S3-M12: The Battle Royale

[Hrafn Falleg]

Surface of the Asteroid, Somewhere...

At the sound of his name, Pev looked around the surface of the strange place they found themselves. Everyone was costumed differently. Some he recognized instantly: apparently he was not the only fan of sequential storytelling. Others were a mystery to him, though all looked quite comfortable in their respective outfits, and no one was wearing anything that could be thought of as scandalous by Starfleet standards.

"I am fine, Sally," he said, crossing the distance between them. "Oddly, whoever it is that brought us here saw fit to outfit me as a character from Terran comic books, like they did for Meros, Anth, and Ruthie. Why they chose this rather than something from S'ti'ach culture is unknown to me, but to be honest, I would much rather this than Odje Com-Fonty the Giant Umpha, which is a very popular series of children's books about a carnivorous plant. I, apparently, am Spider-S'ti'ach." With a dramatic flourish, the alien struck a pose, extending all four arms, and pressed the two middle fingers of each hand against his palms. Shockingly, thin streams of white viscous fluid shot forth from his wrists, covering Sally's midriff and arms!

Stunned, Pev instinctively pulled back, in an attempt to free both her and himself, but only succeeded in pulling her forward, bringing her to a halt just before they crashed into each other.

"I don't believe I will be needing a weapon," he called loudly to Hrafn, looking up at the web-encased "Alice."

[Asteriod Comic Con or wherever we are...]

As Hrafn and NPCs Ruthie, Sally, Anth and Meros

Sally looked around in relief when she saw Pev, albeit dressed differently, her relief turned to dismay and then amusement when she was first covered in what seemed to be 'silly string' and then brought close to Pev... close enough to kiss if she wanted to.  She found that she didn't mind being this close to him though.

"Yup, Sal's deffo got a boyfriend!" Anth said amused by the S'ti'ach dressed like Spiderman.

Sally glared in her brother's direction and started picking off the webbing.

"If you wanted to get close to me..." she said, through a fit of giggles, "...there are more conventional methods!"

"You'd be fun at a graduation party... they banned silly string but if it's part of you!" Meros said with a grin.

"Boys will be boys..." Ruthie said rolling her eyes in her mother, Hrafn's direction.

"I'm inclined to agree Mr. Pev..." Hrafn said speaking of the weapons.  "I think we can rely on your assumed agility and um... rather unique defence mechanism there.  Please, everyone, you included Mr. Cloten, we need to at least stay alert and see if we can't figure out what they want with us here.  The only correlation we have so far is that we're all dressed like well... as if we were at some 20-21st Century Terran Comic Convention, we were brought here unwillingly and there seem to be an awful lot of weapons lying around suggesting that at some point we will be made to fight, otherwise ... why leave the weapons around.  If these were remains of other people who had come here, wouldn't there be bones.  If they are weapons taken from former combatants here... it seems like bad housekeeping to leave the weapons but take the bodies.  Were there bodies or least skeletons, I'd just call it laziness.  No, we're here for a reason and as yet I've not worked it out, so for the moment stay alert, arm yourselves... no offence Mr. Pev you seem to have that one down pat,"  she gave a momentary flash of her trademark grin to Pev and Sally (the latter still de-webbing herself!) then continued.

"... and be alert."

"Be a Lert... the Federation needs more Lerts!" Anth said with a chuckle.  "Sorry, Hrafn, couldn't resist but there is scientific study that if learning is fun, or there's something funny said about something then you remember it better.  Like my teacher when he did about Newton's laws of motion..."

Anth held his right hand with thumb pointing straight up and his middle finger pointed in at himself, his index finger pointing to his left, all were at (approximately since these were fingers and not geometric instruments!) 90 degree right angles to one another.

"Prof always did this and pointed at each of the laws in turn... but cuz of this hand gesture I can almost 'hear' him intoning the laws of motion. Thus me joking about 'Lerts' well I'll remember!"

"Indeed, Anth... well I hope it works... have you chosen a weapon?" Hrafn said with a bemused smile.

"Um, yeah... before I even thought about it I'd stripped down two laser rifles and 'improved' them.  Experimental shot pretty much ionized a large lump of what appeared to be some kind of granite outcrop!" he said passing an embarrassed hand around the back of his neck and looking somewhat sheepish.

"I think you're safe if you've kept up your range practice then." the XO answered. "Everyone armed, a lert..." she stressed the 'lert' syllable of the word and grinned at Anth, "...let's see if we can get to talk to anyone else and see if their experiences match our own.  Be wary that people may not want to talk, Ruthie you are a xenolinguist, that might be handy since we don't appear to have our universal translators, also be ready for them to either be further along with processing this and/or them seeing us as threats.  We don't know anything really so we don't know if we are all going to learn the purpose of us being here together or if it's some kind of linear process.  And yes, Meros... I'm curious about what you said about these devices on our arms with the numbers.  I wasn't ignoring you before I just don't know, I suppose we might try doing various things and see if that alters any of the readings.  I have a harmless suggestion... Mr. Pev, what are your readings... you used your webbing, maybe that has done something, Anth you altered the gun, Mr. McKenzie, you could see if experimental singing and playing the guitar did something... I say this because we could monitor using our special skills, see if we level up or anything, because there has to be a reason we were brought here and dressed like this..."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Holding Area | Intergalactic Space ::

Kyan listened absently to his crew as he took stock of their situation. The first thing he began fiddling with was the "gauntlet" thing attached to his right wrist. There were two bars that took up most of the physical space. One was yellow, which he took to mean that it was full, and the other was black, which he supposed meant that it was empty. Above those, there were three icons. One looked like wood. Another looked like stone, and the last appeared to be metal. He pressed the wood icon. Holographic representations of a vertical square, a horizontal square, a four sided pyramid, and a ramp appeared above the gauntlet. He put a finger to the vertical square. No sooner than he'd done so, a yellow hologram of that icon appeared in front of him which measured about eight feet wide by eight feet wide. The same thing happened when he selected the other icons.

He was about to investigate further when he noticed an alien out of the corner of his eye. The creature was banging some sort of staff thing against a tree. After several whacks, the tree disappeared. The alien then tapped his gauntlet as Kyan had done and a wooden wall materialized in front of him. Then another alien's costume changed from what looked almost like a clown, to something resembling a pirate as he was fiddling with his own gauntlet. "Definitely doing that." Kyan thought to himself as he looked at his own outfit. But he was more interested in the material icons and the structures associated with them.

Taking his gold guitar, he approached a boulder. Then he smacked the boulder with his guitar. A crack appeared. He hit it again and the crack got bigger. Looking at the gauntlet he noticed that instead of a zero, the stone icon had a "3" next to it. He hit the boulder several more times until it disappeared. When he looked back at his gauntlet, the stone icon had a "15" next to it. Then when he tapped it, and subsequently the ramp icon, a blue hologram appeared in front of him. One more tap put a solid ramp in front of him. He climbed it and built another one, which brought the number on his gauntlet down to "5". Climbing to the top of the second ramp, Kyan looked down at his crew.

"Hey!" He called out. "You can build with these arm things!"

He was about to explain the materials when a projectile weapon cracked close by and the ramp beneath him crumbled. He reached for the other ramp but couldn't reach it. He fell to the ground and landed in a crouch, looking immediately for the shooter as his training taught him. As he did so,several projectiles hit him in the chest. But they evaporated on contact as though it were a holodeck simulation. "Well thats it isn't it?" Kyan asked himself aloud. "We're in an alien video game?"

