Little teeny tiny note: since the characters to follow are both (all?) creations of Player Of and as such don't exactly get to buddy up in the game, these are just a few scribblings Player has cooked up to accompany in-game RP. Still in the "barely dipping in" stage of writing fanfic, but hopefully this batch is moderately entertaining regardless.
That's all from me. Carry on!
PROLOGUE
Those nasty, rotten little thorns were the worst.
Alex vigorously shook and pounded the sole of her boot. Bring on the Dominion firepower-she'd been bruised, burned, shot at, probably kicked a few times-but those sneaky little brambles that somehow wormed their way through two thick layers of material? Evil little bastards.
It'd taken three weeks to shake them all loose.
The redheaded gunslinger paused a moment, crossing her arms over her lap and reveling in the deceptive calm. Three weeks since the Exile fleet had made a frantic return to Arboria. They'd fought alongside the native aurin in a fierce attempt to drive out the invading Dominion forces, but the battle had been decided from the outset. Every advantage belonged to the Doms. Now the aurin had joined the Exile survivors, safe for the moment aboard the wounded fleet.
"Hey! Red!".
Alex turned her head slowly. Loud and raucous even for the stone-skinned granok, Kerall stood in the doorway between the lower deck and the stairs, waving the hand not loaded with tools and burnt wiring. "Still with us in the land o' the living, eh? Almost thought you'da gone back to two-fistin' ale mugs after Arboria".
Real funny. Alex shot the engineer a smarmy grin. "That's ballsy comin' from you, boulder-boy".
The granok snorted. "An' that's almost clever, you know that?".
"Sometimes I try".
"Yeah?" Kerall stuffed the handful of wires in a side pocket. "How about tryin' to clue into the comm when 'big damn ship-wide announcement, everybody on deck' goes out?".
"Eh?" Alex slowly hoisted herself up, still aching from a few injurires. "When'd this happen?".
"Just a few ticks ago. News is in-old man Walker's gone and done it. We got actual, live coords for Nexus. Sonofabitch really went and found it".
Planet Nexus-practically relegated to legend save for Dorian Walker's twitchy little obsession. And she'd missed the announcement? "No kiddin'?".
Kerall grinned, big and stupid. "You don't hafta go far to hear the buzzin' and whoopin' about it. Ain't a minute too soon either. I'll spare ya the shape those engines and half the damn support systems are in right now".
"Yeh, I got imagination to fill in the details". Not to mention three weeks' worth of doom and gloom reports about the fleet's condition. "Dommies know about this?".
"Not that we know. Dominion's gonna be up our asses soon enough, but for now we got a runnin' start on 'em". Kerall waved a stony hand. "Any-what-ever, I was on my way to patchin' up those engines with the twigs and grass they're callin' parts, but I thought this was somethin' you might wanna know".
Alex nodded, eyes wide, still letting the news filter through. "Yeh, that-that was a good guess".
Kerall laughed on his way out of the room toward the main engines. "Just maybe keep a couple ears glued to the comms, huh? I ain't chasin' you down if we get to Nexus and you don't pick up the message. Oh, and Red?".
Alex folded her arms, playing along. "Yeh, what?".
The cheeky grin eased into a plain smile as Kerall winked, just before turning to leave. "Good to have you back in action".
Alex relaxed, giving a small salute as he left through the corridor. "Good to be back," she said to the empty room.