If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at stararmy@gmail.com or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
Izanami turned to Asine. "That is a very good question. There is nothing in the simulation that would preclude you from doing that. But ultimately the decision would be made by the team leader at the time."
"Of course. When will we begin then?" Asine rolled his shoulders, working out a kink. "And since you mentioned it, how are we dividing into teams? Do you have a specific configuration you want us in, or will we divide ourselves as we see fit?"
Eun-Kyung turned to Asine, "I am sure the simulation will commence once all questions have been dealt with. Haruhi-Juni while I technically am the ranking person, I will defer to your judgment given your field experience. Let's get boarded people."
Shina needing no other excuse to get ready to fly, she entered the Diligent by stepping through one of the two openings in the Dageki module and took her seat in the cockpit. She ran through her pre-flight with practiced ease.
Field experience. It was a phrase that Haruhi was far from delighted with, for a number of reasons, not the least of which was because it apparently made her the fearless leader of this little expedition.
“All aboard...” Haruhi said as she stomped her Mindy-clad form into the shuttle and pulled together a plan of attack in her head.
Tomas needed no second urging from the Juni, he climbed aboard the shuttle and took a seat on the port site.
Izanami turned and walked towards the entrance and faded out of the simulation. As she did the yellow lights and klaxon that warned of the imminent opening of the shuttle bay doors came on.
Shina sitting in the cockpit of the shuttle pressed the hot microphone to the passenger area. “Preflight complete, ready to launch on your command Kim-Shoi Kohosei.” She said.
With all of the away team in the shuttle, Shina closed the hatches on the Dageki module, and launched the shuttle out of the bay.
The shuttle Diligent NG-X1-409-2 approached the Kujiku a Subjugator-class transport. The exterior of the transport was pockmarked with damage from many battles. The name of the ship was barely legible from the years of service. The Diligent flew along the hull towards the coordinates that Shina-Ittô Hei was given.
Suddenly two of the turrets on the Kujiku opened on the T7 shuttle giving the passengers several rude jolts. Unci she swore mentally. They’re firing at us. The Taii never said anything about the ship shooting at us. Kim thought taking the Diligent into a series of evasive maneuvers. “The Kujiku has opened fire on us, but no damage, proceeding to target coordinates.” She said to the away team. Kim kept the shuttle so close to the transport that no other turrets could fire upon it. She flared the shuttle and decelerated as she moved into position to engage the Dageki.
Kim held the shuttle in position as she activated the Strike Module. Once the Dageki erected its shields the cutting blades blazed into form and sliced into the Kujiku’s hull. In moments the blades sliced out two discs of hull and the graviton projector pushed them out of the way. Kim then extended the dual airlocks and initiated the seal. Once she got a secure seal she turned to the Diligent occupants. “Seal is good, I am opening the airlock. Good luck.” She then sent a message to the Aeon, “Away team boarding the Kujiku.”
The portion of the Kujiku the away team would enter was an unused storage area. The chamber was approximately 20 meters by 20 meters. The lighting in the room flickered constantly from the few operational lights. A single oversized hatch from the chamber led deeper into the ship.
Asine trotted out of the shuttle into the storage room. He looked around, turning his scanners on for a quiet little passive scan. After all, who knew whether the hijackers has the technology to detect a scanner? He walked over to the hatch, and inspected it, just in case it had been somehow sealed before their arrival.
Tomas left the safety of the Diligent and entered the store room. From the amount of dust and debris, it appeared to have been long unused. Furthermore the only footprints he saw were those from Asine.
Switching his Ke-M2-W2902 Forearm Weapon to SMG mode. He crossed the room, and took up a position to the left side of the hatch. Standing in front of the door is definitely not a good idea. he thought.
He glanced at the control panel on the right side of the hatch. Glowing through the dust was the word UNLOCKED.
Hoshi slipped in after Tomas, scanning the area around him.
He ended up against the wall to the left of the hatch, behind Asine. Grimacing, he stepped so that he was next to Asine -- not against the wall, but not in front of the hatch either. He trained his weapon on the portal into the ship, ready.
Hopefully, someone behind him would check their six. It wouldn't do to have something with teeth (or tentacles) to come munch on them from behind.
Good thing there were more of them coming out of the shuttle.
Haruhi checked her weapons were hot and ready to fire before she left the shuttle. “Check your weapons are armed and do not use charged mode, it'll go straight through whatever you're aiming at and straight through all the hull behind it too.” She deployed three of her Nodal Support Drones from their leg hangers, the hand-sized drones floated up and flew in a slow circle above her head as she strode out into the disused storage room.
