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"What's your name again, Rookie?" The war-hardened admiral looked at the freshly wounded lombax in front of him. His face had recently been stitched up along the side, and he was fighting back tears as he tried to maintain his composure for Tallet.

"M..my name is--"

"No it isn't." Tallet cut him off before he could speak.

"P-pardon, sir?"

"Rookie, you proved your worth out there on Tundral VII. And while it is unfortunate you lost your sister, I could really use someone like you in my team." Tallet began, "In fact I would consider it a great honor if you joined me."

"That..that still doesn't explain..."

"Listen, my team is covert, silent, deadly. I may be a high ranking Admiral in the Alliance, but that doesn't mean I can do whatever I want, when I want. What you will be doing is considered illegal in several parts of the galaxy. The Alliance is a fantastic military, but they could care less about anything that isn't their own damn space. That's why I've created this team of... mercenaries, I guess you could call them. Whatever you are now, whoever you were before you entered this room will no longer be a part of your life. You and your squad must never exchange personal information, background history, anything of the sort. I will give you a false name, a codename if you so wish to call it. But if you no longer wish to be a part of my team, the door is open." Tallet motioned his hand towards the door on the opposite wall. "What say you?"

The wounded lombax looked down in his lap where a pistol sat. He picked it up, observing it. He knew this pistol, it wasn't anything provided by Tallet or the merc team or the Alliance. 'Property of Riona O'Neill' was etched in the side. A small stream appeared down the lombax's face as he stared at the etching in sorrow.

"Sir, there is nothing I'd want more than to join your team. Sign me up." the lombax replied to the admiral, wiping his face.

"Excellent, I knew you would." Tallet took note of the lombax staring at the pistol in his lap. "...you like your guns, huh? You sure are good with one." the admiral looked at a photo of his son on his desk. 'Sammy Tallet'. He turned his attention back to the lombax. "Welcome aboard, Samael Gunn." He extended his hand to shake the rookie's.

Gunn returned the handshake.

***

"Nuuuuhhh...gyuuuhhhhnnngg" Two figures were seen lumbering towards Gunn, Rookie, Doc, and Info.

"What the..?" Gunn pulled out his rifle and peered down the scope. The other three had also pulled out their weapons and were aiming them at the two silhouettes in the distance. "Hold your fire!" Gunn called out.

-BLAM BLAM BLAM-

"Rookie, dammit! I said hold your fire!"

"I.. I didn't.. it just happened...!" Rookie dropped his pistol and held up his hands.

"Ow OW! GOD DAMMIT Jesus H-fuckin Christ, Rookie!" One of the figures dropped. "It was just a joke!"

"Apparently we're -too- good at being zombies." Bones replied to his fallen partner, Vasquez. He picked him up, helping him walk back to the group.

Doc sighed and threw Vasquez two more small medi-gel packs.

"Well fellas, now that you've made Rookie piss his pants, can you tell me what you've found?" Gunn asked.

"Nothin. Zip, zero, squat, absolutely -nothing- worth salvage. Engines fried long ago, everything that could be even a little useful has decomposed over the years." Bones replied.

"Decomposed? You mean like dead bodies?" Doc asked.

"No, like.. rusted out, corroded n such." Bones nodded.

"Well.. Info and I both picked up multiple life signs. We believe it's every one of the crew, as it -is- quite a large number. Did you two at least see anything that could be providing them sustenance? Surely they would have run out of rations long before now." Doc crossed her arms.

"Actually, yeah, we found these cool berries. Pretty good actually." Vasquez pulled some sort of small crystalline fruit from his pocket.

"Vasquez, give me that before it becomes poisonous or something. Did you already eat one?" Doc snatched the berry away from him and began to observe it with her holo-screen.

"....maybe." the hispanic man looked shifty eyed.

"One? Try a whole damn bowl. Fool just kept eating them, one after the other." Bones said.

"A bowl? You two went into the mess hall? Did you see anyone in there?" Gunn asked.

"No, we didn't go into the mess hall. The bowl was just outside someone's room, just further down the hallway." Bones pointed.

