Yang~~

The Ilargia lands softly on top of the snow. The Aethre seems to be fairly intact-- only a wing is missing. It's still not exactly enjoyable to look at, though.

There's two figures by the side of it, who seem to be arguing. I think they're  Nurooliems, but from this far away, I can't be sure.

Fila and I step off the ship, wearing some coats the hybrid pilot, who turned out to be named Laskavê, loaned us. It's still bitterly cold out, though.

"Are you two okay?" I shout, as I walk towards them. Both seem shocked. They quickly stop doing whatever it was they had been doing, and turn to face Fila and I.

"Who are you?" The girl asks. There's a sharp tone to her voice, an untrusting one. As we get closer, I'm able to confirm that they are in fact Nurooliems. 

"I'm Fila, and this is Yang. We're also travellers, who have come to Philia. We're here to help," Fila explains. 

The girl seems cautious still, but reluctantly introduces herself. "My name is Tiffian. The pilot's Fior." She jerks her head in the direction of the boy when she says 'Fior'.

"So," I repeat. "Are you two okay?"

Tiffian seems to spend a moment examining herself. "Yeah."

"Well, 'yeah', if you consider a wrecked ship and destruction of most of our belongings 'fine'," The boy, Fior, adds. I think I see Tiffian roll her eyes.

"Well, come with us back to camp," I say. "We have enough supplies for everyone, and one of our doctors can make sure you're not injured."

~~~

Seólta~~

Seó and the others had been led to the camp by Kettu, and upon arriving, he had all but abandoned them. Seólta knew the Okrenti doctor was probably busy, but he still thought it a little annoying they now had no guide or any real idea of what they were supposed to be doing. On top of that, Jaihra and Danica had run off to go exploring, meaning the rest of the Aquila crew had no idea where they were. Seó hoped they hadn't gotten themselves into trouble. It probably would be bad to loose their sole mechanic. 

"Well," Aya began. "I suggest we get some supplies, like a coat for Aigith." Aigith nodded quickly at this. "And we should also find somewhere to spend the night. Days on Philia are slightly shorter than the norm, so I'm guessing we maybe have... Three hours before dark?"

"Where would we even find supplies?" Seó said. "It doesn't exactly look like this place is flooding with them. Heck, there's not even enough to repair the damaged buildings." Seó nodded towards a group of abandoned Philian homes-- they had severe fire damage, and there were gaping holes in the roof.

"Don't be so negative, Seó!" Kairo countered. "I'm sure we'll find everything we need! Just leave it up to me." As Kairo started off in a random direction, Seó rolled his eyes. Rlang muttered something along the lines of "I hate that egotistical pilot." Seó didn't exactly disagree with her.

~~~ 

I finally finished the drawing of 'Team Aquila'. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Rlang--

Where are you, Hanali? Rlang fingered the wooden ring around her arm -- and the scar beneath it -- wistfully. What could have happened to her mentor?

"Don't be so negative, Seó! I'm sure we'll find everything we need! Just leave it up to me!" Kairo squinted around, then pranced off in the direction of a tumbledown dwelling with a caved-in roof. Seólta sighed and crossed his arms.

"I can't believe that egotistical pilot," Rlang snapped. "I hate him." Seó nodded in agreement, so she cocked her head in his direction.

"What's your deal with Light?" she asked. He shrugged.

"He charged me thirty thousand credits for passage to Philia. And then he had the nerve to crash us in the middle of this icy wasteland. So let's just say I'm not jumping at the chance to be his best friend."

"That's nothing. You know what he did to me? Stole the biggest prize of my life fron right under my fingers! He betrayed me!" Rlang clashed her tail against the pebble-studded ice, wincing at the sudden jolt. "I'll get my revenge soon, when there are no interfering Okrenti around to protect that weakling." She jerked her head indifferently. "Present company excepted, of course."

Seó nodded and seemed about to say something, but Rlang cut him off. "I have no idea where Light thinks he's going, but that's definitely not the path to shelter and supplies. I know a little about navigating this planet from my time here, so you can follow me if you want to live through the night."

She swiped her tail along the snow to orient herself, then pointed toward the shore of a nearby lake. "Where there's water, even frozen-over water, there's usually civilization. Let's go. Who's with me?"

--

@Sybill, let me know if I'm being too controlling. I can change it if you want! 

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Oops.

Tiffan~

So we had to be rescued. That… made me feel much worse than I thought it would. I was Njara: used to getting myself out of tough situations, without help. Used to rescuing other people, not being rescued by someone. Fior was upset about the Aethre crashing, but me?

