Max groans and doubles over, clamping her hands over her ears. The sonic screech is too overwhelming!
|
The harpy's scream is loud, and for a moment Indarius feels the need to clasp his hands over his ears before some sort of rage flairs inside of him and he decides to put this to an end quickly. His book leaps from the satchel and he lets go of the staff letting it stew in the leyline for now quickly running his hands in an intricate pattern towards the harpy.
S̷̹̳̘͖̺̑͆̉͊̉ͅt̷̩͐̑̀͘r̵̻̟̈̈̿͗́͘̕͜ů̵͔̱̭n̷̹̮̻͇̏́̎͆̓̿ͅ ̶̧͈̳̭̾̈́͝D̵̜̘̟͛̀̽͝o̸̤͓̪͐̆̂̃͌̚͝ ̵̢̢̥͉̪̖̝̅̑̿I̸̼̭͐̿i̵̟̘̟͎̻͊͂̆̒z̶̞͉̿̓ ̴̭͈͗̊͑͘͝Ď̵̢̢̺͉̲̩͕̊͂̍̈́͝ë̵̲̭͔̙́͂͐͝ͅy̷̯͕̍̔͌t̶̥̠̘̒̃̀o̵̡̭͇͛̌̈ͅ ̸̳̘͈͖̙͌̊͠D̵̛̟̺͎̘̤̯̠̅̏̏̕ị̶̛̳̗̣͗͗͊͆͠ī̷̯͆̈́̓̉̈͘ ̴̡͇̖͍͐̿P̷͇̦͙̙͋͝a̶͕̫͑͋́̕a̴̟͓͓̎̊̋̚l̴̖̻͑͂ He screams in defiant rage against the beast-woman his voice momentarily matching her own in intensity.
With his spell hastily completed, the ice shield he had provided Horizon extends to DD before a boulder of ice falls from the low subway ceiling and crashes down towards the meta-human, threatening to pin her below it's heft.
In a blur, the Wolf jumps and is suddenly above Harpy. He grabs her by her nape and one of her wings, using his huge form to bring her to the ground... they land with the Wolf's knees on her back. There is a sickening sound of bones breaking, and as she remains motionless, a trickle of blood runs from her mouth.
Still with the Harpy trapped beneath him, the Wolf looks around and sees Chiros and Joro and as he jumps towards them, he grabs both of them, one in each clawed hand and throws them against the closest wall, stunning both. The Wolf grabs Joro, one hand on his throat and the other on a leg before biting on two of the extra legs that sprout from his torso... there is a the sound of tearing flesh and a desperate scream of pain before Joro's body flies across the tunnels to land besides Warthog. Covered in blood, the wolf drops the severed legs as he turns to Chiros.
There is nothing but rage in the Wolf's eyes, a feral beast, but then he speaks. "You... like the beast?" He asks as he lifts Chiros by his neck with one hand. The other slashes against Chiros's face, starting on the forehead and ending on his chin, removing an eye in the process. The wolf grins the whole time... angry... pleased... free.
So… cold…!
Femtite’s body temperature is dangerously low. Still well over 100 degrees, but what a human considers a high fever feels like hypothermia to Femtite.
I’m gonna die here!
While Femtite doesn’t need to breathe, she needs light. Even in space, her people lived inside the Nanometeor, the race as a whole providing light and heat, extracting sweet-spotted fungi from the nuclei of atoms… but cocooned in a toxic webbing that shuts her down, Femtite fears death is certain.
She unleashes her power to create a sun. To a human, this sun is hardly a spark.
The light-bulb-sized webbing around Femtite starts to glow brighter… brighter… smoke rises. A candleflame burns, and the thread holding the cocoon burns in an instant.
There is a smacking sound. On the floor, four glowing wings emerge from the web that is now engulfed in flames.
Anyone familiar with Femtite’s true form would know that she is normally too hot to touch at all. She’s very hot now, to the point that she’s painful to touch with bare skin. But her temperature is abnormally low. With fabric over your hand, you can hold her without burning the skin.
(Not sure if DD has fire-resistant skin and can tolerate Fem’s current “burnt-roll” heat.)
Horizon winces, floating back out of range of the Harpy's screech as Percy acts to keep him from the brunt of it. "Indy, defense, keep this in the zone!" He tells him...before realizing that Caio has gone fully out of control. He's not looking to subdue the Mongrels, but maim and kill them. Worst, he can't see SG, having been bulldozed out of here by the warthog Mongrel.
