RP: LSDF Val'ta [Expedition 1] - One from Another

First Contact

Taking the helmet off had been a major mistake, Menelik concluded as he rapidly donned and sealed the piece of armor. He gave a look around a breathed calmly now that his face wasn't getting beaten down by the sudden storm, infrared sensors activating. His heart had been in the right place, but things happened. Backtracking a few steps to pick up his dropped weapons, he turned on the carpark and once again went forward through the blinding snowstorm, seeking the shelter of the building.

"This is Berhane. If you can read me, I'm going to try entering the carpark and make contact with the residents. I'll rendezvous there with whoever else makes it."

Porrim's Team, Elm's Adventure

On the one hand, the pair in the far window – on the other, the counter-scout to her south. Ghost waited until she could no longer see the glass flicker out of the edge of her eye to rise up from her snowy cover and dash across the snow to the end of the high-rise apartments.

With the snowstorm coming, there would only be one alternative to bearing the brunt of it exposed – a building.

Elm jumped and latched onto one of the windowsills on the second floor, her strength assisted by her armor. She dropped the surveyor’s staff and caught it with her tail, then looked up at the height of the building. She would not enter on the same level as her observer, she decided, but she would have to move swiftly. They might be civilians, but she wasn't going to risk engaging with them directly.

Gathering herself, she clambered up into the sill and jumped for the next outcropping – grasped it, pulled, found her footing in the rusty building. Another jump. Another jump, this time scrabbling briefly for purchase, her fingers digging into whatever they could find. Another ledge. On and on, until she had reached the fourth floor and a window that had finally caved in to the demands of the harsh climate and the weather.

She gave one final glance back towards the other building, the building where she had noticed the watchers initially, and then rolled into the upper level and into something that looked like a wide living space, reasonably well funished though dark. Someone had left a window open, for whatever reason, but that seemed to have been only temporary; none of the snow was in this room.

Although Elm couldn't tell what the temperature outside of her suit was, it seemed to be warm.

She reached back and regained her staff, fiddling with the controls on the side of it that comprised her only link to its sensors. She checked to see that nobody observed her in the darkness where she crouched, her adapative coating of camo slowly adapting to the color of the interior decorating, which happened to be a flat gray. The top of her staff cracked a tad and glowed faintly blue. What did this building look like, internally?

While the staff processed its sensory data, she whispered across the comms, "I'm Okay, Miss Porrim. I'm in one of the buildings to your south. I have three contacts, one of them in this building. They look like civilians. I will be approaching the one from an upper floor."

She heard something from a nearby room, and quieted herself immediately. Rising slowly from her crouch, she ghosted up against a nearby wall and, while the staff worked, she gently opened one of the side doors. They were huddled together and talking to each other. Leaning her head slightly around, she angled for a better view of the room they were in, and it seemed to be another living room - perhaps a kitchen of some sort, with an island and a couple of couches that seemed to have withstood the war.

Ghost couldn't understand them. They were talking gibberish to her, so she touched her hood and began to stream her audio over the communications channel without preamble. Speaking in this situation would give away her position.

The cottage

"Sure thing buddy, I'm like a super Yamatai-go master." Akemi listened to the audio and let his digital brain automatically psionically spit out a text translation. It was a serious rendering of what was spoken compared to his own personal choice of words. "I bet I could totes negotiate with these people and resolve it all peacefully. Maybe they'll even be spooky-hot. I wish I had a jillion miniature tentacles that looked like fur that I could use as clothing."

"You bring the restraints and we'll just see who ends up wearing them," Akemi sent to Aran'ya.

Digital Space + An Apartment in a Block
Akemi was able to discern the following, first from Ny'za's messages:

The first man, the businessman said: "Is this our rescue party? Looks like six... maybe seven people."
Second man in the overalls replied: "Seems like it. They went to Knight's. I think Momoko saw something in the sky earlier, some sort of drone."
"They look like Lorath. I remember seeing some LSDF personnel before everything went to hell in a handbasket."
"Yeah I - holy shit, look at that!"

They hid, and the next things Ny'za picked up sounded like whispers.

"...really a rescue?"
"... ... don't know ..."