After dusting himself off... which was pointless because there wasn't any dust, Kyan looked at his wrist gauntlet again and saw that his health meter was still full. He then clicked on his avatar and a holo screen appeared in front of him with dozens of "costume" choices. As soon as his eyes landed on the one with a sweeping jacket and tri-fold hat he didn't need to look anymore. He tapped it and the rhinestone get-up was immediately replaced by a proper Pirate Captain's outfit complete with long feathered hat and a cutlass instead of a gold guitar. "Aye and this be more akin tae right so it does!" he smiled, drawing the cutlass.

"I think you're safe if you've kept up your range practice then." the XO answered. "Everyone armed, a lert..." she stressed the 'lert' syllable of the word and grinned at Anth, "...let's see if we can get to talk to anyone else and see if their experiences match our own.  Be wary that people may not want to talk, Ruthie you are a xenolinguist, that might be handy since we don't appear to have our universal translators, also be ready for them to either be further along with processing this and/or them seeing us as threats.  We don't know anything really so we don't know if we are all going to learn the purpose of us being here together or if it's some kind of linear process.  And yes, Meros... I'm curious about what you said about these devices on our arms with the numbers.  I wasn't ignoring you before I just don't know, I suppose we might try doing various things and see if that alters any of the readings.  I have a harmless suggestion... Mr. Pev, what are your readings... you used your webbing, maybe that has done something, Anth you altered the gun, Mr. McKenzie, you could see if experimental singing and playing the guitar did something... I say this because we could monitor using our special skills, see if we level up or anything, because there has to be a reason we were brought here and dressed like this..."

"Hey you lot!" Kyan greeted his crew walking over. "It looks like we're in some kind of game so. You've a resource gathering tool, and once ye gather some, you can build defenses with them."

[Hrafn Falleg]

:: Holding Area | Intergalactic Space ::

Kyan listened absently to his crew as he took stock of their situation. The first thing he began fiddling with was the "gauntlet" thing attached to his right wrist. There were two bars that took up most of the physical space. One was yellow, which he took to mean that it was full, and the other was black, which he supposed meant that it was empty. Above those, there were three icons. One looked like wood. Another looked like stone, and the last appeared to be metal. He pressed the wood icon. Holographic representations of a vertical square, a horizontal square, a four sided pyramid, and a ramp appeared above the gauntlet. He put a finger to the vertical square. No sooner than he'd done so, a yellow hologram of that icon appeared in front of him which measured about eight feet wide by eight feet wide. The same thing happened when he selected the other icons.

He was about to investigate further when he noticed an alien out of the corner of his eye. The creature was banging some sort of staff thing against a tree. After several whacks, the tree disappeared. The alien then tapped his gauntlet as Kyan had done and a wooden wall materialized in front of him. Then another alien's costume changed from what looked almost like a clown, to something resembling a pirate as he was fiddling with his own gauntlet. "Definitely doing that." Kyan thought to himself as he looked at his own outfit. But he was more interested in the material icons and the structures associated with them.

Taking his gold guitar, he approached a boulder. Then he smacked the boulder with his guitar. A crack appeared. He hit it again and the crack got bigger. Looking at the gauntlet he noticed that instead of a zero, the stone icon had a "3" next to it. He hit the boulder several more times until it disappeared. When he looked back at his gauntlet, the stone icon had a "15" next to it. Then when he tapped it, and subsequently the ramp icon, a blue hologram appeared in front of him. One more tap put a solid ramp in front of him. He climbed it and built another one, which brought the number on his gauntlet down to "5". Climbing to the top of the second ramp, Kyan looked down at his crew.

"Hey!" He called out. "You can build with these arm things!"

He was about to explain the materials when a projectile weapon cracked close by and the ramp beneath him crumbled. He reached for the other ramp but couldn't reach it. He fell to the ground and landed in a crouch, looking immediately for the shooter as his training taught him. As he did so,several projectiles hit him in the chest. But they evaporated on contact as though it were a holodeck simulation. "Well thats it isn't it?" Kyan asked himself aloud. "We're in an alien video game?"

After dusting himself off... which was pointless because there wasn't any dust, Kyan looked at his wrist gauntlet again and saw that his health meter was still full. He then clicked on his avatar and a holo screen appeared in front of him with dozens of "costume" choices. As soon as his eyes landed on the one with a sweeping jacket and tri-fold hat he didn't need to look anymore. He tapped it and the rhinestone get-up was immediately replaced by a proper Pirate Captain's outfit complete with long feathered hat and a cutlass instead of a gold guitar. "Aye and this be more akin tae right so it does!" he smiled, drawing the cutlass.

"Hey you lot!" Kyan greeted his crew walking over. "It looks like we're in some kind of game so. You've a resource gathering tool, and once ye gather some, you can build defenses with them."

[Holding Area | Intergalactic Space]

As Hrafn, Ruthie, Meros, Sally and Anth

Hrafn listened while Kyan explained. Then nodded.

"I think you're onto something there, boss... but I think we should definitely co-ordinate our efforts, build some sort of thing for all of us, you too Mr. Cloten as I consider you part of the Katra lot... if any of your crew are here I suggest you tell them to do the same.  And gather up as many of the weapons around here as we can to maybe clear a space but also have our own small armoury..."

She looked around at the crew she could see.

"Most of you have I think sensible enough outfits to be agile, move freely and so on, very dapper and more appropriate there Captain, so long as you don't intend making that a regular feature on the Bridge!" she grinned and gave Kyan a wink to so she wasn't serious.

"So do we divvy up wood, stone, metal collecting or just whack or blast at things and see how it goes and does anyone have ideas about what kind of defences we should have?  Sally, you're Security, but how much have you worked in Tactical?  Anth, Meros, Ruthie, Pev, you're all Science... but that can still offer insight about projectiles and such and glean from your experiences outside of the field of Science... your hobbies and interests.  Mr. Drake I know you're a flyboy but have you had any experience with Engineering perhaps.  Boss, I forget what department you were prior to taking Command and my brain is working in about 10 directions at once here. First let's organise if we're communally gathering wood and stuff or if we're going to organise that so many people do wood, so many do metal and so on.  Mr. Cloten... you're input is valuable too!"

Ruthie piped up.

"Not sure how relevant it is but I have been doing some reading about Terran Medieval castles... I'm not sure we could do anything about moat and bailey kind of stuff but..." she gave Meros a look and said "What was that thing we were watching... can you explain??" she gestured with her hands and Meros took up the gauntlet of the narrative.

"Ohhh right the double wall defence thing.  I think that was actually something about the Ottoman Empire or something actually something about the taking of Constantinople, yes I remember now..." Meros said giving a slow nod

Anth smiled slowly and nodded "Theodosian walls, built in the 5th Century BC... double walls all the way around the city... you get through one wall and you're faced by another.  I don't think we can protect, like Ruthie said with a moat and bailey... or indeed emulate Constantinople with the walls being 15ft thick, but maybe we Scientists can put our heads together once we know the composition of whatever materials we have, maybe we could put stone around metal..."

"Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves... we surely only need something to hide behind, maybe something circular because I've seen similar programmes... Ruthie and I watched all the time in Academy... and they always seemed to breach the walls by taking out corners.  Ergo... have no corners, not as easy to breach and an arch is a very secure structure... what is a circle if not a continuous arch...." Sally said.

"All good ideas so far but... we need everyone's input." Hrafn said looking at the Captain, Gideon, Cloten and Pev.

