Act 2; Shipmates, Morticians and Deception.
Players;
Bladezzkiller99 as Max Colman and 'Tower girl'.
Oakbasil67526 as Radtke.
It has been an hour after Radtke started watching over the still body in front of him. He'd checked if the guy was alive, sure, but that's as far as his medical training went without him being conscious. In that hour he wondered what the hell just happened, why they were shooting him and Max, and who actually was shooting at them.
As he was pondering this, the man in front of him shifted a bit and let out an agonizing groan; "...Uuuugh, god-damnit... Wha-...What just happened?... Feels like I've been strapped behind an Adder doing supply runs again..." Max groans, letting Radtke know he was somewhat conscious.
Max tries to sit up, but- "Fuck. Ow... Yeah... That's broken" he says, trying to move his leg, and noticing the small pool of blood that it's laying in due to the gunshot from before, "It went through... still broken, just like half my ribcage.
"Fuuuuck..." he lets out as a pained moan, "Hard to say that other Corpsman was right, but, he was fucking right, this does hurt more than doing self-surgery... Ow..." he begrudgingly says after laying back down.
Radtke, hearing Max groan and mumble, decides to walk back over to him. "Hey Max. Glad you're finally awake, I definitely didn't mean for you to get knocked out." Radtke sighs, clearly unhappy about this shit situation.
"Ah, anyways, how are you feeling? Are you badly injured?" He says as he notices the pool of blood. Thinking fast, Radtke takes a paper towel from the cockpit and puts it on Max's leg.
From his prone position, Max only grumbled out; "Yea, now you notice?...Ah, fuck!" he cursed as the makeshift bandage was pressured onto him.
"And frankly, I don't care about the knocked-out part, I know I'm unusually light for the average person... Bloody malnutricion..." he grumbles.
"Sorry, sorry. We've gotta keep the bleeding stopped. And yeah, I get it." Staying serious, Radtke tries to find a way to either tie or tape the 'bandage' to Max's leg.
"You know, I do know a guy who could patch you up. He's a bit... Unconventional in his methods, and pretty hard to get to, but I can guarantee it's the quickest way to get back to full health" remembers Radtke.
"... Does he still have a medical licence? Because if not, I know the guy and I sure as hell don't want to be as close as a light-year to him... Fucking Ludwig and his 'Examinations'... Nightmare fuel, that..."
he says, dragging himself, with Radtke's help, to a nearby crate to sit against.
"No, no. Thankfully it's not Ludwig. I've met that fucker only once, worst mistake of my life. Hup there you go, that'll probably feel better." Radtke exhales a bit sharply as he twisted his arm the wrong way again.
"While this guy technically doesn't have his medical license, he's the recommended choice by Atlas Corporation's chief of staff during any black ops missions. Hard to detect going in, and coming out. His name is..."
A bit flippantly, Max exclaims "Oh yea, that's so much better, now I only feel the burning hell that is my ribcage and leg, and not the cold, metal floor..." he says in monotone.
"Well, better it just your leg and your ribcage than you only be a splatter against the wall" Radtke quips back
(all good lol, when you copy it to drive, you can go ahead and put it there)
"Fine, fine. Point. So what's the guy's name and casualty rate?" he asks in a defeated tone, a couple of coughs and a mirthless chuckle escaping him at his own joke.
"Right. His name, it's Gagarin. I've only heard rumors of people dying, but I've been there myself and survived. Can't recommended a service for your company if you never use it, you know." Radtke chuckles a bit as well, finally recalling the name of the man
Max, a bit suprised "Gagarin?... Gagarin, Gagarin... Why does that name sound so familiar?..." he muses.
"To be fair, I believe he had a medical journal published back in 3301. It's not something I've ever read, but that might be why you recognize him." He shrugs
Even more suprised, Max acclaims;"Wait, Gagarin from the 'Human anatomy in detail that far exceed medical standards'? I used that book a lot during my time on..." he trails off nervously.
(Couln't find a Galnet post, and titles are not my forté...)
"Huh? Ah, maybe. Like I said, I never read it before. Maybe when we get there you can finally introduce yourself haha" Radtke smiles.
Cough "Yea... Maybe... Although I heard it's best you don't meet your heroes. Kinda destroys your view of them..." Max says, a bit uncertain.
"Unfortunately though, if we're gonna get to him, we're gonna have to leave the system. It's only one jump in this dropship at the moment, but it'll take us a little bit to get there in terms of planetary travel." Ratke's smile droops a bit as he remembers the planet.
"You uh, you ever been to an Earth-Like planet, Max?"
After a shaky breath, Max says, "Yea, been on a couple you could say... Always on official business though, ship won't let anyone through otherwise." he says, noting how the paper towel's a red, soggy mess by now. "That... That isn't good... I think?...No...My training says it isn't...Why do I taste purple?..."
he says, noticably a bit delirious.