When Elm got closer, she was streaming the following to Akemi:

The businessman said: "...Norio, I'm scared. What if they killed Knight?"
Norio, the man in overalls replied: "Relax Akira! We would've heard gunshots before the storm came in if they wanted to kill him. If they waned to kill us they would've dropped a nuke on the place. Its the simplest option instead of sending people down."
Akira seemed troubled. "B-but now's the perfect time to shoot him, we wouldn't hear it!"
Overalls replied: "Alright we need to call Eric and make our way over together. Our snowsuits are probably dried by now."
Akira then heard a door creaking, looking towards Elm's position. "Who's that? Momoko, that you? Did you see who was coming for us?"

Porrim's Group, Elm's Adventure

Receiving the translation and reading it over as she listened to the nonsensical language, Ghost lingered by the door until reading the last line.

Sure enough, looking up, there he was looking at the door. By the way his eyes moved, Ghost was positive that the Yamataian couldn’t see her. Her camo concealed her, just as much as the door and the darkness of the room did. What to do? To speak, or what? It didn’t seem as though Akemi’s translation would give her the right words to say in their language, but at least she could understand them by reading the display on the inside of her hood.

Eventually, based on the readout that Akemi gave her, Ghost decided several things. The first thing, a guess, that they weren’t armed. The second, that they had been waiting for rescue. The third, that this ‘Momoko’ was probably the person that had been peering at her a few levels lower—the same person she had hoped to observe before engaging.

Ah. So, what to do?

Ghost looked up. Nobody ever looked up. But there didn't seem to be anything in the room that she could clamber up to hide upon, so she broadened her horizons. Some furniture seemed scattered about; the window, there, where she had come in. Ah. An armchair.

Stepping back from the door, she turned the surveying staff off, dimming its light. She could get readouts later, without the risk of revealing her location. Then she retreated to behind the armchair, settling down behind it as her camo shifted.

It didn’t conceal her perfectly but it seemed inconspicuous enough, and the Val’ta’s Ghost trusted her camo.

Meanwhile, on the LSDF Val'ta, Deck 2, Secondary Science on Port

Xion'no blinked wearily at the myriad of screens before her. Machines hummed around her, a constant thrumming sound that filled the room with just the right amount of white noise to keep her awake. She glanced at the screen to her far left and watched as a bar slowly crept along the bottom. Satisfied with it's progress she turns her attention back to the main screen while nursing a warm caffeinated drink.

The mission started off well enough. Though the drones would have picked up any obvious remnants of enemy activity there was always the chance that things still hid among the dilapidated ruins. It wasn't even the NMX she was worried about, they seemed to be long gone. No, it was those who still may live there and any who may have come since the Evacuation.

As images from the planet below filled her screen, she could see signs of recent activity. There was still some form of life on the planet. Before she could examine it further, there was a mechanical ding to her left. Her chair creaked as she turned it around to face the samples that had been slowly analyzing. A small smile touched her lips as she took in the flashing green '100% Complete' sign on the machine.

She wheels her chair over to it and hits enter on its keypad, then sits back and drank as its screen was flooded with information. The lorath whistled as row after row of text appeared, each naming off the different minerals found within each soil sample and what percentage each was. The place was an absolute goldmine if the samples were anything to go by. And that was just the samples. If one could construct a dedicated rig to harvesting some of these things... She could see why someone would want the place.

As she continued to study the readout a loud noise startled her to the point of spilling her drink over her lap. With a loud curse she stood up and began wiping the hot drink off of her lap. Whatever the hell the warning was it woke her up better than her coffee did.

"I guess that's the point..." She muttered to no one in particular. She looked at a different screen. One that showed the weather patterns above the planet. "Ah..." Someone else spotted it before she did and called it in. "Well... I'm sure they'll be fine... They're trained for this sorta-" Another notice came up. One of the crew was calling for backup. Xion'no stared at the different screens, most of them blaring a different warning, then sat back down on her chair. She grabbed her coffee, took a sip, and returned to her samples.

"I'm sure someone will fix that..." She said, even as her heart thudded in her chest.

It started off well, at least...

Er'red's Team Of Total Whiteout

Er'red was halted from from the book in his hand at the Nepleslian across the field by the timely intervention of the weather warning pinging up on his HUD.

"WARNING - SNOWSTORM APPROACHING!" It screamed at him suddenly, causing him to jump out of his chair.

