Chapter 1: A Much Too Small Ship
Chapter Text
A mostly empty, very much unused, ship sat docked at the company in the turn-in bay where crews usually dock to sell their scrap and loot gathered during quota runs. The crew that had been assigned to it…
Let’s just say they were getting ready to meet for the first time.
HCJustin wore a smile on his face, glancing at his friend who stood next to him. Justin was studying the ship, nobody was there just yet. He took a hit of his vape and heard a small scoff from Skadj.
“You know you can’t take that with you, right?” Skadj asked. “I mean our crew doesn’t care, but this is a dry crew,”
“Wait, you’re telling me there’s not even any alcohol?” Justin asked and Skadj nodded. “That’s a cruel, cruel world. Why wasn’t I told this before I accepted this transfer?”
“One, you didn’t accept anything. X33N told you that this wasn’t something you can argue about,” X33N was the crew handler, he assigned jobs and employees to different teams. “Two, he was probably worried you’d find a way out if he did,” Skadj said and nudged Justin. “I’ve worked with one of them briefly, he was pretty good. The others I have no clue about,”
“Why do you know more about this crew than I do?” Justin asked and Skadj laughed a little. “This is the crew I’m going to be working on,”
“My sister is the captain's Science & Research person, remember?” Skadj asked, and Justin had forgotten about that. The captain had created the company, but nobody other than his crew knew what he looked like. “Kara just relayed information I wanted to know,”
“Great,” Justin muttered.
“You’ll be fine. I’m pretty sure none of them know anything about you if that makes it better?” Skadj made an attempt and Justin just handed him his vape.
“I don’t know if that does,” Justin then walked towards the ship that was waiting for him.
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Chiblee was all but bouncing as he talked to his friend while they stood in the assignment room. He was excited, a tag reading intern on his chest. They were both new, however they were being split up to different crews. Kinda.
“You got this Chib, good fucking luck,” Jaaski said and Chib flashed a smile at him. “At least they assigned you a crew. I’ve got solo quotas and I’m a bouncer,”
“Sounds horrible, can’t relate,” Chib said, since he couldn’t. He wasn’t a bouncer who didn’t have a solid crew, he had a crew. Kinda, he’s never met this crew and from what he found only two members of the crew had worked together before. At least officially.
“You think you’re ready?” Jaaski asked. “I’ve done some research, one of them can’t make a jump for anything,” Chib made a face before rolling his eyes a little bit.
“Just cause he can’t, doesn’t mean I can. Besides, being up here is a lot better than dealing with my family,” Chib reminded Jaaski, who also knew his family. “I don’t have to deal with any siblings or their children,”
“That is also very true. Don’t get yourself killed out there,” Jaaski said and Chib only let out a scoff of disbelief.
“Even if I do, it’s not like we don’t come right back,”
“Unless there's a suit malfunction,” Jaaski smirked and Chib paused for a brief moment, face paling slightly. “I’m kidding, I don’t think there’s ever been something like that,” Chib nodded, shoving the other slightly.
“That was mean,” he muttered and Jaaski only laughed. “This is going on the record,” he said and Jaaski shook his head as he got himself to breathe. Jaaski said something, but Chib wasn’t listening.
His eyes had found the way to the clock, the time making him pause before grinning and cutting off whatever Jaaski was saying.
“It’s time,”
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“Ready for your new crew, FlackBlag?” X33N asked and Kory turned to face him slowly.
“New crew? Let’s face it, this is my first crew,” he reminded the crew handler. He was used to running solo quotas, being by himself. Not that he was all that great at it, he wasn’t horrible but it just wasn’t his forte.
“I think this will be good for you. Maybe working with a crew is where you’ll excel, not everyone is made to do solos,” X33N was trying to offer comfort, but it didn’t do much to settle Korys nerves.
He glanced over at the leaderboards where multiple quotas were shown, both current and past. His eyes found their way with ease to the solo quotas, the highest ever quota hit from a few years back. The one his father had made.
“And there’s no way I can be put in charge of this crew?” Kory asked and X33N shook his head.
“I’m afraid not Kory. The guy I picked has done this with a few crews so he has that experience. Just try to relax, you no longer need to worry about reports,” X33N explained. “Plus he has a higher rank than you,”
“Yeah,” Kory muttered and took a small breath. “I guess so,”
“Kory, I’m trying to give you another chance here. You already failed your last two solo quotas, I really don’t want to have to fire you,” X33N reminded him. Kory had gotten some really bad luck and lost his original quota, and then he was killed on the third day of the first quota. If he failed a third time then he would get launched into space and left there, or as the company called it ‘fired’. “Just give it a chance, you’ve got a good crew-”
“We’ve got an intern with us,” Kory pointed out. He himself was a leader, but he knew there was a boss, an intern, and two employees on the ship. “I guess it’s time,” he said and walked away from X33N.
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“You’ll like this crew, I’m sure of it,” Northernlion heard his best friend say as they walked to the turn-in bay. “Besides, you’re in charge. At least officially,” Malf reminded him and Ryan nodded a little bit. “You’ve been oddly quiet and I don’t like that. What’s wrong?” Malf stepped in front of Ryan and forced him to stop walking.
“Has me being in charge ever really meant anything? It’s not like we’ve ever had a real crew that stuck around,” Ryan said and Malf sighed. “And this time you aren’t even coming with me,”
“I know. But you’ll be fine. You’re Northernlion-”
“Yeah, the boss who’s not had a crew last for more than a few months. The longest crew we ever had was Team Unity and that fell apart a while back,” Ryan cut Malf off, not feeling too bad about doing it.
“Ok, look. I’m not coming with you, we know that. I…You know why I’m not coming,” Malf reminded him and Ryan crossed his arms. “Just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take it,”
“Yeah yeah, go do more for the company or whatever and just leave me here alone,” Ryan was being a little dramatic, he was happy for his friend but it still sucked like hell.
“You won’t be alone, you’ll have your crew,”
“Would you let me be dramatic for one minute?” Ryan asked and Malf laughed. “Seriously though, is there no way I can convince you to come?”
“I’m afraid not. But you saw the files of who’s on the crew,”
“Yeah, a new guy, a solo guy, the hybrid that ditched us, and someone that might be at least slightly competent,” Ryan grumbled. “What a fucking crew,” he sighed after that. “I know I told X33N that I could do this, but what if I’m wrong?”
“You aren’t wrong. You wanna know what made Team Unity a great crew?”
“The fact that we had a healthy balance of reckless and careful?”
“That we trusted each other,” Malf gave him what was apparently the correct answer. “And we trusted you. I’m sure this crew will be the exact same thing, just give them a chance,” Malf said and Ryan huffed.
“Fine,” he said and left Malf, heading to the ship he had been assigned.
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“I don’t think I want to do this,” Apollo pinned his ears back, shifting his weight side to side. “What if something happens? What if things go wrong? What if-”
“That's far too many what if’s Apollo,” 5up said, placing a hand on the hybrids shoulder. “It’s been nearly a year since you’ve done a run, and X33N really doesn’t want this put off any longer,”
“But 5up, you can talk to him-”
“My hands are tied Apollo. The captain agrees with X33N, and so does Kara. Besides, you need this,”
“I don’t need this. Why can’t I just stay here? I’ve been doing a lot of work here,”
“I know. But there’s no choice, just give it a try. Besides, you know the boss,” 5up told him and Apollo flicked his ears. “You liked working with him,”
“Yeah, until I left that crew and stopped doing runs. I don’t think I’m ready for this. Can’t I just get a little more time?!” Apollo all but begged. He was close to trying to beg, but he had a little bit of respect for himself.
“You are ready for this. I know you’re scared-“
“I have every reason to be scared,” Apollo grumbled under his breath as his tail tucked.
“Believe me I know. This crew isn’t meant to fix everything that happened, maybe they’ll help though,” Apollo wasn’t convinced. “Look, one of them is Skadj’s friend. You like Skadj,”
“I’ve worked with him like twice,” Apollo reminded 5up.
“Yeah. I have to get going, Apollo. Be safe, and try to get along with them,” 5up said and walked away, Apollo rolled his eyes. 5up might have the current highest solo quota but he didn’t know anything, he thought he was so great because he was the face of the damn company.
