite, was the one that went "all out" when it came to ordering food for himself: extra-large serving of American-styled hamburger with equally large and matching side of potato wedges - a quantity combined would make other people and cyborgs wonder how can one eat all of that without leaving any leftovers. Killian himself was more conservative with his food choices: British styled smoked-salmon sandwiches and Irish milk tea - though by the time others have returned to the table with their order, Killian had already finished his food and was giving everyone else the "you sure took your time, guys!" look. Horaculous remained true to his biological nature and took on a serving of fruit-pie that only hardcore vegans and other anthropomorphs would ever find edible.

Maiorico, slurping his spaghetti: So when you guys leaving?
Samuel, taking a huge bite of his burger: Right after this - heading over to the hangar to stock up Chips and refuel, then we're off.
Letty, stirring her noodles around: Still can't believe we're told to stay behind though *sighs and takes a small sip* oh well.
Horaculous, gulping his fruit pie: Possibly it's because the Terraforming Disaster hasn't really subsided - the monsters from the "Below-Surface Worlds" could still strike Naju Central anytime; maybe they just wanted you both to stay behind and make sure nothing bad happens? You guys are the Guardians, after all.
Maiorico: That maybe true, but we're not Naju's balie! Other Military departments could easily deal with those, non?
Letty & Killian: Rico!
Maiorico, rolls eyes: Tsk. Alright!

...short silence with everyone munching their food.

Killian: Speaking of which, you never really managed to "deal" with that whale-thingy at the South Coasts, did you, Samuel?
Samuel, sheepishly: n-no, my arsenal was totally useless against it; and I didn't get enough time before the order to return to Naju Central was received, anyway. At least we managed to get the place evacuated! *munch* from what I heard, The Military have already distracted it away from the Resort and reopened the place...
Killian, to Maiorico: Well, you heard him - maybe if that "thing" come attacking again, you lot will be needed!
Maiorico: Pff, I'd still rather go on a Search & Rescue mission than some random Fishing Trip.
Letty, pleading with Killian: Just find Amet and bring him home safely, ok??
Killian: H-hey, what do you take us for, Rookies?!
Samuel: Pss, we are rookies!
Horaculous: You lot! Cut the fighting already! You don't have much time left on your dinner break.

             The Guardian Fighters immediately stopped their arguments and continued their meals; the very thoughts of what trouble Amet would be in unsettled the group so much that the silence that followed was so awkward that it was eerie; that is, if one disregarded the background noise of the Travellers talking and moving and the near-constant banging and drilling of the reconstruction works all around the airport.

             They have had their fair share of troubles here and there back in the days, nothing was to the scale of what they were facing right now - someone of the team would go completely AWOL and unable to be located or contacted by any means. All they wished was that Amet was still safe and hanging on - somewhere - the last thing the team, and the Military as a whole, would need was to lose another Guardian Fighter.

             Then, Horaculous caught a glimpse of a pair of familiar characters ordering their own food; they would be no one other than the otherwise civilian-clad John Targa and the recovered and outrageously energetic Bayonetta, packed with suitcases and travel stuff.

Horaculous: Well! Look who are taking late flights out tonight!

The other Guardian Fighters lifted their heads and took a look at the pair.


=== End post ===

[UserK]

Post 36
Changing situations.
Timeline: immediately after post 33.

As he begins falling down, Rey ties something below his armpit with the confidence of who did this many times before. The greenish, irregular forest surface begins to show more and more details each moment. In the time for a deep breath, the leafs start start to rip the rags protecting his arms and chest. A sequence of knocks, too fast to count cause Ray to loose his guard as well as sense of direction. He's hurled down, before slamming on a large tree trunk. As he tries to stop his fall, his face surrenders to the intense pain, the heavy augmentations pulling him down the irregular surface scarring his skin away from the hands. Trying to grab a branch, he attempts to gracefully fall on the now visible ground. He slams on the surface, as the ground below him suddenly turns red.

      It's ok. Done that. Just keep on breathing. Done that already.
      Ok, it's just a few breaths of relieving. No pain. Keep eyes open.

The body stops twitching as he falls face in the dirt.

      What the...

The rusty taste of ground fills his mouth. For a moment, Rey wonders how and why he had to fall down the sky. He wonders if he was climbing a tree to get some precious fruit, his mind still confused by the hits.

