Few things in Ashi's life could be described as more heartwrenching than seeing the once leaping flames dwindle down to little more than a flicker, the warmth draining from her own cheeks as the fire dimmed. Ashi swallowed, reduced to a spectator, a witness to the trauma of a diminishing species. She watched, tears once again threatening to spill and she nodded, gulping, “Her essence will find its way, of that I am certain. She was a cowgirl – an explorer of new frontiers. This...this will be just another for her.”

“I imagine specialized anatomists are imperative for an organization that's known throughout the universe, and I'm thankful that I was given one with a specialty in humanoid lifeforms – and I'm sure Shaldag will be grateful for it as well,” Ashi said, thankful that she managed to choke back almost all of her tears successfully in time for a subject change.

“I...I know. It's the part that I'm dreading, a necessary evil to be sure,” the princess murmured, lacing her fingers and unlacing them, only to lace them back up again. Little else had been on her mind for the past few days as she lay writhing in pain. The first was Toka. That sweet embodiment of innocence now reduced to nothing but a pair of cowboy boots and a pile of ash. She had no doubt that she was at least partially to blame for Toka's being left alone, coupled with a false sense that the girl was invincible due to her being a personified star. The second was this. This knowledge that innocent blood would forever stain her pale hands in the name of justice and a better future. If the execution was done poorly, it would all be in vain and not all of the pieces were on the board yet. She would have to work with Riola – a fact that she was dreading since she came to the terms that there would be deaths had in her name.

“Yes, yes. Of course, have as many samples as you need,” Ashi's voice sounded from the place the verdaqua was pooling. “Technically pure, yes. I was only granted the title of princess because my mother was full Daoweian. By the time she was executed, I was already known of by the media so it was claimed she fell ill. Few know the truth to this day...But, ah, I'm rambling. Not all of us have this trait – it's stronger in the royal bloodlines – but some in the general populace have it as well, likely a remnant from our pre-technological days.”

[[No need to respond to any of the above in the spirit of progression; we can start from Shaldag's room for the next post]]

Ashi mustered a smile despite the sight that greeted her upon entering the room. As much as she wanted to respond to Dr. Analoka, giving her the respect she deserved, she found herself at a loss for words. She was visible now, and wearing the scrubs that Analoka had pointed out. She looked more like a patient than a princess, but physically she felt better than she had in what felt like eons. Blue eyes roved over the broken body of her friend and ally – her savior.

“Shaldag, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” she finally managed to croak, her voice cracking. “You're going to make it; they're going to take good care of you, just like they did me...”

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“Well, I'm not,” the doctor said patiently, “I know that you all have a higher intelligence than mindless killing machines, and I have services that you need me alive for and there aren't many Terskix specialists on this planet. It benefits you to keep me alive, ergo, you won't hurt me.” He shrugged knowing that an appeal to her intelligence would only strengthen his chances. “Don't get me wrong – I am well aware of the fact that you could kill me the second you don't want me alive. But my point is that you won't not want me alive, you see.”

Mendez couldn't argue with that logic and as far as he could tell, Atrix wouldn't be able to either. His no nonsense attitude and acknowledgment of her killing powers were both aspects working in his favor. Truly, he was specialist – and not just in their anatomy. “A month and a half until your next molt? It's strange that it hasn't healed, or least begun healing. This cream,” the doctor said nonchalantly squirting the contents of one of the containers into a bowl and adding a powder, “works in three ways. It stops up the crack and works as a supplemental addition to your exoskeleton, it reduces any irritation, and finally, it legitimately heals the crack in your exoskeleton and will fall out as your exoskeleton starts to heal. I'll take care of you first and then I'll examine your mate.”

It took a long, agonizing time for Shaldag to process the blue-haired girl's apology. What had she done to be sorry? He acted out of his own volition when it had come to saving Ashi, and to an extent, Hyun-Chu. This was the price someone had to pay for showing a modicum of loyalty as ganger scum. A deep inhale and the Ogrunu lifted his head pursed his lips. "I assume everyone is okay, if we're in a hospital, and not strung up like animals to be butchered and dismembered." He grumbled; words coming out slowly and surely. "What happened when I pulled that grenade? Are we still being hunted?"

