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RimWorld Legends

Crash Landing: Bangalore & Lifeline

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About three hundred miles to the southeast of Crypto and Wattson's position, the third pair of pods to enter the atmosphere was about to reach the surface of the unknown world. With the roar of burning atmosphere and rushing wind, smoke trailing after them as they tore through the sky, the pods hurtled down to earth. Closer to the ground, their inertia-dampening boosters kicked in to soften their landing with a thunderous roar of their own.

The first pod in this pair landed explosively on a white-sand beach next to clear cerulean waters, kicking up a cloud of sand that obscured the large metal capsule for several minutes and shaking several nearby palm trees with enough force to send a few coconuts falling. Several small animals scurried away while nearby birds took wing, flapping hard and crying in dismay in their effort to escape the unexpected arrivals that had disturbed their peace.

The second pod splashed mightily into the ocean not too far from the beach, sending a plume of water high into the air. White foam formed immediately as the cerulean waters churned around the pod's entry point into the ocean, the waves from the crash rippling outwards. Some distance already beneath the surface of the water, the pod began to sink further just as the onboard systems recognized a water-landing and promptly deployed inflatable air bags.

A few seconds later, the pod was rising to the surface, breaking through with another massive splash before stabilizing and remaining afloat. Steam hissed over the entire structure as the superheated metal cooled quickly against the endless waters of the ocean.

Then all the sudden and rather violent noises that had erupted from the new arrivals stopped, replaced instead by the quiet calm of the sparkling ocean beneath a brilliant sun on a clear, slightly breezy day. The only remaining sign of the freshly landed pods—twin smoke trails reaching high into the sky—was already being blown away and dispersed into nothingness by a warm westerly wind. And soon enough, only the pods themselves remained evidence of an extraterrestrial arrival.

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Anita gasped for air and sat up, coughing. She shivered, the cryo pod hissing around her as a cold foggy air slowly leaked out into the cramped chamber beyond. Her dark brown eyes quickly adjusted to the low light. Taking a moment to gather her breath and to sort the painful jumble that was her mind—a side effect of cryosleep, particularly nasty when waking quickly like she had—she then pulled herself out of the pod.

Her legs shook, muscles aching, but she forced herself to remain upright and did. She always did have excellent body control to go along with her formidable will. Even in the worst of conditions. But then she was teetering to one side, then another, and it wasn't because of anything she was doing. The whole world seemed to be rolling back and forth, making her unsteady, though she managed to remain standing with some extra effort.

With a frown, she cast her eyes about. Easy enough to recognize the interior of an emergency escape pod. But why had it been needed? What had happened? And where was she now?

Judging from the motion of the pod, it had landed on water. More specifically, in an ocean. A lake wouldn't have waves like this, unless it was a particularly massive lake, she supposed. And she was definitely not on a river, lest she would have felt some more horizontal movement.

Better to see things with my own eyes than to keep guessing, she thought as she moved to where she knew her equipment was stowed beneath her cryo pod. Unlike most of the other passengers on the ship, she had brought a lot of things with her. Always be prepared for anything. That was what she had been taught since as far back as she could remember.

Her storage bin was crammed with as much stuff as could possibly fit. There was a pistol with several magazines full of bullets; a long, partially serrated hunting knife with a razor-sharp edge on a blade as long as her forearm; a bundle of grenades, some explosive, others incendiary, and a few more were for smoke; and then there was a small medical triage kit stuffed all the way in the back too. These were all thing she could carry without a bag.

Not that that would be a problem. She knew the escape pod had a bag full of survival supplies and gear, with space leftover to carry other things as they were found out in the wild, should it be necessary. It didn't take her long to find it. Even shorter for her to go through all the equipment and take a mental inventory. Enough supplies to last for at least a week, easily. Longer, if properly rationed.

Moments later, she was poking her head through the open escape hatch, breathing in warm, salty ocean air. She briefly admired the beautiful color of the water and the clarity of it—she could see down to the colorful corals well enough. Picturesque was an apt description. The kind of thing she saw in brochures for tropical getaways.

But this was no vacation, as far as she was concerned. Something terrible had happened to the ship she had been traveling on, forcing her and the other passengers to be ejected out onto this unknown planet. If that wasn't enough a sign of danger, then the fact that she knew full well who the other passengers were was another reason for her to be wary. Some of them might take this opportunity to get… violent.

Anita Williams was an elite soldier from a military family—her four older brothers as well as her parents were all soldiers. She was a cool and calm veteran combatant of the IMC Armed Forces. One of their best. And she was going to survive whatever the hell was going on. There was no doubt in her mind about that. No doubt at all.