      Shit. I was escaping. How long have I been unconscious?

He tries to get up, but immediately loose his equilibrium. Somehow managing to pull him to a nearby trunk, he grabs his rifle, secured on his back with a smirk of pain. He connects it back to the few wires down his arm to the rifle stock. Rey takes another long breath while closing his eyes for a moment.

      Ok, just a few seconds. I can still make it.

He pulls a piece of apparently rotten meat out of his backpack, stuffing his mouth full. In a matter of moments, the veins in his face turn purple. He begins his way on the insidious roots covering the ground, each step apparently taking extreme effort. He coughs, spitting purple blood on some large leaves in front of him.

      That's worse than expected.
      Fix me, shit!

Somehow his steps take an increasing rhythm. As Rey begins to run, a screech resounds behind him. A tree collapses to the ground as his liquefied trunk is cut in half by a large shelled creature. Rey turns to take a quick shot to a nearby tree. The laser beam cuts through the alien wood with ease causing the plant to fall on the creature. The trunk rapidly lose consistence but hopefully it will last a few seconds.
With a renewed determination, the explorer leaps over a large rock, and then another, and another one. Running and dodging the few low branches. Even with this effort, his movements are slow and heavy. Taking cover behind a tree, he takes another shot at the large creature behind him, apparently with little to no results. Rey closes his eyes for a second while taking a deep breath.

      >>> Status: self tuning power driver... 86%
      >>> [--- WARNING --]

   At least I can breath ok. Just don't fail me now.

[UserK]

Post 37
Meet the other side.
Timeline: ~1 hour after post 36 (see above)

      >>> Status: self tuning power driver... 75%
      >>> [--- CRITICAL --]

Rey has been trying to shake off the shelled predator for almost an hour, routinely peeking back to shoot a small pulse, in the hope it desists from its hunt. The damn bastard sure has some determination. On the pro side, its loud screeches likely keep smaller creatures away.
Yet, with each shot and step slowly eroding his augmentation's efficiency, the explorer begins to consider the possibility this chase is not going to end well for him.
Suddendly, the ground before him lowers, a chasm spanning several meters, filled with thick yellow fog separates him from the other side of the forest.

      We're done with this shit. I got no choice.

Rey jumps to the other side and begins to run. He knows he just crossed the line. Either the creature gives up or he's dead for sure. He knows he has just a few seconds of power. As he falls face to the ground, he realizes he had covered less than 10 meters from the fog.

      >>> Status: self tuning power driver... 74%
      >>> [***--- FAIL --***]
      >>> ERROR: divergent power carriers. External tuning required to restart.

Rey plugs his terminals on his augmentations. There's nothing but waiting now. He closes his eyes again, as he does to check augmentations interfaces. As he opens them again, his predator is slowly emerging from the yellow fog and closing in. It will only be a couple of seconds. Thanks God, at least it will be a fast death.

      Now that I could see this shit end... I'm busted.
      I guess it's time to meet you again. I'm sorry, I didn't make it back to...




A visible stream of hot plasma shines between Rey and the green leafs he's looking to. He raises his head to look at the monster. Only a couple of meters away from him the shell he could barely burn pierced part to part. He hears someone getting nearby.

Amet	:	holy shit. Are you ok?
Rey	:	No. How could I be ok?
Amet	:	I guess I'll pull you away from that... thing. As a start. I'm Guardian Fighter Amet. Nice to meet you.
Rey	:	... yes. I... I'm happy to see you too.

      Very happy.

[Spudacus]

Post 38
From another place
A murmuring voice, barely audible entered his head, an indistinguishable sound, but it roused him "What calls me? a voice?" His subconscious reply caused the noise to increase, a light throbbing in his mind. "Who? light? Sound? Where is this?" Not awake, but his mind struggled to grasp that sound. The first he heard in time memorable. Slowly, from the depths of sleep he rose, and heard again the voice. "Cra...sh...l-l-l...ding..." 

A sudden jet of steam opened his eyes, and the two halves of the glass casing around his head pulled away. "Crash landing. It will not survive." He sat up. His frame was incased in metal, plated alloy of green, streaked with silver. Through the visor's glass, he saw the control panel of his Saber space fighter. "Awake? Cheryl?!" His voice edged towards panic. "Crash landing. The ship will not survive." This voice, that of a calm woman, but tinged with remorse. Like one that had long given in to despair, and no longer cared for life. For indeed she was not alive.

