RP Resurgence of Yamatai - Mission 9: Space Is A Graveyard

[iaincarter]

Space Station
Core

Okimi, distracted by the increasing tension between the three forces within the room, silenced the warning from her Mindy's onboard computer without paying attention to it. The pain in her side had been getting a little worse and she found herself breathing a little harder, as if she was operating at high altitude. She was definitely heading to the Resurgence's medical center when the mission was over. It was probably nothing terribly bad to worry about. Although some of the aetheric weapons fire she had been exposed to in the pod room, while rescuing Yayoi, had eroded through some of her Mindy's zesuaium plating, a quick check of the various damage sites had revealed that the yarvex layer beneath remained intact.

Given that the yarvex layer stopped penetration cold, nothing had gotten through that and Okimi was pretty sure she would have felt if she had sustained some kind of injury although she had admittedly been heavily distracted and riding an adrenaline high at the time. She would, as they liked to say, be feeling it in the morning if the way the muscles in her abdomen were feeling. Right now, she'd give just about anything for a long, warm shower and a decent nap, but there was work left to do. She took a long pull from her Mindy's water supply, idly noting the fact that her perspiration rate was significantly above normal. Well, given how her day was going, that made sense.

The caretaker acknowledged the game plan going forward, but aside from the aether bayonet attached to her SMG, Okimi wasn't sure what she could bring to topple the enemy ripper suits. Well, aside from kinetic energy - she could always try to tackle them off the platform using her own body as a kinetic missile of sorts. Then again her suit was already in pretty bad shape, and she wasn't doing too great herself, so that may not be the best idea. Hmm, maybe leave the offence to the others and focus on defending the mission-critical Pidole instead? That made more sense, especially considering that she was without a battle buddy and would likely just get in the way otherwise.

"Pidole-Heisho..., I will accompany you... and watch over you... while you work." Okimi nodded her head towards her technician friend and took another long sip of her suit's water as she tried to even out her breathing.

Spoiler: OOC notes regarding Okimi's current condition

Just in case the clues above aren't enough - during the rescue of Yayoi, Okimi's PA was repeatedly hit by aetheric weaponry which has a nasty habit of eroding zesuaium. Fortunately, that was about the worst of it, although she did take a hit to the lower right side of her abdomen from a Ripper's shoulder-mounted gauss rifle. Although it didn't penetrate the exposed yarvex, the kinetic force may have made a mess of some internal organs. You'll also notice several symptoms consistent with severe internal bleeding in the abdomen. This is also why she slumped to the floor at the end of the fight in the pod room and was having issues with her right hip while they headed to the Core. It also explains why she wasn't very vocal towards the end of last week's JP.

 

[Wes]

The Rippers, each a formidable behemoth of raw power and advanced technology, found themselves confronted by the sheer determination and versatility of the Star Army soldiers. The small size and agility of the Mindy suits allowed the soldiers to bob and weave, avoiding the Rippers' powerful, but slower, melee strikes.

The security robots continued their strategy of shoving any Rippers that were too close to the computers. These hulking machines added a layer of complexity to the battlefield, their singular focus ensuring the safety of the computing units. Sanda's rush had sent several Rippers off-balance, their footing on the platforms unsure. As Erika and Mineko joined the fray, the pressure on the Mishhu grew.

Euikoshi, using her tech knowledge, managed to divert some of the energy nexus's lower power tendrils into the Mishhu's path, creating temporary barriers that forced them back and away from the control platforms.

A concerted push from Caihong, wielding her graviton emitter, sent another trio of Rippers hurtling towards the edge. Two managed to right themselves, but the third was caught off guard and, with a scream, was sent plummeting into the abyss below.

Erika, wielding her Aether pistol, sent pulse after pulse into the central body of a Ripper. The force of each shot rocked it back, the armor beginning to show signs of stress and cracks. With a final push, she sent the machine teetering off the platform. Her fierce scream, muffled by her helmet, echoed around the chamber, a testament to the indomitable spirit of the Star Army.

Cassie was close behind, her kinetic impactor sending shockwaves of force against any Ripper in her path. She danced around them, never letting them focus on her, always moving, always striking.

Meanwhile, Okimi kept close to Pidole, ensuring that their technician could work on the systems without being disturbed. She was a shield, a sentinel, ensuring that their mission could progress.

Yayoi, not to be outdone, leaped into the fray with her blades, slicing through mechanical tendrils and creating opportunities for her teammates.

The Mishhu were on the back foot. Their numbers dwindled as the Star Army and the station's defenses combined to repel them. The ghostly entity, its presence now clear, continued to intervene where it saw fit, ensuring that the balance tipped in the Star Army's favor.

It wasn't long before the chamber began to clear, the remaining Mishhu forces regrouping for a final stand around their commander. Their guttural screams of defiance echoed around the chamber, but their numbers were fewer, and the Star Army had the momentum. Seeing the odds were against them, the two Mishhuvurthyar simply faded into nothingness with a snarling growl. "BE SEEING YOU," the team heard in their minds. The remaining Rippers rushed at them in a sort of banzai charge.

The battle had shifted, but the war was not over yet. The next steps would determine the fate of the station and all aboard. "Are those explosives?" Pidole suddenly pointed at objects placed around the AI core's computer banks.

Cassie hissed like a cat as she got bum-rushed by one of the Rippers, as it tried to stab her with its aether blade, which began burning through the Zesuaium edge of Cassie's aether saber. "A hand please," she asked as it pushed her towards one of the beams of lightning.

Reloading his aether SMG and chasing after the Mishhu who was causing Cassie grief he grabbed the Mishhu and pulled it off of her. "Demons run when a good man goes to war." Yoshiro said and threw it in the beam.

"Are we saving the AI?" Euikoshi asked, because she honestly needed to know if that was part of the plan or if it'd be easier to let it be removed to make it easier to take over the station for Yamatai.

Sanda, her initial charge done, found herself in the type of fight she had often practiced in the VR room. Close quarters melee fighting. Each attack and dodge flowed into the next. You couldn't stop. If you did, you died. It was fighting more by instinct that plan. Sanda had to drop her shield to keep her maneuverability up. Eventually she dropped her rifle and just used her bayonet to dodge the Mishhu's attacks before countering with slices to their legs or heads, depending on where she found herself at the moment.

Poppy tackled a Ripper that was going after Euikoshi, using the Ripper's top-heaviness on its scrawny legs to wobble it onto its back so it couldn't unleash its shoulder weapons on her roommate. "Alpha strike them," she said, tagging them all in the AIES so the team leader could call targets, MMORPG style. With multiple team members on one target, they could whittle down their numbers faster.

Yayoi didn't let her guard down after her initial attack, her focus completely on their surroundings.

Okimi's eyes tracked across the objects that had been pointed out by Pidole, making sure to tag them in her head's-up display so that they would also be updated on the team's network. "Please be advised... that Pidole-heisho has... identified suspected explosives... attached at marked locations." The caretaker relayed the information to her team, her breathing continuing to remain shallow, before resuming her vigil. It would be just like the Mishhu to pretend to leave while instead positioning to ambush the mission-critical personnel.

"We've got to save the AI!" Always one to listen to Euikoshi, Mineko had answered the scientist's question.

As the Mishuu fell over the edge Erika didn't linger, she turned to face the next foe as one of them charged her. She was close to the edge now, at risk of being cast off the edge. As the Ripper drew close she made a thruster assisted jump over its head and over to its back, slamming into it to give the creatures momentum a hand.

"Anyone know anything about explosives besides Pidole?" Cassie asked. "I mean the disarming part...I've set them but not, uh, un-set Mishhu ones..."

Yoshiro continued his fight against the Mishuu. "Night will fall and drown the sun, when a good man goes to war. " Yoshiro said as he shot at several of the enemy.

"Okay, I'm going for it, then!" Pidole shouted to Mineko, Okimi, and the team, leaping up to the computer level and out of the fray, starting to disarm them. As she figured them out, she also sent the steps to Okimi so Okimi could replicate them on the other devices since they were all the same model. "Let's get them all before they blow!" she told the helpful caretaker.

"We've got your back," Mineko said. "As a team!" The analyst was sure to raise her aether blade as she looked to the Yamataians around her.