He sighed and headed for the ship, because Apollo was nothing if not punctual.
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The five arrived at the ship around the same time, all approaching from a few different angles.
Justin walked forward with confidence, it wasn’t his first time in an unfamiliar bay. If you could call it unfamiliar, each turn-in bay looked the exact same. An intern ended up next to him as they headed to the middle area.
“I’m Chiblee!” He said and Justin gave him a smile. He may not be incredibly thrilled about a no drug crew, but honestly there was no reason to take it out on the kid.
“Justin. First run?”
“Yup!” Chib said with a smile, and Justin could only sigh. If only this guy knew what dangers awaited them on even the most basic moons.
Apollo kept his head down, ears pinned back, and tail still, he was trying to make himself look small and hopefully not have anyone recognize him. It didn’t work as the boss next to him noticed him immediately.
“Apollo! It’s been a while,” Ryan said with a grin. The hybrid spared a glance over and gave a weak smile.
“Hey Ryan,” he mumbled. He was hoping to avoid small talk and it only kinda worked as the other three met them in the middle of the turn-in bay.
Kory joined everyone else, wearing somewhat of a smile. The introductions were quick, and Kory clocked a few things about everyone. He recognized Ryan, they probably talked before. Chib was a lot younger than all of them. Justin seemed like he understood a lot about this company. And Apollo seemed like he would rather be invisible.
“Well then, let’s get ready to go,” Kory said and they all boarded the ship.
Chapter 2: Lots Of Firsts (Quota- 130)
Chapter Text
3 Days Left To Hit Quota
Kory may be used to working alone, but Chib has no clue where to go and decides to follow him. Ryan teams up with Justin to get Apollo inside the building with them, instead of letting him be a coward.
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The ship was in orbit, circling around the most basic planet there was. Experimentation. They were set to land soon, with three days to hit their 130 quota. It was the easiest thing imaginable.
“It’s clear here,” Justin said as he watched the monitor. “We’re good to land whenever,”
“Do you guys want flashlights or anything?” Apollo asked, he was currently on the computer and looking through the store. “We have 60 right now,” the basic starting amount for a crew on a beginning quota.
“Let’s not, there’s not enough to get some for all of us even if we use the regular ones,” Kory explained.
“I’m good with that,” Ryan said with a shrug.
“Who needs light? This can’t be that hard,” Chiblee said and Justin nodded before pulling the lever to land the ship.
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“I’ll go to the fire escape!” Kory called, leaping over the railing as the ship landed. He headed that way and as he was climbing the ladder up the wall he realized that someone had followed him. “Can I help you?”
“I have no clue where I’m going,” Chib said and Kory sighed. “I’m coming with you,”
“Oh, I just don’t get a choice in this,” Kory realized but nodded. “Come on. The other three can handle the main entrance,” Kory then led Chib up the long flight of stairs that lead into the building.
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“Come on Apollo,” Justin crossed his arms as the hybrid looked at the terminal. “Let’s go. You can’t just stay on the ship,” he said and the hybrid pinned his ears back, looking unamused and aloof.
“Yeah, let's go Apollo,” Ryan said, slinging an arm around Apollo's shoulders, feeling his old teammate tense up under the contact. Which was weird, but Ryan didn’t think much of it. Apollo was a weird guy.
“I’d rather just stay here. I can work computer-”
“And how would you communicate? We don’t have walkies or a translator,” Justin pointed out and Ryan just grabbed Apollo's wrist.
“Come with us, let’s go,” he said and dragged the hybrid with him, Justin following close behind.
“Wait, what about a flashlight,” Apollo pulled against Ryan who kept a tight grip on his wrist. Ryan knew that Apollo could get out of his grasp if he really wanted too, so he got them to the front door with ease.
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Kory shut the heavy red door behind him and Chib, glancing around the factory that they had arrived at. The door had led directly onto a catwalk, with a single door on the other end of the metal floor. Yellow rails blocked them from falling off the edges.
“So, what are we looking for?”
“Literally any loot that may be on the ground,” Kory said as he scanned the ground. He turned slightly to get the most area possible, and the scanner revealed a tattered metal sheet on the ground. “Like that,” he nodded towards it and Chib grabbed it.
“Now what?”
“Drop it outside the door, we’ll go deeper after that,” Kory explained with a sigh, he headed towards the door and opened it, leading to a set of stairs. There was no door on the other side, so he headed down the metal steps.
“You left me!” Chib's accusing voice came from behind him and Kory just turned to face him after a moment. “I could’ve gotten lost!”
“I didn’t go far, and you would've been fine,” Kory told him, and saw the young intern pout. “Grab that key, let’s go,” he ordered and led them deeper into the factory. Chib had to use the key to open one of the doors, and they entered the warehouse.
Kory grabbed an engine that was sitting on the floor, using two hands to carry it as he scanned the area around them.
“Oooh,” Chib said and nearly ran off the edge while reaching for a box of bottles on the large conveyor belt-like thing. Kory instantly dropped his engine and moved quickly, grabbing Chib by the suit and yanking him back. Chib stumbled and looked shocked through his visor.
“Careful. Once you fall down that pit, you’re dead,” Kory reprimanded him. “You may be brought back by the suits, but death is not fun,” he said and Chib gave him an innocent smile.
“I just wanted to grab the bottles,”
“Grab the engine, hang on,” he said and climbed onto the conveyor belt, retrieving the bottles with ease. He jumped off, landing solidly next to Chib. “Let’s drop these by the fire exit and keep going,” Kory started to backtrack after that, finding his way back to the heavy red door.
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Ryan all but pushed Apollo through the main entrance, after dragging him up the ladder. Apollo's ears were pinned back, and Ryan could almost swear the hybrid was shaking. He quickly figured he must be imagining it, since this was Apollo from Team Unity. Apollo who wasn’t scared of anything and ran headfirst into danger with a barking laugh.
“Ok, we’re here. Can we go now?” Apollo asked as he tried to turn and leave. Justin was faster and grabbed him instead, preventing the man from leaving. “Oh come on,”
“No, we just got here. We need to find something. Chib and Kory can’t do all the work,” Justin told him. “Now quit being such a scaredy cat and walk,” Ryan watched as Justin gently pushed Apollo towards the left door.
“I’m not a scaredy cat, I’m just cautious,” Apollo argued as he was forced to go the way Justin pushed him.
“You? Cautious? Aren’t you the same guy who yelled at some dogs in order for Dan to make it back to the ship? Or stared down a Coil Head while Malf trapped it behind a secure door?” Ryan asked and Apollo shot him a glare.
“That was a long time ago,” he all but growled. “Being reckless gets people killed, and I’m not willing to deal with that anymore,”
“Killed? In our suits that bring us back to life. Seriously Apollo?” Justin sounded almost condescending when he laughed.
“You never know man,” Ryan swore he heard the hybrid mumble as they headed deeper into the factory.
——————————————————
Kory and Chib had cleared out the warehouse, not that there was much in it at all. They went the other way at the bottom of the stairs, which lead directly to the power core room. Kory looked at the apparatus, and debated on pulling it. Usually he would, but he was also usually only worried about himself.
“I got it,” The young intern jumped forward and pulled the core, and Kory groaned as the lights flickered and the radiation increased.
“Then let’s get out of here and get everything back to the ship,” Kory said and began leading the way back to the fire exit with Chib in tow.
They made it there and Kory pushed the heavy door open, scanning the area for a moment from his place at the top of the stairs. The clock in his suit activated and he glanced at it. 2:15. He could work with that.
“Come on Chib, head to the ship,” Kory said as he shoved a bit of scrap into his pockets before picking up the engine from earlier. Then he followed Chib down the stairs and back to the ship, preparing himself to make multiple trips.
——————————————————
“Really?” Ryan huffed as the warning about increased radiation came up on his visor and the lights flickered off around them. He had stuck with Justin and Apollo, and they had found a few pieces of scrap which they had dumped outside.
“They grabbed the core, can we go now?” Apollo asked, shifting anxiously. “I’m out,” he said suddenly, turning and hightailing it towards the entrance.