"Wha-" He cut off as his head turned and saw a wall of white rapidly coming towards him from meters away. It glided through the walls and windows of the ramshackle building and hit with enough force to knock Er'red off his feet. The stonethread mask frosting over instantly with little granules of ice and overwhelming him with noise.

Rolling over and grabbing a windowsil to pull himself up in the gusting wind he resisted the urge to curse Berhane with something particularly nasty, maybe one to make all his bacon burn forever, that would be a good one. But instead of indulging that outloud he got back on the comm and tried to make himself heard above the noise.

"Mirage, come pick us up from this location and take us to that carpark! Ashlinn, go find Bernhane and punch him right in his penis!"

Er'red's Group, Mother Nature's Wrath!

From the cozy comfort of the ruined building, which provided about as much protection against the elements as a wet cardboard box, Ix'ion watched the sudden appearance of a blizzard squash the mission of goodwill to aid the survivors they'd encountered. There was a little snicker over the comms from him seeing the poor judgement of Menelik to remove his helmet, but the dropping temperature wasn't much of a laughing matter.

The sudden onslaught that was the flash blizzard however was a bit more unsettling, with the whitewall blasting through like a bull in a china closet. "Damn it all to hell..." Ix'ion cursed under his breath as he braced against a wall to withstand the arctic gust. The impact was hard, hard enough to add a few more cracks to an already cracked wall and blow out what remained of the window he was looking out of. Hearing the call over the comms for Mirage to come assist them to the car park, Ix'ion was thankful, but also wondered if she was having any issue with the weather. "Sentinel here, not blasted out of the building yet..." He called over the comms.

Er'red's group - On a mission to punch some chikkin'! ( =D )

Ash's lips twitched at the... Lorathian? Equivilant of her name, she even let the word roll off her tongue, "Ashe'lin... I kinda like the sound -" And right about then multiple things went right to hell at the same time, She realized Bernhane had removed his helmet. A snowstorm hit them like the angry fist of a Nordic Diety whome they all apparently owed money too. She saw Er'red get bowled over, 'Annnd mother nature bowl's a perfect strike again...' She'd blink and watch her sensors become garbage just long enough to remind her to swap over to Infrared. Which helped a whole lot actually. Especially with Mirage's crazy piloting skills keeping her up in the air. That was actually kinda awesome, to her atleast. She shuddered at the thought of trying to keep her Daisy in the air in this weather if she - "Ashlinn, go find Bernhane and punch him right in his penis!"

Her lips twitched and her tail flicked eagerly, Her cannon stowed itself for transportation, and she disengaged herself from the rubble she'd been partially hidden inside of as she started sprinting, well, running atleast with her body tilted into the storm and using her own inertial systems and the suits to compensate for the wind, on the tac map she looked like a drunken sailor the way she was weaving. Uptil she hit abuilding and with a carefull leap...jumped through one set of windows..and blew out the set of window opposite at a dead sprint, "I'm pretty sure the captain would frown upon that course of action, Sir, But! I'll come up with a suitable subsitute that ensures he remains functional AND satisfies your orders!"

She sounded way to happy and sing-song in her reply as she hit the next building, went up a few floor and out the windows onto the carpark with a rather unmistakeable 'thud' of a crash landing, "Also, I'd...uh..advise -not- using thrusters and trying to jump... "

Anyone watching the sensors would probably have seen her gracelessly landing on her backside. And then promptly stumble off towards what her sensors told her was Bernhane's position...

Tange IV, Misato City, Above the Super Awesome Positivity Group

Idling in place and keeping watch through non-visual means was simple enough, but playing transport just felt silly. Mirage kept her opinions about what Wind clad soldiers should be capable of doing to herself and instead brought the whirlwind in carefully beside the building Cadet Nny'ust and Corporal A'kai'nan. Settling on the ground the Whirlwind's bulk made the gusting attempts of the storm ineffective as the wind merely washed over and around the elegant mech. Once she was sure she was in place Mirage opened the right hand hip compartment of the Whirlwind, usually used to store Winter units she assumed that a pair of men in Winds would fit just fine.

"Cadet Nny'ust. I am in position and ready for you and the Corporal to embark at your leisure." Falling silent Mirage stretched out in the fluid filled cockpit of the Whirlwind taking the brief pause in activity to relax a little while the others set about their tasks.

