“Keep pressure on this” said Orm, as he grabbed Jacobs hand and placed it over the cloth, as he began to look through his backpack. “We need something to tie off her leg, she is losing too much blood.” Orm continued.
Up on the hilltop Dawn watched as a large ship passed by overhead, then came back around and hovered over the far side of the clearing. The craft rotated slow a hundred and eighty degrees as four massive blooms of fire kept the vessel suspended above the ground. Sending waves of intense heat rushing through the air towards her, Dawn watched as the ship descended toward the ground.
Regaining consciousness, Reliq looked around in a panic as strange people that knelt over her. A surge of adrenaline coursed through her as she sprung to her feet ready to fight. Startled by Reliqs sudden movements, Jacob and Orm backed off to give her some space.
“It’s okay,” said Jacob, in a soft tone, as he held out open palms in front of him.
“We are here to help,” added Orm as he pointed towards the bandages he had applied.
The ship touched the ground softly on landing pads that folded out from the bottom. The grungy and tarnished looking craft appeared covered in char and soot, its brass colourings barely noticeable, as Dawn stared at the crude hull, a patchwork of sheet metal rivets. A loud hiss echoed across the crisp forest air as the back of the ship opened, sending plumes of steam out to be crystalize in the frigid air. Once opened, Dawn could see into the dim interior of the vessel, its walls lined with knobs and levers. Water vapour could be seen escaping periodically from the pipes throughout the vessels interior as blinking lights rhythmically flashed against the darkness.
Raising her rifle, Dawn quickly got ready to fire as two red-suits came into view, making their way across the far end of the clearing towards the landed ship. Noticing one of them was obviously injured, as the other helped them towards the open ship, Dawn took her finger off the trigger. Watching them enter the vessel, Dawn decided against shooting and starting another firefight, one her and the others were sure to lose.
looking down at her dressed wounds, Reliq realized the locals may not be hostile and lowered her guards. “Reliq,” she said as she gestured to herself.
“Okay Reliq... I’m Orm... Orm,” Orm replied as he said pointed at himself.
“Jacob.” Jacob followed, with a smile.
“Dawn,” continued Orm as he pointed up the hill.
Suddenly becoming acutely aware of what that red-suit said, Reliq began running for the top of the hill. Dawn hearing Reliq approach looked behind and put her finger across her lips as she gestured out across the clearing at the ship, before even realisng who was coming towards her. Dropping to the ground beside Dawn, Reliq watched as the two red-suits disappeared into the vessel. After a brief pause, a man dressed in fine business attire and a top hat came walking down the ramp of the ship, stopping before the snow line. Staring intently at the distant man Reliq felt some familiarity, uncertain she grabbed the rifle from Dawn, and looked down the scope at the man.
“Hey!” snapped Dawn as the rifle left her hand.
“It’s okay,” Said Orm from behind, where he and Jacob had been watching from.
Through the rough magnification of the crude weapons sights, Reliq could not be sure she knew the man. Putting her finger on the trigger of the weapon, she began to squeeze with complete apathy. She had to hold someone responsible for the deaths of most of her crew and the horrors unfolding on Issa. Before following through with the shot, she released the trigger, as Oret stared right at her, while pulling a small purple vial from his pocket. In that moment as Oret held the vial in one hand and tapped his wristwatch with the other, Reliq realized the man was one of the people the union had on the inside of the company. A feeling of relief came over her as Oret gestured at the sky as he dropped the vial into the snow at the end of the ramp.
“They got the message... we need to hurry” Reliq murmured with a smile. In a language no one around her understood as
With Oret disappearing back into the ship, Reliq sprung to her feet and began quickly limping her way across the clearing. The company ship fired its massive engines and accelerated high above and out of sight through the clouds, as Reliq began radioing to her ship.
“Jin, can you hear me?” Said Reliq, only hearing static on the radio at first.
“Jin?” Reliq repeated as she got closer to the ring.
“I hear you captain, are you okay? I thought...”
“I'm fine we need to hurry, is the ship ready to take off?”
“Yes, it will fly, but we still need aillinium to get away from the world.”
“Don't worry about that... I will explain latter. Begin separating the command module from the ring and get ready for take-off. Oh, and Jin... have a translation device ready.” Said Reliq.
“Captain?” Followed Jin.
“Just do it.” Continued Reliq.
As Reliq approached the ring she turned around and waved for the locals who saved her life to come. Getting up to follow, Jacab felt Orm pull him back to the ground.
“We don't know what they want,” said Orm.
“I think we should take our chances with her.” Said Jacob, with urgency in his voice.
“I agree with Jacob... there is nothing for us here.” Added Dawn.
“What about the others?” Continued Orm.
“What about them Orm?” Added Dawn.
“We should stay, find help and fight back... like you said before, we need to find the military base.” Said Orm.
“I understand you are scared... but there is nothing more we can do for anyone here.” Said Dawn
