Thread: An Eclipse of Corruption (Vuxayl x Cricket)

The two crewmen wasted no time closing in on Xayun, standing next to him while keeping their weapons pointed and ready. He had no choice but to comply, staring at them with a displeased look and moving in front of them, feeling their gaze on his back. One of his guards pointed his weapon at Xayun's own, telling him to surrender it to them he reluctantly unstrapped it from his shoulder and threw it in their direction with a grunt. Alright... and I'm going to want that back. Still, he picked up the rations crate that had fallen with him through the hole in the ceiling, and at least he was allowed to carry it himself. While he was surely concerned about the aftermath of this situation, he preferred not to give it much thought, feeling anxious enough already. With a bit of luck, he could wriggle himself out of this stupid situation, find out what had really happened to the crew of the Kanayago and then go about his business. The spaceship damage could be either repaired or written off as some sort of environmental accident, they could use his ship as a rescue and communication lifeboat, and then he'd find a way of persuading them to pretend all of this didn't happen, or simply escape if the opportunity arose. With the exception of Karilel, of course. He couldn't help but somehow admire her assertiveness and determination, but this meant convincing her to ignore this situation would be much more difficult, and she seemed to be in control of almost everything related to this operation. Even so, and even with her unexpectedly strong grasp still fresh in his mind, he couldn't resist butting heads with her. ... and then after you detain me, we can detain you for callous disregard for sentient life. He knew that somewhere behind all those layers of metal and silicone wafers, she still had some semblance of emotion. And he was definitely not going to let her keep him down, just like that. Xayun was still mulling over his grudge with Karilel when one of crew members called for her attention. The crew member that had almost freaked out looked in the direction the other alien was pointing at, looking upwards at the corpses with an expression of panic and confusion. What the fuck is that? Motherfucker!... His flashlight panned the torso, revealing a few strips of bloodied uniform that still clang to its skin. Most of its abdominal organs were poking through its severed waist, strands of flesh hanging down in the stale air. The head, drooping down from its weight, was barely recognizable as such, and a hook was visible digging into its upper jaw, keeping it tied to the ceiling. Just where its rope ended above, there was another corpse this time, it seemed mostly intact, and was easily identifiable as a female from its proportions and long draping hair. She seemed to have been nailed to the ceiling, judging by how her outstretched arms and legs were hugging the surface. Most of her skin seemed to be missing, at least from the parts of her body that weren't covered by the remains of her own torn uniform, similar to that of the previous corpse. Her dead, glazed eyes reflected light back to the crew, a few drips of blood falling from her exposed flesh. The rest of the crew was silent, their breathing the only audible sound. Xayun himself could feel a tinge of fear looking at the torn-up bodies, wondering just what had happened with the original crew. One of Karilel's crew members neared her, nudging one of her shoulder protrusions and whispering in a garbled, female-like voice. ... Commander, we need to get out of here... now. Almost immediately after she spoke the crew was interrupted by the brief sound of falling dirt, and three of them immediately pointed their flashlights at the corpses, as lifeless as before. They kept their weapons pointed upwards and stayed still for a moment, observing their surroundings and in a mere instant the woman that was fixed to the ceiling scurried back into the shadows without giving them any time to react, leaving a bloodied smudge where she had been. ... The fuck was that! one of the crew members spoke, in fact the first thing he said since they'd been underground, and he pointed the flashlight straight ahead, trying to figure out where the thing had gone. Another member seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilation, her hastened breathing audible on the intercoms while she pointed her weapon's flashlight in random directions. ... Where the fuck is it?! The crew was again plunged into silence, the only sounds coming from the dripping blood of the first corpse. Then, just as quickly as she'd left, the woman-like creature jumped back from the shadows onto the back of one of the freelancers, wrapping her arms and legs around him and trying to shred his body to pieces. Unarmed as he was and not knowing what the hell was trying to maul one of the crew members, Xayun looked at one of his guards in the hopes that he would quickly respond to the threat. But he seemed to be paralysed with fear, his weapon frozen and pointing in their direction. Feeling the urgency of the situation, Xayun couldn't help but to yank the rifle from his hands and use it himself. He aimed the rifle with a quick but precise draw and squeezed the trigger, making a loud, dull sound and shooting the creature right in the head. The injury, however, didn't seem to bother her at all as she kept trying to crawl over the man with her limbs and rip his neck off in a feral frenzy, burying her teeth and claws on his suit until blood started gushing out. Xayun's shot seemed to jump-start the other crew members into action and some of them followed suit, trying to shoot the woman without injuring the ambushed man, until they both fell on the ground. The bloodied creature twitched from her multiple wounds, and finally abandoned her relentless assault. Beneath her, the man she had jumped on was bleeding profusely from the holes she tore on his neck and chest, her listless body slumped on top of him and covering his suit in blood and bits of raw flesh. Beneath her bloodied skin and exposed muscle, the faint glimmer of pieces and strips of metal could be seen, and in her hands one could see what appeared to be long claws made of metal, buried on the tips of her fingers.