World Tree MUSH

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    Somewhere in the galaxy someone lonely reaches out. But will anyone hear their cry?

    [Warning: Sleep cycle interruped by external force. Warning: life support systems critical. Warning: Pod failsafes declining. Initiate distress signal: Baby's Cry]

    Baby's Cry... The code name for a common type of distress signal in this universe, nicknamed for the urgency it implies, designed to attract as much attention as possible. And of all places for it to be coming from, the signal originates from the debris of a dead planet. Six years ago, Severus-VI was struck by a roving gigantic asteroid that wandered too close to the planet...
    At the time the Galactic Federation had done everything in its power to evacuate the people of Severus-VI, but they could not save them all, leaving much of the planet's population to a tragic fate. The remnants of half a planet and countless floating chunks of rock are all that remain, held tethered to the shattered husk-world by dying gravity and a dream. Nothing could survive out here, the constant shift and tumble of giant stone makes the area around the planet a dangerous and rocky zone where a ship can be crushed in the blink of an eye. And yet this is where the signal hails from.
    The sleek purple figure of a gunship cuts through the asteroids, piloted by one Samus Aran, having taken it upon herself and anyone else willing to investigate the signal. The Federation put out a call for aid in finding the source of the call, on their dime.
    The bounty hunter masterfully swerves her ship around massive chunks of floating rock, scanners running at full capacity to find the wailing siren song of the distress call.

    It is Matsu Shuzenji's first time off her world.

    It is also her first time seeing any kind of advanced technology other than 'Samus Aran's suit' or 'Bryllu' or 'a ridiculous chainsaw'.

    The girl's wide eyes make it obvious that she has no idea where to look the entire trip.

    Admittedly, the pair of attendants with her are also rather out of their depth. One seemingly in her early 20s, the other in her late 30s or early 40s, the duo keep close to Matsu at most times, and at the very least they have better poker faces about their wonderment than she does. But none of them are able to hide the awe - in the classical sense of the term, the one with as much fear as wonder - at the sight of a shattered planet.

    "Wh... what is that...?" Matsu murmurs, quietly shifting closer to the older attendant. "I... don't know, Lady Shuzenji," the woman admits in a soft voice. "Is this what it looks like when a world dies...?"

    When the fancy flying starts, though, Matsu finds something to grab onto, and holds on like a vise. Now this, this is terrifying.

    "Captain, Code Black distress signal... same source world as the previous one. Federation is calling for assistance... other out-verse responders require transport also."

    The lights in the Sanctuary slowly build back to full from the dim of Down Time. "Set course for pickup, and convert Cargo Bay for bio transport... get them some chairs too, or something." replies the groggy Captain as she claws her way out of bed and into something resembling work clothes.

    After picking those up who need the transport, the Sanctuary shifts FTL and heads for the coordinates, coming back to Real Space on the edge of the system and firing sublight engines.

    The bulbous ship is less agile than Samus' gunship, but a mix of Deflectors, and the Beam Emitter carving up dangerous chunks in the way allow the science vessel to get close enough to teleport people to where they're needed. "Minerva, full sweep. Lets network with the Gunship's suite and scan this debris field for the source of that distress call."

    "Confirmed, Captain. Handshake request sent to ADAM, beginning sensor sweep."

 
 Well... 
 
 Krystal -did- say that he needed to visit space some time, and what better chance to do that than singing up for a rescue mission!? 
 
 Cue.. Dwaaaaaarves in Spaaaaace!! 
 
 One of these days for sure Muradin will have to upgrade his gear into something a little more versatile than his medieval armor, magical as it might be. That day was not today, as Muradin had not been in the Tree quite to the point where he had a set of gear for every occassion. Not being dressed for the part had never stopped Muradin Bronzebeard from signing up to a dangerous expedition though, and thus the dwarf could be seen in Samus' ship passenger bay doing push ups, pumping himself up for battle. 
 
 "Hraaah!! Hell yeah!! Get ready lads and lasses!! I think things are about to get HEAVY!!" The dwarf cackled as he got back to his feet and tensed his body, clenching his fists in eagerness to get into combat. 
 
 "AAAAAGGGGHH!!!" Only to go flying sideways as the ship takes a deep turn and he slammed against the side of the ship! "SOD! I'm okay I'm okay!" To be fair, he really should have known to be sitting down and wearing a seat belt. First time in space and all.. incidentally.. does Muradin even know how to put on a space suit? Dwarves are tough but they're not known for surviving the vaccum of space. 

