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RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 10] Cumulocirrus

From his position on the ground moaning in pain, Blake was actually pretty close to Lenny. Putting aside any theories about the beast for a moment, the young man lifted himself to his knees and wrapped both arms around one of Lenny's massive wrists. Blake braced himself against the rail of the platform and tugged with all his might. He could feel something in his neck pumping and stinging from the combined trauma of the fall and the sudden weightlifting session.

"Can... someone help?" He managed to grunt out over the radio.
 
Without the large storage crates, the platform Squad 35 had previously escaped from no longer had the troublesome excess of weight. The lift's left end sank a few more inches before coming to a slow, steady rest, an occasional spark and hiss of fouled electrical wiring emitting from beneath the platform's chassis. The large elevator shaft in general was beginning to settle down, the other lifts checking for possible malfunction and, of course, keeping a weathered eye out in case whatever had stolen away the two lift workers, Foreman Pullroy and the Head Administrator decided to come back for seconds.

Despite Blake struggling with Lenny's weight, it would seem that the large ID-SOL had enough leverage to avoid directly falling into the pit below... but it was fairly obvious that Blake alone wouldn't be enough to pull the man from danger. Lenny didn't seem all that worried, however, at least not worried enough given his rather troublesome predicament.

While that was going on, Kess's voice called out to Squad 35, their captain in particular. "Captain Chiaki," Kess called out in a stern, serious tone, unable to accompany the voice with the usual volumetric image. From the broken viewing room window, however, the others could easily make out both Kess and Mimi's silhouettes, appearing to peer down at them from above. "I'm notifying Captain Winston, and we need a status report to give him; Savtechs have no surveillance in the elevator shaft. What are your orders?"
 
Things were getting hectic, and Kokuten needed to do something before Lenny went down over the side. His arms made him fairly useless, and look somewhat silly. With little solutions left to help, he went with something drastic. He bent his legs and did a back flip, albeit with pour form, and landed on the wrists of his arms.

KirkkiskkACK! went his arms, the joints giving way at the sudden weight pressed on them. Kokuten's arms were free, and he scrambled from his vulnerable position to reach Lenny, securing his strong arm on one of his straps and pulling. His other had, now free and very difficult to move, pressed the comms button on his helmet.

"Notify Captain Winston that we have an unidentified threat in this area of the facility. The stranger has captured the Head Administrator and three workers, descriptive characteristics are: apelike, two to three-men high, immense strength, capable scaling sheer surfaces, and possibly mechanical."

He grunted tugging the ID-SOL's armor to pull him up.

"Request for additional support into the shaft below to locate Stranger and any signs of captured. Secondary request for teams to check adjacent ducts. The Stranger was big and heavy enough to shake the facility, and has likely caused trouble elsewhere." reported Kokuten quickly to Kess, before tugging hard on Lenny to get him up. "Squad 35 will scout ahead since we're in the active area!"
 
Of course something had happened...

Tweak didn't answer, instead nodding. She realized a moment later that there were no video feeds.

"Acknowledged."

George's call caught the engineer neko's attention and she did her best to zero in on his location. Another use for her ears that her current circumstance refused to let her take advantage of...

She found him quickly enough, though, just before he explained his situation. There were two ways to take it: Joking or serious. Unsure, Tweak ended up with a mishmash of the two.

"Where have you looked for them?" she asked, dropping to one knee in the snow to start digging at where the bank began obscuring her team-mate's lower limbs, or possible lack of.
 
Tweak wouldn't have to search too hard for George's missing legs. In a strange, unexpected turn of events, they were located directly below him, hidden in the outcropping of snow, connected directly to his waist of all places. At Tweak's neutral reply, however, George drew a blank for a split second as he registered he speech, before bursting out in laughter.

"Where have you looked for them, she says! Hah HAH!" George guffawed mightily, proving to Tweak that his legs were in fine working order as he began to wriggle himself free from the snow bank. "Sorry, thought I'd lighten the mood a bit. Think my radio is shot though; I hit my head on somethin' in here when I was gettin' up," George revealed the reason why he didn't simply call out to Tweak through his headset.