Okimi offered a short, sharp nod to the redhead Technician and took off in the opposite direction. "Please... check for any... unmarked explosives... we missed." She sent to the team as she arrived at the first of the Mishhu explosive charges and began following the directions she had been sent. After a moment's thought, she also transmitted a copy of Pidole's instructions across the team's network so the other's could assist the defusing efforts as well.

Yayoi nodded her head in agreement, having decided on not speaking, since she didnt think it was important. Now her focus was on their enemies, though a dot of a second(a second's second) was spent thinking if they should save the AI or not, after all the AI did help, and enemy of my enemy was my friend, as far as Yayoi thought. Like Sanda, she too moved to protect Pidole, and Okimi.

Sanda moved in to protect Pidole and Okimi as they disarmed the explosives. She had drawn her side arm, a SIZI model 38 special duty revolver. It packed a much for such a small side arm. The Ranger usually carried it with a verity of shell charges so that it would be effective against anything she came up against on a day to day basis. But today it was just full of heavy shells. The PA-killing kinda shells. She rolled a Ripper armor with her foot and smirked down at it. "You've been Thunder-struck."

The last few Rippers started firing antimatter in small quantities, filling the room with a massively bright and powerful explosion like a little nuke. Everyone got knocked on their ass, but the threat was gone when they rose, as the enemy had destroyed themselves. Thankfully the Zesuaium of their Mindy armor protected them from the worst of the gamma radiation that had flooded the room briefly. Thankfully the station was built of stout stuff and also took the explosion with grace, and Pidole and Okimi's efforts managed to keep the Mishhu from taking out the station's core AI. This actually worked in the Star Army's favor because now...it owed them one.

Erika, still close to the edge was cast off the side of the platform by the detonation. Her mind racing, she was able to use her thrusters again, preventing her from falling into the energy below. She caught herself on the wall of the chamber, the impact of her armor creating an indentation in its surface.

With the battle over, the bombs defused, and her body battered, Pidole, who had been running on adrenaline, tried to relax but instead slumped over and fell unconscious in a small pool of blood.

Okimi went to share a smile with Pidole, forgetting for the moment that she was wearing a helmet. She let out a cry of concern when she saw the Technician collapse and rushed over towards the unconscious redhead. The caretaker, looked around for the Resurgence's medical wonder. "Poppy! Pidole needs you!" Okimi's Mindy was suddenly forced to it's hands and knees, as she fought hard for breath that didn't want to come following her panicked shout. Suddenly, her vision was full of sparkling spots and started greying-out. "Ugh. Don't... Feel... Too... Hot... Myself..."

Sanda moved slowly, revolver cocked and held ready, checking to make sure all the mishhu were indeed dead. It didn't make much sense to her that they had destroyed themselves so she was making sure that this wasn't some sort of trick or a trap.

Yayoi was confused at how the Ripper's just died, just like that, but the Ranger thought it was convenient, and perhaps the aid of the AI, which indeed pushed her mind towards saving it. With Sanda moving slowly, she lifted what ever weapons were left, as she watched Sanda's back. "speaking of, how are you doing, Okimi, Hermana?' she asked both of them, then as her mind processed Okimi's words. "Poppy, Okimi will need a Medevac."

After checking that all the Mishhu were in fact dead. Sanda slowly lowered her revolver. "I've been worse." She said but added quietly, "I've also been better." She glanced over at some of the others who had sustained more damage than her. "But I'm still in good enough shape to do my job and help get everyone squared away."

"On my way," Poppy told Okimi, heading to Pidole's postion. She gathered the wounded technician up on an antigravity stretcher. "I'd like to return to the ship," she said, hoping the whole team would come as they'd just been through hell. "Maybe it's a good time to regroup."

"With the battle against the Mishhuvurthyar decided, Mineko pushed her hands against the floor where she had fallen, thrusting up to the platform as she looked to her battle buddy.

Erika pulled herself out of the creavace she'd made in the wall and glided down towards the platform, touching down gracefully. When she started to take her own weight however, she slumped slightly.

"You okay, Erika?" Cassie asked. "That was a heck of a blast." She pointed at the pockmarks in her armor left by tiny molecules of antimatter. "I can't believe they fired it in the atmosphere and just blew themselves up just to spite us.

Yoshiro had arrived with the others. He was exhausted but he kept an eye out. "Maybe they were going to use the explosives." Yoshiro said.

"Armor took most of the impact." Erika answered, sucking in a breath. "Not all, but most. I'll live, but tomorrow might be a bit rough." She straightened up and rolled her shoulders. "They didn't blow themselves up simply to spite us. Two vanished in the chaos, it was to give them cover. We need to get after them."

"I thought Henitot-heisho was going to stay back," Caihong said, looking at Pidole. "I guess she just couldn't stop herself from helping out. It looks like she may have overdid it though."

Sanda moved over to give Okimi a hand. "Come on. Let's get you over to Poppy. You did pretty good... for a caretaker." That was a pretty big compliment coming from Sanda.

Okimi, realizing that her breathing wasn't getting any easier and that her vision was continuing to darken, did the only thing she could and triggered her armor's release sequence. At least someone would be able to pull her body out of the suit now. With the last of her strength, she lifted the Mindy's helmet from her incredibly pale, clammy and sweaty face. She offered a happy smile at Sanda's words before her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out.

Poppy set up another stretcher for Okimi and began administering hemosynth blood to her and to Pidole. She noticed Bidole seemed concerned about her.

We'll take over where the mishhu left off," Mineko said as the analyst looked over the computer that the Advanced had been working at. "Albeit with a gentler hand. Euikoshi senpai, ready to take a crack at it?"

Yayoi kept her eyes on their surroundings now that the other more injured crewmates were seen to. Yayoi of course remembered she lost an arm, but she didn't think of herself as being worse off, or in need of medical aid.

"With all due respect, if I start trying to mess with that computer it's probably going to possess my body and jump me into an energy stream," Euikoshi told Mineko. "As long as we have the station's favor, perhaps we don't need to control it by force."

"Is there any other way to get it working?" Mineko asked of the scientist, but she turned to Erika afterwards to speak via laser comms to solemnly say, "If that's what it takes, I think someone should do it. Agreed?"

"You asking for a volunteer?" Erika said, a pained sigh evident in her reply.

"I'll took for a way to restore the station to operational status," Euikoshi nodded.

Yoshiro took command and started giving orders. "Hoshi-heisho get the wounded back to the ship. Euikoshi try your best to get the station operational." Yoshiro said.

Thankfully the huge security robots were not bothering the team. They continued to mill about the room looking at the visitors with...curiosity? Suspicion?

"I'm just making sure you won't hold me back," Mineko replied to Erika.

"Always. I'll stop you from jumping over the edge if you want to give it a crack." The taller neko replied

"Maybe some of those fridged people know how to work this place," Cassie speculated.

"Well, we'd need to access the system in order to wake them right? Catch 22." Erika turned to Cassie with a shrug. She then coughed slightly, tasting iron before swallowing.

"Pidole could answer that better than I could," Cassie replied, with an exaggerated shrug.

"Then we have the potential issue that any one of their people will want to wake them all, as did the Sentinel." Erika continued "We simply don't have the resources on hand to even feed 20 million refugees, let alone provide security and medical care, and I doubt their supplies have kept."

"Let's take it to the captain," Cassie suggested. "We need to update him on the situation."

"Roger." Sanda responded. There was a little bit of sass in her voice, but mostly it was exaustion. She made sure that Pidole and Okimi were secured on the stretchers and that Poppy had done all that she was planning to do with them for the moment before heading towards the hanger where the shuttle was that would carry them back to the Resurgence. Despite the pain her leg. She would be back as soon as she dropped off the wounded on the ship.

"Team 2 to Team 1, this is Wando-hei, pod room is secure and Pidole stabilized the area before she left. She had glowing eyes when she did...anyway, we're okay here, no sign of Mishhu. Weird noises though. Over."

"Team 2, this is Operative Erika. Core room secure, though 2 Mishhu activated Active Camo and disengaged before the fighting was over. Suggest you keep an eye on those weird noises."

Yoshiro was making sure everything was secure. Seeing that everything was secure he went to see Yayoi heisho. "How are you holding up Asakura-Heisho?"

Yayoi heard the report from Wando-hei, with the injured(minus herself and Sanda of course) Yayoi turned her focus on the Mishhuvurthyar, she knew they were still on board, and still a threat. "I am fine, Yoshiro-heisho, nothing of concern to report." she said boldly.