“Hey!” Justin turned to face Ryan with a head shake. “Can you believe that guy?” Ryan barely heard him as a shadowy figure with white eyes rose from the shadows.
“Yup,” he responded. “There's a bracken behind you,” he explained before turning to follow the hybrid out.
“Don’t leave me!” Justin's panicked voice called and soon his footsteps followed Ryan. Ryan pushed his way out the main entrance door and saw the time. 3:00. Great.
Apollo stared at him for a moment, before grabbing the scrap on the ground and heading back towards the ship without another word. Ryan grabbed a few things as well, heading back to the ship himself.
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Kory headed back up the fire escape, passing Ryan and Apollo on the way, and grabbed the last thing. Which was just a box of bottles that he could’ve left behind but he saw no reason to do that.
He left Chib on the ship, and he hoped that the intern would listen. Holding the bottles close, he made his way back down the stairs and to the ship. The moment he was inside the doors, Apollo launched it despite there only being four of them.
“What happened to Justin?” Chiblee asked.
“Brackened,” Apollo answered.
2 Days Left To Hit Quota
Apollo goes in this time with Chib, and they find something that Apollo isn’t too keen on messing with early on. Kory is stuck with Ryan and Justin in the dark facility, and he learns that these two may not be as competent as he once hoped.
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“Thanks for leaving us Apollo,” Justin said as the ship autoteleported his body back and his suit fixed the broken spinal cord that the bracken left. It was early and everyone else was just getting up from sleeping, since nobody else had died. “First you don’t want to go in, then you just run off instead of saying something,”
“Hang on, that’s not fair. I also ran off,” Ryan came to Apollo's defense and Justin scoffed.
“But you still said something before you left,” Justin argued back.
“Let’s just land before we can’t,” Kory said and Apollo turned to the monitor, pulling the lever to bring them back down to a different location on Experimentation.
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The ship lowered towards the ground as Apollo let his thoughts hold him for a moment. Justin was right. He ran. Again.
Apollo left the ship quickly, despite not wanting to go in he would rather face the monsters than deal with Justin. He did appreciate that he wasn’t alone, Chib had followed him from the ship to the front.
The door to the right was locked and the door to the left was blocked off, so Apollo led him and Chib through the door directly across from the double doors they had just come through.
“Ignore Justin. We’re all still getting used to each other. I’m sure he’s just upset that he died first,” Chib explained and Apollo glanced at the man walking behind him. He pushed open another door and found a large storage room with large yellow pipes, empty other than one thing.
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“Take it easy on him Justin,” Ryan said, and Kory glanced at the two. They had followed him off the ship and to the fire exit. Why they didn’t go to the main entrance was beyond him.
“What the fuck? He got me killed, had he said something when he saw the bracken I would’ve been prepared,” Justin argued and Kory sighed. He entered the building with the two still arguing behind him.
They were in a gap room, the only viable way across was by jumping. Considering there were no other doors other than the red one they entered from. It was light enough that Kory could see the beam on the other side, and he made the jump.
He didn’t bother to turn around and he walked through a door on the left.
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“Oh, we need to grab that,” Chib said and walked over to it. Apollo's mental alarms went off, he didn’t want to even touch that thing until they were ready to leave.
“Wait,” he hissed and Chib turned to face him. “Let’s wait for a bit, we don’t want monsters coming out early and getting the others,” he said. “Let’s just wait,”
“Wait? And do what? The other door is locked and we don’t have a key,” Chib argued. “You’re a coward and a baby,”
“And you’re an intern who's on his first quota run. I know what I’m doing-”
“Yet you ran away when Justin was in trouble. Clearly you don’t want to be here,” Chib said and Apollo bared his teeth for a moment at the interruption. Then Chib did something that really pissed him off, he imitated the sound of a baby and pulled the core.
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The lights went down around Kory, who stood across the gap room from the fire exit. He had gotten a few things, along with Ryan and Justin. Ryan had already made the jump and his silhouette was visible against the glowing red door.
“Go,” Kory said, nudging Justin towards the beam.
“But-”
“Come on Justin,” Ryan called from the other side. Kory heard Justin let out a heavy sigh and step onto the beam. It was an easy jump, and Kory watched as Justin absolutely failed it and went falling towards the bottom of the pit.
“Oh boy,” Kory said, pausing and staring at where Justin had just gone plummeting to his death. He shook his head as Ryan started to laugh, before he made the jump across the gap himself. Sharing a look with Ryan sent them both into laughter, and Kory couldn’t remember when he had last laughed while on a quota run. “That went about as well as he expected,”
“Who pulled the power core?” Ryan asked. “It’s far too early for that,”
“Let’s get to the ship and find out,” Kory responded and headed for the fire exit of the factory
——————————————————
“You are such a fucking asshole,” Apollo hissed as he walked through the dark with Chib, the power core lighting the way.
“Well, at least I’m not a coward,” Chib argued right back and Apollo really debated on smacking him. He might’ve if they weren’t currently inside the factory.
“You might’ve got someone killed,” Apollo snapped a little at him. Chiblee rolled his eyes and Apollo only managed to huff at him. They reached the entrance and stepped outside, the time reading to be just past 10 AM.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Chib responded and Apollo let himself fall back from Chib as they headed back to the ship. He didn’t really want to talk to or deal with the stupid, hot headed intern.
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Kory and Ryan exited the facility and climbed down the stairs from the fire escape. They both had a few things, but it’s also not like they got a lot of time in the damn place.
“This way Ryan,” Kory called when Ryan tried to turn and go the opposite way of the ship.
“Oh, right,” Ryan said and quickly righted his course. Kory shook his head again, surely this guy had been to Experimentation before, not counting the previous day. It wasn’t even that hard to navigate if he hadn’t been there.
Upon approaching the ship, Kory saw Chib dropping the apparatus on the floor. Shortly after he and Ryan got into the ship, a very grumpy looking Apollo joined them.
“Where’s Justin?” Apollo asked, ears pinning back. He made his way over the lever so they could take off. “Is he dead?”
“Yeah, pit,” Kory explained, watching the hybrid nod and launch them back into orbit.
1 Day Left To Hit Quota
Chiblee ends up with Kory and Apollo inside the facility, while they deal with a creature Chib isn’t too fond of. Justin stays with Ryan and makes an assumption about the skills that Ryan might or might not have.
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“Oh come on,” Justin grumbled as he was teleported back by the ship and his suit fixed whatever body parts were broken while everyone else slept. “That one wasn’t even my fault,”
“It was an easy jump,” Ryan pointed out.
“The lights went out!” Justin defended himself.
“Chib pulled the power core,” Apollo said simply as they arrived into the orbit of Assurance, then they landed the ship.
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Chib followed the group as they headed to the facility on the desert planet. Up and over a hill, up a ladder, and into another factory that was very similar to the other two places they had been. Justin and Ryan walked off together, and so Chib followed Kory and Apollo.
The hybrid might’ve been a little pissed at him after the previous day. Not that he believed he did anything wrong, but very clearly Apollo disagreed. Considering he hadn’t heard a word from Apollo since they got back. Well, specifically addressing him at least.
Chib refused to let them walk in silence though, despite the heavy sigh and eye roll he got from Apollo. Kory seemed content to make conversation with him at least.
“What is the scariest monster you’ve ever faced?” Chib asked, he was curious about that. He knew that Kory was a leader, meaning he had done a bunch of quota runs and Apollo was an employee and was clearly relatively experienced.
“Scariest monster?” Kory hummed in thought as the three walked through the grid-like hallways. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe like a bracken or something,”
“Apollo?” Chib asked hopefully, looking at the hybrid who was walking slightly in front.
“Thumper,” was the only response he got.
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Ryan and Justin had quickly split from the others, and were exploring the warehouse in the darkness. Of course, there were simply a bunch of closed metal doors that required the terminal to open them.
“Damn it,” Justin muttered. “Alright. Why don’t I run back to the ship and open the doors?”
“Don’t leave me here,” Ryan said, sounding offended. Justin gave him a look and Ryan pouted. “I don’t know how to get out of here,”
“You don’t? Did you not pay attention to how we got here?”