[Eydis]

In was all a blur from entering the wormhole to the arrival on the asteriod of all things. It was fairly certain that the wormhole itself had somehow distorted the interior lattice of Eydis. Shi actually swayed a little side to side on hir six legs. Hir thought space racing to process the flurry of images and process all that had occured.  But there ships all around the asteriod as well. And shi had been standing on the bridge of the USS lipra and now shi was on the asteriod.  Shi had processed something about a game and gauntlets but her thoughtspace had began to fray. When hir thought space had reorganized itself and shi had come to on the surface of the asteriod. Shi was vaugely aware shi was not the same.  Shi was in fact staring at a black chitin covered skeletal hand on the ground in front of her face.

Did that hand indeed belong to hir. as that thought passed. Shi began to realize through the signals coming from her body. She was missing several limbs and in fact was not even structural the same as a tholian. Shi felt a eerie sort of hivemind like expanse but it was very alien to that of the lattice.  And then hir thoughts began to swirl around hir friends Sirol and Xasik and hfran.  Shi would try to get up after taking a few seconds to come to terms with the transmutation of hir body.   Lifting hir head from the surface of the asteriod shi looked out at others around hir.
Shi was trying to discern what this wraith like beings of light which some looked human and others clearly not were. Even hir vision was different in this body. Shi would raise and spread out hir skeletal fingers on hir humaniod like hand. Her hand was dark and shadowy to hir vision.

[Orum N'Jeer]

:: Surface of the Asteroid ::

Sally glared in her brother's direction and started picking off the webbing.

"If you wanted to get close to me..." she said, through a fit of giggles, "...there are more conventional methods!"

"Of which I would be most happy to explore in greater detail once we have successfully returned to the station," replied Pev with a smile of his own. Glancing around quickly to confirm that everyone else was occupied with exploring their suits and environment, the S'ti'ach stood on tiptoe and planted a quick kiss on the tip of Sally's nose. "For luck," he said. "Spider-S'ti'ach, away!"

Raising his top left arm, Pev shot a stream of webbing from his wrist, catching the top of the staircase that Commander Mackenzie had just created out of thin air, and swung away, only to tumble back down to the surface of the asteroid as it was shot out from beneath him.

Tucking into a six-limbed ball, the ensign rolled nimbly to his feet beside Kyan, as if that had been his plan the entire time.

"Commander," he said, dusting himself off, "should we not approach this as a First Contact, rather than a hostile confrontation? At this point, we have no way of discerning our host's intentions. Their destruction of your resource-enabled staircase may well have been a part of the... how would a 'gamer' identify it? As a tutorial?"

More shots came from the distance, causing Pev to leap backwards.

"Hello?" called the S'ti'ach loudly. "We represent the United Federation of Planets, and are here on a mission of exploration. Please reveal yourselves and state your intentions!"

A blaster bolt took Pev directly in the chest, leaving a whisp of smoke rising from him, but otherwise causing no damage. He glanced down at his wrist gauntlet, he saw that the bar next to the shield icon showed 70 out of 100, while the one representing his health remained unchanged.

"I see," called Pev in response. "It is, as they say, on now."

[Sirol]

< Intergalactic Space / Holding Area >

Kiop and Liap stared at the images flashing over their screens. The contents of the Lirpa's computer memory was scrolling before them. Each of the people chosen from the ship would be outfitted in attire from their planet's history, so that the other aliens would get to see something of their heritage. It was also more fun to see epic heroes and legends competing than just people in plain clothes or uniforms.

Disoriented and wonkily the tall scientist tried to give herself the metaphorical kick to get onto her feet.
As of now she had been unable to fill in the blanks, with the last thing she vaguely remembered being skimming through a data package from Ensign Pev.
Yet from one moment to another, she had found herself off-ship, in a place filled with strangers, with most of them stemming from species she had never even seen before.
Something was not alright.
Something she had yet to assemble the necessary clarity to piece together.
Holding her hands in front of her face, she could tell her coordination was a little off, but she at least possessed all of the limbs she remembered.
What did catch her attention though was that she was not in her uniform anymore.
Curiously she inspected her gloves - one of them equipped with metal talons -, black sleeves and bracelets bearing Reman signs; names.
Fallen comrades? Slain enemies perhaps? None of them was the name of anyone she knew personally. Looking down at herself she noticed that she was wearing the civilian attire of a Reman, with heavy booths and a battle-torn dark blue, iridescent shimmering overcoat with a hood.
This here"¦ Was clearly not a Free State colony or anything the like.
She was clearly not drunk on shore leave"¦
But why did she feel like it?
Eventually on her feet, she inspected the equipment and weaponry attached to her. A device with a yet uncertain purpose, and two thin daggers holstered on each thigh.
Perhaps this was a holographic sim--

From one moment to another her body forcibly bent forward to vomit.
No, she was not well at all"¦
Taking in another deep breath she stopped, finally piecing together why she felt so ill, why her mind felt like it had been put through a blender and served as a smoothie"¦
The neural link connecting her to the Lattice had been detached from her temple.
Her hand quickly rose up to feel; to make sure that it was missing and not just deactivated.
From one moment to another the panic returned to her.
What had happened to Eydis, Xasik and Emerald?
Were they alright?
Were they safe?
"¦In all those months she had not deactivated it at all. It had not just become her cure, but also a fundamental part of her new self.
Her breath sped up a little.
Surely there was a logical explanation for it, if only her memory would finally fully work"¦

One step at a time, she made her way towards the more dense cluster of people, consciously breathing; visualising geometric shapes to help her soothe herself - unsuccessful for the most part.
Only ever catching her own reflection on a smooth surface distracted her for a few seconds. Seeing herself made her stop for a moment.

Slowly but surely she recognized her attire from illustrations and reports of her childhood.
"œAm I"¦ Cosplaying Tenakruvek?!"
As a child Sirol had always loved hearing about his adventures, and her mother's servants seemed to have an almost endless amount of them to share. Looking at herself though, Sirol could not help but feel that her impersonating a real hero of the past was strangely inappropriate.
All of a sudden there it was again"¦ The worries"¦ The confusion"¦ And the inevitable realisation of her physical and mental isolation sneaking up on her again.
The sense of negative pressure behind her eyes slowly seemed to creep down to her neck and her aura shrunk into a shrivelled, cold white lump.
Without her link or at least her communicator, how would she be able to find her peers?

Entering the slightly more crowded area, the tall scientist took off her hood, trying to look around; see if she was able to spot any familiar faces.
She climbed up a small pile of what she suspected to be crates to get a better view, only to lay eye on what could best be described as chaos.
Masses of cosplayers in a semi-curated, seemingly artificial environment, some of them tinkering with the holographic technologies, others talking or"¦ Goofing around.
Banging the heavy handle of one of her daggers onto one of the crates she tried to get herself an audience here.
"œMay I have your attention for a moment?
"¦Is there any Lirpa personnel present in this area?!" She inquired loudly, only to have a hairy stranger throw something that looked like a barrel in her direction to  - undoubtedly - silence her.
Squinting at them she did not even bother to respond, but climbed down the crates again"¦

[Xasik]

Xasik Speech
Xasik Lattice
Emerald Speech
Emerald Lattice

--------------------------------
[Katra Station]
-Emerald-

Peylix instantly jumped up and raced after the tiny ball of energy that made their way out into the corridor.
Peylix knew that as soon as the child would reach a more crowded area of the deck, if would become exceedingly difficult to track, and while internal sensors could identify their Tholain lifesign with ease, the more of an advantage Emerald would have, the more likely the chance that they would find themself a tiny Jefferies tube, box or pipe to which Peylix would not be able to fit in and follow"¦
"˜Please return momentarily"¦'
Peylix relayed via the Lattice, hoping that the child would pay attention and listen to their words.
Granted, they were a child, so there was limited chance for success upon requests, but it was worth a try after all.

