Once morning had come, Yang took it upon herself to learn every neat and tidy trick that the Matter Manipulator, as she actually figured it was called(Due to the name being plastered on the side, but yeah) had up its metallic sleeves. From digging stone to the ability to manipulate any kind of matter, as was implied by its name, save perhaps for living tissue, or what was once living tissue, the Manipulator was a pretty useful piece of gear...

Sighing, the girl looked at the neat hole she had dug into the ground using the device, before clipping it to her belt. She stumbled slowly toward the corpse and dragged him out. She'd removed a few more items from his belt and a visor from within the tent, as well as his belt buckle. Said belt buckle shined and flickered in her left pocket. She slowly buried the corpse.

By the time she'd finished, the sun rose high into the sky, washing the valley she stood in with warmth and light. Yang stared at the blue sky, watching as birds circled around her. Slinging her bag onto her back, she also took out the belt buckle and looked it over. The device flashed blue. She also pulled out the strange visor and com device from her belt and put them over her right eye. They blended in with the color of her skin and, on the inner lens, Yang immediately saw an image form. A Heads-Up Display showing her everything. From the items she had currently equipped(Which was none of them) to what she had in her backpack... All she had to do was think about an item and it'd show up.

As was the case, she thought about the Matter Manipulator. It appeared in her right hand. Then, she thought about the Flashlight. That appeared in her left hand... She smirked. Awesome. Stowing the Manipulator, she cocked her head to the left. Fully turning herself, she approached the monolithic gateway that had so thoughtfully spewed her out here. She took two steps toward it and soon stood next to the strange console.

Her Heads-Up Display lit up, interacting with the Console and soon, she saw that whatever alien scribbles were written on it were translated... She read them aloud, seemingly distressed "Attention:Gateway malfunctioning. Require Core Samples for immediate repair and access... So, damaged, are we?" and she gave the device a once-over. The console sparked a bit, but worked enough to deliver to Yang a picture of what she needed to recover. Scarlet shards of a crystalline material that highly resembled Fire Dust.

On the right of the console, there was a port to insert said shards through, it seemed... The Gate had, perhaps, a way of managing self-repairs. Cool... She sighed, then looked to the belt buckle. "Well..." She muttered to herself "May as well attach it." before sliding it over the top of her normal buckle. The item flashed blue one more time, before the rainbow appeared out of it... And then it turned green.

A pit formed in Yang's stomach as she saw a flash of golden light appear around her. She felt herself become weightless... "Woah, woah, woah, woah! Wait!" and before she could even scream, she shot up in the shape of a beam of light. The experience was over in a few seconds, but Yang had been screaming all the way through it. Even as she felt her feet touch solid... Ground, or metal, she couldn't tell yet, she had her eyes closed.

The girl stumbled out of whatever had just happened and tried to run with her eyes closed, but the blunt force of hitting a metallic wall stopped her, sending her to the floor and onto her rear. Shaking her head, she whined "Why does my head keep hurting today?!" before her eyes shot open. The lights were faint and wherever she was, it was cramped. She saw cracks in the walls wherever she looked and a single door that led to what looked like a corridor.

But what she saw outside the windows of this 'corridor' was... Awe-inspiring.

Slowly, the blonde stumbled to her feet, walking past what looked like a wall locker with a holographic display, to gaze outward. She felt her mouth dry up as she saw, below her, a gigantic ball of green and blue. Past it, was one of grey craters and dust and even farther past that, was an inky darkness, pockmarked by dots of shining white. Her lower lip trembled as she took the fear-inducing, yet serenely beautiful sight in.

"Where am I...?" She murmured absentmidnedly...

"YOU ARE ABOARD YOUR SHIP, PROTECTOR." A robotic, montone voice answered her. She staggered, Ember Celica extending with a mechanical whir as she spun about the place, scanning the walls.

"Who said that?!" She demanded, taking a combat stance "C'mon out! I promise I won't be too rough on you!"