Bryllu's current form a bit on the large side, modelled roughly after a Chinese dragon and nearly ten feet long, with thrusters to keep her afloat and a humanoid upper body that has six arms, each of which carrying sharp implements. She has three seats on her back, with seatbelts. "Mister Muradin, I would recommend taking position on my back." If he does, she will automatically close the seatbelt.

She doesn't acknowledge Matsu's presence at all.

Duncan would be one of those needing pickup. Since in his world, most people believe that beyond the sky is... the realm of the gods! He's got no special knowledge himself, either, so he's not likely to understand this unless it's explained really good. And there's no time for that. So he's just gonna ride along with the people that are heading for that distress call in Justina's ship.

He has at least come ready for battle, fully armored in his dark plate, his greatsword at-hand. Though no, his helmet's not hermetically sealed either, so if they need to go into actual space, that could be a bit of a problem...

 
 "Whoa! Bryllu! Is that ye, lass!!? I dinnae recognize ye at all!" Said Muradin from his spot at the side of the passenger bay. Sure enough, Bryllu looked heck of a lot of different but Mura would recognize that deadpan voice anywhere! He pulled away from the wall of the ship, jumped atop Bryllu's back and took a seat. Yep, this wasn't weird at all. 

    [HELLO.]
    ADAM receives Minerva's handshake and the two ships begin to link up and transmit data between one another while Samus maneuvers her gunship through the planetary debris field.
    [It is not an out of the ordinary occurrance for planets to be struck by meteors.] ADAM notes to Matsu and her attendants in his mechanical droning voice. [Unfortunately the meteor that struck Severus-VI was large enough to demolish half the planet and wipe out all life.]
    So yes. This is, in a way, what it can look like when a planet dies.
    Samus, too busy flying to actually turn her head, does speak up, "Buckle up." She says simply over her shoulder as Muradin is tossed into a bulkhead by her flying.
    It's a few more minutes of maneuvering through the planet's wreckage before the gunship is suddenly face to face with... A much larger ship.
    With its hull painted dark gunmetal in tone, the stingray-shaped Space Pirate ship suddenly comes to life the moment it spots the gunship.
    "... Definitely buckle up. The signal origin is coming from inside that."
    It's the only warning Samus' passengers get as the Hunter serves hard to avoid the pirate ship's cannonfire.
    [I will prepare a teleport vector for you, once we are inside.] ADAM prompts Minerva.
    ... Wait. Inside?
    "You read my mind, ADAM."
    [Of course, Lady.]
    It's a hellstorm of enemy fire after that, and Samus grazes it like the seasoned pilot that she is before the gunship's nose dips... And she smashes right into the pirate ship's docking bay.
    Skidding to a halt the Hunter thumbs a button and the ship's ramp drops.
    "It's going to be a fight all the way." She warns her passengers, pausing with a glance toward Matsu and her attendants. "Stay behind me." Said as she makes her way out, already firing her armcannon to put down several of the crustacean-like creatures manning the docking bay.

    "Solid copy, ADAM. Standing by for vectors." Minerva replies. "Attention passengers. Please stand on the glowing glyphs on the floor, and prepare for teleport. Make sure your limbs are within the boundary of the glyph." Once ADAM gives the signal, the Glyphs translate their occupants to the destination. Outside the windows, the hulking, bulbous Sanctuary turns broadside on, and the Beam Emitter girdling the center line of the craft gathers two points along its length, brings them together then lances out a blue-green beam of energy, raking it along the hull of the Space Pirate Cruiser, causing the entire vessel to shudder. Return fire can be seen deflecting off of temporary transluscent energy screens, though a few shots slip by and sprang off of the hull.

    Justina herself remains aboard the Sanctuary to help reinforce the shields with her own magical aptitude. "I will attempt to guide you from here. Beginning sensor uplink... We'll try to keep the crew busy fending us off to clear your path." comes Justina over the comms.

"Yes it's me, mister Muradin. I am able to build bodies to suit my needs." Bryllu answers as she prepares to head out > Initiating sensor exchange < She begins her own sharing of sensor data. "I have room for two more passengers for those who prefer not to risk the treacherous ground of a shattered world."

She pauses before looking to Matsu, "Furtermore, this is what it's like if a planet dies by a particular kind of brute force. In an environment with unmanaged stars, planets are typically more likely to die as a consequence of their star either consuming the planet or dying itself, often planets in those scenarios will not even leave corpses and if they do, the corpse is just a lifeless frozen husk rather than something this dramatic."

