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The tall Patrician man's faceplate masked his frown as the tiny complainer of an XO shouted her way into the room, though he chose to not speak up against her. As the Power Armor Bay's floor opened up to release the away team, he took position near the Sylph, only turning back to keep an eye on Taharial's rescue of the flailing Plebian. He also silently acknowledged the presence of one Seraph hovering at the ship's posterior, clearly attempting to work on the busted thruster. As he returned to facing the front, service rifle secured to one wing, he spoke up,
"The Cercatore made news a while back for disappearing at the beginning of the fourth war. The Order of Defense claimed they were deserters, but it seems quite the contrary. If they're really down there, their old heads will likely think we won the war as soon as they see us. Chui, expect them to think Yamatai our vassal until they know better." Arcturus's explanation came from a surprisingly tired voice, as if he was remembering something he wasn't so proud of. "Additionally, any living - automated - systems may identify your frequency as Star Army of Yamatai and, by consequence, treat you as hostile. Your size should make dodging them relatively easy, though."
The biotechnician focused on the planet, one eye glancing to a display monitoring the status of his Hikael. Counters for ammunition of countermeasures, his weapon, and gauges denoting the strain for effects such as his Radio Burst Generator were quickly sifted, sorted, and customized to the older brother's preferences - most of them fading away. The thermometer shorted out as he broke atmosphere, sending a critical warning flashing across his HUD before it was quickly dismissed with a bored grunt.
So far, so good.
Vessel's Heart
Gaius, with the help of two more Seraphs, had gotten much more efficient in his tending to the ship. The Bridge crew would notice a brief warning as power was safely cut away from the primary inertia regulator, with a slowly, persistently flashing "ALERT" in the corner of the console notifying that FTL capabilities were disabled by an automated failsafe. The Patrician man and his escort made for the halls and worked to remove ubiquitous maintenance panels, searched for burnt-out or damaged components, and replaced them methodically. It was a patch job on a patch job, and Gaius cursed as he worked, flowing complaints and instructions together in the same breath.
"Damn, they didn't even bother inspecting this scab, did they? Heavens forbid someone has to open a hatch in a safe environment. Or maybe I should thank the old man for making this thing work in half condition as it is. Mnemosyne, if you would be so kind to lock this hallway? Can't let anybody trip over my kit at a time like this."
At a “sedate” speed of Mach 1.5, the trip down to the surface of the blue, green, and white-colored marble named Athenais II was as peaceful as it was calm - or would have been, had the seven members of the away team not been beset by a barrage of blue-colored beams the moment they passed through the kilometer-thick tachyon barrier enveloping the planet. “Holy son of a Nek-” began Lucilla, only to be immediately be drowned out by an urgent “Scatter!” from Kiyo.
Though immensely pretty (and in theory dangerous, as evidenced by a glancing blow completely overloading the shields on Lucilla’s Tethys), it soon became obvious that there was something… off about the light show being put on by the energy beams (which were being emitted precisely three times every second), as the aim of whatever was directing them was incredibly poor - and it only took a couple of volleys for Lucilla to realize what was going on. “’Ey, Chui!”
The Chui barrel-rolled around several beams of blue, then replied “Can it wait, Semeai? This is not the most…” - a pause, as she parried an incoming beam with her swords - “…the most opportune time for idle chit-chat!”
“Ya wound me, ma’am! Do I look like Gallo t-hoho, that beam got close! Anyway, I figuhed out what’s makin’ th’ beams, an’ why their accuracy is worse than a newborn Neko’s!”
“Please enlighten the rest of us, then, Mondadori-Semeai!” said a moderately-annoyed Kiyo in response as she dodged up, up, down, down, left, left, right, right, backwards, aftwards, and starwards. “Strange, doing that always unlocked something beneficial in the simulators back home…”
“Based upon th’ numbah of beams per second, their color, an’ th’ fact that their aim makes Gallo look good, it’s the…” - Lucilla paused once more as she (along with the rest of the team) entered a particularly gnarly cloud - “…Cercatore della Verità herself shootin’ at us with a Beam Eye!”
Kiyo’s response was about as dry as a Delsaurian desert. “Splendid deduction, Semeai, and one that I definitely didn’t arrive at fifty-seven seconds ago. Please…oh. Curious.”
The reason for the abrupt shift in the Mini-Nekovalkyrja’s tone became clear as the rest of the away team broke through the low-hanging nighttime clouds onto what was probably the last thing anyone had been expecting: a firefight - between what appeared to be Yamataian and Elysian forces - being raged around the heavily-damaged triangular hull of a Thunderbolt-class Fast Attack Frigate, whose sole functional (and clearly myopic) Beam Eye was still trying to shoot where its senile targeting computers imagined the Panopteles power armors to be.
“Everyone, come to a halt one hundred meters above the ground,” said Kiyo, the severe frown adorning her cream-colored features plainly evident even over the radio as she began to survey the frantic firefight occurring beneath her at the moonlit crash site. “There shouldn’t be any Yamat-”
With a flash of light, a rocket-propelled grenade arced up from the edge of the clearing towards the XO’s armored form; though it posed no threat to her - a mere sidestep was enough to dodge the brightly-burning projectile - it was enough to spur the Mini-Neko into action and remind her that anomaly or no, she (and the rest of the away team) were in a warzone. “Amaterasu-Shoi and Chasan-Hei, you’re with me; we’re going to go investigate these alleged Yamataians. Mondadori-Semeai, and Mavenbolt-Semeai, you’re to board the Cercatore della Verità, investigate further, and get them to stop shooting at us. Also, do not kill any Yamataian or Elysian survivor unless absolutely necessary. That’s an order.”
With that said, the XO dove for the barely-illuminated ground below, eager to solve the mystery of the Verità’s disappearance - and, more importantly, find out why there were Yamataians so far away from home…
XSS Foabckskcja
Bridge Compartment
The volumetric display - or one of them, at least - in front of the Advanced-Type Mishhuvurthyar named Fviakcjwncn flickered back to life to reveal another (and visibly out-of-breath) Advanced-Type whose flesh was somewhere between brown and green in coloration. “THE… THE CLOAK IS… THE CLOAK IS BACK ONLINE, SIR!” he exclaimed, clearly torn between the pride he felt at his accomplishment and the fear he felt over the chewing-out he was about to receive for not keeping the cloak operational in the first place. “IT WAS DIFFICULT, BUT I-NO, WE MANAG-”
“THAT WILL BE ALL, CHACIALVGX!” barked Fviakcjwncn, once again cutting his subordinate off mid-word with an angry slash of the tentacle as he closed the channel. “ANYWAYS. HELM, GET TACTICAL A CLEAR LINE OF SIGHT TO THE ENEMY. MAXIMUM SPEED.”
“Aye, Commander!” chirped the chocolate-colored - and likely over-caffeinated - Nekovalkyrja manning the Pillager-class Light Cruiser’s helm station.
