Goraion

**...And I'll form the head!**

## Synopsis

The "Zombie Voltron" chases Juniper through the shire-reeve's station, tearing through walls as it goes. Juniper leaps over the hole left by the grenade, but—***Critical failure!***—lands awkwardly, getting a level two ***"Sprained Ankle"*** affliction in the process. His SPD is given a -2 debuff, and Athletics and Dodge get -5 each.

He limps his way across the street, through a pet store full of undead animals, and out the back door—trying to find a route back to Cypress and the workshop. A voice calls down from one of the buildings in the back alley, and Juniper recognises its source as being the boy who'd shouted about working together back on the plane. The boy, Poul, beckons Juniper inside the building—a clothing store—and introduces Becca and Sly. Sly has a stomach wound—one that's almost certainly fatal. Becca takes an interest in Juniper's void tunneler; Juniper claims to have built it, bringing ***Deception*** to level four.

They discuss their options. Sly points out that their chances are slim, at least according to information sent to him by his uncle before he dropped into the Risen Lands—but he's cut off by a coughing fit, and dies moments later.

Juniper shoots Sly to prevent him from rising. Becca gives Poul a single obol—a silver coin—which he places in Sly's mouth. Poul prompts Juniper to say some last rites, but Juniper slips up by mentioning heaven—prompting Becca to pick up her dagger.

Poul defuses the situation, leaving Juniper in the awkward position of being unable to collect Sly's soul. Juniper further lets slip that the gang that dropped in with them is the Fuchsia Coterie—a name that clearly means something to Poul and Becca—and that he's already killed a few of them.

Juniper heads to the front of the store, killing zombies with the void tunneler and bringing ***Pistols*** to level four. The horde from the gas station has already dispersed into Comfort, and the remaining zombies fuse together into another Zombie Voltron. Juniper ineffectually shoots the monster—***Critical hit!***—bringing ***Pistols*** to level five and prompting a ***Level up!***

His shoulder and ankle healed, Juniper runs out into the alley with Becca and Poul close behind. The older Zombie Voltron blocks the path ahead, so they detour left down the thin sidewalks between buildings. Becca's shirt snags on a bent piece of pipe and she falls, hitting her head on the ground.

Realising that this is a "Cowardice"-inducing scenario, Juniper turns straight back and drags Becca out of harm's way. He gets another ***Critical hit*** on one of the zombies, prompting him to realise that the only way to kill a Zombie Voltron is to pierce the hearts of each of its constituent zombies.

Juniper fireman-carries Becca as he runs, but he's too slow—the monster catches up and the dozen grasping hands on the end of its arm tear Becca away, smashing her against a metal dumpster with enough force to split her body in two. The ***Cowardice*** affliction is removed, and for a moment Juniper levels his void tunneler at the zombie... before doing the smart thing; turning to run and cursing the god that would let Arthur and Becca die.

Poul is waiting at the mechanic's shop by the time Juniper gets there. They head inside, and find Cypress waiting with a new rifle. To Juniper's surprise, Poul recognises her—as Princess Amaryllis.

## Featured characters

* Juniper Smith
* Amaryllis Penndraig
* Poul
* Sly
* Becca
* Arthur *(mentioned only)*

## Quotes

I was instantly suspicious. I had always been one to look a gift horse in the mouth, ever since my grandmother had told me there would be candy at church and made me sit through a two hour sermon in order to get it. Of course, the root of the saying was more about the appearance of propriety, since I don’t think anyone expected you to just ignore equine dentition altogether. They’re grazing animals, their teeth are important!

—**Juniper**, on the gift horse that is Poul.

“Sly’s not going to make it.”
“It’s true. Gonna get added to the undead army.”

—**Becca** and **Sly** introduce themselves.

“Graduation rates have been steadily dropping, month after month, year after year. It’s getting harder for anyone to leave the Risen Lands. Reports from those who make it back are that most of the food that was still good has been eaten through. Any car that worked got taken early on, there’s no one to drive them back into the --”

—**Sly** uses his dying words to offer encouragement.

“We run at the first sign of it going south. We’re not going to wait while you’re overrun and we’re not going to help you.”

—**Becca** explains how she plans to escape the zombies.

I did briefly wonder how I was supposed to tell how close I was to death, until I thought *just like you did back on Earth, dummy.*

—**Juniper**, on his lack of hit points or a health bar.

“M’ fine.”

—**Becca'**s last words.

“Holy shit.”
*Yes, that had been my reaction too, but at least I was polite enough not to say it.*

—**Poul** comes face-to-face with Princess Amaryllis—with commentary from **Juniper**.
## Notes

### Real-world references

* Juniper dubs the undead gestalts "Zombie Voltrons", a reference to *Voltron: Defender of the Universe*—the American version of *Beast King GoLion* (or *Hyakujû-ô* ***Goraion***), an anime featuring a giant robot formed from five robot lions.