As she reaches forward, she begins to strike at the nearest creaturers, making sure to keep her seats positioned such that those who need to be close can strike and those who'd rather not get to keep their distance.

    When she first saw Bryllu, Matsu probably went through a very quick shotgun of surprise, then irritation, before settling into a neutral expression. 'Working with people she doesn't like' is business as usual for the girl by now. She can deal with it. Muradin is more of a curiosity. There are dwarves on her world - she's heard of them, at least, in some distant country on another continent - but it's her first time seeing one, and... he's certainly loud. She seems far more wary of him than she does Bryllu, despite her history with the latter. Of course, all that goes out the window when she's holding on for dear life.

    The first time Matsu heard ADAM's voice, she probably just about jumped out of her skin. It still makes her jerk faintly with surprise, but at least she kinda gets it now. "...that an entire world can simply be... stricken dead, or shattered..." the girl murmurs, glancing between ADAM's console and Bryllu. The thought is terrifying to her. "The gods here are cruel." Not an accusation; it sounds more as if she's commenting on a natural feature than anything.

    Oh lordy that's a big ship. And then things get terrifying. Matsu and her attendants strap in, and it's a seat-clenching few minutes of terror before they finally come to a stop on the ship. Samus advises them to stay behind her, and the two attendants look at each other, before the older replies, "We... w-we will remain on your ship. We are not trained in combat. Lady Shuzenji, please be safe."

    The silver-haired girl nods once, and falls in place behind Samus. Curiously, she palms a slip of paper, with arcane sigils and lettering on it; and this she holds as if it's a weapon at the ready.

When the announcement comes about the Glyphs -- and the warning about staying inside the teleport Glyph -- Duncan makes for one, and makes himself as small as possible inside the projected beam's path.

See, he's a big guy, carrying a big sword, and he kinda wants to arrive at his destination with all his parts and weapons intact! Fortunately he doesn't suffer any teleportation mishaps, and ends up at the proper location in one piece.

Duncan will need to be at the front of the advancing group to be of the most help. While he does have ways to fight long-range -- he can use fire magic in addition to his darkness -- most of them aren't conducive to on-the-run fighting. Though he can fire blasts of dark energy.

These are the ways he's fighting, in fact. While moving, if he can get close, he's attacking with his darkness-infused sword; if he can't and needs to keep moving, he's firing blasts of darkness from his blade; if he has a chance to pause for a moment, he'll lob a fire spell in an enemy's direction.

 
 No need to tell Muradin twice to buckle up. He already slammed into a bulkhead already, no need to make it a double. It wasn't as it really hurt him though but it sure was annoying! Plus, if they got boarded he much rather prefer to meet the face whilst on his feet rather than upside down plastered on a wall. 
 
 "YEAAAH! Bollocks! Space is bloody amazing! Had I known it'd be this much fun I woulda come 'ere already!!" The dwarf all but cheered and hollered as Samus all but crashed her ship into an enemy vessel. Now that was what Muradin called a proper boarding alright! The dwarf pumped his fists up in the air, safe and locked on Bryllu's back as if he was the best rodeo of his life. "Oh, well, wot do ye know? I dinnae take ye for some kinna shape shifter." Said he to Bryllu as she explained how she was capable of change form. As usual, he was putting it in terms he could understand, as changing bodies at will to him was just some kind of weird magic. 
 
 Eventually, Samus appeared before them and in between the ugly looking space creatures that were rushing in to the defense of their ship. 
 
 A fight all the way in? "Mate! That's why I'm here!!" Bellowed the Mountain King as he hurriedly tried to undo the buckle of Brllyu's seat. "Hold on, lass! I canna fight mounted on ye! I gotta get stuck in! HAH!" The dwarf managed to unbuckle himself and he was already jumping out of the dragon's back, hammer and axe in hand, and landing next to Samus. 
 
 "Muradin Bronzebeard donna stay behind no one!! LET ME AT THEM!!" Muradin had mistakenly thought Samus was telling 'everyone' to stay behind her rather than just Matsu's retainers. But he understood strategy well enough and he wouldn't rush into combat against foes that were all ranged just to get gunned down. He stood next to Samus and looked about, waiting for a good opportunity to jump into the fray. 

