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

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group (Bouncing Tats and Runaway Cats)
Porrim looked down to Elm, "I'd recommend you-" she looked up to tell Akemi and realised that she'd lost sight of the slippery bastard. "-oh for the love of-" She ground her teeth, groaning hoarsely. "Just stick to keeping an eye out and maintain radio contact, will you? Fucking hell..."

Ny'za's scans picked up that the creatures roaming around the premises were similar to sheep, and in addition, she spotted a canine, a domestic breed. Oddly enough, there didn't seem to be an organic signal coming from within the farm or inside the fallen Courier. The question as to who was roaming around inside was soon answered when Akemi waltzed right through and helped answer the question.

The only thing on his side was how low-risk the mission appeared to be as he made a pirouette over the cars clogging up the road while the team behind her as Porrim was cursing under her breath, continuing to ignore Aiesu because there were more pressing matters of the idiot in black hair. As she directed the group amidst destroyed buildings and parallel a paddock fence, past some very confused looking sheep wondering who these strange people were.

When Porrim finally caught up with the rest of the group in tow to Akemi, she sighed before acknowledging the robot and their cosy little farm. "Do they really teach Yamataians to split from the group and go frolic in unknown territory?" She grunted in Ly'thir as she stepped into the cottage and gave Akemi a slap upside the head for being a dope. "No wonder they have to produce billions of you at a time, you're all idiots."

With the unknown territory Akemi was traipsing about in, she had a point. "Forgive him himself," Porrim addressed Knight in Trade now, speaking of the stray cat, "he was a bit defective off the assembly line. The cats didn't want him." She wasn't holding back the disdain for the Nekovalkyrja's haughtiness. "I am Captain Mil'ana Porrim of the Lorath Self Defence Force. I have the feeling that aside from you, we're not alone..." she said, looking behind herself, and out the door towards a ruined building just opposite Knight's cosy abode. "Knight, do you know of anybody else living around here, friend or foe? We have an imperative to evacuate cooperative civilians so they can get home to Yamatai, Nepleslia, or Lor."

She wrinkled her nose. Porrim could smell the boiling water in the air, looking over to the kettle and the cups set aside and piecing two and two together. "Perhaps ... call tea time?" she suggested before looking aside and radioing the entire team. "This is Porrim. We have a survivor here on the farm. Appears to be a Nepleslian-made robot. Have made friendly contact. Currently inquiring about the lay of the land and other survivors. Will keep all posted." She lifted her fingers away from her ear and turned back to address the robot. "Not a bad place you have here, Knight. I quite like the decapitated heads," she said, looking at the NMX Nekovalkyrja helmets all in a row, "they really bring the room together~"

As Elm was searching around and keeping an eye out on the group's surroundings, she felt that there was a presence in the ruined residential buildings southeast of the farm, perhaps a face in a window or a sound caught by the breeze. The building looked like an extensive Yamataian-style apartment block with some ground level shopping centres which had been extensively boarded up. Though, one of the doorways into the apartment seemed to be clear of barricading crap, junk pushed to either side of the walls. Someone was still using the building, and maybe Ny'za could have a closer look...


Tange IV, Misato City, Er'red's Group (Super Awesome Positivity Group)
Menelik's monoeye locked onto the carpark. The Monoeye was a two-way street; It was able to see through scout within buildings easily, as well as get numbers for occupants or strength, but the focussed beam and signals of the Monoeye were very obvious, and very distinct. Nothing was leaping out at Menelik as being particularly military tech - maybe it had been taken apart, or wasn't recognised.

There didn't seem to be any sophisticated machinery, and the heat signals seemed to be indicating something along the lines of a few barrels on fire. The one piece of military technology he was able to identify were six nekovalkyrja, military spec, and affiliation currently unknown. Five of them seemed to be scattered through the lower strata of the carpark, idling, in prostrate positions or sitting, not combat ready. The one up top however seemed to be moving around their hut hurriedly.

Ashlinn's observation of the many windows and the storefronts as the team moved through the ex-commercial district showed her that people had been scavenging the place, as rubbish and junk had been put aside, while from the looks of it, anything useful in the store had been taken. Though, one man's trash was another's treasure, and she could see some things of potential value in this situation laying out in the open. Perhaps the people living in the carpark or around it were still smart enough to discern value. She couldn't spot anything like dead bodies or blood stains, so keeping things clean may have been a priority of the occupants too.