“Won’t that overwhelm the cloak, my love?” said the ship’s grey-skinned and teal-eyed executive officer, Ecunugi Zanete. “I know that you’re eager to destroy the intruders so that you and I can return to our quarters and ravish each other senseless, but isn’t it better to display a bit of caution in this instance? We don’t know how heavily armed the ship is, after a-oooh~!”
Zanete found her reply abruptly cut off by a decidedly unprofessional moan as one of her lover’s tentacles gave her uniform-clad posterior a healthy squeeze. “YOU’RE RIGHT, I WILL BE RAVISHING YOU ONCE THE ELYSIAN SHIP HAS BEEN DESTROYED,” said Fviakcjwncn, “AND AT THIS POINT, IT DOESN’T MATTER IF THEY DETECT US. THEY CAN’T RUN, THEY CAN’T HIDE, AND THEY CAN’T CALL FOR HELP.”
“I see your point, Commander…” replied the XO with a semi-serious pout, “…but remember: no fondling me in public!”
“SORRY, DEAR…”
ECS Panopteles
Bridge
“Permission granted, He-” replied Ramiel almost immediately after Asellio, only to be interrupted by the fwshh of the bridge door opening to admit a visibly out-of-breath Euanthe, who’d clearly sprinted her way over from Engineering. “S-S-S-Sorry… I’m… I’m…” - the cobalt-haired Caelisolan paused to inhale a long, shaky breath of air - “…I’m late, Lo-Lokha-” she began as she half-slid, half-staggered, and half-stumbled into her seat - only to be interrupted by the Scaevola, who bolted upright at his station as a blip, no, the blip reappeared on his sensor readout. “Lokhagi! The signature’s back - even fainter than before, but it’s moving toward us!”
XSS Foabckskcja
Bridge Compartment
“Commander, we’ve cleared the planet~~!” exclaimed Geousune Erna, the aforementioned brown-skinned Nekovalkyrja responsible for piloting the Foabckskcja.
Were he capable of such things, Fviakcjwncn would have smiled; as his kind lacked the appropriate muscles (and facial features, for that matter), he instead settled for a throaty - and definitely content - chuckle. “HU HU HU. TACTICAL, LOCK CANNON ON TARGET!”
“LOCKING CANNON ON TARGET!” chortled Voskchwlck, the red and orange-hued Advanced-Type responsible for the light cruiser’s admittedly modest armament.
“FIRE!” bellowed Fviakcjwncn.
ECS Panopteles
Bridge
“HARD TO STARBOAR-” shouted Ramiel - but even as the words left his lips, he knew he was too late.
XSS Foabckskcja
Bridge Compartment
With a bumped, ridged, and decidedly thick tentacle, Voskchwlck stabbed the glowing red FIRE button on his console - and with the faint electronic shriek of an overworked power distribution system being stretched to its very limits and a cloaking system shorting out yet again (much to the dismay of Chacialvgx), the ship’s “Furious”-type Main Cannon discharged its lethal payload of four aetheric pulses at the Panopteles. Each was capable of piercing clean through the armor of a pre-refit Plumeria-class gunship, each traveled at the speed of light, and at such a close range (less then 200,000 kilometers) there simply wasn’t time for Icarus to react before the pulses closed the gap and quite literally vaporized the exploration vessel; despite this, however, he’d begun to react - and that was what ultimately saved the Panopteles from immediate destruction.
ECS Panopteles
The damage was, to put it mildly, severe. Consoles throughout the ship (including Euanthe’s on the bridge and numerous ones in engineering) exploded as the first two pulses slammed into the reinforced forward shield and battered it into nonexistence in less then a millisecond, causing a gargantuan power surge to back-flow into the ship’s electrical system; although circuit breakers and emergency capacitors did their best to stop the deadly cascade, the energy moved too fast and was too much for them to function properly - thus causing the ship’s aether reactor to go into emergency shutdown with an electronic wail and a cascade of sparks as the surges tripped its safety circuitry and very nearly caused it to overload right then and there. Nor did the damage end there, either, because it was then that other two pulses from the Foabckskcja’s main gun slammed into the Panopteles’ portside wing and blasted it clean off in a titanic explosion - aided seconds later by the detonations of the wing’s twelve aetheric warheads - that sent shockwaves through the entirety of the ninety-meter-long hull, caused numerous leaks in the ship’s vital circulatory system, and vaporized the poor Seraph that had been performing extravehicular repair work.
Medical Bay
Faustina had just started to conduct Alexia’s physical when the overhead light panels exploded in a shower of sparks, the floor slammed into the two Caelisolans with the force (and gentleness) of a freight train, and the artificial gravity system gave up on clinging to life. Then perhaps the most terrifying noise of all could be heard in the pitch-black room: the high-pitched whistle of escaping air; although the emergency lights kicked in after a few moments, they did little to help the situation - and, in fact, arguably made it worse by revealing that Faustina (who now sported a nasty gash on the side of her head) had been knocked unconscious. Time was running out - especially for the naked form of Alexia, who was already starting to feel the chilly effects of the room’s rapidly depleting oxygen levels…
Engineering
Like the ship’s medical bay, nearly every screen and light fixture had exploded in a shower of sparks, the floor had punched the Patrician and two Seraphs with the force of a freight train, and the artificial gravity had ceased to function; unlike the ship’s medical bay, however, the engineering compartment then became extremely hot as the air filled with vaporized coolant, sparks, smoke, more sparks, and the sound of the klaxon indicating an imminent reactor meltdown, as the massive surge of power that had traveled through the Panopteles’ veins had evidently fried all but one of the pumps needed to circulate the coolant that ran through the ship’s organic systems - which included its still very, very, very, very hot aether reactor. After a few moments, the room became bathed in scarlet-hued light as what remained of the ship’s automated systems switched over to battery-powered backups; after another moment, the same automated systems breathed life back into the handful of displays that had survived the aforementioned power surge - which revealed that the aforementioned reactor had about five minutes of life left before it catastrophically self-destructed, the pressure in the circulatory system was rapidly dropping, the left wing was missing, there was an atmospheric leak in the ship’s medical bay, and so on.
Gauis, in what was probably the understatement of the year, had his work cut out for him.
Bridge
Like the ship’s medical bay and engineering room, the bridge was a wreck, with exploded displays and lights, a floor that had abruptly turned violent, and an absence of artificial gravity; unlike the other two compartments, however, that was the extent of damage… for the time being. “Tactical, return fire! Mnemosyne, damage report!” barked Ramiel as he picked himself up off of the ground, having been thrown from his chair when the third and forth pulses struck; when silence answered him, he let out a sigh, said “Miss Belliciu…” - only to cut himself off as he saw the birb floating motionless above the floor, her once-pretty face partially mangled by the glass shards that had blasted into her face when her console had exploded. “Helm, get us out of here once Tactical’s exhausted the capacitors; Mister Gallo, get me a damage report. I want to know how badly that hurt us.”