My time on that vessel had been M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. Well, Fila and Yang seemed nice, even if their appearances were rather shocking. I’d grown up on Nephaya Minor- the only species I’d ever been exposed to were other nurooliem- all Clan Eifion, at that- moonsteeds, and the sandspectres of Nephaya Major. Plus the occasional A’q’iri, Jenne’s main species.

And not only that, but I’d never in my short time as Njara left the moon. So Philia P73 was more than a little disconcerting. I fingered the small woven pouch hanging from the belt of my tunic. Seeds. I didn’t know if they could grow here, but it made me feel just a little better that I had a piece of home.

Also that I had something to defend myself with. I had my bow, of course, but how was that going to help in close range fighting? To be honest, I didn’t know any of these people, and therefore, I didn’t trust them. Call me a monster, but at this point I would betray any of them, if it was in the interest of the Clan.

I shook away the unsettling thought. Tiffan. It’s your job. It shouldn’t make you uncomfortable, a nagging voice in the back of my brain says. Shut up, brain. “Tiffan! Hurry up,” Fior snapped from the doorway of a ship. Fila popped her horned head out the doorway. Her ram-like horns are striped pink and purple- which I assume is the equivalent of me dying my hair, or painting my nails. 

Mother would certainly have a few choice words to say to this kadal. I suppressed a laugh. “Welcome aboard the Ilargia!” Fila’s cheerful voice interrupted my thoughts. I shook myself. “I’m coming, I’m coming…” I grumble playfully, but inside my mind is racing. If I go in- and these kadals turn out to be evil- I’m basically setting myself and Fior up to be ambushed and killed.

On the other hand, if I didn’t go, we’d eventually starve, because like Fior had so optimistically pointed out, our stuff was destroyed.

Okay. Strange ship it is. With a sigh, I boarded the ship cautiously.

It was a lot bigger than the Aethre had been, and I was easily convinced we wouldn't crash as easily. The door banged closed behind me, and I felt a weird sense of panic, my hand automatically straying to my bow and the other fingering the leather pouch of jasmine seeds on my belt.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “Hey, Tiffan. You alright there?” Yang, the other kadal, asked. I jumped violently, my hand involuntarily tightening on the grip of my bow. “Yes,” I said, perhaps a bit colder than I had meant. Yang frowned. “Okay,” she said shortly, and walked away. “Hey- wait- I didn’t-” I sighed. Well, perhaps she would turn out to be evil, I thought dubiously.

~~

Fior~

I followed Fila through Ilargia, completely amazed. “Fila! This is such an awesome ship!” I gasped, sounding so awed it’s kind of embarrassing. Fila laughed, seeming a little bemused by my enthusiasm. I felt myself blushing. “Well, when you’ve lived on a tiny forested moon most people don’t seem to realize exists for your whole life, it really doesn’t take a lot to impress,” I explained ruefully.

Fila laughed again, seeming less confused and more like she actually thought it was funny. “But seriously,” I added as an afterthought, “compared to anything I’ve ever built, this is actually amazing.” She smiled and continued walking. “I can’t actually take credit for it. This isn’t my ship-- and I certainly didn’t build it,” Fila explained. 

I nodded. “Oh- do you know who did?” She shook her head. “Nope- but you should ask the pilot. His name is Laskavê, and I’m probably saying that wrong.” I nodded again. “Oh, I will. Can you give me directions to him?” I asked happily. Fila, who seemed a little more than a little confused again, gave me directions.

Unsurprisingly, I got lost.

Ugh. I decided if I just kept walking I’d eventually find someone. Which I did, but unfortunately, the someone was a grumpy someone. “Oh! Uh, hi, Yang,” I said nervously, very much intimidated by the dark glare on her face. “Hi. Is she your sister?” 

I did a double take. “Wait, who?” Yang looked up. “Tiffan.” That shocked me more than I thought it would. “What? Tiffan? My sister? Of course not. Sometimes she pretends to be- like when she was trying to hide our identities from Rlang Ketnn- it didn’t work, by the way- but Tiffan is definitely not my sister,” I said.

“Oh. Is she always this… rude?” Oh. So that’s why Yang looked so grumpy. “Oh. Um, no. So, I don’t really know how to explain this, but are you familiar with Nephaya Minor? As in, do you know where it is?” I asked awkwardly. Yang raised an eyebrow, like she was trying not to laugh. “Of course. Speaking of which, what clan are you guys?”

