Thread: An Eclipse of Corruption (Vuxayl x Cricket)

Behind and outside of detection radius, Xayun chased Karilel's flagship as it flew towards its mission's destination. Locking their signatures and coordinates, he stopped his spaceship around half-way through the trip. He still had to put his external suit on, and his ship wasn't prepared to suit him up while landed on a hostile environment. So he climbed out of his pilot seat onto the back seats, and rummaged through the trunk searching for all the required parts - helmet, jacket, trousers, command module, and so on, fitting them onto himself as he found them. They were of the same model he'd used when he was still in the military he had somehow convinced them of letting him have it as a souvenir. The once yellow uniform was now grey from the wear it had seen from years of service the systems of the suit had been frequently repaired and enhanced and most of the paint had chipped away. Once he finished dressing himself up, the ship had already turned on its axis a few times from his tumblings, but he had a lock on the mission vessels and easily caught up with them. After reaching the planet's low-orbit, he throttled the ship's boosters just so they'd fall below detection, and quietly descended into the atmosphere, the other two ships mere dots on his HUD visor. Xayun eyeballed the landscape for a while after his ship was barely above ground level, and a rocky outcropping one or two kilometers away from the presumed landing site of the mission ships was a perfect place to hide it. The roaring engines started blasting dust around the chosen location as he lowered his ship until it touched ground, the hydraulics from its landing gear doing a brief hissing sound. That was it. No point going back now. Xayun opened the pilot-side door of his small spaceship, the hinged panels slowly rising upwards. Taking a large breath of recycled air from his suit, he moved his legs outside and pressed against the dusty ground, lifting himself out. Xayun nervously stretched his arms and legs, looking at the eerie landscape. From the trunk he took a couple of small tools that he fitted onto his belt and pockets, and an old-looking plasma rifle - noticeably modified - that he strapped to his shoulder. He looked hesitantly at a single bottle of beverage and a crate, worn out and with a faint label saying RATIONS. He'd rather not bring these out unless the situation definitely called for it, but he didn't trust this planet one bit and if his nightmares were anything to go by, then these would be more than needed. Better safe than sorry. Then, the explosives. Four packs of them, laying side by side on the ground and wrapped in black plastic bags. The plan felt risky, even for someone like him, but he was willing to go ahead with it. Xayun briefly glanced at the positions of the two ships - Karilel's and the transport ship for the hired freelancers - marked on his PDA display, and locked his ship down. The explosive bags were tied in pairs, and he carried them around his neck. He placed the plasma rifle on his hip, the ration box on his shoulder and held the bottle with his free hand, his silhouette in the distance amusingly similar to that of a beach tourist in vacation, inflatable around neck and carrying a pack of cold beers. Unfortunately, reality was a lot more sinister. It only took a couple of minutes for him to trek all the way to where the other ships had landed, and Xayun crouched behind them, keeping an eye on the crew in the distance as he placed the explosives on both spacecrafts, one on each main engine. Now all that was left was to act natural. Hey, wait! Wait! Xayun started running in the direction of the assembled crew. Sorry, fell asleep in the- I mean, got caught up in that maze of a ship over there. S'up?... he said short of breath, nervously nodding at one of the other freelancers. So, anyth- He suddenly stopped and for a brief moment panic invaded him. No, it can't be. he though, looking at Karilel, remembering her and seeing her right there, in this mission. He avoided eye contact with her like the plague, and his mind frantically tried to rationalize the situation. It's okay. It's just another Laut'Haler. They all look pretty much the same anyway. Right... relax. Xayun managed to look even more awkward, but he knew he had to quickly take control of the situation. He was dealing with military personnel - on a remote isolated planet, there wasn't much to keep them from shooting intruders. My fault. S-so, anything I missed? I read and re-read the briefing.