[center][h1]Cloaks crew[/h1][/center] [hr] [@evanist] There wasn't much to tell about the pod other than it had clearly been all but devoured by the forest... It was entirely possible that their friend had been flown away... perhaps even prefferable, if the forest was being aggressive like that. The pod was devoid of supplies as well, so either they took it with them, or it was looted in their absence... The big golem of course... had not even stopped moving, he had an objective and he was advancing towards it, period, the flighty little critters splitting ways already wouldn't stop him. [color=f26522]"All. must. seek. their own... Captain. will. find. you. or find. way. to mountain. as well. Objective. is. clear."[/color] The feline critter on his back hissed irritably and two-cented himself [color=a36209]"What he's 'trying' to say is, run off aimlessly in the forest looking for someone you don't even have a base direction to follow if you want, we're going where we know our objective is going to find us, one way or the other... Maybe the cap'n'll find ya wanderin around and lend a hand, claw, or tentacle himself, heheh."[/color] [hr] [center][h1][color=39b54a]Changeling Crew[/color] And[color=662d91] Some Shadowbolts[/color][/h1][/center] [hr] [@thedman] As the two creatures investigating the injured came to the one that was clearly 'dead' they paused and looked to the one that had actually been fighting, and for a few moments they chittered, buzzed, and hissed something back and forth, before one of them leaned down to bite down on the back of the neck of the dead one... it wasn't the least bit clear as to 'why' though... A few moments later it pulled back and began spitting up that green goo, starting to a steady process of spreading it, then spitting more, then spreading it more, as if cocooning the corpse. The other one quickly returned to the one that was subtly breathing and went about repeating the process of treatment it had given to the conscious ones, systematically removing one injury's source and covering it with the goo before moving to the next injury, and in the cases of more severe injuries made sure to press it as closed as it could before doing so... logically speaking, it shouldn't be hard to infer that the goo was supposed to have some kind of medical use, though the precise properties remained unclear, but the unconcious crewman's breathing began to ease at least. Meanwhile, the one that had initiated contact turned a fanged smile towards the specialist and nodded himself [color=8dc73f][/color] It didn't take a mind-reader to recognize signs of exhaustion... he tried not to let it bleed into his mental projections, but he was exstatic at both this fact, and the simple encounter of something he could communicate with! It was a perfect oppurtunity to position himself, and by extension his kin, in an indispensable position that the Equestrian's couldn't afford to eject them from without causing potential problems with these incredibly dangerous aliens! [color=8dc73f][/color] On a side note, he and the sergeant both might start to hear a change in the comms, with the queen gone it seemed that every instance of panicked crewmen on the ship also ceased, many who'd become incoherent reporting in that they were fine, everything had just suddenly 'returned to normal' it seemed. [hr] The creatures from the ship in question had simply watched at first as the survivors swarmed around the jewel they'd thrown... obviously the aliens wouldn't know what was going on, but it was a jewel full of stored emotions, a simple bait feast as far as they were concerned, but one their desperation wouldn't allow them to deny. One of those on the boat stood up on it's edge and seemed to shout something at them, obviously it wasn't clear what, but the sharper edge to it's sounds didn't paint a 'happy' picture. Whatever it was saying seemed to cow the survivors and they quickly started digging where they were, doing their level best to vanish under-ground as quickly as possible... the rest that 'hadn't' come their way? They were still busy destroying what was left of eachother, and those on the ship didn't make a move to get anywhere near interacting with them. Much closer though, the trio of strangely garbed quadrupeds tensed up slightly when one of the big metal things approached them, but quickly softened when it stopped and made some kind of gesture... indeed, something that was easily interpreted as non-hostile, and they started to converse amongst themselves, an array of low squawks and whispered tones passing before the one in the middle of the stack waved a hoof in the marine's general direction, as if directing the griffon in some way, which seemed to make an odd roll of it's head before raising a talon in a similar gesture... it was a lot more hand-shaped than a bird's talon would normally be, then it made some kind of shrugging gesture, as if it didn't quite get it... They couldn't communicate well at the moment, but they could at least express a disinterest in aggression for now. It was a strange creature in their eyes, the one that opened