It's hero time (Ysmir)

[apothecary]

 The Indomitable Spirit listed to port, floating silently through the empty void, it's engines cold and dead. Several sections of the ship's armour plating had been torn out from a violent impact with an asteroid. To all intents and purposes the scientific exploratory vessel appeared to be dead, just another lifeless husk sailing the endless sea of stars. A distress signal played from the damaged ship however, an emotionless automated message, followed by a stressed gruff human voice. It was on a loop. "This is an automated distress message from the Indomitable Spirit. The vessel has suffer an malfunction, assistance is required. This is Commander Dante, Captain of the Indomitable Spirit, our exploratory ship has sustained heavy damage and suffered several power outages. In the chaos, previously unknown alien lifeforms have escaped from our hold. We have been unable to contain them, requesting immediate... My.... What is that?" The sound of blaster fire plays out before a single drawn out human scream. "This message repeats, this is an automated distress message from the..." 

Yet despite the odds there were survivors aboard the Indomitable Spirit. A handful of it's crew continued to remain alive, sealed within the med bay. These survivors were under the command of one Doctor Patience Swole, also known as the only uninjured member. Besides herself there were three others, Kias Milton (engineer) and Caralin Whesk (botanist) were both in critical condition within bacta tanks. That left only Shova a Twi'lek communications engineer built like a small tank with a busted arm and several cracked ribs. They had only a little food within the Med Bay, but had access to water and medical supplies. 
As for weapons, they only had Patience's small blaster pistol, which currently served as one of the options in a way out of this nightmare if not help came for them. The group such as it was possessed no way in knowing if they managed to get a distress signal out, or if this damned vessel floated on, the galaxy unknowing and uncaring to their plight. 

"The record I hate this plan." Swole protested, already feeling the confine space of the ventilation ducts pressing against her. The engineer glanced at the doctor sympathetically. "I know doctor but it is the safest plan we have and I cannot fit, nor is anyone else healthy enough to do it." 
She sighed and swallowed. "Not time like the present hey? Give me a boost?" Awkwardly, with his one handed help, Patience Swole clambered into the choking ventilation ducts, the metal pressing against her, making each breath seem like an impossibility. She wanted to do nothing more than slide back out, knowing that monsters lurked in once familiar hallways, that her home had been overrun by devils. Yet she could not go back, not if she wanted to be responsible for the deaths of the handful of survivors, for her patients. Swallowing her fear of the cramped ducts and of the demons infesting the ship Patience pushed on. Her headset crackled to life as she crawled, Shova's voice tense and concerned, guiding her along to the bridge. She needed to activated the distress beacon, if necessary send a message or alter it. 

It had been three days since the asteroid impact and the Indomitable conquest by the alien predators they brought aboard to study and transport back to a zoo. Those three days had been spent hiding in the med bay listening to agonised wails and the by now familiar shriek of alien predators when they spotted prey. All too soon, Patience reached the bridge. It took her a while to open the vent, the cover clattering to the ground like a thunderous cannon blaster in the tomb silent bridge. Cautiously, like a rabbit peaking out from it's burrow, Patience stuck her head out to see if the coast happened to be clear. 

Her blue eyes widened with shock, the bridge was awash with dried blood and chucks of what had once been living people. She fought back her urge to vomit and slid out of the duct. She moved forward as silent as possible, every part of her body tense, ready to bolt back to the safety of the vent at the slightest hint of danger. 
She would of closed the door and sealed the bridge, but a mangled alien carcass jammed it half open. Not enough to secure the bridge, but enough to delay any predator after her. With a wary glance, she headed over to the communications console, tapping a few keys to boot it up. Patience followed Shova's instructions, after checking the comms array happened to be working, she voiced her message. "Mayday mayday mayday, this is Doctor Patience Swole of the Indomitable Spirit. Requesting immediate rescue, I repeat requesting immediate rescue. I have three patients in my care, two of whom are in critical condition." Silence was her only response. She sighed, unwilling to abandon the communications so readily. "I repeat this is the Indomitable Spirit rescuing immediate rescue, mayday mayday. Is there anyone out there receiving this transmission please response at once."

[Ysmir]

---

Just another day in paradise, right?

Alston flicked the the lid of his canteen closed as he stood at the back of the Republic transport. Some of the Skyburners went about daily chores throughout the mid-sized vessel, cleaning, recalibrating relays, routine maintenance on the engine blocks -- anything to silence and slaughter the monotony of waiting to get where they were going. But for Alston, this was the perfect opportunity to reflect upon that most important of thoughts; where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.

Where has he been?

Everywhere, but it felt like the real answer was nowhere. All the travel and all the excitement that he had experienced in twenty years of service, yet he felt as though he'd never truly been anywhere. Not for real, at least. When he went on leave, he spent it at home in Balmorra. It was the only place in the whole wide Galaxy that he felt comfortable in. Everywhere else reminded him of an assignment, or of an objective. When he ticked off the day's events and the schedule ahead in his mind, it always inevitably circled back to the objective. The mission. Save the Republic, save the Galaxy. A tall order for just one man? Of course it was, but Alston wasn't just one man. He had a team behind, the best damned team space had ever seen. Sadly, many of his squad remained back at base on Coruscant. Their curreny deployment required a fair bit more tact and delicate application of force than what they were normally used to, so a squadron of five was the maximum occupancy.

"Deep in thought, Commander?" asked Corporal Whatt, standing to Alston's side by the bay window.

"You could say that," Alston replied, turning to his comrade-in-arms. The Corporal was perhaps one of the few men Alston could say truly looked past the legend and to the man himself. Horst was another, of course, but he hadn't seen him in years. Alston wondered how that old dog was doing, but smiled and looked back outside of the window where the void of space greeted them. "Mainly, I'm just planning for what we have to do after this. Standard recon won't take long. We've got a lot on our plate with Nar Shaddaa."

"All due respect, Commander, but Nar Shaddaa is a pipe dream. That place is doomed," Whatt replied, and Alston turned sharply to look the Corporal in the eye. However, Whatt raised his hands in defense afterward. "... but, I know you don't like to hear that kinda talk. So I'm with you no matter what." He smiled and patted Alston's shoulder lightly, turning to walk back toward the cockpit. "Lighten up, Commander. Everything will be fine."

Just as Alston was about to turn back to the window, the intercom system buzzed to life on the ceiling. Alston looked up. "Hey, uh, Commander Storm? We're picking up some sort of static interference from an anomaly nearby. Can you come up to the cockpit?"

Curious as could be, Alston made his way to the north of the ship through the cargo bay and passenger bay, eventually standing side-by-side with the pilot, Nico, as he pulled up the comms system. Leaning over the table as a holographic display came up, it materialized into a 3D view of the point of origin from the transmission; a derelict ship floating in empty space, heavily damaged and practically destroyed. Alston lifted a brow. "This thing looks like it's been floating there for weeks. What kind of interference is it?"