J'ann, as is the course for most people who were previously unconscious and then as they were woken up, they were dropped a fair distance down a hole, was understandably out of it. Thankfully for him, he wasn't even focused enough to see or even notice the Nepleslian whose. . . business he interrupted.

After about five minutes of "recovering" (read: Groaning and curling up into a ball in pain), he finally realized there was another person in the room and greeted them.

"Should I ask where am I or what are you doing here, first?" J'ann said, staring at the freshly-belted man.

Ran stood there, chewing on the second to last cigarette of Nepleslian Greens he was able to hide.

"Fuck what I'm doing here" Was the only thing on the Nepleslian's mind, which was immediately verbalized thanks to a very distinct lack of a filter between his brain and vocalization.

"You're in a fucking bathroom with me, and there are two or more possible fuckasses that are responsible for keeping us here." Ran eventually went into another stall and started his attempt at ripping the fixture out of the floor. "Which means now that you're here with me, they don't have a FUCKING"

Attempting to conceal his vocalized stress associated with ripping out a toilet from the floor, Ran...ripped the porcelain fixture off of its fasteners. "...Whew. Right, they don't have a fucking chance at keeping us in here."

The Nepleslian pulled a green beret from his back pocket, slapped it against his thigh to dust it off and placed it on his head.

He then walked over and offered a outstretched hand to the individual on the floor that had interrupted his session.

"Ran Rui, former NSMC."

Aiesu followed quite noticeably behind Aran'ya, her gaze on Porrim and then where she thought Porrim was with a look of disappointment as her steps became quieter with a touch of sleuth.

My'ean sighed, regretting the use of nuclear weapons in a situation where a pickaxe was needed - dread knotting in her belly instinctively, though the space between her ears calm as she observed the mission beneath her.

"Never routine..."

Porrim's Team, Let's Go Rescue our Dancer
Porrim pulled some goggles from around her neck and put them on, raised a balaclava over the lower half of her face, and put her. "Knight's probably right. We'll stay in single file with Knight and I taking the lead." She said as she took her steps out into the snowstorm. "If you don't feel confident, keep an arm on your fellow soldier, and don't lose each other in these conditions. I don't want another of us to get lost."

With that in mind, she and Knight lead the way together, and they moved eastwards through the park from Knight's cottage and through the blistering snowstorm. Everyone had some point of contact to another, whether it was a hand on the shoulder or grabbing onto the belt. They crossed through white and green fields with healthy trees, then through a series of rusty cars back to back on a main road, and in a small alcove between town housing.

"The signal's came from that building, just before the snowstorm hit." Porrim pointed out a small commercial office, about three storeys tall, glass double-doors out the front now patched in with wood and metal scrap. Porrim, meanwhile, was not a soldier, and when she and the gang found a place to think outside of the snowstorm, she consulted the team. "I'm not the best at soldiering," Porrim said, raising her HHG and making a brass check. All eight still loaded. "How do you reckon we go about this..."

Go in loud and proud, or try sneaking in. With the amount of scrap around the building, it was possible to climb or leap into the second storey quietly. Perhaps even a two-pronged assault would have been possible. It was all a matter of coordination, and glances into the interior through cracks showed that most of the plaster walls were knocked out, leading to a fairly open plan through most of the floors, while structural support pillars remained in place. It would've been very easy to smash through a remaining plaster wall with a shoulder tackle.

Desks and computers remained standing, though some were toppled over with the drawers pulled open and the contents strewn about. Notably, in the second floor there were a series of walls still up which cordoned off a section of floor plan, and judging by the graffiti on the walls, they were meant to stay there.

Meanwhile, Ny'za was beginning to notice the wind picking up and keeping her Whirlwind down. Staying on the ground and keeping her frame's feet on the snow was making the buildings shake with the little footsteps her massive mecha took. There was cause for concernwith how they shook, but perhaps if she tiptoed gently or spread her weight out, she could minimise potential damage to the buildings. With Elm all but confirming that there were people still living here, it may have been disastrous if further damage were to happen.


Elm's Little Adventure
Meanwhile, on Elm's little adventure, she could hear footsteps in the hallway of the apartment's corridor. She knew there were others here in the apartment, but she didn't know who, or where exactly.