With a groan - likely due to his left arm, which was hanging at a very incorrect angle - Scaevola pulled himself back up to his console and began entering commands into it as Ramiel set about tending to Euanthe’s wounds with a medical kit someone (probably Taharial or one of the logistics birbs; Faustina didn’t seem like the kind to put forth extra effort) had strapped to the back of the Captain’s chair. “Hrk… oh, that’s not good… where do I even begin… escape pod launchers are inoperative, the reactor is melting down, the forward shield emitters are burnt out, our left wing is gone, some painkillers would be nice, there’s an atmosphere leak in the medical bay, rest in piece my experiments, internal and external communications are fried, Mnemosyne is out cold…”
The Lokhagi felt his heart sink as he continued treating the grisly mess that was the right half of Euanthe’s face, as the effective lack of functioning escape pods meant that they’d have to fight their way out in a crippled vessel against an undamaged foe. He also knew that he’d royally fucked up - but there would be plenty of time for self-recrimination later, be it in a drifting hulk of a ship or in the pits of Hell itself….
“Speech by Lucilla Mondadori.”
“Speech by Ramiel Aemilia.”
“Speech by Scaevola Gallo.”
“Speech by Euanthe Bellicius.”
“Speech by Konichi Kiyo.”
“Speech by Fviakcjwncn.”
“Speech by Chacialvgx.”
“Speech by Zanete.”
“Speech by Erna.”
“Speech by Voskchwlck.”
The resident scientist had been clinging onto Tahariel as they defended into the atmosphere, getting ready to try to slow down and land. What Emiko was certainly not expecting however- was for the away team to be immediately targeted by the ship they were attempting to check up on! She yelled as the laser fire forced the away team to scatter, the Hikael class Elysian more or less flailing around as she plummeted to the planet. "What in the void is happening here?" her calm, monotone voice came over the radio, followed by a contrasting terrified yelp as a blast came a little too close to comfort. She glanced towards Kiyo, nodding at her commands, and attempting to stay close... "Hai Konishi-Chui!"
The Elysian tried to move along with Kiyo, Arcturus and Chasan, but evidently overdid it on the acceleration front. The Scientist wasn't very used to the Hikael's controls evidently... which was understandable considering she had only just gotten into one for the first time. She screeched as she lurched foward towards the ground, flailing around as she unceremoniously lawn darted into the battle field. Emiko groaned out as she layed on the ground, trying to pick herself up... Her armor had absorbed most of the crash, but she was beginning to feel the telltale burn of a couple bruises forming... She really wished she had a Mindy...
Icarus nodded at the approval of his suggestion, glad to have a captain who knew when to trust subordinates for once. As he moved to pull them away from the planet and maintain firing distance the space outside lit up along with every warning sound imaginable while the captain yelled something. Running on pure instinct, the Raven winged Icarus had reached the same directional conclusion and threw everything he could into the port thrusters but it was too late, the beam tore the ship apart and left more than just his pride in tatters.
Looking around briefly to confirm who was still awake he thanked the stars the captain was at least still concious enough to give orders. As for "getting out of there" the engines were shot to hell and there was little chance of escape. "Captain, I... We, have very little chance to escape unless we can disable them. It might be best to make for the planet, or make peace and try to take these bastards down with us." Icarus' usually calm demeanour had been replaced with anger, almost hatred for such a cowardly attack, whoever they were he would haunt them for eternity should he die today.
Medical
As the ship played ping-pong with herself and her comrade, Alexia quickly found the world spinning as she drifted around with no gravity. The room grew cold and the medic seemed to have taken a worse beating than the Raven sister, leaping or more accurately floating, into action, Alexia moved to intercept the limp body before pushing off a wall towards the door to the hall. "This door better still be working, I ain't going out by depressurisation!"
Taharial groaned as the group was shot at, with the thought of, if I had a shot for each first mission I was on and got shot at, she would have 4 shots. That was more tempting than the mission right now. She was a little more focused on Emiko than the others at the moment as she was more at risk with how she was acting. She felt a little bad as she didn't want to mother them, but could tell they were struggling. She flew close to them but not too close as to be obvious as they head towards the ship and landed near the girl "Hey Emiko, do you need another hand." She others her hand to the woman as she looked around, "we better get a move on and see what is going on, on that ship."
ECS Panopteles
Samandriel felt the ship shake as he walked through the bridge and suddenly his face met the ground "Oh damn, what is going on!?" He looked up to see everyone already in the bridge "S-Sorry, I was getting my medical check up." He quickly moved to his seat more a swimming with the gravity gone, and looked over the weaponry and raised an eyebrow as he started working, things were flashing red and some weapons weapons were reading normal but others no information was being shown "I can't tell what weapons are okay to fire, but I can safely return fire with what I can." He shook his head as he tapped at the screen as he started up the guns he knew were safe to return fire with as he wrote a message to engineering.
Code:
Engineering,
I would like to know what weapons can be used, the screens aren't sending me the information,
other things take priority but a small message warning me if any are actually damage,
would be good.
Zarall
As the XSS Foabckskcja attacked his ship, Lightbringer had the advantage and the disadvantage of being outside. The good news was that he wasn't tumbling wildly and on fire. The bad news is that he didn't have a nice solid hull between himself and oncoming fire. He was many things, but a coward wasn't one of them. He leaped into action, "On me! We are going to strafe the attacker and draw their attention. If that doesn't work, we'll board them and make ourselves known. We need to give Panopteles time to fight back." He explained as Kisnarna, his faithful servant, formed up on his side for the attack run.
Gaius groaned as the Panopteles's Mnemosyne complained at him about the many issues it had going on - the jump hurt a lot, the disconnected thruster was tingly like a sleeping limb, something was watching her, the star was too far away and it was cold, and many more trifling vices. Half-buried in conduits, the Patrician man was appeasing the vessel's spirit while fixing the systems, carrying conversation and gently scolding her.
"Yeah yeah, keep runnin' that mouth and I'll - wait, what do you mean we're being watched?"
No sooner was the question loosed than its answer came in a shriek of light and death as the Mishhuvurthyar vessel's alpha strike tore the Panopteles open at the wing, sending the Mnemosyne into a panic as more conventional alarms quickly blared through the corridor. The biotechnician quickly scrambled to remove himself from the wall, already scampering back to the Engineering room by the time the inbound messages came in. He shielded his face with a shout as he opened the door, searing-hot air catching the man by surprise as he forced himself in, sealing his sphincters to mute the deafening klaxon. First, a situation report.
"Our vessel's backup power is already taxed," the telepathic engineer's voice manifested directly into Scaevola and Ramiel's minds. "I'll do what I can to resuscitate her." He considered adding more - but prudence was the necessity here, and worrying about "maybe"s would only delay salvation.