"That's good to hear, Asakura-Heisho. " Yoshiro said.

Station Hallways

The team was able to make it back to the shuttlebay without any fuss, though the fact that two Mishhuvurthyar were still somewhere aboard made it a paranoid affair. Hachirobei Sakuko and Beryl Leyton were there at the two shuttles, providing overwatch in their Mindy armor suits. Poppy carefully secured Pidole and Okimi's stretchers in place in the back of the Beryls of Fun. Beryl got out of out her armor and stowed it then climbed into her seat up in the shuttle's cockpit and powered it up. "All aboard for the Resurgence!"

YSS Resurgence

Back in the comfort and safety of the beautiful Fuji-class gunship Resurgence, armor team one was able to take some time to heal and regroup. Medic Poppy had the injured crew in the medical lab, treating them for gunshots, amputations, mild radiation sickness, blunt force trauma from duking it out with Mishhu power armor, and other ailments picked up during the course of the mission. And down in the armor bay, Norita began repairing the damage to everyone's Mindy armor.

Once out of her armor and with her Type 37 jacket over her bodysuit, Mineko had made her way to the bridge to give a quick face to face debrief to the captain and first officer

Yuri immediately jumped to her feet, ready to get to work, and gain experience.

Erika exited her power armor with not insignificant effort, it was taking quite a bit of the load. The front of her body was red from radiation exposure and she had significant bruising on her back. Her organs had taken a bit of a rattle too. She was given some medication to deal with the pain and prevent further deterioration from radiation sickness, though it would be some time before the capillaries in her skin healed and she'd return to her former fair skin. She had to be told repeatedly by medical staff to stay put.

When Sanda arrived on the Res and removed her Mindy suit the extent of her injuries was apparent. Her amputation job had not been pretty. She had almost lost consciousness and had to be carried to the Med bay, and had complained and protested going in and out of consciousness the whole way. She had to finally be given a powerful sedative to put her under. The Nep just would not go down.

Poppy ended up having to 3D print a new leg for Sanda that was made using her cloned DNA, and then attached it with a seal of specially-programmed hemosynth nanomachines. It was a first for her on the Resurgence but she found some great instructional videos on Yamatube. It didn't hurt that she'd been going to med school lately either.

Yuri watched, taking note of the injured, and pushing herself to focus, especially with the arrival of Sanda and Okimi, her favorite auntie and her cousin's lover respectively. Though she did notice someone missing. She tried to focus even more, to spite her worries. "Alright, i'm gonna take care of Okimi." she said while she thought. If i allow Okimi to die, Luna-chan will be displeased.

YSS Resurgence Bridge

"Welcome back, Mineko," Captain Aoba said, sitting in his captain's chair with his samurai sword at his side. After since the horrific attack on the ship's bridge, he'd gone nowhere without it. "Report."

Trowa stood off to the side, even though he wasn't the first officer, he had monitored the away team's progress and was very interested in their report.

"Thank you captain," Mineko said. "The away team sustained several injuries while on board the station when engaging Mishhuvurthyar forces. But we also made contact with a potential new ally: the Celestial Concord. Their people are in stasis within the station which has technology we didn't readily understand all of, but their scientific aptitude is evident. The sole member of the alien race that we made contact with perished to help our progress, unfortunately. He called himself a Sentinel." Mineko added after the fact, almost, "Oh and their sentient AI was able to posses members of the team. It was a boon though, oddly."

"Would you say that station's AI is an ally?" Aoba asked, rubbing his beard. "Is it part of the Celestial Concord? Do you know if the station was built by the Concord or did they just colonize it with the sleeping pods?"

"The first question I can answer," Mineko said with her hands clasping behind her charcoal field jacket. "As long as we're not about to shoot on its people, we can rely on the station AI to work with us. But I'm not sure how the Concord came to be here. Or who they work with, for that matter."

"I think we need more manpower to secure the station because of its size. If you think it's safe enough, I'd like to call in a legion of Star Army Rikugun infantry to do a sweep of the station. With the ground forces in place providing security, our team will be free to focus on solving some of the mysteries the station holds. What do you think?" Aoba asked.

"We'll definitely need more ships in case the Mishhu decide to come back." Trowa agreed. "I can't see them not taking as much interest in the station as we are. Especially now that they know we know about it."

"The errant Mishhu left on the station will almost assure more, sir," Mineko said stiffly to Trowa. Looking back to Aoba, Mineko considered her answer: "As long as additional forces are briefed on contact protocol with the station's inhabitants, Captain."

"I agree," Aoba told Mineko and Trowa. "I'll also get on the horn with the Rapid Disaster Response Service and Star Army Emergency Services and get food and emergency supplies for the sleepers, to help them start off when they start waking up. With any luck, some of them will be interested in becoming Yamataians. In the meantime, let's get our away team back to full strength and give this another go soon before the Mishhu make another attempt."

= = =
OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Ame, Cowboy, iaincarter, Sunny D, Yoshiro

 

[Cowboy]

Medbay

Sanda woke up feeling groggy and hungry. She wasn't sure how long she had been out. She sat up on the bed and looked at her leg. Obviously long enough for Poppy to attach a new one. Sanda ran a hand over her leg. She could feel her fingertips brushing against it. That was a good sign. She tried wiggling her toes then flicked them inquisitively with her finger. Everything seemed to be as good as new. Except her leg was bare. Her lighting tattoo that ran over her body stopped at the knee. The Nepleslian woman sighed. She'd have to go get that redone sometime soon. Well, it could have been a lot worse.

Sanda looked around the Med bay for Poppy or Yuri. She wanted to know if she was good to return to duty. She was also starving. If she had to spend any more time here they could at least get her something to eat.

 

[Wes]

Poppy came over to Sanda and wrapped her arms around Sanda and gave her a tight hug. "Hey Sanda. You're whole again now. I didn't get time to get the tattoo redone but I know a good place we can visit next time we're in Kyoto. I...could also try it myself...if you trust me. I'm good with hands and I do art as a hobby. It should be safe to walk. If you want to ditch your patient gown, your uniform is over there on the tray on the counter, freshly laundered by Julia. I assume you want to get back on the big space station before the Mishhu attack again, but as your doctor I'm ordering you to have a nice meal first. Besides, you won't want to miss chef Rossa's lasagna. It's said to be the ultimate comfort food."

 

[Ametheliana]

YSS Resurgence

With her bridge duties attended to, Mineko brought her shoulders together for a tight salute and then didn't unclench until she was most of the way down the zero gravity passageway. Her internal gravity controls had her pause in the cylindrical tube, and she floated as if buoyed by a soft current momentarily. With her lilac grey hair mostly up, only her red ribbon and bangs wafted in the tube.

"First Aoba, then Alor..." she murmured as stared intently at a panel within the zero gravity passageway. The analyst had seen both men die in front of her now and her shoulders hung low as she thought about it. I knew the risks signing up for this, she thought. I just thought the risk was me dying. Not everyone else.

That realization was too heavy to have here, though, and Mineko sniffed as she wiped her eye and plummeted down the rest of the way. She stabilized her fall to deck five with her hand and peeked into the wardroom. The hope that Erika would be there was present as she went to a table and took out her datapad to work on typing out what she had told Aoba. The fear of what it could mean to lose a friend —even one as competent as her operative colleague— was like a weight on her heart. She wondered if it would be better if she sat alone after all.

 

[Wes]

Med Bay

Sanda smiled at Poppy. "Thanks for the tip, but I've got a guy who does my tattoo. They use a special ink." She held up her arm and moved it, allowing the light to play accross her lightning tattoo. The lighting make it appear that electricity was running down her arm.

Sanda got up and quickly got dressed. She was hungry and the mention of Rossa's lasagna made her more so. "Well, doctors orders." Sanda smiled and headed for the Wardroom.

YSS Resurgence - Wardroom

The wardroom was quiet, the murmur of voices merging with the subtle hum of the ship's engine. It was a place of respite and reflection for the crew members, offering a break from the rigorous demands of their duties.

The scent of Chef Rossa's lasagna wafted through the wardroom, smelling of well-spiced beef and sausages blended with zesty tomato sauce and 3 types of Elfin cheese.