"Why have we exited warp speed? How'd you wake me?" He groggily crawled from the stasis cell, struggled to his feet by pulling himself upon the control terminal, and fixated his swimming eyes upon the consol. "Stagnation of craft, Malcolm." Under his encased helmet, he almost smiled, amused by realizing a hidden truth. "Yes, fuel is definitely insufficient for Warping."

He then sighed and removed the helmet, a few puffs of steam emitted as it depressurized from the oxygen supply. His dark eyes scanned the illuminated console, examining the status of the craft. He gently stroked his chin, brown hairs lightly covered it and his upper lip. His black hair scraggily covered his head.

"Huhn, fuel won't last much longer. At least auxiliary power had saved enough power to stimulate my brain before shutting down the stasis cell." He turned to his right and gazed out the projected window of the outside. Instead of the depths of blackness, a large, blue planet greeted his eye. Limping, as he had not fully recovered from deep sleep, he approached the monitor and placed his palm on it.
"Ahh, I'd crash if I stayed asleep. Thank you Cheryl." Speaking to her was unnecessary, but as he was otherwise alone, he preferred not to simply communicate through thought, as she was designed to do. "Craft will not survive landing" Her tort reply was typical. She wasn't a true AI, as was normally uploaded to a Spartans System. She was designed only to produce the conclusion of his planned actions, not advise, support, or comfort. But she was in tuned with the machines he interacted with.

"Well I can't exactly move to another planet, can I?" It would have been sarcastic from anyone else, but for him it was imploring for alternatives. Rarely did she give direct answers, often referring to the immediate future or far off results. "Suicide." Again, what seemed a normal response was her actual forecast: he would shoot himself as power and fuel was exhausted and the craft would become stagnant, stranded in foreign space.
Laughing quietly, he began to imput commands to prepare for entering atmosphere. Then, pausing, he again looked upon the strange planet, and placed his right hand on his holstered magnum pistol.
"Landing it is, Cheryl. I only hope that this planet isn't an enemy of the UNSC... or glassed."

[Spudacus]

Post 39
Crash course
"Craft will not survive landing" Again, Cheryl reminded Malcolm that the Saber's landing gear was damaged beyond use. Malcolm ruefully acknowledged this. Before he had succeeded in escaping Reach, a Brute Chieftain had attacked his saber before he could board it. The filthy beast had all but destroyed the underside of the ship, and Malcolm leaped from one of the wings, landing on top of the alien attacker. They had grappled madly, both gripping the Brute's gravity hammer until Malcolm feinted, causing it to fall forwards on the run way. Finding himself holding the gravity hammer, Malcolm hatched a plan to still make take off. He broke the Brutes legs, leaving it stranded, then dashed for the controls of the Saber. by some freakish luck, the thrusters pushed the saber, wheeless, off the brutes corpse, getting enough of an angle to pull a sketchy take off.

This memory caused Malcolm to jerk his head towards a dark corner in the cock pit. There lay still the gravity hammer, discarded during takeoff. Stretching his hand towards it, he lifted it into a battle stance. Hefting the considerable weight of the long pole with a cruel looking jagged head, he had something of a smile on his lips. "Well, this may help still."
Little known fact, Spartans have a unique magnetic holster on their back and legs, very useful for quick swapping between weapons. This he used to carry the hammer, as well as the Designated Marksmen Rifle he also brought along.

"Cheyrl, should I risk transmissions? It'd be nice to have a welcoming party."
"You'd be discovered." Malcolm frowned at this. That vague an answer could mean the UNSC, or even Aperture laboratories... Or the Covenant. "Can you detect any slip-space signatures?"
"Massive energy pulses have been recently used." "Glassing?!" the dreaded Covenant method of planetary destruction: plasma bombardment to the point all surface area was reducesdto sheets of glass,

"No, excavation." Malcolm didn't know why he kept asking questions to such an ambiguous companion. But that was his purpose. To test her... Or maybe her's to test him...