Bumping into a few Starfleet officers on their way, Peylix gave them an (admittedly half-hearted) gesture of apology while following the noises - which were the strongest indicator of a glowing baby bubble passing through"¦

Squeaking desperately for First Mother (Sirol), Sharp Mother (Xasik) and Dear Mother (Eydis), Emerald ignored the humming from Humming Mother (Peylix) as they raced from Humming Mother's den and out into the open and twisting pathways of the big hive where they all lived. They had to find the other mothers! Something was not right!
"œWHERE ARE YOU?!" They squeaked their emotions out in distress before they felt the very faint flicker of Dear Mother reaching them. It was warm and soothing but all too quickly it was gone again.
"œI'M HERE!" They responded once again with their emotions hoping desperately to hear and feel First Mother, Dear Mother and Sharp Mother once again.
They knew that Humming Mother was chasing them but they couldn't go back to the den yet so they kept rolling and searching.

It was then that the coldness hit them, not physically but within them. What little warmth they had still been able to feel of the other mothers was suddenly gone. It brought the juvenile Tholian to a halt as they struggled to process what they were feeling. It hurt, it was scary, it was not safe! With a terrified squeak they turned and rolled back to Humming Mother, reaching out their arms and wanting to be picked up and comforted. They felt so cold inside and didn't know how to warm up again. In their confusing and hurt state they could only squeak softly and hope that Humming Mother understood.

[USS Lirpa | Bridge ]
-Specialist Xasik Freeman-

Xasik's mind seemed to be in a haze that he simply couldn't find his way out of. It had been so subtle that he hadn't noticed it. He had been distracted by the data pouring into the science consoles when the ship had appeared on the sensors that all else had seemed to blur into fuzzy background noise. It wasn't until he had become light headed that he started to question whether he was alright or not.
He barely noticed Lt. Commander Falleg-Tekin entering the bridge or the conversations going on around him. The distress call on the speakers barely registered to him. He could feel the tingle of Eydis and Sirol in his mind as they communicated over the lattice and it seemed to give him strength but it was hard to focus. Something wasn't right but he simply couldn't figure out what it was. Suddenly a high pitched humming filled his head and everything went black.

[Holding Area - Intergalactic Space]

Groaning as he sat up, Xasik reached up to rub his temples to try and relieve some of the pain shooting through his head. One moment he had been standing on the bridge and the next thing he knew he was on his back on the ground with the wind knocked from his lungs.
"œQezh" He coughed in Romulan as he tried to sit up, an odd creaking noise accompanying his actions. Odd, his clothing felt different than before, tighter. Instinct warned him to keep his eyes shut but he ignored it and opened them anyway to examine his clothing, regretting it immediately.
"œFaelirh ch'susse-thrai!" He swore as he scrambled to his feet and furiously examined his attire.

He was wearing a tight bodysuit that was the same colour as his lab coat, an iridescent dark oily colour that reflected greens and purples in the light. It had over exaggerated shoulder pads that stuck out over the arms and darker, ridged textured pads on both arms above and below the elbows, on either side of his waist and over his thighs. The pair of matching knee length boots were surprisingly comfortable he had to admit as he examined them, sticking a foot out to admire the way the boot shone. The whole look was completed with a floor length cape made of the same material as the bodysuit.

"œFaelirh ih'wort nnea mogain!" Shinzon. He was dressed like Shinzon, one of the worst things to ever happen to the Reman people and he was dressed like the dha'rudh. He spat on the ground at the mere thought of the man who had ultimately made things so much worse for his people. His rebellion had brought the fist of the Romulans down hard on the Remans when it had failed and their suffering had increased exponentially.

Xasik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He needed to calm down. Getting worked up into a rage over the past was not going to help him at present. He almost cracked a smile. It had been a long time since he had cussed in Romulan, something he only did when he was extremely stressed. He needed to find the others and figure out a way to get back home and back to Emerald.
Opening his eyes again, the Reman squinted as he looked around. It was too bright for his comfort level and his contacts seemed to be missing. Thankfully he realized there was a hood on top of the cape as he groped around behind him to grab the material and fashion something to shield his eyes from the glare. He pulled the hood over his head and relaxed slightly as his eyes stopped burning and he was able to look around properly. On the ground scattered around were various weapons.

He stooped down to pick up what appeared to be an oddly shaped hunting knife with pieces cut out from the main blade which itself was separated into two pieces and a curved handle. Carefully stowing it away in his belt he then proceeded to pick up a couple of other weapons including a sword which he strapped to his back before he started looking around at the other people in the area. He thought he recognized a few of them but not the clothing they were in.
"œSirol! Eydis! Kyan! Hrafn!" He called out in the hopes that it was them he saw. With his Galaxy Rose gone he could not sense either of his Lattice using companions which made him extremely anxious. He had gotten so used to feeling them buzzing around his mind that it was distressing to be without them. He had to find them and find a way to escape this weirdness.
With renewed determination he strode forward and called out again hoping it was someone he knew, all the while keeping a cautious eye on everyone else. His eye twitched as his suit groaned and creaked as he walked. He was about to swear again when he thought he heard a familiar voice over the hum of everyone else.
"SIROL!" Xasik yelled and made his way directly towards where her voice had come from.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Holding Area | Someplace ::

Kyan looked over and saw the Spider St'ia'tch sitting beside him. "Aye... A first contact. Seems tae me that these ones are after watching us play a game so they are. Like we're lab pigs or Guinnea Rats...or whatever the blue shirts use for their experiments."

He was about to continue with his theory when Sirol and Xasik showed up. No sooner than they'd made their way over, some sort of giant holo image appeared above them all. It was comprised of some alien script, but there were dots under the script that disappeared one by one.

Kyan was about to call over to Hrafn when the last dot vanished. Then, so did the holding area and everone else as the Miran felt the tingle of a transporter. "Bloody f......" he got out before his molecules were compressed into a data stream and sent flying to somewhere new.

~ Moments later ~

Kyan rematerialized in some sort of craft. It felt rickety, and it was airborne. The sound of wind outside and the view from his window seat told him as much. Looking through the window, he saw the asteroid's surface. There were clusters of structures dotting an otherwise eclectic landscape. One part of the island was covered in trees, another appeared to be desert. In another corner there were snowcapped mountains and what appeared to be a winter storm taking place. The main island was surrounded by water and had a few small outlying islands big enough for a structure or two.

Looking back over his seat, Kyan noticed some of the other aliens jumping out of the craft and skydiving toward the surface. Rather than apprehension or anger at being snatched from his ship, Kyan felt... excited. Thus far, no one had been injured, and the aliens had demonstrated no intention to do so. In addition to which, they were apparently contestants in what amounted to an intergalactic video game. He wondered to himself what the prize would be if they won. But there would be time for that later. As people continued exiting the craft, Kyan hopped up on his knees in the seat and accounted for his own crew.

"Alright folks." he began. "Looks as though we need to pick a spot tae drop so it does. Anyone got a suggestion?"