"Well, sir, that's just it; we can't tell if the message is automated or not. Because at the tail end of it--" Nico began, but his thought was abruptly and swiftly shut down when the static ceased and a voice came through, feminine and clear as day, transmitting across the open frequency in real time. As soon as her voice rang through, Alston leaned over and activated their end of the comms device.

"This is Commander Alston Storm of the Skyburners. We copy your message, repeat, we copy your message. En route to your location," Alston said, nodding over to Nico who got the order loud and clear. Punching in the coordinates of the derelict vessel, Nico engaged the hyperdrive engine, warning the occupants inside over the intercom to prepare for the jump to light speed. Alston held onto the table as they went, and in just a few moments the view ahead of them through the cockpit's window was a spiralling blue cylinder as they made way to the ship. Luckily, the craft wasn't very far, though it would still take several minutes for them to arrive. Alston leaned back down to the comms device.

"I need a status report. What happened to your ship? And are you injured at all?" he asked, feeling it necessary to gather more information before they arrived lest they walk into something less than savory. Regardless, he didn't think twice about headed there to assist no matter the case. "Stay on this frequency for as long as you can. I need to hear everything that you can tell me about what happened."

[apothecary]

 Patience almost knocked her headset off she jumped that much when a response. There was someone out there! Someone would be coming to rescue her patients. "I... I don't know all of it but we were struck by an asteroid. It... It caused a temporary loss of power but..." The doctor shuddered and glanced nervously at the door. "But the creatures we picked up on an unexplored world broke loose." Most of the crew were now dead because of a single decision by a scientist. "They killed most of the crew, I'm on the bridge currently. But there are three in the med bay, two in critical condition and alive only due to the bacta tanks." She froze, sure she heard something, a soft clicking maybe? 

She swallowed, knowing she needed to finish before she could flee back into the safety of the ducts. "We sealed the..." Her head shot up as massive creature scuttled into the bridge door. The quadrupedal insect stood tall and was roughly two to three meters long and was colored tan with black and yellow stripes. The rearmost pairs of legs are much longer than the two front forelegs, and served as the primary locomotion, the forelegs were about one third shorter. The creature utilize a powerful pincer-like mandible that is capable of crushing metal, pulverising bone and severing limbs as a means of attack. The two upper forelegs or "side mandibles" are utilized in the manner of swords for attack as well as defense. It had been thought to use these as 'hands' for grasping objects in the manner of a praying mantis. This is in fact not the case as a warrior has no dexterity with them and as such they are merely stabbing, slashing or eviscerating implements. They are devastating in this role as they reach out to well over a meter, a full two feet further than their forelegs or three feet further than its actual mandibles.

These were the creatures which had been brought aboard the Indomitable Spirit, literally monsters. Nightmare fuel, a perfectly adapted predator. 

Patience had seen how fast they could move, able to climb walls and ceilings with impossible ease. She ducked down praying it had not seen her. Whispering, the blonde doctor's voice tight with raw terror. "There is one on the bridge." The sharp clack of it's pointed legs striking the deck chilled her blood, she heard a soft wet thunk and a dragging sound. Patience risked a glance round the console, seeing the creature drag the mangled remains of a corpse. 

"I don't think it.." Her voice was interrupted by a piercing shriek, the sound the monsters made when they spotted prey. Patience, mute with terror whipped around and flung herself for the duct. She caught it and scrambled to hauled herself up, something hard tugged at her boot and she felt the footwear tear away as she slid the last desperate few inches into the sanctuary of the duct. Panting, she crawled back to the med bay. The creature's frustrated cries echoing behind her. That was too close. 

She manged to crawl back to the med bay and arrived into the frantic arms of a Twi'lek. After she calmed him down, Patience explained that help was on the way. But she had no idea how they might manage to rescue them, but help was coming. 

[Ysmir]

Alston listened intently as Nico continued guiding their jump to the location of the derelict vessel. In the meantime, the other three members of the squad squabbled about the interior cabin like rampant Banthas, collecting spare ammo and equipment, readying their gear, and preparing for this highly unorthodox and out of the blue search and rescue. Of course, the Commander was known for such on-the-fly decisions; no matter the importance of the mission they were currently on, Alston simply couldn't bring himself to deny help to a person in need. Luckily, he tempered this decision making with wisdom accrued over a long and illustrious career.

So, whenever the doctor began explaining the situation in full, Alston clenched his jaw. Unknown hostiles scattered about a derelict research vessel that somehow managed to eliminate most of the crew? They were woefully outnumbered and unprepared for such an endeavor, but when had he ever let that stop him before? Then, as she spoke once more after a long pause, Alston leaned forward.

"Doctor," he said in a low tone, "do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. Get out of there as quickly and silently as you can." Alston had absolutely no idea what she was being stalked by, but based on the noises he could pick up through the comms, it was nothing friendly. A piercing shriek emitted through the comms, followed by silence. Then, the communication dropped. Alston stared ahead at the column of blue light.

"Double time it, Nico. We're not giving up on them yet."

---

Minutes later, they had arrived at the vessel. In person, it was even more desolate and uninviting in appearance than before. It floated in the empty void of space like some sort of warning personified, a testament to the dangers of tampering with the unknown. Where once it bustled with life and with a common intelligence shared between its researchers, their delve into knowledge had led to their collective demise. But maybe, through some stroke of luck, there could be survivors. That was enough for Alston. If not...

"I've got the permacrete charges, Commander. This become search and destroy when I wasn't looking?" asked Corporal Whatt as he loaded his supply pack, standing in the loading bay with the others as they approached the ship's damaged hangar. Alston and the rest attached hard-sealed helmets to their uniforms, locking the devices onto their heads and breathing deeply as the oxygen hissed into the chambers. Alston blinked through the clear visor that served as a HUD, projecting life-support information on him and his squadmates connected to the uplink via a closed circuit. Alston looked to Whatt.

"Only if there's no one alive on board. We blow it away. Extreme prejudice. Got it?" Alston answered, lifting his arms. His servo-assisted Phrik shields whirred to life and formed over his forearms, buzzing with an invisible field of energy. The Republic transport landed within the open hangar, and the four-man squad exited the loading ramp into the desolate vessel, the cold air of space pricking at their limbs even in their hard-sealed suits. Nico, the pilot, stayed behind on the ship to keep the engines primed and ready to go in case a speedy evac was necessary. Alston and the squad moved forward toward the entry hallway from the vessel.

"Hoss," Alston called out, his voice a mechanical buzz from behind his helm. "Patch into the comms array from the hangar and try to reach the medbay. That's where the Doctor said her injured were."