"Then let's do this low profile." From the flickering display of the cockpit, he tried to gather geographic data of the planet surface, but the fading power supply only yielded fuzzy images, completely useless. But by straining his eyes (or imagination) he thought he saw vague structures. Perhaps civilization stretched this far after all.
"No good having a stranger crash amidst a population, I need to avoid a disturbance."
"Failure."
"Thank you, Cheyrl." He was close now. He could almost see the atmospheric layers now via the Saber's monitors.
"A new addition to a previous mess." Malcolm started. This was an unusual statement from Cheryl. Mainly because it wasn't one or two words.
"Excuse me?" bringing the monitor to focus, he scanned the images trying to identify the 'Mess'. Then it came to his attention: a massive hulk of smoking, flaming metal.
"Something else crashed here... something big enough to put a Corvette to shame..! This is definitely not some backwater." Suddenly, the planet seemed to him quite menacing.
"I have no choice. Well at least I can see if that craft is UNSC... or Covenant."
"...Failure." Malcolm forced a smile.
"Yes... or fail."

Suddenly, failing seemed much more likely. As the saber began to enter the atmospher, Malcolm realized the shielding was decreasing much faster than safety procedures required.
"Incineration."
"Only from you that would seem like no matter." Malcolm gritted his teeth. This wasn't going to work. The Saber would burn or explode before he even reached the stratosphere.
"Down with the ship? Too bad I?m not a captain." With that, he brought up the core computer mainframe.
"With Reach gone, Cole protocol is more or less necessary. But who am I to violate UNSC law?" He then mashed the emergency deletion button.
"Earth still will be discovered." Malcolm's hand stopped halfway to the ejection lever. This wasn't just a conclusion. It was an impending doom. No matter how he and his Spartan allies tried, they never could stem the Covenant's tide of destruction. But he clenched his teeth in defiance.
"Not by my lack of trying!" he yanked the ejection lever and as he was jettisoned into the unknown he muttered a mantra of many Spartans: Lock your armor, Spartan!

[UserK]

Post 40.
Back home. New home.
"Here we go" said Amet, while introducing Rey to the crash site, "let me pick up my stuff and we're good to go". As he plugs the flight module back in the connection sockets, he observes the worn out soldier he saved. "I scouted around here, it's clear. I guess we could have a talk now".
No reply. Like the thick smoke from the dying fire could stop words as well.

"We'll talk later."

Better late than never thinks Amet. He had the chance to observe him for more than an hour and started to have doubts on whatever he could trust him. After tuning his augmentations he only spit some nonsense about those two odd things, the goo ball and the piece of meat he was munching which clearly had some effect on him. More than anything, Amet was worried about reliability.
His doubts became even more prominent after they spent about half an hour waiting for an heard of "bouncies" to pass by. In the end, they decided to take another route. The guide reassured that the "flight module wouldn't make it past the breach anyway".
Of course, Amet was quite upset. Could that be the reason? Was he trying to just find a justification for the detour?
More importantly, the new route would take three extra hours, for eight hours total.

They were walking north-east for the last two hours. Besides some light shooting against isolated large animals, the walk in the forest was monotonous, landmarks being the sporadic large rocks , featureless open spots and small streams. The vegetation became less dense so Amet could see the first stars in the sky above him for the first time since he crashed. He also became increasingly aware his guide was running him in circles.

Amet	:	Do you have visual augmentations? It's getting dark. I won't blame you for...
Rey	:	We're there.

Rey points to a small rubble in to his left. As they get closer, Amet recognizes it as the remains of some antique wall, probably to mark the side of a road. Several meters later they walk on cobblestone as they enter a square in front of a large stepped pyramid. Rey approaches the staircase and then walks behind it. A wall crumbled, revealing a secret room behind the front.
In the center, a perfectly smooth pyramid seems to have resisted the wrath of time.

Rey

:

I cannot move this alone. This is why I never went here after my last teammate was killed.

The two men displace the pyramid with ease. A long stair descendes in the ground. Surprisingly, Amet has little problems in going downstairs even with its flying module. Blue metal wall serves as a gate to a large square room. Shortly after entering the room, the metal wall slides back in position, sealing the passage leading out.

It sure looked safe. It also looked like some sort of burial. In all the years in the training missions Amet learnt to deal with many situations, but he couldn't quite figure he would end up spending a night with the dead.