Doc's holo-screen beeped and blipped as it observed the berry, until it finally went *ding!*

"Huh. Apparently there's nothing wrong with these berries. The screen says 'an addictive fruit found on remote planets in Imperium Space. Healthy, but eat with caution.' and... that's all it has. Doesn't say why to eat with caution, or what the berries have in them. But if it's okay to eat, then go for it, Vasquez." she tossed the berry back to Vasq, who quickly tossed it in his mouth and followed it with another piece of gum.

"Alright, so we can't save anything of worth off the ship. Let's rescue the survivors. C'mon." Gunn led his squad down the hallway, where it eventually opened up to a rotunda. In the center was a hologram that was malfunctioning a little bit, and around the edges of the rotunda led other hallways.

"Ah, most helpful! This ship is equipped with a Virtual Intelligence. A VI." Info noted as he saw the hologram. The group approached the hologram slowly, it had the appearance of a fully grown male felinthian. Felinthians were a race of cat-like people. They may as well be anthropomorphic cats, but they lack tails and fur. Instead, they have human-esque skin.

"H-h-h-h-hee--e-ello" the hologram stated as the group approached. "I am M-M-M-MMM-M-Markus, your VI t-t--t--t-tour guide for the Allia--Alla--alal-iance freighter, The-The GREAT EXPEDITION-ITION-TION. Are-a-a-ara--are there any question-tion-ons?"

"This VI is heavily malfunctioning. One second." Info seemed to shut down for a moment before booting back up. "That should fix it. Ask it something."

"Alright Markus. Where can we find your crew?" Gunn asked.

"The crew of the GREAT EXPEDITION can be found in many places! In their quarters, in the mess hall, on the bridge, in engineering, and throughout various ducts and other behind-the-scenes places, keeping this great ship running and in good shape!"

"No, I mean..." gunn sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Right now, where is your crew right now?"

"...I am unable to complete your request. Please specify clearance." Markus replied.

"Ah, one moment." Info shut down once again briefly, before coming back up a few seconds later. "Try now."

"Ah! Welcome Captain CommanderAdmiralSergeantLieutenantPrivate 2983259074312950648.19047128561209814791.2830142378--ZZZTZTZRT... There are currently 137 crew members nearby, in their cabins and laboratories. 50 crew members are in the mess hall. 20 deceased crew members detected throughout the hallways and main decks. 5 deceased crew members detected on the Bridge.

"Okay, so we do have dead ones. Not surprising." Gunn shrugged. "How did this ship crash?"

"The GREAT EXPEDITION is indestructible, no anomalies, such as crashes or accidents, have been logged in the past... -54-... Earth Years."

"This ship is 54 years old... but how long has it been here on this planet?" Gunn wondered to himself. Suddenly, his ears perked up as he got an idea. "Markus, are there any emergency logs recorded within the past 5 Earth Years?"

"One journal entry, recorded yesterday."

"Just one? Okay, what about the past 10 years?"

"One journal entry, recorded yesterday."

"Damn... past 25 years?"

"One moment." A few seconds passed. "...357 Emergency Logs recorded 22 Earth Years ago. Two Journal Entries recorded 22 Earth Years ago. One Journal Entry recorded yesterday."

"What's the difference between an emergency log and a journal entry?" Vasquez asked.

"Emergency Log just catches what you say, not your voice or actions. If you need to record something quickly, as if in an emergency. The VI can repeat the log to you. A Journal Entry can record your voice, as well as any holo-video you may record." Info explained.

"Markus, begin playing the Emergency Logs, starting from the oldest." Gunn said.

"Emergency Log #1, recorded by Captain Reese Bruseir. 'Oh god. We're going down. Something hit us and we're going down. We may have been found out. Dear god save us. Help us.'

Emergency Log #2, recorded by Captain Reese Bruseir. 'Prepare for impact, we may not survive the crash. Dear god. I regret everything. Tell my wife I love her.'

Emergency Log #3, recorded by Chief Engineer Grolan Miso. 'We just crashed, The Great Expedition has crashed, please someone help. This planet is dangerous. Its sun is dying and releasing an unhealthy amount of radiation. We can't last long this way. Someone please help.'

Emergency Log #4, recorded by--"

"That'll do, Markus. Who are the journals by?" Gunn asked.

