I'm Sorry, But the King You're Looking For is....

[Albert Wesker]

At the affirmation that the other two had probably managed to make it out of that sudden, explosive mess alive, Colonel could merely give a brief nod. Unless they managed to run across them, there was no way to know for certain one way or the other. Keeping as positive an outlook as possible and hoping for the best was all that could be done. Perhaps a naive way to approach the rather grim situation, but...that roiling mass of lava was a fate that Colonel would wish on no one. Being taken unawares by a sudden, fiery death in such a fashion...it would be a terrible way to go. No question about it.

Scanning the immediate area, Colonel did his best to catch his breath, calming his ragged breathing. It was a tough task, to put it mildly. Strictly speaking, Navis didn't need to breath. They were bound by some of the same standards as humans when it came to operational parameters, and in dense cyber water they could 'drown', as their program data got waterlogged, and they could sustain damage and be injured...but by and large, breathing was a foreign concept. Coping with the stress of choking down the occasional lungful of ash and soot, and the discomfort it brought along with it, was another matter he was having trouble contending with.

To say nothing of the general sense of feeling pain at all.

He narrowed his eyes, squinting into the haze shimmering up from the molten earth, only turning his attention back to the immediate when Zack spoke up again. Seemed like the whole thing was one big confusing mess, with more questions than solid details to answer them. That was typical. When Zack revealed he didn't know anything about the other guest with the fancy trick-shooting, the soldier navi merely shook his head. "I can think of only a very few people I'd wish a fate like that on, myself." He took a step forward, closer to the edge of the rocky perch, peering down at the lava below. "....I got here just in time to see the tail end of things. Lots of dust, lots of noise. Doubt I saw anything that would make things any clearer."

As Zack introduced himself officially, Colonel turned back to fix him with a difficult to read expression, before extending his left hand in turn and reciprocating the handshake. "Colonel."