This Is Not A Test

[Fitter]

A large figure silhouetted by the fading light of the ship slowly made its way in her direction. Fitter waited, silently, not acknowledging the new presence until she identified the man as Kaden, with a silent Daxen in his arms. Her dark eyes flickered up, briefly forgetting her own injuries as the officer lay the boy beside her. "Is he okay?"

She found her answer as Kaden responded to something the boy had previously said and took a small amount of relief. That didn't change the fact that he needed medical attention as well. If only they had landed on her planet, then she could scout out for healing herbs hidden beneath bushes. Fitter wished that she had kept more of hau-root on hand; the speed they healed burns was unmatched in her knowledge. If only she hadn't wasted most of it on injuries she received in the kitchens.

Bearing a small pain for a few days would be better than whatever she'd experience for touching the scorching walls inside. "A medic...might be appreciated," Fitter replied, wincing at the pain in her ankle as she tried to bring it closer to herself. That idea was quickly abandoned.

[Kaden]

"Thank you kai," Kaden said as he took the knife from Deux, his eyes on the woods around them. He wouldn't be surprised if they weren't alone. In fact, he'd be surprised if the opposite were true. They had been a large flaming hunk of ship falling out of the sky and his little stunt hadn't exactly been the most subtle way to get out of the ship. If he knew anything about geography, and he would be the first to admit he was not an expert on it, he would say they were somewhere in Lupo territory. He hadn't visited every House on his travels but they had visited this one and it was one of the few he knew that was surrounded by woods and mountains, the other two being Drago and Maschio, and while not every inch of land on his planet was claimed by a house all of it was under the protection of someone. Even if they had landed in neutral territory there would be ecologists and scouts out here to monitor the land and the local wildlife. He should know, he had been one of them once.

"Let's hope the captain doesn't object," he said as he stood up, eyes still scanning the dark woods around them and the silent barrier they represented. Kaden stuck the knife through his belt. It was crude and he'd have to be careful not to stab himself in the thigh but it would work for now. "The medic is seeing to patients back towards the ship but he should be out this way soon," Kaden said, turning to Fitter. "We've been sent to gather materials for crutches and stretchers. I'm afraid we can't stay here long so rest your ankle while you can and," he continued, looking over at Daxen, "don't move around too much alright?" He smiled at his two young friends despite the fact that he was worried along with many other emotions he couldn't put a name to.

He had never expected to set foot here again. Once you were exiled you weren't allowed to return and that had been made very clear to him, along with the fact that he would never dishonor Safi bloodlines by producing defective children. He had been genetically neutered, his genes changed so that he was infertile. There was no injury to heal and the only way to reverse it would be to have a genegineer change his genes again. They wouldn't even be able to change them "back". There was no record anywhere of what his genes had originally looked like. Still, it shouldn't be too difficult a problem to fix for a competent genegineer. At least he didn't believe so but he hadn't bothered asking. He knew some of the best were trained on his planet and he also knew that the rest of the universe had to have their own. But he supposed he'd bought into that part of his punishment if not the rest. He didn't think he was worthy to be a father again.

"I suppose we should get started," he said, turning to Deux.

[Remy]

Remy frowned as the medic, or whoever was now acting as medic, made their way around the wounded and the dying that were now coming out of the ship. Whoever it was, they were moving too slowly. There was nothing more that Remy wanted to do than sneak off into the woods, take out some guards, and steal himself a ship so he could get to some other planet, not associated with a giant shipful of people, and hide his little gem...whatever it was.

He glanced at Kaden and Deux as they made their way off towards the woods, and as the priest made his own rounds. This. Was. So. Dull. He needed to go out and do something, needed to keep his bases covered.

Finally the medic arrived, and treated his wounds; peeling his shirt off, the blood stained his skin as the wound was exposed to the night air. Within a timely manner, for a change, the medic finished with him, and instructed him to ensure that he visited with the medic to ensure that the healing process was going smoothly, and not to just brush it off...exactly the opposite of what he wanted to do. It was worse than he thought, and he was pretty much forced to stay here.

But he could help out. And he could walk, run, and while strenuous activities weren't recommended, they didn't really have much of a choice in their current situation.

So that meant he could at least be moving, just in case something went wrong and it became time to go off on his own.

Standing up, he quickly moved over to Kaden and Deux, waving them down. "Hey! Hold up!" When he caught up, he readjusted his wet shirt on his torso. "I'll help you guys out," he said, reaching for the waist of the back of his pants, "I've got this guy if something comes up," he finished, pulling out his gun. Of course he meant animal or something of the like, not a squad of rangers.

[Angel]

"There are too many of them to take alive," Maxim pointed out from their position on one of the mountain sides that surrounded the valley the off-worlders had crashed into. "Look," he said, handing the opts to Liam so that he could look through them at the crash.

"He's right Jaxon," Liam said after a moment. "We should just kill them. We can pick them off one by one. I see a few in the woods and they'll come looking for their friends when the first few go missing. It will take some time but I'm sure we can sterilize the valley soon enough."

Jaxon looked over at the burning wreckage that lit up the night like a toxic sun. He could not blame Liam for his language. The downed ship was so out of place on the mountainside it had crashed into. It looked like a disease that needed to be gotten rid of and the off worlders looked like so many scavengers. But this wasn't the time to fall back on old prejudices. If the Planetary Guard had shot them down then they could be turned into allies. It was at least worth a shot and he told Liam so.