As the pod rose and fell with the waves, spinning slightly in place, she caught sight of land not too far distant. There was long stretch of beach, white sand bright beneath the blazing sun. She realized she was already starting to sweat a little.

A flash of light caught her eye. Sunlight reflecting off of something metallic on the beach. Something large. She squinted, raising a hand to shade her eyes from the sun. It was far enough away that she couldn't make it out too clearly, but she knew what it likely was: another pod.

Her eyes caught the telltale trails of other pods having landed even farther away. At least a hundred miles, perhaps more. Turning her attention back to the beach, she sighed. It was not too far of a swim, but it would be difficult to do with the pack. But she couldn't well leave it here either. That would be a waste, and she had a feeling she would need the supplies soon enough.

With a frown, she tried to think of any other options for getting ashore with the pack intact. When her gaze drifted down to the inflatables keeping the pod afloat, she suddenly had an idea that just might work.

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Ajay gasped with delight as she sighted the ocean, hazel eyes going wide at how pretty the cerulean waters were, stretching all the way to the horizon. Despite the situation, she could not help but feel relieved that she had landed in what looked to be some tropical paradise. Far better than being stranded on some desolate wasteland or atop a frozen mountain region or something.

The warm ocean breeze brushed against her skin, and she inhaled deeply, basking in the salty scent of the oceanside. The air was humid, though not overly so, and the sun beat down unhindered by clouds in the sky, the heat bouncing off the white sand. A light sheen of sweat already covered her skin, but she didn't care. She loved hot, tropical weather. She had grown up in such an environment on Psamathe, her homeworld, and so was certainly used to it.

She hopped out of the escape pod and landed a little more stiffly than she planned onto the hot white sand. She tried to ignore how weak she still felt after waking from cryosleep. Within moments, her boots were off, toes wiggling and digging into the damp sand near the water, much cooler than the sand further up the beach. The next wave came, crashing on the surf not far from where she stood as water rushed forth and engulfed her feet, lapping at her ankles lightly, and she laughed with delight.

"Look at all dis!" she cried to no one in particular, raising her arms wide and turning her head up to the sky as she closed her eyes, basking in the sunlight as if she had not just accidentally crash-landed there midway through a space voyage ended for unknown reasons. As if she were merely on vacation.

She knew she should be worried. She knew that something had gone horribly wrong for her to be in this place. But at the same time, she also knew that worrying and stressing over things beyond her control was not the best way to go about things. The past could not be changed. Plus there appeared to be no immediate danger. Right now, all she wanted to do was enjoy the moment, and be glad that she was still alive.

The water was soothingly cool on her skin, and the sand ebbed and flowed around her feet as they slowly sunk into the soft, watery sand with each passing wave.

Her red-dyed hair was done up into two thick, tight buns on either side of her head, slightly towards the back. She thought of letting her hair loose but decided that she didn't want to bother with it for now. Her hair was long enough that she knew she would get really annoyed with it once she let it down. They really did get in the way a lot, hence why she kept her hair up. Besides, she had grown rather used to having the buns. She thought it looked cute on her, and other people said the same.

With some effort, she tore her gaze away from the ocean shining beneath the light of the bright sun overhead and turned her attention to her battered escape pod. It would have a bag full of supplies in it, plus the few personal items she had brought along with her, stored in her cryo pod's storage bin. The survival bag had a blanket and bedroll, or it was supposed to, if memory served.

She eyed a spot on the beach beneath the shade of some palm trees a short distance away and nodded to herself. Yes, she would certainly put those supplies to good use right away. Humming a tune and hopping merrily on the balls of her feet as she made her way back to the escape pod through the hot sand, she could not help but wonder if there was any sunblock among the supplies too.

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Stripped down to her underwear, a tight-fitting black sports bra and matching black panties, Anita took a moment to stretch her lean, well-toned body before plunging into the cool ocean water. For a brief moment, she relished how nice and refreshing the ocean felt as it engulfed her. Then, she checked to make sure her knife was still with her—she had tied its sheath around her right thigh with a length of nylon rope, one of three of various lengths found in the survival pack. Satisfied that it was still there, she surfaced, breathing in the warm, tropical air once more.

Treading water, she wiped some droplets from around her eyes and turned to face her escape pod, only a few lengths away.

It floated on several neon-orange inflatables large enough to hold the rather heavy cylindrical pod afloat. But because it was floating on the water, that made it much easier to move around. And she figured it might be a good idea to bring the pod to shore in case she needed to salvage anything from it later on.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, she thought. For all she knew, by the time she got to shore, a rescue party might already come upon them. Each pod did have a homing beacon installed, after all. But she was not about to sit around and wait for a rescue that might not come for a while, if at all.