    Samus was not speaking in jest. Not in the least, and she nods when the attendants decide to stay behind. The ramp will close and seal them in safely once the others disembark. But as soon as she's off the ramp of her ship it's a firefight, with the crustacean-like pirates firing their claw-mounted blasters. The Hunter remains close to Matsu, acting like an armored wall to keep the phoenix-maiden from harm. Several rays sear across her armor, but the Gravity Suit is made of hardy stuff, the pirate's blaster fire hardly leave a scratch on it as she ducks into cover behind a crate and returns fire.
    Duncan teleports aboard and the pirates are caught flat footed- to suddenly have the Dark Knight in their midst cutting them down with that chilling dark sword and burning fire puts them on the back foot, before Bryllu disembarks and starts cutting others down. It provides ample opening for Muradin to close the distance and smash the pirates defensive line if he so pleases.
    He'll probably be very pleased.
    "That way." Samus motions for a blast door, which she makes her way toward, firing and moving at the same time while the pirates are disoriented, fingers flying over the controls to open the door leading to the direction of the distress call from deeper within the ship while the pirate ship exchanges fire with the Sanctuary, its shields sparking to life before guttering and causing the ship to shake from the impact.

 
 Oh yeah.. 
 
 This pleased Muradin. 
 
 The dwarf was a boisterous fighter but he was not a rookie at all when it came to combat, even with this widely different technology that what he was used to. He could put two and two together and realized that rushing in blindly into the waiting arms of the pirates would just get him gunned down, probably not killed outright- Muradin was extremely tough like that- but he might get pinned down and not get to do much. 
 
 Oh no, patience was a warrior's best weapon. The dwarf waited anxiously until the pirates were dealing with others who could close the distance easier and he saw the opening. "There ye are! I GOT 'EM!" This dwarf could JUMP. Muradin cleared the fifteen or so distance between the ship and the pirates and barrelled into their midsts, axe a swinging and hammer bashing. "Crack some skulls! CRACK SOME SKULLS!!" Bellowed the dwarf warrior to Bryllu and Duncan as all three got stuck into the bloody melee. It didn't look like the pirates were ready to take on so much melee combat as Samus was already leading them away and onto another door. "Right behind ye, lass!" Said the dwarf as he stomped the skull of a downed space pirate and hurried along with the others. 

    Suddenly, a man of darkness and fire appears - and Matsu yelps in alarm. There's a jump back that nearly gets her blasted, and she's ready with that slip of paper to start... doing something to Duncan. But the dark knight turns out to be on their side. She eyes him warily, but then settles back in with her 'bodyguard' and continues advancing.

    As Samus settles into a rhythm, Matsu sticks close - but not so close that she'll interfere with the Hunter's work. No, she's wise enough to stay back just enough that Samus can move freely, and that she herself can counterattack. There aren't many of them. First, that talisman seems to erupt in flames; imbued with purifying fire, turning it into a fairly powerful anti-supernatural charm. This, the small girl throws with unerring accuracy, somehow turning the slip of paper into a well-aimed projectile that slaps into a Space Pirate's face.

    And does nothing whatsoever.

    Matsu hrmns quietly. "...not yokai." Her next attempt is more successful; her hands weave through a series of intricate movement, quickly drawing an arcane sigil in the air using fingertips alight with flames. When she slams the symbol with her palm, it erupts in a bolt of fire. This has noticeably more effect. It's not powerful, but it's enough to hurt.

    As soon as Samus opens the door, Matsu slips through, readying another fire spell in case there's hostiles on the other side.

Fortunately for Duncan, the lower half of his face is visible under the helmet, so that might help in identifying him as not-a-demon, despite him throwing around darkness and fire. Matsu's yelp may get lost in the melee, but he does pause for long enough to look in her direction. There's hardly any clue, but he's trying to make sure she's all right. When she looks to be fighting fit, he'll return to the melee himself.

Duncan's not going to bother fighting the enemies that aren't in his way. They're all trying to get somewhere in a hurry, not kill everything in the area. Though the latter will probably end up happening at some point anyway, to be perfectly fair. But right now there's someone in trouble, and that's the priority.

So when Samus points the way to a blast door, Duncan only pauses long enough to kick a crabby space pirate out of his space before heading for the door. Though he'll pause long next to the door long enough to make certain everyone's gotten through before going through himself.