"Fair enough, but you're clearly not in the best shape right now." Taking out another nutribar, Radtke unwraps half of it, and puts it into Max's mouth and says "eat it. It'll keep you going a little longer." Frantically, Radtke replaces the paper towel with a new one, tying it even tighter this time
"Hmphrpth. Phtrhpm...Mhp...Hmpth mp-tough bars." he says, barely noticing the pain of eating another of those horrid things called 'Nutrition bars'. (AN; Ever had one? I have, they're fucking horrid.)
"Caius! Get us going to Gagarin's! I'll be there to take over for the hyperspace jump, just get us going!" To max, this sentence gets louder and quieter at random. What he didn't see though, was Radtke tearing open cargo crates, seeing if there was anything of better use than a paper towel.
With a jerk, the pair feel the dropship start to turn and speed up.
Slowly realizing how dire the situation was, Max says; "Flare, upper left pocket."
Radtke stops dead, shakes his head and says "that's gonna hurt like fuck. Okay." He reaches into the pocket, luckily finding the flare mixed in with other random crap right away, and lights it.
"Trust me, if you were from where I was from... Well frankly, you really wouldn't wanna be." he says before Radtke reaches in for the stopgap-burning.
"Ah, an eighth layer of hell, huh?" Radtke smirks, before going to cauterize the wound as best as he can. "Tell me if I do any part of this wrong, just so I don't completely fuck this up. I kinda know what I'm doing"
Biting throught the searing pain, Max barely registers what Radtke just says, "Yea... Just make... sure that... both holes are closed...Entry and exit wound!" he shouts the last bit, finally reaching his tolerable pain level, with the broken ribs and leg 'n all.
"That's one part done." Setting the flare down, Radtke begrudgingly takes off his jacket, and hands it to Max. "Bite on the sleeve, it'll make it easier." He goes to grab the flare again.
As Max puts the end of the sleeve between his teeth, and somewhat turns so Radtke can reach, he bites down for the paaaaAAAIN!
"Done. You're not dying on me yet. Now, put your arm on my shoulder, we gotta get you into the second chair in the cockpit before we go hyperspace. Don't put any weight on your leg yet, just lean on me." Radtke sighs, finally with something good happening today
As Radtke helps Max limp to the cockpit, Max kept out letting curses such as; "Ow. Fuck. Shit. God. Fucking. Damnit. Jayde-" stopping himself on the last one, before continuing with other... 'colorful words'.
After setting Max down in the chair, Radtke runs down the stairs to his own. "Just a fair warning, I hope you like hot temperatures. I'll have some protective gear for us, but you'll still be sweating" Radtke calls up.
All the modules were reactivated, and silent running taken off by Caius. Radtke punches in coordinates for Lambda Arae, and engages the FSD.
"Is fine... fine... just get me there so I can work on gettin you one of those bottles already." he makes a light joke, before bracing for the oncoming pain train that's arriving at the other star.
No countdown or anything, a voice just rings out "Engage" as this ship violently blasts forward. Roughly 30 seconds pass in the weird mindfuck that is hyperspace, before the ship rocks again, leaving the ship directly facing a bright star
The sudden stop in G forces Max to nearly pass out in pain, due to the forces applied on his ribcage.
"Hhuhuhu... Forget I said anything earlier, this wins out over back there...Fuuuck..." he says in a strained voice.
"Just bear with it, we're almost there." Radtke calls back as he starts to establish an orbit around the third planet of this system, the Earth-Like. "Caius, I'm trusting you with the directions this time. Don't get us lost" he jokes around
"Planetary telemetry readout, begin." That same voice rings out.
"Lambda Arae 3.
Surface pressure: 1.26 atmospheres
Earth masses: 2.9996
Gravity: 1.74G
Temperature: 342 K, or 156°F, or 68.85 C"
Shortly afterwards, the pair can see the reentry heating effect start forming flame flares around the shield. Little sparks at first, before growing into a single, bright flare. The main canopy glass tints itself to a dark, near black, preventing the duo from being blinded. Nearly ten minutes pass before the tint dissipates, and Max and Radtke are greeted with a myriad of trees and mountains below them. Were it not for the engineering upgrades applied to the ship, one might assume travel along the atmosphere would be nigh impossible in a heavy ship like this
"I..." he breathes in deeply to his own dismay, "I thought atmospheric entry was blocked-off by the PF, by means of restriction?..." he speaks in a curious, but pained voice.
(PF: Pilot's Federation)
"Indeed these planets are restricted by the PF. However, one day a member of Atlas' RnD department noticed that the FSD receives a signal from the PF on whether or not the ship is permitted to these atmospheric worlds. She managed to capture the signal on multiple occasions, and developed a way to spoof it," Radtke explains. "In all technicality you could turn me in to any of the superpowers and get a hefty sum of credits for this illegal tech, but I think we both understand why we're in Independent space right now." He chuckles lightly as a tall forest passes by on the right, the exhaust of the engines causing the trees to shake rapidly
"Heh heh...heh... I don't quite... think I'm in shape for that... Pretty sure my... lung got punc... punctured from that jump..." he wheezes out between breaths.