Rey	:	We'll talk tomorrow.
Amet	:	Can at least wish you good night?
Rey	:	... yes. We're very safe here.

Getting back to the surface was indeed quite relaxing. As much as alien the sounds and the smell of the forest were, they were less intimidating than the silence of the night in their shelter.
As the top of the pyramid appeared stable and regular, Amet realized it would have been a good place to try turning on his flight module. His hopes were quickly killed as the module self-check procedures reported several integrity failures. He still decided to hide this from his guide as no Guardian Fighter would ever leave his flight module behind.

Rey	:	Ok... I told you we would talk.
Amet	:	That would be nice.
Rey	:	So... we need water. There's a good source of water roughtly one hour from now, just before entering the swamps. We must drink as much as we can as the water in the swamp is contaminated.
Amet	:	I understand.
Rey	:	Then... we'll be on our base camp in about two hours. We might be able to get some food if we're lucky. That's all.

Rey started to walk northeast, without even waiting for a reply. Amet was, again slightly upset about this behaviour but let it go. The soldier clearly had little chance to talk for a while.

Three hours later.

After a long stop to a source of sulfur water the two men entered the swamp area as predicted. Albeit slightly warm, the drink has been very refreshing, and they rapidly made up for the time spent there.

The swamp area, observes Amet, is not a real, natural swamp. It's more likely the remains of a complex flood control system, probably meant to protect the nearby city from environmental damage. After the civilization disappeared, nature took over but while the few structures remained visible collapsed, large pieces or solid rock clearly marked a path on the mud. Amet quickly realized both of them would sink in mere instants.
As they pass below a large, bent tree Rey points his rifle to the leaves. Amet instinctively looks up, to see a dark spot falling.

      >>> Integrity field: 97% (-3%, impact from organic mass)

Rey

:

Swarmers! Run!

Amet tries to follow Rey on the path but his augmentations are clearly not intended for high-speed running. The distance between them gets larger and larger as Amet figures out he would have to kill them all instead.
Turning back, he faces the massive herd of spiders behind. The whole canyon filled with their noises, readily covered by the repetitive blasts of the energy chaingun equipped in every System DP.
As the spiders blow up in pieces one after another, Amet notices the remains of each killed creature are readily cannibalized by those coming behind. The whole group is in fact closing in. As Amet retreats the glob ejects a a stream of dark bullets.
Amet tries his best to dodge, taking only a few hits, as he tries to set up a valid defence, he realizes the bullets were in fact small spiders themselves which readily surrounded him. Trying to evade the creatures Amet finds himself relying on his shield more and more.

Rey

:

I told you to run! What's your problem damnit?

With two lines of fire, the creatures are quickly forced to regroup in a large glob. Amet notices the air above the large mass of creatures is being heated up. He turns back to Rey:

Amet	:	What the hell is going on?
Rey	:	Kill them! Kill them all! Now!

Rey kneels, holding his rifle, at the center of the glob. A couple of seconds later a strong pulse makes his way out of the barrel and hits the target: half of the enemy mass is incinirated but somehow the blast has been deflected. Rey fells on the ground. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Amet takes an energy capsule out of the out of his belt. Chips are cracked as the capsule is charged with highly unstable plasma, in a fraction of second, the capsule is changed into a lethal grenade. Amet throws. Just a moment before the capsule hits, he sees the glob of enemies light up and start to grow.
The plasma blast covers the whole assembly. The resulting shockwave splatters the whole canyon with purple guts and blue shell pieces.

      >>> Integrity field: 52% (-8%, explosion suppressed)

Rey is fiddling with his augmentations again.

Amet	:	It's starting to become an habit.
Rey	:	I hope not.
Amet	:	I was trying to joke.
Rey	:	Excuse me if I'm not in the mood for laughing.

One hour later.

"Welcome home. Feel free to relax now" said Rey, after tuning the few security turrets to recognize him. "You're going to taste what's perhaps one of the finest pieces of survival cooking... spider paste! We have been very lucky!".
Amet soon realizes the training mission didn't train him to eat those things. He coughs as he is overcome by disgust.
"Ha ha ha... you'll get used to it I'm afraid. Sure, it would have been much better if we hadn't to scratch it off the walls of that canyon, trust me"!
Amet was truly surprised the man could finally smile and even laugh. Perhaps he just needed to relax in his safe camp.
At the same time, he realized the travel took 9 hours, only one hour late from his predictions. For someone travelling a complete stranger, sure he was pretty good at making his way.

