Quinn wasn’t on the dirt for long. Dahlia had her up almost immediately, holding her steady and stifling every effort she made to push forward. [i]Blotklau[/i] lay in a steadily growing puddle of ichor, with three of its limbs blown or torn free, and the third a shattered, awkwardly-bent wreck. It wasn’t stopping, either, it just [i]kept[/i] bleeding, and bleeding. Soon enough it would fill the little basin around it to the brim, and spill out into the hills and valleys around it.

“[color=ffe63d][i]Blotklau[/i] is—it doesn't—[i]Roaki is still in there![/i][/color]”

Dahlia was silent, looking piteously out at the Savior, but her focus shifted more intently to Quinn. It took Besca a long time to respond. 

“[color=gray]Quinn, I’m sorry I—I don’t know what to tell you. It’s Helburke’s Savior, she’ll have to wait for them to come extract her.[/color]”

“[color=skyblue]The skull’s been breached,[/color]” Dahlia said. Her voice was quiet, analytical. “[color=skyblue]I can see it from here. The body’s beginning to dissolve, the brain must have been damaged too badly. It’s mulched.[/color]”

There was another long silence. 

“[color=skyblue]Besca?[/color]”

“[color=gray]They’re leaving.[/color]” Besca said, solemn but sturdy. “[color=gray]They said there’s nothing to recover.[/color]”

“[color=skyblue]What does that mean?[/color]”

“[color=gray]It means…god. It means it’s over. There’s nothing we can do. If it’s mulched, then the dissolution’s gonna make extraction too dangerous, and that’s if the cockpit isn’t already flooded with ichor.[/color]” She sighed, long, tired. “[color=gray]Quinn, you…you did good. You did everything you could have. I’m sorry.[/color]”