Despite this, you know, being a place of infinite possibilities, where not even the sky was the limit, the announcement of the Taystie Park Space Exploration Initiative (Name and Patent Pending) still caught a lot of people off-guard. And of course, the first question came to mind was, "What's the catch?" On the surface, there was none. Volunteers to man these space missions were open to all, no matter their field or expertise, though skill and education would play a part in what area one would be assigned to. Jessie, though far from naïve about the hidden machinations of the Park, took the chance and signed up almost immediately, and she was overjoyed to find out that she would be the head botanist on Taystie Park's first colonization effort on a barely charted planet! All they really knew was that it was terrestrial, and that (theoretically) earth-born species can survive there. Still, the chance at a new life on a new world was too much to pass up...even though she was thrown for a bit of a loop when they told her she'd be leaving tomorrow morning...
A large lizard sat in an uncomfortably tight jumpsuit. Arrachoon had signed up for a simple and straightforward reason. He didn’t feel there was anything on the earth that was really challenging to hunt anymore. 

While nearby, a truly oversized newt wearing a similar suit was trying to accommodate to what was a very tight fit for his absurd size. He was curious as to what kind of exotic flora he could encounter in this faraway land, and was already twisting his neck in search of something that would get his attention.
How anyone ever managed to vacuum-seal this fluffy white wolf into such an undersized jumpsuit is anyone's guess. Jinrai Rao held her bowl-like space helmet in her lap, claws tapping along its surface nervously as she awaits departure from her beloved Earth. An expedition to unknown worlds was a very intimidating prospect for the demure priestess, but she knew colonists were some of the most imperiled people around. She wanted to volunteer to be a medical aid, knowing doctors are in short supply for these sorts of ventures. She only hoped the journey would be peaceful!
Jessie's suit fit her well...she might even say too well, it's tight folds gifting her a curvature she wasn't even sure he truly had. She was a little blushy as she greeted her crewmates and settled in, strapping herself down in a series of tight restraints, "Liftoff commencing in...FIVE minutes..." a robotic voice sang out from nowhere, forcing Jessie to realize just how afraid she was of flying. She's never even ridden in a plane before...and what was this?! This was like a plane times 2000! "Uhhh....so who's the captain?" she anxiously asked the rest of the crew, nobody in particular.
"That's a good question to ask, maybe a little late for it though ?" The Salamander said, halfway joking, having trouble to hide the fact the question actually made him a little nervous as he strapped himself tight in his seat
Vierra sighed as she looked at the new world. Vierra was used to space travel, due to being a Martian born herself, she adjusted her prosthetic. She looked at her waiver, signed already, she was assigned to using the various technologies. The fox felt something, off. The girl sprinted towards the shuttle, she found her seat, strapping herself in. The foxes suit was tight, to ensure mobility. As she sighed she began scrolling through inventory of the ship on the panel "Sorry for the delay..so uh..who here is at least somewhat familiar with space flight..because...well uh, its...something alright." The fox sighed as she looked at the others "All I will say is if we enter some form of faster than light  close your eyes,  control your breathing..and just wait for it to be over...i think this is a automated flight system, should be running the latest firmware" The fox stopped, catching herself rambling. "Just take it easy" the fox remarked as she smiled, attempting to hide her stress.
Jinrai gave the other colonists a timid wave and her bravest smile before the robotic voice chimed in with it's ominous five minutes notice. Her ears flatted against her head as she tried to keep her canine whine quiet.
"I.. I'm not sure. I think it's automated. I sure hope it's automated.. I don't even know where we're goin'! This all feels very seat-of-our-pants.."
The fox cleared her throat "Oh uh I'm Vierra, I'm sent here to use the automation system, control drones, scan terrain, Anything with roboitcs..." the fox smiled, "Essentially scout out locations, assist with more technical devices. Get us a lay of the land" Vierra shrugged "should be useful...I hope..."
"ALL CREWMEMBERS DETECTED. COUNTDOWN EXPEDITED. FIVE....FOUR....THREE........ONE...LAUNCH" 

WOOOOOOOOOSH! 

Hopefully the liftoff platform was clear...otherwise any engineers or sight-seeing guests were bound to end up a little crispy. Any words that were offered up seem to sink into their lungs, titantic G-Forces pinning them back, smashing them into cushions that had been comfortable before, but now proved torturous as they were violently shot into the sky, ironically forcing them all to put their lives in Taystie Park's hands, hoping (for once) their machinery preserved lives instead of ending them.
Arrachoon clenched his teeth and held on tight to the armrests. His large body meant the awesome gravitational forces were all the more overweling on him. He kept telling himself gravity was yet another opponent to conquer. But still he felt queasy pretty soon.
Jinrai didn't even try to hide her vehement sigh of relief. Oh thank the stars.. someone was assuming a technological leadership position. She was not looking forward to trying to brave food dispenser consoles and whatever else with her forest education. Her hackles raised and eyes widened as the countdown suddenly resumed, and loudly! Dainty black nails dug into the armrests as the nervous floofwolf braced for --
And then all of her fur compressed back against her face as she sank into the seat, squealing dismay easily drowned out by the roar of hydrogen fuel engines exploding just a few meters away.
Pancakes against the back his seat,  his hands clamping hard onto the armrests, Sal the Salamander barely manages to articulate "shit, I'm not high enough for this", before going limp, passing out under the immense pressure of the rocket thrust.
The fox gripped her seat, sinking back, the feeling of a pressure build up. After 20+ years of space travel experience, liftoff was still a brutal experience "f..fuck this is horrific" the fox groaned, feeling nauseated . The immense pressure pushing the weak foxes body far, on the very verge of losing consciousness. Her eyes shutting soon, locking shut in fear. She began silently counting down the time before she hoped they were out of the planets atmosphere and in orbit.
Jessie bit her bottom lip until it bled, and it felt like her eyeballs were on the verge of exploding inside their sockets, "Please...can't...." she clenched through her teeth as the clear sky ahead turned orange and red as they broke through the atmosphere...and then finally...black, dotted with stars...and then all at once, the pressure leaves them...and so did gravity's pull. They were floating now, with all the straps of their seats keeping them in relative place...

SETTING COURSE FOR: Sigma Ceti Prime. Arrival Time: 604 Years, 30 Days, 5 hours. PLEASE ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT

"600 years?!" Arrachoon called out. "What are we gonna eat?!"

Jinrai was sure she was going to perish in an ill-conceived and untested Taystie Park rocket booster explosion, but - to her pleasant surprise - the grip of G-forces pinning her to her seat released suddenly enough that she gasped out and practically bounced against her seatbelts. 
There was an awe-struck moment as she looked out the viewscreens into the majesty of space, and it dawned on her she was no longer on her homeworld. A smile actually began to grace her features until she heard the whole.. six hundred years part.
"... Eh? ... EHH?!"
The lizard tried standing up. Only to find himself paddling air the moment he pushed off the seat. "Goddamnit... Where's the engine room. We can still get back if we cut the power right?"
Sal slowly emerged from his blackout, seeing stars for a while as blinked a few times, then shook his head and rubbed his eyes with both closed fists : "wow, that was something wasn't it ?" he commented, scratching the back of his head. "So, when do we get there ?" he asked, candidly.
Vierra heard the estimated journey time "is..that an error." the fox disconnected herself, pulling herself into a floating position, before pulling herself onto a seat, "Those fucking assholes, they cheaped out on the drives..." The fox groaned "Maybe there is a cryo bay.." she remarked trying to keep herself calm. The fox leaves her seat and floats towards the window "Yep.. we are in space.. and I wouldn't be surprised if they skimped out on fucking more than the drives.."
Jessie's heart was hammering in her chest as she frantically looked around...but the cockpit was pretty bare of answers...or...anything really. The rocket was automated to the nth degree...and except for the airlock and hallway that took them here, the rest of the ship was sealed off...no maintenance hatches, nothing. They had nothing but themselves and their spacesuits...that, and the segmented viewport that gave them an enchanting, but fundamentally empty, look at the vacuum of space...and the insane unfathomable distance between them and their destination, "I guess we..." Jessie began, but that omnipresent voice interrupted her, BIOLOGICS OF CREWMEMBERS CALCULATED: ENGAGING HYPERSLEEP 

Through some vents in the floor, the cockpit was quickly flooded with a dusty blue substance, one that, upon contact, whether inhaled, or simply absorbed through the flesh, brought on a sublime comfort...and an unrivaled fatigue. Suddenly, everything would feel just fine...like they could all blissfully drift off to sleep in their own seats...there was nothing to worry about anymore, and nothing seemed better then to get some shut-eye. Fight it all they like, one by one, they would succumb and fall into a deep, impenetrable slumber, and the cockpit itself, surrounded in a time-shield aura, would make the centuries of space-travel instead be experienced like it was nothing but one restful night's sleep...
Sal inhaled and had the time to just mutter "oh that's good shit..." Before dozing off
Jinrai was fretting and pulling at her seatbelts ineffectually when she heard yet another automated warning. She was beginning to really dread that voice.
"B-b-w-wait!! I can't just spend six hundred ye-a-r-s.. sitting.. here.." Her hyperventilating proved to be her own undoing; she had two lungfuls of Taystie Park Gentle Abduction Gas(™️) in her before she knew it, and like it or not, promptly went limp. The wolfess' limbs drifted about beneath the gentle mercies of zero-g - probably for the next several centuries. So much for sending letters home to mom...
Arrachoon, having ripped himself out of his seat in anger, would spend that time bobbing back and forth throughout the cockpit. By some miracle of happenstance. He never drifted into anything sharp over that period.
The fox sighed, panicking as she retuned to her seat, quickly the vixen calmed down, felt relaxed as she quickly dozed off, her mind fluttering with the usual scrambled mess. The fox lay there, in a seemingly peaceful slumber, not that anyone would have noticed, the girls arm disconnecting from her occasional movements around 200 years in. Slumping over another 50 or so after.
Unfortunately, their awakening was not nearly as peaceful. It came with the blare of a thousand alarms, the lights of the cockpit flashing an unnerving red.

