We Need a Deathworlder!

“I was so close… so close… But all it took was one scrap of tantalizing intel that proved to be… more than it posed to be. Far more than promised, that's for certain… heh… “ Brom’s tired and defeated voice comes through without any visual elements.

“All I wanted… was justice… And I was ready to bear down my wrath and rage to make it happen. There was a price I was willing to bear on my conscience, but… not this one. Chak, I’ll never understand why you helped father. I thought you were better, smarter. Perhaps he deceived you, and you meant none of this to befall our family. But your actions have consequences… An utter atrocity committed in ignorance is still a crime. So even if you were a blissful pawn I don’t regret my actions against you. That being said, it seems I have committed a crime far, far worse. And I’m in the ironic position to beg for your intervention. heh… Not to save me this time… I promise. Quite the opposite actually. I’ve let something terrible loose, something that can pose a great threat to the universe itself. Best case being billions dead. You know me, I’m not exaggerating when I claim that. I’ve tried to fix it myself, but I'm unable. Chak, sister… I want you to come to my location, and bombard it from orbit until nothing but ash remains. There will be no attempts at rescue! We are far beyond that. If I wished for fools to land here and make the situation even worse… I’d call my own men. Loyal klats, the lot of them. But you? Regardless of the nature of your role, I can trust you to do this. As morbid as that is. At the very least I’m offering a form of redemption; fix my mistake, and bestow my consequences-AH!” Brom screams to a loud metallic crashing sound. His breathing is erratic and brimming with fear, but he eventually calms down enough to continue.

“I’d much rather die from you than this… Please grant me that… I don’t blame you if you believe this is another ruse. Come yourself or pay for mercenaries to do the task. Just get it done. I’m transmitting my location… Goodbye sister. For real this time.”

Chak lowers the datapad before gazing up at the Terran.

“What do you think?” she says in a soft voice.

“You want to rush in and save his ass? Don’t ya?” Simone asks in a sigh while crossing her arms.

“Of course. However… I believe he is telling me the truth of the matter. But I’ve already made that mistake once. I wish to first hear what you propose is the best way forward.” Chak responds.

Simone leans forward in thought, mulling it over.

“Could still be a trap. But I doubt it. If what he’s saying is remotely true… we don’t really have much of a choice but to go.” Simone reasons, “We get there, and scope it out from the ship. See where things go from there.”

Chak’s tense shoulders drop, relieved to hear the Terran’s positions.

“Thank you, Simone…” the Cali whispers, clutching the datapad to her chest.

“Don’t thank me yet. We could be running into a fleet of cannons waiting to turn us into confetti as soon as we arrive. Just going by my gut here.” Simone replies, waving a hand.

The Cali grimly nods and presses up into her comm.

“Chucknuq? We are proceeding to Brom’s location.” she directs.

“Aye-aye… Let’s hope for a better outcome this time.” he responds, sharing the lack of enthusiasm.

The Terran moves up and wraps her arms around the Cali, who leans completely into it. The red in Chak’s eyes fade as the very real possibility of her needing to kill the last of her family settles. What did she do to deserve this? What did her family do?

---

After traveling for a few days, the Kwip-chap exits FTL over an unmarked lush planet.

“We’re here, I’m picking up no ships in the area. But they could just be running dark.” Chucknuq informs the Cali behind him.

“Is Brom’s location planetside?’ Chak inquires.

“Aye… It looks like there’s a facility of sorts… odd… I can’t get any clear readings outside of direct visuals. Nor is there any response to my open broadcast. I’m guessing that place is the covert sort.” the captain replies, “I’ll have our new armament trained on it and will wait for the order.”

“Are you certain there is no way to communicate? No direct lines or channels?” Chak asks.

“Indeed. That place as far as I can tell is completely absent of comm traffic. And either nobody is there, or nobody wants us to know they’re there.”

“What about the surrounding area?” Chak points out.

“Nothing but dense wilderness. Hard to get specifics.”

Chak filters through her brain to think of any solution or possibility to get into contact with her brother. However… if he wasn’t open to comms now then…

“He… was very explicit… we have to destroy it.” Chak forces herself to say.”

“Aye…” Chucknuq confirms as he begins warming up the main cannon.

“Hol’ up. I’m going down there.” Simone’s voice calls through the comm.

In a brief panic, Chucknuq scrambles to cancel the firing procedure. Thankfully doing so in time.

“What do you mean!? You heard Brom!” Chak argues as she hurries her back back through the ship.

