RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 22] Echoes of the Past

Splorfin 14, Ocean/Volcano

Aikiko tuned in on the feed and watched. She cut the brightness of the reflected light being picked up for a better picture. She listened to Tankyusha, looking thoughtful. She replied over Team Tactical Frequency, letting everyone hear what she had to say. "Obsidian is a very natural product of volcanic activity. Replay the data and check for tempature climb rate. It may be artificially altered to reflect light down into the depths. Otherwise we would be able to see clearly what the walls were made of. If you have more drones just send them to hover above the opening and look down inside for a different angle view that the light whont bother with vid pick up, Tankyusha," She paused, "If they come equipped with a flare, ignite it and drop into the opening. Time the drop of the lit flare."

She was looking at the volcanic rock of the Volcano, looking at the lava flow patterns.

Main Zero-Gravity Vertical Passageway

Taharial nodded and smiled "thank you ma'am", she floated down the passageway then went to find a free bed in a cabin, as Taharial went down the passageways she noticed another person of the crew running the other way "that girl looked like she was in a rush, I hope she will be okay".

Crew cabins

Taharial checked the cabins then put all her stuff in the free locker in cabin two, then quickly sorted out her hair and looked at the door. She quickly walked out before her cabin mate came, she wanted it to be a surprise to the person, then checked the map and made her way to the Medical Lab happily.

Medical Laboratory

Taharial looked around the lab and made sure she knew where everything was in case she needed it quickly, then she got her communicator and gulped "so it was the subspace radio I need to check on the exploration mission", she decided to call just to see if they needed any medical assistance while out there.

"Um hello Nito Hei Tsuguka, this is the new medic, I was wondering if you think I should come out and assist with anything?" Taharial's voice was calm while she spoke but her body was shaking "you never know when you will need a medic, and I am good at other things as well".

Tararial was playing with a scalpel while she waited for an answer from Tsuguka, Taharial was spun it through her fingers then realised there were cameras and quickly stopped, then looked over all the containment cells and smiled sweetly "I wonder who my first patient will be?" Taharial smiled, not for hoping someone was injured soon, more because she wanted to prove herself better than her nickname.

Main Zero G Passageway

"It's good to be back Shosho. Honestly im looking forward to seeing some familiar faces."

Before anything more could be said an orange figure jetted past.

"Hello Mitsuko! Nice to see you again." he called out. Turning back to the captain he finished his train of thought. "If you'll excuse me I'll go get settled in and begin some standard diagnostics. I want to see how much things have changed"

With a last salute and a wave the young engineer made his way to the crew deck.


Lounge

Kale clasped the datapad from his belt and brought up a list of current crew, and came to a sudden halt. There were only three names on the list that he recognised. Three out of the twenty crew members he was familiar with remained. Chieko, Akane hell even Chief Takeyu had left for other pastures. No wonder the captain was looking for new officers. With a small sigh his good mood evaporated.

'Ah well, just part of military life I guess.'

Swallowing his dissappointment Kale sent a quick message to the quartermaster.


Message sent, Kale sat down, pulled his computer pad out of his bag and began an in depth scan of the ship systems.

Volcano Tunnel Entrance

As Tsuguka watched the drone's feed carefully, it occurred to her that bringing the lamia shield probably would have been a good idea. Bottle necked into the vertical shaft, it could have protected the entire team behind her as they advanced. Too late now. She blinked furiously for a moment as the signal popped out of existence and filled her mental vision with a rectangle of while noise, then turned back to the group.

"I'll be that flare, Akiashiro-Hei. Thank you for the analysis. Please protect Tankyusha-Hei." The woman remarked, voice sounding ill-fittingly upbeat. The slightly bottom heavy neko arced her head, and decided she best explain herself. "I would take this task myself, but with your manipulator arms, you stand a better chance of protecting him from cave-ins..."

"Dirjon-Hei, you can protect the rear." Looking upwards at the man, nearly head-and-shoulders taller than the neko, it should have been obvious why. "If we go through a passage that's too small for you to fit through, please say something."

Slowly drifting backwards like a feather caught by a sudden wind, Tsuguka then positioned herself directly above the massive hole, aiming her rifle down into it. "Eucharis, we are above a probable entrance point for the anomaly." The voice rung out over the coms. "We are advancing inward. Radio contact may be lost momentarily."