"We don't have many allies against Saif. These offworlders can help us shoot his ships from the sky. We should attempt to capture them."

"It looks like Saif shot them down. That ship of theirs looks like scrap metal and Saif will be here soon to pick over the scraps," Truent, Liam's partner, argued. "They've brought trouble to our lands that we didn't need and they aren't worth the effort we'll waste bringing them in. Better to leave dead bodies for Saif to find. He can't question those or use them against us. These off worlders can always choose to side with Saif, there is no reason they should side with us. It's not worth the risk."

"I hate to stand against you brother," Maxim said as he turned back to face the group of 20 or so rangers they'd gathered in the past hour, "but I feel Liam and Truent are right." Jaxon looked back towards the far valley instead of facing the apology in Maxim's eyes.

"Well let's come to a decision then." With those words Liam had the attention of all of them. He was not the oldest here and the rangers didn't have many ranks but Liam held the only one that mattered. "All those in favor of killing these off worlders?" Hand after hand rose around Jaxon until they formed a small forest of limbs. "All those opposed?" The hands dropped back to their sides and Jaxon was the only one to reach for the moon. "Abstain?" A few of those who were undecided cast their vote as Jaxon let his hand fall to his side. "We are agreed then."

Liam then set about dividing the group and giving them assignments. The strategy he laid out would indeed take a long time but Jaxon had no doubt the off worlders would be dead by morning. It was such a needless waste.

An hour later he and Maxim were almost back to the position they had abandoned to fetch the other rangers. Silence reigned between them and Jaxon let it. He wasn't angry at Maxim for his decision but he was frustrated by the situation.

"It's the law." Maxim finally broke the silence when they were still far enough away that it wouldn't matter, at least not much. Jaxon heard many of their fellow night stalkers head for less noisy territory.

"And we are a people of law," Jaxon repeated the phrase every Safi had to learn by rote before age 10 but there was a hint of bitterness to it. Saif had broken every law they had ever valued and controlled half the planet for it.

Maxim let the issue lie for now. They were approaching the clearing they'd first seen the strangers in. In various locations around the crash other pairs would be getting into position. Jaxon pulled his firearm from its holster at the small of his back. The cool metal of the gun felt comforting in his palm. He checked the weapon as was just good habit. Beside him Maxim did the same.

He was looking at Maxim when the shadow dropped from the tree onto his shoulders. Maxim collapsed under the body of the assailant and both fell to the ground. Jaxon's gun was up and aimed at the creature before it had disentangled itself from his partner. When it came up it was with Maxim in front of it, him Jaxon now saw, using his partner as a shield.

A knife was at Maxim's throat and his partner looked at Jaxon with wide eyes. He didn't look frightened, only surprised. Neither would have expected to be caught by surprise on their own ground. It was embarrassing and Jaxon didn't plan on letting the others know it had happened. He doubted Maxim would either.

"Let him go," Jaxon said clearly, adjusting his aim to the man's forehead. He didn't have a clear shot but if he did he wouldn't miss. The man was silent and one eye simply stared back at Jaxon from behind Maxim's head.

"Drop your weapon first." The voice came from behind him and he heard another man take a step. Jaxon didn't turn to look at him though, now that he was paying attention as he should have been doing from the beginning instead of fuming, he could hear a third crashing his way through the woods to get another angle on Jaxon. In a moment he'd be surrounded.

Jaxon's finger caressed the trigger of the gun and he caught Maxim's eye. Before he could be given another order from their ambushers Jaxon raised his aim slightly and fired past the head of the one holding Jaxon. The bullet passed so close it ripped at the cloth around the man's head. It was enough to make him instinctively move his head sideways and Maxim slammed the back of his head into the man's nose allowing him to get free when the man's muscles loosened for a moment as his brain dealt with the shock.

Jaxon didn't see it because he had dropped to the ground the moment the shot was fired and rolled to the side to come up facing the assailant behind him. It was the right move, he heard another shot go off after his own from the third offworlder that had been trying to flank them. Jaxon put the third man from his mind and attacked the second.

He dropped the gun and drew his knives. His first slash was easily avoided and his second was met by a knife in the assailant's hands. After that he didn't keep track of individual blows. His body easily flowed from one attack to another. Sweeps, kicks, dodges, slashes. He moved easily from feet to hands to shoulders and back again, his body constantly shifting as if he were dancing. In fact, he was, since their art was first taught as a dance.

What finally broke him out of the fight was his realization of how hypnotic and smooth it all felt. He had expected the offworlder to counter and defend himself, breaking Jaxon's stride in a million different ways. But the opponent he faced easily fell into a similar pattern of movement that matched Jaxon's. No offworlder should know how to fight like one of them.

Jaxon felt more than heard the third man come up behind him and he dodged the blow aimed at his head and used it to fall back and roll away. He came up with both knives in his hands in a crouched position a few feet away. Maxim was at his back and they faced the three men before them. The one Maxim had hit before was still bleeding, his nose dripping black liquid in the darkness, but he seemed to be ignoring the wound. He had knives of his own in his hands. Next to him stood another young man with a weapon that Jaxon guessed was a gun of some sort and had been the source of the returned gun fire. And next to them stood a ghost in stranger's clothes.