The five remaining Seraphs made for Engineering with haste, puppeteered by telepathic orders.
Athenais II - Atmosphere
Arcturus's flight through the clouds turned aggressive and bright as the incoming fire of a Beam Eye started targeting the armored infantry team. Thankfully for the team, this seemed to distract the struggling weapon system at least half of the time, making it much easier for them to focus on their descent and briefing. Once they'd managed to get clear of the Eye's arc of fire (even if just for a moment), the Patrician quickly returned to escorting his superior officer, weapon now unslung but still at-ease.
"Yes, Chui. From our descent, it seems that the main bulk of Yamatain forces is near the Cercatore della Verità's stern." Arcturus's voice called out, the Patrician quickly orbiting Kiyo as she considered her options. "It seems they are planning to mount an assault with heavier weaponry soon, using the body of the vessel as cover from the Beam Eye. I advise that we interrupt them."
ECS Panopteles
Ship's Heart
Having donned a heat-and-chemical-resistant halfsuit, Gaius was all but running around through the interior of the room with Seraphs tailing behind him, cutting off circulation to the severed wing among many of the other parts of the vessel. With the bleeding stemmed, he still had to deal with the glowing, rattling, and very hot elephant in the room.
"Mnemosyne, initiate - oh," Gaius's command fell on a deaf mind, the vessel's personality still out of order from the power surge. He looked to the console, and responded to Samandriel's request before he resumed work:
Engineering to Bridge, RE: Weapon Status
Functioning Weapons: Battle Cannon B (Ventral Mount) Phasic Missile in tube 23 (Right wing, near wingtip)
Athenais System
Athenais II
Wreck of the Cercatore della Verità - Starboard Side
As they descended, the armored forms of Lucilla and Arcturus were greeted by a welcoming committee of five Plebeians located in a crudely-constructed bunker built into the Verità’s split-open side; each was clad in what appeared to be the forerunner to the venerable Sestina Infantry Combat Armor; and each unleashed a veritable hailstorm of cobalt-colored projectiles (with a rifle that looked like it belonged in a museum) at the two engineering birbs - only to watch as the Anthedon-clad Arcturus and the Tethys-clad Lucilla shrugged off the fusillade with little more then scratched paint in the case of the latter. One of the Plebeians swiftly readied and fired a RPG at Lucilla as another yeeted a softball-sized grenade (with a checkered surface and a red band around its midsection) at Arcturus; when both were harmlessly intercepted mid-air by the Beam Eyes on Lucilla’s Tethys, however, the five Elysian defenders looked at each other… and hastily retreated back into the corridors of the Cercatore della Verità.
“Well, damn…” said Lucilla as she turned her armored form to look at that of Arcturus’. “An’ I was gonna tell ‘em that we’re here about their car’s extended warranty. Anyways…” - a pause as she gestured towards the ominously dark interior of the Verità - “…aftuh you?”
Wreck of the Cercatore della Verità - Aft
Unlike the Elysian’s welcoming committee, the half-dozen Yamataian greeters lacked the benefits of cover or a readily-available hiding place - thus when Kiyo, Taharial, and Emiko had made their appearance (or, in the latter’s case, lost a decidedly physical argument with the ground), they made a beeline for the trees and rapidly concealed themselves from visual sight; upon realizing that two of the angel-shaped (and thus obviously Elysian) entities were standing out in the open, however, the Nekovalkyrja emerged from behind trees and bushes and began to lay into the duo with everything they had: pulse rifles, phased pulse rifles, grenades, and even a couple of rocket-propelled grenades.
Kiyo’s response, delivered via her armor’s loudspeakers as she floated roughly a hundred meters off ofbthe ground, was immediate - “Cease fire, you buffoons! I am Chui Konishi Kiyo, and w-” - and promptly cut off as the Nekovalkyrja soldiers shifted their fire to her, apparently believing her accent-less Yamatai-go to be some kind of trick. “Idiots,” scowled the Mini-Neko over the Away Team’s radio frequency as she dodged and weaved her way through the air in order to dodge the invisible (to the naked eye, at least) streams of fire being shot in her direction. “Chasan-Hei, you have my permission to non-lethally disable these fools in whatever way you see fit. As before, make sure to not kill any of them, and leave at least one conscious, as I will be interrogating them later. Amaterasu-Shoi, you’re to stay by me while I subdue any Nekovalkyrja that escape Chasan-Hei’s notice - your blatant lack of skill with the Hikael power armor makes me question whether or not you’re even capable of killing an unarmored opponent without being injured or killed in the process.”
ECS Panopteles
Medical Bay
The good news was that the door was in fact working, for it slid open with that trademark fwshh to reveal the scarlet-emergency-light-illuminated wardroom next door. The bad news, however, was that the emergency lights weren’t the only thing illuminating the wardroom: it was also being lit up by the humongous fires raging within it, thanks to the ceiling-mounted Battle Cannon plasma conduit that had ruptured - likely due to the earlier electric surge overloading one too many of the conduit’s magnetic interlocks - and spilled its white-hot contents all over the compartment. There was, of course, the Medical Bay’s other door, which lead to one of the Panopteles’ two bathrooms - but the flashing red light on the panel next to the door indicated that the room beyond had lost all atmospheric pressure, and it was anyone’s guess as to whether or not the damage had compromised the armory’s atmospheric integrity. Alexia was thus stuck between a rock and a hard place: carry on through the scorching fire and flames of the wardroom to relatively guaranteed safety - or briefly travel through the frigid void to non-guaranteed safety.
Engineering
Like the wardroom, the temperature in the ship’s engineering space was increasingly at an exponential rate; unlike the ship’s wardroom, however, the increase wasn’t due to a fire - rather, it was due to the ship’s aether reactor, whose cladding was beginning to glow cherry-red thanks to a lack of coolant to counteract the thermal effects of the raging, physics-defying reaction within. Though the solution was simple on paper - shut down the reaction, or re-engage one of the reactor’s three coolant pumps - in practice neither solution was doable: the former was impossible due to the earlier electrical surge having shorted out the connections between the ship’s computers and the reactor’s reaction termination systems, while the latter was impossible due to the control circuitry of all three pumps having been quite literally reduced to charred dust by the same never-to-sufficiently-be-damned power surge.
It soon became evident to Gaius that he had a little over three minutes to decide between two options: either eject the core, and leave the Panopteles without any source of electrical power - or somehow perform the mother of all engineering miracles…
Bridge
“Best make your peace, then, Mister Asellio, because we’re not going down without a fight,” replied Ramiel to Icarus as the Patrician finished disinfecting,
bandaging, and patching up the facial features of a mercifully unconscious Euanthe Bellicius; once done, he - without anywhere to put the engineering birb - got up with a wince (apparently, he’d broken a rib or three when he was thrown about earlier) and stumbled back into his all-too-comfy chair. “And noted, Tactical,” he continued. “Helm, if possible keep our bow pointed at the enemy while keeping us away from their bow. Mister Gallo, how long do we have?”