Her progress slowed again. Another new, unfamiliar voice sounded into her ear. Quickly, she connected to the Eucharis' database again so that she could check the updated crew roster. Nothing new. Maybe a temporary onboard presence listing?... Ah yes, two new people. It was most likely the female judging from the voice.

"Tararial... Santo Hei, is it? Sorry, I was not informed of your arrival." The voice was purely clinical, slightly distorted by radio interference into a choppy metallic buzz. Tsuguka put it onto the team channel so that they could hear what the hold-up was. "I apologize, I'm not sure of your skills... Or species, for that matter... If you cannot use a power armor, it may be an idea for you to stay behind, however. Having one of my team members come back and carry you would be a little awkward."

Splorfin 14, over volcano

"Ma'am, if the team descends slowly I can return to Eucharis to retrieve our comrade," he offered in a straight-foreward tone, "I can have her and anyone else here and in a Daisy in about ten minutes if she gets to the armor bay like right now. I'm going to be in the back anyway."

As he was speaking a Daisy was moving from the hanger to one of the staging pads.

Volcano Tunnel Entrance

"She's an Elysian, Dirjon-Hei." Tsuguka originally just thought that a medic was unlikely to be trained in power armor, but putting a general search of the name through the Yamatai recruitment database yielded purely Elysian results. "The wings won't fit in a standard star army model power armor... I don't even think a void propulsion pack would fit..."

A second passed whilst the green-armored knight thought of what to do, and the Nepelsian had the strange sensation of a Nekovalkajyra gazing at him through cyberspace whilst her real eyes remained forward. It felt more than a little like she had eyes on the back of her head.

"Santo Hei Taharial, the Eucharis should have at least one Elysian model AMES suit somewhere on board." It was a stern voice, cold like metal. "Ask Joto Hei Murakami, the nekovalkyrja with the glasses, if you can't find any. Please install an app on your communicator that can interface with PA medical systems, too, if you don't already have one. I'm sending someone back to pick you up."

"You have any problems with carrying her, Dirjon-Hei?"

Lugging someone at the mercy of gravity down a massive vertical shaft wasn't exactly opportune, but Tsuguka figured it would help the team morale in the long run. That, and if their communications were cut off underground, their health conditions couldn't be monitored from the comfort of the Eucharis. The gravity was lower than normal, through, so it wasn't all quite as dangerous as it normally would have been, at least.

Splorfin 14, over volcano

"Oh, right. They got those wing things..." Dirjon mumbled upon learning her species as the Daisy in the P.A. Bay returned to its space on the hanger rack.

He took his eyes off the HUD only to feel Tsuguka cyber-staring at him... Just staring.
So he stared at her...
At this point his armor was starting to fell kinda thin as his superior was beginning to freak him out. Slowly he began hovering away as if to take a step back as he had no idea what was going on. Then she spoke sending a wave of relief through the new guy.

"You have any problems with carrying her, Dirjon-Hei?" She asked him.
"No problems ma'am, I'll be back before you know it." Was his response as he leaned back and throttled up his fusion thrusters.

At full throttle it would take him only three minutes to arrive where he would land and remove his helmet while he topped off his fuel tank at his armor station.

Volcano Top Entrance

Aikiko landed on the edge of the hole into the Volcano to conserve energy of her Mindy and recharge herself by resting. She knelt to take a closer look at the rock formation of the Volcano. "To bad you didn't upload Geological Analytical programs and informational database, Tankyusha," she studied the rocks, from her knowledge and experience from Hard Rock mining and excavation. Volcanic rock was the one of hardest natural form substances that made up a planet's crust. And also the most brittle.

Splorfin 14, Volcano Entrance

The android nodded back at Aikiko. "You may be right, there." He had to admit, peering down into the abyss, that his knowledge of tiny machines was certainly not appropriate for this task. Never would he have expected to be doing this kind of thing. He smiled broadly. This was the sort of thing he was on the Eucharis for!

Tankyusha caught himself and returned to a comfortable neutral expression. He didn't want to seem unprofessional.

He sent his last few drones into the depths, then nodded at Tsuguka. On her order, the team descended into the darkness. The shaft around them remained surprisingly dark, the deep-blue crystal walls soaking in more light than their smooth surface would suggest. Something about them made the science officer uncomfortable. Energy just didn't work that way. He couldn't help but scowl.