 BRACE FOR IMPACT. BRACE FOR IMPACT. MOMENTUM DAMPERS FAILING. SAFE LANDING SPEED UNOBTAINABLE. BRACE FOR IMPACT. 

In seconds, they can feel it too...the rude, abrupt, reintroduction of gravity as an alien world lays before their eyes...seas of verdant greens and plains of endless blues, blotchy crags and mountain ranges carving their way across either...it was beautiful beyond belief, but could anyone truly admire it with their bodies and everything around them violently shaking and screaming, the rocket literally howling from the pressures and perils wrought by a fiery re-entry...
Creatures big and small lift their heads/eye-stalks/sensory appendages to the great flaming ball arcing it's way across the purple-red sky, as it heads straight for a tangle of alien vegetation, a pulsing, thorny, hell of sickly white vines that appear like some kind of infestation. Luckily, such spots were rare on Sigma Ceti Prime, unluckily...well, our ship'smetallic meteor's crew was heading straight for it. Maybe it will at least cushion the crash-landing...
Arr started awake with a shout. The sudden acceleration pushing him back into his seat. The queasiness from the G forces hadn't notably lessened over the long cryosleep. And another bout of it was enough to make him hurl. The remnants of some meal from six centuries ago. A few anthro bones in the mess... It was a good thing this ship had used cryosleep. If it had been a generational voyage the whole mission might have ended in the lizard's gut
Jinrai fluttered her eyes awake to the rude rumble and bob of the ship careening out of control, head-first into some valley or another. It took her a shamefully long moment to piece together what was happening or where she was. Lucidity shot her eyes wide scant moments before their vessel kissed the.. not-quite-earth. "--Shoulda known it would be this bad.. this is why I wanted to help, but I shoulda known..! This darn p--" She was weaving her fingers through the air and trying to assemble some glowing arcane sigils in the air - something to ward and cushion and save lives - but her casting was flubbed in the turbulence.. to say nothing of her six hundred year slumber-stupor!
By contrast, Sal the salamander was still sleeping soundly, peacefully even, his loud snore adding to the turmoil and confusion.
The fox woke up with a sudden jar, sitting up and panicking, "jesus fuck" her tail spiking up, thrashing around before she looked around, hoping to god supplies would survive "wait...where are our supplies" she yelled, as the windows lit up with fire. frantically looking around for her metal limb "....fuck" the fox cried as her panic continued, she proceeded to realize 600 years of sleep must have fucked and ruined her prosthetic and various cybernetics were very out of date...
The ground trembles for miles from the impact, and the crash-sight is nearly liquefied by the sheer force and mass slamming down, but a last second injection of cushioning foam ensures that, while unpleasant of taste, smell, and feel the sticky substance was, the inhabits inside the flooded cockpit end up unscathed. Sprinklers soon douse the chamber, causing the foam to melt, the cold water further jolting those recent wakers from their long (looooong) slumber, bodies and minds still so foggy and muted. The alarms were still ringing, and the warning light continued to blink a worrisome red, the reasons why revealing themselves once the ship's computer spoke once more, it's speak broken, garbled, and unclear, Wel....come...to Sigm....eti Prime....Reactor......melt....critical. Pleas.....vacuate....Eight......minutes. On the near featureless dashboard, a panel slips open, and a box with a simple handle emerges, the side reading, "Emergency Survival Supplies". Hopefully nobody needed to be told twice to grab that and get the heck out of here! The one door leading to the exit barely slides open, the gears clearly damage, but there should be enough room for everyone to squeeze through, one by one.
Arra immediately went for the emergency supplies. Leading the way in leaving too. He was good at being decisive under pressure at least. "Go go! Get moving unless you wanna get liquefied by this thing going up in flames."
The Salamander finally emerged from sleep, stretched, yawned, scratched his side and saw the ship had stopped and the door popped open : "hoo, we're there !" he exclaimed, not really paying attention to the ambient panic and nonchalantly reached for the exit, jumping off the hatch and started admiring the view with a large idiot smile.
Jinrai staggered a hand up and gripped at nothing just as soon as it was freed from the liquifying safety foam. This whole trip was turning into one unpleasant shock after another.. and the radiation - core - whatever warnings were right on schedule. With a few pathetic coughs, Jin scrambled for whatever emergency supplies she could carry before heading for the exit. She did have the presence of mind to check on the others first, though. She.. thought she remembered how many crew there were. Anyone that needs a hand is ushered outside, although in all probability, the wolfess was the weakest of all the colonists. But she took her duties seriously and made sure everyone was gonna disembark if it killed her.
Jessie brought up the rear, not because she was the slowest or most out of it, but because she seemed to genuinely try and let others out before she did, helping those who needed guiding...though thankfully (and maybe in spite of themselves) her crewmates seemed to know where the exit was...kinda. This kinda wasted time when she and Jinrai got into a bit of a tussle on who would leave before the other, but the human girl eventually relented, and started to clamber towards the airlock. Unfortunately, beyond that box from the dashboard, the vessel was devoid of supply. Everything had that white, scfi-fi smoothness to it...and if there were anymore of those hidden panels with contents inside, they were not revealing themselves! Still, the airlock was there and waiting for them all, already open, but they'd find no exit ramp to greet them. It a straight drop, one-way, down to a wet and gooey floor, padded with the crushed and jellied remains of whatever the fuck they had crashed into, "Somebody jump!" Jessie yelps from the rear, knowing there was no sense in waiting. She'd rather break a leg then be reduced to a pile of ashes whenever the reactor went nuclear...

Arra decided to go first. Jumping down and landing with a roll. The gooey mess covering him all over in the process..
The salamander already stood down there, feet planted proudly in the much, inhaling deeply before stating "Ah, feels like home", and started walking fearlessly toward the unknown, observing this new world with the curious eyes and unfettered enthusiasm of a carefree child, as the others plopped one after the other behind him.

Jinrai only hesitated for a moment while looking over the drop. She whined audibly while casting fretful back-and-forth glances.. but knew Jessie was right. "Ohhh.. alright!! I'll just have to heal any bruises and broken bones after we survive.. here goes..!!"
Holding her breath was probably unnecessary, but the curvaceous wolfess hopped over the brink and prepared to slide down the drop, landing rump-first on whatever down there would dare to catch her. Atleast she was equipped for a relatively soft impact.
Arra's safe landing did not instill Jessie with as much confidence as she might of hoped. She watched him take that leap of fate and roll cleanly through the landing...and she was just like, "No way..." He made it look TOO easy. The salamander's nonchalance in exiting the ship didn't give him much hope either. It was at least a 15, maybe 16 foot drop, and yet Jinrai takes it ass first and without much worry. Suffice to say, her tail-bone was gonna smart for the next few days...at least. Jessie was not keeping up everyone....and Vierra....VIERRA! Jessie turns to make sure the fox-morph was there. Had nobody stopped to check on her since her prosthetics weren't exactly in working order...or even attached? Her and Jessie might need to jump together!
The fox staggered to a stand, wandering over, her prosthetic ruined in the crash, Opening a storage container, the fragile scanner instruments also damaged beyond repair, she let out an angry groan. All she could find was a small device for scanning areas, walking out with the only supply she could find, the fox groaned "our 'landing' fucked up most of our electronic equipment" she sighed "this scanner seems to be faulty though, so we should take its information with caution , anything esle was destroyed or non functional..." she would add with an annoyed tone. She looked at  the drop, mentally preparing herself. "I don't want to damage our only way of scanning the terrain, malfunctioning or not" she yelled as she looked at it Jessie. "Right can you hold this while I jump, then throw it down to me..?" she asked looking over at her. She wanted to jump, but was clearly anxious to.
"We don't have much time! Just...sure!" Jessie was staring to lose any semblance of composure now. She knew she'd have to jump and jump soon. She reaches to yank the device from Vierra's paws, "Go..." she said, not unkindly.
Arra had caught Jinrai out of the air. The lizard giving her a smile. "Careful. You're too precious to damage." He set her on the ground. Not taking advantage of the situation. He was going to protect everyone... after all. He needed an emergency food supply...
Jinrai was prepared for a terrible experience when she landed in the lizard's arms, eyes clamped shut in fear. She blinked away her tears and looked up at him, immediately breaking into a relieved smile. Arra's legs were promptly battered with a happily wagging floofy tail. Still, she hopped onto her own two feet and made ready to help intercept and assist the others. "W -- what exactly is the ship gonna do..? How far do we need to get?!"
The fox took a breath and flung herself off the ship into the substance, standing up it was sticking to her face, body, fur clothes, slowly she began wading and forcing herself out of the substance, she sat to the side next to Arra and the other pulling out the substance from her fur "what the hell is this stuff?" she mumbled.
"Just run!" Jessie yelled down from the airlock, uncertain with that scanner device in hand, she looks to Vierra anxiously, sweat pouring down a white and wrinkled brow, "Hey, head's up!" she tried to get her attention, the mucky white stuff the least of their problems...or so she thought. At some point, she'll just have to toss it. It's been, what? Two minutes at least...out of eight? That's all she needed to make the leap soon after, but unfortunately for her, where everyone else had met a relatively soft landing, a rock, hidden just below the surface has Jessie's ankle getting bent at an obscene angle, her foot almost pointing skyward before snapping before her ankle snaps harshly back into place. I didn't hurt, not at first at least, but she still yelped out, "Oh shit..." as she fell to her knees, unable to put any weight on that foot at all. She knew instinctively something was wrong...and the surging pain that gripped the spot confirmed it, "Fuck...I fucked up my ankle...somebody..."
The Salamander turned toward the ship, finally snapping back to the weird reality, and hopped toward Salisha, lifting her effortlessly before starting to run the other way, saying : "that's a bad fall... Let's get you on a dry spot and take a quick look, hey" he said, legitimate concern in his voice.
"No idea. But I don't like it." The lizard responded to the fox. He looked to Jesse's painful fall. He found himself faintky disappointed it was just a broken leg. Nothing he could convince the others was a fatal injury that'd make her a burden
Jessie felt a certain comfort with the salamander...even if he didn't always seem fully 'there'. She accepted his health without hesitation (not that she had much of a choice), and the way he hefted her off the ground without delay was a true godsend, "We need to get as far away from this thing as humanly possible...umm, no offense..." she adds, realizing she was the only human here...
The fox heard the crack and winced, standing as she looked at the scene, "jesus are you okay?" The fox nods "You got the thing?...if not we just fucking run...if so we just run. either way. we are going to have to get, away from this before you know things go even further south"
The salamander shook his head in disapproval : "Aw, come on, I didn't know you thought that way about foxes, I'm a little disappointed in you" he replied, still trotting in the murky gel in search of a spot of land where he could safely drop Jessie
Arra lead the way forward. "Let's get out of blast range then shall we?
Jin raised her hackles in a fright as she heard that grotesque snap from Jessie's ankle. But time was clearly of the essence. Wiping some of the sickly white alien sludge off of her jumpsuit, Jin frowned and quickly weaved a simple and weak little cantrip in the air - something to numb Jessie's pain until she could perpetrate some actual healing onto the offending wound. Thankfully Arra had her well in hand.. literally! "Yes, let's go! We'll be alright now, just hop to it and stay together.."
Luckily, beyond, a windy steppe of blue grass (reaching up to about most people's thighs, or higher if you're shorter then average) stretches out before them, dotted with huge boulders that look near the size of classic cathedral domes, "Come on, come on, come on!" Jessie urges, biting back tears, if not from the pain, then the frustration of being rendered so pitifully lame, near minutes into planetfall. It wasn't her fault, but it did little to dumb the self-hatred bubbling to the surface. The landscape would have a slight slope to it, their feet able to send the change in elevation more then their eyes could. You couldn't call this a mountain, and definitely not a hill, but if the land around here was similarly flat, any kind of evaluation could grant their a useful vantage point to get the bearings...if they survive long enough to reach it that is...
Arra kept leading forward for a few more minutes before pausing. "Right. If we're still in the blast radius I don't think any amount of running would have saved us... let's get our bearings..."
The Salamander made a makeshift mattress by flattening the grass into a mound with his foot, and ever so gently lowered Jessie there before taking a look at her mangled limb. He sucked on his lip emitting a "tsk tsk tsk" sound as he observed the leg, and before doing anything he would have regretted, asked around : "hrm, any of you folks a doc or somethin ?" gauging the crews reaction.
Jessie's eyes grew wide with shock, "What are you doing?! We're barely...the ship is right there! Keep moving!" she searched the salamander's face, trying to find a reason for his action, whether it was a joke, or dull-witted ignorance...or...anything really! He...he can't be serious, can he?! Or did he know something they didn't?
Jin raises a palm up and nods. "I've been healing wounds and tending to the needy my entire life.. usually with magic, but I know plenty of mundane physician skills too." She earflats at Jessie's panic before continuing. "..But first we should keep on our way, I think!"
The fox looked at the boulders "they... they are really smooth" the girl remarked "do you think they are natural?" The fox remarked before her ears drop "not capable of anything much really. Missing the arm" she laughed "no way to fix it either...wiring is embedded deep" she sighed sitting down "dude it's 600 years in the future... we have no contact with home. We just gotta keep moving through the boulders." The fox thought "we should find shelter...shield us if that ship you know... explodes.. which is probably going to be nuclear distance and shelter is what we need to survive"
"As I said," Arra implores, "This thing goes nuclear and we're fucked no matter what. I for one would like to be vaporized while calmly sitting."
He considered the nearby rocks. One lookedwithin walking distance. "Let's go over there then."
Vierra was less then enthusiastic as she looked at the rocks "Something just feels off about them..." she remarked.