Though, even with keeping a body out in the open, they would have frozen with the cold rather than rotting, the process delayed by the weather. To say that there wasn't human activity, however, was a dangerous presumption. There were definitely people around, but whether they were friendly or not required a meeting.

Observing the car park further, Mirage saw the figure who'd disappeared earlier emerge again, this time sprinting down into the level just beneath the roof. They were definitely a Nekovalkyrja, sprinting with such grace in the icy conditions. Menelik could see that they were going down the levels. Mirage could hear that they were shouting in an accented Yamatai-Go, but she couldn't make out the words or the accent. Perhaps she could beam an analysis back to the Val'ta.

Er'red's Super Awesome Positivity Group

Menelik stopped at the apex of one of his hops, giving his Monoeye time to scan and feed information back to him. 'Interesting,' he mused, taking in everything that was happening at the car park and tallying numbers up. Definitely six Nekos, maybe hostile, maybe not; along with barrel fires for heat, and no advanced military technology he could detect. 'And they know we're here now too.' With the Neko scurrying down deeper into the carpark and no doubt rousing her compatriots, they'd be ready for whatever when their group arrived.

The snow white and urban rubble gray Hostile dropped back down, its user shutting off the Monoeye as he touched down with a thud and a puff of snow in front of Er'red. Snapping a salute, he started to explain as clearly as he could in Ly'thir for the sake of the Lorath in the group while also opening a line to Mirage's frame: "Six Nekovalkyrja in the structure, with possibly more non-Neko persons also inside. They know we're coming, but I'm reasonably sure that they don't have any military equipment of a modern sort, at least nothing powered. The only advanced military technology I detected were the six cats- maybe Soldier Rhos'vol got more information from her viewpoint." He motioned up towards her flying machine with an armored finger, before continuing.

"In any case, I volunteer to move ahead and make a close reconnaissance of the car park and make contact with survivors. With this armor there's no way they can think I'm a squid, and if they're former NMX cats then I should be okay till the rest of you can catch up- I don't think they are, though."

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group

"Oh my goddess I'm totally being bullied!" Akemi sent to Aiesu. "Just because I went ahead to scout I'm being called defective! Fuckin' monster. I need a giant Fyunnen to console me." The Neko was irked that he only went a small distance from the others and moved cautiously as their captain had said yet ended up being berated and struck. Of course this simply proved Lorath were irrational overly emotional meanies given that they couldn't handle a harmless question about eggs earlier. Hopefully some Mishhu would show up soon because they might at least say he was tasty.

As Elm was searching around and keeping an eye out on the group's surroundings, she felt that there was a presence in the ruined residential buildings west of the farm, perhaps a face in a window or a sound caught by the breeze. The building looked like an extensive Yamataian-style apartment block with some ground level shopping centres which had been extensively boarded up. Though, one of the doorways into the apartment seemed to be clear of barricading crap, junk pushed to either side of the walls. Someone was still using the building, and maybe Ny'za could have a closer look...

Click to expand...

Porrim's Group, Elm's Adventure

This time, Elm decided, she would not allow Akemi to pre-empt her, no matter how whimsical he could be. She might be trudging through snow up to her knees, but she was a Helashio, a Scout, and not to be outdone. Arguably without her full memory she wasn’t a complete helashio, but as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and the sensation of tingling in the very tip of her tail, she at least knew she could trust her instincts where-ever they came from.

She looked up at the building in question, zooming in with her Peeper, scanning the windows looking for movement, first, and then for any out of place coloration. Had it been a face, in the window, just for a brief second, or just a shadow passing across it? The tension in her tail caused her to curl it, anxiously, the semi-solid segmented tail-wrap limiting her movement somewhat, but strengthening the appendage. When she didn’t discover anything immediately, she decided that Porrim’s order to “Keep in radio contact” implied she would be allowed to roam, so she did.

Anyone who had watched their approach from that building would have already seen her, so at first she didn’t bother to mask the fact she was jogging in snow. It might have looked strange, a white shadow against the fluff, but the moment she hit the clear sidewalk she began to move slower and take better care to cover, not behind cars, but in the snow itself. It required blinking several times as she stopped, checked the buildings through the lens, made sure nobody was looking – moved, with her other eye open to the next drift of bone-white snow. Eventually she gained the scattered, mixed foliage that had overtaken what might have been a parking lot across from the building and, swiftly, buried most of herself in the snow.