“Something’s off. I’m going to go down there and scout it out. He wants this place destroyed, but who knows if he’s actually there. We could be firing on some poor bastards that he just wants gone.” The Terran explains.

“But what if he’s right? Nothing good can be down there if he doesn’t want rescue! I’m sure if he wanted to destroy this place then he would do it.” Chak persists, making it to the cargo bay to see a fully armored Simone opening the shuttle.

“Unless he wants you to take the blame for it. I just want to be sure we’re not making a big mistake.” Simone says as she turns to the open shuttle.

The Cali lurches forward, not hesitating to grab the Terran in power armor’s hand.

“Then I’m coming with you! I’ll suit up and-” Chak begins to tell before Simone pops her own helmet free to look the Cali in the eye.

“No. If he’s being completely truthful and isn’t exaggerating, then you’re not putting yourself through that risk. Best just me down there.” Simone says sternly.

“But what about you! What if you get trapped there, too? Or worse!?” Chak insists, moving up against the Terran to latch every appendage on to further express her unwillingness to let go.

Unblinking, Simone presses into her comms.

“Chucknuq, if you guys lose contact with me for more than an hour then blow the place sky high. Chief of Security’s orders.” she directs.

There’s a brief wait in silence before the captain manages to respond.

“Aye.” he agrees softly.

Chak’s eyes flash in anger.

“Simone! I’m not going to let you do this!” she says boldly.

“You’re not really my boss remember? I’m not going to risk you being used as a tool for fuck’n murder.” Simone responds, pressing a hand on Chak’s chest, “Besides, I’m a soldier Chak. This shit is the kind of stuff I did all the time.”

Chak resists the pressure gradually growing from the Terran’s paw.

“I don’t like this Simone… please… please don’t go.” the Cali pleads, feeling her grip loosen.

“I gotta do this. I’m sorry, but I’ve made up my mind.” Simone replies, breaking into a soft chuckle at the valiant efforts Chak makes.

Not wanting to hurt her girlfriend, Simone lets up on the pressure causing Chak to move right back up against her.

“Is there anything I can say to stop you?” Chak whispers.

“No. Because if we’re wrong, I’d rather bite the bullet than have who knows how many others bite it.” she says softly, placing her hand on the side of Chak’s distressed face.

The Cali narrows her eyes as they fade.

“Promise me you’ll be careful. And that you will stay in communication with us.” Chak urges, knowing there’s nothing more she can do.

“I fully intend to come back. And yeah, I’ll keep you updated.” Simone promises, before giving the Cali a light smiling kiss.

Still not completely on board with all this, Chak presses her horned head to the metal chestplate tapping it.

“I’m sorry if this is another deception of my brother. However, I’m hoping that’s the case.” Chak murmurs.

“Honestly, me too.” Simone agrees before pulling away and stepping back into the shuttle, “Just keep an eye out up here. Just in case I’ll have the shuttle come back up after dropping me off. Send it back if I need it.”

“Alright… Be safe. I love you.” Chak says, hesitantly backing away.

Simone gives the Cali a cheeky wink as the shuttle doors close.

---

On the flight down, Simone is left alone with her thoughts. She knows this is a terrible idea, she knows this could be her final poor decision. But she has done solo missions like this before, perhaps not the supposed ‘billions at stake’ part… but she won’t allow Chak to be used like she was. There won’t be blood on her graspers, not today. Besides, best to know the truth even at the cost of Simone’s life. No one has expressed such yet, but the Terran knew that when it comes down to it, she’s the expendable one. It’s been part of her job from day one. She hurts people, and risks getting hurt, to keep everyone else safe. Simple as that.

“Simone…?” Chak’s voice comes through the comm.

“Yeah? Still on the descent.” the Terran updates.

“I know, another ship just exited FTL… however it’s making a point to stay far away from us. It’s a small scouting ship of some sort. By itself it poses no real threat to us and hasn’t so much as scanned our ship, but we’ll keep an eye on it.” Chak informs.

Simone scrunches her brow

“I don’t like that. I’ll try to make this quick.” Simone responds, attaching her helmet back on.

“Also… Simone, if Brom was truthful and still alive… don’t put yourself into harm's way to save him. If this is some sort of disease or chemical, it may already be too late.” Chak says directly.

“Understood. I’ll scope out the entrance and take a peek inside if I can.”

“Alright.” Chak replies, obviously wanting to say more.

The shuttle breaks through the forest canopy and maintains a hover a few feet from the ground. The door slides open and, wasting no time, Simone jumps down. Then she immediately starts to move towards the facility.