Forty feet down, a 5 foot tall ring of metal ran the circumference of the shaft. It seemed to hum for those close to it and set off periodic spikes on their electromagnetic sensors. Crystal seemed to have grown over it in even intervals, securing it to the shaft.

Holding his head and wincing from the interference, Tankyusha said, "I don't get a good feeling about this place."

As if to make things worse for him, a happy whistle tone from a drone below told them it found a passage in one of the walls. The science officer sighed, taking his hand away as the electromagnetic hum faded. "Should we go in deeper..?"

Medical bay

Taharial smiled slightly "I think I saw her running around somewhere" she talked into the communicator "I am sorry for the delay in your mission", she made sure she had everything she would need for quick medical care and took a few thing from the cabinets like meds to help with pain, Taharial decided that sending a message to Murakami would be the easiest and fastest way to get to the suit.


Taharial smiled and decided to check on the the app and laughed lightly as she saw that she hadn't downloaded it, she then quickly downloaded it and smiled then got back on communications with the exploration team "just asked Murakami where it was, and it's a good thing I came when I did, by the sound of your voices and static your going somewhere I wouldn't be able to reach without you and you med signs wouldn't reach the Eucharis."

Volcano Entrance -> Decent

Aikiko studied the change in the crystal formations. Upon entering the electromagnetic field, it spiked heavily, causing her Mindy's AI to shutdown. She lost control of her Mindy. Where she had to use her natural abilities to override the gravity till she could reboot her less protected Mindy as she descended a lot faster than the rest of them. ~~"Okay I'mma screwed"~~ This raised her heartbeat a bit and forced her self to relax and bend her knees for impact as she fell. She used her ability to counter gravity as best as she could. It felt weird to be in Stygian darkness, with no reference. knowing you're falling, yet it seamed like you was not falling, due to being weightless. "Come on! reboot!"

It seamed like an eternity till the sudden impact sent her crashing among the debris that littered the bottom of the shaft. She was knocked out when her Mindy fell over onto its side, banging her head against the inside of her Mindy's shell.

Volcano Entrance -> Decent

Tsuguka instantly chased the falling form of Aikiko, without even thinking about it. "-s-stay here-" Was the best message she could send to Tankyusha, before her transmitter completely ground down into a mess of arcane tones.

It wasn't fast enough. Even through the gravity was lower, Akiashiro apparently still managed to reach a harmful velocity, and created a plume of grey dust as she impacted on the floor. Toyoe risked a second of blindness in order to convert her eyes to night vision mode, and then fired her leg thrusters to violently slow her own decent. All around, the voice of the mountain was like a eerie grating symphony in her ears, an angry drawling gothic chant... It was the electromagnetic energy messing with her radio again, just like in orbit. Except they were now standing directly inside the source.

"~Akky, you okay?~" She spoke telepathically as her boots hit the floor. The red neko's hands stretched themselves out to try moving her, but then stopped herself. Spinal injury was a possibility. "~Santo Hei Akiashiro, please respond...~"

No response.

Tsuguka didn't know how to deal with this. Or why her Daisy was unaffected. Maybe it was the heavier armor. Or perhaps there was a maintenance flaw in the Mindy. It didn't really matter here and now.

"~Just... Just hold on. The medic will be here soon.~" It was perhaps the most cruel twist that Aikiko wasn't awake to hear her. Behind the veil of cool indifference, there was a glint of worry, a voice at odds with itself. The souless automaton actually cared about something that wasn't the mission. Logically, it would have been unwise to dive after her at all. But here Tsuguka was. "~...S-Say something.... Akia...shiro...~"

Bottom of Volcano Shaft

Headlamp on her Mindy flared to life, shining straight up the shaft the way she came. At the same time her tracking beacon activated, sending out a clean signal. Her Mindy now going through the reboot diagnostics. Communication system came on. Began transmitting through the various frequecies. Her Mindy status, which was slowly coming online.
Mindy Shell was still intacted and not compromised. Faceplate was transparent to be able to see inside. The little LED's were lit, turning from yellow to green. Where her mouth was, faceplate was foggy from warm breath hitting the cool surface.

Her status was alive; steady heart rate, breathing normal, and lower than usual brain activity. She looked so peaceful and relaxed with her eyes closed.

