Spoiler: Anika Only
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Just before the flaming shuttle jolted her from her thoughts of the box, Anika managed to hit the nail on the head. It wasn't a language, as far as she could tell. Lots of decorative patterns, but nothing that looked like words. It was Kadath. Something about the designs, the way the carvings spiraled and flowed around one another, reminded her of Kadath. This planet was a long way from there, and the architecture of the original inhabitants, such of it as they could see, was very different. Nonetheless, there it was.


The fallen spire offered plenty of cover, though the ice in the upright part appeared to be solid all the way down. Remembering the descent, Hannabel knew the weather might well be just that bad. If they had clipped one of those ice pillars a little harder than she had, or if the engines started icing over, or sucked in a big chunk of ice...

There was absolutely something else down here, though. The comms lit up, someone broadcasting on all frequencies. "Mayday! Captain Macharius, if you're out there ... pinned down in the shuttle ... us surrounded." The sounds of gunfire filled the channel. "... frak they coming from? Grenades, grenades!"

Distantly, through the storm, they heard a muffled explosion. The survivors of the crash were engaged in combat.