"Matsu Shuzenji." Bryllu says softly as she fights, using her blades to keep progressing. "While I will never abandon my belief in the inherent injustice in hierarchical societies such as yours, I can tell you mean well and are not corrupt, and as such my words to you have been overly harsh and rude. Please forgive me for my rudeness." This is said right as she decapitates someone, perhaps not the best venue for an apology.

    Things calm down by a degree or so once through the doors. The pirates hadn't been expecting Samus to forcibly board their ship and the crew at the docks didn't stand much of a chance. They were mostly a lightly armed lot and even with their blasters they are easily gutted by the Hunter and her highly effective associates.
    Even if one pirate is left utterly bewildered by a talisman slapping onto his face before he's summarily incinerated.
    The pirate ship judders and rocks at points, still exchanging broadside fire with Justina's ship, but by and large the crew is scrambling to repel the invaders, which means the respite is brief as the party makes their way through the spacious halls and corridors of the pirate cruiser.
    Samus pauses every now and then at in intersection to orient herself and determine the location of the signal from deeper within the ship.
    "If we had just gotten here a little earlier." She mutters, probably frowning behind her helmet

    As they make their way through the ship, Matsu is wary; she's smart enough to keep her fire magic at the ready, for what little good it will do. But when Bryllu speaks, it's actually enough to divert her attention for a moment. She stares at the other girl for a moment, utterly unfazed by the decapitation, more interested in the person doing it. After a few seconds, she turns her attention back to the trip through the ship...

    ...but then there's a soft-voiced reply, almost sad. "You're not wrong. There's a lot of injustice in my 'heirarchical society'." It's probably the closest she can get to 'apology accepted', or an apology of her own. Baby steps!

    She still looks a little wary of Duncan, though. But if he's fighting on their side, she'll treat him as a... provisional ally. More pressing is Samus' comment. "...if they're recently dead, I can help," she says after a second's pause. "Potentially. There are limits, but..." But 'too late' has a different definition when she's around.

 
 "HAH! Bryllu, mate, are ye picking on the wee little lass, back there? I dinnae take ye fer the type!" Muradin cackled as he advanced, his boots cacked with blood and bits of whatever was in the insides of the Pirate's skulls. To be fair, these guys had thus far been easy pickings, not jut for Muradin but for his allies as well, and they appeared to be doing short work of them. The dwarf was not one to ever get distracted from a fight, after all, one wrong move could mean death, no matter how insignificant a fight may look, but they had hardly challenged him thus far and that meant he could keep tabs on the conversation between Matsu and Bryllu. 
 
 "Ey lassie, donna take wot Bryllu's says too personally. She's an alright lass once ya get to work with 'er a few times." Frankly, Muradin didn't know a whole lot of Bryllu, but he knew that she was one of Anna's friends, and in his book, anyone that helped Anna was an alright sort. 
 
 The group seemed to get into a proper pace now and Muradin was far better prepared when they ran into the next batch of Pirates. He parried and blocked the blasters with his hammer and his axe and he hurled his hammer at the group in return fire. As Muradin's hammer often did, it EXPLODED with a flashing light and explosive thunder, before simply reappearing back in his hand. 
 
 "Wot? Are we not doing good? We got these guys on the ropes!" He said to Samus as he heard her muttering. 

Duncan's not really seeking the combat here; it's a means to an end for him. That said, he sees how Muradin seems to be excited for this sort of thing... and to be honest, these things are probably going to cause SOMEONE trouble at some point.

So as they're moving through the ship, he's only fighting the ones that are in his way. And some of those he's deflecting at Muradin, either with kicks or by using his sword as a baseball bat.

He's also aware of Samus's muttering, but he's not quite able to hear her as well as others. But when Matsu and Muradin speak up, he notes calmly, "We're here to try to render aid, not to 'crack skulls', as you put it." Looking to Muradin as he speaks here, though it's notable that he's not angry, upset, or anything of the sort.

In fact he smirks here. "More's the pity. I doubt these spindly spidercrab things contribute anything worthwhile to this world, and many would be pleased were we to wipe them out." Here he looks at Samus again, with a serious expression. "Are we too late?" he inquires gravely. "I'm afraid I don't have any healing magics to speak of..."

Bryllu nods to Matsu's response, taking it in the spirit in which it was given. She continues onwards, keeping herself focused on the killing as that's easier than dealing with people. "Muradin, you're part of the hierarchical elite too, you know." She points out, "Have you considered demolishing the inequities of the state and implementing an non-hierarchical society?"