Jaxon looked into the eyes of his childhood friend with confusion and suspicion. He hadn't seen Kaden in years but he would recognize the man anywhere.

"How did you get here?" Jaxon asked as the middle man leveled the gun in their direction. Maxim glanced at him in surprise when he realized Jaxon was not addressing him.

"Jaxon?" Kaden asked, coming out of his own fighting stance and trying to make out the features of the men across the clearing. Unlike Jaxon, Kaden had spent the last few years living in the bright, harsh fluorescents of artificial atmospheres. The dark was a much more formidable barrier to his vision than that of the two rangers who opposed them. But where his sight failed his ears did not. "Is that really you?"

"No time," Jaxon said, standing up and motioning for Maxim to follow him. Maxim hesitated for a moment but they would not be partners if they did not trust each other. For now he was willing to go along with Jaxon's decision. "Are you with these people? Can you speak to them?"

"I can try," Kaden responded, surprised at how comforting it was to hear his native tongue and at how difficult it was to speak after so many years. He felt almost as if he had stuffed his mouth with cotton balls. His words were slurry and ill formed and his own lack of grace bothered him. "I can," he said again, clearer this time.

"Quickly then," you're about to be attacked," Jaxon said and began to move past the three. Maxim yanked his collar, bruising his throat and causing him to fall to the ground. Jaxon felt something fly past his head and he looked to see a knife sticking out of a tree.

Kaden yelled something in a language he didn't understand at the man, the boy on the far side of the trio. Jaxon hadn't seen him move but one knife was missing from his hand. Maxim was looking at his ambusher with hatred in his eyes, one hand still on Jaxon's collar. If he hadn't pulled Jaxon away that knife would no doubt be sticking out of Jaxon's chest at the moment.

Kaden realized Deux and Remy had not followed the conversation when Deux tried to put a knife in Jaxon's chest the first time he'd taken a step toward's them. "No!" Kaden yelled as Deux reached for another knife from his seemingly endless stash. Deux's eyes flickered over to Kaden before focusing back on the rangers, the only acknowledgement that he'd heard Kaden at all, but his hand did not reach for another weapon and he didn't follow up on his first throw.

"So we're trusting these guys?" Remy asked, his gun still leveled at the first one. "Why?"

"Because I know them and they have no reason to warn us. Come on, we have to get back to the clearing and they have to come with us. Follow me," he said to Jaxon in his own language before turning back towards the downed ship. He, Deux and Remy were not the only crew out in the forest and if blood was shed on either side that would be the end of any chance to settle this peacefully.

Jaxon straighted his shirt and traded looks with Maxim before setting off after Kaden and the other two. He keyed in Liam's identifier into the com device at his waist. A small click from the nearly invisible ear piece indicated that he'd connected. "Liam, tell the others to wait. They aren't all offworlders, just wait." Kaden looked over his shoulder at Jaxon when he heard the call.

For a moment there was silence from the small machine and then Liam's voice came over the line. "All rangers hold. Jaxon, explain." The first part of the transmission had gone out to all of their com devices but the second part to Jaxon's alone.

"I will when I have more information. But one of them is Safi and I know him. Give me time."

"Act quickly. They know we are here now, you've compromised our main advantage. If they do not kill you and if this goes badly for us you'll answer to a trial."

"Understood," Jaxon said before keying off the device. He looked over at Maxim who had only heard his half of the conversation but they didn't have time to discuss it. Kaden led them into the circle of light cast by the still burning ship.

"With me," he said to Jaxon, motioning for Jaxon to walk at his side. Jaxon sped up slightly and followed Kaden to a man that seemed to be giving orders. The man turned when he saw Kaden approaching and asked something in the language the others had used. Kaden responded in the same language before turning to Jaxon. "I offered to translate. What do you have to say?"

Thinking of Liam's words Jaxon realized he had no right to speak for the other rangers, let alone his House. But he was here and he'd gambled his own and Maxim's lives on the slim chance that the presence of Kaden meant these offworlders would be open to being allies. "You are being hunted. So are we. We will help you if you come with us."

You have chosen to leave the ship. But before you can you are attacked by men from the Lupo House, the local people. Before blood is shed on either side a representative has come forward and has offered you a chance to go with them. Do you trust him or do you strike off on your own?

[Deux]

Deux glanced at Kaden’s comment before looking back at the woods. He didn’t know what a “kai” was but didn’t see the need in asking what it meant at that moment. Silently he followed the two men into the forest only glancing at Remy’s gun. Out of all the people in the group he wasn’t sure if Remy was the one he would pick to hold the gun, but if he did anything foolish he figured he’d be the one he was most likely be able to take if he tried anything. After all the weapon helped in a fight, but it didn’t ensure the victory.

In the forest he didn’t do much by way of collecting branches. Instead he stood deeper in the tree line scanning the area. Occasionally his head snapped in the direction of those from the ship as they stepped on twig or snapped something. They progressed through the forest for over an hour by the closest he could measure. He was getting to the point of tuning them out when he heard another sound from the opposite direction. Deux straightened up and looked back at the group. He put a finger to his lips and motioned for the others to stay where they were.