“Feet on the ground. Shuttle is on its way back to you.” Simone updates, “What does that ship look like? Any markings?”

“It’s small and red. It’s too far to get a better look or scan.” Chak replies.

“If it’s an actual scout, then they are scouting for somebody. So prepare for more ships to come flying in. You can always jump back to pick me up.” Simone directs.

“Of course.”

Simone’s boots crackle the ground in firm stomps. The Vapor’Perna A.I definitely didn’t cheap out on this suit of power armor. A bit flashy for Simone’s tastes, but nothing some paint and good ol’ wear and tear wouldn’t fix in the future. If there’s a future.

Usually a suit like this would be for more intense combat engagements -and be more camouflaged- usually reserved for special forces. Luckily, in her time in the marines, she had worn a more standard issue on several occasions.

Comparing this model to those, however, is hardly fair. Military-grade is great, but custom-rich-fuck-secret-mercinary-army-grade has quite a few extra perks. Like cranking up the strength multiplier by a few notches.

Her near-white, orange and red armor didn’t scream stealth in the green foliage around, so she simply charged forward at a powerful pace.

She only slows when she comes across a scene of relatively recent combat. Taking a moment to investigate, Simone scans the bodies of gunned down facility guards. They are all haphazardly scattered and untouched where they lay. Numerous blackened plasma char indents reveal the attackers were either military or, at the very least, well funded. They must have been well trained to boot, as each corpse shares a dark grey triangular emblem with a blue half-circle within it. Glancing up to the facility door, the very same emblem is proudly plastered upon it with no other indication of the purpose of this place.

Simone snaps a pic and sends it to the Kwip-chap crew.

“Anyone know who this symbol belongs to?” she asks, looking to the door panel.

“That’s the emblem for the Trifecta Moons… They are a mercenary company that deals in high profile dealings in the black market. This must be where they house certain… products…” Chak answers rather quickly.

“So Brom wanted something of theirs that he couldn't afford?” Simone guesses.

“If it was for sale in the first place… the Trifecta Moons are notorious for collecting and hoarding away technology for their own uses. They operate with the most powerful of clients, so they require powerful enough teeth that no one dares cross them.” Chak poses.

The Terran presses the door ‘open’ indicator, expecting nothing to happen. But, to her utter surprise, there is no request for verification of identity. Rather, the door immediately opens with a crisp snap. Within is revealed to be more slaughtered guards peppered throughout a long hallway. There’s a jolting heavily plasma-marked door on the far side. It’s partially open, but only because the cranium of a poor bastard prevents the automated shutting to fully seal.

“I have a way in. I’m gonna step in and poke around.” Simone reports stepping forward.

“Please be careful, there’s growing interference. Just be quicishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-shhh-ch-shhhh…” Chak’s words devolve into garbled static.

Taking a reverse step outside Simone grimaces.

“Got it. Looks like there’s a strict signal blocker inside. Brom must have used the facility’s comm system itself to send that audio. I won’t be able to update for a while, so give me an additional half hour before blasting this place to kingdom come.” Simone informs.

“Please don’t let it come to that…” Chak requests, “I’m not going to lose you. Understood?”

Simone smiles.

“Yes Ma’am.” she responds softly. She begins to move but another message from the Cali quickly comes through a direct line.

“Wait, before you go can I ask you something? You haven’t called me ‘Bo Peep’ in a while… is there a reason?”

Even though she’s surrounded by death, Simone can’t help but huff in amusement from the left field question.

“Uhh… I don’t know… I guess because it annoyed you? I suppose?” she answers, not quite knowing the real reason. Probably just dropped out of habit?

“It was… but then I looked it up where it’s from. A bit morbid, but I think it’s fitting. Could you… sorry, but… could you call me that again? Before you go? Please?” Chak asks in a small yet almost desperate tone.

The Terran bites her cheek, and considers turning back then and there. It’s obvious that the likelihood of there being anyone worth saving is extremely low. She did her due diligence and checked to make sure this wasn’t another manipulation. But… then that means Brom is still here. And although Simone doesn’t really want to save him, -in fact she wants nothing to do with the bastard- she’s right here at the threshold. Chak wants him back, despite the pleas for Simone to not take risks. That’s enough to try.

“As you wish, Bo Peep. I’ll be back soon.” she replies, before fully entering and cutting off comms.

Moving down the hall in a hurried pace, Simone checks her plasma colt once more before reaching the door. She could be potentially up against others with the same armaments, and knew how to use them .