Swimming up to the side of the pod facing the open ocean, she grabbed hold of whatever she could of the inflatable on the side she was on and began to flutter kick with her legs. Slowly but surely, the pod started to move through the water towards the beach. It would probably take a while, but she was determined to bring the pod to shore, along with all the supplies with it. Even if she had to swim the whole way like this.

The effort was likely to leave her absolutely exhausted. She could hardly expect herself to be in top form so soon after awakening from cryosleep. On the bright side, at least the water here was nice and cool, and it would certainly be an excellent workout. She always did think that she needed more aquatic training.

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Ajay threw the survival pack out of the escape pod, the pack thudding onto the sand with the heavy weight of all its contents. Besides potable water, rations, towels, and some tools, the pack also came with a thermal sleeping bag and a first aid kit. The towel would come in handy immediately, as she could spread the biggest one out on the beach and lay out under the sun for a while.

The interior of the escape pod was drastically cooler than the outside, thanks to the open cryopod within, and by the time Ajay had found a spot to settle into for a time, she had already begun to work up a sweat. Not that it mattered much to her. There was a whole ocean, or at least it seemed like one, right in front of her that she could wash and cool herself in. Besides, she was used to being sweaty.

"Ahhh…" she sighed as she stretched and relaxed on the towel, already warm from the few minutes it had been out in the sun.

She had stripped out of her clothes and was now in her underwear, basking in the sun. It had been a long time since she had an opportunity to do so. The Apex Games kept her busy, and when she was not competing or spending time with a few of the other Legends she had made friends with, she was helping with whatever satellite branch of the Frontier Corps she could find nearby. Tending to the sick, the weary, the poor, Ajay rarely had a moment to rest for herself.

She didn't regret any of that, of course. It made her feel good that she could work to undo the massive damage her own family had done, profiting from the wars that plagued the outer systems. Wars that they had spurred on in some way or another in order to keep the profits flowing. She had a long way to go to get anywhere close to absolving the sins of her family—in truth she was afraid she could never accomplish such a task—but she planned to keep at it as best as she could.

Right now, though, she felt she deserved some time to rest. Besides, it wasn't like she could undo all of that red in her family's ledger overnight.

As she drifted, half-asleep, her mind relaxed enough that the thoughts and concerns of how she arrived on this beach began to rise up from where she had been pushing them down and out of mind. How had she come here? The escape pod, of course, was a literal massive clue. But what had happened to the ship was supposed to be traveling on?

Feeling suddenly dizzy from the heat, as well as dehydration—she had barely drunk any water since she woke from cryosleep—Ajay slowly sat up and reached for the survival pack. Soon, she had gulped down a healthy amount of it, smacking her lips in satisfaction.

"Ajay…?" said a tired but familiar voice, making Ajay flinch in surprise. She thought she was alone.

Squinting beneath the bright sun, she beheld a dark figure in front of her, the sun seemingly perched upon her shoulder and casting her face in shadow. But just from her voice and the way she carried herself, it was obvious who the person was.

"Anita!" Ajay exclaimed with relief. "Don't be scarin' me like that and sneakin' around, gurl!"

Anita "Bangalore" Williams, one of the few friends Ajay had made in her time at the Apex Games, raised an eyebrow at her. "I walked straight up the beach in plain sight. You clearly weren't paying attention." She gave her a once over. "From the looks of things, you're treating this like some sort of tropical vacation getaway."

"Eh, why not?" Ajay asked with a shrug. "When was da last time ya took a vacation?"

"I don't need a vacation," Anita replied easily enough.

This time, Ajay gave her a raised eyebrow in return. "Ya lookin' like ya were enjoyin' a swim yourself."

Anita dropped her pack to the sand and crossed her arms. "I had no choice," she said somewhat defensively.

When Ajay cocked her head to the side in confusion, Anita jabbed a thumb over her shoulder towards the water. Ajay leaned to one side, peeking around the lithe form of her friend, and widened her eyes.

"Is that… your escape pod?" Ajay said, briefly wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Yup, it sure is. Landed out in the water, but thankfully not too far from here. So, I had to swim back to shore or else the current might've taken me further out." Anita rolled her shoulders, wincing. "I haven't swum that hard or for that long in forever. I need to do more water training once we're out of this mess."