"CALM YOURSELF..." It paused, then spoke again "YOU ARE NOT THE PROTECTOR. NOT MY PROTECTOR. MY PROTECTOR WAS CLEARLY OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER TO YOU... AND THEY DIDN'T WEAR ANYTHING OTHER THAN THEIR UNIFORM." The voice returned. "I AM SPEAKING TO YOU THROUGH YOUR COM-PIECE. LOOK TO THE TERMINAL ON YOUR RIGHT."

Yang, despite feeling a chilling sensation, turned about on her heels, a glare and a deadly grin, before she stopped, noticing the computer. A near-featureless, golden face stared at her with bright white eyes. She pursed her lips and said "Hey... I'm Yang... And yeah, about your uhm... Protector, ya called him? I think he died. I found his corpse on the planet."

"HE WOULD HAVE BEEN REVIVED ON THE SHIP, OR BEAMED BACK AFTER TAKING HEAVY INJURIES." It stated matter-of-factly. "THAT OR HIS FAILSAFES WOULD HAVE ACTIVATED. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN BEAMED BaCK TO THE SHIP"

Yang shrugged. The... Whatever it was... Slightly glitched as it spoke.

"Dunno, then... He was pretty dead. Took a claw right to his abdomen..." The blonde said... She shuddered, then shook her head and tried to ignore the bit about 'reviving', whatever that meant. As calmly as she could, Yang nicely asked the bot "Listen, I need to ask a question or two, if ya don't mind answering to a complete stranger for a bit..."

"YOU MAY AsK" The AI stuttered.

"Okay..." The girl exhaled "First things first:Who are you?"

"I AM SAIL. THE SHIP-BASED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LATTICE. I ACT AS INFORMATION PROVIDER, BRIEFING PROVIDER AND SHIP-SIDE ASSISTANT TO THE PROTECTORS. I ALSO WARN ABOUT POSSIBLE PLANETARY THREATS. AS IT STANDS CURRENTLY, I OPERATE, MUCH LIKE THE SHIP, AT ONLY 40% ACTIVITY." It spoke calmly. "SINCE YOU HAVE TAKEN MY ASSIGNED PROTECTOR'S GEAR UPON YOURSELF, YOU ARE HEREBY ASSIGNED AS HIS REPLACEMENT..."

"... Oh, nononono..." Yang pursed her lips "What's that entail?"

"YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO ASSIST LOCALS WHEREVER WE MAY ENCOUNTER THEM SHOULD THEY ASK FOR HELP. YOU WILL, OF COURSE, ASSIST AT YOUR OWN LEISURE. YOU MAY ALSO BE REQUIRED TO FACE SOMETHING THAT HAS DESTROYED EARTH..." It paused. "YES, YOU WILL BE."

"... Huh... So I'm supposed to travel around, help people and fight some kind of evil that destroyed a planet..." Yang chuckled "Ahaha... I'm in danger... I mean, it's not like I didn't fight stuff that tried to kill humanity before or try to help people, but this just maaay be a bit above my paygrade there, Sailor..." And she looked over to the room she'd appeared in. A teleporter...

She swore to herself, if this was just some crazy fever dream... She did feel slightly sick before they went on the mission to the weird Gate in the middle of the Emerald Forest. The girl shook her head, before turning to SAIL and saying "Second question... What's that strange structure that... Creates portals? That arch-shaped gate-thing that dumped me here...?"

"THAT WOULD BE AN ANCIENT STELLAR GATEWAY. YOU HAVE ARRIVED THROUGH IT?"

"Yeah... Before the one I and my team got pulled into kinda exploded." Yang rubbed the back of her neck, trying to avoid eye contact. "Anyways, listen here, Sailor..." She continued as calmly as she could, looking the deadpan AI in its empty white eyes "I... I can't replace your Protector... Heck, I don't even know where in the world I am. And from the fact that I can see a planet below me and a moon that's not broken, I can safely say I'm not home anymore. I want to get my bearings... And if possible find my friends."