[Orum N'Jeer]

::Above the Surface of the Asteroid, in a Ship, It Seems ::

One moment he was standing next to the Commander on the surface of the asteroid, the next, he felt a tingle similar to a standard transporter, and now, he was within an airborne vehicle of some kind.

An unfamiliar weight pulled from his shoulders across his back, and glancing over and down he saw that he was now wearing a pack with a harness strap. A parachute? he wondered.

The commander had reappeared in one of the two seats in front of the S'ti'ach, closer to the window. Pev too had a window seat; looking across he saw that pairs of seats were separated by an aisle. Looking up the aisle he saw no pilot's cabin, simply another window opening out into space.

Hearing Mackenzie's question, Pev looked out his window at the surface of the asteroid far below. "I would prefer an island with buildings," he offered. "Given my current outfit, a desert would find me ill-prepared, and I personally do not prefer the cold, though my multiple arms do find me suitable for climbing."

[Eydis]

The sound of a pummel of a dagger banging brought her senses into focus with a snap.  Tilting and then twisting her horned head to gaze at the figure with the dagger. Something was familiar about the being to Tholian turned bone Golem. And then there was voice a deep one like that thunderous roar over the din of the others in the room. It appeared to be Xasik and he was in a hurry to reach to the figure who had banged her dagger down, who turned out to be Sirol.  Bracing herself shi would slowly begin to stand up and notice a cut and thrust Rapier like short sword on the ground in front of hir.  Shi would bend over and grab at the scabbard of the weapon. More or less out of instinct then doing it with any forethought.

Then holographic dots would appear over all of the beings in the room with hir. Eydis was unaware of it there had been one for hir.  That did not seem good and shi head already began to sprint towards sirol and Xasik, In hope of grabbing one of them with her free hand. And be taken with them to where ever they were about to whisked off to. Shi had moved nearly half the distance within a second or two lunging the last few strides with her free outstreched to grab at Sirols other arm and try to tug her away from the hovering dot.

(( Song for no reason   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7lwVHNkoyw ))

(( Reisen)) Had off course been utterly unprepared for what had take place and was currently unaware of his surrounding's entirely.  He had been altered off course by this strange program to something that was either close to his personality or perhaps strengths.

He blinked his eyes a few times as he tried to gain his bearings in reality and find anchor. Propping himself up on his arms as he eased himself into a sort of posture halfway been laying prone and then bracing his back up on his elbows.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

Hearing Mackenzie's question, Pev looked out his window at the surface of the asteroid far below. "I would prefer an island with buildings," he offered. "Given my current outfit, a desert would find me ill-prepared, and I personally do not prefer the cold, though my multiple arms do find me suitable for climbing."

Kyan grinned at the ops officer slash diplomatic officer. "Aye they look handy fer that so they do." he replied. "Somewhere with lotsa trees for cover I think and some buildings tae hide in..."

As he was pondering, a holographic image of a bald headed Klingon with an eye patch appeared in front of them. "Qapla!" it said as a greeting. "You are about to embark on a glorious battle. When you land, gather weapons and supplies quickly. Do not forget to get supplies for replenishing health and shields! Health items are marked with a red triangle. The cylinders will allow you to recover half of your health. The cube will restore it all. Shields can be recovered by drinking the blue vials. The smaller ones will give you twenty five percent each. The larger ones will give you fifty percent. The blue pouches can be thrown on the ground at your feet or at someone else to give them fifteen percent health, or if their health is full, fifteen percent shields. Do not waste them!" The Hologram paused before continuing. If one of your comrades is dropped to 0 percent health, they will be immobilized. You must link your wrist device to theirs, which will restore them to thirty percent health if left connected for a full ten seconds. You have one minute to do this after they are rendered immobile. If they are not revived in one minute, then they will be eliminated. You will then have two minutes to collect their wrist device. If it is placed into a reboot station, they will be restored to full health and re-enter the battle royale. Finally, mind the storm. The eye of the storm is the only safe place. If you are caught in the storm, you will lose health for as long as you are there. In the beginning, the eye of the storm encompasses the entire island. It shrinks in intervals as the battle royal progresses. It does not stop shrinking until the battle ends. If you are victorious, you will be immediately returned to your galaxy as its Battle Royal Champions! Now, go forth and win glory for the Empire! Qapla!"

The hologram disappeared. Kyan stood up and turned back to the crew. "Welp..." he spoke up. "Thats it then. We win and we get to go home. So let's jump off this tub and get to it! Follow me Katra Squad!"

And with that, the little Miran ran to the back of the craft and leapt out into the sky. It wasn't the first time he'd been skydiving, he'd done it many times at the academy and after. But it was the first time he'd jumped into a combat situation, even if it was just some weird alien video game combat thing. He spread his arms and legs as he'd been taught and the wind caught him. From this high up, he could see a huge swath of the island, and where others were heading. Since he'd be skydiving for a minute or more, and there wasn't anything he needed to do until it was time to pull his chute, Kyan pulled up the map feature on his wrist device. There was an option to set a marker on the map for his team to follow so he did. As soon as he tapped the location on his holo display, a huge blue cylindrical light appeared over his marked location on the ground. "Be nice if it was that easy in real life." he thought to himself as he returned to his spread eagle posture.

A minute or so later, he was prompted by the wrist device to pull his cord, so he did. Kyan was surprised to find that instead of a parachute, a glider materialized around him. It was obviously meant to be steered with the handlebars that suddenly appeared in his hands, and he maneuvered it toward his blue marker beacon. It took a fair bit of effort not to get the thing caught in the trees that provided a thick canopy over the area, but he managed to avoid them. Seconds later, the ground rushed up and met him. The glider disappeared when his feet touched ground but his forward momentum remained. Kyan tucked himself into a ball and rolled, coming up in a crouch.

As he was going to be on his own for the next few moments until his comrades landed, Kyan drew his cutlass and looked around him. The trees were thick, but enough "sun" shone through that visibility wasn't an issue. No one else was in the area, but he did hear weapons fire in the distance. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see the rest of the crew that were still in the air because of the trees, so he didn't know how long they would be there. He pulled up the map again on his wrist device. Now, there was a blue triangle representign his location. He added another marker beacon right on top of it and closed the map.

Now he could take stock of the area in earnest. It was mostly underbrush. A few bushes here and there, and some scrub trees situated between the bigger ones that created the canopy. About twenty feet to his right he noticed a bright yellow rectangular crate. He scurried over and opened it. Inside, there was a rifle, one of the health cylinders, and some ammunition for the rifle. There was also a card with the symbol for wood that he's seen on his wrist device. He picked it up and it disappeared. But a hologram appeared above his wrist, and the wood icon lit up. The number beside it changed fro zero to twenty five. The same thing happened when he picked up the ammunition. When he grabbed the rifle, he noted that a small screen on it's stock indicated that there were twenty five shots remaining before it needed to be reloaded. (OOC: The screen looks like this [25/25] The left number is shots left, the right number is total ammunition that you have for the weapon.)

Looking around and seeing no one, Kyan returned to his marked position to await the rest of the crew.

[Sirol]

< Intergalactic Space / Holding Area >

The scientist took a deep breath; trying to gather her thoughts, focus and get the whole, or at least a bigger picture of the place and the situation she had found herself in.
The way her alien peers were utilising what could be found in the environment made it clear that she was in a simulation. An elaborate one, but still far from real.
Alternating skins, spawning items. It felt almost reminiscent  of when she had recruited beta testers for her Aafvun program"¦
How effortlessly they had worn the skin of other characters; even other species, and how much valuable data it had yielded for the scientist"¦
A part of her almost regretted that she never came back to pick up the holographic impersonation technique and refine it far enough to make it a viable long distance haptic interaction alternative.
Timing.
Two minutes, thirty-one seconds"¦
Two minutes and thirty-one seconds she had seemingly wasted analysing the simulation and trying to find her peers, only speculating whether their potential appearance would even be identifiable to her.
Yet a known voice quickly pulled her out of her thoughts and back into the present.