With the lights on, it was much easier to see where they stood in the room they had landed in. It was a large, rectangular room with a high ceiling. There appeared to be only one entrance to this room; a large bulkhead door, suspended above the ground and accessible via walkway and short staircase beneath it. There was snow... snow, and lots of it. Tweak and George could literally see it blowing in from the several ventilation shafts lining the ceiling, producing a veritable flurry for them to contend with. Along the way towards the bulkhead were several square objects occasionally rising out of the snow; storage crates perhaps, as this was a storage room for the Weapons Labs.

George swatted a swatch of snow from his suit and looked over to Tweak expectantly. "So... what's the plan now?"
 
Serra walked over to the arm Kokuten was pulling on, and lent him a hand. "Here, let me help you commander, we never know when your arms will seize up again." She said simply as she added her own strength to the mix. She was nowhere near as powerful as an ID-Sol, but being a pureblood Patrician meant she had superior strength compared to Nelpeslians, Geshrin and even most Nekovalkyrija species, and since she was actually stockier then most of her fellow purebloods, she was even stronger then them.
 
paf paf paf.

Stovaa dusted himself down and batted the mucky patches of his uniform, appraising himself, checking nothing important fell off. He'd be totally bummed out if he lost his kickass killin' fingers. He looked up, signs of struggle and confrontation a fair way up now. No chance of getting any information from those marks for a while. He lowered his gaze and nodded at one of the other workers on the platform before he realised that Lenny wasn't quite on the platform.

To say 'wasn't quite on the platform' wasn't really accurate. He was on the edge of the platform, facing a fall proceeded by a splat. Other members of the team were helping to haul him aboard, but to make sure there wasn't any red smears on the floor below, the Id-Sol reached over his less super-human compatriots, grabbed Lenny's wrist and helped haul him aboard the good ship 'freight elevator.' When lenny was aboard, Stovaa wandered to the other side of the platform, not wanting to de-stabilise it with his musclebound fatass.
 
With the assistance of the other team members, Lenny was easily able to scale back up onto the platform with a grunt. After the immediate threats were over, it gave the crew of the lift a chance to gather their bearings on what needed to be done. Most of them must have been informed of Squad 35's immediate plan, as the foreman of this particular lift began giving orders for a quick descent to the point where the foreign organism was last seen exiting the elevator shaft.

"HAAAAY!"

A screeching salutation pierced through Squad 35's radios, including Tweak's functional headset on the floors below. Although no visual representation was available, they would instantly recognize the voice to belong to Circuitbreaker Peke Twenty-Two, the Administrator of the Cirrus Station's robotics and engineering facilities. After bursting a few eardrums, Peke must have quickly been made aware that her tone was a bit too loud, as her following words were much more agreeable to the tender listeners.

"Oops! Sorry! Umm!" Peke started, stammering over her words as though she were distracted. There was a moments pause before she continued. "The Savtechs are asking me if I have a machine down there, but, uhhhhh... ummmmm... we're not getting any signals from any of our machines down there in the biggy big hole! And if it made here, then it would have one of these!" It took several more moments of silence as Peke realized that she was communicating to the team through audio contact only... a point which she was brought about to seeing by another external listener. "Oh! Right! It's a tracking chip. Pretty! It's for keeping an eye in the sky on all of our maintenance drones. But... this thing doesn't really sound like one of mine. It made a big noise? Scary! What makes you guys think it's a automata from my lab?"

The platform continued to descend as Peke rambled and droned on through their headsets. Squad 35 had a few moments to collect themselves before they reached the proper elevation to make out their next move.
 
"Good job, everyone!" congratulated the Captain, enjoying a mild celebration in their success at not dying. "Are we all alright here?"

Peke Twenty-Two said:
"HAAAAY!"
Click to expand...