But for Rey, the only thing that mattered was having a guest. A valuable guest, with clearly important equipment. One that meant...

      Extraction.

[RubyC42]

Post 41

Naju (Frontside)
Area 5 - Eastern Highlands, the entrance into Area 7 - The Fiery Caverns
Timeline: Couple hours after the events of Post 35, thus deep into the night, possibly midnight.

             The entrance that marked the natural boundary between The Eastern Highlands and The Fiery Caverns was not something that could be at all classified as any sort of "Tourist Attraction" - the gaping hole into the unknown was appropriately shaped like a wide-open mouth of a hungry Golem, ready to gulp down any daring potholers that venture into its forbidden passage.

             Despite its rather ominous appearance, there appeared to be no extraordinary activities that have gone on inside, even after the Terraforming Disaster from earlier on. Still, with this area being the highly likely location where Amet was originally sent to scout - nothing was left for interpretation and nothing was taken for granted.

             Akrn could be seen just outside the "mouth" of the entrance pacing to and fro, eagerly waited for any update on the 'second' scouting mission that he just sent Killian down for. Just under an hour later Killian emerged from the cavern - his expression was that of disappointment.

Killian, making his way up to Akrn, signing:
      -- Nope, totally blank down there, to make it worse; it appears that nothing was at all disturbed, not even footprints.
Akrn, clearly edgy:
      -- ***k, so it's not this place, after all?!

Samuel who had been circling around the place still as a fighter plane touched down near the group.

Samuel:
      -- No noticeable hostile or seismic activity within 3km radius. Did you find him?
Killian:
      -- Nope...
Akrn:
      -- So, it's Area 9, The Far West, after all??
Samuel:
      -- But that's on the other end of the map! It'll be noon by the time we get there!
Killian:
      -- It doesn't look like we have much choice on that, do we?
Samuel, pointing beyond the mountains:
      -- Could he just happened to have overshoot and went that way?
Akrn:
      -- What are you, kidding? Just beyond this area is the Habitability Boundary! Beyond that it's Forbidden Zone! He would never venture out there because everyone, including us, are barred from that part of Najuan wilderness...
Killian:
      -- He could just have dozed off and trotted his way there.... after all, it is rather close to the Boundary...
Akrn, holding his head:
      -- Ugh...

             While the group continue to ponder on other possibilities, on Akrn's interface a small dot could be seen flashing on and off, this was usually shown when someone was trying to contact Akrn but he was not answering it. The flashing dot was bright enough even for Killian to notice.

Killian, pointing to the flashing light
      -- Umm, Akrn? Someone's trying to ring you.
Akrn:
      -- *sees the flashing* oh right *picks up the communication signal* Akrn he-
Letty, in an urgent tone:
      -- Umm yeah, this is Letty back at the airport. I have a bad news to report...
Akrn:
      -- What is it?
Letty:
      -- I was just told by the supervisors here that we just had another spacecraft burning up in the atmosphere-
Akrn:
      -- ...another Cruiser fell?! *Killian and Samuel look at each other*
Letty:
      -- N-no! *short silence* Appears to be a single-seater fighter plane of some sort, report just came in that the pilot appeared to have ejected safely and is on its way down... request permission to rendez-vouz with the pilot?
Akrn:
      -- Do we have at least some sort of identification of the 'pilot'?
Letty, after talking with the supervisor for a brief moment:
      -- Appears not, someone from another System altogether, probably had trouble mid-flight and decided to 'chance it' here... it's what the supervisor is postulating.
Akrn:
      -- Right, permission granted to meet up with the pilot, but stay on very high alert, you cannot let your guards down on what their intentions maybe!
Letty:
      -- You got it! *disconnects*

Killian:
      -- what was it??
Akrn:
      -- Letty told me that we just had another spacecraft getting in trouble while approaching Naju... a single-seater spacecraft of unknown origin and the pilot safely ejecting. Letty just asked for orders to meet up with the pilot.
Samuel, a sigh of relief:
      -- So, not another major disaster like USF Compile, then?
Akrn:
      -- Hopefully not...
Killian:
      -- This whole thing is getting way out of hand all of the sudden...
Akrn, holding his head in his hands:
      -- Tell me about it!