Simone inhales deeply in preparation as she nears the jostling door, still attempting to shut itself despite the obstruction. She slips her hand in to grab the door, and using her augmented strength she beats the motorized mechanisms. In a loud crunch and metallic crackle the door breaks fully open.

“Room service…” the Terran whispers, to comfort herself, as she stares into pitch blackness. She quickly cycles her visor’s vision capabilities until the green cast of night-vision presents a security checkpoint of sorts. At least, that's what it was before a storm of plasma riddled the place like swiss cheese.

This time, however, among the dead there’s a differing figure. A Cali form clad in minor power armor of their own. Simone turns the body over to see the faceplate of the helmet completely caved in from a concussive round. Beyond the bits of brain and blood, the exposed color of fur is too dark to be that of Brom. So she stands and continues further into the belly of the beast.

Coming to a completely sealed door around a bending hallway, Simone presses the opening indicator to no success. Not wanting to waste time looking for an access key of some sort, she aims her colt over the locking mechanisms and fires several violent blasts of plasma. The metal melts and with a solid kick gives way, leaving a boot sized hole to the other side. Using this opening as an extremely hot makeshift grip, Simone grunts in exertion and forces the remaining locks to snap. Opening the door much like the last.

Thankful for her heat resistant undersuit, the Terran shakes her hand to disperse the uncomfortable temperature. She then inspects the rooms ahead, concern immediately striking her. Although there’s still plenty of battlescars and other signs of conflict, such as overturned tables and pools of blood… there’s no bodies to be found.

Much of the blood and gore is smeared along the floor and walls, almost as if someone dragged them away, only to then fully pick them up. Over and over again… At least that’s what Simone figures until she discovers a particularly nasty pool of bodily fluids in the dead center of a cross intersection. Much like the rest of the gore, there’s a lot of smearing. However, as the Terran follows the direction and looks over the imprints… she notices the prints of boots… staggering away… Whoever this individual was, they somehow managed to get back up after being drained of the majority of their inside juices.

Simone looks back over the scene again, thinking she missed something. Perhaps someone slipped in the blood and stood back up? Maybe when they were moving the bodies? That could explain the staggering if the fall was gnarly.

Already on edge from the dark, and plasma weapon wielding foes… the Terran’s nerves spike at what could be the reason for any of this?

“Better not be fucking space zombies...“ she grumbles lowly, deciding to follow the bloody boot marks. Despite the ominous nature of the trail, it’s her only lead on where anyone still alive could be.

“This is how people fucking die in horror movies, Simone…” she whispers to herself as she passes by open doorways down the path. Peeking into each, she continues to not find any more corpses.

“Yeah, but most of them weren’t wearing a fucking tank exoskeleton.” she counters her earlier point.

Simone aims her colt at a slight shifting sound coming from an upcoming side room. Although the trail doesn’t turn there, she scans within to see a fair sized mess hall. There’s no obvious movement, and no real places to hide. There’s scattered platters along the floor and tables, violently cleaned of foods as if a starved army surged through. Far back, Simone sees an entryway that must lead to the kitchens. Not the worst place to hide.

She then hears another shifting and cracking noise ring out further down the hall. It echoes to her, perhaps meaning it’s still a ways ahead.

“Those fucks put Jason into fucking space… I don’t think horror writers give a shit…” Simone utters bitterly before skipping the mess hall for now to investigate.

Completely silencing herself, the Terran cautiously marches forward, colt at the ready. At the end is a sharp ninety degree turn to the left, just beyond it is where the sounds are clearly originating from.

Slowly and steadily, Simone twists her heat around the corner. Immediately, she sees a cali-shaped silhouette staggering down towards her. From that the Terran can tell, this individual is unarmed and very possibly injured from their gait. Activating her exterior speech Simone trains her weapon on the figure and steps out to face ‘em.

“Don’t move. If you want to live through this, identify yourself now.” she instructs firmly.

The individual halts for only a brief moment, their head turns upward and their pace picks up substantially. As they draw closer, their features become clear.

Stepping back, the Terran witnesses this… creature… charge in horrid twitches and spasms. Much like a satanic puppet on strings. Most of the Cali’s fur has fallen out, and their skin that’s exposed to the elements is dry and cracked. To the point of it looking damn near mummified. Dust and flakes of any organic matter even fly off in trailing clouds as this thing moves frantically. Its face is expressionless and not engaging with any sort of visible behavior. No blinking, no vocalisations, and very little in the way of twitching.