"Okay, new plan - play his song, keep Caio from becoming a murderer, and I'm going to go help SG!" He calls to the others as he tosses Diva the player he has from his utility belt for her to turn on. He flies into the tunnel towards where SG had vanished with their foe out of sight through the wall!
A bystander, who should've been clearly out of place but oddly wasn't, carefully picked up Femtite from the ground.
"Hey Femms, I've got you. I've got you."
S+*#, she's cold. Really cold... UGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH I hate that this is fastest!
Reaching into her talismans, she grabbed out the obnoxiously simple fire wand that Percy had made for her. Muttering "Flickum bicus," she produced a flame not much bigger than a candle's, holding it close to her girlfriend.
"C'mon Femms. This seems like a better idea, but I will get everyone in the audience to clap if that's what it takes."
Femtite clings to Connie’s finger. She remains the same size, but in a fairy form. She’s still naked, and even colder than she was as a pixite. Her temperature is roughly that of a human.
“Just cover my body with your hands, Connie. You’re so warm… I don’t need a fire. Just you…”
Devil Diva recovers quickly as Indarius's magical cold draws away Harpy's breath for her scream.
Then an enraged and bestial Caio pounces on her, snapping her wing and leaving her broken form on the ground!
He then moves to Joro and Chiros with equal savagery!
Horizon shouts orders and rushes to help out Steel Guardian, but just then Warthog steps out of the crater in the wall. With a backhand, he slams against the tunnel's support, bringing down the house! A localized cave-in showers tons of rubble upon the spot where Steel Guardian was last seen!
Warthog then sees the destruction that Caio has wrought and his eyes nearly glow with the same savage determination as the werewolf! "NOOO!" the large beast man shouts as he charges at Caio, sending him barreling away from Chiros!
Meanwhile, Conflux had slipped into the chamber unseen and frees Femtite. She sees a fair amount of lab equipment that's about to be destroyed by the rampaging werewolf battling Warthog!
What do you do?!?
Devil Diva grabs the music device, but she doesn't use it yet. Instead, she pounces on Warthog's back, grabbing his head. She holds on tightly as she tries to drain his vitality, but she falters as the terror of thr situation strikes her!
Warthog grabs her and starts clobbering her, and Max struggles to hold on to her control, to no avail...
"S*~~. Okay. Theoretical: All dangerous animal-people and assorted therianthropes need to be calmed down and powered down. Practical: They're idiosyncratic enough that one working won't be effective at handling all of them, and powering anyone down in the middle of this fight would be putting their life in needless danger until more variables are resolved... So prevent additional variables from arising by keeping the equipment from being destroyed."
Trusting to her bystander charm, Conflux didn't bother much with protecting herself while she tried to figure out the right ward that would keep everything safe against a variety of potential forces, go up quickly, and not add herself as another front in the battle.
"Fast, powerful, subtle: Pick two?"
"S$$@!"
Okay maybe pick one.
Horizon doesn't wait before he flies past Warthog, ignoring him entirely as he focuses on getting SG out of danger. He brings out a pair of sonic knuckles to start pulverizing rocks and move them out of the way, before ditching the high tech option to dig with his hands.
"Guardian! Hang on!" He shouts.
Femtite says, “I can help… Connie… just need to get the wounded… out.”
She flutters weakly to Connie’s hair, tapping the Bug with her hand. It hovers and grows to a foot long. Femtite takes the control stick.
|
|
Indarius shakes his head from the sudden burst of anger as Caio or more accurately the wolf breaks Harpy. Everyone lunges at their own problems and acts very separated from one another in this moment. He realizes that despite everything he should probably work on one problem at a time, or maybe all of them at once, or maybe. While he wrestles with indecision Diva jumps at Warthog only to be ineffectual at the moment. Horizon flung himself at the rocks with some whining piece of tech to attempt to free Steel Guardian, his ears rang even more until he dropped them.
To much noise, too much right now... Need to cut things off and reel it all back in, control it Diva can handle her own, the wolf will deal with whatever problem we need it to at the moment.
Weaving his hands once more and channeling the energy of the leylines he tried an alteration of a spell of his own concoction. For this his book did not flip to any page in specific, instead it turned from the standard shield spell he utilized when encasing an area, as well as a chilling hoarfrost, a ring of fire, enchanted runes. It constantly switched and he didn't even bat an eye towards it.