His heart however, panged in agony and the Ogrunu's mangled features softened, before he craned his head to the side - A cybernetic arm with a small bandana wrapped around the wrist making Shaldag's nose flare and the veins in his head bulge. A few seconds later and liquid began to stream down his face - Analoka moving over to dry crying eyes. "I lost her. I lost the only little thing in the world that made me happy. They took her to The Tides before her time, and now she is swimming in Oblivion. I promised I was going to be the one to greet her there." Shaldag lamented shaking his head; small crackings of inhibited crying turning into full-blown fits of mourning. "I can't be forgiven for this. She was special. Like a daughter I couldn't have. Family. An outcasted little girl that found a kindred spirit in a big, mechanical monster."

Melancholy turned into anger and Shaldag focused a hateful eye on Ashi; A fiery orb that seemed to burn brighter when he let the venom out of his mouth. "It's that stupid Chuzizian's fault. If Hyun didn't send her off to fuck-all, she would be here with us. Instead she wanted to just bring you into her room and have her way with you. The moment I get back on two legs, I'm going to rip her in half. I'm gonna make her feel every ounce of pain I feel, and when she's huddled in a corner regenerating her limbs back, I'll do it again. Over and over."

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Atrix sucked her teeth and hissed in irritation. She was not particularly well-versed in counterbanter, other than threats. And none of them was giving the doctor in front of her pause. Adding to the fact she couldn't strike him without the fear of repercussions from the hospital security? It was a losing battle that she was waging, and giving the doctor his due, the Terskix sat in a few brief minutes of defeated silence; A pout raked along her face while she crossed her lower limbs.

"Hmph." Atrix grunted, whisking her head to side as the man commented on her precious chitin not healing - Atrix closing all of her eyes save for one, which she kept locked onto the man treating her - Legs crossing, then uncrossing only to recross once more while she fidgeted in place. "Then slather the cream on my cracked skin and be done with it. I'm already feeling my pride as a warrior slither away each second I'm being tended to by a..." Atrix spat out a slew of insults in her native tongue; the array of clicks and hisses mixed in with guttural language that came out of her like a venomous waterfall.

Once she had her small moment of vocal triumph Atrix looked over towards Mendez with her one eye and frowned. "This is your fault I'm here."

Ashi sat for what seemed like the longest time before daring to grab one of his hands. She wasn't sure if he was aware she was holding him or not as his body was so slick with gore the princess couldn't tell if she was holding onto a mechanical limb or a biological one. “We're okay; we're all here. I'm sure they're still looking – they know I'm alive now – but I think we lost them for now,” Ashi whispered, her chin trembling. “I don't know what happened, I can't remember...I just remember my ears ringing and being moved down a tunnel until we made it to the ship. Rosalind set up a temporary medbay where you and I stayed until we got here...”

Ashi had seen deaths. She'd seen executions, and some of those were loved ones meant to serve as a reminder what happened when nosy princesses stepped out of line. Those were hard. But this was different. The mechanical man before her put himself in this position for her; he'd made the conscious choice to take the grenade for her. He wasn't blackbagged in the middle of the night like the others had been, no, he dove headfirst in for her. And now, the princess that was usually the first to deal with the media was at a loss for words. What could she say, other than that she was still here? But she wasn't Toka, and Toka was gone partially because of her. What could she say? “There is nothing to forgive you for, Ranoru'ah of Clan Barut,” she finally ended up saying, the tears now flowing freely from her eyes, “She will be the one to greet you now, and I promise she has already forgiven you if she thought you needed forgiveness.” She gave his hand a tight squeeze, bowing her head.

There was so much she wanted to say to him at this moment, so much that she kept back. She knew she could never replace Toka, never in a trillion light years; yet, she too found a kindred spirit in that big mechanical monster – though she would never call him that. To her, he was like the father she never had, the kind that would show her unconditional love regardless of what happened – the kind that would take a grenade for her rather than order her death.