“I don’t know man. I was following you!” Ryan defended himself. Justin groaned and shook his head.
“Alright. Let’s go then, we may as well just head back to the ship,” Justin said and exited the warehouse from the same way they entered. They quickly reached the front and Justin left the building, assuming Ryan was right behind him.
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“A thumper?” Chib asked, tilting his head. He hadn’t come across one of those yet. “What’s that?”
“Something with very sharp teeth. They’re very fast, I don’t blame you for not liking them,” Kory said with a glance at Apollo. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve seen the bracken that much,”
“Would you like to change your answer?” Chib asked and Kory hummed.
“Sure. Little girl,”
“Did you just call me a little girl?” Chib was offended but Kory laughed while shaking his head. Hell, even Apollo snorted as he tried to stifle his laughter.
“No, I mean there's a ghost that likes to haunt people on some of the harder moons. It looks and sounds like a little girl,”
“Right. I’ll believe it when I see it,” Chib giggled a little at the thought of a ghost. Sure, there were lots of dangers on these moons, but a ghost? “You must’ve been alone for too long,”
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Justin reached the ship in silence, and that’s when it dawned on him that something was wrong. He was in silence, and that’s when he turned around and groaned.
He had fucking lost Northernlion.
He just turned and left the ship, abandoning the original reason that he was even there. Fuck it, Apollo, Chib and Kory could handle getting whatever loot they could. He had a probably very lost Ryan to find.
Being on Assurance was bound to be confusing, though he more expected it from Chib than Ryan. Considering that Chib was an intern and Ryan was not, but the desert terrain was hot and everything always felt the same.
He walked the long way around, towards the facility in hopes that maybe Ryan would be somewhere between there and the ship. Spoiler alert, he was in fact not there and Justin felt like he wanted to hurt Ryan when he found him.
If he found him.
——————————————————
Very fast footsteps caused Chib to jolt and he spun around, freezing in fear when he saw a mannequin-like creature with a spring as a neck. He inhaled sharply, unable to even make a noise.
“Chib…” Apollo breathed out from behind him. Chib turned to look at the hybrid, and he saw Kory frowning. They had a bit of scrap on them, honestly leaving sounded great right now.
“What is that?”
“Coil head. Someone keep looking at it. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Kory said and turned sharply, and Chib followed him. It took a moment before he realized that Apollo wasn’t following them.
“Kory, where’s Apollo?”
“Shit. Is he really not following at all?” Kory muttered and turned back around. They headed back through the hallways before finding Apollo. He was still standing there, unmoving with wide eyes. Chib reached his side before Kory, grabbing his arm and tugging him.
“Apollo?” Chib asked and the hybrid didn’t respond.
“Get him out of here. I’ve got the coil head,” Kory ordered and Chib tugged Apollos arm again. He managed to get him to move a little, but never once did Apollo take his eyes off the monster until Chib dragged him around a corner. It was a little concerning.
“Kory-“ Apollo tried to say the moment he wasn’t staring at the monster. Chib made the man look at him, and neither moved for a few seconds. “We can’t leave him,”
“Kory can handle it. I’m sure. We’ve got to get back to the ship. Besides, even if he does die it’s not like we won’t see him again,” Chib said and dragged Apollo back through the tunnels until they saw the front door. Chib felt bad that Apollo kept glancing behind him but honestly, what choice did he have other than pulling Apollo with him?
——————————————————
Justin desperately wandered the desert, using an airhorn that had been collected the day before to try and alert Ryan to where he was. It was just after 1:00, and he was really desperate to get back at some point soon.
Thankfully he heard a faint call.
“Justin?” It sounded like Ryan, and he let out a sigh of relief.
“Over here,” he sounded off the air horn again and he saw the orange suit come into view. Justin let out a sigh of relief and he walked over, getting Ryan’s attention again.
“Where'd you go?” Ryan pouted, a small glare on his face. Justin laughed and shook his head, looking amused.
“I went to the ship, you did not,” Justin responded and led Ryan back towards the ship. Ryan complained the entire way, but none of it sounded serious. Justin knew he was good at a lot of things, directions tended to be one of them. So he was glad that Ryan seemed to have a weak spot.
God he wished he had a vape.
He dragged Ryan back to the ship with him, where he saw Apollo and Chib back there already and a bit of new loot. Apollo had his ears pressed back against his skull, sitting down on a bed with his tail tucked and legs pulled close to his chest.
“What happened?” Ryan asked, and Justin looked at the other employee and intern.
“Uh, Kory died to a coil head,” Chib answered, smiling innocently. Justin realized that Apollo was in fact not going to pull the damn lever, so he did it himself.
Company Day
The NLSS get their scrap turned in together. Ryan defends Chib and goes head to head with Apollo. Justin acquires Korys help to bring things back to the ship and they have a little bonding time.
*********************************************
“Well that went well,” Kory grumbled as his head was more or less regrown thanks to the suit while the rest of the crew rested.
“We shouldn’t have left you-“ Apollo tried to say and Justin gave him a look.
“Yet you left me with a bracken?”
“He said he was sorry-“ Ryan tried to jump in to defend his old teammate but Justin wasn’t having any of it.
“So what now?” Chib asked and Apollo walked over to the terminal, bringing them to the company to turn in their scrap.
Then they landed.
——————————————————
It did not take long for them to get enough for a few things, so Apollo quickly bought them a few flashlights that Justin and Kory went to grab when the delivery pod landed.
“Mmm, we probably need walkie talkies as well. Until we know what we’re doing without them,” Justin said and Kory raised an eyebrow, the music from the pod making them both walk closer and flip open the sides. The flashlights fell out and they each grabbed four of them.
“I don’t think I’ve ever used walkies,” Kory told him and Justin stifled a laugh. “Then again, I’ve never bothered to work with crew before,”
“Speaking of, this must be some sort of crazy adjustment for you,” Justin started walking back to the ship, Kory right next to him. Justin thought it was crazy, he had no clue how anybody could work strictly alone. Sure, a few quota runs alone were fine but to not work with anyone else ever? “How are you still sane?”
“You learn to get used to it, being alone and working by yourself,” Kory responded with a simple shrug.
——————————————————
“Great. And we still have enough for a teleporter,” Ryan heard Apollo say. He wasn’t doing anything, so he watched as Apollo typed in the request for the thing. Chib sat next to him on the bed, and when the teleporter was delivered the young intern popped up.
“How much do we have left?” Chib asked, eyes bright as he looked at the other. “Can we buy a new suit or a boombox?”
“No. What would be the point of that?” Apollo asked, looking annoyed by the question. Ryan thought that Apollo was being a little dramatic about it, since it was just a question. “That’s the stupidest and most useless question ever,”
“Apollo, chill out dog,” Ryan said and Apollo huffed at him, slightly pushing Chiblee away from the terminal. Justin and Kory dropped off some flashlights before heading back out to get whatever Apollo just ordered.
“I got us walkies. That’s more practical,” Apollo gave a pointed look at Chiblee.
“Knock it off. He was just asking. You don’t need to be such a dick,” Ryan reprimanded him.
“This has nothing to do with you-“
“I’m your boss and he’s our teammate. So knock. It. Off,” Ryan prided himself on being a relatively laid back boss, but he did not like how Apollo was talking to Chib. The dog pinned his ears back and his tail tucked a little bit.
“Did you just pull rank on me?” Ryan heard how hurt Apollo sounded, and he understood why. He had never pulled rank on any member of team unity before. But of course, Apollo was being an asshole.
“Ready to launch?” Kory asked as him and Justin came back in. Apollo walked over to the lever and launched the ship into orbit without a word.
Chapter 3: Scaredy Cats (Quota- 263)
Chapter Text
3 Days Left To Hit Quota
Chib follows Ryan around and they end up in a less than fortunate situation without even entering the facility. Apollo works with Kory and Justin to clear loot out of the facility and get back to the ship.
*********************************************
“So we’re going to land on Assurance,” Apollo said as everyone else got up to get on with the first day of quota. Nobody bothered to argue and soon the ship was leaving orbit and landing on the desert planet.
