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04:09 PM

Things seemed to go from uncomfortable to unbearable really quickly. She wasn't sure how long she had dozed off, but the sudden pick up in speed, blaring alarms, and panicked shouts were enough to wake her. Instinct from their years of training took over and her hands were automatically applying her mask as bile rose in the back of her throat. She could feel her fight or flight responses kicking in. She was sweating, hyperventilating, and her eyes seemed to be aware of every detail in front of her. At this particular moment it was a body - Nadya sucked in a shaky breath, and closed her eyes tight as she let lose a string of Russian curses.

---

Nadya woke suddenly, her chest heaving and eyes searching around wildly. She was still in her seat, but her seat was no longer in the ship. In fact, she was back down, looking at the open sky. It was clear, until a few hundred feet up where the toxic cloud lay hovering - keeping the colonies on the ships above from seeing Earth clearly. A crazed laugh left her lips, quickly turning into a groan. The shock was wearing off, and Nadya was rapidly becoming aware of her body and how much pain it was in.

Undoing her seatbelt, she took a moment to appreciate the release of pressure on her body. Sucking in a breath, she pull down the top of her suit to reveal dark bruises where her seatbelts had laid across her chest. "Safety first" she mumbled to herself, zipping the suit back up. She took her time laying in her chair before she slowly stood up, taking note of every ache and pain. Her body was tense, sore. Her arm especially hurt, and when she looked at it, she saw a large gash along her left bicep. Survival training kicked in, and Nadya made quick work of cutting the seatbelt into a makeshift tourniquet for her arm.

It was only when she sheathed her blade that she realized she was breathing unfiltered air. Her mask and helmet were nowhere to be seen amongst the wreckage. She held her breath for a moment, panic rising, before she realized how ridiculous that was - she had already been exposed too long... in fact, she began wondering why she wasn't dying at the moment. Pulling her com link from her hip, unsure if it would work, she hit the record button "The air... Is... breathable. Long term effects unknown." Maybe if the ships knew that they'd send help. Ha. Unlikely.

That was when she noticed something else was amidst. There were trees... and bushes... and plants all around her. A far cry from the wasteland they were told to expect. Her love of botany kicked in and she quickly marched towards the nearest trees, touching the bark and looking at the leaves. As she continued walking, she hear a voice through the underbrush. Relief washed through her, easing the tension she didn't know she had been carrying. As she headed towards the voice, she was taken aback by the sudden attack - or, no - hug it seemed. "Ow - ah, that hurts." She used her good arm to untangle herself from, when she got a better look, Jenny - their second in command for the mission.

"The air - it's, it's good. For the short term at least. There are plants here. It looks like they've adapted similar traits to their deep see cousins... a combined system of photo and chemosynthesis... that's probably why the air conditions aren't so hostel - they've been filtering it." She realized she was babbling, and her voice was high and quick. Her right hand still on Jenny's shoulder, squeezing. She released it, looking sheepish and relived.