The shift was sudden, but Ashi could see it before he ever uttered a word. She did not return the anger, fear stepping in in its stead, “Ranoru'ah, no! Think for a moment, would you? None of this is Hyun's fault. Think, think! Hyun was not the one who killed her, and she wasn't the reason Toka was left by herself. If you're going to blame anyone, fucking blame me would you?! It makes sense! If you're going to blame anyone, fucking put it on me! If I hadn't have shown up, Hazoo wouldn't have ever been attacked in the first place! She wasn't going to make love to me, if you'll remember, I'd just been beaten in because I thought I was going to be tough, become a ganger just like you and Hyun. She was going to clean me up! See? It's all my fault. Not Hyun. If you're going to take it out on anyone, let it be me. You'll know where you can find me when you're back on two feet, because I'm not going anywhere.”

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The doctor wasn't fluent in Terskixian but he knew enough to know he was getting insulted and now it was his turn to sulk, working in silence. “Alright, alright,” he said, finally done mixing and actually putting the cream on the crack, “Feels alright, doesn't it? Now, I'll need you to not mess with it until it dries; give it at least 7 galactic hours. If you can convince your mate to get you things you might need in the meantime, it would be beneficial, anyway -”

“What?! My fault how?! I am nothing but tender and loving to you. Only reason I'm saying you should get it fixed is because I care about you, cariño,” Mendez said, giving her hand a squeeze, “That and I don't want to deal with you bitching about it when we're in space.” He laughed at the last part, knowing how true it'd be with the irony that much more rich them being on their way away from a hospital.

“Well then, Jorge Mendez is it? Shall we have a look?”

“You're not gonna find anything, amigo. I'm happy and healthy,” Mendez said, shrugging.

“Your mate asked that I do this, so I'm going to. Alright, sit up straight. I'm going to check your heart and lungs."

Couldn't feel the girl latching onto his mechanical limb. Whether it was the limb itself simply deactivated, or something was seriously wrong with the connection between nerve and neural interface? No one could have been sure but the doctor, and looking towards the explanation of events, Shaldag scowled and narrowed his eyes. "Lost them. That means we didn't retaliate. They won." The Ogrunu grumbled to himself; the massive mean attempting to shift his weight to a cooler section of his mattress - Pain locking him in his immobile position. "...I'll have to give the pilot our thanks for letting us bleed and die on her ship, then."

Maybe Toka's death was the inevitable shift in karmic justice that Shaldag had foresaw, but never expected in his life. He knew the vile acts and wanton disregard towards other sentient beings was going to take its toll. But why had it chose his little one to balance the scales? It should have been himself. He should have been cut down. Vaporized. Whatever they had done to his poor little flame, that rendered her nothing more than the remnants of clothing she had wore before...It had all happened. He wasn't alone in the endeavor. Fikri's girlfriend had been the first to feel the sting of being resistant to the orders that were, and she didn't even willingly plan to rebel against the Edensians. Or Daowei.

Just like Toka.

Everything seemed to stem from the chance meeting of Riola and Ashi. The two were the ones putting everyone else in peril. The Half-breed and the Terskixian. The two freed Felis. Ashi and Riola were cancerous. Toxic. Who would have been the next one to fall when it came time for the two's pursuers to rear their ugly heads once more.

Ashi's words struck rather hard on the Ogrunu, and his baneful glare locked onto the blue-haired girl; his cybernetic arm raised and poised to wrap around her throat to squeeze, though the fingers whirred and clicked - malfunctioning as small twitches that refused to close his massive hand around her throat. The meters functioning and monitoring Shaldag began to beep in alarm: Blood pressure spiking off the charts, and 02 levels peaking and diminishing; An ear-shattering roar-turned fit of coughing buckled the massive man and caused him to curl up - the few freshly administered sutures ripping open along his body.. "Don't call me by my name! Ranoru'ah died the same day his little flame died!" Shaldag croaked, before being pushed down by the Analoka, who was quick to begin administering a series of inoculations to try and both ease pain, staunch bleeding, and stop the Ogrunu from lashing out and harming everyone around him - the medications seeming to work near instantaneously.

While he was subdued, the doctor looked to Ashi, and shook her head. "I suppose nothing left to do but begin the procedures of putting him back together. He got what he needed. A moment to grieve. A moment to lash out in anger."

"I don't suppose you wish to watch the operation? It will be a dreary event. And you will see just how much of him there is left, before we...Do what he wished. Near-whole conversion." Analoka said with a shred of sorrow in her voice. "...I wish someone would have been able to talk him out of it."