Moving as quietly as possible in the direction of the noise, pupils dilated in the darkness. As he got close he heard two men speaking in a language he couldn’t pin point. While they spoke Deux took the opportunity to jump and pull himself onto a semi low branch, just high enough for a grown man to walk beneath comfortably. As the voices grew closer he pulled a knife out from under his left sleeve covering the blade to make sure light didn’t reflect off it. The men came into sight and Deux stayed perched in the tree. He may not have been able to understand them but he could interpret their body language. When they pulled out guns he decided they comfortably fell under the threat category.

He was fortunate in that the men choose to walk under the tree he was in. Deux didn’t let the opportunity slip as he dropped down onto the one that had just pulled his weapon. Distance, control, avoid his weapon, all concerns but he didn’t really think as he moved behind the taller man and he pulled his an arm around his throat until his knife rested against it. The other half of the pair said something at him in the foreign language with his gun raised. Deux just stayed still as he tried to figure out how to drop the man he was using as a shield and get the other one without getting shot. His thought process was interrupted by a familiar voice speaking in the strange language. Kaden’s presence was enough for Deux to stop for a moment, the situation was more complex than before, could possibly be defused in another way. Or Kaden now free from captivity and knowing the local language could turn on the crew and request his immediate death. That plus the gun going off broke the remainders of his focus. The man he was holding snapped his head back and Deux heard a loud cracking.

Deux dropped to the ground and gently grabbed his nose. Not broken, possibly cracked, and definitely bleeding. He slid a second knife out of the small of his back before standing again. The man who snapped his nose came forward quickly and Duex dropped slightly grabbing his shoulder and going between his legs with the other. He dropped toward the ground, pulling on the shoulder and turned his body. The man landed in front of him on his back and Deux went in for a pin since he couldn't get a clean shot at his body with a knife yet.

As held the man for a moment he saw Kaden and the man who had shot at him sparring, it would have been fascinating under different circumstances. The fight had started as a defense and was getting more complex as the men stopped and began talking. Deux glanced back at his own opponent as the man regained his breath and moved. Pushing off with his feet and arching his back, he rolled taking Deux with him. His face clenched momentarily as it felt the mans weight and gave him extra incentive to separate once the roll was finished. To his surprise the man jumped way as well instead of going in for another attack. He was considering going in for strike when Kaden separated from his opponent and started talking.

Not knowing what was being said made it difficult to decide how to proceed. When the one who had been fighting step forward suddenly Deux snapped the knife in his right hand at him. He wasn’t sure how the one that got his nose noticed his throw but he met and held his glare. Deux had more knives and he wasn’t about to miss twice.

“No!”

He glanced at Kaden before looking back at the men in front of them. He listened to the conversation but didn’t have any impute. If they tried anything else they would be dead before anyone else could react. Deux waited for the others to start walking and he retrieved his knife from the tree. He kept still for a moment and scanned for any other men in the forest. Finding nothing he trailed behind to watch the men he had just been fighting.

Entering the clearing was different than before. The expressions of others were that of curiosity and fear at the new individuals. A medic walked up to him again and he waved him off. Deux was going to walk in further when a hand caught his wrist. He spun around but stopped when he recognized the person it belonged too.

“Fitter?” He looked down at the other youth, “Do you need something?”

“You’re hurt,” she said simply.

“I’m fine,” Deux took a step way. The grip tightened and she pulled on his arm.

“Sit,” she ordered, “at least let me get the blood off.”

Deux sighed and sat down. From his little experience with Fitter it was an exercise in frustration to argue with her. Things got done more quickly more quickly if you just let her have her way. It didn’t take too long for her to clean the blood off his face, it would have been taken less time if she didn’t stop every time he moved to hit him on the shoulder and scold him. He thanked her and walked back over to the main group.

“What’s the plan?” He laid on arm over the other across his chest, knife grasped loosely in his left hand. “I’m out of my depth regarding how to proceed.” Deux took a spot next to Kaden and looked up at the man. He hoped he could trust him but not until the situation was made clear he could not.

[Bartelby]

Bartelby closed the eyes of the crew member laying before him. This one hadn't made it. They had severe burns along their left side and a sizable chunk was missing from their right leg. If they had been in the med bay, they probably would have survived, but this wasn't the med bay. The was outside next to the toxic wreckage of a now-ghost ship.

"Pitiful," Bartelby mumbled under his breath before standing up. Then he heard a small commotion going on behind him and he turned around. Some of the crew that had venture out into the forest had returned, and not alone. Bartelby made his way over to the assembling group to see what was going on. The people were speaking in an unfamiliar language, but their escaped prisoner, Kaden, was translating. Just great, they had no choice but to trust their hostage. Trust that he was helping and not purposefully making things worse.

As Bartelby reached the group, he kept a firm grip on his staff and tried to keep someone between himself and the strangers. But he tried not to make it obvious that that was what he was doing. If things got out of hand, he wanted a buffer between himself and the bullets, that way he had a better chance of making an escape. But hopefully it wouldn't come to that.



Greg listened as Kaden translated for the man he had led into the camp. He didn't exactly like not being able to understand what was being said without relying on someone else, but he didn't have a lot of options at the moment. Greg supposed he should just be thankful he had a way to understand the guy at all.