Ǧ̷̨̫͓r̵͈̯̘͍̯̀͊͊́̚a̵̫̔̐ḧ̶̜̤́̂͊ ̸̨̫̰̓̋̈́́̚Z̸͕̻͉͍̑i̶̡̥͌̽͆̎͂n̸͓̭̦̳̼̏̽̾̒̉
Fuzzbat squeaked through the air and started scratching at Warthog's eyes hopefully distracting him enough that Diva could get a better grasp on him.
̸͕̰̼͗͗̈̂I̵̲͐͗͝ï̵̢̲̜ͅz̴͇̞̹͔͐ ̴̮̽̀H̶̞̝̒o̶͉̍̚r̸̹̅̇v̸̡̿͛̔̚͘u̴̩̫͔͌͂̄̚͜t̶̞͖̭͂̔̕a̵̖͉̖͂͂͋̉͘ḧ̵̻͕̉ ̴̡͖̯͇͆̂͆̕͠
The group might notice a glowing ring of rime encircling DD, Warthog, Caio, and Chiros.
P̶̧̛̩̈́͋́͂͜à̶̼̙͋̐a̸͈̩̒l̸͔͍̬̂̐̐͊͝
With the explosive final commanding boom a large circular wall of black ice erupted up sealing the combatants in a fight pit. Indarius's arms stayed up holding the barrier. He also silently prayed that everyone behind the barrier would make it out alright and well not dead to the unfathomable rage that was The Wolf.
Devil Diva jumps on Warthog's back in an attempt to drain him. Fuzzbat gives her the needed distraction to close and leap onto his back.
Warthog squeals briefly as her power flares and lashes out without thought at a threat.
The oversized Mongrel is far faster than he looks and with one hand he reaches behind him and plucks her off his back. He pounds her several times with his superhuman strength, then shoves the demoness straight into Wolf! Before she can do anything, Max suddenly absorbs an unhealthy dose of energy from the rampaging werewolf!
A surge of feral ferocity overwhelms Devil Diva's mind. She issues a bloodcurdling screech as she rips and claws indiscriminately, tearing rents in both Caio's and Warthog's hide!
Just then, Indarius brings up a wall of ice encircling Caio, Devil Diva, Warthog and Chiros!
Then Indarius realizes ... Fuzzbat's also in there!
============
Outside the wall, Horizon does his best to free Steel Guardian, but his plan to pulverize the rocks with his sonic knuckles causes an even greater cave-in! He has to dive out of the way as another section of wall cracks and buries the armored hero under even more rubble!
Elsewhere,
Conflux's hastily-applied ward flares and fizzles out before it has any hope of containing the rampaging beasts! Even worse, when Indarius brings up the barrier she gets a feedback surge that coats her hands in ice!
The rubble shifts just a bit, and over comms, everyone hears Steel Guardian’s modulated voice, full of static, say ”I…I can’t move! I can’t…I can’t breathe!”
Femtite would really like to wear clothes and grow… but Connie needs her!
Femtite feels in control of her powers more than ever before. She pinpoints a miniature sun on herself, giving her body privacy shinies that melt the ice off of Connie’s hands without harming her!
”Hang in there, Guardian! Where are you? Is there a signal I can lock onto?”
The Wolf is annoyed at being clawed by the demon, but he is aware that the pain would only fuel his rage and his wounds would heal in no time. He kicks Warthog against the black ice wall, cracking it, and then throws the demon on top of Chiros. He circles around, waiting for Warthog to recover and positioning himself in a way to give the huge Mongrel little choice but to charge him.
As he does, the Wolf jumps, opening his arms and allowing Warthog's tusks to pierce his stomach... his blood rushing and blinding Warthog. With his free hands, Caio rends his back, while he knees the Mongrel's stomach and rakes his legs with the claws on his feet, and bites Warthog's neck repeatedly, trying to cause as much bleeding as possible!
The Wolf knows that Warthog is probably stronger than him, but bleeding so much, he'd soon lose his power, while the Wolf would keep his strength due to his superhumanly regenerative powers.
Dammit!
Shin has fully lost his cool as he digs in, fully ignoring the fight out in the regular subway and desperately trying to move this rubble to free the Guardian. It's a Sisyphean task though, as one chunk is moved and two more tumble to fall in its place.