<><><><><><><><>

Atrix looked at the mended chitin and for a split-second, seemed content and impressed with the work of the doctor; a soft jittering of her mandibles clicking softly together the giveaway to her pleased mood, before it soured and the Terskix peaked her eyes on the doctor, Atrix standing up to her full height and nodding slowly. "Ignore it for seven hours. As for making my mate do things?" Atrix shot a deadly glare in Mendez's direction. "He'll obey."

Atrix yanked her hand away from the Half-Breed's grip, content on not showing the caring nature she had herself, instead on making a show for the doctor. All in the name of saving face. She could make it up to Mendez later. "Tender and...Loving. It's because you're trying to make me look weak in front of everyone." She did let the facade die a little when Mendez snickered - laughter being more contagious than she wished, but was quick to use her other limbs to grab ahold of Mendez and stand him up for the doctor - Atrix using her mended limb to rake a series of pointed nails across his scalp to keep him preoccupied.

"It's because I care about you. And I'm nothing but tender and loving." Atrix mimicked back to Mendez.

Shaldag wasn't wrong. They did win. They won more than they should have – claiming two so soon from their already small number. The entire situation felt like an uphill battle. Two separate nations confirmed to be after them, half because of the princess and half because of the terrorist. What could they do but run? What kind of retaliation could possibly be done? That...that thing...she never saw its body. With its abilities, there was no telling if it was actually dead or not – and even if it wasn't, they still had that female Edensian working with Daoweian assassins to finish the job.

It's hopeless...

“What could we have done to retaliate?” she whispered, half to herself and half to the Ogrunu. “We're going to continue to lose until we can fight back. All that...All that we can do now is run.” She bowed her head, choking back tears though she couldn't say what it was that brought the lump to her throat, Toka or the losing battle. And now she didn't even have pain to distract her. Just the sight of her ruined friend willingly disintegrating remnants of his former personality for the sake of vengeance.

Shaldag's moodshift was as if a switch had been flipped. His mechanical arm shot up, his hand covering most of her throat and when Ashi thought it was over for her, his fingers stopped working. She closed her eyes, swallowing. Her blame deflection worked. He now realized what she'd known all along – that all of this was her fault. Had she never run away, she'd be unhappily married, forever forced into a beautiful silence, always seen and never heard. But Toka would still be alive, happily existing maybe sitting on Shaldag's shoulder without any knowledge that there was an unhappy Queen on the other side of the galaxy.

The doctors were quick to act and soon Shaldag was laying back ready to receive his changes.

“I...I don't. I trust that you will do as good of a job with him as you did with me,” Ashi murmured, nodding and not bothering to stop the rivers flowing down her cheeks. “There is no talking anything out of him when he has his mind set on something. Right now that something is vengeance. I'm sure he'll have it, one way or another.”

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In the hallway, Ashi leaned against the wall and slid down, burying her face in her hands. She'd thought of a million plans to maybe escape long enough to call on potential allies. She'd made plenty of political allies during her tenure as Princess of Daowei who were now tentative allies with her father following her “death.” That much she'd be able to gather without looking at the Holosites. She could count on Duonis, certainly, and there was always Iluna. They would gladly turn from her father in favor of the soon to be known living princess. If they could flee to a planet that worked as home base, hide for just a little bit – just long enough for Ashi to show that she was alive - they could pay the Edensians back.

If she didn't die by Shaldag's hands first.

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Atrix's contentment was noticed by the doctor who said nothing but gave a small smirk. He truly was an expert in his field and he was glad for the place to be able to practice. This was one of his easier jobs, but the fact remained that they always came in displeased and left satisfied. His own limbs always remained in tact. The doctor believed her, too. Whenever a female Terskix came in with their mate, their mate invariably obeyed their orders. One look at Mendez confirmed that this was no exception.

He wore a hurt look on his face, having just had her hand ripped from his own and he stuck out his lip defiantly, “Cara mia, I never meant to make you look weak. I just wanted you to be as comfortable as you can, and I imagine cracked chitin isn't comfortable, si?” He blinked, his body moving without his volition. It was honestly a feeling he should have been well adjusted to at this point; his being moved at the whim of his mate as common as it was. The expression of alarm was quickly replaced with one of pleasure accompanied by a doofy lopsided smile as she scratched his scalp. He loved that and she knew he did.

