"We've got to keep moving," Una grunted while climbing to her feet, hardening her resolve against the big gun aimed in her direction. "We might be able to finish the mission if we find where all the infected went. Zaras can you sniff them out?"

“I can sniff out a lot of things, my ugly green sister,” Zaras said as she casually stepped over to one of the pods. She reached for the fabricator's keyboard only to see a wall of text that quickly blinked out before she could read it. It was replaced with a little emoji sticking its tongue out at her before it also disappeared. "Oooon… the Star Seeker, I can even smell the scent of a second male deep in the belly of the ship."

"I…" 5699 began speaking, still a tad out of breath. "I'm also aware of something odd about our home." Feeling Una's suspicious gaze, the demonic sister finally decided to stop threatening Una. Realizing the Orc wasn't gonna be easily intimidated. "Kaida… is my name."

"I carried you and you're out of breath?" Zaras asked while starting up a pods fabricator. "If there is another male on the ship, I plan on finding him."

"Disgusting," The demonic nun spat. "What you should do is kill yourself and hope my Queen sees you fit to be reborn instead of trying to fuck whatever's giving off such a horrible aura. Even before my Queen chose me to be reborn from the flames of hell." Leaning her head to the side, Kaida gave her Orc sister a twisted grin. "Your mother, the great Orc Queen, the undeserving heart of our father. When she died and was cast into the flames of hell, Father gave his first orders to plunge the Star Seeker into hell in search of her. Father's silent rage was a sight to behold, this I swear." She blushed, caressing the sides of her face as she became lost in the memory for but a moment. Fear washed over her as she went on to say, "But what was felt was not of Father, not of the ship, nor its AI, the mother of Sib. Not of the Queens nor the ancient ones who birthed them. Something much more frightening slumbers within the bowels of the ship. After being reborn by my wonderful Queen, that fear had become nothing more than a memory, and yet its presence remains as if I'm no longer locked in its gaze. So the fact you wish to fuck it almost makes you worst than this green abomination!"

Zaras stood there blankly staring until finally the drop pod's fabricator pinged and spat out a backpack.

"So the ship has secrets," Una began while recovering her side arm and rifle. "And yet none of that is useful right now. I suggest we load up while we're here."

"I have a suggestion!" Sib chimed in. "Reinforce your combat knife! You know when you're playing a game and you're asked if you want to upgrade your gear?" The sisters stood there staring back at each other for a moment before going back to preparing. "Don't ignore me, you dummies!"

"We've never had access to that stuff, Sib," Una said.

"Not true, you're just stupid. Anyway, there are three rogue battalions consisting of three thousand total. You're gonna run out of bullets so you better have something sharp and sturdy," He explained.

"That's… most definitely a vibe," Zaras said as she pulled a katana from the fabricator.

"There we are, I can finally hear you. How's it vibing my artificial brother?" Zaras asked while adjusting her black beret. Sib's reply came as a burp and a hysterical laugh. "Sib, I truly envy your free-spirited vibe, but it's not appropriate for the situation."

"Can you blame him?" Kaida spoke up while working with the fabricator of another drop pod. Being that she was of another species she technically didn't have access until Sib made it work for her. "If we fail and die, he'll be here all by himself. Something I hear the Chaton Queen is no stranger to. So let him be happy, while he can." She smirked, feeling as if she had a better understanding of the situation and Sib's feelings

"Sib, can you figure out when and where the Star Seeker will crash?" Una asked while fixing her rifle strap. Making sure it stayed nice and snug to her chest.

"Nope!" Sib chimed. "Although the ship is falling, Queen Lucy has been tasked with preventing the ship from falling. How long she's able to do so is unknown!"

“Couldn’t she just move the ship far enough to escape?”

“Unknown!” He laughed

"Oh, my Queen!" Kaida sang one hand over her breast. "My dark goddess of the underworld. Hang on just a little longer. We're going to save you." Her fabricator signaled it was done with a ping.

"Who… in the fuck… is we?!" Zaras snapped. "Pray to your piece of shit mother, but don't lump me into that vibe."

"Blatant blasphemy! I'll skin you alive, Sinner!" Kaida said while pointing with her extremely curved blade.

"... What the hell is that?" Zaras asked, pointing at Kaida's fabricated weapon.

"It's… a hand scythe," She lowered her weapon with a cold belittling gaze. "We're not authorized to have a full-sized scythe.”

“Let me guess none of you demons are allowed but your Queen has one?”

"Tis why you're a fool," She pulled out a little black bible, flicking through a few pages. "Of which is ancient and dormant was passed from Lucy to Adam, for the Queen has become smitten," Kaida sang with a hand over her chest as she seemed to bathe in the dark gospel.

"So Father has it?"

"... Yes."

"You could have just said that."

"We're leaving, Zaras takes point." Una chimed.

"Who the hell made you the leader?" Kaida barked as she moved up behind Una, following her closely.