——————————————————
Chib bounced on the balls of his feet as they landed, and he quickly followed Ryan off the ship before anyone else could jump off either. Ryan headed straight away from the ship's entrance and so Chib assumed that’s where they were supposed to go.
“So what is Assurance like?” Chib asked and Ryan flashed a grin at him.
“Usually like this. Hot and honestly horrible if you don’t get inside before the sun gets way up there,” he explained. Chib nodded before glancing around. Nobody else was following them, and his scanner wasn’t picking up where the main entrance was.
“Uuuh, are you sure we’re going the right way?” Chib asked, starting to regret following the boss. Clearly it wasn’t working out. The response he got came with all the confidence in the universe, except it did little to settle the uncertainty in his stomach.
“Nope!”
——————————————————
Apollo, Kory, and Justin all made it to the main entrance with no problems, only to realize that they had most definitely lost the other two that they worked with.
“Uh, should we be worried about that?” Justin asked. Apollo looked at the man and raised an eyebrow, because was anyone really surprised that Ryan managed to get himself and Chib lost.
“No, Ryan will always get lost,”
“If you knew that, why didn’t you keep an eye on him?” Kory asked and Apollo glanced at him as they entered the mineshaft and stepped into the elevator. “I mean, letting him get lost-“
“I’m not Ryan’s keeper,” Apollo responded over the sound of the shutting door. “Not on Team Unity and not now,” he said, gripping his flashlight and turning it on before separating from the other two.
——————————————————
“So uhhhh, are we lost?” Chib asked for what felt like the hundredth time. This time though, instead of getting a no or a sarcastic remark, Ryan stopped walking and looked around before sighing in defeat.
“I can confidently say, I have no clue where we are,” Ryan replied and Chib groaned. Of course they managed to get lost, he should’ve known better than to follow Ryan around like a lost dog. No joke intended towards the Dumbdog of course.
“Let’s at least try to find our way back to the ship then,” Chib said and turned around and prayed to whatever was above that they could find their way back to the ship. Or that someone else could find them at least.
“It’s nearly noon, we really need to get out of here,” Ryan said and took the lead again. And against his better judgment, Chib followed him once again.
——————————————————
Apollo stuck close with Kory and Justin while they walked, he didn’t really feel like getting separated and dying today. He tried it when they first got inside and he had gotten spooked. It didn’t take them too long before they all had a bunch of loot. Justin had an engine in his hands, Kory held some bottles, and Apollo had yanked the power core.
They made their way through the dark, when his sharp hearing picked something up. His shoulders tensed and he looked at the two in front of him with panic.
“Run!” He shouted as a thumper came barreling through and chasing them. Kory and Justin scrambled onto some rails and Apollo followed their lead, but then the thumper seemed to just wait.
He was shaking horribly, but he handed the power core to Kory, biting his lip for a moment as they traded. Then Apollo dropped the bottles and took off running, letting the quick creature chase him.
He was scared, but he ran into the maze of hallways and away from the front entrance.
It didn’t take long before he felt sharp teeth biting into him.
——————————————————
“What the hell-?” Chib heard from behind him and he turned to see Justin and Kory behind them. “Well, we know what happened to you both now,” Justin said, and Chib gave him an innocent smile.
“Yay! You found us!” Ryan said with glee as they were led back to the ship.
“What happened to Apollo?” Chiblee asked as they reached the ship.
“Uhhh…thumper?” Kory phrased it more as a question, before the teleporter lit up at the press of a button and a bloody body appeared.
“Ouch,” was Ryan’s only comment
2 Days Left To Hit Quota
Apollo and Justin split up from the others and it doesn’t take long for Apollo to make a horrible mistake. Ryan gets incredibly distracted while with Kory and Chib, learning about his coworkers a little more.
*********************************************
“Thanks for giving us a distraction in there Apollo,” Kory said, and the hybrid nodded. His body had been reconstructed, and he stretched a little bit.
“See, now that’s the Apollo I remember,” Ryan said as he slung his arm around Apollo again. Justin walked over to the lever and pulled it, landing them on Vow.
——————————————————
Ryan ended up following Kory and Chib to the fire escape on the planet, he had been to Vow thousands of times but he never actually remembered where to go. Then again, he never remembered where to go on any planet really.
They all looked the same, don’t blame him.
They entered the dark facility, silently looking around. Or what would be silent other than the three talking to each other and laughing. It was nice, having a proper team again. Sure, he and Malf made a great duo but ever since the fall of Unity it just got really hard to relax and have fun on dumb little quota runs again.
——————————————————
“Apollo, come on,” Justin prompted him to follow towards the facility. His ears pinned back, he didn’t really want to go in again but he had managed to save Kory and Justin the day before so at least that was a good thing.
He didn’t need to experience that again.
“Hey,” Justin snapped in front of his face, startling him from the dark thoughts that were starting to cloud his mind.
“Right,” Apollo muttered, following him inside in silence. One door was locked and the other was blocked off so he followed Justin inside. He gripped onto his flashlight, biting his lip as they looked around and started trying to find things.
——————————————————
It wasn’t totally pleasant inside the facility, but it was better than being outside. He knew that much for a fact.
“Hey guys,” Chiblee drew out the last word and Ryan looked at him curiously, he saw Kory glance at the young man too. “What’s the best story you have from a quota run?”
“What is it with you and all these questions?” Kory countered back and Ryan laughed. “What's the scariest monster? What's the best story?” He mimicked Chib and the kid pouted. If you could call him a kid at the very least.
“I’m just curious,” Chib tried to defend himself and Ryan thought for a moment.
“Probably when I was with Team Unity,” Chib gave him an excited and curious look. “Malf had bought a boombox, which Apollo encouraged him to do. As Apollo does, or did at least. Me and Dan were in some trouble and were a little lost while trying to find the ship,”
“Go figure,” Kory muttered and Ryan gave him an offended look.
“Anyway,” he said with a huff. “It was dark and foggy, so we honestly figured we were a little screwed. Until, in the far distance we heard it. The sound of music,”
“They turned on the boombox?” Chiblee asked, laughing.
“Malf found us in the darkness, leading us back to safety,” Ryan continued. “Turns out, there were dogs so Apollo took the boombox and turned it on to lure them away. He dropped it and ran, surprisingly making it back to the ship,”
“All that sounds a bit far-fetched,” Kory said. “Apollo doesn’t seem like he would do that,”
“Well duh, maybe not anymore,” Ryan said and when Kory scoffed he crossed his arms. “Ok tough guy, what about you? What’s your best story?”
“Well…” Kory started
——————————————————
Apollo crept along through the darkness. Justin had walked away to drop loot off at the door and had gotten a little lost, leading to the two shouting through the walls.
“Hang on, I hear you,” Apollo said, following where the sound of his teammates' voice was coming from. He crossed a gap, and the only door led to a dead end. “Can you hear me?”
“You sound closer now,” Justin responded and Apollo frowned a little bit.
“Well yeah, but it’s a dead end,” he muttered and figured he would just jump the gap again. It was an easy jump and he made it like it was nothing, only to turn and look deeper into the metal hallways and freeze. Staring at him were bright white eyes. He froze as the bracken shrunk back, hissing and vanishing into the darkness.
“JUSTIN!!” He cried out, finding himself unable to move and he was honestly surprised he was able to even scream. Justin would find him, he couldn’t die to a bracken. Not yet, not right now. He was shaking and he knew that much.
——————————————————
“My best story is probably when I got three beehives from the same planet,” Kory seemed like he was gonna leave it at that, but Ryan wasn’t gonna let him off the hook that easily. He wanted to know the story.
“How in the world did you do that?” Ryan asked, and even Chib looked a little interested in the story.
“A lot of luck,” Kory said. “I was on March, and right by the ship there were about three hives,” He started to explain while they walked through the facility and collected a bunch of scrap. “Inside I was hit with an immediate bracken so…I didn’t really want to go in there,”
“Oooh, so you grabbed the hives and left?” Chib asked and Ryan sighed because apparently the story was as boring as he thought it might be.
