"That would be quite the departure from our current goal of getting off the planet as quickly as possible," Solae remarked with an impish amusement and raised brow. To dwell too long on the consequences of staying on New Concordia invited despair and panic. She was trying to find levity where she could. Even now the notion of depraved members of the rebellion trying to kidnap Syshin for illicit purposes sent a shiver down her spine. The true cost of war was not physical but rather that it opened a box that could never be closed. Shattered were the illusions that the common man was always humane. Years from now she would recall the hungry look in the eyes of people she would have never thought capable of horrific atrocities.

"You do not have to leave me alone," she stated. Rene opened his mouth, surely to object, but she continued on regardless. "If you drive them off they'll come back later when we're not here, won't they? Perhaps I can try to draw them away from the encampment. Give them a bigger target to follow so it's easier to pick them off." The flat, displeased expression on the soldier told her what he thought of her plan.

Solae sighed.

"No matter what happens we should bury any dead. If not to hide them from discovery but because it is the right thing to do. I could not make peace without paying them the prosper respect even if they were despicable in their final hours." Their circumstances were desperate. Digging graves would take a toll on the body and the psyche- two resources the couple could not afford to drain. Leaving a corpse exposed to the wilderness felt like abandoning decency, however, and Solae was mindful of the fact that if she survived she would have a great number of feelings to cope with. Everything she could do to minimize guilt in the future should be considered.

There was a rapping at the door and an elderly Syshin with mottled scales and dark gold plumage stepped in. "The humans come," he advised. Male Syshin had deep, rumbling voices that were beyond what any man could hope for. It was this distinction that made even adolescent Syshin easy to sex. "Two of our [i]inyorin[/i] wait for you." He turned and looked at Rene expectantly.

"Inyorin are the... guardians or protectors of an encampment. They aren't trained like a soldier but usually some of the strongest. Are you certain you don't want me to come with you?" Solae knew the answer of course. The Imperial Marine may be opposed to having comrades (given his inability to communicate with them) but she felt reassured that he would not be alone. Nari and Enro were being generous in not demanding a solitary military endeavor as a sign of intentions.

"If you are victorious, Enro tells me they know of a spaceship," the older male asserted. He looked at Rene's weapons with apprehension, both uncertain how far they could truly trust the pair of humans and how successful this 'ambush' might be.