"I HAVE SCANNED YOUR ARRIVAL PORTAL BEFORE YOU CAME THROUGH IT. AT LEAST ITS ENERGY SIGNATURE. IT ALLOWS ME TO TRACE THE PATH YOU TOOK... AND FROM PRELIMINARY SCANS BEFORE IT SHUT DOWN, THE THREE OTHERS THAT CAME WITH YOU WERE SCATTERED ACROSS THE LARGE SECTOR OF THE GALAXY WE FIND OURSELVES IN. A SECTOR WHICH IS HUNDREDS, IF NOT ALMOST A THOUSAND LIGHT-YEARS ACROSS... YOUR CHANCES OF FINDING YOUR FRIENDS ARE AT 0,007%..."

... The blonde felt her heart sink. She leaned against the wall behind her, slowly sliding down into a seating position. She rubbed her eyes, then shook her head... "And what if I join up as a Protector and fix up this damn ship...?" She glared at the AI... It seemed to freeze for a moment as its central processor made the calculations. She stood up, her eyes full of determination, and walked to the terminal. "Oi!" She called it out "Tell me!"

... The AI nodded "THE CHANCES GROW SOMEWHAT EXPONENTIALLY, TO A 13,5%, WITH THE CURRENT SHIP STATUS. ESTIMATES SHOW THEY WILL FURTHER GROW IF WE WILL REPAIR THE SHIP."

"And how do we repair her?" The girl furrowed her brows.

"WE REQUIRE ERCHIUS CRYSTALS AND A SHIPYARD... LUCKILY, THAT SHOULD BE EASY TO ACQUIRE... WE JUST NEED TO REPAIR THE GATE BELOW."

"Gonna need some of those Core Fragments for that... Got any on ya, Sailor?" She asked, crossing her arm. The AI shook its virtual head and Yang huffed. Great... "So where the heck do I find them?"

An entry appeared on her Visor... Oh... As far as the situation read on the display, the Core Fragments were located deep underground, very near the core of the planet below. The objective was to dig downward until she ran into a cave system or two. Eitherway, it was gonna be a problem for her. Even more so for the Gate and how to repair it... And if the Protector running this ship died while digging, that could mean that the planet was dangerous.

"You're kidding, right?" Yang's brow quirked up as she voiced her concerns. "How am I gonna get that deep underground? I mean, sure, the Manipulator's gonna help, but... Still."

"I CAN TELEPORT YOU NEARBY A MINE SHAFT THAT LEADS DOWN DEEP ENOUGH FOR YOU TO ACQUIRE SAMPLES. THOUGH I AM DETECTING MULTIPLE LIFE SIGNS DOWN BELOW."

"Any of'em hostile?" Yang inquired, arranging Ember Celica onto her wrists. The AI Gave an affirmative nod, to which Yang sighed and added "Alright. Well, guess it's time to let my old girls do the talking. If there's crates around, I'll probably keep my eye out for those. Maybe the miners got some Core Samples in there." With that, she stepped off toward the teleport and declared "Beam me down, Sailor!"

... And as the wave of light overtook Yang, she felt last night's dinner coming up. Within milliseconds, she reappeared on the planet below, stumbling and holding a hand over her mouth. "Oh, Gods, I have to get used to that." She bemoaned, before hunching over. Breathing in and out, the girl straightened up, perked herself up and extended Ember Celica, clenching her fists. She looked at the opening to the mine:A tunnel held up by a wooden ceiling and metal struts for support. Faint lights came from the inside...

The blonde stepped forward, into the tunnel, going down the stairs and following the path of wooden platforms, until she came upon a box at the midway point. Well, a 'box'. A large crate... She approached it and pushed the top off. A smirk crossed her lips as she saw the first out of the 20 crystals she needed to recover. "Jackpot... C'mere, buddy..." She snickered... Wrapping her hands around the crystal, she felt a surge of heat.