But the man's message was not very comforting. "You are being hunted. So are we. We will help you if you come with us," is what the guy said. Greg figured that at the very least they were being tracked down by the forces who had shot them out of the sky, but hearing it from this guy made the truth that much more real.

Greg wanted to ask the guy what would happen if they didn't accept his help and go with him, but he already knew the answer. Nothing good. Even if they left each other alone and went their separate ways, half of Greg's crew was injured and they none of them knew the land.

With the feeling that he was choosing to fall into a pit rather than walk off a cliff, Greg answered. "Tell him, if he can keep my crew alive, we would be happy to accept his assistance."

Greg looked back at the burning wreckage of his ship, HIS ship, and felt a pang of remorse. There was no saving her, that much he knew. But knowing he would probably have to leave her scarred carcass on a secluded mountain of a strange world was not an easy thought to overcome.

I could really go for some Devil's Crest right about now, Greg thought to himself.

[Kaden]

Kaden was confused about what he was being asked to translate. As far as he knew they were on Lupo land. Why then were the Lupo's being hunted in their own territory? You are being hunted, so are we. He didn't like the sound of that. It went against everything he'd ever been taught about the structure of his planet's society and he feared what that might mean.

At the moment though his job wasn't really to express his concerns. He thought about giving Greg his opinion but he had no reason to believe it would be welcome. And he still wasn't sure if he wanted to help Greg, just the young ones he cared about.

"I'm not sure," Kaden muttered to Deux before translating Greg's response. He watched Jaxon's face as he heard it but whatever childhood bond they'd shared that allowed him to read the man had apparently been dissolved by distance and time. Kaden couldn't tell how he took the news but maybe his own judgement was being affected. He had never expected to lay foot on this planet again, let alone be talking to one of his dearest friends. He had the insane urge to pull Jaxon aside and just grill him on what he'd missed, what had been happening. He wanted to tell Jaxon about the pilots that joked like he had, about Tamrin and his life on the star ships. He wanted to tell Jaxon about space.

But Jaxon hardly glanced in his direction. He focused on Kaden just long enough to listen to his translation before turning back towards the other man who had been with him. They stepped a bit away and conversed in tones too quiet for Kaden to hear.

"We have wounded," Kaden called after a moment. He figured Jaxon and anyone else who was out there already knew that, they had been planning an attack after all, but he wanted to make clear that they wouldn't be leaving the wounded behind.

Jaxon glanced at him but that was all. He spoke into whatever communication device was in his ear for a moment and then he walked back over to the group. "Please translate," he said to Kaden before turning and addressing his comments to the captain. Jaxon paused periodically in between statements, giving Kaden a chance to translate.

"Ten of you will come with us to our main camp. The others, including the wounded, will move to the next valley to wait. We must meet and discuss these things with our Matriarch. You," he said, pointing at Greg, "and him," he added pointed at Kaden, "must come. You're the leader, he can translate. The other eight we leave to you to decide."

[Remy]

Things were boring for a while; they were simply moving through the woods, trees and branches in the way, and the feeling of being lost growing ever more present. They could find their way back because of the glow from the ship and the sound of voices, but going further in was dangerous and it didn't help that the whole planet was foreign.

But it was better than sitting around back at the ship, he supposed. Those suckers were sitting ducks to attackers from the air, should there be any, while they had cover and could survive off of game and foliage (provided that once more it was present). It wasn't his preferred method of living, but it was better than being vaporized.

And then something happened. There were voices, a language he couldn't understand. Deux climbed into a tree, and the gun took its familiar position in Remy's hand as he quietly moved around to flank the people from Deux's position.

Whatever transpired next happened quickly, but in the end, they were faced by two men that had withstood their attacks, and, well, seemed completely unfazed. Nonetheless, they had just made themselves perfect targets by being directly in front of them, so Remy leveled his gun, ready to squeeze the trigger when one took one wrong step.

Kaden began speaking the same language, but Remy didn't budge. So he knew the tongue, whatever. It would benefit them in the end, Kaden could tell them whatever. But these guys had tried to kill them, and they weren't on his 'let's-go-be-buddy-buddy' list.

And that appeared to go double for Deux. A knife left his hand, and barely missed its target. Kaden reacted oppositely as to what Remy expected. "So we're trusting these guys? Why?"

Kaden lost him right after; he knew these guys? What the hell? If they were the ones that shot them down, had Kaden somehow called in the attack to save his skin? He had been a prisoner after all.

They returned to camp, and a flurry of politics began between the guy and Greg. Remy stood by, his finger anxiously on the trigger of his gun, his mind trying to ensure that the canister hadn't fallen out in the forest during the fight. Ten go to their camp, and the rest go to the valley. What was his best course of action?

The valley offered certain death. Whatever, or whoever, shot them down would be looking for them, and with no cover they would all die, especially the wounded.

The camp was completely foreign, and Remy would be in a smaller group, but it was bound to have some experienced people in it. The camp was probably decently defended, and offer protection. Not to mention he was one of the captains hired guns. "I'll go to the camp with you, if you'd like," Remy said to Greg after a moment of silence.

[[If I need to change anything, please let me know.]]