Meanwhile, Sal felt suddenly very confused and just lifted back Jessie and continued in the general direction away from the ship, however oblivious he was, he knew better than going against the doctor's orders, and resumed his strut toward the dome-like stone formation.
She continued, looking at the human, visibly looking sorry for her unfortunate condition Hey Jessie..it's going to be okay..." she consoled... attempting to be positive.
As the group trudges through the blue grasslands, Jessie comes to a dreadful realization, "It's been eight minutes...hasn't it? I mean...it's had to be..." But looking back, their ship was still where they left it, fire and smoke billowing into the sky like a forlorn pillar of choking gas heralding their arrival. There was no flash of light, no thunderous explosion. Nothing. Yet that gave Jessie no comfort at all, "Keep going..." she urged. The giant domes of shiny, smooth stone, some grey, others more a ruddy brown, seemingly polished to a glossy sheen, are never too close to each other. There is an odd, almost logical spacing to them, like a pattern beyond their understanding. But as they get close and closer to the apex of that incline, something new tickles their nose...a spray-like scent, acrid and salty...like a hot, stagnant sea...almost exactly like one honestly...
"You think we're close to shore?" Arra thought out loud. He ran a hand over one of the smooth boulders. "Still waiting for that mushroom cloud by the by."
The relief of not being chased by a nuclear firewall puts the wolfess somewhat at ease. She forces a smile towards the others. "W-well.. horrible journey and horrible arrival aside.. we're all.." she winces at Vierra briefly, "..mostly intact. And we did all volunteer for this mission.." She looks out over the exotic landscape, rife with sights and smells totally foreign to her. "I think we can still salvage this and make something of our visit! Right? I'll have your foot good as new soon, so, let's find a good place to make camp. Uh.. further away from the radiation hazard.."
Sal nodded toward the wolfess, and went in search of such spot, at the foot of the dome hills, and laid Jessie there, as cautiously as he could muster, and looked anxiously at the priestess, twiddling his fingers hoping she would be able to fix the unsightly injury.
The vixen stepped forward. The scent overwhelming her "it's...not a smell of anything I'd call an ocean.  But it's this overwhelming...salty... horrible smell" the mumbled as she looked Jessie "you got the scanner on you?" The fox mumbled in discontent. Listening to the wolfess' comment "well I've been this way with my arm since birth and now I got no replacement or a way to heal it even with arcane stuff" she laughed before running her paw against the smooth rocks "that scent..it's causing my sinuses to burn it's overwhelming" the fox mumbled. Attempting to make as much sense as she could, in reality she was as confused as everyone else was..
But it's doubtful any of the crew members will realize this (at least any time soon), but the same technology that had preserved them on their journey here was the same being used on the reactor as we speak. See, the message hadn't come in clear enough. They didn't have eight minutes to escape...but eight MILLION minutes. That's around 15 years of extra time! Of course, it would take quite the hefty set of balls to 'test' this out on a return trip back to the ship to salvage what they can.
From up here, they could indeed catch a glimpse of some kind of liquid, a greenish one...and a beach to boot, not far off, where the grasslands they were on gave way to sheer cliffs, dropping off into this unreal sea that bubbles and writhes like a massive hot spring. That also must of been the source of the wind, keeping them nice and cool from where they were, buffeted by that (salty and smelly) ocean breeze. "No..." Jessie answered Vierra, unable to meet her gaze, "I must of dropped it at the crashsite...it's gone..." she mumbles, still keeping an eye on the place, waiting for the reactor to go boom...
"Hey...someone should open the survival supplies...I'm...Jessie, by the way..." she adds, realizing that, after 600 odd years, they've haven't even had the time to exchange names...
Arra set the supplies down and opened the box. "Arra." He said, not certain he wanted to exchange names. It was always a bit of a crap shoot to learn the names of the meat he might be eating soon.
The salamander nodded, and answered, cheerfully, "I'm Sal", and vigorously shook Arra's hand, and proceeded to do the same with the rest of the crew
Vierra sighed "God..if its still there by tomorrow...however long that is" the fox smiled "Name's vierra" the fox adds, sitting down. "What do we know about this place from briefings?"
Jin looked at the supply case she had absconded with from the ship. The pace of their exit had nearly made her forget all about it.. that, and the queer view on the horizon. "I've heard about.. liquid methane oceans, or something like that. I.. I have no idea what that is, though.. ah. I am Jinrai Rao. Let's see about that ankle, miss Jessie."
Her bedside manner was genuine and warm as she beamed at the forlorn human. Cupping her hands near Jessie's wounded foot, a bit of gentle golden light began to shine into and soothe the sprain. It was nothing incredible and instantaneous, but it did feel pleasant - and given enough time, would render it balmed enough to shakily walk on, atleast.
As soon as Arra went to open the box, the box itself seemed to take over, unfolding rapidly, as panels and slots pop up, the lid last to pop and slide away. Smoothly sliding up from their hidden side-containers were six vial-injectors, filled with a untrustworthy green liquid. In the center, they'll find a hanger with a small clip-tag for each of them...they'd know this was so because each was like a laminated ID-Card, having their names and photographs printed on them, along with their age, species, and colony 'role'. The way these were put on was not via clothing clip, but rather a sharp needled safe-pin. That voice from the ship returned promptly then, coming from unfolded speakers, this time loud and clear (because this message was completely pre-recorded) "Due to unforeseen difficulties in the colony's mission, Taystie-Space™️ , a nonprofit subsidiary of Taystie Corp, has provided you with one (1) free Alien Adaptation Serum to be used strictly for your own survival until a rescue effort can be organized. Time frame for rescue is: DATA INCOMPLETE. Thank you, and please consider leaving a positive review should you make it home alive...if not....BRZZT" Either the thing ran out of juice, or that last part was some elaborate joke at their expense. But other then that, that's all that the emergency supplies had to offer them. As for whatever Jinrai had made off with, opening it would find out it was completely empty. Turns out it was a Standard Issue "Space Box™️" made for...you guessed it, storing things. It was empty on purpose! 
Jessie was ready to yank her boot off and expose her injury for Jin to work on, but that appeared completely unnecessary. On contact from that glow, Jessie was already feeling a million times better...if not for that unnerving news...that all they had to themselves some kind of cooked up lab serum that did Park know's what to you. Was this that all too infamous "Taystie Park Catch" she should of know was waiting to be sprung on?!
Arrachoon looked at his clipon tag. "Security guard... huh. I can think of a few places to keep you all safe in." He saud without ekaboration. He considered the injectors. Then turned to the salamander. He seemed the least useful of the group. With a merciless quickness. Arra jabbed one of tbe injectors into the only other man on the crew...
Sali was, understably, startled by the sudden injection, and rubbed his arm with the other hand, pouting at the lizard "Hey, not cool man !" he whined, before picking his name tag : "Salamander, Just Salamander, Botanist. Huh. Ok." he nodded, pensively, before pinning the tag to his suit.
Jin listened pensively as she heard those too-convenient words play out over the emergency "supplies" dispenser. Bags seemingly formed under her eyes as her own box proved completely empty..
Sweat beaded her furry brow as her companions stabbed each other with mutagen..
Her smile towards Jessie had grown strained indeed as it trembled. "..Eheh.. heheh.." Her ears droop. They had no food and no clue what was toxic or what diseases this planet might have in store for them. All they could do was pitch their trust in with.. Taystie Corp.. and hope these adaptive serums actually helped. She shakily reached over and took her own designated I.D. and injector. "Wh.. sanitation specialist..? They made me.. a janitor.."
Flump. She sank down to her knees as her smile quivered.
Sal pet her gently with a "there, there", and bent toward her : "Don't let a couple words printed on a laminated card get you down. You are precious and unique and we're all counting on you."
Jessie stared blank-eyed at what Arra had just done...again, she shouldn't be surprised, "W-why?" she mumbled, yet the deed was done. Sal, meanwhile, could feel a bristling chill spread through his body, tingling his flesh, making his muscles tense up slightly, and his pupils dilate, though he might not notice that last part. The injection stung, but otherwise the serum just felt...strange...strange almost in a good way....well, at least in a way Sal might like. Maybe...that's it? Nothing else seemed to happen, at least on the surface. Jessie gave a sigh of relief though, and looked again to the serums. Her ankle was healing up nicely. The pain was gone, and soon, her confidence would return, "Well...we might as well..." she muttered, taking her tag and...picking up an injector, "On three everyone?" she asked with a shrug.
"Chemical engineering isn't my thing...most of the stuff I found was ruined, there was other things that were mostly ruined but no way we could have brought it with us.." Vierra watched the box open, looking at the serums, she grabbed her tag and pinned it on "robotics engineer..A salvage operation could get us some new tools beacons for us to mark locations, and tools for general survival."
Arra took another vial. The salamander hasn't neltes into a pike of goo. So it couldn't be oure ooison at least. He nodded in preparation.
Jinrai sniffled a bit as she wiped at her eyes. The full weight of everything going on around her? Stiff upper lip! No problem! Had to lead by example!
..Janitor, though? Really?
As she rubbed the tears into the back of her furry hands, she attached the queer little pin-injector into her suit with a wince. She had no choice; she knew she wouldn't survive without supplies or adapting to this world.. and the others needed her to survive, if nothing else. She made an unpleasant little awoo as the dread cocktail pumped into her blood stream..
Arra emptied the whole vail in one push. It felt kind of tingly in his veins. But other than that... He felt mostly fine.
Jessie looks down at herself with a furrowed brow, "I said on three..." but her green eyes turn to Vierra, and she shines a hopeful smile, "One...two?" she asks...readying the injector to her arm, it clear the whole thing unnerved her as she couldn't bare to look at the thing, ready and waiting to pierce her flesh...
Sal cranked his head left and right, and stretched, before turning to the other folks : "It doesn't feel that bad, honestly, even got a bit of a high off of it. Don't worry too much about it and let's find something to eat, I'll confess I'm feeling a little peckish right now."
The fox sighed picking her injector up, peircing her flesh, whining slightly. The fox closed her eyes, whining as she "three." she mumbled as she quickly pushed the entire serum into herself, the vixen whined, waiting to see what would happen.
Jin laughed nervously at Jessie's remark. "Eheh.. sorry.. it's just been a.. lot all at once." She frowned at the injector slash namebadge now adorning her already somewhat filthy jumpsuit with ears tucked low. "A little queasy and nervous, but.. I'm alright."
Jessie closed her eyes, whinced up, and gave the injector a push, hitting the plunger on the end, the sensation and feeling of whatever was in that thing rushing through her body by the power of her own beating heart was...not the greatest...no, it was quite unsettling truth be told, but she told herself it was all necessary...at least for their continued survival. Afterwards, with her ID badge secured, she gave a nod to Sal, and added, "Shelter won't be bad either and as...seemingly peaceful as it is out here, I'm not sure we want to be out in the open come sundown..." she looked to the sky, searching for the the subgiant star hanging in the sky: It was not hard to find, being almost half again larger then the sun they were all familiar with, "Does anyone actually know how long days are here?" Anyway, Jessie, along with pretty much everyone else, had some layer of that sticky white gunk from the crashsite still on their spacesuits, so she offered up the suggestion, "Maybe we should head over to that...uhh, water...? Wash ourselves off...hey, there might even be some caves underneath those cliffs we can use as a basecamp...what do you say?" Almost immediately, maybe even before Jessie had spoke, the idea of finding and going to the shoreline seemed...spontaniously right...almost required. And though there was nothing (outwardly) dangerous about the blue-grass plains...there was a creeping dread spreading through the group, making them feel increasingly naked and exposed, "I...I think it'll be nice..." she adds, even if the color and the pungent scent rising from that bubbling green molasse said anything but...well, except maybe for Sal...that place might be right up his alley!
Sal nodded and pointed toward the general direction of the salty smell : "Right ! Water ! Fish ! Let's go gang !" And proceeded to give Jess a piggyback ride.
Jin nodded and helped usher the less enthusiastic colonists along towards the beach with her best look of brave, warm supportiveness.. which, given everything, was wavering pretty bad.. but she was trying!
"Eheh.. I agree. We need to figure out a source of water. I'm getting.. really thirsty now that the adrenaline is settling down. That and shelter are top priorities. We had better get goin' while we have light."
She tried not to overthink things now. The disabled cyborg fox got a helping hand while she followed the more enthusiastic members of the group to the shoreline.
The idea seemed oddly right to Arrachoon as well.  He had a lingering notion that this was off though. A notion that made him lag behind the group. He was an amphibian. He should know clean water from the dirty stuff... It was the feeling of vulnerability that made him stop questioning and get moving.
He scratched his arm. The place he had injected himself felt quite itchy.
The fox froze "I think that sounds good.."  her tail swishing, as she began to wander towards the water, the smell growing more intense , the foxes tail puffing up as something felt off. Her ear dropping "Is...it just me or, does something not feel....right..." the fox stopped and looked at her crew.
But just as they were moving out, a tremble in the ground below catches them offguard, and on instinct, Jessie shouts out, "The ship!" At least her eyes go looking for it, expecting to see it explode shortly, but her assumption was wrong. No, that nearby boulder was the source...as slowly, it lifts up, and six, huge, pincer-like legs carry it upwards. On the other 'side' of the rock, two curving eye-stalks emerge and begin to search it's surroundings, each independent of the other...and suffice to say, screaming from the deep recesses of each crew member's soul, was one simple urge, "RUN!" Jessie gave that inner sense an outer voice as she broke from Sal and started to flee like mad towards the shoreline.
Jinrai, staggered off-balance for a moment at the unexpected tremors. When she swung back up to see what was causing them, her eyes went wide and ears flattened back against her head. If she weren't already so white, she probably would've looked quite pale! Only a nervous little warble escaped her throat as she rushed off with Vierra in tow, trying not to attract any more attention than she had. She could only pray the colossal rock-lobster-thing was an herbivore.. or very, very sleepy!
The sprint beachward took more of a toll on her than she was banking on, feeling woozy and congested before they got half-way there. She was covering her muzzle in her free hand and desperately trying to suppress coughs and hacks while her eyes watered. That scent really was strong.. and she was going to faint if she didn't drink something soon.
Sal kept running, a little faster, although not so much as to outpace everyone else, looking over his shoulders at the gigantic crustaceans with a little more concern than he expressed before!
Arra got moving immediately. Picking up Jinrai and Vierra during his sprint. They looked the most tasty out of the bunch. No way was he gonna give them up to some alien monster!
Jin made a little 'wauf?!' of surprise as she got scooped up. But there (seemed to be) far worse places to be in a situation like this than the big, strong arms of a comrade!
The vulpine stumbled, and began scrambling, "WHAT THE ACTUAL...fuck is that thing" the screamed as she scrambled to the shoreline, her body convulsing, the scent growing stronger, her breath catching and spluterring with every second, sitting on the back of Arra, the weak fox shivered. Her nose srcunching up "That scent...its so horrific, it burns."