 
 Muradin was ALWAYS looking for combat, and he would gladly kill the monsters that Duncan was tossing his way. Like bloodied pieces of meat to a starving wolf, Muradin descended upon them like if they had insulted his ancestors, banging them senseless with his hammer and chopping at their bodies with his axe with a wild frenzy. Ironically, -this- was Muradin taking it easy, the others still had to see him fighting on creatures that he truly hated- like Orcs. Well, there was that one time in Hell with Bryllu, but those were fake orcs? Either way, point was that Muradin would not say not to any sort of scrap sent his way, and he gleefully slaughtered the Pirates, either if they were in his way or others were throwing them at him like tribute. 
 
 "Oi, wot? But I am rendering aid!" Cried out Muradin in return to Duncan, and though his voice always sounded threatening, the dwarf couldn't help but say with an amused grin. "Rendering aid through superior firepower! Ne'ver 'eard of that one, lad? HAH!" Muradin figured that he was going to like this Duncan guy the moment he saw him, two buff dudes in armor were meant to stick close, but he seemed like the quiet type and Muradin was.. well.. LOUD as Matsu put it, so he was waiting for Duncan to open up to him rather than the other way around. "Ye know it! Let's wipe these bastards off the face of the universe!" Cheered the ever excited dwarf as they continued carving a bloody path through the Pirate's ship. Just having a great ol' time. 
 
 "Wot!? A Democracy in Ironforge!? Are ye bloody kidding me, mate!?" That was until Bryllu started to get all political with the dwarf. "There'd be blood in the streets from all the loyalists to the royal family! Not to mention that no one would even know wot ta do with voting! Why, some dwarves would take the opportunity to take their axes and start hacking apart members of the opposition. It'd be Civil War I tells ye! Trust me, lass, Capitalist Dwarves are the last thing that Azeroth needs. The crown of Ironforge is the only thing keeping me kin from going ballistic with tech and blowing themselves up and taking the whole world in tow. Progress over tradition is human talk! Or worse! Goblins! Bleaugh!!" 

    "Infiltration team, Sanctuary. We're taking a pounding over here, my tight-beam scanning array is offline. I can't see where you are, but whatever you're about to do, make it quick." the comm cuts for a moment, filled with static and that incessent alarm klaxon. "Shields are at 56% and falling, hull integrity at 87. Reinforcement sigils are holding for now."

    The Sanctuary turns in toward the cruiser, trying to put a large piece of debris between it and the Pirate ship to ablate some of the incoming fire.

    Aboard Sanctuary:

    "Minerva! Divert auxillary power to the beam emitter. Aim for their weapons array, try and destroy their targetting matrix! We need to buy the infiltration team more time!"
    "Understood, Captain... Target locked, firing!"

"A representative capitalist democracy is just another hierarchical society. A fair society is governed by the consensus of the people, provides to people what they need regardless of what 'merit' or 'value' their contributions have, and in return the people contribute what they can." Thus explains the native of a post-scarcity anarcho-communist utopia, "If you have an opposition to hack apart, you're not doing it right." Bryllu seems convinced of this, "And if you're doing conquest then you're just reinstating hierarchical society, too. They didn't consent to be conquered, after all."

    Unfortunately, Muradin, it's not about keeping the pirates on the ropes. Whatever the group had came here for, the pirates have clearly gotten to first. But there's little time fret about it, and Samus gives a silent nod to Matsu, knowing full well what the phoenix-maiden is capable of.
    Hopefully it won't come to that.
    "The Space Pirates are a galactic threat." She says simply to Duncan's assessment. "But wherever you stamp them down, only more spring up to replace them." Are they too late though... That remains to be seen.
    Finally there's a lull in the combat as the group reaches their destination. It's a cargo intake bay, that seems to have intaken something new. And interesting.
    There's a single space pirate present, but a bolt of plasma from Samus' arm cannon solves that problem.
    What's important in this room is the car-sized pod-like vehicle that the pirates have hooked a series of wires to.
    Meanwhile... Outside...
    "We're working on it, Sanctuary. Just do your best." Samus replies as the pirate cruiser intends to return fire-- only for Minerva's firing solutions to aim true. Striking a vital part of the pirate ship doesn't just hit their targetting array, but also seems to shut the ship down briefly.
    Inside everything goes dark, before the dull red emergency lighting kicks to life as Samus inspects the pod-ship.
    "This is it."