Sanda hurried into the Wardroom and grabbed a plate. "Load me up Rossa. I've got to follow doctor's orders before I can return to
tle." She said with a grin.

Chef Rossa grinned and plopped a tall, multi-layed slice on Sanda's plate that looked like a small 5-story building gushing with strings of molten cheese and sparkling rivulets of meaty juices, striped with ricotta and wavy golden pasta floors.

Mineko looked up from her datapad set against her table when Sanda had entered. The two had rubbed up against one another during the battle when Sanda had pushed for frontline action after losing a leg. Now in the wardroom, Mineko's lip was sustaining the newest injury as she chewed on it, indecisive if she should apologize or hope that the problem didn't come up again.

Erika's face was still pink, but by far better than when she had first exited her armor suit. Treatment and a shower had done her some good. She wore a white tank top under a field jacket draped over her shoulders, her ribs still tender despite treatment. The moment the fragrance hit her nose however she covered her mouth and made a mad dash back down the corridor. The radiation exposure and the subsequent treatment had left her stomach in knots.

Sanda smelled her plate then made a chefs kiss to Rossa. She turned and made for a table. Seeing Mineko, she sat down across from her. "How are you feeling?" She asked. The incident from before completely forgotten as more basic needs were waiting to be met.

"Me?" Mineko asked. "I'm not the one who took a Ripper armor to the foot. I should be asking you that question." Suprise written all over her face as she internally debated what she was going to do.

Sanda was tucking into her food. "Hazards of the job." She said dismissively then paused as she thought more about it. "Yeah it was pretty painful. I feel like an idiot for such a rookie move. But Poppy worked her magic and hey presto, new leg. All it needs is a new paint job and it'll be as good as new."

“They seem to be,” Mineko said vaguely as she thought of ‘hazards of the job’ and where her mind had been just before entering the wardroom—on Aoba and Alor’s deaths. It gave Mineko a glazed over look beneath her bangs as she tried to divert her mind away from it.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Mineko added to Sanda.

"It'll take more than that to stop this girl." Sanda smiled at Mineko.

Crazy Concordian Space Station

Yayoi remained where she was and waited for orders, and to hear how the injured(not that she wasnt one) were doing.

Yoshiro was reloading his weapons and watching the area for any enemies that still remained. "Stay vigilant." He ordered Yayoi.

Large security robots continued to patrol in Yayoi and Yoshiro's area, swinging their large cannons this way and that suspiciously and scanning the with flashing beams of red laser light in flickering cones.

Yayoi nodded as she watched the security robots.

The glowing red entity began to approach again, and they could hear thousands muffled screams coming from it. As it came near, they could see the activation sequence for the stasis pods in their minds, almost like a video tutorial.

Yayoi blinked as she saw the videos in her mind, as the robot came near. "I see," she said.

Yoshiro saw the video and didn't understand what he was supposed to be doing. He was a soldier, not an engineer. "I shoot things and destroy things, not fix or revive things," he said to himself.

"We are gonna have to try this time." Yayoi said to Yoshiro, as she memorized the sequence.

"OK, let's do this!" Yoshiro said to Yayoi.

Yayoi nodded her head, and activated her comms. "Resurgence, one of the....local new friends transmitted the activation sequence for the pods, what is our next order?" she asked.

YSS Resurgence - Bridge

Kalena looked at her tactical map and then back over her shoulder at Captain Aoba, "New contacts, captain, 3 hyperspace defolds, close range, analyzing...NMX Escort Cruiser types!"

"Set combined field system to defensive mode. Set condition two throughout the ship and prepare to engage. Battle stations," Aoba ordered.

"Battle stations, all hands to battle stations, this is not a drill," the MEGAMI's silky-smooth voice announced everyone on the gunship. The lighting went to a dimmer mode with red lights pulsing along the walls.

"Bring us about and get our main gun on them," Aoba said.

Gabriela nodded. "Aye aye, captain." She gripped the controls and spun the ship on its axis.

"We have launches towards the station," Kalena said. "They're deploying more ground teams."

"Taisa, permission to use point-defense cannons?" Koyama asked from her station. Even as she said this she was bringing up the number of units being released.

"Granted," Aoba replied, though he knew the Mishhu would make them pay for getting into position for that shot. The Mishhu appeared to have launched ten shuttles, escorted by at least 40 small battle pods.

"Ten shuttles, forty battlepods, point-defense cannons locked on battlepods. Charging turbo-aether turrets one and two to pick off the shuttles." Koyama announced having a feeling they could at least thin the herd before the NMX made landfall.

Wardroom

Sanda was almost finished with her meal when alarms began going off. She stood and crammed the last bite into her mouth as she headed for the Power Armor bay at a dead run.

Mineko's gaze had gone up to the wardroom entrance. Her eyes ad caught up t
o her mind and she remembered seeing Erika there only moments before. She reached out via telepathy to ask Erika, “Are you feeling alright? Need a hand?” When the alarms went off, though, there was no doubt that needed to go into the corridor. Checking on the operative would just be a part of the trip to duty stations.

Erika sent her reply along with her POV, staring at the mirror in one of the bathrooms. "The scent of whatever chef was cooking up didn't play well with the treatment I just recived. I'll pull myself togeather." She threw some water over her face. "Probably have some inoffensive protein paste or something. I'll catch up."

Armor Bay and Shuttle Bay

"Away team, we have NMX reinforcements inbound to the station," Aoba told those suiting up over the intercom. I am going to give you a window to head back to the space station. We have to hold the enemy until the Star Army's reinforcements arrive."

"Do we have an ETA on those Captain?" Sanda asked as she sealed up her Mindy suit.

"Not presently; the wormhole to this place is out in the middle of nowhere."

"Understood Captain. We'll hold the line." Assured Sanda. Trowa appeared in the bay as well and suited up. With the kind of numbers the Mishhu were throwing at the station the Away team would need all the help they could get.

Erika wasn't far behind. She carefully disrobed as she approached her Mindy, though fortunately it was only a matter of taking off her jacket and pants. Down to her underwear yet again, she slid back in to her second skin and readied for the next sortie.

"We have something heavier?" Erika asked Sandra, looking down at her Aether SMG as she attempted to ignore the throbbing in her chest as the suit squeezed her in. "While we did alright against the rippers, I would rather be able to deal with them at range this time."

"Trying to cut down the enemy numbers to give you all a better chance. Just be aware, Gabriela is performing combat maneuvers when you launch." Koyama added in warning.

"My shoulder mounted 50mm gauss cannons are the heaviest weapon's I'm packing." Sanda answered Erika.

Erika made a disapproving sound, not seeing enough time to swap out her hard points. She made a quick interrogation of the ships inventory before saying "I'll be back." before making a move towards the armory.

She returned moments later with a Ke-M13-W4272 20mm rifle in her arms and an Aether Wakizashi on her hip in addition to the Aether SMG on her other one. On her person were now several large magazines loaded with 20mm Ball ammunition, and one with APFSDS rounds.

Sanda nodded her approval at Erika's weapons. "Nice."

"If I've got to go hand to hand with Rippers again I'd like to have the deck stacked a bit better." Erika said, the smile under her helmet evident in her inflection before it lowered. "I feel we got lucky last time, your dismemberment not with standing."

"Ha. It was them that got lucky last time." Sanda smirked as she tied her hair up in a tight pony tail then fastened her helmet.

"I one hundred percent agree." Erika chuckled. "The rules of the station had us effectively fight with one hand behind my back. Not this time though." She said, racking the bolt on the oversized rifle before slinging it over her back.

"Time is short." Trowa called out. "Grab any some extra med packs and emergency rations and lets go."

Space

The YSS Resurgence, outnumbered, spun wlidly around, using Gabriela's piloting skills to narrowly and nimbly dodge and weave around unpredictably as aether blasts streaked by. As the gunship closed with the enemy it began to trade shots with the lead NMX Escort ship, pummeling its front shields.

As the NMX transport shuttles zipped towards the staiton, the Resurgence's AA guns sprayed them, knocking several off course. A couple of the damaged ones careened into the hull of the space station and exploded.

Bridge

"Scratch two, unfortunately they impacted on the station. Damage unknown to its structure sensors report no survivors of the crash. Three others suffering from critical dama- one detonated. Armor team is still prepping." Koyama announced.

"Main Cannon reports charged and ready."

