The group had deliberated for long enough. It was time to reach a decision. As the flames lapped up into the lower decks, there was nervousness all around. A heated debate had kicked off that would result in a small portion being burnt to a fiery hell. There was no making a decision like this lightly.

The group stood around the table with the suits, all equipping their air filtration collars just in case something went wrong.

"Can't we just use these?" Suggested Elliot hopefully.

Percy shook her head. "Nah these things won't help. They filter atmosphere. There's no atmosphere out there. Only inside the Dalia."

There was a show of despondency at this announcement.

"Tired of talk. Action now." Said Da Shuang solemnly.

"Alrighty. I'm callin' out the nominations for Leader." Said Francis looking at a scribbled note-sheet everybody had put together.

"Seems pretty unanimous. The first leader will be....Dain."

Dain looked around at the crew as he lifted the key and opened his part of the chest. He took out a medikit and a laser pistol, carefully placing them into his pack.

"I'll use these only when necessary."

There was a look around the crew that suggested they'd rather it never be necessary, but as the heat was now rising, they were expectant of more disasters on the horizon.

"Second....." Said Francis chewing on the remains of a cigarette.

"Second is....Percy."

Percy rushed over to the chest and grabbed her share of the two things with a smile.

"Thanks guys! I won't let us down!"

"How about we get to the meat." Said Edom with a snarl. "Nobody gives two shits about the leader vote."

There were further murmurs amongst the crew.

"Alrighty. By consensus the following nine crew members don't get to have a suit..."

Glances were exchanged furtively as the names were slowly read out.

"The crew has deemed the captains should go down with their ships. Watts and Lindberg have to stay."

Lindberg gave a salute, though the bobbing of his adam's apple showed fear through his military stance.

"You're kidding me right? There's no way I'm burning alive on this thing!" Watts grumbled.

Percy and Dain walked forward, laser pistols ready.

"We want this to go as smoothly as necessary. People are bound to be upset, but we will start firing if we have to."

Watts stood his ground miserably.

"Next names. Clifford."

Clifford muttered something about keeping a brotha down as he backed into the corner.

"Veleriya."

"This is an affront to Venera and her fine people!" She said with a hiss.

"Misty."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shouted Misty hysterically as she darted across the room to the corner.

"Jeong."

Jeong looked puzzled and stood, making comments that nobody understood. She pointed at the suits before being ushered to the corner by the new leaders.

"Elliot."

Elliot's face fell beneath his shades. "This is karma for a wasted life." He said sadly.

"Portia."

Portia didn't want to be ushered, and resigned herself to a confident march.

"And last but not least..."

"Paige."

Paige had a look of horror on her face as she walked to the corner. She was watching the pointed guns intently.

"Everybody else grab a suit. We have no time." Said Dain as the rest rushed to grab their suits.

The group were all suited and ready by the airlock.

"We'll create a barrier down there so you don't suffocate. At the rate this thing is burning up, it'll probably be the exploding fuel supply that does it..." Said Percy, before uttering a final "Sorry."

"A comforting thought." Said Portia with a smile.

Percy, Melvin, Izza and Dain were the last to rush down the stairs.

"Ugh!" There was a cry of anguish. Three of the last to depart glanced over at Izza. She was holding her suit aloft, but not following.

"Come on! We have to leave now!" Insisted Dain.

"Yeah, that'd be a nice idea. Maybe you can help me out of here first?"

They glanced over, only to find one of Izza's bionic appendages was stuck in between the stairs between decks.

Percy and Dain ran over, grabbing her and pulling, but it was no use.

"We can't stay any longer!" Shouted Dain.

Below, an already suited Freyja looked up at the scene.

"Oh my god...." She said, hand instinctively reaching up to her visor in shock.

The commotion had stirred the left behind crew. Watts was first to rush down, offering his assistance in pulling Izza free too. She struggled and winced in pain as they pulled and pulled.

"There's no...ugh! There's no...there's no point! Just....just somebody take the suit and go. I'm done."

"It's now or never!" Shouted Dain.

Watts glanced up at the room above and the fleeing figures below before grabbing Izza's suit gratefully and darting down the stairs. He was the last to leave the airlock. Izza looked on in solemn silence as the doors to the ship closed for a final time.

"Clear the deck!" Shouted Dain through his internal suit speaker. The thirty two suited figures all darted across the inky black dock as the shuttle creaked and rumbled in an ominous way.

"They not dying! Surely can survive this!" Said Tesimal nervously.

"May their spirits forever rest..." Began Morwena before the fireball sprung upwards from the hull of shuttle, licking the dock roof. It erupted around the rim of the ship before it burst outwards in a spectacular explosion. Debris flew in all directions, leaving the remnants of the ship as mere rubble on the docking bay floor.

The remaining survivors pulled themselves upwards in disbelief.

"They're really...they're really gone..." Muttered Percy.

In silent mourning, the remaining passengers shuffled towards the internal Dalia airlock where they could finally begin their mission. Morwena looked back over the the burnt out wreckage of the exploded shuttle and finished her prayer.

The crew had fallen into a sombre silence as the last of them entered the internal Dalia airlock. One by one they removed their suits.

"Might as well." Percy provided. "They're gonna slow us down and we have our collars."

Cronkite touched the Kayla logo on his collar with a scowl. "For whatever good they are."

"Well...we are breathing." Offered up Felicity quietly.

"These came with the collars. You have to keep them charged or the filtration dies. There's no safe atmosphere on board here according to the pre-mission logs." Said Dain helpfully, handing out a bunch of battery cells.

"There's hardly any here!" Protested Arissa.

"It's all we could recover. There's nothing we can do about that." Muttered Dain miserably.

"We're all going to die out here." Said Watts staring back at the airlock door. He'd come so close...

"We must be positive! Only start of our journey!" Said Tesimal with a smile.

Da Shuang was sniffing the air curiously.

"Bad signs afoot. Danger lurking."

Sam glanced around nervously before looking up and catching it just in time.

"WATCH OUT!" He yelled out as the orange slitted eye widened.

There was an inhuman shriek and a motion through the air. A gigantic red creature landed down on the ground with a resounding thud.

"RUN!" Shouted Melvin.

The group darted away from the beast. It was about the size of a lion, but its skin was a smooth red. It had lizard-like orange eyes that were locked on. When it opened its mouth, a set of thin, razor-like fangs could be seen. In between them, a large proboscis like tongue was flailing about hungrily.

As the group fled, another of the beasts fell down and landed with a thud.

The next few minutes were blur of shrieks, screams and general disarray.

When the group were finally able to catch their breath, they were stood in a corridor. Both of the exits were sealed off, but there was a stairwell leading up to the deck above.

"Well...looks like we've only got one way to go." Said Percy with a nod. She turned and looked back to the group. All sixteen of them.

"The rest didn't make it." Said Edom bluntly.

"Nonsense! I'm sure they're having a fantastic adventure right as we speak!" Insisted O'Hara cheerily.

Rin was glancing around the room. Next to her, a crawling Aldo seemed happy enough with his collar fitted firmly.

Kip danced across the room, doing somersaults onto the stairs.

"Now is the time for action!" He declared to the sombre group who were laying around.

The group was ready to move on.

The phase will end in approximately one hour. No more action updates will be accepted.