The tech specialist, Hoss, nodded, and made his way to a communications panel on the wall of the hallway. A few minutes of tinkering later, and he had successfully patched it into the local communications array in the medbay. Alston made his way over and actvated the voice feed.

"Doctor Swole," he began, as the rest of the squad watched their surroundings. "This is Commander Storm. We've landed on the Spirit. Do you read me? Can you give us directions to your location?"

[apothecary]

 The wait was horrible, Patience could hear the sounds of the aliens through the vessel as they echoed the cries of their frustrated fellows. There were more prey for them to hunt, fresh meat for their ravenous hunger. She tried to keep herself busy, checking on her three wounded charges. The door to the med bay still happened to be sealed, they were secure in their medical fortress, though Patience hesitated to use the word safe. Eventually, if rescue failed or no attempt was made they would die of dehydration or failing that starvation. If it came to that Patience planned of taking an easier, painless route out than a long slow death or a short agonised death at the hands of the monsters. 

The doctor almost jumped when the comm chattered, besides her and the communications engineer there had been no one alive to message. This meant therefore that there had to be the Republic soldiers on board. They were coming, they were going to save them and then they would get her wounded and herself off of this nightmare vessel. 
"I read you commander. If your not here in thirty minute it is free right?" Patience joked over the comms. They had to be in the only functioning hanger. "Er.. Erm exit through the far right doors, the big ones then go along the corridor till you reach the stair well and go up three flight..." So far as she knew the elevators were without power, no sense sending them into a stationary metal box. "Go left at the stairs across the hall and I should be on your left. Big red cross and bacta symbol..." There was a pause. "There should be a lot of dried blood outside the door... Don't be concerned we are alive in here." That was how close they were to losing the medbay before the door slammed in those things faces.

"I do not know where they are... I cannot see anything from here so you are on your own there." The doctor explained, wishing that they were in the security room. She could monitor them, help them and it was closer to the hanger bay. But right now wishes were utterly useless. Patience would simply have to do the best she could from her current position. "Can you do anything with the terminals in here?" She asked her companion, he shook his head. "Different system." He explained with a shake of his head. Frustrated, the doctor was forced to accept that all she could do to aid the rescue party was to stay put. Besides if she left, who might take care of the injured? 
"Just stay sharp. I don't know how many of those things are on the ship or where." She warned, hoping it might be enough. 

.....

As the team dismounted from their shuttle, the noise drew unwelcome and hungry attention. One horror lurched out from behind a container shrieking, it was moving slower than was normal for it's species. It's right side was sprayed with blaster burns, but it still managed to function. If weakly. It's shriek was echoed by another and then another and two more creatures emerged from the corridor Patience had indicated for the team to travel down. They sighted the intruders and also joined in the assault. Hungry for fresh battle. 

[Ysmir]

Humour? In a situation like this?

Admittedly, the good doctor's attempts to lighten the mood were appreciated, but was met openly with nothing more than a solemn silence from the other side. As Patience listed off the directions to be taken to the medbay, Alston turned his head. Right side doors, far end. He looked and made mental note of their location. Stair well, up three flights. He closed his eyes and nodded. It was as barebones an explanation as one was likely to get, but in a situation such as this, you simply had to take what you got. He visualized the path they had to take and their means of getting there. They could move swiftly with a four-man squad, but sadly, it also meant that they'd be rapidly outnumbered if they were forced to fight their way there. Desperate times? You could say that again.

"Copy that, doctor. We'll make sure to knock," Alston quipped lightly, before turning. He rotated his fingers around clockwise and moved, the gesture silently and eye-catching for his squad. They followed in behind him.

Whatt was equipped with light demolitions and standard assault equipment, enough to get the job done against almost any enemy that wasn't a Basilisk War Droid or something of similar capacity. Most importantly, however, he also carried the strategic det charges designed specifically for controlled deconstruction of light vessels. He had planted one such charge at the mouth of the hangar bay, and stopped along their small trot to place another along the wall at a structural weakpoint in the vessel. Once five or more of these charges were planted along the ship at varying locations, all it would take was one turn of a switch to light the place up like Coruscant on Republic Day. No matter if the survivors on board could be evacuated or not, Alston already had it in his mind that this hunk of metal was simply too dangerous to leave behind intact -- research be damned.

Hoss and Valgo took point in the hallway just ahead of Alston when the team was greeted by a terrible sound.

Alston raised his arms. A squeeze of his fists activated a series of miniaturized servos along his forearms that extended and deployed his dual shields, and the whirring of a EM-field generator coated the edges in an invisible, vibrating energy frequency. What happened next could only be described as controlled chaos, but chaos nonetheless.

Whatt was the first to open fire on the injured beast that limped to them, slowed but still eerily quickly for a creature its size. The bolts from Whatt's standard issue blaster rifle seemed to have difficult penetrating the alien's chitinous outer shell, and more than one bolt was sent deflecting off the outer carapace and into the ceiling above it in the hangar bay. Hoss and Valgo began controlled bursts of covering fire at the two uninjured creatures that barreled at them down the hallway, screeching and hissing in that most insidious and feral tongue all the way. Valgo and Hoss backed up, Valgo's shotgun blasting a spray of bolts into one of the creature's faces at close-range just as it breached the gap between them. A spray of green fluid and the fall of the creature's twitching body was all the confirmation he needed to then dive into Hoss, pushing him out of the way of the other one still charging.

Alston stepped up.

Without show of fear in his eyes, he took a defensive stance as the last creature -- nearly two feet taller than the Commander -- lunged forth with its barbed foreleg that acted more as a spear than anything else. Alston lifted his arms upward and the stinger collided with the Phrik alloy of his shields, a mighty metallic twang ringing out in the hall as Valgo and Hoss turned their attentions to assisting Whatt.

Alston counterattacked. With a swift up-and-down motion, he brought the edge of his shield down onto the barbed foreleg as it was left lingering in open air, and the energy-laced edge cut through the chitinous shell like a hot knife through butter. The creature let out a sickening roar of pain as it retreated back, but Alston refused to give an inch of ground. Pressing the offense, he leapt forward and drew his arm back, before dropping it downward onto the beast's head in a collapsing and thunderous blow, the point of his shield digging the creature's skull downward and onto the floor. Clearly dazed from the blow, Alston wasted no time in performing the same maneuver with his opposite shield-arm, and this falling blow completely mashed the bone and outer shell of its head inward. The creature twitched and eventually fell silent, brought down by the man. He turned to look over his shoulder.

"We should move, they're not gonna like us killin' their brood," said Whatt as he loaded a new power pack into his blaster, walking toward the Commander from the dead alien. Hoss and Valgo followed in his stead. The beast's corpse was riddled with blaster burns.