             Not ever in training had Akrn been taught on how to deal with planet-wide emergencies of this magnitude - and reflecting on the events on just the last few days it was quickly apparent that if this keeps up; the whole thing would destabilise at unreal velocity and he, or possibly the entire Guardian Fighter division - will end up completely unable to do anything about it.


Naju (Frontside)
Just outside Naju Central city
Timeline: Immediately after the above part.

             Letty and a small group of Military soldiers could be seen making their way through the outer skirts of Naju Central; trying to keep track of the falling pilot as it made its slow but arduous journey to the surface.

             The thing that Letty wanted to make sure was simply that the pilot doesn't end up landing outside the city boundary; or worse - outside the planet's entire Habitability Boundary altogether - it would make the rescue mission a lot more difficult. After what appeared to be eternal wait a great relief fell on her and her group when, it became clear that the pilot would land on an open field just outside the city skirts - safe from any hostile environment.

             A small gesture from Letty sent the other soldiers to different directions, keeping their distance away from the landing site in darkness but not too far away as to not get a clear view of Letty - incase anything goes horribly wrong. Now it's just a matter of the pilot making its safe landing at the predicted spot...

Letty, just as the pilot of the spacecraft Sabre lands :
      -- Greetings! Welcome to Naju; I am Letearia Mechiko [Pron: Me-kee-ko] of The Guardian Fighters. Do you... require any assisstance?


## End Transmission ## (Word count: 1051)

[Spudacus]

Post 42
Strange encounter of the fifth kind

Malcolm rose from having his face in the dirt, wisps of electricity sparking as his armor unlocked. Having heard a voice, female, he looked up seeing what had a woman?s face and body, or so he imagined as it was covered in armor. His first fears were quelled as he saw several humans alongside her.

"Mechiko? Naju? I should have stayed and died on reach!"
An uncomfortable pause, as Letty tried to decide what to make of the pilot. He wore strange armor, and his masked face made her more concerned that he may be dangerous. The other soldiers were getting nervous, and she was trying to keep her composition.

"Um, are you a mercenary? We are currently in a high alert during... uncontrolled circumstances so I think you may have trouble getting off the planet" Malcolm faced her, more confused but trying to stay calm. No good exciting anyone when what he needed was information.
"Panic" Cheryl as always, placing the cherry on top the obvious.

"No Ma'am, I'm a soldier. My... outpost was overrun, and I need to... report. Do you have means of long range communications nearby? It's very urgent."
Urgent. That's what the entire planet felt. Urgent. But Letty felt that this stranger was not telling the whole truth. And as a Guardian Fighter it was her duty to know.
"I need to know where you?re from, and who you want to contact, sir..."

"Malcolm." He sighed within himself. Such a delicate issue. Many a Spartan might have challenged the authority of his confronter, but he preferred diplomacy. The humans wore no insignia he recognized, he was in foreign space, and he desperately needed to contact Aperture or Earth.
"Ma'am, I am a UNSC Spartan. Planet Reach has been destroyed and the Covenant is closing in to the final circle of Earth's defense. I must contact Aperture Laboratories and inform them."

This completely blew Letty off guard. UNSC? Spartan? Reach? Her mind reeled as she tried to remain in command of the situation.
"I think you'd better come with us, Malcolm. The supervisor's will look into your story and decide if-"
"I can be trusted. I understand" Malcolm knew how key it was to comply, for his greatest fear was he would be killed, or detained even further.
"Greatly so." Cheryl said exactly what he didn't want to hear, but he was hoping to negotiate around it. Meanwhile, Letty was rather disturbed by his compliance.
"Err, yes. So I ask you to disarm." She made a motion for the soldiers, rather bewildered to take his weapons.
"Very well, Ma'am." So he handed over his pistol and DMR. The hammer nearly brought the carrier to his knees before Malcolm took it back. Not wanting to show any weakness of her troops, Letty stepped forward.
"I'll take that, uh, sir."
"If you wish Ma'am. but please don't drop its head." Even for her mechanical muscle structures, the great maul was awkward and burdensome. But still, she kept a stern face, having Malcolm walk with his hands on his head, surrounded by the troopers back towards the City.
"What have I gotten myself into Cheryl?" Malcolm finally asked within the confines of his mind. It was wracked with concern, for here he was, a Spartan, being arrested on an alien world by foreigners. The thought of the Covenant, stepping over the corpse of Reach, while here he was, apprehended, nearly brought tears upon his face. Then he heard his only ally's reply:
"Something beyond us."