As the remaining members of the away team exited the Diligent Kim closed the hatches on the strike module. Keying the comm unit she transmitted, "Away team deployed. Standing by for extraction."
Meanwhile the cargo room shook with a strong tremor, most likely caused by an explosion elsewhere in the ship.
Eun-Kyung turned to Haruhi, "You take point, I will cover the team's rear position."
Eun-Kyung looked for Siyun, spotting him she said "Toranaga-Hei, perform a life scan so we will know the positions of any life forms besides our own. That way we will know if if there is anyone waiting on the other side of the hatch."
Tomas checked his weapons again as the deck trembled.
“Hey Kohosei,” Haruhi said as she dutifully moved to take up the position closest to the hatch, “we all going for one location at a time or splitting up?” Ideally Haruhi wanted to do the latter for the bonuses of speed and surprise, but against as many uncertainties as there were – both with the situation and her crew-mates themselves – it wasn't something she was going to suggest too strongly.
Against the wall and ready to move through the door when it opened Haruhi waited for the rest of the group to ready themselves and for the white-pin's decision.
No sooner had Haruhi asked her question, a stronger vibration shook the deck. An explosion tore through the plates that formed the floor of the chamber and the room was filled briefly with an expanding fireball. Fortunately the crew members were already leaning against the wall so the force of the blast did not affect them terribly. However from their position they could see the smoke from the explosion being sucked out through cracks in the outer hull.
Shit, shit, shit, this is so not good. Tomas thought as the explosion slammed him bodily into the wall. He hit the button to open the hatch to the ship's interior. "The hull's been ruptured, move it people before it blows." he called out as he stepped into the corridor.
Looking around, "It is clear for the moment." He called out taking a defensive posture.
Despite the size of the Subjugator the corridor was surprising cramped. Reinforcement bulkheads were visible every 20 meters. Overhead pipes and cables snaked their way across the ceiling, a number of the cables sagged and hung. The overhead lights were inoperative so the only illumination was the emergency lamps along the walls.
Asi quickly trotted into the hallway, and took up a forward position, turning his thermal sensors up to a higher setting, to counter the low lighting. "Haruhi-Juni, I have a forward visual. Would you like me to move forward to scout?"
Eun-Kyung raced through the hatch behind Asine and Tomas; she slid to a halt on the other side and whipped about. “Come on! Move, move, move!” she yelled at the others still in the cargo hold. They had no clear read on how much internal damage had been done or what the state of the ship's emergency systems was, and she had no intention of finding out later that a wardroom or bridge bulkhead had been breached and the rescuees were dead. She had personally always loathed the thought of dying in a vacuum, so risking the depressurization of the rest of the ship was the last thing she wanted to do – even if this was only a simulation. “Hold tight, Im'inao-Hei. We need to regroup. Send an NSD ahead for now.”
Hoshi followed up with Asine, ready with his own drones and his rifle. He was ready for anything.
"If a bugger pops out, he's gonna get his beard singed." He mumbled, out loud he said, "If they have any wounded, do I have leave to take a look at them?"
He wondered if that was a bad question, but shrugged. It wouldn't matter, really, all he was looking for was confirmation.
What the fish, what is happening in there. I'm getting multiple warnings from the strike module. I better alert the away team. she thought.
"Diligent to Away team, I am losing the seal on the Dageki module. Are you okay? Signal once you are clear. I will disengage and proceed to take up a position on the opposite side of the ship. Visually most of the hull appears intact." Kim transmitted from the shuttle.
Haruhi swiftly moved out into the hallway with the rest of the group and moved to cover the opposite direction, flattening herself as best her Mindy would allow behind one of the protruding support bulkheads for the meagre cover it would provide. The Kohosei beat her to the punch with regards to Im'inao, she had just opened her mouth before the words were all but stolen from her. One of her own NSDs shot off the other way to the enlisted's as another popped out of her hanger to join the two that still loosely circled her head.
“If they have any wounded then I expect you to place the security of us and the hostages above sating your own curiosity; you go waltzing over to a downed enemy and half the time you're going to end up eating energy through your faceplate.” Haruhi used her drone' feeds to do a head count to make sure everyone got out. “If it's not going to interfere with our objectives and it's going to be of benefit then ask permission on a case-by-case.”
Asi sent one of his NSDs down the corridor, just running visual and thermals to check for possible life forms. He ran one last check over his weapons and armor's settings before saying anything. "I sent an NSD down the hallway, running some base level checks for life signs as it goes. Should I set it weapons hot, or leave it as it is?"