He did, however, straighten his posture when the doctor asked him to, took a deep breathe when the doctor asked him to, and exhaled when the doctor asked him to. “You're not full human, are you? I take it the other half is Edensian? It would account for the slow heartbeat.”

“Si, si, half-Edensian, half human,” he said nodding.

“Perfect, then he's looking all good – but if you want him to see someone who specializes in not Terskix, you may. I won't be offended. But from my standpoint, he's got a few bruises....but from what I've seen from the others on your ship...bruises aren't anything,” the doctor said, looking up slightly at Atrix, almost disregarding Mendez. It was the way he imagined Atrix would like it. “You both are free to go and,” he said, handing Atrix a business card, “If you have any more problems with your chitin, ping me alright?”

<><><><><><><>

It would be several more minutes before the Blue-haired girl would hear a familiar voice from down on the floor - the Magenta colored hues of Hyun staring at the girl with a rather forlorn look on her face. The Chuzizian's breath was stained with the scent of alcohol; and there was powder clinging towards the ends of her nasal slits; Chellix no doubt. "You look as bad as I fuckin' feel, Ashi." Hyun-chu said with a small hiccup, before reaching over to pull the girl to her feet. "I suppose they're getting started hacking off whatever and putting...Robot parts in him now."

Hyun swayed back and forth in a small circle - The alien closing her eyes tightly and then opening them to try and focus on the Daoweian girl. She couldn't even remember finding the alcohol, or scoring the drugs coursing through her veins, but here she was, and the Chuzizian did her best to both lean on Ashi, and try to keep the blue-haired girl from falling once there was a sudden weight on her: Hyun herself. "Does he hate me? Hate us? I...Didn't go in there to ask him. I'm too fuckin' scared of the answer." Hyun said, cheeks puffing out as she suppressed whatever sulphorous belch had tried to spew out of her mouth.

"Listen. The surgery is probably gonna take a bit. We might as well...Either just fuckin' shlick the pain away, or look for some of the others. Could probably...Use the Felis to help sober me up. Or something." Hyun croaked, rubbering her temples with a free hand. "I need to get more high. Feeling sad, it's not fuckin' fun."

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-F E L I S - S H E N A N N I G A N S -

It had been a strenuous, but fulfilling time in the shower and the rather shit-eating, spent grin on Nokra's face could definitely be an admission of what the two had been doing; the Felis throwing on his clothes over a still damp body and doing his best to pull his hair into some semblance of normal. There were ID photos to be taken of course. Stepping outside of the showers, and glancing about warily for any sort of signs of the others noting what they had been doing - Nokra found the coast clear and paused at the sight he saw:

An array of soldiers - All marching toegther with a rather defeated gait in their march as the group of soldiers seem to stretch down the entirety of the hallway - One more decorated looking troop marching to the side of the rest of the mass, and belting out orders; the binary hiss of his words masked and hidden in what garbled tongue the lot spoke - Nokra's ears wilting backwards.

"Aw fuck."

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"Cracked Chitin is something I could have dealt with." Atrix said with a small, defiant huff before she crossed her arms and did her best to feign her lack-of-care when it came towards her mate. It was all a dramatic casting of a play of course, and the Terskixian looked on as the doctor began to examine Mendez with a keen eye, the Terskix more than impressed at the ability to determine his heritage with such examination. It was something Atrix could have admired, were she not from the warrior-caste. Her hand continued to scritch and scratch at Mendez's scalpe and the Spider listened towards the doctor with a curt, sage nod. "The bruises are my doing. I don't know how to properly mend them, otherwise he would be in better condition. I'm just glad he is able to last this long. And continue to be this durable."

Reaching for the business card with one of her small arms the Terskix peered towards the business card and smiled at the Doctor, offering him a rather polite bow and the gentle chittering of mandibles. Her language was terse and concise, the slew of Terskix coming out of her mouth a gentle bout of hissing followed by their guttural language ,before she translated for the Redhead in her grasp. "Your time is appreciated, I suppose. I would kidnap you, and add you to the collection of mates, but I am more than content with this one."

Atrix hefted the redhead slightly, holding out a lucky prize and brandishing the man for the doctor to see, before she set the half-breed down. "I'm hungry." She clicked, giving Mendez a rather predatory look.