Their suits were greattolerable in space, but down here, they were heavy, stifling, and downright dehabilitating....but what other sensible options did the crew have but to flee in terror, hope they don't trip in those clumsy boots, and end up utterly exhausted by the time they made it to the beach. By then, the colossal rock monster had shifted spots, trudging a few feet to the left to settle back down, leaving it's old spot bare, the grass and ground below having been churned up and consumed entirely by an underside and unseen maw. At worst, these things were passive predators, as they cared not what happened to ended up below as they were omnivores in the truest sense...they ate EVERYTHING. Still, to end up it's pray, they'd have to be insanely slow, insanely stupid, or just downright suicidal...and I don't think anyone was quite there yet.
Honestly, the bigger problem was how, to make it to the beach, they had to scramble down a sandy red slope, the ground giving way and causing them to slide down, where they end up at sea level in a messy pile. They were welcome to try, but climbing their way back up that slope (or any of the near 90 degree cliffs that rim the beach) was some tall order. And the smell...goodness..that smell. They knew it was terrible...they knew it made their eyes water and their noses run...and yet, there was something just so comforting about it...even nostalgic. It left them thankful to be here despite their body's discomfort with being so close to it's bubbling source. And as for anyone who was thirst (read: Likely everyone) there was an almost gravitational pull to drink from that very sea...but it's scent and it's green-tinged surface (and worst of wall, it's steaming temperature) seemed like a terrible idea...unthinkable...yet they couldn't shake the thought nor the urge..."Drink...just drink. Drink up. Drink!" the voice might of told their mouths, "So..." breathed out Jessie after she took a moment to catch some (less) then fresh air, "Who wants to try first?" She was half-joking, but there was a certain morbid truth to her words too. After all, shouldn't the Adaptation Serum make it so they COULD drink it?
bro SOBS05/01/2020
Arra looked up at the slope they had just slid off of. This close to the water even he couldn't ignore the debilitating stench of it all. He remembered the serum. Perhaps... Perhaps drinking would ammeliorate the sensory assault somewhat by hastening the adaptation. The lizard let the two girls slide from his grip to go and have a sip. His resistance to the idea suitably broken. He went down on all fours to immediately start lapping up mouthfuls of it.
Sal proceeded to emerge from the body pile and stand up, stretch again, and realize how constricted he was... After a couple seconds of pondering, just very casually stripped and got rid of his suit, before stepping toward the water, and for the sake of the experiment, bent over, and cupping his hands, held water to his mouth and took a big gulp.
Jin looked up at her savior-of-sorts with a weak smile as she slid onto the beach. "Thank you.. oouhh.." She seemed like she might fall over on the spot, despite not being injured or exerted compared to the rest of the group. Another fit of rather wet-sounding hacking coughs into her cupped hands, followed by a dainty little canine sneeze, and she pulled her hands away to find them covered in a rather impolite amount of mucous. "Eewwuughh.. gghhuh.. I must be allergic to somethin' here.. ffffhhso thirstyy.."
The beleaguered wolfess trudged towards the shore like a zombie, virtually heedless of Jessie's joking tone. In a better state of mind, she would've suggested testing the stuff. Gathering it into a vessel and boiling it, maybe - it was probably sea... not quite water, but sea sludge. 
But she was not in a better state of mind. Her own condition and the bizarre compulsions of this place egged her on 'till she was on her hands and knees, trudging out into the slime and dipping her heavy rack and muzzle straight into the cloying, steaming, horrible scum-stuff.
Jin drank deep. Desperately. Disregarding its taste or the tears steaming down her cheeks, she wolfed the stuff down with an almost fanatical devotion to filling her belly to bloating.
Jessie could only blink at them all, speechless, even if she had to reckon with the fact that they were all, in some ways, willing vistors to Taystie Park. Of course they jumped in head-first and thought little of the consquences, "Uhh...maybe slow down a bit..." she suggests gently, but already knew it was hopless. She looked elsewhere then with a sigh, and couldn't help but find the shoreline utterly enchanting...those red sands stretches and curving off in either direction breathtaking in their alien beauty. They felt softer then earth sand too, and there were bits of darker particles mixed in, volcanic rocks crushed into a fine dust. She...began to undress...though what it really amounted too was the removal of her boots and space socks, leaving her feet bare. Then she caught herself feeling exceptionally parched, her lips feeling cracked...her tongue dry as a desert...and she started to watch the others with a growing jealously, envious for the water they partook in...
I wonder...which among them would be the first to notice the webbing staring to appear between their fingers and toes?
Arrachoon pulled back. Strangely satisfied with the water. He was more focused on the outward beauty. This was quite a pleasant place... Somewhere he could get used to living. Perhaps he could even keep one of the other members of the crew around to start a population with.
He was thinking of everything that had happened. It felt like moments ago that they had all stepped into the shuttle and set off. Add now here they were. Impossibly far away from home with no way back.
The fox sat at the corner of the water, gagging, and retching as she bent over, slowly she began to drink the water, spitting it out, coughing, wheezing, feeling sick. The girl survived though. She too removed her boots, sitting on the side of the ocean "what do you all think this stuff is?"  the girl would ask, "i dont think its water..."
Sal deemed the water fit for consumption and kept drinking from his cupped hands, noticing the exercise was easier than expected, and, after inspection, realized it was because his hands became more cup-like. He stared at them, and extended his arms toward the sun, contemplating the light coming through these new patches of skin. "Uh !" he exhaled, expressing interest, interrogation and, overall, fascination for this new development : "hey guys, I thing the serum stuff gave me, like, webbed appendages and stuff. That or the water, I dunno."
bro SOBS05/01/2020
Arra looked at his own limbs. "Probably a combination of both. Won't be that much of a change for me I think... I was already amphibian."
Vierra05/01/2020
The fox lifted her hand, noticing the slight webbing, remaining silent for a minute. "this...this is just plain unusal" the fox would remark to herself.
As for the taste of said water...well, it had a taste, I'll just say that! It was murky and thick...at times chunky, like there was floating bits of 'stuff' within. But nobody retched...no matter how...unpleasant the act of swallowing turned out to be...and there was an innately shared feeling that what they were drinking wasn't only good for them...it was required...that the water was filled with life-giving properties...and rich with a variety of nutrients. Yes...that's what it tasted like...nutritious! 
"Umm...guys?" Jessie called out, pointing to her feet and splayed toes, a thin bit of pinkish flesh stretching between them. She was the only one who hadn't drank yet...meaning that the serum was the culprit.
"Hmm... You suppose they knew what they were sending us to and prepared the vials in advance or it's some experimental lab stuff?" Arra was speaking more conjecture. Truth was, he was trying to play it cool, but he had been in taystie park for long enough to always be afraid of the unexpected
Sal nodded, and opined : "Yeah, it's the serum", before taking a few other gulps, apparently content with the current state of affairs, and dipped his head under water in search of fish
Jinrai pulled away from the shoreline with a deep gasp, falling back onto her butt with a jiggle and satisfied daze on her face. Her increasingly webbed fingers rubbed over her belly, only for her to glance at them in subdued wonder. "A.. ah.. I guess it's doing what it was meant to do. I wonder how it knows.. what's directing it..?" Her canine digits were always a little bit webbed, but this change was surreal to her. But surreal or not, she had been expecting little aesthetic shifts like these since they saw the needles. "..Still.. I feel so much better now. I think this stuff must have caloric value.. it feels so - urp! 'Scuse me.. feels so right to drink."
"Yeah... Don't even feel like..." Arra caught himself and shut up. He had been considering in what order to eat the others before they had drank... But the problem of food seemed to have just been solved.
Seeing as nobody had died (yet), Jessie finally said, "Screw it!" and crawled over to get a good lungful of the stuff herself full of the liquid, finding that, as soon as she started to drink, she couldn't bring herself to stop well beyond the point where she would of before. It was almost like she hadn't had a glass to drink for 600 years! "Sal...uhmpf....wait!" she tries to warn, but was too late with swallowing down that last mouthful of green, sludgy alien sea-water. But believe it or not, underneath the surface, it was TEEMING with life...even though it was hard to spot in that murky liquid, Sal could see the creatures scurrying along the bottom....the floor covered in branching, shrub-like messes of coral and writhing sea anemones. Shrimp-like morsels flutter through the air like graceful dancers, and oddly shaped fan-fish swim lazily by, their bodies dominated by huge yellow eyes on each side of their forms. In fact, when Sal does spot life, it sports similar eyes...big and bulging, obviously evolved in order to see in the less then stellar conditions down here...
And by the time Sal resurfaces, he, and the rest of the crew, will have a new sensory awareness begin to manifest about their bodies. It wasn't sight...nor smell...it wasn't like any sense they had known before. It was that fabled sixth sense, and it was indescribably alien. The best way to try and explain it was that they had this kind of...field about them, in 360 degrees...an aura...with which they could sense their surroundings...could FEEL it, gifting them a familiarty even with their eyes closed. And what was the source? Why, it was that pair of long antenna everyone now sports, emerging from their foreheads, narrow and elegant, they gently ungulate with a mind of their own, but naturally like to press backwards, settling mostly behind their heads, near half was long as the rest of their bodies!
Arra shuddered at the new feeling. He had always told himself he had a hunter's sixth sense. But the real thing was something else entirely. IT was like having a pair of eyes you couldn't shut. He poked the antennae softly. The appendages twitching sensitively. "Right... I've had enough of waiting for my body to do weird things. I'm gonna look for shelter. ANyone coming with?"
Sal marveled at the new appendages, as he slowly backed from the watchful eyes and back to the safety of the shore, not really concerned by the thing but oddly enough chose to stay on the safe side of thing. Sitting on the beach, he assumed the lotus position and started focusing on this newfound sense, raveling in what it had to offer, exploring the way it perceived those around him, with slow and ample breath.
Jin ran her paws back over the antennae in wonder, wide-eyed and awestruck at the sheer perceptions of the world around herself! She whispered an enchanted little 'wow' while adjusting to it.. and, heck - it was even kind of cute! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall?
She blinked many times before looking to Sal and Vierra, who seemed content to stay. "Ah.. sure, Mr. Arra. I don't think any of us should do anything alone here for a while." She tags along with the amphibian, seemingly in much better spirits now that her belly was gently bobbing with ... something she had decided was a meal.
"Yeah...I don't think..." Jessie was is cut off from agreeing with Jinrai by an INTENSE wave nausea striking her stomach. Had they all spoke too soon? Everyone starts to suffer the same sickness, the feeling soon morphing into abondominal discomforts, their bellies shaking, twisting up...now in pain, and finally, pure agony. Jessie was left on her knees, doubled over, and screaming for relief. For almost a minute, she felt like she was dying, but in that span of time, her insides were changing...rearranging, becoming totally alien, like a creature born of this planet...evolved over millions and millions of years. And though her new insides and organs share most of the same functions her original set had, they were still dramatically different in HOW they were accomplished. Some organs were bigger, others were smaller...two become one, one became two...but in the end, torterous though the process was, she (and everyone else) would be better adapted for the planet they were stranded on...in fact, once the pain finally starts to wash away, she finds herself able to breath so much easier...and that awful ocean scent? It was still there, yes, but all the awful side-effects that came with it, the stinging of their eyes and nose, was gone, "Is...is everyone okay?"
Arrachoon had collapsed in a heap on the ground. Flailing and growling from the pain. He felt entirely off on the inside. He breathed in deep with newfound freedom. Once he had his bearings he checked on Jinrai. The fox walking up had made her the centre of his attention... Whether that was something good for her remained to be seen.
Sal groaned as his inside cramped and morphed, reorienting his meditation toward resisting the nauseous feeling, inhaling deeply and huffing slowly until it finally passed. Sighing in relief as the atmosphere suddenly became more breathable, he took a long breath in before checking on his team mates : "I think I'm alright... You ?" he asked, taking a look around to see if people were still cramped or nauseous.
Jin had a pleasant look on her face one moment, and a look of agonized terror the next. She doubled-over holding her belly with a pitiful little meep only a pace after Arra had, pomfing her headhead into the red sands as she trembled, doubled-over onto her knees as her guts metamorphed. She tried to tell herself it was okay - the serum was necessary - they needed this to live.. but it was small comfort while her thoracic cavity ripped apart and re-arranged itself with paralyzing speed! Once the grumbling and groaning settled down, she loosed a deep sigh of relief. "..Eh..heheh.. like a big ol' bowel movement, huh? Oof.."
"Yeah... I'm surprised we're still alive honestly. Guess we know where the budget of this mission went." Arra looked at his limbs. "Nothing's fallen off or started melting into protoplasm yet."
"Uhhhgg.. when'll it stop..? If we need to run from something again.. or try to sleep like this.." Jin staggered upright using the much larger lizard for support. "..All the more reason to find a shelter.."
At least from Jessie, that last comment from Jinrai got a more then sour response, her face curled into a sneer, not only of distaste, but apal. Gross. And yes, while I think everyone can agree that this latest wave of change brought was a total net positive, the one thing that was bugging them now more then ever was their spacesuits...at least for those who still wore them. Hot and oppressive, whatever discomfort felt from wearing them was soon turning unbearable...and even painful! Why? Well, there were a few notable growths bulging from underneath, coming mostly from the sides of their mid-sections...but worse was the feelings in their rears. Something...big...was filling up their suits' seats...and no, it wasn't a massive dump...whatever it was...it was a part of them...they could feel want to push and free itself...the changing growth not stopping or slowing down!
Arrachoon didn't waste any moments getting his claws under the suit to start tearing it off. He had only put the thing on in the first place due to it being a requirement to join the mission. It came off in large chunks of synthetic material. He was morbidly curious about what new appendage was going to reveal itself next.
Sal was starting to become used to those changes, and welcomed the metamorphosis, and crawled on his belly quietly so the change would have room to occur, simply breathing quietly to let things happen as they should.
Logically, anyone could just look to Sal to get a pretty good idea and preview of what was happening. He was beginning to spout and sport a new set of limbs from out of his chest...yet they were too simplistic to really know if they were arms or legs. Behind him though...that's what would catch the most attention...yes, he had a tail already, but what was taking it's place was so much MORE then just a tail. This thing was HUGE, bigger then the rest of himself, and the flesh already had what looked like a kind of protective chitin covering it. Odd, petal-like plates dot the underside, like little insectoid wings, too small to be of any apparant use, while the end had four plates, far larger and broader then the rest. On top, the armor plating was smooth except for a few evenly placed bumps and ridges. Suffice to say, after seeing this, everyone would know that getting naked would no longer be optional...that thing needed room to grow...and not only that, but Sal's current posture was also probably best...as the added weight did not lend itself at all to staying upright and bipedal. Better to lay down...it even felt right  as Sal could attest...even natural...
Arra's attempts to keep upright didn't last long. He was forced down into the new normal of his stance by the necessities of his new anatomy. A worry was starting to form in his head... Would they still have their minds after this? If the serum was already so profoundly affecting his perception of the world...