(Force causes the bone to shoot out of it's place, apply gravity and...'pop!'...)
(AN; Ugh... I just imagined it... Curse my vivid imagination...)
"Heh heh. Well, at least we're right about here" Radtke gestures towards a small complex in a clearing up ahead. "Tower, this is Atlas Corporation, Designation Zero Squad - 013, requesting permission to land." He has a somber look on his face.
After a moment's silence, "This is tower, we read you Zero squad. Procedure states we inquire as to why you are approaching." a woman's voice came over the speakers.
"I have... Business with Gagarin." He replies, then continues, "And no, before you ask, this isn't a scheduled meeting."
An audible sigh came over the speakers "Why do they always say that..." before speaking up, "Copy Zero squad, clearance to land on pad 18-B, would you like to enable the docking assist, Commander?"
"Copy. Negative Tower, I'll fly her in manually."
Pausing, He turns to Max and says "Trust me, their 'docking assist', it's basically an accident waiting to happen. Slams down hard as a Type-9 on a 6G planet." Max chuckles a bit weakly in response.
Manually taking over the controls again, Radtke lines up his ship with the pad, and gently starts descending towards it
"Current vector is 500 meters, taking it awfully slow, eh Commander?" the lady quipped over the radio, as it was a slow day for traffic.
"Precious cargo calls for careful action, Tower, haha" he pokes back, increasing the speed by a few meters per second
"Oh? A pilot that actually has a sense of humor and doesn't tell me to 'act professionally'? I like you Commander." she said as Radtke's ship touches the pad, "You've got contact, station services are now avai- yadda yadda yadda, you've heard this a million times before. 'Bleep' Phew, glad that's over with, back to videogames!" she cheers, obviously not aware her mic is still on.
"...Video...games? Hah...hahah...hah..." Max somewhat chuckles.
Radtke snickers along, before cutting comms. Sending the ship into the hangar, Radtke stands up, and makes his way towards Max. "Now as you heard before, this planet has more gravity than we're used to on the stations. Be especially careful not to put weight on that broken leg."
"Yea yea... I'm wounded, not delirious... I think..." as he takes hold of the chair's arm support and somewhat stands up thanks to Radtke helping him by pulling Max's right arm over his shoulder. "And regarding the G's... I can feel it... in my bones." he finishes, with a lame joke, a faint 'ba-dum-tss' is heard over the engine's powering down. "Ow..."
"And the crowd goes mild" the ship responds to the joke. Radtke grins, and the pair start walking out the main door.
It seems, bearing some semblance of advanced human technology, the walkways along the complex are motorized. "I assume that's probably to help with wear and tear on the joints due to gravity" Radtke muses
"Yea... Probably... Kinda interesting to look at... honestly..." Max manages to get out.
After a short ride between a few buildings, on more than one occasion having to switch walkways, the duo arrive at a small tower building in the middle.
"Well, if I know Gagarin, he's bound to know we're already here." He groans. They hobble their way up to the door, where a keypad illuminates with the prompt 'Authorization Code'
"Am I good to set you down for a second Max? It should only take a second for me to get us in."
"That's... fine...Were you...always this blurry?" Max asks, his delirious state apparent.
"No. Whatever you do, don't go into any sort of bright light, or any deep dark." The serious tone in his voice hides the deep concern Radtke feels for someone who, for the first time in a long time, he can consider a friend. "I'll make this quick."
Grabbing his dog tags from an inside pocket of his jacket, he inserts it into the bottom of the keypad before typing in a passcode. 013-9562647-337
The door hisses open as Radtke swipes his tags back, runs over to Max, and hurriedly pulls him up onto his shoulder again. "We gotta move, and fast."
At the end of the hall, an elevator awaits the two. Someone on the cameras must have seen the situation, as the door is already open and waiting for them. Being as careful as possible while still moving quickly, Radtke half-carries, half-drags Max in, and the doors slam shut, and the elevator descends.
"You still with me?" He questions, the worry leaking through a bit
"Eeeuh?" Max tiredly replies "Jayden?... What are you... doing here?" he asks Radtke, obviously referring to someone else. "You're... suppos'd to be dead..."
"No... no... no... Am I dead too now?" he asks the figment "But... What about Nigel? Or...or...Mih...ra-" finally slumping forwards, making Radtke almost fall along with him.
"Woah woah woah, fuck!" Radtke manages to catch himself at the last second.
"GAGARIN! HELP!" He screams out, pulling himself and Max ever forward towards the room marked 'Infirmary'
After a few moments, the doors to the infirmary open up, and a nurse with brown hair runs in with a stretcher, grabbing Max away from Radtke, and they cart him into the room, leaving Radtke in the waiting room.
(AN; Honestly, this is the point where the active players in the RP decided to try and gather more personnel to make everything a bit more 'organic'.
We failed. Horribly.
We failed so bad, that this is the written end to Act 2. So apologies and see you in Act 3.)