3. could be worse could be raining

[rickitikitarr]

[Audio]

These things, they're coming through holes in the fabric of... well, space itself. Is there any way to close them?

[Is the technical explanation that Ricki stumbles for. It's only a seventies scifi explanation of a phenomenon he barely understands, but it's what he's got right now.]

It means that until they stop opening, any of the normal tactics- a perimeter, a systematic sweep- are totally useless. They can crawl right in behind us. Normally I'd suggest gathering everyone in the mess and working our way out, but if a tear opens up in the back, it has the potential to turn into a slaughter. We actually may be best keeping the vulnerable on their own, in their rooms, while everyone who can tries to clear down the halls.

[Then, silence, and finally two quick gun shots. The feed remains dead a little bit, as he gets his adrenaline down. His voice is still low, very level, when he can continue.]

But that means people may be trapped without food. It might be worthwhile to get volunteers to make runs for their neighbours. It'd be better to work in pairs to accomplish that.

Anyone game? [And, belatedly.] Anyone trapped?

[He'd do a better job of organizing this if it weren't on the fly. But as it is, he can hear something approaching. Heavy footsteps that may only just be captured by the feed. Then there is the sound that some residents will recognize as a gun being reloaded, before the feed cuts off.]

[Spam]

[Ammunition is scarce, but Ricki makes the most of what he has, hoarding it closely as he makes his perilous way through the halls of the ship, sometimes hunting, occasionally being hunted. The gun helps against the felhunters, and he isn't shy of shooting the succubi either, but on more than one memorable occasion he gets into it with a golem and ends up having to run for it, god damn it.

He'll help and need help, both in reasonably equal measure.]

Comments

[rickitikitarr]

Infirmary! They're having a hard time holding it down. We need a good shot stationed there.

[And Cain needs adult supervision right now, apparently.]

[anewlanguage]

[At a corner he draws them up short so they can get a good few shots off before being seen.]

Who's left, who's at the infirmary?

['Left' is a stronger word than he'd have used if he wasn't still working liquor through his system. Intellectually he knows that no one is actually gone--yet--that they won't know real casualties until the Admiral names them.]

[rickitikitarr]

I don't know.

[He admits.]

I still don't have names linked to faces, yet, you'll have to be the one to tell me.

[anewlanguage]

[He barks a laugh and looks at him]

I can hardly remember my own name right now. Come on, they ask we'll just fake amnesia.

[rickitikitarr]

Hell of a way to sober up.

[He admits, sympathetically.]

[anewlanguage]

[Surprise registers, then fades with a smile]

Bet you've had a crazy day or two, huh?

[rickitikitarr]

Nah, it's not so bad. Nice to have an outlet.

[This sure beats sparring without intent to injure. He's needed badly to knife something or someone to death.]

[anewlanguage]

Well, thanks for not shooting me in the leg back there.

[He hands him a fresh clip--the last one Cain has for a gun of that model, since he tried to dole out ammunition to the few people who walked away with his weapons.]

Any idea what the hell is going on?

[rickitikitarr]

Not a bloody clue. There are tears in the fabric of space, they can be sealed, but meanwhile these things leak through. We need to kill them in order to seal them back up.

[Is his explanation, as best he understands it.]

[anewlanguage]

I picked a hell of a week to think about pacifism.

[He sighs; another blind corner]

Guess we'll just do our civic duty then. [Which is followed by another thought, something he ought to have asked sooner:] You hurt?

[rickitikitarr]

Nah, but I'm going to need water soon.

[He's exhausted.]

[anewlanguage]

[he hands him a canteen]

Drink up. Then we'll make a run on the stairs.

[rickitikitarr]

[He takes a few deep drinks, then nods a thanks, passes it back.]

As ready as I'll get.

[anewlanguage]

[Funny how you can do things like this nearly every day for years and still need a deep, steadying breath before you can make yourself walk out into the unknown.

Cain goes first. He's used to working alone, but he also doesn't know what training Ricki's had, so it's better for him to go ahead and clear what he can.

The dogs he has no issue shooting. The first time he sees a succubus, though, it draws him up short; for all he knows this could be some new inmate.]

[rickitikitarr]

[It's the beckoning cock to the hip that sends Ricki in with the knife out.

There's a sort of banshee scream when he stabs her, a bit of a lightshow- as he wipes the blood off his knife, he points out;]

No one's out chasing tail in this mess. And anyways, death is fluid, err on the side of caution.