“Nine out of ten doctors s-I mean, of the reactor sensors say that we have a little over three minutes left, sir,” responded the scientist, “while the tenth says we have negative twenty minutes left. I don’t feel quite dead yet - though my arm is greatly contributing to that - so it’s probably wrong. Never thought I’d die a virgin…”
Ramiel - who’d began extracting himself from his chair in order to fetch Scaevola his painkillers - paused mid-motion, his expression the textbook definition of disbelief. “Really.”
“…Noted,” said the Lokhagi after an awkward moment of silence, his expression still the textbook definition of disbelief. And noted, Semeai, he finally replied - telepathically, of course - to Gaius. I won’t interrupt your work further, but please hurry. As your instruments have probably indicated, time is of the essence. With that done, he fished a vial of painkillers from the medical kit on the back of his chair, handed them to Gallo - earning a heartfelt “Thank you” from the Semeai - and, with not much else to do, sat back down and stared out at the cosmos that lay outside the bridge’s excessively oversized forward viewport, wondering if they were going to survive - or if he was going to be meeting his dearly departed family within the next few minutes.
XSS Foabckskcja
Bridge Compartment
“DIRECT HIT!” crowed Voskchwlck, visibly gleaming with pride as he surveyed the results of his button-press - only to wince as the ship’s captain, Fviakcjwncn, smacked him upside the head with one of his thicker tentacles and psionically roared, “THEY’RE NOT DEAD, YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL! I WANTED THEM DESTROYED!”
“Temper, temper, darling,” half-chided and half-joked the ship’s second-in-command, one Ecunugi Zanete, as she lovingly caressed her lover’s flesh-and-chitin flank. “If you think about it, our gunner’s less-then-stellar accuracy is a blessing in disguise: with the Elysian ship disabled, we can board them, passionately rape their crew until they beg for death, and ship them off to our glorious Mistress for… whatever she does with prisone-”
“I WOULDN’T RECOMMEND THAT,” psionically interjected Master Elite Dufiqncbfksk, the blue-and-grey Advanced-Type manning the Foabckskcja’s sensors, “AS THE ELYSIAN SHIP’S REACTOR IS MINUTES AWAY FROM GOING CRITICAL. ALSO, THERE ARE TWO ELYSIAN POWER ARMORS APPROACHING US FROM BELOW.”
“I SEE, said Fviakcjwncn. “HELM, BRING US ABOUT AND GET US AWAY FROM THE ELYSIAN SHIP AT 0.100c. VOSKCKWLCK, TAR-ACTUALLY NO, YOU’LL PROBABLY MISS. ZANETE, DEAR, LAUNCH BATTLEPOD WING TWO. WITH HOW BAD THEIR SIMULATOR SCORES WERE, THEY CLEARLY NEED PRACTICE.”
“Aye, Commander~!” chirped Elite Geousune Erna, the entirely-too-upbeat Neko in charge of piloting the Pillager-class Light Cruiser.
“Of course, my love,” replied Zanete, who slide into her seat adjacent to Erna and began to issue commands to the Foabckskcja’s complement of small craft.
With his orders in the process of being implemented, Fviakcjwncn returned his command nest in the center of the dark room and began thinking about just how he would ravish Zanete’s amply curvaceous form once the Elysian ship had explodified itself - only to abruptly find his pleasantly erotic thoughts interrupted by the shrill chime of someone trying to contact him through the ship’s intercom system. “WHAT?!?” he snarled, clearly irate.
The Mishhu on the other end, the brown-and-green Advanced-Type named Chacialvgx - who had the (mis)fortune of being the ship’s chief engineer - quivered at the sheer venom in his superior’s voice. “MY… I’M SORRY MY LORD, BUT THE CLOAK IS OFFLINE AGAIN… AND THIS TIME WE’LL HAVE TO TAKE THE SHIELD OFFLINE TO REPAIR IT.”
The Foabckskcja’s commander let out an explosive sigh of annoyance then paused for a moment, as he wasn’t entirely sure if the Elysian ship’s weapon systems had been disabled; after a moment, however, he mentally shrugged, as the fact that the Elysian ship’s reactor was in the process of melting down surely meant that they a) lacked the power to fire any of their weapons and b) had more important things to worry about. “VERY WELL, CHACIALVGX, BUT MAKE IT QUICK - SHOULD THE ELYSIAN SHIP SOMEHOW DAMAGE US, I WILL PERSONALLY SKIN YOU ALIVE.”
With a shaky nod, Chacialvgx saluted and closed the channel.
Athenais II - Low Orbit
Four Hota-class Battlepods swarmed out of the Foabckskcja’s aft hangar bay like a group of angry bees and, once clear of their mothership, immediately began to unload their rapid-fire aether cannons in the direction of Benhisel and Teshiel; fortunately for the two Elysians, however, none of the aether cannon’s light anti-mecha shots hit their targets due to the ridiculously short range and the sheer inexperience (perhaps even incompetence) of the brainslaves responsible for piloting the battlepods.
“Speech by Lucilla Mondadori.”
“Speech by Ramiel Aemilia.”
“Speech by Scaevola Gallo.”
“Speech by Konichi Kiyo.”
“Speech by Fviakcjwncn.”
“Speech by Chacialvgx.”
“Speech by Zanete.”
“Speech by Erna.”
“Speech by Voskchwlck.”
“Speech by Dufiqncbfksk.”
Benhisel and Teshiel wove and dodged the fire from the battlepods in their powered armor as they closed distance. Benhisel ignited a massive blazing sword of Aether Light. "Praise the LORD, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle!" With that battlecry, he reached melee range moving quickly between the battlepods and forcing them to try and engage him first. Teshiel followed guns blazing to follow up on the oppertunities that Benhisel created.
The raven winged Elysian had fully locked in at this point, eyes darted between her two options and the unconscious crewmember currently in her arms, going through a vacuum would kill her since she wasn't able to exhale the air from her lungs... And burns would suck but were far more survivable.
Alexia continued onwards into the wardroom, navigating by the dancing reds, oranges, and occasional strange other colours as various materials burned and evaporated around her, the pilot did what she could to shield her companion through the flames and debris, the determination etched into her face unwavering as she shoved through the wreckage of their last mealtime and all the furniture that came with it towards the exit across the room. All the while scanning for any sign of the fire blankets or other suppression tools that may have been thrown from the galley into the wardroom in the commotion, anything to protect themselves better would be nice.
"If you can here me in there doc, I think I'll need another checkup if we get outa this." Alexia spluttered, trying to avoid inhaling too much smoke with mixed success.