Ajay laughed. "Why am I not surprised that's what ya thinkin' about, Anita?" With a shake of her head at the image of her friend swimming and pushing an escape pod all on her own in the ocean, she said, "Ya must be achin' for a rest, yeah?"

Anita sighed. "Not gonna lie, a little shuteye would be nice right now. But we need to make moves while the sun's still up. No telling what might happen at night around here. I don't recognize the planet." Her dark eyes scanned the surrounding area, as if expecting a hostile to suddenly show up.

Ajay wiped some sweat off her face with the back of her hand. "So, what should we do now then?"

Now that Anita was here, Ajay figured it really was as good a time as any to get moving. The ex-soldier did have a point in that they should take advantage of the sunlight while they could, and it was unlikely that Anita would let Ajay just relax while she did all the work. Though Ajay was going to make sure to remember the location of this beautiful beach should there be an opportunity to return some day.

"Well, if you're here," said Anita, "that means the other competitors we were traveling with are likely around as well. It would increase our chances of survival if we all teamed up. Though there's no telling how far apart we might all be." She rubbed her chin in thought. "Our primary objective for now should be to secure shelter, preferably near some fresh water. Our secondary objective should be to scout the area and get the lay of the land. Maybe try and find any signs of civilization while we're at it. Since this is, thankfully, a habitable world, there's a good chance there's at least one human settlement somewhere on this rock. Contacting them might be our best shot at getting out of here, assuming the rescue party isn't coming."

"It could be really dangerous," Ajay said speculatively. There was no telling what reception they might have if they encounter any locals, let alone what beasts and monsters might be lurking around this unknown world. And who knew what the other Apex Legends might decide to do while they were on this unknown planet?

"Dangerous?" Anita grinned, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't forget we're Apex Legends, Ajay. We eat dangerous for breakfast."

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Anita led Ajay deep into the jungle. She had spotted some rocky cliffs a few clicks to the west of the beach, so they went in that direction. Although they were partially regretting it as the insects were relentless in their quest to bite at them.

Anita was worried about potential diseases or illnesses from the insects, but there was no helping it now. They needed to get to high ground, both for better visibility as well as for general safety. She only hoped that if the worst-case scenario happened and they did get sick, that it would not be anything too serious. Thankfully, Ajay was a doctor, so she was not too worried.

Ajay, for her part, despite the difficulties in traversing the thick undergrowth of the jungle and the constant buzzing and biting of insects, remained in high spirits. As she usually did. She was also one of the chattiest of the Legends, though not quite as chatty as Mirage. That boy posing as a man was an annoying chatterbox who often did not know when to shut up. His antics often made Anita want to punch him right in the jaw, though of course she restrained herself well enough.

By the time they reached the cliffs and started climbing, the sun was getting low on the horizon. Anita continued to lead the way, making sure to find the easiest path up the cliffside. There was minimal actual rockface climbing involved, but there were a few tricky sections that they had to overcome. There was also one moment where Ajay seemed to lose her footing, but Anita was close enough to grab her before she teetered over the edge.

While Anita didn't think Ajay would have died had she fallen, she probably would have been seriously hurt. Which, as she thought about it, wouldn't be too terrible since Ajay did have her D.O.C. drone handy. But the medical supplies contained within were limited, so it was best to only use it when necessary. They had to avoid injuries as much as they could.

At the top of the cliff, Ajay sat down tiredly next to a thick tree trunk as Anita stared out into the green expanse that stretched to the horizon to the north, south, and west. To the east was the coast, and the blue ocean beyond. There were more hills and cliffs to be seen, but no real mountains to speak of. The jungle was dense, and far larger than she originally thought. Wherever they had landed, this part of the world was clearly untouched and likely far from civilization. Not ideal.

"So, whatcha thinkin', Anita?" asked Ajay as she scrounged in her backpack for something to munch on. Her head bopping and swaying to some music she could only hear in her head.

Anita sighed, rubbing her face. "We're in the ass end of nowhere, Ajay. Middle of the fuckin' jungle. No major landmarks to speak of. No mountains nearby. No signs of civilization. Just jungle and more jungle."

"We've got the beach," Ajay offered.

Anita snorted. "Yeah, I guess we do."

"So… we go back, ya?"

Anita didn't like it, but she also didn't know what else they could do. It would be stupid to walk through untold miles of unknown jungle with no destination in mind, so it was probably best to return to the beach for a while and figure things out from there. She thought she saw some palm trees with coconuts as well, which would be an incredible boon.

"Not today. It's too late, and I don't want to walk through all that jungle in the dark." Anita sighed wearily as she also took a seat next to Ajay. "We'll stay here for the night. And make for the beach again in the morning. We can decide what to do after that."