Jinrai was a bit reluctant to shed her spacesuit; she wasn't really wearing much underneath, afterall. Sal didn't seem to mind, but.. well. There was no longer any time for modesty or bashfulness as her body cracked and lurched into something entirely foreign. She whined like a chastened dog as she desperately shed her suit like a too-tight latex glove, panting in agony as she flumped into the sand and felt her body contort and grow - a shift so far away from her cute little self-image prior and so close to 'shimp' that she felt tears welling in her eyes for reasons other than just the pain.
Arra was struck from his worry by the turmoil Jinrai was going through. He crawled over to her side and embraced her. A small act to try and get some modicum of control over the situation. He didn't say anything. Not sure what there even was to say
Jinrai whined pitteously into the larger male's embrace. She couldn't even bring herself to think of him as 'lizard' anymore.. and didn't know what to identify herself of, as of this moment. "I don't like this anymore..!!"
Sal kept his eyes closed through the metamorphosis process, learning to feel the new him, filling this new physicality mindfully rather than rejecting the change. The poison was in his veins and nothing could be done to halt the process. This was what was, and nothing could halt it. He embraced that transformation, accepting this new body for all its promises.
A chaotic blur consumes the group then, time and space losing its meaning as they are lost in the churning torrent of their own changing forms, their 'adaptations' kicking into over-drive. Necks narrow, but grow in length, their spines following a similar pattern, cracking and stretching as the very structures of their bodies turn disformed. Hair and fur either recede or fall away, leaving their skulls to shift and mold, turning rounder, flatter, their teeth falling out and lips disappearing, with a spine-filled maw complete with face-manibles replacing them. Fingers merge and shell-like growths cover their hands, becoming two hard, durable pincers, adept at doing two things alone; Open...and snap close. For the female, their breasts fade completely, while everyone's hips all sink away almost entirely, their waists tapering off into a narrow little point that ends where their tails begin. Their legs remain strong though...for some, even stronger, thighs filling up with powerful, springing muscle, while feet became like two-toed flippers, digitgrade with heels dotted by squishy sacs of glowing blue flesh...
Arra came to fully transfigured. He wasn't quite sure what to do now. In the confusion he had lost track of who even was who anymore. He tried speaking. Half expecting his vocal chords to just be a distant memory now
Sal was unaware of the actual changes that were occurring, but felt he was slowly losing his form, and with some amount of regret, made a mental goodbye to his previous shape, unable to fully let go of what was, the life story of his body flashed before his mind's eye, the times he broke a limb, the times he lost and regrew his tail, the various tales of joy and sorrow his physicality offered him, to the moments of intimacy he shared, the way his favorite meals tasted, and so on.
Raz lost more of her perceptions and emotions than she had entirely bargained for as the transformation his its peak; her sense of self and her old worldly concerns? Her body, her goals, her memories, her hopes and dreams? They all diluted into an unrecognizable haze, like droplets of ink bleeding on the surface of water. She clatter-clacked as her limbs struggled to raise or shift her horrible new body, unsure of her ability to even communicate anymore. What did that matter, though, with personhood flying out the window? They weren't just going to survive.. they were going to go native, and leave no more footprint on this planet than the impact of their ship!
Indeed, only a chirping, whirling, untrained squeak would escape his throat now. And not only were their vocal cords utterly alien, but their tongues were these coiled things, thick bundles akin to a insect's proboscis, one they could hide and keep use, unwinding it only when needed, whether to taste, or suck up liquids. Chitin covered flesh...or WAS flesh now, shiny, smooth, and waterproof...but colorful too! Dotted and stripped, with blended hues of greens-blues and purple-orange, cyan and violet, black and red, with stripes and dots and speckled patterns aplenty, each one of them would have a colorful coat all their own, no two alike, not by a wide margin. And by now, those newest limbs, the ones having emerged from what HAD been their midsections (though now resembled more of a thorax) had become the front legs to their original pair's back legs, two-toed flippers with a vague pointed claw-ridge on each toe-tip, granting then an added bit of traction when on land (and a little something to menance with when threatened, if those pincers prove lacking...) And like Sal had seen prior, their heads were now dominated by huge eyes, their one vulerabilities on an otherwise armor-plated body, letting them see in spectrums, waves, and colors that prove just as transformative to their surroundings as the serum had been to their bodies. Their eyes almost become secondary in a strange way to those antennae, their eyes so specialized...maybe over specialized, that their electric-sense emittining from the tops of their heads prove more useful moment to moment...able to sense not just each other's presence, but the fact that they were of the same body...the same species...the same...family...and pack...