Bridge
Icarus' facial features twisted in an almost abnormal fashion as the pilot's mouth split into a sadistic grin, well if all the cards were being laid on the table and this was to be their reconning then why bother holding out on whoever shot at them, as long as he drew breath the Raven winged brother would do everything in his power and with all his physical being to see they were utterly obliterated, smashed to pieces, and ground into the dirt beneath his boots.
"Yes Captain! Maintaining engagement distance and repositioning the bow." The cautious man who had setup limiters and advised against going full throttle had been almost entirely replaced, Icarus swung the ship around to point towards the source of their misery with as much speed as he could muster without tearing it in half port to starboard. The engines groaned in protest and several of the damaged and old manoeuvring thrusters spluttered in disbelief at how much power he was attempting the force through them to achieve his orders.
Wreck of the Cercatore della Verità - Aft
Taharial nodded to Konichi Kiyo as she raised up a hand is a peaceful manner, "Aye Ma'am, but I am going to have to invoke some names that these people may know." She smirked as she stepped out and saw aim their guns at her, she was glad for the armour that she was wearing as she then called out in Yamataigo trying to be calm as she held her gun low "I am Taharial Chasen, I have worked with the YSS Eucharis!" She paused for a moment as it seemed the name gave paused "I am a medical officer, we are here to help not attack!" It seemed to have worked until someone decided to take a lucky shot "Yeah and I am the empress of Nepleslia!" came the shout in retaliation. With this Taharial set her weapon down and looked at the others "well cover me, I have a plan." She could tell that these weapons were doing less than minimal damage to her as she took of the backpack and walked towards the group. some stopped shooting, others carried on and a couple ran back away from where she was.
She had stopped in throwing distance (with help from the suit) and threw the backpack towards them, causing some to scatter, she faced the one that yelled at her "have a look in there, your highness." The person paused and crawled to the backpack after a few moments "Damn!" They looked at Taharial and back to everyone else as they raised up the supplies that Taharial brought. But their eyes widened as some of the people that ran from Taharial came back with with RPGs, the person started shouting "wait wait... wait damn it!!" The group didn't listen as they fired at Taharial. She felt the shock of the rockets, as it pushed her back, then another and another, she fell to one knee as she tried to regain her footing and senses.
Bridge
Samandriel got the message from engineering with a smile as he started to check the weapons "We have a battle cannon and Phasic Missile ready to fire, on your command." He had made sure that aiming was on point, since the away team was down there and he knew that any failure in were he was aiming meant that he could hit the team or at least endanger them.
Athenais System
Athenais II
Wreck of the Cercatore della Verità - Aft
Emiko remained on the ground for just a moment, the Elysian only letting out a helpless groan through the comms as she began to feel several bruises caused by her Hikael's hefty impact with the floor. The ground-kisser eventually began to get back on her feet, only to instinctively duck back down, yelping to herself as the opposing nekovalkrja began to lay down fire on them. It was only after making a bit of a fool out of herself that she realized how weak the weapons were, and that her shields could more or less resist the fire. Emiko made her way back to Kiyo, ducking behind the comically much smaller Chui. "Hai, Konishi-Chui!" She aknowledged, the smol birb fiddling with her Hikael's HUD. "Query- does the Hikael possess any stun weaponry, preferably something that wont cause injuries?" She tried to ask Mnemosyne- before facepalming as she was given no response, remembering they werent exactly connected to the panopteles due to the energy field surrounding the planet. Instead, she pulled up the Hikaels user manual, hoping Kiyo wasnt somehow patched into her HUD to berate her further.. how embarrassing
Athenais II Surface
Corpse of the Cercatore della Verita's Starboard Side
Arcturus holstered his long rifle as the defending Elysians retreated to the depths of their dying vessel, instead drawing a saber in his offhand and a hefty-looking handgun to support it. His armor's external lights clicked on before he responded to his companion.
"I'm expecting several of them to be setting up ambushes already. Their command staff are almost certainly sheltering within the bridge, and it's our best target for disabling that Beam Eye. Second best location is the heart, and it should be less heavily defended." The Patrician hesitated, dropping elevation and hovering, just briefly, outside the entrances. "...I'm unfamiliar with the Della Verita's design, and I can't commune with her directly. We'll take the first option we see."
Weapons in hand, the soldier marched into the broken vessel, lights sweeping the darkness aside wherever he looked.
In the event that Lucilla forgot any close-range weaponry, Arcturus will give her his pistol if she were to ask for it.
Space ECS Panopteles
Gaius's face was quickly marred by frustration as the supercritical power source flooded his room with unbearable heat, the gauges and displays flickering as they attempted to give a readout on the vessel's failing systems. All he could do now was buy time - three minutes at best. More realistically, it'd be two and fourty-five to make sure the Panopteles is clear of the blast wave when the reactor's scalar shield finally fails, collapsing the energy onto an ultradense piece of matter before bouncing outward, making a supernova-like wave of devastating energy...
"Ramiel. Get us as close to the hostile vessel as soon as you can," the telepathic message called to the captain directly - Gaius can apologize for the breach in conduct later. "Should our weapons fail, we'll eject the reactor directly towards them." As Gaius thought, he typed - every Bridge console was given a small countdown on its display, noting the time before the reactor would be ejected. In the next two minutes, Gaius donned a helmet, overrode safety mechanisms, and ensured that the virtually uncontrollable energy from the Aether Reactor was being pumped towards the only two things that mattered anymore - the engines, and the battle cannon. This sort of strain would melt the conduits in less than five minutes.
And then he waited. There was little else he could do until it was time for the next action - disconnecting and ejecting the reactor out of the Panoptoles's dorsal hull would take ten seconds. Five more to clear the blast radius if they didn't want to push the poor thing even closer to death.
Athenais System
Athenais II
Wreck of the Cercatore della Verità - Surrounding Forests
As the Nekovalkyrja continued to dump LAT after LAT into Taharial's Mindy - whose Zesuaium coating was thankfully enough to defeat the jets of molten metal produced by each LAT's warhead - Kiyo landed in front of the ship's medic, barking "Enough!" and deploying all four of her Sylph's backpack drones as she aimed her palm-mounted pulse projectors at the nearest two Nekos. "Surrender and lay down your weapons, or by the Empress I will stun you all and carry you back to the YSS Panopteles myself!"
A hand was raised by one of the Nekovalkrja at the front of the seemingly archaic nekovalkrja assault group, balling into a fist. A rather firm voice echoed out- "CEASE FIRE," with the figure beginning to approach the Sylph-clad Kiyo, with an old GP12 Phased Pulse Rifle still in hand. The first officers power armor would recognize the rank displayed on the Neko's rather dirtied Type-22 uniform as Joto Heisho, making her most likely the one leading the attack against the Cercatore della Verità. The Neko's dark purple hair was tied up with what looked to be a random, non-descript rubber band, which barely kept it flowing everywhere. It wasnt particularly well kept either, and seemed to have been cut in some areas by a sharp object, likely a knife, to prevent it from growing too long. Her cream colored skin was caked in some mud and a little dried blood, her eyes staring into the Sylphs visor with intent.