Then she lay in her snowy camouflage, watched, and waited for the inevitable. They would become curious and look out again, and she would be staring right at them, whomever they were.

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

Mirage had returned her attention to the carpark after a brief local sweep to ensure that the ground team was still clear of other forces that might have been moving to flank them. After all it was better safe than sorry. When her attention returned to the car park the Neko darted out of their makeshift shelter and began shouting in some sort of cat speak. Smiling wryly to herself as she knew she wasn't any sort of linguist she did the logical thing and directed the Whirlwind's computer systems to segment the portion of its log in which the Neko had been shouting and relayed it to the Val'ta for analysis. By the book.

Also by the book was her response to the group below, "Private Berhane has the right of it, the Neko on the roof of the carpark is on the move and she's verbally alerting her allies. I'm also confirming a lack of apparent military equipment." There was a brief pause before Mirage added, "Perhaps it would be wise to have... Sarn-Hei" the uncertainty was clear in her voice, "At hand to help with translation assuming the Neko aren't fluent in trade."

Returning her attention to her sensors Mirage shifted slightly her body demanding some form of relief from the tension, and a chance to move her wings. Settling back into place Mirage turned her full attention back to overwatch, after all it was up to the ground team to make a good first impression, and she had to make sure they weren't getting shot from behind while they did that.

Tange IV, Misato City, Totally Feeling The Super Awesome Positivity Vibe

Ash had been about to volunteer to head on forwards to make contact with her fellow Neko's but clamped the urge down when Menelik spoke up, being the newest of the group she certainly wasn't about to try and make suggestions. As it was she found herself noticing small details, items of value were left where they were, and she didn't see any bodies, or any real notations of trouble beyond people seemed to still live here. She was, at the moment cautiously peering into the front of one shop as she passed by it, her sensors on full and banging away as she set them to full. Worst that could happen? more than just those in the car-park... if they didn't already know. They weren't exactly hiding their presence. She was dimly aware that she had strayed slightly out of formation when Mirage mentioned her, "That could possibly make things easier on us all around if they don't... which I'd be highly surprised, We're Pre-built knowing it." Now her curiosity was getting at her as her attention turned towards her sensor data as she caught up with the group. her tail twitched slightly, but visibly as she made one high, arcing jump of her own to get a good look at the car park, adding in a short booster assisted hover at the apex while she soaked in the data, got a good still image of what she saw and then dropped like a rock with an engraved invitation to the snow covered pavement below, "On a related note - The lack of high grade military gear is a plus... If I were hostile, I'd have herded us all into here and dropped the buildings on us and in the confusion starting picking people off as they emerged from the rubble... And thats the 'gentle' way of saying hello." Axe-Crazy? Ash? Nooooo......

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group

Ny'za had wanted to record video footage of the sheep like creatures that roamed around but there was much more pressing matters to attend to. The shack was not giving off any humanoid life signs,and with the robot answering the door any sense of worry that it created had been quelled at least temporarily. There was a point of concern though, she picked up movement on her optical sensors in one of the apartment buildings, she had hoped that maybe it was just the shadow of something inside that fell over or something similar. She could not just ignore it however, as what ever it was did not show up on her scan. She chose not to blatantly move towards it though and merely focused her video feed in that direction and zoomed in, looking in every window she could to try and find out what was there.

"We might have company Elm is checking on it." Ny'za spoke into the comm line as she continued her search.

Knight's Cottage

The little robot stood up as Mil'ana walked into the room. He gave her a nod of greetings as she spoke up. He proceeded to offer her a hand to shake.

"Hello stranger number 2, my designation C410-13 Knight. A name if you please." The robort introduced himself to the leader. When he was asked to excuse Akemi, he was a tiny bit confused, cocking its head to the side. "No harm done, I am still 100% functional."

When possible shaking hand took its place the robot showed to one of the stairs and grabbed one of the cup and teapot. With perfect, well robotic precision he poured one cup and passed it on to Porrim. To him it appeared like that captain was interested in the tea. That would be nice, since he would not be cooking it for naught.

