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@comms-exe
Thankfully since the Delphina was an older ship, one that was technically classified as vintage, it was built to be incredibly sturdy. However that meant that its ability to tank an impact meant there was little in the way of shock absorption, meaning it was generally classified as unsafe for passengers, as they would be likely to sustain far worse injuries than if they were crashed in a modern ship, one that was designed to crumple and fall apart on impact and take the full brunt of the force, leaving its passengers relatively safe.
Shockingly The Delphina would still be able to fly, however it would be a nearly Sisyphean task to repair it, especially considering the back doors and the airlock and been blasted open and melted by that grenade.
Ellie lay unconscious under a panel of the Delphina’s blue metal siding, bleeding from a cut where she’d been hit in the head. She otherwise didn’t appear to have any other external injuries.
There was a loud banging sound within the Delphina as THORse bashed open the fuel hatch and leapt out of the Delphina unscathed, with an unconscious zipper dangling limply from her mouth like pitiful newborn kitten. Her pink blood was quickly soaking into her hoodie, having a piece of metal stuck in her left side like shrapnel. THORse nervously neighed around her mouthful of Zipper, and trotted over to Comms, looking around nervously as the sound of the fish-folk grew ever closer….
Comms eyed THORse warily, still unsure of her… But seeing how she gently carried Zipper made them trust her a bit more.
“We cannot fight that many head on,” Comms said, looking back toward the tunnel. They weren’t sure if THORse understood speech, but saying it out loud felt right. “We need to get into the city before they see us - maybe they’ll believe the ship was abandoned and won’t realize we’re here.”
Comms dropped back into the ship, marching hastily past THORse and back over to the pile they’d crawled out of. They pushed some scrap aside to uncover Ellie, pointing at her and hoping THORse would get the message to pick her up as well.
PFLAP PFLAP PFLAP
“They’re closing in,” Comms antennae flicked wildly. “Time to go.”
THORse had been born, raised, and trained as a war-horse. Before she’d ever found her way to Zim’s Base, she’d spent a large majority of her life out on the battlefield and had seen her fair share of war and all its ugliness.
THORse was smarter than the average horse. She looked down at Ellie, realizing she too was injured and unconscious. She gently laid Zipper down and picked Ellie up, draping her over her back and picked up Zipper again, also gently laying her on her back. THORse snorted in alarm as she heard the approaching of enemies coming ever closer.
Perhaps for most it would be ridiculous to speak to a horse as if it had a human-level of understanding, but Comms was apparently delightfully oblivious to such things. THORse turned towards them and picked them up too, hefting him onto her back, and quickly trotted around the ship to take cover behind it.
THORse looked all around at this strange new environment, and quickly made her way into the Hangar, weaving around the meek amount of ships and escape pods collected by the fish-folk. She snorted and ducked around a corner as two of the fish-folk ran into the hangar-room and looked around for a few moments before running off. She was well understood that this had become a perilous stealth mission.
THORse craned her neck around to look at Comms, waiting for them to direct which way to go.
There was no time for Comms to freak out about being hefted onto THORse - the aliens were right on top of them. They gripped her mane as she trotted around a corner, bouncing heavily on her back… This would take a little getting used to.
The vantage point they got from up there was an unexpected advantage, though. They shakily stood on her back, trying to be mindful of the heels of their boots, and peered over the wreckage.
A large group of… Calculating… 13 visible aliens marched out of the tunnel, peering into the Delphina’s wreckage and grumbling loudly to each other, their scaled glinting in the low light wherever they weren’t scarred over. Comms could hear a few clambering into the ship.
Hmm… Definitely too many of them to be able to sneak behind and slip into the tunnel they came from.
Comms slipped back down, knotting his hands in THORse’s mane again and surveying the area. There was another tunnel ahead, further left, with nobody around it. No guarantee it would take them where they needed to go, though…
A loud crash inside the ship and a shout of growls pushed Comms into a decision. No time to calculate, gotta move. They pointed forward to the tunnel on the left, leaning up THORse’s neck and whispering.
“Go there!”
…Then spun around, so they sat backward. Gotta make sure nobody snuck up on them from behind.
THORse flicked her ears and looked in the direction Comms was pointing she stamped her hoof and snorted determinedly, and slowly trotted in that direction. She glanced over her back at Comms as they turned around on her back and sat perched on her hips, keeping a look out from behind. What a strange one.
Ellie stirred a little as she was jostling around ever so slightly on THORse’s back as she trotted along.
“Nnng….” Ellie grunted in pain and raised her head to look around dazedly. Ugh why did everything hurt so bad….? She raised her hand up to her head to rub her forehead, hoping to help her headache, and pulled her hand away in alarm as it was sticky with warm blood.
“Ssshhhhiiit…” Ellie mumbled groggily, as she started to come to a little more. “Did we crash?” She asked in a raspy tone to no one in particular as she tried to get up. She quickly realized that her back hurt, and squirming around on a moving horse was not the best idea.