[Angel]

Greg looked at the man standing across from him. This wasn't the first time he'd had to deal a with a pushy tough-guy local. If these hadn't been extraordinary circumstances he would have asked the guy to take a walk. But they were extraordinary circumstances. He couldn't deny that.

He looked around at the shuffling forms of his crew members. Anyone with any sort of medical training was trying to assist those who needed it but everyone was in pretty bad shape. What they all needed was a good night's rest and a some food at the very least. A hot shower would be nice. It was the little things that kept people sane, especially in space and especially in stressful situations.

He looked at the ship and at the few people who were standing around him. Somehow there weren't many trusted friends in this small circle. A prisoner, a boy who had zero personality and a hired gun who was a good shot but one of Greg's own, which was to say you couldn't trust him farther than his own self interest would take him. He didn't know how many people the other guys had. He didn't even know who the other guys were. For all he knew these were the same men who'd shot them down. It was unlikely. You didn't shoot someone down and then try to make friends with them. If they'd had the power to destroy a functioning ship they certainly had the power to finish off a crippled one. Chances were these men were not with the ones who'd taken them down.

But that was even more troublesome. He'd never really believed in the, "enemy of my enemy" equation. Enemies were enemies. Period. Plus, everyone who'd spent any time on the road knew to stay out of a bar fight. You didn't get involved when other people wanted to do violence to one another, all that resulted was that they would do violence to you. But he supposed they already had.

"20 people." He said after a moment. Greg figured he had maybe (maybe) 30 able bodied crew members. The rest were injured. He couldn't help them. If they had to cut and run the injured would be left behind, no way around that. So this deal was their only chance of making it out alive, or at least staying alive a bit longer. Since he wasn't in the habit of just throwing people away he wouldn't leave them completely unprotected. But he wanted as many people with him as possible. He was already feeling like he had the short end of this negotiation. He needed to balance the scales just a little.

"We'll take 20 or we'll wait to see what your friends have to say. Seems like they have the bigger guns anyway."



Jaxon’s jaw tightened as the man’s demand was translated. He glanced at Maxim and saw he was equally pleased with the new development. His first impulse was to pack it in, leave, but at the moment they were outnumbered and there were a number of armed individuals in the crowd. Walking off now could result in a bullet to the back, running would practically guarantee one. However showing up with an entourage of said armed offworlders was not going to help his case with Liam.

He touched his forehead before looking back at Kaden, “The 20 can come with us but most of them will have to wait outside the camp, if you appear to come in force I can’t ensure your crew’s safety.”

Maxim’s frown deepened as Kaden translated. Shaking his head slightly, Jaxon hoped the man wouldn’t make any other demands. He took comfort in the fact that the Rangers would still outnumber the group coming into the forest and decrease the number guarding the wounded. If a conflict were to break out, the offworlders would most likely fall on the losing side.

[Bartelby]

After a moment of quick deliberation, Bartelby decided to speak up. "Captain, If I may be so bold, I would like to accompany you to the camp. I feel I have done all that I can for the wounded, and my expertise may be of some value in this endeavor. Besides, my aid, Patsy, should be able to fulfill my role with the injured temporarily."

Bartelby didn't really care much about helping out the captain. He just wanted to stay where it seemed he would be safer and where he could stay informed about what was going on. Not to mention he was getting sick of hanging around dying crew members.

While it may end up being more dangerous going with the captain to the camp, Bartelby would feel less like a sitting duck. Not to mention if something did go down, he trusted the captain to get them through it more than he trusted a bunch of injured people.

[Angel]

"Starry," Greg said as he heard Kaden's translation. "We'll be right with you then." So far he'd ignored everyone's offer to come along. He was sure they wanted to come along but who would come along would be his decision. "Come with me," he said to everyone who was standing close by. "Kaden, you can stay with your friends." The man seemed to be in a more helpful mood at the moment but he was a pain in the ass. Greg didn't want him to have knowledge of his plans.

"Turret," he called over to his second in command. The short, stocky woman walked over to him from where she'd been overseeing the rescue operations. He was always a bit unnerved when he saw her eyes. She'd grown up on a planet where the sun was a problem. Her rock was a little too close to their star and so the day was marked by intense sunlight, the nights by absolute darkness. The human settlers had made some basic modifications to their DNA to adapt. Most of the changes couldn't really be seen and had to do with their's skin ability to protect them from radiation. But the eyes had a second lid that basically cut radiation like sun glasses, making Turrets eyes gray hazes in bright light. In darkness, they were as wide as cat's eyes and threw reflections back at him. In spotty light conditions like these, where the wreckage still burned bright but the night around them was dark as oil, her eyes were doing funky things.

But Greg liked Turret and, more importantly, he trusted her. Her common sense and no-bull-shit attitude gave her automatic points in his book. She kept her head in the worst of times and had never failed him. Added to the fact that she lived by an internal moral code that very often overlapped his own meant they got along quite well.

"Boss," she said as she walked over. Her throat was low and scratchy, a side effect of an unfortunate incident that involved a misapplied choke and damaged vocal cords. She could have gone to a real doctor to fix them but they'd been a bit of a sensitive situation at the time. Afterwards she'd decided the odd looks she got with her eyes and her voice gave her an edge in her field. Maybe she'd fix it one day but that day hadn't arrived.