Arra tapped Jinrai to catch her attention. He could... Sense her distress. He wanted her to know he would be there for her. He wanted to be by her side in this new life.
Jinrai seemed utterly despondent.. or as much as she could, with her new and very limited emotive range in this crustacean body. Laying limp in the sand in a pile of her former, drying tears.. unable to contribute to them any longer due solely to her complete anatomical makeover. That seemed fitting, somehow.
..But the tap-tap against her body roused her attention from her increasingly shallow depression. She did have kin. She had options. There was only death before..
She rose up on shaky legs and used Arra for support, in more ways than one. She looked back to Sal and Jessie with droopy antennae.
Jessie was distressed too...it was as plain to see in her frightened eyes as it was to sense on a more...instinct-driven level...from how her body responds to the air around it, quivering, her limbs twitching unnaturally, her breathing uneasy and unsettled. "Something was wrong with her..." inner voices would say whenever their awareness would shift to the purple-blue creature, "Keeee...kreee...." she quietly moans/cries to herself, her tail trying to curl up against herself as she lays on the sand. The one shared thing about their various colorations is that the darker hues were always on-top, and the lighter hues on the bottom, but even a beginners marine biology class back on earth could of told them why. It's also around this time that they discover that they no longer have eye-lids, and so are unable to simply shut their eyes...not that it would do much with their antennae forever feeling. There would be no respite from their new shrimp-bug existance, "Skrrrr?" Jessie seems to ask then as Jinrai (or at least the one she THOUGHT was Jinrai) looks in her and Sal's direction...
Sal rised and hailed the sun, his pincers spread wide as he soaked in the light of the alien sun, warming his new form and chirped cheerfully. This was blissful for him, as he basked in his newfound form, and the wonderful new array of perception that accompanied it. He turned to his companions, and approached the closest one, probably Jessie, as she was curled up on the sand. He resumed his chirping, expressing in their new tongue the wonders and excitement of the situation, and how welcome this new life should be, his bio-luminescent vesicles glowing, pulsating as he made his alien proclamation
Arra just looked at him with a cocked head. Communication was going to be an issue... But he gleaned enough from posture to get the general gist of Sal's intent. He crept up towards the sea. Interested in learning to hunt in this new form... And find out if this body had retained the ability to swallow prey alive.
Sal's reaction and frank adulation of his new self left Jessie understandably stunned and baffled. She'd be left blinking and slack-jawed...expect, well, you know...she lacked most of those parts and functions. She did however tilt her buggy alien head as he approached, and tested a few shrill chirps back, struggling to get a handclaw on her new range of vocalizations, nothing summoned up even coming close to approaching a familiar word or phrase, but don't mistake these sounds for being meaningless. There was a puzzle here, waiting to be unlocked, and if they could figure it out, some level of vocal communication can be re-established, even if true language was forever out of reach, "Kurrrup? Tsssiik...T-tsssk...."
Arra joined in on the noises. He thought he had heard something that sounded legible somewhere. And now he was chasing that sound. He paid attention to all his senses... Perhaps the antennae would be key?
Sal observed his companions, and was a little disheartened to see them so underwhelmed. No matter, it was time to feast, and gorge on hapless sea life.