    "We seem to have hit something vital. Power systems have failed across the entire ship. Beginning repairs, once I have the tight-beam back online I can probably teleport you and anything important out from where you are... standby." comes Justina over comms, as the cruiser goes dark. Shields remain online, and the beam emitter stays target locked on the cruiser, almost daring it to come back to life.

 
 Muradin gave Bryllu's political ideas some serious thoughts... at least, until she said that bit about people 'consenting' to getting conquered. "Pffft! Mate, do ye think I care two bits 'bout wot tha soddin' Horde has ta say 'bout getting conquered!? They'll be lucky if there's anything left of 'em to govern after I'm done with them!" Some of Bryllu's ideas had some merit though, and it was true that Muradin was also a King and not just a mindless bruiser. Perhaps he could talk to her about it... just not at that precise moment. 
 
 "Look mate, can we talk about this later? Let's finish up with these blokes and then ye can talk me ear off about how to govern if ye like. Preferably over a drink!" 
 
 Oh right, silly Muradin, he kind of forgot that this was a rescue mission, though in his defense, there were a lot of enemies to kill and that always got him distracted. The group arrive at the pod ship, and even as the lights go out, Muradin mantained his focus thanks to his darkvision- though the dull red emergency light certainly helped. 
 
 "Wot is it? Is that wot we're looking fer? Seems pretty intact to me." Said the dwarf as he walked close next to Samus, hammer and axe at the ready in case something showed up in the darkness. 

"No doubt we will get the opportunity to try again in the future," Duncan replies to Muradin's suggestion to wipe out these space pirates. "But for the now, we can best render aid by finding the one at the source of the distress call and getting them out of this place."

It's true though -- Duncan is the quiet type, for the most part. He's pretty well the opposite of Muradin.

Duncan tilts his head once they finally find what they've gome here to find. "Someone's inside here? Should we try to remove them?" He's aware that these things may not always be prisons.

And then suddenly... oh hey, they're in the dark. For a few moments, at least. For further proof that he's not some kind of monster, nothing weird happens when they're briefly plunged into darkness. No suddenly-glowing eyes or armor bits, no suddenly growing spines or extra limbs -- nothing like that happens. He's just a dude in armor.

    By this point, Matsu is quietly shifting herself so as to keep Samus between herself and Muradin. He is very, very... boisterous.

    She chooses to put her focus on the pod instead, trying to see inside... but she's a lot shorter than Samus. This might be a problem.

"And the fact that you don't think you ought to care is a huge part of the problem with hierarchical societies. Defending yourself is of course reasonable, but..." That's about when Muradin reminds Bryllu about the fact they're doing a thing, and she stops. She examines the thing they're looking at in detail, with all her sensors, trying to figure out what it is and if there's anything alive in there.

    The darkness lasts, pervasive and ominous, the dim lighting of the emergency lights casting everything in a red haze.
    "We'll be out in a minute, Sanctuary." Samus responds a little distractedly as she examines the pod. There are lifesigns inside it, but they're faint.

    ...

        [Warning: Sleep cycle terminating. Warning: Life support systems offline. Warning: Failsafes deactivated.]

    [No m...essages in 2567 days...]

    [...]

        [...]

            [... New message recieved. Happy birthday.]

    Somewhere a sleepy girl blearily begins to rouse. Memories come flooding back. A man's kind smile. A pretty trail of light streaking through the night sky, getting closer and closer. The hot feeling of tears welling up. One last forehead kiss goodbye before going to sleep for a long, long, time.

    As though reacting to the presence of the party, the pod cracks open with a hiss, a thin mist licking out from the new seam in the ship as it begins to open slowly. Inside the smell of stale, heavily recycled air pours out and reveals...
    A girl. Slumbering and bound to the ship by a series of cables, wires, umbilicals and intraveinous lines. Her hair has grown wild and she's outgrown much of what she's wearing, but she looks almost completely peaceful in her sleep, still connected to the pod as it crackles to life, leaving her with one last message from someone important.

    "There was far too little time left after you were born. I wonder how much love I was able to show after your mother passed... Seeing you cheerful and well gave your old man courage.
    It really would have been better if we could have gone together, but I couldn't make it work. I thought I wanted you to forget everything and go forward...knowing you, you'll be okay. You'll realize your loneliness, and surely remember me.
    I believe that you'll grow strong. I wish we could have made more memories. I'm sorry. When you were little you probably didn't understand well, but now you should."