Kokuten ripped his helmet off, a bright yellow color burning on his LEDs. The man was roughly red in the face, appearing somewhat exasperated. He looked up, sucking in the cold air though his nose before gently breathing it back out. With that mild reprieve, he was able to put his headgear back on just in time for Peke to pick back up. The Captain restraped his rifle on his back and then stretched his arms out with the opportunity to stand and listen.

The fact Peke had no idea of what they were in this hole with was somewhat unsettling. If what snatched away the administrator and the workers wasn't an automata, then what was it? Now a little more calm, Kokuten resigned himself to offer a more detailed explanation.

"Administrator Peke, the stranger we encountered was almost the size of a Wolverine. I wasn't offered much more than blurs of movement, but this thing had a covering or skin with a color akin to rusty metal. Not just that, its arms were marked with a yellow and black striped pattern. From bare appearance he bore strong resemblance to the haphazard appearance of a large automata."

Kokuten grabbed the chin of his helmet, sighing shortly.

"Appearances aren't everything, though. If it's an unknown entity it's probably been crawling around these vents for a while." He stepped over on one end of the platform, and then to the other in thoughtful measure, before checking on Lenny to see how he was doing. "Mimi, contact Administrator Popjoy. If I recall, Squad 35 has dealt with large creatures from her holds before. I need to know if they've lost one of their animal's recently."
 
Tweak couldn't help but smirk as George admitted the loss of limbs was a joke. She looked around while he unburied himself.

MoonMan said:
George swatted a swatch of snow from his suit and looked over to Tweak expectantly. "So... what's the plan now?"
Click to expand...
The question made her pause before looking back at him, reflexively looking for some sort of rank patch (though she didn't actually know her rank here, so that wouldn't help anyway). If they weren't ranked, then they would be at the same level...and him asking her wasn't so much an admission of putting her in charge as it was simply asking for an opinion on the situation...right?

Meanwhile, since she and George had switched over to Squad 11's channel when they were split off from Squad 35's mission, Tweak was mercifully spared Peke's test of the audio communication systems.

"Well..." started Tweak, unaware of her good fortune as she nodded over at the bulkhead door. "I want to check with the SavTechs and see where that leads." She switched off her external speakers and brought up the SavTechs' channel. "Kess, what is the best way out of the storage facility? Where does the bulkhead door open up to?"
 
"Yellow and Black?" Peke repeated Kokuten's description with a wistful inquiry, the sudden pause making it clear that the small Freespacer was most likely scratching her tiny noggin, deep it something faintly resembling thought. "But those are the PARTY colors! And I'm preeeetty sure that none of my automata have earned enough Peke Party Points for any Party Decals. I mean, Screwer Circo Eighty-Eight got twenty Party Points the other night for fixing my seat, buuuuuut he spent all his Party Points on that weird "booty-wagglin'" music from Bolter Bossa Fifty-Five. You know, now that I think about it, everyone is buying that "booty-wagglin'" music... I want one too!" Peke exclaimed with an outraged huff. "But I can't just give Peke Party Points to Peke Twenty-Two, that's against the rules! And I told Bossa Fifty-Five to only sell the waggle music for thirty Party Points! Oh, so frustrating! I-"

Thankfully, before Peke could go into a grand master plan for rewarding herself with her made-up point system, Mimi took the liberty to switching her frequency over a channel to make way for the Squad's next-in-line for giving answers.

"Hello? Captain Chiaki?" The much more pleasant and soothing tone of Purina Popjoy's voice wafted into the team's helmets. Purina sounded worried, her voice laced with concern, but at the same time seemed very determined to do what she could to help. "Mimi and Kess are currently filling me in... and I agree with Peke actually, I do not believe it to be a machine entity. At least not one from the Cirrus itself..." Administrator Popjoy's voice trailed off in thought for a moment before she snapped back into the conversation. "However, I've just gone through my logs and we are currently not missing any specimens; they are all accounted for."

"Do you think you can repeat your description for me? Please leave out no details... if it is something I can help with, we might be able to ascertain whether or not Cassefin and the others are in danger."