Simone fires into center mass, striking the thing squarely in the chest. Instead of blood or gore, the thing from the inside crumbles like soil mixed with confetti. Within that mess as the body’s integrity fails, the Terran can now see… worms… thousands of burrowing worms pouring out of the remains like a pinata from hell.

Not wanting a micro-ounce of that candy, Simone continues to shoot at the mounds that begin to assemble together and continue to move in her direction. Backing away in retreat, Simone allows the disturbingly fast mass to follow as she burns them from existence. Thankfully they prioritize bundling together over pursuing her, making each of her shots much more effective.

Eventually, the little buggers wisen up and begin to retreat and scatter as their numbers dwindle. Simone shoots her plasma at as many as possible before they completely disappear down the hall, leaving the Cali husk behind.

For good measure, Simone blasts the husk. Another batch of wiggling vermin sprout forth in a desperate ambush, but soon they are nothing but sizzling black plasma marks on the floor.

“Fucking space zombies…” Simone pants, now realizing the gravity behind Brom’s warning, “At least it’s clear he’s probably long gone…” she reasons, deciding to get the fuck out of there.

However as she turns around she sees at least a dozen various husks scrambling out of the mess hall!

“Shit…”

Other than the scraping of their sloppy footwork, they are incredibly silent. Simone fires once, but thinks better of it and dashes deeper into the facility.

She outruns the immediate pursuers with ease, but soon enough, more imposing swarms react to her presence and start to explode out of doors and vents. Almost like stumbling into the heart of a massive ant colony these creatures converge to attack the intruder without hesitation. Like the puppets that they are, they move in any way that grants them the direction towards the Terran. The hoard continues to build and grow behind her, nullifying the effectiveness of her speed. Soon enough, there won’t be anywhere else to run to. Glancing back, she sees hundreds of the fucks in pursuit, looking back ahead, her heart sinks as dozens more pour out into the hall, cutting her off.

Finding no way other than forward and backward, Simone decides there is no better time to test the durability and features of her armor. Locking the colt to her thigh, the Terran charges at the incoming wave of animated mummies. Activating her wrist extensions, liquid crystal fires forth and solidifies into extended orange blades.

Sweeping in, she slices a creature in half and punctures the next through the skull. With a sharp twist and pull, the head tears free with a worm-coated spine still attached. The bodies rush her and slow the Terran’s forward momentum. Cranking up her strength multiplier to its max, Simone presses on keeping up an onslaught on her own. She swings blades, crushes with arms, and rams utilizing her elbow.

Brittle arms clamp around her head and legs, attempting to pull the armor apart to allow the now literal gallons of wriggling worms into any crevice to purchase on flesh.

Fortunately her armor is more than capable of staving off the razor sharp burrowing teeth each worm utilized. And even more fortunately the hoard proved to be thinner than feared. Bursting out the other side, Simone trips up slightly but recovers and continues forward, leaving a trail of wigglers that fall from her. For good measure she activates a containment chemical purge, usually meant for sterilizing in disease ridden or toxic chemical zones. Thankfully the worms coating her can’t withstand the vapors and heat the suit exuded, as they burned and shriveled into blackened corn puffs.

Though freed from that horror, Simone realizes that she is completely lost in the maze of hallways and side rooms.

Scanning any signs she comes across, she catches sight of ‘Quarantine Evac Zone’. Better than nothing, she starts to follow the indicators directing her to hopeful salvation. Eventually, it leads her down a flight of stairs. Although she had intent of surviving this, her eyes catch the Communications room. Everyone needed to be warned, especially since her stupid self opened the only locked door to the outside world for whatever this worm shit is.

She looked to the door, seeing that it has been battered and assaulted quite a bit already. She readies her colt, to force her way in. However, an absolutely crazy thought comes to mind.

She knocks firmly on the door in a distinct pattern.

“Anyone happen to be in there? I don’t have much time before I blow this-” before she can finish her warning the door cracks open with a glowing red eye peeking through.

It flashes brighter upon seeing the Terran, and the Cali within opens the door completely granting access. Shocked over her own intuition, Simone dashes in so the Cali can re-seal the door.

“By Klat’s sins… I’m thankful not to die alone…” he says, turning to look up at the guest, “But who are you?”

The Terran ignores him and begins messing with the closest communication panel.

“It’s no use, those things severed the power to the comms.” the Cali notifies.

Slumping a bit from the news, Simone nods.

“Then we have to get out of here... “ she declares, “I broke my way in and we can’t wait for those worms to start leaking out of the hole I made.”