    The hiss of the pod prompts Matsu to jump back with a startled yelp. "Waah-!" Stumble stumble step. Defensive stance! Squint.

    Slowly, the girl relaxes, nose wrinkling at the smell of that air. Then she leans up, squinting into the pod, only for her eyes to slowly widen. She has no clue exactly what she's seeing; but she can tell there's a girl in there, one who's been preserved by this machine, slumbering for a very, very long time. And then the message starts to play.

    Fingers start to twitch. Shoulders quiver. She tries, oh how she tries to stay standing. But in the end, Matsu Shuzenji drops to her knees, trembling gently as a wave of sympathetic sadness hits her like a tsunami. And the tears start to flow.

>> SUMMARY[Matsu Shuzenji] >> Punched right in the shared trauma.

    Justina brings the sensor packet online... just in time to get the video feed from Samus' visor.

    Her voice hitches, hand gripping tight to the arm of her command chair. "One final survivor, of a dead world." remarks Minerva. "Rescue Team... we can lock onto your signatures and teleport you out of there if necessary. Please advise."

    Justina remains motionless, as tears roll down her cheeks as her own loss strikes her out of nowhere. "Papa..."

Bryllu goes quiet. Deadly quiet. She turns away, gazes out to space. Motionless for several moments. "I wonder..." She eventually states, her voice warbled and barely audible. "When will my parent realize I'm gone. Will they even care, or just replace me." A pause, "I know I've never even come close to their expectations, so maybe that'd be better..."

 
 Okaaaay.. 
 
 Muradin wasn't quite sure what was he expecting, but he was certainly not expecting... this!! 
 
 Nothing made Muradin Bronzebeard retreat! Nothing! And yet, at the sight of the small girl, all wrapped up in cables and what have you, a tangle of hair and tattered clothes, the Thane of Ironforge actually took a step back, blue eyes widening with surprise. He almost let the grip on his weapons slack, but he held on tight as he recovered his senses. What.. what was happening? Who was this girl?? And now Matsu was on her knees and crying! 
 
 "Bryllu, wot's going on 'ere?" He whispered over to the dragon girl person hoping she'd know who this girl was, it was as if he had walked into the wrong movie. 

But when the pod starts to open, Duncan shifts, readying to shield the closest person from an incoming strike. Of course... that strike never comes. Mist pours out, and the pod reveals it was definitely holding someone.

...Of course, now he has no idea what to do. "...It sounds like there's a problem with the pod?" he inquires of Samus. "Should we... move her? Is it safe?" The message catches him off-guard though... as does Matsu's reaction to it (he doesn't see Justina's at this moment).

Being a product of a more-or-less loving home, and lacking any such trauma as destruction of his home as a child (sorry Rydia!), it doesn't quite hit him the same. Besides that, as a dark knight, he has to have very good control over his emotions.

But, in the end, whatever he feels about the situation, he keeps silent on it. Perhaps he doesn't feel he has the right to comment on it. Instead he looks to Matsu, offers a small smile... and a handkerchief. It's not a handkerchief of DARKNESS, no. In fact, it's a pure white slip of soft cloth.

    For a long, long, moment. Samus Aran stands silent. And now, as the orphan of K-2L meets the orphan of Severus-VI, the bounty hunter is quiet as the pod plays back the message.
    A gauntlet-clad hand rests on Matsu's shoulder with a surprising amount of gentleness as the Shuzenji-clan head is stricken to her knees weeping openly.
    "She's the last." Samus explains for Muradin's sake, squeezing Matsu gently as she speaks. "The last survivor of the planet below. And she's been waiting for a long, long, time." Said as she draws a slow breath.
    "Sanctuary. I'll get the others back to my gunship. Prepare a teleport for one. Human female, assume condition critical."
    With that said, the last daughter of the Chozo releases Matsu's shoulder and turns to the others. There's a glint in the light that makes the normally vibrant green panel of her visor flash transparent long enough to see a measure of ... Is that pain or sadness in the Hunter's eyes?

    "Solid Copy. Locking onto the pod, transfering it to Medical 1. Sealing the section and diverting life support to secondary system." At that, a large Glyph appears beneath the pod, and after a moment, the entire assembly vanishes in a wink of light.

    Aboard the ship, Dolls spring to life, rigging up the pod to medical equipment, and beginning life sustaining activities... all under the watchful eyes of the half-elf, on the other side of protective glass. "We'll make sure she survives." "Both of us will."