"Its hard to believe you are what you claim- given how you are accompanied by the enemy." She squinted at the armor- which the Heisho didnt seem to recognize. "We have you heavily outnumbered, so I highly recommend you surrender your ass and put down your weapons- or we will not hesitate in putting lasers through your bird brains!" The neko barked out, gritting her teeth. She knew they were outmatched, and she didnt particularly know how effective their weapons truly were against the attackers. The neko could only hope that her threat deterred what she thought were likely ECN officers from continuing their rather effective attack.
"Bird brains? I'm an NH-29M Miniature Nekovalkyrja, you-wait..." began an audibly enraged Kiyo, only for her icy tone to trail off as she realized what had been nagging at her since first catching sight of the Cercatore: the Neko's weapons, their uniforms, the Elysian ship... all were from two decades ago. Which simply didn't make any sense, unless...
"Heisho, what year is it," said the Chui as she lowered her Slyph's hands to plant them on its armored hips, "and how many years has it been since you crash-landed on this planet?"
The Joto Heisho furrowed her brow in both frustration and annoyance before answering. "It is currently YE 28, we have been stranded here for nearly six years." She sighed, before letting out a wry chuckle, the Neko bringing her GP-12 up to aim directly at the Mini-Chui. "The incompetency of you Elysians never ceases to amaze me, how you fail at something as simple as telling the time is incredible to me."
"Heisho," replied Kiyo with a voice that was suddenly a lot more understanding, "the current year isn't YE 28. It's YE 46. As I'm sure Amaterasu-Shoi..." - a pause as the Mini-Neko gestured to the Hikael-plated Plebeian next to her - "can probably verify, the tachyon field surrounding this planet must have somehow slowed down the passage of time. The war you've fighting ended twenty years ago, in YE 25, and we won. We defeated the Elysians, and effectively turned them into a vassal state of our Star Empire."
With that, the Chui let her voice fall silent in order to judge the reaction of the Heisho in front of her.
". . .Nandayo?" The Joto-Heisho's eyes widened a little momentarily, her eyes darting between the small Sylph armor and the much taller Hikael- hilariously standing behind the smol Mini-Nekovalkrja. While her brain continued to doubt at and poke holes into Kiyo's story, it did not seem entirely unfeasable- especially given how the new arrivals had descended from the heavens in advanced armor technology they had never even seen before.
She shook away her doubts as she gripped her rifle tighter, keeping it aimed directly at the First Officer. The Neko gritted her teeth as she began to hear shocked whispers erupting from behind, as the other nekovalkrja accompaning her began to discuss amongst themselves. "We will most certainly need clear proof, you cannot simply claim that so many years have passed without proving it."
Emiko Amaterasu glanced down to Kiyo, nodding along to her statement, expecting some more direct orders from the XO given the reaction of the archaic Nekovalkrja.
The Mini-Neko spent a moment pondering her next move, then finally arrived at the only conclusion that was really viable. She didn't like it in the slightest - but couldn't think of any other way to convince the Nekovalkyrja of her superiority. "Do I have your word as a soldier of the Empire that you will not shoot me if I emerge from my armor?"
The Heisho hesitated at the offer, her rifle still trained on the Sylph's head. It took her a moment to lower it and step backwards, gritting her teeth as she accepted the offer. If anything, it could play into their advantage if the unknown soldier did end up being an Elysian... "Fine. You have my word."
"Very well, then," replied Kiyo; after a moment, the chest hatch on her Sylph opened up with a faint hiss - and then the twenty-centimeter-tall form of the ECS Panopteles' First Officer floated out, her cross expression, spotless white-chested Type 42 Duty Uniform, and Chui rank markings clearly visible to the nightvision-capable Nekovalkyrja. "Now do you believe that I serve the Star of Yamatai, Jotô Heisho? You should consider yourself quite lucky that I'm willing to overlook the rather egregious friendly-fire incident you just committed."
The nekovalkrja murmurring flared up once more as the rest of the assault team, which had presumably not seen a new neko in several years, began to discuss the development amongst themselves. The Heisho's eyes widened as she lowered her weapon, finally at least believing the first officers story... somewhat. "Apologies... Chui. We were not... expecting you."
Wreck of the Cercatore della Verità - Starboard Side
“Fine bah me, replied Lucilla, switching her Tethys’ external lighting on as she raised her Deus Atromos to the ready; after a moment, she followed Arcturus into what had clearly once been a crew bedroom, with its bunks (that had been torn from the wall and turned into bullet-ridden pieces of cover) and, more ominously, wall-mounted metal rings, clearly for attaching the chains or collars of slaves to. The duo then passed through the room’s only other exit - a doorway whose door was missing in action - leading into the dark hallway beyond - and then, well… the world exploded.
And promptly returned to normal as the doorway-mounted IED that Arcturus had triggered barely even damanged his shields, much to the horror of the young Plebeian - clearly illuminated by the Anthedon’s lights as the Patrician looked around - peaking his head above a bruised and battered table lain on its side at one end of the hallway. “S-S-Stay back!” he snarled, voice and rifle-carrying hands giving away his overwhelming fear even as he desperately tried to put on a brave front when confronted by a seemingly invincible foe. “I-I have the power of G-Go-God on my side, and w-will not lose to godless s-sluts like you N-N-Nekovalkyrja!”
“’Godless sluts?’” chuckled Lucilla as she joined her shipmate in the corridor and stared at the petrified pleb. “Now that’s not somethin’ ya hear everyday… an’ y’know, he’d be kindah cute w-”
An abrupt series of blue-colored blasts impacting the shields covering the Caelisolan’s armor-clad back and posterior caused her to whirl around and catch sight of a half-dozen or so plebeians - clad, like the fellow at the end of the hall, in what appeared to be an early ancestor to the Sestina Infantry Combat Armor - ducking back into various rooms, vents, and crannies. “OI!” she bellowed. “DO YA MIND?!? WE’RE TRYIN’ T’ HAVE A CIVUHLIZED CONVUHSATION HERE!”
ECS Panopteles
Wardroom
Though the burns on her pale skin continued to multiply in severity and number as the air grew thicker and thicker with smoke, Alexia’s efforts to find a fire suppression device paid off when she found a silver-hued (and rather warm to the touch) fire blanket buried under a flaming chair that was mostly - but not completely - on fire; as if to prove that luck came in threes, she then found a pack of two more wedged beneath an upturned and thoroughly-charred couch less then a minute later.