"Gabriela, target the lead vessel and fire," Aoba said. Since the main gun was spinal mounted, it was operated by the ship's pilot to line up the shots. "Kalena. fire all secondary weapons. Fire at will."

As Kalena fired the secondaries, and Gabriela was on top of the main cannon, Koyama concentrated on just shooting NMX pods and shuttles from the skies. "Some may get through, Taisa. Between the cruisers, pods and shuttles, we simply lack the coverage." He knew what she was asking. To trade one off for the others or to stay the course.

"Resurgence, this is Renaissance," captain Benna's voice came over the radio. "We are engaging your current target and will assist. The rest of the fleet is going to take a while longer."

"I'm grateful," Aoba replied, "I like these odds better. If we show up at Central Uesureya with the Resurgence shot up a third time in a year, they might give her to someone else," he said with a hint of a smile. Together with their sister ship, they managed to beat the first NMX ship's shields and Gabriela's next blast from the main gun blew it to bits.

"Scratch one cruiser, Kalena has the second in a firing solution. Forwarding it to the Renaissance." Koyama looked over her shoulder to Aoba and then back, "I do not believe it'll come to that sir," she chirped, "Considering we're doing Chiharu's work just by turning them to space dust. I'm sure we'll get a pass if we scratch the paint."

Crazy Concordian Space Station

"Away team, this is Resurgence," Aoba said, "We have some unwanted visitors up here and both them and us are sending some people over. Be ready. You have my permission to start the activation process over there."

Yoshiro prepared for combat as he made sure he was loaded for bear.

"Yup, copy that." Yayoi replied as she heard both their captain's orders and the reports.

"I will cover you as best as I can. Do whatever you have to get those pods activated, Yayoi. " Yoshiro said.

"Copy that." Yayoi said simply as she proceeded to where they needed to go for the reactivation sequence, to revive their new allies.

Yayoi found Team 2 (Wando, Simril, Lyons, and Engineer Wong) still guarding the pod room. "So you're going to push the big red button?" Hayden Simril asked her with a chuckle. "You really want 20 million old people asking you for their meds?" he laughed, trying to add humor to help take the edge off the dangerous situation.

Yayoi snorted at his attempt at humour. "the Captain order their release from the pods, and that is the next order of business.' She said in typical stern Yayoi fashion as she stepped up to the console. Using what she'd been given, she began the activation sequence. "get ready." She said simply.

A loud bang filled the air as the first of the NMX ground forces began to arrive at the outskirts of the pod room's area, where they started firing mini missiles and 50mm railgun shots into the pod room, trying to hit armor team members. Meanwhile, a wave of energy spread throughout the room, as glowing circuitry lit up starting at the activation console and spread into the sections of the pod room, going down into a seemingly endless pit filled with pods by the thousands.

Yoshiro started firing his Aether SMG and started quoting the poem from the last battle again. "Demons run when a good man goes to war! Night will fall and drown the sun when a good man goes to war!" He said, trying to intimidate. "Friendships die and true love dies, night will fall and dark will rise when a good man goes to war. "

Erika lead the charge of the returning team, the canon in her arms making short work of the stragglers approaching the NMX line near the entrance of the pod room. Hearing the commotion she peaked the corner and saw the tendriled beasts gathered at the bulkhead, stacked up for an attempted entry as rounds pelted the wall across from them. She braced her rifle against the corner of the corridor and squeezed the trigger, letting the rifle fire as quickly as it was able.

Yayoi focused on the work, making sure that the activation sequence was working, and only then, would she be able to focus on the other introducers.

Trowa and Sanda hung back and fired their 50mm gauss cannons together. Trowa had two mounted on his shoulders and Sanda one. They were combining their attacks for maximum effect, focusing on one, then another.

Ripper Armors rushed into the room as a group, coordinating their fire to focus on one Star Army soldier at a time, and started by gunning down engineer Wong and literally blowing Lyons' head off his Mindy armor with 50mm rail cannon shots. They turned to Wando next and he narrowly dodge, combat rolling behind a wall. Then the wall got angry, detaching a piece of itself which transformed into one of the boxy combat robots and started melting Rippers with bright orange plasma beams.

As the energy spread through the pod room, the lights grew brighter inside and the atmosphere got warmer, melting away the frost and fog and the pods began to open, and aliens of all sorts began to stumble out of them. A few unlucky ones were immediately hit by Mishhuvurthyar parasites which were darting around the room now.

With half of her attention on the console, the other half, on the new invaders. With a scornful look, Yayoi glared at the Rippers, as she lifted her own weapons that she had left, that wasnt blown or ripped off.

"Mineko!" Trowa called out. "See if you can make contact with those waking up. They need to be warned as to what's going on. We'll provide cover."

"Make sure not to aim at the robots," Wando warned. He glanced over to Wong's fallen Mindy and when he saw an opening he dragged her over behind a bulkhead. "Talk to me," he said.

"It hurts," was all Wong could manage.

Her point of ingress cleared, Erika dumped the empty magazine before pushing forward. She took position at the threshold, the cracked remains of rippers stacked at her feet. Using the bulkhead as cover as she aimed her rifle at each still active ripper, taking precise shots with the overpowered weapon.

"Shit!" Simril said as a Ripper managed to catch up with him and thrust its aether saber into his chest. He was killed almost instantly as the extraordinary heat burned his body from the inside out. The smoking husk of a MINDY slumped to the floor.

Trowa saw that the secondary team was getting cut to pieces. They needed to regroup and coordinate their attacks together. "Regroup!" The Shosa ordered. "Regroup and concentrate your fire! They'll pick us apart individually. We need to work as a team!" He and Sanda moved forward, blasting away with their heavy cannons to give the others a chance to regroup.

Yoshiro ran over to the secondary team to help. "Can i be of assistance? " Yoshiro asked.

"Medic!" Wando called as he saw Wong struggle to stay conscious. He looked around and gently set her down so he could keep fighting. "I'll come back for you, don't die," he told her. Seeing Yoshiro, he said, "She's hit bad," he said, shooting a Ripper as it tried to advance on their position.

Erika followed the command, dashing across the bay with AG assisted leaps. She swapped magazines mid leap, changing to the APSFDS rounds. She caught herself on one of the pods and lined up with the main crowd of Rippers advancing on them. Her visor highlighted the pods and other things she didn't want in her firing line, not wanting to aggravate the robots if her rounds over-penetrated and hit something important as she opened fire on the advancing horde.

Yoshiro took Wong to cover and patched her up as best as he could. "Mutated, ugly octopus looking jackasses!" Yoshiro said as he fired at the Rippers.

= = =

JP END

= = =
OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Ame, Cowboy, iaincarter, Sunny D, Yoshiro, Soresu

 

[Ametheliana]

Crazy Concordian Space Station

Trowa's orders were clear: contact those waking up and warn them of the Mishhuvurthyar threat. Relaying information was a part of her job— she had just done so to Aoba and Trowa on the bridge, hadn't she. But asking to relay information to the thousands waking was so much different. She couldn't tuck her hands behind her back and speak individually to each one now. A much less direct way would be necessitated.

It had been awhile since she'd seen Euikoshi or else she would have beckoned the scientist over. But as it was, she had to do this alone. She went to where the activation sequence had begun at the ancient control system for the sleeping pods. Kneeling down behind it as cover, she decided to try what Pidole had done to wake Alor earlier. She also took off her helmet and put it beside her. The red ribbon that tied up her thick hair trailed down on her Mindy's collar. Trowa's words echoed in her mind and she hoped that nobody else would die just for covering her as she risked her head. But making contact with the collective consciousness had worked before on this station.

She was betting it would work again while putting her hands above one of the softly glowing nodes. It turned green under her touch and her fingers danced along it. For a moment she felt entranced, like she was dancing along to a shamisen back in Kyoto. Her analytical mind worked to find a pattern to the frequencies and a rhythm developed. She was grateful the interface was less about reading and more about harmonics and easily seeable colors as she could barely see over it as she knelt behind the shimmering control system, her fingers at work. In the same way that an odori performed in kimono had a story to tell, she thought of the message this dance would relay.

𝔼𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕠𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕊𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕧𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕐𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤. ℝ𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕧𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕤. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖'𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕥.