He was about to swear again when he thought he heard a familiar voice over the hum of everyone else.
"SIROL!" Xasik yelled and made his way directly towards where her voice had come from.

Looking at him the scientist raised an eyebrow.
It was specialist Freeman, wearing a standard Reman conscript uniform, bearing the rank insignia of a Colonel.
It was not an all-too unusual sight. Romulans tended to isolate Reman divisions from conventional Galae personnel to make sure that even the highest ranking Reman would have no legitimate authority over a Romulan officer, no matter how low in the Galae's hierarchy.
She did not immediately pick up on the fact that he was supposed to portray a very specific person - luckily - otherwise her reaction to it would have been eerily identical to Xasik's.

"œSpecialist! "¦Xasik.
Do you have any recollection of what happened, how we got here or where the rest of our crew is?"
A cluster of questions, but she was not sure how much time they had.
It was obvious that all of them were kept around; idling; waiting for something to be initiated"¦

It appeared to be Xasik and he was in a hurry to reach to the figure who had banged her dagger down, who turned out to be Sirol.  Bracing herself shi would slowly begin to stand up and notice a cut and thrust Rapier like short sword on the ground in front of hir.  Shi would bend over and grab at the scabbard of the weapon. More or less out of instinct then doing it with any forethought.

As she noticed the other one approaching, the scientist tilted her head.
The deliberate movement and observation of her and Xasik clearly indicated that the exotic looking figure was one of them. Supposedly - just like Xasik - drawn in by Sirol calling out for her peers. The appearance however made the other - temporarily - difficult to identify.
Doing a gentle bow towards the other the scientist stopped for a moment; tried to collect her thoughts before she then looked at them.
If Xasik was had been near her before being beamed out and remained in her vicinity in this place, there were high chances that this one was either Eydis or Reisen, considering all four of them standing grouped up before they had been abducted.
Musingly biting her lower lip she looked up to the other.
"œ...Reisen? "¦Eydis?" She then once more stopped and looked around, her gaze meeting her companion's weapon, then coming to a rest on her own equipment.
Looking at hir and Xasik she then straightened her posture.
"œAre you two unharmed and alright? Do we have word from the rest of the Lirpa?"

He was about to continue with his theory when Sirol and Xasik showed up. No sooner than they'd made their way over, some sort of giant holo image appeared above them all. It was comprised of some alien script, but there were dots under the script that disappeared one by one.

Exchanging looks with her assembled peers, the scientist closed her eyes for a moment, trying to focus, trying to visualise her confusion and fold it into small, soothing shapes"¦
"œ...Expectedly.
This simulation; this countdown and the provided equipment"¦ There is a high chance of this to be some sort of a test"¦ An evaluation"¦
I suppose we will be put into some sort of stress situation"¦ It might be a threat assessment"¦ Or an evaluation or four "˜Moral values' perhaps"¦
I recommend caution and vigilance, Commander."
< Intergalactic Space / Aircraft >

As people continued exiting the craft, Kyan hopped up on his knees in the seat and accounted for his own crew.

"Alright folks." he began. "Looks as though we need to pick a spot tae drop so it does. Anyone got a suggestion?"

Hearing Mackenzie's question, Pev looked out his window at the surface of the asteroid far below. "I would prefer an island with buildings," he offered. "Given my current outfit, a desert would find me ill-prepared, and I personally do not prefer the cold, though my multiple arms do find me suitable for climbing."

Kyan grinned at the ops officer slash diplomatic officer. "Aye they look handy fer that so they do." he replied. "Somewhere with lotsa trees for cover I think and some buildings tae hide in..."

Looking at the parachute that had materialised on her back, the scientist squinted.
She was not particularly fond of heights, but considering the aching silence in her mind, potential nausea or even simulated fall damage seemed to be of tertiary concern.
Looking forth and back between Mackenzie and Pev, Sirol nodded.
"œConsidering that we do not know the purpose of the simulation or nature of this potential test, we have to be prepared for a variety of situations, including combat.
I agree with both of you. Buildings. Or a wooded area.
Essentially something to offer cover if needed. Perhaps in the peripheral areas to let us observe the moves of the others from a somewhat safe distance and be able to form a strategy to pass this "˜test'."

As the holographic Klingon in front of them appeared and began to explain the basic rules as well as the use of certain objects and how to revive downed peers, Sirol did her best to remember as much of it as possible within the short time.
It was a very common, very popular concept of interactive multiplayer holosim that was played throughout multiple cultures all across the galaxy for centuries - with minor tweaks and differences of course.
As someone who regularly enjoyed holosim games, she was not too worried of finding her way, she was however not sure whether and how much this was a comfort zone for the rest of her shipmates.
Looking through the assembled team, she gave everyone a thoughtful look before eventually preparing for the long jump.

Following her CO she took a deep breath and decided to lose no further time; to be over with the fall sooner rather than later.
It might have been a simulation, but heights were heights after all, and by no means the natural habitat of a lab rat...
As she felt the simulated wind hitting her face and the island below them getting closer, she could feel a - very real - burst of adrenaline, together with the uncomfortable tingle of stress, uncertainty and the uncomfortable isolation of her mind.
Squinting once again she began to hum a tune; a song she was temporarily unable to properly identify. Yet trying to keep tone and rhythm helped her calm down and focus; almost even forget about her simulated fall"¦

Then holographic dots would appear over all of the beings in the room with hir. Eydis was unaware of it there had been one for hir.  That did not seem good and shi head already began to sprint towards sirol and Xasik, In hope of grabbing one of them with her free hand. And be taken with them to where ever they were about to whisked off to. Shi had moved nearly half the distance within a second or two lunging the last few strides with her free outstreched to grab at Sirols other arm and try to tug her away from the hovering dot.

Noticing Eydis jumping towards her, the scientist reached out, catching hir hand, and holding it tight to the best of her capabilities while they were dodging simulated fragments Sirol was yet uncertain of how to even name...
A little grin escaped the scientist at the obscurity of this very situation, but also at the realisation that whatever they were about to do here, they were doing it as a team.
"œI have no advice for this, other than us pulling those dangle devices in time"¦
This and us staying together as much as possible. I predict other individuals and crews already formulating their own strategies, so we should do the same as soon as we land"¦"
< Intergalactic Space / Arena Forest Area >

Getting prompted to initiate a landing (or rather: a controlled crash) proved to be different than expected, and her lack of experience with the glider made her landing not exactly graceful, but at least her limbs were all in one place and she had not lost any hitpoints, so there was that.
As she rolled over the ground, she hit something; an object without mass that looked like displaying a log.
Upon touch it dematerialised and the values on her wrist device rose.
"œWood." She just absent-mindedly mumbled while getting back onto her feet.
Looking around she took a deep breath, making sure that every crew member was within visual range.
Semi-successfully.

"I have lost track of a few"¦"
She turned around. Next to Eydis, the one closest to her position had originally been Mackenzie, but due to their landings she had lost sight of him entirely, with the only indicator for his position being the blip on her holographic minimap.
"œ...Looks like the Commander is about to lead us"¦ 380 metres south-southwest.
I recommend we hurry and gather whatever "˜resource' we can on our way."