Indeed, the longer they took to time to focus on each other...tuning their senses, EVERY sense, towards their companions, the more a mutual 'understanding' would blossom, granting them an almost instinctual insight to their moods, their health, even their intentions. And slowly, but surely, an odd pack awareness would form, headed by Sal's sudden turn to the ocean. They would all be feeling it now too, the drive and the hunger; their heavy and total transformations had drained their body's reserves quite drastically. They needed to refill...but thankfully a bountiful buffet awaits right at their doorstep. Below that churning sea was life aplenty...food aplenty...

Jessie was reluctant to rise, and even more uncertain once she was all on four of her flippery insect feet, but she stumbles after, every step taken granting new confidence and stature to her gait, and once the water was licking at their toes, a unrivalled excitement seemed to awaken inside them all. Though they could walk on land, the sea was their true domain...for here...they could fly...
Sal went deeper and deeper into the sea, chasing prey and having an overall good time testing the possibilities of this new body, and felt how much more comfortable he felt immersed, beginning to swim rather than waddle in the water. With a trill and a wave of his claw, he invited the group to join him
Arra got into a clumsy run. Pushing off to dive straight into the surf. Seems his rash forwardness hadn't been much at all dulled. His eyes quickly adjusted to the murk below. Scanning around for something to eat. He went for something small. Pincers flashing and grabbing a small critter he brought to his mouth. Mandibles helping to keep his prey in place(edited)
As others rush in around her to take to the sea, Jessie proved to be the most timid of the bunch, just like before when it came time to make that leap of faith. She keeps to the shallows, her tall head and neck perched high above the water as she ineffectively takes snapping grabs at the small, centipede like critters that scurry amid a thin layer of squishy silt. Deep inside, she knew them to be a delicacy of sorts....delicious...but not their main staple, as they were too small and too difficult to catch regularly. The others weren't having the best luck either...at least on their own. The alien fish could sense their presence as well as they could, and were quick to zip away, finding cover amid rock and coral...
Sal did his very best to catch anything, but was already happy to have an exercise to test this new body, and was taking this test with some degree of seriousness. As an amphibian, swimming was already quite natural to him, it was surely more a matter of getting the inner workings of his anatomy right.
Arra pondered how predators could thrive in an enviroment like this. Perhaps there was some way to mask the sense... He tried kicking up sand from the sea floor. Creating visual noise might be the necesarry cover. Masking his approach till it was too late to react.
Arra's smart trick offered some amount of cover when shielding his approach, but most prey, as soon as the sand started flying, fled without delay. But the best method demands teamwork. Their senses, strong and sensitive though they were, could be put on the fritz by overstimulation and surprise. If they worked together, in a group, a pack, of three or more, boxing in and coming at the fresh from all different directions, their springy, quick reflexes were more then enough to nab a meal as it tries to frantically swim past...

But with Jessie still holding close to the shore, Sal and Arra were one shrimp-bug short...

Arra swam over to Jessie. Skittering out his intent. They needed to get hunting down if they were gonna survive out here... And they needed her help for it.
Sal took advantage of the sand kicking to swim toward it, trying to catch the frightened sea critters off guard, and maybe catch them
Even stuck in this alien body, it was plain to see (and feel) how nervous Jessie was, shooting anxious glances to that murky green soup of an ocean...her human and shrimp-bug sides in conflict, one seeing it as a perilous, poisonous mire full of unknown danger, while the other only saw freedom and food, mocking herself for holding back, when this was exactly the environment she was made to explore, one her BODY was born in. She looks back to shore, and to the ruined remains of their spacesuits, their tossed aside ID Badges, no longer able to be worn before she turned away, to see only that steaming sea, and her two brothers who had taken to it like ducks to water. If they can...then so can she...right?

Arra  hovered over her. Gently dragging at her with a pincer. He was needfully hungry. The transformation had taken a lot of energy. And he needed some flesh in his stomach soon or he would do something rash from hunger.
Sal kept fishing and exploring the surrounding, gleefully observing the many creatures and plants surrounding him, each new discovery more curious and interesting than the last

Jessie wobbles awkwardly but doesn't resist...possibly mainly because she'd rather not end make that pincer squeeze any harder...her body had a tough and protective shell, but tools like that were made for cracking the very same defenses. Her tail slaps the surface of the water as she's drawn deeper and deeper still, her head struggling to stay afloat and above. Would she have to hold her breath...or could they breath? I guess Sal and Arra probably already knew the answer...that whatever organs played the role as lungs now were incredibly efficient; Yes, they would have to 'hold' their breath, but even so, they could last literal WEEKS submerged before even feeling the need to come up for air...they could even push it to a month and a half if they wanted to...

Sal seemed please to see Jess come to the water and swam toward the other too, emitting joyous clicks and trills as he approached, greeting her presence in their destined environment with joy
Arra tapped his stomach. He was hungry, and wanted them to get to hunting. He had his eyes on a big, juicy-looking fish thing.
Jessie's tail slapped the water again, as much an anxious tell as it was an instinctive reflex...their big fan-like tails were the secret to their nimble grace and surprising speed...while their four legs and feet offered finer control, main mobility came from the tail, and once she finally let her head sink under, and she gave it a few tries, making her truly feel like she was flying effortlessly through the water, it was like a flip had been switched. She resurfaced, and was all cheers, doing her very best to mimic Sal's calls with easily apparent delight, bobbling gently, her body and tail lateral.
Arra got in position to capitalize on the cheering of his two siblings. Seems he was the only one that wasn't going to be playing all day. He had to hunt so they could all eat. So they could all be safe and healthy.
Sal tugged on Jess' pincer to invite her to the hunt, and followed Arra in his quest for life-giving calories, trying to coordinate his movements with his, and trap their preys
Jessie takes to the water with admirable quickness, her body leading her mind as it learns and adapts. Soon, her movements under the sea rivaled the others', her whole form undulating as it swims, limbs tucking themselves against her carapace, granting her increased hydrodynamics, making it feel like she was almost sliding through that liquid. She even does a few dramatic turns, banking and corkscrewing, falling utterly in love with the act and sensations. This was amazing!

Jess' gradual change of heart resonated with Sal, and as their new sensory capacities allowed them better sense of how the others were feeling, it gave him a new boost in happiness, and he energetically slithered in the water, as he punched through schools of fish
Arra showed proficiency with the pincers. The appendages flashing in the water and snapping up prey at a vicious pace. He offered some of the slain beasts to the others. Eager to find out how eating worked in this new body.
And just like that, Jessie was gone, having dived into a bed of sloshing, white-tentacled anemones, poisonous to the touch, but thanks to her chitin-covered body, they were completely harmless for her...and the perfect spot to wait and hide for the perfect opportunity. Only her antennas remain exposed, staying raised and alert, searching for movement above...like say an unset and scattered school of alien fish. And as soon as a suitably large group shot by in a mad panic, she strikes, both pincers nabbing prey clean as she surges up from below with her nabbed bounties in hand...
Arra smiled contently. He had put the joy of hunting in them. He had feared the possibility he would have to feed them all on his own. No such worry was grounded though. Jesse and Sal were taking to it like born predators. Pretty soon they had collected a big pile of fish. Arra gratefully eating his fill bmwith the others.
Sal fell contented by the feast provided by the sea, and now with a full stomach, exploration of this new world could resume. He looks around for something that would catch his eye and merit investigation.
The firmer lizard turned back to shore to get some food to the others hanging back from exploring for now

Jessie knew eating raw (alien) fish and sea-life, sometimes while it was still squirming and alive, was really, really gross and hard to fathom...she could not stop herself...she didn't even bat an non-existent eyelid. But after one bite, then two, the juicy, slimy meat had won her over, just bursting with flavor. And she ate it all; eyeballs, fins, entrails and brains, there were next to no leftovers once she had went to dive again in search of seconds, thirds, even fourths. Eventually, with her latest catch, she started to search her companions out and show them her handy work, not just to brag and celebrate, but to share. Such kindness had always felt good for Jessie, but now there was a primal urge behind it, and it flooded her body with a gooey, delightful warmth, a burst of feel-good chemicals that has their bonds strengthening and affection growing...

You could even call it love...