"These heavy young men," the term heavy was a slight insult among space fareres, "have offered us their hospitality. I'm taking twenty with me. Ten will stay to guard the wounded. They're going to move them to the next valley. Supposedly there are people around here who want clear shots at our throats."

"When is that never true, Boss?" Greg shrugged. I want you to lead the party of ten. Find who is able-bodied and able to carry a weapon. Send," Greg looked around. He didn't really want to leave the young man with Turret. She'd have enough problems without having to baby-sit a baby snake, and Bartelby had proven useful so far though his man Pansy or whatever his name was, was almost useless to anyone but Bartelby. Greg wondered if they should bring Mr. Pansy along. It was always good to have a useless person to throw to the wolves if you had to. "Send me fifteen including Mr. Patsy. I don't want you to be without him Bartelby," he said to the priest with a wink. "Anyone else who can hold a gun arm them."

Turret scratched absently at a scratch on her cheek as she thought through his orders. "That don't give us much, Boss and I'd bet my right breast they got more people out there. We can't take them all."

Greg nodded, his usual carefree smile fading into a serious expression for a moment. "No we can't. We're in a bad situation Tur. Not gonna lie to you."

"You never have before," she interrupted, grimacing as she looked around at the wreckage. Greg nodded and continued.

"That's why I'm leaving you with the wounded. We have to send our prettiest to charm our way out of this and both breasts or no you're not a beauty." Turret smiled as she turned back to face him, light from the wreckage reflected in her eyes. For a moment she looked like a wolf herself and Greg smiled to see it. "If you need to run do what you can. We'll be in touch. But we don't have many cards in this one and we don't even know the game."

"Good thing you got the Bastard on your side, Boss," she said. The Bastard was what her people called Luck. He didn't really know why. "I'll find the bodies and I'll find the guns. Give me ten." Greg nodded and waited. People started wandering over to him soon enough and when he had his group he nodded in Turret's direction and turned to the group of crew standing around him.

"Alright ladies and gents. We've got nothing. So we're gonna bluff our asses off, got that? You're all with me not that it'll do you much good. They may have pity on the bleeding, they'll just kill us unless we do something about it. Deux, you are now reassigned. Forget Kaden, he's pretty much useless except as a mouth piece. Something goes down you watch my back. Bartelby, I wouldn't mind a little of your," Greg chose his words carefully, "showmanship. Anything to impress these people may help us. Keep your eyes open. Ears won't do you much good. These people are stronger than we are but they're also scared. Let's look for our advantage, yes?"

While Greg got his group together Turret was busy directing a party back in the ship. She was looking for any working weapon they had and was glad she came up with quite a few. They'd been smuggling weapons to some of the outer world planets when the ship went down. As stupid as blowing the hangar open had been it served them well now. She had the crew prying open boxes and distributing weapons to anyone that was conscious. When everyone had a weapon they started hiding weapons on the stretchers for the wounded. They were hidden well but, then again, that was to be expected. This was their business.

Turret left the crew to their jobs and began rounding up the wounded. Some had strayed pretty far from the wreckage. She came across a girl sitting next to a young boy. For a moment the boy looked dead but she realized it was just a trick of the light and shadows that clung to him in odd places.

A stretcher was laid out near the boy and some crutches were near the girl. Looked like someone had made sure they'd gotten taken care of. "We have to start moving soon," she told the girl as she bent to help get the boy on the stretcher itself. "Keep those close," she said with a nod towards the guns both held.

[Bartelby]

When Greg said that Patsy would be coming along, Bartelby was a little annoyed, but all he did was give a slight bow of acceptance. And then the priest resigned himself to lean on his staff and listen to directions. There wasn't a lot more he could do at the moment.

But when Greg said he wouldn't mind a little of Bartelby's "showmanship," Bartelby's eyes widened ever so slightly for a split second, and it was all he could do to keep from letting his jaw drop.

Does he know?Have I been found out? Maybe. Just play it cool. That might not have been what he meant at all. All of these thoughts raced through Bartelby's mind almost instantaneously, and, despite his self reassurances, did little to appease his worry. If he had been found out, he was done for.

No, wait, that wasn't right. If that were true then the captain would have done something by now. So either the captain still didn't know, or he had use for a fraudulent priest. Either way it was best if he just continued on as normal for now, and do what he could to help them get out of this sticky situation.

By the time everyone was ready to go, Bartelby had calmed himself down internally once again. At least as well as he could hope to be calmed down when marching into a possible disaster.

"Wow, hand picked by the captain," Patsy said to Bartelby in a loud whisper, cradling his crudely splinted arm. "We really must be on the righteous path. Not even his second in command was chosen to go with."

"The most glorious path is not always the most glorious of paths," Bartelby replied almost without thinking.

"What?"

"A lesson for another time."

[Fitter]

"Of course," Fitter nodded to Kaden, exhaustion written clearly across her face. Little could be done until the medic made his way over. The best choice the offworlder had was to listen to the advice of seniority and rest. She stretched her leg as he took his leave, not quite able to find a comfortable position. At least she found a small bit of peace by entwining her burned hand within the dirt.