"I have more skull on stakes around the ranch." The robot replied as the talk moved on to the dead misshu. "The crabs here became primitive, more animal like. That means they are dangerous, but when they come close and see one of their kind's a goner, they thing twice and leave my sheep alone. That is good, since that dog of mine is not a guard dog, more like greet dog."

"As for other, well there are others. But same as this here cat of yours does not trust me right away, I am not sure I can trust right away. I would like to take you to see one of the my local compatriots just over the yonder. See what the jig is."

To Knight, seeing a Lorath and a neko was quite strange thing. They have some uniforms and call themselves LSDF, but those are just clothing. Might as well be pirates for all he knew. It meant he had to test them, bring them to a spot where pirate greed would take over. He knew just the place, although his neighbor Eric, probably would not be too happy about it. Well there was not much choice. If they really were who they say they were, then it would be all good and they could finally pony up and get out of this damn planet. That said for some of the locals, it was home. Sure it was ruing now, but some people might not want to leave.

Tange IV, Misato City, Super Awesome Positivity Group

At some point in time, Ix'ion started just going through the motions with his mind quite obviously elsewhere, but eventually came back to his senses. Hearing Ashlinn speak about how she'd drop a building on people and start picking off the survivors was... comforting to say the least, in the most opposite of meanings possible. The lack of military gear was a bit of a good thing, but also seemed like it could amount to desperation if things were really bad.

"I will provide Berhane and... Sarn-Hei...? cover if the plan is to scout ahead and contact the Neko within the structure. I can go it close or provide long range support, whichever you decide would be most advantageous. What are your orders, Er'red?"

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group at Knight's Cottage

Aran'ya almost did a double-take when she saw a Mishhuvurthyar Crab skull on a stake upon entry into the ranch, realizing after a tense minute of reaching for her Searing Blade that it was merely a skeleton and not the real thing coming at her. She took a few steps forward and ran a gloved hand over the large boney remnant of the terrible beast, studying its structure for a moment and where damage had been inflicted by gunfire. "Guess in this neck of the woods, a regular scarecrow just ain't cutting it anymore," she commented offhandedly, wondering if this was good evidence of there being some of these very much alive out there. Still, it didn't hurt to break off a little piece of what was left of the carapace lattice to study the DNA at a later time...

Her little souvenir safely in its containment bag in her kit, the Medic stepped into the house proper behind Porrim , matching up the scenery with the pictures that had been streamed to her beforehand. "Sorry I'm late for my house call," she quipped to Akemi for a moment, elbowing him in the side on purpose on the way in. Soon she caught a whiff of the unmistakable scent of tea in the air and unconsciously started trying to sort out its chemical composition just from the aromas hitting her nose. "A sharpshooter and a sommelier... you sure got all the bases covered, 'Knight'. Mind enlightening us over a cup if there is more Mishhu out there in the ruins like the ones you're showing off outside?"

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group at Knight's Cottage

Being a good sport Akemi mentally shrugged off the elbowing and lunged for the pot and a teacup. He quickly filled it and offered the drink delicately to Aran'ya on a little coaster with a substantial bow and an open palm underneath in a show of utmost care. "Milady," he said solemnly, his eyes downcast in reverence.

Er'red listened to his squad as he thought. Making contact with the occupants of the carpark was the priority, but choosing who to send was the question.

If he sent the Nepleslian, the occupants would probably recognize Nepleslian gear and react accordingly. Everyone was friendly with Nepleslia, right? But the risk of sending Menelik into close proximity with a bunch of good looking woman was a recipe for disaster.

Ashlinn was also a neko, but they didn't know who these neko worked for. Her suit wasn't as tough as Meneliks, so if it did go wrong she might be in trouble. Also, something about the neko was...twitchy.

Sending Mirage would definitely get the message about starting a fight, but might cause panic and the wrong impression.

"Alright, squad, pay attention." He said, crouching down to draw a crude map of the carpark and a few of its surrounding buildings.

"Private Berhane, you're making contact. Don't engage unless fired upon. If you must engage, seek to regroup with us. As soon as you know their disposition signal us." The finger crossed from the eastern building towards the carpark, straight and open.

"Santo-hei Ashlinn, stay camoflaged and flank south through the forest. If Private Berhane needs assistance you will try to help him however you see fit and help Berhane withdraw." A finger went through the south west building and into the poked holes indicating the forest.