"Anyone, Indy, Fem! I need you now!" He screams himself hoarse calling for the Nova. "It's going to be okay. I'm here. I'm not leaving you again!"
”It…it hurts! The…the suit…it’s being crushed!” Steel Guardian says.
Codex can be heard commenting ”Suit integrity, breached. Cockpit compromised. Initiating ‘Goodbye’ Protocols.”
Steel Guardian replies ”No! Not…unnngggh…not yet!”
Chiros struggles with the enraged demon, using both hands and clawed feet to counter Max's claws and tail. Devil Diva incoherently screams as she attacks. Then the chiropteran catches both her claws at the wrists, holding her at bay for a moment as he gasps, "Your teammate is buried alive! I can hear her! She's dying!"
“Boarding the Bug!” Fem replies to Horizon. ”On my way!”
|
|
Indy turns to look at Horizon's request for help for a split second only for the runic black ice to crack. The mage physically slides back from the force exerted through the magical bond he and it share and he grits his teeth and refocused.
"Busy. Conflux go." He strains through the earpiece. Reinforcing the black ice as he does so, before returning to his low chanting to keep the spell fueled.
”Stop! Stop!” Steel Guardian says, their voice modulator unable to hide the fact the person behind it is crying. ”Just…finish…the fight…” they say as they labor for breath.
”Codex…i-initi-ate…’Good…” they say before falling silent.
A long pause happens, then Codex says ”Initiating ‘Goodbye’ Protocol.”
"Don't you give up on me! Don't you..." Shin, desperate for something, checks his belt for something, anything that could possibly help in this scenario.
"...Hold on!" He shoves his fist in as deep as he can into a crevice in the pile, hopefully deep enough. He can't let it go, so he activates the emergency crash pad. It suddenly and violently inflates, two fingers immediately dislocating as it bursts into a huge cushion that flings rubble right off of the pile! But was it enough to keep Steel Guardian from being crushed?
Femtite pulls up. If Horizon can handle the rescue, she’ll attempt to save SG right here and now!
The suit itself is too complex… what else?
Horizon thinks his desperate stopgap maneuver might have lessened the pressure crushing down on Steel Guardian, but if the suit had already collapsed on its pilot, they may still be suffocating!
Femtite looks around, and spots a number of pieces of laboratory equipment and devices that could be repurposed. That centrifuge looks promising...
Percy keeps the barrier up as the Wolf and the Demon fight against the Warthog and the Bat.
Femtite immediately jumps ship (the Bug) and flies into the centrifuge!
Femtite makes the Power Suit Power-Upper, which should add a temporary regeneration feature to SG’s suit, healing her as long as she has it on (until the attachment flakes off).
Only… she can’t get to Steel Guardian.
“NO! I can save her, but I need my device to fit in the hole!” She asks, ”Should I fly in to provide a beacon, or…?” She looks back to the one person who always knows what to do. ”CONNIEEEEEE!!”
"Your teammate is buried alive! I can hear her! She's dying!"
The red haze fades away from Max's vision, and her thoughts become clear again, just in time for the full weight of Chiros's words to sink in. She breaks free of the bat-man's grasp, eyes wide with panic.
"No! NOOOO!" Max shrieks, immediately turning and running towards the ice wall. She crosses her arms over her head, not breaking her stride, as she plows through it.
The demoness continues her charge, dark energies building around her, as he barrels toward the pile of rubble. "Femtite! Give me the device!" she shouts, holding her hand out. Then she hits the rubble and gives it her all, flinging aside tons of cement and twisted metal to get to Steel Guardian. To save her.
She has to save her!
”I’ll move the device—just clear a path!”
In the interest of brevity, Fem doesn’t explain that she needs to be with the device to operate it, regardless of who moves it. She hopes DD can be more efficient with both hands free.
Feeling Warthog losing his strength, the Wolf grabs him by his tusks and then takes a mighty impulse against the ice wall to bring his knee against Warthog's head, knocking him out on top of Chiros.
The Wolf smells all the blood around him, flexing his claws and drooling as if trying to decide which of the Mongrels he'll kill first... he kicks Warthog's body, so he can grab Chiros's unconscious body and lift it. He opens his mouth to kill the Mongrel, but then stops.
The Wolf drops Chiros and steps back, as if struggling with something. He howls and claws himself as he begins to shift back into Caio, even if his wards are still dormant.