Lower Docking Ring

Mitsuko barely spared the new arrivals a glance even as one of them hailed her, rushing past on her way to check on the new shuttle they were dragging along with them. The must have arrived on a shuttle docked on top of the ship...things were rather crowded today. She was about to arrive at her destination when she received a message from the new crew member that had tried to get her attention. She frowned as she read the request, putting the name with the face she'd briefly glimpsed. He was back?


A few moments later, she'd arrived on the scene, beginning to examine the area where the Medea was docked to check for any damage. She sighed, sounding frustrated, as another message arrived.


In just a few hours, they'd gone from a medic too small to be of any use to one who could barely use any standard issue Star Army equipment. It was astounding.

Lounge

Within the depths of the ships software architecture Kale skimmed through lists of data. Thankfully there were no serious errors to report although there seemed to be a minor fluctuation in the starboard steering actuator, nothing dangerous but he noted it for later investigation. A soft tone brought him out of his trance.


Quickly flicking his way through the message Kale paused. Blinked twice and then chuckled. From the crew list he could see that at least two active crew members were also male.

'Ah well. Six it is then.' he thought with a small shake of his head.

He switched back to the diagnostic tool taking a quick look at the results before shutting down the pad and placing it back within his bag. It didnt take long to stow his gear and anrmed with his data pad and science scanner Kale left the living quarters. He wanted to take a direct look at that steering thruster. It was probably nothing but he's be able to get better data by interfacing with the system directly.

Medical Lab

Taharial looked around the Lab to get a proper feel of the lab, then screamed and jumped back her already extremely pale skin going a shade paler as she looked at a creature she had only read about before, she edged closer to the Nightmare Type in the medical lab. Taharial communicator was still on and transmitted the scream to the exploration team, she grabbed to and blushed "I am so sorry for that scream I just saw our guest in the med lab" her eyes were still fixed on the magnificent creature in front of her as a ping alerted her of a message after reading it she quickly responded.


Taharial wanted more than anything to stay with the nightmare type but knew she had a job to do and needed to go to her crew mates, she whispered a goodbye to the body then goes to where the AMES where stored and slowly slide one on, her wings pressed against her back painfully to start but she soon got used to it and it became a small discomfort but it was never gone, Taharial got back on communications with the exploration team "hey guys, I have the suit and am ready for pick up, is everyone okay, I am reading signs that a Santo Hei Aikiko has lower brain activity then a while ago, did something happen or is there a malfunction with the sensors?".

Splorfin 14, 1 klick from Eucharis

Dirjon was almost to the coast, testing the limits of his Daisy as he traveled low at breakneck speeds past trees when a high pitched scream pierced his very existence making him 'jump' so to speak. Typically this would be fine but he had one more tree pass.

The leafy limb felt like being hit with a pillow but spun him like a top sending him careening toward the water and skipping off the wet surface. By then the avionics had kicked in and corrected his flight.

Typically he'd be a little annoyed but the reason was justifiable. He knew he'd probably do the same.

••••••••••

Splorfin 14, YSS Eucharis P.A. Bay

Dirjon landed softly on the polished floor. Removing his helmet he introduced himself, "I'm Santo Hei Dirjon Ulvson. I'll be right with you."
His mellow voice made a strange echoing in the near empty room, as did his footsteps as he made his way to his armor station which began refilling his hydrogen cell.

"What is your name, again? I'm finding it hard to pronounce."

::Flashjback::
Mining Camp Town

It was one of those weird type of days when time seam to stop. It was hot and the air was still. Dust seamed to linger in the air, giving everything a yellowish brown tinge to everything. She looked out the doorway of her large one room house that sweltered in the afternoon heat. The distant faded into the yellowish brown fog shimmering in the rising heat.

She watched the unemployed roving gangs that prowled the streets of the busier sections of the Company Town. She stayed still hoping that they would pass on by as this wasn’t their territory. Others stood on their porch or in groups watching the gang stride through their neighborhood..

~~Another good day setting explosives, I will have enough to pay off my indentured service. ~~ She thought as she watched several of the gang members look her way and made comments to their pals. But they looked at her and kept on going. One making note of her house number. She had a suspicion that they would be back when night fell. ~~ And then some left over. Should I renew my contract with the Company? ~~

One of the Company Security Cruiser appeared out of the hazy yellowish brown dust fog. The gang stopped at the corner, and sullenly watched the cruiser slowly pass by. Just to sit in their air cooled cab of the vehicle would be nice.