"Corporal 'Sentinel', you're with me, we'll cover Berhane from the eastern buildings and provide fire support if he needs it." The finger circled around the large building to east of the carpark.

"Pilot Mirage, maintain overwatch. If the occupants are hostile wait for Berhane to get clear and then engage as you see fit." The finger returned to Er'red's palm to warm up again, since Mirage was way too far away to benefit from a simple mud map.

Er'reds masked face turned to the squad. "Everybody clear?"

Knight's Cottage

The robot looked at the newcomer. She scanned her for a bit, noticing a lower rank and short hair. From what he knew about Lorath culture it meant that she was supposed to be a bit lower on the food chain. That said she seemed like a fairly confident person. At least her interest was in NMX and not in survivors, which made Knight think that these guys were not some evil spacer pirates after all.

"Howdy," he replied to Aran'ya and tipped his hat. "Well there sure are bunch of them around these part ma'am. They usually keep to the outskirts, but ever now and then their number grows too much. Also there be thing in the town that can kill them. This here crab that I shot and those outsides, they be a bit dimm. Just animals ya know. No masters here to control them, so they just track and eat what they can. Thanks to that, they can be scared though. If they don't have the numbers a shot nearby and they usually just skedaddle. There be some nekoes in the town, but I did not run into them meself. Oh and there is a legend. Apparently a NMX Schocktrooper is running around eating people and doing other nasty business. I think it is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo though. I looked for that slicker so we could have a little hoedown, but never found him. Too bad though, should I be able hunt down beast that big, I am sure I would never have trouble with crabs to the rest of my time here."

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group at Knight's Cottage

Aran'ya unhooked part of her WIND's face mask a second as Akemi did his best impression of a butler's presentation of an exquisite, gourmet beverage. Although it made him look quite silly, she didn't exactly mind either... a man serving a Lorath woman was quite appropriate after all, even if she knew he was just putting on airs with other things on his mind. "Er... thanks, good sir," the Medic mumbled a little more rough than his proper tone, taking the drink offered -- though the way the chemist stared at the liquid within for a while one would think the Neko had handed her a cup of spiders instead of tea. But the Captain could likely see Aran'ya was making sure it wasn't poisoned or anything sinister within.

While she waited for the chemical analysis on her HUD screen to appear, she listened to the robot's response to her query with her pale, unobscured face and eyes that had a tint of shifting green-blue. "Name's Aran'ya, but you can call me Widow, if you like. Sounds like you're a regular... what was the word... sheriff?... of these parts. If there is things like that still running around, we can help put them down permanently and get the ones they hurt some medical aid, including those Nekovalkyrja. Or just a lift out to greener pastures, eh Captain?"

She glanced towards the expedition leader and awaited her take on everything, streaming the result of all clear or contaminated on the tea, should the leader choose to partake of the warm gift.

Tange IV, Misato City, Porrim's Group at Knight's Cottage

"Is the shock trooper said to be cute?" Akemi asked as he pulled a chair out for Aran'ya in a showy manner making it clear it was intended for her. "Is it a girl?"

Knight's Cottage, Tea-party

"My database does not show if Shocktroopers have genders. I do doubt you would call them cute." The robot replied and mechanically laughed. "Since it is a monstrous squid monster with armour and a gun pod. I figure you could call it a mix between regular Misshu and a Ripper. Nasty buggers."

After he replied to Akemi, Knight turned back to Aran'ya. His set of eyes whirred again as they focused on her. He noticed her being a bit inquisitive of the tea, but he cared little. It was okay if they were little paranoid, it was not like entirely trusted his guests either.

"Sherrif?" The little robot said back. "That is a fancy word ma'am, I am afraid I hold no such title. I am just a simple hunter and farmer. Trying to do better for the community. I ended here by accident really. A dastardly smuggler got me on this planet, but he died and his ship is not workable. So I just set up a shop here, met locals and tried to function here until there is chance to go back to my owners."

Er'red's tea- oh wait no there he goes

Menelik sure didn't have any problems with his orders; none whatsoever. With an "Aye Aye, Sir", he went ahead and turned, his heading on a straight line towards the car park even though there -was- a building in a way. A building that the Hostile-wearing marine simply jumped over, skimming along the roof's edge before coming to a stop on the roof next to their target. With another leap and a flare of fusion energy from his suit's thrusters he jumped off, hovering to the down with another thud.