"Sounds like a plan!" Ajay said with a grin. "Ya wanna take a nap while I keep an eye out?"

Anita didn't realize just how tired she was until she had sat down. She nodded, unshouldering her backpack and making herself more comfortable. She kept the backpack within arm's reach in case something were to happen.

"Two hours. Then we switch," she said.

Ajay smiled, cheerful as ever. "Sure!"

After double-checking her weapons and doing one last weary scan of the area, Anita closed her eyes, and the world quickly fell away.

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Ajay glanced at the sleeping Anita, then at her own wristwatch. She had been on watch duty for almost five hours now. Anita would probably be mad, but Ajay knew she needed the sleep. Besides, a well-rested Anita was much better for their survival on this unknown planet than a well-rested Ajay.

Not that Ajay doubted her own fighting skills. She was still a bonafide Apex Legend after all. But she knew that Anita was much better at surviving out in the wild than her, having served in the military and coming from a military family. Specially on an unknown planet with unknown threats.

She got to her feet, stretching and yawning, but then shaking her head to clear out some of the weariness she was feeling. Taking a walk to stretch her legs would help to stave off the sleepiness. Patrolling the perimeter was a good idea anyway, she was sure Anita would approve of such an action.

Still, she did feel a little lonely having to go on her own. Ajay had always been a sociable person, wanting to make friends with everybody she met. Even more than that, she wanted to help people. She had grown up wealthy thanks to her parents, who she still refused to speak to after she found out their wealth was earned through war profiteering.

She had run away from home after that, heading straight for the war zones that had made her family's fortune. Why? Because she wanted to do what she could to help those who were affected by the war. In a way, she was trying to atone for the sins of her parents, and in the process make the world—or the galaxy in this case—a better place.

That was why she had joined the Frontier Corps, working as a combat medic to help the wounded and the sick. War zones had seemingly limitless numbers of them. When she found out about the Apex Games, and the chance that with each victory she could donate the substantial prize money to relief efforts, she didn't hesitate to sign up.

And now? She looked up at the starry night sky that was completely alien to her. Now, she was stuck on a planet she knew nothing about with people she had been fighting in the Games for years. Most of them were friends, or as close to friends as competitors in a violent bloodsport could get, but some were less than that. Particularly the newer additions to the roster.

Ajay sighed. Hopefully they could all get along without killing each other before long. She had a feeling it would take their combined efforts to get themselves off this rock.

Deciding that worrying about things that haven't yet come to pass was pointless, she decided to take out her D.O.C. drone to keep her company as she patrolled the area. D.O.C. stood for 'Drone of Compassion' and had been with her for close to five years now, ever since she joined the Frontier Corps and they had given it to her.

She couldn't imagine her life without it. Even though it wasn't a fully sentient AI, it still had a personality of its own thanks to its programming. As the name suggested, it was friendly and loving. A robot full of compassion that was geared to the gills with top-of-the-line medical devices. Whether performing surgery, doing bloodwork analysis, and more, the drone was the best mechanical companion a medical professional like herself could hope to have.

The drone was stowed on a big holster attached to her right thigh. It was compressed and collapsed in order to properly fit, and as she took it out and activated it, the drone immediately began to expand with the smooth clinking of metal and the sound of whirring gears and fans.

When it's lights came on and its "eye" unfolded—it looked like a mini giraffe or ostrich head, with a long mechanical neck that ended in a big camera sensor—it turned to look at her and beeped in greeting.

"What's up, doc?" she greeted the bot cheerfully.

The drone beeped several different tones in reply. Ajay had long learned how to understand binary, which was the language of drones not programmed with proper speech protocols. She had gotten so used to it by now that she couldn't imagine the drone communicating in any other way despite definitely having the funds and knowing the techs who could install the necessary parts and code to get D.O.C. to speak English.

"Are you well?" asked the drone.

"I'm still breathin', aren't I?" she said with a laugh and a smile.

"For now." The drone beeped. "Is there healing that needs to be done? Is there danger?" The drone's eye swiveled around to take stock of their surroundings.

"No, not right now," she said.

"Then why did you activate me, Ajay?" the drone asked curiously, tilting a bit to one side.

"I was jus' feelin' a little lonely," she admitted. "You don't mind keepin' me company for a little while, right?"

The drone bobbed up and down in what could be interpreted as a reassuring and perhaps enthusiastic movement. "Of course not, Ajay. You can always count on me!"

Ajay grinned and pulled the hovering drone into a big hug. "I know."