[UserK]

Post 43
Waving reality.
Timeline: 48 hours after USF compile crash, post 31 (everything above already happened, including possibly some extra posts by Spudacus).

"Thank you very much for your cooperation Mr. Hajakamura" said the man with the medals. He clearly didn't had the chance to sleep in a while.

Officer	:	Here is your pass to leave the planet as your corporation requested.
Earl	:	Thank you. I assume you accepted our little deal?
Officer	:	Show me this thing first.
Earl	:	I was expecting to host a full debriefing.
Officer	:	Your ego will go unsatisfied this time.
Earl	:	No problem. As Leona reported to you a couple days ago, I picked up a signal from an unknown subject, supposedly located in the other hemisphere. At first glance, it looked like USF compile could offer enough radio section to bounce the signal back to surface. Combined with the ThunderSpectrum in nearby orbit, this looked like a serious possibility. I then heard a Guardian Fighter was missing and only a couple of hours later, I get a private message from you asking me to check again all scanners to figure out the most favourable zones for rescue.
Officer	:	Yes, this is what happened. Very few people would have been able to carry out a task like this but I knew you were going to do it.

The man hides a smile. He knows Earl cannot resist to people acknowledging his mastery.

Earl	:	It has been hard even for me. You see, it all started from the radar. I analyzed all the signals and I noticed a pronounced loss in power in a specific location which was supposed to be static. Then I processed all the signals, recorded from all sources, using a volume-recostructing method, curtesy of my employer, you know.
Officer	:	Just tell me what I need to know.
Earl	:	Talking about my employer, you understand as a chief scientist I will be asked to report on operations here. I'd like to tell my superiors how cooperative and constructive you all are.
Officer	:	You will not be disappointed Mr. Hajakamura. I have already received her request.
Earl	:	I see we are on the same line of thinking! I just want my dear out of this mess as soon as possible.

Earl unfolds a screen on the table: "this is the result" he says.

Earl

:

As you can see, we're better at detecting frequency perturbations than you are in hiding them. Those two "wings" on the left are Amet's radar profile, distorted by this other thing on the back... That is an unstable wormhole. Considering its energy loss, I can speculate it existed for no more than a couple of hours. It probably collapsed shortly after Amet made its way through. Therefore, you won't find him around here. The other end could be everywhere.

The man with the medals is visibly worried.

Earl	:	But luckly, we forgot a part of the equation. The radio signal I picked up was more or less clear, albeit low on power. After running the numbers, I can state the signal went through the wormhole as well. I can therefore affirm with confidence this wormhole is a homogeneous delta-T discontinuity.
Officer	:	I am in charge of running this place Mr. Hajakamura. Tell me this thing in a way I can understand.
Earl	:	Simply put, it's a good thing. It's very likely Amet safely made it to the other end. Assuming our radio message is true, then it's very likely he's now somewhere on the other hemisphere. And this is how I explain those two mysteries.
Officer	:	I will try to think at this positively. It's not nearly as good as I hoped.
Earl	:	It's the only good thing. Being System DP powered by a time-continuous Mirkov fusion matrix, it's extremely likely the discontinuity caused the matrix to scramble causing a total power loss. I'm afraid a crash would have been inevitable and that's of course assuming he was not hurled into the ground in the first place.
Officer	:	Anything else?
Earl	:	That's all.

The man with the medals pushes a few buttons on his terminal and then flips the screen to his interlocutor. "As you can see, her pass has been cleared. I wish you both good luck".
After a quick farewell, the man in civilian clothes exits the office.

Officer	:	Computer, abort all rescue operations regarding Guardian Fighter Amet. Reassign currently involved personnel to pending missions.
Syntethized voice	:	Orders dispatched, commander.

The commander lies on his chair for minutes, before checking back at his terminal. He has a few things to work on.