"This is Berhane," he said using the team's comms as he waved at the carpark. "I'm here, and I'll wait for Ashlinn to get into position before I make contact with our hosts. Any news from the Skipper's team? Are they okay? What about the mechs? are My'ean and Ny'za okay?"

Er'red's Team - Traveling the world, Meeting new people, And Under Orders NOT to shoot them.... yet.

Ash remained blissfully quiet after her previous statement, "First rule of the Infantry - always have a plan to kill everyone. And a backup, just in case. We are in unknown territory, Hai?" She'd grin behind her helmet at moments ticked off and then Er'red sprang his plan on them. She must have been feeling comfortable with the plan because the moment he laid it out she was already sprinting off to get into position, her suit vanishing in the snow and tree's. Inside her suit she was already dialing in the range finder, setting her sensors and pausing as she found a spot that gave her elevation AND field of view, soft sing-song tones announced hr status, "Sarn-Hei, in position." One of her shoulder pad's hissed as it cracked open upon a seem and a small probe shot out and then wedged itself into the nook of a nearby tree. Her own personal spotter. The large fifty on her shoulder twitched incrementally as she looked 'through' the building via sensor reports, and then she settled in.

Tange IV, Misato City, Er'red's "Let's Hug It Out" Group

Little time was wasted after Er'red gave the orders to his team for them to take up various positions while Menelik went to contact the Nekos just a ways away. Ix'ion made his way over to the Eastern buildings, assisted by his GUST enhanced WIND suit which made the task just a touch easier and a whole lot faster.

After a quick scan of the vantage points available, he set up shop with the advanced optics trained on the area surrounding the walking Green Brick and made himself comfortable while waiting for hopefully nothing to happen that required turning the expedition into a combat scenario. "Sentinel here, in position and standing by. Anyone else wondering if the 'Hostile' is too... hostile for this meet and greet..." Ix'ion offered over the comms somewhat comically.

Porrim's Team, Knight's Cottage, Pleasant-teas
Porrim had only heard of the mishhu because they'd been the ones who dropped the moon on her previous homeworld. Or at least, that's what the Yamataians told her. Whether or not this was true was in the eye of the beholder. Some Lorath still had a deep seated resentment for being flung into space, subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. The Lorath took arms though, and didn't end in a sea of troubles.

Porrim's fingers drummed against the cup of tea offered to her. "That's right." She nodded to Aran'ya. "We can provide medical assistance for anyone living, as a matter of fact, as well as evacuation," lifting her cup of tea to her nose and passing it under, taking in the scent. Quite strong, strong enough to make Porrim wonder if the robot was able to grow tea in such dire circumstances. Aran'ya's scanning of the tea revealed it to be a well-preserved Nataria Breakfast Tea from a supermarket. Still drinkable with minimal spoil. "We could get you back to your owners too, if you so desire."

Then she heard about the crab about town. "Well, we have trio of Whirlwinds. I'm certain we'd squish the thing like a bug." Porrim grinned, trying to make assuring small talk. She realised she hadn't drunk her tea, and took a sip, looking aside as she evaluated the taste and out the window to check on her scouts. Not a bad taste. "Tell us more."

She placed a palm down on Aiesu's head as she held up the cup of tea and waited for Knight's response. Things were going well, and she was allowing herself to relax.

Outside, Elm and Ny'za were still recording signs of life from inside of the apartment as the little white Helashio made her approach, managing to keep her head clear and move from place to place. She begun watching the windows for signs of life, and soon, a person appeared. They seemed to be a Yamataian man with black hair and a worn out business suit on. They appeared to be unarmed, but they were looking out at the footprints caused by Porrim's group.

Behind this Yamataian man, a larger Yamataian of Raltean descent and clad in coveralls inspected the area and appeared to be asking the businessman a question about who came through in Yamatai-go, and trying to gauge numbers. The businessman shook their head, unable to tell. To him, it looked like six, maybe seven people. They then looked up at the Whirlwind together, and backed away into the apartment cautiously, whispering something beyond Ny'za's sensors to each other while hiding behind cover.