Okay, so she did know. “Clan Eifion. Tiffan is Njara, and it’s kind of her job not to trust people,” I explained. Yang nodded, and muttered something like, “Well, she still could be civil about it,” and stalked off. O-o-kay then.

Suddenly, a voice blared through the corridor. “Please be seated, we’re about to land.”

Oh my goodness I restarted my computer and delted my post. *facepalm* I promise I'll do a part soon! (Jaihra's POV!!)

<3 Fidelity 

~ Fila Ramaya ~

The Ilargia lands gently in the makeshift encampment, quite a contrast to the still-smoldering wreck of the Aquila V in the distance. As I make my way toward the door, I come across Fior and Tiffan, and we end up walking together for the rest of the way. I study them silently as we walk. I've never met a Nurooliem before, and if these two are anything to judge by, they don't seem to be the nicest species ever.

When we step off the ship, I see that the crowd who was here before has dispersed. Kairo and a few others have headed off in what's clearly the wrong direction -- we have an encampment, it's certainly not there, and even if they'd planned on setting up camp somewhere else, it's not like those buildings are going to offer much shelter. In the other direction, Rlang and Seólta are emerging from a much more structurally sound building, brandishing a shiny object.

"Should we go see what's going on over there?" I suggest. Yang, Fior, Tiffan, and that pilot whose name I can't pronounce all nod, some more enthusiastically than others (*ahem* Tiffan), so we head toward Rlang and Seólta.

As we get closer, I see that the shiny object is a helmet, presumably a significant one, judging by the expressions on their faces. "What is that?" calls Yang.

--

I don't know if anyone remembers, but some time ago I made a post from the POV of Jaxi Varu, who's a Pasu on one of the Vojnovy ships, and I said that the ship was going to come land on Philia. I'm switching Jaxi over to be in the SUNRISE/Vojnovy RP, so you can just ignore that post. :)

Sorry about my lack of posting. Schoolwork has been keeping me busy!

Rlang--

"The Vojnovy were definitely here," Seó muttered. Rlang heard the words as though they were coated in Philian ice.

"What makes you say that?" Her tone was cool, neutral. As unconcerned as she could force it to be.

"There's one of their helmets here," he explained. "Can't be a good sign." Now that Seó pointed it out, Rlang could sense something round and metallic tucked behind a ruined shelf.

She fought fiercely to keep from panicking. "So the Vojnovy were obviously involved. But why? And how could they have destroyed a whole species?"

"Several possibilities, actually." Seó's tone was annoyingly superior, like always. "Ray cannons tend to do this type of damage, as do neutrino incendiaries. However, on this scale, the Vojnovy must have built quite a lot of them."

"I know about ray and neutrino weapons." Rlang gritted her teeth. "I trained with them, for Ndrin's sake. But some fraction of the Philians had to be off-planet at the time. How were they killed as well?" He shrugged.

"The Vojnovy are a large and capable species. Obviously, they've built enough of these weapons that such a deed is possible, if not trivial."

"I'll bet. But this is the strangest case of Vojnovy crime I've ever seen." A swift echoing glance at her surroundings made her bite her lip with fear. "Wait, Seó-"

"Moreover, they wanted us to know they were here. The helmet's more than trash -- it's a calling card. I don't understand why they left it, though."

A shadowy figure seemed to coalesce behind them. Rlang fingered the blaster at her belt. "Seó, I think there might--" 

"A message! Of course!" he interrupted her. "They wanted the galactic government to know they were here, as a sign that they were growing stronger. Or something along those lines." Seó turned to Rlang, smirking proudly, only to see her jaw set grimly and her blaster in hand.

"Excellent deduction," purred a cool voice from behind them. "Now throw down your weapons and raise your hands. You are surrounded."

--

Just a little conflict. :) 

I left just as this started! Well, time to finally write a POV! Also, I'm putting Ji on the opposite side, just to spice things up a little ;)

---

Ji

---

"Do we have to help them?" Ji complained, propping his feet up on the dashboard of the spaceship.

"Stop talking like I'm not right here," Iris, the pilot of the Fire 894 said, gritting her fanged teeth.

"I mean," Ji snickered, his eyes half-opened in lazy slits, "Are the Vojnovy really so desperate for more fighters? I thought you were all powerful!"

Iris slammed her fist down on the table so hard Ji's dangly earrings jumped up.

"Get. Your. Feet. Off. The. Dashboard," Iris growled.