“No matter, my sister will purge this place from orbit. She should arrive any time now, if she hasn’t already. Sorry that you had to be caught up in this…” the Cali assures with a shrug before leaning back against the wall.

Finding the opportunity too perfect to pass up, Simone looks to Brom.

“Sister? What if she just sends someone down to find you?” Simone asks.

“Admittedly there’s a small chance that will happen… But she’s smart, and let’s just say she and I aren't on good terms. She probably wishes to see me dead, if I’m honest. For the best though, considering the situation.” he muses.

“What? Granny die and y’all are squabbling over the will or somethin’?” Simone asks, crossing her armored arms.

Brom winces.

“Something like that I suppose…” he replies dismissively, “What’s your business here? Associate of the Trifecta Moons?”

“Nope. Just learned of their existence ‘bout ten minutes ago.”

Brom’s red eyes narrow.

“Who are you…? Bounty hunter?” he presses.

“Not quite.” Simone partially answers before aiming her colt at the Cali, “What happened here, Brom?”

Disappointment wracked the Cali in a bad shiver.

“By the stars… Chak sent you, didn’t she?” he asked, not all that bothered by the weapon.

“I sent myself, actually. Had my own reasons, getting your ass was a happy accident. You seem to have a knack for surviving alone in isolated death-ridden facilities.” Simone responds

Brom looks away.

“That answers how she survived Hoth-2…” he figures glumly.

“Yep. Was personally there when your little trap was set off. Not gonna lie, there’s a part of me screaming to pull the trigger right now.”

“Heh… you’d be doing me a favor. I’d take plasma over worms any day.” Brom counters, before the Terran forcefully grabbed him by the scruff.

“Good point… I can toss you right out there- no better yet I can just hold you like this and watch. This suit of mine is air-tight and handles those worms just fine. So I’ll just stroll right on out of here.” the Terran growls.

Brom’s eyes flash incredulously.

“You’re clearly bluffing. You could have left at any time if you were that confident. And I don’t care how strong that suit makes you, there’s enough of them out there to overpower you eventually.” he challenges.

Simone doesn’t put him down, instead she just brings his face closer to hers.

“You know what Chak did after watching your facility video? The one where you declared your intention to kill your own sister? Take a wild guess.” she inquires angrily.

“Cower? Declare me the worst of creatures? Amused that I got to her first? I don’t know. I thought I knew her at one point. But her actions against my family cause me to rethink everything.” he answers.

“She screamed out to me. Saying how relieved she was that you were still alive. If you were at all competent and planted actual explosives instead of that petty EMP bullshit, those would have been her last words. Her last thoughts.” Simone informs coldly, before dropping the bastard.

“Sure… and I’ve been born with golden wings that can bring the dead back to life!” the Cali snaps.

“She can tell you all about it herself. First, I’m getting your bitch-ass out of here. We probably have less than an hour.” Simone dismisses.

“To do what? My armor isn’t sealed like yours is. And as you can see I am currently without any weapons. Like I said, I’d rather you just shoot me and take your chances without me.” Brom argues.

“You’re not getting out of this so easily, fucko. Is there no other way around to the entrance?” Simone asks.

“Of course, there’s several. And they are all flooded with worms.”

The Terran nods.

“Alright, we don’t have the time for a better plan. So here it is; I’ll make a decent distraction while you make a run for it. Those things are scrappy, but not speedy. I’ll cause enough ruckus to draw them to the west side, while you slip out though the east.” Simone tells before popping her helmet off and taking off her temple comm, “When you get outside, tell Chak to blow the facility.” she holds out the comm device.

Still incredulous, Brom accepts it.

“And what about you? Am I supposed to believe you're doing this out of the kindness of your single Terran heart?” he replies.

“You bet!” Simone simply replies as she re-seals her helmet back on, “Give me a minute to collect attention before you head off. If… I don’t make it, tell Chak I’m sorry.”

Before the stunned prince can respond, the Terran opens the door -making sure to break the lock in case this Cali proves too much of a coward- and charges westward. Ironically towards the supposed Quarantine Zone.

She manages to come to a see-through wall, where a darkened lab of sorts is set. It’s utterly sealed off, but that doesn’t matter.

Simone turns her back to it and quickly sets one of her most fitting saved songs to play at the max possible volume from her helmet. Hopefully that lil’ prince has a bit more luck in surviving against the odds. She’ll give him ten minutes before trying to get out herself.

Taking an accepting breath, she starts the song. The mood is set, and the distraction is underway.