The menacing figure shrugs, the casual gesture merely a suggestion in the pulsing, red glare of emergency lighting. The ship rocks from another explosion or impact, but they are entirely still despite the clattering debris -- unnaturally still with their magboots clamped to the deck's plating. They seemed to tilt their head up just slightly, a scintillating glimmer catching on the scuffs and scratches in the paint of their mask, revealing the armored, sapphire-alloy visor's complexity. In a rough, rasping voice, she answered bluntly in stiff, harsh Sol,

"Well, 'cause you're worth money. It's tough."

She taps the energy axe on the knee of her MODsuit expressively, a tap tap tap, before flourishing the haft and flicking the bloody red hardlight blade to life in a crackling ignition, before lazily settling into a fighting stance. The dim yellow lights of the cameras of her visor are steady, a constant glare even in the waning light of the dying starship. She waits. A trio of hunched creatures dash through a connecting hall behind her. The work is done.

"They call it dignity. You're supposed to have it, Greenshirt."

---

Art is done beautifully by the wonderful  StarfallHybrid, who supported me by bringing the niche, sprite-based game to life and worked to provide every detail I could ask for.

Strkka is a Vox, a V4 Primalis in particular. They are a varied and quite venerable species in my corner of Space Station 13. This particular design thread and variation of the Vox was introduced and given shape by https://beanysprout.tumblr.com/ in the olden times. We have loved to exist as strange aliens through these creatures.

And  Hakitachiya for his enthusiasm and for deeply sharing one of the most storied species I've been able to be a part of, secretive as they are.