Moving beyond them, I search the terrain again, this time to find a canyon or trench or just a semi-hollow gap in the ground they can lie down in.

I find it. Not as big as a canyon, but bigger than a cave. It's a trench just deep and wide enough for the entire team to lie down flat side-by-side and be safe from the blasts.

"Over here!" I call.

For a moment, I fear they won't hear me. Or if my connection to their suits' communications do work, if they are too scared or harried to head me.

But Orion immediately spins toward me, grabbing hold of Killa's and Nicholas's arms as he does.

As one, they all dive trustingly into the geographic scar I found for them.

Just as a loud hissing sound comes onto my sensors.

I turn to watch as the Cyrovolcano erupts, shooting out small pieces of itself at speeds like Nicholas's archaic gun shooting out a bullet. One moves through my hologram even as the force of the gas alone makes it stutter for a moment.

But the eruption is short, and I remain to the end.

Then I hurry toward my crew. "Is everyone unharmed?"

"Killa keeps kicking me!" Nicholas calls up.

"I am not," she mutters.

Orion cautiously lifts his head. "Do your sensors indicate that there might be a second explosion any time soon?"

"I am very injured," Nicholas adds.

Killa grunts. "Well, I'm sure your ego is very injured."

He points at her- awkward with his gloved hand. "Hey, my ego is an important member of this crew."

Nicholas frowns. "I regret to inform you, sir, that my ego has put in his notice. He could not take the verbal abuse and menial tasks that were so beneath such an important member of the crew."

Orion laughs, like he didn't just narrowly survive the eruption of a Cyrovolcano. Like another one couldn't erupt any moment. Like he isn't walking toward the city of his nightmarish childhood that he was most recently assaulted and kidnapped in.

Nobody can say anything against my captain's spirit. It certainly boggles an AI's mental capacities.

"And, here we are." Orion glances up at the atmosphere field we are finally standing before. Then he whirls around to face the rest of the team. "Allow me to officially welcome you to the purgatory I fled."

Nicholas nods. "Pretty homey, as long as we don't get kidnapped again."

Killa steps forward and places a gloved hand on Orion's thick shoulder in an attempt to exchange comfort. "Just know that we do not by any means judge you by where you've come from."

"Speak for yourself!" Nicholas yells. "I judge him by all the things."

Killa lowers her helmet as much as possible. "One of these days, I'm going to execute him."

Orion grins. "And one of these days, I'm going to look the other way and then open the back shaft after you place a mysterious load in the junk bay."

Nicholas whirls around to me. "Did you here that, Alicia Ivy? You're not going to let that happen, are you? Good space robot that you are?"

I give the appearance of a shrug. "Right now I'm a hologram, and there isn't much I could do to stop them."

"Ugh! Now everyone is choosing favorites!"

Killa shakes her head. "More like choosing least favorites."

"Stop stalling," I say. "You need to go into the atmosphere field now."

"Ah, Alicia Ivy," Nicholas coos. "See? You' would be upset if something were to happen to me."

"I didn't say I was worried about you. But Orion and Killa."

-Banner by CannibalisticNecro

-Signature by  -krystallite