his head... helmet? They hadn't actually seen any such intergrated covering that 'opened' instead of needing full removal, but that gesture was also clear enough, and each one in turn reached up to push up their own masks... the two smaller ones both appeared to have clearly smaller more equine like muzzles, the larger one darker gray fur color, and the smaller one hot bloody pink... while the other was certainly confirmed as a griffon, a very thick one, with deep green feathers, and enough beak that looked like it could very well pick apart the less armored portions of a marine's armor... maybe, it was hard to tell how tough it was, at least with just seeing it. [hr] [center][h1]Luna's intervention[/h1][/center] [hr] [@lugia][@Double][@Rune_Alchemist][@HelloTraveler] Luna's expression did soften somewhat as this creature went on and on, as well as introducing himself... [color=0076a3]"Hmmm, I can respect your maturity in accepting whatever... solution, I could conjure."[/color] Then a coy smirk arrose [color=0076a3]"And in 'my' world, I am the warden of dreams, I watch over my subject's dreams, protect them from living nightmares and dream monsters, and in the case of our enemies, 'invade' them to teach them a lesson."[/color] She even playfully poked her tongue out at his 'joke'. She shook her head then and with a twinkle of her horn pulled him back to standing [color=0076a3]"You are no subject of mine, bowing is not a requirement of showing respect."[/color] she took a step back then and with a flourish of magic swept away the nightmare imagery, leaving a much smaller 'luna' standing there eyeing him up. [color=0076a3]"'I' am Princess Luna, though given some of your history I suspect you already have an inclination of that. I am... many things, Warden of Dreams, Misstress of shadows, Goddess of the moon, The First Reaper... heavens the titles that's stack up over the millenia... but in a simplified form, I am the younger diarch of Equestria, the more likely of us to simply split you in two to solve the problem 'permanently', and the moon and stars dance to my whim... Keep yourself out of trouble, and you'll have none from me... well, no 'more' than is already pending at least. This is quite a troublesome event that has come to our world."[/color] She perked up then and seemed to glance off to the side [color=0076a3]"Mmmm, I must focus on the 'group' of aliens I am meeting, but I will see to your return to the waking world shortly... preferably when doing so will not appear as though I have taken one of my own hostage. I shall leave a link here as well so that we may to 'some' degree communicate once you are awakened again, though it will only be rudimentary, neither of us wants a lasting 'deeper' connection beyond surface thoughts."[/color] With that she suddenly vanished in a puff, leaving him along in his own mind again... One might wonder, 'what' did she mean by looking like she'd taken one of her own hostage? [hr] Luna almost seemed to come out of a trance, where she'd been waiting for Astral to say 'something' to her, yet he seemed to have been struck dumb by her presence, or perhaps he was simply too busy thinking to notice?... she could only assume, and that was not quite as demanding at the moment as the collection of strange creatures she now found herself approaching in pursuit of the prancy mirthful one... she had certainly been interesting to observe in action as they progressed... they might not understand eachother's speech, but she could tell from her behavior that she must've been a 'playful' sort... it disturbed her how much it reminded her of the pink one... The sheer contrast between her and the other alien she led them to reminded her even more of that implication, she actually gave this new creature a slight smile and a shrug, as if this was nothing exactly 'new' in terms of behavior... Though she did take a moment to look between them before speaking [color=662d91]"Thou art quite strange, looking as if you expect to understand my words at any moment, hmhm."[/color] Still that voice came as little more than a dark ethereal orchestral... She was curious though, this new one didn't seem nearly as intensely reactant to her appearance, neither her size nor the ethereal nebulae of her mane... was this one simply used to unusual experiences? or did it perhaps trust the other one enough not to lead a threat back to them? [hr] To a certain batty visitor, it certainly was not quite the 'princess' that he'd been familiar with hearing about, though the cues were undeniable, the moon-themed mark on her flank, the starry nebulous mane and tail, the whole 'alicorn' thing that didn't properly resemble the knock offs of his own world... But she was taller than the stories, darker and thicker as well. One would hardly expect her to be unaware of being watched, particularly in such a dangerous situation, perhaps more confirmed when several of the stars in the back of her mane lit up a brighter blue, almost seeming to form the illusion of eyes observing the forest around her, though otherwise there was nothing to hint at a reaction...