 

[Wes]

YE 45.6

Space

Outside the station, the black void was painted with streaks of luminous aether energy and flaming remnants of NMX crafts. The soundless expanse was alive with battles. The Resurgence and Renaissance continued their coordinated attacks, tearing apart another NMX cruiser while a third tried to fall back.

The space around the station was littered with debris from fallen shuttles and battle pods, with some parts being drawn into the gravitational field of the station, while others became obstacles for more incoming pods.

Crazy Concordian Space Station

With Erika's strategic firing, combined with the group's coordinated efforts, a swath of Rippers were reduced to inoperative hulks in mere moments. The loud, chaotic engagement turned the room into a war zone, with the added complication of newly awakened aliens wandering in confusion.

A tall, slender alien with opalescent skin stumbled out from one of the pods, clutching its head, seemingly overwhelmed by the sudden violence. It looked up with multifaceted eyes, meeting Trowa's gaze momentarily. The alien communicated without speaking, sending a rush of emotions: confusion, fear, gratitude. It then dashed towards cover.

"Push them back to the corridors! Give the sleepers a chance to get their bearings!" Erika said, taking a break from firing her overpowered weapon to remove the now half empty APSFDS magazine and replace it with standard rounds. Once she'd said her piece she took a step out of cover, her weapon's stock pressed to her shoulder as she advanced. With every report of the rifle a Ripper was punctured and went limp.

"Agreed", Yayoi said as she attempted to fire with her rifle at the enemy combatants. Ever since the robot gave her the activation code, things have been calm untill the bad guys arrived again.

"We need to establish communication with the sleepers." Trowa informed the away team. "Get them moved to a safer area and see about getting this station off standby."

"Uh, didn't the people who got the glowing red eyes get, like, a language download or something?" Cassie asked, taking aimed shots at whichever target Yayoi was targeting, doubling their damage.

"I sure didn't." Sanda informed while checking that the dead Ripper's were actually dead. "Just images."

"I got information on how to reactivate the pods to awaken them, but not much", Yayoi said as she and Cassie teamed up on targets.

"Okay, plan B, Alor spoke Trade, right? Maybe some of them speak Trade," Cassie said between shots. The Rippers were obviously struggling now that the powerful security robots had joined the fight, bringing their boxy mecha-scale plasma guns to bear on the Mishhu forces for daring to disturb the peace on the station.

The combat robots, seemingly recognizing the authority of the YSS Resurgence team, began forming a defensive perimeter around the awakening pods, joining the fight against the Rippers and ensuring that the newly awakened beings were shielded from the ongoing skirmish.

With the combat robots shielding them, Trowa moved over to a group of awakened aliens. He lowered his rifle and held up an empty hand towards them in a sign of peace. "I am Shosa Yamamoto, of the YSS Resurgence. We need to get your people to safety. Do you understand?"

Likewise Erika let the robots take care of security and approached another cohort, the linear rifle slung over her back. She removed her helmet to so her face, part of her thinking if the AI wanted to make the situation simpler it was welcome to, providing she didn't walk into a power conduit like the Mishhu.

"Are the machines here?" one of the humanoids asked Trowa, looking worried. "What year is it?"

"I'm not sure what year it is by your calendar, but I believe quite some time has past." Trowa said, wishing he had better intel on things.

Erika opened a mind link channel to Trowa. "You know the station AI has a kind of 'Machine' vibe to it come to think of it." She said over it so the locals couldn't hear.

Yayoi glanced over to the speaking alien, and noted them speaking trade. But since they were speaking to Trowa, she didnt respond.

"That could be it." Trowa sent back. To the aliens he said, "Your robots are aiding in the fight." Pointing to the robots around them. "But I would like to be able to do more. Is there a safe place we can move your people while they awake that is out of the fighting?"

"Lets keep that theory between us." Erika replied telepathically to Trowa.

"Those aren't our robots, and this isn't our station," one of the awakened aliens said. "In fact I have no idea where we are or how we got here. When I entered stasis I was on a Concordian starship. I think we must have been moved around. Maybe this place is some sort of a ...collection?"

Yayoi blinked her eyes in confusion as the alien spoke, verbally confirming their confusion.

"Your empire predates our history." Erika said, stepping forward. "We don't know, what we do know is that this place isn't safe, and you need to get your people to follow us as quickly as possible to safety. We can get answers to all our questions later. Right now all you need to know is that your survival is our priority here."

"Ah diablos. Sabía que este lugar no iba a ser tan sencillo como pensábamos que sería." Sanda grumbled.

Yayoi nodded her head. "acordada" she said agreeing with Sanda.

The ground shook with the force of the ongoing battle outside. The pod room continued to come alive, more and more of its alien occupants awakening from their long slumber. Some were confused, while others instinctively recognized the threat and began to assist the Star Army soldiers against the Mishhuvurthyar.

In response to Mineko's message, many of the Concordians, especially the ones in red military uniforms, began arming themselves and joining the battle. There seemed to be some soldiers among the millions of awakened people, who came in various species, some with extensive cybernetics.

With the combined efforts of the station's guard bots and the away teams conccentrated attacks, the Mishhu assault finally fell apart and the room finally fell mostly silent as the shooting stopped.

With the new infomation from those awakened fresh in her mind, Mineko wished there was still a Sentinel amongst those awoken. She looked around at the hodge podge of species, trying to parse out a leader amongst them.

"Hey, uh, is there a litter box around here?" Cassie asked randomly, while checking her rifle.

"Really? Now? Your suit should be able to take care of that." Erika replied with a chasting inflection.

"why do you need a box?" Yayoi randomly asked, before she added" nevermind"

"Thunder and Blade, Secure the area. Make sure there are no more Mishhu around." Trowa ordered. He used his suit's speakers to perject his voice around the room. "I am Shosa Yamamoto of the YSS Resurgence. Who among you speaks for the others? We need to cordinate to protect and make sure your people are taken care of."

Sanda acknowledged the orders and went off to secure the area with a group of the red uniformed Concordians.

Yayoi nodded her head silently, and moved to follow Sanda to follow orders.

Erika replaced her helmet with a click and grabbed the rifle off her back. "Aye sir."

Mineko spun her head towards Erika, speaking directly to her, "Alor was the one who told us how to activate the security robots. Why was a fellow Concordian of his spooked by them? And why don't they recognize this station when he did?" To Mineko, the fact that there were disparities between the two Concordian's reactions had to be answered.

"Well, I have a theory." Erika replied "Not much more than that at this stage. And its best not to look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I'd like to get Wong to the medical lab as soon as possible," Poppy said over the channel.

"Understood Poppy. Wando. Get Wong to the med bay ASAP. Get yourself checked out as well. We might need you later." Trowa ordered. He was growing a little impationed that the aliens and their lack of useful comunication and intel.

"Ryokai," Wando nodded, grabbing a medical antigrav gurney and putting Wong Caihong on it. He rushed her to the shuttle bay. "What about Davonte and Hayden?" he asked over the radio. The two had died in the fight.

"The living take priority right now. But... Yoshiro, set their bodies to the side and cover them with something. I'll not have their bodies molested. We'll carry them back to the ship with full honors first chance we get." Trowa ordered.

Yayoi remembered that she'll need to go to the medical bay after the mission, considdering she lost an arm, but Yayoi didnt think of that last part.

"Lay it on me, I'm all ears," Mineko said to Erika as she started towards the nearest combat robot as she pulled her scanner out of her butt pack.

"Well, the AI that's been possessing our people could be part of this 'Machine' faction. After they claimed victory they found the spaceship. Maybe they had second thoughts about completely wiping out their creators and relocated them to a more secure location. Or maybe they were just putting off the decision." Erika explained as she pushed forward to the bulkhead which rung out with the sounds of fighting.

"The AI that's been possessing us," Mineko repeated. "He called it a remnant of their collective conscious, but maybe it was pushing back against them or united with the machines."

"Alor was also the only one who seems... who seemed to know what was going on. Which means he might have had some agreement with the AI. The AI might have also been a sub faction of the 'Machines' sympathetic to its creators. But I'm grasping at straws Mineko." Erika shrugged. "Any solid answers we'll get immediately died with him unfortunately." She replied, somewhat solemnly.

"True. We should try to ST him," Mineko said decisively. "I'm heading to where his body was and asking the captain for permission.