"Fine, fine!" Ji said, settling down in his seat normally.

His crewmate, Moxy, laughed from beside him.

Two weeks ago, Roxy, Moxy's older sister as well as the captain of the Fourteenth Moon had told them that they were helping the Vojnovy blockade Philia P73. Granted, it was for a lot of money, like, a lot, but Ji still didn't really like doing it.

They'd had to dock the ship over at one of the nearby stations, board the Fire 894, and wear uniforms. And the Vojnovy were just all so uptight.

Ji stuck out his tongue at Iris (who was the bane of his life, he absolutely hated her), and stared out the window. They were landing at a hurriedly constructed dock on Philia P73, specially designed for Vojnovy military ships.

They were circling the planet, having made it into the atmosphere. Philia P73 looked so weird. A patchwork of city buildings and jungles, with a ring of mountains surrounding it.

"Buckle up," Iris snapped, "We're landing."

Ji sighed, and strapped on the seat buckle. He sat forward, ready to do some co-piloting in case Iris fainted while they were trying to land.

With a screech and a puff of smoke, the Fire 894 landed neatly on the dock. A whirr, a squeal, and the landing was complete.

--- 

"I hope to god I never see you again," Iris said, slamming the door shut as soon as she was out of her seat.

"haHA!" Ji laughed, unbuckling and jumping up, "Come on, let's go, I want food!"

Moxy laughed as well. "Not yet dude, we have to go do our jobs, remember?"

"Oh yea," Ji said sourly.

They had just been notified that Volva and them had a day or so to rest, and then they had to fly a ship back to Vojnovy's base with prisoners of war.

Prisoners of war? Already? was what Ji had thought, but hey, it meant he got to leave the company of all the Vojnovy, he would gladly take it!

"So, what're we doing again?" Ji said.

Moxy tapped his tablet. "We're going to put the prisoners in their rooms on the ships first, and then dinner. Departing next morning," he said.

Ji nodded. "Aight. Waste of my talent though," he smirked.

Moxy rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said.

---

"Only two?" Ji asked, looking over the prisoners.

One was an Okrenti, a boy with curly ginger hair. The other, a large tortoise girl. Wait no, she looked way older than Ji.

"Yep," Moxy said, busy with something on his tablet.

"We can't have only two prisoners, 5 people on a ship is bad luck!" Ji exclaimed.

"Bad luck or not, we're doing it," Moxy said.

Ji sighed.

"Alright, we're doing this!" he exclaimed.

---

Hey, haven't posted in like forever! Maybe they like, get a little bit away, and then some of the others catch up to them and rescue them, Ji, Moxy, and Volva have a change of heart or something? idk, all up to you guys! 

Whoops it's been a while!

Aigith~

Rolling my eyes, I follow Light as he walks away from the group. I love the guy, but he's going in what's most definitely the wrong direction.

"Well hello, Aigith," he says when I catch up. "I'm glad someone has some common sense."

"Yeah, and that someone isn't you," I shoot back. "Do you have any idea where you're going? The answer is no," I cut him off as he opens his mouth to speak.

"Neither do they!" He gestures back to the group behind us. I glance over my shoulder to see Seó and Rlang walking off towards a frozen lake. Beyond it, I see the remains of another village.

"Look, there are buildings over there. Buildings could mean actual supplies. What do you see in front of us?"

Light looks ahead obligingly. "Snow?"

I nod. "Yeah, snow. And we're looking for food, shelter, and most importantly, a jacket! No one told me Philia would be this cold!" I tug on his arm. "Come on, let's go back and follow those two."

He makes a face. "Follow Rlang? Seó I can deal with, but are we overlooking the fact that Rlang just tried to destroy me?"

I shrug. "Who knows, maybe she'll try again? I'll probably be warmer if I'm laughing."

Light glares at me, then gives in with a long-suffering sigh. "Fiiiine. Let's go follow them."

We turn around and walk back the way we came. When we get back to the spot where Kettu left us, we find Aya there waiting nervously.

She looks relieved when we show up. "Oh, good, Aigith managed to talk some sense into you."

I nod. "Sure did. We saw Rlang and Seó going that way, and we thought we'd follow them. Care to join?"

She brightens considerably. "Great idea! It seemed like they knew what they were doing, but I didn't want to leave you guys. Let's go!"

I can no longer see the two figures, but we know where they were going, and their footprints are still visible in the snow. As we near the damaged village, I see several people exit one of the buildings. I squint to make out who it is, and my heart jumps into my throat.