"I'd much rather sniff out our infected sisters than be in the back smelling green ass all day," Zaras grunted.

Una received a shoulder tap from Zaras as she walked to the front. While annoying, so far she was doing pretty good with keeping her emotions in check. Also because a question had been rolling around in her head.

"Sib?" Una began. "Is this a simulation?"

The question not only took Zaras and Kaida by surprise but also Sib.

"Oh wow, good question! I thought you'd ask something like… stopping the spores with gas masks or something!" The sisters stopped walking and glanced at the nearest drop pod before looking at one another. Sib went on to say, "A question that would be very VERY stupid given the maintenance and how much more effective it is to have AI-controlled nanites in your body and clothes. But no, we're not in a simulation as far as we know."

The three simultaneously sighed and began marching.

“Also,” Kaida chimed. “Making a mask for the fat-headed Chaton might be a problem.”

"It’s a fluff problem!” Zaras snapped, quickly regaining her composure. “We're expendable pawns of the cruel and corrupt," Zaras began while taking a small squat and hopping up onto a toppled tree trunk. "Why wouldn't we be placed in a simulation and killed for not making the right choices?"

"I'd give anything to die and be born again," Kaida sang. "This body of mine is FUCKING TAINTED!" She snapped

"The Captain is in complete control of all forms of technology on the ship." Una began as she hopped up before giving Kaida a hand. "While we serve our matriarchs, I don't think the Captain would allow it. The Chaton Queen is proof of what happens when you're unsure of what's real or fake." She said while glancing at Zaras, her Chaton sister. Kaida on the other hand stared at Zaras with disgust in her gaze.

"Don't look at me like that. I have self-control." Zaras said.

“And yet your kind sees rape as foreplay,” Kaida said.

Zaras hopped down off the side. When she landed, the ground seemed to pop, releasing a mist of spores that engulfed her. Instinctively she sprang back up and bounded off the side of the fallen tree trunk landing a few feet away.

"You're infected, I best put you down," Kaida said while aiming, “death” with her sidearm."

"You better not miss, you fucken bitch."

"An explosion like Sergeant 14237. When she hit the bottom of the cliff. Nobody moves, let me check something." Una explained while removing a thermal monocular from her backpack. Finding it pretty quickly no doubt thanks to Sib.

“That reminds me, Kaida, are you afraid of heights?” Zaras asked. “You were clinging to my back pretty tightly. Almost thought you’d finally grown tired of that chastity shit.”

“When I skin you, I’m using your fur as toilet paper.”

Una ignored her sisters as she peeked through her thermal monocular. The forest floor lit up with bright spots.

“Zaras, does the Chaton bury their dead?”

“We burn them,” Zaras said as a matter of fact while eyeing the forest floor around her. “Well, that’s what we do on our home planet. Not on Father’s ship, however."

"It's pretty much a minefield graveyard out here,” Una said.

“What kind of fungus sets a minefield? And stop pointing that damn thing at me! I’m not infected thanks to Sib.” Zaras said.

Kaida kept her gaze locked on Zaras and her arm steady. After a few more moments considering possible loopholes as to why she could get away with putting a hole in her sister's fluffy face. She finally holstered her sidearm and asked;

“Do you think there’s another threat on this planet?”

“I doubt it and it doesn't matter," Una snapped, shutting down that possible train of thought. "What way, Zaras?”

Zaras took a deep breath before jabbing a thumb behind her.

“Although this place smells of ass, that way smells like someone took a shit.”

“Alright, let's go." She gave her nun of a sister a small nod before jumping down to the forest floor. "Land where I landed."

"No shit!" Kaida said, soon her boots thumped on the ground next to her. "It's not like we'll be affected thanks to Sib."

"Wrong, you big dummy! Your bodies are constantly absorbing lots of spores and I'm getting rid of them through your body's natural waste. So the harder I have to work, the more food and liquids you need to consume. Too bad for all of you, we don’t have the time nor the resources to make you comfortable or safe."

Una took the lead at a steady jog, calling out every blip of heat that showed up in their path. It was hard to say for sure but while they leaped over and zipped past every possible spore explosive, every now and again distorted Chaton faces could be seen bulging from the cleaner parts of the forest floor. As if there was an order to bury large numbers of the hot-dropped marines and in a rush did a piss poor job, Una thought. She wondered how Zaras felt, seeing her kind, turned into landmines. She figured Kaida would be brandishing a large satisfied grin as if this treatment of the Chaton was perhaps justified. As the makeshift blips of heat became few and far between, Una couldn’t help but look back at Kaida, finding that she was right while her Chaton sister Zaras had a calm and blank expression. Thanks to the shades, it was hard to tell. Una noticed a figure lurking behind a tree. A twisted Chaton with a bloated head covered in fungus instead of fur. It lunged for her but missed and went after her sisters instead. Without thinking Una stopped and forced herself in reverse, throwing her body between them and the creature. Its head swelled and popped, calling forth a blinding light that engulfed her.