Caio looks at all the carnage around him. "What... Have I done?"
As the sounds of the fighting cease, the desperate clawing and digging by Max echoes through the tunnel.
When she finds the Steel Guardian chassis, she sees it's buckled underneath the heavy weight of the cave-in. Fearing the worst, she has no choice but to rend the suit of armor to get at the person trapped inside!
There's no other way. As gently as she can manage, Max reaches in and pulls Grace out of the suit. She's unconscious, having trouble breathing, and is only in a sports bra and shorts. A trickle of blood is coming out of her mouth and there's a gash on her forehead.
What do you do??
Femtite grows her Love Bug, The. ”Get her in! With the suit wrecked, I’ll hook the power-upper to the Bug!”
Once Grace is inside, Femtite hooks up her healing device. She needs to close the magenta dome as Grace heals. But… “Horizon, get in with me,” she says, having seen Shin and Grace together during her short stint as a cheerleader, and the short while she was at the school dance.
Femtite prepares to do all she can to make sure her tech saves Shin’s girlfriend!
Max gingerly lowers Grace into Love Bug, The. The demoness's expression is one of despair and anxiety. When Femtite invites Horizon inside, Max steps aside to give him some space, but she does not leave the vehicle.
"Is there anything I can do? Maybe I can give her some of the vitality I absorbed. Please, I don't want her to die," Max whimpers.
Femtite hooks up her device, leaving the dome open until Horizon’s settled in.
“The power-upper should regenerate her. But I can’t tell where she’s damaged most. I’m going to go… inside her. Wherever her cells are most active, that’s where the worst of the damage is.
“When I find the spot, can you refocus your vitality there?”
As Femtite speaks, she’s extending tubes from within her Bug (which were never there before) to the gash on Grace’s head. Next, an oxygen feed…
“I think you can start with the head wound. I’ll check her torso, starting with the heart and lungs.”
Shin can barely hear at the moment. The flying rubble pile had him sprawled back out on his back, and he felt something hot and warm seeping into his hair and trickling down the back of his head. He was bleeding pretty badly, but that was fine. The three fingers on his left hand that were currently dislocated and bent unnaturally were also fine, as in that he didn't think that he felt them as painfully as he should have.
He looks dazed as he turns towards Femtite, and stumbles into the Love Bug. He should be checked for a concussion. He didn't care. He looked and saw Grace and looked frantically around before fumbling his his good hand in his utility belt. He pulls free a domino mask, applying it with spirit gum to her face.
"Unity Station. Punch it!" He tells Femtite as he shakes off the fog in his head, the throbbing pain helping to wake him up. "Wait...are the Mongrels-"
He stops. "They don't matter. We need the suit too. Then we need to get out, fast as possible!" he tells the Outsider. "Max, stay here and wait for the back-up from the Alliance. I need to get them to the med lab at Unity," He tells Diva. "I...I don't..."
He's spent. His good hand clutches onto Grace's, slumping next to her.
Max shakes her head. "No. I'm not leaving. Indarius and Conflux can take things from here."
She puts a hand on Horizon's shoulder. "Horizon, please. I know we haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things lately. But I can help her. I can help you, too, if you'd just let me. Stop being so stubborn, and let me help."
Femtite closes the dome with Max and Shin both inside.
After becoming a spark, then nothing, Femtite moves more needles over the bare skin of Grace’s belly. She pulls back the left strap of the sports bra, not exposing the beast more than necessary to access the heart.
“I think my machine will do the trick, DD. The head wound, lungs and ribs closest to the heart need the most help.”
Femtite does not fly quickly, nor does she concern herself with SG’s broken suit. She flies to Unity to get Grace to the med lab.
As she does, she calls to Connie, “Can you handle things down there? Tell the mongrels to behave, and I’ll heal them too.”
Max nods to Femtite. She sits heavily on one of the chairs, her eyes rarely leaving Grace.
After a bit, she looks over at the pixite. "Femtite, I'm sorry. I was the one who suggested you scout past the floor. It's my fault you were caught and trapped. And since we all rushed in to save you, it's my fault Grace got hurt so badly. But you're amazing. What youre doing here, now, it's truly a miracle. You're awesome, Femtite. I just wanted you to know that."