Maybe this was the 'Momoko' they were talking about. A blue-haired woman of Yamataian looks and a lithe and agile body stepped into the apartment. They spoke fluent Yamataian, in a singer's voice. "I saw a little white thing in the snow coming from that group towards here."

"A little white thing?" Norio asked, Elm privy to the conversation. "Like a ghost?"

"Mm. It didn't look like a Lorath, like the others," she continued, looking around the room before continuing, "could've been one of their little servant races, I think they're called something like, ah," a bit of cutesy cluelessness, perhaps cultivated with her profession crept into her voice, "Helashlo or Hellosho."

"Oh, them." Norio said. "I heard the Yamataians got real angry about the Lorath keeping them."

"But we keep Nekovalkyrja and they're kind of in the same role..." Akira pointed out.

"It's not the same. We get to retire and live our life as we see fit after service. Helashio ... I dunno," Momoko scratched her head, "according to the Lorath, its a revenge thing, and their right, and they also look after the servant Helashio for life, just like us."

"Whatever... I'm not prepared to say hi to a scout just yet, not while this blizzard's going on and we can't confirm Knight's status."

"Hai. Guess we'll stay here ... unless the Scout has come in from the cold." She looked around the room, eyebrow raised. "I'd be surprised if they could stay out there for long."

"Well, go look for her I guess." Akira shrugged.

Momoko turned on her heel, looked out into the hallway, and at the open window Elm used to get in, noticing handmarks in the white. "I think she's already here, actually."


Er'red's Team, Car Park Mayhem
Ash'linn landed butt first and on the roof of the car park. After colliding with the ground, she could hear chatter from the level below her, from the two women she'd been spying on earlier. With Mirage's approximations filling in the blanks, she knew they were down a ramp just behind her.

"What was all that noise?" Ash'linn could barely make out the voice of one of the Nekovalkyrja over the noise of the snowstorm.
"The Nepleslian?" Another voice.
"No, much heavier thump if Nepleslian." Came the reply. "He wasn't alone."
"This IS sting, then!" Ashlinn couldn't hear the footsteps coming up the ramp, and she found herself face to face with the two Neko who were on the roof, Akihiko and Maya. "A Yamataian! Hands up!" Maya barked.

The man they were talking about meanwhile had hopped off the building he was standing on, and started walking towards the ground floor of the car park. As he got closer to the gated entrance, he noticed what appeared to be very rudimentary agriculture of sorts - there were small, hardy shrubs growing in rows, and producing an odd looking fruit Menelik didn't recognise.

The entrance to the carpark, meanwhile, had scrap all over the windows and portholes, the roller doors untouched, but currently rolled down. The ticket boxes were still out the front though, and a light was blinking on one of them. Er'red, Ix'ion and JiJi weren't seeing anything out of the ordinary so far through their various means, and with Mirage behind them, they could move...

A rumbling came beneath Mirage's feet, and the ground begun to crack beneath her mecha. The road and the infrastructure beneath it wasn't meant to be taking this sort of load. Perhaps she was standing over a large sewerage pipe - the ground gave way and she found herself falling down and to her side, smashing the road to pieces. The crash was audible over the snowstorm.

The two Neko on the carpark heard the noise and looked around, ignoring Ash'linn for the minute. "What was that?" Akihiko asked. "Was that big frame?"
Maya blinked for a moment and looked downstairs. "Sokino says the Nepleslian's at the front door downstairs. What do we do?" She asked.

Akihiko grinned. "Hostage!" She said, falling to the ground and pinning Ash'linn. "Tell him come up nice or cat gets it. Sokino and Inoue make introduction."
"Yes!" Maya replied, skipping away.

Akihiko looked into Ash'linn's eyes, and she seemed remarkably calm for someone who'd been stranded here for about four years. "Why you have Lorath and Nepleslian with you?" She got to the point. "You mercenary? You hunters? You pirate? You... ISC Phoenix?" She looked more worried about the last option. "I think Vee always want Captain Phoenix's autograph."

The Nepleslian saw the roller doors in front of him come up, and two Nekovalkyrja, who upon closer inspection were wearing tattered remains of an NMX uniform were standing there, with deactivated and decidedly scroungey looking Impaler rifles hanging from makeshift straps of sewn-up fabric by their sides. "Akihiko was right. He look hot." One of the Nekovalkyrja said in accented Trade. By her side, was what appeared to be a suitcase full of medical equipment with a crude red cross painted over it

"Come in, come up, we want - to talk." The other said, nodding upwards at the carpark ramp. She turned around and begun leading the way. "My name is Potta Inoue, she is Emirella Sokino. We stranded, but you take us home, yes?"