"Keep your head on a swivel, no surprises. We get in, we get out. On me," Alston said, clear and authoritative. The four-man squad double timed it down the hallway to the end of the row, turning right at the doorway as Alston had been instructed by the Doctor.

End of the hall. Three flights. Alston repeated her directions in his head on a loop even as his eyes turned to each dimly-light portion of the corridor that they paced through at a steady and practiced speed. The walls almost seemed to suffocatingly close in on the four even as no outward motion was visible, as if every bit of black that dotted their surroundings from the sparse lighting threatened to lurch out at them. Alston, when he held all the cards, feared no individual. But these things represented something he very much disliked; the unknown. As they began up the flights of stairs toward the higher floors where the medbay resided, a thud was heard in the wall beside them.

Alston raised his fist. "Hold." At his command, they stopped. They turned left, then right, then looked above.

"OH--!" was all Hoss managed as two gangly, chitinous arms reached down from the causeway above to grasp onto his body and hoist him into the air. His mangled screams echoed through the sparse halls as the creature clamped its massive jaws around his mid section, spraying fresh blood down and onto the floor near Valgo. It all happened so fast Alston barely had time to yell out in reaction, but as he prepared to bark an order, Hoss' screams were drowned out by sound of an all-too familiar and stomach-dropping screeching from down the hall whence they came. Alston began up the stairs with haste.

"Up the stairs! Double time!" he ordered as he waved Valgo and Whatt ahead, his split-second decision leaving Hoss to his fate. His screams had subsided already. There was nothing to be done.

As the stampede of the creatures' quadruped feet scuttled across the ground behind them like boisterous applause of the most horrific sort, Alston, Valgo, and Whatt sprinted down the lefthand corridor toward the blood stained door that Patience had described to them over the intercom. Alston reached it first, easily outpacing Valgo and Whatt. He lifted his arms and bashed his shields against the door twice, a signal of their arrival.

He turned. The horde was nearing the corner. Valgo and Whatt took aim down the hall.

"Now would be a great time to open this door, Doc!"

[apothecary]

 The doctor and the engineer listened intently to the communications, they flinched at the distant alien screeching and the whine of blasters. Patience wished that there was something she could do to aid them, but there was nothing she could do. Not without abandoning her charges and dying horribly in the process. She did not want to die, Patience longed to live, hungered for life but would gladly give her life if the situation demanded it. After all, if her life meant her patients might live on, that was a worthy exchange, one for three. She wished that she followed her parents advice and stayed at home, rather than following her heart and heading into space. 

The sounds grew louder, Patience hoped it might mean that they were nearing her position, but for all she knew it was merely the creatures relocating themselves in order to better counter the new threat. She flinched at the first impact on the door, did they know that they happened to be in there? Yet before she could begin to plan on that, the second knock sounded. The soldiers, they were going to get out of this mess, they were going to live. "I'm on it. Next time bring your keys."  Hastily, she rushed over and tapped a few buttons on the door. There was a pause, a whine of tortured gears and with a soft hiss the door slid apart. 

"Come on. Get in!" She shouted, her face turning white at the sight of the scuttling horrors. Patience fumbled for her sidearm, she snapped off a couple of blaster shots. The rounds missed and unlike a conventional foe, they failed to give the creatures pause, they simply kept coming, screeching as they did so. No doubt furious over the deaths of their kin and the survival of interlopers into their domain. As the soldiers filed in, she started to close the doors. The doors slowly began to slide towards one another then stopped with a thunk. "No no no no!" Patience yelled, punching buttons in an effort to get the door to seal. There was just enough room for one of those things to scuttle in. 
She stared in growing horror as it dawned on her that they were all about to die in the most horrific manner possible, when the doors suddenly snapped shut with a clang. Outside alien wails of fury echoed, there were some thumps against the door. Patience backed away from it, struggling to control her shaking limbs as she battled to holster her blaster pistol. She glanced at the soldiers. "Welcome to the med bay." She told them, the large twi'lek was silent, though in his massive hand he held a length of pipe, he glared at the soldiers and the door as if expecting them to either have killed them all or brought more than just three. Maybe he disliked the military? Patience did not know the reason for his hostility, but right now getting off of this vessel mattered far more than anything in the galaxy.

In the flesh, Patience looked exhausted, her white medical uniform filthy with grim, dust and grease, speckled in places with dried blood, large bags hung under her blue eyes, her skin pale from shock and limited nutrition. She was clearly an attractive young woman in spite of these flaws which covered her like a shroud. 
Surviving the fall of her vessel had not been easy on her, the wounded were in better condition, the doctor ensuring they had access to good nutrition though the two holding onto life in the bacta tanks were only alive due to her skill. 

[Ysmir]

Pure relief washed over Alston as the gears within the walls turned and the securo-locked doors to the med bay began to slide open. He, Valgo, and Whatt slipped inside as quickly as they could, with the latter two laying down a chorus of suppressive blaster fire down the dimly lit hallway toward the stampeding creatures. The red bolts illuminated the tattered hallways; a couple struck true, but not damaging enough to impede their advances.

Then, shortly after they began to close, the doors ceased their motions. Alston's breath caught.

Reacting purely out of well-honed instinct, the man grasped with titanic effort onto the side of the doors. Alston's teeth ground together as he pulled with all his might, attempting to break free whatever latch stuck the automated doors in their open position.

"Captain!" Whatt yelled in warning. The creatures were advancing down the hall, undeterred even after Patience's blaster bolts whizzed by their bodies. However, Alston did not cease; if the doors didn't shut, they would die anyway. Seeing this tenacity, Valgo and Whatt dropped their weapons and surged forward, assisting him as best they could. The beast was only meters away when, suddenly, whether due to their pulling or Patience's frantic button presses or some combination of both, the doors slid free from their shackles and clamped shut tightly. The three men fell back onto the floor as angered hisses and cries, muffled by the closed door, found their way out from the bloodthirsty beasts. After the thumping and slamming subsided, the soldiers carefully made their way to their feet and retrieved their weapons. Alston's shields retracted into their housing on his wrist gauntlets as he turned and scanned the interior of the room they stood within. The patients outside of the bacta tanks certainly seemed better off than the ones within, but regardless of the circumstances of their condition, it would be difficult to move this many people through the vessel unharmed. Acute as ever, Alston took note of the Twi'lek engineer's apparent distrust of the trio. As Alston went to speak, Valgo sighed.

"Sith's blood. Hoss, man. You see what that thing did to him?" the soldier asked with impunity as he knelt down and serviced his blaster, exchanging power packs and checking on the safety. "Lifted 'em and tore 'em up to ribbons. We're in over our heads here, Commander."