"I am asking for your help," Shin croaks to Max. "You have to lead them right now. I'm in no condition to...to...are we moving?" He says, still holding onto Grace's hand. "...S#~~. Okay. Can you relay...wait. Who saw?" He asks.
He squeezes Grace's hand. "...Just relay that they need to wait for backup. And that they should make sure Lawrence didn't slip. And...to keep the music playing for Caio. And I have to contact Whippoorwill. It's sacrosanct, you understand?" He tells Max. "Neither of you saw anything. She was fully masked when you pulled them out and you never saw their face. Do you understand?"
Grace gasps and her body tenses, though her eyes remain closed! ”AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!” she cries out as her whole body begins spasming and writhing in agony! And then, changing!
Her arms and legs elongate slightly. Her muscles grow taut. Her ears elongate and grow pointed. Her teeth, clenched, grow pointy and sharp. Her fingers bend and crack, and sharp claws appear where her nails were, their predecessors falling to the seat, covered in blood. From her backside, a long, thick tail extends from the base of her spine. Her torso elongates and grows more developed. And all over her body, a fine, golden fur sprouts.
By the time the change is complete, she is left laying limply in the vehicle, panting, fur damp with sweat. But her injuries appear to have healed!
“Aww, don’t beat yourself up, DD. I got caught and my body had a weird reaction to the webbing. Being able to alter size or become fire should make me kind of immune to that sort of trap, but… I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was the toxin, or… I might’ve panicked.
“To be honest, it’s still kinda disorienting to me. I mean…” She looks at Grace and Shin laying side by side, both so vulnerable. “You’re all titans to my people. Can you picture a person, fully clothed, well-groomed, nerdy glasses… thirty thousand miles tall? This person sees your planet, gets some other equally colossal people, and has them place your planet under a glass box.
“And every day, more and more people look into the glass box at your world. Some are only twenty thousand miles tall—the children!”
Nothing about Femtite’s tone suggests this is frightening to her.
“You don’t really see them as people. There’s a haze. You see the silhouettes, and they move very slowly. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you my planet was in a museum. Maybe it was to protect my world… maybe it’s also a little…”
Shin awakens.
“Yes, moving. Horizon, we saw her. The whole team did. Grace needs to live.”
Before Femtite can say more, Grace is awake, and—!!!
“Grace…?” Femtite slows to a hover. She flits to the rear of the vehicle, not minding the blood!
”Mmmmnnnnn, wh-what happened?” she says as she weakly opens her eyes. They have turned a deep amber, and have vertical pupils like a cat.
Max is about to reply to Horizon when Grace goes through her change. Max’s face falls, but she is quick to go to the girl’s side and take her free hand. ”Grace. I—we’re here with you. Shin, and Femtite, and me. We’re here. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay. Don’t worry. Just... rest.”
Grace’s eyes blink a few times, looking around. A tear forms in her eyes and she asks ”M-my identity…everyone knows…don’t they?”
Max nods. ”The team all saw. But... There’s something else, Grace. It happened. You... you’ve changed.” She holds up the furred hand she’s holding so Grace can see it.
Femtite replies, “Grace… there’s no easy way to tell you this…” Femtite alters the magenta dome so it displays a simulated reflection. If Grace looks up, she can see her reflection as if she were staring at a flat mirror. (—without the distortion or inversion normally seen in a concave reflective surface.)
“You’ve changed.”
”Not that that changes anything. You’re one of us, Grace, and whatever happened to you, we’ll get through it.
“But you almost died today… try to keep that perspective if it helps. You’re alive, and I finally get to meet the girl under all that steel.”
Grace gasps as Max and Fem break the news! She then looks up to the mirrored image above her, and her eyes widen in fear! ”no no no no…” she mutters rapidly as her hands wander over her body and she looks at her hands.
”NOOOOOOOOO!” she eventually wails.
Well, that went as well as expected.
“Grace… it’s okay. Your among friends who have all experienced bodily changes. You’re not alone.”
Shin looks wrecked. But he finds some last reserve of strength in him to stand up and grab Grace in a hug around her shoulders with his arms. "...It's okay. It's going to be all right. I'm so sorry this happened. I thought if I brought you to the Alliance, if they got to you in time this wouldn't have happened...it's all my fault. All of this is my fault. I could have done more..."
As Shin wraps her in a hug, she returns it…weakly. Her body feels like it is radiating heat. Almost febrile. She mutters ”Stop the ship.”