The Marine and the Dancer, A Dingy Hole in an office block
Above, the two could hear someone stomping on the floor. "Shut up! I'm trying to get the TV to work and I can't hear what's going on with this fucking snowstorm!" The voice sounded nasal, Yamataian. Ran had always figured from their voices that they were previously not the sort to be disposed to violence until it was thrust upon them. They'd made a dog's breakfast of the scavenger look too; too much jangly stuff, too much extraneous cruft and pomp.

Plus, keeping someone in a bathroom was a poor idea - it was full of hard surfaces where heads could collide. Perfect if someone wanted to let them know how they felt about incarceration. With all the stuff hanging off their clothing, they would've been an easy grab. The only problem was luring them back here, and they seemed determined to watch TV. Why Ran didn't run earlier was probably due to being outnumbered six to one - making a break might give these posers the verve they need to kill.

Unbeknownst to them, help was on the way.

A small pale hand reached for Porrim's leg - hand over her face as she squinted. Clumsy fingertips missed, meeting Porrim's backside, tracing upward to grip her belt-line tightly. Aiesu apparently wasn't ordinarily one for surface contact and didn't have the nerves for it, wrist trembling as she held that stern expression: determined to be annoyed rather than frightened - anger being fuel for literally whatever she decided to be upset at.

Though it was difficult to be upset, now with her new distraction, remembering the sensation in her fingertips.

"Huh..."

Leaving the cottage

Deciding to be helpful in his own way Akemi used his own form of diplomacy sending out a telepathic message to whomever might be able to pick it up using either their equipment or their own digital brains. "Hey guys, I'm Koga Akemi. I'm here with some Lorath, Yamataians and Nepleslians to peacefully explore this planet and rescue stranded people. I run an international restaurant and brothel business that pays quite well and I'd hire you Mishhu or not if you're nice and don't attack us. I'm looking for people of all kinds. Being a Mishhu would actually be a plus. Wouldn't you like to start a carefree life working in a friendly all inclusive business instead of needlessly fighting a multi faction rescue effort?"

With that said Akemi led the way with Knight eager to receive a swift response.

Er'red's Group - Parking Garage - Of NMX's and Intimate contact?

Ash had a firm grip on her LASR and her Suit was doing a fantastic job of keeping her comfortable, Even if she had misjudged her jump and landed on her posterior. And...having apparently gauged her jump wrong. She'd intended to come down on the ground outside the garage, landing atop it? Not so much part of the plan. The fact the blizzard made it hard to really move only continued to complicate things, "Don't worry guys! I'm fine! Just..uh... Sorta got a boost from the storm, tots cool though.. Yeah. HEY! Menelik! Bossman wants me to juggle your jimmies." From what she'd picked up on her star hopping tour from Yamatai to the Val'Ta, she was finding it easier to be less formal as the situation seemed to pretty much go right to pot.

She'd gotten another two steps before she realized the voices she was hearing weren't in her head, but actually from the Neko's who called the parking garage home. She'd pause with a foot up and turned when she heard one tell her to put her hands up. she'd clear her throat and, in Yamatai-Go, "Hey now, I'm not here for a - oof!" And for the second time she found herself dragged to the ground, this time on her back, underneath Akihiko. Thankfully the helmet let her speak privately, "I think they're trying to take me hostage?... Yeah, Pretty sure that's what she said." The snowstorm was playing hell with her audio pickups as she released her grip on the weapon and held her hands up, "We're here to survey the planet and offer anyone who wants off it a ride off." The Non-Axe Crazy portion of her mind kept remind her: they're here to help people, NOT take out the poor soul trying to simply survive. the open missile launcher on her shoulder abruptly snapped shut and retracted, as well as the covers on the ones over her legs, "See? If I was here to cause trouble, I would've taken out you, and the top half of the building. Soo...can you get off? I'm a rather poor hostage to take, yanno."