“Uh kinda?” It sounded more like a question. “To put it simply, the trick was to get the two furthest hives on the front of the ship and launch, then get the closest hive and jump on the ship as it was leaving,”
“I assume it went off without a hitch?” Ryan asked and Kory nodded. So that was that. He honestly wondered why this guy bothered to work with a crew, he seemed to know what to do so easily.
——————————————————
The bracken had slunk back into the shadows, and Apollo wanted out of this place. He couldn't die, not like she did.
“JUSTIN!” he called again only for the dawning realization that he was on his own to strike him. He felt physically sick, tears blurring his vision as the bracken reappeared. He looked away, wanting it to just be over.
“I’ve got you!” Justin’s voice brought him back to the real world, and his arm was gently grabbed and he was pulled to his feet. He gripped onto Justin, fumbling with his flashlight until Justin took it from his hands. “I’ve got you,” his teammate's voice was much softer now, and Apollo nodded.
Justin got them out of the facility and back to the ship, where he let Apollo sit down on a bed. The hybrid stared at the metal ground, trying to calm himself down. All he could see was those white eyes, standing behind her as it snapped her neck.
Chib, Kory, and Ryan getting back brought him back a little more and he watched as the three dropped their loot. Ryan looked maybe a little annoyed, but when he looked at Apollo the hybrid only averted his gaze.
1 Day Left To Hit Quota
Justin ends up alone with Chib, and they spend most of their time avoiding a monster that can’t really be killed. Kory and Ryan hear someone calling out and rush to go save them from whatever they may be facing.
*********************************************
“I think that went very well,” Ryan commented as he got up the next morning. The team turned to look at him. “What? Nobody died,”
“He’s kinda right,” Kory responded.
“Let’s just land,” Apollo said, and he sounded pretty grumpy so nobody really bothered to argue as the ship landed on Vow.
——————————————————
Justin knew that Chib had followed him into the facility, and honestly he didn’t mind the new intern. He seemed like a good kid, so he could entertain him a little bit.
“So…” Chib started with a smile. He had a whole list of questions, he wanted to know what the others had experienced. “What is the worst death you’ve ever had?”
“Oh boy,” Justin said and he looked like he was thinking.
“Well?” Chib asked as he picked up a random piece of scrap.
“I once died from a bug,” Justin said. “But I think getting disintegrated from a slime,”
“A what?” Chib asked, because he had no clue what a slime was.
“That,” Justin turned Chiblees head to look at a blueish monster that looked exactly like slime. For whatever reason that surprised him when it should be exactly what he was expecting. “Come on,”
——————————————————
Kory entered the facility with Ryan and Apollo. Ryan was rambling about…something that Kory had stopped listening to a while ago. Once inside he watched as Apollo walked off by himself, knuckles white as he gripped his flashlight.
Whatever happened with Justin and Apollo the day before had clearly bothered the hybrid. Kory went to go after him just to make sure he was ok only for a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“Don’t. When he wants to be left alone then it’s better to let him be alone,” Ryan’s tone reminded him that he actually knew Apollo. Or at least claimed to, Kory wasn’t totally convinced he knew him as well as he thought since Apollo was spooky meanwhile Ryan seemed to keep forgetting that fact.
“Right, wonder what’s up his ass,”
“Honestly, could be anything. He’s always been a little weird,” Ryan said with a shrug. Kory was then forced to listen to more rambling as Ryan tried to fill the silence. Everytime he tried to walk away from it, Ryan just followed like a lost dog.
Maybe he was more dog than the actual hybrid they worked with.
It was only a few hours into searching that they heard a sharp scream and Kory turned to follow the sound.
——————————————————
“Up here,” Chib heard Justin say and climbed up onto the yellow rail behind him. The employee smiled at him and then looked back down as the slime moved slowly by their feet.
“So what do we do with it?” Chib asked, tilting his head.
“Do you know how to get out of here?” Justin asked and Chib nodded. Before he could ask why, Justin was handing him the loot and pulled an airhorn from his pocket. “I’ll lead it away from you. Ok? Just get back to the ship,” Chib watched as Justin jumped over the slime and landed in front of it.
He blew the horn and the slime seemed to follow him, so Chib watched as Justin led it deeper into the facility.
He could do this.
He took off sprinting, finding his way back to the front door after a little while. He threw himself through the door and hoped that Justin would be ok.
——————————————————
Kory had Ryan hot on his heels as they found their way to what looked like a storage room. “KORY! RYAN!” He was finally able to make out the words. Apollo was standing on top of a cabinet, a very large spider looking up at him.
He was shaking, and Kory had never seen so much fear radiated from a single person before.
“Oh boy,” Ryan said and Kory looked at him. “I have a plan,” Ryan sounded confident enough that Kory was sure they were all going to die. “Apollo?” He softened his voice and Kory watched as the panicked hybrid focused on Ryan.
“Yeah?” He sounded meak, and honestly it wouldn’t be surprising if he had been crying.
“Remember back on Team Unity when Malf was stuck in a similar position?” Ryan asked and Kory watched as Apollo nodded. “And it was me and you who saved him, right? I led the monster off, and you got Malf back?”
“Ryan,” Kory hissed, unsure what the man was going to do. He watched as Ryan dropped all his loot other than a stop sign.
“Get against the wall,” Ryan said and gently pushed Kory towards it. He really didn’t know how to argue so he did what he was told. Then Ryan slammed the sign into the spider, which turned around and chased after him.
“Come on Apollo,” Kory said and gently got Apollo down from the shelf before leading him out, taking as much loot as they could.
——————————————————
Chib reached the ship after a little bit, silent as nobody was back other than him yet. He flipped the monitor until he found Justin's view and realized that his friend was in fact dead.
“Oh,” He said and looked through the other people. Apollo and Kory were coming back together but it looked like Ryan was also dead. Chib kinda knew how the teleporter worked so he brought both Ryan and Justin's bodies back.
Soon enough the other two surviving employees came in and dropped their loot. He watched as Apollo sat down, not speaking, while Kory walked over and launched the ship.
Company Day
The crew has got a good amount of money from the loot, And while Chib wants a new suit, Apollo and Justin just argue. Meanwhile, Kory reveals something to Ryan.
*********************************************
Apollo pulled the lever to land them on the company, the silence on the ship as Ryan and Justin both stretched and got their bearings was surprisingly pretty calm.
——————————————————
The crew handed in their loot, which left them with some time to kill and about seven hundred credits to spend on whatever they may need. Kory walked off by himself to get a small break from the crew, being around so many people constantly was a little weird to him.
“So, what actually happened with the beehives?” Ryan’s voice caused him to jump and turn around. “Come on, I’m not stupid. I know there’s more to the story,”
“Why do you care?” Kory challenged him and Ryan scoffed a little bit.
“Why won’t you tell me?” Ryan offered his own challenge and Kory nodded. He could respect the challenge.
“Well, if you must know,” Kory said and he began to explain everything from that run. It was the last solo run he did. When he had been killed on the third day. “It was the last day of a new quota. I had enough to cover it already but I hate leaving planets without something. As I said, I got an immediate bracken and decided to just go for the three hives,”
“Right,” It felt like Ryan was encouraging him so he continued.
“I got the furthest two onto the front of the ship, and I launched before jumping off to grab the closest one. I made it to the ship and got the three hives inside,”
“Why does that feel like it’s not the end of the story?”
“Because it’s not,”
——————————————————
Chiblee watched as Apollo typed on the computer.
“I’m just saying, we have enough to go to a cooler moon!” Justin seemed to argue with the hybrid, who did not look amused. “You aren’t in charge around here, you know?”
“Believe me Justin, I know,” Apollo didn’t sound too amused or happy to be having his conversation. Chib was silent, he still wanted a new suit. “But an inverse teleporter will be much more useful,” he argued and Justin huffed.
“Why not? We can make more money on an expensive moon,”
“So what? Quota isn’t going to be that high, so right now is the best time for an inverse teleporter,”
“If we get an inverse teleporter, can we get new suits?” Chib asked, looking hopeful. He was ignored and the two kept arguing. All of a sudden an inverse teleporter appeared and Justin looked ready to hit someone.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? I bet you won’t even use it!”