"Give it a rest, Val," said Whatt, who was in the middle of checking on the status of the demo charges he had carried into the ship in his supply pack. Arming one, he stepped to the far corner of the room and planted it against the wall. A single, blinking red light indicated its status. Two down, three to go. "He knew what he signed up for. We all did. This is just..." he trailed off, then looked back to Valgo with a shrug, "... this is just the part where we gotta adapt. Right, Cap?"

Alston looked between the two. Then he nodded, before turning his attention to Patience. "Thanks for the assist, Doctor. This everybody?" he asked as he scanned around the room once more. He stepped over as he focused his attention on Patience once more, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Keep it together for me. We're not gonna be able to get off of this station unless we have everybody at one hundred percent. That means you, too, and your friend here," he said as he looked over to the Twi'lek who still stood surreptitiously far from the soldiers. He took his hand from her shoulder.

"My name is Alston Storm, as you might have heard over the intercom. I'm a Captain with the Galactic Republic Military. These are my soldiers, Corporal Jaxen Whatt and Lance Corporal Dirge Valgo." The two men acknowledged Alston's introduction of them with short nods toward Patience and Shova before returning to their duties at hand. Alston crossed his arms as he stepped up toward the duo in the bacta tanks, examining their injuries. He wasn't the greatest medic, but had enough experience in the field to know that their injuries were rather severe. Even removed from the tanks, transporting them while unconscious would be no small feat, even if the trip to their shuttle wasn't a long one. They'd have to improvise.

"The way back to the hangar isn't safe anymore, Doctor. We're gonna need an alternative route to transport the sick. Also, I should let you know," he said as he turned to look at her over his shoulder, "This is as much a rescue mission as it is hazard containment. Our secondary objective, after extracting you, is to destroy this vessel and everything else on it. So I suggest you collect whatever you need to take from here while you can. We can't risk letting whatever these things are survive."

[apothecary]

 Patience listened to the chatter of the soldiers, one did not need to be a genius to understand that they had lost one of their number on the journey to reach them in the medbay. If she was capable of feeling any more grief or loss she would have, but the relentless horror of the last few day drained her of such emotions. She just prayed that they would lose nobody else to these cursed predators, too many good men and women had died already.
"This is everyone. She confirmed. "Everyone we know of." If there were any other survivors aboard Patience had never encountered or received any sign of other survivors. They were the last survivors of the ship's crew, four, three of those wounded. Patience was a doctor not some commando or special forces operative, yet she had survived were most others failed to. 

The hand on her shoulder managed to comfort her somewhat, Patience's trembling ceased after a few moments. "I'll try to." She said in an oddly quiet voice, her every instinct screaming at her to collapse, to scream, to cry and curl up in a small ball until the horror finally died away. Yet she refused to obey the voice that hungered for her surrender, for her to give up on life, give up on her charges. The big alien gave him a nod, though his hands tightened on the pipe. Not that such an improvised weapon would bother one of the creatures for long. She nodded as he introduced himself and his fellow soldiers. "I'm Patience Swole, this is Shova." She said pointing to the Twi'lek who merely grunted with all the pleasure of a father meeting his daughter's boyfriend for the first time. "Then there are  Kias Milton and Caralin Whesk." She indicated the bacta tanks, the wounds on the two critical conditions were better than they were, but without the tanks they would be dead for sure. 

She followed him over to the bacta tanks, blue eyes filled with concern and worry as she stared at her patients. The doctor appeared stunned, her mind unable to focus. Slowly it came back to her and she recovered. "I... See... I... We..." She stammered trying to think of a plan and she pressed a hand against a bacta tank to steady herself. "I... I we could try some of the emergency ducts? You might be able to squeeze through with your armour?" It was a big if. "Burn the whole ship, I'm pretty sure the four of us would like to survive rather than have a few trinkets." She said, sounding more confident, more like the Swole he heard over the comms. "I think we need to decide how we move the wounded first before we work on an escape route." She glanced up at the air ducts, the safest way to travel and only accessible for Patience as she was small enough to be able to crawl through it.  

[Ysmir]

While the Doctor spoke, Whatt and Valgo had finished their taking of inventor. Valgo stepped up to the Twi'lek engineer, Shova, extending to him a basic heavy blaster pistol to replace his lead pipe with.

"You're definitely gonna need this more than me, bud," Valgo said with a nod. Assuming the male took the weapon that was offered, he returned to stand side-by-side with Whatt. Alston, meanwhile, stared ahead at the door that the unsettling thumping had eminated from earlier.

In all his life, conquest and war. But it was never so... primal. He was used to having to outsmart and outthink his way through his opponents, playing mental chess with the opposition to gain more favorable ground or flanking positions, striking at blind points and knowing when to hold your offense and when to press it fully. With these creatures, it wasn't as cut and dry. They didn't think tactically, if at all. They were driven completely by instinct, and in a certain way, that gave them a monumental advantage over the three soldiers and all their wit. In order to escape this situation with their charges alive, they would have to adapt. Good thing Alston welcomed a challenge -- but he refused to lose anybody else. They'd need to do this right.

"I have an idea, Doctor," Alston began. He walked forward to the air duct she stared up at and seemed to ponder for a moment, before turning back to her. "But you're not going to like it."

He walked to Whatt, circling the soldier and opening the attache survival pack on his back. Inside, he removed a basic flash charge, good for one extremely loud, exceedingly bright explosion meant to daze and disorient. Holding the unarmed, circular device, he walked to Patience and outstretched his hand toward her, holding the charge out. "If we cause a distraction in another area of the ship, we might be able to move you and your wounded safely through the halls and back to the hangar with minimal resistance. But that's going to require you to do something I would never expect anyone to want to do. So, feel free to say no."

Assuming she took the device, he pointed up at the duct. "If you go through there to the bridge like you did when you contacted me, you could plant that charge and set it to a two minute fuse. That should give you plenty of time to get back here, and when it goes off, we'll have already prepped everybody to move. Your friends in the bacta tanks are roughed up, but we've got enough medpacs to stabilize them until we get them to a safe environment in our shuttle." Alston turned back toward her, hooking his thumbs into the waist of his belt.

"There's always alternatives, but this could be our best shot. What do you think? You up to it?"

[apothecary]

 With a reluctant shrug the engineer took hold of the offered blaster, saying nothing and providing no thanks in return for the better weapon. The doctor shuddered at the officer's mention that she would dislike his plan. Patience listened quietly to his plan, her stomach twisting and knotting itself with terror at the thought of his plan. 
She stared at the charge which he wished for her to take in order to complete his plan, potentially the only plan to get any of them off of this cursed ship alive. With a shaking hand, Patience reached forward and took hold of the charge. "I... I'm in." She managed to say, trying to make her voice sound confident and brave, instead it came out as a more frightened squeak.