"Doctor Donyld Strauss has three recorded Journal Entries."

uuuunnnggghh...gggnnnnuuuuugghhnnngg...

"Guys stop fooling around, you already made Rookie waste ammo." Gunn didn't even turn around to talk to Vasquez and Bones. However, they were just standing behind him, playing rock paper scissors.

"We uhh.. we didn't do anything, Gunn." Bones said.

GGRRAUGH

"GAAAHH! OH SH-CRUD GET IT OFF ME!" Rookie had been pounced upon by what looked like a crew member of the ship, wearing tattered clothing that had the Expedition's insignia on the chest. The crew member was also a felinthian, his sharp feline-like teeth trying to bite at Rookie's face. His eyes were bloodshot, wild. Any sort of decency had left them.

"Holy shit! An actual zombie!" Vasquez aimed his weapon and shot the crew member in the head, making the body collapse on Rookie. It then dissolved into ash, which Rookie frantically brushed off himself as he stood up.

"What the fuck was that?!" Bones asked as he helped brush off his squadmate.

Gunn popped the VI out of the ground, luckily the base could fit in his pocket. "I don't know, I didn't think zombies were real. I mean, that religious girl back at base told me about something similar, but... that guy looked like a legit zombie."

"Just one problem, Gunn. That zombie wasn't undead. My scanner picked it up as a sign of life, with a heartbeat and respiratory functions and everything." Doc said worriedly.

"And it just dissolved into ash, like a vampire too!" Vasquez noted.

"Yes, Vasq, we all saw it. Luckily Rookie here isn't hurt. But if the rest of the crew is like this, then I think it's best we abandon the mission and find a way out of here A...S..AP..." Gunn looked around the rotunda. Vasquez's gunshot had attracted more of them, and they were all standing in the hallways, staring at the group.

"All exits are blocked off Gunn..!" Bones said in a panicked but hushed tone. "What do we do?!"

Gunn himself seemed a little panicked, but he tried not to let it show. He kept his helmet up as he pulled out his rifle. "...I said we're finding a way off this ship. We're gonna do that one way or another."

Description
"What's your name again, Rookie?" The war-hardened admiral looked at the freshly wounded lombax in front of him. His face had recently been stitched up along the side, and he was fighting back tears as he tried to maintain his composure for Tallet.

"M..my name is--"

"No it isn't." Tallet cut him off before he could speak.

"P-pardon, sir?"

"Rookie, you proved your worth out there on Tundral VII. And while it is unfortunate you lost your sister, I could really use someone like you in my team." Tallet began, "In fact I would consider it a great honor if you joined me."

"That..that still doesn't explain..."

"Listen, my team is covert, silent, deadly. I may be a high ranking Admiral in the Alliance, but that doesn't mean I can do whatever I want, when I want. What you will be doing is considered illegal in several parts of the galaxy. The Alliance is a fantastic military, but they could care less about anything that isn't their own damn space. That's why I've created this team of... mercenaries, I guess you could call them. Whatever you are now, whoever you were before you entered this room will no longer be a part of your life. You and your squad must never exchange personal information, background history, anything of the sort. I will give you a false name, a codename if you so wish to call it. But if you no longer wish to be a part of my team, the door is open." Tallet motioned his hand towards the door on the opposite wall. "What say you?"

The wounded lombax looked down in his lap where a pistol sat. He picked it up, observing it. He knew this pistol, it wasn't anything provided by Tallet or the merc team or the Alliance. 'Property of Riona O'Neill' was etched in the side. A small stream appeared down the lombax's face as he stared at the etching in sorrow.

"Sir, there is nothing I'd want more than to join your team. Sign me up." the lombax replied to the admiral, wiping his face.

"Excellent, I knew you would." Tallet took note of the lombax staring at the pistol in his lap. "...you like your guns, huh? You sure are good with one." the admiral looked at a photo of his son on his desk. 'Sammy Tallet'. He turned his attention back to the lombax. "Welcome aboard, Samael Gunn." He extended his hand to shake the rookie's.

Gunn returned the handshake.

***

"Nuuuuhhh...gyuuuhhhhnnngg" Two figures were seen lumbering towards Gunn, Rookie, Doc, and Info.