---

Kess was quick to return Tweak's question, her voice crackling back into her headset accompanied with a faint static. "With the remodel happening, the bulkhead you see on the east side of the room is the only real exit from that area. It will lead you to the main hallway; if you make a right there and continue down the hall, you will come back to the Elevator Shaft again."

"However, it is advised to reach the viewing platform for that floor and wait for the rest of the team to arrive," Kess informed Tweak. "The rest of Squad 35 is currently making a descent in search of the foreign entity that has captured the Head Administrator and several others. It is possible you might be on the same floor as it, so be ready to defend yourselves if necessary."
 
Kokuten's stress levels built considerably as Peke drove on aimlessly about booty-wagglin' music. To compensate for his frustration as he waited, he quietly tapped his helmet, with every movement of his arms following a humming crackling noise. His joints sounded something akin to a G.I. Joe with snapping arms and legs. Despite the mild aggravation he felt, the Captain kept the P.P.P. system in mind should he ever have dealings with the other spacers or be in need of some booty-wagglin' music.

Though, it wasn't hard to hear the sigh of relief coming from him when he heard the much softer voice of Purina. Her information confirmed they were dealing with an outside and likely dangerous threat. He looked back at the rest of his squad, before being called on to make another account of the beast.

"I... ah... Hm." responded Kokuten, pressing the send button on his helmet for a moment. Everyone on the channel would hear a few hesitant breaths, as if he were collecting himself. "Alright."

He recalled the size of the supposed beast.

"It was the size of a wolve--... No. No, that's not right, it was bigger. I was somewhat dazzled by the speed and momentum it carried, but I can say for sure that it could make two Wolverines feel small."

Then the way it looked.

"And it was reddish-orange color, something similar to the rust building on iron, but leaned toward a blood-red darkness. I'm not sure which limbs they were, but I could swear that two of them were striped yellow and black."

Then the way it moved.

"And... now I that I think about it, by the time I looked up to see it, it was already coming down, but it lacked a certain grace. When it hit the floor it knocked almost all of us off our feet. It broke through guard rails and when it scooped up three people it moved unencumbered right into..." The soldier broke his train of words for a moment, before recalling the events up to Cassefin's abduction. "... it rammed right into the control room, broke the reinforced glass with a firm strike and ripped Head Administrator Montreal right out and off with it. I would say that it moved with enough mind to go straight for her, but that wouldn't explain why it stole away three other people."

Kokuten rubbed his visor gently.

"It didn't necessarily attack anyone, but just the mere collateral damage it left in it's wake is evidence to it's strength. Encountering square on will be dangerous, so any information you could supply us with could help us limit the trouble we'll have."
 
There was a long pause in the communication between Purina and Squad 35 as she silently filed through her list of known animals that could have possibly fit that description. There were a couple, but several glaring differences caused her to question the smarmy squad captain's description. "Rusty brown? And yellow and black striped forelimbs? None of these colors are natural in nature together on a specimen of that particular size..." Purina's voice trailed off behind the radio in a near-ominous fashion, as though she was beginning to realize something mid-sentence. This was confirmed by another reply from Purina, with a much different tone.

"Oh my, oh dear," the pink-haired Administrator fretted over the radio link. "The only explanation for a biological being, aside from genetic mutation, would be a chromatophores-based skin layer to allow pigment discoloration, perhaps acting as a defensive mechanism, or a predatory trait..." Purina's explanation trailed off again, returning with an audible gasp. "Oh no! No no, this isn't good! There are only two creatures I know of that are capable of that level of skin pigment adaptation, and only one of the size you've spoken of... but that is impossible! It can't be there! This species can only operate in an extremely cold climate condition. It has to be something else... but what?"
 
Kokuten cringed at the strange description put forth by Purina. Her urgent tone added weight onto the troubles he burdened. There was a certain inclination of what he thought it may be, but it was a superstitious conclusion, or at least he thought it was.

"If that's the case, then we've got solid evidence that the problems with the temperature control system are not the result of some accident." nodded Kokuten, laying out his understanding of the situation. "It's presumptuous with only the evidence we have now, but someone has been breeding this thing under the cover of this cold crisis. So tell me, Administrator Popjoy the animal you're insuating..."