Patience stared up at the ducts, taking several deep breaths attempting to calm her racing heart. "I cannot think of any better plan." The doctor admitted, her first duty being to her patients. She wanted to get as many of them off of this ship alive as possible. "Can you give me a boost?" She asked, fumbling with shaking hands to pocket the charge. Patience swallowed nervously, now the rescue team was here, her nerves, the stress of trying to keep everyone alive was piling on her. The doctor knew she needed to pull it together if any of them were to get off of this ship alive. 

 

[Ysmir]

Stepping forward to the vent that sat above near the ceiling, Alston stood by Patience's side; he was equal parts relieved and horrified to find that she was willing to go along with this scheme. Admittedly, he wished it could be him. He would do it in a heartbeat. But he was simply too large. Patience had proven herself before, and he hoped the same luck and ingenuity could benefit her one last time so that they could all escape this place together. No one deserved to be stranded in the void like this, not on his watch. However, before he prepped to boost her up, he stopped. Alston placed both hands on either of his shoulders.

"Listen, I know what you're going to have to do is scary, but I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you were capable," Alston said with an affirmative nod of his head, patting her shoulder, "Just get in, plant it, and get out. Nothing fancy, no extra steps. Once you're back it'll go off and we can move. I made a promise that I'd get all of you off of this wreck in one piece, and I don't make a habit of breaking my promises. This will be no different."

Removing his hands from her shoulders after the short pep talk, he crouched and cupped both hands for her to step into. Once she did, Alston heaved upward and lifted the Doctor up and toward the ventilation shaft cover, holding her there until she could open it and pull herself inside. The task wasn't difficult for the Republic soldier, physically built as he was. As soon as she was in, Alston turned

"Valgo," he began, "get all of them out of those tanks and stabilize them. They'll need life support kits to keep each of their vitals at optimal levels."

"Aye aye," the soldier replied with a nod, dropping what he was doing and moving toward the kolto tanks to extract the occupants and prep them for transport.

"Whatt," Alston said, turning to the other soldier, his corporal, "dump one more charge in here and strip everything but the essentials. Valgo and I will carry the injured. You're gonna provide covering fire once we move. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir." Whatt nodded in kind, removing his detcharge pack and placing another at a key structural point located by his visor as the hard-sealed helm was finished scanning the room. All the while, Alston turned his eyes up toward the air vent, hoping Patience would encounter minimal resistance on her quick but dangerous chore.

[apothecary]

 Patience took a few deep breaths, nodding as he spoke to her. "When we get off of this ship." She said. "You owe me a drink." The small doctor tried to sound more confident than she felt, though there was a strong element of fear in her voice, her eyes burned with determination. It had to be her, there was no one else left to perform this task. "I'll hold you to that promise." A tiny voice in her mind whispering, don't ever make a girl a promise if you know you can't keep it. She hoped that this promise would not turn out to be one of those. She stepped up onto his hand and after a few seconds of fumbling and muffled curse of three wiggled into the vent. 

The doctor wiggled through the vent, a small part of her glad at least there was no one male behind her in the vent. She smirked at the thought, that was a worry? When outside horrendous alien predators intended to turn her, the rescue team and what survivors remained into lunch. She shook her head, perhaps she was starting to crack and breakdown from the pressure. It had been a while since she last got any sleep or for that matter rest. 
Patience reached the bridge, peering out to check the coast happened to be clear. It was mercifully empty. Yet she did not trust it, something screamed at her to stay in the vent. Awkwardly she pulled out the charge, in the cramped space she set the time before dropping it onto the floor with a thunk. 

In the heartbeat the charge hit the ground, one of those creatures charged out screaming it's hunting cry. Patience swore loudly as she pushed herself back down the vents. "Charge deployed. Good thing I dropped it in... There was one waiting for me." She called breathlessly through her comms. Eventually, the doctor made her way back, pretty much tumbling out of the vent and landing on the floor with a soft thump. "I should have stayed at home." She groaned. "But nooooo I had to be a doctor in space." Despite her complaints, she hauled herself up off of the floor. "Make that two drinks and a dinner." Patience added. "And whatever else I can think of. No more vents." 

[Ysmir]

As the doctor carried out her task, things carried on in the medbay.

Valgo had performed dutifully as per his Commander's requests. After disengaging the locks on the kolto tanks, the resident squad medic had meticulously and cautiously ensured that their vitals would remain in stable condition following their removal from the vats. On the surface, their wounds didn't appear to be drastic; one had a punctured lung, the incision visible where the skin had begun to knit over itself as part of the healing process. The other was the proud owner of a myriad of internal injuries that had rendered him unconscious for an extended period of time. Life-threatening, sure, but Valgo was confident. So, he removed the two from the tanks and laid them out on the ground, retrieving his trauma kit.

Whatt had whittled down their supplies to the bare minimum. Nothing was truly necessary anymore; once they were out of here, they'd be gone for good. There was nothing they were carrying that couldn't simply be replaced at a later date. He sighed as he began servicing his blaster one last time, ensuring it was operational.

"Gotta be honest, Cap, this gig? Gettin' old real fast," he spoke with a dry sarcastic wit.

"Should I write up your resignation now or later?" the Commander quipped back, staring at the vents as he awaited Patience's return.

"Just hearin' you believe that there will be a later is enough for me, Cap." Whatt hoisted his blaster up and swung it around to his back, arming the detonator for the numerous charges placed throughout the vessel. Valgo clapped his hands together a few times as he stood, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Patients are stable, Commander. 'Least until we get them to a proper medical facility."

Alston nodded, but before he could respond to his soldier, the comms buzzed to life. Alston pressed a finger to his ear; then, he sighed with relief once he heard Patience on the other end. After a few moments, Alston watched as Patience dropped from the vent; he helped the doctor to her feet.

"Agreed. No more vents," he said with a nod, before moving away from Patience to the stabilized injured. Alston bent down at the knee, hoisting one of the two patients over his shoulder by their arm. Valgo followed in kind, Whatt standing at the front of the formation with his blaster at the ready. Alston looked between Patience and Shova.

"Are you ready for this? No going back once we go out those doors."

No matter their answer, the charge was armed. In about thirty seconds, the station would be rocked by a very big boom... and they'd have their opening.

[apothecary]

She accepted his hand up. "And the drinks and the dinner." Patience added as she rolled her shoulders forward and stretched her back trying to loosen the cramped muscles. At least she was small enough to fit within the confines of the vents. It was why there happened to be a rescue team here after all and that there were still survivors to find.
The doctor headed over to her charges, glancing at their injuries, her eyes shining with tense concern. The Captain's soldiers would do their best to transport the wounded as well as get them back to their ship. She swallowed nervously, anxious about the thought of trying to fight their way back to the ship. But she would do it, anything to get off of this cursed ship. Besides, they were not gong to have much of a science ship left at this rate.