"OWOWOWOWOWO SON OF A... WHY DOES EVERYTHING BURN HERE?!" She balked, quickly tossing it in the bag and looking at her open palm. Blowing onto the wound until Aura kicked in to heal it, the girl was blissfully unaware of what approached her from behind... A tall, green, scaly monstrosity with bone shards sticking out of its back appeared, throat gurgling like a frog...

Yang scowled and spun about, delivering an uppercut hard enough for the monster's neck to snap. It collapsed to the floor and the blonde just now registered what she'd killed:A tall, giant, bipedal reptilian with razor-sharp fangs and spikes coming out of its back... "So... Grimm but without the whole 'Darkness incarnate' gig... I don't know why, but you're scarier than them." and she put a hand on her hip, grinning "But you die way easier."

She stepped over the corpse and continued her trip down the stairwell, only finding empty boxes all around the place. Reaching the bottom of the mine shaft, she passed through a set of wooden doors that were part of the superstructure of the place and crossed a railing-less wooden bridge over a pond of water... No wonder she wasn't finding much. The shaft went much deeper into the ground. This place must've just been the top part of it...

... Of course, the core of the planet had to be one of the lowest points...

She flapped the side of her short jacket toward herself, trying to air herself out as she felt heat build up. Looking below, she also noticed steam coming out of the water. So, possible thermal shafts. Neat... Still farther down to go, it seemed. The girl continued her traverse of the bridge, until she got to a platform... A steel-tipped arrow flew by her head. She ducked under the projectile...

"Horace, buddy, what the hell?!" A rough, nasal male voice came through toward Yang. He was panicked

"Hostile:The Heart of Ruin demands you must die... Die-e-e-e-e..." A robotic voice stated bluntly, glitching... Yang gasped, rushing forward, her fists clenched... She watched as a blade was raised and a man in a cowboy outfit lay on the floor, about to be struck down. The blonde stepped in-between them as the massive Zweihander sword came down and blocked it, crossing her arms and grinning... The enemy was a robot, it seemed. In knight armor... Fittingly Atlesian.

"Hey, there..." She said jauntily "Not nice to try and kill someone... Didn't they teach you that in Tin Can school?"

"Hostile:New challenger. You will die." It stated monotonely.

Yang grinned "I love how you state how ya feel instead of showing it via speech patterns, buddy." before cocking back her fist and punching. The armor dented as the strange bot flew back a good few feet, skidding to a halt next to another door and raising its weapon. Yang nodded to the guy on the floor and said "Stay down, Cowboy. I got the malfunctioning Robo-brain over here."

"He's a Glitch!" The guy behind her barked

"Oh, well... His programming must also be glitchy." The blonde quipped facetiously, receiving only a groan from the guy she was rescuing. The girl charged, boosting herself forward using the concussive blasts of her shotgun gauntlets. She watched the 'Bot's blade come from the left and parried it, before delivering a swift uppercut into the bot's helmet, denting it and whatever was underneath the mouth of the face plate. She snickered...

And felt a metal boot kick her in the gut, sending her flying back onto the bridge. The impact splintered some wood and nearly sent Yang down into the hot spring below. The blonde jumped to her feet, then barked to the mech "Oi, not in the mood for a bath right now! At least buy me dinner first!" and saw its sword lance toward her... "Uh-Oh!" before jumping back.

The bot took the initiative, slashing and slicing toward her from every angle. She dodged slashes that came perilously close to her own face and limbs. She gritted her teeth as she ducked under a really heavy-looking strike coming from the left and aimed at her neck. She heard the groaning metal and the whining servos in the Robot's arms hit breaking point as it tried to recover and strike again, but she quickly thrusted her fists forward. Two thundering point-blank concussive blasts sent the thing flying back, before Yang took the initiative again, firing her gauntlets into the bot relentlessly.