________________________________________________________

< Katra Station >

-Emerald-

[...]

It was then that the coldness hit them, not physically but within them. What little warmth they had still been able to feel of the other mothers was suddenly gone. It brought the juvenile Tholian to a halt as they struggled to process what they were feeling. It hurt, it was scary, it was not safe! With a terrified squeak they turned and rolled back to Humming Mother, reaching out their arms and wanting to be picked up and comforted. They felt so cold inside and didn't know how to warm up again. In their confusing and hurt state they could only squeak softly and hope that Humming Mother understood.

Rushing through the corridor, Peylix - temporarily - considered alerting security about the child on the loose.
Not that Emerald posed any threat, but a child that was so quick, agile and able to escape the supervision of the healer could - literally - run into all sorts of potential dangers - most of them involving some sort of scenario in which they might have found a way to damage their ECS and be subjected to the hazardous M-Class environment of Katra"¦

Peylix could feel Emerald's desperation; their yearning for their family on a physical level. A part of them wondered whether any of their children ever had felt the same during the long periods of their parent's absence from the homeworld"¦
Pushing that thought aside for now, the healer kept following the life sign readings of the little rolling ball containing the tiny Tholian while they began to press several of the rectangular holographic buttons their suit project in front of them; opening a channel to Katra's security division.
Only ever when they registered the very noticeable shift in the child's state of mind, almost like a sudden spike of vacuum to be felt across the vicinity of the local Tholains, Peylix slowed down and eventually deactivated their communicator"¦
They could tell that Emerald had stopped running; that their panic and energy was drained and had made space for the feeling of defeat.
It saddened Peylix to sense it in the little one.
Eventually catching up and finding the small transparent ball with the hatchling inside was no victory.

Slowly they hunkered down, scooping up the baby bubble and holding it up so Emerald would be able to see a familiar face: The vague silhouette and their familiar glowing eyes through the semi-opaque visor of their EV-Suit.
They held out one hand, placing it on the outside of the ECS where Emerald was reaching out their arms towards the healer from the inside.
Instead of words they relayed a warm, comforting wave of understanding and love, in the same manner they used to comfort their own children back home.
Without words they let Emerald sense the healer's presence and parental protection, while they slowly made their way back towards their quarters, holding the ECS with Emerald inside tightly in one arm.

As they eventually reached the first area of Peylix' quarters again - the little 'airlock' area between the M-Class environment of Katra and the Y-Class environment of their personal space -, Peylix gently booped the child's ECS.
"˜It has been eighteen months and 23 weeks since I had my last visitor.
You are one of the few I gladly welcome' They relayed towards the child via the Lattice while sealing the outside door and beginning to have the little mid-section shift from M to Y.
They once more shared a wave of warmth and understanding with the child, just holding their ECS and waiting for the environmental shift to be complete, before they then proceeded into the inner room, slowly put the ECS down, stepped out of their EV-Suit and freed Emerald from their ECS.

Peylix quarters were small and mostly functional - even by Tholian standards - with the only two things to truly stand out being their work station with holographic pictures of their family, as well as a little cosy area with an igloo-shaped "˜play house' and a few toys they had set up for Emerald.

"˜I know you are upset, little one. I would be too.
But I guarantee you, your mothers will be back soon, and they all miss you dearly.
In the meantime, I am here, and I will not leave you, do you understand that?'
Gently the healer picked up the tiny hatchling again, holding them carefully in one arm and snuggling them, yet staying hunkered down far enough that the child could hop off their arm any time if they chose to rather explore the room.

[Eydis]

Eydis had seen the bald head klingon hologram, silently swearing a Tholian vengeance on the individual. But shi said nothing about it out loud. Shi held the side sword/rapier in hir right hand. The tip angled at the floor, a bemused thought interrupt her thoughts off vengeance on the being in the hologram. Shi and hir two friends Xasik and Sirol looked like a some sort of Party from a DND game.  And then shi turned to look at Sirol humming a song. Observing the elegance of hir friends rendition of the song. Shi would take a bow after the song was complete and offer her left hand. Whose fingers and palms were stained inky black to Sirol as if to offer hir a dance. Spinning hir friend around as shi weaved hir own song in Response to Sirols song.  Singing the song Hoist the colours in Fluent Russian. Shi would turn to Xasik and offer him hir hand just like shi did sirol as she finished the song. Doing  little pirouette to finish the song off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viE-oekwSyU

Shi would turn hir black abyss of a face with those two bright blue eyes to Reisen who had landed nearby and was visible wobbling outside of the glider and amongst the vegatation. A silm alien in a enivormental suit carrying no visible weapons. Expect a small belt of pouches around its hips like batman's utility belt. But with visible medical markings on each of them

[Reisen] Would stumble around seriously thinking this was just a really odd dream. He was trying to process where he was by the vegetation. When he heard someone singing softly and raised his head to peer at two Female like beings. One vaguely looked his superior officer Sirol. The other Looked a tad like Undead skeleton, which caused Reisen to come to halt and freeze like a deer in headlights. A undead sword wielding Skeleton, Hopefully that was the strangest thing for Some time.  Reisen then narrowed his eyes could he possible be under the influence of some sort of toxin, or drug.

Reisen had not been Awake during the holding room ordeal and had not grabbed any item with him. A belt of what seemed to be small pouches lined his Hour glass like hips.  That was the oddest thing for Reisen. He never remebered his figure being so waspish and feminine hips. He would then twirl around on the spot trying to look at his back and as much of himself as possible. He would then stop and look up with Horror in his Alien face at Sirol. As if silently pleading with his commanding officer that this was all some sort of joke. He didn't have such hips or he raised his gloved hand two digits and a thumb.  He stared dumbly past his hand at yet another problem he was in either waying high heels or had footpads or hooves.  Oh no this Joke had gone to far was his first thought, but he noticed Sirol was not dressed like Sirol. But instead dressed like a Reman, wait where was Xasik then.  He would know something about this and maybe what had happen to him. He held up a single digit on his right hand as if to put forth a question to the pair.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[OOC - Apologies for skipping tags, I'm MAJORLY skipping tags but hopefully it'll make sense]

[On Ship, above asteroid - Apparently]
[As Hrafn, Ruthie, Meros, Sally and Anth]

Before being whisked away by the transporter beam into the ship, Hrafn had listened to what Pev had to say and nodded...

"I agree, I think..."

She noticed someone shouting and turned to see Xasik, she was about to answer when the dancing dots started, and disappeared just as quickly.

"Commander I think..." Hrafn began then was yanked away by the transporter beam.

Seeing what was happening, Ruthie, Meros, Sally and Anth ran around loading up their arms with as many things that they could carry before they too found themselves aboard the ship.

"As I was saying... I'm thinking the 'Dancing Dots' were our ah...hosts... trying to get a sniff of us so to speak."

The young members of her troupe dropped in one by one and in a cacophony of metal and wood hitting the floor plates dropped what they were carrying.

"Sorry,.." offered Anth with a sheepish grin.  "We saw what was happening and we figured more resources might be better than none?!"

"We don't know if we were going to have replicators or anything when we got wherever or even if we were going to be with you or each other!" Meros said giving Ruthie a quick hug around the waist.  She gave him a slightly disapproving look but smiled after quickly to show she didn't really mind it was just, no matter what they were currently wearing, they were 'on duty'.  And she was pretty sure Commander Mackenzie and her mother wouldn't mind there were principles set.

