The ship was spiraling, it's sides crushing in on itself as the atmosphere fought against it. Gravity was an enemy that could not be fought, especially when the pilot was unconscious and the makeshift pilot was damn near a rookie with this new fangled technology.
Red's head hurt more in that moment than he could remember it ever hurting, but the pain was limited and that was the only thing that kept him conscious. Groaning, he reluctantly opened his eyes. In a rush, the feeling of falling was unignoreable, and the sound of soft curses broke into his mind.
The creaking sound of crushing metal instilled dread in his spooch. Jumping up, Red's body demanded he sit back down but, pure stubbornness had him stumbling across the cockpit despite the heavy gravity pressing him backwards.
Purple had his hands clenched around the controls, lids squeezed shut and muttering vile irken cuss words under his breath. They flew open, when warmth went around his own cold claws…"R-Red?" Without a sound, the maroon eyed irken situated their hands to several different controls as he fought to get the vessel under control.
It was not working.
Red kicked the consol, tightening his grip on the other's fingers, thinking that the Screw heads had destroyed a vital part of the engine in the explosion. When they continued to plummet, he knew they had.
For a fraction of a millisecond, their eyes connected and there was a common emotion of fear before they hit the ground, in a flash of spiraling white, red and blue, the sound of crunching metal disturbingly loud in pained antenna. The soft, dirt was probably the only thing that kept them alive. Once the ship registered the crash it ejected its two passengers, sending them rolling roughly through the dusty landscape. The sound of Red's armor clinking and small grunts from Purple rented the air.
Maroon eyes looked up at the nearly orange sky as he came to a stop. The sight of ships leaving the atmosphere left him slightly relived. It meant his men had made it and the Screw Heads had met enough resistance to not blow up their own planet. Good. But, now they would be looking for any survivors of their people from the massacre.
And if they came upon the two Irkens…not good. Clenching his teeth, Red sat up and glanced first at his ship which was smoldering, metal clicking as it heated and threatened to snap. It would be of no use. Everything was damaged beyond what would be easily repairable. They had to get moving if they didn't want the screw heads to catch them. Then he looked at Purple. The other seemed in a bit worse for wear, considering he had been the one to be shot out of the ship first. Standing up a bit slowly, so as to take inventory of any injuries. Luckily nothing felt broken, thanks to his armor.
He jogged over to Purple and used his foot to prod the other's chest.
"Come on. We have to get going. If you don't wake up, I'm leaving you here." He would do no such thing. Not to another solider. But, hopefully it would convince the other to get moving. However, when not a lid was batted or a muscle twitched, Red dropped to his knees to get a closer look. Maybe something vital had been injured.
His claws ran over the other's body, gently pressing on certain bones to check for fissures. Up both arms, the material was not what a solider normally wore, he thought. But, perhaps this one was in his civilian clothes. Nothing in Purple's arms appeared to be in bad condition. Lightly, he pressed along ribs. Nothing in the chest. Red ran his hands down both legs, noting the tears in the pants. He thought he felt the other's knee twitch. His eyes narrowed suspiciously just before, the entire leg jerked and flew up to Red's face, kicking him across the jaw and he went falling backwards into the sand.
"Ow! Irk damn it!"
Purple jumped up, not nearly as cautious as the other had been, in a battle stance. Then he recognized who it was and he relaxed if only just a bit. "Well, what else did you expect? You were practically molesting me."
Red glowered, and stood up, rubbing his aching jaw. "Was not! I was checking you for injuries."
Sniffing, rather indignantly, the violet eyed irken frowned. "Uh-huh." Then suddenly forgetting the indecent argument, his gaze focused on the broken ship. Even from far away he knew the damages would certainly take weeks to fix. Weeks they did not have if they wished to survive for any length of time. "We have to get moving."
"You don't think I don't know that?" Red spat out. Really, he should've just left the solider the way he had planned. This one was a little too much trouble than he was really worth. "Come. They will be searching this area soon." Turning on his heel, the general's eyes were already searching on the horizon for anyplace they could go. They wouldn't be stuck here long. Maybe a week at the most. Just long enough for his squadron to reach the Immense and tell of the happenings. They would rescue them and then the planet would be cleansed.
With an unhappy hiss, Purple's antenna rose hostilely. It really was grating to take orders. But, he knew that Red knew what to do with this kind of situation where as he wasn't even supposed to be out here. Purple had been working in the engine room, refueling the battalions, readying for immediate take off when the tiny Elite had come running in to tell them they were required to fight as well. Many of his co operators had been quite reluctant. They had never fought, never trained for this.
Pur however had grinned, already on his way out into the dusty air. He'd been fighting all his life. With other Irkens since he had a temper and an attitude that got him in trouble way too often. Growing up on the harsher side of Irk had brought him that. As well as the knowledge of how to take care of himself and never give up.
"Fine." Walking to stand a little in front of Red, he tilted his head to the side, antenna bouncing as he took in the landscape. It was dusty where they stood but obviously it was a higher up point than any on the planet. He could see the jungle off in the distance. It really was a primitive place. Most of the Screw Head population was situated on the opposite side of the planet. "Um…please tell me your not thinki—"
"Ing of heading to the jungle. Yeah. Why? Have a problem with that, solider?" Red glanced once at the irken who was walking ahead of him. Well, that was certainly not very solider like. They obeyed and were rather submissive. It was beaten into them as soon as they became a part of the military. Even Red listened to his superiors. Not that there was many above him.
Purple resisted the urge to wipe his head of the sweat that was beading there. The humidity and heat was a bit much for him. Turning back to the Red, he put his hands on his hips and glared. "Yes. Yes I do. That place probably has all kinds of unknown dangerous creatures, not to mention its suicide to head into an area you have no prior knowledge of." He still didn't know why he hadn't corrected the other on his rank.
It was like something was holding him back. Then of course, his mind automatically answered for him. Obviously if he told Red that he was a mere mechanical drone then it would mean losing whatever small amount of respect the other had for him and the trip would be more miserable. Or worse the bastard would leave him to rot, since he wasn't useful any more.
Red matched the stance, lifting his chin and trying to stand taller than the other, only to realize that they were nearly if not the same height. No one was taller than him aside from the Tallest. It was a rather harsh blow. What was this one doing as a mere solider? He should've been a commander like himself.
"Maybe. But, that place is large and not to mention it has many places to hide. Where as if stay here or on any plot of land that looks like this, they will find us easily." A muscle under Purple's jaw twitched, he noticed, when he was angry.
After a few minutes of trying to find a valid argument, Purple finally threw his hands up in the air. "Fine. Let's just go. They'll be coming soon." Having said all he was going to say, he began stomping down the steep incline, which Red knew was not going to end well. Rubbing his temple, he followed after his acquaintance. The sound of Purple's muttered cursing, and the ache from his prior injures made the trip rather frustrating.
When the violet eyed solider didn't fall…Red was rather disappointed. When he fell instead, his foot catching under a rock, that sent him forward, dust flying up into his mouth, Red decided it was going to be a very miserable week.