“I may no but I know Ryan will,” Chib let out a sigh, this would be a long day.
——————————————————
“So what happened then?” Kory sat down with Ryan next to him and he let out a sigh.
“Well, the door was shutting and a giant came out of nowhere,” Kory shuddered at the thought of being eaten alive once again. “It grabbed me from the ship right before it got out of there. That was my last solo run,”
“Oh,” Ryan looked shocked but Kory shrugged. “I’m sorry, that seems…horrible,”
“It’s actually the run that ended up with me being here,” Kory admitted. “How do you do it? Working with a crew, I mean,”
“Most of the time it’s just about having fun. It doesn’t matter if we die or fail a quota here and there,” Ryan said and placed a hand on Kory’s shoulder. “I’ll meet you back on the ship,”
——————————————————
“That’s just bullshit,” Justin grumbled and Chib sat there with a sigh. All he wanted was a new suit, and if Apollo got his stupid inverse teleporter then he should get his suit.
“I’m being smart!”
“You think so, but you really aren’t,”
“Enough,” Ryan’s voice echoed through the dropship and the three turned to look at him and Kory. Chib bit his lip, were they in trouble? “Whatever happened is done with, let’s get going,”
Chapter 4: What Could Go Wrong? (Quota 361)
Chapter Text
3 Days Left To Hit Quota
Justin, Chib and Kory end up in some trouble when they run into a few turrets, meanwhile Apollo sees the perfect opportunity to mess with Ryan and freak his old friend out.
*********************************************
“Ready to land?” Apollo asked as their ship orbited March.
“Hell yeah! Inverse us in baby!” Justin said as the ship landed on the planet.
——————————————————
Justin's vision cleared from the red sparkles of the inverse teleporter. Right next to him was Kory and Chiblee, meaning that they had been teleported into the facility right next to each other.
“That’s helpful,” Kory muttered but he seemed a little dazed from the teleporter. Justin wasn’t that shocked, because Kory had probably never used one before. Not to mention Chib was laying flat on his face.
“You alright there, Chib?” Justin asked and the intern looked up, taking the hand that Justin offered and getting back to his feet.
“I’m fine!” He said with a smile. Justin watched as Kory peeked around corners before looking back at them with a frown
“Bad news, we’re surrounded by turrets,” Kory said and Justin groaned. Not that turrets were the most impossible thing to get by, but it certainly made things trickier.
Upon looking at where the turrets were sitting, he realized that any attempt to get out and look around would most likely end in death.
——————————————————
Apollo and Ryan walked into the facility together, mostly because Apollo refused to inverse in. Last time he did that he watched him die.
“You know Apollo,” Ryan started, which was never a good thing. “You could try to lighten up a little bit,” Apollo really didn’t want to listen to Ryan at the moment, because it was Ryan and who ever wanted to listen to him?
“Listen Ryan, you don’t know what happens if I lighten up,” Apollo told him, because last time he lightened up he ended up losing everyone he cared about. “You don’t know why I’m like this now,”
“So why don’t you tell me? We’re friends, or at least we used to be before you shut everyone out, before you shut Unity out,” Ryan’s voice softened when he continued. “Before you shut me out,”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Apollo whispered as he watched Ryan walk down a hallway.
Apollo went a different way than Ryan, entering what looked like a storage room. He found a bell, and upon picking it up he noted how it rang and how the sound echoed off the walls. Ryan wanted him to lighten up, he could lighten up.
——————————————————
Justin looked at Chib who was sitting on the ground, and then looked at Kory who was peering around a corner. “Let’s face it, those hallways could lead to dead ends and then boom, turrets,” Justin said with a huff. “We just need to hope that Apollo and Ryan get back to the ship and can teleport us out of here,”
“Why wait?” Kory asked and stood up. Justin didn’t even have time to ask what Kory meant before the man was taking off and drawing the agro of all the turrets at once. Justin heard so many bullets go flying and saw Kory disappear behind a corner.
“Awesome,” Chib commented from next to him and Justin huffed.
“No, not awesome. He ditched us!”
“Well yeah, but maybe he’s going to free us!”
“Or he’s just gonna focus on getting loot,” Justin pointed out and crossed his arms. “Come on,” Justin signaled for Chib to follow him and took off in the other direction from Kory. He dodged around a corner and checked to make sure the intern was behind him.
He barely had time to register the body on the floor next to him before his neck was snapped and everything went dark.
——————————————————
Apollo bit his lip to keep himself from laughing as he rang the bell and watched Ryan panic.
“Ryan!” He called, putting as much fear into his voice as he could. “RYAN! IT’S THE BELL MONSTER,”
“What? What is the bell monster?” Ryan called back and Apollo went running over, hiding the bell in his pockets. “Are you ok?”
“You can only hear him when he gets close,” Apollo kept the fear in his voice, watching as Ryan’s eyes got really wide through his visor.
“What do we do, dude?”
“Run!” Apollo cried and took off, dropping behind a corner and hiding as he rang the bell. Watching Ryan panic was amazing, and soon they were outside the facility.
“I did not like that,” Ryan grumbled and Apollo had a feeling he would be able to mess with Ryan using the bell monster for a while.
They returned to the ship to see Kory already there and two dead bodies. So Apollo walked over to the lever and launched the ship.
2 Days Left To Hit Quota
Chib follows Apollo and Justin into the facility with another question. Ryan and Kory get themselves into some trouble with the inverse teleporter.
*********************************************
Nobody talked the next morning as Justin and Chib came back to life. Justin looked annoyed, so Apollo decided to just land them on March before anyone could cause any arguments.
——————————————————
Ryan pressed the inverse teleporter button and smiled as Kory jumped in with him. In a flash of red he was standing in a room that was once known as the bracken room despite not having anything to do with the creature.
He walked over to the door, trying to open it before coming to the dawning conclusion that the door was locked. He rattled it and tried to force it open but it was stuck and wouldn’t budge.
“Locked?” Korys voice caused him to shout and turn around, laughing when he realized it was just Kory.
“Yup,” Ryan confirmed but at least he now had someone to talk to. It sucked when you got locked in a room by yourself.
“Great,” Kory let out a sigh. “And the other three are already inside?”
“Probably,” Ryan watched as Kory sat down to wait for the others to teleport them back. So he sat right next to him and started to talk.
——————————————————
“So what happened?” Chib heard Apollo ask as he followed him and Justin into the facility.
“We teleported into the middle of like a million turrets, and Kory abandoned us,” Justin sounded snippy with his answer.
“I got shot,” Chib said and then paused. “A lot,”
“I had my neck snapped,” Apollo had frozen and was tilting his head. “What?” Justin asked and crossed his arms.
“Ah, that’s what Kory was talking about last night,” Apollo murmured. “He was going to get out and teleport you guys,”
“Why didn’t he say anything?” Justin asked and Apollo took a step back. Chib decided he didn’t want to listen to whatever argument was going to spawn so he decided to ask one of his questions.
“So, what’s the worst death you’ve ever witnessed?” Chib asked as they started to walk down a random hallway.
“Ooh, I once watched Ravs explode because of the little girl,” Justin said. “Watching someones head pop off like that…freaky,”
“Wait, the little girl actually exists? I thought that Kory was fucking with me,” Chib was shocked, he had no clue that ghosts actually existed.
“What about you Apollo?” Justin asked and Chib turned to look at the hybrid who had apparently frozen a few steps back and through his visor looked a little traumatized. “Apollo?”
——————————————————
“So how long do you think we’ll be stuck here?” Ryan asked, frowning when Kory didn’t respond to him. The man seemed more zoned out than anything so Ryan nudged him. “Kory?”
“Huh?” Kory looked at him and Ryan huffed.
“Were you ignoring me?”
“I would never,” The reply was incredibly sarcastic and he really didn’t appreciate it at all.
“You were!” Ryan accused him and Kory just shrugged. “Why would you ignore me?”
“You were talking, I didn’t care to listen,” Ryan hated how honest Kory sounded there, so he pouted instead of responding. “Oh, don’t be like that,”
Ryan continued to ignore him, two could play these games.