"No." She whispered. "But I would really like to get off of this ship and this is the only way." It was not much of a choice but it beat sitting around and patiently waiting to die, either by predators or through dehydration or starvation. Death was something she greatly preferred to avoid, but... Well... The only way to avoid dying would be to fight her way back to their ship. "Kinda bit late for me to start having second thoughts on the matter..." She looked away from him. "Just promise me one thing, if those things grab me, shoot me I... I don't want to die like that." The doctor kept her voice low so that no one else might overhear her as she said this. She turned back to look at him, her blue eyes shinning with terror. She was after all a doctor not a soldier, this was well above her pay grade yet she had been trying to keep it together.

[Ysmir]

"Are you ready for this, soldier? No turning back once we hop that trench."

The Sergeant looked down at Corporal Storm. His face was alert, but weary. Mud clung to his feet and legs in clumps from accumulated moisture on the swampy world. The opposition were fierce; the Empire weren't just superior in numbers, their technological advancements vastly outweighed the Republic's own. Alston had just been promoted. Truthfully, by this point, every battle in his career felt like it may be his last. It was that sort of make-it-or-break-it philosophy that had driven him to the brink again and again, yet somehow managed to pull him back just as all hope seemed lost. And now, he was beginning to think hope was never lost. Not for good, anyway.

The Corporal smiled. He hoisted his blaster and nodded to the Sergeant.

"Ready as I'll ever be, sir."

---

This wasn't a battlefield. These people weren't soldiers. Alston looked from the Doctor to Shova, gauging their reactions. The poor souls were weary, drained, and above all else, desperate for escape. He couldn't let anything happen to them, lest his conscience tear away at him for weeks on end. No, he wouldn't let anything happen. Just as Patience expressed her concerns over her possible death, Alston shot her a steely gaze.

"It won't come to that, Doctor," he began solemnly, capping it off with a nod, "you have my word. We'll make it through this."

No sooner did these words leave his mouth did the charge do its job; a violent and tremendous boom rocked the entire research vessel as the comms room near the bridge was blown into space. The hard-seals on the ship failed and triggered a series of flashing red lights and high pitched alarm systems to come alive throughout the halls. The strategy was simple; with the light show and the source of the explosion far from the hangar, hopefully, a clear path would be cut for them to make their way back to the shuttle where Nico awaited. The second that said explosion rocked the med-bay, Whatt hit the door controls. They hissed open.

"Alright, people, look alive. We're movin'," he said in a low hum through his helmet's vocabulator as he moved out, forward formation, blaster rifle aimed forward in a wide arcing sweep into the hall. It was silent save for the whirring of the emergency alarm system. Alston and Valgo allowed Patience and Shova to leave the med-bay ahead of them, each man hoisting one of the injured over their shoulder as they exited together. The doors hissed shut behind them.

As they made their way through the halls, they returned to the spiralling staircase where the bloodied smears of Hoss' corpse were found. Nothing was left of the poor man's body, simply scraps of his combat armor that the creatures had torn through like paper. A pang of guilt twisted in Alston's stomach; another lost in the line of duty. But there was no time for regret. He'd get his proper send-off later, when they were safe.

The diversion seemed to have worked wonders; not a single one of the creatures was seen by the time they reached the final hallway that led toward the hangar bay.

Of course, until Whatt opened the hangar bay doors.

From behind Alston and Valgo came an ear-splitting roar. As the group turned, three of the creatures stood at the far end of the hall, having tracked the scent of the wounds from the two injured. Alston stared for a moment before one started to move forward, and he shifted his priorities ahead. Whatt turned from the door and began laying down covering fire, a hail of red pulses emerging from the barrel of his blaster. The bolts combined with the flashing lights awashed the hallway in a glaze of dancing crimson.

"Move! To the shuttle! Double time!" Alston shouted as Whatt tried -- in vain -- to slow the monsters' advance. Valgo and Alston were nearly halfway to the shuttle when Whatt was knocked away by one of the charging beasts, another reaching out to clip Valgo's ankles.

But its limb was stopped by a shield. Alston's forearm extended to deflect the blow, and he passed along his injured quarry to Shova.

"Get them on the shuttle, now! I'm not leaving Whatt behind!"

[apothecary]

 She nodded trying to not show how terrified she actually was. But they could no longer stay here, they had to get off of this ship and this was their only chance of escaping with their lives. "I hope you are right." Patience tried to sound brave, but her voice had that slight edge of fear to it. At least she happened to be holding it together. 
She stumbled when the ship was rocked by a series of detonations, staggering and managing to catch herself against a wall. Patience mumbled something that she might as well have joined the military if this was going to be her life. Her eyes kept filtering to her wounded patients, knowing that they needed proper treatment and to be in bacta tanks rather than out in the open. But if any of them were to stand a real chance of living, then this was the only option left to them. 

At the tattered scraps of armour, Patience swallowed but said nothing. There would be time to remember the fallen after they escaped from here. A lot of good men and women died on this ship already, what few remained should honour their memory by managing to get away. They reached the hanger doors when a scream sounded behind them. Patience's blood ran cold and she turned quickly, but did not react as fast as the soldiers did, the two with the wounded making a break for their ship, the other opening up on the monsters. The Twi'lek bolted for the ship, the doctor however brought her pistol up, firing anyway. The rounds smacked into the closest of the creatures, but did not penetrate or cause any real damage. 

Alston however seemed to be fighting like a man possessed, striking at the creatures up close and personal. The big Twi'lek carried the patient as easily as a bundle of twigs despite his only one good arm. "Not without me your not." The doctor insisted. "If he is hurt you will need me." The petite blonde insisted, trembling but clearly not willing to leave anyone else behind on this tub. 

[Ysmir]

A right hook to what Alston could only assume was the creature's jaw knocked it off balance enough for one of Whatt's errant blasts to strike it directly in the vulnerable underside of its torso. The alien released an ear-splitting screech of pain while Alston stood fully, manuevering around its quivering husk to shove another into the wall, allowing Whatt precious time to scramble to his feet.

Alston felt a blinding pain out of the blue, but didn't have time to react. Teeth clenched, he held the creature taut against the metallic wall while Whatt unloaded an entire power cell worth of blaster bolts into its thrashing head. The creature fought with all its might, but their combined efforts were insurmountable; the creature ceased its struggle as its twitching limbs fell limp. Then, Whatt's eyes widened as he looked down.

"Commander," he said in a hushed tone. 

"No time. We need to get to the shuttle, now," Alston said as he went to stand.

But his leg gave out beneath him.