The rumble of Mirage's suit taking out the local infrastructure was audible and she could mostly make out what was being said down below, but she was more focused on the conversation she suddenly found herself embroiled in, "ICS Phoenix? Nope, I'm a Liason with the Lorath, Mission of peace and Mercy, Not a Merc, Pirate or otherwise. I really am with the Star Army, on loan to the LSDF Val'ta. I'm Ashlinn, By the way, and normally? I'd like to have dinner and a date before getting pinned to the ground and intimate." The whole time she kept her comms open, and a running translation, just so everyone knew. Because who doesn't like to know their fellow compatriots preferences, right?

Er'red's Team, Car Park Mayhem

Well they didn't shoot at him, and actually wanted to talk! That was a good thing, in Menelik's opinion... even if the first thing they said about him was that he was hot. Somehow he wasn't surprised about that either, but he was more concerned with keeping this from exploding in everyone's face; he wanted to rescue these people and hope they could get better lives, not to mention that he damn well had no intention of kill anyone who didn't deserve it today. And right now, it sure didn't look like any of them deserved it.

'Which might not save them anyway," he groused, head tipping upwards to where Ashlinn had landed, hearing everything she sent to the rest of the team. Despite trying his best to always see the best in people, Mene was amazingly sure that if things kept going he'd have to fight Ashlinn to save these Nekos. No, that logic didn't make entirely much sense on closer inspection, but goshdarnit these Nekos were obviously tired and desperate! So the marine followed his guts and held up both of his hands, rifle in one and pointed up at the sky.

"I'm Menelik Berhane, Nepleslian Space Marine Corps. I- We're here to rescue you, not fight you." He told them, following them into the building with his HPAR held pointing upwards and in an obviously non ready to use manner. "My companion up there is named Ashlinn, I think, and we have more people coming nearby. We have a medic too, who can help you with any wounded you may have, and an engineer who can help you get anything you need running in the short term into working order." The man was obviously doign his best, trying to seem as helpful and non threatening, but there was still more he could do.

"Sir?" His voice came over the radio, a little garbled from the storm and buildings, but still audible. "I've made contact and they're taking me up to speak with their leader- They've already told me that they want rescue. But you need to call Ashlinn off, make her co-operate with them. I think she landed on their roof and they were a bit upset with that, Sir. "

... That was funny. If it weren't for the Sir's, it would almost seem like Menelik was telling Er'red what he should be doing.

Leaving the cottage

Being a super tactical and strategic genius Akemi decided he'd give his simple two KS. "How about we all just fly or get carried up to the top floor since there aren't that many of us and we don't want you under protected by spreading out? I bet the important stuff is at the top and a lot of traps and defenses would be at the bottom. If anything goes wrong you can threaten to have a mecha smash the other two below."

Er'reds Super Negotiation Team
Inside the thigh compartment of the Whirlwind was a tangle of limbs and rubbing tightly clothed bodies laying at an angle with the Whirlwind. Er'red stirred he felt something touch him and then looked, blushing as he saw how he and Ix'ion had intertwined in the fall. Growling he punched the other poor gentleman in the face and fled upwards towards the hatch, throwing it open and popping out in relief.

It was short lived as he took his first breath. Meneliks first response to his question for orders quickly followed.

"WHAT ON GOOD LOR IS THAT HORRIBLE SMELL?" He screamed, covering his masked nose and mouth.

Turns out some of those pipes they had cracked through had indeed been sewage. Er'red stood and ascended up the prone hips and chest of the Whirlwind as he got out of the hole.

"Gah! Ix'ion, keep your hands to yourself and follow me! Ashlinn, you have permission to subdue and restrain your attacker, non-lethal only. Private Berhane, I don't know how you people do it in Nepleslia, but Lor does not negotiate with hostage-takers. Relay that we are to be treated with respect and proper decorum when we arrive, or they can be left here if they do not cooperate. If they cooperate we will hear them out and treat them fairly."

Hopping down from the Whirlwind and landing on a piece of still intact road he radioed again. "And Berhane, remember that we don't know what these neko may have done for their old masters. They are not to be underestimated or taken in lightly."

Chat done, Er'red turned around. "I don't know if you want to bring that back with you when we get back to the ship, but you can choose if you want to stay there or relocate. I think we'll walk from here..."

The young cadet turned and marched stiffly towards the carpark, trying to hide his bruised body and pride until he thought he was deep enough in the white-out.