It almost felt as silly as it was dreaded to ask the question.

"... it isn't a horrorfish, is it?"
 
"A horrorfish?" Blake stammered. He was using the explanation time to sit and rest after a hard day's fall and ID-Sol lifting. But now he was rising to his feet and closing in on Kokuten with nervous hands.

"What in the galaxy is a horrorfish?! Some kind of wild officers' club enemy to the Imperium that us small fry aren't supposed to know about?" Blake wrung his hands together and drew his variable weapon. As useless as it was, he'd grown rather fond of its ability to at least look like it could hurt something; and that made him feel safe.

"Please tell me there are official horrorfish termination procedures!"
 
There was a short pause in the communication link. "...this is no time for jokes, Captain. Cassefin and the others are in terrible danger!" Purina exclaimed, the sense of urgency and worry in her voice conveying the severity of the situation quite clearly. "If everything you've told me is true, you all are dealing with a species of Nepleslia Prime Quahhg... most likely a Shorthair Snow Quahhg."

As Purina spoke, Squad 35 would notice another platform rapidly descending along the area beside them. The lift was smaller, meant to act as a service lift for repairing the larger transport platforms, however as it drew to their level Squad 35 would see that it was very much occupied. Several CSS members were holding onto the rails as the lift evened out its speed of descent, keeping on the general level of the partner platform. The security personnel gave short nods to Squad 35 as the glanced over.

Easily identifiable amidst the small cluster of CSS was the Administrator of the Weapons Development labs, Dick Vanderhuge. Tall, strong and clad in the special heavy-woven protective lab uniform that many of the high-ranking Weapons Development heads were assigned, the ID-SOL stood many a head above the rest, giving Squad 35 a solemn wave as he moved to the front of his platform.

"Saw what happened from the viewing platform," Administrator Vanderhuge's voice called out to them from the radio, Dick himself holding a communicator to his ear to funnel out some of the ambient noise made by their platform's descent. "Couldn't tell which direction it took the Head Administrator. I'm taking this team to the south wing to help the search."
 
Joking? Maybe I shouldn't tell her I was being serious. cringed Kokuten as he gave Blake a gibb-slap to the back of his head. As he gave a firm no motion with his hands to the bodyguard, the Captain breathed relief. Instead of some rumored horror from Abjection, it was just some normal animal. He had heard of the legendary horrorfish from IPG Operators, and supposedly seen what they left in their wake. Though, he wasn't sure if they were either being serious, or using it to cover their brutality.

Then again, if he hadn't been on this station for so long, would he have even thought of that? The answer is no. No matter how much he tried, he never seemed to adapt to this place. He had gone from an honest doctor who expected the best to a paranoid Captain that suspected the worst. All of the other members of the group adapted so well to this setting, this station, why couldn't he? It was so infuriating, which was a whole different aspect. The frustration. He needed to get off this station.

"Quahhg. Hai. Thank you, Popjoy-sama." responded Kokuten anxiously to the pink-haired administrator on the other end. The Captain rubbed his head. "Any information on how one hunts a Quahhg? Will our firepower be enough?"


"Be careful, sir. This thing deliberately snatched up people on it's way down, and we don't know what it intends to do to them, or if it intends to grab more." returned Kokuten as he looked about, "We'll take the North passage and relay our findings."

And then finally.

"Tweak." Kokuten switched back to the squad frequency, despite how hectic radio chatter he was getting, "Are you all right? Is George all right? The whole lab is scrambling in response to a beast called a 'Quahhg'. It's a beast native to Nepleslia Prime, or Planet X."
 
"Defend ourselves. Right." Tweak sighed after finishing her reply to Kess, then nodded toward the stairs and the bulkhead. "Kess wants us to head out of here and down somewhere to meet with the rest of Squad 35," she said, relaying the directions to George through her external speakers. "She also says that there might be something hazardous headed our way...can you see anything we can use as weapons?"

