Distortion

[Wesker]

Gran Canaria Orbit Planet Gran Canaria, Omega-49
10/13/807 AS, 12:37

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Shit. Come on... come on, come on. The hull-plating near the engines was buckling violently as the pilot attempted to keep the ship on course. All other damage to the ship was irrelevant, all she needed to was hold course for just a little longer to make stable re-entry. The stress and emotion of the moment were overwhelming, sweat was racing out of her body from every skin cell. She could feel her hands slipping on the throttles and yoke. Not only was she attempting to make planet-entry without a docking ring, but she was also running.

*Pilot, your course has deviated 9,238,403,928,409,820,934,890,238,490,823,942 KM from the nearest Army base. The punishment for desertion is -*

Shut the fuck up and do what I say! I'm NOT going back, I'm NEVER going back to that place ever again. Divert nano-repairs to the engine's exterior plating. She screamed in response while multitasking the ship's other systems. Flicking switches on and off, re-concertinaing the shielding, she took a second to glance back at the hull. No repairs yet.

I can do this. Come on... come on... She muttered to herself before being interrupted by the ship's VI again.

*I will alert Army personnel if you continue- * *Bang.* The voice cut in an instant.

The pilot sent her fist into the VI display panel. Now she was flying blind, but that didn't seem to phase her. What did seem to phase her though, was the HUD display turning red, and with text covering the top portion read: RE-ENTRY IN 3-2-1...

The ringing of silence in space turned to a loud roaring descent as the ship's shields slowly lost traction against the thick atmosphere.

*SHIELDS HOLDING 45%... 20%... SHIELDS FAILED. HULL BREACH IMMINENT*

COME ON! HNG!!!! The left-wing of the Odin completely parted the ship as it cleared the upper atmosphere. With no aerodynamics, the ship quickly deviated from its flight path and started to pitch down.

AGH!!!! STAY ON COURSE! She screamed as she put her body-weight into the yoke, pitching in the opposite direction to which it was deviating. Just as the smoke seemed to clear up, the ground below became more and more detailed - they were descending fast. The pilot reacted by pitching the yoke up, killing the engines, and attempting to start up propulsion discharge under the belly of the Odin.

*PROPULSION SYSTEMS OFFLINE, COLLISION IN 15... 14...*

Please, I don't deserve this, I never wanted this-!!!! The ship's collision sent her head into the cockpit glass, which in turn sent her unconscious. The sound of the roaring winds, buckling hull, and alert systems were replaced with a silent ring in a split second.

-Meanwhile Settlement 415 Planet Gran Canaria-

Alarms rang through the settlement, people could be seen walking and running into their homes and tenements. Locking the doors behind them, closing curtains, the place went on lockdown just like that - on a moment's notice. A few others weren't heading home though. Instead they were rushing over towards what could only be understood as a small command center. A large building in the center of the tiny settlement. The building was a bit wider, taller, and much more sophisticated than the others. It gave off the presence of an official building or the closest thing that could come to that in such a remote place.

Every individual that walked inside grabbed a weapon, some were tossing on flight suits and running to elevators leading down beneath surface level. Everyone else was heading up, in the opposite direction.

One man in particular, took a few moments to glance around the room before grabbing his weapon. He seemed to be in a bit of awe at just how makeshift this whole thing was. Zoner defenses? Well, anything was better than nothing.

He took the elevator up to a room resembling a command center. Several other people were gathered around a table in the center, displaying a chart of the settlement and the immediate surrounding area. Among them, another person stood alone, reading a monitor off to the side of the room. It looks damaged from this angle, on a crash course no doubt. But it's definitely a Hessian ship. Glances and deep breaths were exchanged in the room upon hearing the word "Hessian". Gran Canaria was a free settlement, but the people lived in slight fear of just one party deciding otherwise. Especially if that party was made up of terrorists.