“Ryan, come on man,” Kory tried to say but Ryan was going to ignore him for the rest of eternity. “Ok fine. Once the other three get back to the ship then we’ll be out of here,”
“You listened to me!”
“You make it really hard to ignore you,”
“Yay!” Ryan figured that they had another hour or two in the room and he wasn’t sure how much Kory wanted to talk so he once again picked up rambling about something.
——————————————————
“Apollo?” Chib asked, unsure of what caused this to even happen. “Apollo?”
“Dude, you good?” Justin asked and Chib watched as Apollo closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Maybe we should leave,” Chib nodded in agreement and grabbed ahold of Apollo before dragging him out.
The hybrid really didn’t seem to put much of a fight up, actually there was no fight. He seemed like he was just stuck in time, frozen.
Getting back to the ship was easy, and Apollo seemed to snap out of it.
“Hey,” Justin said softly. Chib watched as Apollo stepped away from them and towards the monitor. He silently teleported Kory back, and Chib clocked the relieved look on his face.
“Thank you,” Kory said and Chib watched as Apollo flipped the views on the monitor to Ryan. “I’ve been stuck in there with him the entire time,” In a sparkle of blue, Ryan came stumbling out of the teleporter and smiled.
“You saved us!”
1 Day Left To Hit Quota
Justin inverses in with Ryan and Chiblee which puts them in an unlucky situation. Apollo and Kory take on something brand new to both of them.
*********************************************
“Ready?” Apollo asked as their ship orbited around Offense.
“Yeah!” Ryan said, smiling. Apollo nodded and landed the ship on the desert planet.
——————————————————
Kory debated on inversing in, but the risk of being stuck in another room with Ryan felt too great. Plus Apollo didn’t seem all that energetic so Kory figured he would check in on the kid. He followed the hybrid to the building and sighed when he realized they would be entering the mines.
“You ok Apollo?” Kory asked as they got into the elevator. Apollo looked at him for a moment, face unreadable before he looked away.
“I’m fine,”
“You don’t seem fine, what happened yesterday?” Kory watched as the hybrid took a deep breath and looked down.
“I didn’t like a question that Chib asked, it reminded me of something not so great,” Apollo finally said and Kory nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” Apollo then stepped out of the elevator and walked off, so Kory followed him to keep him company.
——————————————————
Justin opened his eyes as he was teleported into the facility, only to realize he was surrounded by stone and dripping water.
He was in the mines.
He wasn’t alone though, and that was clear when he saw Chib round a corner and heard Ryan yelling in the distance.
“Come on,” He said to the kid and they started to head to where Ryan was. “Chib?” he asked because he had been very quiet since the day before.
“Do you think I upset Apollo?”
“I think Apollo is a weird guy, I really don’t think you should blame yourself,” Justin tried to reassure him and they quickly found Ryan by himself.
“What’s happening?” Ryan asked, looking confused as he normally does.
“Nothing, come on,” Justin figured that if they all stuck together then they would figure out where the door to the mine was.
Well, they found the door and when Justin tried to open it he discovered that it was locked. He looked at the other two who had been bickering about something trivial.
“We need a key,”
——————————————————
Kory was a little concerned about Apollo, but if the employee didn’t want to talk about it then he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Wait, I hear something,” Apollo said and Kory gave him a confused look. Then again the man was a hybrid and did have great hearing. “It sounds like Ryan,”
“Oh boy,” Kory muttered and followed Apollo who seemed very intent on finding Ryan.
“Hang on, I have an idea,” Apollo whispered as Kory tilted his head. “You grabbed that bell earlier, right?”
“Yeah,” Kory pulled it out and let Apollo grab it as they got closer to a door. Apollo rang the bell and let out a scream.
“RYAN!”
“Apollo?” Ryan sounded so scared and Kory had to stifle his laughter because he wished he knew about whatever this was.
“What’s going on?” Justin’s voice sounded through the door.
——————————————————
“IT’S THE BELL MONSTER!” Apollo’s voice was slightly muffled through the door and Justin ran through every thought in his head before landing on one in particular.
There was no such thing as a bell monster.
However Ryan didn’t seem to agree with that at all.
“Wait, don’t lead it to us!” Ryan called back and Justin shared a look with Chib. “Hang on, we’re behind a locked door. It can’t get us!”
“I have a key,” Kory’s muffled voice said and Ryan let out a scream. Justin bit back laughter as Ryan hightailed it away from them.
“Oh shit!” Justin burst out laughing as Ryan fell down a hole and plummeted to his death. The door was unlocked and the four surviving members all headed back to the dropship.
“Got it, we know how to fuck with Ryan now,” Kory said and they launched the ship.
Company Day
The boys turn in their loot and Apollo decides to do something nice for once. Ryan once again has to diffuse an argument between Kory and Justin.
*********************************************
While Ryan pouted about his death the day before, Apollo pulled the lever to land them at the company with all their loot.
——————————————————
After they turned in the scrap they had collected, they had about seven hundred credits for their crew. Ryan followed Kory and Justin while they waited for the shipment of extra flashlights.
Justin kept a glare leveled on Kory, clearly upset about something that Ryan didn’t know about.
“What’s your problem?” Kory finally turned around and leveled his own glare right back at Justin. Ryan stepped back, waiting to see what was about to happen.
“I still can’t believe you ditched me and Chib!” Justin snapped at him and Ryan was confused. When did that happen?
“Ditched? You could've followed me. I was going to teleport you both out!”
“It’s not like you said that,”
“I shouldn’t have to. I didn’t think you’d go and get yourself killed!”
“Well, we did!”
“And that’s your fault,” Kory and Justin were now standing face to face, both looking incredibly angry and like they were gonna start a fist fight. And that was the last thing he needed to handle.
“Would you both stop it!” Ryan yelled and both of them turned to face him in a state of shock.
——————————————————
Apollo hummed softly to himself as he scrolled through the store and figured out what he wanted to buy for their crew. Chib sat on one of the beds behind him, watching him silently.
“I’m gonna get us a signal translator,” Apollo interrupted his own humming when he thought out loud.
“A what?” Chib asked, head tilting slightly. Apollo chuckled slightly at the intern and let out a sigh.
“A signal translator,” He repeated. “It allows us to send a message, within a certain amount of characters, and display it across your visor,” He explained and the intern nodded.
Apollo looked at the screen again, they would have a little over one hundred credits left and still be able to possibly go somewhere fun if the others wanted to.
He scrolled to the bottom of the store, looking at what was there. Everything was useless, all for looks or for fun. Things that he would’ve bought on his previous crew.
And with a few keystrokes he had bought something else.
——————————————————
“But he-” Justin tried to argue but Ryan cut him off.
“I don’t care. He messed up but don’t all of us?” Ryan pointed out at Justin huffed. “What is up your ass today?”
“Nothing,” Justin then turned and walked away. “I’ll be back before we launch,”
“He’s right, I should’ve said something. But…that happened on day one of quota,” Kory said and Ryan shrugged. “I figured he would’ve been over it by now,”
“I guess you can apologize later if you feel that bad, but maybe he’s just in a bad mood,” Ryan was trying to be helpful. He really was. Music started playing and Ryan watched as the flashlights arrived.
——————————————————
“Chib,” Apollo got his attention and Chib looked over at him with a curious look. Apollo signaled to where the rack of orange suits were and Chib followed his gaze.
He had never seen the kid light up the way he did.
“New suit!” Chib called out and made it to the rack in a shocking amount of time. “Seriously?”
“We had the extra money and I didn’t want to hear you beg this time,” Apollo said, which was partially true. The other part was that he felt bad for being as much of a dick as he had been. He had gotten the green suit, so he also walked over and changed into it.
“Oh hell yeah!” Ryan said, dropping the flashlights he was carrying as he entered the ship and spotted both Apollo and Chib in the new suits. “We got a wardrobe upgrade,”
Apollo shook his head in amusement, and he looked back at the money they had left. Nothing that could really be used so that was that.
It was only a few minutes later that Justin came into the ship and spotted the green suit. Apollo shifted back, because Justin smelled wrong according to his sharp sense of smell.
He brushed it off and launched the ship