"What the..?" Gunn pulled out his rifle and peered down the scope. The other three had also pulled out their weapons and were aiming them at the two silhouettes in the distance. "Hold your fire!" Gunn called out.

-BLAM BLAM BLAM-

"Rookie, dammit! I said hold your fire!"

"I.. I didn't.. it just happened...!" Rookie dropped his pistol and held up his hands.

"Ow OW! GOD DAMMIT Jesus H-fuckin Christ, Rookie!" One of the figures dropped. "It was just a joke!"

"Apparently we're -too- good at being zombies." Bones replied to his fallen partner, Vasquez. He picked him up, helping him walk back to the group.

Doc sighed and threw Vasquez two more small medi-gel packs.

"Well fellas, now that you've made Rookie piss his pants, can you tell me what you've found?" Gunn asked.

"Nothin. Zip, zero, squat, absolutely -nothing- worth salvage. Engines fried long ago, everything that could be even a little useful has decomposed over the years." Bones replied.

"Decomposed? You mean like dead bodies?" Doc asked.

"No, like.. rusted out, corroded n such." Bones nodded.

"Well.. Info and I both picked up multiple life signs. We believe it's every one of the crew, as it -is- quite a large number. Did you two at least see anything that could be providing them sustenance? Surely they would have run out of rations long before now." Doc crossed her arms.

"Actually, yeah, we found these cool berries. Pretty good actually." Vasquez pulled some sort of small crystalline fruit from his pocket.

"Vasquez, give me that before it becomes poisonous or something. Did you already eat one?" Doc snatched the berry away from him and began to observe it with her holo-screen.

"....maybe." the hispanic man looked shifty eyed.

"One? Try a whole damn bowl. Fool just kept eating them, one after the other." Bones said.

"A bowl? You two went into the mess hall? Did you see anyone in there?" Gunn asked.

"No, we didn't go into the mess hall. The bowl was just outside someone's room, just further down the hallway." Bones pointed.

Doc's holo-screen beeped and blipped as it observed the berry, until it finally went *ding!*

"Huh. Apparently there's nothing wrong with these berries. The screen says 'an addictive fruit found on remote planets in Imperium Space. Healthy, but eat with caution.' and... that's all it has. Doesn't say why to eat with caution, or what the berries have in them. But if it's okay to eat, then go for it, Vasquez." she tossed the berry back to Vasq, who quickly tossed it in his mouth and followed it with another piece of gum.

"Alright, so we can't save anything of worth off the ship. Let's rescue the survivors. C'mon." Gunn led his squad down the hallway, where it eventually opened up to a rotunda. In the center was a hologram that was malfunctioning a little bit, and around the edges of the rotunda led other hallways.

"Ah, most helpful! This ship is equipped with a Virtual Intelligence. A VI." Info noted as he saw the hologram. The group approached the hologram slowly, it had the appearance of a fully grown male felinthian. Felinthians were a race of cat-like people. They may as well be anthropomorphic cats, but they lack tails and fur. Instead, they have human-esque skin.

"H-h-h-h-hee--e-ello" the hologram stated as the group approached. "I am M-M-M-MMM-M-Markus, your VI t-t--t--t-tour guide for the Allia--Alla--alal-iance freighter, The-The GREAT EXPEDITION-ITION-TION. Are-a-a-ara--are there any question-tion-ons?"

"This VI is heavily malfunctioning. One second." Info seemed to shut down for a moment before booting back up. "That should fix it. Ask it something."

"Alright Markus. Where can we find your crew?" Gunn asked.

"The crew of the GREAT EXPEDITION can be found in many places! In their quarters, in the mess hall, on the bridge, in engineering, and throughout various ducts and other behind-the-scenes places, keeping this great ship running and in good shape!"

"No, I mean..." gunn sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Right now, where is your crew right now?"

"...I am unable to complete your request. Please specify clearance." Markus replied.

"Ah, one moment." Info shut down once again briefly, before coming back up a few seconds later. "Try now."