It's a hike, roughly twenty miles off our exclusion zone. Forty in total. He won't survive unless he's not alone. James what do you think? He said as he continued to read the monitor display.

It's a hessian though, where there's one, there's another twenty. We can't risk it, we should go out there and make sure he's dead. James replied. James wore more of an authoritarian getup among them all. He had a Bretonian military service record, which propelled them to the "leader" of the militia. The other, was the man exiting the elevator.

"wE sHoUlD gO" Are you insane? Forty MILES off in the cold with 40 MPH winds!? He'll be dead before he even wakes up, assuming he's still conscious! One of the crowd mocked.

James turned towards the man coming out of the elevator, the same one that had glanced around the base level of the militia's Armory. Lucian, you know what these bloodthirsty Hessians are like. We need to make sure he's dead, otherwise more will show. What do you think?

Si. It's strange though, the Hessians don't have a base we know of this far out, and this is... FAR. Not only that, but you said the ship was crash landing? Damaged on the descent? Something's definitely different, I don't think we've ever seen a Hessian ship this far out. It could be a runaway. I'd say yes though in short. Lucien's statement eased the tension in the room, his accent gave away that he wasn't from the settlement. Likely Cretan instead. Others in the room were willing to listen when he spoke, just as he finished. The room was left in a sort of awkward silence.

We'll all go, for the safety of this settlement if nothing else. James spoke up. Everyone's head was cleared after Lucien reinforced James' decision, Lucien had that effect on the people. Despite his background oddly enough.

We have an APC that can take you out to the site, it's got plenty of space for y'all. We also have a few fighters on standby in case more show up. They could do some fly-over reconnaissance.

That should do just fine, let's suit up. Pack extra MREs and water in case we get stuck out there for a bit. It should be simple enough.

Terrain's nearly flat, looks like the crash site's at the base of one of the mountain ranges. It doesn't look like any other settlements have deployed any assets nearby. We are the closest one though. I'll keep in touch and let you know if we get any more visitors.

Thanks Raph. James replied.

-14:00, APC En-route to the crash site, 3M out.-

Comms were quiet, just routine checkups. The fly-over images from the Militia's pilots indicated the pilot was likely still inside the cockpit, and unconscious. Meaning it wouldn't be long either way until the pilot was dead. James was more optimistic about putting down the pilot. But Lucien's curiosity left everyone else with mixed feelings; still, their objective remained the same - but with a different form of due process. They would identify if the pilot's intentions were hostile, or if it was otherwise. Lucien reasoned that they needed more pilots in their ranks along with his earlier statement.

We're getting close lads, everyone knows their jobs. Any sign of hostility, we put him down. Let's not go too overboard, but exercise caution. Terminate if necessary. Everyone turned their heads to chat again, Lucien nodded.


You're coming up on the crash site, 400 meters. Said Raph on the comms channel. Upon hearing the response, James brought down the speed of the APC, and the crew exited. They all approached in a loose formation, weapons trained down on the wreck in front of them.

James gave a set of hand signals to the group. He, Lucien, and three others continued forward while 3 others stood back near the APC. The wreckage of the ship became more and more difficult to make out in detail as the sun came down. All the fires had been doused or put out by the wind speed, the group continued, slowly but steadily creeping up on the wreckage.

Once they reached the immediate vicinity of the ship, James could make out the cockpit, and determined that it hadn't been opened. There. It doesn't look like it's popped open at all, let's check. James jogged over, Lucien followed close while the others continued to eye around. James flashed his light through to reveal the inside contents - and it's what they expected. It's clear, the pilot's inside. Adam, Will, sweep around and see if you can find any other damage that might've not been dealt on the descent. The other two broke off as James squatted down on his toes, examining the inside to see if there was anything else worth noting. We've got to get him out, can't tell if he's dead. Plasma cutter's right here. Watch out. Lucien crept in front of him, cutting through the groove where the glass met the titanium alloy. The cockpit - along with the ship - had impacted on an angle facing down into the surface. Lucien worked his way from the bottom up before cutting a half-circle into the glass. Standby, it's coming loose... now! The pair caught the chunk of glass falling out of place and onto them. After a bit of a struggle, they both managed to set it aside. Lucien wasted no time creeping inside the cockpit; once inside, he quickly detached the seat harness and grabbed the pilot's arm, wrapping it around his shoulder. James. He said with the indication for needing help. James grabbed the pilot's other arm, transferring its weight from Lucien to James and dragging the pilot out of the ship. Once he had control, James carefully set the pilot on the ground and went to take off her helmet.