Meanwhile, Kokuten's transmission was unheard, as Tweak had long since switched off of her squad's channel since they were assigned to a different task. He would have to hail her on the SavTech comm channel, or ask Kess or Mimi to relay a message.
 
Kokuten said:
"Quahhg. Hai. Thank you, Popjoy-sama." responded Kokuten anxiously to the pink-haired administrator on the other end. The Captain rubbed his head. "Any information on how one hunts a Quahhg? Will our firepower be enough?"
Click to expand...

"Quahhg come in varying sizes and types... Snow Quahhgs are generally the largest of the species and are the most aggressive," Purina began to explain in a worried, rushed tone. "Finehair Quahhgs are especially dangerous predators. They have a very acute pigmentation system which they channel through their hair follicles; it allows them to create and maintain a very effect form of camouflage for extended periods of time, which they use to hunt. They can hide extremely well... but they are also fiercely territorial. If you approach its living area, it will probably confront you directly."

"Quahhgs this big will be very difficult to apprehend... as much as I hate to say it, but it might be for the best to humanely euthanize it instead of attempting to capture it alive," Purina admitted with a modicum of sadness in her voice, obviously against such behavior against the animal but understanding the severity of the situation. "They are built very heavily on their fronts; lots of thick muscle and a solid bone structure. You will need something with more 'oomph' than your standard weapons..."

"I can help with that," Administrator Vanderhuge called back, having listened in on the explanation as they continued to descend side-by-side. The ID-SOL turned around for a moment and bent down a bit, turning back and holding a flat rectangular container over his head. Vanderhuge's platform was close enough that he was able to lightly toss the suitcase-sized container over the railing, clattering flat onto the platform before the team.

Upon opening the case would reveal several softball-sized blue canisters that some of the Squadmembers might have recognized, all packed in a line of protective foam. "Plasma inducers went through alpha this morning. Figured now is as good a time as any to start the beta testing now," Dick explained, holding up a CSS rifle to quickly demonstrate the use of the attachments. "Just screw 'em into the nozzle in that groove under the butt and flip the switch near the base. Point and shoot. Preferably at this Quahhg thing." Dick Vanderhuge gave a short salute to Squad 35 before signalling for the CSS member controlling his platform to quicken their descent.

Purina waited patiently until Dick's voice was no longer traveling through the communication link. "Be careful everyone... Quahhgs do not eat the prey they catch immediately, so I believe you all still have time. I will remain on the radio link if you have any other questions. Good luck! And be careful! Again!"

A short moment after Purina wished them well on their mission, the platform began to slow before coming to a stop, aligned along the wall to another large bulkhead door. The metal doors began to open up, cold air billowing from behind the door along with the sound of blowing wind.
 
"Alright everyone, there's enough for each of us to take two." said Kokuten as he popped open the case and checked the contents. He himself pulled two out, placing them on his belt, before sliding the case over to the rest of squad. He considered such implications of killing such a beast. Purina seemed against the idea, even going so far as to misuse the term euthanize. You only euthanized things that wanted to die. This thing would be out for them if it wasn't occupied by killing eating it's victims. No, they were definitely killing this beast. As a man who split his morals on a fine razor-edge between saving life and taking it, this was certainly the situation where you shot to kill.

"I want everyone sticking close to the walls, avoiding open areas where we're easily seen. If we catch this thing, I want shots going into its center of mass. Do not waste ammo trying to be precise, we want this beast disabled or dead. However, priority comes to the safety of the people it's captured, you see someone you notify us and Blake will grab them and bring them with us. Keep your eyes open, we're going to be in its domain, its home turf. We're at a disadvantage here, but we've been at worse." spoke Kokuten to the rest of the squad, his joints constantly moving as it got colder. "Stovaa, Claire, I want you in front, Blake, you're with me, Lenny, Serra, cover the rear. Keep your spacing wide, and watch your sectors as we advance."

He held his hand up as he began feel the frosty air blow on it from the frost bulkhead.

"Mimi! Can you track us down here? We're going into what looks like a snowstorm. Any guidance you can give us would be helpful."
 
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