The birb’s luck, however, then ran out, as the stream of plasma that had been trickling down from the ruptured conduit turned into a raging geyser of white-hot fluid hotter then the surface of Elysia’s sun due to Gaius’ ministrations sent a titanic surge of plasma flowing through the aforementioned conduit to the ship’s guns. The temperature of the already-scorching room began to skyrocket - and judging by the noxious smell of the smoke being produced by the raging inferno, it was likely the plasma was beginning to melt through the outer hull of the Panopteles…
Engineering
For a few moments things went smoothly, or as smoothly as they could inside the bleeding heart of a crippled starship, as - though the temperature had gotten to the point where breathing sans respiratory gear was difficult - things were relatively calm, apart from the slowly self-destructing, orange-hot, and angrily hissing cylindrical elephant in the room.
Then it all came tumbling down at once.
The first sign of trouble was the alarm for plasma leaks un-muting itself in response to the raging geyser of plasma melting a hole in the wardroom’s floor; though stringent and annoying, it paled in comparison to what sounded next: the klaxon that was reserved specifically for alerting everyone in the room to an imminent core meltdown. It wasn’t Gaius’ fault, of course, as his two-minute estimate had been correct; rather, it was the fault of one of the aether reactor’s four internal quantum stabilizers for failing - probably from the heat or radiation, despite supposedly being effectively immune to both - which meant that the crew of the Panopteles had a minute at the very most before they were reduced to their constituent atoms by the spiciest pillow of all time.
Bridge
“Target their engines and fire, Tactical!” barked Ramiel, telepathically replying Acknowledged, Semeai. I’ll communicate the plan to Mister Asellio here on the Bridge as he once again took a hefty bite out of an unlucky apple he’d managed to produce (ha) from somewhere; after swallowing, the Patrician began to issue orders to Icarus - “Helm, onc-” - only to be interrupted by the bridge’s resident science borb, whose tone had become decidedly more panicked since he’d last spoken. “Lokhagi, there’s something wrong - well, more wrong - with the reactor! At the rate it’s losing containment, we’ve got… let me math… maybe a minute or less, and that’s a really rough estimate, before it sends us all to kingdom come and prematurely ends my glorious scientific career!”
“I… well then, Helm,” replied the captain as he quickly swallowed another bite of green-skinned fruit, “you head the man. Keep her steady as we approach the enemy so that Tactical can disable them, assuming we can even pierce their shields, and let Mister Mavenbolt in Engineering know - via telepathy; internal comms are down - once we’re above the enemy so that he can eject our reactor directly onto their ship.” There was more he wanted to say, of course - such as the fact that he knew his orders would be immensely difficult to carry out, given the sorry state of the ship’s propulsion systems - but he had faith in the young pilot, and time was of the essence. Change of plans, Semeai, he telepathically said to Gaius - assuming, of course, that the engineer hadn’t been killed by whatever had just happened down in the ship’s innermost sanctum. Shoi Asellio will inform you of when we’re above the enemy vessel. Please eject the reactor at that time - unless, of course, you have to eject the reactor earlier in order to save the ship.
XSS Foabckskja
Bridge Compartment
“It seems that Wing Two is struggling to deal with the two power armors, darling…” said the Nekovlakyrja known as Zanete, her tone filled with equal amounts of disappointment and disgust. “Shall I go and deal with them myself?”
“NO,” responded Fviakcjwncn, the Foabckskja’s captain (and thoroughly energetic lover of Zanete’s). “COMMS, TELL THE BATTLEPODS TO GET GOOD, ELSE I WILL EAT THEM FOR DINNER. REMIND THEM THAT THEY, UNLIKE THEIR BATTLEPODS, ARE DISPOSABLE.”
“A-Aye,” nervously said Superior Fighter Dugedu Laimrota, the rosy-cheeked, green-eyed, and dark green-haired NH-29 manning the ship’s communication console. “Battlepod Wing Two, this is Foabckskja actual. The Commander says to…”
Athenais II
Low Orbit
As Benhisel plunged his large pulsing sword into the Battlepod’s pilot housing (killing its brain-slave pilot instantly, which in turn caused the fighter to cease its frantic attempts to throw the Patrician off and fly in a relatively straight line) the other Battlepods, spurred on by their commander’s words of encouragement, redoubled their efforts to land even a single blow upon the two power armors dancing amidst them like hornets flitting about a house-cat… and it wasn’t long before their frenzied efforts began to bear results as the beams from their rapid-fire cannons (and light anti-starship blasts from their main guns) drawing closer and closer…
Special thanks to @Lizalopod for roleplaying the Jotô Heisho - and writing their sections up - for this post!
“Speech by Lucilla Mondadori.”
“Speech by Ramiel Aemilia.”
“Speech by Scaevola Gallo.”
“Speech by Konichi Kiyo.”
“Speech by Fviakcjwncn.”
“Speech by Zanete.”
“Speech by Dugedu Laimrota.”
"Ok, time to go, could really use you waking up about now!" Alexia spoke half to herself and her unconscious companion through gritted teeth while wrapping the two of them in the liberated blankets, opting to deliver a swift kick to the burning chair in order to minimise direct contact with the flaming object and her already screaming in pain skin. The plasma stream upping the intensity was definitely not appreciated and made escape all the more prevalent in the raven sister's mind as she continued kicking and shouldering debris aside heading for the next door, right now she needed to get out of this hellfire and since medical was out of the question it would have to be the bridge or the PA bay.
First thing's first Alexia, get the doors open, then see which way is the least fucked
With the last of the adrenaline that had been carrying her forwards up until this point, the pilot begged her wailing muscles to cooperate a little longer as she made a final charge at the doors, if they opened by themselves then awesome but if not that third blanket would come in handy as extra heat shielding to force the damn things open. With no idea if the internal comms would even be working at this point she fired off a desperate message to her brother.
"Icarus, bad situation in the wardroom might not make it... make sure they don't get away with it."
Bridge
Icarus gripped his controls with a renewed inferno in his eyes, this was what it had come to on their first mission already! Well as far as stories go it would certainly make for an interesting tale should he ever have kids. "At once Captain!" he cried before easing the ship into a direct interception course as instructed, trying to angle their bow to form the smallest target possible for their despicable enemies, attacking from stealth is the work of cowardice after all. With the engines protesting heavily and the reactor already on the way out the raven winged brother was maintaining incredible focus on his output values to keep them as fast as possible without prematurely blowing them up and leaving them dead in the water.
As they approached their target, he received his sister's message. Without missing a beat he made a slight course correction and replied.
"They won't, serve to the last Alexia."
They both knew the risks going in, no point dwelling on the cards dealt to them in the heat of battle, she was a capable fighter and an excellent strategist when it came to ship operations, if she couldn't get out of this then either her judgement had faltered or it simply wasn't meant to happen.
"Mavenbolt, 5 seconds to ejection, inertia will carry us there regardless of thrust, start the count now."
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