"Ah! Welcome Captain CommanderAdmiralSergeantLieutenantPrivate 2983259074312950648.19047128561209814791.2830142378--ZZZTZTZRT... There are currently 137 crew members nearby, in their cabins and laboratories. 50 crew members are in the mess hall. 20 deceased crew members detected throughout the hallways and main decks. 5 deceased crew members detected on the Bridge.

"Okay, so we do have dead ones. Not surprising." Gunn shrugged. "How did this ship crash?"

"The GREAT EXPEDITION is indestructible, no anomalies, such as crashes or accidents, have been logged in the past... -54-... Earth Years."

"This ship is 54 years old... but how long has it been here on this planet?" Gunn wondered to himself. Suddenly, his ears perked up as he got an idea. "Markus, are there any emergency logs recorded within the past 5 Earth Years?"

"One journal entry, recorded yesterday."

"Just one? Okay, what about the past 10 years?"

"One journal entry, recorded yesterday."

"Damn... past 25 years?"

"One moment." A few seconds passed. "...357 Emergency Logs recorded 22 Earth Years ago. Two Journal Entries recorded 22 Earth Years ago. One Journal Entry recorded yesterday."

"What's the difference between an emergency log and a journal entry?" Vasquez asked.

"Emergency Log just catches what you say, not your voice or actions. If you need to record something quickly, as if in an emergency. The VI can repeat the log to you. A Journal Entry can record your voice, as well as any holo-video you may record." Info explained.

"Markus, begin playing the Emergency Logs, starting from the oldest." Gunn said.

"Emergency Log #1, recorded by Captain Reese Bruseir. 'Oh god. We're going down. Something hit us and we're going down. We may have been found out. Dear god save us. Help us.'

Emergency Log #2, recorded by Captain Reese Bruseir. 'Prepare for impact, we may not survive the crash. Dear god. I regret everything. Tell my wife I love her.'

Emergency Log #3, recorded by Chief Engineer Grolan Miso. 'We just crashed, The Great Expedition has crashed, please someone help. This planet is dangerous. Its sun is dying and releasing an unhealthy amount of radiation. We can't last long this way. Someone please help.'

Emergency Log #4, recorded by--"

"That'll do, Markus. Who are the journals by?" Gunn asked.

"Doctor Donyld Strauss has three recorded Journal Entries."

uuuunnnggghh...gggnnnnuuuuugghhnnngg...

"Guys stop fooling around, you already made Rookie waste ammo." Gunn didn't even turn around to talk to Vasquez and Bones. However, they were just standing behind him, playing rock paper scissors.

"We uhh.. we didn't do anything, Gunn." Bones said.

GGRRAUGH

"GAAAHH! OH SH-CRUD GET IT OFF ME!" Rookie had been pounced upon by what looked like a crew member of the ship, wearing tattered clothing that had the Expedition's insignia on the chest. The crew member was also a felinthian, his sharp feline-like teeth trying to bite at Rookie's face. His eyes were bloodshot, wild. Any sort of decency had left them.

"Holy shit! An actual zombie!" Vasquez aimed his weapon and shot the crew member in the head, making the body collapse on Rookie. It then dissolved into ash, which Rookie frantically brushed off himself as he stood up.

"What the fuck was that?!" Bones asked as he helped brush off his squadmate.

Gunn popped the VI out of the ground, luckily the base could fit in his pocket. "I don't know, I didn't think zombies were real. I mean, that religious girl back at base told me about something similar, but... that guy looked like a legit zombie."

"Just one problem, Gunn. That zombie wasn't undead. My scanner picked it up as a sign of life, with a heartbeat and respiratory functions and everything." Doc said worriedly.

"And it just dissolved into ash, like a vampire too!" Vasquez noted.

"Yes, Vasq, we all saw it. Luckily Rookie here isn't hurt. But if the rest of the crew is like this, then I think it's best we abandon the mission and find a way out of here A...S..AP..." Gunn looked around the rotunda. Vasquez's gunshot had attracted more of them, and they were all standing in the hallways, staring at the group.

"All exits are blocked off Gunn..!" Bones said in a panicked but hushed tone. "What do we do?!"

Gunn himself seemed a little panicked, but he tried not to let it show. He kept his helmet up as he pulled out his rifle. "...I said we're finding a way off this ship. We're gonna do that one way or another."