And so their day continues with more or less the same, diving, swimming, hunting...sometimes exploring, always keeping within acceptable sensory distance (which is farther then you might think!) always, on some level, aware of their pack-mates, able to help at a moment's notice, should it mean cornering prey or escaping predators. Because...for the further out they drift from shore, the deeper the ocean becomes, and the larger the beasts tend to be. And whether they were outwardly dangerous or not, some creatures here rival those massive rock-shelled things they encountered on the cliffs...who swim with mouth(s) wide open, swallowing whole anything foolish or unlucky enough to get sucked inside. You had to always be watching...and feeling, for disturbances in the water, from any and all directions! Here, the eyes become less and less useful, the sludgy, thick water darker the deeper you go down, light finding it difficult to piece such a richly populated liquid. So if it wasn't clear before, they were not welcome here...and their instincts (growing stronger by the hour) compel them to stick to the shore, pools, and shallows; That as their home and hunting ground...and since it had everything they could ever want or need...why leave? Here felt safe...here, they were apex predators. But they need not always hunt...

Rare though it was, a great behemoth from the deeper reaches, dead or dying, would come drifting in, where it would eventually beach itself and come to rest, half on land, half still submerged. Then, and only then, would the feast commence...one that would last for days, even weeks, as they strip that carcass clean. But not only would the colonists-turned-shrimp-bugs enjoy this immense bounty...but other organisms from far and wide, known and unknown...a natural peace would exist between them all, as fish nibble any loose bits and pieces, worms emerge from the sands itself, even great, swooping tarps, air-buoyant bags of thin, veined flesh...
Descend from the heavens to feed. But it was the Shrimp-Bugs who had the choicest meats of all, able to climb and swim where-ever they pleased, armed with the perfect tools to get at the tastiest cuts and juiciest organs. But it's during this multi-day feeding frenzy that our colonists might come to realize a curious aspect of life on Ceti Sigma Prime...the days themselves...or lack thereof! As before, when they landed, that sun was as high above as it was now...but it had been hours upon hours...yet still it had not budged an inch. But with so much to explore and do, it was easy to lose track of time...but one had to wonder: How many earth days had it been? No one could say for sure, but what they did know is that they had not grown tired. So long as they kept themselves fed, and did not work themselves to momentary exhaustion, the need for rest was a non-factor. So no one can blame them then when their existence here all started to blur together...the sunlight seemingly eternal as (earth) days become (earth) weeks, then (earth) months...and finally...(earth) years! And all the while, their routines were an endless cycle...of swimming and feeding and exploring...with bouts of play and games in-between. They kept a degree of sophistication early on, making do with what they had (namely: sand) They could play tic-tack-toe in that red sand, they could draw, even write, with their pincers, but often times that was more effort then it was worth. Making sand castles and sculptures was almost impossible though without waves and tides to get the stuff wet, the lack of a (current) moon telling, though there had to be some at one point, given the erosion present. Maybe it was tidally locked, the rotation too slow and synched up. But over time, their games started to devolve a bit...nobody could remember the rules of tic-tack-toe, or how to even win, carved words became few and far between, and even when they were attempted, they were badly spelled and simplistic as can be...
But they honestly didn't mind...and it was slowly replaced with other forms of play...forms that tickled their instinctual minds and brought them bursts of swelling happiness, even pleasure. Like play-hunting, hiding and seek, chasing, both on land and under the smoking and writhing sea. Sometimes they would wrestle and fight, aggressions boiling over, but nobody would get hurt in the end (except for their prides), and there were no hard feelings. They had few feelings to really contend with nowadays anyway, and without the ability to communicate outside of various pitched chirring, hissing, and barks to indicate basic levels of intent, they had trouble sharing how far their minds had regressed. The past and the future for them were all starting to regress, their awareness shrinking to the moment, and even then, it was of a limited quantity. Naturally, their thoughts grew dimmer, becoming more like feelings and instincts just on the surface, with little below, lacking in nuance, and devoid of complexity. And suffice to say, their memories of before become cloudy and unclear, their meaning soon lost, their purpose unfathomable. Names between them were all but gone and plus, their behavior and personality had all become strikingly uniform. There was always a bit of random variety, sure, but trying to connect which shrimp-bug had been who no was a utterly tiresome task...possible? Maybe...but worth the herculean effort? Not a chance. Still, some bits and pieces of their selves persist...having dyed and conditioned their now fully alien brains a certain way, even if they stopped thinking beyond just being colorful and unblinking shrimp-bugs. And yes, though they were devoid of human intellect entirely, they were still quite the collection of curious and inquisitive creatures, at least by crustacean standards. They still played together, and expressed deep affection for their pack-mates...care and love.
They trill and chirp when happy, and their antennae droop and heads sag when depressed. They live full lives, and their quality as way up there, believe me! I'm sure if they could remember their old selves, few would miss it! And so, with minds fully adapted to life here...they do as any other life would...they survive and they prosper...but what they don't do...is reproduce. In fact, strangely enough, that urge had never once prodded them or drove them to mate...or even see each other in such a sexual way. The truth was, they were all unisexual, their gender uniform. They did not breed how their earth-selves may of thought...but for how it was accomplished, that remained a mystery. It was one that stretches on for twenty to twenty-five (earth) years in fact, for that is how long 'day' lasts here, with our shrimp-bugs awake and active for every second of it. But as that (loooooooooooooooooong) day comes to a close, the sun starting to sink over the horizon, new instincts come to the forefront, and by now, they don't think for a moment to disobey nor hesitate. They simply follow it...coming onto shore as one, where they dig and burrow sinking below the sands, to hollow out a shared chamber, just large enough for them to fit in. All the while, their maws drip with saliva, and they use their spit to finally dampen the sand, allowing them to carve themselves a hole that won't collapse during the long night that awaits them. And here, settled deep and snug in the warm embrace of the sand around them, their own body heat keeping it like an oven, they huddle, protected from the cold beyond that will grip the surface for twenty odd years or so, their hibernation begins...but don't think they are completely idle; During that decades long cuddle-pile, formerly unseen and unused ovipositors laying clutches upon clutches of delicate, soft and slimy white eggs. Half-Brood, half-food supply, many of the eggs end up as impromptu night-time snacks, helping to tide their bodies over
But some eggs, seemingly picked at random, are not digested as a form of nutrient sharing, each shrimp-bug sharing their eggs with one another, sometimes eating from their own nests, sometimes from each other's, but are instead fertilized and passed back out. Now, these eggs are left untouched, even though the pitch darkness blinds their eyes, their senses know the difference. And so, for another twenty-five years or so, they lay eggs, hibernate, and feed/fertilize all at the same time, so when daylight does return, they emerge with a host of new pack-mates, most almost fully grown and mature, their 'parents' not truly known, though I know if someone studied them, and knew where to look, they could figure it out. The shrimp-bugs themselves did not care, for each was equal and served the same role. When it came time to burrow again, their nest would be all the larger for it, and eggs would be exchanged and fertilized between offspring and parent, it made no difference. It all serves to strengthen their bonds, for they were all one intertwined family, the tree of relations sure to be a tangled and chaotic web after just a few 'generations', as each forty year revolution was identical to the last. Yes, not even shrimp-bug lived to see it though...their numbers kept in check whenever outside predators would drift into their shoals but that was simply harsh nature, the same here as it was on any other planet really. Change as much as they want, as completely as they can, they could not escape Mother Nature's universal law. But that never deters them...sad though it was to be chased back onto shore and realize a (slower) pack-mate was no longer following you...
But after three-hundred years, believe it or not, but our original cast of ill-fated colonists were all still here! And perhaps equally shocking was that rescue had finally arrived too! Well...rescue wasn't quite the right way to put it anymore. It was more like 'Retrieval'. You see, in the years since liftoff, the Taystie Space Initiative had gone under. Space Exploration was considered old hat now anyway...so Taystie Park had pivoted to the hottest new fad 'Interdimensional Exploration!'. So basically they were trying to recoup their losses by capitalizing on a laundry list of 'failed' missions...but even then Sigma Ceti was low on the priorities. Understandably, technology has made a few leaps, and a team of just two Park Reps were sent in what amounts to an interstellar moving van to fetch the crew. Getting there was easy, but finding them was a different story. Those GPS trackers imbedded in their clip-on IDs were useless since they had washed away centuries ago, their location somewhere halfway on the other side of the planet by the time they arrived, but there were enough leads to get them searching in the right direction. Eventually, they found the right group of Shrimp-Bugs, the whole area crawling with the things now, all spawned from those original few. And though things were tense, the two Xeno-Biology trained Reps were able to mingle among with pack without worry or fear. Then came the monotonous work of scanning each individual, looking for the right minute traces of DNA, a shadow of a shadow of their original selves. .012%...that's all they had to go off of, but their advanced technology made the process relatively pain free. The original colonists were identified, and collected (Which was a whole other story in itself...but they managed!) abducting them from a planet they now called home, a planet they have lived on for almost 300 years, where as their time on Earth wasn't even a fleeting memory.
Fortunately, once they made it back to their third and final home, an advanced habitat, painstakingly modeled after the warm, murky shallows of Sigma Ceti, was waiting for them, making it seem like they never even left! And so things got back to relative normal, their lives now behind glass inside the Taystie Park Extraterrestrial Zoo, where it was reported that over a hundred of different alien species were housed and kept, all stemming from the same origin, of once being Park guests who volunteered to travel beyond the stars...to start new lives on new worlds. Each exhibit tells the inhabitants' story, and the Shrimp-Bugs were no different, coming complete with plaques that list their names, their original species, and ages, and even include a handy 'Before and After' photograph to compare and contrast. So in a lot of ways, Taystie Park kept their promise...new worlds and new lives...they even rescued the group too...it just took a while. 300 years isn't so bad when a Shrimp Bug typically live to be 500 and older, meaning they'll have plenty of time to hunt, play, and repopulate the pack (and not to mention help Taystie Park earn a pretty penny or two...)