It punched back. A balled gauntlet hit Yang clean in the jaw, making her teeth rattle, but the Blonde took it in stride, a grin on her face as she hit right back. Her eyes went wide the moment it swung its sword again. She propelled herself upward using her gauntlets, then yelled "Yo, Cowboy! Your pistol!" to the man she rescued. She watched a single-action engraved revolver fly toward her. She caught it in flight, before landing behind the bot and, noticing the bumblebee pattern on the back of his armor, she said in jest "Well, pard'ner... Bee-haw." before shooting one round right between the robot's eyes... It collapsed to the floor, lubricant, coolant or oil, whatever the tarry liquid was, spewing out from the wound.

The blonde spun the revolver 'round her finger and blew into the barrel, before saying "Still got it." with a proud grin.

The guy she rescued, meanwhile, dusted himself off and said "Thanks for the rescue, girly. Nice moves..." before sighing and gazing down at the bot. A bit of sadness crossed his voice as he spoke "Man, poor Horace... Damn Ruin'n'their tricks..."

Yang turned to say "No problem, bu-" Before freezing. Her nose wrinkled and her brows pulled together in the form of a frown... The guy sitting before her looked humanoid, but there were a few discerning features between a normal human and him. For one:HE HAD NO FACE. There was a half-moon symbol where the normal facial features would usually be. That added upon the missing ears, the hair being the same color as the rest of him and the fact he was shining. Part two:HE WAS A LITERAL HUMANOID SUN. He emanated a style of warmth only a sun would emanate and he was colored light-blue to azure.

"Gods damn... And I thought I was hot stuff... Dude, you're a literal walking sun!" She stated.

"Mhm. Keen observations..." He returned, voice full of snark. The guy wore the standard cowboy outfit. A brown shirt underneath a dark-brown leather jacket, pants with chaps and the leather boots. He arranged his clothes, then extended his gloved shining hand and said "Name's Jesse, though most'a my friends just call me Jay. What's your name, blondie?"

"Yang." The girl slowly moved to shake his hand... It felt like a normal human hand in temp, so she gripped it and shook.

"Ya here for something specific?" Jay asked her, crossing his arms.

Yang nodded and took out a Core Sample. Jess snorted and said "Well, you're outta luck. You ain't gonna find any here... Gonna have to dig deeper."

The blondie sighed, then nodded. "Thanks, Jay. Why're ya here anyways?"

"Me and Horace came here thanks to some sorta distress signal... Turned out to be a Ruin ambush which we managed to escape alive, but, well..." He spoke, then motioned with his head toward Horace "I and Ol' H got into a little spat after a Ruin virus took him over... Lotta Glitch went missing in the area too, so, this explains that. Say, Yang, ya look like you're lookin' for someone..."

"I am, actually... Two friends of mine and my sis." The girl nodded, frowning.

"Got a description for any of'em? Start with your sis. If I haven't seen'em myself in my travels, I'll ask around back at the Outpost when I get there." Jay offered. "As thanks for saving my bum."

Yang smiled. It was worth a try to talk to the first person she found "Thanks... My sis... She has black hair that has red highlights, has a red hood with crosses holding it in place, a black and red outfit, combat skirt and boots and she has this big ol' Scythe, her pride and joy, Crescent Rose."

Jay whistled "Well Holy Gods above, your sis sounds like the bright'n'cheery version of the Grim Reaper." And then he rubbed his chin "... Sorry, no... I don't think I've seen her around. But again, I'll probably ask 'round the outpost... What about the other two?" He then 'quirked his brows'. Yang nodded, then gave a brief description of both Blake and Weiss... Jay sighed and shook his head "Yeah, outpost it is, sorry, kiddo."

Yang hummed, frowning. "It's okay. Thanks anyways..."

Jay nodded "Yeah... See ya, kid... I'll head for the Outpost now."

"I'll stay around and dig a bit for some Core Crystals. See ya, Jay." Yang waved, before both went their separate ways. Another day, another bunch of events to live through. Yang felt she wouldn't have any sort of peace until she found the rest of her team. She took out the matter manipulator and approached the entry deeper into the mine itself. Hopefully, she'd find the Core Fragments she need along the way... And fast. She needed to fix the ship.