Hrafn had seen and just winked.

"Anth... it's ok, about the noise, wasn't nice while it lasted, but you're right we might need stuff."

Sally heard Pev mention about deserts and looked around for him... he wasn't exactly hard to miss so she rushed over and slid a hand into his bottom right hand then whispered.

"Thank the stars you're ok...you are OK aren't you? As for what you were saying about when we're back on the ship or the station..."

She didn't get a chance to finish because...

As he was pondering, a holographic image of a bald headed Klingon with an eye patch appeared in front of them. "Qapla!" it said as a greeting. "You are about to embark on a glorious battle. When you land, gather weapons and supplies quickly. Do not forget to get supplies for replenishing health and shields! Health items are marked with a red triangle. The cylinders will allow you to recover half of your health. The cube will restore it all. Shields can be recovered by drinking the blue vials. The smaller ones will give you twenty five percent each. The larger ones will give you fifty percent. The blue pouches can be thrown on the ground at your feet or at someone else to give them fifteen percent health, or if their health is full, fifteen percent shields. Do not waste them!" The Hologram paused before continuing. If one of your comrades is dropped to 0 percent health, they will be immobilized. You must link your wrist device to theirs, which will restore them to thirty percent health if left connected for a full ten seconds. You have one minute to do this after they are rendered immobile. If they are not revived in one minute, then they will be eliminated. You will then have two minutes to collect their wrist device. If it is placed into a reboot station, they will be restored to full health and re-enter the battle royale. Finally, mind the storm. The eye of the storm is the only safe place. If you are caught in the storm, you will lose health for as long as you are there. In the beginning, the eye of the storm encompasses the entire island. It shrinks in intervals as the battle royal progresses. It does not stop shrinking until the battle ends. If you are victorious, you will be immediately returned to your galaxy as its Battle Royal Champions! Now, go forth and win glory for the Empire! Qapla!"

Sally grinned at Pev when he mentioned the game was well and truly...on.

"I'd say so.  Commander... do you think it helps if any of us have done arcade type games?"

She didn't get a chance to answer as she had to jump out of the craft after Commander Mackenzie.  She shot a worried look back at Pev and a wry smile.  She was becoming fond of him and wondered if they would survive this.

Sally got down and pulled the cord a little too late so had little time to actually manoeuvre the glider... the result was that she was bashed into the trees suffering cuts, bruises and a broken left wrist, twisted right ankle.

Spotting a crate, she dragged herself over to it and with some effort conceded defeat at having no strength (having only one working arm and not being able to bear weight on one ankle to be able to kick it in/rip it open.)

"Oh Pev... I wish I had spare arms like you!"

Anth came down close to her, hang-gliding was one of his hobbies so he'd managed to land running and came to a stop near her.

"Sis! you ok?"

"Do I bloody look ok?!" she said sniffing with pain.  "I'm pretty sure I broke that arm, I can limp but I've twisted my right ankle badly. Can you get the lid off this and see what's in it... I don't know if it'll fix broken arms but thankfully it's my left, means I can only shoot with one arm not six but...I mean..." she went bright red as Anth let out a guffaw of laughter.

"Six eh?  Got someone on the brain?  Well the little blue furball jumped, but not sure where he is.  I'm sure he's ok Sis, don't worry... let's see, rifle, sphere, ooh what are these... cards...."

He left them on the floor of the crate but Sally picked them up and her wrist device recorded them.

"Oh... resources I think.  I have wood and stone here... give me a hand up and we'll find more crates... then I can have the health since you touched them they went onto your device, but if you open the next crate I get the health, you get the cards, deal?"

"Deal!  But there's a pouch here... hold onto that crate..." Anth threw the pouch at Sally's feet.  She experimentally put down her foot.

"Ankle seems to be fixed, I'm not sure it's going to fix my arm, that's a physical break... but least I can run now and I've fought with broken limbs before so... game on.  Grab those vials let's find the next!"

Anth was a little amazed at the spitfire that his younger sister was, especially dressed in an Alice in Wonderland costume...

"Sis... when we have enough resources, may I suggest changing your outfit to something more practical!?!"

Meanwhile, Ruthie and Meros who had jumped together landed safely and charged up their devices with resources, getting their wrist devices to 100% health and shields each and having a fair few vials and pouches in the backpacks they had.  Each had taken a rifle and ammo from the pile they'd collected and brought to the ship before they jumped and then found extra ones in crates... they now looked like some South American freedom fighters with two rifles each x'd on their backs and bandoliers of bullets across their chests!

"Ruthie just so you know... if you need to leave me.  No-one said anything about dying.  I love you!"

Ruthie crossed and looking around gave Meros a quick kiss.  "I love you too, stop fretting.  The Falleg-Tekin's leave no one behind, and you'll be fine.  Now I see mother and Commander Mackenzie so we'll get to them via that crate, I think that one is still full."

Hrafn got to the crate that Meros and Ruthie were headed for first and started putting things into her WW2 style rucksack.

"You two charged up?  I've got spares.  I think when we're all together that might be a plan... make sure everyone has full shields, health, weapons, resources.... Commander?!" she said turning to Kyan  "Do we have everyone?  Sally and Anth are just coming through the trees there... Ruthie and Meros are here... who we waiting on... Pev certainly, Sirol, Eydis, Xasik I saw ..."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Forest Area | "Battle Royale" Asteroid ::

Kyan had been crouched in a bush since landing and getting the contents of the first chest. In the few moments between then and Hrafn and her crew landing, there hadn't been any enemies to shoot, so he had passed the time looking over the island map. There were structures to the west of them laid out like a town, labeled "Terran Town" on the map. He'd decided that once everyone had landed, that they would go there and gather resources, possibly set up a temporary base. Of course, they'd need to mind the storm too.

As far as tactics went, He'd be wanting to talk to Hrafn about it because there were really two options. They could be proactive and search for people to eliminate, which he knew wasn't really the "Starfleet style" or, they could be reactive, and let the fight come to them. If given the choice, Kyan almost always chose the former. But he was conflicted in this case. The terrain was unfamiliar. And who was to know how good the opposition was? Kyan had plenty of confidence in his own ability to survive in this type of environment. He'd been doing it for his entire life. But most of the crew around him, with the exception of the senior officers, were pretty green. And even then most of the senior officers were science types, not combat officers.

His thoughts were interrupted by noise above him. Kyan looked up to see some of the Falleg-Tekin squad making their landings. He sought out Hrafn as soon as she landed and made his way over.

Hrafn got to the crate that Meros and Ruthie were headed for first and started putting things into her WW2 style rucksack.

"You two charged up?  I've got spares.  I think when we're all together that might be a plan... make sure everyone has full shields, health, weapons, resources.... Commander?!" she said turning to Kyan  "Do we have everyone?  Sally and Anth are just coming through the trees there... Ruthie and Meros are here... who we waiting on... Pev certainly, Sirol, Eydis, Xasik I saw ..."

Kyan looked up at Hrafn. "Sure and it looks like Sirol, Xasik, Reissen and Eydis are about three hundred and some meters northeast of here. And there's a bunch of building set up like a town about half a kilometer to the west. I seen it when I was landing. Looks like another group landed there, but it would be a good place tae be settin up a base if we can take it from 'em so it would." He paused momentarily, the framework of a plan taking shape. "Which is what I'm after knowin yer opinion on actually. D'ya think we ought tae be goin after folks so, or waitin til they come tae us?"