"My best guess," Euikoshi said, "Is the sentinels were the ones tasked with being awake to watch over the sleepers in status," she hypothesized. "It wouldn't be the first time Poppy successfully resurrected the recently dead. Remember that time on Sood Zadra and the Nepleslian guy? And then she had to shoot him afterward..."

"Her file doesn't do her justice. Let's see what the soon-to-be M.D. can do. Erika-san, help me lift the body." Mineko approached the once blue body of the Sentinel. He was as gray as ash and lifeless. Something in Mineko's heart felt lighter as she hoped that their soul transfer technology could bring him back.

"Yes sir." Erika said, turning from the fighting to dart back to the body, once again slinging the rifle on her back.

YSS Resurgence - Bridge

"We're receiving additional contacts on the outer perimeter," Kalena warned. "Unknown signature... wait! It's the Star Army's reinforcement fleet. They've arrived!"

Aoba's tension momentarily lifted, replaced with a surge of relief. "Coordinates, now. Let's regroup and push the Mishhu back."

The view screen lit up with a phalanx of Star Army ships dropping out of hyperspace, their formation tight and weapons charged, ready for battle.

Space

The Resurgence, with its sister ship the Renaissance, spearheaded the offensive, weaving through the chaos of battle.The reinforcement fleet's guns sang in harmonious destruction, their combined firepower quickly thinning the NMX ranks. Afterward, there was calm again around the station.

YSS Resurgence

After the arrival of the Star Army reinforcements from the First Fleet and the Star Army Rikugun, the station was flooded with helpers to start support for the survivors, who were essentially treated as refugees. With no ships or resources of their own, they had to rely on the generosity of Yamatai for the time being. Thankfully Yamatai was a good host. The Resurgence crew was then recalled to their ship to recover.

Medical Bay

Though Erika and Mineko had set the body of the Sentinel down momentarily in the power armor bay as they unsuited from their Mindy armors, they were now in the medical bay a deck above.

Holding the pale body of the alien felt foreign and strange to Mineko and she was all too aware of the specific feeling of his skin on her fingertips and against her forearm. Though either of the Neko could have carried him alone, it somehow felt more respectful to have the two of them work together to do so.

The radiation red of Erika's face had subsided some what, but her shoulders and chest bore some substantial bruising, a combination of the forced regeneration of her ribs and the additional trauma inflicted by the linear rifles recoil. It was a dull ache, not enough to hamper her assisting in carrying the body.

Yuri looked up as they arrived, and stood from her seat, so that she could get back to duty, especially with those wounds she saw. "Elster-hei, and Mineko." she said before Poppy gave them orders on what to do with Alor's body. While the Neko did as Poppy asked, she got prepared to help Erika further with her wounds.

Poppy rushed over to them, her eyes focused on the body of Alor. "Place him on the table," she directed, pointing to an empty one near the surgical equipment.

Erika's attention darted between Yuri and Poppy. She settled on concentrating on Poppy's instruction, helping Mineko place him gently down. "You know, some cultures might take offense to ST technology." She commented to no one in particular as she stepped away from the table.

"I'm guessing he'd jump at the chance to continue to protect his people," Mineko said defensively after she had pulled her arms out from under Alor. Internally, she knew Erika was probably right, but her want to see Alor rez'd went beyond what she was willing to admit. Still, disagreeing with Erika so quickly made the analyst feel a little ashamed.

"Hopefully he won't take offense, though." Mineko added in a less assured voice.

"Thankfully they're fairly humanoid," Poppy said, looking over Alor thoughtfully. She immediately began resuscitation efforts and connected an IV to him, injecting a set of customized nanomachines into his bloodstream that would help jumpstart his cells and repair the damage from the radiation.

Yuri wanted to ask about her mother, but Yayoi would want her to focus on her job so she didnt ask. Instead she commented. "He looks neat," Alor was the only non Yamataian she'd ever seen.

Erika sighed and backed up into a chair near Yuri while she watched Poppy work. "Hey, you said my name?" She said to Yuri

"Hai! I did, i saw you were injured...looks like some bruising? from your body regenerating? and... looks like additional" Yuri said.

"I had some cracked ribs from the previous engagement." Erika replied "That got healed but I was redeployed before the soft tissue got fully dealt with or something to that effect."

"Hmm.. do you have any pain?' Yuri asked Erika, as she listened like a good medical trainee.

"Its not plesant," Erika said with a grimace "But I can cope."

Yuri frowned a little but nodded her head in understanding then glanced to Mineko and listened.

"Feels bad being surrounded by people torn up from battle and I'm fine," Mineko said as she looked from the armless Yayoi to Erika, whose wounds were more internal. Her eyes eventually landed again on Alor, but she chose not to think too hard on his deathly dose of radiation.

"Don't worry about me, I bounce." Erika chuckled.

Mineko noted, "Maybe that's the problem. I'm no doctor, but maybe learn to chill when you've got soft tissues on the line." Her voice got more tender as she added, "Some of us rely on you out there. Namely me."

"Well, it was either a few kicks in the shoulder from the rifle or getting up close and personal with another Murder of Rippers. I'll take some personal internal bleeding over my crew getting dismembered." Erika said with a satisfied shrug as she sank back into the chair.

"Hey, you tore it up out there today. It's bad luck for the Mishhu that we've got you. I shouldn't be warning you away from doing that again." Mineko thought of the absolute carnage from Erika's Mindy that had helped protect Mineko while the analyst was making contact with the sleepers.

"Remind me to get an assistant," Poppy said aloud as she tried to get Alor revived. "It's like 'when it rains it pours' in here," she said. "Yayoi, I'll get you a new arm as soon as I'm available, just hang in there." The loud sound of a pained gasp filled the air as Alor began to breath again.

"Sentinel!" Though she had somehow turned her attention away from Alor, Mineko's red and blue eyes were pulled to him again as life filled his body.

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JP END

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OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Cowboy, Sunny D, Ametheliana

 

[Wes]

Medical Lab

"Try to relax," Poppy told Alor, "You suffered some bad radiation contamination and lost consciousness," she said, placing a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "We've brought you to our ship's medical station for treatment," she said, deliberately keeping things simple to avoid shocking him too much.

Yayoi remained laying there, as the machines, worked on her missing arm. She listened as Poppy saw to Alor, as she did so.

Erika grimaced at Poppy's embelishment of the proceedure the alien had just undergone, but otherwise sat their in the chair, nursing her aching shoulder.

Yuri went to Erika's side, trying not to look at her mother. She focused on Erika, and took note of her body language. "Need me to get you pain killers?' she asked Erika.

Erika turned to Yuri with a smile. "Never say no to analgesics when offered." She replied "Please."

"How are you feeling?" Mineko prompted Alor after having watched Poppy fill him in. Erika getting treatment seemed to be happening next to her and it gave Mineko a feeling of relief.

"I feel horrible," Alor said. "Things are a little...blurry," he said, looking a little confused. "I remember we were attacked..."

Yuri nodded her head to Erika, and moved to where painkillers could be dispensed for the crew's needs. Her mouth mouthing to herself, as she used her memory on the exact number she needed to input for Erika. "hey, mom, how is your pain? need me to get something/' she asked as she worked.

Yayoi shook her head. "no, focus on the crew, i am fine" she said to her daughter more irritable than she intended.

Yuri nodded, and returned to Erika's side and gently administered the pain relief.

"Here's something to help with the pain," Poppy said. "I'll be back with you soon, but if you need me just ask," she told him, giving him a hypospray. She moved to Yayoi to check on her next. "I am going to print you a new arm and we'll seal it on with some specialized hemosynth, like I did with Sanda's leg. It will be made with your own DNA so it should be just like the original, but newer," she explained, quickly getting to work.

Yayoi nodded her head to Poppy, but gave no verbal reply and waited for Poppy to get to work.

"We've repelled the attack and your people, for the most part, are safe." Erika said from her chain, the tension noticably flowing from her body as the pain management kicked in. "Last I heard one of our fleets have arrived and we're evacuating them from the station."

Julia Meadows popped in through the medical lab doorway. "Do you want me to prepare a VIP suite for Mr. Alor to stay the night?" she asked Poppy.

"Sure," Poppy answered. She wasn't sure he would but it was good to be prepared.

"Right," caretaker Julia nodded and disappeared again.

"As long as they are safe. It was our...my responsibility to see to it that they were protected until the day they could return to the galaxy when it was safer."