"Get down!" I say, pulling Light and Aya behind a snow bank.

"What is is?" Aya whispers. I peer over the top of the snow and point at the people.

There are two figures who look like they have weapons, and both are wearing what I'm pretty sure are Vojnovy helmets. The other two are Seó and Rlang.

"We have to rescue them!" Light says impulsively, jumping up.

Aya pulls him back down. "With what? You have a water gun."

"I know where we can get weapons," I say quietly. "My ship isn't far from here- and I've got half a shipment of illegal blasters onboard."

Seó~

Before there was any time for Seó and Rlang to react, Vojnovy soldiers had them surrounded. It seemed to Seó they'd been hiding, waiting for someone to leave the group. Seó wondered how many other Vojnovy were on the planet with them.

As the soldiers shoved Seó and Rlang forwards, Seó tried to think of some sort of plan. He'd been in many situations like this before--but when it had been with Vojnovy, he'd had his vessel.

And also a decent weapon, not a flimsy Starstrike laser pistol.

The Vojnovy led Seó and Rlang further and further away from the camp. Once, Seó swore he saw Aya's turquoise hair, but he assumed it must have been nothing more than wishful thinking. Wishful thinking about wanting to have a savior, of course. Certainly not just that he'd be glad to see her.

After a few more stressful moments of being led across snow, the group approached a large ship. It didn't look like much more than a merchant's ship, but Seó assumed that it was a Vojnovy ship with a clever disguise. One of the Vojnovy guards waved towards the ship. "Ey, Levánta! Open the ship!"

A few moments later, the ship's ramp slowly rolled down, landing with a solid thud in the snow.  It revealed the figure of a male Vojnovy, with dark blue scaly skin, four powerful arms, and a long lashing tail. Metallic armor covered almost all of his body, save for his head, hands, feet, and tail. 

"Hurry up," he growled. "The transfer ship's waiting in orbit."

The two soldiers pushed Seó and Rlang roughly onto the ship, after binding their hands. After locking the pair in a cell, the Vojnovy headed towards the cockpit. A few moments later, the ship was already in the air, and Seó and Rlang's chances of being rescued had dramatically decreased.

---

There was a sudden clank, and the entire ship rocked to one side. Unable to use his hands, Seó used his feet to brace himself, Rlang doing something similar. 

"Seó," she said. "What just happened?"

Seó looked out one of the windows. "We've docked with a ship."

"Well, I can see that with my light-implants. What's its name?"

Seó squinted. "The Fortieth Moon, or something."

Rlang growled. "Must be the 'Fourteenth Moon'. It's piloted by fellow space pirates, most notably Roxy and Ji. They haven't stolen any bounties from me, but they're still rivals."

Footsteps approached the cell. A few figures came to stand in front-- a space elf, the Vojnovy from earlier, and another alien tapping away on a tablet. The space elf said something about having bad luck because of only two prisoners, while the tablet-carrying alien muttered a response.

The Vojnovy unlocked the cell, and soon, Seó was being carried off to the new ship. The new ship seemed much more...'cozy' than the Vojnovy's. There was only one Vojnovy onboard, along with the space elf and other alien.

As Rlang and Seó were seperated, Seó began to formulate a plan. He didn't have a high-quality weapon, but he did have a weapon--and besides, he was an ex-soldier and an excellent mercenary. Fighting his way out wouldn't be hard.