She didn't understand a word they were saying. Perhaps it could be translated while it was still fresh in the recorders.

Elm felt like another pair of eyes was on her, watching her, seeing a brief glint amongst the snow in a corner of the large apartment complex. A counter scout? Someone who knew the city better than Elm did? From the vantage point My'ean had, she could indeed see the heat signature of a Yamataian woman, lying down near one of the windows with a pair of binoculars.

The pilot watched the heat outline of the civilian shimmy backwards out of view, stand up and begin moving through the ruined building, soon disappearing from view as her signature and last known position were highlighted. They looked like they were going to ground level, and the way they were moving did not suggest previous military background - the movement was too inefficient - she was sitting too close to the window and easy to spot from above, even though she had an eye on Elm.


Er'red's Team, Advancing to the Carpark, With orders not to shoot (Yet)
The team advanced, with Er'red moving west down the street as Menelik and Ashlinn split off from the group to act as vanguards. Er'red and Ix'ion then started heading up the street north, between a pair of mostly intact buildings, hearing a thump from the roof above as Menelik's hostile landed on top, and started stomping towards the edge.

With their views and sensors combined, Ashlinn, Menelik, and Mirage could see the six occupants of the parking complex conversing to each other. From the distance they were and with snow and wind in the air, the speech was a little unclear. Snippets of strangely accented and oddly raspy Yamatai-go audible.

It passed over Menelik and Mirage, but Ashlinn was able to piece the following together. She recognised the accents from reports of NMX-made Nekovalkyrja from training documents and simulations. Though, the simulations really played up the accent, cartoonishly so.

"...friendly? I saw five, not recognise uniform."
"Big mecha. Don't recognise. Can't fight. We die."
"No engage, no fight. Be coo-el. We go home maybe."
"Is home exist now, Akihiko?"
"Maybe. Sokino, Webber, Inoue, Vee, take gun and keep covering. Maya and I talk. If bad, die proud."
"Yes!" "Hai!" "Hai." "Ya, ya." "Mm, I go."

Four of them split off together towards what was a small security office inside the car park, fit for two or three people and located in the middle. Formerly a camera control room, but it seemed to be an armoury now. The four figures were moving consistently with people grabbing rifles and weapons, preparing for the worst. Two of the shapes hugged each other before moving out while another stayed behind, girding themselves before catching up to their companions.

The other two started moving for the roof of the car park, at first sticking to the walls of the car park for cover, crouched down and looking over their shoulder and the barrier at the Whirlwind for brief glances. Once they reached the ramp heading up to the top floor, they broke away from cover and moved to the middle, now scanning the horizon and spotting Menelik's Hostile in the distance.

Standing outside rather than in the confines of the carpark, Ashlinn's sensor was able to pick up more chatter between the two nekovalkyrja. A better look at the two was possible, with a red headed Nekovalkyrja with dark skin and, upon further inspection, a ruined NMX combat uniform, kept together with stitches while the former parasite pod was now being used as a backpack. She looked scared, desperate. Aside from a pistol by their side, they didn't appear to be armed with anything larger.

Beside her was another Nekovalkyrja, black haired, fair skinned, and bristling with salvaged parts, wearing some of it in her odd garb. Worn on her head and with the visor flipped up was a welding mask, and she seemed to have a heavy monkey wrench and a snub-nosed revolver by their side. Her demeanour seemed a bit more relaxed, but perhaps it was just dulled by all the time spent here without much to do.

"That's Nepleslian Armour! Haw-style." The redhead said, looking out and pointing at the Hostile.
"It does not look like Mecha." The salvage mistress observed. "Mecha is different."
"Who are these people? Privateer? Pirate?" The redhead asked, folding her arms as she looked between the Hostile and the Whirlwind, trying to find any common points.
"No. They couldn't afford that... be careful Akihiko," The salvager pointed out warily. "Maybe Special Force, Strike Team, or - or even Phoenix Force."
"Wh-Them!?" The Redhead, presumably Akihiko, grabbed something from her former parasite pod, a shrivelled fruit of some sort, and took a bite. After swallowing, they blurted out. "Maya, don't scare me! No die!"

Something about their voices sounded fearful about the whole encounter, and they zipped behind cover together, heads poking out and looking at the Hostile, watching what it'd do. It was up to Ashlinn on how to act on this information.