The Commander cursed under his breath; one of the creature's pincers had pierced straight through his upper thigh, leaving a gaping hole in his combat gear through which fresh crimson flowed out freely. In the midst of it all, fueled by adrenaline, Alston had become careless and allowed an opening that the creature took whole-heartedly.

Meanwhile, Patience's valiant if misguided efforts were not for nothing; the creature turned its attentions from the duo to her, and began advancing on her quickly as her blaster's bolts ricocheted off of its thick carapace. It had nearly reached her -- but it was stopped short. A sudden flash and boom preceded the jolting blow of an enormous red bolt of energy that collided into the creature's side. Nico, the pilot, had redirected the shuttle's forward cannon after noticing the doctor in trouble. The laser had completely fried the alien abomination in a single blow. Whatt had hoisted the injured Commander onto his shoulder, meeting Patience halfway as they high-tailed it toward the shuttle bay.

"Let's go, doc, this place is about to light up like Life Day," Whatt said as the Commander seethed, holding intense pressure on his injured thigh as they all loaded onto the shuttle.

Valgo had transfered the two injured passengers to the medbay, and Nico fired up the engines of the shuttle as soon as the last person was aboard. Outside in the hangar, their brief scuffle had attracted the attention of more of the creatures; one by one, they began stampeding down the hallway toward the open hangar, intent on preventing the shuttle of its precious escape. As if on queue, after helping Alston to a seat, Whatt triggered his detonator. Another series of rhythmic rumbles shook the entire space station as their strategically placed detcharges went off as planned. With several key structural points now eliminated, the space station was in the midst of a complete meltdown. Fires surged through the powerlines within the station's walls as it began to explode from within, all while Nico took to the air and shot like a cannon through the hangar bay door. The passengers within that weren't laying down or standing likely found it hard to remain standing as the pilot gave the thrusters everything the shuttle's engine had, pressing onward desperately to outrun the ensuing wave of kinetic force from the station as it gave out.

---

A half an hour later, the shuttle drifted lazily through open space as the remnants of the destroyed station floated several thousand miles behind them. Alston sat with his injured leg extended across the sofa in the crew space, directly opposite Doctor Swole. A sterile bandage and an expertly applied medpac ensured the bleeding stopped, by small movements still caused no small amount of discomfort. Meanwhile, Valgo tended to Shova's injured arm in the medbay across the hall whilst the two other evacuees floated in kolto tanks. Alston sighed.

"You know, I've only ever sustained a major injury like this once in my entire career," Alston began as he wrapped his fingers around the base of his cup on the table, lifting it to take a small sip. "Not to say you're bad luck or anything."

Before Patience on the table was the drink Alston owed her -- ryncol ale, clean cut and strong. Alston took another sip from the glass before continuing. "The engineer's arm will recover fully. Don't know about your two friends -- they need a lot more attention than we can give them here. But we'll be in Republic space soon enough."

[apothecary]

 Despite everything Patience discovered that she in fact still had the energy to scream or roar her fear and anger at the approaching monster. Either way it sounded like a scream. The pistol sent bolts down range, kicking the weapon into her hands as she pulled the trigger as swiftly as possible. Bolts slammed into the beast, but it kept coming on, relentlessly advancing, like a living nightmare, unharmed and furious at her desperate attempts to resist. 
There was a eye aching blast of bright light and a searing heat, she felt herself get splashed with chunks of something warm. Blinking spots from her aching eyes, she saw the monster was quite dead, even if she were now covered in it's gore. With a shaking hand she wiped some of the slime from her face, staring down at the dead creature. She may have stood there till more of the creatures arrived when Whatt's words startled her into life and she hurried over to join them. When she reached the two soldiers, the doctor automatically started preparing a field dressing for the injury. 

After applying some first aid, she barely managed to secure herself in a seat before the craft rocketed out of the nightmare ship. In spite of the presence of the soldiers, her blue eyes kept flickering to the corners of room, as if expecting more monsters to emerge from it and devour them all. 

...

She pursed her lips at her handy work. It would be a painful injury to heal and recover from, but she had dealt with worse. She once might have thought in better circumstances, but given everything which occurred, she had dealt with worse in worse circumstances than a military shuttle. 
She shook her head, smiling at his words. "Well you know what they say about a good woman... To the right man she is a mixture of bad and good luck." At this Patience laughed, a nervous little giggle. It felt simply good to be alive, no amazing, to exist in a moment without danger pressing in, without nightmares from space hunting for her flesh... 

Patience's hand found the cup and she sipped it, her eyes widening and with a slight wince swallowed. "Bloody... That's strong." The doctor muttered, though she still smiled. "I did the best I could for them." The small woman admitted the smile falling from her face as she recalled her wounded charges. "I suppose that the military has a word for the situation you rescued us from... Fubar? Right?" She took another sip of the drink, Patience could only hope the other two might pull through, it had been a job to keep them alive this long. 
"Thank you... For... Saving all of our lives. I... I... Owe you one, well quite a few but... Thanks." She said her cheeks colouring slightly as her head lowered to study her drink as if staring into the ale within held all the answers. 

[Ysmir]

Alston couldn't help but chuckle at the phrase. He wasn't sure he fully understood what she meant, but it didn't really matter. He was just happy to be alive.

He frowned, though, shortly after. He thought of Hoss; his wife and infant back on Coruscant. He'd have to write them a letter -- no, forget that. He'd visit them in person, look her in the eye as he told her. It was the only right thing to do, even if it hurt like Hell. No matter how many times he told himself that death in the line of duty was inevitable, it never came close to easing the pain of losing someone under your watch. Hoss knew what he signed up for, it was true, but nobody could have expected what they would run into back there. Variables and wild cards are the death of strategy, and that scenario played out to the script. He sighed as he rotated the cup around on his fingertips idly whilst staring at the liquid within.

Alston nodded. "FUBAR. Yeah. I suppose you could call it that," Alston affirmed to the doctor before looking up to her, "but that generally means the situation is unsalvageable. We proved otherwise. Some lives were lost, but the fact we were able to save any at all is a win in my book. And for the record, you don't owe me anything, doctor; I'm just doing my job."

Sliding the cup across the table, Alston pushed himself -- shakily -- to his feet, ensuring to keep full weight off his injured leg as he limped to the viewport that showed the expanse of space stretching ever outward. He leaned onto the lip of the window with his palms as the blues of his eyes reflected some of the starlight.

"I wish I could tell you where to go from here, after all you've been through -- but I can't," Alston admitted, "the best I can tell you is to keep pressing on. Keep helping people. These days, all we can really hope to achieve is saving as many lives as we can in what time we have. It's not an easy life, and it's not the most glamorous, but it's righteous. That's enough for me."

Alston turned from the window to regard the doctor once more. "Whatever you do, don't blame yourself. That doesn't help anyone, I know from experience."