She gave a soft sigh and sipped from her water jug, drinking the hot water. She could use her water rations and the extra electricity to make a lot cooler water. But the Company charged a lot of money. What little she did use still cost a fortune. It looked like another night at the local pub.

Should she go alone or with another to pick up her tab for the meal and drinks? It seamed a lot of others were going to do the same. She pushed off the doorframe and entered the house and walked through the quiet house to her room and cleaned up the best she could.

Putting on a nice dress and sandals, just a someone knocked on her door. She left her room, yelling, “coming!” Entering the main room. It was her shift Supervisor

“Hey Aikiko! Wanna hang out with me at the pub?” He spoke, looking her over with appreciation.

“Sure!” Aikiko responded as she grabbed her purse. “Let me lock up.” She hurried through the house shutting windows and locking them. She met him at the door and left, with her pausing to lock the door behind her.
Aikiko hopped into the air cooled cab of the Supervisor Company Truck, letting him shut the door for her. She watched him move quickly around to the other side and get in. She relaxed back enjoying the cool air. She sighed softly, enduring his pawing of her, just to be able to enjoy the cold air.

He took the scenic route to the Pub. He complained about how the dust had caused the big ore haulers to up and quit. Every trip, they had to clean out the air filters for just one trip. Down and up… but they always get stuck on the bottom of the pit and have the maintenance truck, drive down to the stalled ore hauler, just to spend 10 minutes in cleaning out the friggen air filters and housing.

She knew he was in a bad mood as he was way behind on the ore quota hauled out of the mine to the processing plants. Which meant if the weather was like today, he could go look for another job as he would be out of one.
She listened to his complaints as he drove and copped feelies on her. She was happy that the truck cab was too small except to just sit in her case, him driving, unless he pulled over to talk.

Finally they arrived at the Pub and the parking lot was full. He was nice enough to let her off at the entrance with orders to freshen up and find a table for two. She gladly hopped out, slamming the door to the cab and scooted inside. She immediately went to the ladies room, entered and enjoyed a whore’s bath with a lot of other women.
They talked with her as she did with them, enjoying the cool air and unlimited water as the pub had its own water extractors and a huge cistern under the pub itself. All the single females to include Aikiko wanted to marry old Mitchem, just for his water if nothing else. But unfortunately Mitchem was so old. He was ancient and was afraid of catching something that would end his life prematurely.

Aikiko finished up and left the ladies room much cleaner and smelling much nicer as she made her way into the eating area to find that her Supervisor had already found a place for the both of them and food was waiting at the table for them, along with the rotgut beer that Ole Mitchem brewed himself.

Bottom of the Volcano Shaft

Tsuguka looked upwards, towards the distant disk of daylight far above. Tankyusha would probably be able to explain the magnetic pulse effect better, but he was an AI himself, and he didn't even have a Mindy's armor around him. Would it be too dangerous to send him down?... Crouching over Aikiko's form, the neko soldier just grimaced, and held her helmet in her hands. Her comrade was alive and breathing, but that was all she could say for certain. A technician would know how to handle this. A medic would know how to handle this. But she didn't know any related procedures at all. It made her feel utterly worthless.

Now, well... All the sharpish woman could really concentrate on was what she did know.

Squeezing life back into her shoulders and suppressing the pit in her stomach, Tsuguka sluggishly got back to her feet again and readied her rifle. There could be enemies here. Yes, that could it explain it. And enemies were something that she was designed to understand.

"~I'm s-securing the area, Akky...~" Boots crunching through a fine gravel of powdery graphite, the armored neko gazed out into the dark chamber beyond. The night vision made everything look like a mess of green splotches, but she could vaguely make out connecting tunnels. Were they naturally formed, or cut from the stone and collapsed at a later date? She did not know. "~If... If you can hear me.... j-just stay there...~"

Bridge

Hanako, having already returned from the medical lab after oxygen and a quick bathroom break, now stayed in her chair on the bridge eating a croissant, a dark chocolate candy square, and sipping at a spillproof container of hot green tea, while resisting the urge to suit up in her Mindy 1H and join the away team. Her high-backed red-cushioned chair swiveled as the ship moved beneath her on the waves on the orange-colored, carbonated alien sea that was now displayed on the viewscreen purely to counteract seasickness.