Her eyes drifted to the boy beside her. As her father would say, Daxen looked like he had tussled with a tropical storm and lost. Fitter found the unusually quiet and pale version of her acquaintance disturbing. While frail and odd, he flourished with life and curiosity. Devoid of it now, she wished she was able to help. "Just hold on a bit longer," she whispered before biting her tongue in frustration. The medic would come soon. Soon.

Fitter felt completely useless under the tree, waiting for another person to find the pair. The only person to pass by was Deux, bearing an injury of his own. But unlike Daxen, this one was something Fitter had the experience to handle. Regardless of how tired she really was, this was an opportunity to do something. As the strange man passed by, she grabbed his wrist and tugged.

He glanced at her, and for a moment, his piercing eyes caused her decision to waver. “Fitter? Do you need something?”

No. She resolved to not be completely useless. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine.” He tried to walk away, but she refused to let go.

“Sit.” Deux didn’t look convinced, and Fitter felt her only chance of helping slowly slip away. “At least let me get the blood off?” she begged.

To her relief, he complied and took a seat on the ground next to her. Without hesitation she ripped a small piece of fabric off of the end of her dress. It didn’t take much time to dab away the blood on his face and clean up a small wound. Her pace was not as fast as she could have gone; working with only one hand made the task more difficult. Of course, so did Deux’s constant fidgeting.

“Hold still, rummer,” she murmured, wrapping the cloth around his arm. “There. That should feel better now.”

With a word of thanks, he continued to whatever place she interrupted him from going. Her eyes trailed as he joined other members of the crew who seemed to have an idea of what was going on. At least someone around here did. Fitter wouldn’t know where to start. It had taken her weeks to cope with the idea of getting on a ship and leaving the planet. Actually arriving on another one? It was surreal. She knew she was on the ground, but to think it was not the one she called home? Fitter couldn’t wrap her mind around it. “I envy you, Daxen,” she said to the boy next to her, not caring whether or not he could hear her. “You’ve probably been to lots of planets, and I can’t even cope with leaving one.”

Before he could respond –if he even had a level of consciousness high enough to respond- the medic finally made his way over to their tree, apologizing for missing them under the shadows. Fitter insisted he checked over Daxen first, but soon after he applied herbs to her hand and wrapped her ankle tight. As he left, he called for an assistant to bring over a pair of crutches, of which she was eternally grateful for. Along with those, the assistant tossed her a pair of guns.

“Don’t be afraid to use ‘em,” he directed, waving his hand at them. “Last thing you need is to be stranded on a strange planet without a weapon.”

Fitter didn’t like the sound of the word stranded. “Thank you, sir,” she replied, pulling the weapon closer with her free hand. “Here Dax, this one’s for you,” she sarcastically commented as she set one next to him. With a sigh, Fitter leaned her head back against the tree and closed her eyes.

Footsteps approached not long after, and she peeked open an eye to see who the new visitor was. A woman kneeled next to them. She spoke with clear direction as she moved Daxen onto a stretcher. “We have to start moving soon. Keep those close.”

Wordlessly, she nodded. A question rose that she hadn’t thought of asking yet. “Ma’am, where are we?”

[Remy]

The Captain didn't really address Remy after he volunteered to go to the camp with him, so Remy assumed that was a yes. He still had his gun, and he was quick to draw and fire, so that was a plus. Many a time his opponent was dead before their hand could get to the butt of their gun. Then again, there was sure to be a group of guards watching the posse of thirty crash survivors walking into their camp. No matter how many people Remy might kill, he would be killed within seconds.

He stood there silently as the Captain went on picking a couple more people to come with him, and then addressing the others that were nearby and able to come. The injured were staying, with the second-in-command of the ship remaining behind with them. While there was likely to be less action with the injured, they were also sitting ducks, so the notion of helping them was quickly blown out in his mind.

Remy took a strategic point within the group, a few bodies behind the Captain, and to the side so he could easily jump into action and have a good shot. With the Captain ready to go, Remy tilted his head to the side. "Lead the way, Cap."

[Deux]

Deux listened carefully as the Captain talked to a member of the crew he had only seen in passing. While they spoke he kept his eyes on the tree line. Now that he was certain they weren’t alone he kept his knives held loosely in his hands. In his mind it wasn’t paranoia if it was rationalized.

His eyes turned back to the group when he heard his name mentioned. Deux raised an eyebrow at the change in orders. He would have would have preferred to keep an eye on the only person that was negotiating with the natives. Even if they didn’t speak the language they could keep an eye on the body language. If he turned on them it could be the only warning they could have. Despite his concern he remained quiet, nodding at Greg before turning back at the woods. It wasn’t in his training really to protect someone. When his brother was still in play he had been ordered to protect him, but it never really was his mission. The mission was always the most important thing no matter what. Protection never really ever was his mission.

“I’ll do my best,” he said without checking to see if the Captain was listening.

While looking around his eyes stopped on the group of three standing away from the rest. His hands tightened and relaxed around his weapons as he tried to figure out the situation. Things had been much simpler before he got on the Laika. He appraised Remy briefly when the man spoke, silently agreeing. Whatever the outcome was they all needed to get away from the crash. All nostalgia would do was distract him from what he needed to do, so he kept quiet and awaited further instruction.

---

Continued in: Wall of Fire