Trowa entered the Med bay and sat down by the door. He wanted to know how things were progressing with their guest but didn't want to introupt. Instead he sent Minako a message. "Any progress in figuring things out?" Sanda was still on the station with some of the Rikgun teams securing the station and making sure there were no hidden Mishhu.

"Do you mind if I ask you some more questions about your people and the station, Alor?" Mineko asked, hoping that her initiating questioning with Alor in front of Trowa would double to answer the Second Officer's question.

"I will try to answer as best I can in this state," Alor told Mineko. "I appreciate your peoples' assistance."

"Do you want me to knock you out for this or do you want to watch?" Poppy asked Yayoi. "You may wish to disable your body's pain receptors."

Yayoi nodded head "very well, " she said and closed her eyes as she focused on deactivating her pain receptors, wouldnt do to cause more of a moral effect on her daughter with her there. "knock me out" she said finally.

"Got it," Poppy said, popping Yayoi in the arm with a hypospray and grabbing her to keep her head from hitting the table as she was instantly knocked out. She lowered her down gently and soon it was Frankenstein time as Poppy attached the disembodied arm in a somewhat bloody process, and then sealed the skin together with liquid bandage. Soon Yayoi's body took over and was fixing the last of the damage and making all the connections of arteries and nerves complete again.

Yuri couldnt help but look over and watch as her mother's arm was restored to her. Then she hurried to grab a wet cloth for Poppy.

"We appreciate your help with repelling the enemy, as well," Mineko answered. "Was every Concordian sent to the station to go into stasis or were there other vessels with the same purpose?" She had chosen her words carefully to not hand Alor everything they knew, but to verify his truth versus that of the station's aliens.

"The Concordians were not sent to the space station, they were relocated there by the being that controls the station, who appears as a red glow. Originally we were offered refuge by it after a great disaster where we were invaded by war machines. I made the station grow dormant to protect them and then got in a pod myself so that I didn't die when the environmental systems went offline."

"You originally said the AI was part of your 'collective conciousness', correct?" Erika followed up

"No, it scanned our consciousness for its own reasons and kept a copy," Alor answered. "I assume it is some sort of machine leader. Why it didn't just kill us like the others, I do not know."

"A machine, but from a different faction than the ones that invaded your world?" The operative continued.

"Perhaps a dissenter," Alor speculated. "It was the one who said we needed to be frozen so we could be hidden. We didn't want that, but we didn't have a choice at the time."

"We trusted it implicitly for not knowing who or what it fights for," Mineko said with a finger on her chin. Erika was leading the line of questioning, though, and the analyst let her observation leave room for further questions from the operative.

Yuri handed the wet cloth to Poppy. "here you go Poppy-sempai!" she said to her before adding. "i thought you might need this."

"Thank you," Poppy said, wiping blood splatter off her face and facemask.

Yuri smiled as she felt proud of getting thanked. She then turns and focused on the others in the Medical Bay.

"And you didn't have a choice because? I could think of a few options." Erika asked thoughtfully.

"Because it essentially stuffed us into its freezer," Alor grunted. It was obvious that question pissed him off. "You weren't there, you don't know what it was like. It was trying to save us but no one trusted the machine entity. It was just the latest in a long line of AI monsters trying to control the lives of organic beings."

"Okay" Erika said, lifting her hands up defensively in an attempt to return Alor to a less agitated state. "You're right, we weren't there. But the AI who made that decision for you still is and we need to know what kind of threat it might pose. Both to your people and ours. That it makes unilateral decisions for an entire people is important information to know for future dealings."

"Multiple peoples, right?" Mineko offered, having seen many species of aliens on the station. "How many species are in the Concord?"

"Yes, it is a bit of a collector..." Alor nodded. "I would say at least 100, most of which I do not know directly. Some of us are from my home and others from other systems or nations."

"Were you the only one to trust it?" Mineko asked. "Why? Circumstance or-"

"It designated me and other Sentinels to be the ones awake while the others slept, because the people wouldn't put their faith in the station alone. Someone alive had to be there to keep them safe. Over the years, the other sentinels were killed by raiders and scavengers to the station. Those bug-creatures, for example, would come and try to feed on the sleepers or other life on the station."

"Makes sense how the environmental systems went offline then," Mineko offered. "And how you became the Last Sentinel. I'm glad we awoke you to continue to protect your people. Thank you for filling in the holes in our understanding of what happened. We've prepared a fresh bed for you, but we may need your continued help." Her mind went to the heavy weight of 20 million people and she wondered if they could do it without Poppy resiscitating Alor. They'd have to find out if they could help them all even with his help.

Alor nodded. "I will do what I can to help. My people are going to need it," he said as he was prepared to be moved to his quarters. The ordeal had taken a toll on him, but he was determined to assist in any way he could.

With everything calm, Yuri goes back to work on her studies once more to make sure she's up to date on everything.

YSS Resurgence: Bridge

Captain Aoba sent to the away team: "All Resurgence crew, this is the captain. Return to the ship at once. We are assisting evacuation efforts. Once scanned for parasites, refugees can be brought on the ship and assigned any spare space we have to sleep and we'll bring them home to temporary housing in Yamataian space."

The Star Army Rikugun began organizing the refugees into groups, trying to keep any families or groups of friends they found together, and then began moving them to ships in the fleet or to Rapid Disaster Response Service ships. The shuttles from the Resurgence went over and were able to get 50 evacuees each plus 3 Star Army personnel in the cockpit with the pilot.

"Taisa, this is Hei Elster." Erika said over the com. "We've done what we could to debrief the Alien Sentinal 'Alor'. Long story short, the AI aboard the station acted in a unilateral fashion and stored the organics aboard without consent. Obstensively for protection, but as we've yet to figure out a way to get answers from the AI, we can only make inferences."

"I hope us saving it has made that AI a friend of ours," Aoba said. "One man's castle is another man's dungeon, I suppose. Have everyone available help get these refugees settled for a smooth ride to the temporary housing camps set up back home, please."

"Aye sir, I'll pass it on." Erika replied.

YSS Resurgence: Shuttle Bay

The cavernous shuttle bay of the YSS Resurgence hummed with activity. The ambient blue lighting reflected off the polished floors, adding a surreal calm to a scene bursting with controlled chaos. The bay was typically quiet, seeing action primarily during away missions, but today, the bay transformed into a bustling transit point.

Ke-T7 Shuttlecraft, usually designated for small crew missions, were now repurposed for the influx of refugees. The bay doors slid open every few minutes to admit a shuttle, and every time, dozens of confused, scared, but hopeful faces emerged. They stopped once 200 people were moved onto the now-crowded gunship.

A coordinated triage point had been established at the entrance. Euikoshi and Poppy were swiftly screening the refugees for parasites or any immediate health concerns. Plum, one of the ship's technicians, gave each refugee a small pack containing food, water, and a basic set of clothes. Some Star Army Rikugun soldiers in DAISY M6 power armor worked alongside them, ensuring a smooth flow of traffic and offering assistance when needed.

Groups of families clung tightly to one another. Some were of mixed species, revealing the diverse nature of the Concordian collection. Children clutched the hands of their parents, looking around with wide eyes filled with wonder and apprehension. The elderly and those needing immediate care were attended to with extra tenderness by the medical team.

In one corner, a young Concordian girl, her skin shimmering with a soft, opalescent glow, sat clutching a stuffed animal. Cassie approached her, kneeling down to her eye level.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, trying to offer comfort.

The girl nodded hesitantly, "I'm waiting for my parents. They said they'll be right behind me."

Cassie placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll make sure you're reunited with them."

The organized flow continued, with soldiers and crewmembers directing the refugees towards temporary accommodations. Translator devices were passed out to those who seemed to have difficulty understanding the primary languages used on the Resurgence, facilitating smoother communication.

Off to one side, Captain Aoba stood with a datapad in hand, overseeing the operations. The sheer number of refugees was overwhelming, but seeing his crew work together seamlessly filled the studious Yamataian warrior with pride.

The YSS Resurgence, while primarily a vessel of war and exploration, today transformed into a beacon of hope and sanctuary for those in need. The bridge between a harrowing past and a hopeful future. Soon they were headed back to Yamatai to refresh for their next adventure...

MISSION END

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OOC: JP by Wes, Charaa, Cowboy, Sunny D, Ametheliana