As long as Rlang didn't get in his way, of course.

~~~ 

Hopefully, I'll be able to showcase Seó's actually-pretty-good fighting skills soon. 

Ji

---

"You're related to that-"

Volva stuck out her tongue at Ji. "Yes, I'm related to Iris. That's why Roxy agreed to help, because otherwise she would've been short of a pilot."

"Yea, and she turned out short of fifteen pilots," Ji laughed.

Ji would've loved to be back on the Fourteenth Moon, but there was no way they could pilot it with a crew of three. He sighed, and stood up. "I'm going to go see if the turtle and the redhead want to play poker, seeya," Ji said.

Volva nodded. Moxy was in the back, doing checks on all the parts of the spaceship. 

Ji took his pack of cards, and knocked on the door of the room where the prisoners were.

"What do you want?!" the turtle growled.

"S'up, you wanna play poker?" Ji asked, taking a seat on the floor beneath the two bunk beds.

"Totally," the redhead said sarcastically, sitting down next to him.

---

"So like, you're on Philia to help people?" Ji asked.

"Yes!" Rlang snapped.

"Mmk, but what do you get out of it?"

"What do you mean?" Seolta said.

"Are they like, paying you?"

"No, we're helping them just to help them you moron," Rlang snarled.

Ji grinned cheekily.

The conversation had been going in similar circles for quite a while now, and Seolta had been winning all the card games.

"Why are you working for the Vojnovy?" Seolta asked,  turning the question on Ji.

"For money, duh!" Ji exclaimed, "And also because Roxy kind of told me to."

"You'd work for the bad guys just for money?" Rlang asked.

"Uh, I'm a proud pirate and so are you, so, I wouldn't say anything about bad guys," Ji shrugged.

"Whatever," Rlang muttered, "We're breaking this place soon enough."

Ji raised an eyebrow. "Really?! Do tell!" he exclaimed, "Is it gonna be dRaMaTiC?"

Seolta and Rlang glanced at each other with furtive looks.

Seolta seemed to see an oppurtunity, and jumped in. "We're going to get rescued. If you don't want to be left with the Vojnovy, you could join us, you know, the better people," he said.

"What's in it for me?" Ji asked, shuffling the cards dramatically.

"You don't have to work for the Vojnovy like a servant," Rlang scoffed.

"And you get an adventure," Seolta said.

An adventure?! And I get to leave the Vojnovy?! Uh, I'm in!

"I'm in!" Ji exclaimed.

"Just like that?" Rlang asked, looking rather suspicious.

"Mhmm! I'll ask Moxy and Volva, see you guys later!" Ji said, packing up the cards quickly, and promptly leaving.

---

"So, Volva, what would you think about deserting and joining the Philians?" Ji suggested.

Volva spit out her rice juice. "I'm sorry what?!"

"Exactly what I said," Ji said.

"Uh, no," Volva said.

"Whatever, Moxy said yes so, your loss I guess," Ji shrugged.

Volva glared at him. Ji was about to glare right back, when suddenly, his attention was diverted to the large screens on the dashboard.

"There's another craft approaching from behind," Ji said.

"It's the Philians," Volva said grimly, "Prepare for battle."

--- 

Rlang-- 

As the guard left the room, Seó stood from the cramped bunk bed in the corner. "That was easy."

Rlang frowned. "I'm not so sure. It's strange that he'd agree so quickly. Do you think it's a trap?"

He snorted. "Of course not. The Vojnovy are horrible creatures. It's no surprise one of their little friends would want to turn traitor."

"Fine. But don't blame me if you end up dead because you trusted Ji -- who's little more than a random guard -- with our plans." Rlang yawned. "When will they come? We've been waiting forever. Are you sure you actually saw Aya and the rest back there?"

"I'm positive," Seó protested. "They should be here any moment." He frowned. "Speaking of which, what's that noise?" Rlang fell silent, put out a hand as a signal for him to pause.

"Lasers," she muttered after a moment. "Lots of them. They're here." She shot a look at the locked door. "Are you going to pick the lock yet or what?"

The tone of Seó's voice suggested he was grinning. "Don't need to. The star elf left it unlocked for us." Sure enough, the door swung open on contact. Rlang lunged through the opening and beat her tail on the floor urgently, seeking order in the chaos of battle.

And it was chaos. Various storage containers had been overturned, and figures were firing bright beams at each other that erupted in flares like dust storms. She heard the telltale humming of Seó's small pistol as it fired beams into the fray without hesitation, always hitting. Grinning fiendishly, Rlang launched herself toward the figures. 

A few hits of her tail told her that the cluster of people hiding behind one of the tipped-over bins were Ji and Roxy, still wearing a pilot's helmet. A couple shots in the area burned a smoking hole in the metallic alloy of the bins. A call in Seó's direction alerted them of their presence. With a nod, he snapped off a shot in their direction, and Rlang nodded. Inwardly, she wished she had her ship. The Arxnidl had always warned her of enemies, but alone she was as vulnerable as a campfire on the icy Philian landscape. She instinctively backed against a wall and surveyed the scene.

From what she could tell, the Philian crew had overwhelming numbers, but less combat skill than their adversaries. She grudgingly had to admit that Light was a good fighter, as well as Seó and Aigith, but the rest barely seemed to know one end of a blaster from the other. For some reason, Aya seemed to be hanging back from the battle entirely. Rlang snorted in disgust. Could the team still win? She didn't know. All she knew was that they had to defeat the crew of the Fourteenth Moon and get back to Philia.