Upon removing it, both of them were caught a little off guard - wasn't the gender they were anticipating. My god... James put his fingers against the pilot's neck, feeling for her pulse. She's got a pulse... Lucien.... Lucien was taken back by the revelation as well, but for another reason. She looks... young. Jesus, it's surreal she's still alive. Never seen such a... beautiful Hessian before. This place is weird. I mean bloody hell, are they recruiting college students now? James made a confused gesture at Lucien, who was still examining the unconscious pilot. James. Lucien turned his head towards James before he spoke. Look at her, she's harmless. Hell she’s probably younger than me. We should take her back, there's no way she came out this far to scout or to conquer a settlement. James' expression turned to a bit of a smirk as he replied. Come on Lucien, not five minutes and you've already decided your date for tomorrow? Of course we're not just gonna leave her here. Come on, I'll let Raph know we've got a guest.

-1900, Infirmary, Settlement 415-

The crew that was initially eager to put down the so-called intruder quickly became her salvation. Maybe it was her age, or maybe it was her looks. Either way, everyone was grateful they didn't rush to violence in the end.

Lucien and James waited in the infirmary, just outside the room where she was resting. She was stabilized, her condition wasn't as bad as they anticipated; but the head trauma was enough to put her under for a while. Her face was a bit pale, black hair, let loose now. Young, female, and quite attractive were traits that didn't mix with Hessians at all - even the nurses were caught off guard.

I really hope I'm right. Lucien said to James, still focusing through the glass and into the room. She won't get far if she lashes out, don't worry. Unless you were worried about my other comment. Lucien's attention snapped towards James, ready to poke back at him. We don't even know who she- Lucien! James cut him off, and both of them snapped their attention into the room. The pilot was waking up, and a bit panicked.


A few flickers from her eyelids were followed by her torso snapping upright faster than she could process. It gave her tunnel vision for a second before all other forms of anxiety started to settle in. Where am I?! She said nervously as she snapped awake. Her tongue was Bretonian, and much more deep than the Nurse expected. The Nurse immediately moved in to try and calm her down. You're fine and safe. You're on Gran Canaria, this is a free settlement. The pilot shook her head, not knowing whether or not to trust the nurse or take precautions. I don't... I don- who are they?! James and Lucien entered, the nurse, Freyja - attempted to wave them both off. Unfortunately their entry only made the situation more nervous for the pilot. James, it's fine. She's just nervous. I don't want trouble, please. She spoke with a Bretonian accent, stuttered, broken, and nervous. You're a Hessian, with a Bretonian accent? Who are you? I don't want anything to do with the Hessians... I... I hate them, please! You have to believe me! I have to go, I have to getaway. The pilot's words were broken up, her nervous tone and anxiety were reflected even more in her breathing and facial expression. Both of them also took note of how hypnotic her eyes were. Bright and blue as the sky.



Immediately following Jame's aggressive approach, Lucien stepped in front of him, putting his hand against his chest to stop him while he went to speak up. This is James, sorry he's a bit more direct. I'm Luciano, my friends call me Lucien, we're all refugees and explorers living out here. There are no Hessians, no Corsairs, you're safe. He said shaking his head slightly in the process. What's your name? The pilot's look began to relax a bit, all the other glittering features fell into place with that of a normal person. She made eye contact with Lucien for a while.

Anna.